Written by Mitch Cyrus

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Watch basketball all weekend with no reservations says Mitch in this weeks Crystal Ball, as all the movie releases at the theater and on DVD royally suck this weekend. When "Drillbit Taylor" starring Luke Wilson is the best option there is absolutely no reason to go to the theater. However, in this week's News & Rumors section, we've got all kinds of juicy info. A new season of "Entourage", the latest adaptation of a Tom Clancy book, and news on "Terminator 4". Mitch has got it all in this weeks Crystal Ball.

Last week I said - “Good thing there is a lot of college basketball to keep us occupied these next few weekends…because I’m looking at the calendar, and I’m not seeing a damn thing that interests me until March 28^th with 21”

Nothing has changed in that regard. Avoid all theaters this weekend, and enjoy the basketball, and Tiger Woods continuing his dominance at the World Golf Championships.

News and Rumors

~ The writers strike has delayed the start of the new season of “Entourage” until September, but it’s looking like another great season for Vince and the Boys. Next season will pick up with the fallout from the failure Vince’s movie “Medellin” at Cannes. Vince’s career will be struggling a bit, but Eric’s will be picking up big time as he adds more clients to manage. Plus we get a Mexico trip and psychedelic mushrooms. Can’t wait.

~ It’s been awhile since Hugh Jackman has made a good choice of films to make. This one might qualify as a good one. Jackman will star in “Drive” playing a Hollywood stunt driver that doubles as a getaway heist driver. He gets a surprise when he finds out that there is a contract out on his life.

~ Sam Raimi of “Spider-Man” directorial fame, will be heading up the reboot of the Jack Ryan franchise. Evidently, this one will focus on the earlier part of his career, just like the last one “The Sum of All Fears”, with Ben Affleck in the role. It’s doubtful Ben will be returning, however (good…let him stick to directing). No word yet on whether the script will come from one of Tom Clancy’s existing novels or if Clancy will help with a new screenplay. Paramount plans to release it in 2010.

~ More casting news from “Terminator 4”. Anton Yelchin, soon to be a geek-hero by playing Checkov in “Star Trek”, has been cast as the young Kyle Reese (played by Michael Biehn in the original). So he’s the unknowing father to Christian Bale as John Conner.

~ Bad news on the remake front. Not only was I pummeled again this week with news about the upcoming “A-Team” movie (no cast yet named), I also get news that there will be another movie adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic “Dune”. After David Lynch’s “unusual” interpretation in 1984 (Sting in a modified diaper comes to mind), I’m not sure this is a good idea. And then I find out Peter Berg, an absolutely horrible director (“Very Bad Things”, “The Kingdom”), is going to be behind the camera. OK…Berg was pretty good directing “Friday Night Lights”…but I still don’t trust him with this film.

~George Lucas is reportedly working on an HBO “Star Wars” live action series that’s being described as “Deadwood” meets “The Sopranos” in Outer Space. Don’t expect to see Luke, Han, or Darth, as this would have all new characters. We’ll keep our eyes and ears on guard for more news on this one.

This week’s new movie releases:

Drillbit Taylor

Starring: Owen Wilson, Josh Peck, Alex Frost

Plot: When two freshmen are tormented by a bully during their first day of class, they enlist the help of a soldier-of-fortune, fully unaware that he’s a phony.

View Trailer

The BeerBuzz: Looks like producer Judd Apatow (“Superbad”, “Knocked Up”) doesn’t have the Midas Touch on everything. The main problem is that Owen Wilson is a complete mess in real life, and what little acting ability he possessed before he went nuts has completely atrophied, leaving only the charm…which is more pathetic than charming anymore.

My Estimated Rating: Jeff Garcia (1 football)

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Meet the Browns

Starring: Tamela J. Mann, Angela Bassett, Tyler Perry

Plot: A single mom takes her family to Georgia for the funeral of her father – a man she never met. There, her brood is introduced to their relatives, the wacky Brown family

View Trailer

The BeerBuzz: Tyler gets back into the grandmamma dress as Medea again, which is probably a good thing. Perry is a very good filmmaker, and he hits on some very interesting takes about family in most of his films. This will probably appeal to everyone who has enjoyed his other offerings.

My Estimated Rating: Bill Nelsen (2 ½ footballs)

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Shutter

Starring: Joshua Jackson, Rachael Taylor, James Kyson Lee

Plot: An American couple honeymooning in Tokyo discover strange, ghostly images in the photographs they are taking, images possibly related to a tragic accident they recently witnessed.

View Trailer

The BeerBuzz: Pure slasher-porn crap. You’ve seen it all before, and seen it done much better than this generic “scare-by-the-numbers” effort.

My Estimated Rating: Mike Phipps (1/2 football).

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New DVD Releases for Tuesday, March 25^th

Really slow week on the releases…guess the distributors are too busy watching basketball as well.

The Mist – A worthy rental. Thomas Jane stars in this Stephen King adaptation about blood thirsty creatures attacking a small town, and the panic that goes on amongst the townspeople trapped inside of a supermarket.

The Kite Runner – Critically praised movie about two Afghan boys of different social status during the time just before the Russian invasion of Afghanistan…but was a huge disappointment at the box office and during the awards season.

Calendar Watch

Next week: 21, Run Fat Boy Run, Stop Loss, Superhero Movie

Upcoming Biggies (click on the hyperlink to view the available trailers).

Leatherheads – April 4^th – George Clooney and Renee Zellweger in an old fashioned screwball comedy set in 1925 about an aging football legend and the college hotshot he’s drafted for his pro team both fighting for the heart of an intrepid up-and-coming journalist.

88 Minutes – April 18^th – Al Pacino as a college professor and forensic psychiatrist for the FBI receiving death threats telling him he only has 88 minutes to live.

Deception – April 25^th – Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor in an “Eyes Wide Shut” sort of tale about a mild mannered accountant becoming entangled in the goings-on at an underground sex club.

Iron Man – May 2^nd – The latest mega-budgeted superhero flick. Looks very promising, and the casting of Robert Downey, Jr. as the alcoholic billionaire who designs a supersuit.

Speed Racer – May 9^th – Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox, and Christina Ricci as Speed, Racer X, and Trixie in the Wachowski Brothers’ (“The Matrix” trilogy) adaptation of the campy 1960s Japanese anime.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian – May 16^th – The same four kids from the first movie return to Narnia…1300 years after their last visit in that enchanted land’s time frame, to help restore the throne to the rightful heir.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – May 23^rd – Spielberg and Ford team up one more time, with Cate Blanchett as the romantic interest, and Shia LaBeouf (“Transformers”) as Indy’s son.

Sex and the City – May 30^th – The movie version of the HBO series hits the big screen. Can we guys get our share of this pie and have a movie version of “Deadwood”?

The Incredible Hulk – June 13^th – Looks to be much, much better than the Ang Lee stink-fest, with Edward Norton taking on the role of Bruce Banner.

Get Smart – June 20^th – Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, and Alan Arkin take on the roles of Maxwell Smart, Agent 99 and The Chief. As much as I hate movie adaptations of television shows, this one has potential.

Wall-E – June 27^th – Pixar’s next masterpiece, about a garbage cleaning robot who dreams of the stars.

Wanted – June 27^th – Look for this to make a box office star out of James McAvoy (“The Last King of Scotland”, “Atonement”) as he plays a young man brought into a secret society of assassins by a hot, hot looking Angelina Jolie. Morgan Freeman plays their boss.

Hancock – July 4^th – Will Smith as a hard-living superhero needing the use of a public relations professional (Jason Bateman) to repair his image.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army – July 11^th – The big red cigar chomping demon with a bad attitude is back for more butt kicking.

The Dark Knight – July 19^th – Batman is back, and this time he’s tracking the Joker, played by Heath Ledger. Most likely the box office champion of 2008.

X-Files 2 – July 25^th – Little is known yet about these further adventures of Scully and Fox…not even the title.

Quantum of Solace – November 13^th – The next James Bond film, picking up shortly after the events ending “Casino Royale”

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – November 21^st – The sixth of J.K. Rowling’s seven books, setting the stage for the two part conclusion in 2010 and 2011.