Written by Mitch Cyrus

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It's Mitch Season. After his winter of discontent at the theaters, we will dispatch the trusty Mitch to the theaters 13 times in the next 13 weeks to review all the spring's hottest movies for us. And what a start ... as Mitch will hit the theaters this weekend to see "Iron Man", which is getting ridiculously good reviews. Look for Mitch's thoughts on it in the next couple days here on our front page. In the meantime, it's The Crystal Ball.

And it begins.

13 weeks, and at least 13 movie reviews coming out over the blockbuster season. ‘Bout stinkin' time.

News and Rumors

~ Confirmation of two different rumors reported here earlier. Guillermo del Toro will be directing the Peter Jackson produced films for "The Hobbit", and Sir Ian McKellen will be portraying Gandalf once again. 2011 and 2012 release dates...which is the only part of this that bothers me, having to wait that long.

~ Haven't seen much from Mel Gibson lately, other than his own personal projects, so to me, this is good news. He's signed on to star in "Edge of Darkness" for "Casino Royale" director Martin Campbell. The film is based upon a 1985 BBC miniseries, and will be adapted for the screen by "The Departed" scriptwriter William Monahan. The story concerns a police investigator whose activist daughter is killed. Plunging into the case, he uncovers widespread corruption that lead to his daughter's death.

~ I wrote last week of the casting of the female lead for "The Da Vinci Code" follow-up, "Angels and Demons". This week, another cast member is announced as Ewan McGregor will be in the film, playing a powerful Vatican insider assisting Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks).

~ An interesting blurb about TheClevelandFan's favorite mob boss. James Gandolfini will star with David Rasche ("United 93") and former child star Anna Chlumsky ("My Girl") in the BBC Films' political satire "The Loop". Rasche will portray an undersecretary of state, Chlumsky will play a State Department official, and the former Tony Soprano will play a General.

~ Nicole Kidman will play Dusty Springfield in a biopic of the singer's life. Why do we need this? What next? A biography of Rick Dees doing "Disco Duck"?

This week's new movie releases:

It looks like this will be the start of a pattern for the Summer.

Only two new movies to be released most weeks. One will be a big budget spectacle, and the other some form of comedy, which will do about 1/10^th the business of the blockbuster.

Iron Man

Starring: Robert Downey, Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard.

Plot: A boozy, celebrity arms dealer is captured in Afghanistan, where he comes up with the plan of creating a super-suit to enable him to help mankind.

View Trailer

The BeerBuzz: The early buzz on this is incredible. I'm hearing that Robert Downey, Jr. could actually be the first actor in a comic book movie to receive Oscar consideration. Now I personally won't believe it until I see it, but that's some very high praise indeed. I know that last week I predicted this movie will end up being #3 at the box office this year. It could even end up at #2 (I don't think anything will be able to beat out "The Dark Knight".

I'll let you know in a day or two what I think of it.

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Made of Honor

Starring: Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd

Plot: A rakish yuppie comes to the realization that he's in love with his best friend...only to have her announce her engagement to another man the day he was going to tell her...and she asks him to be her maid of honor.

View Trailer

The BeerBuzz: What? Hugh Grant wasn't available? At the same time, it looks like McKidd, my former favorite grouchy Centurion from HBO's "Rome" will play the exact same part at Dempsey did in "Sweet Home Alabama"; the nice fiancé who will ultimately have to step aside as he's not really the "right guy"

My Estimated Rating: Kelly Holcomb (2 footballs)

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New DVD Releases for Tuesday, April 29^th

First Sunday - Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan as bumbling petty criminals who decide to rob a neighborhood church. Beyond Stupid

P.S. I Love You - Major Chick Flick Alert! Gerard Butler dies, but not in the glorious manner that he did as Leonidas in "300". Instead, he leaves behind all of these letters to his wife (Hilary Swank), telling her how she needs to go to Ireland and start living again. I predicting half a box of Kleenex will be used by my wife...and at least 8 shots of Tequila by me.

Over Her Dead Body - A Minor Chick Flick Alert! Awful movie about a nagging woman who is killed on her Wedding Day (Hilarious!), and comes back as a ghost to haunt the fake medium who is falling in love with the bereaved husband-to-be.

Calendar Watch

Next week; Speed Racer, What Happens in Vegas

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

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"?

You Don't Mess with the Zohan - June 6^th - Adam Sandler as a former Mossad agent setting up shop as a hairdresser in New York City.

Kung Fu Panda - June 6^th - Jack Black as the voice of a reluctant panda bear recruited by a team of Kung Fu masters.

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.

The Happening - June 13^th - Latest M. Night Shyamalan thriller, staring Mark Wahlberg in a tale about a family on the run after natural disasters threaten the entire planet.

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.

The Love Guru - June 20^th - Mike Myers already catching as much hell from India as Sacha Baron Cohen did from Kazakhstan for making fun of cultures that don't seem to have a sense of humor.

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.

Mamma Mia! - July 19^th - Something for the ladies to attend while the guys are busy watching Batman kick the Joker's ass. A musical featuring the songs of ABBA. And my wife wants us to go see it. Sigh.

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

Tropic Thunder - August 15^th - A group of actors shooting a big budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying in the film. Stars Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr, playing a white actor donning black make-up to "fit the part".

The International - August 15^th - Clive Owen and Naomi Watts in a thriller about an Interpol agent's attempts to break up an international arms dealing ring financed by a high profile bank. (What can Wachovia do for you?)

Righteous Kill - September 12^th - Robert De Niro and Al Pacino together again as NY detectives working on a case that may be related to both a serial killer and a man they might have wrongly imprisoned years before.

Eagle Eye - September 26^th - Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monoghan as a mother and son who become unwitting members of a terrorist cell plotting a political assassination.

RocknRolla - October 31^st - Guy Ritchie hopefully back in form for another tale of London gangsters. Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Tom Wilkenson, and Jeremy Frackin' Piven star.

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.

Defiance - December 19^th - Daniel Craig and Live Schreiber as Jewish brothers in WWII Russian, leading a band of refuges in striking back at the Germans. A major early Oscar contender