Written by Mitch Cyrus

---

It's Friday night, which means it's time for Mitch to look ahead at the new movies coming out to the theaters this weekend.  And we Browns fans have a treat this week, as the biopic "The Express" comes out.  This tale of Syracuse RB Ernie Davis has lots of ties to the Cleveland Browns, and probably a lot better football action than we'll see from the Browns on Monday Night Football.  Also out this week, the Ridley Scott CIA thriller "Body of Lies" with Leo and Crowe.  Mitch also gives us the 4-1-1 on the new DVD releases and the latest news and rumors.  

The Crystal Ball - October 10^th Releases

There is a movie coming out this week which has the Cleveland Browns as a very prominent backstory to its tale.

It's sure to be a lot more uplifting than what we'll probably see from the real Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football.

More on that later.

And the funny story of the week is about the producers of the right wing comedy "An American Carol" claiming that there is a conspiracy against their film, and that many more people went to see it...but there was "ticket fraud", and people were "given tickets to other movies".

The producers backed off the claim when they realized that no one would believe that 17 year old pimply faced geeks working at theaters could possibly be bright enough to pull off something so complex.

Anything to reduce the sting of having the left wing "Religulous" pulling in three times as much money-per-theater, eh?

News and Rumors

~ Tim Burton has another big casting name for his upcoming "Alice in Wonderland" movie.  Anne Hathaway will play the White Queen in Burton's mix of live action and animation.  She is the benevolent monarch of Wonderland, deposed by her sister, the evil Red Queen ("Off with their heads!"), to be played by Burton's girlfriend Helena Bonham Carter.  As previously announced, Johnny Depp will play the Mad hatter.

~ Forest Whitaker won an Academy Award playing a real life character with his portrayal of Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland".  He might be in line for another, as he will star in a biopic about the legendary Lois Armstrong.

~ Another day, another comic book movie.  The latest announcement is that Josh Brolin will star in a film version of a 1970s DC Comic, Jonah Hex.  Hex is a former alcoholic and confederate soldier turn bounty hunter.  How this slipped past Vince McMahon and his WWE stooges, I have no ides.

(This might be the thinnest "News and Rumors" I've had since starting this segment.  I think everyone was too busy sitting around being depressed about their stocks going into the toilet).

This week's new movie releases:

The Express

Starring: Rob Brown, Dennis Quaid, Darrin Dewitt Henson

Plot: The life story of Syracuse halfback Ernie Davis; the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy.

View Trailer

The BeerBuzz: Checked this one out earlier today.  Maybe one of the best football movies I've ever seen.  Extremely well done, with Rob Brown doing an amazing job as Davis, and Dennis Quaid magnificent as coach Ben Schwartzwalder.  Come back on Sunday and read the review.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Body of Lies

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe

Plot: In Jordan, an ex-journalist working to locate an Al Qaeda leader for the CIA faces pressure from an agent for whom failure is not an option.

View Trailer

The BeerBuzz: Another Ridley Scott thriller with his favorite actor Crowe...combined with two alums from "The Departed", DiCaprio and screenwriter William Monahan.  Despite that, this is getting highly mixed reviews, with the slight majority being positive.  Might be a victim of the continued rejection of audiences regarding films about the War on Terror.  Might just be because the script makes the poor people think too much.  I'll let you know sometime next week, as it's on my list.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

City of Ember

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Toby Jones, Bill Murray, Tim Robbins.

Plot: The underground City of Ember has been the only refuge for humans for the last 200 years.  But with the generators failing, two teenagers must find the secret that can get them to the outside world.

View Trailer

The BeerBuzz: This week's family movie, allowing Bill Murray and Tim Robbins to mug for the camera shamelessly.  You might be thinking from the trailer that this is in the same vein as "Harry Potter", but it's not that mature.  Think more in the lines of "The Spiderwick Chronicles" or "Bridge to Terabithia" when determining if it's right for your older kids.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Quarantine

Starring: Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris, Columbus Short

Plot: A television crew gets locked inside a NYC apartment building by a CDC issued quarantine.  Later, a video tape from their crew is the only evidence as to what happened

View Trailer

The BeerBuzz: Hey!  Let's blatantly steal the whole "trick" behind "Cloverfield" and this time, instead of nasty aliens, we'll have nasty zombie-like creatures!  Ugh.  It's nice to see Jennifer Carpenter get a leading role after her excellent work as Deb Morgan on "Dexter"...but not in this garbage.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Duchess

Starring: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Dominic Cooper

Plot: A chronicle of the life of 18^th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life

View Trailer

The BeerBuzz: This contender for the Awards seasons has been out in limited release for a few weeks, and now gets released nationwide.  Very good buzz for Knightley, who plays a character that many people would recognize as having a lot of similarities to Princess Diana.  In fact, Georgiana was a distant relative of the late Princess.  In any case, the awards they'll be shooting for will only be for Knightley, as the rest of the film is standard British costume drama.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DVD Releases on Tuesday, October 14

 

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Harrison Ford may be getting up there in years, but he still fills out the fedora and leather jacket quite well.  Shia LeBeouf gives him almost as good of a partner as he had with Sean Connery in the third film.  Lots of fun to watch, as it really is a trip down memory lane for Indy, especially with the return of Karen Allen as Marion.  On the downside...don't expect anything new and exciting here.  Just predictable popcorn fun.

The Pirates Who don't do Anything - A Veggietales Movie - Produce as Pirates.  You've been warned.

Calendar Watch

Next week:  Max Payne, The Secret Life of Bees, Sex Drive, W.

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

Pride and Glory - October 24^th - Edward Norton and Colin Farrell in a story about a family of prominent NYC cops who are shaken to their core when a scandal is uncovered.

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

Changeling - October 31^st - Clint Eastwood's latest Oscar potential, with Angelina Jolie as a Prohibition era mother who begins to think that the kidnapped son who was returned to her might not really be hers.

Quantum of Solace - November 14^th - The next James Bond film, picking up shortly after the events ending "Casino Royale"

The Soloist - November 21^st - Rober Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx star about a talented musician who is now living on the streets.

Australia - November 26^th - Baz Luhrmann's epic tale set in WWII Australia.  With Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.  Think "Gone with the Wind" with kangaroos.

The Road - November 28^th - Viggo Mortensen as a man walking with his son for months across a ravaged, post-apocalyptic landscape in search of civilization.  Charlize Theron co-stars.

The Day the Earth Stood Still - December 12^th - Keanu Reeves in a remake of the classic 1951 sci-fi film.

Twilight - December 12^th - the adaptation of the popular book series concerning a relationship between a non-blood drinking vampire and a teenaged girl.

Defiance - December 12^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

Revolutionary Road - December 19^th - Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as a young couple raising a family in a Connecticut suburb during the mid 1950s.  Sam Mendes ("American Beauty") directs the "Titanic" stars in their on-screen reunion.

The Spirit - December 25^th - Frank Miller's next comic book adaptation, done in the same style as "Sin City".

Frost / Nixon - December 26^th - Ron Howard's latest Oscar attempt, adapting the stage play of the disgraced president's attempt to re-habilitate his image on David Frost's TV show, and Frost's attempt to drag out the truth from Tricky Dick

The International - February 13, 2009 - Clive Owen and Naomi Watts in a thriller about an Interpol investigation of a world-wide bank funding murder and corruption.  And you thought Wachovia was bad?

Watchmen - March 6, 2009 - The screen version of what is arguably graphic novelist Alan Moore's greatest work.

 

Blockbusters on the Distant Horizon (movies that would seem to be big hits...as soon as they get made or released).

 

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - May 1, 2009 - Hugh Jackman goes it alone as the adamentium enhanced anti-hero.  With Live Schreiber as Sabertooth, and Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool.

Star Trek - May 8, 2009 - J.J. Abrams and a young cast reboot the franchise, going back to Kirk and Spock's days at Starfleet Academy.

Angels and Demons - May 15,  2009 - Tom Hanks and Ron Howard follow-up to "The DaVinci Code"

Terminator 4 - May 22, 2009 - Christian Bale as John Conner as the franchise moves into the apocalyptic future.

Transformers 2 - June 26, 2009 - The next chapter of Robots In Disguise!

Public Enemy - July 1, 2009 - Johnny Depp as John Dillinger.  Co-staring Christian Bale, and directed by Michael Mann

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - July 2009 - The sixth of J.K. Rowling's seven books, setting the stage for the two part conclusion in 2010 and 2011.

 

The Taking of Pelham 123- August 7, 2009 - Denzel Washington, John Travolta, and James Gandolfini in a remake of the classic 1974 film about a hijacked subway car.

Shutter Island - October, 2009 - Martin Scorsese working once again with Leonardo DiCaprio in this mystery set in 1954.

Nottingham - November, 2009 - Ridley Scot and Russell Crowe together again in a retelling of the Robin Hood legend, this time through the eyes of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Crowe).  With Sienna Miller as Maid Marion.

Avatar - December 18, 2009 - James Cameron's sci-fi/CGI extravaganza.  The C.I.A. should take lessons about secrecy from Cameron, as he's keeping info about this film very much to himself at this time.

 

Iron Man 2 - May, 2010 - Right on the heels of the success of the first one, Marvel is quick to get Robert Downey Jr. back into his titanium suit.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - May, 2010 - The series goes off in a bit of a different direction, as those of you who love the books already know.

Thor - June 2010 - Another Marvel superhero...but the Nordic God is about as bland personality-wise as Superman, so we'll see how it goes.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I - 2010 - The start of the End for the boy wizard and his battle against He-Who-Shall-not-Be-Named

Lincoln - 2010 - Steven Spielberg directs the biographical film of the 16^th President (Liam Neeson)

The Hobbit - 2010 - Guillermo del Toro directs and Peter Jackson will produce the prequel to "Lord of the Rings".  Ian McKellen will return as Gandalf

Fantastic Voyage - 2010 - Roland Emmerich ("The Day After Tomorrow", "10,000 B.C.") remakes the classic 1967 movie about a miniaturized sub and crew operating on a scientist from inside his brain.

The Avengers - 2011 - Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America open up a can of whoopass on bad guys everywhere.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II - 2011 - The end of the line for what will be beyond doubt the most profitable series in the history of film making.

The Hobbit 2 - 2011 - del Toro and Jackson again, this time covering the time between the end of Tolkien's book, "The Hobbit" and the start of LOTR.