Written by Mitch Cyrus

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As Mitch predicted last week, "Star Trek" totally kicked Wolverine's adamanteum laced rear end at the box office. And this week, we have another week, and another Blockbuster. But there will be no slam dunk at the box office this week, as there is a good chance that "Angels & Demons" finishes up in second place to Kirk and Spock. Mitch takes a look at all the week's theater and DVD releases in this week's edition of The Crystal Ball. As predicted last week, "Star Trek" totally kicked Wolverine's adamanteum laced rear end at the box office.

Another week, another Blockbuster.  But there will be no slam dunk at the box office this week, as there is a good chance that "Angels & Demons" finishes up in second place to Kirk and Spock.

News and Rumors 

~ Martin Scorsese will be making a biographical film of the life and times of Hollywood Icon Frank Sinatra.  The only casting rumor at this time is that Marty wants to use his favorite (as of late) actor Leonardo DiCaprio to play Old Blue Eyes, although Johnny Depp's name has also been mentioned.  The film will touch upon the legendary singer's relationship with Mafia figures...so of course it makes sense for Scorsese to direct it.

~ Terry Gilliam looks to be back on his project of bringing "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" to the box office.  Gilliam's been working on this for several years now, and should dive full bore into the re-imagination of the tales of the Spanish knight once he's finished polishing up the end product for Heath Ledger's final film, "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parmassus".

~ I'm VERY tempted to put this in the category right below "News and Rumors"...Anthony Hopkins is teaming up with Ridley Scott to once again bring Hannibal Lecter to the big screen.  The next film would take place several years after the events seen in the nearly unwatchable "Hannibal" from 2001.  Cate Blanchett has been tipped to take over the role of Clarice Starling, as Jodie Foster has scheduling conflicts.  Here is to hoping that Ridley Scott makes a better movie than his last one ("Body of Lies").

~ Just because Oliver Stone struck out with his biographical "interpretation" of the live of George W. Bush doesn't mean that the Political Biography is dead.  Kevin Spacey will be starring in "Casino Jack", playing the role of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose bribery schemes landed him in jail.

~ More good roles keep coming to Mickey Rourke.  This time, he's slated to star in the remake of the 1986 flick "Mona Lisa", playing a criminal who takes a job as a chauffeur for a high class escort in this gangster movie.

Stupid Remakes and Sequels

~ Jason Statham will play a former Navy Seal who comes out of retirement to save his friend in a remake of Sam Peckinpah's 1975 "The Killer Elite".  I'm already tuning up the Spergeon on this one.

This week's new movie releases: 

Only one film being released nation-wide this week.

Angels & Demons

Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer

Plot: Robert Langdon returns to try to prevent the Illuminati, a secret society, from committing a terrorist act against the Vatican.

View Trailer

The BeerBuzz: Did you like "The Da Vinci Code"?  If so, you'll probably like this one as well...at least that seems to be the buzz I'm hearing from all the other critics.  Like the first adaptation of the Dan Brown novels, this one is generally getting unfavorable reviews, but most critics that dislike it still say almost to a person that it is better than the first one.  So use that as a benchmark regarding when (and if) you wish to see it.  I'll be checking it out later this weekend, so look for the review sometime next week.

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New DVD Releases

Tuesday, May 17^th Releases

Paul Blart: Mall Cop- One of the bigger surprises of 2009 has been this Kevin James dork comedy becoming a $145 million mega-hit.  James plays a Mall Security "officer" who was too short and fat to make it as an actual cop, but he's all that stands in the way of his precious shopping center and a group of criminals.  Interesting that this film made so much money, while the similar themed Seth Rogen flick "Observe and Report" completely bombed.  My guess is that it's because this film is very sweet natured, while the Rogen movie's main character was, at heart, a total dick.

Valkyrie - Tom Cruise's risky business as a heroic German general who tried to take out Hitler.  Not as bad as what everyone feared, but no masterpiece, either.  Everyone griped about Cruise's lack of a German accent, but they never seem to mind it that much when it's English actors portraying Germans.  Just something to think about.  For me...I'll be adding this to near the top of the Netflix Queue.

My Bloody Valentine 3D - 3D Gore!!!  And that's about it.  Something that WON'T be finding its way on the the Netflix Queue.

Calendar Watch  

Next week; Terminator: Salvation (Thursday release), Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,  Dance Flick

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

Up - May 29 - Pixar's latest movie certain to be an Oscar winner for "Best Animated Feature".  This time, it's an old man who ties hundreds of balloons to his house so he can go on an adventure while staying home.

Land of the Lost - June 5 - Will Ferrell will now do his completely predictable mugging as a scientist sucked into a space-time vortex into an alternate universe complete with dinosaurs.  Based on the lame TV series.

The Taking of Pelham 123- June 12 - Denzel Washington, John Travolta, and James Gandolfini in a remake of the classic 1974 film about a hijacked subway car.

Year One - June 19 - Jack Black and Michael Cera as a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers on an epic journey through the ancient world.  Harold Ramis directs

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: - June 26 - The next chapter of Robots In Disguise!

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

Bruno - July 10 - Sacha Baron Cohen attempts to recreate the magic he found in "Borat"; this time featuring his flamboyant Austrian fashion reporter character.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - July 17 - The sixth of J.K. Rowling's seven books, setting the stage for the two part conclusion in 2010 and 2011.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - August 7 - Every year, there is one big-budget movie that bombs.  My prediction is that it will be this one.

Inglourious Basterds - August 21 - Quentin Tarantino directs Brad Pitt in this violent (of course) tale of a group of WWII commandos who conducted high-profile executions/terrorist acts against the Nazis in occupied France prior to D-Day.

Astro Boy - September 23 - They are really making a full length animated feature about this Japanese Anime chestnut?

Surrogates - September 25 - Bruce Willis as a cop in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots.

Shutter Island - October 2 - Martin Scorsese working once again with Leonardo DiCaprio in this mystery set in 1954.

The Road - October 16 - 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 Wolf Man - November 6 - Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins in the retelling of the classic horror tale.

2012 - November 13 - Roland Emmerich's ("The Day After Tomorrow") tale of global cataclysm and the struggle of the survivors.

Nine  - November 27 - Tim Burton's latest animated strangeness, with Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly voicing characters fighting aliens in a post apocalyptic world.

The Lovely Bones - December 11 - Peter Jackson's latest, about the ghost of a young, murdered girl watching over her family and friends' reactions to the event.  Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz star.

Avatar - December 18 - 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.

Sherlock Holmes - December 25^th - Guy Ritchie's interpretation of the famous sleuth, with Robert Downey, Jr. in the lead role

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

The Informant - (limited release in Sept) - Steven Soderbergh's latest attempt at Oscar with Matt Damon as a company-man turned whistleblower against an agri-business giant.  Might have touches of Coen Brother-like dark humor.

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.  Mickey Rourke and Scarlett Johansson to co-star.

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.

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.

Spider-Man 4 - May 2011 - Tobey Maquire is back as the angst ridden arachnid powered hero.

Thor - June 2011 - Another Marvel superhero...but the Nordic God is about as bland personality-wise as Superman, so we'll see how it goes.  Kevin Kidd (Rome) is said to be playing the title role.

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.

The Avengers - 2012 - Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America open up a can of whoopass on bad guys everywhere.