Last year if you went to see a movie called “Iron Man 2”, you probably saw a little teaser trailer that went like this. Somebody drives their pick up truck onto a railroad with a train approaching. The truck collides with the train causing a spectacular wreck. As this happens we are told that in 1979 a section of Area 51 was closed by the Air Force. Also that all materials in that section were being transported into another facility somewhere in Ohio. After we see the train derail, it spans over the wreckage and comes to one of the cars. Something inside the car is making noise. The final image of that trailer is the door to that car being busted open from something inside. This was the setup for one of this summer’s most anticipated and hyped up films. “Super 8” is the name of this movie and is without a doubt one of this year’s best.

Now I will try to keep the summary of the plot simple and try not to reveal any major details. The film focuses on a group of friends who live in a small town in Ohio. Center in this group is Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) and his father Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler). As the film opens Joe and Jackson have recently suffered a personal tragedy. Jackson’s wife was killed in an accident. The film then flashes forward four months later and Joe is busy with his friends making a movie. His buddy Charles (Riley Griffiths) is making a zombie movie for a film festival being held in the town. In so doing Charles manages to get Alice (Elle Fanning) to play the wife of the main character in his film. Joe has a huge crush on Alice by the way. While they out at a train station filming a scene they witness the huge crash that I described before. They manage to capture the crash and what happened afterward on the eight millimeter camera that they are using. They also capture what was in one of the cars. This is a major secret that has been kept under huge wraps since the late 1950s. This “secret” then starts causing havoc on the small and quiet town. People start disappearing as well as any piece of an electronic nature.

Although this secret is of course what we have all known for the past year is simply an alien creature. However there are lots of little things about this creature that are best told by simply watching this movie. You are kept in the dark so much that you keep guessing as to what will happen and this of course leads to a lot of suspenseful moments. That is how the film’s director J.J. Abrams has built the suspense of this movie for the last year. He likes to keep all of the major details of the plot under huge wraps so that you actually have to go see the movie in the theatres to find out what it’s all about.

Super 8 is an homage to the earlier films of Steven Spielberg. In case you did not know already, Spielberg is one of the producer’s of this movie. As you are watching this movie you get a lot of references and memories of films like Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, and The Goonies. But in its heart it is also a coming of age story that echoes the innocence that was explored in Spielberg’s films of the 1980s. And that is where the film draws its power from. But is also allows Abrams to show his love for science fiction by throwing a monster movie plot into the mix. This film is basically a story of friends who are making a movie, with a little family drama, and a monster movie with all of the usual plot points, government coverups, man’s inhumanity to anything diffrent from us, rivalry between friends, and many others.

All in all, Super 8 is without a doubt one of the best films of the year. It’s full of a lot of fantastic moviemaking. Abrams proves that he is the new Spielberg with this picture. He brings with him all of those memories that helped make Spielberg the director he is today. There is a reason that Spielberg is considered the most influential filmmaker of this generation. This film exhibits all of those influences while at the same time giving another director, who grew up watching those films, his chance to shine. In so doing Abrams has brought together a great cast of talented actors. Joel Courtney is this year’s breakout star. As well as Elle Fanning who is following in the footsteps of her older sister Dakota. Riley Griffiths adds lots of comic relief, as does the rest of the young bunch. Kyle Chandler brings a strong presence to the picture as the seemingly absent father who is trying his hardest to move on from his personal grief but can’t. Also the creature in this movie is extremely well thought up and brilliantly executed. The creature is treated like the shark in Jaws. You don’t see it until the film is just about over. Anything before that is a quick and dark flash that keeps in suspense. Super 8 lived up to the hype that has been building for the last year. It delivered something that is lots of fun and full of adventure. But also it is a film that is the joining of two huge forces in Hollywood. And these forces have delivered one of the best films of the year. This is one of those rarities that must be seen in the theatres.

“Franklin and Bash” is TNT’s latest offering and is surprisingly well worth it.

TNT is quickly becoming one of the best cable networks in terms of prime time programming. They have another offering starting soon and looks to be a great show. But here they have a new show that takes the idea of a legal drama and serves it up with a little twist. The focus is on a team of defense lawyers who hold their practice in the city of Los Angeles. The key to their charm is that they go off the wall when it comes to defending a case in court. Their courtroom manner is not what you would call orthodox. But in the long run that is what you need to make a show that is using a format that has been done too many times already be successful. You need to give it a twist that is going to bring the viewers in and get them hooked. I know I am.

“Franklin and Bash” stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Peter Bash and Breckin Meyer as Jared Franklin. These guys are what you would call as fly by the seat of their pants lawyers, who have their own firm called “Franklin and Bash” In the pilot episode we see them as a group who go to extreme lengths to make things interesting in the courtroom and in the office. In so doing they use a lot of questionable tactics to win their case. In the pilot, they are defending a guy who caused an accident on Sunset Blvd because he was distracted by a very racy mattress ad on a billboard. They are questioning the actress/model who was in that ad and Jared eyes her to do something. What does she do, she proceeds to take her blouse off on the witness stand thus flashing herself to everybody in the courtroom. This act serves as the basis for their defense in that their client was very much distracted as was everybody in the courtroom. Upon winning this case they are invited to join the lawfirm Infeld Daniels, headed by Stanton Infeld (Malcolm McDowell). Stanton believes that they can bring great amounts of energy to his lawfirm and really bring in the clients.This is what the premiere episode was all about, establishing its main characters and getting them off to a good start.

The pilot episode was a good premiere but like any pilot to any show there is always room to get better. I have absolute faith that this show will be ten times better by the time it reaches its first season finale. But first and foremost the real kicker for this show is that it takes a used format and shakes it into something fresh and different. As I said before that is the only way that you get a television audience hooked to a new show, you deliver something new and with a twist.

In the end, “Franklin and Bash” got off to a great start. The pilot was great in establishing its main characters and setting the main story in motion. But as always the show will get better as it goes along and by that time we will have a greater understanding of these characters. It has a great cast to boost it. Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who we all know as the immortal Zack Morris from the classic 1990s teen sitcom Saved by the Bell, and Breckin Meyer, who was the guy who sent an X-rated video to his girlfriend in the film Road Trip, have great chemistry together. They are also aided by a great supporting cast that includes the great Malcolm McDowell. But also Dana Davis and Kumail Nanjiani who supply some comic relief as the assistants to Franklin and Bash. All in all this is a good show and it really has a lot of potential of being a huge asset to TNT.

This broadcast contains:

-The movies coming out May 20, 2011.

-New Numbers Game on the new movies for May 20, 2011.

-Early May 2011 movie news including: The passing of Jackie Cooper (Perry White), casting for Piranha 3DD, Spielburg cast more spots for the Abraham Lincoln biopic, Tarantino working on a tribute to westerns with Will Smith, Johnny Depp working on a remake of The Thin Man, Sleeping Beauty reimagination is on hold, Tim Burton working on Frankenweenie,

-Early May 2011 TV news including: Primetime TV cancelations and renewals from ABC, CBS, The CW, NBC, and FOX, Ashton Kutcher joining Two and a Half Men, and Ryan reviews the Smallville series finale and Nikita and Vampire Diaries season finales.

-Celebrity Birthdays

-Listener E-mails

-Three Guys Go to the Movies: Reviews of Thor and Priest.

This broadcast contains:

-The movies coming out May 6, 2011.

-New Numbers Game on the new movies for May 6, 2011.

-Early May 2011 movie news including: Total Recall remake casting news, The Hobbit casting Bilbo Baggins, 21 Jumpstreet casting news, The Three Stooges remake casted Larry David and Jane Lynch, Piranha 3DD announced, Rachel Weiss cast in a Wizard of Oz prequel, a movie adaptation planned to depict the US Navy Seals raid that led to the death of Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, and casting news for American Reunion, the fourth true American Pie movie, joining Chris Klein, Jason Biggs, Alison Hannigan, Eugene Levy, and Sean William Scott.

-Early May 2011 TV news including: Two and a Half Men writing out Charlie Sheen, “goddess” Bree Olsen has dumped Charlie Sheen, NCIS creator’s lawsuit, and casting news and series changes, and Mike discusses a new show on Current TV called Bar Karma.

-Celebrity Birthdays

-Listener E-mails

-Three Guys Go to the Movies: Mike reviews African Cats and Ryan reviews Fast Five.

This broadcast contains:

-The movies coming out April 22, 2011.

-New Numbers Game on the new movies for April 22, 2011.

-End of April 2011 movie news including: Hangover 2 setbacks, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter casting news, potential sixth Fast and the Furious, The Dark Knight Rises casting news, The Amazing Superman casting news, and Nicholas Cage arrested in New Orleans over a fight with his wife and bystanders.

-End of April 2011 TV news including: Charlie Sheen custody battle news, Brooke Mueller back in rehab, Elizabeth Sladen passed away, Evan Rachel Wood announces that she is bisexual and likes androgenous people, Demi Lovato comes out about her rehab, A.J. Cook returns to Criminal Minds, as well as casting news and series changes.

-Celebrity Birthdays

-Listener E-mails

-Three Guys Go to the Movies: Mike reviews Hanna, Adam reviews The Conspirator, and everyone reviews Scream 4.

There are some things you just can’t kill. One of them would be The Fast and The Furious franchise. With four installments under their belt, along with a big following, the action continues in Fast Five. This time the setting is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After breaking Dominic Toretto, played by Vin Diesel, out of prison for a second time, former FBI agent Brian O’ Connor played by Paul Walker, and Dom’s sister Mia played by Jordana Brewster are now all wanted fugitives. They go on the run and they end up in Rio de Janeiro.

They plan “one last job” to steal a powerful businessman’s money. In order to this, they need a team. They reunite with some old friends such as Roman Pierce played by Tyrese Gibson, Tej Parker played by Ludacris, Han, and even Vince played by Matt Schulze. However, there is another factor in all this: Luke Hobbs a DSS agent is on a mission to bring Dom and Brian down once and for all.

With Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson playing Hobbs and characters from all four previous movies coming back, this is bound to get interesting. Sure enough, it does. This is the best of the series. It is a 100 percent non-stop action flick. If you are not familiar with the other four movies, you may get confused here. However, if you’ve seen all of them already, then you won’t any trouble enjoying this one.

Fast Five is also presented in IMAX, and that to me is the best way to see it. One more thing: you might want to stay after the credits start rolling. With all that being said, I give Fast Five ten out of ten, as well as four stars. I think it is one of the best films of the year, if not the summer. What do you think about this? Did we really need another sequel? Should it have been left alone as a trilogy? What do you think of the cast? Send us an e-mail.

(CAUTION: Includes spoilers!)

On October 16, 2001 Smallville started on The CW, formerly known as The WB. On Friday, May 13, 2011 we saw the end of an era. For ten years we watched as young Clark Kent grew up in Smallville, going from the shy one to the hero we all knew he would become.

Personally, I started watching the show when the 100^th episode aired on January 26, 2006. It was called Reckoning, and as you may remember, that’s when Clark lost his father, Jonathan. Just a few weeks before I saw that, I lost someone close to me. In a way, I have grown up with Clark over the past six years. Now that the finale has aired and the journey has come to an end, I have to say I was satisfied with how it ended.

However, there were some things that could have been better. For example, I didn’t want Tess to die since she was an ally to the Justice League. I thought she would either join Lex Luthor in his evil schemes or stay with the Justice league. Second, I thought Lex should have had more time on screen and that there would be a showdown between Clark and Lex. In the end, Lex’s memory is erased and he is not the enemy that we all know. Third, the way the bad guys were destroyed was rushed. Oliver killing all of them with a bunch of arrows just didn’t work. Next, we never really see Clark in the actual suit; it was all CGI for the most part. Basically, the first hour of this finale was just the set-up for the ending. It could have been better.

Now, the best parts of the finale, in my opinion, were the scenes between Clark and Martha, along with the appearance of Jonathan Kent’s spirit. Then, the other great parts were Clark in the Fortress speaking to his father Jor-El, and Jonathan’s spirit giving Clark the famous suit that we all know. He accepts his destiny and stops Darkseid from taking over the Earth.

The final moments take place in the year 2018 where Lois and Clark continue working at the Daily Planet and Perry White is the Editor and Chief along with a grown-up Jimmy Olsen as the iconic photographer. Plus, Lex Luthor is now President of the United States. In the end, Clark and Lois are about to finally get married, but before they can do that, Clark needs to save Metropolis one more time.

This is where it all culminates in Clark going up to the roof of the Daily Planet, with the John William’s theme playing in the background, and before it’s over he takes off his glasses, and takes off his shirt, and the last image we see is the Superman shield. When it all comes down do it, the finale of Smallville was satisfying. Not all of our expectations were met, but they did the best with what they had. My favorite part was the last two minutes of the show.

I give the series finale eight out of ten. I want to take this opportunity to say that it has been a great six years for me watching this show. There are so many special memories that I will always carry with me for the rest of my life. I want to say to all the cast and crew members, thank you for giving us one of the best shows of all time. It was an incredible journey, and it will be talked about for years to come. What did you think of the finale? Was it the total package? Was it a disappointment? What are your favorite moments from Smallville? Send us an e-mail and let your voice be heard.

Johnny Depp is back as the goofy but lovable Captain Jack Sparrow in the exciting new chapter “On Stranger Tides”

Many years ago when people at the Walt Disney studios were thinking of material to use to make a movie, they decided to use material based on attractions from the Disneyland theme park. Since then they have done three attempts. The first and third attempts were not successful as they were not good films. But the second attempt quickly became one of the most popular films of all time. It also created a character that is now a huge icon in the world of pop culture. Since it’s premiere in 2003, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, pretty much wrote the rules on how to make a film out a theme park ride. All you have to do is make sure you have a good story and great characters, that is what will ensure the movies success. Since then we have had two more Pirates come out. Dead Man’s Chest in 2006 and At World’s End in 2007. Now we have a fourth chapter in the franchise and honestly this is the sequel that a lot of people have been waiting for for a lot of reasons.

On Stranger Tides picks up roughly a while from where At World’s End left off. Jack Sparrow is now on a quest to find the mystical fountain of youth. After he narrowly escapes capture in London, he crosses pathes with a woman named Angelica (Penelope Cruz). Angelica is evidently is an old girlfriend of Jack’s. As it turns out she is also on a quest to find the fountain but Sparrow wants to find it without her help. She manages to get him onboard her ship the Queen Anne’s Revenge, which is controlled by her father and the main villian Edward Teach aka Blackbeard (Ian McShane). To further complicate things Sparrow’s old adversary Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), who has switched sides from pirate to a “king’s man”, is also following him to the fountain with a different agenda.

I said before that a lot of people have been waiting for this film for a number of reasons. The main reason is that a lot of people were divided in regards to their reactions with the last two films. Mostly the third film for that matter. Now I can agree with some of the issues with the third film. At World’s End had problems with the plot. In other words the story kept wandering in too many directions and created too many needless subplots that in the long run made the film suffer a bit. But with that being said, I personally enjoyed At World’s End. It may not be my favorite but it was still a good movie. But in the case of this film, that is something no one needs to worry about because there is none of that here at all. The story in this movie is so simple to understand and follow and there are no needless subplots.

With that being said, my overall reaction to On Stranger Tides is simply this. I LOVED IT. Here is why. First of all the film is pure adreneline fun. It’s pretty much non-stop from the first frame and it immediately hooks you. Also they have added the use of 3D and it actually works well. Mostly because the film was shot in 3D, which makes it even better. Secondly it’s loaded with all of the witty and humoruous lines and actions that I think that we all loved about in the first film. Thirdly and this is my favorite, there are three great cameo appearances that bring some huge laughs. Keith Richards makes a welcome return as Jack’s father Captain Teague. Richard Griffiths makes a small but funny appearance as King George. Last but not least Judi Dench has the best cameo appearance during the opening scene where Jack is making an escape through the streets of London. And last to sum everything up in short, On Stranger Tides is an exciting and thrilling new chapter in the franchise. I would rank it in between the second film and the third film in terms of being better. No question On Stranger Tides is definately way better than At World’s End. Also it had great use of 3D and it comes out amazingly superb. All in all On Stranger Tides is a very worthy sequel that brings back all that pirate magic that a lot of people have been waiting for. Well here it is, so go a theater and buy a ticket, sit down, put on those IMAX 3D or RealD 3D glasses, and have a ball.

Paul Bettany is out to kill vampires in “Priest”

Paul Bettany is quickly becoming your go to actor for a role that is based in a religious setting. He has played Charles Darwin in an independent film called Creation. In the blockbuster film The Da Vinci Code, he plays a monk who is doing the murderous deeds of the Catholic Church. Recently in a film called Legion, he plays Michael the Archangel, who is out to save humanity from God’s wrath. Now he plays a priest of the church who is fighting in a war between men and vampires. He has no name, hence why he is only called Priest.

This film takes us into an alternate world which has been ravaged by centuries of warfare between men and vampires. This army of vampires are not the usual human like that we are used to seeing. They are CGI created creatures that drool slime and can rip your apart in the blink of an eye. Priest picks up during a time when the war is in period of peace, in other words no one on either side is fighting. The remaining humans in the world have been brought together to live in these cities that are built inside of a wall and are controlled by the church. The church has also grounded all of their warrior priests and have stripped them of there powers. The priests are forced to take a vow that strictly forbids them from taking up their powers again to fight vampires. But when vampires kidnap Priest’s niece, he must take up his powers and fight the vampires in order to save her life. Little does he know that he is going up against an army that is led by Black Hat (Karl Urban), who is an old friend from Priest’s past.

The movie at its best is strictly fun entertainment. It is a good summer movie that offers good action, good characters, and good dialogue. However that does not exclude the biggestv problem that the film suffers a little bit from. Now granted that it is not much but still it is noting what can be done to make the film better. The problem that Priest has is that it felt a little too rushed. Basically they delivered everything at a fast pace but they could have used more. What they could have used was a little more character development and more story. Mostly because a little more story would better explain the characters reasons behind what they do and what are the reasons for there actions. The overall story would have been a lot better to understand if they took the time to explain why the church want everybody to forget the war or why they want everybody to believe that the war is over, when as we come to find out that it is far from that. That was my biggest concern with the film. I felt that it could have used more story to really enhance the plot a little more.

Other than that it was a fun movie. As said it is a good and entertaining summer movie that holds your attention and keeps your thrilled. Paul Bettany is quickly becoming one of best action stars and he really delivers here. Plus he is surrounded with a great supporting cast that executes their roles to absolute realism. The entertainment value of this movie really makes it sure winner at least on terms of getting your adreneline going. But one note on the 3D aspect of it, it was good for some scenes but overall it was unnecessary in the long run. Priest is a good movie but does have a few issues that can be worked out. Who knows maybe it will when the DVD comes out and we get an unrated extended cut, we will have to wait and see.

The build-up to Marvel’s big hero clash continues with the exciting “Thor”

You are driving through the desert in New Mexico when suddenly an unexplainable occurance happens in the sky. A tornado like shape touches the ground as you are about to drive right through it. All of a sudden a man appears out of nowhere in front of you and you only glaze him with the side of your car. Seems like a bit of wrong place, wrong time right? Well what if that man tells you that he is from another world and then his world comes down from the sky and starts wreaking havoc. Does it sound like something out of science fiction novel? No, it is the plot for Marvel’s newest comic book adapted film “Thor”.

Austrailan actor Chris Hemsworth plays Thor, aka the God of Thunder, who is about to be crowned king in his home realm of Asgard. Their greatest enemy called the frost giants, which inhabit a neighboring realm called Jotunheim, have breached the boundaries of thier worlds and attempt to retrieve the source of their power. The source is called the Casket of Ancient Winters, which was taken from them during a time of war from the then Asgard King Odin (Anthony Hopkins) who is also Thor’s father. While unsuccessful in their attempt, Thor decides to attack them on their homefront. The attack is unsuccessful as Odin steps in to prevent the giants from killing Thor and his companions. It is here that Thor exhibits his full arrogance and utter disregard for anybody but himself. Odin then strips him of all his powers and takes away his source, a hammer called Mjoinir. He then is cast out of Asgard and sent to earth, where he meets Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) her assistant Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), and mentor Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard). The only way that Thor can become who he was born to be is to prove to his father that he is worthy to be the king.

The main key to the success of this film is the direction from British director and also actor Kenneth Branagh. Branagh is very much new to directing a big budget summer blockbuster or for that matter a comic book film. Up until now his directing resume includes a four version of Hamlet and an adaptation of Frankenstein, both of which he also starred in. The flavor that Branagh brings to the picture is that key term that is very evident on past comic book films like the 1978 Superman film and the recent two Batman films. The term in this instance is called “verisimilitude” The meaning refers to the quality of realism, in other words how real is what is happening either on screen or on paper. In terms of Thor, the question is how realistic that story and characters are being protrayed. The answer is that everything in the film is grounded in realism. The characters are each taken out of the comic book and transformed into three dimensional people who you can relate to and sympathize with. And Branagh gives everything a bit of a Shakespeare touch that really ignites the film. On everything from the dialogue to the scenery. The spoken dialogue on Asgard is very pseudo Shakespearan. The best example of three dimensional characters is watching how the relationship between Thor and Odin evolves throughout the picture. From being a king announcing his heir to the throne, to a king angry at his son and stripping him of everything, and finally a father and son who understand each other and have a meeting of the minds. This is why the film does not take itself seriously. Otherwise if it did it would have been just another comic book showcase of action that goes nowhere.

That is one of the key elements that makes this movie a huge success. Of course when all is said and done the movie itself is a sure winner. This new addition to the Marvel cinematic universe pretty much exceeded my expectations. In the long run it turned out way better than I was expecting it to. The film is loads of fun and is simply two hours of edge of your seat exciting entertainment. Chris Hemsworth is one of Hollywood’s best new stars. He does with this role what Christopher Reeve did with Superman, make it his own and believeable. The rest of the supporting cast, Portman, Hopkins, Skarsgard, are all greatly cast in their roles as well. My only problem with it was the 3D aspect of it. I saw it in the IMAX 3D format. I personally think that this movie could have done without the 3D mostly because there really was nothing 3D about it. I mean the 3D does not ruin the movie by any means at all. I just don’t think that it was necessary. But you can make the call on the 3D thing, do you think it was worth the 3D or not, you can send me your thoughts. But other than that, Thor, is one of this years biggest surprises if not one of this summer’s surprises. As mentioned before it is loads of fun and it has a great sense of humor. It is probably one of the best comic book adaptations that I have seen since The Dark Knight. But also the main key to success is that it does not take itself seriously. The main purpose of the story is to be entertaining not to be a huge showcase. Thor pulls it off that way it should.