Joe liked it (and if you haven’t seen the movie, his review doesn’t have spoilers):

Stark has always been a rather complex creation - smug, indifferent and rakish - until he decides to take his Iron Man creation into the world as a force for fighting “injustice”, a fight which almost casts him as an anti-war, anti-corporate kind of liberal hippie. But he isn’t. He loves technology, but he is also seeking a balance of power. As with Spiderman and the X-Men, Marvel’s heroes are touched with an anti-authoritarian streak which makes them far more interesting than most comic heroes.

Cathy also weighs in

The comic book geeks of yesterday are today’s movie audience. Instead of being the oddballs who wore pointy ears instead of playing sports, we are being wooed by movie studios. They pull us in with the nostalgia of familiar characters, but they capture us by making the stories about our mid-life anxieties. The fuzzy line between the good guys and the bad guys, the flawed and damaged characters and the absence of easy plot resolutions all make the fictional superheroes completely real. Comic book movies are a flight of fantasy and a visit to the therapist’s couch all at the same time. The previews were unmemorable except for one. I had goosebumps during the preview for The Dark Knight. I love summer movie season.

And Mike Hammock also says he dug it but he had a couple of issues with it (Spoilers galore here if you haven’t seen it. You have been warned.)

There were, however, a couple things that bothered me about Iron Man. I know, I’m supposed to suspend my disbelief in a film like this (I mean, the guy can apparently fly without any sort of chemical propulsion source–no rockets, no jets, just little white lights), but these things still irk me (they did not bother my fellow viewers)

I’m just going to step back from all the stories of what’s wrong with (insert issue here) and remind everyone of some good news.

Summer movie season starts today.

Special showings of Iron Man begin tonight and the movie kicks it up into high gear this weekend with a whole bunch of movies that look like a whole lot of fun.

So just for a few minutes, mute the inner movie-snob, grab some popcorn and just enjoy a few hours of escapist fun.  Surely with the plethora of films coming out this summer, there has to be something you’re looking forward to….

I saw Ben Stein’s Expelled last night and there’s one question that noone will answer for me . . . do you have to have bad teeth to be a PhD?  But seriously . . .

They’re discussing it (the movie) over at TennesseeFree.com.

The BearCreekLedger has seen the movie, too.

The movie’s thesis is that there are legitimate questions about Darwinism, but scientists are not allowed to ask those questions because some people are threatened by certain potential answers to the questions. Tsk, tsk.

If you have a tween, you may be in for some begging and a heap of trouble.

Disney is not only bringing the making of the Hannah Montana movie to Nashville, but it is also looking for local people to take part in the filming.

Extras are needed to be background actors in the motion picture movie starring 15-year-old pop sensation Miley Cyrus. An open casting call will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 6 at Sommet Center, 501 Broadway.

See the Tennessean for more. 

I love new blogs that present themselves to me in a new and offbeat way. As I am a huge fan of the horror genre, Chez Bez alerted my attention to the Full Moon Tattoo and Horror Festival that is set for March 21 and 22 at the Airport Marriot.

Over at my place, Corey left a link to his blog, which should have been on my radar but wasn’t (I’m a bad Newscoma) called WebbSpun Ideas. As I was perusing around over there, I noticed that he is very comprehensive on things that are going on in the Nashville area. Not only does he talk about the festival (led by Ben Dixon of Lone Wolf and writer/director of horror films in his own right. Sort of the Rob Zombie of Nashville) Corey also links to other events.

He calls himself the Ambassador of Nashville. I think he’s on to something there.

So check out Webbspun Ideas and, for those of you who are like I am, take note that during that weekend, George Romero is going to be in Nashville screening “Diary of the Dead” at the Belcourt at two midnight showings.

And, yes, I will be there.

If you’ve been following the video war between Jimmy Kimmel and girlfriend Sarah Silverman, and especially if you’re a Kevin Smith fan, you’ll like this.

Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogan are starring in the newest Smith film and are following up the much talked about Matt Damon/Ben Affleck videos with a raunchy version that can only come from this crew.  Watch for a cameo from my future ex-husband Jason Mewes.

Of course, “Kevin Smith” is code for extremely salty language, and while the Kimmel and Silverman videos have any curse words bleeped out, the third one is definitely NSFW.

Dang, a lot of you guys watched the Academy Awards last night. Glad you’re blogging about it today. I caught about five minutes of the show, and it looks like there was a lot to miss. Some highlights:

On the fashion (or lack thereof):
”Oh, I’m going to the Oscars….I just don’t have time to fix my hair.” - Sista Smiff

On the host:
I’ve been fed audio of Jon Stewart’s jokes from last night. Not bad. He’s better than Chris Rock or Whoopi. Or Letterman. But not Billy Crystal. - Frank at Left of the Dial

On an omission:
Break out the kleenex, here comes the Memorial. WTF? They left out Brad Renfro! - Connielane

On the best screenplay winner:
Yay to someone who is outside the Hollywood norm. Yay to a movie that doesn’t pander to the lowest common denominator (sorry Norbit). - Squirrel Queen

On Helen Mirren:
Its an adjective-fest with the Queen. And again, like half of her dress is made of diamonds. How many Africans are dead so that our movie stars can be sparkly? - Justin at Growing Up

On not having to take advantage of the time delay:
There was only one surprise, and that was Michael Moore did NOT win best documentary for ‘Sicko.’ There were no wardrobe malfunctions, no political speeches, and not even one f***. In other words, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. - Sharon Cobb

Nathan and Joshua Blankenship both wrote about the winning song Falling Slowly from Once. VH1 has been playing this video every morning. Now I know why.

I’d like to invite any interested party to participate in predicting the Oscars. This year, I’ve actually seen many of the nominated films and performances, and I’m willing to predict categories in which I’ve seen, as Bob Dylan once said, ‘less than zero’.

Supporting Actor: Easy..easy easy..Javier Bardem, ‘No Country for Old Me Probably the easiest prediction of the night to get right..

Supporting Actress: Ruby Dee might win this because of her historical importance, but I think the winner will by Amy Ryan for ‘Gone Baby Gone‘ Wow..Tilda Swinton. Didn’t see that coming. She was great, but I thought Amy Ryan was better.

Best Actor: Once again, very easy - Daniel Day-Lewis, for ‘There Will be Blood‘, even though Phillip Seymour Hoffman in just about anything is the best actor going right now, imo. Bingo!

Best Actress: Upset Special - Marion Cotillard for ‘La Vie en Rose’. Julie Christie and Ellen Page will split a lot of votes, and Laura Linney will pull some attention as well. Personally, I’d just give Linney an Oscar pretty much every time she makes a movie. ‘The Savages‘ was brilliant. Bingo!!

Best Song: ‘Falling Slowly‘ from ‘Once‘. This is probably my heart picking over my head, but ‘Once’ is probably one of my two or three favorite movies of the year, and this song just soars. YESYESYES…whoohoooo

Best Director: Whichever Coen brother directed ‘No Country for Old Men’. I guess they both did..bingo!

Best Original Screenplay: ‘Juno’, although ‘The Savages’ and ‘Michael Clayton‘ are incredibly worthy contenders. Bingo!

Best Adapted Screenplay: I think they’ll give this one to ‘Atonement‘. The book was better than the movie, and ‘There Will be Blood’ and ‘No Country for Old Men’ will win a lot of other stuff. Missed again…this looks like a Coen brothers’ night.

Best Film Editing: ‘Bourne Ultimatum‘. Amazing editing in that film. One of the best fight/flight sequences in any action film I’ve ever seen. Bingo!

Best Costume Design: ‘Sweeney Todd‘. I think even Oscar voters are sick of Elizabethan costume pieces winning this category. Whoooops…I totally missed that one

Best Cinematography: “There Will be Blood’. Lighting in this one is simply trans-formative. Bingo!

Animated Feature Film: ‘Ratatouille‘, even thought ‘Persepolis’ is a stronger deeper film. Gotta say though, ‘Ratatouille’ was delightful. Bingo…

Best Foreign Film: I’ve got no bleedin’ idea.

Best Film: “No Country for Old Men’. The landscape fit the story better than nearly any movie outside of ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’.   Bingo!

Feel free to comment and ‘correct’ my predictions. I’ll be happy to feature/co-mingle YOUR predictions with mine.

Update: Special Oscar already presented…viya con carne’

This is important. This means something. Today the teaser trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released, and this just happens to be my favorite Valentine ever:

I’d say maybe I’m destined to spend my Valentine’s Day writing sweet nothings on my eyelids and fluttering them at Indy, but he’s starting to look like my grandpa. It’d feel a little incestuous. I’m pretty sure Shia LeBeouf’s of age, and he doesn’t look anything like my grandpa. Problem solved.

The released cast list includes Cate Blanchett AKA She Who Can Do No Wrong, and Jim Broadbent AKA Frank Butterman from Hot Fuzz, but sadly, no mention of Sean Connery AKA Hottest Scot Before Desmond Hume. Even without him, I’ll brave the theater at Shopry Mills to see this one in May.

High quality trailer here. Site has sound. Kind of loud sound, at that.

I was pretty surprised at my own response to the death of Heath Ledger today. Just like Newscoma, I found out by Jag breaking the news on Twitter. I wasn’t a huge fan of his, but his work on “Brokeback Mountain” had a lasting impact on me — because, well, the subject matter of that movie is quite personal to my own journey.

Anyway, this sad event has definitely affected many of you as well, so I thought it would be good to highlight some of your responses:

Liz at Dancingfoe:

I can’t believe that Heath Ledger is dead. I mean, he’s one of the last actors I would expect to die so young from an apparent overdose, and on the heels of Brad Renfro’s overdose. I could believe it if it had happened to someone like Britney Spears, or Amy Winehouse, but not such a quiet, seemingly “normal” person such as Heath. I don’t think I’ll be able to see The Dark Knight now…

…I’m sure this post is just echoing the sentiment of hundreds of others, but I felt like commenting on it anyway.

What’s Alan Watching?:

I don’t ordinarily get into celebrity news (gossip or otherwise), but the unexpected death of Heath Ledger (only 28, and with a two-year-old daughter), on the day that the Associated Press had to defend the practice of preparing obituaries for at-risk celebrities under 30, is very strange, and very sad…

…Life is weird — and, for some, far too short.

Katie Allison Granju:

That makes two amazingly talented young American actors dead in a single week - both Brad Renfro’s death and now Heath Ledger’s appear to be drug-related.

Addiction is one hell of a terrible disease.

Randy Elrod at Ethos:

Ledger leaves behind a two-year-old daughter with former fiancée Michelle Williams.

Our prayers are with his family and friends.

The Seeking Pastor:

What I’m wondering is this—How long will it be before some right-wing nut calls his death divine punishment for Ledger playing a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain?

Holly:

I’m just sick about this…

…He wasn’t one that automatically got me into the theater usually, but I had come to really respect the actor he was turning out to be.

Indeed, I had come to appreciate his representation of my generation’s talent. We were born the same year.

My best to his little girl and all who loved him as a person.

More from Newscoma:

I feel all of my age this morning because the first thing I thought of was it’s sad that this kid had to die. But young people die everyday. They die in war, they die in reckless car crashes, they die from disease. But they are not famous they are just our people and we mourn.

And for some reason, we are connected with the instant loss of life because I think it targets some of our most primal fears. And for the news industry, the other stories take the bottom fold because people want to know about the world of celebrity and watch from a safe distance. That includes me, I assure you.

Kathy T:

Man, I can’t even begin to describe how sad that makes me for his family and friends. I know what it’s like hearing about a friend being found dead next to his bed. And then worrying that the cause of death could’ve been due to drugs. Even the relief we felt when we we heard that he died of natural causes was weird because he was still gone.

The Vol Abroad:

Both the Vol-in-Law and I reacted a little more strongly to the death of Heath Ledger than we would have thought. It’s not like we were big fans. It’s not like we even go to the movies. But it did seem a little shocking.

Ron:

I know I was one of many people to dismiss him when he was cast in the role, thanks in no small part to the six months of awful “Brokeback Moutain” jokes I had to endure. However, the more I saw Ledger in the Joker makeup, and the more I heard him deliver The Joker’s lines, the more I warmed up to him. I think this trailer below is what finally made me stop with all the reservations and be finally, truly excited about the man behind the makeup.

RIP, Heath.

sadcox:

Why is it that the death of an actor is able to top just about any other story with such ease? Why is so easy for us to obsess with the life of celebrities and so hard for us to concern ourselves with things that affect our own lives? Why?

I’m not casting stones here–I do it too.

Eric from A Pound of Thoughts:

And a final word to those who say they don’t care about this death, and ask “What about our troops?” “What about all the others that are dying?” Yes, I agree more stories should be told regarding true American heroes that die everyday. However, you must realize that the publicity from Heath Ledger’s death, while definitely tragic, may help to bring to light the dangers in relying on drugs to assist with anything, especially going to sleep. Care must be taken in using them, and you never know what might make those who depend on sleeping pills aware of these dangers.

Cheryl from Richardson Zoo:

It’s such a shame. He was SO young, with so much life ahead of him. Casey was just as shocked as I was. I’m not really into following the entertainment fluff that much, but he seemed so under the radar. You never really heard much negative press about him.

Sharon Cobb:

I didn’t know Heath Ledger personally, but I remember the extremely classy and sensitive answer he gave when he was constantly being asked by the media what it was like for him being a straight man and having to kiss another guy in ‘Brokeback Mountain.’

Heath’s reply was,”It’s not like I’m kissing dirt. I’m kissing another human being. I’m kissing someone with a soul.”

That pretty much told me all I needed to know about Heath Ledger. He saw the humanity in all, and more importantly, the recognition of the soul.

Rest in peace.

In case you missed it, the much-anticipated Cloverfield opens this weekend. It’s been interesting to hear the speculation of just what the movie is about since the trailer hit theaters last summer, though part of me wonders if it can live up to the hype. Newscoma went to see it today and talks about it. She does warn you that she gives aways SPOILERS so read at your own risk…

For me, the real excitement about Cloverfield is the teaser trailer for the movie event of the year, the new Star Trek film. A really low quality version of it turned up on YouTube and, of course, I watched it. Spartickes saw it and has this to say:

I’ve never watched an episode of any iteration of Star Trek. I have watched the first movie (or more correctly Motion Picture), but haven’t gotten into any of the mythos of the series (serii?) at all.

That being said, I got damn goosebumps watching the trailer for the upcoming J.J. Abrams version.

I have to admit I can’t have seen at least one episode of classic Trek. It should be taught in schools as required viewing. It’s just part of our cultural identity.

That said, I have to admit that I waver between pathologically excited and extremely wary for this film. I’ve heard details of the plot of the film and have to admit I’ve got some reservations about it. And you know, I hate to say it but you just can’t have a classic Trek film without Shatner. It’s just wrong. I am hoping all this “Shatner isn’t it” stuff is just hype and misdirection so I can weep like a girlie-man when he does come on screen.

Oh and Sparticles, if you only saw TMP, you really need to put Wrath of Khan in your Netflix queue at the top immediately…..BEST..MOVIE…EVER!

One of the things I liked most about Brittney and NiT was that she scoured the web and culled all the wheat from the chaff so I didn’t have to. It’s regrettable that I no longer have my personal web culler (hmm…suddenly, I want a cruller) and I feel like there’s a lot out there I’m missing. And a lot more that I’m wasting time by reading.

Anyhoo, in that spirit, I thought I’d point you guys to a couple of things that came through my feed reader today that made me laugh. Both are potentially offensive yet neither has anything directly to do with politics! My apologies in advance to the rainbows and unicorns subscribers.

First, Short and Fat makes some observations about a particular segment of our population. These people can generally be found huddled tightly together for heat or near building entrances this time of year, but are likely enjoying the heck out of today’s balmy temperature. See if you agree with S&F’s observations opinions.

Second, there’s this nifty little site called vegweb.com. The feed I get from the site usually has recipes or comments about veg-friendly products. But earlier today, a member decided to post a comment to the group that she didn’t understand how “Juno,” a movie about teen pregnancy could be funny. The first person to try to explain it to the OP had this comment, which is my gift to you today:

In America anything is fair game as long as it makes money. If Hollywood could turn a profit by making a zany comedy about all the “hilarious blunders” the Nazis made trying to perfect extermination methods in the Holocaust they would do it. I can see it now- “Ferris Himmler’s Day Off”.

That’s for all of you who think we vegetarians are a completely humorless bunch.

John is enjoying a little holiday spirits, while catching up on some movie watching. He has offered his opinion on one of those movies, “The Pursuit of Happyness“.

Great film, but what’s bugging me is I’m seem to remember some mumblings about it being a good pro-conservative-values film.

Perhaps John is referring to posts like this one from Mark Rose last May.

After asking us if we are intercoursing kidding him, he goes on to say.

OK, so an extraordinary person graced with extraordinary intelligence and extraordinary perseverance can beat the odds in a game extraordinarily stacked against him — and this somehow justifies the game, and its odds?Please.

Well John, I appreciate your optimism and faith in human beings, but let me explain to you why this movie is loved by conservatives. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s not Nashville-related, but Nerve magazine has compiled a list of the top 20 viral videos of 2007. Among them are some you’ve probably seen, such as “Obama Girl,” Miss South Carolina, and that overwrought “leave Britney alone” business. However, there were quite a few I hadn’t seen, so I thought I’d share. I’m a fan of the Potter Puppet Pals myself, but not so much the video Nerve selected. Whatever you do, don’t go looking for the “2 Girls 1 Cup” video they mention - even Nerve, a sex magazine, wouldn’t link to it.

For a Nashville-centric video, see Rob Briley DUI Arrest parts 1 and 2, mentioned in the current Scene edition’s Boner Awards, and provided on YouTube courtesy of Kleinheider.

Remember all the fuss about The Golden Compass? Well, a local rightie and religious guy went to see the controversial film, and has reported back with his findings.

What in heaven’s name is there in this film to object to? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a good boycott when it’s needed. I’m even a multi-task capable boycotter. I stayed away from all things French until they recently elected Sarkozy as their President. All of that while maintaining my years long commitment to not see ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ or ‘Brokeback Mountain’. My family homeschools our 5 children and none of them has ever spent even 30 seconds in a public school as a student. I can do Politics, Religion and even toss in Education and not even break a sweat. … Most atheists, once having come to the conclusion He does not, become just as dogmatic in defense of their untenable conclusion as any Christian is of the premise that He does. I suspect Pullman falls into this group. At its root, atheism is as “religious”, as “Christian”, a position as any other addition of men to the revelation of God. As such, it’s doomed to the same inglorious end at His glorious appearing.

Thinking God’s existence is a bit too settled a matter to be called into question because a writer penned a scene that ends “… this is where I kill God” …

He’s got a lot of detail over at his blog about the movie and the books–which he is now reading. Frankly, I read the books and didn’t like them because they are dark and depressing. The God stuff bothers me not one jot.

(Not sure if I can say “dammit” on this blog…)

Short & Fat is talking about one of my favourite subjects–copyright.

Specifically:

Over at Gizmodo, they’re discussing the illegality of ripping your own CDs for use on your iPod or (in my case, SanDisk MP3 player).

I personally think I’m morally correct to rip music I have paid for.

I personally agree. I gather, however, that there is a difference of opinion on the matter.

Ever since I got cable, one of my favourite Christmas traditions is the overindulgence in Lifetime Christmas Movies. Is there anything more wonderful than the tale of a divorced/widowed/confirmed bachelorette who is cynical/losing her home/up for a promotion/dying of some vague illness that robs her of life yet only makes her look a little pale and who then finds true love, lots of money and real happiness at the holidays? No, no there isn’t.

I thought I was mostly alone in this–either alone in the enjoyment of these movies or alone in admitting it. But I guess not.

I want a nice Christmas. I usually am all Bah-Humbug, go screw yourself Santa and that damned sleigh you rode in on, but this year, I decided to do something different.

I decided to get over myself.

Now, I may be going overboard, but I even watched bad Christmas movies yesterday on Lifetime.

Of course, she didn’t seem to love them the same way I do, but them’s the breaks. Maybe it’s the kind of thing–like vegamite–that you just have to get used to.

The first of the three-part mini-series on the Sci-Fi Channel, “Tin Man”, aired last night and I had some thoughts to share about it.

First, it is far and away one of the best-looking and best-produced shows the channel has put together, as opposed to some of their ultra-silly ‘original movies’ which wallow in cheapness.

“Tin Man” boasts some major acting talents - Zooey Deschanel as Dorothy, Alan Cumming as a sort of brainless scarecrow and a doped-up Wizard played by Richard Dreyfuss. And while MGM’s musical-fantasy may be a tehcnicolor favorite for many, this new version provides an interpretation more grounded in literary fantasy. Some may say the show cribs a bit too much from other movies like “Lord of the Rings” or “Star Wars” or “Narnia.” I liked the way the movie merges with current culture.

But I was quite surprised that I was compelled with watching the “Tin Man” debut and was fascinated with this version of Oz (called ‘The O.Z” or Outer Zone) here. It smacked of the dual realities of Stephen King or Kubrick’s “A.I.” The best fairy tales should be a bit frightening, shouldn’t they?

So yes, there is a hard grim quality to this Oz which I found fascinating, despite all the familiar good-vs-evil tropes typically found in current cinema. I doubt anyone in this version will ever pine for life Over The Rainbow, but so far the mini-series is a most imaginative re-invention.

After J. Michael Strazynski hooked up two strong female characters on Babylon 5, all the cool kids have been imitating his lead. The Hot Girl On Girl In Zero Gravity seems to be a sort of fanboy holdover descended from kinky AD&D weekends and Boris Vallejo calendars.

That’s why I rolled my eyes at the Big Revelation in last Saturday’s BSG: Razor. Oh good. More straight men fantasising about space lesbians. Razor pretty much cemented my growing opinion that as wonderful as the reboot of Battlestar Galactica has been over the past few years, it has a strong streak of mysogyny which is pretty undeniable. The authors of the show seem to have rewritten the popular Bible verse. Instead of the love of money being the root of all evil, it is now the love of women.

Of course, other people have other opinions on the movie.
Big Orange Michael

or the past couple of days, I’ve been trying to figure out if I liked “Razor” because it was a really cool two-hour episode of one of my favorite TV shows or if it’s just that it’s been so long since we had any new Galactica that you could have shown “Black Market” and I’d have loved every last second of it.

Honestly, I think it’s a litle of both. Yes, “Razor” was pretty darn good, but I think the fact that it’s the first new Galactica since March also played into it.

Alan Sepinwall

If it seems like I’m being a harsh critic, it’s because I hold “Galactica,” like “Friday Night Lights” and “The Wire” and a handful of other great series, to a higher standard. Did I enjoy “Razor”? Absolutely. Was I grateful to get a taste of the series during the long hiatus? You bet. But was it as great as it could have been, given the personnel involved and their track record? I don’t think so.

The striking writers resumed talk yesterday with the producers in Hollywood, and several blogs are reporting good (rumourish) news.

But here goes: a very reliable source tells me that there appears to be a deal seemingly in place between both sides.

“It’s already done, basically,” the insider describes. That’s because of the weeks worth of groundwork by the Hollywood agents working the writers guild leadership on one side, and the studio and network moguls on the other. I was told not to expect an agreement this week. But my source thought it was possible that the strike could be settled before Christmas.

Blue Collar Muse has been nipped by a titillating observation.

[S]mack dab in the middle of the movie, for no purpose necessary to the plot or scene, a woman sashays across the screen topless. The purpose of the walk seems to be to set up the line “It’s not polite to stare.” A moment later she walks back across the room, this time to introduce the line, “Get dressed, we’re going to dinner.” In a final scene a few minutes later, she tries to seduce the protagonist and straddles him topless.

Discussing the movie on the way home, The Redhead and I couldn’t talk about anything other than why the moviemakers chose to include those three scenes. There was simply no need to include the first two and a dozen ways to have portrayed the final scene that didn’t involve nudity. Our final conclusion as to their motivation for using the footage? Because they can!

I have not been up on my blog reading like I should.

And I missed this…

Tell me, who has just been cast in an independent film about vampires and vampire hunters that films next month here in town? WHO?

Absolutely AWESOME!

Go find out who the belle of the bloodball is.

As we look for the Alka Seltzer this morning, dealing with the hangover of too many carbs, lots of family and staring idly at what we know is going to be “Turkey 24/7″ for about the next three days, let’s talk about Tennessee which is vying for some Hollywood dough.

I have a tween niece, so the “Hannah Montana” phenom is not new to me, and Billy Ray Cyrus has an idea that includes making a film here in the Volunteer State.

Singer Billy Ray Cyrus wants his daughter’s upcoming “Hannah Montana” film to be shot in Tennessee but state officials say they might not be able to offer the producers enough financial incentives.

snip

Perry Gibson, executive director of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission, said the state could benefit from having the movie shot locally.

“It would mean a real impact on tourism and it would be a family-friendly film that would come to the state,” she said.

But Tennessee is limited in what incentives it can offer, she said.

With this said, the whole “Hannah Montana” celebrity seems to make 8-year-old girls weak with Beatlesque passion. Do you think that Tennessee can get the movie?

From Big Stupid Tommy, we have a pop culture question on if you’ve ever got up and left a movie because it sucked or did you actually sit through the whole thing weeping tears of revulsion and disbelief:

I’ll preface this by saying that I have walked out of movies. But, given that I live a half-hour from a decent theater, it’s usually an excursion to go see a flick. That doesn’t mean I’ll sit through it if it’s a complete turd, but I’ll give it more of a try. Still, the walkout that comes to mind most recently: My Super Ex-Girlfriend;

My answer for the worst movie I’ve paid to see in a theater and sat through? It’s a tie.

The first is Blues Brothers 2000. I love the original. Took a date to see it, in what was easily the worst date of my life, probably hers; it may be in the running for worst date in human history that did not end in one or both parties dead. The movie? Takes every positive quality from the original flick, and disregards it completely. Dan Aykroyd has yet to redeem himself, in my eyes. My date did not enjoy it. Neither did eye, but each of us thought the other was loving it, so we didn’t say anything.

The second? League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which I saw with the Evil Hippy.

I’d have to say that I walked out on Xanadu although I love me some Gene Kelly and I really didn’t like Titanic which I didn’t pay to see but still was not one of my favorites although the rats running off the ship was cool. I think most certainly I’d of cut bait on it (Ducks and Runs from Titanic lovers. Please forgive me ahead of time and no throwing things at me as I’m delicate.)

Squirrel Queen has already told me that her movie is “Pay it Forward.” Do not mention this movie to her as she gets really violent about it.

There’s a big discussion brewing over at Connie Lane’s about the casting for Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince.

I was never attached enough to the character of Lavender Brown to begin with to give much thought about what she looked like. And I certainly was not scouring the movie or the film credits to see who played her. Jennifer Smith was in one movie, in a non-speaking role, and even if I *had* known who she was, I’d have known they would cast someone else for HBP. Lavender’s role becomes more important in HBP, so it makes total sense that they would have different casting criteria for her now than they did five years ago when they were just looking for faces to fill out the crowd and didn’t even know what kind of part she’d play in the events of HBP.

The big deal is this: Jennifer Smith, who played the role of Lavender Brown in Prisoner of Azkaban was black. Until the Half-Blood Prince book came out, many people assumed that Lavender Brown was pretty much a literary “extra” and would have no larger part to play. Then in HBP she and Ron have a passionate affair. Now that the character has a larger role, she’s been recast. And this time the actress is white. (The books never clearly mention her skin colour, although there is a passage in HBP that says Harry couldn’t tell where Ron’s arms ended and Lavender’s began because they were always entertwined. Many have assumed this denotes they are the same skin colour.)

So, is the new casting racist?