The Screening Room

Brace yourself is right. Bruno, Sacha Baron Cohen's latest entry in guerilla filmmaking, arrives in theaters July 10. As I have written about before (in this story), Baron Cohen came here a year ago and filmed scenes at an office park in Carrollton. He lured in the unsuspecting by having his production team recruit audience members for a new TV talk show on family values. What ensued was pretty wild. You can read more about it on Sunday, when I offer my latest on Bruno's escapades (and how he offended a whole bunch of local people). I just got back from Baron Cohen's native London, where he is wildly popular. Mention his name at a pub and they start telling their favorite stories from Da Ali G Show, especially the one where he duped soccer star David Beckham and his wife, ex-Spice Girl Victoria Beckham. As Mike Bell, the colorful owner of Portobello Gold in Notting Hill, London's best pub-hotel, told me, he thinks Baron Cohen is "brilliant." My own favorites were his Da Ali G Show interviews with former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Bruno is apparently so wild that in England, it got an 18 rating, meaning that no one under 18 can get in to see it. Period. You can read about that in this story.

Photo: The one and only Sacha Baron Cohen

The good people at Austin360.com have put together a cool look at Johnny Depp's roles through the years. Starting in 1984, the slideshow includes all the goodies from his start in Nightmare on Elm Street to this week's Public Enemies.

While I am *always* happy to look Mr. Depp, I'm struck by both how very timeless he is (he looks like only a few years pass in the past 25) as well as the broad range of his roles: from romance (Chocolat) to weird indie (Ed Wood) to crowd-pleasing Hollywood blockbuster (Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy).

(Click the image to view.)

Johnny Depp returns to the big screen today as larger-then-life gangster, John Dillinger. Rounding out the cast: Academy Award winning actress Marion Cotillard and Christian Bale.

Read the review and get showtimes for Public Enemies.

Also hitting theaters today is Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 3D and plain old fashioned 2D. The animated gang is back with the voices of Denis Leary, Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Simon Pegg, Queen Latifah.

Read the review and get showtimes for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. | Get 3D showtimes.

It may be Too Darn Hot in the rest of Dallas, but Hawaiian Falls is going to cool way down with two tons of ice dumped into the wave pool for a dive-in screening of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

The screening, presented by 20th Century Fox, KDMX-FM, and McDonald's, is free with admission to Hawaiian Falls at 4400 Paige Road in The Colony. The screening starts at at 8:45 p.m. Also cool: admission after 5 p.m. is only $5.99. The film opens July 1.

I drove by the AMC movie theater at Firewheel Town Center minutes before the midnight premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen only to find myself in complete and utter amazement. I love Transformers, but apparently not as much as these crazy fans who were very prepared for the opening night dressing up in hand-made, cardboard costumes as the Autobots themselves.

So, fantatics, what'd you think of the movie?

From the Associated Press:

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- The Academy Awards are doubling the number of best-picture nominees from five to 10.

Academy President Sid Ganis said at a news conference that the academy's board of governors made the decision to expand the slate. Ganis said the decision will open the field up to more worthy films for the top prize at Hollywood's biggest party.

Shia and the Autobots are back for another go against the Deceptacons. Are you going to see the Michael Bay's Big Summer Movie tonight? If you are, you are not alone.

(Read Media Critic Tom Maurstad's review.)

MovieTickets.com reports that it has already broken into their list of the Top-25 Pre-sellers of All-Time, with 600 sold out performances nationwide including 274 midnight showings. It gained its spot by bumping its predecessor (2007's Transformers) off the list.

Update: MovieTickets.com is reporting over 1,000 sellouts as of 5 p.m., including 600 midnight showings

But never fear. Midnight is for wimps What about a 3 a.m.? Two Cinemark theaters -- Cinemark Megaplex 17 and Tinseltown Plano -- will be showing Revenge of the Fallen for 24 hours straight. In Dallas, it will be in the IMAX theater; in Plano, it will be in the XD auditorium.

Or if you're really in the mood for a dose of "firsties," be part of the first audience at Garland's newest IMAX theater at AMC Firewheel 18.

Big props to Comingsoon.net for being the latest place on the Internet to scar me for life.

The guilty party? Promo shots from Tim Burton's upcoming Alice in Wonderland, including pictures of Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter in a type of creepy that I suspect will turn up in my dreams soon.

The Proposal

Year One

Food, Inc.

Enlighten Up!

Sleep Dealer

The Merry Gentleman

Iron Man 2 won't be out until May 2010, but that doesn't stop fangirls (and boys) from salivating over every scrap we get out of Marvel and anywhere else.

Jon Favreau is back as director, and Robert Downey Jr. (perfect casting, right?) is back as Tony Stark. This time, though, we get Mickey Rourke joining in on the fun.

What'll he look like as Whiplash? Well, I got you. Always. Look up.

(Photo from Marvel.com)

FYI: The almost warmly received remake of Wes Craven's '70s film is scheduled to be released on DVD and Blu-ray on Aug. 18.

If you remember, the story of a mother and father seeking a bit of revenge (not nearly served cold) for the injuries done to their daughter came to theaters not so long ago. (If you were like me, you were saying, "Don't do that to Aquamarine!" through a good portion of the film.) If you weren't, you were probably tickled pink by the violence. Or tickled sick. Or just creeped out. (I could go on ...)

Either way, there you go. The Last House on the Left, out Aug. 18.

(Photo by Lacey Terrell/Rogue Pictures)

Am I the only one who couldn't stop crying after seeing Up? I know that the point of this exquisite Pixar film was not to make me weep but to show how life must move on after death (and disappointment). But I found it so sad! While Disney has a grand tradition of killing off a beloved figure in the film, usually, with the exception of Bambi's mother, it happens before you get TOO attached. Here Carl spends a lifetime with his beloved Ellie. And I don't know, maybe it's because I just had a wonderful visit with my parents who have been married 66 years and can't conceive of being without each other, but this was a scenario I struggled with emotionally. Which is not to say that struggle is a bad thing, but still -- any thoughts?

Aw, Fridays. That blissful week day where new movies hit the screens and the work week ends. So to keep you entertained until the school bell rings, I bring you this week's entertainment time waster.

Once again, YouTube makes life worth living. Liquid Generation put together this clip fest of great movie lines in a compact, enjoyable 3 minutes and 41 seconds.

The Taking of Pelham 123

Away We Go

Imagine That

O'Horten

Outrage

Little Ashes

Christmas has come in June.

The Norman Lear Collection is a television lover's dream. And that's not only because it features the first seasons of seven of the producer's greatest groundbreaking creations: All in the Family, which begat The Jeffersons; Maude which begat Good Times; Sanford and Son; One Day at a Time; and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Lear literally changed the face of television with feminists, black actors and single mothers, along with hot-button issues of the day, taking the spotlight.

The 19-disc set also includes the pilot for All in the Family, then called Those Were the Days. There are tons of special features, including "The Birth of All in the Family" and "Ain't We Lucky We Got 'Em: Good Times," with Norman Lear and Jimmie Walker talking about the show and black audiences.

Lear, who's now 87 years old, hasn't rested on those laurels; he pens a blog for the Hufftington Post and has a record label (!) and an interest in Village Roadshow Pictures.

I can't imagine his trademark shows being produced today. Those shows still can make a viewer flinch sometimes with the brutal honesty of everyday life.

Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace and Music The Director's Cut 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition - The Oscar-winning documentary gets the director's cut treatment. And on this DVD, you can make your own playlist. Want Hendrix to lead off instead of batting cleanup? Yes, you can.
The Jack Lemmon Film Collection - Comedy -- "with a twist of Lemmon." And that's how we like it. There's five films in this collections, all comedies from Columbia Pictures: Phffft!, Operation Mad Ball, The Notorious Landlady, Under the Yum Yum Tree and Good Neighbor Sam.
Crossing Over - Harrison Ford and immigrants in a Crash-like tale that focuses on immigration.
Gran Torino - The neighborhood changes around a flinty, crusty (read: angry) Korean War veteran (Clint Eastwood), who is forced to face his own prejudices.
The International - Clive Owen and Naomi Watts trace murder and intrigue across the world and back to the world's largest bank.
Spinning Into Butter - Sarah Jessica Parker confronts her own ideas about race in this movie based on the play.

For more DVDs, click here.

Jane Krakowski is kickin' in old school .. REALLY old school in a series of webisodes from Breyer's Ice Cream.

She takes on two (so far) iconic roles in Gone With the Wind and King Kong. The first asks: "Is Rhett Butler smooth and dreamy enough for Jane?" The second: "How does King Kong stack up against Jane's smooth and dreamy?"

There are two behind-the-scenes videos, showing how they incorporated a modern actress into these Hollywood classics. There's also an option to insert yourself in to the film by uploading your own photo. However, mine will never see the light of day. There's something inherently creepy about a still picture being made to move.

Well, I don't think founder Dan Florio meant his Web site to be an aid for all of us trying to avoid a recurrence of kidney stones, but it's sure going to help.

Florio's Web site, wonderfully titled Runpee.com, tells you when it's OK to leave during a film because you have to, well, you know ... He came up with it while watching Peter Jackson's King Kong (at least it was an inspiration for something besides my S.O. yelling at the screen, "Leave the monkey alone!").

I sure could have used it when I saw every film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy in one sitting. No matter; it's here now, with the tagline of "Helping your bladder enjoy going to the movies as much as you do." With even comedies heading into the three-hour ring, now every moviegoer's bladder (bless your heart, pregnant women; the Web site even has a maternity T-shirt) can breathe a sigh of relief.

Watch. Boggle. Comment. Discuss.

If you're heading out to the Angelika (Dallas or Plano) this weekend for Every Little Step, you might get more than you were expecting.

Michael Serrecchia, one of the original cast members of A Chorus Line, will answer questions after two shows this weekend. In Dallas it will take place following the 7:15 p.m. show tonight. In Plano, it will follow the 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, May 30.

Read Orlando Sentinel film critic Roger Moore's review.

Regular ticket prices apply. Advance tickets available at www.angelikafilmcenter.com.

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