Snow is blanketing much of the Northeast and Midwest today and I am left to ponder how it really wasn’t that long ago that reports of snow would send me into a frenzy of checking the local news for school cancellation reports. Now I don’t notice it unless it is enough to prevent me from opening my front door.
The House of Representatives is voting on President Obama’s$900 billion stimulus package *titter* today. Republicans are pushing back against the bill because they feel it focuses too much on spending and not enough on tax cuts. Obama spent yesterday trying to drum up Republican support. The whole thing does have an element of farce; For example, the title of the USA Today article is “Obama faces first test of bipartisanship pledge,” that same article also features the line, “The measure is sure to pass .” If you want to know why the Republicans are upset, read this Times article which details how Democrats are using the stimulus as an excuse to push through a lot of welfare and health care policies which have been stalled for years. If you are a Republican, you can argue how this crisis is no time to railroad through partisan proposals. If you are a Democrat, point out that Republican tax cuts and deficit spending helped get us into this mess and don’t forget to add that “NEENER NEENER NEENER WE WON THE ELECTION.”
Novelist John Updike passed away yesterday at the age of 76. Can’t say I am familiar with any of his work so i will leave i to the New York Times to handle the obit. I will also add him to the list of recently deceased famous writers I probably should have read already.
What’s that? An Islamic terrorist group has overthrown a US-backed government? Quick, dispatch a few aircraft carriers and tell the Marines to saddle up… Oh wait, Africa you say? Never mind.
Twentieth Century Fox has assembled a creative team to transform 1980s TV series “The A-Team” into a summer 2010 film. I love it when a plan comes together.
Welcome back to Ye Olde Multiplex Madness, or as we like to call it, That Column Jeff Gets To Sometimes But If He Doesn’t, No Big Deal Because We Weren’t Exactly Waiting On Tenterhooks To Hear What He Had To Say About High School Musical 3. Yes, with that “tenterhooks” reference, I have officially become Dave Barry.
New Releases
Role Models
(RT: 73%) It’s usually not a good sign for a film when two of your lead actors are better known as their high-school comedy goofus character nicknames than by their dignified, three-part real names. Still, the Adventures of Stifler, McLovin, and the brother from Clueless are actually, honestly supposed to be pretty good – director David Wain (The State, Stella) seems to have won most critics over. Featuring the omnipresent and delectable Elizabeth Banks doesn’t hurt either.
More new releases, something better to do, and Ebert after the jump. Keep reading
This is making the rounds, and there is a good chance you saw it already. However, it is too awesome not to post. Original is from Realplayer OnlineYahoo Movies.
Any criticism that you can raise against the trailer is probably totally spot on. However, based on the commentary I have seen, criticisms are being washed away in a big wave of awesome. We will see as more of the movie and plot are revealed. As long as Shia LaBeouf is nothing but a foil for Indyisms I am sold. Almost as cool as the trailer is that the Yahoo site has the trailers for the original Indian Jones Movies.
Check out Raiders of the Lost Arc and our comparisons after the jump. Keep reading
(RT score: 76%) If you’re one of the millions of Americans desperately craving footage of a decimated Manhattan, but can’t stand Will Smith blabbering on to his dog for two hours, then Cloverfield‘s for you. As friend of the blog Rob Turbovsky writes in his review, “You mean, New York gets destroyed by a monster? How do they come up with this stuff?”
27 Dresses
(RT score: 39%) This movie is an important reminder to all young women everywhere: it don’t mean a thing if you don’t got that ring. This Katherine Heigl rom-com serves little purpose other than reminding us that Ed Burns does occasionally take roles outside of Entourage.
Mad Money
(RT score: 21%) I believe this is the Jim Cramer biopic I’ve been anxiously waiting for. However, in the outside chance it turns out to be something crappy like say, oh, I don’t know, a dumb caper flick with Queen Latifah, I’ll be pretty ticked.
Cloverfield
27 Dresses
Mad Money