We've all heard about it-Jessica Biel is going to play a stripper in the upcoming Powder Blue movie! And she'll be topless! Well…

Tuesday, about 2 weeks before the Blue May 8^th release in theaters, Speakeasy Releasing (the movie's studio) announced that they weren't satisfied with the final product, so they will no longer be releasing the film into theaters. They said that Biel's nudity was the only thing it had going for it. No it didn't! Other stars of Powder Blue include Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotta, Lisa Kudrow and Patrick Swayze. Jessica Biel's body has sparked interest in the film, although there is some doubt that perverted dudes only coming to check it out doesn't ultimately result in huge box office numbers (however if you do just want to see the strip scene, check YouTube, there's about a thousand videos up).

I was looking forward to it. I like the artsy, independent, etc. movies, and I'm disappointed that it won't be released into theaters. But you know another movie with a highlighted nudity scene that comes to mind? It stars a certain now-reality show star and a guy who was in You, Me and Dupree. Yup, who doesn't remember the classic lesbian pool scene in Wild Things? Ahh…That didn't drum up big money, either, its ending total just above $30 million. That was a famous Mr. Skin movie. Could Powder Blue have done the same thing Wild Things did?

The movie, about how a mortician, a stripper, a suicidal ex-priest and an ex-con are brought together on Christmas Eve, will be a DVD-only release (and on top of that, a Netflix only release).

In Hollywood movies, Powder Blue is what we call an epic fail.

This past weekend, Beyoncé Knowles' new thriller Obsessed, about a secretary who goes to extreme measures to get with her boss, came in at #1 with a debut of $28.6 million.

Despite bad reviews from critics, Obsessed made more than similar Lakeview Terrace, Perfect Stranger, SwimFan and Enough. What's weird about these results gross is that 58% of the audience was female and 51% was over 25 years of age.

In other opening weekend movie news, Fighting, starring Terrence Howard and Channing Tatum, debuted at #3 behind 17 Again (which made $11.9 million, its total 10-day total $39.8 million) with $11 million. Not a very impressive opening, however it did surpass fighting movies Annapolis and Never Back Down. Exiting polls declared that the majority of the audience was of a Hispanic heritage.

In the third spot, also opening this weekend, The Soloist starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx grossed more than Resurrecting the Champ and Reign Over Me among films of the same genre. However it did not soar past Ray, Radio, and A Beautiful Mind.

Released on Earth Day last Wednesday, the first movie of the new Disney Studio "Nature" Earth, dropped in at #4 with $8.8 million, a tiny bit more than similar March of the Penguins did. State of Play dropped 51% to $6.8 million. Because of its adult-themed plot, it did relatively worse than the Zac Efron comedy 17 Again, its total $25.1 million in 10 days. Other thrillers Fracture and Body of Lies held up better than this.

Crank: High Voltage did worse than its prequel Crank did in its second weekend in release, falling 62% to $2.6 million. The first Crank had only stooped 53% at this point. Monsters vs. Aliens only lost a small percentage, grossing $8.5 million this weekend. It still remains the highest-grossing movie so far this year. Hannah Montana: The Movie raked in $6.4 million, still beating the gross of Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour. Fast and Furious remains the highest-grossing of the franchise, coming in behind Hannah Montana with $6.2 million.

Here are the estimated box office results as of April 26-

1. Obsessed-$28.6 million
   
2. 17 Again- $11.5 million
   
3. Fighting- $11 million
   
4. The Soloist- $9.7 million
   
5. Earth- $8.2 million
   
6. Monsters vs. Aliens- $8.5 million
   
7. State of Play- $6.8 million
   
8. Hannah Montana: The Movie- $6.4 million
   
9. Fast and Furious- $6.2 million
   
10. Crank: High Voltage- $2.6 million

When you see a DVD of a movie like this, you usually ignore it and grab the next Will Ferrell movie you see. But some of us actually take the time and watch a movie like The Squid and the Whale, Noah Baumbach's third film. And when you do, you get a feeling that no one else can say they've had. Movies like Squid and the Whale boost your intelligence to the oomph degree, which a lot of filmmakers can't say they've ever done. You can tell its quality if the director also writes it as well. Baumbach did just that, similar to the way he did with The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Mr. Jealousy. His directing and screenplay had to be my favorite part of this coming-of-age quirky drama. I hope to see many more works from Noah, because unlike writers Mike White and Dick Clement (School of Rock and Across the Universe), he knows how to write the perfect roles for his cast.

The Squid and the Whale is based on the true story of Noah Baumbach and his brother. It tells the story of Frank (Owen Kline, pretty disturbing) and Walt (Jesse Eisenberg, the awkward kid in Adventureland) as they struggle through the divorce of their two parents Bernard (Jeff Daniels, magnificent) and Joan (Laura Linney). It starts out pretty promising, but towards the middle, it veers of track and starts to creep you out a little. A closet-rapist father and a chronic-masturbating son made me cringe in disgust. But somewhere along the line you start to feel something. You can say how much you hated it all you want, but The Squid and the Whale surrounds you with lost feelings of doubt and negligence that you can't escape from. When the ending of the movie hits you out of nowhere, you'll find that you were in the world of the Berkman family, not your own. Somewhere along the line, Squid and the Whale grabs you and doesn't let go until an hour and twenty minutes in, when all the drama finally ends.

Jeff Daniels, a Dave Coulier look-alike, portrayed an obviously confused divorcee father perfectly. Easily the best actor/actress in the entire film. The whole movie could've been written around him, had Baumbach wanted to. In fact, Daniels won "Best Supporting Actor" at the Chlotrudis Awards in 2006. Speaking of awards, it has won and been nominated for a lot of them. Squid and the Whale was nominated for "Best Screenplay" at the Oscars in 2006, three times at the Golden Globes, six times at the Independent Spirit Awards and was the New York Film Critics Circle Awards pick for, again, "Best Screenplay".

The Squid and the Whale takes you on a ride you really don't want to go on, but you're glad you did. Watch the directing; Noah Baumbach did that well than the screenplay, in my opinion. However, it is a bit weird. You'll fall in love with it, in exactly the wacky way the director wanted you to.

4/5 stars.

Universal Pictures has just released the new teaser poster for the new Sacha Baron Cohen "mockumentary" in which he plays a gay Austrian supermodel named (you guessed it) Brüno.

On the poster we see Cohen in a field decked out in yellow suspender shorts with matching hat and a checkered, sleeveless button-up shirt. How's that for gay? The tagline also says "Borat was so 2006."

He's gotten in a lot of trouble for this movie in the last couple of months, as he did with Borat. But is it as good as Borat was? I'm dying to find out.

Brüno opens in theaters July 10, and you can check out the teaser on my blog (check the archive) and the teaser poster above!

F

Freddy just can't catch a break. Nancy Thompson, the arch-foe of killer Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street series, is rumored to be portrayed by Rooney Mara. I know, right?

You probably don't know who she is. Heck, I didn't either! But I did some research and with some help from my friends at IMDb.com, I found out who she was. She hasn't been in anything major throughout her career, only appearing on two episodes of ER. But she is set to play Taggarty in the new Miguel Arteta (The Good Girl) film Youth in Revolt about a teenager hoping to lose his virginity (yawn) along with Michael Cera and Justin Long.

Mara joins Jackie Earle Haley (Freddy), Kyle Gallner and Thomas Dekker in the Samuel Bayer do-over set to release April 16, 2010.

Nightmare on Elm Street will begin filming next month in Chicago.

What if? What if a 30-something year old man was turned back into a 17 year old again? Big money, that's what.

The teen-comedy 17 Again starring Matthew Perry and heartthrob Zac Efron came in at #1 this weekend with $23.7 million, about the same gross as comparable 13 Going on 30 from 2004. It helped April do better than it was previously doing earlier in the month. 17 Again is Zac Efron's third hit in a row, previous winners being musicals Hairspray and High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Besides the High School Musical series, this movie is Efron's first with him as the main character. Predictably, 75% of the crowd was female and 43% were under 18. No one saw this for Thomas Lennon and Leslie Mann?!

The political thriller State of Play's all-star cast apparently could compete with a teenage basketball player; it debuted in second place with $14.1 million. It did open better than Russell Crowe's previous flick Body of Lies, though, and attendance was in line with the novel adaptation Runaway Jury among similar movies. According to exiting polls, 75% of the audience was 35 years and older and the majority said that the reasons they saw it were because of Russell Crowe (66%) and the story (52%).

Action sequel Crank: High Voltage opened in sixth place and grossed $7 million. It was more than Shoot 'Em Up got, but less than the first Crank ($10.5 million).

Last week, fans flocked to theaters to see Hannah Montana: The Movie, however, that was not the case this weekend. It dropped to third and made $13.4 million, down 59%. It is holding up better than Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour and has gotten better results ($56.9 million in 10 days), however. Monsters vs. Aliens followed the popstar with $13.2 million, down a general 39%. It's officially the highest grossing movie of the year so far, raking in $163.1 million in 24 days. Behind Aliens the surprise-smash Fast and Furious tallied up $11.8 million. Its total so far: $136.2 million in 17 days. Could it beat Monsters vs. Aliens as the top-grossing movie of the spring? We'll just have to wait and see…

Observe and Report, despite good reviews, fell 62% to $4.2 million behind Crank 2, its total now being a mere $18.8 million in ten days. Not getting any more fans, the Seth Rogen fueled comedy from the co-writer/director of The Foot Fist Way is now following the Rogen and Elizabeth Banks Kevin Smith directed comedy Zach and Miri Make a Porno. In its second weekend in theaters, Dragonball: Evolution still can't manage to gain an audience. The manga-inspired movie escaped the top ten to #11 with $1.7 million this weekend, its total gross $7.9 million in ten days. Hard to believe that there's a guaranteed sequel, huh?

Here's the estimated total from Friday to Sunday according to box office site BoxOfficeMojo.com-

1. 17 Again- $23.7 million
   
2. State of Play- $14.1 million
   
3. Hannah Montana: The Movie- $13.4 million
   
4. Monsters vs. Aliens- $13.2 million
   
5. Fast and Furious- $11.8 million
   
6. Crank: High Voltage- $7 million
   
7. Observe and Report- $4.2 million
   
8. Knowing- $3.6 million
   
9. I Love You, Man- $3.3 million
   
10. The Haunting in Connecticut- $3.1 million

It was the perfect alien movie parody- an outer-being invades Earth and a bunch of dim-witted monsters have to stop him. Add the fact that DreamWorks Animation (Shrek, Kung Fu Panda) is behind it should make it to be a hit! But ever since Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, DreamWorks has been going downhill. Pixar and them were always competing to be the top studio, DreamWorks constantly casting major stars to voice (Aliens no exception) and Pixar always winning awards (Wall-E took home the Oscar for 'Best Animated Feature' last year). But even celebrities couldn't save this train wreck of a movie. The predicaments are frankly unlikely and dumb, and a lot of the scenes are left unexplained, the ending for one. Directors Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon, who have both been with DreamWorks Animation for quite a while, Vernon having been since the first Shrek movie, attempt to create a parody of alien invasion movies like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and may have done just that. In a scene where the president (Stephen Colbert, hilarious but unnecessary) tries to communicate with the foreign ship, he plays a keyboard, obviously spoofing Close Encounters. It'll have you snickering.

But snickering alone does not make a good comedy. A good comedy has to have a few sight gags, evenly spaced jokes and a fairly funny cast. The cast is great, and I'm not referring to their talents. Monsters vs. Aliens stars Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen (whose character is pretty much the best part of the movie), Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett (we also get a cameo from Amy Poehler), Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, Paul Rudd, Renée Zellweger, John Krasinski (you know him from The Office), Ed Helms (him too), Julie White, Jeffrey Tambor and, as I mentioned before, Stephen Colbert. Of course, we also have small parts played by DreamWorks regulars including the directors plus Sean Bishop, Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Lisa Stewart, Latifa Ouaou and Geoffrey Pomeroy. A huge cast means huge money, which Monsters is sure to make.

In Monsters vs. Aliens, a meteorite from outer space hits a young girl, Susan (Witherspoon), on her wedding day, turning her into a nearly 50 foot woman. She's taken to a secret government lair with other monsters that have been kept hidden: B.O.B (Rogen), Dr. Cockroach (Laurie), The Missing Link (Arnett) and Insectosaurus. When the world faces an alien invasion by Gallhaxar (Wilson) soon after, General W.R Monger (Sutherland) suggests to President Hathaway (Colbert) to release the secret monsters and see if they can handle the situation better than the government can. "Oooze gonna save us?" B.O.B, no contest. The giant blob of blue goo saved the movie entirely. If it wasn't for the Seth Rogen voiced character, Monsters would have fell flat. "I think that Jell-O gave me a fake phone number."

Monsters vs. Aliens is the latest rocket that DreamWorks attempts to land on the moon. It doesn't land anywhere near Kung Fu Panda or Flushed Away, but it's enjoyable if you don't think too much about it. It's full of spoofs, cameos and some goofs only the adults in the audience will get (a pretty funny one from The Colbert Report, watch for it). You get a few giggles, but no real laugh-out-loud moments come from it.

Pixar's still going strong, but DreamWorks is staring to create epic money-making bombs.

2/5 popcorn buckets.

MySpace has officially released a new featurette for the new Disney-Pixar film Up, in which a 78 year old man, Carl Fredrickson, ties thousands of balloons to his house to travel to South Africa in hopes of finally fulfilling his lifelong dream of having a grand adventure, only to discover that an overly-excited 9-year old boy named Russell was a stowaway on his trip.

I've seen the video, and it just made me ever more excited for Up. You know me, major animation freak, especially for Pixar. But will the Ed Asner comedy be the next Wall-E? We'll just have to see.

Up opens in theaters May 29. It kicks off summer, baby. Check out the featurette below-

If you're a big 'Harry Potter' fan, do I have some good news for you!

Warner Bros. released the official third trailer for the sixth installment of the 'Harry Potter' series this afternoon. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will continue to follow the young wizard and his adventures at Hogwarts School. Voldemort is getting more powerful, now able to control both magic and "Muggle" worlds. Hogwarts is no longer safe, and Harry even suspects dangers inside the haven. Dumbledore is sketchy on this as well, but he is more focused on the final battle that he knows is coming soon. Together, teacher and student work together to find the key to unlock Voldemort's defenses.

Check out the trailer below from movie site CinemaBlend.com, and be sure to check out Half-Blood Prince in theaters starting July 15-

It’s been a while since we’ve had a movie from John Hamburg. His last creation was the hit Along Came Polly, which, thanks to Ben Stiller, pretty much launched his career as a writer/director/producer. So 5 years after the release of Polly, we have I Love You, Man, a movie about a guy who’s getting married and goes on a series of “man-dates” to find a best man for his wedding. Before I saw this, I researched a lot about it. First I noticed it was co-written/directed/produced by John Hamburg, as I mentioned earlier in the review. This shocked me a bit, since similar Forgetting Sarah Marshall was directed by Nicholas Stoller. It also starred Jason Segel, so I was expecting him to write the screenplay. But instead, Hamburg and Larry Levin (who also co-wrote Dr. Dolittle and wrote Dr. Dolittle 2) took on the challenge together. Disappointing since I loved Sarah Marshall so much.
But I’m not counting out Hamburg just yet. He did nail the feel that he and Levin intended the movie to have, that “bromantic” parody which had me cracking up at scenes that I wasn’t even supposed to be laughing at. The jokes could’ve been hit-and-miss, but Hamburg made sure that they were spaced out and spoke awesomely.
Paul Rudd plays realtor Peter, a friendless but lovable geek who needs to find a best man for his wedding with Zooey (played by a gorgeous and side-splitting Rashida Jones). At an open house for Lou Ferrigno (who’s a surprising gem), he stumbles upon Sydney (Jason Segel), a careless, go-with-the-flow kind of guy who refuses to grow up. The two hit it off and soon Sydney’s RSVP’d for Peter’s wedding.
Rudd and Segel have both had their fair share of hits, both sleeper and those that have topped the charts. Segel’s had Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, both of which Rudd starred in, and let’s also not forget his recurring role as Marshall on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Rudd has had classics thanks to Judd Apatow like The 40-Year Old Virgin and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story as well as loners like Role Models and The Ten. Together, the duo is unstoppable. Rudd’s quiet awkwardness and Segel’s loudmouth obnoxiousness blend together to make a pitch-perfect comedy of epic proportions.
I Love You, Man is a feel-good, happy movie that desperately doesn’t want to be. Whenever there’s a moment where that statement can be expressed, the “F” word is dropped and kills the mood entirely. There’s not as much cursing as in Observe and Report, and it’s not quite as vulgar as Forgetting Sarah Marshall (although there was a pretty gross sight gag) were, yet Love You, Man still holds the ‘R’ rating. It had to be, though, in the tradition of comedies such as this one. With only a ‘PG-13’ rating, John Hamburg might not have achieved his goal.
We’ll remember I Love You, Man as one of the best comedies of our time. It’s full of zingy one-liners like “I will see you there, or I will see you at another time!” “…Okay, that was confusing, will you be there or not?”. Other roles besides those of Rudd, Segel and Jones are filled brilliantly by Jamie Pressly, Jon Favreau and Andy Samberg. And there’s this one hilarious part with Thomas Lennon where…you know what? Go see it for yourself. I love this movie, man.

4/5 popcorn buckets.

Rumors are stirring once again-Angelina Jolie to play Ava Lord in Frank Miller's sequel to Sin City? The rumors started back in December of 2006 as to Jolie playing Ava, Dwight McCarthy's (Clive Owen) ex-lover who manipulates men with her good looks and supposed innocence. And now they're back, more serious than ever.
According to a rather high-profile producer friend, Angelina Jolie is now in "serious talks" – as opposed to merely being mentioned as a possibility, or having a casual coffee with the filmmakers to suss out her interest – to star in director Robert Rodriguez's "Sin City 2."

I think Angelina Jolie would be a fine addition to the Sin City 2 cast, and hope the rumors aren't just that. In the first, we had hotties Jessica Alba, Alexis Bledel, Brittany Murphy, Rosario Dawson-all of which are confirmed for the sequel. Do I want Angelina Jolie to join them? Well, yes, but now fans are saying that they would prefer Megan Fox or Eva Mendes (who was most recently in another Frank Miller movie, The Spirit). Others are saying "As long as (Mickey) Rourke is Marv (in this film), I'm sold." I'm saying, pick any one. I was already sold at the end of the first movie.

Dimension Films has not yet set a start date for the Robert Rodriguez/Frank Miller action flick. I'll be following it until its release. I can't wait, Sin City was awesome!

Thanks to ComingSoon.net and MovieHole.net for the inside scoop!

Fans flocked to theaters this weekend, and one thing was on their minds- "Get tickets to Hannah Montana: The Movie!"

Hannah debuted at #1 with $34 million, the second largest Easter opening ever behind Scary Movie 4. Combined with Monsters vs. Aliens and Fast and Furious, Hannah Montana helped to create the second busiest April weekend on record behind last weekend, and a 44% increase from the same time last year. The starlet's previous 3D concert-fest Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour came in at #1 opening weekend in 2008 as well, but only grossed $31.1 million. The Movie raked in nearly double what comparable The Lizzie McGuire Movie had when it started out in the box office. According to Walt Disney Pictures' exit polling, 79% of the audience was female and 60% were under 18 years of age, different than the exit polling for last October's Disney smash High School Musical 3: Senior Year. In addition, 66% of the audience was kids with their parents and 28% were teens.

When the tween flick opened in theaters Friday, April 10, it grossed an estimated $17.3 million, typically resulting in an estimated $40 million opening weekend haul; however the film fell 40% on Saturday, April 11. That day, Hannah came in only second to Fast and Furious. Over half of Hannah's $31.1 million came from Friday's total. The only other movie ever to have a larger Friday debut was Twilight. The weekend pattern was due to the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana's huge popularity among school-age children and the fact that its first day in cinemas was the Good Friday holiday, with nearly three quarters of schools nationwide closed.

After its record-setting debut last weekend, Fast and Furious came in at #2 this weekend with $27.2 million, decreasing 62%. The movie, starring Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, may have done incredibly well last weekend, now is going at the same rate 2 Fast 2 Furious did. Its total in ten days is now $116.5 million. DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens did agreeably well Easter weekend, coming in at #3 with $21.8 million. 60% of the gross was from 3D showings of the film, including $2.4 million from IMAX theaters, which were down 22%.

In fourth place, my pick of the week Observe and Report made $11 million, in the same range as Seth Rogen's previous comedy Zach and Miri Make a Porno and a third of what Paul Blart: Mall Cop got opening weekend. Warner Bros.' exit polling indicated that 59% of the audience was male and 74% were 17-29 years old.

Thriller Knowing dropped 21% to $6.4 million, its total $67.8 million in 24 days. I Love You, Man deceased 19% to $6.3 million, its total now $58.9 million in 24 days. The Haunting in Connecticut fell 38% to $5.9 million for a $46.5 million total in 17 days.

Also released this weekend, Dragonball: Evolution grossed a disappointing $4.8 million, about the same as comparable Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, but with a far larger release. The film grossed a fraction of similar The Forbidden Kingdom and much lower than past bomb Bulletproof Monk.

Closing out the top ten, Adventureland came in at #9 in its second week with an estimated $3.4 million. Its total is a disappointing estimated $11.4 million in 10 days.

Here's the estimated box office result from April 10-12 according to BoxOfficeMojo.com-

Report by Nick Ondras with additional information from Brandon Gray of BoxOfficeMojo.com.

Last December, the new teaser poster for Rob Zombie's H2 was officially released by Dimension Films, however I never got a chance to talk a bit about it. The movie, which is set to release August 28, will pick up where Zombie's first Halloween (2007) left off, and we'll see the results of Michael Myers' killing spree through the eyes of Laurie Strode, the only surviving witness. In the teaser, we simply see Michael's classic mask with an eerie black-and-white Texas Chainsaw feel. I'm revved up for the sequel, because I think Rob Zombie took the first movie into the 20^th century and made it up with more blood, violence and sex. Although the type of horror that John Carpenter's original brought, Zombie's lacked.

Also, Rob Zombie recently announced that his Michael Myers character will not bear the mask that crept audiences out in 1998. The writer/director of both Halloween (2007) and H2 said that the murderer will not wear the mask for 70% of the film. But not to say Myers won't be wearing the mask at all-Zombie says that he's giving fans a treat in the sequel: Michael will model a new mask. One that he says will be even scarier than the original.

"There are a couple different versions of the mask, but none of them are the same mask from the first film. He wanted to take them a step further, even though one of them is basically supposed to be the last mask. We've changed it anyway. Then towards the end of the film is the current version of the mask which is a lot different from any of them we've seen. People are going to be surprised when they see it. It's going to throw the Myers fans for a loop." Says Wayne Toth, the effects makeup specialist for H2. "That's Michael's new look for a lot of the film. Fans will be shocked. They seem pretty responsive to it. But it's like anything else, as long as you're doing something cool, people get it."

Earlier this year, Rob Zombie released a prototype of the Michael Myers mask, which can be seen on SoftPedia.com- http://news.softpedia.com/news/Rob-Zombie-Unveils-2009-Michael-Myers-Mask-101364.shtml

I'm indecisive as to whether this new remake will be any good or not. Rob Zombie truly paid homage in his first Halloween movie, but changing the mask and when Myers puts it on? That might be going a little bit too far.

If you're a fan of the Rob Zombie Halloween remake series, keep checking this blog. I'll be following it until its release in late summer.

I've "observed" it, and now I'm "reporting". Observe and Report, the second movie from The Foot Fist Way writer/director Jody Hill, is, in three words, funny as hell. The cast is sure-fire, as well. Seth Rogen reminds us of Superbad's Officer Michaels and Anna Faris shows us a side of her that we've never seen before-and I like it. With a movie starring Rogen, you expect the regular Judd Apatow cast to tag along. But not in Report. With this one, he gets to try out his everyman type of comedy on people outside of his comfort zone. One of them, Ray Liotta. I must say, this really surprised me. Liotta hasn't been in any real live-action comedies before, so why now? Maybe because he wants to branch back out from doing stuff like SpongeBob Squarepants and Bee Movie to Field of Dreams and Hannibal again. Taking it all a bit too hard, I might say. Not my first choice to banter back-and-forth with Seth Rogen (although a great scene including the two is when they duke it out whilst Rogen puts the beat-down on some cops). Anna Faris is brilliant, too. You know her as the dumb broad from the Scary Movie series and The House Bunny. But Faris is beautiful and talented. She's not a dumb blonde; taking on this role is difficult. How can one portray an emotionally scarred, girl-next-door make-up sales clerk as great as Faris? She doesn't quite seem herself, but it's obvious that she is very comfortable doing this sort of thing. Come on out of the PG-13 shadow that 20^th Century Fox has you under and venture out into R-rated comedies, Anna. Compare her to Holly Madison and Denise Richards. This girl's got something going for her.

Meet Ronnie Barnhardt (Rogen), head of mall security at his local mall. After a flasher, who looks dangerously close to Michael Moore but isn't, strikes, he's on the case, accusing anyone who looks the least bit suspicious. When the situation takes a turn for the worse, the scene calls for a real police officer (Liotta). Ronnie doesn't like that, what's he doing wrong? Now he's got to catch the pervert before the police do, impress hottie Brandy (Faris), deal with his alcoholic mother (played by the talented Celia Weston)-all while being the underdog who wants to make it to the top. Jody Hill is quietly changing the face of comedy, forget Tina Fey! Hill captures the intense randomness and awkwardness that comes when trying to catch a criminal when nobody believes you have what it takes-and it's laugh out loud funny.

Observe and Report is nothing like Paul Blart: Mall Cop. I know it's constantly being compared to the Kevin James Happy Madison movie, but honestly, it's extremely different. Report has a fat cop, sure. So did Blart. Report has a sort-of love story. So did Blart. But did Kevin James drop the F bomb over 120 times, and flash mall-goers and we see EVERYTHING? Nope, count Blart out of that one. Knock up a point for Report. Paul Blart: Mall Cop was also a very happy-go-lucky flick. It had an obvious moral, but Observe and Report does not. Our dreams are not always appropriate for who we are. With the right motivation, even the most unlikely can succeed. But do we see a movie for the moral? No. We see a movie like Observe and Report or Paul Blart: Mall Cop to make us laugh. And as long as it gets the job done, I'm cool with it. And I have to say, Jody Hill passed with flying colors.

This is angry, offensive and explicit. Picture Pineapple Express with more sex and violence. Seth Rogen is hysterical, Anna Faris is awesome and Ray Liotta isn't as bad as I thought he'd be. Better than Paul Blart and funnier than Pineapple Express, and we didn't even have the regular Apatow gang that usually accompanies Rogen (we get a cameo from Danny McBride from The Foot Fist Way, however, and we're treated with small roles for Aziz Ansari, Patton Oswalt and Collette Wolfe, from Semi-Pro and Four Christmases). Prepare to tear up in laughter; Observe and Report definitely earns its place as one of my favorite movies so far of 2009.

4/5 stars.

Okay, I have loved Mike Judge ever since his run on MTV with the cult-hit Beavis and Butthead. I've recently been disappointed in FOX for cancelling him and Greg Daniels' animated series King of the Hill after 13 seasons (266 episodes). Guess whose back. And guess who's happy about it! Mike Judge is going to write/direct a new comedy- Extract. It doesn't sound like a funny title, does it? I've done some research on the movie, and it seems the title is based off of the main character Dean's working at a flower-extract plant.

The movie, which is set to release September 4^th of this year, stars Arrested Development's Jason Bateman, Family Guy's Mila Kunis, Saturday Night Live/Adventureland's Kristen Wiig, Spider-Man's J.K Simmons-and Ben Affleck. Ben Affleck?! Aw, NO! Mike Judge, you're supposed to have major nobodies in your movies (no offense, rest of the cast!), not major A-list celebrities! You better not ruin this for America, Affleck, we haven't had a Judge flick since Idiocracy in 2006.

But the rest of the script looks pretty solid-a flower-extract factory owner (Bateman) deals with workplace problems and a streak of bad luck, including his wife's affair with a gigolo. Awesome, man.

The teaser reminds me of Waiting… which was a sleeper-hit. I think you'll find the same will be said for Extract. Let's enjoy it before it's endlessly shown on Comedy Central. Speaking of which, Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire premieres tonight at 10PM on the network! The writer/creator/producer graduated from Trinity College here in Connecticut. But I'm getting off-topic…

Here's the teaser trailer, already leaked onto YouTube-

I was expecting the new action movie Fast and Furious to be #1 this weekend at the box office. I did not predict, however, the actual results-Furious took a whopping $72.5 million during its first run, beating its competitor Adventureland by over $60 million. It beat the Adam Sandler/Jack Nicholson Anger Management's $42.2 million as well, having the greatest April box office debut of all time. The Vin Diesel action thriller helped Hollywood gross an estimated $185 million this weekend-beating the same weekend last year by 65%. Fast and Furious made more than the previous movies in the series, Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, The Fast and the Furious and 2 Fast 2 Furious. Polishing off Disney/Pixar's Cars' $60.1 million opening weekend as the highest grossing car-themed movie, it also topped any other action-based movie. The Bourne Ultimatum (making a $69.3 million opening) was apparently no competition for Paul Walker and Vin Diesel. According to Universal Studio's exiting polls, 96% of the audience had seen the original The Fast and the Furious, 94% had seen the second and 89% had seen the third. In addition, 57% of the audience was male, 59% was under 25 and 46% were Hispanic. In the past, only Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ had a larger debut.

The previous box office winner Monsters vs. Aliens dropped a predictable 44% to $33.5 million, in line with fellow Dreamworks animations Magagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Kung Fu Panda and Horton Hears a Who! 3D screenings of Aliens held up only slightly better than regular theaters; down 43% from last weekend. IMAX 3D showings down only 39% to an estimated $3.1 million. Grossing $105.7 million in ten days, it dusted off Watchmen, down another 60% to $1.1 million in its fifth weekend.

The Haunting in Connecticut steeped more than a horror film regularly would, yet staying in the same position in the top 10-dropping 58% to $9.6 million, $37.2 million in ten days. The Amityville Horror (2005) had dropped only 46% at this time. Although, other movies had lost a lot more, among those The Messengers, Boogeyman and The Exorcism of Emily Rose. And in fourth place, Knowing dissolved 45% to $8.1 million. Its total does well, however, making $58.2 million in its 17-day run in the box office.

I Love You, Man continues to do relatively good again this weekend in fifth with $7.9 million. The comedy is doing better than Role Models and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, whose grosses were less than where I Love You, Man now stands. Dreamworks Studios expects it to do better over the next few weeks during Spring break.

Released just this weekend, the Greg Mottola comedy Adventureland did poorly these past 2 days, grossing a mere $6 million. It was advertised as being a lot like Superbad, considering it had the same director; however the television spots showed only a few childish gags. Adventureland did worse than previous R-rated comedies Waiting… and The Girl Next Door. Sunshine Cleaning lost some shine after expanding to 479 more theaters nationwide. The "feel-good" comedy managed to drum up $1.9 million, $4.8 total in its 24 days of limited release.

Here are the estimated box office results according to BoxOfficeMojo.com-