This week in industry news: Scientologists, robots and egotistical actors! Welcome to Hollywood, what’s your dream?

• The Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith (remember when he was married to his high school sweetheart and then dumped her for Jada?) are funding a private school that is scheduled to open in Calabasas in the fall. The school is sparking controversy because, even though the Smiths insist they are not Scientologists, a number of the school’s faculty are and the school will be employing teaching methods first written about by Scientologist founder L. Ron Hubbard. I think we’re missing the point here: these kids are going to have to be in Calabasas! That cannot possibly be a good learning environment.
• Pixar’s WALL-E debuted at number one with $62.5 million and Wanted opened at number 2 with $51.1 million, over $100 million between the two of them. As far as summer activities go, that’s like, 10 trips to Disneyland, so, not bad.

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If you’re in the mood to be charmed by an old school, lighthearted, romantic comedy, René Clair’s Sous les toits de Paris (1930) is the film for you. The plot follows two working class Parisians engaging in a fickle love affair that is highlighted by cute French songs, sweeping shots of Paris streets, and some hilarious childish bickering.

The music of the film is quick and optimistic, an important indication to follow considering the characters rarely speak. Although Sous les toits de Paris isn’t exactly a silent film, don’t expect witty dialogue. For the non-French speakers in the house, this means that you don’t have to worry about reading subtitles the whole time. Rather, the body language and music will tell you all you need to know about love, working class-solidarity, and how to be scam on multiple prospects.

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If you’re wondering whether or not to give “The Incredible Hulk” another chance at greatness after he let you down five years ago, I have one simple word for you. YES!!!

More of a retooling than retelling, this Hulk story finally gives fans and novices a like what they were originally hoping for when they descended upon theaters back in 2003. As you will come to find out, this film is easily ten times better than the first. Along with an improved script and better paced storytelling, it seems as though the CGI creators finally got it right and have undoubtedly improved on their work.

I’m not going to give you the whole synopsis and comic book backstory of the character or film, but here’s the essentials. Edward Norton plays our larger than life friend, who seems to have stayed out of trouble just long enough to figure out that there is no cure for his incredibly green ailment. Love interest and fellow scientist Betty, Liv Tyler has tried to move on with her life since the last time she saw him. William Hurt is cast as General Ross, Betty’s father and a Military commander who will stop at nothing to harness the Hulk’s power. Followed lastly by Tim Roth, who is undoubtedly the best actor at playing bad guys and well suited for his role as The Abomination. Who as you shall see, may be a bit more than the Hulk can handle. What ensues next is mass destruction, awesome special effects, things that go boom, and the most importantly, Hulk Smash!

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Cult films are so in, bra, and the 1991 stage adaptation of the Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze surfing action flick, “Point Break,” is no exception. “ Point Break Live!,” which opened at a new venue in Hollywood called The Dragonfly, this past Friday, is not just any film to stage adaptation, but rather an interactive show where — get this — a different audience member plays Keanu Reeves each evening for “ultimate realism.”

Flippin’ sweet, dude.

Like the hipper grandson to “The Rocky Horror Picture Show“, “Point Break Live!” has its own loyal following of fans who spout off the lines like high school pep rally cheers responding to the actors in the tight, dimly-lit Dragonfly venue. Moved from a theater in Downtown LA, “Point Break Live!” features the same cast of enthusiastic, energetic actors who seem to relish the opportunity to fight, surf, mug, and, perhaps most importantly, over-act.

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 I’m going to start out with a bold statement. There will be no in between for viewers of the new film, The Foot Fist Way. You will either love it and start quoting it, or hate it and want your money back.Danny Mcbride plays Fred Simmons, an unapologetic and hilariously self absorbed Tae Kwon Do instructor. His days mainly consist of berating his younger students, putting on low quality Martial arts demos, and driving around in his Magnum PI Ferrari. But when his busty blond wife played by Mary Jane Bostic cheats on him not once but twice, his seemingly inpenatrable macho man world is thrown into a downward spiral. His only chance at redemption is to regain the respect of his students by challenging his favorite Hollywood B movie Action star (Chuck The Truck Williams) Ben Best ,to a final Tae Kwon Do showdown.Technically this isn’t a new film. Originally released in 2006 at Sundance, it was deemed a hit with audiences but no big studios decided to back it for wide release. Enter Will Ferrell and Adam McKay with their own company Gary Sanchez Productions. In association with Paramount Vintage, they’re hoping that a wider audience will pick up on what they consider “one of the funniest movies ever.”  [ Read The Full Story -> ]

I can no longer say “Indy, I love you!” with the same vigor as I used to. The first half of the film was exactly what I thought it would be, entertaining, meaningless fun. Some of the stunts were, simple, feasible, and enjoyable. It had elements of the first films that I loved, an ordinary guy in extraordinary circumstances. Indiana Jones isn’t a superhero, he’s just as awesome dude. Then as the second half of the film rolled around, the special effects kicked in, any idea of reality, plot, or meaning disappeared and the film turned into a middle of the road chase film. Indiana Jones shouldn’t have have Star Wars type effects, yet for some reason (COUGH Lucas) there was. What’s great about Indiana, is that he gets punched, is constantly an inch away from death, and yet in the end he still wins. He’s the everyman’s hero. With all the added in CGI, the characters began acting like cartoons with no real sense of consequence and as a result you stop caring about them as humans and you lose what makes Indiana Jones so great. The humanity.

I think what I’ve decided is that I prefer Spielberg when he doesn’t have ridiculous special effects or CGI. I think the shark in Jaws looked more real and believable than anything in The Crystal Skull. There are moments that are textbook Spielberg and whether you like that or not, he does it well. Then it’s just mulled over with pointless, unrealistic shots that have just become tiresome.

***Spoilers AHEAD***

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Last September in Los Angeles, the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival took place at the Sunset 5 Theater in Hollywood. The festival was sponsored by Independent Film Quarterly, Independent Movie Channel - both owned by festival founder Stuart Alson - and Moli.com. The festival boasts showcasing the next generation of voices in independent film and video, wrong! I went there was to watch the one good film in the festival; “The Manson Movie” was the opening night headliner in the documentary category. “The Manson Movie” is fascinating, just for the access he was granted with the notorious Manson Family.

Hendrickson is the only person alive that can boast being Manson the family filmmaker.During the two-year period around Manson’s trial Hendrickson lived, played, traveled, and got high with the Manson family while rolling 35mm film the whole time. The documentary takes us from Viet Nam, and all the footage was shot by Hendrickson himself; the L.A riots, trail and life with the Manson family, as he lived with them at the Spahn Movie Ranch. Hendrickson films infamous family members Paul Watkins, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, Steve “Clem” Grogan, and more in the late 60’s, and early 70’s. In “The Manson movie,” the kids are doing anything from acting, playing, and singing at the Spahn ranch, to protesting, hiding out, and monologing for the camera in this eighty-five minute long film.

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Hello old friends… or new friends… or just plain ol’ acquaintances that I run into at the market after not talking to them for 5 years. Let’s pretend this is the awkward conversation we both don’t want to have. Super uncomfortable. Shall we?

I have some bits of news and rumors from all over, so stick with it.

• Let’s start with some James Bond news. Well, it’s not news. The Aston Martin that someone drove into a lake was news. These are just some photos from the new Bond flick. Potential spoilers, but not really. Check them out here.
• Since we’re on the topic of Bond, I might as well talk to you about this: Leonardo DiCapri may be taking up the role in Fleming, a movie based on Bond creator Ian Fleming. It is rumored DiCaprio may be taking the lead role. Check out the L.A. Times article here.

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Kind of a limited weekend coming up. Luckily you’ve still got Iron Man or Son of Rambow in theaters, both worth a watch. This weekend we’ve got Speed Racer coming out. Although it has an awesome cast, I think it’s pretty certain that even in it’s second week Iron Man is going to crush it, both in the numbers and the actual film itself. For those of you looking for the same comedy you’ve seen before there is What Happens in Vegas. Should be fun, light, for those of you looking for something “easy” to watch. To contrast that we’ve got Frontier(s) a French film which works on the premise that everyone and everything is “pure evil.” Lots of violence, blood, and torture devices. Fun! Redbelt which opened last weekend, is REALLY opening this weekend.

So here is is. Your weekend at the movies with cast and crew information, reviews, trailers and showtimes in your local area. Enjoy…

• Speed Racer | Reviews | Showtimes and Tickets
• What Happens in Vegas | Reviews | Showtimes and Tickets
• Frontier(s) | Reviews | Showtimes and Tickets
• Redbelt (Wide Release) | Reviews | Showtimes and Tickets

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The world according to David Mamet is a con game, full of hustlers and their rubes-in-waiting. It’s a tenet that has informed his best work, and casts the bitterly uplifting Redbelt as a promising departure from the canon. Is it performance-driven action, or an action-fueled drama? For the most part, it succeeds as both.

Chiwetel Ejiofor is Mike Terry, a virtuous Jujitsu instructor who’s charitably running his West LA academy into debt. When a freak accident with a fragile stranger (Emily Mortimer) destroys his storefront window, Mike plunges into bankruptcy. His humiliating search for a loan becomes a maddening cycle of betrayal and misfortune.

As a visual stylist, Mamet is finally impressing. In the age of Bourne, he’s a little outclassed, but the explosions of violence are confidently authentic. They’re more about tension than thrills, a constant challenge to Mike’s training mantra “there’s always an escape.” When money’s involved, the escape is rarely a peaceful one.

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Why is it so many Europeans are safe and sound, protected legally from genetically modified organisms, carried smoothly by rapid transit to die for, and now able to host the only film better than Al Gore’s on environmental fear and angst? Do we have only one decent environmental film in us? Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack launched in November 2007 (in rather staid Zurich no less) the ultimate film of conscience on L.A.’s favorite issue—GASOLINE PRICES!

A Crude Awakening, an intensely truthful docudrama, puts it all on us. What we really need to do they taunt and PROVE is charge a lot MORE for gasoline. It seems it’s these Europeans’ (and their California spokespersons in the film from CalTech and Stanford) only way they see to convince us that oil production HAS PEAKED and is in a rapid crash mode. That means the “C” word is all they have left for us—CONSERVATION! Meantime, the film is a sleeper around here, being picked up at this point mostly by organizations, environmentalist groups, colleges, and amazingly, unions, who hope to organize workers to survive the looming crisis in getting and affording transportation to work.

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Hello old friends. I just got back from watching Iron Man. If you are reading this I am assuming you have an idea of what Iron Man is. So I’m not going to waste my time writing out the whole synopsis. Go watch the trailer here. Then move on if you’d like. You already know if you’re going to see it or not. I’m just going to give you my opinion.

When I first saw the trailer months ago… I had a fanboy erection. I watched it over and over. Seriously. On my iPod while going to bed at night. On my computer over and over in glorious HD. It got to the point where my girlfriend prohibited me from watching the trailer. Now the big problem with them cutting such an awesome trailer is this: It can sometimes be better than the movie. I started to get cold feet about this movie as I thought about it more. Maybe it won’t be that good. Check out this funny Onion piece about the trailer.

I tried to see the movie Thursday night at a midnight screening. Yes, I like to go to midnight screenings with geeky fanboys cheering and screaming at the scream. It’s awesome. Anyway, it seemed like other people wanted to do the same and it was sold out. So I saw it today. Did it live up to the trailer?

You bet.

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