Return to MidMo and other short subjects

My second guest shot on the Midnight Movie Club was posted this week, reviewing the film “Return To Me” (with a stellar cast led by David Duchovny and Minnie Driver – in the movie, not the podcast). If the stats are accurate, many of you missed this film when it came out in 2000 (though the odds are apparently better if you were in an airplane around then). That’s a shame because it’s a great movie. You really should rent it. You won’t be disappointed. In any event, go listen to the podcast and hear Lee and I wax philosophical about such barely relevant topics as insurance forms for sex addicts, and how much acting ability is necessary to overcome being a complete whack job in real life.

In other news, I saw a couple of movies recently – one new, and one older.

Iron Man 2 was very good. It seemed almost on par with the first installment to me. Some things I liked better, some things I didn’t. Still a very fun ride, though.

Pixar’s Cars was a mixed bag for me. I liked it, but I’ve got to put it at the bottom of the Pixar pile. For a movie about race cars, it was kinda slow. I know I’m blowing against the prevailing winds since just about everybody I know puts Cars at or near the top of the Pixar list, but it didn’t grab me the same way the others did, and my kids were mostly bored.

In future movie news, the live-action feature release of Green Lantern – not scheduled to open until June 17, 2011 – has already been scheduled for a sequel with the same writing team. That team has also been scheduled to write a new movie about The Flash. It’s unclear whether the Green Lantern sequel or Flash film will be the next on the production line. I really hope this approval and trust is based on what they’ve already seen and not on wishful thinking. I really, really, really want to love the Green Lantern movie.

Looking back to the past, some guy has collected over 3000 classic lunch boxes. He says he has all but about 8 that were ever produced. That is some serious collecting. Here’s one of them:

Hey, kids! Just dropping by to kill you and your swell daggit!

That’s even cheesier than the show it’s based on!

In TV news, Tom Welling has said that next season will be the last for Smallville. I’ve heard that before, but this time I believe it. Chloe, the only original character left in the show, will only be a recurring character next season. Will Clark put on the suit his mom made for him by the end of the season? We’ll see.

After the excellent “Children of Earth” miniseries last year, Torchwood has finally been confirmed to return… but not until next year, and with only 10 episodes. This will also likely be its final season. Rather than centering in Wales, it will be a much more globe trotting season with higher stakes and a huge ending. Jack and Gwen are returning. I’m really looking forward to it.

Finally, this news is a few months old, but I think it’s one of the greatest Hollywood news stories lately: the guy who wrote the John Travolta stink-bomb “Battlefield Earth” has apologized. He also had this to say:

Actually, comparing it to a train wreck isn’t really fair to train wrecks, because people actually want to watch those. … Now, looking back at the movie with fresh eyes, I can’t help but be strangely proud of it. Because out of all the sucky movies, mine is the suckiest.

You just gotta appreciate the honesty.

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