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Nominated for six Golden Globes and seven Emmys, including Outstanding Series - Comedy, Sanford & Son became one of the first shows in television history to be almost entirely centered around African-American characters. Modeled after the British TV show Steptoe & Son, the series showcased the underappreciated talents of comic genius Redd Foxx (whose skin color and bad language prevented him from becoming a superstar decades earlier). The brainchild of All In The Family creator Norman Lear, Sanford & Son signaled the beginning of a decade of sitcom classics for the prolific 1970’s TV writer - Maude (1972), Good Times (1974), and The Jeffersons (1975) being the others. Wrought with memorable one-liners and well-timed humor, Sanford & Son was a Top 10 Nielsen rated show every year in which it aired except for its final season (ranking a respectable #27)…

Sanford & Son, set in the Watts district of Los Angeles, follows the life of Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx), a 65-year-old African-American junk dealer who shares his business with his 34-year-old son Lamont (Demond Wilson). With Fred’s wife Elizabeth having passed away twenty years earlier, he often evokes Lamont’s sympathy by clutching his heart and proclaiming, “Oh, I’m coming to join you Elizabeth!” But Fred always survives those near fatal heart attacks, continuing to disperse sarcastic putdowns (often directed at his sister-in-law Esther) and racist stereotypical remarks aimed against whites and Hispanics (especially Lamont’s friend Julio). Using guilt to manipulate his ambitious son into staying and helping run the salvage shop instead of pursuing other endeavors, Fred Sanford spends most of his days lounging around the house (his junk store and home are one and the same) and hanging out with his friends - Grady, Melvin, and Bubba… Well-written and hilarious, Sanford & Son is comedian Redd Foxx at his absolute best…

The Sanford & Son DVD (Season 1) features a number of hilarious episodes including the series premiere “Crossed Swords” in which Lamont purchases a collectible porcelain figure from a silent movie star for $15. When he and Fred get the statuette appraised, they determine that they can fetch a bundle for it if they put it up for auction, but while at the auction, the two decide to pose as buyers to bid up the price, a decision that ends up costing them… Other notable episodes from Season 1 include “The Copper Caper” in which Fred and Lamont purchase their own copper from a man who’s been stealing the metal all across town, and “A Pad for Lamont” in which Lamont decides to move into his own apartment for privacy reasons. At first, Fred is upset - until he learns he enjoys having some time to himself…

Below is a list of episodes included on the Sanford & Son (Season 1) DVD:

Episode 1 (Crossed Swords) Air Date: 01-14-1972
Episode 2 (Happy Birthday, Pop) Air Date: 01-21-1972
Episode 3 (Here Comes the Bride, There Goes the Bride) Air Date: 01-28-1972
Episode 4 (The Copper Caper) Air Date: 02-04-1972
Episode 5 (A Matter of Life and Breath) Air Date: 02-11-1972
Episode 6 (We Were Robbed) Air Date: 02-18-1972
Episode 7 (A Pad for Lamont) Air Date: 02-25-1972
Episode 8 (The Great Sanford Siege) Air Date: 03-03-1972
Episode 9 (Coffins for Sale) Air Date: 03-10-1972
Episode 10 (The Barracuda) Air Date: 03-17-1972
Episode 11 (TV or not TV) Air Date: 03-24-1972
Episode 12 (The Suitcase Case) Air Date: 03-31-1972
Episode 13 (The Return of the Barracuda) Air Date: 04-07-1972
Episode 14 (The Piano Movers) Air Date: 04-14-1972

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Sanford And Son (DVD).

Nominated for four Emmys, including Outstanding Dramatic Series two times in its short three-year stint, Star Trek is a true legend of television history. The brainchild of former L.A. policeman Gene Roddenberry, the show premiered in Fall 1966 only to be cancelled after three seasons due to lackluster ratings. But it may well have been NBC’s network executives who were the cause of the low ratings as they allotted a less than desirable time slot for the show. When Star Trek moved into syndication, its reruns captured the science-fiction imagination of an entirely new audience, catapulting the Star Trek franchise to new heights. Its newfound popularity would, in the decades to come, spawn novels, comic books, six full-length feature films, and reams of merchandise as fans clamored for anything Star Trek-related. Beginning in the 1980’s, spin-offs of the show began to appear such as Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise…

Star Trek, the original TV series, follows the adventurous exploits of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise as they “boldly go where no man has gone before…” The spaceship Enterprise is led by Captain James Tiberius Kirk (William Shatner), an Earth-born astronaut who often exhibits the charm, leadership, and creativity necessary for the mission’s survival. Kirk is joined by Lt. Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy), a Vulcan-born retired commander and theoretical scientist. Chief medical officer Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) rounds out the main cast of Star Trek which includes a plethora of supporting crew with multiple guest appearances and cameo roles. Together, the crew of U.S.S. Enterprise seeks to carry out its mission: “to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations…” It’s this pioneering attitude, coupled with imaginative sci-fi worlds, that provides Star Trek with its nostalgic allure - especially these episodes from the original TV series, widely regarded as the most popular of all the TV series…

The Star Trek (Season 2) DVD features a number of action-packed episodes including the season premiere “Amok Time” in which Spock begins to exhibit strange and irrational characteristics. Concerned, Kirk orders a full medical examination and learns that Spock is experiencing the instinctual mating patterns of a Vulcan and must return to his home planet immediately in order to avoid death. When they arrive, Spock’s chosen mate challenges the pairing, prompting a duel between Spock and the man of her choosing. Kirk is chosen, and he and Spock are forced to fight to the death… Other notable episodes from Season 2 include “Metamorphosis” in which the Enterprise encounters a mysterious force known as The Companion which is in love with a human, and “Patterns of Force” in which the crew of the Enterprise visits a planet resembling the society of 20th Century Nazi Germany…

Below is a list of episodes included on the Star Trek (Season 2) DVD:

Episode 30 (Amok Time) Air Date: 09-15-1967
Episode 31 (Who Mourns for Adonais?) Air Date: 09-22-1967
Episode 32 (The Changeling) Air Date: 09-29-1967
Episode 33 (Mirror, Mirror) Air Date: 10-06-1967
Episode 34 (The Apple) Air Date: 10-13-1967
Episode 35 (The Doomsday Machine) Air Date: 10-20-1967
Episode 36 (Catspaw) Air Date: 10-27-1967
Episode 37 (I, Mudd) Air Date: 11-03-1967
Episode 38 (Metamorphosis) Air Date: 11-10-1967
Episode 39 (Journey to Babel) Air Date: 11-17-1967
Episode 40 (Friday’s Child) Air Date: 12-01-1967
Episode 41 (The Deadly Years) Air Date: 12-08-1967
Episode 42 (Obsession) Air Date: 12-15-1967
Episode 43 (Wolf in the Fold) Air Date: 12-22-1967
Episode 44 (The Trouble with Tribbles) Air Date: 12-29-1967
Episode 45 (The Gamesters of Triskelion) Air Date: 01-05-1968
Episode 46 (A Piece of the Action) Air Date: 01-12-1968
Episode 47 (The Immunity Syndrome) Air Date: 01-19-1968
Episode 48 (A Private Little War) Air Date: 02-02-1968
Episode 49 (Return to Tomorrow) Air Date: 02-09-1968
Episode 50 (Patterns of Force) Air Date: 02-16-1968
Episode 51 (By Any Other Name) Air Date: 02-23-1968
Episode 52 (The Omega Glory) Air Date: 03-01-1968
Episode 53 (The Ultimate Computer) Air Date: 03-08-1968
Episode 54 (Bread and Circuses) Air Date: 03-15-1968
Episode 55 (Assignment: Earth) Air Date: 03-29-1968

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Star Trek (Season 2) DVD.

Topkapi, the movie, is a heist film which takes place at the Topkapi Palace, now a museum, in Istanbul, Turkey. It was directed by Jules Dassin and features his wife Melina Mercouri (recently Minister of Culture in Greece) of ‘Never on Sunday’ fame, which he also directed and acted in.

The museum contains a remarkable dagger encrusted with huge emeralds and many diamonds. This was the object of the heist. Peter Ustinov plays a kind of fool who is recruited to help with the heist. The movie is funny and suspenseful and features the museum as a building of unusual form and design.

One of the great attractions in the museum is The Apartment of the Holy Mantle and Sacred Relics which contains the mantle of Muhammed. If you go to Istanbul, be sure to see Topkapi and the Hagia Sophia Cathedral.

For more information, try this site:

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/print-narrative.cfm?destID=350&catID=0350020332

Or type in Topkapi in a search engine.

Here is part of a review of the movie by Daniel Fienberg:

“It’s amusing how nearly every second of Jules Dassin’s Topkapi feels familiar even if you’ve never seen the movie. To begin with, Dassin was, to some degree, parodying his own grand theft classic Rififi, which came out in 1955. But since Topkapi’s release, it has become something of a blueprint for films in the heist genre. From Brian DePalma’s explicit references in Mission: Impossible to John Woo’s gentle allusions in Once a Thief to Frank Oz’s debt of gratitude on The Score, any time a master criminal gets a gang together to steal that which can’t possibly be stolen, it’s hard not to tip your hat to Topkapi. Even Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s 11 seems to owe as much to Dassin as to the Brat Pack original. Surely all of this idolatry has to mean something.

What it means is that *nobody* stages a robbery set-piece like Dassin. So you can rent Topkapi and sit through over an hour of stale planning and clumsy attempts at humor, but when the film has ended, somehow all of the earlier stuff has faded away and all you remember is the masterful robbery.

The opening credits of Topkapi are shot through an emerald, playing tricks with light and perspective. These tricks of the eye become a visual theme in Dassin’s film. The first character we meet calls herself Elizabeth (Melina Mercouri) and she takes us on a tour around a museum in Istanbul, pointing out the treasures of the Turkish Empire, before arriving at a bust of a sultan wearing a dagger in a shoulder holster. The dagger is studded with diamonds, but also contains the four Topkapi emeralds, flawless stones, each priceless. And Elizabeth has a plan to get that dagger.

It starts with the suave Swiss Walter (Maximilian Schell), an ultra-successful robber who insists on only one thing the job must be done entirely be amateurs, people without police records. The first amateur brought on board is Cedric Page (Robert Morley), a Brit with a love of elaborate toys and an appreciation for complex electrical systems. Page explains that the challenge in getting the dagger comes from the ultra-sensitive alarm keyed to the floor of the museum. Even a ping pong ball is enough to set off the alarm. They set up a plan for circumventing the alarm and for no reason that I fully understood, they decide to smuggle their materials from Greece to Turkey in a fancy convertible. And then, even more confounding, they decide to get a heel to drive the car across. That heal is Arthur Simpson (Peter Ustinov), an academic now living in exile in Greece, offering tours of the local nightlife in desperation.”

You can read all of it here

http://www.epinions.com/content_77023841924

Enjoy the movie if you can find it.

Jack Wilson is a writer, artist, movie fan and traveler. http://www.geocities.com/galimatio/jackwilson.html

Solaris, both Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 original and Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 re-make, is a film that truly tests the limits of motion picture as a medium.

In my judgment, the aesthetic G-forces created by pushing the envelope of the cinematic medium is more apparent in Tarkovsky’s original, which is in a way also a testimony to Soderbergh’s amazing directorial powers. But then, perhaps Soderbergh did not try to jam in as many “messages” as Tarkovsky tried to do.

Solaris is a lovely ruse that starts as a sci-fi flick and ends as a Dostoyevskian meditation on “the meaning of life.”

To the extent the issue is approached without “laying down the pipe,” or over-the-top exposition, the film engages our senses and massages all the dormant graycells.

But the minute Kris Kelvin starts to lecture about “grand themes,” the uncomfortable truth surfaces — moving images are great for thrillers, action flicks, for slapstick comedy, horror and drama. Yet when it comes to addressing philosophical issues, how far can the pure image go?

What’s the correct image or “motion picture” for “meaning”? Or for “redemption”?

That’s a challenge even Tarkovsky could not meet adequately, in my humble opinion.

Ideally, in an art work, every object should be able to stand on its own feet as its own signifier and should not need the crutches of lengthy explanations or “Western Union messages.” Otherwise it can slip quickly into pure propaganda.

Does Tarkovsky’s Solaris at the end slip into philosophical propaganda?

What happened in the end? Did Kris really left earth and traveled to the space station and then came back? Or perhaps he never left and all was a redemptive dream? Or he did make the trip but earth itself was reclaimed by the cosmic ocean?

There is a great sense of regret in Solaris, in both versions, and both directors conveyed that sense of tragedy very well.

Things that we could’ve done differently if only we had a second chance and if only we knew how…

Something bleeds constantly at the heart of our daily existence, a certain feeling of dread perhaps anchored in regret, that renders brief moments of happiness all the more so precious.

That is conveyed very successfully both in 1972 and 2002 Solaris.

I like a movie to leave a few strands dangling out there to allow the audience read in their own constructions and thus reclaim the film as their own. But I like them just mysterious enough in the way, let’s say, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS ends.

The kind of churning enigma that ends Tarkovsky’s SOLARIS is a bit too much for comfort, especially if you happen to think movies not as philosophical dissertation theses but as “entertainment.”

———————————–

Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a Creative Copywriter, Editor, an experienced and award-winning Technical Communicator specializing in fundraising packages, direct sales copy, web content, press releases and hi-tech documentation.

He has worked as a Technical Writer for Fortune 100 companies for the last 7 years.

You can reach him at writer111@gmail.com for a FREE consultation on all your copywriting needs.

Please visit his official web site http://www.writer111.com for customer testimonials and more information on his multidisciplinary background and career.

The last book he has edited: http://www.lulu.com/content/263630

Much like the shows Seinfeld and Friends, Frasier, the Kelsey Grammer Cheers spin-off, dominated the NBC prime time TV lineup throughout the 1990s. Grammer stars in the title role of Dr. Frasier Crane who, recently divorced, moves back to his home city of Seattle, Washington. Landing a gig as a radio psychiatrist, Frasier reluctantly agrees to let his father Marty (John Mahoney), a Seattle cop recently shot in an attempted robbery, move into his new bachelor pad. Both Frasier and his younger brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce) make a concerted effort to mend the relationship with their estranged father whose beer guzzling friends, plaid shirt wardrobe, and weathered recliner strike a dramatic contrast with the boys and their pretentious social circles. Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves) acts as Frasier’s live-in housekeeper and Marty’s personal physical therapist.

The Frasier (Season 2) DVD offers a number of hilarious episodes including episode #40 where Sam Malone (Ted Danson) visits Frasier in Seattle. Sam fills Frasier in on what the various members of the Cheers gang are now up to. In the next to last episode of the season, Frasier and Niles (against Martin’s advice) purchase a restaurant they enjoyed during their youth and rename it “Les Freres Heureux” or “The Happy Brothers”. The two inevitably run the operation into the ground (on opening night, nonetheless)…

Below is a list of episodes included on the Frasier (Season 2) DVD:

Episode 25 (Slow Tango in South Seattle) Air Date: 09-20-1994
Episode 26 (The Unkindest Cut of All) Air Date: 09-27-1994
Episode 27 (The Matchmaker) Air Date: 10-04-1994
Episode 28 (Flour Child) Air Date: 10-11-1994
Episode 29 (Duke’s, We Hardly Knew You) Air Date: 10-18-1994
Episode 30 (The Botched Language of Cranes) Air Date: 11-01-1994
Episode 31 (The Candidate) Air Date: 11-08-1994
Episode 32 (Adventures in Paradise: Part 1) Air Date: 11-15-1994
Episode 33 (Adventures in Paradise: Part 2) Air Date: 11-22-1994
Episode 34 (Burying a Grudge) Air Date: 11-29-1994
Episode 35 (Seat of Power) Air Date: 12-13-1994
Episode 36 (Roz in the Doghouse) Air Date: 01-03-1995
Episode 37 (Retirement is Murder) Air Date: 01-10-1995
Episode 38 (Fool Me Once, Shame on You, Fool Me Twice…) Air Date: 02-07-1995
Episode 39 (You Scratch My Book…) Air Date: 02-14-1995
Episode 40 (The Show Where Sam Shows Up) Air Date: 02-21-1995
Episode 41 (Daphne’s Room) Air Date: 02-28-1995
Episode 42 (The Club) Air Date: 03-21-1995
Episode 43 (Someone to Watch Over Me) Air Date: 03-28-1995
Episode 44 (Breaking the Ice) Air Date: 04-18-1995
Episode 45 (An Affair to Forget) Air Date: 05-02-1995
Episode 46 (Agents in America, Part III) Air Date: 05-09-1995
Episode 47 (The Innkeepers) Air Date: 05-16-1995
Episode 48 (Dark Victory) Air Date: 05-23-1995

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Frasier (Season 2) DVD.

In the past all movies were made for the big screen because studios could only bring a certain amount of movies to theaters each year. After they left the big screen they would go straight to video and cable. Now things are much more different than they were in the past. VHS’s are nearly dead and many studios are not only producing movies for theaters but they are also producing movies for direct to consumer sales. This trend, which has been growing over the last couple of years, is expected to hit its peak in the next few years. The reason is because consumers like to watch movies from the comfort of their own home. Furthermore, there are many things that studios can release on DVD that they can not show on television, such as uncensored footage from controversial television shows. It also allows studios to introduce quality entertainment at a lower cost.

It has lead to the development of several video series for children which they can take with them everywhere the go. Since DVD’s where introduced they have been taken to new levels every year. From bringing back classic movies, to putting television shows on DVD, to netflix. It has to make everyone wonder what will be next in the world of DVDs.

Andre Bias is the owner of http://www.kidfriendlyentertainment.com, and online source for top notch DVD’s for children 10 years old and younger.

It often seems almost every child in the world knows the Thomas the tank engine and friends television show. A lot of them also have at least one of the great Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends toys. Sadly, some parents haven’t still heard of these cute railroad adventurers that live in a shed in the magical island of Sodor, despite the fact that Thomas has been around since their childhood too! For those parents, here is a brief list of the characters featured in the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends TV show.

Our first pal is also the star of the show: Thomas. Thomas is a blue tank engine locomotive, the number one engine in the Fat Controller’s railway line. He is cheeky, friendly and kind, but he has the habit of doing jobs that are meant to be performed by bigger engines. He carries two coaches named Annie and Clarabel. Both Annie and Clarabel carry passengers, but Clarabel can also carry luggage.

The second engine in the Fat Controller’s team is Edward. He is proud to be Thomas’ friend and co-worker. His color is also blue, but he is older than Thomas. Like Thomas the Tank engine, Edward is very nice and kind to everyone in the island of Sodor. He is glad to help smaller engines in their work, and also when they get into any kind of trouble. Coaches love him, as all others do. Edward also plays the part of a “pacifier” locomotive: whenever the other engines are somehow misbehaving, the Fat Controller asks Edward to calm them down, and then Edward talks to them and soon things are back to normal.

The third engine in the team is Henry. Henry is a green locomotive. He is always proud of his shiny green paint, and everybody think he is a very handsome engine. He is a very long locomotive, and he is also very fast. Sometimes Henry gets ill, but he never says no to a job. I just don’t know why, but this is my favorite character of the Thomas the Tank Engine and friends show.

The number four engine is Gordon. Gordon is the locomotive that pulls the Big Express train. He is the fastest and most powerful locomotive in the entire island of Sodor, and he is very proud of that. In fact, he is so proud that sometimes he can get too arrogant. Gordon is the senior engine in the Fat Controller’s team. Usually, the other engines like to play tricks on him, which makes Gordon angry. However, he has a kind heart, and always forgives them. He usually uses his strength to help other engines.

The engine number five is James. He is a medium size engine that is really proud of his shiny red paint. He has six wheels.

The last one of the troupe is Percy. He is the engine number six in the Fat Controller’s team, and is also the youngest one of the locomotives. He is very kind and happy, and his job consists of sorting out the trucks in the yard.

The Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends TV show is a great learning partner for little kids, and knowing the basics about the characters will help you better relate with your children and help you follow along as both of you enjoy the delightful episodes of Thomas the Train, one of the best family shows on television.

Copyright © Jared Winston, 2006. All Rights Reserved.

For decades Thomas the Tank Engine has fascinated children, leading to the release of everything from the original book series to Thomas the Train clothes. Stop by Thomas Fans to read more about Thomas, his friends, their history and their adventures.

The first three installments of the Harry Potter series have shown us flashbacks, hallucinations, magic mirrors, time travel, and other altered states of consciousness as Harry drifts in and out of reality. Haunted by ghosts of his past, a demonic wizard hell-bent on destroying him, and soul-sucking dementors who want to tap into his misery, Harry’s state of mind is a constant concern for his friends and adopted family at Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” however, for the first time we are invited into Harry’s tortured dreams as he enters his fourth year at the school.

Director Mike Newell includes three dream sequences taken from the book by J.K. Rowling. Although all the dreams take place in the same location with the same characters and have the same theme (i.e., let’s kill Harry Potter), their presentations differ greatly and therefore produce different emotions in the viewer.

The first dream sequence begins the movie. We see an old caretaker notice a light in an abandoned house that he’s watching. He angrily marches over to the house expecting to find some unruly teenagers. Instead he finds Lord Voldemort, Wormtail, and another mysterious man talking about the ultimate demise of Harry. A huge snake slithers by the caretaker as he listens outside the door. Suddenly his presence becomes known and as the caretaker is attacked, Harry awakens in a terrified state from the dream.

Unlike dream sequences that use black and white or distorted color, garbled sound, and illogical images to indicate an altered state of consciousness or specifically a dream, this first dream sequence has no visual or aural cues. The dream occurs in real-time; we feel what Harry feels and we assume that it’s really happening. Until we see Harry awaken, we believe (and are supposed to believe) that the scene is actually taking place. This director’s trick (and in this case also the author’s trick) hooks us immediately into the action, and then shocks us by revealing that it was all just a dream.

The second dream sequence happens in real-time also. We know it’s a dream, however, because we see Harry sleeping fitfully in bed before it starts. Throughout the sequence, we see scenes of Harry sleeping. The dream is similar to before, but we learn a little more this time. Because it’s not a surprise, this dream looks like a typical movie dream with slow motion, blurring, and an unreal quality. Harry awakens in a frightened sweat again. We don’t feel quite as threatened this time because we’re led to believe that Harry suffers from recurring nightmares (and with his troubled past who could blame him?)

The third time we see Harry’s dream is through a flashback as he recalls the dream out loud in Albus Dumbledore’s office. We’re still confused about the relevance of these dreams. Because the dream is not happening in real-time, but is a brief flashback - a mere memory of what Harry thought he dreamed, the dream’s importance may be lessened. After recounting the dream, he asks Dumbledore if the dreams could possibly be something other than random and meaningless. Could they be telepathic scenes currently taking place or possibly prophetic dreams that predict Harry’s future? The final thirty minutes of the film answer this question.

The reason why filmmakers (and authors) use dream sequences is to increase audience involvement and connectedness to the character. Getting inside of Harry’s head allows us to feel his horror and share his sense of dread.

By keeping us off-guard as to whether or not these dreams are true events, real-time dreams, or memories of dreams, the director confuses us as to what is real and what is an illusion. It’s cinematic sorcery that bewitches us into reading the book, going to the multiplex, and buying the DVD.

Copyright 2006 Leslie Halpern

Central Florida-based entertainment writer Leslie Halpern is the author of “Dreams on Film. The Cinematic Struggle Between Art and Science” (McFarland & Company), a book that analyzes representations of sleeping and dreaming in the movies. She also wrote “Reel Romance. The Lovers’ Guide to the 100 Best Date Movies” (Taylor Trade Publishing), a book that reviews date movies for couples, and suggests romantic ideas inspired by these films. Her articles have appeared in hundreds of entertainment trade and consumer magazines. Visit Leslie’s website at http://home.cfl.rr.com/lesliehalpern/leslie_halpern.htm

Now that 2005 is over and everybody has revealed their top ten list (or at least a preliminary version of it), the time has come to start looking forward to what we will be seeing in cinemas this year. There’s plenty of movies coming, and to help you on your way, here is my yearly (only the second time, but still) Top 20 list of coolest upcoming movies!

20. X-Men 3
The second X-Men movie is still one of the best superhero movies of all time, but that one had an ingredient that this one is lacking: Bryan Singer. What I have heard so far about Brett Ratner’s ideas for the franchise have not really made me enthusiastic, but the first teaser trailer was pretty cool. Let’s keep our fingers crossed, hoping that Ratner will surprise us after all.

19. Click
Adam Sandler’s movies are a bit hit and miss, but this one has a few things going for it. First: Kate Beckinsale is in it. Second: And so is Christopher Walken. And third: The story is pretty cool, as it is about a guy who finds a remote control that lets him zoom back and forth to moments in his life. Which is great, until the remote control starts showing a mind of it’s own. Adam Sandler and high concept normally works pretty well, so this could be real fun.

18. The Return of Zoom
Last year saw the successful teen superhero movie Sky High, and this year sees another teen superhero movie. Tim Allen plays a worn out superhero who is called back into action, to train a group of kid superheroes at a private academy. Yeah, sounds very familiar, but Sky High was a lot of fun so maybe we will be in luck again with this one.

17. Mission Impossible 3
The most irritating man of 2005 (as voted by movie lovers all over the world) is back in his high profile action franchise. But will it be a hattrick for Tom Cruise? The first one was pretty good, the second one dissapointing, this one, being directed by Lost’s JJ Abrams, could be a return to form.

16. Marie Antoinette
The director of my favorite movie of 2004, Lost in Translation, returns to the big screen with this stylized account of the life of Marie Antoinette, a simple girl from Vienna who became the Queen of France in 1774. A rags to riches story? Yes, although it is unfortunate that she became queen only a few years before all the French royals were beheaded… Sophie Coppola directs Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman in this.

15. Benchwarmers
This movie, starring Jon Heder and Jon Lovitz, tells the story of a trio of friends, who try to make up for missed opportunities in their childhood when they form their own baseball team and start playing against Little League teams. Could be this years Dodgeball.

14. Happy Feet
There’s a swarm of cool CGI animated movies coming up this year, but this seems to be one of the most fun ones. How can it not be fun: it’s about penguins! About a group of singing penguins to be precise. Our hero is a penguin cannot sing, which is a problem, because this is the way male penguins woo the females. Luckily though, he may not be able to sing, but he can tapdance better than anybody else!

13. Miami Vice
Just reading those words will make the tune to this classic tv-show stick in your head for the rest of the day (you don’t have to thank me). This might actually be a better TV-remake than most though, since Michael Mann is directing (him also being director of numerous episodes of the original series).

12. Eragon
In case you are worried that there won’t be a big fantasy spectacle this year (Lord of the Rings having ended, and the next Narnia only coming out this year): rest assured. The next big thing is coming in the shape of Eragon, another movie based on a book, in which a kid hooks up with a dragon and ends up in the middle of an age old battle between dragons.
Dragons. Cool!

11. Cars
Normally Pixar is a guarantee for quality, but this time I am a little bit more careful than usual. The teaser trailer wasn’t that hot, and the fact that Pixar has delayed the movie to this year also does not bode well. Although, knowing Pixar, that extra time will have been well spent. I won’t be surprised if this one ends up in 5 star land after all.

10. My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Luke Wilson must be one of the unluckiest guys in the world. His girlfriend is a super heroine (cool!) but he doesn’t know (booo!) until they break up and she starts using her super powers to get back at him. Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes either. Uma Thurman stars as the girlfriend.

9. Black Dahlia
Brian DePalma returns with this slick thriller which stars Scarlett Johansson. Oh, you want to know more? Well, it’s all about two cops who try to hunt the killer of a young actress. Next to Johansson, we will also see Hilary Swank, Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart. This one looks like a lot of fun.

8. The Da Vinci Code
Were you sick and tired of all the Da Vinci hype when the book came out two years ago? Get ready to be sick all over again when the hype for the movie version starts! If you, like me, did like the book though, I think you will be in for a thrillride, as Ron Howard directs Tom Hanks and Audrey ‘Amelie’ Tatou.

7. Casino Royale
The return of James Bond, but not as you know him! The new Bond goes back to the early days of Bond and will be stripped of many of the elements that made the Bond movies so successful in the first place. Let’s hope they won’t strip away too much, unless the stripping involves the new Bond girl!

6. Pirates of the Caribbean 2
The first Pirates of the Caribbean movie was brilliant, and everything points towards this second part being just as much fun. Everybody returns, plus there are some cool new characters to add to the mix. And if you cannot get enough of Captain Jack Sparrow and his friends: this was shot back to back with the third movie, which will be released next year.

5. A Scanner Darkly
Richard Linklater returns to his passion for animation with this movie that is a combination of real life acting and animation. Not in the regular sense though, because in Linklater’s movie all the actors are traced by animators, giving the whole movie a very interesting visual effect.

4. Nacho Libre
The director of Napoleon Dynamite returns with this movie about a Mexican priest (Jack Black) who at night dons the outfit of a lucha libre wrestler to raise money for the local orphanage. I don’t know why, but this movie just sounds like it could be the funniest thing since… Well… Napoleon Dynamite!

3. Lady in the Water
M. Night Shyamalan will give us some more of his own brand of movie making with Lady in the Water, starring Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard. Giamatti is a landlord who one day finds a mysterious woman in the pool of his building. We don’t know much more about the movie yet, but with a Shyamalan picture you don’t want to know too much in advance anyway. Sounds very intriguing!

2. Superman Returns
Bryan Singer did great things with the X-Men franchise, and when you have the greatest superhero of them all at your disposal, what can go wrong? (Let’s hope those words won’t come back to haunt me…)

1. The Fountain
Darren Aranofsky will this year hopefully unleash his latest work, which involves romance and time travel and stars Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. A man finds out the love of his life is dying, and he starts a journey to the fountain of life in order to be able to save her life…

Originally published at www.scribbleking.com

Patrick Rijnders is a Dutch movie journalist with many years of experience. His weblog (http://www.scribbleking.com) is read by thousands of people from all over the world, next to which he still writes reviews for several Dutch magazines.

It all started with a simple statement scribbled across a blank page of an
examination answer-book: “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” Sixty some-odd years and several volumes later, Middle Earth is one of the most well-known and beloved fantasy worlds.

Last year, 2005, marked the 50th anniversary of the complete publication of J.R.R.
Tolkien’s masterpiece. The Lord of the Rings, a multi-volume epic that
followed The Hobbit, was first published in London in 1954, with an
American edition following in 1955. This tale of unlikely heroes has been made into
a radio play (the BBC’s Third Programme aired it in 1956); an animated film (1978);
a trilogy of live-action films (2001, 2002, 2003); several video games (1985, 1990,
1992, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004) with more being planned; and now is being made
into an ambitious live-theatre musical production.

“The responsibility is huge,” says Mathew Warchus, the man chosen to direct the
stage version of The Lord of the Rings, “but the opportunity is huge as well,
because you can do some things you always dreamed of doing on the stage.”

Lord of the Rings opened at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto in
February 2006, cost about $27 million (Canadian) to produce and faced many
challenges.

“People feel so strongly about Tolkien’s work,” Warchus says. “I studied the books
very carefully. I vowed I would not trivialize the piece in any way, but honor it and
perhaps even add something to all the available incarnations of the story.”

With so many adaptations of the work on hand, why would someone tackle a stage
production? “To read the novel is to experience the events of Middle Earth in the
mind’s eye; to watch the films is to view Middle Earth as though through a giant
window. Only in the theatre are you actually plunged into the events as they
happen,” says Warchus. “The environment surrounds us. We participate. We are in
Middle Earth.”

Fans who have seen the preview agree. One said, “It was unlike reading or watching
Middle Earth, it was like being there!”

The biggest question, however, was why a musical? Do we really want Frodo to sing,
orcs to dance? “We have not attempted to pull the novel towards the standard
conventions of musical theatre,” says Warchus, “but rather to expand those
conventions so that they will accommodate Tolkien’s material.”

There is “music virtually the whole way through,” says Kevin Wallace, producer of
the show, “Like in the books, the characters in the stage adaptation use songs that
are already part of their culture to express themselves. They do not sing as in a
traditional musical, … but as in a culture with a strong singing tradition, they use
music as part of their everyday life.”

The music is a collaborative composition of A.R. Rahman, a composer from India,
Vrttin, a vocal group from Finland, and Christopher Nightengale, the show’s
musical supervisor. Since, Tolkien used Finnish as a basis for Elvish, having a
Finnish group as part of the musical collaboration has given the music for this
production an authentic and unique sound.

“It’s not really a musical in the tradition sense,” Liam Kearns, a fan from Vancouver
who traveled to Toronto just to see the show, told The Canadian Press. “It’s
really a stage extravaganza. There’s music, but it’s a dramatic play.”

When rumors of this production first surfaced, there was fear that the result would
be cheesy or would stray too far from the original work. To help keep the adaptation
in line with Tolkien’s material, Laurie Battle, Head of Licensing at Tolkien
Enterprises, worked as Creative Consultant, advising the director and producer
directly, as well as pointing the way to further research when necessary.

The effort paid off. “I highly recommend any and every Tolkien fan to watch this
production,” said one fan who saw the preview.

Lord of the Rings is appropriate for children aged 8 and older. Wallace
advises, “People should use their own discretion and bring children who are old
enough to enjoy the performance.” This is especially true, since it is about three and
one-half hours long.

Knowing the story and its characters isn’t necessary to enjoy the musical, according
to Kearns. You can follow the story, which takes in all three books, even if you don’t
know the difference between an ent and an orc.

Previews of Lord of the Rings started Feb. 4, 2006 and the Gala Opening is
scheduled for March 23. Toronto will be the only place to see this production for at
least nine months, when the London production premieres later this year. And
Wallace says that Toronto will be the only place to see this musical in North America
for at least 18 months.

A Kevin Wallace Limited Production, Lord of the Rings is presented by Kevin
Wallace and Saul Zaentz, in association with David and Ed Mirvish and Michael Cohl.
Tickets, which are $78 or $125 (Canadian), are available at http://www.lotr.com or by
calling (416) 872-1212 or (800) 461-3333.

About the Author:

C.S. Pothitt is the editor of The Genre Traveler, an online travel magazine
for science fiction, fantasy and horror fans. You can find it at
http://www.thegenretraveler.com In May, The Genre
Traveler, in cooperation with Beyond Boundaries Travel, is taking readers on
an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the World Premiere Lord of the Rings musical. If you’d like to join, or you’d like to learn more, go to
http://www.thegenretraveler.com/LOTRTour.htm before the April 1, 2006 deadline for
reservations.