I'm So GD Excited About The Wrestler

Today is a special day. After about five months of hell, I'm finally out of school. I honestly do not know how I was able to remotely keep up with this place as I really had no free time at all. I don't know what happened. I guess I just signed up for the wrong classes or something. In the end, it was Advanced Spanish Conversation that really killed me. I think I did okay on the final and I know I did good on the presentation but I really messed up on a test about a month due to a panic attack in the middle of it (something that's never really happened to me before). So I might be getting my first B in a college course, thus losing my 4.0. If it happens, I'm going to be pretty upset but I've done the best I can to try to keep it. Still... it's really frustrating because the whole thing was really beyond my control. I mean, I had a freaking panic attack in the middle of a test that I was completely prepared for. It's so lame.

Anyways, all that is done. Now, I can write a little more for this site (in between resting and working on my new movie script). When I sat down a few seconds ago to think about something to write about on here, I was quick to think: what's the only movie I'm really dying to see right now? Oh yeah- The Wrestler.

I am so pumped to see this movie. I'm so excited about it that it is ridiculous. Do you people realize how awesome this thing is going to be? Not only is it starring Mickey freaking Rourke, directed by Darren Aronofsky and a realistic portrayal of pro wrestling but it's also getting insanely good reviews. As of right now, it is sitting at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

But that's not all that's been going on with The Wrestler these days. Today, iTunes released Bruce Springsteen's single for the film. You can download it for 99 cents. I'd recommend it- I'm not a huge Springsteen fan but I've had this song on repeat for the past few hours. It's a really good song. I hear that listening to it after seeing the film makes it even more powerful. I look forward to being able to do that. You can download it here.

In a really cool bit of news, former WWE star and hardcore wrestling legend Mick Foley (one of my personal heroes) recently did an interview in which he endorsed the film. Although he had some minor problems with it, he said that he really loved the movie and that he was really surprised at just how realistic of a portrayal it managed to be. This makes me even more excited. 

Lastly, there have been a lot of photos of Mickey Rourke looking insane from various premieres of the film. The Mick is looking really awful these days but it really does add to his charm. Still, I would never f with this guy. I feel like he could kill me... but instead he'd just eat my face and then smoke a big ole' cigar. Then, he'd start a one-man parade around the city with just him, his chihuahua and an imaginary band while covered in my blood. Why? Because he's Mickey freaking Rourke, that's why.

For those who do not know, The Wrestler comes out this Friday in limited release (lame). If you live in the Jackson, Mississippi area (like me), it is coming to the Malco Grandview theater in Madison on January 16th. I can't wait to buy my ticket.

Sources: /Film, Rotten Tomatoes, Filmdrunk

Rob Zombie Making a Halloween Sequel

According to Bloody-Disgusting, Rob Zombie is writing and directing a sequel to his 2007 remake of John Carpenter's Halloween. The film is set to start production in March and is aiming for a release date in October 2009. In other words, they are making it really fast. Its title, as of right now, is H2. The film will start off right where his Halloween remake ended. It will "follow the aftermath of Michael Myers' murderous rampage through the eyes of the sister he hunted." So apparently Michael Myers will be in this sequel, despite the fact that... well... 

*Spoiler alert* 

... He got his head blown off in the first one.

*End spoiler*

I'm one of the few people that actually was into Zombie's remake of Halloween. It wasn't anywhere near the perfection of Carpenter's original but I enjoyed it for what it was worth and the effort that Zombie made to make it unique. Still, I'm not that crazy about a sequel. It definitely lessens the impact of the ending of the first film. I felt like one of the things that made that movie special was the fact that Myers was mortal and that he got it the way he did at the very end. It was very tragic. If he can't die, then what's the point? Also, Zombie had stated in the past that he would not make a sequel to Halloween so it's kind of lame to see him go back on his word. Honestly, this guy needs to be directing other things. When are we going to get Tyrannosaurus Rex? Also, I'd like to see Zombie try something non-horror for once. I think he could pull it off. 

I'm not crazy about the idea of this sequel or its lame title (H2? That's all you could come up with?) but I'll see it when it comes out. I enjoyed the first one and I've been interested in Rob Zombie's directing career since seeing The Devil's Rejects. I just hope this sequel isn't pointless.

Source: Bloody-Disgusting

Speech of the Week #21

Hey guys, welcome to a column here on YDKS Movies entitled Speech of the Week! For now on, every Monday I will post a new scene from a movie that features a speech of some sort being given. After all, there are a lot of famous scenes in film where characters give an influential speech of some sort. Then again, there are also a lot of scenes where characters give a speech and it just comes off cheesy and lame. In this section, you will see both kinds. That's right, people, I'm giving you the good and bad of film speeches all wrapped up in one great big package. I hope you all enjoy.

Since The Dark Knight came out on DVD last night, I decided that this week's Speech of the Week could celebrate that. This is the second of Joker's scar stories (I posted the first one for Speech of the Week #10) and it's probably my favorite of the two. Heath Ledger is pretty incredible but that's all been said many times before. Enjoy it below and be sure to go out and buy the movie if you haven't already.

'The Office' Gets a Guest Star

It has been rumored that post-Super Bowl episode of The Office would have a big name guest star, and in a recent announcement by Angela Bromstad, the President of Primetime Entertainment at NBC, that guest star is none other than...


Mr. Kung Fu Panda himself, Jack Black.


I cannot disclose any other details at this time due to my inability to read any type of plot details before actually viewing the episode (I spent a year and a half avoiding everything Dark Knight managing only to watch the first full trailer once). I got as far into the plot synopsis for the new episode as "...some of the workers..." before I decided to write this post. You can read the original article and plot of the upcoming episode through the link below.


Also, expect a review of last week's episode, "Moroccan Christmas," this Thursday. You can enjoy the review between the reruns of "Crime Aid" at 8:00pm CST and "Customer Survey" at 9:30pm CST airing on NBC.


Source: ComingSoon


*Update* Upon exiting the original article, I caught a couple details. The episode will be an hour long and will be titled "Stress Relief." At least that is all I saw.

Todd Phillips has a 'Hangover'

I first noticed Todd Phillips when Road trip was released in 2000. And while I thought Road Trip had little bits of brilliance scattered throughout, it wasn't until 2003 when Phillips released his masterpiece.

Old School is genius in so many ways, and I have been quoting it since the day I saw it in the theater. Whenever it comes on TV, no matter what I am doing, no matter what, I will stop and watch. And, I will never stop writing love letters about it.

But since then, the nothing more than enjoyable Starsky and Hutch was released in 2004, the unfunny School for Scoundrels was released in 2006, and it was starting to seem like Todd Phillips had lost his stride only to fall into sub-par comedy oblivion.

That was until a couple of pictures were released for his new film, Hangover. At first glance, the story is the very cliche bachelor party in Vegas gig. But, upon further review, the direction the story takes has real potential. Check out the synopsis below courtesy of Film School Rejects.

Two days before his wedding, Doug and his three friends drive to Las Vegas for a blow-out bachelor party they’ll never forget. But, in fact, when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning, they can’t remember a thing. For some reason, they find a tiger in the bathroom and a six-month-old baby in the closet of their suite at Caesars Palace. The one thing they can’t find is Doug. With no clue as to what transpired and little time to spare, the trio must retrace their hazy steps and all their bad decisions in order to figure out where things went wrong and hopefully get Doug back to L.A. in time to walk down the aisle.

Hangover will be released in theaters June 12, 2009.


Source: Film School Rejects

Stephen King's Top 10 List Should be Printed on Toilet Paper

I hate Entertainment Weekly.

Through some fancy maneuvering, I was able to get a free subscription of EW from the late Suncoast Motion Picture Company. But when I was asked to renew my subscription, using actual money no less, I replied in a well-written response why I don't pay for garbage.

But, the real travesty of the entire magazine is that they let Stephen King write about movies. So without further ado, I present Stephen King's list of the Best Movies of 2008 which should be retitled to "Hi, I'm Stephen King and these are the only movies I saw this year."

1. The Dark Knight
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. Wall-e
4. Tropic Thunder
5. Funny Games
6. The Bank Job
7. Lakeview Terrace
8. The Ruins
9. Redbelt
10. Death Race

...

...Pathetic.

Wolverine Trailer Bootlegged- Watch it Quick

As everyone should know by now, 20th Century Fox is a terrible company these days and, in a continuing streak of being awesome, they have denied an Internet release for the new X:Men Origins: Wolverine trailer that is only attached to prints of their terrible-looking (and badly reviewed) The Day the Earth Stood Still remake.

Of course, that didn't stop people from filming it with their hand held video camera and putting it on the Internet. So fight the man that is Fox and feel free to watch this bootlegged version of the Wolverine trailer below. The quality isn't perfect (people walk in front of the camera at one point) but it's better than having to pay to see a crappy Fox movie to see it.

As for the trailer itself, it is pretty well cut (especially with the addition of some music from the Sunshine score, which I was just talking about on here the other day). However, a lot of it looks really ridiculous and cheesy. Wolverine versus a helicopter? That's a little too far. Plus, it already had some bad buzz attached to it due to Fox being lame. I'll still see it though. Why? Because it's got freaking Gambit in it, that's why. And everyone knows that Gambit is awesome. 

However, I gotta say- I hate the X-Men Origins being attached to the title. It's just too much. As far as I'm concerned, this thing is called Wolverine. It will only be referred to here on YDKS Movies as Wolverine from here on out. 

Update: Official trailer is now online. Watch it below.