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Posted on Thu, Oct. 29, 2009 10:15 PM
NASA fights ‘2012’ hype; sequels galore are on the way
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The week’s top performances
•Pop music writer Timothy Finn: Through interviews, performances and glimpses behind the scenes, “This Is It” reminds us, sadly, that Michael Jackson was ready to reclaim his spot as the world’s greatest entertainer.
•Movie critic Robert W. Butler: It may sound like a dose of medicine, but the immigrant saga “Amreeka” explores a Palestinian woman’s new life in the U.S. with insight and warmth.
It’s not the end of the world
Apparently, people are swallowing the Sony Pictures hype for John Cusack’s “2012” (Nov. 13), based on an ancient Mayan doomsday prophecy. So NASA is doing damage control with the Web site “Ask an Astrobiologist” (www.astrobiology .nasa.gov — search for 2012).
Scientists have fielded almost 1,000 questions about the movie’s premise. Our favorite response, from NASA’s David Morrison: “I note that my desk calendar ends much sooner (than 2012), on Dec. 31, 2009, but I do not interpret this as a prediction of Armageddon. It is just the beginning of a new year.”
Sequel mania
Plenty of upcoming movies have some familiar titles:
•“Little Fockers” (July 30): Laura Dern has just signed to play the headmistress of the grade school where Ben Stiller and Teri Polo send their kids.
•“Mad Max 4: Fury Road”: Sam Worthington is the most likely star — not Mel Gibson. It will be filmed in Australia next summer.
•“Bond 23” (for lack of a better name): Daniel Craig told autograph seekers outside his Broadway show that filming starts at the end of next year — meaning an opening in November 2011.
•“Mamma Mia! 2”: Amanda Seyfried told the BBC that filmmakers have been prepping a sequel with ABBA music.
•“Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming”: KC’s Columbus Short is negotiating to reprise his starring role.
‘Alien’ surprise
For Halloween, we asked KansasCity.com readers what movie scene startled them the most:
Next week’s poll
After the heights of holiday movie season come the depths of January. And from the previews we’ve seen, some real stinkers are ringing in the new year: Jackie Chan does a weak “Pacifier” imitation in “The Spy Next Door.” Dwayne Johnson becomes “The Tooth Fairy.” Kristen Bell falls into chick flick clichés in “When in Rome.” And so on. Watch the trailers and tell us which looks the worst at KansasCity.com/movies.
| 22% | “Alien” jumps out of a crewman. |
| 20% | “Psycho” shower scene. |
| 17% | “Jaws” rises from the ocean. |
| 16% | “Halloween’s” Michael sits up. |
| 12% | “Carrie’s” gravesite fright. |
| 7% | “28 Days Later” car alarm. |
| 6% | “Scream’s” Ghostface appears. |
| Sharon Hoffmann, shoffmann@kcstar.com
Posted on Thu, Oct. 29, 2009 10:15 PM
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