AMERICAN REUNION... Next April, Stifler (Seann William Scott), Stifler’s Mom (Jennifer Coolidge), Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) and company will return in another sequel to 1999’s extremely-popular raunchy teen comedy, American Pie. All I can say is; I wonder if Nadia will have another 'webcam' moment in American Reunion [which will be about Jim (Jason Biggs), Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) and the gang going to their high school reunion in East Great Falls, Michigan]. Or will Michelle reminisce about band camp again? Or will Jim make love to yet another piece of pastry? Just summarizing the first film for those of y’all who forgot the most hilarious scenes in American Pie, hah.

Mena Suvari, Tara Reid, Chris Klein, John Cho, Thomas Ian Nicholas and Eugene Levy are also back for American Reunion, which comes out in theaters nationwide on April 6, 2012.

THE LION KING... Just as an FYI, Walt Disney Pictures has brought its 1994 animated classic back into movie theaters. I saw it in 2-D this week (the film was re-released in cinemas so you could watch it in 3-D), and needless to say, it’s still a great flick. The opening scene at Pride Rock with the "Circle of Life" song playing in the backround is amazing, while watching well-made hand-drawn sequences to the tune of Hans Zimmer’s awesome music score is something to experience. There were a few aspects of The Lion King that seemed awkward to watch [such as Scar’s effeminate behavior whenever he interacted with Mufasa and young and adult Simba...and Nala’s "come-hither" stare as she drank water from a lake while adult Simba watched (a little too sensual for young children in the audience, I reckon)], but other than that, the movie still holds up more than 17 years after its original release date in June of 1994.



In this age of computer-generated kids films (with the best ones ironically being released by the Disney-owned Pixar...though I never saw Cars or Cars 2), The Lion King is something you should watch (again) to see old-fashioned animation at its finest. And if you’re unable to watch the movie while it’s still in theaters, well...it’s all good. Just watch it on DVD then. Hakuna Matata.

I’m sure you knew I was gonna say that.

WARRIOR... I saw the mixed martial arts (MMA)-inspired flick yesterday, and needless to say, it was an awesome film. Warrior is about two estranged brothers who live totally different lives but end up doing MMA...eventually confronting each other for the top prize in an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) competition in Atlantic City. The movie stars Joel Edgerton (who I last saw in the Star Wars prequels...playing a young Uncle Owen in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith), Tom Hardy (who gained a muscular 200 pounds for this role...and his upcoming stint as the villainous Bane in next year’s The Dark Knight Rises), Nick Nolte, Frank Grillo (who was on FOX's now-defunct Prison Break) and the lovely Jennifer Morrison (of the FOX TV show House and 2009’s Star Trek).



One can cynically point out that Warrior is Lionsgate’s answer to last year’s Oscar-nominated flick The Fighter, and be correct. However, just like The Fighter, Warrior is a pretty well-made film...and you can assume that 2012 Academy Award nominations await Joel Edgerton and/or Tom Hardy the same way an Oscar awaited Christian Bale—who won the Best Supporting Actor trophy for The Fighter. Personally speaking, the action sequences in Warrior were much more exciting to watch than in its 2010 counterpart...since a Hollywood film on UFC has never been done before, and The Fighter already joins a long list of movies that use boxing as a focal point for inspirational cinematic tales. I’ll be rooting for Warrior to get a gripload of nominations when awards season begins this winter...and won’t be surprised if Uncle Owen or Bane go up to the podium next year to be presented the Oscar for Best Actor. And possible Nick Nolte for Best Supporting Actor. Jennifer Morrison gave a nice performance in Warrior but Amy Adams was terrific in The Fighter, hence her Academy Award nomination for that film. Carry on.

PROMETHEUS... For those of you who don’t know yet, Ridley Scott has already begun filming the prequel to his 1979 sci-fi horror classic, Alien. Called Prometheus, the movie is set to be released in theaters nationwide on June 8, 2012, and would star Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace (who will be in this December’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows), Michael Fassbender (who recently played Magneto in X-Men: First Class), Guy Pearce (who was in the Oscar-winning films The Hurt Locker and The King’s Speech, respectively) and Idris Elba (who was in recent action flicks such as The Losers and Takers).

Ridley Scott is shooting Prometheus in 3-D, and will present PG-13 and R-rated cuts to FOX once post-production is essentially complete. Considering the fact that FOX's Predators, which came out in cinemas last year, was rated R and had a much better reception than the Alien vs. Predator flicks (even though 2007's Aliens vs Predator: Requiem had an R-rating), I’m hoping FOX goes for the bloodier version of Prometheus. That is all.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3... For those of you who enjoyed the last two installments of this horror movie franchise, check out the trailer to the upcoming sequel, which comes out in theaters nationwide on October 21. I myself only saw the last 20 minutes of the first Paranormal Activity at a test screening a few years ago [with the original ending showing Katie (played by Katie Featherston), possessed by a demon, pulling a Colombian necktie on herself right in front of a night-vision camera placed in her bedroom], while I thought that the second one was pretty freaky...though it would've been much more frightening had the scariest moments in the film not been revealed in the TV ads (as usual). That, and the fact the storyline for Paranormal Activity 2 seemed like it was borrowed from an episode of the awesome TV show, Supernatural.

Will I watch Paranormal Activity 3 when it gets released, you ask? Most likely. I'll probably be freaked out whenever I stand in front of the bathroom mirror for the next day or two after seeing this film, but it's all good. Bloody Mary... Bloody Mary...

APOLLO 18... I finally got around to seeing the sci-fi horror film yesterday, and needless to say, it was decent. If you’re a space geek like I am, then you’ll appreciate the effort that the filmmakers made to have the Moon footage look as authentic as possible (unless, of course, you work for NASA and want to punch in the face any conspiracy theorist you run into on the street...a la Buzz Aldrin). The explanation Apollo 18 gives on how NASA could launch another Saturn V into space without telling the public that it’s sending astronauts back to the Moon is plausible, though I can’t remember if it was stated that the mighty 360-feet-tall rocket was said to be delivering an unmanned Department of Defense payload into Earth orbit or to the surface of the Moon itself (which is what took place in the film). I’ll have to watch this movie again—for free—to find out.



Speaking of the Department of Defense... Once the true objective of the Apollo 18 mission is revealed in the movie, the U.S. military is cast in a sinister light. (SPOILERS AHEAD...despite the fact the film has already been out in theaters for 12 days...) The two astronauts sent down to the lunar surface are mere Guinea pigs in the eyes of the Pentagon...instructed to plant instruments (that the astronauts were told were eavesdropping devices used against the Soviets) which are secretly meant to broadcast a signal that will attract mysterious alien creatures to the Apollo 18 landing site. A Soviet cosmonaut who touched down on the Moon’s surface only a few kilometers away from where the two U.S. astronauts landed had gone missing...and the Pentagon and Russian officials wanted to know why.



I’m not going to spoil the ending for y’all, but the epilogue at the end of Apollo 18 actually lends the movie to a sequel—no, not Apollo 19—but one that takes place here on Earth. It is true that more than 800 pounds of Moon rocks were brought back to our home planet from Apollo 11 through 17 (except from Apollo 13— You know why)...but several of these samples have suddenly disappeared. If you watch Apollo 18 and know the significance behind these rocks, then you’ll know that another film installment that continues the "horror" story behind Apollo 18 would not be unwarranted. The movie is a box office success...grossing $15 million domestically (and $23 million worldwide) despite being made on a $5 million budget. That is all.

RANDOM FILM SET JOKE #2... Q: What do assistant directors use for birth control?

A: Personality.

A RANDOM FILM SET JOKE... Q: How many assistant directors does it take to screw on a light bulb?

A: F**K the light bulb. Roll sound!

If you've ever worked or been on a movie set before, you'd find this funny.

BATTLESHIP... Check out the teaser trailer to next May’s sci-fi action film, which stars Liam Neeson, True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgård, Just Go with It’s Brooklyn Decker and R&B singer Rihanna. As an adaptation of the classic Hasbro board-game, Battleship looks pretty um...questionable. As a standalone movie, it looks like it’s gonna be one entertaining flick. I’m hoping the latter part will ring truer with this film.

Battleship comes out in theaters nationwide on May 18, 2012.