SCHOOL OF FILM & ACTING

Star Wars Thunder Storms

Things are heating up once again at the box office. After The Dark Knight held of Pineapple Express for the #1 spot last weekend, three other rather big releases look to have a legitimate go at dethroning the last couple of weeks’ de facto #1 box office smash. For fans who haven’t been disappointed enough by George Lucas’s recent output, The animated Star Wars:The Clone Wars will surely fill in the gap of anything Star Wars fans missed between Attack of The Clones and Revenge of The Sith. Unfortunately, since both of those films were awful there really seems to be nothing too appealing about the prospect of another chapter. It’s not going to salvage the wrong that has been done. I guess on the positive side, due to it’s drawn nature there won’t be any horribly wooden live action performances thanks to Lucas’s lack of skill in directing actors. I think New York Film Academy has classes on directing actors George. It’s never too late to learn.

One filmmaker who is no stranger to eliciting excellent performances from his talent is Woody Allen, and he’s pretty much got the pick of the acting talent litter in his latest, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, hitting theaters this weekend; Scarlett Johanson, Javier Bardem, and Penelope Cruz in one movie. That’s one big pile of good lookin’…and they can act too! Oh…and Scarlett can also sing as word has it that her album of Tom Waits covers is actually pretty decent.

Speaking of talented ensembles, our last but not least significant release of the week is the Ben Stiller directed Tropic Thunder (which he also co-wrote with Justin Theroux). Now, I’ve had my problems with Stiller in the past, mostly because I have no idea why either Meet The Parents movies might be misconstrued as slightly comical, but the trailer alone sold me on this one with Robert Downey Jr. mining the depths of political incorrectness in blackface as “a dude, playing a dude, disguised as another dude.” Joining in on the war comedy high jinks is an able cast consisting of the director himself, Jack Black, Steve Coogan, Nick Nolte, and cameos from the likes of Tom Cruise and Matthew McConaughey. Tropic Thunder looks to have the ammo or at least the battle plan (sorry for the horrible war metaphors) to knock The Dark Knight out of the top spot. After all, I think what this nation could use right now is a quality war comedy that has nothing to do with Larry The Cable Guy.

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