2005 Summer Movie Preview

It's easy to predict what the blockbuster movies will be, but its harder to predict the bombs. Everyone knows that Star Wars 3 will make a ton of money, but will it be any good? Last summer I was correct in saying that Catwoman, King Arthur, Riddick and Sky Captain would all be failures, but a few movies like I Robot did better than I expected. So this summer is no different with a few eagerly anticipated films, a few distasters(Riddick, Stepford Wives) and no doubt a few disappointments(like last years Van Helsing).

The Moneymakers of the Summer:

Star Wars 3 - The final installment of the series will do record numbers at the BO(box office), but will it be any better than prevoius 2 films which have been heavily criticized.

War of the Worlds - The last time Tom Crusie and Speildberg teamed it was a disappointment, both in terms of the film and at the box office. I think they got it right this time, as the trailers look pretty exciting. Should be huge at the B.O.

Madagascar - From the makers of Shrek, comes this film featuring the voices of Chris Rock and Ben Stiller. Kids will love it and it'll make alot of money.


The Flops:
Kingdom of Heaven - Having learned nothing from last years King Arthur this film will follow in its foot steps even if it is directed by Ridley Scott. The trailer is uninspired and their is no star power. Orlando Bloom has been in some big films, but he's not a box office draw.

Fantastic Four - This just looks terrible. This years Catwoan?

Cinderella Man - The summer is not the time for this film kind of film.

So-So Flops:
The Dukes Of Hazzard - This will have a decent opening weekend then fall off very quicky. Stifler, Knoxville and Simpson have no box office drawing power and the only reason it'll make any money is it's novelty. TV show movie remakes do OK at the big box office, not killer.

Bewitched - See above. This film does have Will Ferrell, which gurantees it some degree of success, but this will also be his 2nd movie in a month.


The Best Movies:
Ok, this is hit or miss, but here goes...

Star Wars 3 - The dark look of this film suggests a much better film then the previous two. Looks like alot more action, plus Yoda vs the Emperor.

Batman Begins - I think the previous Batman films will really hurt it at the BO(box office), but it should still make good money. It looks more like the comic books and less like the TV show. With a good director and great cast it should be one of the better films of the summer, but not the biggest.

Unleashed - Jet Li's best non-asian film is Kiss of the Dragon. He reteams with the producers and writers to do this film. Their track record is pretty good, The Professional, KoD, and the Transporter. With a good cast, this should be an outstanding film.

January Jump Off Show plus, Best and Worse Movies of 2004

1-27-05
Kid Cas’s Top films of 2004 - in no order
Kill Bill 2
Saw
Team America
Hero
Zaotochi the Blind Swordsman
Spiderman 2
Dawn of the Dead
The Incredibles

Worse Films of 2004
These are ones that I didn’t even have to see to know they sucked
White Chicks
Catwoman
Soul Plane
Surviving Christmas
Christmas with the Kranks
Alexander
All movies with Hillary Duff, Mandy Moore, Lindsey Lohan or some other teen chick.



1-11-05
January Jump Off Show
What a great show we had this weekend. The crowd was live and really into it throughout the entire the show. It makes it much easier and more enjoyable to work when crowd is loud and responsive. Goldsboro shows always seems draw well and the fans are great too. None of that would be possible without the help of Carmike Cinemas and the rest of our supporters in Goldsboro, so we thank you.

HHH Champ Again
I don’t know what’s funnier, the fact that some people actually thought Batista or someone else was gonna win the title or that HHH couldn’t even lose the belt to anyone in the first place and had to have it stripped from him. A friend of mines said it best, “the world title should be held someone that needs the it to push them or by someone that can push the organization”. In other words, neither HHH nor the WWE are benefiting from his continual dominance of Raw so what’s the point? Same holds true for TNA and the other son that’s hording all the lime light.

New Stars
Scab and Joe Brody both debuted with the UWC. You couldn’t get more different than these two, but they both looked good. I like Brody’s old school, traditional style, complete with the old satin jacket ring attire. You never see that anymore.

Kid Cas’s Hot Chick Pick: Andrea - Miss Howard Stern

Touh Enough

Let me start off by saying “I hate the whole Tough Enough” idea and think it’s stupid. For pretty much the same reason every worker in the business does, “these kids haven’t earned the right to be here”. They’ve done nothing to deserve to be on TV and training with some of the best in the business. I saw that they were made to put up the ring ONE time. They should be doing that at every dam show. I agree with the Big Show and Angle, that they don’t deserve any respect and that they must earn it.

However, it is not fair to take these kids to the dressing room just so the Big Show can run them out. It is also pretty stupid to do everything you can to make them puke. If you want to see how bad they wanna be in the WWE, have them set up stuff before every show and clean up afterwards. Have them going out and putting dam flyers up all over town. Take away their celebrity status and really make them work for their spot. Now all of that wouldn’t make for compelling television, so it goes back to my original thought, the whole idea is stupid. It’s stupid the way they treat the kids, it’s insulting to real workers in the WWE and indy workers everywhere busting their ass each week. And what is the end result of all this stupidity? Well, 2 of the past Tough enough winners have already been let go, Nowiski and Maven are always getting injured and the last 2 winners are nowhere to be found. Let’s not forget the debacle of putting these kids in the ring too soon, remember Miss Jackie in the ring with Trish? It’s insulting to everyone, I hope they scrap it.

WWE
So how do I know about Tough Enough? Have I been watching Smackdown or Raw? NO, there was a Tough Enough special show on and I watched that. I have not watched a whole episode of RAW or Smackdown in years. I haven’t watched a whole match on either show in months. Why? Well, let’s see HHH is the world champ, HHH has been on 3 of the last 4 covers of RAW magazine, HHH is always involved in the main event and also JBL is still the Smackdown champ. House show attendance is down, but TV ratings have been climbing. Given the fact the RAW got its lowest rating in years not too long ago, its not hard to believe that it would rise some.