Showing Out

We love hearing about rumors, but not when they’ve got something to do with someone messing with the classics. Much to our horrific dismay, Cinema Blend is reporting that Universal is thinking about rebooting the Jaws franchise, this time shooting the first one in 3D. According to the source, Universal is “seriously considering” a remake on the claim that “people now expect more, visually, from their movie going experience.” They also allege that Tracy Morgan was at one point being considered for the role of Matt Hooper, played in the original by Richard Dreyfuss. If you remember correctly, there was already a Jaws 3-D released in 1983, which could quite possibly have been the worst 3D movie to ever get released to the big screen. And if Universal goes through with this (and with Tracy Morgan as part of the cast, no less), we’re pretty sure that 1983 version might not be the worst film after all.

So apparently, today is Wale’s day to give his debut album Attention Deficit one big push. Above is the second video to drop off the album, this time for a song that was included on the retail release of the jawn. “Pretty Girls,” a track featuring Gucci Mane, pretty much takes its cues from the song title, with a batch of gorgeous gals hitting a photoshoot to get they pictures snapped as Wale plays Big Poppa to their Momma. Of course, Gucci Mane is nowhere to be found since he’s doing a bid for violating his probation, so it’s kind of awkward to see a hot girl lip-synching to Gucci’s lazy rhymes. But besides that, E for effort.

This kind of came out of nowhere. If you happened to cop Wale’s debut album Attention Deficit on iTunes (or if you’re up on your internet game), then you were treated to this extra bonus track that didn’t come on the retail version. So instead of releasing a video for another song off his album (excluding “Pretty Girls,” which just premiered today), Wale enlisted rapper Tabi Bonney to hop behind the camera for the video for “My Sweetie,” which Wale just released to the net. Throughout the clip, Wale gets his drank on with some honeys in a house party, complete with Heinys (not just the female kind) and blacklights galore. Click play and prepare for stimulus overload.

Showing Out’s Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Just last month, director Joe Johnston’s remake of the 1941 classic The Wolfman was far from complete. Notoriously plagued with release date pushbacks and highly publicized creative differences between Universal Studios and its chosen directors (yes, there was more than one), The Wolfman came to the final showdown during the 11th hour of post-production. With the film in the can, Donna Langely, Universal’s production president, enlisted the help of a new editor early last month, a move that made headlines around the blogosphere as word got out that Johnston would cut his own version of the film and they would each screen to different audiences. Whichever film got the better test screening response would be the version that ended up in theaters. Though the world may never know who actually ended up winning the battle of the creative minds, the advance version of The Wolfman that played tonight in New York City showed no signs of post-production discord. In fact, it was quite the opposite: the version of The Wolfman headed for theaters this Friday is a blithe, hollow film devoid of any sort of character development or plot intrigue. But you guessed it - there’s a whole lot of gore. Thankfully.

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You read that correctly: Vanna White is about to invade your home - through the magic of 3-D, of course. According to THR, a 3D clip of Wheel of Fortune was screened last week at an open house for Sony’s new 3D Technology Center by Harry Friedman (exec. producer of WOF and Jeopardy), suggesting that game shows might be taking the 3D route in the near future. “One of the biggest challenges is keeping a game show fresh - by changing the show without changing the game,” he said. “We do that with enhanced production value, such as set design. We typically do dimensionalized sets, which are made for 3D.” Though there’s no timeline for when we can expect Jeopardy answers to be thrusted into our faces, it’s likely to be soon, considering that 25% of all TV sets sold will be 3D-ready by 2013. Imagine a world where Pat Sajak is in the room with you every night. Scary thoughts, right?

Any movie with the tagline “Robbin’ For the Hood” is a must-see, in our opinion. Above is the trailer for the movie in question, Stick Up Kids, starring Bryce Wilson (Beauty Shop), Mel Jackson (Deliver Us From Eva, Soul Food), Hawthorne James (The Five Heartbeats, Speed) and Tariq Alexander (The System Within, Kings of the Evening). The film focuses on the four actors as childhood friends from Harlem who orchestrate armed robberies and cons, up until a dude swoops in and tries to take over the neighborhood by threatening to tear down their homes and build high-rises in their place. This, of course, leads them to pull off one big hurrah, bigger than anything they’ve ever done before. This one drops on DVD tomorrow, but pre-order that joint now by clicking here.

This one kind of fell out of the sky, yet here it is. Above is the trailer for Bedrooms, a film that consists of four short films that explore four different couples’ relationships. The film, starring Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation), Jordan Belfi (Entourage), Julie Benz (Dexter), Xander Berkeley (Terminator 2), Jesse Garcia, Dee Wallace (E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial), Barry Bostwick (Spin City) and Sarah Clarke (Twilight), focuses on a couple who come to a critical turning point in their young relationship, another married couple who try to bounce back from infidelity, a retired couple coming to the end of an extramarital affair and a recently divorced mother of 10-year-old twins. Each film is either written and/or directed by Victor Teran, Wynne Renz, Youssef Delara, Rebecca Woolf and Michael D. Olmo, and while there’s no set release date made available, it looks intriguing enough to keep in mind for when it does. Peep the trailer and you’ll see why.

Since it’s kind of a bummer to hear about Michael Jackson’s death (if you missed the last post, click here to read about Dr. Conrad Murray getting charged with involuntary manslaughter), we figured this is some news to help lift those spirits. According to Variety, DVDs and Blu-ray discs of the Kenny Ortega-directed documentary This Is It made $18 million off of first day sales in Japan, breaking the record for first day sales according to the Oricon rating service. The previous record holder, Ponyo, set the bar at $6.2 million when it hit DVD in Japan last year, a record that This Is It broke on DVD sales alone (its split was $11.3 mil in DVD sales and $6.7 mil in Blu-ray sales). Who said today had to be a downer? Rejoice, y’all! The Japanese love MJ!

Last Friday, Dr. Conrad Murray - aka the doctor that allegedly administered too much propofol to Michael Jackson and caused his sudden death - was supposed to turn himself in to Los Angeles authority on charges of involuntary manslaughter. But after there was some sort of internal conflict at the DA’s office, Dr. Murray has been officially charged today with involuntary manslaughter, three days after his original turn-in date. According to the L.A. Times, prosecutors charged him with administering a combination of surgical anesthetic and sedatives and acting “without due caution and circumspection” after the 50-year-old King of Pop unexpectedly died from cardiac arrest last summer. Murray will serve a maximum of four years in prison, far less than the maximum 11 years that he would have served if found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. We all know how the Jackson family feels about this.

Almost a week before HBO was set to debut its first episode of its upcoming How to Make It in America, they’ve gone ahead and posted the entire pilot to YouTube for your viewing pleasure (if you live in America, that is). The Mark Wahlberg-produced series, which hits the cable network on Sunday at 10 P.M., stars Bryan Greenburg, Victor Rasuk, Lake Bell, Luis Guzman and Kid CuDi in an Entourage-like show focusing on Brooklyn-based aspiring entrepreneurs that try to make a name for themselves in the fashion industry. Of course, we haven’t had a chance to watch the entire thing just yet, but that’s what this is for. Revisiting. God bless the internet and all the convenience it provides.