Yeah, so Barry and I are kinda expecting some hate mail on this episode.  We start off talking about our disappointment in some of these movies, but as we move to the top of the list, we both just pretty much let it all hang out.  Enjoy the hate!  The big one is next week.

 

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We’re less than three month away from Starfest ‘08, and the guests names are starting to come out.  It seems that over the past three years that I’ve been going, the guest list gets better and better every year.

The first guest that was announced is the woman known as a television trailblazer on the original series of Star Trek, Nichelle Nichols.  Brought back into the spotlight to this generation’s geeks with appearances on Futurama and Heroes, Ms. Nichols is truly a treat to have at StarFest!

Known best for his role as Jayne Cobb (with his cunning hat) on the great sci-fi show Firefly and John Casey on NBC’s Chuck, Adam Baldwin is a film veteran with films like Full Metal Jacket, Independance Day and The Patriot (as well as voicing my favorite super hero ever in an episode of Justice League, Hal Jordan) to his credit.  Mr. Baldwin is awesome in every role I’ve ever seen him in.  I’ll be honest.  He’s at the top of my wishlist for a guest to ever come to StarFest.

We’ll be bringing announcements about who will be attending StarFest as they become available.  We’re obviously hoping to interview as many guests as is humanly possible, but time constraints and availability of the guests may lead to us not being able to speak with everyone.

The guests are absolutely a great reason to come to StarFest, but the panels, Trailer Park segment and the dealer room are all a blast to hang out at along with whatever special events they come up with.  You can find out more information at Starfest’s Official Site.

Barry’s Score:  7/10

Know that this will be the most spoiler-free, movie-goer friendly review of “Cloverfield” I can muster. Its only January, but one of the most buzzed about films of 2008 is already out and, frankly, I wasn’t all that excited to see it. I don’t know if it was the defeaning pre-release buzz, the endless assesements of the teaser trailer or that the film was produced by J.J. Abrams (the only big name in the promotional materials) but was directed by Matt Reeves, whose last film was the David Schwimmer/Gwyneth Paltrow bomb, “The Pallbearer”. Even with lowered expectations and an overall reaction that may come across as faint praise, the overall film is a scary, if empty ride that truly works, even when it fails to totally convince.
 
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Sometimes people ask me why they should go region-free.  This is the most recent example.  Right now, Amazon.jp has put up pictures of the new 6-disc set coming for Grindhouse.  I do this mostly to make Josh drool, but it looks awesome.  It will have both of the 2-disc editions of the films already released in the U.S. (but with an added DTS track).  The fifth disc is the theatrical cut of the Grindhouse experience and the sixth disc is bonus material that is theoretically exclusive to Japan.  It looks outright awesome.  In case you’re interested and don’t want to do the conversion, this set will put you back about $85 shipped from Japan.  Here’s the cover, and pics of the insides after the jump.

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The promsing but shaky career of actor Brad Renfro came to a sad end on Wednesday. While the official cause of death has not been released at this time, there were rumors of substance abuse and Renfro had run-ins with the law in the past. It is unfortunate that scandal sheet tales of Renfro began to overshadow his film career at times, as, in the right role, he was a remarkable actor with a once red-hot career.
 
Director Joel Schumacher hand-picked Renfro to star in the demanding lead role of “The Client”, which marked Renfro’s acting debut. The film was a box office hit and, while Susan Sarandon gained an Oscar-nomination for her performance in the film, it was Renfro’s breakthrough work that earned the most attention. His intense, heartfelt performance was not only the film’s center but he held his own against Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones and Mary-Louise Parker.
 
His following choices would prove interesting, if not always succesful. He followed “The Client” with “The Cure”, a bold but little seen film about the friendship between two young men, one of whom is dying of AIDS (Joseph Mozello of “Jurassic Park” co-starred with Renfro). He then played Huck Finn opposette then-hot Jonathan Taylor Thomas in “Tom and Huck”, a forgetable Disney film that wasn’t even as good as the Elijah Wood-starring “The Adventures of Huck Finn” from two years prior. Renfro then appeared in “Sleepers”, a controversial, highly touted courtroom drama. Although it was a supporting role, Renfro co-starred one of the best ensemble casts of 1996 (alongside Dustin Hoffman, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Minnie Driver, Jason Patric and Kevin Bacon, to name just a few) certainly a good career move. He then starred opposite Bacon in “Telling Lies in America”, but his work was overshadowed by Bacon’s more flambuoyant performance, and that it was written by Joe Eszterhas, the much-hated screenwriter who wrote “Showgirls” and “Jade” the same year.
 
Renfro then appeared in Bryan Singer’s coal-black adaptation of Stephen King’s edgy short story, “Apt Pupil”. Renfro’s commanding performance as a corruptable teen seduced by the evils of Nazism, is as dark and uncompromised as the film itself, though most of the attention went to his co-star, Ian Mckellan, who gave a terrifying performance as the Nazi in hiding. The film, a tough sell, didn’t find it’s audience until later, when audiences re-discovered it after Singer became a household name.
 
Renfro resurfaced three years later with well-regarded performances in Larry Clark’s controversial “Bully” and Terry Zwigoof’s “Ghost World”. The former showcased Renfro’s “rougher side” to great effect, while the latter had Renfro excelling at quirky character comedy. He starred in “Deuces Wild” the following year, a period gang drama that co-starred Stephen Dorff and Matt Dillon. The film had the misfortune of opening against “Star Wars Episode II” and quickly vanished. Since then, Renfro popped up in films that either went straight to video (like the Jean Malone-starring “American Girl”) or passed quickly through theaters (like the intriguing “The Jacket”, with Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley). He was recently filming “The Informers”, adapted from the edgy novel by Brett Easton Ellis. The project co-starred Winona Ryder, Billy Bob Thornton and Brandon Routh and was just the edgy, return-to-form vehicle that could have brought Renfro back into the spotlight. Whether his scenes were finished, need to be re-shot, or cut from the finished film remains to be seen.
 
Renfro had the ability to convey a world weariness and had a charisma that was well beyond his years and his best performances (in “The Client”, “Apt Pupil” and “Ghost World”) amply display his versatility and hold on audiences. He was 25 when he died. He will certainly be missed.