It’s time for another jam-packed 2 hour episode of the Film Junk Podcast… you do realize that we’ll just keep talking until you tell us to shut up, right? This week we offer up reviews of The Kingdom and Resident Evil: Extinction and then we literally countdown to extinction with our Top 5 Post-Apocalyptic Movies. In Versus it’s Jamie Foxx vs Will Smith, and in Trailer Trash we look at an abortion documentary and a movie that was shot in single 90 minute take. If that’s not enough, we also get to plenty of your junk mail, and a special exclusive look at Jay’s first rectal exam… I think it goes without saying that we dig pretty deep on this week’s edition of Film Junk.

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Here’s something I’ve been thinking about recently, in part because of this great Wes Anderson article that Croft pointed me towards, and also because it was just announced that both Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman will also be involved his next film The Fantastic Mr. Fox. There are certain directors who like to work with the same cast and crew for every movie they do. Wes Anderson is one of them; other names that come to mind are Judd Apatow, Kevin Smith and Tim Burton. Clearly you develop strong working relationships and confidence in these people when the movies turn out well, and it makes sense that you would want to continue to collaborate. But on the other hand, I think it can also be limiting because these filmmakers refuse to step outside their comfort zone.

Critics are starting to realize that Wes Anderson’s movies are all very similar, and some people (myself included) are anxious to see him break out of the holding pattern he’s in. However, the old adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, also seems to apply. I think there’s something to be said for a filmmaker whose work is very recognizable and closely related stylistically, but I also happen to admire versatility in a director. What do you think? Are you a fan of directors who “keep it in the family” so to speak? Does it make their work stronger or weaker as a whole? Is Wes Anderson becoming too predictable? Give us your thoughts here on Open Forum Friday.

Over the years, Canada has seen its share of gifted comedians and actors migrate to the U.S. in order to make it big — and who can blame them? The Canadian market is pretty damn small. The unfortunate side effect of this is that quality Canadian-produced entertainment is hard to come by, since all of the talent packs up and leaves as soon as they have an opportunity elsewhere. One of the few genuinely funny Canadian shows in recent years (in my opinion) has been Kenny vs Spenny, a reality-based show where two best friends compete with each other in all kinds of weird and risque contests, with the loser being forced to suffer some form of public humiliation. Now it looks like Kenny and Spenny are finally set to take on the American market with the help of South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker!

From what I understand, Stone and Parker have been fans of the show for a while now (there are quotes from them on the DVD sets), but it wasn’t until a chance encounter at LAX airport that they actually struck up a friendship. Now, thanks to their efforts, the show will air on Comedy Central starting on November 14th. They have licensed 10 episodes from the upcoming 4th season of the show, along with 10 older episodes. It will be interesting to see how American audiences react, but considering how popular Jackass and all of its spin-off shows are, I would think that success is virtually guaranteed. This could finally be the big break that Kenny and Spenny have been waiting for; hopefully for their sake they don’t get the same short-lived whirlwind ride that Tom Green had! The new season premieres on Showcase in Canada on November 6th.

If you grew up in the 80’s, you probably are aware that Hollywood is currently mining your childhood for nostalgia to repackage and sell back to you. Personally, I’m all for nostalgia, but it kind of loses the appeal when they take something old and try to make it new again by modernizing it. Which brings us to the latest and greatest hare-brained Hollywood remake scheme, one that involves that pinnacle of 80’s filmmaking, The Karate Kid. It turns out the film’s original producer Jerry Weintraub is reportedly teaming up with Will Smith for a new version of this classic story.

Details are scarce at the moment, but apparently their plan is to make the new Karate Kid a vehicle for Will Smith’s son, Jaden, who you may remember made his big screen debut across from his dad in The Pursuit of Happyness. While I hear the kid was fantastic in that movie, the fact of the matter is, he’s only 9 years old at the moment. The Karate Kid has always been a teenage coming-of-age story, so I don’t see how he can possibly be right for the role until at least a few years from now. The other thing is, The Karate Kid is just one of those movies that was a product of its time, and I don’t think it would work nowadays. Even the 90’s sequel The Next Karate Kid starring Hilary Swank wasn’t particularly successful. Assuming the rumour is true, I just don’t see any reason to attach The Karate Kid name to the project. Why not come up with something original instead?

I don’t envy the cast of J.J. Abrams’ upcoming reboot of the Star Trek franchise. They’ve got a pretty tough job on their hands, in that they need to erase memories of previous installments in the series, and yet somehow still retain the spirit of these iconic characters too. Although the new film is specifically not trying to cater to the hardcore fans, I can tell you that there are a lot of Trekkies who are going to be ready to criticize their every move. Thus far, the young cast members that have been officially confirmed seem quite capable and, in the case of Zachary Quinto (Spock), already happen to have a geek following behind them. But I gotta say, the rumoured frontrunner for the role of James T. Kirk has me a little worried.

IESB have learned from a couple of different studio insiders, that Mike Vogel is currently the man they are looking at to fill Shatner’s shoes. Who is Mike Vogel? Well, you probably don’t know the name, but you may have seen him in a few recent movies including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, Poseidon, and… Supercross?! Of course, he also just so happens to have a major role in J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Cloverfield movie, so I’m assuming that was his inside track to the gig. Obviously they think he has the chops to pull off what is without a doubt the most important role in the film… and maybe he does. Acting talent isn’t necessarily the issue here (there are plenty of people in this world who are much better actors than William Shatner), but somehow this pretty boy doesn’t quite embody the rough and tumble character of Kirk. I can definitely see a physical resemblance if the guy didn’t have one of those hip shaggy haircuts, but still… I don’t know. What happened to Matt Damon?

Well there’s only really one movie I want to see this weekend, and unfortunately it’s playing in all of 2 theatres nationwide at the moment. Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited should be expanding in the coming weeks, but in the meantime you’ve got your choice of a family sports comedy starring The Rock (The Game Plan), a Robert Benton romantic drama starring Greg Kinnear, Morgan Freeman and Selma Blair (Feast of Love) and a political action-thriller starring Jamie Foxx (The Kingdom). I’ll probably take my chances with the latter. Is there anything else worth seeing out there?

The Darjeeling Limited (limited)
Feast of Love
The Game Plan
The Kingdom
Shake Hands With The Devil (limited)
Trade (limited)

After years of speculation about a possible Knight Rider feature film, it’s looking like we may just be getting an all-new TV series instead. Word on the street is that NBC are looking to develop a two-hour pilot, and Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Swingers) has been hired to produce and possibly direct. With all the repackaging of old TV shows that’s been happening lately, I can definitely see this being a hot commodity.

The interesting thing is that they make reference to the success of Transformers as the key inspiration for wanting to revive the franchise. This means they are exploring the idea of a new K.I.T.T. that would be able to morph into different shapes. Sounds to me like they’re bordering on a live action remake of the 80’s cartoon M.A.S.K.! Right on. The only lame detail is that they also may introduce some “evil” cars to offset the power of K.I.T.T. Let’s be serious here — do we really need more than one talking car? I do feel for David Hasselhoff though. He’s been waiting years for an opportunity like this, and yet somehow I doubt he will be involved. Dave Andron (Raines) is currently writing the script, and if all goes well, we could see the new show on air as early as next fall.

I think Universal Pictures has high hopes for the movie The Kingdom this weekend, and to be honest, so do I. Directed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, The Rundown), it stars Jamie Foxx as an FBI agent who is sent in to investigate the bombing of an American compound in Saudi Arabia. The movie also co-stars Jeremy Piven, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman, and it was produced by Michael Mann. It seems like it could be a cool cross between Syriana and Miami Vice, featuring some decent action, but also a smart plot based on real political situations. Yahoo! now has the first four minutes of the movie online to whet your appetite. Don’t be too concerned about spoilers though — the opening scene is basically just a history lesson on the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. That said, it still manages to give a sense of the style that this movie is going for, and I think it looks pretty damn cool. I just hope the movie doesn’t get too self-important for its own good. The Kingdom hits theatres this Friday.

Naomi Klein is a Canadian journalist and activist who wrote the book No Logo, a landmark text about the anti-globalization movement. For her new book, The Shock Doctrine, she turned to an interesting source to help promote it: filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron. She felt that the dystopian future presented in Children of Men was very similar to the world she was seeing in front of her eyes now, with corporations and governments subduing the masses using a technique not unlike the effects of shock therapy. So she was able to get Cuaron and his brother Jonas to put together this short film that helps get across the ideas from her book in an pseudo-educational film sort of way. For more info on the book and the short film, visit www.naomiklein.org.

If there’s anyone in this world who doesn’t know when to quit, it’s Johnny Knoxville and his merry gang of pranksters and daredevils. While it may have been a bit of a surprise back when Jackass Number Two was first announced (especially since Knoxville was busy trying to kickstart an actual acting career) something tells me you won’t quite be so surprised to hear that a Jackass Number Three is currently in the works. Steve-O unofficially announced this fact to the world on the Howard Stern Show yesterday.

The last movie grossed over $84 million worldwide, and that’s nothing to scoff at. It remains to be seen if Knoxville himself is involved in part 3, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard to talk them all into “completing the trilogy” so to speak. The only problem is, if they’re going to up the ante this time around, I think someone’s pretty much going to have to die. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. Jackass 2.5 is also supposed to be coming out on DVD later this year, culled together from tons of Jackass Number Two footage that was left on the cutting room floor. Stay tuned for more on both of these projects as they develop.