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Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz star in this spiritual love story. The Fountain is a profound film giving insight on life after death, struggle between right and wrong, and imagination stretching across time and space. Director Darren Aronofsky also wrote the screenplay of this film that will either be loved, or hated by many. Listen in for the final review of the season. Yeah, and if you’re expecting a joke in this synopsis…TOO BAD! Ha! How do you like THAT joke?

Panelist: John Hangman, Michael Weisz, and Danny Aronofsky.

Sound Guy: The Tree of Life

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Planning the Podcast Casino Royale seemed like the perfect popcorn movie flick to watch one episode before our season finale. Yes, Podcasts can have seasons too! So much planning was made to make this show a success. We had a comfortable format in the past episodes, though in this one, we slightly drifted away from the norm. As a podcast, we’re still learning the ropes and finding our niche so we continue to evolve. Hopefully you evolve with us…wait that didn’t sound right…heh

Day of Podcast Well, things got difficult so close to the holiday season. We ended up watching the movie the day before recording. The next day, I picked up Mike and headed over to Johns to record the show. However, Christina, Vasthy, and Carlos were there so catching up was in order. After yapping away, we got down to business. We recorded the banter which didn’t last too long. Then ideas for the intro came into play. We decided to spoof an event that happened to Mike and me when we went to watch Casino Royale.

Post Production Well two banters were recorded so I used one as the main banter but used snippets of the other to combine as a whole banter. Mike created the intro and we had a show. Only problem there was a glitch that didn’t allow us to upload the show. Though one day late is better than never so enjoy the show!

A life of a secret agent is tough, having sex with hot women, driving the fanciest cars, and having the coolest gadgets…wait a minute… I WANT TO BE BOND! Which makes me ponder, what would happen if Bond started up his own class to help guys become more suave? James could do it and still fight terrorism. James Bond invented the word metrosexual, so next Bond film better have Right Said Freds, “I’m Too Sexy,� as the theme.

Panelist: John Bond, James Dan, and 007 Mike Sound Guy: The Hulk

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This is a written segment that will display the new upcoming movies for the week. This coming soon section is for the week of November 17th, 2006. The first movie is: 

Casino Royale- In this prequel of all prequels, we revisit 007’s James Bond first mission. Terrorist brings him to the infamous Casino Royale where you bet more than your life.
-Movie Menu’s Pick of the Week-

• Aura- A case of mistaken identity is the twist of this movie that has a shy taxidermist plotting the perfect robbery. After a murder, the taxidermist continues the job of a person who already committed a robbery.
• Bobby- Directed by Emilio Estevez, this historical drama revisits the night Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down at the Ambassador Hotel in 1968. The film follows 22 individuals who are all at the hotel for different purposes but share the common thread of anticipating Kennedy's arrival at the primary election night party. (movies.go.com)
• Candy- A reckless poet falls for a young art student named Candy. When drugs get involved in their relationship, they both head towards a downward spiral that only love can accept.
• Fast Food Nation- Shows the ugly side of fast food, unhealthy reports, contaminated food and how America doesn’t care.
• For your consideration- The cast and crew of a small indie movie find themselves inexplicably surrounded by Oscar buzz in the middle of Academy Awards season. (movies.go.com)
• Happy Feet- In the great nation of Emperor Penguins in Antarctica, you're nobody unless you can sing, which is bad news for Mumble (Elijah Wood), who is the worst singer in the world.But he sure can tap dance. Mumble may never find true love. His one
  friend, Gloria (Brittany Murphy), happens to be the best singer around, and the two have a connection from the moment they hatch, even though she has a tough time understanding her pal's eccentricities. (movies.go.com)
• Lets go to prison- The son of a judge get sent to prison. However, before the judge died, he sent  someone to jail and now is going to “watch” over the son of the judge in prison.
• The Piano Turner of Earthquakes- An opera singer is kidnapped and an innocent piano Tuner gets caught up in the kidnap as this Doctor creates a “diabolical opera” in his mind.
• Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horror- Three horror stories from snoop of urban players and their demise.

Will Farrell plays an IRS agent who hears a voice in his head who narrates his life, which in turn, reveals he will die soon. Hey, if I worked for the IRS I’d want to die soon too. This movie proves that its okay to listen to the voices in your head, so Tom Cruise is right, who needs Medications to solve problems when you have someone dictating your life with a better vocabulary? We should all become scientologists just so we too could deny western medicine and jump on couches and blame it on the voices in our heads! GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Panelist: Danny Stranger, Russhelle Than, Mike Fiction
Sound Guy : Dennis Hoffman

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This is a written segment that will display the new upcoming movies for the week. This coming soon section is for the week of November 10th, 2006. The first movie is: 

Stranger Than Fiction- Emma Thompson and Will Farrell star in this film about an English writer narrating the life of an IRS Agent only to find out that he will be killed off unless he finds out who is narrating his life. –Movie Menu pick of the Week-

An interesting fact about Will Farrell is that he is a graduate of the University of Southern California; Will Ferrell became interested in performing while a student at University High School in Irvine, California, where he made his school's daily morning announcements over the public address system in disguised voices. He started as a member of the Los Angeles comedy/improvisation group The Groundlings. In 1995 he became a feature cast member at "Saturday Night Live" during the show's rapid re-casting. He was declared quite possibly the worst cast member ever during his first season. However, his talents of impersonations and range of characters shot him forward to making him arguably the greatest "Saturday Night Live" cast member ever. During his seven year run he is one of the few cast members to ever be nominated for an Emmy for a performance and played George W. Bush during the 2000 elections. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002071/bio)

• Climates- This Turkish film deals with a professor and a young television producer whose relationship has more ups and downs than a roller coaster. 
• Come Early Morning- Ashley Judd plays this promiscuous woman looking for love in all the wrong places, but changes her way after she finally finds someone she likes.
• Copying Beethoven- An aspiring composer has a chance to work beside Ludwig van Beethoven.
• F*CK- This humorous documentary tackles the mystery, “where did the word FUCK come from?” It has interviews from celebrities, political figures, and other commentators on their thoughts and ideas on the F Word.
• FUR: An imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus- Nicole Kidman plays Diane Arbus, an influential photographer in the 1950s, whose unlikely romance started her vision.
• A Good Year- Russell Crowe plays this money hungry man who inherits this little vineyard from his uncle after passing away. Now Russell’s character struggles if he should sell the vineyard and move on with his life, or keep the only thing that he really cares about.
• Harsh Time- This movie follows Christian Bale employed by the DEA to work in Columbia. His friend and him stroll Los Angeles only to turn against each other.
• The Return- Sarah Michelle Gellar plays this woman who feels like she is losing her mind. She gets these visions of murder and suspects that someone is after her.

Think your country is fucked up? Huh?! Huh! As we learned in Babel, no matter where you live your country is most likely fucked up unless you’re in Canada because it’s not a real country. Ohhhh! Dis!  Beware the hairy monster that resides in Japan or the incestuous Moroccan hick with a shotgun. Also be sure to avoid the drunken chicken-choking Mexican and scariest of all, the Peepeephiliac Americans. Everytime you go to the toilet be scared, because Brad Pitt might be watching! The truth is out there…In Babel.

Panelists: John "Hairy monster", Rushelle "Pee Pee Pants", "Morocco" Mike Sound Guy: Coffi Anon

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This is a written segment that will display the new upcoming movies for the week. This coming soon section is for the week of November 3rd, 2006. The first movie is: 

BORAT- CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN- One of the longest titles in cinema, Ali G famous Borat character makes his film debut as a foreigner from Kazakhstan, visiting America and basically showing us how retarded and unnecessary our culture really is to outsiders. Filmed as a documentary, this movie is sure to be a hit. –Movie Menu’s pick of the Week- 

Interesting Fact about Kazakhstan, yes it is an actual country, is that it is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of northern and central Eurasia. A small portion of its territory west of the Ural River is located in eastern-most Europe. It has borders with Russia, the People's Republic of China, and the Central Asian countries Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and has a coastline on the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan was a republic of the former Soviet Union and is now a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is the ninth-largest country in the world by area, but it is only 62nd country in population. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan) 

• Flushed Away- In this animated CGI film, an uptown rodent (voice of Hugh Jackman) is flushed down the toilet and is forced to live with lesser rodent folks in the sewers. 
• Infamous- Think you know the whole story of Copote? Think again. In this version of the infamous writer, an unknown actor (Toby Jones)plays Copote, who got close to the murderers Perry Smith and Dick Hickock while researching his "non-fiction novel" In Cold Blood. 
• Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause: Stars “funny” man Tim Allen as Santa Claus in this third installment of the Santa Clause series. In this movie, Jack Frost (Martin Short) tries to take over Christmas once and for all, and Tim Allen has a chance to escape and not be Santa Claus anymore by stopping himself from hurting Santa Claus in the past.  
• Volver- Set in Madrid, a community of people lives are intertwined together, among them are three generation of women living in the same house.

Who knew that Marvel’s Wolverine and DC’s Batman would collide with Golem and The King of Goblins? Although in The Prestige they go by different names...we really  know the truth. Wow! That was David Bowie?! Who needs drama when you have friends like Michael Cane and Scarlett JoHANSSON in a corset. Mmm Mmm Mmmbop!. Those girls are hot!  If Siegfried and Roy had a baby, it would be ugly. However, The Prestige never teases only pleases, you slut.. So enjoy another episode of movie menu.

Panelists: The Great Danton, Stephoudini, Scarlett JohnHanson Sound Guy: Mike Cop-a-feel

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This is a written segment that will display the new upcoming movies for the week. This coming soon section is for the week of October 27th, 2006.  The first movie of this week is:

Babel- A couple on vacation (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) goes to hell when the wife gets shot by accident by two teens from afar, which triggers a life changing event for four different people in three different continents. -Movie Menu’s Pick of the Week-

The history of Babel is fascinating. According to the narrative in Genesis Chapter 11 of the Bible, the Tower of Babel was a tower built by a united humanity to reach the heavens. Because the hearts of men were said to be inherently evil and disobedient, they were striving to make a name for themselves instead of worshipping the God who created them. Because of this open defiance, God stopped their efforts by confusing languages so that no one could understand each other. As a result, they could no longer communicate and the work was halted. The builders were then scattered to different parts of Earth. This story is used to explain the existence of many different languages and races. The tower of Babel never got close to being finished. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel)

• Catch a Fire- Terrorism is the main focus of this dramatic portrayal of a man in South Africa during apartheid to battle against a regime.
• Death of a President- This mockumentary has a promising premise of following an investigating while using actual video with fictional video of the assassination attempts on George W. Bush.
• Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss- In this child adapted story, the roles of Romeo and Juliet are portrayed as Seals. This is not a joke, I’m serious.
• Saw III- Perfect for Halloween, the third installment of the terror of Jigsaw brings in his new apprentice to terrorize more victims in this gruesome movie.
• Shut up and Sing- This documentary follows the aftermath and backlash of Natalie Mains of the Dixie Chicks after her negative comment about George W. Bush.

The queen of scream, Sarah Michelle Gellar returns with grudge 2 and then they decide to kill her in the first 10 minutes. Add this film to a list of movies you wish their wasn’t a sequel and prepare yourself as the avalanche of holiday films bombard your local theater. So make Ronald Reagan proud and don’t forget to spray or neuter your cats, otherwise the terrorist win. Long live freedom fries!!!

Panelist: Rush-anbow, Dan-aliscious, and Gangues-John Sound guy: Halle Joel Osman

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Movie Menu: Greatest Show Ever!

Matt Damon is impotent… on that note, sometimes art imitates life. So when we went to see The Departed and saw rats were involved, we decided that we’d find some rats of our own. The best we could do find, however, was Mickey Mouse and Chuck E. Cheese. Not exactly the rats we had in mind, but it was fun beating the crap out of them. So, pop some Viagra pills Matt, and enjoy this week’s episode of Movie Menu.

Panelist: Dan “the� Rat, Mike “Irish� McStand

Sound Guy: Sound Person

Before the fame of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker made 2 full length movies, and Movie Menu is proud to present to you a review of one of them: Orgazmo. This movie tells the story of a Mormon moving to Los Angeles to spread the word of Jesus and circumstances force him to work in the porn industry. The world is a better place because of people like Matt Stone and Trey Parker who are brave enough to push the boundaries and maybe with enough sucking up, they would consider taking our auditions seriously! Our greatest dreams of becoming The Fudge-Packer dancers have not been realized, but we’re still holding hope their next movies will need us. So sit back, grab some tissues, recharge your “pencil”, shake it like a salt shaka, and go get you some BOOM BOOM in the night. Or call us at (800) GO PENIS, P.O. Box: D Sanchez & Lil Donkey Punch.

Panelist: Diana Cums-a lot, Christina Ride-her, and Vasthy Hoot-her nany

Sound Guy: Six-John-Nine

Next Week’s podcast: Employee of the Month   (maybe)  

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This Film is Not Yet Rated- reviewed by John Hang

THIS WEBSITE IS RATED NC-17 for strong sexual content and the use of a spatula to harm a kangaroo. Who the hell gave us this rating? And where the hell did we find a kangaroo? Well the new documentary by director Kirby Dick tackles this issue.
Kirby Dick hires a private investigator and interviews many artists who have been censored by a review board that has remained anonymous…until now.

STORY: not believable at all! Complete farce! Actually with clever editing you make a documentary completely unbelievable. Actually with all the mockumentaries it has harder to distinguish the lines between reality and fiction. With this documentary, there is a blend of interviews with acclaimed directors and other commentators on the M.P.A.A.’s board or review, and interwoven is footage of Kirby Dick and a team of private investigators following cars coming out of the MPAA building. The premise lies in the fact no one knows who determines the ratings for films, which leads to no accountability for the harsh results that are laid sometimes. We are led to believe the board is occupied by regular parents looking out for the well-fair of our youth, but we learn differently.
STYLE: shot on DV cameras with plenty of stock footage of movies that have been censored, it is almost hard to believe too many shots were designed for this film. Developing a beautiful image is not even discussed for a documentary mainly because the focus of a documentary is to tell a story, hence the reason for the recent success of many documentaries. There were some cool animated and flash graphics that have become a mainstay in docu-films like Fahrenheit 9/11 and Supersize Me. The film runs at 97 mins because of the many interviews conducted and there is probably only about 30 minutes with Kirby and his private investigators.
SUMMARY: mehhh. When members of the review board are revealed, there wasn’t a wave of shock that wiped over me or the audience. Maybe with the build-up I was expecting the review board to be occupied by large stalks of celery or Sinbad, but it was mainly suburban parents which came to no surprise to me. I thought the bigger story was the members of the appeals committee which makes perfect sense to me and the funniest parts of the movie consisted of dramatizations with Kirby Dick and the MPAA as he submits his film for a rating to the committee. That must have been an awkward moment for board members as they realized a spy has been following them for months. The main objective is to prove how sex receives a harder sentencing than violence, which is the opposite with other review boards, and after watching this film, all I really wanted to do was watch all these films that received NC-17 ratings and maybe watching some deleted scenes for others. Viva la France!

Jackass 2 proves once again that with alcohol, there are no boundaries- the sky is the limit, and they came awfully close to reaching the sky this time. Johnny Knoxville reunites the band of misfits every young male between the ages of 10-65 idolizes and up the ante with a bigger budget and enough stunts to make you wonder what kind of beer are these junkies drinking. No Podcast will be justice to the amount of entertainment the film brings, but we tried, and something happen to this week’s podcast that we promise was not our intention. I think we still couldn’t get the image of Spike Jonze as the naked Grandma out of heads, or maybe after watching Jackass 2 nothing we can say or do seems outrageous enough. But never fear, Movie Menu has never been afraid of pushing the envelope. So once those kung fu mountain lions arrive in the mail, we can promise you all hell will break loose.

Panelist: Mike- O, Danny Bam, Johnny Hangville, and special guest appearance

Sound Guy: Sir Matt the Cat

Next week’s episode: The Last Kiss  

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Scoop – reviewed by John Hang

Woody Allen discovers life out of his New York City cesspool and rejuvenates himself in London, England. A 4 picture deal with BBC has persuaded Woody Allen to direct his first films out of New York with the first film being Match Point, and now Mr. Allen brings us the movie Scoop.
An American journalist receives the scoop of a lifetime from a dead journalist and falls in love with the person she is investigating.

STORY: Scarlett Johansson plays Sandra Pransky the American journalist who encounters a ghost during an act for Sid Waterman’s (Woody Allen) magician act. The story follows the pursuit of Sandra’s investigation into the claim that Peter Lyman, played by Hugh “Wolverine” Jackman is a serial killer at large. Sandra falls in love with Peter despite the disapproval of Sid who is assisting Sandra to find the truth. Scarlett Johansson is one of the hottest talents in Hollywood, but she falls stale for me in this film. Hugh Jackman gives one of the worst performances of an English aristocrat which questions whether Great Britain should purchase Australia back from China so they can imprison Wolverine. Woody Allen plays Woody Allen if he decided to be a Magician and his paranoia and sarcastic humor saves the bad decisions in casting. The story resembles a satirical parody of a film noir film which is quite fascinating, but there is a bias in this review for my positive approval of anything Woody Allen.
STYLE: the scenes of the dead journalist riding a fishing boat with the Grim Reaper are beautifully designed and subtlety hilarious. It clearly was done on a sound stage somewhere but the elements of everyone who had recently died riding a boat brought a chuckle every time it appeared. The film runs at 96 minutes and the music seems to add dimensions to a story that wasn’t completely executed. Not too many issues with the aesthetics because they never really tried anything adventurous. Woody has always maintained a focus on story rather than style, and the writing contained all the elements of all his films.
SUMMARY: I over exaggerate the performances but Scarlett Johansson and Hugh Jackman did play their roles respectfully. Woody Allen steals the film, which is ironic because didn’t Woody write and direct this film? This is a good story of the lengths we take to further our careers and the obstacles and decisions we make to stipple that advancement. So there are 2 more films Woody Allen will be shooting in London, and I’ll be the 27th person in line for those films, until then wait for Scoop to be released on DVD and make it a priority to place Match Point on your list.  

Josh Harnett and Aaron Eckhart are former boxers who are partnered in the L.A. police force and assigned to the murder of Elizabeth Short, A K A The Black Dahlia. This sexy adaptation of a James Ellroy book combines elements of a low budget pornography and a murder mystery. So imagine if someone took the story of L.A. Confidential and applied it to Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and you have The Black Dahlia. But somewhere along the line, the story was put in a blender and served to Josh Harnett at his local juice bar. So the man of mystery: John Harnett drinks the blended story smoothie, because he can’t read, and is perplexed on how he knows the script so well by heart. Somewhere in the process, Josh Harnett takes a # 2 and before he could flush it down the toilet, director Brian De Palma scoops it out of the toilet and the film is made. Cheese doodle!

Panelist: Rushelle Scarlett Cortez, Mike Fire Stand, Danny Ice Munoz, and John Dahlia Hang

Sound Guy: baby Ernie

Next week’s episode: Jackass 2

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Welcome to another edition of the Movie Menu: Entertainment News where we add no preservatives or additives. All natural baby! I’ve always loved how producing something natural would cost the consumer more than something chemically combined. How does one go about naming a chemical, is the process something like naming an asteroid? Who ever spots it names it, whoever smelt it probably dealt it. Damn scientist and their “sophisticated” jargon and long ass name. I bet when you unscramble the names of these chemicals that you’ll have the full name of the scientist. If I ever get the opportunity to name an asteroid or chemical I would appropriately name it Who’s Yo Bitch. I can imagine scared Eskimos screaming “Look! In the sky! Who’s Yo Bitch” or as a deadly poison, “That’s right Mr. Bond, I’ve injected you with 13cc’s of Who’s Yo Bitch (evil laugh)” or even better, a vaccine, “You’ve been cured Mr. Cartwright. Who’s Yo Bitch.”
So enjoy readers! You my bitches! (Fires 22 gauge shotguns in the air)

September 8-15 Edition

• Whitney’s Brownie: well the coke couple of our generation Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown have called it quits after 14 years. Who gets the better end of this divorce? Whitney Houston finally rids the cancer that has caused the spiral of her career, but Bobby Brown riding the coat tails of Whitney for so long finally hit it big with his reality show. I just know who doesn’t win, that’s us. Who will we point at when we tell our children “crack is wack”, there are no role models for us to show people drugs really are dangerous. Well there is Pete Doherty, but he’s a b-level star and over-rated musician. But with Whitney and Bobby, there was hope-aspiration-a vision for the future on why you shouldn’t do drugs. Question 2: after the making of The Bodyguard, is Kevin Costner or Whitney Houston better off in life? Wow, good luck answering that.  (yahoo)
• George Lucas: what can the man who created Star Wars do to solidify his career? Sell boxes! Wouldn’t that be the greatest headline of our century: LUCAS GONE LUNATIC EPISODE 4 (so he could make prequels). Anyways, word is out Mr. Lucas has finally decided to create an original idea for a film for the first time in 20 years!! Star Wars = Joseph Campbell (true geeks know that). George Lucas will direct “the story of the Tuskegee Airman, the first African-American pilots to fly in a combat squadron in World War II.” If Jar-Jar Binks turns out to be one of the pilots, we’ll all know the rumors of Jar-Jar as a mockery of black people will be true. George Lucas needs to buy an island filled with tropical whores and vast amounts of coconuts and stop making movies. How much money does one need? You’ve already established the best special effects and digital sound companies in the world, so please Georgie! Hire some Playboy bunnies and masturbate in the corner like a retired geek would.   (IMDB)
• Luc Besson: it’s hard to believe, but this man was fucking Milla Jovovich at one tine, but perhaps one of our greatest visionaries has finally decided he is burnt out. Luc Besson, creator of The Fifth Element an all-time Sci-fi classic, and The Professional which is my all-time favorite action flick, is proclaiming his newest film Arthur and the Invisibles to be his last film. Now to be far, Luc Besson hasn’t directed many films of late, well in fact his film The Messenger: the Story of Joan of Arc was a totally bomb back in 1999. Besson has been relegated to Producer, but everyone will remember: you can bang hot chicks if you act like all artsy and pretend to be French. Viva La Besson  (Movie Blog)
• Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who: the adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s popular 1954 children’s book will receive the magical makeover of computer animation. Jim Carrey and Steve Carell have already been attached and you can expect many others to follow. Jim Carrey plays an elephant named Horton and Steve Carell will be the Mayor of Who-ville and 20th Century Fox will produce the film. Where does someone like Dr. Seuss’ get his credentials? Wait a minute; he’s not a real doctor I bet. Although the remedy of green eggs and ham does sound appetizing I don’t think I will follow the advice of this doctor. Dr. Dre, now that’s a doctor! Smoking some weed while spitting some lyrics and pretending to be tough sounds like great advice from a certified doctor…from the school of Hard-Knocks! Yeah, boy!  (Hollywood)

Half Nelson – reviewed by John Hang

Can you save someone’s life from spiraling out of control when you cannot even save your own? This is the basic premise behind this indie darling and Oscar mentioned film Half Nelson.
An inner city teacher forms an unlikely bond with the student who discovers his drug addiction and the two characters struggle to save each other.

STORY: Ryan Gosling plays Dan Dunne, the ghetto school teacher who also coaches the school’s female basketball team. This is where Dan Dunne meets Drey (Shareeka Epps), a kid trying to stay off a life pedaling drugs for the man who is responsible for her brothers’ incarceration. Drey discovers her coach cooking some cocaine in the bathroom and Dan feels the obligation as her teacher to try and kick his habit. A story like this is very powerful and dramatic, but the movie has a devilish sarcastic underscore and keeps from preaching the dangers of drugs. Many have mention Ryan Gosling’s name for Oscar consideration and I will admit this film and his performance in The Notebook have persuaded me to believe Mr. Gosling as one of our premiere thespians of our generation. Like all “indie” films, Half Nelson ends with a scene left for discussion and open interpretation, so I’ve gone back and forward on what I believe happened.
STYLE: film runs at 106 minutes and feels right, shot on 35mm and utilizes some very small lenses. For this reason, many scenes shot by Director Ryan Fleck were out of focus but it also drew an audience even closer to the characters because the intimacy of camera shots. Some nice shots of students reading historical facts with the green chalk board in the background and a medium shot with a student cropped left of the scene. The use of an actual urban classroom and real apartment added another dimension to a film that appealed to me.
SUMMARY: highly recommended! Go look for a screening of this, it provides the necessary qualities to demonstrate the dangers of drugs without getting all preachy. Small supporting cast which provided nice story breaks and Ryan Gosling pours his heart into this role. I can sympathize with Drey, coming from a urban school myself, and I would like to believe many of my teachers were on some sort of drug. Half Nelson also seems to be a commentary on the status of our public schools and what our kids are being subjected to. There is a nice little tidbit on something called the Twinkie Defense which I found hilarious and there is no over-exaggerated drug binge that makes your eyes want to vomit. Overall, put your money into supporting this film and envy the teacher-student relationship you’ve always wanted but were too stupid to support your passion for the subject.      

Muay Thai specialist and action star of the future Tony Jaa brings us a new spectacle for us to gravitate towards. Tony Jaa is sent to Australia in this film to rescue his elephant before he becomes part of someone�s lunch. We thought an expert in the field was needed, so we called upon a specialist. Unfortunately Danny Glover wasn�t available to comment on his movie Operation Dumbo Drop and his relationship with an elephant so we settled on Phil, a karate master. Like Tony Jaa, Phil wears red scarves to hide his true masculinity, but the man is a weapon of mass destruction. The fact that Tony Jaa wears black Converse high tops throughout the movie gives us hope that one day we will be capable of becoming a killing machine, and maybe little girls will stop picking on us for our lunch money. Bon Appetite! Enjoy another Movie Menu episode of mammoth proportions.

Panelist: Phillip Lee, Mike Stand Chan, Danny Van Damme, and John �The Karate Kid� Macchio

Sound Guy: R2-D2

Next week�s episode: The Black Dahlia

THIS EPISODE IS DEDICATED TO THE LOVING MEMORY OF STEVE IRWIN

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Planning the Podcast
            We planned last week that Phillip was going to be our special guest for this episode. Since Phillip loves martial art films, Movie Menu thought The Protector would be a fitting movie for Phillip to review. We also all wanted to watch the kick ass action scenes because there were no wires used for this film. We made our arrangements and we began the first episode with a special guest panelist.

Day of Podcast
            We schedule our day pretty tightly so we can show Phillip how professional we are. However, having a schedule wasn’t enough for us to look professional, so we decided on our intro. We wanted to dedicate our intro to a special man so hopefully you enjoy it. Another thing, we kind of ended up with a four man show, but I was afraid that too many voices would be confusing, I sat back and let the others rant on more, (plus they had more interesting things to say than I…or did they?) Also, Phil was kind enough to work on some drum beats for our intro, which in my opinion can out great. So this was a very productive, yet fun day to podcast.

Post-Production
Since we had so much fun recording, we didn’t realize we recorded so much material. So we had to trim this sucka down in order for our audience not to fall asleep during the show, (not that they don’t already). We did however add some more music in the intro and added tracks of Summit Core, Phillip’s band as our background music during the podcast and as our outro song. Hope you enjoy!

Planning the Podcast

We figured we saw the worst movie ever last week, which was GIGLI, so its only going up from there, until we saw the previews of The Wickerman, starring Nicolas Cage. We decided to give this movie a chance and pray for dear life that it would be better than anticipated. We were skeptical but had hopes, I mean Nicolas Cage doing a bad film? What are the odds... ::cough cough:: Don't miss Nicolas Cage in GHOSTRIDER coming out next year...::cough cough:: Though the director has done some hits and misses, I would have liked to see this movie as a hit, but with Nicolas Cage rounding up the cast, expectations were set so low, MOVIE MENU was trippin'!

Day of Podcast

After watching the movie, the whole cast was depressed, not because the movie was sad and tragic, but because we lost two hours of our lives that we will NEVER EVER get back! Though I must admit, I did snooze in the middle of the movie, but Mike Stand assured me I didn't miss anything.... ANYTHING! John pretended to go to the restroom, which left Mike Stand, the lone Wickerman watcher. After, our spirits got high because of the appearance of CosmicMint a.k.a. Diana who was able to make a shout out or two on the show! Though thinking of an intro to top the last two weeks were really hard, but again figured that our aim is not to repeat the success of our previous intros, but make our intros successful in their own ways! However, something told me that this day was going to be a LONG DAY!

Post-Production

Editing this one would be a difficult one because we really had one day to do it. Though what seemed to be the LONGEST day EVER! We were happy to know when we finished. Only had to add the music to the intro and it was set to be posted. Though this movie was not what we expect (or was it?) we still had to move forward with the project. WISH US LUCK!

Mistaking your butt plugs for spark plugs…Again: welcome to another edition of the Movie Menu: Entertainment News which brings you another story. So everyone grab a newspaper and huddle around the trash fire. So my mom had to remind me my plates are expired and I needed to get a smog check before I can get my new tags. I begin making the round of calls to various smog check stations and one is chosen in Alhambra, CA. Not too far, and the price is half the price of its competition. So I track down the address and upon arrival, I couldn’t help but give a little chuckle. Now, it took us awhile to settle upon the Movie Menu name, because this is our company’s brand name, and we wanted something catchy and easily memorable. So to my surprise, my eyes did not deceive me, but the name of this smog check station was: S & M Auto Repair. I wouldn’t want to judge one’s decision, but naming your company similar to the association of a sexual preference doesn’t seem the wisest business decision. To my chagrin no one was strapped in leather/ balls-chains/ wipes and/or handcuffs. I can imagine the prank calls they receive:

Employee: Hello, how could I help…you?
Customer: (clears throat) yes…is this S & M Auto Repair?
Employee: Yup. How can I be of service?
Customer: (giggles) well since you asked, I’ve been looking to Repair my social life.
Employee: Do you need oil change?
Customer: (licks lips) ooooo yea…I need someone to drain my oil
Employee: $29.95
Customer: Really?? That’s it…how about….

(Metal drills blast in the background. Chain links hit floor. Men grunting)

Customer: Holy Shit, you guys are really serious about S & M!
Employee: We do whatever we can to satisfy your needs
Customer: Well then. I’ll just have to special order a Panda and a gallon of Tang.

Remember to choose your company’s name wisely. You wouldn’t want to end up with a name like: O.J.-Simpson Juice Bar or Dirty Sanchez Trash Deposal

p.s. - I’d give you the address of the place, but the place sucks and S & M happen to be a couple of scary Russians that’ll break your neck if you “make joke.” Plus they don’t accept credit card…LoL “C-R-E-D-I-T CARDDDD!!!” (Runs hand up butt), seriously, who doesn’t accept credit cards anymore?

August 26-31 Edition

• Chuck Palahniuk: world renowned author Chuck Palahniuk, who has been credited for writing the book Fight Club, has another one of his novels ready to receive some screen time. Choke is a novel about Victor Mancini, a med-school dropout who has turned into a con-artist by faking to choke in order to receive settlements from restaurants. Victor uses some of the money to support his ailing mother and visits sexaholic meetings to meet women. This sounds like a great idea! The book that is, the meeting women at sexaholic interventions is scary because these women are into some weird shit. Ummmm, that’s what my friend...Ahhh….Ernie said, yeah! But this film will do well considering the loyal following Palahniuk has received since Fight Club and critics will likely hype this film to save face from the bashing critics originally gave Fight Club when it was first released but changed their opinion when they saw the cult following.  (Cinema Fusion)
• Terminator 2 ½: television is bringing you the “original” series titled Sarah Connor Chronicles. The tale shall follow Sarah and John Connor as they go on the run from the evil terminator. No news on casting or what channel you will be able to catch this on, but I have no interest in this, so don’t bug me about it. I loved Terminator 2 and hope Arnold Schwarzenegger would consider reprising his role as the Terminator as a cameo. How cool would it be to see your Governor reading lines from a script rather than doing lines of cocaine. Wait, these people read their speeches from a prompter already. Wow, the line between politics and entertainment has really been blurred. I guess an actor makes sense, but electing a wrestler? Jesse Ventura!?!?! “If you win me at arm wrestling, I’ll pass your proposition!”  (Movie Blog)
• The Apprentice: Donald Trump has decided the fire his female muse Carolyn Kepcher and the world of entertainment has temporarily stopped all productions to mourn this tragic event. Wait? Who the F&*k is she again? Whatever. How this made news is astonishing and demonstrates what a slow news week it has been. Can anyone verify she was at least a hottie? Donald Trump is gold with the ladies. I wouldn’t mind being the Apprentice of Ron Popeil, now that would a show I would watch and participate in! Ron Popeil is that leech who keeps hawking his inventions in infomercials, i.e. Showtime Rotisserie, cutlery knife sets, flavor injectors, etc. I’ve always wanted a machine to add a blast of flavor to my Ramen noodles.  (Hollywood Reporter)
• The Anti Christ Oprah Winfrey: yup, she’s still living. It wasn’t headline news but humanity is continuingly failing at killing this manatee, so unless we give it a greater microscope, the manatee will continue to live and spread her filth.  (I Hate Oprah)
• Slow news week: (insert fake story- insightful commentary- obvious/ oblivious joke reference)  (wrong URL)

Little Miss Sunshine – reviewed by Danny Munoz

            Think your family is dysfunctional? Think again. Little Miss Sunshine deals with a family that has more issues than the Spiderman Comics. The movie starts off with Frank (Steve Carell) in the hospital for attempting to commit suicide. His sister Sheryl (Toni Collette) goes to pick him up to take him home with her so she can watch over him. Richard (Greg Kinnear) is a motivational speaker that tries his best to get a book deal, however his lack to motivate makes it difficult to break the deal.
            When Sheryl gets home with Frank, she tells him that he will be staying with her son Dwayne (Paul Dano) so he can watch him at night. Dwayne took a vow of silence to reach a goal of his that he’s dreamt about for so long. Richard’s and Sheryl’s daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin) dreams to one day win a beauty pageant so much that her coach is Grandpa (Alan Arkin). Olive entered the regional Little Miss Sunshine Pageant while visiting Sheryl’s sister, only to win runner-up. A few months later, the winner got disqualified, so Olive was able to go to the National Little Miss Sunshine pageant in California. So the family must drop everything they had planned to see if Olive can make her dream come true.
            This movie has so much drama, yet it is very hilarious. The situations that these people are put in are so ridiculous you’d think that the whole family walked under a ladder, broke mirrors, or walked by a black cat because they have such bad luck. However, with every situation that they faced, they must overcome it together, even if they don’t like each other, the love is still there. Though there are some tear jerking moments, this movie got my seal of approval. This is one you should not miss!

Ben Affleck stars as a hitman and Jennifer Lopez plays a lesbian. They are teamed together to kidnap a retard and the 3 become a family only Southern Californians could ever accept. You�ve got to feel sorry for the guy who played the retard; he was the only one whose credit to this movie went unnoticed. Come to think about, this guy probably has the best agent in assuring people forget he starred in this movie. �Get me that guy�s agent!� Somewhere in this world some douchbag has placed this movie in a time-capsule for it to be found in the future. We can only prey our historical records are not burnt to the ground for jeopardizing the future of human earth by believing in this movie.

Panelists: Mike �Pony-licious� Stand, Danny �Cool� Munoz, and �Lil� John- Hang

Sound Guy: the Spirit World�led by Abraham Lincoln

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I-Am-SICK-and-TIRED-of-these-motha-F*&kin'-podcasters!!-on-this-motha-F^#kin'-website!!!! What better way to end the season of summer films than having Snakes on a Plane cap our summer review. Summer films are released with a high emphasis on entertainment, and the most entertaining movie of the season is upon us: SNAKES ON A PLANE. The only thing that could have made this film better would have been cameos from the following people: Steve Irwin, Natalie Portman, everyone who has ever posed for Playboy , or Chuck Norris. We're not exactly the wilderness type, but we understand it is not normal to be boarding a flight with snakes. We just want the ladies to know, if you ever need someone to suck venom out of any part of your body...call Poison Control- F%^K that shit!

Panelist: Danny Munoz & Mike Stand

Sound guy: John Hang

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With the summer coming to a crawl, the studios are churning out their �we have so much money that we can make this kind of crap.� So for this mundane week we decided to review some of the newest releases of this week and pack into a nice little present you can carry in your pants. So STEP UP and leave some comments and allow us to dance into your hearts.

Panelists: Mike Stand, Danny Munoz, and John Hang Sound guy: Z Aguirre

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Zoom, Pulse, and World Trade Center

Planning the Podcast
So this week we couldn’t agree on what movie to podcast, so we decided to review them all. This week choices were the tear jerking World Trade Center which paid homage to the events of September 11th, starring Nicholas Cage and Michael Pena. Zoom, this weeks family film also came out and decided that this one was worth mentioning because it starred Tim Allen, who’s still making films, some how. Also starring Courtney Cox, (life after friends), and Chevy Chase, (life after death). And the Japanese horror turned American, Pulse, starring Kristen Bell and Christina Milian. So it was going to be an interesting show, since we didn’t see each movie together. Only one of us saw one of the three movies so we had to be creative in meshing these three bad movies into ONE.

Day of Podcast
We had to come up with an interesting intro and format since we all saw different movies. We went back to Movie Menu since everyone was back and the Dan and Mike show didn’t get the respect it deserved! Or did it? After a few debates, the intro was down, and we were ready to create a different kind of show. With Z back in the sound chair, John was promoted back to Host (though we tried to get him fired, anyone need a job?) we were able to have a completed show with everyone in tact.

Post Production
We took one take, (thank God), so editing would be easier. With a new way of logging, (making Z the sound guy actually does some work), made things a bit easier to capture what was memorable and what wasn’t. After a few snips and cuts, the show is ready to be released. Though three out of the four member’s computers are without internet all of a sudden, this show is going to be difficult to post. So wish us luck, we’re going to need it.

6 women venture into a cave and find they have entered into unchartered territory, entrapped in a cave with blood sucking predators. Sounds like the plot to a dirty porno to me (cat claws), and many lesbian inneundos ensue. Not too many guys in this feature and many attractive kitties making their film debut. I don't know if it was the experience or it was the time of the month but there was a whole lot of blood in this movie! Looks like someone should consider a switch from the tampon to the pad....and I have just alienated our entire female fanbase. Anyways, enjoy this weeks podcast and our first review of a horror film.

Panelist: Mike Stand & Danny Munoz

Sound Guy: John Hang

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Reviewed by Danny Munoz

If you ever felt like decapitating your boss, peeing over the dead corpse, and then burning the remains so no one will ever know, then this movie is for you! This movie adaptation from the novel with the same title was written by Lauren Weisberger, (wouldn't want to be her boss... or would I?) Though Lauren did write the novel, Anne Brosh McKenna wrote the screenplay that gave this movie life.

Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, and Stanley Tucci round up the cast that made this movie actually enjoyable. So for you readers who have not seen the movie, Anne Hathaway plays Andrea (Andy) Sachs, who gets a job at RUNWAY magazine, the top magazine in fashion, as Miranda Priestly's assistant, played by Meryl Streep, which is a job that a thousand girls would die to have. Though, many see Andy as an unlikely candidate for the job, Miranda ignores her own better judgment and hires, "the fat girl." Andy takes the job because working a year under Miranda Priestly will line you a job at any written media that you will ever want to work for.

Though the job that would seem to be a stepping stone for your future, isn't all that's cracked out to be, what should one do? Well no sense in crying, if you can't beat them, then join them. So Andy tries her best to impress her boss, but forgets about her boyfriend and friends, the people that really matter to her. So Andy must juggle her future career with her morals and relationships with friends.

Though this movie might sound dramatic, it is pretty amusing. Meryl Streep plays a convincing bitch who is feared by everyone who works under her. Stanely Tucci character, Nigel, is a sort of a Fairy Godmother in the sense he transforms Andy from the fat girl into a fashionable hottie. Will Andy forget who she is and become a stuck up bitch like her boss? I'd recommend this movie for people to watch so they can find out the outcome. Enjoy it and laugh as loud as you want, because no sense if hiding that fact that you ARE going to like it.

Movie Menu: Entertainment News- 4th edition: guess what today is? It’s National Ice Cream Sandwich Day!! Yeeeeaaaa!!! and if you are reading this on Thursday its National Watermelon Day. The internet is a beautiful place to find obscure and irrelevant facts, like this website (nervous laughter) now that summer is winding down, the news is small and obscure but there are still some tiny tidbits circulating. What’s more important is how you plan to celebrate NATIONAL WAFFLE DAY this Saturday and NATIONAL ROOT BEER FLOAT DAY this Sunday. What kind of legal procedures would one have to go through to accomplish a NATIONAL holiday? I say we all lobby for a “National Deep-Fried Day”, there is a restaurant in England that deep-fries candy bars as a dessert, yummers! I think we can celebrate this holiday in the states by congesting our ovaries and intestines with fatty goodness. I wonder how a deep-fried gummy bear would taste like. Anyone care to share a platter of deep-fried vegetables? Little Jimmy will never look at broccoli the same and princess Deborah will be begging for a second serving of deep-fried cabbage deliciousness. Has anyone seen that episode of Arrested Development when Tobias buys a deep-fryer? Ooooo the possibilities….BAM! Entertainment News

-john

July 25- August 3 Edition

• Mel Gibson: looks like someone got a bit tipsy on Jesus Juice and was BUSTED!!! You think the Jews are having a fun time with this? I bet you it was a Jewish cop who stopped Mel Gibson for making Passion of the Christ and proceeded to show what “Jews are really made of” (grabs night stick). I love that mugshot of Gibson too, it still doesn’t match the Nick Nolte mugshot but I see a trend of glamorized celebrity mugshots if this public infatuation continues. Can you imagine if Halle Berry was arrested and she was wearing the Catwoman Attire? I would pay good money to get a mugshot of Quentin Tarantino with a black eye and swollen face, that’s money baby (Yahoo)
• Die Hard 4: a Bruce Willis mugshot with an Elvis toupee? LoL, okay I’ll stop. The 4th installment titled Live Free or Die Hard (u f%^king serious?) has now announced a June 29th, 2007 release date. Les Wiseman (Underworld 1 & 2) is directing and the story consists of “a techno-terrorist attempting to shut down the nation’s computers on the Fourth of July.” No! No! Nooooooo!!!!!!!!! What would the world be without Movie Menu!?!?! I rather…die hard (Cinema Fusion)
• Dallas: the popular primetime soap drama from the 1970s-1980s received some bad news when Jennifer Lopez gave the finger to the film and dropped out. Apparently the story was not enough about J-Lo even though they changed the popular slogan “who shot J R?” to a “who shot J L?” it has been rumored J-Lo must return to her block because some crack dealers are selling high school photos of her making out with the captain of the chess team. (Dark Horizons )
• Pee-Wee’s Playhouse: Paul Reuben has confirmed he is working on 2 MOVIES for Pee-Wee. One will be an adaptation of the television series, kid version, and another movie shall be titled The Pee-Wee Herman Show which will be the more adult version the television series was based on. You know as soon as you read that you were wondering “how adult” this movie is going to be. We’re not going to watch Pee-Wee masturbate and sniff crack off a hookers ass are we? Maybe he’ll give friends in the Playhouse something to REALLY scream about “and the secret word of the day is: Dirty Sanchez’. (Cinema Fusion)
• Hotel Transylvania: Mummy, Dracula, Werewolf, and Frankenstein conjugate at a hotel to discuss if technology has made them irrelevant. This CGI film (the irony of this story addressing technology using CGI software) is slated as a 2009 release from Sony Pictures. I would rather see these guys in a “Real World”-esque movie where Werewolf complains the Mummy is using up all the toilet paper, Frankenstein learns Dracula and Lady Frankenstein spent the night in his coffin, maybe Werewolf is confronted as having anger management issues so the house confront him, and they all get drunk everyday cause their lives suck like the people on the “Real World”. (Film Stew)
• The Darjeeling Limited: get this movie on your radar because it has the potential to bring lots of money to “New Hollywood”. I’m not a fan of the fraternity comedies (Old School, 40 Year old Virgin, Wedding Crashers, Anchorman, etc.) but a HUGE fan of smart-dry-playful comedies and this movie has combined the best people of this posse. Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) is working with Roman Coppola (CQ), Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore, I Heart Huckabees, Shopgirl, etc.) and Owen Wilson (Bottle Rocket, Life Aquatic) on this script about 3 brothers who journey through Africa. I don’t know if this film will bring all these people into the mainstream and break the bank, but it sure smells like it. (Production Weekly)  

Planning the Podcast
So this week we planned on doing a review on a DVD instead of a theatrical release. What could go wrong we thought? Then we realized our only OPTION was From Justin to Kelly and we regretted ever mentioning DVD review. Though finally we got a break and didn't have to pinch our pennies to review a movie in the theaters, though the drawback being the movie is From Justin To Kelly. So finally after long deliberation, we sat down and watched the movie that we would have no problem coming up with material. Though this movie had a reputation of SUCKING, we didn't want other sources to influence on what we thought, though it was very VERY hard.

Day of Podcast
So judgment day came and we had to podcast the deliciously unique movie, From Justin To Kelly. We were hoping for the best, because Kelly's career has grown, but then Justin is holding Kelly back, and this movie was clearly the proof of that. We have to pick one tagline out of a possible 5 or 6 to make the cut for the show and design a possible intro for the show. Though as stated in earlier production notes, the show is done on one take, so we have to make sure certain topics are covered, which is hard when three opinionated guys that want to talk about nonsense, but we somehow we do. Though the movie itself was a mess, the podcast itself came across as going well.

Post Production
With clever editing, or maybe not so clever editing, special effects and sounds are added to dress up the podcast and words are twisted to make us sound like we know what we are talking about. A few hours or days after we finished recording, we have a final product. Hopefully our message got across, because clearly the message of From Justin to Kelly got lost in the mail.

2005 Razzie Award winner for The Worst musical in the past 25 years, From Justin to Kelly was suppose to incorporate future winners/contestants into feature films, instead American Idol participants are now relegated to touring your local Plaza parking lots and trailor parks across the country. You think the star of this film Justin Guarini watches this movie on a loop? We know Kelly Clarkson has survived the wreckage, but the media has forgotten the casualities this film has caused! Well the Movie Menu has seen too many disasters in our lives to let THE MAN hold us down!!! Soo let me see ya fist in tha air brothas and sistas!!! Lets stand united in support of this film!

....don't leave me....I'm sooo cold...sweeeeeeet! a muffin

(silence) THIS HAS BEEN A TEST OF THE EMERGENCY PODCAST STATION. WE ASK YOU TO EVACUATE YOUR COMPUTERS AND EXIT ROOM LEFT. WOMEN AND CHILDREN LAST PLEASE.

Panelist: Mike Stand, Danny Munoz, John Hang.
Sound Guy: Alexander Z

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Have you ever spent time at a public computer laboratory? Well with my computer being non-functional at the moment, I had to seek the aid of a public computer. I want to lead by saying the guy sitting 4 feet next to me is so LOUD when it comes to his horrible typing, I can’t help but giggle being the nerd I am…and some chick has been talking on her cellphone for the past 15 minutes. Apparently she has moved and now works in Orange County, THANKS! I was worried about your method of transportation and whether you had sufficient funds to support your “wheels.” Haha the asshole film vault librarian just walked past me, I guess he’s going to work.
Some have forgotten the benefits of this recent heat wave: hot weather = less clothing. As a great man once said, “SHOW ME WHATCHA WORKING WITH!!” enjoy the 3rd edition of Movie Menu: Entertainment News

-your podcast host,
John

p.s. I’ve just realized the best Entertainment news from this past week have 1 thing in common: THEY ARE ALL COMIC BOOK ADAPTATIONS. This edition is for you Z to geek-out.

July 16- July 24 Edition 

• Batman 2- The Joker: it was announced on Thursday that the role of The Joker in Batman 2 will be Heath Ledger. The obvious joke will be something referencing Ledger’s role in Brokeback Mountain, but the Movie Menu has more class than that. So Heath Ledger, are you going to rock out to Queen’s “we will rock you” while jousting Batman in the ass….oops, F^&K!! the gay innuendos with Heath Ledger are just too easy  (www.latinoreview.com)
• Transformers: so it’s been a tough couple of weeks for Michael Bay in retaining his title as the “Worst Director not sucking the dick of Lucas/ Spielberg” but word out of Comic-Con has defused the flames temporarily. I refuse to publicize the crappy trailer for this movie but Michael Bay did get some GEEK POINTS when he hired Peter Cullen the original voice of Optimus Prime to reprise his role in this new adaptation. Word has also leaked out Michael Bay has invented a Pinto transformer named GORDITA  (www.cinecon.com)
• The Incredible Hulk: Marvel Studios tried to save face recently when they hired director Louis Letterier (Transporter 1 & 2) to direct this new version of the Hulk. The script will be written by Zak Penn (X-Men 2 & 3) with no release date or casting news at the moment…So there’s a mock replica of The Hulk at Universal CityWalk, well I can’t help but laugh at the sight of it for couple reasons. 1: the movie was so bad, any image of The Hulk makes me laugh. 2: I once daydreamed the Hulk would grab that 100ft guitar in front of the Hard Rock Café and start jamming out to a pack audience of scared Japanese tourist. Perhaps taking them to a Men’s Warehouse to shop for pants  (www.themovieblog.com)
•  The Spirit:  Frank Miller has signed on to write and direct this comic book adaptation of a masked detective named Denny Colt who was thought to have been dead, but now works for the Police Commissioner. No word how this movie will conflict with another Frank Miller film, Sin City 2, which is slated to come out 2007. At this rate they’ll run out of detective comic books for Frank Miller to direct and to which I will predict he’ll start adapting HENTAI novels  (www.cinemafusion.com)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: could ninjas possibly replace the public curiosity with midgets? I think there’s room for both, but this new CGI remake titled TMNT has just released its trailer and it looks freaking awesome. This film will be significantly darker than the previous comedic versions of the Ninja Turtles, but has a story that apparently will appeal to all ages according to director Kevin Monroe. I’ve always wondered which of any of the turtles would have a chance at scoring with April the reporter. My money is on Rafael although Splinter seems like a cock-blocker.  (www.filmforce.ign.com)

So we were by the pool this weekend and saw a lady swimming in the water. M Night Shyamalan asked us if we would be in the film, which we regretfully decline because..umm..how do we put this nicely..."we don't want him to ruin our careers before it even STARTED." So to sweeten the deal we agreed to take his daughters out in exchange for free tickets to his movie. Well we tried selling tickets, but no one would buy them, so we went to the see Shyamalan's new movie Lady in the Water in hopes of scoring with his daughters...HAPPY LISTENINGS, this is our audio recording of our date.

Panelist: Mike Stand, Danny Munoz, John Hang.
Sound Guy: Alexander Z

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Maybe it was boredom or maybe empathy (--- most likely boredom) that has led me to create a site skeleton to explain how this website works. It's come to our attention, here at 4WP, that the people we are trying to reach are either tech-savvy (l33t) or tech-dummie (Id10t). Whatever the case may be, here's A Dummies Guide to Movie.Menu.Com:

Look! It's a tiny version of the website you are in!

So it's a pretty easy website but here's a breakdown of what you can find on the main (index.html) page. Let's start with the hardest part:

How to Subscribe

It's easier than you may think.

What you need: A brain (hopefully your own), a computer (like the one you are using) and iTunes from iTunes.com... you may also need a pair of eyes, but only one is necessary.

What do I click?
Ok, above all this site was built on the basis of dualities and trinities. I know most people don't understand this concept, and you don't have to. Just know that their are three icons (two that repeat and one standalone) that are placed on the site to get you to subscribe:

This icon of an armless-legless-neckless-aura inducing man isn't just a funny looking picture, but a subscription button. By clicking on this image, your browser (the thing you use to look at the website) will ask you if you have iTunes installed---if you do, it'll open it and direct you to the Movie Menu display section. By simply pushing the Subscribe button, you would have subscribed and automatically download Movie Menu for free anytime you turn on iTunes.

The second button that repeats twice is this one:
Among all icons, I believe that this one is the most self-explanatory. It's simply the same as the Afro-Man icon just described.

The End... or is it?

So remember, subscribing is easy---the hard part is being smart about it. Now go get 'em kids and remember: Give Afro-Man some love! And tell your friends about Movie Menu! Because Afro-Man loves you and Movie Menu does too! Now keep it real, and tell your friends about MovieMenu.Libsyn.Com!

The Oh in Ohio

Can a life be really "perfect" if you haven't been pleasured sexually? Apparently some women suffer from this inability to reach climax....Thank god!!! For a minute, I thought it was just me....I knew there was nothing wrong with The Torpedo, I almost visited a doctor to make sure. Bon appetite! Enjoy this weeks podcast as 3 men dive into Lindsay Lohan's vagina and don't forget to leave comments about the night you spent at camp and woke up next to: your camp counselor, bottle of Schnapps, K.Y. jelly, and Coco the Grizzly Bear.

Panelist: Mike Stand, Danny Munoz, John Hang.
Sound Guy: Alexander Z

It's Free to

Do you ever wish you had a stalker? "1AM- John searches for a snack....2:34AM- John begins munching on some chocolate wrappers." I don't know if I would ever want to stalk anyone, cause I get bored of people pretty easily, but if the money is good or the chick is hot, call me (wink). Anyways...welcome to the 2nd edition of Movie Menu: Entertainment News and remember: "only you can prevent forrest fires...so don't FUCK it up aaaa-ight!!!"

July 12- July 15 Edition

• J.J. Abrams : the creator behind Lord of the Flies and...oops! LoL I'm sorry, I meant to say Lost, Abrams created the telelvision show Lost, I always get those confused, (cough rip off cough) Anyways, Abrams becomes one of the richest Writer/ Producer/ Director by signing a 5 year deal with Paramount Pictures and a 6 year deal with Warner Bros. Together the contracts are worth $55 million, and that my friend means he's buying the tacos tonight.   (http://movies.yahoo.com)
• The Eye : Lionsgate Film has picked up the scraps of this classic Hong Kong horror film with Tom Cruise producing and Jessica Alba starring in the film. How long until we see Tom Cruise dumping that dead weight Katie Holmes and upgrading to some prime rib Jessica Alba to promote this film. The "Alba CruiseLine" anyone?(www.cinecon.com)
• The Prestige : Huge Jackman and Christian Bale battle it out ...as magicians!?!? Directed by Christopher Nolan in what could be his best film since Following ; is expected to hit theaters on October 27th, 2006 and the trailer is now online. Expect a large comic book/ geek constituency begging for these 2 actors to reprise this battle in a Wolverine vs Batman movie. (www.aint-it-cool-news.com)
• Halo - the movie : what has been hyped as possibly being "the greatest video game movie" has once again been delayed as DB Weiss has been brought in to write a new script Rumors of Denzel Washington as Master Chief begin to circulate as the creators of Halo insist Master Chief will not show his face. No script-no director-no cast- no movie. Maybe someone will start a petition to get this movie out of these peoples' hands. (www.themovieblog.com)
• Pirates of the Carribean : thanks to the GREATEST CREW OF COSTUME / SET DESIGNERS AND STYLIST this bad film has looted the box office. Domestically the film has collected $258 million in 10 days and it shows no signs of slowing down internationally. Imagine how much more money this film could have made if real Pirates didn't hijack a boat delivering the film, wannabe Pirates sneaking into theater showings, and "internet Pirates" downloading the movie. You're not a Pirate if you paid to see this movie...Rrrrrrrrrrr!!!(www.variety.com)

We can't possibly imagine why anyone would dare to make love to Superman, gay or straight, but apparently Lois Lane has the loins of a goddess. Enjoy this review, and word of advice, Superman sees EVERYTHING (drops towel). "No Superman, I was no where near that farm last night."

Panelist: Mike Stand, Danny Munoz, John Hang.
Sound Guy: Alexander Z

Podcasting is a community and there is no one we love more in the neighborhood than Los Angeles Podcasters: Ask a Ninja. We couldn't top this review- so why challenge a ninja...dude, they got skills...chicks did guys with skills. This is what podcasting is all about!

Superman Returns

            Planning for the podcast

       Usually the movie will be picked on Monday, so that we can plan and research all week and podcast that weekend. However, for Superman Returns, that podcast was discussed very early on. It was anticipated to be one difficult show, because it was expected that this would be a movie everyone would like, which would cause less discussion. So information and facts were a necessity in order to keep momentum high.

            Day of Podcast

        With the return of Mike Stand (he�s not Superman� or is he?) We were all set for this show. It is important to run tests when recording to make sure everything sounds right, and no background noise can be heard. Most of the time, the funniest test run will be part of our outro, which is the ending of our show. We usually try to think of unique intros and have about five or six taglines, and the best one will make it on the show. Sound guy Z gives us a 5 second countdown and the banter begins.

            Post Production

          Since the show is unscripted, we usually only go on one take, which takes about a half an hour or so. Once we finish, we almost immediately start the editing process and as well as getting the website ready for production. Whatever we don�t finish on Saturday, we will finish on Sunday in order to have it on the website Sunday night or Monday morning.

Reviewed by Alexander Z

Walking into any Keanu Reeves movie the word that often-wise jumps to mind, (and I'm sure in many others, as well), is "Whoa!" and then expect a ridiculously budgeted movie based on a book. In the case of the Matrix trilogies, inspired by Plato's "Allegory of the Cave,� it proves that Reeves is a one trick fish in a digitally craptaculous movie. In the case of Phillip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly, however, Reeves sacrifices that trend almost instantly... even though he'll always be Ted to me.

"What does a scanner see? Does a scanner see into me? Into us? Clearly or darkly?"
                        -- Phillip K. Dick

Let me make this simple and clear for fans who are thinking about A Scanner Darkly: watch it! --but watch it at your own discretion. This movie isn't for those who are interested in watching an action-filled science-fiction movie. Scanner is a science-fiction movie that’s as dirty and gritty as a British gentleman’s teeth, but delivers with the freshness of an Orbits gum commercial. Don't expect a movie with simple dialogue either, this movie will have you jumping from line to line, taking in more concepts and theories than a standard psychology class. And just like a psychology class, it will have you wondering about all those drugs you've taken for "recreational" reasons.

A Scanner Darkly is a movie about drugs and the way they fuck up your perception of life...

The movie is based in the "near future" where the U.S. government has lost the war against drugs to a new poison named Substance D. The story follows an undercover cop, Bob Arctor (Reeves), who is assigned to increase surveillance on the house he is spying on. Little does the government know that the person leading the house is Bob Arctor. Bob Arctor is assigned to spy on Bob Arctor, and Bob Arctor is being spied on by Bob Arctor. Oh, and Arctor is a drug junkie who is slowly loosing his mind. This movie is fucking awesome! To top it off, the movie is shot in what's known as "interpolated rotoscoping" which is another way of saying live-motion cell-shading, kind of like "Viewtiful Joe" the video game.

A Scanner Darkly is adapted and directed by Richard Linklater-- of famed movies as "Dazed and Confused" (for those stoners out there), "Before Sunrise" (for those chick-flick-watchers), "Waking Life" (for those indie-kids) and "School of Rock" (Jack Black, need I say more?)--he takes Phillip K. Dick's book and translated it into this beautiful cell-shaded reality that makes you doubt what you are looking at: is it a real shot or is it animation? As result, I felt interpolated rotoscopic myself walking out of the theater (...meaning I had bad gas and had to pee really badly).

If there was a movie I'd compare this to it would be Requiem for a Dream. It's basically the same tale concerning drugs (they're bad for you, pe-o-ple!)-- Thankfully, it doesn't leave you with that same suicidal tendency. The movie's cast was brilliant and executed every scene with finesse (is it weird to think Wynona Ryder looked hot as a cartoon-ish character?).

If the cast doesn't fancy your interest than the music will definitely make your ear scream for more (as if ears scream?). Thom Yorke and Radiohead provide for the majority of music in the background and give off the same disillusionment their music often does.

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And that's it; thanks for letting me waste your time... now go on, watch the movie, come back, and give your own review of the movie through the comment section.
~Z

Links:
Official Site

Wazzzzzz uppppppp!!!! Your podcast host John here introducing the first edition of the Movie Menu: Entertainment News. A bi-weekly (until there is a demand for a daily edition comes around) report of the top entertainment news to circulate the trade magazines and movie websites. Hyperlinks to the actual articles will come soon, as soon as our webmaster wakes up*

*you can build your own website on the cheap if you hire a bear to do it. WAKE UP PINSKY!!! Lazy bear….

July 7- July 11 Edition

• Indiana Jones 4: the story will pick up apparently with Indiana Jones discovering he has a daughter with Marion Ravenwood. All indications show Natalie Portman will be playing the role of the daughter  (www.Cinemafusion.com)
• Rocky Balboa: your official trailer is online! Rocky Balboa fights to keep his 401K and retirement pension (http://movies.yahoo.com)
• America’s Got Talent: your top rated television program for the week. All those who have seen this program, please stand. Okay, those of you standing next to these people, please punch them in head (www.HollywoodReporter.com)
• Batman 2: According to a interview conducted with Michael Caine the new Batman installment will be called The Joker. Rumors of actors playing Joker: Adrian Brody, Tim Roth, Chris Klein. (www.themovieblog.com)
• Burger King- The Movie: seeing is believing and I didn’t believe this story until I saw it with my own eyes. (laughter) your move McDonalds! I just hope the KING has a love interest like Gwyneth Paltrow (www.cinemafusion.com)
• Battle Royale: another horrible American remake of a classic J-Horror flick. The plan is to make an R rated version!?!?! You can almost smell the odor of this classic J-Horror movie remake now (www.variety.com)
• Happy Days: who’s playing Fonzie!?!?! Oooo my god!!! Gotcha! This is actually a film Johnny Deep is producing with Terry Zwigoff now attached. Do you really want to see Henry Winkler in leather, come on….(www.cinecon.com)

Coming Soon…

            The movie for this week will be THE OH IN OHIO directed by Billy Kent and written by Adam Wierzbianski. It has a promising cast starring Parker Posey, Paul Rudd, Mischa Barton, Danny DeVito, and Liza Minnelli. The movie is about this woman who is happily married but has never had an orgasm. She embarks to find an orgasm while her husband searches to prove his manhood.

            I decided to pick this movie for our next Podcast because the cast alone is amazing. Though I go into movies with no expectations, this movie seems like a movie that we will have no problem discussing. Parker Posey a lone we can chitchat for hours, but add Danny Devito and Paul Rudd in the mix, and chaos ensues.  So look for THE OH IN OHIO  to be the NEXT podcast.

Production Notes (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift)

            Planning the Podcast

       Monday came and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift was on the list for our next Podcast. Knowing this movie would raise opinions, not much research was necessary, besides trying to research; “why Tokyo?” Once we figured that there was no reason of why, we planned understanding the movie by eating lots of Japanese food. Though we’re not experts, eating a lot of Japanese did not help out our experience with the movie, which meant, we had no choice but sit and watch it.

            Day of Podcast

            Since our dear friend Mike Stand temporarily died, it was up to John and Danny to bring some insight on Tokyo Drift. Setting up was interesting, because it was the first show that would only have two panelists, instead of the magical number THREE. Though low expectations were anticipated, (just like the movie), for only having two panelists, the energy was high. Though it was a challenging Podcast to do, Movie Menu feels the show was good enough to post.

            Post Production

            Once finished, we had to decide how we wanted to approach this. We expected ten minutes tops, and actually had a twenty minute podcast. So much editing was needed in order to make the show a success. Though we were down one man, the dedication was there and only took us 3 weeks to finish, (ok well not really), but even if the movie didn’t have high expectations, doesn’t mean the Podcast of that movie should also have low expectations, so we had to step it up a notch…or not…you decide J.

Far East Asia loves the Movie Menu. What better way to fuse our worlds together than by racing....TO THE DEATH (awkward laughter). Enjoy this weeks podcast as the Movie Menu discovers the Japanese literature of Hennnnnnn-taiiii !!!

Panelist: Danny Munoz, John Hang.
Sound Guy: Alexander Z

So this movie is about pedophiles on the internet, something we have researched thoroughly and: sMaLL_WonDer_92 all I have to say to you is..."it's a date!!!" So without further adieu, I present for your listening pleasures our sex tapes with Dakota Fanning...what a filthy whore!

Panelist: Mike Stand, Danny Munoz, John Hang. Sound Guy: Alexander Z

Welcome trainees, we have recovered audio footage of our best agents. Not much is known of what happened to them, all we know is that their mission was not successful. We need you to listen in and see if you can possibly detect their whereabouts from this evidence. Although the mission may seem easy, do not take it lightly. All that can be said is, "Waka waka waka... "

Panelist Secret Agents: Mike Stand, Danny Munoz, John Hang. Sound Guy: Alexander Z

+ Podcast

+ Movie Menu/4WP

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FAQ: PODCAST

WHY?!
Calm down... I know life can be tough but if ever you feel the need to question anything, remember that the answer to all things is 42.

What is a 'Podcast'?
Remove yourself from that warm vat of simplicity and let me tell you a tale about the future...actually, it starts in the past, but we'll skip that.

Podcasting is a new way of distributing audio/video content over the internet using rss feeds. In laymen terms, Podcasting is a newspaper and rss is the paperboy; in this case, however, the newspaper is free and the paperboy is a mean looking cyborg that speaks chinese, likes cross-dressing, and eating Ethiopian babies.

Luckily for you, you'll only be listening.

Do I need an iPod to listen?
Absolutely not. You don't need an iPod to join in. The term 'podcast' is a misnomer and a portmanteau all in one... kind of like Bennifer, Bradjalena, or Herpes.

How do I listen?
That's the easy part: you can download through our direct link on the website (below the poster and synopsis) or you can subscribe through iTunes and listen on your computer.

We highly recommend you download through iTunes because it'll automatically download it for you whenever we upload a new podcast.

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FAQ: MOVIE MENU/4th WALL PRODUCTIONS (4WP)

WHY?!
42

When will the new episodes be uploaded?
We're shooting for sunday night/monday morning releases... we want to provide an interesting start for your work week.

How much for subscription?
As the internet moved into its socialist manifestation, everything is free!

What are all these other sections about?
Week's Special is the podcast forum page. The Guilty Party is our biography section. Production Blog are production notes concerning our inner struggles and timelines for people interested in learning how difficult one show can be to produce. Random is the golden gem of our site: it'll provide extra movie reviews provided by our host; daily blogs by a few of us; vlogcasts; and interesting show links.

... and you are reading the FAQ page.

Why is the site green?
Gamma radiation accident.

What's with the food plates?
The concept of doing this podcast was discussed in a dinner, so we pay omage to the restaurant business.

Can you post the name of the plate?
I wish I knew what they were... I'm sure they're pricy.

Can we expect more?
HELL YES! Our goal is simple: content, content, content! ... and for the Podcasters (because you are one, once you start), all content should always be FREE!

Aliases:

Affiliated Groups:

Shoe Size:

Criminal Activity:

Favorite Movies:

Favorite Music:

Food:

Electronic Mail:

DanielDrake2003@yahoo.com

Aliases:

Affiliated Groups:

Shoe Size:

Criminal Activity:

Favorite Movies:

Favorite Music:

Food:

Electronic Mail:

Aliases:

Affiliated Groups:

Shoe Size:

Criminal Activity:

Favorite Movies:

Favorite Music:

Food:

Electronic Mail:

mrz5000@yahoo.com

Aliases:

Affiliated Groups:

Shoe Size:

Criminal Activity :

Favorite Movies:

Favorite Music:

Food:

Electronic Mail:

Digital_auteur@yahoo.com

Hear One, Hear All! This here is the very first podcast by Movie Menu with panelist John Hang, Daniel Munoz, and Mike Stand. The podcast reviews the movie "Brick" released late last year and finally reviewed/released by us (excuse us, but we're bad with dates and synopsis... dip your balls in it).

"Brick" is a detective story about a teenager who has to go through a high school crime syndicate in order to investigate the dissapearance of his ex-girlfriend.

The panelist will discuss the good and horrible about this movie... because they love you. Enjoy!