Paramount Pictures has released a press release officially revealing the cast for their remake of the 1984 Kevin Bacon film, Footloose.

The lead character Ren McCormack was awarded to Kenny Wormald, a relatively new actor, best known for his dancing abilities. Wormald has appeared as a dancer in movies like You Got Served and Clerks II, and also was a part of the movie Center Stage: Turn It Up. He joins popular Dancing with the Stars performer Julianne Hough, who will step into Lori Singer’s role of Ariel Moore. Hough is also new to the acting game, but has a new movie called Burlesque coming up and even appeared in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, giving her a little geek cred.

G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Directed by Stephen Sommers
Starring Channing Tatum, Sienna Miller, Marlon Wayans, Dennis Quaid, Ray Park, Rachel Nichols
Rated PG-13
Release date: August 7, 2009

Like many children of the ’80s, I did watch the G.I. Joe cartoon. Don’t ask me what I remember of it though. I watched so many cartoons back then that other than the Joe’s “knowing is half the battle” segments, there is not much of it that I retained over the years. What I do know is that the cartoon was very popular way back when and it was only a matter of time before it got its big screen live-action debut. I mean, if Transformers and even Alvin and the Chipmunks can get that kind treatment, why can’t G.I. Joe?

Based on the popular toy line and cartoon, G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra follows soldiers Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans). On a mission to transfer a deadly technological weapon, their convoy is ambushed by a terrorist group. Their collective behind is saved by an elite military led by General Hawk (Dennis Quaid), known as G.I. JOE. In memory of their fallen comrades, Duke and Ripcord team up with the JOEs to safely transport the weapons to their destination and in the process they come across the terrorist group COBRA.

The teaser trailer for Overture Film’s upcoming sci-fi/horror thriller Pandorum is now online. Watch it here below.

In the film, which is from producers of the Resident Evil film franchise, Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster star as two crew members who awake aboard an abandon spaceship out in deep space in a post-apocalypse situation. The two have no memory of who they are, how long they’ve been asleep, or what their mission was. At first they think that they are alone, but they soon discover that they’re not and the reality of their situation is more horrifying than they could have imagined.

Foster (X-Men: The Last Stand) appeared at Overture’s Pandorum panel on Saturday at WonderCon in San Francisco, where the trailer debuted, along with another clip from the film. Along with Foster, who plays Bower, were his co-stars German actress Antje Traue and world champion martial arts fighter Cung Le.

The Express
Blu-ray Edition
Directed by Gary Fleder
Starring Dennis Quaid, Rob Brown, Charles S. Dutton
Universal Home Entertainment
Release date: January 20, 2009

The Express, now out on Blu ray DVD, is an emotional sports movie in the vein of Miracle and Brian’s Song. The film, based on the book by Robert Gallagher, tells the story of Ernie Davis, the first ever black football player to win the Heisman Trophy. Chronicling his life from his humble beginnings growing up in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, to his amazing college football career at Syracuse University, Ernie seemed destined to follow the footsteps of his mentor, football great Jim Brown but life had another game plan. In the very same year that he was drafted into the NFL, Davis died of Leukemia at the young age of 23.

Written by Charles Leavitt, the movie gets your adrenaline pumping but also tugs at your heart strings. The football scenes are pretty dynamic and are very entertaining to watch. Under the direction of Gary Fleder, the football scenes were fast paced, packed a punch, and were not overtly stylized like a lot of the newer sports movies. You feel every tackle and every touchdown. While the football scenes were fun, it was the quieter moments of the film that drew me in. Rob Brown plays Ernie Davis with a quiet confidence that many felt was the calling card of Davis. Brown is far from perfect as the lead but he shows real promise as a future leading man. He more than holds his own when sharing the screen with Dennis Quaid, who puts on a great performance as Syracuse coach Ben Schwartzwalder. Both actors play off the father-son dynamic rather well.

Smart People
Widescreen Edition
Directed by Noam Murro
Starring Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page, Thomas Haden Church
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Release date: August 12, 2008

I will preface this review with an admission of guilt that I am more than happy to announce as loud as it will take for anyone to hear it: I can’t stand Ellen Page. In my humble opinion Juno was just alright and my distaste for the movie rests solely on the shoulders of its star. I found myself defending my position during the film’s release more than I felt necessary and the singular argument that came from the other camp was that if I like her in Hard Candy (I did) and hated her in Juno, then I must have disliked the character Juno more than the person acting as her. That wouldn’t be a bad argument if it weren’t completely wrong. On the timeline of this longstanding debate, Smart People may have dealt the death blow for the opposing side. But let me back up just a touch.

As a film critic, I would like to think I am subjective enough not to let a singular performance ruin an otherwise decent movie. It hasn’t always held true (see: Juno), but I was bound and determined not to let it happen here. In other words, I went into it with an open mind. I am proud to say that I did not find Smart People to be a bad movie because of Ellen Page. No, this time it was a group effort.