VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! November 2nd..VOTE!

C'mon. If you're really "undecided", what are you waiting for? Choose the candidate whose issues you agree with and cast your vote. If you vote for Bush, you have a character flaw and are crazy, but at least you're participating in democracy. I am really hoping Kerry wins on Tuesday. I think I'll have to get up *extra* early on Tuesday because I imagine the polls will be busy with lines of people. I want Kerry and the Democrats to clean up on Tuesday. Our country needs change very badly and we deserve it. The politics of fear have no place in the hearts and minds of our country and we need to ship Shrub back to Crawford, Texas - PERMANENTLY!

Don't forget that Daylight Savings Time started at 2AM this morning. So set your clocks accordingly. I just wish that cooler weather would head our way, and soon. A damn high pressure system has taken over and is producing unseasonably warm temperatures and that's very bad. It's fucking Halloween and it should be cold outside! Maybe if we're lucky, cold, cold weather systems are on their way in droves. By the way, Happy Halloween!

"BOOOYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!"

That's right, The Tall Man himself - Angus Scrimm of Phantasm fame - will be hosting a spooky marathon of Aqua Teen Hunger Force starting tonight at 11PM on adult swim on Cartoon Network. http://www.adultswim.com

Speaking of the creepiest holiday of the year, The Horror Channel - http://www.horrorchannel.com has delayed their launch because they came upon a deal that would place them in many millions more homes and allow them to be a 24/7 cable network. If they'd launched today it only would have been in several thousand homes in a very limited capacity (only three days a week for three hours or so). So while I'm a bit dismayed to say the least, I totally understand. Do we want a hastily launched channel devoted to the genre that only airs in a sparse fashion or a full-blown, all-day, all-night horrorfest? I think they made the right move in the long run. So head on over to their site, read the announcement, sign the petition, and join their online community.

Tonight is the season finale of Dead Like Me - http://www.sho.com/deadlikeme

Tonight the reapers have their work cut out for them as a serial killer stalks the city. I still have several episodes to watch on Showtime OnDemand.

I still have USA's Frankenstein on TiVo - http://www.usanetwork.com/frankenstein

And lastly, we may just be getting BellSouth's The Light (DSL) Internet connection. Is DSL worse than Comcast's high-speed internet service, because I've heard so. We'll also be getting DIRECTV via BellSouth. These two cost-cutting items will save us over $50 a month on our income. So that's cool. I also am hoping that this move will allow us to get The Horror Channel on its inital launch. Plus I'll get to see Trio - pop, culture, tv - http://www.triotv.com which shows Classic Dave (old episodes of "Late Night with David Letterman"), Brilliant But Cancelled (series that never got a fair chance) and Pilot Season (shows that went to pilot but were not picked up as a series - like, for example, a series based on the movie L.A. Confidential starring Kiefer Sutherland or Fargo starring Edie Falco in Frances McDormand's Academy Award-winning role. I'll keep you updated on both the DIRECTV front and The Horror Channel news.

Sony's The Grudge is the #1 movie for the second week in a row, followed by Universal's Ray. In a not bad-at-all third place is Lions Gate's highly-hyped horror pic Saw which brought in a masterful $17.4 million. Hopefully it can hold its place when Disney and Pixar release the should-be-excellent The Incredibles this weekend. Paramount will counter with the Charles Shyer remake of the 1966 Michael Caine film Alfie.

Here's the slate of upcoming movies for the next two months:

NOVEMBER 5

The Incredibles (Disney) - PIXAR Animation Studios has Brad Bird (The Iron Giant) to tell this tale of a retired superherp family who has to come together once more to save the world.
Website: http://www.theincredibles.com

Alfie - (Paramount) Charles Shyer (The Affair Of The Necklace) returns with this updated version of the 1966 British film starring Michael Caine. Alfie is a womanizer who may be at the end of his ways when one of his many girlfriends turns up pregnant. The 2004 version uses a New York setting instead of London, but still with a British actor.
Website: http://www.alfiemovie.com

NOVEMBER 10

The Polar Express (Warner Bros.) - Robert Zemeckis (Back To The Future trilogy) used the same motion-capture CGI computer technique that brought Gollum to life to tell this tale of a magical train bound for The North Pole. Based on the popular children's book by Chris Van Allsburg.
Website: http://polarexpressmovie.warnerbros.com

NOVEMBER 12

After The Sunset (New Line) - Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, and Don Cheadle star in this high-tech caper about jewel thieves and the one diamond that could mean the end of one thief's illustrious career (Brosnan). Directed by Brett Ratner (Red Dragon, Rush Hour).
Website: http://www.afterthesunset.com

Seed Of Chucky (Rogue) - The serial killer doll is back! In this, the fifth installment of the Child's Play series, killer doll parents Chucky and Tiffany discover they have a son and not only must they deal with being a family but with disturbing the production of a movie about their lives. John Waters plays a sleazy paparazzi. Child's Play creator Don Mancini takes the helm as writer/director.
Website: http://www.seed-of-chucky.com

NOVEMBER 19

Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason (Universal) - The diary-keeping Brit has to choose yet again between two suitors (Hugh Grant, Colin Firth). Beebe Kidron directs.
Website: http://www.bridgetjonesmovie.com

National Treasure (Touchstone) - Jon Turtletaub directs this tale of an alleged treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence. One historian (Nicolas Cage) decides he and his crew must get it before a band of outlaws does. So they plan to do the obvious: steal the Declaration of Independence.
Website: http://nationaltreasure.movies.go.com

The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (Paramount) - It's up to Spongebob (voice of Tom Kenny) and his best friend Patrick (voice of Bill Fagerbakke) to save Bikini Bottom from an evil king. Featuring the voices of Alec Baldwin, Jeffrey Tambor, and Scarlett Johansson..oh and a cameo by David Hasselhoff.
Website: http://www.nick.com/all_nick/movies/spongebob/

NOVEMBER 24

Alexander (Warner Bros.) - Oliver Stone directs this historical epic based on the exploits of Alexander The Great, the man who had conquered most of the known world by the age of 25. The film stars Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, and Anthony Hopkins. Music by Academy Award-winning composer Vangelis (Chariots Of Fire, Blade Runner).
Website: http://www.alexanderthemovie.com

Christmas With The Kranks (Sony) - Based on the John Grisham novel Skipping Christmas, The Kranks (Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis) are always the beacons of Christmas cheer. They decided to skip the Christmas decorations one year and plan their own trip away when their daughter decides to jet to a tropical locale with her boyfriend. But when said daughter changes her mind at the last minute, it's a holiday scramble to put Christmas back on! Sony-based Revolution Studios head Joe Roth takes the director's chair for the first time since 2001's America's Sweethearts (and before that, 1987's Revenge Of The Nerds II: Nerds In Paradise)
Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/christmaswiththekranks

NOVEMBER 26

A Very Long Engagement (Warner Independent) - Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie, The City Of Lost Children, Delicatessen) returns with this sweeping epic from his native France. The story involves a war widow who refuses to belive that her beloved childhood sweetheart is dead and seeks out a mission to either confirm her beliefs or dash them. The film stars Audrey Tautou (Amelie), Dominique Pinon (Amelie), Gaspard Ulliel, and Jodie Foster. Based on the acclaimed French novel by Sebastien Japrisot.
Website: http://wip.warnerbros.com

DECEMBER 3

Closer (Sony) - Mike Nichols directs from Patrick Marber's screenplay (based on his own stage play) about two sets of couples who cheat on each other with the other's lover. From all accounts, a graphic, intimate, and sexually charged emotional drama. If this isn't Oscar bait, what is?
Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/closer

DECEMBER 8

Blade Trinity (New Line) - The scribe for all three Blade films (as well as Dark City and next summer's Caped Crusader reinvention, Batman Begins) is director on this installment, his directorial debut. The plot deals with Blade being set up by the vampire as a deranged serial killer and pursued by the F.B.I.. He also must contend with the vampires resurrecting Dracula and utilize Whistler's daughter, Abigail (Jessica Biel), who's handy with a bow and arrow, and Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds), a tough slayer who used to be a vampire. Parker Posey plays against type (wonderfully, I hear) as the head vampire leading the crusade to resurrect Dracula. Also, comedian Patton Oswalt is in this movie! Yeah!
Website: http://www.bladetrinity.com

DECEMBER 10

Ocean's Twelve (Warner Bros.) - They're all back. This time Danny Ocean and his criminal band must pull several heists in order to pay back enraged casino boss Andy Garcia and prevent him from killing Danny's wife Tess (Julia Roberts), whom he's kidnapped. Catherine Zeta-Jones is the twelfth person, a cop hot on the heels of Danny and his crew. Director Steven Soderbergh (sex, lies, and videotape) returns for the sequel. Twelve is the new eleven.
Website: http://www.oceans12.net

DECEMBER 17

The Aviator (Miramax) - Director Martin Scorsese tells the extraordinary life story of the visionary man who revolutionized aeronautics in the 1940s and how he became a notorious recluse later in life. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Hughes, with co-starring roles by Jude Law as Errol Flynn, Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner, Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, and Gwen Stefani (in her acting debut) as Jean Harlow.
Website: http://theaviatormovie.com

Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events (Paramount) - Daniel Handler's popular series of children's books come to the silver screen directed by Brad Siberling (Casper). In this tale, the mysterious Count Olaf (Jim Carrey) takes in two orphaned children relative to him, Klaus and Violet, he begins to plot to kill them and spend the money left to him by their parents. As the ads say, "On December 17, Christmas cheer takes a holiday." This movie looks wickedly inventive with a somewhat Gothic flair and I cannot wait to see it. Starring Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep, and narrated by Jude Law (as Lemony Snicket)
Website: http://www.unfortunateeventsmovie.com

Spanglish (Sony) - Academy Award-winning director James L. Brooks (As Good As It Gets) directs. Adam Sandler and Tea Leoni star as the parents of a family at their wit's end. A new spice is brought into their life and they begin to remember what it felt like to be a family when they hire a native Mexican woman with her own twelve-year old daughter as their houskeeper. She brings light and love into their home. It looks winning and while that may sound cloying, so be it, I'm there.
Website: http://www.spanglishmovie.com

DECEMBER 22

Meet The Fockers (Universal) - The sequel to 2000's box-office smash Meet The Parents has Robert DeNiro and his wife meeting the laid-back parents of Greg Focker (Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand). Expect big numbers from this one, although it remains to be seen if the laughs are there. I certainly hope so as I had a blast seeing the first one in the theatre and hope this sequel can live up to its predecessor.
Website: http://www.meetthefockers.com

DECEMBER 25

The Dark (Dimension) - This long-delayed horror film, filmed in Spain, stars Thora Birch as the daughter of a family who moves in to a haunted house. I've heard good, I've heard bad...it's been on the shelf for well over two years. There's no website. I hope it's good and I hope it comes out Christmas Day...but I'm not holding out any hopes for this to get released on schedule.
Website: N/A

Fat Albert (20th Century Fox) - The '70s Saturday morning cartoon comes to live as Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids leap out of television and into the living room of a young girl, to help her iron out her life. Starring Kenan Thompson (Good Burger, Nickelodeon's All That and Kenan and Kel, and currently as a cast member on Saturday Night Live).

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (Touchstone) - My most anticipated movie of 2004. Genius writer/director Wes Anderson returns with this story of deep sea diver Steve Zissou and his dysfunctional crew as they attempt to avenge the killing of one of their own by a vicious shark. Wes Anderson has assembled yet another all-star cast: Bill Murray as Zissou, Owen Wilson as his son (and who sat out as screenwriter this time; Noah Baumbac co-wrote the movie with Anderson), Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, and Jeff Goldblum. Henry Selick, the director of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, lends his hand to bring the underwater creatures to life. Bill Murray better get an Oscar for this after his unjust snub for Lost In Translation.
Website: http://www.thelifeaquaticwithstevezissou.com

Well, that's all for now. I'm eating some Domino's right now...Philly Cheesesteak Pizza and most likely will go watch the TiVo-ed Meet The Press and Today in a little bit. Have a creepy Halloween, go see The Grudge, Saw, and I Heart Huckabees (which I'll be seeing this weekend). At work, we received 104 copies of Shrek 2 on DVD! It streets on Friday, November 5th. 104 copies?! What the *fuck* is that? That's just a waste of shelf space! *Sigh* And only *two* of Warner Independent Pictures A Home At The End Of The World?! It never ceases to amaze me!