Yes, I’m going there.

I’ve got the ’90s on the brain after spending the day doing a project on 1992, and found some information about this upcoming series via one of the reasons my brain is filled with useless knowledge, Wikipedia. I’ll be using that source for most of this post, as it seems to have more information than the show’s official CW site.

The moment I heard news of “the new 90210″ (very creatively & originally titled 90210 ), I disagreed with the whole idea of it completely.

Now that we’ve learned more about it, I’ve got mixed feelings; former cast members are coming back (so far Jennie Garth and Tori Selling have confirmed, and there are rumors that Ian Zering, Jason Priestly, and even Luke Perry and Shannen Doherty [according to the show's WIkipedia site] are all expressing interest in coming back to the good old zip code in some way).

So far, there seems to be an updated, fresh version of the show that I was way too young to be watching when I would stay up ‘late’ on Wednesday nights with my mom. That, and just having a new show to watch is enough to get me excited.

So, they’re calling it a spin-off, but already I’ve managed to match up each new character with one of the original ’90s cast.

Going down the line:

Annie & Dixon Mills —> Brandon & Brenda Walsh

Annie Mills: An aspiring actress, who wants to fit in with the cool crowd.

Dixon Mills:Adopted son of Harry and Debbie Mills. A smart bad boy with behavioral issues.

I’m not sure which is which yet, but they’re the brother and sister whose focus the show is on, for the most part. Brenda was an aspiring actress, but there may be no connection there. The adoption factor will also throw in some interesting plot lines, I’m sure.

Daphne “Silver” Silver —> David Silver

Described as a “wannabe socialite with her own Youtube series”. She becomes Annie’s friend and grows a crush on her brother Dixon. Her Youtube series is called “Answers to Life’s Inane Questions Answered by a 15 year-old in a Bikini”.

They kind of gave away this one with the name, but also the similarity of a series; as I recall, David Silver manned the radio station in high school and parts of college.

Ethan Ward —> Steve Sanders

Described as a “likeable jock” that falls out of the popular group and befriends the 90210 crew.

I suppose Steve’s character was likeable, and he was definitely a jock. He was also the ex of Kelly Taylor at the start of the series.

Naomi Bennett —> Kelly Taylor

A spoiled and attractive rich kid and Ethan’s ex-girlfriend; she will appear to be a brat at first but will have more layers as the show goes on. Will have some attraction towards Ryan Eggolds character.

Naomi’s description pretty much describes what happened to Kelly Taylor’s character as the years went on. She went from the typical California spoiled rich girl to a better person. it will be interesting to see exactly how Naomi makes this transition.

Navid Shirazi —> Andrea Zuckermann

The high school’s politico who runs the daily newscast. His character is supposed to be of Persian descent. He does not drink alcohol because he is a Scientologist.

Andrea ran the newspaper, he’ll run the newscast; simple enough. Also, Andrea was Jewish, and so far Navid, like Andrea, is the only character that has a strong cultural/religious influence.

Ryan Matthews —> Nat (Owner of The Peach Pit)

“A cool English lit teacher at West Beverly High whose unorthodox teaching style puts him at odds with his fellow teachers and sometimes too close with his students”.

This guy seems to be Nat with a twist, but assuming this show makes it to “the college years,” will his character still be around, or even relevant? We’ll see.

The parents and grandma will also add the “new” factor to this spin-off.

My only other concern is that there doesn’t seem to be any match-up to my favorite male character Dylan Mckay, or a Donna Martin one. Maybe they’ll be combined into the other characters; the Dylan/Brenda relationship resembles the “crush” mentioned on Dixon from Silver. The introduction of new characters is possible as well, but until then, this is how it stands.

90210 premieres September 2, 2008 on the CW network.

A preview, information, and an interview with the cast by People Magazine can be seen here.

The end of season four came too quickly for me; the influence of the WGA Strike really interrupted the flow of the show. There are a lot of things us fans didn’t get to see, like the always memorable Christmas and Valentine’s Day themed episodes.

I also got the feeling that the writers had some type of story arc set up for Jim Halpert, but they were unable to go through with it because of the strike.

In many of the pre-strike season four episodes, a lot of similarities (coincidental or not) between Jim and his boss Michael Scott were brought forth. If you know anything about Michael Scott, this is something that no character on this show would want for themselves if they weren’t fictional.

Now, onto the finale.

In terms of watching episodes, this was the first one in a while that had me truly hanging on every scene, waiting to see what insanity would happen next.

In the episode, titled “Goodbye, Toby” Michael Scott is celebrating the departure of his least favorite person in the world, Human Resources Representative Toby Flenderson to Costa Rica. Amy Ryan guest stars as Holly, the replacement for Toby and the newest object of Michael’s affections after she too shares her dislike for Toby after just meeting him.

The episode also involves a YouTube video and a proposal or two. I won’t go into anymore detail, as to remain spoiler free and not be ranting/gushing about this episode, but it was a great way to end the season on pretty much every level.

Alas, the end of the season means no more episodes until September, which pretty much means when I say “I can’t wait for The Office season premiere,” I’m really saying “I can’t wait until school starts.”

Luckily, us fans will get the “B” cast of the show (those characters who aren’t played by Steve Carrell, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Rainn Wilson, and B.J. Novak) will be taking part in another round of “The Accountants” webisodes on NBC.com.

Watch the episode “Goodbye, Toby” here

Last summer also brought sequels to some of the biggest series out there; Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

That’s a lot to live up to. So what’s in store for this summer’s movies?

There’s already been the latest sequel in the Narnia series The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and Iron Man, but there’s plenty more movies where that came from.

Here’s a rundown of a few of this summer’s potential hits.

First up:

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan

Release Date: June 6, 2008

Zohan, an Israeli commando, fakes his own death in order to pursue his dream: becoming a hairstylist in New York.

This film, starring Adam Sandler as Zohan, is bound to stir up some sort of controversy as his last summer hit, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry did. I’m sure Zohan’s subject matter

It’s also bound to do well at the box office; the film was written by Sandler, Robert Smigel (sometimes known as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), and Judd Aptow. Aptow has had a pretty good year for himself, directing, writing, or producing a number of the year’s successful films (Knocked Up, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall).

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Release Date: May 22, 2008

Famed archaeologist/adventurer Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones is called back into action when he becomes entangled in a Soviet plot to uncover the secret behind mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls.

I’ve never been a fan of this series, but sometimes you can just tell when a film is going to be a hit.

Crowds will be drawn in, as old fans of the first films and new fans of either the series or the cast will most likely see it.

This movie’s been getting a lot of hype since it’s creation was announced.

Shia LaBeouf, who I’ll always know as Louis Stevens from Disney Channel’s Even Stevens, has also gotten a lot of hype after his success last year in Transformers and Disturbia.

Get Smart

Release Date: June 20, 2008

Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 for CONTROL, battles the forces of KAOS with the more-competent Agent 99 at his side.

Steve Carell can get me to a movie theater any day. Get Smart also features Anne Hathaway, Alan Arkin, Bill Murray, and Dwayne Johnson (aka “The Rock; he’s always interesting to watch in films as well).

The film is based on the television show from the 1960′s, so I hope it won’t have the problem that I think Speed Racer had with people being unfamiliar with it. People might not want to see this because it’s yet another remake, but the trailer of the film I’ve seen in theaters twice now seems to deliver.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

Release Date: July 25, 2008

? ? ?

Growing up with The X-Files being such a huge hit, I can’t help but be curious about this film.

My curiosity peaked when I went to find a plot synopsis; there is none. Well, not yet anyway. It’s being kept a secret, which is no real surprise to me. According to Yahoo! Movies:

“This much can be revealed: It is a stand-alone story in the tradition of some of the show’s most acclaimed and beloved episodes, and takes the complicated relationship between Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Anderson) in unexpected directions. Mulder continues his unshakable quest for the truth, and Scully, the passionate, ferociously intelligent physician, remains inextricably tied to Mulder’s pursuits.”

I have high expectations for this film, so we’ll see how it does when the time comes.

And finally:

The Dark Knight

Release Date: July 18, 2008

Batman and James Gordon join forces with Gotham’s new District Attorney, Harvey Dent, to take on a psychotic bank robber known as The Joker, whilst other forces plot against them, and Joker’s crimes grow more and more deadly.

I’ve been excited about this movie since I heard that Heath Ledger was playing the Joker, and when the trailer was released the excitement escalated.

The whole cast in general is something to watch it for. Christian Bale plays Bruce Wayne/Batman, alongside Maggie Gyllenhaal (Rachel Dawes), Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth), Aaron Eckheart (Harvey Dent), and Gary Oldman (James Gordon).

People will be seeing this for a variety of reasons; some may have to do with Heath Ledger’s death, others might actually want to see this film because they’re a fan of Batman Begins.

With every ounce of respect to Heath Ledger, I just hope that this film won’t become a spectacle around his death. I’ve followed the Why So Serious? promotional campaign off and on for a while, and so far they’ve been respectful and haven’t overdone plastering Ledger’s face everywhere.

Then, two days later, I saw online Sunday’s box office results for the weekend; they showed that Speed Racer bombed.

The Entertainment Weekly website was later updated on Monday, stating that Speed Racer had actually made less than what was originally reported.

I decided to talk with my movie-going companion Molly about her experience with the film, because as soon as we left the theater, she gushed about how much she liked it.

When I spoke with her for her opinion again, she said “I really enjoyed the movie. I felt like it was very fast paced and it kept my attention for it’s length.”

According to the Entertainment Weekly source, Speed Racer received a “CinemaScore grade of A- from an audience that was generally evenly divided between people old and young and male and female.”

And specifically, Molly said that she enjoyed Emile Hirsch’s performance as Speed Racer, and the way he portrayed Speed as a heroic character. The other actors in the film (including John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Christina Ricci, and Matthew Fox) were also a high point, as well as the special effects that were prominent throughout it.

So, why did this movie bomb? Was the American public just not interested, or was it actually a bad movie?

We also discussed why we thought the film didn’t do very well; her response was what I thought it would be, saying that the timing of the film’s release was the cause. Iron Man was released the week before, and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian the next, and it was overshadowed by them.

There has also been other films, such as the previous week’s Made of Honor and the other new release, What Happens in Vegas that could have swayed viewers in their direction.

I also took into consideration the audience the film was aimed at. I think that there’s two main demographics: the adults who grew up watching this show, and the kids/teens who have either heard about the show from their parents somehow, or are just generally fans of it.

I’m a member of the latter; I had heard about this cartoon many times before, from watching tv, going online, and even from a Family Guy reference.

Molly is also one of these people; the cartoon was “before her time,” so she is not a fan. When she decided to see the movie, she said “I thought I would be bored and I would regret having gone to the movies,” and was worried that the film was directed toward a younger audience.

There are a number of other reasons possible to explain the box office bomb, like high ticket prices, or people waiting for the film to come out on DVD.

Maybe the main reason, other than the Iron Man takeover, is that there wasn’t enough interest in the film from the right demographics.

They don’t look like vampires, do they? This isn’t exactly the way I pictured these characters to look as I read my newest guilty pleasure, Twilight. It’s the first book in the series of the same name by Stephenie Meyer, whose sequels to Twilight have been on the top of New York Times Bestseller List multiple times.

The book is being made into a movie due out December 12, 2008.

Twilight is the story of Bella Swan, who moves to dark and dreary Forks, Washington to live with her father. A junior in high school, she meets a variety of new people on her first day of school, including the mysterious Edward Cullen. Eventually, in the midst of her discovering that he is a mind-reading vampire with bone-crushing strength, the two fall in love (aww).

I was introduced to this story by a few of my friends, and right as I got into it, casting for the film was announced. This got me even more fascinated with the whole Twilight world, because I was already familiar with the two actors chosen for the main characters of Edward and Bella.

Robert Pattinson (who played Cedric Diggory in the 4th installment of the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) was chosen to play Edward Cullen.

Kristen Stewart was chosen to play Bella Swan, the main character of the story in which the perspective is told. Stewart has been in recent films such as The Messengers, Into the Wild, and Speak.

Both actors were really well-casted for this role. I’ve been a fan of Kristen Stewart since seeing The Messengers, Speak, and a few of her other films, and it seems that she will be able to fill the shoes of Bella Swan’s character.

Robert Pattinson also has some really big shoes to fill; his character Edward Cullen is pretty much described as a god throughout the novel in terms of good looks. He also has to pull off an American accent as Robert Pattinson is from England, and Edward is a pure-blooded American vampire. The acting I’ve seen from him in films other than Harry Potter and the Giblet of Fire has proven that whoever thought of casting him for this part made the right decision.

Coincidentally, Goblet of Fire, Into the Wild, and Speak are all adapted from books. They were all relatively well-received in the movie world, so I hope that Twilight can follow in those steps and will not become number 24 on Entertainment Weekly’s list of 23 Disappointing Movie Adaptations.

Some people have issues when films are transitioned from book to movie. Keeping every character description, every scene, and every single detail that a book holds is impossible to do in a film. A whole book cannot be condensed into a movie and be 100% accurate; it’s just not possible.

It is understandable that some things from the novel will differ from the film version, because a whole book needs to be condensed into a movie, but it will hopefully be a good enough representation of the book that will please fans and those who are just curious about the film.

Here’s to hoping that the vampires in the film look a bit more like this recent, over-photoshopped promotional photo:

The teaser trailer (below) gives a glimpse into the world that director Catherine Hardwicke (of Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown fame) has created for Twilight.

Despite some cheesy lines (“She’s not one of us”), I’m thinking the number 24 spot can be reserved for some other adaptation.

Adam Sandler plays Charlie Fineman, a man who lost his wife and three daughters in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He lives alone in the home he once shared with his family, using his iPod and video games to stimulate his mind and keep the memories of his late family out of his head.

Sandler’s performance in the film is a far reach from his more familiar goofy guy roles. There are light touches of comedy throughout the movie, which put him into that familiar place. The chemistry between Sandler and Cheadle makes their developing friendship believable. I was surprised that I didn’t hear very much about their performances when this film was originally released in theaters. When I think of Adam Sandler, I don’t think of him in a role such as this, but he was really able to pull it off. I have respected Don Cheadle since Hotel Rwanda, so I had no problems watching him fit into this role.

Something I was really concerned with when I heard about this film was the fact that 9/11 was being used as a plot device. I’m pleased to say that 9/11 wasn’t thrown in my face throughout the film; they only seemed to mention the attack a few times, when it was necessary. Instead, the story focuses on the struggles that Charlie Fineman is going through and how Alan Johnson tries to get him help, as well as the good and bad influences they have on each other’s lives.

The film’s title, “Reign Over Me” is a reference to a song by The Who called “Love, Reign o’er Me.” The song is featured in the movie as one of the songs Charlie Fineman uses to alleviate the pain that comes when he remembers his family. It is only used towards the end of the film. The song can be heard here.

Overall, I enjoyed this film, although there were times when I wondered, “When is this going to end?” It seemed to drag on at times That issue, as well as some cliché and unexpected moments (yes, both) that appear in the film take away from it.

I give Reign Over Me 3.5/5 stars.