When I heard that Lindsay Lohan had an upcoming movie on ABC Family, something just didn’t click with that news. I mean, let’s face it. The girl hasn’t exactly been the stuff of family viewing in recent years. But who knows, maybe she’s doing a reboot and getting back on track.

Then again, since ABC Family started airing shows like "Secret Life of the American Teenager," maybe they’re more geared towards pregnancy stories. The IMDB Page for "Labor Pains" lists it as PG-13 for sexual content and language, and notes that it will be on DVD Aug. 4, 2009.  

"Labor Pains," will air on ABC Family on Sunday, July 19, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Lohan stars as Thea, an assistant at a publishing company who pretends to be pregnant so her boss won’t fire her. Her friend and co-worker, Lisa (Cheryl Hines), helps with the ruse, but as you might imagine, things don’t go as planned.

The movie also stars Janeane Garofalo, Chris Parnell, and Bonnie Sommerville. Watch the trailer and see more stills after the jump!

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It’s been a while since I’ve seen “An American Werewolf in London,” but I’ll have to revisit it, because a remake is in the works.

Released in 1981, the funky-cult-comedy John Landis film starred David Naughton and Griffin Dunne as two American backpackers hiking in the Yorkshire moors attacked by a mysterious animal that turns out to be a werewolf. Naughton ends up terrorizing London, and Dunne’s re-animated corpse offers ways Naughton can off himself to break the curse. It’s loads of fun! (It really is.)

Dimension Films has picked up the rights and hopes to keep the fun elements of the original but kick it up for modern moviegoers.

No writer or director has signed yet, but Dimension is making quite the little name for itself; it’s releasing Rob Zombie’s “Halloween II” in August, and also developing a remake of “Hellraiser.”

Image: Amazon.com; Source: Bloody-Disgusting.com

There’s no denying that "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" may be short on plot, but high on special effects action — which makes it the perfect movie for IMAX theaters. Read my review here.

The sequel from Paramount raked in an estimated five-day gross of $14.4 million on 169 IMAX screens, the largest haul ever for the big screens.

Directed by Michael Bay and starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox (though the real stars are the giant robots), the action flick earned a per screen average of $85K plus between June 24 –28, 2009.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Transformers" also gave IMAX its biggest single-day domestic gross of $3.9 million, and its biggest international gross for a digitally remastered IMAX title at $770,000 on Saturday.

Did you see "Transformers" at an IMAX theater? Did you like it?

Image: © 2009 DW Studios L.L.C. and Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

The sudden death of Michael Jackson has left filmmakers scrambling to tweak or delete any scenes involving the pop star. Such was the case with "Bruno," where a Jackson-related sketch ended up getting cut just hours before the Los Angeles premiere.

After much discussion, Universal Pictures removed a scene from the movie where Bruno, the flamboyant Austrian journalist played by Sacha Baron Cohen, interviews an unsuspecting Latoya Jackson about several topics, including her brother.

The sketch included jokes about Jackson’s high-pitched voice and his trademark white glove.

I mean, basically, the movie is really over-the-top anyway, so had Jackson not died, the scene probably wouldn’t have been that outrageous. But I’m glad they took it out, because that would have been in really poor taste.

Any thoughts on this? Should filmmakers cut inappropriate Michael Jackson scenes from upcoming movies?

Image Credits: © Universal Studios; Bauer-Griffin

A movie about Facebook sounds like a really cool project. It will be entertaining to learn how the social networking site started and grew to such a huge thing.

Last August, I posted about how Aaron Sorkin and producer Scott Rudin were developing the project. Now we know a little more about it.

Specifically, it’s a drama surrounding Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his roommates when they created the cyber-phenom in their Harvard University dorm.

Now David Fincher (pictured) is in early talks to direct the movie. He’s probably be a good choice, coming off last year’s hit "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." He also directed one of my favorite movies from 2007, "Zodiac," and has six projects in the works, including "The Killer" and "Black Hole."

Mike DeLuca and Kevin Spacey are also onboard as producers. The script, of course, is a closely guarded secret.

Are you psyched about a Facebook movie? 

Image: Newscom; Source: Entertainment Weekly

I bet Steven Soderbergh had a HECK  of a weekend. It must be crazy nerve-wracking to have a studio balk at a movie project just days away from the start of filming.

That’s what happened with “Moneyball” a baseball drama being directed by Soderbergh and starring Brad Pitt (pictured, at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in May 2009).

The cast and crew were prepped to start shooting this week, but Columbia pulled the plug; co-chair Amy Pascal says she wasn’t comfortable with the script, which has changed a lot since the project was greenlit.

You have to wonder just what major changes were made to the script that Columbia would shut it down. The screenplay, adapted from Michael Lewis’ nonfiction book, follows the Oakland Athletics and their general manager Billy Beane, who assembled a contending ballclub despite a payroll much lower than most teams.

Pitt and comedian Demetri Martin had been cast, with other roles going to actual baseball players David Justice, Darryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra and others. 

So what will happen now? Over the weekend, Soderbergh shopped the project to Warner Bros. and Paramount. If neither bites, it could go back to Columbia with some major overhauls.

Image: INF

Master of the documentary Michael Moore has another one due out Oct. 2, 2009.

It doesn’t have a title yet, but distributors Overture and Paramount Vantage said it’s about the collapse of the world economy. I’m sure Moore will sink his teeth into that one!

The film will delve into the "root causes of the economic meltdown," as well as the "corporate and political shenanigans" that resulted in the financial crisis.

In a statement, Moore said, "The wealthy, at some point, decided they didn’t have enough wealth. So they systematically set out to fleece the American people."

Moore’s most recent doc was 2007’s "Sicko," an expose on health care. Any Michael Moore fans out there? Whatever is in his films, I appreciate the effort he’s put into founding and maintaining the Traverse City Film Festival (my home town!).

Image: INF

I suppose YouTube is feeling the heat from Hulu, because they announced today that they’ll be streaming full-length movies and TV shows. The only thing surprising about this is that it’s taken so long to come about.

According to a Hollywood Reporter story, the movies and shows will be streamed on a separate section of YouTube, and include titles from Sony and Lionsgate, as well as TV networks and independent studios.

YouTube has already made deals with MGM (for TV shows and full-length films) and Disney (excerpts from ABC and ESPN shows). Titles include the James Bond flick "Casino Royale," CBS’ new mystery series "Harper’s Island," Morgan Spurlock’s "Super Size Me," and Richard Linklater’s "Slacker."

This is pretty cool, and I can’t really think of a downside. Of course, I’ll always see movies in theaters, because I just love the experience of it. The popcorn, the dark theater, a great movie on a big screen … nothing compares with all that.

But I can see how sites like Hulu and YouTube are a great place to catch up on TV shows and films I missed in the theater.

What about you? Do you watch movies and TV shows on these sites?

Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. 

Well, this news isn’t good. I just read in Variety that DreamWorks Animation’s net income fell 45% last quarter to $52 million, from $94 million the year before.

Even though sales of “Kung Fu Panda” DVDs generated $102 million during the quarter, revenue still fell 31% to about $200 million, down from $290 million.

Hmmm, this is a little different report than I posted earlier this month. I don’t know about you, but I’ll be one sad puppy if this company, which helmed films like “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” “Over the Hedge,” and “Flushed Away” takes a dive.

CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said in a statement that he thinks 2009 will be driven by more “Madagascar,” as well as “Monsters vs. Aliens,” the company’s first 3D release which opens in theaters March 27, 2009.

“We believe that Monsters vs. Aliens will reset the bar for what moviegoers should expect from a CG animated film,” Katzenberg said.

I hope so. I’m pulling for you, DreamWorks!

Image: Paramount/DreamWorks Animation

It’s official. Steven Spielberg and his partners at DreamWorks Studios have agreed to a distribution deal with Disney: Walt Disney Studios will market six DreamWorks live-action movies a year.

It makes you wonder what goes on behind the scenes, because DreamWorks has sort of been all over the place since it was formed by Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg (former CEO at Disney), and David Geffen in 1994.

Several years later, DreamWorks hooked up with Paramount Pictures and released several smash-hit films, including 2007’s Transformers. But there must have been some feuding going on, because they split up, and  DreamWorks hooked up with Universal.

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