Movie Fever!!! or "I have a fever, and the only prescription is more great movies"

This fall/winter is going to be great, maybe on par with 1999 (being john malkovich, american beauty, three kings, fight club).

First, the movie I'm most excited about is "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou", Wes Anderson's latest, which won't come out until December. He has a different writing partner this time, and when I first heard about the basic plot, I thought it might be a major departure for him. However, upon viewing the trailer, I was glad to find that it looks and feels like a Wes Anderson film. I've vowed not to watch the trailer again until I see the movie, because there a bunch of hilarious scenes I'm trying not to spoil. Maybe you shouldn't watch it either.

Also, after five long years, "Three Kings" director David O. Russell finally has a new film coming out in October, called "I Heart Huckabees" (Heart is actually the little drawing of a heart, not the actually word, as in "I heart NY"). I haven't watched the trailer yet, but you can find it, along with a plot synopsis, on this page. Existentialist detectives? Department Stores? Jason Schwartzman? Sounds weird for sure. Before "3 Kings", Russell basically dealt in wacky comedy, and in "Flirting with Disaster" pretty much invented the Ben Stiller neurotic-guy persona we've seen a billion times since then.

Plus, new movies from David Gordon Greene (director of "All the Real Girls") and Alexander Payne ("Election") this fall. And for home viewing, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" comes out on DVD in September.

Until then, the balcony is closed.