In Thursday's round up of news briefs, News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch made it official that his media empire will be divided into two companies. Also this morning, skateboarding doc Waiting for Lightning headed for distribution, The Amazing Spider-Man gets a big release in one giant Asian country and the Men In Black brand readies for transformation.
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I’m a sucker for a good time-travel story. I’m also a sucker for a mediocre time-travel story with a stylish veneer or a sense of humor, so I found myself surprisingly captivated by the latest, belated Men in Black sequel. It doesn’t really work, but it does make for a more interesting story than the tedious Exploits with Alien Goo that I remember from the first two Men in Black films. Fortunately, it looks like there might be even better time-travel movies on the horizon. I have high hopes for Looper, which looks somewhat Twelve Monkeys in its mood and time-travel philosophy, and Sundance favorite Safety Not Guaranteed appears to be taking the indie, Dana Scully approach to the conceit. For these and other future efforts, I’m offering four ingredients for a successful time-travel story.
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As if you didn't already have enough reason to be afraid of the coming megabudgeted cash-in that is Men in Black 3, here comes the sequel's poppy theme song, courtesy of rapper Pitbull and not franchise star/Fresh Prince Will Smith. Oh, it gets worse: "My 19-year-old daughter turned me on to Pitbull," explained director Barry Sonnenfeld (via NME). "I'm thrilled that he wrote such a great song for our movie that totally gets it." If this monstrosity "totally gets it," we're all screwed. Hit the jump to listen and find out why.
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Sony's got quite the job ahead of them selling the mega-budgeted sequel Men in Black III, due in May, if the new trailer is any indication: See Will Smith drop lines like "I don't have no problem pimp-slapping the shiznit outta Andy Warhol" and be transported to a futuristic time-traveling retro '60s that looks and sounds a lot like the one Austin Powers came from. I guess the '90s are the new '80s, but this is just lazy.
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