"The Hitcher" redux; wild "Superman" news

I'm almost embarrassed to admit how much I love "The Hitcher," but why should I be? It's a great B-movie, Rutger Hauer was just plain scary and seeing poor Jennifer Jason Leigh stretched out like that in a twisted take on the rack is a singular vision that gets instantly burned on the brain.

But why would you bother to remake it? Well, given what sells nowadays, it actually makes a lot of sense. My increasingly old-fogey perspective on the world leads me to instantly dismiss gross-out fare like "The Hostel" or "Final Destination," which were huge hits.

Then a person I trust about movies said something eloquent to me about "Wolf Creek"; something along the lines of "Dude, you've got to watch this." And I did, and it is great. It starts with a true story, takes on all the edge of "The Hitcher" and then just goes into darker places than I was ready for. But it is a fantastic addition/tribute to the B-movie canon.

So, in this environment, why not remake the hitcher? Rutger Hauer's role will be taken over by Sean Bean, who at least has the look down right. Our young damsel in distress will be played by Sophia Bush, who apparently stars on the WB's "One Tree Hill." For those of you who, like me, pretend to be above watching TV shows aimed at teenagers, I've included a photo of her.

No word yet on what new ways they will come up with for Bean to torture her, but it could be really fun. No word yet either on who will play her young companion, who the hitcher tries to frame for all his murders, but I'm sure it will be another member of the WB stable.

Production is set to begin this month in Austin, Texas, and Santa Fe, N.M., with "veteran music video director" Dave Meyers as the director. Not the best of credentials, perhaps, but remember they used to also apply to Spike Jonez and Michel Gondry too.

Keep your eyes on this one.


"Superman Returns" in 3D?

Being the uber-geeks they are, the folks at aintitcool.com have been doing a great job keeping on top of news and rumors about "Superman Returns," which will be known from here on as "Singer's revenge."

If this word sent in from one of their henchmen (why can't I have henchmen?) is true, it's gonna be really, really cool.

A dude who claims to be an Imax projectionist sent in word that four sequences of the movie equalling about 20 minutes will be in Imax 3D.

Your visual cue to put on your 3-D glasses, which will be needed, is apparently Clark taking off his glasses and turning into the Man of Steel. I'm in geek-overload area here, so forgive me if I start to gush or misspell words.

This just sounds like the coolest thing in years, but I had one question (if you know the answer, and care to share it with me, please be kind in doing so if this turns out to be a stupid question.) If only portions of the movie are in Imax, and you have to put on glasses to see them, does that mean you have to see the movie in an Imax theater to enjoy them? We don't have one of those in my little corner of the world, but I'll gladly drive an hour up the road to Atlanta to enjoy this goodness. If any of you are more technically proficient than me, let me know please.

Anyways, couple this with the fact it's been pushed up to Wednesday, June 28, and it's all good. I haven't been to a midnight screening since "King Kong," but I'll be there if we have one that Tuesday night/Wednesday morning in Macon. See ya there!