Does Chris Tucker have any other friends?

Since he only seems to make movies with Brett Ratner, I'd say it's a fair question. I mean, isn't that kind of like one day tasting a fried bologna sandwich and then declaring you're gonna eat nothing else for the rest of your life?

But I already digress a bit from the rather depressing point here. Not content to simply crank out more excremental but harmless "Rush Hour" movies, Brett Ratner has somehow now gotten his hands on the rights to "Mr. S: My Life With Frank Sinatra," and is of course looking no further than his best buddy Mr. Tucker for the lead role (not Sinatra, of course, but that would at least make this more interesting.)

The book was co-written by George Jacobs, who served as Sinatra's valet from 1953-1968 (and will be played by Tucker), and therefore surely got to see some pretty damn cool and seedy stuff along the way. Now that we're not getting about one a month, my taste for music biopics is starting to come back (and I would start lining up now if Spike Lee finally got around to telling the story of James Brown), and this has the potential to indeed be a grand story. I don't see, however, how it could possibly be in any worse hands.

Now, I realize that Brett Ratner is an easy target, but I assure you my hatred is genuine and seething after what he did with "X-3." If he takes the same approach to Sinatra's life, just grabbing about 50 possible story lines and exploring each one for 30 seconds or so, it will be even worse than I'm imagining it could be.

And I once used to have a lot of time for Chris Tucker. He was extremely funny as Beaumont in "Jackie Brown" and more than trippy enough to fit in "The Fifth Element," and there are few movies I enjoy more when my brain is depleted from a long day of work than the original "Friday." But it's been a long time since 1997 (10 years or so, I suppose), and since then his mouth has just seemed to move much faster than anyone can write him good jokes to put in it.

Of this duo I certainly have more love for him than I do Brett Ratner. I just wish he could find a better crowd to run with.

This just in: "Aliens in America" doesn't suck

One of the few remaining perqs of working at a newspaper is that I from time to time get to see previews of the fall TV shows. Or, to put it more accurately, Macon's TV Guy Phillip Ramati takes the time to request them and then is kind enough to share.

ABC has been stingy and therefore hasn't sent over any episodes of "Pushing Daisies" or anything else, but the CW has been much more forthcoming. Last night I watched the first two episodes of "Aliens In America," and on the menu soon will be the pilot episode of "Gossip Girl" (for which I concede I'm way too old to even consider myself anywhere near the target audience.)

As for "Aliens in America," it leans too much toward sweetness and away from genuine political incorrectness for my taste, but it still has promise. The premise: A Wisconsin family orders an exchange student so their friendless son will have one, but instead of the Londoner they're expecting they get a Pakistani dude named Raja.

Raja's introduction to his new high school is very funny, and he quickly develops a pack of geeks who could be developed into an entertaing brood. I genuinely like shows set in high school because when you trap that many kids in one place it always at least has the potential for great comedy. However, unlike the superior show that will precede it Monday nights starting in October, "Everybody Hates Chris," it too often in the first two episodes took its hands off the dagger when sticking it in would have struck comic gold. (And Scott Patterson, late of "Gilmore Girls," pretty much plays the father figure as penny-pinching miser, basically the white equivalent of the more funny Terry Crews on "Chris."

But, for all my complaints, this is a sitcom that mixes heart with some genuine laughs, and in this rather bleak season that's enough to make me tune in for at least a few more episodes.

Web banners for "No Country for Old Men"

Though I've bumped this Coen brothers' flick to No. 3 on my must-see list behind "Juno" and "American Gangster" for the rest of the year, there are at least 10 which are pretty much tied at the top (starting with Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises," which I'll be seeing before work tomorrow morning - what a way to start the day!)

I found these Web-only banners for "No Country for Old Men" on Anne Thompson's Variety magazine blog, and of course promptly swiped them to post here. As she correctly points out, they do indeed steal more than a bit of inspiration from the "3:10 to Yuma" poster, but they're still menacing enough for me. Enjoy, and have an entirely bearable Thursday.

The Korean Godzilla attacks Macon!

Though I certainly respect and, when I can, support the Macon Film Guild's efforts to bring truly obscure movies to Macon, I never thought they'd get around to anything this much fun.

This Sunday at the Douglass Theatre they're showing "Gwoemul," better known in the U.S.A. as "The Host," and even more informally known as "The Korean Godzilla." Well, having seen this flick, I can tell you that while it's not quite as fun as the Godzilla flicks, it's pretty darn close, and well worth checking out on the Douglass screen.

The plot revolves around a fairly old dude who owns a snack bar on the banks of the Han River in Seoul. Everything seems to be going fairly well for he and his ragtag family until, very early on of course, a giant creature emerges from the depths of the river and abducts his daughter. From there on out it plays out predictably enough, but with lots of humor and just enough fright for me. I can't recommend this one highly enough.

The Douglass screenings are this Sunday at 2, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m., as always introduced by Camp Bacon and with a discussion following the 4:30 showing. I'll be at the early show, and I hope many Maconites will join me there.

Besides, what else is there to watch this weekend?

Rush Hour 3: No way in hell. Am I the only one who's wondering if Roman Polanski made some kind of karmic deal by which he's paying for all his past sins by agreeing to be pummeled by Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in the latest installment of threequel summer?

Daddy Day Camp: Good Lord. In the trailer alone, the poor white dude who has to be Cuba Gooding Jr.'s sidekick gets covered in feces at least three different ways. It would be hard to call me an elitist, but I just can't see any possibly way I could watch that.

Stardust: Though I'm only mildly excited at best, I might give this a chance. It looks like a paint-by-numbers fantasy though, so I might wait for DVD.

Skinwalkers: I have no idea what this is, but judging from the title, I'd have to guess it's fairly generic horror aimed at folks more than slightly younger than me. If I'm somehow wrong about this, please let me know.

Rescue Dawn: Absolutely. Even if its Werner Herzog remaking one of his own documentaries ("Little Dieter Needs to Fly"), it's still a Herzog flick, and most likely a damn fine one at that. Christian Bale plays Dieter Dengler, a fighter pilot who gets shot down over Laos on his first flight mission in the Vietnam War and captured. From there on out, it apparently plays out as if "Rambo" were directed by Terrence Malick, so I'm definitely in. This one is only showing at the Regal Rivergate 14 in Macon, so please go see it there!

"Be Kind Rewind" preview

This does look awfully silly for the great Michel Gondry, but it should still be tons of fun.

For anyone who doesn't know, the flick, finally set to come out in January (I think), stars Jack Black and Mos Def (huzzah!) as employees of a video store (not DVD, of course) where all the tapes get erased due to their location next to a power plant. Our heroes, of course, set out to re-create all the erased movies and, according to the rather rough Comic-Con footage here, become quite the hit.

My favorite bits have to be Mos' declaration of "You're magnetized!" and Black's explanation of why they have no need to heed the FBI warning at the beginning of each tape, but even in these scant two-and-a-half minutes or so there are plenty of other things to like.



New Jason Isbell album

I picked up the solo debut from this former Drive-By Trucker last night, and while i'm still digesting it, there's a lot of strong stuff on "Sirens of the Ditch."

DBT fans be warned - this album never really rocks like the Truckers do, even though all of them except Mike Cooley (what the hell's up with that?) made significant contributions to this record. It's really a pop album with Isbell's still-developing songwriting touches, and really starts to pick up in the middle with the war gem "Dress Blues" through the bluesy "Hurricanes and Hand Grenades."

It was a dark day indeed when Mr. Isbell quit the Truckers, but they seem to have recovered fairly quickly, adding pedal-steel man John Neff (who I had the pleasure of meeting way back when he ran with Red River Dave and the Star Room Boys) as a permanent member and even recruiting Southern legend Spooner Oldham for their current tour (which, unfortunately, won't be coming to Macon.) We will, however, be getting a solo shot from Mr. Isbell at the Hummingbird Stage and Taproom Sept. 2, so definitely check that out.

And here is a great clip of Jason and the Truckers performing "Dress Blues" live at Stubbs in Texas. It's one of the best war songs I've heard in many, many years, so enjoy, and have an entirely suck-free Wednesday. Peace out.