by Ryan Syrek

• The most esteemed thespian to ever sometimes use a number as a last name, Andre Benjamin (nee Andre 3000), is starring in the Jimi Hendrix biography, All Is By My Side, which will feature zero Jimi Hendrix songs. Because no deal could be reached with those who control the rights to Hendrix’s music, the film will have him playing covers of songs by The Beatles and Muddy Waters among others. This is the equivalent to making a Marcel Marceau biopic without mime, a Jacques Cousteau movie without water or a Carlos Mencia film without stolen jokes.
• Jealous of what its rhyming cable adversary, AMC, has been up to, A&E wants to get in on the ongoing horror series game. So they brought in “Lost” producer Carlton Cuse to head up “Bates Motel,” a show that will examine Norman Bates’ childhood when the shower-murdering of Psycho was but a glimmer in a troubled adolescent’s eye. A&E is so confident in this pitch, they aren’t even shooting a pilot; they are taking the show straight to full production. This is great news for everyone who watched Hitchcock’s masterpiece and thought “I bet Norman was so much fun growing up.”
• The definition of what constitutes a spoiler has become a personal, nearly religious opinion, with some heathens absorbing all information without hesitation and others flinching when someone merely says the name of the film. But I think we can all agree that when a ticket taker in Seattle told someone going to see Prometheus “I have to warn you… Halfway through the movie, the main female character will perform a self-induced abortion,” it was over the line. Nevermind that said “abortion” was the removal of a squid-like alien parasite; nevermind that a “teenage ticket taker” is literally the last person capable of providing a valuable opinion. What I want to know is, if he’s so interested in his customer’s safety, did he chain himself to the entrance of That’s My Boy to prevent entry?

Cutting Room provides breaking local and national movie news … complete with added sarcasm. Send any relevant information to film@thereader.com. Check out Ryan on Movieha!, a weekly half-hour movie podcast (movieha.libsyn.com/rss), catch him on the radio on CD 105.9 (cd1059.com) on Fridays at around 7:30 a.m. and on KVNO 90.7 (KVNO.org) at 8:30 a.m. on Fridays and follow him on Twitter (twitter.com/thereaderfilm).

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