ZDONK

COMEDY DEATH RAY + CDR SCKETCH
TUE, MAY 26 // 8:30PM + 11PM // $5 // UCB Theatre // 5919 Franklin
CDR: Sarah Silverman, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Marc Maron, Nick Kroll, Josh Fadem, Hosted by Brett Gelman
CDR Sketch (11PM): Nick Kroll, John Reynolds, Anne Rieman, more!

I HEAR JON DALY’S PRETTY GREAT! + GARFUNKEL & OATS!
WED, MAY 27 // 8:00PM // $5 // UCB Theatre // 5919 Franklin

JOSH FADEM PERFORMS COMEDY!
WED, MAY 27 // 8:00PM // $Free // Comedy Central Stage // 6539 Santa Monica Blvd

COLLEGEHUMOR.COM PRESENTS: COMEDYJUICE!
WED, MAY 27 // 10:00PM // $15 // Hollywood Improv // 8162 Melrose Avenue
Dave Attell, Dax Shepard, Ben Gleib, Dan Levy, Whitney Cummings, more!

NICK KROLL DOES COMEDY WITH FABRICE FABRICE & MORE!
THU, MAY 28 // 9:30 // $5 // UCB Theatre // 5919 Franklin

SOUNDTRACK IMPROV: An entirely improvised show to music on YOUR iPod!
FRI, MAY 29 // 9:30 // $8 // UCB Theatre // 5919 Franklin
Scot Armstrong, Jon Daly, Brian Huskey, Jason Mantzoukas, Billy Merritt, Jessica St. Clair, more! and DJ Eric Appel!

FISHIN’ WITH CHARLYNE YI!
SAT, MAY 30 // 8:00PM // $10 // Steve Allen Theater // 4773 Hollywood Blvd

PATTON OSWALT, GREG BEHRENDT, JASON NASH & OTHER SPECIAL PEOPLE!
SAT, MAY 30 // 9:00PM // $25 // Largo at the Coronet // 366 N. La Cienega Blvd.

Going forward, we hope to post Comedy Shows in the LA area on a weekly basis. These shows come by suggestion from Mike Rosenstein, whom you will more than likely see should you decide to attend:

COMEDY DEATH RAY + CDR SCKETCH
TUE, MAY 12 // 8:30PM // $5 // UCB Theatre // 5919 Franklin
8:30 PM - CDR: Dax Shepard, Andy Kindler, Matt Besser, more!
11:00PM - CDR Sketch: Brett Gelman, more!

GARFUNKEL & OATS + JON DALY
WED, MAY 13 // 8:00PM // $5 // UCB Theatre // 5919 Franklin
8:00PM - Garfunkel & Oates + I Hear Jon Daly’s Pretty Great

FACEBOOK IMPROV
WED, MAY 13 // 9:30 // $5 // UCB Theatre // 5919 Franklin
9:30PM - Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel, Seth Morris Owen Burke, Chad Carter

SETH & ED’S PUPPET SHOW
SAT, MAY 16 //10:00PM // $5 // UCB Theatre // 5919 Franklin
10PM - Ed Helms and Seth Morris, special guests!

The past decade has been huge for remakes of classic films, or in this case, rebooting franchises. It is definitely a very tough task to accomplish, mainly because it is virtually impossible to please everyone. You have the original classic lovers, the younger audience who could not care less about an “old” version, and a lot of people in the middle who maybe never even heard of it. 

It is not easy to accomplish what Chris Nolan did with the Batman franchise, and I give also a lot of credit to Warner Brothers for taking the risk. I also give well deserved credit to Paramount for believing in J.J. Abrams to reboot Star Trek and accomplish what no other Star Trek film had been able to do: become a massive hit beyond the fan base. 

We can easily say that this will be the biggest Star Trek movie ever in terms of box office. The movie had a very strong opening this weekend with a total of $76.5 million, and the cause for its success has to be credited to both Abrams and a wonderful marketing campaign. They were able to reach everyone, from the hardcore fans to regular people who had never watched a Star Trek film before. All of them responded in a positive way. 

In comparison, the last Star Trek film released in 2002, Nemesis, made only $43 million in its total box office run. The most successful Star Trek film of all was “The Voyage Home”, released in 1986 and making a total of $109 million, which of course the latest installment is expected to surpass by the end of this week.

Another interesting box office fact is that other successful franchise-reboots such as Batman Begins, Superman Returns or The Incredible Hulk had openings in the $45-$55 million range, making Star Trek’s start even more impressive.

Abrams proved once again his worth within this new generation of directors and producers that try to reboot or re-imagine stories and update them in a creative and sophisticated way. He didn’t need huge stars headlining his film. He didn’t go beyond his means to reinvent special effects or create headlines with some innovative technique. He focused on the story, and like on Lost, he put effort in developing these characters. 

It is clear that J.J. Abrams took Star Trek “where no other Star Trek had gone before”. A new generation of fans will now join the ageless generation that was already in line early on Thursday, and if they continue to be smart about it the next installment can be even bigger than this one.

I came across an interesting new startup on The Wrap called Flicktweets. The site reminds me of a Stocktwits for film news - it collects real-time tweets about movies onto one page.

As Maria Russo points out in her column, this could be a help for the studios and movie critics who are subject to assault from the thousands of movie critics who post reviews instantaneously via various Twitter applications.

Executives in Hollywood are certain the 3D revolution is coming, but some feel it’s already arrived. Jeffery Katzenberg of DreamWorks Animation has been praised for his pioneering efforts to make this new technology more mainstream, despite there being a small (albeit growing) number of theaters actually equipped to play 3D movies.

The Film Industry has seen staggering numbers during this recession as the movie going public has shown a strong desire for escapist cinema. So it makes sense that studios are embracing 3D as it’s the ultimate form of spectacle and escape. But even though the recession has bolstered box office revenues, it’s also stunting the growth of the 3D revolution because theater owners aren’t willing to spend the necessary capital to convert their theaters to 3D. Just look at the numbers: Domestically, about 1,400 out of the 30,000 movie screens have 3D capability; and internationally, only 700 screens can show 3D movies.

3D is the future, but is it the now? I came across a list of all the slated and upcoming 3D releases and recognize how determined the studios are to make this work. Katzenberg recently stated in a Variety article that “within the next five-to-seven years, I expect all movies out of Hollywood to be in 3-D.”

Who knows whether that’s true or not, but clearly there is an impetus to integrate this technology into movie making. What’s interesting to think about is whether the studio’s development execs will be looking for different material altogether — material that translates into 3D. There’s only a limited number of slots each year, so expect the growth of 3D to bump the smaller, non-spectacle titles.