The undisputed king of electric
blues is scheduled to play to a
packed audience Friday night at
Centennial Hall.
BB King is one of the most well-
known living blues musicians in
the world, and certainly the most
famous person to ever come out
of the tiny town of Itta Bena,
Miss.
The 2000 census pegged Itta
Bena's population at about 4,000
residents living within a 1.5
square mile area.
Yet the town still managed to
make it into the 2000 Coen
brothers film, "O Brother, Where
Art Thou?"
In the movie, a notorious
gangster terrorizing the the
Deep South stops George
Clooney's character Everett and
his crew and asks them how to
get to Itta Bena.
Name the gangster and the
actor who played him for a
chance to win a set of three
cookbooks.
Phil Villarreal has worked for the Daily Star since birth, but he's been the movie critic since February 2001. You could say he's a fan of the cinema. Each day he wakes up to a plate of steaming scrambled movies, which he washes down with a glass of movie juice, all while watching a movie. In his free time he plays video games and watches movies. Phil's new book, the humorous, money saving guide "Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel" is due out Sept. 1 and available for preorder.
A date with Zack, Miri, Kevin Smith and their 'Porno'
03/27/2008 09:49 AM Phil Villarreal
I just got word from the Weinstein Company that the Kevin Smith-Seth Rogen team-up “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” will be released Oct. 31. I was sour on the past couple Smith movies – “Jersey Girl” (along with most everyone else) and “Clerks II” (most people like it, but it didn’t connect with me. I may have been expecting too much) – but I have a feeling this one will match the excellence and rewatchable hiliarity of his first four: “Clerks,” “Mallrats,” “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma.” (“Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” was no slouch either). Rogen is the strongest comic force going these days, with an incredible 2007 with “Knocked Up” and “Superbad” and 2008 could be just as strong, with “Horton Hears a Who” and “Pineapple Express” in the can.
In “Zack and Miri,” Rogen and Elizabeth Banks play longtime pals who make a porn movie together to score some cash. In doing so, they discover they may be in love. I like that the concept is fresh and out-there (nearly as intriguing as, ahem, Stormin’ Mormon, and the combination of Rogen’s delivery – guy could make a reading of a Hillary Clinton speech seem entertaining – combined with Smith’s acerbic writing is almost an unfairly powerful combo. The fact that the comedy is being released so late in the year – can’t remember any of Smith’s movies nailing a similar release date – makes me think the Weinsteins are tabbing the film as something of a “Juno”-like Oscar contender.
