Oscar Buzz: Into The Blue

Ah, September. You can tell this is going to be the best month for movies ever because Nick Cannon is gracing our cinemas twice. Just a couple weeks ago he came out with "Underclassmen," which Roger Ebert hailed as "the best movie since 'Citizen Kane.'" He then added "Nick Cannon is a ghetto Orson Welles, and it is a privledge to watch him wild out on the big screen." To top it off we will also get to see him towards the end of the month in "Roll Bounce."

However, this entry is not about the man who brought us such hits as "Gigolo" and "Your Pops Don't Like Me." It is about how after three months of painfully bad movies being our only option, the summer blockbuster season has come to an end. Now, some quality films will at last be at our local movie theaters. After a summer box office filled with the likes of "The Island," "Stealth," "The Dukes of Hazzard," "Bewitched," "The Adventured of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D," and "Herbie: Fully Loaded," I have never been more ready for the artsy and thoughtful films this September has to offer.

Thankfully, this month's movies feature some talented actors rather than the Lindsay Lohans, Tom Cruises, Shark Boys, and those goddamn marching penguins that plagued us for the last three months. The one movie that jumps out at me for its Oscar-caliber talent is "Into the Blue."

Judging from the talent that worked on this film, without even seeing it I can already tell it will be a frontrunner for Best Picture. In fact, before this movie even began filming the screenplay had already earned quite a buzz around Hollywood. Insiders were calling it "the best screenplay since 'Million Dollar Baby'." It was written by none other than Matt Johnson, who last wrote the criminally underrated Ice Cube masterpiece "Torque." Then, John Stockwell signed on to direct. He is best known as the dude who played Cougar in "Top Gun." He was also credited as playing Robert Renaud in the film "Breast Men." Critics have been comparing him to other successful actor/directors like Clint Eastwood and Mel "The Passion" Gibson. Already, without even having a cast, "Into the Blue" sounded like award winning material.

Then the cast fell into place. The lead rolls were filled out by Paul Walker and Jessica Alba. As if that weren't good enough, "Zoolander" breakout out star Tyson Beckford and the dumb guy from "Ocean's Eleven," Scott Caan were both cast in supporting roles.

"Dude.. Bro...I don't know how much longer I can keep up my serious face"

However, this was some of the hardest material any of these actors had ever tried to conquer. Paul Walker had to portray a character even more complex than that of Brian O'Connor from "2 Fast 2 Furious." And this time, he didn't have acting guru/model Tyrese there to coach him. Upon reading the script, he was inspired and was quoted as saying "wow brah...thats deep...totally." By doing 3000 crunches a day, walking around shirtless on the beach, and saucing plenty of perfect 10 models, he was finally able to get into character.

Jessica Alba...Meryl Streeps talent but without the looks.

Jessica Alba also had to do some soul searching in order to prepare for her role as a forensic pathologist trying to break the Da Vinci Code...er...I mean to prepare for her role as "Hot Chick in Bikini who makes out with Paul Walker." The role did not come easy to her, and she had to put all her acting muscles to make it work. While she may have played "Hot Chick in Skintight Bodysuit" in "Fantastic Four" and "Hot Chick in Leather Stripper Cowboy Outfit" in "Sin City," none of her roles had ever required her to make out with Paul Walker before. In preperation, Alba kept being hot. This meant lots of tanning and also 3000 crunches a day. By making out with Paul Walker in his trailer after reheasal, she was able to really get into character and give the performance of a lifetime.

So now you know about the star power and acting caliber, but what about the plot? Simply amazing. Thought I haven't seen it, it involves treasure and a scantily clad Jessica Alba. Also, some stuff blows up and I'm pretty sure Scott Caan gets killed after parking at a toll booth and being gun downed by a rival mafia family. The other unique quality about "Into the Blue" is that it is shot backwards, "Memento" style, making it truly captivating.

"Into the Blue" is the first movie to come along that has a legit shot at beating the Oscar records that "Titanic" holds. It is the movie that will put an end to Hollywood's cold streak, and finally prove that a movie with a great and original script and high caliber acting talent can win out over sheer star power and special effects.While it has strict competition from such other September box office heavyweights like Samuel L. Jackson's "The Man," the Studio is already estimating that "Into The Blue" grosses over $400 Million. I know I'll be in line opening day.