J.J. Abrams is not only receiving good news from ABC, but also from the FOX Network where his recently produced $10 million 2-hour pilot, “Fringe,” was picked up for a fall premiere …

In other FOX news, the network will also be rolling out two new series for the fall. “The Inn,” which will star Niecy Nash (“Reno 911!”) and Jerry O’Connell (“Crossing Jordan”), is about New Yorkers who live in a high rise apartment. The pilot episode was directed by Jason Bateman from “Arrested Development” fame …

And while this isn’t exactly the “Arrested Development” reunion movie we were all waiting for, it might just have to do for now: The second officially picked up series from FOX is an animated comedy from “Development” creator Mitchell Hurwitz and will feature the voices of alums like Bateman, Will Arnett and Henry Winkler. The cartoon is currently titled, “Sit Down, Shut Up” …

Segueing away from FOX to The CW, home of the fabulous “Gossip Girl,” the network’s “Beverly Hills, 90210″ spin-off has recently tapped Jennie Garth, better known by her alternative moniker as Kelly Taylor, to return in a recurring capacity …

A quick reminder that Garth stayed with “Hills” for its 10 season run, thus she would come back to essentially play the same character, but this time not as a teenager, she would be as a guidance counselor. All together now, “How embarrassing” …

And because this story wouldn’t be complete without an “Arrested Development” regular joining cast, Jessica Walter (who played the sneaky matriarch, Lucille Bluth) will also be appearing on the series as a long-in-thetooth grandmother.

The pilot, originally written by “Veronica Mars” creator Rob Thomas, has been re-written by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah, both of whom contributed to cult favorite “Freaks and Geeks” …

HBO is looking to beef up its line-up of high-quality drama with a series that follows the life of a well-endowed man. The series, nicely titled “Hung,” will follow the exploits of an average middle-aged man who happens to have a huge member …

Oscar-winning director, Alexander Payne (“Sideways”), will direct the pilot episode. Casting has yet to begin on who will play the lucky fella.

After the first song I realized he would be playing the entire set with an acoustic guitar and a slight lisp . I think I literally let out a groan of disappointment.

I have never been much of a Decemberists fan, but I figured, hey, maybe Colin is stepping outside of the folk-rock genre and doing something original. I was sadly mistaken.

I was taken through a world of seemingly Raffi-inspired lyrics and monotone vocals.

Let’s just say when the album concluded, it was good to be home.

Don’t get me wrong, if you want to just chill out/go to sleep, this is the perfect album (minus the droning, kitschy banter that goes on between him and the audience).

I just wouldn’t recommend playing this at your next get-together if you’re trying to get the party started.

He is having his cake and eating it too, like a typical guy. The movie reeks of this motif through its entirety.

Tom realizes he loves Hannah while she is out of town. Before Tom can confess his feelings, Hannah announces she has met a man in Scotland and will marry him.

In the process of the announcement, Hannah asks Tom to be her maid of honor. Like a typical guy, Tom goes into ego mode and attempts everything to win Hannah back. Corny, although cute, the movie emphasizes things from a male perspective with a predictable and disappointing ending, proving guys need to have their cake and eat it too. A movie glorifying the male ego, disguised as a chick flick.

The game focuses on main character Niko Bellic. Niko wants to leave his troubled past, so he travels to Liberty City wanting to seek the American dream, only to witness it is not all it is cracked up to be.

The game is still driven by its violence as the player continues to kill innocent civilians, blows up police cars and assists, serves and work for gangsters and drug dealers.

In an added twist, the game seems to have gained a sense of reality, a conscience.

The more outrageous the action, the more Niko kills, steals and destroys, the more he has to deal with his personal demons because of who he has become.

The setting itself, Liberty City, is designed in a very creative and believable manner, heavily influenced by the nature of New York City.

The game now holds the players attention because of the emotion added to the main character.

Thursday’s episode was entertaining and hilarious. Finally, we are starting to see the old “Grey’s” that we all love. Creator Shonda Rhimes has finally got the show on track.

This season has been more about the medical aspect of the show, but lacking in the story line department, or, should I say, in the love lives of the doctors and interns at Seattle Grace Hospital.

On Thursday viewers finally saw some sparks reigniting between the shows leading on-again-off-again couple Meredith and Derek. We all know they still have it bad for each other. The question is when are they going to get back together?

Now that order has been restored, I hope we will see an improvement in the storyline and, once again, have the show back that we just can’t wait a whole week to see.

While the show gives a lot of insight into the history of logging and gives viewers a look at the day-to-day life of an ax man, it ends up looking like nothing more than a drama show on Fox or MTV.

During what seems like a very complex procedure, the loggers show their frustration by spewing more curse words than an HBO comedy special.

The episode I saw highlighted the workers who cussed the most or had bad things to say about the company or co-workers.

“Ax Men” has its appeal to show people something they may rarely think about when it comes to a career, but in the end it feels like I could have spent my hour watching an actual documentary rather than some slack-jawed yokels saying how dumb and worthless everyone else is.

“Listen to this,” he said, as he ground more of the plant into the sidewalk with his shoe. It crunched and squished under the pressure, leaving moist streaks across the cement.

“Isn’t that excellent?” he said smiling.

Howard, 29, is the bassist and one of four great minds that make up the increasingly popular band, The Used.

His attention to the little things like ice plant are a solitary display of the many eccentricities he and his band mates share.

The Used, also comprised of vocalist Bert McCracken, guitarist Quinn Allman and drummer Dan Whitesides, headlined the first annual Rockstar Get A Life Tour, another one of Kevin Lyman’s many projects.

The tour started in early April and visited 27 college campuses across the nation.

Last Wednesday’s show at UCI was one of four shows in California, the most of any state on the tour. Following their show in San Diego on Thursday, the tour headed to Arizona for its last two shows, ending May 10th, just in time for Mothers Day.

The tour came to light when The Used mentioned to Lyman their desire to tour with their friends in Street Drum Corps (SDC) again. Lyman set up the tour and got Straylight Run, Army of Me and Lights Resolve to join the tour.

“The original concept was to have it be a job fair,” said Bobby Alt, member of SDC. “It happened in a couple states and I think it went over really well. There just needs to be a little fine tuning for the next tour, to bring it back.”

SDC formed in Los Angeles in 2004 after getting together for the fun of it. Frank Zummo joined brothers Bobby and Adam Alt and made a DVD of themselves in a junkyard, playing on anything and everything.

“[It was] just three drummers going completely mad, smashing cars and all these different things,” Zummo said. “And we sent it out [the DVD], just to see what kind of response we’d get.”

They were quickly hired by Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Calif., where they stayed for a summer and fall season and built up to what they are now.

Originally under the name Bang, they were offered to tour with The Used, but were still in the middle of their contract at Magic Mountain. Instead of bailing out early, they trained three drummers who took their place at the theme park and the Street Drum Corp was born.

Being overbooked inspired SDC to create satellite groups under their original name and can now book gigs for multiple venues on the same night.

Their hard work has recently landed them a spot in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in the Vans Warped Tour exhibit.

“To see our stuff in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame was really amazing,” said Bobby.

SDC took the stage at 7 p.m. that night to a surprisingly large crowd for one of the opening bands.

Blending Blue Man Group, Marilyn Manson, Stomp and plenty of unique musical influences, this “Punk Rock Stomp,” as coined by Lyman, bashed on kegs, trash cans and car parts – essentially anything they could get their hands on. As the set came to a close, Adrian Young, drummer of Anaheim rockers No Doubt, joined SDC for the last song “We Are Machines.”

The dynamic of the music changed for the next two sets as Straylight Run and Army of Me took the stage. Lighters and cell phones swayed for the slower songs and when the house lights came on, the crowd rippled as fans jockeyed for a better spot to watch The Used.

The alt-rockers opened up with “The Bird and the Worm” from their third album Lies for the Liars.

About a quarter of the way through the set, McCracken hand-picked members from the audience to join him on stage for “Paralyzed,” another single from their album.

They also played “Sick Hearts” from their recent release Shallow Believer, which was only released via iTunes on February 19 this year.

“This is my favorite record we’ve ever done,” Howard said. “I think it sounds better than all our other records.”

“Some people, that’s all they’ve heard, Shallow Believer,” Allman said. “It brings fans that we’ve never had before, so it’s good. I think they’re some of our best songs.”

Following “Sick Hearts,” the band stood shrouded in strobe lights and announced that SDC would be joining them on stage.

They mixed their styles, playing riffs and beats from their respective songs, whipping the crowd into a frenzy.

As SDC departed, McCracken announced that Bill Whitesides, father of drummer Dan, would be joining them on stage and playing guitar for “Pretty Handsome Awkward,” which was featured on the “Transformers” soundtrack.

“I hope one day we can still be his age and still be rocking out,” said McCracken, in appreciation of the bearded, gray-haired man who has been on tour with The Used for almost a week.

“The only person I know that can party harder than Bert McCracken is Bill Whitesides,” McCracken said, and the crowd applauded.

The Used played a few more songs, exited, and came back for their encore.

They teased the crowd with the intro to “Rock You Like a Hurricane,” a crowd favorite.

House lights came on as the band members threw waters, picks and drumsticks to the crowd. They made their way off stage to meet some of the fans backstage and hop on the bus, once again to do the same thing all over again tomorrow with the guys they know best.

“To get up there and to be on the road with the three fucking coolest dudes I’ve ever met, I’m blessed to even be a part of it,” Allman said.

“We’ve been playing these smaller towns and they’re just here for the music. It’s not some pretentious asymmetrical hair-cut crowd. There’s a lot of down-to-earth people on this tour. I like it.”

The fans have something to look forward to, even with the tour ending. The Used have written about 10 songs and are looking to record in the next few months.

“The last records have been different chapters of a book and we’re closing that book now,” Howard, said. “With this next record, we’re starting a new book.”

BUZZ: What’s the story behind ‘Midnight Movies’?
Gena Oliver: Our guitar player, Larry Schmel is a big collector of midnight movies, and he’s got a big collection of all the original releases on VHS and the movie posters and the soundtrack on vinyl.

BUZZ: I’ve heard the term “L.A. Noir” to describe you guys, how would you describe what that is?
GO: Our music has a dark undercurrent, its really hard to tell how the city affects our music, but I’m sure it does. I definitely think that there’s a cinematic thing just from being in Hollywood a lot … because in Hollywood there’s so much glitz and superficial beauty and then there’s a lot of horrible poverty, depression and drug abuse, you know? It’s like the worst of the worst and then there’s the prettiest of the pretty.

BUZZ: Do you try to send any messages through your lyrics?
GO: On the first record it was just the band name, and there was no identity to any of us and I wanted to … be very ambiguous.
In the second record … I wanted to capture the pure essence of love, not so much romantic love, which there is that as well, but just kind of the totally unselfish, not self-motivated form of love.

BUZZ: Who would you consider not only you, but the band’s musical inspiration?
GO: I’m a little afraid to answer that for any of the other members because its a personal thing, but we’re all inspired by a lot of psychedelic music from the ’60s. Larry’s a huge Pink Floyd fan, Ryan’s a huge Led Zeppelin, Ryan’s very into crap rock nowadays, we all are. Sandra and Ryan are into electronic music … The three of us are all big Bjork fans. I think overall a psychedelic, crap rock, electronic thing is what the four of us have in common.

BUZZ: As you’ve grown more popular as a band, how have things changed for you guys?
GO: I don’t think it has really. We all work normal day jobs. I feel I’m most inspired when my time is precious. But none of us have any nice stuff or anything, we’re still as broke as ever and just working normal jobs and making exciting music.

BUZZ: Where do you hope to see Midnight Movies in five years?
GO: I think the favorite thing for us has been the chance to tour with bands that we really love and are totally fans with. But as far as fame and fortune goes, . I don’t think that’s something that any of us really want, but we really love writing music and playing awesome venues with awesome bands.

BUZZ: What is it that you want people to think and feel when listening to Midnight Movies?
GO: I would just hope that they feel something, anything.
Possibly something inspiring and if the lyrics motivate anyone to do something. That’s good and healthy for themselves and other people, that would just be overwhelmingly awesome.

It’s springtime, marking a full year of Locked & Loaded, and also the final installment of this cute, little, shit-disturbing column of mine.

While I’m saddened over this au revoir, I leave the Buzz and the Daily Titan feeling a little better and hopeful than I did when I started this focused mission of cementing myself into Cal State Fullerton literary history.

We’ve gone through many social miscues together, moribund polar bears drifting toward extinction, the faculty’s silly offense over my silly illustrations, wiretaps, prescreened e-mails, and the other fruitful bearings of that fruitful bastard dwelling 2,411 miles away.

Hell, we’ve been quite the duo in witnessing America’s rot from within.

Unfortunately, from a journalist’s point of view, its been fun forecasting its destruction, sorting through all the bodies and wreckage.

Throughout Locked and Loaded, I’ve tried to take a more comedic approach to what’s come of my precious birthplace, which I believe is the same subconscious approach we as a country have collectively taken.

For Christ’s sake, you almost have to.

We are economically and morally broke, with a small percentage of our country’s future missing out on their own.

No stepping stones, no government-paid college educations, no future leaders who understand the struggle and who are equipped with the tools to get the normal folk out of this hole.

Never getting a chance to love, to swing or grow old into the foggy days of senility.

No future for that soldier, a different, sadder future to those left behind celebrating his honorable but unneeded duty.

But the Bushs, oh, they have a future all right.

A bright one, filled with oak trees and high prairies.

A new future, marked by the upcoming wedding of their eldest daughter Jenna, where 200 debutantes, aristocrats and opulent oil execs will arrive in tiny Crawford Texas to toast the beginnings of America’s first daughter.

I just hope George took no hand in organizing the reception or else poor Jenna and their guests might be scarfing down Diet Coke and cheeseburger pizza (her father’s favorite White House snack), and the band might be scheduled to play at the wrong location, with his history of scheduling things in the wrong places.

So as George retires to his ranch in Crawford, I find it ironic that I, too, will retire from my position as the Arts section liberal darling.

I’m leaving, I promise. I see the wrap-it-up-sign a glowin’ and the orchestral music queuing, but not before I unleash that final free flowin’ rant of mine, in an attempt to leave behind an elegy for the freethinkers of my generation.

But I’m sure that you, too, are sick of all the hostility and aggression.

Tired of the bullying and constant search for new enemies and “threats.” Maybe even tired of just seeing it all play out your television.

With being the strongest and allmighty, you think there would be more leading by example, wouldn’t you?

We need a leader, one who can turn slogans into manifestations and understandings for the country to live by without segregating or ignoring the reality of now.

Until then, I won’t be convinced. You, my jobless, frustrated beat-down angels of America, should be equally as cynical.

So, as I depart, bless you, it’s been a blast, it really has been – but not nearly as fun as a Bush springtime wedding.

And that, right there, is a sin in itself.

At this year’s MTV Movie Awards, Michael Cera will be in direct competition with himself. His summer blockbuster film, “Superbad,” grabbed five nominations, including Best Movie …

This is where it gets sort of tricky for Cera. The teen raunch-fest comedy will go up against “Juno” for best movie, a film he appeared in with actress Ellen Page …

Speaking of “Juno,” the teen pregnancy flick got nominated for four awards and Page got nominated for an MTV award for Best Female Performance and Best Kiss with co-star Cera. The “Arrested Development” actor is also nominated for breakthrough performance …

Page is shifting gears for her next film project, from comedy to English literature. She is taking on the role Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre.” BBC Films and Allison Owens of Ruby Films are in the process of developing the newest adaption of the 19th century love story …

With the impending finale of “Battlestar Galactica” coming up, producers of the critically-acclaimed intergalactic soap opera are already populating the planet of Caprica, the same planet the evil Cylons blew up in the first episode of “Galactica.”

On board for the two-hour prequel pilot so far is Paula Malcolmson (who played Trixie the whore on HBO’s “Deadwood”) and Esai Morales (who’s appeared on many of the same projects as “Battlestar” regular Edward James Olmos).

The former would be playing a double agent surgeon (What?) and the latter would portray Joseph Adama, father of William, which is the character Olmos currently plays.

Monday’s “Gossip Girl” only garnered 2.1 million viewers.

UP, UP AND AWAY

At the weekend box office, “Iron Man” flew to the top spot and went number one. The comic book-inspired movie brought in over $102 million last weekend in the box office, leaving little room for others to try and compete …

“Made of Honor” didn’t even come close to the high numbers of “Iron Man” bringing in just over $15 million last weekend. The romantic-comedy, starring “Grey’s Anatomy’s” Patrick “McDreamy” Dempsey, is about a man who falls in love with his best friend, but only realizes it as she is preparing to get married to another man …

“Iron Man” is the first of four, and possibly even more movies, to come from Marvel Studios. With the success of this action-packed film, the studio has already scheduled the release of the sequel for April 30, 2010 …

And on June 4, 2010, just six short weeks after the release of “Iron Man 2,” Marvel plans to release “Thor,” which is described as a period fantasy. The following year “The First Avenger: Captain America” will be released …

All four movies are being designed to set up for the 2011 release of “Avengers” …

In other parts of the superhero world, Lex Luthor will be leaving “Smallville.” The villain’s portrayer, Michael Rosenbaum, is leaving the show after seven seasons of playing Superman’s rival …

He will be replaced by two villains, one of which will be Doomsday, who is known in the comic book for killing Superman …

Its been less than a year since the whacking of HBO’s “The Sopranos,” but Emmy winner Edie Falco is past the mourning stage and onto her next series on rival network Showtime …

The untitled pilot tells the tale of a New York Nurse, played by Falco, and an assortment of characters who habit the clinic in which she works. Wow, seems like “Scrubs” — only scarier.

This isn’t due to the iron, but the man. Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark delivers the power and the charisma that this movie needed to make it good.

While the story revolving around Stark is lackluster, the brash, arrogant weapons mogul is someone viewers can’t help but like. He is well-to-do and certain of himself.

Just as the audience forgives him for being shallow and rude half of the time, it is easy to forgive the story for being so cartoonish.

The magic of “Iron Man” lies in the desire to see Stark redeem himself.

Many of the character conflicts in the movie seem contrived, but the banter that comes from much of this redeems the by-the-numbers storytelling.

Hippies and hawks alike will love the pacifist/crime fighter paradox that Stark eventually develops.

Oh, and a cool-looking exo-suit and high-flying action helps redeem it, too.

The action certainly doesn’t fail to deliver.

“Iron Man” could be the James Bond of this generation if Marvel Studios plays their cards right, especially with the comic book-style “ending,” which old and new fans will no doubt go crazy about.

Audiences fell in love with these guys in 2004 when the duo traveled to White Castle.

Now in 2008, the two are fugitives on the run for escaping from Guantanamo Bay.

The pair find trouble when Kumar takes out a “smokeless bong” during an airplane flight to Amsterdam.

Passengers mistake Kumar saying “bong” for “bomb” and the chaos begins.

Government officials are certain they have caught two extremely dangerous terrorists and believe the capture of Harold and Kumar is proof that North Korea and Al Qaeda are “working together.”

Released on April 25, “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay” pokes fun at modern-day politics, making a joke out of homeland security and key political figures, as the boys smoke joints with George W. Bush.

Writers and directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg did not quite outdo the first movie, but they did create an unbelievably funny sequel that is worth the $10 ticket price.

The film sends you into the time long before fame and fortune leading up to the moment of truth – the double backflip in the 2006 Summer X-Games.

A documentary on Travis Pastrana may lead fans into expecting just a showcase of his career highlights, but the film elaborates on the support of family and friends.

It reveals how the Pastrana family became involved in motorsports and the many sacrifices made in order to have Travis compete.

Go past the limelight into the world that only a select few have had the privilege to live.

Shedding light on gloomy days in Travis’ career, the film exposes many things that people cannot see when he’s in a competition, with the media or being friendly with fans.

The highlights shown on this film demonstrate the hard work and dedication that this 24-year-old man has put into perfecting his art of freestyle motocross.

The story telling in this documentary sends an invitation to the audience to see the life of the wonder boy himself, who wears number 199, Travis Pastrana.

In the case of Portishead’s Third, there’s no room for such argument. It’s still the Portishead we remember – extremely raw production fronted by Beth Gibbon’s warped lullaby of a voice.

Where Third differs from preceding albums is the absence of the more recognizable hip-hop influence, most notably the turntable cuts and samples.

One would imagine that with today’s advancement in technology, producers Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley would take as much advantage as they could with newly developed equipment.

It has equipment that was non-existant during the making of Dummy, an album that thrived on genre-defying sound. But in an era where computers have become just as common as a drum, Barrow and Utley have turned away from creating something overly produced and, instead, have made a simple, slightly more chilling album, staying as original as they could ever be.

The wait is over and this serves as a defiant. There’s no doubt that this album will be held as one of the best independent albums of 2008. We can only hope that it won’t take another decade for the forth.

New characters, new courses, new karts and new motorcycles make for an extremely fun game. It is easy to adapt to, making it exciting for players of all skill levels.

Mario Kart is unpredictability paired with new items like “the blue shell,” “lightning bolt” and “the pow block,” which create more competitive races. They make it easy to go from first place to last place and last to first.

A deeply integrated online game play allows everyone to enjoy more challenges and more competition. The addition of motorcycles provides a great alternative to the go-karts.

Overall, the game is just very fun and exciting to play.

The best feature of the game by far are the courses; they are very creative and imaginative. The creators revamped old courses from systems like Nintendo 64 and Game Cube to compliment the new courses.

A new dimension to the courses is they all come with vert ramps, allowing for players to do tricks in mid-air and obtain items that can alter the game.

If you enjoy a laugh, competition and a little suspense, then Mario Kart for Wii is the game to play because it allows you to experience all three within one race.