Entertainment Roundtable: Who watched 'Watchmen'?

Whatever you think of their music, I'm a firm believer than when it comes to boy bands and other pop groups, they actually have to be broken up for several years to justify a reunion. Otherwise, the nostalgia factor that is working so well for NKOTB doesn't apply. I'm not sure how you can justify a Backstreet Boys reunion after three years on hiatus or a return of the Spice Girls six years after their absence. Of course, I have a problem with getting these bands back together for full reunion tours on the strength of one or two fairly catchy songs. But to each his or her own adolescent pop music hangup. My least favorite reunions are the ones that try to replace the frontman and/or chief songwriter of an acclaimed band, such as Creedence Clearwater Revisited or 2002's ill-advised The Doors of the 21st Century. And I'm still not buying Paul Rodgers as frontman of Queen, no matter how they phrase the band's name now.

Warlick: The reunion reminds me of Mission: Man Band, a VH1 series that featured several former boy-band stars including Oklahoma's own Bryan Abrams. My favorite reunion of all time is definitely the Led Zeppelin reunion with Page, Plant and John Bonham's son, Jason Bonham and John Paul Jones. I saw the Page/Plant tour in June 1998 and it was amazing.

I think one of the worst reunions in rock history is the INXS debacle. It was bad enough that the band held a reality TV show, "Rock Star INXS" to find a new lead singer after the awesome and iconic Michael Hutchence died. Recently, the new guy they hired from the show, J.D. Fortune basically fired himself, it seems. He came out to the press a couple weeks ago saying that he had been fired with a handshake in a Hong Kong airport. The band's manager said the band is baffled by the allegation. The manager said that he had been about to call Fortune to talk about an upcoming project when he heard the news of the "firing." And Fortune has allegedly fessed up to a cocaine problem and said he is now living out of his car. Unfortunate times for Fortune and INXS is once again sans a lead singer.

Price: I recently watched the "Police: Certifiable" concert DVD shot in Buenos Aires, and those gentlemen still put on quite a show.

As far as worst, generally speaking, I am not a fan of reunions involving few or none of the original band members.

3. What's your reaction to last week's announcement that a major motion picture starring Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba and Casey Affleck will be filmed in Oklahoma?

Triplett: "The Killer Inside Me" will be the biggest, honest-to-goodness major motion picture that the Oklahoma Film and Music has been able to entice to Oklahoma since "Twister" was shot here in 1996. It has A-list stars, and it's being directed by Michael Winterbottom, the British filmmaker who gave us "A Mighty Heart," with Angelina Jolie. If this film is a success, it just might attract other major film productions to the state.

It was going to be shot in New Mexico and Texas, but the film office was able to sell the production company on the state's incentive package, which offers a 15 percent rebate on production expenses to companies that film in Oklahoma and employ Oklahomans in the cast and crew.

It's also kind of interesting that this film is based on a 1952 pulp novel by Jim Thompson, the Anadarko-born author who also wrote "The Getaway" and "The Grifters," which were both made into hit movies.

McDonnell: Could my reaction be anything but excitement and joy? A major motion picture with big stars, especially one based on an Oklahoma-born author's work, filming here should be a boon for state and especially the towns where shooting will take place. Hopefully, the film will help Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba and Joaquin Phoenix documentarian Casey Affleck add a quality film credit to their somewhat checkered resumes, too.

Warlick: I think it's great. Everyone says it's the biggest movie to film in the state since "Twister." I was a stand-in, photo-double and stunt-double for Jamie Gertz in that movie and had a great time shooting in Ponca City.

I am a little surprised more big movies don't come to shoot in Oklahoma since we offer major incentives. The Oklahoma Film Enhancement rebate gives film companies up to 17 percent off the top of their expenses for shooting in Oklahoma as long as they meet certain criteria including employing Oklahomans for at least half their "below-the-line" crew and spending at least $300,000 in the state.

The guys in the newsroom are especially excited at the prospect of being within 25 miles of Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson. I just hope the film shows Oklahoma in a decent light.

Price: It’s great. This is the biggest film-related announcement for Oklahoma since "Twister" filmed here in the mid-1990s.

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