Maybe you remember him from Earth 2 all those years ago, or more recently in Prison Break. Or, perhaps you spotted him in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Whatever the project, Rockmond Dunbar has been keeping busy over the years, and now The Hollywood Reporter posts that he's gearing up for his next directorial gig -- an indie drama called Pastor Brown that was written by Rhonda Freeman-Baraka.

The film, which is currently in production in Atlanta, is being described as a "twist on the prodigal son story." Jesse Brown (Salli Richardson Whitfield) is the daughter of a pastor who has charted her own course to get away from her religious roots by becoming an exotic dancer. But then she gives that life up and returns home "to make amends with her family and teen son and eventually lead her father's parish, becoming Pastor Brown." She not only finds religion, but a little love in a Muslim man named Amir (who will be played by Dunbar). It sound more like a comedy than a drama, but I guess it can be serious as long as the Pastor doesn't give a lot of advice that starts with: "When I was an exotic dancer..."

Ah, Ernie Hudson. Is there anyone out there who doesn't like this guy? While he still finds gigs, and continues to work, to me he's one of those guys that immediately jets me back to the '80s and '90s -- not to the hair, the awful fashions, or kickass music, but rather to film and television. Remember when... He popped up in Bosom Buddies and The New Odd Couple? Of course, there's also the super-mega-awesome-epic Ghost Busters and Ghostbusters II. Or his stints as Reggie in The Basketball Diaries and Sergeant O'Malley in Airheads. Or Warden Leo Glynn from Oz.

Now Variety reports that Hudson has nabbed himself another quirky role -- this time in James Wong's Dragonball. (You know, based on the anime about this kid named Goku who has gather Dragon Balls and stop Piccolo from taking over the world.) Unfortunately, there's no word on who he'll play. Do any of you fans out there have an idea? Is there a Dragonball Ghostbuster, perhaps? Some sort of cop dude? He plays a lot of those.

Chime in below, and while you're at it -- what's your favorite Hudson role?

In a forthcoming interview with Premiere conducted by yours truly, Sigourney Weaver talks at length about all her various franchises, and even has a few words to say about the recently resurrected hoopla over a possible Ghostbusters III. When I pointed out that the film industry's renewed focus on next-gen 3D imagery and CG-rendered worlds means that perhaps a third Ghostbusters adventure is still feasible, Weaver looked at me a bit like I had just given her a toothache. She then took a big breath and said "Well, I just saw Ivan Reitman at this dinner, this lunch for his son, and, ummm, there's no way." Perhaps responding to the look of sadness on my face, she quickly added "You could 3D Ghostbusters. You could pay for that. I think they're fantastic movies for that time, and I think, if anything, Be Kind, Rewind is kind of a Ghostbusters for this time." Since I haven't seen Be Kind, Rewind, I have no clue what that last part is supposed to mean. Does Slimer make an appearance in Be Kind, Rewind or something?

It's not like any of this is a great surprise -- to my knowledge, Weaver has never expressed any enthusiasm for returning to the franchise and rumor has it she declined to participate in the upcoming video game that will feature voices from the main Ghostbusters and will cannibalize Dan Aykroyd's never-in-development Ghostbusters III: Ghostbusters Go to Hell script. Most of the recent GIII talk stems from Ernie Hudson, who was quoted as saying that he hoped the success of that particular game would renew interest in creating a third film, and that Ramis and Aykroyd still wanted a third film, too. That would be fine with me as long as it starts with a fresh concept, as opposed to the whole 'Manhellton' crap. I've heard Aykroyd describe his 'hell' script at length -- to a radio DJ on a country music station, no less -- and, frankly, it's the opposite of impressive. It sounds like a recipe for a studio-killing flop with a $300 million budget. But with Murray and Weaver and (apparently) Ivan Reitman not even down for a third go-round, don't hold your breath. To read the interview, which mostly centers on Avatar, check out Premiere.com on Thursday.

The boys are officially back ... but, sadly, they'll only be in videogame form for now. According to Variety, Vivendi Games has struck a deal to turn Ghostbusters into a videogame franchise, with the first title set to hit streets in the fall of 2008. All four Ghostbusters -- Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis -- have signed off their voice and likeness rights, while Aykroyd and Ramis will write a story for the game that takes place in the early '90s, following Ghostbusters II. For fans of the movie franchise (and, seriously, who's not a fan?), this could potentially be very cool. Aykroyd has been trying to get a Ghostbusters III off the ground for a long time now; at one point, he was considering a CGI flick to continue the story without having to ask a bunch of old timers to strap on the proton packs for another live-action go-round.

With a videogame version, we'll still see the story Aykroyd had planned for a third installment (I believe one version involved NYC opening up to reveal a hell-ish underground), only we'll get to play along too. Apart from the four original cast members, William Atherton, Brian Doyle and Annie Potts will also be involved. No word on Rick Moranis or Sigourney Weaver just yet. I know some of you will be bummed out by this, but I'm totally up for it -- so long as they create a cool multi-player gaming experience. Just last night, my friend and I were talking about how much fun those old multi-player games were; the kind where you and a friend could sit down in the same space, control different characters and fight your way through a universe together. The last great multi-player game, in my opinion, was Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. If they can create something on par with that (only add a whole lot of Bill Murray dialogue), then they've already sold one game ... to me. What do you think?

Sure, the big festivals like Tribeca are fun to attend, but every once and a while it's nice to settle into one of the smaller fests, where the seats are cheap, the beer is free and you're guaranteed plenty of entertainment. One of the things I love about The Big Apple Film Festival (now in its third year) is its focus on short films -- in fact (and here's a rarity in festival world), Big Apple will open this Thursday with a shorts program, instead of a feature. Refreshing, ain't it?

Some of the other highlights at this year's fest are the premieres of Everything's Jake (Friday night) and Searching for Bobby D. (Saturday night). Following the screening of Jake on Friday, Ernie Hudson (remember him from Ghost Busters?) will receive a lifetime achievement award. Also, on Saturday afternoon, there's a free panel discussion on indie film distribution featuring folks like Jason Leaf (co-President, Avatar Films), David Paterson (writer, Love Ludlow) and Cleo Godsey (Director of Business Affairs, First Run Features). Oh, and don't forget about the Horrorfest Series -- this year, four shorts will be featured including Witchwise and Penny Dreadful. Yours truly is on the fest's advisory board, and I'll also be there for most of the screenings -- so feel free to say hello (just look for the hot shot in the Cinematical t-shirt). For more info on Big Apple (which will be held at Tribeca Cinemas), check out the official website.

I was the right age to enjoy the revival of half-hour TV anthology series about the odd, inexplicable, or spooky in the mid- to late 1980s: Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories, new series of The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Tales from the Darkside, and eventually Tales from the Crypt. I may have seen one too many of these shows, because the genre seems a little tired to me. Watching Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror, which combines three such stories into one feature-length film, I felt like I'd seen most of it before, except without the fancy trimmings and gore.

In lieu of the Cryptkeeper, Snoop Dogg links three morality tales with some gruesome aspects added for thrills. Snoop Dogg is actually playing a character, the Hound of Hell, as explained in the pre-credits animated sequence. A street kid named Devon lands himself in a lot of trouble, and eventually sacrifices his life to save his sister. As a result, he becomes one of the caretakers of the Hood of Horror, who ushers the souls of the wicked into the next life, and is also required to be a sharp dresser. As animation turns into live action, Devon turns into Snoop Dogg with a HoH tattoo on his neck to remind us that he's now a Hound of Hell. Other than the tattoo, however, the character does not appear to be a big acting stretch for the rap star.