Remember, it's Will Smith's world, you're just visiting

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman? Nothing I can say to make that any more amazing, so 'nuff said.

In other news, just in case you had any doubt that Will Smith's kids can point at anything in the world and make it theirs, he's putting his paws on another cherished property to remake for one of his offspring.

I never bothered to see what became of "The Karate Kid" remake starring Jaden Smith, but not really out of animosity. It's just that summer is a crowded time for movies, and occasionally, I even have something else to do.

Now, however, it's apparently Willow's turn (is it possible she's named after the adorable witch from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"? Probably not, but if so, bully), and so he's gearing up a remake of the Broadway stage classic "Annie" for her star turn.

I actually saw "Annie" on Broadway when I was a wee lad, so have some affection for the musical itself. However, it's already been made into two movies, one I've seen (the 1982 version with Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan and Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks), and one I haven't (a TV movie version for the Disney Channel in 1999, apparently).

So, why do it again? Because your Will Smith, right? And besides, the 1982 movie wasn't particularly great, so maybe its time. The oddest and most interesting thing about all this is that Jay-Z is somehow involved, too. An at least slightly hip-hop "Annie"? Probably not, but we'll have to wait and see. Coincidentally enough, I'm listening to Hova's masterpiece, "The Black Album," right now, and since I've already written way more about this than I intended, I'll just share the video for Jay-Z's "Annie" homage, "Hard-Knock Life," and move, as the man himself says, on to the next one(s).



In the first of two other tidbits of very good TV news, both involving NBC, it seems the network has picked up the pilot for a new series from "Battlestar Galactica" mastermind Ron Moore.

I've seen it described as "Harry Potter for grownups," but as someone who's supposed to be an adult most of the time and who has read all the Harry Potter books, that's just insulting. What it is is something called "17th Precinct," and its about cops who work in the town of Excelsior, where "the world is ruled by magic instead of science." It's been forever since a good fantasy series was on network TV, so bring it on.

And also, not tonight but next week, straight off his much-reviled (but not by me) Golden Globes performance, Ricky Gervais will be visiting the American version of "The Office" for a cameo as his character on the original U.K. title, David Brent. Following all of that?

Is it possible he's there to fire Michael Scott, bringing about Steve Carell's departure from the show? Impossible, I guess, since Dunder Mifflin is now owned by Sabre, but whatever he's coming to do, it should be nothing but funny.

And with that, I'll leave you, but not before sharing this video that's very appropriately titled "Leonardo DiCaprio freaks out," since it's four-and-a-half minutes of exactly that. It's not nearly as funny as the collection of Nicolas Cage losing his s@#%, but it's just about equally not safe for work, so definitely watch it with headphones on. Enjoy the clip, and have a perfectly enjoyable Thursday. Peace out.

For Wednesday, a large cache of clips, plus the Muppets!

I know it should rightly be all about Harry Potter, with part one of the final chapter opening in just over a week, but I've always had a whole lot of time for the "Chronicles of Narnia" movies too, and I'm definitely amped for the third chapter, "Voyage of the Dawn Treader," set to drop Dec. 10. Enjoy what I believe is the final U.S. trailer.

How good was the first "Kung Fu Panda" movie, at least in my opinion? Well, so good that in my book it beat out "Wall-E" to be the best animated movie of 2008. That said, a little Jack Black goes a long way with me, so I don't have terribly high hopes for the "Kaboom of Doom" sequel, set to come out May 27. Enjoy the first teaser trailer.



I'm not going to go see "Skyline," or any other theater movies this weekend, but that's only because I'm heading out tomorrow for the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, my favorite event of the year. If I weren't, I think I'd go see this, because I like cheese, and as you can see by the alien monsters in this clip, this flick will serve it up in huge portions. And besides, who would have ever imagined that Eric Balfour, a.k.a. Jesse on the two-part premiere of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," would ever get to star in his own feature film? Enjoy.



Does the world need another "Jane Eyre" adaptation? Of course not, but this one, which by my count would be at least the 22nd movie or TV version, still looks intriguing. Granted, that's mostly because it stars Mia Wasikowska, who has already developed into an actress I'll watch in just about anything, but I also liked Cary Fukunaga's "Sin Nombre" quite a bit, so I'm curious to see what the director will do with this. And for one final random thought before the clip, is there a funnier name in the English language than Imogen Poots? Enjoy the trailer and keep an eye out for this hopefully everywhere March 11.

I really don't know the origin of this next clip, but if you've been here before, you probably know I'd post a Steve Coogan clip every day if possible, because I think he's just about the funniest dude on the planet. As you'll see below, today's offering has Coogan and frequent partner in crime Rob Brydon doing their best impressions of Michael Caine, and it's a hoot. Enjoy.



And finally, what would brighten up a Wednesday better than a visit from the Muppets? Not much I can think of, so here's the picture from the most recent (I think - my subscription ran out) issue of Entertainment Weekly of Jason Segel and his puppet friends - including the newest Muppet, Walter. If I could have any job in the world, I think it would probably be the writer/human star of the next Muppet movie, whatever it's called now, so I guess you could say Segel pretty much has it made. Enjoy the pic, and have a perfectly tolerable Wednesday. Peace out.

What's that I smell?

There are so many jokes about stink colliding in my head that I'm just gonna have to let them go and play this one straight and let you imagine the consequences:Yes, Mike Myers really is going to play a live-action Pepe le Pew.

Let it sink in for a few seconds just how amazingly bad that is going to be, and then I'll move on to a couple of bits of actual good news in a very short report because I stayed up way too late last night watching the Braves get shut out by a 13-year-old girl (and man can she pitch.)

First up is that someone named Tom Vaughan (who I had never heard of) is going to be directing a movie based on one of my favorite satirical novels, "Boomsday." The book is by Christopher Buckley, the same wiseacre who penned "Thank You for Smoking," and the wickedly sharp story is about a Washington D.C. publicist/blogger who gets in over her head when a politician uses her suggestion that all Baby Boomers commit suicide in order to save Social Security as a campaign selling point.

If you're not laughing at that, then this clearly won't be a movie for you, but trust me, the book is a real smart hoot. And a quick look at Mr. Vaughan's resume shows he directed the thoroughly charming little British romantic comedy "Starter for 10," starring James McAvoy and Reel Fanatic fave Rebecca Hall, so this is now definitely something to keep your eyes on (and trust me, if you can find it, "Starter for 10" is well worth a rental.)

After that today, there's just a bit of great TV news before a couple of clips. "Sons of Anarchy," which has inevitably centered on the search for Jax's son Abel this season, has just been reviewed for a fourth 13-episode run next year by FX. Great news there, because the show has only improved on last year's doozy of cliffhanger, and while it's not quite on the level of a "Mad Men," the motorcycle gang show is still one of the best dramas on TV right now.

OK, like I said, I'm already running behind (no way to start a day), so I'll leave you with a couple of trailers I found this morning. First up comes the second (I think) trailer for the third "Narnia" movie, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader," set to come out (unfortunately in 3D) on Dec. 10. Though they haven't caught on on the big screen as well as "Harry Potter" or the "Lord of the Rings" movies, I just have a soft spot for the innocence and wonder of the "Narnia" tales, and this one should be fantastic. Enjoy.



And finally today comes the second full trailer I know of for Danny Boyle's "127 Hours," which for me is the next absolute must-see movie coming up on the calendar (now that Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's "It's Kind of a Funny Story has, rather inexplicably, not opened wide enough to reach my little corner of the world - at least yet.) As you'll see from the trailer, though the movie is about a climber (played by James Franco) who gets his arm trapped under a boulder for the titular amount of time, it still seems to be brimming with energy and optimism. Enjoy the trailer, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

Harry Potter gets even more star Wattage

Although she can only say she "considers" herself British, Naomi Watts has joined the long list of British stars who seem to have been guaranteed a role in the "Harry Potter" movies.

Naomi, who is apparently about to give birth to a child conceived with actor/partner Leiv Schreiber, will step in to the role of Narcissa Malfoy, mother of that dreadful little Draco. Now, I'm only on about page 109 of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," so please don't spoil anything for me, but I would think this would give her the chance to have some real fun vamping it up with Bellatrix Lestrange, brought to vivid life in "Order of the Phoenix" by Helena Bonham Carter.

In other "Half-Blood Prince" casting news which may be of more interest to the ladies, Joseph Fiennes (yes, the brother of Ralph, a k a He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named), has also joined the cast in some capacity.

I have more than 1,000 pages of Potter to read by sometime before "Half-Blood Prince" comes out in theaters, so I'll have Harry on the brain for a while now (because I'm a slow reader even if I didn't have this pesky job to occupy my time.) For those of you who have already finished "Deathly Hallows," please be kind and don't give away the end of Harry's saga!

'Southland Tales' finally coming out?

Since Richard Kelly's new movie originally debuted to disastrous results at Cannes more than a year ago, I'm still skeptical that it will ever really come out, even with this news.

It seems that "Southland Tales," Kelly's apocalyptic tale about Los Angeles starring The Rock and Buffy as some kind of porn/reality tv star (no, I'm not making that up), has finally been given a release date of Nov. 9 by Samuel Goldwyn Films. Given the star power (Mandy Moore and Justin Timberlake are somehow in this too), it may even reach far enough to play in my little corner of the world.

Though this has "danger" written all over it in bright neon letters, I have nothing but mad love for Kelly's "Donnie Darko," so I'll definitely take a chance on this one, if I ever really get to.

Dardenne brothers get boost

I count their "L'Enfant" easily among my favorite movies, so any news about the Dardenne bros. (Pierre and Luc) is good to me.

They've apparently just been handed 360,000 euros (about $500,000) by something called Eurimages to work on their next flick, the French-Belgian pic "Le Silence de Lorna." The movie centers on an arranged marriage of an illegal immigrant from Albania to a drug addict, and it stars "L'Enfant" headliner Jeremie Renier. Sounds like exactly my (and their) kind of flick, so I'll definitely be keeping my eyes on this one.

Two delightful time-wasters

Ever wondered what a week in the life of Alfonso Cuaron would be like? He makes it all sound remarkable mundane when he describes it to London's Telegraph, but it does involve jetting around Italy with Terry Gilliam to scout movie locations. I guess boring is in the eye of the beholder.

In case you need any more incentive to read this, it contains the following phrase: It is amazing how fast your testicles can go up and down. Click here and enjoy.

Another fun time-waster is this supposed list of the 50 funniest movies of all time compiled by London's Observer (via the Guardian.) I won't spoil it for you any further than this: There is no way "Life of Brian" should be at No. 1, even though it is a very funny movie (which I first watched, oddly enough, at an Episcopal youth group gathering.) I can't seem to find my list of the 10 I laugh loudest at, but I do know I had Stephen Frears' "The Snapper," based on the great little novel by Roddy Doyle, at No. 1. Anyways, click here to see what they picked, and feel free to grouse about it.

Two TV tidbits

I used to like Michael Rapaport quite a bit, I promise, but his starring role for two years on Fox's "The War at Home" just wiped all that goodwill away. I guess starring on simply the most excremental TV show in history will tend to do that.

Now comes word that he's sticking around TV to tarnish one of the few sitcoms I actually tune in to, NBC's "My Name is Earl." With Earl (Jason Lee) starting the upcoming season in jail, it seems Mr. Rapaport will be have a recurring role as one of his cellmates.

I'm a firm believer in second (and more) chances, but Mr. Rapaport has a lot of work to do to win me back. Here's hoping this is a good start.

In possibly much better news, it seems that the Henson folks are hard at work on the pilot for a new version of "The Muppet Show." Just typing that makes me smile. Paul McCartney is the guest host for the test episode of what I can only hope will be many more. Read more about it in TV Guide here.

Two intriguing (well, one anyway) posters

Whew. Long post today, but since I've taken three out of the last four days off, there's a lot out there, including these two posters courtesy of Comingsoon.net.

First comes Jerry Seinfeld's "Bee Movie," which I frankly can't say I'm too excited about. He just looks so damn smug, even with his bee face, in the trailers I've seen and in this poster. There's a strong chance I'm wrong and this will be somehow be good, and hearing but not seeing Renee Zellweger is a solid step in the right direction, but I'm still really skeptical.

Next, for a movie I'm much more excited about, comes "3:10 to Yuma," set to come out Sept. 7 with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe in the leads. Based on a short story by Elmore Leonard (huzzah!), it's about an infamous outlaw (Crowe) and the struggling Civil War veteran (Bale) who volunteers to deliver him to the "3:10 to Yuma" train so he can stand trial for murder. There's few things in life I like more than a good Western (and I'm watching "Deadwood," which certainly qualifies, now), so to this one I can only say bring it on.




And finally, a sublime trailer

Originally we were on some kind of spiritual journey, but that didn't really work out.

I have extremely high hopes for Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited," and the look and feel of this trailer only have me more excited. The colors alone mark it as an Anderson movie, and the snippets of dialogue we get from brothers Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman and, of course, Owen Wilson show that Anderson seems to be back on top of his game (after the rather disastrous "Steve Zissou.) Enjoy, and have an entirely bearable Wednesday. Peace out.