A Friday report with "Wargames" madness, Danny Boyle and Aaron Sorkin

Something that perfect really shouldn't need any words from me, but just in case you somehow can't tell, that's Martin Freeman in his Bilbo Baggins costume for Peter Jackson's upcoming movie of "The Hobbit," making it pretty much pure bliss. 'Nuff said.

And in other movie news this morning, I've really lost all my zeal to complain about the need to remake every single thing that came out of the '80s, especially since it's so clear there's nothing I or anyone else can do to stop them.

When they keep claiming the careers of promising directors, however, it just keeps getting more and more distressing. First this week came the inexplicably bad/tame first trailer for "Hustle & Flow" director Craig Brewer's take on "Footloose," and now comes word that the '80s remake machine has claimed another victim in Seth Gordon.

Gordon, who made the sensational documentary "King of Kong" and in a few weeks will have "Horrible Bosses" starring Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day in theaters, has now signed on to direct a remake of "WarGames."

Think about that for a second. While "WarGames" was a perfectly fun little flick, was there an '80s movie that was more specifically of its time? I really can't see how you would recreate that ridiculously entertaining scenario in this even more threatening world, and there's another attempt to resurrect something similar that should serve as a cautionary tale, "Red Dawn."

Making a remake of that even sillier '80s minor treasure wouldn't really seem on the surface to be too difficult, but for the filmmakers it's turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. After all major filming for the movie starring Thor's Chris Hemsworth had been completed, whatever studio is behind this madness decided that China could no longer be the big bad because its potential audience is too large, so they had to make a last-minute change to North Korea, where for all I know they don't get many Hollywood movies at all.

And I tell you all that to simply say this: The "Red Dawn" remake still has no release date and may well just disappear straight to DVD, as hopefully this "WarGames" chicanery will too, if it happens at all.

OK, after that diatribe, there's two other bits of news out there that caught my eye this morning, starting with an "X-Men: First Class"-related casting shift for Danny Boyle's next movie.

"Trance," which the director will unfortunately most likely not make until after he directs the opening ceremonies for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, sounds like its right in the vein of his earlier work such as "Shallow Grave" (still my favorite Boyle flick) and "Trainspotting."

The flick is about an employee at an arthouse who teams with a group of criminals to steal a valuable piece. Though the heist succeeds, a blow to the head gives him amnesia and he is unable to remember where the art is hidden. Suspecting foul play, his co-conspirators hire a hypnotist to try and pull the secret from his mind.

Sounds like nothing but potentially great to me, and though Michael Fassbender was originally set to play the lead, it has now apparently been passed on to James McAvoy. Not really trading up or down there, but a lateral move, I'd say, so stay tuned for more on this project as soon as I can find it.

And finally today, it seems that when HBO gets is hands on talented directors/writers, it really doesn't want to let them go.

Aaron Sorkin already has a series going to pilot on the network this fall, "More as the Story Develops," which sounds eerily like "Sports Night" simply redone with a cable news show instead of a cable sports show (not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that.)

And now comes word that he's teaming up with "The Office" star John Kraskinski, who will produce and probably star, for a mini-series of eight episodes or so that springs from the book "Life at the Marmont" by Raymond R. Sarlot.

Given the Sunset Strip hotel's juicy history, it should give Sorkin plenty to work with. It's where the corpse of John Belushi was discovered in 1982, and among the personalities who lave lodged there since the 1930s are Hunter S. Thompson, Greta Garbo, Errol Flynn, Judy Garland and Lindsay Lohan.

Sounds like a whole lot of fun to me, and the casting alone should be a hoot. And if you'll excuse me now, I'm off to do some swimming before I take a chance on Jake Kasdan's "Bad Teacher," which I'm hoping against hope will deliver some pretty solid laughs. Peace out.

Leonard Nimoy channels The Dude for pretty pure bliss

OK, a short, rather lazy post today because I've got the chance to see Terrence Malick's "Tree of Life" if I can make it to Atlanta's fabulous Regal Tara Cinemas by 12:45, and I'm most certainly not going to let that pass me by.

I will, however, pass on my quick word that you can certainly believe every ounce of the hype surrounding "X-Men: First Class," because it really is just that good. "Kick-Ass" director Matthew Vaughn keeps things moving at a smart and very brisk pace, and if you're reintroducing well-known characters, it certainly helps when you've got James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender to play them. Super campy, silly and just ultra-fun summer fare.

And after that today, I just have a couple of videos, but when the first one has Leonard Nimoy channeling The Dude, it's well worth a few minutes of your time. The song itself by Bruno Mars? Like so much of today's breezy radio pop, it just quickly passes through one ear and out the other of this middle-aged dude, but the video is a hoot. Enjoy, and then stick around for a clip from one of the comedy's I'm most looking forward to for the rest of this summer.



Finally today is a clip from the upcoming Ruben Fleischer ("Zombieland") movie "30 Minutes or Less," starring Jesse Eisenberg and veryfunnyman Aziz Ansari and set to drop Aug. 12. Just in case you somehow didn't know the plot, Eisenberg lays it out in this clip, after some very funny stuff with Aziz as a school teacher. Enjoy the clip and the rest of your weekend. Peace out.

Tags:
Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

Robert Redford to resurrect the big baseball movie

Where to start in a baseball season in which, while the Orioles have lost a game, they're still in first place in the American League East, and for once by power of something besides sheer alphabetical order? With talk of a grand baseball movie, of course.

It seems that Robert Redford, who has been shopping the idea of a Jackie Robinson movie for some time now, is finally getting things rolling with the choice of a writer/director, Brian Helgeland. And being Robert Redford, he's scooped up a choice role for himself: Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers general manager who brought Robinson to the big leagues.

The movie will apparently focus on the complicated relationship of Robinson and Rickey rather than specifically on Jackie's breaking of the MLB color barrier, but no matter what the focus, there are few genres of flicks I love more than the big baseball movie, so bring it on!

It will be a short report today because I was up rather late (well, by my standards, anyway) watching "Spamalot" (thanks, Stephanie!), and therefore got up late too. There is, however, some big news out there about just who might be the new boss of "The Office" when Steve Carell steps down at the end of this season.

Following Michael Scott's rather nifty proposal to Holly (Amy Ryan), it was revealed that Will Ferrell will at least be serving as an interim boss, but that's apparently only for a few weeks. Shame, because he's a better candidate than just about anyone else set to interview on the show's season finale (or at least better than anyone who could actually get the job.)

Now scheduled to interview to be the next boss of Dunder Mifflin, according to the seriously TV-obsessed Michael Ausiello, are these five people: Ricky Gervais, Gob Bluth, Ray Romano, James Spader and Catherine Tate.

While having Gervais be the boss for a season or two would certainly be a scream, I really can't see him doing that. And, as Ausiello points out, Ray Romano already has a fairly great show of his own with "Men of a Certain Age," and Arnett is already committed to some kind of other pilot for NBC.

That leaves Spader and Tate, I suppose, and I'd have to say the latter would be the FAR superior choice. Nothing against Spader, who could potentially be very funny, but Catherine Tate is simply great. Perhaps best known for her role as Donna Noble on "Doctor Who," she was also fantastic in "Starter for 10," a rather criminally underseen British romantic comedy starring James McAvoy and Rebecca Hall (rent that one already!) She certainly gets my vote, but no matter how it turns out, this should just be a really fun finale.

OK, I was going to post the New Yorker's profile of veryfunnywoman Anna Faris, but it's behind a pay wall, but just trust me: If you don't get the magazine, it's worth buying this issue, just for that.

And the last thing I have today is the latest Funny or Die production which, though it starts a bit slowly, falls solidly into the former category once it gets going. The "When Harry and Sally 2" of sorts clip stars Billy Crystal, Dame Helen Mirren, Rob Reiner, Adam Scott and even Mike Tyson (but no Meg Ryan), and is pretty sublimely silly. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

When Harry Met Sally 2 with Billy Crystal & Helen Mirren from Billy Crystal

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.

Christopher Nolan, uncaped crusader against 3-D? Not so much

Actually, if you like the funny, there's nowhere else to start today than with the fact that the extremely funny Louie CK is coming to F/X tonight with his new sitcom, appropriately enough titled simply "Louie."

The show, which will blend his standup with sitcom set pieces, has gotten nothing but positive write ups from what I've seen so far, so you can count me as thoroughly psyched for this, even if, since it's on at 11 p.m. on a school night, this kid will be in bed already and will watch it in DVRed form Wednesday night. Here's a fairly funny promo clip. Enjoy.



OK, now on to the main event. I'm still entirely convinced that Christopher Nolan's "Inception" is going to do nothing but rock when it comes out July 16, but any notion that he was some kind of uncaped crusader against the virus that is 3-D (which, admittedly, really only existed in my own mind) has now been shattered.

It seems that, rather than standing up to the tide and making his blockbuster without Hollywood's latest gimmick, Nolan and his crew simply ran out of time to complete the 3-D conversion process. Sheesh. Here's what he had to say about it:

"When we edited the film, we looked at the post-conversion process and did some very good tests, but when I really looked at the time period we had and where my attention needed to be in finishing the film, I decided I didn't have enough time to do it to the standard I would have liked."

In the very next quote, however, he goes on to make the exact case against 3-D, post-conversion or otherwise, that holds the most sway with me.

"It's perfectly possible to post-convert a film very well. I like not having glasses on when I see a movie and I like seeing a bright immersive image. So, I think at the end of the day I am extremely happy to be putting the film out with 35 mil film prints. Very brightly projected with the highest possible image quality. That's really what excited me."

Amen brother, Now, just remember that when and if you ever get around to making a "Batman 3"!

In other superhero news about a flick that's so far coming together very well, it seems that Matthew Vaughn has hired his Emma Frost for "X-Men: First Class." Having already made solid choices for the leads of young Professor X and Magneto, respectively James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, it's only natural in comic-book progression that they'd find, and forgive me for saying it, a sublimely hot actress to play the White Queen. And in Alice Eve, pictured, of course, here, they certainly have.

So, who's Alice Eve? Well, I've only ever seen her in the surprisingly satisfying "She's Out of My League" with Jay Baruchel. Before that movie collapses into a pool of rom-com formula for the finish, it's remarkably funny, especially co-star Krysten Ritter. If you haven't seen this one, you could certainly do far worse with a rental.

OK, as we go into the videos, where else to start than with this this touching tribute to O Rei Pele, executive produced by Fernando Meirelles of "City of God" fame. It imagines a parallel end to the great one's playing career, and if you like soccer (and please, if you don't, keep it to yourself), this is certainly worth about five minutes of your time, and may even jerk a tear or two out of you. Enjoy.



Where do you go from there? Why not to a kung fu movie directed by RZA of the Wu Tang Clan? Yes, really, and this two-minute trailer (with, I apologize in advance, just horrendously bad music) promises that "Wu Tang Vs. the Golden Phoenix" will be bad in the most delightfully fun kind of way. Enjoy.



And finally, how better to end than with the first trailer for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," which they've rather wisely stashed in front of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" beginning at midnight tonight (or tomorrow morning, or whatever.) You can argue with making it into two movies, but the final chapter of Harry's saga is an epic tome, so I really have no beef with it. What you can see from this is that they really got it done just in time, because the kids really can't get any older for this to work at all, but I'm confident director David Yates will come up with winners for these two flicks, the first of which is coming in November. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.

James McAvoy joins cast of superhero flick I'm not too old to get geeked up for

So, kids (or at least males a fair bit younger than me), looking for a way to kill your summer vacation? Why not try out for Paramount's remake of "Footloose"? After all, since once-great director Craig Brewer (director of one of my favorite movies with "Hustle & Flow" but also of the cinematic abortion "Black Snake Moan") has nothing better to do this summer than direct this, why not get in on the fun? Here are the actual details:

Seeking males 18 or older to play high school seniorS in FOOTLOOSE, shooting Summer 2010. MUST HAVE NATURAL RHYTHM AND BE COMFORTABLE DANCING. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A TRAINED DANCER BUT A QUICK LEARNER.
THE SETTING: The South, Present Day
Click here

Nothing like a call for white dudes (or mostly, at least, I'd have to imagine) with "natural rhythm." Sheesh.

And just as I'm too old to try out for the new "Footloose," I'm at least somewhat too old to get excited about every bit of superhero news that comes down the pike. I really couldn't care less who will be playing Captain America, though since I do spend a fair amount of time reading about movies, I'm fairly certain it's Chris Evans.

I will never, however, be too antiquated to get geeked up about genuinely good superhero flicks, which Matthew Vaughn's "X-Men: First Class" certainly seems to be shaping up to be. Anyone who saw Vaughn's "Kick-Ass" (which given how great it is really is a criminally few people) knows that he has the style to direct a first-class comic book flick, and with this first nugget of casting news (that I know of at least) things are moving in the definite right direction.

James McAvoy has, according to the Hollywood Reporter, just signed on to play the young Charles Xavier, aka Professor X. The movie (another damned prequel, but I guess we just have to deal with it) will explore the early friendship of Professor X and Magneto, and how it eventually morphed into enmity, so the casting of the other role will be key. Fox is moving this along very quickly now, with shooting planned to start this summer, so expect that word to come any day now.

And for a weekend rental suggestion, you could do a whole lot worse than the last thing I saw McAvoy in, "The Last Station." Though about the heady subject of the last year of Leo Tolstoy's life, McAvoy and much more so Dame Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer just make it a thoroughly funny romp before it gets serious, but still always fun to watch. Highly recommended.

As for what I'll be watching on TV this weekend, one thing will certainly be Peter Morgan's "The Special Relationship," making its HBO debut Saturday night at 9 p.m. If that name sounds familiar, he was the screenwriter for "The Queen" starring Dame Mirren, and also for the simply sensational soccer movie "The Damned United" (actually, if you only rent one movie this weekend, make it that one, to stoke the World Cup Fever!)

What those movies have in common is the great Michael Sheen, who has quickly developed into one of my favorite actors. "The Special Relationship" examines the relationship between Sheen's Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, played here by Dennis Quaid. This is actually the third installment in the Tony Blair trilogy that started with "The Queen." The second, "The Deal," which examines how Blair pushed out Gordon Brown (briefly my former boss) to first become prime minister, is actually better than "The Queen," so here's hoping the arc just keeps getting better.

Though W. apparently plays no visible role in "The Special Relationship," in spotlighting how the U.S. and Britain got involved in Yugoslavia, The Hollywood Reporter says this flick, directed by Richard Loncraine, will say a lot about how and why both countries later jumped back into Iraq. I'm there.

And finally, because I'm just a sucker for Aziz Ansari and will hopefully never be too old to plug something as silly as the MTV Movie Awards, airing June 6 with Ansari as the host, I'll close with the latest promo. Interestingly enough, though I can't imagine "The Hurt Locker" will actually win any big MTV awards, this is the second promo spoofing Kathyrn Bigelow's flick, this time with its star Jeremy Renner and some kid named Justin Bieber (and being a geezer, I have the right to misspell his name, if I indeed did.) Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

MTV Shows

Take advantage of a golden opportunity at the Macon Film Guild this weekend

In a world in which screen-to-DVD windows keep getting tighter and tighter, it can be hard for a community group as great as the Macon Film Guild to stay alive, but luckily for anyone like me who lives here, it's actually thriving.

And this month they've scored a real coup with "The Last Station." If you've never come out to see what the group puts together the second Sunday of each month at downtown Macon's Douglass Theatre, this is certainly a golden opportunity to finally do so.

The movie itself, about the last years of Leo Tolstoy, is, from everything I've read, a whole lot more fun than that might sound on its surface. Starring Dame Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, James McAvoy and Paul Giamatti, it's apparently a lively arena of personalities and ideas, and if you turn out for the 2 p.m. showing, you'll see me there, probably up in the balcony.

I was hoping to mention what the next offering will be, but I've managed to lose the bright yellow postcard they send me each month. I do know, however, though that I had to miss it because I had to work, the guild showed Pedro Almodovar's fabulous "Broken Embraces" last month, so it is really on a little winning streak.

Showings of "The Last Station" are at 2, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. this Sunday at the Douglass, with a discussion following the 4:30 event, so if you live in Macon, please turn out for this fun offering.

And that's all I really have to say today. I will, of course, also be going to see "Iron Man 2" this weekend, most likely on Saturday afternoon, so feel free to check back for my thoughts about that, mostly likely on Monday morning, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

Exactly the right man to play Fela on the big screen, and a welcome visit from exactly the wrong Mexican

At the same time that the Broadway musical "Fela!" has received 11 Tony nominations, Focus Features has announced even better news about who will play the Afrobeat legend in a long overdue biopic - and it's easily the perfect choice.

First, as for the musical, which I had the pleasure of seeing last winter, it would be a worthy winner in any category, but especially for the dynamic performance of Sahr Ngaujah as the man himself. I was ready for the show's first half, more than a bit too heavy on audience engagement for my liking, to end, but it just gets better and better in act two as the story of Fela Kuti just gets crazier and crazier.

And if you're unfamiliar with his saga, it's a truly unique one. Along with creating a mad musical style that fused jazz, funk, West African drums and often 27-minute-or-so-long songs, he also drove the Nigerian government mad to the point that they ... well, you'll have to find out what they did to the poor man's mother for yourself, but it's just plain insane. He also took 27 wives along the way.

Which all makes for what should be an amazing biopic in the hands of director Steve McQueen (no, not the dead one) and (yes, I know I'm rather ashamedly burying the lead here) easily the perfect star in Chiwetel Ejiofor, who has quickly risen to become one of my favorite actors. He certainly has the intensity to pull this remarkable story off, and if you haven't seen McQueen's directing debut "The Hunger," the second-best movie ever made about IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands is well worth a rental (the best, Terry George's "Some Mother's Son" starring Dame Helen Mirren, is somehow still not out on DVD. What the hell's up with that? And if I may digress further for just a sec, the Macon Film Guild is showing "The Last Station," starring Mirren, Christopher Plummer and James McAvoy, this Sunday at 2, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. at downtown Macon's Douglass Theatre. I'll be there, and if you're in Macon, you certainly should too.)

The film, though separate from the Broadway hit, has secured the rights to Fela's music, so along with being extremely political this should also just be an outright party. In my mind, I'm there already.

OK, after that today, just a couple of tidbits, and then the promised return of Robert Rodriguez's "Machete," and I can confirm that Danny Trejo is an even badder MF in the real trailer.

But first up comes the official synopsis for "Brick" and "Brothers Bloom" director Rian Johnson's next flick, "Looper," which will be a reunion with "Brick" star Joseph Gordon-Levitt. To clear up the confusion that has surrounded the "dark sci-fi" project thus far, here's what he had to say to Cinematical:

Looper is a time travel movie, set in a near future where time travel doesn’t exist but will be invented in a few decades. It’s pretty dark in tone, much different from Bloom, and involves a group of killers (called Loopers) who work for a crime syndicate in the future. Their bosses send their targets hogtied and blindfolded back in time to the Loopers, and their job is to simply shoot them in the head and dispose of the body. So the target vanishes from the future and the Loopers dispose of a corpse that doesn’t technically exist, a very clean system. Complications set in from there.

I'm sure they do. Like I said yesterday, that plot certainly sounds like it could be for the kind of tired "sci-fi" flicks that seem to appear for about a week each February, but here's hoping this one goes against the grain.

And in a bit of very good TV news, the makers of "Futurama" have just announced that the first two new episodes of the animated sci-fi comedy will air back to back on Comedy Central at 10 p.m. June 24. I have no idea how in the world the Matt Groening and David X. Cohen show has survived this long, but I'll certainly be tuning in when it somehow returns again. Enjoy this first still from the rather cleverly titled first return episode, "Rebirth."


And finally today, when Robert Rodriguez's "Machete" finally hits theaters Sept. 3, it will probably be as big a box-office flop as "Grindhouse," the movie in which it first appeared as a fake trailer, but I know I'll at least certainly be watching. As you can see from this trailer rather cleverly tailored to Arizona's current immigrant purge, it does indeed flesh out the original faux trailer as a pretty straight-forward tale of revenge, but with a truly eclectic cast that includes Trejo, of course, as Machete, but also Jessica Alba, Don Johnson, Lindsay Lohan, Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez and even Robert De Niro. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

For Wednesday, just a slew of movie news, good, bad and simply silly

There's just a ton of news out there today (or perhaps yesterday, but it's new enough to me), but let's just start with the worst of all and get it over with: George Lopez has signed on to star in a big-screen version of "Speedy Gonzalez." Just take that in for a second before moving on.

Now, I understand that Hispanics need to get all kind of roles and want that to happen all the time, but can you have a worse comedic role model than the very obnoxious Lopez or a more stereotypical role for him to jump into? Sheesh.

Just in case you're curious about the "plot" of this monstrosity, it will be a live-action/CGI animation hybrid from the director of "Garfield" (this just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?) about how Speedy becomes a race car driver.

OK, enough bile to start the day. It can only get better from here, I promise.

Freida Pinto to join forces with Tarsem

It really seems like every other movie coming out nowadays has something to do with Greek gods, and I'll probably skip just about all of them except for this one, because I'll see just about anything directed by Tarsem.

If you have seen "The Fall" (and if you haven't, why the heck not?), you know he's as capable of telling a great story as he is of delivering something visually stunning, and now he's got a great leading lady for his next project, "War of the Gods."

The story follows a young warrior Theseus as he leads his men into battle with the immortal Greek gods to - of course - save mankind. Freida Pinto is set to play Phaedra, an oracle priestess who joins Theseus on his quest.

Like I said, these movies quickly all run together for me, but Tarsem is without exaggerating a genius, and Freida Pinto is the kind of beauty I'd probably pay to watch eat a bag of chips, so I'll definitely be keeping my eyes on this one.

The Coens find their young leading lady

Remakes usually make me cringe as much as anyone, but these next two are just so crazy that I can get behind them unconditionally.

First up is the Coen brothers' take on "True Grit," set to come out in December and almost certainly net them another Best Picture nomination in the next field of ten.

Why a remake of "True Grit"? Well, the original movie is great in itself, but the novel by Charles Portis is even better, with a lot of humor to mine that the Coens should take full advantage of.

Already announced for the stellar cast are Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin, and now its just been announced that newcomer Hailee Steinfeld has been cast in the essential role of Mattie Ross, the 14-year-old who, along with an aging U.S. marshall and another lawman, tracks her father's killer in hostile Indian territory. I've included a picture of her since I really had no idea who she was, but the Coens' take will apparently focus much more on Mattie's view of the story, so this really is the key part. Count me as thoroughly jazzed for this.

Stephen Chow to channel Bruce Lee

I'd normally greet any news of a Bruce Lee movie remake with nothing but a sneer, but Stephen Chow is both certifiably insane and just as fun, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on this.

Chow has just signed on to make his Hollywood acting/directing debut with something called "Tai Chi," which is at least loosely to be a remake of sorts of Lee's "Way of the Dragon."

Like the original, it will tell the story of a Chinese immigrant (Chow, natch) working as a dishwasher in Chinatown who also just happens to be a Tai Chi master. He hides those skills until he's forced to stand up to gangsters who oppress his fellow immigrants.

This sounds like nothing but fun to me, and the kind of flicks Jackie Chan used to make before he joined ludicrous projects like the "Karate Kid" remake coming fast (and, don't say I didn't warn you, there's more coming on that later today.) Definitely keep an eye on this.

A pair of biopics in the pipeline

When I saw this this morning, I tried to think if there's been a Robert F. Kennedy biopic made yet, but couldn't think of one (if I'm wrong, let me know.) He's certainly a ripe subject, and by far the most fascinating of the Kennedy clan in my book, so word about a biopic is certainly welcome.

And Bostonian Matt Damon would certainly seem to be natural choice to play him, as he will for director Gary Ross from a Steven Knight script.

We all know the tragic story, but my favorite RFK moment of all would have to be the speech he gave in the streets of Indianapolis announcing the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Incredibly stirring stuff that should be great to see envisioned on the big screen.

And in even better biopic news, Forest Whitaker let slip in an interview with the indispensable Blackfilm.com that he is directing and starring in a biopic about Satchmo himself, Louis Armstrong. Whitaker certainly has the look for it, and he's becoming a first-rate director too, so this should be nothing but fun.

And there's some great casting news, too

Of all the comedy fronts out there, the best one in my book is what's coming from my adopted South from the mob of Jody Hill, Danny McBride and David Gordon Green. They just view the world with an extremely jaded eye, and deliver their stories, thankfully, without an ounce of sentiment (but often plenty of silliness.)

And now comes word today that Green is about to sign on to direct something that should be the epitome of said silliness, something called "The Sitter," to star Jonah Hill. You've at least got my attention when you describe your flick as a cross between "Superbad" and "Adventures in Babysitting," and this one will be about Hill being forced to babysit three wild kids.

Just about nothing makes me laugh more than children being unleashed as their truly wild and hopefully profane selves, so here's hoping this turns into something genuinely hilarious.

And in semi-related news, fellow Judd Apatow protege Jason Segel is joining something that sounds just raunchy enough to suit him perfectly. Along with the alwaysveryfunny John Michael Higgins (if you don't know who he is, watch "Best in Show" and then get back to me) he's joined something called "Bad Teacher" being directed by Jake Kasdan (as an aside, if you haven't seen Kasdan's "TV Set," do yourself a favor and rent it immediately.)

The flick follows a foul-mouthed, gold-digging seventh grade teacher (Cameron Diaz, somehow) who, after being dumped by her boyfriend, sets her sights on a colleague (Lucy Punch) who is dating the school's model teacher. Add into this mix Segel as a gym teacher and Higgins as the school's principal, and you've got the makings of something that should be nothing but very funny.

And in clearly much classier news, Angelica Huston and Philip Baker Hall are joining James McAvoy, Seth Rogen and Reel Fanatic crush Anna Kendrick in the now-untitled cancer comedy which used to be known as "I'm With Cancer."

The flick, which director Jonathan Levine starts shooting later this month in Vancouver, stars McAvoy as a 25-year-old who learns he has cancer. I have no idea what anyone else will do in this flick, but with a cast like that, it's certainly one to watch out for. Hall, in particular, is a favorite around here who should be a much bigger star by now.

And, finally, a trio of videos

You know, this has already gone a lot longer than I intended when I woke up this morning, but that's what happens when I start the day with a big bowl of coffee.

And for my money, there isn't a funnier (or, not coincidentally, crazier) dude out there today than Aziz Ansari. You can see him on "Parks and Recreation," but thankfully he's also taking his Raaaaandy character from Apatow's "Funny People" to ridiculous extremes. After making a mini-documentary about the Andrew Dice Clay-type comedian (which you can watch in installments on YouTube, highly recommended), Ansari has now teaamed up with TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek to make a Raaaaandy rap album. Yes, really.

And judging from the first single, "Aaaaaaaangry," which you can listen to here, the as-yet-unfinished "mix tape" should just be insanely fun. On this track, he disses everyone from Dr. Dre (first name slowest, last name ever) to the Clipse, and it's just a hoot. Below is a clip of Ansari in character annoucing that the mix tape will be delayed but coming soon, and will certainly be purchased by me whenever that actually happens. Enjoy.



OK, now remember, I did warn you earlier. Next up comes quite possibly the most intelligence-insulating trailer of all time. I'm really not sure where to start with this, but ripping off the "wax on, wax off" bit is probably the worst of all. "Enjoy" the first trailer I know of for the "Karate Kid" remake starring Will Smith's kid, if you dare.



And finally, if for nothing else than to watch out the taste of that monstrosity, here's a promo for "Chuck," which is thankfully finally set to return to NBC on March 1. Since you've got Superman of a sort, Brandon Routh, why not make a "Superman" style promo? Enjoy, and have a perfectly bearable Wednesday. Peace out.

Truly dastardly news about "Futurama" and a video trifecta

I really don't believe this news about Guillermo del Toro's "The Hobbit" is true yet, but I figured I'd pass it on anyways.

It's already out there that James McAvoy (who would be my choice), Doctor Who David Tennant and Daniel Radcliffe are the three finalists to play Bilbo Baggins. Now, this report in London's Telegraph claims that Tennant has landed the lead role, but their sourcing (nonexistent) and logic are extremely shady. They're essentially concluding that since Peter Jackson (for "District 9") and Tennant (For "Doctor Who") are going to be in San Diego for ComicCon next week, they must be planning to make the big announcement there.

Well, that's obviously much more than a leap. I think there's more than a 50-50 chance they'll turn out to be right in the end, but it will just be a matter of luck.

But that's not the news that really set me off this morning, which is much more ominous. It seems that Twentieth Century Fox, which is still producing the planned new episodes of the great "Futurama" even though it's going to be on Comedy Central, is trying to recast almost the entire show because they are, as Bender would surely agree, cheap bastards.

You could have counted me as thoroughly psyched and planning to tune in to (well, DVR) every episode, but certainly not on these terms. In a dispute over money, the studio is now recasting the parts played by Billy West (Fry, the professor and Doctor Zoidberg), Katey Segal (Leela), John DiMaggio (Bender) and everyone else in the cast.

Now, I realize that TV shows change cast members all the time, but I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite like this. You might as well just call a scab a scab, and I really can't see anyway I'll be watching any of these now. Stay tuned.

OK, on to much sweeter stuff. Here are a trio of videos that just made me smile. My co-worker Woody Marshall likes to get me to call this theater in North Carolina where the old guy who owns it likes to do mini-reviews as he reads the week's showtimes, but he's not nearly as funny as this Irish dude who really has his knickers in a bunch over "Bruno." Enjoy.



Next up comes an oddity that will surely be of interest to fans of "Where the Wild Things Are," of which you can certainly count me a devoted one. Long before Spike Jonze set his sights on making what is sure to be the sensational live-action version coming in October, it seems that Disney owned the rights to Sendak's short classic, and John Lasseter toyed with making an animated version of it. That never came to fruition, and Lasseter was fired before obviously getting his sweet revenge at Pixar, but at the end of this clip you can see a bit of what he had in mind, which looks pretty friggin' terrible. Enjoy.



And finally, just so you can't say I didn't warn you, this next clip is really, really gay (not that that there's anything wrong with that.) Courtesy of the great froggy film site Allocine, here's the first trailer I know of for "I Love You, Phillip Morris," the directorial debut of "Bad Santa" scribes Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, which, as you'll see, stars Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor in what should be a truly odd tale. It's not set to come out until next February, I think, but enjoy the trailer and have a great rest of the weekend. Peace out.

Like "Robot Chicken" for people not suffering from adult ADD?

Actually, the biggest news out there today, of course, is that J.J. Abrams and folks are rolling "Star Trek" out tonight "Iron Man"-style, with hourly Thursday night screenings that come well before midnight (thank God he remembered us old folk!) I still haven't decided if I'm gonna brave the madness for a 7 p.m. show, but I'm leaning toward yes.

And the funniest, at least in my book, is that even though Kal Penn supposedly works for the White House (actually, I'm sure he does, and probably works quite hard), they're still gonna let him do another Harold & Kumar movie. I can't believe anyone with that much power thinks this would be a good PR move, but even so, "A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas" (I'm laughing at that already) has been penciled in for a Nov. 5, 2010, release. They may be thoroughly puerile, but the first two Harold & Kumar flicks are also just extremely funny, especially "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" (and don't forget, of course, that Harold himself, John Cho, is the new Hikaru Sulu.)

And in perhaps the oddest, what could only be called an A-list cast has been assembled for a movie about ... raccoons? Elizabeth Banks, James McAvoy, Laura Linney and Anna Friel (all of whom would make any list of my favorite actors, with Laura Linney easily No. 1) are all set to star in a black comedy called "The Details" about a couple (Banks and McAvoy) who discover an infestation of raccoons in the backyard. More than a little bizarre, but I'm betting on funny, too.

And as I write this, it strikes me that the headline for this post is more than a little fitting, because these posts sometimes (like today) often do seem like they're written by someone with a rather severe case of ADD (which may well be the case, but I really have no idea.) Anyways, fans of "Robot Chicken," and I'd imagine there have to be quite a few of you out there, should rejoice, because Seth Green and his crew are getting another Adult Swim show to do in their stop-motion style.

Now, "Robot Chicken" certainly isn't without faults, the biggest being that it indeed has the attention span of a 2-year-old on meth. For fifteen minutes of late-night funnies, however, it really doesn't get much better than what these guys have been cooking up for the past four years or so.

And for their new project, "Titan Maximum," they're trying something a little novel: An actual, perhaps even coherent, plot, with a storyline that actually continues from episode to episode. Shocking.

Per the Hollywood Reporter: "Titan" is set 100 years in the future, when Saturn's moon Titan is defended by an elite squadron of young, brash pilots whose spaceships combine to form the giant robot Titan Maximum. Because of budget cuts, the team has been disbanded but must hastily reassemble when a former team member turns rogue and tries to conquer the solar system.

"Titan," which will launch in September with an initial order of nine episodes, was created by "Robot" co-head writer/producer Tom Root and co-creator/exec producer Matthew Senreich.

All that sounds great to me, especially since Seth Green will voice the show's villain and "Robot Chicken" players Breckin Meyer, Rachael Leigh Cook, Dan Milano and Eden Espinosa will all be along for the ride. Tom Root summed up the spirit of the thing pretty good with this quote, also from THR:

"There were always teams of extraordinary young people with the fate of the universe in their hands. In reality, that would end terribly. The last thing you want when giant monsters attack is a bunch of teenagers in charge of defending you. 'Titan Maximum' is about what would really happen if a team of idiot kids was in charge of a 6-story-tall robot."

Ha! A new, possibly even half-hour long show to watch this fall? Sounds perfect to me, and fans of "The Office" should take note: It's entirely likely that Jim and Pam might get married tonight, so you'll definitely want to tune in. All the episode summary from NBC said was that they take a "secret trip," but given that we're almost at the end of the season, I'd have to imagine nuptials are in the air. Enjoy this deleted scene from last week's "Casual Friday" episode (I'm still trying to wipe that vision of Meredith's outfit out of my mind, but it's just kind of stuck there), and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. And please, if you go see "Star Trek" tonight, feel free to let me know what you thought of it. Peace out.

Atonement: The power of secrets and lies

Before diving any further into Joe Wright's often very challenging movie about the novel by Ian McEwan, let me predict that you will hear the word "Atonement" more than any other when the Oscar nominations are announced Tuesday morning. That's not really an assessment of how much I liked the movie (which I mostly did), just an observation about what we can expect very soon (and why, of course, it was given a not-at-all-coincidental wide release this week.)

If I was unable to fall in love with the movie, that fact comes from the built-in structure of both the novel and the flick. I won't spoil the major twist, which feels perfectly natural in McEwan's book but a little forced at the end of a two-hour movie, but I will say that by design it gives a remoteness to the love story at the tale's core (the love story which, of course, gives them a double dose of movie-poster eye candy with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, even if this movie in so many ways belongs to young Saoirse Ronan as Briony Tallis.)

The movie is at its strongest in the first 45 minutes or so, when Wright almost perfectly captures the atmosphere that nurtures all the best and worst aspects of Briony's budding creativity. Though the almost constant clacking of typewriter keys turns into a gimmick far too quickly, it's easy to see how she could be led to (willfully?) misinterpret what she saw one evening at the manor house where she was raised, an act of betrayal which will permanently alter the lives of her sister Cecilia (Knightley) and Robbie (McAvoy), the son of a family servant who lusts for Cecilia (and, in particular and understandably, a certain part of her anatomy.)

I don't want to give away any more than that, because much of the magic of this opening portion comes in discovering through whose eyes you're watching it all unfold. At its best, in particular with the closing shot of Robbie returning home with the defiant twins in tow, it's as good as and strongly invokes Jean Renoir's "Rules of the Game."

It's at this point, when the flick shifts to the wartime lives of Cecilia, Robbie and Briony, that it develops a rather severe distance (again, much of that can be credited to what we learn at the end, but I stlll found it to be a drag on the viewing experience.) There's just, as hard as Knightley and McAvoy tried, a lack of passion to the tale that prevents you from growing more attached to either of them, or to Briony (who will be played by two more actresses as the story continues.)

Which isn't to say there aren't some stunning visual sequences in the second half, particularly the five-minute-or-so scene on the beach at Dunkirk, where Robbie and two of his fellow soldiers arrive in pretty rough shape. It's probably the most impressive set piece of 2007 (though I still prefer the arrival of Remy in the kitchen at Gusteau's in "Ratatouille"), and rivals what Alfonso Cuaron put together at that burned-out building in "Children of Men.") Just as an aside, I was waiting to see if Wright would let the black soldier in their ragtag group have any lines at all, which made me laugh way louder than I should have when he finally gets to utter his two-word, dead-on assessment of their rather dire straits.

In all, I would urge that you don't let any of my qualms let me stop you from seeing this fine flick, the kind of satisfying fare for adults (an impressive 50 or so of whom turned out for my 11 a.m. showing Friday morning) that we just don't get often enough for me. And as far as the Oscars go, it hopefully sets up a great battle royale in the category of Best Supporting Actress between Amy Ryan for "Gone Baby Gone," Kelly Macdonald for "No Country for Old Men" and young Ms. Ronan for her superb work here (and hopefully an appearance from Allison Janney for "Juno" too.) My heart's with Macdonald and my money's on Ryan, but I wouldn't count out Ronan either if "Atonement" goes on the awards roll I'm expecting.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have some bills to pay, some grocery shopping to do and then a John Sayles (huzzah!) movie to watch at my local multiplex. Peace out.

Best DVD week ever?

Well, probably not, but given the sea of crap that usually flows onto DVD shelves this time of year, it's rare enough to have three movies that I thoroughly enjoyed hit all at once.

First, of course, comes "300," Zack Snyder's take on Frank Miller's graphic novel about the battle of Thermopylae. Gerard Butler leads the 300 scantily clad Spartans of the title into battle in what was probably the most over- (and incorrectly) analyzed movie so far this year. It's just a popcorn movie, after all, and as I argued here, a damn fine one at that.

Extras for the two-disc edition include a commentary by director Zack Snyder, writer Kurt Johnstad and director of photography Larry Fong, deleted scenes with introduction by Snyder, and three featurettes: "The 300: Fact or Fiction?" Historians, authors and filmmakers reveal how much of the film was based on fact; "Who Were The Spartans: The Warriors of 300" touches on the customs and ways of life of the Spartans; and "Frank Miller Tapes" shows how Miller exerted his control to make sure his epic graphic novel looked right on the big screen. Definitely my first buy this week.

"Hot Fuzz"

Is "Hot Fuzz" the funnest movie of 2007? So far, I'd have to say yes, by just a nose over "Knocked Up." Anyone who liked "Shaun of the Dead" will love this ode to '80s action movies from Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and Nick Frost. It goes on at least 10 minutes too long, but you'll be laughing so hard you'll hardly notice. You can read my full review here.

"Starter for 10"

Among the many nice things I can say about South African Airways is that their inflight movie selection is sensational. Although I decided to skip "The Painted Veil," I did watch the nearly flawless "Breach" again and discovered "Starter for 10," a thoroughly predictable yet utterly charming British take on the '80s teen romantic comedy.

James McAvoy, who must have been pushing 30 when this came out last year, is surprisingly convincing as a British public school student who, of course, is more interested in chasing co-eds than he is learning anything. The rather awful title, which meant nothing to me before seeing the flick, comes from a quiz show for teams of prep-school students.

There would be nothing to recommend this movie if it weren't so entirely, well, British. From the great music to the hideous attire, it invokes the spirit of Thatcher's Britain if nothing else, and it's well worth a rental. Besides, I once watched "Big Momma's House 2" out of desperation while trapped on a plane, and this is a damn sight better than that.

Welcome back, Mr. Franklin

It's a rare feat when a director manages to make two of my favorite movies, so I can only give a hearty huzzah to the return of Carl Franklin to the big screen.

His "One False Move" is an almost flawless film noir, and that "Devil in a Blue Dress" flick with Denzel and Don is almost as good. Now, after years of directing for TV and serving up the occasion big-screen clunker, it seems that Mr. Franklin is getting back on course.

First will come "Tulia," based on the book about one Texas sheriff's plan to wipe out the black population of his town by concocting an imaginary drug ring. It would make a sensational story if it weren't all so horribly true. For the movie, Billy Bob Thornton plays an attorney who tries to take him on, and Halle Berry figures in here somehow too (please, please, please let this be better than that simply craptastic "Monster's Ball" flick!)

And now comes word of a new project that is even more up Mr. Franklin's alley. Inspired by true events chronicled in a PBS "Frontline" documentary, "Snitch" centers on a devoted father whose son faces 30 years in prison after being set up in a drug deal. The father goes undercover in the drug world to make a bust that will free his son. I can see Denzel being involved in this one already, but we'll have to wait and see.

No matter how it all turns out, I can only say welcome back, Mr. Franklin.

Three more intriguing Comic-Con tidbits

Here are three more nuggets from the sunny San Diego comics confab, all of which sound promising to me and come directly from Dreadcentral.

First, it seems that Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant of "Reno 911," who are also extremely prolific (and hit and miss) screenwriters, are now at work on a sequel to their "Night at the Museum." So far, we know only that Ben Stiller and Robin Williams are on board, and there will be "exisiting characters and plenty of new ones." I thought the original flick was just silly fun, so bring it on.

Actually, I should have listed that one third, because these next two are just perfect. It seems that Robert Rodriguez, though he'll surely first turn his attention to "Barbarella," hasn't given up on making a feature-length "Machete" movie. For anyone who's forgotten, the "Machete" trailer featuring Danny Trejo (huzzah!) preceded "Planet Terror," Rodriguez's half of "Grindhouse," and was far superior to any of the fake trailers that cut the flick in half. Trejo is simply the definition of a badass, so I can only hope he follows through on this before his attention gets diverted once again.

And, finally, it seems that Frank Darabont will have Stephen King on his mind for the foreseeable future. After "The Mist," which I'm thoroughly psyched for, he'll be adapting two other King stories for the big screen, "The Long Walk" and "The Monkey."

According to Dreadcentral, "The Long Walk" is about a 16-year-old boy who is on a survival walk with 99 others. They walk for honor and their lives with the winner being promised everything his or her heart desires. "The Monkey" revolves around a father-son relationship and a toy monkey whose clanging symbols are harbingers of death.

Those sound intriguing, but first get ready to be enveloped by "The Mist" in November. And now, unfortunately, I have to get ready for work. Peace out.

P.S. Nell Minow, Yahoo's Movie Mom and easily one of my favorite bloggers, e-mailed me over the weekend to share some of her crazy adventures at Comic-Con (and make me, of course, insanely jealous.) You can read all about what she found in sunny San Diego in her great blog here.