Wednesday news, of Spike Lee, Errol Morris and a small clip show

Actually, let's start with the photo above, which I'm sure everyone can tell is a photo of Woody Allen and Penelope Cruz on the set of his new film, "The Bop Decameron," in Rome. Why? Because I always like seeing Penelope Cruz, and with Woody's "Midnight in Paris" being my second-favorite movie so far of 2011 (behind only Thomas McCarthy's "Win Win"), you can certainly say I'm psyched to see what he cooks up on the next stop of his late-in-life European tour.

And after that, though the news about Spike Lee returning in a big way may be a bit old now, so am I, and besides, to me it's easily the biggest story of the week, and there's something new to report about his "Oldboy" remake.

Before he makes that, in better news, Mr. Lee is apparently already at work on a low-budget flick that will have him playing Mookie once again. Think for a minute about just how good that could be. The movie, called "Red Hook Summer," is about "an adult from Atlanta who comes and spends the summer in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, NY."

That doesn't say a whole lot about where this might go, but as Lee fans will certainly know, the last time he made a big splash in Brooklyn in a very hot summer was with a little movie called "Do the Right Thing," so certainly stay tuned for more on this as soon as I can find out.

And Mr. Lee, apparently eager to get busy after his too-long hiatus from making big-budget feature films, has also signed on to direct Mandate Pictures' "Oldboy" remake, and there's good news today about how that might just come together.

Twitchfilm was the first to correctly report that Mr. Lee was going to direct this (the best way it could happen, since there's clearly no way to stop it), and the site is now reporting that Josh Brolin is being pursued for the main role. Without spoiling too much for anyone who somehow hasn't seen the original (do so, please!), he would play the American version of Oh-Dae Su, who is locked in a hotel room for 15 years before he finally gets to seek revenge on his unknown captors.

Perfect casting there, I'd say, so here's hoping it actually happens.

And there's other news out there this morning about another of my favorite directors who likes to move between the worlds of documentary and feature films, Errol Morris. In theaters in at least some corners of the world, he'll soon have a new documentary, "Tabloid," with the rather juicy subject matter of a model who allegedly kidnapped a Mormon to sex him up. I'm sure it's all more complicated than that, and it's just a great match for Morris.

For his next project, however, he'll be venturing into the world of feature films with a movie about cryogenics based on a the book "We Froze the First Man" by Robert F. Nelson and a "This American Life" segment titled "You're Cold as Ice." For me, Morris has always been at his best when he delves into the truly odd, as with "Mr. Death" and "Fast, Cheap and Out of Control," so this should be a real treat.

And now comes word that Paul Rudd has signed on to play the lead in this as-yet-untitled flick. It's unclear yet if he'll play the first man to be cryogenically preserved or Nelson, who helped invent the technology in the 1960s. Either way, this should be nothing but fun, so stay tuned.

OK, now on to the videos, and where better to start than with something new from Studio Ghibli, especially since, in Japan at least, it's coming out very soon. "From Up on Poppy Hill," directed by Goro Miyazaki from a screenplay by his father, one Hayao Miyazaki, it tells the story of a group of Yokahama teens who try to save their school's clubhouse from being torn down in preparation for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The real treat from Studio Ghibli will be "Porco Rosso 2," which the elder Miyazaki is at work on now, but in the meantime enjoy this teaser for his son's flick, which looks like a real winner too.



As far as the clips go, it's almost all about cartoons here today, but that's the way I like it, and I'm the author here, so deal with it. Next up comes the most thorough trailer I've seen yet for "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn." I still say that Tintin just looks way too modern in this, but it should still be a pretty good Christmas gift from Steven Spielberg to finish up this year. Enjoy.



OK, I know this weekend is all about "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," and I'll certainly go see that, probably on Friday, but there's also a "Winnie the Pooh" movie opening this weekend, and even though I don't have any little kids to drag with me, I think I'll sneak in to see that, too. After all, with two or three new songs from Zooey Deschanel and a good, old-fashioned story about Pooh and all his friends, what's not to like? Enjoy this trailer, and don't be afraid to unleash your inner little kid this weekend.



And where better to end up on a Wednesday morning than with a free movie, especially when it's "Repo Man," not to be confused with that "Repo Men" flick from a couple of years ago. That's right, this is the one with Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Esteves and all kinds of punky fun, so enjoy it, and have a perfectly endurable Wednesday. Peace out.

Mid-year report card: My favorite 10 movies - so far - of 2011

After a slower-than-usual start to this movie year, things have definitely picked up this summer for one heavy on good comedies, just the way I like it.

So, without any hesitation, let's just get right to it: Here, in reverse order, are my 10 favorite movies - so far - of 2011.

10. "Cedar Rapids"
Miguel Arteta's insurance salesmen comedy is lighter than air and manages to wrap up just before its laughs run out, and the very best of them all come from John C. Reilly, who just takes over the screen with an irresistible ball of bluster.


9. "Soul Surfer"
Yes, a Christian movie, but even without those overtones, the story of Bethany Hamilton, the professional surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack, would still be an inspiring tale. Here it's very well told, and AnnaSophia Robb just shines as Bethany.

8. "Water for Elephants"
The definition of by-the-book filmmaking, but since the source is a book I love, the movie just worked for me. And besides, I think the only time I actually heard people cheer in a movie theater this year was when Rosie the elephant finally ... I won't spoil it for you, but just trust me that this grand romance set at the circus is a fun ride.

7. "Super 8"
The science fiction in J.J. Abrams' movie is much weaker than its overall view of life through the eyes of a group of 13-year-olds who love making movies, which is infectiously entertaining. And keep an eye on Elle Fanning, who steals the movie with a performance way wiser then her years should allow.

6. "Rio"
Though I enjoyed "Cars 2" a heck of a lot more than the original flick from Pixar, it definitely won't be the best animated movie of 2011. That title, so far, goes to this flick from the "Ice Age" crew, which brings the streets of Rio de Janeiro to vibrant animated life (especially in bright 2D) and just delivers a thoroughly fun story.

5. "Hanna"
Joe Wright's Euro-thriller came out so early in the year that it's easily forgotten, which is a real shame, because its nearly as smart as it is exciting, and Saoirse Ronan is just icy perfection as the titular assassin raised to carry out her father's revenge plot.

4. "Bridesmaids"
In summer, the ultimate season for the raunchy R-rated comedies, none has delivered more laughs than this romp led by Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, and for that they've been rewarded with huge box office numbers (more than $146 million domestic so far, hopefully more than enough to greenlight more genuinely funny movies led by women.)

3. "Tree of Life"
No movie this year has been more ambitious or packed with more maddening contradictions than Terence Malick's "Tree of Life," which manages to paint an often painfully intimate portrait of family life in Texas of the 1950s while at the same time asking questions about the very nature of human existence. Malick's most personal film, and in my opinion, his best, too.


2. "Midnight in Paris"
Woody Allen's best movie since "Hannah and Her Sisters" is also his most popular one since then, too, even making an almost month-long run in Macon that unfortunately ends Thursday. As much a valentine to the City of Lights as it is just the funniest movie I've seen this year, and in this solid year for comedies, that's a real accomplishment.

1. "Win Win"
Thomas McCarthy's movie can sort of be described as "The Blind Side" set in the none-too-glamorous world of high school wrestling, but what it really is the story of a not terribly heroic man trying to do the best he can in trying circumstances. And Paul Giamatti's performance as that man gives the movie much of its soul, and makes it an all-around winner in my book.

Honorable mention: "The Way Back", "Of Gods and Men", "Jane Eyre", "Thor", "X-Men: First Class", "Bad Teacher", "Cars 2"

And there you have it. Please feel free to add any you think I may have snubbed, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.

Woody Allen's next European advenure takes final shape, plus the first big-screen Jeff Buckley

If I could be anyone in the world other than myself (though I'm usually pretty content in my own rapidly aging skin), I'd have to say it would be Woody Allen.

The septuagenarian filmmaker has made, for my money, the best movie so far this year with his City of Lights valentine "Midnight in Paris" (though Terrence Malick's "Tree of Life" is a more ambitious and close second), and now comes word that he's finalized the cast for his next cinematic adventure, this time in Rome (hey, why not?).

"The Bop Decameron" will begin filming in the city July 11, and the latest additions to the cast are Greta Gerwig and Alison Pill, who played Zelda Fitzgerald in "Midnight in Paris." They join Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penelope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page and Allen himself, who will appear in one of his own films for the first time since 2006's "Scoop."

So, what's it about? Well, "The Bop Decameron" will apparently be a modern-day riff on Giovanni Boccaccio’s medieval tale "The Decameron," a collection of erotic love stories. Sounds like perfectly lascivious material for Woody Allen to play around with, and the man is on a real roll right now, so definitely go see "Midnight in Paris" if you haven't yet, and stay tuned for more on "The Bop Decameron" as soon as I can find it.

In other movie news, this solidly middle-aged man shouldn't admit that he watches "Gossip Girl," but I do, and I find it to be just the perfect, way-lighter-than-air comedown from Monday, always my longest workday of the week.

Well, for you "Gossip Girl" fans, it seems that lonely boy himself, Penn Badgley, has signed on to plays Jeff Buckley in what is apparently one of two biopics in the works about the late singer. This one, titled "Greetings from Tim Buckley," is directed by Dan Algrant and is about the days leading up to Jeff Buckley's breakthrough performance at a 1991 tribute to his father. Per the movie's press release:

"Through a romance with a young woman working at the concert, he comes to understand the father who abandoned him. Culminating in a cathartic performance of his father’s most famous songs, Jeff’s debut stuns the audience and launches his career as one of the greatest young musicians of his time."

That last bit can easily be dismissed as a bit of cinematic hyperbole, but you really can't dispute that with "Grace," Jeff Buckley did manage to record one of the all-time great rock albums during his short time on this planet, so this movie should be nothing but a treat.

And since nothing in Hollywood happens in a vacuum, director Jake Scott is currently at work on a rival Buckley biopic, to based on David Browne‘s book “Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley,” but as far as I know has yet to cast his choice to play the doomed singer.

OK, now on to one video, and then to close a word about the progress of a new movie from one of my favorite young filmmakers, Martha Stephens. First up, the video, which in a very quick and funny style wraps up the three truly convoluted but also sporadically very entertaining seasons of HBO's "True Blood" that have unspooled so far. The show definitely pales to the grandeur of "Game of Thrones," which just finished its first season in superb style, and the continuous liberties that it takes with Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels can just be thoroughly maddening, but for campy TV fun it still manages to satisfy. Enjoy this three-season wrapup, and keep an eye out for the season four premiere of "True Blood" this Sunday on HBO.



Finally today, I was one of five or so people lucky enough to catch the screening of Martha Stephens' "Passenger Pigeons" at the 2010 Macon Film Festival, and I'm certainly glad I did. That movie, a multi-layered drama that centers on the death of a coal miner in Eastern Kentucky, is a quiet winner, and if I ever see it out on video, I'll certainly spread the word.

And this morning, I woke up to find in my g-mail box word from producer Nick Case about the progress of Stephens' next movie, "Pilgrim Song." Also set in coal country, this new movie is about a teacher who gets pink-slipped and sets out to walk Kentucky's Sheltowee Trace Trail. Filming is set to begin July 6, which is very exciting news indeed. Below is a fundraising pitch from Stephens and producer Adam Tate that tells you more about "Pilgrim Song," and to learn even more, visit the movie's site here. Enjoy the clip, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.



http://www.indiegogo.com/PILGRIM-SONG

Truly magical things happen after "Midnight in Paris"

Having a Woody Allen flick in midstate theaters at all is a minor event in itself for movie lovers. but having one as good as "Midnight in Paris" is a flat-out reason to celebrate.

It's also the first time that I can remember a Woody Allen movie being in the box office top 10, as this has been for a few weeks, and it's well deserved. Though not as great as Allen's best movies - which for me will always be topped by "Manhattan" - it does share with those flicks an extremely strong sense of place, here Paris rather than his early home base of NYC, and adds to it an often irresistible embrace of life and art, along with the city itself.

As the movie opens, we meet Gil (Owen Wilson) and Inez (Rachel McAdams), an American couple engaged to be married and on vacation in Paris thanks to the largesse of her parents. And it's clear from the outset that Gil, Wilson doing his best to channel Allen now that the director has finally realized he's simply too old to do so himself, is less than thrilled, both with the company he's keeping on the voyage and also with his impending marriage. Though many of his best bits have already been revealed in commercials and trailers for this flick, keep an eye out for the very funny Michael Sheen as half of a fellow young couple on vacation in Paris, particularly the face he makes at a wine tasting. Just pure comedy gold.

But its Wilson who manages to embody the spirit of Allen, from all his neuroses even down to more charm than the director himself has shown for many years, and that's key to how much you're willing to suspend reason and just dive into the crazy world of what comes next. As Gil, seeking both release from his traveling companions and inspiration to finish his novel, is walking through the city of light at the titular hour, he encounters a series of familiar faces who transport him back in time to the 1920s.

It starts with Tom Hiddleston and Alison Pill as F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and continues with a who's who of giants of the literary and art world of the era, and the gimmick only starts to get old just before Allen wisely wraps things up. Keep an eye out for Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway and Adrien Brody as Salvador Dali, both of whom eat up their parts for some of the movie's funniest moments, and the thoroughly beguiling Marion Cotillard as Gil's muse, Adrianna.

What keeps all this madness going with an entertaining spirit until Gil discovers the truth he so sorely needs is a genuine infusion of both whimsy and fantasy, more of both than Allen has shown since "Bullets over Broadway" or way back with "Broadway Danny Rose." The bottom line is it's just Allen having a whole lot of fun, and if this flick manages to stick around at the AmStar Cinemas 16 in Macon and Galleria Mall Stadium Cinemas 15 in Centerville for another week and you can catch it, I guarantee you will too.

Funny Girl(s): Truly funny female movie characters

Actually, putting this together was harder than I anticipated, and certainly not because I don't find women funny or because there aren't a lot of very funny women in Hollywood.

That's not the problem. Instead, it's that when you browse any list of the truly great comedic roles, the sad fact is that most of them are played by men (the reverse, at least right now, is true on TV, but that's a different subject for a different day). It's just a fact, and one that we (or at least I) can't change, so instead of lingering on it, in honor of the funny women of "Bridesmaids," here are six very funny female roles from my movie shelf that I go back to often:

Tracy Flick, "Election"
Not exactly the cute Reese Witherspoon we know now, but her role in this high school battle of wits with the outmatched but game Matthew Broderick is her funniest one, and every time Tracy scrunches up her face in righteous anger, I still laugh out loud.

Marge Gunderson, "Fargo"
Not surprising, I suppose, that Joel Coen would write (along with his brother, of course) the best female character he's ever come up with for his wife, Frances McDormand. Marge, the very pregnant and just as clever police chief played by McDormand, gives the movie much of its sense of place, its strongest suit, and is just extremely funny along the way.

Annie Hall, "Annie Hall"
You can argue that even when he played opposite women his own age, Woody Allen didn't necessarily think much of them, because he made Annie Hall as hippie and dippy as possible, but thanks to Diane Keaton, hilarious, too.

Patricia Franchini, "Breathless"
Her French was truly atrocious (which provided much of the humor), but Jean Seberg goes toe to toe with Jean Paul Belmondo in Jean-Luc Godard's lighter-than-air gangster flick of sorts, and their flirting is just pure comedic bliss.

Poppy, "Happy-Go-Lucky"
The real charm of Sally Hawkins in this infectious Mike Leigh movie is that her Poppy is so thoroughly upbeat throughout that you want to either cheer for or choke her, depending on your outlook. In the end, it's a role so great it can melt even the most cynical of hearts, even mine.

Enid, "Ghost World"
Whatever happened to Thora Birch? Before she seemingly disappeared completely, she played Enid in this movie based on the comic book by Daniel Clowes, a character who savagely skewers everything that's wrong in her world even as she searches for her own place in it.

And there you have it. A brief list, I know, but please feel free to add any I may have snubbed (there are many, many I'm sure) and go see "Bridesmaids" this weekend if you like to laugh with truly funny women.

Cannes lineup a sign of great things to come

Actually, before I get into any of that, there are two bits of very good news out there today, so let's get right to it.

First up, pretty easily the best coup that PBS' "American Masters" documentary series has pulled off so far: Two nights with Woody Allen, coming this fall. At least two hours on Woody's career, with his participation? Yeah, I'm definitely in.

And even better, one of my favorite books is being made into a movie this summer, and it's even being filmed right here in Georgia. If you've never read Warren St. John's "Outcasts United," I really can't recommend a piece of nonfiction much higher, even if you're not as big a soccer fan as I am.

The book tells the story of a team of mostly African refugee kids whose families, if they have one, have been relocated to Clarkston, Ga., a community very happy to take the government money that comes with them, but not always as keen for the new residents that come with it. It's just a great story about modern America, and it should make for a fantastic flick.

"Under the Tuscan Sun" (which I haven't seen) director Audrey Wells is the helmer for this, which is somehow being financed by Universal, even though it will of course star a group of unknown African kids. And who knows? If I finally get off my ass and answer one of the calls for extras that go out for all the movies filmed here (hey, we even had "Zombieland"!), you might even see me sitting in the stands watching one of the games. Definitely keep an eye on this one.

OK, on to the main event, before we wrap things up with a couple of great videos. The full lineup for the Cannes Film Festival has just come out, and as usual it features a lot of movies from directors I've never heard of and a few that stand out immediately.

The biggest player is Terrence Malick's "Tree of Life," starring one Brad Pitt, but Pedro Almodovar should also garner plenty of attention with "The Skin that I Inhabit," as should Lars Von Trier with "Melancholia," starring Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg. One other that stands out to me is "The Kid With a Bike," the latest creation from the Belgian Dardenne brothers, who made the simply sublime "L'Enfant" and "Le Fils," among other movies.

The Un Certain Regard category features Gus Van Sant's latest, "Restless," starring Mia Wasikowska. And the Out of Competition list has plenty of star power, with Jodie Foster's "The Beaver," starring that wacky Mel Gibson, "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" with Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz, and even "Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom." Here's the complete list:

In competition:
* The Skin That I Inhabit – Pedro Almodovar
* L’Apollonide – Betrand Bonello
* Foot Note – Joseph Cedar
* Paterre – Alain Cavalier
* Once Upon A Time In Anatolia – Nuri Bilge Ceylan
* The Kid With The Bike – The Dardenne Brothers
* Le Havre – Aki Kaurismaki
* Hanezu no Tsuki – Naomi Kawase
* Sleeping Beauty – Julia Leigh
* Tree of LIfe – Terrence Malick
* La Source de Femmes – Radu Mihaileanu
* Polisse – Maïwenn Le Besco
* Harakiri – Takashi Miike
* We Have A Pope – Nanni Moretti
* Melancholia – Lars Von Trier
* This Must Be The Place – Paolo Sorrentino
* Drive – Nicholas Winding Refn
* We Need To Talk About Kevin – Lynne Ramsay

Un Certain Regard:
* Restless – Gus Van SantMartha Marcy May Marlene – Sean Durkin
* The Hunter – Bazur Bakuradze
* Halt auf freier Strecke – Andreas Dresen
* Skoonheid – Oliver Hermanus
* Hors Satan – Bruno Dumont
* Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro – Robert Guédiguian
* The Days He Arrives – Hong Sang-Soo
* Bonsai – Christian Jimenez
* Tatsumi – Erik Khoo
* En maintenant, on va ou? – Nadine Labaki
* Ariang – Kim Ki Duk
* Loverboy- Cătălin Mitulescu,
* Toomelah – Ivan Sen
* Yellow Sea – Na Hong-Jin,
* Miss Bala – Gerardo Naranjo,
* L’exercice de l’Etat – Pierre Schoeller,
* Oslo, August 31st Joachim Trier
* Travailler fatigue – Juliana Rojas, Marco Dutra

Out of Competition:
* The Beaver – Jodie Foster
* The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
* Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – Rob Marshall
* La Conquete – Xavier Durringer
* Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom Of Doom – Jennifer Yuh

Special Screenings:
* Labrador – Frederikke Aspock
* Le maître des forges de l’enfer – Rithy Panh
* Un documentaire sur Michel Petrucciani – Michael Radford
* Tous au Larzac – Christian Rouaud

OK, now as promised, on to the videos, starting with Peter Jackson's first production diary for "The Hobbit," and at 10 minutes it's a real treasure. With shooting about to begin, he offers a tour of some of the sets and introduces some of the cast. As great as the "Lord of the Rings" movies are, I've always had a very soft spot for "The Hobbit," both because it's just much more of a kids story and because I learned to play the pianos to those great songs from the animated flick. Enjoy the clip.



And to wrap things up today, just a silly little clip leftover from the most recent new episode of "Parks and Recreation," featuring Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones. If I'm not mistaken, all four of NBC's Thursday night comedies will be new tonight, with the beginning of Will Ferrell's short run on "The Office" a definite highlight. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Thursday. Peace out.

DVD review: "The Extra Man"

Be warned: Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's "The Extra Man" is indeed a "character study," but thankfully it's a genuinely odd and often endearing one.

Based on the Jonathan Ames novel of the same name, it stars Kevin Kline as the titular "Extra Man," a bizarre, sexless gigolo of sorts for rich old ladies, and Paul Dano as his protege. Much like Ames' "Bored to Death" on HBO, it's also an ode to the kind of New York eccentrics that are being buried by the city's continued Disneyfication.

Berman and Pulcini, who wrote and directed the fabulous "American Splendor," about the late Harvey Pekar, are at their best when they shine the light on American oddity, which is certainly the case with "The Extra Man."

Fans of "Bored to Death," of which you can certainly count me as one, should be warned, however: The humor is much less broad than with that NYC stoner romp starring Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifianakis and Ted Danson. That doesn't mean, however, that the laughs aren't here, there just more delicate and sometimes hard to watch.

Ames always writes a lot of himself into one of his characters, and in this case you have to wonder how many of the issues he shares with Dano's Louis Ives. As the movie opens, he's being fired as a professor at Princeton because his boss discovers him trying on a co-worker's bra in the teacher's lounge.

From there, he sets his sights on New York City, and ends up matched up with Kline after answering an ad seeking a roommate who's a "gentleman." From there on out, the movie is mostly about the relationship of that odd couple and their various adventures squiring old women around town (yes, it often really is as crazy as it sounds.)

Having read on the DVD box that this was "Kevin Kline's best performance since "A Fish Called Wanda'," I was bracing for an over-the-top mess, but for the most part he dives into the part of Henry Harrison and delivers a portrait of a genuine New York eccentric. Dano, for his part, slowly learns to give as good as he gets with Henry's odd life advice, and they play off each other very well.

Ames' tale constantly straddles the line between genuine oddity and contrived quirk, and at least a few times dashes right across it. On the good side is Lewis' visit to a "recession spankologist," something that would be right at home on "Bored to Death" and funny enough that I won't tell you any more about it here.

On the down side, however, is the usually reliable John C. Reilly, who plays Harrison's neighbor with a high-pitched squeal that will grate on you almost as much as his overall performance. And, because of course any movie like this needs a potential love interest for our hero, Katie Holmes makes an appearance too, but never for long enough to be too annoying.

Watching "The Extra Man," I was reminded of two directors: Woody Allen (who turned 75 this week - bully) and Wes Anderson. Allen for the extremely strong sense of place that marks the best of his old New York movies ("Manhattan" being my all-time favorite) and Anderson, of course, for the oddity, at its very best and worst.

The bottom line: "The Extra Man" certainly isn't for everyone (it got a measly 41 percent positive at Rotten Tomatoes), but if you want to spend a little time with some genuine characters in a New York City that's rapidly fading away, you could do a whole lot worse than this mostly fun little flick.

And, of course, I always like to wrap things up with a couple of fun clips.

First up comes a clip from Julie Taymor's "The Tempest," which isn't likely to be on anyone's best of 2010, but along with "The Extra Man," it's sure to be among the craziest of the year, and that's always OK in my book. As you'll see below, this stars Dame Helen Mirren and Djimon Honsou, and also somehow Russell Brand, Alfred Molina, Chris Cooper and Alan Cumming. Keep an eye out for this in at least some corners of the world Dec. 10, and enjoy the clip.



Next comes the trailer for Steven Soderbergh's tribute to his friend, the late great monologist Spalding Gray, "And Everything Is Going Fine." It pains me that in the many times I've been to New York City, I never got to see Gray live before he dived off the Staten Island Ferry, but hopefully this IFC documentary will be playing somewhere when I return there in early January. Enjoy.



And with that, I'm off on this rare Friday off to go see Danny Boyle's "127 Hours" in Atlanta, and really looking forward to it. Peace out.

Catching up with some news and clips

Many of these things may have indeed happened while I was on vacation with mi hermano in New York and Philly, but they're all fascinating to me, so if you want to, please feel free to read on.

Easily the best news, and fresh I think, is that HBO has set the return dates for two of my favorite TV comedies, and is in fact packaging them back to back this September. "Bored to Death" and "Eastbound & Down" will indeed premiere as a block beginning at 10 p.m. Sept. 26, and I can only say bring it on.

If you've never seen "Bored to Death," and I'm sure there's many more than a few of you who haven't, I really can't recommend many TV comedies higher. The show from novelist Jonathan Ames (if you haven't read his "Wake Up, Sir!", do so right away) is about a struggling writer (Jason Schwartzman) who decides to list himself as a private eye on Craig's List. As he goes on various misadventures in New York City, he's often joined by co-star Zach Galifianakis and, even better, Ted Danson, who steals every minute he's in as a crazed magazine editor.

"Eastbound & Down," from the Southern-fried comedy shop of Jody Hill and friends, is a more bitter pill to swallow, but in its own way almost as funny. At the end of season one, Danny McBride's Kenny Powers had burned all his bridges in his pathetic attempt to return to the big leagues as a pitcher, and if I'm not mistaken, the new season will at least in part have him hurling in Mexico. That should be a hoot, so if you've never seen this little odd show, give it a chance.

In another bit of TV news, though I'm now thoroughly convinced there will never be an "Arrested Development" movie, two of its funniest actors will be reuniting on creator Mitch Hurwitz's new show, "Running Wilde," starting Sept. 20 on Fox.)

In the show, Gob Bluth plays a rich callow dude (sound familiar?) who falls in love with a crusading environmentalist played by Keri Russell. And now comes word that in a casting change, the extremely funny David Cross will play a radical environmentalist who competes for her affections for at least seven episodes. Nothing but funny there (or at least here's hoping, because Hurwitz's last show, "Sit Down, Shut Up," was just a flaming turd.)

And finally, both because this is nominally supposed to be about movies and because I love Sam Raimi at his best, he's attached to direct something that could be all kinds of fun (and I'm not talking about that "Oz" prequel, which even with Robert Downey Jr. as the wiz himself should just be terminated with extreme prejudice.)

After that, I suppose, Raimi has set his sights on adapting the graphic novel "Earp: Saints for Sinners," from a script by the novel's author, Matt Cirulnick. As the title implies, this would indeed be about the Western hero Wyatt Earp, but transport him into a future in which he takes on outlaws in a ravaged society where the only boomtown left is Las Vegas. Now, having sat through "Spider-Man 3" I know Raimi can fall as much as anyone, but this just sounds like fun to me.

OK, from here on out it's all about clips, the first two of which come directly from Roger Ebert's newsletter, which really is a must-read if you love movies (and at $4 a year, it's a real steal too.)

First up comes the first proof that this fall and winter are going to be all about James Franco, and as a devoted "Freaks and Geeks" fan, that's just fine by me. Later, in December (I think), he'll star in Danny Boyle's next flick, "127 Hours," as mountain climber Aron Ralston, who became trapped while climbing in Utah and had to go to desperate measures to survive. You can count that as one of the very few flicks I'm most looking forward to for the rest of the year, but before that, on Sept. 24 if you live in one of America's bigger cities, you'll be able to see him as the poet Allen Ginsberg in "Howl." Here, courtesy of the Ebert crew, is the first trailer I know of. Enjoy.



I thoroughly enjoyed Ben Affleck's directing debut with "Gone Baby Gone," so you can certainly count me as psyched for his sophomore effort, "The Town," based on the novel "Prince of Thieves" by Chuck Hogan and set to come out Sept. 10. The rather stellar cast includes Gossip Girl Blake Lively, Jeremy Renner, Reel Fanatic fave Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm and Chris Cooper in a Boston flick about a bank robber and his contacts with the FBI, amorous, contentious and otherwise (sounds more than a little like "Out of Sight," which is fine with me.) Enjoy the first trailer I know of.



Next up comes the first American trailer for Woody Allen's "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger," which, even with the awful narration that also was the only blemish on his sublime "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," looks like it should be another winner. The cast includes, Josh Brolin, Naomi Watts, Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas and the simply stunning Freida Pinto, so we at least know there will be a lot of pretty people, hopefully doing very funny work when this comes out (and hopefully everywhere) Sept. 22. Enjoy the trailer.

And where better to finish up today than with more silliness from the Muppets? We'll have to wait until Christmas 2011 for the new Muppet movie, "The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made," being cooked up by Jason Segel, Nicholas Stoller and James Bobin. In the meantime, thankfully, Jim Henson's creations keep popping up in new YouTube creations like this latest clip of the Swedish chef cooking up some popcorn shrimp, with predictably disastrous results. Enjoy the clip, and have perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

Disney's return to 2-D animation? Color me (so far) impressed

When I first heard the news that Pixar was going to do all of its movies in vaunted 3.D, I have to admit it made me more than a little sad.

It wasn't just that this extremely broad embrace was more than a little bit of exaggeration. It's also that this just seems like a loss of innocence, of animated movies containing old-fashioned magic and being aimed - as corny as this sounds - at the kid in all of us.

So you can count me as rather psyched for Disney's "The Princess and the Frog," coming at Christmas and starring "Dreamgirl" Anika Noni Rose. As you can see from the trailer below, after a thoroughly unnecessary intro listing the various accomplishments of Disney (in case we somehow all didn't know already), it indeed makes New Orleans look like a magical place.

My only beef with any of what I've seen or heard so far is that they couldn't find anyone but Randy Newman to do the score. Having just bought a copy of Allen Toussaint's first strictly "jazz" album, "The Bright Mississippi," I can attest that that great pianoman or, for that matter, any number of other New Orleans musicians, would have been a much more inspired choice.

Anyways, enjoy the trailer, and continue after that if you wish for two more clips that deliver varying degrees of funny.



Sacha Baron Cohen and the limits of funny

Anyone who's seen "Borat" knows that for Sacha Baron Cohen there really isn't even anything like an "envelope" to push, but from what I've seen of his upcoming flick, "Bruno," I think it's gonna still manage to shock (and hopefully make people laugh too.)

Below is a clip from his "Meinspace" page in which Bruno talks about recruiting "Friends," and describes the specific kinds he's looking for (and talks about, just to warn you, his bleached ******* and how he's a chocoholic.)

After that is the first trailer for "Whatever Works," which is Woody Allen's movie starring Larry David but unfortunately seems to contain the broadest and easiest kinds of jokes about Southerners and gay people. Here's hoping this is just an attempt to get this to play as wide as possible (maybe even in my rather Southern little corner of the world), and that the movie itself will prove to be a whole lot more satisfying. And with that short report, I'm out.

Meinspace Vassup!

Laika to live on and hopefully deliver lots more 3-D animated fun

Actually, before I get into any of that, it's that time of year, so there are a lot of TV "bubble" reports out there. The most surprising name I found on more than one of them was "Chuck," a show I just assumed was safe.

I just jumped on the "Chuck" bandwagon at the beginning of this second season, but now I'm thoroughly hooked. Sure, it gets a little old when every week Chuck "flashes" on a new Fulcrum agent he just happens to encounter, but the show is still easily the best mix of sly humor and action on TV right now.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, creator Josh Schwartz and company are now in the process of pitching a "game-changer" episode for this year's finale that will set up a third season (and hopefully more.) Stay tuned to this, fellow "Chuck" fans ...

And for those of you who still pay for HBO, there's much better news out there this morning for "Seinfeld" fans, of which you can certainly count me as one. The four principal stars - Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards - will be featured in a multiple-episode story arc on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" this fall. That show, of course, was created by "Seinfeld" co-mastermind Larry David, who is starring in Woody Allen's upcoming summer flick, "Whatever Works."

In their honor, here's probably my favorite "Seinfeld" clip of all, featuring a deliriously funny cameo by Phillip Baker Hall as library inspector Bookman. Enjoy, and try not to laugh so loud you disturb your co-workers.



But here today it's all about the future of the animation house Laika, which before the success of "Coraline" was in fairly serious danger. Before seeing that Henry Selick flick, a thoroughly enchanting ode to the imagination, I had no idea that the studio was about to (or perhaps did) declare bankruptcy.

Now, however, with "Coraline" already having hauled in $62 million at the U.S. box office and still running fairly strong, the company has restructured its executives and is moving ahead with a very full slate of flicks. Travis Knight, son of Nike founder and Laika backer Phil Knight (yes, nepotism can be nice), will now take over as president and CEO of the animation house.

So, what does that mean for us viewers? Well, Laika is reportedly now moving ahead with an ambitious slate of no less than nine flicks, including these:

"Here Be Monsters": This appears to be a rather complicated but also hopefully delightfully twisted tale by Alan Snow about a young man who lives with his grandfather in the tunnels under the English city of Ratbridge until he's forced into action to save his fellow underlings from the Cheese Guild. Or, at least that's what I can gather from 30 seconds of Googling.

"The Wall and the Wing": Based on the bestseller by Laura Ruby and set in a future New York City, it's about a girl who can't fly in a world where most everyone else can. She can, however, turn herself invisible, and gets led into a life of crime and other chicanery. Or, once again, that's what I think it's about.

And finally, "Paranorman," based on an original idea by "Coraline" head of story Chris Butler. No matter what these actually turn out to be about, it's just nice to hear some good economic news for once, especially when it's hopefully combined with a nice slate of slightly off-kilter and visually engaging animation.

The "Watchmen" get seriously cheesy

From the exact opposite end of the animation scale qualitywise but still extremely funny comes this "Watchmen" spoof that surfaced today. I'm not sure who made it, but it jumps on the premise of what would happen if our heroes were to live on as a Saturday morning cartoon crew. It's all pretty priceless, but especially Rohrschach declaring "I'm nutty!" and pining for a kiss. Enjoy, and by all means go see "Watchmen" this weekend, which I'm going to do (in IMAX!) Saturday afternoon. Peace out.

The opening three minutes of "Watchmen"? Perhaps ...

Actually, what first struck my eye this morning was some disturbing but not too terribly surprising news about Terry Gilliam's next - and Heath Ledger's last - flick, "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus."

I just assumed that the presence of Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell - who all stepped in to finish the work started by the late Mr. Ledger - would be enough to win this sure-to-be-odd tale U.S. distribution wide enough to reach my little corner of the world, but once again (yes, it does happen from time to time) it seems I'm wrong. In fact, the flick has yet to garner any U.S. distributor at all - with both Lionsgate and Overture expressing interest but ultimately passing - and its American fate will be decided in the next few weeks.

Here's hoping someone bites on what should be a fascinating little (well, at $20 million, not so little, I guess) flick. But as promised, here today it is about an extended glimpse of Rohrschach in what just might be the opening scene of "Watchmen," but if you'll indulge me there are just a few other things that have caught my eye today.

Yes, Woody Allen can sign any beautiful woman he wants to

Seeing the way that Freida Pinto's smile lit up the screen as the full-grown Latika in newly crowned Oscar champ "Slumdog Millionaire," you had to know she would be a big star someday soon. And I guess it shouldn't be all that surprising that Woody Allen is the first to jump on her potential.

After "Whatever Works," set to star fellow grumpy old man Larry David and hopefully play extremely wide when it opens this summer (I think), the ageless Mr. Allen has now signed Pinto and Naomi Watts to join Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins in his next, as-yet-untitled flick. Geez, it sure must be nice to scan the entire world and just pick whoever you want to be your next muse.

And, to put this as superficially as possible, Freida Pinto is the second most beautiful Indian woman I've ever seen on the big screen, bested only by the simply stunning Sarita Choudhury, who starred with Denzel Washington way back when in director Mira Nair's "Mississippi Masala" (well worth a rental if you can find it.)

Chiwetel Ejiofor set for spy games

With easily one of my favorite directors attached in Phillip Noyce, I was already intrigued by Columbia Pictures' upcoming spy thriller "Salt," but now with Chiwetel Ejiofor on board too you can count me as thoroughly psyched.

In the flick, Angelina Jolie will play the titular American spy Evelyn Salt, who came under suspicion as a sleeper agent for the Russkies. Liev Schreiber has signed on to play her American mentor, and now Ejiofor will play Peabody, a young CIA agent who's hot to expose her alleged double dealings as she works to clear her name.

That all sounds great to me, especially since - the disappointing "Redbelt" notwithstanding - Ejiofor is someone I just always like to see on the big screen. The flick begins shooting next month in NYC.

DVD pick of the week:

It's truly slim pickings when it comes to the theatrical releases (though I must confess I just might pick up "Sex Drive" from my Netflix for a good laugh), so thankfully there's another "Futurama" flick stepping into the breach this week.

In "Into the Wild Green Yonder (which I think is the fourth straight-to-DVD "Futurama" flick), according to the IMDB, "mankind stands on the brink of a wondrous new Green Age. But ancient forces of darkness, three years older than time itself, have returned to wreak destruction. Even more shocking: Bender's in love with a married fembot, and Leela's on the run from the law - Zapp Brannigan's law! Fry is the last hope of the universe ... so if you're in the universe, you might want to think about going somewhere else. Could this be the end of the Planet Express crew forever? Say it ain't so, meatbag! Off we go, Into the Wild Green Yonder!"

That all sounds great to me, so add that to the Netflix queue too. And Phillip J. Fry himself, Billy West, mentioned at a recent geek gathering (perhaps the New York Comicon, but I'm not really sure) that Fox has recently expressed interest in bring the show back for a sixth new season - given its popularity in reruns on Comedy Central - so we should just keep hope alive!

And finally, Rohrshach

As I said above, judging from the graphic novel, I think this clip introduced by "Watchmen" director Zack Snyder just might be the opening three minutes or so of the flick (or very close to it), since it's clearly Rorschach investigating the death of the Comedian. Either way, it's nothing but cool, even if Jackie Earle Haley is pouring it on a bit with that voice. Only 10 days to go! Enjoy the clip, and have a pleasant enough Tuesday. Peace out.

Some dirty old rat has stolen my hat

A lot of people who care about this kind of stuff may already know just about everything I'm about to cram into this post, but you'll have to forgive me, since I just spent the past three days or so in Ohio so I could stand in a near-hurricane and sing benignly racist (is there really such a thing?) songs like "Somebody Stole My Sombrero" as the U.S.A. and mighty Michael Bradley beat the Mexicans in a World Cup qualifier 2-0.

And later today I'm gonna take a chance on the Clive Owen/Naomi Watts thriller "The International" even though I'm more than a little worried that everything we need to know was revealed in the trailer.

But first, here's a quick wrap up of what's happened in the past few days when it comes to directors I like.

Christopher Nolan's next, sans Batman

As much as I enjoyed "The Dark Knight" (and that was indeed quite a bit), I'm rather happy to hear that Mr. Nolan will be getting back to something that twists the mind more than a bit before he takes on the Batman saga again.

Next up will be something called "Inception," for which he also wrote the screenplay. It's described so far only vaguely as "a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind." I could probably spend most of my workday wondering about just what that might mean if I didn't already have the whole week off.

But what does that mean for Batman? Since this is all taking place at Warner Bros., which financed "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight," one can only assume that would be up next, but The Hollywood Reporter had another fairly intriguing possibility. They have him "attached" to a big-screen reboot of the '60s British TV show "The Prisoner," presumably following the six-episode remake the show is already getting this summer from AMC, to star Jim "Jesus" Caviezel and Sir Ian McKellen.

David Cronenberg hits the big time

This was, naturally, pitched as a story about Tom Cruise, but any word of David Cronenberg getting back to directing and with the budget this project should attract is much more exciting to me.

Following on the rather serious success of Robert Ludlum's Bourne saga on the big screen, MGM has picked up the spy scribe's "The Matarese Circle" for Cronenberg to direct and Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington to star in. Mr. Washington will play American intelligence operative Brandon Scofield, and Cruise will play his arch rival, Russian spy Vasili Taleniekov. The two are forced to team up to take on "a wide-ranging political conspiracy orchestrated by a mysterious organization called the Matarese."

There's apparently already a potential sequel penned by Ludlum back in 1977, "The Matarese Countdown," so hopefully this will keep Cronenberg back in the game for quite a while.

Woody Allen assembles his next team

I'm certain I've never worked as hard as Woody Allen still does at age 73, and I'm even more sure I'll still keep watching every flick of his I get a chance to until the man finally decides to slow down.

The real question in my mind is whether his next flick, "Whatever Works" starring fellow cranky old man Larry David, will open wide enough to reach my little corner of the world when it opens June 9 in the U.S.A. Before that even comes out, though, Mr. Allen will be back at work, this time in London with Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins in tow.

Those two certainly will be only the beginning of what should be a solid ensemble cast, and since there's sadly little else I like to do with my mornings, I'll be happy to share anything else I find out.

And I'll close today with a plug for the new HBO comedy "Eastbound & Down," since it comes from my current favorite comedy team, writer/director Jody Hill and star Danny McBride. Though I canceled my HBO a while ago, I'm hoping this will be available for free at HBO.com shortly it debuts Sunday night at 10:30 p.m.

So, what is it? Well, along with being the title of Jerry Reed's theme song for "Smokey and the Bandit," it's now also a rather rude-looking comedy about a washed-up former major league pitcher (McBride) who returns to his hometown and lands a gig teaching phys ed at the local middle school.

McBride, who stole every second he got as Red in "Pineapple Express" and also starred for Mr. Hill in the very funny "Foot Fist Way," is just a naturally gifted comedian, so catch this one if you can. In the meantime, just in case you actually have 12 minutes to kill at work today, here's HBO's making of special for the show. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant weekend. Peace out.

"Nick and Norah" make sweet music

If there's a formula for making movies that I will like a whole lot, Peter Sollett has certainly found it with his two features, "Raising Victor Vargas" and now "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist."

So, what are the ingredients? Just make it a celebration of good music, New York City and sappy love, and you've got me hooked. Seems easy enough, but it rarely happens as well as it does here.

Since 2002's "Victor Vargas," Sollett has moved up to a higher class of kids who circulate around NYC, specifically the Jersey tribe who invade each weekend and turn it into their playground. While this crowd may annoy many people (me included when I manage to visit the big city and instantly like to pretend like I live there), Sollett and authors Rachel Cohen and David Levithan, who wrote the novel on which the flick is based, clearly embrace them as a natural byproduct of Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg's cleaned-up New York.

And I have to say, though I have my issues with some of what that pair has done, as a vision of New York I'll take Sollett's every time over one like Neil Jordan's simply abysmal "The Brave One," which with its vision of terror at every turn has managed to stick in my mind as the single worst movie of all of 2007. Sollett lets his love of the city play out much like Woody Allen used to (and did again this year in a new locale with the equally entertaining "Vicky Christina Barcelona"), and makes the city just as key a player as the two young lovers at its core.

And in "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," the music also takes center stage as early as the opening credits, when the bands get equal billing with Michael Cera (but not the simply terrific Kat Dennings, what the hell's up with that?) even before the movie title comes up.

The emo (I think that's the word, but I have to admit I'm so old and unhip that I really have no idea what that means) soundtrack gives the night's adventures a natural flow, and I must say it's nice to know that, 20 years or so after I was in their shoes, the wannabe-hip kids still listen to bands that - in varying degrees - just want to sound like the Velvet Underground. It also gives the story its bare semblance of a plot as our kids spend the evening trying to find the hot spot where a mythical band, Where's Fluffy?, will be playing that night (and yes, I'll admit it, I did actually google the name when I got home to see if they were a real band or not.)

But this is, of course, at its core a story of young love, and a fairly familiar one at that (any doubt about the outcome is pretty much already wiped away by the movie poster, after all), so Sollett's flick has to derive its charms (and there are many) from the two leads.

Luckily, he has Cera, who by now is already an old pro at playing the sensitive lead (and will at least two more times in "Youth in Revolt" and "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World"), and he has an equal here in Ms. Dennings, who I had never seen in a movie before. She plays Norah from the beginning as rather snobby (referring to Cera as a "bridge and tunnel" kid when she's clearly of the same breed), but lets the character get more and more vulnerable as the night goes on. The two of them manage to make this familiar tale seem just fresh enough to work (at least for me.)

In the supporting cast, Ari Graynor steals just about every scene she's in as a sort of drunken muse. One very funny scene in particular, when she manages to lock herself in a car, encapsulates the fine line that Sollett is walking here between fun and danger, even in the new New York. And Cera's bandmates are the first gay characters in a teen movie that I can ever remember who manage to generate laughs without being the butt of juvenile jokes (and the use of the name "Lethorio" near the end is just about the hardest I've laughed in a movie theater this year.)

I had planned a little side rant about how A.O. Scott manages to be condescending to movies he clearly likes a lot, as he did by referring to "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" as "Before Sunrise" remade for Nickelodeon (wtf?), but I reckon I've gone on enough already. In the end, this one is as light as air but perfectly sweet, just the way I like it. Which means it's sure to be devoured by those little talking ratdogs, but do yourself a favor and go see this one while you can.

Indiana Jones and the saga of the rapidly aging man

I apologize up front for that rather unfortunate title if it leads anyone to think I have seen the new Indy movie. It instead reflects that I'm simply too old to stay up until 2:30 a.m. or so on a school night to watch a movie, even one as potentially cool as this. To complete my transition to solidly middle-aged citizen, however, I am going to see it at the much more civilized hour of 11:15 a.m. today and will share all my thoughts about it tomorrow.

In the meantime, there are a few bits of news out there about people I like, starting with seriously "Star Wars"-obsessed Patrick Read Johnson.

For years now I've been reading about a flick called "5/25/77" that was set to star everyone's favorite "Geek," John Francis Daley, but I just assumed it was completed and went straight to DVD. As happens, oh, twice daily or so, I was wrong.

It seems that Mr. Johnson has just landed a $200,000 windfall to complete his flick in time to present it at this year's Toronto International Film Festival (which I won't be attending, but I will be at this year's Savannah Film Festival in October, which I'm already rather jazzed about.)

So, what in the world is this little flick, now simply called "77" to suit our rather limited attention spans, about? Well, the original title matched the release date of the original "Star Wars," and the flick is about how Johnson's obsession with it led him to Hollywood and a career in directing. I haven't seen Daley, a k a Sam Weir on "Freaks and Geeks," in years, so here's hoping this little indie gets some kind of wide distribution after Toronto.

Jonathan Demme, music man

In what I'd have to call perhaps a slight case of trading up, Jonathan Demme has taken the reins of a new Bob Marley documentary from Martin Scorsese, who presumably is too busy working on "Shutter Island."

As many probably know well, Demme has a solid history of making docos, musical or otherwise. The most famous is probably still the Talking Heads flick "Stop Making Sense," but if I had one DVD-viewing recommendation for the day it would be "The Agronomist," his 2003 doco about Haitian radio journalist and human rights activist Jean Dominique.

In any case, this Marley flick is now one that's certainly caught my interest.

All hail the Polish brothers

In an era when truly independent movie studios are rapidly disappearing it's just extremely heartening to hear this bit of news about the Polish brothers, Mark and Michael.

The siblings, known most recently for the somewhat-satisfying "Astrononaut Farmer," have formed their own production company, Prohibition, with plans to start immediately on a pair of new flicks.

They will start with "Manure," a comedy about manure salesmen in 1960s heartland America that reteams them with "Astronaut Farmer" star Billy Bob Thornton. If that idea doesn't make you smile at least a little bit, there's probably nothing I can do to help you.

Immediately after that flick wraps in July, they'll get to work on "Stay Cool," a comedy that will star, oddly enough, Winona Ryder, Sean Astin and Chevy Chase.

I love movies that have a solid sense of time and place, which the Polish brothers always do with America's heartland (whatever in the world that really means.) "Twin Falls, Idaho" and "Northfork," in particular, are two I can't recommend highly enough.

Is Terry Gilliam coming to America?

There's a bit of good news about Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," which I'd have to assume will be the last movie we'll ever see with the late Heath Ledger in it.

His folks at Cannes have sold U.K. rights for the flick to Lionsgate and Japanese rights to Showgate. No word yet on distribution in the U.S., but I'd imagine the presence of Ledger alone might be enough to get this one to my local multiplex at some point.

So, what is Gilliam's rather crazy flick about? Well, it stars Christopher Plummer as the immortal, 1,000-year-old Doctor Parnassus, who leads a traveling theater troupe that offers audience members a chance to go beyond reality through a magical mirror he acquired through a deal with the devil (Tom Waits, naturally.) When Satan comes to collect on his debt and targets the doctor's daughter (Lily Cole), the troupe members must rescue her with the aid of a mysterious outsider named Tony (Ledger.) Actually, after Ledger's untimely demise, "Tony" will now be played by Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law.

Finding out how they pull that off alone is enough to make me want to see this one if it indeed ever makes it to any kind of movie theater near me.

A look at "Vicky Christina Barcelona"

Phillip Ramati, a rather serious TV and movie fan who shares his thoughts about the boob tube daily here, summed up his opinion on this year's movies thusly yesterday as he passed by my cubicle (and I may be paraphrasing just slightly): "If it doesn't have Indiana Jones or Batman in it, or Scarlett Johansson having sex with Penelope Cruz, I'm really not too interested."

Well, as you might imagine, that last bit did spark my curiosity, so I had to seek out a trailer for Woody Allen's upcoming "Vicky Christina Barcelona," which indeed stars that dynamic duo, Javier Bardem and Patricia Clarkson. And yes, if you watch the trailer long enough, I believe you do get to see some fairly steamy Cruz-Johansson smooching, which is hopefully enough to liven up everyone's Thursday work day. Peace out.

Why does Tyler Perry fear the critics - or does he?

Actually, that question is a more than a little unfair, 'cause it's surely more accurate that Tyler Perry simply doesn't need film critics, but, given his increasingly positive reviews, it still does make me wonder.

After all, what happened the last time critics sounded off on one of his films? Here's what Jeanette Catsoulis, a very talented freelance (as far as I know) writer, had to say in the New York Times about his last flick, "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?":

Earlier this year, in “Daddy’s Little Girls,” Mr. Perry abandoned the comic device of Madea to pursue a more serious dramatic structure. This trajectory continues in “Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?,” a buppie ensemble piece featuring Mr. Perry at his most restrained and mainstream- accessible.

Gone, along with Madea’s unfettered id, are the thundering gospel ballads and revivalist atmosphere. In their place is a beautifully shot (by Toyomichi Kurita), fluid drama filled with compassionately written characters. Though still a stranger to subtlety, Mr. Perry has learned to balance the obviousness of his setups with characters whose interactions feel genuine.

Now, I understand that Tyler Perry's films were once foreign fare to much of the world (read that as white folks, if you have to), stocked as they were (and to a lesser degree, still are) with a lot of church and even more drama, and coming out of the stage plays he developed for the "chitlin circuit." But, as Ms. Catsoulis correctly states, he did make a shift toward the mainstream with "Daddy's Little Girls," starring the great Idris Elba. To me, however, his films ever since "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" have dealt with universal issues so should have more of a universal appeal.

But, getting back to the bigger question, why does Tyler Perry refuse to screen his films, such as today's "Meet the Browns," in advance for critics? I got to talking about this with co-worker Phillip Ramati (because, as I often do to people walking by my cubicle, I accosted him with the question), and he made an interesting comparison.

In watching Perry's movies thus far, I've more than once compared him as an auteur to Woody Allen. Now, before anyone assail me as a fool, I'm not saying that Tyler Perry is as good a filmmaker as Woody Allen once was (and still can be, note "Match Point"), just that they have equal skills in setting a strong sense of place (Perry in Atlanta and Allen wherever he decides to lay down his hat nowadays), and also both write very talky movies that at their best make me laugh and smile a lot.

But, as Mr. Ramati pointed out, they're also similar in that they each can be called a "brand," with Perry's certainly being a lot more popular nowadays than Allen's. With each auteur, there's a built-in fan base who already know (or at least think they do) what they're getting, hence they have little or no need for film critics (though Allen does still screen his movies in advance, even though it now does him no good at all in terms of distribution.)

And, if I can digress a bit, there's a bit of news today about Allen's latest which, thankfully, marks a return to New York. Henry Cavill, who is apparently a star of "The Tudors," which I've never yet seen, has joined Evan Rachel Wood and Larry David (huzzah!) in the as-yet-untitled romantic comedy. In only a slight twist, David will be the dirty old man this time, being romantically entangled with young Ms. Wood, and Allen will play a small part in the movie himself. Seeing these two fairly old dudes riffing off each other should just be a blast, if anyone gets to see it.

But back to the movie du jour. What will you get if you take a chance this Easter weekend and go see "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns"? Well, first of all, you'll get Angela Bassett in the lead role, which I've never once found to be anything but a good thing. You should also get a lot of humor from Perry stage veterans David and Tamela Mann, who you can see in the trailer below.

The plot, with Bassett's single mother of two returning to Georgia for the funeral of the father she never knew, is more than a little bit familiar - being at least the second black family reunion movie already this year - but that and the return of Madea are enough to have me hooked.

If you've never seen a Tyler Perry movie, this would certainly seem to be the perfect time, and if you turn out to hate it, please remember that I'm only the messenger. Have a great weekend all, whether you go to the movies or not. Peace out.

Woody Allen''s new muse: The man in the mirror?

Is Woody Allen finally getting in touch with reality? That really would be a monumental accomplishment, and I'm not sure he's there yet, but I suppose making movies that don't center on women about a third of his age does make for some kind of late-in-life progress.

And not only is Woody no longer focusing squarely on young starlets, but he may now have even found a kindred spirit to work with. Larry David of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," whose rather warped view of the world should fit just fine with Allen's, has signed on for Woody's next flick, set to start shooting this Spring.

There will, of course, be at least one rather young lady on the scene, this time being Evan Rachel Wood, late of "Across the Universe." And after an extended European vacation, which most recently produced the upcoming "Vicky Christina Barcelona" (wtf?) with Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz, Woody's finally coming home. For the first time since 2004 (I think) he'll be making a movie in NYC.

Welcome home, Woody, and though any plot details for this are currently under tight wraps I'll definitely be keeping my eyes on it to see what these very cranky old men can come up with.

Michael Cera will be a "Youth in Revolt"

The last time I posted anything about Michael Cera's next flick and said it was going to based on one of my favorite novels, a very loyal reader of this blog called C.D. Payne's book garbage, so perhaps a bit of clarification is needed on my part.

The work, clearly aimed at people much younger but equally as immature as me, is the definition of an acquired taste. I will, however, firmly state at least this much: It's the best book I've ever read about a teenager constantly concerned with his own erections who manages to burn down a large swath of Berkeley, Calif.

On that level at least, "Youth in Revolt," which Mr. Payne has turned into something of a cottage industry (with at least five sequels), is a satisfying bit of absurdia, and it presents a role that I think the very funny Mr. Cera will be very funny in, even if he's quickly growing too old to play the lead character, Nick Twisp, who in the book at least is 14 years old (which I would think they'd have to change a bit.)

Now, however, they've at least managed to pick a director before Mr. Cera gets any older. Miguel Arteta, director of "The Good Girl," "Star Maps," "Chuck and Buck" and lots of TV, will helm this project if it ever actually gets made (he's even got an episode of "Freaks and Geeks," "Chokin' and Tokin'," on his resume, so a hearty huzzah!) I know Mike White's "Chuck and Buck" put a lot of people off, but it's just a perfectly odd little movie that I love, and its skewed sense of black humor should serve Mr. Arteta well in this new endeavor. Now, get started already!

A view of Dr. Parnassus' "Imaginarium"

Well, half a view, anyways. Quick Stop Entertainment, which has been following the saga of Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" with vigor, has today published this rather odd half photo of what the Imaginarium will look like, assuming the movie ever gets finished.

The complete photo, apparently, will be available soon at the official site, which tried to go live earlier this week but crashed under its own weight. AICN says the folks will try again this weekend with a bigger server, so stay tuned. Enjoy the half pic, and have an entirely pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Lovable losers: My favorite movie misfits

I was gonna call this list favorite f***ups, but this blog is, after all, still linked from a family newspaper.

In case anyone wonders where I get the idea for these lists from, it doesn't take much. This morning it was simply thinking of one of my favorite movies that I hadn't seen for several years, the one that happens to top this list. I'm sure there are many other movie freaks and geeks out there that have captured your hearts, so please feel free to add any I have snubbed in the comments (and, for the record, I didn't include "Napoleon Dynamite" because Napoleon is, of course, far too cool to ever be called a loser.

1. "You Can Count on Me"
When, under duress, I'm requested to name a single favorite film, this little Kenneth Lonergan gem has been known to top the list from time to time (though if you ask me 10 times, you might just get 10 different answers.) This charming take on the prodigal son tale introduced me to both Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo, and I can't ask for much more from a movie than that. I thought Kenneth Lonergan had just disappeared, but a visit to the IMDB revealed this welcome fact: He has a new movie, called "Margaret" and starring Anna Paquin, listed as completed. Welcome back, Mr. Lonergan.

2. Jesus' Son
Count this one as both one of my favorite books and movies. The flick by Allison Maclean (another once-promising director who has seemed to just disappear) captures all of the desperation of Dennis Lehane's novel, and Billy Crudup, Samantha Morton and, particularly, Holly Hunter as the angel/savior are all fantastic.

3. Ghost World
Thora Birch may just be the perfect example of a lovable loser. In "Ghost World," her Enid flunks out of art class, tries and fails to find love with Steve Buscemi and then, possibly, commits suicide (I really hope I'm not giving anything away here, but if you haven't seen this great Terry Zwigoff film, do so right away, and the ending is wonderfully ambiguous enough that I'm almost certain you won't be mad at me.)

4. Manhattan
Just how in the world did Woody Allen con so many beautiful women into being pawns in his often-twisted romantic movie world? Though you can argue that even Woody's best flicks follow a familiar path, this one is always my favorite because of just how far his Isaac Davis actually falls: By the time he's standing in that apartment building lobby, rejected for the last time by his 17-year-old muse Mariel Hemingway, it's just movie perfection.

5. Rushmore
It seems wierd to call a character as confident in his geekhood as Max Fischer a loser, but look at what happens to him in this great Wes Anderson flick. He starts by flunking hard out of Rushmore Academy and then is barely even able to make a go of it in the wild world of public high school. Like the best losers, however, Max gets the last laugh (and dance), of course, to the always-welcome strains of the Faces' "Ooo La La."

6. Charlie Brown
You could pick any of poor Charlie's tales, but when I was a kid the one that always got me the most excited was "Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown." I guess it was the idea of kids getting to race down through rapids on rafts, against their pets, no less, that really got me jazzed.

7. Amelie
Can you call someone as adorable as Audrey Tautou a loser? Though Amelie Poulain eventually finds love in this thoroughly charming flick from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, look at how far she had to journey to get there: At the beginning of the movie, she's living all alone in an apartment building full of old folks and is barely a functioning member of society. I know many people find this flick just way too sappy to stomach, but it gets me every time.

8. After Hours
Martin Scorsese has surely made better movies than this silly little flick, but it still remains my favorite of all his works. As Griffin Dunne's Paul Hackett sees his night go from bad to worse to even worse, it's both a valentine to New York City and, even better, Martin Scorsese clearly having fun.

9. Rocket Science
I'll close with one from this year that I'm virtually certain almost nobody saw. As the follow-up to his documentary debut, "Spellbound," Jeffrey Blitz made this autobiographical flick about his experiences as a stuttering teen growing up in New Jersey. Despite the rather horrendous title, it features excellent performances from Reece Thompson and Broadway veteran Anna Kendrick, and co-star Nicholas D'Agosto can currently be seen as Claire's new boytoy on "Heroes." If you missed this one, look for it on DVD soon and enjoy one of my favorite flicks of 2007.

So, there you have it. A fun enough way to begin a Wednesday, I must say. Peace out.