David Simon on America's most unnecessary war

You often hear the phrase "life imitates art" or vice versa, but rarely do we get a case of art actually being life, as we did for four great and one not-so-great seasons of "The Wire."

Which makes the arrest of Felicia "Snoop" Pearson all the more depressing. For anyone who doesn't know, she played a female hitman of sorts for drug kingpin Marlo Stanfield, and like many of the stars of that show, was never far too removed from the world that "The Wire" portrayed. At age 14, she was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of another young girl, and ending up serving 6.5 years in prison.

Since then, things had certainly seemed to turn around with her appearance on "The Wire." She's also written a memoir, "Grace After Midnight," and having read it, I can tell you she tells her troubling story very well.

But yesterday, it all came undone, or at least regressed quite a bit with this Baltimore Sun headline forwarded to me in the morning: "More than 60 people, including 'Snoop' of 'The Wire,' arrested in drug raids."

If you haven't, you can read all about it here, but there's a much larger picture here, of a city and its people in crisis. That Snoop hasn't been able to escape this bottomless spiral is only the biggest headline-grabber about a truly sad situation in a city I love and will be visiting with mi hermano in August (for a couple or Orioles games, of course).

Here's what David Simon, much more eloquently than me, had to say about it all when contacted by Slate, and then stick around for something much more fun with a trio of Friday morning videos.

First of all, Felicia's entitled to the presumption of innocence. And I would note that a previous, but recent drug arrest that targeted her was later found to be unwarranted and the charges were dropped. Nonetheless, I'm certainly sad at the news today. This young lady has, from her earliest moments, had one of the hardest lives imaginable. And whatever good fortune came from her role in The Wire seems, in retrospect, limited to that project. She worked hard as an actor and was entirely professional, but the entertainment industry as a whole does not offer a great many roles for those who can portray people from the other America. There are, in fact, relatively few stories told about the other America.

Beyond that, I am waiting to see whether the charges against Felicia relate to heroin or marijuana. Obviously, the former would be, to my mind, a far more serious matter. And further, I am waiting to see if the charges or statement of facts offered by the government reflect any involvement with acts of violence, which would of course be of much greater concern.

In an essay published two years ago in Time magazine, the writers of The Wire made the argument that we believe the war on drugs has devolved into a war on the underclass, that in places like West and East Baltimore, where the drug economy is now the only factory still hiring and where the educational system is so crippled that the vast majority of children are trained only for the corners, a legal campaign to imprison our most vulnerable and damaged citizens is little more than amoral. And we said then that if asked to serve on any jury considering a non-violent drug offense, we would move to nullify that jury's verdict and vote to acquit. Regardless of the defendant, I still believe such a course of action would be just in any case in which drug offenses—absent proof of violent acts—are alleged.

Both our Constitution and our common law guarantee that we will be judged by our peers. But in truth, there are now two Americas, politically and economically distinct. I, for one, do not qualify as a peer to Felicia Pearson. The opportunities and experiences of her life do not correspond in any way with my own, and her America is different from my own. I am therefore ill-equipped to be her judge in this matter.
Very true all that, but way too heavy for a Friday morning, right? So, on to some fun clips. Until now, I haven't been able to get terribly excited about JJ Abrams upcoming alien flick "Super 8," but this first full trailer really does effectively change everything. In revealing that the incident was recorded by kids making monster movies on their super 8 camera, and seeing Coach Taylor of "Friday Night Lights" back in action, it has convinced me that this could be something really pretty great when it comes out June 8. Enjoy the trailer.



Next up, although very few people are apparently watching, FX is doing some truly entertaining things on television. I'm a devoted fan of "Sons of Anarchy," and though it lasted only one short season, "Terriers" was a fun little show, too. On the air now, I'm really getting into season two of "Justified," and the boxing drama "Lights Out" just keeps getting better and better with each episode. And now, to complement it's darkly funny "Louie" with Louie CK, the network is adding another truly odd-looking comedy this June, "Wilfred," starring Elijah Wood. As you'll see from the trailer, it's based on an Australian show about a lonely, introverted dude who becomes friends with his neighbor's dog, who just happens to be able to talk to him. Looks like very fun stuff, so enjoy this preview, and keep an eye out for the show.



And finally, truly saving the best for last, College Humor has definitely hit the mark with this mashup of Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," easily one of my favorite animated movies of the last 10 years or so, and the video game "Star Fox." It's just wicked fun that needs no further explanation from me, so enjoy, and have a great weekend. (I'll be spending mine with mi hermano going to see two concerts by the Baseball Project .. huzzah!) Peace out.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

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.

What will Wes Anderson's next movie look like?

I guess it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that with Wes Anderson about to get busy on a new movie, there are plenty of stars ready to sign up for it. And in even better news, unlike the disastrous "Darjeeling Limited," it seems like this one might even have a proper story behind it.

Anderson is expected to start shooting his next film, "Moonrise Kingdom," in the spring, and he's apparently in negotiations with regular partner in crime and funniest man alive Bill Murray, plus Frances McDormand, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton and even Bruce Willis.

And even though he's again working with co-writer Roman Coppola, who was with him for "Darjeeling Limited" (sorry to keep bringing it up, but I really hated that movie), it indeed sounds like this flick will have something actually going on in it.

In a story set in the late 1960s, two young adults fall in love and run away, and leaders in their New England town go in search of them. Norton will play a scout leader who brings his charges on a search. Willis is in talks to play the town sheriff who’s also looking, and who is having an affair with the missing girl’s mother, the role McDormand is in talks to play. Murray will play the girl’s father, who has his own issues.

Oooohh, drama. Since Anderson has managed to make four movies I have nothing but love for with "Bottle Rocket," "Rushmore," "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (and also two real duds, but enough about that), I'll definitely be keeping track of this one, so stay tuned for more on this soon.

A fairly short report today because, after all, I am on vacation (but, of course, watching movies, since I'm at the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival.) The only other real bit of news before a couple of clips today is something that just makes me giddy: The Muppets movie taking shape painfully slowly is finally starting to line up some seriously funny people.

Along with writing the movie, Jason Segel, of course, gets to cast himself as the main human in this operation, and it's already been announced that he'll be joined by Amy Adams, as his girlfriend (rough gig for Segel, eh?), and Chris Cooper as the big bad, an oil man who wants to drill below the Muppets' theater. But now surrounding them is when things are starting to get really good.

Lady Gaga will make an appearance (why not?), and her entourage will be made up of veryfunnyguys Ed Helms, John Krasinski and Eric Overstreet (a recent Emmy winner, and deservedly so, for "Modern Family"). Also in the mix will be Jack Black, Paul Rudd and "Community" uberfunnyman Donald Glover in unspecified roles, Jane Lynch as a prison guard and Danny Trejo as her prisoner (why a prison guard would have a personal prisoner I don't know, but anything can happen with the Muppets!), and Zach Galifianakis as Hobo Joe.

Whew. Is that enough funny for you? The flick, being directed by James Bobin of "Flight of the Conchords," isn't set to come out until two Christmases from now, but you can already count me as thoroughly psyched for this.

OK, that's all the real news I have today, so here are couple of clips to wrap things up. First up comes the first trailer I've seen for "Barney's Version," based on the comic novel by Mordechai Richler and, thankfully, starring Paul Giamatti. The story is about the life of the titular Barney, or at least his version of it, which includes three wives, two continents and any number of possibly true adventures. It's probably much better than I'm making it sound here. Enjoy the trailer and keep an eye out for this in at least some corners of the world Jan. 14.

And I'll leave you today with the trailer for a magical movie I saw last night here in Rehoboth, a 2009 Indian movie titled "Harishchandrachi Factory." Directed by Paresh Mokashi, it's a humorous look at the life of impossible dreamer Dabasaheb Phalke who, in 1913, made "Raja Harishchandra," thus launching India's feature film industry. It really is a movie made for people who love movies, and though I have no idea if it's coming to DVD in the Western world any time soon, definitely see it if you get a chance. Unfortunately, this trailer was the only one I could find that has the English subtitles, but it also has a truly unfortunate voiceover. It still gives you an idea of the spirit of this great movie, so enjoy the clip, and have a great weekend (and if you happen to live in Macon, of course, please go see the Macon Film Guild's presentation of my favorite flick of 2010, "Winter's Bone," Sunday at 2, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. at the Douglass Theatre.) Peace out.

A real "Battlestar Galactica" prequel? Bring it on!

When the second incarnation of "Battlestar Galactica" left the Syfy airwaves in 2009, it left a real void for fans of genuine, smart sci-fi, so this is certainly good news

Executive producer David Eick, one of the big brains behind the version that began in 2004, has pitched to the station a prequel of sorts called "Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome," and it has so far picked up at least a 2-hour pilot. The show takes place in the 10th year of the first Cylon war, and follows the exploits of young ensign William Adama, a recent Academy graduate and now a rookie viper pilot. In the 2004 show, of course, Adama was played by the great Edward James Olmos, but they'll now clearly have to cast some new blood for this.

According to the plot synopsis, Adama "finds himself assigned to the newest battlestar in the Colonial fleet, the Galactica. The talented but hot-headed risk-taker soon finds himself leading a dangerous top secret mission that, if successful, will turn the tide of the decade-long war in favor of the desperate fleet."

Nothing but epic awesomeness there, and though there's no word yet if co-creator Ronald Moore will once again be involved, here's a final word from Eick to give "Battlestar" fans a sense of just how good this could be.

"While maintaining the themes of politics, social propaganda, and the timeless question: what does it mean to be human? - 'Blood & Chrome' will also return us to the authentic, relentless depiction of combat and the agony and ecstasy of human-Cylon war, which was the hallmark of 'Battlestar Galactica's' early seasons."

I don't have too much after that today before the videos because, before working on a Saturday, I have to go swimming and then do my laundry, but there is a bit of goodness to get to for fans of Wes Anderson.

No, unfortunately, it isn't any more details on the film he apparently plays on shooting next spring or so, but it is a glimpse of his writing before he went on, with his first three movies, to make three of my favorites in "Bottle Rocket," "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums."

Thanks to the head's up from Hitfix.com for this link to a short story he wrote for the University of Texas literary journal Analecta. I haven't read it yet, but I just printed it out, so will do so today to take my mind off of laundry for a bit. Enjoy the story here.

OK, on to the videos. I can't remember a movie in recent history that's had as much trouble simply coming out (no pun intended, really) as "I Love You Phillip Morris." Is it simply that the characters played by Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor are gay? I suppose so, and that's truly sad, because as you'll see from this first full trailer I know of for the movie by "Bad Santa" creators Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, it looks pretty wickedly funny. Look for this in what surely will be a limited release Dec. 3, and enjoy the trailer.



I'm a big, big fan of the UK teen skeen "Skins," and an even bigger fan of Baltimore, but sadly, I can't see this turning out to be anything but awful. It seems that MTV is remaking the great show (which aired on BBC America here, I believe) with a cast of way-too-fresh-faced (the original cast was rather scruffy) young Americans, and somehow transporting the action from the north of England to Charm City itself. If you've seen the original, you'll see that they at least kept a few of the characters' names, but seemingly none of the spirit of the original show. "Enjoy" this trailer for the show, apparently coming in January.

MTV Shows

OK, where better to end up today then with the trailer for a movie I'm definitely psyched to see at the end of this year, even if it does look rather morose. John Cameron Mitchell is best known as the stage and later movie creator of Hedwig, the star of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," still by a wide margin the greatest botched sex change/punk rock movie ever made. As you'll see below, he's come up with something completely different for "Rabbit Hole," his new movie starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart, set to come out hopefully everywhere in December. It's about a couple dealing with the death of their very young son, and though that indeed sounds thoroughly depressing, I love Mitchell's work and I'll watch Kidman in just about anything, so I'm there. Enjoy the clip, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

Who are the two dissenters raining on David Fincher's parade?

Actually, before I get into that, there are two tidbits about creative folk whose work I often enjoy out there today.

Though he certainly hit a rough stretch in my book with "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" and "The Darjeeling Limited," Wes Anderson has also made four movies I truly adore in "Bottle Rocket," "Rushmore," "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "Fantastic Mr. Fox," so any word of the man getting back to work is welcome around here, even if that info comes in the form of the skimpiest of details.

According to Production Weekly's twitter feed, the title of his next movie will be "Moonrise Kingdom" and, best of all, he has plans to shoot it next spring. The only other detail available right now is that he's looking for two 12-year-olds, a boy and a girl, to play the leads.

So, something for children (and not completely jaded adults) like "Fantastic Mr. Fox"? Perhaps, but this will apparently be a live-action affair instead. No matter what, this is good news all around, so stay tuned for more about is as soon I can track it down. ...

In TV news, when it was revealed that "Pushing Daisies" mastermind Bryan Fuller (who also had a big hand in the early stages of "Heroes," before that show completely derailed) had signed a new deal with NBC, that was certainly a promising development. If you've never seen the show that ran for 22 episodes on ABC a few years ago, it was just the definition of whimsy and a perfect little bit of escapist TV.

So I was really looking forward to finding out what he would sink his teeth into next, but according to the always reliable Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly, it's just a remake of "The Munsters," and while that certainly has a little potential in his hands, it mostly just sounds extremely tired.

Even with Ausiello saying the series has been described as "Modern Family meets True Blood," and I have a lot of time for both of those, I just can't say much but meh to this idea so far. ...

And finally today, having given in long ago to any notion that I would somehow boycott Matt Reeves' "Let Me In" on general principles, I've set my viewing schedule for what really should be one of the best movie weekends of the entire year: David Fincher's "The Social Network" on Saturday afternoon, followed by "Let Me In" on Sunday afternoon.

And while Reeves' still thoroughly unnecessary remake of the perfect Swedish vampire coming-of-age tale "Let the Right One In" is doing a more than respectable 83 percent positive at Rotten Tomatoes, Fincher's flick was approaching the perfect score achieved by "Toy Story 2" until a couple of holdouts spoiled the party and knocked "The Social Network" down to 97 percent.

So, who are these two flies in the ointment? Well, they, not surprisingly, have brought their own opinions about much more than the movie itself (and that's their right, of course) into their attempts to judge it.

First up is Armond White of the New York Press, who if he wanted attention, has certainly gotten it this time, with more than 6,000, often very harsh, comments on his review posting at Rotten Tomatoes.

White has earned the reputation as more than a little of an iconoclast for trashing movies like "The Town" and "The Kids Are All Right," and while I can't go with him completely on either of those, I do have to agree that they were both at least a little overrated.

Where he really stepped in it this year, however, was in his completely wrongminded thrashing of "Toy Story 3," calling Pixar's best movie since "Ratatouille" simply "besotted with brand names" (it's about toys, after all ... sheesh.)

So, what's his beef with "The Social Network"? Well, I encourage everyone to read his full review here to find out, but my reading of it is that he just generally finds Hollywood to be a morally bankrupt kind of place, and while that may or may not be true, letting that generality cloud your view of specific films is a sad approach to take. Here's a sample:

Like one of those fake-smart, middlebrow TV shows, the speciousness of The Social Network is disguised by topicality. It’s really a movie excusing Hollywood ruthlessness. That’s why it evades Zuckerberg’s background timidity and the mess that the Internet has made of cultural discourse.

There's much more like that proving that White craves, along with attention, easy answers in his movies, something I've never had much time for.

The second holdout (and there may indeed be more by the time I finish writing this) is someone named Prairie Miller (yes, really) of a conservative blog NewsBlaze, who, perhaps predictably, has a problem with Hollywood's "in-your face cocky" portrayal of Harvard culture, therefore managing to trash both of this country's supposedly elitist coasts without - much like White - saying much at all about the movie itself. Read the whole thing here, but here's a sample:

Though according to filmmaker David Fincher, who seems to already have an experienced handle on scrutinizing budding sociopaths with Fight Club, Se7en and Zodiac, and as mapped out in a series of legal depositions inserted into this film, Zuckerberg had a flair for ripping off both ideas and profits from fellow matriculated collaborators in this venture. Cavalier when not in your face cocky, the gabby snob navigates a Hollywood notion of Harvard in what seems less brainiac boot camp than an Ivy League Club Med where nobody does homework.

Now, both of these writers have a lot more readers than I do, and perhaps rightly so, but is it all surprising that the only two dissenters from what has been almost universally hailed as a great movie have done so due to preconceived notions they clearly took into the movie with them?

Everyone's welcome to their opinions though, of course, and if I have time before I, sadly, have to work on Sunday, you'll get mine on David Fincher's "The Social Network." And with that, have a great weekend, and go see lat least one new movie if you have the time. Peace out.

What if Wes Anderson directed the "Spider-Man" reboot?

I'm gonna go on an overnight drunk and then find the man who killed my uncle.

I really don't have the time or energy to say much on this Monday morning, but this YouTube send up of Wes Anderson was just too good not to pass along.

I have no idea if Wes Anderson was really rumored to be the director for the upcoming "reboot" (in this case, aka disaster) of the "Spider-Man" franchise, but once you decide to scrap the great Sam Raimi and essentially pretend the first three movies didn't even happen (actually, with the third one at least, I'm with you there), I suppose anything's possible. (The Spidey job, by the way, went to "500 Days of Summer" director Marc Webb, so maybe it won't be a complete catastrof***.)

Anyways, this Anderson parody is just about about spot on, so I'll stop prattling on now and just let you have at it. Enjoy, and have a perfectly nonobjectionable Monday. Peace out.

My (and only my) best movies of the decade: The 2001 edition

I should probably just drop the years from this thing altogether, because today's list will actually contain not one, as I had hoped, but two movies that actually came out in late 2000.

My only two excuses are that I write this very early in the morning, and well, I sometimes confuse when a movie came out with when I actually got to see it. And, to paraphrase the great Lewis Grizzard when people complained about errors in the Atlanta Constitution, "hey, it don't cost but ... well, nothing."

Anyways, here are the nine movies that made today's list, and though that's only seven actually from 2001, I really love all of these, so enjoy, and please feel free to add any you think I may have overlooked.

"O Brother Where Art Thou"
I fluctuate from week to week as to whether this or "The Big Lebowski" are my favorite Coen brothers flick, but for now let's just put them both on top as co-conspirators. Thanks to Bob for politely pointing out this should have been on my 2000 list, because no other Coen brothers flick better combines their talent for establishing a strong sense of place with simply wicked (and in this case delightfully silly) humor. It's a major strength of this flick that, although it clearly pokes fun at Southerners, I have yet to meet one who doesn't look back on it with love.

"Memento"
Nothing like getting your errors out of the way right up front, so here's another one that was apparently released in late 2000 but was misplaced by me (though, in my defense, it didn't get its U.S. debut until the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.) You can trace all the themes from Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" to this mindbender starring Guy Pearce. I love a movie that I have to watch more than once just to make sure it all adds up (and there's another one coming later on this list), especially when it's good enough - like this gem - to make you want to invest the trouble of watching it again.

"Spy Kids"
Yes, really. Though the franchise got worse and worse with the subsequent movies in this series, the original from Robert Rodriguez was just great escapist fare for kids and adults - like me - who like to act like them fairly often. I haven't seen "Shorts" yet, but I will on video, because I just appreciate that Rodriguez - when he's not grindhousing out gloriously gross fare like "Planet Terror" - makes movies he thinks his own kids will enjoy.

"Amelie"
You can count Jean Pierre Jeunet as one of my very favorite directors in the world, and I was just a sucker for this lighter than air romance starring a simply adorable Audrey Tautou. I'm really hoping Jeunet's "Micmacs à tire-larigot," as best as I can tell a goofy tale about a group of misfits who band together to take on a weapons manufacturer, is somehow playing at the end of the year when I make it to New York City, because when he's on top of his game - as with "Amelie" - Jeunet just makes movies that look like nothing else you can find in theaters, and you really can't say that about very many directors.

"Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
I love movies in which the music is at least as good as the movie itself, which is clearly the case with this flick that John Cameron Mitchell wrote, directed and starred in - as the truly unforgettable creation Hedwig. Yes, if there's a scale of somewhat gay to extremely gay, this flick clearly belongs on the latter end, but it's also just a giddy punk-rock romp and tons of fun.

"Ghost World"
This has developed - along with "Office Space" and "Super Troopers" - into one of those movies I can pop into the DVD player after a nightmarish day at work to make it all float away. What in the world ever happened to Thora Birch, who as Enid just made the perfect (anti-?) heroine? I love that, to this day, if I find the right person to talk to, we can still debate just what happened to her at the end - AND IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS FLICK BASED ON THE GRAPHIC NOVEL BY DANIEL CLOWES, PLEASE SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH SO I WON'T SPOIL IT FOR YOU - in which I've always thought Enid commits suicide. No matter how you read it, this is just a bittersweetly askew view of the world, and easily one of my favorite flicks.

"Devil's Backbone"
I watched this Guillermo del Toro movie again this year for Halloween when I was petsitting for a friend of mine (yes, I have a rather boring life sometimes), and though it takes its time telling the tale, it's just a wickedly entertaining ghost story. On a side note, if you want to see a more recent horror flick endorsed by del Toro, please see Juan Antonio Bayona's "The Orphanage" ("La Orfanato") on DVD before it gets the inevitable English-language remake next year.

"Donnie Darko"
Will Richard Kelly ever make a great movie again? I sat through all of "Southland Tales" and this year's "The Box" simply out of love for this flick, but they were both just serious duds. "Donnie Darko," however, took me multiple viewings to truly appreciate, but as twisted tales go, this one about Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his giant furry friend Frank is as good and ultimately absorbing as the best work of David Lynch.

"The Royal Tenenbaums"
Nothing like saving the best for last. Though all these flicks are winners for me, the best movie of 2001 was also Wes Anderson's best (though by just a nose over his first two, "Rushmore" and "Bottle Rocket.") No other of his movies better combines his artist's eye for detail with a great knack for storytelling, here about the Tenenbaums, a family of doomed geniuses who live in some kind of alternate vision of New York City. From all I've heard, he and co-writer Noah Baumbach have recaptured this magic with "Fantastic Mr. Fox," which I can't wait to see this weekend. In the meantime I'll leave you today with one of the funniest things I've ever seen in a movie, Royal Tenenbaum's epitaph.

"Died tragically rescuing his family from the wreckage of a destroyed sinking battleship."

So there you have it. As I said, please feel free to add any movies you think I may have snubbed, and have a perfectly pleasant Tuesday. As a bonus, here's the second trailer for "Youth in Revolt," which - despite the ridiculous voiceover pitching it as a routine teen comedy - I'm hoping will be one of my 2010 favorites, because the book by C.D. Payne is just a fantastic farce. Peace out.


Youth in Revolt Trailer #2

Trailer Park | MySpace Video

Oh, that's what I should be reading.

Read the Twilight books on hols. Really enjoyed them in a sort of 'creepy old man reading delusional, horny, daughter's diary' way.

No, the title of this post doesn't refer to the Twilight books, which I'd never bother to read, but I just thought that tidbit from Simon Pegg was just way too funny to pass up.

What I'm actually referring is the quartet of Red Riding novels by David Peace, "Nineteen Seventy-Four," "Nineteen Seventy-Seven," "Nineteen Eighty" and "Nineteen Eighty-Three." If you're unfamiliar with Peace, he's also the author of "The Damned United," a damned fine book about football coach Brian Clough that's now been made into a feature film starring Michael Sheen, if you're lucky enough to see it.

The Red Riding novels, a different kettle of fish, sound a lot like a "Prime Suspect" kind of thing to me, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. The books have already been made into a three-part British miniseries, which was unfortunately not yet available through my Netflix account, described as "a study of power and police corruption framed around the investigation of the disappearance of several young girls."

I'll see that as soon as I'm able, and I've already just ordered "Nineteen Seventy-Four" from the Amazon, but of course an American version (bastardization?) is also already in the works.

Ridley Scott has been hired to direct and Steve Zaillian to script a two-hour movie (shortened from the original five hours) flick which will transplant the action from the U.K. to the U.S., because I guess that's just supposed to be more palatable to us somehow. I'll keep an open mind about all that until I've at least read the four books and seen the original miniseries.

All I have after that today is a couple of fun videos, starting with this series of six clips from Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," courtesy of Collider. The more I see of this stop-motion animated flick based on and expanded from the classic children's novel by Roald Dahl just makes me think it's gonna be a real winner when it comes out Nov. 25. Enjoy.



And lastly today, since my (and many other people's) most-anticipated movie of the year finally comes out tomorrow, here's a "Where the Wild Things Are" featurette showing how big a part actual kids played on the set of Spike Jonze's flick. Due to furloughs, vacations and other fun stuff, I'm gonna have to work instead of seeing this tomorrow, but I'll certainly be there Saturday morning, and I just can't wait. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Where the Wild Things Are Exclusive Featurette

Trailer Park|MySpace Videos

For Friday, a trio of fun trailers

"Great question, Doris. I haven't really had to drop trou much. Easy or hard not about age, more about who's in the scene with you"

I don't tweet or twit or whatever its called, and I'm certain I never will, but the medium does occasionally produce some real gems, like the above post from Edward Norton, which I would have to assume was in response to something along the lines of "is it difficult to film sex scenes?" but really works better when it just stands alone.

After that, however, it's right into what can't be called anything approaching good news, so please remember I'm just the messenger here. I've had "Let the Right One In" on my brain quite a bit for the past few days, mostly because I like thinking about movies a whole lot more than I do anything resembling work, but also because the Macon Film Guild will be offering a special Halloween eve screening of it Oct. 30 at the Douglass Theatre at 7 and 9:30 p.m. I'll be at the 7 p.m. showing myself.

But in unfortunately related news, it seems that easily one of my favorite actors will be joining the cast of what's now also easily the most thoroughly unnecessary remake (though there's obviously plenty of competition) of all time, Matt Reeves' "Let Me In." It seems that Richard Jenkins has landed the choice role (at least it would have been in the original) of Hakan (or whatever the hell the character will be named now), the adult who cares for the seemingly 12-year-old vampire Eli.

The kids in the remake, who thankfully will be actual kids (though that won't be enough to get me to go see it in January 2010, I promise), are two actors I had never heard of: Kodi Smit-McPhee in the role of Americanized Oscar and Chloe Moretz in the role of Americanized Eli. Though this all truly sickens me, it obviously also holds some kind of morbid fascination about how low Hollywood will sink to prove it has no original ideas left. I'll close this topic with some wise words from "Let the Right One In" director Tomas Alfredson on the prospect of a remake:

"When I first heard about it I sort of got jealous. The most saddening thing is that the American audience cannot accept foreign language films. But if they find something new in this material it would be interesting to see. However, if they destroy it, I don't have to go and see it."

And in a true bit of weirdness, it seems that "Freaks and Geeks" star James Franco (he'll always be known that way around here, and believe me, it's meant as nothing but a compliment) is returning to TV - on "General Hospital."

No, I couldn't make that up even if I tried. It seems that Franco will play a "mystery person" (is there really any other kind on soap operas?) beginning Nov. 20, with the recurring role lasting for TWO MONTHS.

My first response to all that was I guess a guy's gotta eat, but in the end, I suppose he's probably gonna have a lot of fun with this, so I guess I can only say bully to that.

And one thing I can always say bully to is the soundtrack for a Wes Anderson movie. The best one he's put together so far would have to be for also my favorite Anderson flick, "The Royal Tenenbaums." From the Ramones' "Judy is a Punk" playing behind the montage that exposes Margot's wayward ways to the pair of Rolling Stones songs, "She Smiles Sweetly" and "Ruby Tuesday," that bookend the story of Margot and Richie's illicit love, it all just gels perfectly with the flick. Heck, even one Anderson movie I really just can't stand, "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," spawned a truly fun collection of David Bowie tunes performed in Portuguese by Seu Jorge.

I tell you all that to tell you this: The track listing is now out for Anderson's next flick, "Fantastic Mr. Fox," set to open wide Nov. 25. The soundtrack itself will come out, if I'm not mistaken, Nov. 3, and it features the usual assortment of oddities, plus a lot of work from composer Alexandre Desplat and a new tune from britpopper Jarvis Cocker, who also stars in the movie. Here's the track listing:

1. American Empirical Pictures - Alexandre Desplat
2. The Ballad of Davy Crockett - The Wellingtons
3. Mr. Fox in the Fields - Alexandre Desplat
4. Heroes and Villains - Beach Boys
5. Fooba Wooba John - Burl Ives
6. Bogus, Bunce and Bean - Alexandre Desplat
7. Jimmy Squirrel and Co. - Alexandre Desplat
8. Love - Nancy Adams
9. Buckeye Jim - Burl Ives
10. High-Speed French Train - Alexandre Desplat
11. Whack Bat Majorette - Alexandre Desplat
12. The Grey Goose - Burl Ives
13. Bean's Secret Cider Cellar - Alexandre Desplat
14. Une Petite Ile - Georges Delerue
15. Street Fighting Man - Rolling Stones
16. Fantastic Mr. Fox AKA Petey's Song - Jarvis Cocker
17. Night and Day - Art Tatum
18. Kristofferson's Theme - Alexandre Desplat
19. Just Another Dead Rat in a Garbage Pail (Behind A Chinese Restaurant) - Alexandre Desplat
20. Le Grand Choral - Georges Delerue
21. Great Harrowsford Square - Alexandre Desplat
23. Stunt Expo 2004 - Alexandre Desplat - Alexandre Desplat
23. Canis Lupus - Alexandre Desplat
24. Ol' Man River - The Beach Boys
25. Let Her Dance - Bobby Fuller Four

OK, after that admittedly very long intro, here are the three promised trailers. Actually, the first one is instead a 5-minute stretch of Roland Emmerich's "2012," which as you'll see is gonna wreak all kinds of destruction when it comes out Nov. 13. No matter how old I get, I think I'll always have a soft spot for seeing things "blowed up real good," and when you do it on the scale Emmerich is unleashing here and throw in a constantly yelling John Cusack, yes, I'm there. Enjoy.



It's been forever since I've seen a good Chinese action epic, so I'll definitely be there too for "Red Cliff," the Westernized condensing of John Woo's two-part movie about the Battle of Red Cliffs, assuming it plays anywhere near me when it also comes out Nov. 13. The two-part original has already taken in the highest domestic gross in Chinese history (taking down "Titanic" there), so hopefully that has earned it the right to play everywhere here. Enjoy the trailer.



And finally, to class things up a bit, here's the second trailer for Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air," which stars George Clooney and just might have the biggest awards season buzz as that begins. The release date has been moved around a bit, but if I have this right, it will now be limited on Nov. 13 and wide on Nov. 25. As you can see from this new clip, Anna Kendrick, another definite favorite around here, also has a big part in this, so huzzah to that. Enjoy.



And now, if you'll excuse me I'm off to see "Zombieland" before I go to work a half-day (hey, you have to do something to make the most of crappy furloughs.) Here's hoping it's as funny as I'm expecting, and that everyone has a great weekend. Peace out.

Please, please, please just say no to Jay Leno

Before I go any further, I just wanted to thank Kanye West for finally proving to the world just how much of an ass he is. Not that it really matters to me, since I've thought that much of him since he was obviously the only person who had no fun at "Dave Chappelle's Block Party," but I am glad the proverbial cat is completely out of the bag now.

But I didn't tune in for much else of MTV's Video Music Awards last night because, first of all, I'm obviously far too old, and more importantly because last night was just such an epicly good night of television in other places.

First up at my house came the two-episode finale-of-sorts for "King of the Hill," a finale-of-sorts because it was really just two really good episodes. I love the fact that, apart from that they all ended up eating Hank and Bobby's steaks, there really wasn't any big closing at all, just two naturally funny Bobby-centric episodes that showed why "King of the Hill" has always been funnier than anything else in Fox's Sunday night lineup - and a heck of a lot better than Mike Judge's latest movie, "Extract." R.I.P. Hill clan.

Next up was the season two finale of "True Blood," and man was that just a wildly entertaining mess. It hit me about five minutes into it that, even though what they had come up with all of Maryann's madness was just crazy enough to work, absolutely none of it came from Charlaine Harris' very popular Sookie Stackhouse novels (of which, since I'm nearing the end of book five, you can certainly count me as a fan.) And the ending (I'm just gonna have to assume that you've seen this by now if you want to)? If Sookie had somehow even agreed to marry Bill it would have just been way too much of a departure from the novels to even stomach, so I'm certainly glad that never happened (at least to his knowledge.)

But, amazingly, episode five of season three of "Mad Men" was still the best thing on TV last night, and by a pretty wide stretch. Poor Bertie giving birth while Don and his new prison guard buddy bonded over a bottle of booze? Priceless. And you can just tell that the schoolteacher is gonna be a femme fatale like Don just hasn't encountered yet. Of all his mistresses so far, Rosemarie DeWitt from season one would have to be my favorite, with Maggie Siff a close second, but you can just tell that the teacher will do more damage than the both of them combined, and I can't wait to see it unfold. And it really is amazing that season three so far is miles better than season two, which was just as much better than season one.

And I tell you all that to tell you this: In your mind, compare all that wild entertainment to what's going to be unleashed on NBC tonight and, for that matter, every weeknight at 10 p.m. or the foreseeable (or should it be "unforeseeable"?) future. Is there really anything worse you could imagine for primetime than FIVE HOURS A WEEK of Jay Leno kissing celebrities' asses? I can't come up with anything, and given the rather amazing amount of reality crap that pollutes most of the airwaves now, that's saying quite a bit.

Tonight will be a test of willpower for me, because I really like Jerry Seinfeld (Jay's first 10 p.m. guest), but I'm gonna stand strong and just say no. If I have any power at all (and, believe me, I'm well aware that I don't), please do me this tiny favor and never, ever tune in to this garbage. I have a feeling from everything I've read so far that, no matter how abysmal Jay's ratings might get, they're unlikely to pull him off the air any time soon because the show is just so cheap to produce, but we can still try, right?

OK, enough bile for a Monday morning. I'll leave you with something much more glorious: A making-of featurette for Wes Anderson's upcoming "Fantastic Mr. Fox." As you can see from this clip, Anderson clearly has the same respect for Roald Dahl and his work that Spike Jonze has for Maurice Sendak and his. Enjoy the clip, and have a perfectly passable Monday. Peace out.

No, I really don't have a heterocrush on George Clooney, but this stuff looks damn funny

But before we get into any of that, the details have finally emerged about just what "Pushing Daisies" creator Bryan Singer is gonna do after walking away from "Heroes" for the second time (when they thoroughly wasted Hiro's time trip to Japan, that was enough to make me walk away for the first time and make it permanent.)

The good news is he now has two projects in the works for NBC, but unfortunately neither of them sound anywhere near as imaginative as "Pushing Daisies."

In the first, Fuller and Bryan Singer are partnering to adapt the Augusten Burroughs book "Sellevision," which apparently revolves around the inner workings at a fictional home shopping channel. Sounds like an awful lot of meh to me, but who knows? It could also be really funny, I suppose.

The second project he's on sounds much more appealing to me simply because of the oddity of it. Described as a "workplace comedy," "No Kill" will be set inside a no-kill animal shelter. Sounds great to me, especially with this tease from Fuller: "There's definitely a 'Barney Miller' workplace aspect to it."

And of course, for you "Pushing Daisies" fans out there (and there had to be at least a few of you, right?), Fuller is also working on a 12-issue series of comic books based on the show, and like just about any show creator you can think of, dreaming about a movie someday. I don't even think I have the heart to go there ...

OK, from here on out today it's all about George Clooney in two clips, as the fall will seem to be with the two flicks below and Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" all coming out in short order.

First up comes a new, short clip from "Men Who Stare at Goats," featuring Clooney torturing Ewan McGregor with some kind of odd device. The movie, set to come out Nov. 6 and based on Jon Ronson's book about the Army's exploration of uses for paranormal activity, should probably be the funniest movie for the rest of this year, and is one I'm really looking forward to. Enjoy.



Next up, and potentially even better, is as far as I know the first teaser trailer for director Jason Reitman's return, "Up in the Air." Clooney stars as a downsizer who compiles his frequent flier as he travels the globe firing people, and thankfully the great Anna Kendrick (who I've loved ever since "Rocket Science" - rent that little charmer if you've never seen it) plays a rival who develops a way to fire people even faster (comforting thought, eh?). Before today, I had only seen this as having a probable Christmas day release, but now it's listed at the IMDB for Dec. 4, so I can only say huzzah to that. Enjoy the trailer, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Film Forum with Beavis and Butthead? Bring it on!

Actually, before I get into any of that (plus a bonus clip for "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and even Alyson Hannigan as a Lusty Leopard stripper), there's a couple of bits of news out there today that are just too good not to pass along.

First up is that, though I might have to drive to Atlanta, I most likely will get to see Jean-Pierre Jeunet's crazy new flick "Micmacs" this fall now that it's been picked up for U.S. distribution by Sony Pictures Classics.

I believe the full original French name of the flick is "Micmacs à tire-larigot," but I'll take it in any form I can get it, especially since the plot sounds exactly like something that sprang from Jeunet's rather active imagination. In it, Dany Boon stars as a video store clerk who bands together with his friends to take out two weapons manufacturers after he gets a bullet lodged in his brain.

And in perhaps even better, though certainly expected, news, AMC has greenlit a fourth season of "Mad Men."

Beyond the acclaim the show brings to AMC, the numbers this year have been rather incredible, bringing in 2.8 million viewers for the season premiere (34 percent more than the season two premiere), with the total rising to 4.5 million viewers of subsequent airings during the first week.

And from an aesthetic view, the show has never been better, so I can only say bring it on. If I have this right, show creator Matthew Weiner only has a five-season arc planned, so this brings us into the home stretch. And I'll certainly be around until the very end.

OK, before we get into the videos, being a fan of Allyson Hannigan since the beginning of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," I certainly couldn't help but pass along this photo of her apparently working at the Lusty Leopard from the Sept. 28 season premiere of "How I Met Your Mother." As best as I can tell, the premiere is called "Double Date," and from the photos I've seen, I think Barney finally gets a date with Robin and - of course - takes her to all his usual haunts. Enjoy!


I'll close today with a couple of clips, the first of which is a new featurette for Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," which is set to drop Nov. 13. You can see from the clip that Anderson is paying a lot of attention to the details of the animated sets, much as he did with the live-action ones for "The Royal Tenenbaums" (still my favorite Anderson flick), and watching George Clooney roll around on the farm is just a hoot. Enjoy.



And finally comes the main event for fans of truly juvenile humor (like me), the return of Beavis and Butthead. Sure, it's shameless promotion for Mike Judge's "Extract," which is indeed playing wide enough for me to go see it Saturday afternoon (huzzah!), but it's also very funny, and if you have American heroes Beavis and Butthead in your stable, why not use them? Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

Scab-free "Futurama" - plus two tantalizing trailers

Actually, there's at least a rumor out there today that's crazy enough I should really start out with it (and it's not the fact that Rob Marshall will be stepping in to direct "Pirates of the Caribbean 4," which I really couldn't care less about.)

It seems that, at least according to the Hollywood Reporter's Risky Biz blog, "500 Days of Summer" director Marc Webb may now be tapped to helm another big-screen take on "Jesus Christ Superstar." Take a second to digest that.

As for his first flick, which I saw a few weeks ago, I'd say like Summer herself I was in a state of "like" rather than "love" by the end. The two leads, Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt, have charm to spare, as does most of the movie, but I couldn't help but feel an evolving sense of stasis since going in you knew at least sort of how it was going to end.

I will say two things in its favor: It's easily the best "romantic" movie I've seen so far this year, and as far as break-up movies go, it's just miles and miles and miles better than that turd of a flick "The Break-Up," starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. Man, did that stink. As for "500 Days of Summer," I'd say if it's playing anywhere near you, take a chance on it for a fun summer diversion.

And as for Universal's apparent plans to remake Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, which was already made into a wacky little flick by Norman Jewison, I'd say it could certainly work and will make a ton of money, and Webb can certainly do it. Myself I'd call marginally interested at best. I am, however, always interested in "She & Him" by Deschanel and M. Ward, which I'm listening to right now. Priceless.

Now to what for fans of good, smart, funny sci-fi can only be great news. I had a sneaking feeling that the news Twentieth Century Fox was recasting for the upcoming new episodes of "Futurama" on Comedy Central was just a negotiating ploy.

The main thing "Futurama" has going for it, beyond the fact that it's just thoroughly entertaining, is that it has a devoted fan base of folks like me. Going to the trouble of making new episodes after you've alienated everyone by firing the entire cast would really defeat the entire purpose of bringing it back.

Thankfully, it's not to be. It seems all the main cast members - Billy West, Katey Segal, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche and Tress MacNeille - have all now signed for the new season of 26 episodes at a little less than they wanted but more than the studio was initially offering before breaking things off. So now I'm certainly in when this finally comes back in mid-2010 or so.

And in one other really good bit of TV news, it seems I will indeed be holding onto my HBO for a bit longer after this season of "True Blood," because the "Seinfeld" reunion of sorts on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is turning into more than a minor affair.

I assumed they - Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards - would only agree to it for one episode, but apparently I'm wrong (yes, I'm used to it by now.) When the show returns in September (I think), the "Seinfeld" angle will be a "major arc," with all the cast members appearing in at least five episodes, according to HBO. Rather than an actual "Seinfeld" reunion, Larry David says it will instead be more about why that would be such a bad idea in his mind and what everyone's been up to in the last 11 years (wow, really?) In the case of Richards, at least, that should be pretty fascinating.

OK, now on to the trailers. The first, which I think actually came out yesterday and was pointed out to me by Movie Mom Nell Minow, is the first trailer for Wes Anderson's "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," and I have to say it looks at least as good as I could have hoped. If you're gonna tell a classic children's tale, I'd much rather watch it in this appealing stop-motion style rather than with even-more-souped-up 3-D gadgetry. Enjoy, and stick around for one that gets me even more giddy.



Finally, as far as I know, this is the first trailer for Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo" that contains a lot of the Western voice-over, and though as usual the dubbing doesn't match up at all with the moving mouths, it still looks amazing. Seeing Ponyo turn from goldfish into little girl is just great, so here's hoping this really does open "NATIONWIDE" as Disney has promised on Aug. 14. And if you'll excuse me now, I'm off to see Judd Apatow's "Funny People" and hoping I'll like it a lot more than some of the critics have. Peace out.

Yes, there will be a new Wes Anderson movie

After his last two flicks I wasn't completely sure I really wanted this day to come, but it seems there really will be another Wes Anderson movie, and it will indeed be opening the London Film Festival in October, and then supposedly get a very wide release in the U.S. beginning Nov. 13

And to that I can at least conditionally say bring it on, in large part to the new gallery of photos from "Fantastic Mr. Fox" that they've just put up at the movie's official site, which so far has little else on it.

The pictures, however, are well worth a visit, because they reveal an attention to detail, especially in the Fox family home, that compares favorably to - and I know I'm getting my hopes up way too high for what is an animated children's story, albeit a classic one - the Tenenbaum home in "The Royal Tenenbaums," by a nose my favorite Anderson movie.

With George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson and even Jarvis Cocker providing voices, it should at least hopefully be a lot of fun.

And in other good news, I was proven even more wrong than usual when - even after the positive reviews came pouring in - I just couldn't believe that any movie directed by Ben Affleck would be fairly great. Well, anyone who's seen that flick, "Gone Baby Gone," will probably agree that it was one of the best of 2007, and now he's back with a cast that sounds really promising.

Affleck will star in and direct "The Town," based on the novel by Chuck Hogan, and he'll be joined by Jon Hamm of "Mad Men" and, in even better news in my book, Rebecca Hall of "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (and, I like to point out, "Starter for 10," just because it's a fun little British teen romantic comedy very few people have seen.)

Affleck is playing a bank robber who becomes smitten with the teller of a bank he held up (Hall, natch), and Hamm is an FBI agent on his trail. The teller, of course, makes the robber want to go straight, but she is also the FBI's golden ticket to catching Boston's most wanted bank robber.

Sounds pretty standard to me, but with that cast, I'm in.

And fans of "How I Met Your Mother" - of which you can still count me one, even if it slipped a bit last season - might be curious to know that Ted himself, Josh Radnor, has apparently directed his first movie.

Radnor also wrote the script for "HappyThankYouMorePlease" (wow is that a bad title), which stars Malin Akerman, Kate Mara, Richard Jenkins (huzzah!) and even Buster Bluth, Tony Hale.

In what sounds a heck of a lot like "HIMYM" itself, the comedy "follows the lives and loves of six New Yorkers not quite ready to embrace adulthood. Sounds awfully meh to me, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

And speaking of "Mad Men," I'll close with an extended Comic-Con clip from AMC's coming update of "The Prisoner," which I had thought was going to premiere directly before or after "Mad Men" finally returns Aug. 16 (the day after I get back from Mexico!)

It now seems AMC's "new" show won't appear until November, but with Sir Ian McKellen as the mysterious interrogator I'm gonna tune in for at least a few episodes, and the nine-minute-or-so clip (I did warn you) actually raises some hope that this might have been a good idea in the first place. And with that, it's off to the salt mine. Peace out.

A behind-the-scenes glimpse of "Cemetery Junction," and proof that Wes Anderson really will work again?

This being a lazy Saturday morning, I really don't have too much, but certainly wanted to pass along this BBC clip from the set of Ricky Gervais' and Stephen Merchant's "Cemetery Junction," easily one of the movies I'm most looking forward to for 2010. It really doesn't reveal a whole lot except that, once again, the two of them just love telling jokes about Ralph Fiennes, and really, who doesn't?



OK, the only other thing I've got is the first photo I've seen from Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," which will be his first foray into animation when and if it finally comes out (there's still no release date at the IMDB.)

I used to have a lot of love for Wes Anderson, and for his early work, I certainly still do. If you were to put a gun to my head and make me list, say, my 20 favorite films, Anderson's "Bottle Rocket," "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums," each an improvement on the other, would all make the list. But his last two, "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" and "Darjeeling Limited," have just left me more than a little cold.

In other words, Mr. Anderson really needs his mojo back, and though I have serious doubts this flick is gonna get it for him, here's hoping. Enjoy the pic, which comes courtesy of JoBlo, and the rest of your weekend. Peace out.

"Slumdog Millionaire": A tale of one city that would make Dickens smile (if he ever did)

It's high praise indeed that Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" was the one movie I was most looking forward to this year, and even with these high expectations and me having to drive 90 minutes to see it, it almost didn't disappoint at all. I say almost, but I'm in much more of a glass way more than half full kind of mood, so lets start with the many great things about this flick first.

The two strongest things it has going for it are dynamic storytelling and a vibrant visual style that will leave several images burned on your brain for days after you see it.

Though the movie gets its title from our hero's quest to compete on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" to find the love of his life (corny, yes, but often magical too), that's really just a framing device for the real story of Jamal and Salim Malik, two slumdogs growing up without parents on the streets of Mumbai.

And it's in their early life, which would indeed be a depressing tale if weren't told with inventiveness and feature two young actors, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail as the young Salim and Ayush Mahesh Khedekar as the young Jamal, who are up to the task. Dickens comes in early and obviously as they fall into the hands of Maman (Ankur Vikal), a recruiter (and blinder) of children to be beggars who makes Fagan look almost like a saint.

The gangster angle comes into play later as the two boys paths start to converge, and it works extremely well as a tribute to the old flicks like "Public Enemy" and "Scarface" (the original, of course), movies I revere enough to have done my senior thesis at Catholic University on them (mostly as a very thinly veiled excuse to watch movies.) As Salim is drawn into a life of crime as a wannabe gangster, it also gives the movie one of its signature shots, of the two brothers sitting on a construction tower and looking out on a Mumbai that looks nothing like they knew as kids.

And it's in the imagery that accompanies this moving tale that Danny Boyle really shows his love for the city and its people. It brings me no pleasure at all to pile on Wes Anderson, but how he was able to film "Darjeeling Limited" in India and make it so devoid of life as Boyle's movie is packed with it just becomes a bigger mystery now. As the most direct example, watch any train scene from "Darjeeling" against the sequences in "Slumdog" in which Jamal and Salim live on the rails, and I think you'll see exactly what I mean (in particular look out for Jamal hanging by his ankles to swipe a piece of bread through a train compartment window.)

In spirit and actual imagery, it compares much more directly with Fernando Meirelles' "City of God," which I hold in extremely high esteem. A challenge: How many movies can you think of this year that show you something you've never seen before, and can therefore be hailed as something close to "unique"? I can think of only three in my early-morning haze, "Slumdog", "The Fall" and "The Dark Knight," a big reason why all three will almost surely find a home on my top 10 films of 2008. (And "Slumdog" even manages to pack in a joke early on that shares its inspiration, if not its delivery, with the crudest gag in Kevin Smith's "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" - not as nasty but equally as shocking.)

So, with all this to love about "Slumdog Millionaire," what's its biggest fault? Well, before I mention it, let me just say I've never cared much at all for game shows, apart from occasionally tuning in to see if I know the "Final Jeopardy" question.

I tell you that to tell you this: The game show angle in "Slumdog," which comes from the source novel "Q&A" by Vikas Swarup, just didn't work for me. The eldest Jamal, Dev Patel, plays the role of the beaten down but not out young man well and Anil Kapoor is the perfect counterpart as the oily game show host, but used as a device to tell Jamal's life story (I hope I'm not giving too much away here), it's just too cute and convenient by at least half. But I suppose all this is needed to tell the epic love story of Jamal and Latika (played as a woman by the truly radiant but unfortunately named Freida Pinto, who made me flash back to the most beautiful Indian woman I've ever seen on the big screen, Sarita Choudhury in Mira Nair's "Mississippi Masala"), so I was willing to forgive this one shortcoming. With kudos already piling up from the mysterious National Board of Review and the DC film critics, "Slumdog Millionaire" is likely to claim the outsider slot in this year's Best Picture race, and it would be well deserved.

A final word before I go about the soundtrack, which just offers the most infectious kind of Indian techno pop by AR Rahman, with a little MIA thrown in for good measure. And MIA's "Paper Planes" sure fits in a whole lot better here than it did in the commercial for "Pineapple Express," even if that's what made it a hit. Enjoy this audio-only clip of Rahman's "Gangsta Blues," which will hopefully liven up even the most dreary of Monday mornings. Peace out.

Tidbits: Wes Anderson news, a flashy new Bond trailer and, yes, a poll!

Though I've never bothered to put a poll on here before now, it's not because I don't care about the opinions of the few people who are kind enough to stop by here from time to time. I simply don't like to mess with the template too much because I'm most likely to just screw it up!

However, with the Fall season upon us, I've finally broken down and bowed to my lame duck president's command to spread democracy around the world and do my little part. It's not the most scientific poll, since you can vote for more than one movie, but I hope it provides a few seconds of diversion.

As I made clear in my Fall preview, the three movies that get me the most geeked up would be, probably in this order, "Slumdog Millionaire," "The Brothers Bloom" and "Miracle at St. Anna." I can't wait to see what everyone else thinks.

In other news that's not about, well, me, it seems that Wes Anderson is jumping on the French remake train. Before I slag the man at all, and since I haven't talked about him for quite a while, let me state that I just about unequivocally love Mr. Anderson's first three flicks, with "Rushmore" being just about a perfect comedy and "The Royal Tenenbaums" being even better. (The Criterion edition of "Tenenbaums," by the way, is one of the very best in the collection, and well worth a rental to sift through the extras about how Anderson and his crew concocted the Tenenbaums' weird little world.

His last two flicks, however, "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" and "Darjeeling Limited," just left me pretty cold (though that collection of David Bowie songs in Portuguese by Seu Jorge is still in fairly heavy rotation on my car CD player.) He's listed as being in "post-production" on Roald Dahl's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" because, well, apparently every director in the world gets to make at least one animated movie, and now (in a rather severe case of burying the lead) comes news about a "new project" he's writing and possibly directing for Universal.

And if you're gonna pilfer from the French, I suppose you could do a whole lot worse than Patrice LeConte. I haven't seen the work Anderson is set to take on, "Mon Meilleur Ami," but that will change in a few days when it comes from Netflix (last night I watched "In Bruges," and I can attest that while it's often entertaining in its wordplay, it's just one of the strangest little flicks I've ever seen.)

In LeConte's 2006 film, French everyman Daniel Auteuil plays "a cranky antiques dealer who learns at a dinner with his closest acquaintances that none of them really like him because of his harsh manner and selfishness. When his business partner bets him a valuable vase that he can’t produce a best friend, the dealer tries to get an amiable cab driver to pose as his buddy," according to Variety.

As someone who finds himself fairly cranky as I get older, that sounds like it could be a lot of fun to me, and just might give Anderson the boost he needs to get back in my good graces (because I'm certain he's lost a lot of sleep about that!)

And now, since this has clearly has gone on long enough, I'll close with the promised "Quantum of Solace" trailer, which at a full two-and-a-half minutes is just a lot of fun. It looks like it starts out as a pretty straightforward revenge flick about the death of Vesper (the mesmerizing Eva Green), but of course spirals into a lot more than that, and like "Casino Royale" just looks like an old-fashioned Bond flick in all the best ways. Enjoy, and have a perfectly bearable Thursday.



P.S.: There's also a spot of sad news out there in that writer Gregory MacDonald has died at age 71.

MacDonald, a prolific mystery writer, was best know for his "Fletch" novels, two of which I read and four of which were made into flicks. I love the novels and movies for their goofy spirit and because Fletch, the journalist-turned-globetrotting author, is just a great character (and the last time Chevy Chase was truly funny.)

Before he died, MacDonald apparently collaborated with Harry Stein on the script for another "Fletch" flick, "Fletch Won." Since that one, if it ever were to happen, is rumored to possibly star Joshua Jackson in the role of our hero, it's perhaps best if it just stays dormant (though you'd have me interested with John Krasinski from "The Office".) Rest in peace, Mr. MacDonald.