10 truly odd Christmas movies that capture the spirit

I have nothing at all against the traditional holiday favorites when it comes to movies and specials. I tune in every year for "A Charlie Brown Christmas," and always watch one of the 1,000,000 or so times that TBS airs "A Christmas Story."

But as with most categories of movies, I like my Christmas flicks with at least a few drops of odd, so here are my 10 favorite Christmas-related movies that you might not always think of this time of year.

"A Midnight Clear:" Before the two sides inevitably get back to, well, war, this Peter Berg movie has plenty of Christmas spirit as an American intelligence squad comes across a German platoon wishing to surrender in 1944 France, and everyone enjoys a good holiday feast before they get back to battling.

"Bad Santa": Not only easily the funniest Christmas movie (but certainly not one for the kids), I'd also argue that Billy Bob Thornton's mall Santa has his very drunk, extremely foul-mouthed heart still mostly in the right place. After all, all he wants to do is get his new friend a pink elephant (of course) for Christmas.

"Eastern Promises": OK, this gangster movie might only take place between Christmas and New Year's Eve and have little else to do with the holidays, but David Cronenberg's flick is still here because I wouldn't mess with Viggo Mortensen's Nikolai and tell him otherwise, would you?

"Die Hard": What could exemplify the Christmas spirit more than Bruce Willis' dream of spending the holiday with his estranged wife - even if he has to blow up half of Los Angeles to make it happen?

"In Bruges": Talk about a bummer: Not only does Colin Farrell's hit man end up accidentally killing a child, he then has to spend Christmas in the most boring place on Earth, Bruges (having been there, I can tell you it's far from that, but that's just one of the things that make this wickedly funny movie one of my all-time favorites).

"The Nightmare Before Christmas": Though its full title bears the name of Tim Burton and its in fact based on a poem Burton wrote, this tale of what happens when Jack Skellington opens the portal between Halloween Town and Christmas Town is pure Henry Selick, and that's what makes the stop-motion animated tale a timeless treat.

"Trading Places": Though I like presents as much as anyone, what's Christmas if we can't occasionally poke fun at all our excess, as this '80s flick starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd (easily one the best movies either of them ever made) does so well.

"The Muppet Christmas Carol": Of course Michael Caine (as Ebenezer Scrooge) just wants poor Bob Cratchit (Kermit the Frog, naturally) to work on Christmas - does that man ever stop working? Just in time for Christmas next year - or maybe a little earlier - we'll get a great gift, a new Muppets movie. Bully.

"Go!": Another one that's not for the kids, but Christmas is definitely a time to party, as Sarah Polley, Katie Holmes and others do as they rave their way through a chaotic Christmas Eve.

"Life of Brian": Sacrilegious? Most certainly, but the Monty Python take on the life of Jesus Christ is of course extremely funny too. And believe it or not, I really did first see this at an Episcopal youth group gathering when I was a teenager.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Mid-year report card: One man's picks for the best movies of 2010 (so far)

After a more than slightly disappointing beginning to this movie year, we've been on a real roll of late.

The winning streak started with "Toy Story 3," the perfect ending to a great movie trilogy, and continued with the surprisingly charming "Despicable Me" on through the ambitious mindbender "Inception" (and if you really think you can explain that one to me, bring it on.)

Overall, not nearly as good a movie year as 2009, but it's clearly getting better, and the fall should have some real winners (more on that in coming weeks). Here is one man's opinion about the best movies (so far) of 2010, in order of preference.

10. "Shutter Island": I'd say Leonardo DiCaprio was in a mindbending movie rut if the ones he's been in this year weren't so good. "Shutter Island," a Martin Scorsese movie based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, was a B-movie flick with A-level acting and style. Now on DVD.

9. "Alice in Wonderland": Though many - if not most - of director Tim Burton's adaptations/remakes are tired, this was a welcome exception. It was full of whimsy and surprising restraint from Burton, and for once, Johnny Depp was funny rather than simply creepy in a Burton movie as the Mad Hatter. Now on DVD..

8. "Date Night": This is most certainly the year of Steve Carell on the big screen, and since he's soon likely to quit "The Office," why not? Though this flick with co-star Tina Fey lacked the anarchic spirit of Scorsese's "After Hours," from which it clearly draws inspiration, it was still a fun night out with two very talented comedians. Coming to DVD on Aug. 10.

7. "Despicable Me": Carell again, in a flick that proves Pixar doesn't have the market cornered on mixing wicked humor with heart. After a slow start full of run-of-the-mill jokes, it develops into a thoroughly charming animated tale, and contains my single favorite movie line of 2010 so far: "The physical appearance of the please makes no difference." In theaters now.,

6. "Inception": This is, of course, all anyone is talking about now when it comes to movies, and what more can you ask for than that? Christopher Nolan's dreamscape may well move up on this list over time, but for right now, I need to see it again, because after one viewing it left me with as many questions as answers, and that's far from a complaint. In theaters now.

5. "A Prophet": It has been called "The French Godfather," and though that's clearly a high bar to set, the comparison actually works on many levels. The story about what one man has to do to survive a long stint in prison - from unsavory alliances to even more unsavory activities - is simply mesmerizing from start to finish. Out on DVD Tuesday.

4. "Kick-Ass": Really? Yes, really. Though there are clearly questions about the morality of a 13-year-old, extremely foul-mouthed and even more lethal "Hit-Girl," played by young Georgian Chloe Moretz, there's no denying that it's funny. And this is, after all, a comic-book movie, and one that in the hands of director Matthew Vaughn breathes new life into that very familiar genre. Now on DVD.

3. "That Evening Sun": A definite highlight of the 2010 Macon Film Festival, this stars Hal Holbrook in a revival of the great Southern movie, a genre that's becoming far too much of a rarity. He's angry, ornery and excellent as an old man who escapes from a nursing home to reclaim his former home, now being inhabited by another Macon Film Festival favorite, Ray McKinnon. Not to be missed, and coming to DVD on Sept. 7. And the Macon Film Festival will return Feb. 17, 2011, so stay tuned.

2. "Toy Story 3": Is Pixar's marquee trilogy also now the best movie trilogy of all time? The argument can certainly be made, since it started with a groundbreaking original, upped the ante with a second chapter that was even better in terms of story and humor, and then finished up (we assume) with a final chapter that was both a rousing adventure and a definite charmer, and yes, the ending did make this grown man cry (admit it, you did too.) In theaters now.

1. "Winter's Bone": Debra Granik's movie takes a classic film genre, the film noir, and sets it in just about the bleakest possible setting, the Missouri Ozarks. And though it can often indeed be as depressing as that sounds, it's also riveting as newcomer Jennifer Lawrence tries to unravel the mystery of what has happened to her deadbeat father, who has put up the house she shares with her two young siblings as a guarantor that he'll appear in court on charges of making meth. This is, indeed, the perfect kind of movie for the Macon Film Guild to offer this fall (though I don't have any say in that), and worth seeking out now in select theaters.

Honorable mention: "Youth in Revolt", "Edge of Darkness", "Ghost Writer", "The Crazies", "The Good Heart", "OSS 117: Lost in Rio", "Splice", "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work", "Get Him to the Greek" and "Cyrus"

So, there you have it. Please feel free to share any you think I may have snubbed (and there's surely more than one), and to offer any of your favorites from this movie year so far. Peace out.

These damned dirty prequels!

I think in many ways prequel might be an even slimier word than sequel, and if you look around, there's a mounting amount of evidence to back me up on that.

Case No. 1: Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood." I haven't bothered to comment on the flick until now because, well, I don't get paid to do this and it just made so little of an impression on me that I decided to just let it pass.

But the addition of time has done very little to remove the fairly foul taste it left in my brain. And be warned, if you haven't seen the movie and plan to, I probably wouldn't read any further today, or at least skip forward about four paragraphs or so until the news about James Franco that spurred this rant.

Now, Scott's movie certainly looks good enough. The action is close to first rate, and thankfully it was in good, old-fashioned 2-D. Watching Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett flirt for 90 minutes or so would have been mildly diverting enough for 90 minutes or so, but of course, Scott's movie went for a rather thoroughly unnecessary 2 hours and 20 minutes.

And it's not until near the end of all this that you realize just how much of a con it really is. If you've seen the trailer, you've certainly seen Oscar Isaac as King John unleash the cry of "Outlaw!" In any sort of real action flick that's designed to at least entertain, that would be the sign of at least some kind of conflict to come, right?

Well, not in Scott's flick, unfortunately. It doesn't come until there's about five minutes left in this mess, and all you get after that is a final shot of Russell Crowe finally as Robin Hood. And that's when it finally hits, or at least did me, just why this movie - and prequels in general- are just such empty vessels.

Which brings us to the news of the day about James Franco, an actor I've always quite liked ever since his "Freaks and Geeks" days. Because "prequel" is now the new "sequel" in Hollywood's latest attempt to cover up the fact that it has virtually no new ideas left, he's set to star in "Rise of the Apes," which, as you've probably guessed by now, is indeed a "prequel" to "Planet of the Apes" (because Lord knows Tim Burton's abortion of a remake wasn't enough, right?)

In the flick scheduled to start filming July 5 for its planned June 24, 2011, release, he'll play a scientist who is pivotal in the war between the humans and the apes. If I have this right, and frankly I'm not sure how much I care if I do or not, the scientist is working on a project to search for a cure for Alzheimer's in which testing is done on apes. Feeling bad for one of our simian friends, Franco's scientist apparently rescues one of them and takes him home. How in the world this comes to the toppling of the Statue of Liberty is anyone's guess.

In much better news, along with apparently returning to "General Hospital," it's also just been announced that Franco will star in a Jeff Bushell-penned comedy called "Ricky Stanicky" which actually sounds like it could really bring the funny. The movie centers on three male friends who for decades have used their titular imaginary friend to explain their way out of assorted tight spots. When their wives finally catch on and demand they produce this character, they hire an actor to play him, hence Franco.

Anyone who's seen "Pineapple Express" (and if you haven't, why the heck not?) or of course "Freaks and Geeks" knows Franco has the comedy chops, so here's hoping that will be a lot better than him messing with any damned dirty apes.

OK, what better way to close things out than with Helen Mirren saying "I've got 25 psychotic whores to manage"? Until seeing this trailer, I really wasn't convinced that "Love Ranch," directed by her hubby, Taylor Hackford, would deliver anything worth watching, but I've been wrong at least once before, so why not today? Co-starring Joe Pesci and some young buck for her to cougar around with, it indeed looks like this flick about the onset of legal prostitution in Nevada will be a lot of fun when it drops in June in at least some kind limited run. Enjoy the trailer, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

Now here's a comic-book movie that should truly kick a**

As a very small part of my paying job, I have to compile the "movie caps," or summaries of those movies that are still surviving in Middle Georgia multiplexes, which brought me to this sad fact yesterday: Matthew Vaughn's "Kick-Ass" has already left Macon theaters.

Now, just to put that in perspective, I see a good deal (probably way too many) of movies, but outside the festival circuit I've seen exactly three very good to great ones this year: "A Prophet" (which damn well should have won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language flick), "That Evening Sun" with Hal Holbrook and Vaughn's sublimely silly "Kick-Ass" (actually, you should probably make that four, because I enjoyed Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" IN 2-D quite a bit too.) Which just makes it thoroughly depressing that "Kick-Ass" is gone in no more than a month.

Just to make it even odder, still vying for viewers' attention (though not mine) is "Death at a Funeral," quite possibly the most thoroughly unnecessary remake of all time (with stiff competition from the upcoming redo of "Let the Right One In.") Hell, even "Furry Vengeance" gets at least one more week.

Which finally brings us to today's rather glorious news: 20th Century Fox has signed a deal with Vaughn to direct "X-Men: First Class," with the mutant prequel already getting a release date of June 3, 2011. Bryan Singer, who had been originally booked to direct the flick and is still a producer, apparently made the case for Vaughn, so bully for him.

Though "Wolverine" was nothing but average, and that was unfortunately a massive improvement on Brett Rather's abortion that was "X-3," I'm still extremely confident that Vaughn can make magic from the origin stories of Professor X, Magneto and all their fellow young cohorts. As I've said here before, with "Kick-Ass" Vaughn created the best comic-book movie I've seen quite in many a year, so this should be nothing but tons of fun.

And when it comes to "Kick-Ass" the comic by Mark Millar, there's actually even better news on that front. Millar is teaming up with fellow funnypeople Jonathan Ross, Frankie Boyle and others to launch CLiNT, a new anthology magazine that I will certainly be subscribing to as soon as I can figure out how, especially since the first issue will featuring nothing less cool than "Kick-Ass Volume 2: Balls to the Wall."

Here's how Millar described his new venture in an interview with Bleedingcool.com:

“I want this to be edgy and irreverent, the kind of thing guys will be passing around lunch-halls and common rooms, and there’s nobody I’d rather have creating new characters for CLiNT than Jonathan and Frankie. They’re both brilliant writers and will surprise a lot of people with this stuff. The last thing you’d expect from Jonathan, for example, is a vampire strip, but he pulls it off amazingly. People are going to love this.”

OK, I'm officially in. Best as I can tell, the first issue of this will be available Sept. 2 in the UK and then will be available later by subscription in the U.S.A.

And now for something completely different ...

Though 2009's "Broken Embraces" wasn't one of Pedro Almodovar's best movies, it was certainly one of his funnest to watch, and the film noir works nearly perfectly as a valentine to moviemaking (well, more specifically, a valentine to making Almodovar movies, but the man's certainly earned the right to brag a bit by now, right?) If you haven't seen it, I recommend it very highly, and you can indeed rent it now.

And today comes word about Almodovar's next movie, which won't feature regular muse Penelope Cruz, but will mark a reunion with Antonio Banderas, who got his start way back when in Almodovar flicks like "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down" (man, do I love that movie.)

Their new project is called "La Piel que Habito" (literally translated "The Skin I Live In.") It's based on the novel "Tarantula" by Thierry Jonquet, which I'll now have to read, and is scheduled to shoot this summer in Spain and elsewhere. Ever the enigmatic one, Almodovar really didn't reveal much at all about what it's about when he first spoke of this to the Spanish daily El Pais (for you kids, that means daily newspaper, of course):

"The film will be a terror film, without screams or scares. It's difficult to define and although it comes close to the terror genre -- something that appeals to me that I've never done -- I won't respect any of its rules. It's the harshest film I've ever written and Banderas' character is brutal."

An Almodovar "horror" film? I'm already there. More specifically, it's apparently about a plastic surgeon's revenge on the man who raped his daughter, but if you know any more than that, please do let me know.

OK, all I have after that is two videos via my Facebook friends that are indeed just perfect for a Wednesday because they're guaranteed to make you nothing but smile and laugh (and if not, please do get yourself checked out as soon as possible.) First, courtesy of a head's up from Movie Mom Nell Minow comes the first teaser trailer for a movie called "Easy A." Coming in September, it will be an update on the classic "The Scarlet Letter," and as you'll see below it will star easily one of my favorite comediennes working today, Emma Stone. I won't tell you anything else about the teaser except that the Wall Street Journal's Kara Swisher called it and Stone both rightly "adorkable." Enjoy.



And what could possibly top that? The tagline for this last one, which came to my attention courtesy of Bob, just sums it up perfectly: "Bill Murray reads poetry to construction workers at Poet's House." It's a bit long at six minutes plus, but it really is a joy to watch man of the people Murray cutting up with all the working folk and reading, among other things, a poem by Emily Dickinson. Just the perfect thing to get you and me through even the most dreary of Wednesdays. Peace out.

Will Tim Burton ever again have an original idea?

I wonder what would happen if Tim Burton ever encountered an original idea. Would his head - or perhaps his entire body - explode? He certainly must think so, because though the man is clearly a talented director (and yes, I really liked "Alice in Wonderland" quite a bit), he's also just as clearly incredibly insecure.

Rather than take a chance on anything even slightly out of the norm, he's instead signed on to direct a stop-motion animation adaptation of "The Addams Family." And yes, that Addams Family. Sheesh. I've never actually seen the movies that have already sprung from the horror/comedy franchise, but I did see a YouTube clip of Christina Ricci breaking down the real origins of Thanksgiving as Wednesday, and that was nothing but extremely funny (what ever happened to her, any way .. I mean, "Black Snake Moan" really was just about as horrible as it could possibly be, but was it a career killer?)

Actually, I've learned something from this news, so I guess I should be grateful. Did anyone else know the Addams Family actually originated as a New Yorker cartoon? Burton claims his movie will tap into this original spirit and show a "sharper wit than could be placed into a '60s family TV series." OK, fair enough, but you can't color me as anything but skeptical at this point. And besides, as great as "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was, please don't ever forget that that was actually directed by the great Henry Selick, not Burton. 'Nuff said on all that.

"Inception" details emerge and sound friggin great

There will certainly be many contenders for the movie of the summer (and my dark horse money is on Phillip Noyce's "Salt"), but there really can't be many at all that come burdened with higher expectations than Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" follow up, "Inception." And as details emerge about what exactly it might be about, you can count me as more and more jazzed to finally see it.

He turned up for the big Warner Bros. event on the last day of ShoWest, and here's some of what he had to say about "Inception."

As he introduced a video clip from the flick, which I unfortunately can't find online, he described it as "an action film told in a grand scale by a character played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who runs a team of people who have access to a technology that allows them to enter people's minds through their dreams." He said there was shooting in six different countries to create all the dreamscapes. Here's a bit of how Collider, for which I occasionally contribute, described some of the footage:

The footage started with Leo cocking a gun and his voiceover saying, "There's one thing you should know about me. An inception is an idea that's like a virus, it's highly contagious. The small seed of an idea can grow to define or destroy you."

What follows are eerie visuals with people floating and the ethereal string chords build, as we see Leo sitting at a table in an ornately adorned room explaining to Ken Watanabe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt what they do:

"In the dream state, your consciousness defenses lower," he tells them. "It makes your thoughts vulnerable to theft, called extraction. So you can actually train your subconscious to defend itself from the most skilled extractor."

Watanabe asks how he knows that to which Leo replies, "Because I AM the best extractor."

It all sounds more than a bit like "Memento" writ on an extremely grand scale, which would be just fine with me. And Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and, inevitably I suppose, Michael Caine all appear in this too, so you can bet I'll be among the masses buying my ticket when this finally opens July 16.

A couple of biopics I can get squarely behind

The first thing I thought when I heard a Cesar Chavez biopic was at least in the early stages of development was, how has it taken so long? After all, he's a hero to millions of Hispanics and gringos alike, and his life would just make a grand tale.

It seems that screenwriter Keir Pearson and producer Larry Meli agree, and have optioned the life rights of the labor activist Chavez, and will be producing this with Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna's Canana Films. Pearson, by the way, won an Oscar for co-writing "Hotel Rwanda" with director Terry George, and also has, among other projects, a biopic of Roberto Clemente in the works for HBO and Playtone.

And just in case anyone really hasn't heard of Chavez, he dedicated his life to improving the working conditions of California farm workers, eventually co-founding the National Farm Workers Association, which would later become the United Farm Workers.

Though it's of course far too early to be talking about who could pull this role off, Garcia Bernal would certainly seem to be a perfect choice. What say you?

In other, crazier, biopic news, it seems that independent filmmaker and writer David Miller is hard at work with his son, Jordan, on a movie about the truly odd and troubled Texas outsider musician Daniel Johnston. And yes, I know there's already been a documentary about Johnston, the very compelling "Devil and Daniel Johnston," but can you imagine how much fun (well, maybe that's not quite the right word) the right actor could have with this role?

Here's what he to say about the project to Pedestrian, via the Playlist:

I've got a few things going — we're doing a Daniel Johnston biopic and I'm Producing and Writing and Gabriel Sunday our star [from "My Suicide"] he's going to be Directing and playing young Daniel. It's going to be an epic super hero story and it's going to be a narrative biopic so it doesn't really cover any of the same stuff that the famous "Devil And Daniel Johnston" Documentary that won Sundance in 2005 covers.

How are you going to portray older Daniel Johnston?
That's a really good question. We're either putting Gabriel in a fat suit or there's so many people that are reaching out that are huge Daniel Johnston fans. Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly for example, Johnny Depp's a big Daniel Johnston fan though we'd like him to play the older brother. But we haven't really arrived at that yet — we're just in the scripting process at the moment but once we get the script finished we'll be able to get a better handle on what the budget will be.

Nothing like dropping some big names to get attention, but I'd imagine he's right that a lot of actors would indeed be interested in the chance to take on the life a true American original.

And with that, I've got to go to the job that still somehow pays me, but I'll leave you with the trailer for the next Jennifer Aniston movie I'll be seeing (hint: It won't be "Bounty Hunter.") "The Switch," which I believe used to go by the much funnier name "The Baster," is a comedy starring Aniston and veryfunnyman Jason Bateman, and you can watch the trailer below Enjoy, and have a great weekend (and if you can, go see Roman Polanski's new flick, which I'll be doing Saturday afternoon.) Peace out.

A new Wizard of Oz? You've got to be f%$#ing kidding me! Plus, a new Drive-By Truckers album

I've been pretty much amazed by the reaction to Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," with critics pretty much split right down the middle. Well, you can certainly count me in the pro category, something you can rarely say about Burton's remakes.

Unlike "Planet of the Apes," which was just a lifeless mess, and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which he just made into a perverted pile of trash, I found "Alice in Wonderland" to be nothing but charming, largely because Burton restrained all his worst impulses. I was a little worried when Alice first managed to walk out into Wonderland (or, as he calls it, Underland) and there were those two little flying creatures battling, but he mostly managed to resist cluttering the world with too many oddities and just let the story tell itself.

What comes next, however, just might be way beyond the pale. This is just at the beginning of rumor stage, but when it's this bad, I feel duty bound to spread it around (as if I would really have any power to stop it.)

There really does seem to be no limits to what will be engulfed by the 3-D beast, so someday I should probably manage to stop being surprised by this lunacy, but I just assumed no one would have the hubris to think they could remake "The Wizard of Oz," right? Apparently not.

According to the Los Angeles Times, with Harry Potter set to end soon and considering the rather amazing opening weekend for "Alice," Warner Bros. is seriously eyeing jumpstarting one of two updated "Wizard of Oz" scripts knocking about to make it a 3-D spectacle. Remember, I'm just the messenger here.

One project, called "Oz," is being pushed by Temple Hill, the folks behind a little series called "Twilight," and has a script by Darren Lemke, a writer on the upcoming "Shrek Forever After." OK, bad, but maybe not awful. But wait ...

The second potential project, which seems to be paralyzing my fingers so I have trouble even writing it, skews a lot more twisted, with "A History of Violence" scribe Josh Olson penning a version that focuses on - yes, really - a granddaughter of Dorothy who returns to Oz to somehow fight evil. Not surprisingly. "Spawn" creator Todd MacFarlane, who has had a twisted Dorothy fetish for years now, would be involved in this in some kind of producing capacity.

Now, I can certainly understand the temptation here. A potential tentpole with the perfect heroine, and all that nifty 3-D to boot, but really? Where to start ...

My main beef with all of this - and believe me, I could go on for quite a while - is that the original "The Wizard of Oz," in an admittedly antiquated way, is plenty twisted itself already. It certainly doesn't need to be any darker or odder or anything else than it already is.

If anyone has a lot more power than me, please stop this as soon as possible. And from here on out today, it's all good news, I promise, including two simply sensational musical offerings at the end.

De Niro to play Vince Lombardi

If you're gonna do a grand sports biopic, you probably can't find a better match in my book than Robert De Niro and Vince Lombardi, the Green Bay Packers coach who led his team to five NFL titles. De Niro has signed on to play the role on the big screen for ESPN Films, with a script to come from Eric Roth, who wrote the screenplay for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

Now, I've made clear my pretty intense dislike (not hate, note) of that David Fincher flick, but I seriously doubt Roth will be able to "Gump" this up the way he did Fincher's movie.

And as for ESPN Films, I've tuned in for their TV film series when the subject interests me. The Len Bias flick was pretty great until it veered off course at the end to proselytize about the legalization of drugs, and that little movie about the U. of Miami was nothing but fun. The flick about Jimmy the Greek was intriguing, but that ridiculous voice over that was supposed to represent the voice of the oddsmaker almost made it unwatchable.

What all the TV offerings have had in common, however, is that they're about as shallow as a half-filled kiddie pool, but I'd have to think Roth will get into a much more fleshed-out portrait of Lombardi here, and I'll certainly turn out to see it when this hits in that dead weekend before the Super Bowl in 2012 (great timing there.)

Two seriously funny ladies returning to TV

The only thing missing from the great news that Will Arnett was reteaming with "Arrested Development" co-creators Mitchell Hurwitz and Jim Vallely for a Fox sitcom to be called "Wilde Kingdom" was word of who would have the rather onerous task of being subjected to his obnoxious advances.

Well, it seems that Felicity herself, Keri Russell, is about to sign on to play the co-lead, which would be nothing but cool. In the show, Arnett would play a Beverly Hill jackass (natch) who falls in love with a charitable, tree-hugging woman (Russell) who can't stand his lifestyle or values.

Sounds like fun, and really, just the further adventures of Gob Bluth, and what could be wrong with that?

In other TV news at least tangentially related to "Arrested Development," Judy Greer has been tapped to star opposite David Krumholtz in another Fox comedy pilot, "Tax Man."

In the show, Greer is set to play a former Morgan Stanley secretary, nicknamed "the Terminator," who joins an IRS office in Fresno, Calif., staffed by enthusiastic eccentrics.

Greer is seriously funny in just about anything she does, and though Krumholtz has made a steady living for years now on "Numbers," which I've never seen, you may remember him from way back when as Neal Schweiber's big brother Barry on "Freaks and Geeks," so this is definitely one worth keeping an eye out for next fall.

New music video from She & Him

I know at least one semi-regular visitor to this site, Bob Connally, is jazzed about there being a second She & Him album out this week, and I am too.

For anyone who doesn't know, She & Him is a nifty little collaboration between Zooey Deschanel and plugged-in folkie M. Ward, and their first album, "Volume One," was just thoroughly charming, so I'm looking forward to more of the same with "Volume Two," which is due out March 23 (not yesterday, as I was hoping before an alert reader corrected me.) In the meantime, enjoy this first music video for the song "In the Sun," which with Deschanel and friends dancing their way through high school hallways is just a perfectly sweet diversion. Enjoy.



And, much better, next week will bring the release of a new Drive-By Truckers' album, "The Big To-Do." Even better than that is that it's currently streaming for free, and all you have to do to hear it is click on the player below. My first impressions? It's a solid rock record that falls somewhere between good and great. It could certainly use more Mike Cooley and less Shonna Tucker, but the Cooley song "Birthday Boy" and Patterson Hood tracks "Drag the Lake Charlie" and "The Wig He Made Her Wear" are first rate. Enjoy, and have a perfectly endurable Wednesday. Peace out.

See the best movie of 2010 (so far) and much more at the Macon Film Festival this weekend

The fifth annual Macon Film Festival kicked off yesterday and gets into a real groove starting today, so if you're gonna be in town this weekend, there's really no excuse not to turn out for a few events (you can find the full schedule here.)

The fun things on the menu today include a special screening of "The Candidate" (my single favorite political film, by the way), hosted by Illeana Douglas, granddaughter of one of the movie's stars, Melvyn Douglas. Illeana Douglas will then host a screening of her own latest project, the Web-based series "Easy to Assemble."

That's going on at the Cox Capitol Theatre, while also downtown today at the historic Douglass Theatre, Richmond Riedel's "Target Practice" will be among the movies screened (around 7 p.m. or so, if I got the message he sent me right.) Though you could never call it high art, this debut feature from Riedel about a group of outdoorsmen who encounter a band of terrorists on a camping trip (yes, really) plays out as an updated "Deliverance" of sorts and is just a heck of a lot of fun.

Saturday's Marquee event will certainly be the Q&A session with Macon native Jack McBrayer. It's unfortunate that he can't bring a better movie than "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" to screen, but in the "30 Rock" star's defense, I suppose he really hasn't appeared in that many movies yet (and at least he didn't bring "Talladega Nights"!) The movie isn't awful, though, and the Q&A should be a blast, so if you turn out for this at the Cox Capitol, you'll certainly run into me.

But the real highlight of this year's fest will be Sunday's closing night feature, Scott Teems' debut feature "That Evening Sun," easily the best movie I've seen so far this year. This movie has a number of connections to Macon, with the great Ray McKinnon having visited a previous Macon Film Festival to present his Oscar-winning short film "The Accountant" (a spectacular work) and Macon native and "True Blood" star Carrie Preston also appearing in a key role in "That Evening Sun" as the wife of McKinnon's character.

In fact, the greatest strength (among many) of "That Evening Sun" is its genuinely (and welcomely) Southern ensemble cast led by national treasure (and I mean that wholeheartedly) Hal Holbrook, who, believe it or not, gives a performance even better than his work in "Into the Wild."

He stars as Abner Meecham, who as the movie opens is slowly dying of boredom in a nursing home his son shunted him into. Seemingly on a whim, Meechan decides to seek out the farm that until recently had been his, and as is the fact with many Southerners, was his greatest point of pride.

After somehow making it back there, however, he finds his son has rented it out to a truly mean class of redneck played by McKinnon (the kind of character he revels in playing.) The movie evolves from there as a battle of wills between the two as Holbrook's Meecham takes up residence in a shack once intended for servants and refuses to leave until McKinnon and his family do (living as I do in a cottage - not, note, a shack - that surely once housed servants, that hit home with me.)

I'm probably not doing this great little movie justice with my description of it, but it's just a genuinely Southern tale, the likes of which we haven't seen since "Sling Blade," although "Junebug" came close too. The story, adapted by Teems from a short story by William Gay, just unfolds at a naturally entertaining pace, and I guarantee you'll be riveted as this slowly evolves from extremely quotable (Holbrook is a hoot) to something much more intense. Do yourself a favor and turn out for this Sunday night at the Cox Capitol Theatre.

OK, after all that today, all I have is a trio of clips. First up comes a short bit from the animated "Ricky Gervais Show," which just hit the air on HBO. As you'll see, it's essentially an animated version of the podcasts he shares with partner in crime Stephen Merchant and sidekick Karl Pilkington. Pilkington is a seriously funny dude, but as you'll see from this clip, it doesn't really translate all that well to animation, so I'll be HBO-free until David Simon's "Treme" hits the air, hopefully by April (a quick visit to the IMDB confirms April 11 - huzzah!) Enjoy.



Next up is a featurette of sorts for Noah Baumbach's "Greenberg," set to open with Ben Stiller as its main star April 1. I simply adored "The Squid and the Whale" and even stuck with Baumbach (unlike anyone else I know) through "Margot at the Wedding," but I have a feeling this one is just going to test my patience with the angst of white dudes (I get enough of that from myself, thank you very much.) Anyways, here's hoping I'm wrong and this turns out to be worth turning out for. Enjoy the clip.



OK, with this last one, you certainly can't say I didn't warn you, because it's a sure case of saving the worst for last. Of all the pre-release items that have been spit out to promote Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland" (finally coming March 5), this video for "Underground" by Avril Lavigne is easily the most distressing. I suppose I'm just far too old to enjoy this, but if you dare, click on the clip to see Avril go down the rabbit hole and encounter Johnny Depp. Enjoy, have a great weekend, and if you happen to live anywhere near Macon, please do come out for at least a few Macon Film Festival events. Peace out.

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Are the "Friday Nights Lights" about to go out? Plus, a treasure trove of trailers

Before I get into all that, I suppose congratulations of sorts are due to John Francis Daley, aka Sam Weir of "Freaks and Geeks" fame, because getting a job of any sort in this brave new world is certainly something to celebrate, but couldn't he have done better than this?

It seems that Sam Weir and writing partner Jonathan Goldstein have been hired to "reboot", "reimagine" or whatever the hell they call ruining perfectly fine movies these days "Vacation." This time out, Chevy Chase will return as Clark Griswold, but the main focus will be on son Rusty as he takes his own family on some kind of surely disastrous road trip.

All I can really say to that is a resounding sheesh, but if you're a fan of "Friday Night Lights" (and if not, how in the world?), it's a big day of news, both good and bad. Folks like me who don't get DirecTV will enjoy hearing that the show's fourth season is finally set to return to NBC beginning April 30, and I just can't wait to see what happens with coach Taylor at the new East Dillon High School.

At the same time, however, the always reliably TV-obsessed Michael Ausiello is reporting that the show's runners have been informed that the "Friday Night Lights" will go out for good after shooting wraps on the fifth season in June.

While I'll certainly be sad to see the best drama on television now (yes, really, better than "Mad Men" and anything you might come up with in my book) go, it does give Jason Katims and his fellow creators plenty of time to give this thing a proper ending. I certainly don't expect Connie Britton to remain unemployed for any long stretch of time, and it will be fun to see where she ends up next (and I'll definitely follow.)

And finally, in a final bit of good TV news before we dive into a sea of trailers, veryfunnyman Larry Charles has booked a new gig with CBS for a new pilot. Though perhaps best known for "Borat," Charles has for years done much funnier work with "Seinfeld" and then the even better "Curb Your Enthusiasm." For CBS, he'll team with frequent collaborator Ant Hines to create a show about a dad, played by Paul Kaye, who reenters the life of his now-famous daughter. I'm not sure Charles' truly caustic wit will fit at CBS, but I'll certainly tune in to find out.

OK, from here on out it's all about trailers (and a featurette too), and there are some great ones.

First up comes the first trailer I know of for "Get Him to the Greek," an offering from the Judd Apatow camp which stars Russell Brand in a continuation of his "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" character, Aldous Snow (along with the Dracula puppet show, the funniest thing about that flick.) The new movie, set to drop June 4, was created by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller, and also stars Jonah Hill, who's charged with getting Brand's beyond debauched rock star to a gig at the titular Greek theater. Silly? Absolutely, but I'm betting on a lot of funny here too. Enjoy.



Next up comes also the first real trailer I know of for "Toy Story 3," which is sure to dominate the weekend when it opens June 18. In the third installment, the toys are (once again!) put in a tight spot and forced to escape, this time from a daycare center full of very eager rugrats. The plots for these just get more and more tired, but in the trailer below the moment when Ken meets Barbie at least shows director Lee Unkrich and crew have some inspired ideas in their bag. Enjoy.


Toy Story 3 Trailer 2 in HD

Trailer Park Movies | MySpace Video

Though he looks at least as creepy here as he did as Tim Burton's vision of Willy Wonka (which is, unfortunately, permanently seared on my brain), Johnny Depp appears to be having a lot more fun as the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland," so hopefully we will too when this comes out March 5. The best thing in this featurette is seeing the Mad Hatter take up his sword to join the battle with the forces of the Red Queen, just surreally fun. Enjoy.



And finally, I'm not sure what's craziest: That Nickelodeon's great animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender" is now a live-action flick set to come out July 2, that both Dev Patel and Asif Mandvi of "The Daily Show" are in it and don't look entirely silly, that it's directed by M. Night Shyamalan or that it simply looks like it could be really great. Decide for yourself. Enjoy, have a great weekend, and please, if you live in Macon, go see either of our Oscar offerings this week, "Crazy Heart" and/or "A Single Man." I've seen them both, and while "Crazy Heart" is worth watching for the great performance of The Dude, Tom Ford's "A Single Man" is simply sensational, with Colin Firth at his best. Peace out.

A Saturday cache of clips: Is there really hope for "Cop Out"?

This surely isn't terribly exciting to the rest of the world, but it's thrilling to me that I have actually managed to enter the mid-90s or so and am - for the first time - typing this on my fancy new laptop while enjoying a strong cup of java at Jittery Joe's. It might be also because of the large Brazilian brew I'm downing, but it makes me seriously giddy.

And you know, ever since I heard that Kevin Smith was making a rather routine-sounding buddy cop movie as his next flick - and one he didn't even write himself - I just assumed that "Cop Out" was one I would skip altogether.

But, as you can see from the red band clip below, he does have one definite strength in his corner, the indefatigably crude Tracy Morgan. If you love watching him on "30 Rock" - and when the Emmys are perennially showered on the show, I really can't understand why he isn't at least nominated - you know he's at his best when he appears to be just spouting whatever comes into his head. And from this seriously crude clip - be warned, it contains both talk of monkey sex and a 10-year-old getting punched in the nards - you can see that Kevin Smith understood that he should at least let Tracy Morgan be Tracy Morgan, which will be enough to sucker me into buying a ticket when this comes out Feb. 26. Enjoy.



Next up comes the teaser trailer for a new Luc Besson movie, which though it really doesn't reveal much at all, is still reason to celebrate. The movie is called "The Adventures of Adele Blanc Sec," and from what little I know about it so far, it's based on the comic books by Jacques Tati about a young novelist who gets into all kinds of Indiana Jones-style adventures in the early 20th century. Though this is listed as coming out in April in France and July in Japan, I can't yet find a U.S. release date, but one is sure to come soon. Enjoy.



Even if Avril Lavigne's new theme song for Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" is nothing but a disaster, I'm still almost entirely convinced that the movie itself will rock when it finally comes out in the first week of March. In this clip featuring interviews with both Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway, I got the sense for the first time that this is going to be "Alice"-meets-"Chronicles of Narnia," with, near the end of this clip, young Mia Wasikowska donning armor to go into battle for the White Queen. And if I can digress about her for a second, she's part of the seriously great ensemble cast of "That Evening Sun" - the best Southern movie I've seen in many years. Go see that one if you can.



There's no shortage of artistic efforts to aid Haiti, and there can really never be too many. Lionel Richie's reconstitution of "We Are the World" surely will have more star power, but I'll take this project over that one any day. As you'll see from this British TV clip, Pogues poet and drunkard extraordinaire Shane MacGowan has convened Nick Cave, Chrissie Hynde, Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols. Mick Jones of the Clash and - though he doesn't appear in this clip - even Johnny Depp too, among others, to record a version of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' great "You Put a Spell on Me," with all proceeds going to help Haiti rebuild. You don't get to hear any of the new track in this behind-the-scenes clip, but it's still fun to watch (not the least so you can try and decipher just what in the world MacGowan is saying), and keep your eyes out for the single release at the end of this month. Enjoy.



And finally, in a definite case of saving the worst for last, here's an "Entertainment Tonight" visit to the set of "Burlesque," which gets my early vote for the biggest disaster of 2010. You do get to see Christina Aguilera, Kristen Bell and other very attractive young ladies cavorting around in their burlesque outfits, but this clip mostly just left me with this burning question: Just how in the world did Bell, Stanley Tucci and even Alan Cumming end up in what appears to be a "Showgirls" sequel of sorts with Cher as the matron? Sheesh. Anyways, enjoy the clip, have a great weekend and please, if you have the chance, do go see "That Evening Sun," which features a performance from Hal Holbrook that's even better than the one in "Into the Wild" that should have won him an Oscar. Peace out.



P.S.: The Blogger spell check is once again not working, so please forgive any egregious spelling errors. Thanks.

The 10 (or 11) best things I missed in the past month

You know, just because this January has been just about the worst movie month on record (though "Edge of Darkness" was a surprisingly taut and entertaining thriller) doesn't mean there's not a lot of movie news out there (even if I wasn't there to read it.)

This was intended as a list of the 10 best or simply oddest things I had missed in the last month or so, but there's something new too, and it's definitely good news.

At Saturday's Director's Guild of America awards ceremony, Kathyrn Bigelow beat out the biggest box office champ of all time and three other competitors to take home the group's top prize for "The Hurt Locker," and it's well-deserved. Though my personal favorite would still have been Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," Bigelow's movie was a close second in my book, and a very worthy winner.

She becomes the first woman to win the DGA's top prize. The other competitors this year, all very good films, were Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air," Lee Daniels' "Precious" and a little movie you may have heard of called "Avatar." Here's hoping this at least mild upset of "Avatar" means the Oscars are a wide-open race rather than simply Avatar's to claim in a runaway.

OK. Now, here are the 10 best or oddest things I missed in the last month, though not really in any order except for that the first item is certainly the best news in my book.

1. "Conchords" ' Bobin to direct Muppet movie

It seems like forever since the news first broke that Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller were writing a new Muppet movie for Walt Disney Pictures, but little seemed to be happening in the way of progress until last week or so, when the project finally landed what I think is the perfect director.

James Bobin, co-creator of HBO's delightfully dippy "Flight of the Conchords," has signed on to direct the new Muppet movie, with production set to start in late summer of this year.

Apparently now a man in high demand, Bobin at the same time turned down directing "Bridesmaids," a comedy from the Judd Apatow camp and written by veryfunnywoman Kristen Wiig. Since, like Segel, you can call me a certified "Muppet freak," I can certainly say he made the right choice here.

2. "Scott Pilgrim" set to take off Aug. 13

Did any one in the world except me see "Youth in Revolt"? Though it failed to quite capture the anarchic spirit of C.D. Payne's book, it was still very funny, even if Michael Cera was clearly - even with his baby face - way too old to play the lead.

I'd have to imagine Edgar Wright's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" will do a whole lot better when it finally drops on Aug. 13, a good, usually slow spot for his follow-up to "Hot Fuzz." The flick, based on the funnybooks by Bryan Lee O'Malley, will also star Cera as the titular hero, who just wants to win back the heart of Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), but must battle her seven exes to do so.

The movie, which will surely be a lot better than I'm making it sound here, also stars Anna Kendrick, a definite favorite around here, as Scott Pilgrim's sister, and for further proof it will be good, take this hint from Wright himself:

"When I hired [cinematographer] Bill Pope to be DP — amongst his many films and TV shows he's done [are] "Freaks and Geeks" and "The Matrix." And I said to Bill: Imagine this film is equidistant between those two projects. Imagine the film is slap-bang in the middle of "Freaks and Geeks" and "The Matrix"." Here's hoping it's more of the former than the latter, but either way it should just be a fun mix to behold.

3. "Parks and Recreation gets third season"

Though it is the lowest-rated entry in NBC's stellar Thursday comedy lineup, "Parks and Recreation" is the first one to get another season pickup. The others - "Community," "The Office" and "30 Rock" - are sure to be picked up very soon also, but P&R got the early nod simply because NBC had to lock up the actors' contracts. I mean, does anyone really think NBC would ever get rid of "30 Rock" unless Alec Baldwin finally actually quit?

Personally, I like "Parks and Recreation" as much as "Community," and almost as much as I do the other two. It's even drier than "The Office," but often sweeter too, and everyone in the cast is very funny (especially Aziz Ansari, and Amy Poehler in the lead just keeps getting better too.)

4. Fincher headed to HBO for crime pilot

When I was compiling my best movies of the past decade (which you're certainly welcome to go back and read), I came very close to naming David Fincher's "Zodiac" as the best movie of 2007, but it lost out by just a nose to Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" (which just keeps getting better and better with age.)

So it's certainly good news that Fincher is about to get back in the crime game to direct at least the pilot of a potential new HBO series called "Mindhunter," with a script from "Dexter" scribe Scott Buck. Set to star Charlize Theron (I guess I sort of buried the lead there), the series would be about the FBI's elite serial crime unit.

I recently canceled my HBO to pay the power bill instead (you gotta have priorities, I guess), but I'm certainly gonna re-up as soon as either Martin Scorsese's "Boardwalk Empire" or David Simon's "Treme" finally hit the air, so with another "True Blood" season coming in June and possibly this Fincher work too, I guess I'm gonna be hooked again for quite a while.

5. "South Park" creators off-Broadway bound

Anyone who has seen "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut" knows that Trey Parker and Matt Stone are a surprisingly natural fit with musicals, so I guess this news isn't quite as odd as it seems on the surface.

It seems the duo are teaming up with "Avenue Q" composer-lyricist Robert Lopez on a new musical set for the 2010-11 season at the New York Theater Workshop. Though details so far are scant, speculation is that the subject matter will be Mormons, who have been fairly frequent targets for Parker and Stone already.

If that's the case, it's the only thing about this that sounds like a bad idea to me. The Mormon jokes on "South Park" are very mean but not funny, and mean by itself just doesn't work in my book. That said, I've seen "Avenue Q" and loved it, so definitely keep your eyes on this.

6. George Lucas producing musical ... with fairies?

Anyone who endured the agony of George Lucas' "The Phantom Menace" and "Battle of the Clones" surely knows that when it comes to CGI shenanigans, the man really knows neither limits or shame, but this next nugget still seems to be a special brand of crazy.

It seems that for past few months at Skywalker Ranch, "TMNT" director Kevin Munroe is busy directing a CGI-animated musical about ... wait for it ... fairies. Believe me, I can't make this stuff up, because if I could I'd probably be getting paid a whole lot more than the zero I do now to do this.

There's always the chance, I suppose, that something spectacular will come out of this madness, but for now let's just chalk it up as pending further proof that George Lucas is sorely in need of occasionally hearing the word "no."

7. Sarah Polley books next flick

OK, for at least a little while, you can call this the end of the crazy section of this post, 'cause here's some genuinely good news. Along with all the movies being shown at Sundance, it's of course also a site for making deals, and it seems that's where Sarah Polley locked down the cast and financing for her sophomore writing/directing effort, called "Take This Waltz."

It took me a long time to see Polley's first directing project, the nearly flawless "Away from Her," but I'm glad I finally did, because it's sublimely entertaining. She's also known as the star of Atom Egoyan's "The Sweet Hereafter," a role that I still have burned on my brain.

Her new movie will star Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen and start shooting in Toronto in July. Williams will star as Margo, a 28-year-old married woman who just happens to meet the man who lives across the street from her while on a business trip. I'd have to imagine sparks will fly, and that Rogen will play the neighbor (especially since the character is apparently named Seth.) The Playlist blog, a must-read around here, says the script starts off on some wrong notes, but eventually turns into the kind of sad/sweet romantic drama that should fit Polley - though perhaps not Rogen - perfectly.

8. John Carney lands new flick and has one already in can

Since his little flick "Once" was easily one of the best - and the single most charming - movies of 2006, it's certainly good news that John Carney is directing a movie that might actually play wide enough to reach my little corner of the world in its theater run.

According to the Irish Times, he'll direct the comedy "Town House," set to start shooting in August with stars Amy Adams and Zach Galifianakis. Based on the book by Tish Cohen, it's about a man who "lives with his teenage son in a historic Boston townhouse that he inherited from his rock star father. With royalties from his father's work dwindling, the man is forced to come to terms with his life ... and a call girl strikes up a friendship with the man."

The Adams/Galifianakis news is a bit old and may change, but this certainly seems like the kind of relationship flick that should fit Carney perfectly. And in even better news for DVD, it seems that Carney has also already shot another flick in Ireland.

Co-written with his brother Keiran, the low-budget comedy "Zonad" is about a man who visits the town of Ballymoran and is thought to be an extraterrestrial. Variety has described the '50s set film as equal parts "Pleasantville," "The Quiet Man" and old "Carry On" films, which all sounds good to me. It's set to open in Ireland on March 19, but here in the U.S., it sounds like a pretty quick straight-to-DVD affair, and I'll certainly let you know when I know more.

9. Tim Burton chosen to head the Cannes Grand Jury

That one speaks for itself, but to make the next two items very New York-centric, I can report that the Tim Burton exhibit on display at the Museum of Modern Art into April is well worth a visit if you can stand the company of many excitable children (they really tried the patience of this known curmudgeon.) If you can, it's a really cool show, featuring sketches and props from many of his films, along with other paintings by the filmmaker. And by the way, if you can find Avril Lavigne's truly god awful song from Burton's upcoming "Alice in Wonderland," its worth a listen just to see how truly awful it is, but don't try and say I didn't warn you.

10. Original "Red Riding" trilogy premiering in New York

Though sitting through all five hours of Steven Soderbergh's "Che" at the IFC Film Center last year was a truly agonizing experience I never need to relive, this IFC movie marathon sounds like one I would truly dig.

Starting Friday, Feb. 5, IFC will be showing all three installments in the UK true crime "Red Riding" trilogy back-to-back-to-back, with two intermissions and only credits at the very end.

So, what are those? well, they're based on three true crime novels by David Peace, also author of the simply fantastic "Damned United," which was itself turned into an almost-as-good flick you can watch on DVD beginning Feb. 23. Having read the first "Red Riding" installment, "1974," I can report that it's a truly gritty affair, and before it goes off the rails completely at the very end, would certainly make the basis of a great true-crime movie in the "Prime Suspect" vein.

But of course, I don't live anywhere near New York City, so I take this mostly as a hopeful sign that all three of the "Red Riding" flicks will be available sometime very soon on DVD in the U.S. Which finally gets us near the finale of this admittedly very long opus, a trio of clips. The first is the trailer for the "Red Riding" trilogy. The rather amazing cast includes Sean Bean, Rebecca Hall, Eddie Marsan and Paddy Considine, among many others. Enjoy.



Next up comes seven clips, courtesy of Collider.com (for which I sometimes contribute), from "The Wolfman," starring Benicio Del Toro and set to drop Feb. 12. I suppose there's a pretty big chance this could just suck, but I'm a sucker for horror in the classic style, so this is a remake I'll definitely check out.



And finally (yes, we're at the end, really) comes a delightfully silly and thoroughly profane mashup of James Gandolfini's work as Tony Soprano and his voicework as Carol in "Where the Wild Things Are." I love Spike Jonze's flick, and if I had a vote, I'd push Gandolfini for a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Oscars. Here, however, as you might imagine, in this clip he's not only "not safe for work," he's about as foul as you can get, especially in the final two words, which I won't give away. If your sensibilities can take it. Enjoy.

My (and only my) best movies of the decade: The 2003 edition

Compared with the year that preceded it (and please feel free to look back at the first three installments of this series), 2003 was indeed a down year for movies, but that certainly didn't mean it still didn't have some real winners.

It was, in fact, a particularly strong year for documentaries. Two made the final cut you'll find below, and two just missed out: Jeffrey Blitz's "Spellbound" and Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe's "Lost in La Mancha." Blitz, who also made one of my favorite movies of 2007 with the autobiographical and thoroughly charming "Rocket Science," is getting back in the documentary game next year with a movie about the lottery business, so keep your eyes out for it.

And, before we get to the main course, the other honorable mention movies for 2003 are: "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," "Chicago," "Swimming Pool," "Lost in Translation," "Pieces of April" and "The Station Agent."

OK, here goes, and as usual, please feel free to add any you think I might have wrongfully overlooked.

"Man on the Train"
I'll never understand why the French actor/singer Johnny Hallyday never became a big international star, because he's certainly got the charisma for it (although I suppose he's probably a bit too old now.) The best movie I've seen him in was this Patrice Leconte gem in which he plays a gangster who crosses paths with a retired school teacher played by the great Jean Rochefort, and then their lives start to merge. See it if you never have, and I guarantee you'll like it.

"Capturing the Friedmans"
A truly disturbing documentary, but filmmaker Andrew Jarecki was as fair as he could possibly be (many would say too fair) with the titular father and then son, who are accused and then convicted of truly heinous sexual acts involving children. As Jarecki delves into the case, interviewing the accusers as well as the family members themselves at length, the one fact that becomes clear is that "facts" and "truth" can indeed be elusive things.

"Dirty Pretty Things"
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Audrey Tautou make an extremely unlikely but engaging pairing in this taut thriller from director Stephen Frears and screenwriter Steven Knight. It deals deftly with the complexities of immigration as it paints a perfectly seedy portrait of London's underbelly, and it and the comedy "The Snapper" (which certainly would have made this list somewhere if it hadn't come out way back in 1993) are my favorite Frears flicks.

"Bend It Like Beckham"
I suppose this is the "yes, really" entry on this list, but there really wasn't a more infectiously fun movie in 2003 than this one from director Gurinder Chadha. Besides, I just like movies about soccer ("The Damned United" will almost certainly make this year's list), and when you throw in a still fairly well-fed Keira Knightley and the real star, Parminder Nagra (who went on to have long run on "ER"), this makes for one I go back to once a year or so and still really enjoy.

"American Splendor"
By a fairly wide margin, this is my favorite movie of 2003, and still the only movie I've seen from directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (I really can't see myself watching "The Nanny Diaries" any time soon.) Harvey Pekar is probably the most unlikely pop culture figure ever, and Paul Giamatti just captures all his quirks perfectly. Fiction and reality blend seamlessly as we find out how Harvey's life as a VA file clerk was transformed by a meeting with R. Crumb that led him to create the titular cult comic book series and then by his endearing relationship with a Delaware comic book store owner, played by Hope Davis. And Judah Friedlander is just a hoot as his oddball buddy Toby.

"Fog of War"
In its own way, this Errol Morris documentary was even more creepy than "Capturing the Friedmans," mostly due to the candidness and stunning lack of remorse of its subject, former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. A similar approach was taken with one of my favorite films of this year, James Toback's "Tyson" (which is out on DVD now.) You'll feel extremely frustrated as you see McNamara's evident genius laid out but then see how it still left him with either a blindness or simply a lack of conscience as to what was really going on in Vietnam.

"School of Rock"
Another "yes, really" entry I suppose, but this flick from Richard Linklater and screenwriter (and very unlikely reality TV star) Mike White was the funniest movie of 2003 in my book, and really, what more can you ask for? Jack Black was far from the grating presence he often is now, and is instead just impish enough as the teacher who teaches his young band of followers to rock out. Just a great "comfort" movie.

"Shattered Glass"
It's really a shame that Billy Ray doesn't direct movies more often, because though he's certainly better known as a screenwriter, the two flicks he's helmed - this one and "Breach" - are real winners. What they share is a claustrophobic feel that perfectly fits this story about disgraced "New Republic" "journalist" Stephen Glass. And though it's a thoroughly depressing case for anyone in my profession, Peter Sarsgaard is particularly good as "New Republic" editor Charles Lane, as is Hayden Christensen (again, yes, really) as the titular shyster.

"The Triplets of Belleville"
Can an animated movie with no discernible dialogue (and not named "Wall-E") really be considered one of the best movies of the last 10 years? I'd certainly say yes in this case, because writer/director Sylvain Chomet's story about a Tour de France champion (named, of course, Champion) who is kidnapped by the French mafia and the grandmother who comes to his rescue is as equally abstract as the animation itself, which renders its characters as oddly shaped and sometimes indeed grotesque. It's a whole lot more charming than I'm making it sound here, believe me.

"Big Fish"
Though he's made some other great ones - and some real duds too - this has stood up through the years as my favorite Tim Burton movie. It's based on the equally good novel by Daniel Wallace, a Southerner with a genuine gift for storytelling, and it's mostly about exactly that - a son who has to sort through the various stories (and perhaps lies) his dying father has told throughout his life. In Burton's hands, and with a dynamite cast that included Ewan McGregor, Billy Crudup, Albert Finney, Jessice Lange, Helena Bonham Carter (of course) and even a young Marion Cotillard, this is a fantastic tribute to the power of the imagination.

And there you have it. Please feel free to add any you may wish to, and to check back Tuesday for a look at 2004. Peace out.

The funniest movie of the fall? I think we've found it

"Chuck" is, as far as I know, still not scheduled to return until March (damnit!), but when it does, it's got to be an encouraging sign that it will have a big enough budget for ... Superman?

Yes, it does seem that, according to the TV-obsessed Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly, Brandon Routh (no longer Superman, I suppose) will be joining "Chuck" for a multi-episode arc when the show finally returns. He'll apparently be playing a new agent brought in to manage Chuck and his newfound abilities, and inevitably pitch at least a little woo at agent Walker.

Like I said, no word that "Chuck" will return any earlier than next March, but one can dream, right? Bring it on now!

All I have after that is the funniest trailer I've seen in some time (well, only since "In the Loop," actually) and one that means we should be getting a seriously good comedy this November.

I would have included "Men Who Stare at Goats" in yesterday's list of the 10 movies I'm most looking forward to for the rest of this year if I had known more about it before today, because it looks like a real hoot. George Clooney (who really will be just about everywhere this fall) plays a soldier who's a member of a supposedly real Army battalion that uses psychic abilities. Yes, really. Ewan McGregor plays a journalist sent to investigate and, yes, even the Dude is somehow in this too. Enjoy the trailer, and have a perfectly pleasant weekend. Peace out.



Actually, here's a bonus, which I just happened to come across at the IMDB. This may be old, but it's the first time I had seen this teaser trailer for Tim Burton's "Alice In Wonderland," and it looks sensational. Burton remakes or reimaginings or whatever you call them are usually a disaster, but I'm sold that this one, set to come out in March, will be a real winner. Enjoy.

Trailer Thursday: Tim Burton's "Alice" and Tyler Perry too

You know, I've only been to a real Imax theater once since I was a little kid and got to experience it at the National Air and Space Museum, which every kid should get to do.

My only time as an "adult" was for "Watchmen," and though the movie certainly has its critics, I loved it, and the experience was well worth the drive to north of Atlanta for it. But since it's nearly two hours, it's not exactly something I can afford to do very often.

Well, now. I've found the second movie that will get me to drive all the way to the Mall of Georgia in Buford for a real Imax (no fauxmax for me) experience: Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are." It was announced Wednesday at Comic-Con that Maurice Sendak's Wild Things will indeed appear larger than life, and I'll certainly be there to see them.

And, shame on me, I thought Maurice Sendak was dead, but as this rather crazy photo of the two of them from the "Where the Wild Things Are" production blog of sorts,We Love You So, proves, that's not so.


And if you live in Middle Georgia like me, please take advantage of the chance to see easily one of the year's best movies, Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker." When I heard this was going to play "everywhere" beginning Friday I didn't really believe it, but at least they have the sense to play it in a military town like Warner Robins (well, Centerville, but you know what I mean.)

Though there's never been a commercially successful movie about the war in Iraq, Bigelow's movie is changing all that because it legitimately looks at war through the eyes of the soldiers of a bomb squad unit, while at the same time delivering the sensational set pieces Bigelow has become known for (the best being an encounter with three mercenaries played by Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce and David Morse that very quickly turns very deadly.)

On top of all that you get truly breakout performances from Jeremy Renner and, even better, Anthony Mackie. So definitely go see this one while you have the chance.

And of course, before I once again got distracted, this was supposed to be about two promising looking trailers, the first of which has been anticipated for a long time now, Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland."

Burton's record of wrecking beloved stories such as "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and "Planet of the Apes" is well known, but I still think he's got something pretty good going with this, which is set to come out in March.

First of all, at least that I've seen, there hasn't been a definitive live action version of the Lewis Carroll work, so he has kind of a blank slate to work with. And second, as you can see from the teaser below, it's gonna be a genuine trip, with a big dose of a truly demented Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, so it should be a heck of a lot of fun. Enjoy the trailer, and then stick around for a visit from Madea (remember, I did warn you.)



And finally today comes the first full trailer for Tyler Perry's "I Can Do Bad All By Myself," and to me at least, it looks like a real winner.

Now, Mr. Perry certainly has a formula, and you can tell this one won't stray far from it, but it has at least one big thing going for it: Taraji P. Henson. She's been one of my favorite actresses ever since "Hustle & Flow," and now that someone has finally given her the starring role she deserves, I can tell she's gonna make the most of it. Enjoy. and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday.