For normally quiet August, a surprisingly strong week for movies

Two movies that I (and perhaps you) want to see in one week in August? That only seems to happen once about every five years, so we should definitely beat the heat and take advantage of it. Plus, here in Macon, the Film Guild offers a bonus pick on Sunday that takes a different look at the settling of the American West.

First up, getting an early start on the week by opening Wednesday is "The Help," based on the very popular novel by Kathryn Stockett. Having read the book, I mostly enjoyed it, but with its very broad characters drawn in stark black and white (and I'm not talking about race here) with few touches of grey, and equally broad humor, I think it will work even better as a feel-good movie.

For anyone who hasn't read the novel, it's about a listless University of Mississippi graduate, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (played in the movie by Emma Stone), who convinces the black maids of '60s Jackson, Miss., to tell their stories. She's surrounded by a pretty first-rate cast, with Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer leading the maids, and Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain and Allison Janney all playing supporting roles.

On a surely much cruder but hopefully also funnier note comes "30 Minutes or Less," director Ruben Fleischer's followup to his rather sublimely entertaining "Zombieland," this time with an even sillier premise: A slacker pizza delivery driver is kidnapped by some ne'er-do-wells who strap a bomb to his chest and force him to rob a bank. And yes, that's a comedy.

"Zombieland" star Jesse Eisenberg returns as the main slacker, and he's surrounded by solidly funny people, including Aziz Ansari of "Parks and Recreation" and Danny McBride, so I'm betting on this being a winner.

As far as the third new wide-release movie of the week goes, I've managed to somehow miss out on all the "Final Destination" carnage thus far, so I'm fairly certain I'll be able to just say no to the fifth installment (yes, really) without really missing anything.

And finally, rounding out a full movie week, the Macon Film Guild is presenting director Kelly Reichardt's Western, "Meek's Cutoff," Sunday at 2, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. at the Douglass Theatre. I haven't seen this one yet, but I have seen Reichardt's "Wendy And Lucy," and enjoyed it quite a bit.

From that experience, I can tell you that Reichardt's movies do move more than a bit slowly, but "Wendy and Lucy," which like "Meek's Cutoff" stars Michelle Williams, was thoroughly engrossing, as I suspect this tale of a band of settlers traveling through the Oregon desert in 1845 will be, too.

Leonard Nimoy channels The Dude for pretty pure bliss

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

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

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



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

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Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

Why it's time to shut down "The Office," plus a visit from Conan O'Brien

"If you're going to jump a shark, jump a big one."

Say what you want to about Ricky Gervais, but as easily one of the funniest people on the planet, he certainly should know when something is genuinely funny and when, well, it simply isn't. And, unfortunately, as he correctly pointed out, the latter was very often the case with Thursday's "The Office" finale.

It wasn't just the piling on of guest stars and giving them each about two minutes at most of screen time, but on top of that they gave almost all of them nothing to work with. James Spader was OK, and Jim Carrey arrived at the very end to provoke one of the only real laughs, at least from me, of the entire show.

And you know, it didn't really even annoy me by the end (BIG SPOILER AHEAD) that they didn't even bother to pick a new boss after all that build-up, because it really didn't feel like a show I want to keep watching anyway. It was, awkwardly and often painfully, more like a muddled pilot for a show still trying to figure where it wants to go, and for one that's been on so long, that's just pretty pathetic.

The best possible scenario now? Darryl gets the job, because Craig Robinson is still a very funny dude, and perhaps he can salvage this mess, but it's going to be a rather epic task.

As for me, I'm most likely done with "The Office," but not with everything on NBC's Thursday night lineup, because if you stuck around for the hour-long "Parks and Recreation" finale, you saw a show that's still fresh and genuinely funny, often wickedly so.

The first half was good, but once poor Lil Sebastian died and Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) decided to reorganize the office (putting Ron Swanson in that great captain's chair), it was all comedy bliss from there.

I have to assume Aziz Ansari will be back, and the promise of Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler, who I've grown to like a whole lot more than I did before this show) running for office means I definitely will be too.

And to wrap things up today, here's the first trailer I know of for "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop." Though I would have ponied up for a straightforward documentary about when he took his comedy show on the road, this instead promises to be a much more behind-the-scenes kind of look, which should be even better. I have no idea when or if this is going to make a theatrical run, but keep an eye out for it if you live in a bigger corner of the world than I do, and have a great rest of the weekend. Peace out.

A Friday full of fun stuff - and at least one serious thing

This post does indeed include the final movie shot by photo journalist Tim Hetherington, but it's a Friday morning, so let's start out with some potentially very fun TV news before we get into anything like that.

So far, this "news" only comes from the New York Post's page 6, but here's hoping it's true, because it could be rather great.

Aaron Sorkin is at work on a pilot for HBO titled "More as the Story Develops," which would star Jeff Daniels as the host of a cable news show. If it's anywhere near as good as what Sorkin did for cable sports news with "Sports Night," still his best work, I'm definitely in. And according to the Post at least, he's just about perfectly cast the executive producer role played by Felicity Huffman on that show, this time with Marisa Tomei.

One other thing that is definitely about to happen, though I'm not entirely sure I want to see it again after all this time, is the return of Patsy and Edina to the BBC. Yes, Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley are apparently in the final stages of a deal to make three new episodes of "Absolutely Fabulous."

Like I said, I'm more than a little skeptical that they can still bring the funny, but if Dawn French is back as Saunders' co-writer/conspirator, I'm in for at least three episodes to find out.

OK, now for something serious, but I promise I'll move on quickly after that. As most everyone knows by now, Tim Hetherington, a photo journalist who went on to co-direct the Afghanistan war documentary "Restrepo" with Sebastian Junger, was killed recently while covering the current conflict in Libya.

An incredibly sad thing that, and as my friend and Telegraph photographer Grant Blankenship pointed out, just as we honor the brave men and women who fight to protect this great country, we should likewise honor those brave enough to report on it. 'Nuff said.

And with that, here is "Diary," a short film that is the last one Hetherington made before he died. It's well worth 20 minutes or so of your Friday morning, and here's how Hetherington himself describes it:

'Diary' is a highly personal and experimental film that expresses the subjective experience of my work, and was made as an attempt to locate myself after ten years of reporting. It's a kaleidoscope of images that link our western reality to the seemingly distant worlds we see in the media.

Enjoy, and then stick around for two videos that I promise are more appropriate for a Friday morning.

Diary (2010) from Tim Hetherington on Vimeo.

This next clip, while not as funny as I might have hoped, does come with some news to introduce it.

Ruben Fleischer, director of the simply fantastic "Zombieland," has now wrapped "30 Minutes Or Less" and moved on to prepping his next flick, "The Gangster Squad," and he's about to get a great cast for it.

The flick, based on a series of L.A. Times articles, tells the true story of a secret police task force that went after Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen, a high-profile gangster who was a member of the "Jewish Mafia" in the 1940s. And, according to Variety, Sean Penn is in talks to take the lead in this, with Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin expected to quickly follow suit if he does.

And in the meantime, here's the first red band trailer for Fleischer's next movie, "30 Minutes or Less," set to come out Aug. 12. As you'll see from the trailer, it stars Jesse Eisenberg, veryfunnyman Aziz Ansari and Danny McBride in a story about two guys (Eisenberg and Ansari) who are forced to rob a bank. Like I said, I'm hoping the movie itself will be a damn sight funnier than this trailer which, being of the red band variety, make sure you watch with headphones if you're at work. Enjoy, and then stick around for the trailer for what could be a real charmer/sleeper this summer.

More 30 Minutes or Less Videos

OK, finally today comes the second trailer I've seen for the British flick "Submarine," which looks like it was made just for me. It looks like your typical coming-of-age movie, but from what I'm seen so far I'm still betting on very funny and very charming, much like the criminally overlooked "Rocket Science" from a few years ago (rent that already!). It also doesn't look like the kind of movie that has any prayer of playing in my little corner of the world when it comes stateside on June 3, but now that it somehow sports the words "Ben Stiller presents," who knows. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

Oh, the horror

Really, how hard of a sell could a smart sci-fi movie directed by Alfonso Cuaron be? I'd certainly buy a ticket, especially since his take on "Children of Men" was my second-favorite movie of 2006 (second only to Guillermo del Toro's sublime "Pan's Labyrinth").

His "Gravity," however, has had a heck of a time even getting off the ground. Though Robert Downey Jr. is still solidly attached in a supporting role, the lead role has already been turned down by Angelina Jolie, but now it looks like there might be a new candidate (and a clear case of trading up in my book.)

Natalie Portman, who stars in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" this fall, has been offered the role, and is now reading the script, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

So, what's the movie about? Co-written by Alfonso and Jonas Cuaron, the 3D (I guess I should just accept it by now) survival story is about a woman (Portman, if she wants it) stranded on a space station after satellite debris slams into it and wipes out the rest of the crew. Sounds great to me, so here's hoping this actually gets going sometime soon.

OK, after that today it's all about horror and humor (at least until the clips), two things that, when done right, just go so well together.

And one recent movie that got the mix just about perfect was "Zombieland." The director of that flick, Ruben Fleischer, is now shooting "30 Minutes or Less" with Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari and "Zombieland" star Jesse Eisenberg, who shared a juicy tidbit about a possible "Zombieland 2" with Shock Till You Drop.

Eisenberg said a first draft of the script for the sequel has been completed by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (the writers of the first flick) and turned into Sony, although he hasn't read it yet. According to Shock Till You Drop, Fleischer has read the script. Here's what he had to say:

"Yeah, I read it. I mean, it's an early draft and we have plenty more to do to work on it, but I think it's going to be amazing, I'm really excited about it."

I am too, but Fleischer apparently has a lot of options for what comes next. Here's hoping it's "Zombieland 2," because, let's face it, zombies are just a heck of a lot funnier than vampires will ever be.

And speaking of humor and horror, Bruce Campbell knows a lot about both, and at least wants to unleash something on the world that would by force have to be a little bit fun. Though most every one I know loathes "My Name Is Bruce," I kind of liked it for the little humor/horror flick it was without ever attempting to be anything more. Well, he says he's now plotting a sequel of sorts, "Bruce Vs. Frankenstein," for which I suppose the plot would have to be rather obvious. Here's what he had to say about it to the L.A. Times, via Screen Rant:

“Yeah, The Expendables, or more like the It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World of horror. I want to get so many horror movie stars that people can’t possibly not see the movie. I want to give them other stuff to do. I want to have Kane Hodder be very particular about what he eats. I want Robert Englund to be a tough guy, like he knows tae kwon do or something. I want to find out the hidden sides of all these people. Some will play themselves, some will play alternate characters as well. I may approach Kane Hodder to play Frankenstein. He could be Kane Hodder himself fighting himself as Frankenstein. It could be crazy. It’s a silly concocted story that we hope to do maybe in a year or so. My breaks between Burn Notice have been getting tighter because they’ve been adding episodes. They’re trying to trap me like a rat in the TV world, and I might just let them. There’s a script, it just kind of blows right now, so no one’s really seeing it. We gotta work on it. Definitely shoot in Oregon all on a stage. It’s like the 300 of horror comedies. We want to make it a whole world. Someone’s gotta take Frank down for good.”

Sounds like a straight-to-DVD kind of thing, clearly, if it ever happens, but one that will probably make me at least pony up for a rental.

OK, moving into the clips, let's keep the horror streak going a little longer. But first, if you happen to be a fan of "Mad Men," I think many people will agree with me that last Sunday's Don and Peggy episode was just about the show's finest hour. I can't wait to find out if Don has finally hit bottom or if there's further to fall. Just about when "Mad Men" wraps up again or shortly after, AMC will be premiering Frank Darabont's six-episode (so far at least) zombie series "The Walking Dead," which was filmed just up the road from me in Atlanta. Enjoy this latest TV promo, and certainly tune in when the show debuts, naturally, on Halloween.



And to close with something a little different, I can't say I've been particularly interested in the upcoming action-comedy "Red," but that's simply because I'm unfamiliar with the DC Comics graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hammer. However, when you put together a cast that somehow includes Dame Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker and even the great Brian Cox, you've got my attention. In the flick, Mirren, Malkovich, Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman play top CIA agents who get framed for an assassination and must join forces to break into CIA headquarters and "uncover one of the biggest conspiracies and cover-ups in government history." Sounds like awfully fun stuff if they accent the humor, and judging from this first clip featuring Mirren and Willis, it looks like they will. Enjoy, keep an eye out for the movie Oct. 15, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

A "new" Christopher Nolan flick before "Inception"? Bring it on!

There are many, many reasons to subscribe to Roger Ebert's seemingly more than monthly newsletter, but the two best are that it, after all, only costs $4.99 a year, and, even better, it's always chock full of goodies like the trailer teased above and found at the end of this post. To subscribe, click here.

But before I get to that, however, it's a fairly full day of good news, starting out with, if it comes together, what would have to make just about the funnest movie trilogy ever, although I'll concede far from the best (an argument for that one would have to be made for "Toy Story," because the third chapter is indeed just that good.)

There are few subgenres of movie I love more than the baseball flick, so it makes me nothing but giddy to hear writer/director David S. Ward talk about the possibility of another "Major League." He's told Moviehole.net that he's already written a "Major League 3" script and will be talking to the Morgan Creek movie company next week about how to proceed. Here's what he had to say about the story:

"It's 20 years later, and Wild Thing comes out of retirement to work with this 19-year-old player. We've actually got three new characters in the new film. And if the new film is popular, they could carry the franchise on."

Just thinking about that made me smile, and Ward added that he's already spoken to the "Wild Thing" himself, Charlie Sheen, about this. When and if he's on board, I can't imagine it would be to hard to get Tom Berenger, Corbin Bernsen and perhaps even Wesley "Willie Mays Hayes" Snipes too. Make this happen!

And in two other tidbits about directors I really like, Ruben Fleischer, who begins shooting his "Zombieland" follow-up, "30 Minutes or Less," next month, has now already set up the movie he plans to direct after that, and it comes from a great comedy source in scribe Mike White.

He's signed on with Columbia Pictures to direct "Babe in the Woods," which, from a script by White, will be an action-comedy centering on a female freshman from the Midwest who arrives at Yale and becomes a target of the New Jersey mob.

That sounds like it could be funny enough, but what he's doing before that should be better. "30 Minutes or Less" stars veryfunnyguys Aziz Ansari and Danny McBride, and will have to be a dark comedy, since it's about two fledgling criminals who kidnap a pizza delivery driver and strap a bomb to his chest to force him to rob a bank within 30 minutes.

Another director who I'm glad works very quickly of late is David Cronenberg, who is now shooting "The Dangerous Method" but has also already signed for the project that would follow that.

Pajiba is reporting he'll direct an adaptation of the Jonathan Lethem novel "As She Climbed Across the Table," and from the description I've seen of the story, it sounds twisted enough to be right up Cronenberg's alley. It centers on Professor Phillip Engstrand, who is in love with particle physicist Alice Coombs. Unfortunately for Phillip, Alice is in love with “The Lack” – a selective black hole (I hate it when that happens) – leaving Phillip to basically compete with nothingness for her affection.

As for what he's filming now, "A Dangerous Method" (formerly known as "The Talking Cure," which would have been better), it's about a feud that developed between Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) over the treatment of a patient (Keira Knightley, though as far as I know it's not for anorexia - sorry, I couldn't resist.) That sounds like nothing but fascinating to me.

OK, as we get to the videos, it is indeed all about Christopher Nolan from here on out, starting with the best featurette I've seen yet for "Inception," which is finally set to come out July 16. Be warned, as it sort of introduces the characters, it contains more spoilers than what's come out before, so click it with that warning. Enjoy.



And finally, getting back to the lead, IFC On Demand, which I and probably you can get through your digital cable or whatever you subscribe to for TV, will be screening "Following," Christopher Nolan's first feature film, starting July 7. So, what's it about? Here goes, per the Ebert Club newsletter:

"Out of boredom and frustration, an unemployed writer (Jeremy Theobald) picks strangers at random from the crowded streets of London and then follows them to see where they go, and how they spend their days. Reasoning that he's gathering material for the fictional characters in his writing, he begins following the same people more than once, curious to learn more about them; a rule he'd promised himself not to break. That was his first mistake. But then he teams up with a burglar Cobb (Alex Hawk) and breaks into the apartment of a mysterious blonde (Lucy Russell), with whom he is fascinated. And slowly begins to find out that things may not be as they seem."

Sounds like a mindbender tailormade to Nolan to me, so I'll definitely be tuning in. Enjoy the trailer below, and if you'll excuse me now, the second half of U.S.A. v. Algeria really demands my undivided attention now. Peace out.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MTV Shows

A Greg Mottola movie of "Dog of the South"? Bring it on

Greg Mottola's "Adventureland" is one of those movies that just gets better and better with age. I've seen it three times now, and though the ending seems ridiculously tacked on, it's still just a thoroughly entertaining snapshot of a time we've all been through at some point (though most likely not with Kristen Stewart to pitch woo at.)

He's in "post-production" now on something called "Paul" which, once it comes out, should just be a hoot. It stars British comedy duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" as two geeks who end up picking up an alien voiced by Seth Rogen (naturally) while on a cross-country trip to Comic-Con. I still have no idea when this will be released, but hopefully by the fall, and you can count me as thoroughly amped for it.

Mottola has developed into one of my favorite directors (he also made a little movie called "Superbad"), and he's now eyeing as a future project the Charles Portis novel "Dog of the South," for Bill Hader to star in. If you've ever read the novel, you should know just how funny this could be.

Portis' most famous novel, "True Grit," is getting the remake treatment (though in their hands, I'd really hesitate to use such a dirty word) from the Coen brothers this year, coming as a Christmas day gift and starring Josh Brolin, Matt Damon and the Dude. "Dog of the South," while certainly a lesser Portis work, is still worth reading if you like dry Southern comedy.

As a movie, it should be a great fit for Bill Hader. Simply put, it's about a guy who tracks his ex-wife and her lover through their credit card receipts, mostly so he can get his hands on the car she took with her. It's a lot better than I'm making it sound here, and well worth checking out. Here's hoping the movie comes together fairly quickly.

And speaking of "Adventureland," its star, Jesse Eisenberg, has just signed on to the followup by "Zombieland" director Ruben Fleischer, and it's quickly assembling a great comedy cast.

In the flick "30 Minutes or Less," shooting this summer, veryfunnyguy Aziz Ansari plays a junior high history teacher who is forced to join forces with a pizza delivery guy played by Eisenberg to rob a bank when one of them is strapped to a bomb vest. Throw in Danny McBride and Michael Pena as some of the baddies in this scheme, and you've got me pretty much hooked.

All I've got after that today is a clip from what has to be the one movie I'm most looking forward to seeing this year, assuming it eventually makes it down here somewhere even close to my little corner of the world, Jean Pierre Jeunet's "Micmacs." So far, I know it's playing in New York and L.A. this week, with four more cities promised next week, and only "coming to a theater near you" after that. Here's hoping that's true, because this one really does look like it's thoroughly infused with the Jeunet spirit. Enjoy this clip he introduces for HitFix (and swiped by me for you enjoyment), and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

Joss Whedon's a Gleek, and I am too

Actually, before we get into any of that and another video that caught my eye this morning, I'm starting to worry that at my advancing age I have somehow developed super powers and can predict the future.

About a week ago, when it was first announced that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be reteaming with director Rian Johnson for the sci-fi flick "Looper," I said the plot - roughly about hit men who are sent their victims from crime organizations in the future - sounds rather unfortunately like something Bruce Willis would star in for about one week or so in a February.

Well, either I have a lot more power than I thought (which was, of course, none at all), or by some other cosmic force out of my hands, Willis has indeed now just signed on for the movie, and he and Gordon-Levitt will be playing the same character at different time periods.

That alone already makes this sound a little better, and since rewatching "The Brothers Bloom" last week has me convinced it's a minor masterpiece, I'm certainly willing to give Johnson the benefit of the doubt as this comes together.

And just in case you think I really can see the future, go ahead and place a bet on Calvin Borel and Super Saver to win the best jewel in the Triple Crown today.

OK, enough of that. Before I got distracted, this was supposed to be all about "Glee," which, in case you hadn't heard, is being directed Tuesday night by Joss Whedon, with a guest appearance by Neil Patrick Harris. If, hearing all that, you somehow still don't plan to tune in, just move on today, because this clearly just isn't for you.

But, with "Glee," it almost always is for me. I've heard the complaints from some of my co-workers that the show is just too cheesy, and that the extremely poorly lip-synced songs are just annoying. I get all that, and it's not that I ignore it or don't care, it's that all that adds into what makes "Glee" so deliriously entertaining to watch.

It is indeed a big ball of cheese, and it very often wears its heart right on its sleeve and defies you to not latch on to it. But so what? Along with that, there's consistently a wicked streak of black humor to it all, and when you mix it all, it's like nothing else on TV, and just the perfect guilty pleasure (though I really don't feel guilty about liking it one bit.)

And, as Whedon points out in this promo video, the kids all just throw so much energy into it that it's impossible not to give in to it. Like him, I think Heather Morris' Brittany is my favorite character, and still the funniest line so far (with all apologies to Jane Lynch's zinger-flinging Sue Sylvester) has to be her gem "Did you know a dolphin is just a gay shark?" I'm probably getting that slightly wrong, but even so, it's just funny.

But enough words from me. Enjoy the video, stick around for a bit from Aziz Ansari, and if you like Joss Whedon and NPH, by all means watch Tuesday night's "Glee," even if it will be for the first time.



OK, I should probably find better things to do with my time than be a shill for MTV, but as long these MTV Movie Awards promos keep being funny, I'm gonna keep sharing them. And besides, since the water-skiing squirrel was at the Georgia State Fair here in Macon, of course he's an international superstar. Enjoy the clip also featuring Sarah Silverman (who unfortunately just had her Comedy Central show canceled) and somehow Zac Efron too. Peace out.

MTV Shows

OK, I'm still not sold on the need for "Let Me In," but ...

I'm not nearly ready to give in yet, because the necessity of and, for that matter, any possible reason at all for an English-language remake of the simply sublime horror film "Let the Right One In" is still beyond me, but I have to confess that first photo (above) is pretty friggin' cool.

There's still no way in the world anyone should see this without first enjoying the original movie by Tomas Alfredson, which is easily the best horror movie I've seen in the last five years or so, but I'm now willing to concede that they seem to have gotten the casting, at least, just about dead right. And besides, "Cloverfield" was way better than I could have possibly imagined, so I suppose I should have at least a bit of trust in "Let Me In" writer/director Matt Reeves.

All that said, however, the first shot of Chloe Moretz as Abby in the remake highlights just about everything that can go horribly wrong with this. After her performance as Hit-Girl in "Kick-Ass," which not just made the movie but really hijacked the entire operation, I have faith that the rather young lady will at least give this her all, but anyone who's seen the original movie (and again, if you haven't, do it .. it's easily my favorite movie of 2008) knows that she has extremely big shoes to fill in playing the "young" vampire played to perfection (and known as Eli) in "Let the Right One In" by Lina Leandersson. Simply for comparison's sake, here's a shot of her as Eli.


As Eli, she just exuded a great combination of insecurity and blood-starved killer, and was the perfect match for Kare Hedebrant as young, bullied Oskar, who will be known as Owen and played by Kodi-Smit McPhee in the remake. The only thing I can remember seeing that kid in was the recent movie of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," which was a large cut above the usual apocalyptic fare that crowds up our multiplexes and is well worth a rental.

Finish the cast off with definite Reel Fanatic fave Richard Jenkins as Abby's poor "father" and you have the makings of a truly first-rate cast, but let me be clear about this: Though I was always going to see this anyway when it comes out Oct. 1 just out of sheer curiosity, you can still count me as having at best an icy heart toward it, though now perhaps not one completely encased in steel.

And all I have besides that today, before a couple of videos worth watching, is some more intriguing casting news. I still have yet to see "Invictus," but as soon as I finish typing this sentence I'm gonna add it to the Netflix queue, and perhaps move it right to the top. Morgan Freeman won kudos for his portrayal of Nelson Mandela in that Clint Eastwood flick, and now another actor, and easily one of my favorites, is ready to step into the rather large role.

Terrence Howard, who just has me for life after "Hustle & Flow," has signed on to play Mandela in "Winnie," a biopic about his even-more-interesting former wife. I'll take more convincing that Jennifer Hudson has the gravitas to play Winnie, the angry heart of the anti-apartheid movement, but you can count me ready to be proven wrong as this movie by director Darrell Roodt comes together in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was locked up. Definitely keep your eyes on this one.

OK, as promised, all that's left now is couple of clips well worth a few minutes of your time. The first is an extended trailer for Christopher Nolan's "Inception," which along with Phillip Noyce's "Salt" I'm expecting to be the sleeper hits of this summer (though I suppose you can't really call a Nolan/Leonardo DiCaprio flick a "sleeper.") It has all kinds of new footage, and just has me thoroughly amped for when this finally comes out July 16 (and besides, isn't the world just a slightly better place with some more Ellen Page in it, especially when she's not schilling for Cisco?) Enjoy.



And finally, I do realize that I'm far too old for the "MTV Movie Awards," so I'll try my best not to watch the whole thing, but with Aziz Ansari as the host when it airs June 6, you can be certain I'm at least gonna watch the beginning. And if you put together a promo that also features Kristen Bell and spoofs "The Hurt Locker"? Yeah, I'm gonna embed that. Enjoy, and have a great rest of the weekend. I'm off to eat some Joe-Bear's barbecue and then watch "Iron Man 2." Peace out.

MTV Shows

I always suspected Ronald McDonald was pretty much pure evil

An advisory word for anyone reading today: If you make it to the end, you'll find the most recent Oscar winner for Best Animated Short Film, the Froggie flick "Logorama," embedded at the bottom, and it's extremely worth watching (and it inspired the title of this post.) But before that ...

This may be rather amazing news to no one other than me and Bob Connally, but it seems that not only has Bruce Robinson apparently finished his movie of the Hunter S. Thompson novel "The Rum Diary," but it may even be headed for Cannes.

For anyone unfamiliar with the flick, it stars one Johnny Depp as an American journalist working for a newspaper in Puerto Rico who gets involved in a love triangle and surely all other kinds of trouble too. The movie also stars Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, Giovanni Ribisi and Reel Fanatic fave Richard Jenkins.

So who in the world is Bruce Robinson? Well, before pretty much disappearing for more than 20 years now, he managed to direct the ultimate buddy comedy of sorts, "Withnail & I," and the almost-as-good "How to Get Ahead in Advertising." He's been sorely missed around here, so any word of "The Rum Diary" finally moving towards one day maybe seeing a movie screen anywhere near my little corner of the world is certainly welcome news.

And in really good TV news, if you haven't been watching NBC's "Parenthood," you've really been missing out. Sure, it can be awfully schmaltzy, but it's also pretty epicly good storytelling, and Lauren Graham, Peter Krause and yes, even Dax Shepard are all great in it.

Well, now it seems the show, created by "Friday Night Lights" guider Jason Katims, is finally starting to pick up some mojo, winning its time slot Tuesday night for perhaps the first time, even managing to beat out a new episode of ABC's "The Good Wife."

Seriously, this is what good TV looks like, so catch it while you can, which looks more and more like it will be for at least two seasons.

And in much bigger news about TV people I really like, it seems that Aziz Ansari has just signed on to be one-half of what, at least around here, will make a comedy dream team with Danny McBride.

"Zombieland" director Ruben Fleischer has signed on to direct an action-comedy called "30 Minutes Or Less" as his next project, and now those two - my favorite two comedians working today, in case you missed the hint - have signed on as the leads.

Written by Michael Diliberti and Matthew Sullivan, the script revolves around a junior high history teacher (Ansari) and a pizza-delivery man (McBride) who are forced to rob a bank when one of them is strapped to a bomb vest.

And in a final bit of news before we get to the promised movie, now that I'm reupping with HBO this week in time to watch the premiere of David Simon's post-Katrina series "Treme" this Sunday, it seems they're determined to never let me go again.

Along with series coming from all kinds of top-shelf directors (Martin Scorsese, Kathyrn Bigelow and Lee Daniels, among them), HBO has now signed "School of Rock" and "Freaks and Geeks" scribe Mike White for a new series that sounds just about perfect to me.

Laura Dern (remember her?) will star in "Enlightened" as "a self-destructive woman who has a revelatory experience at a treatment center and becomes determined to live an enlightened life." That already sounds funny to me, and the show has received a 10-episode pickup and will begin filming this summer.

And you may remember that Laura Dern did her best work in years in the HBO movie "Recount" (which was somehow written by "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Gilmore Girls" veteran Danny Strong) as dragon woman Katherine Harris.

OK, as promised, anyone who bothered to stick around (or perhaps skipped) until the end today deserves a reward, so here goes. Like most of the world, I just assumed that Nick Park's latest Wallace & Gromit flick, "Wallace & Gromit in a Matter of Loaf and Death," was gonna win the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, but it lost to something called "Logorama," made by Frenchies François Alaux and Hervé de Crécy. Subtle? Nah. But this glimpse of the secret lives of the advertising mascots who truly run our lives is wickedly funny, especially the inhabitants of the zoo. Having now watched this and the latest Wallace & Gromit offering, I deem this a worthy winner by a nose. Enjoy the flick embedded below, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Logorama from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.

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

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

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

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

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

Freida Pinto to join forces with Tarsem

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

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

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

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

The Coens find their young leading lady

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

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

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

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

Stephen Chow to channel Bruce Lee

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

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

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

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

A pair of biopics in the pipeline

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

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

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

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

And there's some great casting news, too

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And, finally, a trio of videos

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

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

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



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



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

Mel Gibson is clearly just an angry old man

Actually, I doubt anyone had any real doubts about that already, but the video proof is still worth watching simply to see just how little he's changed in the last five years or so.

But, before we get into any of that, there are at least a few other things out there that caught my eye, so here goes.

The two funniest people in Judd Apatow's "Funny People" were very easily Aziz Ansari and the RZA (and the latter's "my n****" joke about Michael Richards made me laugh out very loud.) And though he got scant on-screen time in that flick, Ansari went to great lengths to become his character, Randy, who tells dick jokes with such glee that they seem much funnier than they are. I'm really not describing that anywhere near as funny as it is, so here's a clip of him doing standup in character (and please, be warned, along with being extremely crude and juvenile, this is also certainly nothing you want to watch at work without headphones.)



Like I said, the character and the delivery are a lot funnier than the jokes themselves, but if you were to make a movie about Randy, I'd certainly watch that, and I'm apparently not the only one. Here, according to Mr. Ansari himself, is what Quentin Tarantino had to say about it:

Yeah! That was one of the coolest things. I was at some party and he showed up and yelled “RAAAAAAAANDY!” I couldn’t believe it. I talked to him for a bit about it. One of the three movies we’re doing with Judd is a Randy movie; we’re not sure what order we’ll do them in. People on the Internet were like, “a Randy movie would be terrible!” How do you know? You think we just said “Randy movie” and didn’t think about it at all? But Quentin Tarantino was like, “Man, a Randy movie, I would love to see that!” So I just want to send a mass e-mail to all those Internet people who thought a Randy movie would be terrible: “You know who thinks it would be a great idea? Quentin Tarantino.”

Actually, I wasn't aware of any Internet attention to this at all beyond my bizarre fixation on it, but I certainly think it's a great idea too. But what are those other two movies he's talking about? Well, they are apparently something called "Let's Do This," a road movie about guys working at a motivational-speaking company, and an "untitled astronaut movie" about "two disgraced astronauts who have to go back to space to clear their names," according to The Playlist.

No idea when or if any of these three would actually happen, but Aziz Ansari is one seriously funny guy (new "Parks and Recreation" tonight, huzzah!), so hopefully at least one of them gets going very soon.

OK, enough about that. Before we get to the main Mel event, I have a couple of other nuggets.

"Scrubs" has been so bad in what must be its 18th season that I have finally stopped watching, but I'll tune in to at least a few episodes of just about anything with Sarah Chalke in it, especially something that sounds this promising.

Chalke, who had a great guest run recently on "How I Met Your Mother," has signed on to star in a new ABC comedy "The Freshmen" from HIMYM executive producer Greg Malins and Arianna Huffington (yes, that Arianna Huffington.) The show will center on the friendship of three freshmen members of Congress - two men and a woman, Chalke - who live together in D.C.

A comedy about Congress, the most unpopular group in the country? An odd idea, but I'm still betting this will be funny whenever it hits the air.

And finally, before we get to Mel, anything people want to do to help the people of Haiti is great, but few things sound more fun than what Shane MacGowan has cooked up.

In what could I guess be described as a "We Are the Rest of the World" kind of thing, the Pogues leader has recruited Johnny Depp, Nick Cave, Chrissie Hynde, Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie, Mick Jones of the Clash, Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols and others to record a version of Screamin' Jay Hawkins "You Put a Spell on Me," with all proceeds going to Haiti relief.

I wish I could say I had a sample of it to share, but it hasn't been released yet. I do know that I'll certainly buy this when it's released later this month, both for the cause and because that much alcohol and debauchery in one room has to lead to something at least comically amazing.

And, speaking of alcohol, we're finally back to Mel Gibson. And before you play this, if you haven't seen it yet, please know that I enjoyed "Edge of Darkness" quite a bit. That, however, has nothing at all to do with the man, and if you play this interview with Chicago TV host Dean Richards until the very end (it's only 90 seconds or so long), you'll see that in terms of muzzling himself or not revealing his own inner a**hole, Gibson has learned absolutely nothing since his drunken tirade about Jews from a few years back. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

More "Chuck"? Yes, please!

You know, my hopes have already been raised and dashed by that dastardly rumor that "Chuck" would come back as soon as the end of October (which is, of course, just about here, with no "Chuck"), but I'm certain this time that this just-as-good information is satisfactual.

With another of its new shows crashing early - this time "Trauma," poor Derek Luke deserves much, much better - it seems that NBC has already ordered six more episodes of "Chuck," upping the second season order from 13 to 19 (and, if enough people tune in, perhaps maybe even 22 - hey, I can dream right?)

No word yet that it would come back any earlier than the originally planned March, but the way things stand now, it would probably be best to just wait until then. NBC has the Winter Olympics, so if "Chuck" were brought back in, say, January, it would just get preempted for the second half of February and perhaps lose any new viewers it may have picked up. Methinks, all things, considered, waiting until March would be just fine.

Whenever it comes, however, more "Chuck" is just sensationally good news. Stay tuned for more details as I get them.

The word is also out today on when we'll get to see another of my favorite comedies, but probably one that should be off the air already.

How in the world "Scrubs" has survived for what will be its ninth season beginning Dec. 1 with two episodes on ABC, I'll never know, but I do know that when it returns this time it won't look much like anything we've seen in the past.

As far as I know, all the regular cast members except for Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) and perhaps Carla (Judy Reyes) have mostly moved on and will only be seen in brief recurring spots from time to time (but it sure is nice to see Neil Flynn each week on "The Middle.") Instead, we'll find Dr. Cox with a new crop of med students to berate and perhaps break down.

I'm all for a fresh start, and I like this show enough to give it another chance this winter, but the main problem is that when they tried to introduce a new cast of characters last year, they all bombed (and I assume will all be gone.) I mean, when you have veryfunnyman Aziz Ansari and you give him absolutely nothing funny to say, you're certainly going in the wrong direction.

But, enough of that. Like I said, I'll at least tune in to see if any of the magic still exists. And all I have except for that today is a couple of videos that caught my eye this morning.

First up is a deleted scene from J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek," which I assume will be included with the DVD release coming Nov. 17. Like most people, I loved the flick, and am almost certain it will end up on my top 10 for the year. Enjoy.


Star Trek - DVD Bonus Footage

And finally comes something that's, unfortunately, at least as depressing as it is enjoyable. If you somehow haven't seen Joss Whedon's short-lived series "Firefly" or the improbable follow-up flick "Serenity," you've missed one of the truly great characters of the last 10 years or so in Nathan Fillion's Captain Mal Reynolds. Watch them as soon as you can, and just to stir some memories, here's Fillion donning the familiar garb for a recent episode of "Castle," which I just can't bring myself to watch because I already absorb way too much just-above-average TV and just don't have time or energy for something that looks so thoroughly banal. Anyways, enjoy the clip, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Remember Wallace and Gromit? They're back!

First off, about last night's comedy slate, big kudos to the uneven "Community" for turning its premiere episode into a tribute to the late John Hughes. It was class and easily the best thing about a show with a lot of potential that will almost surely get better as the first season rolls along.

But, even though the funniest thing was of course "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," which is thankfully just as rude as ever, the real surprise was that "Parks and Recreation" was sharper and wittier than "The Office." More Aziz Ansari would always be welcome, but watching Amy Poehler embrace her newfound gay stardom was just a hoot.

OK, enough of that. A bit of movie news before we get to the Wallace and Gromit clips, which will hopefully make you smile like they did me.

First up, it seems that Rebecca Hall, a definite favorite around here (in case you hadn't noticed), has signed on to play the lead in a Richard Linklater movie I might actually get to see before it hits DVD.

In the road comedy-drama "Liars A-E," she'll play Bacall Loomis, a woman who sets out on a road trip during the Obama inauguration to reclaim items that used to be hers from ex-boyfriends. Kat Dennings is also on board to play one of her friends, certainly not a bad thing.

Sounds a little meh to me, but a Linklater road movie of any kind is always at least worth checking out in my book if it actually makes it into theaters.

And in other news, The Weinstein Co. has delayed "potential awards contender" (not sure where I saw those words, but I didn't make them up, believe me) "Youth in Revolt," which I had really been looking forward to seeing in October. I really can't imagine that a movie based on C.D. Payne's absurdly entertaining novel about a 14-year-old (played by Michael Cera in the movie, I have to assume a couple of years older) who's only goal in his young life is to score with the object of his affection, Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday), will ever be up for any major awards of any kind.

But even so, it was certainly something I wanted to see, since I just love the book, but we won't be able to do that now until Jan. 15. Sheesh.

OK, now on to the main event. Could there be better news for fans of wickedly funny animation than that Wallace and Gromit are hitting DVD again Tuesday in their latest adventure, "Wallace and Gromit in a Matter of Loaf and Death"? I actually had the chance to see this as part of an animation collection at the Atlanta Film Festival earlier this year, but passed to see something else playing at the same time.

Nick Park has dabbled in bigger things, but I'll always love Wallace and Gromit most among his creations. It's just that slightly bawdy spirit and the groan-inducing puns that get me every time. As the title suggests, in this latest offering our heroes are somehow now bakers, and surely some kind of evil will develop to block their path.

Here are three clips from the short movie, first the straightforward trailer and then two scenes, first the new morning routine chez Wallace and Gromit and then a glimpse of Wallace pitching woo with his new lady love, Piella Bakewell (did I mention the puns?). The "Ghost" parody in the final clip is just as funny as it is, of course, timely. Enjoy.

And as for this weekend's movies, I think I've been at least temporarily scared off of "Jennifer's Body" by the fair-to-worse reviews, so for me I think it will be "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" (unfortunately in 3-D) on Saturday and then Matt Damon as "The Informant!" on Sunday. Have a great weekend, no matter what you choose to see (or not.) Peace out.

Like Don Draper, I feel like this at least once a week

It was in fact just yesterday, when I put in a 12-hour day and got paid for 10 in putting together my hardest publication of the week.

What would make that better? Well, short of a new job, I suppose the return of "Mad Men" would help quite a bit, but it seems like that's never gonna come. After what has been an extremely hard wait, the show is finally set to return for its third season Aug. 16 with an episode titled "Out of Town."

But what's gonna happen next? In the big picture, I really have no idea, but one can only imagine it's gonna be tough times for Don in or out of Sterling Cooper. One thing the photo below, which has been circulating for some time now but I still find interesting, shows is that there will be at least one new cast member. Also below is the season 3 key art, which pretty well sums things up. Enjoy, and stick around after the jump for another visit from my favorite new comedian.



And to close, I just love what Aziz Ansari is doing with his bit part in Judd Apatow's "Funny People," as the seriously dick-obsessed comedian Randy. Even though watching an actual Randy show would just be excruciating, you have to admire how clearly obsessed he's become with a character who apparently only gets a few seconds of air time in the movie. And besides, it's really, really funny, especially when he explains how he organizes jokes. Enjoy, and have a better Tuesday than Don Draper clearly was above. Peace out.

Raaaaaaaandy - Part 2 (Funny People) from Aziz Ansari

What kinds of kids will appear next under "Friday Night Lights"?

You know, I tend to rail against sequels and remakes all the time (and just for the case of symmetry, a rather dastardly one of the latter will be showing up at the end today), but occasionally you hear of one that's just screaming out to be made.

To give all credit to where it's due, I read about this amazing bit of news/gossip on the fantastic blog The Playlist. It seems that on Adam Carolla's podcast recently (I really can't imagine any way I'd be listening to that), he was apparently interviewing Jules Asner, who used to be a host on E! but is now, among other things I suppose, the wife of Steven Soderbergh.

Well, as they were discussing Soderbergh's movies, she let fly this juicy bit about what just happens to be my co-favorite (along with the sublime "Out of Sight") Soderbergh flick, "The Limey": "He wants to do a sequel to The Limey and Terence wants to do it. Terence and Michael Caine."

Take a minute to envision just how cool that could be. Now, I know that "The Limey" has a very definite ending, but I'd still certainly welcome the chance to see Terrence Stamp reprising his role as one of the baddest asses of all time, especially along with Michael Caine. Perhaps Soderbergh is up for a revenge flick after being burned so bad on "Moneyball," but whatever his motivation might be here, I can only say bring it on!

And, before I get to today's "Friday Night Lights" main course, and then two wickedly entertaining videos, comes easily the funniest bit of news I could find in the last couple of days.

When I first heard they were gonna make a live-action movie of "Hong Kong Phooey," I was perfectly happy to simply shrug it off as yet another movie I'll never, ever see. But then I saw who's producing it. It seems that Brett Ratner, who just made my eyes bleed with what he did to the "X-Men" saga, has nothing better to do than produce this mess. Sheesh.

OK, now on to the main event, which comes courtesy of the seriously TV-obsessed Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly.

Anyone who tuned in to the third season of "Friday Night Lights" on either DirecTV or later on NBC (like me and most of the world) watched what I think has turned into easily the best drama on television right now. And if you didn't, why the heck not?

As you may well remember, season three ended at a definite crossroads, with Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) being ousted as coach of the Dillon Panthers and shipped off to coach at a brand new school, East Dillon High. It sets up all kinds of crosstown rivalry possibilities, especially since Dillon's QB1 JD McCoy (Jeremy Sumpter) was at the center of Taylor's ouster.

Anyways, it's gonna be hard to wait until February or so to get to see this again on regular TV, but Ausiello has four sketches of the new characters to fill the void a little. And please, as you read them, remember that one of the real pleasures of watching "FNL" (at least for me) is that it takes what truly is soap opera material and turns it into fairly high art, so the characters are gonna sound even more tawdry on paper. Per Ausiello, here goes:

Vince: A charming yet dangerous East Dillon junior. He's African-American and, when we first meet him, he's running from the cops. Look for Coach Taylor to put his speed to better use as a member of the Lions. Series regular.

Luke: Vince's classmate and arch nemesis. He's Caucasian, cocky, and charming. Reminds some of a young Paul Newman. Dillon's new geographical breakdown has him playing for the Lions, and he's not happy about it. Series regular.

Jess: The super-energetic daughter of a onetime NFL hopeful, she knows the game inside and out. When she's not busy coaching her younger brothers, this sophomore/junior is getting crushed on by every guy in Dillon, East and West. Series regular.

Becky: A freshman beauty queen whose family is purebred trailer trash. Think Blair Waldorf with lousy genes. She finds Riggins in bed with her mother and reacts by trying to seduce him herself. My new favorite character is listed as recurring.

That last bit is key, because I can only assume that means that, although regulars Minka Kelly, Adrianne Palicki and Zach Gilford have all been lost to graduation, Taylor Kitsch will take time out from his new life as Gambit to return to the role that made him semi-famous, Tim Riggins. Man, with this and "Chuck" returning, TV's second season is gonna easily be better than the first.

OK, enough of that. Before I go, I've got two videos that certainly made me smile. I've stated here before that I have almost unconditional love for what Zack Snyder did with "Watchmen." One of my only beefs, in fact, was that he omitted a key scene from Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbons' funny book, the death of Hollis Mason.

Well, as you can see from this video courtesy of Trailer Addict, it will be in the director's cut set to hit DVD July 21 (and though I've severely curtailed my DVD buying of late, that is a must-have for me.) I especially like how poor Hollis flashes back to the baddies of yore as his demise nears. Enjoy.