Saturday fun: of "Red Tails" and the Gods of Westeros

I've only read the first book in George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series of fantasy novels, and though I thoroughly enjoyed it, I've decided to stop so that I can be surprised by what unfolds in season two and beyond of HBO's glorious "Game of Thrones."

Why not read the books and just see how the show differs? Well, because, and I certainly don't mean this as a criticism, but very rarely have I seen a show or movie that stuck so closely to its source material. When you're starting with something this good, there's really no reason to monkey with it too much, and if anything "Game of Thrones" proves it's sometimes perfectly OK to go exactly by the book.

And, not surprisingly since the show seemed to go up in the ratings with each episode, HBO co-President Richard Plepler said this week that, “We told [author George R.R. Martin] we’d go as long as he keeps writing” those books, of which there are now five (including this year's "A Dance of Dragons.")

So, I tell you all this to tell you that the photo above is of the statues of the Gods of Westeros from the filming of season two of "Game of Thrones," but I, like probably many of you, we'll have to tune in to find out exactly what role they'll play in the series, and can't wait to find out.

And after that today, the main event is the first trailer for "Red Tails" from director Anthony Hemingway and Lucasfilm. My first thought upon watching it was how in the world has it taken so long for there to be an epic feature film about the Tuskegee Airmen? (There was, of course, "The Tuskegee Airmen" from 1995, but that was just a HBO movie ... albeit a pretty good one.)

So, will this be the grand treatment these heroes deserve? Well, not surprisingly, it looks fantastic. The cast, featuring Terrence Howard and Bryan Cranston, among others, is solid. The major question is if Hemingway, who up until now has only directed a long string of TV shows (though having honed his skills David Simon's "The Wire" and now "Treme," he's certainly learning from a master) is able to pull this all off.

And along with releasing this trailer, Lucasfilm has also announced just when we'll find out how all this turned out: Jan. 20. Enjoy the trailer, and if you're looking for some good summertime movie entertainment, ignore what a solid majority of critics have said and take a chance on "Cowboys and Aliens." Peace out.

Treme gets a surprising third season, plus a free Lizzy Caplan movie

I love David Simon and Eric Overmyer's "Treme," but have to admit, this second season has so far been a real downer. No less entertaining, but, as Simon's stuff often is, very hard-hitting and more than a little difficult to watch.

And still thoroughly engrossing, if you take the time to dive into its tapestry of very richly drawn characters struggling to survive in the world of New Orleans post-Katrina. A bleak place, for sure, but still littered with moments of levity among the drama, with Antoine Batiste's (Wendell Pierce) efforts to start a band a very funny ride.

And now comes word that, even though the second season premiere on April 24 was down nearly 50 percent from the first season premiere, there will indeed a season three next year on HBO, and I can only say bully to that. Simon and crew obviously have a lot more stories to tell from the Crescent City, and I'll be watching.

After that today, there's really a theme in the news, being beautiful women who I like to watch on screen, be it big or small, starting with the confirmed return of Sarah Michelle Gellar to TV, and surprisingly to the channel (sort of) where she started way back when with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

"Ringer," in which Gellar will play twin sisters, was originally headed to CBS, but has instead been shipped off to the CW, which CBS co-owns. The show is about a set of twins, Bridget and Siobhan, who grew apart after a tragedy and couldn't be more different. Bridget takes over her sister's identity when she goes on the run from the mob. It turns out Siobhan has died in an accident, but she also has a hit out on her. Juicy stuff.

This could of course very be nothing but awful, but I've been known to watch CW shows that are even worse as mindless entertainment after a long day, so I'm in for a few episodes at least of this.

In other TV news about a show actually heading to CBS, the always very funny Kat Dennings will co-star with someone named Beth Behrs (I have no idea who that is, clearly) in something called "Broke Girls," a comedy that revolves around two 22-year-old women who "tackle life in New York City as they try to make their dreams come true." I always like watching her, and if you're looking for a rental, for a romantic comedy that's actually as funny as it is sweet, check out "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," with her and Michael Cera.

And that's a rough segue of sorts, because Cera has signed to a movie called "Magic, Magic," that only caught my eye because it will also co-star one Catalina Sandino Moreno - remember her?

Before resurfacing a couple of years ago in Steven Soderbergh's at-least-five-hour "Che" (OK, I might be exaggerating a bit there, but trust me, only slightly ... what an excruciating act of hubris!), she had only managed to appear in one other movie that I had taken notice of, but it happened to be my favorite movie of 2004, "Maria Full of Grace."

If you haven't seen that little gem, in which she plays a drug mule, rent it as soon as you can find it, and I guarantee you'll love it. And I have no idea what part she'll play in this latest movie, but I do know that it also stars Juno Temple and Emily Browning, is being directed by Sebastian Silva, and is about "a girl on vacation in Chile who begins to lose control of her mental faculties."

OK, enough about that. I promised you a free movie, and here it is. And for a comedy short (that's often pretty painful to watch), it's a real winner. Called "Successful Alcoholics," it's about a couple (Lizzy Caplan and T.J. Miller) who get back together seemingly only so they can manage each other's rather prodigious alcohol intake. Sounds pretty depressing, I know, but not surprisingly, it's also very funny. It's directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and co-written by he and Miller. Enjoy courtesy of Funny or Die, and have a great rest of the weekend. Peace out.

Successful Alcoholics from Lizzy Caplan

What's ahead on season two of terrific "Treme"?

I suppose it's somehow appropriate that as I write this, there are storm sirens going off here in Macon. Nothing serious right here, as far as I can tell, but not the greatest thing to wake up to on a Saturday morning.

Much more pleasant are thoughts about David Simon's "Treme," which is surely to be overshadowed by the premiere of HBO's "Game of Thrones" tomorrow night (my DVR is ready), but makes its season 2 premiere seven days later.

If you missed out on season one, you're apparently far from alone. Not surprisingly, given how slow the show can unfold, it was just as slow to catch on with viewers (I don't have the numbers in front of me, but they definitely weren't great.) But the same was true with Simon's "The Wire," and well, hopefully we all know how great that turned out to be.

No other show that I can think of debuted with such an immediate and thoroughly organic sense of time and place, and then let its stories unfold at a rhythm perfectly suited to the city it chronicles. And those stories, a mix of horror and hope in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, can be thoroughly engrossing if you give them the time to suck you in.

And here, courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter, is a taste of what's ahead on the new season, followed by a preview video from HBO with, of course, some simply sensational music.

Per THR, season two jumps ahead more than a year after Katrina, a time when "crime is up, help is slow, tourism is way down and outsiders with money are pouring in to profit from the reconstruction." Though there's apparently mention of the savior (Drew Brees) that would finally deliver the city gridiron glory, that's in the future.

Here's what's ahead for key characters, per THR, with the very best news of all being that the great Kim Dickens will give up on the Big Apple and return to New Orleans for season two (AND, PLEASE NOTE, IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN SEASON ONE, BUT WANT TO, THERE'S A RATHER GINORMOUS SPOILER IN PARAGRAPH ONE, SO YOU MIGHT WANT TO SKIP THAT ONE!)

As Season 2 kicks off, we find Toni (Melissa Leo) still trying to fight the good fight but still hurt by the suicide of her husband, Creighton (John Goodman). Daughter Sofia (India Ennenga, now a full-time cast member) has seemingly absorbed her dead father’s rage and despair over the state of New Orleans, and that puts additional pressure on Toni.

Antoine (Wendell Pierce) has designs on starting his own band; Albert (Clarke Peters) is dumped out of the bar he revamped when the owner returns; Albert’s son Delmond (Rob Brown) begins to feel the allure of New Orleans again when his fellow New Yorkers disparage the culture; and Janette (Kim Dickens) also tires of the Big Apple as she works under a demanding but talented chef (Anthony Bourdain has been added to the writing staff, so the kitchen banter and attention to detail is exceptional).

Meanwhile, DJ Davis (Steve Zahn) is still pissing off his bosses at the radio station, still railing against the dying of the culture, but at least he’s got a blossoming relationship with Annie Tee (the lovely and talented Lucia Micarelli). Sonny (Michiel Huisman), noted screw-up and Annie’s ex, takes one step forward and two back, as expected. Lt. Colson (David Morse, who also gets upped to full-time cast member) continues to deal with the police department’s handling of crime in the city. And a newcomer from Dallas, Nelson Hidalgo (Jon Seda), adds to the political intrigue and race to reshape New Orleans.

Sounds like exactly more of the same to me, so I can only say bring it on. Keep an eye out for this beginning April 24 at 10 p.m., following "Game of Thrones." And, as promised, I'll leave you with this brief season two preview of sorts featuring a slammin' brass band. Peace out.

Season 2 Preview

A fun Friday clip show

I suppose the news of the day is Matthew Weiner's inevitable deal with AMC for three more years of "Mad Men," but the most I can really bring myself to say about all that is that should TV ever, even when it's this good, be so complicated?

Here, however, are the details as I know them. With the deal (actually with Lionsgate, I believe), Weiner has agreed to do a fifth and sixth season, and if AMC wants it, a seventh season. I can't imagine they wouldn't, so what that gives us is an effective end for the show after seven seasons. I read somewhere that Weiner planned to end it after five, but things are certainly going strong now, so why not two more?

As for AMC's demands, the show, as it airs on the network, will be indeed two minutes or so shorter to incorporate more ads, but the much more onerous idea of product placement has been shelved. And as for any demand to cut or slim down the roles of characters to cut costs, I'm not sure about that, but Weiner always kind of rotates in supporting players anyway, so I doubt we'll even notice when this finally returns early next year.

OK, enough serious stuff, but there is word this morning about when two other of my favorite shows will be returning. In the past five years or so, there's only been one TV drama I've enjoyed more than "Mad Men," and that's NBC's sublime "Friday Night Lights." That show will be wrapping up its run (and probably already has on DirecTV) on NBC with this final season beginning appropriately enough Friday, April 15, and it's certainly been a great five-year run.

Also returning soon will be David Simon's New Orleans drama "Treme," on Sunday, April 24 to HBO. If you missed season one, you really missed out on a true American original, a show that moves albeit a bit slowly, but at its own rhythmic pace much like the city it portrays, and takes a lot of time for fantastic character development. If you missed it, there's really no reason I can see not to get started with season two anyway if you get HBO.

Not too many details are known about what's coming in season two, but I do know that food writer Anthony Bourdain has joined the writing staff, and that the great David Morse, who played the police chief in season one, will now be a series regular. Here's a bit more of what Simon had to say about what's in store:

"We are following the actual timeline of post-Katrina New Orleans as a means of understanding what happened -- and what didn't happen -- when an American city suffered a near-death experience. In doing so, we're trying to address ourselves to what the American experiment has become and what possibilities remain for us."

Making the role of cops more central can only be an improvement, so I'll definitely be tuning in for this. And after that today, I just have a quartet of clips, two trailers and two music clips that are just goofy fun. First up comes the first full trailer for "The Hangover Part II," which is set to drop May 26. As you'll see from the trailer, and probably already know, this time around Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms end up in Bangkok, and in my estimation at least, it promises to deliver some solid laughs, especially once Ken Jeong of "Community" turns up once again. Decide for yourself.



Next up comes the first trailer for something at least slightly more serious, the Will Ferrell dramedy "Everything Must Go," which is set to open in at least limited markets May 6. I hope Ferrell is enough to get this flick based on a short story by Raymond Carver to eventually play much wider, because I really enjoy Ferrell when he tones it down a bit. Enjoy, and stick around 'til the end for a very funny soccer joke.



OK, on to the music. First up comes the music video for the National's "Think You Can Wait," which doubles as the theme for director Thomas McCarthy's "Win Win," which is in at least a few theaters now. The song itself has a fairly groovy Nick Cave kind of vibe, and the video is a fun collection of bloopers from the movie, but it really just makes me want to see it, and has me contemplating a drive up to Atlanta this Saturday to do just that. Enjoy.



And finally today, where better to end up on a Friday morning than with Zooey Deschanel serenading Winnie the Pooh? If you've ever heard what she's doing with M. Ward as She & Him, you know it's the sweetest kind of California pop, and she carries that sound into the song from the movie featured here, "So Long." And if you've never checked out She & Him, do it already. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. And smile, folks, because it's baseball season, and the Orioles begin tonight against the Rays. Bring it on!

David Simon on America's most unnecessary war

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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



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

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

DVD pick of the week: "Night Catches Us"

After watching writer/director Tanya Hamilton's "Night Catches Us" for the second time, I had to go and double check that it really is her feature film directing debut. It indeed is, and as such, its a bold and often powerful vision from an exciting new voice in the world of movies.

And it certainly doesn't hurt that in Anthony Mackie and Kerry Washington she has two of the best young actors - black, white or anything else - working in movies today to tell at once a both intimate and ambitious story about the Black Panther movement and, more importantly, how its successes and failures impacted the individuals left in the wake of its peak.

Hamilton's movie opens with the pledge of allegiance read over images from the black power movement and ending with a question mark. Though it lacks subtlety, as her story does at points throughout, its an effective way to introduce a movie that asks big questions about the movement's effectiveness.

After that we find Anthony Mackie's Marcus Washington returning to Philadelphia in 1976 for the funeral of his father. The prodigal son gets a less than warm welcome from his brother Bostic (Tariq Trotter), who has joined the Nation of Islam, and this is the first sign among many that for Marcus, it's very hard to go home again.

From the outset of "Night Catches Us", we get a strong, effective and most importantly natural sense of time and place, accomplished not with the cartoonish attire that mars far too many portrayals of the era, but instead with the overall mood (or perhaps what Jimmy Carter famously called malaise), and with a big assist from the Roots (do they ever stop working?) in providing a funky soundtrack that pulses throughout the movie. And it helps that, having visited Philadelphia myself last year, I can report that some of the neighborhoods there do indeed look like they were frozen in time more than 30 years ago.

As Marcus reacquaints himself with his old surroundings, we slowly find out more about the world and the woman, Kerry Washington's Patricia Wilson, he left behind. In the past that shaped them and clearly still in many ways haunts them, Marcus and Patricia were soldiers in the Black Panther Party, along with Patricia's late husband, Neil, who goes unseen except in photographs but clearly hovers over everything that unfolds in "Night Catches Us". Patricia is now a lawyer raising her 9-year-old daughter Iris and 19-year-old cousin Jimmy, who is by far the more immature of the two dependents, and often much of the neighborhood, opening her home to any of the kids who need a hot meal.

Marcus also bumps up against more of his old Black Panther running mates, and that's when we find out more about his story, and why it's so hard to return. As we meet Duane "DoRight" Miller (played by Jamie Hector, aka Marlo Stanfield on "The Wire", and more on similarities with that great show later), we find out that Marcus is suspected of snitching to the feds in the case that led to Neil's death. And the truth about what did and didn't happen in that story shapes the most compelling portion of Hamilton's often complicated tale, and allows Mackie and Washington to truly shine.

Against the wishes of the older man she's involved with, Patricia offers Marcus a room in her home, and as they slowly become closer, the secrets and lies of their past also come simmering to the surface. "Night Catches Us" is at its best as they dance around the truth of their past as Iris, curious about what happened to her father, asks more and more questions. Even as Patricia claims "we don't talk about the past," she clearly clings to her idealized vision of it. Washington and Mackie let the percolating passion play out in glances that say much more than Hamilton's occasionally heavy-handed script, and its just a delight to watch the two of them on screen together.

Marcus and Patricia try to live in a world that is gray rather than starkly black and white, where, much like on David Simon's "The Wire". right and wrong collide so strongly they are often almost indistinguishable. It's when Hamilton steps out of this cocoon, however, to ask bigger questions about the often contradictory goals of the black power movement, that her story falls apart a bit in the third act.

Unlike with "The Wire", the white cops in "Night Catches Us" are one-dimensional composites that too often veer into caricatures. This robs much of the power from Jimmy's story, which asks one of Hamilton's most important questions: What is left behind after, rightly or not, so much anger is stirred up?

That Hamilton falls a bit short of answering this pales next to what she has accomplished, however, in diving into a period of American history that has too often simply been (for lack of a better word) whitewashed and telling the compelling story of two people caught up in it. She also assembles and utilizes the best largely black ensemble cast I've seen (also keep an eye out for another "The Wire" vet, Wendell Pierce, aka Bunk, as a detective who keeps hounding Marcus) since Darnell Martin's very entertaining "Cadillac Records". Check "Night Catches Us" out now on DVD, and definitely keep an eye out for what Tanya Hamilton, having dealt deftly with a complicated episode of America's past, now does with her own future.

DVD picks of the week: All hail Hal Holbrook and Helen Mirren

Looking at that headline, it's probably as much as anything a reflection that I myself am getting pretty friggin' old, but - by a pretty wide margin - the best two things on DVD this week are a movie starring an 84-year-old man and the complete run of a sublime TV series starring a 65-year-old woman (though on the younger side of the scale, I'm watching vol. 3 of the UK teen series "Skins" streaming on Netflix too, and that's a real treat.)

First up comes "That Evening Sun," a genuine Southern drama that has been around for quite a while. I first missed the chance to see it at the 2009 Atlanta Film Festival 365, but luckily managed to catch it in its rather meager theatrical run (it apparently has made a paltry $281,000 or so at the box office) last spring. The flick also played the Macon Film Festival this year, and is extremely worth catching now on DVD.

The few who have seen this already will know it's a rare starring turn by Hal Holbrook, the kind of treasure that should be savored while it lasts. Holbrook is probably my favorite performer, if I were forced to pick only one, and here he plays Abner Meecham, an aging Tennesseean who bolts the nursing home to try and reclaim the family homestead that his son has sold out from underneath him.

It's really a role Holbrook was made to play, full of anger, pride and, best of all, a dark humor. Returning to the farm, he finds it now inhabited by two of my other favorite Southern actors, Ray McKinnon and Maconite Carrie Preston (aka Arlene on "True Blood"), along with their daughter, played by ingenue Mia Wasikowska.

What ensues is a war of wills that can at times be hard to watch because, as each holds his ground, they each become less and less likable, but that gives the drama based on a short story by William Gay and directed by Scott Teems a natural feel.

Music by Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers makes this all go down even sweeter, so if you wanna take a chance this weekend on a movie that so far hasn't even managed to make a blip on the radar screen, trust me and give "That Evening Sun" a try.

Today's second pick comes with a disclosure: Acorn Media was kind enough to send me the complete "Prime Suspect" to review on DVD, but that doesn't change at all just how great the UK police procedural starring Helen Mirren was and still is.

Though the stories contained in the seven, three-hour-or-so installments are as gritty - and often more so - than anything you'll find on the best of American police procedurals, it's the performance of Helen Mirren at its core that make these so entertaining.

The humanly flawed cop has been played out way past the point of cliche many times, and very well by Dennis Franz on "NYPD Blue" and Dominic West on "The Wire," but Mirren plays it so naturally that it trumps the pattern completely.

Watching how her life's foibles (among other things, her Jane Tennyson battles the bottle as much as she does her inability to have anything approaching a full personal life outside of the police beat) intertwine with the often frustrating and sickening cases she pursues make this the most well-rounded police series I've encountered on TV. It's indeed on a level with David Simon's "The Wire," and anyone who's been here before knows that from me that's the highest form of praise.

These have been available individually on DVD for years now, but I believe Acorn's collection is the first time they've all been collected in one set. They would make a fine gift for anyone who enjoys great TV, or if you're so inclined, perhaps for yourself.

And with that, I have to go now to the job that pays me in something besides promotional DVDS. Peace out.

Down in the "Treme," it's me ...

Yep, that's what happens when I get four days off in a row - my head not only gets filled with crazy ideas, but I also act on them.

Yesterday's was that, having just made it through all of Spike Lee's sensational "If God is Willin' and Da Creek Don't Rise," his second opus about New Orleans and its people, and also having thoroughly enjoyed the first season of David Simon's "Treme," perhaps I should go to the city myself.

And so, if you happen to be there in the third week of November, you just might run into me (staying at something called the "Rathbone Mansion" - I've never stayed in a mansion before, but at $60 a night, I wasn't about to turn that down.)

And in New Orleans news that might just matter to someone besides, well, me, the track listing is out for the collection (you'll see soon why I didn't say "CD") "Treme: Music from the HBO Series, Season 1," and the music itself will be coming very soon too (and will certainly find its way into my digital downloads.)

If you watched the slow-moving but engrossing show (and if you didn't, why the heck not?), you know the music played not just a key role in it, but really set the pace and feel for the whole operation. Musicians from up-and-comer Trombone Shorty (whose "Backatown" I'm listening to right now - excellent) to legends like Allen Toussaint and Irma Thomas all popped up at various spots (and watching Irma Thomas play poker is a surreally entertaining sight.)

Thankfully, they also all make appearances in the music collection for season 1, which will be available for digital download Sept. 28 - with a CD to come at some undisclosed future date. Man, I gotta say, for someone who still doesn't and probably never will own a cell phone, the modes of delivery for entertainment continue to surprise and often confound me (stick around for more on that after the track listing.) Here are the 19 songs you'll find when this comes out:

TREME: MUSIC FROM THE HBO ORIGINAL SERIES, SEASON 1

1. "Treme Song (Main Title Version") - John Boutté
2. "Feel Like Funkin' It Up (Live Street Mix)" - Rebirth Brass Band
3. "I Hope You're Comin' Back to New Orleans" - The New Orleans Jazz Vipers
4. "Skokiaan" - Kermit Ruffins & The Barbecue Swingers
5. "Ooh Poo Pah Doo" - Trombone Shorty & James Andrews
6. "Drinka Little Poison (4 U Die)" - Soul Rebels Brass Band & John Mooney
7. "We Made It Through That Water" - Free Agents Brass Band
8. "Shame Shame Shame" - Steve Zahn & Friends
9. "My Indian Red" - Dr. John
10. "At the Foot of Canal Street" - John Boutté, Paul Sanchez, Glen David Andrews & New Birth Brass Band
11. "Buona Sera" - Louis Prima
12. "New Orleans Blues" - Tom McDermott & Lucia Micarelli
13. "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You" - Michiel Huisman, Lucia Micarelli & Wendell Pierce
14. "Indian Red (Wild Man Memorial)" - Mardi Gras Indians
15. "Indian Red" - Donald Harrison
16. "Time Is On My Side" - Irma Thomas & Allen Toussaint
17. "This City" - Steve Earle
18. "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" - Treme Brass Band
19. "My Darlin' New Orleans" - Leigh "Li'l Queenie" Harris

All I have after that today is a cache of clips, but the first one comes with a bit of news. Though "Freakanomics," the documentary based on the best-selling book by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, isn't coming to at least a few theaters until Oct. 1, it's apparently available for at least rental now on Video On Demand, iTunes, Amazon On Demand, PlayStation Network and Xbox Marketplace. I say apparently because, although it was listed for a $3.99 rental at iTunes, it only said "this item is being modified" and wouldn't work when I tried it, and there's no way in the world I'm going to pay a whopping $9.99 for it at Amazon On Demand. As for the movie itself, with six portions directed by Alex Gibney ("Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," "Casino Jack and the United States of Money"), Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing ("Jesus Camp"), Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me"), Eugene Jarecki ("Why We Fight") and Seth Gordon ("The King of Kong"), I'm certainly going to watch it as soon as I figure out exactly how to find it, perhaps as soon as tonight. Here's the latest TV spot. Enjoy.



OK, if I really ever did have a wall of resistance to Matt Reeves' upcoming "Let Me In," I have to admit now that it's just about completely washed away. It certainly should still be there, since it's a thoroughly unnecessary English-language remake of "Let the Right One In," my single favorite movie of 2008 and easily the best horror movie I've seen in many years, but with each clip they release, it's getting lower and lower. The cast - Chloe Moretz, Kodi Smit-Mcphee and the simply fantastic Richard Jenkins - is perfect, and if you've seen "Cloverfield," you know Reeves is a solid director. And from this first actual footage from the movie, you can see that they at least got right that Jenkins' character, though charged with finding fresh blood for the "young" vampire Eli (renamed Abby in the remake and played by Moretz), he's pretty spectacularly bad at it. Keep an eye out for the movie, also due out in actual theaters Oct. 1, if, like me, you've decided to give in and see it, and enjoy the clip.



In case anyone's wondering, I am very well aware that I'm too old to be watching a bunch of high school-age kids (or probably slightly older) lip-synch their way through incredibly cheesy musical numbers each week on Fox, but I'm also aware that "Glee" is a wickedly funny and very addictive show, so I guess you can call me a "Gleek." The show itself thankfully comes back soon (Sept. 21), and Fox has released this promo clip in which the kids put their spin on Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind," and though that will and should make all hip-hop fans cringe, I like it. Enjoy.



And finally today, in something just perfect for a Friday morning, "Zach Galifianakis' brother" interviews a game Sean Penn in the latest Between the Ferns segment. It's not all funny, but when it is, it really works, especially the thought of Galifianakis, Penn and Jack Nicholson hitting the town to eat at Long John Silver's. Enjoy the clip and have a great weekend, which for me will include at least two movies, "The American" and "Machete." Peace out.

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: Sean Penn from Between Two Ferns

Yes, it looks like there really will be a new Muppets movie

There will surely be more important movies in the next two years or so, and almost certainly better ones too, but I just can't help but getting excited beyond all reason at the idea of a new Muppets movie, and after a couple of years of it being an iffy idea, it finally looks like things are solidly moving forward.

In an interview with Collider.com, for which I was briefly a contributor, "Get Him to the Greek" writer/director Nicholas Stoller talked about what's up with the Muppets movie he and professional partner Jason Segel have written (and some other things I really couldn't possibly care less about), and for the first time he offered some solid evidence that it's really gonna happen. Here's a taste.

The Muppets, Jason [Segel] and I have been working on for a while and James Bobin is attached to direct it and they actually had a table read on Saturday with all the puppets and that’s going to shoot in September. Just really excited about that. It’s kind of a dream-come-true for all three of us so that’s thrilling.

So, what will the movie be about? Well, all signs are the flick, called "The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made" will be a genuinely old-fashioned Muppets affair, with all our old friends getting together to perform a show to save a theater from a now-timely foe, an oil company. This will lead, Stoller promised, to all kinds of crazy cameos a la the old TV show and movies. Here's more from Collider:

It’s one of the original movies like The Muppet Movie, Muppets Take Manhattan, The Great Muppet Caper. Those kinds of movies. So that was really important that we hit that tone and those have a lot of cameos in them and so Jason and I started asking people and everyone we asked just wants to do it. Like everyone is either, “I grew up with it,” or “I loved it,” or loved them now.

OK, I'm sold. Stoller said the shoot should take no more than eight weeks, working around Segel's "How I Met Your Mother" schedule, since he gets to be the main human star of this thing. And as for "Get Him to the Greek," I've read a few geek reviews by now that describe it as so completely debauch that it will be exactly the kind of R-rated movie I enjoy in the middle of summer, and I thought (except for that puppet show at the end) Russell Brand's Aldous Snow was easily the funniest thing about "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," so bring it on.

OK, after that, all I have is a couple of nuggets about much more high-minded projects. With "Frozen River," writer/director Courtney Hunt delivered easily one of my favorite movies of 2008 and just an astonishing debut flick, so any news of her return is welcome around here.

This morning, via the Playlist, comes word that she's found her next project in a remake of the Froggy Laurent Cantet flick "Ressources Humaines," which I have not seen (but will soon, assuming I can find it.) And while I'd normally sneer at the need to remake European movies for American audiences, I think this could be a welcome exception to the norm (and by the way, if you haven't seen Cantet's "The Class," rent it immediately.)

Cantet's flick centers on a young man who returns to his hometown to manage a local factory, only to find out he's being brought in to be the hatchet man. Hunt's movie will keep the same structure but move the action to America, where this story will certainly resonate now.

Rent "Frozen River" right away if you haven't seen it both for a remarkable performance from Melissa Leo, who's currently starring on David Simon's sublime HBO ensemble New Orleans series "Treme," and just because it's just a thoroughly entertaining little flick about immigration in America.

I'll close today with a couple of videos. It's been quite a while (well, since 2006, to be exact) since Alejandro González Iñárritu directed a movie, and though I know plenty of people who hate on his "Babel," I really enjoyed it. And besides, it brought Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi to the world, and what in the world could be wrong with that?

Well, he's back this year at Cannes with "Biutiful," which stars Javier Bardem. Best as I can tell, the movie, which is still in need of a distributor, if you have some scratch burning a hole in your pocket, is about a policeman who runs into a childhood friend who is now involved in drug dealing. Bardem, I think, plays the policeman, and this will hopefully find its way at least kinda near my little corner of the world sometime this year, because you can bet I'll drive a little ways up the road to see it.

Here's a very short production video, again courtesy of the Playlist, to give you just a small taste of what Inarritu has cooking. Enjoy.



And finally, in bad TV news, tonight marks not only the season finales of NBC's Thursday night comedies, but also the last time we'll be able to see them all together (hey, don't kill the messenger.) The real bad news about next season is that "Parks and Recreation," which has developed this year into my favorite of the four, won't be returning until midseason, presumably to accommodate Amy Poehler's new baby. "30 Rock" will also be moving to Friday at 8:30 (I'll watch it at any time, but what the f#@$?) to make room for a hopefully funny new entry, "Outsourced."

Anyways, I'll leave you today with a promo for tonight's "Community" finale, in which Troy finally brings the truth about "jumping the shark." Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

What's more fun, Jane Lynch voguing or hot chicks doing "On the Waterfont"? You decide

In the only thing even approaching news you'll find here this morning, it seems that HBO has already renewed David Simon's "Treme" for a second season after only one episode, and bully to that.

The premiere drew 1.4 million viewers in its combined airings, pretty far from sensational, but still better than the 890,000 or so viewers that the five season premieres of "The Wire" averaged (what in the world does everyone else watch on TV?)

Even so, this isn't much of a surprise. HBO has shown tremendous loyalty to Simon through the years, and if you watched the premiere of "Treme," he does indeed have something magical working here. I will say, though, that the premiere certainly moved at a leisurely pace as it introduced the large roster of characters. It was, however, great to see Kermit Ruffins on TV, and my favorite character so far has to be Kim Dickens' restaurateur, but Melissa Leo and John Goodman (man, does he just keep getting bigger and bigger?) will certainly have a lot to work with too.

And in a smidgen more of HBO news before we get to a trio of videos that are guaranteed to brighten up even the dreariest of Wednesdays, it seems that Diane Keaton has just signed on to play a character based on Nikki Finke for a new half-hour comedy titled "Tilda." And if you don't know who Nikki Finke is, congratulations, because that's probably a sign that you - unlike me - have better things to do with your lives than read her drivel on Deadline Hollyood Daily. She's a movie writer of sorts, but mostly just the most annoying kind of gadfly, and certainly a fun role for Keaton to play with.

OK, after that today it's all about funny videos. If you didn't watch the return of "Glee" last night, well, everyone makes mistakes, but it's not about judgment around here. If you did, you'll probably agree it was pretty great, but the musical numbers were the most underwhelming part. That shouldn't be a problem next seek with the "The Power of Madonna" episode. If you stuck around until the end last night, you got Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) doing Madonna's "Vogue," and when it comes to comedy, it just doesn't get much funnier than this. Enjoy.



Thanks to a heads up from Nell Minow, I now subscribe to Roger Ebert's slightly more than monthly newsletter, and I can recommend it to anyone who loves movies. He mostly posts videos that people send him, but they're also almost always very entertaining, as is the case here. Subscriptions cost just $4.99 a year, and without further ado, here indeed are hot chicks doing "On the Waterfront." Enjoy.



And finally today, the sound on this isn't great, but this handheld spy clip from the opening night of Conan O'Brien's "Prohibited From Being Funny" tour shows just how much of a misnomer that is. The opening video introduction is at least watchable, and is vintage CoCo, but unfortunately, once he takes the stage the audio just becomes atrocious. Still worth watching, however, especially now that we now O'Brien will be returning to late night this fall every Monday-Thursday on TBS. Enjoy the clip, and have a perfectly bearable Wednesday. Peace out.

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.

Yep, in case you had any doubts, Treme is gonna rock

No time for anything even beginning to approach a full post today because my neighbors were having a massive party last night. And though, after being woken up, I did stop by for a while, did it really have to go until 4 a.m.?

Well, I suppose that fits the spirit of New Orleans, and as you'll see from this extended promo clip, it certainly seems that David Simon's new HBO show "Treme" will too. Along with seeing all the stars of this (and you can certainly tell it's gonna be a broad saga, assuming they get the time they want to tell it), you get a real sense of how the music is going to drive the rhythm of this, and if you'll pardon the pun, it just has me completely jazzed to see the premiere next Sunday (April 11). Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

"Do You Wanna" Clip Trailer: Day

Just about the best news animation fans could possibly hope for

Actually, before we get into any of that goodness today, there's some very dark news about the world of TV, which directly impacts the show I was most amped about for the entire coming year (which is, when you think about it, just about the least important thing about this.)

David Mills, who worked closely with David Simon and like Simon was a former newspaper reporter (Mills for the Washington Post and Simon for the Baltimore Sun), died Tuesday night of an aneurysm on the set of "Treme," the post-Katrina New Orleans series he was developing with Simon for HBO (set to debut two Sundays from now, assuming this news doesn't change that.)

Once he crossed over into TV, Mills, like Simon, had a big hand in creating some of the best TV shows of the last 20 years or so. And I'm very far from exaggerating here. He wrote episodes of "The Wire," "Homicide: Life on the Street, "ER" and "NYPD Blue," and also served as a producer for "ER" and "NYPD Blue." His greatest accomplishment, however, was probably serving as executive producer and co-writer along with Simon and Ed Burns for the simply stunning HBO miniseries "The Corner," easily the most depressing thing to come out of Baltimore besides the Orioles, but still very worth watching (and which netted him two Emmys.)

And saddest of all is that he played a key role in "Treme" at the time of his death, serving as executive producer and having already written two episodes. I'm still planning to re-up on HBO in time for the premiere of this and long enough to watch "True Blood" season 3, but this is just a sad day all around indeed. Rest in peace, Mr. Mills.

You can read a much better obituary for the man written by his fellow "Treme" creators here.

OK, enough sad stuff, because for fans of great animation, there's news out there that is nothing short of incredible. Stop-motion master Henry Selick made my favorite animated movie of 2009 in "Coraline" (followed closely by "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.") Shortly after that, however, he was left immediately unemployed after the animation house he toiled for, Laika, closed up shop.

Now, however, that's all changed, and in the best possible way. Selick has just signed a long-term deal to create more stop-motion movies for Disney/Pixar. There's no word yet on exactly what he has in mind first, but I'm betting that anything that springs from his very active mind will be nothing short of amazing.

Remember that it was Selick not, as many people mistakenly think, Tim Burton, who directed "The Nightmare Before Christmas," and he also made the even better Roald Dahl adaptation "James and the Giant Peach" (if you missed that, as many people did, rent it immediately.) And beyond giving him work to do, this welcome move hopefully shows that, despite Pixar's current fixation with 3-D, it and Disney will keep being committed to making all kinds of animated movies.

And finally today, I just got around to examining the lineup for the 2010 edition of the Atlanta Film Festival 365 (for which I'm somehow a member of the press), and it looks great. The Atlanta fest is really homegrown, featuring a lot of regional fare and, this year, a focus on civil rights and music documentaries. I'm incredibly psyched that included in the latter category will be the closing night movie, "The Secret to a Happy Ending," a doco about my favorite rock band by far, the Drive-By Truckers (followed, apparently, by most of the band playing for a party that I WILL get in to.)

But the festival has narrative features too, of course, and I think the one I'm most looking forward to is "The Good Heart." It stars two of my favorite actors in Brian Cox and Paul Dano. Cox plays the owner of a New York dive bar who is slowly drinking and smoking himself to death until he meets Dano's character, a young homeless man who he takes under his wing. I don't know much more than that, but it's enough to get me rather amped for this. Here's the first clip I know of for the movie. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

If I made a Muppet movie ...

I'd certainly put myself in the human starring role too, but more on that in a little bit, because the best possible news to start off this particular Tuesday would have to be the possibility of more "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

For my money, there isn't anything funnier on TV, and hasn't been for at least the past 10 years. Larry David's mix of eventually sweet but very bitter along with the way is just comic perfection, so any news of an eighth season would certainly be welcome.

And being an ornery showman, David offered only the slightest hint it might happen when he recently showed up at the TV confab PaleyFest.

After shooting down the possibility of a movie (thank God for that), he finally got around to saying "I think there's a pretty good chance" and "We're working on a couple of things."

Not much to work with there, but since baseball season is almost here, it's all about hope around here, so here's hoping he gets busy on this soon, and stay tuned until the end for the reason HBO is going to get me to re-up very soon.

And now back to the lead. If I were somehow the person writing a new Muppet movie, you can certainly bet I'd cast myself in it as the human lead, which is apparently just what "Freaks and Geeks" vet Jason Segel has done.

Though the plot of the new Muppet movie he wrote with buddy Nicholas Stoller is still under wraps, we do know it's called "The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made" and it's being directed by James Bobin of "Flight of the Conchords." Apart from that, it will of course be about the Muppets reuniting for a big show (what else, after all?), and Segel will apparently be the human who leads the effort to reunite them. That all sounds like nothing but fun to me, so get on with it already!

Scorsese's "Hugo Cabret" taking shape quickly

It can be maddeningly difficult at times to figure out what exactly Martin Scorsese will work on next, but with the cast taking shape seemingly instantly, we can now be certain it is "The Invention of Hugo Cabret." And having read and adored this "children's" book, that's definitely good news to me.

The book itself by Brian Selznick is about an orphaned boy who ends up living in the walls of a Paris train station with his uncle, and operating the station's clocks when his uncle is too drunk to do so. Along the way, he encounters filmmaker Georges Melies and his mechanical men and, well, it's just gets more and more fun from there.

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has signed on to play the station inspector, and Sir Ben Kingsley will reunite with Scorsese to play Melies (if you haven't seen "Shutter Island," by the way, you're about to miss your chance ... I thoroughly enjoyed it.) As far as the kids go, Asa Butterfield, who had the misfortune of starring in the simply dreadful "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," will play our young hero, and that foul-mouthed hit girl Chloe Moretz will play the female lead, Isabelle.

There's certainly a lot of fun stuff for Scorsese to play with here, so definitely bring it on.

Inside the mind of Michel Gondry

It can be even harder to tell what's up with Michel Gondry, but since I almost always dig whatever finally springs from his overactive imagination, it's worth keeping track of.

He is, of course, now shooting "The Green Hornet," starring Seth Rogen (yes, really) from a script by the "Superbad" duo of Rogen and Evan Goldberg. You can count me as mildly intrigued by that, but it's with what might come next that things really start to get interesting.

He says that after that will come the indie drama "The We & The I," which is based on his own book, "You'll Like This Film Because You're In It: The Be Kind Rewind Protocol." I haven't read that, but probably will soon, and here's what Gondry had to say about the flick:

“It’s about the group effect, how people in groups transform when the group is dislocated, because everyone jumps out of the bus at different times, there is a smaller group and how the relationships evolve. .. it’s kids on a bus, it’s more like a social thing. It’s not [well-known] actors, it’s going to be kids from a school in the Bronx. I love kids and just [regular] people too because they are not polluted by the medium. They come as they are and they have beautiful stories to tell, so I want to show that.”

Not sure what in the world all that will produce, but his music videos (mi hermano gave me a collection of them for Christmas a few years ago, fantastic viewing) and "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" have shown he can have some real fun with crowd dynamics. After that, thankfully, things just keep getting odder and odder.

He's also working with funnybook writer and "Ghost World" scribe Daniel Clowes on some kind of time travel movie which would somehow star Ellen Page (remember her?) Called "Return of the Ice Kids," it's apparently about a group of teenagers who invent a kind of water that makes you hear music (believe me, I couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to.) Here's a bit of what he had to say about Page's role in it:

“I’d like to do a movie of this size with my own story, which would be quite amazing. But we’ll see. I’m developing a screenplay with a writer right now about kids who travel [into] the future by mistake and a machine [that] keeps people younger… ehhh, it’s complicated to explain…Ellen Page is supposed to be the main character…She’d play Nancy, a young woman who participates in the discovery and changes the world.”

Also on Gondry's apparently indefatigable mind is an animated movie called "Megalomania," which he's been working on since 2007 with Clowes and his son, Paul. Here's what he had to say about that:

“It’s about three kids who discover how to create energy from hair. And they shave everyone on the planet. The rich people wear and rule the world. So the rich people wear wigs and the poor people are just bald. And they want to make a better world, but the maker — which is sort of based on my son — is a horrible dictator…"

And here's what he has to say about his son:

"I didn’t want him to be the son of me, I want him to be his own person. I always saw him as an individual from the first second he was born. I always appreciated from him from how different he was from me. He’s very well dressed and stylish and much more confident then me. He’s street smart.”

The film is currently set to star the voice talents of Steve Buscemi, Seth Rogen, and Juliette Lewis. And like I said, though it certainly be frustrating to keep track of all that, it's very often well worth it when you see what he finally comes up with. Stay tuned.

OK, after that, all I have today is a trio of videos, starting in honor of today's big release of the Drive-By Truckers' new album "The Big To-Do." It's the band's first album of all new material in a few years, and having listened to it streaming for the last week or so, I can tell you it's a grand rock record well worth a few bucks if you dig that kind of thing. The guys (and gal) are apparently releasing webisodes about the making of each track, which is more than a bit of overkill, but the first one at least, for the sensational Mike Cooley track "Birthday Boy," is very entertaining. Enjoy, and go buy the album too!



And finally today, two videos for David Simon's New Orleans series "Treme," which is finally coming to HBO (along with my money) on April 11. It stars "The Wire" vets Clarke Peters and Wendell Pierce, Melissa Leo of "Homicide" (and a lot of other things), and even somehow Steve Zahn and John Goodman too. It takes place three months after Katrina, and I think you'll agree that in at least these short glimpses, he and co-creater Eric Overmyer have really captured the city's rhythm. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.

Trailer

For Friday, a ton of fun movie news

There's indeed a whole lot of fun stuff out there today, but the best and oddest of all just might be that there's a horror remake opening this weekend that I'm gonna take a chance on seeing.

"The Crazies" is at least slightly intriguing because it was shot about 20 minutes from my house, but that's really not enough to snag me. Two good reviews from sources I trust, however - Collider and HitFix - are, so I'll be there Saturday afternoon, 'cause I just love smart horror.

OK, in news that might just impact somebody besides me, easily the best of all is that Angelina Jolie has bailed on a "Wanted 2" (did the world really need that?) and instead signed on for something much, much better - an Alfonso Cuaron sci-fi movie (huzzah!)

"Gravity" will be about a woman (Jolie, natch) who is the sole survivor of a space mission, desperately trying to get home to Earth and her daughter. Sounds a bit like Duncan Jones' "Moon" (for which Sam Rockwell certainly should have gotten an Oscar nomination), but anyone who's seen Cuaron's "Children of Men" knows he can work wonders with good sci-fi, so definitely keep your eyes on this on.

Before that, however, I seem to remember reading something about Cuaron making an odd road movie of sorts starring Daniel Auteil and Charlotte Gainsbourg (a definite crush around here.) Indeed, IMDB lists him also working on that flick, "A Boy and His Shoe," but with only a vague 2012 release date so far.

Will there really be a funny Farrelly brothers movie?

I certainly have my doubts about that, but there's no question that they've somehow assembled a first-rate cast for "Hall Pass," which is shooting this week in Atlanta, if I'm not mistaken.

Starting with a base of Owen Wilson and someone named Jason Sudeikis, they've this week or so added HBO vets Stephen Merchant and J.B. Smoove, and even more recently Alyssa Milano and Christina Applegate. The latter two certainly need no introduction, but comedy fans will know Merchant as Ricky Gervais' comedic partner in crime, and Smoove played Larry David's brother-in-law, Leon Black, on "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

But what in the world is this all about? Well, Wilson and Sudeikis play two lucky dudes whose wives (Milano and Applegate, perhaps) give them passes to engage in extramarital shenanigans. Merchant and Smoove will play two of their buddies.

Not the most promising of premises, but with that cast I'm relatively optimistic about a winner here.

Farina joins Mann pilot at HBO

Although I'm most excited about the return of "The Wire" creator David Simon (with the N'Awlins series "Treme," coming in April, when I'll return to HBO too), what Michael Mann and David Milch ("Deadwood") have cooking up for the station sounds like an awful lot of fun too.

Dennis Farina has now signed on to star in "Luck," which Mann is directing at least the pilot of from a script by Milch. The show centers on a man who, after just getting released from prison, teams with his longtime chauffeur and muscle (Farina) to craft a complex plan with a crooked jockey (John Ortiz) to fix races at a racetrack.

I love the ponies, and Mann has a real talent for developing a seamy sense of place, so I'll definitely be tuning in for whatever comes of all of this.

Demme to head back to Haiti

Though Jonathan Demme makes usually-great movies of all kinds, I think his documentaries are the best of all. And since the single best of those is "The Agronomist," about slain Haitian activist Jean Dominique, it only makes sense that he would turn his thoughts and camera to the country at this troubled time.

Actually, his route back to the country this time intersects with one of his other documentary passions, music. Demme had been planning a documentary about Arcade Fire (new album coming very soon, huzzah!), whose founding member Regine Chassagne is Haitian. He and the band were set to head to Haiti to shoot something music-driven the very morning the quake struck, which of course changed his plans entirely. Here's what Demme had to say about his new course of action.

"My personal feeling was, those who go down two months or three months from now, with a specific mission in mind, will be valuable in their own way, as the people that are going now. So I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go within the next six months, but I haven't been yet."

He's certainly right, there. Though the people of Haiti needs just about everything, what they'll need months from now is continued attention from the rest of the world, so here's hoping Demme follows through on this and even makes a movie about it too.

And a bit closer to home, Demme is apparently now working on the documentary "Right to Return: New Home Movies from the Lower Ninth Ward," about the most devastated neighborhood in New Orleans after Katrina.

Broken Lizard signs Universal deal

Though the juvenile antics of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe certainly aren't for everyone (Nell Minow knocked me, perhaps correctly, for including "Super Troopers" in my list of the 100 best movies of the '00s), they just make me laugh almost every time they put something out.

Their latest flick, "Slammin' Salmon," didn't manage to play anywhere near me, so I'll have to just watch it on DVD, but now comes word that the guys have signed on for two movies that will hopefully play a lot wider with the help of Universal.

The studio has picked up "Rogue Scholars," a college comedy revolving around five unruly professors played by the members of the troupe, plus an additional as-yet-untitled Broken Lizard flick to follow. Like I said, I'm a devoted fan of "Super Troopers" - for which they are still promising a sequel someday - so I'll follow these guys just about anywhere.

A new flick for Ed Helms

Though he's surrounded by plenty of very funny people. Ed Helms has slowly and steadily developed into the best character on "The Office" with the Nard Dog, so any word of him appearing on the big screen is welcome in this little corner of the world.

He'll next be seen hopefully everywhere as an insurance salesman in Miguel Arteta's "Cedar Rapids," due out this year. And now comes word that he's signed on to star in something called "Central Intelligence" for director Dean Parisot (who, yes, really did direct "Galaxy Quest" back in the day.)

The flick is about an accountant (Helms) who reconnects with an old friend via Facebook and finds himself sucked into a world of espionage (I always knew that Facebook was nothing but evil, but yes, I'm on it.)

That sounds like nothing but funny to me, so definitely stay tuned to this one.

And finally, what in the world is "Harold and the Purple Crayon"?

Though I had never heard of it until about a year or so ago, it's apparently a fairly classic children's tale by Crockett Johnson, and has already been made into a movie and short TV series.

The first I had heard of it, however, was in a New York Times magazine profile of Spike Jonze in which he revealed he was at work on another movie version of this when he thankfully got sidetracked by "Where the Wild Things Are" (I still say the single biggest Oscar snub this year is that even in the field of 10, that didn't get a Best Picture nomination. Criminal.)

Now comes word that the book is coming to movie life again, this time with the help of "Where the Wild Things Are" author and national treasure Maurice Sendak as a producer.

The story apparently follow our hero Harold as he uses his magic purple crayon to retreat into his own fantasy world, but soon realizes that he’s been selfish with his crayon and so uses it to help his parents and others, and even go on a mission to Mars.

This will be a CG-animated affair, with no director attached yet, but why not Mr. Jonze himself? Sounds like it would be world of fun for him, and I know for sure he'd love to work with Maurice Sendak again.

OK, this has certainly gone on long enough today, so I'll just wrap it up with a couple of clips. The first is for a flick called "The Good Heart," set to come out in at least some urban portions of the world on April 30. It caught my eye because it stars Reel Fanatic favorites Brian Cox and Paul Dano. The flick tells the story of Lucas (Dano), who attempts suicide and meets bar-owner Jacques (Cox) while in the hospital. The two quickly form a friendship and Lucas starts to work in Jacques' bar. Enjoy the trailer.

The Good Heart trailer from zik zak on Vimeo.

Actually, make that only one clip, because although there's a new international trailer out there for the "Karate Kid" remake starring Jackie Chan and Will Smith's offspring, I've decided to just ignore that monstrosity from here on out. Peace out.