Rev your engines: the "Sons of Anarchy" ride again starting tonight

Obviously, the poster above has nothing at all to with "Sons of Anarchy," but as a way to announce a new movie, it's a real doozy, made even better by the fact that it's for one by Jason Reitman.

So far, I've pretty much loved all of his movies I've managed to see, "Juno," "Up in the Air" and "Thank You for Smoking," so a new Reitman movie is certainly reason to celebrate, even if it isn't coming until Dec. 16.

And in case you didn't know, that's Charlize Theron passed out in the poster above. In the movie, according to THR, she plays "an alcoholic writer of young-adult novels who, on a whim, decides to return to the small town that she left behind years ago to aggressively pursue her ex-boyfriend from high school (Patrick Wilson) - only, now he is happily married and the father of a young child, which certainly complicates matters, and leads her to another high school classmate (Patton Oswalt), and no shortage of trouble."

Sounds like juicy fun to me, and since this is being written by "Juno" scribe Diablo Cody, this should be a real winner (and yes, I'm well aware that I had a truly painful experience sitting all the way through "Jennifer's Body," which was also penned by Cody, but let's just keep hope alive here.)

And in even better movie news, Studio Ghibli apparently has not one but two movies in the works, and one of them will be from the master himself, Hayao Miyazaki.

I was really hoping that, as he had announced, Miyazaki would do a "Porco Rosso 2," but what he's turning to instead could be even more amazing: An autobiographical movie (although he didn't specify if it would be his autobiography or someone else's.) Here's hoping it's his, because he's certainly had one fascinating life, but also that this doesn't signal that it will be his last movie.

Also, according to Twitch, "Grave of the Fireflies" director Isao Takahata is “reportedly working on a new film based on the classic Japanese tale about a princess who was discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a bamboo plant.”

I'm sure I'm far from alone in thinking that the world is a much better place with more Studio Ghibli movies in it, so bring them on ASAP!

OK, now, finally on to the main event, and I well may have missed one fall premiere of a show that I love, but tonight's season four premiere of "Sons of Anarchy" does indeed seem rather early, though certainly welcome in this little corner of the world.

The FX show about the motorcycle gang with (almost) a heart of gold may not be the deepest of entertainment, but it does have engaging story lines and keeps the smart action coming fairly quick.

The best thing about season four, however, may well be the guest stars, who are of a strong enough caliber that they might well overshadow stars Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal and Ron Perlman. Here's who's on board.

Georgia's Ray McKinnon, easily one of my favorite actors, will play the new fed determined to bring down SAMCRO. Perhaps even better, another Reel Fanatic fave, Rockmund Dunbar, most recently late of my favorite recent one-season wonder "Terriers," will play the new top cop in Charming, who apparently has no love for the SAMCRO posse. And finally, as you'll see from the preview below, Danny Trejo will join the cast as some kind of biker, I'd assume a rival to the SAMCRO gang, but that's not too clear yet.

But that, of course, is why you tune in, though Trejo apparently doesn't join the cast until episode two. If you're a fan, ride with "Sons of Anarchy" again beginning tonight at 10 on FX, and have a perfectly pleasant rest of your Tuesday. Peace out.

Veryfunnyman Michael Cera in five "Youth in Revolt" vignettes

I was worried that "Youth in Revolt" was somehow going to be an "arthouse" release and therefore not available immediately in my little corner of the world, but thankfully, I once again appear to be wrong.

And besides, what could be "arthouse" about C.D. Payne's extremely crude - but also very funny - novel about Nick Twisp a 14-year-old who creates an alter ego based on Jean Paul Belmondo just so he can score with the love of his young life? I really hope they leave the Belmondo infatuation in the movie somehow, because it's one of the best things in the book.

Anyways, courtesy of Comingsoon.net, here are five short Michael Cera vignettes that will begin airing soon (or already are) on Comedy Central to promote the movie. And if you somehow happen to be working on Saturday, Jan. 2, you have my condolences and this word of warning: Even though these clips are for basic-cable consumption, they're still rather crude, so wear your headphones! Also, only on the last clip, you'll have to sit through a short plug for the DVD release of the single worst movie I saw in all of 2009, Diablo Cody's "Jennifer's Body," before you get to the clip. Peace out.

Just how long can "Watchmen" really get?

You know, I think I'm almost alone here, but I almost unconditionally loved what Zack Snyder did with "Watchmen".

Now, of course, there are always going to be complaints from fans of the funny book by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons about what was left out, and it seem that Snyder has now taken just about all of those complaints to heart.

After a director's cut, which I bought, that clocks in at a you-would-think-long-enough 178 minutes or so, he's now about to release "Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut" on Nov. 3, which will run for what you would have to hope would be an exhaustive 3 hours and 35 minutes. Whew.

I'm not enough of a sucker to buy this again, especially since my company is offering us furloughs as the latest incentive to keep working there, but I do think I'll at least rent it, because it does seem to be just about as close to the graphic novel on screen in its entirety as we're gonna get (though I know I'm being naive here, and there will surely be an "Ultimate, Ultimate" edition coming sometime soon.)

In this new version, "Tales of the Black Freighter" will be interwoven into the movie, as it should be, but Hollis Mason's autobiography, "Under the Hood," will only be available as a standalone extra. Perhaps coolest of all in the extras will the entire motion comic, which I'd really like to see.

Anyways, call me a sucker if you want, but I think I can spare three-and-a-half-hours or so of my life for what has apparently turned into "Watchmen: The Miniseries".

Two doses of "News of the Weird"

With apologies to Chuck Shepherd, whose News of the Weird we publish most Fridays in the Telegraph, as far as movie news of sorts it doesn't get much weirder than these next two tidbits.

After, and I never would have guessed there were this many, FOUR direct-to-DVD sequels, it seems that "Bring It On" is about to get yet another life on stage as a musical. And no, I'm not making that up.

Now, I will admit that I'm a big fan of the original with Kirsten Dunst, Gabrielle Union and Eliza Dushku, and I've even sat through most of some kind of sequel with both Hayden Panettiere and Beyonce's sister in it on a Saturday afternoon, but I can't imagine any scenario in which I'd pay Broadway prices for another dose. However, if a touring company brings this to Macon's Opera House someday, I have to admit I'd at least be curious.

And in possibly even odder news, Werner Herzog, whose most recent flick was a new take on Abel Ferrera's "Bad Lieutenant" (because Lord knows the world needed that), is now offering classes in "guerilla filmmaking" for $1,450 a weekend.

If I somehow had $1,450 to blow through and was in Los Angeles from Jan. 8-10, I actually bet this would be a lot of fun, especially since he's describing it with typical bravado:

"The Rogue Film School is not for the faint-hearted; it is for those who have travelled on foot, who have worked as bouncers in sex clubs or as wardens in a lunatic asylum, for those who are willing to learn about lock-picking or forging shooting permits in countries not favoring their projects. In short: it is for those who have a sense for poetry. For those who are pilgrims. For those who can tell a story to four-year-old children and hold their attention. For those who have a fire burning within. For those who have a dream."

The beginning of the end for Jay Leno?

Actually, I'm well aware that he's probably indestructible at this point, but it's still interesting to see how he fared with the key 18-49 demographic on Monday night, one week after his big debut. Here are the numbers:

6.5 House
4.6 Big Bang Theory
4.4 Two and a Half Men
4.3 CSI Miami
4.1 Dancing With The Stars
3.5 How I Met Your Mother
3.2 Accidentally On Purpose
2.7 Heroes
2.3 Castle
1.8 The Jay Leno Show
1.2 One Tree Hill
1.1 Gossip Girl

Now, I will admit that I watch "Gossip Girl" as exactly the kind of mindless fluff I need on a Monday night, so I certainly think it's great that Jay not only finished dead last among the shows from the big four networks, but also just barely managed to beat the CW's two offerings. Predictably pathetic. Please keep tuning out!

Fincher's "Facebook" takes shape

Most of this was already pretty well known, I think, but Columbia Pictures has now confirmed the cast for David Fincher's flick "The Social Network," written by Aaron Sorkin and based on the rise of Facebook (which I'm on, somehow.)

In the principal cast, Jesse Eisenberg will play Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Justin Timberlake will play Napster co-founder and Facebook founding president Sean Parker, and someone I've never heard of named Andrew Garfield will play Eduardo Saverin, the Facebook co-founder who fell out with Zuckerberg over money.

Why should anyone care about any of this? Well, I find the subject kind of fascinating, and I've been rewatching a lot of "Sports Night" lately, which is proof that Aaron Sorkin is an extremely witty guy when he gets things right (and, in its own little way, I think "Sports Night" just might be better than "The West Wing" - blasphemy, I know.)

Steve Coogan alert

I normally wouldn't care one lick about any early news about a Will Ferrell/Adam Mckay comedy, but when you cast Steve Coogan, who would certainly have to be in the discussion if you were actually to try and pick the funniest man on Earth, you've got my ear.

Actually, the whole premise of "The Other Guys" sounds pretty funny. The Rock and Samuel L. Jackson will play supercops who constantly show up a pair of bumbling co-workers to be played by Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. I wasn't sold, however, until I saw that the great Mr. Coogan has been cast as the arch villain of the piece.

For the best doses of Coogan I can recommend on DVD, try "24-Hour Party People" and "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story."

Has Diablo Cody lost "it"?

Now, I'm really not someone to kick people when their down (except for maybe Jay Leno), and I admittedly haven't yet seen "Jennifer's Body" (and I'm not sure I will), but if this really is Diablo Cody's next writing project I think the "Juno" scribe has really hit a wall.

It seems she's not set her sights on "Sweet Valley High," the series of novels about (and I'm going on what the trades say here, not having actually read any of them) a set of identical twins "with dissimilar personalities - the sensitive and practical Elizabeth and the flighty and boy-crazy Jessica - in the fictional town of Sweet Valley."

My God does that sound awful, so if you made it this far you certainly deserve a reward. Ricky Gervais' new film, "The Invention of Lying," doesn't open until next week, unfortunately, but here's an odd bit of marketing that only he could come up with. This clip is seven minutes long (and this is only part one), but I guarantee that if you let it get started for a couple of minutes you'll laugh out loud as Gervais' comedy compadre and punching bag Karl Pilkington tries to first review the flick and then offers his rather unique ideas for marketing it. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

Aaron Sorkin steps to the plate to revive a baseball flick

Some guy in Idaho just tweeted that I’ve ruined cinema. Already? Had no idea I was so hugely influential. Suck it, Truffaut!

I'm not a tweeter or a tweet follower, and I'm 100 percent certain I can make it through the rest of my life just fine that way, but I saw that post from Diablo Cody yesterday and just thought it was very funny.

And with that, let's get right into what's a pretty full day of good news, capped off by visits from Craig Robinson and Megan Fox, because he's very funny and she's .. well, you know.

First up is what is quickly becoming the best ensemble cast of 2010 in director David Gordon Green's "Your Highness." Though "Observe and Report" was just a muddled mess, I'm still convinced that Green, Jody Hill, Ben Best and Danny McBride are leading a real Southern comedy resurgence (and on a side note, fellow cubicle slave Randy Waters told me yesterday that he bought "Eastbound and Down" but really couldn't get into it at all, so he's gonna give it to me for free ... good times!)

Best and McBride have written the script for "Your Highness," which stars McBride as a lazy prince who must complete a heroic quest to save his father's kingdom, and in a "Pineapple Express" reunion of sorts, James Franco plays his more heroic brother. Natalie Portman is already on board as McBride's love interest, a warrior princess, and just announced is Zooey Deschanel, who plays Belladonna, Franco's character's virginal bride.

I think you'll agree that's just a whale of a good cast. It's all being filmed in Northern Ireland beginning later this month, so you can definitely count this as one 2010 flick I'm thoroughly jazzed for.

In other, especially good, news for fans of "Let the Right One In" (and if you're not, rent it today and I guarantee you will be), Tomas Alfredson, the director of that fantastic coming-of-age horror flick, has set his sights on a great choice for his next movie.

If you haven't seen the '70s miniseries "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," which starred Alec Guinness and also the late, great Ian Richardson, certainly see it if you can, and be happy that Alfredson is now set to turn it into a feature film. Peter Morgan will write the script for the cold-war thriller about a spy-hunt in the British Secret Intelligence Service.

Though I have no time at all for the English language version of "Let the Right One In" being cooked up by "Cloverfield" mastermind Matt Reeves, Alfredson breaking into the Hollywood big time is only great news, so definitely keep your eyes on this one.

And, in the last tidbit before we get to what was supposed to be the main course, "The Hangover" director Todd Phillips has set his next two flicks, and they're both set to star veryfunnyman Zach Galifianakis. Though the plot wasn't nearly as salacious or inventive as it thought it was, I still almost thoroughly enjoyed "The Hangover," and it's certainly a reason to cheer when an at least fairly intelligent R-rated comedy makes such a yachtload of cash at the box office. (As an aside, at $210 million domestic and still counting, "The Hangover" has surpassed "Wedding Crashers" to become the second-highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time - the original "Beverly Hills Cop" is still No. 1 in that subcategory at north of $234 million.)

For their next collaboration, Phillips and Galifianakis will make a road-trip comedy (sense a pattern here?) titled "Due Date" in which an expectant dad and his unlikely travel companion (Galifianakis, natch) race cross country to make it home for the birth of the rugrat. After that, there will be, by sheer force of nature, a "Hangover 2."

Sounds like more than a little bit of a rut to me, but I have to admit, as long as they keep making comedies that are both reliably crude and clever enough, they'll keep getting my money.

But when I started out today, this was supposed to be about the resuscitation of a flick that had been pretty much left for dead. And since it's a baseball flick, that's certainly noteworthy news.

For anyone unfamiliar with the saga so far, director Steven Soderbergh had been plotting a movie based on Michael Lewis' book "Moneyball," about Oakland A's bean counter and big brain Billy Beane, who would be played by Brad Pitt.

All well and good, right? Well, not exactly. Just days before the movie was set to start shooting, Sony pulled the plug because it wasn't impressed with a script retooling Soderbergh had done to a previous version by Steven Zaillian.

In a bit of hyperbole that nonetheless touched on the truth, this prompted the New York Times to opine that this may be a broader danger sign for "tricky but appealing" movies, in a piece you can read here. Even if that's a bit of an exaggeration, the death of a potentially good baseball flick is reason enough to be blue for me.

But now, thanks to Aaron Sorkin, and I'd imagine the pull of Brad Pitt, the project is back on.

Soderbergh is out, but Sony has Sorkin in to do a draft of the script, starting with what Zaillian finished, for Pitt to still star in. Great news all around there for just about everyone except Mr. Soderbergh, I'd say. Everyone knows Sorkin's track record with "The West Wing" and the much-too-brief "Sports Night," but for a recent example of his work to prove he's still got a lot of wit left to work with, I'd strongly recommend renting "Charlie Wilson's War," which would be a great bit of satire if it weren't all based on the even crazier truth.

And though I still can't find a DVD release date for it yet, the single best movie I've seen so far in 2009 (mid-season report card coming after Judd Apatow's "Funny People" drops July 31) just happens to be a baseball movie of sorts, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's "Sugar." See that one as soon as you can.

And anyone who's made it this far certainly deserves a reward, and I've got three of what I think qualify.

First is one of eight teasers (in French, malheuresement) for Jean Pierre Jeunet's next crazy flick, "Micmacs à tire-larigot." Like I said, they're pretty aurally useless for those who don't speak French (and I only barely do at this point), but you can still see from the look of this that the tale of a man and his friends who come up with an intricate and original plan to destroy two big weapons manufacturers will have all the spirit of his best work, "Amelie" and "Delicatessen." You can count this, along with Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are," as the two flicks I'm most looking forward to for the rest of this year, and you can watch seven more of these brief character teasers courtesy of Twitch Film here. Enjoy.



And, next-to-finally, this Funny or Die clip, though it's a little to slow to get going and way too crude to be enjoyed at work without headphones, shows why Craig Robinson is the most underappreciated member of both "The Office" and Apatow's crew. My inner 8-year-old will always appreciate songs about where to post naked pictures of your girlfriend, so in that spirit, enjoy.



And really finally, in something I'm certain Mr. Robinson would enjoy, here's a certain someone known as Megan Fox in the first teaser poster for the Diablo Cody horror-comedy "Jennifer's Body." Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

Diablo Cody is the voice of ... what?

I don't get Showtime - and have, in fact, never before now seen a Showtime show - but I do get Hulu (not a very exclusive feat, I concede) and have therefore seen Diablo Cody's new show, "The United States of Tara."

The show itself was a little better than I expected, but the funniest thing of all was the promo clip about Ms. Cody on the Showtime site. Now, I'm all for self-promotion (well, actually, I've never been very good at it at all), but this was enough to - really - make me do a spit take with my still very hot coffee Sunday morning.

In it, yarnhead Brie Larson, who plays Toni Collette's yarnhead daughter on the show, actually said this, and I don't think she was joking: "Diablo Cody is the voice of our generation ... blah, blah, blah ... I can't even speak to her."

Really? Granted I'm more than a little older than Ms. Larson, but I'll take, maybe, Barack Obama.

Even so, like I said the show is pretty good, and I have the sense it's going to get better. The only problem (and, yes, I guess it's a pretty big one) is the premise and how Toni Collette fits into it. Her multiple personalities are gross caricatures, and she looks so uncomfortable doing it that you get the feeling she's well aware of that. The rest of the characters, however, are fairly well drawn for a pilot episode, and I think Collette will get better as the show goes on, so assuming Showtime will keep letting me watch them for free, I'll keep doing so for at least a few more.

If you haven't seen it, there are certainly worse ways to spend your lunch hour than going here and doing so today.

As for Diablo Cody, if I have my French right (and I'm pretty sure I do), she has her ever-roving eye set next apparently on Shakespeare (and, since you're a writer who's almost as clever as you think you are, why not Shakespeare)?

According to the fantastic Froggy film site Cinempire, now that "Jennifer's Body" (in which, if I may be as piggish as possible, the titular "Body" belongs to the rather appropriately named Megan Fox) is in postproduction, she's going to write a modern version of "La Mégère apprivoisée," which is apparently the French title for "Taming of the Shrew."

My first reaction was, wasn't that done already on a sublimely silly episode of "Moonlighting"? Sheesh. As for Cinempire, even if you can't read French (and I really can't all that well anymore), it's still worth checking out. They report movie news like a lot of folks, but are quick to pounce on tidbits about filmmakers like Atom Egoyan or Pedro Almodovar, who don't usually get much attention from your average geeks. Plus, you can, if you really want to, see the poster for the upcoming Festival du Cinéma Espagnol de Nantes.

"Mad Men" finally gets its main man

Actually, I guess that would be Jon Hamm, who I have to assume is smart enough to never walk away from this series before it comes to its rightful end, but "Mad Men" really wouldn't be the same again if creator/mastermind Matthew Weiner had. Well, fortunately, that's not anything we have to worry about (so I can instead worry about whether or not my car can last until I have time to take it to my beloved mechanic Thursday morning.)

Word came down late Friday that Weiner had indeed signed a two-year deal with Lionsgate that will keep him on board through four of the show's projected five seasons. I can only imagine he's gonna hold out for real before signing a rather fat deal for the last hurrah.

The best news is that, according to Variety, along with a seven-figure payday for himself, Weiner was also holding out for - and received - a big boost for the show's budget. Now that he's on board, writing on season three is set to start immediately. Bring it on!

Easily the coolest thing I've seen today

Actually, this is so good I probably should have lead with it. Anyone who's been here before (and there are apparently a few of you, thankfully) knows that there's no movie that may never even come out I like to talk about more than Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are."

It now has a release of Oct. 16, 2009, and until I get to see the final project I'll still have doubts that Warner Bros. will let Mr. Jonze release the movie in anything approaching his original cut, which is apparently more than a little (appropriately, I think) warped. For now, we get a glimpse - courtesy of /film, where you can see more - of just how twisted his Wild Things might be, on these promotional skateboards Jonze plans to release through his Girl Skateboards Company. Though I tried my hand at skating as a kid, I was never terribly good at it (and, if I can confess, preferred roller-skating), but I think even I would learn a few moves for something as cool as this. Enjoy!


And, finally, a NSFW trailer

Although I kind of enjoyed Jason Segel's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," I also found it too short on laughs and too long on conventionality (though that "Dracula" puppet show at the end was a hoot). It's biggest crime was it wasted veryfunnyman Paul Rudd in a simply annoying role as a stoned out surfing instructor.

Thankfully, Rudd takes the lead role in the March 20 comedy "I Love You, Man," and he's surrounding by a first-rate comedy cast: Segel, Jamie Pressly of "My Name is Earl", Rashida Jones of "The Office", Jon Favreau, Andy Samberg and J.K. Simmons, who can make me laugh without saying a word. The trailer below is plenty funny, but be warned: It's also plenty rude, so please wear headphones if you're gonna watch it at work, and have a perfectly passable Monday.

"Once" upon a magical Oscar moment

For someone who watches as many movies as I do, I have a rather perilous confession to make: I often zone out in the middle of the Oscars.

I can't be the only person who usually watches the first hour or so, then turns it off for the middle third and then comes back for the big guns. Last night, however, it managed to hook me from start to finish.

I'm sure there's gonna be some carping from people (only the stars, really, I'd assume) that there weren't any bloated-beyond-belief acceptance speeches, but I thought it was a very brisk, mostly very enjoyable affair. And Jon Stewart deserves a lot of credit for that, even though he couldn't wait for more than about 10 minutes to tell the four people in America who might not have known already that Diablo Cody was once a stripper. (Yes, if I can digress for a moment, I did say stripper. Having worked briefly as a blackjack dealer in the back of a strip club [hey, a man's gotta eat] I can tell you there's nothing terribly "exotic" about any dancing that goes on there. So let's just retire that term, OK.)

OK, I'm back. It was a deservedly big night for the Coens (giving the Hollywood Reporter the chance to roll out this groaner of a headline: "No Country: Four Gold Men.") Some other thoughts that ran through my skittish mind were: I guess it's nice that the technicians behind "The Bourne Ultimatum" won at least three awards for giving me a throbbing headache, and wow, I guess they really didn't have to put much makeup at all on Tilda Swinton to make her so pale as the White Witch (beautiful woman, to be sure, but is she some kind of albino or what?)

But anyone who's been here before knows that, even more than seeing Helen Mirren break into a devilish grin when she says the word "cojones," one thing I truly love is the film "Once." Easily the most charming movie of 2007, it also provided the most charming moment of last night's Oscars ceremony.

After watching the three extremely elaborate set pieces for the songs from "Enchanted" (and man, can that Kristen Chenoweth belt out a tune), I was sure that one of them was going to prevail. But then, near the end of the night, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, armed only with their instruments, performed their beautiful nominated song "Falling Slowly," and as everyone probably knows by now, came out as the big winners.

And the biggest victim of the rather brisk pace at first seemed to be the lovely Ms. Irglova, who, just as she opened her mouth, heard the music start to play and was ushered offstage. They probably could have let it at go at that and people would have just dismissed it and moved on, but after the commercial break, Stewart was nice enough to bring her back and give her 30 seconds to say something about the importance of indie artists (amen, sister!)

Perhaps I'm exaggerating the significance of this, but I almost never stay up until 11:45 on a Sunday night, so that's what's stuck in my mind at this early hour.

And yes, in case anyone's wondering, there is news out there today, and some pretty big stuff: Evidently set on giving me another massive migraine, Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon have both agreed to come back for a fourth "Bourne" flick. Bully to that, I suppose.

But I'll leave you today with just a bit more about "Once": The actual performance of "Falling Slowly" by Mr. Hansard and Ms. Irglova at last night's show. Once you get past the rather awful French voiceover of Colin Farrell's introduction (do they actually watch the whole show like that? what a nightmare!), the audio is great and the song is even better. Peace out.

Among the many things I'd enjoy watching Ellen Page do ...

... taking to the rink for a little roller derby action is definitely one of them, even if it is in a movie directed by Drew Barrymore (a cheap shot, I concede, since as far as I know this would be Ms. Barrymore's first directing gig. Perhaps she's the next Akira Kurosawa, but ... well, I'll just drop that and move on.)

Young Ms. Page, sure to be an Oscar nominee for "Juno" when the nominations are announced next Tuesday, will lace up her skates to play yet another spunky teen in Barrymore's "Whip It," the story of a girl named "Bliss" who turns her back on a life of beauty pageants in Texas to join a female roller derby team.

Sound like it's cut directly from the "Juno" formula? Well, there are plenty of more connections. Mandate, the studio that bankrolled Jason Reitman's flick, is also putting up the money for this one. And, just as "Juno" had the somewhat unique (yes, I know something can't be "somewhat unique," but bear with me) cache of being written by former stripper Diablo Cody, this one has a script penned by an actual former roller derby star, Shauna Cross, a k a Maggie Mayhem.

Even if it does sound more than a bit familiar, and now-20-year-old Ms. Page will at some point have to stop playing teenagers, it's hard to argue with the enthusiasm she expressed for all this silliness: "I can't wait to kick ass on wheels!"

If you're gonna make a porno ...

Well, even if Joel Siegel might try to tell you otherwise, Kevin Smith doesn't actually make pornographic movies, but he now has at least one former porn star for his next flick, "Zack and Mirni Make a Porno," and one "The Office" star as well. (Wow is that a lot of times for some variety of the word "porn" to appear in one sentence. If anyone finds this site while looking for actual pornography, please accept my apologies and move on.)

Smith had already announced Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks (double huzzah!) would be playing the leads in his next flick, set to begin production today, and now Craig Robinson (Darryl on "The Office"), former porn star Traci Lords, Ricky Mabe, Jeff Anderson (a k a Anderson regular Randal Graves) and Katie Morgan (HBO's "Katie Morgan: A Porn Star Revealed") have been announced to round out the cast.

I realize a lot of people are just tired of Kevin Smith (my brother calls him a "tool"), but I still find him almost always very funny, and that's good enough for me.


R.I.P. Brad Renfro

No matter how this story eventually unfolds, it can really be nothing but sad.

Actor Brad Renfro, who starred in "The Client" when he was just 10 years old, was found dead in his Los Angeles home early Tuesday at the none-too-old age of 25. I'm not exactly Sherlock Holmes, but I suspect drugs had more than a little bit to do with this.

In his short and rather troubled life, Mr. Renfro did manage to star in at least two movies I really like, Bryan Singer's "Apt Pupil" (when he was still just a kid) and "Ghost World" (even if by then he already did have a rather dead look as the convenience store clerk and boy toy of Enid and Rebecca.) He also was the main star of my favorite Larry Clark movie, the rather criminally underappreciated "Bully."

He had recently completed shooting something called "The Informers" with Winona Ryder and Billy Bob Thornton. R.I.P. Mr. Renfro.

A serious Oscar dis for "Persepolis"

Any chances that "Ratatouille" would somehow sneak into the final five for Best Picture (which I would wholeheartedly endorse) when the Oscar nominations are announced Tuesday seem even bleaker now that the other truly great animated movie I saw this year, the French flick "Persepolis," has failed to make the cut down to nine in the Best Foreign Language Film category. (Maconites, however, take note: When I mentioned this as a possible selection for the Macon Film Guild later this year, Camp Bacon confirmed that it is indeed already on their radar, so stay tuned.)

Also surprisingly slighted was "The Orphanage," Spain's entry and the very stylish and mostly enjoyable horror flick directed by J.A. Bayona (I guess "Guillermo del Toro presents" just didn't have quite the pull that marketers had hoped for.) I'd recommend catching this one in theaters while you still can.

And here are the nine that did make the cut: "The Counterfeiters" (Austria); "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation" (Brazil); "Days of Darkness" (Canada); "Beaufort" (Israel); "The Unknown" (Italy); "Mongol" (Kazakhstan); "Katyn" (Poland); "12" (Russia); and "The Trap" (Serbia).

It pains me to admit that I have seen exactly none of these, so if you have, please let me know if they're worth adding to my DVD viewing list. Peace out.

Believe the hype: "Juno" is as good as it gets

Just to get this out of the way before we get started, I did indeed like "Juno" at least as much as I expected to, so now bear with me while I explain why.

The surprising key to making this overly familiar story seem so new (along with the simply remarkable Ellen Page) was the music, which not only gives it a feel-good vibe from the outset, but also sets the tone for exactly what screenwriter Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman have accomplished here. Like the songs of Kimya Dawson that dominate the infectious soundtrack, "Juno" traffics in the realm of the precious, teetering on the brink of being too cute and too hip for its own good but never quite falling over the edge. And it's music, in the form of a very important truth about Sonic Youth (which Juno learns much earlier in life than I did), that's the funniest life lesson learned in this very smart flick.

And the dialogue by blogger-turned-screenwriter Cody creates a kind of music of its own, devoid of the pop-culture crutches that populate most hipster movies but sure to leave a new wave of catchphrases in its wake. Of all the jokes, the one that had me laughing the hardest was a simple one about the name of Juno's younger sister, which you won't hear from me (but think about her age and her name, and I guarantee you'll laugh loud enough to startle whoever's sitting beside you.)

The template here will be clear early on, because what Cody and Reitman have essentially done is make a John Hughes movie for the 21st century (and yes, along with being "up the pole," Page's Juno does also become obsessed about who her baby's daddy, veryfunnyman Michael Cera, is going to take to the prom.)

Though Jason Reitman (son of Ivan and director of 2005's "Thank You for Smoking") mostly stays out of the way and lets Cody and Page dominate the flick, he does put his stamp on one key scene. As our heroine briefly considers having an abortion in one of the movie's best scenes, he makes it clear just how much this is a scared and still-young girl having to make a decision she's definitely not ready for.

And young Ellen Page, who is in just about every frame of this cautionary tale (or, as Juno puts it, "cautionary whale"), completely sells you on the character of Juno, who acts much more confident than she really is. Michael Cera, given the very funny moniker "Bleek," does his best as the straight man once again (and the young man who happens to impregnate Juno), but this is definitely her show. Of the supporting players, Jason Bateman and J.K. Simmons were very funny, but this is a women's show from the start, and Allison Janney and Jennifer Garner both outshine their male counterparts, especially Janney as Juno's tart-tongued stepmother.

It is kind of disturbing that, though I have no babies of my own crawling around, I can now declare two of my favorite movies (this one and "The Snapper") are about pregnancy. I guess it's just such a bizarrely human event that no matter how much quirk you pile on top, and Cody does lay it on pretty thick here, you can still with the right touch make a movie that connects with viewers of all kinds.

And just so this isn't a complete love letter to the makers of "Juno," I do have one quibble/warning to share. Anyone who's seen the trailer and is looking forward to seeing Rainn Wilson, be advised that he only appears in one scene at the very beginning, and all his best lines have already been revealed in the trailer.

And, in the interest of full disclosure, Fox Searchlight did provide these rather nifty "Juno" t-shirts after the screening. You'll just have to take my word for it that I would have given this such a glowing review even without this surprise bit of bright orange swag. Peace out.

"Juno" for free? I'm there, and you could be too

If I had to estimate, I'd say no more than one in 10 of the e-mails I get at work are of any use at all, but on Friday I got the best one I have in many months. Here is an excerpt:

I know you're out in the middle of nowhere, but I also know that you're somewhat obsessed w/ Juno. A couple chances to check it out in ATL before it opens. Now you gotta ask yourself -- Are Michael and George Michael worth it? Is Ellen Page worth it? I think we both know the answers to those questions.

Yes, I do know the answer to that, so after getting this e-mail from Jeremy J, always a welcome friend to this blog, I went to the list of screenings and in fact RSVP'd for a Sunday afternoon one at my favorite ATL theater which has since been filled. If you missed out on this golden opportunity from Fox Searchlight, fret not: There's about 100 or so promotional screenings left around the country, before and after it opens Wednesday.

If you're anywhere near Atlanta, the next two screenings there are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec 6, at the AMC Parkway Point, and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec 18, at the Landmark Midtown. To RSVP to either of these screenings or to find out about the many more coming up around the country, click here.

And as to whether or not I'll ever stop being "obsessed" with movies as smart and funny as this flick from Jason Reitman and scribe Diablo Cody starring Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, Jennifer Garner, Rainn Wilson and J.K Simmons should be? I sure hope not. Peace out.

Where are they now: Gilmore Girls

Sure, there's movie news out there today. The best I could find is that after "Juno" finally comes out around the world, Jason Reitman will team up with Diablo Cody again for her next script, which just sounds perfectly insane.

Reitman will produce (and I assume direct) "Jennifer's Body," Cody's horror-comedy about a killer cheerleader, to be played, naturally, by the rather appropriately named Megan Fox of "Transformers" fame.

Specifically, "Body" tells the story of a cheerleader who is possessed by a demon and starts feeding off the boys in a Minnesota farming town. Her "plain Jane" best friend must kill her, then escape from a correctional facility to go after the Satan-worshiping rock band responsible for the transformation. Sounds similar to what often goes on my dreams, actually.

Reitman's company, Hard C, is also behind Rainn Wilson's (Dwight Schrute, of course) flick "Bonzai Shadowhands," which will answer the burning question: What does a ninja do during his downtime?

And in the meantime, "Juno" is still listed as opening at least a few places Dec. 5, so maybe that means we'll get it before the end of the year out here in the hinterlands.

But what I really wanted to talk about, in honor of the rather ignominious end of "Gilmore Girls" hitting DVD this week with the seventh season coming out, was a "where are they now" about the main cast members of a show that I just loved. Besides, there's actual news out today about adorable Alexis Bledel, so why not? Here goes ...

Lorelia Gilmore
I was talking with a co-worker the other day about Christmas movies, and I of course pitched "Bad Santa," which was dismissed as too dark for her tastes. That, however, quickly digressed into talk about whether Lauren Graham's ever gonna get to star in a good movie, or at least one where she gets to do more than f*** Santa. A quick IMDB check, unfortunately, points to no. Her only upcoming credit, for 2008, is something called "Flash of Genius," starring Greg Kinnear as a guy who takes on the Detroit automakers who claim he stole their idea of the intermittent windshield wiper. What this makes Lorelai, I suppose, is once again the wife. Can't anyone write anything better for this great actress? Sheesh.

Rory Gilmore
The news is at least a little better for fans of Alexis Bledel, since she at least gets to topline movies, even if they do sound awfully familiar. She's just signed to play the lead in a Fox Atomic comedy called "Ticket to Ride," in which she will play a college grad who is forced to move back into her childhood home with her eccentric family. Any similarities to Greg Mottola's upcoming "Adventureland," in which Jesse Eisenberg will do essentially the same thing, are supposed to be overlooked, I suppose. Before that, she'll also be reprising her role as Lena in the sequel to Warner Bros.' "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," along with America Ferrera, Blake Lively and Amber Tamblyn.

Luke Danes
Scott Patterson landed quickly back on TV as one of the main stars of the CW's "Aliens in America," the only new sitcom funny enough to keep me watching this fall (and it seems to get better with each week.) Though I didn't see it to find out, he apparently also had some kind of role in "Saw IV." I guess a man's gotta eat.

Emily Gilmore
Did anyone know that Kelly Bishop actually won a Tony award in 1976, for Featured Actress in a Musical for her work as Sheila in "A Chorus Line"? I didn't until I was alerted to it by always-welcome reader Jeremy. Sadly, this truly classy broad has no work listed at the IMDB. How can that be?

Richard Gilmore
Long before he classed up "Gilmore Girls," Edward Herrmann could actually list "Lost Boys" among his many credits, playing, for those who can remember, the key role of Max. Post-"GG" he's had a stint on the sudsy "Grey's Anatomy" (which I don't watch) and then is listed for what must be a straight-to-DVD flick. Starring (I'm not making this up) Tom Arnold and Timothy Daly, "The Skeptic" is described thusly at the IMDB: "A man separates from his wife and young child and moves into a large Victorian house where strange, frightening occurrences take place. The question which teases the alert audience throughout this psychological thriller: Is this a haunting or a descent into madness!" (believe me, the exclamation point wasn't my addition.) Coincidentally, Richard Herrmann won a Tony Award in the same year as Kelly Bishop, for Featured Actor in a Play for his work in George Bernard Shaw's "Mrs. Warren's Profession."

Sookie St. James
Melissa McCarthy also landed right back on TV in a show I don't watch, "Samantha Who?" Judging from the commercials I've seen, the running joke on the show seems to be whether or not Kelly Bundy can call herself a virgin again now that she suffers from amnesia, but maybe the show has more subtle charms I'm just missing. McCarthy is also listed as one of the main stars of a movie called "Pretty Ugly People," which didn't even warrant a plot synopsis at the IMDB.

Michel St. Gerard
Yanic Truesdale, who played a snobby French Canadian so well because he is, well, a French Canadian, unfortunately has no acting credits listed after "Gilmore Girls."

Lane Kim
Keiko Agena and Emily Kuroda played my favorite "Gilmore Girls" characters, Lane Kim and her constantly watchful mother, known only as Mrs. Kim. Since "GG" wrapped, Keiko has voiced the character of Yori on Disney's "Kim Possible," but from there I'm afraid the news is not good. I've managed to make it until now without making any mention of "Major Movie Star," but since she has a small part in it I guess I have to. In a plot summary that, believe me, I couldn't possibly make up, Jessica Simpson will reach to play a ditsy movie star who, after getting in a car accident, somehow manages to enlist in the Army. Remember folks, I'm just the messenger.

Kirk Gleason
The only time I can remember seeing Sean Gunn's name in the news recently was when his brother and sister-in-law, James "Troma" Gunn and Jenna "America's sweetheart" Fischer announced they were getting a divorce. His only acting credit listed is for something called "Pants on Fire," which I can only hope is some kind of comedy.

Paris Geller
Though one of the many charms of "Gilmore Girls" was its outstanding ensemble cast, I've decided to wrap it up here at an even 10 with a look at Liza Weil. Long before "Gilmore Girls," she starred in what is still one of my favorite movies that no one has ever seen, Susan Skoog's great coming-of-age movie "Whatever," and now she's surprisingly busy. She has three upcoming credits listed at the IMDB: "Mars," an animated comedy about the discovery of life on the Red Planet and our race to land there; "Little Fish, Big Pond," which I know nothing about except for that it stars Matthew Modine; and "The Missing Person," which I can only assume is about, well, a missing person.

I could go on a lot longer with this, of course, but everybody knows that two of Rory's main beaus, Milo Ventamiglia and Jared Padalecki, can be seen each week on "Heroes" and "Supernatural," respectively. So, I'll leave you instead with this rather freakin' cool pic of Benicio del Toro all decked out as Che Guevara for Steven Soderbergh's "The Argentine," taken directly from his own fairly odd Web site, which you can find here. Peace out.