Cannes lineup a sign of great things to come

Though I'm not headed to the Cannes Film Festival and probably never will, I am off to the Atlanta Film Festival 365 for the second year in a row beginning Friday (for me, though the opening night movie, "Freedom Riders," is tonight), and you can count me as thoroughly geeked up for it.

Unlike the star-studded froggy festival, Atlanta's gathering is a much more homespun and genuinely Southern affair, heavy on documentaries, this year with an accent on comedians and musicians. Two highlights are sure to be James Franco's "Saturday Night," which goes behind the scenes of "Saturday Night Live" (which I admittedly haven't actually watched live in at least five years), and the closing night movie, "The Secret to a Happy Ending," a doco about the Drive-By Truckers which will be followed by an "intimate" concert by the band. Yeah, that's gonna rock, and I'll be there.

If you're anywhere near Atlanta, I can't recommend an event higher than this one. The opening night movie is being shown tonight at The Carter Center and the grand finale is at the 14th Street Playhouse next Friday, April 23, but in between all the action takes place at the Landmark Midtown Cinema. To see the schedule and purchase tickets, click here.

But for the rest of the world, I suppose the biggest news out there today is that the Cannes Film Festival, returning in mid-May (without me), has unveiled its nearly full lineup, so far featuring 16 films in competition, three screening out of competition, 18 films in the Un Certain Regard slate and two midnight movies. Add to that the opening night flick, Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood" (3-D comes to Cannes - sheesh) and a special screening of "Abel," directed by "Y Tu Mama Tambien" star Diego Luna, and you've got just about everything.

And I say just about because up to seven movies could still be added to the lineup, and at least two marquee titles are as yet missing. I had really been hoping for the return of director Bruce Robinson with "The Rum Diary," based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson and starring Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard and Reel Fanatic fave Richard Jenkins. If you haven't seen Robinson's sublime "Withnail and I" from way back in the day, I implore you once again, please do so. He is truly a lost master.

Another movie expected to be announced but absent was Terrence Malick's "Tree of Life," set to star Brad Pitt. Malick, of course, wasn't snubbed - his movie, not shockingly at all, simply isn't finished yet. There's still hope that it will be by the time the festival rolls around.

The full list is at the bottom of the post, and it contains plenty of movies by directors that better-educated movie buffs may be more familiar with than me, so if you recognize any you like please let me know. Today, I'll simply stick to what I'm looking forward to most, which would have to start with the return of "Babel" director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu with something called "Biutiful," screening in competition.

All I know about the movie so far is that it is about a policeman who is forced to confront a childhood friend who is now involved in drug dealing, and that Javier Bardem stars in this somehow, most likely as the cop, I'd imagine. Definitely sounds like one I want to see as soon as possible.

Screening out of competition will be movies from three big-name directors, Oliver Stone's "Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps," Woody Allen's "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" and Stephen Frears' "Tamara Drewe."

Fox must really think it has something good in the Stone sequel starring Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf and Carey Mulligan, because the studio pushed it from a release next week until September so that it could screen at Cannes. The Frears movie, however, is the one I'm really jazzed for. It's apparently based on a Guardian comic strip by Posy Simmonds which is a modern reworking of Thomas Hardy's "Far from the Madding Crowd." Nothing but fun there.

And back in competition, there's at least one movie that might actually make it out to my little corner of the world, Doug Liman's "Fair Game." Liman, you might remember, made his debut way back when with the sublimely silly "Swingers," but he's certainly on to much more serious material here with the story of outed CIA agent Valerie Plame, to be played by Naomi Watts.

But best of all in my book will be a new flick by Mike Leigh, "Another Year," which will be screening in competition. And yes, I say that knowing nothing at all about this except that it stars Jim Broadbent and Imelda Staunton. Leigh is just one of those directors whose work I take on faith, and if you want proof of why, look no further than his last movie, "Happy Go Lucky," which starred a radiant Sally Hawkins as the irrepressibly and thoroughly annoyingly cheerful title character. I love that flick.

OK, before we get to the full movie slate, as promised, anyone who makes it this far deserves a reward, so here goes. The folks over at EgoTV have come up with a series of Team Leno posters using the Team CoCo fonts, and they're all pretty damn funny. And I really have nothing at all against old people, just Jay Leno, who is dead to me. Enjoy this sample poster, stick around for the full Cannes lineup after that, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.



Cannes 2010: IN COMPETITION
"Another Year," U.K., Mike Leigh
"Biutiful," Spain-Mexico, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
"Burnt by the Sun 2," Germany-France-Russia, Nikita Mikhalkov
"Certified Copy," France-Italy-Iran, Abbas Kiarostami
"Fair Game," U.S., Doug Liman
"Hors-la-loi," France-Belgium-Algeria, Rachid Bouchareb
"The Housemaid," South Korea, Im Sang-soo
"La nostra vita," Italy-France, Daniele Luchetti
"La Princesse de Montpensier," France, Bertrand Tavernier
"Of Gods and Men," France, Xavier Beauvois
"Outrage," Japan, Takeshi Kitano
"Poetry," South Korea, Lee Chang-dong
"A Screaming Man," France-Belgium-Chad, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
"Tournee," France, Mathieu Amalric
"Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives," Spain-Thailand-Germany-U.K.-France, Apichatpong Weerasethakul
"You, My Joy," Ukraine-Germany, Sergey Loznitsa

Out Of Competition
"Tamara Drewe," U.K., Stephen Frears
"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," U.S., Oliver Stone
"You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger," U.K.-Spain, Woody Allen

Un Certain Regard
"Adrienn Pal," Hungary-Netherlands-France-Austria, Agnes Kocsis
"Aurora," Romania, Cristi Puiu
"Blue Valentine," U.S., Derek Cianfrance
"Chatroom," U.K., Hideo Nakata
"Chongqing Blues," China, Wang Xiaoshuai
"The City Below," Germany-France, Christoph Hochhausler
"Film Socialisme," Switzerland-France, Jean-Luc Godard
"Ha Ha Ha," South Korea, Hong Sang-soo
"Les Amours imaginaires," Canada, Xavier Dolan
"Life Above All," France, Oliver Schmitz
" Los labios," Argentina, Ivan Fund, Santiago Loza
"Octubre," Peru, Daniel Vega
"Qu'est-il arrive a Simon Werner?," France, Fabrice Gobert
"Rebecca H.," France, Lodge Kerrigan
"R U There," Taiwan, David Verbeek
"The Strange Case of Angelica," Portugal, Manoel de Oliveira
"Tuesday, After Christmas," Romania, Radu Muntean
"Udaan," India, Vikramaditya Motwane

Special Screening
Diego Luna - "Abel"

Midnight Screening
Gregg Araki: "Kaboom"
Gustavo Hernandez: "The Mute House"

Coco's long, strange trip heads to TBS, and I'm with him

The first thing I thought when I heard yesterday that Conan O'Brien had spurned the advances of Fox for more money and, let's face it, surely more job security at TBS, was man would be it great to see another "Late Shift," this time about the rather tawdry adventures of CoCo and the soon-to-be-vanquished Jay Leno (hey, one can dream, right, even though he's clearly more indestructible - but much less funny - than a cockroach.)

If you've never seen that HBO movie, it detailed the war between Leno and David Letterman, and just how Dave ended up walking over to CBS, with comic precision. I'm sure you can still rent it, and it's well worth it.

And even though any new version of the story would surely make for a kinda rough portrait of both its main players, I think the TBS deal is nothing but a winner for O'Brien, and here's why.

Had he somehow managed to swing a deal for an 11:30 show on Fox, he would have been under the same constant pressure that thankfully killed Leno's 10 p.m. adventure, complaints from the affiliates. They were apparently, and rather amazingly, balking at pulling their "Simpsons" reruns or "Cops" or whatever the hell else they have on at 11:30 now, and frankly, who needs that?

At TBS, for which the motto "Very Funny" has so far only expressed itself in almost constant reruns of "The Office" (which is, granted, indeed just that), he's clearly gonna be the lord of the manor.

Here are the details, as I know them. The TBS deal only started coming together last week, after George Lopez called O'Brien (easily the best thing he's done for comedy in many, many years) and asked him to consider coming to TBS. Under the deal, starting in November, Lopez's show (which, in all honesty, I've never watched in its entirety, but I've seen enough to deem it not terribly funny at all) will move to midnight, easing the way for CoCo at 11 p.m.

The as-yet-untitled show will only air Monday-Thursday (because, after all, who wants to work on Friday if you clearly don't have to?) O'Brien will apparently earn about $10 million a year, roughly what he had been making at NBC, and much more importantly, own the show, a la Dave Letterman. There's not much I can say to sum up just how good news this really is, so I'll let Conan himself do it just about perfectly.

“In three months I’ve gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I’m headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly.”

And you have this promise from me: Though I'm pretty strictly an in bed by 11 kinda guy, I'll gladly stretch that for a half hour at least to make room for your return. Welcome back, Conan.

OK, this is technically supposed to be about movie news, so here are four nuggets I found fascinating this morning, before we wrap things up with a couple short videos that are pretty much guaranteed to make you smile.

Did you see "Date Night"? I did, and while it could certainly have been zanier for my taste, it was still pretty darn funny, even in the none-too-brave-or-new-world that is the new New York, and that was almost entirely thanks to the chemistry of NBC's comedy titans, Tina Fey and Steve Carell, though James Franco and J.B. Smoove were very funny in it too.

So, even though their movie somehow lost out to that "Clash of the Titans" remake (which I still haven't seen, and probably won't), it shouldn't come as much of a surprise at all that they're already making plans to team up on the big screen again. According to the L.A. Times, Fey and Carell will appear together in something called "Mail-Order Groom," which was apparently at least partly penned by Fey's hubby, Jeff Richmond.

In the comic premise, Fey would play a lonely woman who orders the titular "Mail-Order Groom," only to get, in the form of Carell, not exactly what she bargained for. I'm laughing at that already, and I can't really see any way in which this won't come together extremely quickly. Stay tuned.

And, keeping things in comedy for another second or two, Vulture has apparently gotten its hands on the script for "A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas," and shared what it will be about. Personally, I thought Kal Penn and John Cho started to lose their comedy buzz more than a little bit by the end of "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," but I'll never get too old for good stoner comedies, so here's hoping they deliver with chapter three this Christmas.

Here's what it will be about, according to Vulture: Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg’s script tracks down Harold and Kumar 10 years after the events of the second film. Now in their 30s, Harold is married and living the idyllic family life while Kumar lives in their old apartment and has just had his license suspended for smoking weed. More importantly, Harold is drug-free, but all that’s about to change when Kumar drops by and burns down a special Christmas Tree — soon enough, the two are on the road to find a replacement.

Excellent. Throw in Neil Patrick Harris and all kinds of fun drugs, and I'll certainly be there.

After that today, things get a little more serious in the form of news about what Froggy directors Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud are cooking up as their followup to "Persepolis" (before it just gets crazy with word of what exactly happened to Craig Brewer, remember him?)

If you haven't seen the animated movie "Persepolis," there really are very, very few rentals I can recommend higher. Based on the Satrapi graphic novel of the same name, it's all about her life growing up in Iran and Europe, and it's just an amazing bit of filmmaking. For the duo's next project, they'll again turn to a Satrapi illustrated novel (which I'll certainly now have to read) called "Chicken with Plums."

All I know about it so far is that the movie will again be about Iran somehow, but this time they will be working in live-action rather than animation, and actor Mathieu Amalric will be one of the stars. In any format, Satrapi and Paronnaud just make movies (or rather, so far, a movie) I love watching, so definitely keep your eyes on this one.

OK, just to end on a crazy note, before a couple of short videos, does anyone remember Craig Brewer? He managed to direct what has become without exaggeration one of my all-time favorite movies with the rap-and-roll fable "Hustle & Flow" and then the simply bizarre "Black Snake Moan" before just about completely disappearing.

Well, know he's back, but not in any kind of form I could have predicted. It seems that whichever big studio had the bright idea to remake "Footloose" has now hired Brewer to direct it, from a script he wrote himself. The project was originally in the much more predictable hands of "High School Musical" director Kenny Ortega (who actually directed quite a few episodes of "Gilmore Girls" too, oddly enough) with Chace Crawford of "Gossip Girl" to star in the Kevin Bacon role (thus sealing his fate in the six degrees game), but now both of them are gone. Brewer, I suppose, makes this a little more interesting, but mostly it's just a depressing tale of just what a guy's gotta do to eat these days.

But enough of that depressing stuff. "Glee" returns tonight, and that's more than enough reason to go out with two things that just made me smile. First up comes a band I had admittedly never heard of called Anamanaguchi (and forgive me, guys, if I'm somehow misspelling that) performing what will apparently be the theme song for the upcoming "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World" video game. The movie it's attached to is already surely getting more buzz than it needs, and I'll be doing my very insignificant part to contribute to that, but as for this, it's just two minutes or so of punk-pop bliss, which is just about what I at least needed to start off a Tuesday morning. Enjoy.



And finally today, this 15-second only but still extremely foul (remember, I did warn you) commercial clip for "Kick-Ass" just about perfectly encapsulates what will hopefully be its primal appeal. It's sublimely not safe for work, so if you watch it without headphones, you have only yourself to blame. Enjoy, and have a perfectly bearable Tuesday. Peace out.

Conan's revenge may come sooner than you think, on screens big and small

You know, I love Conan O'Brien, but not nearly enough to pay $115 or so to see him on the closing night of his comedy tour at the Fabulous Fox Theater in Atlanta. Now, however, it seems he might be bringing the show directly to all kinds of cheapskates like me.

It seems that filmmaker Rodman Flender (who I had never heard of, but has apparently directed both "Idle Hands" and "Leprechaun 2" along with a lot of TV, in case that means anything to you), is about to sign on to make a feature film from the 30-city Legally Prohibited from Being Funny tour.

I'll certainly watch that, and in even better news, it seems likes Conan to Fox as soon as this fall is almost a done deal. According to the L.A. Times, key Fox executives, including Satan Murdoch, are on board with the plan and would like to finalize a deal the network could announce at its fall lineup unveiling on May 17.

Details are still being worked out, including that Fox would spend about $60 million annually on the show, as opposed to NBC's $90 million earmarked for Conan's "The Tonight Show," but at least one more really funny thing could come out of all this. Fox is apparently looking at leasing the old "Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien" set for the new show, which NBC spent $50 million renovating. Now, I realize this would put more revenue in NBC's pockets, but if Conan were to somehow kick Jay Leno's ass sort of on his old turf, how frigging sweet would that be?

Conan is prohibited from being on TV until September, but that certainly doesn't keep him from plotting that return as soon as possible. Stay tuned ...

And, since it's almost all about funny here today, Amy Heckerling seems to be cooking up something that could really be so with "Vamps," even though, like much of the world over the age of 16, I really have just about had enough of the undead.

Remember Amy Heckerling? Among her very funny films are "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Clueless" (admit it, you like that silly little movie as much as I do.) For her return to writing and directing, Heckerling is reuniting with "Clueless" star Alicia Silverstone for "Vamps" and pairing her with Krysten Ritter, who was just as funny as Jay Baruchel in the surprisingly much better than awful "She's Out of My League" (yes, I watched that.)

The duo will play a pair of beautiful young (do they really have ages?) vampires who are living it up in NYC until, of course, love enters the picture and mucks things up. Sounds more than a little meh, but I'm still betting on pretty seriously funny, especially with this latest bit of casting news.

Sigourney Weaver, late of a little movie called "Avatar," has signed on to play a vampire queen who turned the two young ladies into creatures of the night. Filming will start in April, and with that cast, you can be pretty much sure I'll turn out to see what comes of all this.

And, speaking of funny that's going to come much, much sooner, was there ever any doubt that Tiger Woods would find himself the star of tonight's new season premiere of "South Park"? Of course not. Here's the premise:

The nation's top scientists come together to put a stop to the recent phenomenon of rich, successful men who suddenly want to have sex with many, many women. After extensive testing, some of the fourth grade boys in South Park Elementary are diagnosed as sex addicts.

I'm laughing at that already, and as you'll see from the brief preview below, they either simply obtained the audio tape from Tiger's "press conference" or found a dead voice ringer. Enjoy.



And finally, when it comes to stand-up comedians, they really don't get much better at all than Valdosta, Ga's own late, great Bill Hicks. If you've never seen him perform, get yourself caught up on Youtube and I guarantee you'll laugh. His most frequent targets are advertisers (he's known to open shows with "if you're in advertising or marketing, kill yourself"), but he really spares no one guilty of hypocrisy. And now, thankfully, directors Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas have made a documentary about his too-short life, "American: The Bill Hicks Story," which just played the SXSW fest and will hopefully be coming to a theater or DVD player near me very soon. Enjoy the trailer and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

A "Prime Suspect" remake? Terminate with extreme prejudice!

It's probably good for my fairly under control blood pressure that as I'm first hearing about this idiocy, it also comes with word that NBC has - for now at least - shelved this monstrosity, and for the best possible reason.

Yes, the network whose last big brilliant idea was putting Jay Leno in prime time five nights a week (how'd that work out, guys?) was actually considering a remake of the sublime BBC police procedural "Prime Suspect."

And I can certainly understand the temptation. For sheer intensity matched with characters you actually care about, only "The Wire" and - at its best - "NYPD Blue" have even come close to matching "Prime Suspect" on this side of the pond, and almost all of the credit for that has to go Dame Helen Mirren.

Of all the characters of the last 20 years or so, on big screen or small, very few have been taken over as completely as Helen Mirren dived directly into the role of Jane Tennyson and made it entirely her own. And it's apparently their belated realization of just how impossible it would be to replace her that finally led NBC to abandon this madness.

Unable to find the right actress for this, NBC has now shelved it until at least June, and here's hoping forever. If I had to name one actress who could pull this off, the only name that even comes to mind is Anjelica Huston, but as great as she is, I can't even see that working, if God forbid she'd even be interested.

And if you've somehow never seen "Prime Suspect," I can't recommend it highly enough. If you want to get started, the beginning would be best, but if you only want to watch one, No. 3, with David Thewlis and Ciaran Hinds in a truly tawdry tale about child murder and serious police corruption, is the best of all in my book.

Here's hoping that this NBC "idea" gets aborted for good, and from now on today it's all about a trio of clips that at least managed to catch my eye this morning.

First up comes a clip from the upcoming flick "Date Night" featuring Tina Fey, Steve Carell and, in this clip, a shirtless Marky Mark. Even though NBC's current king and queen of comedy would seem to make a dream team on the big screen, I somehow just can't get all that excited about this. I just get the sinking feeling it's gonna lack any of the truly manic appeal of "After Hours" in chronicling a supposedly "wild" night in NYC. Anyways, enjoy the clip.

Next up comes a TV spot for something I'm much more excited about, "The Runaways." On paper, the idea of Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning playing rockers Joan Jett and Cherie Currie just sounds dreadful, but the buzz about this out of Sundance was mostly positive, and it really does seem music video director Floria Sigismondi has come up with something that will rock when this finally comes out March 19. Enjoy.



And finally today comes a surprise that made me genuinely laugh out loud. I've never found Jimmy Kimmel all that funny at all, but Tracy Morgan can really do no wrong in my book (yes, I'm really gonna go see "Cop Out" just to see how funny he can manage to be in it, even though the reviews are dreadful.) In this clip I have to assume appeared on Kimmel's show sometime this week (after my school-night bed time, of course), he and Morgan make a rap video, and it's absolutely as silly as you might imagine. Here's hoping that Kimmel's turn as Lil' Jim puts the final nail in autotune. Enjoy, and have a perfectly bearable Thursday. Peace out.

Tuesday tidbits, a visit from Wallace & Gromit, and why today should be a national holiday

Actually, let's start with the latter, because this is indeed a day so glorious that I should get the day off: After tonight, Jay Leno will no longer be polluting the airwaves at an hour when I'm still awake.

I suppose it's rude to kick a man when he's down, but what he and NBC tried to do to prime time was so atrocious, there's really nothing else to do but celebrate its demise. And though I realize he comes out of it as kind of a winner, since he gets to return to the wounded and almost dead duck that is "The Tonight Show," at least it will be at an hour by which I'm almost always fast asleep.

And though Time magazine actually hailed him as "the future of television" on a serious cover (and I have yet to see any apology for that), this Entertainment Weekly cover sums up the situation much more accurately (and is much, much funnier too), so I'll just let that speak for itself. Enjoy, and even though you surely have to work today, take some solace from the fact that today is V-JL Day (Victory over Jay Leno, of course, and I can take credit for that bit of silliness.)

And what I have after that today is news about three directors I like to varying degrees, in order of just how much I like them, and two videos, one the promised "Wallace & Gromit" bit and the other some madness about Colin Farrell and a mermaid (yes, really.)

First up is Thom McCarthy, who is easily one of my favorite directors working today. He's also an actor, and you may recognize him from his work on "The Wire" and various movies (including somehow, if I'm not mistaken, "2012"!)

As for the movies he's directed himself, there are two that I know of, and I love them both. "The Station Agent" is a sublime little movie, but even better is "The Visitor," easily one of my favorite movies of 2007 and featuring a well-deserved, Oscar-nominated turn by Richard Jenkins (who will somehow now be appearing in the thoroughly unnecessary American remake of "Let the Right One In" - Ack!) If you've never seen this one, I highly recommend it, because you'll find few better stories about immigration in America and the human face of it we so often strive to simply ignore.

And now it seems McCarthy is amping up to direct again, though this time with something completely different and much lighter.

In a tale apparently drawn directly from his own experiences, and in what sounds slightly like a white version of "The Blind Side," McCarthy is now working on a "light-hearted comedy" called "Win Win," which will be "about how a rough-and-tumble runaway changes the lives of a suburban New Jersey family and turns around the luck of a high school wrestling team," according to the always reliable The Playlist. The runaway wasn't McCarthy, but instead one of his childhood friends.

That certainly sounds like it has the potential for mawkishness, but I have full faith in McCarthy, and as someone who at least tried to wrestle in high school, the subject itself intrigues me. Paul Giamatti is apparently on board, presumably as the wrestling coach (perfect), and he and McCarthy are now out scouting unknown actors for the lead role, with an early March start to filming in New York and New Jersey. I can't imagine too many aspiring high school wrestlers read this, but if so, now is your big shot, I guess.

When I saw this next bit about the return of Peter Bogdanovich, I had to visit the IMDB to see when he had last a) made a feature film and b) made one that I've seen. The answers are: a) in 2001, which something called "Cat's Meow" and b) in 1973 and '74 with, respectively, "Paper Moon" and "Daisy Miller."

Even so, when you add to those "The Last Picture Show" and the perfectly silly "Targets," I think you can certainly list Bogdanovich as a great American director, so news of his potential return to the big screen is worth noting.

According to Variety, he's writing and directing an adaption of Kurt Andersen's novel "Turn of the Century," which I can't say I've read. Set in February 2000, it apparently focuses on a Manhattan power couple and their three private school kids. As details go, that sounds pretty far from exciting, but I'm betting Bogdanovich will turn this into something worth watching when filming starts in New York in spring 2011 (though with actual filming that far away, I suppose I should say "if" it starts.)

And finally, in something that's coming together very quickly, it seems that Steven Soderbergh is moving forward with "Contagion," a deadly virus outbreak thriller which is already somehow set to star Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Marion Cotillard, even though so far at least there is no studio attached.

When Soderbergh is genuinely engaged and having fun, I do too, which was certainly the case with "The Informant" this year. And if I can digress just a bit, I didn't see "Invictus," but no matter how good Damon may have been in that, there's no way he shouldn't have been nominated instead for his amazing role in "The Informant" at this year's Oscars instead.

Here's hoping "Contagion" turns into a fun ride rather than the star-studded disaster it certainly could very easily become.

OK, it's probably time to start wrapping this up, but there's also a bit of very good casting news out there too. Danny Boyle's next movie, "127 Hours," is already set to star James Franco as Aron Ralston, a mountaineer who was forced to amputate his own arm in order to escape entrapment under a fallen boulder. And now it seems that Amber Tamblyn, who presumably can no longer talk directly with God, has joined the flick as his girlfriend, with the relationship apparently played out in a series of flashbacks in his mind.

I'm not sure how far along this is, but I love me some Danny Boyle, so this is one certainly worth keeping your eyes on.

And now, for the real ending, does anyone remember "The Secret of Roan Inish"? I love that John Sayles movie about selkies, mysterious Irish creatures of myth that can turn from seals into humans. Well, it seems Neil Jordan did too, and now he's made "Ondine," which stars Colin Farrell as an alcoholic Irish fisherman whose life is turned around when he encounters what he thinks is a mermaid (the simply stunningly beautiful Alicja Bachleda, his actual wife.) What will hopefully be a magical fairy tale of sorts has been picked up by Magnolia Pictures, and with Farrell in it, I suppose it might even play wide enough to reach my little corner of the world when it drops June 4 in the U.S. Enjoy the trailer.




And finally, as promised at the outset, there is indeed a visit from Wallace & Gromit today, thanks to a heads up from my fellow cubicle slave Randy Waters. Nick Park is nominated for an Oscar this year in the short film category for "Wallace & Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death," and I'm certainly rooting for him. But here today, all we get is a little snippet of the duo in action, with poor Gromit of course subjected to another of Wallace's disastrous inventions, the "Turbo Diner." Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.

For Tuesday, a cache of clips

With the Golden Globes nominations coming later this morning, here's hoping that my favorite movie of this year (and it's held the top spot for a long time now), Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," fares very well.

So far from the critics associations, it has won at least a couple of screenplay awards (notably from the New York Film Critics Online awards) and of course pretty much universal recognition of Christopher Waltz as best supporting actor, and when the list goes to 10 has even made the best picture cut for a few too (a precursor for the 10-picture Oscar field)?

If I had a vote, which I obviously don't, I'd give it to QT for just a wildly fun story told with the most style and guts of the year, which is just about exactly what I ask for from a movie. Number two, which meets all those criteria except for perhaps the "fun" part, is Kathyrn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker," which has emerged along with "Up in the Air" (which I have yet to see) as the most likely contenders for best picture, along with perhaps "Precious."

Anyways, since the Globe nominations aren't even announced for a couple of hours or so (yes, I get up early), that's enough of that. In other news, "Gilmore Girls" fans, of which you can proudly count me one, should take note that Lorelai herself, Lauren Graham, is making her return to broadcast TV Monday, March 1, at 9 p.m. in NBC's "Parenthood."

The premise itself - an offshoot of the overrated movie of the same name - sounds rather meh to me, but with "Friday Night Lights" showrunner Jason Katims behind this and Peter Krause of "Sports Night" (and other shows, I know, but that's my favorite) also starring, I'm certainly gonna give it a shot, mostly to see Lauren Graham in the spotlight again.

That makes for a potentially fun night on NBC when paired with "Chuck" at 8, which thankfully returns to its Monday home Jan. 11 (after a two-hour premiere the previous night, huzzah!), even if it all still does somehow lead into Jay Leno's entertainment-free hour.

And what about "Friday Night Lights" itself? When will that be returning to NBC? Best as I can tell, not until summer, which is certainly a long time to wait to find out how things will shake out after Coach Taylor's move to the new East Dillon High School.

And in another tidbit before the clips begin, here's hoping Natalie Portman can avoid getting punched in the face by David O. Russell during the filming of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." It seems the volatile director - known as much for movies like "Three Kings" and "I Heart Huckabees" as for his infamous tirade in the face of Lily Tomlin on the set of the latter - has either signed on or is about to to write and direct the movie based on Seth Grahame-Smith very funny update on Jane Austen's novel.

Now on to the clips. First up, appropriately enough, is Quentin Tarantino announcing what are - so far at least - his nine favorite (nine, I suppose, since he of course left out his own movie) flicks of 2009. I'll let you discover the other eight for yourself, but I have to say I thoroughly agree with the love for Sam Raimi's "Drag Me to Hell," which I'm certain will make my top 10 for the year. Enjoy.



Next up comes a couple of clips for the next best thing to a new White Stripes album (where the hell is that?), the upcoming documentary "The White Stripes: Under the Great White Northern Lights," which I think is coming to DVD soon. First up is a kick-ass clip of them performing "Shake Hands" live, and after that is the rather mundane teaser trailer. The band's Web site, by the way, has just about the ultimate time-waster, a video jukebox that's a great way to avoid, say, working for 45 minutes or so. You can find it here, and I recommend it highly.


The White Stripes: "Let's Shake Hands"

THE WHITE STRIPES | MySpace Music Videos



Next up is is an even more "Kick-Ass" clip, I suppose, since it comes from the upcoming Matthew Vaughn movie of the same name. I believe this clip originally aired this year at the San Diego Comic-Con, but it's new to me, and perhaps to you too. The flick, about kids who decide to become superheroes, looks like it will be really funny - hopefully in the right ways - when it hits April 16. All I can tell you so far is that there's something oddly enjoyable about watching Nicolas Cage shoot a young girl in the chest from short range. Enjoy.



And finally, saving I think the worst for last, here is the first trailer I know of for Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood," set to drop in May. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since it stars Russell Crowe, but I'm just not buying the prince of thieves as "Gladiator" angle he clearly seems to be going for here. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.



P.S.: Any misspellings you see here surely exist, but since the Blogger spell check wasn't working, please accept my apologies instead.

"Chuck" back on the air this month? Bring it on!

You know, I really don't need any more reasons to just about thoroughly hate 3-D, but this morning (or perhaps yesterday, who knows?) comes what for me just might be the biggest one yet.

Joss Whedon and "Cloverfield" (if you haven't seen that, take a chance .. it's shockingly good) writer Drew Goddard have collaborated on a horror movie called "The Cabin in the Woods." In case that's not enough to get you geeked up, it somehow stars both Richard Jenkins, a true favorite around here, and Bradley Whitford of "West Wing" fame.

Well, that's the good news, and here's the bad. The movie was originally set to come out Feb. 5, but has now been pushed back almost a year to Jan. 14, 2011, ostensibly just so they can convert it to 3-D.

What the hell? You're gonna delay a completed movie for a whole year just so you can charge me $2 more to watch it. Sheesh.

But enough of that. As the headline of this post makes clear, there's much better news out there today for fans of "Chuck," of which you can certainly count me one. As any fan well knows, the show wasn't set to come back until March, but Entertainment Weekly's seriously TV obsessed scribe Michael Ausiello says it might actually return much earlier.

How much earlier? In three weeks or so! With "Southland" canceled before it's second season could even get started and most of its other primetime offerings tanking fast, it seems that NBC is finally realizing just how solid a product "Chuck" is, and needs the show to come to its rescue.

Ausiello didn't say if the show will return to its usual Monday night slot or be moved, but he did say that NBC folks who have seen the first four episodes are saying this will be the "best season yet." Bring it friggin' on!

Now, if I can make one suggestion: How about moving it to 10 p.m. so the dolts at NBC can see just how much better Chuck's ratings will be than Jay Leno's at the same time? I've been checking the ratings often, and Jay is ALWAYS the worst-rated show in the 18-49 bracket except for whatever the CW is offering that night. Cancel him already!

And, though "Chuck" only as a 13-episode order for season three, it only follows logically that if they move it up to the end of this month and it performs well, NBC will order more episodes.

Ausiello also recently had a fun tidbit about another show I don't like nearly as much as "Chuck," but still tune in for to see what Barney might get to up that night. It seems that the rather insanely funny Chris Elliott has been cast as Lily's (Alyson Hannigan) estranged father on "How I Met Your Mother," and will make his first appearance Nov. 23 at a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Lily's grandparents. Word is that Elliott's character will be an extreme loser, so there's nothing but cool there.

And finally, it's almost the week of "Where the Wild Things Are," so enjoy this featurette featuring Spike Jonze and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs talking about how they put together the kid-filled and pretty fun soundtrack (which you can listen to with the widget I put on the pasteboard to the right, if it still works.) A pack of kids screaming? I'd normally run in the other direction as fast as I could, but this all works surprisingly well, and I can't wait to finally see the flick. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.