I truly love Anna Faris, but ...

Before we get into this week's movies, two of which I think I'll actually see. there's a couple of other cool little nuggets out there today to deal with.

First, it seems that Mike Judge might actually get to make a movie that plays in theaters somewhere besides New York, L.A. and Austin before hitting DVD.

As far as I can tell, "Extract" is about two dudes who toil in a flower extract factory, to be played by Ben Affleck and Jason Bateman (huzzah!). I'm not even sure what "flower extract" means, but with Mila Kunis and Clifton Collins Jr. (who, frankly, should be an Oscar winner already for his work in "Capote") also in the cast - and Judge writing and directing - I'm definitely in.

And I've never really understood why Judge hasn't been given much of a chance to show he has artistic life after Beavis and Butthead. "Idiocracy," while certainly not a groundbreaking work of any kind, was a solidly funny comedy that almost no one got to see in a movie theater, and if you haven't seen "Office Space" more than once by now I'm just really not sure what to tell you.

The second thing that grabbed my attention was a Michael Ausiello piece for Entertainment Weekly with this rather enticing headline: Exclusive: Bell, Thomas Orbit 'Veronica Mars' Movie.

Despite that bit of exaggeration, the actual news isn't all that major, but when it comes to a "Veronica Mars" movie I'll take whatever I can get. What actually happened was that Kristen Bell stopped by the office of "Veronica Mars" creator Rob Thomas, which just happens to be on the same studio lot where Bell is working on the next season of "Heroes" (which I think is gonna be just great after a rather off-putting Vol. 2.) The talk naturally turned to "Veronica Mars," and Thomas tells Ausiello, "Kristen and I ran into each other, and we did discuss a Veronica movie," and that he's also had "a few conversations" with "Mars" executive producer Joel Silver.

I'd say that's pretty far from them "circling" a "Veronica Mars" movie, but we can always keep hope alive!

And now, finally, on to this week's movies, in the order that I want to see them:

1. "The Rocker"
From the reviews I've read so far, just about every scene in this one is stolen almost directly from either "School of Rock" or "This is Spinal Tap," but if you're gonna pilfer your inspiration you might as well start with two flicks I just adore. Besides, Rainn Wilson is simply a very funny guy, and if it means seeing him expose his rather flabby physique way too much to get him a starring role on the big screen, I'm in.

2. "The House Bunny"
As the title of this post makes clear, I think Anna Faris is also just a natural comedienne (and a first-rate cutie, of course, which never hurts.) I've been pleasantly surprised by the positive reviews so far for this one, with a glowing one from Variety and an even split (13 tomatoes, 13 splats) at Rotten Tomatoes. One critic I always trust, however, Nell Minow, has this to say: "The screenplay inflicts a little more injury on Faris than it intends to by committing the very sins it half-heartedly attempts to parody." I'm still in and hoping against hope that she's wrong on this one.

3. "The Longshots"
It's certainly nice to see Ice Cube doing something besides abusing himself, his movie family and all his audience members in those pathetic "Are We There Yet" movies, but I'm afraid I'm just too old for this feel-good flick about a girl who just wants to play Pop Warner football with the boys. That said, Keke Palmer was simply fantastic in "Akeelah and the Bee," so I hope this makes tons of cash and continues her road to stardom.

4. "Death Race"
As cool as Jason Statham was in this year's most surprisingly entertaining flick, "The Bank Job," I just don't think there's any way I can go for a beyond thoroughly unnecessary remake of Paul Bartel's already very silly (bur also really fun) "Death Race 2000." As my rather observant and witty co-worker Erin Ivanov noted, once a movie has had the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" treatment, there's just no way it should ever be remade. And I sure hope Joan Allen and Ian McShane were well, well paid for lowering themselves to this!

And there you have it. Because of an odd confluence of overtime I actually have four days off in a row (I'm not complaining, believe me!), so I'm also headed to Atlanta on Sunday to finally see the Georgia Aquarium and possibly even another movie. Woody Allen's "Vicky Christina Barcelona," which should be playing everywhere already (as its TV commercial already promises) is probably my first choice, but we'll see. Have a perfectly pleasant weekend!