What's next from Pixar? Dinosaurs, the human mind and more

There's really no way Pixar can be expected to make the best animated movie released every year (in fact, for me, already "Kung Fu Panda" was better than "Wall-E" and "Rio" was a good bit better than "Cars 2.") If they simply get back to making some movies based on fresh ideas - and wild ones at that - they will still, however, have a starting-out leg up on all the competition.

But just before we get into all that, and some big announcements at this week's D-23 Disney event, the photo above released at the confab shows Chris Cooper, who plays the big bad in "The Muppets," finally set to come out Nov. 23. Bring it on, already!

Also at D-23, the Pixar arm of the animation giant added details to its upcoming slate that fleshes out what the studio will have to offer for its next four flicks, and there's definitely some interesting stuff in the pipeline.

Next up will be "Brave," starring definite Reel Fanatic fave and "Boardwalk Empire" star Kelly Macdonald as the voice of the young Scottish princess Merida. What's been described as Pixar's "first fairy tale" will, of course, since its set in Scotland, also by force feature the voices of Billy Connolly and Colin Ferguson, and be released June 22, 2012.

Unfortunately, after that Pixar will get back into the sequel (well, actually prequel) game with "Monsters University," which brings back the voices of Billy Crystal and John Goodman, and adds Dave Foley, for a follow-up to "Monsters, Inc." The new movie will focus on Sully and Mike's early days at the University of Fear, and is set to come out June 21, 2013.

It's after that, however, that things start to really get interesting, with two new movies announced at D-23.

The first one, to be helmed by "Up" co-director Bob Peterson, is about dinosaurs, and is described by the following question: "What if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct?" Hopefully with echoes of my single favorite animated movie, "The Iron Giant," this one will be about a particular young boy and his dino friend, and is tentatively set for Nov. 27, 2013.

So, two Pixar movies in 2013? Bully. And after that, things should really get fun, as fellow "Up" co-director Pete Docter will "take you to a place that everyone knows, but no one has ever seen: the world inside the human mind." It's coming May 30, 2014.

For a long time now, when it comes to quality animation, it's really been Pixar's world, and we're just visiting, but at least (with the possible exception of "Monsters University) for the next few years it should be a world full of interesting flicks that will make it worth the trip.

Summer of sequels: Is there anything good left on the menu?

I'm sure it's happened before, but it's been particularly galling that for the past two weeks we've had nothing but sequels in wide release.

And of course, that's not going to change any time soon, so rather than complain about something I can't do anything about (though anyone who knows me knows I do plenty of that, too), let's just take a look at what's on the sequel menu this summer to see if there will be anything worth ordering.

"Kung Fu Panda 2"
What's not to love about a panda that does kung fu? Of the two sequels opening this weekend, I'm definitely in for this one.


"The Hangover Part II"
When someone pointed out to director Todd Phillips that the story of this one looked exactly like the one for the first "Hangover," he basically said, "so what, it's just a comedy." He's right, I guess, and I certainly laughed at No. 1, so I'm up for one more round with the guys, this time out in Bangkok. Opening Friday.

"X-Men: First Class"
Matthew Vaughn will probably never make a movie as cool as "Kick-Ass," but from what I've seen so far, this prequel (not a sequel, I know, but bear with me) about the origins of the "X-Men" should be great. My only complaint: Between the trailers and every other kind of clip, it certainly seems like I've seen most of the movie already, so here's hoping there's something left to surprise us. Opening June 3.

"Cars 2"
The cars as international super spies? Sounds too silly even for me, who sees far too many animated movies, so I think I'll just say no to this one (which would make it the first Pixar movie I've skipped.) Opening June 24.

"Transformers: The Dark of the Moon"
No one spreads mass destruction better than Michael Bay, if that's your thing, and the third installment in his giant robot saga should be the loudest one yet. I'm not sure I can take any more myself. Opening June 29.


"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
Not just a sequel, but the second half of a sequel? It's getting hard to keep all this straight, but the end to J.K. Rowling's wizarding tale should be the best movie in wide release for the rest of this summer, so I'm definitely in. Opening July 15.

"Final Destination 5"
This one just raises too many questions. If I skipped the first four of these (which I did), won't I just be confused if I start now? How can there already have been four, if No. 1 was supposed to be the "Final Destination"? And wasn't that actually supposed to arrive last Saturday? Now my head just hurts. Opening Aug. 12.

"Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World"
This one looks like its squarely aimed at kids, and what in the world is wrong with that? Robert Rodriguez usually has a lot of fun when he makes movies for younguns, and I loved the first of these movies, but I think I'll just have to skip this course unless it gets some incredibly good buzz. Opening Aug. 19.

And to close, if I can, a plug for a non-sequel that I finally managed to catch up with last weekend, and may well be out of theaters by now, "Soul Surfer." Yes, it's a Christian movie, but a fairly subtle one at that, and who can't be inspired by the story of Bethany Hamilton, the professional surfer who lost an entire arm in a shark attack? The surfing action is beautifully shot, the acting (especially from young AnnaSophia Robb as Bethany) is solid, and it's just a genuine feel-good story well told. So, catch it if you still can (it was still playing at the Galleria in Centerville last weekend), and keep an eye out for it on DVD if not. Peace out.

In honor of the late Sidney Lumet: Free movies!

Before we get into any of that, and afterwards some other video treasures, you really can't do much better for extremely funny news than those wacky Chinese.

It seems that, upset with how the country has been portrayed in recent movies, whoever controls such things in China has come up with a novel solution: Ban time travel in movies and TV. Take a second to let that sink in.

Here's what film critic Raymond Zhou Liming had to say, apparently in support of this madness:

“The rationale [for the time travel ban] is that whatever isn’t possible in the real world belongs to superstition."

Well, with logic that solid, it's really hard to argue. Here's a bit more from Zhou, via the Hollywood Reporter:

“Most time travel content that I’ve seen (in literature and theater, that is) is actually not heavy on science, but an excuse to comment on current affairs."

Fair enough, I guess. If I had the power, though, I'd ban something really harmful, like movies with too many endings. Now that would be movie justice.

OK, now on the videos, first two from Sidney Lumet, then two more that I guarantee it's well worth sticking around for. When Sidney Lumet died recently, we lost one of our truly great directors, and if they were all online in their entirety (and I could find them), I could easily post 10-20 of his movies. Heck, I even really, really like "The Wiz."

For the sake of efficiency, however, let's just stick to two, one of his first and his very last. First up comes "12 Angry Men," a movie we all surely had to watch in grade school, and still one of the finest legal dramas ever made. The flick starred Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, E. G. Marshall, Martin Balsam, Jack Warden, John Fiedler, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, George Voskovec and Robert Webber, and here (if I'm not mistaken - I didn't have time to watch the whole thing) is the movie in its entirety. Enjoy.



Next up comes Lumet's last movie, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," a little crime drama that proves he was on top of his game until the very end. The 2007 movie starred Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney and even Amy Ryan. It's a pretty superb flick all around, but if you're going to watch any of this at work, please be warned: Marisa Tomei, as she has fairly often recently, gets naked early and often in "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," so don't say I didn't warn you. Enjoy the movie.



After that today, I just have two more clips that caught my eye this morning, starting (where else) with Larry David and "Curb Your Enthusiasm." As you'll see from this behind-the-scenes teaser for season eight, Ricky Gervais, Michael J. Fox and even Bill Buckner are all set to appear, and the Fox stuff looks particularly funny in the true Larry way. We have to wait, unfortunately, until July 10 to see the show move to New York, but enjoy this clip now.



And to wrap things up today, courtesy of Screen Rant and to get you in the mood for summer, here is the ultimate summer movie trailer. An example of film editing at its finest, it manages to pull together clips from "Thor," "Cowboys and Aliens," "X-Men: First Class," "The Hangover Part II," "Cars 2" and others for one simply awesome trailer. In fact, it's nearly guaranteed that these three minutes or so are probably better than many of the movies they feature. Enjoy, and have a perfectly endurable Wednesday. Peace out.

The South will rise again .. in comedy

Actually, if the South ever does rise again, please, dear God, let it be in comedy (and not the Jeff Foxworthy kind), because that's easily the most harmless thing we (and I've lived here 10 years now, so yes, I can say we) could be good at.

And thankfully, Jody Hill, David Gordon Green and their running mates are already well off to a good start in that department.

Hill has struck comic gold in my book with "East Bound and Down," his HBO show starring Danny McBride as pretty easily the world's biggest asshole. In movies, he's been uneven, with "Foot Fist Way" being nothing but bitterly funny but "Observe and Report" being just an unfunny mess. I'd imagine the latter has probably taken him out of the feature film game for a while, but if my N'awlins hotel room wi fi lets me check (yes, I'm on vacation!), I will. Actually, he's on the books for something called "L.A.P.I." to star McBride next year, so bully.

Green, on the other hand, made the deliriously funny "Pineapple Express" and is set to follow that up in April with "Your Highness" (pun, I'm sure, fully intended), with some very funny people in tow. As you'll see from the trailer below, it's some kind of tale about princes and princesses, and it stars McBride, Natalie Portman and definite Reel Fanatic favorites James Franco and Zooey Deschanel. Enjoy the first trailer I know of, and keep an eye out for "Your Highness" on April 8.



OK, after that today, I just have one more clip, and then the first poster I know of for the comedy I'm actually most looking forward to for 2011. First, the clip, and it brings me no joy at all to confirm that Pixar is now clearly in the tired sequel game. In case you need any evidence, behold the first full trailer I know of for "Cars 2," set to crash and burn (OK, almost entirely likely not) next summer. In better news, Michael Caine is somehow in this, and any world in which he seems to be in one out of every 10 movies or so is just a better place to live to me. "Enjoy" the trailer.



And to close with some potentially good news to wash that away, there is apparently a Joe Strummer biopic in the works, and if it's done right (and completely nonlinear), I say why not? Todd Haynes could certainly have a lot of fun with this. No word yet on who will play the patron saint of conscious punk, but as soon as I hear word on that, you will too.

And I'll leave you today with the first poster I know of for "Paul." Given that it's directed by "Superbad" helmer Greg Mottola, and was written by and stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, yeah, I'm gonna watch that when it comes out in February. And if you'll excuse me now, I'm off to walk around the Garden District and then go see Kermit Ruffins at Vaughan's Lounge tonight, assuming I can get in. Yeah, New Orleans pretty much rules. Peace out.

"I've had it with these monkey-fighting snakes on this Monday-Friday plane!"

Dear Scream Awards: In my mind, Piranha 3D was the best movie of the year after Toy Story 3, so calling it "Best Worst Movie" seems uncool.

I have to agree with that little missive from James Gunn completely. I suppose you can't call "Piranha 3D" a great movie, but it was a hell of a lot of fun for what it was, so putting "worst" anywhere does indeed seem a little misguided.

And later today, there will be the first clip I know of from Gunn's "Super," and its just as deranged as you could possibly expect from a movie that stars Rainn Wilson as a self-made, avenging superhero.

But before the clips, there is a good bit of news about one of my favorite directors. I really have no time at all for "Wizard of Oz" sequels, prequels or "reimaginings" of any kind, so I certainly hope this will somehow come before "Oz the Great and Powerful," which Sam Raimi is also attached to direct, with Robert Downey Jr. starring as the wizard himself.

I'd much rather see him do a remake of "Day of the Triffids," the sci-fi tale of mobile, bloodthirsty plants who start preying on humankind after a meteor show renders more than 99 percent of the world's population blind (yes, really).

That just sounds like the perfect kind of Raimi fun, so it's certainly a good thing that Mandate won the auction to the source material, Jon Wyndham's 1952 novel, and that Raimi says he wants to jump into the director's chair. Definitely stay tuned for more on this as soon as I can find it.

And before we jump into the clips today, there's just one more bit of coolness to dispense. If, like me, you can't wait for the return of Conan to late night on TBS beginning Nov. 8, there's a fun toy to keep you occupied in the meantime. Beginning yesterday, Team Coco began broadcasting a live feed from behind the scenes at their workplace, and as far as I know, it's still going here.

OK, now on to the clips, and I promise the rather epicly funny one at the end will finally make the headline of this post make sense. But first comes, I have to warn you, a thorough monstrosity. Pixar's "Toy Story 3" was pretty much a masterpiece, and easily one of my favorite movies of 2010 so far, but what it has apparently spawned is entirely regrettable: Yes, a "Cars 2." I guess it was inevitable, but "Cars" is by a wide margin my least favorite Pixar movie, and as you'll see from the teaser trailer, the sequel looks like it will be just as bad as you could have possibly imagined. "Enjoy."



Next, as promised, comes the first clip I know of for James Gunn's "Super." Though, without exaggeration, Gunn's last movie, the horror/comedy "Slither," only made about $8 million at the box office, I quite liked it, so I can't wait to see what he has cooked up now. And the good news is that, with this having been picked up by IFC, the skewed superhero tale starring Wilson, Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler and even young Ellen Page too will come to TV via IFC On Demand whenever they get around to releasing it. Enjoy the clip, and if you happen to hear when this will finally come out, please do let me know.

Super - Clip | SpikeTV | SPIKE.com

And finally today, in a definite case of saving the best for last, the Hollywood Reporter was kind enough to compile this collection of some the most egregious examples of what happens when movies get dubbed for TV. It's hard to pick out which one is the best, but the "Scarface" stuff is seriously funny. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Pixar and Disney look way into the future

"Anyone can go to Baghdad. Real men go to Tehran"
- Dick Cheney, from the first few pages of the working script for Oliver Stone's "W."

Though he, as of yet, hasn't taken up my suggestion of Dwight Schrute to play Karl Rove, Oliver Stone has indeed scooped up at least one very funny guy for his Bush biopic: "Daily Show" vet Rob Corddry will play press secretary Ari Fleischer (remember him?)

Unfortunately, what the first few script (surely a work in progress) pages reveal is that the movie itself could also be laughably bad. The "Axis of Evil" conversation that starts it off is just ridiculous (and, if it really happened that way, just scary as hell.) I didn't want to ruin it for you, so you can read it and judge for yourself here.

The order of the day here, however, is animation, easily one of my favorite subjects. Pixar and Disney have unveiled a rather ambitious slate that takes the studios through 2012, and though you won't find the name of animation master Brad Bird anywhere, there's still some really cool stuff. (Bird, if I'm not mistaken, is moving into the realm of live-action films with "1906," a historical drama about the fire that ravaged the then-quite-corrupt city of San Francisco.)

First up, of course, is Pixar's Wall•E, which promises to be all kinds of weirdness when it's released June 27, but hopefully also chock full of charm (man, could we use some of that in movies now!) Here are other highlights of what's coming down the pike from both animation houses:

Bolt (Disney, Nov. 26, 2008)
I can't say you're gonna get me too excited when your lead character is voiced by John Travolta, but the plot for this one sounds like it could be pretty fun. He voices Bolt, a Hollywood superdog who gets accidentally shipped to New York City and has to find his way back home with two companions, a jaded, abandoned housecat named Mittens and a TV-obsessed hamster in a plastic ball named Rhino.

Up (Pixar, May 29th, 2009)
Being someone who's perfectly happy to go to bed no later than 10 p.m. (and often earlier if the Braves aren't playing on TV), I say it's way past high time that a movie was made about a super hero who just happens to be in his 70s. With the new news that our hero will be voiced by certified grump Ed Asner, I'm nothing but jazzed for this one.

The Princess and the Frog (Disney,Christmas 2009)
I'd be much more excited for this one if they had actually managed to pick a black composer (rather than the omnipresent and increasingly insipid Randy Newman) for this, Disney's first grand animated musical with a black heroine, but I guess we should be thankful for baby steps. Besides, there's a lot of good going on here anyway. The story takes place in New Orleans, it stars Anika Noni Rose, and it should be a return to the kind of old-fashioned animation that made Disney famous in the first place.

Toy Story 3 (Pixar, June 18th, 2010)
I sure hope this trilogy doesn't go the way of "X-Men" and "Spider-Man," as it has thus far (the first one very good, the second great but the third one simply craptastic.) A while back, in an article about the merging of the studios, the Wall Street Journal let fly that the plot for the third installment will be this: “Woody the cowboy and his toy-box friends are dumped in a day-care center after their owner, Andy, leaves for college.” Sounds cool enough to me, so bring it on! The next Pixar sequel on the list, however ... more on that later.

Rapunzel (Disney: Christmas 2010)
Don't have much to say about this one except that, after a one-movie-only respite from the 3-D/CGI onslaught, Disney will be going all modern with this one.

Newt (Summer 2011: Pixar)
When it's not making sequels, it looks like - thankfully - Pixar is gonna just keep getting weirder with its storylines. In this one, the last remaining male and female blue-footed newts on the planet are forced together by science to save the species, but of course they can't stand each other. Even with the rather tired tag line "Love, it turns out, is not a science," this could still be a lot of fun.

The Bear and the Bow (Christmas 2011, Disney/Pixar)
A load of quality voice talent is already on board for this trip to "rugged and mythic" Scotland (whatever that means.) Reese Witherspoon is an impetuous princess who would much rather shoot her bow and arrow, Emma Thompson voices her mother and Billy Connolly (of course!) voices her father.

Cars 2 (Summer 2012, Pixar)
This is the only true turkey I can see in Pixar's near future. The first "Cars" was my least favorite Pixar movie by far, with that long middle passage that was simply a road to nowhere, so I just can't get excited much at all about a sequel. Besides, does the world really need more Larry the Cable Guy in any form?

King of the Elves (Disney, Christmas 2012)
This is definitely a case of saving the best for last, methinks. Disney will take on Philip K. Dick's foray into fantasy storytelling. It tells the tale of a dude living in the Mississippi Delta whose reluctant actions to help a desperate band of elves being menaced (of course) by a troll leads them to name him their king (why can't I have days like that?)

That did go on for a while, but hopefully the news was worth it!

"The Office" is open!

Though "Friday Night Lights" and "The Wire" helped me make it through the writers strike in a reasonably good mood, there was no show I missed more from week-to-week than "The Office," which thankfully returns to NBC tonight at 9 p.m. (followed by a new "Scrubs" too.)

You know, it's more than a little disturbing to find out your TV is smarter than you are. I went to set the DVR to tape both of these, only to find that it had saved my recording request from before the strike. I know I'm more than a bit of a Luddite, but that still kind of amazes me. Anyways, here's what's coming in the next four episodes:

"Dinner Party" (9 tonight)
Pam and Jim find they have run out of excuses and are forced to go to Jan and Michael's house for dinner. When Andy and Angela are also invited to dinner, Dwight's jealousy gets the best of him.

"The Chair Model" (April 17)
Michael's fascination with a woman modeling a chair in an office supply catalog makes him feel things he hasn't felt in a while. With Michael distracted, Kevin and Andy team up to win back Dunder-Mifflin's stolen parking spaces, forcing them into a showdown with the bosses of the five businesses of the office park.

"Night Out" (April 24)
Michael and Dwight decide to surprise Ryan in New York for a night of clubbing and meet his friends. Meanwhile, the Scranton branch is upset when they find out they have to come in on a Saturday for Ryan's Web site project. Jim's plan to save them has unexpected results. (Michael and Dwight on the town? I'm there!)

"Did I Stutter?" (May 1)
When Stanley snaps at Michael during a meeting, Michael tries to give Stanley an attitude adjustment. Dwight decides to buy Andy’s car. Meanwhile, Pam deals with an unexpected inconvenience after spending the night at Jim’s.

Sounds like a lot of fun stuff, but rather than let me prattle on anymore about it, here's a clip of Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer telling two rather dippy Utah news anchors about tonight's episode (note the 3-2 Orioles victory over the Mariners in the sports ticker!) Enjoy, and remember to tune in tonight. Peace out.