My (and only my) best movies of the decade: The 2001 edition

I should probably just drop the years from this thing altogether, because today's list will actually contain not one, as I had hoped, but two movies that actually came out in late 2000.

My only two excuses are that I write this very early in the morning, and well, I sometimes confuse when a movie came out with when I actually got to see it. And, to paraphrase the great Lewis Grizzard when people complained about errors in the Atlanta Constitution, "hey, it don't cost but ... well, nothing."

Anyways, here are the nine movies that made today's list, and though that's only seven actually from 2001, I really love all of these, so enjoy, and please feel free to add any you think I may have overlooked.

"O Brother Where Art Thou"
I fluctuate from week to week as to whether this or "The Big Lebowski" are my favorite Coen brothers flick, but for now let's just put them both on top as co-conspirators. Thanks to Bob for politely pointing out this should have been on my 2000 list, because no other Coen brothers flick better combines their talent for establishing a strong sense of place with simply wicked (and in this case delightfully silly) humor. It's a major strength of this flick that, although it clearly pokes fun at Southerners, I have yet to meet one who doesn't look back on it with love.

"Memento"
Nothing like getting your errors out of the way right up front, so here's another one that was apparently released in late 2000 but was misplaced by me (though, in my defense, it didn't get its U.S. debut until the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.) You can trace all the themes from Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" to this mindbender starring Guy Pearce. I love a movie that I have to watch more than once just to make sure it all adds up (and there's another one coming later on this list), especially when it's good enough - like this gem - to make you want to invest the trouble of watching it again.

"Spy Kids"
Yes, really. Though the franchise got worse and worse with the subsequent movies in this series, the original from Robert Rodriguez was just great escapist fare for kids and adults - like me - who like to act like them fairly often. I haven't seen "Shorts" yet, but I will on video, because I just appreciate that Rodriguez - when he's not grindhousing out gloriously gross fare like "Planet Terror" - makes movies he thinks his own kids will enjoy.

"Amelie"
You can count Jean Pierre Jeunet as one of my very favorite directors in the world, and I was just a sucker for this lighter than air romance starring a simply adorable Audrey Tautou. I'm really hoping Jeunet's "Micmacs à tire-larigot," as best as I can tell a goofy tale about a group of misfits who band together to take on a weapons manufacturer, is somehow playing at the end of the year when I make it to New York City, because when he's on top of his game - as with "Amelie" - Jeunet just makes movies that look like nothing else you can find in theaters, and you really can't say that about very many directors.

"Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
I love movies in which the music is at least as good as the movie itself, which is clearly the case with this flick that John Cameron Mitchell wrote, directed and starred in - as the truly unforgettable creation Hedwig. Yes, if there's a scale of somewhat gay to extremely gay, this flick clearly belongs on the latter end, but it's also just a giddy punk-rock romp and tons of fun.

"Ghost World"
This has developed - along with "Office Space" and "Super Troopers" - into one of those movies I can pop into the DVD player after a nightmarish day at work to make it all float away. What in the world ever happened to Thora Birch, who as Enid just made the perfect (anti-?) heroine? I love that, to this day, if I find the right person to talk to, we can still debate just what happened to her at the end - AND IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS FLICK BASED ON THE GRAPHIC NOVEL BY DANIEL CLOWES, PLEASE SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH SO I WON'T SPOIL IT FOR YOU - in which I've always thought Enid commits suicide. No matter how you read it, this is just a bittersweetly askew view of the world, and easily one of my favorite flicks.

"Devil's Backbone"
I watched this Guillermo del Toro movie again this year for Halloween when I was petsitting for a friend of mine (yes, I have a rather boring life sometimes), and though it takes its time telling the tale, it's just a wickedly entertaining ghost story. On a side note, if you want to see a more recent horror flick endorsed by del Toro, please see Juan Antonio Bayona's "The Orphanage" ("La Orfanato") on DVD before it gets the inevitable English-language remake next year.

"Donnie Darko"
Will Richard Kelly ever make a great movie again? I sat through all of "Southland Tales" and this year's "The Box" simply out of love for this flick, but they were both just serious duds. "Donnie Darko," however, took me multiple viewings to truly appreciate, but as twisted tales go, this one about Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his giant furry friend Frank is as good and ultimately absorbing as the best work of David Lynch.

"The Royal Tenenbaums"
Nothing like saving the best for last. Though all these flicks are winners for me, the best movie of 2001 was also Wes Anderson's best (though by just a nose over his first two, "Rushmore" and "Bottle Rocket.") No other of his movies better combines his artist's eye for detail with a great knack for storytelling, here about the Tenenbaums, a family of doomed geniuses who live in some kind of alternate vision of New York City. From all I've heard, he and co-writer Noah Baumbach have recaptured this magic with "Fantastic Mr. Fox," which I can't wait to see this weekend. In the meantime I'll leave you today with one of the funniest things I've ever seen in a movie, Royal Tenenbaum's epitaph.

"Died tragically rescuing his family from the wreckage of a destroyed sinking battleship."

So there you have it. As I said, please feel free to add any movies you think I may have snubbed, and have a perfectly pleasant Tuesday. As a bonus, here's the second trailer for "Youth in Revolt," which - despite the ridiculous voiceover pitching it as a routine teen comedy - I'm hoping will be one of my 2010 favorites, because the book by C.D. Payne is just a fantastic farce. Peace out.


Youth in Revolt Trailer #2

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My (and only my) best movies of the decade: The 2000 edition

Though I will confess I swiped the idea of picking the best movies of the last decade from somewhere in my morning Web reading, I promise you these choices are all my own (and since, I believe, only one of them from the first year received a Best Picture nomination, they're clearly not anything approaching consensus picks.)

The rules? Well, there aren't many. Simply that I limited it to 10 for each post (though that's a maximum, not a minimum), mostly because of the time it takes to do this. And beyond that, I only ask that if you want to ridicule my picks, please allow for the factors of time and space since they came out, and that these are indeed only MY favorites (and please, feel free to add your own.)

And, also please feel free to check back tomorrow for the 2001 list, and, interrupted only possibly by reviews of "Ninja Assassin" and "Fantastic Mr. Fox," then the best of every year through 2009 (so far, of course.)

OK, here goes: My best movies of 2000, in no particular order (though I will tell you the best in my book.)

"The Hurricane"
You know, I really dislike "Training Day," not only because I just find it to be one of the most overrated movies ever (yes, some hyperbole to start), but also because the Oscar it netted for Denzel Washington was clearly just awarded to make up for him being so egregiously snubbed in this and Spike Lee's "Malcolm X." Though a pretty straightforward biopic, Norman Jewison's movie about Ruben "Hurricane" Carter is anchored by a great, nuanced performance from Mr. Washington and just tells a tragic American story very well.

"Wonder Boys"
This is one that had to grow on me on DVD, but it pretty well captures the spirit of Michael Chabon's book, and besides, Michael Douglas, Frances McDormand, Tobey Maguire, Katie Holmes (yes, Katie Holmes), Robert Downey Jr. and even Rip Torn clearly just had as much fun making this Curtis Hanson flick as I did watching it.

"High Fidelity"
When I heard they felt the need to transport Nick Hornby's novel across the pond to make it into a movie, especially since it was being helmed by British director Stephen Frears (one of my favorites), I was certainly skeptical. It works, however, because of John Cusack and because Frears captured the obsessive rhythm of Hornby's work, and it's just one of my favorite romantic comedies.

"Chicken Run"
Though hardly anyone noticed, there was a Wallace and Gromit movie released on DVD this year ("Wallace & Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death"), and it's really good. And since children's movies actually aimed at adults are certainly in vogue now, why not go back and check out this masterwork from Aardman animation maestros Peter Lord and Nick Park?

"The Virgin Suicides"
I'm really looking forward to Sofia Coppola's "Somewhere," scheduled to drop sometime next year, because in my book she really needs a winner after the disaster that was "Marie Antoinette." However, three out of four ain't bad, and even better than her "Lost in Translation" was this debut flick starring Kirsten Dunst, which was just a perfect hazy dream to watch unfold. (And yes, in case anyone is wondering and bothers to pay this much attention, this movie is listed as being from 1999 at the Internet Movie Database, but I'm going with Movieweb for this list.)

"Almost Famous"
Man, what in the world ever happened to Cameron Crowe? I just hated "Elizabethtown" with a passion, but for proof that he was once a great writer and director, look no further than this autobiographical tale at least loosely based on his life as a scribe for the Rolling Stone. If the best test of a movie's merits is how often you go back to it, this is my pick for the best movie of 2000 (and by any standard, it is.) And in case you were wondering, all Crowe is down for now at the IMDB is a Pearl Jam documentary, which just makes me say meh.)

"Bamboozled"
I had to go back and look at his filmography to make sure, but this was indeed the last Spike Lee movie I saw in a theater that just blew me away ("When the Levees Broke," a real stunner, doesn't count, since I only saw it on TV.) Though it falls apart rather disastrously at the finish, Lee's "Bamboozled" still works very well as a scathing satire about race and entertainment, and Savion Glover and Tommy Davidson are just great in it. And if you want proof that Spike Lee can still make good movies, his take on the Broadway hit "Passing Strange," which you can watch On Demand (or whatever your cable services calls it), is exceptional.

"Unbreakable"
Yes, really. The last M. Night Shyamalan worth a spit in my book is, I think, actually better than "The Sixth Sense." I just wish M. Night had concentrated long enough to deliver a sequel based on Samuel L. Jackson's Elijah Price character rather than making two of the worst movies of the last decade (probably a much funner list, and one I may tackle later) with "The Village" and "Lady in the Water."

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
Yes, this is the only movie on this list that made the Best Picture slate, and it was well-deserved. I can still remember watching this movie in a New York City theater and then seeing it being played again later that same day on TV at Grand Szechuan. A rather amazing lesson in the power of piracy and also a great kung-fu epic from Ang Lee.

"Bring It On"
I should probably put some kind of asterisk by this one to denote it as a guilty pleasure, but I really don't feel remotely guilty about loving this extremely silly cheerleader flick that has spawned what seems like a zillion direct-to-video sequels. And yes, Kirsten Dunst really did make this list twice, which probably robs it of all credibility, but movies just don't get much more fun than "Bring It On," and I often don't ask for much more than that.

And there you have it. As I said, this is a ten-day project, though not necessarily on 10 straight days, so please feel free to check back for the next nine years, and of course, also please feel free to rain mockery down on my picks or offer your own.

And anyone who bothered to stick around that long today certainly deserves a reward, so here's what has to be the craziest short film I've ever seen about baseball but just a great little discovery, James Blagden's animated tale about Dock Ellis' no-hitter pitched under the influence of some rather seriously heavy drugs. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Tuesday. Peace out

Oh, that's what I should be reading.

Read the Twilight books on hols. Really enjoyed them in a sort of 'creepy old man reading delusional, horny, daughter's diary' way.

No, the title of this post doesn't refer to the Twilight books, which I'd never bother to read, but I just thought that tidbit from Simon Pegg was just way too funny to pass up.

What I'm actually referring is the quartet of Red Riding novels by David Peace, "Nineteen Seventy-Four," "Nineteen Seventy-Seven," "Nineteen Eighty" and "Nineteen Eighty-Three." If you're unfamiliar with Peace, he's also the author of "The Damned United," a damned fine book about football coach Brian Clough that's now been made into a feature film starring Michael Sheen, if you're lucky enough to see it.

The Red Riding novels, a different kettle of fish, sound a lot like a "Prime Suspect" kind of thing to me, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. The books have already been made into a three-part British miniseries, which was unfortunately not yet available through my Netflix account, described as "a study of power and police corruption framed around the investigation of the disappearance of several young girls."

I'll see that as soon as I'm able, and I've already just ordered "Nineteen Seventy-Four" from the Amazon, but of course an American version (bastardization?) is also already in the works.

Ridley Scott has been hired to direct and Steve Zaillian to script a two-hour movie (shortened from the original five hours) flick which will transplant the action from the U.K. to the U.S., because I guess that's just supposed to be more palatable to us somehow. I'll keep an open mind about all that until I've at least read the four books and seen the original miniseries.

All I have after that today is a couple of fun videos, starting with this series of six clips from Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," courtesy of Collider. The more I see of this stop-motion animated flick based on and expanded from the classic children's novel by Roald Dahl just makes me think it's gonna be a real winner when it comes out Nov. 25. Enjoy.



And lastly today, since my (and many other people's) most-anticipated movie of the year finally comes out tomorrow, here's a "Where the Wild Things Are" featurette showing how big a part actual kids played on the set of Spike Jonze's flick. Due to furloughs, vacations and other fun stuff, I'm gonna have to work instead of seeing this tomorrow, but I'll certainly be there Saturday morning, and I just can't wait. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Where the Wild Things Are Exclusive Featurette

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For Friday, a trio of fun trailers

"Great question, Doris. I haven't really had to drop trou much. Easy or hard not about age, more about who's in the scene with you"

I don't tweet or twit or whatever its called, and I'm certain I never will, but the medium does occasionally produce some real gems, like the above post from Edward Norton, which I would have to assume was in response to something along the lines of "is it difficult to film sex scenes?" but really works better when it just stands alone.

After that, however, it's right into what can't be called anything approaching good news, so please remember I'm just the messenger here. I've had "Let the Right One In" on my brain quite a bit for the past few days, mostly because I like thinking about movies a whole lot more than I do anything resembling work, but also because the Macon Film Guild will be offering a special Halloween eve screening of it Oct. 30 at the Douglass Theatre at 7 and 9:30 p.m. I'll be at the 7 p.m. showing myself.

But in unfortunately related news, it seems that easily one of my favorite actors will be joining the cast of what's now also easily the most thoroughly unnecessary remake (though there's obviously plenty of competition) of all time, Matt Reeves' "Let Me In." It seems that Richard Jenkins has landed the choice role (at least it would have been in the original) of Hakan (or whatever the hell the character will be named now), the adult who cares for the seemingly 12-year-old vampire Eli.

The kids in the remake, who thankfully will be actual kids (though that won't be enough to get me to go see it in January 2010, I promise), are two actors I had never heard of: Kodi Smit-McPhee in the role of Americanized Oscar and Chloe Moretz in the role of Americanized Eli. Though this all truly sickens me, it obviously also holds some kind of morbid fascination about how low Hollywood will sink to prove it has no original ideas left. I'll close this topic with some wise words from "Let the Right One In" director Tomas Alfredson on the prospect of a remake:

"When I first heard about it I sort of got jealous. The most saddening thing is that the American audience cannot accept foreign language films. But if they find something new in this material it would be interesting to see. However, if they destroy it, I don't have to go and see it."

And in a true bit of weirdness, it seems that "Freaks and Geeks" star James Franco (he'll always be known that way around here, and believe me, it's meant as nothing but a compliment) is returning to TV - on "General Hospital."

No, I couldn't make that up even if I tried. It seems that Franco will play a "mystery person" (is there really any other kind on soap operas?) beginning Nov. 20, with the recurring role lasting for TWO MONTHS.

My first response to all that was I guess a guy's gotta eat, but in the end, I suppose he's probably gonna have a lot of fun with this, so I guess I can only say bully to that.

And one thing I can always say bully to is the soundtrack for a Wes Anderson movie. The best one he's put together so far would have to be for also my favorite Anderson flick, "The Royal Tenenbaums." From the Ramones' "Judy is a Punk" playing behind the montage that exposes Margot's wayward ways to the pair of Rolling Stones songs, "She Smiles Sweetly" and "Ruby Tuesday," that bookend the story of Margot and Richie's illicit love, it all just gels perfectly with the flick. Heck, even one Anderson movie I really just can't stand, "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," spawned a truly fun collection of David Bowie tunes performed in Portuguese by Seu Jorge.

I tell you all that to tell you this: The track listing is now out for Anderson's next flick, "Fantastic Mr. Fox," set to open wide Nov. 25. The soundtrack itself will come out, if I'm not mistaken, Nov. 3, and it features the usual assortment of oddities, plus a lot of work from composer Alexandre Desplat and a new tune from britpopper Jarvis Cocker, who also stars in the movie. Here's the track listing:

1. American Empirical Pictures - Alexandre Desplat
2. The Ballad of Davy Crockett - The Wellingtons
3. Mr. Fox in the Fields - Alexandre Desplat
4. Heroes and Villains - Beach Boys
5. Fooba Wooba John - Burl Ives
6. Bogus, Bunce and Bean - Alexandre Desplat
7. Jimmy Squirrel and Co. - Alexandre Desplat
8. Love - Nancy Adams
9. Buckeye Jim - Burl Ives
10. High-Speed French Train - Alexandre Desplat
11. Whack Bat Majorette - Alexandre Desplat
12. The Grey Goose - Burl Ives
13. Bean's Secret Cider Cellar - Alexandre Desplat
14. Une Petite Ile - Georges Delerue
15. Street Fighting Man - Rolling Stones
16. Fantastic Mr. Fox AKA Petey's Song - Jarvis Cocker
17. Night and Day - Art Tatum
18. Kristofferson's Theme - Alexandre Desplat
19. Just Another Dead Rat in a Garbage Pail (Behind A Chinese Restaurant) - Alexandre Desplat
20. Le Grand Choral - Georges Delerue
21. Great Harrowsford Square - Alexandre Desplat
23. Stunt Expo 2004 - Alexandre Desplat - Alexandre Desplat
23. Canis Lupus - Alexandre Desplat
24. Ol' Man River - The Beach Boys
25. Let Her Dance - Bobby Fuller Four

OK, after that admittedly very long intro, here are the three promised trailers. Actually, the first one is instead a 5-minute stretch of Roland Emmerich's "2012," which as you'll see is gonna wreak all kinds of destruction when it comes out Nov. 13. No matter how old I get, I think I'll always have a soft spot for seeing things "blowed up real good," and when you do it on the scale Emmerich is unleashing here and throw in a constantly yelling John Cusack, yes, I'm there. Enjoy.



It's been forever since I've seen a good Chinese action epic, so I'll definitely be there too for "Red Cliff," the Westernized condensing of John Woo's two-part movie about the Battle of Red Cliffs, assuming it plays anywhere near me when it also comes out Nov. 13. The two-part original has already taken in the highest domestic gross in Chinese history (taking down "Titanic" there), so hopefully that has earned it the right to play everywhere here. Enjoy the trailer.



And finally, to class things up a bit, here's the second trailer for Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air," which stars George Clooney and just might have the biggest awards season buzz as that begins. The release date has been moved around a bit, but if I have this right, it will now be limited on Nov. 13 and wide on Nov. 25. As you can see from this new clip, Anna Kendrick, another definite favorite around here, also has a big part in this, so huzzah to that. Enjoy.



And now, if you'll excuse me I'm off to see "Zombieland" before I go to work a half-day (hey, you have to do something to make the most of crappy furloughs.) Here's hoping it's as funny as I'm expecting, and that everyone has a great weekend. Peace out.

Please, please, please just say no to Jay Leno

Before I go any further, I just wanted to thank Kanye West for finally proving to the world just how much of an ass he is. Not that it really matters to me, since I've thought that much of him since he was obviously the only person who had no fun at "Dave Chappelle's Block Party," but I am glad the proverbial cat is completely out of the bag now.

But I didn't tune in for much else of MTV's Video Music Awards last night because, first of all, I'm obviously far too old, and more importantly because last night was just such an epicly good night of television in other places.

First up at my house came the two-episode finale-of-sorts for "King of the Hill," a finale-of-sorts because it was really just two really good episodes. I love the fact that, apart from that they all ended up eating Hank and Bobby's steaks, there really wasn't any big closing at all, just two naturally funny Bobby-centric episodes that showed why "King of the Hill" has always been funnier than anything else in Fox's Sunday night lineup - and a heck of a lot better than Mike Judge's latest movie, "Extract." R.I.P. Hill clan.

Next up was the season two finale of "True Blood," and man was that just a wildly entertaining mess. It hit me about five minutes into it that, even though what they had come up with all of Maryann's madness was just crazy enough to work, absolutely none of it came from Charlaine Harris' very popular Sookie Stackhouse novels (of which, since I'm nearing the end of book five, you can certainly count me as a fan.) And the ending (I'm just gonna have to assume that you've seen this by now if you want to)? If Sookie had somehow even agreed to marry Bill it would have just been way too much of a departure from the novels to even stomach, so I'm certainly glad that never happened (at least to his knowledge.)

But, amazingly, episode five of season three of "Mad Men" was still the best thing on TV last night, and by a pretty wide stretch. Poor Bertie giving birth while Don and his new prison guard buddy bonded over a bottle of booze? Priceless. And you can just tell that the schoolteacher is gonna be a femme fatale like Don just hasn't encountered yet. Of all his mistresses so far, Rosemarie DeWitt from season one would have to be my favorite, with Maggie Siff a close second, but you can just tell that the teacher will do more damage than the both of them combined, and I can't wait to see it unfold. And it really is amazing that season three so far is miles better than season two, which was just as much better than season one.

And I tell you all that to tell you this: In your mind, compare all that wild entertainment to what's going to be unleashed on NBC tonight and, for that matter, every weeknight at 10 p.m. or the foreseeable (or should it be "unforeseeable"?) future. Is there really anything worse you could imagine for primetime than FIVE HOURS A WEEK of Jay Leno kissing celebrities' asses? I can't come up with anything, and given the rather amazing amount of reality crap that pollutes most of the airwaves now, that's saying quite a bit.

Tonight will be a test of willpower for me, because I really like Jerry Seinfeld (Jay's first 10 p.m. guest), but I'm gonna stand strong and just say no. If I have any power at all (and, believe me, I'm well aware that I don't), please do me this tiny favor and never, ever tune in to this garbage. I have a feeling from everything I've read so far that, no matter how abysmal Jay's ratings might get, they're unlikely to pull him off the air any time soon because the show is just so cheap to produce, but we can still try, right?

OK, enough bile for a Monday morning. I'll leave you with something much more glorious: A making-of featurette for Wes Anderson's upcoming "Fantastic Mr. Fox." As you can see from this clip, Anderson clearly has the same respect for Roald Dahl and his work that Spike Jonze has for Maurice Sendak and his. Enjoy the clip, and have a perfectly passable Monday. Peace out.

No, I really don't have a heterocrush on George Clooney, but this stuff looks damn funny

But before we get into any of that, the details have finally emerged about just what "Pushing Daisies" creator Bryan Singer is gonna do after walking away from "Heroes" for the second time (when they thoroughly wasted Hiro's time trip to Japan, that was enough to make me walk away for the first time and make it permanent.)

The good news is he now has two projects in the works for NBC, but unfortunately neither of them sound anywhere near as imaginative as "Pushing Daisies."

In the first, Fuller and Bryan Singer are partnering to adapt the Augusten Burroughs book "Sellevision," which apparently revolves around the inner workings at a fictional home shopping channel. Sounds like an awful lot of meh to me, but who knows? It could also be really funny, I suppose.

The second project he's on sounds much more appealing to me simply because of the oddity of it. Described as a "workplace comedy," "No Kill" will be set inside a no-kill animal shelter. Sounds great to me, especially with this tease from Fuller: "There's definitely a 'Barney Miller' workplace aspect to it."

And of course, for you "Pushing Daisies" fans out there (and there had to be at least a few of you, right?), Fuller is also working on a 12-issue series of comic books based on the show, and like just about any show creator you can think of, dreaming about a movie someday. I don't even think I have the heart to go there ...

OK, from here on out today it's all about George Clooney in two clips, as the fall will seem to be with the two flicks below and Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" all coming out in short order.

First up comes a new, short clip from "Men Who Stare at Goats," featuring Clooney torturing Ewan McGregor with some kind of odd device. The movie, set to come out Nov. 6 and based on Jon Ronson's book about the Army's exploration of uses for paranormal activity, should probably be the funniest movie for the rest of this year, and is one I'm really looking forward to. Enjoy.



Next up, and potentially even better, is as far as I know the first teaser trailer for director Jason Reitman's return, "Up in the Air." Clooney stars as a downsizer who compiles his frequent flier as he travels the globe firing people, and thankfully the great Anna Kendrick (who I've loved ever since "Rocket Science" - rent that little charmer if you've never seen it) plays a rival who develops a way to fire people even faster (comforting thought, eh?). Before today, I had only seen this as having a probable Christmas day release, but now it's listed at the IMDB for Dec. 4, so I can only say huzzah to that. Enjoy the trailer, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Film Forum with Beavis and Butthead? Bring it on!

Actually, before I get into any of that (plus a bonus clip for "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and even Alyson Hannigan as a Lusty Leopard stripper), there's a couple of bits of news out there today that are just too good not to pass along.

First up is that, though I might have to drive to Atlanta, I most likely will get to see Jean-Pierre Jeunet's crazy new flick "Micmacs" this fall now that it's been picked up for U.S. distribution by Sony Pictures Classics.

I believe the full original French name of the flick is "Micmacs à tire-larigot," but I'll take it in any form I can get it, especially since the plot sounds exactly like something that sprang from Jeunet's rather active imagination. In it, Dany Boon stars as a video store clerk who bands together with his friends to take out two weapons manufacturers after he gets a bullet lodged in his brain.

And in perhaps even better, though certainly expected, news, AMC has greenlit a fourth season of "Mad Men."

Beyond the acclaim the show brings to AMC, the numbers this year have been rather incredible, bringing in 2.8 million viewers for the season premiere (34 percent more than the season two premiere), with the total rising to 4.5 million viewers of subsequent airings during the first week.

And from an aesthetic view, the show has never been better, so I can only say bring it on. If I have this right, show creator Matthew Weiner only has a five-season arc planned, so this brings us into the home stretch. And I'll certainly be around until the very end.

OK, before we get into the videos, being a fan of Allyson Hannigan since the beginning of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," I certainly couldn't help but pass along this photo of her apparently working at the Lusty Leopard from the Sept. 28 season premiere of "How I Met Your Mother." As best as I can tell, the premiere is called "Double Date," and from the photos I've seen, I think Barney finally gets a date with Robin and - of course - takes her to all his usual haunts. Enjoy!


I'll close today with a couple of clips, the first of which is a new featurette for Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," which is set to drop Nov. 13. You can see from the clip that Anderson is paying a lot of attention to the details of the animated sets, much as he did with the live-action ones for "The Royal Tenenbaums" (still my favorite Anderson flick), and watching George Clooney roll around on the farm is just a hoot. Enjoy.



And finally comes the main event for fans of truly juvenile humor (like me), the return of Beavis and Butthead. Sure, it's shameless promotion for Mike Judge's "Extract," which is indeed playing wide enough for me to go see it Saturday afternoon (huzzah!), but it's also very funny, and if you have American heroes Beavis and Butthead in your stable, why not use them? Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

A behind-the-scenes glimpse of "Cemetery Junction," and proof that Wes Anderson really will work again?

This being a lazy Saturday morning, I really don't have too much, but certainly wanted to pass along this BBC clip from the set of Ricky Gervais' and Stephen Merchant's "Cemetery Junction," easily one of the movies I'm most looking forward to for 2010. It really doesn't reveal a whole lot except that, once again, the two of them just love telling jokes about Ralph Fiennes, and really, who doesn't?



OK, the only other thing I've got is the first photo I've seen from Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," which will be his first foray into animation when and if it finally comes out (there's still no release date at the IMDB.)

I used to have a lot of love for Wes Anderson, and for his early work, I certainly still do. If you were to put a gun to my head and make me list, say, my 20 favorite films, Anderson's "Bottle Rocket," "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums," each an improvement on the other, would all make the list. But his last two, "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" and "Darjeeling Limited," have just left me more than a little cold.

In other words, Mr. Anderson really needs his mojo back, and though I have serious doubts this flick is gonna get it for him, here's hoping. Enjoy the pic, which comes courtesy of JoBlo, and the rest of your weekend. Peace out.

What's going to happen under "Friday Night Lights"

"The Dark Knight" has, thankfully, knocked the wretched "Spider-Man 3" from the perch of opening-weekend champ with a take of $155 million, but in its shadow another Hayao Miyazaki movie (huzzah!) has also apparently opened in Japan to strong box office numbers.

"Ponyo on a Cliff By the Sea," which is about a five-year old boy, Sosuke, and the Princess goldfish, Ponyo, who wants to become human, had scored 83 percent of the first day total of Miyazaki's 2001 megahit "Spirited Away" as of 3 p.m. Saturday. "Spirited" went on to earn $284 million in Japan - an all-time BO record for the Japanese market. Here's hoping "Ponyo" gets an American release very soon, with or without the usual English dubbing that goes with the Western versions of his flicks.

And, in one more bit of movie news before we dive into "Friday Night Lights," it seems that if Wes Anderson ever does manage to make his first animated flick - based on the Roald Dahl work "Fantastic Mr. Fox" - Jarvis Cocker of Pulp fame will be doing much of the music (and, just for the record, the IMDB does indeed have a November 2009 release date set for "Mr. Fox.") I like Jarvis Cocker even more than I do slightly twisted movies for kids, and Pulp's "Different Class" is a record I just keep going back to again and again, so that should just be tons of fun.

From here on out, however, I promise it's all about "Friday Night Lights." To find out more than was recently revealed by TV scribe Michael Ausiello, unless you have DirecTV, you'll have to wait until January or so, but here's what we know so far, with some commentary from me. As far as current, hour-long serials go, I'd put "Friday Night Lights" behind only "Battlestar Galactica" and "Mad Men," so here's hoping they don't just completely screw it up before I get to see it again.

Here goes:

* It's already been revealed that Tim Street and Smash Williams will be fazed out in the first four episodes or so (since they're not in high school, after all), but now comes news that Tim Riggins, Tyra Collette, Lyla Garrity and Matt Saracen will all be graduating seniors when the show returns. Is it just me, or wasn't Matt at some point younger than all the others? I would have assumed this makes Landry and Julie seniors too, since I thought they were in the same grade as Saracen, but perhaps not.

* In dishier news, once the new school year starts, Tim and Lyla will once again be a couple, but Tyra and Landry will not. I have a feeling that Tyra and Landry will be together again by the end of the season (if it gets another full run), but it only makes sense that - for now at least - she would break his heart once again (and that cute geek girl that Landry dumped for her - Brea Grant - will be Hiro's new sidekick on the new season of "Heroes," so a hearty huzzah to that!)

* Tami Taylor, played by the simply fantastic Connie Britton, will get a serious boost in pay when she goes from guidance counselor to principal of Dillon High. Doesn't sound terribly realistic to me, but that should still make for some real tension on the Taylor homefront and for some great TV.

* A new hot-shot, freshman quarterback named J.D. McCoy will challenge Saracen for the starting job. I'd imagine that, with so many of the regulars graduating this year, he'll be the first of a big new wave of characters if the show is going to have a life beyond this year. Going in the opposite direction, "Gilmore Girls" veteran Matt Czuchry (Chris, the rival for Lyla's affections) and Benny Ciaramello (Santiago) will not be back.

So there you have it. Even if I do have to wait quite a long time to see this on NBC again, I'm glad to hear that the creators are still putting a lot time into one of my favorite shows.

And we'll close with something that's sure to brighten up even the dreariest of Mondays. The "Watchmen" trailer that preceded "The Dark Knight" was easily the best of the bunch, and even better is this Varga-esque painting of Carla Gugino as Sally Jupiter by artist James Jean that turned up on Aintitcool.com. It had the ring of something rather exclusive, but since my love for Carla Gugino knows no bounds, I decided to swipe it anyway and share it here. Peace out.