A Thursday clip show, with Harold, Kumar and even Black Dynamite

Before we get into any of that, does anyone remember Amy Sherman-Palladino? Before she quit her own show between the sixth and seventh (final) seasons, she was the creator of "Gilmore Girls," a show that was miles better than it had any business being.

The CW show starred Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel as a single mother and her teenage daughter, and on paper that should have been enough to keep me away. And for the first couple of seasons, it was, but I eventually caught on an up, and I'm certainly glad I did.

Along with the great relationship - and two electric stars - at its core, the show had genuine quirk, not the forced and piled on kind (though there was a whole lot of it), but the organic kind that genuinely makes you laugh (and is sorely missing almost everywhere else on TV.) And it also had very fast - and almost equally smart and funny - banter, something you don't find outside of Aaron Sorkin's best work.

And I tell you all that to tell you this: After first attempting a post-"Gilmore Girls" comeback with the disastrously short-lived "The Return of Jezebel Jones" with Lauren Ambrose and Parker Posey (how in the world do you make her not funny? Sheesh), she's now back in a pretty big way, scripting a pilot for ABC based on the best-selling book "The Nanny Diaries."

If that sounds familiar, it's already been made into a movie I somehow managed to miss starring Scarlett Johansson and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (who also made the delightful "American Splendor" and, more recently, "The Extra Man," well worth a rental.)

And on paper, this new show, about an NYU undergrad hired to care for the 4-year-old child of a wealthy New York family, sounds as unpromising as "Gilmore Girls" first did to me, too, but since I was wrong once, I'll probably at least tune in for the pilot for this, when and if it ever materializes. Welcome back.

OK, after that today, it's nothing but filthy fun, I promise, starting with the first trailer I've seen for "A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas." Yes, 3D, but as you'll see from the trailer, it's as much a target as a prop, and should be put to some pretty friggin funny use. I'm not sure there really needs to be a premise for a Harold and Kumar movie, but this time out Harold (John Cho) is happily married when Kumar (Kal Penn), of course, shows up to drag him back into his hedonistic ways. I hope I never get too old to enjoy a good stoner movie, and here's hoping also that this turns out to be one (I'm betting on yes) when it opens in November. Enjoy.

And finally, satires don't get much smarter or funnier than what Michael Jai White and director Scott Sanders cooked up with "Black Dynamite," so I was plenty happy to hear the saga was continuing in animated form on Adult Swim. I have no idea if this is going to series, but with the first short episode embedded below, I can tell you two things: Though it's not quite as funny as the movie (and really, few things are), it's still pretty darn good, and also, please be warned, this is EXTREMELY not safe for work. Enjoy it when you're sure it won't get you in trouble. Peace out.

HBO books a "Game Change," and finds its Sarah Palin

Back in 2008, it certainly didn't seem at the time to on paper be exactly the winning formula for a top-shelf political movie. A script from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Gilmore Girls" regular Danny Strong, directed by Jay Roach, purveyor of the broadest kind of big-screen comedies?

Anyone who's seen "Recount," their HBO movie about the rather memorable 2000 U.S. presidential election, however, knows (or at least I do) that it was a surprisingly smart, funny and very entertaining political flick, with Laura Dern's sublime performance as Katherine Harris as the very sweet cherry on top.

Now, the two of them are teaming up again for a political flick with even better source material, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin's tome about the 2008 presidential election, "Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime," and wisely simply shortened the title to "Game Change." And they've lined up an intriguing choice to play the most colorful character, Sarah Palin.

Julianne Moore (not Tina Fey) will play the never-boring former candidate for vice president, and assuming she can avoid the battle with bad accents she played out on "30 Rock," she should be great in this. No word yet on the rest of the cast or exactly when this will hit TV, but since this intrigues me, I'm almost certain to pass it on when I find it.

I read a pretty good deal of political books, and can attest that "Game Change" is one of the very best in the genre, so definitely bring this on!

And all I have after that today is the first trailer I know of for "Bad Teacher" the upcoming comedy starring Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Jason Segel and, thankfully, Phyllis from "The Office," too. Frankly, it doesn't look all that promising, but since it comes from director Jake Kasdan ("The TV Set," "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" and, way back in the day, "Freaks and Geeks," too), I'm holding out hope it will be a whole lot funnier than I'm expecting when it drops June 24. Enjoy the trailer, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

I always suspected Ronald McDonald was pretty much pure evil

An advisory word for anyone reading today: If you make it to the end, you'll find the most recent Oscar winner for Best Animated Short Film, the Froggie flick "Logorama," embedded at the bottom, and it's extremely worth watching (and it inspired the title of this post.) But before that ...

This may be rather amazing news to no one other than me and Bob Connally, but it seems that not only has Bruce Robinson apparently finished his movie of the Hunter S. Thompson novel "The Rum Diary," but it may even be headed for Cannes.

For anyone unfamiliar with the flick, it stars one Johnny Depp as an American journalist working for a newspaper in Puerto Rico who gets involved in a love triangle and surely all other kinds of trouble too. The movie also stars Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, Giovanni Ribisi and Reel Fanatic fave Richard Jenkins.

So who in the world is Bruce Robinson? Well, before pretty much disappearing for more than 20 years now, he managed to direct the ultimate buddy comedy of sorts, "Withnail & I," and the almost-as-good "How to Get Ahead in Advertising." He's been sorely missed around here, so any word of "The Rum Diary" finally moving towards one day maybe seeing a movie screen anywhere near my little corner of the world is certainly welcome news.

And in really good TV news, if you haven't been watching NBC's "Parenthood," you've really been missing out. Sure, it can be awfully schmaltzy, but it's also pretty epicly good storytelling, and Lauren Graham, Peter Krause and yes, even Dax Shepard are all great in it.

Well, now it seems the show, created by "Friday Night Lights" guider Jason Katims, is finally starting to pick up some mojo, winning its time slot Tuesday night for perhaps the first time, even managing to beat out a new episode of ABC's "The Good Wife."

Seriously, this is what good TV looks like, so catch it while you can, which looks more and more like it will be for at least two seasons.

And in much bigger news about TV people I really like, it seems that Aziz Ansari has just signed on to be one-half of what, at least around here, will make a comedy dream team with Danny McBride.

"Zombieland" director Ruben Fleischer has signed on to direct an action-comedy called "30 Minutes Or Less" as his next project, and now those two - my favorite two comedians working today, in case you missed the hint - have signed on as the leads.

Written by Michael Diliberti and Matthew Sullivan, the script revolves around a junior high history teacher (Ansari) and a pizza-delivery man (McBride) who are forced to rob a bank when one of them is strapped to a bomb vest.

And in a final bit of news before we get to the promised movie, now that I'm reupping with HBO this week in time to watch the premiere of David Simon's post-Katrina series "Treme" this Sunday, it seems they're determined to never let me go again.

Along with series coming from all kinds of top-shelf directors (Martin Scorsese, Kathyrn Bigelow and Lee Daniels, among them), HBO has now signed "School of Rock" and "Freaks and Geeks" scribe Mike White for a new series that sounds just about perfect to me.

Laura Dern (remember her?) will star in "Enlightened" as "a self-destructive woman who has a revelatory experience at a treatment center and becomes determined to live an enlightened life." That already sounds funny to me, and the show has received a 10-episode pickup and will begin filming this summer.

And you may remember that Laura Dern did her best work in years in the HBO movie "Recount" (which was somehow written by "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Gilmore Girls" veteran Danny Strong) as dragon woman Katherine Harris.

OK, as promised, anyone who bothered to stick around (or perhaps skipped) until the end today deserves a reward, so here goes. Like most of the world, I just assumed that Nick Park's latest Wallace & Gromit flick, "Wallace & Gromit in a Matter of Loaf and Death," was gonna win the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, but it lost to something called "Logorama," made by Frenchies François Alaux and Hervé de Crécy. Subtle? Nah. But this glimpse of the secret lives of the advertising mascots who truly run our lives is wickedly funny, especially the inhabitants of the zoo. Having now watched this and the latest Wallace & Gromit offering, I deem this a worthy winner by a nose. Enjoy the flick embedded below, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Logorama from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.

Video proof positive that David Cross really is just about the funniest man on Earth

You know, as those "Pirates" movies keep getting weirder I just lose more and more interest, but Rob Marshall, director of the upcoming "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," has at least come up with one thing to get me intrigued.

Ian McShane, Al Swearengen himself, is about to sign to to play Blackbeard, the legendary pirate who piloted the ship Queen Anne's Revenge. With Penelope Cruz already on board as a definite case of trading up from Keira Knightley, I think that just might be enough to get me to buy a ticket for this.

And in another bit of news that interests me (and life's frankly just too short to spend any time on things that don't), details are starting to emerge on just what "Gilmore Girls" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino is cooking up now for the CW.

Yes, I realize I'm far too old to watch this stuff, but at its rare and best (as with "Gilmore Girls"), the station occasionally offers shows that cater to folks over the age of 15, which will hopefully be the case with this. "The Wyoming Project," which needs to start by getting a better name very soon, will star someone named Sean Faris as a 22-year-old dude who inherits a Wyoming ranch and the custody of his three younger sisters. What made "Gilmore Girls" so great was the keen eye for familial relations combined with a genuinely quirky sense of place, so here's hoping she can do at least something close to that magic this time around.

And after that today, all I have left is the first episode, in its entirety, of something Spike Jonze and David Cross teamed up to create for British TV. If that sounds like a dream team to you, than you're with me, and as you'll see from this trio of YouTube clips containing the first episode of "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret," they don't disappoint.

I'm not sure what British network this is on, but be warned, whichever one it is certainly isn't afraid of profanity, which spews from the mouth of Will Arnett, who also stars in this, almost as freely as it did from Peter Capaldi's Malcolm Tucker in "In the Loop." Definitely watch this with headphones if you're at work, and have a perfectly pleasant Tuesday. Peace out.

Richard Pryor to be played by ... a Wayans brother?

I really enjoy reading about all this stuff, even more than I do writing about it when I first wake up in the morning, because very often you just get one of those wtf moments that make me start the day with a smile.

To first give all credit where its due, this info comes directly from Hitfix, and I see no reason to take it as anything but fact.

In February, it was announced that "Dreamgirls" director Bill Condon was going to make a biopic about Richard Pryor (rather imaginatively titled "Richard Pryor"), and Eddie Murphy was going to be the star. Fair enough all that, but apparently not so.

Now comes word that though Condon is still on board, Marlon Wayans will be stepping in to play Pryor, and oddly I see this a potentially really good move.

Don't get me wrong. I can't criticize anything the Wayans brothers have generated as a unit in recent years because I haven't bothered to see anything they were all involved in since the first "Scary Movie," but I did of course way back when see "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka." And I did see and quite enjoy the Marlon variety of the Wayans in both "Requiem for a Dream" and "Ladykillers" (yes, "Ladykillers," and I like that movie quite a bit.)

Mostly, though I'm sure Murphy would have loved to do this, this move takes out all that ego and places a potentially very funny guy (as long as he and his brothers aren't behind the camera) in the role of the best comedian (except for maybe Bill Hicks) of all time.

Well, more than enough about that, really, but apropos of just about nothing, here's Wayans in a very funny - and extremely foul - clip from "Ladykillers" to get your Wednesday started right.



Selick out at Laika

Anyone who saw and enjoyed "Coraline" as much as I did (and since it made $75 million domestic, there must be a few of you out there) knows that this is a pretty dark day for Laika, the studio that generated it.

Henry Selick, the "Coraline" director and a master of stop-motion animation, is leaving his post as "supervising director for feature film development" at the studio. Rather ironically, I guess, despite that title, he's leaving because his contract is up and he still didn't have any feature film in sight to direct.

Laika is set to announce its next feature within the month, but here's hoping that Selick finds a new home where his talents can be put to their proper use very soon.

Lauren Graham back on TV?

As a big fan of "Gilmore Girls" (yes, really), I have to say it's just been depressing to see Lauren Graham not be able to find any really good roles - on the big screen or small - since that show ended. Now, however, it seems she's found something that will at least probably last a few years.

Graham is about to step in for Maura Tierney in NBC's upcoming drama series "Parenthood," based at least loosely on the movie of the same name that I just couldn't stand. Tierney had to drop out because she is battling breast cancer.

And why would the TV show be any better than the rather wretched movie? Well, first of all, it was created by "Friday Night Lights" showrunner Jason Katims, and already has a pretty strong cast, including Peter Krause and Craig T. Nelson (as an aside, I just finished watching "Sports Night," and that show was so good I'm surprised it even managed to last two years.)

The show, if it actually makes it in on the air, is set to debut as a midseason replacement.

Another "Vacation"?

As sequels go, I think this one just might work because of the sheer craziness of it. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it seems that "Wedding Crashers" director David Dobkin is considering producing and directing (yet another) sequel of sorts to "National Lampoon's Vacation."

Yes, there have already been umpteen spinoffs (I think the only one I've seen was "European Vacation"), but this would instead be a "reboot" (what an awful word), with Rusty now taking his own kids on a similar trip to the original, perhaps to Wally World again for all I know.

Now, National Lampoon is no longer involved (but when's the last time they generated anything genuinely funny?) and no word yet if any of the original cast would be either, but just thinking of that goofy movie again made me smile, so here's hoping something seriously funny comes out of all this.

And speaking of seriously funny, "South Park" is finally back on the air again tonight for what I have to assume will be another seven-episode stretch. Here's the description of tonight's episode from Comedy Central:

"The boys bring in professional ghost hunters to investigate evidence of paranormal activity in the Broflovski house. Powerful forces are tormenting Ike. He’s freaked out and the stress could kill him. Kyle and the boys are doing everything they can to save him, but the poltergeists won’t leave Ike alone."

What that doesn't tell you is that the episode is titled "Dead Celebrities," and as you can see from the very brief clip below, they take their inspiration from a rather obvious source. Enjoy, and have a none-too-bothersome Wednesday. Peace out.

"Sit Down, Shut Up" ... well, the latter immediately, please!

Alright, I gave it two episodes as a courtesy to Mitchell Hurwitz, but my verdict is certainly in (and apparently shared by much of the world): The only possible word to describe "Sit Down, Shut Up" is awful.

And not even gloriously awful in ways that can be celebrated and mocked. It's just generically awful in all the worst ways, a random collection of thoroughly boring characters telling off-color but also uniformly unfunny jokes. How in the world did this garbage spring from the mind of the creator of "Arrested Development"?

Well, it seems that Fox is acting quickly to move it toward oblivion. Taking away its plum post-"Simpsons" time slot, Fox is moving "Sit Down" to the 7 p.m. graveyard and, in what would have to be described as some kind of ironic justice, giving that 8:30 slot back to the remaining episodes of the still-simply fantastic "King of the Hill." I'd give "Sit Down" a month at best, and can't say I will miss it one bit.

There is, however, deliriously better news out there on the animation front today, and it comes in the form of a two-fer from Aardman Features, the fine folks who created Wallace and Gromit. I had the chance to see the latest Wallace flick, "Wallace and Gromit in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death'," as part of a collection of animated shorts at the recently concluded Atlanta Film Festival 365, but am rather ashamed to say I passed simply because it ended too late for this aging man on a Sunday school night.

Unfortunately, neither of the two new Aardman flicks, being produced with Sony, will star Wallace or Gromit, but here's hoping they're still tons of fun. The first, "Pirates!", is based on the book "The Pirates! (in an Adventure with Scientists" by Gideon Defoe, and will be filmed in Aardman's signature stop-motion style. It's apparently about a hapless band of pirates trying to win the Pirate of the Year Trophy (how can I get into that game?) It will be directed by "Chicken Run" helmer Peter Lord.

The second flick, to be filmed in CGI, will be titled "Arthur Christmas" and will apparently reveal the secret of just how Santa Claus manages to deliver all those gifts in one night. Sounds like nothing but fun to me.

And I'll leave you today after a short report with the trailer for Alexis Bledel's upcoming flick "Post Grad" because, well, it's Alexis Bledel, and I've always just had a ridiculous crush on both of the "Gilmore Girls." Given how far removed I am from the target demographic for this fluff, there's really no other possible reason I should probably go see it when it comes out in August, but it does also star former "Friday Night Lights" QB1 Zach Gilford and veryfunnywoman Jane Lynch, so maybe it will be surprisingly good. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Looking for the next "Arrested Development"?

"Nothing for 40 years in the business, then my son graduates from college, goes to work for Price Waterhouse and boom!"
- The ever-humble Richard Jenkins on his much-deserved Oscar nomination for "The Visitor"

As for the headline of this post, it comes from the lead of a Variety story on Imagine and its move back into TV comedy. As anyone who's seen "Arrested Development" knows, however, there could only ever be one show quite that madly entertaining.

That said, any effort to bring actually funny comedies to Fall TV is welcome in this little corner of the world, especially since I just assumed it would pretty much be a victim of the recent writers' strike.

What "Arrested Development" producer Brian Grazer was actually talking about that led to Variety's little bit of hyperbole does indeed sound like it could fit that bill, especially since it comes one half of the creative team behind "Gilmore Girls" (and not the half that created the unqualified disaster "The Return of Jezebel James.")

Daniel Palladino will be the main writer for a sitcom loosely based on Grazer's father, who Grazer said was "a lawyer with a slightly questionable moral compass." The show will be called "The Chairman of Chatsworth," so keep your eyes out for it.

Michael Gambon peruses "The Book of Eli"

I think the reason I just can't get too much into apocalyptic movies is that, once they're over, the world never really does end (not that I'm looking forward to that or anything), but I'm gonna give the genre at least one more chance for "The Book of Eli," for several reasons.

First and foremost, it's the very welcome return to feature film directing for the Hughes Brothers, Allen and Albert, who have been out of the movie game for far too long.

Secondly, with the new addition of Michael Gambon (a k a Albus Dumbledore the second), it's acquiring a first-rate cast. Denzel Washington plays the titular Eli in what the IMDB describes as a "post-apocalyptic Western, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind." Gambon will play one half of a "strange couple that holds onto old traditions," and Gary Oldman's in on this somehow too.

But most of all I'm just happy to see the Hughes working on a big-time film again (with this one tentatively set for release next January), because they showed so much promise before pretty much disappearing after 2001's "From Hell."

Will Johnny Depp really write "The Rum Diary"?

Speaking of a director who is soon (hopefully) to make a welcome return after an even longer absence, the adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's "The Rum Diary" to star Johnny Depp and be directed by Bruce Robinson indeed appears to be back on again.

Robinson, as you may or may not remember, made the simply brilliant "Withnail and I" in 1987 and only two films since (neither of which I have seen.) I just assumed that "The Rum Diary" project, based on Thompson's semi-autobiographical novel about a young journalist working in Puerto Rico in the 1950s, was buried somewhere in deep development, but it hit the wire again this morning.

The latest bit of news is that Amber Heard (Dale Denton's just-about-jailbait girlfriend in "Pineapple Express") is about to sign on to play the female lead, which will put her in the middle of a love triangle between Depp's Paul Kemp and a fellow journalist.

That all sounds good to me, but it will sound so much better if this ever comes close to becoming an actual movie, and I'll certainly tell you if it does.

Who watches the Watchmen?

I've recently started re-reading Alan Moore and Robert Gibson's "Watchmen" graphic novel again to get psyched up for the movie, and I can report that it more than stands the test of time. As I've lugged it around town to read over lunch, no less than three strangers (all dudes, of course) have come up to me to tell me how much they love the book, and I have to say I share that devotion.

And I'm reasonably confident that Zack Snyder's feature film, when it comes out March 6, will be a real winner. All I know for sure so far is that the viral marketing machine has certainly been efficient, with the video below about the Keene Act to suppress masked vigilante justice being the most recent bit of promotion. Enjoy it, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

What - if anything - to watch this weekend?

Actually, the best thing I could find out there this morning is that Lauren Graham is returning to primetime TV in something that's at least called a "comedy," part of ABC's big buy back into the sitcom game.

Graham, a k a Lorelai Gilmore the elder, will play a female talk show host who urges her viewers to just "Let It Go," but finds she can't follow her own advice after being dumped by her boyfriend. Sounds like a big ball of meh, but I was a big enough "Gilmore Girls" fan that I'll give it at least few episodes next fall.

But here today it's all about the movie weekend, which doesn't look great, but for a January weekend in Hollywood's silly season it certainly could be a lot worse. Is there really anything new out there worth watching this weekend (at least in wide-release world, which my little corner of the world is part of)? Here, in order of how much I want to see them, is the breakdown, and if you've seen any of these and want to offer a word of warning, please feel free to do so.

1. "Taken"
I saw Pierre Morel's "District B13" a few months ago on DVD, and it was pretty sensational. Morel's futuristic vision of Paris was a trip, and stuntman-turned-actor Cyril Raffaeli had the chops to keep up with the simply frenetic action. It shows the full potential of the new French action wave, but I can't shake the feeling that "Taken" will be - at best - a pale knockoff.

For one thing, rather than looking forward, Morel's new flick actually came out a year ago in France and - according to The New Yorker, at least - employs tired torture sequences that we've seen far too many times before. Even so, I'm willing to give it a chance because Liam Neeson (as a retired CIA agent, of course) is just cool and it will hopefully be a fun ride, not just yet another movie about all the evil things that happen when Americans venture overseas (I haven't been to Paris in years, but I'm fairly certain it really isn't all that dangerous a place.) Here's the trailer.



2. "The Uninvited"
I'm fairly certain I haven't seen any horror movies that are remakes of Asian flicks since "The Ring," but with Elizabeth Banks and David Strathairn somehow in this one I just might give it a chance. I actually have seen Kim Jee-woon's original South Korean flick, "A Tale of Two Sisters," and that one is as simply bizarre as it is creepy.

I can't imagine this version helmed by first-time feature directors and brothers Thomas and Charles Guard will be anywhere near as good, but I think I just might find out as a pre-Super Bowl matinee. Enjoy the trailer.



3. "New in Town"
Just when I think my rather extreme dislike of Renee Zellweger is unfair, she once again turns up in something like this, which just looks like the most familiar, fish-out-of-water tripe. And frankly, I've been to Minnesota several times now, and while I will concede some of those folks do talk kinda funny, so do a lot of the people down here in my adopted home of Macon, GA. Is that really enough to make the basis of a feature film? Apparently so, but not enough to make me watch it. Here's the trailer.



So there you have it. I could also, I suppose, get caught up on the prestige pics by seeing either "Revolutionary Road" or "The Reader," but after sitting through (and almost completely enjoying) Jonathan Demme's thoroughly dysfunctional "Rachel Getting Married," I think I'm just in the mood for some entertainment for the masses. Have a perfectly pleasant weekend, and as I said, if you've seen any of these and want to share your opinion, please don't hesitate to do so.

When it comes to comedy, the Golden Globes get a whole lot right

Since it's all about comedy here today, I was initially very happy to see that very-funny-lady Lauren Graham is finally coming back to primetime TV (and only seven years after "Gilmore Girls" left the air, what the hell's up with that?) Once I found out what her show was going to be, however, most of my excitement quickly disappeared.

I'm not sure when this would ever try and make the air, but ABC has given a production commitment to a new comedy which would star Graham as a self-help guru who teaches women how to live a stress-free life, but struggles to follow her own advice when her boyfriend dumps her. Just in case that doesn't sound "meh" enough for you, this comes from "Will and Grace" writer Alex Herschlag, so even if we don't get real laughs there should at least be a laugh track in stitches.

However, if you had told me that a show about a single mom and her teenage daughter would be my favorite thing on all of TV for six years or so (let's just forget the final season), I never would have believed you, so I'll at least give this one a chance for Lauren Graham alone if it indeed ever makes it onto the air.

But, like I said, it's all about comedy here today, thanks to the Golden Globes, which will be handed out Jan. 11 on NBC. Though I really wish they wouldn't lump musicals and comedies together in the same together, it's enough to get me to tune in for some of the broadcast that they bother to recognize comedy at all, and this year's they've tapped some real winners in the comedic actress and actor categories.

Starting with the Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical, I was very happy to see they recognized two of my favorite flicks of the year, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and - surprisingly - "In Bruges." Woody Allen's flick is just lighter than air and a ton of fun, and "In Bruges," despite it's truly head-scratching WTF ending, contains the funniest dialogue of the year and great performances from Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes and most of all the fantastic Brendan Gleeson. I would have liked to have seen "Tropic Thunder" and, even more, Peter Sollett's seriously satisfying "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" make the cut, but some good choices all the same.

But, with this being a musical/comedy category and the roster being rounded out by "Burn After Reading," "Happy-Go-Lucky" (which I can't wait to see at the end of the year in NYC) and "Mamma Mia!", I'd have to imagine the award will go to the only musical on the list. Sheesh.

And it was great to see the love for Woody's thoroughly fun flick continue in the best actress/actor comedy/musical lists. Rebecca Hall carried the movie as Vicky, and she's landed a well-deserved best actress/comedy nomination up against some real heavyweights: Sally Hawkins in "Happy-Go-Unlucky", Frances McDormand in "Burn After Reading", Meryl Streep in "Mamma Mia!" and Emma Thompson in "Last Chance Harvey." If I were a betting man, which I no longer am, I'd say it will come down to Streep and Hawkins, with Hawkins pulling an upset.

Also from "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Javier Bardem gets a nod in the best actor comedy/musical category for his portrayal of the Lothario Juan Antonio, and he's up against easily some of the best comedic performances of 2008 (and one I haven't seen yet): Both Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson for "In Bruges", Dustin Hoffman for "Last Chance Harvey" and, in the real surprise, James Franco for "Pineapple Express." As much as I love the guys from "In Bruges," I'd give my vote to Franco's portrayal of the thoughtful stoner, but put my money on Hoffman.

Comedy shines through in the supporting categories too, if not as bright. Since I'm determined to mention "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" in every paragraph of this post, and perhaps convince anyone who hasn't done so already to watch it when it finally hits DVD, I have to add that the best thing of all about it was Penelope Cruz's manic turn as Juan Antonio's estranged wife, the thoroughly crazy Maria Elena. She's at her best in her natural Spanish, and here it just comes flying fast and almost always very funny.

I actually think she might win this one, in which she's up against Amy Adams and Viola Davis for "Doubt", Marisa Tomei for "The Wrestler" and Kate Winslet for "The Reader." Though my heart's with Cruz, I'd put my money in a very close vote on Tomei.

(As the final word on Woody Allen, I'll just add that he's returning to New York City this year with grumpy and very funny old dude Larry David as his leading man in "Whatever Works." That should just be a treat.)

And, finally, in the supporting actor category they've tapped what for me was the best comedic performance of 2008, Robert Downey Jr.'s turn in "Tropic Thunder." Even if you somehow haven't seen the movie yet, you've surely seen the photos of him in black face to play actor-extraordinaire Kirk Lazarus. A gimmick, sure, but along with Brandon T. Jackson as Alpa Chino (yes, that's right) he gets all the movies best lines and just makes the most of them, especially in the flawlessly offensive "full retard" speech.

His competition in the supporting actor category includes another turn in "Tropic Thunder," Tom Cruise's seriously overrated drop-in as movie mogul Les Grossman, plus Ralph Fiennes in "The Duchess", Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt" and the late Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight." I have to think Ledger will rightly take this one, as he will on Oscar night too.

As a final word about supporting actors and comedy, the globes snubbed one other performance that just combined the two perfectly, Brad Pitt's turn as Rusty in "Burn After Reading." The movie was only good at best, but he was a dimwitted delight to watch.

And speaking of Pitt, I'll leave you with this photo from the set of Quentin Tarantino's World War II flick "Inglorious Basterds." Though he looks more like someone you might find standing on the corner in a trench coat, he's apparently the ring leader of the "Basterds," who will also rather incredibly include B.J. Novak of "The Office" and Samm Levine, a k a Neal Schweiber from "Freaks and Geeks." Peace out.

The Rehoboth Film Festival and "the best horror movie of the year"?

The biggest news out there today that isn't all about me is that AMC has just signed on for a third season of "Mad Men," but show creator Matthew Weiner isn't yet quite on board.

Given the run the show is on now deep in season two, I just assumed it was signed up for Weiner's planned five-year run, but I guess that shows you just how little I know about business.

As for the show itself which, if I'm not mistaken, only has two episodes left in this season, last Sunday's installment may have been the best yet. Don's first-season party with the hippies was a hoot, but his adventures in La-La land were just crazy on a whole new level (and my co-worker Karen Ludwig asked a question I have to admit had never really crossed my mind - will he come back to New York?) I have to assume so, but I can't wait for the return of "Dick Wickman" if he shows this week.

But the bad news, of course, is that even though the two sides have apparently exchanged contract offers, Weiner is not yet signed up for the further saga of the men and women of Sterling Cooper. If he were to walk, the show is clearly in good hands by now (including "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" vet Marti Noxon and "Gilmore Girls" vet Lesli Linka Glatter, among others), but it would still be a real shame. Stay tuned.

In even better news, though I haven't seen a Broadway show in years, the Great White Way is about to get a serious injection of class.

It seems that "Once," the soundtrack for which still sits on my desk at work and will surely be listened to later today, has been optioned by John N. Hart Jr., Jeffrey Sine and Frederick Zollo to turn the musical into, well, a musical. Luckily, the trio have said they expect stars/composers Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova to be involved in the project (as stars? I'd easily pay $100 for that!) Writer/director John Carney may get in on the game too.

Best of all, it will include not only songs from the sensational movie, but also some more Hansard/Irglova tunes that didn't make the cut. In my mind, I'm definitely already there instead of heading to a 10-hour day for my fifth day of work this week!

Rehoboth Film Festival

It's really hard to complain too much, though, because the day after Barack Obama wins the election I'm headed to Rehoboth Beach, Del., for the 11th (amazing!) annual Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival. My brother and I had once fantasized about hitting Toronto - me for the movies and him for the soccer - but I think Rehoboth is about as glamorous as it's gonna get for me, and that's just fine.

This year's festival takes place from Wednesday, Nov. 5 to Sunday, Nov. 9, and features a host of great almost-first-run movies. Here's the schedule of what I'll hopefully be watching (assuming we can get tickets for them all), and if you live anywhere near Rehoboth (or are just curious), you can finally view the schedule in a pdf program here.

Thursday:

"Mirageman": All I really know about this one is that it's about some kind of Chilean superhero, and that's enough to get me intrigued.

"Let the Right One In": This is the "horror" movie I referred to in the title of this post, and though I'm way too old for most horror flicks, this looks right up my alley. It's apparently a Mexican movie about a young man who befriends his next-door neighbor, who just happens to be a vampire. Cool, and the trailer, courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes, is below.



"Trouble the Water": I'd have to imagine this doco will be the festival's hottest ticket, so hopefully I can get in. Given the human scale of the tragedy, I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching documentaries about Hurricane Katrina, and this one about a husband and wife who get trapped in their house looks like a real winner.

Friday:

"The Pope's Toilet": Despite the rather colorful title of this one, I'm fairly certain it won't have any images of Benedict himself doing his private business. Instead, it's a drama about the madness that surrounds a papal visit to Uruguay.

"In a Dream": I never would have guessed, but apparently Philadelphia is just a mecca for outside (and outsider) art. This particular doco looks at the work of mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar, and should just be a visual feast.

"Wendy and Lucy": I had never heard of this one, but I really like Michelle Williams, so I'm definitely in. As the titular Wendy, she shows up in Oregon with her dog Lucy to look for work. I like movies about the fringes of American life, and this one should be intriguing.

Saturday:

"Mister Foe": Young Billy Elliott (Jamie Bell) is a little more grown up now and suffering a rather serious oedipal complex. After becoming infatuated with a woman who looks like his mother, he runs off to Glasgow, and surely a lot of nifty indie rock and hopefully good filmmaking will follow.

"The Grocer's Son": My parents recommended this one, which for me makes it a must-see. It's a French flick about a city man who returns to southern France to help in his father's grocery store after the elder man suffers a stroke. Doesn't sound like exactly my cup of tea, but I love being proven wrong.

"Love Comes Lately": It looks I'm not terribly likely to get the job I applied for on a lark to be the "Film Festival Coordinator" for the DC Jewish Community Center, but I won't hold that against Isaac Bashevis Singer. This flick based on a collection of the great writer's short stories is about love, faith and - inevitably - cheating in New York City.

Sunday:

"Under the Bombs": Shot in 10 days as bombs were actually raining down on Lebanon in 2006, this drama uses non-actors to look for some answers in all that madness. Good look with that, but I'll give it a chance anyway.

"Man on a Wire": I'll hopefully close the fest with this doco about Philippe Petit's bold and crazy attempt to walk between the Twin Towers on a wire in 1974. The flick is apparently also about all the loony people who conspired with him to make this all happen, which should make for the most interesting part.

So, there you have it. Please feel free to browse through the rather impressive program and make any recommendations of flicks you may have seen but I have omitted from this list (which is not yet set in stone.)

And I'll leave with you the first 10 minutes of "Sex Drive," which I'll probably go see Sunday for a healthy dose of juvenalia after Oliver Stone's "W." on Saturday. I haven't watched it all yet, but I'm sure you'll want to wear headphones if you're watching this at work. Peace out.

Major Emmy nominations for "Battlestar Galactica"? Why the frak not?

Garnering attention for a sci-fi show - even one as sensational as "Battlestar Galactica" - from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences would seem to be the definition of a lost cause, but just in case I have some hidden pull I don't know about I'm gonna make the case anyway.

In general, I pay a lot less attention to the Emmys than I do the Oscars. Don't get me wrong: I watch at least as much TV as the average human being, though NEVER any reality programming, but I just can't get seem to get amped for the Emmys.

I will, however, check out the nominations list when it's announced July 10 to see if "Battlestar" does indeed manage to find some unexpected love, and not just in the sound and visual effects categories it has attracted attention in thus far.

One reason I really never care about the Emmys, however, is the voters have a rather amazing record of ignoring what are obviously the best shows on TV. As far as I know, "The Wire," "Friday Night Lights" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" have, between them, a total of only three Emmys, with "The Wire" only even being nominated once for the writing on the Season 3 episode "Middle Ground." (And I won't even get into the single biggest Emmy snub of all time, the inability to give Lauren Graham even one nomination for her superb work on "Gilmore Girls.")

My rather long-winded point is the deck would seem to be stacked very high against "Battlestar," but luckily its creators don't seem to know that or refuse to believe it. If you go to any movie trade paper sites or the IMDB, you'll inevitably be slapped in the face by a pop-up ad touting the show for Emmy consideration.

And why the frak not? It's clearly the smartest drama on cable or network TV right now, with "Mad Men," "Pushing Daisies" and "Friday Night Lights" close at its heels. In it's strongly serialized story lines, it takes on the issue of what it's like to live in a state of almost constant fear in our post-9/11 world. And, of course, it delivers all this punctuated with the space battles us geeks so sorely need.

And the acting, throughout, is just first-rate. Edward James Olmos, who obviously has a long history in film and television, has just taken over the role of Admiral William Adama to make it his most memorable one of all. I was surprised to find he had already won one Emmy, surely well deserved, for Best Supporting Actor for his work on "Miami Vice." The man certainly merits at least one more nomination.

As for the women, Katee Sackhoff as Kara Thrace and Mary McDonnell as President Roslin are certainly also worthy of Emmy attention, and the writing, be it by Ronald Moore, David Eick, Jane Espenson or another talented member of the staff, is also first-rate.

Though it's probably not gonna happen, the timing for some major-category Emmy attention for "Battlestar Galactica" would be just about right. With the show reaching the midpoint of its fourth and final season tomorrow night, it's high time to shower it with some serious Emmy love before it ends its very entertaining run next year. Peace out.

The flameout of "Jezebel James"

Even if the end was inevitable - because the show was in many ways just bloody awful - this is still an awfully harsh fall from grace for the creator of the often sublime "Gilmore Girls."

After airing only three episodes (over just two weeks) of the only seven episodes ordered, Fox has indeed already pulled the plug on Amy Sherman-Palladino's new show, "The Return of Jezebel James." To give credit where it's squarely due, this news was broken by TV-obsessed Michael Ausiello here.

There were a number of factors going against this show from the outset, but though it pains me to say it, the biggest problem was easily Parker Posey. It wasn't that she's not Lauren Graham - because there can of course only be one of those rather perfect human specimens - but a whole other problem.

Posey could keep up with ASP's rapid-fire dialogue, which hasn't seemed to slow down much at all, but in order to do so she had to adapt the mannerisms of a meth addict, which along with being thoroughly annoying just didn't gel too well with her New York book publisher persona. Lauren Ambrose fared better by playing it a little more cool, but still ended up often looking nothing but awkward.

The second big killer was that laugh track, which is easily the worst I've heard in many years (though I don't watch many sitcoms.) Why do networks still use this? It never sounds real, and when it's turned up very loud in all the wrong places - as on "Jezebel James" - it just points out how unfunny the show really is.

If I can digress a bit, it was great to see Sarah Chalke on "How I Met Your Mother" - another show that should just dump its laugh track - last night. Britney was, as I guess should have been expected, just pretty darn awful, but Chalke was just as charming as she's always been on "Scrubs." Could she be the secret "Mother" in this puzzle? Probably not, but that would indeed be pretty friggin cool if so.

But, getting back to "Jezebel James," the real shame here is that buried beneath all its obvious faults was the foundation for a pretty good show. The relationship between these two sisters with almost entirely different views of the world could well have developed into something very interesting, but for once at least I can't blame Fox: The gap between potential and payoff was just too wide with this one. R.I.P. Jezebel James.

The "Cadillac" of movie casts?

I've recently added Blackfilm.com to my morning reading list (in place of the froggy site Cinempire.com, which has just fallen off precipitously of late), and it's definitely a welcome addition.

As might be expected, they tend to track the minute details of movies that others pay little attention to, as they're doing with the rather fun-sounding "Cadillac Records," which is quickly attracting quite an A-list cast.

The newest addition is Gabrielle Union, who I'll admit to being smitten with ever since "Bring It On." She'll play Geneva Wade, the girlfriend and later wife of Muddy Waters, being played by the great Jeffrey Wright.

Written and directed by first-time feature (but long-time TV) director Darnell Martin, the story is about Leonard Chess, the legendary founder of the South Side Chicago blues label Chess Records, who will be played by Adrian Brody. Also confirmed for the biopic are Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon, Beyonce Knowles (heard of her?) as Etta James, Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf, Columbus Short as Little Walter and, easily one of my favorite actors working today, Mos Def as Chuck Berry.

Mos Def as Chuck Berry? It just doesn't get much cooler than that, so definitely keep your eyes on this one. Peace out.

Sam Raimi visiting the "Monster Zoo"

Even if he has been rejected by Ellen Page, Sam Raimi still seems to be having a boatload of fun since unshackling himself from the "Spider-Man" ship.

After directing the Universal thriller "Drag Me to Hell," which he's co-writing with brother Sam (and which Page pulled out of, to be replaced by Alison Lohman), he'll next take the producing reins of (and maybe direct, who knows) a crazy creation called "Monster Zoo," an upcoming graphic novel by Douglas TenNapel.

Now, one of the many problems with having to work for a living is that I don't get to sit around and read comic books all day, so I must confess I wasn't familiar with that name before reading the report this morning. I've included, however, courtesy of Amazon.com, the cover of "Monster Zoo."

So, what is "Monster Zoo" about? Well, thankfully, the title pretty much says it all: It's the story of a young boy who discovers his local zoo contains critters much more frightening than the ordinary collection. The tale is apparently set in motion when an ancient idol is unearthed and transported to the zoo, where its spirit awakens and starts to mutate the caged animals (of course.)

This just all sounds like tons of fun to me, and here's what the creator himself, Mr. TenNapel, had to say about it in getting geeked up on his own blog:

Raimi’s movie A Simple Plan is among my favorite all-time films. It’s nice to be in business with people who love telling stories…about creatures, comics and underdogs. Amen, brother.

Amy Sherman-Palladino is - finally - back!

A hearty huzzah to always-welcome reader Jeremy, who clued me in to the fact that Amy Sherman-Palladino's new series, "The Return of Jezebel James," will finally hit the airwaves this Friday night at 8 on Fox (with two back-to-back episodes, no less.)

Now, it's been a while since I've talked about it, but I've made no secret of my love for ASP'S "Gilmore Girls." For six years or so (not counting the last, rather disastrous season), it was just about the funniest and smartest thing on TV, and packed with beautiful women to boot, so why not tune in week after week?

Thankfully, though a half-hour comedy (probably saddled with a laugh track, sheesh), "Jezebel James" seems to mine many of the same issues, and it's headed by two veritable babes as well, if I may be so blunt.

Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose lead the cast as two estranged sisters. In the pilot episode (of which I've included a short YouTube preview below), Posey asks Ambrose's character to move in with her and, rather more importantly, I'd think, carry and have a child for her. "Gilmore Girls" fans should note that Scott Cohen, a k a Lorelai Gilmore's paramour Max Medina, will also be a "Jezebel" regular.

In a preview at the great Gilmore Girls News site, doubts were raised about whether or not Posey can keep up with ASP's signature quick and (hopefully still) witty dialogue, but I'm hoping they're wrong. Definitely tune in to find out (or if, like me, you have to work on Friday nights or - even better - actually go out on the town, set your TIVO/DVR.)



Mitchell Hurwitz's coming back too!

I suppose this means that any movement toward an "Arrested Development" movie is, for now at least, on hold, but let's just focus on the positive for the moment.

The good news is that the "AD" creator is coming back to Fox with an animated adaptation of the short-lived Aussie comedy series "Sit Down, Shut Up." Though I've never heard of it, it apparently revolves around the lives of seven staff members of a dysfunctional high school in a small northeastern fishing town (sounds like perfect Hurwitz territory already.)

I'm a little skeptical about the animated thing, but it's certainly what Fox thrives on, so here's hoping that Hurwitz can come up with a winner if and when this finally comes to fruition (and that, of course, all hope is not lost for an "Arrested Development" movie somewhere down the line!)

Fun with posters ... and a trailer

OK, I'm bringing it back to movies now. Though these two posters are, I suppose, both somewhat related to kung fu, they really couldn't be much more different. My impressions: The one for the Jackie Chan/Jet Li flick "Forbidden Kingdom" looks a little bit queer (not that there's anything wrong with that, of course), and the tagline for Jody Hill's "Foot Fist Way" is enough to reinforce my belief that the flick, coming in June, will be a real sleeper hit this summer. Enjoy!



And, lastly, here's the final trailer for Pixar's next summer offering, "Wall-E," also scheduled to hit in June. Unlike what we've seen thus far, this clip offers a look at the second half of the flick, after our hero has left his cleanup job on Earth. I'm still more than a little skeptical that a flick with little to no discernible dialogue will be much of a hit with the tykes, but it looks simply beautiful, so here's hoping I'm wrong. Peace out.

Where are they now: Gilmore Girls

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What's next on "The Wire," and then for David Simon?

I know I promised reviews of two movies that left me more than a little cold, but I'd much rather talk about something much more exciting: the upcoming final season of "The Wire." So, I'll get the movies over with very quickly.

"We Own the Night" was one of the most disappointing movies I've seen in many years. James Gray, who showed such promise with "Little Odessa," has clearly run out of new ideas, instead choosing to pile up all the cop cliches he could find for this extremely tired tale about NYPD cops and familial ties. Despite strong performances from Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix and Robert Duvall, there's no reason at all that I can recommend anyone see this failure.

"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" was more of a mixed bag. When Cate Blanchett's queen and Clive Owen's Sir Walter Raleigh share the screen for some silly flirting it is a true guilty pleasure, but when it tries to tell anything approaching a broader story it really falls apart fast. Worth a rental at best, in my opinion.

OK, now on to the good stuff. The New Yorker, in this morning's issue, has a very long (12 pages!) story about David Simon and "The Wire." I have to admit that, crunched for time, I had to stop anything but skimming at about page 7, but will go back this afternoon for the rest. Here are some highlights I garnered about the fifth and final season, coming to HBO in January:

This newest season, as has already been widely reported, will focus on the declining role of newspapers in our society. What I didn't know is that The Sun, along with letting its office be used in a few scenes, has also let its name be used in the new season.

The great Clark Johnson, pictured here and who played Meldrick on "Homicide," will be both a director of several episodes in the new season and also star as Gus Haynes, "a city editor who tries to hold the line against dwindling coverage, buyouts, and pseudo-news." Here's one excerpt that shows Simon, as he has with other aspects of Charm City in past seasons, really understand just what's going wrong with newspapers in America:

He complains about a photographer who invariably gooses the poignancy of fire scenes by positioning a charred doll somewhere amid the debris. (“I can see that cheatin’ motherfucker now, with his fucking harem of dolls, pouring lighter fluid on each one,” Haynes fumes.) And he patiently explains to a junior reporter one of those house rules which arbiters of newspaper style cling to with fierce persnicketiness: a building can be “evacuated,” he instructs, but you cannot evacuate people. “To evacuate a person is to give that person an enema,” one of the old-timers chimes in. “At the Baltimore Sun, God still resides in the details.”

Just as past seasons of "The Wire" have been populated with real drug-dealers that Simon and co-creator Ed Burns (a former Charm City cop) knew from past encounters, the new season will be packed with former reporters that Simon knew from his days as a crime reporter for The Sun.

Here's how he summed up his view of newspapers for "The New Yorker": “It’s like, find the eight-hundred-dollar toilet seat, find the contractor who’s double-billing. That’s their bread and butter. Systemic societal failure that has multiple problems — newspapers are not designed to understand it.” Sad but, I fear, true.

To read all of Margaret Talbot's fantastic reporting, click here, but remember that it will probably take a small chunk of time to read it all.

If you get far enough, you'll find Simon has also talked about what he'll be doing next, also for HBO, and it should be great. He's currently filming, or at least getting ready to film, a miniseries about the Iraq war called "Generation Kill," but after that he wants to head to the Big Easy.

Simon, who with "The Wire" has shown an acute eye for detail, has already been down there doing research for a series he hopes to produce about musicians rebuilding ther lives in post-Katrina New Orleans.

"This show will be a way of making a visual argument that cities matter," Simon told The New Yorker. " 'The Wire' has never done that. I certainly never said or wanted to say that Baltimore is not (worth) saving, or that it can't be saved. But I think some people watching the show think, Why don't they just move away?"

It's sad that the argument needs to be made that American cities are indeed great and worth protecting, but I fear he's right. And I certainly look forward to him making the case.

No respect for this "Jezebel"

When I first heralded the imminent return of "Gilmore Girls" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino to TV with "Jezebel James," several people wiser than me warned that Fox would treat this new show - as it has with many others - very poorly. Alas, they were right.

It seems that Fox has already cut the order for ASP's new show, set for a midseason replacement to debut sometime in January, from 13 episodes to seven. I'm fairly confident that, rather than this being a sign that the show isn't any good, it's instead yet further proof that Fox does indeed just suck.

For anyone who doesn't know, "Jezebel James," if it ever indeed makes it your TV, will star Parker Posey (huzzah!) and "Six Feet Under" vet Lauren Ambrose (both pictured here) as, respectively, a woman who wants to get pregnant but can't and the estranged sister who agrees to have a child for her.

I really hope this eventually gets more respect, but in news I managed to miss about a week ago, Amy Sherman-Palladino should have more luck with a big-screen project she's just signed on to write and direct. With Sarah Jessica Parker in the lead, she's adapting the chicky book ""The Late Bloomer's Revolution" by Amy Cohen, an autobiographical tale about about how Cohen, after the death of her mother, developed a bond with her father as they both tried to get on with their lives in the dating world. More than a bit too girly for me, but hopefully also extremely funny.

Fun with pictures and trailers

OK, this has already gone on a bit longer than I had planned, but I have to share two things that should make everyone smile. Every picture I see from Michel Gondry's "Be Kind Rewind" just makes me want to see the flick right now, and this latest shot, which I have to assume is a sendup of "Driving Miss Daisy," is no different.


And finally, here's a rather poor-quality but still enjoyable trailer for "Charlie Wilson's War," the Mike Nichols film coming in December. Before seeing this trailer, I hadn't been too excited for this one, even though it was scripted by Aaron Sorkin, but now you can put it right up there with "American Gangster" and "Juno" among the movies I'm most jazzed about for the rest of this year. Enjoy!