I guarantee this will be the craziest thing you see all day

OK, I'm off to finally see "That Evening Sun" today at Atlanta's fabulous Tara (of course) theater, so not a lot of time today, but there is one great bit of Southern movie news, and as promised, a clip that will have you laughing and scratching your heads at the same time.

When (not if) the South rises again, this time it will be in the form of comedy, and buddies Danny McBride, Jody Hill, David Gordon Green and Ben Best are leading the charge.

McBride is the face of their little mob, and has developed into - without exaggeration - probably my favorite actor working today. This year he perfectly played George Clooney's brother-in-law-to-be, who Clooney has to save from a case of cold feet in "Up in the Air." After memorable supporting turns in flicks like "Tropic Thunder" and Gordon Green's "Pineapple Express" (in which he managed to be almost as funny as James Franco, no mean feat), it's beyond high time he get the lead role in his own feature film.

Actually, he's been the star of one movie, Hill's delightfully dark comedy-of-sorts "Foot Fist Way" (rent that right away), and the HBO series "Eastbound and Down," in which he jumped into the role of the ultimate anti-hero in former baseball semi-great Kenny Powers. I might be the only person in the world who loves that show (a friend of mine, Randy "Lethal" Waters, bought it on sale but hated it so much he gave it away to me - thanks!)

And I tell you all that to tell you this: Jody Hill has signed on to direct something called "L.A.P.I." Details are scant so far, but we do know it would star McBride as a beaten-down, hard-boiled private investigator, and that's enough to get me intrigued. The pic would be the first production from McBride, Gordon Green and Hill's production company, Rough House Pictures, and is definitely something worth keeping your eyes on.

But, before I got distracted by all that, I promised some video craziness, and here it is. Long before they became exes and now Oscar rivals, Kathyrn Bigelow and James Cameron - of course - worked together, as they thankfully did for this deliriously cheesy music video.

It's from some kind of '80s new wave band called Martini Ranch, which I had never heard of but apparently featured Bill Paxton as a member. I suppose that connection was what led to Cameron directing this video for the band's song "Reach," which at seven minutes-plus harkens back to the days when music videos at their best were mini-movies.

As you'll see, it looks like some kind of surreal mashup of "Near Dark" (still my favorite Bigelow movie, rent that one too) and "Deadwood," and stars Paxton as a bank robber on the run in the Wild West. Most of the cast of "Near Dark" makes appearances, and best of all, Bigelow leads an all-female posse of bounty hunters, and to be as piggish possible, just looks sensationally hot doing it.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend. For me, it will also include Best Picture nominee "An Education," which somehow turned up at my local multiplex this week. Peace out.

It's Tuesday morning, so let the hate flow

I normally try not to get in the business of telling people not to see movies that I haven't and won't, but the fact there's only one this week - and what it is - just has me in a fairly cranky mood to start the day, so bear with me.

I always knew this week was going to be a hole in what otherwise is just a sensational month for movies. Already, of course, there's "Star Trek," which I'm almost certain to see again this weekend. Next week comes "Terminator: Salvation," for which you can count me thoroughly jazzed, and then Pixar's "Up" and Sam Raimi's "Drag Me to Hell" (but not, apparently, dammit, Rian Johnson "The Brothers Bloom.")

In between, however, all we get is "Angels & Demons." Now, for reasons I'll keep to myself, I will never, ever read a Dan Brown book or see one of his movies, but let me see if I have this plot summary right. After the Pope is murdered, the four Preferiti, or candidates to replace him, are also slain. Is this really anyone's idea of pleasant Summertime entertainment? Sheesh. Here's hoping against hope that this somehow makes a grand total of about $100 worldwide.

And, in the spirit of hating, which can actually be more than a little fun, here's a word or two about one I did see last weekend, so I guess you can call this a cautionary tale. Here goes:


I should have known "Next Day Air" was going to be a disaster when I saw it called, in separate places, both "the black Pineapple Express" and "the black Lock, Stock and Two Smokin' Barrels."

Now, I guess the bigger question would be why we would need either of those, but for right now, I can just tell you "Next Day Air" just falls miserable short of both. Not even Donald Faison, Wood Harris (Avon Barksdale on "The Wire") and Mos Def (who wisely only spends about five minutes total in this train wreck), all of whom I like a whole lot, were enough to give this flick either an ounce of comedic charm or dramatic urgency. Lacking both, it's a grim affair, and much more importantly, just incredibly boring. Avoid this one at all costs. I sure wish I had.

Actually, I guess just about everyone already has since it made a grand total of about $4 million. I give it one more week, and the filmmakers only have themselves to blame, because I really can't think of a movie I was looking forward to more that's just so completely lacking in anything that could even come close to being called entertainment value.

The premise, which I knew going in, can only generously be called tired. Faison, playing a spliffed-out delivery guy, delivers a package of narcotics to the wrong address. To that, the movie adds almost no comedy and really no further story, hence why it has no relation AT ALL to "Lock, Stock" and even less to "Pineapple Express." Debbie Allen shows up for about two minutes and tries very hard to be funny, as does Mos Def, but they both wisely bail very quickly. I guarantee that if you do somehow manage to see this, Mos' line in the commercial, "I like your outfit," is just about the only one that will make you even snicker.

And you can call me a devoted fan of "stylized violence," but the bullet ballet that closes out "Next Day Air" forgot one key element: Any kind of style. It just mercifully puts this instantly forgettable flick to bed in just under 90 minutes, which in my book amounts to a mercy killing. Peace out.

The South rises again ... in comedy

I've never considered myself much of an elitist (which would be pretty friggin hard to do since I see at least half the movies that come out, even sometimes when I'm fairly certain they're gonna just be really bad), but one thing I've never been able to bite on is the "Blue Collar" comedy crew.

Now, I can appreciate in at least small doses Ron White, who - staying true to his character - called in from the road a few years ago just about blind drunk at 2 in the afternoon on a weekday for an interview with our former entertainment writer Maggie Large. But I've been waiting for some time for a brand of Southern comedy that paints things a little less broad and a lot more askew.

And thanks to Jody Hill, Danny McBride, David Gordon Green and Ben Best, I'm convinced it's finally here. It started, of course, with Tyler Perry, whose mix of humanity, hilarity and drama just hooks me every time, but he's really an empire unto himself and probably best left apart from what I'm talking about here today.

The latest example comes with the very welcome news that veryfunnymen James Franco and McBride will be reuniting for something to be called "Your Highness," and from the premise alone I can tell it's gonna be right up my alley. Green, who last directed the duo in "Pineapple Express," will direct the comedy about two "spoiled and arrogant" princes (Franco and McBride, I'd have to assume) in medieval times who are forced to go on a quest to save their family and kingdom from the spell of an evil wizard. I'm laughing at that already.

The production will begin shooting July 20 in Ireland, from a script by McBride and Best, a very funny guy in his own right. I'm not sure you can call it fall-down funny (although that "Myrtle Beach drunk" line just made me howl out loud), but I unconditionally loved what Best, McBride and Hill came up with their first flick, "Foot Fist Way." More a portrait of a guy struggling with life than a straight-out comedy, it's still just a really entertaining little flick (and if you rent it and don't like it, which is entirely possible, please remember before you complain to me that it's only 82 minutes long.)

And you can still watch all six episodes of the recent series the trio cooked up for HBO, "Eastbound and Down," online for free without too much effort (I'd try to find a link, but I don't want to risk steering anyone to anything that might fry their computers.) Like "Foot Fist Way" it takes as its hero an extremely hard-to-like guy, a former Major League ballplayer (McBride) forced to return to his North Carolina hometown and none too happy about it. Again, this certainly isn't for everyone, and it got mixed reviews at best, but I just like their very funny but not insulting view of Southern life.

And Mr. Hill, of course, will try and hit the big time next week with "Observe and Report," but I have a feeling that like "Foot Fist Way" that one's gonna have too much of an edge to make a whole lot of money, even with Seth Rogen and the always-thoroughly-welcome Anna Faris in the leads. Here's hoping I'm wrong, and that this new Southern comedy wave continues to ride high. Peace out.

The definitive word about "Watchmen"? And a thankfully foul trip to "Adventureland"

Actually, the funniest thing I could find out there is possible proof that even Eliza Dushku knows that Joss Whedon's thoroughly contrived "Dollhouse" is gonna end soon, and maybe very soon.

Making plans for what she will do next, Dushku has acquired the rights to the life story (however one actually does that) of late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, which she will produce, and has hired director Ondi Timoner to helm the project. This could certainly be cool, but its really just the timing that intrigued me.

But here today, as it has been for many, many days now, it's all about "Watchmen," and a new Web site I found that's a must-bookmark for movie geeks. Called Hitfix, it's run by a dude who used to write for Aintitcoolnews under the name Moriarty, but sometimes went and now goes by the name Drew McWeeny.

The site is as crammed with movie news and gossip as any, but it has two other things going for it, both courtesy of the creator himself. The first is a compilation of newsy links called The Morning Read, which in its most recent incarnation contained the news from E!'s Kristen Dos Santos that lone holdout Michael Cera has dropped his opposition to appearing in an "Arrested Development" movie, and shooting on the project should begin by the end of the year (I would have gladly dedicated an entire post to this welcome news, but I'm more than a little burnt out on the subject, and also still not thoroughly convinced the project will ever actually come together.)

And the second great thing, also part of Mr. McWeeny's (or whatever his actual name is) Motion Captured blog on the site, is that he reviews movies, and to give credit where its surely due, does so extremely well. Most of the reviews at Aintitcool are just the most unreadable sort of drivel, but his were always not only thoroughly enjoyable but also very informative, with a clear opinion at their core.

As devoted (and probably much more so) a "Watchmen" fan as me, he released his assessment this week, and I was extremely happy to see that it's a rave. Though it's more than a bit long, it's also a great read. Here's the final paragraph, for the time-challenged out there:

But more than anything, what I found most bracing about the experience of finally seeing this onscreen is that it pushes the genre further than it's ever been pushed before. It demands more of viewers than any superhero movie previously released. It sets up a moral question at the end of the film that can't be easily answered, and it doesn't even try. It expects you to have your own reaction, and it treats viewers like adults, a rarity from any Hollywood film, much less one featuring characters with names like Nite Owl and Hooded Justice. And, amazingly, it works as a movie. It has its own rhythm, taking its time to lay out this complicated story, but it constantly delights with details both small and grand, and the cumulative impact is far more emotional than I would have expected. This isn't a case of a film being "good enough," and I'm not "just glad there's some version of it finally." It is a triumph, a movie that amazes on its own terms, and a major jump forward for Snyder as a filmmaker.

Wow. I already couldn't wait to see this, but now it's guaranteed to be just about the only thing on my brain for the next week-and-a-half or so until I finally get to see it for myself. To read the rest of Mr. McWeeny's review, click here.

The Dude and the art of obsession

Being someone who gets up every morning and spends an hour or so reading whatever movie news I can find, I certainly can appreciate obsession, and very few people have taken it to the gloriously high level that Chalupa, a k a Ben Ranfeld, and his wife, Liz, have at the Lebowski Podcast.

And as the name clearly implies, this site is all about Chalupa's favorite movie, "The Big Lebowski," and the Coen brothers in general. Along with the podcast itself, he also pens a regularly updated blog on all things Coen and, well, just about anything else that crosses his mind.

But the podcast is easily the best thing here, and amazingly, it celebrated its 2-year anniversary (back in January, like I said, I'm late) with the 25th episode, a review of "Pineapple Express" and, of course, a look at how it's similar to "The Big Lebowski." You can click here to hear the whole thing, which I highly recommend, but a couple of highlights are a discussion of how to pronounce the word "Apatow" and Liz raving about easily the funniest scene in any movie from 2008, that notorious fight scene in Red's apartment.

It's just a fun way to waste (and I certainly mean no disrespect by that, because I love nothing more than wasting time) some time, and can quickly become addictive, so definitely check it out if you haven't already.

And finally, a glimpse of "Adventureland"

With, of course, "Watchmen," "I Love you, Man" (March 20) and this comedy (March 27) from the director of "Superbad" all coming out this month, I have to say the beginning of 2009 as a movie year is getting off to a whole lot better start than 2008 did.

The flick, written and directed by Greg Mottola, is the semi-autobiographical tale of a summer he spent as an employee at the titular theme park. It stars Jesse Eisenberg from "The Squid and the Whale" (remember him?), "Twilight" star Kristen Stewart, the very funny Bill Hader and the even funnier Martin Starr, a k a Bill Haverchuck from "Freaks and Geeks."

The redband trailer you can watch below should certainly be watched with headphones on if you're at work, because it isn't just chock full profanity, it revels in it. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Thursday. Peace out.

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.

Laugh-a-lot: My 10 best comedies of 2008

The inspiration for this post is actually two-fold, from one thing that made me laugh and one that just made me cringe.

The former comes courtesy of the surprisingly great MTV movies blog, which currently has an interview with David Fincher in which he discusses plans to take "Fight Club" to Broadway as a musical. I just have to assume he was playing the prick with them, but it was delivered as straight news, with him saying he had talked with Julie Taymor and others about what it would involve. Simply bizarre.

The second was something I saw on Variety, and I'll have to take their word for it because I'll never, ever - under penalty of torture, even - tune into anything on my TV featuring Frank Caliendo (I got way more than enough of that during the baseball playoffs anyways.) I mean, does anyone in the world think this guy is actually funny? To me he's just extremely annoying.

He did, however, apparently last night host a special about the funniest movies of 2008, or at least I think he did, since I didn't tune in. Well, if this seriously unfunny guy can say he knows funny, I can too, so here goes: My votes (simply in alphabetical order) for the 10 funniest movies of 2008 (I considered including M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening" here, which indeed made me just laugh out loud and often, but it is the holidays after all, so I'm trying to be civil.)

Be Kind Rewind
Michel Gondry's movie just didn't charm me too much at all the first time I saw it, but I've seen it twice since on DVD and it's now quickly moving up the charts. Silly? Sure. Extremely. But the movie re-creations are almost uniformly funny, the last half hour is a sweet tribute to making movies and Mos Def's explanation of why he doesn't want to do "Driving Miss Daisy" is just priceless.

"Burn After Reading"
This is another one that I think will grow in my estimation once I watch it for a second time, but on the first go-round it still has plenty to laugh about in what is certainly one of the Coen brothers' slighter films. I'm not convinced there's any kind of real commentary about our current state of constant surveillance, but Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt and my new favorite Richard Jenkins still bring the funny.

"Hamlet 2"
Steve Coogan throws himself so completely into this portrait of a serious loser that you'll either cringe or laugh along with his misery in spite of yourself. I was often in the latter category when this flick made it to my little corner of the world for exactly one week. It's worth it for that "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" finale alone, but Coogan, Elizabeth Shue (yes, that Elizabeth Shue) and Catherine Keener also were all just a delight to watch.

"In Bruges"
I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but writer/director Martin McDonagh's flick just keeps getting crazier and crazier until a finale that will just leave you scratching your head. Along the way, however, he gives hitmen Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell easily the funniest dialogue of 2008, and they just run with it.

"Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"
I certainly don't mind crude or even occasionally cruel comedy, but to me it still works best when a director has affection for the subjects he's poking fun at, as Peter Sollett clearly did here with New Jersey's bridge-and-tunnel kids. When I hit the IMDB to make sure I was spelling his name right I found out he was unfortunately now writing a remake of "Footloose," but don't let that stop you from watching Michael Cera and Kat Dennings in this sweet little flick that soon will find a home on my list of the 10 best flicks of 2008.

"Pineapple Express"
Of all the movies on this list, I suspect this stoner comedy will have the shortest shelf life (not unlike even the best buzz, I suppose.) Even so, it's well worth watching for James Franco's performance as the happy-go-lucky dealer, just a comic hoot, and the most painful looking amateur fight scene I've seen in years.

"Soul Men"
I don't know exactly why I was so convinced that the late great Bernie Mac and Sam the Man Jackson palling around as aging "Soul Men" wouldn't be funny, but I'm glad I finally got over that barrier before it left the theaters (though it's still, somehow, playing at our Regal branch yet again in the coming week. Amazing.) When it's crude, director Malcolm Lee's flick is too often also just stupid, but when it's just the Mac man and Mr. Jackson riffing it has a definite appeal, and it's a fitting if way too early way for Bernie to leave us.

"Tropic Thunder"
This was the flick in which Jack Black just reached the saturation point for me, and he'll have to do something really funny (and a lot less annoying) to win me back. That said, Ben Stiller still managed to craft an almost razor sharp satire on Hollywood action flicks, and if you haven't seen Robert Downey Jr. in black face yet, I have to wonder if you even like to laugh at all.

"Vicky Christina Barcelona"
Though there are a lot of heavyweight contenders coming in the next week as I hit NYC with my parents, I'm still fairly certain Woody Allen's lighter-than-air flick will also find a home on my 2008 top 10 list. Even with the thoroughly unnecessary narrator, Rebecca Hall is enchanting, Scarlett Johansson is a lot less annoying than usual and Penelope Cruz is just manically entertaining in every bit of the brief time she gets on screen.

"Zack and Miri Make a Porno"
It's been far too long since Kevin Smith showed up on a list like this, but he certainly deserves it for this mostly satisfying flick. Like, I suppose, an actual porno, it loses it charm before the finish, but along the way Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen make a great comedy duo, the high school reunion is very funny and the money shot (sorry, I had to) comes with an anal sex joke that will make perhaps even the most prudish comedy fans laugh out loud as they are simultaneously blushing.

So, there you have it. Please feel free to add any 2008 comedies I may have missed, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. In an effort to make that more attainable, here's a shot of the simply stunning Carla Gugino in the upcoming "Women in Trouble," which certainly doesn't need to be spoiled by any more words from me. Peace out.

"Tropic Thunder": The art of sharp satire lives again

Even if it has come a lot later than usual this year, it's still depressing to announce that, once again, it is now mathematically impossible for the Baltimore Orioles to win 100 games (but the chase to .500 goes on with spirit!)

But that, of course, is not the order of the day. That would be "Tropic Thunder" which - given my fears about how bad it might be - turned out to be surprisingly satisfying and close-to-first-rate satire of Hollywood action moviemaking.

I liked this one even more than "Pineapple Express," which I certainly didn't expect, but it's still not without its faults. First off, I'm still immature enough to get a kick out of grossout humor (I still say the first "Jackass" movie is the "Citizen Kane" of that genre), but I'm beginning to find I just don't have the stomach any more when it crosses the line to simply disgusting. "Tropic Thunder" does this at several points, the worst of which involved writer/director/star Ben Stiller and a certain body part of Steve Coogan's (I won't spoil this revolting bit for you.)

And my second beef was with Jack Black who, for the first time, simply annoyed me on the big screen. Even if you like him, which I definitely still do, try and think of his most annoying characteristics. Now think of all of those amplified because he's tripping balls on cocaine, and you'll come close to how unbearable he is in this movie. For a much better performance by Jack Black as a drug addict, flash back to Alison Maclean's simply charming little flick "Jesus' Son," which is well worth a rental if you haven't seen it.

All that said, there's a lot more to like than to loathe in "Tropic Thunder," and almost all of it revolves around Robert Downey Jr. (though Ben Stiller holds his own and just made me laugh out loud with his heart of darkness with panda breakdown.) Surely everyone has seen Downey in blackface as meticulous method actor Kirk Lazarus by now, but I can tell you there's much more funny here than you've seen in the trailer. The best part of all is that he talks like no person - black or white - you'll probably ever meet, and it's hilarious when Brandon T. Jackson as rapper-turned-actor Alpa Chino (get it?) calls him out on it (and speaking of the fine line between gross and disgusting, two words: Booty Sweat (very funny!)

Drawing even more fire going in to this one was the use of the word "retard" but, and perhaps I'm just extremely insensitive, it works perfectly well in the framework of hollywood satire. If Stiller had simply left it at his portrayal of "Simple Jack" it would have been a mild chuckle-inducer, but once again it's Downey who elevates this to a fair target with his speech about going "full retard." The only people who should really be cringing rather than laughing at this are the moviemakers who know they're the real butt of this joke.

The bottom line: It's a bit too disgusting and definitely repetitive, but "Tropic Thunder" is also the best satire about the business of making movies since "The Player." Peace out.

All aboard the "Pineapple Express"

"It's like killing a unicorn, with like, a bomb."

Somehow I think the men's "round of 64" (as the equally nonstoned announcer kept saying over and over) Olympic badminton that was on this morning when I woke up probably would have been a lot funnier under the influence of some Pineapple Express.

And I promise, to the best of my ability, I will try to make this completely free of any stoner puns (so nothing about "high art" or "buds.")

From the outset of "Pineapple Express," you feel like you know the characters played by Seth Rogen and James Franco (even if you somehow haven't yet seen them together before in "Freaks and Geeks," just watch it already!), and that will be the test of how much you like this movie.

Personally, I liked them quite a bit, making the first half hour of "Pineapple Express" its most enjoyable segment. My only beef would be a fault of my own making: I had seen a lot of the funniest parts in advance. Even so, there's plenty of little gems like the quote at top (from James Franco, about smoking the titular weed) laced in the banter between his dealer and Rogen's perpetually stoned process server (and the action-hero segment about his dreadful job is really funny.) You may find Rogen's constant yelling as the situation deteriorates around them a bit annoying, but I think under the circumstances (witnessing a murder committed by a drug dealer [Gary Cole] and a cop [Rosie Perez], of course), I'd probably be at least as frantic.

As the movie shifts from comedy to action flick, there's one transition scene that I guarantee will have you laughing out loud from the opening blow. If you've seen it, you know I'm talking about that house fight with Danny McBride's Red which makes use of just about every fixture in sight (though I won't tell you how.) Until now I really hadn't been able to appreciate just how funny a guy McBride is, having only seen him in the instantly forgettable "Drillbit Taylor" and goofily entertaining "Hot Rod" (though I did just save his first real starring vehicle, Jody Hill's "Foot Fist Way," in my Neflix queue for when it comes out Sept. 27.) Here he sustains the flick as it starts to lose course near the end, and his constantly battered drug dealer is just a joy to watch.

The formula of "Pineapple Express" starts to shine through (see, I was gonna make a rather weak joke about "coming down," but I won't) as the flick builds to its surprisingly intense big showdown inside a farmhouse filled with legendary weed. It's not that it's not funny, which it is, or suitably violent, which it certainly is too. I just had the feeling that I've seen this all before and done funnier, specifically by Edgar Wright and crew in "Hot Fuzz."

And one final word about the ending, which I really appreciated because director David Gordon Green and writers Rogen and Evan Goldberg set you up for one of those cheesy, five-years-later endings before pulling a fast switch, and I admit I fell for it and laughed all the harder for being fooled.

The bottom line: I've probably been a little hard on this one only because of my own lofty expectations, but if you're expecting a stoner comedy with serious laughs and just enough heart, you won't be disappointed. Peace out.

P.S.: In my search for information on Danny McBride, I found out that he and Jody Hill have made a half-hour pilot for HBO called "East Bound and Down" (with apologies, I suppose, to Jerry Reed and "Smokey and the Bandit") starring McBride as a former pro athlete who has to return to his hometown as a substitute gym teacher. No idea if or when it will air, but definitely keep your eyes out for it.

Everybody must get stoned ... at the movies

For the record (and just in case any of my employers happen to read this), I have smoked pot exactly once in at least the last 10 years or so - in 2006 - and I didn't particularly enjoy it.

I do, however, as do more people than might want to admit it, really like stoner movies. I don't mean movies that are supposedly fun to watch while on drugs (though plenty of those are great.) And I won't include any of the Cheech & Chong flicks, even if they are the gold standard, just because it seems too obvious.

And all of this, of course, is in honor of "Pineapple Express," which I won't be seeing until Friday but which I'm virtually certain I'm just going to love. How in the world Seth Rogen became a bigger star than James Franco I'll never know, but seeing these two Freaks together in what looks like a thoroughly crazy flick should just be a joy.

So, without any further ado, here are six movies I really like that have at least a little bit to do with those funny cigarettes:

Dazed and Confused: Lining up for a free screening of this Richard Linklater flick while I was at the University of Georgia instead of going to class (which I did far too often at that point) with my bud Eric Rayburn is still one of the most fun times I've ever had watching a movie. I certainly never had as much fun as these kids did in high school, but that doesn't make this flick any less enjoyable.

The Big Lebowski: Is there a better stoner icon out there than the Dude? I think not, even if he never actually tokes up at any point in the movie. I've been slow to put this one near the top of the Coen brothers' oeuvre, but while my favorite flick from the bros remains "O Brother Where Art Thou," I've grown to love this one more and more each time I see it.

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle: It was a truly sad moment when I found out I was too old to enjoy "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay." The guys were still entertaining, and Kal Penn is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors, but I just couldn't get into it. The original, however, is almost as imaginative as it is simply crude, and I keep going back to it again and again.

Brick: OK, drugs are just one of the many elements swirling through this high school film noir from Rian Johnson, but it's one of my favorite flicks, so I had to include it. Besides, I just saw the trailer for Johnson's sophomore flick, "The Brothers Bloom" with Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody and Rinko Kikuchi, and I'm convinced it's going to be one of the very best movies of 2008. In similarly good news, the trailer for Spike's "Miracle at St. Anna" played here in Macon over the weekend, hopefully meaning it's going to play everywhere once we finally get to see it.

Whatever: Count this as my candidate for the best movie that virtually no one has ever seen. Filmmaker Susan Skoog delivers a flawed but still seriously entertaining flick about growing up in New Jersey in the '80s in what would unfortunately turn out to be the only movie she ever got to direct (or at least so far, but it's been 10 years now.) If you can manage to get your hands on this one (I'd be willing to lend it to anyone with a VCR), it's worth watching for a fantastic performance from "Gilmore Girls" star Liza Weil and just an engaging little flick.

Super Troopers: This one is just riddled with pot from start to finish, and if I still smoked it, I'm sure I'd laugh even harder than I do when I return to this Broken Lizard flick every couple of months or so as cinematic comfort food. Though I thought "Beerfest" had its silly charms, I'm not sure the Broken Lizard guys will ever be this funny again, but as I just found out at the IMDB they will get another shot in 2010 with a "Super Troopers 2." Now that's a sequel I can get behind.

So there you have it. If you happen to see "Pineapple Express" before I do and want to give me your impressions in the comments, please do, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

Can Sony right a serious superhero wrong ... and are you ready to laugh?

I've railed in this space far too many times on just why I hate the movie "Spider-Man 3" so much, but now Sony is about to take a chance on fixing perhaps the flick's biggest mistake (among many.)

Even if they are doing it only because they mistakenly believe that the box-office bonanza that is "The Dark Knight" (which is worthy of every penny it's earned and more, in my book) guarantees that America wants more superhero flicks where the villains take center stage, it does owe "Venom" a serious apology and some proper screen time.

By the time the character was introduced in Raimi's rather dismal flick it had already lost its charms for more than an hour or so. However, in the hands of a good writer, a better actor (though you really can't blame Topher Grace for what happened to "Spider-Man 3") and a director who cares more about the franchise than Raimi seemed to in the third Spidey installment, a "Venom" flick could be really, really good. And, frankly, possibly even better than the "Spider-Man 4" that Sony is also developing for 2011.

And, in the only news that really made me laugh out loud this morning, it seems that Freddie Prinze Jr., a k a Mr. Sarah Michelle Gellar, has joined forces with World Wrestling Entertainment. However, for all of those who - like me - were hoping this would mean him climbing into the ring to get pummeled by a 400-lb. steroid-gobbler, I have to break the bad news that this will be a strictly behind-the-scenes kind of gig. Vince McMahon, a longtime master of professional wrestling's art of hyperbole, had this to say about his latest acquisition:

"Freddie Prinze Jr.'s passion, energy and creativity make him an excellent fit for WWE. Bringing on board an experienced Hollywood writer, actor and producer like Freddie Prinze Jr. will only increase the level of entertainment to millions of viewers and passionate WWE fans every Monday on USA."

Ha! I'd have to say he's at least got the first sentence in that gush just about right, and hopefully the movies coming next will be somewhere near as funny as that (though, I have my doubts.)

August: A month to laugh?

If I'm not mistaken (though I too often am), my favorite comedy of 2007, "Superbad" (by just a nose over "Hot Fuzz") came out last August, but I'm not sure this year's late-summer laughers - though there are a lot of them - will come close to that standard.

Here's what's coming (and, oddly enough, all on Wednesdays):

Pineapple Express: Aug. 6
Even if it is just a stoner movie, I have fairly high hopes for this one. Just the redband trailer in which James Franco shows what really happens when you try to kick out the windshield of a moving car was enough to get me laughing rather hard.

"Tropic Thunder": Aug. 13
I'm still holding out hope that this one will be a very funny spoof of full-blown action spectacles, but there are some ominous signs. The fact that just about the only thing they show in most trailers I've seen is Robert Downey Jr. in black face (which, I must admit, really is rather funny) can't be a good omen.

"The Rocker" : Aug. 20
Apparently the director of "The Full Monty" just really likes making movies about naked dudes. More than 10 years after unleashing that on the world, director Peter Cattaneo is back with this tale of Rainn Wilson as "the naked drummer." I have my doubts this will be the vehicle to make the very-funny Mr. Wilson a big-screen star, but here's hoping I'm wrong. It does have a "Superbad" link in Emma Stone, Jules from that flick and one of Rainn's young bandmates in this one.

And, there is a possible wild card out there. For months now, always-welcome visitor Jeremy has been on me to watch "The Wackness," but the groovy comedy hasn't played anywhere near me - until maybe now. If my TV didn't lie last night, it will indeed be playing "everywhere" soon, and just might turn into the little summer flick that becomes a surprise hit. Wait and see ... and feel free to me know if you have any hope at all for the comedies of August. As a parting gift, enjoy this seriously cool "Empire" magazine cover starring some of the "Watchmen." Peace out.

Seth Rogen overload?

I don't think I've reached that point yet, but it certainly does seem like the "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared" veteran unleashed by Judd Apatow is just about everywhere nowadays.

A look at the IMDB sheet after "Kung Fu Panda," the surprisingly satisfying summer flick that's currently kicking all kinds of box office tail (we're talking about a kids' movie after all, so let's keep it clean) reveals a very busy slate. First comes the comedy I'm most looking forward to this summer, the stoner buddy flick, "Pineapple Express"; then, if this ever really does see the light of day, a role in the geek flick "Fanboys"; the lead opposite Elizabeth Banks in Kevin Smith's "Zack and Miri Make a Porno"; voice work in Dreamworks' "Monsters Vs. Aliens"; playing a delusional mall cop for "Foot Fist Way" (why in the world isn't that playing everywhere?) director Jody Hill in "Observe and Report"; a reunion with Judd Apatow for Apatow's next directorial effort, to be about the world of standup comedians; and finally, if they can pull it off, a remake of "The Green Hornet" with writing partner Evan Goldberg.

Whew! As the last entry on that list shows, and luckily, Mr. Rogen isn't one to forget about his friends. Probably somewhere in the middle of all this, now comes news that he and Goldberg, the duo that brought us the nearly flawless "Superbad," will team up to create something called "Jay and Seth vs. the Apocalypse" (apparently the shtick of actors using their actual names trotted out for "Knocked Up" hasn't gotten old to them yet.)

The horror-comedy, set to co-star fellow "Undeclared" vet and very funny guy in his own right Jay Baruchel, apparently springs from a Web short they all concocted during the brief time Fox bothered to put that fairly great show on the air. I don't know much about it beside that, but there's actually a trailer for it that was put up on Youtube about a year ago, and I've included it here for you to enjoy (as you can probably figure, the language is more than a little NSFW, so please use headphones when you watch it!)

"Superbad," for all its very juvenile humor about things like the "Ghostbusters lunchbox dick treasure chest" (still the thing that made me laugh hardest in all of 2007) has just stuck me longer than a lot of other comedies of its ilk, and I just can't wait for "Pineapple Express." Here's hoping these guys can keep the funny coming for a long time to come.



What's next for "Pushing Daisies" and "How I Met Your Mother"?

OK, OK, I don't know the answers to the most pressing questions about easily two of my favorite shows, namely, for the latter, will adorable Sarah Chalke say yes to our hero Ted's wedding proposal and, for the former, why in the world isn't ABC reairing it's best freshman series in years this summer as a reintroduction to viewers who might have somehow missed it's nine-episode first season? I do, however, have a couple of intriguing bits about each show from Variety.

First, for "Pushing Daisies," creator Bryan Fuller promises that his habit of reintroducing the show's premise with each episode will be a thing of the past, so that in season two he can delight us with one epic story arc.

Fuller, in fact, described the writers strike that killed the first season as a kind of blessing in disguise: "We were just going to continue telling a lot of these episodic tales, and we weren't able to weave in as much of the serialized storyline as I wanted to in the first season."

And he promises he's learned a thing or two from his days working on "Heroes" (remember that show?): "Learning from my days on 'Heroes,' I'm planning to add some cliffhangers, which we'll get into starting with episode five. That's when a new character comes into the world and really shakes things up, somebody who has a link to the shared histories of both Chuck and Ned."

Sounds cool to me, and Fuller and friends have already created a world that I love returning to each week, so I can't wait to see where they go next.

The big news about "How I Met Your Mother" is that co-creator Craig Thomas promises that the showrunners have their penchant for random celebrity drop-ins under control. If bringing in Britney Spears was really necessary to lock down a fourth season than I'm certainly grateful, but enough is enough. Lucky, Thomas apparently thinks so too: "Our core audience turns in to see those five characters," he says. "We're not 'The Love Boat.' "

Amen, brother. And on that note, I unfortunately still have to go to work. Peace out.

Friday fun with trailers ... starring the Coen brothers!

OK, OK, I realize it's the height of sloth to simply post a couple of trailers for only my second post of the week, so let's first start out with a bit of news, the first of which I can only see being all kinds of bad.

Now, I love the movie "Donnie Darko." It took me at least three viewings to properly wrap my mind around it, but once I did, it just rocks. But why in the world would you feel the need to make a sequel? And more importantly, why would you possibly want to make a sequel without director Richard Kelly (someone named Chris Fisher is stepping in) but with Elizabeth Berkley of "Saved By the Bell" fame? I can't fathom any possible answer to those questions, but it's apparently happening now in the form of something called "S. Darko" (for Donnie's sis, Samantha), and probably headed straight to DVD soon.

In much better news, there will indeed be new TV this summer in the form of the very satisfying "Mad Men" on AMC. Hopefully with some kind of Emmys bounce, with the nominations set to be announced in July (I think), the show will return for season two at 10 p.m. July 21. And, in even better news, if you somehow managed to miss the first season of this great show about ad men, AMC will air all 13 episodes of season one on July 20, so set your DVR.

And, in the last bit before we move on to a twin bill of trailer goodness, David Gordon Green, director of the upcoming can't-miss comedy "Pineapple Express," will next direct the very funny Danny McBride in something called "Your Highness."

The promising premise, in a flick written by McBride and buddy Ben best, has an arrogant, lazy prince (McBride) who must complete a quest to save his father's kingdom. While I'm all for movies with dungeons and dragons, it's certainly also a genre ripe for send up.

And if you've never heard of Danny McBride, you hopefully will very soon. I was really hoping the kung-fu comedy he made with Jody Hill, "Foot Fist Way," would be playing everywhere this week, but it's apparently only in New York and L.A. so far. Here's hoping it plays everywhere next week, cause even if though it's gotten very mixed reviews so far, any flick that actually contains the phrase "Myrtle Beach drunk" as an adjective has to have at least a few merits.

But, finally, I did promise you two trailers, and they're for two flicks I'm genuinely jazzed about. The first, and surely superior, is the redband trailer for the Coen brothers' next flick, "Burn After Reading." While I loved "No Country for Old Men" almost unconditionally, I like the brothers best when they turn to comedy (my favorite Coens flick remains "O Brother Where Art Thou"), so this CIA caper starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand and John Malkovich should just be a hoot when it hits this fall. Enjoy!



And lastly here's a teaser for Kevin Smith's "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" (and no, I didn't just put the word "porno" in this post to get a few more hits from perverts.) I know a lot of people are tired of Smith's rather juvenile view of the world, but I still have a lot of time for him, and have high hopes for this flick starring Seth Rogen and soon-to-be-"it" girl Elizabeth Banks (after her turn as Laura Bush in Oliver Stone's upcoming Bush biopic "W".) Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant weekend. Peace out.

See Rainn Wilson as "The Rocker"

Not too much to report today, especially because - as usual - I'm already running late for work, but I figured just about everyone's Thursday would be brightened up at least a bit by the sight of Rainn Wilson in a really goofy haircut.

Before we get to that, however, there's good news today that for at least one veteran New Line director, John Waters, there will indeed be life after Warner Bros devoured and basically shuttered the little studio.

For his first feature film in four years, Waters is expected to be back with a "Christmas" movie called "Fruitcake," and the news today is that he's landed Johnny Knoxville and Parker Posey to star in it.

Now, in spite of that rather colorful title, this isn't an autobiographical flick, as many might believe. Instead, as with the previous Waters film "Pecker," the title simply refers to the nickname of the main character, a young boy named after his favorite dessert. Plot details are slim so far, but it apparently focuses on what happens when the youth runs away from home during the holidays after he and his parents are caught shoplifting meat, then meets up with a runaway girl raised by two gay men and searching for her birth mother.

Sounds as twisted as anything Waters has cooked up before, but hopefully with a sweet touch rather than simply gross. Look for it next Christmas, most likely from ThinkFilm.

In one other bit of news about "The Office," which has its penultimate episode tonight, it seems "The Wire" veteran and Oscar nominee Amy Ryan will be introduced as the new HR person when Toby departs next week. I'll really miss Toby, but assuming the great Ms. Ryan stays on for next season and more, I'd still have to say this is a case of trading up.

But now on to today's main course. As goofy as this looks, I'm hoping it will pair nicely with "Pineapple Express" to give us the kind of comedies that August so sorely needs. At the very least, Wilson should be a hoot. Enjoy this trailer for "The Rocker," and have a perfectly passable Thursday. Peace out.

The joys of summer: 10 to definitely get geeked up for

Instead of using this space to announce my personal multiplex boycott (which will only last about a week and a half anyways), I've decided to keep things positive and future-oriented here today. Besides, the friggin Baltimore Orioles are 6-1, so what could really be so wrong with the world at this moment?

Now, two things you won't see in my summer 2008 preview are any movies directed by Fred Durst (he actually has one coming out in July called "The Comebacks") because, well, he's Fred Durst, or - despite its obvious primal charms - Anna Faris' turn as a Playboy bunny in "House Bunny" on Aug. 22. (But, as you can clearly see, I have rather crassly included - in honor of both summer and, well, Anna Faris - a picture of her in character.)

Unfortunately, you also won't see any little comedies with the potential charms of a "Waitress" or "Little Miss Sunshine," not because I don't want them but simply because I couldn't find them. If you know of any I'm missing, please let me know. One more disclaimer: I'm really looking forward to "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" on April 18, but since this is about summer, I've restricted this preview to May to August.

And now, without any further hesitation, are 10 movies I surely won't miss seeing this summer, in order of just how unreasonably geeked up for each I am (and in a few cases, the trailers too.)

10. Redbelt
If you're gonna make yet another movie about the world of underground fighting, do you really cast Tim Allen in one of the leads? Two things in this one's favor, though: The truly great Chiwetel Ejiofor is the badass at the flick's center, and it springs from the mind of David Mamet who, oddly enough, is apparently a purple belt in jujitsu himself. I sure hope this plays wide when it opens May 2 and kicks off Summer with a real bang. (The trailer is below.)



9. The Happening
No one is more in need of a winner than poor M. Night Shyamalan, and I, at least, am hoping he gets it with this one. Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel and the always-welcome John Leguizamo lead the cast in this "environmental thriller" which, as far as I can muster, is about some kind of force that leads people to commit suicide. Man, do I hope this doesn't just suck when it comes out June 19.

8. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
This one should be pretty fascinating, if I indeed have my plot summary right. Instead of taking on Nazis, according to Mike Mignola, this time Ron Perlman, Selma Blair and the crew will be taking on some crazy version of the American Indian who - and can you really blame them? - have gotten their hands on a nuclear weapon or some other silliness and turned on the gringos. I can't see myself really cheering against Indians, but man do I love me some Hellboy, so I'll be there July 11. (The trailer is below.)



7. Iron Man
The more I see of this one the more I'm convinced that Robert Downey Jr. really does have the chops to play our hero May 2 and turn this one into a franchise. Director Jon Favreau has plans to make it at least a trilogy, and you can look for Downey just about everywhere this summer, turning up as Tony Stark again in "The Incredible Hulk" on June 19 and in black face for "Tropic Thunder" on July 11.

6. X-Files 2
Chris Carter said he has struggled to come up with a better title for this one, but I'll be there no matter what it's called July 25. The plot, of course, is pretty tightly under wraps, but I do know that - unlike the rather disastrous first X-Files flick - this one will spring almost directly from one of the show's late storylines (possibly about Scully's offspring), so it should be great.

5. Pineapple Express
Anyone who knows me knows that I hold comedy in extremely high esteem, so you'll find two in the big five, starting with this Camp Apatow offering starring former "Geeks" James Franco and Seth Rogen. Frankly, I can take or leave stoner comedies, but judging from the trailer below this one should definitely provide some serious laughs on August 8.



4. The Rocker
I had forgotten all about this one, but since it stars comedy god Rainn Wilson I'm certainly hoping its almost as funny as it is sure to be simply silly on Aug. 1. Wilson is Robert "Fish" Fishman, the devoted drummer who gets kicked out of the '80s hair band Vesuvius. Twenty years later, he jumps at the chance to make his comeback in A.D.D., the high school rock band fronted by his nephew. If something in that doesn't make you laugh, I probably just can't help you.

3. Wall-E
OK, it's only the big guns from here on out. I don't think Pixar's latest offering will reach the lofty perch that "Ratatouille" holds in my heart, but here's hoping anyway. I do know that it will be an odd offering, with a lot of none-too-subtle preaching about environmentalism and the dangers of Wal-Mart, plus an opening half-hour with no human dialogue at all. Find out if it works or not June 27. (The trailer is below.)



2. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
It was a photo finish at the top, but in the end, I'm just not as excited about Harrison Ford's return to his most famous role as I am about the flick that nabbed the top spot on this list. Now, mind you, I will, assuming there is one, turn out for a midnight show when this opens May 22 (the day after my birthday!), and will hopefully cheer like a giddy kid at least once.

1. "The Dark Knight"
In spite of the tough competition from "Indy," this one was really a no-brainer for me. Either I've managed to tune it out or Warner Bros. has actually resisted the urge to crassly use the late Heath Ledger to market Christopher Nolan's flick. Besides, with a definite step up from Katie Holmes to Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes and the addition of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent, I really don't see any possible way this one can suck on July 18.

So, there you have it. Please feel free to add any I have missed, and have a perfectly pleasant Wednesday. Peace out.

Let it be "Sunny" everywhere on TV

When I first (and admittedly belatedly) started to hear a lot of hype about FX's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," I had my doubts.

But then, most of that hype came from my former cubicle mate Travis Fain (before I moved across the room), who has a fairly dark view of the world, so I should have known he was on to something. As I found out well after much of the world, it really is just about the funniest thing on TV, and now we're about to get more from it's three main men, Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton.

The trio has signed a two-year deal overall deal with Twentieth Century Fox, with the most immediate benefit being a new show on Fox, "Boldly Going Nowhere." The new comedy series will answer one of those burning questions of life: What does a spaceship captain do when he's not on a mission? Fox has ordered five additional scripts beyond the pilot.

"We grew up watching shows like 'Star Trek,' anything having to do with the future, and it was always about the adventures they'd go on," McElhenney told Variety. "We thought it would be funny to watch what goes on in between those adventures, when they're waiting for the next big thing to happen. How do they keep themselves busy?"

Unlike with "Sunny," the trio won't star in the new Fox show, which is, thankfully, not being shot until October so the guys can shoot a fourth, 13-episode season of "Sunny" this summer for FX (and a hearty huzzah to that!) in time to bow in fall.

And it's really hard to exaggerate just how funny "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is. It's more than a minor accomplishment to create a sitcom full of completely reprehensible characters (who called their first show "The Gang Gets Racist" and hit on women at an abortion protest for the second) that's also utterly devoid of sentiment.

Given my fear that the writers' strike had poisoned the water so bad that we'd get only reality fare from now on, I'll take anything else I can get, especially from guys as funny as these dudes.

Fincher digs "Heavy Metal"

While I'll probably go see "Horton Hears a Who" this weekend, and am rather naively hoping it's a genuinely G-rated flick that captures the spirit of Dr. Seuss, I also have a tremendous soft spot for the kind of R-rated animated fun we used to get with "Heavy Metal."

And luckily David Fincher and some of his cohorts seem to have that same longing. In what sounds like a wonderfully crazy project, Fincher will supervise and be one of eight or nine directors on a new animated film inspired by the '70s sci-fi fantasy magazine. (I probably should have lead with news as good as this, now that I think of it.)

The film will consist of eight or nine individual animated segments, each of which will be directed by a different director who hopefully has the "Heavy Metal" spirit at heart. On board so far, along with Fincher, are "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" co-creator Kevin Eastman and Tim Miller, whose Blur Studios will handle the animation

Thankfully, this gives David Fincher a very full plate. I would assume he's just about finished with "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald tale about a man (Brad Pitt) who ages in reverse through the 20th century, but after that it gets a bit murky. Along with the "Heavy Metal" project, he's also attached to direct a flick based on Charles Burns' graphic novel "Black Hole" and. if the IMDB is to be believed (and it almost always is), maybe "Rendezvous with Rama," based on the sci-fi novel by Arthur C. Clarke.

Whew! That's a lot to keep track of, but a world in which David Fincher has too much work is just way preferable to one in which he has too little. 'Nuff said.

"Pineapple Express" trailer

"That's not gonna get us a ride, man."

Since it's Friday, I'll leave you with this trailer for "Pineapple Express," which, against almost all odds, looks more and more like it will be an actually insanely funny stoner movie. The line above made me laugh the loudest, but there's a lot to enjoy here (with headphones on if you're at work!) in this preview of the flick starring Seth Rogen and James Franco as, well, basically what their "Freaks and Geeks" characters Ken Miller and Daniel Desario would have turned into by now. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant weekend. Peace out.