Atlanta Film Festival report No. 3: "The Good Heart"

Since when I'm not on vacation (like I am now), this is often about movie news, here's first a tidbit that intrigued me this morning.

If I were list say, 10 or so favorite directors, I think Greg Mottola would make the list somewhere in the bottom half. His movies are far from complex works of art, but I have unconditional love for "Superbad" and almost as much for "Adventureland," so I'm certainly a fan.

He'll be back this summer (I believe, but I've allegedly been wrong at least a few times before) with "Paul," which sounds like nothing but a big geeky ball of fun. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost star as a couple of British blokes on a cross-country tour of the U.S. on their way to Comic-Con who encounter and sort of adopt the titular alien on a visit to Roswell. Count me as thoroughly psyched for that, whenever it will actually be coming out.

And now comes word of his next project, which will be a romantic comedy but likely less raunchy (but hopefully nearly as fun) as what he's done this far. He's signed on to write and direct a movie based on the novel "Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry" (the title of which rather wisely will be shortened to simply "Important Artifacts.")

The movie, is set to star Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman (sheesh, can a movie just be too good looking?) in a tale described as "a fictional estate auction catalog full of personal items and photographs from the four-year romance between a male photographer and a younger food columnist." Like I said, fairly heady stuff for Mottola, but I'm still intrigued.

However, since I'm a guest at the Atlanta Film Festival, this is supposed to be about the pretty uniformly great sights I've seen there, and I'm certainly happy to share them (I suppose this would feel more like "working" if I were ever to get paid for it.)

We start (and perhaps finish, depending on how long I go on about this flick) with "The Good Heart," which I was thoroughly psyched to see on the strengths of its two leads, Brian Cox and Paul Dano, who would both make any short list of my favorite actors. And, unlike with most of the movies being shown at the festival, you can probably see this one right away for a few bucks using the On Demand function, depending on your cable provider.

And, despite some qualms (the ending is ludicrous!), I'd say it would be well worth it for an evening rental. I deliberately read nothing about the movie going in except for the barest of plot structures: Cox plays a cantankerous bar owner who takes in a young homeless man (Dano) and tries to make him his protege. Within that loose framework, however, what you get is much more of an intense character study than you usually find in movies nowadays, and a real showcase for its two stars.

The two are brought together after Cox's Jacques, who is none-too-slowly drinking and smoking himself to death, suffers what is apparently not his first heart attack and meets Dano's Lucas, who has tried unsuccessfully to commit suicide, in the hospital. It would be hard to find two sadder sacks, so they form an immediate bond, and Jacques decides to help Lucas out (and get in the process an indentured friend, of course.)

Most of the joy in watching "The Good Heart" comes in seeing the two of them spar with each other and slowly adopt to each other's idiosyncrasies, which are many. In lesser hands, the story arc - Jacques slowly lowering all of his hostility and Lucas realizing there's something to live for - would be pretty seriously hallmark stuff, but here it never fails to engage. Most of the credit for that goes to Cox, who clings to Jacques' maddeningly inane fixations, like how to make the perfect cup of coffee, and makes you almost understand why he lives that way even as you just want to shake him and yell "wake up!" Dano, however, holds up his half of the successful equation too, letting his nerve build up at a steady pace until he finally stops taking all of Jacques' considerable abuse.

But there wouldn't be enough for a feature-length movie with just the two of them, so a temptress inevitably enters the picture to compete for the attention and affection of Lucas in the form of Sarah, played with vibrant appeal by Stephanie Szostak. Even better, however, are the bar regulars (none of them played by anyone you would recognize, so I'm not gonna bother to try and track down their names) who turn this into something we haven't seen since "Barfly," a genuine drinker's movie. And though that may not sound terribly appealing, I promise you that you'll be surprised by just how perfectly writer/director Dagur Kari knows this world, and how quickly what seem like deep bonds can be revealed as the empty shells they are, especially when a patron manages to piss off Jacques for what is inevitably the most trivial of "infractions."

OK, as predicted, I went on about that longer than I had planned, but it would be a real disservice if I didn't mention that the ending, which I won't reveal, will either bewilder you (as it did me, though not nearly enough to not like this movie) or seem like a natural fit. All I'll say is that if you think about the title a bit while you're watching this, it won't seem like nearly as much of a slap in the face as it did to me.

This one isn't showing again at the Atlanta Film Festival, to which I'll be returning Thursday, but like I said, you can probably find it on cable On Demand, and if you like Paul Dano and Brian Cox (and if you don't, why the heck not?), I hope I've made enough of a case to make you want to check it out.

And I'll leave you today with the trailer for a movie that looks like it will appeal to me in the same sort of way. Called "Get Low," it stars Robert Duvall as a man who decides he wants to plan his funeral party so he can attend it, and Bill Murray as the attorney who helps him plot this madness. It's set to come out in at least some corners of the world on July 30. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.

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If you have Netflix, Party Down!

You know, I really don't take proper care of my Netflix queue.

I visited it the other day to add the first season of "Burn Notice" and found it to be empty except for three movies and TV stuff in the "saved" category that have yet to come out: "Homicide: The Movie," "Margaret's Museum" and "Party Down: Season One."

Now, it looks like the first two will never come out, so I just kinda keep them there to keep hope alive. It was with the third, however, that I found a pleasant surprise.

I know you can watch movies instantly at Netflix, but have only done that so far with "Superbad" (still, except for maybe "O Brother Where Art Thou," the best way to kill a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon, and "To Kill a Mockingbird," just because.) When I visited the queue the other day to replenish it (any suggestions are welcome), I found you can also watch the entire first season of the extremely funny show "Party Down," even though the show doesn't come out on DVD for who knows how long (and, I checked, you can't do that at either the Starz site or Hulu.) Amazingly, however, you can apparently watch the great Angola Prison documentary "The Farm" at Hulu if you so choose.

But back to the matter at hand. I know I'll always sound like a rube until I die, and believe me, by now I'm just fine with that, but the Internets just continue to amaze me, and this is no exception.

"Party Down," given its pedigree ("Veronica Mars" creator Rob Thomas and veryfunnyguy Paul Rudd are among its creators) and cast (Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Lizzy Caplan, Ryan Hansen, the great Martin Starr and Jane Lynch, who I think has departed for "Glee," are all very funny in it), this show should be extremely funny, and it doesn't disappoint. But the show about a catering company full of former or extremely underemployed actors features a dark, very bitter kind of funny, so be warned.

The funniest thing to me in the first eight episodes (which is how far I've made it, out of 10) was Marino's character, the caterer who just wants to open a Soup R Crackers franchise, discussing with rapper Dro Grizzle (guest star Kevin Hart, remember him from "Undeclared"?) whether or not black people eat soup. You'll have to believe me that it's a whole lot funnier on screen than on paper, and the first season is riddled with very funny celebrity cameos, including in one of the episodes I haven't seen yet, a visit from "Veronica Mars" herself, Kristen Bell.

And OK, that's a long enough plug for a lazy Sunday morning. Peace out.

Video troika: Three things that caught my eye this morning

Did anyone notice that Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" has come out, 13 years in the making? I would think not, but according to Variety, at least the Chinese government took notice - and offense.

In an article Monday headlined "American band releases album venomously attacking China," the Global Times said unidentified Chinese Internet users had described the album as part of a plot by some in the West to "grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn."

Call me crazy, but if the Great Wall does somehow come tumbling down, I'm confident it won't be Axl Rose leading the charge. As for the album, I think I'll just say meh.

There were, however, three other things that caught my fancy this morning, starting with the equally odd fact that Universal is about dump some rather serious bucks on a biopic of the late French pop star Serge Gainsbourg. Which would, of course, be in French.

Even so, I'm still convinced this could be both very cool and possibly a hit too, because Mr. Gainsbourg was just the definition of a bad dude. Along with recording silly '60s pop songs that always told you exactly what you were gonna get in the title - "Bloody Jack," "Docteur Jekyll and Monsieur Hyde," "Ford Mustang" - he also lived hard enough to make Keith Richards look like an amateur and shacked up along with the way with Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin and other beauties.

And, in easily his oddest move, shortly before his death in 1991 he recorded an album with daughter Charlotte titled "Lemon Incest." It's fairly tame by today's standards, but it delivers exactly what the title promises - a series of mushy father-daughter love duets that just get exceedingly creepy (and yes, I can attest to that, because I own a copy - how could I resist that?) Charlotte, of course, would go on to become a well-known actress herself, and if I can make one DVD recommendation, watch one of her earliest roles in Claude Miller's "The Little Thief" (which I was rather sad to find you can't find on Netflix, though I know it's out on DVD.)

As for the movie about her papa, Eric Elmosnino will play the singer himself, and graphic novelist Joann Sfar will direct the flick. And for his bevvy of babes, French model Laetitia Casta will play Bardot, Mylene Jampanoi will play Gainsbourg's last paramour, Bambou (I can't make this stuff up), and Anna Mouglalis will play French singer Juliette Greco, who collaborated with Gainsbourg for many years.

OK, I concede that's a lot about a flick that no one may care about one lick, but for a taste of just how sublimely silly Gainsbourg's best songs were, here's a mashup of his "Bonnie & Clyde" duet with Bardot, mixed with visuals from the film starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Enjoy.



A glimpse of "Adventureland"

I can't imagine this will be nearly as good as "Superbad," but director Greg Mottola looks like he has something pretty funny in the works for his next flick, "Adventureland." An at least semi-autobiographical tale about the summer he had to work at the titular theme park after graduating college, it stars Jesse Eisenberg (remember him from "The Squid and the Whale"?), la Bella Kristen Stewart of "Twilight" fame, Bill Hader and even Martin Starr (who will of course always be known to us Freaks and Geeks as Bill Haverchuk.) Here's the trailer for the flick, which is set to come out next spring, methinks.



And yes, "Battlestar Galactica" will be back!

It seems like forever since "Battlestar Galactica" has been on the air, and it finally returns to Sci-Fi for the final 10 episodes beginning Jan. 16. Episode 4.11 will be titled "Sometimes a Great Notion."

I'm gonna have to rent the first half of season four when it comes out soon just to get reacquainted, but I can with confidence tell you this: For a show that mixes seriously geeky sci-fi with a smart topical edge, you can't even come close to doing better than this show. Here's Sci-Fi's promo reel for the last 10 episodes, which indeed promise an action-packed sprint to the finish. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday.

If you're gonna spoof, go for a big target ... like Michael Moore

Before I say anything bad about the man, let me say this first: I really like Michael Moore and most of his movies. "Sicko," which focused way too much on what's right with health care in Europe rather than what's wrong with it here in America, was a failure in my book - but a noble one at that - but I think all his other flicks have been right on-target.

And I swore after going to see "Date Movie" (admittedly only because Alyson Hannigan was in it, poor girl) that I would never again go see any spoof flick with the word "movie" in it. And I'm sticking to that, but one of the masters of the genre, David Zucker, is gonna take on Michael Moore in one spoof I think I could really go for.

Vivendi Entertainment has picked up North American rights to Zucker's "An American Carol," described by Variety as being about "a cynical, anti-American filmmaker who sets out on a crusade to abolish the July Fourth holiday. He is visited by three ghosts who try to show him the true meaning of America."

First of all, Michael Moore is in NO WAY "anti-American," but good spoofs always draw their targets with a broad brush. The late Chris Farley's brother, Kevin, will play the filmmaker (talk about ghosts!), and the cast will also include Zucker co-conspirator Leslie Neilsen, Dennis Hopper, James Woods and Jon Voight.

I'm assuming this will get a wide opening when it hits Oct. 3, along with - if you're lucky enough to live in a city bigger than mine - the great Fernando Meirelles' "Blindness" and another flick whose trailer you can find below.

So, if I like Michael Moore, why do I want to see him lampooned mercilessly by Zucker and company? Because even though he holds strong opinions and almost always makes movies good enough to back them up, he's also an extremely pompous dude who certainly deserves some good-natured ribbing.

"Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist" trailer

It's been quite a while since I've mentioned Michael Cera, but if you happened to visit here around the time "Superbad" came out a year ago you might well have assumed I have some kind of odd hetero-crush on the dude. Well, I don't, but any one who's seen "Arrested Development" (and if you haven't, why not?) knows he's just an extremely funny guy, and that's reason enough to talk about him from time to time.

Coming Oct. 3, he'll be back opposite Kat Dennings in "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist," a romantic comedy about - as best I can tell - a high school student who asks the girl standing next to him to be his girlfriend for five minutes so he won't be embarrassed by the ex-girlfriend who's shown up at his band's gig with a new beau. (After watching the trailer, I think I might be mixed up on just who does the asking, but does it really matter?)

Sounds too predictable and frankly, young, for me, but this is being directed by Peter Sollett, who six years ago made the nearly flawless flick "Raising Victor Vargas" (if you've never seen that one, do so on DVD now.) In his hands, the story of Nick and Nora's night in New York City could have a little "After Hours" and a little "Before Sunrise" thrown into it, or it could just turn out to be much worse than either of those fine flicks.

Anyways, enjoy the trailer, and have a perfectly pleasant weekend. I'm debating whether or not to go see "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" or not. I know it's gonna be bad, but I often enjoy watching movies to see just how bad (like M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening," which just made me laugh hard for all the wrong reasons) they can turn out to be. 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.

For "Redbelt," thankfully "everywhere" does indeed mean everywhere

This post was initially meant just as a celebration of the fact that for once, as promised, a movie that's supposed to open "everywhere" this week will indeed make it out to one multiplex in my little burgh: David Mamet's "Redbelt."

How cool should "Redbelt" be? Well, even with Tim Allen in it, a David Mamet flick starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as a martial artist would already have me hooked from the start. Throw in the surprising fact that Mamet is himself a purple belt in jujitsu and you've definitely got what I'll be doing for a couple of hours Saturday afternoon.

Besides, I can't think of too many actors who can list four flicks on the rather long and broad list of my favorites, as Ejiofor can do in his still rather short career. For the record, those four would be "Dirty Pretty Things," "Serenity," "Children of Men" and "Talk to Me." If you've never seen "Dirty Pretty Things," I can't recommend the rather gritty thriller about organ smuggling that also stars adorable Audrey Tautou highly enough.

But, along with the wide release of "Redbelt," there's a lot of other news out there today that at least warrants a brief mention.

Yet another "Jane Eyre"?

First up is Ellen Page, who always generates a few more hits to this rather lightly visited site whenever I mention her name but also just makes me smile whenever I get to bring her up, even when it's for something as potentially meh as this.

Having backed out of going to Hell with Sam Raimi, Ms. Page has now signed for yet another version of "Jane Eyre." Now, I understand that Charlotte Bronte's novel is an attractive target which offers plenty of opportunity to get decked in period garb, but didn't we already have one of these in the last 10 years? Indeed, Franco Zeffirelli made a more-than-slightly appealing version with the delightful Charlotte Gainsbourg in 1996.

No director has yet been attached for this BBC Films adaptation set to begin shooting in Fall, and as snarky as I've been here, I'm sure I'll at least tune in to this one on DVD for the presence of Ellen Page alone.

Yes, Atom Egoyan is still working

It seems like forever since I've heard anything about Canada's greatest filmmaker (at least in my often misguided opinion), but he's indeed about to return very soon with a flick titled "Adoration."

It's not set to be released (and probably not very widely at all) until the Fall, but it will first get a premiere May 22 in competition at Cannes. The flick, starring Rachel Blanchard and Scott Speedman, is described as a "contemporary drama" about a teen who creates a false Internet persona and goes in search of a family secret.

I'm not sure when I'll ever be able to see this, but it's just good to know that Atom Egoyan is still working and apparently thriving.

More from Buckley in the works

After the success of "Thank You for Smoking" I just assumed there would be a run on the works of Washington satirist Christopher Buckley, but it unfortunately never really happened. His books may not be the most intellectual thing out there, but as far as wry commentary on D.C. culture and entertaining writing go, it just doesn't get much better at all.

There was some rumbling that Whit Stillman (remember him?) would indeed make a comeback by making his first film in 10 years in adapting Buckley's "Little Green Men," but I can't find any evidence that that's moving forward. Now, however, GreeneStreet Films has optioned "Boomsday," Buckley's very funny novel about a D.C. lobbyist who casts herself in the center of a firestorm after she half-jokingly blogs about a solution to the stress that retiring baby boomers will place on the Social Security system: A voluntary suicide program for the aging.

Now, I'm rapidly getting to the age where I shouldn't find that funny any more, but I did when I read the novel and I still do now, so definitely bring this one on.

A tease about "Iron Man 2"

An "Iron Man 2" with Jon Favreau on board to direct was already pretty much a foregone conclusion before Marvel penciled it in Monday morning for a 2010 release. No firm word yet that Favreau will direct the sequel, but I can't imagine why not, and here's what Tony Stark himself had to say about a possible sequel in Entertainment Weekly:

There's this idea of Terrence [Howard] putting on a suit and coming back as War Machine, who is pretty iconic in the Iron Man and Marvel universe. Just seeing where it can all go, but grounding it in a very modern mythology. I see it as greatest dysfunctional family story ever told.... In The New York Post a couple days ago, [there was a cartoon] of Iron Man suited up, and he's telling the governor even his super-powers can't get him out of the budget problem. That was what Jon was hoping for and excited to see the most, the idea that Tony Stark and Iron Man can become part of the cultural fabric. When we heard posters were being defaced to promote political or social ideas, he just got such a hoot out of that.

It would indeed be great to see Terrence have a lot more to do in the second installment, and you can read all of EW's interview with Robert Downey Jr. here.

Proof, in case I needed it, that my movie tastes are often just juvenile

I had no idea that "Superbad," easily one of my favorite movies of 2007, would still be up for kudos, but it seems that the esteemed voters on the MTV Movie Awards indeed have yet to have their say.

And "Superbad," not surprisingly, is the big winner in nominations with five. Along with best picture, it also nabbed "breakthrough performer" nods for veryfunnymen Michael Cera, Jonah Hill and McLovin. Hill (but not Cera, WTF!?!) is also nominated for comedic performer of the year. Cera and the aforementioned Ellen Page, however, did each pick up performer of the year nominations (and, this being MTV and all, best kiss) for "Juno," so I guess it's all good.

Now, just how silly are the MTV Movie Awards? Well, in the category of best picture, "Juno" and "Superbad" indeed have to share space with not only "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and "Transformers," but also "National Treasure: Book of Secrets." I haven't seen the latter, so I can't really say for sure, but I'm fairly certain it wasn't the best movie of 2007 by any conceivable standard. MTV does, however, have a lot of fun with this, and you have to at least respect that.

If you wanna show some love for "Superbad" or "Juno," you can vote for the nominees here through May 23. The show, rather unfortunately hosted by Mike Myers, will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. June 1.

And now, in closing, here's the trailer for "Redbelt," which I'm hoping will be a surprise box-office contender in its first week of wide release. Peace out.

My favorite movies of 2007

As I thought about this list over the weekend (and yes, I am enough of a geek that I put a lot of thought into it), I found several movies that I really adored in 2007 had sunk enough to just miss the cut, most noticeably "American Gangster" and, yes, "Juno."

Now, that doesn't mean I love them any less, just that they've lost a little sheen with the passage of time and that stronger movies that came after them simply took their spots. There's still room here for one truly juvenile (but smart) teen comedy and, surprisingly, one movie about a lost soul that I admit I just didn't get until it had had a while to sink in.

So now, without any further qualification, here are my 10 favorite movies of 2007, in only alphabetical order (but if you have to know, my single favorite movie of last year remains "Ratatouille," with "No Country for Old Men" a close second.)

"Breach"
I went into this one expecting some high Washington intrigue but instead got a very intensely claustrophobic and psychological cat-and-mouse game between Chris Cooper as turncoat spy Robert Hanssen and Ryan Philippe as the agent who pursued him (with just enough Laura Linney thrown in for good measure.) It's a real shame that Billy Ray has only directed two movies, with no more on the horizon, because with this and "Shattered Glass," about the wayward journalist Stephen Glass, he's crafted two nearly perfect flicks.

"Into the Wild"
I offer this as an apology to Sean Penn, because my distance from the character of Christopher McCandless made me unable to appreciate this film fully at first. I still find little to identify with in his tale of searching, but this movie is packed full of great performances from Emile Hirsch, Catherine Keener, Hal Holbrook and others, and it's a deeply effecting flick.

"No Country for Old Men"
I would never even come close to writing off the Coen brothers, but I have to admit their output between the great "O Brother Where Art Thou" and this gem had me a little worried. By making Cormac McCarthy's meditation on violence all their own and mixing it with the most uneasy kind of humor, they managed to craft a movie that really only could have come from the Coen brothers. As far as I can tell, "Burn After Reading" should be next on their busy schedule, and I just can't wait.

"Once"
As with "Breach," I was a little off-base going into this one. I was expecting a full-scale musical, but instead got a perfect moment in time with two non-actors, Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard (from "The Commitments"), delivering captivating performances. But there are, of course, a lot of songs, and they all just fit right into this story that's as much about the creative process as it is about the power of love (cheesy, I concede, but it really does work.)

"Persepolis"
It's possible, I guess, that this just snuck in here because I saw it on the last weekend of the year, but I don't really think that's the case (Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood," which I admit I'm still digesting, for example, didn't make it even though it was viewed then too.) Using mostly a stark black and white palate, graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi and co-director Vincent Paronnaud nonetheless fill the screen with memorable images in this spirited autobiographical tale of Satrapi's life growing up in Iran and Europe. Highly recommended, if you can find it.

"Ratatouille"
I rewatched this again a few weeks ago and loved it just as much as I did the first time. That sequence which starts with Remy and Auguste looking down on Gustave's and finishes with Remy's first scamper through the kitchen remains my favorite of the year, and the movie is just full of enough magical moments to take my 2007 crown.

"The Savages"
Another one from the last weekend of the year, but if you've seen Tamara Jenkins' tender and often very funny family tale starring Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman, I seriously doubt you'll argue it doesn't deserve this lofty spot. Watching the return of "The Wire" (thank God!) last night, it finally hit me that the nursing home attendant Jimmy was played by Gbenga Akinnagbe, who also plays hitman extraordinaire Chris on "The Wire," which judging from last night's season five premiere is definitely set to go out on top.

"Superbad"
Yes, that's right, "Superbad." After laughing through just about every minute of this one with my brother in Minneapolis this summer, I watched it again a few weeks ago and was struck by how much I enjoyed the B storyline about Bill Hader and screenwriter Seth Rogen as those two cops who just refuse to grow up. I probably identified with them much more than any healthy middle-aged person should!

"Waitress"
I was cheering for this one out of the gate simply because it was written and directed by the late Adrienne Shelly, who was murdered in 2006 for the simple offense of complaining about a neighbor's playing the radio too loud. Even without this depressing context, however, her romantic tale starring Keri Russell, Captain Mal and Andy Griffith was just the perfect counterweight to the summer blockbuster slate, and one that has lingered with me all year.

"Zodiac"
Although I misjudge these things all the time, I'm feeling a genuine surge for David Fincher's true-crime epic as a dark horse contender for a Best Picture nomination, and it's definitely got my support. There wasn't a better crime movie in 2007, or a better one about the power of obsession. I can't wait to see what Fincher does this year with "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," F. Scott Fitzgerald's tale of a man who is born at age 80 and ages in reverse through the 20th century.

And there you have it. I've included a honorable mention that features just about every movie I liked in 2007, so maybe you'll get some rental ideas of any movies you might have just missed. Peace out.

Honorable mention: Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls, Starter for 10, 300, The Namesake, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, The Lookout, Grindhouse, The Hoax, Hot Fuzz, 28 Weeks Later, Knocked Up, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Simpsons Movie, Rocket Science, Shoot Em Up, Eastern Promises, The Kingdom, Michael Clayton, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?, Gone Baby Gone, American Gangster, Margot at the Wedding, The Mist, Charlie Wilson's War, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Juno, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, There Will Be Blood

Golden Globes: Great comedies get no respect at all

If one thing is clear after Thursday's Golden Globe nominations, it's that the Hollywood foreign press must just be a fairly humorless bunch.

Now, I'm glad to see that "Juno" made the final five, and I can only assume that "Charlie Wilson's War" will have its funny moments (and enough Tom Hanks smugness to make me want to jump out of my chair and just smack the screen), but how in the world can you have a category called "Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy" and not include more of the funniest movies of 2007? (The other nominees were all musicals, "Sweeney Todd," "Hairspray" and "Across the Universe.")

Perhaps the answer is simply to give musicals a category all their own (which might have meant a much-deserved nomination for John Carney's just-perfect "Once.") That's probably too much weight for musicals, but something has to be done to balance the scales in comedy's favor.

Had there been a comedy category, here are the five movies that would have been my nominees:

Hot Fuzz
The Wayans brothers have apparently watched this pitch-perfect spoof of action movies and decided they can do one better. I have nothing but doubt about that, 'cause for my money Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are the masters, and this is the single funniest movie of 2007.

The Simpsons Movie
So what if this was just a 90-minute episode of the TV show? It proved that, with 15 years or so of experience it is indeed possible to come up with a plot and enough jokes to sustain 90 minutes of high entertainment (though why they can't reliably do that from week to week for only 30 minutes anymore is beyond me.)

Superbad
I just watched this again last weekend, and it was at least as good as it was the first time. Jonah Hill and Michael Cera were just as funny as I remembered, but this time the story of the two cops who refuse to grow up, played by Seth Rogen and Bill Hader, just really made me laugh out loud.

Shoot 'Em Up
The beauty of a category for comedy would be if a movie this sublimely silly could really be nominated for anything. If you haven't seen this cartoon-like bullet ballet, rent it immediately. Paul Giamatti, Clive Owen and Monica Bellucci clearly all had fun making it, and as long as you can handle jokes about a baby in extreme peril I guarantee you'll have fun watching it.

And yes, Juno
What's it gonna take to get this little charmer to play wide? I just assumed that a cast this packed with stars would guarantee it a wide ride, but I guess I'm wrong yet again. I suppose that means I'll have to watch Will Smith and his dog walk around for a couple of hours, but I can't really say I'm looking forward to it.

I have a feeling "Walk Hard" might just make a sixth entry to this list, but that's the top five for now (and that means the very funny "Knocked Up" just missed the cut.) As for the rest of the Golden Globe nominations, I could have predicted that my favorite, "Ratatouille," wouldn't be able to make it out of the animated movie ghetto, but there's another, bigger snub that just can't go without mention.

I had to read the list three times to make sure I hadn't missed what must surely be the multiple mentions of "Into the Wild." I had my qualms with the story of Christopher McCandless as told by Sean Penn, but there's no denying it's one of the most powerful movies of 2007, and yet beyond two deserved nominations for Eddie Vedder's songs it was just royally snubbed.

Now, I haven't seen "Atonement," "The Great Debaters" or "There Will Be Blood" (though I'm certainly hyped to do so soon), but how in the world could you have seven nominees for Best Motion Picture - Drama (the other four were "American Gangster," "Eastern Promises," "Michael Clayton" and "No Country for Old Men") and not include "Into the Wild"? Sheesh.

I certainly also would put Emile Hirsch in the top five for Best Actor - Drama (the anointed five are George Clooney, "Michael Clayton," Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood," James McAvoy, "Atonement," Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises" and Denzel Washington, "American Gangster".) His portrayal of McCandless was close to extraordinary.

Much more disturbing was the omission of Hal Holbrook from the Best Supporting Actor category (the big five are Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men," Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War," John Travolta, "Hairspray" and Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton") I can see the merit in all of these except for Travolta's turn in the fat suit (which I didn't see since, having already seen "Hairspray" in two very satisfying formats, I saw no reason to see it re-created once again), but Holbrook's performance was just on a whole other level. If the definition of supporting actor is the person who has the most impact on a movie in a short period of time, then no one fits this better than Holbrook as Ron Franz, the wizened gent who made a last-ditch but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to save McCandless from himself (I don't cry at the movies very often at all, but that moment got me, which says quite a bit.)

But, enough about that. I'm off to see "I Am Legend," and hoping that I'm wrong about how much it's going to suck. Have a perfectly enjoyable weekend.

A bad movie year? Maybe, but here are 20 2007 movies that I just love

It certainly does seem like, especially after our sequel-happy summer, this has been a down year for quality movies. And I can buy that, but there's still been plenty this year to make me smile (and, of course, two more months to go.)

With the caveat that not everything plays in my little corner of the world, here are, for my money, the 20 best movies that have made it out into wide-release world this year (in calendar rather than preferential order, except that "Ratatouille" is easily my favorite movie of the year so far.) Here goes!


Daddy's Little Girls/Why Did I Get Married?
OK, I'm cheating from the outset, because this two-fer means the list includes 21 flicks, but I'm just astounded that Tyler Perry managed to release two movies so good in the same year. Of the two, I'll take "Daddy's Little Girls" by a nose, mostly because Idris Elba is so great in it and because Tyler Perry should keep his movies in Atlanta, where he has a real sense of place.

Breach
This movie is so claustrophobic that I had to watch it twice, the second time on a plane, to truly appreciate it. It's far from your traditional spy-vs.-spy flick, but for a psychological thriller you won't get much better than this Billy Ray movie starring Chris Cooper as Robert Hanssen and a surprisingly good Ryan Philippe as the spy sent in to take him down (with an assist from the always-welcome Laura Linney.)

Starter for 10
I watched this one on a plane too, and I'd call it simply a guilty pleasure if it weren't so charming. In essence, it's a very British take on those John Hughes '80s flicks, with James McAvoy playing very young. Even if that sounds appalling, just give it a chance.

Zodiac
Despite it's early calendar position and carping from misguided critics that it was simply too long, I'm still hoping David Fincher's great movie gets some award-season consideration. Robert Downey Jr., at least, is worthy of a supporting actor nomination for his portrayal of an overzealous and underscrupulous L.A. Times reporter.

300
OK, with the passage of time, I'm willing to concede that this Frank Miller/Zack Snyder flick was, indeed, pretty darn stupid, but so what? It was also the funnest movie of 2007 for my money.

The Wind the Shakes the Barley
Ken Loach finally finds a subject epic enough to fit his conscience and takes home a well-deserved Palme d'Or for it. Cillian Murphy and Padraic Delaney play two brothers swept into the Republican movement in early 20th-century Ireland.

The Lookout
Predictably few people saw this off-key bank heist flick starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the promising young actor who you might remember from "Third Rock from the Sun." The movie is at its best when it's just he and Jeff Daniels as two physically and mentally damaged roommates.

Grindhouse
What is there to say about this if you somehow missed the experience in the theater (as many, many people apparently did)? Tarantino made the slightly superior flick in my book, but it just works so much better sewn together with Rodriguez' zombie zoo. My favorite moment of all, however, would still have to be the old-school intermission logo with Dangermouse/Doom/Talib Kweli's "Old School" playing behind it.

Hot Fuzz
Though it certainly had hot competition from Camp Apatow, I think Edgar Wright and friends just may have made the funniest movie of 2007. All those directors who claim to be making "spoof" movies need to watch this riff on big-action movies to see how it's really done.

Waitress
It's still hard not to watch this one without thinking of poor Adrienne Shelley, but if you can manage to do that this sweet little flick still stands the test of time for me. It's occasionally just too syrupy, but Keri Russell, Captain Mal and Andy Griffith are all great.

Knocked Up
This makes No. 11, so I should probably refresh my coffee at this point. Just about the only negative thing I can say about Judd Apatow's movie is that I was hoping for hours and hours of Seth and his stoner buddies just goofing off in the DVD extras, because I love those guys. You do get Jonah Hill's extended and extremely foul riff on "Brokeback Mountain," which makes the DVD worth at least renting by itself.

Ratatouille
Like I said, my favorite movie of 2007 so far, but I think "Gone Baby Gone" (which I just might see today), "Juno" and "American Gangster" will give it some stiff competition. I've been happy to see that this Pixar flick, which only did so-so (by Pixar standards) in the U.S., has just been cleaning up at the worldwide box-office till.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The best of the Harry Potter movies so far, for my money, but take that with the grain of salt that I'm not exactly a Harry Potter fanatic. I did, however, manage to finish reading "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince," which was just sensational, even if Dumbledore is gay (not that there's anything wrong with that.)

The Simpsons Movie
The only midnight movie I enjoyed this year (the other being "Spidey 3," which just sucked hard in my book.) The Simpsons' flick worked because it was really little more than a 90-minute episode of the show with a lot more time and money thrown in to make the jokes all work (and spiderpig just kicks ass.)

Rocket Science
Opening on the same weekend with the teen flick that comes next on this list certainly didn't do any favors for Jeffrey Blitz' autobiographical followup to the doco "Spellbound." Probably because this utterly charming movie about a stuttering teen growing up in New Jersey made about $5, Mr. Blitz has no upcoming directing credits on the IMBD except for two episodes of "The Office."

Superbad
Of the two Camp Apatow flicks this year, I'll give this one the edge for two reasons: Jonah Hill and Michael Cera are simply two of the funniest guys on the planet and, in it's own warped way, it's a surprisingly sweet movie about hetero man love (made stronger, of course, by the relentless pursuit of beer and chicks.)

Shoot 'Em Up
Even though it plays out at various times like an extended (and very bloody) music video or a warped take on the old Looney Tunes cartoons, I guarantee that if you watch this Michael Davis flick it will make you smile. You can certainly tell from watching it that Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti and la bella Monica Bellucci had just as much fun making it as I did watching it.

Eastern Promises
Even if this one doesn't stand up to David Cronenberg's best work, it's still a solidly entertaining gangster flick, which rises to a higher level thanks to Viggo Mortensen's steely performance, which should get some awards-season love too.

The Kingdom
Whew! Only two more movies to go, so I'll probably keep these last two short. Anyone who thinks this political thriller from Peter Berg dumbs things down too much is more than a bit of a snob. 'Nuff said.

Michael Clayton
Tony Gilroy's directing debut is the most satisfying legal thriller I've seen in many years, and Tom Wilkinson's performance as a big-time lawyer who becomes unhinged will linger with you for a long time.

So, there you have it. I hope this offered some ideas for DVD rentals, and as always, please feel free to add any 2007 movies you loved that I have managed to snub. Peace out.

Where Are They Now?: "Freaks and Geeks"

The most obvious answer to this question might seem to be "in Judd Apatow's movies," but some of the kids from this great one-season show have just seemed to disappear altogether. So, just in case one person besides me would care about this, here goes:

Lindsay Weir
First of all, how in the world is the simply stunning Linda Cardellini not a major movie star? I'm very happy she has had a five-year-and-counting run on "ER," but I gave up on that show years ago. The only movie I can remember seeing her in was "Brokeback Mountain," as the waitress who removed all doubt that Heath's cowboy was indeed completely gay. Her upcoming projects are the Larry McMurtry TV miniseries "Comanche Moon," coming to USA in December, and then the movie "The Heaven Project," a thriller directed by John Glenn (probably not the 86-year-old former astronaut) which she appears to be toplining with Paul Walker.

Sam Weir
Believe it or not, John Francis Daley is the star of a flick I have only heard rumblings about but sounds pretty frigging cool. An autobiographical flick from Patrick Read Johnson titled "5-25-77," it's about (in case the title didn't give it away) one dude's quest to see "Star Wars," which is surely impeded by various complications. If anyone knows anything more about this, please let me know. He also popped up once on the the funniest thing on the Internets, Michael Cera and Clark Duke's Clarkandmichael.com.

Daniel DeSario
Clearly the most successful of the Freaks or Geeks (except for maybe Seth Rogen), James Franco has just gotten into the directing game with "Good Time Max," for which he's now making the festival circuit. He also co-wrote and stars in the flick, which is described thusly at the IMDB: Two genius brothers grow up and grow apart as one becomes a successful surgeon and the other pursues a drug-fueled high life. I have to assume Mr. Franco is the latter, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. He also had a bizarrely small part in Paul Haggis' "In the Valley of Elah" and has two other upcoming projects listed: The stoner-buddy-witness-a-murder flick with Seth Rogen "Pineapple Express," coming next summer, and then something called "Nights in Rodanthe," in which he will play Richard Gere's son for Broadway guru George C. Wolfe.

Ken Miller
Although I don't think I'll get there anytime soon, it's entirely possible that the world is gonna have too much Seth Rogen, 'cause he's gonna be just about everywhere. Next up, early next year, he's starring in "The Spiderwick Chronicles," a family-friendly fantasy from Nickelodeon (I think) and based on the books by Holly Black. After that comes the aformentioned "Pineapple Express," which he co-wrote with partner Evan Goldberg, and then another "Star Wars"-themed flick you may have heard of, "Fanboys." Then he turns to two animated projects I can't say I'm terribly excited about, "Horton Hears a Who" (why!?!?) and "Kung Fu Panda."

Neal Schweiber
The last place I can remember seeing Samm Levine was standing on line waiting to get into that club in the "OK, Awesome" episode of "How I Met Your Mother." Since then he's mainly done short stints on TV (including one appearance on "Veronica Mars," huzzah!) and apparently (though I have no way of confirming this) had a role this year in the Amanda Bynes flick "Sydney White." His newer projects are "Anderson's Cross," a comedy which, although it apparently won "Best International Feature" at the 2007 Bridgetown Film Festival in Barbados, is probably out on DVD already, and then some kind of marriage comedy titled "Made for Each Other."

Bill Haverchuck
Always my favorite of the "Freaks and Geeks" crew, Martin Starr also appeared on an episode of "HIMYM" (yes, it's gonna keep appearing, so forgive the abbreviation), in which he got to flirt with Cobie Smulders. He's also remained solidly in the Apatow camp, appearing in both "Knocked Up" and (briefly) "Superbad" this summer. His only new project listed is something called "Good Dick," which will hopefully be as silly as its title implies but which I couldn't find out anything else about.

Nick Andopoulis
Jason Segel, of course, is one of the main stars of what is quickly becoming my favorite network TV show, the very-often-mentioned-today "HIMYM." He and Alyson Hannigan are even more adorable on screen than they would seem to be on paper. Next summer he'll get his directing debut courtesy of Mr. Apatow, the rather unfortunately titled "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." The few early reviews I've seen of this one haven't been promising, but with Mr. Segel and Kristen Bell as the stars, I'll definitely be there.

Kim Kelly
There must be some "HIMYM"-"Freaks and Geeks" connection I don't know about, because Busy Phillips appeared on the show this season as (gentlemen, control yourselves) one third of Ted's threesome that also included Danica McKellar (the former Winnie Cooper, who has, to put it as crudely as possible, growed up good.) Her only new project is something called "Made of Honor," which appears to be a romantic comedy (hence the rather painfully punny title) headlined by Michelle Monaghan and Patrick Dempsey.

Harold Weir
Don't worry, we're almost finished, but I couldn't omit the parents, could I? Long after his legendary work in "SCTV," Canuck Joe Flaherty contributed perhaps the funniest moment on "Freaks and Geeks" with his Vietnam speech. The only project I could find for the great Mr. Flaherty was some kind of (Canadian, I think) summer-camp comedy called "Summerhood."

Jean Weir
Becky Ann Baker, since "Freaks and Geeks," has sadly not had much acting work to speak of beyond bit TV parts. Her most recent stint listed was a three-episode arc earlier this year on "All My Children."

And, of course, how could I wax nostalgic about the greatest one-season-only TV show without including a clip? Here's one of my favorites, in which Daniel joins the geeks for a game of Dungeons and Dragons. Enjoy, and have an entirely bearable Wednesday.



P.S.: If you happen to live anywhere near Macon, please make your way to the Capitol Theatre downtown tonight for a very special event. Georgia actor Ray McKinnon will be presenting his new film, "Randy and the Mob," at 7:30 p.m., and then sticking around to answer questions afterward. At $10 at ticket, it won't be cheap, but you have my guarantee this will make for a very entertaining evening. Hopefully I'll see you there.

It's official: In Grindhouse duel, Tarantino wins big

Though it was a bit of a visual overload watching Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" and then Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof" as one movie in "Grindhouse," I loved just about every minute of it.

I also thought at the time, however, that for all his talk about the "grindhouse" aesthetic (which I must admit is still a little murky to me), Tarantino cheated at the game and left Rodriguez more than a little shorthanded.

Don't get me wrong: I thoroughly enjoyed "Planet Terror," even if I could have done without seeing QT's testicles melt. But it was pure schlock, and unapologetically so.

With "Death Proof," however, Tarantino simply started with the premise of making a '70s car movie but then made it completely his own. I realize many people found the dialogue of Jungle Julia (Sydney Tamiia Poiter), Zoe Bell and their two sets of gal-pals to be more than a bit contrived, but it worked for me, and the ending car-chase is worth the price of admission alone.

And now, with "Death Proof" getting a snazzy, extended, stand-alone release on DVD this week, I have to wonder if these guys are even talking any more. Granted, "Planet Terror" will gets own chance, appropriately enough, closer to "Halloween," but it definitely looks like - to put it as crudely as possible - sloppy seconds.

If you spring for the "Death Proof" set (which I'm about 70 percent or so sure I will), here are some of the extras you'll get:

The so-called "missing reel," containing Vanessa Ferlito's unseen lap-dance for Killer Mike, plus the following featurettes: "Finding Quentin's Gals," "The Guys of Death Proof," "Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike," "Introducing Zoe Bell" and "Quentin's Greatest Collaborator: Editor Sally Menke."

I suppose for purity's sake we should hold out for the full "Grindhouse" flick on DVD (and in case anyone was wondering, none of the fake trailers are set to appear on this release, or on "Planet Terror"), but I'm still just a sucker for QT. What do you think?


Jesse Eisenberg a big star?

The most interesting thing I could find in this morning's rather yawnworthy trades was buried under the news that Ryan Reynolds had joined the cast of Greg Mottola's "Adventureland." Since he's never seemed to be anything but dim to me, especially in the thoroughly annoying "Smokin' Aces," that just said meh.

But reading behind the lines, to find something I had apparently missed, made it much better news. Though Reynolds will indeed get a big part in the 2009 summer flick, the lead will be none other than Jesse Eisenberg, aka Walt Berkman. That's at least how I'll always know him, as Noah Baumbach's alter-ego in one of my favorite flicks of the past five years or so, "The Squid and the Whale."

I haven't seen him in anything since, so this is welcome news. Mottola, a card-holding member of the Apatow mob, directed this summer's funniest movie, "Superbad," so the semi-autobiographical "Adventureland" should be a lot of fun.

Set in 1987, it stars Eisenberg as a recent college graduate who has to cancel his plans to tour Europe and instead take a job at the titular (New Jersey, I think) theme park. Reynolds will play (and this is definitely more fitting to his rather annoying persona) an aspiring rock star and the icon of cool to all the kids working at the park. Kristen Stewart, who's grown up more than a bit since being menaced with Jodie Foster in "Panic Room," will play the romantic lead, a tomboy who also works at the park.

That's a lot of words about a movie not coming out for almost two years, I concede, but I really like Jesse Eisenberg, so I wanted to pass that along to anyone else who might have missed it. Peace out.

Where do you go after you're "Superbad"?

I was gonna start today by discussing Todd McFarlane's plan to piss all over "The Wizard of Oz," but I just can't bring myself to do it. Some people would name "Casablanca" and "The Birds" as the most untouchable flicks of all time, and I certainly wouldn't stop them from making that argument, but to me there's just no movie that combined amazing storytelling with virtuoso filmmaking better than "The Wizard of Oz."

OK, maybe a few words about it, but then I promise I'll quickly move on. McFarlane and Josh Olson, writer of the "History of Violence" graphic novel, are promising a "revisionist" vision, but McFarlane's quote on the subject reveals this is all really happening because he can't be bothered to come up with any more original ideas himself.

"My pitch was ‘How do we get people who went to ‘Lord of the Rings’ to embrace this?’ " McFarlane said. "I want to create (an interpretation) that has a 2007 wow factor. You’ve still got Dorothy trapped in an odd place, but she’s much closer to the Ripley from ‘Alien’ than a helpless singing girl."

Bleah, bleah and more bleah. Enough of that. I'd much rather talk about what Greg Mottola will do now that he's crafted and unleashed the funniest movie of 2007 with "Superbad."

If you polled 100 people leaving the movie theater after a screening of "Superbad," more than half of them would guess it was directed by Judd Apatow, and the rest would probably just give you a blank stare. But, of course, it was Mr. Mottola who was responsible for this, and before it the underrated little "Daytrippers" flick and solid TV work with "Undeclared" and then "Arrested Development."

I'd love to see some of these very talented people in the Apatow camp return to TV and give us something even half as great as "Freaks and Geeks," but they're probably too recently burned by the experience to go back to it. Instead, Mottola is quickly getting back to work on movies, this time with a script he penned himself.

Giving credit where it's due, this report comes directly from the almost-always-reliable JoBlo site. According to those fine folks, Mottola's next flick will be called "Adventureland" and will be a semiautobiographical tale set in the '80s about a college grad who, as he's about to set off on a European adventure, finds himself stuck at home in Long Island because his father gets laid off. Forced to support himself, he gets a job at the local amusement park Adventureland, where comedic hijinx will surely follow.

The slightly sordid world of amusement parks should be ripe territory for fun, and Mottola also wrote the script for "Daytrippers," so I'm hoping he comes up with a winner here to keep us laughing again next summer.


Greenaway's grand vision of Rembrandt

My favorite Froggy film site, Cinempire.com, has a slew of photos up from Peter Greenaway's upcoming "Nightwatching," which starts with the creation of Rembrandt's painting "The Night Watch" to tell the story of his often turbulent private life.

Even when they're deeply flawed, Greenaway's flicks are always a visual feast, and as these photos show, this one should be no different. Martin Freeman of the UK "The Office" fame plays Rembrandt, and even if this movie is far too wild to ever turn up in my little corner of the world on the big screen, the photos can take your mind off of Wednesday for a few minutes. Click here to peruse them all and enjoy.

Two doses of trailer fun

The first is just a tease of the movie I'd have to say I'm most excited about for the fall, Todd Haynes' Dylan flick "I'm Not There." Though it doesn't show much, I like the style of it and am definitely ready for more.



Next up comes the more substantial trailer for Woody Allen's "Cassandra's Dream." Though much of the world has dismissed him as the aging pervert he often seems to be, Mr. Allen has been on a real winning streak of late. "Match Point" was easily one of my favorite movies of 2005, and though it was lighter than air, "Scoop" was a lot of fun.

"Cassandra's Dream," starring Colin Farrell, Ewan McGregor and Tom Wilkinson, is definitely on the darker side. It's set to come out in October, and I'm hoping it has enough star power to make out here to the hinterlands. Anyways, enjoy the trailer. Peace out.