Two short doses of some pretty seriously funny stuff

Should it really take a person two days to come up with a list of the 10 best movies of 2008? By any logical measure, no, but I'm afraid that's the case.

I can tell you that I have the 10 in mind, and they have changed in the past year. Though the top two are set in stone, and the top five are all still there, "The Dark Knight" is one that has fallen a few slots to no longer make the cut. I still love Nolan's movie quite a bit, but the competition was very intense.

So, that will be coming tomorrow, but today all I have is a couple of clips that deliver at least a little bit of funny. Well, in the case of the first one, a lot of funny.

Though I was far beyond the target audience when I first read, C.D. Payne's absurdist comedy "Youth in Revolt," it's a book I thoroughly enjoyed. If you were to read it, be warned: The premise is as old as time, a 14-year-old meets the girl of his dreams and schemes to get her. But Payne's work is much darker than you might expect, and a heck of a lot funnier.

Now, even though he still has the baby face, I'm sure there's no way Michael Cera would even try to play a kid that young, so I'd imagine our hero, Nick Twisp, must be at least 16 in the movie, set to finally come out Jan. 8. The first trailer for this flick was just dreadful, but this "red-band" version looks a lot more promising, and has me thoroughly psyched to see this. Enjoy.

Youth In Revolt Red Band Trailer - watch more funny videos

The second is rather remarkable in that the Kids in the Hall are actually back together, and fans of their singularly juvenile humor (yes, I'm one) will be happy to see they haven't matured much at all. The clip below is for "Death Comes to Town," a short series they're doing for the CBC, and then hopefully very soon Comedy Central or somewhere else I can see it. Unfortunately, there's not much Dave Foley at all, but a Kids in the Hall reunion is reason to rejoice indeed. Enjoy, and have a perfectly acceptable Wednesday. Peace out.

Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town - watch more funny videos

Oscar's big gambit: Power to the people?

Before we get into this madness with the expanded Oscars, there's news about two things out there today that will snag a bit of this aging geeks' money, so I thought I'd pass on what I know.

The first is that the Director's Cut for Zack Snyder's "Watchmen" should be a truly wild affair. It's set to come to DVD the third week of July or so, and if you're lucky enough to live in New York, L.A. and maybe a couple of other cities you will be able to see it in a theater for one weekend only right before that.

The flick will clock in at an admittedly rather ridiculous 188 minutes, but if you're like me and loved the movie almost as the funny book by Alan Moore, I think you'll happily sit through it all. No word yet on whether or not there will be a giant squid anywhere to be seen, but I do know that it will restore one scene that was just sorely missing from the theatrical cut: The murder of Hollis Mason. This is a very poignant moment in the comic, so it's about damn time.

Comingsoon.net also had a bit this morning about something from Zack Snyder that I can't say I'm terribly excited about: A sequel to "300."

Now, don't get me wrong, it certainly will look cool. But didn't "300" have a definite ending already? Frank Miller is apparently hard at work on the comic that would precede the movie, but personally, I'd much rather see what Snyder can come up with for "Sucker Punch." Though it sounds a whole lot like "Pan's Labyrinth," I'm betting his tale of a young woman who creates an alternative reality to escape from a mental institution will be nothing but cool.

The second thing that caught my eye this morning may well only appeal to me, but here goes anyway: They're actually making a Fraggle Rock comic book. Things just don't get much odder than that, but I'm definitely in.

It seem that the Jim Henson Company is partnering with Archaia Comics to release a whole bunch of comics, everything from "The Dark Crystal" to "Labyrinth," with "Fraggle Rock" set to start it all off. With Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller hopefully still working on a new muppet movie, we may be looking at a second golden age for Henson's creations, and that would be just fine with me.

But beyond what interests me, of course, the biggest news of the day is the Oscars' big gambit: To double the number of best picture nominees from five to 10.

The move, which sounds great to me, leads back to a much earlier era; The last the time the academy had 10 Best Picture nominees was from 1931 to 1943. But why now?

Well, both the most obvious and probably the right reason is what happened last year with "The Dark Knight." Many folks, though by only a nose, not me, thought Christopher Nolan's flick should have received a Best Picture nomination. And, to be clear, if I had had a vote and there were 10 slots, I indeed would have given one of them to "The Dark Knight."

But what might it mean for this year? Well, I think it almost certainly means that "Up" will finally break into the Best Picture pack, and given it's rather rapturous reception, could even come very close to winning. Beyond that, if geeks are allowed to dream, could "Star Trek" even make the cut too? Probably not, but you can see how the wider field opens a bunch of possibilities.

My only possible beef with any of this is that it will probably make the already unbearably long Oscar broadcast even longer. My suggestion: Cut, immediately, that extremely morbid bit where the audience offers dead folks varying degrees of applause. That just makes me cringe every time I see it.

But, of course, beyond expanding the field to a wider range of films, there is a bottom-line factor that plays big into this. Though they won't say it publicly, I'd imagine the ability to stamp "Best Picture nominee" on 10 DVDs rather than five each year had to play a big role in this decision.

So, there you have it. Please feel free to chime in with any thoughts you might have on all of this, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

"Wolverine": Damned if you do?

Even though Nicki Finke is claiming, at her as-often-wrong-as-right Hollywood Deadline Daily site, that "Chuck" has indeed been renewed for a third season, almost everyone else who claims to know anything about it is saying the decision will be delayed for a week or more, so let's talk about something else entirely instead.

Actually, one more note about that, and then I'll move on, I promise. How cool would it be if Zachary Levi were to drop in through the ceiling, superspy style, to announce "Chuck" was back during today's NBC "infronts"? It won't happen, but one can dream, right? The one good and sure thing I can tell you about TV this morning is that ABC will begin burning off the last three episodes of the too-brilliant-to-survive "Pushing Daisies" on May 30 for three weeks in a row.

But here today, it's all about "Wolverine," which given that it only got about 37 percent positive on Rotten Tomatoes, could have turned out a whole lot worse in my book. Which isn't to say that Gavin Hood's mutant movie isn't without its faults.

In fact, the first half or so was just so boring that I'm fairly certain, judging from the rather sharp elbow to the ribs I got about a half hour in, that I actually fell asleep at least once. But to be fair I'm really not sure what he could have done any differently, since we're all by now terribly familiar with the saga of the origin of Wolverine.

Even so, I also can't imagine he could have made the opening half any more passionless or by-the-numbers. Though the brotherly banter of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and Liev Schrieber's Victor Creed/Sabretooth is often clever, and Dominic Monaghan makes a touching turn as Chris Bradley/Bolt, there were two specific things about the beginning that just bugged me beyond all reason.

First, did we really need to be introduced to the cliched older couple who welcome Wolfie into their home despite the fact that he shows up naked, only to see them blown away five minutes later by Stryker's assassins (sorry if that's spoiling anything, but it's not much of a spoil anyway, and with "Wolverine" having already made north of $85 million I'd imagine just about anyone who wants to see this has done so by now already)? It was just as insulting as it was thoroughly unnecessary. And secondly, how many times did we really need to see a closeup of Wolverine unleashing his steel claws? The payoff in the dick joke with Scott Adkins' Weapon XI near the end is indeed pretty damn funny, but the claws just got old way before Hood seemed to realize.

All that said, however, something happens to "Wolverine" about halfway in or so that manages to turn it into at least a satisfyingly entertaining little popcorn flick, which before "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man" used to be about all we could honestly ask for from summer superhero flicks. Gavin Hood seemed to wake up at just about the same point I did.

And coincidentally or not, it happens with "Wolverine" thanks almost entirely to Taylor Kitsch's Gambit/Remy LeBeau, who arrives and stays all too briefly (couldn't they have given him some of Will I Am's thoroughly unnecessary time?) but still manages to liven things up just in time (though a big part of me wishes this were the last of the "Origins" movies, I have to say a Gambit movie starring Tim Riggins would be far from the worst thing imaginable; indeed, details are scant, but there is a listing at the IMDB for a 2011 "Gambit" movie.)

From Gambit's arrival on out, Hood manages to turn "Wolverine" into a still terribly familiar but equally thrilling tale, culminating with a three-way battle between Wolverine, Sabretooth and Weapon XI that takes place on top of a nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island. And the ending neatly sets up what I would really rather see than any more "Origins" flicks: The possible cast of a "X-Men: First Class" flick, which "Chuck" and "Gossip Girl" mastermind Josh Schwartz is supposedly cooking up right now.

If that doesn't happen, the wild success of "Wolverine" should at least set up a "Magneto" flick starring Sir Ian McKellen, to which - thanks to the presence of Sir Ian himself - I can only say bring it on. And here's what Taylor Kitsch had to say to MTV about the possibility of a "Gambit" movie:

"I want to go into the Thieves Guild part of his story [the union of thieves that Gambit was raised in]. How cool would it be to see him stealing things to survive because the stakes are so high? Come on, Fox, let's do it."

Amen, brother. So, the verdict? "Wolverine" is terribly slow to kick into gear, but once it does, it's probably worth at least a matinee for fans of the X-Men, which is a damn sight better than anything you could possibly say about "The Last Stand." And with that I'll leave you with this teaser for the new season of "True Blood," which returns to HBO June 14 and for which you can count me thoroughly jazzed. If I'm not mistaken, it contains the new Bob Dylan song "Beyond Here Lies Nothing," which just sounds great. Enjoy, say a prayer for "Chuck," and have a perfectly passable Monday. Peace out.

Bludgeoning "Battlestar Galactica," and the first glimpse of Apatow's "Funny People"

Actually, the best news out there this morning was that Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" has entered extremely elite territory as it crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide.

With a combined domestic and international gross of $1,001,082,160, it joins "Titanic" (still the overall leader at $1.8 billion), "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" as the only four flicks to cross the billion-dollar line. Huzzah!

But the thing that most piqued my interest (and, well, ire) was news that Universal is in negotiations to make a big-screen "Battlestar Galactica" movie. Great news, right? Wrong. This won't be Ronald Moore's vision or anything like it. Instead, they're going to the original TV source, Glen A. Larson, to create something along the lines of the first series that aired on ABC in 1978.

Part of me wants to just say fair enough. The fact that Will Ferrell (and, because I guess everyone has to work, simply adorable Anna Friel from "Pushing Daisies") are about to star in a big-screen treatment of "Land of the Lost" proves there's an interminable market for campy updates of '70s fluff, and I can normally just shrug it off and move on.

But not this time, because as anyone who watches the Sci-Fi show which now only has five episodes left knows, Moore didn't just continue the story that began in 1978. He completely reimagined the concept, factoring in the atmosphere of post-9/11 America and imbuing his show with big ideas about religion, politics and government to go along with all the big space battles. Along with "The Wire" and "Friday Night Lights," it's easily one of the best TV dramas of recent years, so how in the world do you come back from that and return to the '70s camp?

The short answer, for me at least, is I won't, but I just wanted to share that bit of Saturday morning bile with everyone anyway. Things get more cheerful from here on out, I promise, even if it does involve Adam Sandler's possible impending death (which I guess would make some people cheerful anyway.)

A seriously funny trailer for "Funny People"

Until this trailer appeared on Moviefone, I really had no idea what Judd Apatow's third flick, "Funny People," was all about beyond what its title implies.

As you'll see from the long trailer, the flick - starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Eric Bana, Jason Schartzman and, of course, Mrs. Apatow herself, Leslie Mann - does indeed bring the funny, but also throws in a serious side too. But with real funny people Dave Atell, Sarah Silverman and Norm MacDonald, among others, all set for cameos when this comes out at the end of July, I'm somehow betting the funny will win out in the end.

My favorite thing in it would have to "That was like a scene from 'The Deer Hunter'," but at only three minutes, there's still a lot to enjoy here. Enjoy, and if you want to laugh some more, go see "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail," as I'm gonna do in about four hours. Peace out.

Oscars on the brain, and Watchmen, Watchmen everywhere!

I guess the biggest non-Oscar news out there today is that Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Owen Wilson are set to star in "Little Fockers," which will of course revolve around the youngins. Hardly a high-brow movie, but I always at least give it a chance when De Niro goes for comedy.

But here today, it's all about the Oscars, a return to lists and - of course - "Watchmen"! Please feel free to stick around until the end for what I think are the first three clips of actual footage from the movie.

I'm set to record an Oscars video presentation (are those "vodcasts"? I have no idea) with my co-worker Phillip Ramati this afternoon, so they're definitely on my brain, and over my morning coffee I was perusing Wikipedia's list of all the Best Picture winners and nominees (and hoping it's accurate), which prompted these few brief thoughts:

Biggest snub

This is, of course, completely subjective, and for my purposes I restricted it to movies that actually were nominated rather than the almost infinitely broader category of worthy movies that didn't even get the nod.

In the former set, three jumped out at me, with the last one being the most amazing slight in my book. First up is "Dances With Wolves" over "Goodfellas" in 1990. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm not sure I've ever seen Kevin Costner's film in its entirety, but I did try at least once. I have, however, probably seen Scorsese's gangster epic at least 10 times on DVD, so I think I can say with authority that this was just the definition of a dis.

Next up is "Forrest Gump" over "Pulp Fiction" in 1994, probably the biggest gap in quality between a winner and a nominee I can think of. I've made my hatred for "Forrest Gump" crystal clear here before, and while I know in my heart that, say, "Norbit" or "The Hottie or the Nottie" are probably worse movies, I still think "Gump" stands the test of time as the worst "good" movie of all. Along with the love of Zemeckis' flick, this vote just showed that the Oscars really weren't ready for something as innovative as Quentin Tarantino's breakthrough flick.

But the biggest goof in my mind goes back much further, all the way to 1939. Now, I have seen "Gone With the Wind," albeit not until it was re-released in theaters sometime in the 1990s. I really liked the overall experience, complete with intermission, so I can't knock anyone who is a devoted fan of the adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's grand Southern saga, but I still have to ask how in the world could this have beaten out "The Wizard of Oz"? Like most American kids of my era, there were two movies that we all gathered around the TV for year after year as events: "The Wizard of Oz" and "The Sound of Music." The former is still the one movie that I think would cause me to resort to actual rather than just threatened violence if I ever heard of plans for a big-screen remake, and for flicks that combine wild storytelling with sheer artistry and innovation, they just don't get much better at all. Hence, the winner in this category for me, but please feel free to add any others that jump out at you.

Favorite Best Picture winners

Nothing terribly surprising here, especially in the confirmation that the mid-1970s were indeed the golden age of American cinema, but just thought I'd share my 10 favorites anyway, arranged only by order:

1949: "All the King's Men"
1954: "On the Waterfront"
1965: "The Sound of Music"
1972: "The Godfather"
1974: "The Godfather Part II"
1975: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
1976: "Rocky"
1977: "Annie Hall"
1987: "The Last Emperor"
And, finally, 2007: "No Country for Old Men"

Favorite Best Picture losers

This, of course, took a bit longer, but it's always better to complain about who got hosed rather than congratulate the winner, right? I was gonna try to keep this to 10 also, but it soon became clear that would be impossible. So, here goes, my favorite nominees who failed to take home the big prize:

1939: "The Wizard of Oz"
1956: "The King and I"
1961: "The Hustler"
1962: "To Kill a Mockingbird" (probably my favorite movie of all time, but I suppose you can't gripe too much, since it lost out to "Lawrence of Arabia")
1964: "Dr. Strangelove"
1967: "Bonnie and Clyde" and "The Graduate"
1970: "MASH"
1971: "The Last Picture Show"
1976: "All the President's Men" and "Taxi Driver"
1979 (truly a banner year): "Apocalypse Now," "Breaking Away" and "Norma Rae," with "Kramer Vs. Kramer" somehow beating all of those
1980: "Raging Bull"
1984: "A Soldier's Story"
1987: "Hope and Glory"
1990: "Goodfellas"
1991: "Beauty and the Beast"
1992: "The Crying Game"
1994: "Pulp Fiction"
1995: "Babe"
1996: "Fargo"
2000: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
2001: "Gosford Park"
And, finally, 2006: "Little Miss Sunshine"

Were the Oscars always so "snobby"?

I put that in quotes because I'm not thoroughly convinced they are now, but the backers of "The Dark Knight" (and you can count me firmly among them) could certainly make that case.

So, were the Oscars always so averse to rewarding movies that combine artistry with extreme box-office appeal? The biggest example that proves they weren't would have to be "Titanic," which took home the big prize and 9 other statues, among 13 nominations.

There are other instances, however, that better show that the Oscars once (and fairly recently) took the wishes of fans and real geeks to heart. Here goes, with some Best Picture nominees:

1975: "Jaws"
1977: "Star Wars"
1981: "Raiders of the Lost Ark"
1982: "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial"
and 2001-2003: "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy

And, finally, "Watchmen"!

Anyone who actually made it through all that certainly deserves a reward, so here it is: As far as I can tell, the first three clips of actual footage from the movie "Watchmen," for which you can count me just thoroughly geeked up.

First up is a clip of Dan Dreiberg (Patrick Wilson) talking with Adrian Veidt (Matthew Goode) about the Comedian's murder:



Next up is a snippet of that great scene in which Nite Owl (Wilson) and Laurie Jupiter (Malin Ackerman) take the Owl ship out for a spin and rescue some folks trapped in a burning building.



And finally, my favorite of the three, which features an unmasked Nite Owl and Rohrschach (Jackie Earle Haley). I think this is the first time I've heard Rohrschach speak, and it's just nothing but cool.



So, there you have it. Our Oscars video should be up some time tonight, so please feel free to check back, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Some dirty old rat has stolen my hat

A lot of people who care about this kind of stuff may already know just about everything I'm about to cram into this post, but you'll have to forgive me, since I just spent the past three days or so in Ohio so I could stand in a near-hurricane and sing benignly racist (is there really such a thing?) songs like "Somebody Stole My Sombrero" as the U.S.A. and mighty Michael Bradley beat the Mexicans in a World Cup qualifier 2-0.

And later today I'm gonna take a chance on the Clive Owen/Naomi Watts thriller "The International" even though I'm more than a little worried that everything we need to know was revealed in the trailer.

But first, here's a quick wrap up of what's happened in the past few days when it comes to directors I like.

Christopher Nolan's next, sans Batman

As much as I enjoyed "The Dark Knight" (and that was indeed quite a bit), I'm rather happy to hear that Mr. Nolan will be getting back to something that twists the mind more than a bit before he takes on the Batman saga again.

Next up will be something called "Inception," for which he also wrote the screenplay. It's described so far only vaguely as "a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind." I could probably spend most of my workday wondering about just what that might mean if I didn't already have the whole week off.

But what does that mean for Batman? Since this is all taking place at Warner Bros., which financed "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight," one can only assume that would be up next, but The Hollywood Reporter had another fairly intriguing possibility. They have him "attached" to a big-screen reboot of the '60s British TV show "The Prisoner," presumably following the six-episode remake the show is already getting this summer from AMC, to star Jim "Jesus" Caviezel and Sir Ian McKellen.

David Cronenberg hits the big time

This was, naturally, pitched as a story about Tom Cruise, but any word of David Cronenberg getting back to directing and with the budget this project should attract is much more exciting to me.

Following on the rather serious success of Robert Ludlum's Bourne saga on the big screen, MGM has picked up the spy scribe's "The Matarese Circle" for Cronenberg to direct and Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington to star in. Mr. Washington will play American intelligence operative Brandon Scofield, and Cruise will play his arch rival, Russian spy Vasili Taleniekov. The two are forced to team up to take on "a wide-ranging political conspiracy orchestrated by a mysterious organization called the Matarese."

There's apparently already a potential sequel penned by Ludlum back in 1977, "The Matarese Countdown," so hopefully this will keep Cronenberg back in the game for quite a while.

Woody Allen assembles his next team

I'm certain I've never worked as hard as Woody Allen still does at age 73, and I'm even more sure I'll still keep watching every flick of his I get a chance to until the man finally decides to slow down.

The real question in my mind is whether his next flick, "Whatever Works" starring fellow cranky old man Larry David, will open wide enough to reach my little corner of the world when it opens June 9 in the U.S.A. Before that even comes out, though, Mr. Allen will be back at work, this time in London with Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins in tow.

Those two certainly will be only the beginning of what should be a solid ensemble cast, and since there's sadly little else I like to do with my mornings, I'll be happy to share anything else I find out.

And I'll close today with a plug for the new HBO comedy "Eastbound & Down," since it comes from my current favorite comedy team, writer/director Jody Hill and star Danny McBride. Though I canceled my HBO a while ago, I'm hoping this will be available for free at HBO.com shortly it debuts Sunday night at 10:30 p.m.

So, what is it? Well, along with being the title of Jerry Reed's theme song for "Smokey and the Bandit," it's now also a rather rude-looking comedy about a washed-up former major league pitcher (McBride) who returns to his hometown and lands a gig teaching phys ed at the local middle school.

McBride, who stole every second he got as Red in "Pineapple Express" and also starred for Mr. Hill in the very funny "Foot Fist Way," is just a naturally gifted comedian, so catch this one if you can. In the meantime, just in case you actually have 12 minutes to kill at work today, here's HBO's making of special for the show. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant weekend. Peace out.

My top 10 - or maybe 12 - movies of 2008

For most people in the world there certainly have to be more important things to spend your Sunday afternoon thinking about, but it took me quite a while to get this list down to only 10 flicks.

Oddly enough, since this list will be presented simply in alphabetical order, the first one you'll find is actually the last one to make the cut, just edging out Oliver Stone's "W." and Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" for the final spot.

And, even though "Ratatouille" was my single favorite movie of 2007 (though "Into the Wild" has pretty much moved into a tie with it), the simply charming "Wall-E" didn't quite manage to find a home here.

So, without further ado, here goes, and please feel free to share your favorites or let me know of any you think I've just snubbed.

"Cadillac Records"
Writer/director Darnell Martin's take on the history of Chess Records plays more than a little loosely with the facts, but in a way that strays in refreshing ways from the conventional music biopic. And it certainly doesn't hurt that this woefully under appreciated little flick contains my favorite ensemble cast of the year, led by Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, a surprisingly strong Beyonce as Etta James and a thoroughly fun Mos Def as Chuck Berry. See it if you somehow still can.

"The Dark Knight"
With crazy rumors flying around about what might happen with the next chapter of director Christopher Nolan's take on the Batman saga (Eddie Murphy as the riddler? Really!?!?), it's easy to overlook just how much he accomplished with this one. Though "Iron Man" was also a brainy and fun superhero flick, Nolan just made the story of "The Dark Knight" his own, with more than a little help from the much-missed Heath Ledger.

"The Fall"
I think I may be the only person in the world who would put this on the list of 2008's best movies, but I love it and have no intention of backing down. I went into Tarsem's oddly engaging flick expecting a visual stunner but also found a tender story starring Lee Pace of "Pushing Daisies" as an injured stunt man who befriends a young girl played by the charming Catinca Untaru. I loved this movie the first time I saw it in Atlanta, and do so even more now.

"Let the Right One In"
All I knew about this flick as I was examining the lineup for the 2008 Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, which I was fortunate enough to attend with my parents, was that it was a Swedish vampire flick (not, as I somehow first thought, a Mexican one), but that was enough to get me hooked. What I found was a genuine horror movie that also mixes in a fantastic coming-of-age tale about a social outcast who finds out his new neighbor and friend just happens to be a vampire. "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves is making noise about transporting this European charmer to Colorado for everyone who can't be bothered to read subtitles, but I heartily recommend checking it out in its original form instead of waiting.

"Milk"
All politics aside, if you can really say that, Gus Van Sant has made what I think will turn out to be my favorite flick of the entire year with this biopic of the slain San Francisco pol Harvey Milk. What makes it work so well is that, even as it presents a true American tragedy, it never dwells on that but instead shows the resolve and joy that made Milk (played by Sean Penn) try so many times to break through barriers. I was surprised - but never bored - by just how much it got into San Francisco politics of the time, and next to "Cadillac Records" it features the second best ensemble cast of the year with supporting players Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch and "Freak" James Franco.

"Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"
Peter Sollett, who clearly knows the city of New York as well as Woody Allen used to, turns what could have been (and in many ways is) just a silly teen tale into a thoroughly fun portrait of the bridge-and-tunnel set that invades Manhattan every weekend. He's certainly helped by charming leads Kat Dennings and Michael "George Michael" Cera, and has managed to craft here my single favorite comedy of the year.


"Slumdog Millionaire"
Even though Danny Boyle's last flick, "Sunshine," was one I had very little time for at all, I knew he would strike gold with this tale of a Mumbai "slumdog" who competes on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" in hopes of winning the affection of his true love. That just sounds hokeyer each time I type it, but even though the game show framing gets a little old by the end, Boyle's affection for India shines through in every scene, many of which will become permanently burned onto your brain.

"Tell No One"
As happens to me with many mind-bending thrillers, I was sure after watching this French flick based on a Harlan Coben novel once that it just didn't add up. Boy, was I wrong. This one should be out on video soon, and if you like a really taut thriller with natural action scenes and a "reveal" that I guarantee will simply stun you, definitely check out Guillaume Canet's flick. The Macon Film Guild, by the way, will be showing this one soon at the Douglass Theatre downtown, so if you happen to live in my little burgh please turn out for it.

"The Visitor"
As good as Sean Penn was as Harvey Milk, these last two contain my two favorite male acting performances of the year. (My vote for woman of the year, which will be on the list coming out tomorrow, is Sally Hawkins in Mike Leigh's "Happy Go Lucky," another great flick that just missed making this list. In "The Visitor," Thomas McCarthy (director of "The Station Agent") finds a perfect foil in "Six Feet Under" veteran Richard Jenkins, who plays a college professor who finds an immigrant couple living in the New York apartment he owns but hasn't visited for many years. It can be more than a little heavy-handed, but along with Patricia Riggen's "La Misma Luna" it tackles the issue of immigration in the United States while at the same time simply telling a very engaging story.

"The Wrestler"
How in the world they didn't open a movie this good about professional wrestling throughout the South in its first wave is beyond me, but it will be thankfully playing everywhere very soon. Darren Aronofsky's clever movie starts with the conventions of your typical sports underdog flick but turns them into something unique thanks to Mickey Rourke's amazing turn as the titular grappler, simply the best performance I've seen on the big screen all year.

So, there you have it. And here, by the way, are a few of the other flicks I really liked this year that didn't quite make the cut: Cloverfield, In Bruges, Be Kind Rewind, The Bank Job, Iron Man, Son of Rambow, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Kung Fu Panda, Wall-E, Man on Wire, Tropic Thunder, Trouble the Water, A Secret, Burn After Reading, Tyler Perry's The Family that Preys, Ghost Town, The Express, Happy Go Lucky, Waltz with Bashir, Gran Torino, Doubt, W., Synecdoche, NY, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Soul Men and Australia.

Once again, please feel free to share your favorites, and have a perfectly passable Monday. And if you want to, also please come back tomorrow for my women of the year and Wednesday for 2008's best leading men.

An animated Best Picture nominee? Why the "Wall-E" not?

I'm always hopeful when I hear a major group of critics sharing the kudos love with animated movies, even if in this case it comes a year too late.

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association, usually a contrarian bunch, has just named "Wall-E" as its pick for Best Picture, with "The Dark Knight" as its runner-up. I think they'll end getting one out of two right in the end, with "The Dark Knight" snagging the final Oscar slot (If I had to pick it today, with the caveat that this is mostly a list of movies I haven't seen, I'd say the final five will be "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Milk", "Revolutionary Road", "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Dark Knight.") And if that is the final list, count me among the "Slumdog" supporters.

"Wall-E," however, certainly has enough charms to merit it at least being in the conversation, so thanks to the L.A. crew for that. The first 45 minutes or so of "Wall-E" are just the most enchanting kind of romance, and even if it does become more and more conventional as the story goes on, it's still often a very magical movie.

But like I said, the only problem I have with any of this is that it comes a year too late. Where were the critics when it came to hailing "Ratatouille," the best animated movie I've seen in many, many years, and my pick for the best movie of 2007?

My final five, if I remember this right, were in fact "The Savages", "Into the Wild", "Once", "Zodiac" and "Ratatouille." Of those five, I think "Into the Wild" stands the test of time the best, since I just watched it again the other day and loved it even more.

Though I have a slew of prestige pics to catch up on when I get the chance to hit NYC for the end of the year, I have to say that so far it looks like this year just doesn't measure up as well. So, in that void, why not a win for "Wall-E"?

Can "The Dark Knight" really take out "Titanic"? And will Whedon's "Dollhouse" really ever open?

On the surface, it might seem like a gamble for Warner Brothers to send "The Dark Knight" back to theaters Jan. 23, banking on a bounce from the Oscar nominations being announced the day before.

If you think about it, however, there's really no way the flick can lose at this point. If it snags the Best Picture nomination it clearly deserves (and some posthumous love for Heath Ledger), than a run big enough to net the $77 million domestic take needed to unseat "Titanic" as the U.S. champ becomes inevitable. But even if it doesn't, the chip that will put on the movie's devoted fans' shoulders will only gin up the drive to take the title even further.

And I'm not a "Titanic" fan or much of a hater either. I do know that "The Dark Knight" is a far superior flick, and as a sports fan I love competitions of all kinds, so I can only say bring it on (and I'll certainly contribute my $8 or so to see it again, maybe this time finally in Imax.)

But on a personal note, this weekend is now shaping up as perhaps the best movie weekend of the year. Along with visiting a friend for lunch tomorrow, I'm hitting Atlanta mostly to see two of the movies I've been looking forward to all year: "Slumdog Millionaire" and then "Milk," both at the fantastic Regal Tara theater. I can't wait, and of course feel free to check back for reviews of both soon.

Here today, however, it's mostly about the first review of Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse," which has been in development for more than a year, has gone through at least two pilots and is supposedly still going to hit the airwaves in February on Fox (though I'll believe it only when I see it at this point.)

Well, it seems that Time TV critic James Poniewozik has done exactly that, and had what could be charitably be called a mixed reaction at best.

For those who can't remember (and really, who could blame you at this point), the new show from the creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" will be about a group of people known as "actives" or "dolls" who have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new ones to perform missions. It's set to star Eliza Dushku, a k a Faith the vampire slayer, in the lead role of doll Echo, and also Olivia Williams (a k a Ms. Cross from "Rushmore") as the matron of the "dollhouse," Tahmoh Penikett of "Battlestar Galactica" as a FBI agent tracking the secret project and even "Angel" veteran Amy Acker in a recurring role (if it even goes that far) as a doctor who tends to the dolls.

After offering the qualifier that he initially misunderestimated "Firefly" when that great Whedon sci-fi Western hit the air for its far-too-brief run, Poniewozik had this to say about Whedon's new offering:

Yes, this is certainly Joss Whedon trying to do What People Think Works on Broadcast TV Today—the legendary serial-procedural hybrid. But the first episode—in which Echo is imprinted with a kidnapping-negotiator's personality to secure the return of a rich man's abducted daughter—is well enough written to be absorbing. Writing a crime hour doesn't seem like Whedon's thing, but the episode is tight, suspenseful, with intriguing psychological twists and flashes of Whedonesque humor. ...

Now the minus. Dollhouse as conceived (a heroine plays a different "person" every week) is less a series concept than an actress' showcase, a sort of extreme version of an Alias undercover premise. And the actress being showcased is Eliza Dushku. Now, I have nothing against Dushku. I thought she was fine on Buffy. But she's not exactly Toni Collette (who's playing a multiple-personality case on Showtime's The United States of Tara, which I have not seen). Watching her inhabit her imprinted "personality"—a tough negotiator with secret vulnerabilities—I did not see her becoming another person. I thought: Oh, look! There's Eliza Dushku with glasses and her hair in a bun!

If it weren't for Whedon's pedigree, I'm not sure I'd be dying to see a second episode. But for me, the main draw now is not seeing Dushku become a different person every week, but getting to see Joss Whedon become a different writer every week.

I could certainly do without the Dushku hating, but from his assessment I'd say this was just about exactly what I'd expect. Anyone who's seen the rather pedestrian first seasons of both "Buffy" and "Angel, however, knows that Whedon's stuff can often get off to a rocky start but - given the chance - eventually develop into something seriously entertaining.

You can read the rest of what Poniewozik had to say here, and like I said, please feel free to check back for a couple reviews of what are hopefully two of the year's best movies later this weekend. Peace out.

"X-Files": The truth is ... well, a mixed bag at best

In trying to concoct my assessment of "The X-Files: I Want to Believe," I couldn't help but - fairly or not - compare it to "The Simpsons Movie" of 2007.

And, if you bear with me, I think my reasoning is fairly valid. Rather than one of the slew of '60s TV shows that have been "adapted" with none of the original creators involved, these are both actually made by the folks who came up with the concept in the first place (imagine that!) And they both indeed have the feeling of a single episode of the series stretched out to fill about two hours in your local multiplex.

But whereas "The Simpsons Movie" used all the show's best writers and voice cast to produce something better than the show has been in many, many years, what writer-director Chris Carter and writer Frank Spotnitz have come up with for this second "X-Files" movie is more like an average-at-best episode from the late '90s, before Annabeth Gish and Robert Patrick arrived to steer the show completely off the track, but after it had lost a lot of it's geek-cool edge.

The plot starts out on a promising note with a truly creepy Billy Connolly (if you've somehow managed to miss any images of him in this role, you may not even know who it is) in the role of a pedophile priest who has psychic visions about a case involving the disappearance of a female FBI agent. I'll try not to tell you too much more about the plot, but of course, former agent Scully (Gillian Anderson) is called upon to track down fellow former agent Mulder (David Duchovny.) And, the best thing about this "X-Files" flick is that Anderson and Duchovny still work great together as a team. They fall naturally into the roles of believer and skeptic and make it a welcome return for all their fans.

The problem, however, is that the case they're called in to help with - while suitably creepy enough for a "X-Files" episode - isn't nearly enough to fill a nearly two-hour movie. It's never terribly suspenseful, and a hackneyed attempt to tie it to the medical career Scully has pursued since leaving the FBI just falls flat.

In the supporting cast, Callum Keith Renee of "Battlestar Galactic" fame makes the most of his role as the "2nd abductor," but to tell you any more than that would just spoil things too much. It's with the FBI agents that have followed in Mulder and Scully's footsteps, however, that Carter and Spotnitz really missed the mark. They try to reverse the believer/skeptic vibe that Mulder and Scully used to make the show work for so many years, but while the reliable Amanda Peet comes across earnest enough as the believer, rapper and car pimper Xzibit just looks angry about having to be there at all as his sole facial expression through the whole affair. There are definitely some rappers who can act - Mos Def chief among them - but you, my friend, certainly are not yet one of them.

So, the bottom line is if you liked the show, there's enough fun touches - including a late cameo from one of the series regulars that will just make you smile - to make this fitfully enjoyable, but really not enough to justify it as more than a rental for even the most diehard fans. And, according to the box-office projection I saw, not even enough to lift this to any better than a fourth-place finish behind, in reverse order, "Step Brothers" (which I might see today), "Mamma Mia!" and - of course still on top - "The Dark Knight." Not a terrible movie by any stretch, but still more than a bit of a letdown. Peace out.

Midyear report card: The 10 (well, actually 11) best movies of 2008 (at least so far)

I thought about not doing this because I wasn't sure I'd be able to get to 10 movies I at least mildly liked this year - especially given just how rotten the year started out - but I ended up getting to 14 that were in the running. (UPDATE: I somehow left off Iron Man, which an alert reader brought to my attention, hence the reason this list now goes to 11!)

The biggest surprise was that "Wall-E" didn't end up at or even that near the top, but rest assured that that doesn't mean I love it almost unconditionally. And, yes, the No. 1 spot is held by the movie I've seen most recently, but if you've seen it I'm almost certain you'll agree with me.

So, with only the further proviso that I certainly haven't come close to seeing all the movies that have been released so far this year, here goes:

10. "Hellboy II: The Golden Army"
Just a fun ride from the start, I consider this really to be pulp movie-making, if there is such a thing. Guillermo del Toro clearly just threw at us as many of the magical things he could think of and cooked up a wild story for them, making for a flick almost as good as the original.

9. "Cloverfield"
I almost avoided this one completely because I was so afraid of a "Blair Witch"-style hoax, but I was thankfully wrong (which does seem to happen from time to time.) With a surprisingly steady camera, it really is Godzilla-meets-Youtube, and even though that sounds awful on paper it somehow just works.

8. "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian"
People will surely scoff at me for including this one over, say, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," but I just have a soft spot for the Narnia tales and this one just improves on "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" in almost every facet. The dialogue is smart and funny, and the final battle - while ultimately enough to numb your senses - is just a blast.

7. "Be Kind Rewind"
I wanted to put Michel Gondry's goofy little flick higher on the list, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. If you missed it, you can see it on DVD now, and I think you'll enjoy this silly movie that's all about the love of movies.

6. "The Bank Job"
For once, a heist movie that's at least as much about the characters and the caper as it is the gadgets. This "true" story just keeps getting wilder as it unfolds, and if you like heist flicks, I recommend this one very highly.

5a. "Iron Man"
I don't know how in the world I managed to leave this one off when I first compiled this list, other than that I do it when I first wake up in the morning. Although I loved what Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. did with Iron Man, I'm even more amped to see what happens when the great Terrence Howard dons his own metal suit and Samuel L. Jackson gets in on the action next time.

5. "Wall-E"
Like I said at the outset, I'm surprised this one ended up so low on this list, but looking back it's just been a stronger year thus far for flicks than I thought. Pure magic in its first half hour dedicated to silent robot love, it loses its way just a bit in the middle but still manages to be another Pixar winner (I'd rank it third behind "Ratatouille" and "The Incredibles," respectively, but then I guess I'm just a Brad Bird partisan.)

4. "Son of Rambow"
I really thought this might catch on as the little indie hit of the summer, but it never quite got there. As the titles implies, this is just a smart and funny flick about two English boys who try to create their own version of "Rambo," and it's very well worth a rental when it finally hits DVD (I was surprised to find it wasn't there already.)

3. "The Fall"
Tarsem's second feature film is as much about the power of storytelling as it is about the touchingly odd relationship that develops between an injured stuntman (the great Lee Pace of "Pushing Daisies" fame) and a young girl he meets in the hospital (Catinca Untaru.) It's visually stunning, and even if the story he concocts for her induces some unintended guffaws, this is one I just love.

2. "Under the Same Moon"
Perhaps it's because we had a private screening of this one after it somehow lingered at one of my local multiplexes for six weeks or so, but Patricia Riggen's little movie about immigration and family ties has just lingered with me for a long time. Yes, it's sometimes as sappy as it sounds on paper, but spring for a rental and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

1. "The Dark Knight"
Was there really ever any doubt that this one would clinch the top spot? I've seen it twice in the theater and will surely spring for it one more time before it leaves some time in September. If all the hype has you skeptical, just give in and believe it, because this one is just pretty darn amazing.

So there you have it. And, for the record, here are the four flicks that almost made the 10-movie cut: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns," "Kung Fu Panda" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."

With plenty of fun stuff coming later this summer and fall - including new flicks from David Fincher, the Coen brothers and Spike Lee, among others - I'm sure this list will look a lot different when I revise it in January. Please feel free to chime in with anything you might think I've just gotten wrong, and of course let me know if there are any 2008 flicks I just overlooked. Peace out.

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

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

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

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

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

Here goes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

"The Dark Knight": Chaos under control

Before I dive into discussing Christopher Nolan's often-sensational "The Dark Knight," a brief word of thanks to everyone who turned out for the midnight event at the AmStar Cinemas 16 in Macon. With the crowd lined up so deep it almost stretched out of the parking lot, a radio van playing really bad slow jams at a thoroughly unnecessary volume and folks decked out in their best Joker attire to hand out free pizza in the lobby, it was just the biggest geekfest I've been to in many years, and a thorough blast.

And as to the movie itself, I'll get my one or two minor quibbles out of the way first before I shower it with praise. The opening sequences involving Christian Bale's Batman were just a letdown and could easily have been cut without me missing anything at all. Did we really need to see the Scarecrow again or see Batman go all James Bond in pursuit of a mob money man in Hong Kong?

Even though the latter was surely sweet eye candy (and must have been rather amazing in IMAX, which I just can't justify driving 2 1/2 hours to experience), these set pieces just detract from what Nolan is going for here, the first movie I can think of in a long time that so successfully creates a feeling of chaos from (almost) start to finish. And - thankfully and paradoxically enough - Nolan establishes this mood not by shaking his camera all over the place but instead keeping it under tight control even as Gotham is just melting down all around him.

As you well know by now, Heath Ledger's Joker is Nolan's main co-conspirator in wreaking this havoc, and the best thing I can tell you about his amazing performance is to believe all the hype you've heard about it and expect to find even more to draw you into his weird world. It's the most uncomfortable I've felt while laughing at the screen in many years, because what Ledger and Nolan clearly understand is that - despite his name - Joker isn't a jester or a clown, but just a really sick and twisted f***. You'll hear no morbid speculation from me about whether Ledger let this madness consume him, but he clearly threw himself into the role completely, and for that we can only say thanks.

And he also delivered what, for me, was one of two signature shots from Nolan's flick, when he's driving down the street in a police car, head out the window and clearly reveling in what he's just unleashed. The other came when Maggie Gyllenhaal (who makes the most of not much to do as Rachel Dawes) looks at Bale's Batman with a look of horror/relief/exhilaration after he's managed to save her life from the Joker's grasp. Those two will stick with me for a long time.

What I wasn't ready for, however, was that - as much as this is the Joker's show - the character that really gets to have a real arc as far as character development is Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent, making this also the first flick I can think of in a long time in which the two characters who matter most aren't the "hero."

Bale's Bruce Wayne and Batman - and this isn't a knock of any kind - are just very static characters in "The Dark Knight," as Nolan and co-screenwriter brother Jonathan invest all the ideas they've honed through the years about identity and the obfuscation of it in the story of Gotham's crusading D.A. Much of the fun of "The Dark Knight" comes in seeing how much they've progressed as a team since concocting "Memento" while still exploring similar themes. And the only time their hi jinx just left me scratching my head this time came in the saga of Gary Oldman's Lt. James Gordon, which you won't hear any more about from me just in case you're the last person in America to actually see this flick (if I have my calculations right, it made a rather whopping $60 million Friday alone, and is hopefully now well on its way to eclipsing the first-weekend record set by the simply dismal "Spider-Man 3.")

I've seen "The Dark Knight" twice already, and I'm glad I did, because there's a lot to take in in Nolan's bleak but often blissful ode to chaos. I must confess, however, that I was also happy to hear the strains of ABBA's "Dancing Queen" coming from the screening of "Mamma Mia!" next door as I was lined up to use the restroom afterward. A much-needed dose of levity which brought a smile to my face. Peace out.

I'm way too old for midnight movies, but ...

If you happen to be going to see "The Dark Knight" at 12:01 Friday morning at the Grand cinemas in Macon, you might see me there, 'cause I just bought the golden ticket!

And despite my rather mixed recent history with midnight movies, I'm severely stoked about it. Since I've moved to Macon, I've only bothered to turn out for two midnight flicks before this one.

"The Simpsons Movie" was the perfect midnight entertainment for me, just a 90 minute riff that was funnier than the actual show has been in more than a few years, but I was one of about six people there, so you'd certainly have to call that a nonevent.

"Spider-Man 3," however, was an entirely different animal. It was showing on four midnight screens, and all shows were sold out. I had never seen so many geeks running wild in a movie theater. All of which created a great buzz for what turned out to be - if I may rather hypocritically engage in some of the very hyperbole I'm about to knock - easily one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It just made me want to cry as much as poor Peter Parker was made to, and not for anything possibly approaching the right reasons.

"Spider-Man 3" did, however (as you may well already know), have the biggest opening weekend of all time, just ahead of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." Here, courtesy of the great Boxofficemojo site, are the top 11 opening weekends of all time (yes, it goes to 11 so I could get in this year's two biggest openings):

1. Spider-Man 3: $151,116,516
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: $135,634,554
3. Shrek the Third: $121,629,270
4. Spider-Man: $114,844,116
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: $114,732,820
6. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith: $108,435,841
7. Shrek 2: $108,037,878
8. X-Men: The Last Stand: $102,750,665
9. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: $102,685,961
10. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: $100,137,835
11. Iron Man: $98,618,668

So-called box office experts (how in the world do I get that job?) are forecasting "The Dark Knight" to finish somewhere between "Spider-Man 3" and "Iron Man" (way to go out on a limb, guys!) Given the buzz about Heath Ledger and the just astoundingly positive reviews, however, I seriously think it might just have a shot of finishing north of $150 million to knock that awful flick out of the top spot (I don't, by the way, hate all "Spider-Man" flicks; the first one was perfectly pleasant, and if you force me to pick one I'll name "Spider-Man 2" as my favorite superhero flick of all time.)

And, assuming I'm as amped up as I think I'll be after watching "The Dark Knight," I'll try to put up a few hopefully coherent sentences very early tomorrow morning when I get home. I will, however, strive to avoid the hyperbole attained in the lead for this rather rapturous review that appeared at Cinemablend.com:

Forget the great things you’ve heard about The Dark Knight. No matter how lavish the praise or how determined the hyperbole, it’s all understatement. The Dark Knight is I suppose the greatest superhero movie ever made, but it’s so far beyond the limited men in tights genre that attempting to compare it with movies like Spider-Man, Superman, or even Batman Begins is almost laughable. Director Christopher Nolan’s film trumps everything and everyone, including himself. It’s not just the best superhero movie ever made, it’s one of the best movies ever to show up in a theater.

Wow. Here's hoping I like it nearly that much, and that you all do to. Peace out.

This just in: School will rock again!

First off, a hearty huzzah to Guillermo del Toro and "Hellboy II," which managed (just barely) to hold off Will Smith and win the box-office weekend with about $36 million. Personally, I found it to be almost as fun as the first "Hellboy," even if it did eventually just reach creature overload, and I was just happy to see a superhero with almost no baggage at all to impede his principal duty of just kicking all kinds of ass.

Besides, there's a plenty moody enough superhero on the dock this week, and since I'm now off on Fridays, I'll definitely be there at midnight Friday morning to see "The Dark Knight" finally take flight (after what seems like three years of hype.)

But, in what in my odd little world is even better news, there's word this morning that Richard Linklater, Jack Black and Mike White will indeed be back for a "School of Rock 2." I've tried hard not to call a movie as silly as "School of Rock" great, but since I've probably seen it at least 10 times on DVD and it just makes me smile broadly every time, I think I'll just have to give in and admit that I love it unconditionally.

And the plot for the White-penned sequel just sounds like tons of fun. Who doesn't have great memories of elementary school field trips? For us in Salisbury, Md., the highlight was a trip to Washington, D.C., to act up on the National Mall. In Linklater's "School of Rock 2," the lucky kiddies will get to instead go on a rock 'n' roll odyssey across America with Mr. Black as their guide to the history of American music. Simply cool.

And congrats indeed to Mike White, who's taken his lumps after falling out with the Judd Apatow crew. Here's hoping "School of Rock 2" captures all the magic of the original and comes quick enough to rock hard next summer!

A Bush-style frat boy brawl?

I'd imagine there's probably not a whole lot to do at night in Shreveport, La., but even so this story about Josh Brolin, Jeffrey Wright and the "W" crew is just too funny not to pass along.

Things apparently went awry at the Stray Cat Bar (love that name) when a "W" lighting technician was arrested for fighting and Brolin, Wright and four others decided to jump into the battle. (Shown here are the mug shots for Brolin and Wright.)

Felland was charged with resisting arrest, public intoxication and entering and remaining. Brolin, Wright and the others were slapped with the interfering charge.

After arriving at the police station, Brolin, Wright and the others were booked and told they'd have to post cash bonds to be released. Brolin and Wright had to shell out $334 each, while Felland had to fork out more than $700.

I have no way of knowing, of course, but this just sounds to me like a perfect scene from the movie for W's wild days before he somehow encountered Jesus. And, obviously, I pity the poor cop who had to tangle with Josh Brolin, who's clearly just a bad mutha.

And it's worth looking at, if I can find it, the now fairly complete cast list for "W." Here, as best as I can tell, goes:

Elizabeth Banks: Laura Bush
Josh Brolin: George W. Bush
Thandie Newton: Condoleezza Rice
Ioan Gruffudd: Tony Blair
Ellen Burstyn: Barbara Bush
Richard Dreyfuss: Dick Cheney
James Cromwell: Herbert Walker Bush
Scott Glenn: Donald Rumsfeld
Noah Wyle: Don Evans (rumored)
Jeffrey Wright: General Colin Powell
Jason Ritter: Jeb Bush (rumored)
Toby Jones: Karl Rove
Rob Corddry: Ari Fleischer

I'm still more than a little worried about the effect "W" will have on the elections this fall, since it's set to be finished and released by October, but it will still be a heck of a lot of fun watching what all these talented folks can do with the saga of Dubya, especially Toby Jones as Karl Rove.

First Look at "The Dark Knight"

There's probably more out there this morning, but who am I kidding? It's all about "The Dark Knight" here and everywhere else this week, so I'll just wrap it up with HBO's "First Look" at the Christopher Nolan flick. It covers about 14 minutes in two clips, but if you know of a better way to waste some of your workday today, I'm certainly not aware of it. Peace out.

An "Arrested Development" movie? The stars seem to think so

I still won't believe this one until - and probably after - there's solid confirmation in the trades, but two of the stars of Fox's best sitcom in many, many years certainly seem to be sure there's an "Arrested Development" movie in the works.

First comes word from Jeffrey Tambor, a k a George Bluth, from the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of "Hellboy II" (via Entertainment Weekly): “After months of speculation, I think we have finally figured out for sure that we are indeed doing an Arrested Development movie. I am very excited about that. I love that cast and crew and I felt like we had more to say."

Sounds pretty definite, right, but as far as I know Tambor doesn't have any actual power to make this happen. Still, just to get your hopes up even higher (and hopefully not just to have to dash them later), here's more from Jason Bateman, a k a Michael Bluth (via Bob and Justin's Mad Movie Blog) hinting there indeed may already be a script ready to go: "It's typically bent and twisted," Bateman said of the story concocted by series mastermind Mitchell Hurwitz. "He's got a really, really good idea for the movie version that would not be just simply the equivalent of four episodes back to back to back. It's actually something that would be specific to the medium of film."

None of this, of course, means this is ever going to happen (especially with the SAG strike just about a certainty now), but there are several reasons why it would make good sense.

First, look at "Sex and the City." Now, I understand that the "Arrested Development" cult isn't as large as Carrie Bradshaw's following, but I'd argue we're probably at least as devoted. You'd have an obvious built-in audience, and given how much the stars want to do it, I can't imagine the budget for any "Arrested Development" movie would be terribly high.

And unlike all the other TV retreads we've seen lately (I've heard some surprisingly good things about "Get Smart," but I just really can't go there), this would instead be an idea that springs from the minds of the people who actually created the show and know and love what it's all about.

As always when it comes to an "Arrested Development" movie, just keep hope alive!

A funny take on Sherlock and Watson?

On paper this could certainly work, and I think they've got the casting just about right.

Anyone remember "Talladega Nights"? There's really not much reason to except that Sacha Baron Cohen managed to walk away with every scene he was in as the French Formula "Un" driver and make Will Ferrell funnier in doing so.

So it's a bit surprising but very welcome news that for this new Sherlock Holmes comedy from scribe Etan Cohen ("Tropic Thunder"), Cohen will take the lead as Sherlock and Ferrell will be the sidekick Watson. Sounds like fun to me, but this being Hollywood, no idea (good or bad) ever comes by itself. Warner Bros. is apparently also prepping a Holmes drama to be directed by Guy Ritchie.

My money's on the funny guys in this one, but we'll just have to wait and see.

A rather uber-cool new "The Dark Knight" poster

I've got to wrap this up and get to the job that still pays me, so I'll just leave you with rather wickedly awesome "The Dark Knight" poster. If you stare at it long enough I think it might turn into one of those hidden sailboat paintings, but I can't guarantee it. Peace out.

In this box-office battle, I'm with "Wall-E"

It gives me an odd feeling to say I'm probably just too old for the giddy gunplay of a movie like "Wanted" but more than ready to go ga-ga for an animated flick about a robot in love, but that's how the movie weekend is shaping up here.

Now, don't get me wrong: I love stylish violence as much as the next dude. And I don't even usually mind it when reality isn't anywhere to be found.

Easily one of my favorite movies from last summer was "Shoot 'Em Up," which delivered exactly what the title promises. Paul Giamatti was extremely funny and Clive Owen was as cool as Monica Bellucci was hot in this bullet ballet that played out like a cartoon and was apparently seen by only me and about 57 or so other people. If you're among the masses who missed it and aren't offended by a flick so off-kilter that one of the main gags is about a baby being in an almost constant state of peril, rent this one today and just give in to it.

So, why then can't I get too amped for "Wanted"? One reason, and I admit it might just be a silly one. In the trailer, which I'm sure everyone's seen more than once by now, James McAvoy appears to fire a bullet straight at Angelina Jolie's head, but manages to put enough "topspin" on it that it curves around her at the last second. Like I said, I guess I'm just too old, but if I can't buy that bit of baloney I don't think I'll have too much fun chomping down on the whole thing.

Besides, and not unexpectedly, the deck is just stacked in favor of "Wall-E" this weekend. Pixar's new creation will open in 3,992 theaters, to only 3,175 for "Wanted." This doesn't factor in that "Wall-E" will prolly be shown at least 15 times a day in each of those theaters, to no more than maybe half that total for "Wanted." People who get paid to do box-office projections don't expect "Wall-E" to reach the $70 million openings enjoyed by both "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles," but I'm betting the little guy will be closer to or better than $80 million.

But can "Wall-E" really be as good as the rather unbelievable and universal love from critics would have us believe? I want to be at least a little bit skeptical, but given how hard I fell for "Ratatouille" I'm fairly certain I won't be disappointed. In the Macon Telegraph, we most often run Roger Moore of the Orlando Sun-Sentinel for two reasons: 1. He turns in his reviews earlier than anyone else and 2. I get to pick the reviews and I think he's just about the closest thing to the people's critic working now. Here's a sample of what he had to say about "Wall-E":

The late, great Stanley Kubrick ("2001:A Space Odyssey") used to say that if you can turn off the sound and still follow the story, you've made a film, but if you black out the picture and can still follow the story with only the sound, you haven't. "WALL-E," a savvy sci-fi Pixar comedy, has almost no dialogue. But with images and sound effects alone, it touches, it teaches and it tickles. It's the best Pixar film since "Finding Nemo."

I'm trying hard to keep my already sky-high hopes in check, but I assure you my mind will be on "Wall-E" all day while I'm supposed to be working. And if I'm somehow just dead wrong about "Wanted," please feel free to let me know.

Hollywood's next war will be ... in Greece?

And since escapist wonders like "300" make more money than any of the flicks about the actual war going around us now, I suppose it makes perfect sense.

First, Relativity Media bought a script for something called "War of Gods," to be directed by visionary Tarsem Singh (and before you even accuse me of throwing around the visionary label too easily, at least go see Tarsem's "The Fall," easily one of my favorite movies of this year so far and just a real feat of storytelling.)

Now, only one day later, Warner Bros. has signed "The Incredible Hulk" director Louis Leterrier to direct a Lawrence Kasdan-scripted remake of "Clash of the Titans." I'm as sick as anyone of the need to remake just about everything in sight, so call me none too excited about this one.

So now, of course, the race is on to see who's able to pump out their epic first. In "War of Gods," the warrior prince Theseus leads his men into battle against evil that will see the gods fighting with soldiers against demons and titans (man will it be cool to see what Tarsem can do with all that!) And in "Clash of the Titans," as many will remember, Perseus, the son of Zeus, must overcome a series of obstacles to save his beloved Princess Andromeda.

So, it looks like we really might not have to wait for five years for Tarsem to make another movie, and I can only say huzzah to that.

No Emmy love for "Battlestar Galactica"? Color me not surprised

I'm finished railing against the maddening taste of Emmy voters, so I'll simply share the list of 10 semi-finalists in the comedy and drama categories.

COMEDY
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
Family Guy
Flight of the Conchords
The Office
Pushing Daisies
30 Rock
Two and a Half Men
Ugly Betty
Weeds

Only two brief thoughts about that: How in the world can you include the scattershot-at-best "Family Guy" (which I do still watch) but not the still-brilliant "South Park"? And second, a hearty huzzah for the inclusion of "Pushing Daisies." Don't be too surprised if this imaginative show somehow pulls an upset and wins the whole shebang.

DRAMA
Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Grey’s Anatomy
House
Lost
Mad Men
The Tudors
The Wire

Go, go, go "Friday Night Lights" and "Mad Men"! The inclusion of "The Wire" on this list is bittersweet at best, since it comes only after that show has ended its five-season run (and with a series finale that just wrapped up way too neatly by "Wire" standards!) Since that's the pattern, I guess we can expect to see "Battlestar Galactica" make the semi-finalist cut next year only after it has ended its run on Sci-Fi.

And in one great programming note, CBS has announced we should tune in at 8:30 p.m. Sept. 22 to see if Stella says yes to Ted's marriage proposal on "How I Met Your Mother." No matter what she says, here's hoping we get to see a LOT more of Sarah Chalke on season four this fall!


A full gallery of "Dark Knight" shots

OK, I know this is more than a little long today, but could I really stop before guiding folks to the full press kit of photos for "The Dark Knight"? Go ahead and spend at least a little of your workday time perusing the full gallery supplied by Comingsoon.net here.

And, finally, a clip from "X-Files"

From what I've seen so far, Billy Connolly seems to have at least as big a role in Chris Carter's upcoming "X-Files: I Want To Believe" as either Mulder or Scully, but I'm still nothing but excited to see what he's come up with when this finally drops a week after "The Dark Knight." Enjoy this new clip and go see "Wall-E" this weekend. Peace out.