Remember Cameron Crowe? He's officially back

Actually, easily the best news out there this morning is that "In the Loop" director Armando Iannucci is coming back with a new film, and it couldn't be much more different at all from that extremely hard-hitting and satisfying satire.

His next flick, "Out the Window," is an adaptation of Claire Tomalin's biography "The Invisible Woman," which recounts Charles Dickens' affair with actress Nelly Ternan.

Like I said, couldn't be much further removed from "In the Loop," but that flick is so amazingly good that I'll follow Iannucci just about anywhere. And if you haven't seen "In the Loop," rent it immediately, and be prepared to marvel at the sheer wonder that is Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker.

But before I got briefly sidetracked by that, this was supposed to be all about Cameron Crowe, who has indeed now officially signed on to direct his first flick since 2005's "Elizabethtown," which really needs to be erased from my memory right away. Man, was it awful.

His luck will hopefully be a lot better with "We Bought a Zoo," which certainly at least gives him an intriguing story to work with. The memoir by Benjamin Mee is about how he and his family used their life savings to buy a dilapidated zoo in the English countryside, complete with 200 exotic animals.

Sounds great to me. Crowe is currently reworking the script, and it's already received a release date of Dec. 23, 2011, but of course all that could change.

Like I said, "Elizabethtown" is an almost complete abomination, but Crowe has delivered plenty of winners in his career, and I'm sure he has another one in him. If I had to list my 10 favorite movies of the last 10 (or maybe 11) years or so, "Almost Famous" would make the list every time, and "Say Anything" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" are just cinematic comfort food that I keep going back to again and again. Here's hoping this trip to the "Zoo" will help him regain some mojo.

And in other news about one of my favorite directors who's sorely in need of a winner, it seems that Terry Gilliam may have finally found someone foolhardy enough to step into the role once inhabited by Johnny Depp in his "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote."

Gilliam's first attempt to make this movie several years ago was an utter failure, even though it was turned into a bewilderingly entertaining one in the documentary "Lost in La Mancha." The odds that he'll be able to do any better this time have to be at least slightly improved by the news (from Gilliam himself, at least) that Ewan McGregor is now on board, and hopefully bringing some better luck with him.

Assuming the script hasn't changed too much, McGregor will play an advertising executive who travel back to 17th century Spain, where he meets Don Quixote and becomes involved in adventures with him. It has already been announced that Robert Duvall will play Quixote (take a few seconds to digest that), stepping in for the great Froggy actor Jean Rochefort (if I can digress for one second, for a fantastic film starring Rochefort, rent Patrice Leconte's "Man on the Train."

I hoodwinked mi hermano into going with me to watch Gilliam's last flick, "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," in NYC, and while it wasn't awful, it did pretty much go completely off the rails after Heath Ledger died, but that unfortunately didn't stop Gilliam from letting it just go out of any control or reason to exist for the last 45 minutes or so. "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote," however, has clearly been a passion project for him for a long time now, so here's hoping it turns into something worth watching.

And all I have except for that today is the first full trailer I know of for something I'm clearly too old to be watching, but when you make Emma Stone the star of your movie, there's almost an ironclad guarantee I'm gonna watch it. She's just easily one of the best comediennes working in movies today, and even if "Easy A," a teeny update of "The Scarlet Letter" due out in September, is extremely silly, as you'll see below, it also at least has Patricia Clarkson saying "because I slept with a whole bunch of people ... mostly boys," so it's at least got to be mildly entertaining. Enjoy, be sure to watch the Joss Whedon-directed episode of "Glee" with Neil Patrick Harris tonight, and have a perfectly acceptable Tuesday. Peace out.

Apparently, you don't mess with Denzel Washington

Though I was sure I had had my full of apocalyptic movies, on the advice of Bob of Bob and Justin's Mad Movie Blog, I went to see "The Road," and I have to say it was an extremely pleasant surprise.

Bleak? Sure, but it builds at a natural pace to the perfect ending. Not having read the book, I enjoyed that the event that leaves our heroes, a father and son played by Viggo Mortensen and young Kodi Smit-Mcphee, in the predicament we find them in at the outset is only hinted at in the movie itself. For once, you don't have everything spoon-fed to you, and I didn't mind that one bit.

Though there's a full slate of good flicks out today, and more than a few I still have to catch up on, I'd recommend making time for this if you can handle something that, be warned, is extremely bleak until its glimmer of hope ending.

And I'll take another chance on an apocalyptic tale in honor of the Hughes brothers, who have just been missing from movie theaters for too long. Remember them? Albert and Allen Hughes managed to direct four stylishly entertaining flicks - "Menace II Society," "American Pimp," "From Hell" and my favorite of their movies so far, "Dead Presidents" - before pretty much disappearing in 2001.

Now, however, they're back Jan. 15 with "The Book of Eli," which stars Denzel Washington as a lone man fighting his way across the United States to protect a sacred book which contains the secrets to saving human kind. That sounds pretty meh to me, but like I said, I'll see it out of mad respect for the Hughes brothers, and with Gary Oldman and Mila Kunis in this too, it could - against pretty serious odds - turn out to be a lot more entertaining than I fear.

Below is a featurette about the fight choreography, which shows Denzel in action as our hero. Enjoy.

And with that, I'm off for a week. Though I won't be posting anything to this site, I will be seeing plenty of movies while In NYC, definitely "Up in the Air" (finally!), "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" and "Broken Embraces." Starting Monday, Jan. 3, it will be best of 2009 week here, with this schedule:

Monday: Best female performers of the year (featuring Gladys Knight!)
Tuesday: Best male performers of the year
Wednesday: Best animated movies of the year
Thursday: Best movies of the year
Friday: Finally, with the 2009 winner revealed, I'll offer my 10 best movies of the '00s (better late than never, hopefully.)

And what that, I'm out. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Six glimpses of tonight's big "Office" wedding and a visit from Dr. Parnassus

Actually, the coolest news out there today about TV is that young Ellen Page and Alia Shawkat (aka Maeby Fünke) may soon be coming to my TV (and if you have HBO, yours.)

It seems that the two stars of Drew Barrymore's "Whip It" have signed a deal along with Sean Tillmann to write, produce and (hopefully!) quite possibly star in something called "Stitch N' Bitch" for HBO. According to the description I saw, it would be about "two painfully cool hipster girls as they relocate from Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood to Los Angeles' Silver Lake enclave in hopes of becoming artists - of any kind."

That sounds funny enough, but I think they'd have to be the stars themselves to get me hooked. I found "Whip It" to be pretty average, and often downright afterschool-special-ish when it wasn't on the roller rink, but the two of them are still easily two of my favorite young actresses out there. (And, just as an aside that will come as a shock to no one who bothered to watch it, "Arrested Development" still gets a 9.7 out of 10 rating at the IMDB.)

But regards TV here today, of course, it's all about Pam and Jim's big wedding tonight on "The Office." By nature I'd imagine this will bring an awful lot of sweet, but hopefully a whole lot of funny too in the hour-long broadcast.

As the entire office ventures to Niagara Falls for the big day, Michael, Dwight and Andy are, of course, on the prowl for ladies, and Michael and Dwight apparently meet twins. Here, courtesy of NBC, are six short preview clips of tonight's episode (and, if you stick around to the end, a visit from Dr. Parnassus, I promise.) Enjoy.













And now, as a bonus, here is the first full trailer, I think, for Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," which is set to finally get a limited release date on Christmas Day (and I'll be in New York so I can see it!) Along with plenty of the late Heath Ledger and glimpses of the three actors who stepped in to finish the job, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law, you get enough of a taste of what Gilliam has cooked up here to have me just about thoroughly geeked up for this. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

A glimpse of Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's "Imaginarium"

It's the height of laziness, I know, but for a Sunday morning you'll have to excuse me, because all I have is this fairly tantalizing clip of Heath Ledger in "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus."

I believe it comes from Swedish TV, but some resourceful person was kind enough to cut off all the Swedish intro and just get to the clip. From what I've read about how Terry Gilliam's film has been received at Cannes, I don't believe it yet has a buyer that will get it any kind of proper distribution in the U.S. or anywhere else.

A real shame that, because while I'm sure it will be extremely odd, I'm still betting on entertaining too (unlike Gilliam's last flaming bag of crap, "Tideland.") Anyways, enjoy the clip and what's left of your weekend.

Warning: A look inside Gilliam's "Imaginarium" might blow your mind

First off, a hearty congratulations to Danny Boyle, whose "Slumdog Millionaire," the flick I happen to be most excited about seeing for the rest of the year, has won the People's Choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Please, please, please let this mean it really does play WIDE when it hits theaters at the end of November.

But the main order of business here today is a look at what Terry Gilliam's cooking up for "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," which will unfortunately have to also be known as the last time you'll able to see the late Heath Ledger on the big screen.

What I've always loved about Gilliam is that, though he's clearly a very obstinate man, he puts as much care into constructing the worlds his movies take place in as he does the dependably twisted stories. And, after a too-long intro trumpeting his past accomplishments, you can see in the concept art in this promo clip courtesy of Quick Stop Entertainment that his "Imaginarium" should be another wild ride. Enjoy!

Ben Affleck getting back in the director's chair

There were few more criminally overlooked 2007 movies, at least when it came to awards season, than Ben Affleck's "Gone Baby Gone."

You're always gonna hook me when you pack a "gritty" crime drama with my favorite HBO veterans (Amy Ryan, of course, but also Titus Welliver of "Deadwood" and Michael K. Williams, a k a stick-up man extraordinaire Omar Little on "The Wire.") But beyond that, it was just a compelling movie from start to finish, and unlike many people I talked to, I thought the third act was the best.

So it can only be called good news that Affleck is getting back in the director's chair with another crime epic, this one coming from Marcus Sakey's debut novel "The Blade Itself" (which I have not yet read.)

Best as I can tell, "Blade" revolves around two Chicago childhood friends who made their reputation committing petty crimes as kids before choosing different paths in life. When they are reunited years later, one is forced to decide how far he will go to protect the secrets of his past.

Sounds to me like its in the vein of "Angels With Dirty Faces," and should be right up Affleck's alley. Just to clarify a bit, so far Affleck is only listed as producing this for Miramax along with "Gone Baby Gone" partner Sean Bailey, but I can only assume that's so he can direct it too.

And, believe it or not, this would be Affleck's third directing job. Among his IMDB credits is this, from 1993: director of a short film called "I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney." I can't make this stuff up, folks.

"Parnassus" officially back on

This had been in the works for some time, but I tend to have doubts about anything I read about the simply snakebitten Terry Gilliam until I hear it from one of the official trades.

But yes, it does seem that shooting is really back on now in Vancouver for Mr. Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," which had of course been interrupted by the death of Heath Ledger. Through the magic-mirror nature of the plot, the filmmakers will be able to keep Ledger's work and supplement it with a trio of rather familiar substitutes, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law.

According to the producers, Ledger had completed all the shooting that takes place in the contemporary world, so this can somehow be sewn together to make a coherent flick (or as close as you can get to one from Terry Gilliam.) Just good news all around.

"No Country" hits DVD

I'm fairly certain that the Coen's "No Country for Old Men" is still playing at at least one of Macon's multiplexes until Thursday, so I was surprised to see it hitting DVD already today.

If you spring for the DVD release, which I certainly will, here are some documentary extras you'll get: Working With the Coens: Reflections of Cast and Crew, The Making of No Country for Old Men, Diary of a Country Sheriff. Doesn't sound like much, but the movie's so good that doesn't really matter much to me at all in this case. Peace out.

Trio steps in to rescue Heath's last movie for Terry Gilliam

When I first heard the rumor that multiple actors would step in to fill the shoes of Heath Ledger and finish Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," I just assumed it was either a joke or someone's wild fantasy.

Well, as it turns out, it's neither, but instead a fairly cool ending to this still very sad story. According to Variety, Johnny Depp (heard of him?), Jude Law and Colin Farrell have all signed on to play Ledger's character in assorted guises.

So, how is this possible? Well, let's look at the plot for this rather typically crazy Gilliam flick: 1,000-year-old Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) leads a traveling theater troupe that offers audience members a chance to go beyond reality through a magical mirror in his possession. Parnassus had been able to guide the imagination of others through a deal with the Devil (Tom Waits, natch), who now comes to collect on the arrangement, targeting the doctor's daughter (model Lily Cole). The troupe, who is joined by a mysterious outsider named Tony (Heath Ledger), embarks through parallel worlds to rescue the girl.

In a gambit that was apparently included in the script even before Mr. Ledger's death, his Tony takes on a different appearance each time the group crosses into another realm through a paranormal mirror. A convenient enough gimmick, I suppose, but if it's enough to rescue another Terry Gilliam flick from fading to black before it's finished, I'll take it.

How will "The Wire" end?

I'll be the first to admit that, though I still consider it without exaggeration to be the greatest TV show of all time, David Simon's "The Wire" has certainly been going out on an uneven keel in its fifth and final season.

Though I have yet to watch Sunday's episode (which I have safely Tivoed), some things that have bugged me more than a bit include the seemingly random return of characters from the past (specifically, so far, Avon Barskdale, Cutty and Randy), and the simply insane downward spiral of McNulty and how it has somehow also enveloped Lester (the great Clarke Peters.) There's also simply no way that Omar would have survived a shootout with that many bullets and managed to escape by making like Batman.

All that said, the journalism storyline still rings true, and I'm excited to find out how Simon is gonna wrap it all up in what is now only three more fresh episodes. Here are the plot summaries for the final three from HBO:

Episode #58: "Clarifications"
Baltimore's renewed police commitment brings fresh recruits to Daniels (Lance Reddick) and McNulty (Dominic West), starting with Carver (Seth Gilliam.) Facing a new political challenge, Mayor Carcetti (Aidan Giffen) is forced to make dangerous political deals. As the Pulitzer season winds down, Haynes (Clark Johnson) approaches Templeton (Thomas McCarthy) about his sources. Bunk (Wendell Pierce) returns a McNulty favor; little Kenard (Thuliso Dingwall) makes a big score; Dukie (Jermaine Crawford) finds work; Fletcher (Brandon Young) continues his interview with Bubbles (Andre Royo); Freamon presents his latest plan to a prosecutor; Sydnor (Corey Parker Robinson) uncovers the missing piece to a puzzle; McNulty comes clean.
Teleplay by Dennis Lehane; story by David Simon & Dennis Lehane; directed by Joe Chappelle.

Episode #59: "Late Editions"
With Steintorf (Neal Huff) ordering Rawls (John Doman) to initiate "creative" remedies for the rising crime rate, Freamon's vigilance pays off with a promising lead, sending Sydnor and the department into overdrive. Although Daniels is originally delighted, a further probe with Pearlman (Deirdre Lovejoy) reveals some troubling source information. McNulty, feeling betrayed, doesn't feel like sharing in Freamon's celebration; Michael (Tristan Wilds) is suspicious about his latest assignment; Haynes gets fresh eyes to help with fact-checking; Namond's (Julito McCullum) debating skills make Colvin (Robert Wisdom) proud; Davis (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) points a finger at Levy (Michael Kostroff) and the courts; and Bubbles recounts a recent temptation overcome.
Teleplay by George Pelecanos; story by David Simon & George Pelecanos; directed by Joe Chappelle.


Episode #60: " - 30 - "
Carcetti maps out a damage-control scenario with the police brass in the wake of a startling revelation from Pearlman and Daniels. Their choices: clean up the mess, or hide the dirt. With his leads predictably drying up, McNulty asks Landsman (Delaney Williams) to pull police off the homeless case - until a fresh homicide ramps up the investigation. A frustrated Haynes finds his concerns about Templeton falling on increasingly deaf ears. Convinced he has the upper hand, but caught in a legal quandary, Levy plays a cat-and-mouse game with Pearlman. Bubbles debates whether to greenlight a newspaper story about his life; Dukie seeks out an old mentor for a loan; and Marlo (Jamie Hector) oversees a new co-op order as he maps out his next move. As the officers stage an Irish wake for another dearly departed officer, the seeds of the future are sown throughout Baltimore.
Teleplay by David Simon; story by David Simon & Ed Burns; directed by Clark Johnson.

And there you have it. If you love this show as much as I do, enjoy it while you still can!

Two CW faves returning soon

Although their renewal fates are very much up in the air, especially for the latter show, the CW has at least extended the courtesty of airing the already-shot episodes of "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Aliens in America" beginning soon.

The 12 remaining original episodes of "Everybody Hates Chris" will begin airing March 3, while "Aliens in America" will return with 8 original episodes from March 2-March 23 and April 27-May 18.

Given the CW's rather abysmal track record of cancelling promising shows way too early, I strongly suspect this is the last we'll ever see of "Aliens in America," easily my favorite new sitcom of 2007. If you like to laugh (and who doesn't?), please give this little gem a boost in its probably final days.

"The Wild Things" ... are here!

I received this clip in the e-mail (easily the best missive I received all day) from Buzznet.com late Friday night at work, but was negligent in not posting it until today, so please accept my apology.

And, given just how uber-cool it is, I certainly should have acted quicker. "Where the Wild Things Are," director Spike Jonze's and writer Dave Eggers' take on my favorite childhood tale by Maurice Sendak, is now not scheduled to come out until some time in 2009, but right now you can enjoy this rough clip featuring an encounter between Max and one of the creatures that spring from his imagination.

I won't say too much to spoil it except that I like the natural look of it. Rather than some kind of blue-screen magic, it just looks like what might spring from the mind of our hero. My guess is that this particular Wild Thing is voiced by Forest Whitaker, but please let me know if you think I'm offbase here. Enjoy the clip, and have a perfectly bearable Monday. Peace out.

Woody Allen''s new muse: The man in the mirror?

Is Woody Allen finally getting in touch with reality? That really would be a monumental accomplishment, and I'm not sure he's there yet, but I suppose making movies that don't center on women about a third of his age does make for some kind of late-in-life progress.

And not only is Woody no longer focusing squarely on young starlets, but he may now have even found a kindred spirit to work with. Larry David of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," whose rather warped view of the world should fit just fine with Allen's, has signed on for Woody's next flick, set to start shooting this Spring.

There will, of course, be at least one rather young lady on the scene, this time being Evan Rachel Wood, late of "Across the Universe." And after an extended European vacation, which most recently produced the upcoming "Vicky Christina Barcelona" (wtf?) with Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz, Woody's finally coming home. For the first time since 2004 (I think) he'll be making a movie in NYC.

Welcome home, Woody, and though any plot details for this are currently under tight wraps I'll definitely be keeping my eyes on it to see what these very cranky old men can come up with.

Michael Cera will be a "Youth in Revolt"

The last time I posted anything about Michael Cera's next flick and said it was going to based on one of my favorite novels, a very loyal reader of this blog called C.D. Payne's book garbage, so perhaps a bit of clarification is needed on my part.

The work, clearly aimed at people much younger but equally as immature as me, is the definition of an acquired taste. I will, however, firmly state at least this much: It's the best book I've ever read about a teenager constantly concerned with his own erections who manages to burn down a large swath of Berkeley, Calif.

On that level at least, "Youth in Revolt," which Mr. Payne has turned into something of a cottage industry (with at least five sequels), is a satisfying bit of absurdia, and it presents a role that I think the very funny Mr. Cera will be very funny in, even if he's quickly growing too old to play the lead character, Nick Twisp, who in the book at least is 14 years old (which I would think they'd have to change a bit.)

Now, however, they've at least managed to pick a director before Mr. Cera gets any older. Miguel Arteta, director of "The Good Girl," "Star Maps," "Chuck and Buck" and lots of TV, will helm this project if it ever actually gets made (he's even got an episode of "Freaks and Geeks," "Chokin' and Tokin'," on his resume, so a hearty huzzah!) I know Mike White's "Chuck and Buck" put a lot of people off, but it's just a perfectly odd little movie that I love, and its skewed sense of black humor should serve Mr. Arteta well in this new endeavor. Now, get started already!

A view of Dr. Parnassus' "Imaginarium"

Well, half a view, anyways. Quick Stop Entertainment, which has been following the saga of Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" with vigor, has today published this rather odd half photo of what the Imaginarium will look like, assuming the movie ever gets finished.

The complete photo, apparently, will be available soon at the official site, which tried to go live earlier this week but crashed under its own weight. AICN says the folks will try again this weekend with a bigger server, so stay tuned. Enjoy the half pic, and have an entirely pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

New hope for an "Arrested Development" movie

Although there's definitive movement afoot regarding a possible end to the WGA strike, for fans of a certain dead TV show there also have been talks of a different kind going on that could generate something unbelievably cool (or perhaps incredibly disappointing, but here's hoping not.)

According to E!'s Kristin Vine, who rarely gets things wrong, Jason Bateman, who has been talking up this rather amazing possibility nonstop, has revealed that "AD" gurus Mitchell Hurwitz and Ron Howard have launched the project with new vigor and contacted all the major cast members to measure their interest in a flick.

"I can confirm that a round of sniffing has started," Bateman says. "Any talk is targeting a poststrike situation, of course. I think, as always, that it's a question of whether the people with the money are willing to give our leader, Mitch Hurwitz, what he deserves for his participation. And I can speak for the cast when I say our fingers are crossed."

How she knows this I have no idea, but Vine also claims that Universal is very interested in backing this if it ever comes together. And, since Jeffrey Tambor is about to have his second post-"AD" sitcom, "The Captain," cancelled very quickly (I predict, anyway) and none of the "AD" cast members except Bateman can seem to find good movies to star in, I'd imagine everyone would be eager to get going on this as soon as possible.

Even with all this buzz this is still just a rumor, but here's hoping it becomes a very welcome reality.

Is "Dr. Parnassus" alive and well?

Speaking of rumors, I've heard a lot of them about how Heath Ledger's death will impact Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," but have tried to stay away from them until something official is announced.

The craziest idea I've heard is that, since Ledger's character had the ability to transform himself with different appearances as he went down the different paths in Dr. Parnassus' contraption, a variety of actors could be used to augment what they were able to shoot with the late Mr. Ledger.

That would indeed be a crazy kind of tribute, but later today we may get to have some kind of official word. Though it's not live yet, a Web site for the movie is set to go on line later today, so click here and see if it actually does, and if it offers any more clues about this rather murky mess.

Finally, a biopic I can get behind

Maybe it's because he grew up in Maryland or just because the Muppets are so friggin cool, but for whatever reason I've always had an inordinate amount of love for Jim Henson and just about everything he put his hands on.

And now he's about to get the proper tribute he definitely deserves. Empire Film Group, Inc. has acquired the motion picture production and distribution rights to Henson, an original screenplay by Robert D. Slane that chronicles the life and achievements of the Muppets creator. Empire has pegged the film for production in late summer with a $30 million budget.

None of this can be called bad news, but who would you pick to play the puppetmaster? For my money there couldn't be a better choice than Jeff Daniels. What do you think?

A teaser for M. Night's "Happening"

Even though "The Village" and even moreso "Lady in the Water" can easily find homes on any list of the worst movies I've ever seen, I'm still holding out hope for a M. Night Shymalan comeback with "The Happening." As you can see from this teaser, there's some pretty creepy stuff going on in the flick set for release this summer. Enjoy, and have a perfectly bearable Tuesday. And, of course, if you live in a Super Tuesday state, vote (as I'm going to do for Barack Obama as soon as I wrap this up)! Peace out.