I truly love Anna Faris, but ...

Before we get into this week's movies, two of which I think I'll actually see. there's a couple of other cool little nuggets out there today to deal with.

First, it seems that Mike Judge might actually get to make a movie that plays in theaters somewhere besides New York, L.A. and Austin before hitting DVD.

As far as I can tell, "Extract" is about two dudes who toil in a flower extract factory, to be played by Ben Affleck and Jason Bateman (huzzah!). I'm not even sure what "flower extract" means, but with Mila Kunis and Clifton Collins Jr. (who, frankly, should be an Oscar winner already for his work in "Capote") also in the cast - and Judge writing and directing - I'm definitely in.

And I've never really understood why Judge hasn't been given much of a chance to show he has artistic life after Beavis and Butthead. "Idiocracy," while certainly not a groundbreaking work of any kind, was a solidly funny comedy that almost no one got to see in a movie theater, and if you haven't seen "Office Space" more than once by now I'm just really not sure what to tell you.

The second thing that grabbed my attention was a Michael Ausiello piece for Entertainment Weekly with this rather enticing headline: Exclusive: Bell, Thomas Orbit 'Veronica Mars' Movie.

Despite that bit of exaggeration, the actual news isn't all that major, but when it comes to a "Veronica Mars" movie I'll take whatever I can get. What actually happened was that Kristen Bell stopped by the office of "Veronica Mars" creator Rob Thomas, which just happens to be on the same studio lot where Bell is working on the next season of "Heroes" (which I think is gonna be just great after a rather off-putting Vol. 2.) The talk naturally turned to "Veronica Mars," and Thomas tells Ausiello, "Kristen and I ran into each other, and we did discuss a Veronica movie," and that he's also had "a few conversations" with "Mars" executive producer Joel Silver.

I'd say that's pretty far from them "circling" a "Veronica Mars" movie, but we can always keep hope alive!

And now, finally, on to this week's movies, in the order that I want to see them:

1. "The Rocker"
From the reviews I've read so far, just about every scene in this one is stolen almost directly from either "School of Rock" or "This is Spinal Tap," but if you're gonna pilfer your inspiration you might as well start with two flicks I just adore. Besides, Rainn Wilson is simply a very funny guy, and if it means seeing him expose his rather flabby physique way too much to get him a starring role on the big screen, I'm in.

2. "The House Bunny"
As the title of this post makes clear, I think Anna Faris is also just a natural comedienne (and a first-rate cutie, of course, which never hurts.) I've been pleasantly surprised by the positive reviews so far for this one, with a glowing one from Variety and an even split (13 tomatoes, 13 splats) at Rotten Tomatoes. One critic I always trust, however, Nell Minow, has this to say: "The screenplay inflicts a little more injury on Faris than it intends to by committing the very sins it half-heartedly attempts to parody." I'm still in and hoping against hope that she's wrong on this one.

3. "The Longshots"
It's certainly nice to see Ice Cube doing something besides abusing himself, his movie family and all his audience members in those pathetic "Are We There Yet" movies, but I'm afraid I'm just too old for this feel-good flick about a girl who just wants to play Pop Warner football with the boys. That said, Keke Palmer was simply fantastic in "Akeelah and the Bee," so I hope this makes tons of cash and continues her road to stardom.

4. "Death Race"
As cool as Jason Statham was in this year's most surprisingly entertaining flick, "The Bank Job," I just don't think there's any way I can go for a beyond thoroughly unnecessary remake of Paul Bartel's already very silly (bur also really fun) "Death Race 2000." As my rather observant and witty co-worker Erin Ivanov noted, once a movie has had the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" treatment, there's just no way it should ever be remade. And I sure hope Joan Allen and Ian McShane were well, well paid for lowering themselves to this!

And there you have it. Because of an odd confluence of overtime I actually have four days off in a row (I'm not complaining, believe me!), so I'm also headed to Atlanta on Sunday to finally see the Georgia Aquarium and possibly even another movie. Woody Allen's "Vicky Christina Barcelona," which should be playing everywhere already (as its TV commercial already promises) is probably my first choice, but we'll see. Have a perfectly pleasant weekend!

And yes, I do have a pet rock

After taking the week off to engage in a none-too-pleasant or fruitful war with the phone company, I am now pleased to report that I have entered the late 20th century and have finally gotten a digital internet connection. I still don't have a cell phone, but I suppose there's always hope for that.

And it also means I get to sever all ties with America Online, so it really is a day of liberation and celebration around here.

The main thing I've discovered is Hulu.com, which the rest of the world probably already knows is just a goldmine of free TV and some movies. For example, you can watch every single episode of "South Park" and, even better, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (before they're even out on DVD.) I realize this is turning into a straight-out plug, but I can't help it.

Amazingly enough, you can even watch one of my all-time favorite films there for free, Whit Stillman's "Metropolitan." A look at the rather empty lives of young, upper class Manhattanites during the height of debutante season, it's actually a whole lot better than I'm making it sound here and just a great bunch of witty fun. Stillman pretty much disappeared after directing the mildly diverting "Barcelona" and the simply disappointing "Last Days of Disco," but he's rumored to actually be making a comeback as the director of a flick based on Christopher Buckley's satire "Little Green Men."

But enough of that. The order of the day is Ben Stiller's "Tropic Thunder," which I'm going to see this afternoon and am really looking forward to. And I know there's some controversy brewing about Stiller's frequent use of the word "retard" (what would you prefer, "touched"?), but I certainly think that the Academy Awards insistence on showering Oscars on just about anyone who plays a person with any kind of handicap is certainly a ripe target for spoofing, even if they do go a bit too far.

The real reason I'm more than a little psyched for this one is that it falls into my favorite subgenre of flicks: the "movie within a movie." Most often presented as comedies so directors can poke fun at themselves, they're just almost always enjoyable. So, in honor of "Tropic Thunder" and my return to posting anything at all, here are my 10 favorite movies about making movies (and television, since I make the rather loose rules here):

Spinal Tap
There are certainly more productive (and fun) things to do in college, but the set of dudes I ran with then spent way too much of our downtime quoting lines (pathetic, I know) from Rob Reiner's extremely quotable flick about the world's worst heavy metal band. As you can from my bio entry at the top of this site, I just love this flick.

A Cock and Bull Story
Steve Coogan, while probably more than a bit of an asshole in real life, is still very entertaining when he plays one in movies (which he almost always does.) As this list takes shape, I'm realizing it's gonna be as much about failing to make movies as it is about making them, and Michael Winterbottom's flick about a Quixotic attempt to adapt the "unfilmable" novel "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" is just the perfect portrait of comic futility.

Adaptation
When Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman collaborated for this flick about ... well, sort of, Charlie and his twin brother, Donald ... what they came up with is still one of the strangest movies I've ever seen. Spike is currently doing battle with Warner Bros. about what his "Where the Wild Things Are" will look like if it ever hits theaters, and those of you lucky enough to live in a city much bigger than mine will fairly soon be getting Kaufman's directorial debut with "Synecdoche, New York."

Day for Night
A rather obvious choice I know, but how could you possibly leave off Francois Truffaut's valentine to making movies? You can't find it anywhere online for free, but if you can manage to find Richard Brody's "Auteur Wars" article from the April 7, 2008, edition of The New Yorker, it's just essential reading about Truffaut and Godard.

Living in Oblivion
Steve Buscemi as the director of a nonbudget indie flick that's just falling apart by the minute? This one from writer-director Tom DiCillo is almost as good as that premise promises, and James LeGros' turn as the preening star is just a hoot. A look at DiCillo's IMDB resume reveals this is the only flick of his I've seen, which I'll have to remedy very soon.

Ed Wood
If this list were done in proper order, I'd probably have to put this one at or near the top. Making a movie about the world's worst filmmaker (at least at the time ... he's surely been lapped in that category many times by now) is a ripe target for Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, and perhaps the best proof that when Burton sticks to original material rather than his wretched remakes, he's a heck of a good filmmaker.

Lost in La Mancha
Johnny Depp again, but why not? If you doubt that any of the stories you've heard about Terry Gilliam's obstinance and ego are true, you won't after watching this doco about his doomed attempt to make a movie of "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote." This also features an appearance from one of my favorite actors, Jean Rochefort, looking perfectly piqued at Gilliam's shenanigans.

Bamboozled
This one is about TV not movies, but until it just jumps way into overkill in the final act it's easily one of my favorite flicks from Spike Lee. A very biting and bitter satire, it has Savion Glover and Tommy Davidson starring in a blackface minstrel show, and it's often even more outrageous than it sounds on paper. And you heard it here: I predict, from the limited clips I've seen so far, that Spike's "Miracle at St. Anna" will finally get him the Best Picture nomination he's clearly deserved for many, many years now.

Boogie Nights
Yes, it can get rather tawdry, but Paul Thomas Anderson's flick about Marky Mark's adventures as a '70s porn star is also just a great ensemble and period piece. And I dare you to try and find anything funnier than Don Cheadle trying to sell eight-track players while decked out in Country-Western attire as Buck Swope.

The Late Shift
Whew ... last one! I'm not sure this was the first movie that HBO ever made, but it's certainly the one that started to get the train rolling. It's been years since I've bothered to tune in to either David Letterman or Jay Leno, and I certainly won't give any of my time to Jimmy Fallon, but this insider's look at the late-night war that erupted after the retirement of Johnny Carson is just about pitch perfect.

Silliness from Rainn Wilson

I'm fairly certain the "The Rocker" with "The Office" star Rainn Wilson is going to be a good late-summer laugher, and he's definitely doing his part to make sure people turn out to see it. For the flick's viral (what an odd word) marketing pitch, he's teamed up with cutie Jenna Fischer for some extreme silliness at the Web site Free Jenna Now. I'll leave you with one sample clip, but I recommend visiting the site for a few laughs to make your Friday just a little more bearable. Peace out.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

August: A month to laugh?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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



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

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

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



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

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



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

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

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