So, what's the movie good enough to drag me back to the multiplex?

Before I get into any of that, what in the world is going on at HBO? With Martin Scorsese and Michael Mann already on the roster directing pilots for, respectively, "Boardwalk Empire" and "Luck," it now seems the network has even somehow managed to sign Kathyrn Bigelow too (and they'll have me back too if and when David Simon's New Orleans series "Treme" hits the air.)

I have no idea how they managed to snag Bigelow, but the material she's working with sounds fantastic, though about as different from "The Hurt Locker" as you could pretty much possibly get. Created by Broadway director John Logan, "The Miraculous Year" centers on a charismatic, self-destructive Broadway composer and his family in New York. Bigelow is so far on board as executive producer, but I'd have to imagine she'll at least direct the pilot for this too.

And man does that sound like something I'd tune in for every week.

But before I got distracted today, this was supposed to be about the movie that will finally drag me back to the multiplex to watch a new theater offering. I thought it might be "The Wolfman" or "Percy Jackson ... whatever that movie's called," but I just couldn't bring myself to do it with either of those.

The movie weekend was far from a loss, however, because I went to see "Crazy Heart" again, and I'm certainly glad I did. Though I liked it the first time, the story just seemed all-too-familiar, and that hindered my engagement with it. The second time around, that wasn't an issue, and I was able to dive into just how good a story it is, with sensational acting and even better music by Ryan Bingham (and I bought the soundtrack when I got home - if anyone's listening, this young man just might be able to save country music from itself.) I was thrilled to see a nearly sold out crowd of grownfolks at the 2:30 matinee, and hopefully the theater owners noticed ... we like to go to movies too!

But what will be the movie good enough to finally get me to watch a new release, only the third this year, after "Youth in Revolt" and "The Edge of Darkness"? It's Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island," and I'm just thoroughly jazzed for it Saturday afternoon. The early reviews, while trying to be negative, have only amped up my excitement. I mean, really, a B horror movie directed with exceptional style and great pace, as they've all said? I'm definitely there.

And on that note, all I really have this Monday morning is a behind-the-scenes featurette for the flick courtesy of Comingsoon.net. I really don't see any possible way this movie won't just rock. Enjoy the clip, and have a perfectly passable Monday. Peace out.

Veryfunnyman Michael Cera in five "Youth in Revolt" vignettes

I was worried that "Youth in Revolt" was somehow going to be an "arthouse" release and therefore not available immediately in my little corner of the world, but thankfully, I once again appear to be wrong.

And besides, what could be "arthouse" about C.D. Payne's extremely crude - but also very funny - novel about Nick Twisp a 14-year-old who creates an alter ego based on Jean Paul Belmondo just so he can score with the love of his young life? I really hope they leave the Belmondo infatuation in the movie somehow, because it's one of the best things in the book.

Anyways, courtesy of Comingsoon.net, here are five short Michael Cera vignettes that will begin airing soon (or already are) on Comedy Central to promote the movie. And if you somehow happen to be working on Saturday, Jan. 2, you have my condolences and this word of warning: Even though these clips are for basic-cable consumption, they're still rather crude, so wear your headphones! Also, only on the last clip, you'll have to sit through a short plug for the DVD release of the single worst movie I saw in all of 2009, Diablo Cody's "Jennifer's Body," before you get to the clip. Peace out.

"Avatar" the trilogy? Plus, a Tuesday trove of clips

If one dose of James Cameron's "Avatar" was enough (or more than enough) for you, this can't come as good news: He has at least two more visits to Pandora in mind.

Personally, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, but by the end I certainly felt I had enough, especially since the battle royale finale seemed to wrap things up rather neatly. Cameron, however, has other ideas in mind. Here's what he had to say to MTV:

"We'll follow Jake and Neytiri. I have a trilogy-scaled arc of story right now, but I haven't really put any serious work into writing a script."

But will it be another 15 years or so before we get a second installment? Probably not. More from MTV:

"From the time we capture and finish the capture, it's literally nine to 10 months to get the CG characters working, to get their facial musculature working. So now we have Jake, we have Neytiri. Sam can step right back into it, the characters will fit them like a glove, and we'll just go on. So a lot of the start-up torque that had to be done for one movie really makes more sense if you play it out across several films."

As for the original itself, the final box office tally bought a bit of good news: It's opening weekend total was actually $77 million domestic, $4 million more than originally calculated, but still just short of Will Smith's December opening record of $77.2 million with "I am Legend."

Worldwide, "Avatar" topped $230 million in its first weekend.

And, in a final bit of trivia about "Avatar," since that's still what I have on the brain, RealD has announced that nearly $40 million of its domestic take was from 3-D viewing, more than half the total. While that certainly seems impressive on the surface, and an omen to people who, like me, still enjoy good, old-fashioned 2-D most of the time, remember that each person who watched the movie in 3-D paid at least $2 more to do so, and even more if it was in Imax. Just sayin'.

All I have after that today is a quintet of clips, which offer varyings amounts of cool.

First up comes the U.K. trailer for Ridley Scott's take on "Robin Hood," which stars Russell Crowe and is set to come out in May. Though I'm still not completely sold on the need for this, the U.K. trailer is a lot less "Gladiator" than the previous U.S. cut and therefore by force at least an improvement. Enjoy.



Horribly inappropriate cursing from young children? Wickedly cool (hopefully) stylized violence? In the right dose I can certainly enjoy both of these guilty pleasures, which we'll get plenty of from Matthew Vaughn with "Kick-Ass" in March. Though the f-bomb from young Chloe Moretz in this redband introduction to her character, Hit-Girl, is just perfectly dropped, the later c-word (I did warn you, watch it with headphones on at work) is a lot more jarring. Enjoy.



Next up come two peaks at animated offerings coming next Summer, first what I believe is a TV clip introduced by director Lee Unkrich for Pixar's "Toy Story 3." I'm frankly getting a little tired of the "toys in peril and need to escape" storyline, but it's Pixar, so I'll certainly be there to check it out in June. Enjoy.



Next is one I'm much more excited for, an odd teaser of sorts for "Despicable Me." The animated offering stars Steve Carell as the evil Gru, who hatches a plot to steal the moon. Silly, sure, but I predict a lot fun too. This odd little clip features a couple of Gru's minions. Enjoy.

And finally, saving in my opinion the best for last, here's the third clip I know of for "Youth in Revolt," which is set to star veryfunnyman Michael Cera and finally come out in early January. Anyone who's been here before knows I love the novel by C.D. Payne, and in this clip we are introduced to Francois Dillinger, the ultra-smooth and ultra-dangerous alter ego of our hero, Nick Twisp. Enjoy.



P.S.: The Blogger spell check is, once again, not working, so please excuse any misspellings on my part. Peace out.

Will the best scripts of 2009 be the best movies of 2010?

The short answer to that question is of course not, because it certainly takes a lot of steps to get a movie from great script to even somewhat good flick.

And though I have to admit I had never heard of it until I stumbled on it yesterday at Collider.com, Franklin Leonard has been releasing "The Black List" (rather unfortunate name, but great idea) since 2004. It's a list of the best scripts that Leonard, now an executive at Universal, has received each year, in 2009 culled from 97 offerings. You can read the whole thing here, but below are a few highlights from the top 10 that caught my eye, with commentary from me.


1. The Muppet Man
By Christopher Weekes
I had no idea that a biopic about Jim Henson was in the works, but I'm just jazzed beyond all reason that it is and may even be coming soon. Like everyone of a certain age, I grew up with the Muppets, and just loved them, especially the thoroughly magical "Muppet Movie." This is listed as being set up at the Jim Henson Co., so may not exactly be an objective view, but who would really want to watch a hatchet job about Jim Henson anyway? With this and (maybe) a new Muppet movie coming from Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller, it truly could be a new golden age for my favorite puppets (who somehow even have their own very fun Youtube channel, too.)

2. The Social Network
By Aaron Sorkin
I just lent out my copy of Sorkin's "Sports Night" to my fellow cubicle slave Randy Waters, and he now shares the minority view with me that it's even better than Sorkin's "The West Wing." Either way, his wit shined again in 2008 with "Charlie Wilson's War," and hopefully will also with this story about the creation of Facebook (which I'm somehow on.) In the words of Leonard, the "fascinating biographical elements of Shattered Glass meets the courtroom drama of Kramer vs. Kramer, without the tears." Namechecking one of my favorite movies ("Shattered Glass") will get my attention every time, and with David Fincher directing this for an October 2010 release starring Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake (a surprisingly good actor), this is definitely one I've got my eyes on.

3. The Voices
By Michael R. Perry
I certainly like twisted movies, and from the right perspective I also don't mind some horrific violence thrown in too, so this sounds right up my alley. According to Leonard, this one's about a schizophrenic worker at a bathtub factory who accidentally kills a beautiful woman from his workplace. While trying to cover his tracks, he starts to hear voices from his foul-mouthed cat and dog. In describing it as like "watching the lovable pig from Babe join forces with American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman," Leonard already had me hooked. Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) will apparently direct this if he can find someone crazy enough to take the lead role.

5. Cedar Rapids
By Phil Johnston
You can count Miguel Arteta's "Youth in Revolt" starring Michael Cera as one of the near-future movies I'm really looking forward to, so it's certainly good news to hear that his next one should be a winner too. He's attached to direct this flick starring Ed Helms as a small-town insurance man who hasn't accomplished much of anything until he gets invited to represent his company at the Cedar Rapids insurance convention. Helms is still the funniest guy on "The Office," and with Alia Shawkat, John C. Reilly and even Sigourney Weaver set to co-star, it should be a real hoot.

6. Londongrad
By David Scarpa (The Day The Earth Stood Still and co-wrote The Last Castle)
It seems like forever since I've seen a great spy movie (or at least one without Paul Greengrass' uncontrollably shaky camera), but this one certainly seems to fit the bill. It's an adaptation of Alan Cowell's 2008 book "The Terminal Spy: A True Story of Espionage, Betrayal and Murder," which chronicles the life and death of Alexander Litvinenko. The story itself seems way too good to be true, with Litvinenko allegedly poisoned by radioactive tea, but it really did happen in 2006, and thoroughly fascinated me at the time. Leonard says the script evokes "Born of the Fourth of July, Silkwood, and Robert DeNiro’s history-of-the-CIA saga The Good Shepherd - but in Russia, with spies," which sounds great to me. Warner Bros. has apparently optioned the script, and I somehow think I read Johnny Depp has been attached to star in it, though I read so much about movies that I could be just all wet about that.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to see one movie today, but I can't decide between "Invictus" and "The Princess and the Frog." I'll eventually see them both, but I'm leaning with starting with Disney's return to 2D animation. Peace out.

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

My (and only my) best movies of the decade: The 2001 edition

I should probably just drop the years from this thing altogether, because today's list will actually contain not one, as I had hoped, but two movies that actually came out in late 2000.

My only two excuses are that I write this very early in the morning, and well, I sometimes confuse when a movie came out with when I actually got to see it. And, to paraphrase the great Lewis Grizzard when people complained about errors in the Atlanta Constitution, "hey, it don't cost but ... well, nothing."

Anyways, here are the nine movies that made today's list, and though that's only seven actually from 2001, I really love all of these, so enjoy, and please feel free to add any you think I may have overlooked.

"O Brother Where Art Thou"
I fluctuate from week to week as to whether this or "The Big Lebowski" are my favorite Coen brothers flick, but for now let's just put them both on top as co-conspirators. Thanks to Bob for politely pointing out this should have been on my 2000 list, because no other Coen brothers flick better combines their talent for establishing a strong sense of place with simply wicked (and in this case delightfully silly) humor. It's a major strength of this flick that, although it clearly pokes fun at Southerners, I have yet to meet one who doesn't look back on it with love.

"Memento"
Nothing like getting your errors out of the way right up front, so here's another one that was apparently released in late 2000 but was misplaced by me (though, in my defense, it didn't get its U.S. debut until the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.) You can trace all the themes from Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" to this mindbender starring Guy Pearce. I love a movie that I have to watch more than once just to make sure it all adds up (and there's another one coming later on this list), especially when it's good enough - like this gem - to make you want to invest the trouble of watching it again.

"Spy Kids"
Yes, really. Though the franchise got worse and worse with the subsequent movies in this series, the original from Robert Rodriguez was just great escapist fare for kids and adults - like me - who like to act like them fairly often. I haven't seen "Shorts" yet, but I will on video, because I just appreciate that Rodriguez - when he's not grindhousing out gloriously gross fare like "Planet Terror" - makes movies he thinks his own kids will enjoy.

"Amelie"
You can count Jean Pierre Jeunet as one of my very favorite directors in the world, and I was just a sucker for this lighter than air romance starring a simply adorable Audrey Tautou. I'm really hoping Jeunet's "Micmacs à tire-larigot," as best as I can tell a goofy tale about a group of misfits who band together to take on a weapons manufacturer, is somehow playing at the end of the year when I make it to New York City, because when he's on top of his game - as with "Amelie" - Jeunet just makes movies that look like nothing else you can find in theaters, and you really can't say that about very many directors.

"Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
I love movies in which the music is at least as good as the movie itself, which is clearly the case with this flick that John Cameron Mitchell wrote, directed and starred in - as the truly unforgettable creation Hedwig. Yes, if there's a scale of somewhat gay to extremely gay, this flick clearly belongs on the latter end, but it's also just a giddy punk-rock romp and tons of fun.

"Ghost World"
This has developed - along with "Office Space" and "Super Troopers" - into one of those movies I can pop into the DVD player after a nightmarish day at work to make it all float away. What in the world ever happened to Thora Birch, who as Enid just made the perfect (anti-?) heroine? I love that, to this day, if I find the right person to talk to, we can still debate just what happened to her at the end - AND IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS FLICK BASED ON THE GRAPHIC NOVEL BY DANIEL CLOWES, PLEASE SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH SO I WON'T SPOIL IT FOR YOU - in which I've always thought Enid commits suicide. No matter how you read it, this is just a bittersweetly askew view of the world, and easily one of my favorite flicks.

"Devil's Backbone"
I watched this Guillermo del Toro movie again this year for Halloween when I was petsitting for a friend of mine (yes, I have a rather boring life sometimes), and though it takes its time telling the tale, it's just a wickedly entertaining ghost story. On a side note, if you want to see a more recent horror flick endorsed by del Toro, please see Juan Antonio Bayona's "The Orphanage" ("La Orfanato") on DVD before it gets the inevitable English-language remake next year.

"Donnie Darko"
Will Richard Kelly ever make a great movie again? I sat through all of "Southland Tales" and this year's "The Box" simply out of love for this flick, but they were both just serious duds. "Donnie Darko," however, took me multiple viewings to truly appreciate, but as twisted tales go, this one about Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his giant furry friend Frank is as good and ultimately absorbing as the best work of David Lynch.

"The Royal Tenenbaums"
Nothing like saving the best for last. Though all these flicks are winners for me, the best movie of 2001 was also Wes Anderson's best (though by just a nose over his first two, "Rushmore" and "Bottle Rocket.") No other of his movies better combines his artist's eye for detail with a great knack for storytelling, here about the Tenenbaums, a family of doomed geniuses who live in some kind of alternate vision of New York City. From all I've heard, he and co-writer Noah Baumbach have recaptured this magic with "Fantastic Mr. Fox," which I can't wait to see this weekend. In the meantime I'll leave you today with one of the funniest things I've ever seen in a movie, Royal Tenenbaum's epitaph.

"Died tragically rescuing his family from the wreckage of a destroyed sinking battleship."

So there you have it. As I said, please feel free to add any movies you think I may have snubbed, and have a perfectly pleasant Tuesday. As a bonus, here's the second trailer for "Youth in Revolt," which - despite the ridiculous voiceover pitching it as a routine teen comedy - I'm hoping will be one of my 2010 favorites, because the book by C.D. Payne is just a fantastic farce. Peace out.


Youth in Revolt Trailer #2

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Just in case anyone asked ... some books I'd like to see made into movies

You know, considering that no one with any kind of power that I know of has ever actually asked, a rather remarkable number of my favorite books have already been made into movies this year: "Where the Wild Things Are" (of course), "The Damned United", "Youth in Revolt" and "Watchmen" (and yes, in case anyone has a snooty reaction to that, "Watchmen" is indeed a great novel, graphic or otherwise.)

That got me to thinking, and looking through my book shelf, for the books that I'd most like to be made into feature films, though I really can't see any of these six making any kind of serious box office coin.

Before we get into any of that, however, the program for the 2009 Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival has just been released, and as usual it's full of a lot of very fun stuff. I'll probably see 10 or so movies in the three days I'm there in November, and so far the highlights I've scribbled down are "The Baader-Meinhof Complex", the documentaries "It Might Get Loud" and "Youssou NDour: I Bring What I Love", and the animated film "Sita Sings the Blues," leaving me with more than a few slots to fill.

If anyone who knows more about independent and foreign movies than I do wouldn't mind looking through the program you can download here and giving me a few suggestions, I'd certainly appreciate it.

But getting back to the intended subject here today, looking through my bookshelf, here are the five or six (or seven) books I could find that I'd most like to see made into feature films:

Among the Thugs
Soccer hooliganism is hardly the most appealing subject, but it's already worked very well at least once as a movie with "Green Street Hooligans" starring Frodo Baggins himself (if you haven't seen that one, it's well worth a rental.) This nonfictional work by Granta editor Bill Buford chronicles his often frightening adventures running with a rather surly band of Manchester United fans known as the "Inter-City Jibbers," most notably with a troubled trip to Turin. It's just a fascinating book I've read at least three times now.

"Reservation Blues"
Given the relative success of "Smoke Signals" and how many great books have been written by the American Indian scribe Sherman Alexie, it really surprises me that more of his books haven't been made into flicks already. If I had to pick just one, it would be "Reservation Blues," probably his most accessible novel and just a great tale about what happens when bluesman Robert Johnson makes a visit to the Spokane Indian Reservation and passes his enchanted guitar along to resident Thomas-Builds-the-Fire. Adam Beach surely needs the work, and for the young ladies, why not that Taylor Lautner from those "Twilight" movies too?

The "Adrian Mole" novels
Sue Townsend's series of novels about Adrian Mole (who starts out at age 13 3/4 and, of course, gets older) have already been the inspiration for three British TV series, none of which I've managed to see, and even apparently a musical of some sort. And, though I can find no evidence that it has either been ever completed or even started, there's also a listing for a "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4" at the IMDB for 2009, but it doesn't feature a cast, so I have no idea what's going on with any of that. Here's hoping it somehow makes to a theater somewhere near me soon!

"Member of the Wedding"
OK, this one has also already been made into two TV movies and a proper 1954 feature film, but the coming-of-age story of Frankie Addams by the great Georgia writer Carson McCullers is just the definition of timeless and could certainly be done again and right. Perhaps I just have a soft spot for this one because mi hermano played John Henry West in a local theater production of this when I was growing up, and I quickly just fell in love with the story.

"Outcasts United"
I really harbor no fantasies that there's ever gonna be a genuine blockbuster about soccer, but this great American story penned by New York Times reporter Warren St. John would just make a perfectly compelling movie. The nonfiction work tells the tale of coach Luma Mufleh and her band of refugee kids who band together to form a not-surprisingly-good soccer team in the town of Clarkston, Georgia. Much more than a soccer story, it's all about immigration in America and what happens when you transform a sleepy Southern town into a melting pot featuring all kinds of ingredients. Read it now if you can.

"Maggie Muggins (or Spring in Earl's Court)" and "Small World"
I went through a brief period of my reading life when all I read was British novels, and these were easily two of the best. Though Keith Waterhouse's novel "Billy Liar" has been made into a great 1963 movie, the story of Maggie Muggins is just as good, and her misadventures as "a piece of urban flotsam" would certainly work as movie, sort of the anti-Bridget Jones (and please, dear God, if anyone ever really does make a movie of this, don't cast Renee Zellweger in it!) "Small World: An Academic Romance," by David Lodge, is just one of the wittiest novels I've ever read, and despite the fact that it's set in the none-too-movie-glamorous world of academic conferences, it still delivers all kinds of funny.

So, there you have it, and I believe that actually went to seven. I fully realize that none of these ideas will ever hit the screen (or at least not again) anytime soon or ever, but please feel free to add any books you'd love to see brought to the big screen to this list.

And, because I'm just psyched beyond belief to finally be getting to see Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are" this Friday, here's a clip from when Max first meets the Wild Things to get you geeked up too. Peace out.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Fall favorites: The 10 flicks I'm most looking forward to for the rest of this year

Actually, before we get into any of that, the funnest news out there now is that they're actually gonna make a movie based on the TV show "Soul Train," and Don Cornelius himself will be involved.

How, you might ask, will they come up with a plot for a show about dancing? I have no idea, but I still think this flick could be a lot of fun, mostly because of another one that's grown to be among my favorites.

I used to consider Malcolm Lee's "Roll Bounce" to be a guilty pleasure kind of flick, but I've seen it so many times on Saturday afternoon TV now that it's simply one of my favorite flicks, with no qualification. Since that silly little flick is about a kid (yes, Bow Wow) who just wants to roller skate, I can easily envision a "Soul Train" movie about a kid who just wants to dance and land a spot on a national "Soul Train" tour.

And in a few other tidbits before I get to the main event today, because "Chuck" co-creator Josh Schwartz apparently can't be idle for even a few seconds, he's now apparently getting into the sitcom game.

He's teaming with fellow "Chuck" producer Matt Miller to pen a multicamera script for CBS that will follow "a twentysomething newlywed couple navigating their new life together." The pilot, which picks up after the couple's honeymoon, is inspired by Schwartz and Miller's recent marriages.

That sounds like more than a little meh to me, but since I tune in for every new episode of both "Chuck" and "Gossip Girl," I'm sure I'll check this out too.

And speaking of "Gossip Girl," star Blake Lively has joined the already rather impressive cast of Ben Affleck's next directing effort, "The Town," based on the Chuck Hogan novel "Prince of Thieves," and in even better news, Chris Cooper is about to too. They join Affleck, Rebecca Hall (huzzah!), Jeremy Renner and even Don Draper.

The story follows a bank manager (Hall), the career criminal (Affleck) who stole more than her heart (not my wording!) and the FBI agent (Hamm) trying to bust the crook and his gang, of which Renner is a part. Lively is playing Renner's sister and Affleck's troubled ex-girlfriend. Cooper would play Affleck's father. Shooting begins next month in Boston.

And finally, in wildly good "Dollhouse" news, it seems that "Firefly/Serenity" vet Summer Glau is about to join the cast for a multiepisode arc that should add more than a few wrinkles to the storyline.

She will play a character named Bennett who shares a past with Eliza Dushku's Echo and has a connection to another Dollhouse character. And, in even better news, it seems that she works at "a dollhouse," meaning different from the one where Echo and the others live. Excellent.

OK, enough of that. Before I got distracted by the dailies this morning, this was supposed to be all about the 10 (or maybe 11) movies I'm most looking forward to for the rest of this year. And just to prove it was some tough decision-making, here are the six flicks that almost made the cut but just missed: "Jennifer's Body," "Zombieland," "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant," "Gentlemen Broncos," "Nine" (the musical) and "Sherlock Holmes."

And now, without further dawdling, here goes, in order only of release date:

Sept. 4: "Extract"
All signs are that this will be the first Mike Judge movie to truly play wide in, well, forever, so if that turns out to somehow be a lie, I'm really gonna be pissed. This looks an awful lot like "Office Space" from the perspective of management, which with Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig, Ben Affleck and J.K. Simmons all in the cast would be just fine with me.

Sept. 11: "Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself"
I'm certain that this one will fall into the Perry formula, but I'm just as certain that I simply don't care. It's really not that I'm an apologist for Mr. Perry, but that I find even his most routine flicks to be filled with more humanity than just about anything else out there. And besides, with the great Taraji P. Henson in the lead for this one, there's no way I won't be there on opening day.

Sept. 18: "The Informant!"
When's the last time you can remember Steven Soderbergh really having fun with a movie? I suppose the second and third "Ocean's" movies might qualify, but I didn't bother with those, so I'd have to go back to the first one, in other words quite a while. Well, it certainly looks like "The Informant!", starring Matt Damon as a rather inept corporate whistle blower, should be a return to fun form, and I'll be there to find out.

Oct. 2: "The Invention of Lying"
Anyone who bothered to see last year's "Ghost Town" (and there really weren't many of you at all, so take that as my rental tip for the day) knows that beneath his rather caustic exterior, Ricky Gervais is just a big fan of thoroughly charming romantic comedies. Here's hoping this flick he co-wrote and co-directed with Matthew Robinson will be just as good as "Ghost Town," and that a whole lot more people bother to watch it.

Oct. 2: "Whip It"
Is it really true that I haven't seen young Ellen Page in a movie since "Juno"? I think so. I know she was in "Smart People" last year, but I didn't bother with that one. So I say welcome back, and in what should be a really fun flick, Drew Barrymore's directing debut with Page, Barrymore, Kristen Wiig and even Juliette Lewis as roller derby queens. I'm there.

Oct. 9: "The Damned United"
This is also actually listed as coming out on Sept. 25, but either way, I seriously doubt it's ever gonna open anywhere that won't make me drive at least an hour to see it. Which is a real shame, because it's based on easily one of my favorite books, and one you don't even have to love soccer to enjoy (but it would certainly help.) It tells the story of Brian Clough's rather disastrous and brief stint as the coach of Leeds United, a team he makes clear from the start he still detests even after becoming its leader. With Michael Sheen playing Clough and "The Queen" scribe Peter Morgan writing the script, I can't see any way this will be anything but a winner, if you get to see it.

Oct. 16: "Where the Wild Things Are"
OK, this is the one. Without much modesty at all, I'll tell you that long before they started to generate unbelievable buzz, I last gave this title to "No Country for Old Men" and then "Slumdog Millionaire." I have serious doubts that Spike Jonze's flick will be an Oscar contender like those, but I do know that whatever he comes up with from my favorite childhood tale by Maurice Sendak is easily the one movie I'm most looking forward to for the rest of this year.

Oct. 30: "Youth in Revolt"
Of all the movies on this list, this one certainly has the highest potential to be simply wretched, but I'm still holding out hope, since I just loved the book by C.D. Payne. In the movie, Michael Cera will play the (16- rather than 14-year old, I think) hero, Nick Twisp, who simply wants to score with the seductive love of his young life, Sheeni Saunders. It never gets much more complicated than that, but if it captures the spirit of Payne's wildly satirical book, it should just be a wicked pleasure.

Nov. 25: "The Fantastic Mr. Fox"
I didn't have terribly high hopes for this first foray into animation by Wes Anderson, but the stills and trailer I've managed to see have gotten me all geeked up once again. Anderson used the stop-motion technique to tell this classic Roald Dahl tale, with George Clooney as the voice of titular Mr. Fox, so I'm definitely willing to take a chance on it.

Nov. 25: "The Princess and the Frog"
No matter how hokey this one might be, Disney's return to classic 2-D animation, with its first black princess - Anika Noni Rose - and a grand score, is enough to get me hooked. It's surely too late to completely turn back now, but I'm hoping this makes a ton of money and at least opens the door for more animated movies that I don't have to put on a second pair of friggin glasses to watch.

Dec. 4: "Up in the Air"
Whew! We're finally at the end, with the welcome return of writer/director Jason Reitman. A quick check of the IMDB reveals there are no less than eight other flicks with the same title, including one short also coming out this year. Reitman's flick is about a corporate downsizing expert (Clooney again) who revels in piling up frequent flier miles. I don't think she has a very big part, but Anna Kendrick is in this too, and it always just makes me smile to see her on the big screen.

And there you have it. Please feel free to let me know of any flicks you think I've wrongfully snubbed, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Yes, this is really one of my favorite books

I'm well aware that by any standards, I read a lot of trash, but before I get into any of that, it seems that Jay Roach is quickly putting together what might be the funniest cast of 2010.

Roach's "Dinner for Schmucks" is a remake of the French film "Le Diner de Cons," in which guests are expected to bring along the biggest idiot they can find for ridicule. Roach's flick, set to come out in July, was already on the right course by making Steve Carell the principal idiot and also casting seriouslyfunnyman Paul Rudd, and now comes word that Zach Galifianakis is on board too.

Considering that Roach bailed on the "Meet the ..." series to direct this, it can only be considered a case of trading up, and well worth keeping your eyes on.

And speaking of reading on a slightly different subject, Dave Eggers has a great fiction piece in the latest issue of The New Yorker based on Max, the hero of "Where the Wild Things Are." Eggers wrote the screenplay for Spike Jonze's take on the classic Maurice Sendak children's tale, which just happens to be the single movie I'm most looking forward to for the rest of this year (October can't get here fast enough!) You can read Eggers' story here.

But getting back to my reading habits, I work as hard as anyone I know, so when I bother to read a book it's most often for escape or humor. Lately, that's meant Charlaine Harris' sensationally entertaining Sookie Stackhouse novels, and even though the one I'm on now, "Dead as a Doornail," is more than a bit of a dud so far, I'm sure I'll read as many as she bothers to write.

Another, admittedly extremely juvenile, book that just holds a lofty place in my heart is C.D. Payne's "Youth in Revolt." If anyone were to take my recommendation, which it's come to my attention some people occasionally actually do, be warned: The entire premise of this book is the outlandish lengths our 14-year-old hero, Nick Twisp, will go to to have sex with the seductive object of his affection, Sheeni Saunders.

Silly? Extremely, but it's also a scalding satire that writes the teen characters with respect, and now it's somehow being made into movie starring Michael Cera. When I first heard that, I didn't think it could possibly work, because the book isn't just filled with dark humor, it's the blackest of black. But because Cera loves the book too and director Miguel Arteta, who made the simply insane "Chuck & Buck" way back when, isn't afraid of it either, the movie actually got made and is set to come out hopefully everywhere Oct. 30.

And, even more amazingly, the trailer below actually resembles something like what the book looks like in my mind, so count me as psyched. Enjoy the trailer, and have a great weekend. And if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds." Peace out.

Surprise ... Spike Lee sounds off at Cannes

I love Spike Lee, even when he's just horribly wrong, because the man is never, ever boring.

At Cannes to promote his upcoming World War II flick "Miracle at St. Anna," Spike couldn't help but take swipes at some big-time fellow directors, the Coen brothers and Clint Eastwood.

When it comes to the Coens, however, I had to think back through all their movies before deciding he's just dead wrong. Here's what Mr. Lee had to say about their body of work:

"I always treat life and death with respect, but most people don't. Look, I love the Coen brothers; we all studied at NYU. But they treat life like a joke. Ha ha ha. A joke. It's like, 'Look how they killed that guy! Look how blood squirts out the side of his head!' I see things different than that."

Wow. Now, the Coens have certainly, and thankfully, made their share of very funny comedies, but I don't think they've ever made death a joke. Now, they do make it a very stylish occurrence and, yes, do sometimes revel in the bloodiness of it, but if anything "No Country for Old Men" was the best meditation on violence and death I've seen in many, many years.

But, Spike being Spike, he wasn't finished yet, and saved his most savage (and accurate!) critique for Mr. Eastwood. Here goes:

"Clint Eastwood made two films about Iwo Jima that ran for more than four hours total and there was not one Negro actor on the screen. If you reporters had any balls you'd ask him why. There's no way I know why he did that -- that was his vision, not mine. But I know it was pointed out to him and that he could have changed it. It's not like he didn't know."

Amen, brother. I really had no time at all beyond the performance of Adam Beach for Clint's "Flags of Our Fathers," but I really liked "Letters from Iwo Jima" quite a bit. That said, Spike is right, and I'm happy someone has the huevos to point it out in such a significant forum.

As for "Miracle at St. Anna," Spike said it's in the final stages of post-production and will be complete by the end of July, hopefully for a very wide release on Oct. 10. The flick, for anyone who doesn't know yet, is about four African-American Buffalo soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division - Derek Luke (huzzah!), Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso and Omar Benson Miller - who get trapped in a a small Tuscan village on the Gothic Line during the Italian Campaign of World War II. It also stars James Gandolfini, John Leguizamo, Kerry Washington and Joseph Gordon Levitt (another huzzah!), hopefully giving it enough star power to reach my little corner of the world this fall.

Steve Buscemi in 'Revolt'

With Michael Cera set to star in the adaptation of one of my favorite books, I already had my eyes squarely on any news about "Youth in Revolt," and there's a lot of the good kind about it today.

For director Miguel Arteta ("Chuck and Buck"), Cera will play the sex-obsessed hero Nick Twisp, 14 in the book but assumedly a little older when this finally hits movie theaters in December. Now, in some fantastic casting news, he's being joined by Steve Buscemi as Nick's violent and status-obsessed loser of a father, George Twisp, and Ray Liotta, who plays a rather fascist member of the Oakland PD who shacks up with Nick's mom. Jean Smart and M. Emmet Walsh have also signed on, but I'm not sure as of yet to do exactly what. Still to be cast is Sheeni Saunders, the teen temptress who wins Nick's heart.

The book by C.D. Payne is one of the silliest I've ever read, but still holds a high place in my heart, so here's hoping this all turns out as funny and crazy as it should be.

"The Happening" trailer

What exactly makes this a redband trailer I have no idea, but it does hold the promise that director M. Night Shyamalan will get back to top form when "The Happening" comes out in July. I certainly hope he delivers a winner, but now I've got to hurry and get to work. 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.