A short Thursday report long on fun news

If you skipped Derek Cianfrance's "Blue Valentine" last year, either because of its mind-boggling NC-17 rating or simply because the subject matter sounded so depressing, fix that right away with a rental, because in many ways the movie is a real joy to watch.

It is indeed about a marriage that's imploding in front of our eyes, but the acting from Michelle Williams (rightly nominated for an Oscar) and Ryan Gosling is nothing short of amazing to behold, and the story goes on a journey well worth exploring that will make you smile and laugh more than it will make you blue. The "future room" alone makes this movie well worth renting (it's out on DVD now, so check it out).

And even better comes big casting news about Cianfrance's next movie, the crime drama "The Place Beyond the Pines," which reunites him with Gosling. He will play a biker who, after having a child, begins robbing banks to support the baby. And now comes word that Bradley Cooper will play a rookie cop who's on his trail.

Filming will start in July, and Cianfrance is a real talent to keep an eye on, so stay tuned for more on this whenever I find it.

In other news about a director I can't get enough of, it's now guaranteed that even people in my little corner of the world will get to see Tomas Alfredson's follow-up to the simply sublime "Let the Right One In" (still streaming on Netflix), a remake of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy."

The news is that Focus Features has taken over distribution from Universal and has set an awards season U.S. release date of Nov. 18, and best of all, will apparently do so in glorious "wide release."

Bully to that, because Alfredson has compiled a stellar cast for the Cold War spy saga based on the John Le Carre novel, starting with Gary Oldman as George Smiley, the British spy charged with uncovering a Russian mole in his ranks, and also featuring Colin Firth, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Hardy and Mark Strong.

Bring it on already, even for people like me, who live in tiny burgs!

And finally (and inevitably) today, Paramount is finalizing an option deal to develop a movie based on "Furious Love," an account of the public love affair of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and is ready to hand it off to one Martin Scorsese to direct.

Scorsese is currently wrapping up "Hugo Cabret" starring Chloe Moretz and Asa Butterfield (based on one of my favorite novels, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," so bully to that) for a Nov. 23 release, and after that he has a number of potential projects on his plate. Included among those are "Silence," a tale of two Jesuit priests (potentially Daniel Day Lewis and Benicio Del Toro, imagine that) in 17th century Japan, the hitman drama "The Irishman" and a Frank Sinatra biopic.

Though any of those would be a natural fit, I'd imagine he would gladly put them all on hold to jump on this, given his interest in Hollywood history and how simply juicy the story is. Burton and Taylor were both married when they met on the set of "Cleopatra" in 1960, and began a public romance that inflamed the paparazzi. They eventually married in 1964, divorced in 1974, remarried in 1975 and separated for good in 1976.

And with that, I'm off to the job that still pays my bills, so have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Friday fun: Of "Parenthood," time travel and more

After that rather sublime photo of Sir Ian McKellen from the set of "The Hobbit" just well, because, I like it, we actually start with TV and NBC today because it's that time of year, and they keep picking up shows I really like.

This one isn't all that surprising, since I think "Parenthood" did very well last season and got stronger as the year went on, but it's still good to know that one of my favorite TV dramas is getting a full third season starting next fall. The show, created by "Friday Night Lights" guru Jason Katims, is indeed soapy and sometimes awfully dopey too, but it has a great cast led by Lauren Graham (welcome back!) and Peter Krause, and it's just full of humor, humanity and heart, the perfect mix after a long day of work. And besides, I challenge anyone to point out a more entertaining hour in the past year on network TV than the "Parenthood" finale, which was just a doozy.

So, great news there, but now on to some movie tidbits. If it indeed seems like just about anything can be fodder for a movie idea these days, you're right, but before you judge this too quickly, remember: At least its not somehow "based" on a board game.

This one, in fact, springs from a classified ad in something called "Backwoods Home Magazine" (yes, really). Here's the text of it: "WANTED: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke ... You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before."

And even though the ad was unfortunately just a joke (and a pretty great one at that), that hasn't stopped Big Beach and the Duplass brothers from picking up on it, and even hiring some dudes named Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly to, respectively, direct and write this. And I'd leave it at that, except that this is also attracting a pretty first-rate cast.

The flick, to be titled "Safety Not Guaranteed," is about a trio of magazine employees who investigate the ad, and it will star Kristen Bell and Aubrey Plaza, and has somehow just added the rather sublimely funny Jeff Garlin of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," too. Stay tuned ...

In other movie news, Martin Scorsese has agreed to be really, really annoyed by Lars Von Trier for something that will definitely be bizarre, but could be a lot of fun, too. Scorsese has apparently taken up the challenge issued by Von Trier to be tortured by the latter in a remake of his own movie, "The Five Obstructions."

The original, which I haven't seen, had Von Trier challenging his mentor, filmmaker Jørgen Leth, to remake his 1967 picture “The Perfect Human,” five times, with different conditions, or ‘obstructions’ each time (and these are per The Playlist, hence the quotes) — "in Cuba, with no shot lasting more than 12 frames, in ‘the worst place in the world,’ but without showing that place, in any way he chooses (as a punishment), as a cartoon and, in something of a twist, a version already made by Von Trier himself, but with narration from Leth."

Sounds like pretty wicked fun, and though when this was first rumored with Scorsese, the thought was the movie might be "Taxi Driver," nothing has been confirmed yet. What I do know is that, before that, the next movie Scorsese will be making is "Silence," starring Daniel Day Lewis and Benicio Del Toro and set to begin filming early next year.

That is about a group of Jesuit priests who travel to Japan in the 17th century to try and spread the Gospel. Sounds like perfect Scorsese material, and keep an eye out before that for his next movie to hit theaters (unfortunately in 3D), "Hugo Cabret" (shortened from the title of a book I adore, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret"), starring Hit-Girl Chloe Moretz and Asa Butterfield and coming out Nov. 23.

OK, this has gone on longer than I intended already today, but there's one more movie in the works that caught my eye this morning. Director Jay Roach, when he's not making screwball comedies like "Meet the Parents" or that "Dinner for Schmucks" remake, also manages to make pretty good political dramas, as he did for HBO with "Recount" and is now doing for the network again with "Game Change," about the 2008 Obama-McCain race. And in another project, he's combining those two paths for something called "Rivals" that sounds like it was just tailor-made for me.

Set for release in August 2012, it's set to star Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as two politicians jockeying for position in a small congressional district in South Carolina. I'm laughing at that already, so I'm definitely in. And with that, I'm off. Have a great weekend, and definitely go see "Bridesmaids." Peace out.

"Crazy Heart" director plotting what would be just about the perfect followup

Though Scott Cooper's "Crazy Heart" isn't my single favorite movie of 2009 yet (that distinction goes to Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds"), I've seen Cooper's movie twice now and it just keeps getting and better in my mind, much like Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" did, so just give it time.

The movie just has such a natural pace and feel to it that it makes the utterly familiar story go down extremely sweetly, and it certainly doesn't hurt that the Dude is so great in it. And now, it seems that Cooper is lining up two other top-notch actors to take on an epic Southern saga.

Making the rounds to promote "Get Low," in which he plays a cranky old man who wants to plan his own funeral party so he can attend it, Robert Duvall revealed that Cooper has been lined up to direct "The Hatfields and the McCoys" for Warner Bros., from a script by Eric Roth (the "Forrest Gump" scribe, so he certainly needs and deserves a chance for atonement). Duvall, who had a small but key part in "Crazy Heart," has signed on to star in it, and he said Brad Pitt is now being courted to join him, though exactly what roles each would play is so far not at all clear.

Cooper, who made his debut with "Crazy Heart," is definitely one to keep your eyes on, so I'll certainly share more about this whenever I find it. And, apparently bored on the junket circuit and wanting to chat, Duvall also took the occasion to tell Movieline something about the status of Terry Gilliam's truly quixotic "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" too.

He revealed that "the Irish guy who was in 'Crazy Heart'," who we have to assume would mean Colin Farrell, was approached to play the role that Johnny Depp tried to the first Gilliam tried to make this movie, but has - probably wisely - turned it down. Duvall, however, said he will be in the movie, playing some kind of "Latin guy," assuming it ever gets made.

And if you've ever been the seriously satisfying - albeit depressing - documentary "Lost in La Mancha," which chronicles the epic failure that was Gilliam's first attempt to make this movie, you know the odds against this ever happening this time are pretty steep. Here's more of what Duvall had to say about the obstacles that remain:

"They [the producers] need a name. He's [Gilliam's] going after two people now, but he doesn’t want to say who they are until after he gets them. But it’s been six months he’s been after people. And it’s a bigger budget than his others. And he doesn’t stick to a budget, they say. He goes on and on. And he’s got locations picked out in Spain. So it’ll be very exciting. And when the time comes — and I know for sure — then I’ll start riding horseback every day … But you know, when the time comes - I can’t really start preparing for it until it’s greenlit. Until it’s really greenlit."

Duvall certainly and understandably has his doubts, and coincidentally enough, this news comes in the same week as the DVD release of Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," which, having seen it, I can say is a movie he probably should never have completed.

When my family goes to New York just after Christmas each year, a big part of the gathering is getting to see movies you wouldn't where we normally reside. My brother usually lets me drag him to one movie I want to see but he's almost certain will suck at least a little bit. Two years ago it was Steven Soderbergh's seemingly interminable "Che," an utter act of hubris, though Benicio Del Toro certainly gave it his all, and this year it was "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus."

Everyone knows by now the saga of how Heath Ledger died during the filming of this flick, and Gilliam turned to three big stars - Depp, Farrell and Jude Law - to finish the job. Well, what I can reveal to you is, after making an oddly entertaining flick during the portion Ledger was around for, Gilliam - predictably perhaps - then just lets his movie go completely out of control to the point that the last 45 minutes or so just make no sense at all. I'm still glad I saw it, but I can't really recommend the experience on DVD for anyone else except as a film oddity.

OK, that all went on a bit longer than I had originally planned, so I'll simply leave you today with a couple of videos. The first is the first full trailer I know of for Irish director John Carney's "Zonad." You may remember Carney from the truly magical musical "Once," but this is something completely different: The story of a mysterious stranger who arrives in an Irish village in the 1950s and passes himself off as an alien. Sounds like exactly the kind of goofball comedy I love, but I'll almost certainly have to wait for DVD to ever see this one. Enjoy.



And finally, I'll leave you with something even odder, the new video from MIA, who we (or at least I) haven't heard from since her "Paper Planes" became an earworm that bore into my skull for most of a year. This song, unfortunately, isn't nearly as catchy, and be warned that the video is 9 minutes long. It has, however, apparently been banned from YouTube because of its extreme violence (don't say I didn't warn you), so "enjoy" it while you can (and be warned, if you're a Ginger, really don't watch this). Peace out.

M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

David Fincher coming to TV with ... my favorite miniseries of all time?

Without exaggeration, the "House of Cards" trilogy - based on Michael Dobbs' book of the same name and starring the late, great Ian Richardson - really might be just about the best thing I've ever seen on TV, outside of maybe "Freaks and Geeks."

The story takes place at the end of Margaret Thatcher's reign as British prime minister, and Richardson stars as Francis Urquhart (often none too kindly abbreviated as F.U.), the Conservative Party chief whip who weasels his way into more and more power by any means necessary.

Now, it seems that David Fincher is getting set to make his TV debut as the executive producer and - for the pilot at least - I'd imagine director of an hourlong U.S. drama based on at least the first chapter of "House of Cards" (though I'd imagine if it ran long enough they'd get to the second and third chapters, "To Play the King" and "The Final Cut," too.) ... (On second thought, scratch that, because unless I'm somehow mistaken, we yanks aren't much for kings.)

Though I loved "The West Wing," and indeed go back and watch it from time to time, a show that delves into the darker (most people would say natural) side of politicians could certainly be a lot of fun, and the source material is just impeccable. My only real worry about this is that much of the salacious fun of the original was driven by Richardson himself, who dived into it with all the wickedness he could muster. Replacing him with an American counterpart will be a very tall order, but assuming this gets picked up by a network sometime soon, I'll definitely be tuning in to see how it all turns out.

All I have except for that today is a couple of videos, the first of which comes from a movie opening in some of the country tomorrow but, unfortunately, nowhere near me, Jared Hess' "Gentlemen Broncos." Though his movies, especially "Nacho Libre," are just silly beyond any reason, I just dig them. I'm not much of a moralist, and if I wanted to be I'd most certainly fail, but there's gotta be a place in our world for the squeaky clean but more than a little askew view of Mr. Hess. That said, here's a couple of scenes from his new flick, about the exotically geeky world of fantasy literature. Enjoy.



Next up comes the second trailer for director Joe Johnston's "The Wolfman," which stars Benicio del Toro as the titular man-beast and is set to come out in February. Though my instincts would tell me to beware of this one, everything I've seen so far makes it look like it's gonna be a whole lot of silly fun, and sometimes you just can't ask for more than that. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Trailer trifecta, and why I feel like Larry David far too often

I considered leading with the rather depressing information (well, I guess I did) that Bryan Singer now has nothing better than to do than a '70s TV update ("Battlestar Galactica," and not the nifty version that just ended on Syfy, or whatever it's called now) and a remake of "Excalibur," because lord know that's just what the world needs.

But I really have nothing to say about that, so since it's Friday, let's just get to a trio of fun trailers and a look at the preview for "Curb Your Enthusiasm." First up is the trailer for Joe Johnston's take on "The Wolfman," which I have to say just looks about 100 times better than I could have possibly expected (especially since I expected it to be a big ball of shite.) It looks like a a real, old-fashioned horror flick, and I'm sure Benicio del Toro will be great, so enjoy.



Next up comes the return of Michael Moore with "Capitalism, A Love Story," which, despite my strong belief that "Sicko" was nearly a complete failure, is a good thing in my book. He's threatened to stop making documentaries after this one, and if so, I guess it's good that he's going out by taking on nothing less than our entire capitalist economy. Enjoy the trailer, courtesy of CNN.



And next is the trailer for James Cameron's "Avatar." I have to say, not being a fan of 3-D in just about any form, I'm not particularly excited about this one, but it is a sci-fi movie from Cameron and his first flick in many years, so I guess I'll be there in December. Enjoy the trailer.



What I am rather excited about is that Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is set to return to HBO on Sept. 20. As the clip below summarizes rather brilliantly, Larry's life is a constant ball of frustration, which I can certainly sympathize with, especially last night when I found out that, even though Macon is a notorious walk-up town, the Drive-By Truckers show was somehow sold out (yes, I know I should have bought a ticket in advance, but I waffled about spending $25 for it until the very end - obviously no one's fault but my own.)

Anyways, enjoy the preview, and have a great weekend. For me, that will mean Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" on Saturday and then catching up on "District 9" on Sunday - my definition of a perfect weekend. Peace out.

Steven Soderbergh's porn movie? Well, not quite ...

Am I really the only person who saw the news footage of folks "tea-bagging" yesterday and just thought how much funnier - and about as equally effective - it would have been using the John Waters definition? Just saying.

And in that spirit, in movie news that's not nearly as salacious as some might be thinking, the first trailer for Steven Soderbergh's movie starring porn star Sasha Grey as a rather high-priced call girl - "The Girlfriend Experience" - has hit, and it looks like it has been made with the clinical detachment that has marked even his best flicks. (And if you want to see some of her work, well, this is the Internet, so I suppose that wouldn't be too hard to accomplish. Since this is a family-friendly site, I've simply included her picture.)

For me, his style works when he's using it in the pursuit of cool, since "Out of Sight" and "The Limey" are just two nearly perfect little flicks. But it can also go way wrong when it has no leash. Witness "Che." Or, for your sake, take my advice and don't.

When I was in New York with my family at the end of last year, I somehow got it into my head that watching all five hours or so of "Che" parts one and two in one day would be entertaining, and somehow also duped my brother into going with me.

Man, was that painful to watch. It's a movie that's much easier to admire, for me, than it ever was to enjoy. For EXTREMELY long chunks, especially during the second part that takes place in Bolivia, it's essentially a training film in guerilla warfare, filmed in thorough detail with tons of precision but scant passion, even with the great Benicio del Toro in the titular role.

Oh well, I digress quite a bit. Here's the trailer for his new flick, which is set to have what I assume will be a rather limited release May 22:



Errol Morris goes narrative

And in surprising news about a director who never lacks passion for his subjects, documentary maker Errol Morris is jumping into narrative features with a tale about cryogenics, which would seem to be right up his alley.

He's perhaps best known for the Robert McNamara documentary "Fog of War," but my favorite Morris flicks are just studies in extreme oddity like the creepy "Mr. Death" and, even better, "Fast, Cheap and Out of Control." And what he comes up with for this dark comedy being written by Zach Helm should fit in with those characters just fine.

Inspired by both Robert F. Nelson's memoir "We Froze the First Man" and a story that aired on NPR's "This American Life" this week titled "You're as Cold as Ice," the true story centers on Nelson, a TV repairman who in the 1960s joined a group of enthusiasts who believed they could cheat death with a new technology: cryonics. But freezing dead people so scientists could reanimate them in the future turned out to be harder than Nelson thought.

If this all works out, it might just add up to the oddest thing from Errol Morris yet: A movie that might even reach theaters in my little corner of the world!

A glimpse of "The Hurt Locker"

Remember Kathryn Bigelow? She made a quick splash with the Keanu Reeves flick "Point Break" in 1991 and then, of course, tried to end the world with "End of Days," but instead just about ended her movie-directing career (to be fair, she did direct three episodes of easily one of my favorite TV shows, "Homicide," and even one of the short-lived and much-underappreciated "Out of Sight" TV version of sorts "Karen Sisco" with the always-welcome Carla Gugino.)

And now she's back with an Iraq war movie (another one?) that promises perhaps the same level of action of her early flicks on a much less grand scale.

Although I enjoyed "In the Valley of Elah" quite a bit and wanted to like Kimberly Pierce's "Stop-Loss" a lot more than I actually did, I don't think there's been an Iraq war movie yet that's managed to catch on with the moviegoing public. Bigelow's flick, however, just might be the first to break that mold, since "The Hurt Locker" seems to simply focus on the lives of the members of an elite Army bomb squad operating in Iraq and let you bring your own politics into the action.

Here's the trailer for the flick starring Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie, which is set to open in at least a few corners of the world at the end of June.



And in a quick thought about TV, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the premiere episode of "Parks and Recreation," even if it does crib most of its style directly from "The Office." It just seems to be infused, at least so far, with the right mix of genuine spirit and just thoroughly mocking it, and I certainly liked Amy Poehler's character a whole lot more than any she's played since that crazy RA in "Undeclared."

Here's hoping the show just gets funnier, because I thought that, even with the double "Office" episodes last week, it was the best thing in NBC's Thursday night lineup. And here's about two-and-a-half minutes or so of what you'll see on tonight's episode, "Canvassing," and as a bonus, more footage of "The Office" crew playing soccer. Priceless. Peace out.

A busy day of news (and a beef about 3D)

"It's so similar to the toilet scene in 'Trainspotting.' "
- Danny Boyle, with feces on his mind in Variety

There's quite a bit of news out there today, but since I like to stand in the way of speeding trains and enjoy my favorite TV shows without getting a headache, can I please first make a plea for an end to 3D gimmicks on TV?

Last night's episode of "Chuck" would have been perfectly enjoyable in the 2D format, but since I was watching it with just my old-fashioned specs on, it did indeed get more than a little on my nerves by the finish. Did anyone actually watch this with the 3D glasses on, and, if so, was there really any reason for this beyond NBC clearly being in constant need of attention?

OK, enough of that. The best thing I could find out there this morning is that Martin Scorsese is finally getting back to making another religious movie, and bringing some big names along to do it. "Kundun" has lasted as my second favorite Scorsese movie (after only the sublimely silly "After Hours"), so this is certainly good news.

"Silence," which will be his next feature film, takes place in 17th century Japan and follows the tale of two Jesuit priests who travel there and face violence and persecution on their mission. Even better, as best as I can tell, Daniel Day-Lewis and Benicio Del Toro will play the two priests, and Gael Garcia Bernal will also be along for the ride.

That all sounds well and good, but Mr. Scorsese will of course have another movie coming out well before this, the recently wrapped "Shutter Island," which should just be a heck of a lot of fun next October. In that one, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, Leo DiCaprio plays a U.S. Marshal who is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote isle. Very cool.

Finally, a movie about the war on terror I might actually enjoy?

Actually, Kimberly Pierce's "Stop-Loss" was pretty good, but since that was about the Iraq war I guess it's at least a slightly different subject.

Now, however, no less than Aaron Sorkin is returning to the military courtroom to pen "The Challenge," which takes on the topic of the prison at Gitmo (and, if Barack Obama actually gets his way, this might oddly enough come out right about the time the Guantanamo Bay prison closes.)

George Clooney is producing, may direct and wants to star in the flick as Navy lawyer Charles Swift, who led the drive to ensure a fair trial for Osama Bin Laden's driver, Salim Hamdan, who had been held at Gitmo for five years.

Captured in 2001 in Afghanistan while transporting two missiles in a car, Hamdan was ultimately convicted and sentenced to 5 1/2 years by a military commission for providing material support to Al-Qaeda. He was cleared of the terrorism conspiracy charges that would have drawn a much longer sentence.

Any news about Aaron Sorkin writing (and not for television!) is good news in this corner. If you haven't seen "Charlie Wilson's War," you're missing out on a sharp satire, so rent it already. And Sorkin is thankfully keeping very busy nowadays, having already penned "The Trial of the Chicago 7," which Ben Stiller (!?!?) is directing for Dreamworks, and is now also working on a flick about the formation of Facebook, which I am somehow on even though I don't yet even have a cell phone.

Woody's returning to New York, and I might even get to see it

Purely by coincidence, I was watching that great "Seinfeld" episode recently in which Kramer manages to get a line ("these pretzels are making me thirsty!") in a Woody Allen flick before getting fired from the set.

In a case of art imitating reality and coming back around to art, "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David is starring in Woody Allen's next flick, "Whatever Works," which Sony Pictures Classics has now picked up and will hopefully distribute wide enough to reach my little corner of the world when this comes out later this year.

In Woody's return to Manhattan (finally!), here (according to Wikipedia, at least) is what the flick starring Mr. David, Evan Rachel Wood, Ed Begley Jr., Patricia Clarkson, Kristen Johnston and Michael McKean is about: "The film is a dark comedy starring Larry David as an eccentric man from Greenwich Village who gets caught up in a series of love stories which get him tangled up with a young girl from the South (Evan Rachel Wood) and her parents."

Well, I guess Woody casting someone else as the dirty old man rather than himself is some kind of progress, and Larry David is just an extremely funny guy, so I can only say bring it on.

Tidbits

OK, I have to get ready for work soon, so two quick hits and then I'll go. Did you know that Spike Lee unveiled a documentary this year at Sundance? I didn't, until this morning. Called "Pushing Strange," it focused Lee's camera on the final three performances of the Broadway musical of the same name. The show is about a young black musician growing up in Los Angeles in the 1970s and his quest to find "the real." As cheesy as that might sound, I'm betting this will be nothing but cool if I ever get to see it. Besides, with "When the Levees Broke," "The Original Kings of Comedy" and my favorite, "Four Little Girls," on his resume, I'd say Mr. Lee knows a thing or two about making compelling documentaries.

And, finally, Julian Schnabel has tapped Hiam Abbas to star in "Miral," a movie he's making about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Schnabel will write and direct the adaptation of Italo-Palestinian Rula Jebreal's book about the real-life Palestinian woman Hind Husseini, who started the Dar Al-Tifl orphanage in Jerusalem in the wake of the 1948 partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel. And, best of all, Abbas, who starred in one of my favorite flicks of 2008 in "The Visitor," will presumable play the lead role, so definitely keep your eyes on this one. Peace, appropriately enough, out.

Actually, to make hopefully any Tuesday a little better, here's that "These pretzels are making me thirsty" clip, still one of my favorite "Seinfeld" bits. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas to all, and movies for me!

I'm obviously far from alone in declaring the Christmas week to be my favorite time of year, but I may be the only person who says that but still has to work on both Christmas Eve day and Christmas. Not a complaint, mind you, because come Boxing Day I'm off to NYC, which means spending five days with my parents and brother and, of course, a heck of a lot of movies.

There are bound to be some surprises that I'm not aware of yet, especially since we're arriving on the last opening Friday of the year, but here are the seven movies I most want to see, assuming they're still playing somewhere in the city (and, on a side note, how in the world did Rian Johnson's "Brothers Bloom" get pushed back to the end of May? I was really looking forward to seeing that one right about now.) Here goes:

"Happy-Go-Lucky"
On paper this sounds about as appealing as a Tony Robbins seminar, but I'll trust Mike Leigh to turn it into something twistedly appealing. Sally Hawkins plays a schoolteacher whose constant optimism irks everyone around her, which actually sounds right up my alley.

"Synecdoche, NY"
I have a feeling this will be the one I see first, since my parents are arriving before mi hermano (who has already seen it), and I'm really looking forward to it. Oddly enough, Philip Seymour Hoffman's other cheerful holiday flick, "Doubt," is surprisingly opening Friday at a multiplex down in my little corner of the world, so that one will definitely be off the NY menu. For a great read on Mr. Hoffman, check out the profile from last Sunday's New York Times Magazine (which I tried and failed to link to, but you can easily find yourself.)

"Milk"
I was having a discussion with a co-worker and fellow movie devotee yesterday, and I was surprised to hear him say he just can't stand Sean Penn. He compared him to Al Pacino in that they each shout and over emote a lot, but while I can see it with Mr. Pacino, I can't go there with Sean Penn. He just has tremendous range, and you can tell from the trailer for "Milk" that he and director Gus Van Sant found the joy in Harvey Milk's life that came before the tragedy, and I can't wait to see what they came up with here.

"Frost/Nixon"
Apparently wide doesn't mean wide at all, or this one would be entering the fray even in my little corner of the world with the other 10 million flicks opening everywhere on Christmas day. Since it's not, I'll probably catch it in NYC for Frank Langella's performance as tricky Dick and because I have full faith in Peter Morgan and Michael Sheen. By the way, I rented "The Deal," a k a their other Tony Blair flick, the other day, and it's almost as good as "The Queen." Check it out.

"Che"
Despite the certain numbness it will bring to my posterior, I'm hoping that the entire five hours of Steven Soderbergh's "Che" will be playing somewhere while I'm there, and hopefully WITH AN INTERMISSION. From what I've heard it's far from an objective tale, but I really wouldn't have expected it to be, and it's been far too long since I've seen Benicio del Toro on the big screen.

"The Wrestler"
The same friend who was impugning the good name of Sean Penn has already seen this Darren Aronofsky flick, and can't believe it's not playing everywhere. Especially down here, where we may not know much about movies, but we do love our wrestling. I don't see any way this one won't be fun, even if it is a bit depressing.

"Frozen River"
Seeing as this opened way back in like June, I suppose it's a long shot that it would be playing anywhere, but I'm hoping the Melissa Leo Oscar train brings it back for one more run. Immigration, by the way, has turned into the great Hollywood (if not great box office) subject that the Iraq war never became. Already this year has come Patricia Riggen's "La Misma Luna" (Under the Same Moon) and Thomas McCarthy's "The Visitor," both of which are superior to just about any of the recent war flicks, and I'm sure "Frozen River" will be fine fare to complete the set.

So, there you have it. Please, if you think of any that I might be able to catch but haven't thought of, let me know, and have a happy, happy holidays! I'm signing off until at least Jan. 2 or so, but I'm fairly certain the world will continue just fine without me. Peace out.

A Super "Office" party and a remarkable glimpse of Che

Congratulations to the Grammys, which although it did manage to nominate a slew of tired music once again did at least recognize what in my book are the album and song of the year: Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" (which I'm listening to right now) and MIA's "Paper Planes," respectively (actually, MIA is nominated for "record of the year" but not "song of the year," a distinction I'm sure I'll never understand.)

In TV news, Bryan Fuller's return to "Heroes" has now been confirmed for episode 20 of this season, making the already certain imminent death of "Pushing Daisies" now official. A way beyond sad day indeed, especially with the creepy-but-cool developments of last night's episode. As for "Heroes" itself, I lost interest last year then tried to come back again, but the show is just BORING. I'm sure Bryan Fuller will help, but for me it's certainly too little too late.

In much better news, "The Office" will be getting the coveted post-Super Bowl hour, and will make the most of it with what will be a hopefully just way wrong roast of Steve Carell's Michael Scott. Though there will be several celebrity drop-ins, the roast (requested by Michael, of course), will thankfully be conducted by his semiloyal employees.

And in tonight's episode, Oscar (Oscar Nunez) informs Michael that the office must spend a $4,300 surplus or lose it in next year’s budget. When Michael opens up the floor for suggestions, factions break out and officemates square off against one another in order to get what they want. Even better, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) takes Angela (Angela Kinsey) and poor Andy (Ed Helms) to Schrute Farms to work on their wedding plans (I can't wait to see that for a season finale!)

The end of the "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" season just leaves a black hole in the blackest part of my sense of humor, so here's hoping "The Office" can continue to bring the funny.

And speaking of funny, "Funny or Die" has put together a musical video retort to California's Prop 8 starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, Allison Janney and a bunch of other stars (and even a closing number from Barney!) It's predictably preachy, but also indeed pretty friggin funny, so I decided to include it here for your Thursday enjoyment.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

And finally, since this is nominally supposed to be about movies, here's easily the coolest thing I could find this morning. At some point, the first half of Steven Soderbergh's truly ambitious Che Guevara epic starring Benicio Del Toro was to be known as "Guerilla," but it now seems that for America at least they've dumbed it down to "Che Part One." Thanks for clearing that up, guys. Either way, you can tell from this trailer that Soderbergh has something rather remarkable here, and I suspect you'll definitely be hearing Del Toro's name right next to Sean Penn's for "Milk" on Oscar night. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Thursday. Peace out.

Where are they now: Gilmore Girls

Sure, there's movie news out there today. The best I could find is that after "Juno" finally comes out around the world, Jason Reitman will team up with Diablo Cody again for her next script, which just sounds perfectly insane.

Reitman will produce (and I assume direct) "Jennifer's Body," Cody's horror-comedy about a killer cheerleader, to be played, naturally, by the rather appropriately named Megan Fox of "Transformers" fame.

Specifically, "Body" tells the story of a cheerleader who is possessed by a demon and starts feeding off the boys in a Minnesota farming town. Her "plain Jane" best friend must kill her, then escape from a correctional facility to go after the Satan-worshiping rock band responsible for the transformation. Sounds similar to what often goes on my dreams, actually.

Reitman's company, Hard C, is also behind Rainn Wilson's (Dwight Schrute, of course) flick "Bonzai Shadowhands," which will answer the burning question: What does a ninja do during his downtime?

And in the meantime, "Juno" is still listed as opening at least a few places Dec. 5, so maybe that means we'll get it before the end of the year out here in the hinterlands.

But what I really wanted to talk about, in honor of the rather ignominious end of "Gilmore Girls" hitting DVD this week with the seventh season coming out, was a "where are they now" about the main cast members of a show that I just loved. Besides, there's actual news out today about adorable Alexis Bledel, so why not? Here goes ...

Lorelia Gilmore
I was talking with a co-worker the other day about Christmas movies, and I of course pitched "Bad Santa," which was dismissed as too dark for her tastes. That, however, quickly digressed into talk about whether Lauren Graham's ever gonna get to star in a good movie, or at least one where she gets to do more than f*** Santa. A quick IMDB check, unfortunately, points to no. Her only upcoming credit, for 2008, is something called "Flash of Genius," starring Greg Kinnear as a guy who takes on the Detroit automakers who claim he stole their idea of the intermittent windshield wiper. What this makes Lorelai, I suppose, is once again the wife. Can't anyone write anything better for this great actress? Sheesh.

Rory Gilmore
The news is at least a little better for fans of Alexis Bledel, since she at least gets to topline movies, even if they do sound awfully familiar. She's just signed to play the lead in a Fox Atomic comedy called "Ticket to Ride," in which she will play a college grad who is forced to move back into her childhood home with her eccentric family. Any similarities to Greg Mottola's upcoming "Adventureland," in which Jesse Eisenberg will do essentially the same thing, are supposed to be overlooked, I suppose. Before that, she'll also be reprising her role as Lena in the sequel to Warner Bros.' "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," along with America Ferrera, Blake Lively and Amber Tamblyn.

Luke Danes
Scott Patterson landed quickly back on TV as one of the main stars of the CW's "Aliens in America," the only new sitcom funny enough to keep me watching this fall (and it seems to get better with each week.) Though I didn't see it to find out, he apparently also had some kind of role in "Saw IV." I guess a man's gotta eat.

Emily Gilmore
Did anyone know that Kelly Bishop actually won a Tony award in 1976, for Featured Actress in a Musical for her work as Sheila in "A Chorus Line"? I didn't until I was alerted to it by always-welcome reader Jeremy. Sadly, this truly classy broad has no work listed at the IMDB. How can that be?

Richard Gilmore
Long before he classed up "Gilmore Girls," Edward Herrmann could actually list "Lost Boys" among his many credits, playing, for those who can remember, the key role of Max. Post-"GG" he's had a stint on the sudsy "Grey's Anatomy" (which I don't watch) and then is listed for what must be a straight-to-DVD flick. Starring (I'm not making this up) Tom Arnold and Timothy Daly, "The Skeptic" is described thusly at the IMDB: "A man separates from his wife and young child and moves into a large Victorian house where strange, frightening occurrences take place. The question which teases the alert audience throughout this psychological thriller: Is this a haunting or a descent into madness!" (believe me, the exclamation point wasn't my addition.) Coincidentally, Richard Herrmann won a Tony Award in the same year as Kelly Bishop, for Featured Actor in a Play for his work in George Bernard Shaw's "Mrs. Warren's Profession."

Sookie St. James
Melissa McCarthy also landed right back on TV in a show I don't watch, "Samantha Who?" Judging from the commercials I've seen, the running joke on the show seems to be whether or not Kelly Bundy can call herself a virgin again now that she suffers from amnesia, but maybe the show has more subtle charms I'm just missing. McCarthy is also listed as one of the main stars of a movie called "Pretty Ugly People," which didn't even warrant a plot synopsis at the IMDB.

Michel St. Gerard
Yanic Truesdale, who played a snobby French Canadian so well because he is, well, a French Canadian, unfortunately has no acting credits listed after "Gilmore Girls."

Lane Kim
Keiko Agena and Emily Kuroda played my favorite "Gilmore Girls" characters, Lane Kim and her constantly watchful mother, known only as Mrs. Kim. Since "GG" wrapped, Keiko has voiced the character of Yori on Disney's "Kim Possible," but from there I'm afraid the news is not good. I've managed to make it until now without making any mention of "Major Movie Star," but since she has a small part in it I guess I have to. In a plot summary that, believe me, I couldn't possibly make up, Jessica Simpson will reach to play a ditsy movie star who, after getting in a car accident, somehow manages to enlist in the Army. Remember folks, I'm just the messenger.

Kirk Gleason
The only time I can remember seeing Sean Gunn's name in the news recently was when his brother and sister-in-law, James "Troma" Gunn and Jenna "America's sweetheart" Fischer announced they were getting a divorce. His only acting credit listed is for something called "Pants on Fire," which I can only hope is some kind of comedy.

Paris Geller
Though one of the many charms of "Gilmore Girls" was its outstanding ensemble cast, I've decided to wrap it up here at an even 10 with a look at Liza Weil. Long before "Gilmore Girls," she starred in what is still one of my favorite movies that no one has ever seen, Susan Skoog's great coming-of-age movie "Whatever," and now she's surprisingly busy. She has three upcoming credits listed at the IMDB: "Mars," an animated comedy about the discovery of life on the Red Planet and our race to land there; "Little Fish, Big Pond," which I know nothing about except for that it stars Matthew Modine; and "The Missing Person," which I can only assume is about, well, a missing person.

I could go on a lot longer with this, of course, but everybody knows that two of Rory's main beaus, Milo Ventamiglia and Jared Padalecki, can be seen each week on "Heroes" and "Supernatural," respectively. So, I'll leave you instead with this rather freakin' cool pic of Benicio del Toro all decked out as Che Guevara for Steven Soderbergh's "The Argentine," taken directly from his own fairly odd Web site, which you can find here. Peace out.

Simply crazy comic book news

Before you read too much into that title, please remember that in my rather twisted view of the world crazy is rarely not a compliment.

In the case of the "Wolverine" movie, what it apparently means is an instant injection of class. I have to say, of all the characters they could have spun off from the "X-Men" universe, Wolverine is the one I'm least excited about.

Now, don't get me wrong. On paper, Wolverine has a fascinating backstory which would make for a great summer action flick. But on screen, Hugh Jackman and those who write for him have turned him into simply a smirking one-liner machine, and certainly not the kind of character I'd like to see a movie built around.

With this good news, however, I'm gonna have to at least be cautiously optomistic. In an instant leap to the big leagues, "Tsotsi" director Gavin Hood has been tapped by Twentieth Century Fox to work with the script by David Benoiff.

If you haven't seen "Tsotsi," which managed to snag a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, I can't recommend it highly enough. It's a thoroughly touching tale of redemption set in South Africa and based on a novel by Athol Fugard. Before he gets to have fun with "Wolverine," Hood will be making the rounds with "Rendition," his new flick which is sure to catch a lot of buzz.

That flick, starring Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin and J.K. Simmons (huzzah!) is about the CIA's methods of interrogation of an Egyptian terrorism suspect, and his wife's mission to rescue him. I smell at least few Oscars cooking here.

And it's apparently his work on this movie, set to be released in the U.S. in October, that won Hood the right to play around with "Wolverine." To which I can now say bring it on.

Seth Rogen, super hero?

Just in case you can't tell in print, I'm more than a little skeptical about this one. Encouraged, mind you, being a rather portly gentleman myself, but skeptical nonetheless.

It seems that king freak Seth Rogen is finalizing a deal to write and most likely star in Columbia's big-screen adapatation of "Green Hornet." I'll pause to let you ingest that one for a sec. ...

Given Rogen's ability to make fun of himself, I could actually see this working pretty well, if it ever really happens. Rogen would play Brit Reid, the millionaire publisher-turned-masked crime fighter. "The Green Hornet" started as a radio serial before being turned into a comic book, film and TV series by the 1960s. The TV show was apparently notable for the presence of the late Bruce Lee as sidekick Kato, a kung fu expert with a killer car.

You can, of course, look for Mr. Rogen very soon in another movie he wrote, the upcoming "Superbad," which Variety says he originally intended to star in before it took a long time to get off the ground and he simply became too old to play a believable high school student (which hasn't stopped too many people from trying to do it anyway!)

Can he really make the leap to action hero? I have my doubts, but I'll definitely be cheering him on.

A "Bottle Shock" update

In my "fresh faces" plug for the great Freddy Rodriguez I noted that, as far as I can tell, he's set to star in the upcoming "Bottle Shock," a flick about the rise of the Napa Valley wine industry.

Well, not so fast, apparently. A report on the flick this morning listed pretty good cast additions: Chris Pine, Rachael Taylor, Eliza Dushku (today's gratuitous beautiful woman pic), Bill Pullman and Alan Rickman (huzzah!) Nowhere in the list, however, was Mr. Rodriguez.

Set in the 1970s, the film is based on the true story of the Montelena Winery, which won an international wine-tasting competition and put the California region on the vino map. Pine portrays the son of the vineyard owner who saves the winery and represents Napa in the French tasting, while Taylor plays a university student who interns at the winery.

Dushku acts as a local bartender, and Pullman is the owner of the run-down winery who clashes with his son. Rickman is an Englishman who runs L'Academie du Vin in Paris and is the chief architect of the blind-tasting challenge that results in an upset victory for the American vintages.

Whether Freddy's involved or not (and the IMDB still says he is), this is still shaping up to be an interesting flick worth keeping our eyes on.

Che flicks finally get rolling

The AP reported as news this morning that Benicio (not Guillermo, a mistake I somehow manage to make quite often) Del Toro is playing Che Guevara in director Steven Soderbergh's back-to-back flicks about the revolutionary leader. I thought that was pretty common knowledge, but maybe not.

The real news is that Soderbergh is gonna start serious filming on the flicks Wednesday across Spain. In honor of this good news, here's a pic of Benicio as Che cribbed directly from the actor's rather bizarre Web site. It's definitely worth a visit here.

"Darjeeling Limited" gets supercool poster

Until stumbling upon this rather nice poster for Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited," I was beginning to doubt the flick really existed. It's just been so long since Mr. Anderson has managed to complete a movie, but I can only say welcome back.

The flick stars Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman as three estranged brother who use a trip across India to reforge their bonds after the death of their father. It's set to be the opening night flick at the New York Film Festival Sept. 28 (and why not: There have been very few better valentines to the city of New York than Anderson's "Royal Tenenbaums.")

The poster has an odd, almost "Steve Zissou" kind of look to it, and only makes me want to see the flick right away, which I guess movie posters are meant to do. Anyways, I still have to work for a living, so I have to quit now and get ready. Peace out.