Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose: TV's best drama returns tonight

Actually, there's one thing out there today that, if not better, is at least odder, and that's good enough for me.

Having grown up around the Chesapeake Bay, I'm well aware that it's unfortunately full of all kinds of poisonous things that live there and kill the oysters and fish, largely from the chicken s$#% that rolls off the farms and into the waterway. It's still a stretch that these toxins would make the leap and start killing human beings on a large scale, but in the realm of horror movies, I suppose anything's possible.

It seems that Barry Levinson, a Baltimorean who, back in the day, made one truly great movie about Charm City ("Diner") and several more fairly good ones ("Tin Men" and "Avalon" among them), has returned to Maryland and made a horror movie titled "The Bay." The flick will apparently be a found footage kind of thing about an isopod parasite that is unleashed from the bay and carries a horrific, untreatable disease.

Laugh if you want to, but much more than just about any other kind of horror story you might be able to cook up, that truly terrifies me, so I'll be there to see this, probably with my eyes covered at several points.

But the main event here today is the return of TV's best drama (yes, better than "Mad Men" and anything else you can name in my book) to NBC tonight for what will be its fifth and final season. And from what I've heard from folks who are lucky enough to have DirecTV and have seen this already, the show really goes out on top.

If you've never seen the show, you've really missed out on a true original: A prime-time TV series that takes a fairly hard look at life in modern middle America, but still manages to be extremely addictive. And transitioning from season three to season four with a cast of new kids mixed in with the regulars, the show somehow got even better, largely due to the addition of Michael B. Jordan (yes, really, with the B added I suppose to remove any confusion) as Vince. He's an actor I've loved watching grow up, first as the truly doomed Wallace on "The Wire" and now both on "Friday Night Lights" and also as Alex on the almost-as-good "Parenthood" (and man has that show piled on the drama lately!)

Like many great shows, "Friday Night Lights" will get most of its recognition after it leaves the air. Although Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton have rightly been nominated for best acting Emmys, if this final season is as good as I'm expecting, a posthumous Best Dramatic Series nod should be coming too.

But back to the present. Not to spoil too much, but here's a bit of what you'll see on tonight's premiere, courtesy of AICN, followed by a preview from NBC, and then stick around for two more trailers that caught my eye this morning.

• The East Dillon Lions, with only two wins last season, are to take on the state champions this week in something called The Whataburger Kickoff Classic.
• Both Julie Taylor and Landry Clarke are now high-school grads and spend most of their components of the episode saying goodbye.
• Landry’s band performs a final concert, and they sound great.



OK, now on to the trailers, starting with easily the most literal title since "Snakes on a Plane," "Cowboys & Aliens." With a title like that, you'd better deliver exactly what's promised, and as you'll see from this first theatrical trailer, it does. And thankfully, it looks like Jon Favreau's movie starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde will be just as much fun as it should be when it drops July 29. Enjoy.



And finally today, a clip that's really just perfect for a Friday morning. I had never heard of "Casa de mi Padre" until this morning, but judging from this trailer, it should be a real hoot. As you'll see, Will Ferrell (funny in any language) somehow stars in this spoof of telenovelas that also features the "Y Tu Mama Tambien" duo of Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal, and even Pedro too. Keep an eye out for this some time later this year, enjoy the trailer, and have a perfectly pleasant weekend. And if you haven't yet, please go see "Hanna," because it really is the best theater movie I've managed to see so far this year. Peace out.

Will Tim Burton ever again have an original idea?

I wonder what would happen if Tim Burton ever encountered an original idea. Would his head - or perhaps his entire body - explode? He certainly must think so, because though the man is clearly a talented director (and yes, I really liked "Alice in Wonderland" quite a bit), he's also just as clearly incredibly insecure.

Rather than take a chance on anything even slightly out of the norm, he's instead signed on to direct a stop-motion animation adaptation of "The Addams Family." And yes, that Addams Family. Sheesh. I've never actually seen the movies that have already sprung from the horror/comedy franchise, but I did see a YouTube clip of Christina Ricci breaking down the real origins of Thanksgiving as Wednesday, and that was nothing but extremely funny (what ever happened to her, any way .. I mean, "Black Snake Moan" really was just about as horrible as it could possibly be, but was it a career killer?)

Actually, I've learned something from this news, so I guess I should be grateful. Did anyone else know the Addams Family actually originated as a New Yorker cartoon? Burton claims his movie will tap into this original spirit and show a "sharper wit than could be placed into a '60s family TV series." OK, fair enough, but you can't color me as anything but skeptical at this point. And besides, as great as "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was, please don't ever forget that that was actually directed by the great Henry Selick, not Burton. 'Nuff said on all that.

"Inception" details emerge and sound friggin great

There will certainly be many contenders for the movie of the summer (and my dark horse money is on Phillip Noyce's "Salt"), but there really can't be many at all that come burdened with higher expectations than Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" follow up, "Inception." And as details emerge about what exactly it might be about, you can count me as more and more jazzed to finally see it.

He turned up for the big Warner Bros. event on the last day of ShoWest, and here's some of what he had to say about "Inception."

As he introduced a video clip from the flick, which I unfortunately can't find online, he described it as "an action film told in a grand scale by a character played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who runs a team of people who have access to a technology that allows them to enter people's minds through their dreams." He said there was shooting in six different countries to create all the dreamscapes. Here's a bit of how Collider, for which I occasionally contribute, described some of the footage:

The footage started with Leo cocking a gun and his voiceover saying, "There's one thing you should know about me. An inception is an idea that's like a virus, it's highly contagious. The small seed of an idea can grow to define or destroy you."

What follows are eerie visuals with people floating and the ethereal string chords build, as we see Leo sitting at a table in an ornately adorned room explaining to Ken Watanabe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt what they do:

"In the dream state, your consciousness defenses lower," he tells them. "It makes your thoughts vulnerable to theft, called extraction. So you can actually train your subconscious to defend itself from the most skilled extractor."

Watanabe asks how he knows that to which Leo replies, "Because I AM the best extractor."

It all sounds more than a bit like "Memento" writ on an extremely grand scale, which would be just fine with me. And Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and, inevitably I suppose, Michael Caine all appear in this too, so you can bet I'll be among the masses buying my ticket when this finally opens July 16.

A couple of biopics I can get squarely behind

The first thing I thought when I heard a Cesar Chavez biopic was at least in the early stages of development was, how has it taken so long? After all, he's a hero to millions of Hispanics and gringos alike, and his life would just make a grand tale.

It seems that screenwriter Keir Pearson and producer Larry Meli agree, and have optioned the life rights of the labor activist Chavez, and will be producing this with Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna's Canana Films. Pearson, by the way, won an Oscar for co-writing "Hotel Rwanda" with director Terry George, and also has, among other projects, a biopic of Roberto Clemente in the works for HBO and Playtone.

And just in case anyone really hasn't heard of Chavez, he dedicated his life to improving the working conditions of California farm workers, eventually co-founding the National Farm Workers Association, which would later become the United Farm Workers.

Though it's of course far too early to be talking about who could pull this role off, Garcia Bernal would certainly seem to be a perfect choice. What say you?

In other, crazier, biopic news, it seems that independent filmmaker and writer David Miller is hard at work with his son, Jordan, on a movie about the truly odd and troubled Texas outsider musician Daniel Johnston. And yes, I know there's already been a documentary about Johnston, the very compelling "Devil and Daniel Johnston," but can you imagine how much fun (well, maybe that's not quite the right word) the right actor could have with this role?

Here's what he to say about the project to Pedestrian, via the Playlist:

I've got a few things going — we're doing a Daniel Johnston biopic and I'm Producing and Writing and Gabriel Sunday our star [from "My Suicide"] he's going to be Directing and playing young Daniel. It's going to be an epic super hero story and it's going to be a narrative biopic so it doesn't really cover any of the same stuff that the famous "Devil And Daniel Johnston" Documentary that won Sundance in 2005 covers.

How are you going to portray older Daniel Johnston?
That's a really good question. We're either putting Gabriel in a fat suit or there's so many people that are reaching out that are huge Daniel Johnston fans. Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly for example, Johnny Depp's a big Daniel Johnston fan though we'd like him to play the older brother. But we haven't really arrived at that yet — we're just in the scripting process at the moment but once we get the script finished we'll be able to get a better handle on what the budget will be.

Nothing like dropping some big names to get attention, but I'd imagine he's right that a lot of actors would indeed be interested in the chance to take on the life a true American original.

And with that, I've got to go to the job that still somehow pays me, but I'll leave you with the trailer for the next Jennifer Aniston movie I'll be seeing (hint: It won't be "Bounty Hunter.") "The Switch," which I believe used to go by the much funnier name "The Baster," is a comedy starring Aniston and veryfunnyman Jason Bateman, and you can watch the trailer below Enjoy, and have a great weekend (and if you can, go see Roman Polanski's new flick, which I'll be doing Saturday afternoon.) Peace out.

My (and only my) best movies of the decade: The 2002 edition

With many movie years, you have to choose between quantity and quality, but that was certainly not the case in 2002.

There were so many good movies that year that it really is a shame to cut it down to just 10, but those were the rules I established. However, in a nod to just how many worthy selections there were, here's the honorable mention first:

Peter Greengrass' "Bloody Sunday," Christopher Nolan's "Insomnia," "Mostly Martha," Nicole Holofcener's "Lovely and Amazing," Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away," "Jack-Ass: The Movie," Curtis Hansen's "8 Mile," Phillip Noyce's "Rabbit Proof Fence," Roman Polanski's "The Pianist" and Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers."

And when it comes to "Jack-Ass," yes, really, because that movie just makes me laugh from start to finish, and you really can't ask for more than that sometimes. And it really was a banner year for Noyce, who will make another appearance below. Here goes:

"Gosford Park"
Being Robert Altman's last movie should probably be enough by itself to earn a spot on this list, but "Gosford Park" has a whole lot more going for it than that. Proving he could take his talent for weaving together many storylines to just about anywhere, Altman and screenwriters Bob Balaban and Julian Fellowes turned this into not only a solid mystery but also captured the mannered intricacies of the upstairs/downstairs culture.

"Monsoon Wedding"
Does Mira Nair keep having to make movies about Indian subjects for them to be great? Not necessarily, but it certainly seems to help. Two other of her flicks that almost perfectly capture that state of being both Indian and a citizen of the world are "The Namesake" and "Mississippi Masala," but the titular wedding here, which draws guests and chaos from around the world, is her best work.

"Y Tu Mama Tambien"
The runner-up for best movie of 2002 in my book, and only because this year also contains what is my best movie of the decade (you'll have to keep reading to find out what it is, but a few may know already.) The first Alfonso Cuaron flick I managed to see ("Little Princess" is great too, but I didn't see that until it hit video) is a great Mexican road movie, a charmingly twisted coming-of-age tale and - in its own way - a statement on the corrupt nature of Mexican politics. And, for the ladies, of course, it introduced the world to Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna. A sheer delight.

"Nine Queens"
I believe this great Fabian Bielinsky heist movie was actually first released in 2000, but it didn't make it to the US of A until 2002, so here it is. Bielinsky, by the way, is a first-rate director, but sadly died at only age 47 and after only helming two movies, this one and "El Aura," a nifty twist on the traditional film noir. Both are well worth an immediate rental.

"Sunshine State"
This was the last time I really thought John Sayles used his storytelling talent to its full strength, and coincidentally enough, it comes 10 years after what for me is still his best flick, "Passion Fish." It probably helps that I had visited my brother in South Florida and got a feel for the murky world Sayles delves into here, but he really got to the crooked heart of it nearly perfectly. (His last movie, by the way, "Honeydripper," was just a real flaming turd in my book, so here's hoping Mr. Sayles makes a return to top form soon.)

"24-Hour Party People"
Michael Winterbottom makes far too many movies for them all to be great - or even good - but not coincidentally the best two put Steve Coogan front and center, this and "A Cock and Bull Story" (which may very well make an appearance on the 2005 list.) Coogan's flair for blustering ego combined with the improbably true story of the rise and fall of Manchester's Factory Records told with a winking wit make this a real gem.

"Super Troopers"
Is, on any possible scale, Broken Lizard's "Super Troopers" better than the 10 or so movies that only made this year's honorable mention? Probably only mine, but the guys made just about the ultimate "comfort" movie with this just wacky enough look at what really happens in the lives of highway patrolmen. Though "Beerfest" was fairly funny, I don't think they'll ever be as good as they were with this one, but here's hoping "Slammin' Salmon" both gets a wide enough distribution that I get to see it and doesn't disappoint. (Amazingly, it looks like there may well be a "Super Troopers 2" in 2011 .. bring it on!)

"City of God"
OK, I probably shouldn't reveal this only three years into the decade, but this Fernando Meirelles flick is, for me, the best movie of the last 10 years. None better combines simply dynamic storytelling in the saga of two boys growing up in the violent slums of Rio de Janeiro with stunning visuals that will stay burned on your brain, especially in a street party scene that's as electric as it is harrowing. This movie spawned both a Brazilian TV series and a sequel of sorts, both titled "City of Men," which are both worth watching but don't quite capture the unique magic of Meirelles' masterpiece.

"The Quiet American"
Occasionally, remakes can work just right, as is the case with Phillip Noyce's update on the Graham Greene novel about Vietnam. Well, update isn't really the right word, because Noyce keeps it right in the same time and place and brings along Brendan Fraser as the titular yank and Michael Caine as a wizened British journalist to tell the tale of how love, politics and intrigue all collide with more style and certainly more steam than the 1958 original. And Mr. Noyce, a definite favorite around here, may very well make another appearance on the 2006 list for "Catch a Fire."

"Talk to Her"
Even when he goes completely over the top, I almost always find something redeeming in Pedro Almodovar's works, but he's at his best as with "Talk to Her" when he takes things a little more seriously without losing any of his unique view of the world. I suggested this one as a Macon Film Guild selection (though I'm sure they had it on their list already), and was pleasantly surprised to find out no one complained, even when one of the two men at the core of this story finds himself shrinking and exploring his comatose lover's body until, inevitably I suppose, he ends up inside her vagina. Almodovar just has a knack for writing great roles for women, as he appears to have done again this year for Penelope Cruz, so I'll leave you today with what I think is the latest trailer for his "Broken Embraces," which is slowly building buzz and should be a strong awards season dark horse. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

"Rudo Y Cursi": Good fun, but wither the footie?

Though, because like Emily Gilmore I simply "don't find forensic work quite as fascinating as the rest of the world" I've never seen any of the 15 or so versions of "CSI," I can only heartily second this sentiment from Viacom and CBS boss Sumner Redstone about Jay Leno: " 'CSI' will beat the hell out of him." Here's hoping he actually loses every single night, especially if he messes with the future of "Chuck"!

And before I get on to the main event today, there's two bits of news out there today, one insanely good and the other rather predictable but still just extremely sad.

Starting with the great, Adult Swim, which I thought only showed cartoons (silly me!) has now apparently acquired the rights to the two seasons and the Christmas special of the original U.K. "The Office." I know that only adds up to about 13 episodes or so total, but since I don't have them on DVD, to that I can only say huzzah!

But on the downside, even though I knew this was coming, seeing it as a definite happening is just thoroughly depressing. The French thriller "Tell No One" was not only easily one of the best movies (Top five on my list) I saw in all of 2009, but also an extremely accessible and mainstream entertaining flick. All it requires is that people do a little bit of READING as they watch the action, but I guess that's too much to ask.

Europa Corp. and Kathleen Kennedy have indeed just announced firm plans to do an English-language remake of the flick based on the equally sensational Harlan Coben novel, with a tentative start date of Spring 2010. Oh well. Since I suppose there's nothing I can really do to stop this, I simply urge everyone to rent the original flick, which is indeed out on DVD now.

But now on to what I was supposed to talk about, Carlos Cuaron's mostly satisfying "Rudo Y Cursi," which I had the pleasure of seeing as the closing night film of the Atlanta Film Festival 365. Before you can really get into that, however, this one really just calls out for a word about its pedigree.

Remember those Mexican directors who in 2006 (was it really that long ago?) earned the rather unfortunate nickname of the "three amigos"? Well, since then, it seems like there's been nothing much but silence from Alfonso Cuaron, Ajejandro Inarritu and Guillermo del Toro.

Alfonso Cuaron's next flick is likely to be "A Boy and His Shoe," which will be about a group of young people (Charlotte Gainsbourg among them, huzzah!) who are on a road trip through England and Scotland. It's set for release sometime in 2010. We're likely to hear from Inarritu before then, since he's wrapping up something called "Biutiful," which stars Javier Bardem as a man who's involved in shady dealings of some kind when he runs into a childhood friend who's now a cop. That one's set for a December release this year.

And we all know that Mr. del Toro is working on a little flick called "The Hobbit." Luckily, in the meantime the three good pals also formed a production company, Cha Cha Cha, and perhaps at least partly through the power of nepotism, Cuaron hermano Carlos gets the first release with this flick.

So, finally, what's it about? Well, anyone who's seen "Y Tu Mama Tambien" will be thrilled to know that it's the first big-screen reunion of Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal, and that they've only developed further the natural rapport they enjoyed in that flick from Alfonso.

Here, they play brothers who toil on a banana farm until they are discovered by a soccer talent scout who needs a new player. And there's the rub: At first, at least, he only needs one.

Like "Y Tu Mama Tambien," "Rudo Y Cursi" mines most of its humor and all its humanity from the struggles of regular Mexicans with daily life. And as the titular brothers Beto and Tato (Rudo and Cursi are their nicknames, but I'll get into more about that later), Luna and Bernal bicker in the refreshingly and naturally foul way that only brothers can. It's snappy dialogue that will feel familiar and at the same time open a window to Mexican life that few of us ever get to see.

OK, that's the good stuff, of which there is quite a bit. So, what's the problem? Well, as a rather big soccer fan (I'm headed to Chicago in June to watch U.S.A-Honduras and, assuming they get that pesky pig flu under control, possibly to Mexico City in August to watch U.S.A.-Mexico), I was excited to see this one because even the director himself, in introducing the flick, described it as a "soccer movie." Unfortunately, that just falls way short of the truth.

Though our heroes do indeed play professional soccer in Mexico (for fictional teams, oddly enough), there's almost zero action on the pitch in "Rudo Y Cursi." In fact, all there really is in that department is a pair of penalty kicks that frame the story. So, if you don't like soccer, is that a problem? Yes, because instead of using sport to add any urgency to his tale, Carlos Cuaron (who also co-wrote the screenplay for "Y Tu Mama Tambien" with Alfonso) manufactures drama in the form of a gambling problem for one of the brothers and a nasty turn by the agent that just doesn't fit at all. Worst of all, because there's no real soccer angle to the story, we never really find out just how the two brothers earned their colorful nicknames.

However, though that's more than a minor quibble, the humor that Carlos Cuaron mines in everyday Mexican life and brotherhood is indeed enough to make his debut feature film very enjoyable, and I guarantee that you will just laugh right out loud when you see Bernal, who apparently just has no shame, sing Cheap Trick.

And with that I have to get ready for what is still my paying job, but I'll leave you with the trailer for what I think will be one of the surprise very big hits this summer, Nora Ephron's "Julie & Julia," which stars adorable Amy Adams (with a seriously unfortunate hair cut) and Meryl Streep as the master chef. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Me vs. the Atlanta Film Festival 365

Sorry about that rather ridiculous title, but I still have "Chuck" on my mind after last night's rather seriously entertaining episode.

Like everyone, I just get a tremendous amount of useless e-mails at work, but about a month and a half or so ago, I got easily the best one I've received in several years, inviting me to the upcoming Atlanta Film Festival 365 (this weekend!!) as a "member of the press."

Now, I haven't been called that since I was asked several years ago to talk to a group of fourth-graders about my job. Here's hoping things go better this time, especially since it means two weekends of free movies!

It really is shameful that, since I've lived about 90 minutes from Atlanta for more than nine years, I've never attended this event before. I did try to go to the Savannah Film Festival last year with my folks, but since that's a much more star-studded affair, all the passes were sold out by the time I enquired.

Judging from the movie lineup, the Atlanta gathering, which runs from this Friday through Saturday, April 25, seems to me a more organic affair, offering genuinely independent movies from throughout the Southeast and the world, which is just fine by me. If you're anywhere in the area, individual movie tickets and festival passes are still on sale, with most of the showings taking place at the fabulous Landmark Midtown Art Cinema. Click here to see the movie lineup and learn more.

One certain highlight I'm gonna have to miss because I still have a schooldays job that pays the bills is the Tuesday night screening of the romantic-comedy-of-sorts "500 Days of Summer" starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt. Check it out if you can, and here are the movies I'll be checking out (assuming they don't sell out, since perfectly understandably the mighty dollar is much more powerful than the pen.)

Friday:

"I am the Bluebird"
Judging from the plot alone, this Georgia flick sounds a lot like any number of the generic medical thrillers that pollute our multiplexes, but I'm confident it's gonna be a whole lot better than that. In Thomas Verrette's flick, a young man awakens from an experimental surgery performed by his father to find he's suffering from temporary memory loss. From there, I'm hoping this does indeed turn out to be a "taut mystery" (as the promotional blurb promises) as he tries to put his life back together. Here's the trailer.



"Blood River"
I had never heard of the British horror director Adam Mason, but if as promised this - his first American feature film - delivers a brand of horror that's as psychologically intriguing as it is simply bloody, than it will be perfect Friday night fare. In what admittedly sounds like a pretty standard horror flick plot, a couple's car breaks down in the California desert, and they end up in the titular town, where they (of course) meet a mysterious drifter named Joseph. Like I said, I'm hoping this will be a whole lot better than I'm making it sound here.

Saturday:

"Prom Night in Mississippi": Things really start to get potentially great starting with this documentary by Paul Saltzman. It is indeed shameful, and perhaps little known about outside the Southeast, that there are still places where white and black kids still go to separate proms. This flick shows what happens when one town in Mississippi tries to finally do the right thing, and I have a sneaking feeling not everything's gonna run quite smoothly.

"The Desert Within": I'm just a sucker for Mexican movies, and especially ones that deal with the hold that the Catholic church has on the lives and imaginations of its citizens. This flick by Rodrigo Plá takes place during the 1928 Mexican Revolution, and is about a couple determined to have their baby baptized even as churches are being closed all around them. The promotional summary describes it as a "spiritual journey that takes a strange and disturbing turn," and I'm in for that.

"Idiots & Angels": I was just happy to hear that animator Bill Plympton is still making feature-length flicks, so I wasn't about to pass this one by. In the typically odd tale, a morally bankrupt man named Angel (so much for subtletly) wakes up one day with the good wings that make him want to do good things. Here's the trailer:



"Moon": If any of these are going to sell out and block me from attending, I'd have to guess Duncan Jones' sci-fi flick will be the one to do it, but here's hoping I get to see it. In easily one of the movies I'm most anticipating for this year, Sam Rockwell stars as a man who toils in solitude on the far side of the moon mining the Earth's primary source of energy. Just as his three-year stint is coming to an end, he encounters what appears to be a younger, angrier version of himself and, well, I'd imagine things kind of deteriorate from there.

Sunday:

"Rain": In what hopefully be a gritty and at least somewhat inspiring slice of life, Bahamian director Maria Govan's flick tells the story of Rain, a 14-year-old girl who, after the death of her grandmother, seeks out the mother she hardly knows in the big city of Nassau. I don't think I'll ever get to go to the Bahamas myself, so this might be as close as I'll ever get.

"Mississippi Damned": It's a sad fact well worth reporting (and, I think, still true) that Kasi Lemmons is still the only black female director to direct three feature-length Hollywood films ("Eve's Bayou", "The Caveman's Valentine" and "Talk to Me" - all fine films if you haven't seen them), so here's hoping this flick launches director Tina Mabry down that path and further on. Rather than me tell you about her semi-autobiographical flick about growing up in Mississippi, let her do it herself in this interview:



"That Evening Sun": This will be the first time I've seen Hal Holbrook since his rather remarkable turn in "Into the Wild," and since here he's paired with Georgia actor Ray McKinnon (who played the Rev. H.W. Smith in season one of HBO's "Deadwood"), I can only say bring it on. In Scott Teems' flick, Holbrook stars as a man who escapes from the retirement home he's been dumped in to return to the family farm, only to find it's now inhabited by his old enemy, played by McKinnon.

Week two, Friday:

"The Death of Alice Blue": In the realm of vampire flicks, which I almost always enjoy, I'd imagine Canadian vampires just might be the oddest breed of all, and if I have the plot of this one right I'm about to find out. Hopefully this flick from director (I'm not kidding) Park Bench delivers a lot of dry humor along with the bloodsuckers that toil at a Canadian advertising agency (actually, I'm laughing about that already.)

"Tyson": This one may well sell out too, but if not I'm hoping that James Toback's portrait of the rather odd former heavyweight champ provides some insight into what just makes him tick. I love boxing documentaries, so this should be just about perfect.

Saturday:

"Faded Glory": Given how much I love baseball (the Orioles, after somehow hanging on for a 10-9 victory over the Rangers, are now 5-2!), it's probably just a good thing that I'm no good at all at playing it, or I just might be hanging on like these guys. Director Richard Cohen's documentary tracks the just-about-dashed dreams of the member of a Network 38+ team through one season as they head towards the Men's Baseball League World Series. Sounds like nothing but fun to me. Here's the trailer.



"Neshoba": Mississippi is certainly a theme here, and this documentary from directors Micki Dickoff and Tony Pagano mines its truly dark side. In returning to the county where three civil rights workers were murdered in 1964 (dramatized in "Mississippi Burning"), the directors talk with residents about the improbable 2005 conviction of 80-year-old preacher Edgar Ray Killen for the heinous crime, and ask if that represents any kind of real justice.

"Rudo y Cursi": For it's closing night gala film, which I just might buy a ticket for to make sure I get in, the Atlanta Film Festival 365 has chosen the debut film by Carlos Cuaron, brother of Alfonso. The flick reunites Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, stars of Alfonso's "Y Tu Mama Tambien" (easily one of my favorite movies), in a story about two brothers who work on a banana plantation and have dreams of playing soccer in the Mexican professional leagues. Sounds exactly right up my alley.

So, there you have it. If you're gonna be at the festival, please let me know, and if not, hopefully you still found something in this list worth checking out if you can. Peace out.

Got Milk? A great trailer, and better news about Hayao Miyazaki

It's hardly a bold prediction to say that Gus Van Sant's "Milk," the biopic about the late San Francisco pol Harvey Milk, is just going to be an Oscar magnet.

First off, the academy loves biopics, and the story of the supervisor of San Francisco and gay rights activist, who was slain by a former city supervisor, is just naturally compelling. Second, it's been a little while since Sean Penn has won an Academy Award for acting (2004 in "Mystic River" to be exact), so you'll certainly be hearing his name, and I suspect Josh Brolin's portrayal of Dan White will garner a lot of attention too.

But much more importantly, you get a sense from the two-and-a-half minute trailer that Van Sant has really thrown his heart into this one. Emile Hirsch, James Franco and Diego Luna, all dudes I like, are in this one too, so enjoy this trailer (and if you have anything negative at all to say about homosexuals, please just keep it to yourself!)



Miyazaki's coming to America again!

With Hayao Miyazaki's latest film, "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" (Gake no ue no Ponyo), enjoying a Japanese box-office run to rival his biggest hit there, "Spirited Away," it was only a matter of time before it got picked up for American distribution.

Time magazine reports that Disney has indeed stepped up to acquire the rights to "Ponyo," and it will be distributed in English and co-produced by Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy. All that muscle pretty much ensures, I think, that it will play wide enough to reach my little corner of the world some time next summer, and I can only say huzzah to that!

The story of "Ponyo" is about girl fish, Ponyo, who wants to become human after befriending a 5-year-old boy named Sosuke. I'm sure there's a lot more than that going on, and I can't wait to see it all.

You do, of course, lose something in the move to English. The best thing about this "Ponyo" trailer (which could be quite old by this point) just might be the rather crazy Ponyo song that accompanies it. I suppose you could just keep the song but have the characters speak in English, but it will still certainly be a little odd. Anyways, enjoy this trailer too, and have a perfectly pleasant day.

Did Joss Whedon cause the writers' strike?

Just kidding with that, of course, but it did seem more than a little coincidental that the rather tremendous news last October that Joss Whedon was coming back to television came just days before the writers officially took to the picket lines.

And, after all, Whedon has had his share of TV bad luck. We all remember "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," of course (fondly, I would hope), but there was also the just tremendously shoddy treatment given to "Firefly" by Fox, which managed to only show 11 of the 14 episodes produced - and out of order, at that - before cancelling the whole thing. (It would live on, though, with the space Western flick "Serenity," which, if you somehow haven't seen, do so immediately.)

So when it was announced that Whedon would indeed give TV another try with something called "Dollhouse," on Fox no less, it only seemed natural that the strike and maybe other difficulties would get in the way. Now, however, through only one sentence buried in a Variety article about CBS picking up three drama pilots, comes word that it's not only back on but becoming a big "Angel" family reunion.

But, since it's been so long since I've mentioned it, a word about just what "Dollhouse" is might be in order. "Buffy" fans will be happy to know it stars fellow vampire slayer Eliza Dushku, who apparently wooed Whedon back to TV at a lunch where they hatched the idea. Here, as far as I can tell, is the plot summary:

"Dollhouse" follows a top-secret world of people programmed with different personalities, abilities and memories depending on their mission. After each assignment - which can be physical, romantic or even illegal - the characters have their memories wiped clean, and are sent back to a lab (dubbed the "Dollhouse"). Show centers on Dushku's character, Echo, as she slowly begins to develop some self-awareness, which impacts her missions.

Sounds more than a little familiar, but still ripe with possibilities. And, even better, it's got "Angel" mastermind Tim Minear (late of the very short-lived "Drive," another Fox catastrophe) on board, and now the writing team of Sarah Fain and Elizabeth Craft, who served as executive story editors for "Angel" and co-wrote eight episodes.

I realize this is more than a bit of info (and gushing) about a show that's only received a 7-episode pickup and won't be seen until autumn (at the earliest), but Joss Whedon and TV are just the perfect combo to me.


Viva Mexico, once again?

Remember when Mexican directors seemed to rule the world (it was only a year or so ago, so I certainly hope so.) After the big three - Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - received so much simultaneous acclaim, they formed a production company called Cha Cha Cha, which is finally bearing some fruit.

But before I get into that, what are they each up to? Cuaron, my favorite of the three, is listed at the IMDB as being in preproduction of an "Untitled Alfonso Cuaron Project" described as "a drama about a family set in 1971 in Mexico." Cool enough.

Del Toro has "Hellboy II" set to come out July 11 and then most likely will turn his attention to not one but two "Hobbit" movies, which he's been christened to direct for producer Peter Jackson.

Inarritu is simply listed as also having an "Untitled" project in the works, with no plot details available but with shooting tentatively set to begin in May. I'll be curious to see what he comes up with after breaking with writing partner Guillermo Arriaga, who's moved on and is now filming a drama titled "The Burning Plain" and starring Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger.

But what brought all this to mind was something Variety had about three interesting Mexican films now in the pipeline. The first, and by far the most interesting to me, indeed will be the first flick put out by Cha Cha Cha. Here are the details about the three, all listed as being in post-production:

"Rudo y Cursi"
Carlos Cuaron, brother of Alfonso, is directing this flick which reunites "Y Tu Mama Tambien" (one of my favorite flicks) stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna as two brother who play for competing Mexican soccer teams. Sounds uber-cool to me.

"Los Bastardos"
This second flick from writer-director Amat Escalante follows Mexican immigrant workers in a U.S. city who are hired by an American to kill his wife.

"Insignificant Things" ("Cosas insignificantes")
In writer-director Andrea Martinez's first feature, secrets unfold from the ordinary treasures an adolescent girl guards in a box.

They all sound like potential winners to me, and even if I only get to watch most Mexican movies on DVD, I can only say bring it on. Peace out.