Dog days or flick finds? What to expect from the movies of August

Starting off with some funny, the banner above that welcomed the cast of "Community" back to the set this week for the filming of season three, and was tweeted by star Joel McHale, pretty much perfectly captures the comic spirit of the show, as do two of its upcoming multi-episode guest stars.

In season three, the great Michael Kenneth Williams, aka Omar from "The Wire," will join the show as Greendale's new biology teacher (I'm laughing at that already), and in potentially even better casting, John Goodman will play the vice dean of the School of Air Conditioning Repair, the only program at Greendale that gets any kind of good recognition.

Great news all that, and keep an eye out for the return of "Community" on Sept. 22, but here today its otherwise all about the movie slate for August, a month that gets a bad rap, but still often delivers some comedies that are, if you'll forgive the truly groan-worthy pun, august. Here's a look at some of what's coming up in the next month.

Aug. 5: "The Change-Up"
For a truly funny guy, Jason Bateman has managed to make some seriously wretched "comedies" since "Arrested Development" ended, and it certainly doesn't look like this frat-boy "Freaky Friday" of sorts also starring "Green Lantern" Ryan Reynolds will do anything to change that course.

Aug. 5: "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
When exactly did the term "prequel" become the go-to idea when movie producers are lacking anything resembling an original thought? I can't pinpoint it, but even with engaging stars such as James Franco and Freida Pinto (from "Slumdog Millionaire"), I really can't see this one as being anything but one of the most unintentionally funny movies of this summer.

Aug. 10: "The Help"
In what I think will be one of the gigantic sleeper hits for the rest of this year, Emma Stone leads the cast of this flick based on the very popular novel by Kathyrn Stockett, which I read and mostly enjoyed. She plays Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, an awkward Southern socialite who organizes the black maids of 1960's Jackson, Miss., led in the movie by Viola Davis, to tell their stories.

Aug. 12: "30 Minutes or Less"
For that perfect combination of clever and just plain crude, director Ruben Fleischer's follow-up to "Zombieland" should be the flick to look out for this August. In it, Jesse Eisenberg gets a bomb strapped to his chest by unsavory characters Danny McBride and Nick Swardson and is forced to rob a bank. And hijinks will surely ensue.

Aug. 19: "One Day"
I've probably seen the trailer for this flick starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess more than any other this summer, but that hasn't made it look any more appealing. Granted, I'm not the target audience for romantic comedies like this one about two college friends who agree to meet for one day each year of their lives. It is, however, from "An Education" director Lone Scherfig, so here's hoping I'm wrong about this one and it turns out to somehow be a winner.

Aug. 26: "Our Idiot Brother":
If the entire secret to making funny movies would be simply to stock them with funny people, this flick somehow starring Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, Adam Scott and Rashida Jones would be an automatic success. And if director Jesse Peretz lets Rudd be truly funny as the titular "Idiot," I'm betting it will be.

Aug. 31: "The Debt":
By far the most serious wide-release movie of the month could also be a surprisingly big hit, with Joel Madden directing an espionage thriller about a trio of retired Mossad agents (Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson and Ciaran Hinds) who find a celebrated 1966 mission in which they tracked down a Nazi war criminal called into question. Exactly my kind of spy games.

Summer 2011 movie preview

Though summer doesn't officially begin for at least a few weeks, in movie terms it got off to a faster-than-expected start last week with "Fast Five," and is now set to really explode with the release of the first big superhero flick.

So, here are the 10-plus movies I'm most looking forward to seeing between now and the end of August, with a couple of caveats. First of all, these are only my picks. It won't have every superhero movie coming out (there are four, if you're wondering) or pirates, and though there is an animated sequel, it's not "Cars 2." And second, these are only the movies likely to open where I live, so though I really want to see the British flick "Submarine," you won't find it here today.

And with that, in order of release (which may, of course, change), here goes:

May 6: "Thor"
I'm thinking I'll skip "Captain America" unless it just gets some really big buzz, but this is one "Avengers" lead-in I'm definitely in for. Directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Chris Hemsworth as the warrior cast out of Asgard and sent down to Earth, I've been hearing that, like the first "Iron Man" flick, this will be one with almost as brain as brawn (and hopefully a lot of fun, too.)

May 13: "Bridesmaids"
I know women are funny, and you most likely do, too. So why is it so rare for a group of truly funny chicks to get to star in a movie where they get to really act up? That's a topic for another day, but this time out veryfunnywoman Kristen Wiig, who wrote the script, is the maid of honor planning a rambunctious bachelorette party and more that should just be a hoot to watch.

May 26: "The Hangover Part II" and "Kung Fu Panda 2"
At least there's a week off between "Bridesmaids" and the sequel to the movie that's pretty much its dude equivalent. The first "Hangover" was nothing but funny, so especially when Ken Jeong turns up again as Zach Galifianakis' "plus one," this one should be, too. And as for "Kung Fu Panda 2," I'm thinking it will share an impressive trait with its predecessor: Being an animated movie that's better than the Pixar movie it shares the same year with (Yes, I thought "Kung Fu Panda" was better than "Wall-E," and am certain the sequel will be superior to "Cars 2.")

June 3: "X-Men: First Class"
I doubt director Matthew Vaughn can re-create the genuine comic-book spirit that pervaded "Kick-Ass," and probably won't really try, but as the trailers have gotten better, I'm more and more convinced that this tale of the cold-war origins of Magneto, Professor X and other mutants (though a lot less than in "X-3") should be a real winner.

June 10: "Super 8"
If it's what I'm expecting, than director J.J. Abrams' flick about a group of kids who make an otherworldly discovery should harken back to the kinds of movies that Steven Spielberg made back in the '80s, and that would be just fine with me.

July 8: "Horrible Bosses"
The workplace revenge comedy is a truly tired gambit, but since this comes from "King of Kong" director Seth Gordon and stars Charlie Day of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," I'm hoping this tale of three friends who conspire to murder their bosses will be dark enough to be a summer treat.

July  15: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
Though "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" (two movies you'll notice didn't make this list) should give it a run for the money, the end of Harry Potter's long saga (in 2D for me) should be the box office champ this summer, and just a much better movie than either of those. Bring it on.

July 24: "Cowboys and Aliens" and "Crazy, Stupid, Love"
With the most "Snakes on a Plane" title of this summer, as long as Jon Favreau's flick indeed delivers plenty of the titular cowboys (Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford among them) battling alien invaders, how can you really go wrong? Also this week, Steve Carell makes his first post-"Office" movie appearance in "Crazy, Stupid, Love" as a dude facing divorce who gets advice on pitching woo from ladies' man Ryan Gosling. The thought of the two of them together already makes me laugh.


Aug. 12: "30 Minutes or Less" and "The Help"
"30 Minutes or Less," Ruben Fleischer's follow-up to the sublime "Zombieland," stars Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari as two dudes forced to rob a bank. I'm betting on very funny. And in genuine counterprogramming, "The Help," based on Kathyrn Stockett's novel about a Southern woman who leads a group of Mississippi house maids to tell their stories, should finally make a big star out of Emma Stone.

Aug. 26: "Our Idiot Brother"
With Paul Rudd unleashed to be genuinely funny as the titular idiot and Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks and Rashida Jones all tarring as his sisters, I'm hoping this will somehow be as good as the sum of its parts.

So, there you have it. A few more than 10, and I'm still sure I left some out, so please feel free to add any I may have snubbed, and have a perfectly pleasant Tuesday. Peace out.

If at first you succeed ... plus a big Wednesday clip show

Well, if you're Aaron Sorkin, if you've done something exactly right the first time (even if it was severely under appreciated), just do it all over again almost exactly the same way.

Does anyone remember "Sports Night"? It was a truly great Sorkin show that ran for a couple of years simultaneously (I think) with the early years of "The West Wing." As you may remember, it was about a sports news show hosted by two dudes and produced by two women, with another producer as a rival for one of the hosts' affections.

Just believe me, it was a whole heck of a lot better than I'm making it sound here. In the original version, the two hosts were Josh Charles and Peter Krause, the producer was Felicity Huffman and the associate producer was the sorely-missed Sabrina Lloyd. I frankly can't remember who played the other part, but you get the idea.

Now, fast forward about 10 years or so, and Sorkin has sold something called "More as This Story Develops" to HBO, and with the exception that it's about a news rather than sports show, it sounds like pretty much exactly the same thing, with pretty much the same cast dynamic taking shape (and although it may sound like I'm complaining, I'm really not ... "Sports Night" was fantastic.)

This time around, if all the pieces fall into shape, Jeff Daniels will play the host, Marisa Tomei the producer (and following the "Sports Night" model, probably unrequited love interest), Alison Pill of "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World" will play the associate producer and Olivia Munn will play a business news reporter and undoubtedly rival for Daniels' affections. I could be wrong of course, but that certainly does sound familiar, no?

Either way, I'll definitely be tuning in when this hits HBO, perhaps sometime this fall.

And in just a bit of movie news, it seems that Russell Crowe is reuniting with the source of his best movie so far, "L.A. Confidential," for his first directing effort.

Crowe would also star in "77," based on a James Ellroy script that is apparently being rewritten by someone else. Best as I can tell, per Deadline, it's about the unsolved murder of an LAPD officer, and the nationally televised shootout in South Central L.A. between the Symbionese Liberation Army and the LAPD, as seen through the eyes of two police partners, one black and one white.

Sounds like typically juicy Ellroy stuff, so stay tuned. And now, on to the clips ...

OK, today, these are pretty much in descending order of funny until the end, a plug for tonight's premiere of the 15th (really!?!?) season of "South Park." First up, courtesy of The Onion, comes an interview with the screenwriter of "Fast Five," 5-year-old Chris Morgan. Now, I have nothing against the Fast and Furious flicks (that Tokyo one is some pretty seriously satisfying Saturday afternoon viewing for a half hour or so), but this is seriously funny. Enjoy.


Today Now! Interviews The 5-Year-Old Screenwriter Of "Fast Five"

Next up is the first red band trailer for Kristen Wiig's "Bridesmaids," courtesy of Myspace, and having watched it, I'm now certain the ladies are going to bring a whole lot of funny when this drops May 13. You do have to feel more than a little bad for Melissa McCarthy, who is apparently going to be one running fat joke in the flick, but she does at least seem to be in on the joke. Enjoy.



OK, these next two I'm a little more dubious about, but I like the stars of both, so here goes. Paul Rudd, who can be really funny when he allows himself to be (just trust me, "Role Models" is a minor comedy classic), stars as the titular idiot in "Our Idiot Brother," set to come out Aug. 16. Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks and Rashida Jones all play his sisters, so here's hoping this will be a whole lot funnier than I'm expecting. Enjoy.



And for the last of our trailers, there isn't a comedienne working today who deserves a great starring role more than Anna Faris. She's just a natural wit (and yes, I even love "House Bunny"), but I don't think the role she's been waiting for arrives with "What's Your Number?", for which the titular question seems to be addressing how many rom-com cliches can be stacked into one two-minute or so trailer. Oh well. "Enjoy" this trailer, and then stick around for a much better look back at her career so far, courtesy of the New Yorker.





And finally today, Trey Parker, Matt Stone and friends are indeed back tonight, and only those guys could combine Steve Jobs, the iPad and ... well, just watch the clip to see. I'll just say it's expectedly both disgusting and simply hilarious. "South Park" returns to Comedy Central (and my DVR) tonight at 10 p.m. Enjoy the clip, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

HUMANCENTiPAD
Tags: SOUTH
PARKmore...

Will James Gunn's "Super" deliver a cult hit?

Update: James Gunn's "Super" has been picked up by IFC, meaning, I hope, that it will be available on cable on demand as soon as it hits its probably very meager amount of theaters ... bully

Wow. The word is trickling in from Toronto, and so far I've seen two simply glowing reviews of "Let Me In" from sources I trust, HitFix and The Playlist.

In both cases, the reviewers clearly love the original Swedish movie, "Let the Right One In" (my single favorite movie of 2008), as much as I do. Yet they both say Matt Reeves, director of the surprisingly entertaining "Cloverfield," has done the just about impossible: He's made a movie that, while perhaps not better (which really would be impossible), at least lives up to the spirit of the original and soars thanks to its two young leads, Hit-Girl Chloe Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee. You can read those two reviews here and here, and keep an eye out for Reeves' flick Oct. 1.

You can now count me as extremely curious, if not excited, about that flick, but there's something else that came through the midnight circuit up north that sounds like even more my thing. James Gunn, though he delivered a winner in my book with "Slither," is sorely in need of a box office one, since that very entertaining humor/horror mix starring Captain Mal Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks took in a rather amazingly disastrous $7.8 million at the U.S. box office (really? Trust me, maybe it's not great, but this movie is well worth a DVD rental.)

Well, I can't imagine his new movie, "Super," will do a whole lot better, but from what I know so far it seems to be tailor-made for me. Rainn Wilson plays a man who becomes a masked vigilante after his wife (Liv Tyler) gets strung out on drugs and runs off with her dealer (Kevin Bacon). If that casting's not enough to get you intrigued, as you'll see from the clip below, Ellen Page plays Wilson's seriously unhinged sidekick, and she should just be a hoot.

Early Toronto buzz has been good for this too, and according to the headline of an article behind a Variety paywall, buyers are now "circling" it, so here's hoping it's picked up by a studio big enough to bring it to my little corner of the world sometime this fall. Enjoy this first clip I know of, but be warned: Page throws around F-bombs with abandon, so if that kind of thing bothers you, please don't watch it. Peace out.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the Riddler? Bring it on!

Rumors are, after all, exactly that, but when they're this good, you just have to embrace them and hope that somehow makes them true.

Hollywoodlife.com is reporting that, after the two joked about it on the set of "Inception," aka the best candidate to save us from this thoroughly wretched summer (though if you've been here before, you know I did enjoy both "Get Him to the Greek" and "Splice"), director Christopher Nolan now has Joseph Gordon-Levitt on his short list to play the villain in the next Batman movie, the Riddler. Take a second to absorb just how cool that would be if it turns out to be true.

Now, keep in mind that any new Batman movie is two years away and is still being written by David S. Goyer, but if you look at Gordon-Levitt's work so far, you'll hopefully understand just how cool this could be. I'm not as high on "500 Days of Summer" as many people I know, but it's a pleasant enough little movie, and he's much better in either "Brick" or "The Lookout," if you're in the market for a movie rental.

And easily the weirdest thing about this of all? I had forgotten but saw somewhere that Nolan's last big bad, the late Heath Ledger, and Gordon-Levitt co-starred in the much-better-than-it-should-be teen comedy "10 Things I Hate About You." Not sure why, but I just for some reason find that a little eerie ...

OK, enough of that, because it's a day full of actual casting news, good and bad, so let's get to it. And, being me, I'll just start with the bad and get it over with. If you've seen "Tropic Thunder," I have to hope you liked it, because even though some of it was indeed overkill (way too much Jack Black), it was mostly savagely funny (and you'll have to forgive me if it offends you, but that "full retard" bit will always make me laugh out loud.)

Unfortunately, now comes word that easily the least funny part of that movie, Tom Cruise's movie producer Les Grossman, is now somehow getting his own feature-length movie (but, if Marmaduke can get his own movie, I guess I shouldn't be surprised by anything anymore.) You may remember him from "Tropic Thunder" with more fondness than I do, but I just thought it was a tremendous amount of bluster signifying very little funny. This is being produced by Cruise and Ben Stiller, and this statement from Stiller announcing it did little to convince me they'll actually come up with anything funny here:

“Les Grossman’s life story is an inspiring tale of the human class struggle to achieve greatness against all odds. He has assured me he plans to quote ‘F**king kill the sh*t out of this movie and make Citizen f**king Kane look like a piece of crap home movie by the time we are done.’ I am honored to be working with him.”

Whatever comes of all this will apparently be written up by "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World" co-screenwriter Michael Bacall, but that still doesn't give me too much confidence.

OK, enough negativity, because it really is far outweighed by the good casting news out there today. First up comes word that two of Jack Donaghy's girlfriends will be among the ladies I like watching in movies joining veryfunnyman Paul Rudd in what sounds like a really fun little flick.

Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer and Rashida Jones will star opposite Paul Rudd in "My Idiot Brother," a comedy being directed Jesse Peretz. With that much funny on the female side, can this possibly go wrong?

The movie, according to the Hollywood Reporter, centers on an idealist (Rudd) dealing with his over¬bearing mother who crashes at the homes of his three ambitious sisters and (this last part actually scares me a bit) "brings truth, happiness and a sunny disposition into their lives while also wreaking havoc." No matter how sappy that sounds, I'm still betting on funny too. Here's a bit more about the characters, per THR:

Banks, Deschanel and Mortimer play the sisters. Banks is a career-driven single about to get her big break in journalism after spending years writing about accessories at a fashion magazine; Deschanel is a bisexual whose flakiness and lies are getting in the way of moving forward with her caring, responsible girlfriend (Jones); and Mortimer plays a Park Slope mom too worried about having the perfect life and children to notice that her marriage is falling apart.

That all sounds good to me, and the few people who may have visited here before probably know that I have an inordinate amount of affection for the Paul Rudd movie "Role Models," which makes this next bit of casting news even better.

It seems that Steve Zahn (currently starring on "Treme"), Peter Dinklage (easily my favorite of the little people) and Ryan Kwanten (Jason on "True Blood") will star in something called "Knights of Badassdom." Yes, really.

The horror/comedy being directed by Joe Lynch is about a group of live-action role players who just happen to conjure up a demon from hell by mistake and have to deal with the consequences. That had me laughing already, and just to make it better, here's what Kwanten had to say about it to Access Hollywood:

"... it's like 'Shaun of the Dead' meets 'Role Models.' It's that real black comedy that I really love."

Nothing like name-checking two movies I love too to get me hooked. OK, from here on out today, it's simply about a trio of videos that happened to catch my eye. "True Blood" does indeed return this Sunday at 9 p.m., and you can count me as thoroughly psyched for it. I've read all of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels now, and though the show takes all kinds of liberties from her work, they almost always pan out. Here's a clip from season three that features one of its new characters, the werewolf Alcide Herveaux, being played by Joe Manganiello, and Anna Paquin's Sookie. Enjoy.



For some reason not until an hour or so after I've gone to bed (it is after all, a school night), AMC will be premiering the first episode of a promising new series called "Rubicon" this Sunday at 11 p.m. (thank God for the DVR.) I'm a sucker for almost anything with a grand conspiracy, and when you make it political, I'm even more in. "Rubicon," which will be a 12-part series and eventually settle in behind the new season of "Mad Men" starting on Aug. 1, is about a fourth branch of American government that really runs everything around us, as far as I can tell from this trailer (just to clarify, "Mad Men" actually returns on July 25, and not a minute too soon, but "Rubicon" won't get it's proper launch until the following week.) Enjoy.



And finally, and in so many ways saving the very best for last, I found this little comedy nugget in the latest Roger Ebert newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. It costs like $5 for a year, but it's thoroughly worth it, especially when he puts in things as good as "David Mamet's Lost Masterpieces of Pornography." With a title like that, I'm not sure it needs any more embellishment from me, but know it's hosted "Masterpiece Theater"-style by Ricky Jay and somehow stars Kristen Bell and Ed O'Neill. Yes, really, and on the funny or die scale, this is definitely funny. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Is Steve Carell really about to resign from "The Office"?

Quick, think of the two worst people you could possibly imagine to play John F. and Jackie Kennedy. OK, now banish those from your head, because the History Channel has booked what I can promise you are two worse choices than anyone could have possibly come up with.

I assumed it was a joke until I saw in a few places this morning that Greg Kinnear and Katie Holmes are to play, respectively, JFK and Jackie O (this would certainly be much more watchable if the roles were reversed!) in the History Channel miniseries "The Kennedys," a scripted offering coming in 2011.

Now, it's not really that Greg Kinnear, aka the poor man's Joel McHale, is a bad actor. It's that he's just kind of there, never having made much of any impression at all in any movie I've seen him in. But Katie Holmes? Sheesh. I guess Vanessa Hudgens turned them down.

The rest of the cast, however, is in much better shape. Throw in Barry Pepper, a definite Reel Fanatic favorite, as Robert F. Kennedy, and Tom Wilkinson as family patriarch Joe, and you've certainly increased the odds that I'll tune in, and possibly for some reason other than to see just how much of a disaster this can be.

Even more ludicrous than all that, however, would have to be the most bizarre use of 3-D I've heard of yet (and there's plenty of competition for that title.) I first heard several years ago that someone was going to make a movie of Yann Martel's enchanting novel "Life of Pi," and was psyched when that someone was Jean Pierre Jeunet, who would certainly seem to have the sense of wonder needed to pull this off (and I'll certainly be driving to Atlanta if I ever get wind of a proper U.S. release for Jeunet's "Micmacs.")

Now, however, comes word that that good idea has died, and instead Ang Lee is eyeing the project. OK, fair enough. Though I never bothered to see Lee's Woodstock comedy, I've seen just about all of his other movies, and they're pretty much uniformly excellent. What he has in mind for this, however, is just insanely wrong.

Word comes from Indiewire that he's now scouting locations in Taiwan and Pondicherry for a "3-D magical fantasy adventure crammed with visual effects," with a price tag of more than $70 million. Say what? Did he even read the book? Martel's novel, while thoroughly charming, isn't the easiest read, with most of the "action" taking place on a stranded boat containing a child, a hyena, an injured zebra, an orangutan and a Bengal tiger. Add to that that Martel's main motif is a convincing defense of zoos, and you hardly have the makings of a gangbusters adventure flick.

The kicker to all this is that Fox hasn't exactly given the greenlight to this madness yet, and I have a strong feeling they never will, at least not in this intended form.

OK, before I got distracted by all that silliness, this was supposed to be about Steve Carell's apparent planned exit from "The Office" after next season. This could, of course, just be a ploy for big bucks after his contract expires after next season, and with the show being's NBC's top scripted offering, perhaps a good one, but here's what he had to say to BBC Radio:

Question: How long will you stay with The Office for? How many more series? How long does your contract run?
Steve: Contract through next season.
Question: And will you stay after that?
Steve: I don’t think so. I think that will probably be my last year.

So, let's take him at his word. Would it be the end of the show? Not necessarily. It has steadily built into a very solid ensemble comedy, and Carell, though he's a funny guy, is far from the funniest character on the show. I could easily see it continuing, and though he's currently booked for a FX show set to start in June, I don't think you could do much funnier for a potential replacement than Louis CK, who's already had a run in NBC's Thursday night lineup as a cop who was pitching woo to Leslie Knope on "Parks and Recreation."

But perhaps the better question is, since next year will mark the seventh season, is that really enough already? The show is still dependably funny from week to week, but no show should run forever, and frankly, "Parks," "30 Rock" and often "Community" too are better in any given week.

Stay tuned to find out how this all shakes out, but in the meantime, know that if you have Netflix, all incarnations of "The Office," Limey and U.S., are now available to stream on your computer. I've been watching some old U.S. shows lately, and it's been a fun trip through the past.

OK, enough of that. All I have left today is a trio of videos, so let's get to it. For some time now, the Farrelly brothers have been at work on an omnibus comedy a la "Kentucky Fried Movie" that will feature directing contributions from Elizabeth Banks (huzzah!), Bob Odenkirk, Griffin Dunne and others. Well, you can add to that mix an update on "Robin's Big Date," a short comedy flick that starred Sam Rockwell and Justin Long, respectively as Batman and Robin. The two will reprise their roles for director James Duffy, and will be joined by Leslie Bibb as Catwoman and John Hodgeman as the Penguin. Sounds funny to me, and you can judge for yourself in the original movie below. Enjoy.

object width="425" height="344">

Next up comes new trailer for "Splice," which I think will be the surprise hit of this summer. And I noticed the Warner Bros. imprint at the beginning, meaning this will hopefully play wide enough to even reach my little corner of the world when it opens June 4. As you'll see below, Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody star as two scientists who mess with human DNA and, rather predictably I suppose, get some disastrous results. Enjoy.


Splice in HD

Trailer Park Movies | MySpace Video

And finally today comes the first trailer I've seen for a flick I had never heard of until this morning, a Disney biopic about "Secretariat." I can't say that sounds all that thrilling to me, but anything that can breathe new life into horse racing is only a good thing in my book. Actually, for a slight digression, my fellow cubicle slave Randy Waters had a great idea for the Kentucky Derby, coming Saturday: Move it to prime time and watch the ratings skyrocket, at least for the magical two minutes or so. In the meantime, enjoy Diane Lane and John Malkovich in this trailer for "Secretariat," apparently coming October 8, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Now that's how you start a Tuesday morning

If, like me, you consume your music chiefly through Itunes and you're slowly losing what's left of your mind, here's a trick: If you know an album is coming out from one of your favorite acts, order it like a month in advance and, if you're like me, you'll forget all about it until it starts to download, making almost for a surprise.

That's what happened this morning with "I Learned the Hard Way" by the sublime Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings. If you're unfamiliar with what they're cooking up, there really are only two or three groups in the world I can recommend higher. If you saw "Up in the Air," it was Sharon and her guys who performed that sensational rendition of "This Land Is Your Land," which really should be the U.S. national anthem (and therefore sung when the Baltimore Orioles - finally! - begin the season today with Kevin Millwood on the mound against the Devil Rays, go O's!)

Deceptively simple and throwback, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings play soul music the way its meant to be played, but with orchestration that makes the sound all their own. Check it out already.

After that today, it's all about three projects by up-and-coming directors who have already managed to direct movies I love, so are well worth keeping an eye on.

First up, in probably the most high-profile project, Peter Sollett has been tapped (apparently knocking out Joss Whedon) to direct a movie based on the graphic novel series "Runaways," not to be confused with "The Runaways" starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning. This movie is apparently about a group of young people who discover that, drat, their parents just happen to be archvillians. The titular "Runaways" band together to discover their own powers and fight their own parents, and as silly as that sounds, it should be really great in Sollett's hands.

His best movie, for those who might forget, is easily "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," a movie about bridge-and-tunnel Jersey kids starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings that's way better than it ever deserves to be (if you haven't seen it, just trust me and rent it already.) Almost as good, though on a much smaller scale, was Sollett's first movie, "Raising Victor Vargas." What the two movies have in common is a real ear for the lives of young people - without the skeeviness of, say, Larry Clark - something which should make "Runaways" a real fun ride once this all comes together.

And come to think of it, "Nick and Norah" was a lot like "Date Night" in its "After Hours"-style look at New York City, but why in the world is that flick starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey the only wide-release movie opening this week? Sheesh. But I digress ...

Next up today is a new project from easily one of the funniest guys around today, David Wain. When his last movie, "Role Models," came out, I took a pass, and that was a real mistake. Starring the alwaysveryfunny Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks (and that McLovin kid too), the flick about live-action role playing is a whole lot funnier than most "comedies" that come out nowadays, and I'm certainly glad I finally managed to catch up with it on DVD.

Now, Wain is about to sign on to direct something called "Too Cool to Be Forgotten," also based on a graphic novel, this one by someone named Alex Robinson.

The premise, unfortunately, sounds awfully tired, but in the hands of Wain (a veteran of "The State," in case your doubting his comedy chops), I'm still betting on funny here. It's about a middle-aged man who, after trying hypnosis to stop smoking, is somehow transported back to 1985, where he must relive his awkward teen years. And if you wanna sew up the funny right now, why not sign Rudd for this right away?

And finally (well, almost), comes the craziest story of the day. I rented Lone Scherfig's "An Education" over the weekend (that's not the crazy part, because that movie just gets better and better with age.) It's even better than I remembered, and easily the best ensemble cast movie of 2009.

For her next project, she's lined Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess to star in the rom-com "One Day," based on the novel by David Nicholls (author, by the way, of the screenplay for the extremely underrated "Starter for 10," rent that one right away too.) That story is about two college friends who agree to meet once a year for twenty years, but that's not the crazy either.

Here it comes. After that, and apparently in the belief that Kathyrn Bigelow shouldn't be the only chica in the world who gets to direct action movies (huzzah to that), she'll set her sights on something called "Mob Girl," to star known thespian Jessica Biel. I told you it was coming.

Based on Teresa Carpenter's nonfiction work of the same name, it will apparently be about mob mistress Arlyne Brickman, who infiltrated the mafia before turning over evidence to the state that led to the arrest and incarceration of boss Anthony Scarpati. That all sounds great to me, but Jessica Biel? Really? Stay tuned ...

And really finally, you can consider this the launch of my official push to change the U.S. national anthem, and before you dismiss that as thoroughly crazy too, at least first listen to this clip of Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings performing "This Land Is Your Land" live. I defy you to find it wouldn't be a lot more fun to sing before ball games, and it's just a better song, performed perfectly. And with that, have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.

Yes, James Gunn will get to work again

After the pretty much complete box-office failure of James Gunn's "Slither," it really seemed impossible that any kind of studio would back him for a new movie, but thankfully I'm wrong once again (I'm pretty used to it by now.)

And the thing with "Slither" is, it's really a pretty fantastic movie. It's no "Shaun of the Dead," but in its own way it very deftly mixes humor and horror, and you really can't go wrong with stars Elizabeth Banks and Nathan Fillion. Since a total of maybe six people saw it in theaters, I'd highly recommend a rental for the rest of you.

And now, rather amazingly, Gunn is now filming in Louisiana another movie he has also written, "Super," and it sounds pretty promising for a late-summer comedy (which is where I'm guessing this would fall.) In it, Rainn Wilson will star as a man who, after seeing his wife get hooked on drugs and taken off by a drug dealer, decides to don a costume and grab his lug wrench to go after her. Doesn't sound like much of a comedy, I know, but in Wilson and Gunn's hands I'm sure it somehow will be (and Wilson more than John Krasinski or Steve Carell of "The Office" clan certainly deserves a great big-screen comedy - "The Rocker" wasn't it. And in a more than slightly tangential "The Office" connection, Gunn and Jenna Fischer were married for about seven years, but are no more.)

The rest of the cast will be Kevin Bacon, who has just been announced as the drug dealer, Liv Tyler as Wilson's wife, and even Ellen Page somehow too, but I have no idea in what role. "Gilmore Girls" fans should take note that the usuallyveryfunny Sean Gunn, James Gunn's brother, will have a part in this too.

I know that's a lot of information about a movie that won't come for at least six months or so, but I like writing about things when I find them, especially to exercise my brain on Saturday mornings. I just hope it didn't hurt yours. And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to see "Avatar," and hoping it doesn't suck. Peace out.

Like "Robot Chicken" for people not suffering from adult ADD?

Actually, the biggest news out there today, of course, is that J.J. Abrams and folks are rolling "Star Trek" out tonight "Iron Man"-style, with hourly Thursday night screenings that come well before midnight (thank God he remembered us old folk!) I still haven't decided if I'm gonna brave the madness for a 7 p.m. show, but I'm leaning toward yes.

And the funniest, at least in my book, is that even though Kal Penn supposedly works for the White House (actually, I'm sure he does, and probably works quite hard), they're still gonna let him do another Harold & Kumar movie. I can't believe anyone with that much power thinks this would be a good PR move, but even so, "A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas" (I'm laughing at that already) has been penciled in for a Nov. 5, 2010, release. They may be thoroughly puerile, but the first two Harold & Kumar flicks are also just extremely funny, especially "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" (and don't forget, of course, that Harold himself, John Cho, is the new Hikaru Sulu.)

And in perhaps the oddest, what could only be called an A-list cast has been assembled for a movie about ... raccoons? Elizabeth Banks, James McAvoy, Laura Linney and Anna Friel (all of whom would make any list of my favorite actors, with Laura Linney easily No. 1) are all set to star in a black comedy called "The Details" about a couple (Banks and McAvoy) who discover an infestation of raccoons in the backyard. More than a little bizarre, but I'm betting on funny, too.

And as I write this, it strikes me that the headline for this post is more than a little fitting, because these posts sometimes (like today) often do seem like they're written by someone with a rather severe case of ADD (which may well be the case, but I really have no idea.) Anyways, fans of "Robot Chicken," and I'd imagine there have to be quite a few of you out there, should rejoice, because Seth Green and his crew are getting another Adult Swim show to do in their stop-motion style.

Now, "Robot Chicken" certainly isn't without faults, the biggest being that it indeed has the attention span of a 2-year-old on meth. For fifteen minutes of late-night funnies, however, it really doesn't get much better than what these guys have been cooking up for the past four years or so.

And for their new project, "Titan Maximum," they're trying something a little novel: An actual, perhaps even coherent, plot, with a storyline that actually continues from episode to episode. Shocking.

Per the Hollywood Reporter: "Titan" is set 100 years in the future, when Saturn's moon Titan is defended by an elite squadron of young, brash pilots whose spaceships combine to form the giant robot Titan Maximum. Because of budget cuts, the team has been disbanded but must hastily reassemble when a former team member turns rogue and tries to conquer the solar system.

"Titan," which will launch in September with an initial order of nine episodes, was created by "Robot" co-head writer/producer Tom Root and co-creator/exec producer Matthew Senreich.

All that sounds great to me, especially since Seth Green will voice the show's villain and "Robot Chicken" players Breckin Meyer, Rachael Leigh Cook, Dan Milano and Eden Espinosa will all be along for the ride. Tom Root summed up the spirit of the thing pretty good with this quote, also from THR:

"There were always teams of extraordinary young people with the fate of the universe in their hands. In reality, that would end terribly. The last thing you want when giant monsters attack is a bunch of teenagers in charge of defending you. 'Titan Maximum' is about what would really happen if a team of idiot kids was in charge of a 6-story-tall robot."

Ha! A new, possibly even half-hour long show to watch this fall? Sounds perfect to me, and fans of "The Office" should take note: It's entirely likely that Jim and Pam might get married tonight, so you'll definitely want to tune in. All the episode summary from NBC said was that they take a "secret trip," but given that we're almost at the end of the season, I'd have to imagine nuptials are in the air. Enjoy this deleted scene from last week's "Casual Friday" episode (I'm still trying to wipe that vision of Meredith's outfit out of my mind, but it's just kind of stuck there), and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. And please, if you go see "Star Trek" tonight, feel free to let me know what you thought of it. Peace out.

Comedy catch-up: A look at "Role Models"

Like the songs says, I'm a "Simple Man" in many ways, so it doesn't take much to make me have a pretty great day.

First, the mighty Maryland Terrapins man up in the closing minutes to vanquish the Golden Bears of California, and the Turtle is now ready and willing to maul those Memphis Tigers. I can't wait to watch that Saturday afternoon.

Then after that I sat down to watch "Role Models," a truly crude comedy that I had just passed on in theaters but was loaned to me now by my cubicle mate Randy Waters, who usually has reliably good taste (though he couldn't get into "Chuck," so there is that caveat.)

And what I found with "Role Models" was a series of almost completely satisfying surprises. I knew going in that it would star veryfunnypeople Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks and Jane Lynch. Also Stifler and McLovin, both of whom I can only take in small doses.

What I didn't expect, however, was that it would at least partially be a reunion of "The State," and even better capture much of the spirit that made that show so deliriously funny. Remember "The State"? Being a certified old fuddy-duddy I can testify that the comedy troupe show that lasted for 29 episodes from 1993-95 was the last time I bothered to tune into any MTV series in its entirety.

"Role Models," it turns out, was directed by "State" vet David Wain, and co-written by Rudd and "State"-er Ken Marino. And along with Marino, the flick stars fellow "State" funnypeople Keri Kenney-Silver and Joe Lo Truglio, who can make me laugh out loud with just a look.

The second surprising thing "Role Models" has going for it is that, like the best Christopher Guest flicks, it throws you into a weird world and treats it with humorous respect, laughing with and sometimes at its players, but never cruelly mocking.

And that world for "Role Models" is LARP, or Live Action Role Playing. If that doesn't make you laugh at least a little already, you should probably just stay away from this one, in which Lo Truglio, Matt Walsh and most of all Ken Jeong as King Argotron dive completely into the madness this presents and wring just about all the comedy you can out of it (Rudd "killing" Walsh's Davith of Glencracken on the battlefield but then going into overkill was just particularly funny.)

Now, "Role Models" isn't a comedy for all tastes. It's consistently crude, and the opening bit about pimping energy drinks to kids, while making a point, wears thin too fast. And young Bobb'e J. Thompson will certainly test your tolerance for hearing kids spew the most profane of profanity throughout (I however, no matter how old I supposedly get, will always find that funny, and I did here.) The world also could certainly survive without any more Kiss jokes. All that said, however, if you just passed on "Role Models" in theaters like I did, take a chance on it now and I think you'll find a genuine laugher with just enough heart.

And speaking of funny, I'll close today with the new (I think) trailer for Harold Ramis' "The Year One," which is set to drop in the middle of June. Like "Tropic Thunder" I think this one will certainly try the nerves of people for whom a little Jack Black goes a very long way, but I'm really looking forward to it. Rudd and David Cross as Cane and Abel, in particular, should just be a hoot. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant weekend. Peace out.

What - if anything - to watch this weekend?

Actually, the best thing I could find out there this morning is that Lauren Graham is returning to primetime TV in something that's at least called a "comedy," part of ABC's big buy back into the sitcom game.

Graham, a k a Lorelai Gilmore the elder, will play a female talk show host who urges her viewers to just "Let It Go," but finds she can't follow her own advice after being dumped by her boyfriend. Sounds like a big ball of meh, but I was a big enough "Gilmore Girls" fan that I'll give it at least few episodes next fall.

But here today it's all about the movie weekend, which doesn't look great, but for a January weekend in Hollywood's silly season it certainly could be a lot worse. Is there really anything new out there worth watching this weekend (at least in wide-release world, which my little corner of the world is part of)? Here, in order of how much I want to see them, is the breakdown, and if you've seen any of these and want to offer a word of warning, please feel free to do so.

1. "Taken"
I saw Pierre Morel's "District B13" a few months ago on DVD, and it was pretty sensational. Morel's futuristic vision of Paris was a trip, and stuntman-turned-actor Cyril Raffaeli had the chops to keep up with the simply frenetic action. It shows the full potential of the new French action wave, but I can't shake the feeling that "Taken" will be - at best - a pale knockoff.

For one thing, rather than looking forward, Morel's new flick actually came out a year ago in France and - according to The New Yorker, at least - employs tired torture sequences that we've seen far too many times before. Even so, I'm willing to give it a chance because Liam Neeson (as a retired CIA agent, of course) is just cool and it will hopefully be a fun ride, not just yet another movie about all the evil things that happen when Americans venture overseas (I haven't been to Paris in years, but I'm fairly certain it really isn't all that dangerous a place.) Here's the trailer.



2. "The Uninvited"
I'm fairly certain I haven't seen any horror movies that are remakes of Asian flicks since "The Ring," but with Elizabeth Banks and David Strathairn somehow in this one I just might give it a chance. I actually have seen Kim Jee-woon's original South Korean flick, "A Tale of Two Sisters," and that one is as simply bizarre as it is creepy.

I can't imagine this version helmed by first-time feature directors and brothers Thomas and Charles Guard will be anywhere near as good, but I think I just might find out as a pre-Super Bowl matinee. Enjoy the trailer.



3. "New in Town"
Just when I think my rather extreme dislike of Renee Zellweger is unfair, she once again turns up in something like this, which just looks like the most familiar, fish-out-of-water tripe. And frankly, I've been to Minnesota several times now, and while I will concede some of those folks do talk kinda funny, so do a lot of the people down here in my adopted home of Macon, GA. Is that really enough to make the basis of a feature film? Apparently so, but not enough to make me watch it. Here's the trailer.



So there you have it. I could also, I suppose, get caught up on the prestige pics by seeing either "Revolutionary Road" or "The Reader," but after sitting through (and almost completely enjoying) Jonathan Demme's thoroughly dysfunctional "Rachel Getting Married," I think I'm just in the mood for some entertainment for the masses. Have a perfectly pleasant weekend, and as I said, if you've seen any of these and want to share your opinion, please don't hesitate to do so.

Kevin Smith, the art of raunch, and the problem with PG-13

The saddest news out there today is that after abusing Mike Judge's wryly funny "King of the Hill" for 13 years now, Fox has finally pulled the plug, effective at the end of this season. After the way it's been treated with the often nonexistent post-pro football slot, you could really probably call this a mercy killing. Besides, 13 years is a pretty darn good run.

And Mike Judge will be OK, with a feature film, "Extract," hopefully soon to come out in more than Austin and L.A. before hitting DVD. Starring Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Kristen Wiig, Clifton Collins Jr., Mila Kunis and (huzzah!) J.K. Simmons, all I really know about it is that Bateman plays the owner of a flower extract factory. Mr. Judge will also be returning to animated TV comedy with something called "The Goode Family" coming soon to ABC.

But all that's not the order of the day around here. In honor of Kevin Smith, who I still have loads of time for when he's not simply rehashing his own movies, it's all about R-rated comedies in which the R is squarely for raunch. And before you say that's too harsh, look at his last three movies: "Clerks II", "Jersey Girl" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." Though both of the sequels-of-sorts were funny enough, he's definitely in need of a new crowd, which he has now with Seth Rogen and the utterly charming Elizabeth Banks (more on her later) for "Zack and Miri Make a Porno."

It's sad that Smith squandered the opportunity he had such a big hand in creating with the current wave of R-rated comedies that throw in just enough heart to make the crude go down as almost sweet. My brother thinks Kevin Smith is just, using language Mr. Smith would surely appreciate, "a tool", but I'll definitely turn out for his new one this weekend (even if I will probably be shamed enough to ask the inevitably teen clerk simply for a ticket to "Zack and Miri," as unable to bring myself to use the taboo word "Porno" as the network TV ads are.)

My main point in this admittedly rather disjointed diatribe, however, is that the PG-13 rating - a shameful ruse for many reasons - has watered down the art of true raunch to the point that it just becomes silly juvenilia (though I admittedly often have a stomach for that too.) Here's a test in the form of my 10 favorite raunchy movies, in no particular order. Can you pick out the only one that's not rated R?

Animal House
Clerks
Bad Santa
Superbad
Super Troopers
Airplane
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
Blazing Saddles
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

And the answer? I thought for a second it might be "Superbad," but Jonah Hill's tirade about the "Ghostbusters lunchbox dick treasure chest" among many other gems made that one thankfully too rude for PG-13. The answer is "Airplane," which I haven't seen for a while, but I guess must be fairly tame by today's standards.

"Airplane" earned a PG rating four years before the PG-13 rating was created, on July 1, 1984 - a truly dark day in my book.Why? Well, you'll find I'm more than a little conflicted about it, but I think both sides I cling to are right, so bear with me.

My main beef with PG-13 is that it's so arbitrary. It was created, according to Wikipedia, in response to the violence in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "Gremlins" (really? WTF?!?!) Since then, however, it has clearly become a toilet for really gross "horror" movies and teen "comedies" that test the limits of taste without taking any time to think about such trivialities as much of a plot.

At the same time, however (remember, I said I'm very inconsistent on this), PG-13 movies too often just don't go far enough. I still find that woman in "Clerks" dryly explaining that she "manually masturbates caged animals for artificial insemination" for a living and the perpetually 8-year-old Stan looking for the clitoris in "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut" to be extremely funny, and I hope I always will.

I suppose that's just the built-in problem with the middle ground: It may be the best way forward, but it will always leave increasingly both grumpy and old men like me complaining. The bottom line is, even if "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" will probably top the box office yet again, I'm glad Kevin Smith is back with a lot of raunch, a little smarts and a little more heart, and I hope a lot of people turn out for "Zack and Miri Make a Porno."

And I'll close with a bit more about Elizabeth Banks, easily my favorite comic actress working today (though Anna Faris is rising in the ranks too). She was rather severely underused in "W.", but you're about to see a lot of her: This week in Smith's flick, next week in the extremely silly but hopefully fun (and yes, R-rated) "Role Models" with Paul Rudd, and early next year in the horror movie "The Uninvited" with David Strathairn and Emily Browning (Violet in "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events).

I don't turn out for horror movies much any more (the last one I saw and kind of enjoyed was J.A. Bayona's "The Orphanage), but with that cast I'll give this one a chance. Here's the trailer, which does indeed make it look like it might be a cut above the gore-over-suspense fare that passes for most "horror" flicks nowadays. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant weekend.

Wherefore art thou, David Cronenberg?

When his movies are so uniformly entertaining, I guess you really can't begrudge David Cronenberg the right to make flicks at his own pace, but I can certainly selfishly say the world would be a much better place if he indeed chose to work more often than every two or three years or so.

Since the 2007 thriller "Eastern Promises," which was made by a seriously chilling performance from Viggo Mortensen, I think he's been toying with making an opera of "The Fly." I can't even picture what that might look like!

Thankfully for the rest of us who don't live in Canada and get to see this madness, he's also now ready to get back into movies in a rather big way. Word comes today that he's managed to recruit no less than Denzel Washington (heard of him?) to star in a political thriller from "Bourne" author Robert Ludlum.

Set against the backdrop of the Cold war, "The Matarese Circle" revolves around two men — one American, one Soviet — who must cooperate in order to foil a sinister plot to topple the world’s governments. Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, who crafted the mostly satisfying "3:10 to Yuma" remake, are writing the adaptation.

Oscar alert for Forest Whitaker

I guess maybe this is Forest Whitaker's way to make up for missing out on the role of Notorious B.I.G. (which in all seriousness, of course, I doubt he was ever up for). Getting back on track in his quest to play every heavyset, famous black man on the big screen, he's next set his eyes on directing and starring in "What a Wonderful World."

All kidding aside, this should be a lot of fun, and perhaps more importantly it's actually being filmed in New Orleans for the French company - Legende - behind "La Vie en Rose."

The flick will kick off during Louis Armstrong’s impoverished early years in New Orleans and primarily chronicle his career as a trumpet virtuoso and improvisational singer. Since Mr. Whitaker's last directing effort was with Katie Cruise in "First Daughter," which I admittedly haven't seen, I'll still confidently bet this will have to be much, much better.

Julie Taymor creating a "Tempest"

I really should have given Julie Taymor's "Across the Universe" a chance when it finally came here for one week last year, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Thankfully, the Macon Film Guild is gonna screen it sometime in the next couple of months, so I'll certainly make up for that oversight when it comes again.

And Ms. Taymor is now back at it to create another oddity, this time with Dame Helen Mirren in tow. She's assembling a rather stellar cast for "The Tempest," and has already flipped the gender roles to make Prospero a Prospera for Mirren to play.

All I can really remember about "The Tempest" is that the sorcerer Prospero (Prospera), the former Duke of Milan, has been stranded on an island with a lot of his books and his 3-year-old daughter Miranda. From there I'm sure it will get very dreamy in Taymor's hands with help from a cast that will include Jeremy Irons, Djimon Hounsou, Russell Brand, Alfred Molina, Ben Wishaw, Felicity Jones and Geoffrey Rush.


Watch Kevin Smith make a porno

From what little I've seen of Kevin Smith's next flick, opening hopefully everywhere on Halloween, I think it's gonna be a real winner. To build the hype for the movie starring Seth Rogen and the fabulously funny Elizabeth Banks, Smith and Co. have starting posting brief "webisodes" at his Quickstop Entertainment site.

The first one, which is up now, features Messrs. Smith and Rogen in a fairly funny discussion about how Rogen should bring more "Affleck-tion" to the set. You can watch it here, and I think it's well worth wasting three minutes or so of your work day. Peace out.

When. W. met Laura: A video sneak peek

I would spend more time talking about the movies opening this weekend, of which there are - surprisingly - two I actually want to see, but I have to work every day but Sunday so will only be seeing one theater movie anyway (yes, laboring on Labor Day, but it means time-and-a-half, so I'll take it.)

Were I not stuck toiling for the man (and, Sunday evening, drafting my fantasy football team), I'd definitely be seeing both "Hamlet 2" and "Traitor."

I was already pretty psyched for "Hamlet 2" because - in small doses at least - I find Steve Coogan to be a very funny guy, but I became thoroughly sold when I found it was written and directed by Andrew Fleming and "South Park" vet Pam Brady. It may not be a classic comedy, but Fleming's flick "Dick," starring Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams as two ultra-ditsy teens who supposedly uncovered the Watergate scandal, is surprisingly funny. And even better, Brady shared writing credit with Trey Parker and Matt Stone for "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut," so the songs in "Hamlet 2" should be as fun as they are simply outrageous.

As for "Traitor," it sounds like a pretty standard thriller, but I'll see just about anything with Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce (though I can't really see myself checking into the "Hotel for Dogs" with Cheadle next year.) So I'll probably see "Hamlet 2" Sunday and save "Traitor" to savor next weekend.

In the meantime, here - courtesy of CNN - is a clip of Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Banks in Oliver Stone's W. No matter how bad this flick really turns out to be when it drops Oct. 29 or so, I can tell that Brolin and Banks will be fun to see as America's reigning couple. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Labor Day weekend.

This just in: School will rock again!

First off, a hearty huzzah to Guillermo del Toro and "Hellboy II," which managed (just barely) to hold off Will Smith and win the box-office weekend with about $36 million. Personally, I found it to be almost as fun as the first "Hellboy," even if it did eventually just reach creature overload, and I was just happy to see a superhero with almost no baggage at all to impede his principal duty of just kicking all kinds of ass.

Besides, there's a plenty moody enough superhero on the dock this week, and since I'm now off on Fridays, I'll definitely be there at midnight Friday morning to see "The Dark Knight" finally take flight (after what seems like three years of hype.)

But, in what in my odd little world is even better news, there's word this morning that Richard Linklater, Jack Black and Mike White will indeed be back for a "School of Rock 2." I've tried hard not to call a movie as silly as "School of Rock" great, but since I've probably seen it at least 10 times on DVD and it just makes me smile broadly every time, I think I'll just have to give in and admit that I love it unconditionally.

And the plot for the White-penned sequel just sounds like tons of fun. Who doesn't have great memories of elementary school field trips? For us in Salisbury, Md., the highlight was a trip to Washington, D.C., to act up on the National Mall. In Linklater's "School of Rock 2," the lucky kiddies will get to instead go on a rock 'n' roll odyssey across America with Mr. Black as their guide to the history of American music. Simply cool.

And congrats indeed to Mike White, who's taken his lumps after falling out with the Judd Apatow crew. Here's hoping "School of Rock 2" captures all the magic of the original and comes quick enough to rock hard next summer!

A Bush-style frat boy brawl?

I'd imagine there's probably not a whole lot to do at night in Shreveport, La., but even so this story about Josh Brolin, Jeffrey Wright and the "W" crew is just too funny not to pass along.

Things apparently went awry at the Stray Cat Bar (love that name) when a "W" lighting technician was arrested for fighting and Brolin, Wright and four others decided to jump into the battle. (Shown here are the mug shots for Brolin and Wright.)

Felland was charged with resisting arrest, public intoxication and entering and remaining. Brolin, Wright and the others were slapped with the interfering charge.

After arriving at the police station, Brolin, Wright and the others were booked and told they'd have to post cash bonds to be released. Brolin and Wright had to shell out $334 each, while Felland had to fork out more than $700.

I have no way of knowing, of course, but this just sounds to me like a perfect scene from the movie for W's wild days before he somehow encountered Jesus. And, obviously, I pity the poor cop who had to tangle with Josh Brolin, who's clearly just a bad mutha.

And it's worth looking at, if I can find it, the now fairly complete cast list for "W." Here, as best as I can tell, goes:

Elizabeth Banks: Laura Bush
Josh Brolin: George W. Bush
Thandie Newton: Condoleezza Rice
Ioan Gruffudd: Tony Blair
Ellen Burstyn: Barbara Bush
Richard Dreyfuss: Dick Cheney
James Cromwell: Herbert Walker Bush
Scott Glenn: Donald Rumsfeld
Noah Wyle: Don Evans (rumored)
Jeffrey Wright: General Colin Powell
Jason Ritter: Jeb Bush (rumored)
Toby Jones: Karl Rove
Rob Corddry: Ari Fleischer

I'm still more than a little worried about the effect "W" will have on the elections this fall, since it's set to be finished and released by October, but it will still be a heck of a lot of fun watching what all these talented folks can do with the saga of Dubya, especially Toby Jones as Karl Rove.

First Look at "The Dark Knight"

There's probably more out there this morning, but who am I kidding? It's all about "The Dark Knight" here and everywhere else this week, so I'll just wrap it up with HBO's "First Look" at the Christopher Nolan flick. It covers about 14 minutes in two clips, but if you know of a better way to waste some of your workday today, I'm certainly not aware of it. Peace out.