Why it's time to shut down "The Office," plus a visit from Conan O'Brien

"If you're going to jump a shark, jump a big one."

Say what you want to about Ricky Gervais, but as easily one of the funniest people on the planet, he certainly should know when something is genuinely funny and when, well, it simply isn't. And, unfortunately, as he correctly pointed out, the latter was very often the case with Thursday's "The Office" finale.

It wasn't just the piling on of guest stars and giving them each about two minutes at most of screen time, but on top of that they gave almost all of them nothing to work with. James Spader was OK, and Jim Carrey arrived at the very end to provoke one of the only real laughs, at least from me, of the entire show.

And you know, it didn't really even annoy me by the end (BIG SPOILER AHEAD) that they didn't even bother to pick a new boss after all that build-up, because it really didn't feel like a show I want to keep watching anyway. It was, awkwardly and often painfully, more like a muddled pilot for a show still trying to figure where it wants to go, and for one that's been on so long, that's just pretty pathetic.

The best possible scenario now? Darryl gets the job, because Craig Robinson is still a very funny dude, and perhaps he can salvage this mess, but it's going to be a rather epic task.

As for me, I'm most likely done with "The Office," but not with everything on NBC's Thursday night lineup, because if you stuck around for the hour-long "Parks and Recreation" finale, you saw a show that's still fresh and genuinely funny, often wickedly so.

The first half was good, but once poor Lil Sebastian died and Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) decided to reorganize the office (putting Ron Swanson in that great captain's chair), it was all comedy bliss from there.

I have to assume Aziz Ansari will be back, and the promise of Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler, who I've grown to like a whole lot more than I did before this show) running for office means I definitely will be too.

And to wrap things up today, here's the first trailer I know of for "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop." Though I would have ponied up for a straightforward documentary about when he took his comedy show on the road, this instead promises to be a much more behind-the-scenes kind of look, which should be even better. I have no idea when or if this is going to make a theatrical run, but keep an eye out for it if you live in a bigger corner of the world than I do, and have a great rest of the weekend. Peace out.

What's next for Danny Boyle?

This is only a rumor I've seen at one site, Deadline, so far, but it's pretty friggin' great, so I'm gonna go with it.

Unfortunately, the next thing that Danny Boyle will be directing that anyone will be able to see will be the opening ceremonies for the 2012 Olympics in London, but before and again after that he's apparently returning to the grittier kinds of movies that he was known for in the early days.

Per Deadline, he's going to begin directing the thriller "Trance" in London this September, and here's what the site says it's about:

"I'm told it's an art heist gone wrong, and it's got the dark, sexy, hard-edged tone of Boyle films like Shallow Grave and Trainspotting," says the site.

Not much to run with there, but "Shallow Grave" is indeed one of my favorite movies of all time, and though he's made plenty of great movies since they started to take on a much more optimistic tone (except for "Sunshine," man did that suck), a return to the early days for Boyle should be nothing but fun. Unfortunately, with the Olympics coming, he's going to begin the filming this Fall, but then put this on the shelf for a while, and then pick it up again for a potential March 2013 release. Bummer there, but still mostly good news. Stay tuned ...

In other movie news, the animation company Laika, which with "Coraline" has made what is still the only animated movie I've really enjoyed watching in 3-D, is joining up with Focus Features for a new stop-motion offering. Unfortunately for them, "Coraline" mastermind Henry Selick has moved on to Pixar (I think), but it still sounds like what they're cooking up now should be a lot of fun.

"Paranorman" is a comedy/thriller about a small town being attacked by zombies and has a voice cast featuring, among others, Casey Affleck, Tempestt Bledsoe, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman, Anna Kendrick, Leslie Mann, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Elaine Stritch.

And though Selick is nowhere to be found, this seems to be in good hands with "Flushed Away" director Sam Fell and Chris Butler, storyboard supervisor for "Coraline," teaming up to direct this. Butler also wrote the screenplay.

OK, after that today, a fairly brief look at what's ahead on "The Office," segueing into a couple of videos that caught my eye this morning.

After watching the departure of Michael Scott, which if Will Ferrell hadn't been on it would have been just about perfect, I think it would have been, frankly, a great place to simply end the show for good. Nothing against Ferrell in general, because I often like him quite a bit, but he's simply not funny on "The Office," and the truly nonfunny scenes with he and Andy (Ed Helms) just took away from Michael's pretty universally great goodbyes (having Creed hoist his "World's Greatest Boss" mug was an especially nice touch).

So, now that he's gone, what's ahead? Here, courtesy of NBC, are the synopses for the next three weeks, going until the end of the season.

Tonight: "The Inner Circle"
Deangelo’s true management style is finally revealed; he plays favorites by creating his own “inner circle.” Guest stars: Will Ferrell, Cody Horn.

Next Week: "Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager"
Dwight takes over as acting manager and applies draconian tactics to the office. Meanwhile, Gabe tries to win Erin back. Guest star: Kathy Bates.

May 19: "Search Committee"
Season Finale. Double episode. Guest stars: Jim Carrey, James Spader, Will Arnett, Ray Romano, Ricky Gervais, Catherine Tate.

That's a lot of star power, obviously, but my money and my fan heart are still on Catherine Tate, simply because that would be the best possible outcome since the show apparently must go on.

And to prove that I really, in general, have nothing against Will Ferrell, he returned as George W. Bush (of course) just in time for the death of Osama Bin Laden for this Funny or Die video. The whole thing is pretty great, so I won't spoil it with any more words from me except to say stick around until the end when he explains why this is "a great day for America." Priceless.

And finally, I had been pretty skeptical that "Green Lantern" would amount to anything but thoroughly silly, but while it certainly will be that, judging from this first trailer, it should be pretty epicly fun too. Starring Ryan Reynolds and "Gossip Girl" Blake Lively and being directed by Martin Campbell, it's set for release June 17. Enjoy the trailer, and if you'll excuse me, I'm off now for a swim and then headed back to the Atlanta Film Festival. Peace out.

A real "Battlestar Galactica" prequel? Bring it on!

When the second incarnation of "Battlestar Galactica" left the Syfy airwaves in 2009, it left a real void for fans of genuine, smart sci-fi, so this is certainly good news

Executive producer David Eick, one of the big brains behind the version that began in 2004, has pitched to the station a prequel of sorts called "Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome," and it has so far picked up at least a 2-hour pilot. The show takes place in the 10th year of the first Cylon war, and follows the exploits of young ensign William Adama, a recent Academy graduate and now a rookie viper pilot. In the 2004 show, of course, Adama was played by the great Edward James Olmos, but they'll now clearly have to cast some new blood for this.

According to the plot synopsis, Adama "finds himself assigned to the newest battlestar in the Colonial fleet, the Galactica. The talented but hot-headed risk-taker soon finds himself leading a dangerous top secret mission that, if successful, will turn the tide of the decade-long war in favor of the desperate fleet."

Nothing but epic awesomeness there, and though there's no word yet if co-creator Ronald Moore will once again be involved, here's a final word from Eick to give "Battlestar" fans a sense of just how good this could be.

"While maintaining the themes of politics, social propaganda, and the timeless question: what does it mean to be human? - 'Blood & Chrome' will also return us to the authentic, relentless depiction of combat and the agony and ecstasy of human-Cylon war, which was the hallmark of 'Battlestar Galactica's' early seasons."

I don't have too much after that today before the videos because, before working on a Saturday, I have to go swimming and then do my laundry, but there is a bit of goodness to get to for fans of Wes Anderson.

No, unfortunately, it isn't any more details on the film he apparently plays on shooting next spring or so, but it is a glimpse of his writing before he went on, with his first three movies, to make three of my favorites in "Bottle Rocket," "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums."

Thanks to the head's up from Hitfix.com for this link to a short story he wrote for the University of Texas literary journal Analecta. I haven't read it yet, but I just printed it out, so will do so today to take my mind off of laundry for a bit. Enjoy the story here.

OK, on to the videos. I can't remember a movie in recent history that's had as much trouble simply coming out (no pun intended, really) as "I Love You Phillip Morris." Is it simply that the characters played by Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor are gay? I suppose so, and that's truly sad, because as you'll see from this first full trailer I know of for the movie by "Bad Santa" creators Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, it looks pretty wickedly funny. Look for this in what surely will be a limited release Dec. 3, and enjoy the trailer.



I'm a big, big fan of the UK teen skeen "Skins," and an even bigger fan of Baltimore, but sadly, I can't see this turning out to be anything but awful. It seems that MTV is remaking the great show (which aired on BBC America here, I believe) with a cast of way-too-fresh-faced (the original cast was rather scruffy) young Americans, and somehow transporting the action from the north of England to Charm City itself. If you've seen the original, you'll see that they at least kept a few of the characters' names, but seemingly none of the spirit of the original show. "Enjoy" this trailer for the show, apparently coming in January.

MTV Shows

OK, where better to end up today then with the trailer for a movie I'm definitely psyched to see at the end of this year, even if it does look rather morose. John Cameron Mitchell is best known as the stage and later movie creator of Hedwig, the star of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," still by a wide margin the greatest botched sex change/punk rock movie ever made. As you'll see below, he's come up with something completely different for "Rabbit Hole," his new movie starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart, set to come out hopefully everywhere in December. It's about a couple dealing with the death of their very young son, and though that indeed sounds thoroughly depressing, I love Mitchell's work and I'll watch Kidman in just about anything, so I'm there. Enjoy the clip, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

More "Futurama" soon? Yes, please! Plus some more fun news

For all its faults (and farms and mafias and whatever the hell else people waste their good time with), Facebook can - extremely rarely - actually be the source of really good news, as is the case here.

And yes, call me a geek, goober, gleeb or whatever else you might want to, but I am a fan of "Futurama" on Facebook, and really, why not? It rarely produces anything worth reading, but yesterday came these two back-to-back posts:

Futurama Heads up, Futurama fans! All new episodes of Futurama begin this June on Comedy Central!
Futurama Oh, and one more thing: we're bringing back the ENTIRE original cast.

Now, anyone who's followed the saga of the show's return to Comedy Central knows that the second part has news that's at least good as the first. When Fox started on reviving the delightfully fun animated sci-fi series, it originally fired all the voice actors after they asked for a raise, and planned to proceed with a roster of scabs, meaning anyone with any kind of conscience would have to boycott this.

Well, as you can tell, common sense (or more likely pocketbook sense) eventually prevailed, and so "Futurama" will indeed be back in the only form it should in June, so huzzah to that!

OK, after that today, there's a lot of silly stuff, surely starting with this:

"Police Academy" to enroll new class

Before I write anything else about that, I should probably punctuate it right away with a yes, really.

And does anyone wanna guess how many "Police Academy" movies there have been already? I guessed seven before checking at the IMDB to find out that, sadly enough, I was indeed right.

So does the world really need another one? Certainly not, but admit it: You all watched at least the first three of these, and at the beginning, they were insanely funny. They also, however, became less and less so as they went on, which makes this not terribly welcome news at all.

It seems that original producer Paul Maslansky is now hoping to revive what has to the be longest-running film franchise yet with a new class of cadets, but no writer or director has been attached yet (so there's still hope!)

"It's going to be very worthwhile to the people who remember it and to those who saw it on TV," Maslansky said. "It's going to be a new class. We hope to discover new talent and season it with great comedians. It'll be anything but another movie with a numeral next to it. And we'll most probably retain the wonderful musical theme."

I suppose that means that, beyond a cheeky cameo, Steve Guttenberg and that guy who makes all the funny noises will have to look elsewhere for work. And please remember, I'm really just the messenger here.

Carell and Gosling to team up on big screen

Man was last night's "The Office" good. The first half hour or so was the funniest it's been in a couple of years, and poor Pam trying to breast feed her youngin was almost too sweet to take.

And though I certainly enjoy Steve Carell in full manic mode as Michael Scott, I like him in movies when he plays it a lot more low key, as in "Little Miss Sunshine," still his best movie work to date.

What he's signed on for now sounds like something in the latter category, so I'm intrigued. He'll play a father dealing with a marital crisis and his children in an as-yet-untitled comedy for Warner Bros., and, even better, Ryan Gosling will play a suave friend of his who tries to help him through at all (though I've never thought of Gosling as particularly "suave.")

So, what else makes me think this could be really good? Well, it's being directed by the "Bad Santa" team of John Requa and Glenn Ficarra (whose nest movie will be "I Love You Phillip Morris" with Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor), from a script by Dan Fogelman, who I saw way back when on Broadway as the fat guy (I'm one too, so I can say it) in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." Keep your eyes on this.

Stone sets sights on "Savages"

I really had no desire at all to see the sequel "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" until I saw the trailer a few weeks back, and it looked really good (yes, trailers really do work sometimes.)

I could certainly be wrong there, and we'll all find out soon enough on April 23. And after that, it seems that director Oliver Stone will next set his camera on Don Winslow's upcoming novel "Savages."

The book is apparently about two friends from Laguna Beach who share a girlfriend and a business selling incredibly good pot. As is probably always the case, that attracts the attention of a Mexican cartel who, after they resist its offer of muscle, kidnaps the girlfriend and holds her for ransom. Certainly sounds like some juicy material for Stone, who can still have wicked fun when he wants to.

Del Toro to play FBI chameleon

I'll still watch Benicio Del Toro in just about anything, but if I ever have the chance to meet the man, I'm gonna demand the five or so hours of my life that I spent watching "Che" back. He was, of course, incredible in it, but what a waste of film.

Now, however, he's set to team up with Steven Soderbergh again for something that sounds much more enjoyable. Soderbergh will executive produce "Making Jack Falcone," which will star Del Toro as Cuban-American FBI agent Joaquin "Jack" Garcia, who successfully infiltrated the Gambino crime family. Man, does that sound like nothing but cool.

OK, to close things out today, I've just got a trio of trailers, starting with an upcoming Jay-Z concert documentary you can actually watch for free (with Facebook again, I guess I'm their pimp today.)

I've been known to tell anyone who will listen that Jay-Z's "The Black Album" is not only the best rap album ever made, but probably the single greatest record of any kind. That may be a bit of exaggeration, but I also really do hold it to be true.

So if all you have to do is become fan of Absolut vodka on Facebook by March 22 to watch a new Hova concert documentary, I suppose I can do that much (and if the vodka adverts become too annoying, simply defriend them later, of course.) The movie will be streaming for free on the Absolut page starting on that date, and here's the trailer (which, unfortunately, really doesn't show too much.) Enjoy.



I had never heard of "Legend of the Guardians" until this trailer popped up on Yahoo yesterday (I just assumed that Zach Snyder's next movie was going to be "Sucker Punch," but I guess I'm wrong again.) After watching this, two thoughts popped into my head: Owls are a heck of a lot cooler than penguins, and here's hoping this will avoid the 3-D bug (which "Sucker Punch" apparently won't) when it comes out in September. Enjoy the trailer.

And finally today comes a new theatrical trailer for "The Runaways," starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, and set to come out hopefully everywhere on April 9. In spite of the understandable and valid concerns voiced by semi-regular Reel Fanatic visitor Cullen and other people I've talked to about this, as a big Joan Jett fan, I'm still holding out hope that this is somehow really gonna rock. Enjoy the clip, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

My (and only my) best movies of the decade: The 2004 edition

Before I get into any kudos for movies that came out five years ago, the first (I believe) salvo in this awards season has been fired, and it has landed majorly in Kathyrn Bigelow's corner.

Her "The Hurt Locker" was the big winner at the Gotham Independent Film Awards, taking home the Best Picture award and, even more appropriately, the Best Ensemble award. I can certainly support that, because there's only one movie I've liked more than "The Hurt Locker" this year - Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" - and Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie did indeed lead an excellent cast in this flick that looks at war through the eyes of bomb squad soldiers.

But back to the game. 2004 was a good year for quirk, which I indeed like most of the time, but as you'll find out, also the first year of the oughts in which two of the year's box office champs made the final cut.

First off, the runners-up are: "The Ladykillers", "Hellboy", "Coffee and Cigarettes", "Garden State", "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" and "The Spongebob Squarepants Movie" (and yes really on the last two, but I really like to laugh.)

OK, here goes with the big 10, and as usual, please feel free to add any you think I may have snubbed.

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
Going in, this mindbendingly sweet romance from the skewed minds of Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman was certainly the favorite for movie of the year, but as you'll find out shortly it was edged out by a director who still has - rather sadly - only managed to make very few movies. Still the only movie in which Jim Carrey is entirely enjoyable - in large part because of how well he plays off of Kate Winslet - this flick tackles big questions about love, life and memory with out a whiff of seriousness, but instead the dreamy feel that envelops Gondry's best flicks. (And yes, Kirsten Dunst dancing around in her underwear certainly is a delight.)

"The Agronomist"
Though Jonathan Demme has made many great fictional movies, his documentaries stand up just as strong, and one of the best is this flick about the late Haitian journalist and human rights activist Jean Dominique. Through interviews with Dominique and the people who loved him, you get a thorough portrait of the man that just gets more insightful but also depressing as it leads up to Dominique's assassination.

"Napoleon Dynamite"
You either love it or hate it, I guess, and I'm certainly in the former category. I even stuck with Jared Hess through "Nacho Libre," which though far from anything approaching a great movie, was still almost as sublimely silly as "Napoleon Dynamite." I seriously doubt that Jon Heder will ever get a good part again, but he was just hilarious as Napoleon, and you can still quote this movie to me when I'm having a really bad day and get a smile every time.

"Spider-Man 2"
When Sam Raimi has fun, as he surely did in 2009 with "Drag Me to Hell," the audience does too, as I certainly did with this, still my favorite superhero movie of all time. Though the first "Spider-Man" was a good enough flick (with some of the cheesiest CGI ever), the second installment is better in every way: The Peter Parker/Mary Jane (yes, Kirsten Dunst again) romance is truly heartbreaking, the bad guy (Alfred Molina's Doc Ock) is a superbly complex villain, and it was just the best blockbuster of 2004.

"Maria Full of Grace"
This little gem from director Joshua Marston is indeed my favorite movie from 2004, and it would stand up well in any year since. Catalina Sandino Moreno (who really should be a very big star by now) is just thoroughly charming as a pregnant Colombian teenager who - out of complete desperation - becomes a drug mule running cocaine to the U.S. in her stomach. The movie manages to put a human face on the drug trade and just gets better as we see Maria finally start to work her way out of it, and Moreno was absolutely hosed in not winning the Best Actress Oscar she was nominated for.

"Shaun of the Dead"
Every thing I've seen about Edgar Reitman's next flick - "Scott Pilgrim" - just hints that it's going to be epicly good, but I certainly miss the days that he, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost made an unholy trio. This, their best flick, is a first-rate mix of humor and horror, and though "Zombieland" was a solid entry this year, it lacked both Pegg - who made the perfect antihero - and the blackest humor that made "Shaun" work so well. And that scene at the pub is still just wickedly funny.

"Infernal Affairs"
The source material for Martin Scorsese's Best Picture breakthrough is actually superior to his remake in almost every way. The original flick from directors Wei-keing Lau and Alan Mak keeps the intensity up much better than Scorsese did (though I like me some "The Departed" too), and the lives of our two heroes, a police officer who has infiltrated the Triads and a Triad mole who has infiltrated the police force, intertwine in more interesting ways. Rent this one immediately if you haven't seen it.

"Sideways"
I almost put "Garden State" in this spot instead, but Alexander Payne's flick (the last one he managed to make before moving on to HBO's show about the guy with the humongous unit) makes for an engaging road movie through the California wine country and just features first-rate performances from Paul Giamatti and Virginia Madsen. I still like this one as much as I just detest Payne's previous flick, "About Schmidt."

"The Incredibles"
My second-best Pixar flick ("Ratatouille" will always be the king in my corner of the world) had a much more innovative story than most animated offerings for kids as it looked at what happens when the world turns against superheros, and just about the best message (don't be afraid to let your talents shine) you could possibly give to a kid. There is, however, one animated movie from director Brad Bird that's better, "The Iron Giant."

"Hotel Rwanda"
Don Cheadle was just as screwed as Moreno in the Oscar voting for this year, because he told more with simple facial expressions in Terry George's movie about the Rwandan genocide than most actors do with longwinded speeches. The story about how a hotel manager saved thousand of Tutsi refugees from almost certain slaughter also introduced the world (or at least me) to Sophie Okonedo, who almost manages to steal Cheadle's show here and was the star of a flick I just saw at the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, "Skin," about the racial complexities of South Africa (too heavy-handed for my tastes, but she's great in it and it was an audience favorite, so check it out on DVD soon.) George also directed my favorite of the '90s IRA movies, "Some Mother's Son."

So, there you have it. Please feel free to add any of your 2004 favorites, and to check back tomorrow for a look at 2005, the year I actually started writing all this mess. Peace out.

Truly dastardly news about "Futurama" and a video trifecta

I really don't believe this news about Guillermo del Toro's "The Hobbit" is true yet, but I figured I'd pass it on anyways.

It's already out there that James McAvoy (who would be my choice), Doctor Who David Tennant and Daniel Radcliffe are the three finalists to play Bilbo Baggins. Now, this report in London's Telegraph claims that Tennant has landed the lead role, but their sourcing (nonexistent) and logic are extremely shady. They're essentially concluding that since Peter Jackson (for "District 9") and Tennant (For "Doctor Who") are going to be in San Diego for ComicCon next week, they must be planning to make the big announcement there.

Well, that's obviously much more than a leap. I think there's more than a 50-50 chance they'll turn out to be right in the end, but it will just be a matter of luck.

But that's not the news that really set me off this morning, which is much more ominous. It seems that Twentieth Century Fox, which is still producing the planned new episodes of the great "Futurama" even though it's going to be on Comedy Central, is trying to recast almost the entire show because they are, as Bender would surely agree, cheap bastards.

You could have counted me as thoroughly psyched and planning to tune in to (well, DVR) every episode, but certainly not on these terms. In a dispute over money, the studio is now recasting the parts played by Billy West (Fry, the professor and Doctor Zoidberg), Katey Segal (Leela), John DiMaggio (Bender) and everyone else in the cast.

Now, I realize that TV shows change cast members all the time, but I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite like this. You might as well just call a scab a scab, and I really can't see anyway I'll be watching any of these now. Stay tuned.

OK, on to much sweeter stuff. Here are a trio of videos that just made me smile. My co-worker Woody Marshall likes to get me to call this theater in North Carolina where the old guy who owns it likes to do mini-reviews as he reads the week's showtimes, but he's not nearly as funny as this Irish dude who really has his knickers in a bunch over "Bruno." Enjoy.



Next up comes an oddity that will surely be of interest to fans of "Where the Wild Things Are," of which you can certainly count me a devoted one. Long before Spike Jonze set his sights on making what is sure to be the sensational live-action version coming in October, it seems that Disney owned the rights to Sendak's short classic, and John Lasseter toyed with making an animated version of it. That never came to fruition, and Lasseter was fired before obviously getting his sweet revenge at Pixar, but at the end of this clip you can see a bit of what he had in mind, which looks pretty friggin' terrible. Enjoy.



And finally, just so you can't say I didn't warn you, this next clip is really, really gay (not that that there's anything wrong with that.) Courtesy of the great froggy film site Allocine, here's the first trailer I know of for "I Love You, Phillip Morris," the directorial debut of "Bad Santa" scribes Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, which, as you'll see, stars Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor in what should be a truly odd tale. It's not set to come out until next February, I think, but enjoy the trailer and have a great rest of the weekend. Peace out.

How far is too far to be funny?

I was gonna save that photo, and who's actually in it, for the end, but since it made me laugh so hard I almost did an actual spit-take with my coffee, why not lead with it?

Believe it or not, the middle soldier in the above photo, with enlarged face at the bottom, is none other than Robert Downey Jr. in a scene from the upcoming flick "Tropic Thunder." Does that go too far? I don't think so, but I've been known to laugh at a lot of things (almost anything from Kevin Smith, for example) that the rest of the world finds incredibly offensive.

So, what's the story behind all this? Well, in the Ben Stiller-directed flick set to come out in August, Downey plays a method actor who takes his work so seriously that, when cast to play a black soldier, he actually has surgery to become, well, a black soldier.

In his defense (though I'm hoping he won't really need one), Downey clearly understands the stakes here:

"If it's done right, it could be the type of role you called Peter Sellers to do 35 years ago. If you don't do it right, we're going to hell."

I'd say he's right, if more than a little immodest, on both counts. And hey, at least he didn't audition to play a rather large and very dead black rapper (more on that later, so bear with me.) Any thoughts on this?

Jason Reitman's new muse ... Jim Carrey?

When I saw this report this morning, my first thought was when in the world have I last seen Jim Carrey in any kind of movie at all? The answer was the mostly enjoyable "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" (I didn't bother with either "Fun With Dick and Jane" or "The Number 23," and I've decided my life will still be just fine if I never see any big-budget Dr. Seuss flicks.)

Now, however, he's signed on for something I'll definitely tune in for: Jason Reitman's next flick. "Pierre Pierre," which Fox Atomic picked up for a cool million bucks from a spec script from first-time auteurs Edwin Cannistraci and Frederick Seton, tells the "politically incorrect" story of a self-indulgent French nihilist (Carrey, I presume) who transports a stolen painting from Paris to London.

Sounds dark like "Thank You for Smoking" rather than light as "Juno," which would be just fine by me. And though I'd much rather look at Ellen Page (hence the photo) than Jim Carrey, he can still be an extremely funny guy under the influence of a sedative or two, so I definitely say bring it on.

Biggie to be played by ... "Gravy"?

After a year-long search to play the late and very large Brooklyn rapper Notorious B.I.G., Fox Searchlight has settled on the equally large but very much alive Brooklyn rapper Jamal "Gravy" Woolard for its upcoming biopic, "Notorious."

Never heard of him? Me either, but as you can see from this photo he certainly fits the part. And besides, he has a real-life resume that sounds like it could have come straight out of "Fear of a Black Hat." He's released a number of albums, but was also apparently shot before a radio appearance outside the rather "Notorious" New York hip-hop station Hot 97 two years ago, after which he proceeded with the interview before seeking any kind of treatment.

And, apart from that seemingly perfect bit of casting, the flick has attracted a first-rate supporting cast as well. Angela Bassett (huzzah!) will play Biggie's mother, Violetta Wallace, Derek Luke (huzzah again!) will play P. Diddy (or whatever his name is now), and Anthony Mackie (who I had never heard of) will play the equally late Tupac Shakur.

I realize this all may not matter much to most of the world, but in another case of a white guy pretending to be black I listen to much more hip-hop than any gringo of my age rightfully should, and Biggie's "Life After Death" is easily one of my favorite records, so I say this flick - which starts shooting this month - should be all kinds of cool.


Seth Rogen teams up with another very funny guy

Though the rest of this report is about an entirely different flick, I definitely wanted to share the above pic from Kevin Smith's upcoming (and surely juvenile) "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." The expressions on the faces of Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen were enough to make me laugh out loud.

And now comes word that Rogen will team up with writer/director Jody Hill for a new project called "Observe and Report," in which he'll play just about the lowliest specimen of human being around, the mall cop. In something that sounds like it could come straight from the Broken Lizard crew, he'll play Ronnie Barnhardt, a head of mall security who somehow gets in a turf war with the real cops.

Sounds funny enough to me, but who in the world is Jody Hill? Well, the world is about to find out when his 2006 flick "Foot Fist Way" finally gets a hopefully very wide release June 6. Few things make me laugh harder than children getting kicked in the cojones, so this martial arts comedy starring Danny McBride should be right up my alley (and I think it will be one of the real sleeper hits of this summer.)

I've included the trailer below, but be warned: if you watch it at work do it with headphones on, because the language in this is definitely R-rated (and if it gets cut off before the end, you can see the whole thing at Funnyordie.com.) Peace out.