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.

Tidbits: Wes Anderson news, a flashy new Bond trailer and, yes, a poll!

Though I've never bothered to put a poll on here before now, it's not because I don't care about the opinions of the few people who are kind enough to stop by here from time to time. I simply don't like to mess with the template too much because I'm most likely to just screw it up!

However, with the Fall season upon us, I've finally broken down and bowed to my lame duck president's command to spread democracy around the world and do my little part. It's not the most scientific poll, since you can vote for more than one movie, but I hope it provides a few seconds of diversion.

As I made clear in my Fall preview, the three movies that get me the most geeked up would be, probably in this order, "Slumdog Millionaire," "The Brothers Bloom" and "Miracle at St. Anna." I can't wait to see what everyone else thinks.

In other news that's not about, well, me, it seems that Wes Anderson is jumping on the French remake train. Before I slag the man at all, and since I haven't talked about him for quite a while, let me state that I just about unequivocally love Mr. Anderson's first three flicks, with "Rushmore" being just about a perfect comedy and "The Royal Tenenbaums" being even better. (The Criterion edition of "Tenenbaums," by the way, is one of the very best in the collection, and well worth a rental to sift through the extras about how Anderson and his crew concocted the Tenenbaums' weird little world.

His last two flicks, however, "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" and "Darjeeling Limited," just left me pretty cold (though that collection of David Bowie songs in Portuguese by Seu Jorge is still in fairly heavy rotation on my car CD player.) He's listed as being in "post-production" on Roald Dahl's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" because, well, apparently every director in the world gets to make at least one animated movie, and now (in a rather severe case of burying the lead) comes news about a "new project" he's writing and possibly directing for Universal.

And if you're gonna pilfer from the French, I suppose you could do a whole lot worse than Patrice LeConte. I haven't seen the work Anderson is set to take on, "Mon Meilleur Ami," but that will change in a few days when it comes from Netflix (last night I watched "In Bruges," and I can attest that while it's often entertaining in its wordplay, it's just one of the strangest little flicks I've ever seen.)

In LeConte's 2006 film, French everyman Daniel Auteuil plays "a cranky antiques dealer who learns at a dinner with his closest acquaintances that none of them really like him because of his harsh manner and selfishness. When his business partner bets him a valuable vase that he can’t produce a best friend, the dealer tries to get an amiable cab driver to pose as his buddy," according to Variety.

As someone who finds himself fairly cranky as I get older, that sounds like it could be a lot of fun to me, and just might give Anderson the boost he needs to get back in my good graces (because I'm certain he's lost a lot of sleep about that!)

And now, since this has clearly has gone on long enough, I'll close with the promised "Quantum of Solace" trailer, which at a full two-and-a-half minutes is just a lot of fun. It looks like it starts out as a pretty straightforward revenge flick about the death of Vesper (the mesmerizing Eva Green), but of course spirals into a lot more than that, and like "Casino Royale" just looks like an old-fashioned Bond flick in all the best ways. Enjoy, and have a perfectly bearable Thursday.



P.S.: There's also a spot of sad news out there in that writer Gregory MacDonald has died at age 71.

MacDonald, a prolific mystery writer, was best know for his "Fletch" novels, two of which I read and four of which were made into flicks. I love the novels and movies for their goofy spirit and because Fletch, the journalist-turned-globetrotting author, is just a great character (and the last time Chevy Chase was truly funny.)

Before he died, MacDonald apparently collaborated with Harry Stein on the script for another "Fletch" flick, "Fletch Won." Since that one, if it ever were to happen, is rumored to possibly star Joshua Jackson in the role of our hero, it's perhaps best if it just stays dormant (though you'd have me interested with John Krasinski from "The Office".) Rest in peace, Mr. MacDonald.

No more movies with George Clooney in the lead?

Granted, the question above is pretty ridiculous, but the rather sorry performance of Clooney's "Leatherheads" brought to mind an even sillier statement allegedly made (but of course denied!) last October by the president of production at Warner Bros.

You may remember that, after the twin tankings of Jodie Foster's "The Brave One" and Nicole Kidman's "The Invasion," Jeff Robinov was quoted, first by Nikki Finke, as saying "we are no longer doing movies with women in the lead." Though I can certainly understand what put him in such a foul mood, that statement was just as stupid then as it is now.

But a look at the box office numbers brings up a valid question. In it's opening weekend, Clooney's flick took in a rather paltry $13.5 million, and didn't even manage to win the weekend, finishing second to "21" with $15.1 million (and really just a hair above "Nim's Island.")

Now, let's flash back to "The Brave One" which, for the record, was easily one of the worst movies I saw in all of 2007. In its opening weekend, Jodie Foster's super-silly revenge flick took in $13,471,488, virtually identical to the take of "Leatherheads." It would go on to compile a $36,793,804 domestic box office total, which at this point would have to be considered a good outcome for Clooney's flick.

So, I offer you all that to ask you this: Will there be any similar hand-wringing over this latest failure? Will any studio executive be quoted as saying they won't "even look at a script with a Clooney lead"?

Of course not, but that's just the kind of double standard that's enough to set me off on a Monday morning with less than a full cup of coffee in my system. But why did Clooney's movie fare so poorly?

Well, in its favor, it had three fairly bankable stars in Clooney, Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski, and of course everyone in America loves football, right? Plus, despite the fact it had sat on the shelf for years before Clooney scooped it up, reliable Sports Illustrated scribe Rick Reilly contributed to the script (along with first-time screenwriter Duncan Brantley.)

So, what happened? You can chalk this one up as a "victory" for critics if you want to. From all the reviews I read, director Clooney and his writers played it too safe both in terms of humor and on-field action, and therefore didn't come up with enough to keep audiences entertained. Older moviegoers (of which, it's rather sad to report, I am apparently one) still listen to critics, and therefore just stayed home.

Or something like that anyway. Personally, I'm just looking forward to a good movie of any kind this year, no matter who's in the lead role. I'm tentatively putting my money on "Street Kings" this week, but not with terribly high hopes.

Casting W's cabinet

Now that Oliver Stone has cast the first family - plus his mommy and daddy - for "W," it's now time to fill out the cabinet and staff, where things could get much more interesting.

The roster so far: Josh Brolin is W, Elizabeth Banks is Laura Bush, Ellyn Burstyn gets the rather ignominious honor of playing Barbara Bush, and James Cromwell (hearty huzzah!) is W's daddy. The news today is that, since Stone clearly likes insanely beautiful women, Thandie Newton will play Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, and Ioan Gruffudd will play W's brother in (making other people take up) arms, Tony Blair.

Which means there are still plenty of juicy roles to fill, including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Karl Rove. For Cheney you could certainly do worse than Jason Alexander, but I've got an even more solid TV choice to play Karl Rove.

Remember that "Halloween" episode of "The Office" in which Dwight was so proud of his Sith Lord costume? If there was a better dead ringer for Karl Rove, I haven't seen it, so I'm officially on the Rainn Wilson bandwagon.

And in slightly more serious "Office" news, the show does indeed return beginning this Thursday, so set your DVR. And, even better, NBC announced at its recent upfront that "The Office" will get 28 episodes next year, with the first four being hourlong specials, and then a spinoff to premiere after the Super Bowl. Bring it all on!

"Blindness" trailer

I'm fairly confident that we'll have some great movies before October this year, but if not Fernando Meirelles will be back to hopefully save the day.

"Blindness," Meirelles' follow-up to "The Constant Gardener" and the perfect "Cidade de Deus," is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by José Saramago and is about a city that is struck by a mysterious plague of, well, blindness. As you can see from what I believe is the first trailer below, it stars Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo (double huzzah!) and Gael Garcia Bernal (and, though she's not in the trailer, the lovely Alice Braga too.) Enjoy, and have a perfectly bearable Monday. Peace out.

Who won't be on "The Simpsons" this fall?

I saw Michael Moore's "Sicko" last weekend and was mildly disappointed. I'm still trying to put my finger on exactly why, so in the meantime here's the best news I could find this morning.

In a shameless attempt to ride the hype wave for this week's "Simpsons" movie, which I have decided will just be tons of funny (and of course I do have control over that), here's some details about characters and plots for the next season on Fox.

I have to admit, I've often been annoyed by the show in recent years. The writers often seem so distracted that they are unable to string together even a half hour's worth of coherent plot. When it's on target, however, it's still well worth watching.

In the season premiere, "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs" (Sept. 23), Homer saves Mr. Burns from drowning in a mall fountain (funny already) and is rewarded with a flight to Chicago on Burns' private plane. In the course of all this, guest star Lionel Richie somehow ends up serenading our hero with "Say You, Say Me," and then Homer enlists a life coach (Stephen Colbert) to help him find a job that offers him the use of a corporate jet.

In "I Don't Wanna Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" (Sept. 30), Marge convinces a bank robber (Steve Buscemi) to turn himself in with the promise that she will visit him in prison. When she doesn't, he escapes to find her.

This next one sounds like it's actually a dream from my own head. In "Husband and Knives," Milo (guest voice Jack Black) opens Coolsville Comics & Toys directly across the street from Comic Book Guy's store. At Milo's store, the kids get to meet cool folks like Alan Moore, Art Spiegleman and Daniel Clowes. Sheesh. I guess when you've been on the air for 19 years you really can do anything you want to.

Later in the season, Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce and John Mahoney are reunited playing Sideshow Bob, his brother and father, respectively, and Jon Stewart, Matt Dillon, Maya Rudolph, Dan Rather, Placido Domingo, Kurt Loder, Weird Al Yankovic, Beverly D'Angelo and Topher Grace also pay Springfield a visit.

In the meantime, I'll be imagining what's coming with Friday's movie instead of thinking about my actual job.

A "Family Guy" movie?

Can you imagine how many gags it would take to fill even a 90-minute "Family Guy" movie? It could quite possibly be joke overload, but I'd definitely be there to find out.

Creator Seth MacFarlane told the Hollywood Reporter that a flick could soon be in the works.

"We have been trying to figure out how to do that and the series at the same time without the series suffering," MacFarlane said. One possibility is having longtime writer Ricky Blitt (writer of one of the worst movies I've ever seen, "The Ringer," so take that into consideration) work on a script for the flick.

Whatever comes of it, MacFarlane couldn't resist taking a shot at the "Simpsons" movie and its rather insane (but still secret) plot: "I don't want to do 'The Griffins must save the world,' " he said.

Tucci landing killer role

These next three casting tidbits are just nearly perfect. Stanley Tucci is in negotiations to play the pivotal role of killer George Harvey in Peter Jackson's adaptation of "The Lovely Bones."

Rachel Weisz and Ryan Gosling are already on board as the parents of Susie Salmon (newcomer Saoirse Ronan), a 14-year-old who has been raped and killed by a neighbor she refers to as Mr. Harvey. Alice Sebold's best-selling 2002 novel is told from the perspective of Susie, who looks down on her family and Harvey from the afterlife.

It seems like this flick has been taking shape forever now, but it's apparently finally set to begin shooting in October in Pennsylvania and Jackson's native New Zealand.

Chow down on this!

According to the L.A. Times' movie blog, Seth Rogen isn't afraid to bring on a sidekick with even better comic timing than he has for "The Green Hornet."

According to the paper, Rogen let it slip at Comic-Con that he wants none other than Stephen Chow to play his sidekick Kato, who was played on TV by Bruce Lee. I can't see any possible way that wouldn't be tons of fun, but there's no word yet if Chow is willing. Here's hoping!

Possibly the world's most beautiful woman joins 'Che' pics

If you somehow haven't seen "Maria Full of Grace," drop whatever you have planned for tonight and get thee to a video store. It's that good.

Now, "Maria" star Catalina Sandino Moreno has signed on to Stephen Soderbergh's two upcoming Che Guevara flicks, "The Argentine" and "Guerilla," which are set to begin shooting Wednesday in Spain. Benicio Del Toro is set to play Che, and though I'm not sure which role the lovely Ms. Sandino Moreno will play, she falls squarely into the category of women I will watch do just about anything.


Yes, John Krasinski will get to be in a good movie

Justjared.com has what it says is the first pic from the screwball comedy "Leatherheads," which I've of course swiped. Though I'll take Mandy Moore over Renee Zellweger any day, it looks like John Krasinski will emerge from the wreckage of "License to Wed" unscathed.

In the fictionalized account of the origins of the NFL, George Clooney plays the coach of a wannabe pro football team in the 1920s and Krasinski plays the World War I hero/star football player. Ms. Zellweger gets caught between the two in some kind of love triangle or other.

Though he can be an awfully smug bastard, Clooney is also a damn fine movie director (and Soderbergh is on board to help with the script), so I have high hopes for this one.

New "No Country for Old Men" poster

I still have a day job, so I'll have to wrap this up quick, but here's a parting gift: a new poster for the Coens' upcoming take on Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for old Men." Enjoy, and have an entirely bearable Monday. Peace out.