Twin Peaks 2.0? Not hardly, but not awful either

ABC has indeed released the first 14 minutes of its upcoming take on oddity called "Happy Town," and while it is truly more than a little insulting to release this on or very near to the 20th anniversary of David Lynch's TV masterpiece, it's actually better than I thought it would be.

But more on that at the end. First up comes news from David Cross that's sure to upset "Arrested Development" fans, but considering all the bulls*** we've been fed about an "AD" movie, I really don't think you can blame him for being probably the much more realistic messenger. Here's what he had to say to TVsquad.com:

"(I)t's not going to happen. Way too much time it's been (since the show ended). I mean, there's so many people involved. Everyone's doing their own thing, you know. And everybody's aged. It's just not going to happen. I'm sure I speak for everybody when I say we'd love for it to happen, we'd love to work on it, but just I don't think ... not going to happen."

Unfortunately, everything he had to say there makes a lot of sense. So consider the idea dead at least for now, but in the meantime remember that series co-creators Mitch Hurwitz and James Vallely are set to return to Fox (I believe) next fall, with Gob Bluth in tow. Will Arnett is indeed to co-star in "Wilde Kingdom" as what sounds a whole lot like his "Arrested Development" character, a dude who falls for a do-gooder played by Felicity herself, Keri Russell. Even though "Sit Down Shut Up" was just the epitome of awful, I'm still betting this will be a winner.

After that today, it's all about stylish horror, both in the form of a new film from Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and a truly creepy visit from Werner Herzog.

First up the Fresnadillo news. If you saw what he did with "28 Weeks Later," a far more visceral affair than its predecessor, "28 Days Later," you know the man has a talent for directing great horror flicks. And now comes word that he's signed on to direct something called "Intruders," which will star Clive Owen and Daniel Bruhl, a.k.a. the "Nation's Pride" from Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds."

All that's known so far about the story is that it will be about an 11-year-old girl who is battling demons of some kind, but given the man's track record (he also directed the seriously satisfying Spanish thriller "Intacto"), this is definitely one to keep your eyes on.

And in something more immediate but at least as creepy, director Werner Herzog has taken a little time to put his own twisted spin on "Curious George," and since it was easily the funniest thing I found this morning, it's well worth a listen. If you like this, I believe he does his own take on "Madeline," too, which should be easy enough to find. My favorite line here has to be "George quickly learns a hard lesson about desire," but it's really all good. Enjoy.



OK, finally, though nothing can really properly follow that, ABC has indeed put the first 14 minutes of its upcoming series "Happy Town" online, and if the purpose was to get me to keep watching, mission accomplished, I suppose. It's not great, but it will apparently star "Angel" vet Amy Acker, never a bad thing, and the story about a mysterious killer does seem to hold some promise, even if the obvious attempt to emulate the magic of "Twin Peaks" is most likely going to be a constant annoyance. Anyways, enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

A new Wizard of Oz? You've got to be f%$#ing kidding me! Plus, a new Drive-By Truckers album

I've been pretty much amazed by the reaction to Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," with critics pretty much split right down the middle. Well, you can certainly count me in the pro category, something you can rarely say about Burton's remakes.

Unlike "Planet of the Apes," which was just a lifeless mess, and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which he just made into a perverted pile of trash, I found "Alice in Wonderland" to be nothing but charming, largely because Burton restrained all his worst impulses. I was a little worried when Alice first managed to walk out into Wonderland (or, as he calls it, Underland) and there were those two little flying creatures battling, but he mostly managed to resist cluttering the world with too many oddities and just let the story tell itself.

What comes next, however, just might be way beyond the pale. This is just at the beginning of rumor stage, but when it's this bad, I feel duty bound to spread it around (as if I would really have any power to stop it.)

There really does seem to be no limits to what will be engulfed by the 3-D beast, so someday I should probably manage to stop being surprised by this lunacy, but I just assumed no one would have the hubris to think they could remake "The Wizard of Oz," right? Apparently not.

According to the Los Angeles Times, with Harry Potter set to end soon and considering the rather amazing opening weekend for "Alice," Warner Bros. is seriously eyeing jumpstarting one of two updated "Wizard of Oz" scripts knocking about to make it a 3-D spectacle. Remember, I'm just the messenger here.

One project, called "Oz," is being pushed by Temple Hill, the folks behind a little series called "Twilight," and has a script by Darren Lemke, a writer on the upcoming "Shrek Forever After." OK, bad, but maybe not awful. But wait ...

The second potential project, which seems to be paralyzing my fingers so I have trouble even writing it, skews a lot more twisted, with "A History of Violence" scribe Josh Olson penning a version that focuses on - yes, really - a granddaughter of Dorothy who returns to Oz to somehow fight evil. Not surprisingly. "Spawn" creator Todd MacFarlane, who has had a twisted Dorothy fetish for years now, would be involved in this in some kind of producing capacity.

Now, I can certainly understand the temptation here. A potential tentpole with the perfect heroine, and all that nifty 3-D to boot, but really? Where to start ...

My main beef with all of this - and believe me, I could go on for quite a while - is that the original "The Wizard of Oz," in an admittedly antiquated way, is plenty twisted itself already. It certainly doesn't need to be any darker or odder or anything else than it already is.

If anyone has a lot more power than me, please stop this as soon as possible. And from here on out today, it's all good news, I promise, including two simply sensational musical offerings at the end.

De Niro to play Vince Lombardi

If you're gonna do a grand sports biopic, you probably can't find a better match in my book than Robert De Niro and Vince Lombardi, the Green Bay Packers coach who led his team to five NFL titles. De Niro has signed on to play the role on the big screen for ESPN Films, with a script to come from Eric Roth, who wrote the screenplay for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

Now, I've made clear my pretty intense dislike (not hate, note) of that David Fincher flick, but I seriously doubt Roth will be able to "Gump" this up the way he did Fincher's movie.

And as for ESPN Films, I've tuned in for their TV film series when the subject interests me. The Len Bias flick was pretty great until it veered off course at the end to proselytize about the legalization of drugs, and that little movie about the U. of Miami was nothing but fun. The flick about Jimmy the Greek was intriguing, but that ridiculous voice over that was supposed to represent the voice of the oddsmaker almost made it unwatchable.

What all the TV offerings have had in common, however, is that they're about as shallow as a half-filled kiddie pool, but I'd have to think Roth will get into a much more fleshed-out portrait of Lombardi here, and I'll certainly turn out to see it when this hits in that dead weekend before the Super Bowl in 2012 (great timing there.)

Two seriously funny ladies returning to TV

The only thing missing from the great news that Will Arnett was reteaming with "Arrested Development" co-creators Mitchell Hurwitz and Jim Vallely for a Fox sitcom to be called "Wilde Kingdom" was word of who would have the rather onerous task of being subjected to his obnoxious advances.

Well, it seems that Felicity herself, Keri Russell, is about to sign on to play the co-lead, which would be nothing but cool. In the show, Arnett would play a Beverly Hill jackass (natch) who falls in love with a charitable, tree-hugging woman (Russell) who can't stand his lifestyle or values.

Sounds like fun, and really, just the further adventures of Gob Bluth, and what could be wrong with that?

In other TV news at least tangentially related to "Arrested Development," Judy Greer has been tapped to star opposite David Krumholtz in another Fox comedy pilot, "Tax Man."

In the show, Greer is set to play a former Morgan Stanley secretary, nicknamed "the Terminator," who joins an IRS office in Fresno, Calif., staffed by enthusiastic eccentrics.

Greer is seriously funny in just about anything she does, and though Krumholtz has made a steady living for years now on "Numbers," which I've never seen, you may remember him from way back when as Neal Schweiber's big brother Barry on "Freaks and Geeks," so this is definitely one worth keeping an eye out for next fall.

New music video from She & Him

I know at least one semi-regular visitor to this site, Bob Connally, is jazzed about there being a second She & Him album out this week, and I am too.

For anyone who doesn't know, She & Him is a nifty little collaboration between Zooey Deschanel and plugged-in folkie M. Ward, and their first album, "Volume One," was just thoroughly charming, so I'm looking forward to more of the same with "Volume Two," which is due out March 23 (not yesterday, as I was hoping before an alert reader corrected me.) In the meantime, enjoy this first music video for the song "In the Sun," which with Deschanel and friends dancing their way through high school hallways is just a perfectly sweet diversion. Enjoy.



And, much better, next week will bring the release of a new Drive-By Truckers' album, "The Big To-Do." Even better than that is that it's currently streaming for free, and all you have to do to hear it is click on the player below. My first impressions? It's a solid rock record that falls somewhere between good and great. It could certainly use more Mike Cooley and less Shonna Tucker, but the Cooley song "Birthday Boy" and Patterson Hood tracks "Drag the Lake Charlie" and "The Wig He Made Her Wear" are first rate. Enjoy, and have a perfectly endurable Wednesday. Peace out.

Vive la femme: The best female performances of 2007

Though there is some truly wicked cool movie news out there today, the best being that Sacha Baron Cohen will be playing Abbie Hoffman if Steven Spielberg ever gets around to making "The Trial of the Chicago Seven" with Aaron Sorkin and that Tyler Perry - yes, Tyler Perry - will be the commander of the Starfleet Academy in JJ Abrams' take on "Star Trek."

But here today, it's all about my favorite female performances of 2007, with the provisos that I have yet to see Keira Knightley in "Atonement" or Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose," and that I care little to make distinctions between supporting and lead roles.

This starts the trio (at least) of best of 2007 posts, women today, men tomorrow and my favorite movies of 2007 on Monday (with perhaps something thrown in for the weekend, but with nothing but crap opening this week, that looks kinda doubtful right now.) So, with only the further warning that this list is only in alphabetical order rather in any order of preference, here goes:

Markéta Irglová, "Once"
How cool would it be if this Czech actress got an Academy Award nomination for playing the character simply named "Girl" in John Carney's utterly charming little movie? Along with Glen Hansard, she's the key to making us believe that the moment they shared was truly magical, and I at least certainly did.

Catherine Keener, "Into the Wild"
What gives the tale of lost soul Christopher McCandless most of its poignancy is the performances of the people who tried the hardest to save him from his fate, most notably Ms. Keener and the great Hal Holbrook. Her portrayal of a slab city hippie with a tortured past is one that just stuck in my mind for a long time after watching Sean Penn's great movie.

Jennifer Jason Leigh, "Margot at the Wedding"
From talking to people who have seen Noah Baumbach's 2007 movie, most recently my brother, I'm getting the distinct impression that I'm just about the only person who loved it almost unconditionally. I just thoroughly enjoyed watching Nicole Kidman and, even more so, Jennifer Jason Leigh (a k a Mrs. Baumbach) lay out all their neuroses and use them to do battle.

Laura Linney, "The Savages"
I just love Laura Linney in movies about estranged families, probably because she made such a lasting impression in one of my favorite movies of all time, "You Can Count on Me." She's just as good in this funny and very moving little movie by Tamara Jenkins, which will hopefully be getting a wide roll out sometime soon.

Kelly Macdonald, "No Country for Old Men"
The main reason it took me so long to remember where I had seen her before is that, after hearing the twang she takes on as Carla Jean Moss in the Coen brothers' best movie in many years, I would never have guess that Ms. Macdonald is Scottish. You may remember her as Diane in "Trainspotting" or more recently as Gina in "The Girl in the Cafe," and hopefully she'll get the acclaim she deserves with a Supporting Actress statue on Oscar night (if we even have one this year.)

Chiara Mastroianni, "Persepolis" (voice)
I'm not sure you could possibly have a better pedigree than being the daughter of Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve. Ms. Mastroianni, who I learned from her IMDB trivia was once the longtime paramour of Benicio Del Toro, gives this delightful animated tale much of its spirit in her voice work as the teen and adult Marjane Satrapi, the Iranian woman at its center.

Ellen Page
Yes, there is room for the "It" girl of 2007 on my list, and given that there's nothing else worth a crap opening wide this week, I just might go see "Juno" again this weekend. Her portrayal of Juno MacGuffin stands out in a movie full of strong performances, particularly by Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons as Juno's parents, and announces the arrival of a real star (for those who missed her actual arrival in "Hard Candy.")

Keri Russell, "Waitress"
It normally just annoys me to no end when movies supposedly set in the South refuse to cast Southerners anywhere near the lead roles, but valley girl Russell is good enough as the late Adrienne Shelly's titular "Waitress" to transcend all my bias baggage. If you've somehow missed this one so far, it's surely out on DVD by now, so treat yourself to a lighter-than-air romance sure to leave a smile on your face.

Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
Long before she walked away with most of the acclaim (and deservedly so) in Ben Affleck's directing debut, Amy Ryan had a recurring (and still going) role as port officer Beatrice Russell on "The Wire," which I mention mainly to remind those who are only casual HBO subscribers that you'll want to renew your subscription before the greatest TV show of all time returns for its fifth and final season Sunday night.

Jill Scott, "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?"
The R&B diva took on a somewhat thankless task in one of Tyler Perry's two 2007 movies, playing the perpetual doormat who, of course, gets to shine by movie's end. It was a real breakout performance in a year not exactly crammed full of great roles for black women.

Honorable mention: Helena Bonham Carter, "Sweeney Todd"; Jenna Fischer, "Walk Hard"; Katherine Heigl, "Knocked Up"; and Anna Kendrick, "Rocket Science"

So, there you have it. Please feel free to sound off with any great ladies of 2007 that I have snubbed, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.