Great things coming for the kid in all of us - especially me - from Scorsese and Aardman

Actually, the photo above is one of six or so album cover creations by Next Movie in honor of the release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," which you may have heard of by now. You can see them all by clicking here, but I just chose the Snape/Elvis because it's an easy classic and Alan Rickman just rules.

And before we get into the aforementioned great things for kids, both in spirit and in actuality, there's some news out there today from 24 Frames that, while it does involve Santa Claus, really couldn't have less to do with younguns. And if you've seen the original movie, you already know what I'm talking about.

We've been on a pretty solid winning streak for R-rated comedies lately ("Bridesmaids" and "Bad Teacher" have been my favorites this summer), but for me, "Bad Santa" is really just about the best one of the last 10 years or so, mostly because of its joyously unfiltered and thoroughly funny filth, with a genuine holiday spirit somehow still running through the whole thing.

And now, this morning, comes word that Dimension Films has commissioned two competing scribes, Johnny Rosenthal and John Phillips (neither of whom I know anything about), to pen scripts for a "Bad Santa 2," with the winner hopefully getting made and the other one, if it's not just horrible, possibly saved for a "Bad Santa 3." Sequels can often turn my stomach as much as anyone, but I'm a true "Bad Santa" believer, so I can just say bring it on. And every day is really a little bit better with a little "Bad Santa," so here's just a taste of veryfunnylittleman Tony Cox and the late, great Bernie Mac (in, don't say I didn't warn you, a truly and blissfully foul-mouthed clip) before we move on to today's main courses. Enjoy.



OK, moving on to today's main clips (and just about as far away from "Bad Santa" as you can get), the honor of following up that truly foul bit goes to Martin Scorsese, who has really delivered a winner with this first trailer for "Hugo," even if he has obnoxiously shortened the title of one of my favorite books from "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" (was that really too long? Sheesh.)

I'm hardly a moralist, even when it comes to kids' movies, and I wouldn't be a very good one if I ever wanted to be, but along with less fart jokes, what they could really use is much less product placement and more of the three W's, wonder, whimsy and wacky. Well, when it comes to the first two, I haven't been as psyched for a young folks' movie as I am for "Hugo" since Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are," which I still watch a couple of times a year and will never tire of. Except for the awful music, this trailer for Scorsese's Thanksgiving flick starring Asa Butterfield, Chloe Moretz, Jude Law and Sacha Baron Cohen gets just about everything else right, and I can promise it will be the only time in the foreseeable future that I'll spring for anything in 3-D. Enjoy.



And when it comes to the wacky, it really doesn't get much better than the claymation offerings from Aardman, best of all the "Wallace & Gromit" collection. For anyone who may not know, a fire struck the main warehouse storing most of Aardman's best stuff in 2005, wiping out, as Nick park put it at the time, the studio's "entire history."

Since then, however, and with a big assist from Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman has rebounded in a big way, and soon (well, March 12 in the U.S. of A., so fairly soon) will be back on the big screen with "The Pirates! Band of Misfits." As you'll see from the first trailer below, it's as loopy as ever, and somehow stars Hugh Grant as the voice of Pirate Captain. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. And if you'll excuse me, I'm off to do some swimming and then try to squeeze into a matinee of that "Harry Potter" flick. Peace out.

Harry Potter, X-Men and much more on a jam-packed Thursday

Before we get into some truly fun trailers for smashes coming this summer and fall, there's some other movie news out there, and for me it all starts with the news that "Rabbit Hole" playwright David Lindsay-Abaire is headed back to the big screen.

If you haven't seen "Rabbit Hole," it's out now on DVD, and there really are very few recent movies I can recommend higher. It features a sublime performance from Nicole Kidman and just tells a great story very well, with touches of wicked humor throughout.

And now, Lindsay-Abaire will have another great leading lady to work with as he adapts his current Broadway hit, "Good People," for the big screen. Frances McDormand, who plays the lead role on Broadway, will do the same for the movie.

So, what's it about? Well, it's set in Boston's working-class Southie neighborhood, and McDormand plays Margie Walsh, a high school dropout and single mother of a mentally disabled daughter struggling to make ends meet. On Broadway at least, Tate Donovan plays a successful former classmate of Margie's who enters into a relationship with her, but no word yet on whether he will reprise that role for the movie.

"Rabbit Hole" focused on similarly odd relationships, so this should be a real winner. And just in case you need any more convincing, here's a clip of McDormand in the play on Broadway. Definitely stay tuned for more on this.



In other news, you know, I can really take or leave Sacha Baron Cohen. Like most of the world, I loved "Borat," but I couldn't even bring myself to watch "Bruno" (and if I'm somehow missing on some kind of comic masterpiece with that one, please let me know.)

His next collaboration with co-conspirator and "Seinfeld" veteran Larry Charles, however, sounds like something I'll definitely be into, especially since he's whittled his candidates for the female lead to, for my money, probably the funniest two women in movies, plus one other solid choice from TV.

The duo are working on "The Dictator," "inspired" by "Zabibah and the King," a novel purportedly written by Saddam Hussein. Cohen would play dual roles of a goat herder and eventually the titular dictator, and now comes word that he's down to Anna Faris, Kristen Wiig and Gillian Jacobs to play the female lead.

Anyone who's been here before knows that I'm extremely partial to Faris and Wiig, but am a big fan of "Community," too, so any of these comediennes would make what already sounds like a very funny movie even better. But for my money, if I had to choose, I'll take Anna Faris every time.

OK, now on to some great clips for a Thursday morning, starting with a couple of trailers for sure-to-be summer smashes. In fact, if I were a betting man (and I no longer am), I'd put my money on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" being the highest-grossing flick of this summer. My favorite among both the books and movies will always be "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," but part one of the finale was fantastic, too, and I can't wait to see the saga finally come to a close July 15 (though, for me at least, certainly not in 3D!) Enjoy the trailer.



Next up comes the first trailer I've seen that really has me thinking that Matthew Vaughn will deliver something fairly great when "X-Men: First Class" really launches Summer when it drops June 3. Enjoy what should be the final trailer for it.

Does the world really need another "300"? I really don't, but even if this trailer for Tarsem Singh's "Immortals" seems to promise just about exactly that, I still have enough faith in Singh to be looking forward to this. If you've never seen his "The Fall," there really are few better examples of truly imaginative filmmaking, and I recommend watching it as soon as you can. And with an eclectic cast that features Superman Henry Cavill, Freida Pinto and somehow Mickey Rourke, too, this should be nothing but fun when it finally drops Nov. 11. Enjoy the first trailer I know of for it.



And finally today, tonight will indeed bring the final appearance of Steve Carell's Michael Scott on "The Office," and NBC has stretched the episode out to 50 minutes to make room for it (though I'm looking forward to the also-extended episode of "Parks and Recreation" that will follow just as much.) The run-up to his departure has been some of the show's funniest stuff in years, and tonight should be no different. I probably won't watch it until next week, though, because today I'm off to the Atlanta Film Festival 365 for the first of two weekends, and really looking forward to it. Enjoy this short clip from tonight's episode of "The Office," and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Remember good, old-fashioned books?

Repackaged TV shows, comic books (too often, it seems) and even board games (yes, really). It certainly seems like anything can be fodder for movies these days, but far too often the most obvious source gets overlooked: Good, old-fashioned books.

This year, three books that I've enjoyed to varying degrees are coming to the big screen, and it starts this week with "Water for Elephants."

On paper at least, Sara Gruen's popular novel, being directed by Richard Lawrence (director of "I Am Legend" and a whole lot of music videos before that), seems like it would be a hard one to screw up in movie form, because the story is just so naturally epic. And with Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, Christoph Waltz and the great Hal Holbrook, it features a first rate cast, too, so here's hoping it all works out.

Another wildly popular book that is making the leap to movies this year is Kathryn Stockett's "The Help," but in this case, I'm hoping the flick will be a lot better than the novel. While I didn't hate Stockett's work, I found it to be full of stock characters drawn in broad strokes of black and white (and that, despite the book's subject matter, has nothing to with race). As a movie, however, it has great potential.

In this case, too, the story of a young Southern woman who led a group of black maids to find the voice for their grievances has a perfect cast, led by solidly funny lady Emma Stone in the main role of Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan and Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark, the leader of the maids. Keep an eye out for this as counter programming to all the super hero flicks and late summer comedies Aug. 12. Here's the first trailer I know of for it:



And finally, from a book intended for readers much younger than me that nonetheless managed to thoroughly engross me, Martin Scorsese will bring Brian Selznick's young adult novel "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" to the big screen Nov. 23 as the shortened "Hugo Cabret" (and, unfortunately, in 3-D, but I think I've lost that battle already).

The magical story is about a boy who lives a secret life inside the walls of a Paris train station. There, he discovers one of French filmmaker George Méliès' automatons, which were mechanical, wind-up figures, and that's when the tale really gets fun.

For the movie, young Hugo is played by Asa Butterfield, with his friend Isabelle being played by Chloe Moretz (a Georgian and the unforgettable Hit-Girl from "Kick-Ass") and the station inspector being played by Sacha Baron Cohen. Even in awful 3-D, I really can't see anyway that Scorsese can make this into anything but a completely fun holiday flick.

I always try to picture the books I'm reading as movies (Williams Boyd's spy saga "Restless" would make a great one, but no one's jumped on that yet), so here's hoping they can continue to inspire great filmmakers in this increasingly digital world. Peace out.

Hulu Plus: Why in the world would anyone pay for this?

The rumored day that Hulu goes to pay-per-view is almost here as the TV-online service is previewing its subscription service - Hulu Plus - and for so many reasons it's pretty much predestined to fail.

Before I get into why, here are the specs. Hulu Plus will offer content not available on the free site, including full current seasons of certain shows, plus all the past seasons of shows like "Glee" and "House" (those were the two most often mentioned in the write up I saw, so I suppose Fox is full in here.)

OK, fair enough, but does anyone else see the huge problem here? If you subscribe to Netflix, as I do, you probably well know that, for the same $9.99 price tag (I think - it may have gone up without me noticing), you can get not only the two or three movies at a time mailed to your house, but also a seemingly always-increasing library of TV shows you can watch on your computer (sound familiar?).

Even better than that is that, in perusing the offerings in the latter category, they certainly seem tailor-made to my tastes. I've recently enjoyed past seasons of "30 Rock," "The Office," "Friday Night Lights" and even somehow "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" too. Perhaps best of all, they have the current season of "Party Down" for all of you who don't get Starz, and even without Jane Lynch, that show is almost as wickedly funny as it was in season one.

So, if you can get Netflix's movie library (supplemented very well by the documentary offerings of Docurama) plus its TV on DVD content via computer content, why in the world would you pay the same price for simply the TV offerings, and surely not as much content at that?

The only thing that stood out in the Hulu press release is that you can stream content to your cell phone. Wow. Now if I ever a) feel the need to buy a cell phone or b) want to watch TV on a screen so small it will make my eyes bleed, I know where to go.

OK, enough of that. There has to be some actual good movie news out there today, right? Yes, and it starts with Martin Scorsese's adaptation of one of my favorite books by Brian Selznick, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret."

As production starts this week on that December 2011 flick, it's just been announced that Jude Law and Reel Fanatic fave Ray Winstone have joined an impressive cast that already included Sacha Baron Cohen, Sir Ben Kingsley, Hit-Girl Chloe Moretz and Asa Butterfield (who had the misfortune of starring in the simply dreadful "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" - meh.)

The story itself is about an orphaned boy (Butterfield) who's living in the walls of a Paris train station, where an encounter with a broken-down machine leads him into the world of silent filmmaker George Méliès (Kingsley) and his automatons. Baron Cohen will play the station inspector and Moretz the young female lead, but nothing is known yet about the roles Law or Winstone play.

Even if this is being filmed in 3-D (why in the world?), it's still easily one the movies I'm most looking forward to for 2011.

And in one more bit of news before we get into the videos which, yes, feature a rant from John Cleese, there's a music biopic in the works that has caught my eye.

How do you spark interest in this fairly tired genre? Well casting a great actress or actor to play an interesting subject is certainly the best way. Casting Chiwetel Ejiofor to play Fela Kuti (which has so far only happened in my overactive imagination) would certainly be one way, as would casting Peter Sarsgaard to play bluegrass legend Bill Monroe, which has actually just happened in the real world.

I really can't see the kids en masse getting into bluegrass, but Sarsgaard is easily one of my favorite actors (witness his truly skeevy performance in "An Education" for the most reason example of why), and this aging dude digs that high and lonesome sound, so count me as intrigued by this.

OK, since there's no World Cup futbol until Friday morning, how better to fill the void than this classic rant from John Cleese about the differences between futbol and American football? I love the latter far too much, and unlike Cleese find it to be plenty full of creativity, but there's no denying that this clip, which I found in the latest Roger Ebert Club newsletter, brings the funny. Enjoy.



Until I found out otherwise yesterday, I just assumed that no one would dare open opposite "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," but it seems that one M. Night Shyamalan is brave and foolish enough to enter that fight with "The Last Airbender." And, I have to say, even though M. Night has now delivered more stinkers than winners, he'll still be getting my movie money (in 2-D) this weekend, partly because I love the Nickelodeon "Avatar: The Last Airbender" series it's at least loosely based on, and just out of sheer curiosity. To get ready for it, enjoy this clip of the Slumdog Millionaire engaging in a battle of the elements with some young lady whose name I don't know.



And finally, in what might be - even with John Cleese included - a case of saving the best for last, here are the first five minutes of "The Disappearance of Alice Creed," a crime drama set to drop in at least some American cities in early August. As you'll see from the clip below, it stars Reel Fanatic fave Eddie Marsan as one of two ex-cons who plot to kidnap the daughter of a rich businessman. This could easily devolve into your average torture porn, especially with the rather beguiling Gemma Arterton playing the victim, but judging from the methodical nature of the beginning (I can't do anything about the script at the bottom - sorry), I think director J. Blakeson is up to a lot more than that here. Enjoy, and have a perfectly endurable Wednesday. Peace out.

Who should play Frank Sinatra?

Before we get into the main orders of business, I have to say that Sports Illustrated has just conducted what has to be the most thoroughly unnecessary poll in history.

As I was driving home from work yesterday, the first thing I heard was Freddie Coleman saying "Oriole fans deserve so much better." While that statement could very easily be applied to any number of developments, in this case it was the news that Sports Illustrated had conducted a poll to determine that Peter Angelos is the worst owner in baseball.

My only thought about that was, were there really any other competitors? I mean, if the question were "worst world leader," I'd imagine Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot would all have their partisans, but in baseball there has never, ever been a worse owner than Angelos.

I'd go so far, in fact, to go ahead and call him the worst owner of all time, in any sport. A few members of my small Facebook cabal have posited that the Raiders' Al Davis is even worse, but I have to differ. Davis at least has the excuse of being certifiably insane, but Angelos is just mean, cheap and stupid, and there can't possibly be a worse combination.

Anyways, enough about that. At least we're not the Nationals. And since I haven't mentioned the fate of "Chuck" in a while, it's certainly worth an update. Although I had heard NBC wouldn't announce anything until May 19 (next Tuesday), the Hollywood Reporter seems to think that NBC will finalize its lineup by tomorrow.

I still have no idea which way this will go, but there was one promising sign this week as the network passed on "Legally Mad," a new pilot from David E. Kelley, giving it one more prime-time hour that hasn't already been swallowed up by that glutton Jay Leno. Here's one other possibly promising nugget from the Hollywood Reporter article:

And of course, Peacock is still mum on "Chuck," "Medium" and "Law & Order," although no one would be surprised to see all three return. "Chuck" is already appearing on schedules being floated.

Keep hope alive, of course, but here today it's supposed to be all about what would have to be called the ultimate harmonic convergence when it comes to music biopics: Martin Scorsese and Frank Sinatra.

It seems that Universal Pictures and Mandalay Pictures are teaming up for "Sinatra" and have brought on Scorsese to direct and produce. There's no question that it's a perfect fit, given the clear affection of each for both music and the Mafia. The big question, which Variety said has yet to be settled, is who would play Ol' Blue Eyes himself.

Now, the obvious choice would, of course, be Leonardo DiCaprio, who has played the lead in Scorsese's last four features: "Gangs of New York," "The Aviator," "The Departed" and the upcoming "Shutter Island." I'm sure Leo would be just fine in this, because he's proven to be great in anything Scorsese pitches at him, but I have one more name in mind that would be even better: James Franco.

Now, anybody who's been here probably knows that, thanks to "Freaks and Geeks" and everything he's done since, I have something bordering on an unhealthy heteromancrush on Mr. Franco, but I just can't help it. He's just that good, and he certainly has that wildness in his eyes that would be perfect for capturing Frank.

There was a time a few years ago when we were just impaled with a seemingly never-ending series of music biopics, but now that that has cooled down considerably, I'd certainly say the time is right for this, and I'll be sure to pass it on as soon as I hear anymore about the casting.

Jekyll and Hyde vs. ... Jekyll and Hyde?

When the news broke a few days ago that Keanu Reeves was gonna star in a new version of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson tale "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" I just let it pass without comment because the best I would have been able to come up with would have been meh.

But as with any odd Hollywood story, these things always come at least in pairs, as with the dueling "Sherlock Holmes" flicks. On that front, Guy Ritchie is prepping his version for a Christmas release starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, while some wing of the Apatow camp is at least beginning plans for its own, sure-to-be-much-sillier take with Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen.

Now, with Jekyll and Hyde, there's likewise rival projects in the works as well. To the already announced Reeves-starring take to be adapted by Justin Haythe ("Revolutionary Road"), you can now add one from the truly odd Abel Ferrera to star Forest Whitaker and 50 Cent, presumably as the two sides of the bad doctor's personality.

Even though Ferrera plans to "contemporize" the tale, with Forest on board my money's still on the latter project to be the much more interesting.

Trailer two-fer

And now, for anyone who's made it this far, a couple of trailers as a reward. The first is just a teaser featuring a bit of vintage Madea ("I don't want no po po at my do do") from Tyler Perry's fall flick, "I Can Do Bad All By Myself," which along with Madea is set to star Taraji P. Henson (huzzah!), Mary J. Blige and even Gladys Knight. I concede that Madea is just a thoroughly silly character, but "Madea Goes to Jail" was a surprisingly entertaining affair, and Tyler Perry has yet to make a movie that I didn't enjoy, so I'm definitely still on board.



The second trailer is for a much grander undertaking, Rob Marshall's take on "Nine," the musical based on Frederico Fellini's autobiographical "8 1/2." With Penelope Cruz, Daniel Day Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Dame Judy Dench and many more starring in what you can see from the trailer will be a truly epic production, when it finally comes out at Thanksgiving, I'll certainly say bring it on!



And finally, a parting gift

This one comes from Wilco to me to you. After it's new, self-titled album, leaked onto the Internets last night, the band decided to go ahead and let it out themselves for free streaming on their Web site. To give it a listen, click here. I've only listened to it once, and will need several more spins to offer my true opinion, but my instant verdict is that it's unsurprisingly a pop classic. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Thursday. Peace out.

Disney's return to 2-D animation? Color me (so far) impressed

When I first heard the news that Pixar was going to do all of its movies in vaunted 3.D, I have to admit it made me more than a little sad.

It wasn't just that this extremely broad embrace was more than a little bit of exaggeration. It's also that this just seems like a loss of innocence, of animated movies containing old-fashioned magic and being aimed - as corny as this sounds - at the kid in all of us.

So you can count me as rather psyched for Disney's "The Princess and the Frog," coming at Christmas and starring "Dreamgirl" Anika Noni Rose. As you can see from the trailer below, after a thoroughly unnecessary intro listing the various accomplishments of Disney (in case we somehow all didn't know already), it indeed makes New Orleans look like a magical place.

My only beef with any of what I've seen or heard so far is that they couldn't find anyone but Randy Newman to do the score. Having just bought a copy of Allen Toussaint's first strictly "jazz" album, "The Bright Mississippi," I can attest that that great pianoman or, for that matter, any number of other New Orleans musicians, would have been a much more inspired choice.

Anyways, enjoy the trailer, and continue after that if you wish for two more clips that deliver varying degrees of funny.



Sacha Baron Cohen and the limits of funny

Anyone who's seen "Borat" knows that for Sacha Baron Cohen there really isn't even anything like an "envelope" to push, but from what I've seen of his upcoming flick, "Bruno," I think it's gonna still manage to shock (and hopefully make people laugh too.)

Below is a clip from his "Meinspace" page in which Bruno talks about recruiting "Friends," and describes the specific kinds he's looking for (and talks about, just to warn you, his bleached ******* and how he's a chocoholic.)

After that is the first trailer for "Whatever Works," which is Woody Allen's movie starring Larry David but unfortunately seems to contain the broadest and easiest kinds of jokes about Southerners and gay people. Here's hoping this is just an attempt to get this to play as wide as possible (maybe even in my rather Southern little corner of the world), and that the movie itself will prove to be a whole lot more satisfying. And with that short report, I'm out.

Meinspace Vassup!

Remember Sofia Coppola? She's back ...

It's really funny that this turned up this morning, since one of the many things that has passed through my too-active imagination recently while it was trying to avoid any actual work was what in the world ever happened to Sofia Coppola?

It's been three years since "Marie Antoinette," and I have to say that, for me at least, that one just left a bad taste in my mouth. I dragged my brother to see it in Amsterdam while we were taking a side trip from the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and perhaps if we had sampled a bit of the local product beforehand I would have enjoyed it more. As it was, the flick had style to spare, but it was certainly signifying nothing, and I just couldn't get into it one bit.

All that, said, however, I still have a lot of time for Sofia Coppola, because I count her first two flick among my favorites, and of how many directors can you really say you like two-thirds of their movies? "The Virgin Suicides" and "Lost in Translation" were both much more intimate affairs than "Marie Antoinette," and each represented just a moment in time as much as they did a dream. And it sounds like what she's up to now (yes, I will get to it very soon) could be a return to form.

Much as "Lost in Translation" centered on the Park Hyatt hotel in Tokyo, Coppola's next flick, "Somewhere," will take place at the iconic Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. Stephen Dorff will play "a bad-boy actor stumbling through a life of excess," and Elle Fanning (who I have to assume is some kind of relation to Dakota) will play his daughter who visits to interrupt his reverie.

The flick, which was also written by Coppola, is set to start shooting in June in L.A. and Italy, so to that I can only say welcome back.

Why I love Blackfilm.com

Well, there are many reasons, actually, but a big one is that they simply cover movies that get ignored by most of the world earlier and much more extensively.

Case in point: I had never heard of a flick called "Next Day Air," a comedy set to be released very wide May 8. Directed by rap video helmer Benny Boom, it's an ensemble comedy that's clearly in the vein of "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and starring Donald Faison of "Scrubs" and Mos Def, easily one of my favorite actors.

Why in the world wouldn't I be interested in that? Anyways, enjoy the trailer, and certainly go see this one when it comes out soon.



"It's just a dragon-looking wild thing"

Can you imagine how happy Warner Brothers must have been when they found out their "Where the Wild Things Are" flick was gonna get a free endorsement of sorts from no less than Barack Obama? The Spike Jonze flick is finally set to come out in October, but in the meantime, enjoy this seriously fun reading of my favorite children's book by Mr. Obama at the White House Easter Egg Roll, and I defy you to not just smile broadly.



"Bruno" somehow gets an R rating

Even after pointing out that it still has "pervasive, strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity and language" (one can certainly hope so!), the MPAA has still rescinded the NC-17 rating given to Sacha Baron Cohen's next flick, centering on the Austrian fashion reporter Bruno, and awarded it an R rating. This is one I'm certainly looking forward to seeing in July, but for now just enjoy this new promotional pic and have a perfectly pleasant weekend. If you'll excuse me, I'm off to the Atlanta Film Festival 365, and rather excited about it. Peace out.

" I gave him like a traditional African name, O.J." - brace yourself for Bruno

Actually, the funniest thing I could find out there that's not about Sacha Baron Cohen is that an NBC affiliate in Boston - Jay Leno's hometown - is refusing to air his upcoming five-day-a-week primetime show, saying that an hour of its local news would simply attract more viewers at 10 p.m.

Here's hoping that starts a movement. Now, I really have nothing against Mr. Leno personally, but I haven't found him to be anything approaching funny for many a year now, and I just can't imagine who would want to tune in for five hours a week of him "interviewing" people. That's simply overkill on an epic scale, and it must be stopped now.

And in other news before I get to the main attraction, there's evidence that two movies I wasn't sure would ever get made are actually getting started. First and most exciting comes news that principal photography started in late March for "Withnail and I" director Bruce Robinson's take on Hunter S. Thompson's first novel, "The Rum Diary." I had heard rumors that Johnny Depp would be in for this for what seems like years, which he is, but I still wasn't sure it would ever really come together.

The story is an autobiographical one about Thompson's days as a newspaper reporter in Puerto Rico, and it's attracted a great little cast to surround Mr. Depp. Richard Jenkins (resounding huzzah!) will play Depp's editor at the San Juan Star and Aaron Eckhart will play a businessman involved in shady property deals. Round it all off with young Amber Heard as Eckhart's fiancee who catches Depp's eye, and you've certainly got something juicy in the works.

The second flick is one that might only appeal to me when it's finished, but I really like Noah Baumbach's unfiltered fountain of dysfunction, and I'm glad he's still working even though just about everyone (except me) just crapped all over "Margot at the Wedding."

Production began last week in Los Angeles on writer/director Baumbach's as-yet-untitled next film, which will, rather amazingly, star Ben Stiller.

The story, conceived by Baumbach and his much prettier half, Jennifer Jason Leigh, is about a man (Stiller) who's at a crossroads in his life and ends up housesitting at his brother's L.A. home, where he begins pitching woo to his brother's assistant, an aspiring singer played by Greta Gerwig. That doesn't sound all that promising on paper, but I really like Baumbach's claustrophobic style of filmmaking, so I'll definitely check out what he comes up with here.

OK, on to the main event. I've posted videos on here before that were certainly "not safe for work," but certainly BE WARNED THIS TIME. It shouldn't be terribly surprising to anyone that what Sacha Baron Cohen has cooked up for his second feature film as the rather seriously gay fashion reporter "Bruno" will be just about as offensive as imaginable, but I'm not sure any more words from me can really prepare you for this. Just please, seriously, make sure no one's standing behind you when you watch this trailer, which includes, among other things, a naked dominatrix and a whole lot of laughs.

Enjoy, and please, please, please go see Greg Mottola's "Adventureland" this weekend (as I will Saturday afternoon) so it doesn't simply just get flattened by "Fast & Furious." Peace out.

Bruno - International Red Band Trailer | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

R.I.P. Andy Hallett, a bit of news, and the DVD pick of the week

Now this is just amazingly sad. When I saw this name, I have to confess it didn't mean anything to me at first, but if you watched "Angel" during it's five-season run, you're certainly familiar with Andy Hallett.

Hallett played Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, a k a Lorne, "The Host" who specialized in reading people's auras as he induced them to sing karaoke (yes, I know that sounds incredibly silly, but awfully entertaining too.) Hallett, who had apparently been battling heart disease pretty much since the show ended in 2004, died Monday night of heart failure at only age 33. Just amazingly sad.

In much better news, any doubts that Sacha Baron Cohen was going to push the envelope as far as possible in "Bruno" have been removed as the MPAA has given the flick an NC-17 rating in its first pass.

I have little doubt that Cohen and crew will be able to tame it down enough to get this one into theaters even in my rather safe little corner of the world, but - not having seen it, of course - it does make you wonder how much of that rating comes from the fact that it deals with a touchy issue, homophobia, rather than from any truly offensive content (though I'm willing to bet there's plenty of that too.) How much violence is allowed into movies rated PG-13 and below while the smallest whiff of sex - gay, straight or otherwise - just sets censors crazy is grist for a whole post in itself, but not one I have the time or energy to get into this morning.

Bottom line: "Bruno" should be a heck of a lot of fun in theaters, and way better on DVD.

There's a lot of good stuff out there this morning - the day after "Friday Night Lights" got renewed for two more seasons, huzzah! - so if you'll bear with me, I'm just gonna plow right through it.

David Cronenberg, who has until now balked at sequels of any kind, is seriously considering making an exception to that rule to continue the "Eastern Promises" saga, which I have to say would only be a good thing.

As you may remember from the end of the movie (AND IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT, FOR GOD'S SAKE, PLEASE JUST SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH), the big twist is that Viggo Mortensen's Russian gangster is actually a British intelligence agent. In the right hands, a k a those of Cronenberg, screenwriter Steven Knight and Mortensen, all of whom are in talks to return, this could not only make another great flick but perhaps even a series, if they're so inclined. Here's what Cronenberg had to say about the project to the surprisingly informative MTV Movies Blog:

“We are going to have a meeting very soon between me, Steve Knight and Paul Webster to discuss what the script would be. I have some very strong ideas about what I would like to see, but I would like to hear what they have to say as well. And then after that, if all goes well, Steve goes away and writes a great script. If we all like it, we make it.”

Here's hoping, and in other casting news for flicks I'd certainly like to see, "Watchmen" director Zack Snyder has lost one waif and quickly picked up another to play the lead in his next flick, "Sucker Punch."

Amanda Seyfried was forced to drop out because HBO wouldn't let her out of her "Big Love" contract, so Aussie Emily Browning has stepped into the lead role. Though she starred this year in "The Uninvited" (which, rather amazingly, was still playing in one multiplex in my hood as recently as last week), you'll probably best remember her as Violet in "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events."

Seems like a lateral move to me, but Browning should be a lot of fun in the lead role of a young woman forced into an insane asylum by her stepfather, who then uses the power of her imagination and the help of her fellow inmates (most likely Evan Rachel Wood, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish and Emma Stone) to escape.

No matter how this all works out, however, the best thing is that Snyder is finally cooking up something from his own mind instead of making another comic book flick.

And speaking of HBO, I'm rather psyched for the second season of "True Blood," which may even be enough to induce me to pay for the channel when the vampire series returns for season 2 on June 14.

I spent a good portion of my recent trip through the Southeast reading the source material for the second installment, Charlaine Harris' "Living Dead in Dallas," and can happily report that it has plenty of crazy stuff in store for the series (not exactly high art, I know, but it was just the perfect book to read while getting too much sun lazing on the beach in Gulf Shores, Ala.) Not to spoil too much, but the novel starts with the death of Lafayette (which ended season one of the show) and somehow ends up at an orgy.

The photo below, featuring Macon native Carrie Preston (left) as the Merlotte's waitress Arlene, and plenty more are on display at HitFix, and you can view them all here.


DVD pick of the week:

The big name this week is certainly Oscar winner "Slumdog Millionaire," and that one indeed did nothing but make me smile from start to finish each of the two times I've seen it already. But my pick this week is one of the only other movies I bothered to see twice in theaters in 2008 (along with "The Dark Knight"), the French thriller "Tell No One."

Not surprisingly at all given just how maddeningly entertaining it is, this mindbender based on a Harlan Coben novel is already being remade for American audiences, but please believe me that you should see it in its original French form from director Guillaume Canet. What he's cooked up here combines the best elements of the French psychological thriller genre with a genuine potboiler mystery tale, and put it all together with tons of style. I also promise that the "reveal," easily my favorite movie scene from last year, will stick with you for a long time. Rent it already.

And on that note I'll close with this rather awesome poster for Sam Raimi's "Drag Me to Hell," set to hit theaters May 29. We've all had days like this, if not quite as bad as poor Alison Lohman's, so enjoy and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.

Remember Alexander Payne? He's "Downsizing"

Actually, the most predictable news out there today is that the Catholic League is pissed off about Ron Howard's upcoming flick "Angels & Demons," and is once again determined to tell the world all about it even though all they did last time was add to the hype machine for "The Da Vinci Code." I mean, I can certainly understand (and share) your anger about a story about the Illuminati developing something akin to a nuclear weapon to destroy Vatican City (at least I think that's what it's about, because I'll never take the time to find out), but a much wiser strategy (which will be employed by me with my tiny pull from here on out) would be to simply ignore it.

But, as the headline clearly states, it's all about the return of Alexander Payne here today, and a welcome one at that. Has it really been more than five years since "Sideways"? Hard to believe, but it has indeed been that long since Mr. Payne has written/directed a feature film.

Which sucks because, along with that sly charmer, he's also delivered just about my favorite black comedy in "Election" and to this date the only very funny abortion comedy I can think of, "Citizen Ruth." He also created one that just left me scratching my head with "About Schmidt," but that one has a lot of admirers too, so perhaps I'm just all wet about it.

And now he's about to get back in the game in a big way, with some old friends in tow. He is putting the finishing touches on a script with Jim Taylor called "Downsizing," about a group of people who decide that shrinking themselves is the only way to get ahead in our current world. Not sure how that would work, but when those people are "Sideways" star Paul Giamatti, "Election" star Reese Witherspoon and Sacha Baron Cohen (as, of course, a "pint-sized foreigner"), I'm definitely along for the ride.

He has a first-look deal with Fox Searchlight, but who knows how all that will turn out ... stay tuned.

Carl Franklin gets in bed with ... Wal-Mart?

Carl Franklin, another director whose work I just love, has been out of feature-film work even longer than Alexander Payne, but he's about to get busy again with the help of a very unlikely benefactor.

Well, not that unlikely I guess, since Wal-Mart already owns the rest of the world. Intent on taking over the business of movies as well, Wal-Mart heiress Christy Walton will finance and executive produce her first feature film, an adaptation of the Rudolfo Anaya novel "Bless Me, Ultima." The novel is, according to Variety, "the turbulent coming-of-age story of Antonio, a youth growing up in New Mexico during WWII. He develops a relationship with Ultima, an elderly medicine woman who helps the young man navigate the battle between good and evil that rages in his village."

That actually sounds surprisingly good, and it's much better news that she's already hired Mr. Franklin to write and direct it. Before he pretty much disappeared, he managed to direct two of my favorite movies in the fantastic film noir "One False Move," which introduced Billy Bob Thornton to the world a full four years before he became Karl Childers, and "Devil in a Blue Dress," a satisfying take on the Walter Mosley novel that did the same thing for Don Cheadle.

Welcome back, Mr. Franklin.

Two links, a must-read and an aural abomination

Though David Simon tried earnestly - and unfortunately, desperately - to indict the newspaper industry in the fifth and final season of "The Wire," he unfortunately missed the mark in my book. Dont get me wrong: It was still just about the best thing on television at that time, just not up to the very high standard he had set with the first four seasons.

For a much more cogent statement about what's wrong with the press and the Baltimore police, check out what he had to say here in Sunday's Washington Post. The issue that set him off this time is a new policy from the Baltimore Police Department saying it doesn't have to identify cops who shoot or even kill suspects or anyone else. Ludicrous, no? Mr. Simon, of course, thinks so, and makes an unsurprisingly strong case in the rather distressing diatribe.

The second link I found this morning, and please don't try to say I didn't warn you, is just what A.R. Rahman is up to now that he's a certified Hollywood big shot. I mean, I certainly don't begrudge the man the right to hobnob with celebrities, but did it really have to lead to this? Without any more stalling from me, here's a preview of the English language version of "Jai Ho" he has cooked up with (no, I can't make this stuff up) the Pussycat Dolls. Listen if you dare ...

Who watches the "Watchmen"? The L.A. Galaxy, of course

This very funny clip comes courtesy of mi hermano, who sent it to me, and the great soccer blog The Offside Rules, where he found it in the first place.

In it you'll find L.A. Galaxy players Cobi Jones, Julian Valentin and Leo Griffin trying their hands at movie reviewing with a look at "Watchmen." I don't think the guys will be giving up the pitch anytime soon to become full-time critics, but it's still very entertaining, particularly Jones' declaration that he would like to be "ageless." Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Tuesday. Peace out.

Cohen pranking across America again as "Bruno"

Maybe its just me, but being pranked by Sacha Baron Cohen as his alter-ego Bruno sounds at least as fun as watching an evening of "extreme fighting" in Arkansas, especially when you throw in $1 beers!

Lest anyone be thinking I'm nuts, allow me to explain. According to the almost-always reliable The Smoking Gun, Cohen is again actively turning his revealing camera on America as he did as Borat, but this time as Bruno for his next flick. Bruno, another creation from "Da Ali G Show," is a rather flamboyant fashion reporter for Austrian TV.

And, judging from what he set up for the unsuspecting folks of Texarkana and Fort Smith, "Bruno" may well turn out to be at least as outrageous - and hopefully nearly as funny - as "Borat."

As the poster shows, the poor dupees were lured by not only $1 beer, but also the promise of "hot chicks" and "hardcore fights," but instead got a vintage dose of Cohen's shenanigans. After what attendees who bothered to comment at The Smoking Gun confirmed were a "pathetic" card of fights, each card ended with two male grapplers - one named "Straight Dave" - in their underwear and kissing each other up and down the chest.

To me, that's funny enough already, but I suppose unsurprisingly the folks in Fort Smith took the bait and pelted the ring with chairs and probably anything else they could get their hands on. Now that's some blue collar brawlin'!

Sherlock Holmes battle taking shape

Speaking of Sacha Baron Cohen, he's now got some serious competition as rival flicks set out to tell tales of the supersleuth Holmes and his partner Watson.

Cohen is set to play Sherlock himself, with Will Ferrell as his sidekick Watson (thank God it's not in the reverse order!), for Judd Apatow and company.

Now, however, in a rival production expected to get started first, Robert Downey Jr. has signed on to play Holmes in what one can only assume would be at least a slightly more serious version for director Guy Ritchie.

I used to have a lot of time for Guy Ritchie, but "Revolver" was just a nonsensical mess. Even so, two multi-flick projects (with "Iron Man," of course) starring Mr. Downey just makes my world a little bit more enjoyable, so here's hoping this brings Ritchie back to top form.

"Mad Men" has five-year plan

With "Mad Men" thankfully set to return for its second season on AMC July 27, show creator Matthew Weiner has been making the rounds to promote it and letting out some intriguing details about just where the great show is headed.

According to TV scribe James Hibberd, Weiner revealed at the Television Critics Association press tour that he envisions the show running for five seasons, with enough time lapsing between seasons to cover about 10 years in the lives of ad executive extraordinaire Don Draper and associates (man, I can't wait to see what in the world Peggy has done about her new baby since we last saw her!) And Weiner's reasoning in using this technique makes perfect sense:

"I can start the story fresh, and at the same time there will be all these events that happened in between that will provide additional storytelling energy," he said.

I love it when showrunners are bold enough to set their own time table, as the "Battlestar Galactica" folks did at Sci Fi. That life span is, of course, dependent on people continuing to tune in, but I can't see AMC giving up on its flagship show before its allotted run finishes. If you somehow missed the first season of the smartest show on TV, you can now either buy or rent the first season on DVD or catch all 13 episodes in a marathon catch-up block July 26 to prepare for the season 2 debut the following night.

One other programming note: If you're as amped as I am for "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" and want to watch the original flick again before seeing the sequel, F/X is airing Guillermo del Toro's "Hellboy" tonight at 8, so set your DVR. And now I have to go to the paying job I somehow still have. Peace out.

An "Arrested Development" movie? The stars seem to think so

I still won't believe this one until - and probably after - there's solid confirmation in the trades, but two of the stars of Fox's best sitcom in many, many years certainly seem to be sure there's an "Arrested Development" movie in the works.

First comes word from Jeffrey Tambor, a k a George Bluth, from the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of "Hellboy II" (via Entertainment Weekly): “After months of speculation, I think we have finally figured out for sure that we are indeed doing an Arrested Development movie. I am very excited about that. I love that cast and crew and I felt like we had more to say."

Sounds pretty definite, right, but as far as I know Tambor doesn't have any actual power to make this happen. Still, just to get your hopes up even higher (and hopefully not just to have to dash them later), here's more from Jason Bateman, a k a Michael Bluth (via Bob and Justin's Mad Movie Blog) hinting there indeed may already be a script ready to go: "It's typically bent and twisted," Bateman said of the story concocted by series mastermind Mitchell Hurwitz. "He's got a really, really good idea for the movie version that would not be just simply the equivalent of four episodes back to back to back. It's actually something that would be specific to the medium of film."

None of this, of course, means this is ever going to happen (especially with the SAG strike just about a certainty now), but there are several reasons why it would make good sense.

First, look at "Sex and the City." Now, I understand that the "Arrested Development" cult isn't as large as Carrie Bradshaw's following, but I'd argue we're probably at least as devoted. You'd have an obvious built-in audience, and given how much the stars want to do it, I can't imagine the budget for any "Arrested Development" movie would be terribly high.

And unlike all the other TV retreads we've seen lately (I've heard some surprisingly good things about "Get Smart," but I just really can't go there), this would instead be an idea that springs from the minds of the people who actually created the show and know and love what it's all about.

As always when it comes to an "Arrested Development" movie, just keep hope alive!

A funny take on Sherlock and Watson?

On paper this could certainly work, and I think they've got the casting just about right.

Anyone remember "Talladega Nights"? There's really not much reason to except that Sacha Baron Cohen managed to walk away with every scene he was in as the French Formula "Un" driver and make Will Ferrell funnier in doing so.

So it's a bit surprising but very welcome news that for this new Sherlock Holmes comedy from scribe Etan Cohen ("Tropic Thunder"), Cohen will take the lead as Sherlock and Ferrell will be the sidekick Watson. Sounds like fun to me, but this being Hollywood, no idea (good or bad) ever comes by itself. Warner Bros. is apparently also prepping a Holmes drama to be directed by Guy Ritchie.

My money's on the funny guys in this one, but we'll just have to wait and see.

A rather uber-cool new "The Dark Knight" poster

I've got to wrap this up and get to the job that still pays me, so I'll just leave you with rather wickedly awesome "The Dark Knight" poster. If you stare at it long enough I think it might turn into one of those hidden sailboat paintings, but I can't guarantee it. Peace out.

RIP Borat: A comedy legend bows out just in time

Sacha Baron Cohen must have at some point turned down a big bucket of cash before making this announcement, to which I can only say huzzah.

As he recently told London's Daily Telegraph, SBC is retiring both the characters of aspiring rapper Ali G and, more importantly, the belovedly clueless Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev.

Now, don't get me wrong here. Like just about everyone who loves to laugh, I just adored "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." I just can't imagine what hoops he would have had to jump through to have his encounters retain any spontaneity, or how much of it he would have been willing to give up had he chosen to make any kind of sequel. Here's what he had to say to Variety:

"When I was being Ali G and Borat I was in character sometimes 14 hours a day and I came to love them, so admitting I am never going to play them again is quite a sad thing. It is like saying goodbye to a loved one. It is hard, and the problem with success, although it's fantastic, is that every new person who sees the Borat movie is one less person I `get' with Borat again, so it's a kind of self-defeating form, really."

Well, it's certainly refreshing to see someone in the entertainment business knows when to move on, but what does that mean now for SBC fans? Well, everyone should see him as Signor Adolfo Pirelli in Tim Burton's blood-spattered-but-brilliant "Sweeney Todd," and he has some more potentially very funny stuff coming after that.

First up will be "Bruno," the fashionista journalist based on another Ali G character, which I can't say I enjoy nearly as much as I did Borat. After that, however, things should only get better.

His next credit is for something called "Curly Oxide and Vic Thrill," which just sounds like tons of fun. Apparently based on a book by little-known punker Thrill and written by Tina Fey, it's the autobiographical tale of Thrill's partnership with a Hasidic musician, who I can only assume will be played by SBC. After that will be "Dinner for Schmucks," which has this tagline that sounds tailormade for his comedic talents: "An extraordinarily stupid man possesses the ability to ruin the life of anyone who spends more than a few minutes in his company." (Actually, I think I have some of that talent myself.)

So, RIP Borat, and thanks for knowing exactly when to exit the stage.

Rainn Wilson's got the "Spirit"

Even if there is some kind of Golden Globes ceremony broadcast Jan. 13, you certainly won't find me tuning in if there's any kind of writers' strike still going on (and, let's face it, there really doesn't seem to be any kind of progress being made.) For those of you who get the Independent Film Channel, though (which I do not), there will be some awards season respite on the way.

The very funny Rainn Wilson, who stars as Dwight Schrute on "The Office" and appeared for, oh, about 30 seconds or so in "Juno," has received a WGA waiver and will be hosting the 2008 Spirit Awards, set to take place at 5 p.m. Feb. 23 (one day before the Oscars, if there are any this year) and broadcast live by IFC.

Since I've already got to make a cable switch to pick up HBO again in time for the Sunday, Jan. 6, return of "The Wire," a k a the greatest television show of all time, I may as well dump the sports tier of my digital cable and pick up the movie tier instead, which would give me IFC again and, of course, lots of movies, which I've never yet found to be anything approaching a bad thing.

New trailer for "The Forbidden Kingdom"

If you're returning to work today like me (though I'm off again starting Friday and headed to NYC for four days of movies and more with the family), the silliness that is this new trailer for Rob Minkoff's (yes, the director of "Stuart Little") upcoming kung fu epic starring both Jackie Chan and Jet Li will hopefully make it a little easier. I do have to wonder, though, just how much Mr. Li is going to have to do with this, since he makes no appearance in this new trailer. Even so, enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Boxing Day. Peace out.

Can Bill Maher be the next Borat? God help us!

Although it pains me to admit it, I've never much cared for Bill Maher.

Now, don't get me wrong. It was a high crime when "Politically Incorrect" was pulled off the air by ABC (as Lorelai Gilmore put it so well, "the show's called 'Politically Incorrect,' what did they expect?")

If memory serves me right, he was fired from that gig for saying the very evil men who flew those planes into the World Trade Center weren't "cowards." Well, that probably wasn't the wisest thing to say, but in an extremely limited way he was probably right, and he paid the price for it.

But my beef was never with Maher's alleged lack of patriotism. I've just never liked the guy because he always thinks he's right about everything and seeks to prove it by being as big a wiseass as possible, and usually shouting to make his point (it's the same reason I can't listen to most talk radio for more than five minutes at a time.)

And that's a shame, because he usually is right. Maher essentially follows a libertarian path, and I would follow him just about anywhere if it wouldn't make me go deaf along the way.

Which, in an admittedly roundabout way, finally brings us to the point of this post. Larry Charles, perhaps seeking his next "Borat"-style hit, has made a documentary in which he follows Maher around the world as he talks to people about God and religion. The film will be distributed by Lionsgate next Spring.

Maher said: "Comedically, the topic of religion is hitting the side of a barn; it's literally hard to miss. This movie will make you laugh so hard you'll pray for it to stop."

Maybe. And for the record, I'm hoping so. Maher's name alone should get this one a wide enough release to reach my little corner of the world.

There is, however, one key difference between Bill Maher and Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat. When "Borat" worked, and it very often did, Cohen just set people up and let them roll to make asses of themselves. I can't imagine Maher will be able to shut up long enough to let anyone he interviews do that.

But, I've been wrong at least once before, and hopefully I will be here too. One thing I'm fairly certain of, though: At least we won't have to watch Maher bed-wrestling with the extremely hairy Ken Davitian.

Sorkin and Spielberg? Yes, please

One man who is clearly more than a little obsessed with God (or more accurately religion) is Aaron Sorkin. His clear hatred of the religious right, and his inability to get through an episode of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" without putting it on clear display, was one big reason that show was such a nobel failure.

When he's able to focus, however, Sorkin is able to write topical dialogue better than just about anyone in the game. I've just started watching "West Wing" again from the beginning, and for a long time it was at least as good as all the hype made it out to be. And before that, his "Sports Night" was a criminally underappreciated comedic gem.

Now, after being burned by NBC with "Studio 60," Sorkin's getting the last laugh. He's just signed with DreamWorks to write three films, the first of which will be "The Trial of the Chicago 7," probably for Steven Spielberg to direct. The saga of the protestors who tried to take down the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago should be a perfect fit for both of them.

And in case you still had doubts that Sorkin leads a charmed (and well-deserved) life, he recently adapted the George Crile book "Charlie Wilson's War" into a serving of December Oscar bait directed by Mike Nichols and starring a certain man you may have heard of named Tom Hanks.

What will Michael Moore do now?

After "Sicko" finishes its run, Michael Moore has hinted to The Advocate that he might just be ready to take on another hot topic: Homophobia in America. Here, courtesy of the always reliable (and very funny) Iwatchstuff.com, is what he had to say:

"I am not sure what I am going to do for my next film, but I certainly believe that I have no right to tell another couple whether they can or cannot be married. There is nowhere in the four Gospels where Jesus uses the word homosexual, nor the word abortion. The right wing has appropriated this guy. It makes you think, what someone can do in your name a thousand years from now. [Laughs] And they have used him to attack gays and lesbians, when he never said a single word against people who are homosexual."

I'm not gonna touch that last point because, well, I simply don't want to open that can of worms. That's what we have Michael Moore for, and I can only say thank God for that. And he's clearly been concerned about this subject for a long time. At the end of this post is a YouTube clip I uncovered from his often funny "Awful Truth" TV show in which he takes on the idiot Fred Phelps (be warned, this clip is very long and it contains, gasp!, footage of men kissing men and women kissing women; if any of that offends you, please don't watch it.)

And now I'll simply leave you with the very funny (and, of course, snarky) sentiments of whoever it is that does the writing at Iwatchstuff:

Personally, I always thought homophobia was despicable. But I have to admit, the Hairspray posters give me second thoughts.

I definitely couldn't put it better myself. Peace out.