Remember Cameron Crowe? He's officially back

Actually, easily the best news out there this morning is that "In the Loop" director Armando Iannucci is coming back with a new film, and it couldn't be much more different at all from that extremely hard-hitting and satisfying satire.

His next flick, "Out the Window," is an adaptation of Claire Tomalin's biography "The Invisible Woman," which recounts Charles Dickens' affair with actress Nelly Ternan.

Like I said, couldn't be much further removed from "In the Loop," but that flick is so amazingly good that I'll follow Iannucci just about anywhere. And if you haven't seen "In the Loop," rent it immediately, and be prepared to marvel at the sheer wonder that is Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker.

But before I got briefly sidetracked by that, this was supposed to be all about Cameron Crowe, who has indeed now officially signed on to direct his first flick since 2005's "Elizabethtown," which really needs to be erased from my memory right away. Man, was it awful.

His luck will hopefully be a lot better with "We Bought a Zoo," which certainly at least gives him an intriguing story to work with. The memoir by Benjamin Mee is about how he and his family used their life savings to buy a dilapidated zoo in the English countryside, complete with 200 exotic animals.

Sounds great to me. Crowe is currently reworking the script, and it's already received a release date of Dec. 23, 2011, but of course all that could change.

Like I said, "Elizabethtown" is an almost complete abomination, but Crowe has delivered plenty of winners in his career, and I'm sure he has another one in him. If I had to list my 10 favorite movies of the last 10 (or maybe 11) years or so, "Almost Famous" would make the list every time, and "Say Anything" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" are just cinematic comfort food that I keep going back to again and again. Here's hoping this trip to the "Zoo" will help him regain some mojo.

And in other news about one of my favorite directors who's sorely in need of a winner, it seems that Terry Gilliam may have finally found someone foolhardy enough to step into the role once inhabited by Johnny Depp in his "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote."

Gilliam's first attempt to make this movie several years ago was an utter failure, even though it was turned into a bewilderingly entertaining one in the documentary "Lost in La Mancha." The odds that he'll be able to do any better this time have to be at least slightly improved by the news (from Gilliam himself, at least) that Ewan McGregor is now on board, and hopefully bringing some better luck with him.

Assuming the script hasn't changed too much, McGregor will play an advertising executive who travel back to 17th century Spain, where he meets Don Quixote and becomes involved in adventures with him. It has already been announced that Robert Duvall will play Quixote (take a few seconds to digest that), stepping in for the great Froggy actor Jean Rochefort (if I can digress for one second, for a fantastic film starring Rochefort, rent Patrice Leconte's "Man on the Train."

I hoodwinked mi hermano into going with me to watch Gilliam's last flick, "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," in NYC, and while it wasn't awful, it did pretty much go completely off the rails after Heath Ledger died, but that unfortunately didn't stop Gilliam from letting it just go out of any control or reason to exist for the last 45 minutes or so. "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote," however, has clearly been a passion project for him for a long time now, so here's hoping it turns into something worth watching.

And all I have except for that today is the first full trailer I know of for something I'm clearly too old to be watching, but when you make Emma Stone the star of your movie, there's almost an ironclad guarantee I'm gonna watch it. She's just easily one of the best comediennes working in movies today, and even if "Easy A," a teeny update of "The Scarlet Letter" due out in September, is extremely silly, as you'll see below, it also at least has Patricia Clarkson saying "because I slept with a whole bunch of people ... mostly boys," so it's at least got to be mildly entertaining. Enjoy, be sure to watch the Joss Whedon-directed episode of "Glee" with Neil Patrick Harris tonight, and have a perfectly acceptable Tuesday. Peace out.

"Crazy Heart" director plotting what would be just about the perfect followup

Though Scott Cooper's "Crazy Heart" isn't my single favorite movie of 2009 yet (that distinction goes to Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds"), I've seen Cooper's movie twice now and it just keeps getting and better in my mind, much like Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" did, so just give it time.

The movie just has such a natural pace and feel to it that it makes the utterly familiar story go down extremely sweetly, and it certainly doesn't hurt that the Dude is so great in it. And now, it seems that Cooper is lining up two other top-notch actors to take on an epic Southern saga.

Making the rounds to promote "Get Low," in which he plays a cranky old man who wants to plan his own funeral party so he can attend it, Robert Duvall revealed that Cooper has been lined up to direct "The Hatfields and the McCoys" for Warner Bros., from a script by Eric Roth (the "Forrest Gump" scribe, so he certainly needs and deserves a chance for atonement). Duvall, who had a small but key part in "Crazy Heart," has signed on to star in it, and he said Brad Pitt is now being courted to join him, though exactly what roles each would play is so far not at all clear.

Cooper, who made his debut with "Crazy Heart," is definitely one to keep your eyes on, so I'll certainly share more about this whenever I find it. And, apparently bored on the junket circuit and wanting to chat, Duvall also took the occasion to tell Movieline something about the status of Terry Gilliam's truly quixotic "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" too.

He revealed that "the Irish guy who was in 'Crazy Heart'," who we have to assume would mean Colin Farrell, was approached to play the role that Johnny Depp tried to the first Gilliam tried to make this movie, but has - probably wisely - turned it down. Duvall, however, said he will be in the movie, playing some kind of "Latin guy," assuming it ever gets made.

And if you've ever been the seriously satisfying - albeit depressing - documentary "Lost in La Mancha," which chronicles the epic failure that was Gilliam's first attempt to make this movie, you know the odds against this ever happening this time are pretty steep. Here's more of what Duvall had to say about the obstacles that remain:

"They [the producers] need a name. He's [Gilliam's] going after two people now, but he doesn’t want to say who they are until after he gets them. But it’s been six months he’s been after people. And it’s a bigger budget than his others. And he doesn’t stick to a budget, they say. He goes on and on. And he’s got locations picked out in Spain. So it’ll be very exciting. And when the time comes — and I know for sure — then I’ll start riding horseback every day … But you know, when the time comes - I can’t really start preparing for it until it’s greenlit. Until it’s really greenlit."

Duvall certainly and understandably has his doubts, and coincidentally enough, this news comes in the same week as the DVD release of Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," which, having seen it, I can say is a movie he probably should never have completed.

When my family goes to New York just after Christmas each year, a big part of the gathering is getting to see movies you wouldn't where we normally reside. My brother usually lets me drag him to one movie I want to see but he's almost certain will suck at least a little bit. Two years ago it was Steven Soderbergh's seemingly interminable "Che," an utter act of hubris, though Benicio Del Toro certainly gave it his all, and this year it was "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus."

Everyone knows by now the saga of how Heath Ledger died during the filming of this flick, and Gilliam turned to three big stars - Depp, Farrell and Jude Law - to finish the job. Well, what I can reveal to you is, after making an oddly entertaining flick during the portion Ledger was around for, Gilliam - predictably perhaps - then just lets his movie go completely out of control to the point that the last 45 minutes or so just make no sense at all. I'm still glad I saw it, but I can't really recommend the experience on DVD for anyone else except as a film oddity.

OK, that all went on a bit longer than I had originally planned, so I'll simply leave you today with a couple of videos. The first is the first full trailer I know of for Irish director John Carney's "Zonad." You may remember Carney from the truly magical musical "Once," but this is something completely different: The story of a mysterious stranger who arrives in an Irish village in the 1950s and passes himself off as an alien. Sounds like exactly the kind of goofball comedy I love, but I'll almost certainly have to wait for DVD to ever see this one. Enjoy.



And finally, I'll leave you with something even odder, the new video from MIA, who we (or at least I) haven't heard from since her "Paper Planes" became an earworm that bore into my skull for most of a year. This song, unfortunately, isn't nearly as catchy, and be warned that the video is 9 minutes long. It has, however, apparently been banned from YouTube because of its extreme violence (don't say I didn't warn you), so "enjoy" it while you can (and be warned, if you're a Ginger, really don't watch this). Peace out.

M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

The stars of "Once" make beautiful music together again

If you saw the thoroughly charming little Irish film "Once" three years or so ago, you surely remember the names Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Well, musically at least, they're back together again, and they sound as good as ever as The Swell Season.

Following - or perhaps concurrently with, I'm not sure - their on-screen romance in John Carney's flick, they were an actual couple too, but have since broken up. And be warned: The fact and feeling of that breakup resonates throughout The Swell Season album "Strict Joy," which I bought from the Itunes yesterday (and have listened to at least three times through since then.)

The sadness of it creeps up on you slowly, however. I was so hypnotized on first listen by the sheer beauty of the music (and, though I'm prone to it from time to time, I'm not exaggerating one bit here) that I didn't really notice it at first. In perfect harmony, the two of them explore all kinds of variations within their basic folk music motif, and they all work (and I guarantee you won't be able to get Irglova's rhythmic chant of "you're every now and then on my mind" on the best track, "I Have Loved You Wrong," out of your head for a long time.) And besides, if you spring for the two-disc special edition, you also get a live album featuring all the great tracks from "Once" and more, so how can you go wrong?

And in some kind of odd convergence that I suppose can only be put up to coincidence, rather big news about Carney's next film, his first with any actual Hollywood stars, has dropped today.

Zach Galifianakis and Amy Adams are about to sign on to star in Carney's comedy-drama (or dramedy, I suppose, if you must) "The Town House," based on the debut novel by Tish Cohen.

The story centers on an agoraphobic man (Mr. Galifianakis, I'd have to presume) who lives with his teenage son in a historic Boston townhouse that he inherited from his rock star father. With royalties from his father's work dwindling, the man is forced to come to terms with his life. A call girl (Adams, maybe, which would by force have to be pretty fascinating) strikes up a friendship with the man.

As I was typing all that, I stopped to add the only John Carney movie I could find there to my Netflix queue and moved it to the top of the list (so I'll get it after returning either Lee Daniels' "Shadowboxer" or Guillermo Del Toro's "The Devil's Backbone," since my wallet forced me to drop back to two movies at a time.) It's called "On the Edge" and it stars two of my favorites, Stephen Rea and Cillian Murphy, and I love me some John Carney, so I can't wait to see it.

Except for that today, all I've got is a trio of videos that are varying degrees of fascinating. First up comes a rather extended look (eight scenes and more than 12 minutes) at Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus." You get glimpses of Heath Ledger and the three men who replaced him - Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell - and even better, several looks at Tom Waits as Beelzebub himself. Even if this does turn out to be a trainwreck, I'm still thoroughly psyched to see it when it finally drops on Christmas Day and I'm in NYC. Enjoy.



Next up comes the second (I think) trailer for Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," and it's of course very heavy on Mr. Depp as the Mad Hatter. I have a feeling that when this finally comes out in March I'm going to be permanently haunted by that gigantic Cheshire Cat head. Enjoy.


Alice in Wonderland - Extended Trailer

And, though I had my doubts, I think I've definitely saved the best for last with the first trailer for Clint Eastwood's "Invictus," which stars Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman (as a certain man you may have heard of known as Nelson Mandela.) I'm always suspicious of Eastwood's movies because he makes everything so obvious, but I adored "Gran Torino," and this looks even better. Judging from this brief look, I'd say he's captured this magical moment in time, and will take home all the Oscars (and more) that he deserves. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

Six glimpses of tonight's big "Office" wedding and a visit from Dr. Parnassus

Actually, the coolest news out there today about TV is that young Ellen Page and Alia Shawkat (aka Maeby Fünke) may soon be coming to my TV (and if you have HBO, yours.)

It seems that the two stars of Drew Barrymore's "Whip It" have signed a deal along with Sean Tillmann to write, produce and (hopefully!) quite possibly star in something called "Stitch N' Bitch" for HBO. According to the description I saw, it would be about "two painfully cool hipster girls as they relocate from Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood to Los Angeles' Silver Lake enclave in hopes of becoming artists - of any kind."

That sounds funny enough, but I think they'd have to be the stars themselves to get me hooked. I found "Whip It" to be pretty average, and often downright afterschool-special-ish when it wasn't on the roller rink, but the two of them are still easily two of my favorite young actresses out there. (And, just as an aside that will come as a shock to no one who bothered to watch it, "Arrested Development" still gets a 9.7 out of 10 rating at the IMDB.)

But regards TV here today, of course, it's all about Pam and Jim's big wedding tonight on "The Office." By nature I'd imagine this will bring an awful lot of sweet, but hopefully a whole lot of funny too in the hour-long broadcast.

As the entire office ventures to Niagara Falls for the big day, Michael, Dwight and Andy are, of course, on the prowl for ladies, and Michael and Dwight apparently meet twins. Here, courtesy of NBC, are six short preview clips of tonight's episode (and, if you stick around to the end, a visit from Dr. Parnassus, I promise.) Enjoy.













And now, as a bonus, here is the first full trailer, I think, for Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," which is set to finally get a limited release date on Christmas Day (and I'll be in New York so I can see it!) Along with plenty of the late Heath Ledger and glimpses of the three actors who stepped in to finish the job, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law, you get enough of a taste of what Gilliam has cooked up here to have me just about thoroughly geeked up for this. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

A final Christmas present from Ledger and Gilliam?

"I'm Peggy Olson and I want to smoke some marijuana."

Last night marked the second time this season (the second episode was kinda a dud) that "Mad Men" managed to air episodes that rank easily among the show's best. From Peggy getting high to Sally reading "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" to grandpa (easily my favorite moment of season three so far), last night's episode was just a visual feast.

And yet, I couldn't help but be left with this thought afterward: What exactly happened on last night's episode? Now, I know everyone went to a great Kentucky Derby party hosted by Roger and his new wife (I won't soon forget the vision of John Slattery in black face), but what of consequence really happened last night?

I know the plots develop slowly on "Mad Men," and believe me, I love the show for that, and if - in an odd way like "Seinfeld" - it really is a show about nothing, I'll gladly continue to get hoodwinked week after week. But that just struck me last night, and I felt like sharing it. 'Nuff said.

The only real news I have this morning is that Heath Ledger's final movie, director Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," is apparently finally going to get a U.S. release date, and possibly one wide enough to play in my little corner of the world before the end of this year.

Sony Pictures Classics is set to release the flick, which brought in Colin Farrell, Jude Law and Johnny Depp to complete Ledger's part after his death, on Christmas day, so I can only say huzzah to that.

Given how crowded Dec. 25 is likely to be, that probably actually means I won't get to see this until mid-January, so here's hoping for some good buzz that makes that possible. I know Gilliam's movies are sometimes unwatchable ("Tideland," anyone?), but the few reviews I've seen of this one say it's a really weird winner, which sounds just about perfect to me. Anyways, that's all I've got today. Peace out.

"The Ugly Truth" about Katherine Heigl

What in the world does Terry Gilliam have to do to get "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" even screened in America?

Though I don't have to pleasure of being at the world's greatest geek fest, Mr. Gilliam was at Comic-Con yesterday for the first time, with hat in hand begging for even the smallest movie company to give him some kind of U.S. distribution. In what was about-an-hour-or-so show, he apparently showed a highlight reel/trailer that was, of course, heavy on the late Heath Ledger and the three men who stepped in to replace him, Colin Farrell, Johnny Depp and Jude Law.

And yet, at the end of the report I read, it said that the movie will get a few international screenings but, in spite of all this promotion, still doesn't have any U.S. distributor.

Now, I know Gilliam isn't perfect. He seems to more than a bit of an obstinate fool, and his last movie, "Tideland," was simply unwatchable (though I did soldier through to the rather painful end.) But does he really deserve this? I've only seen about 10 minutes or so of assorted "Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" footage, but it all looks pretty fascinating to me.

But before I got sidetracked by all that, this was supposed to be about Katherine Heigl, who though she is a rather seriously beautiful woman, has turned out to be at least as disagreeable than Mr. Gilliam on many occasions.

Her constant complaining about her character on "Grey's Anatomy" (which I don't watch) is well known, but here today it's about what she once said about Judd Apatow's "Knocked Up," which in movies anyway, pretty much made her career.

Waiting to get all she could from it before biting the hand that fed her, she went on to tell Vanity Fair that, "It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It was hard for me to love the movie."

Well, fair enough. It's certainly true that different people, men and women, black and white folks look at movies differently. Though I try my best to no longer live like that, I could certainly identify with the guys of "Knocked Up," and found Seth Rogen's trajectory, while perhaps a bit of a fantasy, a believable enough attempt (at least in movie terms) to finally become a little bit of an adult.

And besides, before I read what she had to say, I really liked her character and Leslie Mann's too (and just to take this to its further possible point, Charlyne Yi certainly seemed to be having as much fun as she could as one of the guys.)

But there's a bigger point here, and I'm finally about to get to it. Now, perhaps it's not the best-informed point since I won't have to so won't be going to see her new film "The Ugly Truth," co-starring Gerard Butler (I have no idea why, but every time I type that it first comes out as "Trugh" before I go back and fix it.)

Now, for someone who complains about being sexist, let's take a look at what her new movie is apparently about. As best I understand it, she's again a TV producer, this time for a station that hires Butler's character, an advice show host whose tips to women are as enlightened as this gem about pitching woo: "It's called a stairmaster. Get on it!"

And of course, rather than just being repulsed by him, she apparently enlists his help "Cyrano"-style to help her win the heart of a doctor and later, I'm going to have to assume, just ends up knocking boots with the creep instead.

OK, fair enough. In its defense, that really doesn't sound much more noxious than the plots of many "romantic comedies," but how in the world is all this garbage not sexist too?

Men are pigs. Women, if they work hard enough, can make them just less piggy enough to make them tolerable. With what I'm going to have to assume is about one-tenth of the laughs or the heart of "Knocked Up," it even kinda sounds like broadly the same storyline, sans the pregnancy.

The difference? Though I don't have the exact figure in front of me, I'd imagine Heigl must have made $6 million-$10 million for "The Ugly Truth," which I suppose would cloud my world view at least a bit if I had that much scratch too.

Well, enough of that. It probably isn't terribly professional to rant about a movie I won't see, but I don't get paid for this, and just wanted to let it spew. And I certainly have no beef at all with genuinely romantic movies - in fact, I love them. In less something comes up, I'm gonna sidle up the road and see "500 Days of Summer" with Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt this weekend in Atlanta, and I'm really looking forward to it. And if you somehow made it to the end all of this, please feel free to tell me if I'm just all wet about it, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

A glimpse of Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's "Imaginarium"

It's the height of laziness, I know, but for a Sunday morning you'll have to excuse me, because all I have is this fairly tantalizing clip of Heath Ledger in "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus."

I believe it comes from Swedish TV, but some resourceful person was kind enough to cut off all the Swedish intro and just get to the clip. From what I've read about how Terry Gilliam's film has been received at Cannes, I don't believe it yet has a buyer that will get it any kind of proper distribution in the U.S. or anywhere else.

A real shame that, because while I'm sure it will be extremely odd, I'm still betting on entertaining too (unlike Gilliam's last flaming bag of crap, "Tideland.") Anyways, enjoy the clip and what's left of your weekend.

Terry Gilliam and the art of perseverance ... or is it insanity?

Well, Friday came and went with no word on "Chuck," so I guess Tuesday really is the big day in that department. Two other shows I just assumed were dead, however, have somehow escaped the chopping block.

When Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" premiered, I was sure it would be canceled after four or five episodes, because frankly those early shows were almost as abysmal as the ratings. Not awful, I guess, just awfully generic, and with really no touches that would tell you it was a Whedon show.

As the season went on, however, it slowly developed into a solid little bit of sci-fi, so I'm pleased to see it will be back for a second season. And, frankly, just as glad that it will once again only be 13 episodes. More network shows should adapt to this cable-like schedule, in my opinion, since a lot of them - while perfectly entertaining - just clearly don't have enough ideas to sustain a full 22-episode run.

And, perhaps even more amazingly, "Scrubs" is somehow coming back to ABC for a ninth season, after what was clearly intended as a series finale. Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke have both agreed to return for six episodes to help transition to the newer cast members, and thankfully Donald Faison, John C. McGinley and Neil Flynn will all be back for at least some of the new episodes too.

I'd call this mostly great news, since "Scrubs" is just the perfect pitch of silly fun, except for one very big problem. A quick test: If you watched the "Scrubs" season that just ended, can you name any of the characters who were added? I can't, because none of them were all that memorable or entertaining, and I really think it's gonna be a big leap to make people want to watch them week after week without a BIG dose of the real regulars.

But enough of all that. Here today it was supposed to be all Terry Gilliam, and from here on out it will be.

When I first saw this news Friday, it just made me smile, but it also made me finally realize that I really like Gilliam as a personality at least as much or more than I still do as a filmmaker. Don't get me wrong: I'm cheering for him to return to form, but his last flick, "Tideland," was just the definition of unwatchable (although I did, in a couple of sittings, somehow make it to the end.)

And I wish him nothing but the best in finding a proper distributor for "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus." Tom Waits as the devil? I'll be there as soon as I can, but I really don't have terribly high hopes that it will ever be at a theater anywhere near my little corner of the world.

But for his own sanity and hopefully at some point our entertainment, I'm most happy to now hear that - truly against all odds - Gilliam has somehow revived once again "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote."

If you're unfamiliar with this saga, it began nine years ago and has already spawned a feature documentary about just how epic a failure it was the first time around. And if you haven't seen "Lost in La Mancha," I can't recommend it highly enough as an oft-times depressing but nonetheless engaging portrait of exactly how NOT to make a movie.

But even after watching that doco in Atlanta with my mom at the fabulous Plaza Theatre in Atlanta, I was always cheering for Gilliam to finally somehow pull this off, mostly because I've been a big fan of perseverance that borders on and often crosses right over to insanity. And beyond that, what he was cooking up the first time and hopefully again this time just sounded like tons of fun.

This time, screenwriter Tony Grisoni and Gilliam are working on a tale that will revolve around a filmmaker who is charmed into Don Quixote’s eternal quest for his ladylove, "becoming an unwitting Sancho Panza." If this really happens, it will begin shooting next spring, but the biggest remaining question would have to be will Johnny Depp really go through all this again?

If I were a betting man, which I almost never am now, I'd say yes, both because he clearly has tremendous loyalty to Gilliam and because he often seems to have the same obstinate qualities that make Gilliam so fascinating in the first place. Here's hoping he also brings along his wife, Vanessa Paradis, again, and that easily one of my favorite actors, Jean Rochefort (who had a small but pivotal role in one of my very favorite movies of 2008, "Tell No One"), will also be able to take on the lead role again, though it was his back pains, among other things, that doomed Gilliam's Quixote the first time around (and if you want to see another great Rochefort movie on DVD, Patrice Leconte's "L'Homme du Train," with Rochefort and the French pop singer Johnny Hallyday, is just a nearly perfect little flick.)

And no matter how this all turns out, to me it's just an inspiring tale of insanity. And with that, I'm off to watch "Star Trek" again to do my part to put it on top of the box office ladder again, and hopefully miles above the ball of shite known as "Angels and Demons." Peace out.

It's official: David Simon hits New Orleans, and, yes, the X-men will go on forever

Actually, before we get into all that, there are two bits of news out there that offer varying degrees of promise.

First of all, there was apparently a screening last night for movie executives of Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" in an attempt to finally find Heath Ledger's last flick an American distributor even before it screens out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. This is easily bordering on pathetic, but at this point, whatever it takes to get this into a theater anywhere near my little corner of the world will be welcome. Stay tuned ...

And in great TV news, Mindy Kaling, a k a Kelly on "The Office," has signed her own deal with NBC. Kaling, who along with playing Kelly has been writing for "The Office" for years now, will continue to work on that show next season as she simultaneously develops a new comedy in which she would also star.

Among the episodes she's responsible for is the one that's still my single favorite, "Diwali," a k a the "Hindu Halloween." Here's hoping this leads to something seriously funny, because TV could certainly use it.

But here today it's mostly about the return of David Simon to HBO, which has been kicked around for awhile but is now official as it has picked up his pilot for "Treme" and will be taking it to series.

Though Simon has stressed this won't be making " 'The Wire' twice," it's clear that what he's cooking up with fellow "Homicide" scribe Eric Overmyer will be just as political and probably just as often maddeningly entertaining as that scarring portrait of Charm City was. Per Simon:

"It will be uplifting at points, and may make viewers a little angry at points," Simon said. "And at another point it will make viewers a little depressed."

And best of all, the cast will prominently feature two vets of "The Wire" and even a former "Homicide" beat cop. New Orleans native Wendell Pierce, a k a Bunk Moreland, will play a struggling trombonist and Khandi Alexander - who starred on Simon's "The Corner" - will play his ex-wife, who owns a bar. Amazingly enough, Clarke Peters - a k a Lester Freamon - will play the leader of a Mardi Gras Indian tribe. And rounding out the cast will be Steve Zahn as a DJ with "anger management issues," and even Melissa Leo as a civil rights lawyer.

So, now that it's going to series, when will we get to see any of this? Well, in a uniquely New Orleans twist, though the pilot has been shot, work on other episodes can't begin until after hurricane season, meaning the show probably won't hit the air until next spring.

Here's hoping it's not delayed any more than that (though that at least puts off the date I have to start paying for HBO again), since as anyone who watched "The Wire" - easily the best cop show ever - knows, Simon and company will have a lot to say, and about more than the Crescent City itself. Again, per Simon:

"Look at what happened down there after Katrina. A lot of things in which New Orleans depended on and trusted turned out to be wholly undependable and untrustworthy. The governing institutions were supposed to monitor things of actual construct like the levees and the pumping stations. That could be an allegory for what we Americans presumed about our financial institutions, and the governing bodies that were supposed to monitor them."

Amen, brother.

"X-Men Origins: Deadpool"? Yawn

Given how much mad cash "Wolverine" scooped up in its opening weekend, I guess the question really wasn't whether or not Twentieth Century Fox would make another "Origins" spinoff, but which mutant?

Well, the answer is in, and unfortunately it isn't Taylor Kitsch's "Gambit." Instead, Ryan Reynolds will get to be the star as the company has greenlit a "Deadpool" movie instead.

Now, I have no problem at all with the concept of a Deadpool flick. The character, a mercenary who submits himself to the Weapon X genetic alteration experiment as he's dying of cancer, is certainly a worthy movie subject. My only beef is with Reynolds himself.

And it's not really just that he can't act, but instead that to me he's pretty much a "nonpresence," if that's even anything resembling an actual word. Floating through good movies like "Adventureland" and simply wretched ones like "Smokin' Aces," he usually just makes no impression at all, though I have to concede he was very funny in the underrated Watergate spoof "Dick."

And just in case you doubt that the "X-Men" will continue to rule the universe, along with "Deadpool" there's also already a Japan-set "Wolverine" sequel, a "Magneto" movie starring Sir Ian McKellen, and Josh Schwartz's sure-to-be-cheeky "X-Men: First Class" all in varying stages of development. Sheesh.


Several looks at "Ponyo"

Though we won't get to see Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo on the Cliff By the Sea" in the U.S. until at least August 14 (and with its heavily Disney voice cast, hopefully EVERYWHERE), the picture above and several other stills you can find here just make me - and hopefully someone else - smile. You can tell from all the vibrant colors that this one is clearly intended for the kids, and that's just fine with me. Bring it on already!

And finally, in sticking loosely with the theme of the day and just because I like it, I'll leave you with this clip of the Treme Brass Band performing "I'll Fly Away" in a jazz funeral procession through the streets of New Orleans. Peace out.

The opening three minutes of "Watchmen"? Perhaps ...

Actually, what first struck my eye this morning was some disturbing but not too terribly surprising news about Terry Gilliam's next - and Heath Ledger's last - flick, "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus."

I just assumed that the presence of Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell - who all stepped in to finish the work started by the late Mr. Ledger - would be enough to win this sure-to-be-odd tale U.S. distribution wide enough to reach my little corner of the world, but once again (yes, it does happen from time to time) it seems I'm wrong. In fact, the flick has yet to garner any U.S. distributor at all - with both Lionsgate and Overture expressing interest but ultimately passing - and its American fate will be decided in the next few weeks.

Here's hoping someone bites on what should be a fascinating little (well, at $20 million, not so little, I guess) flick. But as promised, here today it is about an extended glimpse of Rohrschach in what just might be the opening scene of "Watchmen," but if you'll indulge me there are just a few other things that have caught my eye today.

Yes, Woody Allen can sign any beautiful woman he wants to

Seeing the way that Freida Pinto's smile lit up the screen as the full-grown Latika in newly crowned Oscar champ "Slumdog Millionaire," you had to know she would be a big star someday soon. And I guess it shouldn't be all that surprising that Woody Allen is the first to jump on her potential.

After "Whatever Works," set to star fellow grumpy old man Larry David and hopefully play extremely wide when it opens this summer (I think), the ageless Mr. Allen has now signed Pinto and Naomi Watts to join Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins in his next, as-yet-untitled flick. Geez, it sure must be nice to scan the entire world and just pick whoever you want to be your next muse.

And, to put this as superficially as possible, Freida Pinto is the second most beautiful Indian woman I've ever seen on the big screen, bested only by the simply stunning Sarita Choudhury, who starred with Denzel Washington way back when in director Mira Nair's "Mississippi Masala" (well worth a rental if you can find it.)

Chiwetel Ejiofor set for spy games

With easily one of my favorite directors attached in Phillip Noyce, I was already intrigued by Columbia Pictures' upcoming spy thriller "Salt," but now with Chiwetel Ejiofor on board too you can count me as thoroughly psyched.

In the flick, Angelina Jolie will play the titular American spy Evelyn Salt, who came under suspicion as a sleeper agent for the Russkies. Liev Schreiber has signed on to play her American mentor, and now Ejiofor will play Peabody, a young CIA agent who's hot to expose her alleged double dealings as she works to clear her name.

That all sounds great to me, especially since - the disappointing "Redbelt" notwithstanding - Ejiofor is someone I just always like to see on the big screen. The flick begins shooting next month in NYC.

DVD pick of the week:

It's truly slim pickings when it comes to the theatrical releases (though I must confess I just might pick up "Sex Drive" from my Netflix for a good laugh), so thankfully there's another "Futurama" flick stepping into the breach this week.

In "Into the Wild Green Yonder (which I think is the fourth straight-to-DVD "Futurama" flick), according to the IMDB, "mankind stands on the brink of a wondrous new Green Age. But ancient forces of darkness, three years older than time itself, have returned to wreak destruction. Even more shocking: Bender's in love with a married fembot, and Leela's on the run from the law - Zapp Brannigan's law! Fry is the last hope of the universe ... so if you're in the universe, you might want to think about going somewhere else. Could this be the end of the Planet Express crew forever? Say it ain't so, meatbag! Off we go, Into the Wild Green Yonder!"

That all sounds great to me, so add that to the Netflix queue too. And Phillip J. Fry himself, Billy West, mentioned at a recent geek gathering (perhaps the New York Comicon, but I'm not really sure) that Fox has recently expressed interest in bring the show back for a sixth new season - given its popularity in reruns on Comedy Central - so we should just keep hope alive!

And finally, Rohrshach

As I said above, judging from the graphic novel, I think this clip introduced by "Watchmen" director Zack Snyder just might be the opening three minutes or so of the flick (or very close to it), since it's clearly Rorschach investigating the death of the Comedian. Either way, it's nothing but cool, even if Jackie Earle Haley is pouring it on a bit with that voice. Only 10 days to go! Enjoy the clip, and have a pleasant enough Tuesday. Peace out.

What would David Fincher have done with "Spider-Man"?

Actually, I don't wonder too much about that, since Sam Raimi did a damn fine job with the first two "Spider-Man" flicks (and with "Spider-Man 2" made what remains my favorite superhero movie of all time.) If the question were simply "What would David Fincher have done with "Spider-Man 3"?, then I would have been on board, because that flick was simply a big flaming turd.

I'm trying desperately to have a bit of fun with this today, but coming the day after what's left of the "newspaper" I work for laid off 58 people - with more to come in the next two weeks - it just isn't too easy, so bear with me.

OK, enough about that bitterness. The Fincher goofiness comes courtesy of the UK's Guardian, which transcribed the director's fairly surly responses to questions from the audience after a screening of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (those audience members, at least, who were still awake after watching that snoozer.)

“I was asked if I might be interested in the first ‘Spider-Man,’ and I went in and told them what I might be interested in doing, and they hated it,” he said. “The thing I liked about Spider-Man was I liked the idea of a teenager,” continued Fincher, “the notion of this moment in time when you’re so vulnerable yet completely invulnerable.”

OK, I'm down with that, and given Fincher's work (before "Benjamin Button," at least), it certainly would have been a darker affair. I would have to assume he blew the job interview, if he hadn't already, if he then told the movie suits this:

“I wasn’t interested in the genesis, I just couldn’t shoot somebody being bitten by a radioactive spider – just couldn’t sleep knowing I’d done that,” stated the director.

Oh really? You wouldn't have been able to sleep after making a movie that's beloved by millions of people. Get over yourself, sir, and please get back to making movies much better than "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." (Which, if it ever gets off the ground, would be Mr. Fincher's take on "Heavy Metal" with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" creator Kevin Eastman. Nothing but cool there.)

What's next for Terry Gilliam?

Actually, I'm more curious about when we all might be able to see "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," which has rather miraculously made it to "post-production." At the IMDB it has a June release date for the UK, but not yet any for the U.S.A. I can only hope that Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Ferrell stepping into the finish the work of the late Heath Ledger will be enough to get this crazy tale also starring Tom Waits and Christopher Plummer playing everywhere (even near me!) fairly soon.

As for what Mr. Gilliam's doing next, you have to be able to read French to figure out anything about that, something that I don't do all that well anymore, but here goes.

According to two great French sites, Cinempire.com and Toutlecine.com, Gilliam's next project, set to begin filming in May, will be something called "Zero Theorem" starring Billy Bob Thornton.

After that is where it gets more than a bit murky. The not-terribly-revealing French summary reads like this: un génie de l’informatique reclus et tourmenté qui, en travaillant sur un mystérieux projet, tente de répondre une fois pour toutes aux questions relatives à l’absurdité et au sens de la vie.

OK, here goes: The best I can make from that is it will be about a "reclusive and tormented" guy (Karl Childers, we can only assume) who works on a mysterious project to answer for once all the questions about the "absurdity of life." Not that that helps much, but it certainly sounds absurd enough for Mr. Gilliam.

Actually, the best thing in the Toutlecine report, and the reason I still love Terry Gilliam, is that he's actually still trying to make "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" - and still trying to chase down Johnny Depp to do it. If he actually pulls this off - even after having his initial failure captured in the entertaining documentary "Lost in La Mancha" - it will have to be just the portrait or persistence (or, I suppose, obstinacy - it's all in how you look at it.)

Soderbergh to play "Moneyball"

Even though I found Steven Soderbergh's "Che" one of the most painful exercises in cinematic hubris I've ever sat through (and I did make it through all nearly five hours, with an intermission), I can still manage to get excited that he's now setting his sights on a baseball flick.

With Brad Pitt in tow to play Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane, Soderbergh is about to sign on to direct "Moneyball," based on the book "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair game" by Michael Lewis. Steven Zaillain is attached to write the script.

For anyone who may not know, Beane became famous for developing a program of computer analysis that allowed the A's to compete with the big bad Yankees and Red Sox without having their big bad payrolls. Even if this turns out to be a big baseball geek fest, that would be just fine with me.

As for Soderbergh, he'll be up next with "The Informant," described as a black comedy starring Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre, a government whistle-blower who tried to take down Archer Midlands for price fixing.

And on that note, I have to get ready to go to my job while I still have one. Peace out.

Warning: A look inside Gilliam's "Imaginarium" might blow your mind

First off, a hearty congratulations to Danny Boyle, whose "Slumdog Millionaire," the flick I happen to be most excited about seeing for the rest of the year, has won the People's Choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Please, please, please let this mean it really does play WIDE when it hits theaters at the end of November.

But the main order of business here today is a look at what Terry Gilliam's cooking up for "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," which will unfortunately have to also be known as the last time you'll able to see the late Heath Ledger on the big screen.

What I've always loved about Gilliam is that, though he's clearly a very obstinate man, he puts as much care into constructing the worlds his movies take place in as he does the dependably twisted stories. And, after a too-long intro trumpeting his past accomplishments, you can see in the concept art in this promo clip courtesy of Quick Stop Entertainment that his "Imaginarium" should be another wild ride. Enjoy!

AFI's top 10 genre flicks: Fantasy or folly?

There's nothing better to spark a debate than a Top 10 list that purports to have some authority, as anything with the American Film Institute's stamp of approval certainly would.

The AFI has been making a habit of compiling such lists in recent years, but its most recent endeavour - the Top 10 movies in 10 different genres - is its most intriguing one so far. And man, is there plenty to pick apart. To name two notable snubs at the start, "Serenity" somehow doesn't make the sci-fi list, and neither "Ratatouille" or anything at all by the great Hayao Miyazaki find a home on the animation list.

You can read the complete list here, but today I'm just gonna focus on the fantasy selections, 'cause I still do have to go to my actual paying job at some point. Here are the AFI's selections:

1 THE WIZARD OF OZ 1939
2 THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING 2001
3 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE 1946
4 KING KONG 1933
5 MIRACLE ON 34th STREET 1947
6 FIELD OF DREAMS 1989
7 HARVEY 1950
8 GROUNDHOG DAY 1993
9 THE THIEF OF BAGDAD 1924
10 BIG 1988

I certainly can't argue with the top two spots or the inclusion of the glorious "Thief of Bagdad," but just for argument's sake (and maybe to offer some viewing ideas, I'd offer the following (admittedly much more modern) substitutions for the remaining spots:

3. Pan's Labyrinth
I went back and watched Guillermo del Toro's fantastic flick about a month ago to see if it had lost any of its sheen, and the welcome answer is no. The story that our heroine Ophelia concocts to deal with the surroundings around her during the Spanish Civil War is just the definition of fantasy, which after all is meant to take you away from the real world for a moment or two.

4. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Note, that's "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" starring Gene Wilder, not Tim Burton's rather soulless and sadistic remake. This is one story that I - like kids today hopefully still do - grew up loving, and this version just captures all the giddy goofiness of Roald Dahl's tale.

5. Raiders of the Lost Ark
This one could also have easily found a home on the AFI's "epic" list, but since they snubbed it there too I've decided to give it a home here. Is there any better fantasy tale for a young dude who wants to see the world and be a total badass while doing it? I think not.

6. Kiki's Delivery Service
I hate to be redundant, but since I have no idea how much longer Hayao Miyazaki will be with us, I had to include my favorite of his flicks on this list. If your mind doesn't float away for a while as you watch the young witch in training soar over Miyazaki's European dreamscapes, you've probably lost the kid in you for good. By the way, I don't know the details of any American release yet, but Miyazaki's "Ponyo on a Cliff" is set to drop in Japan in July, so definitely keep your eyes on that one.

7. A Little Princess
One for the girls here, but still one that's dear to my heart too. If I'm not mistaken, it's also the first Alfonso Cuaron flick I ever saw, which is certainly reason enough alone to cheer. The tale that springs from the pen of Frances Hodgson Burnett is just a powerful testament to how the power of imagination can overcome even the most dreary of situations, here a very repressive boarding school.

8. Big Fish
This one is solid proof that fantasies don't always have to be for kids and that, when he wants to, Tim Burton is an incredibly inventive director. If you've never seen this tale about a son confronting his dying father about the tall tales he has spun about his life, I can't recommend it highly enough.

10. Time Bandits
And why not end with one from probably still my favorite fantasy director, Terry Gilliam? Essentially a Monty Python for kids penned by Gilliam and Michael Palin, it really just skips randomly through time but never fails to delight.

And there you have it. There are surely plenty of flicks I have snubbed here, so please feel free to add your favorites, and have a perfectly bearable Wednesday. Peace out.

Indiana Jones and the saga of the rapidly aging man

I apologize up front for that rather unfortunate title if it leads anyone to think I have seen the new Indy movie. It instead reflects that I'm simply too old to stay up until 2:30 a.m. or so on a school night to watch a movie, even one as potentially cool as this. To complete my transition to solidly middle-aged citizen, however, I am going to see it at the much more civilized hour of 11:15 a.m. today and will share all my thoughts about it tomorrow.

In the meantime, there are a few bits of news out there about people I like, starting with seriously "Star Wars"-obsessed Patrick Read Johnson.

For years now I've been reading about a flick called "5/25/77" that was set to star everyone's favorite "Geek," John Francis Daley, but I just assumed it was completed and went straight to DVD. As happens, oh, twice daily or so, I was wrong.

It seems that Mr. Johnson has just landed a $200,000 windfall to complete his flick in time to present it at this year's Toronto International Film Festival (which I won't be attending, but I will be at this year's Savannah Film Festival in October, which I'm already rather jazzed about.)

So, what in the world is this little flick, now simply called "77" to suit our rather limited attention spans, about? Well, the original title matched the release date of the original "Star Wars," and the flick is about how Johnson's obsession with it led him to Hollywood and a career in directing. I haven't seen Daley, a k a Sam Weir on "Freaks and Geeks," in years, so here's hoping this little indie gets some kind of wide distribution after Toronto.

Jonathan Demme, music man

In what I'd have to call perhaps a slight case of trading up, Jonathan Demme has taken the reins of a new Bob Marley documentary from Martin Scorsese, who presumably is too busy working on "Shutter Island."

As many probably know well, Demme has a solid history of making docos, musical or otherwise. The most famous is probably still the Talking Heads flick "Stop Making Sense," but if I had one DVD-viewing recommendation for the day it would be "The Agronomist," his 2003 doco about Haitian radio journalist and human rights activist Jean Dominique.

In any case, this Marley flick is now one that's certainly caught my interest.

All hail the Polish brothers

In an era when truly independent movie studios are rapidly disappearing it's just extremely heartening to hear this bit of news about the Polish brothers, Mark and Michael.

The siblings, known most recently for the somewhat-satisfying "Astrononaut Farmer," have formed their own production company, Prohibition, with plans to start immediately on a pair of new flicks.

They will start with "Manure," a comedy about manure salesmen in 1960s heartland America that reteams them with "Astronaut Farmer" star Billy Bob Thornton. If that idea doesn't make you smile at least a little bit, there's probably nothing I can do to help you.

Immediately after that flick wraps in July, they'll get to work on "Stay Cool," a comedy that will star, oddly enough, Winona Ryder, Sean Astin and Chevy Chase.

I love movies that have a solid sense of time and place, which the Polish brothers always do with America's heartland (whatever in the world that really means.) "Twin Falls, Idaho" and "Northfork," in particular, are two I can't recommend highly enough.

Is Terry Gilliam coming to America?

There's a bit of good news about Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," which I'd have to assume will be the last movie we'll ever see with the late Heath Ledger in it.

His folks at Cannes have sold U.K. rights for the flick to Lionsgate and Japanese rights to Showgate. No word yet on distribution in the U.S., but I'd imagine the presence of Ledger alone might be enough to get this one to my local multiplex at some point.

So, what is Gilliam's rather crazy flick about? Well, it stars Christopher Plummer as the immortal, 1,000-year-old Doctor Parnassus, who leads a traveling theater troupe that offers audience members a chance to go beyond reality through a magical mirror he acquired through a deal with the devil (Tom Waits, naturally.) When Satan comes to collect on his debt and targets the doctor's daughter (Lily Cole), the troupe members must rescue her with the aid of a mysterious outsider named Tony (Ledger.) Actually, after Ledger's untimely demise, "Tony" will now be played by Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law.

Finding out how they pull that off alone is enough to make me want to see this one if it indeed ever makes it to any kind of movie theater near me.

A look at "Vicky Christina Barcelona"

Phillip Ramati, a rather serious TV and movie fan who shares his thoughts about the boob tube daily here, summed up his opinion on this year's movies thusly yesterday as he passed by my cubicle (and I may be paraphrasing just slightly): "If it doesn't have Indiana Jones or Batman in it, or Scarlett Johansson having sex with Penelope Cruz, I'm really not too interested."

Well, as you might imagine, that last bit did spark my curiosity, so I had to seek out a trailer for Woody Allen's upcoming "Vicky Christina Barcelona," which indeed stars that dynamic duo, Javier Bardem and Patricia Clarkson. And yes, if you watch the trailer long enough, I believe you do get to see some fairly steamy Cruz-Johansson smooching, which is hopefully enough to liven up everyone's Thursday work day. Peace out.

Ben Affleck getting back in the director's chair

There were few more criminally overlooked 2007 movies, at least when it came to awards season, than Ben Affleck's "Gone Baby Gone."

You're always gonna hook me when you pack a "gritty" crime drama with my favorite HBO veterans (Amy Ryan, of course, but also Titus Welliver of "Deadwood" and Michael K. Williams, a k a stick-up man extraordinaire Omar Little on "The Wire.") But beyond that, it was just a compelling movie from start to finish, and unlike many people I talked to, I thought the third act was the best.

So it can only be called good news that Affleck is getting back in the director's chair with another crime epic, this one coming from Marcus Sakey's debut novel "The Blade Itself" (which I have not yet read.)

Best as I can tell, "Blade" revolves around two Chicago childhood friends who made their reputation committing petty crimes as kids before choosing different paths in life. When they are reunited years later, one is forced to decide how far he will go to protect the secrets of his past.

Sounds to me like its in the vein of "Angels With Dirty Faces," and should be right up Affleck's alley. Just to clarify a bit, so far Affleck is only listed as producing this for Miramax along with "Gone Baby Gone" partner Sean Bailey, but I can only assume that's so he can direct it too.

And, believe it or not, this would be Affleck's third directing job. Among his IMDB credits is this, from 1993: director of a short film called "I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney." I can't make this stuff up, folks.

"Parnassus" officially back on

This had been in the works for some time, but I tend to have doubts about anything I read about the simply snakebitten Terry Gilliam until I hear it from one of the official trades.

But yes, it does seem that shooting is really back on now in Vancouver for Mr. Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," which had of course been interrupted by the death of Heath Ledger. Through the magic-mirror nature of the plot, the filmmakers will be able to keep Ledger's work and supplement it with a trio of rather familiar substitutes, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law.

According to the producers, Ledger had completed all the shooting that takes place in the contemporary world, so this can somehow be sewn together to make a coherent flick (or as close as you can get to one from Terry Gilliam.) Just good news all around.

"No Country" hits DVD

I'm fairly certain that the Coen's "No Country for Old Men" is still playing at at least one of Macon's multiplexes until Thursday, so I was surprised to see it hitting DVD already today.

If you spring for the DVD release, which I certainly will, here are some documentary extras you'll get: Working With the Coens: Reflections of Cast and Crew, The Making of No Country for Old Men, Diary of a Country Sheriff. Doesn't sound like much, but the movie's so good that doesn't really matter much to me at all in this case. Peace out.

Trio steps in to rescue Heath's last movie for Terry Gilliam

When I first heard the rumor that multiple actors would step in to fill the shoes of Heath Ledger and finish Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," I just assumed it was either a joke or someone's wild fantasy.

Well, as it turns out, it's neither, but instead a fairly cool ending to this still very sad story. According to Variety, Johnny Depp (heard of him?), Jude Law and Colin Farrell have all signed on to play Ledger's character in assorted guises.

So, how is this possible? Well, let's look at the plot for this rather typically crazy Gilliam flick: 1,000-year-old Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) leads a traveling theater troupe that offers audience members a chance to go beyond reality through a magical mirror in his possession. Parnassus had been able to guide the imagination of others through a deal with the Devil (Tom Waits, natch), who now comes to collect on the arrangement, targeting the doctor's daughter (model Lily Cole). The troupe, who is joined by a mysterious outsider named Tony (Heath Ledger), embarks through parallel worlds to rescue the girl.

In a gambit that was apparently included in the script even before Mr. Ledger's death, his Tony takes on a different appearance each time the group crosses into another realm through a paranormal mirror. A convenient enough gimmick, I suppose, but if it's enough to rescue another Terry Gilliam flick from fading to black before it's finished, I'll take it.

How will "The Wire" end?

I'll be the first to admit that, though I still consider it without exaggeration to be the greatest TV show of all time, David Simon's "The Wire" has certainly been going out on an uneven keel in its fifth and final season.

Though I have yet to watch Sunday's episode (which I have safely Tivoed), some things that have bugged me more than a bit include the seemingly random return of characters from the past (specifically, so far, Avon Barskdale, Cutty and Randy), and the simply insane downward spiral of McNulty and how it has somehow also enveloped Lester (the great Clarke Peters.) There's also simply no way that Omar would have survived a shootout with that many bullets and managed to escape by making like Batman.

All that said, the journalism storyline still rings true, and I'm excited to find out how Simon is gonna wrap it all up in what is now only three more fresh episodes. Here are the plot summaries for the final three from HBO:

Episode #58: "Clarifications"
Baltimore's renewed police commitment brings fresh recruits to Daniels (Lance Reddick) and McNulty (Dominic West), starting with Carver (Seth Gilliam.) Facing a new political challenge, Mayor Carcetti (Aidan Giffen) is forced to make dangerous political deals. As the Pulitzer season winds down, Haynes (Clark Johnson) approaches Templeton (Thomas McCarthy) about his sources. Bunk (Wendell Pierce) returns a McNulty favor; little Kenard (Thuliso Dingwall) makes a big score; Dukie (Jermaine Crawford) finds work; Fletcher (Brandon Young) continues his interview with Bubbles (Andre Royo); Freamon presents his latest plan to a prosecutor; Sydnor (Corey Parker Robinson) uncovers the missing piece to a puzzle; McNulty comes clean.
Teleplay by Dennis Lehane; story by David Simon & Dennis Lehane; directed by Joe Chappelle.

Episode #59: "Late Editions"
With Steintorf (Neal Huff) ordering Rawls (John Doman) to initiate "creative" remedies for the rising crime rate, Freamon's vigilance pays off with a promising lead, sending Sydnor and the department into overdrive. Although Daniels is originally delighted, a further probe with Pearlman (Deirdre Lovejoy) reveals some troubling source information. McNulty, feeling betrayed, doesn't feel like sharing in Freamon's celebration; Michael (Tristan Wilds) is suspicious about his latest assignment; Haynes gets fresh eyes to help with fact-checking; Namond's (Julito McCullum) debating skills make Colvin (Robert Wisdom) proud; Davis (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) points a finger at Levy (Michael Kostroff) and the courts; and Bubbles recounts a recent temptation overcome.
Teleplay by George Pelecanos; story by David Simon & George Pelecanos; directed by Joe Chappelle.


Episode #60: " - 30 - "
Carcetti maps out a damage-control scenario with the police brass in the wake of a startling revelation from Pearlman and Daniels. Their choices: clean up the mess, or hide the dirt. With his leads predictably drying up, McNulty asks Landsman (Delaney Williams) to pull police off the homeless case - until a fresh homicide ramps up the investigation. A frustrated Haynes finds his concerns about Templeton falling on increasingly deaf ears. Convinced he has the upper hand, but caught in a legal quandary, Levy plays a cat-and-mouse game with Pearlman. Bubbles debates whether to greenlight a newspaper story about his life; Dukie seeks out an old mentor for a loan; and Marlo (Jamie Hector) oversees a new co-op order as he maps out his next move. As the officers stage an Irish wake for another dearly departed officer, the seeds of the future are sown throughout Baltimore.
Teleplay by David Simon; story by David Simon & Ed Burns; directed by Clark Johnson.

And there you have it. If you love this show as much as I do, enjoy it while you still can!

Two CW faves returning soon

Although their renewal fates are very much up in the air, especially for the latter show, the CW has at least extended the courtesty of airing the already-shot episodes of "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Aliens in America" beginning soon.

The 12 remaining original episodes of "Everybody Hates Chris" will begin airing March 3, while "Aliens in America" will return with 8 original episodes from March 2-March 23 and April 27-May 18.

Given the CW's rather abysmal track record of cancelling promising shows way too early, I strongly suspect this is the last we'll ever see of "Aliens in America," easily my favorite new sitcom of 2007. If you like to laugh (and who doesn't?), please give this little gem a boost in its probably final days.

"The Wild Things" ... are here!

I received this clip in the e-mail (easily the best missive I received all day) from Buzznet.com late Friday night at work, but was negligent in not posting it until today, so please accept my apology.

And, given just how uber-cool it is, I certainly should have acted quicker. "Where the Wild Things Are," director Spike Jonze's and writer Dave Eggers' take on my favorite childhood tale by Maurice Sendak, is now not scheduled to come out until some time in 2009, but right now you can enjoy this rough clip featuring an encounter between Max and one of the creatures that spring from his imagination.

I won't say too much to spoil it except that I like the natural look of it. Rather than some kind of blue-screen magic, it just looks like what might spring from the mind of our hero. My guess is that this particular Wild Thing is voiced by Forest Whitaker, but please let me know if you think I'm offbase here. Enjoy the clip, and have a perfectly bearable Monday. Peace out.

Woody Allen''s new muse: The man in the mirror?

Is Woody Allen finally getting in touch with reality? That really would be a monumental accomplishment, and I'm not sure he's there yet, but I suppose making movies that don't center on women about a third of his age does make for some kind of late-in-life progress.

And not only is Woody no longer focusing squarely on young starlets, but he may now have even found a kindred spirit to work with. Larry David of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," whose rather warped view of the world should fit just fine with Allen's, has signed on for Woody's next flick, set to start shooting this Spring.

There will, of course, be at least one rather young lady on the scene, this time being Evan Rachel Wood, late of "Across the Universe." And after an extended European vacation, which most recently produced the upcoming "Vicky Christina Barcelona" (wtf?) with Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz, Woody's finally coming home. For the first time since 2004 (I think) he'll be making a movie in NYC.

Welcome home, Woody, and though any plot details for this are currently under tight wraps I'll definitely be keeping my eyes on it to see what these very cranky old men can come up with.

Michael Cera will be a "Youth in Revolt"

The last time I posted anything about Michael Cera's next flick and said it was going to based on one of my favorite novels, a very loyal reader of this blog called C.D. Payne's book garbage, so perhaps a bit of clarification is needed on my part.

The work, clearly aimed at people much younger but equally as immature as me, is the definition of an acquired taste. I will, however, firmly state at least this much: It's the best book I've ever read about a teenager constantly concerned with his own erections who manages to burn down a large swath of Berkeley, Calif.

On that level at least, "Youth in Revolt," which Mr. Payne has turned into something of a cottage industry (with at least five sequels), is a satisfying bit of absurdia, and it presents a role that I think the very funny Mr. Cera will be very funny in, even if he's quickly growing too old to play the lead character, Nick Twisp, who in the book at least is 14 years old (which I would think they'd have to change a bit.)

Now, however, they've at least managed to pick a director before Mr. Cera gets any older. Miguel Arteta, director of "The Good Girl," "Star Maps," "Chuck and Buck" and lots of TV, will helm this project if it ever actually gets made (he's even got an episode of "Freaks and Geeks," "Chokin' and Tokin'," on his resume, so a hearty huzzah!) I know Mike White's "Chuck and Buck" put a lot of people off, but it's just a perfectly odd little movie that I love, and its skewed sense of black humor should serve Mr. Arteta well in this new endeavor. Now, get started already!

A view of Dr. Parnassus' "Imaginarium"

Well, half a view, anyways. Quick Stop Entertainment, which has been following the saga of Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" with vigor, has today published this rather odd half photo of what the Imaginarium will look like, assuming the movie ever gets finished.

The complete photo, apparently, will be available soon at the official site, which tried to go live earlier this week but crashed under its own weight. AICN says the folks will try again this weekend with a bigger server, so stay tuned. Enjoy the half pic, and have an entirely pleasant Thursday. Peace out.