A Saturday morning mix of clips

Before I get into any of that, including glimpses of two great documentaries I managed to see yesterday at the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival and a Studio Ghibli picture just guaranteed to make you smile, there is one bit of good news this morning.

Though most of my head knows that "Easy A" isn't one of the best movies of 2010, in my heart it has lingered as the funniest movie I've seen this year, so it will almost certainly end up in my top 10 for the year. And besides, Emma Stone is just so thoroughly charming throughout that its perfectly easy to give in to the fact that this is as light as light can get and just go along for the very fun ride.

So it's nothing but good - if incomplete - news that "Easy A" director Will Gluck and star Stone are reuniting for Sony Screen Gems for an as-yet-untitled and -unscripted comedy. The wild card here is that it's not yet known who will write the flick, but here's hoping it's "Easy A" scribe Bert V. Royal, who clearly knows the funny.

In less exciting Gluck news, he did both and write and direct the rather generic looking friends-with-benefits comedy with the uninspired title of, well, "Friends With Benefits," starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake and set to come out July 22.

And after that, all I have today is a couple of clips that bring the funny and two looks at movies I managed to catch yesterday in Rehoboth. You know, it really is a shame that Curtis Hanson has pretty much disappeared, because I quite liked at least a few of his flicks, especially the Eminem biopic "8 Mile," which I'm pretty sure airs on at least one basic cable channel every single Saturday afternoon. And though he clearly needs the work, I'm fairly certain Hanson isn't directing the upcoming Justin Bieber biopic (yes, really) "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never," but I'm glad Babelgum pilfered from his flick for this very funny parody "8 kilometer." Enjoy.



Now, I've never seen Jimmy Fallon's show, and if I'm ever sitting in front of a TV at that hour, I'll be watching Conan O'Brien instead, but it's nice to see that Fallon at least uses his fantastic house band, The Roots, for some real musical madness from time to time. Here, it's Jeff Goldblum crooning "Just a Friend," only to be joined later by Biz Markie himself, all backed by the Roots (who, for my money, put out the best album of 2010 with "How I Got Over.") There's really not much more to say about this except that Biz clearly learned nothing at all from his stint on "Celebrity Fit Club." Enjoy.



And finally today, I managed to catch two nearly perfect documentaries yesterday (and one truly disastrous Indian movie, "Like Stars on Earth," but I really don't have anything to say about that.) First up is "Enemies of the People," which spotlights the very hard work of newspaper journalist Thet Sambath, who for 10 years plus in his spare time has been embedding himself with veterans of the Khmer Rouge killing machine and often coming face to face with pure evil. It's personal for Sambath, whose mother, father and brother were all killed by Khmer Rouge operatives, and that's what makes this difficult movie so engaging. And his interviews with Nuon Chea, Pol Pot's No. 2, are as chilling as Errol Morris' encounter with Robert S. McNamara in "Fog of War." Highly recommended as soon as this becomes available, and it's in "Save" mode now at Netflix, so hopefully soon. Enjoy the U.S. trailer.



"Summer Pasture" was nominated this year for a Gotham Award in the category of "Best Movie Not Playing at a Theater Near You," and that certainly would have been true for me if not for the Rehoboth fest. The film itself is deceptively simple but thoroughly charming as it takes a look at six months or so in the life of a Tibetan nomad couple who herd yaks for a living. It has a little to say about modernization and a lot to say about life, without ever hammering you over the head with any of it. This may not sound terribly appealing, but trust me, it all just really works very well. I have no idea when this might come to DVD in the west, but with the Gotham love, hopefully it will be soon, and I'll certainly let you know when I hear of it. Enjoy the trailer.



And really finally, there also isn't much to say from me about this great Studio Ghibli group shot except that it's the thing that most made me smile this morning, especially since my single favorite Ghibli character is the great Porco Rosso. Enjoy, and have a great rest of the weekend. Peace out.

A new Christopher Guest movie? It's about friggin' time

Can anyone remember the last time Christopher Guest made one of his almost always entertaining mockumentaries? I would have guessed five years ago, and a quick glance at the rather disastrously "redesigned" (yes, I pretty much fear all change) IMDB confirms I was close ("For Your Consideration" in 2006 was his last - and not one of his best.)

Well now, according to Liz Smith at Women of the Web (hey, choose to believe it or not, but she has two of the stories I found interesting this morning, so credit where it's due), he's found a new subject to parody, and it sound just about perfect: the rather seriously idiosyncratic world of retro collectors.

I've never delved into that world, but I'm sure Guest, if this will indeed be his next target, will treat these endearing oddballs with his usual mix of mockery with a hint of respect. And according to Smith, the "Spinal Tap" core of Harry Shearer and Michael McKean are all already on board with the as-yet-untitled project, and they're writing roles with Guest regulars Michael Patrick Higgins, Parker Posey and even Jane Lynch in mind, though I'd be seriously impressed if they manage to snag her around her "Glee" schedule.

This could all be conjecture, of course, but it sounds so good that I'm choosing to believe it until I hear otherwise.

After that today, there's actually a lot of news about probably my three favorite young actresses out there, so after a short diversion about NBC's "Community," I'll get right on to that.

If you watched NBC's Thursday comedy block last night (except, I can only hope, "Outsourced," which my remote stopped on for a second during DVR breaks, and I could feel it cringing in my hand before I quickly moved on), I think you'll agree with me that "Community" has clearly now risen to the top of the pack. "The Office" is still funny, and "30 Rock" rebounded strong last year, but last night's "Community" premiere, from Chevy Chase's "White Man Says" Twitter account to the promise of evil Senor Chang out for revenge, was just nonstop laughs.

And the best joke of all just might have come in the first 10 seconds, when they show veryfunnyman Donald Glover waking up in his Spider-Man pajamas. Glover was lobbying for the role of Peter Parker in director Marc Webb's coming "reboot," and until now that would have been the only thing that would have possibly gotten me interested in this thoroughly unnecessary project.

The role eventually went to Andrew Garfield, which, once you've already fired Sam Raimi as director, just finished the meh for me. Now, however, he and Webb have interviewed Emma Stone and Mia Wasikowska for roles in the movie and, given that both Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson will appear in the new movie, those two, in that order, would be just about perfect, and perhaps even be enough to make me buy a ticket for this mess.

If you haven't seen Stone's "Easy A," do so this weekend, unless you somehow don't like to laugh. The story is too slight by half, but it's wickedly funny, and Stone truly shines in it.

And while we're on the subject of young actresses I always like to watch, just as Chloe Moretz is getting raves for "Let Me In," which I've now dropped all plans to avoid, she's now lined up what would have to be just about the perfect part.

I don't read comic books much any more, but I have read several issues of Dark Horse's "Emily the Strange," and they pretty much rule. The Goth teen who, with proper reason, loathes just about everything in the world except her talking cats, will make a great part for Moretz, who has now signed on for a live-action movie version based on the comic books.

OK, quick hits today, I know, but there's a lot out there, and not much time for me to get to it at all. Next up is a rumor that I'm sure is true, but I can only hope never comes to fruition.

According to Smith, again, Mel Gibson, who through no possible fault than his own is now pretty much an exile from the big screen, is apparently now lobbying hard to make a comeback on the small one, and in easily one of my favorite shows.

It seems that Gibson has been begging "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner for a recurring role on the fifth (and I think probably final) season of the show, which would film in July. Take a second to think about that.

Now, I know the show deals in complicated characters, and thrives on that, but I really hope Weiner doesn't take the bait on this. It would just be the worst kind of stunt, and "Mad Men" certainly doesn't need that. Though apparently less than 2 million people are tuning in for this season, it has been possibly the show's best, and with Cooper's "She was an astronaut," offered easily the best line of this just-starting TV season. Just say no, Mr. Weiner.

OK, after that, I think I have time for a trio of clips, so here goes. First up, from Collider.com, for which I occasionally contribute, comes this collection of five clips from the upcoming David Fincher Facebook flick "The Social Network." Though I didn't really need any convincing to go see this when it finally comes out one week from today, I've gotten word from someone whose opinion I always trust, Jeremy Jirik, that this is indeed first-rate Fincher, so I'm definitely amped now. Enjoy the clips.



After that today, all I have left is a couple of trailers, starting with the first one I know of for "The King's Speech," which was the big winner at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, which will hopefully give it enough mojo to open very wide when it does so later this fall. The movie, directed by Tom Hooper (who made the seriously satisfying futbol flick "The Damned United" - rent that one already), "The King's Speech" tells the story of King George VI. After his brother abdicates, George ‘Bertie’ VI (Colin Firth) reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded nervous stammer and considered unfit to be King, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Helena Bonham Carter (of course) stars in this too, and it should be a treat. Enjoy the trailer.

And finally today, here's the trailer for a comedy that, until this morning, I had never heard of, but Bill Nighy is just one of those people I'll watch in just about anything. As you'll see from this trailer for "Wild Target," in this rather familiar story he plays an assassin who falls for the latest target he's supposed to take out, played by Emily Blunt. Rupert Grint of "Harry Potter" fame also makes an appearance, and I'm hoping against hope this somehow turns out to be a whole lot less conventional than the trailer makes it out to be. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

First look at John Cameron Mitchell's "Rabbit Hole"

Actually, before I get into that, two bits of news in what will be a short report today because I've got some errands to run before going to see "The Town" today and most likely "Easy A" tomorrow (now that's a good movie weekend.)

Though I'd be more interested to find out what happens to the stunningly talented Connie Britton once the "Friday Night Lights" go out, which will be after next season (coming in spring again to NBC, I believe), her TV hubby has already snagged a new gig.

Kyle Chandler, aka Coach Taylor, and young Elle Fanning are the first two stars announced for writer/director J.J. Abrams' "Super 8." What else do we know about the project? Not too much - just that it's most likely some kind of alien thing (shocking, I know) and it's shooting this fall for release next year. Here's the extremely unrevealing teaser trailer that debuted earlier this year.



In other news, the one thing that would make me finally break down and order BBC America is perhaps about to happen soon. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, creators of "The Office" and "Extras," are officially turning their pilot for "Life's Too Short" into an at least six-part series for BBC2.

So, what is it? Well, it stars (and I'm not making this description from the Hollywood Reporter up) "Britain's pre-eminent little person actor" Warwick Davis, and it is indeed about his life, with some appearances from Gervais and Merchant too.

Here's hoping they don't bully Davis as badly as they do poor Karl Pilkington on their very funny podcasts, but I don't think that will be the case. Here's how Gervais himself describes it:

"Third in our trilogy of TV sitcoms, Life's Too Short is another naturalist observational comedy, dealing with everyday problems, human foibles and social faux pas... but with a dwarf," said Gervais.

Sounds like nothing but funny to me, so keep an eye out for it, and let me know if you ever find it.

But on to the main event today, and it really has to be just about the opposite of funny, but it should still be fairly great - and with the buzz around Nicole Kidman's performance maybe even playing wide enough by the end of this year that even I'll be able to see it at Macon's one (for now at least) movie theater.

If you've never heard of John Cameron Mitchell, he's the director of the crazy little punk rock/sex change operation gone wrong gem "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," which would make a perfect Saturday night rental if you've never seen it. He also made a sex romp called "Short Bus," but I've never seen that one (not because it would possibly offend me in any way, just because I haven't gotten around to it yet.)

And now he's back with something pretty much completely different, "Rabbit Hole," which has been picked up by Lionsgate. The movie stars Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as a married couple dealing with the death of their 4-year-old son (I said the opposite of funny, right.) Dire stuff, that, but I can't think of the last time Nicole Kidman picked a role that made me say "that was just awful" (yes, I even liked "Margot at the Wedding" quite a bit), so I'm really looking forward to this. Enjoy these two scenes from the movie, and of course, go see at least one movie this weekend. Peace out.

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.