Where the wild sounds aren't: A soundtrack dud

Actually, the biggest - though I'm not sure the best - news in my book is that easily one of my favorite British TV shows is not only coming to America, but even to the burgh formerly know as Charm City, Baltimore itself.

On the surface, E4's "Skins" would look like the definition of a guilty pleasure for someone as old and often cranky as me, but I think it's so good it stands up as entertainment for all ages. I'm not sure exactly how I got hooked on it in the first place, but I think it was because someone who visits here once commented that Dev Patel of "Slumdog Millionaire" stars in the first two seasons, which is indeed the case. If so, I can't remember who it was, but thank you all the same.

The show, a primetime soap opera that fits squarely with Britain's best entries in that genre, follows the adventures of seven teens who have the misfortune of living in Bristol with at best very unfit parents. There's an awful lot of sex and drugs, but also just a lot of humanity and fantastic storytelling. And besides, Peter Capaldi of "In the Loop" makes a very memorable turn on a few episodes as one said parent, so you know they have to be doing something right.

The show has aired a third season with a new set of kids, which I'll pick up on DVD as soon as I'm able, but in the meantime comes the rather dubious news that MTV (attracted, I suppose, by all the sex and drugs) is not only doing an American version, but setting it in Baltimore with a cast of "unknowns."

Show creator Bryan Elsley will have a hand in at least the pilot, so perhaps this won't turn out as dreadful as I'm imagining it could be. And in the meantime, I really do recommend watching the first two seasons of "Skins" on DVD. It's not quite "Freaks and Geeks," but in it's own way, it's still a unique view of teenage life that I guarantee you'll find entertaining if you stick with it.

In other, much more geeky and less disturbing, news, John Landis and the great Simon Pegg are teaming up for a flick that - if I'm not mistaken - would be Landis' first big-screen feature directorial project since "Blues Brothers 2000" (which may well some kind of masterpiece, but since I'll never see it, I guess I'll never know.)

"Burke and Hare," which sounds like it's right up each of their alleys, will be about a pair of 19th Century grave robbers who dug up and sold cadavers to the Edinburgh Medical College for dissection. I'm laughing at that already, and if you pair Pegg and Nick Frost as the two grave robbers, even better.

And finally, before we get to the rather lame lead single from the upcoming "Where the Wild Thing Are" soundtrack and then a mind-bending teaser trailer from no less than Christopher Nolan, there's one more bit of news about what will most likely be Pixar's first live-action movie, "John Carter of Mars" (Brad Bird had been developing a live-action project titled "1906" about the great San Francisco earthquake, but it looks like that one might be in serious trouble.)

"John Carter of Mars" will be based on the series of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs about a Civil War veteran who is somehow transported to the red planet. Already, "Friday Night Lights" (man, do I miss that show) vet Taylor Kitsch has been cast as the titular John Carter, and now two of my favorite actors have joined the mix.

Dominic West, who walked the beat in Baltimore (you really can't have too much Charm City in one post) as Jimmy McNutty on "The Wire," will play Sab Than, the Martian prince who (according to reports, since I haven't read these books yet) tries to force the Martian princess Dejah Thoris to marry him. Even better, and wilder, Samantha Morton will play Sola, the "10-foot-tall, four-armed green secret daughter of Martian warrior Tars Tarkas."

Like I said, not having read the books, none of that means much to me, but I still can't wait to see what Pixar will do in live action (though it won't be coming until 2012), and especially with a cast that good.

OK, as we near the finish, it's time for something just almost completely disappointing. Anyone who's been here before knows that I've been tracking all the slightest bits of minutiae about "Where the Wild Things Are," because it pairs one of my favorite directors, Spike Jonze, with my favorite tale from childhood by Maurice Sendak.

In, I think, both of the trailers, they've used the simply sensational Arcade Fire song "Wake Up," which in both spirit and sound just fits the movie perfectly.

Now, however, they've released the first single from the upcoming movie soundtrack, by "Karen O and the Kids," with Karen O being the frontwoman for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And I have to say, having listened to it twice now, that it's unfortunately just a big ball of meh.

Don't take my word for it, though. Click here and scroll down the right side to listen yourself, and please feel free to let me know if I'm somehow just all wet about this.

And, really finally, I'm probably a few days late with this, but who really cares when it's the teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan's next flick, "Inception"? The clip doesn't reveal much except that it stars Leonardo DiCaprio, but I can also tell you young Ellen Page is in it, it won't come out until July and it should just be a real friggin mind trip when it finally drops. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.

What will Pixar's first live-action movie be, and who will be in it?

Though any of you have much of a life will probably be out and about in some form tonight, I'll be at home watching my beloved Orioles most likely lose to my second-favorite baseball team (though there's a big gap between the two), the Atlanta Braves.

And after that, I'll certainly tune in for the final episode of "Pushing Daisies," which is dying far too soon tonight at 10 p.m. In what will have to serve as the finale, one-half of The Aquadolls (Nora Dunn and Wendie Malick), a synchronized swimming duo and rival to the Darling Mermaid Darlings, turns up dead, and of course Ned, Chuck and Emerson are on the case.

I've sung the praises of this fairy tale for adults loudly and proudly from the start, but on this sad occasion, I'll simply ask you this: How many shows in the past 10 years can you really call "unique" (a word that's used and misused far too often)? "Pushing Daisies," with its winning mix of humor, engaging story and pure whimsy, earned that title, and for that it will be sorely missed by at least by me.

But here today it's supposed to be about the star of another of my favorite TV shows, "Friday Night Lights," who's about to hit the really big time in what most likely will be the first live-action movie from the rather famous animation house Pixar.

I had thought that honor was going to go to "Ratatouille" and "The Incredibles" director Brad Bird with "1906," which just sounded like a perfect idea. Though I wasn't terribly impressed with the writing in the book by James Dalessandro, the story he came up with about the political intrigue that surrounded the great earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco was just crying out to be told on the big screen.

But it seems Bird has been hit both by trouble finishing the script and budget woes (at Pixar?), and it now seems that Andrew Stanton will get the live-action honor instead with "John Carter of Mars," set to begin filming in November in Utah. And, though most of the news reports I saw pitched it as Gambit from "Wolverine" landing the lead role, everyone should know that Taylor Kitsch is and always will really be Tim Riggins of the Dylan Panthers. Oddly enough, one of the female leads will be going to Lynn Collins, who played Hugh Jackman's "wife" in "Wolverine."

But, and if I were more of a proper geek I would probably know more about this, what in the world is "John Carter of Mars"? Well, it's a series of books by "Tarzan" creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, apparently, though I can't say I've ever read any of them (though that will change before this movie comes out.)

As far as I can tell, the story centers on a Civil War veteran who finds himself mysteriously transported to the red planet, where he gets involved with the planet's warring factions. I'm sure there's a lot more to it than that, and I'm also sure Taylor Kitsch will be great in what should turn into a series of flicks.

Oddly enough, I'm not sure how old the character is supposed to be, but also among the many actors considered for this part was Jon Hamm of "Mad Men." A truly odd combo there.

And I'll leave you today with this teaser trailer for Michael Moore's next, as yet untitled, flick, which as you'll be able to tell is going to be about the current state of our economy and just how we got into this mess. I'm kinda dreading just how smug, I-told-you-so he's gonna be about all this, but it's certainly a subject that fits him well, so here's hoping he comes up with something a lot more compelling and entertaining than the thoroughly missed opportunity that was "Sicko."

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to see "The Hangover" (yes, I'm a week behind) rather than any remake of "The Taking of Pelham 123" or Eddie Murphy's latest family-friendly crap fest. And just a reminder that if you live anywhere near Macon, please come out to the Macon Film Guild's presentation of the baseball flick "Sugar" on Sunday at 2 (I'll be there), 4:30 or 7:30 p.m. at the Douglass Theatre. Peace out.