Free Michael Moore, Notorious B.I.G. and Madea? What a day

There's just a lot of odd stuff out there today, so let's start with the creme de la weird (with all apologies to Chuck Shepherd.)

The movie version of Bret Easton Ellis' "American Psycho," starring Christian Bale, was a surprisingly good adaptation and a rather severely underrated little flick. Not once, however, did I ever think while watching it, "gee, this would make a great Broadway musical." Someone else apparently did, though, and so we get this (and I can't read any of it without laughing):

Per Variety: "An '80s-tinged tuner adaptation of "American Psycho" has begun the development process and is aiming for Broadway. The graphically bloody novel, which juxtaposes Reagan-era decadence and gruesome killings, includes prominent references to bands of the era, a fact that contributed to the idea of musicalizing the story. Sounds of the time will influence the new show's score. 'Now in particular it seems relevant, especially given what's happening on Wall Street,' said David Johnson of Johnson-Roessler."

Now, as an employee of a company that's currently in the process of downsizing 10 percent of its workforce (which could quite possibly include me), I can certainly understand the impulse to tell the story of a Wall Street banker who just happens to be a serial killer in his spare time, but sheesh.

Free Michael Moore?

Almost as odd, and from the short snippet I've watched so far, possibly much more annoying is the fact that Michael Moore's new "movie" is available for free starting today on the Internets.

Now, don't get me wrong, I used to have a lot of love for Michael Moore, and still have a fairly sizable reservoir of goodwill for the man. I thoroughly enjoyed all of his movies up until "Sicko," and even that one - in which I thought he squandered the opportunity to diagnose what's severely wrong with our health care system to spend too much time gallivanting around Europe to show what's right with theirs - was at worst a noble failure.

Now, however, with "Slacker Uprising," it seems he's made an entire movie about, well, Michael Moore (and it's surely got to grate his cheese that David Zucker's movie mocking him, "An American Carol," will actually get to play wide in movie theaters starting next week.)

What you get in "Slacker Uprising" is Michael Moore touring college campuses to urge young people to register to vote in 2004 and oust George W. Bush. Both noble goals in my book, but Michael Moore being Michael Moore, in the trailer alone he already takes credit for truly starting some kind of real "uprising."

Excuse me? No offense to the youth of America, of which I am no longer a card-holding member, but what exactly have you accomplished at the ballot box, with or without Michael Moore? I'm fairly confident that things will be different this time, but if so, that will have a heck of a lot more to do with BARACK OBAMA and his forces than Michael Moore.

But I hadn't even planned to launch into all that just to tell you this: You can watch Mr. Moore's flick (which I do intend to do, in small snippets) for free by clicking here.

First look: "Notorious"

I have rather strong doubts that any flick about the Notorious B.I.G., a k a Christopher Wallace, that's being funded by his own mother is going to be terribly objective, but the cast at least is first-rate.

Jamal Woolard, who landed the role by being a rather large black man who knows how to rap, will play Biggie himself, but the supporting players are much more exciting. Angela Bassett will play his mother, Voletta Wallace (I guess when you put up your own money you get the best to play you!) Even better, Derek Luke - easily one of my favorite actors - will play Sean Diddy Combs, and the equally promising Anthony Mackie will play the late Tupac Shakur. (And, if I may digress just a bit, I wasn't really expecting to get the rather salacious "Choke" in Macon this week, but at least we get to see Mr. Luke in Spike Lee's "Miracle at St. Anna." I can't wait.)

You won't learn too much more from this teaser clip for the flick set to open in January, but enjoy anyway.



Warning: Black man in drag and fat suit alert!

I really was hoping beyond hope that Tyler Perry was finally ready to retire the character of Madea for good.

After all, his latest flick - "Tyler Perry's The Family that Preys" - isn't perfect by any means, but when it sticks to the story of the friendship between the characters played by Alfre Woodard and Kathy Bates, it's tremendously entertaining. But I guess the urge to clown around in Madea's wig and fat suit was just too strong, so his next Lionsgate flick will indeed be "Madea Goes to Jail," based on his stage play of the same name. (And, oddly enough, Derek Luke's in this one too, playing an attorney.)

Remember, I warned you, but if you still want to see more, here's the teaser trailer. Peace out.

Alll hail Fall: 12 movies I can't wait to see

With the movie summer officially coming to an end this weekend, it only seems appropriate that "Bangkok Dangerous" with Nicolas Cage is the only movie truly opening wide this week.

I'll probably give that one a chance, and we also get caught up this week at my multiplexes with "Brideshead Revisited" and "Henry Poole Was Here." The latter flick just sounds like the definition of sappy, but The Orlando Sentinel's Roger Moore - who I almost always trust - gave it four out of five stars, so I might just have to give that one a chance.

Today, however, it's all about the Fall, and the potentially great movies it brings with it. We start out, thankfully, with a new Coen brothers flick, and there's even better stuff coming after that, so let's get right to it. (Please note that these opening dates are sometimes only for very limited openings and are always subject to change.)

Sept 12: "Burn After Reading"
The only review I've seen of this one so far was in The Hollywood Reporter, and they panned it as snarky and not terribly funny. I've yet to meet a Coen brothers comedy I didn't like (and yes, I even have time for "Ladykillers"), though, so I'm definitely in - even if it does look like Brad Pitt's gonna go what Robert Downey Jr. described in "Tropic Thunder" as "full retard."

Sept. 12: "Tyler Perry's The Family that Preys"
I've always had tons of time for Tyler Perry, even if he did make a slight misstep earlier this year with the rather pedestrian "Meet the Browns." Here, he's got Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard in his first flick to cross the color line in a big way, and I'm betting it will work just fine.

Sept. 26: "Blindness"
Anyone who's been here before (and hopefully there are a couple of you) knows that I often list, when pressed, Fernando Meirelles' "City of God" as my favorite movie, so I'm certainly looking forward to his take on the novel by Jose Saramago. I read the book earlier this summer, and I have to warn everyone out there, this is going to be a really bleak affair, even with Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Gail Garcia Bernal all on board.

Sept. 26: "Miracle at St. Anna"
There are three flicks on this list that I'd give a gold star because I want to see them even more than all the others, and this is the first. Even if he is motivated at least in part by his squabble with Clint Eastwood, what I've seen so far of Spike Lee's World War II epic leads me to believe this will be among his very best, putting it in rare company indeed.

Oct. 17: "W."
Just because there's a 60 percent-or-so chance that this will just suck beyond all reason doesnt mean I'm not intrigued. Of all the crazy casting in Oliver Stone's deconstruction of our lame duck president, I think the best will be Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice and, even better, Toby Jones as Karl Rove.

Oct. 24: "Synecdoche, NY"
When he had the filter of director Spike Jonze to control him a bit, Kaufman still delivered one of the most delightfully odd flicks I've seen with "Adaptation." Here he takes the reins himself for this tale of a director (Philip Seymour Hoffman) struggling to build a life size replica of New York City and at the same time deal with the various women in his life (Catherine Keener, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michelle Williams and Emily Watson are apparently among them, so I really can't feel too bad for the guy!)

Oct. 31: "Zack and Miri Make a Porno"
What I've seen so far of this Kevin Smith flick starring Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen indicates it will be funnier and have more heart than anything he's delivered in years. That doesn't mean, of course, that it won't be deliriously crude too, so if you watch this redband trailer at work, certainly do so with headphones on!



Nov. 14: "Quantum of Solace"
What can I say about Bond? Not much, but I'll definitely be there to watch when Daniel Craig returns to the role with a bevvy of new babes in tow.

Nov. 26: "Milk"
Harvey Milk certainly seems to be an odd figure to have two competing biopics out there, but this one from Gus Van Sant reaches the finish line first, and I'm betting it will be the superior flick (and I admit I can't even remember who's doing the other one.) Here, you've got Sean Penn as the San Francisco pol Milk, and also Josh Brolin, James Franco, Emile Hirsch and Diego Luna all on board. If I can make one DVD recommendation, you can do a whole lot worse than Van Sant's "Elephant," even if it only has about 12 words of dialogue in total.

Nov. 28: "Slumdog Millionaire"
Danny Boyle is sorely in need of a winner after the simply tired "Sunshine," and I'm giving this one my second gold star as my vote of confidence. Shot all over India, the only thing I know for sure is that it's about a very poor dude who strives to become a contestant on the Hindi version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" so he can win the heart of the gal he's smitten with. If that sounds a bit crazy, I'm hoping the outcome certainly turns out to be that and a whole lot more.

Dec. 19: "The Brothers Bloom"
The inspiration for this list was actually this pic of Rinko Kikuchi as "Bang Bang" in Rian Johnson's sophomore flick, which gets my final gold star. If you haven't seen his first, "Brick," do so ASAP. Here he's got Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo as the titular brothers and con men, Rachel Weisz as their latest target and Kikuchi as their explosives expert. In my mind, I'm already there.

Dec. 25: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The final entry goes to David Fincher's take on the F. Scott Fitzgerald character who ages in reverse through the 20th century. Early word is this will be a very mainstream flick that bears few of Fincher's signature touches, but it takes place largely in Baltimore (and damn well better have been filmed there!) and co-stars one of my favorite actresses in Taraji P. Henson, so I'm definitely in for this one as a Christmas treat.

Honorable mention
Here, in no order of preference or chronology, are the flicks that might have made this list if I had all day to work on it: "Towelhead", "Choke", "Flash of Genius", "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist", "RocknRolla", "City of Ember", "The Road", "Australia", "Frost/Nixon", "Revolutionary Road" and "Valkyrie".

And there you have it. Please feel free to let me know of any I might have missed, and have a perfectly bearable Wednesday.