A Thursday clip show, with Harold, Kumar and even Black Dynamite

Before we get into any of that, does anyone remember Amy Sherman-Palladino? Before she quit her own show between the sixth and seventh (final) seasons, she was the creator of "Gilmore Girls," a show that was miles better than it had any business being.

The CW show starred Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel as a single mother and her teenage daughter, and on paper that should have been enough to keep me away. And for the first couple of seasons, it was, but I eventually caught on an up, and I'm certainly glad I did.

Along with the great relationship - and two electric stars - at its core, the show had genuine quirk, not the forced and piled on kind (though there was a whole lot of it), but the organic kind that genuinely makes you laugh (and is sorely missing almost everywhere else on TV.) And it also had very fast - and almost equally smart and funny - banter, something you don't find outside of Aaron Sorkin's best work.

And I tell you all that to tell you this: After first attempting a post-"Gilmore Girls" comeback with the disastrously short-lived "The Return of Jezebel Jones" with Lauren Ambrose and Parker Posey (how in the world do you make her not funny? Sheesh), she's now back in a pretty big way, scripting a pilot for ABC based on the best-selling book "The Nanny Diaries."

If that sounds familiar, it's already been made into a movie I somehow managed to miss starring Scarlett Johansson and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (who also made the delightful "American Splendor" and, more recently, "The Extra Man," well worth a rental.)

And on paper, this new show, about an NYU undergrad hired to care for the 4-year-old child of a wealthy New York family, sounds as unpromising as "Gilmore Girls" first did to me, too, but since I was wrong once, I'll probably at least tune in for the pilot for this, when and if it ever materializes. Welcome back.

OK, after that today, it's nothing but filthy fun, I promise, starting with the first trailer I've seen for "A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas." Yes, 3D, but as you'll see from the trailer, it's as much a target as a prop, and should be put to some pretty friggin funny use. I'm not sure there really needs to be a premise for a Harold and Kumar movie, but this time out Harold (John Cho) is happily married when Kumar (Kal Penn), of course, shows up to drag him back into his hedonistic ways. I hope I never get too old to enjoy a good stoner movie, and here's hoping also that this turns out to be one (I'm betting on yes) when it opens in November. Enjoy.

And finally, satires don't get much smarter or funnier than what Michael Jai White and director Scott Sanders cooked up with "Black Dynamite," so I was plenty happy to hear the saga was continuing in animated form on Adult Swim. I have no idea if this is going to series, but with the first short episode embedded below, I can tell you two things: Though it's not quite as funny as the movie (and really, few things are), it's still pretty darn good, and also, please be warned, this is EXTREMELY not safe for work. Enjoy it when you're sure it won't get you in trouble. Peace out.

A Friday report with "Wargames" madness, Danny Boyle and Aaron Sorkin

Something that perfect really shouldn't need any words from me, but just in case you somehow can't tell, that's Martin Freeman in his Bilbo Baggins costume for Peter Jackson's upcoming movie of "The Hobbit," making it pretty much pure bliss. 'Nuff said.

And in other movie news this morning, I've really lost all my zeal to complain about the need to remake every single thing that came out of the '80s, especially since it's so clear there's nothing I or anyone else can do to stop them.

When they keep claiming the careers of promising directors, however, it just keeps getting more and more distressing. First this week came the inexplicably bad/tame first trailer for "Hustle & Flow" director Craig Brewer's take on "Footloose," and now comes word that the '80s remake machine has claimed another victim in Seth Gordon.

Gordon, who made the sensational documentary "King of Kong" and in a few weeks will have "Horrible Bosses" starring Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day in theaters, has now signed on to direct a remake of "WarGames."

Think about that for a second. While "WarGames" was a perfectly fun little flick, was there an '80s movie that was more specifically of its time? I really can't see how you would recreate that ridiculously entertaining scenario in this even more threatening world, and there's another attempt to resurrect something similar that should serve as a cautionary tale, "Red Dawn."

Making a remake of that even sillier '80s minor treasure wouldn't really seem on the surface to be too difficult, but for the filmmakers it's turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. After all major filming for the movie starring Thor's Chris Hemsworth had been completed, whatever studio is behind this madness decided that China could no longer be the big bad because its potential audience is too large, so they had to make a last-minute change to North Korea, where for all I know they don't get many Hollywood movies at all.

And I tell you all that to simply say this: The "Red Dawn" remake still has no release date and may well just disappear straight to DVD, as hopefully this "WarGames" chicanery will too, if it happens at all.

OK, after that diatribe, there's two other bits of news out there that caught my eye this morning, starting with an "X-Men: First Class"-related casting shift for Danny Boyle's next movie.

"Trance," which the director will unfortunately most likely not make until after he directs the opening ceremonies for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, sounds like its right in the vein of his earlier work such as "Shallow Grave" (still my favorite Boyle flick) and "Trainspotting."

The flick is about an employee at an arthouse who teams with a group of criminals to steal a valuable piece. Though the heist succeeds, a blow to the head gives him amnesia and he is unable to remember where the art is hidden. Suspecting foul play, his co-conspirators hire a hypnotist to try and pull the secret from his mind.

Sounds like nothing but potentially great to me, and though Michael Fassbender was originally set to play the lead, it has now apparently been passed on to James McAvoy. Not really trading up or down there, but a lateral move, I'd say, so stay tuned for more on this project as soon as I can find it.

And finally today, it seems that when HBO gets is hands on talented directors/writers, it really doesn't want to let them go.

Aaron Sorkin already has a series going to pilot on the network this fall, "More as the Story Develops," which sounds eerily like "Sports Night" simply redone with a cable news show instead of a cable sports show (not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that.)

And now comes word that he's teaming up with "The Office" star John Kraskinski, who will produce and probably star, for a mini-series of eight episodes or so that springs from the book "Life at the Marmont" by Raymond R. Sarlot.

Given the Sunset Strip hotel's juicy history, it should give Sorkin plenty to work with. It's where the corpse of John Belushi was discovered in 1982, and among the personalities who lave lodged there since the 1930s are Hunter S. Thompson, Greta Garbo, Errol Flynn, Judy Garland and Lindsay Lohan.

Sounds like a whole lot of fun to me, and the casting alone should be a hoot. And if you'll excuse me now, I'm off to do some swimming before I take a chance on Jake Kasdan's "Bad Teacher," which I'm hoping against hope will deliver some pretty solid laughs. Peace out.

If at first you succeed ... plus a big Wednesday clip show

Well, if you're Aaron Sorkin, if you've done something exactly right the first time (even if it was severely under appreciated), just do it all over again almost exactly the same way.

Does anyone remember "Sports Night"? It was a truly great Sorkin show that ran for a couple of years simultaneously (I think) with the early years of "The West Wing." As you may remember, it was about a sports news show hosted by two dudes and produced by two women, with another producer as a rival for one of the hosts' affections.

Just believe me, it was a whole heck of a lot better than I'm making it sound here. In the original version, the two hosts were Josh Charles and Peter Krause, the producer was Felicity Huffman and the associate producer was the sorely-missed Sabrina Lloyd. I frankly can't remember who played the other part, but you get the idea.

Now, fast forward about 10 years or so, and Sorkin has sold something called "More as This Story Develops" to HBO, and with the exception that it's about a news rather than sports show, it sounds like pretty much exactly the same thing, with pretty much the same cast dynamic taking shape (and although it may sound like I'm complaining, I'm really not ... "Sports Night" was fantastic.)

This time around, if all the pieces fall into shape, Jeff Daniels will play the host, Marisa Tomei the producer (and following the "Sports Night" model, probably unrequited love interest), Alison Pill of "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World" will play the associate producer and Olivia Munn will play a business news reporter and undoubtedly rival for Daniels' affections. I could be wrong of course, but that certainly does sound familiar, no?

Either way, I'll definitely be tuning in when this hits HBO, perhaps sometime this fall.

And in just a bit of movie news, it seems that Russell Crowe is reuniting with the source of his best movie so far, "L.A. Confidential," for his first directing effort.

Crowe would also star in "77," based on a James Ellroy script that is apparently being rewritten by someone else. Best as I can tell, per Deadline, it's about the unsolved murder of an LAPD officer, and the nationally televised shootout in South Central L.A. between the Symbionese Liberation Army and the LAPD, as seen through the eyes of two police partners, one black and one white.

Sounds like typically juicy Ellroy stuff, so stay tuned. And now, on to the clips ...

OK, today, these are pretty much in descending order of funny until the end, a plug for tonight's premiere of the 15th (really!?!?) season of "South Park." First up, courtesy of The Onion, comes an interview with the screenwriter of "Fast Five," 5-year-old Chris Morgan. Now, I have nothing against the Fast and Furious flicks (that Tokyo one is some pretty seriously satisfying Saturday afternoon viewing for a half hour or so), but this is seriously funny. Enjoy.


Today Now! Interviews The 5-Year-Old Screenwriter Of "Fast Five"

Next up is the first red band trailer for Kristen Wiig's "Bridesmaids," courtesy of Myspace, and having watched it, I'm now certain the ladies are going to bring a whole lot of funny when this drops May 13. You do have to feel more than a little bad for Melissa McCarthy, who is apparently going to be one running fat joke in the flick, but she does at least seem to be in on the joke. Enjoy.



OK, these next two I'm a little more dubious about, but I like the stars of both, so here goes. Paul Rudd, who can be really funny when he allows himself to be (just trust me, "Role Models" is a minor comedy classic), stars as the titular idiot in "Our Idiot Brother," set to come out Aug. 16. Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks and Rashida Jones all play his sisters, so here's hoping this will be a whole lot funnier than I'm expecting. Enjoy.



And for the last of our trailers, there isn't a comedienne working today who deserves a great starring role more than Anna Faris. She's just a natural wit (and yes, I even love "House Bunny"), but I don't think the role she's been waiting for arrives with "What's Your Number?", for which the titular question seems to be addressing how many rom-com cliches can be stacked into one two-minute or so trailer. Oh well. "Enjoy" this trailer, and then stick around for a much better look back at her career so far, courtesy of the New Yorker.





And finally today, Trey Parker, Matt Stone and friends are indeed back tonight, and only those guys could combine Steve Jobs, the iPad and ... well, just watch the clip to see. I'll just say it's expectedly both disgusting and simply hilarious. "South Park" returns to Comedy Central (and my DVR) tonight at 10 p.m. Enjoy the clip, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

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A Friday full of fun stuff - and at least one serious thing

This post does indeed include the final movie shot by photo journalist Tim Hetherington, but it's a Friday morning, so let's start out with some potentially very fun TV news before we get into anything like that.

So far, this "news" only comes from the New York Post's page 6, but here's hoping it's true, because it could be rather great.

Aaron Sorkin is at work on a pilot for HBO titled "More as the Story Develops," which would star Jeff Daniels as the host of a cable news show. If it's anywhere near as good as what Sorkin did for cable sports news with "Sports Night," still his best work, I'm definitely in. And according to the Post at least, he's just about perfectly cast the executive producer role played by Felicity Huffman on that show, this time with Marisa Tomei.

One other thing that is definitely about to happen, though I'm not entirely sure I want to see it again after all this time, is the return of Patsy and Edina to the BBC. Yes, Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley are apparently in the final stages of a deal to make three new episodes of "Absolutely Fabulous."

Like I said, I'm more than a little skeptical that they can still bring the funny, but if Dawn French is back as Saunders' co-writer/conspirator, I'm in for at least three episodes to find out.

OK, now for something serious, but I promise I'll move on quickly after that. As most everyone knows by now, Tim Hetherington, a photo journalist who went on to co-direct the Afghanistan war documentary "Restrepo" with Sebastian Junger, was killed recently while covering the current conflict in Libya.

An incredibly sad thing that, and as my friend and Telegraph photographer Grant Blankenship pointed out, just as we honor the brave men and women who fight to protect this great country, we should likewise honor those brave enough to report on it. 'Nuff said.

And with that, here is "Diary," a short film that is the last one Hetherington made before he died. It's well worth 20 minutes or so of your Friday morning, and here's how Hetherington himself describes it:

'Diary' is a highly personal and experimental film that expresses the subjective experience of my work, and was made as an attempt to locate myself after ten years of reporting. It's a kaleidoscope of images that link our western reality to the seemingly distant worlds we see in the media.

Enjoy, and then stick around for two videos that I promise are more appropriate for a Friday morning.

Diary (2010) from Tim Hetherington on Vimeo.

This next clip, while not as funny as I might have hoped, does come with some news to introduce it.

Ruben Fleischer, director of the simply fantastic "Zombieland," has now wrapped "30 Minutes Or Less" and moved on to prepping his next flick, "The Gangster Squad," and he's about to get a great cast for it.

The flick, based on a series of L.A. Times articles, tells the true story of a secret police task force that went after Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen, a high-profile gangster who was a member of the "Jewish Mafia" in the 1940s. And, according to Variety, Sean Penn is in talks to take the lead in this, with Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin expected to quickly follow suit if he does.

And in the meantime, here's the first red band trailer for Fleischer's next movie, "30 Minutes or Less," set to come out Aug. 12. As you'll see from the trailer, it stars Jesse Eisenberg, veryfunnyman Aziz Ansari and Danny McBride in a story about two guys (Eisenberg and Ansari) who are forced to rob a bank. Like I said, I'm hoping the movie itself will be a damn sight funnier than this trailer which, being of the red band variety, make sure you watch with headphones if you're at work. Enjoy, and then stick around for the trailer for what could be a real charmer/sleeper this summer.

More 30 Minutes or Less Videos

OK, finally today comes the second trailer I've seen for the British flick "Submarine," which looks like it was made just for me. It looks like your typical coming-of-age movie, but from what I'm seen so far I'm still betting on very funny and very charming, much like the criminally overlooked "Rocket Science" from a few years ago (rent that already!). It also doesn't look like the kind of movie that has any prayer of playing in my little corner of the world when it comes stateside on June 3, but now that it somehow sports the words "Ben Stiller presents," who knows. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

How much cute can you handle?

Usually, with me, it's just about zero, but I'll make an exception this time because these clips are pretty much all very funny, too.

Here, courtesy of Moviefone, are kids acting out four of the Best Picture nominees for this year's Oscars, in order, "The Social Network", "127 Hours", "The King's Speech" and "The Fighter." The kids taking on Aaron Sorkin's rapid-fire dialogue is pretty priceless, but I think best of all might be the poor kid who takes time to pick a winner during the clip of "The Fighter."

What would made these even better? Perhaps if they had tried to do "Winter's Bone" or "The Kids Are Alright," though I suppose we don't really want to go there ... Enjoy!

Oscar surprises - the good, the bad and the ugly

Actually, before I get into any of that, and it really was a pretty great year for interesting movies getting deserved Oscar nominations, there are three tidbits of perhaps fresher news out there that caught my eye this morning.

First up, with "Red" hitting DVD shelves this week (and my home player this weekend), Summit has announced that a sequel to the octogenarian comic book hit is on, and to that I can only say bully. If you happened to stop by yesterday, you know I pretty much love the original, which captured the comic book feel nearly perfectly and was just a whole lot of fun.

So far for the sequel, Summit has hired brothers Erich and Jon Hoeber, who wrote the script for the first movie, but as yet no actors. I have to assume, though, that if they come up with anything even pretty good, Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and hopefully even the great Brian Cox will all be back for more. Stay tuned.

In other news, fresh off his Oscar love for "The Social Network," it seems that Aaron Sorkin is headed back to TV with something that could be fascinating - at least if its a lot more "Sports Night" than "Studio 60." He has told the BBC he's working with HBO on a series that would be set back stage at a cable news show.

Now, I can only take those shows in very small doses, and the only one I watch with any regularity is "Morning Joe," but they're still certainly an interesting petri dish of ideas and bombast for Sorkin to play around in, assuming this is happening as he says. Unfortunately, it seems that Keith Olberman, who I was hoping was now gone from TV pretty much for good, may be back on this as a character of some kind.

And finally, before I get into the Oscars, buzz has been building about an Alfred Hitchcock biopic, which I'd be hesitant about if it weren't coming together so well so far. Though it's hard to call it high art, there are very few documentaries that I've seen in the past 10 years or so that are more entertaining than Sasha Gervasi's "Anvil: The Story of Anvil," which chronicles the misadventures of Canada's hardest-working heavy metal band (yes, really).

For his next project, Gervasi is now in talks to direct an adaptation of the Stephen Rebello book "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho," which would be about exactly what the title says. Even better, Sir Anthony Hopkins, who's hamming it up this week in his own "horror" movie which I won't be going to see, "The Rite," is now in talks to play Hitchcock himself. Nothing but potential perfection there, methinks.

OK, on to the Oscars, which contained some surprises this year, most of them good for once. Being a glass half full kind of dude on my best days, I'll start with the good, and try my best to make that portion longer. Here goes.

The good

All the love for "Winter's Bone": I've made it no secret around here that Debra Granik's coming-of-age film noir of sorts set in the Ozarks is, by a pretty wide margin, my single favorite movie of 2010, so I wasn't terribly surprised that it managed to sneak into the Best Picture top 10 (to brag just a bit, I managed to predict the 10 nominees here a week ago, correctly tapping this and "127 Hours" for the final two spots.)

What I didn't expect, but certainly support, is acting nods for both Jennifer Lawrence (Best Actress) and John Hawkes (Best Supporting Actor). Though she'd get my vote for carrying this movie with a fragile but still unwavering will, I don't think Lawrence has any chance in a category that will probably belong to Annette Bening or Natalie Portman (of the two, I'll take the latter in "Black Swan"). Hawkes, likewise, will probably get knocked out by Christian Bale's electric turn as Dickie Eklund in "The Fighter," but any recognition of his key role as uncle "Teardrop" is welcome in this little corner of the world.

And for an award that "Winter's Bone" might actually win, it's great to see writer/director Debra Granik nominated for best adapted screenplay, though if I were a betting man, I'd say that award will ultimately go to Sorkin for "The Social Network."

Michelle Williams: Granted, I only manged to see "Blue Valentine" last week, and so it's very fresh on my brain, but Williams' nomination for Best Actress brought the biggest smile to my face Tuesday morning. Along with Ryan Gosling (more on that in a bit), she dragged viewers smack into the middle of a romance that burns extremely bright thanks to her passionate performance before of course crashing equally hard, and it would have been a much more uncomfortable viewing experience if she weren't so magnetic at the center of it all.

Jacki Weaver: That may not be a name familiar to very many people, but it should be, especially with "Animal Kingdom" now out on DVD. In that truly gritty Aussie gangster flick, which made my top 10 for the year, she plays the menacing but fiercely loyal matriarch of the doomed Cody small-time crime clan, and steals every minute ehe's allotted. This category will probably go to either Helena Bonham Carter for "The King's Speech" or Melissa Leo for "The Fighter," either of which would be fine, but I'd much rather see youth be served with Hailee Steinfeld in "True Grit" (though she really is a leading actress, of course!), or even better, the long shot Weaver somehow come out on top.

"The Illusionist": My co-workers were grumbling yesterday about how in the world "Despicable Me" could have been left off the list for Best Animated Picture, and I'm with them there. Disney's "Tangled" also got shafted, and while that doesn't really bother me at all, it does raise a bigger question: Why only three nominees in this key category? I mean, we all know "Toy Story 3" is going to win, but three is still a ridiculously small number. At least they did manage to squeeze in Sylvain Chomet's "The Illusionist," an odd little movie that, like Chomet's "The Triplets of Belleville" before it, has practically no discernible dialogue at all. What it does, have, however, in telling the story of a magician who adopts a young traveling partner who thinks his tricks are real, is a lot of humor and heart, exactly what I look for in a great animated movie.

The bad:

The best director category: Say what you want to about "Inception," but no director took more chances this year than Christopher Nolan, so with that flick nominated for Best Picture, why not Nolan for Best Director? This doesn't really miff me as much as some, but it is a real head-scratcher. More important, I think, is how in the world did the Academy manage to recognize no women in this category? Lisa Cholodenko was certainly a possibility for "The Kids Are All Right," but I really think that's the weak link in the Best Picture field. Much better would have been Granik, who delivered nothing short of a masterpiece (a term I try not to throw around a lot, but it's deserved here - watch it already!) with "Winter's Bone." Apparently handing one Oscar to Kathyrn Bigelow was enough for a while. Sheesh. I predict a split decision here, with "The King's Speech" winning Best Picture by sheer momentum, but David Fincher taking Best Director for "The Social Network."

Ryan Gosling: Also among the office Oscar chatter I heard yesterday was that Julia Roberts threw a party just last week to throw her weight behind Javier Bardem being nominated for Best Actor for "Biutiful" (which I haven't seen). Who knows if that had any effect, but if so, it's a real crime, because how in the world do you nominate Michelle Williams for "Blue Valentine" but not her worse (relationship-wise) but at least equal (acting-wise) half? Simply maddening, but if you haven't seen this movie yet, just do while you can, because in spite of its difficult subject matter, it really is a joy to behold.

Cinematography: It was a pretty banner day for "127 Hours," which certainly made me cheer. Oscar co-host James Franco got a much-deserved Best Actor nomination, Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy are rightly up for Best Adapated Screenplay, and it of course snuck into the Best Picture field (and into movie theaters in my little corner of the world this weekend - bully). But how in the world were Enrique Chediak and Anthony Dod Mantle not recognized for the beautiful camera work that made both the euphoric highs and depressing lows (there are more of the former, thankfully) just shine so bright on screen? I just assumed this was a lock, because along with being an all-around great film, it just looks like nothing else that hit theaters in 2010, and how many movies can you really say that about?

OK, there you have it. I'm off now somewhat late to the job that still actually pays, but please feel free to add any Oscar surprises of your own that just made you smile or grown, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

Which of these crazy movie ideas are real?

Actually, I probably shouldn't spoil it, but they all are, which doesn't make them any less bizarre.

1. Anyone who's been here before (and there are apparently somehow a few of you) knows that I'll watch Carla Gugino in just about anything. And even though I enjoyed watching her play a porn star who dresses like a nun in "Women in Trouble," even I wouldn't have guessed that one of her next movies would be called "MILF."

Really? Yes, really, but no matter what you might be thinking that means (keep it clean, people), the acronym here stands for "Mothers I'd Like to Fight", and the movie, which Gugino is apparently in talks to star in, would be a revenge story about a woman who, recently released from prison, returns to the street to take care of some unfinished business.

And yes, cheap, attention-grabbing acronym aside, I'd watch that, though I'd probably buy a ticket from the machine rather than have to actually ask for one to something called "MILF." Just sayin'.

2. Anyone who's been here before also knows that David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's "The Social Network," about the invention of Facebook, is one of the movies I'm most psyched to see this fall. That said, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that in Hollywood, imitation is the most frequent substitution for inspiration, but I just really didn't think it would come quite so quickly.

Apparently at least some people who saw those YouTube and Twitter movie spoofs (I posted one here, and they're actually quite funny) didn't realize that they were meant to be a joke, because brace yourself now for the Google movie (and again, yes, really.)

According to Deadline, Ken Auletta's bestseller "Googled: The End of the World as We Know It" is being made into a feature film. The book tells "the biographical story of Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the famously private founders of Google, and their meteoric rise to becoming two of the most powerful men on the planet."

OK, that does make it sound like it could actually be pretty good, but could this please be the end of movies about computer breakthroughs (one can dream, I suppose, but since Peter Berg is actually making a movie from the game Battleship, I know it's futile.)

3. When a sentence starts with "Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy have signed up to star in a romantic comedy ...", it would probably just make me say meh, except for the sentence ends "... about the invention of the first vibrator."

Per Variety: "The period drama, titled Hysteria, centres on two doctors in Victorian London who experiment with an electrical device to treat irritable and angry women. Dancy and Jonathan Pryce will play the physicians."

That actually sounds pretty funny to me already, and just in case you were wondering if Gyllenhaal might play one of the test subjects, again, keep it clean - she's actually set to play the daughter of Pryce's character, assuming this ever gets made.

OK, enough of that. All I have left today is a picture that immediately caught my eye and Lewis Black's "review" of "Eat, Pray, Love."

First the picture. If Martin Scorsese weren't filming "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" in 3D, you could call it probably the movie I'm most psyched about for next year (actually, since it's based on a book I truly adore, it still is, but why the 3D? Sheesh.)

And even though Scorses has apparently also shortened the title from Brian Selznick's novel down to simply "Hugo Cabret," the story is still a real charmer. The book is about an orphan who lives a secret life in the wall of a Paris train station, where he gets drawn into the magical world of George Melies and his automatons. There's a lot more going on in the book, and it's all a lot of fun.

As you'll see from the first picture below, Asa Butterfield plays the titular Hugo, and Chloe Moretz is his young co-star, and if the sight of Hit Girl in period costume doesn't make you smile at least a bit, well, you probably don't smile enough. Enjoy.


And finally today, in a clip that I'd have to say is just about perfect for a Friday morning, here's Lewis Black's seriously funny "review" of "Eat Pray Love" from "The Daily Show." Black, who screams way too much for my taste, isn't always my kind of funny, but I guarantee that by the time he gets around to his "Eat, Pray, Love machete," you'll be laughing at this. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant weekend. Peace out.

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Easily the funniest thing I've seen so far today (though it's only 7 a.m.)

OK, David Fincher's "The Social Network," about the invention of Facebook and set to come out Oct. 1, is certainly one of the five or so movies I'm most looking forward to this fall.

After all, I love movies about American ingenuity (and have a probably way-too-lofty spot in my heart for Francis Ford Coppola's "Tucker"), and with a script by Aaron Sorkin you're pretty much guaranteed it will be whipsmart. And the trailers so far have been pretty universally brilliant, especially the clip featuring that piano-based cover of Radiohead's "Creep."

Now, having said all that, why not make fun of it? After all, what exactly was invented here anyway? Though I'm on it and check it fairly often, Facebook certainly has its mockable features (can anyone explain to me exactly what "Farmville" is?), and the clip below jumps all over it with a faux trailer for "Twitter: The Movie." It's funnier than any more words from me could make it, so enjoy the clip and then the original trailer it so sharply skewers, and if you're so inclined, stick around for the trailer for what should be a first-rate documentary. Enjoy.





I have to admit that I've never read "Freakonomics," the bestseller by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, but I've read selected chapters, and it does have some interesting things to say about causality. I particularly enjoyed the chapter about corruption in sumo wrestling (certainly a burning issue for our times), and the segment on abortion and crime rate is as enlightening as it is simply disturbing. So, you can certainly put the six-segment documentary based on it, which will feature those two chapters, on my fall list too. It's a collaborative effort from directors Heidi Ewing, Alex Gibney, Seth Gordon, Rachel Grady, Eugene Jarecki and Morgan Spurlock, and here is the first trailer I know of. Enjoy, have a great weekend, and certainly go see "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World." Peace out.

Will the best scripts of 2009 be the best movies of 2010?

The short answer to that question is of course not, because it certainly takes a lot of steps to get a movie from great script to even somewhat good flick.

And though I have to admit I had never heard of it until I stumbled on it yesterday at Collider.com, Franklin Leonard has been releasing "The Black List" (rather unfortunate name, but great idea) since 2004. It's a list of the best scripts that Leonard, now an executive at Universal, has received each year, in 2009 culled from 97 offerings. You can read the whole thing here, but below are a few highlights from the top 10 that caught my eye, with commentary from me.


1. The Muppet Man
By Christopher Weekes
I had no idea that a biopic about Jim Henson was in the works, but I'm just jazzed beyond all reason that it is and may even be coming soon. Like everyone of a certain age, I grew up with the Muppets, and just loved them, especially the thoroughly magical "Muppet Movie." This is listed as being set up at the Jim Henson Co., so may not exactly be an objective view, but who would really want to watch a hatchet job about Jim Henson anyway? With this and (maybe) a new Muppet movie coming from Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller, it truly could be a new golden age for my favorite puppets (who somehow even have their own very fun Youtube channel, too.)

2. The Social Network
By Aaron Sorkin
I just lent out my copy of Sorkin's "Sports Night" to my fellow cubicle slave Randy Waters, and he now shares the minority view with me that it's even better than Sorkin's "The West Wing." Either way, his wit shined again in 2008 with "Charlie Wilson's War," and hopefully will also with this story about the creation of Facebook (which I'm somehow on.) In the words of Leonard, the "fascinating biographical elements of Shattered Glass meets the courtroom drama of Kramer vs. Kramer, without the tears." Namechecking one of my favorite movies ("Shattered Glass") will get my attention every time, and with David Fincher directing this for an October 2010 release starring Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake (a surprisingly good actor), this is definitely one I've got my eyes on.

3. The Voices
By Michael R. Perry
I certainly like twisted movies, and from the right perspective I also don't mind some horrific violence thrown in too, so this sounds right up my alley. According to Leonard, this one's about a schizophrenic worker at a bathtub factory who accidentally kills a beautiful woman from his workplace. While trying to cover his tracks, he starts to hear voices from his foul-mouthed cat and dog. In describing it as like "watching the lovable pig from Babe join forces with American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman," Leonard already had me hooked. Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) will apparently direct this if he can find someone crazy enough to take the lead role.

5. Cedar Rapids
By Phil Johnston
You can count Miguel Arteta's "Youth in Revolt" starring Michael Cera as one of the near-future movies I'm really looking forward to, so it's certainly good news to hear that his next one should be a winner too. He's attached to direct this flick starring Ed Helms as a small-town insurance man who hasn't accomplished much of anything until he gets invited to represent his company at the Cedar Rapids insurance convention. Helms is still the funniest guy on "The Office," and with Alia Shawkat, John C. Reilly and even Sigourney Weaver set to co-star, it should be a real hoot.

6. Londongrad
By David Scarpa (The Day The Earth Stood Still and co-wrote The Last Castle)
It seems like forever since I've seen a great spy movie (or at least one without Paul Greengrass' uncontrollably shaky camera), but this one certainly seems to fit the bill. It's an adaptation of Alan Cowell's 2008 book "The Terminal Spy: A True Story of Espionage, Betrayal and Murder," which chronicles the life and death of Alexander Litvinenko. The story itself seems way too good to be true, with Litvinenko allegedly poisoned by radioactive tea, but it really did happen in 2006, and thoroughly fascinated me at the time. Leonard says the script evokes "Born of the Fourth of July, Silkwood, and Robert DeNiro’s history-of-the-CIA saga The Good Shepherd - but in Russia, with spies," which sounds great to me. Warner Bros. has apparently optioned the script, and I somehow think I read Johnny Depp has been attached to star in it, though I read so much about movies that I could be just all wet about that.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to see one movie today, but I can't decide between "Invictus" and "The Princess and the Frog." I'll eventually see them both, but I'm leaning with starting with Disney's return to 2D animation. Peace out.

"Se7en" creators back together again, and lots of other good news

OK, there's a lot of news out there today about movie people I really like, so let's just get right into it. Well, actually, it starts with the director of one of my favorite documentaries jumping into something I'll never see, but it's all gravy after that, I promise.

If you haven't seen "Man on Wire," which I had the pleasure of seeing at the 2008 Rehoboth Independent Film Festival, you're really missing out on a magical documentary. Director James Marsh mixed live footage from tightrope artist Philippe Petit's several stunts with "Cops" style re-enactments that certainly would have been disastrous in lesser hands to make something truly magical. Rent it immediately if you haven't seen it.

Now, however, it seems that Marsh is jumping into fictional features with something I'll never see, both because I have little time for the "found footage" subgenre of horror flicks and also because just as a rule I never see movies that take the rather simple step of demonizing the Vatican. "The Vatican Tapes" will center on a series of events that unfold after a tape gets leaked from the Vatican that displays an exorcism that goes wrong.

Like I said, all that just makes me say a resounding meh, but I've been wrong at least once before, and probably already today.

OK, enough of that, now onto the good stuff ...

"Se7en" team to reunite

You know, when I first heard David Fincher was gonna take on something as crazy as "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," I was sure he'd make it just delightfully twisted, but it was just so banal that it has to qualify as one of my biggest movie disappointments of the last five years or so.

And I should probably keep that in mind before I get too geeked up about this new news, but I just can't help it. It seems that Fincher and "Se7en" screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker are teaming up to take on the Max Ehrlich novel "The Reincarnation of Peter Proud," which is apparently about a college professor who begins having recurring dreams and nightmares and, realizing they are images of a past life, decides to search out the source of his visions.

Sounds just as intriguing as "Benjamin Button" did on paper, but I've decided to put most of the blame for that disaster on screenwriter Eric Roth for making it way too "Gump"-like, and keep the faith that Fincher and Walker can come up with something much better.

And Fincher is about to start shooting a movie based on the creation of "Facebook" (which I'm somehow on), "The Social Network," which was penned by Aaron Sorkin. Yeah, I'll watch that.

"Black Swan" assembling stellar cast

When I first heard that Darren Aronofsky's fifth feature film was going to be something called "Black Swan," a supernatural drama set in the competitive world of New York City ballet and starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, you could already count me as at least curious. And now the news about it just keeps getting better.

According to the always very reliable /film, Winona Ryder, Vincent Cassel and Barbara Hershey have all now joined the cast. Ryder will play a rival ballerina who has been getting all the lead parts but is now nearing the end of her career. Cassell will play the director of the ballet school's new production, "Swan Lake," and Hershey will play Portman's character's mother. All sounds great to me, and this apparently is about to starting in NYC very soon (if not now.)

Duncan Jones picks his next project

Duncan Jones' "Moon," which I had the pleasure of seeing at this year's Atlanta Film Festival 365, is easily one of the best movies of 2009, featuring a remarkable performance from Sam Rockwell. If you haven't seen it, rent it as soon as it comes out Jan. 12 and I guarantee that if you like smart science fiction, you'll like this one.

And now it seems that Jones has picked his next project, something called "Source Code." All I really know about that is that it's apparently about "a soldier who wakes up in the body of a commuter who must solve the mystery of a train explosion," and Jake Gyllenhaal is set to play the soldier. Sounds more than a little meh to me, but with Mr. Jones in charge, I'm sure I'll come along for the ride. This is set to go into production early next year.

"Mad Men" creator Weiner hitting big screen

If you watch "Mad Men" (and if you don't, why the heck not?), then you know the season three finale was a real doozy, featuring the simultaneous demise of Don and Bertie's marriage and rise of Sterling, Cooper, Draper and Price. I can't wait to see what will happen next summer, but now it seems that "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner has set up his first feature film from a script he wrote during his "Sopranos" days.

The romantic comedy "You Are Here" will apparently star Jennifer Aniston, Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis, and, because Mr. Weiner clearly has his priorities straight, won't start filming until after Weiner and co. shoot the fourth season of "Mad Men," which was predestined to run for five seasons.

OK, anyone who actually stuck around through all that today certainly deserves a reward, and here's the best I've got. Broken Lizard's "Super Troopers" remains one of my very favorite silly comedies, and one I like to watch once a month or so, but the guys really haven't come close to being even nearly that funny since. Here's hoping their new feature, "Slammin' Salmon," will be a return to form, but I can't say I have terribly high hopes. As you can see from the trailer below, it somehow stars both Michael Clarke Duncan and Cobie Smulders of "How I Met Your Mother." Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Tuesday. Peace out.

Aaron Sorkin steps to the plate to revive a baseball flick

Some guy in Idaho just tweeted that I’ve ruined cinema. Already? Had no idea I was so hugely influential. Suck it, Truffaut!

I'm not a tweeter or a tweet follower, and I'm 100 percent certain I can make it through the rest of my life just fine that way, but I saw that post from Diablo Cody yesterday and just thought it was very funny.

And with that, let's get right into what's a pretty full day of good news, capped off by visits from Craig Robinson and Megan Fox, because he's very funny and she's .. well, you know.

First up is what is quickly becoming the best ensemble cast of 2010 in director David Gordon Green's "Your Highness." Though "Observe and Report" was just a muddled mess, I'm still convinced that Green, Jody Hill, Ben Best and Danny McBride are leading a real Southern comedy resurgence (and on a side note, fellow cubicle slave Randy Waters told me yesterday that he bought "Eastbound and Down" but really couldn't get into it at all, so he's gonna give it to me for free ... good times!)

Best and McBride have written the script for "Your Highness," which stars McBride as a lazy prince who must complete a heroic quest to save his father's kingdom, and in a "Pineapple Express" reunion of sorts, James Franco plays his more heroic brother. Natalie Portman is already on board as McBride's love interest, a warrior princess, and just announced is Zooey Deschanel, who plays Belladonna, Franco's character's virginal bride.

I think you'll agree that's just a whale of a good cast. It's all being filmed in Northern Ireland beginning later this month, so you can definitely count this as one 2010 flick I'm thoroughly jazzed for.

In other, especially good, news for fans of "Let the Right One In" (and if you're not, rent it today and I guarantee you will be), Tomas Alfredson, the director of that fantastic coming-of-age horror flick, has set his sights on a great choice for his next movie.

If you haven't seen the '70s miniseries "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," which starred Alec Guinness and also the late, great Ian Richardson, certainly see it if you can, and be happy that Alfredson is now set to turn it into a feature film. Peter Morgan will write the script for the cold-war thriller about a spy-hunt in the British Secret Intelligence Service.

Though I have no time at all for the English language version of "Let the Right One In" being cooked up by "Cloverfield" mastermind Matt Reeves, Alfredson breaking into the Hollywood big time is only great news, so definitely keep your eyes on this one.

And, in the last tidbit before we get to what was supposed to be the main course, "The Hangover" director Todd Phillips has set his next two flicks, and they're both set to star veryfunnyman Zach Galifianakis. Though the plot wasn't nearly as salacious or inventive as it thought it was, I still almost thoroughly enjoyed "The Hangover," and it's certainly a reason to cheer when an at least fairly intelligent R-rated comedy makes such a yachtload of cash at the box office. (As an aside, at $210 million domestic and still counting, "The Hangover" has surpassed "Wedding Crashers" to become the second-highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time - the original "Beverly Hills Cop" is still No. 1 in that subcategory at north of $234 million.)

For their next collaboration, Phillips and Galifianakis will make a road-trip comedy (sense a pattern here?) titled "Due Date" in which an expectant dad and his unlikely travel companion (Galifianakis, natch) race cross country to make it home for the birth of the rugrat. After that, there will be, by sheer force of nature, a "Hangover 2."

Sounds like more than a little bit of a rut to me, but I have to admit, as long as they keep making comedies that are both reliably crude and clever enough, they'll keep getting my money.

But when I started out today, this was supposed to be about the resuscitation of a flick that had been pretty much left for dead. And since it's a baseball flick, that's certainly noteworthy news.

For anyone unfamiliar with the saga so far, director Steven Soderbergh had been plotting a movie based on Michael Lewis' book "Moneyball," about Oakland A's bean counter and big brain Billy Beane, who would be played by Brad Pitt.

All well and good, right? Well, not exactly. Just days before the movie was set to start shooting, Sony pulled the plug because it wasn't impressed with a script retooling Soderbergh had done to a previous version by Steven Zaillian.

In a bit of hyperbole that nonetheless touched on the truth, this prompted the New York Times to opine that this may be a broader danger sign for "tricky but appealing" movies, in a piece you can read here. Even if that's a bit of an exaggeration, the death of a potentially good baseball flick is reason enough to be blue for me.

But now, thanks to Aaron Sorkin, and I'd imagine the pull of Brad Pitt, the project is back on.

Soderbergh is out, but Sony has Sorkin in to do a draft of the script, starting with what Zaillian finished, for Pitt to still star in. Great news all around there for just about everyone except Mr. Soderbergh, I'd say. Everyone knows Sorkin's track record with "The West Wing" and the much-too-brief "Sports Night," but for a recent example of his work to prove he's still got a lot of wit left to work with, I'd strongly recommend renting "Charlie Wilson's War," which would be a great bit of satire if it weren't all based on the even crazier truth.

And though I still can't find a DVD release date for it yet, the single best movie I've seen so far in 2009 (mid-season report card coming after Judd Apatow's "Funny People" drops July 31) just happens to be a baseball movie of sorts, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's "Sugar." See that one as soon as you can.

And anyone who's made it this far certainly deserves a reward, and I've got three of what I think qualify.

First is one of eight teasers (in French, malheuresement) for Jean Pierre Jeunet's next crazy flick, "Micmacs à tire-larigot." Like I said, they're pretty aurally useless for those who don't speak French (and I only barely do at this point), but you can still see from the look of this that the tale of a man and his friends who come up with an intricate and original plan to destroy two big weapons manufacturers will have all the spirit of his best work, "Amelie" and "Delicatessen." You can count this, along with Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are," as the two flicks I'm most looking forward to for the rest of this year, and you can watch seven more of these brief character teasers courtesy of Twitch Film here. Enjoy.



And, next-to-finally, this Funny or Die clip, though it's a little to slow to get going and way too crude to be enjoyed at work without headphones, shows why Craig Robinson is the most underappreciated member of both "The Office" and Apatow's crew. My inner 8-year-old will always appreciate songs about where to post naked pictures of your girlfriend, so in that spirit, enjoy.



And really finally, in something I'm certain Mr. Robinson would enjoy, here's a certain someone known as Megan Fox in the first teaser poster for the Diablo Cody horror-comedy "Jennifer's Body." Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

Remember glorious 2-D animation? Miyazaki does, and it looks amazing

Before we get into all that, when I first saw this news, I assumed it had to be a joke, but apparently not. And given how much David Fincher's been a hired hand in his directing career, I guess it kind of makes sense.

It seems that Fincher, who in my book is in need of a winner after the sappy swill that was "Benjamin Button," is in final negotiations to direct "The Social Network," Columbia Pictures' upcoming movie about the creation of Facebook. Take that in for a sec, because it does just indeed seem quite ludicrous.

But the idea of a Facebook flick has a little more merit when you dig into it. The already-written script is by Aaron Sorkin, who before he became infatuated with the religious right was capable of producing some seriously witty stuff. It's based on the book "The Accidental Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich, and will be set at Harvard, where then-sophomore Mark Zuckerberg and his friends set up the social networking monster (yes, I'm on it, and it does prove to be at least a mild diversion.)

While I can't help but think this will be horribly dated if and when it ever gets made, and I can't fathom what beyond a truckload of cash would draw Fincher to it, something still has me holding out hope that it could be a lot of fun.

In much, much crazier directing news, it seems that Zhang Yimou, who last choreographed that simply insane opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics and hasn't directed a feature flick since 2006's "Curse of the Golden Flower," is now shooting a Chinese remake of the Coen brothers' "Blood Simple."

No, I'm not making that up, and I'm not really sure I could. Called "San Qiang Pai An Jing Qi" - which roughly translates as "The Stunning Case of the Three Gun Shots" - the "thriller-comedy" is set to be released later this year.

Now, I normally rail against remakes as much or more than anyone, but something about a Chinese director actually bothering to take on the Coens' little film noir just makes me smile and laugh, and you can bet I'm gonna see it as soon as I can.

And finally, before we get to the Miyazaki goodness, if you think you're having a bad day at work, just be thankful your boss isn't this guy:


That, of course, is the great Ricky Gervais, and the picture comes from his blog, which you can read here. It's a shot from his upcoming movie, "Cemetery Junction," which will (huzzah!) see him working with Stephen Merchant once again and be about three young men who sell insurance in Reading in the 1970s. "The Office" meets "Mad Men"? I'm there.

But of course, before I got sidetracked, this was supposed to be all about the trailer for Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo," which just made its debut and in just a minute-and-a-half or so looks like a real stunner.

And man do we need it. I know I'm just an old curmudgeon standing in front of a thundering freight train, but I sorely miss the good old days of 2-D animation. It's gonna take a revolution to turn back the clock now, and with the voice talents of Tina Fey, Matt Damon, Liam Neeson and even a lesser Jonas and a lesser Cyrus, plus the power of Disney behind it, I'm hoping this shot from the master will play really wide when it opens Aug. 14 and gets things started.

Who really needs to see this, beyond me, of course, is Pixar's John Lasseter, who, before making the fool pronouncement that his company would from now on only make movies in 3-D, expressed a love and admiration for Miyazaki's work. Here's hoping he sees this flick and has at least a partial change of heart.

Anyways, as you can see from the trailer, this is Studio Ghibli animation at its best. That scene when Ponyo rides out of the sea on the backs of a school of fish is just fantastic, and has me thoroughly jazzed to see this as soon as possible. Enjoy, have a passable Wednesday, and if you have a chance, take a break to watch some of the U.S.A.-Spain Confederations Cup semifinal this afternoon on ESPN. Peace out.

I knew "South Park" was powerful, but ...

If you happened to tune in for Wednesday's "South Park" episode, you know that - as the best ones do - it starts out sanely enough with Jimmy writing "the greatest joke in the world" about fishsticks (on the 8-year-old level from which I sometimes view the world, it was indeed pretty funny) before spiraling all over the place and ending with Kanye West singing about the joys of being a gay fish.

It was pretty inspired satire of someone who surely deserves it, and surprisingly, it seems that Mr. West - in his own way - has sort of gotten the message, which I never would have guessed possible.

In his blog, the "rapper" (quotations added only because I can't stand his music, mind you) had this to say about it:

"SOUTH PARK MURDERED ME LAST NIGHT AND IT'S PRETTY FUNNY. IT HURTS MY FEELINGS BUT WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM SOUTH PARK! I ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN WORKING ON MY EGO THOUGH. HAVING THE CRAZY EGO IS PLAYED OUT IN MY LIFE AND CAREER."

Now, the caps alone (which certainly weren't added by me) show that he hasn't really completely gotten over himself, but I suppose it's a start. The whole thing, which you can read here, is actually a hoot, and this would have to be easily the best line: "I GOT A LONG ROAD AHEAD OF ME TO MAKE PEOPLE BELIEVE I'M NOT ACTUALLY A HUGE DOUCHE, BUT I'M UP FOR THE CHALLENGE."

OK, since he also actually posted the video of South Park's gay fish song, I should probably just stop the hating. Here's the video, in case you missed it:



In another bit of TV news, according to Entertainment Weekly, Aaron Sorkin is actually considering another return to TV, and more incredibly a return to yet another "show about making a show."

According to writer Lynette Rice, along with working on two screenplays (one for a Facebook movie [yawn, but yes, I'm on it] and one for a courtroom drama about Guantanamo Bay that sounds much more promising), he's also considering the idea of a new TV drama that takes a behind-the-scenes look at a cable news show.

Man, does that sound like nothing but meh. Now, don't get me wrong, "Sports Night" was pure gold, but his second attempt, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," was just almost completely devoid of any heart or soul, and lasted much longer than it should have. Given the set of this new show, if it were to happen, I'd imagine the politics he would cram down our throats week after week might be just about unbearable.

And in "The Office"-related news, it seems that Jan (Melora Hardin) is getting a starring role in an upcoming FX series that actually sounds really promising. Called "Lights Out," it will be about a former heavyweight boxing champion (Holt McCallany) who suffers from pugilistic dementia and is forced to take a job as a mob legbreaker to support his wife and three daughters. Hardin will plays his wife, an orthopedic surgeon. That all sounds great to me.

Two promising trailers

I have to admit that this one caught me just about completely off guard. I really like Sam Rockwell and love old-fashioned sci-fi (which Danny Boyle tried to fashion with "Sunshine" but just failed spectacularly), so "Moon" looks like it will be right up my alley. It's being distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, which hopefully means it will somehow play wide enough to reach my little corner of the world when this hits theaters June 12. Enjoy.



And finally, here's the international trailer for Michael Mann's "Public Enemies," which looks much, much better than the teaser he put out earlier this year. You can tell from this clip that what he's cooking up will be as much an epic romance between Johnny Depp's John Dillinger and his mol Billie Frechette, played by Marion Cotillard, as it will hopefully be just a really fun gangster pic. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Thanks to the largess of two of my old friends, Cory and Kaori, I'm going to watch the Braves beat down the evil Nationals Saturday night (yes, Facebook can really be great sometimes), and before that see Jody Hill's "Observe and Report." Peace out.

"Charlie Wilson" wages campaign of sharp satire

Charlie Wilson: "Do you drink?"
Gust Avrakotos: "God yeah."

I've waited all year for a movie that manages to properly mix its politics with pure entertainment, and after suffering through "Lions for Lambs," "In the Valley of Elah" and other earnest offerings, Mike Nichols and Aaron Sorkin have finally come through with the right stuff.

Most of the complaints I've heard about this Washington politico-comedy is that it soft pedals the politics in the cause of poking fun at D.C. culture, but after watching it I just have one question for these critics: Just how spoon fed do you really need your politics to be? 'Cause if you look even an inch below the surface of this one there's indeed a whole lot going on.

But I guess a word or two about the plot might be in order first, since many, many more people turned out to watch those damn Chipmunks squawk than tuned in for this in week one. Tom Hanks (heard of him?) plays Texas congressman Charlie Wilson, a conservative Democrat who is perfectly happy to just party his way through life until he gets fixated on the Muhjadeen's struggle to kick the Soviets out of Afghanistan. He gets assists from Philip Seymour Hoffman as beaten-down CIA agent Gust Avrakotos and Julia Roberts as wealthy Houston socialite Joanne Herring. Luckily, Nichols and Sorkin see the pure ludicrousness of waging the cold war from Texas, and they play this out as a broad but often sharp satire.

Going in, there were two people that had me worried about this one, Mr. Hanks and Mr. Sorkin. I know Hanks is beloved by many, many people, and I concede that he is a great actor, but he's usually just so smug that I want to smack him over and over until he just shuts up. Here, however, he plays Wilson like the "Bachelor Party" player he was, and it just works. And, more importantly, he gets out of the way when, about 15 minutes in or so, Hoffman arrives to deliver his first great performance of 2007 (though I think "The Savages," when I finally get to see it, will certainly be another one.) Roberts is here too, of course, as is delightful Amy Adams as Wilson's top aide, but they're really given little to do.

It's the arrival of Hoffman's Avrakotos in Wilson's office that just sets the tone of this flick perfectly. It verges on bedroom farce as Wilson's aides, busty broads all, of course, keep breaking into his first meeting with Avrakotos to prep him to face charges that he snorted cocaine while hanging out with strippers in Las Vegas. It's timed just right to make you laugh out loud.

And after the debacle that was "Studio 60," I was more than a little worried that Sorkin had lost his touch too. I really enjoyed the first three episodes of that NBC single-season show, but after that it seemed like he let his anger at the religious right just consume him and cloud his vision beyond the ability to deliver anything even mildly entertaining. Thankfully, "Charlie Wilson's War" is much more "West Wing" than "Studio 60," and it shows that Sorkin still has a real ear for the way things work in our nation's capitol (where I worked, briefly, as an intern for Maryland's U.S. Senator from the great city of Baltimore, Barbara Mikulski.)

There comes a moment near the end of "Charlie Wilson's War" when I was sure things were going to turn for the much worse and we were gonna be pounded over the head with an ending that assumed we were unable to absorb any of the points that were so deftly made thus far. It starts with Hanks adapting one of the expressions that just make my blood curdle, that misty-eyed look that makes you sure he's about to break into some kind of self-righteous speech about what we should all think.

But then Sorkin and Nichols pull back from the brink. It turns out that, thankfully, Charlie is just drunk, and we're left to, mostly, draw our own parallels between his personal crusade and what's going on in the world today.

With three winners in a row ("Walk Hard," "Sweeney Todd" and now this), it's just been a really fun week to go to the movies. I'm hoping that continues today with "The Great Debaters," but frankly fearing that might just be way too earnest for my taste. Tune in tomorrow to find out, and enjoy every minute of your merry Christmas! Peace out.