Twin Peaks 2.0? Not hardly, but not awful either

ABC has indeed released the first 14 minutes of its upcoming take on oddity called "Happy Town," and while it is truly more than a little insulting to release this on or very near to the 20th anniversary of David Lynch's TV masterpiece, it's actually better than I thought it would be.

But more on that at the end. First up comes news from David Cross that's sure to upset "Arrested Development" fans, but considering all the bulls*** we've been fed about an "AD" movie, I really don't think you can blame him for being probably the much more realistic messenger. Here's what he had to say to TVsquad.com:

"(I)t's not going to happen. Way too much time it's been (since the show ended). I mean, there's so many people involved. Everyone's doing their own thing, you know. And everybody's aged. It's just not going to happen. I'm sure I speak for everybody when I say we'd love for it to happen, we'd love to work on it, but just I don't think ... not going to happen."

Unfortunately, everything he had to say there makes a lot of sense. So consider the idea dead at least for now, but in the meantime remember that series co-creators Mitch Hurwitz and James Vallely are set to return to Fox (I believe) next fall, with Gob Bluth in tow. Will Arnett is indeed to co-star in "Wilde Kingdom" as what sounds a whole lot like his "Arrested Development" character, a dude who falls for a do-gooder played by Felicity herself, Keri Russell. Even though "Sit Down Shut Up" was just the epitome of awful, I'm still betting this will be a winner.

After that today, it's all about stylish horror, both in the form of a new film from Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and a truly creepy visit from Werner Herzog.

First up the Fresnadillo news. If you saw what he did with "28 Weeks Later," a far more visceral affair than its predecessor, "28 Days Later," you know the man has a talent for directing great horror flicks. And now comes word that he's signed on to direct something called "Intruders," which will star Clive Owen and Daniel Bruhl, a.k.a. the "Nation's Pride" from Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds."

All that's known so far about the story is that it will be about an 11-year-old girl who is battling demons of some kind, but given the man's track record (he also directed the seriously satisfying Spanish thriller "Intacto"), this is definitely one to keep your eyes on.

And in something more immediate but at least as creepy, director Werner Herzog has taken a little time to put his own twisted spin on "Curious George," and since it was easily the funniest thing I found this morning, it's well worth a listen. If you like this, I believe he does his own take on "Madeline," too, which should be easy enough to find. My favorite line here has to be "George quickly learns a hard lesson about desire," but it's really all good. Enjoy.



OK, finally, though nothing can really properly follow that, ABC has indeed put the first 14 minutes of its upcoming series "Happy Town" online, and if the purpose was to get me to keep watching, mission accomplished, I suppose. It's not great, but it will apparently star "Angel" vet Amy Acker, never a bad thing, and the story about a mysterious killer does seem to hold some promise, even if the obvious attempt to emulate the magic of "Twin Peaks" is most likely going to be a constant annoyance. Anyways, enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

Demko's DVD shelf: The weird, wonderful world of "Twin Peaks"

With the triple punch of "Spider-Man 3," "License to Wed" and "Captivity" hitting all at once, it would be very easy to dismiss this as a spectacularly craptastic week on DVD, but beneath the surface there are reasons to cheer, mainly in TV releases.

Just how good was David Lynch's "Twin Peaks"? The best way to judge that, unfortunately, is in the number of imitators that followed and failed in its wake.

What Lynch's show had over these others was that it created a genuine sense of mystery. Whereas most "supernatural" TV shows just pile on the quirk for quirk's sake, each piece of the puzzle that was "Twin Peaks" was essential to making the murder of Laura Palmer and everything else in this weird little burg on the US-Canadian border so intriguing.

Given that the show only ran for 30 episodes it's surprising that it's taken this long for the complete series to come to DVD, as it does this week with "The Definitive Gold Box Edition," supervised by Lynch himself.

If you actually spring for these 10 discs, which I'll have to look at my finances before doing, it would seem Lynch and co. have made it worth the considerable expense. Along with the newly remastered (I'm never quite sure exactly what that means) episodes, there are deleted scenes; a feature-length documentary, "Secrets from Another Place"; the featurettes "A Slice of Lynch" and "Return to Twin Peaks"; an interactive map of Twin Peaks; the complete Log Lady introductions; Kyle MacLachlan's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" and Julee Cruise's music video for "Falling."

This is listed as costing $99.99 (marked down to $64.99 at Amazon.com, but still not cheap), but for a groundbreaking TV show that instead of being ahead or behind its time just created a time unto itself, I'd have to say it's well worth it if you can spare the change.

Scrubs - The Complete Sixth Season
I never would have guessed that a sitcom this silly (yet undeniably entertaining) would have reached the magic number of seven seasons occupied by several of my favorite shows ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Gilmore Girls" and - if you count the two halfs of season six as separate entities - "The Sopranos.") The pacing and the characters on this show all just work for me, so I've got the DVR set to record all of season seven and will, eventually, spring for this on DVD too (since I have all the other season already.)

"My So-Called Life" - The Complete Series
The title alone should have had me running screaming from this mid-'90s show, and it probably would have if it weren't for Claire Danes and her mysterious beau, Jared Leto as quite possibly the broodiest teen in TV history. Though I'll still take "Freaks and Geeks" any day, this show was actually fairly moving when it didn't just make you cringe, and is well worth another look on DVD, assuming you can rent rather than buy it.

Talk to Me
It's one of the great crimes of my film year that I didn't manage to see this one in the theater, but in my defense it did hit during the one week (and one week only, in Macon) when I happened to be on vacation. Don Cheadle stars in the true story of Ralph Waldo "Petey" Green, an ex-con who weaseled his way onto the radio in DC in the '60s. It also stars the great Chiwetel Ejiofor and was directed by Kasi Lemmons, who managed to make one of my favorite movies, "Eve's Bayou," and just one other flick ("The Caveman's Valentine") before seeming to disappear completely for about 10 years. Welcome back! According to the IMDB, she's also the owner of this rather dubious title: The only black woman to manage to direct three major feature films. Now that's just depressing.

John Waters: This Filthy World
Essentially a DVD of director John Waters doing standup comedy and seeing just how gross he can be, this is perfect for DVD because, although he is often very funny, it does eventually get tiresome and call out for the remote. When he's on, though, he's as outrageous as you could possibly expect, so if you like Mr. Waters' movies (and I very often do) this is well worth a rental.

Two news tidbits

Speaking of "Freaks and Geeks," Sam Weir is about to make a very welcome return to series TV as a regular on "Bones," which just might be enough to get me to tune in for the Fox show. John Francis Daley will play Dr. Lance Sweets, a therapist appointed by the FBI to determine whether Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and FBI agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) can continue as partners. The Hollywood Reporter report also listed him as the star of the "upcoming" "5-25-77," so maybe that means Patrick Read Johnson's autobiographical flick about his quest to see the first "Star Wars" movie may actually someday get a proper release. Daley's also listed as writing his first feature film for New Line, "The 40 Thousand Dollar Man," which I can only assume will be a - hopefully funny - spoof of "The Six Million Dollar Man."

Robert Townsend sighting!
I may be the only person who was asking "what in the world ever happened to Robert Townsend?", but in case anyone else was actually wondering, here's the answer. It seems he's enlisted Ving Rhames to play Sonny Liston in "Phantom Punch," a biopic he will direct about the legendary pugilist. The flick began shooting Monday in Toronto and should wrap in December. The title refers to the single "phantom punch" Liston took from Cassius Clay that many believe led to the demise of his career. I love good boxing movies even more than I do Mr. Townsend, so I give this a hearty huzzah!

A truly goofy trailer for "I'm Not There"

I still have fairly high hopes for this Todd Haynes flick about Bob Dylan, but after the disappointment that was Wes Anderson's "Darjeeling Limited" I'm keeping my expectations in check. It's better to be pleasantly surprised anyway, right? Here's the international trailer which, as you'll see, is just an extended riff on Dylan's most famous music video. Please, please, please don't let this movie suck! Peace out.

Who's making a porno with Kevin Smith?

There are few directors more in need of a new crowd than Kevin Smith (and some would say he needs a new writer and director, but not me.)

He's currently at work on two flicks, one really odd horror movie with a baddie modeled on the Rev. Fred Phelps to be called "Red State," and much more promising, something called "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." In what will hopefully turn out just as crude and juvenile as the title promises, it's about two friends in their 30s who, finding themselves at a crossroads, decide to get into the porn business.

Rosario Dawson has, perhaps understandably, turned her back on this (and joined Shia LaBoeuf and others in DJ Caruso's "Eagle Eye"), but it seems Mr. Smith may be closing in on his Zack (and, since he wants to wrap up filming by the end of this year, that would probably be a step in the right direction.)

A "reliable source" at Aintitcool who calls himself "Big J" (as if that doesn't wipe out any credibility at the outset) wrote in to say that the role would be taken by none other than Michael Bluth himself, Jason Bateman.

I could definitely see this working. Bateman's Bluth worked so well because he was constantly trying to play the straight man even though he was just as crazy as anyone in the "Arrested Development" Bluth clan. He would be great as a dude likewise drawn into the tawdry world of Kevin Smith.

Another name I've heard out there however, and I'd give credit for this if I could just remember where I saw it, intrigues me even more. Jay Baruchel. That name probably means nothing to 90 percent of the world, but he's a member of the Judd Apatow clique who is just one very funny dude.

He earned entry into this somehow-now-elite cadre by starring in the second of Apatow's one-season-only TV shows, "Undeclared." Though never nearly as good as the flawless "Freaks and Geeks," it's still a very funny look at college life, and Baruchel put up with all kinds of shenanigans as the main star. More recently, he was one of Seth Rogen's pothead buddies in "Knocked Up."

Once Mr. Smith finds a Zack, of course, he'll need a Miri. Knowing him, if he does indeed land Jason Bateman, he'll probably try and get sister Justine too just for the novelty of it. Assuming that won't come to pass, all we really know now is it will have to be a fresh face. Any suggestions?

Demko's DVD shelf

The lock of the week was an easy pick since "The Lookout" is easily one of my favorite movies of 2007.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (and thankfully not French Stewart!) has found a surprisingly solid acting career after the cesspool that was "Third Rock from the Sun." Before "Brick," easily one of the best movies of 2005, he starred in "Mysterious Skin," which I rented on the recommendation of several readers of this site and thoroughly enjoyed.

"The Lookout," while not as good as either of these, is still an entertaining little flick. JGL plays a former star high-school athlete who, after suffering a severe head injury in a car crash, has serious memory problems and now works the overnight shift as the cleaning man at a bank. He's paired with a blind man played by Jeff Daniels (huzzah!) for living conditions, and the movie's at its best when they're playing off each other. JGL's character gets roped into a plot to rob the bank, becoming the titular "Lookout," and you even get lovely Isla Fisher in the bargain too, so what's not to like? Just rent it already.

Best movie I haven't seen: This one definitely goes to David Lynch's "Inland Empire," one of the many movies that are simply too good to ever play in my little corner of the world. I'll be seeing this very soon.

Two classics get grand treatment: If you don't own either Jim Henson's "Labyrinth" or Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver," there are "special editions" of each out today. The "Taxi Driver" set in particular seems to be a grand affair, with three documentaries and at least three more featurettes in the two-disc set.

Fun with pictures

As far as I know, this image, courtesy of the great Froggy film site Cinempire.com, is the first still from Tim Burton's take on Sweeney Todd, coming for Christmas.

It looks fantastic, and set me to thinking: Why do I have such mixed feelings toward Mr. Burton? I think it must be solely based on his remakes, which just suck eggs, because I've liked almost all of his original movies immensely (if you haven't seen "Big Fish," do so immediately.) I'm definitely getting psyched for Sweeney Todd, and this creepy shot of Johnny Depp and Bellatrix LeStrange certainly does nothing to change that.


Another flick I'm definitely jazzed to see later this year is David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises." Opening Sept. 14, it stars Viggo Mortensen as a tough guy for one of London's most notorious organized crime families. His life is changed after he meets a midwife, played by Naomi Watts, who finds herself unwittingly in the middle of some kind of sinister scheme involving the family he works for.

Personally, I prefer Mr. Cronenberg when he works more intimately with the human psyche (especially with "Spider," my favorite flick from both Cronenberg and Ralph Fiennes), but I'll follow him just about anywhere at this point. This should be a first-rate thriller, so enjoy the rather sinister poster and one pic below. You can find tons more pics here at Comingsoon.net. Peace out.