Why isn't Ellen Page a big star already?

I've often wondered (yes, really, I find it much more fun than thinking about my actual job) why more people don't give Ellen Page starring roles.

Sure, Drew Barrymore gave her the lead in "Whip It," but, especially given the subject matter, that was much more tame and less funny than it could have been. And she has a pretty big role in Christopher Nolan's new flick, "Inception" (which I'll be geeking out for at the midnight show), but that one will of course be all about Leo.

But I just assumed (and hoped) that after "Juno," young Ellen Page would become a big star in something besides TV commercials, because she certainly deserves it. Well, now comes word from Cannes that she has indeed signed on for a new leading role, though not in anything that should bring her anywhere near the multiplexes in my little corner of the world.

Endgame has signed her to star in a dramatic feature based on Cynthia Wade's short documentary "Freeheld," which certainly has a timely topic for our times. Page will play a New Jersey car mechanic whose police detective girlfriend is diagnosed with terminal cancer. The documentary was and feature will be about their battle to secure her partner's pension benefits, which, rather amazingly, is apparently still an issue.

Not exactly the most uplifting of subjects, but hopefully in the hands of screenwriter Ron Nyswaner, who won an Oscar for "Philadelphia," some properly powerful stuff.

Except for that, I really don't have much today before "True Blood" except that the CW has somehow renewed a show that I thought only me and about six other people watched (though that may indeed be a high enough number for renewal there.) I'm not sure if it will be in the fall with a full 22-0r-so season or in Winter again for 13 more episodes.

Either way, I really like the show about a 16-year-old (Britt Robertson) who, after growing up in a series of foster homes, reunites with and is taken in by the parents who abandoned her (Shiri Appleby and Kristoffer Polaha) shortly after she was conceived during a one-night stand in high school. Surprisingly, it's often as serious as the subject matter would call for, but also very funny and overall an odd fit in the CW lineup. I'll certainly be tuning in for as many episodes as they bother to make from here on out.

OK, enough of anything serious, because "True Blood" returns to HBO for season three beginning June 13, and as you can see from the first full trailer below, the series will continue to take all kinds of liberties from the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. In season three, among the colorful characters coming are Alcide (Joe Manganiello), a werewolf charged with protecting Sookie (Anna Paquin) as she searches for the missing Bill (Stephen Moyer); the mysterious (as opposed to mundane, I suppose) vampire Franklin Mott (James Frain), who latches on to Tara (Rutina Wesley); and Denis O'Hare as Russell Edgington, the vampire king of Mississippi.

All those characters make at least brief appearances in the novels, all of which, yes, I've read, but much of the fun (almost none of it, thankfully, high-minded) of the show comes in seeing in how their roles are greatly expanded. I'm thoroughly enjoying "Treme," but "True Blood" and that David Simon New Orleans show back to back? The South is indeed rising again. Enjoy the full "True Blood" trailer, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

Six glimpses of tonight's big "Office" wedding and a visit from Dr. Parnassus

Actually, the coolest news out there today about TV is that young Ellen Page and Alia Shawkat (aka Maeby Fünke) may soon be coming to my TV (and if you have HBO, yours.)

It seems that the two stars of Drew Barrymore's "Whip It" have signed a deal along with Sean Tillmann to write, produce and (hopefully!) quite possibly star in something called "Stitch N' Bitch" for HBO. According to the description I saw, it would be about "two painfully cool hipster girls as they relocate from Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood to Los Angeles' Silver Lake enclave in hopes of becoming artists - of any kind."

That sounds funny enough, but I think they'd have to be the stars themselves to get me hooked. I found "Whip It" to be pretty average, and often downright afterschool-special-ish when it wasn't on the roller rink, but the two of them are still easily two of my favorite young actresses out there. (And, just as an aside that will come as a shock to no one who bothered to watch it, "Arrested Development" still gets a 9.7 out of 10 rating at the IMDB.)

But regards TV here today, of course, it's all about Pam and Jim's big wedding tonight on "The Office." By nature I'd imagine this will bring an awful lot of sweet, but hopefully a whole lot of funny too in the hour-long broadcast.

As the entire office ventures to Niagara Falls for the big day, Michael, Dwight and Andy are, of course, on the prowl for ladies, and Michael and Dwight apparently meet twins. Here, courtesy of NBC, are six short preview clips of tonight's episode (and, if you stick around to the end, a visit from Dr. Parnassus, I promise.) Enjoy.













And now, as a bonus, here is the first full trailer, I think, for Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," which is set to finally get a limited release date on Christmas Day (and I'll be in New York so I can see it!) Along with plenty of the late Heath Ledger and glimpses of the three actors who stepped in to finish the job, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law, you get enough of a taste of what Gilliam has cooked up here to have me just about thoroughly geeked up for this. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Take a free listen to the "Where the Wild Things Are" soundtrack

You know, I guess I shouldn't be terribly surprised that the Coen brothers' newest flick, "A Serious Man," isn't opening anywhere near my little corner of the world this week (not counting a 90-minute drive to Atlanta, which just really isn't in the cards.)

Even though the new flick is apparently a very black comedy about Judaism and life featuring no stars to mention (though I really like that Richard Kind), I was still hoping that the brothers' sway as filmmakers would be enough to get a pretty wide release, but I was mistaken once again.

Oh well. Even so, this is still a pretty good week for movies, with Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page's "Whip It" and Ricky Gervais' "The Invention of Lying" opening everywhere, plus, though I don't think I'll bother to sit through this, a 3-D double feature of both "Toy Story" movies.

And two weeks after that, just in case you've never been here and heard me constantly obsessing about this one, Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are" opens everywhere, and you can listen to the entire soundtrack by Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and the Kids, courtesy of Imeem.com and right here in the sideboard of this very blog (I'm really not too much for widgets, so Barack Obama and this soundtrack are the only two things to get that honor.)

The soundtrack, as I'd imagine the movie will be, is an odd affair, and took a few listens to grow on me, but it's pretty addictive once you adapt to it. Be warned: The Kids are indeed just that, and they sing, wail and howl throughout the soundtrack. I really thought that would have no appeal to me, but it certainly fits the spirit of the story.

The songs range wildly in emotion from the wrath of "Capsize" to the elation of "All is Love" (the first single, which I dismissed on first listen, but have grown to enjoy quite a bit) and of course, in the middle, a rumpus to start. Click the widget just to your right and give it a listen.

And, also fitting the spirit of the movie and the music, We Love You So, the "Where the Wild Things Are" production blog of sorts, has been running a Where the Wild Things Ought to Be contest that has produced some very funny results. Here are my two favorites, but it's well worth checking out a slide show of them all and much more here. Peace out.

Five clips from "Whip It" look like nothing but fun

You know, I really have nothing terribly profound to say about the fact that Patrick Swayze has died at the rather young age of 57, so I'll simply share that sad news with anyone who hadn't seen it yet and move on.

In much geekier and less depressing news, it seems that, fresh off his star-making turn in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" (my favorite movie so far this year, read why here), Christoph Waltz has now traded up to join the ranks of superhero flicks.

According to Nicki Finke of Deadline Hollywood, who is right at least slightly more than she's wrong, he's been cast as the villain Chudnofsky in Sony's "The Green Hornet." Up until now I had little interest in this, even though it's somehow being directed by Michel Gondry and starring Seth Rogen as our hero, but I'm now more than slightly intrigued.

Waltz easily stole every scene he got in Tarantino's wild flick with the sheer and sick glee he brought to the role of the Jew hunter Hans Landa. I'm sure he'll have the same zest for this project, and hopefully some more in which he'll get to play more than the bad guy.

In other movie news out there today, it seems that the director of my favorite film of 2008, those being Tomas Alfredson and "Let the Right One In" respectively, has settled on his next flick.

Though he had been attached to a big-screen version of John Le Carre's "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," he's apparently got his eye on Nicole Kidman for something else first. Alfredson will next direct "The Danish Girl," starring Kidman as Danish painter Einar Wegener, who in 1931 became the first person to go through a sex-change operation to become a woman. In even wilder news, Charlize Theron had been cast as Wegener's wife, but has since dropped out.

Say what you want to about Nicole Kidman, but she almost always goes out of her way to choose interesting projects, and this certainly fits the bill (I think I'm still the only person in the world who almost unconditionally loved her in Noah Baumbach's "Margot at the Wedding.")

And in local "Let the Right One In" news, the Macon Film Guild will be offering a special Halloween screening of this great coming-of-age tale about what happens when your new neighbor just happens to be a vampire Oct. 30 at 7 and 9:30 p.m. at the Douglass Theatre for $5. I'll be at the 7 p.m. show, so maybe I'll see you there.

OK, all I've got left today is two video clips, and before I get to the titular five minutes for this post, here's a glimpse of the Muppets schilling for Disney at the corporation's D23 conference. At the confab, Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller revealed that the title of their upcoming Muppets movie (resounding huzzah!) will be "The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made." That's funny already, and it will apparently be about Gonzo directing a Muppet movie, if I have my facts straight (and I think I do.) Enjoy.



And finally, courtesy of and with full credit to Collider, here are five clips from Drew Barrymore's upcoming directorial debut, "Whip It," set to come out Oct. 2. The roller derby flick stars young Ellen Page, Barrymore, the always funny Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis and even Alia Shawkat, who played "Maeby" Fünke on "Arrested Development." It's great to see her again, especially since the chances of an "AD" movie look no more likely now then they did when the show was cancelled. It looks like Barrymore has something thoroughly fun going on here, and I really don't ask for much more than that. Enjoy the clips, and have a perfectly pleasant Tuesday. Peace out.

Wanna see Ellen Page "Whip It!"? Of course!

And when you've got something as fun as that, I suppose you really don't need anything else, but if I can briefly make a music recommendation, I'm listening to St. Vincent's "The Actor" this morning, and it really is rather amazing.

I rarely buy CDs (well, Itunes downloads more often now) without knowing a pretty good deal about them, but I saw this reviewed in some mag and just decided it sounded good, and it indeed does. The second album from the woman also known as Annie Clark, a former member of the Polyphonic Spree, is just a weird, wonderful little collection of songs, and well worth checking out.

But quickly on to the main course, because I'm very soon going to see "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," and my mind isn't really on anything else to write too long. Below is the first trailer for director Drew Barrymore's "Whip It!", which stars Ellen Page (welcome back!), Kristen Wiig and even Alia Shawkat of "Arrested Development" in a roller derby movie. I can't imagine you need to know much more than that to be intrigued, but know that the flick, due out Oct. 9, was also written by Shauna Cross who used to skate under the name Maggie Mayhem for the Los Angeles Derby Girls. Enjoy, and have a perfectly bearable Thursday. Peace out.

@ Yahoo! Video

Proof that "Funny People" is filled with exactly that

Actually, before I get to that, it's a full day here, with lots of news that matters to, well, me, and a slew of videos (and even a wild bonus pic) that just made me smile, so let's just get right to it.

The first, and easily most important, news of the day is that Gary Ross, writer/director of "Seabiscuit," "Pleasantville," "Dave" and "Big," among other flicks, has been brought on board to do a rewrite on Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 4."

Just take a second to think of how great that news can be. What it hopefully means is that, with this rather prestigious filter, Raimi can avoid delivering a turd sandwich that's as bloated and boring as "Spider-Man 3." I was very happy to find with a visit to Boxofficemojo.com that that flick has fallen to #16 on the all-time box office list, so apparently crap does float downward over time.

And, to be fair, Raimi has delivered this year easily the funniest movie I've seen in a theater so far with "Drag Me to Hell," so here's hoping Ross' input can give him a winning streak and a thoroughly entertaining "Spider-Man 4."

OK, moving on quickly from that, it seems that Michael Moore has come up with a title for his new documentary, which I'm certainly looking forward to. Though I thought "Sicko" was mostly just a missed opportunity, I'm fairly confident his new one, to be titled "Capitalism: A Love Story" and be about just how in the world we got into our current economic mess, will be a winner when it finally comes out in October.

And, in a simply fantastic bit of TV news, mystery writer Harlan Coben is soon to apply his talents to the small screen. Though this was pitched in the trades as a new gig for "How I Met Your Mother" executive producer Greg Malins, the news that it springs from the mind of Cohen, as did the simply sublime French thriller "Tell No One" (rent it already if you haven't seen it!), makes this one a lock for my DVR when it finally comes to fruition.

The two will team up to create an hourlong series for Fox about a "larger-than-life" private eye who teaches a college criminology class. Bring it on!

OK, as promised, from here on out it's a lot of videos, and I can pretty much guarantee they're all at least slightly worth watching.

First up comes an oddity from Esquire featuring Mary Louise Parker, who I have to confess I've always just had an inordinate crush on, which was only magnified to the breaking point when she played the feminista Amy Gardner on many episodes of "The West Wing." Here, you might be surprised how thoroughly entertaining it is to watch her simply read a few minutes of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Enjoy.



OK, guys, take a few seconds to recover from that, and next up is a somewhat clever teaser for "Cemetery Junction," the first feature film to be written and directed by "The Office" and "Extras" teammates Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais. The running gag about Ralph Fiennes is one I'm sure that anyone whose seen "In Bruges" (and if you haven't, do it already!) knows is a false one, but it's still pretty funny. Enjoy.



And now, one more before we get to the main course, and it also sort of springs from the Apatow camp, since it stars "Freaks and Geeks" vet James Franco. This clip from Funny or Die purports to be Franco's audition tape for the UCLA commencement address, and though it's a little long and liberally riddled with F-bombs, I guarantee it brings the funny, especially when he goes so far as to compare himself to Barack Obama. Enjoy.

James Franco's Rejected UCLA Commencement Speech from James Franco

OK, finally what was promised at the outset, a second (at least) trailer for Judd Apatow's "Funny People," and be warned that in at least the early part it's rather not safe for work. It does, however, show a lot of stuff not in the first trailer, including a very funny scene with Seth Rogen and the RZA ("OK, I gotta admit, that was humorous.") Enjoy.



And finally, if you actually made it this far, you certainly deserve a reward, and I think this qualifies. It's been far too long since we've seen or heard from Ellen Page, and it certainly looks like "Whip It!" will be a fun return. I love the determined looks on the face of her and Kristen Wiig in this photo from the movie, also featuring director Drew Barrymore. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Well, there is an "Arrested Development" movie in the works, but ...

"Well, if there was a drinking game where one had to drink every time a character cursed then the player of that game would be dead in ten minutes. Seriously. Don’t play that game."
- Judd Apatow, about the amount of cursing in his new movie, "Funny People"

I love that quote, and it's easily the funniest thing in a recent interview Apatow gave to MTV Movies.

Even better, and I'm more than happy to swipe it - with credit, of course - the MTV Movies Blog also had an interview with Charlie Day of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" which contained this rather juicy description of an upcoming show:

“One of my favorite scripts right now is an episode called ‘The Gang Wrestles for the Troop.' In our attempt to honor the troops coming back from Iraq, we try and put on a wrestling match and ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper is appearing in that. He’s playing a down on his luck wrestler called Da Maniac. All great wrestling performers had a good entrance song, so we’ve written our own entrance song about the Birds of War, which is what we call ourselves.”

Wow .. I can picture all that, and in my mind at least, it's just insanely funny. Day, who is somehow going to star in a romantic comedy called "Going the Distance" with Drew Barrymore, Christina Applegate and Justin Long, also promised some shenanigans with ponzi schemes and perhaps maybe even an octomom, so I'll definitely be watching when the show finally returns Sept. 17.

But, as the rather cruel headline promised, what I wanted to mention today was an "Arrested Development" movie of sorts, though certainly not the one many people have been hoping for.

Instead, as you can see from the trailer below, it's a documentary project by two rather crazed AD fans named Neil and Jeff, and I'm really not sure what to make of it. On the one hand, I can certainly admire and respect (actually, I just realized the Federer-Haas match is in a first-set tie-breaker ... be right back ... OK, Federer won, I'm back) that level of rather obsessed fandom, but I really can't imagine that 90 minutes of talking heads (though, not, apparently, stars who are still working, meaning Jason Bateman or Michael Cera) waxing nostalgic for this seriously great show, without apparently any clips, will be all that entertaining.

But, like I said, I can certainly support this level of obsession, so check out the site here, enjoy this trailer for what they're cooking up, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Among the many things I'd enjoy watching Ellen Page do ...

... taking to the rink for a little roller derby action is definitely one of them, even if it is in a movie directed by Drew Barrymore (a cheap shot, I concede, since as far as I know this would be Ms. Barrymore's first directing gig. Perhaps she's the next Akira Kurosawa, but ... well, I'll just drop that and move on.)

Young Ms. Page, sure to be an Oscar nominee for "Juno" when the nominations are announced next Tuesday, will lace up her skates to play yet another spunky teen in Barrymore's "Whip It," the story of a girl named "Bliss" who turns her back on a life of beauty pageants in Texas to join a female roller derby team.

Sound like it's cut directly from the "Juno" formula? Well, there are plenty of more connections. Mandate, the studio that bankrolled Jason Reitman's flick, is also putting up the money for this one. And, just as "Juno" had the somewhat unique (yes, I know something can't be "somewhat unique," but bear with me) cache of being written by former stripper Diablo Cody, this one has a script penned by an actual former roller derby star, Shauna Cross, a k a Maggie Mayhem.

Even if it does sound more than a bit familiar, and now-20-year-old Ms. Page will at some point have to stop playing teenagers, it's hard to argue with the enthusiasm she expressed for all this silliness: "I can't wait to kick ass on wheels!"

If you're gonna make a porno ...

Well, even if Joel Siegel might try to tell you otherwise, Kevin Smith doesn't actually make pornographic movies, but he now has at least one former porn star for his next flick, "Zack and Mirni Make a Porno," and one "The Office" star as well. (Wow is that a lot of times for some variety of the word "porn" to appear in one sentence. If anyone finds this site while looking for actual pornography, please accept my apologies and move on.)

Smith had already announced Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks (double huzzah!) would be playing the leads in his next flick, set to begin production today, and now Craig Robinson (Darryl on "The Office"), former porn star Traci Lords, Ricky Mabe, Jeff Anderson (a k a Anderson regular Randal Graves) and Katie Morgan (HBO's "Katie Morgan: A Porn Star Revealed") have been announced to round out the cast.

I realize a lot of people are just tired of Kevin Smith (my brother calls him a "tool"), but I still find him almost always very funny, and that's good enough for me.


R.I.P. Brad Renfro

No matter how this story eventually unfolds, it can really be nothing but sad.

Actor Brad Renfro, who starred in "The Client" when he was just 10 years old, was found dead in his Los Angeles home early Tuesday at the none-too-old age of 25. I'm not exactly Sherlock Holmes, but I suspect drugs had more than a little bit to do with this.

In his short and rather troubled life, Mr. Renfro did manage to star in at least two movies I really like, Bryan Singer's "Apt Pupil" (when he was still just a kid) and "Ghost World" (even if by then he already did have a rather dead look as the convenience store clerk and boy toy of Enid and Rebecca.) He also was the main star of my favorite Larry Clark movie, the rather criminally underappreciated "Bully."

He had recently completed shooting something called "The Informers" with Winona Ryder and Billy Bob Thornton. R.I.P. Mr. Renfro.

A serious Oscar dis for "Persepolis"

Any chances that "Ratatouille" would somehow sneak into the final five for Best Picture (which I would wholeheartedly endorse) when the Oscar nominations are announced Tuesday seem even bleaker now that the other truly great animated movie I saw this year, the French flick "Persepolis," has failed to make the cut down to nine in the Best Foreign Language Film category. (Maconites, however, take note: When I mentioned this as a possible selection for the Macon Film Guild later this year, Camp Bacon confirmed that it is indeed already on their radar, so stay tuned.)

Also surprisingly slighted was "The Orphanage," Spain's entry and the very stylish and mostly enjoyable horror flick directed by J.A. Bayona (I guess "Guillermo del Toro presents" just didn't have quite the pull that marketers had hoped for.) I'd recommend catching this one in theaters while you still can.

And here are the nine that did make the cut: "The Counterfeiters" (Austria); "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation" (Brazil); "Days of Darkness" (Canada); "Beaufort" (Israel); "The Unknown" (Italy); "Mongol" (Kazakhstan); "Katyn" (Poland); "12" (Russia); and "The Trap" (Serbia).

It pains me to admit that I have seen exactly none of these, so if you have, please let me know if they're worth adding to my DVD viewing list. Peace out.