What will happen when it's Sunny again in Philadelphia?

One of the very few bright spots during this TV summer with no "Psych" and no "Mad Men" has been FX's one-two comedy punch of "Wilfred" and then "Louie" on Thursday nights.

If you've never seen either, I'd recommend giving them a chance tonight starting at 10 p.m. "Wilfred," an Australian import starring Elijah Wood, is as close as I've seen to a real trip on mainstream TV in many years. Co-star and show creator Jason Gann plays the titular "Wilfred," the dog who only Wood's character can talk to (almost always after consuming copious amounts of marijuana) and who becomes his partner in all kinds of depravity. Just trust me, it's much funnier than I make it sound here.

And "Louie" creator and star Louis CK was probably the biggest surprise in this year's Emmy nominations, garnering a much-deserved one in the category of best actor in a comedy. The show mixes CK's often caustic standup comedy with vignettes from his life raising his two young daughters as a divorced dad and getting into all kinds of uncomfortable situations. It's a dry and definitely acquired taste, but one I look forward to every week.

The best of FX's comedies, however, at least for me, will always be "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." It's just the ultimate release after a long day of work, because not only are the characters always constantly trying to undermine each other with petty (and uniformly ridiculous) schemes, but it thankfully has absolutely no conscience at all.

You'd think it would get old, but for me it certainly hasn't yet, and now FX has announced that the show is returning for a 13-episode seventh season beginning Sept. 15. And what will the gang get up to next? Well according to FX, Charlie, Dee, Mac, Dennis and Frank will "prepare for the apocalypse, hit the beach at the Jersey Shore, produce a child beauty pageant and take a walk down memory lane at their high school reunion."

All that has me laughing already, so definitely tune in when "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" once again.

And in a bit of movie news, it seems we may finally get to see what ever became of Joss Whedon's horror movie, "Cabin in the Woods," but I'll believe that when we finally really get to see it.

The movie, co-written by Whedon and Drew Goddard, and directed by Goddard, was originally scheduled to come out in 2009, but got swallowed up in the bankruptcy of MGM and other things that are beyond the rather silly scope of this site.

Now, however, it seems that Lionsgate has acquired the rights to the movie starring Chris Hemsworth, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford and Whedon mainstay Amy Acker, among others, and has set a release date of April 13, 2012.

The title should pretty much make it clear what this is about, but here's how Whedon, in typical modesty, described it: "the horror movie to end all horror movies." I somehow doubt that, but at least now we'll all get to find out for ourselves.

And after that brief report, I'll leave you with this audio-only clip of the new song from Jay-Z and Kanye West because, well, I don't think I'll ever get too old for good hip-hop and because this song, "Otis," just makes truly audacious use of the Otis Redding song "Try a Little Tenderness." Their collaborative album, "Watch The Throne," which will easily set the record for the most ego ever assembled on one record, is set to hit the Web Aug. 1 and then record stores on Aug. 5. Enjoy, and have a perfectly adequate Thursday. Peace out.

If the apocalypse comes, beep me .. well for "Buffy" fans, it's here

You know, no matter how hard it gets to do so, I still do try, even as a now certified middle-age curmudgeon, to look for the good things in life, so let's start there before I unleash what I'll warn you now will be a well-boiled pot of bile.

I, like I assume all subscribers, got an e-mail yesterday from Netflix, and as far as that goes at least, I'm now streaming only, for just $7.99 a month, and that's just fine with me. If there's a new release, I guess I'll just Red Box or maybe even buy it, and that's gonna have to do, because having all the TV and increasing movie content to stream directly to my TV was just too much to resist (and was, of course, Netflix's rather ingenious plan all along).

One thing I will, however, spring for on beautiful blu-ray are the movies of Hayao Miyazaki, and beginning in March with "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind," Disney will hopefully be bringing all the Studio Ghibli titles to the format. I'm sure that I will at least buy my two favorites, "Porco Rosso" and "Kiki's Delivery Service," as soon as I get the chance, and maybe more too.

When I first bought my blu-ray player (and only after my DVD player finally died - yes, I fear all change), Movie Mom Nell Minow suggested I buy a Pixar movie, because animation in particular just looks amazing on blu-ray. For me, that meant "Ratatouille," of course, and she was right, so I can't wait to see how great Miyazaki's best works will look.

And to keep the good vibes going before the "Buffy" bile, there are few subgenres of movies I love more than boxing flicks, and it seems a potentially great one is now in the works. Gael Garcia Bernal of "Y Tu Mama Tambien" fame has signed on to play boxer Roberto Duran in a flick called "Hands of Stone," and Al Pacino is "circling" the role of his trainer, Ray Arecel.

Even though that surely means Pacino will spend the entire movie yelling at him, that should still be rather amazing to watch. Someone named Jonathan Jakubowicz will write and direct the flick, which will apparently focus on the "No Mas" fight, in which, after getting rather soundly battered by Sugar Ray Leonard, Duran simply uttered those words and walked out of the ring forever. Bring it on!

OK, enough of the good vibes until today's video clips, because there's evil afoot that must be stamped out immediately. I first heard of a possible "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" "reboot" (whatever the hell that means) a few years ago, and was hoping that, since it dropped off the radar for a while, that simply wretched idea was dead.

No way. Unable to resist an obviously "Twilight"-inspired cash grab, Warner Brothers has apparently now hired an actress named Whit Anderson (whose three-movie resume contained nothing I've ever seen) to write a "Buffy" movie.

If you were a fan of the TV show, just let that craptastic idea settle in for a moment before I explain how it only gets worse from here. Charles Roven, who is producing this monstrosity, had this to say in a press release:

“While this is not your high-school Buffy, she’ll be just as witty, tough and sexy as we all remember her to be.”

So, Buffy won't be in high school. Since I'll never see this, fair enough. But just in case you ever happen to, know this: There also won't be any of the characters we all loved from the series. That means no Giles, Willow, Xander, Spike, Angel, Oz, Cordelia, Anya or even Dawn (always the weakest link to me.)

And, of course, there won't be any Joss Whedon, who created the show in the first place. So, if he's not involved, who is the real villain here? Well, it's apparently co-"creators" Fran and Kaz Kuzui, who had a big role in the fairly funny movie that preceded the TV show, and have held on to the rights all these years. Fran Kuzui directed the original "Buffy" movie, but beyond their "executive producers" credit, the duo had nothing at all to do with the TV show.

Whedon, for his part, has moved on to bigger (but not necessarily better) things with his "Avengers" movie, so I can certainly understand his fairly measured response to this when he was contacted by Kristin Dos Santos of E! Here's what he had to say:

Kristin, I'm glad you asked for my thoughts on the announcement of Buffy the cinema film. This is a sad, sad reflection on our times, when people must feed off the carcasses of beloved stories from their youths - just because they can't think of an original idea of their own, like I did with my Avengers idea that I made up myself.

Obviously I have strong, mixed emotions about something like this. My first reaction upon hearing who was writing it was, "Whit Stillman AND Wes Anderson? This is gonna be the most sardonically adorable movie EVER." Apparently I was misinformed. Then I thought, "I'll make a mint! This is worth more than all my Toy Story residuals combined!" Apparently I am seldom informed of anything. And possibly a little slow. But seriously, are vampires even popular any more?

I always hoped that Buffy would live on even after my death. But, you know, AFTER. I don't love the idea of my creation in other hands, but I'm also well aware that many more hands than mine went into making that show what it was. And there is no legal grounds for doing anything other than sighing audibly. I can't wish people who are passionate about my little myth ill. I can, however, take this time to announce that I'm making a Batman movie. Because there's a franchise that truly needs updating. So look for The Dark Knight Rises Way Earlier Than That Other One And Also More Cheaply And In Toronto, rebooting into a theater near you.

Leave me to my pain! Sincerely, Joss Whedon.

Not terribly surprisingly, very witty stuff, and certainly much funnier than anything that will spring from this abominable endeavour. I will, out of morbid curiosity if nothing else, dutifully report who gets the "honor" of playing the new Buffy once this all comes together, but for now, let's just move on, because life is indeed too short for so much bitterness.

OK, now for much better stuff, on to a couple of videos full of nothing but good vibes. I'm hoping that the presence of Natalie Portman will be enough to elevate Darren Aronofsky's sure-to-be-epicly-twisted ballerina tale "Black Swan" to a release wide enough to reach my little corner of the world when it finally comes out Dec. 3. In the meantime, there's this music video containing clips from the film, which also stars Mila Kunis. Enjoy.



And even better than that, for something which much more poetically expresses my exact reaction when I first saw all that "Buffy" crap, why not four minutes of something that needs no further explanation than its title, "Nicolas Cage Loses His Shit"? I'll only say that, while this proves exactly why Cage, while never quite a master thespian, is still often very fun to watch, please watch this with headphones if you're at work, because it is indeed just as profane as you could possible imagine. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.

Remember Cameron Crowe? He's officially back

Actually, easily the best news out there this morning is that "In the Loop" director Armando Iannucci is coming back with a new film, and it couldn't be much more different at all from that extremely hard-hitting and satisfying satire.

His next flick, "Out the Window," is an adaptation of Claire Tomalin's biography "The Invisible Woman," which recounts Charles Dickens' affair with actress Nelly Ternan.

Like I said, couldn't be much further removed from "In the Loop," but that flick is so amazingly good that I'll follow Iannucci just about anywhere. And if you haven't seen "In the Loop," rent it immediately, and be prepared to marvel at the sheer wonder that is Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker.

But before I got briefly sidetracked by that, this was supposed to be all about Cameron Crowe, who has indeed now officially signed on to direct his first flick since 2005's "Elizabethtown," which really needs to be erased from my memory right away. Man, was it awful.

His luck will hopefully be a lot better with "We Bought a Zoo," which certainly at least gives him an intriguing story to work with. The memoir by Benjamin Mee is about how he and his family used their life savings to buy a dilapidated zoo in the English countryside, complete with 200 exotic animals.

Sounds great to me. Crowe is currently reworking the script, and it's already received a release date of Dec. 23, 2011, but of course all that could change.

Like I said, "Elizabethtown" is an almost complete abomination, but Crowe has delivered plenty of winners in his career, and I'm sure he has another one in him. If I had to list my 10 favorite movies of the last 10 (or maybe 11) years or so, "Almost Famous" would make the list every time, and "Say Anything" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" are just cinematic comfort food that I keep going back to again and again. Here's hoping this trip to the "Zoo" will help him regain some mojo.

And in other news about one of my favorite directors who's sorely in need of a winner, it seems that Terry Gilliam may have finally found someone foolhardy enough to step into the role once inhabited by Johnny Depp in his "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote."

Gilliam's first attempt to make this movie several years ago was an utter failure, even though it was turned into a bewilderingly entertaining one in the documentary "Lost in La Mancha." The odds that he'll be able to do any better this time have to be at least slightly improved by the news (from Gilliam himself, at least) that Ewan McGregor is now on board, and hopefully bringing some better luck with him.

Assuming the script hasn't changed too much, McGregor will play an advertising executive who travel back to 17th century Spain, where he meets Don Quixote and becomes involved in adventures with him. It has already been announced that Robert Duvall will play Quixote (take a few seconds to digest that), stepping in for the great Froggy actor Jean Rochefort (if I can digress for one second, for a fantastic film starring Rochefort, rent Patrice Leconte's "Man on the Train."

I hoodwinked mi hermano into going with me to watch Gilliam's last flick, "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," in NYC, and while it wasn't awful, it did pretty much go completely off the rails after Heath Ledger died, but that unfortunately didn't stop Gilliam from letting it just go out of any control or reason to exist for the last 45 minutes or so. "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote," however, has clearly been a passion project for him for a long time now, so here's hoping it turns into something worth watching.

And all I have except for that today is the first full trailer I know of for something I'm clearly too old to be watching, but when you make Emma Stone the star of your movie, there's almost an ironclad guarantee I'm gonna watch it. She's just easily one of the best comediennes working in movies today, and even if "Easy A," a teeny update of "The Scarlet Letter" due out in September, is extremely silly, as you'll see below, it also at least has Patricia Clarkson saying "because I slept with a whole bunch of people ... mostly boys," so it's at least got to be mildly entertaining. Enjoy, be sure to watch the Joss Whedon-directed episode of "Glee" with Neil Patrick Harris tonight, and have a perfectly acceptable Tuesday. Peace out.

Joss Whedon's a Gleek, and I am too

Actually, before we get into any of that and another video that caught my eye this morning, I'm starting to worry that at my advancing age I have somehow developed super powers and can predict the future.

About a week ago, when it was first announced that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be reteaming with director Rian Johnson for the sci-fi flick "Looper," I said the plot - roughly about hit men who are sent their victims from crime organizations in the future - sounds rather unfortunately like something Bruce Willis would star in for about one week or so in a February.

Well, either I have a lot more power than I thought (which was, of course, none at all), or by some other cosmic force out of my hands, Willis has indeed now just signed on for the movie, and he and Gordon-Levitt will be playing the same character at different time periods.

That alone already makes this sound a little better, and since rewatching "The Brothers Bloom" last week has me convinced it's a minor masterpiece, I'm certainly willing to give Johnson the benefit of the doubt as this comes together.

And just in case you think I really can see the future, go ahead and place a bet on Calvin Borel and Super Saver to win the best jewel in the Triple Crown today.

OK, enough of that. Before I got distracted, this was supposed to be all about "Glee," which, in case you hadn't heard, is being directed Tuesday night by Joss Whedon, with a guest appearance by Neil Patrick Harris. If, hearing all that, you somehow still don't plan to tune in, just move on today, because this clearly just isn't for you.

But, with "Glee," it almost always is for me. I've heard the complaints from some of my co-workers that the show is just too cheesy, and that the extremely poorly lip-synced songs are just annoying. I get all that, and it's not that I ignore it or don't care, it's that all that adds into what makes "Glee" so deliriously entertaining to watch.

It is indeed a big ball of cheese, and it very often wears its heart right on its sleeve and defies you to not latch on to it. But so what? Along with that, there's consistently a wicked streak of black humor to it all, and when you mix it all, it's like nothing else on TV, and just the perfect guilty pleasure (though I really don't feel guilty about liking it one bit.)

And, as Whedon points out in this promo video, the kids all just throw so much energy into it that it's impossible not to give in to it. Like him, I think Heather Morris' Brittany is my favorite character, and still the funniest line so far (with all apologies to Jane Lynch's zinger-flinging Sue Sylvester) has to be her gem "Did you know a dolphin is just a gay shark?" I'm probably getting that slightly wrong, but even so, it's just funny.

But enough words from me. Enjoy the video, stick around for a bit from Aziz Ansari, and if you like Joss Whedon and NPH, by all means watch Tuesday night's "Glee," even if it will be for the first time.



OK, I should probably find better things to do with my time than be a shill for MTV, but as long these MTV Movie Awards promos keep being funny, I'm gonna keep sharing them. And besides, since the water-skiing squirrel was at the Georgia State Fair here in Macon, of course he's an international superstar. Enjoy the clip also featuring Sarah Silverman (who unfortunately just had her Comedy Central show canceled) and somehow Zac Efron too. Peace out.

MTV Shows

Now that's how you start a Tuesday morning

If, like me, you consume your music chiefly through Itunes and you're slowly losing what's left of your mind, here's a trick: If you know an album is coming out from one of your favorite acts, order it like a month in advance and, if you're like me, you'll forget all about it until it starts to download, making almost for a surprise.

That's what happened this morning with "I Learned the Hard Way" by the sublime Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings. If you're unfamiliar with what they're cooking up, there really are only two or three groups in the world I can recommend higher. If you saw "Up in the Air," it was Sharon and her guys who performed that sensational rendition of "This Land Is Your Land," which really should be the U.S. national anthem (and therefore sung when the Baltimore Orioles - finally! - begin the season today with Kevin Millwood on the mound against the Devil Rays, go O's!)

Deceptively simple and throwback, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings play soul music the way its meant to be played, but with orchestration that makes the sound all their own. Check it out already.

After that today, it's all about three projects by up-and-coming directors who have already managed to direct movies I love, so are well worth keeping an eye on.

First up, in probably the most high-profile project, Peter Sollett has been tapped (apparently knocking out Joss Whedon) to direct a movie based on the graphic novel series "Runaways," not to be confused with "The Runaways" starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning. This movie is apparently about a group of young people who discover that, drat, their parents just happen to be archvillians. The titular "Runaways" band together to discover their own powers and fight their own parents, and as silly as that sounds, it should be really great in Sollett's hands.

His best movie, for those who might forget, is easily "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," a movie about bridge-and-tunnel Jersey kids starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings that's way better than it ever deserves to be (if you haven't seen it, just trust me and rent it already.) Almost as good, though on a much smaller scale, was Sollett's first movie, "Raising Victor Vargas." What the two movies have in common is a real ear for the lives of young people - without the skeeviness of, say, Larry Clark - something which should make "Runaways" a real fun ride once this all comes together.

And come to think of it, "Nick and Norah" was a lot like "Date Night" in its "After Hours"-style look at New York City, but why in the world is that flick starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey the only wide-release movie opening this week? Sheesh. But I digress ...

Next up today is a new project from easily one of the funniest guys around today, David Wain. When his last movie, "Role Models," came out, I took a pass, and that was a real mistake. Starring the alwaysveryfunny Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks (and that McLovin kid too), the flick about live-action role playing is a whole lot funnier than most "comedies" that come out nowadays, and I'm certainly glad I finally managed to catch up with it on DVD.

Now, Wain is about to sign on to direct something called "Too Cool to Be Forgotten," also based on a graphic novel, this one by someone named Alex Robinson.

The premise, unfortunately, sounds awfully tired, but in the hands of Wain (a veteran of "The State," in case your doubting his comedy chops), I'm still betting on funny here. It's about a middle-aged man who, after trying hypnosis to stop smoking, is somehow transported back to 1985, where he must relive his awkward teen years. And if you wanna sew up the funny right now, why not sign Rudd for this right away?

And finally (well, almost), comes the craziest story of the day. I rented Lone Scherfig's "An Education" over the weekend (that's not the crazy part, because that movie just gets better and better with age.) It's even better than I remembered, and easily the best ensemble cast movie of 2009.

For her next project, she's lined Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess to star in the rom-com "One Day," based on the novel by David Nicholls (author, by the way, of the screenplay for the extremely underrated "Starter for 10," rent that one right away too.) That story is about two college friends who agree to meet once a year for twenty years, but that's not the crazy either.

Here it comes. After that, and apparently in the belief that Kathyrn Bigelow shouldn't be the only chica in the world who gets to direct action movies (huzzah to that), she'll set her sights on something called "Mob Girl," to star known thespian Jessica Biel. I told you it was coming.

Based on Teresa Carpenter's nonfiction work of the same name, it will apparently be about mob mistress Arlyne Brickman, who infiltrated the mafia before turning over evidence to the state that led to the arrest and incarceration of boss Anthony Scarpati. That all sounds great to me, but Jessica Biel? Really? Stay tuned ...

And really finally, you can consider this the launch of my official push to change the U.S. national anthem, and before you dismiss that as thoroughly crazy too, at least first listen to this clip of Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings performing "This Land Is Your Land" live. I defy you to find it wouldn't be a lot more fun to sing before ball games, and it's just a better song, performed perfectly. And with that, have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.

A Thursday report just chock full of good movie news

There really is just a ton of news out there this morning about filmmakers and actors I like, so let's just jump right into it.

First up, in perhaps the biggest and best of it all, Kathryn Bigelow is set to reunite with "The Hurt Locker" scribe Mark Boal for "Triple Frontier," which is described as a "Traffic"-like drug parable set in the notorious border zone between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, and Bigelow says the film will use the same "raw and visceral visual style" as "The Hurt Locker."

Except for the "Traffic" reference (I can really think of very few movies that are more overrated than that one), that all sounds great to me. It's a perfectly gritty subject for her, and if I were still a betting man, I think there's been a groundswell of activity behind "The Hurt Locker" that just might bring it the big Oscar prize on March 7, which would be just fine with me (though, of course, I'm still standing behind Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," which I've seen four times now.)

And in a related note, Jeremy Renner, also an Oscar nominee for his performance in "The Hurt Locker," has set up his next project, and being a devoted fan of all things Baltimore, it certainly sounds intriguing to me. To be directed by James McTeigue of "V for Vendetta" and star Renner and Ewan McGregor, "Raven" is sort of based on Edgar Allen Poe's poem, but set in 1850's Baltimore with a serial killer's crimes mirroring Poe's work (and it damn well better be shot in 2010 Baltimore, too.) Renner probably won't win on Oscar night, but as far as male performers go, he and Christoph Waltz (who we'll hear about in just a few paragraphs) certainly had the "breakthrough" performances of 2009, and he's definitely got my attention.

Duncan Jones garnering stellar cast for next flick

I've somehow managed to once again con my way into a press pass to the upcoming Atlanta Film Festival 365, and if they screen even one movie as good as Duncan Jones' debut "Moon," which I squeezed into there last year, it will be well worth the trip.

So it's certainly good news that Jeffrey Wright has now signed for Jones' next flick, "Source Code," joining the already-announced Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan.

Best as I can tell, the flick is a sci-fi thriller involving time continuums in some way. Gyllenhaal is, of course, the main star, who's investigating a train bombing and finds himself in the body of one of the victims, reliving the incident until he can find out who's behind it. Farmiga will play Gyllenhaal's handler, and Monaghan a woman on the train with whom the man he becomes is romantically involved. All I know about Wright's involvement is that he plays a helicopter pilot of some kind, but I do know that with this director and cast, this is one I'll definitely be keeping my eyes on.

Cobain biopic in the works

Just about the last thing the world needs is another musician biopic, but I think I'd certainly at least turn out for one about Kurt Cobain. In fact, I can't believe this hasn't been done already.

Oren Moverman, director of "The Messenger" (which I haven't seen yet, but everyone tells me I should), is about to sign on to direct and rewrite David Benoiff's script for the project, using as at least a partial source Charles R. Cross' 2001 biography, "Heavier than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain."

No word yet on who would play Cobain, but I'd have to say Jared Leto, assuming he isn't just way too strung out by now, would be a natural, or maybe Billy Crudup. And as to why I'd want to see this, well, Cobain's certainly a fascinating subject, and I can still remember when my roomie at the time, Cory, told me what had happened to him. We had just seen the Breeders open for Nirvana about six months earlier at Atlanta's now-defunct Omni. A real bummer, but this seems to be in the right hands, and could make for a really compelling flick.

Waltz sets next project as another mean bastard

I've been hearing talk lately that Christopher Plummer, nominated for "The Last Station," just might pull the upset on Oscar night and nab the Best Supporting Actor award that everyone has been assuming would go to Christoph Waltz for his work as the Jew hunter Hans Landa in "Inglourious Basterds."

If that's the case, it would be a genuine travesty, because anyone who's seen QT's flick (and if you somehow haven't, why the heck not?) knows, he just takes over every scene he's in, and you can't take your eyes off him.

We'll just have to wait and see how that all turns out, but in the meantime comes word that he's in talks to star in "Water for Elephants" with Reese Witherspoon and a certain vampire dude you may have heard of named Robert Pattinson.

Based on the novel by Sara Gruen and to be directed by Francis Lawrence of "I am Legend," the story is about a Depression-era love triangle between a veterinary student (Pattinson) who joins a travelling circus and falls for the star performer (Witherspoon). Waltz would play the third angle, Witherspoon's husband, described as "a dangerous paranoid schizophrenic animal trainer who is as mean to his wife as he is to the circus creatures."

I'll watch Mr. Waltz in just about anything at this point - he's in Michel Gondry's upcoming "Green Hornet" with Seth Rogen, too, but I'd put my money on this flick being finished first - and especially in something that sounds this intriguing.

Carla Gugino set to run "Faster" with the Rock

You know, I really have no beef whatsoever with Dwayne Johnson. I'm sure he's a perfectly nice guy, but I'm not sure I've ever seen one of his movies. That said, putting the simply stunning (and just as talented) Carla Gugino in one of his flicks just might be enough to get me to buy a ticket.

She's come aboard the revenge thriller "Faster," being directed by George Tillman Jr., who made the mostly entertaining Biggie biopic "Notorious", and also starring The Rock, Billy Bob Thornton, Maggie Grace and Moon Bloodgood.

So, what's it about? Well, apparently, The Rock is an ex-con bent on avenging the death of his brother, murdered 10 years earlier when the two were double-crossed during a heist. Gugino will play the detective in charge of the investigation of the killing.

On second thought, I really can't see any way I will go see this, but I just really like Carla Gugino, so I'm just passing the news along 'Nuff said on that.

Whedon and Spurlock to harass poor Comic Con-goers
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I'm not sure why, but I just can't stand to even look at, much less listen to, Morgan Spurlock. I think it's because I also can't stand documentaries in which the filmmaker feels the need to make himself the star - exactly the wrong approach in my book - and no one except for maybe Michael Moore does this more than Spurlock. And, for that matter, Moore is just a much better filmmaker.

Now, however, it seems that Spurlock and Joss Whedon (because, with "Dollhouse" canceled I guess he just has nothing better to do) are teaming up to make a documentary about Comic Con, which I'd love to attend some day.

The duo will apparently follow their poor victims for three months leading up to this year's mega-geekfest in San Diego. I can't imagine anything good coming from any of this, but I've been wrong at least once before (and probably already today), so maybe I am about this too.

Whew. That certainly went on a lot longer than I intended when I woke up this morning, so anyone who actually made it this far deserves a reward. I'm not sure that the latest weekly installment of "Alice In Wonderland" featurettes really qualifies, but they've at least managed to keep them all entertaining, and there just something soothing about watching Helena Bonham Carter with the Red Queen's enormous head calling for a pig to rest her feet on. Enjoy, and have a perfectly enjoyable Thursday. Peace out.

My (and only my) best movies of the decade: The 2005 edition

It's kind of amazing (at least to me) and - depending on how you look at it - perhaps kind of depressing that I've been actually been doing this since 2005, but I still like writing it and I hope at least a few people enjoy reading it.

So I, of course, did a Top 10 for that year at the time, but have decided not to look at it before doing this so that doesn't influence what I'm thinking now.

And before I dive into this, a quick word about two movies that almost made the final 10 but just missed the cut. First, Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain." Just for the record, its absence here has NOTHING at all to do with its subject matter. Lee's movie is indeed both a beautiful piece of work about the agony of hidden love and a great portrait of the American West. And if this list went to 11 or 12, you'd see it below.

Secondly, there are few Saturday afternoon movies I love more than Malcolm D, Lee's "Roll Bounce." Silly? Sure. But I defy you to watch this roller skating flick starring still-somewhat-Lil Bow Wow (yes, really) and not a have a big smile on your face by the end.

And finally, before I get to the main event, here are the other movies that garnered honorable mention for 2005: "Millions," "Oldboy," "Palindromes," "Mysterious Skin," "Howl's Moving Castle," "Broken Flowers," "The Constant Gardener," "Green Street Hooligans," "Wallace and Gromit in the Case of the Were-Rabbit," "Breakfast on Pluto," "Pride and Prejudice," "Walk the Line," "The Boys of Baraka," "King Kong" and "Match Point."

So, without any further delay, here are my 10 favorite movies of 2005. As usual, please feel free to add any you think I may have snubbed, and of course to check back on the first five days of this endeavour, if you missed them.

"Everything is Illuminated"
The only movie written and directed by Liev Schrieber is almost as good as the Jonathan Safran Foer novel it's based on, which tells the story of an American Jew's (in the movie, Elijah Wood - not, as I had typed before being politely corrected by always welcome reader Mad Hatter, Tobey Maguire) quest to find the woman who saved his grandfather's life during the Nazi leveling of the Ukrainian village of Trachimbrod. With a lot of humor, this flick delivers a mystery of sorts about the past and the power it holds over us, and is just a lot of fun to watch.

"A History of Violence"
Viggo Mortensen makes this David Cronenberg movie, which is indeed a meditation on the debilitating nature of violence and both an extremely violent work in parts itself, work as well as it does. It's that contradiction of seemingly both loving and abhorring violence at the same time that have made Cronenberg's best movies so compelling. Though this one is great, my favorite Cronenberg movie is still "Spider," in which the violence is mostly psychological.

"Capote"
Though it earned a well-deserved Best Picture nomination, all the also well-deserved accolades for Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance as Capote really overshadowed just how good Bennett Miller's movie itself is. As brilliantly as Hoffman shines in it, this tale which focuses on the writing of "In Cold Blood" is really much more of an ensemble piece, and Catherine Keener as Harper Lee and even more so Clifton Collins Jr. as Perry Smith (two definite favorites around here) deserve almost as much of the credit.

"Serenity"
I have to admit I gave up on "Dollhouse" long before Fox killed it off (and for once, I really don't think Joss Whedon has anything to complain about this time), mostly because though it was indeed smart sci-fi it left out all the fun. His even shorter-lived previous series, "Firefly," and this movie which somehow sprung from it, get the balance much better. Sure, it swipes mercifully from "Star Wars," but the dialogue and the performances of Nathan Fillion and his crew make this space Western close enough to an original to be thoroughly entertaining.

"The Squid and the Whale"
I just have a soft spot for movies about dysfunctional families, and few are quite as miserably so as in this autobiographical debut flick from Noah Baumbach. Heck, I even liked "Margot at the Wedding" quite a bit too, though I think I'm the only person in the world who did. In "The Squid and the Whale," Baumbach deals deftly with many of the same issues that Wes Anderson does with more fancy, specifically how intellectualism can and cannot be a proper replacement for love and engagement with the world. Laura Linney is spectacular here and, for better or worse, this flick unleashed Jesse Eisenberg on the world (I'd say mostly better.)

"Good Night and Good Luck"
I can remember that I somehow managed to be the only person at a matinee of this George Clooney movie, which just made the suffocating feel of it and the sheer terror of Joseph McCarthy even more effective. You're already gonna get me with a valentine to journalism of any kind, and Clooney just imbues this black-and-white flick with a style and pace that make it constantly engaging. Grant Heslov, the co-writer of this movie, directed this year's "The Men Who Stare at Goats," which I found to be a whole lot more satisfying than most critics did.

"Diary of a Mad Black Woman"
I'll make no excuses for including Tyler Perry's feature debut on this list, because it established the formula for most of his movies before it became one. It really does make you laugh, cry and all those other things you hear in that old joke about "Cats," and like his best movies, is just full of humanity and deals with the real issues of life and love with genuine humor.

"Murderball"
This flick from directors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro follows many of the conventions of the competition documentary but separates itself from the pack when it dives into the off-field lives of its stars, members of a quad rugby team competing to make it to the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. The sport itself, played by men in wheelchairs, is certainly full-contact and sometimes harrowing to watch. You connect with the main players and get a true sense of what their lives are really like, and that's what makes this flick a real winner.

"Hustle & Flow"
I considered calling this post "Come back to us, Craig Brewer," because even though it's buried deep on this list, "Hustle & Flow" was and still is my favorite movie of 2005. Though the music may be different, this is a genuine rock 'n' roll fable that tells the rise (well, sort of) of Djay, a pimp who just wants to be a rap star. On paper it sounds cheesy as it can possibly be, and perhaps it would have been if not for the performance of Terrence Howard as our hero and the extremely strong sense of place that Brewer gives this flick set in grimy Memphis. It's just a movie I've watched more than once every year since it came out and never gets old. And Taraji P. Henson is great as well as Shug, Djay's long-suffering lady who gets to sing the infectious "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" hook.

"Junebug"
This little Southern flick probably would have gone mostly unnoticed if it weren't for Amy Adams, which would have been a real shame, because it has a lot to say about family dynamics and the strains that distance put upon them. It teeters perilously close to caricature at several points, but in the end, director Phil Morrison and writer Angus MacLachlan manage to pack this flick with genuinely colorful characters.

And there you have it. Like I said, please feel free to hammer me for any glaring omissions, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

What will Danny Boyle finally do to follow up "Slumdog Millionaire"?

You know, I should probably just stick around Macon this weekend, what with four movies opening here this weekend and even two ("The Men Who Stare at Goats" and Richard Kelly's "The Box") I actually want to see, but I still think I'm gonna make the hour or so trip up the road to see "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire" on Saturday morning.

And not because, like Liz Lemon, I do anything Oprah tells me to, but a hearty endorsement from Tyler Perry does go quite a way in this corner. No, I was already intrigued, but I finally decided to bite when I saw this from a review on Collider.com, not exactly known for its embrace of black cinema: "Precious" isn't a Hallmark movie. It's one of the best movies of the year.

But enough about that movie I haven't seen yet until perhaps Sunday, if it moves me enough to get up in the morning and write a review. For now, there's more than a few tidbits out there worth commenting on, especially what Danny Boyle's gonna finally do to follow up "Slumdog Millionaire," after being idle for quite a while now.

And it in fact sounds pretty fascinating. Boyle, who has already directed two of my favorite flicks with "Trainspotting" and "Shallow Grave" and one I truly detest in "Sunshine," will next turn his attention to "127 Hours," which tells the story of mountaineer Aron Ralston, who got pinned under a boulder for nearly five days while climbing in Utah. Since I assume the story will be well known before the movie comes out (if it isn't to you already), I'll tell you he ended up using a dull knife to amputate his arm and then hiked a 65-foot sheer wall before a family came to his aid.

That all sounds great, if more than a little harrowing, to me. No word on who would play Ralston (though Christian Bale popped immediately into my mind), but Boyle has already written a treatment, and "Slumdog" scribe Simon Beaufoy is in talks to write the script.

It will begin filming next year for a 2010 release, so definitely keep your eyes on this one.

Another Iraq war movie I'll see?

It really is hard to overstate exactly what Kathyrn Bigelow accomplished this year with "The Hurt Locker," and I'm sure she'll get some earned recognition now that we've just entered awards season (already? I'm afraid so.) Before her great movie starring Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie, I had sworn off of Iraq war movies, but her approach of simply looking at war through the soldiers' eyes combined with her natural touch for pyrotechnics just made this one incredibly entertaining (I've seen it twice already, and just might again when it finally hits DVD, probably in January.)

And now, Ken Loach is taking on the subject, and given his rather extreme distaste for objectivity I'm sure he'll come up with a completely different animal, though another one I'll take a chance on when I can because I almost always dig his passion.

His flick, "Route Irish," will detail the story of two men who work as private security contractors in Iraq. When Frankie is killed on "Route Irish" - the road linking Baghdad airport with the Green Zone - Fergus, wracked with grief and guilt, rejects the official explanation and determines to investigate the truth of his friend's death.

Sounds awfully earnest to me, but like I said, I have a whole lot of time ("Riff Raff" is still one of my favorite romantic flicks) for Mr. Loach, so this is certainly one that intrigues me.

Is no TV cartoon character safe?

If I were to put together a comedic actors hall of fame, Anna Faris would certainly get a spot, at least in the up-and-comers wing, because she's just that funny in just about everything she does. And just this year, she certainly acquitted herself well as ambitious weather girl Sam Sparks in the goofy, fun animated flick "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs."

That, however, doesn't mean I'm going to follow her anywhere near a "live-action/CG hybrid" movie about Yogi Bear. And no, I'm not making that up.

It at least sounds kinda funny that Dan Aykroyd will voice Yogi and Justin Timberlake will voice Boo Boo, but this still would have to get reviews hailing it as the "Citizen Kane" of "live-action/CG hybrid movies about talking bears" before I'd give it a chance. Faris will apparently play some kind of nature documentarian.

Dr. Horrible going to comics

"Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," the Web creation of Joss Whedon starring Doogie Howser and Captain Mal Reynolds, was never quite as funny in my book as it was hyped up to be, but it was still a silly enough brand of fun to be enjoyed as a diversion. You can still watch the whole 45-minute-or-so thing at Hulu, and now it seems the character is getting new life thanks to Dark Horse comics.

In a one-shot comic, Zack Whedon, brother of the "Buffy" mastermind himself, and artist Joelle Jones tell the origin story of the wannabe evil genius. According to Dark Horse, they "establish how a young, impressionable, but brilliant Dr. Horrible was drawn into a world of crime. Readers are reacquainted with the charming, brawny, crime-fighting superhero extraordinaire Captain Hammer when Dr. Horrible crosses paths with his greatest enemy in an all-out showdown of immeasurable proportions.

Since it's only a one-shot, I can guarantee I'll spring the three bucks or so this should cost when it hits my local comic book store Nov. 18.

And, since along with "Precious" I'm sure to also go see "The Men Who Stare at Goats" on Sunday this weekend, I'll leave you with this clip of George Clooney explaining to Ewan McGregor what gets him in the spirit to exercise his psychic abilities. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

More "Chuck"? Yes, please!

You know, my hopes have already been raised and dashed by that dastardly rumor that "Chuck" would come back as soon as the end of October (which is, of course, just about here, with no "Chuck"), but I'm certain this time that this just-as-good information is satisfactual.

With another of its new shows crashing early - this time "Trauma," poor Derek Luke deserves much, much better - it seems that NBC has already ordered six more episodes of "Chuck," upping the second season order from 13 to 19 (and, if enough people tune in, perhaps maybe even 22 - hey, I can dream right?)

No word yet that it would come back any earlier than the originally planned March, but the way things stand now, it would probably be best to just wait until then. NBC has the Winter Olympics, so if "Chuck" were brought back in, say, January, it would just get preempted for the second half of February and perhaps lose any new viewers it may have picked up. Methinks, all things, considered, waiting until March would be just fine.

Whenever it comes, however, more "Chuck" is just sensationally good news. Stay tuned for more details as I get them.

The word is also out today on when we'll get to see another of my favorite comedies, but probably one that should be off the air already.

How in the world "Scrubs" has survived for what will be its ninth season beginning Dec. 1 with two episodes on ABC, I'll never know, but I do know that when it returns this time it won't look much like anything we've seen in the past.

As far as I know, all the regular cast members except for Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) and perhaps Carla (Judy Reyes) have mostly moved on and will only be seen in brief recurring spots from time to time (but it sure is nice to see Neil Flynn each week on "The Middle.") Instead, we'll find Dr. Cox with a new crop of med students to berate and perhaps break down.

I'm all for a fresh start, and I like this show enough to give it another chance this winter, but the main problem is that when they tried to introduce a new cast of characters last year, they all bombed (and I assume will all be gone.) I mean, when you have veryfunnyman Aziz Ansari and you give him absolutely nothing funny to say, you're certainly going in the wrong direction.

But, enough of that. Like I said, I'll at least tune in to see if any of the magic still exists. And all I have except for that today is a couple of videos that caught my eye this morning.

First up is a deleted scene from J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek," which I assume will be included with the DVD release coming Nov. 17. Like most people, I loved the flick, and am almost certain it will end up on my top 10 for the year. Enjoy.


Star Trek - DVD Bonus Footage

And finally comes something that's, unfortunately, at least as depressing as it is enjoyable. If you somehow haven't seen Joss Whedon's short-lived series "Firefly" or the improbable follow-up flick "Serenity," you've missed one of the truly great characters of the last 10 years or so in Nathan Fillion's Captain Mal Reynolds. Watch them as soon as you can, and just to stir some memories, here's Fillion donning the familiar garb for a recent episode of "Castle," which I just can't bring myself to watch because I already absorb way too much just-above-average TV and just don't have time or energy for something that looks so thoroughly banal. Anyways, enjoy the clip, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

"Chuck" back on the air this month? Bring it on!

You know, I really don't need any more reasons to just about thoroughly hate 3-D, but this morning (or perhaps yesterday, who knows?) comes what for me just might be the biggest one yet.

Joss Whedon and "Cloverfield" (if you haven't seen that, take a chance .. it's shockingly good) writer Drew Goddard have collaborated on a horror movie called "The Cabin in the Woods." In case that's not enough to get you geeked up, it somehow stars both Richard Jenkins, a true favorite around here, and Bradley Whitford of "West Wing" fame.

Well, that's the good news, and here's the bad. The movie was originally set to come out Feb. 5, but has now been pushed back almost a year to Jan. 14, 2011, ostensibly just so they can convert it to 3-D.

What the hell? You're gonna delay a completed movie for a whole year just so you can charge me $2 more to watch it. Sheesh.

But enough of that. As the headline of this post makes clear, there's much better news out there today for fans of "Chuck," of which you can certainly count me one. As any fan well knows, the show wasn't set to come back until March, but Entertainment Weekly's seriously TV obsessed scribe Michael Ausiello says it might actually return much earlier.

How much earlier? In three weeks or so! With "Southland" canceled before it's second season could even get started and most of its other primetime offerings tanking fast, it seems that NBC is finally realizing just how solid a product "Chuck" is, and needs the show to come to its rescue.

Ausiello didn't say if the show will return to its usual Monday night slot or be moved, but he did say that NBC folks who have seen the first four episodes are saying this will be the "best season yet." Bring it friggin' on!

Now, if I can make one suggestion: How about moving it to 10 p.m. so the dolts at NBC can see just how much better Chuck's ratings will be than Jay Leno's at the same time? I've been checking the ratings often, and Jay is ALWAYS the worst-rated show in the 18-49 bracket except for whatever the CW is offering that night. Cancel him already!

And, though "Chuck" only as a 13-episode order for season three, it only follows logically that if they move it up to the end of this month and it performs well, NBC will order more episodes.

Ausiello also recently had a fun tidbit about another show I don't like nearly as much as "Chuck," but still tune in for to see what Barney might get to up that night. It seems that the rather insanely funny Chris Elliott has been cast as Lily's (Alyson Hannigan) estranged father on "How I Met Your Mother," and will make his first appearance Nov. 23 at a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Lily's grandparents. Word is that Elliott's character will be an extreme loser, so there's nothing but cool there.

And finally, it's almost the week of "Where the Wild Things Are," so enjoy this featurette featuring Spike Jonze and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs talking about how they put together the kid-filled and pretty fun soundtrack (which you can listen to with the widget I put on the pasteboard to the right, if it still works.) A pack of kids screaming? I'd normally run in the other direction as fast as I could, but this all works surprisingly well, and I can't wait to finally see the flick. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.