Getting by with a little help from your friend ... Judd Apatow

If I didn't know Judd Apatow was married to the rather radiant Leslie Mann, I'd swear he just had a thing for fat guys. As it is, it just seems he's just one really loyal dude, which I can surely respect.

After turning Seth Rogen into a bona fide star (I had to check that, indeed, "Knocked Up" is still playing at my local multiplexes - it is), he's now gonna do the same for the very funny Jonah Hill.

First, of course, he's put Mr. Hill and Michael Cera (George Michael Bluth) together in the upcoming "Superbad," which I've plugged here countless times before and will definitely be the second-funniest movie of this summer (after only "Knocked Up.") It's a coming-of-age tale about the two most noble goals any high school dude can have: To score beer and chicks.

After that, Apatow, in his role as producer of the moment, has given his heft to two movies that Hill has written himself. First comes "The Middle Child," which IMDB refuses to tell me anything about unless I pay for it, and then "Pure Imagination," which as Hill describes it just sounds like a lot of fun.

As he said on the MTV movies blog, “It’s called ‘Pure Imagination.’ Basically, I go through a bunch of traumatic stuff, and I develop an imaginary friend. Then what happens is I meet a girl, and we start dating…but the problem is I don’t know whether she [actually] exists [or] whether she’s a figment of my imagination.”

The flick promises to be a bit more ambitious than Apatow’s usual fare, and might even employ CGI, but like the other films, it will aim to keep human bonds at its core. “It’s basically a relationship movie, but the whole time I’m trying to avoid finding out whether she’s real or not,” Hill explained. “I don’t want to know, basically. And then, my best friend who I go to for advice, is an imaginary person that I’ve made up in my mind.”

Sounds like a trip to me, and Jonah Hill is a genuinely funny dude. So, for that matter, is Michael Cera. If you doubt it (and if you've seen "Arrested Development," how could you possibly?), check out this. As far as I can tell, it's a Web-only show he and buddy Clark Duke developed for CBS about their incredibly inept attempts to pitch a TV show. It's definitely better than I make it sound here, and well wasting a bit of your time with.

And, because the world (or at least my world) can never have too much funny, is the trailer for "Superbad." Enjoy!



"Tales from Earthsea" English Cast

Any news from Studio Ghibli is good news to me, even when it's about a movie that's being delayed in the U.S. until at least 2009.

The great fan site Nausicaa.net has released the primary voice cast for the English dub of "Tales from Earthsea" ("Gedo Senki"), based on the novel by Ursula K. LeGuin and directed by Goro Miyazaki, offspring of Hayao. Here goes:

Sparrowhawk (aka Ged) - Timothy Dalton
Cob - Willem Dafoe
Arren - Matt Levin
Hare - Cheech Marin
Tenar - Mariska Hargitay
Therru - Blaire Restaneo

As far as I can tell, the story is about dragons and all kinds of other fun stuff. Those of you lucky enough to live in the UK will get to see this in limited release starting Aug. 3. Because of some kind of legal battle with the Sci Fi Channel, however, we Yanks will have to wait until at least 2009 and perhaps beyond. Sheesh.

Pixar's shorts? Bring 'em on

Pixar's short movies, which always precede their features, are hit-or-miss at best to me. The latest one, "Lifted," which opens "Ratatouille," is pure brilliance, but that "Boundin'," with that annoying critter bouncing around, was just annoying as all get out.

Either way, the beauty is they're all over in about five minutes. And now, even better, they're apparently being compiled for a DVD release to be titled "Pixar: The Short Films Collection." I couldn't find out anything about a possible release date, but here, apparently, is the cover. Definitely keep your eyes on this one.

And in even better DVD news from Disney, the always reliable Jim Hill has revealed that, in an effort to promote its upcoming "The Princess and the Frog," Disney will finally get around to releasing "Song of the South" on DVD in late 2008 or early 2009. A hearty if belated huzzah!

I've already revealed on this site that I apparently danced in the movie theater aisle to the songs of "Song of the South" as a very small critter, and thanks to my co-worker Liz Fabian, co-author of the Middle Georgia Moms blog, I recently got to watch it again on some kind of Japanese bootleg VHS tape. It was surreal to see the songs (but none of the dialogue) with Japanese subtitles, but the movie was just as magical as I remember, and I'm just thrilled that a new generation of kids will soon get to discover it for themselves.

And now I simply have to get ready for work. Peace out.