The return of "Lawman" Oliphant and a first look at "Mad Men" season three

Before I get into the really pretty good TV news out there today, there are some movie tidbits that have to start off with more on the craziest of all, Zhang Yimou's (unnecessary?) remake of the Coens' "Blood Simple."

I know I should be against this from the outset, but I have to admit it sounds intriguing. In Zhang's vision of the movie, which will apparently be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, the noir story will move from the Texas bar to a Chinese noodle shop in a desert where "the owner of the noodle shop's seemingly simple plan to murder his adulterous wife and her lover quickly spins out of control after the introduction of a gun into the lives of characters more accustomed to knives and swords."

"Tampopo" meets "Blood Simple"? I think I'm in. My only real reservation is that this is described as a different angle because it's a "thriller-comedy," but the Coens' flick is - of course - in its own way a very funny movie already.

In two other short notes, there should be another movie based on Christopher Buckley's works coming to theaters, and that can only be a good thing. As many will know, among Buckley's many satirical D.C. novels is "Thank You For Smoking," converted into the sharp movie by Jason Reitman.

And now it seems that Charlize Theron's company has adopted another of Buckley's novels for herself to star in (well, that's one good way to get work.) "Florence of Arabia" is about a State Dept. employee (to be played by Theron) who, after watching her friend marry the prince of a Middle East country and subsequently get executed, fights for equal rights for the women of that country.

Doesn't sound quite as funny as the other Buckley books I've read, but I'm sure there's more to it than that. And in slightly older but odd Buckley news, Whit Stillman, who directed one of my favorite flicks, "Metropolitan", and two others before disappearing for many years, is still listed as the director of another Buckley movie, based on his novel "Little Green Men," which I did read. Don't hold your breath for that one.

And finally, before I get to the news that will have to be considered great for any fans of "Deadwood," there will be another Dr. Seuss movie coming soon in the form of "The Lorax."

Given my current distaste for 3-D animation, which everything seemingly has to be by now and so this will be, I should probably dismiss this outright, but it's a classic tale, and until that ridiculous song at the end, "Horton Hears a Who" was actually a really good Dr. Seuss flick, so who knows? Besides, that image of the poor Lorax standing among the fallen Truffula trees just gets me every time.

OK, now on the really good stuff. It seems that FX has picked up something called “The Lawman,” based on a character introduced in the Elmore Leonard novella “Fire In The Hole,” to begin airing early next year.

And much better, Seth Bullock himself, Timothy Oliphant, will return from video-game-movie hell to play "Stetson-sporting contemporary U.S. marshal Raylan Givens, who finds himself punished with a permanent assignment to Kentucky, where he was reared." I doubt there will be any characters as colorful as Ian McShane's Al Swearsallthetime, but I like everything I've read from Leonard, so Sheriff Bullock walking a modern beat sounds great to me.

Don't forget that FX also has two of my current favorites coming back very soon. The second season of the motorcycle gang drama "Sons of Anarchy," which just got better and better last year, begins Tuesday, Sept. 8. Even better in terms of real anarchy, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" finally returns for its fifth season Thursday, Sept. 17. Friggin fantastic.

In one bit of other networks news that also only be called good, USA Network has picked up "Burn Notice" for a fourth season next summer, along with the freshman show that follows it, "Royal Pains."

As with another spy show I like even more, "Chuck," I was slow to pick up on the easy charm of "Burn Notice," but as the third season wraps up I'm now hooked. It hasn't been quite as good as season two, but it's still just about the best thing on TV now until the return of "Mad Men" (more on that below.) I've yet to even tune in for any of "Royal Pains" because, well, the idea of a show about a doctor to residents of the Hamptons just doesn't sound all that appealing to me. If I'm somehow wrong about this (after all, the show does now outdraw "Burn Notice," 7.3 million viewers to 7.1 million) please let me know.

And anyone who actually made it this far certainly deserves a reward, so here goes. Hitfix has put up a full gallery of "Mad Men" shots from the third season, which still seems like an eternity away at Aug. 16. Moving this back from its regular July return, though probably for some reason necessary, has just been agonizing, and I can't wait for it to finally begin anew. You can view the full gallery here, but I've included my two favorites, one of Robert Morse and John Slattery and another of the great January Jones as Bertie Draper. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

Sam Raimi to enter the "World of Warcraft"

You know, I probably shouldn't admit it, but just about my entire knowledge of "World of Warcraft" comes from that fantastic "South Park" episode. It's certainly not that I think I'm too old or above it to play video games, it's simply that I've never, ever been terribly good at them.

With Sam Raimi attached to this, however, I can still deliver it as only insanely good news. One of the real mysteries of this summer is why more people didn't turn out for Raimi's "Drag Me to Hell," which was a really solid return to form. Granted, a woman vomiting up a dead kitten is one of the movie's milder scenes, but it was still the most fun I've have had watching a movie this summer.

And now, Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures have handed him the reins for what should be a boffo budget to make a movie from the epicly popular game, and I can guarantee this will be the first (I really can't think of any others I've seen) movie based on a video game I'll definitely see in a theater.

And if you're a fan of Bruce Lee (and really, who the heck isn't?), there's even better news out there this morning. I had heard there was going to be a biopic on the kung fu master, but had no idea it was going to be on the scale of this.

Apparently, a Chinese company called J.A. Media is making a three-part biopic on Lee, with the first chapter to begin shooting in October. The part of Bruce Lee has yet to be cast, but his father will be played by Tony Leung Ka-fai, and though no director has been picked yet either, Zhang Yimou has apparently expressed interest. Nothing but awesome there.

And finally, to close an admittedly short post, here's the best video I could find today, which is a four-and-a-half-minute clip from the upcoming flick "9," for which I've seen the trailer what seems like 500 times. Each time I do, I can't help but laugh every time I hear the phrase "visionary director Shane Acker," since I can't for the life of me name one thing he's ever directed. It does, however, feature the voice talents of Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover and even Martin Landau, and the animation (which I assume will have to, by force, be 3-D) does look really cool, so enjoy the clip, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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