Demko's DVD shelf: Why I love the Muppets so much

In one of my many moments of daily distraction yesterday, I stopped to think of just why I miss the Muppets so much. Was the show ever really that good, or am I simply letting nostalgia cloud my vision?

Well, this week on DVD comes the evidence that it's most likely the former. With season two of "The Muppet Show," you get guest stars including Judy Collins, Don Knotts, Bernadette Peters, George Burns, John Cleese and Bob Hope. And, of course, all your favorite Muppets, from Kermit the Frog on down to the Swedish Chef.

But just what made the Muppets so great, beyond the fact that it came on TV when I was 6 years old and, therefore, rather susceptible to a TV show with awesome puppets? Looking at what passes for "quality" TV nowadays (with a few exceptions that I still tune in for every week), I think I have the answer.

When's the last time there was a genuine variety show on primetime television? The closest thing I can think of (and yes, I understand it's not often on during primetime) is "Saturday Night Live," which hasn't been as funny as "The Muppet Show" since the late 70s. Dave Chappelle, by including great rap acts to close out every show and, of course, offering the funniest skit television in many years, came awfully close too before he cracked up (absolutely no pun intended.)

But the Muppets, in their own way, were every bit as funny as Dave Chappelle, albeit in a much more family-friendly way. Season 2 offers proof in the form of 24 episodes with great skits like "Pigs in Space" and "Veterinarian's Hospital" (there's no way you can't laugh at Rolf operating on his fellow animals.)

And the Muppets weren't just funny. The music, by Muppets and humans alike, was almost always fantastic too. In season two, you get Kermit crooning "It's not Easy Being Green" and Judy Collins' "Send in the Clowns," among many others.

If you don't like the Muppets, well, I guess I can understand that, but, well, I just kind of feel sorry for you.

Other picks this week:

The Simpsons: Season 10: Watching these again on DVD, I've yet to find the point where the shows stopped being fall-down funny. It had to happen sometime in the last five years or so, but until I find the turning point, I'll keep being a sucker for the DVDs.

Bubba Ho-Tep: I can't see any reason to put out yet another version of this on DVD except that we're soon to come upon the 30th anniversary of Elvis' death. Pretty shameless timing, but a great movie nonetheless. A nursing home with Bruce Campbell as Elvis and the late, great Ossie Davis as JFK as residents? It's even better than it sounds here, and almost as touching as it is funny. If you haven't seen it yet, do so now.

Crime Story: Instead of shelling out your hard-earned cash for yet another "Rush Hour" crapfest, why not rent a great Jackie Chan Hong Kong movie. In this one supposedly based on a true story, Jackie's a special agent (shocker!) assigned to protect a wealthy business magnate who gets kidnapped in a daring ambush. Jackie being Jackie, he kicks many butts to get him back, and its just fun to watch.

The most inappropriate Youtube clip ever?

Well, probably not, but I've yet to see one that made me laugh this hard, and it's been at least a week since I pimped for "Superbad," so here goes.

Be warned before you even think of clicking on this one at work: It features, many, many times, Jonah Hill's character drawing pictures of, well, the male unit. If that bothers you, please don't watch this, and I can't stress enough, please don't do so around any of your co-workers. I don't want to get anyone fired here.

If you do watch it, however, be prepared to laugh out loud. I can't tell you anymore except that it contains the words "Ghostbusters lunch box dick treasure chest" in that order. Enjoy!



And, if I didn't lose you with that perfectly crude bit of entertainment, why not another plug for the current best way to waste time on the Internet,
Clarkandmichael.com. Click on it for a very funny series of webisodes featuring George Michael Bluth Cera and bud Clark Duncan trying to pitch a TV series. It's just extremely funny stuff.

And, brace yourself, because it's about to get completely shameless around here. I have no idea if the movie "The Other Boleyn Girl" will be any good or not, and we'll have to wait until December or so to find out, but for now we get this poster featuring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson in rather alluring attire (and, if your eyes can find him in the middle, that is indeed Eric Bana.) Hope this makes your Tuesday just a little more bearable. Peace out.

The "Jackass" of romantic comedies?

Now, I can't take credit for that analogy, but I mention it as a defense of film critics, who are certainly a dying breed. Without it, I never would have given any time to "Hot Rod," and my weekend would have been all the worse for it.

The weekend box office, of course, was all about "Bourne," and why not? Greengrass' movie is a visceral experience and moviemaking much smarter than we usually get when the temperature hits 100 degrees (as it will today here in Macon.) I especially enjoyed the first big set piece in which he meets with the reporter played by Paddy Considine, but I have to confess, as it went on, I grew tired of Greengrass' constant need to shake the camera to boost his action sequences, simply leaving me with a headache.

But I'm not here to talk about Jason Bourne, who, with his record-setting $70 million opening certainly doesn't need my help. Instead, I'd like to do my small part to pitch Andy Samberg's thoroughly goofy "Hot Rod," which barely managed to beat out those "Bratz" to finish at ninth. As silly as this flick is, it certainly deserves better than this.

Now, I'm not saying this is a great movie. However, when we went to see it at 10:15 Sunday morning and ended up being the only two people there, we were able to laugh as loud as we wanted to, and often did.

I'm not sure because I can't find it now, but I think the critic who nailed the "Jackass" analogy was Colin Covert of McClatchy Newspapers. If so, he was dead right, and the movie never strives to be any more than that.

And, since apparently nobody saw this last weekend, I guess a bit of plot would be helpful. Samberg plays our hero, Rod Kimble, a goofball who just wants to be a stuntman, and his many disastrous attempts to become one give the movie most of its visual gags (even if, unlike the "Jackass" guys, he didn't do his own stunts.) In a plot twist that can kindly be called contrived, Rod's stepfather, played by the always-welcome Ian McShane, needs a heart transplant to stay alive, so Rod sets out to jump 15 buses and raise the $50,000 needed. Like I said, this movie had better be funny, because the premise is just about as dumb as it gets.

And how can I sell you on the funny? Well, most of the music is by Trevor Rabin, who with no apparent irony delivers the most gloriously bad Euro-metal you've heard in many years. Ian McShane, quickly becoming one of my favorite actors as I make my way through the first season of "Deadwood," is a bundle of beadied-eyed intensity as the stepfather who constantly batters our hero, to prove his love of course. And that scene in the commercial where the simply adorable Isla Fisher appears to eat Samberg's face also turns out to be as funny as it is sweet.

It's certainly uneven in stretches, but smartly keeping to 90 minutes, it manages to accomplish something few "Saturday Night Live" movies since the first "Wayne's World" have: It sustains its gag throughout the movie, and doesn't wear out its welcome. Samberg and his buds are more than a little geeky, and Akiva Shaffer directs the movie with little to no style at all. That's not a criticism, really. It gives the flick a deceptively raw appeal, pretty much the antithesis of Greengrass' flash.

In short, though this movie doesn't deserve much more than a rental, I'm hoping against hope for a week-two rebound. After all, it's got to be better than Ratboy's "Rush Hour 3" or, God forbid, "Daddy Day Camp" (which, by the way, was somehow directed by Fred Savage ... sheesh!)

A long-overdue tribute to Siskel

I wouldn't use the word hate, because that would imply I've actually thought about it enough to feel that strongly, but I just can't stand that dingbat Roeper (his first name escapes me at the moment) who has tried with no success to fill the big shoes of Gene Siskel. And now Ebert has finally offered proof of that to all who may have forgotten just how great his late partner in film criticism really was.

By visiting this site, you can find a video archive of Siskel and Ebert's best TV reviews, including "Hoop Dreams" and "Pulp Fiction," and if you really want to, watch some Ebert and Roeper too. This is a great tribute to one of my favorite critics, so please take some time out of your Monday to waste some time with this. Peace out.

The first video game movie I'll pay to see?

Well, that's not quite right, since I certainly loved "Tron," if that counts. Of the recent stream of movies based on video games, however, I can't think of a single one I've bother to see, at least until now.

It seems that producer Samuel Hadida has purchased the rights to "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" and handed the reins to ... Roger Avary? Yes, that Roger Avary. Adding the writer of "Pulp Fiction" as director might be enough to hook me, but on top of all that "Wolfenstein" is simply an insanely entertaining game.

To sum it up briefly, you play Army Ranger B.J. Blazkowicz (if there's a better name for a character in a first-person shooter game, I haven't found it), who, in the course of investigating Himmler's SS Paranormal Division, gets trapped in Castle Wolfenstein. Your mission? To blast your way out and, of course, stop Himmler from developing a massive army of Nazi undead and other creepy creatures.

It's even more fun than I make it sound here, and Avary, who also penned the script for the upcoming "Beowulf," clearly has the right spirit to take all this on.

“I’ve been playing the character of B.J. Blazkowicz since the epic ‘Wolfenstein 3D’ first bruised my brain and have ever since wanted to bring his adventures to life on the bigscreen,” Avary said. “It’s time to bust some dams, storm some bunkers and blow up some bridges.”

Amen, brother. And in the course of all that, you might just finally create a video-game movie I can fully endorse.

Jack Black, archeologist?

Though I'm aware Jack Black has a growing number of haters for his Nickelodeon attention-craving antics, I still stand behind the man for one reason: He's extremely funny. I'll take "School of Rock" and, yes, "Nacho Libre" as timekillers on any rainy Sunday afternoon.

And while I'm as excited as anyone for Indy 4, the rogue archaelogist concept is certainly ripe for spoofing, and now Mr. Black is taking it on.

According to Variety (and perhaps old news by now, but I did take yesterday off), Mr. Black will star in and produce "The Lost Adventures of Stone Perlmutter Jr.," which is described as "a faux documentary made from recently "discovered" footage from 1979 chronicling the disastrous journey of a self-styled Indiana Jones-type adventurer who traveled the world trying to find the Yeti, El Dorado, the lost tomb of Jesus and other great mysteries."

I was laughing already from reading that, and the script for this is definitely in good hands, with writers Peter Huyck and Alex Gregory having contributions to "The Larry Sanders Show" and "King of the Hill," among others, in their body of work.

Besides, who wouldn't want to be chasing the yeti instead of, say, going to whatever actual job you have to do today?

Michael Imperioli grabs star-making role

It seems odd to even write that, since he recently nabbed his fifth Emmy nomination, but I'd have to imagine Mr. Imperioli isn't exactly a household name yet, though he certainly should be.

Now, however, having finished his Mob days as Christopher Moltisanti (sp?) on "The Sopranos," he's crossed over to the side of law & order to take on the role of detective Len Fenerman in "The Lovely Bones," being directed by someone you just may have heard of, Peter Jackson.

And being Peter Jackson apparently gives you the power to hire just about whoever you want to star in your movies. Already, "Bones" has attracted Rachel Weisz as the mother of a young girl who is murdered but continues to observe her family on Earth after her death, Ryan Gosling as her husband, Stanley Tucci as the killer and newcomer Saoirse Ronan as the young girl at the center of it all. Add Mr. Imperioli into the mix, and you've got a solid contender for best cast ever.

And, in my conscious effort to read more books before they hit the big screen, I've added Alice Sebold's novel to my reading list, just after the two latest Harry Potter books (right now I'm close to page 400 of "Half-Blood Prince," so please don't tell me anything about what comes next!)

Duo sign on for 'Young Victoria'

This flick already had quite the royal pedigree, with Martin Scorsese involved, but one sure way to get my attention is to add two of my favorite people to the cast.

Jim Broadbent and Miranda Richardson (double huzzah!) have joined the cast of "The Young Victoria," which is being produced by Mr. Scorsese. Broadbent will play King William, Victoria’s uncle, while Richardson has been cast as the Duchess of Kent, Victoria’s mother. They join the simply radiant Emily Blunt, whose picture I've of course included as a public service to everyone, as Victoria and Rupert Friend as her husband, Prince Albert.

This should be a star-making turn for the lovely Ms. Blunt, especially with Julian Fellowes of "Gosford Park" writing the script for French-Canadian director Jean Marc Vallee. And with a cast like this, I can now only say bring it on.

Poster for Tyler Perry's latest

Sure, Tyler Perry's movies are often sappy tripe, but I like them, and to me at least, that's all that matters. Besides, there are few more therapeutic movie moments than watching the great Idris Elba beating the hell out of a drug dealer at the end of "Daddy's Little Girls" to the tune of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come."

I doubt we'll get anything nearly that dramatic in Mr. Perry's next flick, "Why Did I Get Married?" The romantic comedy, set to star Mr. Perry, Janet Jackson and Jill Scott, is about a group of couples undergoing marriage counseling (not terribly promising, I know), and it's set to be released Nov. 16. Tyler Perry certainly doesn't need support from the likes of me, but I'll still be there to see it, even if this rather bland poster does little to inspire me.

Two doses of YouTube fun

Both of these come directly from the floor of Comic-Con, so please excuse the rather shaky camerawork. The first clip is of Kevin Smith responding to a heckler, and as should be expected, his response is hardly PG-rated, so please, please, please don't play this clip at work unless you have headphones on! It does, however, provide assurance that Mr. Smith isn't going to grow up anytime soon, and I can only say thanks for that.


Next comes something much, much better: The trailer for the upcoming straight-to-DVD "Futurama" movie. The show will eventually be returning to Comedy Central with new episodes (not sure when, but I'll definitely be keeping my eyes on that), but first we get this movie, for which the trailer, at least, is friggin hilarious. You have to put up with a lot of cheering from the audience, but who wouldn't riotously cheer the return of "Futurama"?


And now, unfortunately, I have to go to work. Peace out.

Snow White and the seven ... shaolin monks?

When I first heard this I had to assume it was a joke, but perhaps not. And, after all, doesn't just about everything in life go better with kung fu?

According to Variety, Disney has signed Francis Lawrence ("Constantine") to helm the fantasy-adventure "Snow and the Seven." The live-action project inspired by the "Snow White" fairy tale focuses on a British girl raised in 19th-century Hong Kong who realizes her destiny is to conquer an evil force. She then prepares to fight by training with seven Shaolin monks.

Stop laughing if you can and imagine this. The "seven" concept may be more than a little tired, but the more I think about this idea (rather than anything having to do with the day ahead of me) the more it just sounds like the perfect kind of fun.

Why? Well, for one, Hong Kong fight choreographer extraordinaire Woo-ping Yuen, who oversaw the action for, among many others, "Fearless," "Kill Bill" and, perhaps most importantly, "Kung Fu Hustle," is already on board for this.

Now, if they can get Stephen Chow's acrobatic running mates, and maybe Mr. Chow himself, to play the seven monks, I'll definitely be on board. Besides, no matter how silly this all turns out to be, no kid should live too long without learning at least a little karate, so I can just say bring it on.

"Godfather IV"? What could have been

No one comes out looking out too good in this rather sad story.

According to the IMDB, when Mario Puzo was very sick and nearing death, Francis Ford Coppola approached Paramount Pictures with a pitch for a Puzo-written "Godfather IV" to give his old friend some much-needed cash. Paramount, understandably after the rather disastrous "Godfather III," balked at investing lots of money in a new chapter, and therefore passed.

Coppola, so desperate to help the ailing Puzo, apparently went to Paramount in 1999 with the offer to help Puzo write a final chapter for free. He said, "He and I cooked up an idea for what there would be for The Godfather IV and we went to Paramount... and we said, 'Look, Mario is not well. Hire him to write this Godfather IV script, I will help him, do it for nothing...' Mario was very concerned to leave his kids some money and they just never made the deal... Mario died and it was heartbreaking."

Now, there have certainly been worse reasons to make a movie, but I don't see how you can possibly blame Paramount for this. Who would have taken on a "Godfather IV" at that point? Either way, I guess we're all just left to imagine our own ending, which may be for the best.

Does Hollywood fear the black superhero?

Given that John Singleton has directed what I have quite often cited as my least favorite film of all time, I have to take this one with a huge grain of salt, but I fear the man may have a point.

Along with bankrolling some fairly great flicks ("Hustle & Flow" among them, so thanks!), Singleton has been struggling for a while now to direct one of two superhero flicks. The first is "Luke Cage," which is set to star Tyrese Gibson as a man who, wrongfully convicted of a crime he didn't commit, escapes from prison to become a superhero mercenary. That one has, according to Singleton himself, undergone several script revisions already and is slow to get started.

Another possibility for Singleton is "Black Panther," the black Marvel superhero created by Stan Lee who made his first appearance in the "Fantastic Four" comics. That's admittedly all I know about the character who is largely credited as being the first black superhero.

Which got me to thinking ... have there been any black superheros on the big screen? I can only think of Samuel L. Jackson's Frozone in "The Incredibles," but I'm talking about in a starring role. I certainly can't think of any, and Mr. Singleton thinks he may know why. Here's what the director had to say to
blackfilm.com:

JS: There's scripts on it. Hollywood has a very limiting view on what makes a pop culture picture. If you put a black face on it, they think it's black thing; but yet we have all these movies that have come up and whenever they any black people in it, they make all this money. That's the thing that's holding 'Luke Cage' up. They think it's a small superhero movie. It's not going to be a small stupid movie like 'Meteor Man'. I'm trying to make 'Luke Cage'.

Amen brother. I'm definitely pulling for him on this one, even with my doubts about his directing skills. So, what was that Singleton movie I just hate so much? "Higher Learning." Just typing out the words gives me painful flashbacks!

Two posters worth drooling over

The first of these comes courtesy of the great Froggy film site Cinempire.com, which despite being in French is simply one of the best movie resources on the planet. Want proof? It's the only place I could find this utterly cool poster for "Hellboy 2" this morning. After "Pan's Labyrinth" I'll follow Guillermo del Toro just about anywhere, and I could definitely do with more Hellboy. The art for this was done by Mike Mignola and presented at Comic-Con.


Next comes a simply cool poster for that J.J. Abrams monster flick that's apparently not called "Cloverfield" or "1/18/08," but actually "Overnight" (yawn.) I'd be more quick to dismiss this as the next "Snakes on a Plane" flop waiting to happen if it weren't written by "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" vet Drew Goddard. This poster is swiped directly from Aintitcool, where you can go to see more pictures from the movie set.


R.I.P Michaelangelo Antonioni

I have to confess that I know very little about Italian director Michaelangelo Antonioni, but I was still sad to hear that he had passed away Monday at age 94.

In fact, the only Antonioni movie I have seen is "Blow Up," but that alone is enough to make him a legend to me (yes, I know, I should see "L'Aventurra" asap.) "Blow Up" was such an odd movie that it just stuck in my mind much longer than most flicks do. What made it so memorable was that, despite Antonioni's clear hatred of the modern world, he still managed to craft something so singularly cool.

Here, in his honor, is one of its best scenes, in which David Hemmings stumbles into an underground party only to find the Yardbirds tearing things up and bringing (in Antonioni's eyes) the world down with them. Enjoy!

Best DVD week ever?

Well, probably not, but given the sea of crap that usually flows onto DVD shelves this time of year, it's rare enough to have three movies that I thoroughly enjoyed hit all at once.

First, of course, comes "300," Zack Snyder's take on Frank Miller's graphic novel about the battle of Thermopylae. Gerard Butler leads the 300 scantily clad Spartans of the title into battle in what was probably the most over- (and incorrectly) analyzed movie so far this year. It's just a popcorn movie, after all, and as I argued here, a damn fine one at that.

Extras for the two-disc edition include a commentary by director Zack Snyder, writer Kurt Johnstad and director of photography Larry Fong, deleted scenes with introduction by Snyder, and three featurettes: "The 300: Fact or Fiction?" Historians, authors and filmmakers reveal how much of the film was based on fact; "Who Were The Spartans: The Warriors of 300" touches on the customs and ways of life of the Spartans; and "Frank Miller Tapes" shows how Miller exerted his control to make sure his epic graphic novel looked right on the big screen. Definitely my first buy this week.

"Hot Fuzz"

Is "Hot Fuzz" the funnest movie of 2007? So far, I'd have to say yes, by just a nose over "Knocked Up." Anyone who liked "Shaun of the Dead" will love this ode to '80s action movies from Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and Nick Frost. It goes on at least 10 minutes too long, but you'll be laughing so hard you'll hardly notice. You can read my full review here.

"Starter for 10"

Among the many nice things I can say about South African Airways is that their inflight movie selection is sensational. Although I decided to skip "The Painted Veil," I did watch the nearly flawless "Breach" again and discovered "Starter for 10," a thoroughly predictable yet utterly charming British take on the '80s teen romantic comedy.

James McAvoy, who must have been pushing 30 when this came out last year, is surprisingly convincing as a British public school student who, of course, is more interested in chasing co-eds than he is learning anything. The rather awful title, which meant nothing to me before seeing the flick, comes from a quiz show for teams of prep-school students.

There would be nothing to recommend this movie if it weren't so entirely, well, British. From the great music to the hideous attire, it invokes the spirit of Thatcher's Britain if nothing else, and it's well worth a rental. Besides, I once watched "Big Momma's House 2" out of desperation while trapped on a plane, and this is a damn sight better than that.

Welcome back, Mr. Franklin

It's a rare feat when a director manages to make two of my favorite movies, so I can only give a hearty huzzah to the return of Carl Franklin to the big screen.

His "One False Move" is an almost flawless film noir, and that "Devil in a Blue Dress" flick with Denzel and Don is almost as good. Now, after years of directing for TV and serving up the occasion big-screen clunker, it seems that Mr. Franklin is getting back on course.

First will come "Tulia," based on the book about one Texas sheriff's plan to wipe out the black population of his town by concocting an imaginary drug ring. It would make a sensational story if it weren't all so horribly true. For the movie, Billy Bob Thornton plays an attorney who tries to take him on, and Halle Berry figures in here somehow too (please, please, please let this be better than that simply craptastic "Monster's Ball" flick!)

And now comes word of a new project that is even more up Mr. Franklin's alley. Inspired by true events chronicled in a PBS "Frontline" documentary, "Snitch" centers on a devoted father whose son faces 30 years in prison after being set up in a drug deal. The father goes undercover in the drug world to make a bust that will free his son. I can see Denzel being involved in this one already, but we'll have to wait and see.

No matter how it all turns out, I can only say welcome back, Mr. Franklin.

Three more intriguing Comic-Con tidbits

Here are three more nuggets from the sunny San Diego comics confab, all of which sound promising to me and come directly from Dreadcentral.

First, it seems that Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant of "Reno 911," who are also extremely prolific (and hit and miss) screenwriters, are now at work on a sequel to their "Night at the Museum." So far, we know only that Ben Stiller and Robin Williams are on board, and there will be "exisiting characters and plenty of new ones." I thought the original flick was just silly fun, so bring it on.

Actually, I should have listed that one third, because these next two are just perfect. It seems that Robert Rodriguez, though he'll surely first turn his attention to "Barbarella," hasn't given up on making a feature-length "Machete" movie. For anyone who's forgotten, the "Machete" trailer featuring Danny Trejo (huzzah!) preceded "Planet Terror," Rodriguez's half of "Grindhouse," and was far superior to any of the fake trailers that cut the flick in half. Trejo is simply the definition of a badass, so I can only hope he follows through on this before his attention gets diverted once again.

And, finally, it seems that Frank Darabont will have Stephen King on his mind for the foreseeable future. After "The Mist," which I'm thoroughly psyched for, he'll be adapting two other King stories for the big screen, "The Long Walk" and "The Monkey."

According to Dreadcentral, "The Long Walk" is about a 16-year-old boy who is on a survival walk with 99 others. They walk for honor and their lives with the winner being promised everything his or her heart desires. "The Monkey" revolves around a father-son relationship and a toy monkey whose clanging symbols are harbingers of death.

Those sound intriguing, but first get ready to be enveloped by "The Mist" in November. And now, unfortunately, I have to get ready for work. Peace out.

P.S. Nell Minow, Yahoo's Movie Mom and easily one of my favorite bloggers, e-mailed me over the weekend to share some of her crazy adventures at Comic-Con (and make me, of course, insanely jealous.) You can read all about what she found in sunny San Diego in her great blog here.

Joss Whedon ... working ... on movies?

There was tons of great news out of Comic Con, which I of course did not attend, but I tend to focus in on only the things I get singularly obsessed with. And Joss Whedon very often tops that list.

Lately, of course, he's been putting out those great (so far) Buffy Season 8 comic books, but now comes word that he may (finally!) be getting back into movies, with help from a very talented friend.

Again, remember that I have to get this all second-hand, but it seems that he let slip at Comic Con that he has just finished writing "Cabin in the Woods," "the horror film to end all horror films -- literally" with "Buffy" and "Angel" vet Drew Goddard. Mr. Goddard, of course, is also the scribe behind that mysterious JJ Abrams-produced "Cloverfield"/"1/18/08" monster flick, so just call him the man of the moment.

Whedon working on a horror movie? Or any movie at all? That news alone would be good enough, but of course there's more.

It seems like I've been hearing rumors about a "Ripper" TV series/TV movie starring Anthony Stewart Head (a k a Giles) ever since "Buffy" went off the air, but now it seems it may really come to life. Whedon let loose at Comic Con that our British friends (lucky bastards!) will be getting "Ripper" as a 90-minute BBC movie in 2008. Here's hoping it gets a quick turnaround to DVD, and then maybe morphs into a series here in the U.S.A. Hey, one can dream, right?

And, just in case that wasn't enough, there's also a free Joss Whedon-penned comic that has cropped up on the Dark Horse Comics Myspace site. It's called "Sugarshock" and it's about ... well, it's really hard to tell, but it's well worth a few minutes of your time to click here and read the first issue.

And, for a much more well-rounded Comic Con report (yes, there were just a few other things going on out there), you can read Crystal Green's fine reportage here.

Johnny Depp's back on the rum

I'd have to count that "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" with Mr. Depp and Benicio del Toro as one of the most criminally underappreciated movies of all time, so this new tidbit can only come as good news.

Almost 10 years after Terry Gilliam brought that Hunter S. Thompson work to the big screen comes word that Depp will be starring in another Thompson flick, this time "The Rum Diary." And, though Terry Gilliam isn't back this time, they've got a more than worthy subsitute in "Withnail and I" director Bruce Robinson, who will also be writing the script (if you somehow haven't seen the maginificent "Withnail and I," and can somehow still get your hands on a copy, watch it immediately!)

Now, I have to admit I haven't read "The Rum Diary," but as best as I can tell it's an early, autobiographical Thompson novel about his work for a rundown newspaper in 1950s Puerto Rico. Depp will play Thompson's character, who in the book was named Paul Kemp.

Now, that alone would probably be cool enough, but I'll leave you today with a little extra. I'm cautiously optimistic that Tim Burton's "Sweeney Todd" won't just suck hard. Coming for Christmas, it's set to star Mr. Depp, Borat, Bellatrix Lestrange and, apparently, Rupert Giles. And, here below (click on it to see a much larger image), is the fairly sinister-looking poster. Enjoy, and have an entirely suckfree Monday. Peace out.

Cowabunga, dude! "The Simpsons Movie" doesn't suck!

My two midnight screenings this summer couldn't have been more different.

For "Spider-Man 3," there were three (or maybe four) packed theaters, but the energy got sucked out of each by that tepid fare after no more than a half hour.

For "The Simpsons Movie," however, there were maybe 100 people spread out in one theater, and judging from the (often too) loud laughter I heard throughout, everyone left with a smile on their face. Or at least I'm sure I did.

My biggest beef and even bigger point of praise for "The Simpsons Movie" is that it's all so terribly familiar. Given how all the advance details were kept to a minimum, I was afraid we would be getting a bloated monster packed with way too many guest voices and way too epic a plot.

Thankfully, however, the movie just plays out like an extended "Simpsons" episode, albeit one from way back when the show was still fresh and at least a little subversive (but, was it ever really all that edgy? How in the world did George H.W. Bush ever get into such a huff over such a family-friendly show?) But I digress ...

Without giving anything away, I can tell you that Lisa wants to save the Earth, Bart wants to be a Flanders, Homer almost brings about the end of the world and Marge frets about it an awful lot. So, what would make you want to see it? Well, the jokes fly faster and hit their targets more often than the TV show has in many, many years.

Even if you've seen every possible advance clip for this one, and therefore had some choice gags spoiled (I really wish, for example, that I hadn't known about Spider-Pig going in), there's still plenty to surprise. And what I appreciate about "The Simpsons" on TV and here is that there are almost as many visual gags as there are spoken-out-loud ones, so you're rewarded for paying close attention.

My favorite moment, if I can offer a mild spoiler, comes after Marge has had enough and left Homer to fend for himself. Before they can be reunited, of course, he has to have an epiphany, but the five minutes in which he has it here are just a visual wonder (and, for me at least, a reminder of the great "Two Cars In Every Garage And Three Eyes On Every Fish" episode from season two.) I can't go as far as film critic Roger Moore, who I always enjoy reading, and declare this the best animated movie of the summer - "Ratatouille" is sheer perfection and more than a few notches above this one.

What it is, however, is a valentine to all the people who have stuck with the show for the last 20 years (has it really been that long?), and an almost ideal summer treat.

P.S. If any of this doesn't make sense, please forgive me. It was written when I got home from the midnight flick, when I may not have been at my most lucid. Peace out.

What's hot at Comic-Con?

I, of course, wouldn't know, since I'm stuck in a cubicle here on the East Coast rather than geeking it up in sunny San Diego. Here however, is what Variety says will rule the day at the mecca of movie-mania.

1. Indiana Jones 4
What else could possibly be No. 1.? I don't care how much Geritol it takes to get the job done, I'll still be there on day one for this one. Apparently Shia LaBeouf is playing some kind of sidekick to Han Solo, not his son, as I originally thought.
Opens: May 22, 2008

2. Star Trek 11
Is it OK to admit I simply never cared much at all for Star Trek? It cleary has virtues that escape me, since more than a few people seem to be devoted to it. "Lost" mastermind J.J. Abrams has promised big casting news at his Comic-Con appearance this afternoon, so stay tuned to this one. Shooting starts in November.

3. Watchmen
On a slightly unrelated note, "300" comes out on DVD next week, and I'll be buying a copy. On an even more unrelated note, my boss, about once a week or so, has a tendency to just yell out "Spartans!" at the most random of moments. Shooting for Zack Snyder's take on this rather famous graphic novel begins in September, and Jackie Earle Haley and many more people are already on board.

4. The Dark Knight
If this is ranked in term of buzz, how in the world is this sequel not at No. 2? In Nolan's next take, the Caped crusader (Christian Bale) is set to take on at least two big baddies, the Joker (Heath Ledger, believe it or not) and Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart, huzzah!) We all know what happens when you add a third villain, so here's hoping they stop there.

5. Beowulf
There's a new trailer for this one out, which you can watch here. This one is, of course based on the epic poem and stars Ray Winstone as Beowulf, Crispin Glover as Grendel and Angeline Jolie (wtf?) as Grendel's mum. I can't see any possible way this will be anything but cool when it opens Nov. 16.

6. Iron Man
The cast alone makes this one worth watching, but I have serious doubts that Jon Favreau is ready to take this on. Robert Downey is our hero Tony Stark, and Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard (huzzah!) also factor in somehow. If you're somehow lucky enough to be in SD for this, Favreau and Downey will be premiering some new footage Saturday.

7. The Incredible Hulk
Am I the only person in the world who really liked Ang Lee's "Hulk" movie? Apparently so, because now they've come up with a new director and, of course, a new Hulk. I liked Eric Bana just fine, but Edward Norton should just have tons of fun with this. It opens June 13, 2008.

8. I am Legend
The great, somewhat-new Jazzy Jeff record, "Return of the Magnificent," has a great running joke about Will Smith (maybe you've heard of him.) As it culminates, Jazzy, tired of constantly being asked if he's seen Mr. Smith lately, finally calls up his old pal and asks him, "does anyone ever ask you if you've seen Jazzy Jeff lately?" Mr. Smith, gamely in on the joke, says "no, but sometimes they ask me if I've seen Carlton." I spit up my coffee the first time I heard that. I know it has nothing to do with this movie, which is apparently a new adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel about a viral plague that turns the world's population into brain-dead savages. Who ya gonna call? Will Smith, of course. Opens: Dec. 14, 2008

9. The Golden Compass
Were this my list, this one would be at No. 3, just barely behind "The Dark Knight." This first installment in Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy (which will be on my reading list directly after Harry Potter) stars Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, and from everything I've seen so far should just kick royal ass when it finally comes out this Christmas. Opens: Dec. 7, 2007

10. The Mist
Stephen King and Frank Darabont together again? I'm definitely there. This time it's based on King's novella about an eerie cloud filled with otherworldy creatures that envelops a New England town. In my mind, I'm already there. Opens: Nov. 21, 2007

R.I.P. Ulrich Muhe

I'm ashamed to say I have never seen "The Lives of Others" (which has just been added to my Netflix queue), but this is certainly sad news all the same.

German actor Ulrich Muhe, the movie's star, has died at age 54 of stomach cancer. He had been offered several movie roles after playing the Stasi officer at the center of "The Lives of Others" but had been too ill to take any of them on.

Rest in peace indeed, Mr. Muhe.

The last word on "Gilmore Girls"

It just pains me to see how bitter Amy Sherman Palladino has become about her divorce from "Gilmore Girls." She just sounds like petulant 4-year-old every time she opens her mouth, as she did recently on the TV critics press tour, where she was plugging her midseason Fox sitcom "The Return of Jezebel James" (which I will definitely be tuning in for come January or so.)

Asked about the "Gilmore Girls" finale, she said "I didn't watch it. I just got very drunk that night and sat in a corner. I couldn't watch it because it wasn't going to be my ending and had in my head forever. You know, go with God. I love all those people; I love that cast. I'm friends with Lauren (Graham)."

Fair enough, I guess, but she did have two interesting things to say about the future and what might have been. Asked about the possibility of a "Gilmore" TV movie, she said "We've talked about maybe sometime doing a little song and dance together. I'm not ruling it out."

And, even better, she revealed what would have been the final line if she had been around to write her own "Gilmore Girls" finale: "You're adopted."

Being more than a little thick, my original response when my similarly "Gilmore" obsessed co-worker Renee Martinez told me about this was "well, she can't mean Rory, can she?" Of course not. I can only assume this line would have been spoken by either Emily or Richard to Lorelei. Maybe someday we'll find out for sure.

Midnight madness: "The Simpsons Movie"

Having been a "Simpsons" devotee since way back on "The Tracey Ullman Show," there was no way I could pass up a midnight showing of "The Simpsons Movie" tonight, even though I have to be up bright and early for work Friday. Assuming I make it, I'll post something early Friday morning, but in the meantime enjoy this short clip of Homer's monologue on "The Tonight Show," which I haven't bothered to stay up for even once since Johnny left. Peace out.

Harry Potter gets even more star Wattage

Although she can only say she "considers" herself British, Naomi Watts has joined the long list of British stars who seem to have been guaranteed a role in the "Harry Potter" movies.

Naomi, who is apparently about to give birth to a child conceived with actor/partner Leiv Schreiber, will step in to the role of Narcissa Malfoy, mother of that dreadful little Draco. Now, I'm only on about page 109 of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," so please don't spoil anything for me, but I would think this would give her the chance to have some real fun vamping it up with Bellatrix Lestrange, brought to vivid life in "Order of the Phoenix" by Helena Bonham Carter.

In other "Half-Blood Prince" casting news which may be of more interest to the ladies, Joseph Fiennes (yes, the brother of Ralph, a k a He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named), has also joined the cast in some capacity.

I have more than 1,000 pages of Potter to read by sometime before "Half-Blood Prince" comes out in theaters, so I'll have Harry on the brain for a while now (because I'm a slow reader even if I didn't have this pesky job to occupy my time.) For those of you who have already finished "Deathly Hallows," please be kind and don't give away the end of Harry's saga!

'Southland Tales' finally coming out?

Since Richard Kelly's new movie originally debuted to disastrous results at Cannes more than a year ago, I'm still skeptical that it will ever really come out, even with this news.

It seems that "Southland Tales," Kelly's apocalyptic tale about Los Angeles starring The Rock and Buffy as some kind of porn/reality tv star (no, I'm not making that up), has finally been given a release date of Nov. 9 by Samuel Goldwyn Films. Given the star power (Mandy Moore and Justin Timberlake are somehow in this too), it may even reach far enough to play in my little corner of the world.

Though this has "danger" written all over it in bright neon letters, I have nothing but mad love for Kelly's "Donnie Darko," so I'll definitely take a chance on this one, if I ever really get to.

Dardenne brothers get boost

I count their "L'Enfant" easily among my favorite movies, so any news about the Dardenne bros. (Pierre and Luc) is good to me.

They've apparently just been handed 360,000 euros (about $500,000) by something called Eurimages to work on their next flick, the French-Belgian pic "Le Silence de Lorna." The movie centers on an arranged marriage of an illegal immigrant from Albania to a drug addict, and it stars "L'Enfant" headliner Jeremie Renier. Sounds like exactly my (and their) kind of flick, so I'll definitely be keeping my eyes on this one.

Two delightful time-wasters

Ever wondered what a week in the life of Alfonso Cuaron would be like? He makes it all sound remarkable mundane when he describes it to London's Telegraph, but it does involve jetting around Italy with Terry Gilliam to scout movie locations. I guess boring is in the eye of the beholder.

In case you need any more incentive to read this, it contains the following phrase: It is amazing how fast your testicles can go up and down. Click here and enjoy.

Another fun time-waster is this supposed list of the 50 funniest movies of all time compiled by London's Observer (via the Guardian.) I won't spoil it for you any further than this: There is no way "Life of Brian" should be at No. 1, even though it is a very funny movie (which I first watched, oddly enough, at an Episcopal youth group gathering.) I can't seem to find my list of the 10 I laugh loudest at, but I do know I had Stephen Frears' "The Snapper," based on the great little novel by Roddy Doyle, at No. 1. Anyways, click here to see what they picked, and feel free to grouse about it.

Two TV tidbits

I used to like Michael Rapaport quite a bit, I promise, but his starring role for two years on Fox's "The War at Home" just wiped all that goodwill away. I guess starring on simply the most excremental TV show in history will tend to do that.

Now comes word that he's sticking around TV to tarnish one of the few sitcoms I actually tune in to, NBC's "My Name is Earl." With Earl (Jason Lee) starting the upcoming season in jail, it seems Mr. Rapaport will be have a recurring role as one of his cellmates.

I'm a firm believer in second (and more) chances, but Mr. Rapaport has a lot of work to do to win me back. Here's hoping this is a good start.

In possibly much better news, it seems that the Henson folks are hard at work on the pilot for a new version of "The Muppet Show." Just typing that makes me smile. Paul McCartney is the guest host for the test episode of what I can only hope will be many more. Read more about it in TV Guide here.

Two intriguing (well, one anyway) posters

Whew. Long post today, but since I've taken three out of the last four days off, there's a lot out there, including these two posters courtesy of Comingsoon.net.

First comes Jerry Seinfeld's "Bee Movie," which I frankly can't say I'm too excited about. He just looks so damn smug, even with his bee face, in the trailers I've seen and in this poster. There's a strong chance I'm wrong and this will be somehow be good, and hearing but not seeing Renee Zellweger is a solid step in the right direction, but I'm still really skeptical.

Next, for a movie I'm much more excited about, comes "3:10 to Yuma," set to come out Sept. 7 with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe in the leads. Based on a short story by Elmore Leonard (huzzah!), it's about an infamous outlaw (Crowe) and the struggling Civil War veteran (Bale) who volunteers to deliver him to the "3:10 to Yuma" train so he can stand trial for murder. There's few things in life I like more than a good Western (and I'm watching "Deadwood," which certainly qualifies, now), so to this one I can only say bring it on.




And finally, a sublime trailer

Originally we were on some kind of spiritual journey, but that didn't really work out.

I have extremely high hopes for Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited," and the look and feel of this trailer only have me more excited. The colors alone mark it as an Anderson movie, and the snippets of dialogue we get from brothers Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman and, of course, Owen Wilson show that Anderson seems to be back on top of his game (after the rather disastrous "Steve Zissou.) Enjoy, and have an entirely bearable Wednesday. Peace out.

Who won't be on "The Simpsons" this fall?

I saw Michael Moore's "Sicko" last weekend and was mildly disappointed. I'm still trying to put my finger on exactly why, so in the meantime here's the best news I could find this morning.

In a shameless attempt to ride the hype wave for this week's "Simpsons" movie, which I have decided will just be tons of funny (and of course I do have control over that), here's some details about characters and plots for the next season on Fox.

I have to admit, I've often been annoyed by the show in recent years. The writers often seem so distracted that they are unable to string together even a half hour's worth of coherent plot. When it's on target, however, it's still well worth watching.

In the season premiere, "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs" (Sept. 23), Homer saves Mr. Burns from drowning in a mall fountain (funny already) and is rewarded with a flight to Chicago on Burns' private plane. In the course of all this, guest star Lionel Richie somehow ends up serenading our hero with "Say You, Say Me," and then Homer enlists a life coach (Stephen Colbert) to help him find a job that offers him the use of a corporate jet.

In "I Don't Wanna Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" (Sept. 30), Marge convinces a bank robber (Steve Buscemi) to turn himself in with the promise that she will visit him in prison. When she doesn't, he escapes to find her.

This next one sounds like it's actually a dream from my own head. In "Husband and Knives," Milo (guest voice Jack Black) opens Coolsville Comics & Toys directly across the street from Comic Book Guy's store. At Milo's store, the kids get to meet cool folks like Alan Moore, Art Spiegleman and Daniel Clowes. Sheesh. I guess when you've been on the air for 19 years you really can do anything you want to.

Later in the season, Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce and John Mahoney are reunited playing Sideshow Bob, his brother and father, respectively, and Jon Stewart, Matt Dillon, Maya Rudolph, Dan Rather, Placido Domingo, Kurt Loder, Weird Al Yankovic, Beverly D'Angelo and Topher Grace also pay Springfield a visit.

In the meantime, I'll be imagining what's coming with Friday's movie instead of thinking about my actual job.

A "Family Guy" movie?

Can you imagine how many gags it would take to fill even a 90-minute "Family Guy" movie? It could quite possibly be joke overload, but I'd definitely be there to find out.

Creator Seth MacFarlane told the Hollywood Reporter that a flick could soon be in the works.

"We have been trying to figure out how to do that and the series at the same time without the series suffering," MacFarlane said. One possibility is having longtime writer Ricky Blitt (writer of one of the worst movies I've ever seen, "The Ringer," so take that into consideration) work on a script for the flick.

Whatever comes of it, MacFarlane couldn't resist taking a shot at the "Simpsons" movie and its rather insane (but still secret) plot: "I don't want to do 'The Griffins must save the world,' " he said.

Tucci landing killer role

These next three casting tidbits are just nearly perfect. Stanley Tucci is in negotiations to play the pivotal role of killer George Harvey in Peter Jackson's adaptation of "The Lovely Bones."

Rachel Weisz and Ryan Gosling are already on board as the parents of Susie Salmon (newcomer Saoirse Ronan), a 14-year-old who has been raped and killed by a neighbor she refers to as Mr. Harvey. Alice Sebold's best-selling 2002 novel is told from the perspective of Susie, who looks down on her family and Harvey from the afterlife.

It seems like this flick has been taking shape forever now, but it's apparently finally set to begin shooting in October in Pennsylvania and Jackson's native New Zealand.

Chow down on this!

According to the L.A. Times' movie blog, Seth Rogen isn't afraid to bring on a sidekick with even better comic timing than he has for "The Green Hornet."

According to the paper, Rogen let it slip at Comic-Con that he wants none other than Stephen Chow to play his sidekick Kato, who was played on TV by Bruce Lee. I can't see any possible way that wouldn't be tons of fun, but there's no word yet if Chow is willing. Here's hoping!

Possibly the world's most beautiful woman joins 'Che' pics

If you somehow haven't seen "Maria Full of Grace," drop whatever you have planned for tonight and get thee to a video store. It's that good.

Now, "Maria" star Catalina Sandino Moreno has signed on to Stephen Soderbergh's two upcoming Che Guevara flicks, "The Argentine" and "Guerilla," which are set to begin shooting Wednesday in Spain. Benicio Del Toro is set to play Che, and though I'm not sure which role the lovely Ms. Sandino Moreno will play, she falls squarely into the category of women I will watch do just about anything.


Yes, John Krasinski will get to be in a good movie

Justjared.com has what it says is the first pic from the screwball comedy "Leatherheads," which I've of course swiped. Though I'll take Mandy Moore over Renee Zellweger any day, it looks like John Krasinski will emerge from the wreckage of "License to Wed" unscathed.

In the fictionalized account of the origins of the NFL, George Clooney plays the coach of a wannabe pro football team in the 1920s and Krasinski plays the World War I hero/star football player. Ms. Zellweger gets caught between the two in some kind of love triangle or other.

Though he can be an awfully smug bastard, Clooney is also a damn fine movie director (and Soderbergh is on board to help with the script), so I have high hopes for this one.

New "No Country for Old Men" poster

I still have a day job, so I'll have to wrap this up quick, but here's a parting gift: a new poster for the Coens' upcoming take on Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for old Men." Enjoy, and have an entirely bearable Monday. Peace out.

Simply crazy comic book news

Before you read too much into that title, please remember that in my rather twisted view of the world crazy is rarely not a compliment.

In the case of the "Wolverine" movie, what it apparently means is an instant injection of class. I have to say, of all the characters they could have spun off from the "X-Men" universe, Wolverine is the one I'm least excited about.

Now, don't get me wrong. On paper, Wolverine has a fascinating backstory which would make for a great summer action flick. But on screen, Hugh Jackman and those who write for him have turned him into simply a smirking one-liner machine, and certainly not the kind of character I'd like to see a movie built around.

With this good news, however, I'm gonna have to at least be cautiously optomistic. In an instant leap to the big leagues, "Tsotsi" director Gavin Hood has been tapped by Twentieth Century Fox to work with the script by David Benoiff.

If you haven't seen "Tsotsi," which managed to snag a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, I can't recommend it highly enough. It's a thoroughly touching tale of redemption set in South Africa and based on a novel by Athol Fugard. Before he gets to have fun with "Wolverine," Hood will be making the rounds with "Rendition," his new flick which is sure to catch a lot of buzz.

That flick, starring Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin and J.K. Simmons (huzzah!) is about the CIA's methods of interrogation of an Egyptian terrorism suspect, and his wife's mission to rescue him. I smell at least few Oscars cooking here.

And it's apparently his work on this movie, set to be released in the U.S. in October, that won Hood the right to play around with "Wolverine." To which I can now say bring it on.

Seth Rogen, super hero?

Just in case you can't tell in print, I'm more than a little skeptical about this one. Encouraged, mind you, being a rather portly gentleman myself, but skeptical nonetheless.

It seems that king freak Seth Rogen is finalizing a deal to write and most likely star in Columbia's big-screen adapatation of "Green Hornet." I'll pause to let you ingest that one for a sec. ...

Given Rogen's ability to make fun of himself, I could actually see this working pretty well, if it ever really happens. Rogen would play Brit Reid, the millionaire publisher-turned-masked crime fighter. "The Green Hornet" started as a radio serial before being turned into a comic book, film and TV series by the 1960s. The TV show was apparently notable for the presence of the late Bruce Lee as sidekick Kato, a kung fu expert with a killer car.

You can, of course, look for Mr. Rogen very soon in another movie he wrote, the upcoming "Superbad," which Variety says he originally intended to star in before it took a long time to get off the ground and he simply became too old to play a believable high school student (which hasn't stopped too many people from trying to do it anyway!)

Can he really make the leap to action hero? I have my doubts, but I'll definitely be cheering him on.

A "Bottle Shock" update

In my "fresh faces" plug for the great Freddy Rodriguez I noted that, as far as I can tell, he's set to star in the upcoming "Bottle Shock," a flick about the rise of the Napa Valley wine industry.

Well, not so fast, apparently. A report on the flick this morning listed pretty good cast additions: Chris Pine, Rachael Taylor, Eliza Dushku (today's gratuitous beautiful woman pic), Bill Pullman and Alan Rickman (huzzah!) Nowhere in the list, however, was Mr. Rodriguez.

Set in the 1970s, the film is based on the true story of the Montelena Winery, which won an international wine-tasting competition and put the California region on the vino map. Pine portrays the son of the vineyard owner who saves the winery and represents Napa in the French tasting, while Taylor plays a university student who interns at the winery.

Dushku acts as a local bartender, and Pullman is the owner of the run-down winery who clashes with his son. Rickman is an Englishman who runs L'Academie du Vin in Paris and is the chief architect of the blind-tasting challenge that results in an upset victory for the American vintages.

Whether Freddy's involved or not (and the IMDB still says he is), this is still shaping up to be an interesting flick worth keeping our eyes on.

Che flicks finally get rolling

The AP reported as news this morning that Benicio (not Guillermo, a mistake I somehow manage to make quite often) Del Toro is playing Che Guevara in director Steven Soderbergh's back-to-back flicks about the revolutionary leader. I thought that was pretty common knowledge, but maybe not.

The real news is that Soderbergh is gonna start serious filming on the flicks Wednesday across Spain. In honor of this good news, here's a pic of Benicio as Che cribbed directly from the actor's rather bizarre Web site. It's definitely worth a visit here.

"Darjeeling Limited" gets supercool poster

Until stumbling upon this rather nice poster for Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited," I was beginning to doubt the flick really existed. It's just been so long since Mr. Anderson has managed to complete a movie, but I can only say welcome back.

The flick stars Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman as three estranged brother who use a trip across India to reforge their bonds after the death of their father. It's set to be the opening night flick at the New York Film Festival Sept. 28 (and why not: There have been very few better valentines to the city of New York than Anderson's "Royal Tenenbaums.")

The poster has an odd, almost "Steve Zissou" kind of look to it, and only makes me want to see the flick right away, which I guess movie posters are meant to do. Anyways, I still have to work for a living, so I have to quit now and get ready. Peace out.

I always suspected Tom Cruise was a Nazi ...

Well, this being a Hollywood movie, he's not really a Nazi of course, or at least not an evil one.

The picture below is just so crazyfunnycool that it really needs no introduction, but I'll set it up just in case anyone doesn't know what "Valkyrie" (or, as the IMDB is now referring to it, "Rubicon") is.

In the upcoming Bryan Singer flick (penned by Chris McQuarrie, huzzah!), Cruise will play Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, the German officer who lead an attempt to bring down the Nazi regime and end World War II by planting a bomb in Hitler's bunker.

Along with Mr. Cruise, all the rumored cast members have signed on, giving this one a simply stellar lineup. On board so far are Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Patrick Wilson, Stephen Fry, Tom Wilkinson and Carice van Houten (who, just because I believe in the principle of including at least one gratuitous picture of a beautiful woman with each post, is pictured at right.) Eddie Izzard is also somehow involved, but I can't imagine that's gonna be a terribly good thing.

But, enough of that. Here, courtesy of the great Rope of Silicon site, is Col. Tom in full regalia. Enjoy!


A new candidate for the best cast ever?

I've always had a soft spot for D.C. political potboilers for one simple reason: If you've ever lived or even visited there for any amount of time, you know that it really is a pretty sleepy place. Since it's almost just a big town, it always amazes that most of the most important things that happen in the world originate there.

Don't get me wrong. I love D.C. Of all the places I've lived, it remains my favorite, especially the Northeast neighborhood around Georgia Avenue, where the great George Pelecanos sets his crime novels. It's just a truly odd place.

Rod Lurie, who had mixed success with this genre with "The Contender," is getting back in the game with a juicy topic, the Valerie Plame case. "Nothing But the Truth" (my God is that a bad title!) will be about "a female newspaper reporter who outs a CIA agent and is imprisoned for refusing to reveal her source," according to Variety.

Well, assuming the reporter is based on Judith Miller, we now know she wasn't much of a heroic figure, but it could still make for a compelling flick, especially with this cast: Kate Beckinsale as the Miller journalist, Matt Dillon as the prosecutor, Vera Farmiga as the CIA agent, Edie Falco as the editor of the newspaper that published the story and Alan Alda as the attorney who tries to free the reporter from jail.

Assuming he doesn't shy away from it, Lurie, who also wrote the script, gets the chance to play a fun game of palace intrigue: Guessing just what went on in W's mind when he decided to pardon Scooter. Definitely keep your eyes on this one.

A slew of "Simpsons" pics

Any doubts I had that the "Simpsons" flick wouldn't just serve up a huge pile of funny were erased by the bombastic trailers I've seen so far. This is just gonna be goodness on a grand scale.

The great Comics Continuum site has posted a new series of pics from the flick. I've included one here, of course, but click on the link to see a whole load of them.

What did they do to deserve this?

For a country founded on the principle of religious freedom, America definitely does like to heap scorn on the assorted religious groups that call this usually great country home. Now, apparently, it's the Mormons' time to step up for their dose of abuse, and with Mitt Romney on the rise I don't expect it to stop any time soon.

An example is this truly bizarre trailer for the upcoming "September Dawn." As far as I can tell it's some kind of Mormon horror film that somehow stars both Jon Voight and Terrence Stamp. Now, I know next to nothing about Mormons except that they don't particularly care for R-rated movies, but I'm sure they deserve better than this. Remember, I'm just the messenger, and have an entirely bearable Thursday. Peace out.