Where Are They Now?: "Freaks and Geeks"

The most obvious answer to this question might seem to be "in Judd Apatow's movies," but some of the kids from this great one-season show have just seemed to disappear altogether. So, just in case one person besides me would care about this, here goes:

Lindsay Weir
First of all, how in the world is the simply stunning Linda Cardellini not a major movie star? I'm very happy she has had a five-year-and-counting run on "ER," but I gave up on that show years ago. The only movie I can remember seeing her in was "Brokeback Mountain," as the waitress who removed all doubt that Heath's cowboy was indeed completely gay. Her upcoming projects are the Larry McMurtry TV miniseries "Comanche Moon," coming to USA in December, and then the movie "The Heaven Project," a thriller directed by John Glenn (probably not the 86-year-old former astronaut) which she appears to be toplining with Paul Walker.

Sam Weir
Believe it or not, John Francis Daley is the star of a flick I have only heard rumblings about but sounds pretty frigging cool. An autobiographical flick from Patrick Read Johnson titled "5-25-77," it's about (in case the title didn't give it away) one dude's quest to see "Star Wars," which is surely impeded by various complications. If anyone knows anything more about this, please let me know. He also popped up once on the the funniest thing on the Internets, Michael Cera and Clark Duke's Clarkandmichael.com.

Daniel DeSario
Clearly the most successful of the Freaks or Geeks (except for maybe Seth Rogen), James Franco has just gotten into the directing game with "Good Time Max," for which he's now making the festival circuit. He also co-wrote and stars in the flick, which is described thusly at the IMDB: Two genius brothers grow up and grow apart as one becomes a successful surgeon and the other pursues a drug-fueled high life. I have to assume Mr. Franco is the latter, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. He also had a bizarrely small part in Paul Haggis' "In the Valley of Elah" and has two other upcoming projects listed: The stoner-buddy-witness-a-murder flick with Seth Rogen "Pineapple Express," coming next summer, and then something called "Nights in Rodanthe," in which he will play Richard Gere's son for Broadway guru George C. Wolfe.

Ken Miller
Although I don't think I'll get there anytime soon, it's entirely possible that the world is gonna have too much Seth Rogen, 'cause he's gonna be just about everywhere. Next up, early next year, he's starring in "The Spiderwick Chronicles," a family-friendly fantasy from Nickelodeon (I think) and based on the books by Holly Black. After that comes the aformentioned "Pineapple Express," which he co-wrote with partner Evan Goldberg, and then another "Star Wars"-themed flick you may have heard of, "Fanboys." Then he turns to two animated projects I can't say I'm terribly excited about, "Horton Hears a Who" (why!?!?) and "Kung Fu Panda."

Neal Schweiber
The last place I can remember seeing Samm Levine was standing on line waiting to get into that club in the "OK, Awesome" episode of "How I Met Your Mother." Since then he's mainly done short stints on TV (including one appearance on "Veronica Mars," huzzah!) and apparently (though I have no way of confirming this) had a role this year in the Amanda Bynes flick "Sydney White." His newer projects are "Anderson's Cross," a comedy which, although it apparently won "Best International Feature" at the 2007 Bridgetown Film Festival in Barbados, is probably out on DVD already, and then some kind of marriage comedy titled "Made for Each Other."

Bill Haverchuck
Always my favorite of the "Freaks and Geeks" crew, Martin Starr also appeared on an episode of "HIMYM" (yes, it's gonna keep appearing, so forgive the abbreviation), in which he got to flirt with Cobie Smulders. He's also remained solidly in the Apatow camp, appearing in both "Knocked Up" and (briefly) "Superbad" this summer. His only new project listed is something called "Good Dick," which will hopefully be as silly as its title implies but which I couldn't find out anything else about.

Nick Andopoulis
Jason Segel, of course, is one of the main stars of what is quickly becoming my favorite network TV show, the very-often-mentioned-today "HIMYM." He and Alyson Hannigan are even more adorable on screen than they would seem to be on paper. Next summer he'll get his directing debut courtesy of Mr. Apatow, the rather unfortunately titled "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." The few early reviews I've seen of this one haven't been promising, but with Mr. Segel and Kristen Bell as the stars, I'll definitely be there.

Kim Kelly
There must be some "HIMYM"-"Freaks and Geeks" connection I don't know about, because Busy Phillips appeared on the show this season as (gentlemen, control yourselves) one third of Ted's threesome that also included Danica McKellar (the former Winnie Cooper, who has, to put it as crudely as possible, growed up good.) Her only new project is something called "Made of Honor," which appears to be a romantic comedy (hence the rather painfully punny title) headlined by Michelle Monaghan and Patrick Dempsey.

Harold Weir
Don't worry, we're almost finished, but I couldn't omit the parents, could I? Long after his legendary work in "SCTV," Canuck Joe Flaherty contributed perhaps the funniest moment on "Freaks and Geeks" with his Vietnam speech. The only project I could find for the great Mr. Flaherty was some kind of (Canadian, I think) summer-camp comedy called "Summerhood."

Jean Weir
Becky Ann Baker, since "Freaks and Geeks," has sadly not had much acting work to speak of beyond bit TV parts. Her most recent stint listed was a three-episode arc earlier this year on "All My Children."

And, of course, how could I wax nostalgic about the greatest one-season-only TV show without including a clip? Here's one of my favorites, in which Daniel joins the geeks for a game of Dungeons and Dragons. Enjoy, and have an entirely bearable Wednesday.



P.S.: If you happen to live anywhere near Macon, please make your way to the Capitol Theatre downtown tonight for a very special event. Georgia actor Ray McKinnon will be presenting his new film, "Randy and the Mob," at 7:30 p.m., and then sticking around to answer questions afterward. At $10 at ticket, it won't be cheap, but you have my guarantee this will make for a very entertaining evening. Hopefully I'll see you there.

What's next on "The Wire," and then for David Simon?

I know I promised reviews of two movies that left me more than a little cold, but I'd much rather talk about something much more exciting: the upcoming final season of "The Wire." So, I'll get the movies over with very quickly.

"We Own the Night" was one of the most disappointing movies I've seen in many years. James Gray, who showed such promise with "Little Odessa," has clearly run out of new ideas, instead choosing to pile up all the cop cliches he could find for this extremely tired tale about NYPD cops and familial ties. Despite strong performances from Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix and Robert Duvall, there's no reason at all that I can recommend anyone see this failure.

"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" was more of a mixed bag. When Cate Blanchett's queen and Clive Owen's Sir Walter Raleigh share the screen for some silly flirting it is a true guilty pleasure, but when it tries to tell anything approaching a broader story it really falls apart fast. Worth a rental at best, in my opinion.

OK, now on to the good stuff. The New Yorker, in this morning's issue, has a very long (12 pages!) story about David Simon and "The Wire." I have to admit that, crunched for time, I had to stop anything but skimming at about page 7, but will go back this afternoon for the rest. Here are some highlights I garnered about the fifth and final season, coming to HBO in January:

This newest season, as has already been widely reported, will focus on the declining role of newspapers in our society. What I didn't know is that The Sun, along with letting its office be used in a few scenes, has also let its name be used in the new season.

The great Clark Johnson, pictured here and who played Meldrick on "Homicide," will be both a director of several episodes in the new season and also star as Gus Haynes, "a city editor who tries to hold the line against dwindling coverage, buyouts, and pseudo-news." Here's one excerpt that shows Simon, as he has with other aspects of Charm City in past seasons, really understand just what's going wrong with newspapers in America:

He complains about a photographer who invariably gooses the poignancy of fire scenes by positioning a charred doll somewhere amid the debris. (“I can see that cheatin’ motherfucker now, with his fucking harem of dolls, pouring lighter fluid on each one,” Haynes fumes.) And he patiently explains to a junior reporter one of those house rules which arbiters of newspaper style cling to with fierce persnicketiness: a building can be “evacuated,” he instructs, but you cannot evacuate people. “To evacuate a person is to give that person an enema,” one of the old-timers chimes in. “At the Baltimore Sun, God still resides in the details.”

Just as past seasons of "The Wire" have been populated with real drug-dealers that Simon and co-creator Ed Burns (a former Charm City cop) knew from past encounters, the new season will be packed with former reporters that Simon knew from his days as a crime reporter for The Sun.

Here's how he summed up his view of newspapers for "The New Yorker": “It’s like, find the eight-hundred-dollar toilet seat, find the contractor who’s double-billing. That’s their bread and butter. Systemic societal failure that has multiple problems — newspapers are not designed to understand it.” Sad but, I fear, true.

To read all of Margaret Talbot's fantastic reporting, click here, but remember that it will probably take a small chunk of time to read it all.

If you get far enough, you'll find Simon has also talked about what he'll be doing next, also for HBO, and it should be great. He's currently filming, or at least getting ready to film, a miniseries about the Iraq war called "Generation Kill," but after that he wants to head to the Big Easy.

Simon, who with "The Wire" has shown an acute eye for detail, has already been down there doing research for a series he hopes to produce about musicians rebuilding ther lives in post-Katrina New Orleans.

"This show will be a way of making a visual argument that cities matter," Simon told The New Yorker. " 'The Wire' has never done that. I certainly never said or wanted to say that Baltimore is not (worth) saving, or that it can't be saved. But I think some people watching the show think, Why don't they just move away?"

It's sad that the argument needs to be made that American cities are indeed great and worth protecting, but I fear he's right. And I certainly look forward to him making the case.

No respect for this "Jezebel"

When I first heralded the imminent return of "Gilmore Girls" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino to TV with "Jezebel James," several people wiser than me warned that Fox would treat this new show - as it has with many others - very poorly. Alas, they were right.

It seems that Fox has already cut the order for ASP's new show, set for a midseason replacement to debut sometime in January, from 13 episodes to seven. I'm fairly confident that, rather than this being a sign that the show isn't any good, it's instead yet further proof that Fox does indeed just suck.

For anyone who doesn't know, "Jezebel James," if it ever indeed makes it your TV, will star Parker Posey (huzzah!) and "Six Feet Under" vet Lauren Ambrose (both pictured here) as, respectively, a woman who wants to get pregnant but can't and the estranged sister who agrees to have a child for her.

I really hope this eventually gets more respect, but in news I managed to miss about a week ago, Amy Sherman-Palladino should have more luck with a big-screen project she's just signed on to write and direct. With Sarah Jessica Parker in the lead, she's adapting the chicky book ""The Late Bloomer's Revolution" by Amy Cohen, an autobiographical tale about about how Cohen, after the death of her mother, developed a bond with her father as they both tried to get on with their lives in the dating world. More than a bit too girly for me, but hopefully also extremely funny.

Fun with pictures and trailers

OK, this has already gone on a bit longer than I had planned, but I have to share two things that should make everyone smile. Every picture I see from Michel Gondry's "Be Kind Rewind" just makes me want to see the flick right now, and this latest shot, which I have to assume is a sendup of "Driving Miss Daisy," is no different.


And finally, here's a rather poor-quality but still enjoyable trailer for "Charlie Wilson's War," the Mike Nichols film coming in December. Before seeing this trailer, I hadn't been too excited for this one, even though it was scripted by Aaron Sorkin, but now you can put it right up there with "American Gangster" and "Juno" among the movies I'm most jazzed about for the rest of this year. Enjoy!

Weekend movie report: Two out of three ain't bad

Man, do I love the fall. So far, three new movies watched (two good, one pretty darn awful) and one more to go today, "Elizabeth," which I'm cautiously optomistic will be better than it's rather harsh reviews. Today I'll deal with the two winners since, after all, Monday's always just a little better with some good news.

We'll start with "Michael Clayton," which, only surprising me a little bit, got absolutely clobbered at the box office by "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married," $21.5 million to $12.1 million.

Now, I can take or leave George Clooney, frankly. Often, especially with "Syriana," he just seems so smug that I want to smack him until he cries. In "Michael Clayton," however, maybe because he's playing a character who's already been pretty beaten-down by life, I found him to be much more bearable.

In Tony Gilroy's unconventional legal thriller he plays the titular character, a "fixer" who's already pretty broken himself. Think of Mr. Wolf from "Pulp Fiction" at the end of a three-day bender and you're in the right ballpark. It's a performance that just worked for me, but most of the credit for "Michael Clayton" being such a satisfying flick goes to Mr. Gilroy and a supporting player to be named later.

Gilroy, who also wrote the screenplay for this summer's smartest thriller, "The Bourne Ultimatum," makes this rather familiar story about a high-powered law firm defending an unsavory chemical company feel fresh mostly by what he leaves out. There's not, at least that I can remember, one courtroom scene, and therefore any way-too-dramatic speeches are kept to the very end. And though there is a "smoking gun" in the form of an incriminating document, it isn't overexposed.

What Gilroy delivers instead is a solid character study, of Clooney's Clayton and even moreso of the lawyer he's sent to "fix," played by the always-welcome Tom Wilkinson. The movie opens with one of his possibly insane monologues, and it's the trajectory of Wilkinson's Arthur Edens that keeps this flick moving at a briskly entertaining pace. I'm almost certain you'll be hearing his name on Oscar night in the supporting category, and I wouldn't be surprised in the least if he's a winner.

My only beef with Mr. Gilroy's movie is that Tilda Swinton is rather criminally underused as the main attorney for the bad guys, as is The White Shadow as the bad guy in chief. But these are really just quibbles about a movie that deserves to be seen by many, many more people in week two.

Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married

First of all, a hearty huzzah to Mr. Perry on his box-office triumph. I had an inkling that, since my Sunday evening showing - at a time when much of his target audience might still be just returning home from church - was packed, he would come out on top for the weekend. But I had no idea he would clobber Clooney so soundly.

I've been a Tyler Perry supporter (as if he needs me) ever since "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" because he makes movies that are, although clearly flawed, like nothing else you'll see on the big screen now. And while "Why Did I Get Married" represents a real step forward in both star power and mainstream appeal, it retains the magic formula that makes his movies so enjoyable: Self-help mojo just a few degrees removed from "Oprah" but repackaged with real characters and a compelling story.

And, I'm gonna go ahead and open myself to all kinds of fire and compare him favorably to two of my favorite directors, Woody Allen and Pedro Almodovar. Yes, that Woody Allen. The comparison works for me because Perry writes characters that - though they still appeal mainly to people with skin the same color as theirs - are universal in their neuroses (or, in Mr. Perry's hands, "drama.")

In the case of "Why Did I Get Married," the characters are eight college friends - four married couples - who are now approaching middle age and dealing with all kinds of issues. When "Married" works best, they handle these problems with as much humor as tears.

And, with "Married" even more than his other flicks so far, the Almodovar comparison is very strong. Here, he writes four solid female characters, and lets his top two break down in a very similar way to last year's "Dreamgirls."

The glamour girl, Janet Jackson rather than Beyonce, tops the bill but loses much of the spotlight to the big girl, here Jill Scott rather than Jennifer Hudson. And Scott steals the show because she knows that what Perry requires from her - even as she plays a very vulnerable character more than a little prone to crying - is to never forget she's a diva. It's a tremendously likable performance from a new face I think you'll be seeing a lot more of in the future. Rounding out the women are Sharon Leal as a career-minded attorney (and, in the flick, Mr. Perry's wife) and Perry regular Tasha Smith as essentially the Id, as usual the character most likely to provoke outbursts of something along the lines of "You go girl!" from the audience.

This being a Tyler Perry movie, the men get short-shrift by design, but so what? "Why Did I Get Married" isn't a perfect movie by any stretch. The story loses more than a little bit of steam once the four couples leave the Colorado mountain cabin where they go to work out their problems and return to the real world. But overall it's another successful flick that follows the Perry formula that I - and apparently more than a few other people - have grown to love.

This just in: Black people like going to the movies

This morning as I hit the multiplex to see "We Own the Night," a very by-the-numbers cop flick salvaged only by atmosphere and tremendous acting, I noticed there were at least twice as many cars in the parking lot as usual for the early shows.

It still didn't hit me until I saw who was actually in line - 50 to 100 black women, many of whom knew each other well - that I realized what was going on: It's that annual phenomenon known as a Tyler Perry movie.

Now, though I'm far from target audience for a Tyler Perry movie, up until now I've loved every one I've seen. They're never terribly deep, but as solidly entertaining escapist movie fare, they are ideal. And I thought his last one, "Daddy's Little Girls" with Idris Elba and Gabrielle Union, was his best work yet.

But, since like I said I didn't see his new flick, "Why Did I Get Married," on Friday, I'm not really here to discuss its merits or faults (it's on the viewing agenda for Sunday morning, most likely.)

Instead I'm just kind of wondering, and admittedly probably in a less than completely cogent way, why it is that if black people line up to see movies in which people who look like them in a positive light, Hollywood doesn't make more of them?

The last time I experienced anything like this was on Christmas day of last year, when I had the pleasure of squeezing into a packed showing of "Dreamgirls." Now, "Dreamgirls" was a damn fine flick, in my opinion, and watching it with so many eager people just made it that much more fun. I'm not sure in hindsight it quite deserved the minutes-long standing ovation it received at the end, but caught up in the moment as I was then it certainly seemed appropriate at the time.

I have to get to work now before I get into hot water, but if anyone has insight into why more movies like this aren't made (and no, putting Martin Lawrence in another buddy movie doesn't count), please let me know.

Gondry getting animated? Bring it on!

I'm embarrassed to say that I have yet to see Michel Gondry's "The Science of Sleep." It's just one of those movies that has sat in my Netflix queue for a long time now, just below the mailing line.

That admission aside, Gondry has crafted easily two of my favorite movies with "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" (even if you don't like rap music, just trust me and watch this one as soon as you can if you haven't already.) So, it's easy to get jazzed about any bit of Gondry news, especially when it's this good.

According to the MTV Movies Blog, which has become a surprising daily stop in my reading list, he's teaming up with his son, Paul Gondry, to make an animated flick about their life together. Since Gondry's flicks often take on the dream-like feel of the best animated movies, this can only be a good thing.

I tried to Google Paul Gondry and see what his work might look like, and this still from a comic he did for Filter magazine was all I could find. From what I can tell, he's a teenager who is already following solidly in his father's footsteps, having already directed a music video for the Willowz' "Take a Look Around."

Here's how Michel describe their new project to MTV: “We’re translating our relationship into a futuristic story with a dictator and a rebel. He’s the dictator in the story [and] it will be based on [his] art. - It’s going to be quite amazing.”

Sounds great to me, and of course come January we'll finally get to see Michel's next flick, the guaranteed-to-be-fun "Be Kind Rewind." Sometimes, life really is good.

"Deadwood" not completely dead?

I hesitate to tease people about the possible revival of this great show in the form of movies, but this piece on David Milch's new HBO project did offer one tantalizing tidbit.

Now, I'm only just about to embark on season 3, with the first episode on the viewing menu today, so if this was something that "Deadwood" diehards knew already please forgive me. In James Hibberd's column at TVWeek.com, you'll find this tidbit: The pair of two-hour movies take place after the town of Deadwood is destroyed by fire and floods, thus the sets are unnecessary.

That should read would take place, because the piece goes on to make clear that, even if striking the sets doesn't necessarily mean the end of "Deadwood," HBO has no plans at this time to revive it. And Milch, of course, would have his hands tied with his new HBO project, which sounds pretty friggin' cool itself.

The new series, assuming it gets picked up by HBO, will be set in the New York Police Department in the 1970s and involve the Knapp Commission investigations. The Knapp-era gave rise to the story of patrolman Frank Serpico, whose revelations about corruption within the department were made into the book and flick. If memory serves me correctly, it will be semiautobiographical, and the main character will be a Vietnam vet now serving as a NYPD cop.

As much as I'd love to see the two "Deadwood" flicks, this new work sounds just perfect for Milch, who back in the day was a co-creator of "NYPD Blue" and a major writer for "Hill Street Blues." Here's hoping he works quickly!

Andy Griffith, ladies man?

Even though we moved out of the great republic of Virginia when I was very young, I still consider myself a Southerner of sorts, especially since I've lived down here in Macon for seven years or so now. And with this Southernness, I suppose, comes a required appreciation for the great Andy Griffith.

Seeing him again in earlier this year in "Waitress" just made me smile, and now he's getting involved in a little indie flick that could be hilarious. In "Play the Game," Paul Campbell of "Battlestar Galactica" will school his grandfather, Mr. Griffith, in the fine art of picking up women.

I really have nothing else to say about this, but I thought it might make at least one person laugh.

"Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains" trailer

Another Southerner who should get nothing but love is former President Jimmy Carter. If you can really watch him riding his bicycle in this trailer for Jonathan Demme's new doco "Jimmy Carter Man From Plains" and still have venomous thoughts about the man, there's nothing I can probably say to change your mind.

Enjoy this trailer I found on YouTube, and if this movie somehow makes it to your little corner of the world, go see this doco about a man who may have been a fairly awful president but is still a great American. Enough said.

Lovable losers: My favorite movie misfits

I was gonna call this list favorite f***ups, but this blog is, after all, still linked from a family newspaper.

In case anyone wonders where I get the idea for these lists from, it doesn't take much. This morning it was simply thinking of one of my favorite movies that I hadn't seen for several years, the one that happens to top this list. I'm sure there are many other movie freaks and geeks out there that have captured your hearts, so please feel free to add any I have snubbed in the comments (and, for the record, I didn't include "Napoleon Dynamite" because Napoleon is, of course, far too cool to ever be called a loser.

1. "You Can Count on Me"
When, under duress, I'm requested to name a single favorite film, this little Kenneth Lonergan gem has been known to top the list from time to time (though if you ask me 10 times, you might just get 10 different answers.) This charming take on the prodigal son tale introduced me to both Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo, and I can't ask for much more from a movie than that. I thought Kenneth Lonergan had just disappeared, but a visit to the IMDB revealed this welcome fact: He has a new movie, called "Margaret" and starring Anna Paquin, listed as completed. Welcome back, Mr. Lonergan.

2. Jesus' Son
Count this one as both one of my favorite books and movies. The flick by Allison Maclean (another once-promising director who has seemed to just disappear) captures all of the desperation of Dennis Lehane's novel, and Billy Crudup, Samantha Morton and, particularly, Holly Hunter as the angel/savior are all fantastic.

3. Ghost World
Thora Birch may just be the perfect example of a lovable loser. In "Ghost World," her Enid flunks out of art class, tries and fails to find love with Steve Buscemi and then, possibly, commits suicide (I really hope I'm not giving anything away here, but if you haven't seen this great Terry Zwigoff film, do so right away, and the ending is wonderfully ambiguous enough that I'm almost certain you won't be mad at me.)

4. Manhattan
Just how in the world did Woody Allen con so many beautiful women into being pawns in his often-twisted romantic movie world? Though you can argue that even Woody's best flicks follow a familiar path, this one is always my favorite because of just how far his Isaac Davis actually falls: By the time he's standing in that apartment building lobby, rejected for the last time by his 17-year-old muse Mariel Hemingway, it's just movie perfection.

5. Rushmore
It seems wierd to call a character as confident in his geekhood as Max Fischer a loser, but look at what happens to him in this great Wes Anderson flick. He starts by flunking hard out of Rushmore Academy and then is barely even able to make a go of it in the wild world of public high school. Like the best losers, however, Max gets the last laugh (and dance), of course, to the always-welcome strains of the Faces' "Ooo La La."

6. Charlie Brown
You could pick any of poor Charlie's tales, but when I was a kid the one that always got me the most excited was "Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown." I guess it was the idea of kids getting to race down through rapids on rafts, against their pets, no less, that really got me jazzed.

7. Amelie
Can you call someone as adorable as Audrey Tautou a loser? Though Amelie Poulain eventually finds love in this thoroughly charming flick from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, look at how far she had to journey to get there: At the beginning of the movie, she's living all alone in an apartment building full of old folks and is barely a functioning member of society. I know many people find this flick just way too sappy to stomach, but it gets me every time.

8. After Hours
Martin Scorsese has surely made better movies than this silly little flick, but it still remains my favorite of all his works. As Griffin Dunne's Paul Hackett sees his night go from bad to worse to even worse, it's both a valentine to New York City and, even better, Martin Scorsese clearly having fun.

9. Rocket Science
I'll close with one from this year that I'm virtually certain almost nobody saw. As the follow-up to his documentary debut, "Spellbound," Jeffrey Blitz made this autobiographical flick about his experiences as a stuttering teen growing up in New Jersey. Despite the rather horrendous title, it features excellent performances from Reece Thompson and Broadway veteran Anna Kendrick, and co-star Nicholas D'Agosto can currently be seen as Claire's new boytoy on "Heroes." If you missed this one, look for it on DVD soon and enjoy one of my favorite flicks of 2007.

So, there you have it. A fun enough way to begin a Wednesday, I must say. Peace out.

A movie world without women? No thanks

When I first saw this, I assumed it had to be a joke. Did the head of a major American movie studio really say he would no longer greenlight any movies with women in the lead role?

And knowing this comes from Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily column in L.A. Weekly, it should perhaps be greeted with skepticism, but since I've yet to see any kind of denial I have to assume it's true.

It seems that Warner Bros president of production Jeff Robinov has made a rather bizarre new decree: "We are no longer doing movies with women in the lead."

In case this weren't sick enough by itself, you need only look at what evidence he used to reach this conclusion to see just how wrong it is. What drove this man over the edge? The poor box-office performance of two movies, "The Brave One" and "The Invasion."

Now, I didn't bother to see "The Invasion" because, well, I've seen "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and didn't need to see it again, but I can speak with authority on "The Brave One." Having had about a month to digest this one now I can state firmly that it was the worst movie I saw this summer, and is a strong contender for the overall title for the past five years or so. Is he really proposing we condemn women to the role of sidekick simply because these two awful movie underperformed at the box office? (Yes, apparently.)

Forgive me if I'm unable to come up with much of a cogent argument here, because this just pisses me off and it's still rather early in the morning, not a great combination. But rather than go on a rant about the virtues of women (if you don't know what they are, I'm 100 percent certain I can't help you), I got to thinking about whether or not there is anything we can do about this.

A viewers' boycott of Warner Bros. would make sense, but I'd advocate instead a conscious effort to support what few big box-office movies there are with women in the lead. I could only think of two for the rest of the year, but if there are any others coming up that I've missed please let me know (and I'm not counting conventional romantic comedies here because, well, it would be rather hard to make one of those that wasn't, well, gay without at least one woman in a prominent role.)

The first that comes to mind, and yes, I'm gonna mention it again, is "Juno." If you make the sacrifice of seeing adorable Ellen Page in the lead role (gasp, a woman!), I can virtually guarantee you'll get one of the smartest and funniest movies of the year.

But it starts earlier than that in wide-release land, this weekend in fact. It's a busy fall weekend with a lot of good titles. Personally, I'll be going to see as many as four movies: "We Own the Night," "Michael Clayton," "Tyler Perry's Why Did We Get Married?" and "Elizabeth: The Golden Age." Though I can't believe this would actually be necessary, I'd like to make a plea in honor of Mr. Robinov that out of this crowded slate everyone at least take the time to go see "Elizabeth."

With (gasp again!) perhaps the world's greatest actress in the lead role of Queen Elizabeth I, this should be a rousing period tale about Elizabeth's relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh and its impact on the world. There's exactly one review at the IMDB calling it an "awful, boring film," but I'm betting that once a more representative sample comes in the scorecard will tilt back in its favor.

Even if "Elizabeth" does somehow turn out to be horrible, however, that doesn't change the fact that Robinov is a moron, even if, looking at the current slate of movies, he simply was stupid enough to say out loud what must run through the minds of most movie studio chiefs as they greenlight movies. I guess the most I can ask is that you go see as many good movies as possible, and if you do get lucky enough to see one with a woman in the lead role enjoy it while you still can.

"Futurama" to the rescue

Well, that was all rather depressing, so here's a YouTube clip sure to make at least a few people laugh. I'd already seen a rough cut of this, the trailer for the upcoming "Futurama" DVD movie "Bender's Big Score," from ComicCon, but this is of much higher quality. Peace out.

More "Thank You for Smoking"? I'd quit that habit

I guess the big news today is that Ben Stiller's new "comedy" couldn't even make enough to topple The Rock at the top of the box office. But since I joined the masses in just skipping "The Heartbreak Kid," I'd instead like to talk about something else that caught my eye (and ire.)

On the surface, at least, this sounds like a fairly good idea. You can count "Thank You for Smoking" as easily one of my favorite movies of 2006, and probably the funniest flick of the year.

So, why not a TV series designed as a follow-up to the flick, as USA Network is currently planning. Well, it's just a really bad idea.

First of all, look at where Nick Naylor ends up at the end of "Smoking" (and if you somehow haven't seen the movie, there's not much I can do for you, so you'll have to just forgive me for giving it away.) The whole flick is centered on Aaron Eckhart's (very Oscarworthy but completely snubbed) portrayal of Nick Naylor as one seriously smug bastard who does sublimely evil things.

By the end of the movie, when he's given up his work for the great Satan (a k a Big Tobacco), you can accept it because the movie's over and you won't have to bear the sight of Nick Naylor actually working for the side of good. Who in the world wants to see that?

Well, the folks at USA think you do. With someone named James Dodson (not to be confused, apparently, with Focus on the Family's James Dobson) writing the script, the TV version will turn Naylor into some kind of free-agent do-gooder, using his rhetorical skills to help people in need. If you just threw up a little bit, I'm sorry, because I did too.

So, along with dropping any of the malicious spirit that drove both Jason Reitman's flick and the Christopher Buckley novel that it sprang from (both of those guys, wisely, have nothing to do with this new project), they'll turn the lead character into yet another generic TV composite character. Meh.

Luckily, Both Mr Reitman, with the upcoming "Juno," which I think I've now plugged here 150 times (and now I've apparently "adopted" both "Juno" star Ellen Page and Georgia actor Ray McKinnon, with the aid of Splotchy, so get used to it), and Mr. Buckley have more important things to keep them busy on the big screen. Although it's not listed anywhere at the IMDB, I'm fairly certain the once-great Whit Stillman (I still consider "Metropolitan" to be one of my favorite flicks) is at work now on an adaptation of another of Mr. Buckley's satirical Washington novels, "Little Green Men."

And you have my gold-standard guarantee that both of those will turn out to be miles better than anything that comes out of this silly TV project.

Weinsteins just say no to "Red State"

I read Kevin Smith's "Boring Ass Life" blog from time to time, mostly because when he's not completely full of himself Mr. Smith can still be a pretty darn funny guy. So I wasn't too surprised to hear the Weinsteins had passed on his rather crazy idea for a "horror" movie, "Red State."

The first warning sign came about two weeks or so ago when Mr. Smith reported that the Weinstein bros. had called his "Red State" script "important" and compared it in import to past Miramax output like "Pulp Fiction" and "The Piano" (that last bit may have actually come from Mr. Smith's mind, but he said it, not me.)

This sounds exactly like the kind of "vote of confidence" a baseball manager gets just before being fired (as Joe Torre hopefully will be tomorrow.) And indeed, another visit to his site this morning showed this to be true.

Given the subject matter, it's not terribly shocking that the Weinsteins wouldn't want anything to do with it. The lead bad guy is based on the Rev. Fred Phelps, a Kansas "preacher" who, among one of his nicer qualities, I bet, likes to picket the funerals of homosexuals (it pains me to even type his name, but remember, I'm just the messenger here.)

Though I'm sure it's a little better than I'm making it sound here, I'm also certain the Weinsteins bought the superior Kevin Smith project in "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" (which now has, in the two latest installments, both Zach Braff and Seth Rogen listed as "rumored" to play the lead role of Zack.)

"Be Kind" and laugh

It's been a fairly bile-filled post so far for a Monday morning, so let's end with a couple of very funny things.

The Michel Gondry flick "Be Kind Rewind," starring Mos Def, Jack Black and Melonie Diaz, is set to come out at the end of January. The flick, of course, is about video store employees who set out to re-create all of the movies after the tapes get magnetized (by the power plant that, of course, is located right next door.) It's a premise ripe with possibility, as these two posters, riffing as far as I can tell on "Boys in the Hood" and "Rush Hour," clearly show. Enjoy, and have an entirely bearable Monday.

Dying Cub Fan's Last Request

Before we go any further, let me just assure any diehard Chicago Cub fans out there that I'm certainly not posting this as any form of mockery.

As a long-suffering fan of the Baltimore Orioles, who actually had their postseason ruined once (against the Yankees, no less) by a meddling 8-year-old brat long before anyone had ever heard of that Bartman character, I can more than empathize.

Instead I just wanted to hear this great Steve Goodman tribute to the Cubbies when I woke up this morning, and found that someone calling himself "cubbymark" had posted this rather remarkable clip to YouTube just three days ago. Since then it's already been viewed more than 1,300 times, as much a mark of love for Mr. Goodman as it is of fear about the fate of the Cubs, I think.

Anyways, enough babbling from me. Enjoy this video and, even if you're a Cub fan in serious mourning once again, just try not to smile even a little bit.

EW offers look at sordid state of "The Hobbit"

With this being from Entertainment Weekly, you can guess that it's not exactly the most profound piece of journalism penned to date, but the new piece about "The Hobbit" by Benjamin Svetkey does offer a pretty nifty summary of the story so far.

And, of course, none of it is pretty. I won't swipe the whole thing, which would be rather rude, but here are a few of the highlights (or, perhaps more accurately, lowlights):

On the hopeful side, EW reminds readers that, after months of publicly calling director Peter Jackson just about every bad name he could muster, New Line chief Bob Shaye made this rather remarkable turnaround to the L.A. Times in August: ''Notwithstanding our personal quarrels. Ireally respect and admire Peter and would love for him to be creatively involved in some way in The Hobbit.''

Another sign that some real progess toward having Jackson involved in "The Hobbit" is that the courts are taking real action with his suit against New Line to have the books from the three "Rings" movies audited. Last month the company was fined $125,000 for failing to provide requested accounting documents, and, EW states with no further sourcing: even in the weeks before that ruling, there were signs that New Line's hard line was beginning to buckle.

Even if the two sides facing off over what, after all, is a children's movie manage to stop acting like tempermental children, there are of course several other obstacles, mainly time. At some future date which EW didn't specify, the producer Saul Zaentz, who had a hand in that rather silly animated "Lord of the Rings" flick from the '70s, will regain the rights he once had to "The Hobbit." New Line could, of course, still buy it back from him, but that would just add another ugly wrinkle to this already protracted tale.

Jackson and his creative partner, Fran Walsh, have made rumblings about actually making two "Hobbit" movies, one based on the book and another fleshing out notes from J.R.R. Tolkein to bridge the gap between "The Hobbit" and the "Rings" books, which take place some 60 years in the future.

But, as EW points out, the biggest enemy of even one "Hobbit" flick may be Jackson's schedule. He's already about to start shooting "The Lovely Bones" (the next book on my reading list), and is then already committed to direct an installment in the coming "Tintin" trilogy.

Even if this means he's only involved with "The Hobbit" as an executive producer, with another director (please, after watching the simply excremental "Spidey 3," don't let it be Sam Raimi!!), there are signs a big decision that will let this finally move forward may be coming soon. Since this story has already lasted a lot longer than Bilbo's quest to separate Smaug from his ill-gotten bounty, we can only hope so. You can read all of the EW article here.


Hope for a "Serenity 2"?

This glimmer, and that's really all I can it, comes from "Firefly" and "Serenity" star Alan Tudyk, via the fine folks at Moviehole.

Tudyk, a k a Serenity pilot Wash, told Moviehole that, due to how well both editions of "Serenity" have been selling on DVD, there is indeed "talk" about doing a sequel, but he didn't add any other specifics.

“They had to put [the new DVD] out because they’ve been selling out of the other one and so Universal’s like ‘So, let’s do another one.’ And now ... there’s now a chance there’s going to be another movie,” Tudyk told Moviehole.

There are several reasons why this would make a tremendous amount of sense. First of all, if made for a reasonable budget, any new "Serenity" movie would have a built-in and tremendously loyal fan base already in place to help recoup the studio's investment. And secondly, if this, as is most likely to be the case, goes directly to DVD, the money would be even easier to recoup.

As for Tudyk's involvement, anyone who's seen "Serenity" (and who in the world hasn't?) knows it would be hard for him to be too involved, unless the movie turned out to be a prequel of sorts (if you don't know why or can't figure it out, you won't hear it from me.) Whether or not he gets to be involved or not, I'm sure all fans of "Firefly" and "Serenity" will join me in giving even the idea of another flick a hearty huzzah. You can read all of Moviehole's piece here.

Friday trailer two-fer

These two YouTube clips are of wildly varying importance, so I'll start with the big one first. It is, as far as I can tell, the first trailer for Tim Burton's "Sweeney Todd," and it looks about as good as I could have possibly imagined. In it, you get to see Johnny Depp croon and Helena Bonham Carter swoon, and you even get a glimpse of Borat.


Next comes an appropriately silly teaser for Will Ferrell's next flick, "Semi-Pro." With a promising cast that includes Ferrell, Jackie Earle Haley, Andre "3000" Benjamin, Will Arnett, Maura Tierney (where has she been?), Woody Harrelson and Rob Cordry, I'm relatively optomistic that this flick about a semi-pro basketball team from Flint, Mich., (hopefully filmed in the rather dilapated city), will be very funny. Be warned: The entire clip focuses on Ferrell's rather hairy body, so if you don't to see that just say no. Peace out.

Where are they now: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

The inspiration for this post actually comes from welcome news about a veteran of a different Joss Whedon project, Jewel Staite, a k a Firefly ship's mechanic Kaylee.

Though this isn't normally exactly my cup of tea, I'll probably give "The Tribe" a chance with her in it. The flick, set to come out next summer, is described at the IMDB as being thusly: "After a devastating boat crash, a group of friends is stranded on an uncharted island, where they encounter an ancient tribe of humanoid creatures." Sounds pretty meh to me, but like I said, I'll at least give it a shot.

That news got my mind, which does tend to move quicker than my body when I write these things fairly early in the morning, on the idea that it would be fun to check in with the cast of Whedon's masterwork, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Knock it if you must, but it was the smartest and funniest show of its day, and any fans of serials like "Lost" and "Heroes" should recognize its import.

This might be a bit long, because I put together a list of 20 bit to not-so-bit players from the Buffyverse. And I hope at least a few people enjoy reading this even slightly as much as I did researching it. Here goes:

Buffy: Where else would you start than at the top? Given its apocalyptic storyline and extremely long rollout, I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the savaging of Richard Kelly's "Southland Tales." In the flick, which may never even make it out to my little corner of the world, Sarah Michelle Gellar plays a porn star/reality TV star (and really, what's the difference between the two?) She has two future credits listed at the IMDB, neither of which look too promising. The first, "Possession," indeed sounds like a parody of most of her post-"Buffy" film work: A woman's life is thrown into chaos after a freak car accident sends her husband and brother-in-law into comas. Thrills arrive after the brother-in-law wakes up, thinking he's his brother. Wow does that sound bad. The next is truly odd. Called "Alice," it springs from a video game called "American McGee's Alice" which in turn was inspired by the Lewis Carroll novel. One of these days SMG will get to star in a good movie, but it's not on the horizon yet, I fear.

Willow: I've been watching season two of Alyson Hannigan's new series, "How I Met Your Mother," on DVD, and I can confirm it's just as funny as I remember. Sadly, I couldn't find upcoming film credits that would offer the chance to redeem herself after the disaster that was "Date Movie," so here's hoping CBS gives "Mother" a solid five-year run or so.

Xander: I guess it shouldn't be surprising that "Buffy" vets get tied down to fantasy/horror work pretty fast. After a thankfully short run on the TV show "Kitchen Confidential," Nicholas Brendon has two current IMDB credits. I can't imagine any movie that really stars Rowdy Roddy Piper will be any good, but 2008's "The Portal" is described thusly: Investigators pursuing a bizarre hemorrhagic illness are lead to a strange black painting that they discover is a portal to another dimension. Sounds more than a little like your standard SMG movie. Next comes "Blood on the Highway," a horror/comedy with this rather ominous tagline: "There's a sucker born every minute!" I can only hope they're not talking about us.

Rupert Giles: The always-welcome Anthony Stewart Head is, as far as I can tell, the only "Buffy" vet who's still actively in the Whedon mob. Although I can't find a firm credit anywhere, I'm fairly certain they're developing a "Ripper" spinoff movie or miniseries for the BBC. In more certain credits, you can see the great Mr. Head as a ghost in Tim Burton's take on "Sweeney Todd" and then with, yes, Paris Hilton in "Repo! The Genetic Opera!" I guess a man's gotta eat.

Spike: "Buffy" and "Angel" player James Marsters had a nifty little run on "Smallville" and can be seen soon as the third lead behind Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler in the December chicky flick "P.S. I Love You." Much more interesting could be his next role, as serial killer Ted Bundy in a miniseries called "Chasing the Devil," scheduled to hit your TV sets somewhere in mid-March.

Anya: Except for some work (along with many of her fellow "Buffy" vets) on Seth Green's "Robot Chicken," Emma Caulfield amazingly has no work listed after a TV movie called "A Valentine Carol" that apparently ran on USA last February. Somehow I managed to miss that one. How in the world can a woman both this beautiful and witty be un- (or at least way under-) employed?

Dawn: Though she was great in "Mysterious Skin," I somehow managed to resist Michelle Trachtenberg's two other big flicks, "The Ice Princess" (which I probably wouldn't admit to seeing even if I had) and the rather unfortunate "Black Christmas." She currently has two other flicks listed as completed, "Kids in America," a coming-of-age comedy headlined by Topher Grace and Anna Faris, and "The Possibility of Fireflies," which promises to be exactly the type of flick I will never see.

Cordelia: Charisma Carpenter left "Buffy" to have just as good a run on the "Angel" spinoff, and also had a great turn as Kendall Casablancas on the late and much-missed "Veronica Mars." Amazingly, that's her last listed acting credit. About the only way I could have gotten excited about a "Wonder Woman" flick would be with her as our heroine and Whedon at the helm, but that's clearly not gonna happen.

Angel: I tuned in for one episode of David Boreanaz's still-running series "Bones" and rather quickly dismissed it as the standard police procedural fare that's saturated our airwaves. If I'm wrong and it's somehow better than that, please let me know. Along with that, he's just wrapped "Our Lady of Victory," a flick in which he plays the hubby of Carla Gugino (triple and resounding huzzah!), who plays the coach of the women's basketball team at a tiny Catholic college who leads her charges to a national title. After that he'll voice The Green Lantern in the animated "Justice League: The New Frontier."

Tara: Clearly the coolest thing Amber Benson has done post-"Buffy" was the "Ghosts of Albion" animated series with Chris Golden for the BBC online. You can still watch it here. She has four current (and most likely straight-to-DVD) credits listed at the IMDB: "Kiss the Bride," starring Tori Spelling (always a promising sign); "Strictly Sexual," of which she's the headliner and actually has this plotline: Two successful women, sick and tired of dating and relationships, decide to keep two young men in their pool house for strictly sexual purposes.; a horror/comedy called "The One-Eyed Monster," of which she's also listed as the principal star, and then a werewolf flick called "Shifter" toplined by Rachel Miner (remember her? I think she was once MacCaulay Culkin's wife.)

Oz: With his own creation, the stellar "Robot Chicken," and as the voice of Chris Griffin, Seth Green has had steady and very entertaining work on TV post-"Buffy." Unfortunately, his upcoming movie credits are a "rumored" role in the John Travolta/Tim Allen "comedy" "Old Dogs" and then what I can only assume is a sequel to the remake of "The Italian Job," to be called, creatively enough, "The Brazilian Job."

Riley: Buffy's college paramour, Marc Blucas, actually has a role in a flick hitting the multiplexes in my little burg this week, "The Jane Austen Book Club," in which he plays the hubby of Emily Blunt. He'll next topline the recently wrapped "Animals," some kind of horror/fantasy with a plot too odd to describe in brief, but did you know he was a starting guard on the Wake Forest basketball team back in the day? Bizarre.

Johnathan: Surprisingly, Nerd of Doom Danny Strong has probably had the most successful career of the "Buffy" ensemble. After a long stint as Doyle, Paris' man, on "Gilmore Girls," he managed to pen the movie "Recount." About the rather screwed-up 2000 presidential election, it's being made by HBO to be trotted out just in time for the 2008 edition. If you really wanted to, you can apparently currently see him in the Amanda Bynes flick "Sydney White." His future credits include "Bad Guys," which, since it wrapped in April, I can only assume is headed straight to DVD, and the comedy "Robbin' in da Hood," which is apparently directed by someone who simply goes by the name Quake. Yes, just Quake.

Andrew: The funniest of the nerds, Tom Lenk, actually had a part in this summer's "Transformers" as "Analyst No. 2," but it doesn't look too promising after that. His only credit: The I suppose inevitable "Boogeyman 2." Sheesh.

Warren: Along with a lot of TV work, head nerd Adam Busch has also managed to have a part in easily one of the worst movies I've had the displeasure of seeing in the last five years or so, "American Dreamz (zzzzz)." After that he only has "Geohunt," which I rather fear will be yet another flick about humans hunting humans.

Faith: Granted, Eliza Dushku should have gotten a much more prominent position on this list, but I figured a trio of very beautiful women was necessary here after the nerds. Her three current credits are "The Alphabet Killer," apparently based on the "double initial" killer of Rochester, NY, "Sex and Breakfast," a romantic comedy toplined by Rachel Miner's former husband, and easily the most promising one, "Bottle Shock," a flick about the birth of the Napa wine industry which will also star Freddy Rodriguez (huzzah again!) and Alan Rickman.

Drusilla: Juliet Landau's seriously insane vamp was always my favorite of the "Buffy"/"Angel" characters. Her upcoming credits include "The Yellow Wallpaper," described (rather optomisticly, I fear) as a dark, Gothic thriller, "Land of Canaan," yet another psychological thriller starring, somehow, Tara Reid, and another thriller called "Darkness Visible" (I couldn't make this stuff up!)

Darla: Along with her steady work on TV's uneven but mostly entertaining "Dexter," the alluring Julie Benz has a big part in next summer's "John Rambo." Yes, that Rambo. Please, dear Lord, don't make us have to watch her make out with Sylvester Stallone.

Wesley: The last place I remember seeing Alexis Denisof was in a very funny run on season one of wifey Alyson's sitcom "How I Met Your Mother." Since, he has nothing else listed, but I did find out that, like the great Linda Hamilton and the late Frank Perdue, he is apparently a native of Salisbury, Md., the little burg where I happened to grow up. Cool.

Caleb: Why not wrap things up with the agent of Buffy's final foe? Nathan Fillion went on to play Captain Mal, of course, in Whedon's "Firefly" and "Serenity" (when in the world is the Sci-Fi Channel gonna come to its senses and revive "Firefly" already?), and also starred with Keri Russell in easily one of my favorite movies of this year so far, "Waitress." His next flick will be something called "Trucker," with Michelle Monaghan which doesn't look too promising, but I like Mr. Fillion enough that I'll watch him in just about anything.

Whew! That certainly went on a long time, so I apologize to anyone who thought it was more than a bit of overkill. As Buffy herself once said, to me it was "just enough kill," and a perfectly enjoyable accompaniment to my morning coffee. Peace out.

No football in Athens? No problem

Please don't get me wrong: This weekend's UGA football game against Tennessee in Knoxville is huge, and I therefore will be watching it on as big a TV as I can find.

However, if you're anywhere near Athens, GA, and are looking for something else to do this weekend, Ciné Athens has cooked up something pretty friggin cool.

You've probably been hearing for years about those kids who made a shot-by-shot remake of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Well, not only did those crazy dudes pull it off and manage to not get sued, but now you can see their movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation" this weekend at Ciné, located right downtown at 234 West Hancock Ave. between Pulaski and Hull streets.

Not only that, but if you want to meet two of the guys who took the word geek to a whole new level, director Eric Zala and star Chris Strompolos will be in attendance and will lead Q&A sessions after the 4:30 and 7 p.m. showings on both Friday and Saturday. Here's the full schedule of screenings:

Friday: 4:30, 7 and 10 p.m.
Saturday: 2, 4:30, 7 and 10 p.m.
Sunday: 2, 4:30, 7 and 10 p.m.

Even if I tried, I don't think there's any way I could undersell just what these guys accomplished. Starting in 1982 when they were 10 years old, the trio spent the next six years re-creating the movie masterpiece shot-by-shot - rolling boulder, live snakes and all - in their Mississippi Gulf Coast back yards.

In case you need any more incentive, the whole thing is a fund-raiser for Project: Teenscreen, so you can do a little to help the next generation of aspiring Athens filmmakers at the same time. I'll be there Sunday, and I really hope some of you will too.

To share a little more about the movie itself, here's a YouTube clip sent to me by Tom Kelly of the Strayhorn Quarterly.

And if you'll excuse me now, I'm gonna brew a bowl of coffee and watch Monday's episode of "Heroes." God bless the DVR. Peace out.

Information overload? A slew of good movie news

I managed to see Paul Haggis' "In the Valley of Elah" Monday, and while I can report it's Haggis' best movie yet and the first one he directed that I almost entirely enjoyed, i'm still wrapping my mind around it so can't say much more than that. In the meantime, here's a ton of news about people I always like to hear about.

First up comes a serious case of trading up by Spike Lee, and confirmation at the same time that his next movie should be a great one.

It's been hard to tell exactly what Spike will sink his teeth into next, but it seems the WWII drama "Miracle at St. Anna" will indeed be next on his plate. And, in even better news, it seems that Wesley Snipes has dropped out of the lead and been replaced by Derek Luke, easily one of my favorite actors.

Though almost noone saw it in theaters, Luke starred in, for my money, one of the best movies of 2006 with Phillip Noyce's South Africa drama "Catch a Fire." In "Miracle at St. Anna," he joins an impressive ensemble that already includes John Turturro and James Gandolfini. Luke, who also stars in the upcoming "Lions for Lambs," will play one of four members of the Army's all-black 92nd Division who get separated from their squad behind enemy lines. The soldiers, bitter about racism and the feeling that their own government treats its enemy better than it does them, finds humanity in the small Tuscan village of St. Anna (filming in Italy forced Snipes to pull out because of his tax troubles.

You can now officially list as one movie that I'll report just about every detail I can find on, so get used to it now.

Confirmation that I'll watch Catherine Keener in anything

Easily the highlight of my Friday worknight was an e-mail exchange with Nell Minow, a k a Yahoo's Movie Mom, about the virtues of Catherine Keener. On the list of leading ladies, I think I'd only list Helen Mirren above her among my favorites.

And, as Nell and I agree, she's so good that we like her in movies that have relatively few other virtues, as this next one just might prove. Even with the reliable Joe Wright, director of the upcoming "Atonement," at the helm, "The Soloist" just kind of makes me say meh.

Although I liked Jamie Foxx quite a bit in "The Kingdom," just about the last thing I want to see him do is make another musical biopic, this one about Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless musician with schizophrenia who dreams of playing at L.A.'s Disney Hall. Robert Downey Jr. (huzzah!) will play the Los Angeles Times correspondent who found Ayers on the streets of L.A., and Ms. Keener will play his editor. Like I said, this sounds like way too much schmaltz for me, but it's always worth keeping an eye on a cast like that.

And, for you fellow Catherine Keener fans out there, you can also look for her in "Hamlet 2" with Steve Coogan, Charlie Kaufman's "Synecdoche, New York" and Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are."

Berg nabs epic kidnapping tale

With Peter Berg rising rapidly on my list of favorite directors and season 2 of "Friday Night Lights" coming at 8 this Friday, now comes word he's got his hands on a new project that could be tons of fun.

Universal has apparently signed Mr. Berg to direct a movie based on John Pearson's book "Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortune and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty." It's an often sordid tale that involves kidnapping and other high crimes and misdemeanors, so it should make for a compelling flick.

Berg's currently wrapping up "Hancock," his summer 2008 flick starring Jason Bateman (huzzah again!), Charlize Theron and a certain actor you may have heard of named Will Smith, and is then (I think) signed to direct a flick about Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, so he'll be fairly busy for the foreseeable future.

A "Queen" sequel? Bring it on

Though Helen Mirren rightly got most of the acclaim for playing her highness in Stephen Frears' 2006 flick "The Queen," Michael Sheen's Tony Blair was just about as amazing an accomplishment. And now, thankfully, it seems we'll be getting more of it.

Did anyone out there know there was a prequel of sorts to "The Queen," another Tony Blair flick penned for Britain's Channel 4 by Peter Morgan and titled "The Deal"? I didn't, but it's being added to my Netflix queue now if I can get it. Rounding out the series to make a trilogy, Morgan is now at work on a new flick which will be about Blair's relationships with American presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, with Sheen returning as Mr. Blair.

In "The Queen," Morgan and Sheen painted Blair as a wiley pol who nonetheless had a seemingly insatiable desire to be liked by everyone he encountered, so this next chapter should be another nice fit. Though Morgan will stop short of Blair's rather unpopular decision to back W. wholeheartedly on the war in Iraq, you can still expect some enticing palace (or, I guess, Downing Street) intrigue.

Morgan also recently finished a rewrite of "State of Play" for director Kevin Macdonald ("Last King of Scotland") and a draft of the adaptation of John le Carre's "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy." Stephen Frears, director of "The Queen," will apparently be handing the reins for the next chapter to British director Tom Hooper, who has episodes of "Eastenders" and "Prime Suspect" listed among his credits.

I always suspected so ...

Though he was more than happy enough to pocket the big Hollywood checks, you can apparently count Jackie Chan (and me) among the legions of people who just can't stand Brett Ratner.

Chan wrote on his blog, according to Yahoo, that when he made the first installment of the "Rush Hour" series in 1998 he only wanted to test the U.S. market and didn't have high hopes.

"When we finished filming, I felt very disappointed because it was a movie I didn't appreciate and I did not like the action scenes involved. I felt the style of action was too Americanized and I didn't understand the American humor," Chan wrote.

He said he made the sequel because he was offered an "irresistible" amount of money to do it and made the recently released third installment to satisfy fans of the series.

Chan said "Rush Hour 3" was no different from the first two installments for him.

"Nothing particularly exciting stood out that made this movie special for me ... I spent four months making this film and I still don't fully understand the humor," he said, adding the comedic scenes may be lost on Asian audiences.

I thought the first "Rush Hour" was funny (and harmless) enough, but didn't bother with the other two. As far as his heart goes, it certainly sounds like Jackie Chan really didn't either.

‘Bottle Rocket’ to get Criterion treatment

Be warned: If it's at all possible you just might see Wes Anderson news on this site every day until I get to see "The Darjeeling Limited." Especially when the news is as good as this.

According to the reliably entertaining MTV movies blog, it seems Anderson's "Bottle Rocket," of which I am the proud owner of a very worn out VHS copy, will someday be getting the Criterion DVD treatment it surely deserves.

“We’ve just begun work with the Criterion Collection to do ‘Bottle Rocket’ on a new DVD that’s going to have all kinds of stuff," he told MTV. "There’s a lot of ‘Bottle Rocket’ that was on the cutting room floor, so we have a lot to work with on that one.”

Though I'd rank "Bottle Rocket" third in the Anderson Oeuvre, behind, respectively, "The Royal Tenenbaums" and then "Rushmore," it's still a damn fine flick well worthy of Criterion respect.

Yes, Will Smith can do anything he wants to ...

IGN is reporting this one simply as a rumor, but it was way too funny for me to pass up.

Perhaps only to prove he can, it seems Will Smith is behind a remake of "The Karate Kid" that would star - get ready - his currently 9-year-old son Jaden. I'd be more put off by this if I could manage to stop laughing.

"Deadwood" officially dead?

Sorry to leave things on a down note, but I did want to pass along what the great Ian McShane, a k a Al Swearengen, had to tell Cinematical about the possibility of two "Deadwood" movies to wrap the story up.

It seems Mr. McShane told the Cinematical folks that, as we all feared, HBO has indeed killed the idea.

"I just got a call on Friday from ... a dear friend of mine, who told me that they're packing up the ranch," McShane said. "They're dismantling the ranch and taking the stuff out. That ship is gonna sail. Bonsoir, Deadwood."

He went on to add: "You feel cheated? Imagine how I feel! We all do. We all do. It was one of those one-off jobs that you do which has got an extraordinary creative brain behind it, and it kept getting better, and the actors were great. It was a fabulous place to be and work. It was a workshop cum theater cum film. It was an extraordinary time. But everything has to come to an end, babe."

I guess it does, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. Being constantly behind on things, I just finished season two of "Deadwood" and intend to watch the final season before moving on to season four of HBO's greatest series, "The Wire," come December. Though season one was better than No. 2, count me among the many big fans of this Western who are very sad to hear it won't be revived anytime soon.

"Golden Compass" goodness

Whew! Long report today, so anyone who made it this far indeed deserves a reward. Here's a pretty good "Golden Compass" featurette to enjoy. Peace out.