Here is the trailer for Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. It features Michael Cera (hey, I'm watching an Arrested Development episode right now), Kat Dennings (Catherine Keener's daughter from The 40-Year Old Virgin) and is directed by Peter Sollet, who made the pretty great Raising Victor Vargas. The trailer starts off as your typical Michael Cera comedy then turns into a sort of teenage version of Martin Scoresese's After Hours, and that's not a bad thing at all.

I've never seen this show before but I've heard it's good but I don't know for sure. What I do know is that the guy trying out for the Eagles at the start, that's my cousin. One Steven Lee Allen.

I'm not even sure if this is going to work or if it will be interesting but Columbia Pictures is streaming the premiere for Pineapple Express live tonight at 6:30pm Pacific Time and you can watch it using the player below.

When seeing Rambo, the group I was with saw the trailer for this film and the title did draw laughs. Thats about as far as my knowledge of The Midnight Meat Train goes but I do find this rather amusing. This is via Chud

I'm sorry, but this is just plain funny. This is via Chud.

Bloody Disgusting ran a report of how Lionsgate is releasing Clive Barker adaptation The Midnight Meat Train in an amazing new way.

Barely!

Exclusively in dollar theaters!

What in the hills, in the cities are they thinking? You don't release a film starring Vinnie Jones based on a short story from a series of somewhat obscure (though great) splatter books with a title that had theater audiences laughing at in only a few measly cheapass theaters! You bust that shit out on 3,300 screens, preferably in 3-D IMAX. What are the kids in the Midnight Meat Train Line who have been camping out since last October going to think?

Granted, as a fan of Clive Barker's older work and movies about beefy transit I'm looking forward to the Midnight Meat Train. I want to see it in a theater and based on BD's List [eat your heart out Oskar!] it looks like Atlanta will be deprived, choosing rather to stick with its own horrible MARTA system.

It sucks, but it's typical. Horror movies, especially ones that aren't a remake or starring Tom Hanks as The Grudge are often dumped. Part of the business. As a producer I saw our Grizzly Park go from wide theatrical release possibilities to one screen in Los Angeles for a week and from a wide DVD release to a DVD you have to hunt down to ask stores to order for you. It got to the point where I thought people were going to have to find a mystical moviola in the enchanted forest to see the thing, and that's only if they knew the secret password ["Gun-Kata"].

Part of the business, but Clive Barker himself isn't standing for it. This is where the funny gets downright HILARIOUS. Mr. Barker has issued a mandate to his fans that involves spamming Lionsgate with emails demanding a release befitting of a Vinnie Jones vehicle. Whether this is out of righteousness or a theatrical profit percentage deal is irrelevant. It's just plain great. Here's Mr. Barker's mandate. Enjoy it. Also, if you follow these instructions I demand you buy three items from the CHUD Cafepress Store as penance:

If you wish to see MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN in all its big screen glory at a THEATER near you, please do the following:

Cut and paste the message at the bottom of this post and e-mail it to:

1) investor relations at Lionsgate: keasterling@lionsgate.com

2) Lionsgate: general-inquiries@lionsgate.com

3) call Lionsgate at (310) 449-9200 and express your desire to see MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN get the release it deserves.

BE POLITE AND PROFESSIONAL! We do not want to piss them off, just want them to know how many fans out there would like to shell out their hard earned cash to see the most groundbreaking horror film of the past ten years in a real movie theater!

HERE'S A SAMPLE MESSAGE FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE (or feel free to compose your own):

Dear Lionsgate,

As a long time Clive Barker fan, I am writing you to express my strong desire to see "The Midnight Meat Train" on the big screen.

Rumors are currently circulating that the film will only be released on a limited basis and I am very concerned that I will miss my opportunity to see the most highly anticipated Clive Barker film in over a decade in all of its big screen glory!

There are millions of horror fans like myself who have been disappointed by the recent trend towards watered down PG-13 horror movies. Clive's work represents a return to serious, thought provoking horror movies and with Ryuhei Kitamura at the helm, I am even more excited to experience this collaboration, as it was intended: in a packed theater with hundreds of other horror fans like myself!

I urge you to please give this film the release it deserves!

Many thanks,
Clive Barker

Found this over at Hollywood Elsewhere (who found via various places). It is a Portland movie theater, Cinemagic, changing its marquee over from Hancock to The Dark Knight.

Strange where this is coming from but Duane Dudek from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel got a scoop on the title of the new Woody Allen film. It will be called Whatever Works and is described as "a blackish comedy."

Note: Did you get the pun up above? I used the word scoop in a story about Woody Allen movies. You didn't? Did anyone besides me see that movie?

Just read this via True Hoop but you can watch Hoop Dreams (one of, if not the best documentary ever) in its entirety at Hulu.

Or right here.

The trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I know most of you will never see this, if in fact anyone is even out there. But I think they are getting a little bit better each time out and hopefully this will continue with this film. That being said, besides the third film and oddly enough the first one, I have never watched any of the Potter films more than once.

Jack White and Alicia Keys are doing the theme song for the new James Bondy movie, so says this.

This doesn't really affect me in anyway because I hardly watch the Emmy's but this years hosts has to be the some of the worst in the history of the awards show. Now that is what I was thinking until I got down to the 4th name on the list, whom I think will probably be the best, not only Emmy host, but awards show host throughout the history of time.

Tom Bergeron
Heidi Klum
Howie Mandel
Jeff Probst (Probst!)
Ryan Seacrest

The trailer for W, the George Bush biopic has leaked and somebody uploaded it over at Daily Motion. I'm not sure how long this will last so try and watch it while you can. I still have no idea how this movie is going to to turn out but it looks more like a comedy than I ever imagined in these few short scenes and excerpts.

W. Teaser Trailer
by iliketolookatmyranch

A couple of scenes from Pineapple Express, probably my third favorite movie I have seen this year, hell, maybe the second (behind The Dark Knight and either right before of after Wall E).

This might be the worst clip I have ever seen from a movie.

I am going to call this the Christopher Nolan syndrome. After what he did for the Batman franchise hopefully more studios will be hiring capable directors to handle their tent pole projects. Anyway, Darren Aronofsky (who was once going to adapt Batman: Year One) has signed on to direct and David Self is penning a new installment of Robocop.

The Studiois keeping the story under wraps, but rumors say it will take the sci-fi vigilante classic in more of a noir direction. This being Aronofsky, the film will probably more tech-punk than noir with plenty of quick cuts and an awesome Clint Mansell score (which will then be used for every trailer made after, the same way his music for Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain basically have been).

The trailer for writer/director Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom is now online. Opening October 24th, the film stars Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi and Robbie Coltrane.

The most glaring thing I noticed from the this trailer is that Mark Ruffalo has never been nominated for an Academy Award. How is that even possible?

'Brothers Bloom' Theatrical Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

Who is ripping off who?

Mamma Mia!

This movie is crap but I was laughing all the way through it. The problem is, I couldn't figure out if I was laughing with the movie or at it. It's bad, yes, but is it supposed to be that bad? I mean, it is ridiculous in that fabulous way with an absurd story and a group of supporting actors always there to sing back up. Meryl Streep delivers probably her worst performance of all time, but it takes someone as talented as her to deliver something this bad. I know that doesn't make a whole lot of sense but see this movie and it will. The site of her rolling around on a roof top singing Mamma Mia is something that will probably never leave my mine, nor would I want it too.

I said I laughed all the way through the movie up above, and that is a bit of a lie. This movie is long, just under two hours, which is about 20 minutes too long for this type of stuff. The film is sweet as candy, but like the sweets, your stomach starts to hurt after too much. There is a scene late in the film where one person, hell, none of you are ever going to see this so I may as well go into story details. Right before her daughter is to be married there is a scene of Meryl Streep singing to Pierce Brosnan that is one of the most boring sequences in recent films. Nothing happens, absolutely nothing. The camera simply spins around the two as they stand there and she sings. This lasts the entire song but feels like the length of a whole album.

The movie is actually just on big mess. I know what happened in the last ten minutes or so of the film but I'm not sure why or how. The person who was going to get married didn't, which apparently is what the husband always wanted, and then anther person does get married in what must go down as the quickest engagement to matrimony in the history of movies. People don't even appear to be part of the same space as the background, almost like they had been photoshopped in. White lines surrounding their body while the beautiful background just sits there on a whole other plane. And the less said about Julie Walters embarrassing performance the better.

NOTE: Please stay for the end credits. Its one of the most bizarre and out of left field sequences I have ever seen.

On a statement posted on his website Roger Ebert has announced he will no longer be associated with Ebert & Roeper. This isn't really shocking considering Ebert hasn't been able to speak since 2006 but what new direction will the show take? Are there even two other critics out there that the public cares about and actively watch on television? The show has probably lost most of its relevance when every kid on his block has a movie website (heyo!) but I still tried to catch it as often as possible, in fact my DVR is scheduled to record the program every time it airs.

After 33 years on the air, 23 of them with Disney, the studio has decided to take the program named "Siskel & Ebert" and then "Ebert & Roeper" in a new direction. I will no longer be associated with it.

The show was a wonderful experience. It was a great loss to me when surgery in July 2006 made it impossible for me to appear on the air any longer. Although I remained active behind the scenes, I feel that Richard Roeper and several co-hosts, notably Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott, have excelled at carrying on the tradition Gene Siskel and I began in 1975 with "Sneak Previews" on PBS.

Gene and I felt the formula was simplicity itself: Two film critics, sitting across the aisle from each other in a movie balcony, debating the new films of the week. We developed an entirely new concept for TV. Few shows have been on the air so long and remained so popular. We made television history, and established the trademarked catch-phrase "Two thumbs up."

The trademark still belongs to me and Marlene Iglitzen, Gene's widow, and the thumbs will return. We are discussing possibilities, and plan to continue the show's tradition.

Richard Roeper also resigned from the show but I don't think anyone really cares about that, except Richard Roeper.

is attached to star in The Crusaders, a drama about the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case.

Gary Ross is attached to direct, and "Recount" writer Danny Strong will write the script.

Maguire would play Jack Greenberg, who, as an idealistic lawyer fresh out of law school, joined with NAACP Legal Defense Fund head and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to win a Supreme Court case that ruled segregation in American schools illegal.

This is by no means news or really relevant but The Dark Knight is currently ranked number one at IMDb's Top 250, just ahead of The Godfather and The Shawshank Redemption. Now this is probably attributed to any number of fanboys out there repeated voting and giving it 10's over the weekend and it will eventually slide down to sit somewhere respectively on the list. It has to, right? The movie is good, even great but this might be over doing it a bit.

Awards Daily has an article up about the Oscar chances for The Dark Knight, which is easily the best film I have see this year. They go into the history of the Academy Awards rewarding genre films and mention the following:

Remember when no toga & sandal movie ever triumphed at the Oscars… until Gladiator was nominated for 12, and won 5? Remember when no sword & sorcery movie had ever conjured up squat, until the Rings trilogy nabbed a grand total of 17 out of 30 nominations? No serial killer movie ever amounted to much until Silence of the Lambs crept up and shocked audiences out of their socks. No contemporary crime thriller had won Best Picture since The French Connection — until two reinventions blasted to the top, the past two years in a row.

Of course this film will rake in the nominations for all the tech categories but why can't it break into some of the major ones? Its really that good. The article lists the possibilities for the film to nominated:

* Best Supporting Actor • Heath Ledger
* Best Cinematography • Wally Pfister
* Best Editing • Lee Smith
* Best Music • James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer
* Best Art Direction • Nathen Crowley
* Best Make-up
* Best Visual Effects
* Best Sound
* Best Sound Mixing

I would add at least one more, Christopher Nolan for Best Director. He really does deserve to at least be nominated. I don't know what the rest of the year holds but I'm not sure if anyone will do as good a job as putting a picture together as he has here. That would make 9 Oscar nominations, not bad for a summer blockbuster based on a mere comic book.

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight is hands down the greatest comic book movie of all time. I don't even like putting it in those terms though, this film also ranks above the greatest crime dramas or serial killer films ever put onto celluloid. It's pop entertainment with subtle political jabs and a moving story all rolled into one. That it's about a guy who dresses in a bat costume shouldn't make anyone think any less of it.

All of the pre-release hype surrounding Heath Ledger's Joker performance was totally warranted. He is one of the all time great screen villains in turn that is incredibly strange, scary, and really very funny. He has moments and monologues here that make you lean forward, wondering where it is all coming from. It's not just all over the top antics either, he has quiet moments that, while no less weird, are even more frightening then him in the middle of a Gotham street with a machine gun. All the other actors put in top notch performances too. Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Eric Roberts, not a bad word can be said about any of them. I am especially involved in Gary Oldman's turn as the police commissioner Jim Gordan, a man that will do anything for his job and his family.

Try to see this film knowing as little as possible. There are so many twists and turns that its amazing it doesn't screw itself up at some point. The film is like a screw slowly tightening and it never lets up or makes a false move. I could go on and about the film but to be honest, I just want to go see it again.

Empire has the exclusive first look at the trailer for Watchmen, the adaptation of probably the greatest graphic novel of all time (and pretty much the only one I have ever read). Cut more like a music video this will probably be a bit confusing to those not familiar with the source material. I could care less as I will be seeing this opening weekend, not because I am in love with the book (it is really good, though) but because this is a big budget comic book movie starring Jackie Earle Haley.

UPDATE: Either Empire has taken the trailer down or the site has crashed due to traffic. If it doesn't work at first, try it again later.

UPDATE 2: Apple now has the trailer in glorious HD.

The 2008 Emmy Nominations were announced today and I guess the biggest news is that there were basic cable programs nominated for best series, the first time that has ever happened. I don't watch enough of the shows to really add any informative comment on the awards but I was disappointed that Survivor wasn't nominated for reality program and find it weird that Amy Poehler got a supporting actress nod for Saturday Night Live. I don't remember any of their cast member ever being nominated before. Anyway, here is an abbreviated list, head over to the official site to see the rest of the nominees.

COMEDY

COMEDY SERIES
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
The Office
30 Rock
Two and a Half Men

ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Kevin Dillon, Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Rainn Wilson, The Office

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies
Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live
Jean Smart, Samantha Who?
Holland Taylor, Two and a Half Men
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty

GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Will Arnett, 30 Rock
Shelley Berman, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Steve Buscemi, 30 Rock
Tim Conway, 30 Rock
Rip Torn, 30 Rock

GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Polly Bergen, Desperate Housewives
Edie Falco, 30 Rock
Carrie Fisher, 30 Rock
Kathryn Joosten, Desperate Housewives
Sarah Silverman, Monk
Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock

DRAMA

DRAMA SERIES
Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost
Mad Men

ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
James Spader, Boston Legal

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Glenn Close, Damages
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Ted Danson, Damages
Michael Emerson, Lost
Zeljko Ivanek, Damages
William Shatner, Boston LegalJohn Slattery, Mad Men

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Candice Bergen, Boston Legal
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters
Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment
Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy

GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Charles Durning, Rescue Me
Robert Morse, Mad Men
Oliver Platt, Nip/Tuck
Stanley Tucci, ER
Glynn Turman, In Treatment
Robin Williams, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Ellen Burstyn, Big Love
Diahann Carroll, Grey's Anatomy
Sharon Gless, Nip/Tuck
Anjelica Huston, Medium
Cynthia Nixon, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

REALITY

REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Amazing Race
American Idol
Dancing With The Stars
Project Runway
Top Chef

HOST FOR A REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars
Heidi Klum, Project Runway
Howie Mandel, Deal or No Deal
Jeff Probst, Survivor (PROBST!)
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol

REALITY SERIES
Antiques Roadshow
Dirty Jobs
Extreme Makeover
Intervention
Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List

VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY

VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Late Show With David Letterman
Real Time With Bill MaherSaturday Night Live

VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SPECIAL
Bill Maher: The Decider
George Carlin: It’s Bad For Ya!
James Taylor: One Man Band
Kathy Griffin: Straight To Hell
The Kennedy Center Honors
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project

MINISERIES OR MOVIE

MINISERIES
The Andromeda Strain
Cranford
John AdamsTin Man

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE
Bernard and Doris
Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
A Raisin In The Sun
Recount

ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR A MOVIE
Ralph Fiennes, Bernard And Doris
Ricky Gervais, Extras
Paul Giamatti, John Adams
Kevin Spacey, Recount
Tom Wilkinson, Recount

ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR A MOVIE
Dame Judi Dench, Cranford
Catherine Keener, An American Crime
Laura Linney, John Adams
Phylicia Rashad, A Raisin in the Sun
Susan Sarandon, Bernard And Doris

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Bob Balaban, Recount
Stephen Dillane, John Adams
Denis Leary, Recount
David Morse, John Adams
Tom Wilkinson, John Adams

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Eileen Atkins, Cranford
Laura Dern, Recount
Ashley Jensen, Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale
Audra McDonald, A Raisin in the Sun
Alfre Woodard, Pictures Of Hollis Woods

Robin Williams and Alexie Gilmore (no idea who that is and I am far too sleepy to look her up on IMDb) have signed to star in World's Greatest Dad.

Williams plays Lance, a high school poetry teacher who copes with his son's death from a freak masturbation accident by faking a suicide note to spare the family shame. The note, published without his permission, ends up becoming a sensation, and Lance reignites his writing career by penning a personal journal he claims was written by his son (Daryl Sabara).

Gilmore plays Claire, a teacher who has an affair with Lance.

Bob Goldthwait (ha!) wrote the script and is directing the project.

Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody has been hired to write an untitled comedy script that is based on an original idea by Steven Spielberg.

The studio is keeping story details under such tight wraps that even dealmakers involved with the project were in the dark.

The spin-off of The Office won’t be a spin-off after all but it will star Amy Poehler.

The NBC sitcom from Office writer-producers Greg Daniels and Mike Schur will not share characters with the Steve Carell series, but will still get the post-Office timeslot early next year.

Poehler will star in the new series alongside Aziz Ansari.

The title and premise of the new sitcom are as yet undisclosed and perhaps even undetermined.

The official site has the trailer for Ghost Town, Ricky Gervais' first starring role. It looks a little bland but I'll give anything with Gervais the benefit of the doubt.

I think I mentioned that Mike White had finished and turned in the script for a School of Rock sequel, if not, I am doing so now.

It also appears as though Jack Black is attached to reprise his role as rock star wannabe/substitute teacher Dewey Finn. Richard Linklater is also attached to direct again.

The follow-up,titled School of Rock 2: America Rocks, picks up with Finn leading a group of summer school students on a cross-country field trip that delves into the history of rock 'n' roll and explores the roots of blues, rap, country and other genres.

Young @ Heart

An inspiring, heart braking, wildly entertaining documentary that is somewhat brought down by the pompous and too on the nose narration of its director. The characters are the real stars here but he keeps interjecting reciting exactly what is happening or about to happen on screen. It's not enough to bring the whole film though and when he is out of the way you will find yourself completely caught up in the story of these senior citizens and their choir singing modern rock songs.

NOTE: No idea why the title of the movie is Young @ Heart and not Young at Heart, which is the actual name of the choir. I guess they were trying to appeal to the younger, text message crowd.

NOTE 2: There are also a few music videos that pop up time to time with a few of the choir members doing songs such as I Wanna Be Sedated, or Stayin' Alive. These add nothing to the overall story and seem like something that should show up as a DVD extra then been placed within the narrative. The first one was cute but after the third one showed up I was just waiting for them to end.

Warner Bros. chief Alan Horn has finally commented on the whole Where the Wild Things are fiasco. While its a bit more promising it looks like we are no where close to seeing the final film.

We've given him more money and, even more importantly, more time for him to work on the film," Horn said. "We'd like to find a common ground that represents Spike's vision but still offers a film that really delivers for a broad-based audience. We obviously still have a challenge on our hands. But I wouldn't call it a problem, simply a challenge. No one wants to turn this into a bland, sanitized studio movie. This is a very special piece of material and we're just trying to get it right."

I guess there is going to be a new one of these every Thursday. It's not funny but at least it passes the time until the next season starts.

Jonathan Penner, one of my all time favorite castaways on Survivor and who was last seen leaving Surivor: Fans vs. Favorites due to a infection in his leg, has finagled his way into a movie deal. Pennar and his wife (who were once nominated for a best live action short Oscar!) have sold an eco-horror movie called The Colony. What makes this even more interesting is that the company that picked this script up is Participant, makers of such films as Good Night, and Good Luck, Save Darfur, An Inconvenient Truth, and Charlie Wilson's War, so maybe Penner has something of quality up his sleeve.

For those of you who don't know who Jonathan Penner is, here is a video tribute somebody has posted on YouTube.



This was all learned via CHUD.

This is a bit weird, Robert Downey Jr. already has one franchise with Iron Man and now he potentially has another. He is set to star in Sherlock Holmes, director Guy Ritchie's feature drama about the fictional detective. This latest incarnation of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle character is based on an upcoming comic book which portrays Holmes as less stuffy and more adventurous, using physical prowess along with intellect to solve mysteries.

This has no relation to the just announced comic Sherlock Holmes movie, which stars Sacha Baron Cohen as the sleuth and Will Ferrell as his assistant, Watson.

Man, I love Werner Herzog. I am by no means an expert on his films but just listening to him talk is enough for me. Roger Ebert just posted an interview with the filmmaker for the release of his Antarctic documentary, Encounters at the End of the World (which is dedicated to Ebert). You can read the full transcript here but I loved the last line to this Herzog's answer and can imagine no other voice saying it.

RE: What was your method? All of the people you talk to in "Encounters at the End of the World" are genuinely interesting originals, with a particular way of discussing their lives almost objectively. Did you wander around chatting up your South Pole citizens? How did they regard the idea of a film about their settlement? Did some of them know you and your work? Among those who did not, how did you strike them?

WH: Going to Antarctica required a lot of self-confidence. There was no possibility to go on a scouting trip. I went down there only with a cinematographer (I did the production sound), and I knew I had to come back with a film seven weeks later.

The community at McMurdo did not know much about me, but they accepted me quickly. Quite a few of them I met only for a few minutes more than what you can see on the screen. The scientist who studies the gigantic glaciers ("larger than the country that built the Titanic") was on his way to his plane to New Zealand; he had only thirty minutes for me, and twenty I spent to make him feel calm and comfortable. Then I said: "I know that deep inside you are a poet. Tell me about the iceberg, and tell me about your dreams."

Pretty sure nobody cares but did anyone ever realize that Jason Segel is in SLC Punk? Does anyone remember when Mathew Lillard had some sort of promise as an actor? Now I bet he's praying for a sitcom on CBS, something Jason Segel has. Of course, the Judd Apatow connection doesn't hurt either.



UPDATE: You can watch all of SLC Punk on YouTube, starting right here. I found out all of this via The Playlist, by the way.

Carl Ellsworth (Y: The Last Man, Red Eye) has been tapped to write the remake of the 1984 adventure drama Red Dawn, and Dan Bradley, a second unit director and/or stunt coordinator on The Bourne Ultimatum, Spider-Man 3, and the upcoming Quantum of Solace, will direct the update. The original movie, which I watch pretty much every time is shows up on cable, starred Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, and C. Thomas Howell and was about a group of Colorado high school kids who take refuge in the mountains and launch an insurgency after a World War III invasion of America by the Soviets and Cubans.

I feel like this could, and should be funnier. It's the trailer for the fake documentary that was supposedly filmed during the making of Tropic Thunder, based on the famous (crazy) behind the scenes film for Apocalypse Now, Hears of Darkness. It is a fantastic idea that just comes across as flat in this clip, everyone seems too aware and that makes it seem fake.

Apple has the full domestic trailer up for Fernando Meirelles' Blindness. This one is a bit more tame than the international one posted a few days ago, hiding what seems to be a living hell once all of the inflicted are quarantined.

I came across this on Vimeo a few days ago. I remember seeing an older video some years back and enjoying it but this one is much better. You can also check out the guy's website, which has information about how he gets to do all of this and all of the other videos he has made.

A recent Variety article about Robert De Niro's thoughts on the potential actors strike had a few interesting details about some of his upcoming projects. First up was some news about not one, but two sequels to his 2005 directorial effort The Good Shepard. A film I quite admired and one that had the best girl being thrown out of an airplane shot I have ever seen.

Turning to more professional issues, De Niro said he would like to make two sequels to CIA Cold War drama “The Good Shepherd” -- one bringing the action forward from 1961 to 1989, the other following its hero, Edward Wilson (Matt Damon), up to the present day.

There was also this little cryptic note about a future collaboration with Martin Scorsese, which apparently he is already working on.

His next project with Scorsese, which he declined to detail, is one on which he’s already working and should be ready by 2009, he said.

Earlier in an interview with the festival daily newspaper, De Niro had said he was “superstitious about talking about it.”

Seth Rogen on a potential sequel to Pineapple Express (via Slashfilm).

“They’re been wanting us to do a sequel to 'Superbad' for so long – but we’ve held off. We eventually said no. But this one, it’s not a precious coming-of-age story like 'Superbad,' it’s a weed action-movie and if it did well, and they gave us like $50 million dollars (as opposed to the $26M we got for this one) we could benefit from that.

Out of all the rumored names mentioned here for the new Oklahoma City NBA team (formerly the Seattle Sonics), I really hope they go with the Thunderbirds.

Hancock

Sort of your typical summer fare, entertaining for the hour and a half you watch it but doesn't really add up to much else. In fact, the whole thing seems a little sloppy and feels like large chunks have been left on the cutting room floor in order to pump up the action scenes. Once a surprise twist is revealed (that I won't reveal here) the whole tone of the picture becomes a little heavier but still skimps over what could have potentially been some interesting material, exploring the true nature of what a super hero is. The first hour is funny and Will Smith avoids playing the character as a goofball and is, once again, really quite good in this. I probably enjoyed the material a little more simply because I am such a big Smith and Jason Bateman fan. It's not much but it makes you want to know what is going to happen next, and isn't that enough sometimes?

The International trailer for Fernando Meirelles' Blindess. This took a critical drubbing at Cannes this year but I think it looks pretty damn good.

You can head over to Pineapple Express' sountrack myspace and hear the entire Huey Lewis theme song that plays over the closing credits. You can also hear a few other selections from the cd, including a sample of the score by Graeme Revell.

Wall-E

Wall-E is easily one of, if not the best movie I have seen this year. The most endearing fictional character since E.T. and it is easily the best kids movie since Babe: Pig in the City. It's like an animated Charlie Chaplin film. The first half is so good and beautiful that I could have watched little Wall-E clean up garbage for the entire running time. Once Wall-E leaves Earth, though, the real adventure begins and you are caught up in a whole new, different type of story. One with a pretty heavy message for a kids movie that never gets in the way of being entertaining as Hell. Not only a great animated film but a great sci fi one too. It's a masterpiece of its type.

Mark Cuban is going to be in an episode of The Simpsons.

Val Kilmer and Xzibit are the latest additions to the cast of director Werner Herzog's crazy ass remake of Bad Lieutenant, Abel Ferrara's 1992 cult movie about an unhinged police officer. They join Nicolas Cage, in the title role, and Eva Mendes. Kilmer will play Cage's partner, while Xzibit is set to appear as their nemesis.

The Playlist has posted the track listing for the upcoming Pineapple Express soundtrack. Sadly missing from the disc if the Shaq song featured in the movie. I'm not upset because the song is good or anything, just that I would love a big budget comedy soundtrack to feature anything by Wilt Chamberneazy. You can also hear a sample of the Huey Lewis theme song which plays over the closing credits.

Sacha Baron Cohen and Will Ferrell are reuniting for an as-yet-untitled comedy project about Sherlock Holmes. The movie would feature Cohen as the master detective and Ferrell as his assistant, Dr. Watson. It's being written by Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) and produced by Judd Apatow and Jimmy Miller, who previously produced Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, in which the actors costarred.

Josh Holloway (Sawyer from Lost) has joined the next Polish Brothers movie I posted about a few days ago. He joins a cast that also includes Hilary Duff, Jon Cryer, Sean Astin, and Chevy Chase.

This is going to be a little bit big and might not fit but it messes up whenever I try to change the embed file size. For some reason Domino's has this exclusive new trailer from The Dark Knight that actually shows quite a bit of unreleased footage. It seems anticipations to see this film are reaching a fever pitch, especially when every new review says its more crime drama than comic book movie and with comparable mentions to Heat and the films of Sidney Lumet.

I can honestly not stand this guys work and find it a paint to sit through even a few moments of his films but damn it, he always has really great posters.

A few new character posters to what is still the best movie I have seen all year. I guess at some point I will get around to doing a first half of the year round up but I want to get around to seeing a few more summer movies before I commit to that (mainly Wall-E).