Ok, where did this come from and how long is it before David Gordon Green becomes a superstar director? Fox has picked up Good Vibes, a pilot presentation for a half-hour animated comedy that centers on two high school surfer dudes living near the beach in California.

Green is writing the project and will exec produce, along with Good Humor TV's Tom Werner and Mike Clements and animator Brad Ableson.

A new trailer for Baz Luhrmann's Australia, starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. This film is looking less and less like the straight up epic I had thought it to be and more along the lines of Luhrmann's other films (Romeo and Juliet, Moulin Rouge!), just in a different setting. I am also sort of digging the faux Explosions in the Sky music accompanying this footage. It shouldn't work but it sort of does.



UPDATE: I can't tell if that is actually Explosions in the Sky on the soundtrack or just some imitation.

UPDATE 2: It is Explosions. This via The Playlist.

Ha! Today is the day of trailers featuring random music that I actually can spot all by myself without someone else telling me. Here, in this latest clip from Baz Luhrmann’s sprawling pre-World War Two epic of gorgeous proportions "Australia," featuring my absolute favourite instrumental band of all time Explosions In The Sky's “The Only Moment We’re Alone," and their songs were also featured in the film version of “Friday Night Lights.” When I heard the track, I thought had it playing on iTunes in the background, but I guess whoever compiled the trailer just has good taste. “Australia” opens in cinemas on the 26th of November, and I am just about popping out of my skin with anticipation.

The trailer for Seven Pounds, starring Will Smith and directed by his The Pursuit of Happyness helmer Gabriele Muccino. This trailer doesn't really make clear what the story is but it does use that wonderful music from the end of Michael Bay's The Island, which was also used in the trailer for The Golden Age last year.

Here is some comic book film news I can get behind, Kenneth Branagh is negotiating to direct Thor.

Branagh made one of the all time great (if not greatest) Shakespeare adaptations with his version of Hamlet, not to mention the also wonderful Henry V. From what I know about Thor, it is somewhat Shakespearean by design. Here is what the Wiki page says about the character:

The Marvel version of Thor is noble and very self-assured, sometimes to the point of arrogance. Thor's father Odin decides his son needs to be taught humility and consequently places Thor (without memories of godhood) into the body and memories of an existing, partially disabled human medical student, Donald Blake. After becoming a doctor and thoroughly believing himself to be the young surgeon Blake, he later discovers Thor's disguised hammer and learns to change back and forth into the Thunder God. The real Blake's persona remains elsewhere until many years later, after Odin becomes satisfied of Thor's humility and lifts the spell, thereby removing the need for a mortal alter ego. The mortal experience, however, shapes Thor into an honorable and courteous individual, who is loyal to all comrades.

Sounds like it could have come straight out of the Bard's notebook. Right?

A new trailer for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Another great Paul Newman movie ending.

One of the all time greats, Paul Newman, has died. I just re-watched The Color of Money, his Oscar winning role, last weekend. This was an actor too great to be measured by winning an award though. One of the most charismatic screen icons, the moment he entered the frame the film became more interesting. The Hustler, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson, The Verdict, The Color of Money, Road to Perdition, and these are just off the top of my head. The man was a legend. I don't like to think about him being gone though. I want to picture his last moments like the ending of Butch Cassidy. Trapped and surrounded, making one last run towards freedom and then frozen in an immortal freeze frame.

Roger Ebert has a great, long, and lightly edited transcript on his website or an interview with Spike Lee. Lee's new film, Miracle at St. Anna, comes out this weekend and this is the main topic but Ebert and Lee also go into his history as a filmmaker, the history or black soldiers, and many other tangents. It's a fascinating read.

Cloverfield (still much better than it probably had any right to be) director Matt Reeves has been hired to write and direct a remake of Let the Right One In.

Tomas Alfredson's original Swedish vampire film of the same name tells the story of a young boy who befriends a girl who happens to be a vampire. Hammer acquired the English-language remake rights when Alfredson's picture won rave reviews at the Tribeca Film Festival. It is supposed to be the type of film that crosses over genre lines from not just being a great horror film but an all out great film.

Rachel McAdams will star opposite Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes.

McAdams plays Holmes' enigmatic love interest, Irene Adler, a character who appeared in Doyle's 1891 "A Scandal in Bohemia."

Best poster of the year?

A new trailer for Oliver Stone's W, film I am anticipating more and more with each passing day.

How do you extend a franchise when your main character dies at the end of the film (except in the much better alternate cut? You make a prequel.
Warner Bros. his planning a prequel to the Will Smith starrer "I Am Legend.

The plan is for Smith to reprise his role as scientist Robert Neville, with Francis Lawrence returning to direct.

The prequel will chronicle the final days of humanity in New York before a man-made virus caused a plague that left Smith’s character the lone survivor among a mutated mob in the city.

Yesterday at some sort of Disney event, it was announced that not only had Johnny Depp been cast in as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland film and as Tonto in The Lone Ranger (he is part Cherokee) but also to return as Jack Sparrow in a 4th Pirates film. Read more details on all this here.

Gil Cates is out as the producer of the Oscars and the Dreamgirls team of producer Laurence Mark and writer-director Bill Condon are in. This is great, while I wasn't the biggest fan of Dreamgirls, at least it was visually interesting. Cates for the past few years has been using questionable tactics (putting music behind the speeches a few years ago) and worst of all, his productions had become boring.

Angelina's gonna eat that kid.

A not so great trailer for the Notorious B.I.G biopic, Notorious, starring Jamal Woolard as Biggie and Derek Luke as Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs.

You can now download the new Michael Moore film, Slacker Uprising, for free at the film's website. I haven't got a chance to watch it but plan on trying to over the weekend.

I also forgot to update on this. Sometime ago I mentioned that No End in Sight would be up on youtube. That time has passed but the Oscar nominated film is still there and will be until the coming presidential elections.

For no other reason than it just popped in my head.

This is one hell of a trailer for Sundance winner, Ballast. Gritty and beautiful without a hint of musc and minimal dialogue, this immediately feels like something different and new.

Discovered this via The Playlist, Summit Entertainment has a page on their website devoted to Terrence Malick's next film, Tree of Life. Anyone that if familiar with Malick's history of making movies knows it is a bit of a miracle anytime he decides to make a film. This film has now wrapped and is being released sometime next fall. The page also has the first synopsis (below) of the film, which stars Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.

Our picture is a cosmic epic, a hymn to life.

We trace the evolution of an eleven-year-old boy in the Midwest, Jack, one of three brothers. At first all seems marvelous to the child. He sees as his mother does, with the eyes of his soul. She represents the way of love and mercy, where the father tries to teach his son the world's way, of putting oneself first. Each parent contends for his allegiance, and Jack must reconcile their claims. The picture darkens as he has his first glimpses of sickness, suffering and death. The world, once a thing of glory, becomes a labyrinth.

Framing this story is that of adult Jack, a lost soul in a modern world, seeking to discover amid the changing scenes of time that which does not change: the eternal scheme of which we are a part. When he sees all that has gone into our world's preparation, each thing appears a miracle — precious, incomparable. Jack, with his new understanding, is able to forgive his father and take his first steps on the path of life.

The story ends in hope, acknowledging the beauty and joy in all things, in the everyday and above all in the family -- our first school -- the only place that most of us learn the truth about the world and ourselves, or discover life's single most important lesson, of unselfish love.

Man on Wire

Man on Wire is an engrossing, inspiring, and at times frightening (if you are scared of heights, as I am) documentary, probably the best one I have seen in some time. The film tells the true story of Philippe Petit, a French wire-walker, who crossed eight times on a tight-wire between the two towers of the World Trade Center on Aug. 7, 1974.

Made with with a surprising amount of footage from the planning stages all the way to the actual event, the film also splices in reenacted footage as well as present day interviews. What seems like a straight forward story continues to become more and more interesting as the event draws closer and the stakes are raised to a surprising degree.

I went into this film knowing very little of the subject, just a brief synopsis and seeing the trailer once. I was enraptured from the moment it started, showing a reenactment of how the crew broke into the WTC, is has as much excitement as the best thrillers or bank heist pictures. There is also a beautiful sequence early on in the film showing the beginning stages of the buildings being built, split screen with photos of young Philippe growing up. No voice over, just the images and wonderful music that plays throughout the story. It is moments like this (and there are many more but I really don't want to give anything away) that makes this the wonderful work of art is is.

Woody Allen, being political.

“It would be a very, very terrible thing for the United States in many, many ways,” he said.

Democratic hopeful Obama, Allen said, is “so much better” than Republican rival John McCain, and “represents a huge step upward from (the) incompetence and misjudgement” of the Bush administration.

“It would be a terrible thing if the American public was not moved to vote for him, that they actually preferred more of the same.”

Here is the full list of Emmy winners from last nights broadcast. Glad 30 Rock won so many awards, really haven't seen any of the other winners.

* Outstanding Drama Series — Mad Men
* Outstanding Comedy Series — 30 Rock
* Outstanding Lead Actress, Comedy Series — Tina Fey, 30 Rock
* Outstanding Lead Actor, Drama Series — Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
* Outstanding Lead Actress, Drama Series — Glenn Close, Damages
* Outstanding Lead Actor, Comedy Series — Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
* Outstanding Lead Actor, Miniseries — Paul Giamatti, John Adams
* Outstanding Lead Actress, Miniseries — Laura Linney, John Adams
* Outstanding Writing Drama Series — Matthew Weiner, Mad Men
* Outstanding Directing Drama Series — Greg Yaitanes, House
* Outstanding Writing, Comedy Series — Tina Fey, 30 Rock
* Outstanding Director, Comedy series — Barry Sonnenfeld, Pushing Daisies
* Outstanding Miniseries — John Adams
* Outstanding Writing, Miniseries/Movie — Kirk Ellis, John Adams
* Outstanding Directing, Miniseries/Movie — Jay Roach, Recount
* Outstanding Supporting Actress, Miniseries - Eileen Atkins, Cranford
* Outstanding Supporting Actor, Miniseries — Tom Wilkinson, John Adams
* Outstanding Made for Television Movie — Recount
* Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - Dianne Wiest, In Treatment
* Outstanding Supporting Actor, Drama - Zeljko Ivanek, Damages
* Outstanding Supporting Actress, Comedy - Jean Smart, Samantha Who
* Outstanding Supporting Actor, Comedy - Jeremy Piven, Entourage
* Outstanding Guest Actress, Drama Series — Cynthia Nixon, Law & Order
* Outstanding Guest Actor, Drama Series — Glynn Turman, In Treatment
* Outstanding Guest Actress, Comedy Series — Kathryne Joosten, Desperate Housewives
* Outstanding Guest Actor, Comedy Series — Tim Conway, 30 Rock
* Outstanding Individual Performance, Comedy Special - Don Rickles
* Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Program - The Daily Show
* Outstanding Writing, Variety, Music, or Comedy Program - The Colbert Report
* Outstanding Director, Variety, Music, or Comedy Program - Louis J. Horvitz (Oscars)
* Outstanding Reality Show Host — Jeff Probst
* Outstanding Reality-Competition Series — The Amazing Race
* Special Commemorative Emmy for Tommy Smothers — Writing, Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

The trailer for Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road, a film that no matter what will probably be compared to Mad Men just because of the time period.

I just posted last week about how great of an actor Nicolas Cage is even though he makes a ton of bad movies. It was beginning to look like he was coming back around to being in quality pictures again, starring in Werner Herzog and Roman Polanski directed films that should come out next year. Now it looks like he is returning to the dark side. He is reteaming with Dominic Sena, the director of his 2000 action remake of Gone in 60 Seconds, for a new movie called Season of the Witch (which was the original title for Scorsese's Mean Streets). The film chronicles the journey of 14th century knights transporting a girl suspected of being the witch responsible for spreading the Black Plague.

Guess who is hosting SNL tonight.

Stephen Chow, one of Asia's most popular box-office draws as the award-winning star and director of such films as Kung Fu Hustle, CJ7, and Shaolin Soccer, will direct Seth Rogen and star opposite him as Kato in comic book adaptation The Green Hornet.

Dr. Dog - Lola's 9/12/08 from You and Yours on Vimeo.

EW.com has really gone downhill. While it was never much of a movie centric site, they at least would have new castings and reviews on their main page and it was a sort of one stop shop to catch up with a little pop culture news. Now they seem to have become obsessed with generating web traffic and to artificially rise their viewer numbers by providing nothing but lists that you must click through individually. Now don't get me wrong, I love lists. Love to read them, love to write them, love everything about them. But these lists aren't even in any order, just randomly chosen and the subjects leave a little something to be desired. A sampling of today's selection: 15 greatest Emmy moments, 20 dumbest TV shows ever, 16 great election-year movies, 13 movie dresses that impress, and 28 wacky TV/movie neighbors. I wish I was making those last two up but I'm not. This is what it has come to.

Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman and Faizon Love are all joining Couples Retreat, a Favreau-scripted, Peter Billingsley (Ralphie from A Christmas Story!) directed comedy.

The story, which Vaughn came up with, follows four couples who go to a tropical island resort. While one couple is there to work on their marriage, the others are there to play but soon discover that participation in the resort’s couples therapy is not optional.

Jude Law will more than likely join Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes, the drama that Guy Ritchie is directing. Law will play play Watson, the super-sleuth's sidekick.

I have never even seen a Guy Ritchie film so I don't know how excited I am about this, despite being a big Downey Jr. fan. I really wish they would let Law play Watson as his character Gigolo Joe from A.I. Get that teddy bear from that film too.

NOTE: This video is horrible but it was the best I could find of A.I. on youtube.

Roger Ebert has added Spike Jonze's Adaptation to his list of Great Movies. I re-watched this recently and had forgot how good it really is. Always being a huge fan of the film, I was surprised to be reminded of all the sadness that is plaguing Charlie's solitary life as a writer, as well as many of the other characters in the film. Not that this is a downbeat film by any means, its a hilarious comedy, mixed with a thriller (in the third act, at least), mixed with about five or six other things I don't even know how to describe. My favorite passage from the review doesn't have much to do with the film, instead it focuses on how great Nicolas Cage can be. I know he can be really bad, horrible even, but when he is on he is fantastic.

There are often lists of the great living male movie stars: De Niro, Nicholson and Pacino, usually. How often do you see the name of Nicolas Cage? He should always be up there. He's daring and fearless in his choice of roles, and unafraid to crawl out on a limb, saw it off and remain suspended in air. No one else can project inner trembling so effectively. Recall the opening scenes in "Leaving Las Vegas." See him in Scorsese's "Bringing Out the Dead." Think of the title character in "The Weather Man." Watch him melting down in "Adaptation." And then remember that he can also do a parachuting Elvis impersonator ("Honeymoon in Vegas"), a wild rock 'n' roller ("Wild at Heart"), a lovesick one-handed baker ("Moonstruck"), a straight-arrow Secret Service agent ("Guarding Tess") and on and on.

He always seems so earnest. However improbable his character, he never winks at the audience. He is committed to the character with every atom and plays him as if he were him. His success in making Charlie Kaufman a neurotic mess and Donald Kaufman a carefree success story, in the same movie, comes largely from this gift. There are slight cosmetic differences between the two: Charlie usually needs a shave, Donald has a little more hair. But the real reason we can tell the twins apart, even when they're in the same trick shot, comes from within: Cage can tell them apart. He is always Charlie when he plays Charlie, always Donald when he plays Donald. Look and see.

I know none of this is really that relevant but I have been on a Roger Ebert wave lately. I am currently reading his book on Scorsese ("Scorsese by Ebert," was there ever a simpler title?) and just picked up his earlier book Alone in the Dark.