Just as we’d prefer for Hollywood to remake bad films rather than beloved classics, we’d also like to see more TV adaptations of obscure and failed series — as long as there’s going to be such a giant void of creativity anyway, why not go for the forgotten titles and at least make it seem like you’ve got fresh ideas?
Unfortunately, Hollywood continues to ignore our logic and is instead adapting the popular 80s cop show T.J. Hooker for the big screen. It may not be the most familiar or beloved series of all time, but it has enough name recognition to make it a success, a la the S.W.A.T. and Starsky & Hutch movies before it.
We have no interest in yet another veteran/rookie team-up, though, especially a blatantly recycled one. So we decided to mine deeper into our TV Guide issues from the 80s and pick out some lesser-known high-concept shows that would make awesome movies if only they had more of a built-in, nostalgic audience to justify a green light.
Check out our pitches after the jump, and thank us when Hollywood gets wise to the ideas. …Read more
I’m always game to devote one of these roundups to Ghostbusters 3news, but when it relates to a personal favorite list I wrote 7 months ago, I’m especially interested. Maybe you remember I already cast the female version of Ghostbusterswith Elizabeth Banks, Anna Faris, Tina Fey, Niecy Nash, Zooey Deschanel and (replacing the original female cast members) Adrian Brody and Jay Baruchel. But I guess Dan Aykroyd’s latest interview spew of G3 hype is worthy of continued casting ideas, because like Bill Murry before him, he’s focusing our attention on the prospects of girl Ghostbusters. Specifically, he’s proposing the names Alyssa Milano and Eliza Dushku as potential costars for him and the elder team.
Are they good choices? Most people are shocked at the bland suggestions. But remember these are just actresses Aykroyd thinks are “amazing.” Let’s see what the rest of the blogosphere thinks, after the jump.
Believe the hype––at least, to a certain extent. Zack and Miri Make a Porno is Kevin Smith’s all-around high score for the current decade, and as a date movie for the demographic looking for a formula of 5% genuine romance underneath 95% poop and dick jokes, it’s way more fun than the film that made Seth Rogen a plausible leading man, Knocked Up. But what’s really exciting about is its seemingly autobiographical subtext referencing Smith’s own career –– which, unfortunately, is thrown in the flaming trash can of traditional romantic comedy in the film’s final twenty minutes, but which nonetheless makes Zack and Miri seem more heartfelt than any View Askew production since Chasing Amy.
It’s the night before Thanksgiving, and all through the town, everyone’s bitter and desperate to get laid. In a working class suburb of Pittsburgh, in the midst of a realistically icy, muddy, shitty winter, lifelong best friends and roommates Zack (Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks, finally proving to me that she’s a different person than Rachel McAdams) work menial jobs and are nowhere near able to pay their bills. (Side note: it’s interesting that Smith, currently at his most bloated in memory––he’s been thrilling crowds for months with a story of being so fat that he broke a toilet––has made his most convincing film yet about the frustrations of being skint.) At their exceptionally depressing high school reunion set to the pop hits of 1998 (Marcy Playground and MASE, finally playlist bedmates once again), Zack and Miri discover from a former classmate’s porn star significant other that they (and Miri’s pair of oversized granny panties) have become accidental YouTube stars. Zack has an epiphany: if people are already looking at their asses on the internet for free, why not get paid for it?
It’s a tired gag, but filmmaker Tony Kaye (American History X) has fun with the “it’s not what you think” shtick and manages to make it work better than normal. However, whether it’s actually thanks to him or to the ever-lovable Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen is unclear. What is clear, at least, is that this promotional video for Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Pornois probably too good for the feature film it’s linked to. Kaye is the one who should be releasing his eighth movie, while Smith should be the one making experimental non-commercials for him.
The other thing I have to say about any promotional materials for Zack and Miri is this: more Darryl Robinson! That man is comedy gold, and while the poo in the toilet joke in the trailers is funny, it’s mostly Robinson’s bits that have me interested in this movie. And I hate the idea of wanting to see another Kevin Smith flick after Clerks II, so for anyone to make this seem appealing to me is worth his weight in gold.
In a new interview with MTV, City of Ember star Bill Murray has called for the makers of Ghostbusters 3to introduce a female Ghostbuster. My first thought was that hottie who models the sexy Ghostbusters Halloween costume, but seriously it is a great idea. As long as the concept is to pass on the proton packs to a new generation, there really should be an actress in the bunch. And I’m not talking just a hot young flavor of the month who Hollywood thinks will get the teen boys in the audience (it’s Ghostbusters 3; they’re already sold). I agree with Murray that the main requirement should be a funny female.
However, instead of merely picking out one comedienne to appear in the sequel, SpoutBlog has decided to imagine a remake of Ghostbustersin which the entire team is made of women. So, here are some casting choices for a gender-reversed version:
Part of the fun of attending Fantastic Fest are the Secret Screenings, which aren’t announced until right before the film rolls. This year there were leaks, whispers and rumors galore, with the most rampant one being that we were going to get treat to Oliver Stone’s W, which sadly didn’t happen. It was have been great to see this on a week that ended with an Obama/McCain debate.
Instead, the secret screenings included The Brothers Bloom, Appaloosa, RocknRolla, and the surprise dark horse in the bunch, Role Models. It definitely sticks out among the entire Fantastic Fest lineup like the Sesame Street “One of these things is not like the others,” and it joins Kevin Smith’s Zack & Miri as the only other raunchy comedy in the Fest. The film stars Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott, and is directed by comedian David Wain, best known for Wet Hot American Summer and The Ten. Check out the review and the interview with Wain and Rudd below.
Kevin Smith has directed his most emotional film with a decidedly non-emotional title with Zack & Miri Make A Porno. Rife with penis and poop jokes, it’s not really a departure from his entire Askew-niverse, but the film does hit some emotional chords that Smith had only really hit before in Chasing Amy. Granted, I wasn’t a big fan of Clerks 2 (although I loved the original), but I found myself really liking Zack & Miri.
In our in-depth interview, Kevin Smith talks about Jason Mewes’ penis and Ben Affleck’s reaction to it, dealing with the MPAA’s obsession with poop, and how this movie came together. He also talks a bit about his next project, Red State. Don your flak vests and kevlar helmets, because there’s quite a few f-bombs in here, as well as a slew of spoilers from Zack & Miri.
Believe the hype––at least, to a certain extent. Zack and Miri Make a Porno is Kevin Smith’s all-around high score for the current decade, and as a date movie for the demographic looking for a formula of 5% genuine romance underneath 95% poop and dick jokes, it’s way more fun than the film that made Seth Rogen a plausible leading man, Knocked Up. But what’s really exciting about it is its seemingly autobiographical subtext referencing Smith’s own career –– which, unfortunately, is thrown in the flaming trash can of traditional romantic comedy in the film’s final twenty minutes, but which nonetheless makes Zack and Miri seem more heartfelt than any View Askew production since Chasing Amy.
In a working class suburb of Pittsburgh, in the midst of a realistically icy, muddy, shitty winter, lifelong best friends and roommates Zack (Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks, finally proving to me that she’s a different person than Rachel McAdams) work menial jobs and are nowhere near being able to pay their bills. It’s the night before Thanksgiving, and all through the town, everyone’s bitter and desperate to get laid. (Side note: it’s interesting that Smith, currently at his most bloated in memory––before the film, he thrilled the crowd with a story of being so fat that he broke a toilet––has made his most convincing film about the frustrations of being skint.) At their exceptionally depressing high school reunion set to the pop hits of 1998 (Marcy Playground and MASE, finally playlist bedmates once again), Zack and Miri discover from a former classmate’s porn star significant other that they (and Miri’s pair of oversized granny panties) have become accidental YouTube stars. Zack has an epiphany: if people are already looking at their asses on the internet for free, why not get paid for it?
After watching the trailer for Oliver Stone’s W. a few weeks ago, I had the impression that the George W. Bush biopic wasn’t going to be an impersonation fest. Of course, we only really got to hear James Cromwell as George H.W. Bush, and he didn’t seem to be bothering to sound like anything other than himself — not that I was expecting him to do Dana Carvey doing the senior Bush, but a bit of a change in voice, in order to make me not feel I’m watching the junior Bush getting yelled at by L.A. Confidential’s Captain Smith, would have been appreciated.
Fortunately, as we can now see in some new behind the scenes footage courtesy of Access Hollywood, Josh Brolin is making an effort to sound like the man he’s portraying. Maybe it’s not so perfect that he’s mistakable for the real deal when you listen to the audio alone, but at least he doesn’t just sound like Josh Brolin, either. The video also gives us additional glimpses of Toby Jones as Karl Rove and Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush. The latter can be seen studying actual footage of the President (and likely the First Lady) and practicing mannerisms, and thankfully providing a tiny bit of playfulness to an otherwise too-serious looking set.
Now, when do we get to hear Banks speak? And, for that matter, when do I get my anticipated impersonations of Condi, Colin, Karl, Don and Dick?
In a recent post titled “Something Not Worth Seeing,” KY lubricant spokesman Perez Hilton, with his usual wit, class and delicacy, declared that Oliver Stone’s yet-to-shoot George W. Bush was was not his cup of tea. “We’d rather go see the Rachael Ray life story….on Lifetime!” was how the blogger put it, writing in the second person presumably based on the assumption that he speaks for an entire nation. To punctuate his assessment of the unmade Stone film’s quality, Mr. Hilton playfully altered a photograph of the actress cast as Laura Bush by painting a disembodied, semen-spewing penis over her lips.
Not content to leave the matter at that bit of MS Paint protest, when the next casting announcement for Stone’s film hit the wires, Hilton once again saw fit to inform his public that W does not bear the coveted Perez Hilton seal of approval. “We still don’t think we’ll spend money to watch it,” Hilton sniffed at the news that James Cromwell and Ellen Burstyn had been cast as the Bush parents. “We wouldn’t watch even if it were free.”
Why doth Perez protest so much? He can’t be a closet Bush protector––in the second post, he refered to our Commander in Chief as “arguably America’s worst president ever. And dumbest!” So I wonder: does Hilton know something about Stone’s not-yet-existent film that we don’t know? Perhaps in addition to his skills at cock-drawing and self-promotion, Perez Hilton has been gifted with clairvoyance?
A California appeals court has refused to force the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to give a “retroactive Oscar” to Bob Yari for producing Crash. Yari was excluded from the film’s 2005 Best Picture win when the Academy changed qualification rules the same year, limiting a film’s eligible number of producers to three. Yari, who financed a large chunk of Paul Haggis’ “Race is hard” drama, has been in court begging for an Oscar ever since.
In news that will crush Chris’ Brolin family dreams, Elizabeth Banks is on the verge of being cast as Laura Bush in Oliver Stone’s George W. Bush movie, which begins shooting next month.
On what planet would investors think an extraordinarily fickle, recession-panicked moviegoing public would be willing to pay $35 for a movie ticket––plus extra for “theater-friendly foods” like sushi and wine? Um…
Jessica Alba may be appearing in a lot of movies these days, but I wouldn’t exactly say she’s been keeping busy. It can’t be too much work to play the role of “Eye Candy” again and again and again. This time she plays a girl who is used in exploited for a vengeful ploy by a husband (Aaron Eckhart) to invoke jealousy in his cheating wife (Elizabeth Banks). The character could have been played by any pretty face (in fact Alba replaced Lindsay Lohan in the role), but Alba seems to be the most appropriately cast, because she’s one of the hottest actresses right now and yet she seems to be easily accessible to any filmmaker who wants to employ her. Last week we looked at another movie starring Alba, The Love Guru. In that she seems to have a more disposable role — she’s not really introduced until halfway through the trailer, and even then it’s unclear what purpose her character serves other than to invoke erectile gags from Mike Myers.
Meet Billpremiered last fall at the Toronto Film Festival, where it was merely titled Bill. Apparently it wasn’t met with much excitement, despite the obvious appeal of watching Eckhart as a sad-sack (unlike Alba, he’s cast against type) in a comedy that looks part classic screwball and part Rushmore (with roles switched all about). The odd thing about this trailer is that with Alba playing the part of “Eye Candy”, she ought to be featured wearing lingerie for marketing purposes (see trailers for Good Luck Chuck)rather than Banks. Sure, Banks is also gorgeous, but Alba is the one that Americans obviously prefer to be objectified.
Here’s proof that Kevin Smith is the old and busted comedy filmmaker and Judd Apatow is the new hotness. Smith is totally biting Apatow’s meta, viral-marketing shtick with this video starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, which is meant to promote Smith’s upcoming movie Zack and Miri Make a Porno. It is also meant to parody the continuing string of “I’m Fucking So and So” videos (Sarah Silverman fucking Matt Damon, Jimmy Kimmel fucking Ben Affleck, Karina Longworth fucking Diablo Cody — oh wait, that last one hasn’t happened yet).
First of all, just casting Rogen and Banks makes Zack and Miri appear like an Apatow-movie wannabe. Then referencing Apatow’s films — the very premise of the video mocks the premise of Knocked Up and obviously it literally references The 40 Year Old Virgin and Apatow himself — builds up that appearance more. Mind you, I’ve never been a big fan of Smith’s work, but he has been around longer and should be more original than this. Right?
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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I’m always game to devote one of these roundups to Ghostbusters 3 news, but when it relates to a personal favorite list I wrote 7 months ago, I’m especially interested. Maybe you remember I already cast the female version of Ghostbusters with Elizabeth Banks, Anna Faris, Tina Fey, Niecy Nash, Zooey Deschanel and (replacing the original female cast members) Adrian Brody and Jay Baruchel. But I guess Dan Aykroyd’s latest interview spew of G3 hype is worthy of continued casting ideas, because like Bill Murry before him, he’s focusing our attention on the prospects of girl Ghostbusters. Specifically, he’s proposing the names Alyssa Milano and Eliza Dushku as potential costars for him and the elder team.
A California appeals court has 
