If Tyler Perry gets an Oscar nomination for his acting in Madea Goes to Jail, can a washed-up actress scold him for taking away female roles? Actually, could it just be Cuba Gooding Jr. in drag, a la Boat Trip?

Seriously, though, Madea won’t be up for any Academy Awards next year, but damn is Perry’s character popular. Enough that the sassy matriarch has now evolved from a supporting character into the star of her own vehicle (which gave the filmmaker his biggest opening yet this past weekend). Yes, it’s true that Madea is a central figure in most of Perry’s films and has previously been the main protagonist in his plays (including the one Madea Goes to Jail is based on), but in the movie world she was introduced as a secondary role in Diary of a Mad Black Woman. So, now she belongs in that small club of supporting characters who’ve earned their own film(s); other members of which include Jay and Silent Bob, Bruce and Lloyd, Cousin Eddie, Marshal Samuel Gerard, the Scorpion King and Wolverine.

And Madea is one of the very few female characters to belong to the club, which is another good reason for an actress to scold Perry. But the problem also lies with the people who write woman characters, apparently, since in coming up with ten other supporting characters who deserve their own spin off, we managed to only include two females on our list. Perhaps if we’d permitted classic film characters there’d be more to choose from — though even then we might be more likely to include a Peter Lorre or a William Demarest role than a Thelma Ritter or Eve Arden.
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• Before getting to that supposed “disappointing” debut of Australia, let me first congratulate Milk for cracking the top 10 while opening on only 34 screens. The film’s five-day Thanksgiving Weekend total gross is $1.9 million, meaning its per-screen average was an unbelievable (and apparently record-breaking) $51,833. Meanwhile, fellow limited-release powerhouse Slumdog Millionaire was kept at bay at 11th place, though its per-screen average continues to amaze at more than $36,000.
• Now for Australia: the film placed fifth for the holiday stretch, taking in less than half as much as box office winner Four Christmases ($46.7 mill.). However, its $14.8 million three-day take is a million more than that of the wide opening for Baz Luhrman’s previous film, Moulin Rouge. Also, its older audience, which had other, more familial commitments last week, will likely show greater interest as the film is out longer, especially if there’s good word of mouth. Most importantly, though, Australia at least didn’t perform as badly as Transporter 3.
• Cheers couple Kelsey Grammer and Bebe Neuwirth will be reunited for MGM’s Fame remake. They’ll play employees of the performing arts high school alongside fellow TV vets Charles S. Dutton and Megan Mullaly, as well as original Fame student Debbie Allen.
• Steve Buscemi and Kelly Macdonald are to star in Martin Scorsese’s new HBO project, Boardwalk Empire, which will depict the origins of Atlantic City.
• And speaking of HBO series, Rome may conclude on the big screen.

A new R-rated trailer for the Coens’ Burn After Reading showed up online this week, and though it reminds me of a lot of Coen favorites, particularly Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski, it initially made me think of Tom DiCillo’s Johnny Suede. I don’t know if you could classify Brad Pitt’s hairstyle in Burn After Reading a pompadour, but that first shot of him in the trailer called to mind his tall greaser ‘do in the 1991 cult classic.

So, here’s a few clips from the earlier film (for the Burn After Reading trailer, go here) in which the title character (Pitt) encounters Freak Storm (Nick Cave, who would later appear in and score Pitt-starrer The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford). Note the conversation Freak has in the bar. It in turn reminded me of the Coens, who always seem to have a variation of “I need my money” or “where’s the money” or something like that. It’s too bad DiCillo never rose to the Coens’ status or talent, despite working with Coen Bros. regulars like Steve Buscemi and John Turturro.

If you’re in the habit of visiting websites, you’ve probably seen ads for Interview, Steve Buscemi’s remake of a Dutch film by the same name, which stars Sienna Miller and which opens in limited release this Friday. Buscemi’s Interview is the first in a series of three films (the others are to be directed by Stanley Tucci and John Turturro), in tribute to the director of the original Interview, Theo Van Gogh. In 2004, Van Gogh was murdered by a Muslim extremist, who was acting in response to Submission: Part One, a ten minute film about the oppression of women under Islam, made by Van Gogh in collaboration with Ayaan Hirsi Ali. That film is embedded above.

I haven’t seen Van Gogh’s Interview, but I’ve just returned from a press screening of Buscemi’s, and in terms of style, content, weight and intent, it’s about as far away from Submission as you can get. Van Gogh has become something of a martyr since his death; a famed free-speech advocate in life, his body was found with a 5-page “jihad manifesto” attached to his chest with a dagger. His murder has since been used by some members of the Dutch government, as supporting evidence in their quest to limit immigration.

Put simply: the idea that the best way to pay tribute to that guy is to have three American actors remake his films is somewhat baffling. And after having seen Interview … well … am I the only one struggling to see how the solipsistic fantasy that Buscemi has committed to celluloid could possibly be seen as a proper tribute to anything?