Category: Movie Comedies (Page 126 of 195)

Playing catch-up

Predator with Arnold Schwarzennegger

A few more random items worth mentioning…

* Robert Rodriguez is producing a “Predator” reboot, entitled “Predators,” to be directed by Hungarian-American helmer Nimród Antal. As per today’s Variety, along for the ride are Adrien Brody and Topher Grace. I, personally, will wait for the movie to decide first whether I’ll bother to see it and second whether these two undoubtedly talented actors are well cast here. (Grace is kind of a personal favorite and this sounds like chance to be sort of a badass Norman Bates, which I can kind of see.) However, as usual geek film bloggers and some film geek bloggers can’t wait for the movie to have an opinion, and Spout’s Christopher Campbell collates the reaction. No word on Brody’s chances for eventually becoming a not-too competent and unlucky governor of California.

* Two very tentative but interesting items from Mike Fleming today. Gary Ross, who’s past specialty was such seriocomic Oscarish fare as “Dave,” “Pleasantville,” and “Seabiscuit” but who is doing the the latest rewrite on the next “Spiderman” film may also be directing as well as rewriting a proposed “Venom” movie, without Topher Grace, most likely. The many problems with “Spider-Man 3” to my mind had nothing at all to do with Grace, but who said life was fair?

* The second Fleming item has screenwriter-director Bill Condon (“Dreamgirls“) “in discussions” to return to biographical material somewhat along the lines of “Gods and Monsters” and “Kinsey,” with a proposed film about the late Richard Pryor to star Marlon Wayans. Adam Sandler‘s “Happy Madison” company is involved at this point, which makes sense given the reverence nearly all modern comedians have for Pryor.

* Speaking of people who’ve been known to throw a few M-F bombs in the name of a laugh, our own Will Harris has an interview with the praised and maligned indie film mainstay and part-time funny de facto stand-up comic, Kevin Smith at Bullz-Eye. Very definitely worth a read. And, though I probably don’t need to say it, the following video is NSFW and is just plain dangerous to your life and career if you are anywhere near Gwyneth Paltrow, Steven Spielberg, or George Lucas.

Say the secret word

I’ve been fighting off a cold, or something, for the last week or so and now, finally, the battle may be lost for a bit and I might be taking a day or two from these premises, we’ll see.

So, for tonight’s post I’m going for what is, for me, the cinematic equivalent of chicken soup — a scene from a Marx Brothers movie, in this case the first of their films I ever saw when I was probably nine years old or so. It was funny when it was made, it was funny in the “Me Generation” when I saw it, and it’s funny now. The movie, by the way, is “Horse Feathers.”

Rainy days and movieland Mondays… (Updated)

…Can really get you down. Especially if you’re a deposed big time executive.

* Marc Shmuger and David Linde are both now former honchos at Universal. As reported in the show biz paper of record, having a far better and busier Monday are Adam Fogelson and Donna Langley, from the marketing and distribution departments respectively. As for the why, I’m sure it can mostly be summed by a number of fairly expensive/high profile box office disappointments/flops including “Duplicity,” “Funny People,” “State of Play,” and the one that got almost no respect from anyone (except Roger Ebert), “Land of the Lost.”

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Still, you can trust Nikki Finke to find a more down and dirty side (Shmuger was “‘The Schmuck'”! Poor Linde was “collateral damage”) while Anne Thompson provides her usual sober assessment and notes that the real killer might have been the lack of any apparent “tentpoles” coming any time soon.

* On a similar note, the Rich Ross ascension at Disney is starting to look like a sure thing amidst an overall shake-up — or at least that’s what they’re saying today at Variety. We’re told to expect “a greater emphasis on tentpoles and family fare.” Not a surprise…gotta have them tentpoles.

UPDATE: Ross’s promotion is official. Anne Thompson has the press release.

* Nikki Finke also has an item to gladden the heart of our own Chris Glotfelty. “Paranormal Activity” has had what the Finke terms “freakishly good” business with $15,000 per screening averages (matching the amount I’m seeing reported as the film’s budget…very spooky!) in a special midnight-only engagement in 33 cities Thursday through Saturday, which means some theaters were making those numbers not only at midnight but even on a day when most people had work/classes the next morning. The film will be expanding into a regular release in 40 cities on Friday.

After reading a few reviews and seeing some comments online in addition to what Chris wrote, I have to say that in the wake of so-called “torture porn” and considering that filmic horror has, long ago, sometimes gone to places so horrible and extreme an awful lot of us won’t even consider following (and I don’t just mean silly gorephobics like me), it’s nice to see you can still scare an audience, including hardy souls like Chris (and supposedly Steven Spielberg), to death with not much more than a big, slow build-up and some very inexpensive atmosphere and basic special effects. Is it possible that our filmgoing innocence still lingers?

* Work on the “Arrested Development” movie continues. Yay.

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Penn & Teller Get Killed

Most people have never heard of “Penn & Teller Get Killed,” let alone seen it. Whether or not it ever even had any sort of theatrical run I’m unsure, but it’s managed to amass a minor cult following on home video over the years, which makes it an ideal title for the Warner Brothers Archive series. Playing fictitious versions of themselves, it kicks off with Penn & Teller appearing on a late-night talk show, where Penn announces that he wishes someone were trying to kill him, as it would bring some meaning to his life. Before long, it appears that someone may be taking him up on the request, yet the pair has been playing an escalating series of practical jokes on one another. Is the death threat against Penn one of Teller’s elaborate ruses, or is it the real deal?

There isn’t much more to the plot than what’s written above, and the screenplay, which was penned (ahem…) by the duo, is mostly a showcase for their oddball talents and dark personalities. It elicits at least a handful of genuine chuckles, and in the final reel, delivers an unusual, quirky sense of dread as it lives up to its title. It’s difficult to recommend to anyone who isn’t a fan, as this isn’t going to turn you into one, and yet it’s a noteworthy minor pop culture history lesson: the Penn & Teller of the movie are far removed from the Penn & Teller of today. Yes, there actually was a time when these guys were all about having a good time and entertaining the audience, as opposed to the bloated Libertarian windbags they are today.

Click here to buy “Penn & Teller Get Killed”

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