Screenhead

So after seeing–and enjoying!–the trailers for Despicable Me, it’s interesting to see that another supervillain-centrated cartoon will be hitting theatres.

After catching my colleague Kenna’s take on the whole thing, I had to throw in my own two cents–this is just bizarre.  Really, bizarre.  Took about two minutes to scrape my jaw off the floor after THAT little chunk of news hit.  I mean, in what universe do you replace   ROBERT DOWNEY JR. with Will Ferrell?  Isn’t this like replacing A-Rod with Charlie Brown?

And, even on the off chance you’re going to try and replace Robert Downey Jr. with ANYONE, why Will Ferrell?  I can think of a hundred better candidates off the top of my head! Seriously–couldn’t Stiller call in some help from his Mystery Man days?  Surely William H. Macy could’ve handled the job.  After playing The Shoveler, I can’t see how he couldn’t get Metro Man down.  Dan Castellaneta’s Blue Raja comes easily to mind, and even Paul Reubens’ The Spleen could’ve probably done a better job than Will Ferrell.

Will this incredibly brave–or incredibly stupid–move pay off?  We’ll have to wait to see–this is slated for a November 2010 release.

It’s hard not to effuse wildly about a movie like Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.  It contains so much of what we want to see in our movies, it has an excellent pedigree, it even has a special sort of enthusiasm all its own, but sometimes, our own biases must be pushed aside for the sake of a greater truth.

What greater truth, you ask?  Am I just being pedantic and pretentious for fun again?  No, not really–but first, the plot rundown.

Larry Daley, played by Ben Stiller, is back for more late-night museum fun, but it’s not all about the museum for him any more.  His inventions have finally taken off, and Larry finds himself in the position of men like Ron Popeil and Billy Mays and that loud schmuck Vince from those ShamWow! commercials.  He’s even hosting his own infomercials for his newest product, the Glow in the Dark Flashlight, with help from George Foreman, who himself has hosted infomercials. But Larry doesn’t quite seem satisfied–considering that his LAST job had him tearing around a museum trying to keep peace with the exhibits who became animated after dark thanks to Egyptian magical artifacts and also busting a ring of corrupt guards, it’s easy to see where “hawking gadgets” might be considered a step down.  Even if they’re your OWN gadgets and you own the company.  Anyway, the last museum, filled with the living exhibits, is being transferred to the National Archives following a restructuring and renovation of the old museum.  But the Egyptian artifact manages to follow them thanks to Dexter the capuchin monkey, and a whole new kettle of worms is opened as the artifacts ORIGINAL owner is out to take it back, and he’ll be nowhere near as benevolent about it as its current owner.

Like I said, there’s a lot to like here for virtually everybody.  There are jokes created by two guys from Reno 911, for crying out loud.  Those guys can write jokes like no freaking tomorrow.  There’s action and suspense and thrills and comedy and fully TWICE the monkey action of the original (yes, there are TWO capuchin monkeys in this one) and a downright celebration of the American can-do get up and go spirit that made this country what it is today…but somehow…somehow….

Maybe the biggest problem with this movie is that it’s so very similar to the last one.  Bigger museum, sure.  Bigger evil plot, yes sir.  Much bigger, in fact.  Bigger laughs, bigger jokes…but somewhere, in all the drive to go and make the movie bigger they forgot to include much of anything that distinguishes it from the FIRST one.  Oh, look–there are the Mongols, grunting and gesticulating wildly…and there’s the Moa head still asking about gum-gum from every dum-dum that passes by…yeah…that’s not old or nothing.

I spent most of Night at the Musuem: Battle of the Smithsonian convinced that I was actually just watching the first one again, only without the funniest part of all, watching Larry try to get adjusted to his new environment.

But maybe I’m being too harsh.  Maybe I’m not taking notice that this movie is still great, despite the fact that it’s not really that original.  It’s a retread, but it’s still a pretty good retread.  I laughed, I nodded, I understood and followed.  The only real downside is that they spent a whole lot of time going over ground they’d already gone over.

It’s like a joke you’ve already heard–still funny, but nowhere NEAR as funny as the first time.

Previously shelved sci-fi comedy Used Guys is being brought back to life, courtesy of Ben Stiller and Reese Witherspoon. The project was previously setup at Fox, with Stiller and Jim Carrey slated to star. It was cancelled due to budgeting issues and the fact that the big names would bring down profit levels for the studio.

The film is now being retooled into a vehicle for Stiller and Witherspoon. The story is set in a future run by women who clone and trade men like used cars. It will focus on the relationship between a clone (Stiller) and his owner (Witherspoon).

Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine) are negotiating to helm the project. It is expected to undergo a script rewrite/polish but no one has been hired yet.

Ben Stiller is set to direct Help Me Spread Goodness, a drama with comic insinuation.

The story concerns a Chicago banker who is swindled in a Nigerian Internet scam.  

Although the movie is bent on the entertainment side of the situation, it gets a little serious on current issues in Nigeria and other African countries, which hopefully will compel audiences to see the need for social change.

Director Noah Baumbach has signed on three actors to star along with Ben Stiller in the dramedy Greenberg.

Rhys Ifans, Brie Larson and Juno Temple have joined the movie, which starts shooting later this month.  

Baumbach also wrote the script about a New Yorker (Stiller) who moves to Los Angeles to housesit for his brother and figure out his life. He ends up having a relationship with his brother’s assistant (Greta Gerwig).

Ifans will play Stiller’s best friend, who is going through a divorce. Larson will play Stiller’s college-age temptation, and Temple will portray her buddy.

Sure to be a bad idea come reality, they are making a third Meet the Parents film titled Little Fockers, and they have hired John Hamburg to rewrite Larry Stuckey’s screenplay for it.

Jay Roach, who directed the first two films in the series, will not return to the director’s chair this time. The producers are in talks with the likes of Paul Weitz (About a Boy) and Peyton Reed (Yes Man) to helm the project.

Ben Stiller, Robert DeNiro and Owen Wilson are in talks to reprise their roles.

I have a handful of actors whom I know if I go to the movie theaters to see their movies, I will be entertained.  I never feel cheated. Tom Cruise is one of those actors and for good reason. He puts integrity into his work. It shows through the way he promotes his films.  Even in his interviews with talk show hosts he’s there 200%, making sure the interviewer is engaged in the interview just as much as Cruise is. One example is Oprah’s interview at Cruise’s home in Colorado. He was genuine and very honest and open.

It is no wonder that at least five producers are vying to get Cruise to say yes to their projects.

The trades are reporting a strong courtship of Cruise comes at a time when studios are thinking long and hard about which actors deserve to be paid superstar gross deals.  I agree, Cruise deserves it like Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Will Smith and Ben Stiller.

There are those who might say otherwise but producers are enthusiastic for the actor after the success of Valkyrie. The Bryan Singer film did better than expected around the world, and that no major star except Will Smith works to promote a movie as hard as Cruise.

Variety reports the top three candidates for Cruise’s next opportunity:

Matarese, which also has Denzel Washington attached, and will soon get a rewrite by Cronenberg.

The Tourist, the Spyglass remake that would co-star Charlize Theron. A rewrite was turned in this week by Christopher McQuarrie, who co-wrote and produced “Valkyrie” with Cruise, and whose script work was informed by long talks with Cruise as they barnstormed publicity on the UA WWII film.

Motorcade, the Len Wiseman-directed DreamWorks thriller that pits the U.S. president against terrorists who commandeer his motorcade on the streets of Los Angeles. Billy Ray is racing to complete a rewrite of the script, with Cruise’s input.

Personally, I hope it’s with David Cronenberg and Denzel Washington in Matarese. I’d love to see these three work together.

Reuters reports that Robert Downey Jr., Tina Fey and Ben Stiller are in talks with DreamWorks Animation to star in the company’s dark superhero project Master Mind.

Written by Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simmons, the film deals with a brilliant supervillain who loses his life’s purpose when he accidentally kills his good-guy nemesis.

The satire is being produced by Stiller’s Red Hour Films and is scheduled to hit theaters November 5, 2010.

This trailer appears to be slightly different than the first one I posted.  There is more details and more frames of General Custer, which I think he is going to steal the show. Enjoy!