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Paul Giamatti plans on playing Larry in the Three Stooges movie.  Giamatti in the movie, which will be directed by the Farrelly brothers, adds a new twist to the project because Jim Carrey will play Curly (maybe not, more below) and Denicio Del Toro spices up a whole new dimension playing Moe. Originally, it was announced that Sean Penn would play Larry, but he is on an indefinite sabbatical with his family. That is why Giamatti was kind enough to step in and take the part of  Larry.  Wise guy!

Yet I am having a hard time visualizing Giamatti as Larry. That’s why I am saying it adds a twist to the Three Stooges Movie.  Giamatti seems more like a Curly or Moe, but I guess there is nothing wrong with casting against type.  Don’t get me wrong, I think, Giamatii is a fine actor. He’ll do great.  I am just thinking of the physical aspect of the character. The more I think about it the more I find it interesting.

Let me go on to say that Boston.com is the source for his revelation. While Giamatti was at the Nantucket Film Festival he spoke of his role in the Farrelly brothers’ movie. That same article says that Jim Carrey is off the project as well. Who will play Curly? My first thought is Giamatti, but he will play Larry.  

Once the trades officially announce the casting, this all will play out like a scene in the Three Stooges.

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Popularity: unranked [?]

Is your soul weighing you down?  Paul Giamatti has found a solution!   In the surreal comedy Cold Souls, Paul Giamatti plays an actor named… Paul Giamatti. Stumbling upon an article in The New Yorker about a high-tech company that extracts, deep-freezes and stores people’s souls, Paul very well might have found the key to happiness for which he’s been searching.  But, complications arise when he is the unfortunate victim of “soul-trafficking.”  Giamatti’s journey takes him all the way to Russia in hopes of retrieving his stolen soul from an ambitious but talentless soap-opera actress. Cold Souls also stars David Strathairn, Dina Korzun and Emily Watson.

I wanted to share with you the launch of The Soul Storage Company’s “official” website, complete with the Soul Upload application!  You will be able to show the world what you have on the inside!  You can upload your soul and share it with friends on Facebook – and even be able to steal a friend’s soul.

Popularity: unranked [?]

So, okay, I’m jumping the season just a tick–not even the stores have their decorations up yet, but surely we’ve heard of Christmas In July?  That and I haven’t actually seen it yet, so it’s on the list.

Anyway, this time we’re going up north, to get a better look at jolly old Saint Nick’s family life, including his disgruntled older brother Fred.  Why is Fred disgruntled?  Well, having a saint for a little brother can do that to you–especially when your little brother’s sainthood winds up making you immortal.  And when you wind up as a repo man, often taking away the gifts that Santa brought for Christmas, it’s enough to leave you a little…well…bitter.  And Fred’s no different.  But after prevailing on his little brother for bail money, Fred’s forced to head to the North Pole to work off the bail money brother Nick provided.  Will Fred be just the little extra punch Nick’s operation needs?  Or will Christmas collapse under its own weight?

It didn’t take me long to enjoy this movie.  In fact, it only took a few minutes to watch as character actor Vince Vaughn threw himself into a headlong run being chased by several Salvation Army Santa Clauses, and to watch as genius veteran actor Paul Giamatti waddled into frame in a fat suit, to firmly convince me that this at least had every chance of being a total comedy riot.

And there’s a lot to like about this movie–there are plenty of funny bits.  For instance, when Nick introduces Fred to the Ten Most Naughty list, pause the DVD and read the descriptions.  Some of these are priceless, if a little out of order.  Just to show you what I mean, and spoiler just a couple, I really don’t see how “wore same underwear for seventeen days” qualifies you as MORE naughty than someone who “poisoned fourth grade class hamster”.  You’d think murder puts you ABOVE poor hygiene on the naughty list, but hey.  That’s Santa’s prerogative, I guess.

Okay, sure…on many levels you can see a lot of this coming.  When even Family Guy can make jokes about Vince Vaughn’s career (”This is my impression of every Vince Vaughn movie ever: I’m utterly incapable of feeling love. Oh, wait–no I’m not.”), you know they’ve got a good reason.  “Go after the easiest target ever” is pretty much the modus operandi out there, so you know that if they notice it it’s right out in the open.    And yes, by all reasonable standards, this has been done unto death.  But we’re not here for original thought.  We’re here to hear an old chestnut told just a little bit differently, and frankly, the way they’ve told it is pretty sweet.

Sure, it’s trite.  It’s cliched.  It’s hackeneyed.  Virtually every punch of the writing is telegraphed so hard it comes Western Union.  But does that make it any less effective?  No, not really.  It’s still a force to be reckoned with.  It does what it sets out to do, and in the end, can we ask for much more?

No, not really.  Though this suffers from the albatross of cliches around its neck, it still manages to be entertaining and even a smidge heartwarming.  A full six out of ten for getting the job done, but in the messiest fashion possible.

Popularity: 1% [?]

My first impression of this story was not good to say the least.  The story line seemed too far fetched and appeared fanciful. Now viewing the Cold Souls trailer, I am marveled. Paul Giamatti hilarity side comes out like a cold blast of hot screaming wit of all wits, impeccable timing.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Paralyzed with anxiety over an upcoming role, Paul Giamatti slips into a high-tech company assuring to alleviate his uneasiness with a treatment called deep-freezing souls. Giamatti signs up for the treatment with the intent to reinstate his soul after he survives the performance. But complications follow when a soul-trafficking mule borrows Giamatti’s stored soul for an striving, but unfortunately talentless, soap-opera actress.

I really like the poster. I don’t care for the plot of this movie even though Cold Souls is billed as a comedy.  The story is pretty crazy and hard to believe it could actually happen.  The pitching session for the film must have been so convoluted that the producers said “Sure” out of spite for sitting and listening to such dung. Movie opens August 7, 2009.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Hollywood Elsewhere reports that Paul Giamatti, Meryl Streep, Sacha Baron Cohen and Reese Witherspoon are apparently circling a project called Downsizing that will be directed by Alexander Payne.

"Nothing is locked down at this juncture, not even script, certainly not cast,” a source told blogger Jeff Wells. “[Payne is] still working on screenplay, although he’s close."

Payne is currently working on HBO series Hung that stars Anne Heche and Thomas Jane as a high-school basketball coach who capitalizes on his large penis.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Babylon, an independent film is set with Paul Giamatti and Antony Mackie starring and Andres Baiz directing. 

Shooting will start in Jamaica this February.

Mackie is set to play a Rasta from the isolated hills of Jamaica and Giamatti will play a British minister. They accompany a 12-year-old Jamaican boy from the Kingston ghetto as they try to outrun gangsters.

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Duplicity looks like a fun film to watch on the big screen. The casting makes the film while it appears to have Tony Gilroy’s twists, suspense with a hit of comedy.

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