In one of the weirdest TV announcements to hit the internet in a long time, it appears that super director Spike Jonze and comedian David Cross will be crossing the pond to make a British comedy series. It’s certainly an odd choice, but one that is completely understandable. After all, British television has been responsible for some of the greatest TV comedies ever produced (some might even say the greatest). The production companies and networks in Britain simply allow more creative freedom than any American network not called HBO. If anything, it’s surprising that no American comedian has crossed the pond before.
Oddly enough, Spike Jonze won’t be directing this show. He’ll be starring in it alongside David Cross. Initially, this decision seems like a mistake given that Jonze is the mastermind behind Being John Malkovich, the upcoming Where The Wild Things Are movie, and about 75% of the memorable music videos and commercials from the last 15 years. You’d think his talents would be best suited behind the camera on this project, but Jonze is actually quite a talented comedic actor. He’s only had one role so far in David O. Russell’s Three Kings, but he was spectacular in it. The only reason he hasn’t acted since (excluding the occasional Jackass stunt) is probably just because that was such a troubled production (George Clooney legendarily attacked the director at one point). It’s actually great news to hear that Jonze will be acting again, because he’s an untapped talent as a comedic actor. Here’s a sample of his work in Three Kings:
In the upcoming series, Jonze will play a US executive who’s mistakenly sent to Britain to run the company’s UK division and finds himself in over his head. The show will be called The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret and will be written by David Cross and Shaun Pye. The hysterical Mr. Show star David Cross will also be co-starring in the show with Jonze, along with his Arrested Development buddy Will Arnett. With David Cross in the driver’s seat creatively and with Jonze and Arnett at his side, it’s practically impossible that this show won’t be funny. Working in British television should also give the three talents the type of artistic freedom they’ve always craved in the US. If this show doesn’t instantly become one of the funniest things on television, then I think it’s time to get rid of TV all together. Seriously, if this epic comedic cocktail doesn’t work, then the whole medium is screwed.
Sean Penn Drops Out Of Three Stooges
Oscar-winner Sean Penn broke the hearts of millions of comedy fans today. Having recently scored Oscar #2 for his work in Milk, Penn has decided to take a year off of acting to spend time with his family. Obviously that’s a perfectly reasonable decision to make, but it means that Penn has dropped out of the two movies he was set to shoot this year. The first film is Cartel in which Penn was set to play a father who travels to Mexico to save his son from the gangsters who killed his wife. The film is currently locked to start shooting in the autumn, so the studio is in a mad dash to replace Penn. Though the movie sounds like a promising thriller, Penn should be easily replaced. It doesn’t exactly sound like a movie that would only worked with Penn. The real tragedy is that Penn will no longer be appearing in the Farrelly Brothers’ upcoming Three Stooges update.
Penn was always an odd choice to play Larry in the Stooges movie, but that’s what made it so exciting. The guy hasn’t really done much straight comedy since the glory days of Fast Times At Ridgemont High and the prospect of seeing him poking eyes with Benicio Del Toro and Jim Carrey in a Farrelly bros. directed Three Stooges movie seemed too good to be true. Sadly, it looks like it was in fact too good to be true. Fortunately, the Farrelly Brothers’ have no intention of abandoning their Stooges movie now that Penn is no longer involved. In fact, the fart joke loving brothers are already considering alternatives. Word on the street is that the list of possible replacements includes Paul Giamatti, Simon Pegg, Zach Galifianakis, and even Larry David.
Too me, the last three casting options sound like little more than rumors. Galifianakis and Pegg are really popular in Hollywood right now given the success of Star Trek and The Hangover, so I’m sure they are just being considered for any comedy role. Larry David would obviously be a hilarious choice, but it’s hard to imagine him agreeing to appear in the film and I’m assuming he’s only in the running because he’s bald and named Larry. Of the four options, Paul Giamatti seems like the right choice. Like Del Toro and Carrey, the man has considerable comedy chops, but is also a great character actor and should be able to disappear into the role. He would make a great Larry…but not as good as Sean Penn would have been. That was fantasy casting and it’s a shame that we’ll never get to see Penn doing pratfalls with the Stooges. It looks like Spicoli is always going to be Penn’s only iconic comedic role…sigh…
Shia Labeouf Reveals That Indiana Jones 5 Is Coming
Last May my heart was broken. After years of waiting for the Harrison Ford/Steven Spielberg/George Lucas dream team to reunite, I finally got to see a new Indiana Jones movie. I excitedly got to the theater early and giggled like a little boy as I waited to be blown away by another chapter of one of the greatest escapist franchises ever made. What I got was an abortion. A half-baked Indy sequel that replaced stunning physical stunts with lazy CGI, spiritual artifacts with alien bullshit, and quality Spielberg storytelling with late career George Lucas narrative laziness. It was a tragedy and I have yet to meet a single person who wasn’t disappointed in the movie. But out of childhood nostalgia we all went to see it and the piece of crap ended up grossing over $800 million worldwide. That means that a sequel is pretty well inevitable and sadly Shia Labeouf confirmed that it will be happening today.
Speaking to the BBC about his upcoming giant robot flick Transformers 2, Labeouf let it slip that he will be playing Indiana Jones’ estranged son again soon. According to Shia, “Steven [Spielberg] just said that he cracked the story on it and I think they're gearing it up." Noooooo! Not again! The last thing the world needs is another crappy Indiana Jones movie. Temple Of Doom used to be considered the crappy entry in the serious, but it’s a masterpiece compared to that Crystal Skull garbage! On the plus side, it sounds like Spielberg came up with the story this time. The reason it took so long for a fourth Indy to be made is because Lucas insisted that the movie be about aliens and Spielberg and Ford refused to make it because they thought it was a terrible idea. Well, they were right, but Lucas is laughing all the way to the bank. Hopefully Spielberg has taken all the justified criticism that was launched on the movie last year to heart and wants to make another Indy flick to make up for it. At least, that better be the case. Another crappy Indiana Jones movie might just cause me to abandon hope in movies forever. No scenes like this next time Spielberg:
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