February 27, 2006
Catherine Keener in Where the Wild Things Are
Catherine Keener, making an appearance on Thursday's The Charlie Rose Show, mentioned she will be playing the mother in Spike Jonze's adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, while Jim Henson's Creature Shop will be doing the monster puppets:
I'm getting ready to work with him again. He's doing Where the Wild Things Are. He's doing it in New Zealand. I'm playing the mom looking for Max. Then there will be six actors or so performing the roles of the monsters, the wild things. And then Henson's company is making puppets.
While Keener's involvement is interesting, I think the best news is the confirmation that Henson will do the puppets. If they can do work anywhere near as impressive as they did on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, we're in for a treat. There's just something about puppets that's so much more tangible than computer generated creatures. It's like you could just wait until they're asleep and slip into their little puppet beds and give them little puppet kisses all ove--Ut oh! The puppet police!
Previous Entries
Take the Lead Poster
Here's the poster to Take the Lead, and it looks just as unimpressive as the film sounds. The movie follows a famous ballroom dancer teaching some New York City public school kids how to dance, colliding with their crazy hip-hop styles. Different mixes of this plot are made every month, but what makes this one different is the inclusion of Antonio Banderas. He has his own cologne.
Besides looking like an iPod ad, the poster is pretty reminiscent of the Roll Bounce one-sheet. And this just after I promised myself to stop thinking about Roll Bounce. There have been too many sleepless nights thinking about it as it is.
Don Knotts, Darren McGavin Lost Over Weekend
This weekend, we tragically lost two great actors. Don Knotts, best known for playing the bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, Mr. Furley on Three's Company, and The Incredible Mr. Limpet in The Incredible Mr. Limpet, died Friday of pulmonary and respiratory complications. Darren McGavin, the ill-tempered father in A Christmas Story, was lost Saturday of natural causes. In memorial, I broke a lamp shaped like a leg, then made a wide-eyed, dumb-founded look at the camera.
Cars Daytona 500 Spot
To draw in the Daytona 500 fans, Pixar created a special TV spot for their upcoming Cars that showcases the racing elements of the film, sort of like waving a beer in front of an alcoholic (which many of them are). There aren't many comedic elements to the ad, and it was still looking well-below the standards set by Pixar, until we hit the final line, spoken by Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy): "Git-R-Done." That's when I laughed so hard I pissed and shit!
They should just put a confederate flag on the bumper, a Calvin urinating on Ford/Chevrolet in the back window, have the movie ticket double as a hunting license, and make the tagline, "This film forfeits our society to the hill folk. Enjoy."
Mischa Barton as Supergirl
Assuming Superman Returns is as big of a hit as the studios are counting on it being, rumor is they'd like to make a Supergirl spin-off, and The O.C.'s Mischa Barton is the frontrunner for the title role. This casting idea makes sense, because Supergirl is a powerful girl with superhuman strength and abilities, and Mischa Barton is an awkward, gangly, rat-girl. She's the perfect counterpart to Superman, assuming we recast him with David Spade.
Disney's The Wild Poster
The CG jungle animal escape movie that isn't Madagascar, The Wild, has released its new poster with the clever tagline: "Start spreading the newspaper." Because animals use newspaper as toilets. Even jungle animals. It's completely appropriate. Don't even question it.
