Feb 19 2009 Last Chapter of Focker Trilogy Finally in Development
You'd think that after meeting your wife's parents and then introducing them to your parents, most of your family-related comic mishaps would be over. Not the case (if you're Ben Stiller)! If you're Ben Stiller, and your father-in-law is Robert De Niro, you'll never escape from a living hell of pratfalls and nervous family interactions. You might as well kill yourself. But first have kids, because that will make for a great movie where De Niro can accuse you of milking your children:
It looks like "Little Fockers" is finally coming of age.The long-gestating third installment of the comedy franchise is maturing quickly at Universal — but with new parents.
John Hamburg has been brought on to write the screenplay after Larry Stuckey penned an earlier draft.
Meanwhile, Jay Roach, who of course directed the first two films and had been loosely attached to direct this one, will not helm the picture. The hyphenate is concentrating on the comic romp “Dinner for Schmucks” for DreamWorks and Parkes/Bowles and only will produce “Fockers.”
Among the candidates said to be in the running are comedy veteran Paul Weitz, who wrote and directed “In Good Company” and co-wrote and co-directed “About a Boy”; the quirky-comedy figure David Wain, writer-director of cult pic “Wet Hot American Summer” and Universal’s male-buddy hit “Role Models”; and Peyton Reed, who directed the current Jim Carrey starrer “Yes Man.”
On the casting side, Stiller, Robert De Niro and Owen Wilson — the last of whom had unrelated small parts in the first two pics as an ex-fiance and a minister, respectively, but could have an expanded role here — are in negotiations to star in “Fockers.”
I could always tell we'd need a trilogy to tell the entire Focker arc. Such a rich narrative. At the end of Meet the Fockers, you just get the sense that Ben Stiller needs one more film where he'll finally fully rise above all the family strife, then slip and fall into a pile of dirty diapers. Classic three-act structure.
Feb 2 2009 'Night at the Museum 2' Poster is 'OK'
Or so the Lincoln Memorial tells me! It would be less obnoxious if they had Lincoln in a backwards cap, lowering his sunglasses as he jumped a skateboard over the cast. I mean, if we're going to have a statue of the Great Emancipator doing something stupid, then let's gets nuts with it.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Poster [IMPA]
Dec 19 2008 'Night at the Museum 2' Teaser Uses Museum Definition Loosely
Ben Stiller is back in a museum, and it's night, so I think you all know what that means! (Things coming to life!) And since it's the Smithsonian this time, that means even more notable statues and wax recreations of historical figures are making hilarious living cameos! And since the Lincoln Memorial is also apparently considered a museum, there's also Lincoln! Here's a teaser:
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Oct 23 2008 Either Starsky or Hutch Directing 'Chicago 7'?
Well, DreamWorks, looks like you aren't going to get Spielberg to direct The Trial of the Chicago 7, Aaron Sorkin's script about the 1968 riots at the Democratic convention. Time to move on to plan B. Has anyone directed Robert Downey Jr. in blackface for a popular comedy spoofing Hollywood? Yes? That's perfect, second only to Steven Spielberg. Get that person. That's your man. Thusly:
"The Trial of the Chicago 7," the DreamWorks project about the 1968 riots at the Democratic convention and their aftermath, is a high priority for the newly configured studio and is moving forward quickly.The latest well-known director who has met on the project is Ben Stiller; while the discussions for Stiller to helm the film are very much at the exploratory stage, the actor and DreamWorks are mulling whether such a pairing would work for both parties. A "Chicago" gig would mark a departure for Stiller, who has directed such successful comedies as "Tropic Thunder" and "Zoolander," but has not helmed a serious political picture of this kind before.
Despite all of the horrible comedies he's been in, Stiller isn't a bad director, and could probably do a very competent job with this. But at the same time, when I hear Ben Stiller is directing a serious film, all I can think is when he directed a war drama on Extras. Regardless of how well he might direct The Trial of the Chicago 7, the real disappointment is going to be if we don't hear that he quoted Meet the Fockers box office figures on set.
Aug 28 2008 'Rain of Madness' is Free on the iTunes
Rain of Madness, a documentary parody of Apocalypse Now documentary Hearts of Darkness chronicling the making of Tropic Thunder (the fake Tropic Thunder within real Tropic Thunder, obviously) is now available for free on iTunes. It sounds like a thick, mucusy wad of meta I can't yet bear to swallow, but you can check it out here. I'll probably just wait for the fake book within a book.
Jul 8 2008 'Tropic Thunder' International Trailer, for the Fart-Loving Foreigners
It still feels like watching an extended MTV Awards sketch to me--largely because the last MTV Awards sketches were just extended commercials for this movie--but there is a new international trailer for Tropic Thunder. If there was any question whether Ben Stiller's latest would be a biting satire or just a collection of fart jokes, let me point out that this trailer literally contains a fart delivered as a joke. I'm not saying the film will necessarily consist entirely of fart jokes, but I'm the kind of guy who finds some mold on his bread and throws away the whole loaf. By which I mean I'll wait until this sweeps the MTV Movie Awards before I'll bother with it.
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May 23 2008 'Tropic Thunder' Poster is Triumvirate of Laughs
This is the version of Cerberus that guards the gates of Comedy Heaven. To get through you have to resist laughing, which is clearly impossible after seeing those wacky expressions, so it's likely no one will ever reach Comedy Heaven.
Tropic Thunder Poster [IMPA]
May 22 2008 Jay Roach Warns of More Austin Powers, Focker Sequels
Mike Myers and Ben Stiller may have been temporarily distracted promoting the shit out of their respective zany new comedies on American Idol last night, but Jay Roach wants to remind us all that we aren't out of the woods as far as Austin Powers/Meet the Focker sequels are concerned. The director spoke to MTV and warned that everyone involved is thinking about ways to make comedy as a whole just a little broader with another sequel to either/both series, effectively jangling the keys to his nuclear armaments, adding, "We’re just trying to find the right story that makes it worth doing again." So if you're around Jay Roach at a dinner party or something, don't mention any new time periods where it would be funny to say "Groovy, baby!"; don't speak of ways pratfalls led to disaster with your in-laws; no midget jokes. Otherwise, you will be held responsible when Mike Myers puts in those hilarious prosthetic teeth.
Sequels To 'Austin Powers,' Meet the Parents' Inching Along [MTV]
Apr 2 2008 Stiller Producing 'King Doug' Sans Kevin James
Comics are so totally hot right now. Thusly, Ben Stiller has announced plans to produce and possibly star in The Return of King Doug, an adaptation of Greg Erb and Jason Oremland's upcoming graphic novel. Hollywood Reporter says the story "centers on a man who must return to the fantasy world which he abandoned 30 years earlier," though if you skim the article, catching only "King", "Doug", and "Stiller", you'll be positive someone is making a King of Queens movie. Try it! It's horrifying but true.
Ben Stiller set for 'The Return of King Doug' [Hollywood Reporter]
Mar 18 2008 'Tropic Thunder' Trailer Assaults You with RDJ's Blackness
You may think Ben Stiller is an A-list comedy star who's taken more than his share of execrable roles, and is as guilty as Will Ferrell of expecting us to continually enjoy the same tired schtick. But he's totally not. As this trailer to Tropic Thunder demonstrates, Stiller considers his wacky comedy persona to be perched well above the world of overly-serious actors, action stars, rapper-turned-actors, and his fellow wacky comics, giving him the freedom to lambast them with hammy, painfully obvious satire.
At least the trailer alleviates any concerns about the questionable taste of Robert Downey Jr. playing a white man playing a black man. It's not derogatory, just really tiring after only two-and-a-half minutes.
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Mar 10 2008 'Tropic Thunder' Humorless Teaser Trailer
Many traditionalists will argue that a teaser trailer to a comedy should, in some way, hint at the presence of humor--that there should be some indication that comedy may occur. Not so, says this trailer to Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder, noting that Robert Downey Jr. in blackface and a man saying "motherf***er" could almost be considered humor if you've never smiled before.
But seriously, were there jokes in this? Where? More importantly, why does it look like a fan-made trailer, cobbled together from available production stills and an Entertainment Weekly feature?
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Mar 5 2008 First Look at 'Tropic Thunder', RDJ as C. Thomas Howell
In the seven years since directing Zoolander, Ben Stiller has had a lot of time to decide the next ego-driven profession to lance with the blunt skewer of broad comedy. With Tropic Thunder, Stiller transitions from male models to the realm of self-important actors, and has replaced the intense model-stare he so frequently employed with a new face: blackface. Yes, if the black man in above image looks familiar, it's because that's RDJ:
Robert Downey Jr. plays Kirk Lazarus, a very serious Oscar-winning actor cast in the most expensive Vietnam war epic ever filmed. Problem is, Lazarus's character, Sgt. Osiris, was originally written as black. So Lazarus decides to dye his skin and play Osiris, um, authentically.
It's obviously dangerous territory, but Stiller assured Entertainment Weekly that he "recently screened a rough cut for African-Americans, and was relieved at the reaction." Stiller also informed the magazine that he's now allowed to use "the N-word" because he's got this black friend, and he's totally cool with it.
Does Jack Black look like a fat version of the villain from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? to anyone else?
Stiller's new comedy [EW]
May 31 2007 Trailer: Farrelly Brothers Still Trying
A marvel of form and function, the hat both covered Sarah's softspot AND kept her from eating her hair.
Back in the day, the Farrelly Brothers were the brains behind Kingpin, Dumb and Dumber, and There's Something About Mary (hell, I even liked Outside Providence). But since '99, we've gotten Shallow Hal, Me, Myself & Irene, Osmosis Jones, Stuck on You, and Fever Pitch.
The trailer for their latest, The Heartbreak Kid, with Ben Stiller and Rob Corddry is now online. Another turd would bring them closer to irrelevance, but regardless of what happens, they'll probably be hearing drunk idiots slur quotes from their movies until the day they die.
On another note, anyone else think the blonde chick, Malin Akerman, looks a whole lot like Hannah Hilton? Or possibly a cross between her and Joey Lauren Adams? Look, Malin, if that is your real name, all I'm saying is that you're generic looking.
Apr 18 2007 Kinsberg to Give Hardy Men Raging Clue
Simon Kinberg, the dude who wrote Mr. & Mrs. Smith, xXx 2 (nominated for the 2005 Teen Choice award for "Choice Rap Artist in a Movie"), and the third X-Men movie, has been hired to do a complete overhaul of the Hardy Men script, which will star Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller as the grown up Hardy boys.
I, for one, think this is a fantastic idea. In fact, I was just watching my xXx 2 Criterion Collection DVD the other day (as I'm wont to do), and I was thinking to myself, you know what the best part of this movie is? The writing. The dialogue is just top shelf, and the plot has more twists than an Anaconda! Which makes sense, because Ice Cube was in both Anaconda and xXx 2. X3 was also great. All through the first two movies I was thinking, "Enough of this Wolverine shit, I want to see the guy who lives in the woods and throws sticks."
Tom Cruise playing a Hardy Boy? There's a an easy gay joke here, but you know what? I've got too much class. And money. And rippling muscles.
Call me ladies.
