Nov 11 2009 Karl Pilkington Gets His Round Head and Hangdog Face Animated
You should really be listening to the Ricky Gervais podcasts. If you are already, good job. If you're not... well, fine, but not listening because you "hate things made of sound" because they make you use your "brain eyes" is no longer a valid excuse (usually that would be a valid excuse). Soon, the audio series will be coming to HBO in the form of animation! No more using your brain eyes! You'll be able to use your eye eyes!
Here are a couple previews:
Continue Reading " Karl Pilkington Gets His Round Head and Hangdog Face Animated "
Oct 2 2009 'Tooth Fairy' Trailer: Dwayne Johnson Gobbles Up Vin Diesel's Leavings
It's hard to put into words exactly how unfortunately bad Disney's Tooth Fairy looks from this trailer, so I'm just going to try laying out the major plot points, and maybe enough of the awfulness will ooze through to prepare you for what you're about to see.
1. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a hockey player so good at knocking out teeth that he gets to sit in a customized, ice-side recliner during penalties.
2. The new young, hotshot hockey player thinks Rock is old.
3. The Rock informs a young fan that being a professional hockey player is a very high aspiration.
4. It is revealed the Rock does not believe in the tooth fairy.
5. The Rock becomes a tooth fairy.
6. The Rock undergoes a fairy boot camp (allowing opportunities for him being hit in the balls).
7. Miracle Max gives Rock magic things.
8. The Rock decides to forgo the magic things, instead dressing up in hockey pads for some reason.
9. The Rock uses his invisibility spray to haunt the young hotshot player.
10. Somehow all this teaches Rock a lesson
Even Tim Allen wouldn't do this movie, and he's essentially done this movie several times:
Continue Reading " 'Tooth Fairy' Trailer: Dwayne Johnson Gobbles Up Vin Diesel's Leavings "
Jul 10 2009 'Cemetary Junction' Behind-the-Scenes: Eat It Again, Voldemort
From the BBC, here's a featurette that gives a behind-the-scenes look at a film high on my "G.D. I want to see this!" list, Cemetary Junction. We briefly get to see some scenes being shot, but more importantly, co-writers/directors Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant take the opportunity to take yet another stab at Ralph Fiennes:
Continue Reading " 'Cemetary Junction' Behind-the-Scenes: Eat It Again, Voldemort "
Jul 8 2009 'Cemetery Junction' Teaser: About Time Fiennes Gets His Comeuppance for 'Maid in Manhattan'
Want to see Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant mock Academy Award-nominated actor Ralph Fiennes to his face? Why wouldn't you? So enjoy.
Jun 23 2009 'Cemetery Junction' Photos: Gervais is a Blue Collar Badass
From Ricky Gervais's blog, the first shots of the actor-comedian sporting a popped collar and dangling cigarette on the set of Cemetery Junction. In the David Brent tradition, here's hoping I will regard this character as both laugh-out-loud hilarious and deeply, gut-wrenchingly tragic. That's my favorite combination of fictional human.
Jun 15 2009 Meet Your Partial 'Cemetary Junction' Cast
For your simple-to-assemble, esoteric-reference-based Halloween costume consideration: the young stars of creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's upcoming period film, Cemetary Junction. Seen here in a costume/makeup test, the three are what Gervais and Merchant saw as "the English 23 year-old, John Travolta, James Dean and Lou Costello." I was thinking "the '70s Jonas Brothers with John C. Reilly on bass," but I can see the Travolta/Dean/Costello thing too.
On a side note, I'm really interested to see how the Office creators will handle this less-pathetic-looking-than-usual cast.
Apr 10 2009 Voldemort Joins 'Cemetary Junction'
Cemetary Junction (formerly Men at the Pru), Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's film "set in the 1970's about class and love in a small town," has added Ralph Fiennes to its cast. From Gervais's blog:
Started scouting locations today for CEMETERY JUNCTION.You may have read that we've cast Ralph Fiennes, which is fantastic. I bumped into him at the Toronto Film Festival and told him I had written a part with him in mind. I sent him the script and what do you know. He is such an amazing actor and will bring a real weight to the movie. Can't wait.
Frequent readers of this blog will know that Gervais and Merchant have already earned my unending respect and admiration for creating The Office, a show I love so much I'd give it daily baths in its old age. So, uh, I'll just say that Ralph Fiennes is an amazing actor and will bring a real weight to the movie. And please invite me to an advance screening.
Mar 27 2009 Sony (the Headphone Guys) Joins Gervais & Merchant Film
You're fanatical about The Office (UK) and Extras, right? Let's say you are, because otherwise you aren't going to care about this trivial update about Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's new film:
Sony has boarded Ricky Gervais' "The Men at the Pru."Pic will be the second U.K. production to come out of the Sony Intl. Motion Picture Production Group, run by Deborah Schindler.
Project is a coming-of-age tale about a group of men working at an insurance company in the 1970s.
Gervais is co-writing, directing and producing with longtime creative partner Stephen Merchant.
Gervais will also have a supporting role in the pic, which is set to go into production later this summer.
Also of minor note, despite Variety referring to the film as The Men at the Pru, Gervais says the title is still up in the air, adding that Cemetery Junction is the current favorite.
It's a really slow news day, if you couldn't tell.
Sep 9 2008 'Tooth Fairy' Turns Fictional Sprites into Judge and Jury
The warring of Sound of Music fans, Scorpion King fans, Double Jeopardy fans, and Extras fans will at last be silenced: Julie Andrews, Dwayne Johnson, Ashley Judd, and Stephen Merchant are finally starring alongside one another! Best of all, they'll be sharing the screen in a family comedy that's so high concept it's insane:
The film centers on Derek Thompson (Johnson), a minor-league hockey player whose nickname is the Tooth Fairy because of his ability to knock out opposing players' teeth. Judd plays his girlfriend.When he discourages a youngster's hope, Derek is ordered to one week's hard labor as a real tooth fairy, complete with wings, magic wand and frilly tutu. Along the way, he rediscovers his forgotten dreams.
It was hard enough to buy into What Happens in Vegas...'s concept that Judge Dennis Miller would make a ruling of "six months of hard marriage." Now I'm supposed to believe demoralizing a child may hold the penalty of becoming a tooth fairy for a week? Presupposing the existence of tooth fairies, since when do they hold this kind of jurisdiction? Like we're meant to look to someone clandestinely paying cash for discarded human teeth as a sort of moral compass, capable sentencing us when we don't abide by their ethical code? This fun family movie holds enormous, horrifying consequences.
I'm curious to see how they handle the idea that a muscular man in a tutu "rediscovers his dreams" while sneaking into the bedrooms of sleeping children.
Feb 26 2008 Gervais, Merchant Reunite for 'Men at the Pru'
I'll assume you've all watched the amazing UK The Office and the uneven but satisfying Extras, and, like me, have become ardent fans of creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Thus, you will be excited enough to make slight wheezing sounds when you hear the two are re-teaming for The Men at the Pru, a coming-of-age tale of 20-somethings in the '70s. As Gervais told Radio 1:
They work for the building society and they're having a great time but it's about them coming of age and having to grow up. We went down to the Prudential headquarters and got all this old footage so we're really getting into it.
If this is about a group of 20-somethings, I'm assuming Gervais is out for a lead role, so who do you think they'll get to make us uncomfortably awkward to the point of laughter? Will Prudential have a sad boss convinced of his own comedic abilities?
Gervais, Merchant write 'Men at the Pru' [Digital Spy]
Dec 13 2007 Ten-Minutes of 'Extras' Series Finale Online
The second season of Extras had its issues, but it was still better than most comedies on TV. And from the looks of the first ten minutes of the Christmas Special finale, it seems like the series will thankfully end on a high note. I'm absurdly excited. If you have HBO, totally watch it this Sunday at 9.
With this and The Office Christmas Special, you now have almost three full hours of Gervais-filled, choir/Rockette-free Christmas joy to bask in before you fall into a lonely, drunken stupor. Merry Christmas!
'Extras' Series Finale Sneak Peek [Yahoo!]
