Though it shares DNA with such well-loved films, that’s where the DNA jokes end. I’ll leave that to Peter Farrelly.

Best In Show

Christopher Guest toed the comedy team waters with Waiting For Guffman but it wasn’t until 2000′s Best In Show that his formula paid off. Longstanding Guest stars Fred Willard, Eugene Levy, Parker Poser, Catherine O’Hara, Michael McKean, Jennifer Coolidge, Jane Lynch and John Michael Higgins (amongst others) improvised their roles hopeful owners competing in a national dog show.

It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Starring Spencer Tracy and a murderer’s row of 1960′s comedians share the focus in It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. The dying words of a thief cast a variety of strangers off on a cross state hunt for $350,000. It’s considered a classic chase film even though it doesn’t star Paul Walker or Vin Diesel.

Anchorman

Will Ferrell and Adam McKay had a crazy idea and Dreamworks let them take a chance on it. The result was not successful by box office standards, but Anchorman has exploded in the years since it’s release. It’s now one of the most quoted films in history and help launch the careers of Steve Carell and Paul Rudd. We wouldn’t have Dinner For Schmucks without this film. I mean that in a nice way.

Spaceballs

Mel Brooks’s take on sci-fi through the lens of Star Wars remains one of his greatest spoofs. It’s also the only list where a grown man dresses like a Jewish Yoda.

The Cannonball Run

A scavenger hunt film in the style of It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Cannonball Run gathered the stars of the day and some of Burt Reynolds‘s buddies. To name a few, Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Sammy Davis Jr., Farrah Fawcett, Roger Moore, and Adrienne Barbeau star as competiters in an illegal cross country race. When you think about it, Burt Reynolds really was the Adam Sandler of his day.

Caddyshack

Bill Murray and his crazy brothers put together a script based on their adolescence spent at golf courses and the rest is history. Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, and Chevy Chase all in the same film. Not only that, but allowed to do whatever the Hell they wanted to in the same film. And people quote it all the time! So it’s got that going for it.

Airplane!

The Zucker Brothers and Jim Abrahams parlayed the buzz of The Kentucky Fried Movie into the making of Airplane! Based on the action drama films of the 70′s, the filmmakers decided to cast the stone serious actors of that genre. Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Nielsen, and Robert Stack launched successful second careers as comedic actors.

The ball’s in your court now, Kevin James.

Cast: Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell

Synopsis: As a police psychologist works to talk down an ex-con who is threatening to jump from a Manhattan hotel rooftop, the biggest diamond heist ever committed is in motion.

Release Date: January 27, 2012

After some time spent picking up the pieces, 30 Rock has composed itself and is ready to issue a response. Here is that response from producer to Us Weekly (!)Robert Carlock:

“We sort of went back to the script because we’d already shot eight or nine episodes, and we realized that luckily we hadn’t referred to Kim Jong-Il by name yet — just to North Korea in general,” Carlock said. “We can’t go back and address the changes there, but the fun puzzle is turning around and trying to figure out how to get her out of there and how to continue things.”

That IS a fun puzzle, Mr. Carlock!

One red flag here is that the writers hadn’t abandoned this plotline eight episodes into the show. Yuck. How long were they planning on running with this? Of course, this is a show that has devolved the Kenneth character from cute country rube to depraved and devil-worshipping sheep banger, so who knows, really?

7 photosJanet Montgomery

In addition to Rudd’s attractive sisters, you can also oogle more of his idiotic antics. Like taking money out of his pocket on the subway or making sure his parole officer knows he’s high. And, I can’t be certain, but I think he fed a dog chocolate. That dog is going to get chocolate-wasted. Literally.

Aside from the building design, the only thing to really comment on here is Elizabeth Banks‘ getup, which doesn’t look quite as dystopian as I would have though. She kind of looks like zombie Eleanor Roosevelt, which I guess is dystopian, but is mostly just awful. I’m assuming the umbrella is strictly for utilitarian purposes and won’t make it into the movie, but I’m hesitant to rule anything out after seeing that outfit. HEY GIRLFRIEND!

“Snow is the autocratic ruler of Panem who uses the violent Hunger Games as a way to maintain control”

4 photosLet’s Have A Look At January Jones’ Boobs And Some Other ‘X-Men: First Class’ Stuff

Jacqueline Emerson, best “known” as voice on the animated cat-tastrophe “Father of the Pride” (see what I did back there?), will play Foxface in Lionsgate‘s upcoming adaptation. Ironically, given her biggest credit, Foxface’s character never says a word in the book, though she’s supposedly very clever. I guess while everyone else in the Hunger Games is yap-yapping away, she’s out there killing people and winning in silence. I can respect that. Meanwhile, stunt actor Chris Mark has been cast as her “fellow District 5 tribute,” who is not given the dignity of a name.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Banks confirmed she’s playing Effie Trinket via Twitter. May it go well for her. (EW)

The movie has Paul Rudd as the titular character, along with Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer and Rashida Jones as the “Our.” It’s pretty funny too, particularly the opening scene between Rudd and a police officer. Here’s the official plot synopsis, which I found inside a chocolate egg:

“Ned Rochlin (Rudd) looks for the good in every situation and in everyone, which often puts him at odds with the world around him – especially his family.  Upon being released from jail for a stupid mistake, Ned is kicked off of the organic farm he lives and works on by his ex-girlfriend Janet who also insists on keeping his beloved dog, Willie Nelson.  Having nowhere else to go, he turns to his family, three ambitious sisters (Banks, Deschanel, Mortimer) and an overbearing mother.  Ned crashes at each of their homes, in succession, and brings honesty, happiness and a sunny disposition into their lives.  In other words, he wreaks havoc.”

Can’t wait until Willie Nelson gets his own CGI spin-off starring James Marsden. It can be called Our Idiot Willie Nelson Dog and it’ll be great.

The Hunger Games is all about a group of teens with odd names you love and care about, like Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Prim (Willow Shields). But who gave them those goofy, post-apocalyptic monickers? I assume their mother, who it’s now confirmed will be played by Paula Malcomson from SyFy‘s “Caprica.” If the movies are like the books, and who knows if that’ll be the case, Malcomson’s character is worried about her children participating in the life-threatening Hunger Games. Even in the future, moms worry too much.

Other actors in Lionsgate‘s adaptation of the Suzanne Collins novel include Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth and possibly John C. Reilly & Elizabeth Banks. Now for the deadliest game of all: waiting and reporting on more Hunger Games news. (Hollywood Reporter)

Banks is in talks to star as Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games, alongside Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. Trinket is a beaurocrat, an escort for futuristic death-match participants and a bubbly airhead who regularly changes her hair color. All three of those are listed on her business cards.

Mere hours ago, we learned that Amandla Stenberg and Dayo Oekniyi will play Rue and Thresh. Do with that information what you will. Based on the first of several novels by Suzanne Collins, Gary Ross will direct this adaptation of The Hunger Games, written by Billy Ray. (Variety)

Refreshingly, The Details is not a comedy about big, broad set pieces. The humor is, appropriately, just in the details. Sure, there are a few crazy things but it’s not like a whole Ben Stiller toilet fueled rampage.

Dr. Jeff Lang (Tobey Maguire) has frequent fights with his wife Nealy (Elizabeth Banks), so he gets off to online sex ads where the ladies show their boobies. He never indulges, just watches. His neighbor Lilith (Laura Linney) is very demanding, complaining about dust floating into her house from his yard. Jeff tries to plant a new lawn but raccoons keep tearing it apart.

Maybe the raccoons and the sex ads seem big, but they’re really just little things that happen in a daily life. Jeff battles the raccoons but not in a Caddyshack kind of way. He uses poisons and traps, and you know Lilith’s pet is going to get into that. There are some just plain weird scenes, like a piano falling on someone and a bow and arrow murder, but those are more shocking because they come in an otherwise normal world.

Writer/director Jacob Aaron Estes finds ways to play the comedy of domestic issues without making them ridiculous. We see Jeff and Nealy slobbering at the mouth as they fight, but he takes the sound out so it just looks funny. When Jeff’s really unhappy, he types “hell” into his GPS.

Jeff ends up committing adultery, but he’s mostly trying to help people. He wants to make up to Lilith for hurting her cat, and ends up having crazy sex with her. He has crazy sex with Nealy too and you see Banks’ butt! He tries to get his basketball buddy Lincoln (Dennis Haysbert) a new job but every good deed escalates his trouble.

Ultimately, Jeff’s confession of all his bad deeds is pretty hilarious too. Hearing it all at once, in the order in which he tells it, has good timing and delivery. Maguire shouldn’t have been hiding his funny side all these years. He’s really entertaining slobbering over porn and screaming his frustrations out at Nealy.

The Details is more of the type of comedy I expected to see in Sundance. There’s probably nothing to put in a trailer for a studio ad campaign. It’s just the overall town of likeable comedy, where comedies like Cedar Rapids and My Idiot Brother, for better or worse, are made up of trailer moments.

My Idiot Brother seemed more like the average studio comedy than a Sundance movie. There were a few inspired moments but mostly embarrassing misfires. It kind of feels like the whole movie is Kuno from Forgetting Sarah Marshall and that gets old as the main character.

Ned (Paul Rudd) is the idiot. He’s clearly a nice guy because he gives a little girl free fruit when he’s working a fruit stand. He also sells pot to a uniformed cop because he really buys the story that he just needs to relax. It’s a sting, which honestly I’ll admit, I would not expect a cop to be so blatant either. Also Ned’s dog is named Willie Nelson.

Once out of jail, Ned’s girlfriend Janet (Kathryn Hahn) dumps him and keeps the dog. His family tries to support him, but they’re really condescending. They take turns letting him live with them. Natalie (Zooey Deschanel) is bisexual with a girlfriend (Rashida Jones). Miranda (Elizabeth Banks) is a journalist trying to get the dirt on Lady Arabella (Janet Montgomery). Liz (Emily Mortimer) is married to Dylan (Steve Coogan), a filmmaker making a documentary on a ballet dancer, basically ogling her doing the splits.

Here are examples of some of the wacky hysterics of My Idiot Brother. Dylan bumps into a wall. Liz and Dylan’s kids take African dance class. Ned walks right through Dylan’s shot while he’s filming. Ned pretends to throw his urine sample at his parole officer. Ned goes to a self-help seminar in a sauna and passes out. An elaborate contrivance has Ned sitting in a tow zone all night, when a traffic cop comes he realizes Dylan has the car keys, and walks in on Dylan naked with the ballerina.

The plot complications revolve around Ned delivering information he doesn’t understand. He doesn’t understand that Dylan is cheating on Liz until Miranda explains that’s what he saw. Ned is honest to a fault. When Miranda’s neighbor Jeremy (Adam Scott) mentions a few of Miranda’s faults, Ned just tells her. Then when Miranda bashes Jeremy, he tells him. He also tells Natalie’s girlfriend that Nat’s still sleeping with guys too.

By the end I sort of got what the film was going for, but I don’t think it established it clearly enough. The sister’s have so many smart thoughts that they try to control everything. Ned just relates to people, even if he can’t read them. He charms Lady Arabella so she opens up to him, but when Miranda wants to use the secrets he got, he won’t vouch for her story. So he’s got integrity.

It’s wisdom through idiocy basically, as if being childlike is better than being grown-up and cynical. Well, when these are your sisters, Ned is the lesser of four evils. There’s still a good balance where you can have good values but also take care of yourself.

When was the last time we saw a good old fashioned priso break movie? We had a great one on TV until it flew off the rails in the fourth season, but movie-wise, was it The Rock? And that was really a prison break-in movie. The Next Three Days is not the next great prison breakout hit. It’s really, really stupid but in the best “so crazy I can’t believe it’s a movie” way.

Lara Brennan (Elizabeth Banks) is sent to prison for murder. John Brennan (Russell Crowe) loses her last possible appeal and gets so desperate he plans a prison break. He’s no Steve McQueen though, so he messes up the way a real person might if he were trying to act out a movie plot.

I guess the craziest part is early enough in the film and fundamental enough to the plot that it’s not really a spoiler. John gets his plan from the ultimate prison escapist, Damon Pennington (Liam Neeson). He found Pennington through the public library because he wrote a book about his seven escapes. It gets better though. John learns how to pick locks from YouTube videos. I guess this is a prison break for the YouTube generation.

It’s so weird because there are just enough trappings of legitimacy that you can’t believe it’s actually so silly. They’re subtle about the details of the case because it really doesn’t matter why she’s in prison. That’s the MacGuffin. They establish the family well enough with John’s humor in domestic situations, and Lara’s reactions to his plans are surprising. Making it all a Don Quixote metaphor was a big Paul Haggis-y. By the way, Paul is a community college professor, so he talks about literature once.

Damon basically lays out the boundaries of the breakout, where John has to get in the first 15 minutes, and then the first 35, so we can count down as it gets down to the wire. John starts collecting his supplies, going to street hoods for fake IDs and making his homemade skeleton keys (to be fair, I did find bump key videos on YouTube for real.) He cases the joint, tests out his bump keys and toughens up on the street because he’ll need to be hardcore to pull this off.

Creating suspense requires major lapses in paying attention. I know Paul is stressed, but he makes blatantly careless mistakes. Yeah, the point is he’s not Mr. Cool Heist but he should still read his own plans in their entirety. Then the story ignores basic laws. Let’s just say that drivers in The Next Three Days don’t respond to road incidents like you or I would.

Both John and Lara make bold, dramatic declarations, creating emotional turns from scene to scene. Those are movie moments, not real feelings. There’s no value to one if it’s undone in the next immediate scene. Brian Dennehy is hired to play John’s dad so he can bring a little believability to his mostly wordless scenes. Lt. Nabulsi (Lennie James) shows up out of nowhere to become the lead lieutenant chasing the Brennans. He would have been a good character if he’d existed before the breakout started.

I kind of love that it’s that kind of movie. The Next Three Days is bad but you can totally enjoy watching it, not on an ironic level but on the level of “I wonder what they’re going to pull to get out of the next corner they paint themselves into.” I’m especially surprised that Crowe and Haggis made this. They’re usually so serious but it seems they just went WTF.

She's breakin' into your beach house. Snatchin' up your children.

Elizabeth Banks has beat out acting powerhouses Amy Adams and Hilary Swank for the female lead role in Welcome to People, the directorial debut of Star Trek co-writer Alex Kurtzman. In the film, “Chris Pine stars a young businessman who flies home for his father’s funeral and finds out that, in his will, it’s stipulated he deliver $150,000 to an alcoholic older sister he didn’t know he had and her 12-year-old son. He does so without revealing who he is.” The weird title isn’t a greeting for mentally handicapped extraterrestrials, but refers to an anger management program the son is enrolled in. Banks has come a long way since sloppily kissin Paul Rudd in Wet Hot American Summer. She could have her eyes set on a certain little gold, bald man, and I don’t mean David Geffen. (/Film)

Lionsgate has dropped the new trailer for Paul Haggis’s The Next Three Days. Elizabeth Banks is married to Russell Crowe. She gets wrongly accused of murder. Crowe asks Liam Neeson how he can bust her out of jail. He then finds out how to put bullets in a gun because he must have never seen a movie or TV show before. The couple make a run for it. Overall lesson: Liam Neeson is a bad-ass.

The Next Three Days hits theaters November 19, 2010.

Check out the trailer after the jump…

The Next Three Days Trailer – Watch more Movie Trailers

Director:Paul Haggis

Cast: Russell Crowe, Olivia Wilde, Liam Neeson, Elizabeth Banks, Jonathan Tucker, Brian Dennehy, RZA

Synopsis: A married couple’s life is turned upside down when the wife is accused of a murder.

Release: November 19th, 2010

She played a slut in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. She played an amateur pornstar in Zach and Miri. Now, actress Elizabeth Banks is taking the next logical step: a live-action version of Tinkerbell, the magical pixie from Walt Disney’s Peter Pan.

Banks is developing and will star in Tink, a film that “plays with the mischievous nature" of the famous character. Hopefully, "mischievous nature" is code for topless breast play. Besides, a little female nudity will help postpone the inevitable gay-porn parody, Twink. (/Film)

Paul Rudd has assembled his past movie girlfriends and a few indie darlings to form a Voltron of hotitude.. hoticity… umm… attractiveness. Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, and Rashida Jones have all joined his upcoming Jesse Peretz project My Idiot Brother.

In the film, Banks, Deschanel, and Mortimer will play Rudd’s put-upon sisters whom he totally You, Me, and Duprees. Mortimer is a Park Slope mom with a failing marriage, Banks is a career girl, and Deschanel is a flaky bisexual who can’t commit to girlfriend Rashida Jones. Hopefull Paul Rudd can help those mixed up lovebirds see the error of their ways and they live happily ever after in boob-touching bliss. Expect that news to swell a lot of pants at ironic yacht parties this weekend. (THR)

Relativity Media has announced an upcoming project, currently titled Untitled Comedy, that is comprised of several short sketches directed by a wide array of directors. Those who have already completed their contributions for the expanding project are Peter Farrelly, Bob Odenkirk, Elizabeth Banks, Griffin Dunne, and well-known funnyman Brett Ratner, as well as additional directors who will be announced shortly.

The project has also announced some big talent. Gerard Butler, Seann William Scott, Kate Winslet, Elizabeth Banks, Liev Schreiber, Chloe Moretz, Hugh Jackman, Naomi Watts, Patrick Warburton, Kieran Culkin, Johnny Knoxville are all on board so far. There are no details what the shorts are about but we do know they will be linked in some way. Producer Charles Wessler described the film:

“We all sat down and came up with what we think is a hilarious through-line for the movie. Given the amount of pot I had smoked, at least I think it is hilarious.”

Ah, a producer too stoned out of his gourd to clearly delineate what is and isn’t hilarious. That explains the hiring of Brett Ratner. (CinemaBlend)

CHECK OUT WHAT TO WATCH AFTER THE JUMP

NOTE: ALL TIMES EASTERN & PACIFIC!!!

CRIMINAL MINDS
Network: CBS
Time: 9 – 10PM

Reasons to watch: The team must turn to the most vile killer they have ever encountered, "The Fox", for assistance in tracking a serial killer. Really? He calls himself "The Fox"? That’s dorky even by social outcast standards.

SOUTH PARK
Network: Comedy Central
Time: 10 – 10:30PM

Reasons to watch: A trip to the water park has apocalyptic repercussions. Let it serve as a warning to all that have ever toiled with the idea of making pee pee in a pool.
 

CSI: NY
Network: CBS
Time: 10 – 11PM

Reasons to watch: The producers cast rising stars of 1997 for an episode featuring Skeet Ulrich and Nelly. Apparently Coolio was uncharacteristically not available.

THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
Network: USA
Time: 11PM – 1AM

Reasons to watch: Aaron Eckhart perfects the role of sympathetic asshole in Jason Reitman‘s directorial debut. But let’s not overlook the work of Jim Carrey’s butt in Ace Ventura: Rectum Damned Near Killed Him.

WHO’S ON LATE

LENO
Larry the Cable Guy

LETTERMAN
Robert Pattinson; Ray Davies performs

CONAN
Seth Green; Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt; The Brian Setzer Orchestra perform

KIMMEL
Mary Albert; 50 Cent

FERGUSON
David Duchovny; Lewis Black

FALLON
Kristen Stewart; Jamie Kennedy; the Avet Brothers perform