9 photosGoodness Gracious: New Pics Of Olivia Munn In Maxim

“It isn’t necessarily like oh, this is completely R-rated, Aaron Sorkin’s working blue now,” Motola said. “There are a few fucks in it just to justify it. It’s interesting because Aaron isn’t necessarily the provocateur that HBO’s looking for. The show doesn’t open on two people fucking.” Motola joked, “Season four is all fucking, but it’s ALL fucking.”

“Story” IS Sorkin unleashed with no time constraints. “Part of it is the reality that the time is different on cable. An hour-long show on network TV is 41 minutes long, 42 minutes long. On HBO it’s an hour and that’s actually a huge difference. They’re letting us shoot a pilot that’s like an hour and a half long. It’s practically feature length. Aaron is a maximalist, not a minimalist. It’s really letting him write and write and write and it’s got a tremendous energy to it.”

And now this is the new show from “Academy Award winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.” Man, that would’ve helped Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. “I think he’s in a different headspace after Social Network. If you watch the DVD making of Social Network, you’ll see how involved he was in that film. He was really there every step of the way.  I think his writing has slightly shifted because of it in a way. The network, the way they’re letting us cast it, we’re casting a lot of New York Broadway actors, and Olivia Munn. There are some ways HBO is involved that is making it very different than what Studio 60 was.”

Sorkin’s new HBO pilot, which will take us behind-the-scenes (the man loves going behind scenes) at a cable news show, will be directed by Mottola. Jeff Daniels is in talks to play the host, and Scott Rudin will executive produce along with Sorkin. Hopefully, Sorkin will bounce off his Oscar-win and create a great new TV series that makes us forget all about “Crazy Christians.” If that’s possible. (Deadline)

Paul is like all those comedies I used to like, the kind where they were just plain good. They had a little of everything and just worked. That makes it harder to write about since there’s no hook except overall solid work, but I’m up to the task.

Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost) are Brits visiting Comic-Con. On the road to Area 51, they meet an actual alien Paul (Seth Rogen). Paul needs their help but won’t tell them much at first. At an RV park, they pick up Ruth Buggs (Kristen Wiig), a devout Catholic who experiences an awakening when she witnesses the existence of Paul. Agents Zoil (Jason Bateman), O’Reilly (Joe Lo Truglio) and Haggard (Bill Hader) are on their tail.

Pegg and Frost, who wrote the script, deliver on all the sci-fi, comic book and general movie references you’d hope for. You’ll hear familiar music, lines of dialogue and even a reference to spoilers themselves, incorporated seamlessly into the narrative. Try to catch the obscure Capturing the Friedmans joke. It’s not all mainstream. Clive and Graeme also recreate some familiar action moments that I just know Frost and Pegg were saving since Hot Fuzz (the age old “grab my hand” bit.)

It’s not ALL sci-fi, so there’s plenty to amuse general audiences, although it never sells out the target audience for a mainstream laugh. They do sex jokes, drugs jokes and some good old fashioned immaturity, mooning through windshields and swearing creatively. I love the running gags. Whenever a joke happens more than once, it’s instantly funnier to me.

Paul is a great character. He’s the everyman alien so he gets indignant about alien clichés, and he has base needs like anyone. The CGI looks real and interactive with the scene and characters. It never feels like they had to construct a scene to fit the effect. Clive and Graeme are delightful, childish foreigners and Ruth has a sweet arc in between Wiig-y profanity outbursts, which are also awesome.

Like the classic comedies, there’s a bit of depth with Paul confronting Ruth’s creationist beliefs. Paul actually heals Ruth, which is sweet considering at that point in the story he hates her. Is it predictable? Yes, in that I knew where the story was going, but I’d also call that paying off. Most importantly, it’s all funny.

I am a little concerned about Seth Rogen though. I heard he was trying to slim down but I think he’s gone too far. His skin is all pale, and his eyes are so bugged out. Not to mention the total lack of body hair. I’m afraid that whatever crash diet he subjected himself to, just wasn’t the healthiest route to go. And all for what? To see his name up in lights?? Sadly, another victim of the Fame Monster.

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have teamed up in the past to take on horror and the action genre, now they’ve set their sights on sci-fi. As this teaser for Paul will show you, the pair play nuuurrrdddssss who encounter an alien outside of Area 51.

Not much comedy is shown in this teaser and I need to applaud Greg Mottola‘s restraint in not having the alien play air guitar or perform a Black Eyed Peas song. Because that’s the constant temptation and danger with working with CGI characters. Before you even realize it, you’ve veered into Alvin and the Chipmunks territory.

Check out the teaser after the jump…

^{Just saying.}

Adventureland director and Turtle Club member Greg Mottola has been hired to write (and presumably direct) Paramount’s adaptation of the overly-titled Important Artifacts and Personal Property From the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry.

Mottola will turn the fictional estate auction catalogue from a dissolved relationship into a romantic comedy that has Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman attached to star. Jennifer Aniston is said to be working on a similar project, starring herself and a life-sized Brad Pitt Hairdoll. (THR)