I suppose the trailer for Disney's nature documentary African Cats kind of begs for a lot of smart-ass jokes about cornering the same "people-like-documentaries-about-cute-stuff" market as March of the Penguins and Babies. So much so that making said jokes seems kind of obvious and futile. Uh...plus that shot of the mother cheetah carrying her cub in her mouth is really adorable.
In all sincerity, I am excited about James Franco co-hosting the Oscars with Anne Hathaway. I like him, I like her, and surely we can all agree is that the show will either rock in completely fresh, unprecedented ways, or it will explode in a spectacular, Chernobyl-esque ball of radioactive flame and debris, polluting its Hollywood environs for decades to come. Regardless, we're going to have ourselves a memory! That said, I'm not sure on which scenario I'd bet after seeing Franco's bit in the awards-season actor's roundtable after the jump. Help?
"I'm nervous, I'm excited." Those were the words of actor -- and Movieline favorite -- Justin Long as he co-hosted the boozy, unhinged and Norma Desmond-inspired fourth hour of Today earlier this morning. And why shouldn't he have been nervous? After all, he was placed opposite the boozy, unhinged and Norma Desmond-inspired Kathie Lee Gifford and forced to talk about nudity, bad movies and "drunken Hoda in a thong."
Of all the Harry Potter kid stars, Rupert Grint might be my favorite. After all, this is a guy who bought an ice cream truck when he got his driver's license...just because he always wanted to have an ice cream truck. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that this video of Grint and some of his London club kid friends staggering through the street looking for "beigels" (to paraphrase Michael Bluth, we just call it a bagel) is probably the best thing I've seen all week. Look at Ron Weasley all grown up and wearing rouge! Click ahead to watch the magic. (Nyuck, nyuck.)
One day, God-willing, there will be an amazing DVD consisting entirely of previews for Boa vs. Python, the almighty Sharktopus and every other Megalodon/Mega-Python/Gateroid direct to video creature feature of the last five years. Hopefully with commentaries. But for now, we'll take these trailers one at a time and give thanks when a new one brightens an otherwise drab week. That brings me to Megashark vs. Crocosaurus which features the two title characters battling it out as well as a grown up Jaleel White (that is, Steve Urkel from Family Matters) flexing some pretty hefty acting muscles.
Just as you can believe Michael Bay when he says he hasn't gone over-budget on Transformers 3, you can bet the megadirector was counting every recession-era cent for his customary Victoria's Secret holiday commercial, too. The new ad features some of the brand's most hallowed models prancing around some the very Chicago locations Bay blew to hell this summer, with the occasional horse and/or opera house tossed in for variety. Read on for the mildly NSFW spot (and the making-of video, with images of the man at work).
If you were one of the screaming audience members turned away from James Franco's taping of Inside the Actor's Studio last week, you're in luck: Bravo has released a few clips from his in-depth conversation with James Lipton. (Don't scream too loud, your cubicle mates might get startled.) Ahead, watch as the similarly mustachioed duo discuss how Franco maneuvered the role of his quirky Pineapple Express drug dealer, and how Danny Boyle's preconception about him -- from that same film -- almost kept him from his Oscar-bound role in 127 Hours.
While Conan O'Brien's Tuesday evening monologue might have left something to be desired, his parody for Julie Taymor's Spider-Man musical was just about spot on. Well, other than that it didn't include any five-minute delays, catcalls from the audience or narrative confusion. Otherwise, winner! Click ahead to watch, and let's hope that Turn Off the Dark can at least make as much sense as this when it opens next year.
Best Use of Crazy Eyes in a Motion Picture is not yet at category at the Academy Awards -- it isn't even recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press -- but based on Natalie Portman's work in this new clip from Black Swan, maybe it should be. Because, damn, she looks crazy! This bit of Black Swan marketing comes from the final act of Darren Aronofsky's film, but don't worry: There are no spoilers. Unless the fact that Portman's ballerina performs Swan Lake in the film is a spoiler. Click ahead to watch, but be forewarned: Natalie will haunt your dreams.
Trick question! They're all Oscar clips -- one big epic montage of Berry getting her split-personality freak on with this accent and that wig, this meltdown and that comedown, this transgression and that redemption... Take your pick. All that's missing is Kirk Lazarus supplying the requisite ham in the Stellan Skarsgård role, and we're in real awards-season business.
There have already been a number of phemenomenal tributes to the late Leslie Nielsen, but now Airplane and Naked Gun co-writer/director David Zucker has penned one and it's both heartwarming and hilarious. There is one brief, eyebrow-raising moment where Zucker writes: "Offscreen, he wasn't so much of a joke or storyteller..." Fortunately, he immediately qualifies this statement by saying that Nielsen preferred practical jokes and that "the stories are legion about the fart machine..." Too perfect. Let's go to the videos.
Are you ready, America? Coming in the fall of 2011, former American Idol judge (and V-neck aficionado) Simon Cowell will return to televisions with The X Factor. The British import is already one of the most hyped events on the Fox calendar next year -- right up there with the Glee Super Bowl episode and, well, the Super Bowl -- and so it goes to reason that the network would want to start plugging it as soon as possible. As such, say hello to the 10 quickest, most nondescript seconds in the history of television promotion.
Considering we're only about four weeks away from Christmas -- insert prerequisite "where did the year go?!" quip here -- it's about that time for celebrities to remember the less fortunate among us. With that in mind, here's Comedy Death-Ray and Funny or Die presenting "We Are the World 25.75," an almost anniversary celebration of the Quincy Jones supersong in support of the LA Regional Foodbank. Before you get too excited though, heed the words of Kurt Russell: "I want to stress that these are not good singers. This does not sound good at all."
Because not enough indie movies tackle martial ennui, here comes the trailer for Every Day, a dysfunctional family dramedy designed to remind you how dysfunctional families operate, just in time for Thanksgiving. Pass the cranberry sauce!
Is it hard for you to imagine anyone other than Daniel Radcliffe playing Harry Potter? That might have something to do with the fact that Daniel Radcliffe is Harry Potter. Or, actually, that Harry Potter is real, and that Daniel Radcliffe is the character he plays. Not the other way around. If you're nose isn't bleeding after reading that bit of Charlie Kaufman-infused character description, click ahead to watch an off-screen Judd Apatow interview Harry Potter about what it's like to play Daniel Radcliffe. If it is bleeding, just grab some tissues and hold on tightly.
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