Rembert Browne: Will Ferrell is in a great place right now. This is the fourth wave of his career and perhaps the Era of Ferrell I'm most excited about. He has already had his rise to fame (SNL), his string of classics (Old School, Zoolander, Anchorman), and his Sandler phase (Kicking & Screaming, Semi-Pro). The key is that he successfully made it through the Sandler "I am just going to keep making movies because I can and I don't care if fewer and fewer people laugh because I got bills, son" period, remembered how to be really funny again, and is now getting weird and experimental. That's what Casa De Mi Padre, an absurd movie completely in subtitles, screams out to the public. "Get weird with your old pal, Will." I don't know what I'm getting myself into with this movie, but I genuinely can't wait.
Each week, marketers release new movie posters, many for films whose releases are still months away. But for those who know where to look, one-sheets can reveal studios' hopes and insecurities about their products. In this space, we will attempt to decode the hidden meanings of the week's new posters.
A visit to Pawnee City Hall yesterday –- conveniently located in the palm tree filled San Fernando Valley –- provided many memorable moments, including Rob Lowe talking to a dog, Rashida Jones suffering through an epic post-Watch The Throne tour hangover and the incongruous sight of Chris Pratt nose-deep in a 500 page book. But while most of the details will be saved until for a longer Parks & Recreation story, coming next month, one bit of news did emerge: the Party Down movie may be closer than you think.
In between takes on a freezing Southern California morning -– really! –- Adam Scott revealed more details on the big-screen reincarnation of the culty catering comedy. “We have a treatment,” he said, “and if everyone’s schedules work out, we’ll shoot it over the summer.” This info comes on the heels of a previous relevation that the film had a production company lined up and was only waiting on the go-ahead from Starz. Still, two years from cancellation to cinematic rebirth is a timeline that should embarrass even the most patient of Bluth fans and give hope to anxious Greendale Human Beings. With visions of pink bowties dancing in our heads, we cautioned Scott about the one thing that could still derail the project: Michael Cera. He said there was no chance of that happening, before deadpanning. "At least I hope not.”
Matthew McConaughey has joined the cast of Magic Mike, Steven Soderbergh’s stripper drama that also stars, and is partially based on the pre-fame life of, Channing Tatum. McConaughey will play Dallas, a former stripper who owns a club called Xquisite and mentors Tatum’s character in exotic dancing. A former stripper? Could Soderbergh possibly have the guts to make a stripping movie in which McConaughey keeps his shirt on the entire time? Grade: A [Variety]
Brad Pitt’s Plan B productions will adapt Twelve Years a Slave — the 1853 autobiography by Solomon Northup, a free black man who was kidnapped and enslaved before fighting his way to freedom through the legal system — with Steve McQueen directing and Chiwetel Ejiofor starring. Grade: B+ [HR]
