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Jack Black and Michael Cera Are Proud Parents

Filed under: Awards », Fandom », Movie Marketing », Trailers and Clips »

The Oscars may be the most prestigious show in town, but for the average moviegoer the MTV Movie Awards probably resonate with their tastes a heck of a lot more. Sure, they have stupid categories like 'Best WTF Moment' and 'Best Fight', but that's what sets them apart from the other award shows -- and just because it isn't necessarily the classiest show doesn't mean you won't have a good time. Looking to capitalize on a little reciprocal publicity for their new comedy, Year One, Michael Cera and Jack Black joined MTV's newly announced host Andy Samberg in a new commercial for the award show this May.

The ad is pretty much what you would expect from the minds of a member of The Lonely Island, the king of awkward delivery, and a merry prankster like Black. It's silly and kind of strange, but the same could be said for most of the comedy these three guys produce. Black and Cera fill in as proud parents in their rec room talking up their 'little boy' Andy -- it might be nonsensical, but more importantly, it's also kind of funny.

Even though some of us have reservations about Andy Samberg's hosting skills (I think he'll be a little awkward), I'm sure things will turn out just fine -- after all, the guy has lined up plenty of 'comedy connections' like Will Arnett and Rashida Jones to help him out. One thing's for sure: it couldn't get much worse than the year Jessica Alba hosted.

The MTV Movie Awards will air on Sunday, May 31st, and if your appetite has been whet for more Black and Cera, Year One hits theaters on June 19, 2009.





Watch This: Seth Rogen and Andy Samberg Spoof 'Fast and Furious'

Filed under: Fandom », Home Entertainment », Trailers and Clips »



While I still try to process the fact that Fast and Furious took home over $70 freakin' million at the box office this weekend (really? You all still dig Vin Diesel that much?), Saturday Night Live came through with a pretty funny sketch featuring Seth Rogen and Andy Samberg doing their best fast and furious imitations for a new film called The Fast and Bi-Curious. Their angle, in case you haven't figured it out yet, was to go the bromance route ... and then some ... and then some more. As one commenter on the SNL site pointed out, this ain't Fast and Furious ... it's more like Hot and Hilarious. Zing! Oh, and am I the only one who wonders whether these guys overdose on breath mints before performing this scene? Check it out below ...

Watch This: SNL's Party Guys

Filed under: Comedy », Fandom », Trailers and Clips »



It's been a pretty good year for Saturday Night Live, in my opinion. For the first time in awhile, I'm making sure each new episode is DVR'd (because I'm, like, way too important to be sitting home on a Saturday night ... not), and I'm enjoying what I see. Granted, it's not all good, but every week we get at least one gem. Take, for example, this past week's digital short called Party Guys. Starring Bill Hader and Andy Samberg, the short follows two jaded dudes who show up to a party and decide to stand around making fun of everyone else. You know, those guys. They might be you, they might be me ... um, okay, confession: I'm one of those guys who stands around at parties making fun of everyone. That's just what I do. I'm not proud of it, and I probably won't be invited to anymore parties once all of my two friends read this post -- but I had to get it off my chest. It's an addiction ... an a**hole addiction. (And I love Bill Hader.) Help?

Check it out below ...

SXSW Review: I Love You, Man

Filed under: Comedy », SXSW », Theatrical Reviews »



Up until now, Paul Rudd has been content to sit in the back seat. Apart from a funny but nondescript star turn in Role Models, Rudd has mostly bided his time on the fringes of the various Team Apatow productions, churning out one memorable supporting performance after another, plus the occasional bit part in the likes of Night at the Museum. That he's developed a small but enthusiastic fanbase anyway speaks to his star potential.

I Love You, Man is a sweet, amusing, and perfectly acceptable comedy all around, but it's exciting because it marks the point where Rudd finally begins to stake out his territory as a comedian and a leading man. As Peter Klaven, the happy and level-headed real estate agent who discovers, upon proposing to his girlfriend of eight months, that his total lack of guy friends will result in an all-female wedding party if he doesn't act fast, Rudd combines a nice-guy earnestness with a simmering nervous energy – he's like a less sarcastic Albert Brooks or a more self-conscious Steve Martin.

Watch This: Mark Wahlberg Threatens Andy Samberg's Big F**king Nose

Filed under: Comedy », Fandom », Trailers and Clips »



I'm not sure if you've been following Saturday Night Live over the past few weeks, but they've made some viral waves with a few sketches -- most notably Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impersonation, but also with Andy Samberg's Mark Wahlberg in a hilarious skit called Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals. Of course, it didn't take long for someone to catch the real Wahlberg (who's conveniently making the TV rounds promoting his new flick Max Payne) and ask him what he thought of the sketch.

Guess what? He didn't like it. Not only did he not like it, but he also told Jimmy Kimmel that next time he sees Andy Samberg, he's going "to crack that big f**king nose of his." All kidding aside, though, Wahlberg does seem a bit flattered he was chosen, though he admits to wanting something a bit more "legendary" and says they're trying to figure out a way for him to appear on SNL tonight. He notes [via Vulture], "I wasn't unhappy with it. It's just that after seeing the Tina Fey–Sarah Palin thing you were kind of hoping for something on that level. That's legendary. But they actually called and asked me if I would do something on the show this weekend, but I can't stay until Saturday, so maybe we'll film something in L.A."

Check out the video of Wahlberg on Kimmel below, then we've provided the original SNL sketch for those who missed it after the jump. Oh ... and say hi to your mother for me.

Update: Wahlberg appeared on SNL tonight with Andy Samberg in a pretty funny follow-up skit. We'll add video when it's available -- what did you think of it? Funnier than the original?

Update 2: New Wahlberg SNL video with Samberg after the jump.

Mr. T and Bill Hader Join 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'

Filed under: Animation », Comedy », Contests »

Earlier today Cinematical managed to grab the adorable and hysterical Anna Faris for a nice, quiet comfy-couch chat about what it's like appearing on the cover of Playboy Magazine, her new movie The House Bunny and a ton of other randomness (look for our interview later this week). While speaking with Anna about her upcoming projects, she did tell us a little bit more about the voice work she's doing for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, based on the popular book by Judi and Rob Barrett. The film follows "a scientist who tries to solve world hunger only to see things go awry as food falls from the sky in abundance."

For Faris this is her first animated movie, and she'll be playing a weather girl who's kind of a tweaked version of her (they've filmed her movements and all that jazz). While speaking to her about it, Faris also revealed that aside from co-star Andy Samberg, Bill Hader and Mr. T will have roles in the flick. No word on who or what they'll be playing, though this marks Mr. T's first feature role since Not Another Teen Movie back in 2001. Ahem, I smell comeback ...

Faris said she's still doing a little work on the film, though most of her stuff is done. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is due in theaters on January 15, 2010. Stay tuned for our interview with my favorite bunny later this week ...

Review: Space Chimps

Filed under: Animation », New Releases », Theatrical Reviews », New in Theaters », Family Films »

Imagine you're a filmmaker and you've got this cockamamie story about astronaut chimps that just won't go away. You don't have much money, but the story involves lots of technology and outer space effects. What do you do? You could use your imagination and shoot in darkness with lots of odd angles and perspectives, like Mario Bava's sci-fi masterpiece Planet of the Vampires (1965). But that would raise all kinds of questions about how to present the chimps. You could do a hand-drawn animated cartoon, something like Persepolis, for comparatively little money. But that would expose the fact that you really don't have much of an idea. So you decide to make a big, computer-animated film, make it fast, fill it with annoying jokes and hope no one notices how cheap and unfinished it looks. But what you don't do is open it three weeks after the astonishing WALL-E so that everyone notices the difference.

Space Chimps comes from the folks who brought you the universally despised animated film Happily N'Ever After (2006), and although I didn't see the earlier film, I'm told Space Chimps represents something of an improvement. Regardless, everything here has a kind of mechanical sheen rather than organic textures, and it feels like something closer to Tron than a cartoon about monkeys. Then comes the story: Ham (voiced by Andy Samberg) is the grandson of a famous chimp astronaut, who actually went into space. The younger Ham works at the circus, getting himself shot out of cannons. In the film's opening scene, he rockets toward the moon and reaches out for it, disappointed when gravity's pull inevitably begins dragging him back toward Earth.


'Meatballs' Will Rain Down in 3-D

Filed under: Tech Stuff », Exhibition », Family Films »

As anyone who went to see Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D last weekend knows, a viable, attractive, non-headache-inducing 3-D technology now exists for feature-length films in regular theaters (albeit ones outfitted with a special projector). Unfortunately, it's still not being used as a storytelling tool so much as an attempt to impress people -- look, it's Brendan Fraser, spitting water in your face! -- but maybe James Cameron will fix that soon, what with his plans to film a low-key drama in 3-D after he finishes Avatar. In any case, now that Journey has proven the mettle of the format (the 800-some theaters showing it in 3-D made up for more than half of the film's opening weekend gross, and rightfully so), you should probably expect to wear goofy plastic glasses with increasing frequency.

Case in point: Sony's announcement yesterday that its previously-announced adaptation of the children's book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs will be the first digital 3-D release for Sony Pictures Animation. The movie (which I believe still has Anna Faris and Andy Samberg doing the lead voices) is about a scientist who tries a radical approach to solving world hunger only to wind up with food coming down from the sky, which doesn't turn out to be as awesome as it sounds. A Sony exec provides an amazing quote to go along with the announcement: "The story is about 'food weather,' and so food falling from the sky lends itself so well to 3-D." No kidding.

I anxiously await the day when 3-D is used to tell better, more engaging stories rather than to provide the equivalent of a novelty theme park ride. Maybe soon.

Meatballs Rain Down on Anna Faris and Andy Samberg

Filed under: Animation », Comedy », Casting », Newsstand »

It's been a while since Sony picked up the rights to Judi and Rob Barrett's 1982 book called Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs back in 2006. Now, in a conversation with MTV, Anna Faris has revealed that she and Andy Samberg are doing the lead voices in the film (perfect!), along with a bunch of undisclosed comedians. Faris will play a weather girl, and she says that the character will look like a tweaked version of her. Man, imagine those little weather maps in a sea of burgers, ice cream, and more, rather than clouds and lightning bolts.

As Erik described when the book got picked up, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs stems from "a scientist who tries to solve world hunger only to see things go awry as food falls from the sky in abundance." Instead of raining men like The Weather Girls sing, this town gets a meteorological wonderland of snowy mashed potatoes, juice rain, and more.

However, Faris says the film is only "very, very loosely -- based on the book. But it's a small town that rains food, basically. So hamburgers come down, and ice cream, and [the residents] have to figure out a way [to stop it]. Eventually, it gets more and more dangerous, and they have to figure out a way to stop the satellite machine that's raining food."

Now I'm hungry.


EXCLUSIVE: 'Space Chimps' Poster Premiere!

Filed under: Fandom », Family Films », Movie Marketing », Posters »



Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for the film Space Chimps (click to enlarge), fresh from one of the primates that brought you Shrek. Featuring a voice cast that includes Andy Samberg, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels, Stanley Tucci and Patrick Warburton, Space Chimps follows Ham III (Samberg), the grandson of the first ever chimp in space, who's recruited by a scheming senator (Tucci) for a dangerous mission to help thwart a powerful tyrant (Daniels) from taking over an alien world. Of course, Ham III will have a little help from his friends along the way. You can scope out the first trailer for Space Chimps over on Moviefone, then buckle yourself in and prepare to go bananas for Space Chimps when it touches down in theaters on July 18.
 

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