Even when a movie looks unpromising, you can often find some ray of hope that gets you to the theater or eventually the DVD. In the case of Over Her Dead Body, I latched optimistically onto Paul Rudd. (Not literally. Unfortunately.) Rudd has that rare and magnetic combination of good looks and great comic delivery that worked so well for his supporting characters in Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Anchorman and other movies that didn't involve Judd Apatow ... not to mention a recurring role in the last season of Friends as Phoebe's boyfriend. (Ohh, to have to choose between Hank Azaria and Paul Rudd. Geek girls everywhere are sighing with me.)

You can imagine my disillusion when I realized that because Rudd is playing a guy who is deeply mourning his dead lover, someone decided he should look wan and tired. This devotion to reflecting his character's stress and debilitation is truly unnecessary -- it's a movie that includes ghosts and angels, so why would you invoke realism and give a romantic lead these dark circles under his eyes? Very sad, indeed.

Rudd plays the mournful Henry, a veterinarian whose self-centered, bitchy fiancee Kate (Eva Longoria Parker) is killed in a freak accident on their wedding day. Kate finds herself in Limbo and after insulting the angel who is supposed to help her, ends up as a ghost back on Earth with no idea what to do. She decides it must be her job to protect Henry from encroaching females. Meanwhile, a year after Kate's death, Henry's kooky sister Chloe (Lindsay Sloane) drags him to a psychic who hopefully can assure him that Kate is resting in peace, so he can move on with his life. The part-time psychic, Ashley (Lake Bell), is a flaky caterer who is willing to help Henry after Chloe insists ... and also because she's attracted to Henry. Kate doesn't like any of this hanky-panky, and Hilarity Ensues.

All the way back in July of 2006, Cinematical first mentioned the romantic comedy How I Met My Boyfriend's Dead Fiancee, which has since become the briefer, easier-to-say Over Her Dead Body. Starring Eva Longoria, the flick is about a female psychic (Lake Bell) who falls for a skeptic (Paul Rudd), and then has to deal with his dead ex-fiance (Longoria) -- a pissy ghost who doesn't want them getting together. (Yes, this is very similar to Ghost Town, which I told you about the other day.) The romcom was written by John Tucker Must Die scribe Jeff Lowell, and is the writer's directorial debut.

Now Variety reports that the comedy has been picked up by New Line, and we'll get to see it on February 1st. I'm pretty psyched -- while Rudd gets a lot of roles these days, they're almost always in that darned supporting realm. He pops on, throws out some highly-quotable lines, whips up some memorable moments, and then backs away while the stars take over. Hopefully this will be a notable lead for him, or the gateway to more leading work. Isn't it about time? He's come a long way since Overnight Delivery, so it's time he gets some love!

But that's not all New Line has picked up. The company has also nabbed Kevin Costner and Ivana Banquero's The New Daughter. However, that hasn't even begun production yet, so we won't be seeing it for a while.

Would you ever believe that Eva Longoria dated Jason Biggs? Well, Hollywood is asking us to suspend our disbelief, because the two are starring in a comedy in which they play former flames. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the sexy "desperate housewife" and the doofy "pie f**cker" have been cast alongside Rob Corddry in Lower Learning, the debut feature from writer-director Mark Lafferty, who was responsible for the gay-centric Sixth Sense spoof, The Seventh Sense ("I see gay people"). In Lower, Corddry will play a shady elementary school principal under investigation by Longoria's inspector with help from her ex, a former cop who is now a vice principal. The cast will also include Corddry's old Daily Show co-worker Ed Helms, Tenacious D's Kyle Gass and Saw's Monica Potter. I don't know about you, but I expect this to be another movie in which the adults are less mature than the children.

I hope there aren't too many disappointed men out there, but Jason Biggs isn't much of a substitute for Beyoncé Knowles. Remember last year, Longoria was said to be doing a lesbian film with Knowles, but the rumor was quickly and unfortunately shot down. Well, let's just hope Longoria's character doesn't end up getting back together with Biggs' character, so we don't have to suffer through their reunion kiss -- though I've already suffered from imagining it. I'm rather hoping this movie focuses more on Corddry, who is a lot more enjoyable to watch. However, I might be in a minority here, considering audiences weren't too receptive to his recent sitcom The Winner, nor were they interested in his starring role in Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story nor as support in The Heartbreak Kid. Personally, I think he needs another shot at carrying a movie -- his next few roles are fairly small, playing second fiddle to Justin Long, Will Ferrell, Harold & Kumar and Ashton Kutcher. Like Longoria, he could definitely do better.

The rumors were so absurd, they had to be false. But there was a tiny something inside all of us that was secretly hoping it was true. Beautiful actresses baring it all, diving into a historical epic that was rumored to be Sofia Coppola's next project. I mean, c'mon -- that sucker has Oscar written all over it. And such a move wouldn't be all too surprising, seeing as Eva Longoria is desperate to work her way up the big-screen ladder and Beyoncé Knowles would probably love a role that displays her acting chops, and not that fabulous singing voice.

However, in a rare move for an actor (or actress), Longoria herself has gone on record saying rumors of her involvement in a big screen adaptation of Tipping the Velvet are false. With words that made it sound as if everyone from Tony Parker to the mailman had been questioning her about this, she said, "Stop the madness. Believe me, I would love to work with Beyoncé one day. She's so talented. But this is definitely not something we are doing together. It's completely and absolutely not true." A spokesperson for Knowles (see, this is the way it's usually done) also denied rumors, insisting they've never heard of the film. And what about Coppola? Well, Cinematical's own Ryan Stewart recently spoke to her, and the director told him she was taking some time off to have her baby, and had no plans to direct anything in the near future. Yep, looks like we can chalk this one up as some lonely reporter's after-school fantasy and not an actual fact. Go figure.

Oh, you knew there was a reason for staying in on a Friday night and surfing around Cinematical. And you'll want to read this story because -- trust me here, folks -- it's definitely a doozy. Apparently, Beyonce Knowles and Eva Longoria have been offered roles in Tipping the Velvet, an adaptation of the Sarah Waters novel. Though nothing is official yet, it appears this will be Sofia Coppola's next film, and both actresses have confirmed their possible involvement. Says Longoria, "Yes, it's true, we're talking about doing that. It's such a wonderful novel, a beautiful love story."

While I've never read it (sorry, but 472-page lesbian stories set in the 1890s aren't exactly my cup of tea), according to the amazon description, this one seems delicious. Here, this should get you started: "With a title that's a euphemism for cunnilingus and a plot awash with graphic lesbian sex, this lush tale fearlessly and feverishly exposes the political, social and sexual subversions of Victorian-era gender-benders: sapphists, libertines and passing women." Great, I'll take that with a side of sweeet! For those of you interested in learning a bit more about Tipping the Velvet (like I really have to ask), the book was already adapted into a BBC television drama serial back in 2002. And it's on DVD. And now you have something to do this weekend. You're welcome.

With his directorial debut, David Ayer chose to create a film around subjects he knows all too well: Military veterans, law enforcement, the ghetto and violence. To completely understand Harsh Times, you should be aware that Ayer grew up on the streets of South Central Los Angeles and was exposed to "ghetto life" at a very young age. He later went on to join the Navy, only to return home to a life full of various jobs in construction. That is until he discovered writing, and finally had some sort of output for all the characters and life experiences running rampant throughout his mind.

Shortly after leaving the military and long before he struck Hollywood gold with a script called Training Day, Ayer tapped into all those unforgiving memories from his youth and penned Harsh Times. While Training Day was his meal ticket to a successful screenwriting career, Harsh Times was more personal; it was his heart and soul. Ayer was so protective over this script that he refused to give it to anyone else, hell-bent on directing it himself. So, he took out a mortgage on his house, managed to attach an up-and-coming star in Christian Bale and set out to bring his long gestating vision to the big screen. But was it worth it?

Odds and ends from Thursday:

• Okay, so now that we know there are two Philip K. Dick biopics in the works, the question becomes: Which one will garner more heat? So far, according to reports, one (Panasonic) has Bill Pullman in the lead role and the other (The Owl in Daylight) has Paul Giamatti. The screenplay for Panasonic is already complete, though Daylight's script still needs to be written. However, while Panasonic has a very random director in Matthew Wilder attached, word* has it Terry Gilliam has come on to direct Owl in Daylight. Hmm, knowing Gilliam and Giamatti are involved now forces me to heavily favor The Owl in Daylight. Then again, I'm just pumped up about two Philip Dick biopics -- I think the guy is warped.
• The always lovable Jason Biggs has joined Eva Longoria and Paul Rudd in How I Met My New Boyfriend's Dead Fiancée (or How I Just Typed That Title Five Times and Still Screwed it Up). As previously announced, pic will tell of a "female psychic who falls in love with a skeptic while the ghost of his dead fiancée ... tries to keep them apart." Right now, it's being described as "Ghost, except really, really funny." Wait, so Ghost wasn't supposed to be funny?
• After beginning negotiations to helm the next James Bond film (currently titled Bond 22), Roger Michell (Notting Hill) has, apparently, dropped off the project due to "creative differences." With Michell gone, producers will now have to scramble and find a replacement, seeing as they've already scheduled Bond 22 to be released on May 2, 2008. Whether or not this setback will actually affect the film's release is yet to be seen.

*And by "word", we mean "totally unsubstantiated rumor." Make of it what you will.

First-time director Jeff Lowell has assembled a cast of pretty big names for his debut (which he also wrote) -- and with a name as clever as How I Met My Boyfriend's Dead Fiancée, who could possibly resist? (This must be the first in a long line of movies going the Snakes on a Plane-obvious route.) Eva Longoria, who has movie roles coming out of her pretty little (but possibly not that talented) ears, will play the titular character, with Paul Rudd as the grieving almost-widower.

The film will tell the story of a "female psychic who falls in love with a skeptic while the ghost of his dead fiancée ... tries to keep them apart." The psychic will be played by TV's Lake Bell (Can't you just hear the pitch? "It's like Ghost, except really, really funny. And this time, the psychic is hot!"), who took her boobs last season from Boston Legal to Surface, a career move that seems to have won her the right to bring them to the big screen. Good work, Lake!

According to Variety, Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria is set to take her first starring film role in Touchstone's romantic comedy, Deep in the Heart of Texas. [My head is so full of Tony Parker/San Antonio Spurs jokes right now that I can hardly type. Give me a second.] In the film, Longoria will play "a spoiled Beverly Hills diva who becomes a fish out of water when she is relocated to San Antonio to run the new Latin division of her ad agency." Hmm. Eva Longoria as a spoiled diva? Why, that just might work!

The film was just recently pitched to Touchstone, so it'll be awhile before it gets anywhere near production; the Desperate Housewives break in the summer of 2007 is likely the earliest it could shoot. The script is currently being written by pitchers Pamela Buchignani and Lynnette Ramirez.

It's the last day to toss in your input on our new name, so get to it. Otherwise, today's show has a recap of the Cannes lineup, and news regarding Woody Allen, Julia Roberts, and films new in theaters.

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Hosts
Karina Longworth

Editor
Randall Bennett

Music
Love as Laughter - I'm a bee

Format
4:26, 28.6 MB

Program
00:00 - Cannes film fest listings released
01:22 - Woody Allen pulling out of Paris, back to London for him
02:40 - Give Julia Roberts some credit for hitting the stage, since no one else is
03:37 - What's poppin' at your local cinema