The insanely funny folks over at Funny or Die are at it again. While I'm not sure anything could be better than Jerry O'Connell's spoof of Tom Cruise, this new clip has it's own brand of funny. It's Heroes star Hayden Panettiere talking about sexual harassment. It's not the sort of thing that employs lots of comedic technique, but the young actress plays it seriously -- and it works. So much so, in fact, that it has helped remove some of my Claire aggression.

It leads me to wonder if the key to Hayden goodness is just the right director? This puppy was helmed by Mr. Judd Apatow himself, so it's not terribly surprising that this clip is worth the time. Although, considering the name of the site, Hayden's Claire could fight off any death if it wasn't! Check the clip out for yourself and sound off below.

In our animated future, we can not only anticipate Wall-E robots, Tintin, and dragon taming, but also the fuzzy and dangerous world of wolves. The Hollywood Reporter posts that we're getting a new animated film called Alpha and Omega, and it's got a whole roster of recognizable names attached -- Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere, Christina Ricci, Danny Glover, Larry Miller, and Dennis Hopper.

Alpha and Omega focuses on "two bickering wolves -- one a disciplined, Alpha-bred wolf (Panettiere), and the other a fun-loving, comical Omega wolf (Long) -- who are captured and taken thousands of miles from their home. Determined to rejoin their pack, the two mismatched wolves begin a dangerous trek across unfamiliar terrain, battling the odds, the elements, the bears, and one another -- and finding love along the way." Look out, Milo & Otis! There's a new sheriff in town. It's too soon to tell what this will all shape up like, but at least they cast the leads pretty well. Panettiere is good at being terse and Alpha, while Long is pretty much Omega in human form.

If you watched Heroes last season, you might think that Hayden Panettiere should be placing herself on a "no-kiss list." Her romantic forays with wannabe Superman weren't the best moments on network television last season. And now, she's getting even more anti-kiss attention. Variety reports that Fox Atomic has picked up the rights to the novel Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List, for Hayden to star in.

Written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, the pens behind the upcoming Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, the book focuses on Naomi and her best friend, a gay dude named Ely. They've been friends for years, consider each other soulmates, and to make sure their friendship lasts, they come up with a "no kiss list" -- people they can't kiss under any circumstances. Dumb Ely then goes out and smooches someone on the list. However, it's not just any name -- it's Naomi's boyfriend, Bruce. To add insult to injury, Bruce then decides he wants Ely, not Naomi. With all of this drama, Naomi is forced to reevaluate a lot of things in her life.

It's sounding like the next generation's Girl (Blake Nelson) -- funky music and progressive theme mixed with adolescence and changing identities. Hopefully, though, it won't be half as crappy as that adaptation.

Maybe someone should tell newcomer Paul Rust that Hayden Panettiere is into older men -- the power-sucking sort that are 12 years her teen senior. But, well, geekboys can dream. However, in the upcoming comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper, the dude does a little more than just dreaming. Also, mimicking reality, Hayden plays a gal with an older guy.

Erik blogged about the movie last month when Chris Columbus was in talks to direct, and the whale saver was looking into starring. With their deals now set, Variety reports that they've cast Rust as the guy who gets to long for Beth Cooper. He'll play Denis Cooverman, the geeky valedictorian who decides that it will be a good idea to profess his love for Beth during his speech. Oh yes, there's nothing more romantic than the smart geek professing his love in front of the whole graduating senior class, their parents, the girl, and her parents. He might be book smart, but it seems like he's missing some rational smarts. Still, Erik said some great things about it, so maybe this could be fun.

That is, if they don't make HP be too love-gushy at any point. Man, I hated her romantic scenes with West in Heroes. Ick. Anyway, according to his blog, Rust heads for Vancouver next Monday to shoot the film through the end of May.

It was over two years ago that we got the first installment of Hoodwinked! It did well enough in its first weekend, making $17 million dollars ($3 mil short of its cost), that #2 was put into the works. Now writer and voice Cory Edwards has been blogging about the second installment, and has listed the cast that Weinstein Co. has put together. Some voices remain, like Glenn Close, David Ogden Stiers, and Andy Dick. Oh, and we can't forget Patrick Warburton -- but it's not like anyone, ever, could replace him.

But there are also some new names to the mix. Red, who was voiced by Anne Hathaway, will now get the invincible hero Hayden Panettiere -- which Edwards says is a good fit because Red becomes "more of a 'caped crusader'" in the film. Meanwhile, James Belushi's The Woodsman will now be voiced by the unstoppable Jack Putter -- Martin Short. You can't really complain about a Short replacement, unless well, he was taking over for a rippling, glistening superhero -- then it would be weird.

But there's also some tasty new vocal talent coming along for the ride. Edwards says Joan Cusack will play a "villainous witch," Brad Garrett is The Giant (of the beanstalk variety), Wayne Newton of all people will be Jimmy Ten Strings -- the Giant's singing harp, David Alan Grier will play a troll, and to top it all off, Amy Poehler and Bill Hader will voice Hansel & Gretel. How's that for an all-star cast?

[via Ace Showbiz]

In between her busy whale-saving schedule and wondering if she will ever get to be a superhero again with all of this darned strike business, Variety reports that Hayden Panettiere has signed on to star in a new teen comedy called Daydream Nation. The script was penned by Michael Goldbach, who collaborated with Don McKellar in the Canadian comedy Childstar, and he'll make this his directorial debut.

Negotiating to join Panettiere is Kieran Culkin, brother of Macauley, Father of the Bride alum, and lead in my beloved Igby Goes Down. Now get ready for this super-revealing description -- he'll "play opposite Panettiere as her oblivious boyfriend." Gee, I'm glad that's cleared up. Luckily, THR had a little more information to give: "The producers are hoping to reinvent the coming-of-age story for the 21st century, calling the film an intellectual comedy a la Juno and Election." Hayden's role is described there as "acerbic," so between that and the Election reference, I imagine that we'll get a modern Tracy Flick for this puppy. And, I hope, a Sonic Youth soundtrack?

Now, the challenge will be navigating the next possible strike (actors), and her schedule on Heroes. The producers are hoping to get production going this spring or summer. In the mean time, I ask you -- Can Panettiere follow in the footsteps of Reese Witherspoon and Ellen Page?

Is it just me, or does it seem weird these days to see a movie poster that excludes images of its stars? I would especially expect a movie starring Julia Roberts to capitalize on her famous face. Yet here is the new one-sheet for Dennis Lee's Fireflies in the Garden, and it is completely void of the usual celebrity portraits. It doesn't include the young, rising-star face of Hayden Panettiere (Heroes), the handsome mugs of Ioan Gruffold or Ryan Reynolds, the distinguished features of Willem Dafoe or the stunning eyes of Emily Watson or Carrie-Anne Moss. The poster does list all of these actors, though, so for attracting an audience for the film, name recognition will have to do. Apparently the designers of the poster think we'll be more interested in a movie about a large farmhouse and a giant field (not even a garden) than in a movie starring Roberts and the rest. The design is boring, familiar and seems to do nothing in terms of appealing to anyone.

The film, which keeps making me think of my favorite animated film, Grave of the Fireflies, is a semi-autobiographical family drama involving an unexpected tragedy (sounds almost like Roberts' return to weepy Steel Magnolias territory). I haven't been interested in that genre for a long, long time, and after the badly spoofed version in Christopher Guest's latest, For Your Consideration, I can't imagine wanting to see any sappy family drama anytime soon. Unfortunately, I tend not to avoid films in which Watson appears (though I can't believe Panettiere is playing her character, younger), and I have to admit the rest of the cast is mostly worth watching, too. So, I may actually have to rent this one someday.

It wouldn't exactly be a big of a shock if a cast member from the TV series Heroes managed to parlay the success of the show into a film career. But who knew the show had enough clout that it could help even the most minor character snag a lead role in a feature film. Fangoria magazine reports that Danielle Savre, who played the high school nemesis to Hayden Panettiere's "accident-prone" cheerleader, has been cast as the lead in the horror flick Boogeyman 2. I guess Savre's schedule was wide open after her character was killed during the fall finale of her show.

Savre will star as a young woman who is sent to an institution to deal with her fear of the "boogeyman", and of course her fears are justified as she and her fellow inmates do battle with the source of all things that go bump in the night. It's been a long time since I saw the original, but I have to say that the new sequel tends to read like a rip-off of Nightmare On Elm Street 3. The film is still in preproduction, but with casting announcements starting to arrive, it seems that Boogeyman 2 is one step closer to making it's way to the big screen. Or, we could all just save ourselves some time and rent Nightmare On Elm Street 3.