JonStewart Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Right off the bat, I want to make it clear that you don't have to be half-baked to enjoy Half Baked. But if you thought Pineapple Express was hilarious, and you haven't seen Half Baked, it's high time you rectify this problem. Sure, Pineapple Express had James Franco as a drug dealer slash nice Jewish boy overly concerned with his Bubbe, and it had Danny McBride wigging out in his normal (i.e. awesome) way, and yeah, it was almost the perfect stoner crime caper.

But Half Baked has all that and more! It has Dave Chappelle as both a janitor at a lab that just happens to produce pharmaceutical-grade marijuana and a hip-hop star named Sir Smoke-a-Lot who, when high, complains, cries, and complains that he needs a "backiotomy." It has Guillermo Diaz as Scarface, who wants you to know he's Cuban, B! And it has Jim Breuer in one of his least annoying incarnations (although personally I do enjoy Goat Boy -- I'm not sure what that says about me, really). And then there's Harland Williams who accidentally kills a police horse by feeding it their munchies.

Let's not forget about the amazing cameos, including Jon Stewart as the Enhancement Smoker ("You ever seen Scent of a Woman... on weed?"), Bob Saget as someone in a Narc-Anon meeting who offers up a memorable confession, Steven Wright as the random dude sleeping on their couch, Tommy Chong as an inmate named the Squirrel Master, and plenty of others.

Each year the ratings for the Academy Awards seem to drop, and each year more and more people seem to blame the host for his (or her) inability to keep the world glued to their screens for three-plus hours. Sure, it takes a whole lot of everything to satisfy those tuning in to Hollywood's biggest night, but perhaps with the recession and economic problems, folks aren't itching to watch pretty millionaires congratulate one another with smiles, hugs and gold statues. Or we can just blame Jon Stewart for f**king it all up.

Either way, the Academy might be looking to switch things up this year by bringing on a host who isn't a stand-up comedian or a TV personality. According to Deadline Hollywood, they've chosen someone "way outside the box" to host this year's ceremony, and there won't be "the traditional segment of joke-telling near the start of the broadcast." DH says, however, that this person "is in the movie biz," and an announcement could come as soon as early next week. While some would prefer to see them lose the funny guy (or girl), I kinda liked it when they'd open up the show with some laughter or a musical number or, ya know, something light and entertaining ... since that's what these people do for a living -- they entertain. And if the Academy chooses some bore to walk out on stage and open up the show with a monologue about how "important" and "meaningful" movies are, I'll be switching channels in no time. Or, they could announce the new host as being The Jonas Brothers ... and then, well, we're all screwed.

But what do you think -- who would you prefer: a funnier, song-and-dance host or a more serious one?

UPDATE: Apparently, according to Deadline Hollywood, Hugh Jackman is the "way outside the box" name the Academy wants to nominate as host for the Oscars. He sure does look good, and claw good, but will he host good?

UPDATE 2: USA Today now confirms that Jackman will indeed host the Oscars.

Considering how much puffing is usually done to launch those "little movies that could," it's ironic that a documentary about blowing up balloons has made its way into the spotlight without an inflated media campaign. Sounds like the New York Times's Douglas Quenqua has noticed Sara Taksler and Naomi Greenfield's documentary about balloon twisting during its nationwide tour. After debuting at 2007's SXSW (Cinematical's Scott Weinberg notes the opening of Twisted: A Balloonamentary here), the film now has a solid run going at St. Louis's Landmark Tivoli theater.

Deer Park, Texas' Ralph Dewey, who uses balloon twisting as part of his gospel ministry, told the Times he isn't going to see the documentary on the grounds that there's too much uncleanliness in it. Unfortunately, some artistes twist the poor innocent balloon into hard-R and even unrated shapes, as you've probably seen at bachelorette parties and on cruise ships. The conflict between "gospel twisters" and "adult twisters" is unflinchingly depicted here, in accordance with the rule that every successful doc needs heroes, villains and conflicts. ("Michelle" seen above, supposedly paid for her house with the unholy art of adult balloon twisting.) Taksler, now a producer for The Daily Show, raised the money for the film by auctioning off the executive producer credit on eBay. And Jon Stewart himself hosts an animated sequence of the film. Twisted: A Balloonamentary opens in June in NYC.

If you thought leading a revolution was easy, try filming one. In The Huffington Post, Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere discusses Steven Soderbergh's two-part Che Guevara biopic, comprised of The Argentine and Guerilla. Despite earlier rumors to the contrary, it appears that both movies will definitely screen next month at the Cannes Film Festival, where Soderbergh was warmly welcomed last year for the premiere of Ocean's Thirteen. The reception of his latest project could be even more positive, but its distribution prospects are another story: As Wells explains, Soderbergh's project guarantees to offend some people for its apparent exclusion of Che's stint as the overlord at La Cabana fortress, where he ordered the execution of over 600 political prisoners. Add to that the heavy amount of Spanish dialog and the director's insistence that the two movies should be enjoyed as a four hour-plus package, and you've got enough red flags to send even the bravest U.S. distributors packing.

Wells, who read both scripts, analogizes the project to Lawrence of Arabia. "Hey, how about presenting the two films as a single, gargantuan Lawrence of Arabia-styled deal with an intermission, running between four or four and a half hours?" he suggests, perhaps somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

Jon Stewart had it right during the Oscars this year when he ironically geeked out over Lawrence of Arabia on an iPod. If most audiences can't appreciate that movie on the big screen now, why would they turn up for something like this?

Once again, the lovely Jon Stewart is hosting the Oscars -- a gig that may be worthy of your time not for the awards, but rather to see what they made of the whole thing last minute. Will the rush help the Oscars improve? Will they completely suck? Who knows?!

But it would all be better with weed, according to Jon. As I see it, we need to balance out all of Stewart's political comedy and fancy shmancy hosting with some old-school stoner comedy. In Half Baked, he played the "Enhancement Smoker" -- the dude who thinks Mary Jane actually makes everything better. Stars are better. Scent of a Woman is better. The back of a $20 is better (or was ... I wondered what he'd see in it now). So, it goes to assume that the Oscars would be better ... on weed.

Maybe that's the secret to a good Academy show?

I'm probably not alone in this, but until today I had never heard of the British music legend Joe Meek -- but I guess that's what Wikipedia is for. Dark Horizons is reporting that the former lead singer of The Darkness, Justin Hawkins, and ex-Libertine guitarist, Carl Barat, have signed on for roles in a biopic about "the flamboyantly gay, tone deaf, songwriter-producer". I wish they could call it that, but they're going with Telstar instead. So be it. Meek was an independent producer and songwriter who was credited with being one of the pioneers of modern music. Notable for being truly independent, he worked out of his home and crafted a string of hits in the '60s. Like many other icons of the '60s, Meek's life came to a tragic end when he murdered his landlady before taking his own life in 1967.

Nick Moran of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels fame will make his directorial debut with the film; he also wrote the 2005 stage play called Telstar (named after one of Meek's big hits) which serves as the basis for the film, including the title. Back in July, Patrick had reported that Kevin Spacey had already signed on for a role as Major Banks, one of Meek's financial supporters. Some of the other cast listed on the flick's IMDB page are a little stranger; mainly the inclusion of The Daily Show's Jon Stewart in the part of 'Dennis'. There is no word on who Hawkins or Barat will play, but it definitely won't be the lead, since British actor Con O'Neill is reprising his role from the stage as Meek. Telstar is currently in post-production and is set for release sometime in 2008.

*Correction: Image removed due to copyright issues

According to a story in The New York Times (who, surprisingly enough, have appeared to scoop the scoopers, and their scoopers), The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce today that Jon Stewart will be invited back to host the Oscars this year. The event, which is scheduled to air on ABC this coming February 24, will mark Stewart's second time hosting; he last took the reigns reins back in 2006. Although this is The New York Times, I do have to throw out the requisite "rumor" warning since they claim their sources are "two people involved with the plan who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to talk to the news media." And I imagine those two people would suffer a major beatdown if someone were to find out who they were. It was you Colbert! Wasn't it! Damn you! Damn you I say!

So now we have to raise the obvious question: Should Stewart be back? Last time out the man was fairly well received, but not according to the numbers. Last year, Ellen DeGeneres helped score the show 39.9 million viewers, whereas Stewart took in only 38.9 million. Compared to Chris Rock's 42.1 million in 2005 and Billy Crystal's whopping 55 million in 1998 (when Titanic was pretty much guaranteed to win everything -- and it did!), Stewart doesn't seem like the obvious choice ... on paper. But he's a likable enough guy, his jokes and mannerisms are usually pretty funny, and he's tame. He'll most likely be asked, once again, to hold back on all the political humor -- everything will be fine and dandy -- and we'll live-blog the whole thing. Sweet. Now all Hollywood needs is a big fall, because nothing looks appetizing from a viewer's standpoint thus far. And Stewart had Brokeback Mountain (as well as all the jokes that went along with it) back in 2006; will anything even come close this year. I doubt it. What do you think?

About a year ago I was sure that Rob Corddry would be the next big thing to come out of The Daily Show. But now it looks like Ed Helms could pass him by. While Corddry waits around for his new show The Winner to get canceled (if it hasn't been killed already), Helms is busy setting up a good amount of decent movie gigs, including a starring role in A Whole New Hugh, which he will co-write and which Judd Apatow will produce. The movie, which was pitched to Universal by Helms, Jake Fleisher and Ian Berger, will be about a guy who gains confidence thanks to three friends who make him appear successful.

I'm glad for Helms, though I don't see him having enough appeal to be the next Steve Carell. I am also surprised by his sudden rise because the last thing I saw him in was Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story, in which Corddry starred and Helms merely had a cameo. What likely has helped Helms' success is his obnoxious run on The Office, co-starring with Carell, his former Daily Show cast mate. Other upcoming movies Helms can be seen in include Evan Almighty, where he'll again be supporting Carell, Starship Dave and Walk Hard, which stars The Office's Jenna Fischer. Both he and Corddry have parts in Harold and Kumar 2, so maybe he could give his old friend some tips on breaking out.

So you haven't had quite enough of post-Oscar news coverage, commentary, and rants against Crash? Of course you haven't. Here's a roundup of some of the most entertaining blogger reactions to the Oscars.

• Scott Kirsner of CinemaTech points out the irony of Academy members encouraging the rest of us to buy tickets to see movies in theaters instead of on DVD.
• Aaron's post-Oscar commentary at Out of Focus notes that "the Oscars are the hardest room in town" for comedians, even the top-notch variety such as Chris Rock and Jon Stewart.
• The Reeler performs a much-needed chore that I would not have had the stamina for: he reviews several Oscar liveblogging entries. That thing about the "God dust" scared me, and made me feel glad I spent Sunday evening at a nice quiet Oscar party with no internet access.
• Finally, Reverse Shot saves a thousand words and sums up their reaction to the Oscars in a single photo (which you might not want to look at from the office).

During my thirty years as a movie watcher, my relationship with the Oscars has been through three distinct phases. The first, love and respect, involved passionate interest and rooting - in those days, when my picks didn't win I was befuddled, and would spend days talking to friends, sincerely trying to sort out the reasoning behind each disputed decision. When Dances with Wolves wiped the floor with Goodfellas, for example, I figured I must have missed something. What angle was I not getting that those wise members of the Academy had seen?

Eventually, though, I wised up and entered phased two: desperate hatred. The passion remained, but the respect was completely gone. During this period, I was actually thrilled when Forrest Gump won best picture, because it confirmed how stupid all of the voters were, and allowed me to triumphantly unload whatever projectiles were nearby at the television (eventually I armed myself with a hamper full of balled up socks - too many things were getting broken).