Over at MTV-land, Josh Horowitz has a rather clever short up in which he inserts himself into the nominees for the Best Picture Oscar. Horowitz gets verbally abused by Keira Knightley, finds out he got Juno pregnant, uses his hamburger phone to call Javier Bardem's serial killer to take care of his "little problem," has a chat by the fire with Daniel Plainview, and gets yelled at by George Clooney. The editing isn't seamless, but it looks quite good, and Horowitz, when he's not being annoying, can be funny.

It's pretty darn amusing (or at least, it was to me, but I've only had one cup of coffee this morning, so it's possible I'm just not awake yet), and just the kind of thing Jon Stewart might do for the Oscars. I wonder if Stewart had something similar planned, saw this online and said, "Damn that Horowitz! He stole our idea!"

What do you think about the video? Funny, or not?
[Hat tip: Hollywood Elsewhere]

Until they make Krush Groove: Redux, I guess this will have to do. The Hollywood Reported announced that Def Jam creator and Hip-Hop legend Russell Simmons is shopping around the life story of the Reverend Run (of Run-DMC fame) for the big-screen. Simmons was speaking at a New York conference on money and media when the subject of a feature film about the life of Reverend Run (born Joseph Ward Simmons) first came up.

For those of you out there who aren't that familiar with the awesomeness that is Run-DMC now is your chance to find out. Not only were they the pioneers of mainstream rap and hip-hop, they were the first group (for better or for worse) to cross over to the pop charts with their collaboration with Aerosmith on a remake of Walk this Way. Plus no-one could wear a fedora and Adidas like Run-DMC. After the murder of founding member Jam Master Jay in 2002, the group parted ways and Run was quoted as saying, "No one will want to see Run-DMC without Jam Master Jay. Run-DMC is officially retired." Over the years the surviving members have recorded solo albums and with each other and Run has recently had success with his Osborne-style reality show on MTV, Run's House.

It's a shame that in the flood of musician biopics over the last few years that hip-hop artists have been virtually ignored -- I mean, how long has it taken to get a Notorious B.I.G film into production? Since Simmons is still on the hunt for funding and a studio to produce the picture, it could take awhile before the production gets rolling. But ever the self-promoter, Simmons doesn't seem too worried about the bottom line, telling those in attendance at the conference, "It's gonna make a lot of money". If anyone knows how to make money, it's Simmons. So what other music legends do you think have been overlooked on the big screen?

I just love the word metabolism. Some people wish they had a good one, so they could eat whatever they wanted to. Others think it will explain away eating disorders: "My bones naturally stick out of my skin like this. I have a high metabolism!" This is especially prevalent in Hollywood, which leads me to believe that those high-price plastic surgeons have a high metabolism shot that they offer with routine botox. But I'm getting off-track. This new pic isn't about super-thin actresses, but is rather the latest deal for graphic novelist Scott Christian Sava.

Disney has the Pet Robots, but MTV has got the rights to Hyperactive, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The upcoming graphic novel is about a teen "whose overactive metabolism grants him incredible speed and enhanced agility." See, this makes me wonder: if a metabolism can make you super-skinny, just how much would you have to eat to not only have the normal energy, but the juice to fuel the speed and agility? Or, is that just a side effect? Anyhow, THR also says: "In the story, teen Joey Caram must constantly stay one step ahead of a pharmaceutical company who is chasing him to extract his DNA. Caram must evade capture and rescue his kidnapped family." That last bit seems a bit out of left field. For reasons unknown, his family has been taken, and he has to escape the urgent needles chasing him to save them. Well, at the very least, it should be interesting. There's no writer attached yet, so it'll be a while before we see what MTV makes of it.

Who would have thought four little words on a banner would have caused such a commotion. Variety reports that Paramount and MTV films are hoping to cash in on some of the 'righteous indignation' over a young student whose high school suspension became a national free-speech debate. The deal was struck with Joseph Frederick (the student in question), his father Frank, and Doug Mertz, the local attorney who took his case. All three made life rights deals for the film.

In 2002, Frederick (along with several friends) held up a banner with the words 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' during the Winter Olympics torch relay, passing through his home town of Juneau, Alaska. Even though he was not on school property at the time, his principal ordered that he be suspended from school for 10 days for supposedly violating their drug policy (c'mon, he wasn't even doing said 'bong hits' at the time!) Supported by family and friends, Frederick took his suit to the Supreme Court. The court ultimately ruled that "a school principal may, consistent with the First Amendment, restrict student speech at a school event when that speech is reasonably viewed as promoting illegal drug use".

Mark Poirier (Smart People) will write the script, but there is no word on a cast or director yet. Producer Michael Shamberg (who has already worked on true-life dramas like Erin Brockovich and World Trade Center) tells Variety, "The tone is 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,' about a young man standing up for his rights." He adds, "The heart of this story is the relationship between a father and son. Frank Frederick was an insurance adjuster facing the loss of his job if his son didn't back down" So even though they might have lost the case, no one is making a feature film about Frederick's principal, so I guess Frederick and family will get the last laugh after all. So, do you think the title will stand? And what in the world does 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' have to do with the Winter Olympics?

Part of me thinks this is a really great thing for the undiscovered talent out there, but then another part of me is a tad worried that MTV is looking to YouTube for their feature film ideas. Whatever you make of it, the deal is done -- and Variety reports that MTV plans to bring the comedy duo (and YouTube stars) Million Dollar Strong to the big screen, with Todd Phillips (Old School) onboard to produce. But before you go and say to your friend: "Holy crap, MTV is turning a couple of YouTube schmucks into stars!," comedians Mike O'Connell and Ken Jeong (aka Million Dollar Strong) have been around the block once or twice already. Which is to say these guys aren't going from mom's basement to movie stardom in just one hop, skip and jump.

The film, like O'Connell and Jeong's ultra popular YouTube music video What's It Gonna Be, will follow the two "playas" while they attempt to take on the hip-hop world. Essentially, it's like extending what amounts to be a hilarious SNL sketch to an hour and a half -- which, as we all know, has worked (Wayne's World) and, well, not so much (A Night at the Roxbury, Stuart Saves His Family, The Ladies Man, etc ...). O'Connell, who's been a standup comedian and recently shot a pilot for Fox, will pen the script, with Jeong (Knocked Up, All About Steve) co-starring. Since I'm a nice guy like that, here's the music video they shot (though keep in mind it does feature some foul language). No director is assigned yet, but I imagine MTV will try to shovel this one out pre-strike.

Confession time: I'm a 30 year-old male and I own the complete series of My So-Called Life on DVD. No, my wife didn't buy it, it was given to me as a gift. So not only do I have it, but people close to me know how much I adored the series -- so much so that they would get it for me as a Christmas present. Yep, deep inside me lives a 14 year-old teenage girl, and I have no problem whatsoever with people knowing that about me. Now, on to that so-called feature film for My So-Called Life. As most of you probably know, My So-Called Life was a TV show that ran for one season on ABC before being canned. Since then re-runs have aired on a number of channels, including MTV, a book called My So-Called Life Goes On was written and Shout! Factory has plans to release a new 6-disc boxset at the end of October. So if there was ever a time to bring the series back to life in big-screen form, it would be now.

Well, MTV Movies Blog recently spoke to the show's star Claire Danes, and asked her what she thought of a My So-Called Life: The Movie. For those who watched the show, you'll remember that it ended on a massive cliffhanger. Since then, said cliffhanger has scarred my entire life -- to the point that it came up in a conversation (again!) just the other day. And that shot! The shot of Brian (Devon Gummersall) and Angela (Danes) staring at one another from across the street, with only the streetlamps guiding their way toward one another. Priceless. I'm getting chills as I write about it. So what did Danes have to say? Essentially, she put the kibosh on it almost immediately, and felt that there was a specific time and place for the show. And that time was 1994. Feel free to head on over to MTV to hear her complete thoughts, then come back and join me as a swallow back 13 years of heartache. Damn you Brian! Couldn't you have made a move during -- I dunno -- episode 7 or something!?

Is it bad that I just got around to seeing Casino Royale for the first time a couple weeks ago? Lame, I know, but I needed to work up to it in my Netflix queue. Nevertheless, I absolutely loved it and anticipate Bond 22 just as much -- if not more than -- my fellow Cinematical writers. As was the case in the months leading up to Casino Royale, most of the talk revolved around who would be cast as the next Bond girl. Things came right down the wire last time, with Eva Green and Caterina Murino landing major roles. This time around, the list of female contenders became available almost immediately after Royale left theaters. Sticking with that somewhat exotic, unfamiliar vibe, names like Carice van Houten, Abbie Cornish and Rose Byrne were being thrown around. And the most concrete rumor came in the form of an Aussie scoop that claimed Cornish had flew to Singapore to meet with producers about the role. Since then, nada.

Now, however, MTV is reporting that Rose Byrne may have let slip some major casting information during a recent interview with the actress. When they asked her whether she was up for the Bond girl role, the gal denied it but said: "I think Abbie Cornish's got it." Byrne and Cornish are both Aussies, but they're also friends -- which means it's quite likely that one would know which roles the other had landed. If Cornish has landed the role, there's a good chance negotiations are still ongoing and we won't hear about it for a little while. Cornish is known for going both brunette (A Good Year) and blonde (Candy, Somersault) in her roles, but I personally would like to see some blonde on blonde action between her and Daniel Craig. What about you?

Bonus trivia question: Name the last film that featured a blonde Bond girl?

It seems like lately, every time you turn around, another person working on Alien Vs. Predator 2 is promising that it's going to be better this time around. Having missed the first film, it's probably not likely that I will be lining up opening day for this one either -- plus enough fans of the original comic book series telling me the film was blasphemous isn't helping. AVP2 star Steve Pasquale, who plays Dallas in the film, recently spoke with MTV movie blog and says that‚ "We are trying to get back to the basics [with] the suspense and the gore," and confirmed that the film was going to be "considerably scarier than its predecessor." The sequel has our two villains descending on a small town for another Battle Royale. and Pasquale plays an ex-convict and a part of the band of townsfolk trying to avoid the cross-fire.

According to Pasquale, The Strause Brothers, who are new to the franchise, seem to be ready to bring on the blood. "Directors] Colin and Greg Strause really know what they're doing in terms of a sort of true-blue monster movie," he said. Pasquale also confirms that this time around, there is going to no shortage of screen time for the two aliens, saying‚ "Aliens and predators will be fighting to the death, there's a little secret surprise that I can't tell you about that the sci-fi fans are going to go bananas over. It's going to be awesome." AVP2 is set to open on Christmas Day -- until then I'm sure this won't be the last proclamation from the production that this time they've "gotten it right."

It seems like every actress these days either got her start as a model or scored an Estee Lauder/Noxema/Gap modeling contract after she hit it big in film. But when you think about it, there really aren't too many actresses who were actually well-known models before breaking into film or TV. Amber Valletta, star of not one but two new films out this week (Premonition and Dead Silence), is one such actress. She was a recognizable staple of women's fashion magazine covers, the star of Versace and Calvin Klein ad campaigns, and the host of MTV's House of Style long before landing the plum role of Harrison Ford's undead mistress in the 2000 hit What Lies Beneath. Since then, she's starred in a slew of films, including the Will Smith blockbuster Hitch and the action smash Transporter 2.

Of course, a symmetrical face, ample bosoms, sexy legs and perfectly formed buttocks do not necessarily equate to acting prowess -- so we decided to rank the success of runway walkers, Sports Illustrated swimsuit models, fashion mag goddesses and Victoria's Secret Angels who were first famous for modeling and only later broke into the movie biz. Check out our gallery of the Top 20 Models Turned Actors, then tell us how accurate our model-turned-actress-ranking skills are.

With less than a week before Zack Snyder's 300 crashes into theaters, MTV has an exclusive 300-second clip in which those lovable oiled-up Spartans prepare to battle the scary Persian Immortals ... and one giant beast of a man. After King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and his crew plow through a number of Persian soldiers, using their dead bodies to build a strategic wall, along come an army of masked men -- the deadliest fighting force in all of Asia -- the Immortals. Will Leonidas and his 300 men have what it takes to slaughter their toughest competition? I guess you'll have to wait till March 9 to truly find out.

If this balls-to-the-wall clip isn't enough to whet your appetite, feel free to check out Moviefone's behind the scenes tour of 300; along with a video intro from Gerald Butler himself, you get to scope out the men, the sets and the filming of that already famous scene in which Leonidas and his soldiers push a herd of Persians off a cliff. If anything, it's fascinating to watch how Snyder turns a group of men falling onto a mat into some spectacular visuals -- the kind of stuff most people will have no problem shelling out ten bucks to watch unfold in front of their eyes. Will it live up to the hype? Will it stand tall alongside those fantastic battles featured in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy? For you Frank Miller fanatics, I'm sure this will be one helluva long week.