craig robinson Tagged Articles at Cinematical

How strange it is to think that a comedy isn't brash enough or absurd enough or funny enough (okay, that one's not so strange), but the truth about The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard is that, while it is brash and absurd and funny in fits and starts, it also seems to lose its nerve as it goes on, running low on laughing gas and coasting to a stop or whatever it is that auto-minded metaphors for auto-minded comedies do.

A wheeler and dealer even in grade school, the now-grown Don Ready (Jeremy Piven) sells cars like nobody's business when somebody's business is in trouble, and that's just the predicament that Ben Selleck (James Brolin) finds himself in. Ready's entourage includes the likes of Ving Rhames, Kathryn Hahn and David Koechner; I'll leave you to guess which of the three is the willful slut. Selleck's staff includes Ken Jeong, Tony Hale and Charles Napier; I'll leave you to determine which of those three suffers most at the racist outbursts of another (hint: not Hale).

If you read Cinematical enough, you're already familiar with a bizarre upcoming comedy called Hot Tub Time Machine, and how it could very well be the most awesomest hot tub time machine-related film ever made in the history of hot tub time machine films. Starring John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Rob Corrdry, Chevy Chase and more, the film tells of a group of foul-mouthed, boozed-up gents who discover they can travel back in time via their ski lodge hot tub. Hilarity ensues.

MGM just sent us the first teaser/clip from the film, which is totally filthy and extremely R-rated, so be warned before heading after the jump. The scene itself shows the guys talking about time machines and Terminator, and I don't think I've ever seen John Cusack use the word 'f*ck' that many times in one scene. In an exclusive chat with Cinematical recently, Hot Tub Time Machine writer (and Cinematical fan) Josh Heald told us the following: "Hot Tub Time Machine is probably the greatest gift anyone's ever given the world. Time will show that it ranks up there with the Statue of Liberty and free Internet porn."

Watching this clip and, well, I think I agree, sir. Check it out after the jump. Hot Tub Time Machine attacks theaters on February 26, 2010.

Kevin Spacey never really went away, so I hesitate to say that he's making a comeback, so let's just say "Hey, it's nice to see Kevin Spacey out and about in the trades again." Then we can talk about Spacey's Father of Invention, and talk about the eclectic foursome he's lured in as costars. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Craig Robinson, Johnny Knoxville, Heather Graham, and Camilla Belle have all signed onto Spacey's independently produced, Trent Cooper-directed film.

The story centers on Robert Axle (Spacey), an inventor who has forgotten his humble roots after making billions, and become an egomanical jerk. In a Lex Luthor twist, one of his inventions has gone awry, maimed hundreds, and landed him in prison serving an eight-year sentence. Freed from his sentence, he goes about rebuilding his personal and professional life, but finds remaking his name and fortune easier than repairing his fractured family.
Rounding out the Axle family is Belle, who plays his daughter, employed as a social worker and reluctant to reconnect with her father. Graham plays her lesbian roommate (is there ever any other kind) who sleeps with Spacey, undoubtedly making the situation that much more prickly. Knoxville plays a store manager who gives the ex-con a job. Somewhere in the mix there's an ex-Mrs. Axle as Robinson plays her new husband, who now lives in the billionaire's house, eats his food, and drives his car, but is nice enough to help him get back on his feet.

There's a whiff of Arrested Development to the plotline, and Robinson makes just about everything funny, so let's all watch out for this one. Production begins this week in New Orleans, so it'll be here before you know it.

Back in December, I told you about a new film that was about to go into production under the title Hot Tub Time Machine. You agreed with me that Hot Tub Time Machine is a fantastic title for a movie. You also loved the premise: three grown-up guys visit the hot tub where they once partied, discover it is now a time machine, and travel back to their raunchy heyday. The film's writer, Josh Heald, even contacted us to vouch for the awesomeness of his screenplay. Remember all this? Of course you do.

And now we have an update! According to Production Weekly -- actually, to be specific, according to Production Weekly's Twitter feed (welcome to 21st-century journalism!), the three leads have been cast. Dipping into the H.G. Wells Jacuzzi will be John Cusack, Rob Corddry, and Craig Robinson (best known as Darryl on The Office). Corddry and Robinson have popped up recently in films like Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and Zack and Miri Make a Porno. But has Cusack ever really done a raucous R-rated sex comedy? I'm intrigued.

The film was originally announced with co-directors Sean Anders and John Morris (who made last year's underseen Sex Drive) attached, but Production Weekly's Tweet says it's now being directed by Steve Pink, who made 2006's Accepted. We'll look into that. Either way, as long as it's called Hot Tub Time Machine, and as long as Josh Heald wasn't lying hack when he promised it was funny, it sounds promising. Filming starts in April in Vancouver.

Ridiculousness on film can work quite well. Wanted rocked a world where cars can do unheard-of things and bullet trajectories can be curved. Zoolander made male models-turned-assassins a hoot. Unfortunately, on the flip side of all that, there's the films that just don't get it. Either they have no urge to and want to be stupid in the least enjoyable way, or they try and just miserably fail.

Take your pick at what the above falls into -- the new trailer for the upcoming comedy Miss March. As the story goes -- a high school dude has a girlfriend he's about to have sex with. But then he falls into a coma for four years, and awakens to find out that his love now shows her private bits to the masses through Playboy. With the help of his friends, they decide to storm the castle mansion and get the girl -- while also partying with the rest of the bunnies. Like any road trip movie -- there are hijinx ... ridiculously over-the-top hijinx that include firetrucks full of psycho fireman and tongues that can unlock locks.

As I see it, Miss March might ensnare some dudes overflowing with pubescent fantasies of breasts, die-hard Craig Robinson fans, or those heavily under the influence, but the masses? Naw. Do you agree? Weigh in below.

For those of you who spend a great deal of time roaming the halls of indie hipster-ville, you may have noticed that the brief window of empty space prior to awards nominations has been filled with a whole bunch of Prop 8 speech. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course, since it's an important issue in this country and the very influential "indie community" can help provide a large voice of support against Prop 8. If that's your thing. However, now that awards season is beginning to heat up, Prop 8. is being replaced by "So who got which screener today?", and it's slowly becoming "that thing we got really upset about in November."

Hold on! Funny or Die has come to the rescue with this very funny video called Prop 8 - The Musical, featuring all sorts of comedic talent like Jack Black, John C. Reilly, Craig Robinson, Neil Patrick Harris (who's absolutely hilarious), and many more. Watch as this ensemble cast sings and dances their way through the issue at hand, and maybe you'll learn a bit more about what's at stake here. Enjoy.

In anticipation of what's sure to be the first trailer (or teaser) for Night at the Museum 2, USA Today has unloaded the first official batch of photos -- most of which show off a few of the new characters, a couple of returning characters and a cameo from Jonah Hill (who plays a security guard). Above, you'll see Ben Stiller, returning as the bumbling guard, and Bill Hader, who's playing General George Custer. Director Shawn Levy and Stiller both chat up the film, claiming it's definitely better than the first one. And with a cast that includes Robin Williams, Dick Van Dyke, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais (all of whom are returning), Christopher Guest, Hank Azaria, Craig Robinson, Ed Helms, Eugene Levy, Bill Hader and Amy Adams, you can't really go wrong.

In the sequel, Stiller's Larry Daley goes in search of his friends (and museum pieces) Octavius (Coogan) and Jedediah (Wilson) after they're mistakenly shipped to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. On whether this will turn into a franchise for the studio, Levy says, "There are rumblings of another installment. We would love to take this premise (further). But even to say there's a likely third film is premature. We're not going to jinx things." We've included a few more images below, then feel free to hop on over to USA Today for the rest.

Night at the Museum 2 hits theaters on May 22.

I'm not exactly sure where IMP Awards dug up this alternate poster for Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, but for my money, it's an equally creative and eye-catching way to sell the stars compared to the current stick-figures-and-'Porno'-free campaign ... a campaign which, it should be said, hasn't stopped the flick from grossing $20 million by this past weekend, which is about on par with most of Smith's recent work and (again) not bad for an advertising angle that didn't push either his name or the faces of leads Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen.

Besides, I really don't think the bright colors and cute animals would have led anyone to believe that the (admittedly sweet) Zack and Miri falls in line with, say, Happy-Go-Lucky, but we'll honestly never know if swapping colors for controversy would've had the same effect. (Hey, I still think that the Canadian poster would've done just fine.)

Check out this new (cutesy?) poster after the jump ...

Cinematical has just confirmed that The Weinstein Co. plans to release Zack and Miri Make a Porno on October 31, 2008 (aka, Halloween babyyyyyy!). The film, which recently wrapped production, is currently in post-production -- where Smith is editing in HD, using Adrenaline, which he claims "crashes at least twice a night" according to statements he's made on his message board. Thus, he's gotten used to hitting the save button. Zack and Miri stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as two platonic friends who, hard up for cash, decide to make an adult film. At some point during the process, however, they begin to have "more than friends" feelings for one another.

The film also stars Smith regulars Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson, as well as Traci Lords, Craig Robinson, Tom Savini and Smith's hottie wife, Jennifer. Recently, Smith stopped by his site to offer up a second summary of his time in production, where he noted that he kinda wants to keep things under wraps for awhile: " I want folks to discover the flick for themselves, instead of me jamming it down their throats. I'm also gonna try to keep from over-selling it with hyperbole and absolutes. I'll let you guys apply those (good or bad) when the time comes. Just know that we had a problem-free, productive shoot in which everyone was firing on all cylinders and the result was THE FUNNIEST F**KING MOVIE WE'VE EVER MADE!!!"

Once again, Zack and Miri Make a Porno will arrive in theaters on October 31. Oscar push?? Maybe???