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Pootie Tang, the hallucinatory story of a "musician/actor/folk hero of the ghetto" who literally speaks his own language, is like a secret handshake among a certain subset of film nerd. Yes, possibly the stoner kind, but not necessarily – it's just one of those movies where maybe you're out for a drink with someone you don't know that well and you drop a Pootie-ism ("I'm gonna sine your pitty on da runny kine!" or even a simple "Sadatay!") and the other person is like, "You like Pootie Tang? I love Pootie Tang!" And suddenly you've bonded as deeply as if you just found out you were born at the same hospital.

Pootie Tang, which was written and directed by Louis C.K. (whose writing for "The Chris Rock Show" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" earned him several Emmy nominations and who is also in The Invention of Lying), stars Lance Crouther as a sort of Ubermensch. He's a lady-killer whose magnetism makes women literally claw his clothes off. He fights evil with his awesome belt. He can sing, he can act, he hangs out with Missy Elliott, and he goes up against The Man who's trying to bring us all down, specifically by using Pootie's image to endorse products that would harm today's youth.

The movie is full of very funny people like Jennifer Coolidge, Andy Richter, David Cross, and naturally Chris Rock, but my favorite is Wanda Sykes, who plays Biggie Shorty. Biggie Shorty likes to wear outrageous outfits and matching wigs while jamming out to her headphones on the street, and she is madly in love with Pootie.

The question now is not where, but who. With the announcement that Universal and Illumination Entertainment have nabbed the rights to transform the Where's Waldo? book series into a live-action film suitable for the entire family, with global appeal, naturally we started thinking about who could play the character on the big screen.

We're thinking someone tall, lean, and a little nerdy. Whoever plays Waldo has to look good in a red-and-white shirt, a hat, glasses -- and must know how to wield a mean walking stick. Here are the top five names that come to mind, and why (listed alphabetically):

• Jim Carrey. Accustomed to playing literary characters, especially beloved children's tales, plus proven worldwide box office appeal.
• David Cross. Looks good in glasses; would bring an unpredictable, possibly psychotic and sinister edge to the character.
• Tony Hale. Yes, like Cross, another Arrested Development alumni; brings the "nutty" factor into the equation, plus it's hard to keep your eyes off him even when he's standing still.
• Hugh Laurie. Not too nerdy, true, but he might be the best of all, acting-wise; wields a nasty walking stick on House; amazing comic abilities just waiting to be tapped.
• Rainn Wilson. Versatile, manic energy, can intentionally disappear into the background on The Office -- and definitely has got the bespectacled thing down.

What do you think? Who could play Waldo?

We've already got The Promotion, but just in case you were itching for more man-on-man office wars, a whole new battling duo is on the way. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Michael Vartan and David Cross are going to play "bitter tire store rivals" in a new comedy called Demoted, that American Pie 2 helmer J.B. Rogers will direct from actor and writer Dan Callahan's screenplay.

In a step down from his character's success on Big Shots, Vartan will play a guy named "Rodney McAdams, a hotshot Treadline Tires sales associate who delights in tormenting his less-than-cool colleague, Ken (Cross)." But wait -- before you think Cross is being relegated to another role where he just gets tormented and takes it, or has a fear of nudity, read on: "When their boss suddenly dies, Ken is promoted and assigns Rodney to a secretarial job as payback, giving the male chauvinist a taste of his own medicine." You just don't cross the Cross!

Spit out some of your favorite workplace flicks below ...

While promoting Hancock over in the UK, Jason Bateman spoke a bit more about that planned Arrested Development movie. Not much has been said about the film in the past couple of months; last we heard, both Michael Cera and David Cross knew nothing about it. But Bateman (who's pretty damn good in Hancock) still seems confident it will happen -- and with the success of Sex and the City on the big screen, why wouldn't he be?

In an interview with The Times (who claim "a big-screen version of Arrested Development is planned for next year"), Bateman says of the transition from small to big screen: "When it was on TV, if you missed one word the whole third act could be blown for you. And TV is a different experience. You come home and you've got to finish a call so you miss the first ten minutes or you get snacky and you go to the fridge and you miss another two minutes, so it's a different experience to film." Bateman is currently making the press rounds, so hopefully someone will nail down something a bit more concrete. I mean, if a movie is planned for next year, don't ya think we'd know about it?

The interview itself is worth a read, and Bateman seems like a fun guy to talk to. On the cult-like TV show, he adds: "Arrested Development played late at night in England, so I got a lot of coke addicts and meth freaks. Great. So you've seen me but you just don't remember me."

With most of the cast a lot more popular now, would Arrested Development work as a movie? Or would it lose some of its -- I dunno -- smaller, quieter charm?

P.S. I should also mention that Bateman will be at the Sony Store in NYC (550 Madison) tonight at 6PM for a Hancock Q&A, and to show off some clips from the film. It's a free event and first come, first served. Get there early!

I love a surprise, even a small one like finding out that Kung Fu Panda was more likeable and fun than I might have expected. I have a secret mini-crush on Jack Black (okay, maybe not so secret), so I was hoping that Kung Fu Panda wouldn't suck and if nothing else, I'd be able to enjoy his vocal stylings in the Dreamworks animated film. Surprise! I liked the movie for more reasons than Jack Black.

Black voices the title character, Po, who helps in his father's noodle shop but dreams of becoming a kung fu fighter and joining the Furious Five: Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Crane (David Cross) and especially Tigress (Angelina Jolie). He wants to watch the Five compete to be the great Dragon Warrior, and is somehow dragged into the selection process himself. Kung-fu master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) is irritated that a fat clumsy clown of a panda is joining his elite cadre of students, especially since it's predicted that the supremely evil snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane) may escape from prison and try to steal the Dragon Warrior scroll of power for himself.

Perhaps the best thing about Kung Fu Panda is that it's an action comedy that doesn't skimp on the action. Dreamworks Animation's latest effort may stick out a little on the Red Carpet at Cannes -- where it's screening out of competition -- but it's certainly a well-made kid's film that earns high points for how directors John Stevenson and Mark Osborne clearly crafted and contemplated its look and feel with ambition and style. Anyone can make a computer-animated cartoon with fuzzy animals doing kung fu; you have to be at least a little inspired to make a computer-animated cartoon featuring fuzzy animals doing kung fu in widescreen Cinemascope. ...

Kung Fu Panda opens with a rousing, stylish action sequence, as a narrator (Jack Black, in full-on Tenacious D exposition mode) explains how "Legend tells of a legendary kung fu warrior whose kung fu skills were legendary. ..." But then, the heroic panda we've seen unleashing paws of power on the big screen ... wakes up; it was just a dream. Then Po the panda (Black), whose dreams of kung fu glory are the counterpoint to his unsatisfying life, gets ready for his day of helping his father Mr. Ping (James Wong) sell noodles to the people of the Valley of Peace.

Truth be told, the above video is from a television show and not a film. BUT, since David Cross (one of my favorite comedians) is in, like, every other movie these days, I felt we could let this one slide by. Plus, this is one of my most favorite Cross moments ever -- and anytime I have the chance to post a video from Mr. Show, I will take it without asking any questions. For those not familiar, Mr. Show with Bob and David was a sketch-comedy program on HBO long ago, starring David Cross and Bob Odenkirk. The above video, titled The Audition, happens to be one of my personal favorite segments from the show -- so much so that my friend and I bring it up all the time. Surfing around earlier, I stumbled upon the video over at Funny or Die and, well, it was fate. So here ya go -- enjoy your afternoon!

Favorite Mr. Show sketch? Sound off below.

Warning: Foul language (f-word) used toward the end.

It's been almost a year since I saw Zak Penn's poker mockumentary The Grand when it first premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and I seriously cannot wait to see it again. You won't hear much about it because it's a smaller flick, but it packs one heckuva cast and it seriously rivals the films of Christopher Guest -- in fact, I'd go as far as saying The Grand is better than anything Guest has put out in awhile. I will admit, though, that The Grand is not for everyone.

It's tough to sell a mock, since some people just don't get the humor in it. Put it this way: If you dig shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm or Seinfeld, you'll certainly enjoy The Grand. It stars Woody Harrelson, Cheryl Hines, David Cross (who's hysterical), Ray Romano (in his greatest role ever), Dennis Farina, Werner Herzog ... and so many more. This flick boasts an all-star team of funny folks -- and the entire story is set in the world of high-stakes poker.

I haven't seen one commercial or advertisement for The Grand, so since it was one of my favorite comedies last year (since that's when I saw it), I felt a post like this was necessary. I really want this film to get some love, because it's seriously a real comedic gem. Wanna laugh this weekend? Go see The Grand. Odds are you'll love it.

Check out a clip from the film after the jump ...

(For more, here's my review of The Grand from last year's Tribeca fest, as well as my interview with director Zak Penn.)

When you talk to someone about Shreveport, Louisiana, usually the first thing to come up are the city's casinos. The airport is rather small, and getting a taxi is no small task. There's not much in Shreveport; as I sat in my taxi on my way to the Hilton hotel for an eventual set visit, the driver pointed out landmarks like the Waffle House, the Cancer Center, and "the place where they hold the county fair." He spoke with a thick Cajun accent, and, somehow, immediately knew that I was there for a film -- even though the only info he had was that I came from New York. How would he know this? I don't look like I belong in film. I don't sit and type feverishly on a blackberry, and I don't wear dark glasses. But he knew. Somehow.

Upon arriving at the hotel, things became a tad clearer. Not far from me, mingling among a few other folks, was director Oliver Stone. Wha? Oliver Stone is hanging out in Shreveport? (A bunch of us assumed he was prepping for that George Bush flick, but nothing was confirmed.) A few minutes after spotting Stone, Harold Ramis walked through. Hmmm. What's going on here? Later that night while having dinner at the one good steakhouse in Shreveport, sandwiched between trailer parks and new housing developments, we spotted the cast of The Year One -- Michael Cera, David Cross, Juno Temple, among others. Then, a few minutes after seeing them, Bob Weinstein walked in for a meal. Wha? Now Bob Weinstein is in Shreveport!? I swear my head was spinning -- what in the world was going on in little Shreveport, Louisiana?

Surely, they weren't all here for the Waffle House?

So I've spent the past couple days holed up in Shreveport, Louisiana (of all places) visiting the set of The Year One, directed by Harold Ramis, produced by Judd Apatow and starring Jack Black, Michael Cera, David Cross ... and a whole bunch of nutty lunatics. Unfortunately, I cannot talk about how insane that film is going to be just yet (but I will, eventually, because there's soooo much to talk about), however I am allowed to dish on a few of the interviews we conducted -- two of which were with Michael Cera and David Cross. We already know there's been talk of an Arrested Development movie taking place at some point in the near future, and Jason Bateman recently chatted up the flick on the Oscar's red carpet saying it was all but a done deal and the script was being written. But was he biting off a bit more than he could chew?

Seems so, because both Cera and Cross haven't heard a peep about the film. When Cera was told they were supposedly working on a script, he looked stunned -- spitting out an "Is this true? Really? Well [Jason Bateman] would probably know more about it than I would." Would he want to do it? "Um, yeah, I think so. Yeah, I would love to do it ... it'd be fun." Says Cross, "I've been hearing about this since the day [the show] got canceled. Nobody's talked to me. I know nothing. Zero. The only thing I've seen is what's on the Entertainment Weekly website ... which I've never seen." On whether he'd be interested in reprising his role as Tobias, Cross said, "As long as I don't have to paint myself blue or wear a fatsuit, I'd love to. I would do that in a heartbeat. That was a really fun character to do, and it'd be great to work with all those guys again. I'd do it in a second."

So the good news is the guys desperately want to make an Arrested Development film -- now all that's left is for someone to actually call them and ask.