dennis farina Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The always-enjoyable Dennis Farina was arrested when a loaded gun was found in his carry-on luggage at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday. Farina, who's best known for being awesome in everything, was caught with a .22-caliber handgun in his briefcase. The actor claimed he forgot he had it on him when bail was set at $25,000, but then raised to $35,000 when cops learned the gun wasn't registered. 1) How do you accidentally forget that you have a loaded gun in your briefcase? 2) Why are you carrying around a loaded gun that's not registered? 3) Are there a lot of people out to get Dennis Farina -- so much so that he has to bring an unregistered loaded gun to the airport?

And when the airport security asked Mr. Farina if he was traveling with a gun in his briefcase, did the actor turn and deliver one of his trademark replies? "You kiddin' me? What? I can't carry a f**kin' gun in this country anymore. Look, Idiot #1, tell Idiot #2 that I'm Dennis F**kin' Farina and I can do what I want. You gots?"

Speaking of ... we need to get Midnight Run on Blu-ray. Can somebody make that happen? They were smart enough to stick that sucker on HD-DVD, but I want to watch one of my favorite comedies ever on Blu-ray, like, now. And then I want them to include a commentary track from Farina, and I want him to talk about getting arrested in an airport with a loaded gun. I'd love to hear what that sounds like.

Sound off ... your favorite Dennis Farina role? (For me, it's a toss up between Midnight Run and Get Shorty.)

I'm excited about this, and I really want you to get excited about this too. The Grand was one of my favorite comedies from last year, and I've been dying to watch it again ever since. The Grand? What's that? Well, the film premiered at the Tribeca Fest last May (where I reviewed it and interviewed writer-director Zak Penn), and it's a poker-themed mockumentary chock-full of some awesome character actors. Penn wrote and directed this gem, which stars folks like Woody Harrelson, David Cross, Ray Romano, Cheryl Hines, Werner Herzog, Richard Kind, Dennis Farina ... I seriously could go on and on.

But I don't have to, because the first trailer for The Grand has finally popped up on Yahoo. I stress, though, that this is a film where the best parts come in small packages. However, this trailer is pretty damn good. It establishes most of the main players, but the bits may not seem as funny until you're watching the actual film. Ray Romano, for example, is out of his mind here -- and I'm not a big Romano fan, yet I loved him in The Grand. Cross, as always, kills, and everyone else (from the main cast to the cameos) are all a riot. Seriously, go see this film when it comes out in March. You'll laugh your friggin' ass off, especially if you're a fan of shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld. The Grand hits theaters this March.

For more, check out the film's official website, where you can visit Larry's (David Cross' character) hysterical poker-themed website, http://icantbelieveigettoplaypokerdotcom777.net/.

For its first inhouse feature production, Bagboy, National Lampoon has put together an interesting cast, one that will be headed up by Dennis Farina (who -- get this -- will not be playing a detective or a mobster!). Farina will be joined by Brooke Shields, Richard Kind, Paul Campbell, Marika Dominczyk, Robert Hoffman, Josh Dean, Nick Lashaway, Wesley Jonathan, Larry Miller and Jennifer Summers (who, perhaps, is playing what sounds like the best character of them all -- Serious Looking Girl). Yes, I'm serious.

If you don't recognize a lot of those names, fear not -- neither do I. Some folks, like Kind and Miller, have been around awhile and are great character actors (trust me, you might not know their names, but you know their faces.) On the other hand, Brooke Shields hasn't appeared in a successful feature film since, um ... geez, I have no idea. It's been awhile. As far as Farina goes, he's always good for a laugh (if you don't believe me, do yourself a favor and rent Midnight Run); in Bagboy, he'll be playing an ex-bagging champ who mentors our hero and shows him how to ... bag groceries really fast? Mort Nathan (Boat Trip, Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj) is directing, while the Farrelly Brothers are producing through their Conundrum Entertainment.

Now that National Lampoon is developing and producing films inhouse, I was hoping we might see some quality product leak out. After watching Christmas Vacation last night, I was reminded how long it's been since that's happened. However, I just don't feel good about this film and its lame premise -- one that was already unsuccessfully used in Employee of the Month. What do you think?

Odds and ends for Wednesday:

• For some reason, I love words that feature the letter 'T' followed by the letter 'Z.' Not sure what it is, but don't be surprised if I wake up hungover one Sunday and you see the name Tzerik Davis next to one of these posts. Now that things are a bit awkward, director Géla Babluani announced he will remake his award-winning film 13Tzameti in English. Even after finding a ton of success at Sundance and Venice, Babluani probably realized if Americans are going to watch this film, it will have to come in color, with a side dish of (Insert hot A-List actor here.) Oh, and hold the subtitles.

• Not in a million years had I ever considered placing the words Sarah Jessica Parker and "snuff film" within the same sentence. Wow, that was strange. The Sex in the City star has signed on to topline the thriller Vacancy for Screen Gems. Parker will play one half of a couple who check into a motel unaware that, not only are they being recorded, but they're also about to become participants in a snuff film. Please don't have her star opposite Matthew Broderick. That would be too, um, weird for me.

• Phew! Tea Leoni is still working. And here I was formulating some sort of protest (Save Tea? Free Tea? Tea Who?) to help combat those keeping her off the screen. The actress, along with Ben Kingsley and Luke Wilson, has signed on to star in the mob-ish comedy You Kill Me for Code Entertainment. Pic will revolve around a hitman from Buffalo who is sent west to "dry out" and attend AA meetings. While there, he finds a job in a mortuary and befriends the relative of one of his victims. Also on-board are Dennis Farina and Bill Pullman. If Farina can churn out a Midnight Run-esque performance, then I'm on line for a ticket as we speak.