Those manatees really know how to keep themselves busy. In one of the more irreverent news items of the day, Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane -- whose voice work is currently on display in Hellboy II: The Golden Army -- has told TV Week that he hopes to get a Family Guy movie off the ground in a year or so. The announcement was first picked up by Ain't It Cool News, where most commenters seem fairly lukewarm about the idea. Honestly, it's hard not to agree with them. Family Guy already has two feature length titles out on DVD, and neither one really raised the bar for the show or even played better than a decent episode.

At least The Simpsons movie had a plot that made sense for ninety minutes. Family Guy, with its incessant randomness, generally works as a series of distractions. In other words, not the sort of thing that really needs to get expanded beyond the half hour structure. Then again, the show has its devout base, which eagerly anticipates each sloppily constructed gag like clockwork, so maybe the new film project is good business sense. Either way, the South Park two-parter that took Family Guy to task remains far more entertaining (and insightful) than Family Guy's entire six-season run.

In the haze of a New Year and the Christmas rush a recent memory, you can't expect many really great DVDs to hit the stands. So, I'm going to cheat a little and give you one great spoof, and the lesser of a few evils.

Family Guy -- Blue Harvest Special Edition

One of the best spoofs of recent years came by way of television screens rather than movie screens. Last September, Family Guy started off their sixth season with Blue Harvest -- a spoof of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, using the fake working title for Return of the Jedi. The power goes out at the Griffin's home, so Peter begins to tell a story, which just so happens to be one uber-famous space flick. You really can't ask for much more in spoof -- Lois as Leia, Quagmire as C-3PO, and the best -- Stewie as Darth Vader. It's also got lots of pop culture references, as the show is apt to do, from the fourth Doctor Who, to a cameo by the famous Griswolds, played by Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo.

As far as DVD features go, you can get the wimpy, plain edition, or the super-jam-packed Special Edition. Believe it or not, this edition has features that include a commentary by Seth MacFarlane, a conversation with George Lucas, a "Making of" featurette, animatics, a Something, Something, Something Dark Side teaser, Star Wars clips, and Blue Harvest's fight scene in 3D, PLUS -- a t-shirt, 3D glasses, trading cards, and a booklet.

Buy the Special Edition DVD


Mr. Woodcock

On the plus side, this flick stars the likes of Billy Bob Thornton, Seann William Scott, and Susan Sarandon. On the negative side, the flick was ravaged by critics, getting a paltry 14% rating. (Which is still much better than another film out this week -- Good Luck Chuck -- which got an abysmal 3%.) As the story goes, John (Scott) was a chubby kid tormented by his junior high gym teacher, Mr. Woodcock (Thornton). Much to his horror, years later he discovers that his single mom is going to marry the ball-wielding bastard. The strangest thing about this comedy -- it was directed by the same guy who helmed Lars and the Real Girl -- Craig Gillespie. How he can have such polar opposite examples of success at the very same time is beyond me.

As for the DVD, it isn't bare-bones. You've got a couple of specials to feast on -- deleted scenes, a "Making of" featurette, and "P.E. Trauma Tales."

Check out Scott Weinberg's Review | Buy the DVD

Other New DVD Releases (January 15)

Persuasion
Good Luck Chuck
The Naked Prey -- Criterion Collection
Saving Sarah Cain
An Affair to Remember (50th Anniversary Edition)
Alex Haley's Queen
Post-War Kurosawa Box - Eclipse from Criterion
Suburban Girl

Check out Peter Martin's Indies on DVD and for even more new releases.

Here's a bit of news that we figured would happen sooner or later, but it's nice to see everyone involved confirming it. Those Family Guy fans should remember how this season they began with an hour-long episode that re-created Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope within the Family Guy universe. Well, now, because of the success of that show, Seth McFarlane and his gang are stepping up to target The Empire Strikes Back next. Speaking to IESB at the 100th episode party, the very hot Mila Kunis (who voices Meg on the show) said that the cast had already done a table read of the Empire script. Friggin' sweet!

When they caught up with McFarlane a little later on, he also confirmed the table read and added that they are absolutely doing it. When asked which Family Guy character would be playing Boba Fett, McFarlane noted that the "Giant Chicken would fill Fett's boots." Fans should know the Giant Chicken from its ridiculously long fight sequences with the character Peter Griffin -- voiced by McFarlane -- who took on Han Solo in the New Hope episode. So if they're doing Empire, does that mean Return of the Jedi will come next? McFarlane said it all depends on the success of Empire, but that they'd love to do it if given the chance. Personally, I think spoofs of the first three episodes would be hilarious as well ... who knows where they'll go with it. Oh, and if they do take on Jedi, hopefully we'll get a sweet DVD with all three episodes. Currently, there's no word on when the Empire episode will air.

If you're a true movie geek, you probably refuse to dress up at Halloween in anything but a movie-related costume. I guess I'm not a true movie geek, because two years ago I went as Family Guy's Quagmire, who as of yet is not in any movies. Last year, though, I was Harpo Marx. I haven't decided what to be this year yet, but it isn't definite that I'll be something with cinematic reference.

Of course, if I was a real, hardcore movie geek, I wouldn't just settle for the basic, predictable movie-themed outfit. I'd go for the gold, and be an uber-geek. How? I would doubly dress up as a movie character who is dressed up as somebody or something else. To do so, I would pick one of my favorite non-Halloween costumes and disguises depicted on film (it isn't as fun dressing as a character who is dressed up for Halloween). However, most of these would be difficult to achieve -- or at least too obscure to wear to a common party, where the crowd isn't as film familiar as you. If you attempt any of these, good luck! And please, please send me a photo.

1. Harpo Marx and Chico Marx as Groucho Marx in Duck Soup (1933, Leo McCarey)

See, now if I had really wanted to be geeky (or pretentious), I would have not just dressed as Harpo last Halloween; I would have dressed as Harpo dressed as Groucho. In one of the most famous sequences in any Marx Brothers film, Pinky (Harpo) and Chicolini (Chico) each disguises himself as Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) in order to steal some war plans. The real gem of the sequence, of course, is the "mirror scene" (watch it if you've never seen it before, please), where Pinky pretends to be the reflection of Rufus until Chicolini appears and ruins everything. Although historically it was only Harpo and Chico who were often mistaken for each other, or for twins, all three brothers look so alike here, that when they're all together, it is almost difficult to tell who is who. If you want to pull this double-costume off, it won't be hard -- Grouch faces are easy to do, and then you just need a sleeping cap and gown -- but I doubt you'll get much tolerance when you constantly correct everyone who thinks you're simply Groucho.

With The Simpsons Movie (finally) about to make its appearance, a few eyes have turned toward that other animated Fox series, and the new question seems to be this? Will Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy ever hit the silver screen? And if so, when? (And will it be NC-17?)

During a recent appearance at the Just for Laughs Festival, Mr. MacFarlane told The Hollywood Reporter that while there certainly have been some discussions regarding a Family Guy movie, there's nothing down on paper just yet: "We have been trying to figure out how to do that and the series at the same time without the series suffering ... Nothing is official." Fans of the generally hilarious animated series are probably well aware that Family Guy has already spawned a direct-to-video movie ... one that wasn't any funnier than the TV episodes, if you're asking me. But hey, any time I get to see Peter Griffin fall down I'm a happy guy.

And regarding that other other animated Fox series, let's not forget that Matt Groening and his Futurama crew are presently hard at work at turning out some new material. Here's what the creator of Bender told ComingSoon.net: "We're doing four straight-to-DVD Futurama movies and then new episodes on Comedy Central starting in 2008. The first DVD for Futurama will be out for the holidays." Y'know ... as much as I love The Simpsons (and boy do I), I'm more excited about the new Futurama stuff than I am about The Simpsons Movie. Does that make me weird?

I'm sure there's a ton of you disgruntled Simpsons fans out there who hate Family Guy because, as you see it, the show steals everything from Springfield. That may be the case (and some go to great lengths to prove this theory), however, I happen to be one of those guys who digs both shows. Yup, I love The Simpsons AND Family Guy! Shoot me now! Here's where you begin to wonder why I'm writing about Family Guy on Cinematical? Well, apparently the show will open their next season with a one-hour episode based solely on the original Star Wars film. With George Lucas' blessing, series creator Seth MacFarlane and his band of merry morons have re-created the flick using Family Guy characters. Freakin' sweet!

Our siblings over at TV Squad have uncovered a video that was shown to fans at last month's Celebration IV Star Wars convention which includes ten minutes of footage from the episode. Divided into three clips (opening attack on Princess Leia's ship, rescuing Leia from the Death Star and escaping the Death Star), it looks like everyone involved had a blast with this one. I don't want to give away too many of the jokes (for those who would rather wait to see it), but you'll notice a couple nods to Mel Brooks' Spaceballs; one of which jumps right out during the opening shot. Fun stuff. Family Guy isn't the only show spoofing Star Wars this year; Robot Chicken will also have some Star Wars fun in a special that will air June 17 and include both Mark Hamill (as Luke Skywalker) and George Lucas (as himself). Is it just me, or is Lucas finally letting his guard down a bit? Seeing as MacFarlane and Seth Green are heavily involved in both shows, I imagine both deals went down on or around the same time. Hmm, or maybe MacFarlane is stealing from his best pal this time? Or maybe Green is stealing from MacFarlane? Or maybe I couldn't care less. I've included the video after the jump. Enjoy!

• The Call Of Cthulhu - The H.P. Lovecraft Preservation Society, a group of dauntless fans that created the brilliant, Cthulhu-themed musical, A Shoggoth On The Roof, have created the ultimate fan film, an incredible tribute to the writer whose work seeded modern horror favorites like Re-Animator and From Beyond. Shot like a 1920's era silent film, the 47-minute feature is technically amazing, shot (in black-and-white), lit and performed like an authentic film of the period would have been (although it would have horrified people of the time right into Arkham Sanitarium.) Considered Lovecraft's most famous story, the story of a man who inherits a collection of documents detailing the ghastly Cthulhu Cult, it is very faithfully adapted, not to mention super-efficient. The title cards are in the viewer's choice of an astonishing 24 different languages, and the lush, symphonic score can be played in hi-fi and the kitschy-fun, lo-fi "Mythoscope". A skillful build and an extremely satisfying payoff (think creature design King Kong '33 style) add up to one of the smartest horror films of recent memory.