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When I read I Love You, Beth Cooper -- and wrote about the book here a few months ago -- I knew that the on-the-way film adaptation would be thorny. Now that I've seen the film, I can say that it is not merely thorny; it is a textbook case of an adaptation gone wrong. Working from his own mostly delightful novel, Simpsons vet Larry Doyle is like a novice driver who, in trying to avoid potholes, veers to hit every one. And, in what he should consider a betrayal of epic proportions, Doyle gets absolutely no help from anyone involved with the film -- not from the cast, not from the editor, and certainly not from director Chris Columbus, who is utterly helpless when his material is not inherently strong.

I hasten to add that I Love You, Beth Cooper is not that bad -- I think it's a bit better than our Peter Martin lets on, and certainly better than our Eric D. Snider insists. But the movie -- still about a geeky, virginal high school senior who confesses his love for the class hottie in his graduation speech -- is sappy, muddled, and just mystifyingly unfunny. Consider that the novel is hip, razor-sharp, and hilarious, and you start to get a sense of what a rare specimen this adaptation is. So what happened?

How do you transform a very funny book into a dreadfully boring movie? I laughed more from reading the first five pages of Larry Doyle's novel than I did during the entirety of Chris Columbus' film version of I Love You, Beth Cooper, despite the fact that Doyle wrote the screenplay. Much of the dialogue is lifted directly from the book, but when spoken on screen, the lines fall painfully flat. That leaves the attempts at physical humor, which are constant, and will tickle to death only those who love to see pratfalls: "Look, Mommy, man fall down and cry out in agony! Ha, ha!"

Leaving aside the source material and the film's relative faithfulness to it, I Love You, Beth Cooper might have worked as either a joyful, gleefully mischievous, yet ultimately conservative rebel yell (a la Ferris Bueller's Day Off) or as a funny yet thought-provoking tale of teenagers finally growing up (a la Dazed and Confused). Like those two infinitely superior movies, I Love You, Beth Cooper takes place over the course of one eventful day in the life of its teen-aged subjects, but Columbus can't decide whether the movie should be an uncomfortable comedy of embarrassment and humiliation or a sweet, sentimental romance. The tone wavers uncertainly throughout -- often within individual scenes -- and the film's general inertia quickly becomes wearisome.

Hayden Panettiere makes for an unlikely Beth Cooper. She's meant to be a high school dream girl, a fantasy figure concocted by the awkward, hapless Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) through all the years that he's sat behind her in class and stared at her picture on his bedroom ceiling.

Quick: what actress said she would only go naked for an Oscar-caliber role? If you answered Hayden Panettiere, you'd be right. (Of course, if you answered Megan Fox or a few dozen other actresses, you'd also be right.) Two years ago, the budding Heroes starlet claimed: "I'd never go nude or shave my head – unless it's for an Oscar!" Either things have changed, or I Love You, Beth Cooper is a sleeper contender for an Academy Award. Chris Columbus' film, based on the book by Larry Doyle, opens on Friday. Panettiere stars in the titular role as a freshly-graduated high school student who decides to show a nerdy valedictorian (Paul Rust) the night of his life. And her breasts.

Panettiere confidently drops her towel in front of Rust in the locker room scene. "It didn't bother me much," she told People. "I don't think it takes much thought, and I don't think it takes much preparation as an actor," she explained to Parade. "I didn't find it very hard being naked. It's like I drop my towel and that's it." How naked was she? "I was really naked," she elaborated to E! Online. "I had these little sticky petals on my boobs, but that was about it."

Sounds like a hot, naked scene -- except the movie is rated PG-13 ("for crude and sexual content, language, some teen drinking and drug references, and brief violence") and you may be able to see more of the 19-year-old Panettierre's body in a bikini (the trailer hints that her exposed flesh is limited to her bare back, above the waist). Kudos to Panettiere for getting as much publicity as possible for her movie while keeping her private parts private -- for now.

Now that Robert Rodriguez won't be making Barbarella anytime in the near future it looks like he has put his live-action Jetson's flick at the front of the pack instead. The director recently told MTV that he hopes to get the film in front of cameras by next year. A script was completed by Adam F. Goldberg (Fanboys) back in 2007, but Rodriguez has been hard at work on a rewrite and keeping quiet about casting prospects.

The Jetsons was the story of a futuristic family living in a world run by sprockets ... and that was about it, really. Each week, George Jetson would get fired, promoted, you name it -- and then head home to his family which consisted of the perfect housewife, a genius son and boy-crazy daughter. Their dog would mispronounce words; the robot maid would get a few wisecracks in and voila! A cartoon classic was born.

I'm not a big Jetsons fan, but I do love to play fantasy casting director, so here are my picks for a live-action Jetsons:

George Jetson: Steve Carell
Despite having a spotty record on the big-screen, Carell proved once before that he can walk away from a TV adaptation with his dignity intact. He not only has the look down, but he can play a lovable loser with the best of them and has a knack for physical comedy. What more could you ask for in a George Jetson?

Jane Jetson: Reese Witherspoon
Jane wasn't exactly a ditz, but let's just say she wasn't the sharpest sprocket in the pile either. Witherspoon has made bank on playing these kinds of characters in the past, and I think she has just the right amount of uptight to be the doting wife (and straight man) to her wackier better half.

After the jump: my final picks...

Cinematical has just received these exclusive images from a new version of the book I Love You, Beth Cooper that author Larry Doyle (The Simpsons) is putting out (in connection with the upcoming film) that contains a whole bunch more of the hilarious art featured in the first one. If you haven't yet read I Love You, Beth Cooper then I strongly suggest picking up a copy because it's easily one of the funniest books I've read in the past couple of years (but I'm also a sucker for those teen angst tales; The Catcher in the Rye is, like, my favorite book of all time).

I Love You, Beth Cooper follows the story of a pimple-faced high school valedictorian named Denis Cooverman who professes his love for the school's hottest student (Beth Cooper) while doling out his speech to the entire class on graduation day. From that point on, it turns into one of those crazy all-nighter stories that we don't see enough of these days. (Remember License to Drive? This book reminded me of that film, only Beth Cooper definitely stays awake the entire time and there's a lot more action and pop culture references.)

The film, which was directed by Chris Columbus and stars Hayden Panettiere and Paul Rust in the lead roles, hits theaters on July 10. If it's half as good as the book, it will be so worth your dollar -- the perfect fun summer film. Check out the two pieces of art down below (mildly NSFW for language), and the latest version of the paperback (which includes 32 new pages of content and 16 new pages of art) hits shelves on June 9. Additionally, feel free to scope out the latest trailer for I Love You, Beth Cooper after the jump.

One day, years from now, could you imagine Hayden Panettiere, Elisha Cuthbert, Lindsay Lohan, or Alexis Bledel being the icons of yesterday, as a new crop of girls recreates their iconic images for an entirely new generation? Maybe, or maybe not, but either way Glamour got these ladies (plus a few more) to get posing and celebrate female risk takers in America.

Above, that's Emma Roberts as Audrey Hepburn (a bit of a cheat since Hepburn was born in Belgium, but that's nitpicky). Some others are just simple recreations, like my personal favorite -- Alexis Bledel as Rosie the Riveter, and some tap into a link between the source and the portrayer, like Lindsay Lohan as Madonna. There's even Hayden Panettiere as Amelia Earhart -- yet another image to compete against Hilary Swank's Amelia. I might not be a fan of the mag (I haven't read it since high school), but Glamour really knows how to tap into the perks and power of women, from these interesting recreations to the even cooler short films.

Check out some our favorite images from the Glamour shoot below, then tell us: Are there any icons you wish they covered, or actresses they should've included?

I'd like to think that our own Eric D. Snider knows what's funny, if only twice a day, so when he recommended Larry Doyle's "I Love You, Beth Cooper" last summer, I swiftly added it to my List of Stuff to Read Eventually and have succeeded in putting it off ever since. (I did, however, get around to "Apathy and Other Small Victories," and was consequently amused. Maybe I'm only off on these things by a year or so.)

Anyway, it's been long enough that we're getting a movie of the same name, and Fox has posted the first trailer on its official website -- scary timing, given Eugene's From Page to Screen column last week, on which Doyle himself wrote: "The first trailer should be popping up on the net any day now." (Oh. Guess I should've read that part first.)

Anyway, it does seem to be the PG-13 all-in-one-night humiliation fest that all previous descriptions had suggested. Paul Rust does look like the ideal dweeby valedictorian, and Hayden Panettiere does look like exactly the kind of girl one might throw it all out there for. (Did I say that out loud?)

Like it or not, I Love You, Beth Cooper opens July 10th, and should not be confused with this year's I Love You, Man or I Love You, Phillip Morris.

So there are these two high school dudes, right, and though they're seniors, they're so aggressively geeky and socially inept that losing their virginity doesn't even seem like a real-world prospect. But before they leave for college, they have the opportunity to have one last craaaaazy night of adventure that could well culminate in getting laid – in addition to drunk, beaten up, and/or arrested.

Wait: have you heard this one before? You could be forgiven for thinking – or at least hoping – that Superbad was the last word on this subject. But like it or not, here comes I Love You Beth Cooper, adapted by Simpsons vet Larry Doyle from his own novel and directed by that stalwart of the bland and inoffensive, Chris Columbus.

The book reads, indeed, like Superbad by a Simpsons writer: hyperactive, incessantly self-referential, with occasional bursts of sincerity in an attempt to give the proceedings some emotional heft. It's often very funny, though usually due to an oddball choice of words by Doyle rather than anything situational. ("This is... odd," he she-grunted.") Where Superbad balanced out the raunch with a disarming sweetness, Beth Cooper goes for a sort of detached, intellectual cool, obviously sympathizing with its besotted protagonist (Doyle claims that "Denis Cooverman" is inspired by his own high school experience) but also taking not-inconsiderable joy in pounding him into the dirt. Mileage may vary; I can see how this approach would seem insufferable to some.

The insanely funny folks over at Funny or Die are at it again. While I'm not sure anything could be better than Jerry O'Connell's spoof of Tom Cruise, this new clip has it's own brand of funny. It's Heroes star Hayden Panettiere talking about sexual harassment. It's not the sort of thing that employs lots of comedic technique, but the young actress plays it seriously -- and it works. So much so, in fact, that it has helped remove some of my Claire aggression.

It leads me to wonder if the key to Hayden goodness is just the right director? This puppy was helmed by Mr. Judd Apatow himself, so it's not terribly surprising that this clip is worth the time. Although, considering the name of the site, Hayden's Claire could fight off any death if it wasn't! Check the clip out for yourself and sound off below.

In our animated future, we can not only anticipate Wall-E robots, Tintin, and dragon taming, but also the fuzzy and dangerous world of wolves. The Hollywood Reporter posts that we're getting a new animated film called Alpha and Omega, and it's got a whole roster of recognizable names attached -- Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere, Christina Ricci, Danny Glover, Larry Miller, and Dennis Hopper.

Alpha and Omega focuses on "two bickering wolves -- one a disciplined, Alpha-bred wolf (Panettiere), and the other a fun-loving, comical Omega wolf (Long) -- who are captured and taken thousands of miles from their home. Determined to rejoin their pack, the two mismatched wolves begin a dangerous trek across unfamiliar terrain, battling the odds, the elements, the bears, and one another -- and finding love along the way." Look out, Milo & Otis! There's a new sheriff in town. It's too soon to tell what this will all shape up like, but at least they cast the leads pretty well. Panettiere is good at being terse and Alpha, while Long is pretty much Omega in human form.