This week's marquee indie release is being marketed as a twisted tie-in to the US Open golf championship. At least, that's the conclusion I draw from the DVD cover for Michael Haneke's US remake of his own Funny Games. Naomi Watts and her big tear have been relegated to the back. James Rocchi declared it "a great movie ... cruel, cold and darkly thrilling." DVD features are non-existent, unless you consider a full-screen version to be an extra.

Erik Davis called Zak Penn's poker mockumentary The Grand "one of the best ensemble comedies of the past 20 years." That ensemble includes Woody Harrelson, Michael McKean, Chris Parnell, Cheryl Hines, Ray Romano, Dennis Farina, Werner Herzog and David Cross. DVD features include alternate endings, deleted scenes, poker player profiles, and an audio commentary with Penn, writer/executive producer Matt Bierman and actor Michael Karnow.

To round out our trio of enthusiastic recommendations from Cinematical critics, Scott Weinberg was seriously geeked out by The Signal, "one viciously fun little genre flick ... fast-paced, disturbing and slick." The plot? Everyone turns into "raving homicidal lunatics." David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry, and Dan Bush directed. DVD features are generous, including an audio commentary with the directors, deleted scenes, a short film, and six "making of"-type things.

Other releases of interest include The Wayward Cloud, Summer '04, The Ballad of Narayama, Young Yakuza, Human Lanterns, and the smashing Invisible Target, which I reviewed with great enthusiasm.

UPDATE: Cinematical was contacted by Penn's rep a little while ago, and informed that Zak is NOT writing Captain America. The wording in the interview made it sound that way (and the transcript was correct), but Penn was actually talking about being attached to The Avengers, not Captain America. Obviously this probably means David Self's script is still in the mix, and we'll update you when there's more info.

In a new interview over at ComicMix, writer-director Zak Penn talked up a ton of projects including his latest film The Grand (which I loved, and which you should see), as well as his geeky comic-related screenwriting projects like The Avengers, that X-Men spinoff flick (featuring the young X-Men), The Incredible Hulk, a new one called Bermuda Triangle and, finally ... Captain America? Oh yes, though he doesn't go into much detail (aside from saying he's attached), apparently Zak Penn is now the guy writing Captain America. (Not sure what happened to David Self?) And assuming Edward Norton doesn't sign on to star, Penn's final script may actually make it before cameras this time.

As far as The Avengers goes, Penn admits they're waiting for other Marvel characters to debut their solo films first, like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and they may even wait for Captain America as well. So with all those films still left to go before cameras, I'd get used to waiting ... patiently. Penn also talked up the X-Men spinoff story he's still attached to write and also direct; he says it involves "a younger group of X-Men at the beginning" and that "it's a little bit more of getting back to the classic X-Men." No word on when that will see the light of day.

It's good to see Penn is writing Captain America, because if he's the guy penning that Avenges movie, you'd like to see him involved in as many of these as possible. Of course, I'd like to hope he'll find time to stuff in another tiny mock like The Grand, if only to see which ridiculous character he has Werner Herzog play this time.

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.)

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/.

Today a lot of you will head off to do whatever, wherever with whomever, and if you're like me you're stoked for two reasons: a) no work and b) eating until way after the belt comes off. More power to you and yours -- and we here at Cinematical sincerely wish you a happy, healthy Thanksgiving and hope you spend the day with someone(s) or something you truly care about ... (waits for the two girls in the back corner to go "awww"). I'll be writing a list of things I'm not thankful for this year a bit later on, but I figured I'd compliment that with a list of things I am thankful for this year -- all of which are movie-related, of course. So, in no particular order:

I'm thankful for getting to experience my first film festival overseas in Berlin earlier this year, and for all those people who made fun of me in German but turned the other way so I wouldn't take notice.

I'm thankful that three of my favorite filmmakers (Wes Anderson, P.T. Anderson and the Coen brothers) put out three fantastic flicks this year (The Darjeeling Limited, There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men) for me to experience, debate and enjoy. I'm also thankful the Starz network decided to air Rushmore last week, allowing me to DVR it and watch it again for the first time in several years. God I love that movie.

I'm thankful for 2 Days in Paris, The Grand, Knocked Up and Superbad. They made me laugh harder than I've laughed in a long time. I will never look at a penis illustration the same way again.

I'm thankful for being given the opportunity to get up every morning and do what I love doing, alongside people I admire and respect. I'm also thankful for those comments that trash me to a point where I'm on the verge of slitting my wrists with a spork. You keep me in check, and for that I am grateful.

I'm thankful Tom Cruise didn't kill anyone.

I'm thankful the writers finally got another 15 minutes, although they deserve a lot more.

And finally, I'm thankful for HD (but not for the two different formats -- we'll get to that in another post). Back in May, my wife gave me a 46-inch Sony Bravia for my 30th birthday and I love the thing like it's my child. So pretty. So sweet. Want to pet it. Love youuuuuu.

So, what movie-related things are you thankful for this year?

My favorite film from the Tribeca Film Festival this year was Zak Penn's The Grand, mainly because I love spontaneous comedy and this film was filled with it. When I sat down with Penn during the festival, his film hadn't been picked up yet, but Variety tells us today that none other than Anchor Bay Entertainment has acquired all North American rights to the flick with plans to distribute via a platform release (which means it will arrive in a limited amount of cities before expanding depending on how well it does) early next year. It's a bit of a surprise move for Anchor Bay seeing as they're more known for getting behind horror flicks (like recent festival favorites Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and Hatchet) than comedy, but obviously they're looking to expand their repertoire.

Penn is slowly lining up an interesting career for himself. On one hand, he's the go-to guy for comic book adaptations, having penned X-Men 3: The Last Stand, Elektra and next summer's The Incredible Hulk. But then he involves himself with these little passion projects as a director, like the little-seen mockumentary Incident at Loch Ness and The Grand. Starring a lot of people (Ray Romano, David Cross, Werner Herzog, Woody Harrelson and Cheryl Hines, to name a few), pic is a mockumentary which follows a group of people looking to score big at a poker tournament in Las Vegas. If you're a fan of shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm or anything that Christopher Guest puts out, then this flick should be right up your alley. For more, feel free to check out my review of The Grand from Tribeca.

With every film festival I attend, there's always that one movie that stands out; the one film I get behind, talk up to my friends and really pimp out as much as I can. Not because I have something to gain from it making money -- I do it because I thoroughly enjoyed the experience I had while watching it. And it's an experience I want my friends and family to feel as well. At this year's Tribeca Film Festival, that film for me was Zak Penn's The Grand. Now, perhaps it has something to do with my love for mockumentaries -- the fact that I wrote and directed one myself -- or that I simply adore everyone in this cast. Whatever it is, the movie hit me in a way that just felt so good.

Fortunately, I was able to sit down with writer-director Zak Penn a few days after watching The Grand. Penn, who is more known for writing superhero flicks like X-Men: The Last Stand and next summer's The Incredible Hulk, also happens to be a very funny guy who surrounds himself with some of today's top comedic talent. Look, maybe you'll like The Grand, maybe you won't. I will admit that if you're not a fan of the loose, improv mockumentary-type style, then you might not get this film. Personally, I hope you do. That way we can convince Penn to make another comedy, because I'm already itching to see what he has in store for us down the line. What follows is the very low-key conversation we had inside the swanky lobby of the Tribeca Grand hotel. We talk everything from casting and shooting The Grand to how he approached one of Hollywood's most talked-about scripts; that being the highly-anticipated follow-up to Ang Lee's Hulk.

Cinematical: Most know you as the guy who writes superhero flicks, but then you've directed two low budget mockumentaries. Is it a case of one for the money and one for the passion, or do you get an equal amount of enjoyment out of each project, be it big budget or indie?

Zak Penn: Will, the X-Men movies I happen to really like. That's not an unfair characterization of how I do it, however sometimes the ones you do for money are also the ones you do for passion. Like with X3, I worked my ass off for a year and a half on that movie -- I love the franchise and would do anything to work on it. It's not about the money. But, it does pay a lot of money and it allows me to do stuff like [The Grand]. There is a truth to it in that doing that production re-writes, doing assignments, things like that; it's not nearly as fulfilling as doing something like The Grand. Particularly, I don't even try to write comedies for Hollywood anymore. I've written a couple, and I don't like the way they come out. PCU was the last comedy I wrote, and that was the last one I wanted anything to do with. So yeah, it's like I go do these movies to make a living, keep my family afloat, and then I go do these more interesting independent movies because, to me, at least I'm doing something different; something that's worth seeing.

Though most recognize Zak Penn as being the guy who writes all those superhero flicks (X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk), he also has a wicked sense of humor. Back when he was still writing with Adam Leff, the two penned the hilarious cult hit PCU, and three years ago Penn teamed up with filmmaker Werner Herzog on the mockumentary Incident at Loch Ness. Now, he's back in the director's chair with one of two poker flicks playing at this year's Tribeca Film Festival; the other being the Curtis Hanson film Lucky You. Featuring an all-star cast of talent, and some of the funniest on-screen bits I've seen in a long time, The Grand marks Penn's second mockumentary -- a no-holds-barred look at the highly-comedic (at times), yet painful world of high-stakes tournament poker.

For me, it was a film that by far topped anything Christopher Guest has worked on recently, and though there are times when Penn gives his actors a little too much freedom -- to a point where the joke has already run its course -- The Grand ultimately ends up being a rare gem; I guess you could say it's the Royal Flush of comedies. But like with most mockumentaries, the majority of credit has to be given to the pic's cast. Here we have a talented group of veteran comedic actors who, when let loose, managed to deliver the goods in bulk. It didn't matter what part of the story they were up to or who was on screen, these people put so much funny into their performances that if you're not blinded by the tears your laughter has created, then I'd say something is definitely wrong. Either your sense of humor left you for another woman, or you just didn't get it. And if it's the latter then, well, you're really missing out -- because, folks, this truly is what comedy is all about.

Who would have thought Zak Penn, he of countless superhero movie scripts (in addition to such highlights as PCU and Inspector Gadget), would have anything in common with slightly unhinged (in the best possible way) German genius, Werner Herzog? It turns out that the two get along like gangbusters, as evidenced by Herzog's starring roles in both Incident at Loch Ness (Penn's directorial debut) and The Grand, the improvised poker flick that Penn is currently putting together.

Herzog is joined in the cast by a host of poker-loving actors, including Ray Liotta, Woody Harrelson, Cheryl Hines, Ray Romano and Jason Alexander who, if his appearances on Celebrity Poker Showdown are anything to go by, will prove himself both annoying and painfully unfunny. Penn's plan is to direct from a screenplay outline, but to allow the actors to improvise most of their dialogue as they play real poker on their way to the championship round of a pretend international tournament; he starts shooting next month.