tim meadows Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I always kind of thought that Tim Meadows deserved to be way more famous than he is; but, I guess his brand of humor just never really caught on. Instead, Meadows just keeps steadily working on projects that, for the most part, seem kind of beneath him. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Meadows is set to star in They Came from Upstairs with High School Musical star Ashley Tisdale.

The family-friendly film centers on a group of teens who fend off an alien invasion that seems to be originating from the second floor of their vacation home -- sure it sounds silly, but then again, it is a kid's movie. Meadows has slummed it before in plenty of family-friendly flicks, so it's not a big surprise to see his name in the credits of another kiddie movie. At least with some of his work in teen comedies, he has the chance to be a little more 'risqué'.

The original spec script for Upstairs was written by Mark Burton (Madagascar and Wallace and Gromit) and was purchased back in 2006 by 20th Century Fox for $1.75 million. So, I guess they are banking on the film to pull in a tidy profit at the box-office. Luckily for them, securing Tisdale in the lead guarantees legions of tweens on opening day, so I think that their investment is going to pay off. Meadows will play Sheriff Doug Armstrong, but I doubt most of the audience for this movie will get to truly appreciate the comic mind that created Leon Phelps. They Came from Upstairs is set for release on January 16th, 2009.

Monday night I had the privilege of seeing Dewey Cox -- better known as John C. Reilly -- live at The Roxy ("Coxy") Theater on the Sunset Strip. Cox and his band The Hard Walkers put on a hell of a show, tearing through all the hits from Cox's glorious career -- soon to be given the big screen treatment in Walk Hard. Reilly came out of the gate ready to rock, and stayed in character all night. He came off like a cruder, nastier Elvis Presley -- guzzling tequila, repeatedly calling us all "motherf***ers, making a downright overwhelming amount of "Cox" jokes, and asking a woman in the audience if he could grab her breast. And grab he did!

But what about the music? Cox performed nearly every track from the Walk Hard soundtrack, and considering this was his "first performance since 1984," he was in fine voice. Reilly dropped out of tune for a song or two but on the whole he sounded pretty terrific, especially on the strangely affecting Roy Orbison homage "A Life Without You (Is No Life at All)." Other standouts included the Johnny Cashtastic "Guilty as Charged," the rollicking "You've Got to Love Your Negro Man," and the hilariously offensive protest song "Dear Mr. President." Reilly played guitar and harmonica pretty well, but since the actors in Cox's movie band (Chris Parnell, Tim Meadows) don't really play, they had to watch on from the audience -- along with co-writer/director Jake Kasdan and Judd Apatow -- while a stand-in group of musicians rocked the house.

The show closed with a shirtless Cox moaning through the beguiling "Have You Heard the News (Dewey Cox Died)," rubbing his nipples, and throwing down his microphone. I can't imagine anyone leaving the theater disappointed, and if the live show is any indication, Walk Hard is going to be one hysterical movie. Wanna see Cox? There's still a few dates left on the "Cox Across America" mini-tour.

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Other than a few "f-bombs" and a positive endorsement of marijuana, there really isn't all that much in the new international trailer for Judd Apatow's musical spoof, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story that could be considered particularly controversial. This is a film from the same man who brought us Superbad and Knocked Up, so it's not like we weren't already expecting drug references and potty mouth. Thankfully, in the age of the Yellow Band trailer, anything goes. You can check out the trailer now over on YouTube, or look for it after the jump. Walk Hard stars John C. Reilly as Dewey Cox, Jenna Fischer as his long-suffering love, and Tim Meadows as Dewey's long-time drummer and friend. Jake Kasdan (Orange County) directed and also helped write the script along with Apatow. This time, rather than just riff on the dramatic spoof angle, this one goes straight for the belly laugh. Not necessarily a bad choice, but I still like the overt seriousness of the first trailer (but that could just be me).

So despite not being completely blown away by what I've seen, there still seems to plenty of giggles to be had -- plus you have to love a 'For Your Consideration' ad that has the star flipping off the camera. We've been reporting on the film for a while now, and can you blame us? Now that 'R' rated comedy is finally getting the respect it deserves, it's just nice to go to the movies without a "tween" in sight. Walk Hard was originally set for release this month, but instead the movie hits theaters on December 21.

Here are some bites to chew on for the weekend:

• It seems that Tim Meadows is about to be added to the ever-growing cast of Judd Apatow's Walk Hard. As I've previously reported, the film is a music spoof that follows Dewey Cox, a musician who fights to become a legend. The film already has John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer and another SNL alum, Kristen Wiig. Meadows is negotiating to play the drummer in Cox's band. Nothing against the man, but why not Jimmy Fallon? It could be a little nod to more cowbell. And for the five of you who might join me as fans of the terrible 80's film, Three for the Road, Senator Kitteredge -a.k.a.- Raymond J. Barry has signed on to be the elder Cox who constantly tells Dewey that he's a failure. Hopefully he won't try to have Sheen and Ruck try to commit him.
• Step Up star Channing Tatum is finding his next film fast-tracked by New Line. Variety has reported that the company has grabbed a pitch by T.J. Scott and Kevin Lund about a NYC cop who has to infiltrate underground Parkour to stop a gang of bank robbers. Parkour is the art of moving from one place to another as efficiently as possible, which often means becoming a human Spiderman. It was also the basis of Luc Besson's District 13. I can only hope that the film means we will get some mainstream, on-screen time for David Belle, the absolutely delish Parkour actor who starred as Leito in 13.
• Pierce Brosnan's Butterfly on a Wheel, which Karina and Martha recently relayed news about, has been picked up by Lionsgate for U.S. distribution. A crime thriller, it stars Brosnan as a mysterious person who goes to Chicago, kidnaps the daughter of a couple played by Maria Bello and Gerard Butler and subsequently terrorizes them ... but not for a cash reward. Icon Productions is handling international sales, except for Japan and Italy, which are so far out of luck.