British rock journalist Nick Kent perfectly summed up pop music by nothing how the best rock combines the Byronic and the moronic. That uneasy mix of poetry and poses, swagger and stagger, makes rock and roll ripe for mockery -- and, with Walk Hard arriving on DVD this week, what better time to name a few great comedies that have mocked rock and punctured the pretensions of pop?

1) Walk Hard

Starring John C. Reilly as roots-rocker Dewey Cox, Walk Hard doesn't just stick a foot out to trip up Walk the Line; it also manages to spoof The Beatles, Brian Wilson, Elvis and much more. (Indeed, Walk Hard follows such a carefully-crafted timeline as it travels through pop music history, it almost feels like a second take on the brilliant, underseen Grace of My Heart, another film that spanned decades through musical styles.) With a brilliant supporting cast and Reilly's cement-headed self-centered performance in the lead role, Walk Hard is that rare parody that nonetheless still loves what it mocks.

Best Line: "Wait a minute, son: Dewey Cox has to think about his whole life before he performs. ..."

This week, there's a few mainstream films to check out that won't be hitting this column. Go to Erik's review for a taste of There Will Be Blood, and check out mine for a little bit of Lions for Lambs.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
It's hard to remember that spoofs used to be more than just bad movies that we either ignore completely, or watch when we want to check out a really bad movie. Current incarnations in the genre have left a large door of opportunity open, begging for satire that is both smart and entertaining -- one that constructs a funny plan, rather than a blanketed and desperate grab for laughs. It's not surprising that Judd Apatow was the man to make it happen.

But it's not just about J.A., or director Jake Kasdan. It's an entire film full of today's big names in comedy. John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Kristen Wiig and other SNL vets, and my personal favorite -- the best group of Beatles to come since the actual Beatles: Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Justin Long, and Jason Schwartzman.

The parody subgenre once gave us comedy classics like Young Frankenstein, Airplane!, Top Secret!, and The Naked Gun. This glorious tradition has been disgracefully violated in recent years by the likes of the cleverly titled Epic Movie and Date Movie. (As for the latter -- a spoof of comedies? Outstanding idea!) Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, a parody of musical biopics like Walk the Line and Ray, marks the pretty damn triumphant return of the spoof film. The movie also marks the return of Judd Apatow, and I'm pleased to report that Walk Hard completes a 2007 hat trick for the man. It easily joins Knocked Up and Superbad to form the unholy trinity of the year's superior comedies.

Starting in fictional rock star Dewey Cox's boyhood Tennessee home and ending some sixty years later after his bouts with women, booze, and pills, the film traces the blood pumping rise...of Cox. (First and last Cox joke, I promise.) The script gets Cox making music quickly, and good thing. I'm not sure why the first ten minutes of Walk Hard were released online as part of the marketing plan, they're easily the weakest scenes of the film. But once John C. Reilly enters the picture, portraying Cox at age fourteen despite being 25 years older (a dig at Kevin Spacey in Beyond the Sea?), it's pretty much smooth sailing.

Straight off its two Golden Globe nominations, Cinematical is happy to announce that we have 10 pairs of tickets to give away for next Wednesday's (12/19) New York City Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story screening, followed by a live performance from the man himself, Dewey Cox, at The Knitting Factory! Watch the movie, dance your ass off and when it comes time to ship off to heaven, you'll be glad you at least got to see a live Dewey Cox performance during your lifetime. Brought to you by Cinematical and Gen Art Pulse, the Walk Hard screening will be held on December 19th (beginning at 7pm) at the Regal Battery Park cinemas, which is only a short hop, skip and a jump away from The Knitting Factory. On that day, you must be in or around the New York City area in order to attend, and you'll need to travel to each destination on your own dime. But c'mon, is it not worth it for this! We'll be giving away 10 pairs of tickets to 10 random commenters, so start commenting ... now!

In case you weren't aware, Walk Hard was nominated for two Golden Globe awards yesterday (for best actor and best song). Looks like those For Your Consideration ads certainly paid off. Here's what both John C. Reilly and Judd Apatow had to say following the nomination announcement:

"I am thrilled and honored that the HFPA has acknowledged the hard work of everyone who poured their hearts into Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. I look forward to celebrating our film and all the other great movies, comedic and dramatic, at this years Golden Globes. I am proud to carry the torch for Jake Kasdan, Judd Apatow, and Mike Andrews without whom I could not have pulled off this performance. Somewhere, Dewey Cox is smiling." -- John C. Reilly

"I'm very proud of John C. Reilly and even more proud of Dewey Cox. Dewey would have loved this if he wasn't dead." -- Judd Apatow

Here are some pics from Dewey's LA performance. Check out the Walk Hard trailer and the official rules for this contest after the jump.

The Golden Globe nominations were released this morning, and I take it you first read all about it right here on Cinematical, right? Because you love us, right? Anyway, there weren't any major surprises to be found. I'm happy to see The Simpsons Movie land a nod for best animated feature, and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story came away with two nods ... which should help bolster its box office take. Same goes for the other films on the list that still haven't arrived in theaters; most notably Sweeney Todd, The Great Debaters, There Will be Blood and Charlie Wilson's War. Thankfully, Amy Ryan was thrown a bone for her excellent supporting performance in Gone Baby Gone (though the film as a whole was missing from the other, larger categories) and -- whaddya know -- Juno got a whole lotta love.

Atonement looks to be this year's "Best Film That No One Will See," while it almost sickens me to see John Travolta (for his drag performance in Hairspray) listed in the same category as Javier Bardem (for No Country for Old Men). The best motion picture drama category features a whopping seven films, though Michael Clayton and The Great Debaters probably could've been left off. Shockers? How about Don Cheadle coming away empty following his terrific performance in Talk to Me? Personally, and I know a lot of people will argue against this, I thought Joaquin Phoenix in Reservation Road was better than Viggo Mortenson in Eastern Promises. How many lines did Viggo actually have in that film? Seven? I imagine Across the Universe hypnotized people into believing it belonged in the best motion picture (musical or comedy) category, with all its wacky colors and what not. Once is not even mentioned, well, once. And where is the nomination for Waitress? Did I miss it. Oh wait, it's not there. But Cate Blanchett is there -- twice -- for both I'm Not There and Elizabeth: The Golden Age. You're telling me both Hairspray and Across the Universe were better than Waitress? And where's Zodiac? Do you agree with this? Should we write a letter?

So, what do you think?

And for much much more on this year's Golden Globes, be sure to check out Moviefone's official Golden Globes page.

The Judd Apatow gang always markets the crap out of their movies, and the promotional blitz is in full force for their latest, Walk Hard. Posters are everywhere, they released the "R" Rated international trailer to the internets, they took out a very cool "For Your Consideration" ad in The Hollywood Reporter, and John C. Reilly is rocking the country on the "Cox Across America" tour, which I was lucky enough to check out this week. And now you can watch the first ten minutes of the film online! Head over to http://rocklikecox.com/myspace/ to enjoy. If you figure it costs ten bucks to see a movie, and the movie is 100 minutes -- this is one dollar's worth of entertainment for free!

You have to verify your age to see the clip -- the film is Rated "R" after all, but this ten minutes is strictly "PG." Sorry, folks. (By the way, has anyone under the age of 18 ever been dissuaded by an age verification? You can enter any birthdate you want! It's not like they're asking for a thumb print or something! Fools! Let's move on.) The clip mainly focuses on Dewey as a boy, played by Conner Rayburn, and it builds to a 14 year-old Dewey's declaration "Just wait 'till you see what happens now." I must say, I only laughed out loud once during the clip -- the line "How are we gonna follow that?" got to me -- but I have a feeling this is going to be a very funny movie. I'm checking it out Wednesday night, and I'm muy excitedo. How about you guys, thoughts on the opening scenes?

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.

Check out the gallery below ...

After skyrocketing to big-screen fame while playing the girl-next-door-type on NBC's The Office, Jenna Fischer is itching to do what most actresses fear: nudity. Lots of it. While speaking to MTV, Fischer revealed that she's currently working on her own film, one she's co-writing, producing and -- we imagine -- starring in as well. It's an indie comedy -- or as she calls it, "a real ensemble comedy" -- and while she wouldn't give up a whole lot of details, she did reveal two of the stars: "Boobs! You don't see the whole thing, folks, but there's a lot of the ladies in this film that have been hidden under Pam's sweaters for a long time. I also just think the sort of humor of it [will surprise people]. I think we're used to seeing me a little more confined. And this is, like, a bigger, bolder, brassier part ... with a lot of boobies."

Mmmm, nothing wrong with "a lot of boobies," says the guy whose wife isn't in the room. When asked who else she'd like to see in the film, Fischer responded, "I hope John C. Reilly will star in with me. Because I would actually like to do every single film with John C. Reilly for the rest of my career." There's something we have in common -- I, myself, wouldn't mind seeing John C. Reilly perform in every single film that comes out for the rest of my life. Love the guy. Always have, always will. And if that's her wish, then she's off to a good start: Fischer currently stars opposite Reilly in the musical comedy Walk Hard (due out later this month), and is also working on a comedy called The Promotion opposite -- you guessed it - John C. Reilly. So look for plenty of Fischer, Reilly and boobies at your local cineplex real soon.

UPDATE: Jenna was mis-quoted in the MTV interview; she does not, in fact, get naked in this new indie feature. I repeat: She does NOT go topless. She was referring to her role in Walk Hard, and the fact that she "shows a lot of chest" in the movie. Not her bare chest, mind you, but her chest. Clothed. Sorry guys. But we still love you Jenna!

I decided to write this because each and every week I have people sending me things that I simply HAVE to do, or see or look forward to. I'm sure it's the same for you; you'll be chatting with a friend online, and they'll throw something out and follow it up by saying: "Dude, you HAVE to do it!" I take it that's how Norbit made so much money at the box office. But anyway, here are a few things that are hip this week (in my life) and maybe yours too ...

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street -- The first critics screening is what did it, and since then -- in only a week or so -- the new Tim Burton flick has reached cult-like buzz status. Almost everyone I've spoken with is telling me to see it, even though they haven't seen it, which kinda doesn't make much sense. But the folks that have seen it are loving it, and so this week it's hip to want to see Sweeney Todd. Additionally, feel free to submit questions for Tim Burton and Johnny Depp for Moviefone's Unscripted session. (Actual quote: I've heard it's Burton's best film since Beetlejuice!")

Walk Hard Tour -- We posted about this earlier today, and already almost all the shows are sold out. In case you're wondering what I'm talking about: To promote his new film Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, John C. Reilly is touring the country and performing tunes from the movie in local rock bars. I caught wind of this early yesterday, and since then a number of people have asked me how to get tickets to see him at The Knitting Factory in New York City. We're currently working on getting some of our readers tickets for this thing, so stay tuned and be excited. (Actual quote: If I meet John C. Reilly, do you think it would be weird if I geeked out a bit over Boogie Nights?")

Facebook -- This social networking site has been around for some time now, however I finally caved into the peer pressure and created a page yesterday. While browsing, I was amazed to discover just how many people I knew who were on this thing. At one point, I half expected my mother to show up. Cinematical is currently in the process of setting up our own Facebook page, but in the meantime feel free to look me up (by name or by searching Cinematical), share movie tips with me and read the latest stories on Cinematical. A bunch of us Cine writers are also on there (like Rocchi, Patty, Jessica and Snider), so be sure to say hello. This week, it's hip to have a Facebook page. (Actual quote: Dude, f*ck MySpace -- Facebook is where it's at!")

Speed Racer -- You might not think it's hot at the moment, but wait until later this week. We definitely have something special in store for you ...

What else is hip this week?

Hey, it's good enough for Spinal Tap, Hannah Montana and The Monkees. Now Dewey Cox, of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, is the latest fictional music artist to go on a real-life tour. Yes, according to Variety, John C. Reilly is suiting up to perform in character for the "Cox Across America Tour." Joined by his band, the Hard Walkers, Reilly/Cox is making appearances in seven cities: Cleveland; Chicago; Austin; Nashville; San Francisco; Los Angeles and New York City. The first gig is this Wednesday at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and all shows include a screening of the movie, a music biopic spoof from the smartest man in Hollywood, Judd Apatow, and director Jake Kasdan (The TV Set).

Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, only the Chicago date is not sold out. My guess is that by the time of posting, even that show will be unavailable, but feel free to check Sony's RSVP page to find out. Otherwise, you can at least hear Cox's music on the Walk Hard soundtrack, which hits stores today.

I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Reilly as Cox. I also wish I could have seen Reilly tour the nation as Lefty, his character from A Prairie Home Companion -- accompanied by Woody Harrelson as Dusty, of course. If I could see any fictional artist in concert, though, I'd pick The Venus in Furs, or maybe Jesse and the Rippers. How about you? What fictional band or artist would you most like to see go on tour?

Anyway, stay tuned to Cinematical because we're working on something special to coincide with the "Cox Across America Tour."

Over at Collider, Frosty has up a pretty cool four-part video interview with Justin Long (conducted in a parking lot?) in which the actor talks a lot about Live Free or Die Hard, the infamous PG-13 rating, what is was like working with Bruce Willis and Timothy Olyphant, as well as ponders why tons of folks were pissed off when they first heard Long would play a role in the film. "People apparently hate that I'm involved; I guess because I'm in 'teen' movies or whatever ... although I have been in R-rated films before," Long notes. He goes on to admit that, originally, people were bummed the flick was getting a PG-13 rating. "When I was shooting and we found out it was going to be PG-13, I was disappointed -- we all were; Bruce was and everyone involved, I think. I feel like Die Hard is such an R-rated franchise, and it was truthfully hard acting in a movie and not being able to say 'f*ck' -- that's the first thing you want to say." However, fear not you die hard fans, Long also admits that Bruce "threw in a ton of F-bombs" in anticipation of the unrated DVD.

That said, even with the PG-13 rating, Long seems to back what Willis has been saying all along -- that you don't "miss alot not hearing f*ck and not seeing tons of blood; it's still really cool and the action is awesome. I'm amazed they got away with what they did in a PG-13 cut." When it came time to pimp some of Long's upcoming projects, a very interesting little cameo was leaked by the actor himself regarding his involvement in Walk Hard; the Judd Apatow-produced musical comedy starring John C. Reilly. According to Long, he filmed a tiny role in which he played George Harrison from The Beatles, while Jack Black played Paul McCartney, Paul Rudd played John Lennon and Jason Schwartzman played Ringo Starr. One can only imagine the type of lunacy that went on during those scenes, especially with Jack Black as McCartney. Long admits that it was minor, and says it might not even make the final cut -- but to know that something like that was filmed, and that we'll definitely be seeing it on a DVD if anything, has me anticipating Walk Hard even more than I originally was. Swing by Collider to check out the full interview; Live Free or Die Hard hit theaters on June 27.

We already knew that Walk Hard was going to be a little kooky -- its got headliners in John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer, as well as big SNL names from Kristen Wiig to Chris Parnell, and it's about a singer named Dewey Cox who "overcomes adversity to become a musical legend." Recently, Patrick Walsh gave us even more news -- that Jack White was going to have a part as Elvis, because Cox comes in contact with a number of music legends over the years of his life. It's quirky and interesting, but it isn't really unexpected or jarring. But if the current rumor is true, there's a whole other twist to the life of Dewey Cox.

According to film ick, Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan also have a ghostly character to throw in the mix -- a 10-year-old ghost to be exact. According to site: as a youngster, Dewey is playing a game called "Machete" with his brother, Nate. (Machetes are all the rage these days.) The future singer accidentally kills his brother, go figure, and spends the rest of his life haunted by the ghost of his young, dead sibling. While the ghost remains a child throughout the film, he doesn't stay a happy one. To fuel the fire of this rumor, there is a young boy named Nate on the cast list -- played by Chip Hormess. Teamed with Andrew Cherry, who plays the young Dewey, this knife-slicing twist definitely has some super-cute kids to pull it off.

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.