Let me just say first that, I consider Bo Welch's The Cat in the Hat (2003) the worst movie I've seen in my more than ten years of reviewing movies, and Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) is not far behind, and would no doubt rank somewhere in the bottom fifty. Jim Carrey returns from the title role in The Grinch as the voice of the title role in Horton Hears a Who! so I was skeptical at best about the quality of the new film. Not to mention that most CGI animated films not produced by Pixar tend to range from forgettable to awful. What a happy surprise, then, to see one of those rare animated films -- and an even rarer family film -- which ventures into that elusive middle ground, providing wholesome entertainment for kids as well as a few belly laughs for adults.

Directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino, both making their feature debut, Horton begins by effortlessly rendering in 3D space that familiar 2D world of Theodor Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss), with its curvy trees and oval-shaped hills and dales. We meet our hero, Horton (voiced by Jim Carrey), a pachyderm whose personality teeters between dutiful and lazy, helpless and self-reliant, goofy and dedicated. He teaches a class of young animals about various forms of jungle life, but not without a bit of inadvertent, entertaining slapstick. One day, a speck of fluff floats past his sizable ears and he hears a voice emanating from it. He rescues the speck, deposits it on top of a clover and learns that, living upon the speck, is an entire miniature society called Whoville (not to be confused with the Whoville in The Grinch) and run, more or less, by the Mayor (voiced by Steve Carell).

The best family films aren't only for the kids; they look like a kiddie package but pack enough of an adult punch to make everyone happy. It looks like Monsters vs. Aliens might be just that. It is, and I quote from the new goodie extravaganza over at USA Today, "a throwback to those B-movie glory days of the '50s when Martians invaded our backyards and rubber monsters stalked the Earth."

This even includes specific references, such as the heroine Susan Murphy. She's a regular California girl who gets hit by a meteor and becomes 49' 11" tall (Attack of the 50-Foot Woman!), gets taken by the military, and renamed Ginormica. She's also being voiced by Reese Witherspoon. But that's not the only big name attached -- Rainn Wilson will handle the evil alien Gallaxhar, and Ginormica will be joined by Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D. voiced by Hugh Laurie, jelly-like B.O.B. handled by Seth Rogen, and the half-ape/half-fish Missing Link voiced by Will Arnett. Plus, there's Kiefer Sutherland as the aptly-named Gen. W.R. Monger and Stephen Colbert as the "plays it on steroids" president. (Some of them you can spot in the pic on the right, which you can see full-size at USA Today.)

But there's also a twist in this. Since the feature will be the first CG movie shot in 3-D, rather than converted to it, it has an extra $15 mil added to its budget, which will find its way out of fans' wallets. The tickets will cost more, although the price hasn't been determined. Jeffrey Katzenberg is hoping we'll all pay for "a premium experience." This sounds cool and all, but paying more for this movie sounds silly, esp. if it ends up killing at the box office. What do you think about this monetary twist?

Some say that Will Ferrell movies are just the same flick over and over again, but since I always get a giggle from them, I really can't complain. Movieweb is now hosting 10 new photos from Ferrell's latest sports-comedy, Semi-Pro. Farrell plays Jackie Moon, the owner and coach of the American Basketball Association's Flint Michigan Tropics. In hopes of getting the team status in a little organization called the NBA, he must turn his team into winners.

Semi-Pro was written by Scot Armstrong, who was also behind Road Trip, Old School, and The Heartbreak Kid. Armstrong is also hard at work on the sequel to Old School, but this time it will be without *Hank 'The Tank' by the looks of things. Even if you are not a big fan of Ferrell's particular style of comedy, you have to admit he does manage to put together some pretty great comedy casts. Joining Ferrell on Semi-Pro are Woody Harrelson, Will Arnett, Rob Corddry, and the criminally underused Andy Richter. Also joining in on the fun are Outkast's Andre Benjamin and Maura Tierney.

So while some of these pictures have already been released back in November, this latest set has a few new images plus your chance to get a look at Ferrell's 'fro in hi-res. So far, there have already been a few poster releases, a teaser, and the ever-popular "red band" trailer. But, let's be truthful here, if you are a Ferrell fan you are going to want to jump straight to the 'R' trailer for all the good jokes. Semi-Pro opens in theaters on February 29th.

*Correction: Ferrell will forever by haunted by the nickname Frank "the Tank", not Hank.

My post-Christmas stomach is in very bad shape ...

Some new artwork from this summer's The Incredible Hulk has arrived online, and while it's still only artwork (in fact, all we've seen so far of this film has been artwork), it's definitely a piece that should whet your appetite for destruction. Arriving in theaters on June 13, this version of the Hulk stars Edward Norton as the emotionally-conflicted Bruce Banner, who's on the run hiding from authorities, as well as his own demons. Tim Roth will play Hulk's nemesis Emil Blonsky, while Liv Tyler (Betty Ross), William Hurt (Gen. Ross) and Tim Blake Nelson (Samuel Sterns) also star. Check out the new artwork to the right, via Coming Soon.

That TV movie/series launch/contemporary re-boot of Knight Rider now has a very very brief 15-second teaser trailer online for all of you to geek out over. While there's not much except the uncovering of the new, updated car, we do get to hear a brief snippet of that classic Knight Rider music, followed by some other, flashy TV music. Ah, and Will Arnett as the voice of KITT -- does it seriously get any better than that? From the official Knight Rider press release: "The movie stars Justin Bruening ("Cold Case," "All My Children"), Deanna Russo ("NCIS," "The Young and the Restless"), Sydney Tamiia Poitier ("Veronica Mars," "Grindhouse") and Bruce Davison ("Breach," "Close to Home"). In addition, David Hasselhoff (NBC's "America's Got Talent") - who starred in the popular lead role as Michael Knight for four seasons during the original series - returns as the same character in a special guest-star appearance. Will Arnett (NBC's "30 Rock," "Blades of Glory") will provide the voice of KITT." Don't you love how Hasselhoff's credit is from America's Got Talent, as if no one would remember the dude's awesome turn in TV's Baywatch. (Check out the teaser after the jump.)

Finally, we haven't heard much about the Pixar film arriving in between Wall-E (2008) and Toy Story 3 (2010), titled Up. Now, Upcoming Pixar has picked up a note from the film's official wikipedia entry which stated that Up may in fact be a "re-telling, somewhat, of the classic Don Quixote fable." Here's what we have so far by way of a synopsis for Up; let the speculation begin: "Pete Docter and co-director Bob Peterson are preparing this "coming-of-old-age story" about a seventysomething guy who lives in a house that "looks like your grand-parents' house smelled." He befriends a clueless young Wilderness Ranger and gets into lots of alter kocker altercations. Says Pixar: "Our hero travels the globe, fights beasts and villains and eats dinner at 3:30 in the afternoon." (via CinemaBlend)

So it's no secret that Steve Carell hasn't always made the best choices when it comes to movie roles. The same could probably be said of some of Jim Carrey's choices as well, so there could be a lot riding on both their reputations for the big-screen adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss story, Horton Hears a Who!. Erik had brought us the first teaser back in July and now a full feature trailer has been released.

Horton is based on the 1954 children's story about a microscopic world that gains an elephant as their protector. Over the years the story's moral of "a person's a person no matter how small" has been interpreted as a response to the McCarthy anti-communist era and the importance of treating the "least of us" with a little care and respect -- pretty heavy for a kid's book, I know, but it does make me long for the days when children's entertainment had more going for it than tie-in deals. The film stars Carell as the feisty mayor of Whoville and Jim Carrey as their elephant advocate. The film has a solid supporting cast that includes some truly hilarious people; namely Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Amy Poehler, and Carol Burnett.

So even if you are not the biggest fan of kid's movies, after watching this trailer, you can't deny this is one snazzy looking movie with some big-name comedic talent. But I guess everyone said the same thing about Bee Movie, and we all know how that turned out. Horton Hears a Who! arrives in theaters on March 14th, 2008.

I love talking animals as much as the next guy, but does Steve Buscemi always have to play some kind of toothy rodent? Actually, it's possible he only did that once, for Charlotte's Web (I'm not sure what kind of animal he is in Home on the Range). But wasn't that enough? Sure, he kinda looks rodent-like, but I'm sure he has the range when we're not looking at his mug. Anyway, according to The Hollywood Reporter, this time around it's a hamster named Bucky, who Buscemi will provide his voice for in the Disney movie G-Force. As we told you a few months back, G-Force is a Jerry Bruckheimer production that mixes live-action and computer animation and is about a group of genetically enhanced commando guinea pigs who have to stop an evil billionaire with world-domination dreams. Other voices will be provided by Nicolas Cage, as a mole named Speckles, and Tracy Morgan, as a guinea pig named Blaster.

As for the live-action roles, new to the cast are Bill Nighy, as an industrialist, and Will Arnett, as an FBI agent. And thank goodness for them, because the actors previously brought on to appear in the movie were too obscure for me to handle. They included Gabriel Casseus (Black Hawk Down) , Zach Galifianakis (Into the Wild), Kelli Garner (The Aviator) and Jack Conley (Fun With Dick and Jane). I know in a movie like this it's all about the talking animals, but with Nighy we've got ourselves a real movie. And with Arnett we have a funnier movie. Bruckheimer told THR that this will be another movie to be enjoyed by everyone "from the smallest kid to the oldest grandparent." He also pointed out that the movie's director, Oscar-winning visual effects master Hoyt Yeatman, came up with the idea with his son. From there it was apparently passed on to National Treasure screenwriters Cormac and Marianne Wibberley (aka The Wibberleys). G-Force is currently in production and expects a May 2009 release (Just a hint to Bruckheimer: it might make sense to add an extra dimension to this movie, since I think everything else animated coming out that month is going to be in 3D).

If you're like me, you're always waiting for Will Ferrell to top himself. He's a great improv actor, albeit one who could be deemed a "ball hog" (if you know your basketball terms), but he knows how to entertain an audience and bring in the box office bucks. This winter he'll be returning for another sports-related comedy, Semi-Pro, in which he plays Jackie Moon, the owner-coach-player of the ABA's Flint Michigan Tropics. A new teaser for the film has arrived over on Funny or Die and, while there's not much, we do get a nice slice of Ferrell's naked body. (Warning: Eat before watching, unless hairy guys with a gut turn you on.)

Based on the teaser, it seems Ferrell's tapping back into some of his Ricky Bobby material from Talladega Nights, only take that character, place him right smack in the middle of the 70s, and give him a giant afro. Personally, Ferrell just makes me laugh no matter what he's doing; some are tired of his shtick, but I can't get enough of it. If he can surround himself with some decent comedic talent -- folks he'll allow to step up and share some of the spotlight -- then I can certainly see this flick becoming a winner. Co-starring with Ferrell will be Woody Harrelson, Outcast's André Benjamin, Maura Tierney, Jackie Earle Haley, Andy Richter and, of course, how can you forget Will Arnett. Semi-Pro bounces into theaters on February 29, 2008 -- and you can check out the teaser above.

As I write this, The Brothers Solomon has a 15% rating with critics over at Rotten Tomatoes. Users (ie: average moviegoers), however, are scoring it at 75%. That's a pretty hefty margin, and so obviously people are finding something in Solomon that critics are missing. This sort of thing happens a lot throughout the year -- mostly with comedies -- and no one seems capable of placing a finger on exactly why critics and moviegoers are so far apart. Don't get me wrong, stupidity has a lot to do with it -- and The Brothers Solomon is a stupid movie. There's no questioning that. But is it funny? To a certain degree, yes, if you're a fan of movies like Dumb and Dumber and A Night at the Roxbury -- films that feature two moronic, yet seemingly happy-go-lucky characters who view the world from inside their own ultra-unrealistic bubble. And it's enough to keep you laughing for about twenty minutes, as that's about when the SNL-type shtick wears off and you're left holding (figuratively, not literally) onto Malin Akerman's ass in a wet bathing suit because it's the only part of the flick worth watching.

And I don't mean to be a perverted slime ball about it, but the scene in which Akerman struts out of a jacuzzi, half-naked, while Will Arnett crawls behind, licking her wet footsteps as the love song from Footloose (Almost Paradise for those keeping track) blares in the background is probably the most ridiculous -- and amusing -- of the entire film. Those moments are few and far between -- and they only work on those willing to lose themselves in the Solomon's alternate reality; a reality in which the outcome to every situation or dilemma is always positive, no matter how crummy it may seem on the surface. Take shit with a smile should be their motto, and perhaps there's a message there about how remaining in a constant positive state is the one true key to happiness. Then again, that's kind of creepy. And so are the Solomon brothers.

Despite the fact that I find the 'comedy styling' of Will Arnett pretty hilarious, I just think that most directors don't know quite what to do with him. I mean, it's not like he can keep doing Will Ferrell sports comedies forever. So here's hoping that Andrew Currie has figured out how to make the most of Arnett's particular style of smarm. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Arnett's latest project (and there are plenty of them), Space Invader, has just secured Currie to direct. Currie was responsible for the Zombie laffer Fido back in 2006, so he has some experience with slightly "out-there" comedy. The story was inspired by the recent astronaut scandal, the "NASA Love Triangle". At this point I'm just wondering how they are going to work in the diaper jokes.

The script was written by Mike Lisbe and Nate Reger. The first-time screenwriters have mainly worked in TV, although the bad news is they were responsible for Just Shoot Me. Arnett is producing Invaders for Fox Atomic and seems to be keeping busy by creating his own starring vehicles -- Ryan's exclusive about Matchbreaker is just the latest of a series of deals for the comedian. Arnett has also just sold a pitch to Paramount with Dax Shephard about two hot tub salesmen in Japan, called Get em' Wet. Invader stars Arnett as "Doug Huggins, the son of a NASA legend, who is terrified of flying. When Huggins learns that his girlfriend, a rising aeronautic star, has been chosen to fly to the International Space Station with Stamp, a spaceman who is God's gift to space travel, he must overcome his fears and travel to space to win her back." Probably not the strongest concept, but hey, it's better than that "two guys in a hot tub" idea, don't ya think?