DVD Tuesday Theres dumb theres dumber and then theres Idiocracy Mike Judge has seen the future and it really doesnt workI mentioned Idiocracy in an earlier column but now I think its time to give it its due Mike Judges dystopian-future comedy is flawed but I find myself quoting it all the time Worried that its a waste to let Americas best soldiers idle when theres no war for them to wage the military initiates a top-secret program to put them on ice literally until theyre needed Naturally the top brass isnt about to try out an experimental technology on the cream of the fighting crop so they choose low-level GI Joe Luke Wilson and smart-mouthed hooker Rita Maya Rudolph as guinea pigs The plan is to freeze them for a year but things happen regimes change and next thing you know no-one who knew about the hush-hush experiment is around to keep tabs on it500 years later Rita and Joe wake up in an America in which everyone with the brain
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Dec 23, 2007 11:19 PM ET
- by Ken Fox
It seems Jessica Simpson's new movie, Blonde Ambition, may have set some sort of record. With an opening day gross of $384, it may be one of the lowest grossing theatrical films ever. In what sounds like a shamelessly uncredited remake of Mike Nichols' Academy Award-winning comedy Working Girl, Simpson stars as a sweet, small-town gal from Oklahoma who climbs the corporate ladder at a construction firm in big, bad New York City. My guess is that a credited Luke Wilson stars as the Harrison Ford character. Now in all fairness, Blonde Ambition, which was produced by father Joe Simpson's ickily named Papa Joe Productions, was only released into eight theaters, all in Simpson's and Wilson's home state of Texas. To put this in perspective, I Am Legend opened across the country on over 3600 screens, and Blonde Ambition, which is scheduled to come out on DVD on January 22 anyway, arrived with none of the ad muscle accompanying its holiday season competition, like this week's box-office cha...
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Eddie Murphy is set to star in a family-oriented big-screen adaptation of TV's Fantasy Island, filling (much to SAG's consternation, I always imagine) multiple roles.... Also per the Hollywood Reporter, Tim Roth is in talks to play Emil Blonsky/The Abomination to Edward Norton's Incredible Hulk.... Matthew Perry and Hilary Swank star in the indie comedy Laws of Motion, playing a harried husband and his all-too-perfect neighbor.... Luke Wilson will star in Henry Poole Is Here, a dramedy about a man who learns he has only six weeks to live.
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Per Variety, several studios are battling over dibs on a remake of John Carpenter's Escape from New York, to headline Gerard Butler (300) as one-eyed convict Snake Plissken.... Luke Wilson, Amanda Peet, Dennis Quaid, Justin Long and Chris Evans have joined the voice cast of Terra, a CG-animated pic about interplanetary conflict.... DreamWorks Animation plans to produce all of its films in 3-D starting in 2009, beginning with the summer release Monsters vs. Aliens.
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King of the Hill and creator Mike Judge
This Sunday (at 7:30 pm/ET) will mark the 200th episode and 10th season finale of Fox's King of the Hill. The achievement is yet another feather in the cap of series creator Mike Judge, who turned Beavis and Butt-head into household names and directed the oft-quoted cult hit Office Space. Known as
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Anna Faris, Scary Movie 4
Believe it or not, Anna Faris likes it when her lovable but clueless Cindy Campbell, who returns in Scary Movie 4 (now in theaters), takes a hit or two as she saves the world. "I'm always pretty game for that," says the actress. "Cindy's so sweet and innocent, which gets a little annoying, [so] it's fun to take me down every now and then."
Faris gets her wish in one scene in the latest sequel, when an airplane cart slams into Cindy's face. "It looks like it could have been [my] stunt double, which was frustrating because it was me," she reveals. On the flip side, Faris thinks moviegoers will see that it's definitely her "twin" taking hits from a Mike Tyson look-alike in the spoof of a boxing film. "[We] had this 10-minute, very choreographed sequ
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Bend It Like Beckham's Gurinder Chadha — who is already attached to helm an I Dream of Jeannie movie — is close to inking a deal to direct Jennifer Lopez, Luke Wilson, John Travolta and Shirley MacLaine in the big-screen Dallas. She would replace Robert Luketic, who dropped out due to "creative differences" (read: "J.Lo as Sue Ellen?! I'm Audi.").
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Jennifer Lopez
That big-screen version of Dallas is inching closer to reality. Variety reports that the cast is starting to fill out — particularly in the backside, one might say, with Jennifer Lopez being offered the role of Sue Ellen Ewing (played by Linda Gray on the long-running CBS serial). Luke Wilson is in talks to play Bobby, and Shirley MacLaine is being eyed for Miss Ellie, while the most plum part, J.R. himself, is still earmarked for John Travolta (production on Dallas would begin in October, after he's done filming Hairspray). You can practically hear Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson catfighting over the role of Lucy.
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The Office's Steve Carell, John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer
It's an oldie but goodie on The Office tonight [9:30 pm/ET on NBC]. We are rerunning an episode from Season 1 called "Diversity Day." Michael is subjected to a day of diversity training after complaints are made to corporate about his behavior. He hijacks the meeting and teaches his own brand of sensitivity.
If you are new to The Office, this will be a treat. "Diversity Day" is an often-quoted fan favorite. It is also a favorite of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the creators of the original British version of
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Ellen Pompeo, Grey's Anatomy
Ellen Pompeo of ABC's red-hot Grey's Anatomy (Sundays at 10 pm/ET) opens up to TV Guide about her gypsy soul, her red-carpet style and how she really feels about Meredith and McDreamy.
TV Guide: You've been in movies with Jake Gyllenhaal, Leonardo DiCaprio and Luke Wilson. Why did you switch to TV? Ellen Pompeo: When there's a very strong female character, it's hard to walk away. In all the great, interesting films, the parts for me were really small, and the only lead par
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