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Feb 21, 2008 08:12 PM ET
- by Ken Fox
A mob of angry customers storm the counter of their local video store, complaining that the VHS cassettes they've rented aren't the actual movies but cheap homemade reenactments. The plot of the new Jack Black comedy Be Kind Rewind? Not quite: This funny premise was actually the basis for a sketch on the popular Nickelodeon comedy series The Amanda Show, starring Amanda Bynes. Eight years ago.The skit, which recently surfaced on YouTube, features Bynes and costar Drake Bell as a pair of clerks in a "Blockblister" video store who've replaced tapes of Austin Powers, The Wizard of Oz, Titanic and others with their own crappy, basement quality versions — just what Black and his costar, Mos Def, do in Be Kind Rewind, which was written and directed by video-wunderkind-turned-feature-director Michel Gondry (The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Each time a customer complains, Amanda and Drake's boss argues in a comically heavy accent, "This movie better!" before the kids chime ...
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Variety reports that John Cusack will star in the big-screen adaptation of 1408, Stephen King's short story about a debunker of paranormal occurrences.... Per the Hollywood Reporter, rapper Mos Def (16 Blocks) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) are in talks to costar as former Black Panther members in Stringbean and Marcus.
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Attention, people of Earth: If Zaphod Beeblebrox, President of the Galaxy, seems familiar to you, that's because he's based on several of what you would call "celebrities."
"I pushed for an Elvis/Freddie Mercury vibe," says Sam Rockwell, the actor who embodies the far-out prez in the current hit film, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. "There's also some Vince Vaughn in there — Vince does a great Elvis — and Bill Murray from Kingpin."
And in case you're curious, yes, Rockwell also modeled his performance on several real heads of state. "I watched Bush and I watched Clinton," he says. "I was actually pretty nervous during rehearsals because they asked me to tone down the Southern accent."
It was Rockwell's versatility that won him the part of Zaphod. He originally auditioned to play the less flamboyant Ford Prefect, a role that later went to Mos Def. "I read for Ford
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