From the moment you emerge from the vast darkness of the womb, your parents start teaching. “I’m Mommy.” “That’s Daddy.” “Stop crying.” “Don’t ever lie.” That last one is a particular stickler. In the case of one’s growth into an adult, when the inevitable screw-up occurs, it’s usually difficult, but somehow better to just tell the truth. You might get yelled at for screwing up in the first place, but lord help you if you lie about it and get caught later. Then you’ve screwed up twice. The key phrase to this end is, “honesty is the best policy.” But is it? Some people can’t handle the truth, as Jack Nicholson so eloquently put it. If you tell it to them, they refer to it as “brutal honesty.” Is it worth making something up just to make someone feel better? That’s the question asked in The Invention of Lying and it’s a curious one indeed.

Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) is a creature who inhabits a world not wholly dissimilar to our own. He works in an office. He has friends. He has enemies. He watches television. The difference between Mark’s world and the one we occupy is that nobody on Mark’s planet has evolved the ability to lie. In fact, they don’t even have words like “truth” or “fallacy” or “real” or “fiction.” People describe things only as they are without a hint of deceit. Believe it or not – though I would never lie to you, dear reader – all this honesty makes for kind of a dry palace, sans fun. It’s reminiscent of that kid in school who raises his hand during the last nanosecond of class and reminds the teacher she forgot to assign homework. People speak their minds. There is no fear of consequences.

Mark is set up on a date with Anna (Jennifer Garner), which almost immediately spells doom. He arrives too early when she was in the middle of something private, frustrating her. Next, she notices he’s fat, short and has a snub nose. How does he know this? She tells him straight up. No need for internal monologue. Voice-over be damned. Apparently when you are told nothing but fact for your entire life, what we know as “brutal truths,” no longer seems like jabs and digs shot straight at the heart. Instead, they are more annoying than anything. Just a day in the life.

When his assistant tells Mark she’s always hated him and he’s about to get fired, there’s perhaps disappointment, but no insult. Mark is a screenwriter for Hollywood films. In his world, screenwriters are the stars, because there are no actors, only people who read the script in front of a stable camera. Scripts are solely based on historical fact. The only stories which exist are about things which have already happened. There is no make-believe. The firing from his job naturally creates financial problems for Mark and when his landlord demands the payment of overdue rent, Mark finds himself in a bind. He doesn’t have enough money in his bank account to cover the full amount. In a spurt of inspiration, he lies. The world’s first. He is given the money needed, because everything said is believed. He now possesses a superpower. Whether he uses it for good or evil depends on his character.

If you lie well enough, you can eventually be like Hef.

When the film was first announced, it was immediately accused of being an inverse Liar, Liar, when in truth, it’s much more than that. The Invention of Lying is certainly a high-concept film, which if starring Jim Carrey would have turned into a wacky good time, but with Gervais at the helm, it’s interested in more than just delivering laughs. It tackles bigger issues at hand. A lot of the film’s humor stem from the unexpected bluntness of the way characters speak to each other. No secrecy is veiled or comment guarded. It’s an odd world indeed, but one devoid of much vibrancy. The strict adherence to truth makes for a bland artistic output and the film goes to show why most people prefer some sort of scripted fare over The History Channel. The film’s big idea covers the advent of religion and is perhaps its biggest argument for the necessity to create some kind of story, as opposed to sticking to complete fact.

Co-directed and co-written by Gervais and Matthew Robinson, the film visually offers little more than any standard romantic comedy and sadly has a third act which is mostly geared toward Mark getting the girl, but their intention for striving higher is what puts the film in a different category. They don’t put complete reliance on the hope that characters speaking “brutal truths” can carry an entire film of funny. Instead, they manage to insert the larger societal conundrums and prove a lot more can be done within a basic framework than most filmmakers are either unwilling or unable to do.

Gervais may still be a long way away from becoming the star in America that he is in Britain, but here he’s crafted another role tailor-made for his persona. Mark isn’t the nicest human being, but not a jerk, either. He’s more of a product of his non-lying environment. Gervais does surprise in a scene full of emotion, displaying a depth to the actor unseen to this point in his career. We shall continue to yearn for purely comedic performances, but this new turn gives Gervais the ability to delve deeper into a role, as opposed to skimming the surface. Jennifer Garner is given perhaps the most befitting role of her career in the film, as beautiful, but slightly dim-witted and superficial Anna. It’s nearly impossible to distinguish between the actress and the character and one wonders if this is more up her alley than her five-year stint on “Alias.”

The Invention of Lying, doesn’t ride high throughout, but given weight to a high-concept without relying on the initial idea to be the sole driving force of the film, makes it one of the more enjoyable movie-going experiences of the year. Hopefully Gervais can continue his ascent to stardom, and will undoubtedly do so if able to stay the course he’s currently on. He overtook the small screen and has Hollywood dominance eventually forthcoming. That’s the truth. Go ahead and run with it.

Twilight director who feel out of being able to helm the sequel is landing on her feet with a (possible) pair of projects.  Warner Brothers re-upping of Little Red Riding Hood is all but a done deal. The movie will be a gothic update of the classic fairy tale, so we can expect it to appeal to roughly the same crowd that will turn out for New Moon (at least demographically). She is also in discussions in the early stages regarding the possible helming of 21 Jump Street, which is being written by none other than Jonah Hill. That is an update of the TV show of the same name that helped “jump start” the career of Johnny Depp, among others. It appears that both projects are studio priorities though, so while “Hood” is all but a done deal, “Street” might be more of a stretch due to the production schedules. The Risky Biz Blog has the following regarding the projects.

“Hood” is expected to offer a Gothic update on the Grimm Bros. tale, of course about a young girl who encounters the villainous wolf on her way to her grandmother’s house, with “Orphan” scribe David Leslie Johnson writing the new version. The presence of a wolf as a central character in the original fairy-tale is sure to prompt comparisons to “Twilight,” which centers not only on vampires but a sect of werewolves, particularly the character of Taylor Lautner’s Jacob.

“Street,” which Jonah Hill is writing as a possible starring vehicle, will be an action-heavy retelling of the Fox television series. The hourlong show — which was one of the first hits for the then-fledgling network and launched the career of Johnny Depp — centered on a group of twentysomething policemen who looked young enough to go undercover in high schools and colleges. Neil Moritz is producing.

Off the top, I don’t know about Hill as a lead in “Jump Street” but that is not what this story is about.  Hardwicke on the other had, seems to be doing well for herself considering the difficult economy.  The possibility of both of these projects, plus she is already looking to shoot an updated version of “Hamlet” within the next 6 months or so, with Emile Hirsch in the title role.  This is all from the woman who got her start with Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown.  Not bad.  Let us know your thought on her prospects as director for either of these projects.  Particularly interested in those from Twilight watchers. Rob?  If you are interested in an upcoming wolf related film, check the footage on The Wolfman for good measure.

The esteemed Brad Pitt, one of the biggest stars on the planet despite being a highly inconsistent draw at the box office, has landed only one of two roles (it appears) in upcoming films.  The most pivotal on the surface as far as we are concerned, would have been him playing a villain, Professor James Moriarty, in Guy Ritchie’s upcoming Sherlock Holmes.  Already one of our most anticipated films of the year, due to a strong action director, a great cast that includes Jude Law, Rachel McAdams and Robert Downey Jr. in the titular role, the addition of Pitt would have been a major coup for this films Christmas time prospects.  This has been reported as an unofficial add though, although it was reported with certainty via the Daily Mirror:

A source on the set tells us: “It’s a huge coup to have Brad joining the cast.

“He has worked for Guy before and said if he could, he would do anything to help out.

“It was an oversight in the film not to make a bigger deal about Moriarty. He is mentioned as Holmes’ arch enemy, but the bosses wanted Guy to make more of him. Jude Law (who plays Dr Watson) and Robert Downey Jr (Holmes) have already shot their scenes.

“But now that 10 extra days have been added to shoot the new ones, they may be called back for a day or two.

“Brad is expected to be filming all over London. Cliveden House has been earmarked as a location for Moriarty’s home. There will be scenes shot at Royal Victoria Dock, Pontoon Docks, Pinewood and Chatham Docks in Kent. And they will be using clips around City of London to set the scene.”

I had to strongly suspect the reports were fake. One issue is that they are claiming a release date push back, something we have not yet heard about. Another is that while Pitt and Ritchie worked well together on Snatch, it is highly surprising that something would come in this late and this undercover, for this not to have been known sooner.  Take this news with a grain of salt, but it is being reported by various sites as him being a go for “Holmes” (again I think based on the original source though), so we had to share it with you.  Again, I am stating it is NOT happening.

Keeping up with Pitt, as his Inglourious Basterds is dropping this week, it is being reported by MTV that he has joined the cast of Dreamworks Animation’s Oobermind.  He is supposedly joining Jonah Hill, Will Ferrell and Tina Fey who are attached to the project as well.  The project is a new spin on an established idea where Pitt would play an enemy to Will Ferrell’s super-villian and Hill would be the created new hero to give Oobermind some trouble but Hill wants to be an a-hole and hence Ferrell becomes the hero by default.  A strange tale, but it sounds original.  The type of film that could cause Pixar to re-think their strategy for success (not likely).  Still, it would be another feather in the cap of DWA, who is growing an intense rivalry with Pixar, some of which we have discussed previously.  As for Pitt, it doesnt sound like he would have a huge voice role but hard to tell for sure. His last effort at V.O. work was with the animated Sinbad, which didn’t fare well at the box office, so I would bet that Pitt disappears from this work in films if Oobermind isn’t a success.  But, the prospects sound pretty strong right now, agree?  Share your thoughts on the above, below.  And despite yesterday’s slip-up, I knew “Tiger Wood(s) kill ‘em once thrown in Brad’s Pit(t). ” Peace.

Everyone has told a lie at some point in their life. It is part of our human nature to fudge the truth a little bit.  We are told when we are younger to never tell a lie (just like George Washington). As we get older we find out that it is not always possible to tell the truth all the time, and most have their own reasons for lying; some do it to impress others, some do it to protect someone’s feelings.  In certain situations, a lie can be a good thing but in others, one can be devastating.

What if we lived in a world that could only tell the truth? What if everyone went around telling everyone else exactly what they thought of them? Think of the impact it would make on all facets of our daily lives. Areas such as politics and sports would be forever changed. It would certainly make law enforcement’s job a lot easier.  No more polygraph tests to solve the crime, you would just have to ask if the person was guilty or not and they would spill the beans.

If Hef were younger and fatter.

This is the concept behind the quirky new comedy The Invention of Lying (the film’s original title was This Side of the Truth). The film is set on an Earth very different from our own. Invention‘s Earth is one where lying hasn’t been invented yet. Everyone only knows how to tell the truth. Ricky Gervais plays Mark, a guy who works in the entertainment industry as a writer. He works in an entertainment industry where unlike our own, people tell only fact-based stories. This all sounds pretty boring, until one day Mark creates the world’s first fib. After discovering the world’s first lie, Mark uses his new “power” for his own gain.

The film was written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson.  Gervais rose to fame by creating the British version of “The Office,” and since then has both starred in or written several TV shows and movies. His most recent foray into acting on the big screen was last year’s Ghost Town, which I didn’t see, as it looked very middle of the road. But he was amazing as self-absorbed boss David Brent, on the UK version of “The Office” (his part is played by Steve Carrell in the U.S. adaptation). The Invention of Lying also stars Jonah Hill (Superbad), Jennifer Garner (“Alias”), Rob Lowe (“The West Wing”) and Tina Fey (Baby Mama).

Jason Bateman can elicit no other reaction.

This movie shares a lot in common with other high concept comedies such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the upcoming Cold Souls. All three of these movies take regular ideas which we take for granted and seemingly flip them on their head. Considering the box office for Ghost Town was more akin to that film’s title than the producers probably would have hoped, and Invention‘s plot, I’m not sure that it will be very profitable. Its gross will probably land close to the $27 million domestic total of Ghost Town. Just look at mindless fluff like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, that’s where all the money is these days, not in small comedies such as this. I personally am looking forward to The Invention of Lying. It has a very talented cast of comedic actors, and a smart concept that looks to yield plenty of laughs. Count me in for this one.

The Invention of Lying opens September 25^th.

Funny People and Superbad star Jonah Hill, has already set up his next project at Universal Studios. Variety reports that Universal has acquired the rights to what is described as a high concept romantic comedy, The Best Thing About Pam Rooney. The film was written for Hill, by Funny People co-producers  Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan O’Brien. Hill will also be producing, while Cohen and O’Brien executive produce the film. Hill has a few more upcoming comedies such as 2010′s Forgetting Sarah Marshall spin-off Get Him to the Greek, with Russell Brand. Jonah also wrote, produced, and stars in the upcoming The Adventurer’s Handbook, which is also a Universal release.

I thought Jonah Hill was great in his supporting role in Funny People and killed it in Superbad. I’m a fan of his work, and am glad to see that he is getting a leading role for a change. He’s great as the overweight funny friend he usually plays in most of his films, but I can’t wait to see if Hill can carry a whole movie by himself.  What do you think? Will Jonah be able to carry a movie alone? Let us know what you think of this news.

“The closest I ever came to dying was when I masturbated with a 104-degree temperature.” That’s one of my favorite jokes from Larry David when he returned to stand-up comedy for the HBO Special that later became the pilot for “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” I think that joke works on two separate planes for this review. First, it’s a stand-up comedy joke and the entire world contained in Funny People revolves around stand-up. Secondly, David is talking about being on the edge of death. Staring it in the eye. The main character in Funny People faces a similar quandary, although his situation is far less humorous.

George Simmons is a comedic movie star not unlike Adam Sandler. His ascent to stardom bears a strong resemblance to the plight of other comic film leading men. He began on stage telling jokes to rooms full of drunks in comedy clubs. His fame and persona took off and he moved on to such silly heights as headlining films about a merman and Re-Do, about a man who goes back to being a baby (a literal man-head on baby body) to remind himself of how to live. George’s string of hits ends when he is diagnosed with a type of leukemia, leaving his life as lived and decides to revert to a time when he was happiest and go back to performing stand-up comedy. He takes a young comedian, Ira Wright, under his wing as a last gesture of his time on Earth.

Ira isn’t the funniest of people. Not yet, at least. He’s a nubile talent stuck working behind a deli counter at a local grocery store, begging his co-workers to come to his shows, even having to offer to pay their cover charge. Fortunately, Ira has some support or rather constant motivation surrounding him at home. He lives with two buddies who are both firmly rooted in the comedy career path. Leo is another disciple of stand-up, trying to build through that. He’s had some more success that Ira, but still performs at the same venues. Their roommate and landlord, Mark, is the most successful, as he stars on an NBC sitcom called, “Yo, Teach,” resembling something along the lines of “Saved By the Bell.” He’s known to casually leave his $25,000 per week paychecks on Ira’s pillow. All of this only fuels Ira’s excitement toward George’s offer to be his assistant, as well as write jokes for him.

Ira is the only person George lets in on the secret of his disease. Ira, in turn naturally tells his closest comrades, but luckily it never reaches beyond that. Faced with the pressure, Ira eventually convinces George to let a few select others in on the news. George uses his illness to make amends with Laura, the girl that got away. They were to be married until his immaturity and lifestyle led to him cheating on her. She is now married with two children, albeit not the happiest. After bouts of suffering, George finds himself in the 8% of people who survive his condition and steps away from the porch in front of death’s door. Given a second lease on life, George has a chance to right his wrongs with Larua and share with Ira the path to success.

"If this was a lesser film, you'd just challenge George to a rugby match."

Judd Apatow’s name has been permanently fixated with cinematic comedy over the past few years, though this is only the third film he’s directed, after The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. It’s more of his producing duties that makes his name a mainstay in our filmgoing subconscious. That, and his band of talent he’s helped blossom into becoming their own headliners, thus spreading the Apatow brand, even when he isn’t directly involved. It’s similar to the Bill Walsh coaching tree that still survives in today’s NFL. What Apatow is a master of is blending what can be considered crass and vulgar humor with a story that contains a bit of sweetness, realism and heart. Sure he’s produced a story of man-children with Step Brothers and wacky sports comedy in Talladega Nights, but that’s not how he writes. He separates himself from the pack and elevates the genre by doing so. In Funny People, he blends comedy and drama seamlessly. It’s not a jarring transition from laughs to tears and the two dueling themes, death and comedy, work together like strawberries and chocolate as opposed to oil and water. This is a very funny film, as you would hope for, set in the world of comedy, but it may well induce some salty discharge at the same time.

I’ve never been a fan of Adam Sandler. In fact, I’ve been more of an anti-fan. It’s the whiny voice that’s driven me crazy through the years. Only in Punch-Drunk Love did I respect him for a bit, but that goodwill was quickly squandered. I’m pleased to say this is the best performance of his career. The whiny voice pops up now and then, but only as a character his character is playing. You get the feeling he’s baring his soul in this film as if it were a documentary reflection on his own life, since it so closely adheres to his real-life rise to fame. Acting accolades also belong to Seth Rogen. He plays a character who’s very grounded and identifiable. It’s a performance like no other we’ve seen from him. Over the past few movies of his, he has become quite stale. The shtick that worked so well for him before and rocketed him into our collective minds had worn thin. I believe this is a turning point for him, or at least should be. He can build on this next step of his career and hopefully continue to evolve as an actor.

There were some hampering and nagging points to be had, mainly with Sandler’s character arc. George isn’t the nicest of guys. Even when he recovers, he doesn’t undergo much of an arc and makes it harder to sympathize with him, even at the end. Ira is far more indefinable and the two characters never even really meet in the middle. The lack of bromance between the two is at least partly made up for by the interplay between Ira, Mark and Leo. Jason Schwartzman brings his usual suave egotism he’s been perfecting since Rushmore to Mark. Jonah Hill as Leo is more subdued then he’s been in the past, but his climbing off the ledge didn’t hinder his ability to invoke laughter.

Death is not a particularly funny subject, so I find it brave of Apatow to base his film around the subject. He succeeded in blurring the lines between comedy and drama and in turn made more than just a funny film, but a well-balanced movie worthy of following in Knocked Up‘s large footsteps. There’s a line in the film, which for obvious reason led to the title, which George uses to belittle Ira. “Usually, comedy is reserved for funny people.” Thank goodness for all of us, Judd Apatow is one of them.

According to BloodyDisgusting, a frequent tipster has hinted to them about who may have already been cast in Robert Rodriguez’s full-length adaptation of his Grindhouse trailer, Machete.

Pretty big names abound for a film once rumored to be released direct-to-DVD and one that stars Danny Trejo as the title character.  Rodriguez has supposedly inked Michelle Rodriguez, Jonah Hill and Robert De Niro for roles. The film is scheduled to start shooting in just a couple of weeks, so you’d think these deals have to be darn close to being done if not already.

It seemed pretty unanimous that Machete was one of the most beloved parts of the Grindhouse experience (though I loved it all) and when I had friends over to watch a DVR’d full-version of the film there were instant calls of “I want to watch this movie,” when the trailer appeared.  I think it’s great that conventional wisdom of an undeserved box office failure didn’t squash all the plans Rodriguez had for the future. If this news comes to pass, he has definitely wrangled up a nice cast for himself and it only works to increase my anticipation.

What do you think of the names you might be seeing in the big screen Machete?

Machete trailer from Grindhouse, below:

Since The 40-Year-Old-Virgin in 2005, Judd Apatow has been a breath of fresh air in the comedy world.  For almost five years now, Apatow has had a hand in either writing, producing and directing some of the biggest comedies to hit the screen.  Most of his movies have been box office gold, such as 40-Year-Old, Superbad, Knocked Up and Pineapple Express.  Of course, he has dropped some clunkers of late with Drillbit Taylor (producer) and Walk Hard (producer, writer). This year, he has produced Year One and will direct his third film, Funny People.

I tend to favor his directorial work because his comedies are so much better than the rest.  Yes, they’re funny, but they also have elements of drama and are relatable.  Funny People will focus on the themes of friendship and struggling with an impending disease.  It will also feature more drama than Apatow’s first two films, despite the title.  Adam Sandler will take another stab at drama having had success with this before, most notably with Punch-Drunk Love. Sandler, who could have easily made a quality career for himself after his critically acclaimed performance in Punch-Drunk, stuck with the brain-dead comedies and occasionally did drama, like Spanglish and Reign Over Me, the latter being particularly poor.  I would hope this performance will finally put him on a proper path.

Baking cookies can only be funny if you make them into vulgar shapes...like circles.

Sandler stars as George Simmons, an established and successful comedian/actor who has made a name for himself in the stand-up circuit. He gets the debilitating news that he’s suffering from a blood disorder and will die within a year. Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), a deli employee and comedian, who has grown up idolizing Simmons, befriends George when he hears of his condition.  They become close and George makes Ira his assistant and teaches him the ways of a good comedian.  Meanwhile, his ex-girlfriend, Laura (Leslie Mann), hears of his condition and re-establishes herself in his life as a friend. Just when George had lost all hope, he gets the startling news that he will make it.  While getting close with his ex, her husband Clarke (Eric Bana) becomes extremely jealous and causes friction between him and his wife.  Despite this setback, George has a new outlook on life and with the help of his friends, he tries to seek meaning and purpose within himself.

The movie also co-stars Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Aziz Ansari and RZA.  Funny People is written, directed and produced by Judd Apatow and after the wonderful Knocked Up, I think Funny People might match it, though I can’t say it will top it.

"I think if you just did, like, the 'whale wave' on stage, it'd totally kill."

Covering a whole array of issues like life, death, love and friendship, all wrapped up in a Judd Apatow bun, complete with his unique brand of humor could make this the comedy hit of the summer.

Funny People opens July 31^st.

When I first went to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City last fall, I was amazed by what was featured there. My favorite aspects were dinosaur fossils, the Egyptian collection, the Rose Center for Earth and Space and the Cape York meteorite, the largest meteorite to be shown at a museum. It was the best museum I’ve ever attended.  You could stay there hours upon hours continuing to find something new, because the facility is so massive.  When I was told Night at the Museum was filmed there, I had some interest in seeing it. Of course, only the exterior shots were filmed at the actual museum, the interior scenes were done in Vancouver (sorry to spoil it for some people). I ended up straying away from seeing it because it didn’t look very good. Just a regular family comedy. I still haven’t seen it because it’s received more negative criticism than positive.  Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian doesn’t look very good either. Just more of the same.

Napoleon and Ivan the Terrible do their best Spiderman pose. Not a very good one, of course.

Ben Stiller reprises his role as Larry Daley, a security guard who experienced strange things during his night details at the Natural History Museum.  During his shifts, he would see such things as mannequins of historic figures and fossils of dinosaurs coming to life.  These sorts of things happen again, but at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.  It will be the first major feature to film there, even though some shots will be filmed in Vancouver once again. With the Natural History Museum being closed for refitting, the displays are moved to the Smithsonian. When two of the mannequins, Octavius (first emperor of Rome, Steve Coogan) and Jedediah Smith (famous American explorer, Owen Wilson), are shipped there by mistake, Larry must sneak in as a security guard to rescue them.  This doesn’t prove easy when more of the historic pieces come to life.

"What in the world?" "Albert Einstein. Don't you stick your tongue at me."

This movie will feature a ton of guest stars and cameos that will play the historic figures. Some notable ones are Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), Kuh Mun Rah (Hank Azaria), Albert Einstein (Eugene Levy) and General Custer (Bill Hader).  Jonah Hill plays a security guard and Dick Van Dyke returns as Cecil Fredericks. Shawn Levy, who directed the first Night at the Museum, remains for this one.  Original writers Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant (Reno 911! fame), who adapted the first film from the 1993 children’s book of the same name by Milan Trenc, supply the script here, as well. Lennon and Garant will also appear in the movie as the Wright Brothers.

This should be appealing to families, just as the first one did, despite the already dried formula.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian opens May 22^nd.