The new International Trailer for Robots is nowhere near as grating as the first one.

MSNBC/Newsweek tackles the matter of nominating Fahrenheit 9/11 or The Passion for an Oscar. Given that they are the two most talked about movies of the year, it seems like both should be recognized by the Academy. Look, Hutton Gibson’s an anti-Semitic nut, I’ll grant that…but The Passion is not anti-Semitic. If the Academy doesn’t…

I did sneak in a viewing of “Team America” today, but my cold still has my mind too fogged up to write a good review. If you’re considering going on Saturday, all I’ll say is that anyone who enjoys “South Park” will like it immensely. Also, to give you a taste of my review, I’ll…

Politicize This! by Jonathan Last says that those who think Team America is about making fun of Hollywood’s pretentious stars and their politics miss the point: it’s far more focused on making fun of Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer. I caught a sample clip of “Sean Penn” telling the world how he visited Iraq and…

I grew up on Bill Cosby’s records. I loved the little world that Coz created of his annoying brother Rudy, Old Weird Harold, Fat Albert, street football, his father the scary giant, Fat Albert’s car, Buck-Buck, the go-kart race…I could go own and own and own. (Not a typo…I’m channelling Zell.) Despite all my fondness…

‘Team America: World Police’ Sneaks Into Theaters Saturday, Oct. 9/2004 The guys are contractually obligated to produce a R-rated film, despite all the hoopla about the puppet sex scene. I’d love to catch it this weekend, though I imagine the theaters in Minneapolis will be jam-packed. (I’ll be at FallCon this weekend.)

Robots could be a really, really good movie. It has a stellar cast, terrific art design and production values, and it’s from the makers of the super-funny “Ice Age” …but this is a terrible trailer for it. And you know why? Robin Williams. Yes, I once found Mork from Ork funny, and his snappy banter…

The Weekly Standard is a political magazine which I only link to from here if it’s to a column by Larry Miller or Jonathan Last. This week, both Last and Matthew Continetti weigh in on the changes to the new Star Wars DVD set. “. . . So Be It, Jedi” is interesting enough, but…

The Biggest Loser (which doesn’t appear to have a show web site yet) has been announced as a new reality show in which overweight people compete to lose the most pounds, all the while being counseled by fitness instructors and dietitians. The person who loses the most gets to walk away with a quarter million…

The trailer for Flight of the Phoenix is up. Unfortunately, while one of my favorite actors (Hugh Laurie) is supposedly in the movie, he doesn’t appear to be in the trailer. Giovanni Ribisi looks to steal the show; he sure has come a long way from being Phoebe’s weird brother on “Friends”.