Random Movie Stuff - 12/26/11

- Here's the first photo from Magic Mike, a male-stripper comedy from director Steven Soderbergh.  It stars Matthew McConaughey, Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer (Beastly), Matthew Bomer (USA's White Collar), and Joe Manganiello (HBO's True Blood).  It's loosely based on Tatum's experiences as a stripper before his acting career took off.  The movie's scheduled to open June 29.  Soderbergh also has Haywire opening next month.

- Dan Aykroyd has joined the cast of Dog Fight, a political satire starring Will Ferrell and Zack Galifianakis as two warring candidates.  It also stars Jason Sudeikis, John Lithgow, WIll Forte and Brian Cox.

- Alan Taylor, whose directorial efforts mainly comprise of HBO fare like Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire, will be the new director for Thor 2.  Kenneth Branagh directed the original.

- Seth Rogen will star in The B Team, about a master spy who is kidnapped, so his support team must go in to save him.

- What do Tom Hulce (Amadeus), Jon Polito (Miller's Crossing), Derek Jacobi (Anonymous), Wesley Eure (TV's Land of the Lost), Guillermo Diaz (TV's Weeds), Sean Maher (Serenity), Roger Rees (TV's Cheers), Denis O'Hare (TV's True Blood), Jonathan Slavin (TV's Better Off Ted), and Luke Evans (Clash of the Titans) have in common?

- The Top Ten Movies according to Christy Lemire, of Ebert Presents At the Movies:

1.  Martha Marcy May Marlene
2.  50/50
3.  The Myth of the American Sleepover
4.  The Tree of Life
5.  Bellflower
6.  Melancholia
7.  Take Shelter
8.  Hell & Back Again
9.  Beginners
10. Bridesmaids

Ebert Presents At the Movies

Christy Lemire (Associated Press) and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky (Mubi.com) are your new critics. No "two thumbs up" or "two thumbs down" in the first episode.

No Strings Attached - Lemire Down / Vishy Up - Lemire felt like it fell apart toward the end, Vishy thought it was better than most rom-coms, cliches notwithstanding.

The Company Men - Lemire Down / Vishy Up - Lemire felt the characters never broke out of their two-dimensional setups. Vishy found it an interesting commentary on unemployment.

The Way Back - Lemire Down / Vishy Up - Lemire found it a slog. Vishy likes long, gritty epics.

The Green Hornet - Lemire Down / Vishy Up - Lemire found Seth Rogen doing his same old schtick and hated the 3D. Vishy liked the visual creativity and the direction, and liked the Rogen/Chou chemistry.

The Dilemma - Lemire Down / Vishy Up - Lemire said none of the comedy worked. Vishy said it's being billed as a comedy but it's actually a depressing drama, and he liked that. He thought Channing Tatum stole the show.

As Christy summed it up "I hated everything, he loved everything." Very interesting show. It's on PBS so there are no pesky commercials. The two critics do have good chemistry, and while I bristled at the original announcement of 24-year-old Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, he's instantly more credible than Ben Lyons. I'll give him the same benefit of the doubt I would have hoped others would've given me if I'd gotten the job. Ebert writes for the show, and I gather he'll have guest voices read his essays. This week Werner Herzog read his essay on 1967's My Dog Tulip. They'll also have Classic Film spotlights, and Kim Morgan did it for 1949's The Third Man. I appreciated it but at the time thought "How many people watching this show have not seen The Third Man?" I can't imagine the number is high.