JASON SEGEL & THE MUPPETS ON "SNL"

Jason Segel & The Muppets on SNL

So brilliant! Jason Segel hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live last night and he was superb as always. Watch this adorable Song and Monologue he did with the help of The Muppets, who are none to pleased that he is getting all the attention with his hosting gig.

If you're in Canada, you can watch the Introduction and various Skits from last night here.  You can't miss Paul Rudd's surprise entrance and full-on smooch with Segel in honour of U.S. Thanksgiving.  It's quite something!

I just saw The Muppets again yesterday for a second time and loved it just as much as the first time. Review to be posted Wednesday. Walt Disney Motion Pictures releases Wednesday, November 23, 2011.

(Photo credit: Global Television/NBC)

OUR IDIOT BROTHER - MOVIE REVIEW

Still from Our Idiot Brother

Although it might easily be forgotten in the tide of Blockbusters in our midsts, Sundance Film Festival favourite Our Idiot Brother from Director Jesse Peretz, is one this Summer's more witty Comedies.

Ned (Paul Rudd) is the naïve and under-achieving older Brother to tightly-wound Liz (Emily Mortimer), a career-driven (Elizabeth Banks) and free-spirited (Zoey Deschanel).  After being arrested for selling Marijuana to an undercover Police Officer, Ned serves a minor sentence of three months, before being released from Prison. Things change quickly though for him with his Girlfriend Janet (Kathryn Hahn) leaving him, finding a new Boyfriend Billy (T.J. Miller) and keeping their Dog Willie Nelson. At the same time, he is kicked-out of their Organic Farm House, which in turn makes him homeless.

Ned then turns to his Sisters for support but none of them truly take to his intrusion upon with their private lives. Before long, they begin to find him a nuisance as he unintentionally finds himself caught-up in their affairs. He stirs the tension between Liz and her Husband Dylan (Steve Coogan), manages to both damage both Miranda's relationship with Boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) and a pivotal opportunity at her Vanity Fair job. Also, youngest Sister Natalie finds herself furious after Ned reveals her biggest secret to Girlfriend Cindy (Rashida Jones). But as their stories unfold and all the resentment mounts against Ned who is a convenient Scapegoat, we ponder whether or not he really is at fault and whether he simply is a catalyst to unravelling some deep-seated problems already brewing in his Sisters' own lives.

PAUL RUDD & HARVEY WEINSTEIN IN "FUNNY OR DIE" SKIT

Paul Rudd in Funny or Die Skit

Quirky Sex Symbol Paul Rudd absolutely pisses-off Movie Mogul Harvey Weinstein here with his nonsensical pitches in this just-released Funny or Die skit.  The best idea he has is putting a Trailer in the middle of a Movie during a Sex Scene.  Brilliant.

 See the Skit below:

Rudd’s latest work Our Idiot Brother will be distributed via The Weinstein Co. in Canada August 26, 2011. I will be reviewing this one Monday. Can’t wait!

See the Trailer in full here. 

(Photo/video credit: Funny or Die)

WIN 1 OF 3 "THE TOURIST" AND "HOW DO YOU KNOW" DVD PRIZE PACKS

Courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment & Mr. Will-W.:Pop Maven are three DVD Prize Packs up for grabs! Packs includes a copy each of The Tourist (Johnny Depp & Angelina Jolie) and How Do You Know (Paul Rudd & Reese Witherspoon)!

To qualify for the win, please leave a comment with the answer to the following question: "True or false, was The Tourist was nominated for Best Motion Picture - Drama at this year's Golden Globe Awards?". Three lucky winners will be drawn April 1, 2011 and this Contest applies only to readers in Canada. Good luck, Mavenati and please ensure you leave some way for me to get back to you should you win!

The Tourist and How Do You Know are now in stores in both Standard and Blu-Ray Two-Disc formats.

Thank you once again to Media Profile for their generosity in knowing what my Readers want best!  You Guys are stupendous.

"LIKE CRAZY" AND "MY IDIOT BROTHER" ARE HITS AT SUNDANCE

Still from Like Crazy

Deadline is keeping a close tab on the Distribution deals being struck in Park City at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend and it looks like the one Film getting the most buzz is Like Crazy, a Romantic comedy about an British Girl visiting the U.S. and falling in love with a guy over there, she is told she has to go back to the U.K. after over-extending her visit.  

Paramount Pictures won in the bidding and it is said the deal was in-and-around the $4 million U.S. mark for worldwide rights. The Film stars Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones and Jennifer Lawrence - the latter who created a stir last year in Winter's Bone.

My Idiot Brother, which we have been following here for a while now, is also receiving a fair amount of buzz after its Screening last night, expecting to close a deal with The Weinstein Co. or Relativity Media in the U.S.  Maple Pictures is already set to distribute in Canada.  It is almost guaranteed that the Film will be profitable with its stellar Cast of Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Rashida Jones and Zooey Deschanel and the buzz that it is quite heart-felt.

"MY IDIOT BROTHER" GAINING HEAVY BUZZ AT SUNDANCE

Still from My Idiot Brother

One Movie getting a serious about of buzz at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival held at the end of the month in Utah, is Jesse Peretz’s My Idiot Brother. The Comedy revolves around jailed Pot Dealer Ned, played by an unrecognizable Paul Rudd, who decides to take up time with each of his Sisters after being unable to live with his overbearing Mother.

The Film has an amazing Supporting Cast including Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Mortimer and Rashida Jones. Although the Film has been picked-up in Canada by Maple Pictures, it is being shopped around in the U.S. still. With a Cast like that it should have no problems being acquired, you’d think.

With no release date set yet, the Film will premiere at Sundance this weekend and Peretz apparently will be there to present the Film and answer questions afterwards.  I am so jealous of those who get to attend!

Visit the official website for My Idiot Brother here and follow updates on Twitter here. Yes, you actually do get cryptic messages from Ned if you Tweet him.

(Photo credit: Maple Pictures)

"W" MAGAZINE'S BEST PERFORMANCES OF THE YEAR PORTRAITS

Natalie Portman in W Magazine

I quite literally screamed when I saw these Photos.  Lynn Hirschenberg sits down with  the major Oscar contenders of 2011 in the February issue of W Magazine with stunning Photography by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.  The Photos are astounding.  

Interestingly we learn that my new favourite Natalie Portman is a huge fan of Dirty Dancing admitting, "I always loved Penny, probably because I was really like Baby. I was a Jewish girl from a Jewish family, so of course I liked the tall, skinny blond girl.”

Jeff Bridges reveals shockingly that he is a huge fan of the quirky Gay-themed Comedy Chuck & Buck, telling Hirschenberg, "I thought the best performance of the last decade was Mike White in Chuck & Buck.  I dug that performance."

TWO DEGREES OF JAKE - TRAILERS FOR "HOW DO YOU KNOW" AND "LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS"

Two complicated romantic comedies. Two degrees of separation from Jake.  Jake Gyllenhaal reunites with Brokeback Mountain wife Anne Hathaway in the upcoming Love and Other Drugs, a true story about a flirtatious Viagra salesman who falls for a girl who knows his game. Matters get complicated when he gets successful and women find him increasingly desirable, but he must stay committed to the woman he really loves. I love both Gyllenhaal and Hathaway, but cannot deny I cringed a couple times at the did-that/done-that bits in the trailer. Love and Other Drugs hits theatres November 24, 2010. Trailer below:

Gyllenhaal's ex-girlfriend, Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon also has a trick or two up her sleeve to with her Holiday release How Do You Know starring Paul Rudd, Jack Nicholson and Owen Wilson. The story revolves around a woman caught between her love for two men, one who is willing to bend over backwards for her (Wilson) and one who she reunites with by chance, who is in legal trouble (Rudd).  I don't see what the issue is here.  Are you kidding me?  Pick Paul!   Nobody can resist those blue eyes and a bad boy in legal trouble.  Nobody!  Trailer below:

DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS REVIEW

It's rare that I find a movie completely deplorable, but somehow even with an amazing cast including Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Ron Livingston, Bruce Greenwood and Zach Galifianakis, Director Jay Roach's Dinner for Schmucks fails at every turn. The premise of it is crass - let's be honest. Tim (Paul Rudd) in an effort to advance his own career, is asked by his Boss Lance (Bruce Greenwood) to bring the biggest Idiot he can find to a Dinner, where the person deemed most entertaining (at their own expense) is declared the winner. Winning this of course, would do wonders in Tim's relentless pursuit of impressing his Boss.

While driving, Tim hits Barry (Steve Carell) accidentally. Barry is found on the middle of the road trying to rescue a dead Rat (he dresses Taxidermied Rats for Display Pieces).  And yes, he's that big of a Schmuck. Realizing that Barry just might be the Godsend that he needed to bring to this career-defining Dinner, Tim wastes no time courting him as his Dinner Date. From there, the rolling Lint Ball of Idiocy continues to collect dirt, including Barry completely sabotaging Tim's relationship with girlfriend Julie (Stephanie Szostak) by planting the thought in her head that Tim is having an affair. Unintentionally, just to clarify. Tim however, also has his insecurities about Julie being involved with one of her clients, the over-the-top macho Kieran (Jemaine Clement) and this plants a giant wedge in their relationship long enough to keep the antics going in this hot pile of mess.

CASTING DETAILS FOR NEW PAUL RUDD FILM

Director Jesse Peretz has almost completed the casting process for his latest comedy My Idiot Brother, to be released in 2011. The film will star Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer and Rashida Jones.

Not much is known yet about the film other than Rudd’s character not being able to handle his overbearing mother (who has yet to be cast), then deciding to move in together with his sisters. Rudd and Peretz last collaborated together in 2001’s The Château which not many people saw. It is said that Zooey Deschanel and Rashida Jones will play lesbian lovers. Hot!