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Under discussion:

Wet Hot American Summer  (2001)

Superbad  (2007)

The Ten  (2007)

Stella: Pilot  (2005)

Last October, we learned that David Wain (beloved director of Wet Hot American Summer) would be taking over the helm of Universal’s Little Big Men, a pre-packaged comedy starring Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Elizabeth Banks, Jane Lynch and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad’s “McLovin”). For all of us who love WHAS, The Ten, The State, Stella, Wainy Days and anything else having to do with Wain, it was great news. The script was re-written by Wain and Rudd and Ken Marino, who also co-wrote The Ten, and was adapted (I’m guessing) from the earlier screenplay by Timothy Dowling (George Lucas in Love). And it features some of Wain’s regulars, including Kerri Kenney, Joe Lo Truglio, and A.D. Miles. According to a recent interview with Wain on IESB.net, the film is currently in post-production with hopes of an August release.

But according to MTV Movies Blog today, Wain claims his latest film, which is supposed to be getting a new title, won’t be as absurdist as his fanbase is used to. Wain hints that we should actually be prepared for some tears, in fact. The blog notes that he was being sarcastic, but considering the disappointingly un-Stella-ness of Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black’s solo writing and directorial works, it wouldn’t be that surprising if Little Big Men is actually more tame and straight-forward that we want from a Wain picture. Oh well, I’m sure he was just joking with MTV, and I have nothing to worry about. I mostly just wanted an excuse to write about Wain and the film. Also, I wanted to note that in that IESB interview, which is about a month old, Wain admitted that he and the gang are currently working on a State movie. Fortunately, there’s no possible way that one could be sappy. I’ll still bring the Kleenex, though, because I’m sure to tear up from laughing so hard. Check out the video above for some classic State-era Wain.

Under discussion:

The Fast and the Furious  (1954)

Point Break  (1991)

L.A. Confidential  (1997)

Sunshine  (1999)

Training Day  (2001)

Equilibrium  (2002)

The Day the Earth Stood Still  (2008)

Oh, Keanu Reeves, must you continue playing cops? I’d rather you did more Shakespeare, in which you’re actually more believable. But no, after Point Break (I consider FBI agents to be cops) and Speed, you have to go and do Street Kings and try to make us accept you as one of the hardest vice detectives to ever grace the big screen. Want a cookie? Or an Oscar? Even if you do pull off the equivalent of what Ethan Hawke did in Training Day, you’re not going to get the notice of the Academy. The only thing keeping you from being the least likely actor to be taken seriously as a tough undercover officer is the existence of Paul Walker, whose performance in The Fast and the Furious makes you look like Dirty Harry.

Speaking of Training Day and The Fast and the Furious, the screenwriter behind those two movies, David Ayer, is the director of Street Kings. Fortunately, he didn’t write this one. The guys who did write it are L.A. Confidential novelist James Ellroy, who also came up with the original story, Equilibrium writer-director Kurt Wimmer and an apparent newcomer named Jamie Moss. Co-starring in the film, some of whom are sure to make Reeves’ acting appear even worse, are Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans (if you saw Sunshine, you know he’s actually a pretty good actor), Common, Jay Mohr, John Corbett, Cedric the Entertainer, The Game and Naomie Harris. OK, enough ragging on Reeves. But despite the appealing names of Ellroy and Whitaker, this still looks like a generic cops-and-gangstas movie. I’d rather just wait for Keanu as Klaatu later this year.

Street Kings hits theaters April 11.

If I link to a blog set up a week ago by a woman who claims she’s going to kill herself after 90 days of posting, and in focusing on a post about movies, I gloss over the ethical issues??????is she really going to kill herself, or will the whole thing will end with a romantic “choose life” reversal worthy of a romantic comedy because all along she was just trying to get a book and/or movie deal, or is it just a conceptual piece to prove the point that once you’re dead to the internet, you might as well be dead in life???????am I then a horrible person, or am I just doing my job as a movie blogger? Or both?

I shouldn’t have even touched this, I’m sure. But here goes…
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