One big-budget box office disappointment does not usually signal the end of a movie star’s reign. The woeful under performance of Land of the Lost has observers looking for someone to blame, however, and Will Ferrell is under suspicion. Writing in the Los Angeles Times , columnist Patrick Goldstein suggests: “He’s in danger of becoming the comedy equivalent of George Clooney, someone who enjoys a great deal of goodwill but who isn’t actually a real movie star.” Goldstein doesn’t provide his definition of a “real movie star,” but in the context of his column, it clearly is all about the ability to open a big tent pole production to big box office numbers. Goldstein claims: “The verdict in Hollywood: Ferrell hasn’t done a good job of managing his brand. [Adam] Sandler is the master of dumb hijinks. Eddie Murphy has become a cuddly family star. But who is Will Ferrell? No one knows anymore.” The theory is that Ferrell made his bones playing “the stupid guy” in a string of raunchy comedies ( Old School , Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy , Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby ) but hasn’t been accepted when it’s branched out ( Melinda and Melinda , Bewitched , Stranger Than Fiction ). Ferrell evidently plays another “stupid guy” in Land of the Lost , but it wasn’t sufficiently outrageous for the teen/20s crowd, who flocked to The Hangover , and was too potentially scary for families, who returned to Up . Why did you skip Land of the Lost? Confused by the marketing? Burned out on Will Ferrell? Do you want to see him return to raunchy, R-rated comedies — like The Hangover ? Are Ferrell and George Clooney “real” movie stars? Filed under: Comedy , Sci-Fi & Fantasy , Universal , Movie Marketing , Summer Movies Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Though it would never ever happen in a million years (we wish and hope and pray), it’s still fun to play around with image software to see what a live-action movie based on the animated TV show The Simpsons would look like if it starred a bunch of today’s hottest actors and actresses. Australian graphic artist (and Cinematical reader) Brad Anderson created this project as a way to promote his new graphic design business , and I have to say he did a pretty good job finding celebrity images and then tweaking them to fit the Simpsons mold. Can you guess who is who just from looking at the image above? Go ahead and try, I’ll give you a moment … Give up? Here’s the cast: Homer (George Clooney), Marge (Cate Blanchett), Bart (Ewan McGregor), Lisa (Reese Witherspoon), Maggie (Jennifer Aniston), Otto (Johnny Depp), Krusty (Vince Vaughn), Ned Flanders (William H. Macy), Moe (Steve Buscemi), Mr. Burns (Willem Dafoe), Millhouse (Dustin Hoffman), Mr. Smithers (Stephen Colbert) and Chief Wiggum (Ricky Gervais). We posted the Simpsons family in the gallery below, along with a larger version of the image up top. Head over to Brad’s site to view the rest, and throw this guy some business if you’re looking for a graphic designer. For the love of god, he’s a Simpsons fanboy! Pay the man! Gallery: Fan Made: Live Action Simpsons Movie Filed under: Animation , Comedy , Fandom , Images , Fan Made Permalink | Email this | Comments

Overture has acquired the movie The Men Who Stare At Goats, which is based on the awesomely insane non-fiction book by intrepid reporter Jon Ronson. The book is a series of Ronson’s investigations into the more bizarre aspects of the Bush administration’s military, er, strategies. Like trying to kill goats just by staring at them or control the weather with your mind and, well, basically everything that dude in college who took too much acid was trying to tell you was true. George Clooney plays the nutty (yet dreamy!) psychic spy Lyn Cassady who claims that he’s been “reactivated” after 9/11, and Ewan McGregor is the reporter who investigates Cassady’s strange tales. The fictionalized version of Ronson’s book sounds a little more madcap than the reporter’s tales of torturing suspected terrorists with the Barney theme song for hours, but I can’t wait to see Clooney go eye-to-eye with a “de-bleated” goat for hours. Goats is slated for a December 2009 release. Filed under: Distribution , George Clooney Permalink | Email this | Comments

Seth Rogen’s revival of The Green Hornet may not see the light of day. You remember, of course, that Stephen Chow left the director’s chair. It was then rumored that he might not even play Kato due to commitments to a Jack Black superhero comedy. Sony was hunting frantically for a director to make that spring shooting schedule, but no replacement has been found. Now the usually reliable Drew McWeeny of HitFix is reporting what we have long suspected — that you may be hearing the death knell of the Green Hornet. With Chow dropping out, Sony began to hesitate. Rumors flew at Sundance that the film was dead and McWeeny reports that if it isn’t yet, it probably will be soon. The Green Hornet has been in and out of development for years. George Clooney famously headed up one almost-but-not-quite attempt, as did Kevin Smith. McWeeney notes that “if this particular configuration doesn’t happen, then I suspect it never will,” which I have to agree with. If Rogen fails, he can at least take some pride that Clooney and Smith failed before him … but it has to sting (pun not intended), especially after all that physical training he’s put in. We’ll watch and see what happens — and I’ll be curious if there’s more cheering or weeping in the comments. Filed under: Action , Comedy , Mystery & Suspense , Sony , RumorMonger , Celebrities and Controversy , DIY/Filmmaking , Comic/Superhero/Geek , Remakes and Sequels Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sometimes a little patience will be well rewarded. The picture to the right isn’t some image from the archives — it’s George Clooney on the ER set. (One of a few you can check out over at Starzlife .) Last March , word hit that ER would be looking back to past characters, and Clooney could possibly reprise his role as Dr. Doug Ross. Cinematical readers weighed in, and while I was hoping for a rush of love from Facts of Life fans, 58.2% of you wanted to see Clooney return to the emergency room, and your wish has been granted. There is no word on what sort of storyline Clooney is jumping into, but sleuthing the images has proved one thing: A wedding ring can also be seen in the pictures, which means that Ross is probably still shacked up with wife Carol (Julianna Margulies). But after Burn After Reading , I can’t help but wonder if Ross has the same sort of carpentry-related extracurricular activities that Harry Pfarrer had… [via Ace Showbiz ] Filed under: Casting , George Clooney , Images Permalink | Email this | Comments