Happy Thursday! Also in today’s edition of The Broadsheet: Steve Carell goes to the Dogs … Ryan Seacrest and Reese Witherspoon are teaming at last… The worst performances ever… “Pile On Eddie Murphy” Day… and more.
Sometimes there are one or two or three things in a movie that seem wholly implausible: For example, characters who, in 2011, don’t use or even appear to own cell phones. Depending on the movie — and the necessity of cell phones to the story — you might find that one little glitch unforgivable or you might look the other way. But what if a movie has so many glitches, so many careless oversights, that looking the other way only brings on whiplash? The characters in Dito Montiel’s The Son of No One use cell phones, all right. But almost nothing else in the movie makes sense. It’s as if Montiel, who also wrote the script, came up with a cool idea and then had no idea how to spin it out into an even minimally plausible story.
Trailer references Jonah Hill’s ‘Superbad’ and includes an appearance by a certain ‘Parks and Recreation’ star. By Eric Ditzian Jonah Hill in the “21 Jump Street” trailer Photo: Columbia Pictures The Twitter war between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum to see who’d get to tweet the “21 Jump Street” red-band trailer didn’t exactly work out as planned. Hill won, yet for some reason didn’t send out the link, so Tatum stepped in and executed the tweetage. But the new footage is nonetheless here. The action-comedy — based on Johnny Depp ‘s ’80s TV series, of course — stars Hill and Tatum as two young cops who join a resurrected undercover unit, pose as students and infiltrate a local high school to get to the bottom of a synthetic-drug ring. Depp’s cameo , unsurprisingly, doesn’t pop up in the new footage, but what else does? Let’s go ahead and take a look at the trailer’s five key moments. A Lifetime of Being Badass Mother$#@*&%s! Yes, that’s basically the professional goal of Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) when they join the police force. Once in uniform, though, badassery is hardly in the job description. Just look at those poor dudes biking around a park, their helmets and shorts almost as lethal to their images as their guns would be to the bad guys. One botched drug bust later, however, and it’s on to the Jump Street squad. Fitting In, Getting High The kids at the drug-filled high school are understandably skeptical of the two new students. As Dave Franco puts it, Tatum looks like he’s 40. So the cops have to fit in, which involves them taking the synthetic drug that comes in a package with a logo that looks, well, like a red pile of dog poop with a halo above it. So what does the drug do? According to the trailer, it makes you run through hallways and be rude to teachers, plus it leaves your tongue feeling really, really weird. Do the Honors, Ron Swanson You knew it was coming, that moment when one character urges a few others to head on down to 21 Jump Street. In theory, there’s something inherently nod-to-the-TV-show cheesy about it. Luckily, the honors are bestowed on Nick Offerman, otherwise known as Ron Swanson from “Parks and Recreation.” In his hands, with that man’s-man beard of his, the line comes out as both hokey and humorous. Well done, Mr. Swanson, or whatever your name in this movie is. The “Superbad” Callbacks The trailer doesn’t just hearken back to Depp’s TV show. It also includes two moments unmistakably linked to Hill’s 2007 breakout comedy, “Superbad.” In one, Hill and Tatum exit a liquor store that looks a whole heck of a lot like the one where McLovin’ tried to score booze for a party. Later, Hill is hit by a car and flung backward, yet isn’t so banged and bruised that he can’t pop off a curse-filled one-liner. Remember how a similar car-crash-and-curse befell Hill outside McLovin’s liquor store in “Superbad”? Guns, F-Bombs and Prom For years, Hill has been promising that his “21 Jump Street” wouldn’t be a parody, some weak-sauce bastardization of the TV series. He wasn’t kidding. This is a hard-R action-comedy filled with foul language, guns galore, a few explosions and the odd sight of Hill asking Tatum to go to prom with him, a date that requires both of them to suit up with enough firepower to take on the T-1000. Now that is a brawl we’d kill to see. Check out everything we’ve got on “21 Jump Street.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
Happy Friday! Also in this edition of The Broadsheet: Discover the subject of Drive ‘s celebrated closing theme… Philip K. Dick’s family wants to get paid… The great Channing Tatum/Steven Soderbergh male-stripper movie gets a release date… and more.
Since the only thing J.J. Abrams loves more than lens flares are secrets, this should come as no big surprise: The Super 8 / Star Trek director is planning a new Paramount joint with screenwriter Billy Ray ( Flightplan , Shattered Glass , and the upcoming Channing Tatum Peter Pan reimagining), which the duo devised together. The details are under wraps, natch, but it’s described as a “mystery adventure.” Thanks for that clue, fellas! While we wait for more info to hit the wires, see what potential Abrams-Ray fantasy pitches you can come up with in the comments below. (Anyone still holding out for Slusho: The Movie ?) [ Deadline ]
Hill adapted the ’80s TV series — one of his ‘Moneyball’ co-star’s first acting gigs — for the big screen. By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Brad Pitt Photo: MTV News After years of pleading and promising, Jonah Hill has reportedly landed Johnny Depp for a cameo in the big-screen adaptation of the ’80s TV series “21 Jump Street.” Hill actually had another connection to a “Jump Street” vet in Brad Pitt, who appeared in one episode as a long-haired high school kid. The actors now star in “Moneyball,” a film that had wrapped production a year before cameras began rolling on “21 Jump Street.” But Hill never hit up Pitt about joining in the new “21 Jump Street,” as MTV News learned at the Toronto International Film Festival. “I did ’21 Jump Street,’ ” Pitt told his co-star. “It was one of my first jobs.” “Yeah, I know!” Hill responded. “I didn’t bring it up with him just because I didn’t think he’d want to talk about it that much. You were on ’21 Jump Street,’ because I had to watch all the episodes before I adapted it. You were fantastic!” “I don’t even know what I did!” Pitt said. “That was the first big gig. You get a gig, man, you get a line! I think [my one line was] yes or no. I don’t know what I said.” Hill, meanwhile, is still refusing to confirm reports that Depp will appear in “21 Jump Street,” which is set for a March release date. “You’ll have to see,” he told us earlier this month. Depp himself is not nearly as circumspect, dishing us the details this past summer. “I went and did my bit as I was hoping to, and it worked out really well. It was really fun,” he said. “I got to spend some time with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum and the wonderful directors [Phil Lord and Chris Miller] on that. It was a great experience.” Check out everything we’ve got on “21 Jump Street.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: Brad Pitt And Jonah Hill In ‘Moneyball’
What is it with hometown reunions and high school sweethearts this week? Already, we’ve seen Hilary Duff try to hijack Mark Polish before he can rekindle the flames with his teen crush (Winona Ryder) in Stay Cool . We’ve seen artwork for Diablo Cody’s Young Adult , which features a teen lit novelist (Charlize Theron) who tries to reclaim her happily-married high school honey (Patrick Wilson). And now, we get a clip of Channing Tatum zeroing in on his love interest of yester-decade (Rosario Dawson) in a snippet from the star-packed Ten Year .
Diablo Cody has her own movie to anticipate with the release of her third feature Young Adult this December (featuring a thoroughly unamused Charlize Theron ), but the Academy Award winner took time out tell Movieline which three films she most looks forward to seeing. What will make the cut? The Iron Lady ? Carnage ? A Dangerous Method ? Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip Wrecked ? Click through for her adroit (and quite cheeky) observations.
It appears Steven Soderbergh has taken a break from casting calendar-worthy leading men in his stripper drama Magic Mike and is focusing on some pin-up women. Deadline reports that Olivia Munn is in talks to join the film, as a possible love interest for Channing Tatum. Va-va-vooom , said everyone. In addition to Tatum, and possibly Munn, Mike stars Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer and Joe Manganiello. Wipe up that drool; your Wednesday Buzz Break has arrived.
If Steven Soderbergh is attempting to make his male stripper movie Magic Mike into the dude version of Sucker Punch , mission accomplished! EW reports that comically handsome True Blood star (and once-possible Superman ) Joe Manganiello is final talks to play “Big Dick Richie” in the film, opposite comically handsome stars Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey and Matt Bomer . Who’s next? Jon Hamm? Ryan Gosling? [ EW ]