When your band is called the New Pornographers, chances are you’re going to have a pretty good sense of humor. Perhaps that explains the group’s new video for “Moves,” shot in the style of a trailer for a hilariously sensationalized movie about New Pornos main man Carl Newman’s life — and preceded by glimpse at a faux Judd Apatow-meets-Junior-style comedy called Expectant Dads. In addition to that film’s two top-billed stars, Paul Rudd and Bill Hader, the video includes cameos by just about every awesome comedian you can think of, from Daily Show all-stars John Oliver and John Hodgman to Todd Barry and the wonderful Julie Klausner (as fellow fire-haired diva Neko Case, of course). Indie rock fans, be sure to also keep your eyes peeled for Ted Leo (who recently made a similarly comedian-packed video) and Jon Wurster. Do these guys all hang out on a regular basis or something? If so, we’re very jealous.
1. Last night, Kanye tweeted what could be the cover art for Watch The Throne, his joint project with Jay-Z, which is set to drop on January 11th. In the middle are the letters H*A*M. Any ideas what that might mean? [via HitFix]
2. MTV and Foursquare have teamed up to launch a new Jersey Shore-themed badge; in order to score the “GTL” badge, all you have to do is check in to a gym, tanning salon, and laundry mat during a 7-day period. [via Mashable]
3. Lady Gaga has finally unveiled her new line for Polaroid. Among the offerings are a pair of sunglasses that doubles as a camera and displays images on its lenses; a portable, wireless printer; and an updated version of the classic Polaroid instant camera. [via THR]
4. Judd Apatow’s next project will feature Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd reprising their roles from Knocked Up. Hopefully Apatow and Mann’s two daughters — who played the precocious kids in Knocked Up — will be involved, too. [via Variety]
5. Some happy news: Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys has been told he’s cancer-free, 18 months after he was diagnosed with the disease. [via Toronto Sun]
1. A Funny Girl revival is headed to Broadway in Spring 2012! We think that Glee‘s Lea Michele would be perfect for the lead, but director Bartlett Sher says that they’ll likely go with an unknown actress. [via ArtsBeat]
2. What Katy “the pastor’s daughter” Perry thinks of the “Alejandro” video: “Using blasphemy as entertainment is as cheap as a comedian telling a fart joke.” [via Vulture]
3. We’re sad to hear that Jimmy Fallon‘s late night show’s ratings dropped 20 percent over the last year. May we suggest he get back on that Saved by the Bell reunion, stat? [via NYP]
4. A new Paul Rudd comedy where Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, and Emily Mortimer play his “three ambitious sisters”? We’re sold! [via THR]
5. A bunch of real DJs are angry that The Jersey Shore‘s Pauly D and his spikes made it onto the ballot for the annual America’s Best DJ competition. [via Spinner]
Things this new comedy has going for it: Paul Rudd. Steve Carell. Zach Galifianakis in cape. That aside, it’s a remake of the 1998 French film The Dinner Game, and we’re not sure the humor of the premise translates.
Rudd plays a guy who is about to get a big promotion at work — but only if he agrees to bring some loser to his boss’s annual dinner party competition thing where everyone is supposed to bring the dumbest person who they can find. After the meal, all of dumb people leave, and the group decides who brought the biggest loser. Carell plays a guy who makes artistic dioramas out of dead mice. He obviously seems like a shoe-in to win.
In his upcoming Bible-belting farce Year One, Harold Ramis stars as Adam, an opportune role for the former ace of American comedy. Indeed, Ramis was in large part responsible (as the lead scribe) for modern comedy’s version of Original Sin, that ne plus ultra of Greek-life propaganda Animal House. On Friday night at the Times Center, the cheeky writer-director-actor regaled the audience with thirty-plus years of anecdotes and asides to hype his latest film. Read More »
David Wain has been making people laugh for close to two decades (and most likely longer, if we count his formative years). A founding member of The State and Stella, the funnyman is also responsible for the popular web series Wainy Days on My Damn Channel. The show returns for it’s fourth online season tomorrow, and to celebrate, Wain is bringing it live to the stage at 92YTribeca in NYC, with help from friends including Paul Rudd and longtime cohorts Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black. We caught up with the man behind modern comedy classics Wet Hot American Summer, The Ten, and Role Models to find out what he has in store, as well as his thoughts on his original troupe’s MTV series getting the DVD release fans have been clamoring for since last century.
What’s more heartwarming than watching the President read our favorite children’s book to a group of excited kids? Our celebrity crush Paul Rudd reading from the pages of a trashy romance novel. Le sigh. Speaking of love, we’ve also got two dudes who are so crazy about Taco Bell that they’ve written a folk song about it and Lindsay Lohan searching for love on eHarmony! These, and the creepadoodle Antichrist trailer, after the jump. Read More »
True story: At last fall’s New Yorker Festival “Evening with Paul Rudd” event (of course we went to that) we decided to nervously queue up to ask Paul Rudd something during the Q&A. Our question was about TV — we were gigantic fans of his appearance on Veronica Mars, and we wondered, would he ever consider getting involved in a TV project? His answer made our day: “Of course,” he said, “I’ve actually been talking with my old friend [Veronica Mars creator] Rob Thomas about doing something together.”
Two of our favorite things — Rudd and the genius behind Veronica Mars, together, on our TiVos? We started dreaming. “Please do,” we told him, and we like to think he listened to us. A bit later, a friend of ours who had just moved to LA told us about the new show he was working on — Party Down, created by Rob Thomas and produced by…Paul Rudd. It was happening!
Now it’s finally here, premiering tomorrow on STARZ. And much to our happiness, it might actually be as good as we’ve always hoped it would be.
Books: An interview with The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America author Steven Johnson. Dance/Opera: Ballerina Violette Verdy — who is 75 — just scored France’s highest award. Design: The earliest graphic designers? Film: Johnny Depp will narrate a Doors doc. Val Kilmer was booked. Music: The three best albums of this year — in pretty chart form. Television: UC Berkeley to offer a class called “What’s so great about The Wire?” Theatre: Whoopi Goldberg. One night only. Visual Arts: Rose Art Museum prez plays the Obama card. Web: A Michael Showalter-produced funny, starring Paul Rudd.
