The Tale of Despereaux Movie Trailer
Universal has released a trailer for their pcoming computer animated film The Tale of Despereaux. I always find it fascinating when similar films are released close together: Armageddon and Deep Impact, Ants and A Bug’s Life, and now Ratatouille and The Tale of Despereaux - two computer animated films with European settings, about rodents who aren’t afraid of the human world which they are trained to be afraid of. And I’m not saying that Universal copied Pixar, or Pixar copied Universal. It’s just interesting that similar ideas are realized at the same time. The Tale of Despereaux is actually based on a book which was published in 2003, and the film was announced a year later. Pixar began developing Ratatouille in 2000. But it also doesn’t help that the teaser begins with a Chef in a kitchen.
Official Plot Synopsis: Once upon a time, in the faraway kingdom of Dor, there was magic in the air, laughter aplenty and gallons of mouthwatering soup. But an accident left the King broken-hearted, the Princess filled with longing and the townsfolk without their soup. Sunlight disappeared. The world became gray. All hope was lost in this land…until Despereaux Tilling (Matthew Broderick) was born.
A modern fairy tale, The Tale of Despereaux tells the story of four unlikely heroes: Despereaux , a brave mouse banished to the dungeon for speaking with a human; Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman), a good-hearted rat who loves light and soup, but is exiled to darkness; Pea (Emma Watson), a Princess in a gloomy castle who is prisoner to her father’s grief; and Mig (Tracey Ullman), a servant girl who longs to be a Princess, but is forced to serve the jailer.
Tiny and graced with oversized ears, Despereaux was born too big for his little world. Refusing to live his life cowering, he befriends a Princess named Pea and learns to read (rather than eat) books—reveling in stories of knights, dragons and fair maidens. Banished from Mouseworld for being more man than mouse, Despereaux is rescued by another outcast, Roscuro, who also wants to hear the tales. But when the Princess dismisses Roscuro’s friendship, he becomes the ultimate rat and plots revenge with fellow outsider Mig.
After Pea is kidnapped, Despereaux discovers he is the only one who can rescue her…and that even the tiniest mouse can find the courage of a knight in shining armor. In this tale of bravery, forgiveness and redemption, one small creature will teach a kingdom that it takes only a little light to show the truth: what you look like doesn’t equal what you are.
Watch the trailer in High Definition on Yahoo. The Tale of Despereaux is scheduled to hit theaters on December 19th 2008.
Zach Braff Via MySpace: Scrubs Survives, Thanks to ABC!
Huzzah!
In the wake of Thursday's fairy-tale episode of Scrubs, we are finally getting some official insight into the fate of our friends at Sacred Heart.
Zach Braff just sent the following bulletin to his friends on MySpace, and he clarifies that (a) no, that wasn't the series finale, just the final episode on NBC, (b) the series is finishing out its run on ABC and (c) the continuity errors you superfans may have spotted in the fairy-tale ep are because NBC was running the poststrike eps out of order.
Steve McPherson will no doubt provide more details about ABC's Scrubs pickup at tomorrow's presentation, but in the meantime, click in to get the dish direct from Zach!
Date: May 12, 2008 11:01 AM
Subject: Scrubs moves to ABC
Body:
Dear friends,
Many of you have been understandably confused by the fairy-tale episode of Scrubs serving as the series finale. It was not. I was not allowed to say it until today, but Scrubs will be moving to ABC for its final season. We are currently filming the eighth and final season. The true finale of the show will air on ABC in the fall. NBC merely promoted the fairy-tale episode as the finale, as it was the last episode they owned.
Also, several of you were very confused by the fact that Dr. Kelso and Laverne were still working at the hospital in the fairy-tale episode. Because of the writer's strike, the last remaining episodes for NBC were aired out of order. This is why Dr. Kelso was still chief of medicine. That was not Laverne, however, for those of you who have been following closely; it was a new nurse "Shirley" who no one thinks looks anything like Laverne except for JD.
Hope this clears some things up.
Peace and love,
Z.B.
What Will Peyton Do? Hilarie Burton Talks One Tree Hill's 100th-Episode Wedding
Lucas and Lindsey are going to the chapel, and they might be getting married—if Peyton doesn't holler out an objection and send One Tree Hill fans jumping out of their skin.
Such is the case for tomorrow's big 100th episode, and in honor, I chatted up one of the coolest girls I've met in this business (no bull dookie), Miss Hilarie Burton, aka Peyton.
In case you hadn't heard, One Tree Hill is on a roll this season. The four-year flash-forward has reinvigorated the storylines and the ratings, and the series has already been picked up for another season this fall. It's the first time in OTH history it's been picked up this far in advance of the fall season.
Read on for the dish from Hilarie on Lucas and Lindsey, her own wedding-dress scene and her surprising real-life connection to Michaela McManus (Lindsey).
OK, first things first. How exactly are you going to tackle that she-whore Lindsey (Michaela McManus) at the altar? Jump and tackle? Maybe just yoink the back of her hair with your little finger and take her down?
Ha! Yeah, I don't think so. She's in really good shape!
Yes, she is. And I have to say, I saw the 100th episode, and it's really good.
Oh, did you see it? See, I haven’t even seen it yet!
Do you want to know what happens? Actually, I can't tell you because it came with a whole list of "do not reveals." As you know, a lot happens. A lot.
Yeah, it’s pretty big.
What did you think when you read the script for it, and how was it to shoot it?
It was weird to shoot that scene where I was the bride. I’ve been playing this depression all season. And so then to be walking out with Lucas in my fairy tale…First of all, it’s weird wearing a wedding dress. I mean, that’s weird for any girl.
Was that the first time you had put one on?
I had tried my mother’s on before, but that was the first time I had put one on and been like, “Oh, this is, like, for real.” All of a sudden you look at yourself in the mirror and you’re like, "This is weird. Take it off! Take it off!”
How very Carrie Bradshaw of you!
I know! I mean, it’s a white dress, big deal—I could be getting confirmed, you know?
Right.
But someone asked me recently if I had a favorite line of all time, and I think it's something you hear in this episode: “When you fixed my car, you fixed my heart!” It was a funny line, and you know me, I burst out laughing when I said it in rehearsal. But it really does sum up my character’s business for the run of these 100 episodes. It says it all.
How are you feeling about the love triangle at this point? It's been fun to watch, by the way. So juicy!
Oh good! You know what, Michaela McManus and I, we have a weird common background. I went to Fordham University when I was living in New York, and she went to Fordham. We lived on the same floor, and we were friends with all the same people. And yeah, our roommates both dated the same guy.
No way! Your roommates were in a love triangle?
Yeah! Our roommates were in a love triangle. She and I, we lived on the same street down in Manhattan; I was 80 John St.; she lived at 100. So we had this very similar past, but we’d never really interacted. And she showed up down here in North Carolina to start shooting, and I immediately felt a kinship with her.
It was good to have someone like her playing Lindsey, because I think it’s very important to the story that Peyton be intimidated by how perfect this woman is, how kind she is and how pretty and smart she is. I think that’s what makes it so hard for Peyton. And Michaela is so, so good. She's like Meryl Streep with this quiet intensity, which is very different than the rest of us.
Obviously there are a lot of die-hard Peyton and Lucas fans, but I think some of them have warmed up a little bit to Lindsey. How are you feeling now? Do you feel that Peyton and Lucas are meant to be together?
Oh, dude, I don’t know! Every time I think I’ve got it figured out, Mark Schwahn goes and just changes everything. I remember it was the third season when I went to Jake and was like, “I love you, and I want to be with you.” And I thought, "This is it!" And the next script that I get is me saying Lucas’ name in my sleep! I don’t think I’ll ever give up on Lucas because I never know when he's going to come back to haunt me—and haunt me in a really beautiful, tender, sensitive way.
What I love about the show is that I can tell you girls have a real bond, that you are truly good friends and that you can sort of take the piss out of each other and laugh and just have fun with it.
Definitely. And you know what? I will never name any names, but there have been instances where each of us has been off in different venues and someone comes up to us and says like, "Hey, what’s with your nerdy show?” We are so defensive of one another because it’s that whole sibling thing where I can tease you and we can goof around, but if anybody else says a word…
It’s that whole thing of being in a family, right? I can make fun of my siblings, but don’t you dare make fun of my siblings.
Exactly! We started doing this show when we were like 21. These are our college years. I think that for all of us, this is the longest we’ve ever been in one place. So this has been the longest chunk of time we’ve ever spent with the same group of people, and it’s life altering. I’m going to have these people with me for the rest of my life.
How does it feel to know the show has already been picked up for next season?
So cool! We've never had that before. We weren't sure if we'd come back to shoot more episodes this season, so to be able to do that and come back next year is just a dream. My whole family is here now. My brother works on the show, and my parents moved here, so it's nice to know we'll be around a while longer. It's a great place to be.
Who do you fans think Lucas should be with? Comment below and check back after you watch tomorrow night's 100th episode on the CW to sound off on what you thought.
True Romance Remembered By Tony Scott and All the Stars 15 Years Later. Amazin’!
[money shot from Scanners]
When I was a kid, I used to ponder in math class, “What if Summer School’s Mr. Shoop starred in a dark dorktastic action comedy with a lot of cocaine.” And then I saw True Romance, probably my favorite Hollywood-Hollywood film of all time, and I didn’t ask any more questions for a long time. And now here I am linking to Maxim (no rickroll), because the lad mag did the definitive 15-years-later retrospective with director Tony Scott, screenwriter Quentin Tarantino, and pretty much everyone in that blitzed golden wand of a cast, including Tom Sizemore (!), Pitt, Gandolfini, Val Kilmer/Elvis, Hopper and Balki. The end result equals quotes and Tinsel Town mythos for years. Not exactly SFW but it’s a Friday, oh, yes it is…
Patricia Arquette (Alabama) actually named Tony Scott’s right hand because he slapped her around so much to get ready for certain scenes. WTF…
Scott: When she couldn’t get herself there emotionally, Patricia used to call my right hand “the Persuader.” She’d say, “Bring on the Persuader,” and I’d have to slap her. She’d say, “Hit me harder!” I’d stand there on the set giving Patricia right-handers. That does not happen a lot with me and actors.
As much as I love the ending of the film, I’m fond of contemplating whether it would have worked even better if Christian Slater’s Clarence Worley had died. Scott persuaded Tarantino to go with his director’s vision for a fairy tale survivor ending, but QT seems to have a lil’ egging dissonance to this day…
Tarantino: When I watched the movie, I realized that Tony was right. He always saw it as a fairy tale love story, and in that capacity it works magnificently. But in my world Clarence is dead and Alabama is on her own. If she ever shows up in another one of my scripts, Clarence will still be dead.
If I was a bastard, I’d paste the entire thing, but this back-and-forth is too delicious to pass up…
Scott: Gary called me out of the blue and said, “I’ve got it. I know exactly who this guy is: He’s my drug dealer.”
Gary Oldman: My drug dealer? Tony would fucking get me arrested, wouldn’t he? I’ve never had a drug dealer! I organized Drexl’s dreadlocks under my own steam. Then I went to a dentist who made the teeth. Then I thought about giving him a weird eye. I’m only in the film for about 10 minutes—I wanted to make my mark. I heard this gang of black kids outside my trailer and thought, That’s Drexl. I showed this kid my lines and said, “Does this seem authentic?” He changed some words. He said, “That don’t fly. Drexl wouldn’t say ‘titties’; he’d say ‘breasteses.’ ”
Tarantino: Those kids were clowning him, and he believed them because he didn’t know any better. Because he’s British.
I thought this quote from Sizemore (evidently on the loose!) was the perfect summation, but definitely read the entire thing…
Tom Sizemore: Tony started every take like this: “Rock’n’roll, motherfuckers! Action!”
As the players point out, this movie made under $12 million at the box office when it was released in 1993. If you go out tonight, pour out a sip for Chris Penn. And yeah, the Joel Silver resemblance is discussed if you’re wondering. 
And so are the words “eggplant” and “cantaloupe.”
Discuss: Can someone translate this: “I organized Drexl’s dreadlocks under my own steam.”