Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was a children’s book from the seventies about a town called Chewandswallow where it rained food, written by someone who was probably really high.  Sony made a movie out of it, and as you can see from the trailer below, they turned it into an origin story about how it came to be that this town rains meatballs.  Pixar seems to be the only animation studio that can do kids’ movies without babytalking, so to speak, and since I don’t have any kids that I know of, I have hard time giving a crap about a movie like this. I’ll let FirstShowing handle it:

In comparison to Planet 51 [I'll have that trailer up later today -ed.], I actually want to see this one just a bit more. Something about all that food and the comedy, it just gets me. Though I’m worried that like Sony Animation’s last movie, Surf’s Up, it won’t be as good as the trailers make it seem.

Yes, you see, the food and the comedy, it really gets him.  Fascinating, right?

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I wasn’t shy about loving Adventureland, not that anyone paid attention to me judging by its $16 million gross in eight weeks.  Nonetheless, it was a moderate success given its sub-$10 million budget, and Director Greg Mottola’s follow up sounds… uh… even awesomer.

Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and Jane Lynch have joined the cast of “Paul.” The road trip laffer [die in a fire. -ed.] also stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

Pegg and Frost, who wrote the script, will play two science-fiction fanatics on a road trip whose conspiracy dreams come true when they trek to Area 51 and encounter the title character, an escaped alien.  Rogen will provide the voice of the alien. [Variety]

Anyone else thinking what I’m thinking?  That they should shoot this as an homage to Mac & Me?   Hey, bros, I just flew 1500 light-years from Xylon 4, and boy am I thirsty!  Now who wants to party?  *air guitar* ….So just me then?  Carry on.

_{We are the Co-en Bro-thers… don’t get a-long with o-thers…}

The ever-prolific Coen Brothers are set to adapt True Grit, the 1968 Charles Portis novel that already spawned a film adaptation for which John Wayne won an Oscar in 1969.

Not a traditional remake, the Paramount film will be more faithful to the Charles Portis book than the 1969 pic. Portis’ novel is about a 14-year-old girl who, along with an aging U.S. marshal and another lawman, tracks her father’s killer in hostile Indian territory. But while the original film was a showcase for Wayne, the Coens’ version will tell the tale from the girl’s p.o.v.

Portis’ book has been described as “Like Cormac McCarthy, but funny.”  It was also announced recently that Greg Mottola and Bill Hader are adapting another Portis novel, Dog of the South.  Reached for comment, Portis said, “No, it’s great that you’re only just now discovering me, that’s awesome.  No really.  Heck, I’m only 75.  Yup, nothing but silk Depends and extra-virgin prune juice for yours truly.   Assholes.”

This trailer for Sony’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, based on the children’s book, was sent to me by FilmDrunkard Adam, who writes:

Thank you, Sony, for totally raping one of my favorite childhood story books. I don’t think they could have veered any FURTHER from the original story even if they added a racist, talking kangaroo who likes to punch down syndrome babies as the main character.  If you never read the original book as a kid, watch the trailer for Schindlers List, as that is a closer adaptation of this childrens book than this abortion of a movie.

As for me, I’ve never read the book. And since this isn’t a Pixar movie and the (3-D!!!) animation looks kind of crappy, I care about as much about this as I did about Delgo.  For more information, stay tuned to FilmDrunk, your source for news we can barely be bothered to report (we have two anchors, one to read the news and the other to make dismissive wank motions about it the whole time).
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The Night of the Museum 2 trailer is out and it doesn’t look too awful.  It’s got Ben Stiller, Jonah Hill, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Eugene Levy, Christopher Guest, Robin Williams, Hank Azaria… pretty much every comedic actor in Hollywood. Hey, it’s easy work and a cash cow.  Bill Hader playing Custer is definitely the highlight of the trailer.  Bottom line, if you have to take the little poop machines to a dark room in the hopes that they’ll shut up for five seconds, you could do a lot worse. However, be warned, Clint Howard is in this.  I heard they had to cut a few of his scenes to get the rating down to a PG.