Every time a big movie flops and a smaller one succeeds, people who cover Hollywood write articles predicting The End of the Movie Star Era! and blah blah blah.  The same article comes out at least twice a year.  But nothing ever changes that much, because movies with people we know in them are always going to get more attention than movies with people we don’t, and because these articles are usually based on a fallacy or on deliberate distortions.  From a Reuters article “Hollywood rethinks use of A-list actors”:

Hollywood studios are now thinking twice about splurging on A-list movie stars and costly productions in reaction to the poor economy, but also because of the surprising success of recent films with unknown actors. After buddy comedy “The Hangover,” a movie with a little-known cast, made $459 million at the global box office this past summer, several films have shown that a great concept or story can trump star appeal when it comes to luring fans.

Ever since it came out I’ve been hearing how The Hangover was a cast of unknowns.  Unknown to who, your grandma?  Zach Galifianakis was a hugely popular comedian and Ed Helms had been on The Office for a year and The Daily Show since 2001.  Bradley Cooper was sort of unknown, but how well do you need to know “the really good-looking guy?”  As your mom will attest, not very.

Aside from Carrey and “Carol,” which cost at least $175 million, A-listers who suffered boxoffice flops recently have included Bruce Willis (“Surrogates”), Adam Sandler (“Funny People”), Will Ferrell (“Land of the Lost”), Eddie Murphy (“Imagine That”) and Julia Roberts (“Duplicity”).

Chances are, you’ve already seen three or four movies starring all those people, and a couple of them weren’t very good.  So when one of their movies comes out, it’s not as big a deal as, say, a movie with that really funny comedian or dude from The Office you haven’t seen in a movie before.  Really, all these articles are saying is that it’s better to cast a star on the way up than it is to cast one on the way down.  Brilliant deduction.  That’s so obvious there might as well be a Dr. Phil episode about it.

Disliking Ed Helms is almost as hard as disliking Ryan Gosling or Paul Rudd.  Which is to say, nearly impossible.  But if I put his nice-guy attitude and adorable a cappella singing aside, I have to admit that the latest project to which he’s signed on sounds a lot like a Larry the Cable Guy or Martin Lawrence vehicle.  Ruh roh!  (*paws over eyes*)

Universal Pictures has acquired the spec script “Central Intelligence” as a star vehicle for Ed Helms.  Ike Barinholtz [a MadTV and Seltzer-Friedberg actor] and Dave Stassen’s script revolves around an accountant who’s thrown into the world of international espionage after reconnecting with an old friend through Facebook. [Variety]

My, can you imagine the hijinks that would ensue if a fast-talking black man dull-witted redneck GOOFY, MILD-MANNERED ACCOUNTANT were suddenly thrown into the HIGH STAKES world of COUNTER INTELLIGENCE?  This summer, ED HELMS is one fish, waaay out of water!  (*air guitar*)  (*fart sound*)

Ed Helms plays Andy on The Office and co-stars in The Hangover as “Dr. Pussy”*, which was my nickname in high school, probably because I got so much of it!  (…yelled at me while the football players kicked me in the belly).  Aaaaaanyhoo, I met Ed Helms once and I could tell he’s every bit as cool and funny as he seems on TV, because he said “Hello” and shook my hand and walked away to go talk to some other people.  Last night on Conan, he did some scatting with the Jonas Bros.  The kind where you make noises with your mouth, not the kind where you poop on a German girl’s face.  He sounds really good, even though Conan kind of steps on the bit by laughing really loud in the middle of it.  If it were me I would’ve made like Axel Rose and jumped across the desk and beat that ginger until he farted blood, but Ed Helms was a good sport.  Like I said, he’s nice.

You can see the whole appearance after the jump.
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The red-band trailer for The Goods begins with Jeremy Piven saying “I have hair on my balls and I sell cars. The end.”  I put the over/under on the number of critics using that line as an insult in their reviews at 15.  The jokes still seem pretty easy, the dialog improvised on the spot, and the concept something Will Ferrell and Adam McKay mailed in years ago, but I admit it got a couple chuckles out of me – especially Craig Robinson as a strip-club DJ.

“Couple guys came in here looking for Vanessa, and I got a little bad news for ya, Vanessa is dead.  Here’s Motley Crüe.”

Anyway, I’m sure it won’t change your life, but if you’ve ever read this site you already know I’ve got nothing against the easy jokes.  Plus if you’re anything like me, your life’s already AWESOME.  (*shotguns Tecate, scratches balls*)

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Well this sounds like it might be cool.  Ed Helms is attached to star in Cedar Rapids, a spec script (read: an entire script, not a pitch based on some exec’s derivative, half-baked idea) written by Phil Johnston. To be produced by Sideways writers Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor.

The story centers on a wholesome and naive small-town Wisconsin man (Helms), who, when his role model dies, must represent his company at a regional insurance conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where his mind is blown by the big-town experience.

Phil Johnston wrote the script on spec. He was a broadcast journalist in the Midwest who moved to New York to attend film school at Columbia. [THR]

Other facts about Cedar Rapids I learned from Wikipedia: Ashton Kutcher, Elijah Wood, and Ron Livingston all once called Cedar Rapids home.  Cedar Rapids’ nickname is “the City of Five Seasons,” for the traditional four seasons, and a fifth season which is a time to enjoy the other four. Cedar Rapids was the setting for a musical, “The Pajama Game.”  Also, I think I heard this somewhere, Cedar Rapids’ most popular postcard is a dog wearing a baseball cap.  Here is a picture of some people enjoying Cedar Rapids: