Michael Fassbender is 'Frank' on The Colbert Report, Plus Two New Clips

By now you're probably sick and tired of my praise of the movie Frank. It's a really special film, one that I instantly fell in love with and scrambled to catch a second time at Sundance. One reason was the weird, poignant performance by Michael Fassbender, done almost entirely under a giant paper mache head. The other is the bizarre yet catchy music (performed by the actual cast), with the hit single "I Love You All" buzzing in my brain for the last eight months.

Fassbender, in an effort to show he's more than just a pretty face and remarkable acting ability, took to The Colbert Report as Frank and performed live "I Love You All" with much of the film's cast Maggie Gyllenhaal, Domhnall Gleeson, Carla Azar, and Francois Civil. It's pretty nuts, but fitting for a film I called "chaotic, unpredictable, and utterly lovable."

Check out the video below, and then take a look at a couple of new clips that will give you a good idea of the movie's offbeat tone. In one scene, Gleeson's character meets Frank for the first time and inquires about McNairy's mental state when really everybody in the band is a little crazy. And in the other we see what happens when Frank tries to make "the most likeable song ever".

Frank hits theaters on August 15th, and go here when you realize "I Love You All" needs to be in your playlist.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,The Colbert Report on Facebook,Video Archive

Frank Official Movie Clip - The Head (2014) Michael Fassbender, Comedy Movie HD by itvhd3

Read More

Review: 'Mr. Peabody & Sherman', Starring Ty Burrell and Max Charles

Talking dogs have been a staple of Hollywood for years. Most of these dogs usually show up in awful movies that try to make a live-action dog film endearing. Guess what? They're usually not. So it's nice to know that the movie uses the talking dog aspect to its humorous advantage and not to be a pet who's only role is to be man's best friend and all. After all, if the dog is going to speak, he might as well be intelligent. Mr. Peabody & Sherman is lighthearted, funny, and a fun adventure the entire family can enjoy. 

Mr. Peabody (voice of Ty Burrell) is nothing short of a genius.... and a dog. Having been semi-shunned and never adopted when he was a genius puppy, Mr. Peabody put in all his work and energy into learning, creating, and being useful to society. He's an adviser to

heads of government, knows how to play every instrument imaginable, can speak a plethora of different languages, and is pretty much the smartest dog. Ever. 


His biggest invention comes after he finds and adopts Sherman (voice of Max Charles), to which the judge declares that "if a boy can adopt a dog then a dog can adopt a boy!" The invention, a time machine Mr. Peabody calls the WABAC, the two take trips to the past for historical learning and for bonding time. Though they make sure never to travel back to a time in which they exist for fear of messing with the space-time continuum. A lot of Back to the Future references might come to mind when hearing that terminology, but this film has its own flair when it comes to time travel. 

Things get a bit complicated, however, when Penny (voice of Ariel Winter) bullies Sherman at school because he unintentionally shows her up in class. Child Protection Services gets involved and an annoying social worker Ms. Grunion (voice of Allison Janney) who is the main antagonist of the film. Sherman and Penny use th WABAC and through a series of events warm the timeline. And all throughout this crazy adventure, Mr. Peabody has to face the challenges of being a parent, a dog, and coming to terms with both. 

The film, based on the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons, is full of warm-hearted, fun adventures that maintain its light humor and bad (in a good way) puns and jokes throughout. Mr. Peabody will remind several people of the too-smart-for-his-own-good Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, though Peabody's not as much of an annoying know-it-all. 

It balances the adventure and humor, and is still able to infuse a lesson to kids to be proud of who they are no matter what they are and other typical cliches. Because underneath the fluffy layering of the film, there's still a lesson to be learned. And the film succeeds in its general attempt to teach its lead characters about who they are, while still being highly entertaining to its audience. Some of the puns are even so bad they're chuckle-worthy. 

The film gets creative with its usage of history, including historical figures like King Tut of Ancient Egypt, Agamemnon, George Washington, Marie Antoinette, Leonardo da Vinci, and Mona Lisa herself, just to name a few. Is it historically accurate? No. But it does make

it a lot more fun and endearing way to learn for those kids who have trouble finding history at all interesting. 


The voice cast is spot on, the only really grating character in the film being Penny, the mean girl. She's cruel and snooty and there's a very privileged and spoiled atmosphere surrounding her attitude that make her a little aggravating until the last twenty minutes or so. However, regardless of this, it doesn't deter from the overall enjoyment of the film for both kids and their parents, and anyone else looking for a family-friendly bit of adventurous fun at the movies. 

Read More

Stephen Colbert set for cameo in 'The Hobbit' trilogy

"Peter Jackson invited me to the set last year. I flew out and watched them shoot some scenes and went to some locations. I saw a 25-minute cut, and it was amazing. Jackson knows I'm a big fan of the films."  

After making those statements in the November issue of Playboy, Comedy Central's faux conservative Stephen Colbert was asked if he was actually in The Hobbit, sparking an immediate Internet buzz when he responded with "Could be."  Now a source at THR has confirmed Colbert will have a role in The Hobbit trilogy, either in The Desolation of Smaug or the final chapter, There and Back Again.

Exactly what that role will be or how big is anybody's guess. We don't even know if he'll be recognizable or if he'll be in a throng of orcs or something. While I'm sure Colbert fans are probably ecstatic over this, I can't help thinking he'd be more of a distraction than anything else. Seeing him could immediately take us out of the moment, and I seriously doubt Jackson would want that to happen. So my best guess is that Colbert will be very tough to spot, and probably won't have much to say.

Whatever the case, expect clowns like Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity to say this is some sort of liberal plot to portray conservatives as violent cave trolls or something.

Read More

Stephen Colbert will lend his voice to 'Mr. Peabody and Sherman'

Even though we get to see Stephen Colbert five times a week mocking right wingers(although they don't seem to realize it) on The Colbert Report, he's not much of a presence on the silver screen. Especially in live-action films, where he hasn't done anything since The Love Guru, which is probably best left forgotten. He has been more willing to take part in animated projects, though, most recently voicing the President in Monsters vs. Aliens. Now he'll let his voice be heard again as part of Dreamworks' developing Mr. Peabody and Sherman.

With Ty Burrell and Max Charles already set to voice the super genius pup and his human sidekick, Colbert will play the film's villain, a guy named Paul Peterson. Also added to the cast alongside Carell will be Allison Janney(Drop Dead Gorgeous), Ellie Kemper(Bridesmaids), Ariel Winter(Modern Family), and Stephen Tobolowsky(Groundhog Day). Janney and Winter will play Peterson's wife and daughter. It's unclear just how the Peterson character fits into the story. What we know right now is that Peabody and Sherman will be forced to fix the space/time continuum when their time traveling WABAC machine gets screwed up.

Rob Minkoff(Stuart Little) will direct, and apparently Dreamworks has a lot of confidence because they've bumped the release date up to November 8th 2013.

Read More