Production is gearing up to begin on the romantic drama Look of Love, and Annette Bening, Ed Harris, Robin Williams, Amy Brenneman and Jess Weixler have been announced as the cast.  The film centers on a widow (Bening) who, several years after the death of her husband, meets a man (Harris) who looks exactly like her deceased spouse.  No details are given regarding Williams’’ role, but Weixler will play Bening’s daughter.  Arie Posin (The Chumscrubber) will direct the pic from a script he co-wrote with Matthew McDuffie, and production is set to begin on April 9th in Los Angeles.

Bening recently starred in the indie comedy Imogene opposite Kristen Wiig, and will also appear in the indie He Loves Me.  Hit the jump to read the press release concerning Look of Love.

Will there come a time when people look back on the career of Robin Williams and wonder “was everyone who liked him on drugs?” Williams was championed as a great comic actor by the likes of Pauline Kael, but perhaps years of his schtick has turned it into a cliché. Or perhaps it’s living through the period where he eventually wore out his welcome as a comic performer, with films like Father’s Day, Hook and Jack ruining a lot of his goodwill. Fortunately he transitioned into a more serious actor, and films like Good Morning Vietnam and Dead Poets Society helped with that transition. Our reviews of both on Blu-ray follow after the jump.

Those holding their breath for another Monty Python reunion can now rest easy, as it looks like many members from the comedy troupe are set to come together once again; for a sci-fi film, no less. Variety reports that members of Monty Python’s Flying Circus are reteaming for the sci-fi farce Absolutely Anything. The film will combine CGI and live-action, and the Pythons are set to voice key roles “as a group of aliens who endow an earthling with the power to do ‘absolutely anything’ to see what a mess he’ll make of things.” Life of Brian director Terry Jones co-wrote the script with Gavin Scott and will helm the comedy.

The remaining members of Monty Python that could reunite for the pic include Michael Palin, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, and Eric Idle. Robin Williams is also in discussions to play a Frenchman in the pic, which Jones and Scott have been developing for two decades. There’s no word on when production will begin, but given the undeniably Python-esque nature of the story, count me wholeheartedly in. Hit the jump to relive some Python from years past.

I want to preface this article noting that sequels to Mrs. Doubtfire, Good Morning, Vietnam, and/or The Birdcage are probably not going to happen, much less anytime soon.  However, Robin Williams commented on the status of possible sequels in a recent interview, and it’s worth a discussion.  Williams refrained from the empty promises that sometimes burdens such talk, so I feel like we have an accurate representation of the odds that face each sequel.  And since the sequel to Dumb and Dumber was announced, I am no longer willing to rule out any comedy sequel, no matter how many years removed we are from the original.  Hit the jump for the Williams quotes that lay out the gameplan.

The adorable singing and dancing penguins of Antarctica are back for Happy Feet Two. In the 3D animated feature, Erik, the tiny son of master tap dancer Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) and the vocally gifted Gloria (voiced by Pink), runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven (Hank Azaria), the only penguin who can fly. When violent shifts in the glacial landscape threaten the survival of the entire Emperor penguin community, Mumble and Erik must rally all creatures, both great and small, to save them.

During a press conference to discuss the film, voice actors Elijah Wood, Robin Williams (who voices both Ramon and Lovelace), Hank Azaria and Common (who makes his animation debut as Seymour) talked about the joy of getting to work together for the recording process, developing the voice they wanted to use for their characters, and being able to improvise and bounce things off each other. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

A new trailer has gone online for George Miller’s Happy Feet Two. I know I’m not the target audience for these movies but I find penguins adorable.  Theoretically, I should be willing to give the Happy Feet flicks the benefit of the doubt on that alone.  But the animators for the Happy Feet films made a serious error when they decided to give the penguins human eyes.  The characters all exist in a weird middle ground between trying to have animated expressions and still remain realistic-looking.  The movies are made worse by the having penguins squeak out hip-hop songs. But none of that matters because the movie will probably make hundreds of millions of dollars.  Hooray.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer, which doesn’t tell you what the movie is about (Mumble and his son have to find an escape route when the penguin population is covered in ice). The film features the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hank Azaria, Alecia Moore (P!nk), Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Sofia Vergara, Hugo Weaving, Richard Carter, Common, Magda Szubanski, and Anthony LaPagila.  Happy Feet Two opens in 3D on November 18th.

Following up on the poster we saw earlier today, Warner Bros. has released a new trailer for Happy Feet Two.  The new trailer reveals more about the story than the first, but still makes time for the snippets of the adorable penguin versions of “Mama Said Knock You Out” and “Sexy Back.”  About that story: “Mumble (Elijah Wood) and Gloria (Pink) now have a son of their own, Erik (EG Daily), who is struggling to find his own particular talents in the Emperor Penguin world.”

Robin Williams, Sofia Vergara, Hank Azaria, and Brad Pitt also provide voices in the sequel directed by George Miller.  Happy Feet 2 is slated for 3D release on November 18.  Watch the trailer after the break.

We have couple of casting bits to bring you this Friday afternoon. First up, Robin Williams has joined writer/director Justin Zackham’s (writer, The Bucket List) wedding comedy Gently Down the Stream. Williams brings another star to an already stellar cast that includes Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Amanda Seyfried, and Katherine Heigl. Per Variety, the Oscar-winning actor will play the role of Father Monaghan in the pic that tells the story of a long-divorced couple (De Niro and Keaton) who pretend that they’re still married for the sake of their adopted son’s upcoming wedding. Rounding out the Gently Down the Stream cast are Susan Sarandon, Patricia Rae, and Ben Barnes. Production on the film is expected to begin this July.

Speaking of Ben Barnes, The Chronicles of Narnia actor has signed on to star alongside Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore in the Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures fantasy project The Seventh Son. Variety reports that Barnes is in line for the title role (the same one Sam Claffin was once in talks for) which is described as “the seventh son of a seventh son” who learns all things wizard-related. Directed by Sergei Bodrov (Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan), the pic is based on Joseph Delaney’s young adult book series. For more on the project, hit the jump to read a synopsis for the series’ first installment, Revenge of the Witch.

The first trailer has landed for Happy Feet 2, the sequel to 2007′s best animated feature Oscar winner, and it has to be said, it is pretty grin inducing.  As to be expected, it features a host of cute and cuddly penguins bopping about and tapping their (happy) feet, and in this case rapping to Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy Back”, albeit cunningly reworded “Fluffy Back” – think of the children!  Happy Feet 2 carries some heavy weight vocal talent, including Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hank Azaria, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Sofia Vergara among a ton of others, and Mad Max‘s George Miller is returning to direct.  It opens November 18, 2011 in the US, followed by a later release of December 2, 2011 in the UK.  Hit the jump for the trailer and official synopsis.

Steve Carell and comedian David Steinberg will be teaming up to produce a documentary about the history of modern comedy.  According to Deadline, the documentary will “chronicle the evolution of comedy over the past sixty years through the eyes of several generations of comedians.”  Carell and Steinberg are already working on the currently untitled documentary, which will include interviews with such comedians as Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Lily Tomlin, Don Rickles, Carol Burnett, Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres, Judd Apatow, Robin Williams, Sarah Silverman, Chris Rock, Jane Lynch, and Tina Fey.  The amount of talent involved with the film is definitely impressive and Carell seems to agree by saying, “We’re honored that so many legendary comedic performers have chosen to be part of this.”

The duo plan to target the film for a TV distribution deal and I’m sure that more than one channel will be happy to air the documentary when it’s finished.  This would also mark Carell’s second venture into producing a work for television after yesterday’s announcement that NBC has picked up a comedy series based on Carrell’s early days working as a mail carrier in Littleton, Massachusetts.

The Daily Show‘s John Oliver is set to star in the sci-fi comedy Absolutely Anything.  Directed by Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame), Deadline says the plot is being kept under wraps, but the film’s producers say that the story involves “aliens, a goofy Brit, a talking dog and buckets of silliness.”  Robin Williams is in talks to play the role of Dennis the Dog while Jones has reached out to fellow Flying Circus members John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, and Terry Gilliam to voice the aliens.  Production is scheduled for next spring.

Oliver is The Daily Show‘s best correspondent and I can easily see him making the leap to feature films.  Hopefully, Absolutely Anything will be a far better movie than his last cinematic outing, 2008′ The Love Guru.

Warner Catalog! Christopher Nolan is now the most beloved director of the fanboy set for realizing a dark and realistic take on the Dark Knight. For the critical community he was already championed for having directed one of the masterpieces of the 21^st century with Memento, and now it seems both parties are coming together to celebrate Inception. Insomnia was Nolan’s transition film into the big leagues to show that he could handle a larger budget and big names. It’s more important as a transitioning film, than as an actual piece of art.  Al Pacino stars as Will Dormer, a Los Angeles detective flown to Alaska to help hunt a possible serial killer (Robin Williams), only to accidentally shoot his partner (or perhaps not)?

This has little to do with Bruce Willis, who was at his peak with Tony Scott’s The Last Boy Scout, and biding time in Walter Hill’s Last Man Standing. The former has Willis’s Joe Hallenbeck paired with ex-football star Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans) as they have to uncover the mystery of who killed Dix’s girlfriend (Halle Berry).  Last Man Standing has Willis stepping into the role made famous by both Toshiro Mifune and Clint Eastwood as the hired gunman who gains or displays his conscious and destroys two rival gangs by playing them against each other. My review of all these films on Blu-ray after jump.

That Robin Williams and John Travolta made a terrible comedy together is no surprise, the only notable aspect is that it was made in 2009 and called Old Dogs. Neither is above doing shit, and shit is what they made. But it’s interesting to think of how many times the two could have been paired: It could have been done in the early 80′s as a miss-matched partners comedy. It could have been done any time in the 1990′s post-Pulp Fiction. And had this film come out in the mid-to-late 90′s, it would have been almost the same film too. The two star as ad execs with Williams finding out the woman (Kelly Preston) he married on a lark had twins and is about to go to jail. The kids need looking after and these long time bachelors have to find out if they can be parents. My review of Old Dogs after the jump.

It looks like Anna Faris is going to have a very busy 2010.  A couple of weeks ago we told you about her plans to visit Jellystone Park next year when she stars in the Yogi Bear movie.  Now we have news today of two more projects that will star the talented young comedienne.  She has just signed on to the romantic comedies Wedding Banned with Robin Williams and TMI with Ryan Reynolds.  Hit the jump for details on both projects.

When you go to a film festival, you never know what’s going to stand out. Often the film you expect to love isn’t anything special, and a film that’s completely off everyone’s radar is the one you’re raving about. And that’s exactly what happened at this year’s Sundance Film Festival when I saw writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait’s “World’s Greatest Dad”. To say the film is great is a disservice, as it’s so awesome that just saying great isn’t good enough. I absolutely cannot recommend this film enough as it had me laughing from beginning to end with an amazing script and fantastic performances.

So to help promote the limited theatrical release of “World’s Greatest Dad”, the other day I got to speak with Robin Williams and Bobcat Goldthwait and the interview is after the jump. They tell some great stories about making the film. Also, for those not familiar with the movie, after the jump are links to the red band trailer and some movie clips.