FROM SPLASH PAGE: Seth Rogen and Jay Chou may be getting some heavy metal backup from the Oscar-hopeful band Anvil in "The Green Hornet." The group's appearance in the 2010 film appears to have been leaked in an overview of their busy schedule and indie documentary "Anvil! The Story of Anvil." Their recent calendar purportedly included a Conan O'Brien appearance, followed by their movie debut in Michel Gondry's new hero film.

Beware of minor spoilers before reading on, but according to the L.A. Times, Anvil performed in a scene that featured them exploding on stage at a rock club.

Continue reading Anvil To Appear In 'Green Hornet'?

One of the movies we’re watching closely in these parts is “Paul,” the next off-the-wall comedy from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Two of the guys behind “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz.” By now, you probably know that "Paul" has a dream cast which includes Pegg, Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Sigourney Weaver, Jason Bateman and Bill Hader. However, little has been divulged about the role played by comedy veteran Jane Lynch – a scene stealer in flicks like “Role Models,” “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and most any Christopher Guest mockumentary you can think of. Until now, that is.

“In ‘Paul,’ I am in one scene, but it’s a pretty cool one,” Lynch explained when we caught up with her recently. “I run this little restaurant called the ‘Ailey-Inn.’” Read more...

Sometimes a movie comes along that we know precious little about, except that we might want to keep an eye on this thing. “Paul” is one such project – a random mix of comedy and sci-fi starring fan favorites Simon Pegg, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig and Sigourney Weaver. Mix in the fact that it’s written by Pegg and his “Shaun of the Dead” partner Nick Frost, and directed by “Superbad” helmer Greg Mottola, and the recently-wrapped flick could be something special when it hits theaters next year.

Oh, and did I mention that it also stars Seth Rogen as an alien? Read more...

-- Along with Summit Entertainment's announcement that "Eclipse," the third movie in the "Twilight" series, has started shooting comes confirmation that Jodelle Ferland will play Bree and Julia Jones will play Leah. (Hollywood Crush)

-- Rosario Dawson has joined the cast of Tony Scott's "Unstoppable," joining Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. The story of an out-of-control train loaded with toxic chemicals is currently set for a Fall 2010 release. Also, Heather Graham will star in Harold Becker's "Vengeance: A Love Story." (Production Weekly Twitter feed, via ComingSoon) Read more...

"Twilight" stuff. It's a pretty random assortment, though much of it predictably relates to this week's "New Moon" trailer. I'll admit that I've been somewhat remiss in bringing you these weekly round-ups, but its been crazy up in this MTV newsroom lately. Before the jump, you've got top stories 6 through 10 for the past week. After the jump, 1 through 5. Enjoy.

10. Rounding Up Your Reactions To Rachelle Lefevre Being Re-cast in 'Eclipse' -- You all know that Bryce Dallas Howard replaced Rachelle Lefevre in "Eclipse." It made quite a big splash, that news. So big that I felt compelled to dig through your comments and share some highlights in a dedicated blog post. This blog post.

9. 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn' Plagiarism Controversy Devolves Into Hilarity -- Some nutjob writer decided that because she and "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer wrote a book featuring a wedding, a honeymoon and a troubled pregnancy, all of it with supernatural undertones, Meyer's later effort was a work of plagiarism. I won't reprint the other writer's name here because let's face it folks: she's gotten more than enough press already.

8. EXCLUSIVE JUDD APATOW BLOG: 'Funny People' Director Answers Questions You Haven't Asked -- Unbelievably, this guest blog entry from "Funny People" director Judd Apatow is still popping. Glad y'all are enjoying it.

7. 'New Moon' Trailer Tease Goes Interactive! -- The latest "New Moon" trailer hits today, but the teaser for said trailer hit on Wednesday. We decided to try out a new piece of web tech on you community-loving Twilighters, and this here interactive trailer tease is it.

6. An Early Taste Of The 'New Moon' Trailer On Wednesday -- More on that new "New Moon" trailer. This was the news brief informing you of the upcoming trailer tease. Now it's not upcoming anymore. So this news brief is pointless, a relic of bygone days. Read more...

If you’ve seen the hilarious trailer for “Jay and Seth Versus The Apocalypse,” you know that much of the humor in the semi-fake flick comes from the fact that the two roommates are stuck as “two guys” in “one room” after the end of the world as we know it. Now, as the duo have set out to make the movie for real, Jay Baruchel has been telling people, "I just can't believe people think the world wants to see the two of us sitting in an apartment during the apocalypse," and that the film will shoot in 2010. According to his future roomie, however, he’s wrong on both counts.

“I’ll be honest,” Seth Rogen said with a laugh when we asked him about the feature film version of “Jay and Seth versus the Apocalypse” recently. “We have not written one word of that movie.” Read more...

These days, Judd Apatow and friends are exploring deeper, more meaningful issues than most Hollywood comedies dare -– and they’re doing it at the top of the box-office. One of the film’s stars, Seth Rogen, is in the process of re-defining his career. Superhero flick "The Green Hornet" starts shooting soon and the comedy/drama “I’m With Cancer” will come after that.

So when we had the chance to catch up with the funnyman recently, we had to ask whether he spent his time on the “Funny People” set taking notes on how to successfully balance those tender issues of life, death and laughter.

“It’s funny, actually,” Rogen answered. “'I’m with Cancer’ existed as a script before ‘Funny People,’ but they were written around the same time.” Read more...

FROM SPLASH PAGE: These days, Seth Rogen and best bud Evan Goldberg are hard at work getting ready to shoot their high-profile flick “The Green Hornet.” But according to the “Funny People” star, the hardest part about adapting “Hornet” for the big-screen hasn’t been concerns over how to pay homage to the source material, or even how to make Rogen into an action star - it’s been making sure they don’t repeat their old material.

“It’s hard not to steal your own jokes,” laughed Rogen when we caught up with him recently, remembering the process of writing “Hornet” with Godlberg, his longtime collaborator who also co-wrote/produced the hit comedies “Pineapple Express” and “Superbad.” “It’s hard; like, you really forget which ideas you’ve used and which ones you haven’t.”

Continue reading Seth Rogen Afraid of Getting 'Pineapple' All Over His 'Green Hornet'

Fame is a tricky beast. Once everyone gets used to seeing your face everywhere, that newfound notoriety makes people forget your early work. It sucks for you because you want your audience to recognize the effort you’ve made to get where you are. The audience gets a treat from their forgetfulness however: DVD night at home becomes a game of, “He was in THIS?!”

If anyone out there hasn’t caught on yet, I’m talking about and to Seth Rogen. That dude is everywhere and it isn’t just because his new flick “Funny People” comes out today. For the past two years, it’s been hard to hit the theater and not see Rogen, in either a starring role or in one of his myriad co-starring roles and cameos. He’s been lurking about the silver screen for close to a decade, frequently in peculiar places. Here are five random Seth Rogen appearances in film. I guarantee you say “Seriously, he was in that?” at least once. Read more...

The feud-starting dialogue in a recent episode of “Entourage” pointed out the all too obvious: “Knocked Up” is insanely unrealistic. People get pregnant all the time and romance usually starts in the most unusual of places, true. But no way in hell does Katherine Heigl look across a crowded nightclub, see Seth Rogen and decide then and there, “Yep, that’s the dude I’m hooking up with tonight.” Frankly, the entire scenario is absurd.

Then again, it isn’t. Seth Rogen’s a good looking dude, even under the scruffy costume of "Knocked Up"'s Ben Stone, and while Katherine Heigl is a stunning beauty under any circumstances, she isn’t some fictional goddess under the precise make-up and dress of movie production. Of course these two people could end up together. Attraction, and life in general, are unpredictable like that. Capturing that randomness convincingly on film, harnessing just a hint of reality on top of the fiction, is Judd Apatow’s greatest strength as a filmmaker. Read more...