Once she took on the role of Cindy Campbell in Scary Movie, Anna Faris was fast-tracked to a life of big, innocent doe eyes and over-the-top slapstick comedy. But in between a lot of those mainstream laugh quests, many of which weren't worth her time, she's slipped in a little-buzzed performance here or there that proves she's more than just that blonde girl from the Scary Movies. And while most of her upcoming projects are steeped in the funny, she made a surprising announcement last September that she was going to star in a "deep, dark drama."

But it wasn't just any drama. It was Inferno -- the story of Linda Lovelace, the porn star known as Deep Throat, the woman with a clitoris in her throat. At the time, there was a rush on the project, and Faris said they were looking for Lovelace's manager and hubbie, Chuck Traynor. Now, according to a recent discussion with MTV, she says that Sam Rockwell will be the guy.

Now all they have to do is figure out the money, and then we can see Rockwell get skeezy, and Faris get dark: "You're not going to even know who I am. I'm not there right now, but I will be when the time comes. I'll be in a very dark place."

Is this a story you want to see? And, can you imagine Faris as Lovelace?

It's been a while since Sony picked up the rights to Judi and Rob Barrett's 1982 book called Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs back in 2006. Now, in a conversation with MTV, Anna Faris has revealed that she and Andy Samberg are doing the lead voices in the film (perfect!), along with a bunch of undisclosed comedians. Faris will play a weather girl, and she says that the character will look like a tweaked version of her. Man, imagine those little weather maps in a sea of burgers, ice cream, and more, rather than clouds and lightning bolts.

As Erik described when the book got picked up, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs stems from "a scientist who tries to solve world hunger only to see things go awry as food falls from the sky in abundance." Instead of raining men like The Weather Girls sing, this town gets a meteorological wonderland of snowy mashed potatoes, juice rain, and more.

However, Faris says the film is only "very, very loosely -- based on the book. But it's a small town that rains food, basically. So hamburgers come down, and ice cream, and [the residents] have to figure out a way [to stop it]. Eventually, it gets more and more dangerous, and they have to figure out a way to stop the satellite machine that's raining food."

Now I'm hungry.

In these supposedly progressive times, gender equality is one of those touchy issues relegated to the last paragraph of a trend piece nobody reads. When Katherine Heigl suggested to Vanity Fair that Judd Apatow's movies were sexist, the assertion came across like an after-the-fact shrug of acceptance. Ever the galvanizing provocateur, New York Times critic Manohla Dargis confronts the issue head-on with a thorough analysis of the gender bias in this year's summer blockbusters.

With "Iron Man, Batman, Big Angry Green Man" and other massive expressions of virility invading the box office, female roles appear to be relegated to the back of the multiplex. Dargis touches on the rumors that Warner Bros head Jeff Robinov believes no woman has been able to sell a movie since Julia Roberts (a point that Natalie Portman might contest, but not Paris Hilton) before sizing up numerous upcoming studio releases, with particular attention paid to Anna Faris, "who could be the next Judy Holliday but without the right material will, alas, probably end up the next Brittany Murphy." It's the kind of pronouncement that hits you in gut.

Having finished his porno, Seth Rogen is now getting ready for that mall cop movie I told you about back in March, Observe and Report. The actor will star as Ronnie Barnhardt, "a deluded, self-important head of mall security who squares off in a turf war against the local cops." This is a whole different project than Mall Cop, which has Kevin James facing a collection of thieves, and that makes it all the better.

The Hollywood Reporter now posts that Rogen will be joined by Anna Faris, Michael Pena, Jesse Plemons, and Ray Liotta. Faris gets to play a salesgirl at the mall that Ronnie lusts after, while Pena gets to put aside some of his meaty roles in films like Crash and Lions for Lambs and get funny as Ronnie's right-hand security man, and Plemons plays another mall guard. Liotta, meanwhile, will play Ronnie's nemesis, a police detective. There is, however, no word who will be fighting with the cop on his side of the turf war.

Even though there is no La Fours in sight, nor any flying fatasses, I think this, along with Zack and Miri, will be good for Rogen's career. Whether Judd Apatow continues his reign of comedy or not, Rogen should have a healthy selection of non-Judd work. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if this film has at least a few brief cameos by some of Rogen's previous co-stars. Production begins this week.

After viewing the trailer for Anna Faris' new comedy The House Bunny for a second time, my review can only be summed up by the immortal words of Han Solo: "I've got a bad feeling about this." You can now check out the trailer above for the Playmate comedy starring Faris as a down-on-her-luck Playboy bunny named Shelley who becomes the den mother to a 'socially clueless' sorority.

Faris is joined by Rumer Willis, Kat Dennings and Katherine McPhee (of American Idol fame) as the loser girls of Zeta House. As Shelley teaches them about the important things in life like lip gloss and dancing in high heels, she learns valuable lessons about being not hot ... or something. The only real question I had after watching the trailer was how did Colin Hanks get talked into doing this movie?

New Yorkers just got an extra Christmas present this year from the IFC Center: Gregg Araki's stoner comedy Smiley Face will actually get a one-week run at the arthouse theater beginning December 26. This is exciting news considering it was previously believed (with good reason) that we'd only get to watch the movie on DVD. Back in September, it was announced the movie would only get a quick theatrical shot in L.A. and then go straight to video, crushing hopes for many who would like to smoke up and attend a midnight show. This was disappointing news considering how many festival-goers enjoyed the thing (see Jette and Monika's reviews for two such favorable receptions) and how popular Araki's previous film, Mysterious Skin, was (with critics, at least, if not box office). Even career-wise, Araki has been as big a cult favorite as some other filmmakers who receive better distribution. But I guess in an era when well-known indie directors are left only with iTunes exclusives without any theatrical run, and other midnight movie comedies destined to become cult favorites are dumped in the back alley by their studios, it isn't that surprising what happened to Smiley Face.

The Reeler's Stu Van Airsdale points out the short NYC run may have been arranged in order to garner " a fistful of blurb-ready reviews" that will help in the marketing of the DVD. Of course, the film's distributor could have easily gotten some DVD-cover-friendly quotes from festival reviews if that was truly all it was after. And then it also could have dumped the movie into one of Manhattan's less-prestigious arthouse theaters. Not that I disagree that the run will benefit the DVD release (set for January), but there's also good reason to think the people at IFC enjoy the movie and are simply interested in screening it at their theater. Smiley Face had a decent box office take from its one screen in L.A., and its presumed it will do just as well if not better in New York. After all, we don't have to worry about leaving the theater too stoned to drive.

Despite having a familiar cast and an easily digestible concept, Gregg Araki's stoner comedy Smiley Face has been dumped to the same status as a modern Steven Seagal vehicle. That's right, according to MTV, it's going straight to DVD, following a barely-even-limited run in Los Angeles, that is. The movie, which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, stars Anna Faris (Scary Movie), John Krasinski (The Office), Jane Lynch (The 40 Year-Old Virgin), Danny Masterson (That '70s Show) and Danny Trejo (Grindhouse), none of whom are apparently good enough for a theatrical release. Maybe it's the fact that it can't be sold to Araki's typical fans, or maybe it's the fact that nobody likes to admit that Up in Smoke, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Dazed and Confused, Knocked Up, Half Baked and Dude, Where's My Car? were all fairly popular and successful movies -- because then maybe it will seem like an admission that marijuana is cool.

Smiley Face stars Faris as a woman who starts her day by smoking up and then mistakenly taking care of her munchies with a batch of pot cupcakes. Then ... hilarity ensues. During its Sundance premiere, crowds were reportedly laughing non-stop (though Karina claimed that it received some awful buzz) and it seemed to be well-enough-received at later festivals, too. Jette reviewed the movie at SXSW, pointing out that it's "the kind of movie that will be more fun to watch with a big audience than alone on your DVD player." So much for that idea. Earlier this month, Monika saw the film in Toronto, where she confirmed its worth. "Araki's comedy gives us the best of many comedic worlds in an incessantly funny, easily-quotable serving," she said in her review. "From discussions of Marxism to love of lasagna, Smiley Face serves it all -- with some weed and a very, very stoned smile." Well, at least we can be sure it will develop a cult following on video; aside from that we can only hope our local art-house cinema will give it a midnight screening somewhere down the line.

Forget a singing career, American Idol appears to be a better jumping ground for acting. So far, one Idol contestant has gone on to win an Oscar, and now Season 5 runner-up Katherine McPhee is building up a movie career. Currently, she's working on the comedy I Know What Boys Like (aka the Anna Faris Playboy Bunny movie), in which she plays a pregnant hippie in need of a makeover, and she just told MTV that she already has her next project lined up. Titled Success, the indie drama begins shooting in November, and the singer-actress compared its dark style to that of the Coen Brothers and Jim Jarmusch. She also said it features great writing and well-developed, quirky characters. Unfortunately, she couldn't give away any of the film's plot or much else, really, but she did reveal a bit about her character, which she says is a nice, sweet girl who seems to end up having to compete for the attention of a guy, though she admits it is much more complicated than that. Could Success be the same thing as "the dark romantic comedy" The Last Caller, which was announced back in June as McPhee's big-screen debut? Maybe.

McPhee isn't about to concentrate solely on her acting career, though, and already has plans for her second album, with which she wants to become the female John Mayer. Of course, Mayer doesn't do movies in addition to making music, even though he should (he was a great Henry Higgins in 6th grade -- I should know, I played his butler -- hmm, I wouldn't mind playing McPhee's butler, but in real life ... ). Meanwhile, Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks probably won't last as long in the limelight, considering he had the lowest-selling Idol debut, and doesn't seem to be trying for a film career. I have to salute McPhee, who was also rumored to be considered for the role of Wonder Woman, for being able to transcend her Idol loss -- if for nothing else, hers and Jennifer Hudson's success with movies should certainly make everyone dismiss From Justin to Kelly as a reason not to go from Idol to Hollywood.

Back in June, while talking about Anna Faris' new Playboy film, our Erik Davis said: "Calm down there guys, her career hasn't tanked enough for Anna Faris to begin entertaining the same ideas you were entertaining after reading the title of this post." Well, now she is -- kind of. MTV has reported that the actress is in a rush to get a feature on Linda Lovelace in production, before the looming strike. For the handful of you that don't know -- Lovelace is the gal behind the epic porn film Deep Throat.

As if Faris playing a porn star, an uber famous one at that, wasn't enough -- she says: "It's a really deep, dark drama -- and it would be cool for me to do." The film is called Inferno, she's putting it together "alongside a first-time filmmaker," and she says that Matthew Wilder will direct it. No other big names have been added to the cast, but Faris says that they are currently struggling to cast the role of Lovelace's manager and husband, Chuck Traynor.

After playing a woman whose clitoris is in her throat, and becoming world-famous, Lovelace became an anti-porn activist. But her life was a heck of a lot more than that role. In the biz, she was involved in bestiality and pretty hardcore sex, and she claimed that her first husband, Traynor, forced her into porn at gunpoint (similar to how he acted with second wife, porn star Marilyn Chambers)*. With all this in mind, who would have ever guessed that Anna Faris would be the actress to take it on? Can you see her in the role?

*Proof that even writing about porn rots the brain: Mixing up the names Boreman and Traynor. Thanks to those who spotted that!

While Gregg Araki's early films have been the subject of much debate, the tide began to change with his impressive Mysterious Skin -- delving into the troubling world of molestation with class and depth. His accomplishments continue with Smiley Face, in a light and stoned capacity, of course. For his latest, Araki has dipped into the world of comedy and shows that he can leave many of his usual, challenging themes behind and make an easy-to-serve, and completely fun, mainstream comedy.

Anna Faris is Jane -- a struggling, pothead actress -- who somehow travels from point A -- her couch, to point Z -- the top of a ferris wheel. How she got there is a strange melange of events that puts Dude, Where's My Car to shame. Earlier that morning, Jane fired up her bong and got nicely stoned. In a munchie daze, she looks in her fridge and discovers a platter of cupcakes on which her roommate (Danny Masterson) has written a note for Jane to keep her hands off. Thinking she'll just eat the cupcakes and make more, Jane devours each and every one -- and only after does she realize that the cupcakes had pot in them. From there, Jane exists in a sea of stoned stupidity and verbose clarity (at least, in her own mind).

If you don't know what Anna Faris' Playboy project is about, this might seem shocking. Colin Hanks in a Playboy movie? How risque! But no, this project is about bunny (Faris) who gets canned from her life of boobs and leisure at the Playboy Mansion, and decides to become the house mother for a "nerdy" sorority at UCLA. (The quotes will be explained soon.) Hanks, unsurprisingly, will play Faris' love interest, so at least he's going to get some on-screen play from a Playboy bunny. Also added to the cast is Monet Mazur as an "evil Playboy bunny," Kiely Williams as one of Faris' sorority members (whose shyness prompts her to communicate by notes and texts), Tyson Ritter as a mysterious frat guy, Owen Benjamin as a butler who will be seduced by Mazur, Rachel Specter as a member of the bitchy sorority and Beverly D'Angelo as the house mom that house.

As Erik previously stated, this flick has the potential of being a modern-day twist on Revenge of the Nerds. Or, at least it did. This cast is flipping ridiculous. They've taken a whole ton of attractive young actresses, and we're supposed to buy them as nerds because one wears a back brace (Rumer Willis), another is a pierced feminist (Kat Dennings) and another is too shy to speak? Come on. Sure, it's the ol' Hollywood tradition -- throw some glasses, or something else equally superfluous, on a girl and suddenly she's not-hot. But do we need to see it continue? No. Revenge was great because the guys were nerdy! I want to set these guys down and force them to watch Freaks and Geeks.

Calm down there guys, her career hasn't tanked enough for Anna Faris to begin entertaining the same ideas you were entertaining after reading the title of this post. Nope, instead, Faris will star in an untitled college campus comedy for Columbia Pictures and Happy Madison. And, in the pic, she'll play an ex-Playboy bunny who packs her bags and moves into the lamest sorority house on campus in an attempt to make this group of girl nerds more popular. I imagine it will be something like Ferris Bueller meets Revenge of the Nerds ... except with females. Perhaps we can call it Van Wilder 3: The One Where Anna Faris Shows Up to Deliver One or Two Laughs?

Penned by Legally Blonde (and She's the Man, and Ella Enchanted, and ... do you a spot a theme yet?) scribes Karen McCullah Lutz and Kristen Smith, pic looks to be another female-centric fish-out-of-water comedy and should fit right in alongside Lutz and Smith's other films. Granted, it doesn't appear to be the most mouth-watering concept, but I can see it having potential. Lutz and Smith know how to write entertaining comedy for a mass audience, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't the least bit interested in a Revenge of the Nerds-type reversal. Only problem is can they find a group of Hollywood actresses who can play "lame?" We already know there's plenty of dorky guys out there, but there aren't many recent films that feature an abundance of nerd-ish girls. Who would you cast? (Here's where someone will inevitably say, "Well, they already cast their first lame actress -- Anna Faris!")

Here's some bits and bites for you to chew on:

• If you're like me, you've been anxious for Allan Moyle to get back to his deliciously cult Pump up the Volume roots, which it seems he has, with his Canadian film, Weirdsville. After opening the Slamdance Film Festival, the U.S. rights to the flick have been picked up by Magnolia Pictures. The movie follows two heroin addicts (Scott Speedman and Wes Bentley) who almost bury an almost-dead junkie (Taryn Manning), have a run-in with Satanists* and a mob of little people....and a drug lord. The Hollywood Reporter has more info on the deal, and the film's website has got a trailer and other goodies. And yes, that's Bentley in the picture to the right, sporting lots of fu-facial hair.
• In December, Chris brought us news of Topher Grace's upcoming movie, Kids in America. Now Venom finally has some co-stars. The pic follows Grace as a recent college who tries to nab his paramour at a crazy party while dealing with his on-coming adulthood -- as any good coming-of-age story should. Scary Movie's Anna Faris has been cast as Grace's twin sister, Dan Fogler -- that wild-haired ping ponger from the upcoming Balls of Fury -- will play the best friend and Australian actress Teresa Palmer gets to be Grace's dream girl.
• Ms. Felicity Huffman, Transamerica star and desperate housewife, is now an author. She's penned A Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend: For Every One Who Wants to Be One/For Every Girl Who Wants to Build One with Patricia Wolff, which was launched in LA on Monday. This super-short titled book gives advice on how to be a good boyfriend "while still maintaining guy-dignity." Anyone want to make bets on how long it will be before this gets adapted into a really, really bad film?

*Thanks to Kirby for the good catch! While a group of Satinists would be interesting, this mob is of the Satan variety.

Here's a question for Anna Faris, one I'm sure has been frequently asked: Why do you continue to make such crappy movies? I completely understand using the original Scary Movie as a launching pad to bigger and better things, but then how do you justify Scary Movie 2, 3, 4 and 5? (Oh yes, they are making a part five. Now, that's scary.) Granted, she was decent in Just Friends, albeit a bit over-the-top, but if she remains on this course, Faris will turn into another Amy Smart -- just some blonde girl who looks sort of familiar, but never really stands out.

For her next role, Faris will be traveling across the pond, as well as through time, in the sci-fi comedy Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel. She'll be joined by three up-and-coming British comic actors; Chris O'Dowd (The IT Crowd), Dean Lennox Kelly (Shameless) and Marc Wootton (Confetti). Pic, which was written by Jamie Mathieson, revolves around two geeks and their cynical friend who "attempt to navigate a time-travel conundrum in the middle of a British pub." Wait, a British comedy that takes place in a British pub? Get out! Faris plays some girl who arrives from the future (hot off a stint in Scary Movie 12?) to help these boys along on their adventure. Gareth Carrivick will begin directing this epic next week in the UK.

Ok, you know how 95% of the humor in Legally Blonde (which, by the way, I quite enjoyed -- this is not a criticism) stems from the fact that Elle is in an unfamiliar environment? And how it's reliably hilarious to see anyone as a fish out of water, because we get to laugh at them without feeling too bad about it? Well, that film's writers -- Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith -- clearly know a good thing when they see it, because they're writing a similar (albeit it law school-free) screenplay for Anna Faris, Happy Madison Productions and Paramount Pictures.

According to Variety, the untitled film -- based on an idea from Faris, apparently -- will focus on "a newly unemployed centerfold with no other skills to parlay into a new career ... [who] takes the only job she can find -- house mother at UCLA's lamest sorority." Great, a movie about a centerfold teaching "ugly" girls to take off their glasses, wear push-up bras and get popular! Just what we need.