Catching an afternoon screening of Iron Man last weekend, the questionably denigrating representations of Afghani villains bugged me less than the bizarre cultural references in the trailers preceding it -- especially when it came to accents. Three previews in a row contained characters speaking intentionally mangled English, a fact all the more recognizable because all of them were played by well-known actors. You Don't Mess With Zohan showed Adam Sandler as a tough Israeli hair stylist. The Love Guru preview found Mike Myers blabbering on with South Asian inflections. Rounding things out in perhaps the most innocuous case, Cate Blanchett popped up as a Communist baddie in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Are these gross caricatures or fair play?

We've touched on this issue before, but it looks like each month the trend gets a little stronger. There's edgy and there's a line: Borat may or may not send the wrong message, but the character's faux Kazakh accent tells you a lot about the way Americans tend to judge foreigners on the basis of their less-than-perfect English. The specific nature of the satire gives Cohen's performance an underlying purpose -- unlike, say, Love Guru, which seems more like a chance to ignorantly marvel at Myers' ability to turn Indians into a continuous punchline. Recently, a few Hindu groups launched protests against the film. This could mark uncharted terrain for Myers, who did not, as far as I know, get lambasted by any hippies after the first Austin Powers.

It was a mere 11 days ago that rumors surfaced that supermodel Gisele Bündchen was in talks to star in Austin Powers 4. (You know, the movie that hadn't been mentioned in almost a year? That was our first clue that something was up). But today, MTV spoke with Seth Green (aka Scott Evil), and got the official word that we can chalk it up to just another crazy internet rumor.

Green told MTV, "I'll tell you what, if a script for Austin Powers 4 gets written and then it gets green lit by whatever version of New Line is still making movies, and everybody agrees to do it, then we'll have something to talk about. But at this point, Austin Powers 4 is nothing more than something Mike Myers talked about off-handedly during the Shrek press." I guess you can't get more straightforward than that.

I can't help but be just a teensy bit disappointed that a fourth film is not going to happen. I am probably one of the few people who thought Goldmember was pretty darn funny. Plus, I thought Myers was on to a good idea when he said that the fourth film would focus on Dr. Evil (with maybe the exception of the first movie, Dr. Evil's side of things was becoming infinitely more interesting). One thing is for sure, by the looks of the trailer for Myer's latest character comedy, I think I would much rather get another Austin Powers movie than another installment of The Love Guru.

For starters, I had no idea that a fourth Austin Powers film was even on the horizon. So imagine my surprise when the Boston Globe reported that Gisele Bündchen was in talks to star in the latest installment of Mike Myers' spy franchise. According to the Globe, Bündchen has already been given a script and her agent is arranging meetings with Myers and producer Jay Roach.

Myers first spoke about another Austin Powers film back when he was still prepping The Love Guru with Jessica Alba. Myers had told MTV, "We're developing a fourth [movie], entirely from Dr. Evil's point of view." Myers also said that he would only be working on a Powers film in his spare time. Judging by Myers' slate for 2009 it doesn't look like he is going to have much free time; the actor is still attached to star in the Keith Moon biopic, See Me Feel Me: Keith Moon Naked for Your Pleasure, as well as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (both films are scheduled for release in 2009).

Moviefone is hosting our first look at the new trailer for Baby Mama, starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Looking to capitalize on the very-hot-right-now pregnancy theme, Tina Fey plays a successful (yet still single) businesswoman who's having trouble getting pregnant on her own. When she learns how expensive a surrogates fee can be ($100,000), she begins to explore other options ... like allowing a sleazy-looking slacker (Poehler) to carry the baby for her. What follows appears to be a pretty cute buddy flick co-starring two of the funnier and more talented comedic actresses working today. I especially like the scene with Dax Shepard (who plays Poehler's husband/boyfriend), and I hope he shows up more than a few times throughout. Sigourney Weaver, Greg Kinnear, Maura Tierney and Romany Malco also star, while Michael McCullers (of Austin Powers fame) wrote and directs. Baby Mama will arrive in theaters this April 25, and you can check out the trailer above or head on over to Moviefone to watch it in glorious HD.

You know what stinks? Coming up with a fairly cool idea for a new column ... only to discover that someone even cleverer not only snagged the idea a few months ago, but also did such a bang-up job that it makes a new rendition seem pointless.

But since I'm in a writing mood, here's the story: I was sharing a pithy IM convo with a good pal, and somehow we got into mocking Borat and Austin Powers for being way too over-quoted. (I call it the Stairway to Heaven Syndrome: When something of serious quality melts into near-nothingness because of endless repetition and constant over-exposure.) So I said "Hey, I could do a funny Cinematical Seven on 'the world's most annoyingly over-quoted movies'!!"

My friend's response was "Hey, good idea. Just like this one." The author is the youthful-yet-not stupid Adam Quigley, whose work you just might know if you hang around JoBlo's Movienerd Blissfactory once in a while. And while I'm well aware that I'm recycling someone else's (months old) list, I just figured it was too much fun to not pass along.

Not to spoil too many of the surprises, but the movies I would have picked for my Cine Seven are ALL on Adam's list, but they were mostly the easy ones: Swingers, Austin Powers, Borat, Holy Grail, Office Space, etc. Check out the full list of the 10 Most Obnoxiously* Over-Quoted Movies of All Time. And feel free to let us know which ones we might have forgotten. For example, I love love love The Princess Bride, but I'm tired of hearing idiots scream "inconceivable" and waiting for a charitable chuckle. (Also, most of the picks are (logically) comedies, but I'd like to hear about some over-quoted non-comedies. I suppose Jaws, Star Wars, Casablanca and Scarface would make that list.)

(* See, Adam went with "obnoxiously," whereas I was going to use "annoyingly." Well played, Quigley!! And special thanks to Will Goss for the linkage and the nerdly movie conversation. ) %Gallery-12639%

Earlier this month a bunch of us came up with a list of the movie characters we'd love to have thanksgiving with. Now, here's the opposite. The title is pretty self-explanatory, so I don't need to set it up much. But as usual, we invite you to tell us of your own picks for worst Thanksgiving dinner guest. Please try to make it a movie character, though, because none of us know your annoying aunt, and plus this is a movie site.


Hannibal Lecter from Manhunter, The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, Red Dragon and Hannibal Rising

If you were to have Dr. Lecter (Brian Cox; Anthony Hopkins; Gaspard Ulliel) to your Thanksgiving feast, you'd want to prepare and cook all the food yourself. Otherwise, you might end up eating human flesh instead of turkey (or turducken, or whatever non-people-based meal you prefer). Then again, you might actually end up the meal, which is certainly much worse than unknowingly tasting Ray Liotta's brains. So, the best thing is to not even invite the guy.


Graham Young from Young Poisoner's Handbook

Another character who might be an interesting guest, but like with Lecter, you'll need to keep an eye on the food, or at least on the tea. Graham (Hugh O'Conor), aka "the teacup murderer" likes to play with poison, and there's a good chance he's going to spike the dinner or drinks with thallium.

Over at quigspot.com is a listing of what the blogger deems the "Ten Most Obnoxiously Overquoted Movies." He says in the intro: "Nothing makes a great movie suck like people quoting it day in and day out for months at a time. It's the go-to route used by individuals who aren't clever enough to come up with their own material, made worse by them thinking (thanks to the select few that laughed at their referencing) they've suddenly become the most hilarious stand-up comedian since George Carlin." I agree to some extent, but while it's true that quoting movies is not the most enlightened form of comedy, it can be a lot of fun. The key is to stick to obscure quotes -- avoid "Luke, I am your father" and "Say hello to my little friend." At a party, an obscure quote that someone else recognizes can help you recognize a kindred spirit, and snag you a new friend or even a romance. Still, there are some movies that get quoted far too frequently, and it becomes particularly hard to deal with once they're embraced by the "frat guy" crowd, as almost all of quigspot's choices are.

The ten selected overquoted films are: 10) Office Space (good call, but the boss' voice is just too much fun to do. Quoting this one simply has to be done sometimes, especially in an office setting), 9) Monty Python movies (disagree -- I don't hear Python quotes much these days), 8) Wedding Crashers (definitely getting obnoxious, especially at bars), 7) Anything with Samuel L. Jackson (Snakes on a Plane, absolutely), 6) The 40 Year-Old Virgin (maybe, but when the lines are that funny, who can argue?), 5) Anchorman (see #6, although "I'm kind of a big deal" has reached the end of the line), 4) The Austin Powers series (yup), 3) Borat (Should have been #1 -- some guy dressed as Borat at a Halloween party I attended stayed in character the entire night and almost drove me to murder), 2) Napoleon Dynamite (absolutely) and the choice for the #1 most obnoxiously overquoted movie is ... 300.

Movies I'm guilty of quoting? 1) Wayne's World -- whenever anybody orders Chinese food, I can't resist throwing in "I'll have the cream of sum yung guy." I'm also a fan of "If Benjamin were an ice cream flavor, he'd be pralines and dick." 2) The Naked Gun series. Endless possibilities really, but my favorite is "Like a midget at a urinal, I was going to have to stay on my toes." 3) Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski -- literally every line of both is gold. Which movies do you love to quote? And which movies do you think get quoted too frequently?

Out of the ashes of development hell, Mike Myers will rise as Walter Mitty. Oh, how I wish the ashes had buried this project too deep to ever see the light of day. There are films that shouldn't be touched, and then there's Danny Kaye, who made Walter Mitty come alive in 1947. At first, the project was going to star Jim Carrey -- a decent Kaye look-alike, I'll give him that. And surprisingly, the remake had high-profile directors attached that included Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard. When all of that fell apart, Owen Wilson (ugh, no!) was to star with Mark Waters directing the project. That would've been interesting, to say the least, since he's the guy behind The House of Yes and Mean Girls. But finally, all that was scratched and now Myers is going to be the man.

A whole new script of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is being made for the actor, "specifically tailored" to him. At the very least, I hope that they will make him a distant relative, grandson or something, instead of taking over the same role, but I doubt that will be the case. Jay Kogen, a writer for shows like The Simpsons and Frasier is currently writing the script. I like Myers a lot, but I just really don't like the idea of this. However, after a bit of stretch out of the spotlight, the actor is just piling on the work, so maybe he'll be too busy and the flick will stay in that sweet development hell. For one thing, he's now talking with New Line and Jay Roach about making another Austin Powers. No writer is on the case or anything, but Myers wants a sequel that comes from Dr. Evil's point of view. I imagine that spin is the only hope for the film to be fresh, since comedy sequels just never seem to live up to the feature egg that created them. Then again, I'll sit through another for some more Alan Parsons jokes.

Watching the Saturday Night Live in the 90's special Sunday night, I was reminded of what a genius Mike Myers is. I still remember the flutter in my stomach on Saturday nights when I'd see that Wayne's World logo to open the show. But where has he been? Not counting the Shrek series, Myers hasn't been on the big screen since 2003's hairball The Cat in the Hat. I'm excited about next year's The Love Guru, which we told you about here and here. The film is said to be about "a Canadian raised in India who becomes a guru and helps the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup." When I lived in New York, I always heard about surprise improv shows Myers did around town as the Guru -- apparently the character kills. I'm less excited about Myers playing The Who's drummer in See Me Feel Me: Keith Moon Naked For Your Pleasure, but that might just be because I was so unimpressed by his last dramatic outing, 54. Still, it's good just to hear he's working, and I think we can all agree it was about time to move on from Austin Powers.

But wait. He's not moving on at all! Myers recently told Sci Fi Wire that he definitely plans on making another Powers film after The Love Guru, and that it will likely bring the focus to Austin's nemesis. Says Myers, "I have figured out that the story will be taken from the point of Doctor Evil. It will be powered from Doctor Evil's point of view. That will be the first of a trilogy...I'm just joking!...I haven't figured it all out. Who knows?" Ah, but are you joking, Mike? How long can you drag this out? Look, I love the first two Austin Powers movies, and I consider Doctor Evil one of the all-time great comedy villains, as I wrote about here. But Goldmember showed the formula is wearing real thin. Haven't we had enough? With all those classic characters at Myers' disposal, why is he heading right back to the well? Don't you think maybe it's time to take Doctor Evil's advice and just...zip it?

The comedy villain is one of the trickiest characters to pull off. Too often, the villain's scenes are there simply to further the "plot," which, in a lot of comedies, is pretty inconsequential. If a comedy even has a true villain, and many don't, scenes focusing on him or her usually drain the movie of life and make the audience eager to get back to the laughs. But a smart comedy creates a villain every bit as funny as the hero(es). Below are my favorite movie slimeballs, in order of release date. I'd love to hear some of yours.

John Vernon as Dean Vernon Wormer in National Lampoon's Animal House

One of the best traits for a comedy villain to have is that he or she is an "Enemy of Fun." You've met people like this. They hate fun. They hate people who have fun. Dean Wormer is a perfect example. In fact, unlike the other bad guys on this list, you can't imagine Wormer ever having had fun at any point in his life. Smileless, humorless, joyless...but hilarious. The crusty, bitter dean is almost a requirement for college movies, and you can feel Wormer's influence in every flick of its type released since. You certainly wouldn't have Dean Pritchard in Old School without Wormer. Animal House is a movie brimming over with jerks, Doug Neidermeyer would have made a perfectly good choice here, too -- frat guys always make great villains. But you've got to have some sympathy for that dude-- he got killed in Vietnam by his own troops.

Best Line: "The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me."

Ted Knight as Judge Smails in Caddyshack

Stopping just short of actually chewing on pieces of scenery, Knight's work in Caddyshack is a masterpiece of taking it over the top. A master of the slow burn, the man is made of simmering anger and rage. Knight more than holds his own against three incredible comedians: Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, and Chevy Chase in his prime. In a lesser movie, Judge Smails would be a generic authority figure, enabling the three comedy stars to do their riffs around him and act out against him. But Knight's Judge is a worthy opponent, and manages to grab just as many laughs as the goofballs. Every bit as influential as Dean Wormer, you can draw a straight line from Judge Smails to say, Shooter McGavin.

Best Line: "I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them."

Though we haven't seen him in a live-action film since the abysmal Cat in the Hat flick, Mike Myers is gearing up to introduce a new character to the world; one that could potentially franchise out, a la Austin Powers. Variety tells us that Marco Schnabel will make his feature directorial debut on the currently untitled pic, having worked with Myers as a crew member on the first two Austin Powers pics, as well as second unit director on Austin Powers in Goldmember. Myers penned the script along with Graham Gordy, and Paramount is eyeing a 2008 release.

In the film, Myers will play the Indian Guru Pitka -- an eccentric new-age guru who's hired to come in and help a couple figure out their relationship woes. Pic was first announced almost a year ago; no word on why it took so long to get off the ground, but something tells me Myers wanted to hone the character before moving forward. In fact, he's been quietly showing up at random New York comedy clubs in character, complete with fake nose, beard and dressed in an all-white robe. In the meantime, Myers continues to pump out Shrek films, with Shrek the Third due out May 18 and Shrek 4 hitting theaters in 2010.

I was never a big fan of Myers' Austin Powers character; his shtick wore off on me halfway through the first film. However, this Indian Guru guy sounds pretty funny. Assuming they get the right couple to play off Myers (something tells me Luke Wilson might be looked at), we could be in store for a nice refreshing comedy -- especially since, these days, they all feel the same. What do you think? Does Myers still have what it takes to entertain, or should those SNL skit-type comedies remain in the past where they belong?

Another year, another Oscar disqualification controversy. It would probably help the Academy to sit down and really go through its eligibility rules, compare their fairness between categories and come up with something reasonably concrete and consistent. Still, in fairness to the Academy, this latest controversy may not be that big a deal. So Beyoncé Knowles is not being listed as one of the writers of the Dreamgirls song "Listen," which she allegedly co-wrote with potential nominees Henry Krieger, Anne Preven and Scott Cutler. Some people don't think she really contributed an equal share of the work anyway. And she agrees with those people.

The singer-actress should just ignore the Oscars and consider the recognition she has received. I mean, the woman has been nominated for more important things, such as "Favorite Female Butt Kicker" (Kid's Choice Awards, for Austin Powers in Goldmember) and "Sexiest Performance" (MTV Movie Awards, for The Pink Panther). Plus she got the songwriting credit and nomination, as well as an acting nomination, from both the Golden Globes and the Satellites. Can she really take the Academy seriously after they already failed to nominate her for "Independent Women", part I (too bad 2000 was one of those rare good years for the original song category)? Perhaps being upstaged by and underappreciated because of a certain former American Idol contestant puts one's self-worth into question?

Regardless of Beyoncé's problems, though, the Academy's rule of recognizing only three contributors is ridiculous. What happens if a four-piece band -- one that shares writing credits -- writes a song for a movie? I'm not sure why the rule was added, and I agree that seven songwriters was a lot to include for Shrek 2's "Accidentally in Love," but it may need another rewrite.

I won't keep it a secret from anyone: I couldn't care less about James Bond. Maybe I'm not a man's man. Maybe I'm not a proper film critic. Maybe I just don't have the time to watch all the 007 movies in order to convince myself that they're not all the same. Whatever the reason for my disinterest in the series, the painful truth is that I'm completely lost when it comes to discussing Bond. This could be why I don't hang out with a lot of movie geeks. Or, more likely, why they don't hang out with me.

It would make sense for my disinterest in Bond to extend to the films that parody the character and the series. Sure, I appreciate a good spoof, but there's not much enjoyment for me in a joke I don't get. So, just as I don't have a desire to watch the Scary Movie franchise because I don't watch the horror movies it makes fun of, I probably wouldn't like a concentrated spoof of the Bond franchise. Luckily for me, most Bond parodies aren't strictly a series of specific jokes and gags that I don't understand. They typically have something more to offer. And those that I can appreciate and enjoy are due to my having a general, pop-cultural knowledge of Bond films, a taste for simple satire and a preference for liberal, anarchic and random humor.

So, I've made a list of ways in which Bond has been spoofed that are accessible to the non-Bond-fan. There are others out there, from pornographic parodies to obscure foreign takes on the character, but I'll let the real 007 aficionados seek out every spoof out there. ...

With the release of Little Man, I was shocked to find no protests from little people. Is this movie not the worst representation of dwarfs in decades? Though I'm not sure if the actors playing Marlon Wayans' body are actual little people, it must be insulting that a real little person isn't playing the "vertically-challenged" character. Wasn't it bad enough that The Lord of the Rings trilogy didn't use dwarfs as hobbits? Basically Little Man backtracks the portrayal of little people and makes them out to be freaks once again.

So, I'd like to take this opportunity to salute the little people in movies. They are in fact all over the big screen, mostly as stand-ins and stunt-doubles for children, but once in awhile they are really celebrated with prominent roles. These roles have decreased, though, since CGI replaced many creature characters so we have fewer little people dressed as Ewoks, robots and other sci-fi/fantasy inventions. I chose seven films I think are quite significant in the showcasing of individual little people. I've deliberately left out Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on account it obviously doesn't use actual little people, and I've also omitted The Wizard of Oz since there are no real standouts, only a lot of dressed-up extras.

So, apparently Mike Myers has created a new character. His name is Pitka, he's a new-age guru, and his personal mantra is "Mariska Hargitay." And no, I'm not making him up. According to Variety, Mr. Pitka (Or maybe he's a one-name guru? The Pele of the guru world, if you will.) is going to be the focus of a new, untitled movie that Myers is in talk to make for Paramount. Assuming the deal goes through, Myers himself will star in the picture, as well and producing and co-writing it. The movie will not, however, be the first public look at Pitka -- he made appearances in Myer's recent series of stage shows, and clearly road-tested well enough to lead Myers to believe he can carry a movie.

Here's my concern about this project: While I'm perfectly willing to believe that Pitka is funny (Did I mention that he wears assless chap?), if Myers is going to beat him mercilessly when he's dead and, say, draw him out into three, increasingly unfunny movies, I'd almost rather he didn't start. Well hell, who knows: Maybe Paramount will be the first studio ever to make only one movie about a funny character, no matter how much money it makes. No, really. (And I almost typed that with a straight face.)