With every piece of marketing that comes out for Mike Myer's The Love Guru, I am less sure about whether or not this movie is going to work. The new trailer for the self-help comedy is now up on The Guru Pitka's MySpace page (that's right, he has his very own page), and after watching it I just don't know what to think. The first trailer wasn't so great, but then there were those hilarious You Tube messages. The latest trailer, though, puts the film back in the 'meh' category -- talk about confusing.

Guru is the story of an American-born guru who is hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs to provide counseling to their star player (played by Romany Malco). Joining in on the hilarity are Justin Timberlake (as a French Canadian player), The Daily Show's John Oliver as Pitka's assistant, and Jessica Alba as the love interest.

At this point I'm starting to think that the paparazzi have camped out on the set of Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Of course, the legions of squealing teenage girls trying to get a shot of the 'dreamy' Heath Ledger might have something to do with that. Just Jared.com is now hosting five new photos of star Heath Ledger hard at work on Gilliam's latest fantasy flick. These photos don't really give anything away, but you know how proprietary those photogs can get, so you'll just have to visit Just Jared to get a look. Last month, Jared had posted some photos that could be described as 'spoilerific'; but fear not, these latest give you a look at Ledger in the midst of a what looks like a fancy dress ball. Keep in mind, though, that this is a Gilliam flick after all, so for all we know the scene could be taking place in a 7-11.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is Gilliam's first original script in a long time and is set in parallel versions of modern-day London. *Christopher Lee plays the 1000-year-old Parnassus who, along with his traveling theater troupe, has a debt to pay to the big baddie himself: the Devil (as played by the gravel-voiced Tom Waits). The cast also includes Verne Troyer (the man forever known as Mini-Me) and Lily Cole. Gilliam wrote the script with his long-time collaborator Charles McKeown. The film has a budget of $30 million, which is a pretty big price tag for an independent film, but I'm guessing all that set decoration isn't cheap. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is slated for release in 2009.

*Correction: Parnassus is played by Christopher Plummer

So you might be wondering why I chose not to include the actual photos from the set of Terry Gilliam's latest, The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. Well trust me, it's in your own best interest if you are not a fan of spoilers. Just Jared has a few on-set photos of star Heath Ledger and they are pretty creepy, not to mention "spoilerific." So if you like to keep things a surprise, you probably won't want to peek at those ones. The film is a passion project for Gilliam and is his first original screenplay in a long time. The story (or what we know so far) centers on the magical Dr. Parnassus and jumps between parellel stories of a modern day London and a far more mystical version of that very same place.

Gilliam sees a little of himself in Parnassus, telling Variety, "Parnassus is trying to bring amazement to people, and not doing a very good job of it, because they aren't paying attention to him. But if they will enter his mirror, and allow their imagination to mix with his, they enter these extraordinary worlds, and they come back transcendent -- or they strangely disappear" -- sounds about right as a metaphor for a Hollywood career. Along with Ledger, the cast also includes Christopher Plummer (as the good Dr), Verne Troyer, Tom Waits, and Lily Cole.

Back in October, Christopher had reported on the film, and a glimpse at some of the concept art for the film. Now, there are also some images floating around the web of some of the set pieces for the film that emerged in London on Monday. The flick had started production earlier this month, and as anyone who is a fan of Gilliam knows, his kind of fantasy doesn't come cheap. So keep your fingers crossed that Gilliam gets the chance to finish his masterpiece this time around. The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus is set for release in 2009.

[via Movies.com]

I don't know what I miss more -- good comedy by actors like Mike Myers and Jim Carrey, or that time in the late '90s when their names were synonymous with morphing into almost-unrecognizable characters. Or, maybe I just miss comedies that refer to the Alan Parsons Project. Whatever the case, we're finally getting another Mike Myers-created comedy with The Love Guru, and USA Today has the first look at the guru Pitka and Jessica Alba. Myers looks pretty unrecognizable, sporting a curling 'stache, beard, and long hair, and Alba, well, she looks like herself -- the cute smiling girl in a tank top. The comedian and filmmaker normally stays away from transforming the lead women in his films, but it would've been nice to change that this time around. Still, I wish this was a video, so we could see Myers in action.

The story focuses on Pitka (Myers) an American left at the gates of an Indian ashram, who is raised by gurus, and then comes back to the US to focus on issues of intimacy between couples. Adding in a little of Myers' Canadian verve, he meets his match when he has to fix the relationship between a star hockey player (Romany Malco), and his estranged wife, who is bonking the star of his rival team (Justin Timberlake as a French hockey player named Jacques). He's got to fix things and get the player back on track so that his team, owned by Jane Bullard (Alba) and coached by Verne Troyer, can break their 40-year-old "Bullard Curse" and win the Stanley Cup. For hockey fans, you'll probably notice the similarities to the Maple Leafs.

It's good to get excited about Terry Gilliam again. Despite my intense disappointment with the director -- for many years my favorite living filmmaker -- with the annoying and boring Tideland, I'm happily hopeful about his next project, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Earlier this year, Jessica told us about the film, which was said to be about a traveling circus featuring a headliner with a special power to bring audiences into his mind. Well, the Gilliam fansite Dreams now has the full details on the plot, as well as more details about the cast -- which I mentioned yesterday includes Heath Ledger, Verne Troyer, Tom Waits and Lily Cole -- plus a concept drawing.

First thing that needs to be pointed out is that Ledger will not actually be starring in the title role, as I had assumed. Instead Christopher Plummer, who was great in Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys, will play the lead, an immortal man with a traveling show and the gift of guiding the imaginations of his audience. Waits plays Mr. Nick, aka The Devil, with whom Parnassus made a deal with long ago. Cole will co-star as Parnassus' daughter Valentina, who was mistakenly promised to Mr. Nick in another bad deal with the Devil. Ledger plays a guy named Tony, Troyer plays a guy named Percy and Andrew Garfield plays a guy named Anton. I won't go into the rest of the film's plot, though, in case you're worried about spoilers. If you want to know more, you can certainly visit Dreams, where you can also see the rest of the concept image that I've cropped and presented above.

The drawing should remind folks of Gilliam's visual masterpiece The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, which was co- written by Imaginarium co-writer Charles McKeown. Despite the period look of the drawing, though, Dreams claims that this new film will be set in present day. The visuals for Imaginarium should still be amazing, as the film apparently spends a lot of time in "a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles." Sounds like the Gilliam I'm used to -- and the Gilliam I'm really looking forward to seeing again.

[via Rotten Tomatoes]

Aside from the long-in-the-works adaptation of Good Omens, Neil Gaiman would like all of his works made into movies by Terry Gilliam. He told Empire last week that he would "always give anything to Terry Gilliam, forever." That includes Sandman, which the writer said should be Gilliam's if he wants to do it. Currently, though, Gilliam is shooting an untitled movie about the "band" The Gorillaz, and then he's back to familiar territory with The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, about a travelling theater production, which reunites him with screenwriter Charles McKeown (Brazil; The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) and stars Heath Ledger, Tom Waits, Verne "Mini Me" Troyer and Lily Cole. But according to Gaiman, Gilliam is still trying to make Good Omens, based on the hilariously comic fantasy novel by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Gilliam is having trouble getting financing for the project; Gaiman said he needs about $70 million, if anybody is interested.

It is great to see Gaiman have so much faith in Gilliam. After the barely tolerable (I did enjoy it) The Brothers Grimm and the barely watchable (I hated my first Gilliam film!) Tideland, I'm a bit worried about my longtime favorite filmmaker. But I must agree with Gaiman that Gilliam would likely be a better choice to adapt his works than anyone else in Hollywood. Certainly better than Joel Schumacher. Gaiman told Empire that he wants the person directing Sandman to have the same passion that Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi had with The Lord of the Rings and Spider-Man, respectively. And that Zach Snyder seems to have with Watchmen. Would Gilliam have that passion? Is he a huge Sandman fan? Who knows? I guess Gaiman, who also said he'd rather have no Sandman movie than a bad Sandman movie.

What's up with Sir Ben Kingsley as of late? First, he co-stars opposite Mary-Kate Olsen in The Wackiness, and now he's teaching Mike Myers how to wear a chastity belt in The Love Guru. Obviously, the man who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Ghandi is looking to delve into some more commercial comedic fare, and The Hollywood Reporter tells us the actor has officially signed on to the Myers comedy as "Guru Tugginmypudha, the ashram leader who teaches the title character (Myers) how to love himself and wear a chastity belt." Nice. Meagan Good and John Oliver have also joined the cast, which already includes Myers, his Shrek the Third buddy Justin Timberlake, Jessica Alba, Verne "Mini Me" Troyer and Romany Malco (who I'm really digging on Weeds).

I've been itching to see Myers take on another bizarre character that wasn't either an animated green ogre or Austin Powers, and from what I've heard his love guru shtick is pretty hilarious. Should the film be a hit, look for Myers to be well on his way toward another popular franchise. There aren't many people left who are funny enough to carry an entire movie dressed up as some lunatic, and with the exception of Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat, it appears as if those SNL skit-type flicks are fading fast. Can Myers revive them? In The Love Guru, he plays an American raised in India by gurus who returns to his homeland in an attempts to help those in need. Alba's character, who plays the manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs (if you can believe that) hires The Love Guru to help one of her players (Malco) when his girlfriend (Good) ditches him for a rival hockey player (Timberlake). And if that doesn't sound absurd enough, Troyer will be playing the Leaf's coach. Fantabulous! The film begins shooting this Friday in Toronto, and is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on June 20.

According to Variety, Mike Myers' next film, The Love Guru, just got a lot hotter! That's right, gentlemen -- Verne Troyer has joined the cast! Oh, and Jessica Alba too. I guess she's alright. I told you a little bit about the comedy a few months back, but now we've got a confirmed plot synopsis and the cast is starting to take shape. Alba has the female lead in the movie and Myers will re-unite with everyone's favorite alcoholic little person Verne "Mini-Me" Troyer for the first time since the Austin Powers movies. Romany Malco has also joined the cast, you might know him from his excellent work on Showtime's Weeds or his hilarious performance in The 40 Year-Old Virgin. Marco Schnabel, assistant director on Goldmember and the Meet the Parents movies, will direct Guru, which was scripted by Myers and Graham Gordy.

The setup for the movie doesn't sound too hilarious, but I have friends who saw Myers do the Guru character at improv shows in New York, and they loved it. In the film, Mike Myers will play Pitka, "an American who was left at the gates of an ashram in India as a child and raised by gurus." Pitka moves back to the United States, and "attempts to settle a rift between a hockey player (Malco) and his wife, who begins scoring with the star player of a rival team ... Pitka's job is to check that illicit romance and reunite the couple so the star player can lead his team to the championship." Alba will play the owner of the hockey team, and Troyer will play the team's coach. I can't ascertain from the synopsis if Alba will be a love interest for Pitka or not, but I imagine that's the case. Something tells me Mr. Myers has a big say in casting his female co-stars -- Tia Carrere, Elizabeth Hurley, Heather Graham, Cameron Diaz, Beyonce, and now Alba. The guy's living in Maxim World! The Love Guru is due out June 20th.

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.