A Confederacy of Dunces, an adaptation of John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize-winning comedic novel, has been a would-be movie since not long after the book's publication.  Over the decades, though, no attempt to get a movie based on the sprawling tale of Ignatius J. Reilly has been successful, with big-time comedic teams trying to no avail.  The latest guys to tackle A Confederacy of Dunces are director James Bobin and Zach Galifiankis, who would play Ignatius.

Warner Bros. has capped off this week of weeks by releasing the first domestic trailer for The Campaign, an election year comedy that stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as rival North Carolina politicians attempting to win a Congressional seat.  Though I'd like to recommend a moratorium on any trailer using the song "Taking Care of Business," the trailer does include Will Ferrell punching a baby, so yeah.

Puss in Boots is up for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film next week but this Friday, February 24th, it arrives on Blu-Ray and DVD. Puss in Boots director Chris Miller is a man of many talents. He worked his way up the ladder at DreamWorks, cutting his teeth as a story artist on Shrek (2001) while also writing additional dialogue and providing the voices for such characters as the Magic Mirror and Gepetto. For Shrek 2 (2004) Chris served as head of story production, which allowed him to work amongst different departments interfacing with the directors, writers, and the story department. He co-directed Shrek the Third before helming the franchise’s spin-off, Puss in Boots.

Puss in Boots is a prequel to the Shrek series that focuses on the character Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas) and his adventures prior to his appearance in Shrek 2. Accompanied by his sidekicks, Humpty Dumpty (voiced by Zach Galifianakis) and Kitty Softpaws (voiced by Salma Hayek), Puss attempts to steal magic beans from the murderous outlaws Jack (voiced by Billy Bob Thorton) and Jill (voiced by Amy Sedaris).

The movie will be accompanied on the BluRay/DVD release by a 13-minute short film, entitled Puss in Boots: The Three Diablos. The short is directed by Raman Hui, Chris Miller’s co-director from Shrek the Third and will pick up where the film left off. The Three Diablos focuses on Puss’s quest to recover a Princess’s stolen ruby from the notorious French thief, The Whisperer. In order to help the Princess, he teams up with three little kittens, Adorable, Fuzzy, and Deadly, who prove they might be more of a hindrance than an asset.

I recently had a chance to speak with Chris Miller about Puss in Boots. The director discusses his new film, getting a creative boost from executive producer Guillermo del Toro, collaborating with his crew, the importance of his past jobs at DreamWorks, working with his wife, his philosophy on narrative-driven comedy, and a Puss in Boots sequel.

Before The Hangover became the biggest R rated comedy of all time and grossed almost half a billion dollars worldwide in 2009, its three central actors, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis, were all known to smaller audiences, but not one was a bona fide movie star.  Turns out, Warner Bros hadn't been expecting a franchise back when all three signed on to the first film, meaning they were able to obtain a big compensation jump for last summer's The Hangover Part II. 

With the sequel having grossed a massive $581 million globally, the studio is eager to complete a trilogy, eager enough that Cooper, Helms, and Galifianakis are nearing final deals for an even bigger payday on The Hangover Part III.

Put on your lunacy caps, kids, because a full two-and-a-half-minute red band trailer for Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie is now online.  The teaser released earlier this week was mostly text with just a hint of batshit crazy, but this new trailer is a double-barreled blast of strange befitting the first movie from Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, the non sequitur-spewing minds responsible for Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!.  That series was one of the most surreal bits of programming ever featured on Adult Swim, and it appears Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar movie will maintain the surreal qualities and the cameos, while substantially upping the profanity and over the top grossness.  Continue on for all that plus a peek at Tim, Eric, and Zach Galifianakis with horrible spray tans, as well as an official poster for the movie.

There's a delicate art to creating a good non sequitur, and if you're ever seen Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, then you're well aware of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim's unparalleled ability to create strange, surreal non sequiturs that inspire hilarity, puzzlement, and for some people, indignant rage.  The duo did their thing for five seasons on Adult Swim, but now they're blessing the world with a movie, which until today did not have a release date.  Now, though, Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar has a theatrical release date, a VOD release date, and a teaser trailer.  The teaser, though short, is what you'd expect, with hyperbole-laden quotations from Heidecker and Wareheim, then a sudden burst of surreal weirdness sure to alienate a substantial portion of the audience.  That's how Tim and Eric do it, and I, for one, am grateful.

Opening in theaters on November 23rd his the highly awaited and triumphant theatrical return of The Muppets in an all-new film named after the beloved characters created by the late Jim Henson. The Muppets marks the lovable group's first theatrical film in over twelve years and features all your favorite characters including Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, Scooter, Rowlf the Dog, Swedish Chef, Sam the Eagle, Beaker, Crazy Harry, Dr. Teeth, Floyd Pepper, Zoot, Statler and Waldorf, and introducing the newest Muppet ... Walter.

The Muppets was co-written by Nick Stoller and Jason Segal (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), directed by James Bobin (HBO's Flight of the Conchords), and features original songs written by Flight of the Conchords member Bret McKenzie. In addition to the Muppets themselves, the film stars Segal, Academy Award-nominated actress Amy Adams (The Fighter), Academy Award-winning actor Chris Cooper (The Town), and Rashida Jones (The Social Network), as well as appearances by Jack Black (School of Rock), Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada), Zach Galifianakis (Puss in Boots), musician Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), political strategist James Carville (The War Room), Neil Patrick Harris (The Smurfs), Kristen Schaal (Toy Story 3), Sarah Silverman (Peep World), Academy Award-winners Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) and Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost), and living legend Mickey Rooney (National Velvet). 

IAR's managing editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with co-writer and executive producer Nick Stoller to discuss his work on The Muppets. Stoller talked about the new film, which Muppets he knew he had to focus on in the script, a missed opportunity with James Carville and Sam the Eagle, a missing scene featuring Dave Grohl and Animal, the return of Uncle Deadly (The Phantom of the Muppet Theater), developing the film's original songs, Chris Cooper's rap, and Walter's "unique" talent. 

Comedian Greg Proops may just be The Smartest Man in the World, or at least he pretends to be on his extremely funny and popular podcast of the same name. Proops is an improvisational comedian that is best known for his work on both the UK and US versions of Whose Line is it Anyway?. But he’s also appeared on such shows as Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Chelsea Lately, Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show and Flight of the Conchords, as well as lending his voice to popular films like The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. But now the comedian, who is constantly on the road making appearances, has truly found his voice with his groundbreaking weekly podcast The Smartest Man in the World.

The podcast is recorded in front of a live audience each week and usually takes place during one of Proops’ sold out shows. I recently had a chance to speak with the comedian right before he took the stage in Cleveland for one of his performances. The interview was only supposed to last ten minutes but because he is such a fascinating person to talk to, and very gracious with his time, Proops and I ended up chatting together for almost an hour. It would be impossible for me to include everything we talked about in this article, but I have attached the audio below so that if you’d like to hear the entire interview, you can. We discussed an assortment of topics in addition to his podcast including stand-up comedy, politics, the Republican debates, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Sarah Palin, The Ohio Players, the Oscars, Eddie Murphy, Ellen DeGeneres, Star Wars, George Lucas, Winter’s Bone, comic book adapted movies, romantic comedies, Judd Apatow, Wes Anderson, Zach Galifiankis, and the trappings of success.

When Shrek hit theaters in 2001, the winkingly self-aware comedic fantasy tale announced DreamWorks Animation as a unique rival to Disney, which dominated the animation game for decades.  Audiences loved the adventures of Shrek, Donkey, and Princess Fiona, voiced respectively by Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, and the film was a huge hit.  DreamWorks pretty much immediately got to work on a sequel that would expand their fairy tale world and keep the clever references coming for the grown-ups in the audience.  When Shrek 2 debuted in 2004, it quickly became the most successful animated film of all time, a record it maintained until 2010, when Toy Story 3 finally unseated it.

While Shrek 2 introduced a whole mess of new characters, the most popular of them – and almost certainly the most popular element of the film itself – was Puss in Boots, a swashbuckling feline voiced by Antonio Banderas.  With his sword-swirling heroism and overzealous ladies' man charm, Puss in Boots is sort of a combination of Errol Flynn and Pepe Le Pew, with plenty of Latin suavity and kittenish adorability thrown in as well.

After four films, the Shrek franchise has retired, but Puss in Boots lives on his third theatrical adventure, Puss in Boots, a spin-off feature arriving in theaters this Friday.  Shrek the Third co-director Chris Miller directs the prequel, which follows Puss on a quest to find the mythical goose capable of laying golden eggs, a quest that leads him to his appearance in Shrek 2.  Originally conceived as a direct-to-DVD release, the project is now a 3D, family-friendly blockbuster poised to kickstart the new movie season.  IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick was on hand at the Puss in Boots press conference in Los Angeles, where voice actors Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, and Amy Sedaris discussed their roles, fairy tales, and vocal acting.

Opening in theaters on October 28th is the new DreamWorks animated film Puss in Boots, which is based on the furry breakout character from the Shrek franchise. The movie was directed by Chris Miller (Shrek the Third) and executive produced by Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth). Actor Antonio Banderas (The Skin I Live In) reprises his role as the voice of the title character, and is joined by a talented cast of performers including Salma Hayek (Grown Ups), Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover Part II), Billy Bob Thorton (Faster), and Amy Sedaris (Tanner Hall). 

IAR's managing editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to speak with director Chris Miller about Puss in Boots. The director spoke candidly about the new film, the beloved character, Antonio Banderas' performance, casting Selma Hayek, and Guillermo del Toro's influence on the film.