Trailer for New HBO Series 'Luck'

Earlier in the week HBO released a trailer for it's series Luck, which stars Dustin Hoffman as a big time crime boss (just releaed from prison) with a gambling addiction when it comes to betting on the ponies.  This horse racing drama from Deadwood creator David Milch also stars Nick Nolte as an old school Kentucky horse trainer looking for a second chance.

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Dustin Hoffman Rejoins 'Little Fockers' at 11th Hour

It's been a long time since I've said, "You know, that movie needed more Dustin Hoffman." Hard to blame the guy for cashing checks, but his last Oscar nomination was 13 years ago, and that - for Wag the Dog - was really a sign of a bad year. I mean, Robin Williams won an Oscar that year. Ditto Kim Basinger. ...And Helen Hunt.

So Hoffman is having fun and that's fine, except that he's incredibly hammy these days. He gave us a lot of good performances once upon a time, however. But when you read that Hoffman will be back for Little Fockers - or Meet the Parents: Little Fockers, as it insists on being called - you have to wonder what's wrong with the movie. The Other Hoff was offered a chance to return but passed, probably over money but officially because he didn't think it was worth scheduling around a couple days on set. Deadline says Hoffman will return, at his original price, but Universal swears the movie's great even without him, insisting that test audiences scored it an 85, but "we want to make it better. It's an investment in the future of the franchise."

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Dustin Hoffman May Be in 'Little Fockers' After All

The three principal cast members of Little Fockers (or maybe Meet the Parents: Little Fockers as we discussed yesterday) are all getting a shitload of money. Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, and even Owen Wilson are all making ten-digit salaries.

But Universal couldn't come to terms with Dustin Hoffman, who will usually do anything and not even for much money. So he's not in Fockers. Or not yet. Calling the threequel "troubled," New York Magazine says Universal is trying to convince Hoffman to return for a minor role. The film has already gone back in front of cameras for what the studio and the magazine describe as pick up shots, little gap fillers that will help key scenes go together more smoothly, but the idea could be expanded.

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Dustin Hoffman Out of 'Little Fockers'?

If conditions hold, it looks as though Dustin Hoffman is out of Little Fockers. Entertainment Weekly says Hoffman wants a more sizable role in the threequel, in addition to squabbles about the shooting schedule.

Although Hoffman was not going to carry much of the action - he was only planned for an extended cameo - it does crack the shell of this movie just a little bit. Le Babs will still play Ben Stiller's mother, according to the report, which neither Hoffman's reps nor Universal would confirm nor deny.

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Movie Review - 'Last Chance Harvey'

Last Chance Harvey Starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson Directed by Joel Hopkins Rated PG-13

Last Chance Harvey is kind of like a romantic comedy for grown-ups, and that's the good news and the bad news. Now, a romantic comedy for grown-ups might sound silly. I present Exhibit A: Bride Wars. Grown-ups don’t behave the way Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway do in that film. For Exhibit B: Maid in Manhattan, the film with the shortest courtship I can think of. With one walk around Central Park, the dashing millionaire (Ralph Fiennes) knows he’s swallowed whole by his love for the hotel maid (Jennifer Lopez). Wouldn’t ever happen that way. Not with grown-ups, at least. Last Chance Harvey has its problems, although two of them clearly aren’t its leads, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. These actors are so good that the roles they’ve turned down would be substantial enough to get them in the Hall of Fame. At age 71, Hoffman isn’t afforded as many leading roles as he was 20 or 30 years ago, so our impression of him may have changed. But make no mistake, he’s still a captivating figure on screen, and now he seems to be having more fun than ever. Thompson is one of the most graceful, effortless, and intelligent actors of her generation, who, like Hoffman, can do pretty much anything she feels like. But what they do here is more remarkable, because they aren’t playing these great, foundation-shaking characters we’ve seen them portray in years past. Harvey and Kate are just people. They have jobs and lives and frustrations and fears. Harvey writes jingles for a living, and finds out that he doesn’t write jingles anymore around the same time he’s set to give his daughter away to be married. Except, suddenly, his daughter wants her stepfather to give her away instead. That’s a double shot. He’s rude to a woman at the airport, and the next night he sees her in a pub and tries to apologize, but Kate is having none of it. At first. Then the conversation starts, and instead of a meet cute – one of those movie moments where characters meet in some unexpected way and have an instant attraction to one another – Last Chance Harvey lets Harvey, Kate, Hoffman, and Thompson find their own ways into this. And it works, for as long as its allowed to.

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