Tom Cruise "Working On" Les Grossman Movie

After returning from nowhere to promote (and later appear on) the MTV Movie Awards, talk has heated up again that Les Grossman, the Tom Cruise character from Tropic Thunder, might get his own movie.

Cruise told E! last night, "We're working on it...Yup, we're working on it." I wonder what form that would take. It was great in Tropic Thunder because it was surprising at first but it also didn't have a chance to get old. But two hours of Grossman screaming and spitting? Not sure about that. But he's a great character, so that's a start, and I suppose if the do it kind of the same way they made Tropic Thunder, meaning he isn't in every scene, it could work again.

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DVD Talk's Top 20 DVDs of 2008

I wish I had more time to watch DVDs. Realistically, because of the 200- something movies I have to plow through every year, unless I have to watch a DVD, I usually don't. I like sports too much. So, I've got stacks of the damn things still in the cellophane. But if it's an old favorite, I'll always find time for it, it seems. And I picked up a few new versions of old favorites over the holidays, one of which - the 50th anniversary edition of Touch of Evil - has made the list of 2008's top 20 DVDs, compiled by DVD Talk. It's full of old gems recently restored or re-released as well as some of the biggest hits of the year and a smattering of TV-on-DVD. Led by the definitive collection of The Godfather trilogy, here are the 11 films in DVD Talk's top ten: 1 - The Godfather (Coppola Restorations)
2 - Wall-E
3 - Iron Man
4 - The Wire: The Complete Series
5 - Bonnie and Clyde
6 - Tropic Thunder
6 - (tie) The Dark Knight
7 - The Sopranos: The Complete Series
8 - Baraka (Blu-Ray)
9 - Touch of Evil (50th Anniversary Edition)
10- Dr. No/From Russia with Love (Blu-Ray)

Moviefone Picks 'Iron Man' as Top Film of 2008

Moviefone has ranked the 50 best movies of 2009, and it's a fairly together list, I guess. We've refrained from fully analyzing any of this year-end stuff when it comes from another source, but you can't let two of their ranked films pass by without a raised eyebrow.

You see, Moviefone has JCVD at number 17 of 2008. That means only 16 films were better than the Jean-Claude Van Damme flick in which he plays a version of himself as a struggling former movie star returning home to Belgium. Don't get me wrong here. I've heard good things about it. But is it even the best movie that takes place in Belgium this year? It's really better than In Bruges? That might be a stretch. And Moviefone's top movie of the year is rather shocking. They go with Iron Man. "It may have been overshadowed by that other superhero movie this year," proclaims the site, "but pound-for-metal-alloy-clad- pound, Iron Man is 2008's most unequivocal cinematic triumph."

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Cruise Considers Return as 'Tropic Thunder' Studio Chief

One of the great surprises of this year's Golden Globe nominations was Tom Cruise earning a Best Supporting Actor nod as Les Grossman, the malignant studio boss in Tropic Thunder. Covered in tons of fake hair and a wearing a fat suit, it took most viewers a couple of scenes to figure out that it was Cruise spewing profanities like a geyser. Though I doubt Cruise has a shot at winning (his co-star Robert Downey Jr. was also nominated, but we've got a hunch about this Ledger guy...), all hope is not lost: Cruise tells the most commonly used vowel that we may see more of Grossman someday. "He’s a fun character...there could be more to do with that guy," Cruise insists. "I’ve talked about doing different videos with the character. I’ve started working with Ben [Stiller] on it, and we’ve kind of talked about different things to do." "We were gonna do some in our free time, but we haven’t found the free time…yet." Who here can absolutely see a spin-off, Disney trying to take over his studio after he releases a controversial Michael Moore documentary? It's actually a great way to keep the Hollywood satire going, and since Tropic Thunder was the best Hollywood satire in years, I want more of Les.

For Your Consideration (Again): Kirk Lazarus

Over the weekend, we finally caught one of the "Kirk Lazarus" For Your Consideration ads. Lazarus, of course, is the character played by Robert Downey, Jr. in Tropic Thunder. Well, he's one of the characters. Lazarus became the black sergeant Lincoln Osiris for the movie they were filming, which was also called Tropic Thunder.
Thanks to Slashfilm for the adThe ad was nothing special, but I was glad they did it. Here's a new commercial pushing "Lazarus" for Best Supporting Actor, courtesy of Trailer Addict. Obviously, it's unlikely that Downey will win Best Supporting Actor, though you could make an open-and-shut case for him being nominated. It's the best performance in one of the year's two or three best comedies. He also had a career resurgence in 2008, and Oscar likes those. Will he get the nomination? That's what Paramount is hoping, even if these ads make it look like they're joking.