Chris Parnell

The latest round of pilot season casting news includes a Saturday Night Live alum, a funny sidekick, and a recent Oscar nominee. Read on:

• If Reaper doesn't get renewed, Tyler Labine may be headed to Fox. The sidekick known as Sock has been cast in the comedy pilot Sons of Tucson, playing a man who's hired by three boys to pretend to be their dad while their actual father serves a prison term.
• SNL's Chris Parnell is in talks for Big D, a Dallas-set show about a Southern belle welcoming home her son and meddling in his life. He would play one of the matriarch's sons-in-law, a preacher.
• Melissa Leo, an Oscar nominee for Frozen River, has taken a role as a civil rights lawyer in Treme, David Simon's New Orleans-set pilot for HBO. She's the second Oscar nominee to jump to HBO this year: Michael Shannon will appear in the network's pilot Boardwalk Empire.
• I was a big fan of Shannon Woodward when she played DiDi in The Riches, so I'm glad to see she's joined the cast of Limelight, an ABC drama set at a performing arts college (so hot right now). She'll play an actress auditioning for a spot at the school.
• Erika Christensen is the first person to sign on for NBC's remake of Parenthood, playing Julia Braverman, a corporate attorney who struggles with getting more involved with her family.

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First, I've got to say that I'm happy Lindsay Lohan has completed enough work on a project to have it made into a trailer. Maybe it's my Mean Girls fandom talking, but I'm really rooting for her to have a good acting comeback.

So, here's the trailer for Labor Pains, which we first heard about back in June. It's an indie comedy that finds Lohan playing Thea, a young woman who's about to be fired from her job when she lies to her boss that she's pregnant. Enter fake bellies, fake birthing classes, and a fake relationship to go along with it all.

The project has a pretty great cast, comedy-wise, with Janeane Garofalo, Cheryl Hines, and Chris Parnell among the stars (also, Creed Bratton from The Office! And, um, Kevin Covais from American Idol). I'm not blown away by the trailer, which kind of strikes me as a less-original Baby Mama, but it's not a trainwreck, either. So, I have hope!

The movie doesn't have a release date yet (other than a vague "sometime in 2009"), so for now, you can get a taste of Labor Pains if you read more

The quirky indie film Kabluey was completely not on my radar until I happened across the trailer a few days ago. I completely fell in love with the odd and incredibly endearing preview, so I decided to research a little further. Turns out, it's being warmly received by reviewers (well, those who are in cities where it's actually being played, of course).

Lisa Kudrow plays a struggling mother of two whose husband is fighting in Iraq. Her brother-in-law, Salman (Scott Prendergast), soon joins the household to help her out, and ultimately takes "a humiliating job as a giant blue corporate mascot in order to help make ends meet and hold the family together."

Most of the humor seems to come from watching this big, plush-looking, cartoony blue figure juxtaposed with regular humans. It seems dark and funny, with some sadness around the edges. Plus, the rest of the cast includes Christine Taylor, Chris Parnell and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (and if I may channel my grandmother for a moment: hubba hubba!).

The movie opened July 4 in limited release. To check out the trailer, read more

"I'm going over the nerd wall and I ain't never going back." Those are words to live by.

Trying to guess exactly how the film Harold would shape up based on the casting news alone was kinda difficult. There is an odd mix of actors involved, including Cuba Gooding Jr., some Saturday Night Live alums (Rachel Dratch, Colin Quinn, Chris Parnell), '80s star Ally Sheedy, and cute young actors like Spencer Breslin and Nikki Blonsky in her first feature film role since Hairspray.

The trailer is goofy and sweet and makes me laugh. The idea of a kid with premature balding getting picked on is you know, heartbreaking, but I can't help but giggle at people mistaking the poor guy for an elderly person. And Cuba Gooding Jr. actually looks like he may be back on his game, as he seems pretty charming and funny in the preview. The whole thing looks sweetly absurd with something life-affirming at the core.

The movie opens in limited release July 11. To check the trailer, read more

See how I avoided one of those fake-sensational headlines like "Lindsay Lohan Has Labor Pains"? She's not actually pregnant (as far as we know) but she is set to star in the indie comedy Labor Pains alongside great comedic actors like Chris Parnell and Cheryl Hines.

The movie — which was "in limbo" for a while due to a lack of funding — follows "an assistant (Lohan), working in a stuffy publishing house, who pretends to be pregnant in a desperate attempt to keep her nasty boss from firing her."

Apparently Lohan read the script and loved it saying, "It is a very different role for me and I look forward to the challenges it will present, and I love working on comedies."

Producer Rick Schwartz convolutedly added, "I didn't know Lindsay before this, but we looked each other in the eye three months ago, and she has done everything I could have asked." They looked each other in the eye? What?

Anyway, the Lohan has work again! Production is set to begin in just a few days, on June 9. Here's hoping she can hold down this job. . .

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When I first saw the poster for The Grand I had to groan. Not another casino movie! But then I looked a little closer and found some familiar, welcome names like Cheryl Hines, David Cross, Chris Parnell, Judy Greer and Woody Harrelson. The Game is a mockumentary-style spoof on professional gaming, with a ridiculously talented cast full of funny people.

You just have to check out this trailer for the movie which opens in limited release March 21. And in case you're wondering, yes, "The Scary German" is legendary German director Werner Herzog (Rescue Dawn, Grizzly Man, Little Dieter Needs to Fly). Hilarious.

To see what I'm talking about, read more

• Rolling Stone reports that the White Stripes have canceled their fall tour on account of Meg's "acute anxiety."
• According to the BBC, Ang Lee has cut out 30 minutes of his sexy espionage thriller Lust, Caution for audiences in China.
• Variety reports that if you have On Demand service, you can watch all of NBC's pilots for free right now.
• Former "Saturday Night Live" star Chris Parnell has joined the cast of the ABC comedy "Miss/Guided," Zap2it reports.
• Variety reports that Run, Fat Boy, Run is the No. 1 movie in the U.K.
• Led Zepplin is reforming for one night only, at a tribute show for the late Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, Billboard reports.
• "The Closer" broke its own cable ratings record for its season finale on Monday, writes the Hollywood Reporter, drawing 9.2 million viewers.
• Things weren't as rosy for "Tell Me You Love Me" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm," both of which had disappointingly low ratings for their premieres, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
• Paul Morrison will direct Little Ashes, a movie about the young life and loves of Salvador Dali, Luis Bunuel and poet Federico Garcia Lorca, says Variety.
• Hollywood Reporter has news that Naomi Campbell will star in a film adaptation of the novel Bad Love.
• Don Cheadle will star in a live-action film version of the 1971 children's book Hotel for Dogs, Variety reports.
• Meanwhile, ComingSoon reports that Adam Brody and Josh Lucas have been cast in the drama Death in Love.

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