David Gordon Green is one of those rare filmmakers who has the comic power to make fairly despicable or unlikable characters oddly sympathetic, and oddly, likable . While Green believes everyone in the world is likable – and how he thinks that I have no idea – he certainly seems to love his antiheroes. Very few David Gordon Green characters one would want to hang out with in real life, but on the big screen, he makes oblivious, frustrating, and moronic fools highly watchable. Hopefully that’ll remain the case with his latest R-rated comedy, The Sitter. Thanks to David Gordon Green being able to say a 1,000 words a minute, similarly to Danny McBride, in my 15-minute conversation we were able to cover a lot of ground. From the greatness of breakfast tacos, a topic I didn’t foresee being discussed, to Soul Surfer topping Your Highness earlier this year, Green goes in every direction possible with any mentioned topic. Here’s what The Sitter director had to say about why one should live in Austin, going through hell with actors, dealing with ego, and when too much Sam Rockwell crying becomes self-indulgent.

This week, Fat Guy Kevin Carr makes big plans to publish a best-selling book that women across the nation will read in hoity-toity book clubs. Step one: Move to the deep south and get raised by an African American maid. While Kevin tries to figure out how to move past that step, he gets a job delivering pizzas and lives in constant fear he’ll be used in a bank heist. Then he cheats death by avoiding the Glee concert movie, but lives in even more constant fear that the flick will hunt him down and make him watch it.

Director Ruben Fleischer seems to have cashed in all his chips from Zombieland and made a small, dark, action comedy. Underneath its obvious commercial appeal, chances are taken with the humor of 30 Minutes or Less. Whether it be with Michael Pena‘s performance or being unafraid to have actual stakes, the film doesn’t always play it safe. One would think Fleischer would jump right away into the world of tent-pole filmmaking, but he decided to wisely follow-up his hit film with a project that’ll allow his sensibilities to show. Fleischer won’t be staying in the comedy world forever, though. With his next film, The Gangster Squad, the director will be tackling an epic L.A.-set gangster picture through a digital camera lens. The director was kind enough to make the time to talk while prepping The Untouchables-esque epic, where we discussed the darkness of 30 Minutes or Less, grounding comedies, and his love for digital filmmaking:

In 2003 a man walked into a bank in Erie, PA with a bomb strapped to his chest. He claimed he was being forced to wear the explosive device and that if he didn’t succeed in robbing the bank his captors would detonate it. The police caught up with him in nearby parking lot, handcuffed him, and waited around (at a safe distance) for the bomb squad to arrive. They waited too long. As the man pleaded with police as to why no one was coming to remove the bomb it exploded, blew a hole through his chest, and killed him instantly. Sounds like ripe material for a comedy to me! 30 Minutes Or Less is the new film from Zombieland director, Ruben Fleischer, and while it isn’t actually based on the real life incident it has potential to be a very dark comedy indeed. Jesse Eisenberg plays a pizza delivery driver who has a bomb forcibly attached to his body and is then instructed to rob a bank. Aziz Ansari plays his best friend who tries to help him through this fairly difficult situation, and Danny McBride and Nick Swardson play the diabolical masterminds behind the plan. Check out the trailer and share your thoughts below.

What is The Week That Was? Nothing much, just a recap of all that was great and wonderful here on Film School Rejects over the course of the last week. And in a week such as this, when we reviewed controversial and conversation-worthy films from the minds of Ayn Rand, Wes Craven and Robert Redford, it’s important to take a look back at the best of what was written. That, and we interviewed Takashi Miike, so we’ve got that going for us. Also, I have access to the traffic stats. I know that all of you did not read every one of our best articles. What’s the deal with that, beloved readers? Lets right those wrongs on a pantsless Sunday afternoon. Start with the articles listed in this compilation and work your way back. Do it now.

The fact that a major studio made Your Highness is both reassuring and baffling. The commercial appeal is there, obviously, but this isn’t your standard comedic fare. David Gordon Green’s 80s fantasy throwback is filled with crudeness and audacity. This is a film with a child molesting puppet; isn’t that such a thing of genius which defines ambition? I believe so. A film like Your Highness is, as stated before, reassuring because we’re witnessing such talents as Green and co-writer/star Danny McBride getting to further explore their divisive sensibilities in a rather sizable studio film. Danny McBride didn’t just set out to make a parody or a satire, but a genuine adventure film that, which he admits, isn’t for everyone. Your Highness is not the pot comedy one expects, but a road movie about lovable and immature idiots. McBride’s Thadeous is a moron in all senses of the word, except an actual self-aware moron. There’s a charm to his baboon-like nature. Your Highness is almost a coming of age story, but about a grown, pot-smoking, and crude man. Here’s what Danny McBride had to say about getting a comedy with a large scope, not making a spoof, crafting lovable idiots, and the difficulty of practical effects:

Let’s play a game. I’m going to tell a joke, you decide if it’s funny. Ready? Why did the chicken cross the road? Balls. If you chortled at that, then have I got a movie for you. It’s called Your Highness, and in addition to a once ambitious director and a cast filled with actors who really should know better it features a script that never met a punchline it couldn’t replace with a swear word or a drug reference. Why build complicated gags when you can just say ‘fuck?’ Why give depth to your characters when you can just have them wear a severed cock around their neck? All the dirty words and phallic props in the world aren’t going to ruin a movie, but using them in place of real comedy, actual jokes, and smart writing sure as hell isn’t going to help. A king has two sons of opposite worth who could only be related in Hollywood. Fabious (James Franco) is heroic, righteous, and fabulously coiffed while his brother Thadeous (Danny McBride) is foul-mouthed, portly, and socially retarded. One of Fabious’s many adventures nets him a fair maiden named Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel, speaking barely a line or two more than she spoke in Avatar) who he plans to marry. Their happy day is spoiled when the evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux) kidnaps her with plans to use her virginal vagina as a dragon egg incubator. The two brother set off on a quest to rescue the maiden [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

This week, Fat Guy Kevin Carr spends a long day in the multiplex, checking out a variety of films from alcoholic romantic comedies to nature documentaries with elephants and orangutans. He drinks himself silly and hits on Greta Gerwig in Arthur, narrowly escapes being killed by ass-kicking teen assassin Hanna, narrowly escapes getting his arm bitten off by a tiger shark in Soul Surfer and peeps in on Natalie Portman undressing for a swim in Your Highness. Too bad she’s pregnant now, ‘cause Kevin just ain’t into that scene.

If you were twiddling your thumbs, getting all down heart by reading the marquee at your local theater, and wondering when the hell you’ll be able to feast your eyes on the theoretical comic genius of Pineapple Express 2 – be prepared to be disappointed. There are two things standing in the way. One is the reality of schedules. Now that Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Franco, and Danny McBride are getting phone calls every 10 seconds for new work, it makes it difficult to get the gang back together. Still, if Danny Ocean can bring a baker’s dozen together, these comedians can most likely make the time. The second thing is Evan Goldberg. The co-writer of Pineapple Express is incredibly hesitant to go down the sequel road because of the damage it could do if it failed. That damage most likely translates to their career prospects and to the memory of the characters, but it’s not a bad point. Some movies just aren’t made for sequels, and it’s nice to see a filmmaker giving some intense thought to it instead of jumping in blindly. On that same note, though, Goldberg should definitely take his time, and then decide to make the sequel. It would have fun characters on another wacky adventure, and there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it might be a better version of a Three Stooges movie than the actual planned Three Stooges movie. [Cinema Blend]

Slimy puppets with water pipes! Natalie Portman channeling Xena The Warrior Princess! An evil magician! This is definitely not the typical Medieval action adventure (except for the evil magician. That’s sort of par for the course). David Gordon Green is a director that takes chances, which should always be applauded. The trailer here for Your Highness is sort of a mixed bag, but the good parts are great, and the average parts aren’t exactly bad. Plus, it’ll be great to see Danny McBride attempt something out of his normal wheelhouse playing characters whose main motivations are scratching crotches and being mildly offensive. That last line of the trailer kills. Your Highness hits theaters April 8th, 2011, and you can see the trailer in even higher def at Apple.

Director David Gordon Green has come a long way in three years. 2007 marked his last indie drama before turning completely to the dark side with more popular, humorous, and immature fare like Pineapple Express and HBO’s Eastbound & Down. Next year sees his latest feature, Your Highness, and based on the trailer (seen after the jump) it looks like he plans on sitting in this niche for awhile longer.

Kenny Powers is the ultimate antihero. Powers is a man without self-awareness who lacks proper ethics and morals and sits right on the edge of narcissism. And yet despite his selfish and cruel antics, you like him. Powers is an idiot, but a likable idiot. Eastbound and Down is on a total free fall with very little genuine redemption and high points for Kenny. He’s mean-spirited, but unbeknown to the fact. The show is now heading into its second season, and it places Kenny in the ultimate playground for terror and laughs: Mexico. The first two episodes play on the possibilities you imagined, and hopefully we’ll see even more to come. A lot has changed this time around and there are things you all must be braced for. Here are the top ten things to know about Kenny Powers (straight from Jody Hill) and what to expect with the return of Eastbound and Down:

They’ll most likely have to change the name to Cop Out, but Danny McBride is announcing that he’ll re-team with his 30 Minutes or Less co-star Azis Ansari for a film about an Olympic athlete who “bangs” their characters’ girlfriends and the revenge that is brought down upon his head like a shot thrown by gold medalist Randy Barnes crashing down to earth. Simple premise. Men on a mission. But if Danny McBride’s character is anything short of a meek man who gets bullied a lot, count me uninterested. Seeing McBride play a crude loud mouth has gotten stale. Ansari’s involvement changes the game a bit, and fortunately we’ll get a sneak peek at the pair’s chemistry when they deliver pizzas together in 30 Minutes or Less. [MTV]

I’ve been looking forward to Despicable Me for a while; having seen trailers, the 3D animated film out of Universal looked like it had the potential to be a lot of fun. While I was far from unhappy with the final product, what seems increasingly to be a universal truth surfaced once again — all computer animated film fare is measured against the visual and storytelling juggernaut that is Pixar… and they remain the unwavering king of the mountain. Despicable Me is the story of Gru (Steve Carrell), a past-his-prime villain heavy on unsavory aspirations but lacking in execution. One day Gru learns that every baddie, himself included, have been left eating dust when a mystery evil genius steals one of the Great Pyramids. Not content to be outdone, Gru devises a plan to infiltrate a secret base, swipe their experimental shrink ray, and steal the moon.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from the camp of Kenny Powers, the machismo ball playing alter-ego of Danny McBride on the curveball HBO series Eastbound and Down. Perhaps there’s a good reason for that. The first season wasn’t exactly a smash hit, but it was generally well-received. And it did fairly well on DVD. So by the skin of its leathery balls, it has been picked up for a second season — a second season that will air starting in September.

No one knows what it is, so you have to judge whether or not it’s a good idea based on who’s involved.

Despite being rumored for every interesting project under the sun — including a potential directing job on Mission: Impossible IV — Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer seems to have found his next project.

After his success with Zombieland, director Ruben Fleischer has been on the minds of many a movie fan. He’s on the geek radar, if you will. And with that comes constant surveillance over his next project. And while we don’t know what it is yet, we can see that his options look good.

One of the things that I like most about this year’s overall South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival line-up is the diversity. And if there’s one thing you’ll see in this year’s panel and shorts lineups, it is just that. Diversity.

I have no idea what it stands for, but I assume it’s something like Landscaping and Produce Interrogator.