Whether he’s making web shorts with his fellow Lonely Island members Akiva Schaffer and Andy Samberg, (formerly) writing for NBC’s long-running sketch show Saturday Night Live, or directing cult favorite films like MacGruber, Jorma Taccone is always finding ways to keep busy. It almost seems like he enjoys getting paid to make funny stuff all the time, or something. While everybody clearly still enjoys his past work on SNL and the web, it seems like the really big bucks must be in the movies, because more and more it appears that the man is turning to feature film directing as a way to fill up his work calendar. Earlier this year we heard that he had been attached to direct an Image Comics property called The Great Unknown, which is a story about a deluded, self-proclaimed genius on a quest to discover how all of his first-rate ideas are being stolen on a worldwide level. And now we have word from THR that he’s been attached to direct yet another film, this one called Spy Guys.

I’ve got a better idea: yes fucking way. Jorma Taccone‘s MacGruber didn’t really make a big splash when it opened back in the spring of 2010 after a riotous premiere at SXSW (fine, it tanked), but the action comedy has proven to have the kind of staying power and cult appeal that only outstanding comedies can garner. To put it simply – the movie is funny, but it gets to be hilarious after multiple viewings. Of course, with Will Forte‘s idiot ex-special operative always down to blow things up, could there possibly be a sequel to MacGruber on the way? Maybe? Please? Well, according to an awesome exclusive over at ScreenCrush, who recently sat down with Taccone, the answer is yes. As far as details, they are slim, but Taccone did reveal that “it would be me, Will and John [Solomon] writing it again. Every time I hang out with Will, we talk about all our cool ideas for the sequel. We have the idea for it and we have a title, but I won’t tell you what it is.” He also let on that they “don’t want to jump the shark that soon” when it comes to a MacGruber and Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig) baby. Taccone did, however, share that the next MacGruber would take place at Christmas, just like his favorite film Die Hard.

Alexander Payne probably achieved his greatest level of success and recognition after casting a huge movie star, George Clooney, in his most recent film, The Descendants. Given the taste of mainstream acceptance that this director of pitch-black dramatic comedies got by working with a well-known name, you might think that he would be tempted to go back to the well and snag more big stars to play the father/son duo in his upcoming road movie, Nebraska. It seems like we should have been hearing rumors over the past few months that he was courting Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Douglas, or something of the like. Not Payne though, who seems to be wholly concerned with finding the right actors to fit the parts, and if a report from Deadline Benkelman is to be believed, he’s found an off-the-beaten-path duo that look on paper like they could make for a delightful pair. The report says that Payne has been meaning to make Nebraska his next film for quite some time, but he didn’t want to move things forward until he could find the right actor for the father role. For the longest time he was fixated on Gene Hackman, but that screen legend’s continued retirement made his casting an impossibility. Payne feels like he’s found his man now though, in Bruce Dern, and he also wants Saturday Night Live alum Will Forte to play the son.

There’s maybe never been any other film that looked as bad in its advertising and went on to be as deeply loved as MacGruber. People are into that movie big time. Which is impressive, because it manages to get tons of laughs despite being built on a pretty thin premise. You have to chalk a big portion of it’s success up to director Jorma Taccone, who has served as a writer and director on Saturday Night Live since 2005, and is a member of The Lonely Island (you know, those digital shorts guys) alongside Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer. He’s a talented fellow, and any future projects he works on should be considered big news.

Thanks to the talents of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, the label “spoof” has lost all respect in the cinematic world. Often credited as “two of the writers of Scary Movie” (both as a joke and warning sign), Friedberg and Seltzer devolved the spoof film using an arsenal of pop culture references, bathroom humor and non sequiturs. Keeping it classy was never the goal. While their rampage through genre and cultural phenomena may never end, spoofing doesn’t have to live with shame either. Plenty of filmmakers have figured out ways to satirize the movie world and tell their own stories at the same time — it’s the movie-going public that’s afraid to use the dreaded s-word. Let’s suck it up and admit the truth: these ten films are hilarious, well-made and spoofs through and through:

It’s that time of the year again: that brief span of time in between Christmas and New Year’s when journalists, critics, and cultural commentators scramble to define an arbitrary block of time even before that block is over with. To speculate on what 2010 will be remembered for is purely that: speculation. But the lists, summaries, and editorials reflecting on the events, accomplishments, failures, and occurrences of 2010 no doubt shape future debate over what January 1-December 31, 2010 will be remembered for personally, nostalgically, and historically. How we refer to the present frames how it is represented in the future, even when contradictions arise over what events should be valued from a given year. In an effort to begin that framing process, what I offer here is not a critical list of great films, but one that points out dominant cultural conversations, shared trends, and intersecting topics (both implicit and explicit) that have occurred either between the films themselves or between films and other notable aspects of American social life in 2010. As this column attempts to establish week in and week out, movies never exist in a vacuum, but instead operate in active conversation with one another. Thus, a movie’s cultural context should never be ignored. So, without further adieu, here is my overview of the Top 10 topics, trends, and events of the year that have nothing to do with the 3D debate.

I know, I know… very few of you actually saw MacGruber in the theater. I know… waaaaay more people have seen the MacGruber sketches on Saturday Night Live than even considered seeing this movie. I know… less than $9 million domestic box office. But this is bound to be a hit with a cult following on home video. Trust me.

Join us each week as Rob Hunter takes a look at new DVD releases and gives his highly unqualified opinion as to which titles are worth BUYing, which are better off as RENTals, and which should be AVOIDed at all costs. And remember, these listings and category placements are meant as informational conversation starters only. But you can still tell Hunter how wrong he is in the comment section below. This week sees the release of one sexy old lady’s finest hour (or twenty five hours) with Prime Suspect, as well as lesser fare like Solitary Man, the fifth season of Supernatural, MacGruber, Being Michael Madsen, the abomination that is Killers and more! See all of this week’s relevant DVD releases after the jump.

This week, on a very special episode of Reject Radio, we talk with Mystery Team director Dan Eckman about piracy, hot women casting, and what the cool kids are wearing for Halloween this year.

The two, big movies this weekend underperformed, one much more than the other, while Iron Man 2 stays right on schedule. Also, a new, limited release surprised everyone with a nearly $5000 per screen average.

This week, Fat Guy Kevin Carr hands out grades to Shrek: The Final Chapter 3D, MacGruber and Human Centipede.

Our non-stop coverage of MacGruber appears to be coming to a stop. This is interview two of two from my time spent with the principle cast and creatives on the film during their trip to Austin during SXSW.

To be honest, we were just way too busy positing alternate actresses to replace Megan Fox in Transformers 3 that we had not time to think about who might actually end up in the movie. This and more in today’s B-Roll.

I had a chance to sit down along with a group of journalists at SXSW with stars Will Forte and Kristen Wiig. Among the topics for the day: shooting a sex scene in a 100-degree room and trying not to burst into laughter, the development of these characters from short-form to feature film, the prospect of a Gilly movie and Will Forte’s unique relationship with Maya Rudolph’s newborn daughter.

Kevin gives his lukewarm review of the new Shrek movie while Neil shows some 80s action movie love for MacGruber! The Fat Guys also promise to play a listener voice mail, then reneg on that promise (they’re awesome like that), then take a look at the gruesome and controversial Human Centipede.

This is it, folks. The weekend we’ve all been waiting for. The answers are finally going to be revealed to the world. Is Donkey really the smoke monster? Who will Fiona choose between Shrek and Puss in Boots? Will Lord Farquaad make a surprise appearance at the last minute and take out everyone with sticks of dynamite lifted from the Black Rock? All of this and more will finally be answered in the final installment, Shrek Forever After.

Your daily recommended allowance of random movie stuff, stories that fell through the cracks, and news you can’t use.

It’s that time again. Every year, Film School Rejects is looked to by readers the world over to be the guiding light for summer movie-going. What can we say? We just have a knack for it. And this summer, we’re excited…

Universal Pictures has released yet another red band trailer for MacGruber, the Saturday Night Live sketch turned badass action movie that made its unfinished debut at SXSW this year.

Bad guy steals nuclear weapon. Government calls in a top secret operative. A Saturday Night Live sketch is stretched to its limits.