For its first  sequel, the newly-minted Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs franchise has decided to take things in a slightly different (and tastier) direction. Instead of putting Flint Lockwood (voice of Bill Hader) and his lovely lady Sam Sparks (Anna Faris) back into harm’s (meatball’s?) way in another town besieged by giant food, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 has organically grown its fresh story, piling on to the logic of the first film in a clever new way. In the new film, Flint has joined The Live Corp Company, run by his idol Chester V (Will Forte) and his “highly evolved orangutan with a human brain” Barb (Kristen Schaal), and he’s happily working away, unaware that his disaster-prone FLDSMDFR machine is actually still running, and it’s evolved quite spectacularly. The FLDSMDFR is now churning out food-animal hybrids, food-imals, and as totally adorable as some of them may be (seriously, they’re cute), not all of them are just around to be squishy-cute (like the tacodiles probably!), and they’re taking over Flint’s island hometown of Swallow Falls. USA Today got the exclusive on some adorable new images (via ComingSoon) of some of the food-imals in the new film, which you can check out after the break. While they are all both cute and inventive, if we had to choose a favorite, it’s easily those pudgy, butter-tongued baked potato hippos (they are called, wait for it, Hippotatomus). Good God, those things are charming. There are also delicious looks at Bananostrich, Cantalope,

What is Casting Couch? It’s a casting roundup that’s knee deep in nostalgia as it reports on movies based on comic books and toys from its childhood. Due to a little bit of inspiration from the Internet, Michael Bay gave Mark Wahlberg a pretty big part in his upcoming fourth Transformers movie. It’s always been understood that Wahlberg was playing a placeholder character though, who would pass the franchise off to a couple of young kids who would be pushed into the forefront as it went forward. Well, today Bay announced that he’s found the male half of this new duo. Apparently little known Irish actor Jack Reynor is his guy. Bay says that he saw Reynor in an Irish movie called What Richard Did, which a quick Googling tells me has nothing to do with acting opposite giant robots, so let’s all hope he knows what he’s talking about.

As if the news that The Descendants director Alexander Payne was going back to his filmmaking roots and making a low-key road trip movie set in Nebraska wasn’t exciting enough, when the news broke that he had cast Bruce Dern and Will Forte as his main characters, a curmudgeonly old man and his estranged son, suddenly Nebraska really started to get interesting. Which is probably the first time anyone has ever expressed that sentiment, ever.

It can be difficult making friends once you’re past a certain age because the older people get the more set in their ways they become. Youth offers any number of bonding experiences that bring people together from grade school up through college, but once you enter the real world those opportunities start to dwindle. Husbands and wives, children, jobs, existing friends…these things tend to limit the time you have for meeting new people, becoming familiar with them and building new relationships. Past the age of thirty a catalyst of some kind is required to draw people together on short notice. Something big is good. Something of planetary importance is even better. Evan (Ben Stiller) is constantly on the lookout for friends and has formed more clubs than Tracy Flick ever dared to dream. He keeps busy with running club and Spanish for Senior Citizens, but when one of his Costco employees is viciously murdered Evan decides to form a Neighborhood Watch. Franklin (Jonah Hill) failed every test the police department threw at him, so the opportunity to join a “vigilante squad” appeals to him greatly. Bob (Vince Vaughn) is a recent transplant to town with his wife and teen daughter, and he jumps at the chance to hang out with the guys. And Jamarcus (Richard Ayoade) is simply a responsible newcomer to our American shores. Together they form a local neighborhood watch. Together they will decide Earth’s fate as they discover and attempt to stop an alien invasion. Together, if

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.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s the day’s best movie news and links exploding onto your computer screen. Can you handle that? MSN has debuted a new image of two new characters from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. “Two of the youngest Dwarves, Fili (Dean O’Gorman) and Kili (Aidan Turner) have been born into the royal line of Durin and raised under the stern guardianship of their uncle, Thorin Oakensheild. Neither has ever travelled far, nor ever seen the fabled Dwarf City of Erebor. For both, the journey to the Lonely Mountain represents adventure and excitement. Skilled fighters, both brothers set off on their adventure armed with the invincible courage of youth, neither being able to imagine the fate which lies before them.” Quick, get me a Tolkein nerd to translate that. Are these guys cool, or not? Because they look cool.

Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim are a couple of goofy weirdos known best for their insane Adult Swim show Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!. Also, they’ve done quite a few memorable bits for Funny or Die. Their humor is absurdist, their show is short, low budget, and very hand crafted; and they’re one of those things that either you find funny or you just don’t. Personally, I enjoy a lot of what they do, and a lot of other people must too, because somebody has given them a bunch of money to make a feature. Check out the cast: Zach Galifianakis, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Robert Loggia, Jeff Goldblum, Will Forte, and William Atherton. Yes, that’s right, THE Robert Loggia; the guy from the orange juice commercial. Either this cast is making you roll your eyes in disgust right now, or it’s making you jump for joy. If you’re sick of watching these guys goof around you should probably stop reading. Just move on to something else. But if you’re like me and you love most of these stupid jerks, continue on to read some quotes from Eric.

Remember a few years ago when we reported on Jason Sudeikis planning a flick called A Good Old Fashioned Orgy? Well, we do. Why? Because Publisher-in-Chief Neil Miller forces us to memorize the site and read it to him as he falls asleep. It doesn’t ever come in handy until a day like today. A bit over two years later, Sony and Samuel Goldwyn have teamed to snag US distribution rights for the movie. That gets this story of one final party (which Sudeikis’s character hopes to turn into a giant orgy) one step closer to getting made. Sudeikis is a great, underrated talent from an otherwise dreary SNL line-up. Plus, according to The Hollywood Reporter, he’ll be joined by Leslie Bibb, Will Forte, Lake Bell, Martin Starr (Bill!), Nick Kroll, Lindsay Sloane (The Other Guys), Lucy Punch (Dinner For Schmucks), Michelle Borth (TiMER), and David Koechner. This will be the first feature film as writer/directors for television veterans Peter Huyck and Alex Gregory.

When Jack insists that Liz see a therapist to deal with her relationship issues, she instead finds a willing ear in Kenneth, who despite his good intentions, develops his own neuroses from being unable to handle Liz’s emotional baggage. Kenneth in turn dumps his re-surfaced issues on Jack, who finds that his mental vice is unable to handle the burden after his daddy issues manifest in full force.  This doesn’t bode well for Tracy, who’s taking fatherly advice from Jack on how to financially cut off his son, who is dumping huge amounts of Tracy’s money into a failing themed restaurant called Staples. Meanwhile, Jenna has to re-evaluate her relationship with Paul (Will Forte) when the question he pops on their 6-month anniversary is not the kind where he asks her to make a sex tape they can leak online, but the kind where he wants her to meet his parents.

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.

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.

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.

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

After the contents of Don Geiss’ will are announced, Jack finds himself the owner of his ex-mentor’s peacock, Argus. Meanwhile, Liz must not only help settle the dispute between Dot Com and Tracy over who will be Grizz’s best man, but she must also uncover what secret Jenna’s new boyfriend, Paul (Will Forte) might be hiding.

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.

Anyone who said they saw a big screen production in the future of Will Forte’s MacGruber sketch from Saturday Night Live, would probably be lying…or they would probably be Lorne Michaels. I don’t know if I was ever on board for this one in the beginning… but as soon as I saw Jorma Taccone was attached as writer and director, I was pretty much sold.

As SNL reaches the zenith of existence by abandoning sketches midway through, an icon of our American fighting forces is being featured in a new non-cursing trailer for his mullet-filled movie. MacGruber, in trailer form, has arrived.