President Barack Obama inherited a mess, or so we’re endlessly told by Obama’s celebrity backers.

But the Commander in Chief apparently has enough time between fixing the economy, managing the war in Afghanistan and dealing with a near-nuclear Iran to send personal birthday greetings to a sitcom actress.

Obama fired off his best birthday cheer Jan. 9 to Zooey Deschanel, the adorable star of Fox’s “New Girl” sitcom.

Michelle and I send our warmest wishes for a happy birthday … I hope your day is filled with love and laughter, and I wish you all the best for good health and happiness in the year ahead.

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Paul Rudd is hardly an idiot. He’s a sly combination of leading man and comic goofball, but there’s nothing Rudd can do to salvage the 2011 comedy “Our Idiot Brother.” The film surrounds Rudd with comedy heavy hitters who take turns striking out for 90-odd minutes.

“Brother,” available this week on home video, tees up a story laden with comic potential. A lovable slacker (Rudd) imposes himself on his three dysfunctional sisters, all of whom could learn to embrace life as their ne’er do well brother does.

The film doesn’t play the “Idiot” card for all its worth, nor do we get the kind of droll humor indie films so often supply. Instead, it’s a predictable yarn that all but abandons both its star and terrific supporting players.

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Nice job…

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USA Today:

Stars have been belting out the national anthem before each game of the World Series. Country singers Scotty McCreery, Trace Adkins and Ronnie Dunn performed before Games 1, 2 and 3. And last night, Zooey Deschanel of Fox’s new hit show New Girl did the honors.

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ZOOEY DESCHANEL’S ‘NEW GIRL’ FIRST TV HIT OF THE SEASON 

Whether it’s on television or in the movies, Deschanel deserves to be a star. With so many cookie-cutter actresses out there, she really stands out. There’s a quality about her and a very real talent. Though I’ve never met her, I did get a chance to watch her work for a day on a film set and can testify that she’s every bit as charismatic and fetching in real life. And that voice … wow. 

WHAT?!?! MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS LOST A PART TO JAMIE FOXX? 

What was Quentin Tarantino thinking? Normally, I wouldn’t even come close to questioning the director’s normally inspired casting choices, but just the idea of Williams — who brought to life “The Wire’s” Omar, one of the greatest characters on the big screen or small — in the title role of Tarantino’s “Django Unchained,” makes me want to get in line for a ticket now.

Nothing against Jamie Foxx, but Williams is one of those once in a generation actors. Reportedly, Tarantino is writing a part in the film just for him. So that helps some.

Some. 

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“Our Idiot Brother” lives down to its title. The new comedy tells the story of a dysfunctional family dealing with their pot-smoking sibling, who stumbles through life thinking everyone should be as brutally honest and carefree as he is. Paul Rudd, who was great in 2009’s “I Love You, Man,” is completely wasted in this new film that may be one of the worst of 2011.

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Early on in “Brother,” Ned (Rudd) is arrested for selling marijuana to a police officer. The police officer is fully-uniformed and openly asks Ned about buying the illegal drug. I’m not sure why a police officer would try to sell drugs to someone while wearing his uniform but this officer believes that Ned is stupid enough to sell him pot.

He’s right.

After being released from prison, Ned starts living with family members. His ex-girlfriend has broken up with him and stolen his dog so he has nowhere else to go. Of course, Ned is more upset about losing his dog than his girl. He eventually moves in with his mother but later moves in with each of his sisters as well, who each have their own homes. One of his sisters is a married Mom (Emily Mortimer). Another one is a lesbian (Zooey Deschanel) living with her girlfriend, and his third sister (Elizabeth Banks) is an aspiring journalist who lives with a male roommate. The sisters share little in common except for their love for their dimwitted brother. Ned eventually becomes involved in each of their personal lives causing friction in their relationships with loved ones. Ned is brutally honest and as with other movies of this type, his honesty helps create issues for the people he loves.

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[Editor's Note: Script reviews of upcoming projects have been around for as long as there's been an Internet. Therefore it's no secret that a film can evolve into something quite different from its screenplay. Please keep in mind that this article represents a look at a particular script and not the final product.]

They say exposing Hollywood’s liberal sucker punches is like a drug, and Big Hollywood’s secret script source had just handed one over that was practically ticking:  The Adjustment Bureau, coming out in March.  John Nolte ran down the situation for me:  Zinn-loving Hollywood half-wit Matt Damon is the star.  He plays a liberal politician.  And since it’s a fantasy, the liberal politician is the hero.

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This could have been the H-Bomb of sucker punch movies.  I knew that if I didn’t handle it just right it could detonate and splatter me with razor sharp shards of progressive clichés and jagged fragments of left-wing memes.  “Suit me up,” I said, “I’m going in.”

Sweat collected on my furrowed brow.  I cut the red wire.  Nothing.  I cut the blue wire.  Nothing.   I had defused a sucker punch dud.   

I was actually let down.  Where was the thrill?  I felt like trotting over to Safeway and acting bewildered by all the choices in the cereal aisle.

Sure, I’m disappointed – you don’t need me if a movie doesn’t treat half its audience like borderline morons.  But The Adjustment Bureau still has some important lessons – like how to be a liberal, make movies according to your vision, and still not gratuitously alienate potential moviegoers.

First, a quick look at the plot.  We’re not here to blow the lid off of the script’s surprises, so if you want more detail it’s probably lurking out there on the web.  In short, the story involves the aforementioned Matt Damon as a liberal congressman with a fateful destiny that an unexpected infatuation threatens to derail.  The infatuee is a quirky ballet dancer – she’s wacky in a kind of “Look at me! I’m wearing Doc Martens with this vintage prom dress!” kind of way that is only slightly less tiresome on-screen than it is in real life.  (more…)

We know – because we’ve been told – that love is many things. Unrequited love, however, is only a few things, mainly painful and baffling. But mostly baffling, because long after the pain ebbs the confusion remains: Why didn’t she love me?  In director Marc Webb’s feature debut, the clever and charming “500 Days of Summer,” that’s the question a despairing Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) asks as he looks back and tries to put the pieces of a broken relationship together in a way that might help to make sense of it all.

Like the fevered recollections of the newly heartsick, the plot leaps back and forth through the now-haunting highs and inexplicable lows of Tom’s 500 day relationship with Summer (Zooey Deschanel), a girl he met at the office, a girl who warned up front that she’s not wired for any kind of permanent relationship. Foolishly, instead of taking that personally, Tom might have made the mistake of taking her at her word and goes all in, sure he’ll be the first to make his way through Summer’s natural defense, the ethereal aloofness that both draws him and constantly keeps him off guard.   (more…)

Big news for Top Chef enthusiasts: Bravo’s spin-off series featuring celebrity chefs competing for charity debuts Wednesday night at 10pm ET.  I still have a bad taste in my mouth from last season, largely due to Hosea’s undeserving triumph, so I’m eager to see if the cooking franchise will redeem itself.

Here’s the skinny on Top Chef Masters, courtesy of the LA Times:

The cooking competition spinoff — this one featuring “world-renowned chefs” — has recruited a star-studded lineup of guest judges.

They include Neil Patrick Harris, Zooey Deschanel, Morgan Spurlock, “Lost” writers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, “Flipping Out’s” Jeff Lewis, and all of the previous “Top Chef” winners. Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons will also appear. (more…)