The trailer for Shopgirl

• "Based on Steve Martin's bestselling novella, Shopgirl, is a funny and poignant story of love in the modern age. The film catches a glimpse inside the lives of three very different people on diverse paths, but all in search of the same thing. Mirabelle (Claire Danes) is a 'plain Jane' overseeing the rarely frequented glove counter at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills. An artist struggling to keep up with even the minimum payment on her credit card and student loans, she keeps to herself until a rich, handsome fifty something named Ray Porter sweeps her off her feet. Simultaneously, Mirabelle is being pursued by Jeremy, a basic bachelor who's not quite as cultured and successful as Ray. When fate steps in, the outcome may not always be a storybook ending, because in the end - it was life."

It appears that you can have Elisha Cuthbert come to your Vegas Hotel Room for $47. (This is an actual handbill distributed by hand in Las Vegas)

The week they returned to the theaters. The movie industry finds an unlikely savior.

• Preliminary estimates show that the largely illusory slump is over. Led by Fantastic Four, the top twelve films grossed $141 million, compared to $138 million in the post-4th weekend last year, and $136 million the year before.
• This year's #1 (Fantastic Four) beat last year's #1 (Spidey 2). This year's #2 (War of the Worlds) beat last year's #2 (Anchorman). This year's two new films scored a short-handed goal against last year's three new films, $66m to $48m.
• Despite a fecalpile of scathing reviews, Fantastic Four exceeded expectations by more than a third
• Seven of the eight top holdover films did better than expected.
• There were only two disappointments, both reflecting the fact that people are not in a mood for dark-toned movies at the moment. War of the Worlds dropped 52% from last weekend to finish below expectations, and the new Jennifer Connolly scarefest finished substantially below the Weekend Warrior's prediction. (Of course, that could be the result of an excessively optimistic prediction rather than underperformance from the film itself. Predicting the numbers for a film's first week is a very difficult task.)
• Just off the top twelve list, that G-rated penguin film totally kicked ass, grossing more in 64 theaters than Shark Boy grossed in 1000!!! The penguin movie had about the same average per screen as Fantastic Four.

A Daily Show classic: President George Bush debates against Governor George Bush

The trailer for Junebug

• A dealer in "outsider" art travels from Chicago to North Carolina to meet her new in-laws, challenging the equilibrium of their middle class Southern home. On a road trip to close a deal with a reclusive North Carolina artist, George finally resolves to introduce his urbane Yankee wife Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz) to his Southern family: prickly mother Peg (Celia Weston); taciturn father Eugene (Scott Wilson); cranky brother Johnny (Ben McKenzie), who has always suffered in the shadow of golden boy George; and Johnny's very pregnant, childlike wife Ashley (Amy Adams), who is instantly awestruck by her Yankee sister-in-law.

The trailer for Undiscovered

• "Set in the world of up-and-coming artists, 'Undiscovered' is a heartfelt and comic film that tells the story of an aspiring model who falls in love with a struggling musician when they suddenly cross paths on a NY subway train. Having achieved success as a NY model, Brier (Pell James) decides to move to L.A. to launch an acting career. With the support of her acerbic agent and sometimes surrogate mom, Carrie (Carrie Fisher), Brier lands a spot in a highly sought after acting class where she befriends another would-be actress, Clea (Ashlee Simpson). While out on the town discovering the music scene, Brier again crosses paths with Luke (Steven Strait), a singer/songwriter who has been toiling for years without a record deal. Brier and Clea decide to help Luke and unbeknownst to him, they set out to create some L.A. style hype to get him noticed. As Luke's profile rises, so do the demands of his budding new career. When Luke and Brier can't hide the spark that was always there, they both discover that the price of fame may be higher than anyone expected."

"NASA NO LONGER REMEMBERS WHY IT LAUNCHED SPACE PROBE" ... Purpose of Decade-old Space Mission Eludes Scientists

Astro Pic o' the Day In the Center of the Trapezium, within Orion's Great Belt.

Lara Flynn Boyle will return to series television when she joins the cast of the NBC drama 'Las Vegas' this fall.

"BRITAIN and America are secretly preparing to withdraw most of their troops from Iraq - despite warnings of the grave consequences for the region, the SUNDAY MAIL in UK is reporting."

This is actually a quote from the National Weather Service: "Hurricane DENNIS DEEPENING AT A RATE THAT BORDERED ON INSANE." I sure don't like the sound of that.

Google Maps gets even more sophisticated with Google Earth in 3D.

FilmJerk's indispensable Early Report for July 9

Strippers arrested for spanking a truck driver on his birthday

"Nike is using photos of Kobe Bryant for the first time since his arrest two years ago for an alleged assault on a female employee at a Colorado resort"

"Jackie Chan says the third installment of 'Rush Hour' is stuck in neutral because co-star Chris Tucker is making too many demands."

BBC comedy show to debut online