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The Morning Roundup: The Office Spinoff, Downfall Director Goes Irish, & Larry David Rots Your Brain

Written by: Lance Carmichael, CC2K Staff Writer

ImageA few details about the long-gestating U.S. Office spinoff have leaked out. And by "a few," I mean one. One of the stars will be Aziz Ansari (pictured). If you're like me, you've seen this guy play Mary Kate Olsen in the viral video sensatiatory clip with Will Arnett. And that according to the head and tail of said clip, he's involved with a show called Human Giant on MTV that you've never seen and have never heard anything else about.

 

 

But then again, maybe you're not like me.

Other than that, there's not much else to go on. The Variety article makes it sound like US Office showrunner Greg Daniels and his posse are still sifting through ideas:

Despite early speculation that at least one "Office" character will segue to the new show, that's unlikely at this point.

Instead, the show could potentially be a "planted spinoff," in which characters are first introduced on "The Office" before moving on to the new series (think "Mork & Mindy," which morphed from one episode of "Happy Days"). It's just as possible that the show won't be a spinoff at all (which could impact who's involved with the show), but a wholly separate series in the same comedic vein as "The Office."

 

New York University neuroscientists monitored the brain activity of people watching different movie clips, including a few from Hitchcock, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, and some good old Curb Your Enthusiasm. Why did they do this? Um….

Anyway, the basic results:

  • The Hitchcock episode evoked similar responses across all viewers in over 65 percent of the neocortex, indicating a high level of control on viewers' minds;
  • High ISC was also extensive (45 percent) for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly;
  • Lower ISC was recorded for Curb Your Enthusiasm (18 percent)

Future candidate for lowest-brain-activity-ever inducer 2012, Roland Emmerich's follow-up to 10,000 B.C., has announced it's female lead. Are you ready for it? Amanda Peet! I leave you to fall to one knee, cover your eyes, and contemplate the artistic heights that will be coming to a theater near you next summer.

 

Variety reports that the dude that directed Downfall--which was a decent movie about the last days in Hitler's bunker that got a second life as one of the funniest Youtube clips ever (IMHO)–is making a movie about "The Troubles" called Five Minutes in Heaven. Take it away, anonymous Variety scribe:

Project, which is shooting on location in Northern Ireland, tells the story of two men wracked by the violence that plagued Northern Ireland from the late 1960s through to the peace process in 1998 and how they attempt to come to terms with the Troubles' aftermath.

 

And finally, I couldn't resist showing you this (found on Dailykos ):

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