You Know Nothing!

Potentially good news for Albert Brooks fans: His next picture, which I hope will be released under its current title Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, sounds pretty damn funny. Brooks will once again be playing a character named "Albert Brooks," and will go to India on assignment for the U.S. government in order to develop a comedy strategy for the war on terrorism. From an early review by one of Harry Knowles' agents:

Mr. Brooks appears somewhat incredulous. He even stops the meeting to point out that India is largely Hindu, not Muslim. To which the one of the suits responds that there are 150 million Muslims in India, and Fred Thomson says, "Is that enough for ya?"

Albert Einstein has been known to stuff even his turkeys with some good gags (like Steven Wright's "Stan Spielberg" scene in The Muse), so one joke may not a movie make. But he seems to be back with some Real Life mojo, and so I remain condemned to hope's delusive mine.

Jai al-Leno, the Taliban's "Minister of Monologue," lays down the jokes here.

Bad News Update: A person I am not at liberty to identify, but whose taste and probity are beyond reproach, has seen a screening and pronounces the film so bad it probably won't be released.