It’s hard to imagine "Harvey" with anyone but Jimmy Stewart as Elwood P. Dowd, the guy who befriended a 6 1/2-foot-tall invisible rabbit in the 1950 film version of Mary Chase’s play — which won a Pulitzer Prize, by the way.

But if anyone can do a remake, it would be Steven Spielberg, who plans to direct an upcoming film, a co-production of 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks. It’s the first film under DreamWorks’ new incarnation; the company will finance 50% through its new partner Reliance and distribute through Disney.

It’s funny how all these film companies are hooked in together now. You never see a movie produced solely by MGM or Paramount.

At any rate, I hope Spielberg gets somebody who can do justice to the role. I’m thinking Tom Hanks or Steve Carell. Anybody else strike you as a good candidate?

Image: Bauer-Griffin

Remember when family movies used to be good? I can’t even think of a great family movie in recent months or even years. Ok, the "Harry Potter" movies and a stand-out here and there, like "Up" or "Kung Fu Panda." But most family movies fall in the mediocre category, the kind you either forget about the next day or don’t even see at all.

Such is the case with "Aliens in the Attic," an ok movie, in general, but nothing that makes you go home and call your friends and tell them to get to the movie theater right now! Sometimes you get the feeling some of these movies are made solely to create little creatures that can be sold in the kids’ meals at Burger King.

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One of the tidbits to come out of the Traverse City Film Festival this past week is that Michael Moore and cohort Jeff Garlin (pictured) are organizing the Traverse City Comedy Arts Festival. That sounds like a blast, and a good next step in Traverse City’s festival phase.

Garlin is no stranger to comedy, having executive produced HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and been involved in many other projects. He said the festival will likely take place next spring and span a week, including movies, stand-up, sketch comedy and other entertainment.

Moore said if the festival goes well, he’ll start looking into a local book festival in fall 2010.

In some ways, I’m all over these types of projects, as they promote arts and culture. In another way, though, I hate to see my hometown crawling with people all year long. On the other hand, it’s definitely good for business and we don’t really get that many comedy films during the Traverse City Film Festival. .

Any thoughts on the Traverse City Comedy Arts Festival?

Image: Jeff Garlin, Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO

That’s a wrap for the 5th Annual Traverse City Film Festival, and it featured a great selection of films and some surprise guests, as well. I didn’t expect to see Patton Oswalt at the screening of "Big Fan," so that was fun. He’s a very funny guy.

Day Five was a mixed bag. First, my son and I saw "In the Loop," a BBC film directed by Armando Iannucci, whose credits include assorted TV shows, including "I’m Alan Partridge," "Lab Rats," "Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle," and "Genius."

"In the Loop" is a political comedy told in a documentary-style format. The main story is whether or not the U.S. President and the U.K. Prime Minister should back a war. But the action really takes place in the lower echelons. U.S. General Miller (James Gandolfini) and British Secretary of State Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) are not keen on a war, but after Simon accidentally backs military action on TV, he suddenly has lots of friends and fans in Washington, DC.

First of all, there’s a LOT of swearing and f-bombs in this movie. It’s not so much that I’m worried about my son – he’s almost 15 and can take it – but rather, *I* wasn’t that into it. It’s like HBO’s "Deadwood" – the swearing is actually distracting from the storyline. But other than that, this is a funny movie about politics, bureaucracy, and the stuff that goes on in the inner bowels of any government.

Then we saw Michael Moore’s "Roger & Me"; it’s the 20th anniversary of the documentary about Flint, Michigan, and Moore’s attempts to talk with Ford CEO Roger Smith about the decline of the auto industry. The movie holds up, and is just as relevant, if not more so, today.

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Somehow, casting Ashton Kutcher in a movie called "Spread" makes me just a little bit crazy. And judging by these clips, he’ll be the best thing about this movie. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Anne Heche; her role in HBO’s "Hung" sort of lies flat for me, and I wish they’d cast a different actress in this movie. But I’ll be checking it out anyway. Ashton Kutcher and all.

In theaters Aug. 14, 2009 and directed by David Mackenzie, "Spread" is being billed as a sex comedy about a womanizing guy and his jilted lover. It’s rated R for strong sexual content, nudity and language, and also stars Margarita Levieva, Sebastian Stan, and Sonia Rockwell.

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Jeff Daniels is one of those versatile actors who can do any role and do it well. Comedy, drama, musical, quirky, sad, romantic — you name it, he does it. In “The Answer Man,” he gets to do several of those things all in the same movie.

He plays Arlen Faber, a self-help guru who’s written scores of books on the “Me and God” brand during the past 20 years. But Arlen is crotchety and cynical, and basically just wants to be left alone from the millions of fans he has worldwide. That’s why he never does any public readings or reveals his true identity to anyone. Only his agent Terry Fraser (Nora Dunn) knows his true identity. Not even the mailman (Tony Hale) has a clue that the guy he’s delivering mail to all these years is the one and only Arlen Faber.

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