The end of the world doesn't seem like ripe material for a romantic comedy, but here goes: In Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Steve Carell and Keira Knightley star as strangers who maybe -- just maybe -- find themselves in similar straits after it's announced that an asteroid will collide with the Earth. Accompanying by a ringing indie rock soundtrack and a delightfully morbid string of jokes, they'll attempt to navigate the waters of dreams deferred and unresolved midlife crises while trying to avoid thinking about the fiery rock above them. Of course, there's no indication that Carell and Knightley will fall for each other -- in fact, she seems to be trying to reunite him with his long-lost love. But you know how these things are, and frequently go.

The Oscar nominations were released yesterday with plenty of buzz and even some surprises -- apparently a 48% Rotten Tomatoes score is enough to get you into the running for the most prestigious award in American filmmaking. (I'm just going to give Stephen Daldry the benefit of the doubt and assume he was just focusing on making the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremonies the best ever.) But like any year, the nominee field had its fair share of head-scratchers and snubs. Some burned actors chose to express their chagrin via the modern man's haiku, Twitter. 

“Dammit, it’s a mojito with the guhhhh taken out. Me likey."

It's Labor Day Weekend, marking the end of a summer that just began, like, two weeks ago. Say all you will about how great it will be to wear sweaters again, but you know your life will be filled with darkness and sorrow for the next six months. Best to start off the season of death with a few hearty laughs, which is exactly what comedian, actor, and writer Patton Oswalt will deliver with the debut of his Showtime special Patton Oswalt Finest Hour, which will be shown for the first time on Monday night (September 5) at 10:00.

Brilliant stand-up comedian Patton Oswalt might be returning to network television. Fox is reportedly in talks with Oswalt to develop a single-camera comedy series for the network. Scott Aukerman (Mr. Show, Comedy Death-Ray) will team up with the funnyman to write and produce the currently untitled show, which will star Oswalt as a man who's recently separated from his wife of 20 years. You know what that means: Awkward and probably hilarious sex scenes!

● Ivanka Trump's stalker unloaded a bunch of real talk in a statement: "Basically I was sending some twitters and emails dude. Some internet bullshit. I just wrote her, I said, 'I want to marry you.' I said, 'Celebrity Apprentice sucks.'" [Daily Intel] ● Columbia University's valedictorian was caught plagiarizing a joke, in full, from well-known comedian Patton Oswalt, who outed the overachiever on Twitter. [ABC] ● A man spent 24-hours inside a Starbucks and all he got was 10,000 calories. [Zug]

Writer-director Robert D. Siegel admires the faithful. Both his script for The Wrestler, and now his directorial debut, Big Fan, focus on men whose dreams have bankrupted every aspect of their lives -- except the spiritual. His films would likely be overlooked art-house material if these muted Christian allegories weren’t so intermittently corny, droll and mawkishly sentimental. Everyone, after all, loves an underdog.

Word of mouth on Watchmen has been so negative since the film's release last Friday, that even I -- a fan of the graphic novel -- am wondering if I'll ever find the motivation to see it before it leaves multiplexes. Friends (Alan Moore faithfuls and plebeians alike) have gotten me so bummed about the supposed lack of suspense, the fight scenes, the crap acting, and the almost three-hour runtime. My only reason for seeing the movie now is to check out its most preposterous aspect: that infamous sex scene. Sensing this rapidly spreading vitriol, two people -- one with a strong connection to the film, and one who feels strongly connected to it -- have taken to the interwebs to plead with us, go watch Watchmen!

There are so many movies screening at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City this year that it's nearly impossible to choose ten that are most buzzworthy. I say nearly impossible, because I just pulled it off.