British rock journalist Nick Kent perfectly summed up pop music by nothing how the best rock combines the Byronic and the moronic. That uneasy mix of poetry and poses, swagger and stagger, makes rock and roll ripe for mockery -- and, with Walk Hard arriving on DVD this week, what better time to name a few great comedies that have mocked rock and punctured the pretensions of pop?

1) Walk Hard

Starring John C. Reilly as roots-rocker Dewey Cox, Walk Hard doesn't just stick a foot out to trip up Walk the Line; it also manages to spoof The Beatles, Brian Wilson, Elvis and much more. (Indeed, Walk Hard follows such a carefully-crafted timeline as it travels through pop music history, it almost feels like a second take on the brilliant, underseen Grace of My Heart, another film that spanned decades through musical styles.) With a brilliant supporting cast and Reilly's cement-headed self-centered performance in the lead role, Walk Hard is that rare parody that nonetheless still loves what it mocks.

Best Line: "Wait a minute, son: Dewey Cox has to think about his whole life before he performs. ..."

This week, there's a few mainstream films to check out that won't be hitting this column. Go to Erik's review for a taste of There Will Be Blood, and check out mine for a little bit of Lions for Lambs.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
It's hard to remember that spoofs used to be more than just bad movies that we either ignore completely, or watch when we want to check out a really bad movie. Current incarnations in the genre have left a large door of opportunity open, begging for satire that is both smart and entertaining -- one that constructs a funny plan, rather than a blanketed and desperate grab for laughs. It's not surprising that Judd Apatow was the man to make it happen.

But it's not just about J.A., or director Jake Kasdan. It's an entire film full of today's big names in comedy. John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Kristen Wiig and other SNL vets, and my personal favorite -- the best group of Beatles to come since the actual Beatles: Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Justin Long, and Jason Schwartzman.

The parody subgenre once gave us comedy classics like Young Frankenstein, Airplane!, Top Secret!, and The Naked Gun. This glorious tradition has been disgracefully violated in recent years by the likes of the cleverly titled Epic Movie and Date Movie. (As for the latter -- a spoof of comedies? Outstanding idea!) Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, a parody of musical biopics like Walk the Line and Ray, marks the pretty damn triumphant return of the spoof film. The movie also marks the return of Judd Apatow, and I'm pleased to report that Walk Hard completes a 2007 hat trick for the man. It easily joins Knocked Up and Superbad to form the unholy trinity of the year's superior comedies.

Starting in fictional rock star Dewey Cox's boyhood Tennessee home and ending some sixty years later after his bouts with women, booze, and pills, the film traces the blood pumping rise...of Cox. (First and last Cox joke, I promise.) The script gets Cox making music quickly, and good thing. I'm not sure why the first ten minutes of Walk Hard were released online as part of the marketing plan, they're easily the weakest scenes of the film. But once John C. Reilly enters the picture, portraying Cox at age fourteen despite being 25 years older (a dig at Kevin Spacey in Beyond the Sea?), it's pretty much smooth sailing.

The Judd Apatow gang always markets the crap out of their movies, and the promotional blitz is in full force for their latest, Walk Hard. Posters are everywhere, they released the "R" Rated international trailer to the internets, they took out a very cool "For Your Consideration" ad in The Hollywood Reporter, and John C. Reilly is rocking the country on the "Cox Across America" tour, which I was lucky enough to check out this week. And now you can watch the first ten minutes of the film online! Head over to http://rocklikecox.com/myspace/ to enjoy. If you figure it costs ten bucks to see a movie, and the movie is 100 minutes -- this is one dollar's worth of entertainment for free!

You have to verify your age to see the clip -- the film is Rated "R" after all, but this ten minutes is strictly "PG." Sorry, folks. (By the way, has anyone under the age of 18 ever been dissuaded by an age verification? You can enter any birthdate you want! It's not like they're asking for a thumb print or something! Fools! Let's move on.) The clip mainly focuses on Dewey as a boy, played by Conner Rayburn, and it builds to a 14 year-old Dewey's declaration "Just wait 'till you see what happens now." I must say, I only laughed out loud once during the clip -- the line "How are we gonna follow that?" got to me -- but I have a feeling this is going to be a very funny movie. I'm checking it out Wednesday night, and I'm muy excitedo. How about you guys, thoughts on the opening scenes?

Monday night I had the privilege of seeing Dewey Cox -- better known as John C. Reilly -- live at The Roxy ("Coxy") Theater on the Sunset Strip. Cox and his band The Hard Walkers put on a hell of a show, tearing through all the hits from Cox's glorious career -- soon to be given the big screen treatment in Walk Hard. Reilly came out of the gate ready to rock, and stayed in character all night. He came off like a cruder, nastier Elvis Presley -- guzzling tequila, repeatedly calling us all "motherf***ers, making a downright overwhelming amount of "Cox" jokes, and asking a woman in the audience if he could grab her breast. And grab he did!

But what about the music? Cox performed nearly every track from the Walk Hard soundtrack, and considering this was his "first performance since 1984," he was in fine voice. Reilly dropped out of tune for a song or two but on the whole he sounded pretty terrific, especially on the strangely affecting Roy Orbison homage "A Life Without You (Is No Life at All)." Other standouts included the Johnny Cashtastic "Guilty as Charged," the rollicking "You've Got to Love Your Negro Man," and the hilariously offensive protest song "Dear Mr. President." Reilly played guitar and harmonica pretty well, but since the actors in Cox's movie band (Chris Parnell, Tim Meadows) don't really play, they had to watch on from the audience -- along with co-writer/director Jake Kasdan and Judd Apatow -- while a stand-in group of musicians rocked the house.

The show closed with a shirtless Cox moaning through the beguiling "Have You Heard the News (Dewey Cox Died)," rubbing his nipples, and throwing down his microphone. I can't imagine anyone leaving the theater disappointed, and if the live show is any indication, Walk Hard is going to be one hysterical movie. Wanna see Cox? There's still a few dates left on the "Cox Across America" mini-tour.

Check out the gallery below ...

Hey, it's good enough for Spinal Tap, Hannah Montana and The Monkees. Now Dewey Cox, of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, is the latest fictional music artist to go on a real-life tour. Yes, according to Variety, John C. Reilly is suiting up to perform in character for the "Cox Across America Tour." Joined by his band, the Hard Walkers, Reilly/Cox is making appearances in seven cities: Cleveland; Chicago; Austin; Nashville; San Francisco; Los Angeles and New York City. The first gig is this Wednesday at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and all shows include a screening of the movie, a music biopic spoof from the smartest man in Hollywood, Judd Apatow, and director Jake Kasdan (The TV Set).

Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, only the Chicago date is not sold out. My guess is that by the time of posting, even that show will be unavailable, but feel free to check Sony's RSVP page to find out. Otherwise, you can at least hear Cox's music on the Walk Hard soundtrack, which hits stores today.

I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Reilly as Cox. I also wish I could have seen Reilly tour the nation as Lefty, his character from A Prairie Home Companion -- accompanied by Woody Harrelson as Dusty, of course. If I could see any fictional artist in concert, though, I'd pick The Venus in Furs, or maybe Jesse and the Rippers. How about you? What fictional band or artist would you most like to see go on tour?

Anyway, stay tuned to Cinematical because we're working on something special to coincide with the "Cox Across America Tour."

We already knew that Walk Hard was going to be a little kooky -- its got headliners in John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer, as well as big SNL names from Kristen Wiig to Chris Parnell, and it's about a singer named Dewey Cox who "overcomes adversity to become a musical legend." Recently, Patrick Walsh gave us even more news -- that Jack White was going to have a part as Elvis, because Cox comes in contact with a number of music legends over the years of his life. It's quirky and interesting, but it isn't really unexpected or jarring. But if the current rumor is true, there's a whole other twist to the life of Dewey Cox.

According to film ick, Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan also have a ghostly character to throw in the mix -- a 10-year-old ghost to be exact. According to site: as a youngster, Dewey is playing a game called "Machete" with his brother, Nate. (Machetes are all the rage these days.) The future singer accidentally kills his brother, go figure, and spends the rest of his life haunted by the ghost of his young, dead sibling. While the ghost remains a child throughout the film, he doesn't stay a happy one. To fuel the fire of this rumor, there is a young boy named Nate on the cast list -- played by Chip Hormess. Teamed with Andrew Cherry, who plays the young Dewey, this knife-slicing twist definitely has some super-cute kids to pull it off.

Here are some bites to chew on for the weekend:

• It seems that Tim Meadows is about to be added to the ever-growing cast of Judd Apatow's Walk Hard. As I've previously reported, the film is a music spoof that follows Dewey Cox, a musician who fights to become a legend. The film already has John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer and another SNL alum, Kristen Wiig. Meadows is negotiating to play the drummer in Cox's band. Nothing against the man, but why not Jimmy Fallon? It could be a little nod to more cowbell. And for the five of you who might join me as fans of the terrible 80's film, Three for the Road, Senator Kitteredge -a.k.a.- Raymond J. Barry has signed on to be the elder Cox who constantly tells Dewey that he's a failure. Hopefully he won't try to have Sheen and Ruck try to commit him.
• Step Up star Channing Tatum is finding his next film fast-tracked by New Line. Variety has reported that the company has grabbed a pitch by T.J. Scott and Kevin Lund about a NYC cop who has to infiltrate underground Parkour to stop a gang of bank robbers. Parkour is the art of moving from one place to another as efficiently as possible, which often means becoming a human Spiderman. It was also the basis of Luc Besson's District 13. I can only hope that the film means we will get some mainstream, on-screen time for David Belle, the absolutely delish Parkour actor who starred as Leito in 13.
• Pierce Brosnan's Butterfly on a Wheel, which Karina and Martha recently relayed news about, has been picked up by Lionsgate for U.S. distribution. A crime thriller, it stars Brosnan as a mysterious person who goes to Chicago, kidnaps the daughter of a couple played by Maria Bello and Gerard Butler and subsequently terrorizes them ... but not for a cash reward. Icon Productions is handling international sales, except for Japan and Italy, which are so far out of luck.
  

There's no rest for the wicked. Here's some news bites for today:

• Brian Cox, who played the sinister William Stryker in X2, recently talked about the upcoming Wolverine spin-off while promoting Running with Scissors in the UK. According to the actor, who was previously asked by the filmmakers to be in the flick, the movie will take place '17 years ago'. While it is easy to lather on some old-face makeup, it's not so easy to wipe almost two decades off a face, so he is thinking: "they could do what they did with Patrick and Ian for the start of the third one." Cox is great and all, but is it worth that much effort to keep him?
• The upcoming mockumentary, Live!, has been picked up by Fortissimo Films for distribution rights outside of North America. Making racy moves like Survivor's racial divide seem wimpy, the film follows a TV executive (Eva Mendes) who is trying to produce a real, Russian Roulette gameshow where contestants compete for the chance to win $5 million by putting loaded guns to their heads. I just wish Christopher Walken had a part in the flick. Or, Robert DeNiro. They both do it so well.
• It looks like Walk Hard, the music duo spoof starring Jenna Fischer and John C. Reilly, is preparing to add a current SNL player to the cast. Kristen Wiig, whose impressions on the show have ranged from Drew Barrymore to Katharine Hepburn, is in final negotiations to play Edith, the wife of Reilly's character. I'm not sure how this all fits together, since Fischer is supposed to be the "June Carter" to Reilly's "Johnny Cash."

While not working as Pam Beesly on The Office, Jenna Fischer has been busy. Since nabbing a role in the hit sitcom, she's getting the chance to work with a slew of Hollywood's comedic names in a bunch of upcoming comedies. She's getting her feet in The Brothers Solomon with Will Arnet and Will Forte, more Will action with Arnet, Will Ferrell and Jon Heder in Blades of Glory and then she grabbed a little Quebec with Seann William Scott and John C. Reilly. I guess each role brings her the next, as she's gearing up to co-star with Reilly in his next comedy, Walk Hard.

While the film sounds more like a Pump Up the Volume re-make for pirate speedwalkers, it's actually a comedy about a messed-up music legend, Dewey Cox. In August, Martha Fischer discussed the magic-that-is-Reilly when the Hard pitch was given to Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan to write; and in December, Erik Davis shared that Reilly would be grabbing the lead role. Now, the comedy, which obviously gets its name from Walk the Line, has its June Carter Cash in Fischer. She'll be Reilly's love interest, and she'll also get to dazzle us with her vocal stylings.

I see Fischer going nowhere but up, if her upcoming comedies do half as well as expected -- but what about Reilly? Sure, he's got a secure hold on comedy, but will this flick finally give him some starring clout? He headlined Criminal, but no one really saw that. Hopefully Walk Hard will become Reilly's Capote, and finally give the actor some high-profile, first-billed cred.