It’s a shame that Robert Rodriguez’s best film to date had to lose so much money for The Weinstein Company; I just hope he doesn’t use Planet Terror‘s (and Grindhouse‘s) financial failure as an excuse to churn out profitable kids films for the next decade.

That said, I’ll try to stay upbeat about Shorts, a “family comedy adventure” Rodriguez is writing and directing for Warner Brothers. Not helping matters: the narrative, which centers on the discovery of a magical, rainbow colored rock by an eleven-year-old kid. The rock evidently grants wishes to anyone who possesses it. It also throws a cookie-cutter chunk of suburbia – populated by a bunch of dullards who work for the same all-powerful conglomerate – into upheaval for reasons that aren’t entirely clear. Then again, I’m more than willing to accept that the The Trade Paper That Shall Not Be Cited has made a hash of Rodriguez’s premise.

Definitely helping matters: the ensemble cast of William H. Macy, Leslie Mann, James Spader and Jon Cryer. That’s just a solid collection of talent. Makes my dick hard.

I’m also highly aroused by the idea of Rose McGowan starring in a babes-behind-bars television show that would go shiv-to-shiv with Alan Ball’s planned Americanization of Bad Girls. Read AICN for more info on that potential beauty. And expect to see Robert Rodriguez’s Shorts in theaters sometime next year.