There’s a new high school comedy coming to the big screens and, believe it or not, it’s inspired by the classic “The Scarlet Letter.” The story of a high school student who relies on the campus rumor mill to advance her social standing, “Easy A” attempts to fuse a timeless work of literature with a contemporary milieu.

Not really a strict adaptation of the book, the filmmakers took the thematic elements from the classic as inspiration for this modern-day tale of the struggle between puritanical values and being one’s self.

“Easy A” stars Emma Stone (“The House Bunny,” “Superbad”) as Olive Penderghast, a typical American high school girl dreaming about the one thing every teenager dreams of: popularity. Deciding to embellish a bit when her popular best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) asks her how she’s spent her weekend, Olive unknowingly set herself up for a little notoriety, especially when the tightly wound, evangelical Marianne Bryant (Amanda Bynes) overhears her accounts. Soon, Olive’s promiscuity is being greatly exaggerated. • Read full story…

A while back Jeff Daniels starred in a movie about a fatuous egghead called “The Answer Man,” and now he’s playing a fatuous novelist in “Paper Man.” I can’t wait to see what his next “Man” movie will be. “Digital Man,” perhaps?

He’s playing Richard Dunn, the author of a well-reviewed but dismally uncommercial novel, who is struggling to make headway on a new book. He spends his time in a state of perpetual catatonia punctuated by fits of pique. His wife, Claire (Lisa Kudrow), a surgeon, seems like an eminently sensible type, which makes you wonder why she’s with this surly layabout in the first place. • Read full story…