Austin Powers 4: The Franchise Never Dies

What's this? Another Austin Powers movie is in development? Why? Didn't Mike Myers get all that out of his system in the last sequel?

Blast from the past: Mike Myers talks about Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

I didn't think much of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, but that isn't why I was so surprised when the silly 1997 comedy was a minor hit in theaters and, later, a monster smash on home video. To put it simply: I didn't think many under-30 viewers would "get" the movie's satirical references to '60s spy spoofs. Boy, did I call that one wrong. But, then again, as I learned during the junket for the 1999 sequel, Mike Myers was even more surprised than I was.

(BTW: Just before the interview began in earnest, we chatted briefly about my then-recent trip to Northern Ireland -- where I'd made the singularly stupid mistake of leaving a bag behind in a restaurant. Not the sort of mistake you ever wanted to make back in those days. Not unless you wanted to set off a false alarm for the bomb squad.)

Sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads?

From Crooks and Liars: When actual Pentagon research programs start to resemble the fevered fantasies of Dr. Evil, you know you're living in an age when it's hard to top reality with parody.