Turturro and Baumbach

Where art thou, John Turturro? Scanning his IMDB credits since he last worked for those Coen boys is an often-depressing read, but things are finally looking up.

It seems, according to the Hollywood Reporter, that he has joined up with Noah Baumbach for the director's new project rapidly taking shape at Paramount Pictures' new specialty division.

Jack Black, Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh - Baumbach's real-life wife, lucky bastard - have already joined the cast of what has been described as a multigenerational dramedy. If that cast doesn't entice you, I have to ask: Why do you bother watching movies?

What little else we know is the story takes place over a weekend and follows a mom and her son who visit the mom's sister. Kidman and Leigh will play the sisters (talk about good genes!), and Turturro will play Kidman's husband. Not sure how Jack Black fits into all this, but surely he will be funny.


After "The Squid and the Whale," easily one of the five best movies of 2005, I'll follow Baumbach just about anywhere. His ability to find the comedy and humanity in the autobiographical tale of his parents' divorce was a small masterpiece, and I'm definitely ready for more.

Baumbach's script for "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," an animated take on Roald Dahl's tale being directed by Wes Anderson, is described as "locked" on IMDB, and I'm not sure exactly what that means. Maybe Baumbach's own next project will sneak by it and come out first. Either way, I'll be there.

P.S.: In my surfing, I have found out Turturro has also just finished directing a musical called "Romance & Cigarettes" which sounds like pure fun. Stay tuned.