Gondry's "Rewind" news and "Marie Antoinette"

If it seems like I write about this a lot, forgive me: When a movie sounds almost too perfect to be real, I do tend to get obsessed with it.

Such is the case with Michel Gondry's upcoming "Be Kind, Rewind," which won't even begin shooting until September.

The story is a silly but promising one about a man played by Jack Black who becomes magnetized (trying to sabotage the local power plant, of course) and manages to erase all the videotapes at the store where his friend works. Rather than tell the store owner about it, they set out to remake all the movies for the store's loyal customers.

For some reason this intrigues me beyond all reason, but there was always something missing: What kind of crazy coot would own a store that still deals in videotapes? Well now we know: Danny Glover.

Glover has proven in "The Color Purple" and many other films that he can play stubborn with the best of them, and he should make a great counterpart to and foil for Black's hijinx. Throw in Kirsten Dunst and, of course, Michel Gondry, and you've got the makings for a fun little movie.


"Marie Antoinette"

Speaking of Kirsten Dunst (as I'm wont to do fairly often), it seems our froggy friends have given "Marie Antoinette" a rather chilly reception. Given the liberties that Sofia Coppola took with the story of this French icon, that was probably predictable, but I still think this one will be fun.

Why? Because it looks completely insane. Interspersed with the story of our young royal couple (Dunst and Jason Schwartzman as Louis XVI), are snippets of pop gems like Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy" and apparently a scene of Dunst and her lady friends gushing over a box of shoes by Manolo Blahnik.

In other words, rather than make any type of traditional period piece, Coppola took the characterization by Antonia Fraser of Marie Antoinette as a naive girl swept up by the whirlwind of events around her and just imposed her vision on it.

Bully for her. The great disasters and delights in cinema have one necessary component in common: Ego. Without it, no one would take chances on something as crazy as this.

It doesn't come out in the U.S. until October, but for now our friends at ComingSoon.net have done their usual good job in compiling trailers and clips here. Enjoy, and let me know what you think.