It's all "Happening" for Wahlberg

Just how many lives does M. Night Shyamalan get?

First his "Lady in the Water" (my personal vote for the worst movie of 2006) tanks hard, and then he can't find a buyer for his new script, "The Green Effect." Now, however, his movie's got a new name ("The Happening"), a big studio behind it in 20th Century Fox, and now Marky Mark.

Mark Wahlberg, who I liked more in "Shooter" than most folks who sounded off here, will star in the flick, which is set to shoot in August in Philadelphia (of course) and be released Friday, June 13, 2008.

Though M. Night has rejected any comparisons to "War of the Worlds," its influence can't be denied, according to a lucky spy at Latinoreview.com who got an early look at the script. In the flick, the Earth finally turns against us for abusing it for so long and releases a toxin that causes people to kill themselves. Wahlberg will be the essential man-on-the-run-with-his-family at the middle of all this. It all sounds awfully familiar, but if Marky Mark's on board, I am too.

Get ready to "Chow" down again

No one, except maybe Edgar Wright, seems to have more fun making movies than Stephen Chow. And man do I have fun watching the crazy stuff he comes up with.

Now, Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia has acquired world rights outside China to "A Hope," a new comedy written, directed by and starring Chow. He plays a poor Chinese laborer who is made to learn some of life's important lessons when his son gets a strange new pet.

I don't know about you, but I got a smile just from reading that. After seeing what he did with special effects for "Kung Fu Hustle" and "Shaolin Soccer" I know at least one thing: This new one might not be high art, but it will be high entertainment. No release date has been set, but definitely keep your eyes on this one.

Lurie remaking "Straw Dogs"

Remember, I'm only the messenger. It seems that Rod Lurie, who delivered a solid political drama in "The Contender," has now completely lost his mind and signed on to direct a remake of Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs."

Believe it or not, the news gets even worse. In case anyone has forgotten about or missed the original, it starred Dustin Hoffman and Susan George as a young American and his English wife who move to rural England and face increasingly vicious local harassment. It was, for its time, a tremendously violent movie, and not one that you forget easily.

Unaware of any of this, however, Lurie and his co-conspirators have decided to move this to America, and, I can only assume, to the South. Where else do you go when you need to have deranged locals who are prone to ultraviolence? Sheesh. This all just makes me so mad that I'd better just stop now and move on.

David O. Russell goes "chick lit"?

Well, not quite, but pretty close. Fresh off the leak of his meltdown on the set of "I heart huckabees," Russell is apparently now set to direct "Sammy's Hill," based on the novel by Kristin Gore.

And yes, she is the daughter of that Gore. The novel centers on a young woman who tries to balance a job as a congressional aide on Capitol Hill while searching for the right guy. OK, I can buy that. I worked as an intern for Barbara Mikulski for a short spell (and once saw her throw a telephone receiver at a coworker's head), so I know Capitol Hill can be a crazy place, whether or not you're looking for love. A comment from producer Doug Wick, however, gives me cause for concern.

"It will do for Washington, D.C., what 'Talladega Nights' did for race car driving," Wick said. Huh? Way to set those sights high.

Even so, I have full faith in Russell. "Three Kings," "Flirting with Disaster," "Spanking the Monkey" and "I heart huckabees" are all first-rate in my book, so I'm just glad to hear he's working again at all.

"Grindhouse" tidbit of the day

Whew! It's been a long post today, so anyone who's made it this far certainly deserves a reward. Here, courtesy of Film Ick, are what purport to be two shots from Edgar Wright's "Don't," one of the trailers that will be sandwiched in between the Rodriguez and Tarantino flicks that will make up "Grindhouse," finally set to hit theaters April 6. Enjoy!