The Coens as "Serious" men? Well, sort of, and here's a look

Actually, there's some great TV and other movie news too, but before I get into any of that, there's a quiet little thing going on in New York City on Monday morning that's certainly worth a mention.

Remember Adrienne Shelly? She's best known now as the writer/director/star of the thoroughly charming movie "Waitress," but she was also the star of several great Hal Hartley movies early in her career and other flicks. And she was also murdered in her New York apartment in 2006, before "Waitress" even came out.

Now she's about to get a small tribute, thanks to her husband, Andy Ostroy - a memorial garden in Manhattan's Abingdon Square Park, across from where she used to live. Perhaps not very important to many people in the world, but it's interesting to me, so there it is.

But enough of that depressing stuff, 'cause there's a lot more fun news out there. I know there are vampires everywhere, but I'm certainly not immune to them, so I can only call this great stuff.

It seems that joining the thoroughly campy but entertaining "True Blood" sometime soon will be a TV series based on the Guillermo Del Toro/Chuck Hogan novel "The Strain," to be masterminded by none other than Marti Noxon, one of the big brains behind "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

"Strain," which I've just started reading, is a much more serious (well, as serious as this stuff can really get) affair than "Buffy," however. It tells the story of an outbreak in the U.S. of a virus that either kills those who are exposed to it or turns them into vampires, and I can tell you that so far it's an engrossing read. The plan, apparently, is to shop the TV project, envisioned as an event series unfolding over three seasons, early next year after the second book in a planned trilogy is released.

Noxon has also signed on to create, along with professional partner Dawn Parouse Olmstead, a series for HBO revolving around a feminist icon who launches a sex magazine for women. Diane Keaton is slated to star in it, which could be really funny, but I don't think it's enough to keep me from dropping my HBO again once "True Blood" winds up season two.

And in one other bit of really good TV news, "Veronica Mars" creator Rob Thomas has re-upped to create a second show for Starz to go with his comedy series "Party Down."

If you missed "Party Down" during its bitter but extremely funny first season, I believe Netflix subscribers can watch the entire season on their computers, as I did. It's about a bunch of wannabe actors who work at a catering company, and it gets my good show guarantee.

And now, Thomas has signed to develop another hourlong show for Starz titled "Waterloo," which will follow a struggling rock band and be based on his own youthful experiences trying to launch a music career in Austin (and please keep any Matchbox 20 jokes to yourself.)

If we're never gonna get "Veronica Mars" back in any form, which looks increasingly likely to be the case, I'll certainly give a chance to anything else Mr. Thomas has to offer.

OK, we're almost to the main attraction, but one movie note about a flick that's quickly attracting what could be the best small cast of 2010 so far. I mentioned recently that Ben Affleck has set his second directorial effort as "The Town," based on the novel "Prince of Thieves" by the aforementioned Mr. Hogan, and that it had already attracted Jon Hamm of "Mad Men" and the simply stunning Rebecca Hall to join the cast.

Well, now Jeremy Renner, who is just outstanding in Kathyrn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" (if you have any chance at all, please see that right away!), has also joined the fray. In the flick, Affleck plays a bank robber who becomes infatuated with the manager (Hall) of a bank he's robbing. Renner will be a member of Affleck's gang, and Hamm will be the lawman on their trail.

And finally, as promised long ago, the first trailer I've seen for the Coen brothers' next flick, "A Serious Man," and just from this two-minute glimpse or so it looks like they have a real winner here. As best as I can tell, it's about, among other things, a Midwestern college professor who finds his life falling apart when his wife threatens to leave him because his annoying brother won't move out of the house. It doesn't feature any of the Coen regulars, but you'll get a glimpse of Richard Kind as said brother and, even in this short bit, the dark humor that marks the Coens' best work. Keep your eye out for this one on Oct. 9, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

When Guillermo met Harry Potter? A dream match

A quick visit to the IMDB plus this tidbit from Comingsoon.net set my mind reeling with possibilities as to just how fantastic the final "Harry Potter" movie could really be.

As the IMDB reveals, no director has yet been named for the final installment, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." By launching the rumor mill full-speed, Comingsoon has gotten firmly behind a name I would endorse heartily: Guillermo (not, as I write sometimes in my early-morning haze, Benicio) del Toro.

Why would this be such a perfect match? The answer should be pretty clear for anyone who has seen del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" (and if you somehow haven't, I can't even begin to help you.) Being about as unhip as anyone on the planet, I've finally started reading Rowling's last Potter novel. So far I've only gotten to the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur De la Coeur, but I can tell already it will be probably be bloodier and even more magical than all the books that have come before it, making it tailormade for del Toro.

Interestingly, he confirmed to Comingsoon that he had been approached to possibly direct "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," a job which eventually went to his buddy Alfonso Cuaron. Here's what he had to say:

"They came to me once, for the third one. When I read the books before the movies were done, I always pictured Charles Dickens. They were very Dickensian. The situation of Harry Potter reminded me a lot of Pip from 'Great Expectations.' I saw them as deeper, more creaky, more corroded, but they were textured very differently when the first two movies came out. They were so bright and happy and full of light, that I wasn't interested."

"They seem to be getting eerie and darker, and I'm up to be the one who kills twenty guys. If they come back to me, I'll think about it."

Please do, Guillermo. A look at his schedule with the IMDB confirms that this would indeed be pretty perfect timing. He's currently wrapping up "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army," which is set for a July 11, 2008, release and should just be tons of fun. After that, things get murky.

He's listed as attached to direct two more movies, both of which, it would seem, would be easily movable if the right offer came along. Listed after "Hellboy 2" is "3993," which from its description would make a perfect del Toro movie. Based on the screenplay by Sergio G. Sanchez, it's described as being "a ghost story about 'the hostages left to fortune by the past' set in 1990's Spain and with connections with Spanish Civil War in 1939." Bring it on.

Then, for 2010, he's writing his own screenplay based on H.P. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness," which I have to confess I haven't read (but certainly will before this ever comes out.) The plot is described at the IMDB thusly: "A chilling recollection of an Antarctic expedition's uncanny discoveries and their encounter with untold menace in the ruins of a lost civilization." Sounds plenty cool to me, but if anyone has indeed read this and has any insight, please do share.

Before any of this happens, however, I'm jumping right on the del Toro-for-Harry Potter bandwagon, if you can even call it that yet. Dream with me, people.

Two tidbits

Whew. That went on much longer than I had anticipated, so I'll run through the two other things that caught my eye very quickly.

More Shelly: Before she was murdered in her New York apartment by her neighbor, Adrienne Shelly managed to direct one of the most charming movies of 2007, "Waitress," and now it seems she also left us another script which will soon move toward becoming a movie too. Cheryl Hines, who starred with Shelly, Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion and Andy Griffith in "Waitress," will direct "Serious Moonlight" from a screenplay penned by Shelley. Described as a dark romantic comedy, it centers on a high-powered female attorney who learns that her husband is about to leave her for another woman, then prevents him from doing so by binding him to the toilet with duct tape. The wife's plan becomes complicated when the couple's home is besieged by robbers. Sounds a bit eerie coming from a woman who was murdered in her own bathroom, but I'm still eager to see what will come out of this.

Kudos for "Juno"

Is it rational for me to be so psyched for a movie I've never seen? Probably not, but so what? I love to laugh, and Jason Reitman's "Thank You for Smoking" made me do so harder than any other flick in 2005, and for "Juno" he's got a dream cast to work with in Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney and even Rainn Wilson, so definitely bring it on come December. And now it's beginning to pick up some early awards-season mojo, taking the top prize at the Rome Film Festival this past weekend. Huzzah!

Six minutes of Seinfeld's "Bee Movie"

Speaking of funny, I have my doubts that "Bee Movie" will be, but I've been wrong at least once before and will be perfectly happy if I am again now. Anyways, here's an almost-six-minute clip to get a taste of the flick which comes out Friday (though I'll be seeing "American Gangster" before this one, for sure.) Enjoy, and have an entirely suckfree Monday.