Robert Rodriguez wants to wrack your nerves

Although he can make some seriously fun movies, Robert Rodriguez is also just a maddeningly uneven director in my book.

After making the purely entertaining "El Mariachi" and "Spy Kids" he felt the need to follow each flick up with a pair of thoroughly unnecessary and just increasingly bad sequels. "Desperado" - really just a useless continuation of "El Mariachi" - was just particularly irritating.

He also, however, channelled the spirit of Frank Miller's work perfectly with "Sin City" and made the easily more disgusting but still just insanely good half of "Grindhouse" with "Planet Terror" (I even found "The Faculty," certainly a lesser title in his filmography, to just be a lot of fun.) And now, after what seems like a very long break from working on movies of any kind, he's getting back in gear with something that could be as entertaining as any of those.

He will write and direct the "futuristic thriller" "Nervewrackers," and since the flick already has a release date of April 16, 2010, it seems very likely he will actually follow through on this one. Set in 2085, the story (according to Variety) centers on "a character named Joe Tezca who is part of an elite unit dispatched to quell a crime wave in a theoretically perfect future society."

Even if that does seem like a rather blatant ripoff of "Blade Runner," I suppose there are worse sources of inspiration, so for now I can only say welcome back, Mr. Rodriguez.

What's up with Ang Lee

I recently got around to watching Mr. Lee's "Lust/Caution" on DVD, and I have to say it made a surprisingly entertaining little spy flick. And he's just wrapped "Taking Woodstock," which as the title implies is a biopic of sorts of the life of Elliot Tiber, who was instrumental in the creation of the titular hippie fest.

That flick will be released in August by Focus Features, and Mr. Lee has now set his sights firmly on "The Life of Pi," which already has a script penned by "Amelie" director Jean Pierre Jeunet (who was originally slated to direct this too.)

I have to admit that the novel by Yann Martel, which won the Booker Prize and plenty of other acclaim, just left me a little cold, but I do think it has a lot of potential for an at least visually appealing film in these capable hands. The odd coming-of-age tale tells the story of Piscine "Pi" Molitor Patel, an Indian youth who survives the sinking of a freighter and ends up sharing a life boat with a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a Bengal tiger.

Plenty of people have fallen in love with the novel by Martel, so don't let my misgivings keep you away from this one.

Remember Agnieszka Holland?

I had almost forgotten all about the Polish director of "Europa Europa" and one of my favorite children's flicks, "The Secret Garden" (and - rather amazingly - three episodes of "The Wire" too), but this morning her name came up again on the French film site Cinempire, a daily stop for me.

It seems Holland is getting back in the game in a big way with an upcoming biopic about Polish super spy Krystyna Skarbek, also famous as Ian Fleming's mistress and allegedly the inspiration for the character of Vesper Lynd.

Skarbek, who took the nom de guerre Christine Granville, became a spy for the British and was celebrated for her sabotage efforts in Nazi-occupied Poland and France during World War II.

Interestingly enough, The Daily Mail reports that Eva Green, Vesper Lynd herself, is in the running for the lead role in this flick, which will be rather oddly titled "Christine: War My Love" and should start shooting in June.

Nothing but cool there, but now I have to unfortunately get ready for work. Sometime tomorrow or Friday, feel free to come back for a video presentation about the Oscars I'm cooking up with fellow Telegraph blogger Phillip Ramati (a k a The TV Guy). We pretty much agree about all the categories this year, but hopefully it will still be a bit of fun to watch (I'm even getting a hair cut for the occasion, somewhat of a rarity for me.)

And, even though it wasn't from an episode directed by Holland, I'll leave you with one of my favorite clips from "The Wire," in which Stringer Bell learns about and then imparts to his disciples the principles of macroeconomics. Peace out.

A very dirty take on "Almost Famous"?

Before I get into what will be a very short report today, a few random thoughts.

As depressing as it was for me personally to watch Barack Obama get beat down pretty hard last night, I've decided that I can't blame the good people of Pennsylvania. The real culprit: Michael Moore, who gave Barack his kiss-of-death endorsement Monday night here. I love Michael Moore (though not so much his latest, "Sicko"), but I really don't see how that can possibly help.

And, secondly, though I usually get more than a little queasy when I hear of American remakes of European flicks, word surfaced of one this morning that kind of intrigues me. When I sent out a plea to readers to help me restock my Netflix queue, one of the best ideas was Patrice Leconte's "Man on the Train," suggested by always-welcome reader Ashok, if I remember correctly.

The flick, though very entertaining, is also extremely French (duh, but bear with me.) It stars two superb actors, Jean Rochefort and the rocker Johnny Hallyday, in a story about a bank robber and a retired school teacher whose paths converge and start to interchange. In saying it's very French, I mean it's extremely talky - though very witty. In the right American hands I could see this simple story working for the masses.

And while I'm not sure that director Thomas Bezucha of "The Family Stone" fame is who I would have in mind to helm this for Miramax, casting Billy Bob Thornton as the roaming bank robber - which is in the works, apparently - would be just about perfect.

But, anyways, enough about what was just supposed to be a one-sentence-or-so item and on to the real stories, both about rock 'n' roll.

Though I was mildly disappointed with "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," director Nick Stoller has wisely latched on to that flick's funniest star (sorry Mr. Segel) for a new camp Apatow comedy to be called "Get Him to the Greek," which thankfully has nothing to do with fraternity houses.

In the flick, Russell Brand, who just chewed up the screen as Alduous Snow in "FSM," will (shock!) play an out-of-control rock star, and Jonah Hill (hopefully much funnier than he was in "FSM") will play a fresh-out-of-college insurance adjuster who has to get the rocker to a gig at L.A.'s Greek Theater. As the headline to this post implies, Stoller describes the flick, which he will write and direct, as a very dirty take on "Almost Famous." In my mind, I'm already there.

Before any of that, Segel and Stoller will thankfully be bringing the world another Muppet movie. Judging from the "Dracula" finale of "FSM" I'd say these guys clearly have a love of doing silly things with puppets, so that - and hopefully "Get Him to the Greek" also - should just be tons of fun.

And finally, though I really am quite late for work already, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Ang Lee has signed on for an odd kind of music biopic that sounds like it could be very interesting.

Lee will direct and longtime collaborator James Schamus will pen the flick "Taking Woodstock," based on Elliot Tiber's memoir "Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, Concert, and a Life."

Now, though I am getting fairly old, I wasn't quite born when the real Woodstock happened in 1969, so I'll just have to take Mr. Tiber's word for it that, as he was working at his parents' motel in the Catskills, he played a role in "inadvertently setting in motion" the gargantuan hippie summit. True or not, it certainly sounds like the kind of fish story Mr. Lee could have a lot of fun with. Plus, the casting news, as it trickles out, should just be a blast.

And with that I indeed have to leave, but here's the second trailer for "Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian." Not exactly the sexiest of potential summer blockbusters, but one I hope will at least be enjoyable. Peace out.

What's next for your favorite director?

Next for easily one of mine, Terry Zwigoff, will, thankfully be another collaboration with funny-book writer Daniel Clowes.

For my money, this duo has one sure hit, "Ghost World," and one truly disappointing mess, "Art School Confidential." My love for "Ghost World," however (and, frankly, for Thora Birch - what in the world ever happened to her?) is so high that any news of them working together again is welcome to me.

Their next collaboration will be on the spoof "The $40,000 Man" for New Line. Clowes and Zwigoff will rewrite the script about a legendary astronaut who gets horribly injured in a car accident and rebuilt to be a bionic man - but only on a $40,000 budget. Sounds fairly promising, and in the hands of these two I have rather high hopes. (And just in case you have any doubts about the talents of Terry Zwigoff, rent "Bad Santa" and "Crumb" along with "Ghost World" and then get back to me.)

And, for news (or at least snippets) about many more renowned directors, there's a memo which Comingsoon.net was kind enough to post this morning. They claim, and I have absolutely no reason to doubt them, that it's a list that is being circulated around major talent agencies in Hollywood which includes all the movies that the studios are making a priority before the impending Writers Guild, Directors Guild and Screen Actors Guild strike next year.

I encourage everyone to click here for a truly delightful way to waste time on your otherwise dreary workday, but here are a few highlights that I took note of:

"Trial of the Chicago Seven": This should just be tremendously good. Steven Spielberg (heard of him?) will direct and Aaron Sorkin will script this flick about the notorious rabble-rousers who disrupted the 1968 Democratic Convention. Sorkin, when he puts his heart into something, can deliver something a damn sight better than "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," and definitely should here.

"Life of Pi" Now I've found the next book I'm going to read after finishing C.D. Payne's painfully funny "Youth in Revolt," which will be made into a movie starring veryfunnyman Michael Cera. Jean Pierre Jeunet is attached to direct this flick based on the novel by Yann Martel described as a "magical adventure story about the the precocious son of a zookeeper," and it just gets crazier from there. His family apparently decides to hitch a ride on a freighter from India to Canada, but after the freighter gets shipwrecked, young Pi finds himself adrift on a lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a Bengal Tiger. Sounds perfect for Jeunet, and for me.

"A Serious Man": My multiplex actually showed a trailer for "No Country for Old Men" the other day, so I'm hopeful that the Coen Bros. flick will make out here to the stix. Next for them will come the CIA comedy "Burn After Reading" with Brad Pitt and George Clooney, but the Comingsoon memo then has them listed for this. Empireonline says only that "it's a dark comedy in the vein of Fargo," but that's enough to get me intrigued.

"L.A. Riots": When he puts his mind to it, Spike Lee can still make some incredibly compelling movies, as witnessed by his painful-to-watch but still beautiful "When the Levees Broke." He's been toying with a number of projects lately, but if the Comingsoon memo has it right he'll thankfully turn his attention to this flick based on a script by "Undercover Brother" creator John Ridley.

"Little Game": With Ang Lee sticking to his guns (unless he's given in) and releasing "Lust, Caution" with a NC-17 rating, that pretty much guarantees it won't make it out to my little corner of the world before DVD. Next for him will be this flick based on a play by Jean Dell, which had this rather bland plot summary at the IMDB: "A picture-perfect couple fake a break-up, only to learn their friends never thought their union was a good idea in the first place." It's got to turn out better than that premise promises.

"Piano Tuner": I have no idea what this, but it's got Werner Herzog's name on it, so I'm certainly curious. If anyone knows just what this is, please let me know!

"Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" Like "Youth in Revolt," this book is based on the fictional diary of a 14-year-old, but this time it's a young lady in London who's extremely curious about, among other things, kissing. With Gurinder Chadha of "Bend It Like Beckham" attached to direct, this is definitely worth keeping your eyes on.

There are a lot more (and bigger) names in that memo, so definitely take the time to give it a look, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

Friday fun with trailers

I would start by revealing that there's gonna be a movie about "Sex and the City," but that kind of just makes me say meh. I did watch some of the show, and maybe it's just a chick thing that I simply didn't get, but those four women weren't ever nearly as funny or shocking as they thought they were.

Now, if the HBO news were that David Chase was immediately gonna turn his limbo ending of "The Sopranos" into a movie, than you'd really set me off. As it is, what I'm really excited about is that the first three seasons of "Deadwood" are coming to the Telegraph's "treadmill cinema" populated by myself and Rodney Manley (who in my absence pitched in with a review of that "Fantastic Four" flick.)

In the meantime, it's Friday and I'm running late, so I'm gonna take the very lazy route and simply embed two sensational-looking trailers I found on YouTube today.

The first is for Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution," which I predict will be easily one of the coolest movies to come out this year. As best as I can tell, it's a spy movie set in occupied Shanghai, and young Wei Tang is simply one of the most beauiful Asian women to hit the big screen in a long time. Look for it in the U.S. beginning Sept. 28. Enjoy!



The next, and to me even more exciting, is an extended one for David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises." He, Naomi Watts and Viggo Mortensen are joining forces for a tale that seems to be about the Russian mafia and some kind of white slavery ring in London, or other really seedy business. The ladies will want to note that, in the trailer alone, Viggo shows off his bare, tattooed chest three times or so, and everyone else will be happy to know that Vincent Cassel and Armin Mueller-Stahl both have pretty big roles in this one too (and the script comes from "Dirty Pretty Things" scribe Steven Knight.) Look for it in the U.S. beginning Sept. 14.



Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair

If this is old news to everyone in the world but me, please forgive me, but it certainly sounds cool (if entirely inevitable.)

It seems that, on November 6, we'll finally get to see Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" as one movie on DVD. A 247-minute movie, of course, but one movie nonetheless.

I can think of very few ways I'd rather spend a Saturday afternoon than by giving four more hours of my life to watching Uma Thurman kick ass for QT, so to this I can only say bring it on.