First look at Meryl Streep as the Iron lady and, oh yeah, Sarah Palin too

No, none of those are either Sarah Palin, Meryl Streep or Margaret Thatcher, but the dwarves are what really make "The Hobbit" my favorite of Tolkein's novels, so I couldn't resist. They actually are, in full costme from Peter Jackson's upcoming flick, the dwarves Dori (Mark Hadlow), Nori (Jed Brophy) and Ori (Adam Brown). Bully.

And before we get into the two videos that make the title, there's a bit of news about what exactly Judd Apatow's next directing effort will look like, and since it involves veryfunnywoman Melissa McCarthy, here it is.

The flick, fortunately apparently known as "This is Forty," picks up five years after "Knocked Up" and looks at the lives of Debbie and Pete, played by Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd. And joining them along with McCarthy will be "Knocked Up" vet Charlene Yi (always very funny), "Bridesmaids" co-star Chris O'Dowd, Lena Dunham and Albert Brooks, among others.

Here's what I know: O’Dowd and Dunham will play employees at the record label that Pete now runs, while McCarthy will play the Mom of "Super 8" star Ryan Lee, whose character attends the same school that Pete and Debbie’s kids (aka Judd Apatow's kids) go to.

I'm fairly certain I've never used the word ironic correctly, but it's at least odd that Apatow, who pretty much launched the R-rated comedy renaissance we're now enjoying (mostly), risks being left behind with more serious work such as "Funny People" (which I really didn't care for much at all) and possibly now this. But since he's stocking this new one, tentatively due out in June 2012, with genuinely funny people, here's hoping it's a winner. Stay tuned ...

And now on to, as promised, a couple of trailers, the first of which features Meryl Streep doing, not surprisingly, a rather uncanny impression of Margaret Thatcher. Her performance in "The Iron Lady," which chronicles Thatcher's rise to power and is due out in the U.S. of A. on Dec. 16, will surely do more than that, but for now enjoy this brief glimpse and then stick around for, yes, Sarah Palin.


To watch more, visit tag

As pure, shameless propaganda, which I always respect, this trailer for "The Undefeated," in some theaters now and apparently expanding, is pretty first-rate. I'll keep most of the commentary to myself and just let you decide, except for this: when "DAUGHTER," "WIFE," "MOTHER" and then "WARRIOR" came on the screen, I kept waiting for "QUITTER" to be added to the end, but I guess they left that part out. Anyways, "enjoy" the trailer, and have a perfectly great weekend. Peace out.

The Undefeated Teaser Trailer from Dain Valverde on Vimeo.

The impossibility of replacing Helen Mirren, and much, much more

This idea has already died once for the best of all possible reasons: They couldn't find anybody to follow in the footsteps of Dame Helen Mirren in playing the role of Jane Tennison. Of course they couldn't, because it would be impossible.

But that apparently won't stop people from trying. Although the simply awful idea was shelved as a midseason possibility once already, NBC is now trying to revive a "Prime Suspect" reboot once again, this time with its eyes on Maria Bello to play the lead. Take a second or two to think about just how much this would be trading down, though she is obviously a very pretty lady.

If you've seen Mirren in anything, and I'm going to have to assume everyone has, you know she would be hard to follow in any role, but this one in particular really can't be played by anyone else. Along with "The Wire" and "Homicide," "Prime Suspect" is the only other cop TV show that I've bothered to watch in the last 20 years, almost entirely because of the desperate humanity she brought to the role (I meant to watch "Chicago Code," since it comes from the "Terriers" guys, but I simply forgot, as many other people apparently did too.)

So, here's hoping this idea is already D.O.A. Here's what Bello, who recently starred on some incarnation of "Law & Order," apparently, had to tell Entertainment Weekly about the matter:

“There may be interest in me doing it, but I haven’t read anything yet or talked to anyone in-depth about it,” Bello told EW exclusively while attending the 10th Annual Movies For Grownups Awards on Monday. “I’m possibly interested. Definitely nervous to even think about taking over for Helen Mirren. C’mon! How could anyone compete with her? Didn’t she do about 10 of them and win an Emmy every time? I’m open to things right now. I’m just trying to go with the flow of my life and I’ve been going back-and-forth to Haiti trying to help out. That has felt good, but I am also wanting to do something spectacular with my life work-wise and that may end up being it.”

Even with Peter Berg of "Friday Night Lights" apparently roped in to running this, I really can't see how it would be anything but a spectacular failure, so just move on, please!

In much better TV news, Zooey Deschanel, who is one of those women I'll definitely watch in just about anything, is about to sign for a Fox sitcom for the fall, with the rather colorful title of "Chicks and Dicks."

Of all the possibilities that might be swimming through your dirty minds, the "dicks" here are apparently her three roommates. The comedy would have her playing an elementary school teacher who, fresh from a break-up, moves in with a trio of "immature young men." Sounds an awful lot like "The Big Bang Theory" to me, but like I said, for her, I suppose I'll watch at least a few episodes of just about anything.

OK, a lot of stuff to get to today, so forgive the schizophrenia, but I don't have a ton of time to do this in the morning. Paul Dano, who I saw most recently in the engaging little oddity "The Extra Man," is reteaming with "Little Miss Sunshine" directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris for something even odder that springs from the mind of his girlfriend, Zoe Kazan.

Kazan, who just happens to be the granddaughter of Elia Kazan, wrote the script for "He Loves Me," in which Dano will play a writer who wills Kazan's character into existence by writing her to love him. Sounds like nothing but fun to me.

And fans of "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (I first wrote the first word of that as "assassassination," perhaps distracted by the rather saucy presence of Carla Gugino at the end of this post .. stay tuned) director Andrew Dominik is slowly assembling a first-rate cast for what should be a grand heist flick with "Cogan's Trade."

One Brad Pitt plays Cogan, a hit mans' point person who becomes involved in the investigation of a heist that hits the mob at a high-stakes poker game. Now comes word that the always great Richard Jenkins is joining the game as a lawyer who's collecting information on the game. Definitely keep your eyes on this one ...

And speaking, sort of, of Jenkins, Thomas McCarthy, who directed him in his Oscar-nominated role in "The Visitor," has just signed on with Disney to write the script for what should a really fun baseball movie. "Million Dollar Arm" will be based on "the inspirational story of how sports agent J.B. Bernstein discovered professional pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel through his Indian reality show.”

If that sounds a lot like "Slumdog Millionaire," so what. Here, courtesy of Collider, is a brief synopsis of the tale:

Bernstein reportedly got the idea for the reality show when he was watching cricket and realized that the throwing motion wasn’t that different from baseball. The show launched in India in 2008 with over 40,000 applicants including Singh and Patel, who were the two finalists. They were brought to the U.S. and improved their English by listening to rap and watching action movies. Singh and Patel became the first Indian athletes to sign professional baseball contracts when they picked up by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Even better, Singh and Patel probably didn’t know they were being picked up by one of the worst baseball teams of all-time.

Wow. No word yet if McCarthy would also direct this, but given the chance, I can't imagine he'd turn it down. In the meantime, McCarthy has one of the movies I'm most looking forward to for 2011, "Win Win" starring Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan, coming out hopefully wide enough to reach my little corner of the world March 18.

OK, to keep it on movies, here are two rather obvious examples of Oscar bait, one for this year and one for next. First up comes next, and the first photo of Meryl Streep as "The Iron Lady," Margaret Thatcher. The appearance is admittedly uncanny, and I have no doubt that Streep will be great in this biopic, being directed by "Mamma Mia" director Phyllida Lloyd (say anything snarky about that you may want to .. not having seen that movie, I really can't.) The movie has a great supporting cast with James Broadbent as hubby Dennis and Richard E. Grant as Michael Heseltine. Here's the photo, and keep an eye out for the movie sometime later this year.


And getting back to this year's Oscars, former "Homicide" star Melissa Leo is up for a Best Supporting Actress award for her work in "The Fighter," and certainly should be. If I had a vote, however, I'd vote for young Hailee Steinfeld in "True Grit," who should really be in the Best Actress category, but that's not really her fault. Anyways, apparently wanting to win (and why not?), Leo has taken it upon herself to mount her own ad campaign, which is very effective in its simplicity. Enjoy, and "consider" ...


Though this has certainly gone on long enough already today, I'll leave you with two videos that caught my eye. The first is the first trailer I know of for "Elektra Luxx," which beyond the obvious allure of starring Carla Gugino playing a porn star who dresses up occasionally as a nun, has the promise to be a pretty oddly solid little comedy. From director Sebastian Gutierrez, it's a sequel of sorts to his 2009 movie "Women in Trouble," which I enjoyed quite a bit. As you'll see from the trailer, it also stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Adrianne Palicki of "Friday Night Lights" and many other beautiful women, so enjoy, and keep an eye out for this in at least some corners of the world in March.



And finally, saving quite possibly the best for last, here's the first trailer I know of for the Sundance comedy "Submarine," a British coming-of-age tale from first-time director Richard Ayaode. The plot (15-year-old desperate to lose his virginity and keep his parents together) sounds terribly familiar, but as you'll see from the trailer, it has more than a little "Rushmore" spirit to it, and it also stars Noah Taylor and Sally Hawkins as the parents, so bully. Not sure when this will come out in America, but enjoy the trailer anyway, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

Of comedy, the good, the bad and the crazy

Before we get into any of that, a bit of bad business for people like me who have become at least partly addicted to those Redbox machines at your local grocery stores.

Since I have a Netflix account, I should surely just be satisfied with that, but far too often I get to the weekend with no new movies in hand and have to give into the Redbox siren. Well, and I guess we shouldn't surprised, knowing that they have us (or at least me) in their grasp, the folks behind this enterprise are at least testing a rate rise.

There's no word on when or if this might go national, but Redbox is now testing out raises (from $1.00) to $1.50 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, $1.25 in Modesto, Calif., and $1.15 in Spokane, Wash., and Miami/West Palm Beach, Fla. Nothing but sinister news there ... stay tuned.

OK, as promised today, it's all about good, bad and simply crazy news about what I at least consider comedy, so here goes.

Let's start, of course, with the crazy. It seems that although "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" did fairly well in its midnight run (only smashing all possible records with $30 million or so), certain young viewers did object to what came before it.

Though its merely a teaser trailer and by all accounts not terribly creepy at all, Cinemark theaters in Texas have pulled the "Paranormal Activity 2" trailer because viewers who were simply there to enjoy some Team Edward vs. Team Jacob action found it to be too scary.

Now, having been scarred for life by "The Blair Witch Project," I made a vow to never watch any more "found footage" horror movies, and therefore haven't seen the first "Paranormal Activity," but just the thought that 30 or so shadowy seconds from the sequel's trailer would be too much for "Twilight" viewers to take is nothing but funny to me.

OK, now on to the good, and if you're a fan of Pee Wee Herman (and if you're not, why not?), I should really say great. It seems that Paul Reubens has come up with a script for a new Pee Wee Herman movie, and has somehow managed to hook Judd Apatow to produce it, meaning this will probably really happen, and fairly fast.

All that's known so far about the plot for this, which is already booked at Universal, is that it will have Pee Wee going on some kind of road trip. No word yet on who would direct this (though I can't imagine it could possibly be Tim Burton), but I'd probably be happy watching Pee Wee simply eat a bowl of Cheerios, so bring it on!

And in a bit of tangential good comedy news, it seems that IFC (which I unfortunately don't get on my cable) has picked up the rights to what are still Apatow's two best creations, the single-season TV shows "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared." The only surprise in that news for me was that it's taken so long for this to happen, since "Freaks" is without exaggeration simply one of the best TV shows ever made (and certainly the best one-season-only show), and "Undeclared" is in its own way almost as good.

"Freaks and Geeks" will premiere on IFC this Friday at 11 p.m., and then run there weekly, with encore airings Mondays at the same time. "Undeclared" will follow sometime this fall, and in the best news of all of this, there will be an episode that never managed to make it to the air before the show was canceled after only 17 episodes. If you've somehow never seen either of these and get IFC, just trust me and tune in.


And I guess the comedy troika today wouldn't be complete without the bad (if inevitable), so here goes: Starz has canceled the seriously funny "Party Down" after only two seasons. The show about wannabe actors who work at a catering company was created by "Veronica Mars" mastermind Rob Thomas and Paul Rudd, and has starred (before many of them moved on to shows watched by many more people) Jane Lynch, Adam Scott, Lizzy Caplan and even "Freaks and Geeks" vet and veryfunnyguy Martin Starr.

I've been enjoying the second season on Netflix, but once I finally get around to the finale, probably this weekend, I guess I'll join a fairly select group. It seems that only 74,000 people tuned in for the finale when it aired on Starz, giving the show a rather unsensational 0.0 rating (ouch). R.I.P., "Party Down."

But enough of that bad news. The only other thing I have today, before a welcome sneak peek at episode three of the new run of "Futurama," is two intriguing bits of casting news.

Going back to his movie roots in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," Sean Penn is in negotiations to produce, and I'd have to assume star in, a biopic about surfing icon Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz and his family.

And in a sure bit of Oscar bait, Meryl Streep is eyeing the lead role in "Thatcher," which would of course be a biopic about the former British Prime Minister. In another bit of good casting news for this potential flick, Jim Broadbent is likely to play Thatcher's husband, Denis, who I would have to assume spent plenty of time simply saying "yes, dear."

The movie would center on the 17 days in 1982 leading up the Falklands War. As soon as this all comes together, I suppose we should just go ahead and give her the little statue in advance.

And where better to end today than with a clip from the third new episode of "Futurama," coming to Comedy Central Thursday at 10 p.m. Although the first episode last week was much funnier than the second, they both were imbued with that familiar and fun "Futurama" spirit, so I'm looking forward to the whole new season. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

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Muppets, Wild Things and other news that just makes me smile

Anyone who's been here before (and there are, amazingly, a few of you) knows that I have a serious thing for children's stories meant to equally entertain young-at-heart "adults," and on that front there's two bits of good news to share.

Starting with Spike Jonze and "Where the Wild Things Are," there wasn't a bigger Oscar snub in my mind than the fact his take on the classic children's story by Maurice Sendak didn't get a Best Picture nomination, even with the field this year expanded to 10 flicks.

Heck, I loved the movie so much that I would have also certainly given nominations to James Gandolfini for his voice work as Wild Thing Carol and also to Dave Eggers for his wildly original adapted screenplay (Eggers' novelization of the script, "Wild Things," is also just a great read.)

Now comes word about both the DVD release of "Where the Wild Things Are" and something else fun that's coming with it (and, frankly, hopefully packaged together so I can afford them both.)

First up, if you buy the "Where the Wild Things Are" DVD on March 2, there will be a rather sweet bonus in the form of an animated short based on another Sendak story, "Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life," featuring the voices of Meryl Streep and Wild Thing (the Bull, if I recall correctly) Forest Whitaker. Bully to that, although I didn't really need any more motivation to buy this one.

In even better news, on the same day, Beastie Boy Adam Yauch's Oscilloscope Laboratories will release the doco "Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak," directed by Lance Bangs and Jonze, on DVD as well. Jonze and Sendak bonded quite a bit on the set of "Where the Wild Things Are," and as you see from the clip below, it became a genuine mutual admiration society. Enjoy.



And in a final bit about Mr. Jonze, a Web site has been just unveiled for his short film "I'm Here," which recently made its debut at Sundance. Best as I can tell, it's a 30-minute movie that's a love story involving two robots (why not?). You can watch the trailer at the site here, and according to the site itself, the movie will be released on it in March. Stay tuned for more on this very soon.

OK, except for that today, everything else will be about another subject that just fascinates me, the new Muppet movie being cooked up by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller for Disney. Being both a Marylander and a child of the '70s, I of course grew up on the Muppets, and certainly have never outgrown their appeal.

Well, now details about the movie itself are coming out quickly. "Flight of the Conchords" co-creator James Bobin has been officially attached to direct the project (a perfect choice in my book), and now early word about the script has emerged on The Playlist (a daily must-read here.)

According to their source, the movie's name has also changed from "The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made" to now "The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made." Even with tongue firmly in cheek, you'd better deliver something solid with a title like that, and here's what the source had to say about the movie's synopsis:

" (The script) is about Gary, Mary, and Walter (a man, his girlfriend, and the man's life-long nondescript, brown puppet best friend) getting the old Muppet gang — now retired entertainers known for the same Muppet show we know them from — together to save the TV studio that the original show was shot in. A villain, Tex Richman (nice name, on par with Doc Hopper), bent on drilling for oil underneath the studio, is due to take over the studio in weeks and the only way to stop him? Putting on a show that draws ten million viewers (see also "Heartbroken: The Conan O'Brien Story").

I'm not sure what that last CoCo bit was all about, but although that synopsis perhaps lacks an original spin on the Muppets story, it at least fits firmly in the tradition of what they're all about, so I'm very confident this is in the right hands. Here's some more of what he or she had to say:

It's a fresh, younger approach. Stoller and Segel have fun with the characters, are aware of what made the Muppet early years so great (winks to the audience, friendly musical numbers, single gag repetition, friendship and togetherness being the answer to everything), and hit the mark 65% of the time.

Again, that all sounds great to me, but the key to any great Muppet movie is the music, none of which The Playlist's mole could get his or her hands on. The only proof we have so far of Segel's and Stoller's skills in that department is that blissfully silly Dracula puppet show at the end of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (easily the best thing about that very easily forgettable movie.) Here's a clip of Segel performing "Dracula's Lament" on Craig Ferguson's show (I think) to brighten your day.



Finally today, the world is certainly a better place now that the Muppets have their own YouTube channel (trust me, it's a seriously good time-waster), and here's the newest clip. Beaker sets out to meem his way through Kansas' "Dust in the Wind," but as you can probably imagine, the results are somewhat short of perfect. Enjoy, and have a perfectly bearable Wednesday. Peace out.

Yes, there will be a new Wes Anderson movie

After his last two flicks I wasn't completely sure I really wanted this day to come, but it seems there really will be another Wes Anderson movie, and it will indeed be opening the London Film Festival in October, and then supposedly get a very wide release in the U.S. beginning Nov. 13

And to that I can at least conditionally say bring it on, in large part to the new gallery of photos from "Fantastic Mr. Fox" that they've just put up at the movie's official site, which so far has little else on it.

The pictures, however, are well worth a visit, because they reveal an attention to detail, especially in the Fox family home, that compares favorably to - and I know I'm getting my hopes up way too high for what is an animated children's story, albeit a classic one - the Tenenbaum home in "The Royal Tenenbaums," by a nose my favorite Anderson movie.

With George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson and even Jarvis Cocker providing voices, it should at least hopefully be a lot of fun.

And in other good news, I was proven even more wrong than usual when - even after the positive reviews came pouring in - I just couldn't believe that any movie directed by Ben Affleck would be fairly great. Well, anyone who's seen that flick, "Gone Baby Gone," will probably agree that it was one of the best of 2007, and now he's back with a cast that sounds really promising.

Affleck will star in and direct "The Town," based on the novel by Chuck Hogan, and he'll be joined by Jon Hamm of "Mad Men" and, in even better news in my book, Rebecca Hall of "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (and, I like to point out, "Starter for 10," just because it's a fun little British teen romantic comedy very few people have seen.)

Affleck is playing a bank robber who becomes smitten with the teller of a bank he held up (Hall, natch), and Hamm is an FBI agent on his trail. The teller, of course, makes the robber want to go straight, but she is also the FBI's golden ticket to catching Boston's most wanted bank robber.

Sounds pretty standard to me, but with that cast, I'm in.

And fans of "How I Met Your Mother" - of which you can still count me one, even if it slipped a bit last season - might be curious to know that Ted himself, Josh Radnor, has apparently directed his first movie.

Radnor also wrote the script for "HappyThankYouMorePlease" (wow is that a bad title), which stars Malin Akerman, Kate Mara, Richard Jenkins (huzzah!) and even Buster Bluth, Tony Hale.

In what sounds a heck of a lot like "HIMYM" itself, the comedy "follows the lives and loves of six New Yorkers not quite ready to embrace adulthood. Sounds awfully meh to me, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

And speaking of "Mad Men," I'll close with an extended Comic-Con clip from AMC's coming update of "The Prisoner," which I had thought was going to premiere directly before or after "Mad Men" finally returns Aug. 16 (the day after I get back from Mexico!)

It now seems AMC's "new" show won't appear until November, but with Sir Ian McKellen as the mysterious interrogator I'm gonna tune in for at least a few episodes, and the nine-minute-or-so clip (I did warn you) actually raises some hope that this might have been a good idea in the first place. And with that, it's off to the salt mine. Peace out.

"Rudo Y Cursi": Good fun, but wither the footie?

Though, because like Emily Gilmore I simply "don't find forensic work quite as fascinating as the rest of the world" I've never seen any of the 15 or so versions of "CSI," I can only heartily second this sentiment from Viacom and CBS boss Sumner Redstone about Jay Leno: " 'CSI' will beat the hell out of him." Here's hoping he actually loses every single night, especially if he messes with the future of "Chuck"!

And before I get on to the main event today, there's two bits of news out there today, one insanely good and the other rather predictable but still just extremely sad.

Starting with the great, Adult Swim, which I thought only showed cartoons (silly me!) has now apparently acquired the rights to the two seasons and the Christmas special of the original U.K. "The Office." I know that only adds up to about 13 episodes or so total, but since I don't have them on DVD, to that I can only say huzzah!

But on the downside, even though I knew this was coming, seeing it as a definite happening is just thoroughly depressing. The French thriller "Tell No One" was not only easily one of the best movies (Top five on my list) I saw in all of 2009, but also an extremely accessible and mainstream entertaining flick. All it requires is that people do a little bit of READING as they watch the action, but I guess that's too much to ask.

Europa Corp. and Kathleen Kennedy have indeed just announced firm plans to do an English-language remake of the flick based on the equally sensational Harlan Coben novel, with a tentative start date of Spring 2010. Oh well. Since I suppose there's nothing I can really do to stop this, I simply urge everyone to rent the original flick, which is indeed out on DVD now.

But now on to what I was supposed to talk about, Carlos Cuaron's mostly satisfying "Rudo Y Cursi," which I had the pleasure of seeing as the closing night film of the Atlanta Film Festival 365. Before you can really get into that, however, this one really just calls out for a word about its pedigree.

Remember those Mexican directors who in 2006 (was it really that long ago?) earned the rather unfortunate nickname of the "three amigos"? Well, since then, it seems like there's been nothing much but silence from Alfonso Cuaron, Ajejandro Inarritu and Guillermo del Toro.

Alfonso Cuaron's next flick is likely to be "A Boy and His Shoe," which will be about a group of young people (Charlotte Gainsbourg among them, huzzah!) who are on a road trip through England and Scotland. It's set for release sometime in 2010. We're likely to hear from Inarritu before then, since he's wrapping up something called "Biutiful," which stars Javier Bardem as a man who's involved in shady dealings of some kind when he runs into a childhood friend who's now a cop. That one's set for a December release this year.

And we all know that Mr. del Toro is working on a little flick called "The Hobbit." Luckily, in the meantime the three good pals also formed a production company, Cha Cha Cha, and perhaps at least partly through the power of nepotism, Cuaron hermano Carlos gets the first release with this flick.

So, finally, what's it about? Well, anyone who's seen "Y Tu Mama Tambien" will be thrilled to know that it's the first big-screen reunion of Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal, and that they've only developed further the natural rapport they enjoyed in that flick from Alfonso.

Here, they play brothers who toil on a banana farm until they are discovered by a soccer talent scout who needs a new player. And there's the rub: At first, at least, he only needs one.

Like "Y Tu Mama Tambien," "Rudo Y Cursi" mines most of its humor and all its humanity from the struggles of regular Mexicans with daily life. And as the titular brothers Beto and Tato (Rudo and Cursi are their nicknames, but I'll get into more about that later), Luna and Bernal bicker in the refreshingly and naturally foul way that only brothers can. It's snappy dialogue that will feel familiar and at the same time open a window to Mexican life that few of us ever get to see.

OK, that's the good stuff, of which there is quite a bit. So, what's the problem? Well, as a rather big soccer fan (I'm headed to Chicago in June to watch U.S.A-Honduras and, assuming they get that pesky pig flu under control, possibly to Mexico City in August to watch U.S.A.-Mexico), I was excited to see this one because even the director himself, in introducing the flick, described it as a "soccer movie." Unfortunately, that just falls way short of the truth.

Though our heroes do indeed play professional soccer in Mexico (for fictional teams, oddly enough), there's almost zero action on the pitch in "Rudo Y Cursi." In fact, all there really is in that department is a pair of penalty kicks that frame the story. So, if you don't like soccer, is that a problem? Yes, because instead of using sport to add any urgency to his tale, Carlos Cuaron (who also co-wrote the screenplay for "Y Tu Mama Tambien" with Alfonso) manufactures drama in the form of a gambling problem for one of the brothers and a nasty turn by the agent that just doesn't fit at all. Worst of all, because there's no real soccer angle to the story, we never really find out just how the two brothers earned their colorful nicknames.

However, though that's more than a minor quibble, the humor that Carlos Cuaron mines in everyday Mexican life and brotherhood is indeed enough to make his debut feature film very enjoyable, and I guarantee that you will just laugh right out loud when you see Bernal, who apparently just has no shame, sing Cheap Trick.

And with that I have to get ready for what is still my paying job, but I'll leave you with the trailer for what I think will be one of the surprise very big hits this summer, Nora Ephron's "Julie & Julia," which stars adorable Amy Adams (with a seriously unfortunate hair cut) and Meryl Streep as the master chef. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

Oscars predictions? Why not?

"George Bush is NOT the president ... we're alive! ... we actually made it!"
- Chris Rock

I certainly couldn't put it any better myself, so I'll just move on to something much, much more trivial. Along with the Oscar nominations coming tomorrow morning, there's evidence (though I can't yet call it proof) that Joss Whedon's horror movie might actually get made.

So, what is it? Well, it's called "Cabin in the Woods," and it was written (note, written, not will be written by Whedon and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"/"Angel" veteran Drew Goddard, who penned my most surprisingly entertaining movie of 2008, "Cloverfield" (please note, that designation is far from best, as we'll get into soon; I simply mean the premise sounded simply awful but the flick is pretty darn good.)

And, not only will "Cabin in the Woods" most likely get made, it's even luring some quality inhabitants. Bradley Whitford, star of "The West Wing" and, unfortunately, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," and even better, "The Visitor" and "Six Feet Under" star Richard Jenkins are on board for the project.

As for what it's about, details are scant, but Whedon did tell Variety that Whitford and Jenkins will play two white collar workers who visit the cabin, where I can only assume not terribly pleasant things will happen. Stay tuned to this.

Now, however, on to the main order of the day. The big question is: Will "The Dark Knight" get a nomination for Best Picture? I'll tackle that and the four acting categories (I simply don't have time to do the 10 categories that will be announced at 8:30 EST Thursday morning.)

I thought about just waiting until just before these are announced tomorrow or just saying "Who cares about the Oscars?" and moving on, but I still care about them, so here goes:

Best actress:

If I were a betting man, I'd say the nominees will be:
Cate Blanchett: Easily the best thing about "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," even though that makeup they put on Brad Pitt was pretty cool too. This one's a lock.
Kate Winslet: Well, her name rhymes with weight, and she won two Golden Globes, so just pencil her in here for "Revolutionary Road," which is somehow finally playing in my little corner of the world this week.
Meryl Streep: I read an interview with Philip Seymour Hoffman in which he said Streep approaches acting like it's hand-to-hand combat, and you can certainly see that in "Doubt." I had no desire to see this one, but it's surprisingly good, and she is great in it.
Sally Hawkins The other Golden Globe-winning actress has the honor(?) of playing easily the most annoying role of the year in Mike Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky," and doing so with style. My pick for the deserved winner.
Anne Hathaway: I have yet to see "Rachel Getting Married," but my parents went into it expecting more of a comedy after hearing an interview with director Jonathan Demme on Fresh Air and were of course surprised by what they found. My pick for the actual winner.
Biggest snub: Hiam Abbass certainly deserves recognition for her performance as a mother trying to get her son out of prison in "The Visitor," but I can't really see it happening.

Best actor:

Mickey Rourke: I was hoping that Oscar nom week would bring - shocking idea - a movie about professional wrestling to the American South, but apparently not in my little corner of the world (but we do, thankfully, finally get "Frost/Nixon.") If you get to see this, you'll see what I think is the performance of the year because I simply couldn't see anyone else playing the role of Darren Aronofsky's wounded warrior in "The Wrestler." My pick for the deserved winner.
Sean Penn: Though Rourke took home the Golden Globe, I can't imagine Oscar voters in the end won't give their vote to Penn for his portrayal of Harvey Milk, and why not? Penn finds all the quirks of Milk's personality that made him such an odd choice for a civil rights pioneer, and delivers a remarkable performance.
Frank Langella: I'll be seeing "Frost/Nixon" finally Saturday afternoon, and I expect to see a commandingly creepy turn by Langella as Richard Nixon. 'Nuff said.
Richard Jenkins: Seeing Thomas McCarthy's "The Visitor" get any recognition at all would be great, and this is easily its best shot. Jenkins is a joy to watch as he slowly lets his Walter Vale re-engage with the world.
Brad Pitt: The weak link in this chain by far. He was certainly a marvel to watch as the young boy trapped in the body of an old man, but the more and more he just looked like a slightly confused Brad Pitt, the less engaged I became with "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
Biggest snub: If I had a vote, I'd give it to Jeffrey Wright for his sly and fierce turn as Muddy Waters in director Darnell Martin's "Cadillac Records," but I can't see that happening unless a lot of people look at their ballots just before submitting them and say, "geez, where are the black folks?"

Best supporting Actress:

Penelope Cruz: My pick for runner-up, Cruz is just manically funny and more than a little terrifying in Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."
Viola Davis: My vote for the actual winner and should-be winner coincide here. No one took over a movie better than Ms. Davis did for the 10 minutes or so she was in "Doubt," and that's the definition of a supporting role. Simply stunning.
Amy Adams: Actually, what I want to see Amy Adams in is "Sunshine Cleaning," for which I've seen the trailer at least three times now. In "Doubt," she plays the young nun caught in the middle between Streep's accuser and Hoffman's accused, and just keeps us in the titular "Doubt" throughout the movie.
Marisa Tomei: If it weren't for Ms. Davis, I'd predict Tomei would be taking home her second Oscar this year for her performance as the not-yet-beaten-down dancer who befriends "The Wrestler."
Taraji P. Henson: Judging from all the trailers and some movies I've seen, Henson is turning into the "It" woman (not girl, of course) for black directors, with roles in Tyler Perry's "The Family that Preys" and the Tyler Perry rip-off "Not Easily Broken," directed by Bill Duke. She'll be nominated here for being one of the bright spots in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
Biggest snub: In case any one's wondering, yes, I'm well aware that I repeat myself, but I'd vote for Beyonce as Etta James in "Cadillac Records." Yes, Beyonce.

Best supporting actor:

Heath Ledger: The definite winner, and deservedly so, for his chaotic takeover of the role of The Joker.
Robert Downey Jr.: Why in the world not a vote for comedy? I can't see Tom Cruise getting in here for "Tropic Thunder" like he did at the Golden Globes because, well, he just wasn't that funny. Downey, however, as mega-actor Kirk Lazarus, certainly was, so huzzah to that.
James Franco: The former "Freak" got a Golden Globe nomination for his delightfully goofy role as Saul the friendly pot dealer in "Pineapple Express," but he'll be nominated here for his work as Harvey Milk's lover Scott Smith. It's been quite a year for the former reluctant member of the McKinley High A.V. club.
Josh Brolin: I'd like to see him get a Best Actor nod for "W.," but the field is just too crowded. Instead this will be for his portrayal of troubled killer Dan White in "Milk," which just left us appropriately confused about what really drove White to commit his heinous acts.
Michael Shannon: To be honest, I know nothing about this, but there have to be five, so why not Mr. Shannon for "Revolutionary Road"?
Biggest snub: Eddie Marsan is just a simmering pot of rage in "Happy-Go-Lucky," and once he boils over its unforgettable, so his name should certainly be called tomorrow morning, but won't.

Best Picture:

OK, here it is. I'd say the best predictor is to look at the Director's Guild nominees, which were: Danny Boyle for "Slumdog Millionaire," Gus Van Sant for "Milk," Ron Howard for "Frost/Nixon," Christopher Nolan for "The Dark Knight," and David Fincher for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

Is that right? I'd say almost. Although I'd certainly like to see it, I don't think "The Dark Knight" will make the cut. The Academy, as a rule, doesn't usually anoint more than one movie that's at least as fun as it is "good," and I think that slot goes to "Slumdog Millionaire."

So, if "The Dark Knight" is out, what's in? I see four contenders: Sam Mendes' "Revolutionary Road," Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" (huzzah!), Andrew Stanton's "Wall-E," or Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino." Of those, I predict Clint's movie will be the dark horse that just sneaks in the gate, so the big five will be:

"Slumdog Millionaire"
"Milk"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Gran Torino"

If I had to pick a winner today, I'd say "Milk," and I'd certainly be OK with that. Here, if I had a vote, would be my top five for the year:


"Slumdog Millionaire": I threw up a little in my mouth when I read this morning about how Mr. Boyle had to defend his movie in Mumbai after some idiot called it "poverty porn." I don't even know what that could possibly mean, but Boyle's movie is lively, fun and thoroughly enchanting, and that's enough for me.
"Let the Right One In": Please, please, please see this in its original form when it comes to DVD instead of waiting for the American version. This Swedish gem is as much a coming of tale as it is a suitably scary vampire flick, and just an all-around winner.
"Milk": Gus Van Sant's movie deals a lot more with the small details of San Francisco politics than I expected, and therefore could have been a real snooze, but it certainly never is. Instead, it's a celebration of Harvey Milk's life that's full of warmth and, of course, tragedy.
"Tell No One": I want to resist saying "they just don't make them like this anymore," but I'm afraid I have to. Guillaume Canet takes what easily could have been another by-the-numbers thriller and instead turns Harlan Coben's novel into the best mind-bender of the year.
"The Wrestler": Darren Aronofsky's flick sticks to the structure of the sports underdog flick but gives its hero a truly scary foe: Any semblance of an actual life. A professional wrestling movie as one the year's five best? Believe it.

So, there you have it. Tune in for the Oscar nominations tomorrow morning at 8:30 EST, and please feel free to tell me if I've snubbed any actor, actress or movie in particular. Peace out.

The Golden Globes get it just about right, but when will we all get to see these?

A hearty congrats at the start to who I would have to say was the real surprise winner at last night's Golden Globes, "In Bruges" star Colin Farrell. I would have cast my vote in the Best Actor/Comedy or Musical category for his co-star Brendan Gleeson, but it's still a well-deserved win for a smart role in Martin McDonagh's wickedly funny little flick.

The overall movie winner at the 66th awards show, however, was Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire," and a hearty huzzah to that as well. If that sets him up for a Best Picture (and hopefully that means best director, too, as it did at the Globes) victory, I'd be happy with that, since he made one of the most inventive flicks of the year that tells a warm and engaging tale.

My best five for the year, by the way: "Slumdog Millionaire", "The Wrestler", "Milk", "Let the Right One In" and "Tell No One". If I had to pick a single favorite right now, it would be Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" by just a nose over Gus Van Sant's "Milk".

But, in what might the real predictor, what does the Director's Guild of America have to say? "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" — David Fincher; "The Dark Knight" — Christopher Nolan; "Frost/Nixon" — Ron Howard; "Milk" — Gus Van Sant; "Slumdog Millionaire" — Danny Boyle. I'm still not too confident that "The Dark Knight" really will sneak into the party, and if it doesn't, I'd look for Sam Mendes' "Revolutionary Road" to come crashing in.

In Best Feature Comedy/Musical, I was pulling for dark horse "Happy-Go-Lucky" from Mike Leigh, but I'm also content with a win for Woody Allen's little confection "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." When's the last time a major award win and Woody Allen's name appeared in the same sentence?

In the Actor/Drama category, Mickey Rourke was a well-deserving winner for his portrait of Aronofsky's wounded warrior. Likewise, kudos for the recognition of Sally Hawkins' fairly remarkable turn in "Happy-Go-Lucky" in the Comedy/Musical Actress category, easily my favorite female performance of the year, albeit a hard one to watch.

When it comes to the other actress categories, however, there's just further proof that, in Hollywood, there are apparently only two actresses deemed worthy of recognition: Kate and Cate. I like them both plenty, and will concede I haven't yet seen either "Revolutionary Road" or "The Reader", but did they really have to give Kate Winslet both acting awards? Sheesh. Of the women nominated, I would have voted for Meryl Streep in "Doubt" for the Drama category, and an extremely deserving Penelope Cruz for Best Supporting Actress in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."

A final word about the movie winners before I move on the the greater point (and, yes, there is one buried down here somewhere.) I was extremely happy to see A.R. Rahman's victory in the category of Best Score for his soundtrack to "Slumdog Millionaire." The sweet Spanish guitar sounds that fill the background of "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" are a lot of fun too, but you can't do too much better at all than the wildly infectious Indian techno pop that provides the back beat of "Slumdog."

Isn't it time, however, that these movies finally play wide and make what is normally the Hollywood silly season (which I peg at lasting until March 6, when it looks like "Watchmen" will actually manage to come out after all) a bearable time at the multiplex?

I can only assume that the presence of Leo DiCaprio guarantees a "Revolutionary Road" wide run very soon, but having already seen the trailers for "The Wrestler" and "Slumdog Millionaire" playing in my little corner of the world, I have to wonder why they haven't played here yet, and if these wins will indeed be enough to mean they come this week.

Already, this week is shaping up to be a fairly good one for movies. Personally, I'm really looking forward to seeing what George Tillman Jr. has come up with for the Biggie Smalls biopic "Notorious." With Biggie's mother as one of the producers I'm a little worried it will be a sugar-coated affair, but with a cast featuring Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, Anthony Mackie and newcomer Jamal Woolard as Biggie himself, I really don't see anyway this one will suck.

I think Edward Zwick's "Defiance" is also widening enough to reach out this far too, but I can't say I'm as excited about that. Is it too much to ask that these (and, I'm afraid, "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," "Hotel for Dogs" and " My Bloody Valentine: 3D") be supplemented by two of my favorite movies of 2008 out here in wide-release world?

Well, enough about that. I'll close with this "sneak peek" clip from Pixar's next flick, "Up," introduced by director Pete Docter. It doesn't reveal too much more than the little we've already seen, but there are couple of cool storyboard shots from what I'm sure will be one of my favorite flicks of next summer. Enjoy, and have a perfectly bearable Monday.

Lions for Lambs: Hardly a blunt instrument

Coincidentally enough, I had to go to work directly after seeing Robert Redford's far-too-ponderous "Lions for Lambs" and was confronted with an AP story pointing out that, with six soldiers dying Saturday in Afghanistan, this is now the deadliest year there for American troops since the invasion began. And in the minute or so it took me to read that story I learned much more than I did from Redford's flick.

Which, in many ways, is a tremendous shame. Though I read a lot of newspapers, with the New York Times and Washington Post (call me pinko if you want to) being my usual first choices, I usually skip right over the headlines about war and go right to the stories about the 2008 campaign. They just interest me more, as wrongheaded as that might be.

So, in a way I suppose I should be among the target audience for Redford's salvo in the war of (many, many) words, and I certainly get his point. How in the world could you miss it when it's made even less subtly than Laurence Fishburne running around campus at the end of "School Daze" (which for the record, I enjoyed a lot more than this flick) screaming "wake up!"

To beat us over the head with this mantra, Redford uses a quasi-real-time triptych of stories, which if he weren't so consumed with righteous anger would have made for a much more clever conceit. In the first, and best, storyline we get Tom Cruise (whose United Artists studio put this out) as a GOP senator and rising star who is pitching a new front in the war on terror to a reporter who has helped him out in the past, played with her usual finesse by Meryl Streep.

Just in case you somehow missed the point that he was supposed to represent our current president, Cruise's senator uses "enemy" constantly, just as Mr. Bush does to pitch his war on TV. What made this segment the most interesting was that, with Streep effectively playing the Judith Miller character in this game, it presented a plausible enough scenario about how the Media can get seduced into becoming a watchdog with no fangs.

From there, however, it just goes downhill fast. The second scenario? We essentially get Robert Redford as, well, Robert Redford, berating a student (played by Tom Garfield) who doesn't care enough about the future as he should. OK, fair enough, but if the student is supposed to represent us, that's exactly what we get: Robert Redford yelling at us to pay attention, and it's often even less entertaining than it sounds like it would be on paper.

And the third story goes from simply wordy to weird. As Cruise is pitching his new front in the war, it is seemingly simultaneously being put into action, with director Peter Berg leading the troops. Berg, of course, directed a much more entertaining flick about this subject, "The Kingdom," this year, which like "Lambs" was written by Matthew Michael Carnahan (which I assume is why Berg is in this to begin with.) In case you couldn't guess from the title "Lions for Lambs," the mission doesn't go too well, but I won't tell you any more than that in case you still want to see the movie.

As he did with "The Kingdom," Carnahan wraps up "Lions for Lambs" with a very clever punch, this one about the state of our Media. But the verbal torture you had to sit through to get there just wasn't worth suffering through for that little payoff.

Now, I can respect that Robert Redford is angry, and I can understand why. If he wanted, however, to win over any "hearts and minds" (as Cruise's character so mockingly puts it here), this certainly wasn't the way to do it.

Have Faith: Joss Whedon's returning to TV!

I know, I know, this is supposed to be about movies, and if you bear with me today you'll find out there is indeed a lot of great movie news out there, but when there's a TV story this good it can't be denied as the lead item.

When Eliza Dushku signed a big deal with 20th Century Fox Television earlier this year, it led me - and surely fanboys everywhere - to muse about the possibilities of a "Faith the Vampire Slayer." Well, this is just about as good, if you can believe that.

Joss Whedon, arguably burned thrice by TV and most severely with the great "Firefly," has finally returned to TV, and he's bringing Faith and "Angel" mastermind Tim Minear with him. Take a minute to think about the possibilities here.

Their project, which has been picked up for seven episodes by Fox, will be called "Dollhouse," and it just sounds like perfect Whedon material. Faith will play Echo, one of a group of secret agents living in a futuristic dorm. Each has the ability to be imprinted with custom personalities and abilities for special assignments ("human chalkboards," I believe he's calling them.) When they return, their newly acquired memories are wiped. The show follows Echo as she takes on a variety of assignments — some romantic, some adventurous, some uplifting, some illegal — and gains awareness of her role and confinement.

“It deals with our darkest impulses and our best ones,” Whedon told TVWeek, which, to be fair, had the scoop on this. “It deals with all the things I like to deal with — strength, weakness, power and corruption.” Amen, brother.

But who do we really have to thank for this rather remarkable development? Faith herself, apparently, Keen to reunite with Whedon, she apparently took him to lunch and picked his brain until this idea spilled forth, and a week later he had sold it to Fox. Depending on how fast Whedon can write, the show will appear either in spring or next fall.

I could go on for hours about something this cool, but you'd be better off to read TVWeek's great interview with Whedon, in which he talks not only about this show, but also about "Ripper," the pain of returning to Fox and the looming writers' strike. Read it all here.

No "Heroes: Origins"?

Though they're blaming this development on the impending strike (which I've tried to avoid reporting on because, well, it doesn't particularly interest me until it impacts specific projects I'm interested in), I have to suspect that NBC's qualms about this might have just as much to do with the new season of "Heroes."

Now, I haven't seen this week's episode yet (my newest DVR habit is to watch it and "Pushing Daisies" back-to-back later this morning), but I have to say there are several things about the new season of "Heroes" that are, well, queer (with no sexual connotation intended whatsoever). In brief, I just can't stand Maya and Alejandro and Hiro's "adventure" in Japan has just been a big bore. The addition of Kristen Bell (although her debut was rather lame) holds promise, and I like what's happening with Peter Petrelli, so I'm certainly not gonna give up, but I do have worries.

As to "Origins," the facts are these: It will not get its six-episode run, which was expected to start as early as late April.

In even more depressing news: NBC's big move instead will be to air TWO-HOUR installments of "The Biggest Loser." In this game, I think that might just be you and me.

New details about Gilliam's "Imaginarium"

Though tidbits about this great project have been floating about for months, I never believe a Terry Gilliam movie's gonna happen anymore until it hits the trades, which it did this morning with "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus." The real news this morning was that Christopher Plummer will be joining Heath Ledger and Tom Waits in the flick, as the titular doctor.

The plot details were long ago encapsulated well by Brendon at the great filmick blog, but I'll do my best with what I remember: Dr. Parnassus is a sort of medicine show man who travels with a theater troupe and an assistant named Anton (Ledger, apparently) who works up the crowd. After encountering and making a deal with the devil (Waits, natch), he is given the power to show people what will happen if they make certain choices, sort of a glimpse down both forks of the road.

Like I said, I may be a bit sketchy on the plot details, but it sounds like pure Gilliam. The flick starts shooting in December, so definitely keep your eyes on this one.

More "X-Files" coming in July!

Has it really been almost 10 years since the first "X-Files" movie? Apparently so, but the wait will be over soon, with 20th Century Fox setting July 28 as the return date for Mulder, Scully and, thankfully, Carter too.

Though the plot is of course shrouded in mystery, creator Chris Carter co-wrote and will direct the flick, which begins filming in December in Vancouver. All we know so far is that it will be a stand-alone story that "takes the complicated relationship between Mulder and Scully in new directions." Not much to go on, I know, but I definitely and heartily say bring it on.

Meryl to play Julia

Some time ago I did a list of my favorite movies about food, and that remains a combo that entertains me almost every time. And this one sounds like a sure winner.

Meryl Streep will play Julia Child in "Julie and Julia" for director Nora Ephron, and in case that isn't sweet enough, you get the truly delectable Amy Adams (forgive me for that, but we are talking about food, after all) in the mix as well, never a problem with me.

The flick centers on a frustrated temp secretary (Adams) who embarks on a yearlong culinary quest to cook all 524 recipes in Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." She chronicles her trials and tribulations in a blog that catches on with the food crowd. Not sure how exactly Julia herself will factor into this, but it should be fascinating to watch.

Gilroy snags Roberts and Owen for "Duplicity"

I've been pleased to see Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton," the most satisfying legal thriller I've seen in many years, lingering solidly in the top 10 after a rather disappointing box-office start. If you haven't seen it already, do so before you miss the chance.

His next flick is setting up as one that should have no trouble finding an audience. Julia Roberts and Clive Owen (heard of them?) have signed on for "Duplicity," a thriller being written and directed by Gilroy. The duo will play longtime lovers who happened to work as spies on opposite sides (haven't we heard that before with "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"?) They team up to stage an elaborate con to rip off corporations and steal a valuable product.

Even if it does sound awfully familiar, you can only go so wrong with a team like that.

Broken Lizard set 'Slammin' Salmon'

Any list of my favorite comedies, though it might change from time to time, will always have a spot for "Super Troopers," so any news about the Broken Lizard troupe is welcome to me.

The boys are very busy, but their newest will be an indie pic called "Slammin' Salmon" that sounds right up their alley. Bigman Kevin Heffernan will direct (and I can only assume play the lead in) the pic about a restaurant owner and former heavyweight champ who pits his wait staff against each other in a "Glengarry Glen Ross"-like competition.

Broken Lizard also has a deal with Warner Bros., for which it is developing something called "Ambulance Chasers" and another untitled project. It also has set up "Taildraggers" with Participant Pictures and "Pony Bush" with Dimension. How in the world they will juggle all that I don't know, but as long they keep me laughing I'm along for the ride.

"Infernal" director gets huge budget

Bear with me folks. Only two short tidbits to go, and then a fun poster at the end, I promise.

Andrew Lau Wai-kung, director of the simply fantastic "Infernal Affairs" (which of course inspired Scorsese's "The Departed), will direct another trilogy for the Hong Kong studio Media Asia. The budget for all three films: A rather whopping $250 million!

"Water Margin" will be an adaptation of a classic Chinese novel that sees 108 outlaws form a resistance movement to oppose the feudal king. "This is a story that everyone in China knows well," Lau said. "We (see) this as a three-part franchise with me directing the first movie and Johnnie To doing the second and me acting as producer." This just sounds like tons of fun, with or without tons of money.

Jarmusch to push the 'Limits'

Wow. You can definitely tell it's a busy day if news about Jim Jarmusch, easily one of my favorite directors, gets buried this deep.

It seems the great Isaach de Bankole will star in Jarmusch's next pic, tentatively titled "The Limits of Control." De Bankole, who you may remember as the very funny ice cream man in Jarmusch's "Ghost Dog," will play a mysterious loner used to operating outside the law, who is about to complete a job in contemporary Spain. That's just about all I know about the flick, which will begin shooting in Spain in February.

Great new "Juno" poster

It seems like forever since I've plugged Jason Reitman's upcoming "Juno," so here's another installment. The first poster for this flick, simply showing adorable Ellen Page's artificially swollen belly, was funny enough, but this is a definite improvement. I was already well sold on this one, of course, but the priceless look on veryfunnyman Michael Cera's face just makes it even better. Enjoy, and have an entirely pleasant day.