Frank Langella portraying Richard Nixon during filming of Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon, via Red Carpet District.

This is a press release. These are not the most interesting of reads but it does give previously unknown information about Jim Jarmusch's next film.

"Focus Features has acquired worldwide rights to independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch’s new film, which is tentatively titled The Limits of Control. Mr. Jarmusch will start shooting the new picture in Spain in February. Focus Features International will commence overseas sales for the movie this week at the American Film Market. Focus CEO James Schamus made the announcement today... The new film is the story of a mysterious loner, a stranger, whose activities remain meticulously outside the law. He is in the process of completing a job, yet he trusts no one, and his objectives are not initially divulged. The film is set in the striking and varied landscapes of contemporary Spain (both urban and otherwise), and will star Isaach De Bankolé (marking the actor’s fourth collaboration with Mr. Jarmusch) and other acclaimed international actors to be named shortly. Stacey Smith, who has worked with Mr. Jarmusch for over a decade, and Gretchen McGowan (who co-produced the filmmaker’s Coffee and Cigarettes) will produce the new film. Award-winning cinematographer Christopher Doyle (In the Mood for Love) will be the film’s director of photography; Eugenio Caballero, an Academy Award winner earlier this year for his art direction of Pan’s Labryinth, will be the film’s production designer."

ShockTillYouDrop.com reports that Guy Pearce is reuniting with The Proposition director John Hillcoat for The Road. In the film, based on the Cormac McCarthy novel, a father and son traverse a post-apocalyptic America facing wackos and cannibals.

The Proposition was one of my favorite movies of last year and easily the one I have watched the most (or at least tied with The Departed) on DVD in the past twelve or so months. This is a perfect re-teaming for the duo, as a lot of what made The Proposition so good is also relevant in The Road.

Lars and the Real Girl

I can't think of another movie quite like Lars and the Real Girls, a movie with such a ridiculous premise that some how works perfectly. I went into the film thinking this would be a comedy with some dramatic moments when in reality it is the exact opposite. This is one of the saddest films I have seen all year, though ultimately it unfolds into an uplifting fable in the most unexpected way.

Ryan Gosling had one of my favorite performances last year in Half Nelson and I think this one is even better. Playing a man so detached from life, he never crosses the line into over playing it. He is so damaged he can barely manage to be touched by another human being, which is what makes his new girlfriend Bianca the perfect partner. Emily Mortimer as Lars' sister-in-law is just as good as someone who does everything she can to help him.

Director Craig Gillespie also deserves special praise. He somehow keeps the right tone through out this picture. It is a delicate balancing act, teeter too far one way and the whole film is ruined. He keeps the focus less on what people will think when they see Lars' new partner and more concerned with what Lars is thinking. He somehow gets us to to like Bianca and have genuine feelings for her, as outrageous as that sounds.

The miracle in the plot is that the people of Lars' small town somehow come to an unspoken agreement to treat Bianca with the same courtesy that Lars does. This is partly because they have watched Lars closing into himself and are glad to see him attempt to break free. The film never mocks it's characters, there are moments of humor but they are not forced.

TV Guide reports that NBC is developing an episode of comedy "The Office" that would introduce several new characters who would then be spun off into a new series.

The proposed "Office 2" is not expected to include any of the mother ship's core cast, as producers are already casting about for a "name" to headline the potential show.

I guess this is good news. If it works then I get to watch another half hour of television set in The Office universe. If it doesn't than it doesn't affect the original Office (well, the original American Office).

The best in a new series of NBA on ESPN commercials, via TrueHoop.

A lot of posters were released over the last few days. Here is one for a movie I will probably never see but it sort of reminds me of Saul Bass' work.

This is the most bland and probably the worst poster of the year.

Just in time for HalloweenTime has a list of the top 25 horror movies. It is an odd list of mostly smaller film, and some that don't seen to belond (Red Dragon over The Silence of the Lambs?). The list also leaves off my two favorite horror films (I consider Jaws, which made the list, more of an action/adventure film than horror) Poltergeist and The Shining.

Apparently this is the reason why NBC stopped uploading their shows to iTunes. It is called Hulu, I just signed up to be part of the private beta and am awaiting my invitation. I read about this earlier today at Entertainment Weekly. Below is a clip from 30 Rock. It's a little wide for the Blog but I wanted to show the quality of the video, also the info from EW.

Welcome to Hulu.com, the reason why NBC/Universal pulled out of their deal with iTunes. This new video hub is owned by NBC/Universal and News Corp and offers content from those companies' outlets (Fox, FX, NBC, USA, Sci-Fi, etc.) Even though it's still in beta, while the tech-wizards work out the kinks, Hulu is what we call a game-changer for two reasons:

1) The quality is phenomenal. No more sketchy, viewed-through-gauze YouTube clips. While it's not quite HD, the image looks far better than the iTunes equivalent. (And it's a lot smoother than NBC.com's episode hub.)
2) You can embed the videos. Whole episodes. Near as I can tell, if you wanted to put the whole first season of 30 Rock (or Bionic Woman or Hill Street Blues) on your blog, you could. No charge, no repercussions. It reminds me of the moment when e-mail — which the veterans among us can remember was something you paid for — became free: suddenly, the information axis shifted.

Philip Seymour Hoffman looks really out of place in this poster.

This is the best movie related news I have read since, well, the last time Terrence Malick started making a new movie. Heath Ledger and Sean Penn are in talks to star in Malick's drama Tree of Life. Ledger would play the lead role, opposite a yet-to-be-cast female lead, and Penn would take a supporting role. Malick is also still negotiating a deal. I remember reading about this a few years ago when Colin Farrell was in talks to star, but always thought the movie was just a rumor.

If there was ever a title to perfectly sum up a Malick film, it would be Tree of Life. No director has ever quite enjoyed foliage as much as he does.

NY Magazine has a very good short film by Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep) up on their site. It was made in 1973 and will be included on a box set of the directors work that is coming out November 13. I can't recommend this short enough, it really is that good, perfect.

Dan in Real Life

Dan in Real Life is an enjoyable hour and a half. It's not the kind of film you will be talking about over the days following your viewing, but it is sweet and good natured and features some genuinely funny moments. Probably the most miraculous thing about this film is it actually got me to like Dane Cook for a short time. His persona is kept in check through the running time and he actually seems to be acting, instead of just playing a version of himself. This is also Steve Carell's most subtle and probably best performance.

My main complaint is that things seem too nicely tied up at the films ending. This is the same problem I had with another film in this genre, The Family Stone. We are given an open ended finale that seems right, then we are treated to what is the biggest plot device during the ending credits since Any Given Sunday (that films closing credits was almost like a whole other movie). Even Dane Cook's character is given unneeded resolution when it felt like there needed to be at least on more scene between him and Carell.

These are both taken from TrueHoop. The first is a very good Converse ad starring Dwayne Wade. The second is miniature Corey Brewer.

I am not sure if anyone would want to do this but on the Paramount Vantage site you can read the scripts for A Might Heart, Into the Wild, The Kite Runner, and Margot at the Wedding. Also, over at the Universal site you can do the same with American Gangster, The Bourne Ultimatum, Breach, Elizabeth: The Golder Age, The Kingdom, and Knocked Up. There are online for consideration at the Oscars. I am currently reading the Knocked Up script but I am pretty sure they just took the improvisation from the movie and typed it out.

Via CHUD, a clip to the best movie I have seen this year, Into the Wild

Woody Harrelson is joining Bruce Willis, Michael Peña, and Channing Tatum in Oliver Stone's Vietnam-era drama Pinkville. The film revolves around the 1968 My Lai Massacre, in which American troops killed hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese villagers. Harrelson will play the troubled officer in charge of the force that committed the murders.

I guess Jamie Foxx is a fan of Matthew Michael Carnahan's writing. Foxx will play a detective investigating a series of racially motivated killings in The Zebra Murders: A Season of Killing, Racial Madness, and Civil Rights. Carnahan, who penned Foxx's recent action thriller The Kingdom, is on board for the script.

Sony Pictures has officially set a February 2008 start date for production on Angels & Demons, the Da Vinci Code sequel. Tom Hanks is reprising his role as religious conspiracy investigator Robert Langdon, and director Ron Howard, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, and producer Brian Grazer are all back for the second movie adapted from Dan Brown's mystery novels. The only thing I can remember about the original (besides it being completely mediocre) is the music, which was fantastic. That probably isn't a good thing.

If you can't get Marin Scorsese then Michael Mann is not a bad replacement. Mann will direct Frankie Machine as a star vehicle for Robert De Niro.

I know I have posted about this before, but here is the story one more time. The drama is an adaptation of Don Winslow novel "The Winter of Frankie Machine." De Niro will play Frank Machianno, a mob hitman who has retired to run a bait shop. He agrees to help the son of a mob boss resolve a dispute with another Mafioso but is forced to turn into Frankie Machine again when he realizes he's been set up to be killed. De Niro and Mann previously teamed for 1995's Heat.

Rotten Tomatoes has a new trailer up for I Am Legend. The main problem I have with this is it looks to rely too heavily on cgi. The "vampires" appear to all be digitally created, and not very convincingly. Also, the action appears to be amped up from the original story as well as the involvement of the dog. I guess he sort of plays the same role as Wilson the Volleyball did in Cast Away, a device so that the main character isn't silent for the running time of the fim.

My favorite part about the Richard Matheson novel was that it was a straight up survival story. Robert Neville alone in his house trying to make it to the next day. He went out and tried to find answers and rid the world of these mutants but there was very little action, and very little dialogue. It was mostly internal thoughts, the character alone. I guess it would be tough to transfer this to the screen but I was hoping they would at least try. I'm not giving up hope yet but my anticipation has diminished a little.

Tom Hanks has a MySpace page.

USA Today has a first look today at Mike Myers' first original character since Austin Powers. The movie is called THE LOVE GURU and it stars Myers as Pitka, an American child left in India with a band of gurus. They raise him and he returns to America as a self-professed "love guru." There he helps Jessica Alba (below, with Myers) mend the rift between feuding hockey players (Justin Timberlake and Romany Malco).

This is from a Variety feature of 10 actors to watch. Here is the Paul Schneider section.

Paul Schneider is the first one to tell you he has friends back home who wouldn't be so inclined to show their emotions the way actors often do.

"Growing up in North Carolina, I was around a bunch of guys who did a lot of drinking and fighting," recalls Schneider, currently co-starring in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" and "Lars and the Real Girl." "I did my share of that, but I was always the sensitive guy. When I wanted to talk about my feelings, they'd tell me to have another drink."

Though Schneider studied filmmaking in college, what he learned is only part of what made him an actor. His time spent with friends seems just as vital to what's turning into a burgeoning career.

"There are people doing this who've been to Juilliard, and I'm not that guy," says Schneider. "What I found out was that time I spent living was my acting school."

On the set of "Jesse James," where he played outlaw Dick Liddil, Schneider found himself surrounded by a new group of guys -- Casey Affleck, Brad Pitt and Sam Rockwell -- and they bonded on the plains of Alberta, Canada.

"Usually when you have a bunch of men in their 30s and 40s together, there's a lot of competitiveness and measuring yourself against each other," Schneider says. "There was none of that with these actors."

The thesp adds he found the same support on "Lars and the Real Girl," where he plays the brother of a man who begins a delusional relationship with a life-sized doll he orders on the Internet. "There's nothing better for an actor than being around other actors who are willing to work hard and get dirty to figure out how something should be done," says Schneider.

For now, Schneider has temporarily taken a seat behind the camera. He is in post-production on "Pretty Bird," a film he wrote and directed, starring Paul Giamatti and Billy Crudup as two men trying to manufacture and sell rocket-powered belts.

"I'm really just there as a guide," says Schneider. "These guys don't need me to tell them anything."

MOVIE MUSINGS

AN ACTOR SHOULD ALWAYS: "I've been fortunate to work a few different jobs in film before I began acting, and I've learned actors should always say thank you, especially when being shown what never to do."

I'M INSPIRED BY: "Deadlines. No, fear. On second thought, maybe it's the fear of deadlines. Scratch that, it's the fear of sucking."

FAVORITE FILM CHARACTER: "The people seen in life whose plight or behavior could be applied to future characters in future films."

The best thing about Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III is that they are unintentionally funny. Way too serious for their own good they tip the scale and become almost a parody of the action genre. The good news is that it looks like the now singularly titled Rambo will be no different.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is not the movie you think it is, at least it wasn't the kind of movie I thought I was going to see. It is more like a lyrical novel with characters moving in and out of the story as needed and just when the film appears to be over we are treated to an extended epilogue that makes the whole picture deeper and richer than anything I was expecting.

The film is long (160 minutes) but once you settle into it's pace and rhythms it is hard to notice the length. I could have watched another hour it seems, as there were characters and scenes that I wanted to spend more time with. Or just simply watching the amazing cinematography by Roger Deakins with it's time lapse photography and wide open, empty landscapes.

This also features career best work by Casey Affleck, Brad Pitt, Paul Schneider, Sam Rockwell, and (strangely enough) James Carville. It is Affleck, not Pitt, who is the central character. Pitt's Jesse James is the star of the film, no question about it, but he is just a spring board for all these other characters to bounce off of, they all revolve around him while the story revolves around Affleck. Once the eventual killing takes place it is like a breath of fresh air is released by both characters. It is what follows though, that makes the film even greater.

The LA Times has an article shedding some light as to why Ryan Gosling and George Clooney may have dropped out of their next film roles (The Lovely Bones and White Jazz). Since you have to register in order to read the story and I have no interest in doing that, I will just provide with what was posted on Joblo. Of course, these are still just rumors as none of it has been confirmed.

The LA Times today has offered an explanation as to why Wahlberg was brought in, claiming that Peter Jackson was shocked when he saw Gosling turn up looking like he was wearing a fat suit. Apparently when Jackson was told by the young star that he was going to put on some weight to age himself up, Jackson was still expecting him to have the movie star allure. He didn't expect that he was going to turn up 'paunch and a beard'.

The piece also goes on to suggest that the reason for George Clooney dropping out of WHITE JAZZ was the fact that recent noir period pieces (like HOLLYWOODLAND and THE BLACK DAHLIA) have done poorly at the box-office. And the importance of a financial success might have been given more weight since MICHAEL CLAYTON hasn't exactly raked in the cash.

Click here to listen to the best song from Into the Wild.

Billy Bob Thornton is joining Shia LaBeouf, Michellle Monaghan and Rosario Dawson in D.J. Caruso's new thriller, Eagle Eye.

LaBeouf plays a young slacker whose overachieving twin brother has died mysteriously. When the young man returns home, both he and a single mother find they have been framed as terrorists. Forced to become members of a cell that has plans to carry out a political assassination, they must work together to extricate themselves.

This isn't the kind of movie I would normally be interested in, but the cast is shaping up nicely and it is based on an idea by Steven Spielberg, whom has a pretty solid track record.

Great World of Sound director Craig Zobel will helm Turkey in the Straw.

The film, a dark comedy set in the South, revolves around a race for county commissioner in a small town that takes an unexpected turn when one candidate shoots the other.

Another week another Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese project. They appear to have settled on an adaptation of Dennis Lehane's 2003 novel Shutter Island.

Set in 1954, the film would feature DiCaprio as Teddy Daniels, a U.S. marshal who investigates the disappearance of a woman from a Boston-area hospital for the criminally insane. Other Lehane novels have been adapted into acclaimed movies, including Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone (I will be seeing this soon).

DiCaprio and Scorsese's three films together — The Departed, Gangs of New York, and The Aviator — have amassed a combined 26 Oscar nominations. I rewatched Gangs of New York yesterday and have to say that it is actually better than I remembered it, much better. It also features and awesome performance by Daniel Day Lewis.

UPDATE: Here is a little more information about the book from Amazon.com. This description makes it sound much better, not so much like your common, standard thriller.

In summer 1954, two U.S. marshals, protagonist Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, arrive on Shutter Island, not far from Boston, to investigate the disappearance of patient Rachel Solando from the prison/hospital for the criminally insane that dominates the island. The marshals' digging gets them nowhere fast as they learn of Rachel's apparently miraculous escape past locked doors and myriad guards, and as they encounter roadblocks and lies strewn across their path-most notably by the hospital's chief physician, the enigmatic J. Cawley-and pick up hints of illegal brain surgery performed at the hospital. Then, as a major hurricane bears down on the island, inciting a riot among the insane and cutting off all access to the mainland, they begin to fear for their lives. All of the characters-particularly Teddy, haunted by the tragic death of his wife-are wonderful creations, but no more wonderful than the spot-on dialogue with which Lehane brings them to life and the marvelous prose that enriches the narrative. There are mysteries within mysteries in this novel, some as obvious as the numerical codes that the missing patient leaves behind and which Teddy, a code breaker in WWII, must solve; some as deep as the most profound fears of the human heart. There is no mystery, however, about how good this book is; like Mystic River, it's a tour de force.

Part of me really hopes Scorsese gets one of his Departed co-stars (Matt Damon or Mark Wahlberg) to play Dicaprio's partner.

When The Darjeeling Limited expands to more theaters it will have Hotel Chevalier attached to it, according to this. So if you haven't seen the film yet (or the short) this is just one more reason to do so.

Rolling Stone has posted a list what they consider to be the 25 greatest moments from The Office. It seems as though they just watched season three right before compiling this as it is by far the most mentioned season. One of my favorite moments is below.

I guess the trendy thing to do this weekend was to drop out of high profile films. Mark Wahlberg will now play the grieving father of a murdered girl in director Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Lovely Bones, replacing Ryan Gosling. Sources told Variety that Gosling left the project on Friday over creative differences, though he had already put on 20 pounds and a beard for the part.

George Clooney has dropped out of the starring role in Joe Carnahan's crime drama, White Jazz. Based on the James Ellroy novel, the film was supposed to begin filming in early 2008. Clooney, who is currently promoting Michael Clayton, shooting the Coen Bros.' Burn After Reading, and trying to finish his football movie, Leatherheads, is now too swamped to take on the role. It is unclear as to what the fate of the film is now that Clooney has left.

Anthony Hopkins has confirmed that he will star opposite Benicio Del Toro in Universal's The Wolfman, scheduled for a February 13, 2009 release.

Hopkins will play Sir John Talbot, father to Del Toro's Lawrence Talbot, the character who becomes afflicted with the werewolf curse. Mark Romanek directs from a script by Andrew Kevin Walker.

This is from the Hollywood Elsewhere comment section on the release of Hearts of Darkness on DVD. It is a posting from George Hickenlooper, one of the directors of the film. It is frustrating because finally this film is being released, but it isn't the best possible version.

Uhm, guys, I only found out about this the same way Jeff did. Last night while surfing the net. I haven't talked to Fax, but I am really surprised by this development. The only thing I know is that it is coming out on Paramount. I am also frankly bummed that I wasn't asked to do a commentary. The promotion of this film was always frustrtating to me, even back in '91. Eleanor did very little to ever mention Fax or my name when she promoted the picture. When she went on the TV talk show circuit, understandably everyone wanted to talk to her, but she never once mentioned Fax or me. YES, of course, she narrates the film and she shot the raw footage in the Phillipines. But the fact that she narrates the story is only because of a huge fight I had with the producers and Showtime. My father bought me Eleanor's book "Notes" on my sixteenth birthday and I loved it. It's how I fell in love with "Apocalypse Now." When I was invited to write and direct "Hearts of Darkness," Showtime's plan was to make a one hour TV special called "Apocalypse Now Revisited." My editors Michael Greer, Jay Miracle and I saw that the film had much larger potential. I saw it because of her diary and we all saw it because of these audio tapes my assistant editor Shana Hagan found in a box up at Francis' vinyard. Anyway, to make a long story short I had to fight and fight to get Steve Hewitt and George Zaloom and even Fax to some extent to allow Eleanor's diary to be the narraative thru line. On top of that Fax and I clearly cut the picture together and made a story out of all this crazy footage that had lingered in storage for thirteen years before we got involved. Eleanor never had a clue what to do with it and to be fair to her she was wonderful in allowing us to tell the story as we saw fit. And to Francis' credit he signed off on the picture. I was amazed that a man so powerful would have the courage to let us portray him without any interference whatsoever. It is a testament to the greatness of his character and spirit. And I say that sincerely. What irks me is that when the film came out Eleanor became a bit of a credit hog. And now with the release of the DVD and not even being asked to do a commentary is kind of a slap in the face from my point of view. It also saddens me that I spent many hours of time and energy talking to the folks at Criterion who are dying to put it out. I even flew myself to Denver to have lunch with Francis to talk him into it. That was three years ago. He said he'd get back to me but I guess he's been to busy. So here we are. I found out about it last night and it's coming out on Paramount DVD. I only hope that it has it's 1.33 aspect ration. A lot of theaters mistakenly projected it at 1.85 and cut off some of the titles and images. Maybe someday Criterion will be able to get it and I'll be able to do the commentary and tell all these hilarious stories about my encounter with Denis Jacob who stole the negative when Francis was in post. About how the all the footage we were cutting was almost lost in the Universal backlot fire and that our editing trailers were only saved because the "Back to the Future" clocktower absorbed the flames as a kind of firewall. There's also some funny stories about my meeting with Harvey Keitel and Sean Penn while they were working out and trying to convince Harvey to sign off on allowing us to use his likeness and to do an interview. It was certainly a moment to remember. Harvey is the best.

The trailer for Julian Schnabel's (Basquiat) new film, The Diving Bell and Butterfly. The main reason I am posting this is for the music cue about a thrid of the way through the trailer. It seems odd and out of place, mostly because I associate that music so directly to the movie it is from.

Don't know much about the movie (other than seeing a trailer before Into the Wild last week) but the poster is great.

A new, really great trailer for I'm Not There.

Woody Allen's Barcelona project now has a title, Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

"Vicky" stars Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem in a film the director described only as a "love letter to Barcelona."

With bascially every musician on Earth getting a musical biopic it was only a matter of time before one about Kurt Cobain was made. Universal Pictures has set David Benioff (who wrote one of my favorite Spike Lee movies, The 25th Hour) to write an untitled drama about the life of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.

The studio has acquired rights to "Heavier Than Heaven," a Cobain biography written by Charles Cross.

When I finally get around to making myself a website, I want it to look like Dirk's (via True Hoop).

I guess I was wrong. A few days ago I posted that Darren Aronofsky's Protozoa Pictures is producing a film called The Wrestler starring Nicolas Cage. I didn't think Aronofsky would direct it but apparently he will.

The film centers on Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a 1980s-era star pro wrestler who has become a burnt-out shell of his former self. After he has a heart attack during a small-time match, a doctor tells him he could die if he fights again.

In an effort to build a new life, Robinson takes a job at a deli, moves in with an aging stripper and tries to build a relationship with her son. But the prospect of a rematch with his old nemesis the Ayatollah proves too tempting to resist, even if it means risking his life.

The Wrestler is targeted for a January 7 start. Aronofsky is also attached to direct The Fighter with Mark Wahlberg and Brad Pitt, which should start after "Wrestler" wraps.

MTV has the trailer up for Stop-Loss, the story of a young soldier who after fighting in Iraq refuses orders to return to the war. The trailer features an overtly commercial soundtrack. I wouldn't have much interest in seeing it but it comes from Kimberly Pierce, whose last film was Boys Don't Cry.

One of my favorite documentaries will finally be released on DVD November 20. Hearts of Darkness was the documentary that followed the creation of Apocalypse Now (as well as the name of the source material). Martin Sheen was going through a bad period during this part of his life, battling alcoholism and almost dying of a heart attack during the making of this movie. Marlon Brando showed up grossly overweight, having refused to read Hearts of Darkness, not knowing any of his lines which he ended up having to improvise. All this is trivial compared to the complete breakdown Francis Ford Coppola had while directing this movie. His marriage almost fell apart, he had a nervous breakdown and allegedly threatened suicide on three different occasions. Hearts of Darkness is probably the greatest making-of documentaries ever made and it will include an extra documentary, called CODA: Thirty Years Later, and a commentary with Francis Ford Coppola and his wife Eleanor.

This is the latest hint from the Criterion newsletter as to something they will be releasing in the next few months. My guess, it's The Ice Storm.

Judd Apatow is partnering with Will Ferrell and Adam McKay on the comedy website Funny or Die. Apatow will help produce original content, such as the shorts already appearing on the site based on the Apatow-directed movie Knocked Up and Apatow-produced Superbad. Apatow says he's shot additional original content with Ferrell and McKay that has yet to appear on the site. The trio is also working together on the movie Step Brothers, a Ferrell vehicle that McKay is directing and Apatow is producing for Sony.

I know nothing about this movie and I will probably never see it. Okay, that is a lie. I will probably end up watching it on some Saturday afternoon when it comes on cable. Especially since it comes from the writer of The Devil Wears Prada, a movie I think is really bad but end up watching it every time it comes on TV. Anyway, I like this poster.

There isn't really a whole lot of movie news happening lately. Most of anything I am reading has been about the impending strikes (I get tired head from reading about it) or Star Trek (somebody got cast as Captain Kirk. Chris Pine, for what it's worth), so there hasn't been that much to write about. I guess to go with the story below on Clint Eastwood's next film, The Changeling, here is a photo of Angelina Jolie on the set. This is from Coming Soon.

A few things I forgot to mention in my reviews of The Darjeeling Limited and Into the Wild.

If you haven't done so yet, and plan on seeing The Darjeeling Limited, then go download Hotel Chevalier. If you don't see it then a joke later on in the movie will make little sense, as will a cameo.

As for Into the Wild I forgot to mention the performance of Hal Holbrook as Ron. He plays the most touching contact that Christopher McCandles comes across. An older man who sees him more clearly than anyone else he encounters and begins to think of him as a grandson.

John Malkovich, Colm Feore, and Jeffrey Donovan (have joined Angelina Jolie in The Changeling, a drama directed by Clint Eastwood. The story, based on real events, is about a woman whose son goes missing in 1920s Los Angeles. The police return the wrong child and the woman is thrown into an insane asylum for disagreeing with the LAPD. Eventually, evidence indicates that her real son was murdered, and the kid the police returned to her admits to the ruse. So the woman goes to the city council and takes down the mayor, the police chief, and several corrupt officers, which sparks changes in insanity legislation. Donovan will play a police captain, Feore, the chief of police, and Malkovich a reverend.

Into the Wild

Into the Wild is the best movie I have seen all year. It is an idealistic, collage of a movie that is a masterpiece. Writer/Director Sean Penn stays faithful to Jon Krakauer's book and creates a deceivingly complex film.

Emile Hirsch delivers the kind of performance that changes your perspective on an actor. I had never seen a film of his that I enjoyed, and never really enjoyed him in any of the movies. Here he is so good that it moves beyond acting. His final moments in the film are so haunting and powerful that they keep me glued to my seat well into the closing credits.

The film is filled with stunning vistas and gorgeous details. Penn also uses time lapse photography in an interesting way. Not only is it used to tell the passage of time but also to show the inner thinkings of Hirsch's Christopher McCandless. Other editing tricks are used such as split screen and freeze frames but they never seem overdone, it just feels like the correct tapestry for this kind story.

I remember somebody once asking what films perfectly embodies America. Something to show someone who has never visited this country or knows very little about it. At the time I was having a hard time trying to come up with an answer but now I can't think of a better example than this film.

The Darjeeling Limited

If you went into The Darjeeling Limited knowing nothing about it you would certainly be able to tell it was a Wes Anderson film. All of his usual visual flourishes are here, but just barely. This is Anderson's loosest and most mature film.

In fact, the film from the Anderson canon is most closely resembles is Bottle Rocket. But where in that film the restraint seemed to come from budgetary reasons, this one feels like a conscious decision. Sure, there are the slow motion sequences set to pop music and the asymmetrical framing but there are also other touches not often seen in an Anderson film, slow zooms in on conversations and just the everyday activities of life in the background. I don't want to say the film is anything like real life (I am certain a train like this wouldn't exist) but it is Anderson's most down to Earth film.

I think the thing I like most about the film is something that some others may actually detest. There is very little story involved in this it is basically just three brothers at different points in their lives trying to reconnect. It has a meandering quality to it, things just happen, then the next thing happens. You never get the feeling you are only moving forward just to hit certain plot points. Even when the film does become more plot driven it is handled in such an unorthodox way that isn't heavy handed.

This movie also contains what may be Owen Wilson's best performance since, well, ever. I think part of the reason the film reminded me of Bottle Rocket was Wilson. His Francis actually seems a bit like what Dignan from that film would be like if he got rich when he was older. Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody are also both really good and all three of them have a great familiar dynamic.

Anderson also does something interesting when establish his scenes. Instead of showing a normal establishing shot of a certain location then cutting to the scene he shows an establishing show then pans the camera to the characters. It's really a small thing but it just adds to the overall quirkiness of the film

In the past two days I have seen two road movies that are two of my favorites movies I have seen all year (one of them is actually my favorite). More on this later.

I guess it is still called John Rambo, according to this.

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Nicolas Cage is in talks to star in the indie drama The Wrestler. The movie tells the story of Randy ''The Ram'' Robinson, a 1980s-era pro wrestler who has become a burnt-out shell of his former self. After he has a heart attack during a small-time match, a doctor tells him he could die if he fights again. He moves in with an aging stripper and takes a job at a deli, but then decides he can't pass up an opportunity to return to the ring and fight his old nemesis, even if it means risking his life. The movie is being produced by Darren Aronofsky's Protozoa Pictures. Aronofsky, who previously directed Pi, The Fountain, and Requiem for a Dream, may also direct The Wrestler. For some reason I don't think that Aronofsky will actually direct this. His next film is The Fighter and I don't see him making two films on similar subjects and with such similar titles. I wish he would though, God knows that Cage needs to make another good movie. The sooner the better.

John Rambo (aka Rambo IV) has a new title and it is even worse than you can imagine. The new title doesn't even fit in the series and feels much more like a direct to DVD horror film than the reinvention of a franchise. Anyway, the new title is Rambo to Hell and Back. Here is an official synopsis of the movie.

Twenty years after the last film in the series, John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) has retreated to northern Thailand, where he's running a longboat on the Salween River. On the nearby Thai-Burma (Myanmar) border, the world's longest-running civil war, the Burmese-Karen conflict, rages into its 60th year. But Rambo, who lives a solitary, simple life in the mountains and jungles fishing and catching poisonous snakes to sell, has long given up fighting, even as medics, mercenaries, rebels and peace workers pass by on their way to the war-torn region.

That all changes when a group of human rights missionaries search out the "American river guide" John Rambo. When Sarah (Julie Benz) and Michael Bennett (Paul Schulze) approach him, they explain that since last year's trek to the refugee camps, the Burmese military has laid landmines along the road, making it too dangerous for overland travel. They ask Rambo to guide them up the Salween and drop them off, so they can deliver medical supplies and food to the Karen tribe. After initially refusing to cross into Burma, Rambo takes them, dropping off Sarah, Michael and the aid workers...

Less than two weeks later, pastor Arthur Marsh (Ken Howard) finds Rambo and tells him the aid workers did not return and the embassies have not helped locate them. He tells Rambo he's mortgaged his home and raised money from his congregation to hire mercenaries to get the missionaries, who are being held captive by the Burmese army. Although the United States military trained him to be a lethal super soldier in Vietnam, decades later Rambo's reluctance for violence and conflict are palpable, his scars faded, yet visible. However, the lone warrior knows what he must do...

Wow, this is out of left field and completely unexpected but Paramount Pictures has signed Simon Pegg to play Scotty in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek.

He joins Eric Bana, Anton Yelchin, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and Leonard Nimoy in the new movie based on the classic TV series.

Written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the story chronicles the early days of James T. Kirk and his fellow USS Enterprise crew members during their time at Starfleet Academy.

The trailer for what is supposedly the front runner for best picture this year (though at this point nobody knows anything), Charlie Wilson's War. It stars Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams and is directed by Mike Nichols (The Graduate).

The film is based on George Crile's book about the CIA's largest and most successful covert CIA operation, the arming of the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan. The covert ops were engineered by Charlie Wilson (Hanks), a charismatic, wheeler-dealer, liberal Texas congressman who teamed with a rogue CIA operative (Hoffman).

I have no idea what to make of this and there is no way to anticipate what this will even look like. This is what Gondry told MTV one of his upcoming projects is:

"I am working on an animated film with my son, It’s going to be quite amazing.”

Gondry has used some stop motion techniques in his films before, of course, most notably in “The Science of Sleep,” but this is the first time the “Be Kind, Rewind” director will do a feature length animated film.

“We’re translating our relationship into a futuristic story with a dictator and a rebel,” he explained of the film’s rudimentary outline. “He’s the dictator in the story [and] it will be based on [his] art.”

Gondry said he will co-direct the movie with his son.

George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio are in discussions for Farragut North. The political thriller is based on the upcoming Broadway play by Beau Willimon. Clooney would direct and produce the adaptation, and DiCaprio would star and produce. The story, loosely based on Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign (Willimon worked on Dean's team during his run), is about a young, idealistic communications director who works for an inspiring, though unorthodox, presidential candidate. During the campaign, his career is done in by more seasoned political types who thrive on partisan politics, dirty tricks, and backstabbing.

Any time Michael Mann makes a movie it is exciting news. Any time Will Smith decides to make something other than his normal popcorn fare it is exciting news. Any time the duo get together is, well, you get the point. They last collaborated on Ali, which contains Smith's best performance and also the best opening 20 minutes of just about any film released this decade. Smithwill now star in the drama Empire, which John Logan (The Aviator, The Last Samurai) is writing for Mann (Miami Vice, Collateral). Smith is said to be playing a contemporary global media mogul.

After reading this book last month I am eagerly awaiting this movie.

Brad Silberling (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events) will direct Land of the Lost, Universal's movie adaptation of Sid and Marty Krofft's 1970s live-action Saturday morning series. Will Ferrell will star as a disgraced paleontologist who, along with his enthusiastic assistant and macho tour guide, finds himself in a strange world inhabited by dinosaurs, monkey-people, and evil reptilian Sleestaks following a disastrous expedition. Universal has approved a March start date following a reported tweak in the budget, which is now set at $100 million. I like Will Ferrell and I like some of Siberling's movies but is this really a good idea? What was the last big budget, effects filled comedy that really worked? Is it Ghostbusters? There has to be something that came after that I am just not thinking of at the moment.

This news doesn't really affect me in anyway since I have never seen this show and probably never will but Chevy Chase will be featured in a multi-episode arc on the ABC series Brothers & Sisters. He will play Stan Hirsh, the high school boyfriend of Sally Field's character, Nora Walker. Chase also has his own recurring segment on Saturday Night Live's ''Weekend Update'', which he was equal parts funny and bizarre in last weekend.

Mace Windu vs. Anakin Skywalker vs. Chris Munn, the trailer for Jumper.

This is from CHUD. Some news on the Steven Spielberg/Peter Jackson Tintin series.

* Just in case you thought they were joking, these films will be entirely mo-cap.
* Spielberg will shoot the first film (he didn't reveal the title) in thirty days. Peter Jackson will join him on the soundstage for some of this, thus indicating that the film will be a highly collaborative venture. In fact, they duo might co-direct the third feature rather than track down another helmer for the final entry.
* Spielberg stressed that he and Jackson will be on the "same soundstage". I don't know if this means Spielberg will be heading down to New Zealand, or if Jackson will spending more time than usual in the States.
* The f/x will be done exclusively by WETA. In other words, this will be Spielberg's first film to not use ILM for visual f/x since... Raiders of the Lost Ark?
* Spielberg and Jackson have a dedicated line through which they can share production art, storyboards and all that stuff whenever they like.

A trailer for a sort of Once meets David Gordon Green film, Quiet City. Terrence Malick gets name checked in the trailer but the dialouge seems much more fitted to a Green film. I know nothing else about the movie but it looks like it might suffer from something most other films shot on digital suffer from, too much hand held camera work.

I took this from The Hot Blog. The top image is from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The bottom is The Bucket List.

I'm not sure how or why this happens but every few years there are a couple projects that start to made right around the same time that feature the same subject. We've had it before with asteroids, volcanos, and even animated ants. This time the subject will be Pablo Escobar (this is the third project on the man, if you count the last season of Entourage).

Oliver Stone is producing Escobar, a biopic about the Colombian cocaine trafficker. The film, which is being directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Shooter), is based on Mi Hermano Pablo, a book written by Roberto Escobar Gaviria, who served as his brother's accountant and confidant. The other Escobar movie, Killing Pablo, is an adaptation of the Mark Bowden book about the hunt for Escobar, which Joe Carnahan will direct.

Michael Cera and Kat Dennings (Catherine Keener's middle daughter from The 40-Year-Old Virgin) will star in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. It is based on Rachel Cohn and David Levithan's 2006 young adult novel, the story is about two brokenhearted teenagers who fall in love during a sleepless night in New York spent searching for their favorite band's unannounced show. Peter Sollett (Raising Victor Vargas, which is very good) is directing from a script by Lorene Scafaria.

From Slashfilm, Pixar to make a John Carter of Mars trilogy.

A Princess of Mars was first published in 1917. The movie will follow Civil War vet John Carter, who is transplanted to Mars, where he discovers a lush, wildly diverse planet whose main inhabitants are 12-foot tall green barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, who is in desperate need of a savior.

UPDATE: This is from CHUD, a little more info about the film and another one in Pixar's line up.

The films would be live action with animated elements - most likely the Martian backgrounds and the beasts, but hopefully not the babes - and that could mean that 2012, an estimated year for the release of this movie, could be a historic one for Pixar. That might be the year when the animation studio releases two films that use or are live action; Brad Bird's mysterious live action project - rumored to be called 1906 and to be about the great San Francisco earthquake of that year - is tentatively penciled in for 2012.

A trailer for a movie that I don't know what to make of. It is written, directed, scored and stars Anthony Hopkins.

I don't know, I think it's funny. It's no Dick in a Box, but what is?



And why are these digital short music videos better than 90% of actual music videos released today?

Gucci by Gucci, directed by David Lynch.

Earlier in the week I posted a story about the follow up to The Queen that will center on former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair's relationships with U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. I mentioned that it will be interesting as to who they cast in the former presidents roles, The Guardian has a few ideas.

Sheen will once again reprise his role as Blair, natch, but there's no news yet on other casting. So who do you think Morgan and co should call on for the key US roles? Chris Cooper gave us a pretty nifty quasi-Bush in John Sayles' Silver City, while Ned Beatty's corrupt scumbag senator in Shooter was more or less Cheney by another name. Then there are the Democrats: how about Michael McKean as Gore? And I always thought Patrick Duffy was a bit of a ringer for Clinton, though he may not quite have the gravitas...

Okay, here is a list I agree with. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the International Documentary Association (IDA) has announced a list of the 25 best documentaries, as selected by its membership (and presented by Netflix). My only complaints is that the wonderful Gates of Heaven didn't make the list and Spellbound is a little too high on the list.

I admire that Time Out London's list of the 50 greatest music films ever is full of off beat choices, most of them documentaries, but I am upset that they couldn't find one spot on the list for the best musical biopic ever, The Buddy Holly Story. They picked Todd Haynes' Karen Carenter as played by a barbie doll Superstar: the Karen Carpenter Story as their number one choice. From what I have seen the movie is good but gets a little old after a time and only a handful of people have ever seen this film (The Carpenters have never signed a release for the characters or the songs, it showed up on youtube sometime ago but has since been removed). Also a bit strange that they include Be Here to Love me as their number 7 pick but there is no mention of Heartworn Highways.

Yahoo has posted the trailer for Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I know nothing of the stage musical so I can't tell you if this looks like a faithful adaptation or not. I can tell you it looks a lot like a Tim Burton film though.

Joblo has a promo reel of what looks to be one of the most interesting/innovative animated movies in a long while, Wall-E.

Call 1-800-TROPICS. Or click here for another reason to call.

This might be the worst trailer I have ever seen. It is for Brian De Palma's Redacted and if you know nothing about then you still won't know anything after watching this, other than how many festivals ithe film has been accepted to.

I thought this was funny, not so much the breaking and entering part but as to how the suspect was found.

A man who broke into Nic Cage's home on Monday (Oct. 1) has been charged with a felony count of residential burglary. Cage was upstairs with his wife and son when he allegedly saw Robert Dennis Furo, 45, standing at the door of his bathroom naked, save for one of the actor's leather jackets. Duro has pleaded not guilty.

It's good to see that Kevin Dillon is using his recent Emmy nomination to work on quality projects. He has been set to play the title character in "National Lampoon's 301: The Legend of Awesomest Maximus Wallace Leonidas" reports Variety. Of course National Lampoon's hasn't been funny in about 20 years and most of their work goes straight to DVD (if not all of it).

The film spoofs sword and sandal epics "300," "Troy," "Gladiator" and "Braveheart," and Dillon plays the bumbling Spartan general who fails upward in his quest for greatness.

No Country For Old Men had a third trailer up at Apple.

Derek Luke has replaced Wesley Snipes in a lead role in Miracle at St. Anna, the WWII drama that Spike Lee is directing in Italy.

Snipes withdrew because it became too difficult for him to leave the U.S. and shoot in Italy while he fights federal tax-fraud charges. I didn't even know that Wesley Snipes was still making movies.

Luke, who plays an Army Ranger in Afghanistan in the Robert Redford-directed Lions for Lambs, is re-enlisting in the Army, circa WWII, and joins an ensemble that includes John Turturro, James Gandolfini, Michael Ealy, Omar Benson and Tory Kittles.

Luke will play one of four members of the U.S. Army's all-black 92nd Division who get separated from their squad behind enemy lines. The soldiers, bitter about racism and the feeling that their own government treats its enemy better than it does them, finds humanity in the small Tuscan village of St. Anna

Peter Morgan has started work on a follow-up to The Queen that will center on former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair's relationships with U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. It will be interesting who they get to play those roles.

Variety says the movie will focus on Blair's reaction to the handover of power from Clinton, a natural liberal ally, to Bush, who came from the other end of the political spectrum.

The project will be the third film in Morgan's "Blair trilogy," which began with Channel 4 telepic "The Deal" and continued with The Queen. Michael Sheen is expected to reprise his role as Blair.

Expect a lot of Entourage jokes attached with this news story. Hopefully this film gets a better reaction than the Vinny Chase version, Medillian. The Yari Film Group is making Killing Pablo, a biopic about the late Pablo Escobar, with Javier Bardem and Christian Bale.

Joe Carnahan (Narc, Smokin' Aces) remains attached to direct.

Bardem is slated to play Escobar, while Bale is in talks to play Major Steve Jacoby, the Delta Force commander who led the hunt for Escobar.

Escobar's rise as a leader of the drug cartel in Medellin, Colombia, began in the 1970s. After years of terrorizing police and political leaders, Escobar was targeted in 1992 by a coalition of Colombian police and military, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the CIA; he was killed the following year.

Peter Berg (The Kingdom) is developing a drama about the 1973 kidnapping of oil heir Jean Paul Getty III.

The grandson of the oil billionaire, Getty was snatched at age 16, with a $17 million ransom demanded. When the family didn't reply fast enough to the ransom note, Getty's captors forwarded an envelope that contained his ear, with a promise that more pieces would follow. Ultimately, the ransom was paid, Getty was found in southern Italy, and the kidnappers got away with the fortune.

British scribe Steven Moffat is writing DreamWorks' Tintin, the movie trilogy collaboration from Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg.

Moffat is best known for penning the new "Doctor Who" series and the BBC's "Jekyll."

In the comics, Tintin is a young Belgian reporter and world traveler who is aided in his adventures by his faithful dog Snowy.

The Kingdom

For the past week or so I have been trying to come up with a list of movies that are saved by their endings. Plenty of movies start good or even great and then start to go downhill from there. I wanted to see if I could think of any that are the opposite case and I think The Kingdom is a somewhat good example of this. Not that it is a bad movie, it isn't at all, but all of it's flaws are totally redeemed by a tense third act shoot out that is probably the best of its kind since Michael Mann's Heat.

The problems I had with the film are actually only minor quibbles. I would have liked it to be longer. We seemed a little shorthanded on character development in the first two acts, just sketches of past lives and relationships. I would have also liked more time spent on the investigation. It seems they know answers and find clues a little too quickly.

Besides that shoot out the best part about the movie is the relationship among the FBI agents. Their chemistry actually suggests that they know and have worked together for some time. I also like that we are given time to witness the Saudi Arabia side of the story and they are not just portrayed as faceless bad guys. In fact, most of them are good and just want to bring the criminals to justice.

This film also has the best opening credits I have seen in sometime. It's like a short little lesson on the recent history of Saudi Arabia that is both intellectually and emotionally thrilling. If you would like to see them they can be viewed here.

Yahoo has posted a very good teaser trailer for Pixar's Wall-E. I think the most interesting aspect of this movie (besides how great the animation looks) is that Ben Burtt is providing the "voice" for the main character. He is the long time sound designer for the Star Wars films (and others) and came up with such classic sound effects such as the lightsaber, Darth Vader's breathing, and R2-D2. I have also read a rumor somewhere that this film would feature some sort of live action segment too, the first Pixar film to do so.

I got this from MTV. I was going to post the story here but I dislike the way it is written so much that I'll just give an overview of it.

Martin Freeman is saying that there will not be a sequel to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The series of books (If I remember correctly I think there are five) is actually really good and could have been a great comedic sci fi anthology. The first film apparently didn't do well enough to warrant a second one. I guess I'll have to wait another 10 or so years for someone to start a new project based on Douglas Adams' stories. Maybe a televison show would be a better place for the books. (Yes, I know there already was a BBC television show.)

Catherine Keener has signed on to co-star with Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. in DreamWorks' music feature "The Soloist" reports Variety.

The story centers on Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless musician with schizophrenia who dreams of playing at L.A.'s Disney Hall.

Downey Jr. will play Lopez, who found Ayers (Foxx) on the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Keener will portray Lopez's wife.

The screenplay, by Susannah Grant ("Erin Brockovich"), is based on a 2005 series of articles by Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez.

"Atonement" (which is considered a front runner for best picture this year) helmer Joe Wright will direct starting in January.

Do you think they could have added a couple more locations to the background of this poster?

There is finally an episode of Saturday Night Live I want to watch.

Oct. 6
Host: Seth Rogen
Music: Spoon