It seems George Clooney really likes working with the Coen Brothers and Brad Pitt. Pitt has just signed on to be in their next film (Clooney has been attached for a while) Burn After Reading. There isn't much known about the plot, Joblo has the most comprehensive listing...

Clooney will star as Osbourne Cox, a former CIA agent shopping his memoirs. A data CD with a draft of his writings is accidentally leaked after his ex-wife's divorce attorney (who has stolen the files as ammunition) leaves them at the gym. The disc is found by gym employees Linda Litzke and Chad Feldheimer who decide to sell what they think is the confidential information to the highest bidder in order to pay for a series of expensive plastic surgeries.

Frances McDormand also stars.

I was looking at the IMDB page for Woody Allen's upcoming film Cassandra's Dream and noticed that Phillip Glass is doing the score. If I am correct, this is the first time that Allen has used a composer since Bananas, his third movie.

So, people are now blaming Oldboy for the Virginia Tech massacre.

The Cannes film festival has released its official 2007 lineup. I was going to run a list of everything that was accepted but most of these movies I will probably never see and will never hear of again. Here is a short list of the things I am interested in.

IN COMPETITION:

"My Blueberry Nights," Hong Kong-France-China, Wong Kar Wai

Wong Kar Wai's english language debut. It is a road trip set in America that stars Norah Jones. Could be great, it will at least be interesting.

"Death Proof," U.S., Quentin Tarantino

An extended cut of Tarantino's Grindhouse entry. I bet this plays even better as a stand alone film.

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," France, Julian Schnabel

From the director of Basquiat and Before Night Falls.

"No Country For Old Men," U.S., The Coen Brothers

A somewhat return to their roots for the Coen Brothers. Hopefully better than their last few misfires.

"Paranoid Park," France-U.S., Gus Van Sant

I know nothing about this about this but anything from Gus Van Sant is worth watching. I wonder if this will be in the same minimalist vein of his last three features?

"We Own the Night," U.S., James Gray

This has a great cast and Gray's last feature (The Yards) was actually pretty good.

"Zodiac," U.S., David Fincher

Just curious how this does in the competition.

UN CERTAIN REGARD:

"Mister Lonely," U.S., Harmony Korine

It's Harmony Korine so who knows what it is about. I read somewhere that Diego Luna plays Michael Jackson.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

"11th Hour," U.S., Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners

Another global warming documentary. Leonardo DiCaprio has something to do with this.


I am sure once the festival is underway there will be other films that gain my attention. This list is most of the American films that are being shown (it might be all of them) but I have no idea how to predict which foreign ones I will want to see.

Why is there a cocaine subplot in Three Men and a Baby?

I really hate it when movie posters do this.


For some reason it really bothers me when the names on the poster are not lined up with the actor. I know nobody is going to confuse John Krasinski and Mandy Moore but couldn't they have just switched their positions on the bed and made Robin Williams name a little bigger in the middle?

The movie is about marriage counselor who puts one couple through a series of relationship challenges during a the most grueling marriage preparation course ever. It is directed by Ken Kwapis who has helmed some of the best episodes of The Office and made a fair amount of bad movies.

It seems that the Will Ferrell/Adam McKay video I posted a few days ago is part of a much bigger plan for the duo. Yahoo is reporting that Will Ferrell's production company is partnering with a venture capital firm to launch the comedy video site Funny Or Die.

It will also features user-generated comedy videos, allowing anyone to upload their clips. But unlike YouTube and other popular user-generated sites, the viewers' ratings for the videos determine their fate -- thus the name of the site -- with only the highly rated staying on. Those with negative reviews are banished to the "Crypt" section of the site.

CBS has also released some new information on Mark Burnett's (creator of Survivor) upcoming reality show Pirate Master. It sounds like it could be quite entertaining. Sort of like Survivor on the high seas. Details follow...

"Pirate Master" will send 16 modern-day pirates on a high seas adventure where they will live as buccaneers and travel around the Caribbean island of Dominica in search of hidden treasure that will total $1 million. Over the course of 33 days, these pirates will live aboard a massive 179 foot, square-rigged barque which carries 12,500 square feet of sail.

Each week, the pirates will embark on extraordinary expeditions where they will decipher clues along the way in search of missing treasure. Gold coins -- real money which the pirates may take with them beyond the show -- will be awarded after each expedition, but only to some. The gold will play a key role as pirates strike deals with each other or plead for long-term security. In addition to claiming the lion's share of the week's riches, one pirate will become the captain of the ship and will assign roles and chores to the remaining crew members, setting the tone for either law and order or betrayal and sabotage, which could lead to mutiny by the crew.

Each episode will conclude on the ship at Pirate's Court, a lively gathering of public speaking and judgment where one individual will be eliminated and "cut adrift." In the end, one will be the first to find the largest booty, worth $500,000, and claim the title of "Pirate Master."

The next installment of Survivor will take place in China. The article says that the move to China for the 14th edition takes the series away from an island setting for the first time since the sixth installment, set in the Amazon jungle. I must remind them that this is wrong, lest we forget Guatemala. I was going to link to the Variety article but they use words like auds and skein that I dont understand.

The track listing to Spider-Man 3 has been announced. This is not really significant other than it seems Peter Parker is a big fan of indie rock. You can listen to the Snow Patrol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Walkmen tracks at the Spider-Man My Space page.

Snow Patrol — “Signal Fire”
The Killers — “Move Away”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs — “Sealings”
Wolfmother — “Pleased To Meet You”
The Walkmen — “Red River”
Black Mountain — “Stay Free”
The Flaming Lips — “The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How To Be In Love”
Simon Dawes — “Scared Of Myself”
Chubby Checker — “The Twist”
Rogue Wave — “Sightlines”
Coconut Records — “Summer Day”
Jet — “Falling Star”
Sounds Under Radio — “Portrait of A Summer Thief”
Wyos — “A Letter To St. Jude”
The Oohlas — “Small Parts”

Apparently The Weinstein Co. has already tried to split Grindhouse into two features and it is still a failure (from Joblo).

The Hoax

The Hoax is the kind of movie I'm glad I saw but if I missed it I don't think the world would have ended if I missed it. It's fascinating, entertaining, and there really wasn't anything about it that I didn't like but there really wasn't anything I loved either.

Richard Gere does a good job showing a man unraveling under pressure that he has created and Alfred Molina is good as always. In fact, I can't really think of any performance that didn't ring true, still there was nothing that I really took attention to.

I kept thinking that this would make a good double feature to watch after The Aviator or F is for Fake then when the movie was over I really wanted to watch F is for Fake again. It's interesting to see how Clifford Irving was able to fool everyone at his publishing company and I would actually like to know more about it, I guess that's what the book is for.

You don't want to make Edward Norton mad. According to Variety, Norton is set to star in the upcoming reboot of the Incredible Hulk series. This is some of the strangest casting, not because Norton is a bad choice to play Bruce Banner (he's not) but because it is such a mainstream movie and he tends to stay away from those. Then again, the first Hulk was the strangest super hero movie in, well, possibly the history of super hero movies.

This is actually one of the funniest things I have seen recently. It's a short starring Will Ferrell and Adam McKay (director of Anchorman, Talledega Nights). I would explain a little of the plot but it's probably just best if you experience it for yourself.

EW has a pretty comprehensive article up about the failure of Grindhouse. I agree with most of what the writer has to say, especially wanting Tarantino to tackle a subject other than movies he fetishized when he was younger. I disagree with his general assessment of Death Proof though. I thought it was one of the better movies so far this year, and while it was somewhat linked to the "slasher" genre it had enough originality and wackiness in it for me to really enjoy it. He also says a few unkind words for Jackie Brown. To me, that is the most mature of Tarantino's works and I wish he would try to make something next more in that direction (unless he finally wants to make his World War II movie, Inglorious Bastards).

This was taken from True Hoop. I'm not sure which one is worse, this guy at basketball or Luke Walton's acting.

The Guardian has an article up about the possibility of splitting Grindhouse into two separate movies, as they are doing overseas. This is not really news and frankly I feel they should have done this from the start. Only showing the complete Grindhouse as a double feature at special screenings. What caught my attention though was a quote at the end of the article from Harvey Weinstein, the man who financed the films and notorious for milking every last cent out of movies...

"I don't think people understood what we were doing," he said. "The audience didn't get the idea that it was two movies for the price of one. I don't understand the math, but I do want to accommodate the audience."

Right, it was the audiences fault. This has nothing to do with trying to make more money because your film was a flop.

Ricky Gervais is a genuis, be sure to watch this for at least two minutes.

Grindhouse

This is a strange movie to review. As a whole I can't recommend the film, but one half of it is good enough to see it in the theater.

I think it's a bit of a miracle that this was ever made in the first place. A three hour and ten minute double feature of a genre that most people don't remember or were too young to see in the first place. Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino were basically given carte blanche to do whatever they wanted. I'm not saying that separately either film would have fared better but I would have saved me an hour and a half.

Planet Terror

This is a pus filled gore extravaganza that ultimately leads to nothing. I know that is the point, but if there is no point than why bother? It reminded me of the movies most students make but with a much bigger budget. Anything that looks cool or sounds cool stays in The whole film is basically winking at the audience, letting them know they are in on the joke that its bad but this doesn't make it any more enjoyable. After the 100th zombie gets their limbs blown off in bloody fashion one tends to get bored.

Aesthetically the aged film look is nice and different for a while but becomes a distraction the further the movie progresses. Where as Tarantino (more on him later) employs a seventies film stock look to his half, Rodriguez uses constant hisses and scratches and pops in the film to show its age, The darker scenes are distorted to look like available light was used, these tricks too get old.

Death Proof

Quentin Tarantino's entry is grindhouse via Jean-Luc Godard. It is one half of young girls talking the way girls do (or at least the way girls talk in a Quentin Tarantino movie) and one half white knuckle car chase thriller. The latter being one of the most purely visceral sequences but onto film in a while and easily one of the best car chases in the history of motion pictures. The fact that is was done without CGI is amazing, these are real cars crashing into each other with real people in and on top of them.

The other half is something completely different. It is all dialogue and dialogue only the way Tarantino can write it. The film has a strange structure that shouldn't work but somehow does. It's all build up but once you get to the action it is totally worth it. We are allowed to get to know these characters in a short time. Death Proof also has one of the greatest, unexpected endings of all time.

As with every other film he has ever made, Tarantino once again provides a perfect soundtrack. The music he picks becomes combined with the moments in his movies, here it is no different.

While most of the screen time is given to the women in this film, it is Kurt Russell who really owns the picture. He steps up here with work that is some of the best work of his career, he is hilarious, menacing, charismatic, vile. What could have been a fairly standard role takes on a life of its own. He is really unlike any other killer from previous slasher films.

Like I said, this is a strange movie to review. Honestly the best advice I can give you is to show up about an hour and a half late.

This is bad news, NBC has canceled Andy Barker, P.I. This show was actually funny with each episode looking and feeling more like a short film than a sitcom. Maybe that is why it didn't catch on. The channel will run the last two remaining shows this Saturday.

After reading the Criterion post about the Jules Dassin covers I remembered this Roger Fenton photograph, Valley of the Shadow of Death. Not anything significant, just thought the two were similar.

The trailer for Superbad is online. Besides having a great title it is written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and stars Michael Cera (George Michael from Arrested Development) and Jonah Hill (the kid trying to buy the goldfish shoes in The 40-Year-Old Virgin). It looks like a John Hughesish comedy about high school kids trying to buy beer. There hasn't really been many movies like this since the eighties, at least not many that are any good.

More Miranda July. She wrote this short that Miguel Arteta directed. It originally showed up on the Wholphin DVD series.

Here is an interesting post about the making of a Criterion DVD cover.

I know I've mentioned this before but this movie is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Everyone really should see it at lest once, and you can buy it for under five dollars at amazon. Here is the trailer to hold you over.

A website by Miranda July.

This photo below is one of the reasons I am a little nervous that I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry will not be one of the better Adam Sandler movies.

Bust-Ass from All the Real Girls will have his own television show, details follow...

Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions has scored its first pilot order as HBO has given the green light to a single-camera comedy pilot from the producing duo, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Written by Jody Hill, Ben Best and Danny McBride, the untitled project centers on a burned-out former pro baseball player (McBride) who returns to his small Southern hometown where the only job he can find is as a substitute gym teacher.

Hill will direct the pilot, which Ferrell and McKay are executive producing.

The comedy, previously known as "P.E.," was the first TV project shopped by Gary Sanchez after it was formed in the fall. The pitch triggered a bidding frenzy, landing at HBO with what was said to be one of network's richest development deals.

"This corn is special, isn't it?"

If anyone wants to read an early draft of the script for The Darjeeling Limited, you can do so here.

From the singular mind of Mike White, the trailer for Year of the Dog.

I think that Die Hard is one of the best pure action movies around. While a man jumping off a skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles is in now way realistic, at least the film felt based in reality. The new exclusive trailer for Live Free of Die Hard has John McClaine doing actions that can only be described as super human. He doesn't even look like a normal cop anymore and instead of Samuel L. Jackson as Zues we get Justin Long as, well, it looks like he's playing that guy from the apple commercials. I know it's not right to pass judgement based solely on the trailer but I really hope the movie is better than what has been shown so far.

TMNT

Yes I was bored enough to see this on a Tuesday night. No I'm not sure why I chose this over the other movies playing at the theater. No it's not better than the first or second live action films from the nineties (not that they were cinematic gems). No I am not the right audience for this movie and no Corey Feldman does not reprise the role of Donatello.

That being said, projected digitally the movie does look nice.

The first review for Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited has been posted at Ain't It Cool. The review contains spoilers so view at your own risk. I only read the last paragraph (I can take it was somewhat of a mixed review) so I'm not sure as to what extent the spoilers are.