While I Was Sleeping

In the weeks prior to this blog's birth, during the downtime since my last blog was regularly updated, a lot of the news I would normally have reported slipped me by before I could comment. Here's a very rapid round-up, with 10-of-the-best snippets in no particular order.

1. Stephen Chow's sequel to the brilliant, brilliant Kung Fu Hustle is now reportedly set for principal photography this July. That's if his other project, a romantic comedy featuring an astronaut - and according to some reports, aliens - doesn't overtake it and make it to production first.
2. Mark Romanek was announced as director for an adaptation of James Frey's pseudo-memoir A Million Little Pieces. This announcement came from Frey himself, and though you might assume he's a questionable source, I don't know why he'd lie about this. Either way, I want to see a new feature film from Romanek, and I want to see it now.
3. Once again, Neil Jordan's proposed Roman family-intrigue epic Borgia has been shelved. A few years ago, his initial plans were to have Christina Ricci and Ewen McGregor star while more lately it was supposed that Scarlet Johanssen and Colin Farrell would replace them in the lead roles. Now that budgetary limitations have forced Jordan to freeze development there is at least hope that a pair of better actors will come to mind in time for his next crack at it.
4. Peter Benchley has died. Spielberg's Jaws will probably prove to be the man's most lasting, prominent legacy - which is a shame because it's not really any good at all. I have no idea if the book is any better but I don't really see how it could be any worse. Yes, yes - I know that Robert Shaw was really very good in the film, but he was pretty much operating in a vacuum.
5. Bryce Dallas Howard has begun filming her role as Gwen Stacy in the third Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie. The greatest film of 2007? I wouldn't be surprised.
6. Cronenberg seems to have all manner of projects on the go including Eastern Promises, a BBC production from the writer of Dirty Pretty Things; and Maps to the Stars, set in Hollywood yet purportedly not a "Hollywood film", such as The Player or Day of the Locust.
7. Disney bought Pixar. I know - sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? But this appears to have made Steve Jobs a controlling shareholder at Disney, and John Lassetter the head of feature animation. This might just be the best thing to have happened in the animation community since Pixar set out to make feature films in the first place. A new Superbowl spot for Pixar's Cars seemed to calm some naysayers also, but why they were ever worried, I'll never know. It's being directed by Lassetter: what could go wrong?
8. The "adult entertainment industry" have named Blu-Ray DVD as their next-gen video disc of choice. The format war is over. Once you have porn on your side, all other contenders should just pack up their bags and go home.
9. A special edition of the first Mission: Impossible film is headed to R1 DVD this April (and R2 soon after, no doubt). Not only will this enable you to endlessly re-watch a gorgeous, re-mastered rendering of The Greatest Scene in Film History (tm), but it also means that a modest selection of special features are yours for the taking - including something labeled "Stanley Kubrick Award for Excellence in Filmmaking Acceptance Speech". Rumours that Tom Cruise would be using a commentary track to discretely come out as a gay man simply cannot be true - largely as there is no commentary track.
10. A new Dark Crystal movie is coming, and Samurai Jack's Genndy Tartakovsky is directing. Purists rejoice, as Brian Froud, conceptual artist on the original movie - as well as Labyrinth - has returned to design the new puppet cast. Apparently no sets will be built, with the Muppets shooting their scenes in front of green screen, as is increasingly the way with fantasy projects.

Dark Crystal's Kira All Grown Up