Movie Minesweeper - The One Mouthful At A Time Edition

Our Stories, Saw IV, Metamorphosis, Michael Haneke, The Heart is a Dark Forest, Dark Shadows, Johnny Depp, Jon Favreau, performance capture, The Lovely Bones, Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Blade Runner, Star Trek, Leonard Nimoy, Ed Burns, Virgin Comics.

- Saw IV has been given an NC-17 rating. If you think for one second they won't cut if for an R, you're sorely mistaken.

- The Ford Motor Co. has forged an alliance with Bob and Harvey Weinstein's Our Stories set up. Ford will place cars in the films as well as promoting the finished products. It's all an attempt to 'crack the urban market'. Sigh.

- Daniel Bruhl, Anna Paquin and Stephen Rea are to star in a movie of Kafka's Metamorphosis. No news on who will write or direct, or how the bugification will be handled. The same Variety piece announces Michael haneke's next, The White Tape or the Teacher's Tale, and Nicolette Krebitz' The Heart is a Dark Forest. A cheerful little set of films, no doubt.

- Dark Shadows is being adapted for the big screen... with Johnny Depp starring. What're the odds on him bringing Tim Burton along?

- Paul Sorvino and Alexa Vega have been (re)confirmed for roles in Repo! The Genetic Opera. The film has 55 different musical compositions, apparently spanning a wide variety of styles and genres.

- Three more performance capture films are coming up the the pipe at Imageworks - Maximum Ride, Jon Favrea's Neanderthals and an untitled action epic derived from Japanese mythology.

- Peter Jackson has cast Susan Sarandon as Susie Salmon's grandmother. It's one of the best roles in the Lovely Bones film and, again, Sarandon's casting has taken me by surprise. But I like it.

- Not only will Zachary Quinto be playing young Spock, old Spock will be reprised with Leonard Nimoy in the ears once again. According to JJ Abrams, there's still hope that Shatner will appear - essentially once they work out how to shoehorn him in. Clearly, there was a reason for an older Spock to pop up in the script, but not an older Kirk. Rejigging just for a Shatner appearance seems like quite a bad idea.

- Four Christmases has it's stars: Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn. They play a couple trying to visit all four divorced parents on Christmas day. A neat conclusion would have our protagonists themselves driven to divorce by this horrendous holiday... neat yes, but not commercial.

- Ed Burns' effort for Virgin Comics is to be a 1920s gangster piece, Dock Walloper. The role Mad Dog Madden will be created for Burns himself to play in any eventual feature film adaption.

- The Blade Runner DVD set is due to hit stores on December 18th. That only gives my favourite Christmas gift giver one week to do the right thing. Apparently, the hefty documentary included will run to three hours. I had been hoping for six or seven. Here's a look at what you'll receive, at least materially.