Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Movie Minesweeper - The Rapid Fire Finger Cymbals Edition

- The details/delusions are starting to trickle forth regarding the Star Wars TV series. Personally, it all sounds credible to me, not least because George Lucas' imagination knows no bounds - and I mean that in the worst possible sense. If this show gets some good writers and okay directors it could, without too much effort, put at least five of the films in the shade - and I'm hoping it does.

- John Malkovich, Colm Feore, Jason Butler Harner, Michael Kelly, Amy Ryan and Jeffrey Donovan have all signed on to Eastwood's The Changeling.

- Julianne Moore has written a children's book. I saw the link at FilmExperience.

- Steven Antin is to direct Burlesque, a musical that promises to blend Moulin Rouge and Cabaret. While Antin wrote the first draft, Diablo Cody revised the script and that alone has me interested...

- Rhythm and Hues have confirmed that their most spectacular FX sequence for The Golden Compass has been postponed until The Subtle Knife - if it ever happens.

- Joe Carnahan has revealed that Chris Pine finally opted for Star Trek rather than White Jazz, so, ladies and gentlemen, we finally have our new Kirk.

- Zack and Miri are to shoot their porno in Pittsburgh [EDIT: Drat. I had typed Boston and, to be honest, I have no idea why. Maybe I'm secretly obsessed with Boston? Sorry for any dashed hopes this edit may have smeared upon the rocks] and, for the first time, Jason Mewes is to appear in a Kevin Smith film not as Jay.

- Conan O'Brien's next attempt to produce a sitcom that doesn't get cruelly axed within weeks will be Man of Your Dreams. Superficially, it has some similarities with Hitch - a womanizer dispensing dating advice - but I dare say it will be a different kettle of fish entirely, not least because he tutors women, not men. Jay Lacopo is scripting.

- The R1 DVD of Die Hard 4 is to come with a DRM-free digital version (er... isn't the DVD a digital version?)

- Patrick Smith Kelly is to turn Kit Whitfield's werewolf thriller Benighted into a screenplay, Andrew Adamson may direct.

- Neil Gaiman has placed the movie of Stardust into the context of telling and retelling that all good stories go through. My Stardust review will be live before the film's UK release tomorrow night...

- The Works are to distribute Closing the Ring in the UK and Ireland. [EDIT: I'm still smarting over that whole Boston thing]

- The latest film to go into production under JJ Abrams will be Roger Michell's Morning Glory. Fair enough. Worse news, however, is that Aline Brosh McKenna wrote the script, and she previously perpetrated the awful screenplay for The Devil Wears Prada. [EDIT: There are some promising rumours of Reese Witherspoon and Harrison Ford taking the lead roles]

- Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski have proven to be one of the best screenwriting teams in recent years, if not in all of cinema, and never less than when writing biopics - Man on the Moon and Ed Wood being two genuine masterpieces of the genre. They're now to direct, as well as write, Big Eyes, a film about Margaret and Walter Keane. She was a 'genius' painter who lived and worked in near anonymity while he took the credit and dined out (to say the least) on her skills. Not to spoil anything, it all came to a head in a court case with one completely predictable but beautiful Matlock moment. This film has gone straight into my 'hot list' of films to be incredibly excited about. [EDIT: Once I stop kicking myself over the whole Boston/Pittsburgh thing from a few inches above]

- That new Hellraiser is expected to roll pre-strike.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

ZACK AND MIRI is shooting in Pittsburgh, not Boston.
Reread the article.

Unknown said...

Tartakofsky's Clone Wars and the videogames of Knights of the Old Republic are already better than most of the films. Why no one took a serious look at what made The Empire Strikes Back so great really boggles my mind. I hope the Star Wars TV project is good, though Lucas did bring us the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (I still yawn when I think of it).