Movie Minesweeper - The Red Rubber Jacket Report Edition

The Dardenne Bros., Luka Moodysson, Neil Gaiman, Step Up 2 the Streets, The Bell Jar, Watchmen, Star Trek, Southland Tales, Alfonso Cuaron, Naomi Watts, Joseph Fiennes, Harry Potter 6, The De2cent.

- Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are receiving the funds for their next film from the Eurimages pot. Le Silence de Lorna revolves around the arranged marriage between an Albanian immigrant and a junkie. Eurimages have also coughed up a wad for Mammoth, Lukas Moodysson's next, an English-language film and, hopefully, a return to form.

- The Hollywood Reporter have had a good chat with Neil Gaiman.

- MySpace users and abusers might win a dance-on part in Step Up 2 the Streets.

- Julia Stiles talks The Bell Jar in her recent interview with MTV.

- Patrick Wilson has been confirmed for Watchmen, Zachary Quinto for Star Trek.

- Richard Kelly will be signing Southland Tales posters at Comic-Con. We can expect the trailer in mid-August, and a release date soon. I expect September.

- Alfonso Cuaron has had quite a dull week.

- It's been months since I first suggested Naomi Watts would be in Harry Potter 6, but it now seems that Joseph Fiennes has signed on too.

- The Descent sequel is to be called... drum roll please... The De2cent.

Movie Minesweeper - The Trail Mix Bowl Edition

- Charles Fox, Richard Pearce, Vilmos Zsigmond and The Fon... Henry Winkler have begun their terms as governors of AMPAS.

- film ick favourite Peyton Reed has signed to direct the movie version Yes Man. The original book was a kind of memoir by Danny Wallace, one time flatmate of Dave Gorman, the best comedy lecturer-come-storyteller in the UK. For the project/book/hell of it, Wallace spent a whole year saying yes to everything, and documenting the results. I sincerely hope the studio will let somebody more like Wallace than, say, Brad Pitt, Ben Stiller or Jack Black take the role. Simon Pegg? Actually... Nick Frost?

[EDIT: Is Jim Carrey still in talks for Yes Man? Several of you believe so... And now the producer David Heyman has made it clear that Carrey is after an Autumn shoot for this one]

- York Shackleton's Street is gaining Vivica A. Fox, Rachel Miner and most probably Laura Ramsey and Toby Hemingway. Bizarrely (well, I think it's bizarre) Luke Goss is the executive producer.

- ThinkFilm have the North American rights to Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Shame - because the film looks great, but I don't like ThinkFilm at all. They show no respect for the films they handle - at the very least when it comes to their catastrophic DVD mastering.

- Warners have shelled out for the rights to Angie Sage's Septimus Heap books. They're not like the Harry Potter books. Well... not exactly.

And that's Hollywood Reporter now also. So, I'm making my way along quite smoothly.

More soon.

Direct Download Link For A Scene From Harry Potter 5

Courtesy of The Snitch, download and enjoy a scene from the latest - and reputedly as lacklustre as the first two - installment of the Harry Potter franchise.

Movie Minesweeper - The Plant A Flag In Hollywoodland Edition

- JoBlo appear to have the first image of an 'alien' from James Cameron's Avatar.

- James McTeigue is attached to direct an adaptation of John Burdett's novel Bangkok 8. The synopsis at Variety makes it sound like a cross between Taxi Driver and The General's Daughter gone Thai. Maybe. The piece also states that McTeigue was an uncredited director on The Invasion - as well as or instead of the Wachowski Bros. I wonder?

- William Wisher is to script the World War II drama Escape of the Pacific Clipper. I see a formation of Second World War aerial actioners coming over the horizon. Will they bomb? (Pun intended).

- Spike Lee is directing Stalag 17 on Broadway.

- More WWII shenanigans with The Lost Squad. The big screen adaptation of the Chris Kirby comic book is to be written and directed by Saint and Mather - or, to give them their full names, Stephen St. Leger and James Mather. You can download a trailer for their short film Prey Alone or check out storyboards and more at the Saint and Mather site. Personally, I'm not impressed. At all.

- David Ondaatje's remake of Hitchcock's The Lodger is set up to go at Sony. Apparently using the same source material as Hitch - Marie Belloc Lownde's novel - this version will, all the same, be updated to a present day LA setting. If you know the passwords (sorry - can't help you, but help me if you can) you can watch some of Ondaatje's shorts online, including the documentary Undressing Hitchcock and Hitch pastiche Waiting for Dr. Maguffin.

- Nostradamus nonsense ahoy in the comic book adaptation The Foundation. Paramount have snapped up the rights and assigned two of the publisher production duties on the film.

- The Fantasia Fest line-up has been unveiled.

- Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. have renewed their pact, with a fresh 1 billion dollar cash injection. Some of this seems set to be wasted on a World of Warcraft movie.

- Djimon Honsou has signed to star in Jeff Wadlow's Get Some. I dare say he won't be taking the lead role of a 'rebellious teen' who joins an underground fight club.

- Rialto Pictures are the leading lights in US theatrical reissues. The Museum of Modern Art in New York is to celebrate the distributor's tenth anniversary by screening a retrospective of their releases. Seventeen films are on the program - I don't know which seventeen, but the full catalogue is online. Some of the greatest films I've ever seen are in that line-up (plus a few heaps of Godard).

- Envoys of the Weinstein company are phoning up members of the public and telling them to go and see Sicko.

- John Turturro has based his performance in Transformers on Michael Bay.

- Charles Hyer is directing the first Eloise film in a proposed series adapted from the beloved kids' books. This one will come from Eloise in Paris with Eloise Goes to Hollywood lined up as the first sequel.

- I'm sure I already told you that Laurence Fishburne is writing and will direct a movie of The Alchemist.

- Paul Giamatti and Emily Mortimer are set to star in Pretty Bird.

- Download the script for No Country For Old Men and marvel.

- Capone at AintItCool has interviewed Steve Zahn. I love Steve Zahn.

- IGN have penned an update on the progress of the JLA film. Personally, I think we'll see a Superman Returns sequel first - easier to cast, for one thing - but, well, nobody knows for certain.

- Paramount are sneaking in some screenings of Transformers next Monday, screenings that are seemingly entwined with an alleged attempt to cook the books.

- Disney are launching a Ratatouille wine.

- According to Jeffrey Wells, Russell Crowe is to star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Ridley Scott's Penetration.

- The DVD specs for Eaten Alive are out.

- Nintendo are expected to unveil WiiWare today - a shopping channel for original, downloadable games. Indie developers will be welcome.

- There are 11 Harry Potter 5 clips online now.

- Warners are to make a series of tween-centric direct-to-DVD films from the Clique books.

- For one day only: Palm Pictures will be streaming The Method online on June 29th. That's tomorrow, as I write. The film is, apparently, really rather good indeed.

- Richard LaGravanese and Hanif Kureishi have tied for the feature film award at the Humanitas awards this year.

Movie Minesweeper - The Satsuma Skin Edition

- Blockbuster have opted for Blu-Ray exclusivity. Once upon a time this would have been the deciding blow in a format war, but these days, Blockbuster's punch is a little less solid. All the same, I'm sticking with my earlier comments. Blu-Ray is going to win, for what it ends up being worth.

- Some pictures of Christian Bale in his new Batsuit are doing the rounds. Apparently.

- There's suddenly lots of buzz about Fox backing a Halo film, but that's not the story I read. Nope. Fox have simply signed a deal to sell Halo merchandise. I suppose this might prove to be such a money spinner the film deal is back on again (at some point) but I wouldn't expect it anytime soon.

- Ann Peacock is scripting The White Giraffe for Gabor Csupo to direct. The source is a kid's book by Lauren St. John that, honestly, I know next to nothing about. Also attached is AnnaSophia Robb, which possibly takes her out of the running for a Lovely Bones role...?

- Owen Wilson and Nick Nolte have taken roles in Tropic Thunder.

- Once again, Harry Potter has been given the M certificate in Australia. This will keep a lot of littler ones out of the screenings. The last film was branded this way also, and part 3 was too - but that decision was overturned by appeal.

- Pierce Gardener (author of Dan in Real Life which is, reputedly, very good) has sold an untitled pitch to Columbia. The premise is recounted in The Hollywood Reporter: the comedy centers on a divorced mother who is lost at her new job until she realizes that her experience dealing with spoiled toddlers gives her exactly the tools she needs to deal with spoiled executives.

- The inclusion of Diablo on the In-Development list at the Legendary Pictures website has the internet lit up this morning - but how about their other projects in that list? The Spook's Apprentice, Waterproof and the Jimi Hendrix Project were all news to me.

- The Forbidden Kingdom with Jet Li and Jackie Chan is being scheduled for release during the Beijing Olympics.

- The Legend of Secret Pass is an upcoming cartoon with Michael Chiklis, Frankie Muniz, David Cross, Ron Perlman, Christy Carlson Romano, Graham Greene and Cheryl Hines amongst the cast.

- Brightcove have signed to be the web-video tech supplier for Fox. Which I like because their videos are generally direct-linkable and therefore downloadable.

- Meanwhile, France Televisions have inked a pact with Google's YouTubeEurope.

- Matt and Mike Chapman have turned down TV deals to keep Homestar Runner a web (and DVD) exclusive.

Laszlo & Vilmos: The Story of Two Refugees Who Changed the Look of American Cinema is an upcoming documentary about... well, guess who. Haskell Wexler, Owen Roizman, Dennis Hopper and Martin Scorsese are the more predictable interview subjects.

Movie Minesweeper - The Index Cards Are A Screenwriter's Best Friend Edition

- The So You Think You Can Dance version of the Fantastic Four/Silver Surfer trailer has been turned into a nice AVI and lodged at Sendspace, apparently.

- Simon Monjack has scripted the upcoming version of The White Hotel, which is possibly how Brittany Murphy got the lead role - they were married in April. Or maybe it worked the other way round, I don't know. All the same, US magazine have painted a not very pretty picture of the man which left me shaking and scratching my head more or less simultaneously.

- Some Harry Potter theme park concept art is up at Deadline Hollywood Daily, where the news first broke. Who thought this was a good idea?

- DVD Times have the cover and some details of the Secret of Nimh DVD. I was so ill on the day I was supposed to go see this as a child, and so disappointed that I never got to see it, that the film was blown up to massively epic, even mythic, proportions in my mind. Will it let me down, some 20-odd years later?

- SlashFilm have a very positive review of Hostel 2 (but still only give it 7 out of 10). Twitch have a similarly positive take but (in a way that troubles me at least) seemed to find it all just a fun romp.

- Dali/Disney's Destino starts playing this week at the Tate Modern.

- Just Jared have some shots of Felicity Huffman in Red Queen mode from Phoebe in Wonderland.

- IESB have a stuttery, lower-quality version of the Enchanted trailer I linked to a week or so ago. I'd stick with the higher quality versions.

- FEARnet are previewing their upcoming online serial Devil's Trade right now.

- The BBFC have recertificated Labyrinth for an upcoming DVD release that will include a commentary track. I'm assuming this is the track recorded by Brian Froud - who has also recorded a commentary for The Dark Crystal. Expect special editions of both in the not-so-distant future.

- The Veronica Mars in the FBI mini-episode/long trailer that failed to secure her a 4th series will be included on the Season 3 DVDs.

Movie Minesweeper - The Barely There Edition

- Harry Potter 6 is likely to feature some Scottish locations. The book concludes on a rocky coastline, as does Scotland - seems like a good match.

- Twitch have published some promo images for Brad Anderson's Transsiberian. Oh, Brad Anderson. Leaving a screening of his Session 9, for which I had been the only audience member, I was told by the cinema staff that not only had nobody else come in to see the film all day (it was a Thursday), that nobody had been since the Sunday. They did tell me how many people had see

And tn the film all week but I've since forgotten. Doesn't seem fair.

- The Kazakhstan government is shooting a film as a 'reply' to Borat. Right. Okay. I bet it in no way 'answers' Borat at all, and is just pro-Kazakh propoganda. Pro-American propoganda would be a more appropriate response.

And that's it. Sunday mornings, eh? Sleeeepy.

Movie Minesweeper - The Pirates 3 Was Boring Edition

Who am I kidding - of course Pirates 3 was boring. Pirates 2 - or for that matter 1 - hardly rocked the bells and this one had all of those loose ends to force into knots, and desperately too. Maybe a completely ridiculous collection of unresolved plotlines would have been better than a completely ridiculous collection of pseudo-resolutions and two hours worth of coma-threatening exposition.

Anyway. Enough about that blight on the CV of Johnny Depp. Here are some links for you...

- A trailer for the next animated Star Wars series is now on YouTube. It's pretty ugly, unfortunately.

- Trent Haaga has written the script for Poor Things, and that fact alone has me hooked. Ash Baron Cohen ('faintly' related to Sasha, I'm told) is directing and that's intriguing too. And look at the cast: Rosario Dawson, Shirley Maclaine, Olympia Dukakis... all well and good, in their own way. Oh. And Lindsay Lohan - which dulls the blade somewhat, but hey, fingers crossed... hers might be a small role. Or she might drop out. Again.

- David Lynch has taken some portraits of some actresses, for French Elle, and half of each portrait (you'll see what I mean if you click over) has been scanned and posted to a forum. Some of them are quite striking. Some of them are not so much.

- A judge has announced that he'll throw Carol Burnett's case against Family Guy out of court.

- Oh... and more Family Guy news, in case you've been living under a rock or on Mars. George Lucas has given the official thumbs up to a Family Guy reenactment of Star Wars. That's the film Star Wars, not the whole Star Wars series ('saga'). And yes, it is called Star Wars - this New Hope nonsense is just a tacked on invention and I find it quite embarrassing. But not as embarrassing as the claims Lucas had all six films plotted out in his head from day one. He didn't have any idea where he was going, and I wish he'd just admit it. He's his Dad? And she's his sister? Well, okay - but there's no way that was in mind while Star Wars was in production.

- Harry Potter 5 will be 138 minutes long.

- On-set camcorder footage of Public Enemy No.1 or, possibly, Death Instinct being filmed is now online. The two films each star Vincent Cassel as Jacques Mesrine, and each tells half of his story.

- The first Fanboys poster is online now, even though the film has been pushed back until 2008. Neither that news or the poster inspires confidence, I'm afraid. And I wish I had more to report that wasn't to do with Star Wars.

- There's another clip from Ocean's 13 online and I love this one too. If you don't like it at all, I fear you'll be a hard sell on the film overall.

Direct Download Links For Six Harry Potter TV Spots

Choose from any of the six Harry Potter 5 TV spots in different resolutions of Quicktime.

One - low, medium, high, ultra.
Two- low, medium, high, ultra.
Three - low, medium, high, ultra.
Four - low, medium, high, ultra.
Five - low, medium, high, ultra.
Six - low, medium, high, ultra.

Where's the HD, Warners?

Movie Minesweeper - The New Music Edition

- There was a clip from Harry Potter 5 on Ellen t'other day and HPana are hosting it on their site. Download the WMV file directly or settle for YouTube.

- There's a big screen version of Mama, I Want to Sing! coming and so far signed to appear are Patti LaBelle, Lynn Whitfield and Ciara. Two out of three 'aint bad.

- Nuri Bilge Ceylan's next film is to be Daydreams, a crime thriller. Climates is just coming out here on DVD in the UK, so go, queue it now if you haven't seen it already.

- Richard Gere is to produce and take the lead human role in Hachiko: A Dog's Story. A remake of a 1987 Japanese film (with a title that translates to approximately the same thing) the story's origins are apparently some true events - though beyond 'man takes in a dog, they bond', I have no idea what these events are. Can anybody shed some light?

- Tim Rice is setting lyrics to Tchaikovsky for Nutcracker - The Untold Story. And it gets worse: Elle Fanning is the lead, backed up by John Turturro (as the Mouse King) and Nathan Lane, while Andrei Konchalovsky is directing. This one runs an icy finger down my spine.

- Back From Hell at last, the Hughes Brothers are lugging about an increasingly full diary. The latest addition is The Book of Eli, a post apocalyptic yarn about a man who may somehow be able to save humanity with the titular book - this could be The Postman, could be Escape From New York... let's face it, it's erring towards The Postman on current evidence. Their other projects (if you want a reminder) include a film version of Kung Fu and The Ice Man, about a serial killer who fits snugly into a new role as a mafia hitman.

- Brett Ratner is to film lots of carnival jollity in 3D. Waste.

- Lucasfilm deny any plans to issue the Star Wars trilo... er... trilogies (?) on either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.

- CHUD have pretty much confirmed that Karen Allen will be in Indiana Jones and the Most Likely to Be City of Gods... and that - SPOILER ALERT - she's the mother of Indy's son.

- Ken Branagh has indeed joined the cast of Valkyrie. Meanwhile, that film's co-scripter Christopher McQuarrie will see his World War I script No Man's Land go before cameras couretsy of Mark Cuban and 2929.

- Aint it Cool are hosting one Transformers ad, IESB are hosting the other. Yaaaaaaaaaaawn.

- The NY Times seem to believe the Tintin trilogy will be released in 3D. I mean, I assumed as much, but this is the first real suggestion that it has been somehow announced to somebody somewhere. They also tell us that Jackson is directing the first film in the sequence, Spielberg the second and... the third? Well, will it be Frank Darabont? Only time will tell.

- Nintendo have lined up a truly amazing list of composers for their upcoming Smash Bros. Dojo game.

- Some new, some old, some spoilery, some not safe for work - more images from Hostel 2 have turned up.

- Sony are to co-produce a whole new slate of films with Stephen Chow.

- Rachel McAdams lies about her age. Why? In a few years, it's only going to make it look like she's aging prematurely. Silly girl.

- Glen Kenny quite liked Bouelverd de la Morte. Best of all, he's quite clear on how it differs from Death Proof.

- There are more No Country For Old Men clips out there. Gotta catch 'em all.

Harry Potter And The Inevitable String Of MILF Gags

Laineygossip have been stirring up a rumour that Naomi Watts will be appearing in Harry Potter 6 as Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mummy. Moviehole picked up on it, and now it's going to go over big on the web. It doesn't seem like a strong move for Watts, but it might be a big pay day for a minimum effort - and she might even find it fun.

Who Will Direct Harry Potter 6?

The cat is out of the bag, and the director of the next Harry Potter film - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - has been named. Could it be the long-rumoured Jean Pierre Jeunet? Mira Nair? Mike Newell? Alfonso Cuaron? They've all been linked to the film at some point.

Nope. None of them. It will be David Yates, the director of Harry Potter 5. He told SciFi Wire:

I've made a kind of tonal shift with the fifth film, which I want to continue and develop into the sixth film and I can see the fifth story evolving into the sixth story in a really interesting way. So I'm on a journey with this material and this world, and I'm keen to complete it.

Here's hoping his take on Order of the Phoenix pleases the fans.

Where Peter Leads, Harry Follows

The world premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is to take place in Tokyo on June 28th, followed by the US on July 3rd. Is this simply a trend? Or a sign of things to come?

Direct Download Link For Super Hi-Res Version Of Yahoo Harry Potter Trailer

Download it now in 1024p.

Potter Appears In USA Today

USA Today have run a handful of stills from the next Harry Potter, and announced that the next 'domestic' trailer will premiere with Spider-Man 3 on May 4th.

Direct Download Link For Good Quality Version Of New Potter Trailer

Download it now.

Awful Quality Harry Potter Trailer

Download it. Watch it. Rinse your eyes out afterwards.

The real release is imminent. This should do Potterheads in the mean time.

Specs On For 3D Harry Potter Climax

The last 20 minutes 'or so' of the next Harry Potter are to be presented in 3D when you watch the film in IMAX cinemas.

This is a terrible idea. It reduces any sense of immersion the audience might be experiencing to suddenly derail the flow and turn the climax of the film into a rollercoaster ride. "Hang on, it's just getting going, racing towards the big finish... and it's time to put your glasses on!"

Warners did a similar thing with Superman Returns and that was equally silly of them. Don't they want use to lose ourselves in the film? No - they just want to lure us in to the premium priced screenings, barking at us like half-baked Barnums.

What's more, as the Potter film wasn't shot in 3D but is being converted the effect will be even less welcome. Live action conversion from 2D to 3D means that the effect will be rather limited in most shots, with the characters, sets, scenery and so on looking less like rounded, solid objects in space than a series of flat planes, not entirely dissimilar to a cardboard cut-out puppet theatre.

The whole film should have been shot in 3D to begin with. So should most films be, frankly. And one day soon, they will be.

Potterworld

Nikki Finke has reported on the deal making behind the upcoming Harry Potter Themepark. Is Potter-mania really going to last so long that this will be a worthwhile investment? Nobody would try a Roald Dahl World, would they, and he's proven to be one of the most stable and durable presences in children's fiction.

Harry Plotter

Above is the cover to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. - click to engorge. Below, you'll see the two pieces of blurb that give away elements of the plot.

Well, only in so much as these things ever do.