Movie Minesweeper - The Colder Than July Edition

- You can download and enjoy the My Blueberry Nights press kit in pdf form. The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood report that at the first press screening "a few fans tried to generate some applause, but the screening room quickly fell silent."

- Sean Hughes is to appear on Coronation Street.

- Thomas Jane won't be The Punisher again, and he's told Aint it Cool why. I don't really know a great deal about the comic books, but I can see how a good Punisher film would work. Chan Wook Park would be very at home with the material, for example.

- There's a rumour going round that 50 Cent might be the next Terminator.

- Lionsgate will pimp The Spirit in the UK and the US. Shooting is likely to start this summer, unless Sin City 2 isn't pushed back again. Though, apparently, it will be.

- Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont are to direct Red-Tails in Love, but they won't script it - at least, not the formal last draft. The writers are to be Peter Speakman and Michael Gavin.

- What Happens in Vegas is to star Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. Chances are, we'll wish it stayed in Vegas.

- Richard Curtis' The Girl in the Cafe has been remade in German with Julia Jentsch in the Kelly McDonald role.

- Apparently, the zombies in Steve Miner's Day of the Dead rapemake - sorry, remake -
are 'sexier' than in the original. Like, literally. But are they sexier than in Return of the Living Dead Part 3?

- Screendaily are reporting remakes of The Long Good Friday and Mona Lisa. The directors attached? Paul W. S. Anderson and Larry Clark, respectively. Both stories are being relocated to the US. No director is yet attached to the Time Bandits remake from the same producers - which, hopefully, will mean it never happens. Ever.

- Jim Brown's Pete Seeger documentary is to open Silverdocs 2007. Springsteen has boosted Seeger's profile somewhat, this may be something of a minor hit - if only on TV.

- Has David Goyer cast Justin Chatwin as Magneto? Possibly. I heard Ben Whishaw was up for it, but I don't really know about that for sure either.

- Roger Moore, Ioan Gruffud, Alice Evans, Ruby Wax and Brian Blessed are to provide voices for Agent Crush, a CG spy spoof toon.

- Eliza Dushku has signed on for Rob Schmidt's The Alphabet Killer. Bet it isn't as pedestrian as Zodiac - but I doubt it will be as ambitious either.

- William Macy is to star in, produce and co-write Family Man for TNT. The show will be directed by Stephen Schachter, Macy's co-writer and frequent collaborator.

- Ye Olde Times is a film about Medieval fairs and re-enactments, set to star Jack Black and Tim Robbins, and it's up for sale at Cannes this year.

- MoviesOnline have a piece about the casino set for Ocean's 13.

- Hank Azaria is to direct Outsourced. If he can hold it together, he'll probably have a smash - the film stars Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, will likely be marketed as a Wedding Crashers reteam.

- Glenn Close, Larry Fishburne and Djimon Honsou are apparently up for the Death Race do-over. Joan Allen is reportedly a back up plan for - yeah, that's right, Larry Fishburne. No - Close, obviously.

- Jennifer Garner is cooking up a TV show 'by moms, and for moms' - The View with nappies?

- Development of The Princess and the Frog and Rapunzel is progressing nicely. Each of them is about to be done as a story reel, which brings them close to the actual animation process, providing all is in order. The reels for American Dog have been completed and screened, and the signs are good.

- Today is the anniversary of Jim Henson's death, in 1990. I've missed him ever since.

My Blueberry Nights Trailer - Now With Direct Download Link

After a quick Ray Bans ad, you can see the first trailer for My Blueberry Nights online now. I wasn't expecting Jude Law's accent, I can tell you that.

A very beautifully photgraphed film and no mistake. It premieres tonight, when I'll finally find out (second hand, of course) if the various women in the billing do turn out to be playing variations on the same character, somehow.

Funny casting otherwise.

[EDIT: Download the file directly from Allocine and keep it forever]

Monday Morning Blueberry Nights

The below poster and still from Wong Kar Wai's My Blueberry Nights come via NataliePortman dot Com. They're supernaturally good at digging up the gold on all things Portman - just about the best fansite out there.

I'm not 'entirely sure' the poster isn't a fake, mind you - indeed, I'm more inclined to consider it fake than genuine. Come to think of it, I'm sure it's a fake. What do you think? Maybe I should take back my kind words about the site, the bunch of filthy fakers?

Look! Here's Natalie Portman In My Blueberry Nights

From Ktarsis comes this effortlessy stylish still from Wong Kar Wai's My Blueberry Nights. Click on for some expansion.

Cannes Competition Films

Here's the list of films in the official competition selection at Cannes this year:

My Blueberry Nights - opening night film.
Auf der Anderen Seite
Un Vielle Maitresse
No Country for Old Men
Zodiac
We Own the Night
Le Chansons D'Amour
Magori no Mori
Breath
Promise Me This
Secret Sunshine
4 Luni, 3 Saptamini si 2 Zille
Tehilim
Stellet Licht
Persepolis
Le Scaphandre et le Papillon
Import Export
The Man from London
Paranoid Park
Izgnanie

This is the full list of films in competition. My early pick for the Palm? Bela Tarr's The Man from London. More Cannes to follow...

[EDIT: You can see the page from the press release below for more info. Click it to make it big enough to read]

Wong On Again

Wong Kar Wai is insanely busy: My Blueberry Nights is due out in May, his recut version of Ashes of Time in the Autumn, Lady From Shanghai is lined up for shooting later this year, when Kidman gets her act together. Add to this his freshly announced 'lesbian love at high school' drama, reportedly to shoot come April, and mix in his intensive, protracted shoots, reshoots and post production, and Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings workload is starting to look like the quick scramble to knock off a Saw sequel.

The only hope for Wong's health and sanity is that, in fact, he isn't confirmed to direct the new film, he may just be producing, scripting or standing on the sidelines with a clacker and a flag.

My Blueberry Nights was filming as recently as last week. Expect this to be another Wong Kar Wai film to undergo mutliple variations between premiere, general release and DVD.