Simon Pegg Won't Appear In 'Inglorious Bastards'

Yes, being "in talks" for a role never means its a total reality. Actors are dropping like flies off of Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Bastards" WWII project due to scheduling conflicts. As we said when we wrote about David Krumholtz reportedly leaving the project (and Samm Levine taking his spot), Tarantino is rushing this project for an October start date in Berlin and there's going to be causalities of war, err, timing.

The latest is Simon Pegg, who was in talks to play the British Lieutenant Archie Hicox, but had to drop off the project because of the aforementioned conflicts according to a post on his Myspace page. Pegg would have acted alongside Mike Myers who has signed on to play the small role of General Ed. Fenech.

"Much to our mutual disappointment, I won't be appearing in QT's forthcoming Inglorious Bastards due to insurmountable scheduling difficulties. We really tried to make it work but in the end, it just was not possible without severe ramifications elsewhere. I'm trying to remain upbeat, as Tom Selleck said "Who the hell is Indiana Jones anyway?"

Pegg is a friend of Tarantino's and not our first choice for this role so we can't say we're unhappy with this turn of events as we can probably think of a dozen other actors (who aren't comedians!) who could probably do a better job.

In brighter news for Pegg, he also announced on his Myspace page that "Superbad" director Gregg Mottola, will be directing his upcoming road travelogue called, "Paul," co-starring him and buddy Nick Frost. "It’s a road movie about two British geeks in America,” Pegg told MTV a few months ago. Mottola with Pegg? Maybe he can raise the bar for those two overrated clowns. We ain't mad at that.

Exactly! 'Bottle Rocket' DVD Finally Coming To Criterion In November

Dignan: Bob Mapplethorpe, potential get-away driver: go!

Finally! After all these years and all this talk Wes Anderson's debut feature will come to the Criterion Collection in November as a two disc set (it's also coming out on Blu-Ray). Many already own the bare-bones Sony version, but this is the real treasure we've been awaiting for years.

Criterion's version includes a commentary track with Wes and Owen Wilson (the co-writer of the film and star as the irrepressible Dignan), the original 11-minute "Bottle Rocket" short that you've probably seen by now on YouTube, Eleven deleted scenes (wow, maybe we'll finally get to see Apatow's wife Leslie Mann's missing scene), a documentary making of the movie, plus a ton of extras and a booklet that includes an appreciation by Martin Scorsese, an early supporter of the film. Damn, it's about time.

We did a long feature on the music of "Bottle Rocket" a year ago leading up to the release of "The Darjeeling Limited", which contained a ton of free music from the soundtrack and links to the "Bottle Rocket" short on Youtube and for your Ipod. We suggest you check it out (there were features on all Wes' movies too). Now you know what to get us for Christmas, this is such an understated gem in the Anderson oeuvre and frankly much better than the later era of films (the order goes "Rushmore," 'Rocket,' and the rest...). Note also coming to Criterion in November is Wong Kar-Wai's "Chunking Express," Martin Ritt's "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," and a whole whack of Blu-Ray titles from pre-existing Criterion titles (we recommend the very excellent "The Man Who Fell To Earth" with David Bowie).

Dignan: Here are just a few of the key ingredients: dynamite, pole vaulting, laughing gas, choppers - can you see how incredible this is going to be? - hang gliding, come on!

Special Features

• - DIRECTOR-APPROVED DOUBLE-DISC SET SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
• - New, restored high-definition digital transfer supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson and director of photography Robert Yeoman
• - Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
• - Commentary by director/co-writer Anderson and co-writer/actor Owen Wilson
• - The Making of “Bottle Rocket”: an original documentary by filmmaker Barry Braverman featuring Anderson, James L. Brooks, James Caan, Temple Nash Jr., Kumar Pallana, Polly Platt, Mark Mothersbaugh, Robert Musgrave, Richard Sakai, David and Sandy Wasco, Andrew and Luke and Owen Wilson, and Robert Yeoman
• - The original thirteen-minute black-and-white Bottle Rocket short film from 1992
• - Eleven deleted scenes
• - Anamorphic screen test, storyboards, location photos, and behind-the-scenes photographs by Laura Wilson
• - Murita Cycles, a 1978 short film by Braverman
• - The Shafrazi Lectures, no. 1: Bottle Rocket
• - PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by executive producer James L. Brooks, an appreciation by Martin Scorsese, and original artwork by Ian Dingman

Watch: Anthony chases after Inez to Love's "Alone Again Or"

Watch: Bob Mapplethorpe Potential Get-Away Driver

The 'Freaks & Geeks' / 'Inglorious Bastards' Connection; Krumholtz Reportedly Out, Levine Apparently In; German Actors In Talks With QT

It wouldn't be a late Friday without one last "Inglorious Bastards" casting report. According to AICN (via CHUD), David Krumholtz, the young Jewish actor who was in talks to play one of Tarantino's elite heeb brigade in 'Bastards' is off the project because of scheduling problems. Tarantino is obviously rushing to cast so he can start immediately and actors he wants are going to fall by the wayside because of this (see Adam Sandler, who was apparently close to getting a role).

So apparently Krumholtz is out and Samm Levine, the nerdy and ingratiating Neal Schweiber in "Freak And Geeks" has stepped in. It's kind of like one Judd Apatow bit-player for another (Krumholtz had a small role in "Superbad"), but get this: Krumholtz was also on "Freaks & Geeks." Who did he play? None other than Barry Schweiber, Neal's older brother, ha.

Weird, right? Apatow's got a surplus of young Jewish actors in his camp and Tarantino's just going through a few of them one by one, apparently.

No matter what you think about "Inglorious Bastards" casting choices – we're not feeling them for the most part frankly – the movie will probably live and die by the casting of its last two pivotal roles: the malevolent Col. Hans Landa and the lead French female protagonist Shoshanna. We're probably going to be disappointed anyway you slice it since we're married to the idea of Marion Cotillard in the lead, but hopefully QT scores real actors for these roles that are at least native German and French thespians respectively. The idea of Leo DiCaprio playing Landa would've sunk that battleship immediately. Thank god that didn't happen.

Anywho, here's a scene with Krumholtz and Levine together on 'Freaks.'

Update: The Guardian (via Slash) is reporting that German critics are becoming upset over the one-note portrayal of the Germans and Nazis in the 'Inglorious' script. Whatever. More importantly the British paper says that Tarantino has met with Daniel Brühl and Til Schweiger. Brühl was the star of the 2003 breakout German flick, 'Goodbye Lenin" (which was quite good) and also had a tiny role as Franka Potente's younger brother in "The Bourne Ultimatum." Schweiger's been in and around Hollywood for years and you've seen him in bit parts and tons of smaller roles, one of his most memorable, and our personal favorite being his role as the unhinged German gun-fanatic and drug dealer "Crazy Mark" in "SLC Punk" (most audiences probably remember him as the crazy Saxon invader Cynric from "King Arthur").

Aside from Brad Pitt and Nastassja Kinski, these are the two best casting choices we've heard so far. It wouldn't suprise us at all if Schweiger read for Landa and Bruhl obviously would have met for the role of the younger, handsome German who tries to woo Shoshanna, Fredrick Zoller. He was someone we actually considered when we did our 'Inglorious' casting piece, but we thought he was too pretty and didn't have enough of a mean streak in him, but he looks a lot more adult in " Joyeux Noël," pictured above.

Watch: Crazy Mark in "SLC Punk"

Ben Stiller Will Probably (And Finally) Steal Batman’s 'Thunder'

Can "The Dark Knight" stay on top of the U.S. Box Office for an unprecedented fifth weekend in a row? If any film hitting theaters this weekend can dethrone the bat, it would be Ben Stiller’s Hollywood Satire, "Tropic Thunder," according to most tradespeople in the know and those with reasonable box-office acumen (almost any blogger).

Figures for Thursday haven't come in yet, but 'Thunder' opened Wednesday and collected a $6.3 million cume.

Last weekend, a similar battle occurred between the Judd Apatow comedy "Pineapple Express" and the juggernaut that is "The Dark Knight" reigned supreme. But as we noted earlier this week, the only reason that 'TDK' won the challenge was because 'Pineapple' also came out early on a Wednesday and those numbers subtracted from their overall 3-day weekend total.

Even though ‘Thunder’ has had a few bumps in its release pathway, (see the retards protesting ), ‘TDK’ has had a steady decline of about 40% per weekend at the box office. To complicate the predictions of this weekend showdown take note: 'Thunder' only made about half as much money as ‘Pineapple Express’ did on its first two early days of release (it took in $12-something million). But still, five weeks in a row? Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black should have enough heat under their belts to overtake Christopher Nolan's Batman sequel. Or at least at this point, one would kind of hope.

Ghostface Killah's Deleted Scene From 'Iron Man'

You'll recall Ghostface Killah was originally scheduled to play a Sheik in Dubai in a scene in Jon Favreau's "Iron Man" with Robert Downey Jr. It was shot, but it never appeared in the movie. In the scene RDJ/Tony Stark attends a big-ass party that Killah has thrown and Ghost throws him some free ladies for a menage a trois which becomes an unfulfilled quatro. It's missing music, there's unfinished green-screen in the background; it's not that great, but we suppose it's mildly interesting for the curious. [ Nah Right]

Miles Davis' 'Elevator To The Gallow' Score Is The Lonely, Rain-Soaked Musical Muse For Louis Malle

Ok, we just wrote about it and we have it sitting here in front of us, so why not get into "Elevator To The Gallows" a tiny bit more. As just noted, the amazing French crime noir is the remarkable first feature of estimable Gallic director Louis Malle who passed away in 1995 (he was married to Candice Bergen for fifteen years). Malle got his start with underwater explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau and became a camera operator on his Calypso eventually co-directing the Oscar and Palme d'Or-winning 1956 documentary "The Silent World."

In 1958, Malle released his feature-length debut, "Ascenseur pour l'échafaud," aka "Elevator To the Gallows" starring the startling beautiful Jeanne Moreau, who became an international star after the film and would continue working with him for years afterwards in such classics as the existential ennui blueprint, "The Fire Within" and the controversial and scandalous for its time,"The Lovers."

Blah, blah, blah, right? Back to our point. One of the choice decisions the sharp Malle made on his debut, and a total feather in his cinematic cap, was convincing and hiring Miles Davis to compose his first ever film score for 'Gallows.' Jazz critic Phil Johnson apparently called the soundtrack, "the loneliest trumpet sound you will ever hear, and the model for sad-core music ever since. Hear it and weep," which we can't disagree, its replete with emotional expression on the rainy and empty Champs-Élysées; though their are also many ominous and anxiety-ridden passages as well. Here's some samples if you've never heard.

Davis was evidently a big fan of Malle's films before he even was asked to participate in the film. "I went to Paris again [1956] ...and it was during this trip that I met French filmaker Louis Malle through Juliette Greco. He told me he had always loved my music and that he wanted me to write the musical score for his new film, L'Ascenseur pour l'echafaud. I agreed to do it and it was a great learning experience, because I had never written a music score for a film before. I would look at the rushes of the film and get musical ideas to write down. Since it was about a murder and was supposed to be a suspense movie, I used this old, gloomy, dark building where I had the musicians play. I thought it would give the music atmosphere, and it did."

It's quite the incredible movie and score and we highly recommend.

Download: Miles Davis - "Diner Au Motel"
Download: Miles Davis - "L'Assassinat De Carala"
Download: Miles Davis - "Ascenseur (Evasion De Julien)"

Your Weekend Movie Going; 'Tropic Thunder,' 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' & More

To recap movie this week, you have a bunch of choices this weekend in film-going. If you live in New York, you especially have options (look for some of the travelling repertory collections to hopefully hit your town too).

First off there's Ben Stiller's Vietnam films/Hollywood spoof, "Tropic Thunder." If you missed our review, we were surprised how much we liked it, but that of course is relative. We figured it'd be useless, but it was surprisingly funny with strong, left-field suprising performances by Jack Black (who we mostly don't like) and solid supporting roles by Jay Baruchel, Steven Coogan, Nick Nolte and Danny R. McBride. We can't say we cared much for Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr.'s minstrel routine was funny at times, but it felt a little safe and reigned in. We gave it an average grade, but the consensus over at Rotten Tomatoes is pretty positive with an 82% freshness rating so far.

Despite a horrendous voice-over (which some think it was purposeful), we really enjoyed Woody Allen's return to comedic form in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," his funniest and on-the-mark film since 1999's "Sweet and Lowdown" ("Match Point" was great, but not a comedy). Rebecca Hall was a beautiful revelation, the sparks and chemistry that flew between Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz remind you why they're a couple and Scarlett Johansson did a fine job of playing Scarjo: hot, blonde, a little vapid, but still endearing enough to pass. It was a lot tamer sexually then many had hoped, but who cares. Those disappointed are mostly looking for something to write about in the blogosphere. We gave the winning and lively film high marks and Rotten Tomatoes is giving it a strong 81% grade too.

'Henry Poole' was abysmal (31% Rotten Tomatoes rating) and nothing else looks worth spending money on, unless you're a fanboy and you're going to see that silly looking Star Wars animated film "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," (a dismal 23% rating) or the third-rate 3-D animation flick, "Fly Me To The Moon" (a pathetic 13% rating).

If you live in New York, you must catch some of two excellent retrospectives in our great city. Number one on your list should be Film Forum's remarkable French Crime Wave collection that's running for five weeks from August 8- September 11. Many of the films are obvious and you've probably seen if you're a cineaste, but still so many noir crime classics from the master, Jean-Pierre Meville, Jules Dassin, Jean-Luc Godard, Louis Malle, René Clément, Jacques Becker, Robert Bresson, and Henri-Georges Clouzot are films you shouldn't pass up if you've never seen them. There's also a few lesser films not available on DVD that are worth the trip too. We saw Alain Corneau's 1979 amorality tale, "Série Noire" of a three-time loser's petty crime spree that snowballs into chilling desperation last week and it was a nice, lesser-travelled treat which was pretty damn funny too. Patrick Dewaere was tops. We recommend Bresson's "Pickpocket," Clément's "Purple Noon" (the original "The Talented Mr. Ripley") with the inimitable crime-wave icon Alain Delon, all the Melville films (he's the master here without question) and Louie Malle's amazing debut, "Elevator To The Gallows" with the hauntingly beautiful Jeanne Moreau. Note though: one key Melville film missing is our fave, "Le Samourai" with French crime mainstay Delon, of course.

Lastly, you've got about a week left to catch the Elliott Gould retrospective at Brooklyn's BAM called, "Elliott Gould: Star For An Uptight Age." At this point, we hope to god you're familiar with his excellent body of oeuvre, much of it coming from his '70s films and work with Paul Mazursky, Robert Altman and Alan Arkin. We're going to catch a very-rare screening of his one and only collaboration with Ingmar Bergman, "The Touch" on Thursday. If you live in New York/Brooklyn and there's tickets available, we advise you snatch them up toute suite. It's also another unseen gem not available on DVD.

So That Thing Isn't Real? James Franco Wears Large Penis Prosthesis In Gus Van Sant's 'Milk'

In the upcoming Gus Van Sant biopic of an assassinated gay San Francisco city councilman, "Milk," James Franco admits that his endowment in the film may not be entirely natural. In a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel, Franco admits that he used to assistance of modern technology in his nude scenes with Sean Penn ala Mark Wahlberg in "Boogie Nights."

"I was very uncomfortable on the day [of the nude scene] but the makeup artist handed me this prosthetic penis. And he said, "You can wear this, it'll make you feel more comfortable."

Franco told GQ, that the first kiss he had with Sean Penn was more than a little unnerving.

"The first kiss of the movie was out on Haight Street, with, like, 200 people watching, outside. I’m sure in the end it will be a really cool shot, but it starts close and then it takes maybe a minute. That’s a long time on film with everybody watching, and, like, a fake moustache getting in your mouth. It was long enough that you couldn’t help but thinking, ‘Oh, my God, I’m kissing Spicoli.’ "

It seems as though the diehard Franco fans will be a little freaked out by this confession; and the fanboys - fareweather admirers of Gus Van Sant - seem to be already a little offput by all the talk of swordfights and sausage-fests in this film. Franco naked in a pool with Sean Penn, the numerous make-out appearances between the two that area sure to be in the film and along with the fact that in the back of their minds they know that what they see isn't the real thing. Man, what a bummer.

Also, if you're wondering why it took Franco so long to join the Apatow movie crew after "Freaks & Geeks,' (aside from a cameo in "Knocked Up," his first real appearance in that troupe was "Pineapple Express" it seems its because he was an asshole who took himself too seriously.

"I’ll admit I was not a team player. A lot of it, I think, just had to do with being obnoxious when the camera was on someone else. Maybe I’d eat a banana in the background that would take focus away from other actors. I didn’t think about it that way, but now I could say, ‘Look, the scene’s not about me, it’s about them, just chill out, James. Don’t eat a f—-ing banana.’ ”

Lastly, where's 'Milk' on the fall festival circuit? It's surely an Oscar-bait film, yes? We're hearing informed inside rumblings that say it's going to premiere in San Francisco and bypass the regular festivals purposely. Anne Thompson said 'Milk' wouldn't be ready in time for the fall season and that's why it wouldn't appear at TIFF or NYFF, but our source says it's in the final stages and basically complete (they also hinted that Telluride could be a possiblilty). "Milk" is set for a December 5, 2008 release date and also co-stars Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna, Josh Brolin, with appearances by Eric Stoltz and solid character actors Denis O'Hare and Victor Garber.
Danny Elfman is reteaming with Van Sant to compose the score (they haven't worked together since "Good Will Hunting," if that's not a big enough hint for you: this is GVS's return to the mainstream, "Elephant" or "Gerry" this ain't). When are we going to see a trailer for this thing?

Duchovny And Leoni Producing 'Born To Rock' For CBS Films

CBS films recently acquired a music-based comedy script titled "Born to Rock" from Jess Walter and Mark Steilen. David Duchovny and Tea Leoni are set to produce the film, which follows a group of aging musicians, who through a mix-up with their demo tape end up with a record deal... as a children's band. Groan...

Duchovny describe the project as "Rock and Roll meets the sippy cup crowd." He also noted that, "It speaks to a cultural phenomenon that is happening right now in music." Really David? What you mean Dane Zane? Or 40-something aging hipsters that can't grow up? This type of thing is happening all the time in music today? Sure, we suppose it's happening, but "phenomenon"?

There is no word yet on who is to star in the film, but hopefully Duchovny has to desire to take a stab at the big screen after the abysmal "X-Files" movie. It would be kind of interesting to see him channel his small-screen, gratuitous nudity loving character, Hank Moody from Showtime's "Californication" on this project. Or not.

'Henry Poole' Is... Well, Hopeless

God, poor Mark Pellington, the director of "Henry Poole Is Here. The former video director – Pearl Jam's "Jeremy;" famous clips for NIN, Foo Fighters, The Flaming Lips; filmmaker behind "U2 3D" – lost his wife suddenly and tragically in a car accident four years ago and had to raise their 2 1/2-year-old daughter on his own.

Obviously the guy went through hell and back to make it through such devastation, so when you're reading the press notes of 'Henry Poole' is here before the movie starts and being informed of all this tragedy, you can't help but feel for the guy, side with him and understand his motivations to make a film rooted in touching and spiritual themes of life, death, love, loss, etc., even if those sentiments can be rather cliche. The notes are perhaps a ruse, but after reading them, you can't help but be ingratiated to the guy and want him to succeed.

And then the movie starts. And if you've seen the trailer, man you quickly understand this film is some high-grade false advertising. Where's the sweet, quirky, indie-romantic comedy we thought we were getting? Instead we get a middling drama about a sad-sack with few laughs and sure, there would be nothing wrong with that approach if it weren't godawful. Luke Wilson plays a sad bastard (Henry Poole) that has given up all hope, wasting his days by drinking his life away. One day, serendipitously of course, his newly stuccoed outside wall has developed a stain that looks exactly like the face of Christ according to his fanatically religious and extremely annoying neighbor Adriana Barraza (an Academy Award nominee in "Babel," she's aggravating here).

She starts blabbing to the neighborhood which begets pilgrimages to Poole's home to see the holy visage which annoys the depressed and bitter homeowner who then tries to scrub the stain off to no avail. Suddenly, the wall develops a tear of blood and bonafide miracles begin to occur and the film's "magical wheels" begin to start turning. The lovely Radha Mitchell, the only one doing any real acting here, plays Poole's divorced neighbor with a selectively mute child.

Now we're kind of suckers for features with male, sad-sack protagonists that have to get over themselves and their solipsistic problems, but not when they're riddled with tired cliches and replete with trite sentiments. 'Poole' starts out uneven, but not terribly, plodding along at a surprisingly slow and even keel, but somewhere along the mid-way point, the film bursts wide open into the great blue yonder of terrible. Pellington opens up the sun-soaking aperture, the slow-motion devices, warms up the crane shots and goes full on music video with tons of atrocious and painfully obvious musical montages – the movie devolves into one gigantic MTV video and you can't help but recoil and cringe in pain and disgust.

'Poole' was never destined to be great, but it didn't have to be one of the worst movies we've seen this year either. The last half just keep topping itself in insipid, trite gestures and by the last 10-15 minutes, you're pretty much begging for it to end. Skip this one at all costs. [C-].

God, we've already wasted too much breath on this film, but we feel obligated to point out some music. The soundtrack details are here, the disc features songs by the Eels, Badly Drawn Boy and the Bravery to name a few, all used in variously lame ways in the movie. Not featured on the soundtrack, but in the movie are Blur's "Song 2" (a cliche song if there ever was one laughably misused in a sequence where Poole tries to wash the stain off his wall) and Bob Dylan's powerful and melancholy song of resignation, "It's Not Dark Yet," from 1997's devastating Time Out of Mind. We obviously love the song, and the moment in the film isn't terrible per se, but it's nothing to write home about either. We haven't even read one review of this film yet, but we won't be shocked at all if every critic just roasts this film alive. Poor Pellington, good intentions from personal tragic experiences gone horribly awry.

It's True! Mike Myers Enlisted As A British General In 'Inglorious Bastards'

Wait, is it career resuscitation time already? Doesn't Quentin Tarantino wait like 20 years to revive an ailing or perhaps non-existent career trajectory? We may have dodged a bullet with Adam Sandler, but we caught one square in the mouth with Mike Myers.

Yeah, that's right, those late-day rumors from yesterday turned out to be true. Mike Myers has been cast in Tarantino's "Inglorious Bastards," and we hate to continue being an apologist for QT's bad-taste, but it is a rather small role.

Myers will play General Ed Fenech, a British "a military mastermind who takes part in hatching a plot to wipe out Nazi leaders," says Variety. The plan is called "Operation Kino," and yesterday we thought that maybe Myers would play Winston Churchill, who does make a brief appearance in the film and we were close. Churchill's scene is the only one that also features Gen. Fenech. In this sequence, Fenech debriefs Lt. Archie Hicox (likely to be played by Simon Pegg; his character was a film critic before the war) and gives him his mission to rendezvous with the American 'Bastard' soldiers in Germany.

In the script, Fenech is supposed to be a whiskey drinking old George Sanders type circa the 1960 B-horror movie from Wolf Rilla's "Village Of the Damned,"

Is "Inglorious Bastards" officially off the rails now in its casting? Maybe we're naive, but the script has so much potential, we're holding out hope. And Fenech is literally on screen for about 4-5 pages. If Myers keeps it in check, the sequence will seem like a gratuitous and glorified cameo, but nothing to ruin the film with.

But weird that Tarantino is hiring all these comedians to play roles. Pegg makes sense, cause they're buddies and surely he'll play the role like his serious cop performance in "Hot Fuzz," but B.J. Novack, and now Myers? One thing's for sure, QT still has the juice to draw big names for small roles, cause people just want to appear in his films no matter what. What an oddball he is in casting. Shouldn't he have hired Myers ten years from now when he was doing "The Love Guru 4"?

'Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince' Bumped To Summer '09

Oh, you were already planning your thanksgiving vacation around the release of the sixth "Harry Potter" movie? Too fucking bad, because Warner Bros. has made the decision to bump the release of the film to July of 2009. And yes, in case you were wondering, that is almost a year away. Seriously WB? You release that kick ass trailer, get us all pumped up, then pull it away like a vindictive older sibling on a power trip.

The head guy over at WB, Alan Horn, said in defense of the madness, "Like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writer's strike, which impacted the readiness of the scripts for other films, changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of."

Translation: We don't have jack-shit as far as tentpoles go for 2009 and we know no one else does either (thanks to those god damn greedy writers), and so moving "Harry Potter" is our only hope of taking advantage of that while saving our own asses (it's only competition as of right now will be Will Ferrell's "Land Of The Lost" with Danny McBride).

Maybe this also part of that whole "WB has too many films fire-sale problem" they're currently having which includes trying to sell-off films they bought like Guy Ritchie's "Rock N Rolla" and Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire."

Well, we guess that means "Twilight" will be ruling supreme this winter as the tween hit...god save us all.

Paul Greengraass Not Directing 'Trial Of The Chicago 7', 'Killing Pablo' Finally Finds Its Escobar

Paul Greengrass will not be directing "The Trial of the Chicago 7" as was previously reported. A few days ago it was thought that Greengrass would be stepping in for Steven Spielberg, who was originally slated to be directing, but passed to work on other projects. Well apparently all that was just the blogosphere blowing out its ass about things that weren't actually true, because Chud.com heard from the director himself that he would not be at the helm of the drama, which is set during the aftermath of the 1968 Democratic convention riots.

"Killing Pablo" director Joe Carnahan finally has cast an actor to play the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in his new movie. Carnahan has cast Edgar Ramirez, best known as Paz the mostly-silent assassin from the "Bourne Ultimatum." Ramirez has a role in the upcoming massive "Che" duology Guerra biopic from Steven Soderbergh. Javier Bardem was originally thought to be playing Escobar, but those rumors were debunked when Bardem denied his involvement at a press junket for "Vicky Christina Barcelona." [Chud.com]

New Photos From 'Burn,' 'W,' 'Revolutionary Road,' 'The Road,' 'Benjamin Button' & More...

We're breaking our rule about posting photos for the sake of posting photos cause well, it's the end of the day, we're leaving and we're admittedly excited about the fall film schedule (as we are every year). EW has a ton of new photos from the fall seasons, the flicks - and photos - that interest us the most are here. Shots from "Revolutionary Road," with Leonardo and Kate Winslet, the Coen Brothers' "Burn After Reading," Clint Eastwood's "The Changeling," Viggo Mortensen in "The Road," Brad Pitt in David Fincher's "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" – speaking of that one, no fall film fest inclusion? – "Zack and Miri Make A Porno" (which we're only mildly interested in at best),

We mention some of these not to gloat, but to note we're reading a lot of their original sources. Currently, we're finally reading Richard Yates' "Revolutionary Road" novel, we just finished the script and original book of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," and in the queue we have scripts for 'Benjamin Button' and "Burn After Reading," but we're debating about those two and think maybe we shouldn't spoil them for ourselves and enjoy the fresh film experience. Thoughts? A script review you'd like to read? Our "The Road" analysis should hopefully be ready tomorrow.

Anyone have the "W" script? We're curious to read that one too. No new "Milk" photos EW from Gus Van Sant's upcoming biopic? That's one we're highly anticipating too.

Kate Nash Featured In Mike Leigh's 'Happy Go Lucky' Trailer

Kate Nash's "Merry Happy" is featured in the trailer of Mike Leigh's new film, "Happy Go Lucky." As the title suggests, the British director is taking a break from his dark kitchen-sink dramas and going for something a little more light and whimsical; it's a full-on comedy. And honestly, this is a nice reprieve given his work in recent years, while excellent, rather a heavy emotional load ("Vera Drake," "Secrets & Lies").

In the effervescent new comedy from director Mike Leigh (“Vera Drake,” “Secrets & Lies”), Sally Hawkins stars as the unforgettable Poppy, an irrepressibly free-spirited school teacher who brings an infectious laugh and an unsinkable sense of optimism to every situation she encounters as a single woman in London. When Poppy’s commuter bike is stolen, she signs up for driving lessons with Scott (Eddie Marsan), who turns out to be her polar opposite – a fuming, uptight cynic who takes himself extremely seriously. As the tension of their weekly lessons builds, Poppy’s story takes alternately hilarious and serious turns -- careening from flamenco classes to first dates--becoming a touching, truthful and deeply life-affirming exploration of one of the most mysterious and often the most elusive of all human emotions: happiness.

Hawkins is a dead ringer for Beatrice Dalle. Or at least she is in the trailer. We were sure it was her at first (from "A Night On Earth"). "Happy Go Lucky" will also be one of the main films at the Toronto International Film Festival this year.

Inglorious Sandler! Oh Man, Do Not Mess With Tarantino's Taste

Did you hear that sound? Wow, did we just dodge another Tarantino bad-taste bullet? Holy shit, yeah. And this one's so real it buzzed by our ear with that real sense of "holy shit," terror. Adam Sandler was actually almost in "Inglorious Bastards"! Damn, or at least it looks that way. Sandler was rumored to be one of the original actors Quentin Tarantino wanted to cast in this thing years ago, but then QT himself had squashed most of those rumors. Was that purposeful misinformation?

Because according to Sandler, who's doing press in Ireland for "You Don't Mess With Zohan," he met with Tarantino for one of the roles (obviously one of the Jewish Bastard soldiers), but had to turn it down because he was shooting a Judd Apatow film at the same time.
About meeting with Quentin, Sandler told RTÉ, "Yeah it's true. It is, and I read the script, it's fantastic. But I'm shooting at the very same time. I won't be able to do it. I'm doing a movie with Judd Apatow at the same time so that's not going to happen, but I did read it. It is awesome."

And apparently it was some kind of misinformation campaign as Sandler and Tarantino had been plotting this casting move for a while now. "I've known Quentin for a long time. We've been talking about doing it for years, for like five, six, seven years. Yeah, it's definitely disappointing. I'd love to do it, but I just can't."

Yeesh, this is all too real! Apatow's "Funny People" is shooting in the fall, the same time that "Inglorious Bastards" is scheduled to start principal production. God, Sandler as one of the soldiers next to Brad Pitt? God, why not just nuke the whole production while you're at it? We're pretty sure this is some kind of divine intervention cause God read the script too and he doesn't want to see Quentin fuck it up too further than he inevitably will on his own.

You'll recall that Tarantino had a role as a priest in Sandler's "Little Nicky" in 2000 in the days when the director still thought he had a shot at a acting career. And yes, someone's going to point out "Punch Drunk Love," but no, don't even. Stick to the vision goddamit!

Update: Dear lord, there was apparently a rumor going round that Corey Feldman was going to be cast in 'Bastards' as well but that report's been evidently quashed, thank baby jesus. Speaking of bad ideas, here's another rumor, Mike Myers will play a small role in 'Bastards'? Oh shit, does he want him to do his accent thingy and play Winston Churchill? (who yes, is in the script for a minute). Please god, no. Tarantino does have a soft spot for losers (Myers) and bad ideas so it could be true. Anything's possible with him, really. *Shudder*

Beyonce In 'Obsessed'

Beyonce Knowles will be acting... in a non-musically based film next year called, "Obsessed." From a quick overview of the plot, it seems tired, as it follows the already used path of marital infidelity based thrillers. It centers around Knowles and her husband, to be played be Idris Elba (better known as Stringer Bell from "The Wire"), as he falls in love with a temp worker in his office (Ali Larter), pitting the two females against one another. [ed. but dude, it's got a "Jungle Fever" twist! Oh no you dint!]

We aren't quite convinced it'll be worth watching, given Knowles acting abilities are a little suspect. In the past she has come off stiff and uncomfortable on camera, and it could be magnified now as this time she won't have singing, costumes, afros or swinging hips to camouflage her sub-par acting. The director, Steven Shill, has almost no experience making feature length films, but his TV credits are better than most as he's directed such shows as "Dexter," "The Sopranos" and "The Wire." But unless you are a die hard Knowles fan, you might just want to stay in and rent "Fatal Attraction."

'Dark Knight' Obsessives Fans Rejoice!: Christian Bale Won't Be Charged For Assault In The U.K.

"The Dark Knight" star Christian Bale will not be charged following an alleged assault on his mother and sister, the British Crown Prosecution Service confirmed today. They said, ""We can today confirm that we have advised the Metropolitan Police Service that the actor Christian Bale should not face any charges following an incident which occurred in relation to his mother and sister at the Dorchester hotel on 21 July this year."

American 'TDK' fans are like, "in your face, limeys!"[Guardian]

You Know How We Know 'Twilight Sucks' And Why Stephanie Meyer Has Bad Taste?

Ok, we know, "Twilight,"the cheesy teen-goth novel isn't for us. It's for emo-tweens that cut themselves in their spare time, etc., but a tiny bit little insight into the taste/aesthetics and artistic choices soccer mom Stephanie Meyers and probably just another significant reason why we'll never read the books or watch the movies? Her mid-west taste in music. For one, she wants that generic and bland radio-ready underwear-stain of a band Blue October to soundtrack most if not all of her "Twilight" film. Honestly, we try not to judge people on their musical taste, not everyone's in the know and if we did this blog would be pointless we'd hate everything (cue peanut gallery), but this band is horrendous and not worth the paper they scribble their ridiculous lyrics onto.

Meyers apparently wrote her "Breaking Dawn," 'Twilight' finale novel to Blue October's music and when she went on a book tour, she decided to invite October's Justin Furstenfeld, he himself already looking a little mall-goth. It would make sense if they're involved in the soundtrack in some capacity, and Fustenfeld told MTV months ago he hopes to make that a reality.

“There’s a song called ‘Jump Rope’ that I’m really excited about,” he revealed of one tune. “I basically wrote it for my little girl, Blue.” [ed. whoever that is].

Now we want to know, "Twilight" fans are surely already aware of this connection. A quick Google search finds kids making their own Twilight soundtrack compilations and of course Blue October songs are included. Meyers has even made her own soundtrack that includes Dido, David Gray, Radiohead, The Cranberries and Collective Soul! (that's a winning combination). But with fans going apeshit for this book and movie adaptation, will sales eventually effect Blue October? Or will it take the movie's release, a soundtrack and or a trailer – ala "Pineapple Express" and M.I.A. – for a tangible unit-shifting phenomenon to occur? You wait with bated breath we're sure.

To be completely fair to the "Twilight" producers and moviemakers – who may have already illustrated they have taste by hiring the Coen Brothers' musical collaborator Carter Burwell to compose the score, the impressive Catherine Hardwicke ("Thirteen") to direct and the excellent Kristen Stewart to star – maybe their is slight hope for the filmmakers to elevate the idea beyond purely teen pulp melodrama.

'Choke' Soundtrack Features Radiohead, Death Cab, Fiery Furnaces & The Usual Musical Suspects; Due September 23

Death Cab, My Morning Jacket are news to our ears. We don't recall them in the cut of the film we saw, but then ago, that was months ago. Other than that though, it looks fairly close to the music we were told about back in February, give or take a few songs here and there (we weren't really taking notes when we saw it). The soundtrack, due September 23 digitally only, comes out via ATO Records. Nathan Larson's score isn't included either, nor is a Radiohead score out of thin air. ;). "Choke" is due in theaters September 26.

Update: Ah here it is. The seven songs we listed in the film originally, are still the songs in the film. The eight new additions that include Death Cab, Blitzen Trapper, Shout Out Louds and Nicole Atkins to name a few are songs not featured in the film, but tracks "significant to actor, director and screen writer Clark Gregg’s vision while he was making it, according to a press release on the soundtrack. Good, that makes more sense, we thought there was a new cut of the film we had missed.

There's no Radiohead score as mentioned, but Gregg is a huge fan. "Like most people, I am a huge Radiohead fan. The adaptation took me years to write so I wrote it first to Kid A, then Amnesiac and then Hail to the Thief. Later, I learned from Chuck Palahniuk that he had written the novel while listening to their song, "Creep." In Rainbows came out while we were editing and I used almost every track in my early temp cuts of the movie. They all fit really well, but I particularly loved "Reckoner." The tension between Thom Yorke's keening vocals and Phil Selway's brilliant, driving drum track fit so perfectly that it worked almost like score. I was truly dreading the day when we'd have to take it out. Somehow ATO Pictures producer, Johnathan Dorfman persuaded their manager to show the band some footage and to our shock they were generous enough to let us use the song. It's a monumental addition to the movie."

Indeed, and as noted previously, it's used in the film's closing credits (though does overlap in the final scene).

Directed by actor/filmmaker Gregg (he was great "In Good Company"), the film stars Sam Rockwell, Angelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald, Bijou Phillips and Gregg himself. The film and novel are about a sex-addicted con-man who pays for his mother's hospital bills by playing on the sympathies of those who rescue him when pretending to choke to death. It's a pretty decent film, we should write a review soon; Rockwell is particularly hysterical in a few sequences near the end. The trailer is here if you haven't already seen it.

"Choke" soundtrack tracklist
01 Ben Kweller: "The Rules"
02 The Natural History: "Don't You Ever"
03 Fiery Furnaces: "Navy Nurse"
04 Radiohead: "Reckoner"
05 Alap Momin: "Sin Terror"
06 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: "Satan Said Dance"
07 Buzzcocks: "Orgasm Addict" (ft. Howard Devoto)
08 Death Cab for Cutie: "No Sunlight"
09 Blitzen Trapper: "Wicked" (previously unreleased)
10 Ms. Tyree Sugar Jones: "If You Feel It"
11 My Morning Jacket: "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 1"
12 Shout Out Louds: "Bicycle"
13 Twilight Singers: "There's Been an Accident"
14 Nicole Atkins and the Sea: "Crystal Ship" (Doors cover, previously unreleased)

More Cashgrab Animated Films Coming Your Way

With the indie-market now officially shit, and studios growing wary of the odds of live-action films at the box office, it appears they have decided to go back to their proven cash machine, the animated film. DreamWorks animation is already planning a third addition to their "Madagascar" series and are also in development of a second installment to this summers money machine, "Kung Fu Panda."

"Kung Fu Panda" has raked in $560 million in global ticket sales so far this summer and the original "Madagascar" film managed to take in a cool $530 million globally. Kids buy up these things on DVD like they're going out of style too. It's not a bad business decision.