VOTD: Cool Cassisus Video Cut To 'Gummo' Footage

This is really cool. It appears that someone has cut a fanmade video of Cassius' -- the French house music duo (Philippe Zdar and Boom Bass) -- new single, "“Youth, Speed, Trouble, Cigarette" to Harmony Korine's 1997 American Dogme paean to white trash life, "Gummo." The track is hardhitting. It's like the new metal as far as we're concerned. Nice, crunchy and with a sense of urgency. A good look to cut it to this film. [via TheDailySwarm]

Wow, Who Knew 50 Cent Would Actually Back Down From Sexman?

Remember Sexman that, rat-faced, pre-pubescent YouTube nerdlinger from Canada that we all loved for his hilarious amateur film reviews? (reviews that were only slightly more articulate than those coming from say, Harry Knowles) Yeah, after a while shit got old and most film people moved on. But apparently in that interim, good ol' Sexman then started to focus his vlog rants on 50 Cent for being a posing thug and a whoring sell-out. Well, apparently 50 responded by actually cordially allowing the kid to visit him when he had traveled to NYC, and instead of recording a dis track, or popping a murder cap in his ass, they're bros now.

We must say this is astonishingly mature for 50 Cent. Sexman is still probably only 13-years-old and racked with braces, but we would assume that wouldn't stop him. From everything we already know from Fiddy and his behavior, when we were first sent this link from Gawker, we just assumed the rapper had killed the kid, he is usually that juvenile and thin-skinned. Cheers, 50. Maybe you are growing up after all. And btw, it seems to be contagious. Even The Game recently said in an MTV interview that the things he said to 50 Cent during their war of words was "dumb" and he actually fully apologized much to our total jaw-on-the-floor shock. If you've ever read interviews with these guys or seen interviews, you know just how fucking thuggishly boneheaded than can appear to genuinely be. Are hardcore rappers getting wise in their old age? Hey, Sexman, while you're at it, can you work on that Kanye brat?

Trailer: English Language Version of Almodovar's 'Broken Embraces' Features Cat Power

A new trailer -- finally an English-language version for those that don't speak Español and were vaguely confused by the initial Spanish editions -- for Pedro Almodovar's "Broken Embraces" has been released at the Guardian. As we wrote earlier this year (we saw the film at Cannes), "Almodovar's 17th-something feature is not a masterpiece nor it is it anywhere near his best work, but it still does have virtuous qualities, including bursting color, exquisite frames, melodrama, humor and sometimes a moody score to underscore its mystery-noir underbelly. Sounds great, no? The problem is the story is too long, has too many threads and becomes a little convoluted by the time the picture is over. While passionate in flaring spots, it can feel a little soulless at times. However, it does linger afterwards and features a solid turn by Blanca Portillo who we adored. If it's a failure, it's still an interesting and mostly engaging one."

In other words, this memory flashback-laden mystery cum romance-thriller starring Penelope Cruz as a housewife who desperately wants to become an actress, is still worth watching and we have fond memories from it from Cannes (maybe too much style and not enough substance or weight, but again, it has some great moments and memorable). The trailer also features the Cat Power song, "Werewolf," which is also featured in the film.

Here's the IMDB synopsis, which is a bit more vague, but it's better that way. You don't want to know too much about this one before going in, but suffice to say there's a lot of meta, film-within-film cinephelia love in it.

Harry Caine (Lluís Homar, prominently featured in Almodovar's "Bad Education"), a blind writer, reaches this moment in time when he has to heal his wounds from 14 years back. He was then still known by his real name, Mateo Blanco, and directing his last movie.

"Broken Embraces" hits North American theaters on November 20 in limited release via Sony Pictures Classics.

Dakota Fanning As Cherie Currie In 'The Runaways,' 'Veronica Mars' Movie Officially Dead, New 'Wild Things' Trailer To Play Before 'Harry Potter 6'

Here's your first look at Dakota Fanning made over for her role as Cherie Currie along with Kristen Stewart's Joan Jett in the upcoming The Runaways biopic. Reports have it the two will go as far sharing a "steamy bedroom scene" in the film. Man, they have really nailed the Joan Jett look. [Dakota Fan Site]

If it wasn't already, the process of nailing the lid on the "Veronica Mars" feature film coffin can now commence after the show's lead Kristen Bell finally conceded defeat once and for all: "I don't think it will ever happen, and here's why: Rob Thomas and I had a powwow, and we were both 100 percent on board. We took our proposal to Warner Bros. and Joel Silver told us that there is no enthusiasm [there] to make a Veronica Mars movie, and that is unfortunately a roadblock we cannot compete with." Well, that's that. [EW]

A new trailer for Spike Jonze's "Where The Wild Things Are" will reportedly play in front of "Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince" in two weekends. The trailer is apparently 1 minute and 33 seconds long. That just may have sold our ticket. [Joblo]

As confirmed by scribe Diablo Cody, Karyn Kusama's "Jennifer's Body," starring Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried and Adam Brody, will be rated R: "'Jennifer's Body' is rated R. My fifth-grade self is delirious with joy." Duh, it's a horror film with blood, spit and tons of f-bombs, of course it's Rated R. [Cody's Twitter]

Brandon Routh has revealed that his contract to portray The Man of Steel has expired though noted that he would return if asked back. Routh also added that he knows nothing on the franchise's current status and believes the downfalls of "Superman Returns" were on account for a lack of action in the film. [Moviehole]

Despite the rumours, Sandra Bullock has denied she ever had a role or was ever in contention for a role in Sly Stallone's "The Expendables." Bullock admits: "I never read the script, I didn’t even know what the script was about. But now that I know what it’s about, I’m excited for him." [Empire]

Movie Trailer: Jim Sheridan's 'Brothers'

The first trailer for Jim Sheridan's "Brothers" starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire has been unveiled and, true to it's Oscar-season release date, exhibits a emotionally powerful film set to draw the attention of the Academy.

In the film, Gyllenhaal plays the black sheep of a snowy Pennsylvania-based family whose bad behavior has left him in jail for three years while Maguire plays the military man older brother done good with Portman as his wife and the mother of their two daughters. When Maguire's character's tour of duty in Afghanistan goes awry and he is presumed killed in action, Gyllenhaal's character - who has just been released from prison - starts to encroach, seemingly to finally give back and support the family. Things are thrown into chaos, however, when Maguire unexpectedly returns.

We previously noted the strong Oscar pedigree of director Sheridan who is a six-time nominee; twice for Best Director, once for Best Picture and three times for Best Adapted or Original Screenplay; which will bode well for this project despite being scribed by David Benioff, recently of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" infamy.

Further, the film is a remake of the excellent, award-winning 2004 Danish film by Susanna Bier, was previously set for an August release before being shifted to Oscar-season - evidence of studio confidence - and had reportedly tested strongly for its originally planned December 2008 release before post-production presumably delayed the release. All signs point to good things.

"Brothers" is due out December 4th and is also set to feature music written by U2 especially for it. The trailer features U2's "Bad" from the Unforgettable Fire in the second half and some terrible modern-rock fromage-rock song in the first half. Lighthouse? Close and equally bad, it's The Fray, "Never Say Never (Don't Let Me Go)." Everyone comes to us for these kinds of answers and we get that, but you can't pay us to listen to that kind of music. "Brothers" is due in theaters on December 4.

More Character Posters For Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglourious Basterds'

Empire has debuted four more character posters for Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds." In the same aesthetic style of the last poster released, each new poster details the four characters played by Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent and Christoph Waltz and features a quote by them from the film.

Interestingly, the chosen four here are not the four with top billing on the combined poster of similar aesthetic. That poster was led by Pitt and Waltz but had Michael Fassbender and Eli Roth topping Kruger, Daniel Bruhl and Til Schweiger before Laurent. As we noted though, these four are much more appropriate as leads with Pitt and Kruger as the big-name, marketing leads while Laurent and Waltz are the actual but unknown-to-American-audiences protagonists.

Here are the full posters with their quotes transcribed for your viewing convenience:


- Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine: "We're in the Nazi killing business, and cousin, business is a a-boomin'"
- Diane Kruger as Bridget Von Hammersmark: "Can you Americans speak any other language than English?"



















- Melanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus: "...because Marcel, my sweet, we're going to make a film, just for the Nazis"
- Christoph Waltz as Col. Landa, The Jew Hunter: "I love my unofficial title, precisely because I have earned it."

"Inglourious Basterds" hits theaters on August 21st.

Mark Duplass Talks Collaboration With Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill And John C. Reilly

Mark Duplass, who along brother Jay are staples of the mumblecore movement, recently took to MTV to discuss his upcoming project with Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill and John C. Reilly.

"The Untitled Duplass Brothers Project," or "Safety Men" as it was previously known, will follow an "obtuse love triangle" between a single mother (Tomei), her son (Hill) and a 40-something guy (Reilly) with a past defined by a failed marriage who begins a relationship with the single mother.

"[Reilly’s character] is very much out of his league," Duplass explains. "They light up an incredible relationship but she doesn’t really let him in and he finds himself on the other side of the coin, like wanting the snuggle and he can’t get it." Reilly soon discovers the grown Tomei's character has been hiding a son [Hill] which produces, "a very bizarre, codependent relationship" that develops into "some obtuse love triangle, as John and Jonah wrestle for the feelings of Marisa."

"It’s very funny, but it’s also rooted in the humanity of these characters and a lot about what it means to be a little lonely and a little lost and trying to find your way in the world, but at the same time, all the ridiculous funny shit you do trying to find your way."

On working with Hill, Duplass adds: "He’s incredible. And I’m not just saying that because you are press. He is so one of us, I just can’t even tell you. He came in there and he was vulnerable and no ego and fucking hilarious and prepared things, and we’re improvising, so the shit he’s coming up with on the spot, I never could come up with on my own. He’s humble. He’s got it."

Having previously only worked with relatively amateur and or unknown actors in their previous efforts ("The Puffy Chair," "Baghead"), it'll be interesting to see how the writer/director pair now work with A-listers in this Fox Searchlight backed film. Shooting on the project recently wrapped after a six week shoot in Los Angeles and it's probably something we'll see in early 2010.

Jonathan Glazer Directs New Creepy Dead Weather Video; Jack White To Appear At Comic-Con '09

Wondering what lauded video director Jonathan Glazer has been up to directing the haunting drama, "Birth" in 2004 other then still not dazzling us with a new feature film?
Well, actually he does have his next feature-length project, "Under The Skin" happening, but in the meantime he directed the new music video for The Dead Weather, a musical side project led by Jack White and Allison Mosshart (The Kills). The video will premiere on Cinemax on July 11 front of the Angelina Jolie flick, "Wanted" and, judging from the eerie trailers, would be a suitable lead-in to action-flick. [Idolator]

Meanwhile, Jack White will also be hitting this year's Comic Con. A 22 year old White features in a sci-fi spoof film titled "Mutant Swinger From Mars" that will be hitting San Diego. The film, which began filming in 1997, has the synopsis: "Aliens from Mars come to Earth and force a mad scientist to ‘create’ a ‘chick magnet’ to lure women so, they may take them to Mars because.. Mars needs women, of course." Meanwhile, White's documentary "Under Great White Northern Lights," filmed on The White Stripes' 2007 Canadian tour, will be premiering at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. [Rock&RollDaily]

"Mutant Swinger from Mars" - Trailer

Harvey Keitel Cameos In Jay Z's 'D.O.A.' Music Video, Spike Jonze Directed Brad Pitt In Softbank Ad Featuring Department Of Eagles

Brad Pitt, Spike Jonze, a Sumo wrestler and electronic folk-rockers Department Of Eagles are an odd combination but are all apart of the next installment of Pitt's advertising campaign for Japanese telecommunications and media company, Softbank. [Worst Previews]

Who knew Jay Z and Harvey Keitel hang out playing poker in the back of Italian restaurants in Harlem? Well not really, but that's how they roll in the rapper's new video for "D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune)." Jigga follows that up the only way he knows how - one-on-one street ball with Lebron James. [Rock&RollDaily]

Spencer Krug from Canadian indie-rock bands Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown on his dream collaboration: "For a long time now I've had this fantasy where Wes Anderson just calls me up, casually introduces himself, and explains that he's run out of cool 1960s and 70s pop to use for soundtrack material and would really appreciate it if I could try writing some tunes for his upcoming film. Then I'd say that I'm super busy right now but his ideas sound "interesting," and that we should talk about it over a beer." Dude, get a more original answer. If you're white, 20-something and play indie-rock isn't this the pre-requisite dream? [Pitchfork]

Jonze' Commercial

Jay-Z "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)"

Eighty Minutes Of Ryan Reynolds In A Coffin? Indie Thriller 'Buried' To Be A Minimalist One-Man-One-Setting Show

We previously mentioned in passing the newly announced Ryan Reynolds' indie thriller, Rodrigo Cortés' "Buried," which will find center on a civilian contractor who is kidnapped and buried alive in Iraq with only a cell phone, candle and knife at hand.

Reynold's role was noted by the trades to be one that will "stretch his acting chops" as the film would be "one in which he holds the screen through most of the picture." Sure, we thought, they're a dime a dozen. And that was that - until an interview with Reynolds on Australian television caught our attention:

"'Buried' is the story about a guy whose buried (laughs). It's the only movie I've ever heard of with only one person in it. So it's just me, I'm the only person in the whole movie so, I don't know, we'll see. It's either going to be, you know, the greatest, most experimental cool movie ever made or god knows what." Wow, pretty bold, not to mention super minimalist and claustrophobic. Sounds like "Kill Bill 2," in the sequence where Uma Thurman is buried under ground, but instead of being a brutal 10 minute sequence, it's the whole excruciating picture.

Carson Reeves at Script Shadow provides further insight describing the script as "top-notch storytelling" by scribe Chris Sparling who "does a bang-up job creating tension" despite the fact "the whole thing took place in a coffin." Eighty minutes of Ryan Reynolds in a coffin?! That's ambition for you.

Shooting will begin this month in Barcelona.

First Look: Laetitia Casta, Eric Elmosnino, & Lucy Gordon In The Serge Gainsbourg Biopic, 'A Heroic Life'

Nice. Everyone really looks the part. Here's Eric Elmosnino as Serge Gainsbourg, Laetitia Casta as Brigitte Bardot, Lucy Gordon (who committed suicide earlier this year, RIP) as Jane Birkin and the back of Anna Mouglalis as Juliette Gréco in Joann Sfar's upcoming Gainsbourg biopic, "Vie Heroique" ("A Heroic Life"). Though note, one report said the film was called, "Je t'Aime Moi Non Plus," but that's the name of a Birkin song and even though they were married, and Gainsbourg wrote it, it does seem a little odd. Though as the peanut gallery does correctly note, Gainsbourg did write the song originally for Brigitte Bardot and it was also the title of the 1975 movie Gainsbourg wrote & directed with Jane Birkin & Joe Dallesandro in the leads which adds a layer of confusion. [ed. we know this trust us, but it was a late Friday night, thanks for the prodding].

Should we back up? Surely you know who Serge Gainsbourg is, the philandering French sleazebag pop singer who thrilled France with his scandalous songs (some about incest, sung with his daughter Charlotte), lifestyle (a total drunk and Lothario) and insouciant joie de vivre (he told Whitney Houston he wanted to fuck her life on French television much to the amusement of the entire TV audience and nation).
Anyhow, yes, a biopic of the notorious baroque-pop singer is being made, it's coming out in 2010 and the film will be Universal Pictures first foreign language film and will be the directorial debut by French comic book artist Joann Sfar (and note he's promised some animation from the team that helped create "Pan's Labyrinth" which should be incredibly interesting). Various famous female french starlets crossed Gainsbourg's life like Bardot, Greco, Birkin, Francoise Hardy, France Gall and Catherine Deneuve so presumably we'll see film incarnations of all of them (and some of them have already been casted, we did a pretty in-depth casting story last last year).
And from the looks of these pics, the film will follow Gainsbourg as a young songwriter for hire (as he's seen with Greco), to the grayer, more sozzled and ashen version of the fallen singer we all love to read about. There's even a pic of Gainsbourg recording his excellent 1979 reggae album Aux Armes et Cætera with dub superstars Sly & Robbie which seems to suggest this picture is really going in deep historically.
Canadian singer, talented multi-instrumentalist Gonzales — who composed many of the hit songs for Feist — is a modern day Gainsbourg sans the debauchery, so it's rather perfect that he'll be doing some of the music. The film is set for a February 2010 release in Europe and hopefully that means the U.S. release is not far behind. [GainsbourgLeFilm/World of Kane]

First Look: Eminem's Cameo In 'Funny People'

Rapper Eminem told Vibe magazine (RIP) a month ago that he has a cameo in Judd Apatow's "Funny People," starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann.

Homeboy was not lying. Take a look. In the film Sandler, plays George Simmons, a famous stand-up comedian and actor who is diagnosed with a rare disease and is believed to be dying. It's basically about a guy who gets a second chance at life, but then selfishly fucks it up.

MTV has the first dibs on the photo, but doesn't report why Eminem is actually in the film.

Having read the script and knowing the story well, here's our two guesses. One Simmons is notifying other famous friends that he's dying and has dinner with Eminem to tell him, judging by their grave faces. Or, there is a dream sequence in the original screenplay where Sandler's character talks to Bruce Springsteen and tries to glean wisdom from the rock star who essentially tells him, "hey, dude, we're all gonna die at some point, you should chill." Is it possible that instead of Bruce, they got Em for the role?

Evidently we'll have to wait until July 31 when "Funny People," is released to find out.

Does The 'Moneyball' Imbroglio Bode Poorly For Soderbergh's 'Cleo'? 'The Informant' Gets An Unbelievable Poster

So Steven Soderbergh's "Moneyball" was all but basically pronounced dead yesterday and we all sadly moved on. Or rather if you want to be specific, it was announced that Soderbergh was officially off the project and if "Moneyball," were ever to be made, it would be with Sony, Brad Pitt, Steve Zaillian's draft (or some version by him) and some other director (and presumably that other kid too). No offense to Zaillian, we loved his original draft, but until someone like Soderbergh becomes attached, we're less interested (and Pitt may have even moved on too, see below).

Anyhow, after reading that L.A. Times article and this one particular graph we got to thinking.

Mr. Pitt’s representatives had an eye out for his next picture. Mr. Soderbergh’s were looking for ways to assure that his valuable, if somewhat eccentric, career, would not be harmed by the debacle.

"Moneyball," was a bit of a fiasco. A sizable budget, an A-list star, an (too?) adventurous director and a studio that got cold feet. Or if reports are to be believed, a studio that shied away because Soderbergh's new draft was too different from what they had green lit (though have read both versions, we can confirm that yes, this is essentially true, though again, not as radically different as some had suggested). But basically Sony and Amy Pascal threw Soderbergh under the bus here. If anyone took some bad P.R from this in the end aside from Sony it was probably Soderbergh as alluded to above.

So we thought, and we hate to even think this aloud, wondering the possibility if other studio heads are thinking the same: if a baseball movie with Brad Pitt, rewritten by Soderbergh is too risky, does this mean a musical rock opera adaptation of "Cleopatra" ("Cleo") starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and featuring the music of booze-sozzled indie rockers Guided By Voices, is essentially career suicide?

Don't get it twisted. We're huge Soderbergh fans and want to see, "Cleo" more than 3/4 of the projects scheduled for 2010 and 2011. It sounds insanely ambitious. It sounds creative, it sounds adventurous, it sounds bold, it sounds... exactly like everything Hollywood is intimately afraid of at the moment.

By saying this aloud, we're not really helping we get it. But, we have to say, we're really worried about "Cleo" now. Regardless if the "Moneyball" situation wouldn't have been so ugly. If it had quietly died, would this fearful studio climate have greenlit a project like "Cleo"? Even "Liberace" with Michael Douglas and Brad Pitt, isn't exactly "Brokeback Mountain" or "Milk" and feels like a far riskier project than both.

Maybe "The Informant" (which just had its trailer released, and now has a new poster) and its success or failure will inform, what comes next? We don't want to be doomsayers or cast any aspersions on "Cleo," or "Liberace," they both sound like fascinating projects, especially when helmed by such an unconventional filmmaker like Soderbergh, but we're a tiny bit worried that this climate might be a little too hostile.

What you should do in case you're worried, is buy a ticket to this Matt Damon film when it hits on hits theaters October 9th. It looks like a great, odd and goofy mix of the Coen Brothers meets the wacky comedy of the "Ocean's" films, and if it does half decent, maybe we'll all be able to breathe a sigh of relief. But seriously, go "Cleo," go Soderbergh, FTW.

David Carradine Died From You Know What....

Poor David Carradine. After his death, his decidedly ok B-Movie career was retroactively and revisionistly re-examined as being a wonderful one by over-eager and romanticizing bloggers and writers. But, hey, good for him right? Everyone should be lucky enough to score an appeal like this.

Then it appears that dude did not commit suicide, but instead died by chokin' his, errr... auto erot... urmm... he died by not suicidin' himself. Yeah, that's it! And did you notice that more than half the sites waxing romantic all of a sudden stopped writing about him like nothing happened and uuhh, decided to not mention it was pretty friggin' clear dude had died from some much more embarrassing and sordid? Yeah, those tributes then all of a sudden dropped liked flies. It amused us to no end, frankly.

Coroner's reports are in and they're now saying he died of asphyxiation, but of course they won't say the dreaded A.A words -- auto-erotic asphyxiation. "The cause of death was asphyxiation, an inability to breathe, now why that happened is still what we're working on," a doctor told Reuters. Ha, yeah, we buy that. Poor Carradine. At least dude went out with a smile on his face. We can live with that.

'Heathers' Director Michael Lehmann Confirms Winona Ryder Sequel Comments Are Still Crazy Talk

Every few years, Winona Ryder starts talking "Heathers 2" and how the sequel is back on track. Original "Heathers" writer Dan Waters, said two years ago this talk was all nonsense. Obviously, Ryder's latest comments on the sequel came up again in the press at the beginning of June, sparking interest or hope in the project once more.

Fortunately, her comments are just more crazy talk, "Heathers" director Michael Lehmann confirmed to Movieline this week. Is there any truth to it at all? Nuh-uh.

"No. Winona’s been talking about this for years — she brings it up every once in a while and Dan Waters and I will joke about it, but as far as I know there’s no script and no plans to do the sequel."

Fortunately the makers of "Heathers" are just not interested because nothing further needs to be said.

"I’m all in favor of people — myself included — going into the same territory if there’s something that can be done with it. But if somebody says, 'Make a sequel to Heathers,' I feel like, no, someone should make a good movie that’s a dark, satirical comedy that has that sensibility. So a movie as specific as Heathers, which took place in a specific time and specific place and in which many of the characters got killed off, I never thought it made sense to see a sequel."

All's well that ends well.

Will Megan Fox Vs. Michael Bay Beef Mean No 'Transformers 3' For Her?

"Transformers: Revenge Of the Fallen" director Michael Bay seems to have pretty much had it with Megan Fox's comments in the press about his film.

You can her snarky comments here, but they've basically amounted to, "there's no acting necessary in a Michael Bay," film and it seems like she's dropped this jab in more than a few interviews now.

Earlier this week, she further tried to distance herself from the blockbuster by saying, "I think if you haven't read the script and you go and you see it and you understand it, I think you might be a genius," on CBS's "The Early Show."

Bay shot back in an interview with the Wall Street Journal where they asked the director about her comments and he responded dismissively. "Well, that’s Megan Fox for you. She says some very ridiculous things because she’s 23 years old and she still has a lot of growing to do. You roll your eyes when you see statements like that and think, 'Okay Megan, you can do whatever you want. I got it.' "

If a "Transformers 3" ever happens -- and by the vague indications out there that we've tried to not pay attention to, it seems like it's possible -- will this growing rift possibly mean Fox doesn't return to the McFranchise?

One can hope only because Fox has been running her mouth about the fact that no film she's been in has really showcased her ability to act. That's if she can. We'd love to see her eschew the robots destructo films and try and prove it to us. We suppose "Jennifer's Body" in September will show if she's got anything like real talent.

RIP Paramount Vantage & Other Sad Things On The Brain...

Or It's Hard Out There For Film Pimps; The Sky Continues To Fall
Are you as depressed as we are? [ed. Or I am?] The entertainment media landscape continues to shrink and every facet of it surely affects us, directly or indirectly. All of it is bad for the movie business and therefore movie lovers.

Earlier this week Paramount had another major shake up, closed down their NY Lit office that scouted for good books and properties to adapt, finally putting the nail in the coffin of the excellent Paramount Vantage (RIP, seriously and to all their staff, they released some great films including, "No Country For Old Men," and "There Will Be Blood"). Specialty divisions -- i.e. the arthouse studios within major studios are going the way of the dodo bird. And of course, all this just days after "Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen" -- a Paramount picture of course-- raked in $400 million. Apparently nothing can stop the bleeding.

Paramount's also apparently thinking about merging their DVD operation with News Corp. or Sony Corp. in order to cut costs. Then Spin magazine laid off almost what's left of its staff (meaning, there's barely anyone left, cause it was a tiny operation as it was) and Vibe magazine folded. The last two are film world, obviously, but they are related as there basically is no major film magazine in this country anymore (remember when Premiere was in print?). Other bad news, VNU Media is arranging a deal to halve its $280M debt as part of a restructuring, which could be really bad news for the properties it owns, The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard. And THR is a film trade that has gone through a lot of cuts already. Notice how there's not a lot of great film news out there lately? The trades are slowing down. They're understaffed and with less people to report news, the less chum blogs have to work with {there's a hint for you studios, maybe try reaching out to other places aside from just V and THR, some of us do strong original reporting when given the opportunity}.

A smaller blow globally, but big to the film community is the loss of round-up master David Hudson at the IFC blog. Word is he was cut and even though he'll likely be back in a month in some new form (or this is what he's alluded to in his goodbye post), it's discouraging to see someone that comprehensive and good at what they do get yanked.

Making it all feel a bit more bleak is this article from Variety that basically says Studios are doing their best to shy away from indie pictures as there's basically no profit in them (or least not the major ones they want). They point out that one of the biggest (and really one of the left) mini majors like Fox Searchlight have only bought one movie, the Sundance film, "Adam," since acquiring "The Wrestler" last fall and note that poor Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," still does not have a U.S. distrib buyer.

The more the bottom dollar matters means the more uninteresting the film to be offered, frankly. It pains us to write something negative about Michael Mann's "Public Enemies," because if that film's unsuccessful in this climate (it cost north of $100 million, shot on the, uh... apparently cost-saving digital format), what are the chances of a bold filmmaker like that getting another chance at something this grand in scope?

As Jeff Wells says, "the thrust of this Kim Masters/Daily Beast hit piece ("The Knives Are Out for Michael Mann") is that if and when Public Enemies tanks with Mr. and Mrs. Joe Schmoe and their kids over the July 4th holiday then it's curtains for Mann in terms of getting any kind of heavy funding for his next film." [ed. though would vehemently disagree that anyone has it out for Mann. It's just that the ambitious and stylish 'Enemies' is frustratingly uninvolving].

IndieWire's Eugene Hernadez seems to be feeling a similar pain and started a new Cinemadaily column to essentially ponder the state we're in. "Are we fighting to preserve a business or an artform?" is the headline of his first article and he seems just as concerned about the "increasingly striking tension" between the art of films and the business of making money in films. The two goals seem more and more mutually exclusive these days. It's all troublesome to say the least. How much worse is it going to get? And how bad does it have to all get before it gets better? Will there be some kind of cinematic rebellion? Cool, but will it pay the bills and keep any of us afloat?

In Theaters: 'Public Enemies,' 'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' & 'Tony Manero'

It's that time again. The weekend obviously starts early here for those of us living in the U.S. (Fourth of July weekend for those readers elsewhere), so it's time to look at the box-office.

There's two new entries, "Public Enemies" and "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ," which will try and do battle with "Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen." Sadly, the uber-dumb Michael Bay film seems to have the upper hand and it feels likely that the Michael Mann film or the kids threequel can best it. "Revenge of the Fallen has already grossed, $228 million in North America and $449 million worldwide which makes it just $12 million dollars short from the highest grossing film of the year internationally, "Angels & Demons." Presumably that small deficit will be taken care of easily this weekend.

If Bay's sequel dominates again, the second slot should probably go to Michael Mann's gangster epic, "Public Enemies" starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, however as we presumed, ' Enemies' has critics (and fans) are divided, and it only has a 61% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Top Critics like it a bit better where the film has a 65%, but not a great score for Mann who is a beloved filmmaker. I personally didn't think it was great and two Playlist contributors I've heard from were also divided. One loved it, the other one called it, "geez, ROUGH." As we said in our review, it'll be up for subjective opinion maybe more so than anything released this year. Some love the grandeur, detail and style, while some find fault with the lack of drama and emotion. As much as we had problems with it, we hope it's mixed critical reception doesn't affect it at the box-office too much, and more importantly doesn't affect Michael Mann from doing his thing (though as some like Anne Thompson have noted, filmmaking is just getting too bloated dollar-wise, for this day and age, so it might be tough from here on in).

We have little so say about "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs." It's voiced by Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Simon Pegg and more and only has a 36% RT. Sure, it's a kids film and not meant for adult critics, but most reviews we've read is that it even insults the intelligence of children. Hard to say since those adults aren't kids. Parents don't have a lot to choose from though.

In the Limited Release zone it doesn't look exactly terrific either, although 81-year-old French director Agnes Varda's ("Cléo de 5 à 7") autobiographical documentary, "Beaches of Agnes" has a super solid 93% RT rating.

The best bet that we can endorse in limited release is the Chilean black dramedy, "Tony Manero" which has a super solid 93 RT rating. Set in 1970s Chile during the oppressive dictatorial Pinochet years, it chronicles a man obsessed with "Saturday Night Fever," and its titular character that was played by John Travolta, Tony Manero, and winning a look-alike/dance-alike contest. The compulsion is so great it become pathological mania and the film, directed by Pablo Larrain, does a wonderful job of blending absurdist and genuinely chilling tones. It's a bit of genre-defier and we thought it was pretty great when we saw it last year at NYFF. If you want to see something dark, twisted and funny with vision and depth that is far greater than the clunky and juvenile, "Observe & Report," from earlier this year, this is your best bet.

Nia Vardalos can't seem to do anything right this year. Her reunion with John Corbett called, "I Hate Valentine's Day" was ripped apart by critics and has a dismal 22% on RT. Her earlier 2009 comeback film, "My Life in Ruins," could have been the title for her reviews. The film was also brutalized by critics and received an incredibly low 12% rating on RT. 2009 is not a happy "Big Fat Greek Wedding" for her and the box-office seems to be dead for her too.

Elsewhere, the French comedy thriller that we wanted to see, but missed, "The Girl From Monaco" has a pretty decent 71% RT Rating. The documentary, "Nollywood Babylon" about the booming Nigerian film industry is something we saw at IFFBoston earlier this year and never got around to writing a review about. It's a semi-fascinating doc about a burgeoning film scene that is unfortunately so low-budget and basically unwatchable (all the film's look positively dreadful). The films are created on the cheap and turned around super fast. The hilariously arrogant, yet god-humble Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, is one of the key directors featured in the doc and he will have probably shot and edited a new film by the end of today. But the doc does contain a lot of interesting socio-political commentary about the institutional religions in the country that are so far-reaching they even pollute this new cinema (a lot of it based on witchcraft and fear-mongering which is evident in a big portion of the films). It's not something to run out of your way to see unfortunately, but if you happen to ever catch when it presumably makes the rounds on the IFC channel, you could probably do a lot worse.

In Retro-Cinema around New York, the retrospective on the great Russian imagist, Andrei Tarkovsky starts next Wednesday (July 7) at Walter Reade. The director of such internal-world tone-poems such as "Solaris," (a cult film adored by many and known as the Russian "2001") "The Mirror," and his amazing debut, "Ivan's Childhood," if you live in NY, this is a collection of films you should not miss. But just note, Tarkovsky loved to take his placid time and many of these films reach the three hour-plus mark. "Andrei Rublev" is a contemporary audience-testing 205 minutes long, but try not to let that dissuade you. In the end you'll be far richer for having made it through the hypnotic experience.

Justin Timberlake Up For Guy Ritchie's Alleged 'Guys And Dolls' Remake?

British tabloid The Sun reports (translation: take with a grain of salt) that Justin Timberlake has verbally agreed to star in Guy Ritchie's remake of "Guys And Dolls."

Ritchie and Timberlake, who know each other through the director's ex-wife Madonna, reportedly "shook hands over a whiskey at the Punch Bowl pub in Mayfair on Monday night after discussing the blockbusters Guy has on the horizon" -- namely his previously reported musical remake which will apparently star Ritchie's go-to-man Jason Statham as the lead. Knowing the Sun, the two probably just shook hands to say hello and wildly extrapolated, but we suppose it's possible.

Ritchie apparently "rates Justin as an actor...thought he was impressive in 'Alpha Dog' " and believes the musician "would be ideal for 'Guys And Dolls' because he can act, dance and sing," a source reveals.

While questions surrounding Ritchie's initial reported interest in the musical are still unvalidated, we think the idea would be great for all parties involved and a real breath of fresh air. If "Sherlock Holmes" is even a hint of a success, the studio would probably lock the director in for a sequel, so what's he got to lose? And in Timberlake and Statham, we think his potentially got two pretty good, viable leads.

Even if is all BS, an article with the nifty headline of "I'm your guy for 'Guys,' Guy" deserves a mention, right? The article also adds that a remake of the 1978 Richard Burton-starring war film "Wild Geese" is on Ritchie's to-do list though its similarities to Sly Stallone's "The Expendables" could possibly rule it out.

Confirmed: Nimrod Antal To Helm Robert Rodriguez's 'Predators' Film

Robert Rodriguez has confirmed the rumors: Nimrod Antal ("Kontroll," "Vacancy") will be the director of "Predators." Hey, chalk one up for Latino Review, their source on this one was right. Only about 10 more correct reports and they're even in our books. ;)

Tell that to Variety though who are still reporting that Rodriguze is directing. Tsk, Tsk, trade paper. Get it right.

Why doesn't he direct it himself? Simple, his dance card is way overbooked (as if you hadn't noticed already), but Fox did want to use his original script from more than a decade ago as the jumping off point, so we ran with it. "I was already booked up as a director when this came back to me, but I still wanted to have a hand in making it. So I lobbied to have the movie done through my studios so I could oversee it in a stronger position than a producer usually takes on."

Acting as the producer, he also promises this film will wash the bad taste of "Alien Vs. Predator" from everyone's mouths. "No one is ever going to talk about AVP again after this film, I will stake my life on it." Big claim, but we hope he's right, simply because 'AVP' unquestionably ruined both franchise for us.

Rodriguez will still be involved with the film's production though noting that his role, "doesn't feel very different than [his] collaboration on 'Sin City,' working with Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino." [AICN]

Jessica Biel Rumored For 'Thor,' Michel Gondry's 'The Green Hornet' Pushed Back Two Weeks

Rumor has it that Jessica Biel is in talks to join Kenneth Branagh's "Thor" in a role noted only as a 'love interest.' Previously, Natalie Portman had also been linked to one of three significant female roles from the canon potentially in the film adaptation. [NukeTheFridge]

Michel Gondry's "The Green Hornet" starring Seth Rogen and Stephen Chow has had it's release pushed back two weeks to July 9th, 2010. The film is of course scribed by Rogen and writing partner Evan Goldberg. Filming better get going then... [Variety].

Spike Jonze is evidently doing special effects work on "Where The Wild Things Are" in London, fellow director Mark Romanek reports. [Mark Romanek]

A street banner promoting James Cameron's "Avatar" appearance at Comic Con provides us another glimpse of the alien race known as the Na'vi from the film. It's a little bit like Cats only with less song and dance. Or presumably anyhow (but wouldn't that be truly awesome? Sci-fi musical. That's what we want to see. [ComingSoon]

Rapper The Game is reportedly in consideration for the role of B.A. Baracus in Joe Carnahan's "The A-Team" remake. Common and Tyrese have previously been linked to the role. God forbid, 50 Cent is next on the list. [ComingSoon]

Matthew Vaughn will be premiering footage from his upcoming adaptation of comic book "Kick-Ass" at this year's Comic Con. In the mean time, here's a new picture of Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl. [/Film]

Samuel L. Jackson warns fans in advance to not get too excited -- his Nick Fury character in "Iron Man 2" still won't be doing remotely action-like. "We still haven't moved Nick Fury into the badass zone. His still just kind of a talker...looking forward to ["The Avengers"], yeah." Meanwhile, DJ AM is set to cameo in the sequel in a scene which finds Tony Stark at a club. [MTV/Moviehole]

A special shout out to David Hudson from IFC who has announced he is now moving on from his blog, The Daily. He will be missed, but from all accounts he'll be setting up a new shop soon. IFC's loss, for sure. [The Daily]

RIP Karl Malden: 1912 - 2009

Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden died yesterday at the age of 97. Surely this is old news to you now. We wanted to write something, got behind and now it feels like anything that needed to be said, has already been said ad nauseum all over the web and at this point, we can't contribute much other than white noise.

It's no tragedy though, Malden -- easily best known for his roles in "A Streetcar Named Desire," "On the Waterfront" and the 1970s detective TV show, "The Streets of San Francisco" -- obviously led a long, rich life and was able to accomplish what most people can only dream of.

The thing that sticks with us the most about this great character actor was his pug-nosed face; the one the looked like it had been soaked in booze or knocked on by some surly jack nape.

A nose that only a mother could love, or rather old Hollywood, when there wasn't such a preoccupation with every actor on screen looking entirely beautiful at all times. Malden's bulbous face mostly reminds us of a tough looking guy who could convey vulnerability and someone who was cherished for his acting, not his looks -- what a novel idea. He ways usually never front and center (aside from 'Streets'), but he always played that super-solid supporting character making people like Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Montgomery Clift, Rod Steiger and George C. Scott look even better than they were.

Malden was also rather great in "Patton," "The Cincinnati Kid"and "Birdman of Alcatraz" and countless others. RIP, Mr. Malden. Is this the too obvious clip to play? Absolutely. But he's just so damn good in 'Streetcar,' we can't pass it up.