'The Hurt Locker' & 'Up In The Air' Top The WGA Awards

Are you buying the surging meme? Are you one of those believing the Harvey Weinstein self-made hype -- bought hook line and sinker by the media -- that "Inglourious Basterds" is going to win Best Picture, because Weinstein believes that if you repeat the sentiment often enough people will listen? And hell, he's right, people are listening. Or at least the media has in the last few weeks because, well, lemmings will do that some times.

So, back to "Inglourious Basterds." Everywhere you look there's another interview with Harvey Weinstein, who's done a wonderfully good con job of convincing the media that Tarantino's film is going to win Best Picture, but we just don't buy it and never did (not that we have anything against it, we'd rather it won than say, "Avatar"). Now if 'Inglourious' would have actually competed for the WGA award, we'd probably have a better chance at figuring out its overall chances, but of course the screenplay was ineligible because Tarantino is not part of the guild (and 'Basterds' is up for a Best Original screenplay nomination).

So with Tarantino out of the picture, the road was quite clear for Mark Boal's "The Hurt Locker" script to win Best Original Screenplay and it did just that, but the competition wasn't exactly fierce either (James Cameron's "Avatar" screenplay and while "500 Days Of Summer" is a good script, after receiving an Oscar snub, it probably wasn't a surprise it didn't win).

In a win that was no shock to anyone, Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner's "Up In The Air" won the Best Adapted Screenplay award (maybe this means Walter Kirn, the author of the novel they adapted, will finally receive his Oscar invitation). Reitman and Turner will almost assuredly be holding the Academy prize on Oscar night and since the "controversy" is now over, we don't really have to worry about drama on that front. Another non-shocker was the Best Documentary Screenplay award going to Louie Psihoyos' "The Cove" which has deservedly been the front runner all year. There's no stopping this picture come Oscar time either.

So back to no Tarantino in these awards, this is one of those rare instances where the Guild awards don't help anyone precisely predict the Oscar. But, regardless of 'Basterds' being eligible or not, "The Hurt Locker" not only won the WGA award, it also won the ACE Eddie award which is the Guild Award for Best Editing. Everyone knows 9 out of 10 times, whatever wins the Best Editing award at the Academy Awards, wins Best Picture.

Now, what wins a Guild prize obviously doesn't guarantee a Oscar prize, but we've believed it for a while now frankly. "The Hurt Locker" is very likely to win Best Picture (and obviously Kathryn Bigelow is taking Best Director). And while yes, the new populist voting system could hand it to "Avatar," could throw a wrench in things, weirdly enough, we think the Academy will do the right thing this year and hand the Best Picture to "The Hurt Locker," which will be highly ironic if it happens.

The Academy desperately wanting to popularize their Oscar ceremony and drive viewership by foolishly making it a 10 Picture race, and then the film with the lowest box-office grosses of all 1o nominees wins? Hell, that would be glorious mud in their eye from our perspective and just one more reason we hope "The Hurt Locker" wins the top prize. IndieWire was one of the first sites to announce the winners.

"Bal" (Honey) Wins Golden Bear, Roman Polanski Wins Best Director At 2010 Berlinale; 'The Kids Are All Right' & James Franco Short Film Win Awards

We certainly didn't get. We called it "his most glaring felony in recent years," "big misstep" and a "near embarrassment" but critics pretty much seemed to embrace Roman Polanski's "The Ghost Writer," and he walked away with the Best Director trophy at the 2010 Berlinale. Of course, the director wasn't able to attend the event as he's still under house arrest in Switzerland. “Even if I could, I wouldn’t because the last time I went to a festival to get a prize, I ended up in jail,” Polanski told his producer. Touché.

However, the film couldn't shake the Golden Bear from Semih Kaplanoglu who won for "Bal" (Honey). The film about "a young boy and his beekeeper father" is Kaplanoglu's fifth feature and his first major win at the festival.

Some other notable prizes handed out in Berlin included the FIPRESCI Teddy Queer Film Award for Best Feature to Lisa Cholodenko's "The Kids Are All Alright." The film, about a brother and sister who set out find their same sex parents' sperm donor, has been earning nothing but raves and we can't wait to see it. We just hope it doesn't get lost in summer blockbuster shuffle when it opens on July 7th.

Also James Franco took home the FIPRESCI Teddy Queer Film Award for Best Short Film for "The Feast Of Stephen." The film, born out of a film class at NYU, is based on a poem by Anthony Hecht. Franco actually has a quite a few shorts and features under his belt, but he genuinely seems interested in expanding his craft so we're happy for him.

The complete (and staggeringly long) list of winners is below:

Golden Bear:
“Bal” (Honey), directed by Semih Kaplanoglu (Turkey/Germany)

Silver Bear - The Jury Grand Prize:
“Eu Cand Vreau Sa Fluier, Fluier” (If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle), directed by Florin Serban (Romania/Sweden)

Silver Bear - Best Director:
Roman Polanski for “The Ghost Writer” (France/Germany/Great Britain)

Silver Bear - Best Actress:
Shinobu Terajima in “Caterpillar” (Japan)

Silver Bear - Best Actor (shared):
Grigori Dobrygin and Sergei Puskepalis in “Kak Ya Provel Etim Letom” (How I Ended This Summer) (Russia)

Silver Bear - Best Screenplay:
“Tuan Yuan” (Apart Together), written by Wang Quan’an and Na Jin (China)

Silver Bear - Artistic Contribution:
“Kak Ya Provel Etim Letom” (How I Ended This Summer), cinematography by Pavel Kostomarov (Russia)

Alfred Bauer Prize (shared):
“Eu Cand Vreau Sa Fluier, Fluier” (If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle), directed by Florin Serban (Romania/Sweden)

Best First Feature Award:
“Sebbe,” directed by Babak Najafi (Sweden)

Other awards at the 2010 Berlinale:

Panorama Audience Award 2009
“Waste Land,” directed by Lucy Walker, Joao Jardim & Karen Harley
2nd place: “Budrus,” directed by Julia Bacha
3rd place: “Daniel Schmid - Le chat qui pense,” directed by Pascal Hofmann, Benny Jaberg

Ecumenical Jury Prize:
Competition: “Bal” (Honey) directed by Semih Kaplanoglu
Panorama: “Kawasakiho ruze” (Kawasaki’s Rose) directed by Jan Hrebejk
Forum: “Aisheen [Still Alive in Gaza]” directed by Nicolas Wadimoff

FIPRESCI Prizes:

Competition: “En Familie” (A Family) directed by Pernille Fischer Christensen
Panorama: “Parade” directed by Isao Yukisada
Forum: “El vuelco del cangrejo” (Crab Trap) directed by Oscar Ruiz Navia

“Label Europa Cinemas”:
“Die Fremde” (When We Leave) directed by Feo Aladag

Teddy - Queer Film Award:
Best Feature Film: “The Kids Are All Right” directed by Lisa Cholodenko
Best Documentary Film: “La bocca del lupo” (The Mouth of the Wolf) directed by Pietro Marcello
Best Short Film: “The Feast Of Stephen” directed by James Franco
Teddy Jury Award: “Open” directed by Jake Yuzna

Peace Film Award:
“Son Of Babylon” directed by Mohamed Al-Daradji

Amnesty International Film Prize:
“Son Of Babylon” directed by Mohamed Al-Daradji
ex aequo: “Waste Land” directed by Lucy Walker, Joao Jardim, Karen Harley

Prizes of the Berlin Talent Campus:
Berlin Today Award: Bryn Chainey (Australia) for “Jonah and the Vicarious Nature of Homesickness”
Score Competition: Camilo Sanabria (Colombia)

Crystal Bears and Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk Awards in Generation Kplus

Crystal Bear for the Best Film: “Shui Yuet Sun Tau” directed by Alex Law, Hongkong (China) 2009
Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film: “Franswa Sharl” directed by Hannah Hillard (Australia) 2009

D.C. Entertainment President Denies Christopher Nolan Will Be Involved In Next 'Superman' Film

Here's something we, and seemingly many others more invested in this, missed.

Earlier this month the geek set went into near hysterics of joy when it was announced that Christopher Nolan would be godfathering and overseeing the next iteration of a "Superman" film.

However, MTV just sat down with D.C. Entertainment President Diane Nelson and asked her point blank about the story, which she shot down as a "rumor."

"We don't have any plans about that, and as I've mentioned, in the coming months we'll be making a lot of announcements about what our content plans will be," she added. "But right now, the [Nolan/Superman story is] nothing but rumor — and we frankly don't say a whole lot more about rumor than that, so..."

According to a comment on this Anne Thompson round-up, Nikki Finke, who broke the original Nolan/Superman story, has been deleting any comments on it now that Nelson has shot down her claim, which is the Deadline m.o. Though, Nelson's quotes do read a little terse and perhaps even a bit defensive. Could it be D.C. was angry that Deadline beat them to an official announcement? Nelson's first response to the question of whether the story was true or not was, "Wouldn't you like to know," which again seems somewhat cagey. Maybe the news was premature and Nolan and D.C. hadn't agreed to anything yet? Making this denial even odder, is the fact that Warner Bros. stayed silent. You would have imagined D.C. would've been on their ass to issue a retraction of some kind when the news broke.

So, strange that there was no vehement denial at the time. However, adding yet another wrinkle, on Thursday WB announced the names of a whole slew of new D.C. Entertainment execs -- all of them charged with using the library of DC Comics characters across media platforms, including film -- and there wasn't mention of Nolan being on board anything. You'll also notice that the trades, who often follow Deadline Hollywood's lead when they've broken a story, have not confirmed or regurgitated this report yet, which is eye opening. Furthermore, a reader points us to a New York Times article published the day after Finke's report, that quotes Nolan and WB executives about their business and the future. It does confirm the third "Batman" film that Nolan is now working on, but has no mention of "Superman." Something seems to be amiss here.

While he's busy editing, "Inception," Christopher Nolan does occasionally come up for air and talks to the press. We're sure someone's going to talk to the director soon enough and then we'll hear it from the horse's mouth. Until then, maybe we should manage our expectations for the project.

Sofia Coppola's 'Somewhere' Will Likely Skip Cannes 2010

This completely evaded our radar at the time, but Stephen Dorff evidently revealed to Pete Hammond last month that Sofia Coppola's "Somewhere," in which he stars alongside Elle Fanning, will skip the Cannes Film Festival this year.

The film was hotly-tipped to premiere at the fest and was said to be a sure thing in recent line-up predictions, but with Coppola's baby due right around the time the festival runs, Dorff noted that the film will likely pass the Croisette for the Venice-Toronto route, like 2003's "Lost In Translation."

It remains to be seen whether or not the situation will change, but if so, the lack of Coppola will be a big blow, not only for the festival, but also to the filmmaker herself, who surely would have loved to return and prove herself to the very crowd who jeered and booed their way through the credits of her last film, "Marie Antoinette." Then again, that Cannes crowd is tough and once you've been burned....

"Somewhere" centers on a hard-living Hollywood star (Dorff) whose transient life at the Chateau Marmont is turned on its head when his estranged, 11 year old daughter (Fanning) drops in for an unexpected visit. Michelle Monaghan and Chris Pontius co-star with cameos from an eclectic bunch, including Benicio Del Toro, indie-rockers Rooney, Erin Wasson, Laura Ramsey, Caitlin Keats, Playboy models Karissa and Kristina Shannon and Italian actresses/models Nino Frassica, Simona Ventura, Valeria Marini and Laura Chiatti. Phoenix front-man Thomas Mars, who is incidentally the father of Coppola's upcoming child, will be scoring.

New photos from the film's production shot by Coppola stable photographers Melodie McDaniel and Andrew Durham have also been dug up over at I Heart Sofia.

Big thanks to the anonymous Playlist reader for the tip.

Leonardo DiCaprio Interested In 'Prisoners,' Antoine Fuqua & Hugh Jackman Are The Film's Next Casualities

Leonardo DiCaprio is the latest name to be attached to Aaron Guzikowski's much buzzed-about script "The Prisoners" after the apparent, recent departure of Hugh Jackman.

The film first came together with the team of Bryan Singer, Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale before both actors moved on to David O. Russell's "The Fighter" and Singer bailed as well. Antoine Fuqua then came on board with Hugh Jackman linked for a January shoot, but production was then delayed until March with Jackman seemingly never officially signed (and Jackman has now filled his late winter shooting schedule with the comedy "Avon Man").

Now, Deadline reports that DiCaprio is interested in taking on the lead role, though his participation will be dependent on who signs to direct, as Fuqua has been confirmed as another casualty to the "Prisoners" production. However, if he does commit, DiCaprio is slated to shoot another film first, meaning photography on the project won't likely begin in March, or anytime soon.

"Prisoners" has been compared to such films as "Mystic River," "Taken," "Silence Of The Lambs" and "Seven" and centers on a Bible-reading, deer hunting survivalist who takes the law into his own hands after his 6-year-old daughter and her friend are kidnapped. It sounds very much like a gritty, no holds barred take on the in vogue every-man vigilante film and placed number 4 on 2009's Black List.

DiCaprio will lead Christopher Nolan's "Inception" this summer before a date with Mel Gibson later in the year for their Viking epic.

Will Arnett Reteams With Mitch Hurwitz For Fox Comedy Pilot, More Hurdles For 'Arrested Development' Movie

In what could be yet another blow to the prospects of an "Arrested Development" movie, Will Arnett, Mitch Hurwitz and Jim Vallely are set to unite for a comedy pilot at Fox.

The pilot was written by the trio and will see Arnett starring as a wealthy Beverly Hills man who winds up falling for a woman who can't stand his obnoxious ways.

If it receives a season pick up, the project will surely consume much of Hurwitz and Vallely's time as "Sit Down, Shut Up" did and may leave the "Arrested Development" film in a state of... well, arrested development.

The story does note however that the duo are still writing the "Arrested Development" film, so for now, it's status quo.

Lenny Abrahamson To Helm Jon Ronson & Peter Straughan's 'Frank'

Lenny Abrahamson is set to take the helm of "Frank," a story written by "The Men Who Stare At Goats" scribes Jon Ronson and Peter Straughan about a musical genius and his band in the 1980's.

The script landed on the 2009 Brit List and is inspired by Ronson's own musical experiences with Frank Sidebottom, the alter ego of Chris Sievey and famous for his oversized, cartoon, fiberglass head. Ronson had previously chronicled his time with Sidebottom in an article for British paper The Guardian, but promises to have "massively changed it" for the script.

“Without giving too much away," Ronson further explains to HeyUGuys. "I wrote that article in about two days, and it took about a year to write the film, so it’s a lot better, but there is a narrative structure, even in that article. You’ve got the fairy tale bit of getting up on stage and being invited to join the band, and then you’ve got the band collapsing because they try to become too mainstream, too professional.“

While we're not well-versed with Abrahamson's filmography, his 2004 pic "Adam & Paul" recently took equal top spot for the best Irish film of the last decade alongside Steve McQueen's excellent "Hunger," courtesy of the Dublin Film Critics Circle, which is certainly a huge compliment. Add to that the interesting character leading Ronson and Straughan's script and it's definitely an intriguing project developing.

"Frank" is being backed by Film4, who also are behind banner films such as Mark Romanek's "Never Let Me Go" and Kevin MacDonald's "Eagle Of The Ninth." Both of which are currently in post-production, and two of our highly anticipated releases for this year.

Eli Roth Chats Upcoming Projects Says 'Cotton' Is Close To Finding A Distributor, RZA Scripted 'Man With The Iron Fist' Hopefully Shoots In August

Eli Roth is currently enjoying the awards season run for "Inglorious Basterds" but he took a few moments to chat with IGN about a number of projects that he has on his slate, which, once the ceremonies and parties end on Sunday, March 7th, he'll get back to work on.

"The Last Exorcism" aka "Cotton" - Last fall, Roth said he hoped the Louisiana exorcism film, produced by him and directed by Daniel Stamm, would premiere at this year's Sundance. Though the film didn't end up screening at the festival, Roth says the film is "very close to closing a deal with a distributor." Hmm, so the Lionsgate deal announced last week isn't quite finished? But once all the names are signed on the dotted line we're guessing this will hit theaters this year.

"The Man With The Iron Fist" - Roth says he hopes to get his martial-arts film written by RZA (you can read his rambling description of the film here) in front cameras in August if they can work out the logistics. No word yet if he's directing or just producing this one (we're guessing the latter), but we'll have to wait and see.

"Endangered Species" - Though it seemed Roth was close to having the script finished on this sci-fi adventure last fall, it appears there's still a bit of work to do. He says, "I really just need to finish the script. But all this awards-season stuff has come up and I don't want to miss it. In a month, it'll be gone, and I don't know if I'll ever be involved in a project like this again. I don't want to look back and go, 'God, I shouldn't have been in such a rush.' I'm having a blast and enjoying myself. I want to see this one through and then I'll be able to focus on 'Endangered.'"

"Thanksgiving" - The spin-off from his "Grindhouse" short appears to be a long way off. He says, "I'd love to do it, but it's lower priority…I've been working on a script…We're outlining kills…" Doesn't sound too hopeful that it will get in front of cameras anytime soon, but you never know.

Though we're not exactly huge fans of Roth's past films, his expansion into martial arts and particularly sci-fi are intriguing and certainly parallel the interest in genre films like his buddy Quentin Tarantino. And certainly the prospect of a RZA scripted martial arts flick sounds pretty exciting. We're definitely curious to see where these projects go.

The Movie That Never Was: John Hughes Wrote A Screenplay Inspired By The Cure's "Lovecats"

As you've all probably heard by now there's a pretty massive article on the late John Hughes (director/writer of '80s classics like, "The Breakfast Club," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and many more) in the latest issue of Vanity Fair. We haven't read it yet, but it's by one of our favorite music/film writers David Kamp, so it's a must-read for us this weekend.

The piece talks about a lot of unfinished or unproduced screenplays Hughes either wrote or never finished and one caught our eye via Slicing Up Eyeballs that was based on The Cure song, "Lovecats" that was introduced to the director via Molly Ringwald. She recalls:

When "The Breakfast Club" ended, he started writing a script called Lovecats, because I played him that song by the Cure, “The Lovecats.” I was obsessed by the Cure—still am. I think Robert Smith is an underrated songwriter. Anyway, I played this song for John, and he started writing a script, and he gave me a mix tape of what the soundtrack was gonna be. Which was pretty much Dave Brubeck, with the last song by Bob Dylan.

We assume it would have had The Cure song as well? Or is that too obvious? Another film idea is described by Anthony Michael Hall.

John had an idea for a movie called The Last Good Year. It was something that he pitched to me as something he wanted to do with me, about the last good year being 1962, before the Beatles’ invasion. Maybe it was a sarcastic title. The idea was, I think, that the cultural shift was significant to him—the crossover in time from Pat Boone America to Beatles America. He didn’t have too many of the story elements worked out, but, man, did he have a mix tape put together.

God, another good film and soundtrack we'll never hear/see? A shame. We haven't had time to dig into these meaty articles, but we will this weekend. You should too. /Film points out another alleged unproduced film as well, but it is from someone in the comments section, so you never know the validity there. Oh and another must-read is the Roger Ebert profile in Esquire.

Broken Social Scene Film, Joe Strummer, Doors Documentaries & Spike Jonze's 'I'm Here' Short, Added To SXSW '10 Line-Up

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival has announced films for its event that runs March 12 – March 20, 2010. Chris Morris’ pitch-black satire "Four Lions" has been chosen as the closing night film, but honestly we haven't heard of that one. Of interest to us are as follows:

Elijah Drenner's "American Grindhouse" which is a documentary on American exploitation films (sure to have appearances by Quentin Tarantino and other likely suspects) and Ivan Engler and Ralf Etter sci-fi film, "Cargo" from Switzerland.

Also of interest are all the music related films. Guto Barra's "Beyond Ipanema" sounds like a fascinating take on Brazilian music, from Tropicália to Favela Funk, and hopefully including all the giants of Brazilian music over the years (coming to mind for us is admittedly a lot of the Tropicalia faves like Os Mutantes, Jorge Ben, Milton Nascimento, Tom Ze, Gil Costa, etc. etc.)

Music doc maestro Don Letts is back at it again. Having already directed such great music docs like, "The Making of All Mod Cons: The Jam," "Brother From Another Planet: Sun Ra," "The Clash: Westway to the World" and the Jamaican-set drama, "Dancehall Queen," he's now tackling another old friend and subject in Joe Strummer from the Clash. Called, "Strummerville," the Grammy winner's latest shows how Strummer's spirit lives on through a charity set up in his memory.

Recently discussed with an April release date date, Tom DiCillo's Doors doc, "When You're Strange" narrated by Johnny Depp will also show at the festival, as will Spike Jonze's short film, "I'm Here."

Perhaps our most anticipated, or one that we're incredibly curious to see how it turned out is Bruce McDonald's Broken Social Scene-centered drama written by Don McKellar ("Last Night") called, "This Movie Is Broken." It sounds like an interesting concept as there's a drama or love story set around a hot summer’s night in Toronto, during a Broken Social Scene show. Evidently a lot of the concert footage was crowdsourced by fans too. It will be interesting to see if this one succeeds or not, but it definitely sounds like a worthwhile experiment and obviously all the talent involved is top notch. SXSW will be the film's world premiere.

Another related music film is the picture, "Suck" which features lots of musicians and a cast that includes Rob Stefaniuk, Jessica Pare, Dave Foley, Moby, Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins, Dimitri Coats, Alex Lifeson (of Rush) with Alice Cooper and Malcolm McDowell. But it's called a "rock and roll vampire movie" and honestly? Kinda sounds dreadful from all we've read of it.

'Scream 4' Starts Filming In May, Wes Craven Directing

The sequel that no one asked for is returning. "Scream 4" is set to go in front of cameras in May with Wes Craven directing. Screenwriter Kevin Williamson, who twittered last year that he was trying to figure out how to make a Sid-less sequel with Neve Campbell saying she won't return to the series, didn't have to clear that hurdle after the actress relented and signed on along with Courteney Cox and David Arquette.

We're not sure we really need another winking horror-movie-that-is-actually-a-parody-that-is-really-a-horror-movie and does the audience who saw "Scream 3" ten years ago even care anymore?

Williamson has gone on record saying that he doesn't want the film be in 3D, but he probably doesn't have final say in the matter, and given that even the lamest and most depleted horror franchises ("Saw," "Final Destination") have gone that route we're pretty sure this film will go in that direction too.

We would be surprised if this enters the already crowded Halloween fray this year, but we could easily see this being slotted into the usually terrible January/February slots of 2011.

Cannes 2010 Predictions: Could 'The Fighter,' Black Swan' & 'Somewhere' Premiere In France?

It's not even March, but some sites are already dropping their Cannes 2010 predictions/educated guesses.

ScreenDaily has been the first to drop theirs which means the trades should be behind shortly. Last year when Screen Daily dropped their Cannes 2009 predictions they went about 12 for 19 making their guess work about 63% correct. When the Hollywood Reporter dropped their Cannes predix last year they went about 13 out of 21 which is about 62% accurate.

We're not going to post all their picks, just our highlights, but they note, all these films are in post-production and should be completed by Cannes. Of course not all of them will be done in time or necessarily accepted.

We're not buying all of them and the ones in bold we doubt will be there, the ones in red, we're pretty sure will be be officially chosen, and our picks in green are ones that might be at Cannes, but not in official competition (and that's if they're there at all). Picks in purple, we guess are a maybe possibilities . Again, it's our own guesses on top of the guesses. Cannes tends to take way less American films than people usually guess. We doubt Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" would be there and think David O Russell's "The Fighter" might be questionable too. Two years ago, there were only two American films in competition, Kaufman's "Synecdoche, New York" and Soderbergh's "Che." In 2009, again there were only two American films in competition, "Taking Woodstock" and "Inglourious Basterds," so we wouldn't get those hopes up just yet.

Also Screen Daily doesn't note Doug Liman's "Fair Game" with Sean Penn and Naomi Watts which the L.A. Times just suggested could premiere there. It's a more serious film, with a political angle that we could see the French choosing over some of these other picks ("Up" and "Drag Me To Hell" played Out of Competition, the fluff section essentially and "Precious" played in the Un Certain Regard field).

Tim Burton is obviously the jury head this year. What an odd choice.

Woody Allen - "You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger"
Darren Aronofsky - "Black Swan"
Gela Babluani - "13"
John Cameron Mitchell - "Rabbit Hole"
Sofia Coppola - "Somewhere"
Jodie Foster - "The Beaver"
Terrence Malick - "The Tree Of Life"
Oren Peli - "Area 51"
Bruce Robinson "The Rum Diary"
Robert Rodriguez - "Machete"
David O Russell - "The Fighter"
Sylvester Stallone - "The Expendables" (or not at all)
Julie Taymor "The Tempest"
Peter Weir - "The Way Back"
Stephen Frears - "Tamara Drewe"
Mike Leigh - "Another Year" (not untitled anymore)
Kevin Macdonald - "Eagle Of The Ninth"
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - "Biutiful"
Johnnie To - "Death Of A Hostage" (Hong Kong)
Xavier Dolan - "Love, Imagined" (Canada)
Jean-Luc Godard - "Film Socialism" (France)
Abbas Kiarostami - "Certified Copy" (France)
Julian Schnabel - "Miral" (France)
Bertrand Tavernier - "The Princess Of Montpensier" (France)
Tom Tykwer - "Three" (Germany)
Patricio Guzman - "Nostalgia De La Luz" (Chile)
Pablo Larrain - "Post Mortem" (Chile)
Cristi Puiu - "Aurora" (Romania)
Bela Tarr - "The Turin Horse" (Hungary)
Susanne Bier - "The Revenge" (Denmark)

Jeffrey Wells was asking about David O. Russell's "Nailed" at Cannes, and their is a rumor going round it might play the Cannes Marketplace (not the actual Cannes Film Festival) for prospective buyers, which we suppose we'd buy, but we'd put money down that it won't appear at Cannes proper, let alone coming out ever.

Ray Liotta, Rory Culkin & Dakota Johnson Join Larry Clark's 'Savage Innocent'

"Savage Innocent" (originally announced as "Wild Child"), was announced last year and supposed to shoot last fall, but when we didn't hear anything further we pretty much assumed the project was dead.

Well color us surprised when Production Weekly twittered that the film is not only happening, it starts shooting next month. Ray Liotta, Rory Culkin and Dakota Johnson have joined the micro-budgeted $3.5 million indie that is about - wait for it — "troubled youth." Based on a script be newcomer Clark and Evan Weiner this certainly isn't new territory for Clark, but we hope he keeps his skeezier, seamier instincts at bay this time around.

Last year, Clark was also attached to a remake of Neil Jordan's "Mona Lisa" that was supposed to star Mickey Rourke, Eva Green and potentially Mick Jagger. We imagine that project — at least with those names — is now dead (or at least delayed for now). No word on distribution or release dates for this one.

Paul Giamatti & Amy Ryan Confirmed For Tom McCarthy's High School Wrestling Pic 'Win Win', Fox Searchlight Will Distribute

Now we know why Paul Giamatti was hanging out with Tom McCarthy last month as the writer/director traveled to New Jersey looking to cast one of the lead roles in his upcoming high school wrestling film, "Win Win."

As we guessed, Paul Giamatti has been confirmed along with Amy Ryan for Tom McCarthy's film which will now be handled by Fox Searchlight. As we previously reported, the film is about "how a rough-and-tumble runaway changes the lives of a suburban New Jersey family and turns around the luck of a high school wrestling team." McCarthy's script was inspired by some of his own experiences and he's seeking an unknown to play the kid. He's taken a shine lately to casting unknowns after a positive experience when directing the pilot of HBO's "A Game Of Thrones" last fall.

Shooting on the film will start in April and we wouldn't be surprised if Fox Searchlight is aiming for a Oscar season release. As for McCarthy he will be at this year's ceremony hoping that "Up," which he helped write, brings home a statue.

In Theaters: 'Shutter Island,' 'The Ghost Writer,' 'The Good Guy'

It has been a hairy start to the new year with such masterworks as "Valentine's Day," "Legion," and "Dear John" not even among the worst offenders. Of course everything has paled next to "Avatar" in the money-making department, most of the film-going public preferring to visit Pandora multiple times instead of sitting through "From Paris With Love," "The Wolfman" or "When In Rome." Things are finally starting to change though, as this week sees the release of Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island." Instead of several terrible films being dumped on screens nationwide today, the much anticipated Leo DiCaprio starrer is the only film opening wide and should dominate the box office this weekend. We would say that though this validates the public's appetite for meatier fare, it probably won't open as big as last weekend's "Valentine's Day."

In Wide Release: Not since "Cape Fear" has Martin Scorsese had the chance to flex his genre muscles so strongly than with this week's "Shutter Island." Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a U.S. Marshall investigating the disappearance of a patient from a fortress-like hospital for the criminally insane off the coast of Massachusetts. We reviewed the movie this week, and with a cast that also includes Mark Ruffalo, Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley, Max Von Sydow, and Michelle Williams it ostensibly shouldn't disappoint, but we ran two reviews on both sides of the fence — one a pretty big rave and one with a much colder take. You'll have to decide for yourself.

With an increasingly full schedule of non-Leo projects, this may be the Scorsese's last collaboration with the star for a while, which after 'Island' and "The Departed" will be going out on a very high note indeed. But critics are split and the film doesn't have high marks overall. Rotten Tomatoes tracks the film with a rating of 65%, while Metacritic gives it a score of 63.

In Limited Release: Nothing beats a little free publicity. While Roman Polanski's name has been high in the headlines these pasts few months or so, the man himself has been busy completing his latest film "The Ghost Writer." Summit Entertainment is taking full advantage of the opportunity to get the flick in theaters while it's director is still in the news, debuting it in NY and LA this week. Ewan Macgregor stars as a hack ghostwriter chosen to write the autobiography of a shady former British PM played by Pierce Brosnan. We checked the movie out earlier this week and found it to be deeply flawed, full of questionable performances and brought under by a tepid script. The film showed us one other thing we never thought we'd see in a Polanksi flick: Jim Belushi. Critics at-large are certainly more impressed than we were, as it has a rating of 82% from RT, with a 79 score from Metacritic.

Writer-director Julio DiPietro makes his debut this week with "The Good Guy." Alexis Bledel plays an ambitious young Manhattanite looking for love in the generic-looking Wall Street-set romantic comedy. If you're looking for something light and romance-themed, this is probably a better bet than "Valentine's Day," at least we think. Scott Porter, Bryan Greenberg, and Anna Chumsky co-star. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 30%, with a Metacritic score of 51.

Also released on a few screens today, an adaptation of the excellent book by Timothy Tyson, "Blood Done Sign My Name." The film explores the racial outcry and subsequent call for social justice in Oxford, NC after a white man and his son are acquitted of a murder of a black man committed in full public view. The buzz isn't too strong on this one unfortunately, as it looks more like a TV movie than an art-house classic. Nate Parker, Rick Schroder, Afemo Omilami, and Lela Rochon star in the Jeb Stuart directed film. RT is at 50%, while Metacritic gives it a score of 52. [header image by of M. Morrison]

Hugh Jackman Sings In Chinese In Wayne Wang's Updated 'Snow Flower And The Secret Fan'

Hugh Jackman loves to sing and dance but we never figured we would see him do it in Chinese. But the actor, who is currently in Shanghai filming Wayne Wang's "Snow Flower And The Secret Fan" apparently gets a number in the film.

Wang seems to be taking some the film, which is based on Lisa See's book about a "laotong" relationship (one "made by choice for the purpose of emotional companionship and eternal fidelity" as described in the book) between two women in 19th century rural China in some interesting directions. Clearly, the story has been updated, as Jackman plays a nightclub owner who has a scene where he breaks into song. Naturally, he had some trouble getting around the language saying, "I sang it and the very first couple of syllables she was like, 'great,' and then gradually she said like, 'what?'" but eventually got a take in the can.

So is this a full blown musical or just a one off scene? We guess we'll have to wait and see. Once his work on Wang's film is done, Jackman will be filming the gender-panic comedy "Avon Man" in April and then "Real Steel" this summer.

Update: New Vampire Weekend Video With Jake Gyllenhaal, RZA, Joe Jonas & Lil' Jon Now Online

Update: The wacky new Vampire Weekend video has premiered today on Spinner and the novelty of the eclectic guest stars wears off pretty fast. The video is essentially a tennis match that slowly turns into something you might see in "Mario Tennis." And then Lil' Jon shows up and says things are subtitled in French. Meh. Video is below.

WTF. Upper West Side Soweto perfectionists Vampire Weekend have lined up a pretty insanely eclectic group of people for their forthcoming video.

In the video for "Giving Up The Gun," off Vampire Weekend's chart-topping sophomore effort "Contra," Jake Gyllenhaal, RZA, Joe Jonas & Lil' Jon will all feature in what's being described as a "bizarre-o tennis match." The group was also hoping to snag Kevin Jonas but he "wasn't available." Director Emmett Malloy (who filmed the White Stripes doc "Under The Great White Northern Lights") describes the shoot: "We lit shit on fire. We had RZA presiding over the tennis match. Lil Jon came down to give some tennis tips. Jake Gyllenhaal drank himself out of the competition; Joe Jonas tried, but did not succeed. There was a lot of rigorous competition, pyrotechnics, and a little bit of milk to cap it all off." We're speechless.

This is the second video off the album, and it will hit the web in the next few weeks. The first video, "Cousins" was directed under Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith's imprint Hammer & Tongs. You can watch it here.

Red-Band 'Middle Men' Trailer Lands

Paramount has acquired the rights to "Middle Men," a film we're no longer cautiously anticipating, starring Luke Wilson, James Caan and Giovanni Ribisi. The film is based on the true story "of Jack Harris (Wilson), who helps two troubled but brilliant men build the first online billing company dealing exclusively with adult entertainment. He's soon caught between the Russian mob, a porn star, the FBI and his family, all while becoming very rich." Directed by George Gallo, filming on this wrapped a year ago and buzz has been pretty much non-existent which led us to believe it might've been headed straight-to-DVD, but Paramount apparently sees something in this we don't.

A length red-band trailer/promo reel has landed and frankly, the movie plays out like a low-rent version of "Boogie Nights" just fast-forwarded to the '90s. Wilson uses his cell phone plan hustling voice to narrate while Ribisi overacts all the place as things spiral out of control. Even though it's supposedly "true" the story gets pretty preposterous as it goes along and the "family man turns to porn for money" logline is already pretty played out. We'll stick with HBO's excellent "Hung" for now.

Watch for yourself below. Fast forward to the 45:35 mark.

'Shutter Island': Another Take

Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island" is proving to be a polarizing work.

While most critics agree it's a minor work from the auteur, some do unabashedly love the genre tropes, the deliberate artifice, while others are finding it predictable and a long, uneven slog. Even the the top critics on RT who generally warm to Scorsese's work (or sometimes give him a pass) are only settling on a 65% rating. So reviewers are mixed and it's apparent here on The Playlist too as Drew Taylor gave the film a very positive review calling it a "more artful, cerebral, and emotionally captivating movie" than "The Departed."

To each his own, but this writer respectfully disagrees, though we'll try and keep it brief.

We suppose Scorsese found himself in the position— as he's already suggested in the New York Times — that if he tried to shorten his overly long (by about an hour) "Shutter Island," the film, like a jenga puzzle, would instantly fall apart because there seems to be no other logical reason why the picture is so laboriously long, and therefore robbing itself of the beating pulse that's supposed to drive this type of thriller.

Overwrought and dripping wet in film noir tropes and Hitchcock-ian paranoia, "Shutter Island" is unusually slow and saps the viewer of whatever enthusiasm they may have for its visual and technical mastery. While much is to be admired, subtlety is not one of the films strengths, which in the end has never been Scorsese's hallmark anyway, but the tortoise-like pace of the film ultimately undoes it rather rapidly. The elephant-like delivery of foreshadowing doom and dread is also just too over-the-top. And emotionally, there's not much to cling to either. It's an unapologetic B-movie, but even Scorsese's unblushing noir exercise with "Cape Fear" was much more engaging, not to mention compelling. It's blatant movieness is what will keep some people (like this writer) mostly emotionally removed from what transpires.

It's as if the director is so in love with each frame he cannot cut slice even a furtive glance, let along superfluous dream sequences that ultimately do little in favor of the narrative or expository scenes that could use a serious trim. While these dream sequences are fine on their own and not as embarrassing as one worried about, 2 and half hours later you wish there were maybe two of them instead of five.

Laeta Kalogridis' original script moved like a shark and conversely, Scorsese's adaptation moves like a frog taking a leisurely swim in a pond. "Shutter Island" is not inert or terrible, there's exemplary use of music, some strong performances (generally the tender-hearted and empathetic Ben Kingsley who completely subverts the character on the page), and some visual flair that has to be admired, but as a thriller or a drama. Well, its not that dramatic or thrilling. [C]

Review: "Higglety Pigglety Pop!" Is An Unrelentingly Nightmarish Journey Into Madness… For Kids

There's a lot of weird shit on the "Where the Wild Things Are" Blu-ray, like a short scene where Spike Jonze is dressed up like a vampire and attacks Max Records (don't ask), but the weirdest and most intriguing thing has got to be "Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or There Must Be More to Life." This short film, produced by Spike Jonze and executive produced by Maurice Sendak himself, is based on another Sendak book and features the voice talent of Meryl Streep, Jonze, and Forest Whitaker. Oh, and it's even more bizarre and nightmarish than the "Wild Things" movie.

Streep plays a small white dog that wants to get out and see the world. Walking through a small village she sees a sign for a theater company but the pig that works at the theater company tells the dog that she needs experience before she can be an actor. Experience, eh? The dog soon meets a cat deliveryman who tells her that if the cat can feed a particularly troublesome baby then that would be experience. And, the cat adds, even if she can't get the baby to eat, she'll be fed to the house's lion, which is also an experience. The dog agrees and is whisked away to the house where a French maid warns the dog (again) of the baby's surly disposition and what will happen to the dog if it fails at its job.

Well, of course the dog fails to get the baby to eat and comes face to face with the lion (voiced by Whitaker). That's all we'll tell you about the plot, because in the last few minutes this short (which clocks in at around 25 minutes) takes some delightful turns.

The first thing you'll notice about this production, a joint venture between the National Film Board of Canada and Warner Home Video, is its brash aesthetic design. This thing looks bleak. It's quite clear that its visuals are more inspired by Jan Švankmajer and the Quay Brothers than anything else. Although most of the characters are puppets, either straight-up hand puppets or performers in puppet suits (as is the case with the cat deliveryman), they lack the humor, warmth, and sophistication of Muppets or even the Henson-designed suits that appeared in "Where the Wild Things Are." Just compare the mangy lion here to the one that appeared on "The Jim Henson Hour" (and that was twenty fucking years ago, side note: god we're old).

Despite Meryl's serene, beautiful line reading, every bit as good as anything in "Fantastic Mr. Fox," the lead puppy has a herky-jerky style of movement that is inorganic and sometimes not completely convincing. Similarly, some of the digital backgrounds that are meant to look like the painted backdrops they used in old Hammer movies, are distracting and crude. Perhaps that looks pursued on purpose, but we're not sure it entirely works. Unlike the kind of gentle surrealism that is present in "Where the Wild Things Are," "Higglety Pigglety" is out-and-out nightmarish. And while some of it is certainly striking (like the nice cobblestone village the dog first stops in), other elements, like the adult human head on a baby puppet's body, simply fail on most levels. It's unclear whether the movie is trying to be funny, fable-like, or exist in a kind of dreamlike realm. It's definitely a different tone from what we were expecting.

However, all in all, you'll probably be more than happy to watch this short when the "Wild Things" Blu-ray hits stores on March 9th (the gorgeousness of its high definition transfer is enough to merit a "must own" recommendation), but we're not sure how many times you'll want to revisit this grimy, fantastical land though it is indeed a unique look. Emotionally, you may not be as invested as, "Wild Things" where we feel so intensely for Max, but it is a short, and a curiosity that stands out because of the visual richness of its oddness. [B]

Here's a preview clip below.

'Twilight: Eclipse' Trailer To Debut In Front Of 'Remember Me' & New 'Kick-Ass' Red Band Trailer

March is going to be a big month for tween girls with Robert Pattinson posters on their wall. As we previously reported, WalMart will have the exclusive "fan-edition" DVD and BluRay of "Twilight: New Moon" with a seven minute preview of "Twlight: Eclipse." However, the wait for fans has is now shorter as Summit has tweeted the trailer will go online the week of March 7th, and hit the big screen in front of Pattinson's earnest drama, "Remember Me" on March 12th. OMG.

Ethan Hawke and Kristin Scott Thomas are set to star in the awkwardly titled "The Woman In The Fifth" (the marketing department would be wise to change that). The thriller directed by Pawel Pawlikowski is based on the book by Douglas Kennedy about "an American who has fled to Paris in the wake of a scandal that cost him his job as a film lecturer at a small university. He takes up with a widow who might be involved in a series of murders." Filming begins in March in Paris.

Robert Downey Jr. and his wife, Susan Downey, are in talks with Warner Brothers to sign a first-look production deal. Downey Jr. has been making WB execs very happy of late, starring in the successful "Sherlock Holmes" and has the upcoming sequel and the Todd Philips helmed comedy "Due Date" on the horizon with the studio. Susan Downey is already an accomplished producer in her own right, with films such as "The Book Of Eli," "Orphan" and "RockNRolla."

Here's the new "Kick-Ass" red-band trailer that has little kids using swears and totally like killing guys blah blah blah *snooze.*

Ben Affleck & Matt Damon Eye Yankees Wife Swapping Pic 'The Trade'

Ben Affleck is now attached write, direct and possibly star in "The Trade," the true story about two "New York Yankees pitchers who caused a national scandal by swapping wives in the sexually-free 1970s." The story is based on real life players Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich who in 1973 revealed that they had been swapping wives, and fell for each other's partners. Peterson and Kekich's ex-wife are still together today, while the other couple has since split up. Affleck is eyeing the role of Peterson with Matt Damon playing Kekich.

The project has apparently been kicking around for awhile, but been stalled for various reasons. However, the script by Dave Mandel ("Seinfeld," "Curb Your Enthusiasm") is apparently quite good, landed on last year's Black List and is said to have a Hal Ashby sort of vibe.

Though Affleck was originally attached just to star, with Richard Linklater expressing interest in directing, the actor now wants to work with Mandel on a rewrite with an eye at directing the film himself. And though Warner Brothers have yet to assign producers on the project, we wouldn't be surprised if it's the first film that goes ahead under Damon and Affleck's new production banner at the studio.

So when could this shoot? We could see it being fast-tracked for this summer as both actors will be available before Damon begins work on Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion" and Affleck begins promo for "The Town" which hits theaters on September 10th. Otherwise, we don't see it going in front of cameras until spring 2011 at the earliest.

Owen Wilson To Join Woody Allen's Untitled Paris Film With Carla Bruni? 'You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger' Opens This September

In the second half of Woody Allen's career, he's chosen largely to say behind the camera (he last appeared on screen in 2006's "Scoop") and he's turned to a variety of leading men as his ostensible stand in with varying degrees of success. Jason Biggs (no), Kenneth Branagh (passable) and Will Ferrell (surprisingly good) have all handled the neurotic centerpiece role at various times, but is Owen Wilson the latest to get the gig?

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that the actor has been attached to Allen's untitled Paris film, which will shoot this summer. As per usual, there are no details on the film at his time, except that former model, singer, songwriter and current hottest first lady of France Carla Bruni-Sarkozy will also have a role.

It will be very interesting to see how Wilson, who's career has largely been made playing roles that are riffs on his persona, will adapt to Allen's script. If the film is a departure from Allen's usually very identifiable brand of humor and is something more continental in flavor (like "Vicky Cristina Barcelona") we could actually see it working quite well. And with the film shooting in Paris, there is no doubt that Wilson's good friend Wes Anderson, who lives in the city, will be dropping by to give Woody a visit.

The prolific and fast-working Allen already has a film in the can. The aggressively titled London based romance, "You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger," with its phenomenal ensemble cast including Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts, Gemma Jones, Freida Pinto, Anna Friel, Ewen Bremner and Lucy Punch will open in September, but will most likely premiere out-of-competition at Cannes (his films are never screened in competition by choice). Meanwhile Wilson will back on screens this year in "Little Fockers" and in the long completed, still untitled James L. Brooks dramedy opening this Christmas.