Cuba Gooding Jr. Stars In New Worst Movie of All Time

Move over "88 Minutes", you just might not be the worst movie to star an Oscar winner. The new teenage angst based comedy, "Harold" is set for a July 11th release date, and it stars none other than the former Oscar Winner Cuba Gooding Jr. It was hard enough to watch this former up and comer blow a blooming career on shameless paychecks such as "Snow Dog" and "Shadowboxer" (seriously dude, putting in a pool? Paying off gambling debts?)

The comedy surrounds a 14-year old high school student, played by the rounded Spencer Breslin, who happens to sport a Larry David-esque Cul-de-Sac who befriends his schools Janitor (Gooding Jr.) To be honest, the situation alone sounds fairly amusing, but does an early bout of male pattern baldness really merit a feature length film (the two minute preview seems to stretch the material beyond the limits of all natural logic).

The project comes from first time writer/director T. Sean Shannon, who previously wrote for Saturday Night live and The Colin Quinn show (that is reason enough to avoid this thing) and the cast has some surprising C-list names like Ally Sheedy, Nikki Blonski, SNL'er Rachel Dratch and Fred Willard. This thing has straight-to-DVD written all over it. Sorry Cuba, we thought "American Gangster" signaled a comeback for you, but less than a year later you are back on the shithorse train to nowhere. We'd say we were disappointed, but we're not at all surprised.

Is Chris Nolan Not Coming Back For Batman 3? And Is The Riddler The New Villain If It Does Happen?

With the breathless "Dark Knight" hype reaching a near hysterical pitch, it's unsurprising that chatter about a third Batman installment has already commenced - especially for those that have seen the film and have already moved on.

The actors of the "Dark Knight" have already started the junket rounds and some of them are talking, and seemingly, speaking out of turn.

At least in the case of Gary Oldman (who plays Commissioner Gordon) who has either spoiled a teasing elements of this new Batman film or inadvertently revealed who the next villain could be for the third film - if it happens.

"Maybe we don't need the Joker. Because we'll have The Riddler," Oldman said. The actor, who apparently tried to get out of his "Dark Knight" contract, but wasn't allowed, spoke about the potential third film and said he was unsure if the director was onboard. "We don't really know if [Christopher] Nolan is coming back. I guess I have to come back." He then put his hand to the side of his mouth as if to hide the next line from everybody, "Nolan will come back for a third one. I think we all have to."

Less convincing is Oldman's assertion that the Joker could come back as played by another actor in place of the deceased Heath Ledger. You know the filmmaker and producers would never do that, but Oldman still posits that it could be possible, "I don't see why not. I mean, they did it with Katie Holmes' character. I understand that this is a different circumstance, but I think another actor could do the job. I think Heath would want another actor to do the job."

This seems rather dubious. Asked if Nolan would come back for a third Batman film, Nolan sounded as undecided as he did when asked if he would follow-up "Batman Begins."

"I don't know. I take my projects one at a time, and I am not thinking about that right now. I don't know if I want to come back." When asked about possibly recasting the Joker, Nolan replied with the same ambiguous answer. "I don't know. I honestly have not taken a moment away from what is going on with the film now to even think about that. I don't know. I simply don't know."

Don't get too distraught, as noted, Nolan was very on the fence about returning to this new Batman franchise after the first one wrapped - and indeed he went on to shoot "The Prestige" in the interim - but he did eventually return. It's interesting to note that he's not locked into a contract like many actors are in franchises, but then again, to studios, the man behind the camera is sometimes disposable. [MovieWeb]

Promotion For Eddie Murphy's 'Meet Dave' Continues To Be Utterly Terrifying

Apparently this is part of Eddie Murphy's whole, "Aww, fuck it," phase of his career. We're not sure exactly what this is all about, but it's literally as stop-in-your-tracks terrifying as "The Shining."

Stuck with the prospect of having a "Bowfinger"-like star too crazy to do any promotion for the film, the studio evidently thought the idea of a freakishly large Eddie head touring around the greater United States would be a logical solution. A whole new generation of kids is going to feel the same way about Murphy as many of us do about clowns, mark our words. [via AVClub]

Jason Batemen Says 'Arrested Development' Movie Announcement Might Be A Month Away (Or 4-6 Weeks Of More BS, Depending...)

Another day, another Jason Bateman interview where the actor takes a moment out of promoting his current gig, "Hancock," to promote an old / new gig: "Arrested Development" the movie.

"Hancock," despite the mediocre reviews, doesn't need the help, right? Apparently Will Smith being as teflon proof as R. Kelly when it comes to any critical daggers that have been thrown his way.

While Bateman couldn't really update the status of the film and certainly made no mention of shooting in front of the cameras next year (like the London Times reported - don't believe everything you're told by a huckster, mates), he did provide some details to MTV that didn't sound totally unreasonable and implausible given his nature.

The big delay as you might expect for a show that was cult-adored, but ignored by the masses, is money.

"We all want to do it. All the actors want to do it, the writers want to do it, and the boss wants to do it. And they are working on making a deal, probably as we speak. But it's a long, sort of drawn-out, complicated business process. 'Arrested Development' is such a specific tone, it doesn't lend itself to mass appeal, as played out by the fact that it's canceled. So it has to be done for a price. They can't spend the money they spent on 'Hancock.' "

An announcement on the film's progress could be made within a month (knowing Batemen, factor in another 12-14 weeks).

"So they have to shoot it for a small price, and we have to figure out if we can do it for that price. They're working it out, and hopefully we'll be able to know something in the next month."

Do they need to start a friggin' Paypal account? Christ.

What's it about? He's not saying, but did say the series creator Mitchell Hurwitz does have a typically fucked-up idea. "It's typically bent and twisted. He's got a really, really good idea for the movie version that would not be just simply the equivalent of four episodes back to back to back. It's actually something that would be specific to the medium of film."

We'll give Bateman the benefit of the doubt...for now. But if we don't hear anything in four weeks we won't exactly be shocked.

Val Kilmer To 50 Cent: "You Are The Wind Beneath My Wings"

So Val Kilmer and 50 Cent are working together on the 2009 film, "Streets of Blood," and evidently the duo have become thicker than thieves.

The synopsis via IMDB for those that actually care: A police officer's partner has died during Hurricane Katrina, but he later discovers that his partner may have been murdered. An investigation follows, taking the officer and his new partner into the depths of the criminal underworld.

Kilmer, who has a budding music career, has taken to his myspace music page and posted images of him and Fiddy hanging out with some rather unintentionally funny captions. Apparently the two are like bff now, cause Kilmer calls him, "my friend for life" and get this, "an American hero." Mmmkay...

Do we smell a collaboration in the works? ("This is 50 cent dot com!") Kilmer may not have been shot nine times, but he did have to suffer through working with Oliver Stone and late-era bat shit crazy Marlon Brando, and, well... himself - did you see, "Wonderland"??? [via ONTD]

Guillermo Del Toro Not Beholden To 'Hobbit' Sequel?

Guillermo Del Toro's all about "The Hobbit" and that nebulous sequel - the taint between the 'Hobbit' and the 'LOTR' - right?

Not so fast, del Toro's seemingly burning-bright enthusiasm for the second-half seemed to cool Thursday night during a Q&A for "Hellboy II" at the Los Angeles Film Festival according to Defamer.

"We believe there is a second movie," del Toro said during a discussion at the Majestic Crest. "If there isn't, there will not be. If we find it, we will shoot it, but by God, if we do not find it, we will not shoot it. I am anxious to shoot the book, and I'm willing and able to dedicate myself to shooting the [second film]."

What's the deal, just use "The Silmarillion," and whatever other Tolkien books there are, yeah? Evidently, it's not so easy. They can only use the books Peter Jackson has the rights to - "The Hobbit" and "Lord Of The Rings." "The rest of the background or ancillary literature (and there's a lot) is off-limits," the L.A. gossip blog writes.

"In the four books that are in the domain of the copyright, there are appendices and ideas and things that can be traced without risk," del Toro said. "But I have to be careful not to overstep. We believe there is a way to create this film and make it interesting, but it's too early."

So does this mean del Toro hasn't fully signed on or committed to a second 'Hobbit' movie? Sure sounds that way, no?

Wim Wenders Will Bring His Amazing Hair To Venice '08

The 65th annual Venice Film Festival is set to run August 27 through September 6 and wonderfully droll and pretentious German director Wim Wenders will preside over the jury.

Apparently, rumors had it that Meryl Streep was being tapped to head up the jury panel, but Wenders 35-year relationship with the Lido - as it's known - was evidently too strong (his "The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty Kick" appeared at Venice in 1972 and he won the Golden Lion top prize 10 years later for "The State of Things").

Now, we love Wenders hair and could pretty much listen to him talk for hours, but when was the last time he made a good film ("Buena Vista Club" not withstanding)? Huh? We digress.

Wenders will chair a jury that will vote from a 22-film competition lineup that hasn't been announced yet. The Hollywood Reporter notes that for the past two years Venice's line-up was comprised entirely of world premieres. We would say that would steal some thunder from TIFF '08, but clearly they're OK with recycling films from other festivals (at least, so far).

The Venice Film Festival is notable in recent years for 3 things. 1) Having the insane audacity to give Brian DePalma the Best Director Award for last year's piece-of-shit laugh-fest that was "Redacted" 2) Awarding the sleep-inducing "Lust Caution" the top prize, zzzzz.... and 3) Being one of the few film festivals of 2008 to recognize Brad Pitt and the excellence that was "The Assasination of Jesse James." As you were.

Update: Variety says the Coen brothers' "Burn After Reading" will open Venice.

Breaking News!: Frank Miller Will Draw Something Homoerotic

"There you have it! He’s going to draw something." - Frank Miller is going to put a pencil to drawing paper which may or may not turn into another homoerotic "300" sequel years from now. Sorry, what we can we say, the internet amuses us. [/Film]

“If it can be better than the first, then great. I’ll be all for it. [But] I’m not interested in going for the paycheck. I love ‘Godfather 2’ but, then again, I don’t like ‘Godfather 3.’” - Marky Mark Wahlberg says the sequel and or prequel to Marty Scorsese's "The Departed" is still being developed and he says he'll be a part of it... if it's good. [MTV]

“I never think about the audience. If someone gives me a marketing report, I throw it away.” - "Wall-E" director Andrew Stanton said to the NYTimes. Nikki Finke this "arrogant" remark is what could stand in the way between an Oscar and the apparently universally beloved Pixar film. Honey, it's June. [DeadlineHollywood]

"I was surprised when Rose brought me a script of Red Sonja that she liked." - The couple that plays together, stays together. Robert Rodriguez and girlfriend Rose McGowan will do a remake of "Red Sonja" together. [USA Today]

"I got a bit exasperated with Herzog," and said, “Why don’t you just shoot the ship going up the hill and then turn the damn thing around and just bring it back down and no one will ever know you didn’t go across the top?” He was furious. I knew I’d gone too far. - Cinematographer/director Les Blank recalls working with madman Werner Herzog on "Fitzcarraldo" shot in the Amazon, an insane adventure, Blank illustrated in the amazing, must-see (own) documentary, "Burden Of Dreams." Blank is now working on "All in This Tea," which is nice cause 'Dreams' while incredible and all, was more than 25 years ago. [Vulture]

Is 'Dark Knight' This Year's 'Jerry Maguire'? - The Joker To Batman: "You Complete Me"

When at all possible, we're obviously all for calm, cool and collected assessment on films (or otherwise), after all, adults involved in a tripping over themselves stampede is rather painful to watch, no?

We watched closely as Jeffrey Wells - another relatively strong proponent of sang-froid - give a bit of a wrist slap to Rolling Stone's Peter Travers for his seemingly overheated review of Christoper Nolan's "Dark Knight," but the collective buzz is growing so hysterical, it's hard to keep one's composure.

Wells gives another light smackdown to KTLA's morning news hack Sam Rubin who sounds like random IMDB message board geeks in claiming Ledger has a lock on the Oscar (scan those boards, those retards have been claiming that since the first image showed up online!). "Heath Ledger's Joker is a blockbuster performance, and he will absolutely be nominated for an Oscar. And at this point in the year, Ledger is also a hands-down favorite to win it posthumously."
At this point in the year? Well, yeah, at this point in the year "Wall-E" would win if the Oscars are tomorrow, but they're not. And it will be forgotten come Oscar time, calm down (though it's amusing to note, Wells seems like he's been barred from 'Dark Knight' screenings from some former past blog transgression).

One extremely positive review that's hard to dismiss and hard to not be excited by is the AP's take by David Germain. His grown-up review (no AICN EXCLAMATIONS!!), says the buzz has been justified and Ledger's performance is "brilliant."

"Ledger's Joker is an all-out terror, definitely funny but with a lunatic moral mission to drag all of Gotham, the city Batman thanklessly protects, down to his own dim assessment of humanity."

Germain notes that "Dark Knight' even riffs off the sappy, romantic line from "Jerry Macguire" - "you complete me."

This echoes something Ledger himself told FHM in a 2007 interview that just ran this week.

"They can’t really live without each other. It’s that kind of relationship. You know? Like they have no real purpose in life without each other. So they don’t really want each other dead," Ledger told the lad mag.

Sounds like a twisted and fucked up love story. According to the AP the film apparently runs just over 2 1/2 hours and they're calling it a "true crime epic." And evidently it's darkly comical too. "Thursday night had the audience cackling along with Ledger's Joker, a depraved creature utterly without conscience whom the late actor played with gleeful anarchy."

Ok, what can we say? We're sold. Oh and "The Dark Knight" is being dedicated to Heath Ledger (and a special effects guy who died on the set). No, really?? We love how people reported that as shocking news like it wasn't the most obvious fucking thing on planet earth. Actually, the film was going to be dedicated to the memory of George Carlin instead and just for kicks.

Suburban Racism & Pedophilia, It's Alan Ball's 'Towelhead'!

Leave it to writer director Alan Ball ("Six Feet Under") to present Warner Bros. with one its biggest challenges this year outside of getting more than three people to see what was supposed to be the tentpole victory of "Speed Racer."

Based on the Alicia Erian novel, "Towelhead," the film is a twisted coming-of-age tale via a dark look at suburban culture with you know, a little post Gulf-War I racism and some good ol' pedophilia thrown in for good measure. Maybe a little like "Little Children," without the dark sense of humor (the narration in the film is seriously so brilliant).

Towelhead" follows the dark, bold and shockingly funny life of Jasira, a 13-year-old Arab-American girl (relative newcomer Summer Bishil), as she navigates the confusing and frightening path of adolescence and her own sexual awakening. When Jasira's mother sends her to Houston to live with her strict Lebanese father (Peter Macdissi), she quickly learns that her new neighbors find her and her father a curiosity. Worse, her budding womanhood makes her traditional and hot-tempered father uncomfortable. Lonely in this new environment, Jasira seeks friendship and acceptance from her neighbors Mr. Vuoso (Aaron Eckhart), an Army reservist, and Melina (Toni Collette), a meddling but caring expectant mother (Mario Bello also stars).

Notice the euphemisms in the trailer, "budding womanhood," as Anne Thompson also notes, selling this thing to the public isn't going to be the easiest thing in the world (she says it will need, "delicate handling," and yeah, that's an understatement). "Towelhead" has been done for a while now and it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007 under the title, "Nothing Is Private," so obviously there's been a lot of toying with how to present the film.

PS. Our buddies Randall Poster and Jim Dunbar did the music supervision here and if the trailer is any indication - songs by The Alarm (the very U2-sounding "Be Still") and Howard Jones - there will be some interesting songs used throughout.

"Towelhead" was to be one of the last films released by Warner Independent Pictures, which announced it was shuttering at the beginning of May (another blow to the indie film world), but it appears that Warner Bros. proper is taking over the film according to Anne Thompson. They'll have their work cut out for them come the August 8 release and the weeks leading up to it (which presumably starts out limited).

Toga! Toga! Toga! A 'Clash Of The Titans' Is Coming!

Dude, it's the Kraken! Strap on your sandals your toga, a shield and sword of some kind and chestwax and body oil, a bunch of hunky Greek Mythology movies are coming your way. And it's a race between studios to get their first! Even better as we all know rush-jobs make for great quality.

First up Warner Bros. has tapped "The Incredible Hulk" director Louis Leterrier to direct a remake of the 1981, partly stop-motion animation classic, "Clash Of The Titans," from a script penned by the great Lawrence Kasdan (who has wasted his talents for years on sci-fi) [ed. So much for 'Hulk 2' with Leterrier at the helm anytime soon].

Let's take a moment of silence to remember the awesomeness that was Laurence Oliver cast as Zeus in the original 'Clash,' how funny is that? (Best IMDB comment: "Harry Hamlin is wooden. Judy Bowker is forgettable, and Laurence Olivier hams it up shamelessly...and yet...IT ALL WORKS!")

Even better and possibly, even more suited to the idea of oily men, prancing around half-naked with eyeliner on is Relativity Media's shot at this genre. Titled "War of Gods," Relativity's film will be directed by Tarsem Singh (or just Tarsem, thank you), the fanciful illusionist/imagineer behind the recent ridiculous fantasy "The Fall."

Both films are said to utilize the green-screen techniques that helped the beefcakey "300" be so successful which means - especially in the case of Tarsem - that both movies will also evince the latent homosexuality clearly evident in Zach Snyder's not-so-closeted masterpiece of Greek theater (The name "300" obviously deriving its title from how gay it was on a scale of 1 to 10). Make no bones about it, these films are being fast-tracked because of the unexpected smash success of "300" (teenage boys and adult nerds evidently being completely oblivious to homoerotic overtones).

Let's hope for Hollywood's sake and all the money they dump into these things that they're more "Lord Of The Rings" and less "Troy" and "Alexander." Let's just 'Clash' has some sort of Bubo sidekick. That little guy was so cute! They'll prolly give Hamlin some cameo too, huh?

Check out some of the hi-tech special effects, from the original.

Sorry Baz, Apparently "Wall-E" Already Has The Oscar In The Bag

What movies are going to be in Oscar contention this year? Baz Luhrman's World War II epic "Australia" will likely be mentioned, no? Clint Eastwood's period piece "Changeling", David Fincher's adaptation of an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story centered around a man who ages backward, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and apparently, the emotional "Short Circuit" animated re-do, "Wall-E"?

Last we checked it was clocking in a 97 percent fresh rating on rottentomatoes.com, which is better than last years best picture winner, "No Country for Old Men" (95 percent fresh), and destroys Paul Thomas Anderson's epic about an oil man or something, "There Will Be Blood" (91 percent fresh) - it had real humans in it so it was pretty boring.

And every one's going ape-shit for it now and calling it The Best Picture of the Year. New York Magazine for one are going a little overboard.

It seems obvious from the highly scientific ratings of rottentomatoes.com that the Academy should call it in early this year and do the right thing by handing "Wall-E" the best picture award, and while they are it throw in a best supporting actress to that sexy little robot, right?

Considering the opposition this year it isn't that hard to call. Does anyone really expect "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" to be any good? Or how about all those antiquated films your grandmother will want to see? Sorry Charlie Kaufman, you picked the wrong year to make a sophisticated film about some dude dealing with getting old or some shit like that, "Wall-E" is on its way to becoming the next "Gone with the Wind" (97 percent fresh).

You guys called it. We hope you remember come Oscar time, as we'll be right here to remind you of your foolish proclamations. [ed. Yes, it'll win Best Animated Picture, but duh, if Pixar doesn't win that award each year they put out a film, they should be shamed.] Wait, are you all the same people that said "Ratatouille" would get a Best Picture nomination? [eye roll]

DVD Sales Pinpoint Exactly What Is Wrong With America's Movie-going Taste

The unfortunate Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey flick, "Fools Gold" topped the national home video sales and rental charts in the week ending June 22 (homeboys have his back at the beach for a reason, yo). It beat out Martin Lawrence's vomit pinwheel "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" and the movie that did a fantastic job of showing the public who once enjoyed their work what mistakes great actors like Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman can make as they age and become incompetent and slip closer to full-blown senility (see also: Al Pacino, Robert Deniro).

The news only continues to get worse for those who enjoy watching decent cinema, the project that lowered expectations for actions movies everywhere, "Jumper" was on top of the blu-ray charts, closely followed by "Fool's Gold" and the "Bucket List".

Michel Gondry's quaint feel-good movie that was actually mildly creative and slightly funny, "Be Kind, Rewind" finished the week a dismal 7th on the sales chart and 6th on the rental chart. These trends signal one thing, the America public has nothing to fear but its own increasing stupidity.

Toronto Film Festival '08 Announces Cannes-Heavy Line-Up

The 33rd edition of the annual Toronto International Film Festival has announced it's line-up and like Variety notes, the schedule looks a lot like the crop of films that was at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year in May.

The first film that comes to mind is Steven Soderberg's polarizing "Che," but unfortunately that won't be appearing at TIFF. Ok, how about the second-most anticipated film from the Croisette, Charlie Kaufman's "Synecdoche, New York"? Nope, not that either.

Instead we get all the arty cinema from Cannes. Wtf? C'mon! The festival - which runs September 4-13 - will feature Canadian (naturally) Atom Egoyan's Cannes' Ecumenical Jury Prize-winner "Adoration," Arnaud Desplechin's Special Prize-winner "Un conte de No?l" (with Catherine Deneuve), Matteo Garrone's Grand Prix-winner "Gomorrah," and Laurent Cantet's Palme d'Or-winning "The Class." Cannes, Cannes, Cannes!

What, no original programming this year?

There's not a lot that sounds super enticing to us so far, though Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles' "Linha de Passe," (also a Palme nominee) will appear (he did the very-excellent "The Motorcycle Diaries," and "Central Station").

Surely, there's more to be announced, yes? How about some bigger, umm, American films! (fucking Canadians). In other words, where's all the Oscar bait?

Spike Lee's "Miracle At St. Anna," Clint Eastwood's "Changeling" or "The Road" with Viggo Mortensen or even getting international for a second, Baz Lurhmann's "Australia"? C'mon, this is supposed to be the biggest Film Festival in North America. What about all those Oscar-baity films coming out in the fall that are basically the equivalent of your grandfather's musty old sweater? We're sure this can't be the entire line up. The rest of the schedule, or what's been announced so far can be seen here.

From the Holllywood Reporter.

Other Cannes entries making their Canadian splash include the Dardennes brothers' "Lorna's Silence," best screenplay winner in Cannes; Jerzy Skolimowksi's "Four Nights With Anna"; Terence Davies' "Of Time and the City"; Jia Zhang-ke's "24 City"; and "Three Monkeys," which earned director Nuri Bilge Ceylan the best director trophy.

Even more Cannes cast offs include Ari Folman's "Waltz With Bashir," Steve McQueen's "Hunger," which scored the Camera d'Or, Argentinean director Gabriel Medina's "The Paranoids" and Kim Jee-woon's Sergio Leone-like Western "The Good the Bad the Weird." More announcements are expected throughout August, but man, so far, zzzzzzzzz........ and not really worth the drive to Toronto (Acton).

Update: We forgot to mention our own reporting. We'd already noted that we had heard from good sources that Spike Lee's "Miracle At St. Anna," and Michel Gondry's "Tokyo!" (with Leos Carax and Bong Joon-Ho) would appear at TIFF and now we're hearing that Guy Ritchie's "RocknRolla" will be there as well.

If An Actor - Who Plays A Super Hero - Farts In The Woods; Everybody Hears Right?

The sequel to "Superman Returns" is ready, right? Or so says Supe/Clark Kent actor Brandon Routh.

"I know, they're busy writing a script and then I trust we'll be starting next year, early next year. That's my timeline anyway."

Yeah, that's Routh's timeline alright, cause he's just loaded with other projects, huh? Our timeline is that we're going to sellout and be rich next Thursday if anyone here is into random, vaguely-informed pronouncements as well.

With Bryan Singer's "Valkyrie" opening in February of next year, he's supposed to start production on 'Superman Reboot 2'? Once again, doubtful, but this it the preemptive strike as everyone is already taking this at face value with "Superman Sequel To Start Q1 of 2009!" Yeah, we're cynical assholes, but could you just try and be a tiny bit more skeptical too, fanboy?

Routh also says the "Justice League" movie is dead. Gee, ya think?? This report comes from Hollywood.com, who once reported that Scarlett Johansson was going to play porn star Jenna Jameson and then fell flat on their faces. The Justice League shocker is about as thrilling as Cinematical's non-news story with rapper Common about the non-happening of the JL film.

Where ever there's a weakass super hero story, we'll be there to defend logic and poo poo it! Up, up and away!

Will ThinkFilm's Problems Ever End? Oscar-Winning Documentarian For 'Taxi' Sues Company, Independent Film Woes Continue...

Man, how many breath's left does indie distributor ThinkFilm/Captiol Films have left in the tank?

Think just shut down their Toronto office, their production of David O. Russell's "Nailed," (via Capitol Films, Think is a division of) has been shut down four times midway through production and now filmmaker Alex Gibney, the director of the 2008 Oscar-winning documentary feature "Taxi To The Dark Side" and the upcoming, "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson," is suing the company (filed for arbitration) claiming that 'Taxi's box office possibilities were undermined by their growing financial problems (ThinkFilm are also currently being sued for fraud.)

ThinkFilm are practically being hammered in the press on daily basis. And this isn't helping.

“I’m upset because the whole commercial strategy of the film was predicated on the idea of winning awards,” Gibney told the New York Times. “The fact that they were fiscally unable to capitalize on the Oscar infuriated me for two reasons: They had been in financial difficulty for some time and hadn’t disclosed it to us; and we won the Oscar, and they still hadn’t disclosed it to us.”

The independent film industry's woes are growing. Mark Gill, the President of Film Department says the indies problems could be one of three things: “a glut of movies in the market, the turning off of the money spigot (due to the drying up of hedge-fund money), and a change in the way people spend their leisure time.”

It might be the ailing economy or it might be quality of film's, but either way the indie company's are taking it on the chin the hardest.

'G.I. Joe' Director Powers His Way Into Exciting New Action Film With Larger Breastesses

"G.I. Joe" director Stephen Sommers is a filmmaker of unparalleled vision and uncompromising ideas. He's also a man of conviction and knows exactly what he wants: More bigger boobs, all the time.

On the set of "G.I. Joe" Sommers was unimpressed with Sienna Miller's (who plays the Baroness) not so gigantic chesticles. Ever the inventive director, Sommers used that where there's a will, there's a way know-how and tenacity.

"They gave me these things that looked like chicken fillets. The director said, 'I'm gonna be honest, I like girls with big boobs,' and I don't have them so we made them bigger," Sienna Miller said. "At least he's honest. But I was mildly offended."

Now does taking this gig finally register as not the best career move ever? [via Film Drunk]

Oh, PS. Not everyone has a problem with this. The cinema aesthetes at JoBlo are positively stoked. "You can say what you like about Stephen Sommers but homeboy can make a girl look good, no? Kate Beckinsale in VEN HELSING, Rachel Weisz in THE MUMMY RETURNS and now he's putting Sienna Miller in skin-tight leather with an enhanced chest. His films might be horrible, but I think we can all agree this guy is a freaking hero to the working class of this planet."

Way, bro, way.

Paul Thomas Anderson Directed A Never-Seen Radiohead Video From HTTT?

Paul Thomas Anderson directed a video for Radiohead's "We Suck Young Blood," from 2003's Hail To The Thief? Jigga what? This we'd never heard, but doing random research for the Michel Gondry video piece we fell upon this nugget and quote from Thom Yorke. Did this pave the way for Jonny Greenwood's "There Will Be Blood," score four years before the fact?

"Paul Thomas Anderson came into the studio and he brought this camera with him, it was exactly the same camera model that they shot the Nosferatu in, basically this camera is a box and you wind it, and you have to have a tempo to wind it to and if you wind it fast or slow you get this extraordinary movement, and we wanted to shoot this really over the top vaudeville b-movie thing with it, because that to me is partly where it was coming from, and also it was really sick and sexual in a really perverse way, very L.A. as far as I'm concerned. I think that was the reason why we went to L.A., because 'We Suck Young Blood' was our take on Hollywood really. In fact, we went out to a party that night everyone was dressed as mad hatters, it just fit completely. we went to this place, it was just... [whispers] you people are so silly. and it was like that's how they dressed every day to create an impression. it was brilliant. we felt like old people, maybe we'd missed something."

Ok, and this video was never released, why? While the video doesn't appear to be online some kid, probably unaware of the whole back story, made a mash up of "There Will Be Blood" footage with the song. Anderson also once shot random footage of Elliott Smith that's never been released either. Sounds like he's got a lot of great stuff in his vaults.

Watch: "We Suck Young Blood" mashed with "There Will Be Blood

Watch: Jon Brion - "Here We Go" (directed by Paul Thomas Anderson)

Michel Gondry Hearts Himself Some Music Videos, Spike Jonze & Micheal Jackson; Hates Radiohead

Now we love us some people that work at EW (hey guys), but this feature on Michel Gondry's Top 25 Videos is clearly just an excuse to click through photo galleries. So let's make it easier on everybody for presentation's sake (sorry, we don't want to click 25 times, so we'll do you the public service announcement favor so you don't have to; plus we hate that kind shit).

One interesting music movie news tidbit, Gondry says the singer of his old band Oui Oui, Etienne Charry is "doing the music for my films now." YouTube links on all the videos. Oh you'll note that he gives props to almost every director in the Director's Label Series, a DVD series he co-founded, including three from his buddy Spike Jonze. Smart!

Michael Jackson, ''Billie Jean'' (1983)
Peter Gabriel, ''Sledgehammer'' (1986)
Red Hot Chili Peppers, ''Give It Away'' (1991)
When Gondry saw the clip he "was devastated. It was too good. The contrast was so sharp, it looked like a new medium.''
Beastie Boys, ''Sabotage'' (1994)
Bj?rk - 'It's Oh So Quiet'' (1995)
Herbie Hancock, ''Rockit'' (1983)
''It's funny — like a bunch of people sat down and said, 'Okay, how will the future sound? We're gonna do something that's like the future," Gondry said. This video freaked the fuck out of us as a kid.
Jean-Luc Ponty, ''Individual Choice'' (1983)
Talking Heads, ''Burning Down the House'' (1983)
T?l?phone, ''Un Autre Monde'' (1984)
The Cure, ''Close to Me'' (1985)
New Order, ''Perfect Kiss'' (1985) directed by Jonathan Demme
Beastie Boys, ''Fight for Your Right to Party'' (1986)
Run DMC featuring Aerosmith, ''Walk this Way'' (1986)
Paul Simon, ''You Can Call Me Al'' (1986)
''Paul Simon and Chevy Chase — it was pretty funny. Simon is one of the best musicians around, but he has such a good sense of humor. It's sort of self-derogatory.''
Michael Jackson, ''Leave Me Alone'' (1987)
Madonna, ''Like a Prayer'' (1989)
Tone Loc, ''Wild Thing'' (1989)
Young MC, ''Bust a Move'' (1989)
Massive Attack, ''Unfinished Sympathy'' (1991)
Lenny Kravitz, ''Are You Gonna Go My Way?'' (1993)
Jamiroquai, ''Virtual Insanity'' (1996)
The Pharcyde, ''Drop'' (1996)
Aphex Twin, ''Come to Daddy'' (1997)
'It's the scariest video ever. The kids are old people, they yell. It's really creepy.''
Devendra Banhart, ''A Ribbon'' (2004)
R. Kelly, ''Trapped in the Closet'' (2005)

Gondry's releasing part 2 of his music videos collection on DVD via his new website. Presumably this time he'll include music videos that were AWOL on his Director's Label DVD, like clips lensed after its release like Kanye West's "Heard 'Em Say" which featured a cameo by Jon Brion, Beck's "Cellphone's Dead," The White Stripes' "Denial Twist," more obscure fair like Swedish Bjork-like pixie, Stina Nordenstam's "Little Star" and videos he wanted to include on the original collection, but wasn't allowed because the band hated the clip (Radiohead's "Knives Out," no joke).

"I generally find a good way of communicating to prevent clash, but I had one terrible experience with Radiohead," Gondry said of 2001's 'Knives Out.' Going through a breakup at the time, he transferred his despair to a character played by lead singer Thom Yorke, grieving anxiously in a crowded hospital room. "I showed him a storyboard and every single detail: he was completely excited and happy for it - and then, it turned out, they all criticize me for being selfish and putting my own views on it and my own introspection," a still peeved Gondry said. (Yorke and Radiohead declined to comment for this story.) "And they didn't let me use my video for my DVD!" he adds, his voice rising. "And I'm really mad at them for having done that to me, that they abuse their power! It did not go smooth, but if it went smooth, it would be mediocre."

Btw, last we heard the Director's Label series was dead in the water. This is our requisite plea to start it up again, we loved that series. We wrote a lenghty feature on it back in the day.
Watch: Radiohead "Knives Out"

No Major Press For 'Meet Dave' And 'Center Of Earth 3D'? Or Does This Dreck Sell Itself?

Taking the subway home last night in New York we were sort of shocked to see posters for Eddie Murphy's "Meet Dave" and Brendan Frasier's new winner-fest "Journey To The Center of The Earth 3D." Yeah we had heard of them, but according to their posters they're releases are right around the corner (they hit theaters July 11).

Sure, we're akin to more indie films, but check the movie blogosphere (a wretched term, we're aware), there's little to no chatter about each one of these films.

Now are the studios not ceding info to these sites? Or do they not care?

Or is it cause these films sell themselves and the markets for these films — middle America, i.e. a magical non-media saturated land that doesn't give a rats ass for your viral clip and probably thinks its some contagious queer disease anyhow — doesn't care for hardcore advertising?

You know as little buzz as these films might be getting they're going to be in EVERY theater from here to Timbuktu and media awareness might not matter one iota when your only options are Eddie or the very au courant and very cutting edge Brendan Frasier.

Now, granted, there was all kinds of ghastly, terrible genius is "Norbit," but c'mon, isn't this like purposely marketing junk food to poor people? Don't be surprised if both these non-buzzed films do healthy box office. Then again everybody did turn on Mike Myers and "The Love Guru" so maybe there is hope for the world after all.

PS. According to this hilarious video over at MTV, Brendan Frasier has confused himself for an actor that actually matters.

Jeffrey Wells Says Peter Travers Not To Be Trusted Over 'Dark Knight'

Critic dickswinging alert!

So the avuncular Peter Travers of Rolling Stone got an early peek at "Dark Knight" and has dropped some effusive praise on the film, right? Jeffrey Wells says, not so fast, the man is untrustable. "There's no trusting Travers. About anything. Especially when he's the first one out of the gate," Wells cautions.

"He's responded in his usual eager-beaver town-crier way, applying lotsa passion and saliva and goo-goo gah-gah." Damn, Gina! Did Travers steal Wells' wife or something? Is someone just jealous they didn't get to see the movie that early?

Wait, what about the guys at AICN that have also had an early sneak peak? Wells, doesn't give them the time of day. Either way, critic battles always amuse us. As you were. [HollywoodElsewhere]

4th Jason Bourne Movie Shooting Next Summer? Fat Chance

'Jason Bourne' franchise producer Frank Marshall has told IESB.net that a fourth film and follow-up to "The Bourne Ultimatum," will be ready to shoot next summer for a 2010 release with director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon. Oh, really now? Do they have a script ready? Have they started writing a script?

“There was a fourth book written, but it was not by Mr. Ludlum. So we’re probably going to take our own direction and we’re working on what that storyline’s gonna be right now.”

So you're working out the storyline now and you have to have a script ready and pre-production and everything set to go for next summer? Doesn't a good script take about at least 6 months to hammer out? And umm, Tony Gilroy - the screenwriter of all the Bourne films - is a tad busy directing his own films in case you hadn't noticed Mr. Marshall.

Hasn't Matt Damon said time after time that he's not really interested in reviving this character again? Plus have you seen him lately? A year to get in shape? Sure, but considering all of the above? Fat fucking chance. Marshall says they want to take Bourne to South Africa. We would bet they'd get to Neverneverland before that. (We're not saying it'll never happen, but next summer? Ok, Santa Claus, whatever).

Ellen Page Ruined Yo La Tengo's Chance To Be Moldy Peaches-Like Mainstream Stars

Last month Jason Reitman (he recently directed a little indie flick called "Juno," you might have heard of it) sat down with KCRW's Jason Bentley to discuss how the "creative process is influenced by music" (cue chinstoke) Mid-way through the interview Bentley mentioned "Juno" and how its soundtrack has become a hit unto itself. Reitman commented on this by saying that the music of "Juno" was not originally meant to be from the now incredibly popular The Moldy Peaches but from the indie group Yo La Tengo.

"We started to realize there was this rebirth of lo-fi music that had the same energy as punk music, but nowhere as angry. The first band we discovered was Yo La Tengo and so I started to think that was the sound of the film." Congratulations Yo La Tengo, you guys were going to be the next mainstream indie group to hit the big time until... "One day Ellen Page was in my office and I said, "Who do you think Juno would listen to", and she said The Moldy Peaches, she jumped on my computer and downloaded, "Anyone Else But You."

We guess that's a Hoboken-like, "Thanks for nothing Ellen Page."

Reitman did right this wrong a bit with Juno B-Sides: Almost Adopted Songs, which featured YLT's "You Can Have It All," but, umm, we don't recall them being on Babba Wabba and or "The View" (you know how badly Ira wanted that?)

Shit guys, that hurts, sorry your chance at comprising 95% of the soundtrack on the most popular movie of the century was blown by a teenage girl with a big mouth. Better luck next time? PS, don't feel too bad for Yo La Tengo, they got the gig to score "Superbad" director Greg Mottola's next film, "Adventureland," coming out in spring 2009.
Download: Yo La Tengo - "You Can Have It All"