Movie Minesweeper - The Coming Down From A Ginger Biscuit Rush Edition

- Michael Bay is continuing to take all of the credit for Transformers. Film is a collaborative medium, Michael - stop peddling this egomaniacal auterism and polishing your knuckles on your chest. I'm sure he'll pass the buck when it comes to criticism of the film.

- Is the Cloverfield budget really only $30 million? I'm standing by my theory about the film's title, too. At least we now know some of the film's cast for sure: Michael Stahl-David, Odet Jasmin, Mike Vogel and Lizzy Kaplan. You can (currently) download a version of the trailer, but expect it to get pulled quickly.

- The Sunset Gower studios have been sold for redevelopment.
- The amount of screens hosting A Mighty Heart across the US is about to get slashed in what amounts to 'a retroactive platform release'. Now the genie is out of the bottle, however, I think this one will have pretty much run its course. Hopefully the appropriate egos were pricked.

- The autobiography of a roadie is proving the way in to a Grateful Dead movie. Home Before Daylight is being adapted by Michael Grais and will apparently also feature fictionalised versions of Ken Kesey and Jefferson Airplane. And a lot of drugs.

- Dustin Hoffman will direct and star in and is producing and co-writing an adaptation of Scott Turow's Personal Injuries. Yep - Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut might finally be coming almost 30 years after he fired himself from the chief's position on Straight Time.

- Germany have coughed up 6 and a half million dollars to go in the Valkyrie coffers.

- The Meg movie has been sunk again. That's one more movie New Line won't ever be producing. I don't mind: shark movies don't exactly have a great pedigree. Not like piranha movies.

- Jonah Hill has denied his involvement in Watchmen. Told you I was doubtful about that list. Of course, he could just be 'pulling a Shia'... but, nah. I believe him.

- Is Brad Pitt planning to star in a remake of Bullitt? Probably not.

- According to Ethan Hawke, there was almost another Before Sunrise sequel. Why wasn't there? Apparently because people took the first two to heart too much. Er... okay...

- There seems to be a Speed 3 on the cards. This one will apparently have Dennis Hopper in it again, even though he died in the first one. I'm smelling direct to DVD all over this project.

- Dread Central have a poster and YouTube trailer for [REC].

- Father Henryk Jankowski is courting Mel Gibson with an eye to getting the actor/director to film his life story. Jankowski is infamous for pouring scorn, offering up both anti-communist and (allegedly) anti-Semitic rhetoric. I saw this link at Cinematical.

- The NY Daily News have quoted Danny Boyle speaking out against Eli Roth and his films. Well, I know what side of that argument I'm on and it definitely isn't Danny Boyle's side. He said "His movies aren't even particularly well done. They're not even scary. They're horrible, but that's not scary. It's not suspense. And if you watch my films in detail, there's actually not a lot of violence in them. You get numb with violence very quickly." That's just silly, Mr. Boyle. And I think you know you're wrong too.

- Zak Penn is writing the Dirty Dozen remake.

- Will Shaeffer has died. He was the composer of both The Flintstones and The Jetsons themes.

- Matt Groening has implied that there's no CG in The Simpsons Movie. That's not true: there's loads of CG, and you can see plenty of it in the trailer. The sequence with the bullet hitting Bart's skateboard is massively dependant on CG. Bit, yes, there's plenty of hand drawn stuff too.

- Minnie Driver is the new Lara Croft. Voice only: this is for a cartoon series.

- An EU promotional clip has upset a number of conservative politicians. It features 18 couples in excerpts from big screen love scenes and the main problem, it seems, is that some of these are homosexual couples. My problem, really, is how much of the clip depends on Jean Pierre Jeunet - couldn't they find any other films to include too?

- Haylie Duff is taking a role in The Kentucky Fried Horror Movie that was once earmarked for Jessica Simpson. Joe Bob Briggs and P J Soles are also lined up.

A Proper Look At Ocean's 13... On Paper

There's so many scripts I mean to review fully but never get the time to... The Only Living Boy in New York, Brick, Valkyrie...

Thankfully, Simon Reynolds has been doing a great, great job with script reviews for film ick. He's really cut out for the job and, honestly, if you haven't been reading his pieces, you've been missing out.

But I've been wanting to review Brian Koppelman and David Levien's Ocean's 13 script myself for some time, and for the last couple of months at least I've never been more than one last push away from actually sitting down and typing this review.

Part of the problem was political, really. I was first shown a copy of the script by somebody who really didn't want me to excerpt it, or even review it. So I didn't. Then I saw another copy of the same draft and the owner of that one wasn't at all worried about me writing it up. That was the green flag I needed.

But then I couldn't get ahold of that second copy again and... well, you don't care about this. This is just a string of excuses, for all you care. Let's cut to the chase.

So - Ocean's 13, premiering tonight at Cannes. Will it be any good?

If this script is anything to go by then yes, it certainly will.

There's that old maxim about films being written three times - on paper, in the shoot and in the editing room. Looking at the trailers, preview scenes and featurettes that have popped up online, the differences between the paper draft and the filmed version of Ocean's 13 are quite numerous.

Not really in terms of plot points, mind - the story seems to be, by and large, the same one. But the dialogue has changed a fair bit. New bits of business have been invented left right and centre. Shine has been put on the apple.

What began as a light, quick, fun read has evolved into a light, quick, fun, sparkling film. Or so it would seem.

So, what is the story? (Obviously, a great many spoilers are to follow)

In a nutshell, Ruben Tiskhoff (Elliot Gould) has been hospitalised by the wily Willy Banks (played by Al Pacino). Banks didn't strike him, or have his heavies strike him - he just stressed Ruben out to the point of collapse. He managed this by crookedly cutting Ruben out of a partnership to build a new Vegas casino - thereby betraying the code of honour amongst those who have 'shaken Sinatra's hand' - and has left Ruben facing bankruptcy and, more to the point, in a coma.

So, as you can tell from the ads, we have Danny and the gang cooking up a revenge scheme. They recruit their some time nemesis Terry Benedict - the 13th gangster of the title, in case you didn't yet know - and set about hitting Banks where it hurts. The plan is a fun one: on the opening night of this new casino, they're going to rig the odds, just for a few minutes, so that everything goes the way of the gamblers, so that the house loses - and loses big.

This is the quintessential payback to all those Vegas villains: sure, the house always wins - but not this time. For just a few moments, it's going to haemorhage cash. Good stuff.

Of course, there's a lot of different gambling games to be found in any one casino, and the gang are going to have to work hard in order to tip the odds on all of them - but thankfully, this is a film, and the kind of film where unexplained, possibly unexplainable, little gadgets exist. And it is also the kind of film where a group of movie star con artists can pull off even the most ludicrous disguises. And it is definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, a film where the good guys win.

My favourite plot conceit is that of the Very Unimportant Person. He's never given a name, and we don't learn too much about him, but he's key to the whole trick coming off. The VUP is played by David Paymer. From the moment he arrives on page 33, he becomes a pawn in the plot. It all begins as he's checking into The Bank, Willy's superhotel. A little bit of maneuvering from a line-jumping Saul and the undercover Rusty, who takes the place of the concierge, and the wheels are set in motion...

As for this VUP, he never finds out what role he is playing, or even that anything so exciting is going on around him. But - this being that kind of film, as I was saying - he is handsomely rewarded in the pay off.

The VUP business is a great deal of fun on the page, and even though it's been kept almost entirely out of the marketing materials, I'd expect it to be something people really like about the film, something they'll talk about leaving the cinema, or at their work watercooler the next day. I expect this VUP will garner a lot of positive word of mouth for this film.

Another key part of the plan revolves around Basher (Don Cheadle). He's in charge of creating a fake act of god that will create a huge distraction. It's like a magician's sleight of hand, but instead of him just gesturing wildly over here while he pulls a rubber dove out of his sleeve over here, this trickster runs the risk of creating a huge nuclear explosion over here while a whole lot of important tidying up is going on over here. Basher's interventions are crucial to the scam coming off smoothly, sure, but not, as you might have assumed, to making the scams work in the first place.

There are so many little shiny moments in this script that I'm convined we have a real crowd pleaser here (and tonight at Cannes, I guess we'll know for sure). I do wonder how much the scripted fun and games were filmed however. For example, the script contains a comeback-cameo for Rusty's poker students from 11 - you know: Topher Grace, Holly Marie Combs, those other less instantly memorable folk. It's one thing writing the scene, another getting them all in. But I expect they came along gladly. Would you turn it down?

And does Tess (Julia Roberts) appear? At all? Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it. But... well, perhaps this was the only unsatisfying element of the whole script for me. I won't reveal what, exactly - besides, there's every chance the finished film hasn't turned out this way. But from the pages at least, there was something I really wanted, and I didn't get it.

I liked Ocean's 12 - I know that's not a popular opinion, but I did. It was smart, and well made and it loved movies as much as we do. Ocean's 13, however, I think I'll love. The Terry Benedict team up is very well handled (obviously, a rat is always going to be a rat, but Danny is smart enough to know this); everybody gets some good stuff to do, some great nonsense to have fun with, and that's just on paper, before they started improvising; there are plenty of call-backs to the previous films, particularly 11; and Danny and Rusty are still clearly, hopelessly head over heels in their platonic man-love with one another.

When Stephen Soderbergh promised that this was the Ocean's 11 sequel everybody wanted last time around, it looks like he was completely correct. Don't be cautious about this one - you can bet safely knowing that, in fact, while the odds are typically stacked against you with star-studded multiplex fare, just for the running time of this film, the outcome is rigged and you're guaranteed to walk away a winner.

Direct Download Link For Best Edit Of The Ocean's 13 Trailer Yet

Did I mention that I'll be posying my up-close-and-personal look at the Ocean's 13 script any hour now?

In the meantime, download and enjoy the best trailer the film has yet received.

Barbarella Puts One In The Head Of Sin City 2

I've been telling you for months that Sin City 2 was going to get 'pushed back' - or maybe not even happen at all. And now, there's a pretty clear indication that, indeed, the film is on the backburner.

Very possibly the backburner at the crematorium.

Variety have announced that Robert Rodriguez has signed to direct Universal's Barbarella remake. I don't know if Universal will humour him the way the Weinsteins used to, so I don't necessarily expect Rose McGowan in the lead - but I bet she turns up in there someplace. A villainess? According to producer, Dino De Laurentiis "the future is female", afterall.

This is a much better prospect than any of the other potential projects Rodriguez was juggling. In fact, I have very high hopes for this indeed - even in view of Bond boys Neal Purvis and Robert Wade being the scriptwriters.

So - who will be the lead? Cameron Diaz? Angelina Jolie? Halle Berry? Er... Cobie Smulders? I dare say the interweb will be alight with frenzied anticipation, deliberation and sticky imagination.

I nominate Brad Pitt for Pygar.

Direct Download Link For New Ocean's 13 Featurette

Apple are hosting a new Ocean's 13 featurette. Download it, burn it to DVD and... er... show it to your students. That's my plan, anyway.

[EDIT: That link works for me, but not for ArchCarrier, it seems. So try another too]

Script Review For Burn After Reading

If I didn't already know that the script for Burn After Reading was written by the Coen brothers, they would certainly be at the very top of my list of suspects. It's full of the kind of plot twists, character motivations and traits, and unfortunate misunderstandings that we've come to expect from their movies, particularly their black comedies - and Burn After Reading definitely falls within the 'black comedy' category.

The plot revolves around a CD containing the memoir-in-progress of Osbourne Cox, who has recently parted ways on somewhat acrimonious terms with the CIA. This CD somehow ends up in the hands of Linda Litzke and Chad Feldheimer, two colleagues at a local gym, who recognise the potential sensitivity of the content and decide that they might be able to profit from the situation. Chad's subsequent telephone call to Osbourne sets off a totally unnecessary chain of events that, of course, leads to much hilarity, tragedy, and hilarious tragedy. What could have been a fairly pleasant and amiable conversation leading to a swift resolution ends up, through a combination of Chad's bumbling incompetence and Osbourne's cantankerousness (as well as an interjection from Linda, who decides to play hardball) turning into a blazing row.

This is something of a recurring theme - simple (or not so simple) misunderstandings leading to violent (and sometimes fatal) conflict. Almost everything that happens is at least partly caused by misapprehension or confusion of one sort or another. This makes for a great deal of dramatic irony and a very compelling plot, which is rich and full of unexpected twists - without being at all hard-to-follow, even in script form.

The characterisation, as you might expect, is also very strong, and it was particularly entertaining to imagine some of the dialogue being delivered by the actors we so far know to be involved. Well, only John Malkovich has an officially confirmed specific role - that of Osbourne Cox. But Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Frances McDormand have all definitely been cast too. As has been mentioned before, Brad Pitt will certainly be playing the role of Chad - in fact, the part has obviously been written with him in mind. Chad isn't a moron, but he is pretty suggestible and comes across as a bit of a stoner, even though he doesn't take drugs at any point - he's more into smoothies. Here's a very short excerpt from the script for all you Brad-fans:

Chad Feldheimer is walking up towards the landing dressed in a black lycra bicycle unitard with lime green flames.

Clooney will undoubtedly be playing Harry Pfarrer - a very major character, despite the fact that this is the first time I've mentioned him. Harry is a charming philanderer, whose lust for the ladies sees him tightly embroiled in the unfolding events. For some reason, it seems to be common knowledge that Clooney's character is an assassin - but he isn't. He does carry a gun, but that's because he's a federal marshall for the Treasury Department. And, as he himself points out:

Harry: The gun is actually no big deal. Twenty years in the marshall's service and I've never discharged my weapon.

McDormand will probably play Katie Cox, Osbourne's unfaithful wife, who somewhat inadvertently sets off the whole chain of events in the first place.

There's also a part which seems tailor-made for William H. Macy; that of Ted Treffon, the soulful manager of the gym where Linda and Chad work. By the way, that's not me describing him as 'soulful' - for some reason he is referred to as such several times throughout the script. I guess he is a contemplative, conscientious character and he wants to do the right thing, but is unfortunately driven by unrequited love.

Overall, the script is a fantastic read and will no doubt result in a hugely enjoyable movie which should have wide appeal. I can see a lot of people describing Burn After Reading as 'a return to form' for the Coens - however unfair that may be.

Movie Minesweeper - The I Thought Yesterday Was Monday, My Mistake Edition

- The Sun are alleging that Brad Pitt is the front-runner to play He-Man. Sure he is. Their back-up bet is Gerard Butler. The Sun's other Pitt-stop alleges that Angelina and Brad have 'banned their kids from seeing them brandishing guns in movies'.

- Robert Rodriguez may make The Jetsons for Warners. There's a technicality by which he could work around his DGA resignation, apparently - anybody expert enough to know if this renders his DGA resignation hollow? I'm honestly not sure. I'm most interested by the news that he may be sizing up films outside of the Weinstein's shadow - are they going cold on him after his Planet Terror has taken a lot of the blame for crippling Grind House?

- Latino Review are alleging that Jessica Biel will play Chun Li in a Street Fighter film. I'd hope she wouldn't be so silly, even though the character will apparently be the focus of the film. Another casting report in the same place suggests that Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Kenneth Branagh, Stephen Fry and Patrick Wilson are all negotiating roles in Brian Singer's Valkyrie. Sounds like somebody listed every possibility they could come up with, but that somebody might just be Singer or his casting agent.

- Luke Wilson has been quoted in the Brit tabloids as saying the Dallas film is off. This isn't strictly true, I understand - the film is just on a rather remote back burner. I understand that options still exist on Wilson, Shirely Maclaine and John Travolta, and should any of the scripts and treatments that get cooked up in the coming months seem to carry the budget, the switch will be flicked back on.

- Just Jared have snaps and video of Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller and Cillian Murphy on the set of the Dylan Thomas biopic, The Best Times of Our Lives. [EDIT: Which is now called The Edge of Love]

That Danny's A Card

This is my favourite Ocean's 13 poster so far. What say you? Not sure? Get a better look by clicking.


And thanks to Mike Markus for the image.

It's Eastwood Versus Malick, Dominik Versus Scott

The LA Times have reported on the sorry test screenings for Andrew Dominik's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and the various cuts of the film that have been made in attempt to please variously the director, producers and studio.

The way they tell it, Dominik was aspiring to a Terrence Malick pastiche whereas the studio were looking for something styled after the films of Clint Eastwood - either way, sounds like following a pre-exisitng template was the goal. If they have to copy, can't they come up with somebody better than Malick and Eastwood? How about Monte Hellman. A nice Hellman-styled western would be tempting, I have to admit.

Other than the director's cut, which reportedly runs over three hours, there have been various other versions, overseen by Brad Pitt, editor Michael Kahn or producer Ridley Scott.

I'd think Scott would have a pretty good chance of sorting the film out to some degree - but whether or not that's the same issue as pleasing the studio is another matter entirely. Scott's history in recutting his own films is certainly impressive. As wonderful as Alien always was, he managed to improve upon it - and turn out a shorter film into the bargain.

There's no concrete news on which version of the film will be released - a release currently scheduled for September 21st, but don't be surprised to see that slip even further away. This situation reminds me of the current spin on Julie Taymor's Across the Universe: In both cases there's officially still hope that the version released will be director approved - there has to be hope to stem the flow of bad will against the studio-sanctioned recuts, just a little bit. But in both cases, again, it seems far more likely that a shortened version will hit the multiplexes.

Besides, forcing a double-dip for the Director's Cut DVD only makes for more dollars, doesn't it?

Ocean's Top 6

If you ever wondered with six of Ocean's 13 were the real stars, and which seven could just be discarded, the poster below should answer your question.



As ever with these international posters and curious images, Mike Markus was the bloodhound. He's one heck of a detective. Click on George and Co. to enlarge.

Lubezki Handheld For The Coens

Jeffrey Prettyboy Wells has learned from a mysterious confidante that Emanuelle Lubezki is to be the cinematographer for Burn Before Reading, the Coen film shooting this autumn. He goes on to report that very few storyboards will be used as the film is to be shot handheld, 'verite style'.

This report also claims that Brad Pitt will play the agent at the centre of the plot, not some kind of personal trainer as I've been told.

The Coens: Out With The Old, In With The New?

No Country For Old Men is to premiere at Cannes; Burn Before Reading - and my best info maintains Before, not After - will start shooting in the late summer; A Serious Man is scheduled to start filming afterwards.

Both Serious and Burn are financed in the same two-picture deal between Focus and Working Title.

So what happened to Hail Caesar! and Suburbicon? Are they gone forever? And what about their untitled comedy about the Itallian catwalk model? It's reasonable to speculate that A Serious Man is, in fact, one of these previously touted projects under a new name. Both of the named projects were definitely about serious men. But then again... there's been such a long break since the last original Coen script that a few may have stockpiled in the meantime.

My best info suggests that George Clooney's role in Burn is as an asassin while Brad Pitt's role is as a personal trainer. I'm still digging for more...

Ocean's 2

Brad Pitt has signed on to Burn Before Reading, according to The Hollywood Reporter - who call it Burn After Reading. Hmmm.

George Clooney and Frances McDormand were already in the cast. The Coens have written, will direct and produce. Shooting starts in August. There was plenty about this film on film ick before - the search engine at the top of the page will help you, it is your friend, it takes you new places and it shows you new things.

Direct Download Links To New Ocean's 13 Trailer

You can watch the new Ocean's 13 trailer on Yahoo right now, or download it for future delectation.

Frankly, I loved it.

Ocean's 13 Official Site And Stills

The official site for Ocean's 13 is now open, if slightly buggy on my browser at least. Later today, the full trailer goes live but, in the meantime, here's a handful of images from the film. The last one, with David Paymer and Brad Pitt, appears to be from the absoluteconclusion to the film, believe it or not - a moment that I found very amusing on the page and expect Pitt and Paymer to nail perfectly.

Ocean's 13 And The High End Call Girls

Stephen Soderbergh is, as ever, very busy.

Right now, he's in post on Ocean's 13, ahead of it's Cannes premiere (keep reading for some exciting stuff about that one in a few paragraphs) and he's already started shooting one of his two Che Guevera films - and now he's announced another project. This one is about 'high-end call girls' and is going to star non-actors who, very possibly, will be real 'high-end call girls'.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Soderbergh admitted that Bubble only just recouped it's costs. Many have blamed it's daring day-and-date release scheme - in cinemas, on DVD, on cable TV all within a four day period. Only the Landmark chain of cinemas dare show it, so really, the blame lies with the other cinema chains, but they're not the most humble of corporations. There's no way to get them to admit Bubble was a better choice than a fourth week of Munich or Grandma's Boy. The hooker film is going to follow the same release pattern, and I imagine that the cinema chains will wuss out just like before.

Okay - about Ocean's 13. Don Cheadle has mentioned in recent interviews that this threequel will be the end of the line for his character, Basher. If that's true, there's no indication in the script. In fact - spoiler alert! - the entire gang walk away intact, with nothing to suggest they won't be coming back. There's no hook for a sequel, and the last shot does feel like a fitting conclusion (though it doesn't feature any of Danny's gang at all) but the door is certainly still open.

I've read two scripts for Ocean's 13 now, and they were very, very similar. If you ask me, they were also very, very charming. The whole thing has a kind of swining, zippy tone and there's character dripping off of every page.

Of course it's all quite silly and frothy too, but that didn't harm Eleven or Twelve, did it?

We'll be getting up close and personal with the Ocean's 13 script soon, giving you a good look at the set-up, some of the dialogue and my favourite character moments - including why a new character known only as The VUP - as opposed to VIP - is going to steal the show.

Subscribe using your RSS reader or the box at the bottom of the page, to get that update automatically.

Sin City 2 Clues In Actors' Schedules?

Angelina Jolie will be busy with Wanted this summer; Brad Pitt will be busy with State of Play.

Rose McGowan, however, looks to be free for the Sin City 2 shoot, heading off to Stephan Elliot's Susan Cabot biopic Black Oasis later in the autumn.

Anybody know what Rachel Weisz is up to in June and July?

These are the best clues we have for sorting out who will be Ava Lord and who won't - not to mention sussing out that Pitt-as-Dwight rumour.

His Librarianship Is The Pitts

One-time film ick guest script reviewer Mark Cardwell, of the badlibrarianship blog, has alerted me to an interesting rumour...

Brad Pitt is to make a cameo in Sin City 2 as the pre-plastic surgery Dwight, ultimately unpeeling the ol' Calude Rains to end up looking like Clive Owen. Does this support Angelina's involvement in the film? Or was it simply born out of her supposed casting in the first place?

I officially suppose the latter and that neither will be in the film at all.