Eva Green And Ewan McGregor To Star In End-Of-Days Love Story, 'Last Word'

The rather gorgeous Eva Green and Ewan McGregor are set to star in David Mackenzie's "Last Word," which is an apocalyptic-sounding story about two people who fall in love as the world begins to fall apart. Mackenzie and McGregor last worked together on the 2003 drama "Young Adam." "Last Word," is just the working title for now. As much as some people hate it, Green's debut in "The Dreamers" is excellent and it's one of our favorite films of this decade.

Remember when some of us worried about the way Dimension Films was selling John Hillcoat's "The Road," choosing to insert scenes of apocalyptic destruction that had nothing to do with the film into the trailers? Hillcoat worried too. "Well, yeah — there was controversy. From me as well." he told Movieline at TIFF. "Their argument was to give them a little more context, and try to show the more genre elements to that audience. And then, in time, with other stuff — there are going to be a few more teaser trailers to come — they were going to refer more to the book. So it’s those two [approaches], and I can understand that from a marketing point of view."

The L.A Times has an interesting read about Sonny Gerasimowicz, the former-graffiti artist turned ad agency creative, hired by Spike Jonze to draw mock-ups and bring the creatures to life in "Where The Wild Things Are," despite his inexperience. It sounds like a difficult gig. "I would give [Jim Henson Co.'s Creature Shop people] aesthetic direction, 'What if we kind of did this a little bit?' And they'd be, like, 'That's a cool thought.' But they would keep moving with what they were doing," he said.

Robert Redford will be shooting his next picture, the post-Civil War film, "The Conspirator" in Savannah, Georgia. The picture will start shooting in the fall. James McAvoy is being eyed for the lead (more details here).

So much for our theory about 'Pirates Of The Caribbean 4's sub-title "On Stranger Tides" not being related to the pirate novel of the same name by Tim Powers. Asked whether whether these title similarities were coincidence or not, Powers' literary agent said, "I can tell you it is not a coincidence."

First Look Clip: Atom Egoyan's 'Chloe'

Here's the first clip from Atom Egoyan's sexual mindgame film (cause it can't be anything but right?) "Chloe".

It stars Julianne Moore as a doctor who hires an escort (Amanda Seyfried) to seduce her husband (Liam Neeson) who she suspects of cheating. It's also supposed to be one of his most audience-friendly pictures since his excellent 1997 school-kids-die-in-a-bus-crash picture, "The Sweet Hereafter," which is probably a good thing for his career considering almost everything has bombed with both critics and moviegoers alike. This clip pretty much zeros in on the turning point crux of the story. Julianne Moore meets with Seyfried in a bar to see if she's willing to play her game. ""My husband's cheating on me," Moore says. "At least I think he is. I wanna find out and see if he does if you present yourself to him."

No offense, but isn't this the plotline to 1,000 B-movies lite-porno films? We like both Seyfriend and Moore, but they both feel very leaded and stilted in the clip, especially Seyfried who looks like she just walked out of a Skinimax film. Now we're not feeling entirely bad about not getting TIFF tickets to this one. Does it even have distribution yet? Let's hope the full film is much better, apparently the Toronto press are pretty positive about the whole venture.

Samuel Maoz's 'Lebanon' Wins Top Prize At Venice, Todd Solondz Wins Best Screenplay For 'Wartime'

The Venice Film Festival awards are in, but don't expect for too many names you'll recognize. Shut out of all awards were films like Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story," and John Hillcoat's "The Road," which would have helped combat some of the negative buzz.

The major American "mainstream" (very relative) film to win an award was Todd Solondz's "Life During Wartime" which won the Best Screenplay award. We just showed you some footage from it yesterday.

The Golden Lion (the top prize) went to Samuel Maoz's directorial debut, "Lebanon" which is said to be a hard-hitting Israeli war film. British actor Colin Firth won the best actor award for the film “A Single Man,” which is already gaining a lot of buzz (trailer below). It's the directorial debut of fashion designer turned filmmaker, Tom Ford.

The Grand Jury Prize did go to a film we're greatly anticipating which is Fatih Akin's comedy, “Soul Kitchen” ("The Edge of Heaven" was one of our favorite films from 2008). Reuters has the full report. A simple list of winners below via InContention.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION JURY
Golden Lion: “Lebanon” (Samuel Maoz)
Silver Lion: “Women Without Men” (Shirin Neshat)
Grand Jury Prize: “Soul Kitchen” (Fatih Akin)
Best Actor: Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
Best Actress: Ksenia Rappoport, “The Double Hour”
Marcello Mastroianni Prize for Young Performer: Jasmine Trinca, “The Big Dream”
Best Screenplay: Todd Solondz, “Life During Wartime”
Technical Contribution for Set Design: Sylvie Olive, “Mr. Nobody”

OTHER JURIES
Luigi De Laurentiss Lion of the Future: “Engkwentro”
Venice Horizons Documentary: “1428″ (Du Haibin)
Venice Horizons Special Mention: “The Man’s Woman and Other Stories” (Amt Dutta)

"A Single Man" trailer

Has Terrence Malick's 'Tree Of Life' Been Pushed To 2010?

Total conjecture, but some unsubstantiated rumors over at IMDB are saying Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" has been bumped to 2010 and will aim to debut at the Cannes Film Festival, we've been hearing this talk is not unfounded either.

On the one hand we say, "Gee, shocker." Malick is notoriously fastidious, meticulous, persnickety, etc. and his films are finely tooled machines. He takes his sweet-ass artistic time.

On the other hand it's the IMDB board and any monkey can post that and try and pretend it's true (likewise IMDB is partially user generated so never should be considered too much of a legitimate source). If this does turn out to be the case, it'll be the third film this year bumped into 2010 that has changed the Oscar race, one and two being, Paul Greengrass' "Green Zone," and Marty Scorsese's "Shutter Island."

Or you could count it as the fourth film, if the rumors that Alejandro González Iñárritu's "Biutiful" won't hit until 2010, turn out to be true. All these films, minus the Scorsese would have been the 5 of what's left on the most anticipated films of 2009 list, if they were actually coming out this year. We started writing it in June and then of course, one by one they all fell off the list.

But as for this "Tree Of Life"...er... "news," file under internet rumor for now and try not to blow it up into too much. It could easily be total bullshit. The film was said to hit theaters December 25 last time anyone checked. PS, we put in a call to Apparition press, but they're all crazed during TIFF so we don't expect a response for a week. We're not trying to stir the pot. We're just genuinely concerned. How much weaker could 2009 get if this were true?

Taking The Oscar Temperature Before TIFF; Mild Playlist Predix

Every September we do our early Oscar predictions piece and we stress, they are predictions of the right here and now. And let's face it, we're all guessing to some extent, even the bloggers who are specifically devoted to Oscar predictions. Also, these picks ALL change (or relatively) after TIFF. Doing Oscar predictions before you've actually seen all the movies is admittedly a little silly, but when in Rome we suppose, because it's what everyone else does and yes, we'd jump off a cliff if you did.

Someone said earlier this year, can't remember who, but it's very true and it went something like this: "Love the 10 Best Picture Oscars idea, terrible year for it though." This is absolutely correct. 2009 is going to go down in the record books as a pretty mediocre year in film we think. Cannes set the tone as decidedly weak, but some fall films might be able to salvage the year. Here's another dirty little secret no one wants to really admit in public (print, blogs, etc.), but we're all willing to admit it amongst ourselves offline: TIFF is a little underwhelming too.

Anyhow, with that out of the way, these are our picks for now. Once we see the films those opinions can change. Obviously anyone can do predix by just taking the temperature out there. Jason Reitman's "Up In The Air," is essentially already this year's "Slumdog Millionaire," — despite protests from many whining critics at Telluride that there was no 'Slumdog' at that festival.

However, seeing the actual films always gives you a leg up so you can know what you're talking about — i.e. we've been predicting for months that "Bright Star" is going to be a big awards nominee and it could get lost in the noise and shuffle of September's fall film festival, but mark our words, it's still deserving of at least five categories. OK, without further ado, this is where we are right now. Some of this isn't rocket science and you can figure it out yourself.

10 Best Picture Nominees
"Up In The Air"
"Bright Star"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Nine"
"An Education"
"Invictus"
"Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire"

-- these above seven feel like near locks, the next three seem like guesses and filler until we can figure out how the year shapes up.

"Up"
"A Serious Man"
"The Lovely Bones" -- we're putting this one here for filler and when the year nets out, we're almost sure it's not going to make this list. That's a gut call though and perhaps naively thinking better pictures like "Sin Nombre," should be there, but they won't be. Plus we haven't seen 'Bones,' but it doesn't look like Oscar caliber material, in the same way that "Shutter Island" didn't.

No, sorry, maybe not: While we're not big on the rumors, we have been kind of skeptical about, "The Tree Of Life" hitting in 2010. "Inglourious Basterds" is not going to get a nomination. Or at least shouldn't.

Best Director
Clint Eastwood - "Invictus"
Rob Marshall - "Nine"
Kathryn Bigelow - "The Hurt Locker"
Jason Reitman - "Up In The Air"
Jane Campion - "Bright Star"

Lone Scherfig for "An Education" might have an outside shot.

Best Actor
George Clooney - "Up In The Air"
Daniel Day-Lewis - "Nine"
Viggo Mortensen - "The Road" (don't be surprised if he gets edged out here, though)
Morgan Freeman - "Invictus"

Sorry: Mark Wahlberg does not really look like a nominee here for 'Lovely Bones,' but then again, it's hard to tell and it's too early. Some people are saying Matt Damon for "The Informant!" We'll have to wait until next week to decide. We'll just leave it at 4 picks and not put in filler like Awards Daily did with Hugh Dancy for "Adam." Uhh, no way. In fact, a lot of their predix feel wildly off, "District 9" for Best Picture? Ahem, no.

Best Actress
Abbie Cornish - "Bright Star"
Carey Mulligan - "An Education"
Meryl Streep - "Julie & Julia" (she's really great in this, btw)
Gabby Sidibe - "Precious"
Which ever girl is the lead in "Nine" - Penelope Cruz?

We were gonna do more, but fuck it, this is starting to feel like filler or trying to take up space for the point of taking up space. Hate that.. It's too early to tell, though again, "Bright Star," Best Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume, and possibly director.

But we're not fools. Clearly "Bright Star" is losing Oscar traction, but we're hoping to keep it going. It's definitely worthy, definitely much more than "Up" or "Star Trek" (a ridiculous Oscar prediction some have posited).

TIFF '09 Review: 'The Road': Bleak Is Beautiful

Man, where do we start here?

Let's quell your fears if you had any. The trailer for John Hillcoat's "The Road", released a few months ago, worried many, including us, not only because it contained pixelated and clipped devastation newsreel footage — nowhere to be found in the original and beloved Cormac McCarthy book — but it seemed to try and sell an entirely different film: a post-apocalyptic action/thriller the same way Miramax tried to sell their arty and meditative post-apocalyptic film, "Blindness." And in a way it's understandable, as studios always have to try and net the most flies. Esquire called it perhaps, "the most important film of the year," in May and while that remains somewhat to be seen (it's not an outlandish statement that's for sure), the writer's depiction and thoughts on the film were very much on-the-mark.

So two things you need to know. 1) They didn't fuck up the book in the least. It's a very faithful adaptation. And 2) none of that doomsday pre-apocalypse devastation footage is in the film (ardent constituents of the novel were adamant that the film, like the book, had to show zero back story to the unknown havoc that wreaked the Earth, so they'll be about 95% happy).

The film does get off to a somewhat clunky start and there is an opening hint of an explanation that rings false, but it's not a major detractor in the end. While some concessions are apparent in the adaptation, an expository voice-over from Viggo Mortensen (which thankfully disappears after the first twenty minutes) and some questionable flashbacks to the wife character (Charlize Theron), the picture is largely what it should be: a bleak and grim, yet ultimately beautiful story about the undying love between a boy and his father trying to survive the most despondent of situations. It's possible some will go full on for this premise and others could find it hokey. While there are some traces of the latter, the connection between the two characters (and actors) is generally genuine, sometimes brutal and truthful. We also submit Hillcoat's previous work as an example of a director who knows not to go overboard.

Stark, austere and perhaps even monomaniacal in its relentless scorched-earth hopelessness, the picture is also heart wrenching, haunting and elegiac, but we must admit we found it to be immersive and riveting for the entire two hours. It feels like Hillcoat almost pains himself to stay true to McCormac's vision. And in many ways that makes "The Road" a hard film to watch, but that's the point. It's not necessarily enjoyable, but it is as visceral an experience and gut wrenching as it should be.

It's going to be a hard sell, but let's praise the mighty movie gods out there that artistry prevailed, and give Bob Weinstein a pat on the back for letting this one through unscathed and (mostly) uncompromised — when a father is pointing a gun at a little boy, sobbing and apologizing for the unspeakable crime he believes he has to commit while the little boy protests helplessly, you know they're not trying to sanitize the brutal moments therein (you'll realize it was the right decision in the end Bob, don't fuss).
Dreary, yet gripping and fully engaging, "The Road" is the story of an unnamed father and son (Mortensen and newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee) who travel the barren, wretched and ashen gray landscape of America in hopes of reaching the West Coast, where they hope to find some form of salvation. Starving, emaciated and living in an utterly hostile and dilapidated world, filled with hordes of cannibals, inclimate weather and zero food, the duo try their best just to simply survive.

What's left of civilization has been pilfered and pillaged, so what exists are scraps of nourishment and collecting trash to make for shelters and clothing. It's bleak and the aesthetics are somber and unpromising. Respite — and emotional context — is given in the form of dreaming flashbacks, Mortensen's visually gloomy palette is transported to memories of a (sometimes) brighter time when he and his wife (Theron) lived in pastoral happiness. Some might find these flashbacks too much of a contrast and occasionally one feels jarring, but they themselves become more and more depressing as we soon find out why the wife is no longer with the father and child.

Vacillating in tone somewhere between, "The Proposition" and "The Assassination of Jesse James," the key difference is the emotional content. Essentially a love story about father and son — and at times a very severe and painful one — as the film progresses, it becomes more and more heartrending.

Truth be told, the end of the picture emotionally slayed us and we felt like our heart had been practically ripped out of its ribcage. If there were treacly and emotionally manipulative moments, they honestly felt too intense to notice. It's hard sometimes to not get caught up in it, but there admittedly might be some who feel it somewhat aimless. Essentially, if you don't buy the two performances you might be left out in the cold.

Issues may arise for some as there isn't much of a forward-propelling narrative, but this will probably be lesser for those that have been acclimated to the book. The score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis is wonderful and yet, not as powerful or gorgeously doleful as recent scores ('Assassination,' 'Proposition'; though the ending cues are rather angelically mournful. There are many cameos, Michael K. Williams plays a thief who tries to make off with their food, an almost unrecognizable Robert Duvall plays a decrepit man on the road they sympathetically feed, but thankfully none of them come across as superstar appearances (and really some of them look so fucked up and ugly — Guy Pearce for one — that it's challenging to think of anyone who would accuse the picture of trying to create buzz with big names). It's essentially a two-hander, all about Mortensen and Smit-McPhee. They carry and shoulder the burden.

This photo sort of sums it all up. "The Road" is a tear-stained face cleaning off layers of dirty soot, but in all the harrowing misery, there's a deep-seated belief in the human spirit which is what McCarthy's book ultimately zeros in on. One of our biggest issues with disconsolate films (cough, "Frozen River") is the remorseless, increasing conflicts that pile-on a character to the point of overkill, but maybe all those months in the tweaking, gestation period (it was originally due in the Fall of 2008, but really wasn't ready or fine tuned yet) helped out, as the pacing and tenor seemed incredibly well calibrated and conceived.

"The Road" is not entirely perfect, but in the end, the harrowing and devastating qualities of the picture might ravage you enough to overlook any faults, but those "faults" are obviously very subjective. [A-].

Oscar talk? Hmm, it might be overstated. Kodi Smit-McPhee who was said to be a frontrunner for Best Supporting actor is good, but Mortensen carries the weight of the film on his shoulders and if anyone should get a nomination its him. Best Picture? Probably far too dark as hell for the populist Academy with populist new rules. Still, that doesn't mean it might eek out some other nominations, but other than Viggo none seem outwardly apparent (though there is some rather superbly ravaged cinematography and art direction, but too severe to notice?).

'Whip It' Soundtrack, Ala 'Juno' May Deliver Second Bonus CD With Radiohead & Extra Tracks

We already revealed all the details to the 19-track indie-riffic soundtrack to the roller-derby comedy, "Whip It!" from director Drew Barrymore earlier this month.

With help from Wes Anderson's music supervisor Randall Poster, the disc features folks like Jens Lekman, The Ramones, The Go! Team, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Breeders and more and the soundtrack disc comes out on September 29 on Rhino Records.

But there might be more to come. Like the successful, "Juno" soundtrack, which was also released by Rhino, the label and the director are already considering a second disc of bonus cuts, songs that are in the movie that didn't make the cut of the first CD and songs that "inspired" the film.

Billboard spoke to Barrymore and confirmed some details that we had already correctly guessed. Landon Pigg's (who also appears in the film as the romantic interest of lead star Ellen Page) "High Times" is an original song written for the film, and the Chordettes' classic '50s bubblegum tune "Lollipop" was remixed by Squeak E. Clean (Spike Jonze's brother) and Desert Eagles, specifically for the film (Squeak E. Clean also composed the score to David O. Russell's never-coming-out political satire, "Nailed.") Another track clearly commissioned for the film was Har Mar Superstar and Adam Green cover of '60s sunshine pop band the Associations "Never My Love" featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea on horns (this track rules, check it out). Har Mar also has a small part in the film as well.

And apparently there might be more. There is a whopping 75 music cues in "Whip It" (ugh, great, is this thing slathered in pop music?). Swedish indie pop musician Jens Lekman says there are a number of his songs in the film.

There's a few of my songs in Drew Barrymore's directorial debut "Whip it". Drew was really nice, she flew me out to LA, we had a cup of coffee and she showed me some clips from the movie. Usually I say no to film synchs because you just get a short synopsis from someone's agent's agent, and I always feel awkward my song will end up in the wrong context. You know, I write my songs for specific people, I find it hard to find them applied to someone elses story. But Drew listened to my concerns and we discussed the scenes she had in mind.

So Barrymore says cuts that could make the potential 2nd soundtrack disc include Radiohead's "No Surprises" and score music by the Section Quartet. An ITunes playlist, presumably, Barrymore's celebrity one will include "a lot of the songs we were listening to while we were making the movie that didn't end up in the movie or for whatever reason we couldn't have in the movie or we discovered them too late or whatever. They're just sort of songs that inspired us." "Whip It" hits theaters October 2 and apart from starring Ellen Page the film also features Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, Jimmy Fallon and Daniel Stern.

The original Association track, "Never My Love"
Jens Lekman - "Your Arms Around Me"

Michael Bay's Worker Bees Fire Back: Megan Fox Is An Ungrateful *$$#@

Salvo number... five, six, seven? In the tet-offensive war of words between Megan Fox and Michael Bay, yet another verbal hand grenade has been lobbied into the fray today and this one's a doozy.


In comes neither from Fox or the apparently tyrannical director, but actually from a more genuine place. The low-hanging fruit of the Michael Bay crew and the plebes who have to do the dirty work.

Crew people are the most honest people you'll meet in Hollywood. They're no-nonsense, have zero entourages, and they're not the star of the show in any way and in most instances their jobs are largely thankless. They're the grunts on the front line, so if you want the most candid opinion of a star or director, go to a crew member who gets to observe their behavior all day.

The long and short? We're inclined to believe their missive aimed at Fox. If Bay's crew hated him they'd either say it or just keep their traps shut. But an entitled pop starlet who is a pain in the ass on set? If she's going to continue to talk out of turn, these guys are finally gonna speak and they did. Essentially, they call her an ungrateful C-U Next Tuesday.

We are in different departments; we can’t give our names because sadly doing so in Hollywood could lead to being banished from future Paramount work. One of us touches Megan’s panties, the other has the often shitty job of pulling Ms. Sour Pants out of her trailer, while another is near the Panaflex camera that helps to memorialize the valley girl on film.

Say what you want about Michael - yes at times he can be hard, but he’s also fun, and he challenges everyone for a reason - he simply wants people to bring their ‘A’ game. He comes very prepared, knows exactly what he wants, involves the crew and expects everyone to follow through with his or her best, and that includes the actors. He’s one of the hardest working directors out there.

[W]ho is the real Megan Fox? She is very different than the academy nominee and winning actors we’ve all worked around. She’s as about ungracious a person as you can ever fathom. She shows little interest in the crew members around her. We work to make her look good in every way, but she’s absolutely never appreciative of anyone’s hard work. Never a thank you. All the crewmembers have stopped saying hi to Ms. Princess because she never says hello back. It gets tiring. Many think she just really hates the process of being an actress.

The press certainly doesn’t know her most famous line. On our first day in Egypt, the Egyptian government wouldn’t let us shoot because of a permit problem as the actors got ready in make up at the Four Seasons Hotel. Michael tried to make the best of it; he wanted to take the cast and crew on a private tour of the famous Giza pyramids. God hold us witness, Megan said, “I can’t believe Michael is fucking forcing us to go to the fucking pyramids!” I guess this is the “Hitler guy” she is referring to. […] Hopefully Michael will have Megatron squish her character in the first ten minutes of Transformers 3. We can tell you that will make the crew happy!

Color us shocked with her on-set behavior. Unbeknownst to this crew when their wrote their missive, Fox actually fired yet another not-s0-subtle diss at Bay during the junket for "Jennifer's Body" (a godawful film, really) at TIFF yesterday. “It’s different working for a woman. She obviously understands… She’s much more sensitive...not in the sense ... that I have my [spray] tan on and need to be glowing all the time. We were real people in a real town, and we showed the beauty in that: Real is beautiful. You don’t have to look like an airbrushed Cosmopolitan cover all the time to be attractive. [Pause] And I didn’t have to bend over a bike, which was nice.”

Gee, who could she possibly be referring to? So is it save to say the save-the-date for "Transformers 3" is officially off now? [MichaelBay.com via Movieline]

'Wall Street 2' Set Shots, 'Hancock 2' Not 100% A Go? And More Details On The Nick Cassavetes/New Line Lawsuit

Just Jared has shots of Shia LeBeouf and Frank Langella on the set of Oliver Stone's "Wall Street 2" today. Langella plays the younger actor's mentor in the film.

Many are speculating that this novel is the plot of the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" film simply because they have the same title. One of our contributors says, "Pffft, too easy of a call. I don't buy it. There would have been more about Disney acquiring the rights, adapting it, etc. Plus the end of the third one suggests an entirely different storyline." You nerd, I mean, heard it here first.

Larry Gelbart, the witty writer behind "Tootsie" and "Oh, God!" and a key writing force of television's "M-A-S-H," died today at age 81 after a long battle with cancer.

Also, we're not sure if anyone cares, but Goldstein says Variety missed the boat with their reporting on the Nick Cassavetes-suing-New Line story. The backstory is that "Peaceable Kingdom," a biopic about Dame Daphne Sheldrick's efforts to prevent elephant extinction in Kenya, should have been a PG-13 film in the vein of "Gorillas in the Mist," but that Cassavetes turned it into a much darker R-Rated film. He also says actresses like, Kate Winslet, Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Drew Barrymore all had expressed interest in the role.

Variety confirmed that Peter Berg's "Hancock 2," is ready to go, right? Not exactly. Sony stressed that official talent deals have yet to be signed, despite the fact that Berg said Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman are all returning, and the studio has yet to set a release date for the picture. That didn't stop Berg from revealing some of the proposed plans for the sequel. "We're looking at exploring their relationship prior to when we first met them and seeing a bit of what happened as a prequel," he told MTV. "I think we danced around the concept of an origins and we settled on something that is very substantive. That will part of the sequel."

Proof that their winning story won't die, Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner, the members of the Canadian band featured in the excellent documentary, “Anvil! The Story of Anvil," will make an appearance on “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” airing Tuesday, October 6th on NBC. That is the day of their DVD release. The largely self-distributed film came out in April on a handful of screens, but these guys are still slowly gaining more attention which is wonderful for them. They deserve it.

Gavin Hood Not Asked Back For 'Wolverine 2,' Hopefully Considers Different Line Of Work

You can say this for "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," one of our favorite punching bags this summer — it looks, sounds and feels like the work of a man with a singular vision, Mr. Michael Bay. The other ghastly, terrible summer blockbuster —"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" — looked and felt like it could have been made by a contest winner. Unlike Bay, that contest winner is also an Oscar winner. Gavin Hood must be smarting from a painful graduation to Hollywood. After directing the really-not-very-good Johannesburg-set "Tsotsi," he moved on to the seen-by-no-one torture drama "Rendition" before being tabbed for the "Wolverine" gig, only to fight back specious rumors that he was losing a wrestling match with Fox exec Tom Rothman and watching from the sidelines as reshoots were being conducted by Richard Donner.

Now that the DVD is set for release, Gavin Hood is doing press on the film, and when asked about a sequel, the poor guy is left hanging. Hood is noncommittal, saying, "I don’t even know if I would be involved. Right now I’m not attached. Nobody’s attached. They’re developing a script and we’ll see where everybody is. I’m hoping to be shooting something next year and I don’t think that ‘Wolverine’ will be ready for next year. I haven’t been approached one way or another. The studio is obviously very cautious. They want to see how Wolverine does on DVD. Let them develop the script, let’s see what the script looks like, let’s see how the studio feels about the script, how Hugh feels about it and then we’ll take it from there."

Seeing as how a potential Wolverine sequel has to be in some sort of development at this point (Fox is routinely slow in their franchise development, but a massive undertaking like that would have to be underway by now), the fact that Hood hasn't been approached with story ideas suggests its good riddance to the helmer of the year's most incompetently directed studio film. He also notes that "no one" has been approached (not true- Hugh Jackman is obviously still involved, and Chris McQuarrie has been hired to pen the script), which suggests that while he's out of the loop, he does understand that a sequel is no sure thing.

The film so far has sold $363 million worth of tickets worldwide, which is more than $100 million less than the last "X-Men" picture, but with a (reported) budget of $150 million, an ad budget that had to have been in excess of $100 million, not to mention a boatload of bad notices and controversy that resulted in the loss of a major Fox employee (Rhodes scholar Roger Friedman, who openly admitted to downloading the workprint), the studio has to be a bit conflicted. The numbers say the X-franchise remains robust, but is another $200-300 million expenditure worth it for that much of a headache?

Whatever headache this entails, it won't involve Hood, who has no upcoming directorial projects in development. We are wearing our Surprise face.

Soderbergh Reiterates: No 'Ocean's 14,' 'Pippa Lee' Poster, Random TIFF Thoughts...

Just some random things we saw this evening worth rounding up.

During today's "Informant!" press conference at the Toronto Int. Film Festival, director Steven Soderbergh once again reiterated that there would be no chance of a fourth, "Ocean's" film now that Bernie Mac has passed. "We're in talks with McG for 'Ocean's 14', " Damon quipped, sarcastically, perhaps even taking a little swipe at the 'Terminator Salvation' filmmaker. "That one's going to come back to you," Soderbergh said. "I can see some Twittering right now." In a separate interview, Soderbergh said his long-gestating Spalding Gray documentary was complete. The filmmaker says he's going to take it to Slamdance which suggest it's very niche-oriented and perhaps even eventually smaller than releases like, "The Girlfriend Experience." We'll see we guess.

Here's the poster for "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee." We've written about it before, but didn't realize it had such a great cast. On top of Robin Wright Penn, who's performance is so good, it's apparently beginning to generate Oscar buzz, it also stars Maria Bello, Blake Lively, Julianne Moore, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Monica Belluci and Alan Arkin. The film is directed by Rebecca Miller, Daniel Day-Lewis' wife.

"A History of Violence" screenwriter Josh Olson created a minor controversy this week when he wrote a little preemptive warning to friends and acquaintances in the film business called, "I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script." It pretty much speaks for itself. Budding amateur screenwriters take heed.

More proof that Peter Travers is off his rocker and not living in the real world? The Rolling Stone critic, often given to hyperbole, believes that James Cameron's "Avatar" will earn itself one of the 10 Best Picture nominations at this year's Oscars. Fat chance.

Anne Thompson says the Coen Brothers' "A Serious Man," delivers.

L.A. Times writer Patrick Goldstein says, don't believe the negative hype, and put "The Road" back on your Oscar ballot. Hear, hear.

Hitflix calls the new Natalie Portman film, "Love and Other Impossible Pursuits" a "misfire" at TIFF. Maybe if Portman shot missiles out of her eyeballs in some scene, the reaction might have been a little different. Then again, to be fair, 2005's "Happy Endings" is a movie we shut off about 20 minutes in because we were so bored.

Jason Segel's 'Muppets' Movie To Be 'Cheapest One Ever'?

This afternoon at the Disney Expo in Anaheim, California, the Walt Disney Studios unloaded as much information on new projects as they could, and seemingly in the face of the Toronto International Film Festival, which generally promotes real films.

We already mentioned plans for 'Pirates Of The Caribbean 4,' now officially titled, "Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," yes, starring Johnny Depp (they should have subtitled it "College Fund For The Kids, Plus Padding") and Guilllermo del Toro's new production label created to make new animated films called, Double Dare You.

But there's more. Remember Jason Segel's Muppet Movie that was announced in March, 2008, but seemed to have lost traction? Well, it's actually happening, still written by Segel and now called, "The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made!" Evidently there will be song and dance numbers — Segel is a pretty accomplished musician and wrote songs for "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" as well as penning songs for Russell Brand's "Get Him To The Greek" — as Muppets came onstage and did a whole spiel. However, Segel wasn't actually there and MTV says the Disney folks did not specify whether this version and Segel's were one and the same.

Let's just say for argument's sake they are, because we don't want to remake this graphic. Other Disney announcements that we [read: me] don't care about — though some Playlist writers surely do for some reason — Andrew Stanton's "John Carter of Mars" will be the first in a trilogy (franchise alert!), the Robert Zemeckis "Yellow Submarine" 3D film was, errr, re-confirmed (how is that a story? it was already in the trades) and fans of John Travolta can sleep easy now that plans for "Wild Hogs 2: Bachelor Ride" have been officially announced (we wish we were just making that up, but sadly, we're not).

Lastly, Tim Burton announced that his next project will be a stop-motion adaptation of "Frankenweenie," the short film he made prior to his finest hour ever in, "Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure" (he still hasn't topped that thing). And by announcing that as his next project he probably means he'll be overseeing it and taking credit for it ala, "The Nightmare Before Christmas," which was really a Henry Selick film, because doesn't Burton have "Dark Shadows" or a Halloween party to attend to next?

Update: 'Bourne 4' Update: Matt Damon Hasn't Read Scripts; Might Shoot In "2 Years"?

Ok, here's a small, but revealing little update on "Bourne 4." Earlier in the week we alluded to some of the behind-the-scenes issues going on with "Bourne 4" right, and all of them seem to be studio-based according to an interview with Matt Damon, as he and director Paul Greengrass have their heads in different places.

To recap, there's two scripts being written. One by George Nolfi (who co-wrote 'Bourne 3' and is currently busy working with Matt Damon on "The Adjustment Bureau") is complete. But Universal has hired another writer, Josh Zetumer, to write what they are diplomatically calling a "parallel" script. What does that tell you about the first script that's been turned in? Maybe that people aren't so happy with it and they've turned to another writer perhaps?

So there's two scripts and one that is basically done, right? Damon hasn't read either? "Not yet," he tells Collider. "Paul finished cutting 'The Green Zone' except for some effects. It’s coming out in March. He hasn’t had a break literally since he did 'The Bourne Supremacy' - which is six years ago now. So he was like, 'I need to take a break'... so he’s been on vacation for about three weeks and he’s going to take a few more and then he said he’d come to New York and we’d sit down and we’d talk seriously about it."

So yes, the studios, producers and suits have been discussing 'Bourne 4' quite a bit and doing lots of strategizing — hiring two writers, doing everything they can so the picture can shoot in the fall/late fall of 2010 — which yes, right now is the intended goal and the scheduled time-frame that Damon, a big star, has left open for them. If they miss that window, they could be fucked.

What does it all really mean? Damon and Greengrass haven't really sat down to discuss this in earnest yet and with Greengrass apparently sniffing around on other projects... We'll see where it all nets out in the next few weeks.

Update: during the Toronto International Film Festival press conference for "The Informant!," a Steven Soderbergh film that Damon stars in, the actor was asked about "Bourne 4," and he didn't sound anymore convinced the film was going to happen anytime soon than he has in recent weeks. Reiterating the idea of only making another film if there's a good script, Damon said, "There's not one [a Bourne film happening] in the next year at least, or two. Maybe in two years we can shoot one if we got a good script, but... [pausing for a long time], it's the same way we felt about the other one. If we can figure out a way to do it, then we'll do it, but we won't do one just to do it."

Not shooting for two years? Oof. Of course that's just Damon speculation, but that would put the film off until 2012-ish and of course, Univeral would love to shoot this one next fall. The 'Bourne' plot thickens, but it really feels like these guys would like to explore other avenues and as we reported earlier, Greengrass is looking around.

'Wild Things' & Karen O: "No Fat Kids!"

Now this is rather amusing.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Ad Council today launched a new series of public service advertisements designed to address childhood obesity. Featuring characters from the upcoming film, "Where the Wild Things Are," the PSAs are an extension of HHS' Childhood Obesity Prevention campaign with the Ad Council, which encourages children and families to lead healthy lifestyles. The ads are being distributed to media outlets nationwide this week.

The ad of course uses Karen O & The Kids' "Sesame Street"-like uber-earnest sing-along, "All Is Love," from the "Where The Wild Things Are" soundtrack, and footage from the Spike Jonze film. The message at the end is, "did you play today?" I.e. get your pudgy little asses off the Internet and stop watching stupid trailers and clips on retarded blogs like this one. You wouldn't want to be Daddy's chubby little secret after all, right? Hilarious and yes, we're assholes. Sorry, just kind of amusing.

Steven Soderbergh Raves About Marvin Hamlisch's Musical Work On 'The Informant!'

Alright, we haven't posted incessantly or anything because clearly not that many people are interested, but when we first learned legendary '70s composer Marvin Hamlisch was recruited to write the music for Steven Soderbergh's "The Informant!," we were incredibly psyched (No really, he's one of the two people in the world who has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, a Tony, a Golden Globe and a Pulitzer Prize).

Not only did Hamlisch write scores for seminal films like, Woody Allen's "Bananas," "The Sting," "The Way We Were," "The Spy Who Loved Me," "Ordinary People," "Sophie's Choice," etc., Soderbergh roping him into working on the film was a coup: the composer hadn't scored a film in 13 years (1996's "The Mirror Has Two Faces").

Hamlisch's '70s music — of a time and place that we affectionately dubbed "melodramatic teardrop-pop" — is perhaps a little cornball for these times (though still pretty awesome in a Burt Bacharach-ian manner), but in the context of black comedy, "The Informant!" the uber-kitchsy retro pop sounds like a fantastic idea, and by all accounts it is. While we haven't seen the film yet (next week! argh!), we did hear some of the soundtrack when it was released in August and it's pretty hysterical. In a TIFF press conference that happened today (that Warner Bros. put online), Soderbergh had some really high plaudits for his musical collaborator.

"This guy's incredible. If he's not the smartest guy musically in the world, he's tied for first. It was really a clinic watching him work and he understood so clearly that the music had to do two things at the same time: function as a mood enhancer, but it's also [Matt Damon's character's] soundtrack to his own life. It's his music. And whenever people say, 'I'm not sure about the music, it gets a little big sometimes, I'm not sure if it fits.' I try to explain, 'It's not for you, it's his music.' It's the soundtrack he hears as he's walking around and Marvin really understood that intuitively and he's so quick."

We honestly can't wait. While "The Informant!" is being called a fun trifle at best by some critics, it's still getting pretty decent reviews overall. It hits theaters next week on September 18 and we'll see it only a few short days before that at TIFF (no we can't wait, sorry). No "Informant!" audio clips seem to be available online, so we leave you with the next best things. The official revival and musical appreciation campaign starts here. Before we're done they'll have box-set'ed up his awesome oeuvre in the coolest little package.

Carly Simon - "Nobody Does It Better" (which Hamlisch co-wrote)

Marvin Hamlisch - "Bond '77 (his cheesy version of the Bond theme in the best possible way, you must listen).

Marvin Hamlisch - "Cause I Believe In Lovin' You" (from "Bananas")

New U.S. 'Antichrist' Trailer Pushes "Controversial" Angle

There are approximately 17,345 versions of the trailer for Lars Von Trier's scabrous, controversial and genital-mutilating phantasmagorical horror film, "Antichrist" starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Ok, this is patently untrue, but we have already seen what three, four versions so far? What's one more, right? Now the domestic U.S. edition has arrived for those not entirely exhausted on a film they probably haven't seen yet. Predictably to capitalize on the infamous buzz, both excoriating and laudatory, IFC, the makers of this trailer are pushing the "oooh, it's the most controversial movie you will ever see!" angle, which to be fair... they have to try and sell it somehow.

When it was screened at Cannes earlier this year, the scandalizing picture mostly polarized critics. Some loved it and some hated it, but knowing mischievous enfant terrible Lars Von Trier, he wouldn't have it any other way. Us? We neither adored nor loathed it. The first half is rather haunting and genuinely terrifying (the sound design is incredibly creepy and special kudos for that), and the second half goes off the rails a bit in its nuttiness, to say the least (yes, it just might produce some unintentional laughs, hello talking foxes), but there is still a lot of value to the sometimes-loony film and there are some breathtaking moments to be sure. No matter how much you might want to rail against it, there is artistry and vision in everything Von Trier creates. We will say one thing, the Apple version of this trailer does convey how beautiful the film looks, something slightly lost in the not-quite-as-sharp and crisp international version we've seen so far. Also, wonder what Lars thinks about this awesome, snip-snip poster, hee.

"Antichrist" hits U.S. theaters in limited release on Oct 23, but it also hits TIFF now and the New York Film Festival in late September.

"King of the Bs" Roger Corman Finally Recognized By The Academy

Avuncular, legendary cheapo genre director Roger Corman will finally be recognized by Oscar this year, with a Lifetime Achievement award for his prolific and influential body of work.

In addition to producing 300 pictures, and directing 50, the mild-mannered Corman also apprenticed and mentored some filmmakers you may have heard of, such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, James Cameron, Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdonavich, Monte Hellman and Curtis Hanson, just to name a few, and launched the acting careers of Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, David Carradine, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Pam Grier, and Robert DeNiro, among others.

The American New Wave is impossibly indebted to his generosity, DIY-attitude, mentorship and near-sociopathic compulsion to scrimp and save on every production nickel, mostly by hiring kids out of college to direct his decidedly-B cheapo schlocky, genre pics. He basically just threw pictures at kids like they were crackerjack prizes. "You direct it then!" Corman once famously said to a young Peter Bogdanovich, who was then an editor trying to cobble random Boris Karloff footage into a film that he eventually turned into his debut, "Targets."

After doing his own tour of duty under crank-em-out picture house AIP (American International Pictures) Corman also founded New World Pictures in 1970, an indie production/distribution studio, through which he produced cult-classic "Death Race 2000." Can't wait for the Corman montage — the Oscars are about to get a whole lot more women-in-prisony.

The Academy will also honor the great Lauren Bacall and venerable cinematographer Gordon Willis ("The Godfather," "Annie Hall," "The Parallax View," "Interiors," every great movie of the '70s) with Lifetime achievement awards.

Here's the trailer for Corman's 1960 "Little Shop of Horrors," which he claims to have shot in two days and a night. A young Jack Nicholson appears in this flick too.