Peter Jackson To Direct Two HOBBIT Films In 3D?

Has Lord Of The Rings impresario Peter Jackson finally buried the hatchet with New Line Cinema honcho Tom Shaye?

That's what Jim Dorey over at MarketSaw seems to think.

The site is reporting that Jackson is definitely going to be adapting J R R Tolkien's The Hobbit, filming a two film prequel to his landmark Lord Of The Rings trilogy. In addition, Jackson will be shooting the films in 3D! Furthermore, Jackson will also be going back to Rings and converting the trilogy into 3D for re-release. Presumable this will be similar to the way A Nightmare Before Christmas has been converted.

The two-part Hobbit adaptation is an idea that has been around for awhile. Jackson has stated that he would use some of Tolkien's supplimentary notes to expand the original novel and provide a stronger link between it and The Lord Of The Rings.

Although currently in production on his latest film, The Lovely Bones, Jackson is also developing a three film adaptation of the Belgium comic strip Tintin with Steven Spielberg, to be produced through mtion capture animation in 3D, much in the same way the recently released Beowulf was produced, but preserving the strip's distinctive character designs.

While MarketSaw is a relatively new site, I tend to think their might be something to their source. Earlier this week, the site was asked politely by Twentieth Century Fox lawyers to remove an image of one of the aliens from James Cameron's upcoming Avatar, an image supplied by the same source as this story.

As it is now the weekend, we'll probably have to wait until st least Monday before any official word on this story.

George Takei Gets STAR TREK Cameo- NOT!!

Late this afternoon, a story quickly ripped across the internet that original Star Trek series star George Takei was set to reprise his role of Hikaru Sulu in a flash forward scene in J J Abrams' currently in production Star Trek franchise reboot. Reportedly, he would appear in a flash forward scene with original Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy, whose appearance in the film has already been confirmed.

Unfortunately, it wasn't true.

Oh my!

We can thank the folks over at Trek Movie Report for debunking the rumor. Rather than just repeat the story, which can be traced back to British genre magazine Starburst, the site contacted Brad Altman, Takei’s business manager and partner, who told the site "The Starburst Magazine article is erroneous, we will be as surprised as the fans if George is in Star Trek XI."

Currently, Takei is in production on the film The Red Canvas, which will be released next year.

I find myself a bit disappointed at this particular bit of rumor debunking. I've become a fan of Takei in large part due to his many appearances on Howard Stern's Sirius Satellite Radio talk show, where he has displayed an incredible sense of humor, even when the joke may be at his own expense. He has also been refreshingly candid about the less than ideal relationship he and other Trek castmembers shared with series star William Shatner. Trek Movie Report also stated that Takei is scheduled to appear on Stern's show next week, so perhaps he'll address this recent rumor. At least, he should dish some more dirt on Shatner.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: Wonder Woman And Batman Casting. . . Maybe

Well, another week has passed and we still haven't had the rumored/promised announcement of the cast of director George Miller's comic book adaptation Justice League from Warner Brothers. However, some outlets have apparently confirmed two of the casting rumors that were circulating earlier this month.

Armie Hammer is definitely the actor set to take on the role of Batman, at least according to IESB’s sources. Like many of the names that have been circulating around this project, Hammer's filmography is fairly light on substantial credits, with the actor having appeared in small supporting roles on a couple of television series and in 2006’s Flicka.

Meanwhile, Who Magazine (Australias version of People) is reporting, with AintItCool apparently confirming through its various sources, that statuesque model Megan Gale has been cast as Wonder Woman. At 32, she is older than a majority of the names that have bandied about for the cast. However, she has very little previous acting experience, only appearing in the Italian film Stregati Dalla Luna (2001) and the box office bomb Stealth (2005).

Previously
JUSTICE LEAGUE: More Cast Rumors/Script Problems?
JUSTICE LEAGUE Cast Starting To Leak?

This Week's Theatrical Releases.

Big week this week. Thanksgiving activities took me away from doing one of these last week, so, as punishment, I only have one new release this week. Let's get to it.

1. Awake (2,002 Theaters, Rated R): They pretty much creeped me out by real-life premise of being awake during a surgery. Having surgery is scary enough, imagine being able to hear what they are doing to you? What if you hear them say "oops"? Man, that would suck.

Hayden Christensen doesn't hear that. He hears the doctors planning to kill him, which I guess would be far worse.

So, it appears the movie is a murder mystery, presumably without the murder. I mean, they make such a point of Christensen's character being able to hear the plotters that if would be fairly anti-climatic if they actually succeed.

This film is interesting in the sense that it features a comic book/sci-fi fan's dream cast, what, with Sue Storm, Anakin Skywalker and James "Rhodey" Rhodes in it. Eventually, there will be movies where the entire cast starred in a comic book or Star Wars movie.



Now, the predictions. Two weeks ago, this is what I thought the top five would be:

1. Beowulf
2. Bee Movie
3. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
4. American Gangster
5. Fred Claus

And this is how it was:

1. Beowulf
2. Bee Movie
3. American Gangster
4. Fred Claus
5. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

This makes me 35 out of 75 over 15 weeks, with an average of 46%. This is how I think this week will work out:

1. Awake
2. Enchanted
3. Beowulf
4. This Christmas
5. Bee Movie

What do you think?

SUPERMAN III: It Could Have Been Worse

A few months back, I was working my way through my box set of the Christopher Reeves Superman films, when the inevitable happened. I had to watch Superman III. I hadn't seen the film all the way through since it originally ran in theaters in 1983. Loving the first two films, Superman III came as an incredible disappointment to the 14-year old me, as it did to nearly everyone else who saw the film. Watching it years later, the film's storyline of Superman fighting evil corporate magnate Robert Vaughn and bumbling computer genius Richard Pryor was just as bad, if not worse, than I remembered it to have been.

However, it turns out that Superman III could have been worse.

Much, much worse.

The folks over at Superman Cinema, the premier site for the original Reeves Superman films, have posted the original eight page story proposal for the third film written by series producer Ilya Salkind, and it is not good.

The movie still opens with getting Lois Lane out of the way - This was going to happen no matter what as Margot Kidder had been rather vocal about director Richard Donner's removal from Superman II mid-way through its production - with Clark's old hometown crush Lana Lang showing up as the Daily Planet's new hotshot reporter. Any budding romance between them is cut short though, by the arrival of Supergirl on Earth. Unlike the comics, this version of Supergirl isn't Superman's cousin, so they quickly fall for each other.

There is no intentional comedy in the outline, but the story is laughably bad. The amount of liberties taken in the synopsis would have comics fans marching on Warner Brothers with torches and pitchforks. While it is nice to see that Salkind was interested in using villains other than Lex Luthor from the comics - the superintelligent android Brainiac, who is hunting Supergirl and Mr. Mxyzptlk, a magical imp from the fifth dimension who has the power to make MS Word's spell check feature suffer a nervous breakdown - their use seems to be inconcistant and their actions are determined by what crazy action sequence Salkind wanted next. The finale of the proposal features a powerless Superman and Brainiac in a jousting match!

Don't take my word for it, head over to Superman Cinema and see for yourself.

Daniel Craig As 007: License Not Renewed?

It appears that maybe MGM President Harry Sloan may have spoken too soon last month when he announced that Casino Royale star Daniel Craig had been signed for an additional four films for the studio's longrunning James Bond franchise.

Bond fansite MI6 is now reporting that Craig has denied that he's reupped for four more tours of duty in her Majesty's Secret Service as the suave and deadly 007. Craig made the denial during a recent press event for the upcoming The Golden Compass.

Well, that's what's been said, it's not that it's not true, because I haven't signed up. What I've done is I've signed up on the next movie [Bond 22], after that we'll see. That's the way I'm doing it, and certainly it's not four more - that's the truth. It's certainly not four more.

From Craig's words it sounds as if there is an option for him to do more, depending on how both he and the studio feel about continuing. Hopefully, MGM will be able to hold on to Craig as the franchise's reboot, which he is the core of, has really energized the franchise creatively.

Currently the untitled follow-up to Casino Royale is being prepared to go in front of the cameras in January for release in November 2008.

THE ORPHANAGE: Poster And Trailer

Director Guillermo Del Toro has earned the reputation for creating some memorable horror films in both his native Spain and in Hollywood. Now, he is mentoring a protege, Juan Antonio Bayona, who latest feature, The Orphanage, has already been creating positive buzz on the fall festival circuit.

The film concerns a young woman who decides to reopen the orphanage where she was raised. However, she and her husband and son soon discover that there are spirits in the old home and they have unsettled business. Perhaps not quite the seasonal offering one would expect for a film opening a few days after Christmas, but after dealing with the holiday shopping and traveling, perhaps it's not such a departure.




You can view the trailer here.

A First Look At Cameron's AVATAR?

James Cameron's science-fiction epic Avatar has been in development for the past several years, only going into production once computer-generated visual effects technology finally caight up to his vision for the story of a paralyzed war veteran who joins with a group of explorers who come into conflict with the natives of a distant planet.

The production, which stars Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Matt Gerald, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, Wes Studi, Stephen Lang, CCH Pounder and Michelle Rodriguez has been fairly secretive, but this piece of artwork appeared online earlier today. Is it one of the aliens whose look will be realized through a motion capture process similar to the one used for Beowulf? It certainly fits the descriptions that have been circulating as to what the aliens of the film will look like.



Avatar is scheduled for a May 2009 release.

Via JoBlo
(Original source MarketSaw)

INDIANA JONES IV Pics! Ready For Action!

Now THAT'S more like it!


Indiana Jones. Leather jacket and battered hat. The pistol. And of course, the whip.

I know that some people, perhaps myself included, were a little leery over how Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford's return to the Indiana Jones franchise was going to turn out. Sure, bringing back Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood (from Raiders) was a definite step in the right direction. However, the pictures taken when the film was on location in Connecticut showing Indy riding "bitch" on a motorcycle to Shia LeBeouf's character certainly did not install much confidence.

But now, these three pictures (click to supersize) that apparently have shown up at the Internet Movie Database and which are rapidly spreading across the internet show Ford as the Indiana Jones we know and love. At this moment, Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull's release date of May 22, 2008 can not get here fast enough for me.

WATCHMEN: First Set Pics

With his last film, 300, Zack Snyder demonstrated he knew how to capture the unique visuals of the comic book medium on film. Now Snyder is currently in production on an adaptation of the groundbreaking 1980s graphic novel Watchmen. It is a project that has been in development with several directors stretching back to the early '90s, with budgetary concerns being one of the main reasons for the various attempts never being given the go ahead.

Warner Brothers have now released four pictures which are the first glimpses we've been given of the fairly massive New York City set built in Vancouver for the production. How massive is the set? Check out Warner Brothers' Watchmen site for all the details. It's mind-boggling, but the attention to detail definitely shows, as can be seen below.

The first picture, a corner magazine stand, should be familiar to anyone who has read the graphic novel. Those craving a look at one of the costumed heroes of the story may want to take a good look at the last picture. Click on any picture to make bigger.

BLADE RUNNER Location In Need Of Restoration

While it may have looked like a partly crumbling old building in its appearance in 1982's Blade Runner, real life Los Angeles landmark and sometimes movie location, The Ennis House, has not weathering the passage of time well and is now in need of $10 million dollars in repair and restoration work.

The Ennis House, designed by preeminent architect Frank Lloyd Wright, has been used as a location in various films over the years. It served as Harrison Ford’s home in Blade Runner. It was also featured as the titular House On Haunted Hill in the 1959 film where Vincent Price made an offer of $10,000 to anyone who could last the night the reputedly haunted mansion. The Ennis House has also appeared in such films as Day Of The Locust (1975), Black Rain (1989), Predator 2 (1990), The Rocketeer (1991) and The Replacement Killers (1998).

Built on a hilltop overlooking Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory and much of the Los Angeles basin in 1924, The Ennis is not only a strong example of Wright’s design work, but of his love of experimenting with the building materials used in his designs. In the case of the Ennis, Wright employed a system of concrete blocks cast with ornamental designs on the exposed surfaces and held together with mortar and steel reinforcing. Because of the ornamental designs in the blocks, they not only hold up the structures floors and roof, they are also its finishing materials, exposing them to the elements. Such exposure caused them to wear and crumble much faster than normally expected.

By 2005, earthquakes and rain had weakened the building’s foundation to the point where there was a strong concern that it could tumble and slide down from its hilltop perch and the building was closed.

The building is now owned by the Ennis House Foundation, a private conservancy that has already stabilized it. However, they feel that there is an estimated $10 million in repair work left to restore the Ennis to its former glory.

Via The Boston Globe

Stephen Chow's CJ7 Trailer

It's been two-and-a-half years since Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle graced American cinema screens and fans of the Hong Kong comic/actor/director have been anxiously awaiting his next film.

Chow has done a good job on keeping a lid on specifics of the production, but it is known, after some initially confused reports, that the film will be called CJ7 and will feature Chow as a poor, widowed laborer who has an encounter with aliens. A teaser trailer for the film has now shown up online, and it doesn’t reveal much more than what we already know.

Maybe my expectations are set a bit high after the great one-two punch of Shaolin Soccer (2001) and Kung Fu Hustle, but the trailer leaves a bit under whelmed. Is Chow keeping the film’s jokes a close to his vest? Perhaps Chow is going to for a tone that’s different from his two previous comic masterpieces?

CJ7 is set for release in 2008.

Previously-
Stephen Chow’s Next- CJ7
More Pics From Stephen Chow’s Latest

Review: THE MIST

Great horror stories don't necessarily deal with something from the outside threatening people as it does with what may lurk within the hearts of the characters themselves.

Writer/director Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's classic tale The Mist mixes this two horrors with surprisingly strong results.

Read our review here for the full details.

Munchkins Get Walk Of Fame Star

Almost seven decades after they welcomed a twister-tossed Dorothy to the magical land of Oz, the diminutive Munchkins were welcomed to the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a presentation of their own star commerating their part in the classic The Wizard of Oz.

The ceremony was held Tuesday in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater, the same place that the film first premiered in 1939. Attending the ceremony were seven of the original 124 actors who portrayed the Munchkins, several of whom are familar faces to Wizard Of Oz fans.

"We love you. You have touched our hearts," former Munchkin Mickey Carroll,who played the the Town Crier of Munchkinland, told the crowd. Carroll was joined by Clarence Swensen, a Munchkin soldier; Jerry Maren, part of the Lollipop Guild; Karl Slover, the Main Trumpeter; Ruth Duccini, a Munchkin villager; Margaret Pelligrini, the "sleepyhead" Munchkin and Meinhardt Raabe, the coroner.

The seven arrived at the ceremony in a horse-drawn carriage. Instead of the traditonal red carpet, there was a yellow one, recalling the film's yellow brick road.

The actors who portrayed the Munchkins came from all across the United States and even Europe. Some were members of a German midget troupe who used to film as a way of escaping from the Nazis. Each actor earned $125.00 a week for their work.

Spend Thanksgiving With The Hardys!

As Thanksgiving is the one holiday steeped in Americana and there is no film series that celebrates ordinary American life like MGM's Andy Hardy series, it makes perfect sense that Turner Classic Movies will be running all 16 Andy Hardy films tomorrow, Thanksgiving, and Friday.

Set in the mythical middle America town of Carvel, the series followed the light-hearted travails of the Hardy family, though as the series progressed it became increasingly centered on young Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) and his father Judge James Hardy (Lionel Barrymore in the first film, A Family Affair (1937) and Lewis Stone for the rest of the series). Carvel was studio head Leo B. Mayer's idealization of what small town life was like. The people were good, honest, pious and friendly. A majority of the plots featured Andy getting into some sort of trouble, usually over girls, money or both, and eventually turns to his father for a "man to man talk" for advice on rectifying the situation.

Besides being the springboard for Rooney's career, the series also helped launch the careers of other MGM stars. Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), the first film in the series to feature Rooney’s character’s name solely in the title, featured a young Lana Turner in one of her first screen roles. Kathryn Grayson and Esther Williams had their fuirst screen appearances in Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary (1941) and Andy Hardy’s Double Life (1942) respectively.

Love Finds Andy Hardy also saw the first of three appearances in the series by Judy Garland, playing the pesky Betsy Booth, a girl with crush on the oblivious Andy. Garland and Rooney first appeared together the previous year in Thoroughbreds Don't Cry, which proved popular enough at the boxoffice that MGM quickly paired them up for Love Finds… . In addition to the two other Andy Hardy films they would appear together in – Andy Hardy Meets Debutant (1940) and Life Begins For Andy Hardy (1941) – Roony and Garland would appear in another five musical comedies together.

A prestigious property at MGM, the Andy Hardy series had much higher production values than those found in other film series. The Andy Hardy series also stands out for the continuity between the various installments that the writers maintained. Other film series such as the The Falcon or The Saint were very episodic in nature. Only the main characters carried over from film to film and no mentions of previous adventures were ever made. However, references to the events of previous films were often made in the Andy Hardy series, especially in the first half of the run. Characters from one film, like Garland’s Betsy Booth, could show up again a few films later. Creating this continuity, if it was done intentionally, was a smart move on the writers’ part as it subtly gives characters like Andy a character arc that describes his maturity and growth into adulthood as the films progress.

The series came to an end in 1947 with Love Laughs At Andy Hardy. In the film, Andy is just returning to civilian life after having served in World War II. (Incidentally, this film is the only one of the series to mention the conflict even though several installments came out while it was raging.) But much like Andy’s struggle to return to a normal life at college, the series found that the post-War America had changed and that people were looking for something that was maybe more realistic than the mythical town of Carvel and its residents had to offer. An attempt to relaunch the series came in 1958 with Andy Hardy Comes Home, but the film only served to prove the old saying “You can’t go home again.”

TEETH: Trailer and Teaser Poster

One of the most talked about films to come out of Sundance this past January was the independent horror/comedy Teeth. It stars Jess Weixler as a young girl who discovers she has a rather unusual condition- vagina dentata or teeth in her vagina. A satire on abstinence-only education and men and women's insecurities over their own bodies, the film was the object of a bidding war which saw Roadside Attractions come out as the winner.

In anticipation of the film hitting theaters next February, Roadside has released a trailer that plays up more of the horror elements of the film.

The fine folks at Roadside have also sent along the film's teaser poster-

DVD Review: HULA GIRLS

It's a plot line that may just qualify as its own genre. A small group of people, oft times living in an economically depressed area, turn to an unorthodox way of earning money that at first sparks a culture clash but then leads to heart-warming understanding and acceptance by all. It’s become a fairly predictable trope, but if done well, as in the case of Hula Girlsrecently released on DVD, it can still yield enjoyable results.

The economically depressed town in question is 1965 Iwaki, a northern Japanese mining town that is seeing some 2,000 miners laid off following a closure of one of the mines. A plan is in motion to create a Hawaiian-themed resort that some of the laid-off miners can work at. However, one important thing is needed to make the resort authentically Hawaiian- hula dancers. However the conservative town is strongly against some of their daughters, wives and sisters take the jobs.

The film’s culture clash theme is personified by the teenage Kimiko (Yu Aoi) and her mother (Junko Fuji). Kimiko sees dancing at the Hawaiian center as a chance for a different life than that of a housewife that has already been mapped out for her by virtue of where she was born. Her mother, who relies on the more traditional values to define her life, sees the occupation of hula dancer as shameful and on par with stripping.

One doesn’t need to see a lot of movies to know how this is going to play out. But the fact that it plays out so well is what keeps the viewer engaged in the film. All the characters are exceedingly well drawn, with even the secondary characters all getting moments that flesh out their characters more so than usually seen in English language versions of the same basic story. The movie also resists the temptation to fall into some of the clichés that present themselves at various storytelling junctures. When Kimiko’s best friend moves away when her family heads to a large city to find work, Hollywood has trained to expect her return by the close of the film. Here, however, there are no heartwarming reunions, leaving the dance troop’s eventual triumph at the end of the film just slightly bittersweet.

The folks at Ziv Pictures have done another fine job in assembling this package. As usual with their releases, there are supplementary materials that help explain the film’s context in Japanese culture. For this title, Viz has included a short documentary interviewing the women from the northern mining town on which the film’s story is based. While Kimiko and the other dancers are fictional constructs, their instructor, Madoka Hirayama, played in the film by Yasuko Matsuyuki, is not and she is also on hand to discuss the challenges she faced in overcoming the town’s preconceived notations about the art of hula dancing.

But one doesn’t need to know that Hula Girls has its roots in actual events to enjoy the film. The strength of the film’s story, themes and acting are enough to ensure that.

Pickford Oscar Trial Location Set

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has tentatively ruled that a lawsuit filed to halt the sale of one of two Academy Award statuettes originally awarded to silent film star Mary Pickford should be tried in Riverside County, California, home of one of Pickford's heirs.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences contends that it has the right, as per an Academy bylaw enacted in 1950, to buy back any Academy Award statuette for the nominal sum of $10.00 and has filed an injunction against the estate of Beverly Lorraine Rogers, the late second wife of Pickford's husband Buddy Rogers, to prevent its three co-executors from selling the statuettes to anyone.

Kim Boyer, niece of Beverly Rogers and one of the three co-executors of the estate claims that the Oscar they wish to sell is the one Pickford received for her work on the 1930 film Coquette and is therefore not subject to the Academy's restriction. The Academy claims that when Pickford was given a second, honorary, award in 1976, the agreement she signed that retroactively included her 1930 statuette.

Rogers, who passed away in 1999, was previously married to Pickford for 41 years until her death in 1979. Rogers received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy in 1986. Pickford won the Best Actress Oscar in 1930 for Coquette.

Previously- Academy Attempts To Block Sale Of Oscar

Via Hollywood Reporter

MEXICAN SPITFIRE Takes Over TCM

Most comedy series from the Golden Age of Hollywood relied on a specific formula to crank out installments. Universal's Blondie series always saw hapless husband Dagwood getting into one predicament after another only to be rescued by his much more sensible wife Blondie, while the Bowery Boys would get into comedic trouble just by showing up at a location.

RKO Pictures’ Mexican Spitfire series fits firmly into the formula mold, but also managed to keep itself fresh through the energy between two of its lead actors, despite the increasing staleness of some its jokes.

Turner Classic Movies will be running all eight of the Mexican Spitfire movies tomorrow starting at 9 am Eastern.

The titular spitfire of the series is Mexican actress Lupe Velez, a raven haired beauty who moved north of the boarder to pursue a career in Hollywood. Although she had landed some small roles that parlayed on her exotic beauty, it wasn't until she was cast in the lead of the 1939 RKO comedy The Girl From Mexico that she became a star. In the film, Velez starred as Carmelita, a beautiful singer who falls in love with ad man Dennis Lindsay (Donald Woods), who has hired her to sing on a radio show. Dennis' fiancée Elizabeth is none to happy with the new girl Dennis seems to be paying an inordinate amount of attention to, while Carmelita hits it off with Dennis' Uncle Matt (Leon Errol). After a little more than an hour of screwball antics, Carmelita's broken English malapropisms, slapstick and farce, Dennis and Carmelita are the ones on the way to the altar and presumable a happy ending.

The film turned out to be an audience favorite and RKO quickly put a sequel, Mexican Spitfire, into production. The plot, which capitalized on Velez’s chemistry with Errol, featured Errol in the double role of Uncle Matt and an absent-minded, high society business associate of Dennis' by the name of Lord Basil Epping. As Uncle Matt and Epping share an uncanny resemblance to each other, the plot quickly degenerates into a mistaken identity farce with Uncle Matt impersonating Epping, leading to inevitable confusion and comedy.

The success of Mexican Spitfire and the chemistry between Velez and Errol quickly cemented the formula of all subsequent series entries- the bungling Carmelita and Uncle Matt cause problems for the beleaguered Dennis. In the course of a harebrained attempt to set things right, Matt will need to impersonate Lord Epping, usually right at the same time the real Lord Epping shows up. The only thing that varied would be either the location (Mexican Spitfire Out West, 1940) or the circumstances of Carmelita’s screw up (Mexican Spitfire Sees A Ghost, 1942). In fact, the role of Carmelita’s husband Dennis became quickly inconsequential compared to the antics between Carmelita and Uncle Matt that one barely notices when the role passes from Woods to Charles “Buddy” Rogers to Walter Reed as the series progresses.

Incidentally, the sixth entry in the series, Mexican Spitfire Sees A Ghost, is notoriously remembered as the top half on a double bill it shared with Orson Welles’ Magnificent Ambersons!

But for as much fun as it appeared Velez was having making the films and that audiences were having seeing them, her life would take a tragic turn. A year after the release of what would become the series’ final entry, titled ironically Mexican Spitfire’s Blessed Event, Velez committed suicide, despondent over being pregnant out of wedlock. As a Catholic, Lupez would not even consider getting an abortion and her lover, married actor Harald Maresch, would not leave his wife for her.

Although the sordid circumstances of her death may overshadow the other facets of her life, Velez’s work in the Mexican Spitfire series stands out as an example of how a performer can overcome and elevate mediocre material.

GI JOE: First Casting Announcement

With the writers' strike killing the announcement of new film projects, the majority of news about upcoming films comes in the form of casting announcements. Although it doesn't start shooting until mid-February, the first actor cast in director Stephen Sommers live action adaptation of comic book/cartoon/toy franchise GI Joe has been announced.

Sienna Miller has been cast as "as a raven-haired baroness and sexy femme fatale skilled in espionage," according to today’s Variety. Although the story doesn't name the character, anyone familiar with the series will recognize that the character description refers to the Baroness, one of the leaders of the terrorist group Cobra, GI Joe's nemesis.

Although sometimes overshadowed by her tabloid antics, Miller has displayed respectable acting chops. True, some fan boys will probably just hope she looks good in the character's tight leather outfit, glasses and a dye job to color blonde tresses jet black. But based on her work in last year’s Factory Girl shows that she is capable of handling any potential dramatic meat the screenplay might offer. (Though I doubt there will be much there.)

More troubling for the film is the choice of director. While Sommer did a good job with 1999's The Mummy, his last film, 2004's Van Helsing, is a prime example of how unrestrained excess is not necessarily a good thing.

Feature Documentary Oscar Short List Announced

Fifeteen feature length documentaries have made it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's short list for Academy Award consideration. The films are-

• Autism: The Musical- directed by Tricia Regan
• Body of War- directed by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro
• For The Bible Tells Me So- directed by Daniel G. Karslake
• Lake of Fire- directed by Tony Kaye
• Nanking- directed by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman
• No End in Sight- directed by Charles Ferguson
• Operation Homecoming - Writing the Wartime Experience,- directed by Richard Robbins
• Please Vote For Me- directed by Wejun Chen
• The Price of Sugar- directed by Bill Haney
• A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman- directed by Peter Raymont
• The Rape of Europa- directed by Richard Berge and Bonni Cohen
• Sicko- directed by Michael Moore
• Taxi to the Dark Side- directed by Alex Gibney
• War/Dance- directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
• White Light/Black Rain- directed by Steven Okazaki

I've only seen a few of the nominated films, so I can't speak to the others' worth. Still, I am a bit surprised that such critical well received films as In The Shadow Of The Moon and The King Of Kong didn't make the cut.

Out of these 15, five films will be selected to be placed on the ballot for Oscar voting. The official nominees will be announced on January 22, 2008.

CLOVERFIELD Trailer! Plus new website!

On Friday, we gave you a quick explanation for the unintiated what Cloverfield is. If you don't know, go back now and bring yourself up to speed. We'll wait...

OK. Now that we're all on the same page, I can point you in the direction of the film's full trailer, which premiered this past weekend in front of Roger Zemeckis' Beowulf. It's over at Apple's website and is available there in various QuickTime formats.

The trailer expands on the original teaser trailer and maddeningly still doesn't overtly reveal the creature or creatures that are attacking Manhattan. I say "overtly," as the trailer is currently being analyzed more closely than Abraham Zapruder's home movie of JFK's assassination. Personally, I like the title card at the begining that states "Camera retrieved at incident sit U.S. 447 area formerly known as 'Central Park'."

Also materializing over the weekend was a new website for the movie here, though as of now it only serves to forward one to the trailer at the Apple site.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: More Cast Rumors/Script Problems?

On Friday, we reported on some names of young actors started to appear on various sites purporting to be the final casting choices for some of the heroes and villains who will be featured in Warner Brothers upcoming superhero film Justice League.

As the weekend has gone on and no official announcement has been forthcoming, more names have leaked out to the internet press and, as could probably be expected, some are contradicting the rumors set in motion on Friday.

The new rumors hitting the web place relative newcomer Armie Hammer as Batman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman and Santiago Cabrera as Aquaman.

While everyone seemed convinced on Friday that Friday Night Lights series star Scott Porter was going to head up the cast as Superman, IESB is reporting that the actor didn’t even read for the part, but had been up against Adrian Brody for the part of The Flash. Meanwhile, Superhero Hype states that D J Cotrona will be the Man of Steel. Superhero Hype is also reporting that it is Anton Yelchin, not Adrian Brody, who will be playing the Flash. Yelchin is currently playing the part of young Pavel Chekov in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek relaunch.

All of these rumors may be moot, though, as the Hollywood Reporter ran a story today which stated that the screenplay for the film was not ready and that if the Writers Guild strike didn’t end soon so the script can be polished, options on the cast would expire and the whole process would have to start over.

I find this news odd as in the weeks running up to the strike, Justice League was one of the high profile titles being touted as ready to go and wouldn’t be impacted by the writers’ walkout. Are there second thoughts at Warner Brothers? The names here seem to trend young - Hammer is all of 21 years old, an age that seems rather young for the role - and fans have been vocal in their opposition to a cast that would look like a CW network teen drama in spandex. Could the studio be using the strike and alleged script problems as a way of disposing this first group of actors that Miller has assembled and placing the blame on the strike?

Ben Cross Latest STAR TREK Cast Addition

Although production on JJ Abrams' Star Trek franchise reboot is currently underway (see our recent report on the first spy photos of Zachary Quinto as Spock), it seems as if we are still not done with casting announcements.

The latest actor to be announced as having joined the film is Ben Cross, who will be playing the part of Sarek, Vulcan diplomat and father of Spock. Cross is best known for his starring role in the 1981 Academy Award-winning film Chariots Of Fire.

Cross confirmed the news on his website.

Star Trek flies into theaters Christmas 2008.

LOVELY BONES Set Pictures

While not exactly an everyday occurrence, films such as the Rocky series, Invincible and 12 Monkeys have seasoned the residents of the city of Philadelphia proper to Hollywood productions using their streets for location filming. It is a far less normal occurrence in many of the suburban communities surrounding the city, so the current production of director Peter Jackson’s current film The Lovely Bones has caused somewhat of a stir in the communities it is using as a backdrop.

Based on a novel by Alice Sebold and set in the Philadelphia suburb of Norristown during the 1970s, The Lovely Bones tells the story of a 14-year old girl who is abducted and murdered and who watches the effect this has on her family from a vantage point in the afterlife. Although based in New Zealand, Jackson and crew traveled halfway around the globe in order to shoot in the same general area where Sebold herself grew up and based her story. (And a good thing too. Jackson previously shot the United States-set Michael J. Fox horror comedy The Frighteners in New Zealand and the location work showed it.)

So far, the production has been spotted working in the towns of Hatfield, Chester Springs, Valley Forge National Park, Coatesville and Royersford. But the one site that has seen the most coverage is the Malvern neighborhood being used for the location of the murdered girl’s family’s home.

Below are photos taken earlier today of the Malvern Township location. There had been filming at this suburban neighborhood a few weeks ago, before the production moved on to other locations. It now appears as if the production will be spending at least a portion of their remaining two weeks of location work (with this Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving) back here. In December, the cast and crew will return to New Zealand to shoot the remainder of the film on standard soundstage sets at Jackson's studio.

As I walked the streets of the neighborhood, production trucks lined two of the streets.

Next to the sidewalks lay numerous heavily insulated wires, some ending in junction boxes. I'm surmising that they are there for filming sometime in the next few days.

Here are the two houses that have been used in the production. The sceond picture is a reverse angle of the home with the basketball hoop over the garage door. Note that the two houses' driveways are filled with early to mid-1970s vehicles.

In the background of this shot below, you can just make out the white roof of the red Mustang convertable that Mark Wahlberg's character drives.

Stationed a house or two up the street from the two homes is one of two cranes that contain lighting units. The second is parked on a side street half a block away.

A makeshift sign nearby points the way to the production's basecamp for this location shoot.

There, in addition to several more white production trucks, are several 1970s-era State Police cruisers.

Those w