We have a new look at Milk today thanks to the good people over at Entertainment Weekly:

In this exclusive First Look at director Gus Van Sant’s highly anticipated biopic Milk (out Nov. 26), Sean Penn, as community activist Harvey Milk, celebrates his long-fought election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, the first time an openly gay man had won elected office in a major U.S. city.

The story of Milk is one of triumph and tragedy, and it screams out to be told. Sean Penn looks like he is going to give a performance deserving of the tale. I am pumped to see this one; and it is certainly one to watch for. Milk will make the festival rounds in the fall, and with luck, will have a wide release soon thereafter.

Ellen Page has been tapped to take the lead in a film adaptation of Jayne Eyre. We get the scoop from the professionals at Variety:

Ellen Page is set to play one of English literature’s most famous characters, the eponymous heroine of Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre.” Alison Owen of Ruby Films, who most recently produced “The Other Boleyn Girl,” is working with BBC Films to develop the new adaptation of Bronte’s classic 19th century romance. It’s the story of a mousy governess who softens the heart of her surly employer Mr. Rochester, only to discover that he’s hiding a terrible secret.

Moira Buffini has written the screenplay. No director is yet attached, but the producers are aiming to set the project up to shoot this fall. “Jane Eyre” is one of the most adapted novels in English literature, with at least 20 previous film or TV versions. Most recently, the BBC made it into a miniseries that won three Emmys last year. The last bigscreen adaptation, in 1996, was directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starred Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Well Ellen Page certainly seems to be shoring up some sweet gigs post Oscar nod.

Jane Eyre has more adaptations than Wurthering Heights! For some reason, I have missed every incarnation…. maybe it has something to do with the fact that it’s a romantic period piece, and I usually find them to be dreadfully boring.

I was surprised when I didn’t hate The Other Boleyn Girl. If Alison Owen is behind this project as well, I will certainly give her the benefit of the doubt, and give this film a chance.

I once again turn to people that have read more books than I, and beseech the International Friends for their thoughts on this story. Do you think Ellen Page is a good fit for the character, or would you prefer another? Please give suggestions if you have someone in mind.

It looks like Mr. Cruise is being courted to star in another Mission Impossible film. We get this scoop from the professionals at Variety:

Sumner Redstone said Tuesday he has no objection to Tom Cruise starring in the next installment of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. The Viacom boss made the comment after speaking at the Seoul Digital Forum in the South Korean capital.

Redstone ended Paramount’s 14-year relationship with Cruise and his producing partner Paula Wagner in August 2006 and publicly criticized the actor’s behavior. However, Cruise is now in talks with Paramount to star in a fourth “Mission: Impossible” film.

Money has a way of settling disputes. The chosen son of Xenu has been in the news recently for his insane blathering on an in-house Scientology motivational film. His German drama Valkyrie has been pushed back, and many are wondering if the star’s antics will allow him to remain in the A list much longer. I suppose another Mission Impossible film would be the best test for that hypothesis.

Tom Cruise is bent on controlling the earth with the power of the great Xenu. The thousand tentacles of the deity stretch far and wide through Tom Cruise’s influence. It is foretold that one day the great Xenu himself will birth from Cruise’s vagina-esque belly button. Xenu in human form looks like a young Burt Reynols, with a serpent head. Like Serpentor, but way cooler.

They should call this film Mission Impossible 4: Tom Gets His Wits About Him

I am currently blogging on my laptop and used the built in camera to take a picture of my cat Bella that is nursing kittens. Her three youngsters are adventuring, so I need to blog near them and ensure their safety. I have attached a picture of the fuzzy friends for all of you.

Please pardon the exposed nipples. She had to be shaved down for an emergency surgery, to remove 2 kittens that were unable to be birthed naturally.

We have an image and an announcement regarding the Spirit thanks to our good friends over at moviesonline:

I like this poster! It has been some time since I have seen brick letters! What a fantastic touch.

The film was originally scheduled for a release of January 16th, 2009 but will now be upon us for the Christmas holiday season according to ReelComix.

I have liked what I have seen so far from this project. My only concern is that it looks quite similar stylistically to Sin City. I love the look of Sin City however, and if the same style works for this film, why not.

We have this alarming photo from the upcoming Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li. Thanks to moviesonline for the hookup!

***Update*** the above picture features Moon Bloodgood as Detective Maya Sunee. This is not Chun Li as I had previously thought.

With luck, Chun Li will look the way we all want her to; now we wait for our first look. Thanks to Melbe for the heads up.

We have obtained the Twilight trailer for you today thanks to the WEBMASTER over at Film Junk:

According to the WEBMASTER Twilight is “about a group of vampires, and a seventeen year old girl who falls in love with one of them.” The film is based on the novels of Stephenie Meyer. I am not familiar with the works of this children’s author, but please share if you or your youngsters have read the book.

We have a poster for the upcoming Clone Wars Film and news about the trailers release. Thanks to cinematical for the hookup:

The poster has been released to herald the debut of the trailer, which will air May 8th simultaneously on Cartoon Network, TNT, TBS, CNN and Boomerang. It will air at 7:58 in all U.S. time zones.

This animated feature will launch a series on the cartoon network. I think a theatrical release is a better idea than a made for TV movie that stretches over a few weeks. It’s more fun, and you don’t have infuriating commercials.

I am skeptical that I will enjoy this cartoon; so I am not too jazzed about the film or the show. I do love the Star Wars universe, but the prequels have killed all hope for further projects. I just have no love for Darth Vader outside of his suit - he sucks.

The release of this animated film will be upon us August 15th! For those of you in need of a Star Wars fix - there is one right around the corner!

For those of you that want more female drug-lord films ….DO I HAVE A STORY FOR YOU! It appears the upcoming Queen Of The South movie-show will be just that! We get the following scoop from the professionals at Variety:

Eva Mendes, Josh Hartnett and Ben Kingsley will topline helmer Jonathan Jakubowicz’s “Queen of the South” (La reina del sur), an adaptation of the bestseller by Spanish author-journo Arturo Perez Reverte.

Story tracks Teresa (Mendes), a Mexican woman who escapes to Spain after her drug-runner boyfriend is murdered. Teresa becomes the reigning drug smuggler in Spain, bent on avenging her lover. Kingsley plays Russian entrepreneur Yasikov while Hartnett plays Santiago, an American Marine who becomes involved in the drug trade. The female-driven actioner is set to shoot in Mexico and Spain starting September, according to Condito.

This sounds good to me! It’s been quite some time since we have had a kickass drug lord film, and the time for the ladies to shine in this genre has presented itself at last. I believe that both drug addicts and female enthusiasts will be pleased about this film. As someone that knows females, I am happy for them, that this day has come.

It is possible that another female drug lord film exists. I wouldn’t be mad if I was wrong - in fact I would welcome knowledge of this film. International friends - if you know of any other female drug lord films - please let us know asap, so we can get a list. and a movie night together!

I hope the drug lord has an eye-patch…or a monocle.

This was a fun little find I tripped over online. You know that guy who won the most on Jeopardy!? 74 games in a row? Yeah. His name is Ken Jennings and he has a blog. Its about a lot of stuff because well, he knows everything.

This little game he came up with puts unlikely comic book movie characters in a crossover in other movies. Not the Characters exactly, but their actors.

So an actor plays a superhero, but later plays a completely different character in an unrelated movie with another actor who once played a superhero. Now you have an Accidental Crossover that threatens the space/time continuum itself. Or not.

Ken Jennings challenges you.

in what movie could you find these accidental comic “crossovers”? (These range from sorta-obvious to insanely hard.)

1. Wolverine and Batman–mortal enemies!
2. Mister Fantastic saving the life of The Phantom’s fiancee!
3. J. Jonah Jameson as Kitty Pryde’s secret father!
4. The Penguin mentoring Judge Dredd!
5. Ghost Rider and Punisher–in jail together!
6. Catwoman gets Dick Tracy’s groove on!
7. Nick Fury in a hostage standoff with Lex Luthor!
8. Daredevil enlists–and serves under The Shadow!
9. Sabertooth sleeping with The Hulk’s wife!
10. The Joker menaces Olive Oyl with an axe!

So list the stars, and the movie they were in together.

And no. Your answer does not have to be in the form of a question.

Some people will often complain and lament about the sheer number of comic book movies coming out these days. For some, it’s not that they mind comic book movies per se, but rather wonder why so many are getting made. Do we really NEED all these superhero movies?

Well, obviously we don’t NEED all these Superhero movies… for that matter we don’t NEED any, but we sure seem to enjoy them. But to get back to the question of why so many are made, I think there are 2 important reasons:

1) They make money - No, they are ALL huge blockbusters, but for the most part these comic book films pull in a decent amount of cash for the studios

2) Pre-existing Characters with loads of source material and a pre-existing audience - This one is hard to ignore. It’s one thing to try to create a character for a movie that you think will be marketable and get an audience interested in… but if you can get a character that already exists… that people already know about and already has a built in audience, then you’re starting with one leg up.

In my opinion, a number of comic book characters are some of the richest characters in all of fiction and thus have some amazing stories that deserve to be told. So even though there are tons of comic book movies already made as well as on the way, I’d like to suggest a few lesser known (By the average non-comic book fan public) characters that I think deserve their own movies.

The following list doesn’t necessarily represent movies that I think would actually make any money, nor do I think they deserve their own movies because of how cool their powers are… but rather because of how rich I think the characters themselves are along with their stories.

NIGHTWING

His real name is Dick Grayson and he was the original side kick to Batman known as Robin. Eventually as he got older he went on to become his own hero and called himself Nightwing. Another kid become Robin… the Joker eventually killed him, and now Batman on is his third Robin. Good help is hard to find I guess. Anyway, what makes Nightwing so interesting to me is the troubled relationship he’s had with both himself and Batman. They love each other like a father and son, but Grayson is also often enraged by Bruce. They’ve had several falling outs as Dick struggles to get out from the Batman’s shadow and be his own man. Still, they’re always there for each other. As a matter of fact, Grayson actually become Batman for a while after the events of Bane which culminated in one of the best scenes I’ve ever read in a comic book… when Bruce returns and they have a very moving Father/Son talk (I actually think this was the first time Bruce referred to them as Father/Son). He’s a rich character.

CABLE

For some time in the X-Men universe, Cable was a mystery. An man of insane power… arguably one of the most powerful beings in all of the Marvel universe when unchecked… but he often has to use up most of his considerable power to keep a deadly techno-virus in his body in check or it will kill him. Even though he is a being of almost cosmic power, he comes off more like a Rambo character. A solider. A grim hard nosed warrior. He’s actually the son of Scott Summers (aka Cyclops of the X-Men) and a clone of Jean Grey (it’s a long story) who was sent as a baby to grow up in a future time line, later to return fully grown and quite jaded. With his parents being who they are, it’s not surprising how much power he has. For a time Marvel had another version of Cable running around, a younger version of Cable who wasn’t infected with the techno-virus that they just called X-Man. Cable was one of the few characters that could go toe to toe with Apocalypse.

BISHOP

Bishop is another character from the X-Men universe and played one of the most pivotal roles in probably my favorite comic story line of all time… “The Age Of Apocalypse”, in which he is the only being alive who retains a memory of the alternate universe that was destroyed when Professor X’s son, Legion, killed Magneto in the past (it’s a REALLY long story). Bishop was actually born in the future and came back in time. To me, it’s not so much Bishop’s past that makes him interesting, but rather his personality… his character. He’s one of those “deadly serious” chacraters… I’ve always sort of pictured him as the “Worf” of the X-Men universe. Bishop has the ability to absorb and redirect or store energy that is directed at him. This power actually helped him last a little while in a fight against Apocalypse himself… but Apocalypse was just too much.

AZRAEL

I simply love this charcter. His real name is Jean-Paul Valley. Genetically bread by a secret order to be a lethal assassin (this guy is just loaded with mental health issues) he eventually meets Batman and they become allies. After Bane fought and defeated Batman (leaving Bruce Wayne paralyzed), Bruce leaves Gotham and passes the mantle of the Bat onto Jean-Paul who became the new Batman for over a year. Slowly however, his “issues” start to get the better of him and he becomes more and more violent, even killing criminals. When Robin confronts Jean-Paul about his tactics, Jean-Paul threatens to kill him and sends him away. Eventually, Jean-Paul (as Batman) faces Bane and does what Bruce was unable to do… defeat him. As Jean-Paul begins to go more and more over the edge, Bruce Wayne finally comes back and battles Azrael to take back his identity of the Batman. Bruce barely prevails and let’s Jean-Paul go who then reclaims his “Azrael” identity. Later, a healthier Azrael (who later becomes known as an Agent of the Bat) begins to work with Batman again. It’s such a twisted little story, but so deep and so rich of a character that I can’t believe how many people have never even heard of the guy. I’d love to see a movie made about him (it’ll never happen though).

BEN REILLY (Scarlet Spider / Spider-Man)

You know what sucks? Waking up one day to find out that you’re not who you thought you were, but rather just a clone of who you thought you were. That’s the situation that Ben Reilly (a name he later gave himself) found himself in when he discovered that he wasn’t Peter Parker after all… but rather just a clone of Peter Parker and had been living his life for a some time. Although the “Clone Saga” isn’t really loved by faithful Spider-Man comic readers (It was ok, but I didn’t like it all that much myself) I was fascinated by Ben Reilly. Not so much for who he is, but rather the issues he has to face. I don’t know how on earth you could do a Ben Reilly (Scarlet Spider) movie apart from a full fledged Spider-Man movie, but if a way could be found I’d love it.

So what do you think of these character? Would you be interested in seeing a movie based on any of them? Why or why not? Also, what other lesser known (ie, the average person on the street probably doesn’t know who they are) comic charcters do you think would make for a rich movie?

Davis Guggenheim will be bringing us a cool doc about the electric guitar and its relationship to the one that wields it. We get wind of this project thanks to the professionals at Variety:

Davis Guggenheim has completed filming on a documentary that will look at the story of the electric guitar from the point of view of three significant rock musicians: the Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White.

.Led Zeppelin’s Page, U2’s the Edge and White, leader of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs, were chosen for their impact across three different generations — from Page’s 1960s days as a session musician and a member of the Yardbirds into the Edge’s unique sound developed in the ’80s through White’s current work. Each explains and demonstrates how he changed the sound of the electric guitar to suit his own style. Pic includes a jam session featuring the three guitarists.

Those that play the electric guitar know the nuances of their tone. In my own life I have journeyed to find the best electric baritone ukulele sound. Since discussion about this subject is limited, I had to do much of the research myself, in order to find a sound that I was pleased with.

I commissioned master smith Fred Gabrsek to create a legendary semi-hollow electric ukulele using a mahogany body and neck, sepele topwood, ebony fingerboard, rosewood bridge, bone nut, tusq saddle, and fishman transducer pickup. Fred quite literally made the instrument of my dreams from a few scribbles I made on paper, ongoing discussion and a cardboard template I cut from a pizza box.

A few amplifiers were tried, a Traynor YBA-1 Bassmaster was used for years, then modified to sound more like a Fender Bassman. 50 watts was always too loud, and I couldn’t get the full amp saturation that I wanted, so I bought a small Epiphone Valve Jr. and had Rose City amp guru Glen Morris mod it with a point to point wired circuit. While he was doing that. I had the chance to play my uke through a few of his amps - and it sounded fantastic through his Morris Muscle 14 amplifier.

Glen was nice enough to give me a deal on the amp, the 14 watts is plenty loud for a solo performer, and the tone was perfect. In the signal chain I always use a Boss CS-3 Compression Pedal (with monte allums mod) to smooth out the sound of the (Aquila Nylgut) nylon strings and a BBE sonic maximizer to sweeten & fatten up the tone. For additional distortion I will use my superior Big Muff clone (Ron Sound Hairpie) and have a vintage Japanese Boss DD-2 for delays. My uke sound is finally where I want it, and the journey took about 10 years.

All of this may be mumbo jumbo to many of you, but to those that like to play electric instruments; tone is of supreme importance. Even for casual players like myself, you want to have your sound “just right”. If I would go to all this trouble to work on my sound, imagine the tales these professionals will spin about their journeys! If you hear the guitar of Jimmy Page, The Edge, Or Jack White - you know who it is; from a single note. Tone is a distinctive fingerprint that you are able to create for yourself.

I think this is an outstanding idea for a documentary and I welcome the work of Guggenheim.

We have obtained news about a new dark comedy featuring Ron Pearlman titled “The Job.” We get wind of this picture thanks to the fabled caves of Yahoo:

Ron Perlman (”Hellboy”), Taryn Manning (”Hustle & Flow”), Joe Pantoliano (”The Sopranos”) and Patrick Flueger (USA’s series “The 4400″) will star in the darkly comic drama “The Job.”

Shem Bitterman is adapting his 1998 play about a hapless man, Bubba (Flueger), who’s desperate to find a job and marry the woman he loves (Manning). A drifter (Perlman) hooks him up with a slick employment agent (Pantoliano), but after agreeing to the job, Bubba quickly finds that he’s in way over his head. Bitterman’s play won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for best new play before transferring to an off-Broadway run.

This sounds like a great idea for a film! Being hired for a job that you are unqualified for is a helpless situation that should make for all sorts of tragic comedy. This story looks like it has already had a successful run on the stage and will be well tempered by the time it hits the silver screen. I like adaptations of plays to film, they are different stylistically and are a welcome change of pace.

Ron Pearlman is a fantastic pick for a drifter character. I can picture him with a satchel over his shoulder, wearing 5 o’clock shadow, and riding the rails from one town to the next without a schedule or destination. Pearlman is hobo chic.

If any of you have seen this stage production - please share your thoughts with us.

With all the buzz about superhero films lately I am truly in my own little playground. This excites me more than anything. It also got me thinking about what other movies would be great to see and the thought of Wonder Woman came to mind.

There has been a lot of talk and controversy revolving around this third of the iconic core of the Justice League and instinctively I think she NEEDS to have her own movie. Having the king of girl power movies Joss Whedon write it seemed like a match made in heaven, but it fell through. Other plot rumours surfaced and the fan base was outraged. Will this movie ever get made? Last we heard The Wachowskis were giving the project a makeover and we don’t even know what that means.

TheFerrett writes an insightful essay on the topic called The Empty Superhero Suit, and addresses what makes a character WORTH a story.

Almost all of the big names in comics have now had their own movies – X-Men, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman. The non-comics-readin’ man on the street only knows a handful of superheroes, and they’ve all had their movies made.

There is one notable exception: Wonder Woman. And therein lies the new problem with making comic movies – Wonder Woman has no actual stories.

See, when the average Spider-Man fan thinks of Spider-Man, there are a couple of iconic story arcs that immediately spring to mind: Letting that criminal go, and discovering that with great power comes great responsibility. The death of Gwen Stacey and the subsequent death of Norman Osborn. The first time he stopped being Spider-Man.
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But if you think about, “Wow, this storyline defines this character,” Wonder Woman doesn’t have one. She comes from Paradise Island, a pretty ill-defined place that’s either a colony of warriors, or a hippie love-fest, or an isolated out-of-touch Greek/Roman enclave, or whatever the writer needs it to be for that story line. Nobody’s really nailed it down so that it matters.

And she comes to, uh, America, to be pretty and fight shit. And get tied up.
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In the end, Wonder Woman is famous for being an idea – the first kick-ass female heroine, a set of golden bracelets, an invisible plane – than anything she’s actually done. That’s troublesome.

The essay hits on more than just Wonder Woman and really dissects why some choices are made in Hollywood, and digs deep into the heart of these characters we know and love.

I encourage you to read the essay. You may not like what he has to say entirely but it is eye opening peek from the mind of an insightfully intelligent comic fan and a good starting point for discussion. TheFerrett can also beat Doug at Magic The Gathering.

You can read the rest of it by clicking HERE

Right on the heels of the announcement of Marvel’s lineup into 2011 the rumour mill is already churning. The first of those rumours is that Matthew McConaughey is being considered to play Captain America.

/Film reports:

Matthew McConaughey is Marvel Studio’s top choice to play the lead role in Captain America, which is currently scheduled to hit theaters on May 6th 2011. I’m sure that a contract has not-yet-been-signed, especially considering the project was only officially announced yesterday morning. What this all means is that nothing is set in stone.

I think this could be a perfect fit. People will say that Cap needs to be a bigger guy, but McConaughey is pretty damned buff. And he has the good old American good looks and charm to pull of the spandex boyscout.

However I am certain that they will have to do something different with the outfit. No Superhero film in the last decade and a half has bothered to try spandex as an outfit (except Superman & Spidey - but you don’t touch that) but they have been close. The molded neoprene digs like Batman and Robin or even Daredevil have been the going rate of style lately.

I hope that the fan expectations that Captain America: The First Avenger will be filmed in WWII with a more classic era Captain fighting the Red Skull. Or at least start it out in that era. Then with the planned Avengers movie months later, reveal a cleaner more modern armoured Cap instead of the Star Spangled Pajamas.

But considering Matthew McConaughey, I would actually prefer to see him as Thor. Maybe its just the hair.

A new law is being pushed forward in New York that would make the crime of recording movies in theaters an actual crime. Go figure.

Cinematical reports:

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was joined Monday by Tina Fey and a couple of other movie types for the unveiling of the “Piracy Protection Act,” which would make piracy either a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on whether you’re a first-time or repeat offender, and punish it with actual, y’know, jail time (up to a year for first-timers). They’re hoping to have the law in place within the month.

I agree with laws against video piracy. I will admit that I have toed that line a little too often but it just isnt worth it. The quality sucks, (even the “good ones” are crap) and they lack the special features that movie buffs like me want. But more importantly you are not supporting the filmmakers to begin with. Rant all you want about how much money they already have, but my purchase of a movie isn’t about their money. Its my vote and nod of approval to the creators.

You can download or buy yourself a ripped copy of a movie and the person you give your cash to (or not if you are downloading it) is not giving ANYTHING to the people who made the film.

The money you give your local retailer for a good solid copy of a movie is well worth it in my opinion. I have seen pre-release stuff and dvd rips and the poor to “near perfect” quality just isnt good enough for this movie fan.

So finally someone is taking the RIGHT move to fight piracy. Arrest the filmers.

The guys on the street pay very little for the shitty copies you buy, and if they get caught selling them they typically just take them away from you. Maybe a fine, and then the fencer is just going to go back to his stash and get another pile. Arresting these guys will do nothing.

Chop off a hydras head and another springs up in its place.

But if you cut the source of these videos THAT will make an impact. NY is a hotspot for this type of crime and the penalties are likened to that of a permit fee. The money these guys make for producing their half assed copies is the real crime. Give them a fine for $250 and they would ask you who they write the check out to.

They still have people running drugs which is met with stiff penalties, so I don’t know that this will curb pirates sneaking video cameras into a theater, but it will give the pause.

We have a poster to look at today for the upcoming Prince Of Persia. We get the hookup from out friends at moviesonline:

I like this poster, I love the muted scenery through the veiled doorway. My only quibble is the font - it would have been better if it was worn and faded as well. Everything behind the text looks great, it is a shame the script looks so gaudy. What do you guys think?

Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time has a release date of June 16, 2009

By the glorious shawl of the blessed holy mother Mary! It appears that a knights templar film is in the works where they defend the holy cup of christ from Vampires! We get this crazy scoop from Variety via our friends at comingsoon:

Universal Pictures is developing The Knights Templar, picking up a spec script from Adam Torchia and Justin Stanley for Marc Platt and Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov to produce.

Variety says the film puts a horror spin on the famed organization of fighters from the Middle Ages, with the Knights Templar, fresh from the Crusades, forced to fend off an invading vampire army set on destroying the Holy Grail.

I can watch sword wielding dudes in armor fight vampires all day long. I am not sure why the Vampires would want to destroy the holy grail, but if they come up with an interesting enough reason, I will gladly buy it!

We need more fighting against vampires with swords, wooden spikes, mallets and spears. Gun warfare against vampires was awesome in Blade, but started to wear on me when other films picked up the idea. Blade used guns, but the preferred weapon was the sword and Wesley was always very innovative in the ways in which he dispatched the ever living. Sword warfare is often the best choice for violence and I am thrilled to see battle on cobblestone streets!

This one sounds like it could be cool, we will be sure to keep you posted on the updates as they are made available to us.

The vocalist known by the moniker Common will be joining the cast of Terminator Salvation. We get the following scoop from our friends at comingsoon:

Rapper/actor Common (upcoming Wanted) has signed on to co-star in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins for Halcyon Pictures, reports Variety.

Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin and Moon Bloodgood have already boarded the project, which will be distributed by Warner Bros. domestically on May 22, 2009. Sony will release the film in most international markets.

I am not usually enthused about singers getting acting gigs in feature films. More often than not it’s a recipe for disaster; although at times it works out fine, and the performance surprises everyone. I saw a film called Carnal Knowledge this weekend and Art Garfunkel was fucking awesome alongside Jack Nicholson.

Lets hope Common uses Garfunkel for inspiration rather than Elvis.

International friends - what are your thoughts on the casting of Common?

In order to acclimate myself to the sounds of Common, I have included a video for us to enjoy together.

There is a segment of 3 minutes of Speed Racer available online, despite the early assumptions that this is a Willy Wonka version of 2Fast 2Furious with silly string in a blender playing Grand Turismo 3 while weaing glasses made out of LSD Laced Gummi Bears (thanks Aaron Williams) I think this will be a great eyecandy flick that I will have to buy for my kids. (and watch repeatedly in HD)

So does this meet your expectations already set, or does it make it better or worse?

via /Film