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Umm, Way? Micheal Moore Making "Fahrenheit 9/11" Sequel

2008-05-13T15:00:00.005-04:00

Wtf? How do you do a documentary sequel to an event that happened seven years ago? Do you follow the aftermath of those events?

That appears to be what Michael Moore will be doing with his sequel to "Farenheit 9/11" (not subtitled: "This Time It's War" or "Payback Is A Bitch" unfortunately). The controversial documentarian/ed-op director will attempt to shop the project to international buyers when the Cannes Film Festival and market get under way today according to Variety.

Evidently Paramount Vantage and Overture Films, will co-finance and co-produce the untitled documentary, which will apparently be set for a 2009 release.

Moore has had major success at Cannes before. "Fahrenheit's" indictment of the Bush administration in the handling of 9/11 won the coveted Palm d'Or in 2004.

The director is currently at work on the project. "Clearly, we have a movie of global appeal here. Michael Moore is a very talented filmmaker, and this is a branded property," PV head Nick Meyer said.

According to Variety:

Sequel will pick up where "Fahrenheit" left off. In the time since, President Bush's popularity has plummeted, while the Iraq war continues and the economy falters.

Gee, doesn't that set-up sort of sound like Oliver Stone's project and not a documentary? This strikes us as odd as much as we are big champions of Moore's work ("Sicko" was vastly underattended and underrated - Americans aren't generally interested in hearing about their shitty healthcare system and would rather go see tent pole eye-candy instead). We're kind of shocked actually. This is a strange move. We wish Moore would go tackle some other subject.

In Other News: We Still Have A Seriously Good Shot Here, People

2008-05-13T14:40:00.002-04:00

Are you fucking kidding me? Really? Really?? Christ. Oh well, that does bode well, I mean look at that freak.

Trailer: Woody Allen's Vicky Christina Barcelona Plus Salacious Pics

2008-05-13T13:52:00.007-04:00

Woody Allen tried his best to downplay the salaciousness of the sex scenes, lesbianism and menage a trois in his upcoming Barcelona-based feature, "Vicky Christina Barcelona," but based on these pictures he's failed and umm, rather miserably (we're so easy, we know).

But let's face it, a make out 'sesh between Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz has probably got all sexes on the planet at least a little curious, right? (maybe bi-curious?) [ed. do you remember the exact day your blogging morals went out the window?].

One things for certain, Javier Bardem seems like quite the playboy in this thing, seemingly juggling three different women at once (Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and British actress Rebecca Hall - who played Christian Bale's wife in "The Prestige"). Whatever Allen says at the very least there's a lot of making out in the film.

Collider has the trailer which has also put on YouTube (for now) which you can see below.

Ed Lachman Working As Cinematographer for Miranda July's Next Movie; Jon Brion Doing The Score?

2008-05-13T11:15:00.009-04:00

Miranda July is making another movie? Yes.

We tried to ask him about it afterward, but got cockblocked from some wealthy, air-kissing sycophants, but during the Q&A following a Brooklyn screening of "Ken Park," the co-director and lauded cinematographer Ed Lachman revealed his next project would be lensing July's next film.

Who knew? Like we said, we tried to ask him details, but got disturbed and then gave up, but that was one eye-raising tidbit that came out of the film's screening (Lachman co-directed Ken Park with perv-cinema auteur Larry Clark and his cinematography work is currently being feted at BAM).

But further research tell us that July is currently working on the script which is going to be based on her performance "Things We Don't Understand and Definitely Are Not Going To Talk About." Apparently this multi-media stage performance which incorporated live and taped video segments included musical help from Jon Brion, so will he be scoring this thing? Let's hope so (Brion previously scored, Michel Gondry's "Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind," "Punch-Drunk Love" and in recent years produced an album with singer Dido that is expected to finally see release later this year.).

Either way, if Lachman is onboard, the project must be getting closer to fruition.

Miranda July last film, her debut, was the extremely auspicious "Me And You And Everyone We Know" in 2003 and we'd heard some rumors from a reliable source that she would never make a film again, so we were happy to hear she'll be back as 'Everyone' is one of our favorite indie films of this decade (yes, it's too precious for some, whatever, to those we say: ))<>(( . And we gotta throw down the gaunlet. The 'Everyone' score by Michael Andrews ("Walk Hard," "Freaks & Geeks") is probably our favorite of this decade (at least so far).

Earlier this year Alia Raza directed a short based on July's short story collection "No One Belongs Here More Than You," with Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Lavender Diamond's tinkerbell, Becky Stark.

Maybe this good news will force something to come out soon. Lachman also said that the many Polaroid portraits he took of the actors – including the now deceased Heath Ledger – on the set of "I'm Not There," (he was the cinematographer) would soon arrive as an photo art gallery showing.

Download: Micheal Andrews - "Heaven In Five" (Me And You And Everyone We Know OST)
Download: Micheal Andrews - "Boy Moves The Sun" (Me And You And Everyone We Know OST)
Download: Jon Brion - "Theme" (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind OST)

Listen To All of Scarlett Johansson's Anywhere I Lay My Head

2008-05-13T10:50:00.007-04:00

Wanna listen to Scarlett Johansson's Anywhere I Lay My Head in its entirety right ? The entire album of her Tom Waits covers is streaming on Imeem as we speak a week early (the album doesn't come out proper until 5.20). You can hear it below, but you'll need to be logged into Imeem or you'll only get :30 second samples, but that might be all you need. We're not the hugest fans of the album, or rather, the TV On The Radio-sounding production by TVOTR guitarist Dave Sitek is fine and predictable enough, but Johansson's baritone is kind of flat and lifeless. When she sings in a high falsetto (like she does David Lynch-like lullaby on the track "I Wish I Was In New Orleans") we're kind of over the moon though. But that's one track.

David Bowie guests on the record and Salman Rushdie gropes her in the video, but otherwise, we find this album kinda lackluster, but decide yourself, we suppose.

Somehow, Tom Waits was cool with all of it. "I never would have done it if Tom didn't give his OK," Johannson told Pitchfork. "I made sure that he heard some of the rough, horrible mixes. [laughs] He even OKed it with how terribly boring and dull it was [at that point]. But he did. I think he was probably interested himself to hear what could happen." Maybe, morbid curiosity?

'Ken Park': Larry Clark's Teen Porno With Boners, Cumshots & All

2008-05-13T10:26:00.010-04:00

There's a retrospective of the works of estimable cinematographer Ed Lachman ("The Virgin Suicides,"The Limey"," "I'm Not There") currently happening at the Brooklyn Academy Museum so we went to go check out the opening night screening of the little-seen 1995 film "Ken Park" on Friday, a flick we didn't realize was co-directed with sleazebag degenerate director Larry Clark (well known for his proclivity for photographic young boys in their tighty-whiteys – the veritable godfather of sleazy Calvin Klein and American Apparel ads; we just thought it was a Clark film). It was the second time the film had ever been screened publicly in New York.

"Ken Park" is notoriously known for it's graphic pornography (real sex), cum shots* – the typically provocative work of button-pusher Clark – and the fact that it was never properly released in the United States, due to the surely NC-17 or triple X rating it would have certainly received if it ever found a distributor willing to pay for it (*Ziggy from "The Wire" jerks off to screen to completion – apparently he was "emotionally spent" afterwards. We were just surprised how well hung he was).

Or so we all assumed. Lachman and Clark were on hand for a Q&A afterwards and the slippery way Clark put it, was it wasn't cause there were censorship or distribution issues, but because the shady producers on the project – who apparently were a nightmare throughout – never cleared the music rights even when they said they were in the process of doing so.

This struck us and many others as odd. Even we assume this story is true, why not just change the songs if they couldn't get the rights? This is what every other movie in the history of cinema has done. There's been countless stories – some of them retold here on this blog – about the songs director's wanted to use in their films but couldn't because of rights issues (Wes Anderson wanting Dylan's "Billy's Theme" to end "Bottle Rocket," David Gordon Green wanting to use "Cortez The Killer" in "Undertow" for just two off-the-dome examples) and what did they all do? They moved on and used other songs much to their chagrin.

Clark talked about some country songs in the films (ones by Merle Haggard and Gary Stewart) that were cost-prohibitive to clear, but again, every other filmmaker in the world will just find another song, no matter how much it kills them, so this excuse seems rather sketchy to us. Especially since Clark hopes to still release the film properly one day (the soundtrack - uncleared or otherwise - features songs by The Roots, Black Starr, Rancid, Hank Ballard, Jerry Lee Lewis and concludes in the closing credits rather brilliantly with "Who Are Parents?" by dyslexic teen trio The Shaggs). Or maybe they just ran out of cash and that's it?

We've got nothing against the guy, we loved "Kids" and thought "Wassup Rockers" was a vast improvement on his shock-cinema with a much kinder and affectionate portrayal of teen life, but Clark seriously felt like the biggest scam artist in the world and we're pretty positive we weren't the only guys who felt that way (one guy bolted when his seemingly challenging question was ignored).

We asked Clark about the sex in the film as it wasn't simulated (clearly), bordered on pornography (or at least begged the question: what's the difference between art and pornography?) and seemingly done with underage teens. When we asked if the kids in the film were underage, Clark and Lachman practically gasped and with, "god, no," and responded that that would be illegal ("You can't do that," Clark said) and that casting took over a year because they had to find of-age actors that could believably play 16-17-year-old kids (which we completely believed by the way, but did cross-reference on IMDB just in case - the story panned out).

But when we asked whether the authentic sex scenes might have been the reason the film might have had distribution problems in the U.S., Clark once again added it was because of the song clearances and then added, "Was their even real sex in the film? I don't remember," to which the audience responded with laughter (which was their response to much of the over-the-top sex, violence and "pushing-the envelope transgressivness" of the film - cue: the rolling of your eyes). Clark even leaned over to Lachman during the audience burst out and asked, "Was there sex in the film?" (we didn't catch his response).

The rest of the audience just lobbed softballs as the filmmaker and they were only too happy to oblige as any question that seemed like a challenging one immediately got their backs against the wall. At one point a visibly annoyed Clark even abruptly muttered, "Alright, are we done yet? I've got to go soon. Have we done enough?"

At one point an audience member asked Clark if it was true that he had a falling out with the film's screenwriter Harmony Korine (who wrote the story based on Clark's diaries) and he immediately responded, "No," followed by a long pause. "Well, we had a falling out, but not about this film."

To be fair, Clark praised Korine's work while candidly talking about his drug problems ("He went off to do his adventure," was the euphemism) and then alternately gave him shit about nicking the film's title and the play off it (the character named Ken Park, who's nickname was that moniker backwards Krapneck) from a real life skater named Ken Park who's nickname was krapneck ("Harmony was so pleased with himself about coming up with that. He wanted everyone to know it was genius," later they found out the truth and thankfully, cleared with ease through the understanding skater. "Well, that was Harmony at the time," Clark shrugged).

Clark said he's working two films – one called, "Wild," and one that he was unwilling to talk about (he said he had been working on it for 5 years – afterwards, outside someone asked him about it and doing our best eavesdropping, the director said he wanted to make a 24 hour movie!)

All we know is that someone should cast this dirtbag filmmaker as a bullshitting snake oil salesman, something tells us he'd do a fantastic job. Lachman on the other hand was soft-spoken and genuine, but we're not so sure about the company he keeps.

Watch: "Ken Park" (intro to film)
If you've never seen this movie, much of it is on YouTube, fyi.

Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch's 'Gunnin' For That #1 Spot' Soundtrack To Feature Jay-Z, Nas, Notorious B.I.G. & Wait For It... New Beastie Boys Track

2008-05-13T10:11:00.003-04:00

Beastie Boy Adam Yauch's basketball documentary, ~~"Hoop Dreams PT. 2"~~ , errr... "Gunnin' For That #1 Spot'" will hit select theaters on June 27 — one day after the draft. The soundtrack will feature tracks by Jay-Z, the Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Lil Wayne and — you guessed it — the Beastie Boys (a new track recorded for the film, titled "Bass Line Is Nice").

Yauch, might have shot various Beastie Boy videos under the not-so-secret guise of Nathaniel Hörnblowér, and the Beasties cheap-ass, fan-shot concert film, "Awesome! I Fucking Shot That," but 'Spot' was an education in real filmmaking.

"The original idea was to shoot the movie, edit it in, like, three months, and actually try and have it done at the beginning of 2007, but editing never works like that," he told MTV. "Once you get into [post-production], it always goes slowly and it's more complicated. It kinda got to a point when I was a year into it when I thought, 'Man, if we can finish it by June, it'll be done when these guys are eligible for the draft.' And then we really started cranking on it and trying to get it down for now." [MTV]

Watch: " Gunnin' For That #1 Spot" Preview trailer

Uwe Boll Says He Should Direct Grand Theft Auto 4, Internet Nerds See Red

2008-05-13T09:39:00.006-04:00

Critical punching bag, German director Uwe Boll doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. The most-hated director alive has had the gall to make poor adaptations of seminal video games like, "BloodRayne" and now he dares to claim he would be the perfect director for "Grand Theft Auto IV," a move seemingly calculated to get Internet nerds into an even bigger lather.

"I think I would actually be the right guy to do [GTA4], because my movies are all bloody and violent and I don't have a problem with action scenes," Boll told Vulture (who are well aware that an interview with Boll is like money [hits] in the bank). "But look, they will go, in the end, with a Michael Bay or a Brett Ratner, and it will be a PG-13 movie made for $150 million. I think it would be better to make a $30 million, very hard, brutal movie without compromising, but I'm not optimistic."

Also that proposed fight with Michael Bay? It's not gonna happen. "His attorney wrote me that he’s not going to do it now. And I have to face, like, legal consequences if I say anymore that he will do it."

"I’m going to make that. I’m going to make that very soon. With Guy Ritchie, I think." How's that for a riveting quote? Producer Joel Silver says he's going to do D.C. Comics toughguy miltary character Sgt. Rock with Guy Ritchie as the director. Maybe everyone should wait to see if "RocknRolla" puts him back in a respectable place first. [AICN]

The Studio that runs "Thor" (Marvel) is throwin' around Brad Pitt's name as the lead. Apparently he hasn't even been approached yet though. It's certainly a better idea then Matthew McConaughey as "Captain Marvel." We just can't picture him looking at Bucky when the sidekick says he doesn't have a joint and trailing off in disgust, "It'd be a lot cooler if you did..." [Latino Review]

Mike Judge apparently see his upcoming film "Extract" as an "evil-twin sequel" to "Office Space," with a twist. "[The boss protagonist is] the owner of a company that makes vanilla extract and orange extract, and that kind of thing. 'Office Space' was sympathetic to the employees, and the bosses and the managers were the assholes. This one is sympathetic to Jason Bateman's character as the owner, and all the employees are the assholes. ... It's another workplace comedy." [MTV]

Scott Glenn has been cast as Donald Rumseld in Oliver Stone's "W" biopic about our current ~~dunderhead~~ president George W. Bush. Glenn’s last role was a nefarious, underhanded and shady CIA head in "The Bourne Ultimatum," so this one shouldn't be much of a stretch. [Empire]

Joaquin Phoenix Teams Up With Charlatans Frontman For Solo Album

2008-05-13T09:11:00.006-04:00

A charlatan and a crackpot have gotten together to record an album. Yes, that's correct. Charlatans U.K. frontman Tim Burgess and unpredictable jackass actor Joaquin Phoenix have teamed-up together to write an album for the actor who wants to turn musician.

Apparently after Phoenix learned to play guitar for his role as Johnny Cash in "Walk The Line," he found that it was therapeutic to sing about the frogs in his hair eating his brain.

However, whether the album actually comes out remains to be seen. "Once he learned guitar, he found that he had quite a lot of demons inside himself that he wanted to expel through music," Burgess said - the Charlatans frontman now lives in Los Angeles where he and Phoenix met. Burgess is mixing the album with obstreperous Creation Records owner Alan McGee.

But Phoenix's notoriously difficult, fussy and agitated approach to work seems to be onhand once again. "All the tracks that me and Alan worked with him on were brilliant," says Burgess. "But I think he just keeps scrapping everything or redoing everything. I'm sad to say that I think it's one of those records that may never come out, to be honest with you."

"It's an ongoing thing," he continues. "I'm trying to get Alan to force him to put it out at the moment, but I don't know whether it will (get released)."

Phoenix has been getting closer to rock in the last few years having directed videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, Albert Hammond Jr., Silversun Pickups and other indie bands.

"I always say that he’s crazy and mental, but I mean it in a very positive way [ed. suuuuure you do]. He’s very excited. He was just so into it, sometimes he’d just shout things. He was really, really focused," said Silversun frontman Brian Aubert.

Watch: Silversun Pickups - "Little Lover's So Polite" (directed by Joaquin Phoenix)

Jack Black And Cee-Lo Cover 'Kung Fu Fighting' Classic For Animated 'Kung-Fu Panda' Flick

2008-05-13T08:16:00.008-04:00

The White Stripes' Jack White and Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo have teamed together to record a cover of the 1970's camp disco classic "Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting" for the soundtrack to the upcoming animated Dreamworks film "Kung Fu Panda."

Written and performed by Carl Douglas, the song became an instant chart hit, and shot to #1 in both the U.K. and U.S. in 1974. The new collaborative cover will contain new lyrics and will be the first single off the soundtrack due May 27 digitally. The track was produced by The Underdogs, whose credits include Chris Brown, Marques Houston, and Beyonce.

Voiced by portly comedian Jack Black 'Panda' tells the story of... A bear that loves bamboo? A mammal that won't fuck to save its own species? Who knows what this thing is about. [ed. A slacker panda who must somehow become a Kung Fu Master in order to save his valley from a villainous Snow Leopard].

The rest of the soundtrack is a score courtesy of the great Hans Zimmer and up-and-comer John Powell who seems to be scoring everything under the sun of late ("Stop-Loss," "The Bourne Ultimatum," "Hancock," "Horton Hears A Who," etc.) Their soundtrack - which includes the single - score comes out June 3, while the film itself comes out in theaters June 6.

How did the Cee-lo, J. White collabo come about? They both loved the song of course (and Dreamworks drove a dump truck full of cash up to their front lawns driven by Playboy Bunnies). "It was inspiring and an honor to have the opportunity to reintroduce the record to a brand new audience sprinkled with a little of me on top," Cee-Lo said in a statement.

We wish we had something witty to end this with, but we kind of don't care.

Watch: "Kung Fu Panda" trailer

Watch: Carl Douglas - "Kung Fu Fighting"

The Trades: WB Caught Red-Handed; 'Speed Racer' Numbers Debunked, David O.Russell Movie Up & Running Again, Patti Smith Finds A Home

2008-05-13T07:47:00.008-04:00

Those allegedly inflated "Speed Racer" box-office numbers? Oh they were inflated like an air balloon alright. Warner Bros. originally estimated that the film made some $20 million for a second place finish at the box-office this past weekend. Other studios cried foul at their numbers and it's all blown up in WB's face. The film actually only grossed $18.6 million and has been demoted to the third spot - laughably behind an Ashton Kutcher rom-com even he bet against. That's a $1.6 million dollar difference and some seriously funny math. A disastrous showing for WB's first tent pole film of the summer becomes that more embarrassing. [Associated Press]

"Speed Racer" lead Emile Hirsch seems so embarrassed by this flop that he's left his talent agency reps in a huff. [Deadline Hollywood]

Production on David O. Russell's "Nailed" has resumed. The film was shut down temporarily Friday when unions like IATSE and SAG had not been properly paid. The "cash crunch" forced the Screen Actors Guild to ask the lead actors - Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Biel - to leave the film until the matter was resolved, but the crisis seems averted and the shoot is up and running again. Nikki Finke seems to think this problem is systemic in Hollywood at the moment and effecting other films currently with production woes. Prepare for an obnoxious "told you so" if this proves even remotely true. [Variety]

The Patti Smith documentary "Patti Smith: Dream Of Life" has found a distrib in Palm Pictures. The film will come out later this summer - starting August 6 in New York - and like we reported a week ago, will be on dvd early next year. The doc will be on video on demand as well for those too lazy to hit the theaters this summer. [Variety]

The Broadway drama "Passing Strange" will be the first musical to have its soundtrack released early on Itunes (May 27) almost a month before it hits CD in July. [Variety]

Remember "Fraggle Rock"? Jim Henson's series about Muppets that lived in caves? The Weinstein company is going to be turning the beloved kids TV show into a live-action musical feature. [Entertainment Weekly] Should Jason Segel be worried?

No Way! Arcade Fire Scoring Richard Kelly's 'The Box'

2008-05-12T17:00:00.013-04:00

Montreal orchestral rockers the Arcade Fire are generally pretty picky about who they work with, the amount of press they give, what shows they play, etc. (or at least they're now in the position to be that picky). So what the fuck is up with the news that they're going to be scoring Richard Kelly's new movie "The Box"???

Ok, "Donnie Darko," was great (s0me might go as far to call it a classic, those are words we don't throw around easily), but hello? Did the Arcader's miss "Southland Tales", aka one of this decade's most godawful films??

Not only does it appear that Kelly found the script for "The Box" in the bottom of a cracker jack box (or lifted from an episode of "The Twilight Zone"), he's basically admitted the film is going to be a vehemently commercial project aimed at restoring studio faith in his work ever since "Southland Tales" tanked - he's well aware he dodged a bullet when Hollywood allowed him to make another film afterwards.

Wait, how did this all come about? A Pitchfork reader tipped the site off to the fact that producer/engineer Markus Dravs spilled the beans about the band's involvement on his website (surely waaay before the AF and or Kelly would like everyone to know).

... having finished Coldplay's forthcoming album Viva LaVida - now off to Canada to work with Arcade Fire on a soundtrack for the forthcoming Richard Kelly film.

The premise is absurd: a couple find a box containing a button. If they push it, they will receive $1 million. The rub? Someone they don't know will die. Ooooh, scary! (see it's typical "Twilight Zone" B-movie, bad sci-fi episode of the week).

Now we're not one of those Arcade Fire disciples who think they should be above this (hello, the aggressively mediocre Neon Bible), but for guys who come from the staunchly artistique Montreal scene, to be matched up with Richard Kelly, a one hit wonder hack? It seems almost absurd. We expect a tiny bit more from you guys (the film stars Cameron Diaz for christ's sake, she was just in an Ashton Kutcher movie!)

Kelly told USA Today a few months back that he was ready to commercial with this new project. "With 'The Box,' I hope to make a more mainstream popcorn film." And to be fair, if you wanted to continue making films after creating the laughable monstrosity that was "Southland Tales," you'd want to go commercial too.

Maybe Win Butler has some sort of irony-affinity like a handful of 'Southland' devotees have? (like Melissa Anderson at TimeOut, a decent film critic who forfeited all cinematic goodwill for the rest of her career by championing the film beyond all acceptable and logical notions of good taste).

Oh yeah, Kelly would like you to know that he has nothing to do with "The Donnie Darko" sequel and disavowed any association to the film. "I haven’t read this script. I have absolutely no involvement with this production, nor will I ever be involved. I have no control over the rights from our original film."

In this same post, Kelly hinted at the Arcade Fire's involvement, but of course his engineer has outed the plan. "We're starting to work with a very famous band who is honoring us with being the first fillmmakers they've ever scored a film with."

Yeah, great choice of first project guys. Good luck with that.

Megan Fox Has... Translucent Breasts?

2008-05-12T16:22:00.001-04:00

We don't usually post nudie photos for the sake of just posting nudie photos (we are a serious blog after all), but these shots of actress Megan Fox - recently voted the sexiest female alive by lad mag FHM- on the set of the Diablo Cody written "Jennifer's Body" are curious and newsworthy because... she's amphibious? She has translucent breasts? All we're certain of right now is that down there is feeling, very, very confused. [Egotastic]

Did Warner Bros. Inflate Those Sub-Par 'Speed Racer' Numbers So It Wouldn't Lose To Ashton Kutcher's Laughable 'Vegas' Flick?

2008-05-12T15:35:00.004-04:00

So the retina-scarring nightmare that was "Speed Racer" shit the bed as we hoped and predicted it would. "Iron Man" topped the box-office again (earning $50.5 million in its second week) and the $160-million dollar-costing 'Racer,' chugged into a dismal second place with $20.2 million. "Our tracking was stalled toward the end," said Dan Fellman, president of Warner Bros. who may or may not have been using unintentionally ironic and amusing sports-racing metaphors. "Unfortunately it didn't perform to our expectations."

But Nikki Finke (via Vulture; thanks for the image too) says other studios are claiming that even Warner Bros.' shitty-looking Ashton Kutcher vehicle "What Happens in Vegas…" outperformed 'Racer' at the box-office and that WB inflated the numbers to save face and make the flop of their first tent-pole movie aside a dumb rom-com (which really shouldn't be able to match it box-office-wise) seem less embarrassing.

"Their estimate is utterly laughable!," a top exec at a rival studio told Finke (Vulture assume it's 20th Century Fox).

Ouch, if this is true, it is rather painfully embarrassing. An Ashton Kutcher film with Cameron Diaz that has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 27%??? (Then again that audience give's a flying rat's ass about reviews). Someone over at WB is being fired as we speak, count on it.

At least WB apparently aren't trying to juke the stats all that much. "That being said, from what I've heard, they are not trying to dress up the pig. They're resigned to it being a disaster... just not enough to stop them from fabricating a number to jump Fox for the #2 position," the source told Finke.

You know we did call it from day one and we assumed it would be a flop, but man, this is like Titanic-level disaster (*snicker*).

Sneak Peek: Derek Luke As Puff Daddy In Biggie Film, 'Notorious'

2008-05-12T14:58:00.005-04:00

Is that Didd's at a white party? The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly has a shot of actor Derek Luke in his crispy whites as Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs in the Notorious B.I.G. biopic, "Notorious" as found over at /Film.

Sitting throne next to him is Jamal Woolard (the rapper Gravy) as the Biggie himself (Christopher Wallace; who we've already seen shots of).

For all those on the planet who worries about the quality of this biopic (everyone), keep in mind at least that Luke has done some superb work. His small, but effective turn in David Mamet's "Spartan" (super underrated film, btw) was choice. Anthony Mackie who plays Tupac in the film, is a badass thespian too.

Then again Diddy just endorsed the film too and we all know he's not the greatest authority on things that are actually good.

The music supervisor Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie thinks that Gravy getting capped in the ass in '06 makes more than qualified to play the part." I believe that Gravy has studied hard enough; I think he got enough battle scars from the streets that he could pull it off."

The Onion Lampoons Michel Gondry's "Whimsical" Imagination And Flights Of Fancy

2008-05-12T12:40:00.006-04:00

Kudos to the Onion for this fun dig at the capricious and whimsical flights of Michel Gondry's oh-so-precious imagination and the ability to imagineer something out of the most prosaic every day object (he's kind of like the Macgyver of the mind).

In an article titled, "Michel Gondry Entertained For Days By New Cardboard Box, the comedy website digs into the French director's artistic flights of fancy and it's spot-on hilarity.

Here's the choice parts.

Director Michel Gondry has spent nearly a week developing his latest flight of artistic fancy by playing make-believe in a large corrugated cardboard box, sources close to the daring filmmaker announced Tuesday.

The [director[ reportedly dragged the washing-machine box into the foyer of his $2.1 million Upper West Side apartment after it was discarded by a neighbor Saturday morning. Using only a crayon and his imagination, Gondry was able to effortlessly transform the box into a submarine, a spaceship, and a castle.

He also reportedly turned the box into a super-secret fort.

"This particular medium is wonderful to work in because of its limitless possibility," Gondry said from his curled-up position inside the box. "I'm working at the bubble factory right now, but later I'm going to go bobsledding down a rainbow."

Lolz, 5/5. Oh, Michel you silly little Frenchman, you!

'American Teen' Soundtrack Adds Cat Stevens, Frou Frou, Patrick Watson; Tentatively Slotted for 7/15

2008-05-12T12:03:00.008-04:00

You gotta love when people are reading our site and care. Our just posted story on the "American Teen" soundtrack has ellicted further information from another source. The tentative date for the soundtrack is July 15 and additional artists include Cat Stevens (the classic "Trouble" from "Harold & Maude"), now-defunct electronic duo Frou Frou (which featured Imogen Heap on vox) Montreal singer/songerwriter Patrick Watson. Three exclusive tracks have been made for the soundtrack/film and they also include ones by Oklahoma songwriter Ryan Lindsey and San Franciscan folk rocker Nyles Lannon.

Though screenings of the films have featured The New Pornographers and the trailer has I Am Barcelona, it appears that none of these two indie-acts, or Michael Penn's score will make the cut on the disc (presumably they'll still be in the film, obvs Penn's score will be in it).

The tracklist, which is not 100% nailed down, as of right now is thus:

"American Teen" soundtrack (tentative tracklist)
01. Black Kids - "I'm Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You"
02. The Unicorns - "Sea Ghost"
03. Cat Stevens - "Trouble"
04. Sunny Day Sets Fire - "Lack Of View"
05. Frou Frou - "Breathe In" (Jason Bentley Remix) (exclusive track)
06. Luna Halo - "Kings & Queens"
07. Blackalicious - "Your Move"
08. Patrick Watson - "The Great Escape"
09. Ryan Lindsey - "Let's Go Out" (exclusive track)
10. Does It Offend You, Yeah? - "Dawn Of The Dead"
11. John Paul Young - "Love Is In The Air"
12. Nyles Lannon - "Train" (exclusive track)
13. MGMT - "Kids"
14. The Ting Tings - "Great DJ"

Watch: Patrick Watson - "The Great Escape"

Watch: MGMT - "Kids"

David O. Russell's 'Nailed' Temporarily Shuts Down Due To "Cash Crunch"; Lead Actors Asked To Leave By SAG

2008-05-12T10:45:00.005-04:00

Ok, we all knew David O. Russell was having problems on the set of his new political satire, "Nailed," it is the mercurial O.Russell after all - a director that no one seems to be able to stomach (including generally genial people like George Clooney), but things have apparently gotten much, much worse and the production is shutting down.

First Robert Duvall walked off the set and then quit "Nailed," and then there were reports that lead actor Jake Gyllenhaal was displaying "diva-like" behavior (the film also stars Jessica Biel) Much of this isn't new for O.Russell, both his last two films, "I Heart Huckabees," and "Three Kings" were filled with tons of onset drama and turmoil (infamous footage of his battles with the actors and particularly Lily Tomlin from 'Huckabees' made the rounds and the Clooney famous socked O.Russell in the mouth for being such a tyrannical dick on the set of 'Kings').

Nikki Finke the "I told you so"-inclined reporter over at Deadline Hollywood now says that the production has temporarily shuttered due to financial issues. The "cash crunch" has apparently put everyone in a holding pattern and the actors - including James Marsden, Catherine Keener, and Tracy Morgan - "are waiting to see if the movie will continue."

The monetary issues are apparently that's causing problems with the unions "SAG, IATSE and the Teamsters." Finke insists in spite of O.Russell's difficult reputation, the film's problems are all financial and not due to his leader abilities.

And it gets worse, a follow-up report by Finke says the lead actors on the film, Gyllenhaal and Biel have been asked to leave the film by the Screen Actor's Guild because the producers have apparently deposited insufficient funds with the guild.

This film sounds fucked, but apparently, James Brolin came in to replace Duvall's role and completed all his scenes before the movie was shut down. Perhaps there is some hope for the film. A source tells Finke, "It's been touch and go the entire time. The financiers are doing the best they can. There's been a cash crunch, that's for sure. It's a drag, but they'll muddle through. Everyone seems happy and committed to the movie and hopeful all this stuff will get worked out."