In what seems like a perfect pairing, Paste Magazine reports that Larry David will be staring Woody Allen’s next film.

Continuing with his work of directing documentaries and films about such musical legends as the Band, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, Marty Scorsese will be making a documentary about the life of Bob Marley. The film is slated to be released February 6, 2010 - what would have been Marley’s 65th birthday.

According to this article on Page Six, Jefferey Tambor was on XM Radio and let it be known that the Arrested Development movie just might actually be coming.

via Pop Candy

Quantum of Solace. Interesting choice. One the one hand it seems rather intelligent and less cartoony or uninspired as other Bond titles, read: The World is not Enough. Thus, the new title embodies the rather more adult direction that Bond is taking from Casino Royale forward. What I do not like about this title is that it seems rather flat. It evokes nothing.

An intersting tid-bit from this AP article is that Quantum of Solace picks up just about where Casino Royale left off:

Filming began earlier this month at Pinewood, the franchise’s home since the 1960s. It’s a direct sequel to 2006’s “Casino Royale,” beginning an hour after that film ends, with Bond devastated by his betrayal by true love Vesper Lynd.

“He had his heart broken at the end of the last movie and that certainly is a spur for him in this one,” Craig said.

“I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t revenge in his heart. But it’s more than that. That spurs him on, but that’s not what the movie is. It’s not a revenge movie. It’s about him figuring a few things out.”

Arguably one of the best films of all time, Fellini’s 8 1/2 is funny, surreal and compelling. If you have a couple of hours to invest on a good film over the holidays, consider watching this one.

Martin Scorsese has a new movie - this time it is non-fiction and takes him back to the musician documentary side of his talent. Marty turns the camera on the Rolling Stones in the new movie ‘Shine A Light.’

From IMDB: Academy Award-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese and the world’s greatest rock ‘n roll band, The Rolling Stones, unite to bring audiences the musical film event, “Shine A Light,” a look at The Rolling Stones, the band that defined the very idea of what a rock & roll band is, live through the eyes of Scorsese.

Here is the trailer….

Variety reports that uber producer Joel Silver (The Matrix trilogy, Die Hard films, etc.) is taking He-Man back to the movies (I wonder who is buying the popcorn). That is, of course, if Mattel signs off on the project. My hunch is that things will only progress if the new Transformers movie’s figures are significant.

Mike D’Angelo, in Esquire, laments the fact that poker does not work as a subject for films and really has no place being in a movie.

But the film still propagates a lie that almost everyone, consciously or unconsciously, knows to be false: the idea that winning a given poker game or tournament has any meaning whatsoever. Poker is a game of skill, but only in the long run — great players sometimes endure losing streaks that last for months, and a complete idiot with ten grand to spare can win the world championship. (Some would argue that that’s already happened.) Imagine, say, a football movie in which our heroes score the winning touchdown in the final seconds — but then the referee flips a coin, it comes up tails, and six points are awarded to the other team instead. Do you still care? That kind of short-term caprice makes poker profitable (because bad players occasionally win big, and thus keep playing), but it also means that, no matter what happens to the characters playing onscreen, the audience takes a bad beat.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which is the group that decides movie ratings in the U.S., has suspended its rating for the horror film Captivity because it ran explicit ads for the movie.

To promote “Captivity,” After Dark submitted ads showing explicit images of a woman’s torture and death. MPAA “summarily rejected” the ads, according to Marilyn Gordon, the org’s senior VP for advertising. But After Dark used the ads anyway, posting them prominently on billboards in highly trafficked areas of Los Angeles as well as in Gotham taxis.

“The sanctions in this case are severe because this was an unacceptable and flagrant violation of MPAA rules and procedures,” Gordon said in a statement.

Public reaction to the billboards was strong, as MPAA switchboards lit up with complaints as well as questions about what to do, an org official said. When MPAA ordered After Dark to remove the ads, the company responded slowly, eventually complying but replacing the original ads with a sign reading “Captivity was here,” as if to have the last word. Ads at bus shelters in L.A. were still displayed Thursday.

Sanction comes in response to After Dark’s “prominent display in both Los Angeles and New York of advertising that the MPAA had explicitly disapproved as inappropriate for general public viewing,” the org said Thursday in a statement.

The Submarine Channel is a website/blog devoted to the appreciation of title sequences in movies, tv and other media.

You know what they say about first impressions. That’s why both Hollywood and independent studios are spending valuable time and resources to create the most appropriate main title sequences for their films. At its very best, a title sequence is a self-contained hybrid that combines several moving image techniques – film, animation, cgi – to compress the essence of the film it introduces.

On SubmarineChannel, we love a good main title. That’s why we’ve started an online collection of the most stunning and original ones. Some are engaging or wildly entertaining, funny, exhilarating or deadly beautiful. Some are oozing with visual treats while others hit you hard with their bold and audacious style.

It is true, Fox 2000 is making a hybrid CG/live action Alvin and the Chipmunks movie with Jason Lee as Dave Seville. Expect this movie to hit theaters in December of 07. I suppose this means that lessons were not learned after Garfield the Movie. At least there is not going to be a Chip and Dale cartoon out of the Tom and Jerry franchise. Those two were just a tad giggly for my liking.

via darkhorizons

It appears that Paramount Pictures is digging up an old script for a sequel to Forrest Gump. No word yet on whether Tom Hanks would come back. I don’t think people would buy the movie without him.

via cinema blend

The Academy Awards, aka the Oscars, happen to us next Sunday night (the 25 of February). By happen to us, I of course refer to the media hype that will ensue as we digest the red carpet, terrible jokes and stage banter and of course the winners. As for the awards themselves, the nominees in the respective categories may not please everyone. To that end, Esquire has put together an alternative list of film-making bests.

Best 9/11 Movie: The Departed
Best Comedy Featuring Sacha Baron Cohen: Talladega Nights
Best Betrayal of a Comic-Book Ethos: X-Men: The Last Stand
Best man for the job: Michel Gondry for Dave Chappelle’s Block Party
Best Performance by an Actor Whose 15 Minutes Have Long Since Expired: Vin Diesel in Find Me Guilty
Best One-Two Punch: Spike Lee
Best Kids’ Movie Featuring Absolutely no Talking Animals: Monster House
Best Premise: La Moustache
Best Picture About a Turn-of-the-Century Magician in Love with Esquire’s Sexiest Woman Alive: The Prestige
AND THE LOVE-IT -OR -HATE -IT AWARD GOES TO… Inland Empire

See the article for the rationale of each choice.

Jim Slotek, writing for the Sun Media newspaper chain, put together a curiously entertaining rundown of cannibalism in pop culture. The list really focuses on movies rather than all media. Also, Cannibal the Musical by Trey Parker (South Park) is off the list. These and other omissions aside, it still is a good read.

This week sees the release of Hannibal Rising, the prequel to the prequel to Silence Of The Lambs, with somebody named Gaspard Ulliel as the teenage Hannibal coming to grips with his tastebuds.

And with that, here’s a roundup of our top nine movies, plays and other manifestations of the lunch-that-dare-not-speak-its-name. We were going to do a top 10, but somebody ate the last one.

KarateParty has the list of the 100 worst martial arts movie titles of all time. Watch out for titles like: Best in the Highest, Ninja Supremo, Fist of Unicorn and Flash Legs.

via linkbunnies

Season 2 of the phenomenal HBO mini-series Rome began just over a week ago (not quite a fortnight). If you have been enjoying the show like I have, you just might appreciate this bit of trivia: Lucius Vorenus is played by Kevin McKidd, who played Tommy in the film Trainspotting.

(Kevin McKidd in Trainspotting)

The Washington Post reports that the group behind U.S. movie ratings, which is a branch under the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), is taking steps to increase the transparency of how it rates movies and implement other changes in order address past criticisms of harsh ratings.

(c) Reuters, 2005
Reuters reports that Al Pacino will be playing Salvaldor Dali in the Andrew Niccol directed biopic Dali & I: The Surreal Story.

via yahoo news

For the last while David Rakoff has been reviewing most of Woody Allen’s film canon. Call it an online fim festival of sorts. His reviews are well written, full of observation and smarts. If you enjoy discourse and enjoy Woody Allen, why not give it a read.