Cinema Sideshow

NEWS: Minghella to helm 'No. Ladies' Detective Agency,' Sandler signs with Apatow, Warners picks up "Bone"

HBO has greenlit a seven-part adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" which will be directed by Anthony Minghella. It's nice to see that someone's taken notice of this exceptional series of novels, Minghella could really do the project justice. Extra-plus bonus points -- Minghella co-wrote the two-hour pilot with Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually, "The Vicar of Dibley"). (Hollywood Reporter)

Cleverly noting whose bread currently bears the thickest slab of butter, Adam Sandler will star in Judd Apatow's next comedy opposite -- surprise! -- pal-of-Apatow Seth Rogan and wife-of-Apatow Leslie Mann.  Rumors that Jim Carrey has taken a position as Apatow's poolboy-slash-lickspittle have yet to be confirmed. (Variety)

Warners has purchased the rights to Jeff Smith's epic comic "Bone," which Variety weirdly describes as "Bugs Bunny meets Lord of the Rings." So far, it's all about the money, and the studio says that it could be a CG animated feature or live action (!) depending on the director. The ways in which this could be mishandled are so many and varied, it may be best to just hope that Smith enjoys the big pile of money he's been handed and that the film never gets made. (For more on "Bone" check out Mike Russell's inspired interview with Smith over at Culture Pulp.) (Variety)

NEWS: Hulk trailer, Tang Lee censored, new Indy pic

In a stunning display of PR overkill, Universal will run a teaser trailer for The Incredible Hulk on seven cable networks simultaneously. A teaser for the kinda-sorta sequel to Ang Lee's The Hulk will run at 9:56 p.m. EDT/6:56 p.m. PDT on MTV, MTVU, MTV2, VH1, Spike TV, Nick at Nite and CMT. Of course, if you don't feel compelled to sit glued to the TV, you'll be able to see the teaser on MTV.com following the big blockbuster simulcast. Thank god. (Marvel.com)

Actress Tang Lee's ad for Pond skin-care products has been banned from Chinese television. While no reason was given for the ban, it's an ill-kept secret that Ang Lee's pretty-but-dull period piece Lust, Caution, which stars Lee, offended China's State Administration of Radio Film and Television board, who also sent out instructions that Tang and the filmmakers be excluded from awards shows and that no mention of the film be made. The film was released in China only after seven minutes of sexual content was excised, and the SARFT was roundly chastised by the government for releasing it at all. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly has snagged a look at an action scene from Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. He's wearing his trademark hat, there are uniformed guys with guns, and he's about to jump off of a moving vehicle. Odds are that it's the frame right before they cut away so that a stuntman could make the actual jump, thus sparing Harrison Ford (and the production) the expense of costly hip surgery. You can see it here. (EW)

BLOGROLL: Chabon on super-suits, "Watchmen" characters revealed, adaptations that must be stopped

Author and self-professed comics geek Michael Chabon (author of "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay,"  "Wonder Boys" and "The Yiddish Policeman's Union") examines superhero attire in the New Yorker: 

The appearance of realism in a superhero costume made from real materials is generally recognized to be difficult to pull off, and many such costumes do not even bother to simulate the presumable effect on the eye and the spirit of the beholder were Black Bolt to stride, trailing a positronic lace of Kirby crackle, into a ballroom of the Overland Park Marriott. This disappointing air of saggy trouser seats, bunchy underarms, and wobbly shoulder vanes may be the result of imaginative indolence, the sort that would permit a grown man to tell himself he will find gratification in walking the exhibition floor wearing a pair of Dockers, a Jägermeister hoodie, and a rubber Venom mask complete with punched-out eyeholes and flopping rubber bockwurst of a tongue.

You can read the entire piece here: New Yorker -- "Reflections: Secret Skin" by Michael Chabon"

Elsewhere in super-suits, director Zach Snyder's released the character designs for the upcoming "Watchmen" film, and they're mighty nice. Check out The Comedian at right (click for larger image). It's no guarantee that movie won't be a disappointment (and we won't be the first to suggest that a two-hour movie can't possibly do justice to to the scope of Alan Moore's Watchmen), but so far the art design looks stunning.

Warners' official website is also a nice marketing touch, dangling choice bits of fanboy bait as the film continues production: One Year to Midnight (official 'Watchmen' site)

And while we're on the subject of potential disappointments, Cracked.com offers up a hilarious list of "8 Upcoming Movie Adaptations That Must Be Stopped." On the Wachowski's Speed Racer adaptation (which they readily admit looks awesome, based on the trailer):

Why shouldn’t this film be made? Let me answer that question with another question: Has there ever been a live-action film adapted from a cartoon that SHOULD HAVE been made?! Garfield, Fat Albert, Aeon Flux, Transformers, Inspector Gadget, The Flintstones… the list of turds goes on and on and on. Not that these were such hot franchises to begin with, but if the adaptations are consistently worse than the originals, then why does Hollywood continue to churn these films out year after year?

Oh yeah - because Hollywood has no original ideas and mouth-breathing idiots will pack the theaters anyway. Oops - I almost forgot!

Read and laugh: "8 Upcoming Movie Adaptations That Must be Stopped" -- Cracked.com