I am pretty sure I saw at least two, and possibly three, future Oscar nominees in the new trailer for John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, now available over here. If nothing else, you'd be a fool to bet against 1) Meryl Streep, 2) playing a righteous nun, 3) in an adaptation of a Pulitzer-Prize winning play. There are few sure things in Hollywood, but come on. I'd almost say the same for Philip Seymour Hoffman as a (possible) child molester, and I think the oddly unrecognizable Amy Adams has a sporting chance as well.

Streep's role here -- a stern nun who accuses a priest of sexually abusing a young boy -- looks like a variation on Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada, if The Devil Wears Prada had been serious business instead of silliness. "I was not inviting a guessing game, Sister Raymond." Her response to Hoffman's hateful "I can fight you" is basically the greatest line delivery of all time. "The dragon is hungry," indeed.

I can't wait to see this; I really wanted to see the play on Broadway, but never got around to it. Watching Streep and Hoffman face off, with strong material backing them up, is a dream come true. Doubt is set for a December 12th release.

After years of turning down any and all parties who inquired after the film rights for his novel Blindness, Nobel Prize-winning novelist Jose Saramago finally relented to the director-writer team of Fernando Meirelles and Don McKellar after years of cajoling and convincing. McKellar also has a part in the final film, a sprawling story of ruin and redemption that spanned the globe in its production that's been significantly re-cut -- and significiantly improved -- from the version first unveilled in Cannes in May. McKellar spoke with Cinematical in Toronto about the re-cut version of the film, the secret thread between his brilliant directorial debut Last Night and Blindness (" ... my paranoia about the apocalypse hadn't been resolved yet ..."), how Hurricane Katrina influenced the look of Blindness, the need for humor at the end of the world and much more. ...

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In last year's Best Picture winner, No Country for Old Men, Tommy Lee Jones played a weary sheriff chasing after a man who was chasing after some money. Well, according to the San Antonio Express-News, Jones is now himself a weary man chasing after some money, specifically from the pockets of Paramount.

It appears that a contract signed by Jones between Paramount and its subsidiary, N.M. Classics, Inc. contained two "mistakes" that may have prevented him from garnering up to, and perhaps upwards of, $10 million in the wake of the film's success. What's worse is that he was still deducted for any number of expenses, despite alleged awareness of the errors on the part of Paramount. As such, Jones wants an auditor to go through their books and figure out just how much he is owed.

Naturally, neither side of the case has made much in terms of formal comment. As his character might say, if this ain't a mess, it'll do 'til the mess gets here.

[Thanks to Movie City News for the tip.]

With his latest effort, Happy-Go-Lucky, director Mike Leigh takes a departure from the dark mood evoked by most of his films with a charming little tale about an eternally optimistic school teacher, Poppy (Sally Hawkins, previously seen in smaller roles in Leigh's films Vera Drake and All or Nothing), who breezes through life, always seeing the glass half full. Poppy is one of those people who never seems to get down about anything. She smiles at surly strangers, strikes up conversations with people who'd clearly prefer to be left alone, and puts a positive spin on everything.

When her bike is stolen, Poppy shrugs it off and decides to take driving lessons; her driving instructor, Scott (Eddie Marsan, also a Leigh alum from Vera Drake) is Poppy's polar opposite. Some of the film's best moments are when she's interacting with Scott and we have the dramatic tension of his simmering anger to contrast with Poppy's perkiness. Scott is intensely uptight, seems to hate everyone and everything, and adheres firmly to the belief that if only everyone would follow a strict set of rules (his rules, of course), all would be well. Naturally, the two clash.

We've all sat down to watch a movie that I like to call the cinematic equivalent of 'civic duty'. Sure, it's not going to be a fun night at the movies, but its all for a good cause, so you shell out your hard-earned dollars. That is exactly the kind of film that I think The Boy in the Striped Pajamas will be -- well intentioned, but depressing as hell. The trailer for the Holocaust drama appeared on the net a few days ago, and I have to send this warning before you press play: you might want to keep a tissue nearby. Pajamas was directed by Mark Herman (who also wrote the screenplay) and the film shares a producer with the Harry Potter franchise (David Heyman).

Pajamas is the story of a young boy whose father is a high ranking guard in the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp. Through the course of the story, the cost of war and inhumanity is all shown through the friendship between the young German boy, and the boy in the 'striped pajamas' on the other side of the fence. Pajamas stars David Thewlis, Rupert Friend, and Vera Farmiga. The film is based on the novel by John Boyne, who, believe it or not, intended this story to be a 'children's book'. But if I had come across this story as a child, I might have needed some long-term grief counseling.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is expected to arrive in theaters in November; which leaves you with plenty of time to practice sobbing quietly in the movie theater.

Hell Ride is a deliberate, calculated throwback, referencing and recycling the cheapie bike-sploitation flicks of the '60s and early '70s as a band of burly brothers roar, rage and ride their way through the American Southwest on a rampage of revenge. Written by, directed by and starring Larry Bishop, Hell Ride thrums and roars with attitude; problem is, the drive shaft components of plot and character and logic just aren't there, meaning that even when Bishop hits the throttle, the roar and rattle can't hide the fact nothing's really happening.

Hell Ride revolves around a cycle gang known as The Victors, led by Pistolero (Bishop), with the tuxedo-shirt clad The Gent (Michael Madsen) riding on his right and recent inductee Comanche (Eric Balfour) an up-and-coming lieutenant in the organization, on his left. The Victors are trying to take care of business -- although what business it is they're in is never quite explained -- and the only thing interfering with that is Pistolero's obsession with righting the wrong done decades ago to Cherokee Kisum (Julia Jones), slain on the 4th of July in 1976. The Gent and Comanche are rubbed the wrong way by Pistolero's campaign of retribution, especially with the Six-Six-Six'ers and their kill-crazy leader Billy Wings (Vinnie Jones) edging in on Victors turf. ...

Well, I guess they don't call The New York Times the 'Paper of Record' for nothing; because not only are they the final word in journalism, but now Hollywood has come knocking for script ideas. Variety has announced the latest Times film deal, proving that the paper is going full steam into the movie business. Monika brought us an update on a Miramax deal for the film rights to the article, This Strange Thing Called Prom, but that is only the tip of the iceberg for the Old Grey Lady.

Now that the newspaper and magazine business has become what they call "economically challenged," everyone is on the hunt for some new revenue streams and Hollywood seems to be paying off. The current deals will see NYT writers share in the profits of the movie deals. But unlike the past, the newspaper will be the broker of the deals, instead of just subsidizing the articles, only to watch the writer hit a big pay day after optioning the piece.

The latest deal with Miramax marks the 15th property (that's right: 15) that the NYT has sold to studios since it first signed up with ICM. Some of the other high profile deals included a football vehicle for Jack Black, a political suspense tale that was purchased by Paramount for Tom Cruise (but I guess we all know how that particular deal probably turned out) and the recently announced J.J Abrams thriller. But the NYT is not alone in looking for bucks on the big screen; high profile papers like The Wall Street Journal have also been getting in on the act.

So is it official? Has Hollywood become so strapped for fresh ideas that they can only make it to their front doorstep for something new? Sound off below on this trend and tell us what you think.

I guess Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are too busy waiting for her to give birth, because they're no longer in this whole prom business. In June, Christopher Campbell posted about how a New York Times story was going to be made into a feature film, and that Brangelina had brought it to Paramount and Plan B to get it off the ground.

Now Variety reports that Miramax films have sealed the deal to bring This Strange Thing Called Prom to the big screen. However, they've only got the premise right now. Either they're going to create their own idea from this story, or move on and get the rights from each of the kids involved. As of now, no producer or writer has been attached.

If you're not familiar with Brooke Hauser's article, it follows a bunch of high school seniors at an international high school who are getting ready for prom. Instead of the usual band of promgoers, these kids come from all over the world, areas from Venezuela to Poland. But it's not all magical dances and perfect memories, and the experience "ranged from magical to miserable." But what's particularly cute about this story is that it's a bunch of international students who know nothing of prom coming together, researching the world of prom, and throwing their own. Just their discussions on what prom should be are worth the read.

And here's to hoping they keep the story and diversity in tact.

UPDATE: Here's the trailer in Quicktime quality.

Of all the films I'm looking forward to this fall, Blindness ranks fairly high up there. Canadian distributor Alliance has just made available a full trailer that proves to be fairly intriguing, as an optometrist (Mark Ruffalo) and his seemingly immune wife (Julianne Moore) cope with an inexplicable epidemic of sight loss.

I'm a sucker for most anything vaguely apocalyptic, and while this very well could turn out to be akin to watching the first act of Children of Men through a milk-filled mask (which I've done, mind you), the prestige behind the project* says otherwise. We have acclaimed screenwriter Don McKellar adapting Nobel-Laureate José Saramago's novel, with Academy Award nominee Fernando Meirelles directing a cast that also includes Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal, Alice Braga, and Sandra Oh.

I must say, going off that taste and last spring's teaser, I still like the look, sound, and feel of this one, especially Moore's little retort (you know the one), and that's not to mention that any trailer which employs John Murphy's underrated score from last year's Sunshine to set a rightfully ominous tone is always fine by me. We'll get to see (sorry) what trials and tribulations await the world on September 19th.

*Not to mention Rocchi's review of the film from its Cannes world premiere.

For everyone who's ever watched a bad movie and thought, "If this is what they produced, I wonder what they threw away?," the Village Voice has found an answer. In an amusing and fascinating article posted today, reporter Tony Ortega says he and a buddy accidentally stumbled across a recycling bin full of paper from Harvey Weinstein's office -- and not just from the office, but from Weinstein's own desk. Ortega proceeds to tell us all the juicy details he learned about the daily work of a movie mogul.

So what is Harvey Weinstein throwing away? Lots of copies of screenplays, naturally, as well as daily sheets (prepared by an assistant, no doubt) listing phone calls he needs to make or return. As you might imagine, the roster of people seeking Weinstein's attention is staggering, with actors, agents, lawyers, producers, and reporters all vying for his time. Michael Moore called him on April 25 and Weinstein didn't return the call for over a month. I'd say being able to ignore Michael Moore for a full month is the very definition of power.

Strangely, Weinstein's e-mails are printed out for him to peruse. (Maybe he gets eye strain from looking at a computer monitor? Maybe he just likes wasting paper?) There were some pretty interesting tidbits in the copies he tossed, including lots of stuff about the Weinstein-produced Project Runway, if you're into that.