Thanks to jennybee for reminding us to take the latest mojo measurements for The Dark Knight.   Passing two more milestones, the domestic gross for TDK is now $502,421,000 and the worldwide gross is $919,121,000 — passing Jurassic Park to claim the #10 spot on the all-time worldwide chart. Within days the Batman will sweep past 3 or 4 more titles on the chart below. 3 of the top 7 titles on the worldwide chart were nominated for Best Picture. (The 4 films that were not nominated all involved Pirates and Potter.)

John Lennon (age 17) and Quarrymen manager Nigel Walley (1958)

First-time feature director Sam Taylor-Wood wants Kate Winslet for her new John Lennon bio, Nowhere Boy, focusing “on the lonely teenage years of the future Beatle, who was raised by his authoritarian aunt after being abandoned by his mother.”

Taylor-Wood, who will be making her feature debut on the project, will shoot on location in Liverpool in the area where Lennon grew up. Casting is said to be underway on the project, and the Daily Mail reports today that Kate Winslet is being encouraged to audition for the role of Lennon’s mother, Julia.

“The women in John’s early life truly shaped who he became,” Taylor-Wood told the Hollywood Reporter. “And the strengths and weaknesses of their relationships are central to this film.” (Guardian UK)

Taylor-Wood has collaborated with Pet Shop Boys and has established a respectable euro festival pedigree. I 2002, she won the Illy Café Prize for Most Promising Young Artist at the 47th Venice Biennale, and this year her short film, Love You More, (produced by Anthony Minghella) was nominated for the short-film Palme d’Or at Cannes.  Artist-directors range from Julian Schnabel to Andy Warhol. Julie Taymor seemed to take her stunningly beautiful Beatles-based film in the other direction — her collage of a movie had roots with Les Fauves and unfolded like a gallery survey of modern art -isms. It’ll be interesting to see where Sam Taylor-Wood falls along that spectrum of visual expressionism.

Even more interesting to see who’ll be chosen to play young Lennon. Any ideas?

Same cloche hat (and same expression) in gloomier lighting, after the cut.

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Nice concise visual plot summary.   Leo rushing headlong into the action so fast that his hands (and loyalties) are blurred.   Russell pulling strings in the shadows, armed with a headset instead of a gun.   Does Crowe have DiCapri’s back?  Or turn his back on him?  Leo’s stylish sunglasses shield him from the glare of harsh truth in the light of day; Russell’s bookish glasses function as nightvision goggles to see past the lies in the darkest hour.  (Kennedy’s secretary was named Lincoln; Lincoln’s secretary was named Kennedy!)  Hey, and I was only kidding about Dark Knight Blue being the new black.  Don’t overdo it, marketing guys.

Poster after the cut.

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Or rather, April Wheeler vs. Hanna Schmitz.   Defamer has the news via a brief snippet from Variety that the beleaguered Weinstein Company is seeking a December release for The Reader. This would create a head-on category-collision issue for Kate Winslet whose role in Revolutionary Road is also expected to be a strong contender.

After a successful screening in New York of The Reader, the Weinstein Co. has decided to release the film for Oscar contention this year. …

[G]iven the strong reaction to the test screening, the Weinstein Co. has decided to go full throttle on securing a release date and mobilizing the marketing materials.

Defamer scoffs, because that’s their job:

We can’t say we’re holding our breath, but along with Revolutionary Road, [Scott] Rudin’s got both of Winslet’s Oscar turns for ‘08 — plus a wealth of Minghella/Pollack memorial goodwill to spare within the Academy. It’s a no-brainer, but still — is this the same “full throttle” that so, ahem, mobilized the Weinsteins’ Grace is Gone and Factory Girl? And who would survive a New Year’s death-match between Harvey and Rudin if the throttle dies, anyway? So many questions!

I don’t want to think about the death match. So here’s another question: Although she’s the central character, Hanna Schmitz inhabits a relatively small page-count in the novel. Might Kate Winslet conceivably be considered in the supporting actress category for The Reader?

George Clooney signs on to Jason Reitman’s adaptation of the Walter Kirn novel, Up in the Air, starring as Ryan Bingham, “a management consultant, specializing in the lugubrious field of career transition counseling (i.e., he fires people for a living). But what Kirn’s airborne protagonist is really doing is pursuing his own private passion, his great white whale: accumulating one million miles in his frequent-flyer account.”

Just as GPS depends on triangulation to pinpoint a position, sometimes it takes a trio of films before we can triangulate the realm a new director hopes to stake out for himself.  Following Thank You for Smoking and Juno with Up in the Air, Jason Reitman is creating intelligent grown-up comedies with a sharp edge of social commentary, involving borderline farcical situations in familiar settings. Ladies and gentleman, I give you Jason Reitman — America’s new Preston Sturges. (Comparisons to Sturges are about the highest praise I can give to a director.)

Up in the Air is one to keep an eye on, both as a serious contender for 2009 and as a potentially classic example of that rarest bird in Hollywood — a mature comedy with smart dialogue and cultural significance. Here’s a description of the novel:

Mocking the euphemisms of business speak is as easy as shooting fish in a designer barrel. But Kirn also takes on the corporate world’s weirdly mystical and paranoid side, its rhetoric of personal empowerment and its messianic devotion to gurus. Meanwhile, [Ryan Bignham's] junket becomes progressively more surreal, complete with an evil nemesis as well as a mysteriously powerful firm called MythTech that’s working behind the scenes. And what’s worse, someone seems to have stolen his identity, assuming control of his credit cards and his all-important miles.

Is this model consumer being tracked as he makes his purchasing decisions, like an elk tagged by wildlife biologists? Or is he merely losing his mind? The ending answers these questions perhaps a little too neatly, but Kirn’s disturbing satire packs a mighty wallop nonetheless.

Imagine what George Clooney and Jason Reitman can do with that premise.

Kicking off the Venice Film Festival today is Joel and Ethan Coen’s Burn After Reading. Andrew Pulver of The Guardian, UK, says:

Clocking in at a crisp 95 minutes, Burn After Reading is a tightly wound, slickly plotted spy comedy that couldn’t be in bigger contrast to the Coens’ last film, the bloodsoaked, brooding No Country for Old Men. Burn, in comparison, is bit of a bantamweight: fast moving, lots of attitude, and uncorking a killer punch when it can.

Where does this film leave the Coens? Their unique position, as darlings of both the Hollywood set and the festival circuit, is unchanged. What they have managed to come up with here, somehow, is a light-as-fluff flipside to hardcore “insider” films like All the President’s Men, Michael Clayton or, indeed, The Insider: it paints the powers-that-be as goofy, chaotic and definitively non-sinister. This lot, you feel, couldn’t bug their way out of a paper bag.

That’s as spoiler-free as any excerpt I could find. Anyone who’s read the script and wants to talk about the plot, please be sure to top off your comment with a SPOILER ALERT, ok? The twists and switchbacks are the source of most of the fun, and most of us will want to experience those on the screen.

BBC video press clip.

“We-are-not-amused” Variety review, plus group photos of the directors and cast after the cut.

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Dorothy and k at Inside the Gold, find a fanboy feline poster at Deviant Art that re-imagines Marion Cotillard strapped and wrapped in cat-burglar chic couture. La Vie en Noir? Swat meets SWAT. The only thing The Dark Knight lacked in its tightly packed screenplay was a viable romantic outlet for the Batman. In Part III will we see some clawsome Kitty Kitty Bang Bang?

Sasha first posted links to the trailer in June, but with the TIFF premiere of Miracle at St. Anna only 10 days away, now’s a good time to resurrect it for a second look — and in high-def to better appreciate Matthew Libatique’s lush and textured cinematography.

Also a good time to get familiar with the comprehensive website for TIFF 08. A better layout than last year’s site, easier to navigate to pages dedicated to each of the featured films, with detailed descriptions that already sound like awards plaque inscriptions:

The Second World War has been mythologized in countless movies and documentaries, yet the unique experiences of African-American soldiers is still widely unknown. Spike Lee’s epic Miracle at St. Anna returns to that storied conflict, but this time through the eyes of the all-black 92nd Division, known as the Buffalo Soldiers. Many of these men suffered discrimination and abuse in the United States easily equal to the hardships faced by prisoners of war. When they arrived in the chaos of Italy late in the war, they were expected to risk their lives for a country that had failed to recognize them fully as its sons. And still they fought.

The film is a gripping exploration of humanity under fire and the great tragedy of war, driven by Train’s discovery of a traumatized and wounded Italian boy (a performance right out of Rossellini by newcomer Matteo Sciabordi). Train’s growing friendship with the boy complicates an entanglement with a band of Italian rebel fighters. The cast is phenomenal, anchored by the four actors who portray the soldiers and expanding to include a wealth of American and Italian talents who bring flesh-and-blood texture to a period long since departed. Adapted from the acclaimed novel by James McBride, Miracle at St. Anna is a rare work of historical fiction that explores the pain, struggle and violence of an era while also offering a surprising story about compassion, bravery and something even more miraculous.

The Coco bio and Tautou casting coup were announced in Cannes, and now Empire has word (via Variety) that Warner Bros has stepped up to produce and finance.

Karl Lagerfeld, art director of the fashion house Chanel founded, will be overseeing the costumes, most of which will be re-creations of Chanel’s own designs and which will therefore totally outclass Sex and the City in the costume department. [phftt, phftt!]

Directed by Anne Fontaine and based on “Chanel and Her World“:

…the glorious life of the incomparable Coco Chanel shines again through hundreds of illustrations and the lively prose of Edmonde Charles-Roux, her official biographer and close friend. Chanel knew and collaborated with the likes of Picasso, Diaghilev, Stravinsky, Cocteau, Jean Renoir, and Visconti-even as she matched their modernist innovations by liberating women from the prison of 19th-century fashion and introducing a whole new concept of elegance.

Anne and Camille Fontaine co-wrote the script, with a consult from Christopher Hampton (Atonement, Dangerous Liaisons). Production begins in Paris on September 15, and is set for a 2009 release.

Three soldiers return from Iraq and embark on a road trip from New York to Vegas. “Forced to grapple with old relationships, broken hopes and a country divided over the war, TK, Cheever and Colee discover that home is not quite what they remembered, and that the unlikely companionship they’ve found might be what matters the most.” (IMDb) Directed by Neil Burger (The Illusionist) In theaters Sept 26, after a Sept 10 TIFF premiere. (trailer after the cut)

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Saturday we saw an unauthorized version of the ‘Good’ trailer. Today we upgrade with a link to the official trailer and some new stills. ‘Good’ premieres at TIFF Monday, Sept 8th, and screens again on the 10th and 12th. Best news of all — answering a question we had this weekend — today we learn that ‘Good’ will be released in 2008! (Two more stills after the cut.)

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The NYTimes has excerpts from Woody Allen’s “Spanish Diary” during the production of Vicky Cristina Barcelona. A few excerpts from the excerpts:

MARCH 5

Met with Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz. She’s ravishing and more sexual than I had imagined. During interview my pants caught fire. Bardem is one of those brooding geniuses who clearly will need a firm hand from me.

APRIL 2

Offered role to Scarlett Johansson. Said before she could accept, script must be approved by her agent, then by her mother, with whom she’s close. Following that it must be approved by her agent’s mother. In middle of negotiation she changed agents — then changed mothers. She’s gifted but can be a handful.

JUNE 5

Shooting got off to a shaky start. Rebecca Hall, though young and in her first major role, is a bit more temperamental than I thought and had me barred from the set. I explained the director must be present to direct the film. Try as I may, I could not convince her and had to disguise as man delivering lunch to sneak back on the set.

Pure unadulterated Woody, and a hilarious reminder why he’s been nominated 14 times for the Best Screenplay Oscar.

One of the best, most moving, intimate, rousing, humble, and beautiful speeches I’ve heard from a convention platform. Maybe she should be running for president. — Andrew Sulllivan, Atlantic Monthly

Michelle’s historic speech tonight was the first step in an end-around against the Republican attack machine. Her words and manner made it so those who might seek to politically debase her, her children or her husband, will be instantly and ironically exposing themselves and their crippled ethics. At tonight’s convention, this election became more clearly defined as a battle between hope and despair. I’m just inspired and ready to fight back fear, embrace goodness, stand up to the dark side, and reclaim some terrain for civilization. Obama’s the real deal, comes by once a generation, maybe. We’ll see if there’s enough smart people left in America to elect him. — UsofA comments on The Huffington Post

Here’s the obligatory Oscar relevance, and view the opposing point of view from Fox News after the cut.

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