Movie Binge Month and Happy New Year

It’s cold out, so the only thing to do is watch movies all month. Between trying to get off my lazy behind and going to the movies, watching TV and my instant Netflix subscription, I’ve watched a few movies this month.

Some have been great, some just good, and some I’ve seen many times already....In no particular order, I’ve seen:

The Tree of Life
Shattered Glass
Drive
Raging Bull
On the Waterfront
Tiny Furniture
Page One: Inside The New York Times
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Road to Perdition
Young Adult
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
The Romantics
The Myth of the American Sleepover
Slacker
Waiting for "Superman"

Have a happy and healthy New Year peeps. 2012 is going to be a good one. The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Great Gatsby are just a few reasons.

Happy New Year.

Alec Baldwin Joins Woody Allen's Next

Woody Allen is a director who always can get a fantastic cast together, no matter what type of script or where it shoots, and for his next film the legendary director is at it again.

According to Deadline Alec Baldwin has joined the cast of Woody Allen's upcoming project to be shot in Rome this summer. Jesse Eisenberg is also in talks for a lead role in the film which will hit screens next year.

While no story details have been released, it's expected to make full use of the capital the way Allen's earlier films did with Rome and his more recent ones have done with London and Barcelona.

This would be Baldwin's first time working with Allen since "Alice" way back in the early 90's. Baldwin has been fantastic on "30 Rock" all these years and with rumors of that show coming to an end, Baldwin should have tons more opportunities to star in films. The actor currently is set to star in the new adaptation of "Rock of Ages" as well and should fit perfectly in Allen's new project.

Rome truly is a fantastic city and serves as an excellent location for a Woody Allen picture to be set. It'll also be interesting to see Eisenberg directed by Allen, considering the two have fairly similar mannerisms and way of speaking.

It's always exciting to see Allen get to work with a great cast in a great location and this one is no different. Shooting will begin later this year.

Kevin Durand Visits "Cosmopolis"

Don DeLillo's novel "Cosmopolis" seems almost impossible to adapt for some filmmakers, basically because the book takes place mostly in a limo riding through a city. But if there was one director I would trust to make it, it's David Cronenberg. The project has already put together an excellent cast and it's looking to add another solid actor to the fold.

According to Variety. Kevin Durand ("Robin Hood," "I Am Number Four") is in final negotiations to join the cast of Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis."

An adaptation of Don DeLillo's popular novel, Robert Pattinson plays a financial whiz who risks his immense fortune by betting against the yen on one particularly chaotic day. His decisions eventually make him the target of an assassination. Most of the film is set inside a limousine as Pattinson's character is transported from one location to another. Durand would play his chief security officer.

The cast of the film is truly stacked, with Samantha Morton, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti and Sarah Gadon also starring. Cronenberg is making the film a full service project, with him writing, directing and producing.

The book was one of my favorites by DeLillo, and you'd be hard pressed to find a better director to tackle the project. Adding Durand to the cast is a great choice, especially to play a security guard. The actor is super-underrated and has given some great performances in his career, including on "Lost" as well as in "Robin Hood," "Smokin' Aces" and "3:10 to Yuma."

The film is set for a 2010 release.

Vince Vaughn Caught By "Insane Laws"

Although his past few films haven't impressed me much ("The Dilemma," "Four Christmases"), Vince Vaughn is still one of my favorite comedic actors out there. His work throughout his career on flicks like "Swingers," "Old School" and "The Wedding Crashers" is hard to beat, so it's great to see that he'll be starring in a new project sometime very soon.

According to The Hollywood Reporter Vaughn is attached to star in the upcoming comedy "The Insane Laws" for Universal Pictures.

The project will act as a starring vehicle for Vince Vaughn and will reteam the actor with the man who co-wrote his 2006 hit, "The Break-Up." Jeremy Garelick ("The Break-Up") wrote the script and will make his directorial debut on the project, which is partially based on events from Garelick's life.

The story focuses on two best friends and how their lives are impacted when their grown children fall in love, with one man's daughter becoming pregnant by his best friend's son.

I was watching "The Break-Up" recently and I have to admit the film is much funnier and much better than I originally remembered from when I first saw it. I think Vaughn can get things back on track with this role, which sounds like it could be an under-the-radar comedy hit.

Garelick did a solid job of taking a real-life relationship situation and finding some great comedy in it with "The Break-Up," and this story has a similar feel to it.

Production on the film will start later this year.

Robert Downey Jr. Has An "Inherent Vice"?

As someone who is a fan of literature and culturally significant authors, when I first learned about Thomas Pynchon I was fascinated. Much like famed author J.D. Salinger Pynchon was a sort of recluse, someone who was not a fan of being in the public spotlight. He has popped up numerous times over the years, including on "The Simpsons" and to come to the defense of "Atonement" author Ian McEwan when he was accused of plagiarism.

Pynchon is a great writer, that is clear, but many of his books are almost impossible for a casual reader to read. "Gravity's Rainbow," his magnum opus is a 750 page monster that is set primarily in Europe at the end of World War II and centers on the design, production and dispatch of V-2 rockets by the German military, and, in particular, the quest undertaken by several characters to uncover the secret of a mysterious device. Sounds a bit crazy right? Try reading it.

Another one of his books, "Vineland," is a bit more accessible, although it still took a concentrated effort to get my head totally around it. The point it, he is a literary genius, yet some of his books are pretty hard to jump into, which is why I was thrilled when I read his most recent book, the surfer-hippie-noir-detective story "Inherent Vice."

The novel was easily the author's most accessible to readers and I just had the feeling it would make a great movie. Clearly some people in Hollywood agree.

According to the Risky Biz Blog, Robert Downey Jr. is in talks to star in one of Paul Thomas Anderson's potential next projects, "Inherent Vice."

The project would be an adaptation of the 2009 Thomas Pynchon novel, the story follows a stoner detective who gets caught up in various mysteries in 1969 Los Angeles, a time when the Manson Family trial was underway.

Anderson adapted the screenplay while still trying to get his religious organization film, "the Master," starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman off the ground. That film is still looking for financing and coupled with the fact that Downey dropped out of Disney's "Oz, the Great and Powerful" last month, it allowed him to do another movie this year after he shoots "The Avengers" for Marvel and Disney.

Downey and Anderson are literally two of my favorite people in the industry so seeing them team up on anything is amazing, the fact that it's Pynchon is even better. Anderson's last film, "There Will Be Blood," was one of the best films of the decade, and I feel like only a guy like him could adapt a Pynchon work and have it just make total sense.

I hope that this film doesn't suffer the same problems as "The Master," which has been rumored to get financing numerous times throughout the past couple years. While I understand a lot of film production is about money, why can't Paul Thomas Anderson ever find any? All the man does is come out with a movie every few years that gets nominated for Academy Awards. The man is a filmmaking genius, and I really hope we get to see what he can do with a Pynchon novel and Downey.

Downey has recently wrapped filming on "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" for director Guy Ritchie, which comes out in December.

Daniel Radcliffe Turns "Amateur Photographer

When Daniel Radcliffe beat out thousands of other actors to score the role of Harry Potter, it was obvious that his life would never be the same. As the star of the hugely successful franchise, clearly he would always be seen as Harry Potter, so it was very wise of Radcliffe to try and do some different things during breaks from the film, including starring buck nude in a West End stage production in "Equus."

Now, as the Harry Potter film franchise comes to a close, Radcliffe is setting himself for the next stage of his career, and apparently he has just added a new project. According to Variety Radcliffe is attached to star in the indie comedy "The Amateur Photographer" for This Is That Productions.

The 1970-set tale follows a young man who discovers his artistic calling after being drafted by the denizens of a sleepy little New England mill town to serve as photographer of their most intimate moments. He battles local authorities while bringing a bit of a velvet revolution to the community.

"Temple Grandin" scribe Christopher Monger will direct from his own script which is based on Monger's novel of the same name. While I don't know much about Monger, he was recently nominated for an Emmy for writing the HBO movie "Temple Grandin," so he has some pedigree behind his name.

Either way, I think this will be a great project for Radcliffe to work on, I really think he would slide right into the '70's setting with no problems and I also could easily see him as a photographer. While he may not get as much credit as he should because it's "Harry Potter," all three of the main stars of those films are solid actors, especially Radcliffe, who in a sense has had the weight of the franchise on his shoulders for quite a while.

Due to their popularity the films would always make money, but that wouldn't mean all audiences would accept Radcliffe playing their beloved Potter, but he has proved time and again that he is quite the performer. Things should be no different on this film.

Ted Hope, Anne Carey and Karen Montgomery will produce the film, which should shoot later this year.