Odds: "London Fields," shock art, cookiegate.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008 | 4:33 PM

Martin Amis' novel "London Fields" looks to be back on track to become a film after all, according to the Guardian: "Amis himself is collaborating on the adaptation of his controversial 1989 novel, and may even take a small part in the resulting film, which will be directed by David Mackenzie, best known for the films Hallam Foe and 2003's Young Adam." The novel, about a woman who, having foreseen her own death, manipulates the circumstances leading up to it, was for a while one of several projects attached to director David Cronenberg.

"Next month, Ira Isaacs, a 57-year-old Los Angeles-based video director, will sit center stage at what may be the most extreme obscenity trial in U.S. history," writes Susannah Breslin at Radar. She interviews Isaacs, who's responsible for such works as "Laurie's Toilet Show," "Mako's First Time Scat" and "Gang Bang Horse (Pony Sex Game)," and who calls his films "shock art."

Until I saw "2 Girls 1 Cup," I wouldn't have thought so many regular people would want to watch this stuff. There are millions of people watching it. For now, it's probably most people like the shock value of it. This is art that asks questions about what's ugly, acceptable, taboo. It takes something mundane, like going to the bathroom, and puts it in a new light. It inspires people.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that James Brolin is stepping into the role vacated by James Caan in David O. Russell's "Nailed" followed last month's Cookiegate incident.

Bryan Hartzheim at Asian Pacific Arts has a formidable breakdown of the range of reactions to Shinji Higuchi's "Hidden Fortress: The Last Princess," a remake of Akira Kurosawa's nigh untouchable "Hidden Fortress," following a screening at USC. [Via Kaiju Shakedown]

And at Dissent Magazine, Charles Taylor dwells on John Wayne," who "remains in some ways the most undefined of iconic movie stars."

[Photo: UK cover of "London Fields," Vintage, 1999]

+ Amis ventures back to London Fields after 19 years for film adaptation (Guardian)
+ But Is It Obscene? (Radar)
+ James Brolin gets 'Nailed' (Hollywood Reporter)
+ Finding Fortress (Asian Pacific Arts)
+ The "Duke" and Democracy: On John Wayne (Dissent)