Shiny! New!

Trailers: One here for Fox Searchlight's "The Last King of Scotland," which looks a touch Oscary (it's almost that time again); James McAvoy (aka Rory O'Shea, aka Mr. Tumnus, aka our new imaginary boyfriend) stars as Nicholas Garrigan, personal physician to Idi Amin (played by Forest Whitaker). One here for "Catch a Fire," from Phillip Noyce of "Rabbit Proof Fence"; Derek Luke stars as a reluctant terrorist battling evil Tim Robbins in Apartheid-era South Africa. And one here for Andrew Bujalski's soon to be self-released "Mutual Appreciation." Elsewhere, via the Hollywood Reporter, "[t]wo filmmakers are so worried about the handling of late INXS singer Michael Hutchence's legacy that they are making a movie about the Australian rocker before it gets tarnished any further." Clark Westerman and Hutchence friend Nick Egan are the two in question; the project will be called "Slide Away." Via Empire, there's apparently another Philip K....

Trailers: One here for Fox Searchlight’s "The Last King of Scotland," which looks a touch Oscary (it’s almost that time again); James McAvoy (aka Rory O’Shea, aka Mr. Tumnus, aka our new imaginary boyfriend) stars as Nicholas Garrigan, personal physician to Idi Amin (played by Forest Whitaker). One here for "Catch a Fire," from Phillip Noyce of "Rabbit Proof Fence"; Derek Luke stars as a reluctant terrorist battling evil Tim Robbins in Apartheid-era South Africa. And one here for Andrew Bujalski‘s soon to be self-released "Mutual Appreciation."

Elsewhere, via the Hollywood Reporter, "[t]wo filmmakers are so worried about the handling of late INXS singer Michael Hutchence’s legacy that they are making a movie about the Australian rocker before it gets tarnished any further." Clark Westerman and Hutchence friend Nick Egan are the two in question; the project will be called "Slide Away." Via Empire, there’s apparently another Philip K. Dick biopic in the works, this one supported by the author’s estate and to possibly star Paul Giamatti. And in further biopic developments, Chen Kaige‘s next, according to CRI, will be about the life of Peking Opera star Mei Lanfang, who career loosely inspired Chen’s "Farewell My Concubine."

At the Filmmaker blog, Scott Macaulay writes that Joe Swanberg‘s newest project, "Hannah Takes the Stairs," has "a great marketing hook…he’s cast folks like Mark Duplass, Andrew Bujalski, Todd Rohal, and Ry Russo-Young who are known for their own indie films (The Puffy Chair, Mutual Appreciation, The Guatemalan Handshake, and Orphans, respectively) as actors."

Rian Johnson, whose debut "Brick" comes out on DVD today  (and remains one of our favorites of the year so far), gives Devin Faraci at CHUD some details on his next film, "The Brothers Bloom":

Q: It looks like you’re working on a period piece.

Johnson: It’s not, actually. It looks that way because of the way the kids are dressed. I think the image on the site are of these two brothers – and the movie is called The Brothers Bloom – and it’s about these two guys who grow up in and out of foster homes as kids and they learn to survive by becoming con men. It starts out with this ten minute sequence of them pulling their first con as kids. It has a kind of Paper Moon type feel to it, that opening sequence. But in the rest of the movie it’s them as adults. It’s not period but it’s very much its own world, if that makes any sense. I think the style of it will owe more to the earlier part of the [20th] century than the later.

Garry Maddox at the Sydney Morning Herald catches up with Sundance martyr Daniel Myrick, who directed "The Blair Witch Project" (and not so much since). Myrick is casting his new film on the web, complete with online auditions: "For independent producers and filmmakers, this is a really good way to inexpensively see a lot of people."

Sandy George at The Australian interviews Daniel Lapaine, famous for playing the reluctant groom in "Muriel’s Wedding": "I spent three years studying the classics at NIDA and suddenly had to
strip down to my Speedos. I wanted to do more serious things so it was
a struggle for a while … but I feel glad so many people still love it
today." Lapaine’s directorial debut, "48 Shades," premieres at the Brisbane Film Festival on Thursday.

Finally, the BBC has a story on Irvine Welsh‘s ("Trainspotting," natch) new play "Babylon Heights" and the urban myth that inspired it — the "Munchkin suicide" scene in "The Wizard of Oz."

+ Trailer: The Last King Of Scotland (Apple)
+ Trailer: Catch a Fire (Latino Review)
+ Trailer: Mutual Appreciation (MutualAppreciation.com)
+ INXS singer Hutchence set for movie resurrection (HR)
+ Paul Giamatti Playing Philip K Dick? (Empire)
+ Chen Kaige Gets to Direct Mei Lanfang Biopic (CRI)
+ STEPPING UP (Filmmaker Blog)
+ EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: RIAN JOHNSON (BRICK DVD) (CHUD)
+ Filmmaker tries online auditions (Sydney Morning Herald)
+ A new shade to Muriel’s groom (The Australian)
+ What’s the myth of the hanged Munchkin? (BBC)