We don’t really see films in the theater anymore, or going near the theater…or, well, getting outside much. Still, the "Apocalypto" poster? Rather compelling, even on screen.

MonkeyPeaches comes across a rumor (just a rumor, please treat it as such!) that Donnie Yen, Zhang Ziyi and…George Clooney were approached at Cannes by the Weinsteins regarding possible roles in their planned  (though possibly blasphemous) remake of "The Seven Samurai."

At Variety, Ben Fritz writes that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences is considering making day-and-date released films ineligible for Oscar consideration, something that seems unfair and backward and completely to be expected. We’re not particularly well-versed in Oscar qualifications, but we rather assumed films given a day-and-date release were already disqualified — doesn’t the Academy already require a window (at least between theatrical release and on-air premiere), or does that only apply to docs? We’d look it up, but…we can’t be bothered. Until someone makes an indisputably great, broadly appealing day-and-date film that demands the attention of the Academy, this isn’t going to be a pressing issue.

It’s not so much that we find the idea of dead animal actors innately funny (or so we prefer to tell ourselves), it’s that Low Culture‘s list keeps scrolling on and on.

Mark Russell interviews "The Host" (and "Memories of Murder") director Bong Joon-ho in the New York Times:

"In the mid 1990’s the Korean film industry was really open-minded," Mr. Bong said. "Hong Sang-soo and Kim Ki-duk made their debut then. Kang Je-gyu was editing his movie right next door to where I was working."

Since then Mr. Hong and Mr. Kim have grown into art-house favorites abroad, but their followings at home have all but dried up. Mr. Kang has revolutionized the film industry in Korea with his overt commercialism, smashing box office records twice now, but outside of Korea his films do not travel so well. Mr. Bong, however, continues to walk the line, balancing between the two sides without falling into either. "The multilevel, the conscious and the unconscious, is natural when I write scripts, when I come up with ideas and stories," he explained.

Amelie Gillette at the Onion AV Club interviews Paul Rudd. Cheryl Eddy at the San Francisco Bay Guardian talks with DIY filmmakers Rick Popko and Dan West as they’re finishing up "RetarDEAD," the sequel to their 2003 "Monsturd." Money quote: "In a nutshell, we kind of liken it to ‘Flowers for Algernon’ meets ‘Night of the Living Dead.’"

At Movie City Indie, Ray Pride writes of Stuart Cooper‘s 1975 "Overlord," which won the Silver Bear at Berlin that year and is only receiving a theatrical release now:

Cooper makes dozens of brilliant juxtapositions that do not jar but awaken the senses, but the movie is elusive, neither "Zelig" nor "Saving Private Ryan," but with worthy parallels to movies like Kevin Brownlow’s "It Happened Here" and Pontecorvo‘s "Battle of Algiers." Philosophically, it’s more like film essayist Patrick Keiller ("London") meeting Stanley Kubrick (and the fictional portions were shot by Kubrick’s favored cinematographer John Alcott).

And at Like Anna Karina’s Sweater, Filmbrain reviews "Takeshis’."

+ Apocalypto (onesheet) (ComingSoon)
+ Whom the Weinsteins Want for Their SEVEN SAMURAIS Remake? (MonkeyPeaches)
+ Braking Windows (Variety)
+ Animal Superstars: Where Are They Now? (Low Culture)
+ Unlike His Peers, the Director Bong Joon-Ho Likes Ideas and Metaphors (NY Times)
+ Paul Rudd (Onion AV Club)
+ Blood brothers (SF Bay Guardian)
+ Overlord (1975, ****) (Movie City Indie)
+ Being Takeshi Kitano (Like Anna Karina’s Sweater)