If Bijou Phillips could act, she’d be Marisa Tomei. When Julianne Moore does nudity, it’s like she’s making a fiery feminist statement with a dash of humor. When Tomei does it, like in the first minute(s) of Sidney Lumet’s sharp Before the Devil Knows Your Dead or in Slums of Beverly Hills, it’s like she’s bringing you some Colgate for your toothbrush and she adores you, sleepily. Does that make sense?
The Oscar winning actress has signed on for Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, and she’s set to play the female lead opposite a long haired, peaked Mickey Rourke. And, yeah, she’s playing a stripper with child. Rourke moves in with her [...]

Above is our first look at Mickey Rourke in character Randy “The Ram” Robinson, an aging professional wrestler who is told he can never wrestle again. Click on the image above to enlarge.
Over the course of two days, Darren Aronofsky (Requiem For a Dream) shot some scenes for his upcoming film The Wrestler in the  Hasbrouck Heights training club. The WXW Website reports that Rourke filmed  scenes in the ring in front of WXW live crowds, and behind the scenes in the locker room. Afa the Wild Samoan is apparently Rourke’s trainer on the film, and was at ringside for the shooting.

“The voice is mine.”
Oooh, K.I.T.T. voice draaama! Friend of the world’s beaches and former Batman and Real Genius, Val Kilmer, has signed on to voice the smooth-computin’ automobile in the latest TV-reboot of Knight Rider for NBC and Universal. Will Kilmer’s K.I.T.T. (Knight Industries Three Thousand) do a passable Elvis impersonation and fire a laser that pops a billion golden kernals? I don’t know wise guy, but I do know that actor Will Arnett (Arrested Development) is right bummed right now. Arnett had already finished recording all of his voice work for the rebooted show, which premieres in just two weeks, see? And before you swipe Kilmer’s jolly hand [...]

Oh yes, my first Quentin Tarantino post here on the great Slash. Warning: I am not going to get to the point. There are some directors I still cannot wait to interview. Not Tarantino. Like Michael Jordan, a living Bobby Fisher, Gregory Isaacs, J.D. Salinger, the Rza, or my favorite ex gal, I’d rather just buy Tarantino an Irish Car Bomb at a dark bar with a good juke box and not say a word except “On me.” Wait, does that come off a little Linda Fiorentino pervy? What I meant was: I think Tarantino operates on a level beyond brain-picking. I motherf***ing owe Tarantino. I don’t deserve [...]

You can watch the new Leatherheads television spot which premieres during tonight’s Super Bowl, below.
Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.
[Javascript required to view Flash movie, please turn it on and refresh this page]

document.getElementById(”player1″).style.display = “”;

var s1 = new SWFObject(”http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/plugins/flv-embed/flvplayer.swf”,”player1″,”460″,”238″,”7″);
s1.addParam(”allowfullscreen”,”true”);
s1.addVariable(”height”,”238″);
s1.addVariable(”width”,”460″);
s1.addVariable(”file”,”http://media2.slashfilm.com/slashfilm/trailers/leatherheadssuperbowl.flv”);
s1.addVariable(”image”,”http://media2.slashfilm.com/slashfilm/trailers/leatherheadssuperbowl.jpg”);
s1.addVariable(”backcolor”,”0xb5d5ea”);
s1.addVariable(”lightcolor”,”0xebebeb”);
s1.addVariable(”link”,”http://www.slashfilm.com”);
s1.addVariable(”fsbuttonlink”,”http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/plugins/flv-embed/fullscreen.php?f=http://media2.slashfilm.com/slashfilm/trailers/leatherheadssuperbowl.flv%26r=http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/02/03/leatherheads-superbowl-advertisment/”);
s1.write(”player1″);

The nation’s largest online movie ticket company, Fandango, has released some stats for Disney’s theatrical concert extravaganza opening this weekend, Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour. For those who don’t know but secretly care, the movie is in 3D. What does a $15 ticket buy in 3D? Well, how about: guitar pics flying at your face, mic stands being rocked so hard the Blues Brothers would duck, the totes siked hands of huge tween audiences grabbing for you, and one twirling drum stick going “wham!” Beowulf, I want my golden duckets back.

The concert movie currently accounts for 91% of tickets sold on Fandango
Over [...]

George Clooney’s third directorial feature, Leatherheads, is set for release in April and today the film’s rather snazzy official one-sheet was revealed. The 1920s pro-football dramedy finished shooting last May, but it seems like I’ve been hearing about this one for three years now; any longer and Will Ferrell’s 1920s pro-football light bulb would start to flicker. Full poster after the jump via ComingSoon.

“We are, like, major.”
The day all hardcore Kimya Dawson fans and Chan Marshall’s Miami hangers-on have dreaded is here, as the Juno Soundtrack has taken Soundscan’s gold medal, with 65,000 units sold. And take note, because this is the first time a soundtrack for a Best Picture nominee has dangled its legs from atop the flagpole since Titanic did it a decade ago. And in a possible Juno-boost, soundtrack artist Cat Power’s latest album, the swell Jukebox, debuted at number 12, her highest sales week in a long career.
As of today, Juno, which cost less than $5 million or $10 million to make depending on the source, has stuffed [...]

After mentioning it in various interviews over the years, Robert Redford has announced that his adaptation of Bill Bryson’s nonfiction bestseller A Walk in the Woods will be his next project, with director Barry Levinson said to be on board as well. The meaning of the film’s title is literal, and the plot follows Bryson and his crass, fat ex-alcoholic friend as they attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgie to Maine. Only 10-25 percent of those who attempt the hike in its entirety are said to succeed; after much deliberation, Bryson and co. did not.
“It’ll be fun. I don’t know when I’ve read a book that [...]

Yes, it’s already not cool to be looking forward to Semi-Pro, the latest sports romp starring Will Ferrell set for release  on February 28th. The film’s trailers and marketing unfortunately haven’t done enough to prove that it’s different from recent and arguably lame Ferrell cash-ins like Blades of Glory, even though it’s rated R and focuses on the ABA. What’s the ABA? Well, if the NBA is NBA Jam, then the ABA is Arch Rivals, capice?
To be honest, I didn’t want to watch the following music video, “Love Me Sexy,” that promotes the flick. It sounded right predictable. But I did, and then I watched it a couple more [...]

American Teen is without a doubt the best film of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. In my opinion, it’s the first documentary with mainstream appeal. The movie was in an intense bidding war between Fox Searchlight and Paramount Vantage, with Vantage taking home the goods. American Teen follows four high school students through their senior year. If Fast Times at Ridgemont High were a documentary, it would look something like American Teen. Check out the Sundance Channel’s Meet The Filmmaker segment on the film, which features a couple clips. I hope Vantage will put together a kick ass trailer soon enough, so you guys can better see what everyone is [...]

New Line has released a new Red Band (read: R-Rated or uncensored) movie trailer for Will Ferrell’s upcoming comedy Semi-Pro, and it actually makes the movie look funny (unlike every piece of advertising that has come before it). Walk Hard suffered from the same problem. Most people were turned off by the film’s advertising. The Red Band trailer was funny but very few people saw it, and even fewer bought a ticket to Dewey Cox this weekend, which is a shame. But Will Ferrell is a much more viable as a comedy star, and this film shouldn’t have problem doing business. Watch the new Semi-Pro Red Band Trailer below.

Universal has released the movie trailer for Leatherheads, a romantic comedy set in the world of 1920s football. The story follows the owner of a professional team who drafts a straight-laced college sensation in an attempt to legitimatize the sport, only to watch his new coach fall for his fiancée. Directed and starring George Clooney, co-starring John Krasinski, Renée Zellweger, and Stephen Root.
Seems a little zany to me, but I keep telling myself that this is the same guy who directed Confessions of a Dangerous Mind  and Good Night and Good Luck. Watch the trailer after the jump. What you you guys think?

I just got done reading a October 14th draft of Robert Siegel’s The Wrestler, which is being brought to the screen by Darren Aronofsky, the filmmaker behind Pi, Requiem For A Dream and The Fountain.
Before I go any further, let me first give you a little background: I use to be a hardcore professional wrestling fanatic. Before I created /Film, in an earlier life, I ran one of the first pro wrestling news sites on the internet, called WrestleNet.com. I mainly enjoyed the interesting behind the scenes politics. I was a junkie, I loved hearing about everything and anything that was behind the scenes.
It’s actually a very interesting world, far [...]

Some believe in Harvey Dent, but I believe in Darren Aronofsky. Requiem for a Dream is one of my favorite films of all time. The Fountain was on my top ten list from last year. But the filmmaker doesn’t have good luck with actors. Brad Pitt notoriously left Aronofsky hanging high and dry on The Fountain just days before filming was to begin because he “lost faith in the project”. And now Nicolas Cage has mysteriously left Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming indie drama The Wrestler, just days after Aronofsky and Cage were seen researching the project at a independent Ring of Honor event. Makes you wonder what caused Cage to flee [...]