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We were already interested by upcoming indie drama I Melt With You given its intriguing leading trio of Rob Lowe, Jeremy Piven and Thomas Jane, but our ears (that’s right, ears) have pricked up still further at the news that pornstar Sasha Grey will also be involved.

The film will follow ex-college buddies Lowe, Piven and Jane who, unhappy with the way their lives have turned out, decide to revive an old pact that The Hollywood Reporter describes as one “they vowed to live, die and kill by.”

Sounds suitably dramatic, but where does Grey fit in? Well apparently she’ll be playing a “free spirit” (for which read “nutjob”) named Raven who convinces one of the pals that the only way they can truly achieve happiness is through death. She sounds a cheery sort then…

It’s another move towards the mainstream for “adult performer” Grey, who raised eyebrows by bagging a big part in Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience, in which she wasn’t half bad at all. If she keeps going like this, she could shake off the “former porn star” moniker in no time.

With a budget of a mere $1 million to play with, Pellington has assembled a genuinely striking cast for what he describes as, “a film is about four guys (dealing) with mortality, aging and friendship. It is very dark and very low budget.” Consider us thoroughly intrigued.

Looking forward to I Melt With You, or prefer Sasha’s earlier work? Let us know…

In cinemas this week…

Inception review                Salt review

The A-Team review            Predators review

Toy Story 3 review             The Karate Kid review

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We’ve not seen much of Vince Vaughn since the mess that was Couples Retreat, but that could all be about to change thanks to a potential collaboration with Three Kings helmer David O. Russell.

Deadline reports that the pair are all but confirmed to team-up for family saga Old St. Louis, with Vaughn assuming a double-role as both star and producer.

The film will be based around a script written by Russell himself, with Vaughn playing a travelling salesman whose life is turned upside-down when he reconnects with his estranged daughter. Chloe Moretz’s name is being touted around as the aforementioned sprog, although at this stage that’s no more than speculation.

All of which sounds like a fairly good fit for Vaughn. We can easily picture him fine-tuning his usual motormouth routine into a salesman’s patter, before grudgingly dealing with his family baggage.

It also sounds like it might be more of a challenge than the usual frat-pack fare he’s been turning up in for the last decade or so. We know he can do a bit more than high-speed wisecracking, and this could be just the vehicle to remind everyone of that fact.

Our only reservation is that it all sounds a bit conventional on paper, with a worrying chance of “life lessons” being learned from a precocious child. However, Russell is a fairly subversive influence (I Heart Huckabees anyone?), so it’s probably safe to assume that things won’t get too happy-clappy.

Looking forward to seeing Vince again, or have the frat-pack had their day?

In cinemas this week…

Inception review                Salt review

The A-Team review            Predators review

Toy Story 3 review             The Karate Kid review

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J.J. Abrams isn’t big on conventional projects. It’s unlikely we’re going to find him directing Sandra Bullock in a fluffy, pink rom-com anytime soon. Which is why we hardly raised an eyebrow upon hearing his plans to make a robot movie set in the Victorian era.

HeatVision has revealed that Abrams is producing an adaptation of quirky comic-book Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel, the charmingly bizarre tale of “the world’s first robot.”

And the old rust-bucket has quite the tale to tell, having knocked about with Lawrence of Arabia, travelled to the South Pole and weighed in against the Germans in the First World War, not to mention a brief spell dabbling in silent movies.

All of which is a load of old rubbish of course, but the comic-book’s excellent gimmick is to craftily draw-in Boilerplate to pictures of the age, deceiving more than a few of its more gullible readership.

How Abrams intends to approach this one is unclear, although we’d imagine it will cost a few quid to do it properly, particularly if Boilerplate is up to his usual era-hopping antics. Hopefully he’ll still look as endearingly naff as he does on the page though.

We can only really imagine Abrams will play it for laughs, in any case. Dropping some sort of high-tech cyborg into WW1 would be rubbish, but having Teddy Roosevelt ask a walking dustbin for help…that’s more like it!

An ace idea or one for the scrapheap? Let us know…

In cinemas this week…

Inception review                Salt review

The A-Team review            Predators review

Toy Story 3 review             The Karate Kid review

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Charles Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters has enrolled another pupil, with Twilight star Edi Gathegi the latest name to join a cast that’s fast becoming a who’s who of young Hollywood.

Gathegi will play a character known as Darwin, so-named because his mutant power is “reactive evolution”. Basically, his body adapts to survive whatever strife it finds itself in (allowing him to breathe underwater, making him fire resistant in a blaze etc.), which is a mite cooler than your run of the mill super-strength or power of flight.

The first bi-racial mutant in the comic-book series, Darwin was one of the strays taken in by Dr. Moira McTaggert ( an old colleague of Xavier’s who you might recall making a post-credits appearance in The Last Stand), a possible hint that the film may include a storyline involving her mutant research centre, and it’s eventual corruption.

In any case, it’s another showcase in a major franchise for Gathegi, who appeared in Gone Baby Gone before taking on the role of bloodsucker Laurent in the first two Twilight films.

Meanwhile, rumours persist over Aaron Johnson’s potential casting, with the character of Cyclops one of the last major roles yet to be filled. With filming set to start next month, expect at least one more big announcement sooner rather than later.

A first class addition, or a growing case of too many cooks? Tell us!

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What’s that? Brett Ratner is sniffing around another comic-book movie? After making a total balls-up of the X-Men finale? Has the world gone mad?

Well yes, apparently so actually. According to Variety, Ratner’s Rat Entertainment production company have purchased the rights to girl-power-gone-wild saga, The Unknowns.

Written by Mark A. Altman and Steve Kriozere, the series follows the rather slinky figure of Alexis Davenport, a supposedly ordinary woman who gradually discovers that she was once the distinctly kick-ass leader of shadowy team, The Unknowns.

Intrigued (as you probably would be), Alexis sets about searching for the rest of her former team-mates and whichever shadowy government-type who’s wiped her memory.

Sounds a bit like a cross between Kill Bill and a History Of Violence to us, with the welcome addition of some eye-wateringly revealing costumes. Alexis is based on model-cum-actress Monica Olsen, so expect somebody suitably pneumatic to bag the leading role.

No director is attached to the project as yet, with Ratner in line for production duties only. With a safe pair of hands behind the camera, this could be an adult comic-book adaptation with serious potential…

Who do you want to see play Alexis? Let us know here!

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“Knowing me Steve Coogan, knowing you Paul Rudd…A-ha!”…It’s how we’d like to imagine the first day of shooting on My Idiot Brother is going to sound like, as Deadline reports that the comedian has signed on to co-star in the indie comedy.

The film will focus on Rudd’s idealist-cum-slacker, who couch-surfs his way around the homes of his three sisters, causing mayhem as he goes. Directed by Jesse Peretz (The Ex) and penned by his sister Evgenia, it looks to be a comedy about family in the vein of Little Miss Sunshine.

The aforementioned sisters are Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer and Elizabeth Banks, whilst Coogan will be playing what Deadline refers to as, “a self-righteous documentary film-maker.” Hmm, Coogan as a deluded, self-aggrandising media-type? Sounds familiar doesn’t it?

Coogan’s American adventures have ranged from the underwhelming (Night at the Museum) to the inspired (if you haven’t seen his turn as a therapist in Curb Your Enthusiasm, seek it out at once!), but this could be just the vehicle for some scene-stealing shenanigans.

The film will hit screens some time in 2012. Plenty of time to dust off the old green blazer then…

Are Coogan and Rudd a match made in heaven? Or should Steve stick to the small screen?

In cinemas this week…

Inception review                Salt review

The A-Team review            Predators review

Toy Story 3 review             The Karate Kid review

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After his scene-snaffling antics in Inception, Tom Hardy’s only gone and pinched the starring role in action-movie-cum-rom-com This Means War. And from under the nose of Sam Worthington no less…

Well, sort of. According to Vulture, Worthington was offered the role but was never officially confirmed, despite being long attached to the project by the press. In any case, it’s Hardy’s gig now, as the Bronson star takes another step towards a spot on the A-list. Hardy will play one of a pair of best mates (Star Trek’s Chris Pine plays the other) who both fall for the same woman. You might think they could work things out amicably, but when the woman in question looks like Reese Witherspoon and the best friends are both spies, the stakes are considerably higher. Cue all manner of Black-Ops sabotage as the pair go to war with each other. Despite some initial misgivings over this one (McG at the helm, a script that’s been kicking around Hollywood for the better part of a decade), Inception showed that Hardy’s got charm to spare, and should be able to wring a fair few gags out of a promising premise. Let’s just hope this is an action rom-com in the slick, light-hearted vein of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, rather than the ham-fisted clunking of The Bounty Hunter… A good move for Hardy? Or could McG bring his meteoric rise crashing back to earth?

Not content with selling records by the bucketload, R&B princess Rihanna’s plan for world domination will soon be bringing her to a multiplex near you.
 

Variety has broken the news that director Peter Berg has taken a punt on the Umbrella singer by casting her opposite Alexander Skarsgaard in upcoming naval romp, Battleship, despite an absence of any acting experience whatsoever! Specific details of her role have yet to be released. Wolverine star Taylor Kitsch is also attached to the project, which is based around the popular board game of the same name. Kitsch will play lead character Alex Hopper, the commanding officer of a warship forced to tool up and kick ass when an alien invasion pitches up from outer space with designs on planet Earth. Skarsgaard will play his brother, a fellow crewman. Apparently the film will follow events from the perspective of not only the humans, but also the aliens. Does that mean we could possibly see Rihanna decked out in some daft, creature-feature makeup? Given the brief so far, it would seem that anything is possible. So just to recap, it’s an adaptation of a boardgame, in which aliens take on sailors, starring Rihanna. We look forward to your comments… Will anyone, anywhere be going to see this? If so, now’s the time to own up… 

You’ve got to hand it to Daniel Craig, the man loves a franchise. Not content with playing James Bond and holding an option on a potential Cowboys and Aliens sequel, he’s now signed on the dotted line to star in David Fincher’s adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s Millenium Trilogy. 

Craig will play disgraced financial hack Mikael Blomkvist, who is contacted by an elderly descendent of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families to do some digging over the mysterious disappearance of one of his ancestors over forty years previously. Deadline reports that filming will begin in Sweden this autumn, which bodes well for fans of both the books and last year’s Swedish-language adaptation, in that it suggests that David Fincher will not be looking to deviate too wildly from the source material to appease an American audience. Craig has signed on for the entire trilogy (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and its two follow-ups, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest) with speculation turning now to who will play his kick-ass accomplice Lisbeth Salander. Deadline currently has Ellen Page, Mia Wasikowska and Sucker Punch’s Emily Browning leading the way to bag the role, although no news has yet to filter through of an official choice. We’d personally like to see Page get the chance to flex her action muscles, particularly given her strong turn in Inception, and the edge she showed in Hard Candy. With the film slated for a December 21 2011 release date, we should have some more casting news sooner rather than later. Who do you want to see star opposite Craig? Let us know! 

Nostalgic blast-em-up Predators might not be out of cinemas yet, but producer Robert Rodriguez is already eyeing a sequel, and claims that Fox have given him the go-ahead to start pitching ideas. 

“(Fox) said, ‘Let’s do some other ones. What other story ideas do you have?’” Rodriguez told IGN. “Because it was like, let’s test out the market with this one. They really wanted it to be pretty contained, pretty scaled-back. They didn’t want to put too many of the ideas into it that we could save for a second one. So we could see what the appetite was, because the bigger movie would actually be what comes following that.” So Predators was just the appetiser then? Apparently so according to Rodriguez, who went on to stress the scope for sequel possibilities within the new world he and director Nimrod Antal have created. “(Predators) kind of sets up a new storyline, new location and world, and then you can kind of go crazy from there,” he said, before claiming that a second film would also form the third part of a kind of alternative trilogy. “When I wrote Predators, it was to forget that even Predator 2 was made. So (with the sequel) all you would ever have to do is watch Predator and Predators, and you would have a little complete thing.” With Predators proving to be a surprisingly non-crap ‘80s update, we’re with Rob on this one, and with a healthy box-office take in the bag, it’s no surprise that Fox are as well. So long as the Alien is nowhere to be seen, we’re all for it… Excited for another Predators movie? Or should Rodriguez pull his head out of the past and come up with something new?