Snap Judgments Review: 'God's Pocket' Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman

John Slattery (Mad Men) makes his directorial debut with God's Pocket, a small-town crime drama based on Pete Dexter's novel. In one of his final performances, Philip Seymour Hoffman stars a Mickey, an outsider in the gritty blue-collar neighborhood known as "God's Pocket", who gets in over his head when his wife's son dies in a mysterious workplace incident. The cops are no help, his friends are no help, and things get even worse when a local journalist starts investigating the crime. The film co-stars Christina Hendricks, John Turturro, Caleb Landry Jones, Richard Jenkins, and Eddie Marsan.

Check out my Snap Judgments review of God's Pocket below.

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'Godzilla' gets rewrite; Henry Cavill, Scoot McNairy, Caleb Landry Jones on shortlist while Joseph Gordon-Levitt passes

This will probably come as no surprise to you, but Legendary Pictures wanted Joseph Gordon-Levitt to star in their upcoming Godzilla film. Everybody wants the guy for something, and his name has been kicked around for everything from Justice League to Guardians of the Galaxy. According to THR, he turned down the role last year, but that's just the start of what's been a notable day in the development of the film.

Along with that news comes word that Frank Darabont, late of AMC's The Walking Dead, has been brought on to do a quick rewrite of the script, which last had Drew Pearce punching up the original draft by Max Borenstein. Not a big deal, Darabont's a great writer, as anyone who has seen The Shawshank Redemption knows. Pearce had been brought on to "age up" the character a little bit, so maybe Darabont is tackling another aspect? It's hard to say since we know so little about the plot other than Godzilla smashing buildings and stuff.

I don't like to deal in legal matters, but that's where things seem to be headed for producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee, who Legendary have booted off the film for refusing to take a reduced fee. Legenary has exercised a clause in the contract, basically paying the two to simply go away. This probably won't effect the production or anything, especially since a March start date is still being planned, but it just goes to show there are plenty of fireworks behind-the-scenes.

The ball is still rolling, and to prove it Variety says that there are three other contenders up for roles in the film. Future Man of Steel Henry Cavill is on the list of contenders, along with Caleb Landry Jones(X-men: First Class) and the red hot Scoot McNairy(Argo). Cavill is said to be the studio pick, while Jones and McNairy are creative choices. Makes sense, considering McNairy and director Gareth Evans came up together with Monsters. I can't believe all three, or four if you include JGL, were vying for the same part.

We'll find out something more concrete soon, definitely. Godzilla opens on May 26th 2014. [Deadline]

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