Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Stanley Tucci, and More Join Catholic Church Scandal Film 'Spotlight'

It's been a good little while since we've heard anything on the Catholic Church scandal  movie being developed by Win Win and The Station Agent director Tom McCarthy. About a year ago Matt Damon was circling the lead role and while that would have been a major coup landing the actor it didn't happen, but now McCarthy has made up for it with some big names and a new title: Spotlight.

Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Stanley Tucci, Aaron Eckhart, Liev Schreiber, and Michael Keaton have all come aboard Spotlight,  which McCarthy co-wrote with The West Wing's Josh Singer. And just as that show hit on a number of hot-button topics so will this film as it centers on the Boston Globe journalists who exposed Archbishop Bernard Law who was protecting priests accused of sexual assault. He did this by moving them to different parishes where they inevitably committed the same atrocities.

This one's got definite momentum now as production is gearing up for a fall start. [Deadline/TheWrap]

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First Look at Kate Winslet in 'A Little Chaos', Brit Marling in 'The Keeping Room', Tobey Maguire in 'Pawn Sacrifice'

The summer is coming to a close and with the fall right around the corner that can only mean one thing: time for the Toronto International Film Festival. I won't be attending so don't expect a full rundown, but dammit the line-up they have assembled is hella impressive, with possible awards contenders like Foxcatcher, The Drop starring Tom Hardy, Reese Witherspoon's Wild, and Jason Reitman's Men, Women, and Children holding key slots. If you want to see the list check it out here. With the festival announcement comes the expected flood of first look images, and here are just a few from some movies I've been eagerly awaiting.

Kate Winslet and period dramas go hand-in-hand, and she'll take on another one in A Little Chaos, the festival's closing night film. Alan Rickman directs and co-stars with Paul Dano, Stanley Tucci, and Matthias Schoenaerts,. Here's the synopsis which involves Louis the XIV and the Palace of Versailles, but not in the way you might think: A landscape gardener with a taste for the unconventional is invited to design one of the fountains at the Palace of Versailles. As she battles with the weather, the perilous rivalries at the court of Louis XIV and her own private demons, she finds herself drawn closer to the formality and enigma of the architect who hired her. 

Audiences are just now having a chance to check out Brit Marling in the brilliant Sundance film, I Origins (review here), but she's now hitting Toronto with The Keeping Room. Directed by Daniel Barber (Harry Brown) and co-starring Haileen Steinfeld and Sam Worthington, here's the the story is described as: Left without men in the dying days of the American Civil War, three Southern women - two sisters and one African-American slave - must fight to defend their home and themselves from two rogue soldiers who have broken off from the fast-approaching Union Army.

I suck at chess but movies about chess are a personal favorite, and Pawn Sacrifice is one that I've been waiting for. Tobey Maguire stars as legendary chess champion Bobby Fischer in the Ed Zwick-directed film, which centers on his 1972 World Championship match against Russian champ, Borris Spassky, seen here portrayed by Liev Schreiber. Steven Knight (Locke) wrote the script with Peter Sarsgaard co-starring. In this remarkable true story set in the height of the Cold War, chess legend Bobby Fischer is locked in a gripping championship clash with the Soviets as he struggles against his own psychological demons while the whole world anxiously awaits the outcome.

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Jaden Smith and Liev Schreiber to Star in James McBride's 'The Good Lord Bird'

Considering how things went with daddy Will on After Earth last year, it's probably no surprise Jaden Smith is getting a little bit of distance. He's already confirmed to rejoin Jackie Chan for a sequel to The Karate Kid, and now he'll be teaming up with Liev Schreiber for an adaptation of James McBride's award-winning novel, The Good Lord Bird.

McBride, whose book Miracle at St. Anna was adapted by Spike Lee in 2008, will produce the film which follows "Henry “Onion” Shackleford (Smith), a young slave who links up with radical abolitionist John Brown (Schreiber) in 1856 Kansas and travels the nation with Brown’s motley crew of freedom fighters. Story is told with a satirical bent through the eyes of Onion, who wears a dress and is at first mistaken for a girl, as he bears witness to Brown’s historic campaign and encounters the likes of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman en route to the bloody Harper’s Ferry raid that helped spark the Civil War."

McBride also co-wrote Spike Lee's Red Hook Summer, and it'll be interesting to see if Lee gets involved with this, too. The material is definitely in his wheelhouse. Expect studios to jump on this one, especially after the Oscar-winning success of 12 Years A Slave. [Deadline]

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New Trailer and Poster for John Turturro's 'Fading Gigolo' Co-Starring Woody Allen

As we've seen with Woody Allen lifting the veil early on his next film, Magic in the Moonlight, the veteran director is doing things a little bit differently. For instance, he'll be co-starring in John Turturro's indie comedy Fading Gigolo, marking his first time acting in a film directed by another in more than a decade.

The latest trailer is thick with Allen and Turturro's neuroses, which makes them a combination that should gel perfectly. Allen plays a book dealer who starts pimping out Turturro in an effort to get out of a financial bind. Sofia Vergara plays the woman who helps kick off this lucrative business venture in the world's oldest profession by hiring Turturro to be a part of a threesome. It's silly stuff, and Turturro, who directs and co-wrote the script, is clearly following in Allen's stylistic footprints.

Co-starring Liev Schreiber and Sharon Stone, Fading Gigolo opens April 18th.


"Fading Gigolo" Trailer starring John Turturro, Woody Allen, Sofía Vergara, and Sharon Stone by thesevensees

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Dakota Fanning and Theo James Board 'Franny'; Peter Sarsgaard and Liev Screiber In 'Pawn Sacrifice'

* Dakota Fanning and Theo James (Divergent) have joined Richard Gere in Franny, from writer/director Andrew Renzi developed at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. Gere plays a rich, hedonistic philanthropist who ingratiates himself into the lives of a newlywed couple (Fanning and James) in order to recreate the life he once had. [Deadline]

* Tobey Maguire's Bobby Fischer biopic Pawn Sacrifice has been in the works for years, but it took a major step forward when Ed Zwick recently came aboard to direct it. With Maguire set to play the famous chess champion, Peter Sarsgaard and Liev Schreiber are the latest to come aboard. Schreiber will play Russian champ Boris Spassky, who Fischer had his historic world championship match against. Sarsgaard is Fischer's priest and close friend who helped him through the stressful period when he was a pop culture icon. [THR]

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Batman admires Supergirl's crotch in new 'Movie 43' red band trailer

"My friend is bleeding out of her vagina!" If that line just disgusted or offended you then Movie 43 probably isn't going to be the film for you. The ensemble comedy features practically every actor you've ever heard of, far too many to list here, in a collection of the filthiest, nastiest, disturbing, and politically incorrect sketches on a range of topics, but mostly involving sex and body fluids.

While we just saw a full red band trailer for the film a few weeks ago, a brief new one has been released which is basically just a snapshot at some of the funniest bits, including Jason Sudeikis as Batman admiring Supergirl's(Kristen Bell) hairy crotch. Yep, that's the level of humor you can expect to find. Definitely not for the kiddies, but it looks absolutely perfect for me. 

Movie 43 opens on January 25th. Check out the trailer and synopsis below....

Warning: This movie is not for the weak-stomached, faint of heart, or easily offended.
In Movie 43, comedy is served steaming hot by director Peter Farrelly of The Farrelly Brothers (Something About Mary, Dumb & Dumber) in one of the most original comedies ever made. Starring Elizabeth Banks, Kristen Bell, Halle Berry, Leslie Bibb, Kate Bosworth, Gerard Butler, Bobby Cannavale, Kieran Culkin, Josh Duhamel, Anna Faris, Richard Gere, John Hodgman, Terrence Howard,  Hugh Jackman, Johnny Knoxville, Justin Long, Stephen Merchant, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz, Chris Pratt, Liev Schreiber, Seann William Scott, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Uma Thurman, Naomi Watts, and Kate Winslet, Movie 43 is jaw-dropping, uproarious, outrageous fun.

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Every actor ever stars in the screwed up red band trailer for 'Movie 43'

Ensemble sketch comedies have a fairly poor track record as feature films, but there have been some pretty good ones. A particular favorite of mine was David Zucker's The Kentucky Fried Movie, which has the classic A Fistful of Yen sketch that remains hilarious to this day. "Take him to Detroit" has been a part of my personal lexicon ever since. But for every good one there are a dozen terrible ones that think merely being raunchy and disgusting is enough(like The Underground Comedy Movie). Movie 43 is the latest sketch comedy on the way, and whether it's good or not probably matters less than the jam packed roster of celebrity actors and directors basking in all their R-rated glory.

Brett Ratner, Peter Farrelly, Elizabeth Banks, James Gunn, and many more direct the various risque segments that star top tier talent like (*deep breath*) Emma Stone, Halle Berry, Terrence Howard, Gerard Butler, Kristen Bell, Chloe Moretz, Josh Duhamel, Johnny Knoxville, Elizabeth Banks, Naomi Watts, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Richard Gere, Justin Long, Liev Schreiber, Uma Thurman, Seann William Scott, Kieran Culkin, Leslie Bibb, Jimmy Bennett, Kate Bosworth, Patrick Warburton, Tony Shalhoub, Chris Pratt, Jason Sudeikis, Jack McBrayer, Aasif Mandvi and Bobby Cannavale.

There's a reason why Movie 43 was originally titled Red Band, and every moment of this trailer is an explanation for it. Anna Faris and her real life husband star in a skit where she reveals her fetish for being pooped on; Halle Berry picks on a blind kid during his birthday; and in what I think is the funniest and unquestionably racist bit of all, Terrence Howard convinces his all-black basketball team of their inherent superiority over their white opponents.  Little people, the mentally challenged, and many other touchy subjects get skewered mercilessly. If you ever wanted to hear Emma Stone talk about how she sucked off a hobo, this movie is for you.

Movie 43 opens on January 25th 2013. Will you be seeing it?

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Sure Shots: Liev Schreiber; Noomi Rapace; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

* Liev Schreiber appears to have swept the lead role in Brad Anderson's upcoming film, Jack, away from John Cusack. He's been offered the part of an amnesiac killer, experiencing resurfacing memories just as he's fallen in love with a doctor. Samuel L. Jackson is on board for an unspecified role, as well. Brad Anderson's most recent film was in my top 10 of 2008, the mystery/thriller on a train, Transsiberian.

* Noomi Rapace, who has captivated audiences as Lisbeth Salander in the Millennium trilogy of flicks, is all over the place. Not only is she set for the Sherlock Holmes sequel, but she's also been in talks for Ridley Scott's Alien prequel. But she's also got work back in her native Sweden, as she'll be taking on the role of cabaret singer Anita Lindblom, wife of Swedish boxing legend Bo Hogberg in a biopic on his life. The interesting note? Hogberg will be portrayed by Noomi's recent ex-husband, Ola Rapace.  She's on the market, ya'll!

* Somebody out there wants yet another Texas Chainsaw Massacre flick, and that guy certainly isn't me. But since Twisted Pictures is dead set on giving us another one, might as well report on the goings on. This latest news probably won't inspire too many of Leatherface's fans, but Adam Marcus and Debra Sullivan have been brought on to script the upcoming horror. If the name Adam Marcus sounds vaguely familiar, it's because he directed the ultra crappy Jason Goes to Hell back in 1993. God I'm old.

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