Monday, December 14th, 2009

One may wonder how these four images comes together, but you soon will. I'll begin by saying that one of my favorite movies of all time is Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich, written by the enigmatic Charlie Kaufman. Kaufman's writing style on that film has been referenced in the cinema blogsphere twice today, and I must say, if we have to endure the copying of styles, it should definitely be that of Kaufman's. The first reference to the 1999 quirky classic comes the way of a Los Angeles Times article on the recent winner of the Hollywood Black List top spot, an annual ranking of the best screenplays yet to make it to the silver screen, The Muppet Man. The script is by an unknown by the name of Christopher Weekes, and is concerns the life of Muppet creator Jim Henson, but takes a more fantastical Kaufman-esque route that I think we would all generally identify as Henson's broad imagination would have seen things. Sadly, the article nearly confirms that the entry will stay on the Black List, as The Jim Henson Company would prefer a straightforward biopic on the ingenious man behind the felt creatures we all know and love.

Second on the list of Kaufman references comes the way of a Cinematical article on Tobey Maguire's future projects, particularly a film called Prisoners of Trebek, a surreal tale of a Jeopardy! contestant finding love during the show, with Alex Trebek taking a similar role to that of John Malkovich in the aforementioned Kaufman flick. Sounds absolutely incredible.

The article does not stop there though. It also links to a Latino Review story on how Maguire's agency is also in talks with Guillermo del Toro and the team behind The Hobbit to play the role of Bilbo Baggins. I have to say, I don't think anybody will be gung ho about the possible addition of Maguire, but I must say, if a person I am against has to get the role, at least I can be rest assured that Maguire actually has the ability to act. He kept the nerd audience at bay with a decent turn as Peter Parker, but more prominently showed his skills in the 2000 dramedy Wonder Boys. I am still personally pulling for a choice I saw offered up on a message board sometime back, Martin Freeman, most famous for his role in the British version of The Office, or to American audiences as Arthur Dent in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

In some more very intriguing news/rumors that deserves a full post on its topic alone, Pajiba has thrown David O. Russell (still known to me as the guy that directed the incestuous comic romance Spanking the Monkey) as the possible director for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Even more amazing than that, during one my nights spent playing Madden 10 instead of blogging, it was announced that Natalie Portman will be producing and starring in the big screen version of the eccentric read.

Finally, if all of that news/rumor mill hasn't been enough to quench your thirst for the day, here is possibly the most kick ass video of all time from Back to the Future Part III, where Verne, one of Doc Brown's children, manages to sneak in a somewhat suggestive gesture in the background that just took roughly nineteen years to find and garner its own YouTube video. Enjoy.