Michael Fassbender - the man in Demand!

More fantastic news for Michael Fassbender fans (Fassies like yours truly!).  He is attached to another exciting new project, this time directed by Steven Soderbergh called Knockout.  Knockout is supposed to be in the "vein of La Femme Nikita" and is slated to star mixed martial artist Gina Carano.  The Playlist reports that the principal cast includes Ewan McGregor, Dennis Quaid, Michael Douglas, and (cartwheels) Michael Fassbender.

Yippee!  Michael is getting work with fantastic directors.  David Cronenberg and now Soderbergh?  He is arriving.

The Informant! - Film Review

The Informant! is a very interesting film. I read in an interview with Matt Damon, that Steven Soderbergh told him that they couldn't remake The Insider with this movie, and boy, they sure didn't. The Insider, with Russell Crowe as the whistle blower, was a tense suspenseful drama. Matt Damon's Mark Whitacre seems to think he's in that kind of a movie at all times, but Soderbergh has found a deft comedic tone for this film. It's not a laugh out loud comedy, but similar to a wry Coen Brothers film. The craziest thing about The Informant! is that it's based on a true story. Mark Whitacre worked with the FBI for over two years to expose the lysine price fixing at Arthur Daniel Midlands. This story was all over our local papers in Chicago at the time, but I had no idea the twists and turns that it took.

Roger Ebert found this quote in the Decatur paper from Mark Whitacre:

“It's like I was two people. I assume that's why they chose Matt Damon for the movie, because he plays those roles that have such psychological intensity. In the ‘Bourne' movies, he doesn't even know who he is.”

Mark Whitacre went to the FBI with information about the price fixing, and seemed to delude himself that by being the whistle blower he would end up running the company. He was a very highly paid executive in the company, and Soderbergh filmed in his actual mansion in Decatur, Illinois.

Matt Damon is amazing in the film. He walks that fine line, fooling his bosses by being such a blunderbus. Matt Damon had only a few moments to show his comedic talents in the Oceans Eleven films, and this film is his showpiece. With the crowded field this year, I don't know if he will garner an Oscar nomination, but he deserves one. At one point in the trial, Matt Damon says the exact words that Whitacre said in his statement to the court, but Soderbergh asked him to do it as if it was an Oscar awards acceptance speech. We'll see if he gets to give a real one.

Scott Bakula is perfect as the FBI agent, and his partner is Joel McHale from Talk Soup. I was also amused to see both Smothers brothers in cameos (Tom is the judge.)

I give this film three and a half stars. It's very entertaining. Interestingly, Mark Whitacre is still married to Ginger and he's CEO of his own company.

The Informant! Trailer

I didn't realize when I saw the set pics of Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre that this was going to be a comedy!

3-D Cleopatra Musical?

This falls in the WTF? Did I just read that category. Variety reports on Steven Soderbergh's proposed next project after Che:

For his next directing effort, Steven Soderbergh is plotting a 3-D live-action rock ’n’ roll musical about Cleopatra.

He is courting Catherine Zeta-Jones to play the Egyptian queen and Hugh Jackman to play her lover, Marc Antony.

The music has been written by the indie rock band Guided by Voices, and the script is by James Greer, a former bass player for the band and an author.

While Soderbergh has recently done a spate of wildly different projects, this one will be his first full-blown musical.

Catherine Zeta-Jones was great in Chicago, and I'd love to see Hugh in a big screen musical, but I don't know about this one.

Michael Douglas as Liberace???

Okaaaay. Variety reports:

Steven Soderbergh is in the early stages of developing a biopic about Liberace for Warner Bros., which he will direct.

The filmmaker said he has drafted his "Traffic" star Michael Douglas to play the flamboyant pianist.

Richard LaGravanese (P.S. I Love You, The Bridges of Madison County) is writing the script, and Jerry Weintraub will produce.

Soderbergh is in discussions with Matt Damon to play Scott Thorson, who sued Liberace in 1982 for $113 million in palimony, claiming he was the entertainer’s companion for five years. Even though Liberace never wavered from career-long denials that he was gay, Thorson reportedly settled for $95,000 in 1986.

Um, not the news I was expecting in my inbox from Variety this morning. I'll reserve judgment, but it's a little difficult to picture at the moment.

First Che Trailer

Che is a 2008 film about Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Benicio del Toro as Che. The film is actually a merged version of two films by Soderbergh: The Argentine and Guerrilla. The first part focuses on the Cuban revolution, from the moment Fidel Castro, Guevara and other revolutionaries landed on the Caribbean island, until they toppled the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista two years later. The second part focuses on the years following the Cuban revolution. It begins with Che's trip to the United Nations headquarters in New York City in 1964, until his death in the Bolivian mountains in 1967.

Che was screened on May 21 at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival reportedly running over four hours. Del Toro won the Best Actor Award at the festival for his portrayal of Guevara in the film.

New Che Poster

“Che is a 2008 film about Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Benicio del Toro as Che. The film is actually a merged version of two films by Soderbergh: The Argentine and Guerrilla. The first part focuses on the Cuban revolution, from the moment Fidel Castro, Guevara and other revolutionaries landed on the Caribbean island, until they toppled the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista two years later. The second part focuses on the years following the Cuban revolution. It begins with Che’s trip to the United Nations headquarters in New York City in 1964, until his death in the Bolivian mountains in 1967.

Che was screened on May 21 at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival reportedly running over four hours.[1] Del Toro won the Best Actor Award at the festival for his portrayal of Guevara in the film.”

Nice Hair, Matt

Matt Damon walks to the set of his new movie, The Informant, in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The film, directed by Steven Soderbergh, stars Damon as Mark Whitacre.

Sarah Silverman, still feel the same way about Matt? LOL