OMG CHECK OUT STEPHEN CAMPBELL MOORE WITH HOBO HAIR IN THIS STILL FROM THE BANK JOB.

(Campbell Moore [Bright Young Things, The History Boys] stars alongside Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Daniel Mays, Keeley Hawes, Colin Salmon, and Hattie Morahan. More pictures from the film here.)

New picture from Baz Luhrmann's WWII-era epic romance Australia, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. [imdb]

Character posters for The Forbidden Kingdom, which looks exactly like one of those crazy Asian fantasy epics I loved as a kid - think Monkey - complete with dudes in really long, colourful wigs, but with a higher budget and a Caucasian teenage hero. Go figure. (Scroll to the bottom for thumbnails to the rest.) It stars Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Yifei Liu, Bingbing Li, Collin Chou and Michael Angarano. [official site] [imdb]

Josh Hartnett will play an unnamed, revenge-seeking drifter in the martial arts action film Bunraku. Following in the lone warrior archetype (samurai and gangster films, spaghetti westerns), Bunraku draws inspiration from an interesting mixture of sources, stretching from puppets, origami, comic books, and video games to German expressionism. This could either be very bad or very brilliant. (Hollywood Reporter)

Trailer for John Woo's Chinese-language historical epic Red Cliff, starring Tony Leung (Lust, Caution), Takeshi Kaneshiro (House of Flying Daggers) and Koyuki (The Last Samurai). It is based on events recounted in Records of Three Kingdoms, taking place in period of disunity after the fall of the Han dynasty in the third century. Because of its length, the film is going to be released in two separate "episodes", the first half before the 2008 Summer Olympics and the second at the end of 2008. For more information, go to Wikipedia, and also to find out about the historical Battle of Red Cliffs. [imdb]

Red Cliff should not to be confused with Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon, with Andy Lau and Maggie Q, which is inspired by the 14th century classical historical novel about the same period, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

You know what would make an interesting film? The Battle of Talas River, which is thought to be how the skill of paper-making being spread into Arabia (with the Chinese prisoners of war), and then into the West. I read a review about a novel recently that was also about a paper maker, and who I vaguely remember was Arab or Central Asian... Does anybody know what I'm talking about?

Horror/fantasy writer Clive Barker's Books of Blood are being adapted for the big screen. Sophie Ward (Heartbeat) and Jonas Armstrong (BBC's Robin Hood) are set to star. (Hollywood Reporter) [imdb]

Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon on Jimmy Kimmel.

A selection of perfect ads. (via)

Trailer for Doug Liman's (The Bourne Identity) sci-fi action adventure, Jumper, based on the novel by Steven Gould. A young man discovers that he can teleport, but the ability comes at a cost - an ancient sect called the Paladins is intent on killing everyone who is like him. It stars Jamie Bell (Hallam Foe), Hayden Christensen (Shattered Glass), Rachel Bilson (The OC), and Samuel L. Jackson. THIS LOOKS SO MIND-BLOWINGLY COOL. Edited: trailer_spot has the link for the downloadable Quicktime version of the trailer. [imdb]

Edited 2: Interview with author Steven Gould about his latest book.

A new trailer for His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass. Ian McKellan voices Iorek Byrnison, Christopher Lee makes an appearance, and Stelmaria speaks with Kristin Scott Thomas' wonderful and seductive voice! (I know she doesn't appear in person, but just the thought of KST and Daniel Craig in the same oral space is enough to make me weak.) Also, director/writer Chris Weitz at the HisDarkMaterials.org blog defends his decision to move the last few chapters of The Golden Compass into the script for the sequel, The Subtle Knife. [imdb]

Eric Bana has been cast as the villain in the J.J. Abrams directed Star Trek XI. Already on board are Anton Yelchin, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and Leonard Nimoy. Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter says that Chris Pine (Just My Luck) is in talks to star as Captain Kirk. Don't know who he is either? Here is a picture. [imdb]

New trailer for Love in the Time of Cholera, directed by Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), based on the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. [imdb]

Teaser trailer and some (regretably small) stills at Twitch from Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon, a historical martial arts epic directed by Daniel Lee. It features Andy Lau and Maggie Q. The story is based on the classical Chinese novel, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms (pinyin: sānguó yǎnyì), set in the period of disunity and turbulence at the end of the Han dynasty. It's a work of fiction that has had as much an influence on the Chinese consciousness as Homer or Shakespeare do in the West. [imdb]

Slate has a slideshow of the history of the vibrator - just the thing after the latest episode of Mad Men!

Robin Hood 1.02: Yes, I'm still watching. It's curiously addictive in its campiness. I also remain amused at the earnest attempts at political commentary in an otherwise lighthearted show. ( example )

~

Two new teaser trailers for Hot Fuzz, a buddy cop comedy from the writers and director of Shaun of the Dead. [Official Site] [imdb]

Hong Kong megastar Andy Lau (House of Flying Daggers) and Asian-American actress Maggie Q (Mission: Impossible III) will star in Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon, a martial arts epic (what else?). The film will be based on the the 600-year-old historical novel, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" (not to be confused with "The Return of the King" although their share an acronym) by Luo Guangzhong, which is about the latter years of the Han dynasty when China was divided into three kingdoms: the Wei, Shu and Wu. If you have never heard of this novel, for the sake of comparison, it's like the Shakespeare/Tolkien/Tolstoy of Chinese literary canon. More details about casting at Twitch.

Clips from The Prestige. [imdb]

New international trailer for animated picture, Happy Feet. OutNow also has some high-res stills. [imdb]

Rachel Bilson (OC) has joined the cast of Doug Liman's science fiction flick, Jumper. She replaced Teresa Palmer when the role was reconceived as being a 25-year-old woman rather than a 20-year-old. This is no doubt related to the earlier casting decision to go with the older and more "prominent" Hayden Christensen as the lead instead of Tom Sturridge, who originally had the role. (Coming Soon) [imdb]

Guardian interview with James McAvoy.

Trailer for The Painted Veil, adapted from the W. Somerset Maugham novel and starring Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. So far only available on YouTube. I love the music, which I assume is from the film's score by Alexandre Desplat - it's reminiscent of Williams' Asian-influenced Memoirs of a Geisha score, but I actually like this. (ETA: It's Hans Zimmer, I've now found out.) Thanks to trailer_spot for the link. [imdb]