Dickens...Sort Of

I realize this blog has reached new lows when the Garfield sequel merits a post. However, I did a double-take when I realized the film's subtitle is "A Tale of Two Kitties." Apparently, this one's set in the UK, where that creepy CGI version of the bulgy-eyed, lasagna-loving feline stumbles across a dopey-looking cat who looks exactly like him. I'm not sure how much this flick actually mimics the saga of Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay, but somehow I suspect that borrowing a Dickensian plot isn't going to help raise this movie from the rank depths of crappiness. -- Amy

Enimem Has Gun, Will Travel

I'd heard Eminem was shopping around to find just the right script for his next feature film. Variety now reports that the Detroit rapper is set to star as bounty hunter Paladin in an adaptation of the 1950's CBS series "Have Gun Will Travel." (Remember the kids in the '80s classic Stand by Me singing the theme song?) Have Gun Will Travel is also the title of a book about the record label Death Row Records. (I know that we're all about Darcy and Horatio around here, but strangely enough I have a thing for Eminem too, so I couldn't resist.) --Kim

Murder by Numbers

Sometimes I hate Southern California for its lack of decent history. Sure there are some missions (yawn) and Hollywood Schmollywood, but when it comes to decades-old, ghost-in-the-graveyard caliber lore, Los Angeles (the strip-mall center of the universe) comes up desperately short.

Or so I thought. On Saturday, I had the pleasure of hitching a ride on the 1947 Project's most recent Crime Bus Tour: The Nightmares of Bunker Hill. Donning period costume, a genuine passion for the historical macabre and a healthy sense of humor, Kim Cooper and Nathan Marsak (pictured) regaled 40 passengers with a century's worth of mostly obscure crime stories centered in and around downtown Los Angeles.

For five hours we toured dozens of sites of highly unusual crimes and accidents, some gruesome, some downright hilarious. Sadly, most of the crime scenes in question have been torn down and rebuilt beyond recognition, but our intrepid guides had compiled a DVD of historical photographs that we could reference via TV monitors on the bus. They also read contemporary police and newspaper reports of the incidents which proved extremely entertaining if not always politically correct. I applaud Cooper and Marsak for sleuthing to unearth loads of intrigue and drama under L.A.'s disgustingly stuccoed facade.

For more info on the 1947 Project's upcoming tours (there's a Pasadena tour in the works for July) as well as a Black Dahlia tour later this year, check out www.1947project.com. Or, check here to peruse some of the more infamous crime stories and photographs . -- Amy

Jane does "Jazz Hands"

Buckeyes rejoice! The Ohio Light Opera in Wooster, Ohio is staging the world premiere of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice: The Musical!

Written by Amanda Jacobs and Lindsay Baker, the show will incorporate both the world of Jane Austen and the world of the Bennet sisters as Jane interacts with the characters she's created. Show dates, ticket info and a more detailed synopisis here. In the unlikely chance you happen to be visiting the thriving metropolis of Wooster next month, check it out. -- Amy

Some Pig....

But will it be "Some Movie?" Here's a trailer for the live-action version of E.B. White's classic, Charlotte's Web, starring Dakota Fanning as Fern and Julia Roberts as the voice of Charlotte. (It'll be out at Christmas.) Judging from the trailer, it's got some fairly obnoxious moments. Call me crazy, but I prefer the 1973 animated version, with Paul Lynde as Templeton the rat crooning "A fair is a veritable smorgasbord (orgasbord, orgasbord...)." -- Amy

Blockbuster Secrets

What separates a good literary adaptation (oh, let's say "To Kill a Mockingbird") from a bad one (oh, let's say "The Cat in the Hat")? I'm way too lazy-minded to offer up a lengthy pedantic analysis. Luckily, the Guardian's Mark Lawson is not. -- Amy

Brits and Yanks Battle It Out Over Boleyn

The latest issue of Film Comment reports that here, there, and everywhere actress Keira Knightley will play Anne Boleyn in the second adaptation of Phillipa Gregory's novel The Other Boleyn Girl (slated for '07), but apparently there's more to the story. American actresses Michelle Williams and Natalie Portman may play the two Boleyn sisters and Brits aren't happy about it, says London's Daily Mail. Justin Chadwick (Bleak House) will direct.--Kim