Keira to Star In Silk

Digital Spy reports that British actress Keira Knightley will star as the wife of a French silkworm merchant who falls in love with a Japanese concubine in an adaptation of Alessandro Baricco's Silk, which takes place in the 1860s. --Kim

Hawke's Hottest State

Uma's ex, Gen Xer Ethan Hawke (Training Day, Before Sunset), will direct Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain) in an adaptation of his coming-of-age novel The Hottest State, which was originally published in 1996. No word on who will play the male lead but shooting begins in January. Hawke previously directed the ensemble drama Chelsea Walls. More info here. --Kim

Brokeback Mountain, Etc.

Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas/Hanukkah! Along with It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas, I managed to watch several of my favorite adaptations over the holiday weekend including A Christmas Carol, A Room with a View, and Enchanted April. Just as with E.M. Forster's novel, I try to watch the film every so often because it never fails to inspire. I also saw Brokeback Mountain last night and it was incredible. Everything you've heard about this adaptation is true. The performances are remarkable. While Ang Lee’s film, based on an achingly wonderful short story by Annie Proulx, is breaking new ground by portraying a long-term affair between two men, the true appeal in the story is the agonizing pain of lovers who are forced apart by social and family pressure just as the most famous fictional star-crossed lovers in history, Romeo and Juliet. The film retains the intimacy of the short story while also managing to make it larger than life. It's one of the best and most moving films I've seen in ages. (Oh and Casanova is cute--a bit like Shakespeare in Love only without the clever dialogue--but Sienna Miller puts me to sleep.) --Kim

Homer Does History

Just caught the episode of the "The Simpsons" that spoofs off PBS's "1900 House." The family gets recruited by a reality network to live in a Victorian house where the only modern amenity is the video closet to record their daily thoughts. Homer accidentally wears a chamber pot on his head thinking it's an army helmet. Marge insists on having tampons despite the rules against having anything post "1890s" in the house. Later, the producers drop Squiggy from "Laverne & Shirley" in the house to liven things up. (He had a tazer gun.)

My favorite line is when Homer and Marge were lying in bed...
HOMER: "The kids are in bed...Maybe I could 'Wuther' your "Heights?'"

Gotta love it. -- Amy

Bynes to Remake Twelfth Night

In the grand tradition of Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles in10 Things I Hate about You (inspired by Taming the Shrew), Amanda Bynes will star as Viola in Dreamworks' upcoming She's the Man. For starters, couldn't they have come up with a better title? --Kim

Russians to Drink Up Margarita

"Impossible to adapt," The Master and Margarita gets adapted for Russian television.

The streets are expected to be deserted tonight at 8.55 when millions switch on their televisions for the first Russian screen adaptation of a surreal 1930s novel that features a gun-slinging cat and the devil as a magician.

(The Guardian via The Morning News)--Kim

Word To The G-Squared

Yes, I'm a day late and a dollar short with this post, but the Golden Globe nominations are out. I'd write more, but award shows bore me. Nevertheless, congrats to Keira Knightley who was nominated for best actress in a musical or comedy film. Here's what she had to say about being recognized.

Now on to more interesting things, like this clever imagining of Pride & Prejudice and King Kong by Joyce Wadler. --Amy