L.A. Confidential: The Sequel Gets a Heavy Voice Over

James Ellroy's sultrily-named novel White Jazz will get the treatment via director Joe Carnahan (of the upcoming Smokin' Aces and Narc, an "overlooked gem" says IMDB, which starred Lost Boy Jason Patric), who co-wrote the adaptation with his brother.

Says Carnahan, "The script is one of my favourites. It's heartbreaking. It's, to me, what that book always was - the point of departure from the Eisenhower 50s to the psychedelic freakshow, Manson '60s. It's a total combination of the two with a heavy, heavy voice-over narration, this kind of classic noir."

The thriller, which begins filming in 2007, is a sequel to Ellroy's L.A. Confidential, which was adapted with great critical success by Curtis Hanson in 1997. Ellroy wrote the screenplay for L.A. Confidential along with Brian Helgeland (Man on Fire, A Knight's Tale). According to Wikipedia, White Jazz has been in "development hell" previously and stars formerly attached to the project included Nick Nolte, John "Lloyd Dobler" Cusack, and Winona Ryder. Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia (2006) was also adapted from an Ellroy novel. --Kim

Who Do You Love?

GET OUT THE VOTE!....Don't worry, I won't insult you with any negative attack ads or urge you to choose "Bad Politician A" over "Bad Politician B" in a few weeks. Just want you to take the time to complete this "Masterpiece Theater" survey. Voicing your likes and dislikes from among their recent offerings will help them figure out future programming. Did you love Bleak House's Mr. Guppy or was The Forsyte Saga's Soames Forsyte more to your liking? Ah decisions, decisions. Weigh in and let the powers that be know you're watching. -- Amy

Russian 'Hamlet' Wins Festival Award

Playing the Victim, A modern-day adaptation of Hamlet by Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov won the best film award at Rome's International Film Festival.

About the film:
"Playing the Victim" tells the story of Valya (Yury Chursin), a university graduate who has slipped, as the title suggests, into an apathetic job re-enacting crimes for curiously unnecessary police investigations. In the re-enactments, which are filmed for future trial reference, Valya takes the place of murder victims -- at least until the developments of the final act, which concludes the film's recurring references to "Hamlet," and in which the roles are suddenly reversed. (via The Moscow Times) --Kim

Marie Antoinette, Old School

Curiosity prompted me to watch the 1938 version of Marie Antoinette, starring Norma Shearer and Tyrone Power last weekend. If you have the time or inclination, or if you happen to catch it on cable, I'd suggest checking it out, just for kicks. Here are some reasons why:

• Norma Shearer is ADORABLE as the queen.
• She has a bitchin' thrown-down with Madame du Barry (much better than the Coppola version of this scene.)
• Louis XVI (played by Robert Morley) is ridiculous to the point of prompting snorts of laughter. I think the dimwittedness may have been overdone, but it is pretty damn funny. He's so dumb that you can't help but root for the guy.
• Tyrone Power as Axel Ferson blows Jamie Dornan's performance out of the water. Quite the hottie.
• The dresses are stunning, albeit a bit more voluminous than those in the current film. Could definitely hide a couple of court midgets under those dresses.
• The Duke de Orleans gives Eddie Izzard a run for his money. (I just Googled him and he really was a transvestite. Kind of cool that they went there in a 1938 film.)
• Unlike the Coppola film, this one covers the Affair of the Necklace (a big plotline left out of the current version and one which had a huge impact on the monarchy's downfall.) -- Amy

Tale of Two Cities

I spoke with a soap actress this week (MacKenzie Mauzy who plays Phoebe on "The Bold & The Beautiful"). She says she's involved in a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities (she's playing the guillotine-doomed seamstress whom Sydney Carton falls for at the end of the novel.) According to Mauzy, they're doing performances for producers and potential financial backers right now, with the hopes that it will end up on Broadway sometime in 2007. (The musical has actually been around since 1994.) You can check out more about the musical here. (It's got a very Les Mis vibe, based on the songs I listened to.) -- Amy

Buffy's Little Sister In The Possibility of Fireflies

Michelle Trachtenberg and Kelly Preston will star in an adaptation of The Possibility of Fireflies. The author Dominique Paul will be making her directorial debut with the film based on her novel about a single mom. --Kim

Jane Austen did WHAT?!?

James McAvoy offers up a "spit-out-your-coffee" moment in an enlightening interview with The Guardian.

Let's just say he has an interesting take on playing Tom LeFroy, the young Irishman who broke Jane Austen's heart in Becoming Jane.

Kind of a funny interview, anyway. -- Amy