Titanic on Ice

No...not a figure skating extravaganza (I could only hope to dream....) But this one's for you, Meg.

Portman's Out For Regency Blood

Natalie Portman's name is being bandied about in connection with the Pride & Prejudice and Zombies project.

Tyger! Tyger! Burning Bright

It looks like Yann Martel's survival tale, Life of Pi, is finally getting its sea legs...with no less than Ang Lee in talks to direct! Great pairing. (M. Night Shyamalan was previously attached.) Still don't know how they're gonna pull off Richard Parker. CGI animals never seem to work for me.

In the meantime, I still love watching the amateur versions on YouTube.

Source: Variety

Elton John Scores Zombie Austen Pic!

It just gets more and more intriguing...see the deets at Variety.

Okay...further, more careful perusing has brought to light that this is not in fact, the zombie film, but something else entirely: Austen and aliens. In my rush of excitement, I wrongly assumed this was the zombie one...which leads me to believe perhaps there are getting to be a few too many campy spin-offs of Jane? The first time around it's clever. The second time around it's "enough, already." -- Amy

Dickens Mania Commences!

We celebrated Amy's birthday in true Romancing the Tome style on Sunday by attending a Bollywood performance, dining exquisitely at Comme Ça, and watching the first episode of 2007's BBC production of Oliver Twist on Masterpiece Theatre. The casting is fantastic, although we both agreed that Tom Hardy (Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights) is almost too attractive as psychopathic scoundrel Bill Sikes (let's call it the Willoughby Effect). The little boy who plays Oliver is adorable and Timothy Spall as Fagin is utterly creepy. Unfortunately, the Artful Dodger's accent was so thick that we could barely understand a word he said. Following next week's conclusion of Oliver will be David Copperfield starring Daniel Radcliffe. Of course, I'm eagerly awaiting the five episodes of the brand new Little Dorrit, which begins on March 29. --Kim

More Unorthodox Austen...

...This time it involves time travel, with Sam Mendes directing. It's based on a Brit miniseries that starred Tess of the d'Urbervilles' Gemma Arterton and Jemima Rooper.

Source: Variety

Stiller & Cruise: Hardy Boys?

I have to grin at the idea of Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller starring as the boy detectives all grown up...who knows how it'll pan out. I found Tom Cruise slightly annoying in Tropic Thunder, but I give him credit, I guess, for making an ass out of himself for comedy's sake.

Source: Hollywood Reporter