No one, if Fox has anything to say about it:

The long-gestating court battle over the film rights to “Watchmen” took a possibly cataclysmic turn late Wednesday, as Judge Gary Alan Feess declared that 20th Century Fox holds a valid copyright interest in the property that would cover distribution of the upcoming “Watchmen” movie.

The ruling doesn’t bode well for Warner Bros., which is producing the Zack Snyder-directed pic scheduled to hit theaters on March 6. That release date could now be in jeopardy, although the judge appealed for both sides to find common ground and negotiate rather than continue through a trial, The New York Times reported.

People have been trying to turn Alan Moore’s celebrated graphic novel into a movie since the 80’s, and so far, the project has seemed cursed. Terry Gilliam wanted to make it very badly, but failed. This is probably all to the good; as much as I like Gilliam, it’s hard to imagine this movie not looking ridiculous without CGI.

Snyder’s film looks very, very good, however, so I very much hope Fox’s lawsuit doesn’t blow it for everyone. In the meantime, a new trailer has been released, though only in Japan. For those readers who don’t speak Japanese, shame on you, but bear with it - though the voiceover will be unintelligible, the Japanese are a literate people, so the dialogue isn’t dubbed. Also, note that Richard Nixon will again be featured on the big screen, this time in a work that acknowledges its status as fiction:

The good folks over at the Corner got to work early yesterday on the truly important question of the day: who will play Blago in the inevitable movie (presumably made for TV) about his rise and fall. Well, mostly just about his fall. The favorite over there was Sean Astin. If this doesn’t ring a bell, as it didn’t for me until I looked him up, he was the lead in Goonies, and grew up to land the biggest supporting-Hobbit role in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I’ll admit there’s a bit of a resemblance there, but nothing in his resume (he also played the title character in Rudy) gives me much confidence in his ability to swear without blushing. And if there’s one thing we all know for certain about Blago, it’s that he absolutely loves to say ‘fuck’.

Friend of the blog CWB suggests William H. Macy, who would basically be reprising his role from Fargo. There’s a strong case to be made there:

He’s clearly up to the task, and I think a terrific Blagography could be built around him, but I don’t think he’s the best man for the job. That honor goes to Tim Matheson:

(more…)

From the Times of London, The 100 Best Films of 2008. 100! Just from 2008!

That is crazy, and there are indeed many bad films on their list (Be Kind Rewind? I like Mos Def too, but let’s be serious…). But there is something refreshing about the excecution of this particular list as we enter Best of the Year season: the movies are in alphabetical order. Well, actually, they’re in alphabetical order within two tiers, 5-star and 4-star, but there are only fiver in the former category. This means that you get the good part of such lists - tips about good things you might not know about - without the useless part - a pointless attempt to put a bunch of really good things into an ordinal ranking of goodness.

The balance is even worse with All-Time Best lists, where there are bound to be fewer things you didn’t already know about, and the selection and ordering is necessarily absurd. McSweeney’s sums it up well:

Top Ten Best Ever.

BY PETER FERLAND

- - - -

1. “Standard” by Generally Beloved

2. “Obvious” by Everyone’s List

3. “Understandable” by Debatable but Worthy

4. “Totally Obscure” by Feel Suddenly Inferior

5. “Universally Forgotten” by Curiously Vehement Reverence

6. Whole body of work by Your Ignorance Limits You

7. “Otherwise Underwhelming” by What Was Playing That Time Specific to Me When Everything Came Together Just as It Should Have

8. “Footnote” by Guess Which Were My Drugs

9. “Other-Culture Techno Trance Experience” by See How Well-Rounded I Am

10. “Children’s Version of See Above” by We’ve Got Kids Now