· The weekend brought several updates regarding Charlie Kaufman's next writing-directing project Frank or Francis, the newsiest of which is that Kevin Kline will appear alongside Steve Carell, Jack Black and Nicolas Cage. I won't give anything else away, save to say that the rest is such an abject, almost pornographic binge of plot and script spoilers that it feels as though Kaufman is pranking movie bloggers into the very kind of behavior that he apparently wants to lampoon. It's got to be a trick, right? And at any rate, wasn't Kaufman's unpredictability always supposed to be a fundamental part of his appeal? Did I miss the memo saying it's OK to give his whole movie away before it's even shot? Anyway, numerous spoilers follow at both of these links, which I provide as a both a matter of policy and a sincerest urging to protect your Kaufman-viewing experience by never clicking. [Variety, The Playlist]
· Star Trek co-screenwriter Roberto Orci opened up a bit about the progress of the upcoming sequel, for which locations are currently being scouted. Sort of related: You know what movie would be awesome? Bad Lieutenant Uhura: Port of Call New Orleans. Think of the ass-kicking! The varieties of species! The tax breaks! Anyway. [StarTrek.com via /film]
· Why not get your week started right with some passive-aggressive bitching from A.O. Scott? "I'm eager to see Oren Moverman's Rampart, freshly acquired by Millennium after finding some critical love in Toronto," he writes in a new dialogues with his NYT colleague Manohla Dargis. "I'm also looking forward to seeing what audiences make of The Descendants [...] I'm less excited by the months of speculation about a best actor face-off between George Clooney in The Descendants and Woody Harrelson, the star of Rampart. Though in February, when one of them -- or [Brad] Pitt, or Leonardo DiCaprio, or someone else -- lays hands on the statuette, I will of course be watching." Glad we've settled that. [NYT]
· Today in obvious questions that apparently are still negotiable: "Is Taylor Lautner doomed not to go beyond Twilight?" I wonder! [LAT]
· "Surprise! Dolphins and Jesus Beat Cancer and Dead Kids." I guess that is one way of looking at the weekend box office. [Time]
· Here's noted, nuanced right-wing intellectual Andrew Breitbart calling Janeane Garofalo "Hollywood's sympathy fuck." Lovely. [Breitbart.tv]