Just attempting to make a small list of any large field of film will immediately invoke dissatisfaction. It doesn't matter if you cloak it in your own personal favorites, or try to narrow it down to a specific theme. Someone, somewhere will say you're missing X, or have forgotten Y. I get that, and I try not to be one of those people when I scoff at lists I don't agree with.

But sometimes it's just inevitable, especially when the lists talk about super-loved geek fare or cult favorites. Both have die-hard fans, and when it comes to the cult genre, it's fans who adore and fight for a film without having met seas of marketing and press. The movie itself is what inspires the cult following, rising the film from the forgotten piles of dust and into the never-forgotten ranks of cult infamy.

So I have to say, I'm pretty darned surprised at Entertainment Weekly's The Cult 25: The Essential Left-Field Movie Hits Since '83. (It's pretty much this list, without the older films.) At the very least, they narrowed the time frame down, but as soon as I saw "essential," I knew there would be holes, and strangely placed films.

By chance, two Takashi Miike movies, Dead or Alive and Audition, opened in my town with in a week of one another in 2001. It was pretty eye opening seeing the huge difference between them, the speedy carnage of the former and the slow suspense of the latter, and I became an instant fan. Since then I've managed to track down just six more Miike movies, and in that same time he has made over forty (including videos and TV shows). The speed of his production fits perfectly with the personality of his movies. They're often nonsensical; I couldn't make heads or tails of two of his more recent pictures, Gozu and The Great Yokai War. And they're very definitely energetic, verging on crazy. He reminds me of the great German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who cranked out over 40 movies and TV shows in less than 15 years and died at the age of 37. Miike is now 48 and one wonders how much longer he can keep going before he combusts.

Miike's new movie, Sukiyaki Western Django, finds him making a slight change of pace. No, the movie is still crazy and fast and nearly unintelligible, but he has stopped for a moment to consider the work of other filmmakers. The movie is a tribute to Spaghetti Westerns, and especially Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (1964), which in turn was based on Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961). Remember Bono's taunt at the beginning of U2's cover version of "Helter Skelter"? ("This song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles. We're stealing it back.") This movie feels as if Miike is doing some stealing back of his own.

It's not too hard to find some super-sympathetic villains right now. You can travel the Internet waves and check out Dr. Horrible, or head to toon town and watch The Monarch and the other Guild of Calamitous Intent members in Venture Brothers. You can see dudes sending in applications to the evil organizations, bad guys storm the wrong building, and even crappy reassignments that suck one's loathing hatred out of their job. These incarnations are great, addictive pieces of fun.

Could the same be said of Ben Stiller's forays into the fold? (*cough* Mystery Men) Not really. But would it help with Robert Downey Jr. and Tina Fey? Entertainment Weekly posts that both actors are looking into joining Stiller's animated villain film, Master Mind. (Christopher blogged about it here, last year.) The premise is simple. A villain accidentally kills the guy he's arching, and loses his will to live.

Having these two voices certainly sweetens the pot, but as we've learned after many years of disappointment -- amazing casts don't necessarily make even decent movies. It all comes down to the script (written by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons), and Stiller's involvement. We'll have to wait and see.

Note: EW says that Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson are still on to direct, but Moviehole talked to a Dreamworks source who said that they left the project months ago. IMDb, meanwhile, says it's Gary Trousdale.

*Warning: Clip contains foul language.*

Only nine years ago, Ron Livingston played the young, fax machine-stealing, disgruntled worker Peter Gibbons in Office Space. Whoever would've thought that less than a decade later, he'd head back to the office to be an aging businessman. Man, Hollywood is tough on age.

Variety reports the Livingston will lead an indie comedy called The Company Men, that Raul Sanchez will direct from his own screenplay. As the star, Ron gets to be "an aging businessman who struggles with a collapsing economy as he tries to save a sinking company." I guess the over-the-hill moniker sticks (Livingston is 41). It'll be interesting to see how this lives up to the cult favorite, and fan expectations. But really, the big question is: Will he use a red Swingline stapler?

Meanwhile, Livingston has a co-starring gig in The Time Traveler's Wife, which hits screens on Christmas Day.

The unthinkable has happened -- Steve Coogan treaded on William Shakespeare's grave and created the super-saucy Hamlet 2. But as the film continues to expand its screening reach, I thought I'd go back in time -- way, way back in time, beyond many of the Hamlet films that have graced our Shakespeare-insatiable eyes.

The above film was not meant to be a comedy, but you have got to see the silent version of Hamlet above. The music alone is peppy enough for a dance, and I keep expecting some comedy troupe to pop up and wreak havoc in the scene. But this is the ghost scene from the silent, 1913 adaptation, so it's serious. Really.

Personally, I just love the part where the ghost pops up. Special effects have come a long way, eh? And for all of those actors these days who talk about the struggles of acting when a special effects character isn't in the room -- pshaw, these guys were doing it long ago.

You think Hilary Swank would have learned her lesson after finding deep love that died way too early and left her with a suspenders scar. You'd also think she might be wary about her involvement in perky fare, since her forays into the genre haven't brought her as much success as her dramatic work. Guess not.

Swank is going nuts scooping up projects to produce and star in. Earlier this month, she was looking at Fat, and now Variety reports that she wants to backstab her best friend. Along with producing partner Molly Smith she's grabbed Emily Giffin's debut novel, Something Borrowed. Instead of borrowing, say, a hairbrush, she's stealing her friend's man. This potential starring vehicle for the actress focuses on a "Manhattan attorney who becomes involved with her best friend's fiance following her 30th birthday." Yes, her best friend since elementary school. Oh, but before you think she's the only jerk -- the woman realizes she's in love with the man and sick of her manipulative friend. Wait. That's still jerky.

The project is out to writers, and Swank has already practiced one unhappy-lookin face (look to the upper right).

Here are some news bites for our long weekend:

• Ashley Greene has had a whirlwind of press lately, once she signed on to play Alice Cullen in Twilight. Now The Hollywood Reporter posts that she's signed onto an indie thriller called Summer. In it, she'll get another horror-themed family, but much less sexy than well-coifed, blood-sucking vampires. See, she plays a girl looking for the "father she's never known." And while that's always a risky adventure -- you never know what you'll find -- this is even more so because her family is a group of serial killers. The film is currently in production in Ottawa.
• Meanwhile, Variety reports that CMG has closed deals for Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson's Chemical Wedding. Starz/Anchor Bay are handing distribution in North America for the film that focuses on "the most evil man in Britain," Aleister Crowley. CMG President Edward Noeltner has noted about the big, Iron Maiden fan base eager to see the film, and I have to say -- I'd go see it for the experience. Forget a woman-filled theater of Sex and the City fans. Can you imagine a theater full of Maiden worshippers?
• And finally, there's some great news for Todd Solondz. As I outlined at the beginning of this year, the indie filmmaker has had some issues funding his work, which was leaving his PeeWee Herman-led Life During Wartime in limbo. But now Variety reports that a new indie production company, Werc Werk Works (yes, that's their name..), will fully finance the part-companion piece to Happiness. On the negative side, it looks like Mr. Reubens might be out of the production. (Variety says he was only rumored.) Whoever ends up starring, it is scheduled to go into production in October.

To me Coco Chanel is the woman responsible for my grandmother's smell -- the regal Chanel No. 5. To others she's the woman who created the suit unfortunately immortalized by the assassination of John F. Kennedy. And to the younger crowd, she'll soon be that movie character performed by Audrey Tautou in Coco Avant Chanel.

The Amelie actress signed on to the film last year, but then all news stopped and it looked like Coco was going to be stuck in development hell, or at least have to wait a while longer. Now Variety reports that Warner Brothers has signed on to finance the feature and have got a plan all set. Production will start on September 15 in Paris, and should hit screens next year.

The film will still be directed by Anne Fontaine, from the script by Anne, Camille Fontaine, and script consultant Christopher Hampton. Instead of spanning the woman's long and successful life, Tautou will get to delight in Coco's early years. And for you fashion fans out there -- Karl Lagerfeld, the art director of the House of Chanel, is supervising the wardrobe.

And I thought that Star Trek apartment was pretty insane. Our fellow Weblogs site Green Daily has posted about a fully-functional Hobbit house. Talk about uber fandom. I mean, it would've been a feat to just replicate a Hobbit house, but to make it an actual home? That's super-cool and environmentally friendly dedication.

It seems that Wales resident Simon Dale wanted his family to live greener lifestyles and be closer to nature. What else is there to do but envelope yourself in bright green moss, and every little bit of nature? The new home is made from mud and rocks found right there. Solar panels store juice for computers and other electrical needs. Underground air keeps the fridge cool. Water is run, by gravity, from a nearby spring. Their loo contains a compost toilet. And it's damn beautiful inside. Check out the house's details here.

Methinks Guillermo should get this guy to help with the new film. How cool would it be if they just made a real community of Hobbit homes for future residents, rather than making sets to strike down and waste?

Team Picture trailer


Just last week I received the latest release from the critic-led Benten Films -- Kentucker Audley's mumblecore film Team Picture, which comes out on DVD today. Imagine a Slacker sort of world with everyday life and a collection of varied people, but without the rolling conversation of UFOs and Like a Virgin pap smears.

Audley's style is to show a more realistic life without the allure of stars or irresistably charismatic actors. He leads the film as a slacker musician who really encapsulates the ideas of slackerdom in every area of life -- indifferent to his girlfriend's unhappiness, the need for a future path, and even the quirks of his roommate. While not for moviegoers looking for a fast-paced, tightly written story, Team Picture does have some charm as a sort of dead-pan voyeuristic look into modern slackers. Check out the video above to see what I mean.

The DVD has a commentary, a new epilogue, a short film, music performances, deleted scenes, trailer, and an essay by Nick Dawson.