'L.A. Confidential' Tops List of Los Angeles Films

The Los Angeles Times has released its list of films that best reflect the culture of The City of Angels. L.A. Confidential was the number one film in the survey of Times writers, and oddly enough, the top three titles are all from 1997. The poll ranked those movies from the past quarter century that not only best represented Los Angeles but also incorporate the city as "a main character,". While I'm as shocked as anyone that Born in East L.A. didn't make the cut, there are a couple in the final field of 25 that I found just as surprising. Here's the top five: 1 - L.A. Confidential
2 - Boogie Nights
3 - Jackie Brown
4 - Boyz N The Hood
5 - Beverly Hills Cop

Check Out Two Freaky New Clips from 'Repo! The Genetic Opera'

Though it's not part of the tidal wave of movies that have shifted their release dates because of the defection of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to July 2009, Repo! The Genetic Opera has nonetheless bounced around a bit and will now open on November 7th (the most recent release date was early August). Personally, I think this looks campy and cool as hell. We keep hearing those disturbing rumblings about a Rocky Horror remake remake headed for MTV, but to me, this looks like the next generation of that midnight classic. In the not-too-distant future, a biotech company has a solution for a worldwide epidemic of organ failures. The company - GeneCo - will loan you a fresh organ...but you better not default or it could get really messy. Darren Lynn Bousman of Saw II - IV fame directs. The cast is a true hodgepodge: The operatically trained Paul Sorvino and Sarah Brightman are probably the best-suited for the musical, but Repo! also co-stars Anthony Head from Buffy, Alexa Vega from Spy Kids, and the one and only Paris Hilton. When we debuted the trailer, we said the same thing we're telling you now: That's her in the poster. There are a couple clips for Repo! floating around online; we snagged these from Trailer Addict. Keep in mind, this isn't supposed be The Sound of Music. Ideally, this would come out on Halloween - I don't know why such a garish, costume-y movie would pop up a week later - but beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. So November 7th will have to do.

'Brothers Bloom' Release Delayed Until December

From Cinematical via filmmaker Rian Johnson's blog: The well-tailored The Brothers Bloom - Johnson's directorial follow-up to the terrific noir film Brick - has been pushed back from an October release to a December limited debut.The con men movie stars Rachel Weisz, Mark Ruffalo, and Adrien Brody. "There were a few reasons for the move: October and November are crowded as hell, it's a tough tough market, especially for a smart unique film like ours, and we'd have a week or two at the most to sink or swim," admitted Johnson. "Whereas concentrating on a couple markets for awards consideration in December, then pushing the wide in the more open January slot just seemed like a better use of resources." So look for Brothers Bloom in limited release beginning December 19th wide a wider push expected for the weekend of January 16th.

Mark Millar Takes Aim at a 'Wanted' Sequel

Here's a sequel I'd actually be excited about. Mark Millar, author of the original Wanted comic, says he's working on a screenplay for the sequel. He also says that he will write just a screenplay and not a sequel to the six issue comic book series. "It will be some of the stuff that we didn't utilize from the first book for the movie - like chapters three and four - there will be some stuff from that," Millar told Newsarama, "so in the loosest sense it will be based on the book, but only very little." It might be worth point out that Millar is not credited with co-writing the script for the summer blockbuster, which was developed by Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, and Chris Morgan, two of whom will return in those capacities on the sequel. I presume he will write his ideas and share them with Brandt and Haas, who will then massage those ideas into a workable screenplay. We also know that director Timur Bekmambetov and James McAvoy are on board for another round, which is excellent news. Probably won't happen, but I'd like an Angelina flashback. Just a small one. This summer's adaptation of Millar's comic was the tenth highest grossing film of the summer (it may pass The Incredible Hulk for ninth place) and had a very strong $50 million debut, which for a rated R action movie opening against a Pixar film, is pretty surprising. Obviously, at this stage, we don't have a release date or anything for the sequel. I wouldn't guess it would pop up within the next two years, however.

Russell Crowe to Play Watson to Robert Downey's Sherlock Holmes?

This would be a major casting coup for the upcoming Sherlock Holmes movie if there's an ounce of truth to it. The Sun, known mostly for its cheeky paparazzi photos and rumors (or rumours) about British celebs, says that Russell Crowe wants to play Dr. Watson in Guy Ritchie's new Holmes movie that will feature Robert Downey, Jr. in the starring role. The story goes that since his reverse Robin Hood movie, Nottingham, will be delayed until next spring, Crowe is anxious to work and wants to play the master detective's right hand man. A source tells the Sun, "Russell wants the part, Guy wants Russell. All they've got left to do is dot the i's and cross the t's. But that's not all: "(M)ore big names are expected on board when shooting starts on the movie next month." I had no idea we were shooting it next month, for starters, and I'm not sure how much room is left for big names, frankly. It's not exactly a big ensemble piece.  The movie isn't based on the actual Arthur Conan Doyle books, but rather a new comic book that reportedly amps up the action a little bit, focusing on Holmes' training as a martial artist and boxer. I'm a tad concerned that they might over-modernize it and that in the process Sherlock Holmes will lose those traits that made him so interesting to readers, so I guess that means I'll have to pick up the comic book out of sheer curiosity. Here's an interesting bump in the road as far as this casting goes: Do you remember the whispers that Downey's Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder was a thinly-veiled spoof on Crowe? It got to the point that Downey actually had to address the question, and he of course downplayed it. But if Crowe thinks it's a shot at him, well, I guess we all know he has a pretty short fuse. It's certainly great casting if the story holds up, and actually a bit surprising; when was the last time Crowe played a supporting role?