The cast and crew of New York, I Love You keeps growing and growing. There's not even enough room on the headline to list all the names that were just added. New York is a collection of short stories, part of a "Cities of Love" anthology that was begun by Paris, je ta'ime. New York will reportedly be followed by Shanghai, and then cities in South America and Africa.

The stories are showcasing an incredible variety of actors and directors. Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson are both making their directing debut, there's a good representation of international talent, and Brett Ratner hasn't been driven away by pitchforks and torches. Variety reported that Orlando Bloom, Olivia Thirlby, Hayden Christensen, and Ethan Hawke had climbed aboard the film. No word on who's segments they will appear in yet -- but a far better choice for Bloom's career than Prince of Persia, wouldn't you say?

Since I'm not the biggest fan of 'swords and shields' styled fantasy (i.e. The Chronicles of Narnia), you'll understand why I'm kind of relieved to discover that the new crop of young fantasy flicks are going to be just a little more 'steam punk.' The Hollywood Reporter announced that Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth) has signed to direct the feature film version of the youth fantasy novel Larklight for Warner Bros. Kapur will be working with Eastern Promises scribe, Steven Knight to adapt the novel for the big screen.

Larklight is the first book in a series by Phillip Reeve with illustrations provided by David Wyatt. The story is set in an alternate Victorian-styled universe where since the time of Sir Isaac Newton, humanity has been relentlessly exploring the solar system. The protagonists are Arthur Mumby (called Art), his sister Myrtle and their father Edward. The three live in a rambling mansion called Larklight and in the first book of the series, the three get into a series of scrapes with giant spiders from outer space.

Just over a week ago, Anthony Minghella passed away suddenly at the age of 54. One of the unfinished projects that he left was his installment in the upcoming anthology New York, I Love You, which includes the talents of Scarlet Johansson, Natalie Portman, Woody Allen, Kevin Bacon, and more. While some of the segments have begun filming, Minghella had not gotten a chance to cast or shoot the segment he had written.

The Hollywood Reporter now posts that after confirming the move with Minghella's family, this honor will be handed to Shekhar Kapur, whose roster includes both Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age. One week ago, Kapur had blogged about his last conversation with Minghella, and said: "On Sunday, two days before Anthony Minghella went in for an operation on a tumour they had just discovered, Anthony called me to see if I would direct a short he had written ... He told me his film was about the value of life, and how people sometimes just throw away their lives unable to look beyond into the real beauty of it."

In the past, both directors had long conversations about the nature of life, and Kapur says: "He recalled those conversations -- saying that it was those conversation too that lead him to believe that I should be the one to direct this short film." I like the idea of Minghella not only choosing a worthy director, but one who has similar thoughts about the project. With all that has happened, plus Anthony's talents as a screenwriter, this should make for a pretty powerful short.

Just the other day, I was writing about how Anthony Minghella and Richard Curtis' The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency was heading to HBO, rather than the big screen. And today, I'm sad to report that the Oscar-winning director has passed away at the age of 54. The AP (via USA Today) has confirmed his passing through his agent, but no other details are currently available.

After starting in television back in the 1980s, Anthony Minghella made his big-screen debut with Truly Madly Deeply in 1990. It was his next writer/director effort, however, that brought him real fame. In 1996, he brought us the big-screen version of The English Patient, which brought him an Oscar win and a lot of notoriety. This achievement was followed by The Talented Mr. Ripley (another Oscar nod), Cold Mountain, and Breaking and Entering.

These days, he had been busy with the Botswanian detective story, plus a short for New York, I Love You, and The Ninth Life of Louis Drax. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Choa, and his children, Max Minghella and Hannah Minghella.

He will be deeply missed.

The idea of a Botswanian detective agency was enough to hook me when I wrote about the cinematic adaptation of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency just over a year ago when Anthony Minghella and Richard Curtis were putting it together. In June, we found out that Anika Noni Rose was joining Jill Scott in the production. Now it's veered off-course and will no longer be a big-screen movie.

As was hinted last June, the book is getting a television series, but Variety reports that it won't have a big-screen lead-in. Instead, it will be a 2-hour pilot for the new HBO series, which has already gotten an order for 13 episodes. Since this is also a Weinstein Company production, the sale to HBO marks the company's "first big splash on the smallscreen side."

Harvey seems to be happy about it: "It's always been a dream of mine to produce a series for HBO. I've often called over there to tell them that they make better episodes than we make movies." Heh, I won't dig into that can of worms. For now, the series is going into production with the hope to hit HBO early next year. From here on out, scour all those television sites like TVSquad for further Botswanian detective news.

The user-generated movie Faintheart begins shooting in the UK this week, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The first of its kind, Faintheart was put together via MySpace as the previously announced "MySpace Movie Mashup"; the writer, director, cast and other members of the production were apparently found via calls on the film's MySpace page. Some, such as writer David Lemon and director Vito Rocco, won competitions voted on by members of the networking site and a celeb jury, which included Sienna Miller and Anthony Minghella. Other positions, such as storyboard artist, could be acquired through job postings on the film's MySpace blog. The movie does feature some professional stars, though, including Jessica Hynes (you know her as Shaun of the Dead and Spaced's Jessica Stevenson -- she recently changed her stage name), Trainspotting's Ewan Bremner and Eddie Marsan, who will be making up for this by appearing in Mike Leigh's next film. Now the movie, a romantic comedy centered on the world of Viking battle re-enactments, which is being produced by Vertigo Films and FilmFour, with backing from the UK Film Council and Screen VM, is ready to go.

If we've learned anything from ideas like Project Greenlight and Spielberg's On the Lot, we can assume that the mainstream reception of Faintheart will not be too favorable. After all, the public likes its movies made by executives, businessmen, lucky "talents" and really talented people who have put in their time without success before breaking out. The same thing has been learned with the music business. Just because a person wins American Idol, that doesn't mean he or she is going to have a #1 album (nor does it mean he/she would make a good movie). Sure, the internet has possibly been helpful in suggesting things to filmmakers here and there, but overall, we can't trust people who live on the internet to make important decisions. Can we? There have been other internet-based film competitions, including two involving Spike Lee -- Babelgum's Online Film Festival and LiveMansion: The Movie (which seems to be competing with MySpace for the "first online-community-made" tag -- but obviously MySpace has them all beat with brand recognition. But then I wonder, will Faintheart even use a "MySpace Presents" banner? Regardless of the brand recognition, some people are sure to think such a connection is silly.

Variety is reporting that two of Hollywood's palest and chilliest stars are joining forces for The Reader. Nicole Kidman and Ralph Fiennes will star in the romance, which is to be based on the international bestselling novel by German writer Bernhard Schlink. IMDb lists Anthony Minghella as director of the film, but it appears that information is inaccurate or has changed. Minghella will produce, along with Sydney Pollack and Scott Rudin. Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot) is now set to direct the movie, and David Hare will write the script. The project is something of a reunion of the team that worked on 2002's The Hours. Daldry directed that film, Hare wrote it, Rudin produced it, and it won Kidman a Best Actress Oscar.

The Reader is set in contemporary Germany, where "a man recounts the story of his erotic awakening in a covert love affair with an older woman in the wake of World War II." I assume Fiennes is playing the man recounting his story and Kidman is playing the older woman here? That might be tricky to pull off, considering Kidman is five years younger than Fiennes. And "erotic awakening?" I thought that term wasn't used outside of Cinemax plot descriptions. I must admit, I have a real problem getting into a lot of these period romance films, they all just sort of run together for me. I'm glad Minghella isn't at the wheel, though. Just writing that guy's name makes my eyelids heavy. The Reader was an Oprah's Book Club selection, and with her massive following, the film adaptation should have a built-in audience. Have any of our readers read The Reader? And can you say that three times fast? And what did you think of the book?

I first saw Anika Noni Rose on Broadway in her Tony Award-winning role in Caroline, or Change. She was great, but nearly got blown off the stage (just about anyone would have) by the incredible Tonya Pinkins. Then she had a similar situation in Dreamgirls, barely getting a mention in most reviews. She had the least flashy role by far, but I thought she held her own against the bombastic Jennifer Hudson and the ridiculously good-looking Beyonce. And now she's joining another powerful singer -- Jill Scott -- for Anthony Minghella's The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Scott hasn't done much film acting, but has a part in the controversial Dakota Fanning film Hounddog, and a supporting role in Tyler Perry's upcoming Why Did I Get Married? No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency will be an adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's novel of the same name. Any fans out there?

Rose will play Grace Makutsi, "the secretary/assistant detective to Precious Ramotswe (Scott), who owns a Botswana-based detective agency run by women." Relative newcomer Lucian Msamati will play Ramotswe's fiancé in the film. Minghella wrote the script with Richard Curtis (Love, Actually), and with Minghella at the helm, I think it is safe to assume that Detective Agency will be...long. Like, punishingly long. This also seems like quite a departure for Minghella, who usually takes on films about exceedingly pale people doing exceedingly cold things as slowly as possible. There's a whole series of Agency books, and it is "likely that a TV series based on Agency will follow the movie, but no deals are in place." Oh, and if you want to see Rose in something that will haunt her resume for decades -- check out From Justin to Kelly. Why that movie hasn't become this generation's Plan 9 From Outer Space is a mystery to me.

What is Anthony Minghella up to these days? The last we heard, he was preparing to shoot The Ninth Life of Louis Drax, based on the Liz Jensen novel, which I'm seriously looking forward to, and doing the pilot for some television show about detectives called The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, which I'm not looking forward to so much. Now Variety is reporting that Minghella and partners Sydney Pollack and Mirage Productions will produce a film version of the comic novel The Silver Linings Playbook. The novel is about a man who, after a mental breakdown, is released from a nuthouse determined to find the 'silver linings' in his life. I've never seen Minghella tackle a full-on comedy before, so I can't visualize how this would play out if he were to direct the project himself, but it doesn't seem like that's in the cards anyway.

I actually have a great idea for what Minghella's next directing project should be, presumably before Louis Drax -- Bond 22. The word on the street is that the Bond producers are definitely going the 'bigger, more expensive' route after the massive success of Casino Royale, and they've always flirted with the idea of having a talented, name director take on a Bond film, so why not Minghella? The guy is a genius with a camera, he's got the right sensibilities for the work, and he's been sort of unfairly kicked out of the 'big budget club' after Cold Mountain fiasco, and needs to remind Hollywood how well he can handle their money. Just think about it -- Bond 22, starring Daniel Craig and Carice van Houten, directed by Anthony Minghella. That sounds like a recipe for Best Picture Oscar to me.

I was watching Fargo again the other night and it made me rediscover my love for Peter Stormare. What exactly is his accent in that movie? "I need unguent!" Stormare is a textbook example of a great character actor. It's always exciting to see him pop up in a movie, because you know you're going to get something unusual. He appears to be just a little bit out of his mind, and thus he is always entertaining to watch. And come on, the guy was "rogue electrician" Slippery Pete! Usually, Stormare strolls into a movie, steals a few scenes and leaves, but he has just been cast in a rare leading role in Varg, which translates to Wolf.

Wolf is the first original feature script from Swedish novelist Kerstin Ekman. Ekman is a highly respected Swedish author -- Anthony Minghella unsuccessfully tried to adapt her best-known novel Darkwater for the big screen years ago. The film will be directed by Daniel Alfredson. You know, Daniel Alfredson! He directed Dodsklockan? Syndare i sommarsol? No? Not ringing any bells? Wolf is being shot in northern Sweden, and the story "looks at how the traditions of the Sami people collide with the demands of modern day society." Stormare was born in northern Sweden, where the Sami live, so Wolf will see him returning to his roots. Stormare plays a "reindeer handler" in the film, but will presumably not rock the white beard and red suit.

When you think of famous detective agencies, who do you think of? If you're an avid mystery reader, you probably think of Nick and Nora Charles. If you're into television, maybe you followed David and Maddie like I did. Or maybe you liked the likes of the delightfully quirky Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, who made the cinematic, television and literature rounds. Fighting crimes in places like Chicago and Europe, these detectives foiled evildoers near and far, forming our vision of today's fictional detective. But would you think to place a detective in Botswana, Africa? Alexander McCall Smith did in his series of mystery novels that start with The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

As we noted in October -- Anthony Minghella, who is fresh off his latest film, Breaking and Entering, is planning to adapt the first of the series into a film. The movie, which was written by the director along with Love Actually scribe, Richard Curtis, details the adventures of Precious Ramotswe. Located in Gaborone, Botswana, she is said to be a cross between Kinsey Millhone (the alphabet mysteries) and Miss Marple (Agatha Christie's popular female detective). She specializes in missing husbands, imposters, con men and wayward daughters. For this story, Ramotswe is hunting down a missing child that will lead her into strange situations and danger -- the usual detective fare. Production Weekly reports that the project, which should begin filming this May in Africa, is a combination of tragedy and humor. The idea sounds fresh enough to be quite entertaining. I'm hooked and curious just to see how detective mysteries translate in an African nation. Would you see a Botswanian detective movie?

This film is instantly recognizable as an Anthony Minghella film in one respect -- it centers on characters who are pathologically determined to sweep something under the carpet, even if they have to stomp up and down on that 'something' to keep it under there. Like his brilliant Hitchcock-opera, The Talented Mr. Ripley, which never used the word 'gay,' no matter how many bodies stacked up like cordwood at the expense of Ripley's psychotic self-denial, Breaking and Entering centers on an up-market London couple -- the wife is so up-market she's 'half-Swedish' -- who also suffer greatly for having no 'word' that sheds light on their dilemma. Robin Wright Penn and Jude Law play the possibly un-proud parents of a high-functioning autistic child who is aggressively weird, excels at a flip-heavy style of gymnastics and knows that she will never, under any circumstances, be disciplined by her happening liberal parents, even when she throws things. They are resigned to just sit and age at an accelerated rate while she backflips across the kitchen table.

The impossible situation at home leads Jude Law's character to grab at a hobby when one is dangled in front of him. As a city planner, he has boldly moved his family to King's Cross, an urban location that passes for 'inner city' in London. He plans to sweep it into the 21st century with an expensive-looking urban renewal plan. Soon, his office becomes the repeated target of a gang of professional burglars who take everything not nailed down, right down to his little toy-soldier men on special order from Japan, that he uses as stand-ins for people in his scale model of the future, burglar-free King's Cross. Unable to accept the irony, Jude begins an amateur stakeout routine, waiting around outside his office at night in an SUV for the thieves to materialize, so he can accost them. It's somewhere around this point that the screenplay begins to drag the characters into directions they would never go, and towards people they would never interact with, so they can ultimately make decisions they would never make.

Anthony Minghella's first film since 2003's disappointing Cold Mountain is a back-to-basics drama with none of the towering vistas and enormous set-pieces you remember from the early epics like The English Patient or The Talented Mr. Ripley. Breaking and Entering is a simple love story, starring Minghella veterans Jude Law and Juliette Binoche as an upscale, London-based city planner and a Bosnian immigrant seamstress who embark on an unlikely relationship. Robin Wright Penn also stars, as Law's half-American, half-Swedish, always unhappy wife. The Departed's Vera Farmiga also has a small, but memorable role as a Romanian prostitute who doubles as an amateur philosopher. Because of Minghella's natural abilities with a camera, the film has none of the boxed-in feel of some other small character pieces, like Proof, but it's still a noticeable stylistic downshift for the director. Originally scheduled to drop in theaters last October, the film had a rocky ride through the distribution process and eventually landed on a late-January release date.

All the principals, except Jude Law, who is busy filming Kenneth Branagh's Sleuth, were on hand for last week's quick and painless press conference for the film. Instead of facing the firing squad one at a time, the gang of four entered the small ballroom together, took turns batting press questions back and forth for a scant forty minutes, then quickly exited again as a group. It was a pretty low-energy affair, but a few interesting questions snuck through. Here's a sampling:

Anthony Minghella

Cinematical: Talk a little bit about how you came to be aware of Vera, and why you wanted to work with her. "I told a story today. It's an absolutely true story. When I was writing, I go away to write, because it's very hard in my life right now to find a space where I can just think and work, and I went away to work in a cottage. I tend to write through the day and the night. I have a very sort of odd rhythm. And at about 4:00 a.m. one morning, I was making a cup of tea before I went back to write again, and I put the TV on and there was an American cop show, and I was just going to drink my tea and then go back, but I found myself getting more and more glued to this show, and when it finished, I went online to find out who Vera Farmiga was, who was in this cop show. That's how filmmakers are. They are all film fans. I remember vividly the first time I saw Robin working as an actress and the first time I saw Juliette, and how it's like the greediness of filmmakers. They go...I need that thing. I need Robin Wright Penn-ness. It's quite parasitical on some level. It's a desire to get people who thrill you as a watcher into the things you're making. And it's great when actors dignify the work you do in such an extraordinary way."