I'm slightly mistrustful of titles that include exclamation points. They always remind me of the musical version of The Elephant Man, Elephant!, in The Tall Guy ("... there's an angel with big eeears..."). But in the case of Mamma Mia!, I'm actually surprised the title only included one exclamation point -- you can imagine the filmmakers or the creators of the stage version embracing even more emphatic punctuation, just to let you know that This! Is a Musical! And also Wacky!! As if chorus lines of men in flippers, Meryl Streep waving a feather boa, and enough ABBA music to sate the leads of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert wouldn't have clued you in.

The movie, like the stage musical it's adapted from, is essentially and unabashedly an extended gimmick -- an excuse to sing and perform songs that originated from the Swedish musical group ABBA. Characters spontaneously burst into song not because they're aspiring performers (Chicago), or because their singing is meant as a melodious soliloquy (Sweeney Todd), but because the situation or their emotional state reminds them of an ABBA song (sometimes more tangentially than others), and they decide to share it with everyone. I've had friends like this in real life, although that seems to have been a college-age thing.

Just over a decade ago, Uma Thurman was the sexy face masquerading as radio show host Abby (Janeane Garofalo) to get the guy in The Truth About Cats and Dogs. Now she's getting her own time behind the mic in the upcoming romcom The Accidental Husband. As the story goes, Thurman plays Emma, a relationship-themed radio talk show host who has a loving, conventional fiance (Colin Firth), and a book deal on the way. However, when a fireman's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) upcoming marriage is derailed by her advice, he schemes up revenge to throw her off-guard -- making them legally married through the wonders of the Internet. While pretending that he doesn't know how this marriage happened, the two begin to fall for each other, which is complicated by Emma's other man.

With the romcom's release being only a few months away, Moviefone now has the HD trailer up for you to enjoy (or you can check out the non-HD version above). It's looking like your typical romantic comedy -- girl finds out what she's missing in life with the guy who oozes charisma -- first she hates him, then she can't help but fall for him. Uma has that same strange, caffeine-high sort of presence she had on Cats and Dogs, Firth is his usual caring British self, and Morgan, well... He's got some sweet romantic charisma, and it just makes me wish that I had better animal mojo the day I was fortunate enough to meet his dog. (Aren't canines the way to sweet, wonderful romance?) You'll also notice Justina Machado (Vanessa Diaz from Six Feet Under) as the fireman's advice-seeking fiance, and Isabella Rossellini's name in the final credits page, although she's sadly missing from the trailer. This could be good, and this could be bad, but here's to hoping that it's better than My Super Ex-Girlfriend.

When you look at the resume of noted actor Ben Kingsley, you notice that for every good role he has done, there is something a little less "dignified" right beside it (even earning him a spot on Jeffrey's list of the Seven Most Overrated Actors). Luckily, it doesn't look like his latest role will fall into that latter category. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Kingsley has signed on to play William Shakespeare in the literary adaptation, Will. The film is based on the novel by Christopher Rush, and is a fictional account of the playwright on his deathbed as he prepares his final will and testament. The book was only just released, but managed to garner a six-figure deal between the publisher and SBK Pictures (Kingsley's own production company) for the film rights. The book is part biography and part fiction, and Kingsley was quoted as saying, "Christopher wrote the most amazing, literate and entertaining novel I've read in years, and I'm both honored and excited to be part of bringing 'Will' to life".

If you are not a fan of the bard, Kingsley still has his share of projects lined up for the coming year. He has just wrapped production on The Wackness with Mary Kate Olsen (which has the dubious distinction of featuring an on-screen kiss between the two). Then it's off to the Hitchcock-inspired mystery Number 13 with Ewan McGregor and Dan Fogler (Fanboys) as Alfred Hitchcock and The Love Guru with Mike Myers. Last but not least, it has been announced that Kingsley will be joining the the Coen's comedy caper Gambit, with Colin Firth. Will is expected to begin shooting in the UK sometime next year.

The directing debut of Helen Hunt gets a passing grade, barely -- the story she's telling is as old as the hills, but Then She Found Me is still executed with style. Sometimes charming, occasionally funny, it never draws attention to itself as the work of a director with training wheels on. The film follows the journey of April Epner (Helen Hunt) a 39 year-old woman who is inexplicably marrying a man named Ben (Matthew Broderick) who is so inconsiderate and self-absorbed that no woman could find him to be primo marriage material. Just as they begin to realize their mistake, April gets the shock of a lifetime: her birth mother shows up and informs her that her real father was Steve McQueen. I kind of liked that premise and hoped the movie would go with it, but it turns out to be just a gag. April's mother, played well by Bette Midler, has a couple of screws loose. More to the point, she has a couple of screws loose when it's convenient, and provides sage and sound advice at other times.

Colin Firth co-stars as April's love interest, an emotionally volatile man with a kid who happens to be in the same school where April teaches, which leads to the kind of scene where the teacher is red-faced by having the kid notice that she is having a 'sleep over' with the father. Firth's character, Frank, tries hard to start up a relationship with April and aggressively pushes her onto his kids, but naturally he isn't very understanding of the fact that she's still seeing her almost-husband on the side, here and there. Usually, a romantic comedy of this type would set up the love triangle but make it more or less clear from the start who is going to win out and who isn't, so Then She Found Me deserves some credit for going a more complicated route and portraying all of these characters as seriously flawed. Frank, for instance, is prone to yelling and storming around in an absolute rage, which is never a good sign. Ben is worse, having nothing whatsoever going on in his life.

We've already told you about the first couple of deals to come out of the Toronto International Film Festival, but here's the first one with enough money changing hands for the trade publications to cite the figures.

ThinkFilm has bought U.S. rights to Then She Found Me, starring Helen Hunt, Bette Midler, Colin Firth, and Matthew Broderick, with Equinoxe Films taking Canadian rights. The total price tag, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is between $2.5 and $3 million.

Hunt directed the romantic comedy-drama, her first time in that capacity except for a few Mad About You episodes. Based on a novel by Elinor Lipman, Then She Found Me is about a woman (Hunt) who is contacted by her birth mother (Midler) just as her adoptive mother has died, her husband (Broderick) has left her, and she's met a new man (Firth).

After Mad About You ended in 1999, Hunt did a quick series of movies -- four in 2000 alone -- before taking a break. Since then, she's appeared only in Woody Allen's The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001), A Good Woman (2004), HBO movie Empire Falls (2005), and last year's Bobby. And it's too bad, because I really like her. I mean, who doesn't? Who doesn't like Helen Hunt?!

For that matter, we haven't seen much of Bette Midler in movies lately, either. Apart from The Stepford Wives in 2004, she hasn't been on film since 2000. That, I'm not complaining so much about.

Anyway, of course we'll keep you posted on release dates and other news as it becomes available.

The latest on the Trainspotting sequel is that it all depends on when John Hodge's screenplay is ready. At least, that's what novelist Irvine Welsh has told an audience in Edinburgh, according to Empire magazine. Welsh wrote the book of Trainspotting and of its sequel, titled Porno, and this week he's at the Edinburgh Film Festival promoting his directorial debut, a short film called Nuts. When asked about the status of the Porno adaptation during a Q&A, Welsh claimed it's all about the status of the script. Of course, Hodge, who earned an Oscar nomination for the first Trainspotting, turned in a draft at least as early as March of this year. Sure, it's probably being tweaked and whatnot before director Danny Boyle goes into production with it, but we've already been given the real reason for the delay.

No, it doesn't have anything to do with Boyle's falling out with Ewan McGregor, who starred in the original film, and maybe has actually agreed to do the sequel. The main reason Trainspotting 2 hasn't been made yet is because Boyle wants the cast to be at least 20 years older than they were in Trainspotting 1. That would put the shoot at least nine more years down the line. If the filmmakers want authenticity, anyway. As recent as Boyle's promotion of his latest film, Sunshine, the director insisted that Renton, Spud, Sick Boy, Begbie and whoever else returns be middle-aged. The point of the sequel is that they're at a time in their life where they're too old to keep pushing the limits of their bodies. Unless Welsh knows something completely new, he's simply out of the loop and spouting incorrect info.

The novelist, and now film director, also told the Edinburgh audience about The Meat Trade, a feature film he's scripted, which will be directed by Antonia Bird (Ravenous) and will star Colin Firth and Robert Carlyle as a duo who murders people in order to steal and then sell their body organs. Welsh is also currently adapting Alan Warner's novel The Man Who Walks, which is about a one-eyed man who robs his local pub of its World Cup lottery. His latest book, a collection of short stories, titled If You Liked School, You'll Love Work, hits U.S. bookstores September 4.

"Old-fashioned" would be a good way to describe the tastily vanilla-flavored The Last Legion. Packed as it is (to the rafters) with equal parts cliché, convention, stereotype and plain old predictability, the movie could also be described as campy, corny, goofy, and all sorts of painfully familiar. "Boring," however, it is not. Hearkening back to the days in which a new sword-swingin' matinee was available every weekend, the international co-production certainly doesn't tread any new ground -- and it's even quite silly in some spots -- but that doesn't stop it from delivering some good fun. (Who cares if some of that fun is of the "unintentional" variety? That makes it even more fun!)

Sort of a loose prequel to the King Arthur legend, The Last Legion focuses on a young Roman emperor who is kidnapped by an evil warlord and sent to an island fortress with his wizened old teacher, only to be rescued by a super-heroic warrior and a gang of colorful sidekicks -- one of whom is a stunningly beautiful (and amazingly deadly) woman. Toss in a few obvious-yet-kinetic action scenes, a whole bunch of floridly storybook-ish tendencies, and just enough colorful characters to keep the thing afloat, and you've got a perfectly watchable time-waster ... once it shows up on cable / DVD, that is.

Maybe it's just me, but Colin Firth seems like he could play a lot of different roles, but a battle hardened Roman Legionnaire wouldn't necessarily be one of them. Movieweb is now hosting the full-length trailer for the fantasy epic, The Last Legion. The marketing machine for the movie must be kicking into gear, since it was just last week that we got an exclusive look at the new poster for the film. The cast includes Firth, Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai, Ben Kingsley, and Thomas Sangster as the young emperor Romulus. The story centers on a Roman soldier (Firth), sworn to protect the boy-emperor Romulus as the empire is crumbling. While they are on the run, they join with a mysterious Byzantine warrior (Rai), and in the midst of all the adventure is an origin story of the legendary blade Excalibur. Legion was directed by Doug Lefler, who seems to have a thing for fantasy tales, as he was a regular writer for Xena, Hercules, and was unfortunately also responsible for the direct-to-video sequel to Dragonheart.

So while his role in Legion might be a little out of character, Firth has been keeping busy with some more "traditional" choices. First up is his role in the adaptation of the books of poet Blake Morrison, And When Did You Last See Your Father? But, Firth is also signed for a big-screen version of the hit stage musical Mamma Mia! -- forever solidifying his reputation as a go-to guy for romantic comedy, and the family-fantasy The Moon Princess. Legion will premiere at the upcoming Venice Film Festival this September, but no North American release date has been confirmed. Maybe the Weinstein Co. are looking to gauge some audience reactions first.

At long last, the Colin Firth historical fantasy epic The Last Legion will be hitting theaters on August 24, and The Weinstein Co. has just released to Cinematical a new theatrical poster for the film. The film takes place during the break-up of the Roman Empire, with Firth starring as a Roman legionnaire who must act as a guard for the Emperor's children as the barbarian hordes are closing in. An epic battle ensues, the Roman forces are overwhelmed and scattered, and the boy Emperor Romulus is taken prisoner by the invading Goths. Colin Firth must forge an alliance with representatives of the nearby Byzantine Empire -- specifically a mysterious warrior, played by Indian superstar Aishwarya Rai -- in order to get the boy out of danger. Also coming into play during the story will be a secret sword that comes with its own prophecy: "One edge to defend, one to defeat; In Britannia was I forged to fit the hand of he who is destined to rule." Hmm ... no points for guessing which sword that is. Click on the image above to get the full-sized poster.

There was a time when Shopgirl director Anand Tucker was supposed to helm The Golden Compass, part of the His Dark Materials trilogy. However, he left the project due to creative differences, and filled his newly-open schedule with another film -- And When Did You Last See Your Father? -- which Sony Pictures Classics grabbed in September. Judging by the trailer that was just thrown up by Empire Online, it might have been the right choice for the director. It's a bit safe for the Tucker, treading on relationships and drama again like he did with Hilary and Jackie, but if the whole is anything like the short clips you can see now, it should be a pretty successful tissue-box-necessary drama.

The film is based on the book by British poet Blake Morrison, which details the writer's life with his father, who Booklist describes as "a genial general practitioner with a kind heart, a roving eye, a quick wit and a penchant for minor duplicities." In some particularly dead-on casting, Colin Firth plays the poet, while Jim Broadbent plays his father, Arthur. The trailer shows all the basics of the story -- Arthur is a wacky dad full of life and prankish ways, but he also has a terrible roaming eye. As a child, Blake discovers his father's infidelities, and this creates a rift between them. Unfortunately, years later, he finds out that is father is ill and close to death, so Blake goes home to talk to Arthur about those times, and to "put things in order." The only thing to watch out for -- the trailer loads and plays on its own without any controls to pause or restart -- you can just click on the image to start, pause and play again. Tres annoying. As for the movie, if it does half as well as I imagine, I'm wondering if we'll see any of Morrison's other work hit the screen. He also has a book about his mother called Things My Mother Never Told Me.