I am, by no means, a big fan of medieval themes, although a movie here and there, or an occasional trip to a Renaissance Faire is fun. But man, Ironclad is sounding awesome. Variety reports that the film is the first project for the newly formed Mythic International Entertainment, and will be directed by Jonathan English.

Why is this sounding so awesome? The cast. Already signed to the $30 million feature is Richard Attenborough, Pete Postlethwaite, Angus Macfayden, and Colm Meaney. Meanwhile, James Purefoy and Paul Giamatti are in talks to join the production as well. It's a historical feature full of talented testosterone!

Set in 13th century England, the film will focus on "a small band of knights who defended Rochester Castle against the tyrant King John." There's no mention of who the signed leads are playing (presumably knights), but if James and Paul sign on, Purefoy will play the lead night, and Giamatti will be King John.

It sounds great to me! After John Adams, I've been on a total Giamatti kick, and along with actors like Attenborough and Postlethwaite, this could be one hell of a great action film.

What do you think?

For those of you who are hard-core soccer fans, this new feature should come as a treat. Variety reports that Sony Pictures Entertainment has picked up the rights to a new biopic on English soccer coach Brian Clough called The Damned United. John Adams director Tom Hooper is helming the feature, from a script by Peter Morgan. You might recognize Morgan's name from films like, oh, The Last King of Scotland, The Queen, The Other Boleyn Girl, and Frost/Nixon.

But there's also a great cast attached to the flick. We've got Michael Sheen, who was excellent in his portrayal of Art Honeyman in Music Within, playing Clough, while Jim Broadbent, Timothy Spall, and Colm Meaney take on other parts that haven't been divulged. The film is based on the novel from Dave Peace, and will be set in 1974, but flash back to the '60s to tell the story of "Clough's ill-fated 44-day reign as coach of Leeds United, then one of England's most successful soccer teams." From what I can discern, he came in, criticized how the team played, alienated some of the team's star players, led his team to a one and six record, and then got sacked.

I'm far from a big soccer fan, so I have no idea how these things whip up into an interesting feature, but I would be surprised if this wasn't a solid film, considering the talent involved. But what about you fans out there? Is this a story meant for the big screen?

Whenever I see Colm Meaney in anything, I get a warm, fuzzy feeling. It may be the Irish in me coming out -- Meaney was born in Dublin, Ireland -- but it's more likely a residue of his role as Chief Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He instantly came across as dignified yet combustible. If he'd been born 50 years earlier, he would have been an ideal supporting character in a ton of classic Hollywood movies. Eventually I discovered some of his earlier work (The Commitments and The Snapper, to name two good ones) and grew to appreciate his rich dramatic abilities. I imagine that those dramatic abilities are on full display in Kings, which has been submitted by Ireland as their official entrant in the race for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, according to Variety.

Kings is based on the play The Kings of Kilburn Road by Irish playwright Jimmy Murphy; industry vet Tom Collins wrote the script and directed. The premise is that six men left Ireland for London in search of their fortune. Thirty years have passed with none of their dreams being realized, a point driven home when one of the group dies and the others reunite for his wake. Reviewing the film earlier this year, Jay Weissberg of Variety wrote: "Though unable to completely shed its theatrical origins, Tom Collins' Kings offers a trenchant look at the recent Irish immigrant experience." Weissberg noted that the film is the first bilingual picture produced in Ireland, with the cast speaking a mixture of Irish Gaelic and English.

The film had its first public screening at TIFF on Wednesday night; it plays again on Friday morning, September 14. Kings is also scheduled to screen at the Director's Guild of America Theatre in Los Angeles on Friday, September 28, as part of the Directors Finders Series 2007. The latter screening is intended as a showcase for American distributors.