It's a splendid week for indie lovers with a taste for classic cinema -- which is everybody, right? -- with a flock of great Westerns and two Louis Malle films from Criterion among the highlights. More recent fare is more scarce.

Even though reviews were mixed to negative (our own Jeffrey M. Anderson was definitely mixed), Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth (Sony Classics) is almost required viewing. (Erik Davis posted a clip from the DVD just last week; check the official site for more.) The DVD includes an audio commentary by Coppola, a "making of" feature and two others on the music and make-up.

Tricia Regan's doc Autism: The Musical (Docurama) follows five autistic children as they write and produce a musical. Brendan Butler at Cinema Blend called it "heart-wrenching and heart-warming ... The dialogue the film opens with is as vivid and fierce as any hot-button topic in our country today." (Read more about the film at the official site.) The DVD includes deleted scenes and a "companion guide."

Leelee Sobieski stars as a would-be dominatrix in Walk All Over Me (The Weinstein Co.), which debuted at Toronto last fall; Eye Weekly said it was a "somewhat messy but energetic comic thriller." (Check the movie's site for more information.) The DVD includes a commentary by Sobieski, co-star Tricia Helfer and director Robert Cuffley, behind the scenes footage, a deleted scene, outtakes, a music video and still gallery.

Cinematical was just sent this exclusive clip from the upcoming Youth Without Youth DVD, starring Tim Roth, Alexandra Maria Lara, Bruno Ganz and Andre M. Hennicke. Produced, written and directed by the legendary Francis Ford Coppola, Youth Without Youth follows linguistics professor Dominic Matei (Roth) who, in 1938, gets struck by a bolt of lightning and starts aging backwards, from 70 to 40. There's seemingly no limit to the wonder and love he can find in his new youth. He pursues lost dreams, endless knowledge and the secrets of life until his secret is discovered. Now he must use his increased intelligence to keep his powerful secret safe from the wicked powers that would use it for evil. The above behind-the-scenes clips shows how the filmmakers went about aging Tim Roth through make-up and other wacky techniques. (And, personally, I just love Tim Roth in anything -- so I'd watch something like this a bunch of times.) Here's a question: What's the first thing you'd do if you started aging backwards?

Youth Without Youth arrives on DVD and Blu-ray High-Def on May 13th.

When you look at Javier Bardem, do you think: "Gee, he'd look great in a dress!" or, "Gee, he'd make a good woman?" No? Well then, you're right in line with Francis Ford Coppola. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he's made a big change in his upcoming film, Tetro, giving what he calls a "sex change" to the character Bardem was set to play. So, Bardem is out and fellow Spaniard Carmen Maura (Volver) is in.

During rehearsals for the shoot, Coppola realized that things needed to be changed: "One of the important roles in the script is a mentor and teacher to Tetro (Vincent Gallo), and I originally wrote it for a man. As I read and reread (the script), I felt that the interaction between the two characters would be far more intriguing if they were of the opposite sex." However, other sources have told THR that Bardem "became unavailable." This could be true, as the actor wasn't available for the rehearsals in Buenos Aires. But if it is, why not say as much?

Whatever the case, you can be sure that Maura will give a very different performance than Bardem would have -- just like Gallo will definitely bring something very different to the table than Matt Dillon. The film follows Tetro, a man living in Buenos Aires and being mentored by Maura's literary critic, when his estranged younger brother (Alden Ehrenreich) comes to find him. Production began on March 31.

Over on Spoutblog, Cinematicalite and Spoutster Christopher Campbell has a couple of entertaining posts up detailing the five best and worst directorial sellouts of all time. From Francis Ford Coppolla's The Godfather and The Godfather 2 (Best) to Alien Resurrection (Worst), Campbell breaks down the whys and wherefores of his thoughts on these directorial missteps. Go take a look at what he has to say about the worst of the best and the best of the worst, and then let us know what you agree with -- or don't.

As a coda to these best and worst directorial sellouts lists, it would be interesting to see Christopher do the obvious follow-up -- the best and worst sellouts by otherwise respectable actors and actresses.

Things don't seem to be going smoothly for Matt Dillon. For the second time this year, his lead role is going to someone else. First it was Cadillac Records. Now it's Francis Ford Coppola's Tetro. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Vincent Gallo has signed on to star in Coppola's next directorial gig, with no reference to the previously-attached Dillon.

Gallo, meanwhile, signs on for the project after throwing a big stink about his previous gig, Giallo. Back in February, he was less than pleased that Dario Argento had cast daughter Asia Argento, and wanted out: "I'd rather not be in a movie with her. I'm not a fan. I was a fan of her father's. I'm retiring." I guess Javier Bardem and newcomer Alden Ehrenreich can feel honored that Gallo is willing/interested in working with them!

With production beginning at the end of the month in Buenos Aires, the film focuses on two brothers, played by Gallo and Ehrenreich. They're "torn apart by rivalries and betrayal," older bro Gallo heads to Buenos Aires, and younger brother Alden goes there to find him. Bardem will play an Argentinian literary critic and Maribel Verdu is Tetro's love interest.

Twenty-one years ago, Francis Ford Coppola made Peggy Sue Got Married. It was a strange fantasy comedy, one that scored itself some Oscar nominations and starred Kathleen Turner and Coppola's nephew, Nicolas Cage. There's already been talk of how Cage was difficult on set. The actor himself admitted last year to Conan O'Brien that he based Charlie's strange and distracting voice on Gumby, and how his uncle and the studio almost fired him over it.

Now there's more word about his behavior during that production, and he's really not happy with it. In her upcoming book, Send Yourself Roses, Turner discusses her time with Cage during the film, and while the book has yet to hit shelves, the BBC reports that a "defamation, libel, and slander" case has been filed by Nicolas in London's High Court. What has got him so worked up, especially since he already admitted to being difficult?

According to The Daily Mail (via American Superstar), she wrote that Cage was "absolutely determined to prove that he wasn't there as the result of nepotism." And followed it up with: "Oh, that stupid voice of his and the fake teeth! Honestly, I cringe to think about it. He caused so many problems. He was arrested twice for drunk-driving and, I think, once for stealing a dog. He'd come across a chihuahua he liked and stuck it in his jacket."

So -- was he just a bratty and difficult nephew on set, or was he some wacko who stole chihuahuas? Who knows? It still sounds entertaining. Turner's book is scheduled to hit shelves this month, and also features dirt on Burt Reynolds and Christie Brinkley (the latter of which sounds like Spider-Man, without crime-fighting as an excuse for no-shows).

The ever-entertaining Francis Ford Coppola has sat down with the Guardian on the eve of the release of his latest film, Youth Without Youth. Here's the highlight reel: Coppola is forced to backpeddle over those recent comments he made about Nicholson, Pacino and De Niro being old and fat and rich, or something like that. "I said, well they're not the same guys they were when they were young and hungry. Now they are rich. Deservedly so. Thank God, you know. Then it gets all twisted. I mean, I'm a friendly guy, right?" Love that last part. He goes on to add "Jack is a huge talent, one of the greats. These are my friends. And that kind of stuff can hurt friendships."

On his next film, Tetro, Coppola seems to have confirmed to the paper that Javier Bardem will star, although it's written ambiguously enough that the Guardian may have just been printing what they erroneously believe to be fact. Coppola says "It's about fathers, sons and brothers, a bit Tennessee Williams, a bit Rocco and His Brothers." He then launches into a defensive posture, pointing out that no matter what he does people will be expecting a new Godfather landmark film and will be disappointed if he doesn't deliver that. "They hope it's going to be another Godfather. There is always that hope even in the face of the impossibility of that actually happening."

The Godfather and its import on Coppola's career is a theme of the interview, and at times the director even seems to shrug off the impact of the film or suggest that his career would have been more pure, like Godard's, if he had not been left to contend with helming one of the most successful pictures of all time. "I got sidetracked," he says. "I would have made more personal films. Films of ideas. Like the guys who were making movies when I came of age -- Godard and the New Wave. Which is what I wanted to do in the first place." Sounds to me like Coppola needs to get out of the vineyards and get back to work and stop feeling so sorry for himself.

I have been dying to see Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth, which finally hits at least some theaters in New York and Los Angeles on December 14. The pre-World War II story follows a 70-year-old played by Tim Roth who gets struck by lightning. Instead of dying, he becomes a young, brilliant man who vows to discover the origin of language and consciousness. It sounds strange, unique, and possibly very, very good, although I'm sure it's definitely for selected audiences -- this isn't the sort of flick to have a huge mass appeal. It also doesn't help that the trailer, which Matt Bradshaw shared in September, is pretty vague and crappy.

However, maybe the Eleanor Coppola's documentary on the production will help fill in the holes and amp up curiosity in the project. Yes, Francis' wife has made a doc called Coda: Thirty Years After, which details Coppola's journey with Youth Without Youth. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the film is going to air on Starz December 9, and will also be included in the new DVD release of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse (which Peter Martin discusses in this week's Indies on DVD column). Coda includes production footage of Youth, as well as some other bits that will be tasty to Coppola fans -- there's also footage of No Cigar, his first short film, home movies, and behind-the-scenes footage from The Rain People and The Conversation.

Imagine you went to a bat mitzvah and Steven Spielberg was there. Now, imagine he came up and talked to you. And then he got you an acting gig. An acting gig starring in a Francis Ford Coppola film. So, maybe that's not exactly how it went down for Alden Ehrenreich, but nonetheless he was apparently "discovered" by the Schindler's List director -- via a video shown at a bat mitzvah Spielberg attended -- and he is now cast in a major role in Coppola's Tetro, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Ehrenreich joins the film's star, Matt Dillon, who has been attached from the beginning; the two actors will play brothers. Also added to the film is Spanish actress Maribel Verdú (Pan's Labyrinth; Y tu mamá también) as Dillon's character's girlfriend. Javier Bardem may also sign on, if his schedule allows, to play an Argentine literary critic named Unknown.

Originally the film was described as being about rival Italian immigrant families, which could still be the case, but now the main story is said to focus on the younger brother (Ehrenreich), who head to Buenos Aires in order to find his older brother (Dillon), who left the family many years before. Whatever the plot, though, Tetro is sure to be a good film with this cast. I will be disappointed if Coppola doesn't hire some of my local Argentine favorites (Ricardo Darín; Norma Aleandro; Mía Maestro; any of these deserve the exposure). One thing we probably don't have to worry about is whether or not young Ehrenreich will be any good. Spielberg has a good record with young performers, from Drew Barrymore to Joseph Mazzello to current favorite Shia LaBeouf, so we can trust this latest protege will deliver the goods. Tetro begins shooting in Argentina in February.

It's not much of a secret that Francis Ford Coppola did The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II in order to work on more personal films, particularly The Conversation. So, it isn't that surprising to find out neither those two nor The Godfather: Part III are among his personal favorites. According to Page Six, Coppola considers his five best films to be Apocalypse Now, Rumble Fish, The Rain People, his upcoming Youth Without Youth and, obviously, The Conversation, which also happens to be my favorite of his work. This shortlist comes from the next issue of Time magazine, which also includes a continuation of a lengthy two-part profile on the filmmaker. Within the article, Coppola suggests that it's his films that took awhile for critics to appreciate, like Apocalypse, or awhile for audiences to discover, like Rain People, that he prefers.

None of this should upset his fans; they still love The Godfather trilogy, and at least his other monument, Apocalypse, is included. It isn't like he selected Jack or Captain EO. Also in Time is Coppola's clarification of his alleged chiding of Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson, which apparently was taken out of context. He told reporters at the Rome Film Festival, where Youth premiered last month, that his comments in GQ weren't true, that he has "nothing but respect and admiration" for the three actors, who he considers the best in the world, as well as his friends. However, he wouldn't address the original comments specifically for Time's article. Other things that were discussed in the profile include Coppola's next film, Tetro, which will begin shooting in Argentina in February, despite the recent robbery. Youth Without Youth, which sounds a lot better to me since Coppola lumped it with my own favorites of his films, is set to hit U.S. theaters (NYC and L.A.) December 14.

It is always a curiosity when Hollywood families come together for a project. I love seeing the Estevezes (aka Sheens) appear together -- sure, even in Men at Work. And sometimes the Coppolas do well with one another -- Talia Shire in her brother's Godfather movies, for example. But often it is a bad idea to work with or cast family members. The most obvious case is Sofia Coppola (Shire's niece) being in her father's The Godfather: Part III. Just recently Jake Paltrow received a paltry reception for a movie he made featuring his sister, Gwyneth. Now, another new filmmaker is attempting a similar feat: According to Variety, Bruce Dern will make his directorial debut with Hart's Location, in which he'll appear alongside his ex-wife, Diane Ladd, and his daughter, Laura Dern. Written by Ashley Reed, the film will appropriately be about family estrangement. Laura will star as a woman seeking to regain custody of her son while also attempting to locate her father, who left when she was 3.

It is worth noting that Diane Ladd has been nominated for three Oscars, all for films in which her daughter also appears (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore; Wild at Heart; Rambling Rose). The last of these even saw a nomination for Laura, as well, marking the first time a mother and daughter were ever recognized by the Academy for the same film. So, for the women, at least, Hart's Location seems to be a great idea. Maybe there's more Oscars in their future. On the other hand, it also seems to have a sort of novelty to it, like the badly-received It Runs in the Family, which featured a lot of the Douglases (Michael, Kirk, Cameron and Diana), in what appeared to exist just for the stunt-casting. Like that movie, Hart's Location also unites a real-life divorced couple (Dern and Ladd parted ways in 1969). Interestingly enough, though, Ladd has already directed her ex-husband, in 1994's little-seen Mrs. Munck. Hopefully Dern can do better in this reversal of roles. As long as he spends more attention on making a good movie rather than on working out his personal issues (he told Daily Variety that the project makes sense for them because it's about the things you wish you'd said to your family members), then I'll be looking forward to it. The film begins shooting in New Orleans in February.

In the new issue of GQ, erstwhile filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola -- we'll see what Youth Without Youth does for his ailing career -- goes off on an impressively long and specific rant against three of today's geriatric acting legends for not showing passion for their craft anymore. "I met both Pacino and De Niro when they were really on the come," Coppola says. "They were young and insecure. Now Pacino is rich, maybe because he never spends any money, he just puts it under the mattress. De Niro ... created an empire and is wealthy and powerful. Nicholson was -- when I met him and worked with him -- he was always kind of a joker. He's got a little bit of a mean streak. He's intelligent, always wired in with the big guys and the big bosses of the studios."

Coppola goes on to say that he doesn't know what they "want" anymore (in their work, presumably) and then he singles Nicholson out as the most unmotivated of the three. "I think if there was a role that De Niro was hungry for, he would come after it. I don't think Jack would. Jack has money and influence and girls, and I think he's a little bit like Brando, except Brando went through some tough times. I guess they don't want to do it anymore." (Come on -- no tough times? Nicholson found out his sister was his mother when he was, like, 40!)

You think Coppola's done? Oh, no ... he's just getting warmed up. "Even in those days, after The Godfather, I didn't feel those actors were ready to say 'Let's do something else really ambitious,'" he continues. "A guy like Javier Bardem is excited to do something good: 'Let me do this' or 'I'll put stuff in my mouth, change my appearance.' I don't feel that kind of passion to do a role and be great coming from those guys..." So there you have it folks. Francis Ford Coppola is back, and he's looking for young, hungry actors who are willing to put stuff in their mouths.

[via NYDailyNews]

News hit this morning that a laptop owned by Francis Ford Coppola had been stolen from an office in Buenos Aires, where Coppola's Zoetrope Argentina was set up to do pre-production work on the filmmaker's next project, Tetro. The robbery happened Wednesday night, involved the tying up of Zoetrope employees, one of whom was cut by a knife, and apparently also included the theft of other computer, cameras and valuables. On the specific laptop, though, was a real treasure for cinephiles: the screenplay for Tetro, which we previously learned is about Italian immigrants in Argentina. It wasn't the only copy, of course, but it was a shame. Still, the original story seemed not to be devastating for Coppola, who wasn't in the area, as he isn't expected to begin shooting until next year. As of this morning, it didn't even seem like he was going to issue a statement about the incident.

However, now Coppola has spoken to the press regarding the robbery. It turns out the computers did have some very significant items on them, including personal and family photographs, reportedly all those of his life, as well as all of his writings from the past 15 years. It would seem like an odd place to keep such personal belongings, but considering Tetro is partially autobiographical, it makes sense that the office would have access to items from Coppola's life. Of course, he probably should have only left copies of his life down in Argentina, but it's not fair to criticize his mistake at such a stressful moment. Coppola spoke on a local television station in Buenos Aires, mentioning that he would really, really like it if he could get his backup disk back. He claims it would save him years of work if he could have the lost files returned. He also stated that he would be moving the Zoetrope office out of its Palermo location and into another safer neighborhood. We'll have to wait and see if the incident has disrupted plans for Tetro's filming.

"I'm in the Marlon Brando business." -- Marlon Brando

A nearly three-hour retrospective of the mercurial actor's life, Brando proceeds chronologically from his unrequited attachment to his distant drunk of a Nebraska mother to a post-war rise through the ranks of New York theater and fortuitous pairings with Stella Adler and Elia Kazan, to unexpected movie stardom, to has-been movie stardom, to political activism, to a measured critical rebirth and finally to an increasingly sad elderly life marked by erratic jaunts onto shows like Larry King Live and an elaborate prankishness that poorly camouflages an exhausted lothario's boredom with old age. "The first two-thirds of Marlon's life was in his body and the last third was in his mind," someone tells us, the implication being that Brando felt cheated by that trade-off and spent his final years playing with the only toy he had left, his celebrity. We hear about him summoning one well-known actor to his house on the pretense of collaborating on a film, only to tell them when they arrive that he's discovered a way to power his house with electric eels.

Since much of his life is old hat to the target audience, the pleasures of Brando mostly derive from the little moments snuck in here and there -- new memories from a fellow actor or new takes on one of his films, and so on. One the most interesting sequences, for my money, is a somewhat negative reassessment of Brando's role in Apocalypse Now. Robert Duvall, in his interview, feels obliged to point out that the performance is something of a non-starter because Kurtz was obviously supposed to be a military type, whippet-slim and muscled-up, while Brando practically had to be wheelbarrowed onto the set. It's also made clear that Coppola confided to the cast that Brando showed up for the film without having done any kind of mental preparation either. Dennis Hopper gets in a good jab, noting that "Marlon didn't care about your money" and digging up the old story about Brando demanding $75K for a five-minute close-up that was needed immediately after the point that he was no longer contractually bound to be there.

The Godfather. The Conversation. The Godfather Part II. Apocalypse Now. Francis Ford Coppola has so many classic American movies in his filmography, he could direct, say, a movie about reverse aging starring Robin Williams and Fran Drescher and not lose his position among our greatest directors. Coppola hasn't made a movie since 1997's undervalued The Rainmaker, but recently he's been on a roll. We've been bringing you news on his new film, Youth Without Youth, for a year now. Most recently, Monika told you that Tom Cruise might be helping to distribute the low-budget film, which stars Tim Roth and has been described as "an arty Raiders of the Lost Ark." His Tetro, with Matt Dillon, is in pre-production and sounds like perfect material for Coppola, as it "follows the rivalries of an artistic Italian immigrant family." But what of his long-rumored sci-fi epic Megalopolis?

In a new interview with aintitcool, Coppola says he did his three 90's studio pictures -- Bram Stoker's Dracula, Jack, and The Rainmaker -- to get out of debt and to do make Megalopolis happen. He went to New York, did tests, and even started meeting with actors. Things started moving on it, and then September 11th happened. Says Coppola, "It made it really pretty tough... a movie about the aspiration of utopia with New York as a main character and then all of a sudden you couldn't write about New York without just dealing with what happened and the implications of what happened. The world was attacked and I didn't know how to try to do with that. I tried." Coppola doesn't totally rule out the possibility of doing Megalopolis in the future, but for now the chances aren't looking great. "I have abandoned that as of now. I'm now going to...I plan to begin a process of making one personal movie after another and if something leads me back to look at that, which I'm sure it might, I'll see what makes sense to me." So it looks like we can put aside our hopes of seeing Megalopolis any time soon, but just knowing we've got more Coppola to look forward to softens the blow for me.