It's been almost impossible to get information about There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson's epic next film, but it's finally been confirmed that someone other than Daniel Day-Lewis will actually be appearing in the movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Little Miss Sunshine's Paul Dano (who Erik recently interviewed) will star alongside Lewis as "a gifted, charismatic young preacher who captivates churchgoers." The film, which is "loosely based" on Upton Sinclair's Oil!, has been grandly described as "an ambitious ... and ... compelling, relevant story about family, greed, religion and oil." What, you want specifics? Oh. Well, Day-Lewis plays "a tycoon who strikes it rich after gaining oil rights to a family's ranch, turning the small town where Dano's character preaches into a boomtown." Which I'm sure leads to lots of conflicts, and epic suffering by Day-Lewis. Because, really -- who would cast that man and NOT ask him to suffer?

Until the other day, I had no feelings about Dano one way or another -- but then I stumbled across the shockingly great The Girl Next Door on cable. As a result, I'm now officially a fan of his (and of everyone else in the movie), and am really excited to see someone of his ability joining what was already an unusual, exciting project.

The movie is currently filming in Texas and California.

I'm embarrassed to admit it, being a lifelong fan of horror cinema & fiction, but I only just recently discovered the dark awesomeness of Mr. Jack Ketchum. While strolling through a massive discount store that won't stock NC-17 movies, I noticed the "uncut, uncensored, unexpurgated" version of Mr. Ketchum's debut novel, Off Season, sitting on a shelf next to Cosmo. I bought the book, read it in four days, and then thought it was deliciously ironic that such an stunningly disturbing novel would be sold at the same store that won't carry Requiem for a Dream.

I'm rambling.

No, there's not a movie of Off Season on the way, but Ketchum fans assure me that the author's The Girl Next Door is just as good as Off Season ... if not better. And that's the book that someone's making into a movie. That "someone" will be Gregory Wilson, sophomore-stage director whose first flick was the little-seen Home Invaders. Mae Whitman (Ann Veal from Arrested Development) and Blanche Baker (the drugged-out bride from Sixteen Candles) are among the cast members.

I'd be happy to give you a plot recap on The Girl Next Door ... but that's the next Ketchum book I'll be buying, and I don't want the thing spoiled for me. (In other Ketchum-related news, the movie version of his The Lost has been bouncing around the festival circuit, but has thus far eluded my own eyeballs.)

And as far as Off Season goes... Yowch. I doubt anyone could make it into a movie without gutting the thing.