If you've seen American Beauty, then you already know Kevin Spacey can do a mean pothead on screen -- especially one that is a little ticked at the way his life has turned out. Both skills will come in handy now that Variety has announced that Spacey has signed to star in the indie drama, Shrink. Jonas Pate is already on board to direct Thomas Moffett's script about a celebrity shrink in the midst of a personal crisis.

Spacey will play a psychiatrist to the stars who's thrown for a loop by a personal tragedy. When he is unable to deal with the loss, he becomes a chronic pothead and all-around burn out; eventually losing faith in his ability to help his patients. Starring as his various celebrity clients are Saffron Burrows, Jack Huston, Griffin Dunne, Robin Williams, Pell James, Robert Loggia, Keke Palmer, Laura Ramsey, Gore Vidal, Dallas Roberts and Mark Webber.

(Note: We're re-posting our 21 review from SXSW to coincide with the film's theatrical release this weekend.)

In 21, an M.I.T. math whiz joins a secret cabal of card-counters who fly to Vegas on the weekends to make a killing at the blackjack tables. That's the hook, the part you may not have seen in a thousand other films. But the rest is as generic as the title (21? Really? That's the best you could come up with?), a story about a nobody who becomes a somebody, forsakes his friends, and learns What's Really Important.

Yawn is right. This is a prime example of a movie that isn't bad, per se, just unnecessary, a competently made but wholly unremarkable trifle. It trades exclusively in clichés and stock characters -- and yet, strangely, director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) seems to believe he has made something compelling and original. And I have to think, if I've seen lots of movies exactly like this one, then shouldn't Luketic have as well?

"She really found me at a point when I needed to be found." -- Jim Sturgess on Julie Taymor:

In 21, which hits theaters tomorrow, Jim Sturgess plays Ben Campbell, an M.I.T. student who's recruited into a group of Vegas card counters by a fellow student. In fact, the entire group is made up of students and its leader, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), also happens to be a professor at the University. The fact-based film was inspired by the book Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich, and most of what you will see in 21 really happened -- with certain faces, places, names and events changed to fit a more Hollywood-ized mold. Directed by Robert Luketic, 21 also stars Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, Aaron Yoo and Liza Lapira.

Sturgess is a relatively new face to Hollywood. His first major film role only came last year, when director Julie Taymor cast the soft-spoken Brit opposite Evan Rachel Wood in Across the Universe. From there, this musician-turned-actor appeared in the recent The Other Boleyn Girl before taking on his first lead role in a major Hollywood film, 21. Upon meeting him, one can immediately tell this boy has the looks and charm to carry him real far. He's already scheduled to appear in the star-studded Crossing Over and the flick Fifty Dead Men Walking. Cinematical sat down with Sturgess in New York recently to talk about 21, as well as his blossoming career.

I can't help but wonder if Kevin Spacey managed to score a 2 for 1 deal on the film rights to a Ben Mezrich book. 21 hasn't even hit theaters and Spacey has already picked up another property from the non-fiction writer. Variety reports that Spacey, in the form of Trigger Street Productions, has acquired to film rights to Mezrich's book, Rigged: The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, From Wall Street to Dubai.

Rigged is the story of John D'Agostino, an Italian kid from Brooklyn who graduates from Harvard. After scoring a lucrative job on the Merc Exchange, he meets up with another ambitious young trader with shady connections to the Middle East. The two come up with a brilliant and dangerous scheme to revolutionize oil trading ... and of course make a butt-load of cash along the way. This is a common theme in Mezrich's books: the talented wunderkind led astray by corruption and greed. It also probably explains why Rigged is being touted as this generation's Wall Street.

Spacey's production house is already working on an adaptation of another of Mezrich's books, Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions. This might be a little off topic, but what is it with this guy and the long titles? In fact, all of his books are like this (21 was originally known as Busting Vegas: The MIT Whiz Kid Who Brought the Casinos to Their Knees). Of course, this is probably why a name change will be in order for the big screen.

So even if you choose to ignore the somewhat 'white-washed' casting for the big-screen version of Bringing Down the House, if you are a fan of the book you can't help but notice that there seems to be very little that remains of the original (and fascinating) story of a group of 'math nerds' who became high stakes card sharks. Sony has just launched the official site for 21 starring Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, and Kevin Spacey. Their site offers plenty of small video clips to watch and the usual downloadable offerings, but inexplicably they never give you the chance to play a little black jack of your own.

21 centers on "Six MIT students, in a blackjack team, [who] train to become experts in card counting and subsequently take Vegas casinos for millions in winnings. However, casino workers become suspicious and attempt to take down the team, using any means necessary." Sturgess plays Ben Campell, a numbers genius who is struggling to pay his bills. He is recruited into a team of card counters by his professor (as played by Spacey) and as to be expected, the good times don't last long. Ben starts to lose control and his mentor and friends turn on him just as the casinos are starting to catch on to the scam.

To be honest, as much as I enjoyed the book, I don't think I will be first in line for this one. Part of what made the book so interesting to me was that these were just regular people who became 'criminals'. The film seems to want to take a more Ocean's 11 approach right down to the music in the trailer, and, frankly, it's been done before. 21 hits theaters on March 28th.

With all the interesting projects Steven Spielberg had lined up to choose from after completing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the news that he'd direct a movie about the Chicago 7 has come out of left field -- though we did hear a bit about it back in July. But as of yet, the guy hasn't denied the news that Sacha Baron Cohen will be playing Abbie Hoffman in a film titled The Trial of the Chicago Seven scripted by Aaron Sorkin (Charlie Wilson's War). Nor has Spielberg publicly commented on some other casting possibilities leaked in the new Vanity Fair article about Indiana Jones -- possibilities I apparently missed the first time around, because those photos were so eye-grabbing. One definite casting decision, according to that article, is Philip Seymour Hoffman as William Kunstler, the famous attorney who defended the 7 as they were tried on charges of conspiring to incite riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

The Vanity Fair writer, Jim Windolf, wrote about learning of this news while visiting Spielberg at his Amblin Entertainment office on the Universal lot. The writer claims to have glanced at a table on which headshots of Will Smith, Taye Diggs, Adam Arkin and Kevin Spacey were visibly linked to the Chicago Seven project. None of the actors' proposed roles were determined, however. Now, I don't want to assume that Spielberg planted those headshots for Windolf to see, but it does seem strange that such a sometime-secretive filmmaker would let something like this be leaked in such a way. It also seems strange to think that anybody, even Spielberg, would need a headshot of Smith in order to decide to cast him as Black Panther (and 8th of the originally Chicago 8) Bobby Seale, who I will assume Smith's being considered to play. Windolf also claims that Sorkin's script is somehow based on the documentary Chicago 10, which premiered at Sundance last year and is being given a limited release next month. As Jessica noted the other day, you could probably make that a must-see primer while you await Spielberg's film (and more news about it). Another idea is to check out Steal this Movie (often available for free online), which is also good to watch for the appearance of a very young Michael Cera as Abbie Hoffman's son, America.

It seems like just a few months ago we were enjoying the sights, the sounds, the smells and the cinema of South By Southwest 2007, but guess what? Now that it's January, the festival's only about nine weeks away! Awesome! So today we caught some slightly early news on what SXSW is cooking up for this March, and I must say I'm pretty impressed with what they snagged for their opening night film.

And that film is: Robert Luketic's 21, which is based on the book Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. (You may remember Mr. Luketic from flicks like Legally Blonde, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, and Monster-in-Law.) Adapted by Ben Mezrich's book by screenwriters Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb, 21 stars Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Bosworth and Jim Sturgess. (Check out the trailer right here.)

And if that world premiere isn't cool enough, festival chief Matt Dentler has also divulged the following titles for SXSW '08:

At the Death House Door (Steve James & Peter Gilbert) "A sobering and powerful story of the wrongful execution of Carlos DeLuna and the Death House Chaplain, Pastor Carroll Pickett, who spent the last day of DeLuna's life with him."

Dreams with Sharp Teeth (Erik Nelson) "A documentary portrait of acclaimed author Harlan Ellison, as he looks back on his fabled and influential career as one of the world's top science fiction writers."

Flawless (Michael Radford) "In 1960s London, a talented but overlooked diamond executive (Demi Moore) is convinced to participate in a jewelry heist when a veteran janitor (Michael Caine) hatches a plan."

Run Fatboy Run (David Schwimmer) "An out-of-shape divorced father (Simon Pegg) makes one last attempt to win back the respect of his son, his ex-wife (Thandie Newton), and the community around him. All he has to do is finish his first marathon."

Wild Blue Yonder (Celia Maysles) "Celia Maysles had no idea her father and his brother Albert were pioneers of verite documentary filmmaking. Determined to uncover the secrets surrounding her background, Celia sets out on a quest to rediscover her father by using his own artistic process."

Expect a few more flashy surprises before the full SXSW slate is announced on February 5! Until then, feel free to browse through the SXSW website and decide if THIS is the year you're finally going to take my advice and attend the dang festival. (You do know it's a movie AND music fest, right? Interactive, too, and I do believe I've mentioned the indigenous BBQ more than once.)

Most of us are probably painfully aware of the stress of the holidays when it comes to familial relationships. Films about families tell the one story that practically anyone can relate to. So in the spirit of feeling better about ourselves I've compiled a list of some of the most dysfunctional families in film. Maybe after taking a look at some big-screen dysfunction, we can sit back and take a little solace in that at least none of us have to sit down to Christmas dinner with any of the people on the following list.

1. Spanking the Monkey

Before he was famous on You Tube for his demented freak-out on the set of I Heart Huckabees, David O. Russell was famous for making the unthinkable; a comedy about incest. Monkey stars Alberta Watson as Susan Aibelli; a lonely and depressed mother who develops a sexual relationship with her son after they are left alone together for the summer. Jeremy Davis stars as her son and the subject of this unlikely coming-of-age story. The film might not be for the weak of heart, but it did manage to win an audience award at Sundance in 1994, and was responsible for turning Russell into the megalomaniac we've all come to know and love.

2. Ordinary People

Besides going down in infamy as the film that beat Raging Bull out of a 'Best Picture Oscar', this 1981 drama about a family dealing with the loss of it's 'favored son' was the directorial debut of Robert Redford. Timothy Hutton stars as the younger brother who is readjusting to life after a botched suicide attempt. Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore also star as the parents to Hutton and Judd Hirsch as the prototypical 'earthy NY Jewish' psychiatrist. So for anyone who watched Mary Tyler Moore as the epitome of 'chirpiness' during the seven year run of her self-titled series, get ready to be blown away, because her performance as a cold and repressed suburban mom is one of the best there is.

At this point, I'm starting to think that it's contractually obligated that if either Kevin Spacey or Kate Bosworth appears in a film, the other automatically gets a part. OK, so maybe I'm exaggerating just a little, but you can't deny that the two seem to really enjoy working together. Yahoo Movies is now hosting the trailer for their latest collaboration, 21, the real-life story of six M.I.T students who develop a foolproof plan to win at Black Jack. The film is based on the book Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich (and I guess I don't have to explain why they chose to go with the new title 21 -- I doubt Sony wanted their audiences getting the film confused with a C-grade Queen Latifah comedy).

The story centers on a group of M.I.T math students who along with their 'mentor' come up with a new system of "counting cards" -- if you haven't read the book and don't mind a little math in your light reading then I would definitely recommend it. Although I wouldn't recommend trying out their system, unless you don't mind the idea of getting roughed up by pit bosses.

The film was directed by Robert Luketic, who isn't exactly a household name, but is probably best known as the director of Legally Blonde. The book was adapted for the screen by Allan Loeb (Things We Lost in the Fire) and Peter Steinfeld (Analyze That). Joining Spacey and Bosworth are Laurence Fishburne in what looks like the role of a casino boss (better known as "the Heavy" in the flick) and Jim Sturgess as the newest member of the gang. 21 is set for release on March 28th, 2008.

Over at Cracked.com, they've made a list of the top ten worst twist endings of all time. Obviously that list has a lot of spoilers, but I'm going to attempt to write this post without revealing any of them. Why? To make sure you go over there, of course. So, if you're not worried about ruining the endings to some movies you probably shouldn't see anyway, then head over and read the hilariously confusing explanations, or attempts at explanations, and/or how some endings don't make enough sense to bother with explanations. I will let you in on the titles of the movies, just in case you are interested in seeing any of them in the future and would like to go in spoiler free. The ten, in order from "least asinine" to "most asinine", are: Stay (2005); High Tension (2003); Signs (2002); Hide and Seek (2005) and Secret Window (2004), which tie for #7, because they're considered the exact same plot (is that spoiling it for you guys? probably -- oh well, I tried); The Forgotten (2004); Basic (2003); Perfect Stranger (2007); The Number 23 (2007); Planet of the Apes (2001); and The Life of David Gale (2003).

I haven't seen the number one movie, but I can't imagine it's worse than the others that I have seen, especially Planet of the Apes. Basically, I think Cracked.com considers it the worst because it stars Kevin Spacey, who also starred in The Usual Suspects, which pretty much, along with The Sixth Sense, obviously, got Hollywood on this crappy twist kick to begin with (He was also in Se7en, which had another so-so twist ending). Look at those films; they all came out between 2001 and 2007. And what was the most common twist? The main character did it. Either he or she has a split personality, or amnesia, or suffers from some other psychological ailment. Other idiotic yet easily written twists include: aliens did it; it's all a dream (as if you need to steal from Bob Newhart, come on!); and, in the fashion of Suspects, it's all just made-up stories. Personally, I'm upset to not see my least favorite twist ending. It involved a whole crop of great actors who just so happened to be explained as existing inside the imagination of some mental patient. That one had the split personality plus the dream plus the Suspects idea that none of what we watched is real. Can you name it?