Directed by Oliver Assayas (Clean, Demonlover), the Cannes midnight selection Boarding Gate tells the story of Sandra (Asia Argento) -- a confused young woman trying to figure out her relationship with Miles (Michael Madsen), a financier who's fallen into a run of bad luck. Sandra and Miles used to be lovers, but that's over; Miles also used to hire Sandra to service visiting clients and turn their pillow talk into business intelligence; that's over, too -- but they still have plenty to talk about. ...

People much smarter than I are very fond of Assayas's work -- most especially Demonlover, a movie that elicited love-it-or-hate-it reactions from critics and viewers. Like Demonlover, Boarding Gate takes place in a hinky, kinky realm, a world of secrets and lies where big business, espionage, sex and emotional connection all combine. In Boarding Gate, though, there's one problem; the film has no motor to drive it. Sandra gets into trouble, sure -- and gets in deep -- but neither Assayas's script nor Argento's performance give us any reason to care if Sandra makes it though in one piece; the fact that Argento's character swings between seductive pouting and go-away petulance doesn't help. Argento may be an attractive mammal -- the film certainly thinks so, as it never skips a chance to show us her stripping down -- but as an actual actress, she's a washout. Not to be crass, but if Argento's line readings and character were as well-developed and fully-rounded as her breasts, I've no doubt Boarding Gate would have been a better film.

While most of Hollywood's big shots are likely up in Toronto for the film festival, producer Brian Grazer is reportedly hanging around NYC for Fashion Week. According to Radar, he was in Bryant Park on Sunday taking in the shows of Diane von Furstenberg and Naeem Khan, and sources say he wasn't there to merely check out the new collections. Grazer may also be doing some research for a new film about Vivienne Westwood, the designer who helped pioneer the punk look in the late '70s with then-husband Malcolm McLaren. At this time we can only speculate as to whether the project will be a biopic or a documentary -- Grazer recently spotlighted '70s decadence with the doc Inside Deep Throat -- or even if it has anything to do with the punk movement at all. But, considering Grazer's own hair could be compared to Sid Vicious', I can only hope that he's curious about how safety pins and torn clothes were given their fashionable beginning.

In the event the film is a dramatic telling of her younger days, I can imagine a few actresses in the role, including Toni Collette, Kim Gordon, and my personal choice, Cara Seymour. Then, Grazer could have Judi Dench or Maggie Smith as the older Westwood. I'd love to see either one of them take on the hair and wardrobe for the part.

[via Hollywood Wiretap]