Writer and director Paul Schrader doesn't have too many screenplay credits under his belt, but most of the ones that do reside on the list are beyond impressive. The man is responsible for Taxi Driver, American Gigolo, Raging Bull, The Mosquito Coast and The Last Temptation of Christ. Then the 90's came, and he traveled around the ratings map for a bit, and heck, he is even responsible for bringing Touch to the big screen. (If you don't remember it, that might not be a bad thing.) Now, it looks like he might have re-discovered his earlier success with his upcoming film -- The Walker, a movie that Cinematical first posted about last year.

The film stars Woody Harrelson as a gay, social escort to a number of Washington DC wives in the 50's. When one of his closer lady friends (Kristin Scott Thomas) finds herself on the edge of a scandal abyss, he helps by covering for her -- thereby turning the heat on himself, and forcing him to find the true culprit. Coming Soon now has linked to the film's website, which has a trailer for the film, as well as to YouTube, which is actually showing the first seven minutes of it. Between the trailer and the clip, it looks like Harrelson has successfully wiped away the granola and yoga to portray the "gay weather vane," as his character calls himself. All of the other performances look great as well, at least those by the main ladies -- Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily Tomlin and Lauren Bacall, as the trailer and clip focus on them. But we can't forget that Willem Dafoe (who we see only briefly in the trailer) and Ned Beatty also star, along with Mary Beth Hurt and 2006 Silver Bear winner and old Run Lola Run co-star Moritz Bleibtreu. The film is currently traveling through the festival circuit with some great reviews, and will head into limited release this December.

Screen legend Lauren Bacall has never been one to keep her opinions to herself. At a press conference in Berlin for her new film, The Walker with Woody Harrelson, about a high-class male escort, Bacall spoke about the negative impact that television has had on the movie business. Bacall was quoted as saying, "I think there are still people who really want to do good work. Unfortunately, in television, sometimes they want to do good work but a lot of the time they're doing terrible work - and I think that has affected moviemaking badly." Bacall never quite explained what that effect was, and as much as I hate to argue with a screen icon, personally I would disagree.

TV shows like 24, LOST, and The Sopranos have definitely raised the bar on what to expect from a television show. In some cases, critics think that TV might even surpass Hollywood fare. Whether Bacall is debating what makes a legend or standing up to the House of Un-American Activities, she isn't afraid to speak her mind. When you've managed to survive for over sixty years in the movie business, you have probably earned the right to. What do you think -- is the proliferation of bad television hurting the movies?

Eventually every block in Manhattan should have an extra nickname in addition to its actual address. Enough famous things happen in the borough, I'm sure. One of these famous things was the growing up of Humphrey Bogart at 245 W. 103rd Street. Over the weekend, super-fan Gary Dennis, a video store owner who campaigned for the honoring of Bogie and Lauren Bacall, who was married to the actor until his death in 1957, joined other fans in the drizzling rain to declare that block of 103rd Street "Humphrey Bogart Place."

"I'm happy he is honored," Bacall said at the event, "of course, it's only brass on a wall." Only brass? Certainly Bacall has never taken delight in learning about the city's history via plaques, which I've gotten more into since reading Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation. Just the other day I learned that a building I pass sometimes in Brooklyn was the first multi-family home in the borough. Okay, so maybe most people don't care about that stuff, but everyone cares about movie trivia, right? With all the movies shot in New York, perhaps the city could put up more plaques and rename more streets to showcase where film shoots occurred. The most obvious I can think of is the corner of N. Moore and Varick, which should definitely be renamed Ghostbusters Place if it hasn't been already.

It appears that Paul Schrader is more into American Gigolo now than most of us were 25 years ago, because he's once again mining that territory for a film. And to the dismay of maybe only me, Richard Gere (Every time I look him up on the IMDb, I giggle anew when I remember that his middle name is "Tiffany." I'm a bad person.) will not be involved. The new film, which beings shooting this week in the UK, is entitled The Walker, and centers on the writer/director's "vision of what his American Gigolo protagonist would have become when he hit 50." This time the character, to be played by the frighteningly-close-to-50 Woody Harrelson, is an "escort of society ladies" in DC, whose gifts are, in Schrader's words, "more social than sexual. He's this society walker who has his lady friends, and a boyfriend on the side." A boyfriend, eh? And the plot thickens...

Among Harrelson's clients will be the still-stunning Lauren Bacall; other cast members include Ned Beatty, Lily Tomlin, and English Patient pals Willem Dafoe and Kristen Scott Thomas.

Verita Thompson, late screen star Humphrey Bogart's lover for 17 years, recently vowed, "Lauren Bacall failed to chase me out of Hollywood; Katrina won't force me out of New Orleans." Thompson, now 87 and living in what used to be New Orleans, made the pledge to stay after being offered a private jet berth out of the city shortly before Katrina struck. There has been no word since the hurricane as to how Thompson and her third story French Quarter apartment weathered the storm.

There is also no word as to whether or not standing up to a Category 5 storm is Thompson's way of saying, "I've lived a good long life, and don't care if I don't come through this or not." That would be one thing, as would be the onset of dementia, but if it is some sort of elderly "Isn't It Charming That I'm So Set In My Ways" entitlement mentality at work here, she's putting others at risk by staying put. Get the hell out of there, lady. You're not setting a good example. It's just stuff. You can always buy more stuff.

Does it seem like Cinematical is turning into a Lauren Bacall fansite? Well, you're not far off. Here at Cinematical headquarters, we're multitasking today: blog, blog, blogging with one eye, whilst the other stays firmly fixed on Turner Classic Movies. They're running a Bacall marathon today, leading up to tonight's premiere of Private Screenings: Lauren Bacall. It's a new interview with the star, hosted by TCM's Robert Osbourne, in which the great lady dishes on her life and career. But first, the movies: The Big Sleep just finished and Vincente Minnelli's gloriously candy-coated comedy Designing Woman is just about to start. After that it's the shamefully little-seen Sex and the Single Girl, followed by Screenings at 8pm, and then at 9, Key Largo. If you're not already convinced to spend the day locked inside glued to TCM, I don't know if there's anything I can do for you.