It's funny how you can get completely used to seeing a name, and then used to its absence, only to have it pop up again, years later, out of nowhere. Skeet Ulrich has been steering clear of the big screen (or the big screen has been steering clear of him) for a while now. The last time he had a movie out, it was the 2001 flick Chilly Dogs. There was also Soul Assassin, Nobody's Baby, and Takedown -- which was a Hackers sequel that somehow flew off the radar even with a jam-packed cast. But now things are changing for the Jericho star. He's got a new movie on the way, and maybe this will be his reintroduction to the wide world of film.

The Hollywood Reporter has posted that he has nabbed a role in the upcoming flick, Armored. This is that Matt Dillon gang of thieves movie that Peter Martin blogged about back in October -- the one that also has Columbus Short attached. Ulrich is taking on the role of Dobbs -- "a scruffy member of an armored truck company who plans to empty a truck of its $10 million." The thieves all somehow got themselves the armored car gig, so there's one HR person somewhere who is really, really crappy at their job . Sweetening the pot, I hope as thieves -- THR says that Laurence Fishburne, Fred Ward, and the best Professional to ever hit the screen, Jean Reno, will co-star.

Some things never change while others come and go, but no matter what happens, it's a comfort to hear that Skeet can still grab a scruffy role.

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.)

With Ike Turner dying yesterday, most of the obituaries felt obliged to lead with the wife-beater stuff and then sort of follow up with the 'helped invent rock n' roll' part.' Some papers are also making a lot of hay over the fact that Tina Turner released a statement last night that more or less pissed on Ike's grave, saying that, yeah, she heard he was dead and she has nothing to say about it. In other words, the guy was fated to go down like a monster. He probably realized that more than anyone in his final years. And who knows, maybe he deserves the scorn he's receiving in death as well as what he got in life -- I know almost nothing about his personal history except what I saw in What's Love Got to Do With It? but that's the whole point. Did one performance actually change the tide of public opinion against a musical pioneer?

Laurence Fishburne's performance in the film garnered an Oscar nod, and deservedly so -- he paints a portrait of a very scary guy with practically no formal education and no way to control his erratic and violent impulses. In particular, the cake scene in the restaurant -- Eat that cake, Anna Mae! -- is now considered one of the classic scenes of the 90s. It's the kind of out-there scene with dynamic, gut-wrenching acting that sticks with you for years after you've seen it. But what if it didn't happen that way? What's Love Got to Do With It? admittedly fictionalized a large number of things, and I can't imagine Tina Turner was so concerned about giving Ike the benefit of the doubt when it came down to the details of their fights. Again, I'm approaching this as a curious devil's advocate -- maybe Ike deserved it all.

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.

New Orleans is filling up with cast members for Black Water Transit and the latest one to be added is Aisha Tyler. The list already includes Laurence Fishburne, Stephen Dorff and American Dreams star Brittany Snow, and no longer includes Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, who were attached and then dropped out. There's a limited amount of information available on the plot but the story is known to take place in post-Katrina New Orleans and revolves around a man -- maybe Fishburne? -- who is on a crusade to release his drug-addicted son from jail. IMDB describes the film as being about the convergence of law enforcement, criminals and lawyers over an illegal shipment of weapons into America as one man tries to find a safe harbor for his family's illegal firearms.

So in other words, it's about the relationships between cops and criminals. Black Water Transit is written and directed by Tony Kaye who gave us American History X -- thank you for that, Mr. Kaye. As for Aisha Tyler, I have to confess that I'm amazed by her work. I always found her to be terribly annoying as the Talk Soup host, but she's gone about building up an impressive resume since then. Also, we know that she will be playing a police detective, à la her roles in CSI and 24.

A book about the dilemmas of following ones dreams in order to ensure happiness or to wade in the waters of familiar security has Laurence Fishburne working from his own ambitious heart. Fishburne, who is one of the most strikingly gallant, authoritative, vulnerable and adorable (Pee Wee's Playhouse anyone?) actors has penned his own adaptation of The Alchemist. The book was written in 1988 and is probably on every high school reading list around the world.

Warner Bros. backed the actor, writer and producer by obtaining the rights to the book four years ago. From Hollywood Reporter's analysis it seems that despite the finished script, the project was stagnate. Thus, Fishburne teamed up with A-Mark Entertainment (they produced Alpha Dog, which starred Justin Timberlake and received mixed reviews) in order to give the film its much-needed legs. So far, Fishburne will only have writer and director credits, but who will play the main role? Not sure, but they must fit the bill of a young Spaniard.

The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho, is about a young Spanish shepherd who embarks upon fantastical journeys throughout his country and into the Egyptian deserts. The boy is seeking great fortune and hidden treasures that could change his life; if that's what his heart truly desires. The boy meets influential characters within his journey that add to the magic of the book. The script is described in the Hollywood Reporter as "Harry Potter meets Indiana Jones." There is no news on when the film will go into production, but with Fishburne's new team behind him, it will definitely take less than four years to get the cameras rolling.

So you're probably wondering -- what in the world did Tony Kaye do this time? Although the man seemed to be taking it all down a few levels in a recent interview, controversy once again swirls around one of his films. This time it's Black Water Transit -- Kaye's first feature narrative since American History X -- and a film that has had one helluva rotating cast. And although it heads into production this week, Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson (the two leads attached for some time) are no longer involved. Instead, Variety tells us that Laurence Fishburne and Brittany Snow have hopped onboard the crime drama, which was written by Matthew Chapman, and revolves around a shipping company owner who attempts to get his junkie son freed from prison.

Now, this is an odd little story, because based on the way Variety makes it sound Willis has been off this project for awhile. In fact, when all that talk about Vin Diesel bailing on Transit surfaced, Willis was already gone. Furthermore, they make it seem as if Diesel and Jackson were brought on as possible replacements for Willis, and not additional co-stars -- even though Sam Jackson is listed as a totally different character from Willis on IMDb (who, by the way, still have Willis and Jackson down as cast members). Meanwhile, all I want to know is whether Kaye dropped a piano on someone's head? But regardless of the entire musical chairs conspiracy, all three of those guys are now off the project, and Kaye will have to find a way to get through it all without losing Fishburne, as well as his sanity. It's a shame this guy can't keep it together because I really enjoyed American History X, and would've loved to see more work from him in the narrative department. Kaye's abortion documentary, Lake of Fire, is currently making the festival rounds. And based on his track record, Black Water Transit will be released sometime within the next 10 years.

James Denton and Jon Cryer -- two guys who have found enormous recent success on the small screen -- are heading to the bigs for the psychological thriller Tortured. The film starts production on Monday, Erik brought you a bit of news on it last week. Denton is best known for his nuanced portrayal of hunky plumber Mike Delfino on Desperate Housewives, a role that I'm sure has led to countless saucy jokes involving the words "pipe," "tool," and "plumbing." Cryer plays Charlie Sheen's brother on the smash comedy Two and a Half Men, but to an entire generation, he will forever be known as "Duckie" from Pretty in Pink. The guy could cure cancer and I'd still think of him lip-syncing to Otis Redding to impress Molly Ringwald.

Tortured stars Morpheus himself Laurence Fishburne and Cole Hauser. (I have this theory that Hauser and Josh Lucas are the same person, but that's a discussion for another time). Tortured is about "an FBI agent (Hauser) who goes undercover as an organized crime enforcer. When he's ordered to undertake the weeklong torture of an accountant (Fishburne), he begins to question his roles." For his first feature film since 2001's Glam (missed that one), Cryer will go against type to play Hauser's (wisecracking?) partner. Denton will play their supervisor. Nolan Lebovitz (Dr. Benny -- missed that one, too) wrote the script and will direct. Denton's next film is Undead or Alive: A Zombedy, which co-stars Chris Kattan as "a cowboy with a broken heart." My prediction on that one? $100 million easy.

Remember that scene in The Matrix when Laurence Fishburne is getting the snot kicked out of him (literally)? Poor dude was hunched over in a chair; bloody, beaten -- you were hoping he'd make it out, but deep down inside you really wanted to give him a tissue. "Here man, wipe some of that sh*t off. Seriously, it's disgusting." Well, I immediately thought of that scene while reading about this latest bit of Fishburne casting news via Variety. According to them, he's signed on to star alongside Cole Hauser (he's the cute, clean-cut guy in films like The Cave, Paparazzi and 2 Fast 2 Furious) in Tortured, for Five Star Pictures, Insight Film Studios and Proud Mary Entertainment. (Here's hoping these two gents give Mary something to be proud of!)

Pic, which starts shooting this Monday in Vancouver, revolves around an FBI agent (Hauser) who goes undercover and gets in good with "the world's most powerful crime syndicate." However, once he's in the loop, his bosses assign him the task of torturing one of their accountants (Fishburne). I'm not sure if FBI agents are allowed to torture people while undercover, but I am sure the situation will provide plenty of juicy conflict. "Hey man, I'm going to whip you with these chains. Since, technically, I'm using them for work, can I write that off?" Nolan Lebovitz (whose last big-screen credit was on something called Dr. Benny) will direct off his own script. What I want to know is at what point do we throw our hands up and admit that the whole torture genre has run its course? Are you folks still interested in this stuff? Does it still scare you?

A few excited websites got the news half-right a couple days back: Yes, it's true that the man who played Morpheus will provide a voice in Fox's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. But no, that voice will not belong to "Galactus, Eater of Planets." Mr. Fishburne will voice the title character himself. Silver Surfer: Body by Doug Jones, Powers by Weta Digital, Voice by Laurence Fishburne.

You'd think that with a voice like his, Mr. Fishburne would be a veteran when it comes to voice-over work, but as far as I can tell, his only experience in this arena lies as the narrator in TMNT and with some material for the Matrix video games. (How has he not been given a job by Pixar or DreamWorks Animation yet? The guy's a natural!) Needless to say, the addition of Laurence Fishburne to any project raises both the Geek Quotient and the Bad-Ass Factor -- exponentially.

But the important question (and by "important" I mean "really nerdy) is this: Does Laurence Fishburne possess the appropriate pipes to play the platinum powerhouse? I ask the old-school Marvel fans: As you read the Silver Surfer character, does his voice sound anything like Larry Fishburne's? I don't know much about the character, but I always figured he'd sound something like C-3P0.