What Just Happened has opened the Karlovy Vary Film Festival to a less than enthusiastic crowd, which I don't find particularly surprising, but Robert De Niro has other things to talk about.

Variety reports that he talked about the possible actors' strike at a press conference this weekend. De Niro said: "I do not think it is a good time to strike now. The issues could be resolved over the next couple of years (without strike action)." He also noted that he didn't think actors have "done their homework" to get a good deal, and that "I do not know if it is the right time to be doing this at all with the economy the way it is." Between the economy and the wake of the last strike, it certainly seems like the worst possible time, although I'm sure some would say a few years is a long time to wait.

While that gets sorted out, De Niro is looking to the future. He says that we should expect at least two more films between him and Martin Scorsese because it's "a lot of fun" to work together. De Niro is currently working on the first of these projects, to be ready for 2009, but does not want to discuss it. (He noted earlier that he was "superstitious about talking about it.")

Meanwhile, there's also The Good Shepherd. He is hoping to make two sequels to the CIA Cold War drama: one detailing 1961-1989, and another that brings Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) to the present day. There's definitely enough material to talk about, but what do you think? Is it time for more Shepherd?

Even the weirder artists of the twentieth century have been attracted to the allure of Hollywood filmmaking, and Salvador Dali was no exception. In the fall of 1941, the surrealist painter hosted a masquerade party at Pebble Beach during one of his regular visits to the town. Called "Surrealism Night in An Enchanted Forest," the fundraising event, intended to assist European refugee artists, brought out a number of stars, including Bob Hope and Ginger Rogers. It was here, the story goes, that Dali became attached to a major studio production called Moontide. The great German emigre Fritz Lang was hired to direct the movie, and asked Dali to create a three-minute nightmare sequence for the film. Unfortunately, after the incident at Pearl Harbor later that year, Twentieth Century Fox deemed the project too bleak. Lang was replaced, and Dali's nightmare sequence went with him.

Although inspired by the movies, Dali didn't always have the easiest time making them. He would get another chance to inject his hallucinatory vision into American cinema with the hypnosis scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound, but it's his unrealized projects that truly indicate the scope of the painter's ambition. So many ideas, such little time. Dali: Painting and Film, a breathtakingly unique exhibit currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, surveys Dali's completed cinematic works in addition to tidbits from the ones that never came to fruition. Marvelously structured to show how his paintings were intentionally cinematic, the exhibit contains all the obvious highlights from Dali's movie career alongside lesser-known productions. The importance in film history of his collaborations with Luis Bunuel remain uncontested; two large screens in separate rooms showing Un Chien Andalou (where the opening eye splicing retains its original gross-out impact) and L'Age D'Or attest to that. Fewer visitors, however, might know about Dali's collaboration with the Marx Brothers on a deliriously strange movie that sounded too good to be true.

I'll always remember reading a review of Casino where a reviewer said that even a mediocre Martin Scorsese movie is better than the 'best' movie made by any other director. That particular piece of wisdom has always stuck with me whenever I was plunking down my hard earned dollars on a Scorsese film that wasn't necessarily 'my thing' -- cough, Kundun, cough. So with that in mind, you can be sure that I'll be there on opening day for his new thriller, Ashecliffe (formerly Shutter Island). The Boston Herald recently scored some pictures of star Leonardo DiCaprio and Scorsese on the set of the period thriller, with the added bonus of getting to see DiCaprio brandishing some firearms (thankfully, it was for the movie).

The film is based on a novel by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River), and centers on two U.S. marshals who are sent to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane. Things start to go downhill when a riot on the island has them trapped, and not to mention some events that are outside of the realm of the everyday. Mark Ruffalo joins the cast as DiCaprio's partner, and Michelle Williams also stars as DiCaprio's wife. The film immediately brings Spellbound to mind, and knowing what a Hitchcock fan Scorsese is, I will look forward to seeing Scorsese work in a few of those 'master of suspense' touches.

Ashcliffe is scheduled to arrive in theaters on October 2nd, 2009.

No woman, no cry, no Bob Marley. First, Martin Scorsese signs on to direct a Bob Marley documentary in February, which pretty much shuts down the biopic that Bob's widow, Rita, was putting together. Now, he's pulled out due to "scheduling conflicts," and the BBC reports that The Silence of the Lambs helmer Jonathan Demme has taken over.

The film is still set to be released on the 65th anniversary of the musician's birth -- February 6, 2010, so this change shouldn't disrupt anything. As for Demme's involvement, it shouldn't change things much. He's made docs on both the Talking Heads (Stop Making Sense in 1984) and Neil Young with Heart of Gold in 2006. And Ziggy seems cool with the whole change: "His empathy with my father's body of work and his unique understanding of the musical documentary form makes me confident that this film will be the ultimate celebration of my father's life."

Scorsese, meanwhile, still has other famous folks to keep busy with -- George Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt, and Frank Sinatra. Which one should go first?

It looks like Frank Sinatra's youngest daughter and film producer, Tina Sinatra, has let the cat out of the bag. While talking with Sun Media recently, she discussed a new biopic on the way, from Universal, that would focus on dear old Rat Pack Dad. She started by cryptically saying that the man who would take on the film was "the most prominent Italian-American filmmaker" in Hollywood. First, they guessed Coppola, and then Martin Scorsese. Later, she confirmed that it was, indeed, Marty.

But according to Sinatra, this won't be a big gangster picture. The movie will show him innocent of true involvement with the Mafia: "I don't want him to be driving the getaway car. That would not be fair. But I trust him (Scorsese) implicitly." It seems that Scorsese is in "a reflective period and is willing to present the truth about her father." From the way Sinatra is talking about Marty's involvement, it sounds like he is in final negotiations, but hasn't yet signed.

Should this all get squared away and signed, it will be at least the sixth celebrity name added to Scorsese's roster in the last 4-5 years. There was Bob Dylan in 2005, then the Rolling Stones with Shine a Light, plus the upcoming George Harrison and Bob Marley docs, and The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt.

But what say you? Are you ready for Scorsese to take on Sinatra?

Last year, a screenwriter making his directorial debut -- Tony Gilroy -- went and got himself a Best Director Oscar nomination. William Monahan already has an honest-to-goodness Oscar on his mantel for writing The Departed, but it looks like he'll soon get a chance to broaden his horizons. He's picked up the rights to a 2002 novel by Ken Bruen called London Boulevard, and plans to direct the film himself. It's a crime story about an ex-con who gets a job as a handyman for a rich actress but soon gets embroiled in the violent underworld he used to call home.

One day after the latest Martin Scorsese/Leonardo DiCaprio film, Shutter Island, got sold to some European territories, they've added even more irresistible cast members. There's already Leo, Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams, Mark Ruffalo, and Ben Kingsley. Now The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Max von Sydow, Emily Mortimer, and Jackie Earle Haley have signed on for roles.

Based on Dennis Lehane's novel, the film is a period piece about two U.S. Marshals (DiCaprio and Ruffalo) in 1954 who investigate the disappearance of a murderess from a hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island in Massachusetts. "Chaos ensues for the two as they encounter a web of deceit, a hurricane, and a deadly inmate riot that leaves them trapped on the island." Von Sydow will play a hospital physician, and it looks like Clarkson is not the one who will get to play Rachel Solando -- it will be Mortimer. As for Haley, it looks like he'll be making the most out of his post-Watchmen uber-tough physique (the man is an absolute powerhouse these days) -- he'll be playing an inmate. Production will begin March 6.

Ya know, I can't even remember the last time I heard a cell phone go off in the theater. Then again, I've seen more press screenings than regular screenings in the past year, but normally I find the "crying baby" to be more of an issue. But the phone companies love to make these cutesy "Silence Your Cell Phones" commercials to play prior to a movie, and here's a new one from director Martin Scorsese. This one is pretty funny, and I love the way Scorsese runs into the bedroom and starts barking orders ("You call him Frank -- that's how detached you are"). I imagine this commercial will begin circulating in front of films due out this weekend.

Of course, it's not the greatest commercial Scorsese ever directed. That would have to go to A Key to Reserva; the Hitchcock-inspired wine commercial Marty directed last year. If you haven't seen that one yet, we've included it after the jump. Friggin' priceless -- one of the best commercials I've ever seen. Ah, Marty -- what would we ever do with you and your neurotic, fast-paced New York accent?

[Thanks Jim for the tip]

He's found a path through No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, and is now killing the darkness with the Rolling Stones concert film Shine a Light. (A documentary that Todd McCarthy calls "an invigorating musical trip down memory lane.") But the songs, they keep a-coming. Variety reports that Martin Scorsese is once again teaming up with Shangri-La Entertainment and Fortissimo Films (who collaborated on Light) to bring Bob Marley to the big screen in a currently untitled documentary. Man, it's funny to think that this is the same guy who almost became a priest ... (Marty, not Bob) He's come a long way.

This new project has been authorized by Marley's family, and Ziggy says: "I am thrilled that the Marley family will finally have the opportunity to document our father's legacy and are truly honored to have Mr. Scorsese guide the journey." While it may seem strange that the documentary already has a release date of February 2, 2010, it is the day that Marley would have turned 65. Marley's life was cut short by cancer in 1981, but before that, there were the songs that are still immensely popular -- well beyond the regular Rastafarian reach; tunes like "I Shot the Sheriff," "Redemption Song," and "No Woman, No Cry." With Marty at the helm, this should be a good voyage.

Taxi Driver. Street Scenes. Mean Streets. The Last Temptation of Christ. I Call First. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. What do all of these have in common? Each comes from good ol' Martin Scorsese, and featured Harvey Keitel. He's not just the bloody-car-solving Wolf, and he's certainly not only the Bad Lieutenant. Most of the above films were on the streets, one was on the road, and one, well, it was in the ancient, Biblical dust. So what could they have planned for their cinematic reunion 20* years after they last worked together? Variety reports that it will be on Daphna Kastner's Chaos, which she wrote and will direct, while Scorsese is the executive producer. It's worth noting -- she's Keitel's wife, so this casting announcement isn't an entirely huge surprise.

So it's not quite the re-team you'd expect (maybe that will come in the future!?), but for now, I'll take what I can get. The drama is set in New York City, but it isn't about a cab driver and a prostitute or mean streets. It's the story of "two lovelorn people whose lives intersect in the city." Fie those vague descriptions! One of the film's other producers, Michael Cerenzie, says: "Marty, Harvey, Christine and I all share a tremendous passion for Daphna Kastner's original script and a strong belief in her talent as a filmmaker." Since the script is already in the bag, they're hoping to finish up casting and get the flick shot in New York City before SAG's June 30th contract expiry.

*Edited, thanks to David!