Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Elegy (click image to enlarge), starring Penélope Cruz, Ben Kingsley, Peter Sarsgaard, Patricia Clarkson and Dennis Hopper. Sweet cast, huh? Based on the novel The Dying Animal by Philip Roth, and directed by Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me), Elegy follows a cultural critic (Kingsley) who views his life as being in a state of "emancipated manhood" until, one day, a well-mannered student (Cruz) waltzes in and awakens a sense of sexual possessiveness in her teacher, the critic. In other words, her touch is toxic ... to him, at least. Seems rather exotic, and with two dynamos like Kingsley and Cruz in the lead, here's hoping Elegy awakens the sexual possessiveness in all of us. Wait ... that would be a bad thing, right? Okay, keep the sex and remove the possessiveness. There ya go -- I'm seeing it. Check out the trailer over on Moviefone.

Elegy hits theaters in limited release on August 8.

One of my favorite films from Sundance, Phoebe in Wonderland, is set to open the 10th RiverRun International Film Festival, according to indieWIRE. The film, which stars Elle Fanning, Felecity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson and Bill Pullman, is about Phoebe (Fanning), a little girl struggling with behavioral problems and relating to others.

Phoebe finds hope through her eccentric drama teacher (Clarkson), who casts her as the lead in the school's production of Alice in Wonderland. Meanwhile her parents (Huffman and Pullman) struggle with balancing their work with their family life, and with accepting that raising their daughters to be creative and non-conformist also means accepting Phoebe as she is, and helping her navigate her way through the world.

If you're a big fan of Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, then I have some potentially good news: the actors' latest film consists of little more than the two of them ... sitting in a bar ... talking ... for about 80 minutes. And since these are a pair of exceedingly fine actors, the experience of Blind Date is not what you'd call unpleasant -- but it sure isn't all that exciting.

Based on the 1996 Theo Van Gogh film of the same name, Blind Date is about an estranged married couple who, despite clearly loving one another, have all sorts of painful problems to work through. To that end, the couple stage a series of "blind dates" at the husband's seedy lounge -- most of which don't go off all that well. Toss in a clueless bartender who pops up every once in a while, and that's the long and short of Blind Date -- two great actors trying to breathe some life into a premise that begins as simplistically "symbolic," and gets progressively less subtle as the film moves forward.

When I saw Ira Sachs' Married Life at the New York Film Festival last fall, I had a lot of problems with it. But one thing I didn't have any complaints about is how gorgeous Rachel McAdams looks in the film. And now, thanks to Rope of Silicon, you can see for yourself how amazing the actress looks as a '40s-era blonde beauty. My favorite photo is the third, in which McAdams almost looks like a dead-ringer for Kim Novak in Vertigo. But I'd be fine with looking at any of them. In fact, I'm not just a fan of the way McAdams looks in the film; I also love the three-piece style of Chris Cooper, the open-collared playboy thing that Pierce Brosnan has going on and the partially see-through top that Patricia Clarkson wears in the second-to-last pic. (Clarkson is so stunning in the film, she actually gives McAdams a run for her money, and makes it hard to believe Cooper would cheat on her with anyone.) But aside from simply looking terrific, all four of the stars of Married Life give wonderful performances, as usual.

The film, which opens in limited release March 7, is based on John Bingham's 1953 pulp novel Five Roundabouts to Heaven. Cooper and Clarkson play a married couple, and Cooper's character has a mistress (McAdams). He makes the mistake, though, of introducing the girl to his best friend, played by Brosnan. Not knowing that his mistress is having another affair with his best friend, Cooper's character decides to murder his wife, because it's a more humane thing to do than break her heart. It's a very Hitchcockian plot, which makes sense since Bingham's books were adapted into episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. And it's a good enough movie to recommend, especially because of those great-looking actors. I just wish that Sony Classics would do away with Brosnan's awful and unnecessary voice-over before releasing the movie into theaters.

The initial footage for Lars and the Real Girl, which came out last month, presented a quirky, jaw-dropping world where Ryan Gosling gets a Real Doll to cure his loneliness. It looked to be a strange, black, indie comedy -- lots of laughs and possible lasciviousness. But that just skims the surface of this film, and to call it a comedy is to ignore the profound depth of Craig Gillespie's feature. While the title insinuates that it's a wacky comedy, it's actually a smart, well-crafted, and heart-wrenching film that smoothly discusses the intricacies of loss and depression. It has many humorous moments, but they serve to relieve tension, not drive the story.

Lars is a young man who spent much of his life alone with his widower father. When his dad finally passed on, his brother, Gus (Paul Schneider), moved home with his wife, Karin (Emily Mortimer). With his brother back and his father gone, Lars retreated not only to the garage, but further into himself. Karin, however, is determined to break Lars out of his shell and get him involved in the family. It is obvious that he cares about them, but at the same time, he uses any excuse possible to avoid Karin's invitations.

I had always really liked Felicity Huffman, one half of Hollywood power couple Filliam H. Muffman, as an actress. And then I saw her screeching, ridiculous work in the screeching, ridiculous movie Georgia Rule. I'm usually pretty forgiving for such cases of bad judgment -- but I just can't let this one slide. I'm going to need a couple great performances from Huffman to scrub miserable scenes like her roadside freakout in Rule from my mind. Hopefully she'll redeem herself in Phoebe in Wonderland, a comedy from first-time director Daniel Barnz (incorrectly listed as Ben in the Variety article announcing the film), who also wrote the screenplay. Huffman will join Patricia Clarkson, Bill "Not Paxton, dammit, it's Pullman!" Pullman, and Elle "Not Dakota, dammit, it's Elle!" Fanning for the movie.

Fanning will play "a rebellious little girl who clashes with the rule-obsessed authority figures in her life. She seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher," played by Clarkson. The announcement doesn't give further details, but if I had to guess, I'd wager Huffman and Pullman play Fanning's strict parents, and that her teacher helps her use her imagination to expand her horizons? Barnz, who apparently loves movies with the word "land" in the title, also wrote Sugarland, an upcoming lawyer drama about exploited migrant workers with Robert DeNiro and Jodie Foster. Foster will also direct that one. And let me just use this space here at the end of the article to beg you not to see Georgia Rule. Unless you're a fan of child molestation humor, there's better ways to spend your hard-earned cash. For shame, Huffman!

According to a recent report in Variety, the Lakeshore Entertainment adaptation of Philip Roth's 2001 novella Dying Animal has added Peter Sarsgaard (whose latest film Year of the Dog opens this week), Dennis Hopper and former Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry to its cast. These three will be joining the previously cast Penelope Cruz, Ben Kingsley and Patricia Clarkson. In the film, Cruz will play a graduate student who has an affair with a much older professor played by Kingsley. Cruz's character returns years later with a revelation. According to Wikipedia, the novella Dying Animal marked the third appearance of Kingsley's character, Professor David Kepesh, who had previously appeared in The Breast and The Professor of Desire. No word on how these three new additions to the cast will fit into the story.

The film is being directed by Isabel Coixet, adapted by Nicholas Meyer (perhaps best known for his involvement in the Star Trek film franchise) and produced by Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi. Lakeshore International will distribute the film overseas, selling territories at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. The company is also currently in production on Pathology (the story of two medical students trying to commit the perfect murder), the Clive Barker adaptation Midnight Meat Train and the serial killer film Untraceable. Since the Variety article refers to the film as untitled, I can envision a meeting in which someone said, "Dying Animal? Who's going to pay to see a movie about road kill?" Whatever it ends up being called, it starts shooting next month in Vancouver.

You think I talk about The Descent a lot? You should have seen me a few years ago when May finally showed up on DVD after I'd been gushing over the thing for forever and a week. (Seriously, no messing around: If you haven't at least rented May yet, please click right here and then come on back. I'll wait.)

So the reason I brought up May is this: It was directed by a guy called Lucky McKee, and his second film (The Woods) has been sitting on a shelf in a Sony broom closet for about 18 months. It recently played a few film festivals (to enthusiastic response), but the studio doesn't seem willing to spend any money on the flick. So now you can plan to buy/rent the DVD on October 3rd. And yes, you read it right: The Woods stars not only Agnes Bruckner and Patricia Clarkson... but Bruce Campbell, too.

What boils my proverbial potatoes is this: Sony can release a pathetically wretched remake of The Fog on 3,000 screens, yet something like The Woods gets jammed in a drawer, forgotten and then shuffled off to Blockbuster to collect dust. This is why the horror genre gets no respect. (Rant over.) Ah well, May didn't play the 'plexes either, and that flick's a freakin' masterpiece.

I don't know about you, but when I think of a movie, set in the 1940s, about a man who cheats on his wife and decides the best solution is to kill her, rather than force her to go through the "shame of a divorce," I think satirical, Cary Grant-starring screwball comedy. Now, as far as I know, Cary never plotted to kill any of his movie wives, but that plot fits him perfectly, doesn't it? He'd be perpetually exasperated at the wife's ability to unknowingly avoid countless attempts to end her life, and everything about the movie would make it clear that his character is a (lovable, dapper) moron.

I bring this up because that very story is about to be brought to the big screen by Ira Sachs, who also wrote the screenplay (he did the same double-duty on last year's inexplicably praised Forty Shades of Blue). Here's the one big difference (apart from the fact that my fantasy star is long-dead): Sachs' film, entitled Marriage, is a drama. Wha? So, he's going to make a serious movie about a guy sincerely trying to spare his wife by killing her? That sounds ... interesting. I guess. Maybe they're setting it in the 1940s so that the period atmosphere will make his actions seem rational, or something.

In talks to star in the film are Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Rachel McAdams (She better be a freaking daughter, and not the girlfriend -- is she even half Brosnan's age?), and Patricia Clarkson; Sachs hopes to begin shooting in a few months.

Either someone drugged her and forced her hand to sign the contract or this Friday the 13th prequel/sequel may not be as bad as we all know it will turn out to be. Word has it that Oscar nominee (Yes, I used the words Oscar and Friday the 13th in the same post -- that has to set some sort of Cinematical record) Patricia Clarkson has signed on to play Jason's psycho mother in the upcoming film.

Patricia Clarkson? Academy Awards? Friday the 13th? All we need now is to somehow link this whole thing back to Kevin Bacon. Coincidentally, we can! Bacon played one of them horny teens in the original Friday the 13th which, again, coincidentally, was the last time Jason's mom played a significant role in the series. Sure, there was that bit part in Freddy vs. Jason, but we don't count that. This is bigger. You may recall that mama Voorhees was the one seeking revenge for her son's death and killing off everyone in the first film. It wasn't until the second Friday the 13th when Jason took over... and our hearts soon followed. As far as plot goes, rumor has it the film will take place in both the present (Jason hunting and killing as usual) and the past (Patricia Clarkson trying desperately to ruin her career). Should be fun folks! 

UPDATE: It looks like this rumor is officially false. According to Bloody Disgusting via Platinum Dunes, they haven't even started casting the film yet. Phew, I knew it was too bad to be true.