If I know our Eugene Novikov at all, his face is like mine in that it registers somewhere between the two pictured at the right when it comes to the news that The Brothers Bloom, writer-director Rian Johnson's follow-up to his nifty noir Brick, has been bumped back from October 24th (an admittedly crowded weekend) to a limited bow on December 19th, followed by a wide release on January 16th of 2009.

When the fairly reliable Box Office Mojo first mentioned the change, I balked at the thought, but now Johnson has confirmed it on his own message board, saying "There were a few reasons for the move: October and November are crowded as hell, it's a tough tough market, especially for a smart unique film like ours, and we'd have a week or two at the most to sink or swim. Whereas concentrating on a couple markets for awards consideration in December, then pushing the wide in the more open January slot just seemed like a better use of resources."

Wait -- what's that? Eugene gets to see it in a week's time up at Toronto? Excuse me, but I'm suddenly feeling much more like Bang Bang...

• While it might have seemed like Rinko Kikuchi dropped off the cinematic circuit after making waves with Babel, the young actress has kept busy and will soon be seen in the likes of The Brothers Bloom and Shanghai. But that's not all: The Hollywood Reporter posts that she's in talks for Isabel Coixet's next film, Map of the Sounds of Tokyo. A tale of dual identities, the film is said to focus on a fish-market worker who is also a contract killer. It's not clear whether she is that worker, or will have another part in the film. Whatever the case, it'll be nice to see Rinko in something new.
• In a completely different vein, there's a new rumor on Elm Street. Forget Smallville stars -- according to Ace Showbiz, the reigning nightmare king Robert Englund was on Loveline recently, and mentioned the new movie. He said he's heard talks about Billy Bob Thornton taking on the role. I must say -- that's completely out of left field, but I'm not hating the idea. How about you? Could Billy Bob be a good fit for the striped sweater?

The Oscars are coming!!! The Oscars are coming!!!!!!

I don't know why I'm yelling ... except that some of my friends are in such a frenzy about Oscar parties, Oscar gifting suites, Oscar after parties, Oscar fashion predictions, Oscar betting ... Oscars, Oscars, Oscars ... well I don't have much of a choice. But soon I'm going to have to make some choices. Like what gifting suites will I go to, where will I watch the awards and what party am I going to attend? Not to mention ... where will I put my money? That's right: Who will I bet on. (Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet or Penelope Cruz for best actress?) Will Forest Whitaker, who is one of my all-time favorite actors, take the prize for best actor? (That would be great.) Man I don't know, it's pretty tough this year. Plus ... WHAT IN THE HELL WILL THEY BE WEARING?

In 2005 Rian Johnson wowed us all with Brick, a teenage detective story drenched in noir-speak. Since then, we've been anxious to see more from the writer/director. In August of last year, we got snippets of what he was up to when news was released about his follow-up, The Brothers Bloom. A few months later, Rachel Weisz signed on, and then....nothing. It seems that perhaps he's been waiting for just the right people. Oscar-winner Adrien Brody has signed on to play the younger of the Bloom brothers, a veteran team of con-men, and Rinko Kikuchi has signed on as their "sexy and secretive accomplice." As the story goes, Brody's character wants to quit the business, and the brothers take on one last job -- conning Weisz's mysterious millionaire, who turns the tables on them.

Considering the calibre of actors Johnson is getting to surround the Bloom brothers, I can only imagine what sort of talent he plans to get for the other brother. The Hollywood Reporter previously reported that the leads would be "thirty-something," but Brody is in his mid-30s and he's playing the "younger" brother, so maybe the elder Bloom could be.....Kevin Spacey? Philip Seymour Hoffman? Who would you cast as a modern-day con-man that embodies the style of the early 20th century? Johnson needs to start speeding things up if he wants to send this film to Cannes in 2008, like his producer, Ram Bergman, plans.