After the record-breaking success of Night Watch and Day Watch (and an early film for B-movie maven Roger Corman, Arena), Khazakstan-born, Russia-based director Timur Bekmambetov makes his English-language big-studio debut with Wanted, a bruising, brawny action film starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie. Bekmambetov spoke with Cinematical in Los Angeles about making the jump to big-money moviemaking, the hidden world of secrets behind Wanted's look, the action-film apprenticeship of James McAvoy, working with Angelina Jolie and how " .... we (film makers) are all vampires. ..."

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You've seen the sexy photos of Angelina Jolie in Wanted (if you haven't, check 'em out), and you've watched the behind-the-scenes video. Now it's time to see the action-packed trailer that goes with them. The movie, another in a long line of assassin/hitman movies coming out these days, stars Jolie as a gun-toting, fast-car-driving woman called "Fox", who must team up with a novice called "Wesley" (played by James McAvoy), who has been dragged out of his cubicle to be trained as an assassin. Why? Because that's what his estranged father did for a living -- in fact, his father was the best in the world until he was recently killed. And like father, like son, even without experience, Wesley must have the goods. Well, even if he hasn't, he's at least got Morgan Freeman, always playing the God-like, wisdom-filled mentor, to guide him.

So, what makes this different from any other movie you've seen? I mean, it's got Jolie looking straight out of Mr. and Mrs. Smith (though maybe a bit skinnier), Freeman from anything he's ever been in, McAvoy acting clueless as if he were still in Uganda, some comedic scenes involving a greenhorn with a gun, and the always-recycled gag of having a shoot-out in the toilet paper aisle of a supermarket. With all that, do you even need something new? Well, there does appear to be a cool sequence involving the destruction of a train. And that sideways-shooting machine gun is pretty neat. Is that enough? Oh, and a strange kiss between the extremely mismatched Jolie and McAvoy (he looks so small next to her). You've never seen that before.

Wanted is the English-language debut of Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov, who is still in the midst of giving us his Night Watch trilogy. Based on a comic book, it was adapted by 3:10 to Yuma's Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, with a rewrite from Dean Geogaris (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Crade of Life), In addition to those named, it co-stars Terence Stamp, Common and the versatile German actor Thomas Kretschmann (he was in The Pianist and King Kong and Baby Geniuses 2!). It hits theaters March 28.

Jean-Marc Vallee's The Young Victoria has been bringing together a solid cast, featuring names like Emily Blunt as Victoria and Rupert Friend as Albert, as well as Miranda Richardson and Jim Broadbent. Now the cast list is continuing to sweeten, and The Hollywood Reporter has posted that the added flavor is in the shape of Mr. Jennifer Connelly. Paul Bettany, who made a big splash in The Knight's Tale years ago, has joined the cast as Lord Melbourne, Queen Victoria's adviser, who taught her about government and politics. (If only all political advisers were that sweet.) That's not all -- Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong) is also joining the cast as Vic's uncle, King Leopold of Belgium.

The film, which was written by Gosford Park scribe Julian Fellowes, went into production in Britain on August 13. Obviously, looking at the name, the movie will focus on the beginning of Victoria's life -- being sheltered from child-like pursuits, taking the crown, learning politics and marrying the man who would one day become infamous for rather...ouch-worthy piercings. Luckily, this isn't a big special-effects production, so we'll get to see The Young Victoria some time in 2008.

You've probably heard something about the story by now: In early 2001 a German man was arrested for killing, disemboweling, cooking and eating another man. What makes this story particularly (ok, especially) bizarre is that the victim was a willing participant in the event! He actually wanted to be eaten! Obviously a story like this is entirely ripe for a movie adaptation, which is where Martin Weisz' Grimm Love (aka Rohtenburg or Butterfly: A Grimm Love Story) comes in. (Another film covering the exact same story, Marian Dara's Cannibal, is presently available on video. It's a lot more graphic, but not quite as engaging as Grimm Love.)

"Based on actual events," but using a fictional character for a framing story, Grimm Love focuses on American graduate student Katie Armstrong (Keri Russell), a committed researcher who finds herself absolutely obsessed with the story of flesh-eater Oliver Hartwin (Thomas Kretschmann), a rather sick man who's doing jail time for dining on his fellow man.

Given that we only know a few small snippets about Hartwin's life, Weisz cleverly juxtaposes Armstrong's story with early details from Hartwin's life. As Katie gets the sketchier stories about the killer's childhood, we're offered the anecdotes in flashback form, and as she gets a whole lot closer to the seriously slimy truth, the b-story material gets decidedly more ... icky. The whole (and admittedly languid) affair comes to a head with a powerfully compelling two-headed sequence: Katie gets to see the carnage on videotape as we switch back and forth to Hartwin's final descent. And it ain't pretty.