Back in January, I blogged about the BBC show The Thick of It getting the feature treatment. The film, tentatively titled In the Loop, will be set in the same world as the television show, but it hadn't been determined whether the same characters would pop up. According to the latest post over at The Hollywood Reporter, it seems that the production is going half-fresh. This is particularly noteworthy because the actors are James Gandolfini, David Rasche (United 93), and ... My Girl Anna Chlumsky. Yes, Anna his swam out of the ether and right to BBC remakes!

The film will focus on the inner workings of US and British government agencies and international relations, Chlumsky will play a State Department official, Gandolfini will play a general, and Rasche has signed on to play an undersecretary of state. On the British side of things, Peter Capaldi, Chris Addison, and Paul Higgins from the series are starring with Tom Hollander and Gina McKee.

A few new bits of info have hit the net regarding the third and final installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Not much has been said about Captain Jack's last trip (well, we tried, but Disney made us remove the news) and so any small bit of tasty goodness is worth reporting. According to Jim Hill via his website, the man has gotten his hands on the plot summaries for four of Disney's highly anticipated films due out in 2007. Along with POTC part 3, he dishes the dirt on Meet the Robinsons, Ratatouille and Enchanted.

With a working title of Pirates the Caribbean: At World's End, the plot description does seem a bit vague, but still manages to give up a couple spoilers, depending on how much you know and how hard you look for them. As expected from the title, look for sh*t to hit the fan as our favorite characters collide in some sort of climactic battle, while navigating their way through treachery and betrayal. The actual description isn't too far off from the one I just gave you, but feel free to check it out for yourself.

However, one small tidbit did surface out of the mouth of Tom Hollander, who will be playing the role of Lord Cutler Beckett in Dead Man's Chest. According to the actor, Keith Richards will indeed be making a cameo appearance in World's End, most likely as Captain Jack's father. Previous rumors had him possibly playing a role in Dead Man's Chest, but due to conflicts with that whole Stones thing, the casting remained up in the air. Hopefully it's true this time -- I know my fingers are crossed.

[via JoBlo]

Bad movie lovers, rejoice -- your prayers have been answered. Here is a craptacular bonanza the likes of which hasn't been seen since Howard the Duck. Actually, this film climbs to even dizzier heights than that one, climbing and climbing until it reaches the outer troposphere of good-badness. Rarely have I seen such an explosive boomerang of misdirected creativity. Land of the Blind supposedly drops us into a 'nameless' time and place, but the problem is that there's nothing nameless at all in writer/director Robert Edwards' universe. Recognizable history, architecture and costuming have all been boosted from the real world and re-arranged to some confusing purpose. The film's focus is on a Stalinist dictator with British henchmen who lives in a giant Hindu palace, enjoys American basketball, attends pagan funerals where bodies are set afire, and watches vaudeville routines. It's as if some sample-happy Martian Quentin Tarantino decided to make a film about life on Earth for an audience that knew nothing about it. There's nothing wrong with anachronism, of course. The HBO western drama Deadwood mixes and matches language from different eras, and the result is brilliant. The problem with Land of the Blind is that there is no artistry whatsoever in the usage. Everything is willy-nilly.