Flakes is a neighborhood breakfast fantasy -- a funky, retro shop dedicated to cereal. You walk in, pick your crunch of choice, and are instantly served a bowl of cereal that you can enjoy with the quirky members of your community. But it's not all Corn Flakes and Cheerios -- there's a large wall of selections from the new to the old, discontinued, and hard-to-find varieties. It's history in a bowl, served without the capitalist cleanliness.

In a film, there's a number of ways this can play out that could make for a memorable and lovable indie experience. However, while Flakes mixes the worlds of High Fidelity, Reality Bites, Clerks, and Empire Records, it does so without the verve and life that made each of those lovable classics.

Back in 2005, there was a short film called Enfants Terribles. (See the trailer here.) Written and directed by Terry Nemeroff, the black comedy starred Peter Facinelli, Leslie Zemeckis, and the wonderful Christopher Lloyd -- and focused on the uber-cheery themes of incest, murder, and grave robbery. Now MovieWeb reports that the film is getting the feature treatment under the title Thicker, and according to IMDb, it's about a brother and sister who try to steal back an inheritance that their newly-dead mother had buried with her.

All of the actors have returned (with different names), and will join the likes of Jason Lee, who has a lead role, along with Clea DuVall, J.K. Simmons, Peter Stormare, John Turturro, Rachel Miner, Amanda Plummer, Jon Gries, Bobby Cannavale, James LeGros, Frank Whaley, Jon Polito, and Glenn Plummer -- basically, one heck of a supporting cast. Seriously, it's like a who's who of character actors and well-known indie peeps.

At the very least, maybe this will help old-school Lee fans forgive some of his recent work. There's nothing like dark, deadly comedy to wipe away the Underdog. Production begins this May.

Calm down, they aren't filming Back to the Future IV in Manhattan's meat-packing district. But what they are filming there, or were filming a week or so ago anyway, is a music video for an R&B artist named o'Neal McKnight that will feature both Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown and the DeLorean, to boot. Apparently this McKnight guy is a "huge fan" of the BTTF series and was somehow able to talk Lloyd into reprising his character to create a BTTF-themed video for his hit song, "Check Your Coat." Donning the fright-hair and jacket and tool belt for the first time in a long time, Lloyd as Doc Brown encounters McKnight, who is playing a coat-check clerk, and "the duo leap into the past and future, giving McKnight a glimpse into his life and relationship with a beautiful lady whom he meets while at the dance club." BTTF.com has a bunch of photos from the shoot as well as video and a detailed account of the goings on, and it's actually quite interesting to look at.

I'm not all that surprised that Lloyd would don the outfit again, frankly -- he's never struck me as an actor who is a) all that choosy in terms of what he does or b) one who is likely to avoid his most famous creation. In fact, I'd wager that if there were any opportunity at all to continue the adventures of Doc Brown on the big screen, he'd be there in a heartbeat. Never gonna happen, of course. Robert Zemeckis and Co. have said until they're blue in the face that they are not interested in continuing the series -- they would never want to and Universal would never be interested in doing future installments that would have to be sans-Marty. Oh wait ... Zemeckis is Mr. Motion Capture now ... hmmm ... interesting.

[via Moviehole]

Student films must be graded on a curve, and Flakes is basically a student film. If you overlooked the fact that the three leads are all moderately high-profile actors, I'd estimate the budget to be less than twenty thousand dollars. Most of the action takes place in or around the titular establishment, a cereal bar in which slackers and stoners assemble on a daily basis to eat their favorite cereals -- everything from standard fare like Cheerios to rare delicacies like Fruit Brute -- and make of themselves a quirky movie character. The two leads are a boyfriend-girlfriend, Neal Downs (Aaron Stanford) and the improbably named Miss Pussy Katz. (Zooey Deschanel) Their boss at Flakes is a 60-ish hippie played by Christopher Lloyd, and his performance is the biggest thing hindering my plan to give Flakes a better review than it deserves. Lloyd comes from some long forgotten school of acting where naturalism is never as a good a choice as creating a character with such a forced way of speaking that no one could ever mistake them for a human being.

With a movie like this, they base their plot on whatever is on sale at the 'cliched plot device' factory, and it appears that what was on sale that week was 'business is threatened by newer, flashier rival across the street.' A nerdy businessman comes walking into Flakes one day and is impressed by the concept but dispirited by the stoner attitude -- he doesn't get what Flakes is all about, man! -- and determines to open an upscale cereal bar directly across the way which will put Flakes out of business. This causes much tension. Miss Pussy Katz -- I can't believe I keep having to type that -- and her boyfriend have a number of rows over how Flakes should respond to the crisis at hand and the loyal customers alternately declare their loyalty or decamp to the new establishment across the street. As bad as this all sounds, there are a couple of things about Flakes that I really liked, and I'm more than happy to point them out and to remind everyone that this is from the director of Heathers.

If this isn't one of the stranger projects announced this year, featuring one of the stranger casts, then I dare you to top it. The Hollywood Reporter tells us that a live-action Jack and the Beanstalk flick is in the works. Not only that, but it seems Jack discovered a group of way-passed-their-prime actors to star while up there in the sky. Perhaps the Beanstalk is a time machine, because the last time these folks were popular -- well, let's just say it's been awhile. We're talking Katey Sagal, Wallace Shawn, Gilbert Gottfried, Chevy Chase, Christopher Lloyd and James Earl Jones. I swear -- that's the cast! Next thing you know, they'll be trying to dress up Fred Savage so that he can age-down and play Jack.

As it stands right now, James Earl Jones will play the giant (what, did you think they'd make Darth Vader an errand boy?), Segal will play Jack's worrisome mother, Shawn (who I've always found to be one of the most overlooked character actors) will play the dude who sells Jack the beans, Gottfried will somehow become the live-action goose that lays a golden egg and Chase will play the father of a family who gets lost while on their way to Wally World. Yeah, I wish. Actually, he'll have some sort of cameo as a guy in a labyrinth. As of now, Jack has not been cast. Gary DePew will produce; he was also a line producer on Warner Bros.' Hansel and Gretel, and produced Children of the Corn III and Children of the Corn IV. Well, at least all the films have something to do with children. Beanstalk will mark the first of ten low-budget family films that will be produced through DePew's Avalon production company. Looking at this cast, I can only imagine what will come next: Little Red Riding Hood, starring Cyndi Lauper? Heck, I'd see it.

Now don't you go and get too excited -- it's not like the three boys are coming back together for Back to the Future 4. But, as Jim Hill reports, Zemeckis wants to reunite with good friends Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd for the first time since Back to the Future Part III in the recently-announced Christmas Carol remake thingy. Keep in mind this won't be a straight-up live action film; instead, it will be shot similarly to the way Zemeckis did The Polar Express and the upcoming Beowulf; a performance capture sort of thing, and the first project to be produced by ImageMoversDigital (the performance capture company set up by Disney with Zemeckis). Additionally, Hill also reports that Zemeckis hopes to cast Tom Hanks in the film as well.

As we previously told you, Jim Carrey has already signed on to play a number of parts in the film, which actor Bob Hoskins first broke the news on when he told Empire that Zemeckis wanted him to play Mr. Fezziwig. Apart from the ultra creepy Ebenezer Scrooge, Carrey will play the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet-to-Be. If all goes according to plan, Hanks would play Bob Cratchit, Lloyd would play Marley's Ghost and Fox would play -- get this -- Tiny Tim. Hill later goes on to discuss how some execs are already worried about both Fox (because of his illness) and Carrey (because he's a troublemaker), and so the way it is now might not stand. I mean, Fox, Lloyd and Hanks haven't even been officially announced yet as part of the cast, so don't go geek out until things are final. But it would be cool to have Doc and Marty back together again on screen, even if it is this performance capture stuff. I think it would also be remarkable if Fox can make it through the entire production without any major problems, and still deliver a fine performance. Until we hear more ...

It's either that, or save the clock tower, it's your choice. Granted, if you help save the clock tower, then future generations may forget when it was struck by lightning, and of course that'll strand Marty McFly in the past forever, but we digress.

There is a massive and mind-bogglingly complete Back to the Future timeline on Wikipedia that is the effort of some seriously fanatical fans. It details events that were cut from the original scripts (for instance, did you know that Doc Brown and Marty met in 1983 when Marty showed up to sweep the Doc's garage?), the animated series, and meticulous picking apart of the films themselves. It's a real labor of love, and it's in danger.

Wikipedia has some pretty strict policies regarding verifiability, and that leaves the BTTF timeline somewhere between limbo and a hard place. Check out the discussion page where people are chiming in on whether to keep the article or not. So far is a resounding "keep it!" but if you want to give your own opinion on the matter, roll up your sleeves and dive right in. Wikipedia is by the people, for the people.

My two cents on the matter is "keep it." But it goes a bit deeper than that. I've probably seen Back to the Future at least 20 times, and it's ingrained into the folds of my brain (perhaps that explains a lot). This timeline is really an amazing work of fans that detail everything you could possibly want to know about the history of Mill Hill Valley, Doc Brown, the McFly clan, and anything that even comes close to being touched on in the films (Pepsi Free? Invented in 1955, thank you very much). It's a tribute to the appeal of these movies, and a great demonstration of how fans can keep something alive long after the last bits of popcorn have been swept up.

I'm not sure what it is about these animated features (Easy paycheck? No make-up? They can work in their pajamas?), but everyone who is anyone shows up to lend their voice. Case in point: Universal has snagged one helluva cast for The Tale of Despereaux, based on Kate DiCamillo's award-winning children's book.

Story interwines the fates of three misfits: a banished mouse, a rat who loves the light and a young servant girl with cauliflower ears. Joining the pic's cast are -- deep breath -- Justin Long (as the mouse, Despereaux), Dustin Hoffman (as the rat), Tracey Ullman (as the young girl), Kevin Kline (as a cook for the king who is also banished), Robbie Coltrane (as a palace jailer), Ciarán Hinds (as the devilish leader of the sewer rats), Christopher Lloyd (as an old, blind mouse), William H. Macy (as Despereaux's father), Stanley Tucci (as a genie) and last, but certainly not least, is Sigourney Weaver (as the narrator).

Mike Johnson (Corpse Bride) will direct, while Gary Ross (Pleasantville) will pen the script. Currently, Universal is eying a late 2008 release. Though its cast isn't as grand, Pixar hits theaters this summer with their own mouse tale, Ratatouille.

Since The Devil Wears Prada is opening this week and A Prairie Home Companion is still in theaters, it seemed like a good time to hunt down a photo of Meryl Streep in her younger days, to see how much she has or has not changed. I had planned to find something appropriate from Julia or even Manhattan. But one thing led to another, and suddenly I was staring at a page on Christopher Lloyd's theatrical career, blinking at a photo of Lloyd and Streep onstage together.

The above photo is from the 1977 production of the musical Happy End, staged at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The musical is about a female Salvation Army lieutenant who tries to reform a Chicago gangster ... it sounds like Guys and Dolls in reverse. The photo was surprising for so many reasons: I didn't know Lloyd had an extensive theatrical background (I would have liked seeing him as Fagin in Oliver!), I would never have guessed he'd been in a musical with Streep, and both of them look so young, too. The photo originated on Simply Streep.com, which has nine photos from the production. The Web site is a good resource for Streep fans or anyone wanting to browse through an impressive photo gallery of the actress from her early theater and film years through the present.