It has been a long, long time since former Cinematical EIC Karina Longworth wrote about Catherine Zeta-Jones being cast as Lana Turner in Stompanato. So long, in fact, that I was only a mere commenter at the time, with hopes and dreams of becoming a Cinematical blogger (yes, that was me commenting on her post). And, more importantly, so long that I was pretty sure the project had either disappeared or at least lost its stars, which included Keanu Reeves as Turner's gangster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato. Well, according to The New Zealand Herald, Zeta-Jones is still on board, though the script is also still in development. Also, I've discovered that Reeves did indeed drop out of the film. And I've decided to assume that Adrian Lyne is no longer directing (though maybe he is).

I'm especially excited about this film because I recently read Turner's autobiography, Lana: The Lady, the Legend, the Truth, and finally learned all I needed to know about the Stompanato scandal. For those unfamiliar, I'll keep it simple: Turner, who was married like a million times, had a gangster boyfriend named Johnny Stompanato. Only she didn't know he was a gangster. She didn't even know his name in the beginning. But he was abusive and obsessive and was badly affecting her career, so one day she stabbed him. Oh, wait, that was her teenage daughter, Cheryl, who done it. Yet many people have alleged that Turner was the actual murderer (still in self-defense, of course).

Anyway, one thing I remember from her autobiography is that she wrote about being asked who would play her in a biopic. She didn't say Catherine Zeta-Jones. Actually, she claimed the woman hadn't been born yet. At the time of the claim, Zeta-Jones had already been born. So much for Turner's ability to see the future.

It's time for another round of Film Blog Group Hug, where we uncover all kinds of hidden goodies written by film bloggers all around the Web:

• The Lana Turner Blog-a-Thon took place last week. You can read a number of bloggers' thoughts on the actress and her film career, not to mention viewing some striking photos.
• Film Freak discusses the films of John Hughes during the writer-director's Eighties teen-movie heyday. I would disagree with the statement that "John Hughes was the Quentin Tarantino of his day," but I was never a big fan of his films, beyond a very slight, guilty fondness for Sixteen Candles. (I think I identified too much with the older sister in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.)
• Peter at Alarm! shares his reaction to Jean-Luc Godard's film Band of Outsiders. He's nearly convinced me to see it myself, even though I normally have trouble watching Godard's movies.
• The House Next Door reminds those lucky New Yorkers about Film Forum's "Essential Wilder" series this month. The Cinecultist has already attended one of the screenings, A Foreign Affair. I love living in Austin, but did a single theater in town do anything to note Billy Wilder's 100th birthday? Nope. Boo.