It looks like Frank Sinatra's youngest daughter and film producer, Tina Sinatra, has let the cat out of the bag. While talking with Sun Media recently, she discussed a new biopic on the way, from Universal, that would focus on dear old Rat Pack Dad. She started by cryptically saying that the man who would take on the film was "the most prominent Italian-American filmmaker" in Hollywood. First, they guessed Coppola, and then Martin Scorsese. Later, she confirmed that it was, indeed, Marty.

But according to Sinatra, this won't be a big gangster picture. The movie will show him innocent of true involvement with the Mafia: "I don't want him to be driving the getaway car. That would not be fair. But I trust him (Scorsese) implicitly." It seems that Scorsese is in "a reflective period and is willing to present the truth about her father." From the way Sinatra is talking about Marty's involvement, it sounds like he is in final negotiations, but hasn't yet signed.

Should this all get squared away and signed, it will be at least the sixth celebrity name added to Scorsese's roster in the last 4-5 years. There was Bob Dylan in 2005, then the Rolling Stones with Shine a Light, plus the upcoming George Harrison and Bob Marley docs, and The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt.

But what say you? Are you ready for Scorsese to take on Sinatra?

Last year, a screenwriter making his directorial debut -- Tony Gilroy -- went and got himself a Best Director Oscar nomination. William Monahan already has an honest-to-goodness Oscar on his mantel for writing The Departed, but it looks like he'll soon get a chance to broaden his horizons. He's picked up the rights to a 2002 novel by Ken Bruen called London Boulevard, and plans to direct the film himself. It's a crime story about an ex-con who gets a job as a handyman for a rich actress but soon gets embroiled in the violent underworld he used to call home.

Remember the news that we were going to see the first Bob Marley biopic? Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter, it's not going to happen any time soon.

The problem centers on obtaining the rights to Marley's music for the film. Despite the fact that the film is being produced by Marley's widow, Rita, the sale of her book rights naturally didn't include rights to use any of the music. But one would assume, given the connection, that using Marley's music would be a given.

Not so. Because Martin Scorsese's documentary has already licensed the songs (and the documentary is being produced by the family owned Tuff Gong Pictures and Steven Bing's Shangi-La company), there is a great reluctance to license them for the movie. There is suspicion that the Marley family is using it as a negotiating tactic to up the licensing price, a claim their lawyer steadfastly denies.

Concert films are constantly at war with themselves. If the musical act is transcendent, then a filmed document will never come close to reproducing the experience of seeing and hearing the act live, in the same way that an ordinary photograph can only serve, at best, as a reminder of a moment. Even a great, exact reproduction is still just a copy, not the original. If the act is merely average or worse, then why bother to record it?

The Rolling Stones have been captured performing in concert on film or tape numerous times, so the challenge that lay before Martin Scorsese was to do something different. After all, this is the man who redefined concert films with The Last Waltz in 1978, in which he eschewed the prevailing wisdom that a concert had to include generous allotments of time devoted to the concert goer's point of view. Instead, Scorsese kept the action tightly focused on the stage, allowing the audience to enjoy the interplay between the members of The Band and various guests who shared in the group's final performance. He balanced that with lively interviews; in the process, he helped to establish Robbie Robertson as a viable solo personality in the eyes of the film industry.

I should amend the previous paragraph to read like this: "The challenge that lay before Martin Scorsese was to do something different or so I thought!" As it turns out, my expectations for Shine a Light were far too high.

One day after the latest Martin Scorsese/Leonardo DiCaprio film, Shutter Island, got sold to some European territories, they've added even more irresistible cast members. There's already Leo, Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams, Mark Ruffalo, and Ben Kingsley. Now The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Max von Sydow, Emily Mortimer, and Jackie Earle Haley have signed on for roles.

Based on Dennis Lehane's novel, the film is a period piece about two U.S. Marshals (DiCaprio and Ruffalo) in 1954 who investigate the disappearance of a murderess from a hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island in Massachusetts. "Chaos ensues for the two as they encounter a web of deceit, a hurricane, and a deadly inmate riot that leaves them trapped on the island." Von Sydow will play a hospital physician, and it looks like Clarkson is not the one who will get to play Rachel Solando -- it will be Mortimer. As for Haley, it looks like he'll be making the most out of his post-Watchmen uber-tough physique (the man is an absolute powerhouse these days) -- he'll be playing an inmate. Production will begin March 6.

Cinematical has just received these exclusive photos from Martin Scorsese's upcoming Rolling Stones documentary, Shine a Light. The film, which premiered at this year's Berlin Film Festival to rave reviews and is due out in theaters on April 4, provides extensive coverage of the band's two-night engagement at New York's historic Beacon Theater. Additionally, the doc also features historical footage, interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from decades past. Shine a Light marks Scorsese's third musical-themed documentary, after he previously covered the Band and Bob Dylan in The Last Waltz and No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, respectively. Next up, apparently Marty will be filming a documentary on the life and times of Bob Marley.

A Rolling Stones show directed by Martin Scorsese? I'm there. You? Check out the gallery below for more images from the film. Shine a Light hits theaters on April 4.

Ya know, I can't even remember the last time I heard a cell phone go off in the theater. Then again, I've seen more press screenings than regular screenings in the past year, but normally I find the "crying baby" to be more of an issue. But the phone companies love to make these cutesy "Silence Your Cell Phones" commercials to play prior to a movie, and here's a new one from director Martin Scorsese. This one is pretty funny, and I love the way Scorsese runs into the bedroom and starts barking orders ("You call him Frank -- that's how detached you are"). I imagine this commercial will begin circulating in front of films due out this weekend.

Of course, it's not the greatest commercial Scorsese ever directed. That would have to go to A Key to Reserva; the Hitchcock-inspired wine commercial Marty directed last year. If you haven't seen that one yet, we've included it after the jump. Friggin' priceless -- one of the best commercials I've ever seen. Ah, Marty -- what would we ever do with you and your neurotic, fast-paced New York accent?

[Thanks Jim for the tip]

He's found a path through No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, and is now killing the darkness with the Rolling Stones concert film Shine a Light. (A documentary that Todd McCarthy calls "an invigorating musical trip down memory lane.") But the songs, they keep a-coming. Variety reports that Martin Scorsese is once again teaming up with Shangri-La Entertainment and Fortissimo Films (who collaborated on Light) to bring Bob Marley to the big screen in a currently untitled documentary. Man, it's funny to think that this is the same guy who almost became a priest ... (Marty, not Bob) He's come a long way.

This new project has been authorized by Marley's family, and Ziggy says: "I am thrilled that the Marley family will finally have the opportunity to document our father's legacy and are truly honored to have Mr. Scorsese guide the journey." While it may seem strange that the documentary already has a release date of February 2, 2010, it is the day that Marley would have turned 65. Marley's life was cut short by cancer in 1981, but before that, there were the songs that are still immensely popular -- well beyond the regular Rastafarian reach; tunes like "I Shot the Sheriff," "Redemption Song," and "No Woman, No Cry." With Marty at the helm, this should be a good voyage.

Taxi Driver. Street Scenes. Mean Streets. The Last Temptation of Christ. I Call First. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. What do all of these have in common? Each comes from good ol' Martin Scorsese, and featured Harvey Keitel. He's not just the bloody-car-solving Wolf, and he's certainly not only the Bad Lieutenant. Most of the above films were on the streets, one was on the road, and one, well, it was in the ancient, Biblical dust. So what could they have planned for their cinematic reunion 20* years after they last worked together? Variety reports that it will be on Daphna Kastner's Chaos, which she wrote and will direct, while Scorsese is the executive producer. It's worth noting -- she's Keitel's wife, so this casting announcement isn't an entirely huge surprise.

So it's not quite the re-team you'd expect (maybe that will come in the future!?), but for now, I'll take what I can get. The drama is set in New York City, but it isn't about a cab driver and a prostitute or mean streets. It's the story of "two lovelorn people whose lives intersect in the city." Fie those vague descriptions! One of the film's other producers, Michael Cerenzie, says: "Marty, Harvey, Christine and I all share a tremendous passion for Daphna Kastner's original script and a strong belief in her talent as a filmmaker." Since the script is already in the bag, they're hoping to finish up casting and get the flick shot in New York City before SAG's June 30th contract expiry.

*Edited, thanks to David!

There's going to be some shiny, happy people at Berlinale this year. At least, some that get to bask in a big, musical, cinematic light. According to the folks over at indieWIRE, Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones concert flick, Shine a Light, will open the 58th Berlin International Film Festival when it kicks into gear on February 7. That's not a bad start to the fest, which has already announced some of the films that will compete this year. In December, titles like Errol Morris' S.O.P.: Standard Operating Procedure were announced, and just last week, flicks like Julia and Elegy were added to the roster.

But back to the Stones. The footage for this film was shot during two concerts at New York's Beacon Theater back in 2006. But this wasn't your average concert-production affair. As iW describes, Scorsese's film used sixteen cameras and collected over half a million feet of concert footage. That's compounded by all the big names involved, which I mentioned in a post about the film last July -- such as Oscar-winner Robert Anderson and cinematographer John Toll. But larger-than-life old men prancing around isn't all you can look forward to in the film. There's also performances by Jack White and Christina Aguilera (who gets a very-close wiggle with Mick Jagger), and behind-the-scenes footage. You can check out a trailer on Moviefone right here.

What goes around comes around. Back when the wonderful laserdisc was just beginning to find its stride, and the serious movie buff could actually find most of the titles he or she was longing to see, the DVD came along and all but wiped out this entire format, this entire subculture. Now, at the dawn of 2008, it looks as if the war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD may be coming to a close. Will one or the other format catch on? Will the regular DVD become extinct? No one can say. But when it comes to movies I'd like to see, none of this matters. 2007 brought us some amazing DVDs and DVD box sets, and the following is my wish list for titles I'd like to see produced in 2008.

(Note: I deliberately left off titles that are already available on import DVDs, such as Satantango, Celine and Julie Go Boating, Man of the West, Johnny Guitar, Lost Highway, Napoleon, The Dead, the Jean Vigo collection, and many more.)

1. Othello: 3-Disc Special Edition
In 1992, Orson Welles' daughter Beatrice authorized a "restored" version of the film that played in theaters. But purists claimed that her film deviated from what her father originally intended, and so the Criterion Collection released a laserdisc edition of Welles' original cut, the one that played at Cannes in 1952. Beatrice apparently blocked this earlier version, and so now only the 1992 cut is on DVD (and out of print besides). My fantasy DVD would be a three-disc box set (from Criterion, of course), collecting both the 1952 and 1992 cuts, as well as Orson's impossible-to-find documentary Filming Othello (1978), which is the last of his completed films I have yet to see. (There are clips of it on the Criterion Othello laserdisc.) On a side note, of Welles' thirteen completed films, seven are available on U.S. DVDs and four others are available overseas. That leaves only Othello and Filming Othello. Let's get on it!

Wonderful as the classic family Christmas movies can be, the overwhelming sugary sweetness in most of them can be a little off-putting to adult audiences. I know my friends tend to gravitate more towards the R-rated holiday fare -- Die Hard, Bad Santa, The Ref, etc. Lord knows Hollywood doesn't want to be bothered coming up with original ideas, so I'm proposing seven remakes of Christmas family classics -- souped up for 2008 and aimed at the 17+ crowd. I've set up the plots and even suggested a possible director for each. Enjoy...

Michael Moore's A Christmas Carol

In Michael Moore's return to narrative filmmaking, George W. Bush plays with his shiny new train set, sets out cookies for Santa Claus, and falls asleep in his footie pajamas while watching Power Rangers. He is awoken in the middle of the night by The Ghost of Christmas Past, who takes Georgie through his days of frat parties, draft dodging, drunk driving, and cocaine abuse. Even faced with hard evidence, Bush denies any involvement. The Ghost of Christmas Present takes Bush deep into a post-Katrina New Orleans, where Bush cracks jokes and enjoys some caramel corn. Stunned by Bush's lack of feeling, the ghost takes him to Iraq, where he sees what Christmas is like for U.S. soldiers. Bush yawns. He is sleepy. The Ghost of Christmas Future shows Bush a world ravaged by the effects of global warming and America hated by countries all across the globe. "Not real concerned about my legacy, Future Dude" chuckles Bush, and he falls asleep safe in his bed. Bush wakes up twelve hours later, having learned absolutely nothing. As the movie ends, he runs over a homosexual couple with his truck and kicks a sick orphan in the face.

"This fall, film director Martin Scorsese embarked on a secret experiment in filmmaking. A project which could have bold repercussions on future film preservation. Or maybe not." So begins a fascinating and unusual mocumentary/short film hybrid that is also part Freixenet wine commercial. Confused? Alright, well in the mockumentary portion -- which initially fooled several media outlets (and me) into thinking it was the real deal -- Scorsese has discovered 3 1/2 undated pages from an unmade Alfred Hitchcock project called The Key to Reserva. Scorsese has the nifty idea to make those pages into a Hitchcock-by-way-of-Scorsese short film, done in the style of Hitch. "It's one thing to preserve a film that has been made," says Scorsese. "It's another to preserve a film that has not been made."

This portion of the short is highly entertaining, with Scorsese glowing like a pregnant woman over the prospect of tackling one of his idols. He is such a high-strung dude, and the funniest moment is when the interviewer attempts to put his grubby hands on the script pages and Scorsese flips out. As for The Key to Reserva, boy did Scorsese nail the Hitchcock style. It's the ultimate homage. Scorsese cast classically handsome Simon Baker in the lead, and he uses the North by Northwest score and some super sweet old school effects (dig that balcony fall!) to complete the illusion you're watching an old Hitch classic. It's a bummer we'll never see a feature-length version of The Key to Reserva, but it's cool to have this little taste of Scorcock. (Hitchsese?) If you've got nine minutes, be sure to head here to check out the short (or watch it above). And if you could pick any modern-day filmmaker to do a film in another director's style, whom would you choose? Michael Bay doing Ingmar Bergman?

The casting news just keeps piling up for Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese's upcoming adaptation of the Dennis Lehane novel. (Films of Lehane's books have a pretty damn good track record -- see Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone.) Scott told you that Scorsese will be teaming (yet again) with Leonardo DiCaprio, who will play the lead role of U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels. I told you that Mark Ruffalo signed on to play DiCaprio's partner, U.S. Marshall Chuck Aule. Christopher told you that Ben Kingsley is on board as Dr. Cawley, "the chief physician at a Massachusetts hospital for the criminally insane." And now I shall tell you that Michelle Williams is playing DiCaprio's wife in the film.

Variety reports that the drama "revolves around the trip made by Daniels to a remote New England island in 1954 to figure out how a multiple murderess escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane. He is grieving over the recent death of his wife, who was killed in a fire by one of the inhabitants of the facility." I'm about a hundred pages into Shutter Island, and have not yet been made aware of this wife/patient connection, but I do wonder how large a role Williams will have in the film. The only involvement her character has had in the novel so far has been brief flashbacks. I realize I'm setting myself up for meanie readers to spoil the book's secrets in the comments, but please don't! I'm just speculating. Regardless, I'm loving the novel and can't wait for the film...

He's always a great actor, but Ben Kingsley has a habit lately of working with undeserving directors (e.g. Uwe Boll) and appearing in undeserving movies (e.g. A Sound of Thunder). Give him a great director (Spielberg, Glazer) or even a good one (Attenborough, Levinson) and he shines. So, it's an enormous treat to learn he's finally working with Martin Scorsese, appearing in the newly Oscar-winning director's next film, Shutter Island. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Kingsley (or Sir Ben, as he's typically referred to on set) will play Dr. Cawley, the chief physician at a Massachusetts hospital for the criminally insane who must play host to two U.S. marshals played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone), the plot follows the marshals as they investigate the disappearance of a mental patient/inmate. While on the case, they experience a hurricane, get stuck on the eponymous island thanks to a riot and of course, "encounter a web of deceit."

Best known for being the fourth collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio, Shutter Island will also hopefully be known as the movie in which Sir Ben has a Massachusetts accent. As a cranky "enigmatic" doctor, though, he could be from anywhere (and with Kingsley, I truly mean that literally). Actually, this could be a rare Lehane adaptation where none of the main characters have that Boston-area intonation. Regardless, it should be entertaining to watch Kingsley as a slightly villainous physician who performs illegal brain surgery. Picture a cross between Don Logan, his character from Sexy Beast, Cosmo, his character from Sneakers, and Xavier Fitch, from Species. I would add in his loony psychiatrist character from the upcoming The Wackness, but I've only seen one scene and you likely aren't familiar with any of it. Of course, under the masterful direction of Scorsese, Kingsley will probably give us something fresh, like no character of his we've encountered before. I see a fifth Oscar nomination on the horizon.