My dad died four years ago, so Father's Day is bittersweet for me. Yet it's also an occasion to remember all the good times we had in connection with the movies.

Rather than recount the most uncomfortable experiences (fuming about the profanity in a movie I'd recommended the whole family see, while I cowered; listening to him awkwardly define "rape" after my pre-teen sister heard it in a movie I wanted to see), let me tell you about the time my brother and I convinced my parents to see The Sting.

We'd seen it early in 1974 and loved it; after it won several Academy Awards, we urged them to go and they finally agreed. (They'd reduced their moviegoing to once every few years by that point.) We were nervous, because The Sting had a little profanity and even a brief, risque dancing scene with Sally Kirkland (OK, my eyes popped out).

I am bracing myself for the negative comments on this one. Variety has announced that Mel Gibson is taking the lead role in Edge of Darkness, the big-screen adaptation of the 1985 BBC miniseries.

It will be Gibson's first acting role since Signs and We Were Soldiers in 2002. He will play a straitlaced police officer whose activist daughter is killed. He takes on investigation of the case, and discovers a trail of corruption that led to his daughter's death. Sounds just up Gibson's alley. He's been a fan of the miniseries for years.

It is being directed by Martin Campbell, who also directed the BBC miniseries, and penned by William Monahan, who was the Oscar-winner behind The Departed. Graham King (also an Oscar winner for The Departed) is producing, alongside Michael Wearing (who produced the BBC original). Filming is set to begin in August, on location in Boston. A solid team all around, and I don't think I've ever seen a bad BBC production.

• Abby Mann (1927-2008) - Oscar-winning screenwriter of Judgment of Nuremberg. He was also nominated for writing Stanley Kramer's Ship of Fools. He also worked on Vittorio De Sica's The Condemned of Altona, wrote John Cassavetes' A Child is Waiting and Gordon Douglas' The Detective, which starred Frank Sinatra, and created the TV series Kojak. He also appears in the documentary Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust. He died of heart failure March 25, in Beverly Hills. (Variety)

• Art Aragon (1927-2008) - Professional boxer-turned-actor who appears as himself in the Bob Hope comedy Off Limits and in Kur Neumann's film-noir The Ring. He also appears in John Huston's boxing picture Fat City and in the WWII film To Hell and Back. He died of complications from a stroke March 25, in Northridge, California. (NY Times)
• Paul Arthur (c.1948-2008) - Film historian, scholar and critic who taught English and film studies at Montclair State University in New Jersey. He was known for his writings on avant-garde and documentary cinemas and had made a number of short films, himself. He died of melanoma March 25, in White Plains, New York. (NY Times)

No Christmas is complete without at least one viewing of the opening scene of Lethal Weapon, in which the happy melody of Jingle Bell Rock fades into the vision of a coked-out, topless Amanda Hunsaker preparing to pay for all the sins of 80s excess with one perfectly executed swan-dive off a high-rise balcony and onto the waiting windshield of a car below. I won't be so brash as to call it the best scene in the entire Lethal canon -- the 'death by surfboard' sequence in Lethal Weapon 2 is tough to beat -- but it's certainly up there, and fun for the whole family. It's also one of several Christmas-focused scenes throughout the film, another favorite of which would be the coke-deal gone bad in the Christmas tree lot, with Martin Riggs unwisely revealing himself as a cop to the bad guys before he has the drop on them -- what is he, suicidal or something? -- and then getting into a full-blown gunfight with several hoods amongst all those pine needles.

Lethal Weapon has some similarities with another Christmas classic, Gremlins, in that it draws a lot of its negative energy from the idea that if your life sucks, it's going to suck a lot worse during the holidays. The film's most resonating scene -- the one for which a set trailer reportedly had to be ready-made at all times for whenever Mel Gibson felt like he could act the scene -- comes with Riggs being overcome by the absence of his recently-deceased wife (those South African bastards) and putting a hollow-point bullet into his 9mm and putting the 9mm in his mouth. Just as he's about to depress the trigger, you can hear Bugs Bunny shouting Christmas tidings on the television opposite, and it looks like it's all over. It's easy to overlook how good the acting is here -- Mel is really firing on all cylinders in the scene. I have no idea if he's ever done a DVD commentary for the film, but if he has I'd probably want to listen to hear what he has to say about that scene.

Back in the day, Mel Gibson was the 'it' guy. The tough loved him for roles like Mad Max Rockatansky, while the soft went gaga for his dramatic plights in flicks like Forever Young. It sort of seems like another lifetime ago. Now, having thrown some ultra-violent directorial gigs under his belt, along with a troubling night with booze and a sharp drunken tongue, it seems Gibson is heading back to what made him a star. Hello Magazine reports that his rumored acting project, Under and Alone, will begin filming next year.

Gibson will star in the film, which is the true story of Billy Queen -- an undercover ATF agent who infiltrated the Mongols Motorcycle Club in the late '90s. He became a "full-patch member," nabbed the title of treasurer, and was able to gather enough evidence for the arrests of many Mongols in 2000. The project is based on the agent's book, and has been adapted by Sugarland's Daniel Barnz and Ned Zeman, along with Gregor Jordan (Ned Kelly) -- the latter of whom will co-direct with Antoine Fuqua (Shooter).

There has been no word of upcoming directorial gigs for Gibson, but he does have another acting project cooking up called Sam and George -- the story of friends who reunite after one (Gibson) has served 20 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Is this the return of actor Mel? Is he going to take a long break from his violent filmmaking? Will audiences forget his past turmoil and love actor Mel once again?

[via Moviehole]

With a title like Tree of Life, it had sounded like Terrence Malick's next project was to be in line with his last. It even was set to star his lead from The New World, Colin Farrell -- co-starring with Mel Gibson. But Tree of Life doesn't appear to be about Spanish conquistadors and such -- which is good, since The Fountain already covered that territory. Of course, the actual plot of Malick's script is unknown, and despite the fact that it was going to be shot primarily in India two years ago, the same locations might not be used now that the project is up and running once again.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tree of Life could now star Heath Ledger and Sean Penn, who appeared in Malick's The Thin Red Line. The trade states the actors, as well as Malick, are in talks but that shooting is expected to begin in March. River Road Entertainment, which worked with Penn on Into the Wild and with Ledger on Brokeback Mountain is heading the project with the company's founder, William Pohlad, and Sarah Green (The New World) producing.

As I said, little is known about the film. THR mentions the usual "plot is closely guarded" irritant, and to rub in the annoyance tells us an insider could only say that it's a "complex drama." According to a bit of trivia on the IMDb, Tree of Life actually originated in the summer of 1978, when Malick began working on the project, which was then titled Q. Considered his most ambitious project, Q was originally a multi-character story set in the Middle East during World War I, but it also featured a prehistoric prologue with a Minotaur. Then, by the end of the year, the prologue became the whole film. Like The Fountain, it seems like the plot took place over a long, long time. Unfortunately, in 1979 the director and Paramount apparently had a falling out about money; after that Malick disappeared for twenty years.

Anyway, does it really matter what Tree of Life is about? The important thing is that we could get a fifth feature from Malick!

Okay, so George Miller is crazy enough to believe he can cast and shoot a live action Justice League of America film before the potential strike at the end of May, and now Moviehole reports that he's adding another flick to the mix; his long-awaited sequel: Mad Max 4. That's right, according to the site, the film is back on -- it has officially been green-lit, and the production offices have opened back up at Fox Studios in Sydney this week. Titled Mad Max: Fury Road, this isn't the first time the sequel has been attempted. The film was originally given a budget of $100 million, back when Mel Gibson was still attached to star, but conflicts in Africa (where the film was to be shot) pushed production into hiatus. For the past few years, Miller has been eager to re-start Fury Road, claiming back in March that he was still moving ahead, but without Gibson in the lead role -- opting instead for a "younger face."

Now, as Moviehole points out (via one of their very reliable sources), pre-production on Mad Max: Fury Road shall commence immediately, and there's also a possibility it will be released in theaters before Justice League. If two films aren't enough, why not throw on a third? Yep, aside from JLA and Mad Max, Miller has also begun pre-production on Happy Feet 2. Of course, the animated pic will take a few years to make, so I can't see that taking up too much of his time this winter. There's no word yet on what the Mad Max sequel will be about, but I imagine since Miller's looked at almost all of Young Hollywood for potential roles in JLA, he may have already found his Gibson replacement. What do you think about all this? Is Miller getting too far ahead of himself by taking on both projects at the same time? And, admit it, but don't you kind of wish that whole Justice League thing would just quietly go away? Personally, I'd much rather see a Mad Max sequel, regardless of Gibson's involvement. But that's me.

"I need to try to write this post without pissing off a whole mess of people," Erik said to himself as he read an article on the top 10 most powerful Christians in Hollywood. Yes, such a list does exist, and unfortunately this Jew is nowhere to be found on it. Let it be known that I have nothing against Christians, or any religion for that matter, but this list just cracked me up. Over on Hollywood.com, they've posted a list (compiled on BeliefNet.com) of the 10 most powerful Christians in Hollywood (however the original list contains 12). First off, I'd love to know their definition of 'powerful.' Powerful how? Like, the number one person on the list can talk to Jesus whenever he wants, however he wants -- and, like, the number four person on the list can only communicate with Jesus through text messaging? I don't get it. But do we really need to get it?

Why don't you go ahead and take a wild guess as to who the number one most powerful Christian in Hollywood is. Yup, Mel Gibson. He likes to drink, he likes to drive, and he likes to spit out Anti-Semitic remarks at the police officers who pull him over whilst drinking and driving (hey, why not combine two lovable past times into one -- it saves time!). Here are the other nine most powerful Christians in Hollywood: 2. Denzel Washington. 3. Patricia Heaton. 4. Tyler Perry. 5. Ralph Winter. 6. Angela Bassett. 7. Martin Sheen. 8. Martha Williamson. 8. Kristin Chenoweth. 10. Philip Anschutz. Okay, I can understand how Anschutz, the 31st richest person in America, might make the list, but how does Chenoweth (who's about to star in the upcoming Space Chimps) rank higher than him? How is she a more powerful Christian?

I'd still like to know how they define 'powerful?' Over on BeliefNet, here's their reasoning behind the list: "We chose them from dozens of candidates, in consultation with insiders and observers who are part of the Christian-Hollywood scene. Those who made the Beliefnet Power Dozen are here because they have the clout to choose their career direction, while keeping their faith and even injecting it into their work in subtle or not-so-subtle ways." So, then, why not say most influential? Most spiritual? Most loved? Why use powerful? What do you make of the list? Is Mel Gibson really the most powerful Christian in Hollywood?

Recently, director Quentin Tarantino said that he'd love to "make a cool sex movie that would take place in Stockholm, with a couple of Americans visiting a couple of Swedish friends ... just going out, drinking, having a good time, hooking up." Yeah, tell it to The Weinstein Co. -- I'm sure after Grindhouse, they'd love to take a chance on a Tarantino sex flick, considering the fact that it would almost certainly be rated NC-17. While Tarantino might be able to imitate other sexy directors to the best of his ability, we all know there'd be no originality and, most likely, it would stick to one level below porn ... but with a kick ass soundtrack.

With that in mind, Vulture put together a list of ten directors who would make an even unsexier movie than Quentin Tarantino -- going so far as to imagine how the directors themselves would pitch it. Among those on the list, we have folks like Oliver Stone ("It would take place in Vietnam, with a couple of American GIs visiting their friends . . . just going out drinking, committing atrocities, hooking up"), Paul Greengrass ("It would take place in London, Vienna, Prague, Bangkok, Sydney, and New York, with an international spy searching for the truth of his existence. In between waterboardings, he hooks up with his CIA handler"), M. Night Shyamalan ("It would take place in Philadelphia, with a guy having sex with a bunch of women, but in the end, you would find out that the main character has been hallucinating it all, and actually he's just been masturbating"), Woody Allen ("It would take place in New York, with a guy reliving the women he's loved over his life, in homage to Fellini's 8 1/2. I would play the man and would have sweaty sex with Scarlett Johansson, Beyoncé Knowles, Lauren Conrad, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Emily Blunt"), and my personal favorite, Mel Gibson ("It would take place in ancient Egypt, be performed completely in hieroglyphics, and consist of 117 minutes of a slave being beaten to death.")

Swing on over there to check out the rest of the list, and the quotes, then come back here and see if you can come up with your own. Which unsexy directors did they leave off the list? Are there any other directors out there who couldn't direct a sexy movie even if their life depended on it?

Although good ol' Mel Gibson might have stirred up controversy over his accuracy with Apocalypto, he made many Christians happy with his treatment of Jesus in Passion of the Christ, so it's no wonder that a Polish priest is looking at the filmmaker to make a biopic on his life. And what makes the news even sweeter -- it's a pretty wacky priest to boot! Like attracts like, I guess. Who better to tackle controversy than a man who's no stranger to it himself? The Age is reporting that Polish priest Henryk Jankowski is trying to get Gibson to film his life story because Mel is "a great man and an honest Catholic."

By "honest," I can't help but wonder if that's due to anti-Semitic rumblings. See, while Jankowski is a Catholic priest who opposed the communist government in the 80's, he's also stirred up his own controversy for what many say are anti-semitic comments -- ones that got him suspended from preaching for a year. Me, I'm kind of hoping that Mel does take on the project, because this priest is definitely one of a kind. He has this Henryk Jankowski Institute, and according to The Age, there is a plan for "Jankowski T-shirts, cigarette-lighters and other gadgets to help finance a potential film." But this isn't the first priestly merch to hit the market. He has his own brand of wine called Monsignore, he's planning to open bars across Poland and he's even planning his own perfume line. It's so strange that it doesn't seem real. Jankowski says that Gibson is "a distinguished artist. His Passion was a real masterpiece." What are the chances that the priest expects some sort of epic film in the same vein as Passion? I mean, the man definitely idolizes himself to some degree, with all the merch and all. I don't know about you, but this is one train wreck I have to see.