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It's been almost a year since Alpha Dog first premiered at Sundance, and since then it's had to face a very real battle inside the courtroom as lawyers and criminals fought hard to block its theatrical release. On the surface, Alpha Dog presents itself as an ensemble gang-bang full of pretty faces, sexy bodies and hard drugs. Dig a little deeper and you'll find a painful real-life story that's almost impossible to believe and, at times, just as impossible to sit through, save for dazzling performances from Ben Foster and -- whaddya know -- Justin Timberlake.

Remember that warning your parents would always give you whenever a situation was just about to spill over into punishment land? It went something like, "Keep horsing around and someone is going to get hurt." Well that never applied to Johnny Truelove (Emil Hirsch) and friends, as horsing around and getting hurt were one in the same. Rich punks with rich parents, all caught up in the world of selling dope as if it were the perfect after-school job for a kid trying to make something of himself. Although that something always amounted to nothing, yet it's hard to see that when every day is a rowdy party -- complete with sex, drugs and just a twist of violence -- enough to whet the appetite of any moviegoer on a cold winter's night.

Sometimes logic has no place in movies, which isn't necessarily good or bad. Some seemingly unfilmable material has made its way to cinematic gold, whether due to its sheer size or structure. Other books hand the plot over on a nice, silver platter, only to have it come across as total muck on screen. And, if the adaptation doesn't seem to be able to translate as a clear bit of fiction, there are a number of films that have successfully employed the use of on-screen chapter markers and other previously-thought-of-as-textual devices.

Miramax's latest acquisition is, therefore, at a crossroads between the road of greatness and the road of wretchedness. Scott Rudin has just optioned the rights to Marisha Pessl's first novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics. The woman definitely hit it out of the ballpark with her first published work. Before grabbing interest from Miramax, Calamity was listed in the Top Ten of 2006 by The New York Times. The novel centers on Blue Van Meer, a young intellectual and daughter of an academic who goes from moving from town to town to staying put in North Carolina -- which leads her into a murder mystery. The book is also infused with a slew of literary references from Shakespeare to Emilio Gadda. CHUD is definitely on-target with its Veronica Mars reference. Who cares about structure when you've got a tough teen detective?

I'm all for these guild awards, with their specific categories and distinct recognitions, but I'm not sure I understand the Costume Designer Guild's honor for "Distinguished Actor." If the reasoning is that the recipient of this award is someone who looks good in costumes, or makes costume designers look good, then Helen Mirren makes sense as this year's winner. But this reason doesn't explain why the guild is also giving Sandra Bullock an award. Suddenly, the logic falls apart -- especially for anyone who has seen Miss Congeniality 2.

The costume designers don't need to give actors any more praise. And Mirren certainly doesn't need any more trophies this year. To me, the guild's recognition of the different genres of costume design is interesting and appealing enough without some unnecessary star-kissing.

The categories for the Costume Designer Guild Awards separately acknowledge achievements for modern costume, period costume and fantasy costume. The lumping of these genres together into the Best Costume Design Oscar doesn't give credit to the differences between them, and it often ignores the difficulty of modern costuming, which many people assume is as easy as the everyday act of getting dressed in the morning.

Bollywood is no longer something to be ignored. It was understandable in 2001, when Ghost World hit screens, that many people had never heard of legend Mohammed Radi or seen him sing Jan Pehechan-Ho -- let alone seen ladies and gents go dance crazy without surf boards and bikinis. However, the power of Indian film cannot be ignored -- its volume and ticket sales are the largest in the world and the sensation is sliding out of India bit by bit.

Tonight, the legions of Bollywood fans in Toronto are in for a special treat, and not some quarter-costing sweet from a gumball machine. Tonight, Mani Ratnam's new Indian romantic drama Guru will have its world premiere at the Elgin Theatre. For any of you who think that $10, $15 or even $20 is too much to shell out for a film, try a top price tag of $500 -- and this isn't because the film won't come out for a while. It opens in Canada on Friday. Yes, Bollywood has gotten big enough in the multicultural city of Toronto that they'll charge upwards of 10 times what a premiere sells for at TIFF. And money isn't the only thing to hit high numbers -- city officials are expecting up to 10,000 people to hit Yonge Street in hopes to see one of the film's stars, Abhishek Bachchan or Aishwarya Rai. And they're probably not exaggerating too much. When Babel and the Indian film Never Say Goodbye premiered on the same day, Bollywood fans dwarfed those anxious to see Brad Pitt. Watch out, Hollywood! The Bollywood craze is hitting North America.

Korean film is undeniably on the rise. Cinematic offerings from South Korea are not only getting wider international attention, but the pictures are also becoming increasingly ambitious, which has meant great things for their box office. In 2006 the country had two large record-breakers. At $84 million, there was King and the Clown, and topping that at $90 million is the well-beloved scary tadpole movie, The Host. Yet, both of these offerings might get left in the dust in 2008, if current plans are any indication.

Vision Link Global, a Korean film agency, has announced a large co-production this week. The US, France, China, and of course, South Korea will invest $50 billion won to bring the currently-named Melanie's Violin to the big screen. First, that's won, not dollars, in case you were thinking that was some exorbitant amount for a movie -- 50 billion won is roughly $53,000 -- and only the beginning of the film's financing. The movie, which has plans for a simultaneous release worldwide (there will be no delayed release for Melanie!) is about an acclaimed Jewish violinist who escapes the Nazi Holocaust by fleeing to Shanghai. There, the musician teams up with a Chinese pupil to "bring faith, hope and freedom through his music." Not surprisingly, it is being considered the "Asian Schindler's List."

The international involvement isn't just monetary. The film was already offered to one big name -- Roman Polanski, who had to turn it down, the film crew will include people who have worked on Schindler's List and The Pianist, Ji Park will head the movie's music and according to KBS Global, the big-name director, whoever it ends up being, might be joined by big Hollywood names. It will be interesting to see what style the film takes, if it will be the strange, immensely colorful style of Clown, or something more subdued and Western-influenced.

Does it ever end? As per usual, Batman On Film is spewing out random names of people they claim to be swirling around the Harvey Dent/Two Face role in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins follow-up, The Dark Knight. As most of you are probably already aware, Billy Dee Williams played Harvey Dent (the District Attorney version) in Tim Burton's original Batman flick, while Tommy Lee Jones picked up the character when he re-emerged as Two Face in Batman Forever.

Nolan, on the other hand, seems like he wants the same actor to play both Dent and Two Face (even though there's a pretty good chance the latter baddie won't show up until the third film), and so casting in that respect is not only crucial, but probably pretty tough. You need an actor capable of playing a bold, straight-laced attorney -- but at the same time, someone comfortable with shaking off the good guy image and taking on the nutty, villainous psychopath. Is that something Jamie Foxx can do? After all, he is one of the three possible contenders mentioned -- along with Edward Norton (now, I love that choice) and Eion Bailey.

It's important to note that Norton's people have denied all involvement ... though, even if they did know something, there's no way they'd spill anything. Also, Bailey, like Cillian Murphy (who wound up in the part of Scarecrow in Batman Begins) was one of those folks competing for the Batman role before it went to Christian Bale. So, could Nolan pull a "Murphy" and stick Bailey in another role? Obviously he digs the guy, so anything is possible. As far as Jamie Foxx goes, we have no idea how his name found itself on this list ... buuuut, it certainly does raise a few eyebrows.

More Dark Knight news after the jump.

Sure, there are a lot of benefits to speed dating. You speed through a bunch of unimpressive candidates and get face-to-face time with people who are also looking for someone to spend Friday night with. At the same time, how much do you learn from a first impression and can you make a value judgement based on a speedy self-sales pitch? The Berlin International Film Festival seems to think so. Amongst the many opportunities for filmmakers to meet financial backers in the German city is their own form of swift selling.

When case studies on financing films gets to be too much, prospective sellers and buyers can partake in "speed matchings" and "country tables." This will be great for the people and places that will inevitably be zeroed in on. Of the US projects up for grabs is The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes from Joe Dante, who is responsible for two eighties classics -- Gremlins and Innerspace. Two other notable names looking for backing come from the Maple Leaf Land of Canada -- Sarah Polley, actress-turned-director and Clément Virgo, who was responsible for last year's super-saucy Lie with Me.

So, sure, this will be great for them. Their names have magnetic pull and are sure to attract much interest from those with cash to burn. However, what of the other films that make up the 37? I don't envy them and the stellar sales pitch they've got to create. Then again, maybe this is the way to go. With the clock ticking, maybe the world can finally stop some pictures before they ever get made ... but that is just wishful thinking.

Finally! It's been awhile since we first reported on Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut -- a film now called Synecdoche, New York -- and I, personally, have been itching to know more more more. The only info available back in August was that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Michelle Williams had signed on to star in the pic, which supposedly revolves around an "anguished playright and several women in his life." Anguished playright? Several women? Where in the world was Kaufman -- who has made a name for himself with his larger-than-life ideas (see: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation and Being John Malkovich) -- going with this?

Thanks to the Hollywood Reporter, we now know Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton and Tilda Swinton will join Hoffman and Williams in a story that has Hoffman playing a theater director who comes up with an idea to stage a play inside a warehouse. Oh, but not just any play -- we're talking about one that attempts to utilize a life-size replica of New York as its backdrop. That Kaufman and his wacky ideas. Spike Jonze, along with Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Likely Story (Anthony Bregman's new digs) and Kaufman himself will produce, while Kaufman wrote and will direct the pic.

Keener, a long-time Jonze/Kaufman collaborator, is set to play Hoffman's first wife in the film, Williams will play his second wife, Morton his on again, off again lover and Swinton has come on as Keener's best friend and mentor to Hoffman and Keener's daughter. The story itself goes a lot deeper than what's being presented to us on the surface, so for those interested in knowing more, feel free to skip on over to AICN for a tasty, spoiler-esque script review. As of now, it appears Synecdoche, New York will hit theaters sometime later this year.

We get at least one of these suckers each year -- some city slicker goes on a trip to this remote, exotic area and, while there, somehow falls in love, re-discovers themselves and learns the true meaning of life. One recent example would be Russell Crowe's character in A Good Year, or how about Diane Lane in Under the Tuscan Sun. Well, add Sandra Bullock's name to that list because she's just lined herself up to produce (though her Fortis Films) and most likely star in an adaptation of Marina Palmer's memoir Kiss and Tango (or, perhaps a more fitting and familiar title could be, A Good Year Under the Argentinian Sun).

Basically, you already know what happens -- some down-and-out American woman, unhappy with where life has taken her, decides to travel to Argentina where -- whaddya know -- she meets a handsome foreign man, learns to tango, shares a few kisses and decides to live out her days rediscovering herself and the meaning of her existence. Fox 2000 has snatched up the rights to Palmer's memoir and tapped Nicole Perlman to pen the script, which will be based off Palmer's own real-life experiences as an ex-advertising exec who quit her gig to play Sandra Bullock in a future film about herself.

Anyone else itching for Bullock to take on a role with a little more -- I don't know -- umph?

We've been following the Mamma Mia! trail for quite a while now, from when it was first brought up to its official stamp in the trades yesterday. And, in between, we even reported on a few of those casting rumors -- the most important being (it seems) the actress who will take on the role of Mamma. Early rumors suggested Michelle Pfeiffer might take on the part, what with her involvement in the new film version of Hairspray and, well, I'm sure no one has forgotten about her fantabulous performance in Grease 2. Other names floating about the pot were Nicole Kidman (odd, but I can see why), Meryl Streep (odder) and Kim Basinger (oddest).

Now, only a day after Mamma Mia! once again swept through our office, comes word that Meryl Streep will play Donna -- a single mother who looks to reunite her daughter on her wedding day with a trio of ex-boyfriends, one of which might be the long lost father she never knew. Now before you start jumping down my throat for saying Streep is an odd choice for the role, I will acknowledge that the woman is known for occasionally belting it out, most recently in Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion. And, out of the four women mentioned above, I feel Streep is probably the best choice -- not the perfect choice -- but one that will definitely entice folks into splurging on a ticket.

Hey, it's better than John Travolta in a dress, right?