Now I know I'm not the only one who is fascinated by the prospect of watching the great Daniel Day Lewis singing and dancing in Rob Marshall's Nine. But the first trailer has been released on Apple for Marshall's adaptation of the Tony-nominated play of the same name, and if you were hoping for a glimpse of Lewis doing jazz-hands, then you're going to be disappointed. But, jazz-hands aside, after watching this trailer I think I may have to change my opinion of the directing talents of Mr. Marshall -- because Marshall's musical skills look better without Renee Zellwegger doing '3/4 shot' dance numbers while warbling her heart out.

Nine is based on the classic Fellini film, 8 1/2, and centers on the famous film director, Guido Contini. The story is set in early-1960s Venice, and on the eve of Contini's 40th birthday he is struggling to complete his latest film, and attempting to balance the women in his life. Those women include his wife Luisa (Marion Cotillard), his mistress Carla (Penélope Cruz), his muse Claudia (Nicole Kidman), his producer Liliane (Judi Dench), and his mother (Sophia Loren). But that's not all, because as Monika told us back in 2008, Stacy Ferguson (better known as Fergie) will play a whore from Contini's youth, and Kate Hudson also has a small role as an American fashion journalist. It's not often you get this many big name actresses in one film, but I'm sure Lewis won't have any trouble handling all that estrogen.

So to the strains of 'Be Italian' we finally get our first glimpses of the big-budget musical, and it looks like Marshall may owe a small debt to the style of Bob Fosse's production numbers once again. But that doesn't mean Nine won't be a good time at the movies for fans of both Broadway, and classic cinema. So take a look, and tell me what you think. Oscar contender?

Nine will arrive in theaters on November, 25th.

When I wrote about Nicole Kidman signing up for the next Woody Allen film in March, I bit my tongue and didn't mention my doubts. While I knew she could handle the material, I had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't come to fruition. This was not because I can see the future, but because many projects that she signs on for she inevitably exits -- Manderlay, The Reader, The Producers, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, etc.

And now she's out of Allen's latest ensemble piece, according to Variety. While she was a solid addition to the cast that boasts the likes of Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Josh Brolin, Naomi Watts, and Freida Pinto, there's now a big hole to fill before production kicks off in London this summer. So the big question is: Who will fill it this time, and who should?

For the films I mentioned above, Kidman was replaced with Bryce Dallas Howard, Kate Winslet, Uma Thurman, and of course, Angelina Jolie. (What a different world we'd be in if Pitt was matched with Kidman...) In other words, there's no tried and true Kidman replacement -- they run the gamut. Personally, I'd like to see someone like Maggie Gyllenhaal or Julie Delpy take over, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Woody's beloved ScarJo come to the rescue.

Who would you cast?

Maybe it's a strange question, but: Whatever happened to Nicole Kidman? Now I'm only partly kidding when I say that, because if you look at the woman who appears in this fancy new commercial for Schweppes, she bears no resemblance to the plucky redhead who wowed us in flicks like Flirting and Dead Calm. The 'Gossips' like to blame the current state of the Aussie actress on Botox or sometimes it's the 'curse of Tom Cruise', but really, I'd love to know when did Ms. Kidman turn into the porcelain faced robot we now see before us? Now before you get all offended, keep in my mind that I actually quite like Kidman as an actress, and despite Australia's failings as a film, at least Kidman was showing some signs of life; signs that have long disappeared in this glamorous soda ad.

The commercial was directed by Elizabeth's Shekar Kapur and produced by Ridley Scott, and Kidman has been transported to an Indian palace alongside Slumdog Millionaire's Rubina Ali and Bollywood star Argun Rampal. As for the commercial, well, I'll give Kapur some credit if he was taking a gentle shot at Kidman's 2004 Chanel ad (Kidman famously pocketed $12 million to star in that commercial), since the two are almost identical. But if he's not, then what you end up with is a bit of a mess with beautiful set design -- and I'm not even getting into the implications of the 'colonial exoticism' of Indian culture that drips from every frame.

It may be a whopping two years since Nicole Kidman signed on, but now it looks like the big-screen adaptation of Rabbit Hole is kicking back into gear -- and believe it or not, she's still involved! No backing out for Kidman, at least, not yet. Production Weekly's Twitter feed reports that Aaron Eckhart will fall into the Hole with Kidman, and that John Cameron Mitchell will direct. Yes, that's Mr. Shortbus.

As Erik explained a few years ago, this is one heck of a tear-jerker project. Think Lovely Bones without the heavenly aspect. David Lindsay-Abaire's play focuses on a couple who lose their four-year-old child in a car accident and try to cope with the loss. Along the way, family members try to help them through their pain, which gets complicated when the driver who killed their son seeks them out to get closure.

It'll be great to see Eckhart put aside his irresistible charm for a bit and deal with some heavy, heart-wrenching pain -- Two-Face without the hideous disfigurement and law breaking. But this just ... I can't imagine how this will play out -- how Eckhart and Kidman will play off each other, and just what a tear-jerking film will look like under the hands of the Hedwig/Shortbus filmmaker. Can you?

For a 70+ year-old man, Woody Allen knows how to reinvent himself and keep us on our toes. These last few years, he's really upped the ante as he broke out of New York -- tennis, journalism, brotherly intrigue, and vacation romance. But while he might have gone back to Manhattan and back to his beloved May-December theme with Whatever Works, this is not a slip back into a New York state of mind. Word hit last month that Allen's next project would be an ensemble piece, with Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins leading the cast. And now his next London-based project is getting even better.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that Nicole Kidman has signed onto the cast, which also now boasts an international array of drool-worthy actors -- Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, and Naomi Watts. THR points out that this mixes Spain, India, Britain/Australia, Austrailia, Britain, and USA. While an international cast is notable, I wonder if this is some hint towards the theme of this yet-untitled, plot-under-wraps project.

Then again, Woody likes to keep us guessing, so anything is possible. I just hope it has the same sort of bright whimsy as Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Production kicks into gear this summer, so we should hear more then.

There's no doubt Baz Luhrmann is one of the more colorful writer-directors in Hollywood. His latest film, Australia (now out on DVD), has just recently become the second biggest Aussie flick of all time, while his other films -- like Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet and Strictly Ballroom -- have gone on to become huge fan favorites around the world. Because we have so many Baz fans here at Cinematical, we decided to do a little something different and allow several of our writers to contribute questions ranging from Baz's work on Australia to the much talked-about musical number he put together for this year's Academy Awards. We also touched upon the writer-director's future film slate, including his planned adaptation of The Great Gatsby and whether he'd like to once again dabble with the musical-movie down the line.

Contributing to this interview were Scott Weinberg, Peter Martin, Elisabeth Rappe, Jessica Barnes and Erik Davis.

Cinematical: When Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman's characters were being developed for Australia, did you have any particular classic Hollywood pairings in mind?

Baz Luhrmann: I very overtly drew inspiration from the films that inspired me to make this one as they were classic romances. The coupling of the main characters is the most important decision that you can make. Indeed in Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman I was looking for a Gable/Leigh, Bogart/Hepburn, Redford/Streep - like chemistry.

Cinematical: What's the toughest part about producing a film that "performs" below expectations?

BL: Of course when you work on a movie with many people for a very long time it was sad that in the US we failed to get an audience in on the opening weekend. Having said that, I am pleased that the film has gone on to do so well throughout the rest of the world and in our home country

Vanity Fair is known for their ambitious (and sometimes controversial) photo spreads, and whenever one pops up online -- with the exception of those ultra funky Hitchcock recreations -- the name most likely associated with them is Annie Leibovitz. She's worked as the featured portrait photographer for VF since 1983, and some of her most buzzed-about photos include the very pregnant (and very naked) Demi Moore Vanity Fair cover, as well as the sexed-up Miley Cyrus photo that caused quite the stir last year. Some of the more geeky Leibovitz images can be found in her series of Disney photographs featuring celebs recreating classic scenes from our favorite Walt Disney movies (read more about that here and here).

This time around, Leibovitz's Something Just Clicked collection for Vanity Fair features 10 partnerships that helped generate more than four dozen Oscar nods this year. The image above, featuring Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger (The Risktakers), is of course a composite, but it's one of my favorites -- especially the way they position both Nolan and Ledger, with the former quietly sneaking off to the corner away from the spotlight. Other partnerships photographed include Woody Allen and Penelope Cruz (The Odd Couple), Nicole Kidman and Baz Luhrmann (The Colonists), Gus Van Sant and Sean Penn (The Milk Men), Sam Mendes and Kate Winslet (The Partnership) and Darren Aronofsky and Mickey Rourke (The Ringers), among others. Check out a few of our favorites below, then swing over to Vanity Fair to see the rest.

Here are some stuff and things for your (very cold, if you're on the East Coast) Wednesday:

-- Nicole Kidman may join Joaquin Phoenix in actor's retirement land real soon as she told press in Australia that she's not too sure she wants to keep going at it. Kidman says, "In terms of my future as an actor and stuff, I don't know. I am in a place in my life where ... I've had some great opportunities and I may just choose to have some more children. I've no idea what is in my future but I am very at peace with where I want to be. There are many things I want to do besides act." Like ... become the next Top Chef? Which is worse for Hollywood: The loss of Kidman or Phoenix ... or do you not care much either way?

-- The 2009 Sundance Film Festival has announced its opening film ... and it's a clay-animated feature starring the voices of Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Toni Collette. Directed by Adam Elliot, Mary and Max "follows a 20-year, pen-pal friendship between an 8-year-old girl in Melbourne and an obese, 42-year-old man in New York." Calm down Dateline, it's only a film! Sundance director Geoffrey Gilmore says, "This portrait of a global friendship between two marvelously dysfunctional people is an exceptionally moving, funny and thought-provoking work." [Variety]

-- If you've been wondering where The Soloist (starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.) has moved to, Variety reports that the current release date has been pushed to April 24 instead of March 13. In addition to this move, Paramount has shifted Paul Rudd's I Love You, Man from January 16 to March 20.

Oscar season is heating up, and with two hotly-anticipated and much buzzed-about flicks currently screening for critics, early word on both Australia and Revolutionary Road is beginning to leak out. First up, Australia's Herald Son has published one of the first reviews of Baz Lurhman's Australia -- starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman -- saying it "features some of the most beautiful photography ever seen in an Australian film, from the Bungle Bungles in the Kimberley to the Northern Territory in the midst of the wet season," and that the film "has international blockbuster written all over it." Over at the Times Online UK, they've given the flick four out of five stars, and claim "Baz Luhrmann's long-awaited, and over-budget epic Australia manages, against the odds, to avoid turning into one big sunburnt stereotype about Godzone country. Instead, in what turns out to be a multi-layered story it describes an Australia of the 1940s that is at once compellingly, beautiful and breathtakingly cruel" But what do American audiences think? We'll find out a bit later in the week. Australia arrives in theaters on November 21.



Regarding Revolutionary Road (which is a book I'm reading now, and every couple of pages it makes me want to tell my wife I love her), Variety praises the flick -- which reunites Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet on the big screen for the first time since Titanic -- saying it's "a very good bigscreen adaptation of an outstanding American novel -- faithful, intelligent, admirably acted, superbly shot. It also offers a near-perfect case study of the ways in which film is incapable of capturing certain crucial literary qualities, in this case the very things that elevate the book from being a merely insightful study of a deteriorating marriage into a remarkable one." Glen Kenny adds that it's "a pretty splendid film, far and away the best Mendes has made." Revolutionary Road hits theaters on December 26.



Which are you more interested in watching: Australia or Revolutionary Road?