For a guy who's usually at his best when he writes about male relationships, The Friday Night Knitting Club was probably the last project I expected Mike Binder to be involved in. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Reign Over Me director has been hired to adapt Kate Jacobs' popular novel for the big screen, with Julia Roberts attached to produce and star. Knitting Club is similar in nature to Binder's The Upside of Anger -- both feature single moms who find themselves in a situation where they are forced to juggle several responsibilities at once; in this case, it's running a knitting store while raising a teenage daughter.

Currently, no director is attached, though I imagine Binder would be up for the part if he turns in a dynamite script. One of the reasons why I think Binder was hired for the job, and might also snag the helming gig, is because the film (and book) is set in New York City -- where, lately, these little knitting shops are all the rage. There aren't many writer-directors who truly know how to capture a city; to use its tenacious beauty as a character within the film. Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese are the NYC masters (though both men have recently expanded their repertoires by setting their films in other cities across the globe). While Binder isn't quite at that level, Reign Over Me showed he's more than capable of providing an enjoyable NYC-based film. I've always been a Binder fan (that first season of Mind of a Married Man was freaking hilarious), and would totally support his directing Knitting Club. Here's hoping he knows how to knit -- most of the guys I know are clueless when it comes to that stuff.

Last year's best actor, according to almost everyone in America, was Philip Seymour Hoffman. This year's is Forest Whitaker. But who is the better of the two? Luckily in the U.S., critics don't have to damage their brains deciding. In London, however, critics do. Thanks to later release dates in the UK, Capote is considered a 2006 movie there. So are Good Night, and Good Luck, The Squid and the Whale and The Upside of Anger. All four are featured among the nominees for the London Film Critics Circle awards, which will be presented February 8.

At least Hoffman hasn't been pit against Toby Jones, the other portrayer of Truman Capote, in Infamous. The former is in the Actor race while the latter is recognized in the British Actor category.

Neither Capote nor Good Night, and Good Luck, both of which were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar were considered by the London critics for Film of the Year. Their five picks were limited to more current releases, including The Queen, which received the most nominations, with seven.

Is it obvious that The Queen is recognized so well by the Brits? Well, considering it is a British film, it qualifies for more categories than other top contenders for the major awards. It is the only title to be listed in the Film of the Year and British Film ("The Attenborough Award") categories and Helen Mirren has been nominated for Actress and British Actress, an honor she shares with Judi Dench. Without the double mentions, The Queen would be tied with The Last King of Scotland for five noms.