Filmed in the summer of 2004, The Amateurs has been in the can for over three years. The movie's title has gone through several changes, and imdb still lists it as The Moguls. The film has had a whopping six release dates going back to 2005, but it finally sputters into theaters today -- in Los Angeles and Dallas, anyway. Movies often have distribution trouble (you can read more about the problems this one faced in the Los Angeles Times), but the struggle of The Amateurs surprised me because it had all the makings of a sleeper hit. It's got a killer premise (think The Full Monty with porno) and an amazing cast. The film's struggle surprised me...until I saw it.

A queasy mixture of Boogie Nights sleaze and Patch Adams sentimentality, The Amateurs takes place in the small town of Butterface Fields (ho-HO!). That's where you'll find Andy Sargentee (Jeff Bridges, in shaggy dog Lebowski mode), a divorced dad who is down on his luck. His son (Alex D. Linz) is now living with a wealthy stepfather (the typically solid Steven Weber), and this makes Sargentee insecure. He's got to make some money, and fast. So, naturally, he decides to enlist the help of his friends and make an amateur porno flick.

Ed Norton's acting career has thrown him into a number of roles over the years, from scary skinheads to his most recent role, a man who turns green and busts sh*t up. But now he's onto something else, courtesy of Hulk co-star Tim Blake Nelson. Variety reports that Norton will play dual roles in the upcoming comedic thriller, Leaves of Grass -- a project Nelson wrote and will act in. I have to admit, I've been a waning fan of Norton's over the last few years, but this could just be the film to amp things up again (in the non-green sort of way).

Plot details haven't been released yet, but Ed's roles have: "Norton will play identical twins -- one an Ivy League classics professor, and the other a hedonistic, pot-smoking career criminal." This should be interesting, especially since Norton rocked at portraying inner personality conflict in Fight Club (or Primal Fear for that matter) -- this is just split personalities as two people. The actor says about the role: "The challenge of playing twins for an actor is very special, and I was very flattered that Tim sent Leaves of Grass to me. I liked it so much, and felt so strongly that it was a film Tim understood to his core, that I took it to my partners and suggested we produce it. This is exactly the kind of personal filmmaking that we set out to support.

So, Ed's also on as producer, and will take on the role once he finishes his stint in State of Play. Nelson, meanwhile, has got to be relieved. He said that if Norton had declined, "there would have been no second choice." So, are you ready to see Ed take on dual roles (again), or are you just waiting to see him go green?

Well I guess things are going well on the set of The Incredible Hulk because Edward Norton and co-star Tim Blake Nelson seem to have become serious BFFs. Coming Soon.net reports that Norton and Nelson (sounds like a vaudeville team doesn't it?) will work together on the crime comedy, Leaves of Grass. Norton will direct the comedy about twin brothers who get mixed up with "murderous potheads" – which to me sounds like a contradiction in terms. Norton will play both brothers, of which one is a successful professor and the other is a low-life criminal who unfortunately is not exactly a mastermind. Nelson will produce as well as star in the flick, but there is no word on his role in the film.

Norton has some experience when it comes to directing comedy, since his first effort behind the camera was the 2000 romantic comedy, Keeping the Faith. Knowing how Norton likes to get involved behind the camera for his films, it wouldn't surprise me if he has some writing in mind for this project as well. Norton's latest project, the political thriller State of Play has hit a snag now that co-star Brad Pitt has left the project (although there is still the chance that Russell Crowe is going to swoop in and save the film by filling in where Pitt left off). So it's probably not a bad idea for Norton to line up another project just in case. Grass is reportedly scheduled to begin shooting on location in New Orleans this March.

With shooting currently underway, The Incredible Hulk has added another cast member, and another villain. The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Tim Blake Nelson has signed on to play Samuel Sterns (aka The Leader); archenemy of the Hulk (Edward Norton). Nelson is a great character actor; he's appeared in a number of films, my favorite performance of his being Delmar from the Coen Bros. O' Brother, Where Art Thou. In the comics Sterns is a menial worker at a chemical research factory (always a bad sign), when an explosion causes the man to be hit with some ever-so-wonderful gamma radiation. From there, his skin turned green and he became this super-intelligent criminal with a giant oversized brain.

With Tim Roth (what is it with the Tims?) already signed on to play Emil Blonsky (The Abomination), it looks The Incredible Hulk could be heading in the direction of most comic-related films as of late -- mainly in that the flick will include two villains, instead of just one. Either that, or Sterns will not make his transformation until late in the film setting up a sequel. Folks haven't been too keen on the multiple villain angle, but if it's done well I have no problem with multiple baddies. It keeps the pace fast, and the characters constantly on their toes. But in the case of the Hulk, two villains might be two too much. Keep in mind he'll also be running from the United States Army and General "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt), not to mention he'll have to find time to woo Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) in his spare time. Louis Leterrier (The Transporter) will direct Hulk this time, so I imagine we'll be seeing a slew of off-the-wall stunt action. If he tones down a little bit of what he did in Transporter, I think we'll be okay. Oh, and Zak Penn wrote the script. Look for more Hulk stuff this weekend from ComicCon, and the movie is set to arrive in theaters on June 13, 2008.

Screen Daily reported this morning with great glee that Orlando Bloom is going to be appearing in a movie with ... his real-life girlfriend! Can you stand it? For some reason they're very excited about the relationship between Mr. Bloom and Kate Bosworth, with whom he has agreed to appear in Seasons of Dust, an indie drama written and directed by actor Tim Blake Nelson, and produced by the Coen brothers.

The movie is set during the Depression, and tells the story of "a young farm woman forced to go on the run." Bosworth, who will play the central character, read the script shortly after she and Nelson finished their work on Wonderland back in 2003 and, she says, immediately fell in love with it: "It's a woman's journey during the Depression and it's one of the most beautiful scripts I've ever read." Bloom's involvement came about more recently; he'll play "a cowboy who steals from bootleggers" who he describes as "a really charismatic character, a real cowboy who loves to be loved by women." You go with your bad, being loved by women self, Orlando.

Production is expected to begin this summer.

Two things you can be sure to see at Sundance (well, besides rich celebrities loaded down with tons of free swag we mortals will never lay eyes on) are snow - lots of snow - and films. Lots of films. Over the next 11 days, each of us on the Cinematical Sundance team will be watching films until our eyeballs burn, and faithfully reporting on what we think about them, which films score the hottest buzz, and which ones have the biggest walkouts. I considered a couple ways of compiling this list, including choosing a film from each category, so as to cover a wide spectrum, and just randomly opening the film catalog with my eyes closed and pointing. Ultimately, though, although there are lots of films on my "want to see" list, these seven are the ones I'm really psyched about.

Come Early Morning - The directorial and writing debut by Chasing Amy's Joey Lauren Adams stars Ashley Judd as a woman in her 30s searching for love. The catalog description isn't terribly descriptive: Come Early Morning is about life transitions, the search for love, and the burdens we carry with us", which could describe pretty much anything from Brokeback Mountain to The Wedding Crashers, so I'm not really sure what to expect from this one. The film stars Ashley Judd, who can be a talented actress given the right material, with a supporting cast including Jeffrey Donovan, Tim Blake Nelson, Diane Ladd and Stacey Keach.

 (more after the jump)