While the text accompanying the images might be in Italian (any readers want to lend a hand and translate?), the pictures that Dario Argento threw up for his new film Giallo speak for themselves. You can see one above, plus lots more on Argento's site of Adrien Brody (who plays Inspector Enza Avolfi) -- both doing his thing and chatting with Argento, plus a little bit of blood and death, and a few shots of Emmanuelle Seigner (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), who plays Linda. The pair team up in the film to find her sister, who has been grabbed by a serial killer named Yellow.

While this is sure to be eerie, the whole back story to this flick amuses me. Vincent Gallo signed on in January to play the killer to Ray Liotta's Inspector. Then Gallo backed out because he didn't want to work with Dario's daughter, Asia. But now Ray and Asia are out, Adrien and Emmanuelle are in, and good ol' Vinnie should've waited it out (Yellow is now being played by newcomer Byron Deidra).

Giallo is due out next year.

An Academy Award winner and two beautiful women have joined the cast of the latest thriller from an Italian master of horror. Adrien Brody will star as a police detective investigating a serial killer in Giallo, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film will also star Emmanuelle Seigner (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, La Vie en Rose) and Elsa Pataky (Asterix at the Olympic Games, Snakes on a Plane). The great Dario Argento will be at the controls in the director's chair.

Brody steps into the gumshoe role originally filled by Ray Liotta and Seigner will take over the part intended for the pregnant Asia Argento. Monika told us about the casting and the basic premise in January: a serial slasher played by Vincent Gallo is on the loose. THR updates that, saying the tale "revolves around an American flight attendant who teams with an Italian investigator to search for her missing sister who has been abducted by a serial killer known only as Yellow."

There is a very short list of filmmakers who are so perfectly in tune with my sensibilities, so completely on my wavelength, that each of their projects threatens to collapse my critical faculties and reduce me to a drooling, adoring mess. One such person is little-known Canadian director Vincenzo Natali, whose enigmatic sci-fi mind-blowers Cube and Cypher were about as far up my alley as you could go before it starts to hurt. (I haven't seen Nothing yet, but I will soon.) So I've been hungrily devouring every morsel of information about his upcoming Splice, which is about a pair of scientists (Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley) who discover a way to create new kinds of creatures in the lab by splicing DNA, and then go and introduce human genes into the experiment. My squeamishness about genetic horrors (no joke: I consider Cronenberg's The Fly to be the scariest movie I've ever seen) and my affinity for Natali's approach makes me think this one could really do a number on me.

Girlfriends and wives usually get the short shrift in music biopics. In most cases, they end up as background (with maybe the exception being Walk the Line). Hopefully, this will not be the case for Gabrielle Union's latest role. BlackFilm reports that Union has signed to star in Darnell Martin's music biopic Cadillac Records as Geneva Wade. Wade was blues legend Muddy Waters' long-time girlfriend and was the inspiration for the classic song, Little Geneva.

Cadillac is the story of Chess Records, founded by Leonard Chess. The famed label was responsible for launching the careers of some of the greatest names in R&B. Casting has been the order of the day since news first hit that Adrien Brody would be playing Chess. Since then, it's been a flood of news, with the debate over Beyonce being cast as jazz legend Etta James at the top of the list. It should probably not come as a shock that other casting news has garnered fewer headlines. So just to bring you up to speed: Jeffrey Wright signed to play the great Muddy Waters, Cedric the Entertainer will appear as Willie Dixon, Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf, and Columbus Short as Little Walter. There is also my favorite piece of casting -- Mos Def as Chuck Berry. Because, frankly, Def is just 'eccentric' enough to pull it off.

Due to my appreciation of Adrien Brody and Jeffrey Wright, I've really been trying to get behind the idea of Beyonce Knowles as Etta James, so that I can fully appreciate everything Cadillac Records can offer. So far, it's not happening, and with the first look at Beyonce's Etta, courtesy of Just Jared, I'm really not convinced. You can check out the full picture, plus a peek at a blue-suited Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess over at the site, and above I have given you a side-by-side comparison.

Putting a blonde wig on Beyonce doesn't make her Etta. It makes her look like she's getting ready for Halloween. They just don't look alike. They look different. They have different body types. And they certainly don't sound alike. It just looks like a caricature, which is really a shame, considering the solid cast along for the ride. And heck, as JJ pointed out, Etta doesn't think so either, although she's remaining positive: "It's a privilege and an honor to have somebody like that girl. I don't think she looks like me, but that's all right. They can fix that up."

Etta is going to work with Beyonce on both the acting and singing, so hopefully the pointers can make this all come together.

Some have said that The Darjeeling Limited is a movie for Wes Anderson's fans. While that description is fairly accurate, it also suggests that this is some sort of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back project -- a self-indulgent film only for those filled with Anderson adoration. While it does tap into the magic that brings fans to the filmmaker -- the rich colors, quirky characters, and strange introspection -- it is also a study of grief, and a film that perfectly embodies the importance of charisma and chemistry.

As Erik Davis wrote in his NYFF review, it's hard to see Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson as brothers, but from the minute they come together on screen, each mannerism and look makes them seem immediately comfortable with each other, as if they are actually related and intimately familiar. It doesn't matter that they all look incredibly different. Brody slips into Anderson's world fluidly, and the three leads play off each other, making the quirk not only palpable, but subtly genuine.

Goodbye, Matt Dillon! Hellloooo Adrien Brody! I don't know what happened since October, when Matt Dillon was in final negotiations to star, but Cadillac Records has found itself a new leading man. Variety reports that The Pianist, Adrien Brody, has signed on to star along with Jeffrey Wright, the insanely wonderful actor from Basquiat, in the upcoming film. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind Matt Dillon, but this project just went from good to great in my books. Brody would've been enough, but with Wright? No one could keep me away.

Adrien has taken on the role of Leonard Chess, and Wright will be Muddy Waters in the feature, which starts filming in March. They will be joined by Columbus Short (Stomp the Yard), Emmanuelle Chriqui (Entourage), Cedric the Entertainer (Code Name: The Cleaner), and Tammy Blanchard (Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows). I'm neither here nor there on the supporting cast, but I'm sort of hoping Joe Morton pops up in a role. Should he, I think I will pass out from movie fan heaven. But anyway...

Coming from writer/director Darnell Martin, Cadillac Records dips into the Chicago music scene of the 1950s -- "charting the colorful lives of American musical legends like Waters, Chess, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, and Elvis Presley." There's no word on who will play the rest of the greats yet, but we should find out soon, before production begins in New Jersey and Mississippi this spring.

The next edition of the Sundance Film Festival doesn't start until January 17 -- 80 days from now -- and the program won't be officially announced until next month, but indieWIRE says the first deal has already gone down. Sort of. The article by Eugene Hernandez reports that Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom has been picked up for North American distribution by Summit Entertainment. indieWIRE comments: "Many expected [the film] would go on the market at the Sundance Film Festival early next year. The unspecified eight-figure deal would have made major headlines had the sale played out in Park City early next year." Summit reportedly bought the rights after reading the script and watching just two minutes of completed footage.

Hernandez talked separately to producers Ram Bergman and James Stern, among others. Stern works with Endgame Entertainment, which financed the $20 million production. Bergman described The Brothers Bloom as a "globe trotting adventure" in which "a young heiress enters the lives of two sibling con men." Director Rian Johnson previously made the highly acclaimed Brick, which premiered at Sundance in 2005.

Cinematical has been covering The Brothers Bloom for more than a year. Martha Fischer wrote about the first tantalizing details and then followed up with more plot information. Erik Davis wrote about the casting of Rachel Weisz, Monika Bartyzel told us that Adrien Brody and Rinko Kinkuchi had been added and then advised that Mark Ruffalo had joined the cast.

With the pressure off to complete the film in time for Sundance -- Bergman told indieWIRE the film is already profitable -- the goal is to finish post-production by February. The film's official site states simply that production in Belgrade has wrapped: "We're all pretty tired, but very very happy. More to come." Look for The Brothers Bloom sometime next year.

It's been eight months since we started awarding prizes to our weekly Insert Caption contest winners, and we've given away everything from DVD box sets to a guitar to underwear to an HD DVD player. But this week we're presenting our most excellent prize to date: a trip for two to the beautiful country of India, courtesy of our friends at Jet Airways and Fox Searchlight.

That's right, the writer of our favorite caption for the photo below from Wes Anderson's new comedy The Darjeeling Limited will win their own five-day, four-night Indian adventure (airfare and four-star hotel included) for themselves and their favorite friend or family member (or Cinematical blogger/Moviefone employee). The best part? You will not be asked to train a single employee or customer service rep while there. So scroll on down the page, check out last week's winners of our Knocked Up contest (they win DVDs, a dartboard and more), then click on the "comments" link and give us your sharpest, wittiest, funniest, awesomeist caption possible. And for those first-time players, bookmark this link here and come back and play every weekend. Our Darjeeling winner will be announced next Friday, October 12 at 4 PM EST.
Good luck!

UPDATE: WINNER ANNOUNCED! Click Here

Winners from last week's Knocked Up contest:

1. "Ummm... No, I didn't know it was Bastille Day. " -- Michael L.

2. "Just when I think you can't get *any* dumber, you go and do something like this... and TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!" -- Peter S.

3. "Exactly how much pot have you smoked today?" -- Curt T.

See full image and read all captions

Whenever the talk of genetics and ethics comes up, there's lots of chatter around what is allowed, and what isn't. But come on, no matter what the rules are, if a scientist is splicing stuff together, and feels a high at the thought of creating new animal life forms, or other scientific breakthroughs, how can they resist that little human touch? If not the everyday scientist, then maybe some evil, cackling one who fits all the stereotypes and has some sort of evil superfunding. Whatever the case, it's like a dentist living above a candy shop and telling his kids that they most certainly cannot go there for candy. The temptation is too great, no matter what the ramifications are.

This is the environment that Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley are jumping into. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that the pair will star in a new science fiction thriller called Splice, which is being directed by Cube helmer Vincenzo Natali (and Guillermo del Toro is one of the film's producers). The movie centers on "the world of genetic engineering in which two young scientists (Polley and Brody) become superstars by splicing different animal DNA to create fantastical new creatures. They ignore the legal and ethical boundaries and introduce human DNA into their experiment." The script was written by Natali, along with Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor, and will find life in front of the camera in Toronto this November. It's a cool idea, and I'd go see almost anything that pairs Brody and Polley, but we have to wait until at least 2009 to see what they'll make of it.

There are a couple different ways to approach reviewing The Darjeeling Limited. I can look at it from the mainstream audience's point of view, or I can look at it from the point of view of a long-time Wes Anderson fan -- which, coincidentally, I happen to be. The first thing my friend said to me as the credits began to roll: "Loved it ... but the film won't make a dime at the box office." Unfortunately, and most likely, that will be the case -- The Darjeeling Limited is a tough film for audiences to grasp, in that there's not much of a story to hang onto. Sure, there's a beginning, a middle and an end, but when you look back on it, everything sort of mushes together. There's also not a lot of physical action; a majority of the film takes place on a moving train, in one compartment, which subsequently leads to a very claustrophobic feel; albeit one that was intentional. And there's dialogue -- lots of it.

But this is a Wes Anderson film, and those of you out there who appreciate his sense of humor -- his quirky characters, his hipster soundtracks and his extraordinary attention to detail -- will most likely find a lot to love in The Darjeeling Limited. Essentially, it's a meditative piece about three brothers who reunite while on a train in India, having not spoken to one another for a year following the death of their father. In that time, Jack (Jason Schwartzman) was holed up in a hotel room in Paris, unaware of how long he'd actually been there. Peter (Adrien Brody) kept busy tending to his marriage, which he always expected would end in divorce, even though he really loves his wife. And Francis (Owen Wilson), who's the reason why all three are in India, has been recovering from a terrible motorcycle accident that left him near-death, which, afterwards, inspired him to take on this spiritual journey with his two estranged siblings.

Fox Searchlight sent us this exclusive first look at a clip for The Darjeeling Limited . The more I see glimpses of this film, the more I can't wait to see it. It would be enough for me just to have Wes Anderson working with Jason Schwartzman again, but to make it even better, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Schwartzman seem to be hitting just the right note as the three brothers on a spiritual quest through India ... it's kind of feeling to me like there's a bit of a "City Slickers" vibe to the film (with brothers instead of just friends, which gives you that whole delicious layer of drama and trauma that comes with spending time with the people with whom you shared a childhood), only set in India and sans Billy Crystal spoofing "Rawhide".

Are you on the edge of your seat waiting to see Wes Anderson's newest project?

Ever wish you could visit a movie set, to see what it's really like? Fox Searchlight provided us this exclusive, behind-the-scenes first look at Production Day 6 of Wes Anderson's latest film, The Darjeeling Limited, which stars Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody as brothers attempting to renew their brotherly bond on a "spiritual quest" in India.

This clip is a peek at the cast and crew getting set up for a shoot inside the Jodhpur Sikh Temple. Anderson has this to say about the clip: "Anyone who has been inside a Sikh temple knows you are always required to cover your head. There is usually a basket filled with a selection of colorful scarves just inside the door for visitors without turbans to choose from." Well, that explains the brothers' brightly hued headgear in the clip ...

I don't know about you, but I am hot to see this movie. I love Wes Anderson, and I'm really curious to see how Wilson, Schwartzman and Brody work onscreen as siblings. For more on The Darjeeling Limited, check out these other behind-the-scene clips and the trailer over on Moviefone. The film opens in limited release September 29.

I'm such a huge, campy Wes Anderson fan -- I'm almost embarrassed to tell you that I shed a tiny tear while watching the much-anticipated trailer for his newest film, The Darjeeling Limited. I've found something to love in each of his films (yes, that includes The Life Aquatic), but I can also see how Anderson's style is not for everyone. I guess, for me, the ability to feel his movies is what I like the most. His characters are almost always very bizarre -- not your everyday Tom, Dick and Larry -- but he always finds a way to make them so relatable. And don't even get me started on his musical tastes. Let's just say all his films sound just as fantastic as they look. Can you tell I'm geeking out a little bit here?

Anyway, The Darjeeling Limited. It stars Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman as three brothers who go on a spiritual journey of sorts through India following their father's death. Right off the bat, the trailer shows us that these three guys, although brothers, are not close at all. Not only do they look completely different, but they don't seem to know a thing about the other. I love the line when Schwartzman says, "I wonder if we could've been friends in real life. Not as brothers, but as people." I guess that sort of sums up what this film is about -- three guys trying to find meaning in their relationship, aside from the blood relation. It just looks spectacular, and although this is the first Anderson film for Brody, he looks right at home. I'm not sure what else I can say about it -- just go watch it now. And if you're a die hard Anderson fan, let us know what you think. The Darjeeling Limited hits theaters in limited release on September 29.

I've always been a sucker for Wes Anderson. I seem to be in the minority in loving The Life Aquatic, although I know more than a few folks who've placed Rushmore and Bottle Rocket amongst their favorite films of all time. Myself included. Thus, I am more than anticipating Anderson's latest quirky tale, The Darjeeling Limited. In case you didn't notice yet, that's the poster at the top of your screen. And that's the film's stars, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman staring back at us. Although the film won't land in theaters until later this fall, we'll have our first look at it when Ryan hits up the Venice Film Festival next month. Additionally, you bet your ass I'll be there when the flick opens up this year's New York Film Festival on September 29 (the day it also goes into limited release).

The film, which also stars Natalie Portman, Anjelica Huston (in her third straight Anderson film) and Roman Coppola, is said to revolve around three boys who journey across India following the death of their father. Not much else is known about the project, but I imagine we'll be seeing a trailer of sorts hit before the film premieres in Venice. Interestingly enough, The Darjeeling Limited also marks Anderson's first film that was not co-written by either Owen Wilson or Noah Baumbach. Though I'm sure both men probably had some uncredited input, Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman are Anderson's two co-writers this time around. Last time Schwartzman collaborated with Anderson we got the unbelievably awesome Rushmore. Hopefully the boys will shovel out another gem. I guess we'll know soon enough.