Dang it's pretty wild how just one little movie has turned Diablo Cody into the most discussed screenwriter since Joe Eszterhas. (I was going to say "...since David Mamet," but he's a playwright first.) The gal has a tons of projects in the percolation stage -- from the Showtime series The United States of Tara to the Fox-heavy thriller known as Jennifer's Body -- and now she's been hired by Steven Spielberg (once again) to turn one of his ideas into a movie. (It's only a matter of time before Spielberg forces Diablo Cody to marry Shia LaBeouf, isn't it?)

According to Variety, the untitled project is a comedy. Oh, also the "studio is keeping story details under such tight wraps that even dealmakers involved with the project were in the dark." That's it. An idea by Spielberg that Cody will adapt. No producers, actors, directors have been announced. And yet ... somehow I know that DreamWorks already has a hit on its hands.

In related news, I think Cody is really cute.

Among the perks of being a sought-after Oscar-winning screenwriter is, apparently, the ability to fourwall a movie theater for two weeks and play a bunch of your favorite films for an appreciative audience. That's exactly what Juno's Diablo Cody is doing at LA's New Beverly Cinema from today through July 24th, and it won't come as any surprise to Cody's admirers that the lady's got good taste. Her slate includes reliable classics (Stripes, Pretty in Pink), off the wall genre picks (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors), some culty fun (Wet Hot American Summer) and the expected shout-out to Juno director Jason Reitman.

Previous guest programmers at the New Beverly have included Edgar Wright, Eli Roth and Joe Dante. Cody will introduce some of the films herself, and the theater's MySpace page promises "many guest appearances."

Kudos to Movie City News for coming across this. Check out the entire schedule after the jump -- it's really an inspired slate of picks. She's got a nose for filmmaking that's smart and unabashedly mainstream, as both Juno and this film festival proves.

NSFW: Foul language.

Recently, I mentioned my neverending plan to see The Goddess of 1967. There are others on the list as well, like Stalag 17, a laserdisc which still sits at the foot of my bed, waiting to be watched. But, luckily, I can be happy with my cinematic to-do list without much guilt. Maybe there's a shocked face here or there from a friend, but that's it.

The same cannot be said for Diablo Cody, who just blogged about one of her to-watch movies, and how she got one of the most embarrassing, yet truly cool reasons to stop putting it off. She's never seen An American Werewolf in London, and Edgar Wright gave her a copy for her birthday with this written on the front: "Diablo, please watch my movie. John Landis." It was written by the man himself, and not Edgar pretending. That's the ultimate motivation.

So, in honor of embarrassment in the face of classic filmmakers, here's a Stars in Rewind for Landis' classic.

Here's the set up: Folks have been a bit puzzled over the alarming rise in teen pregnancies at North Shore High School in Gloucester, Massachusetts. In the past year alone, 17 girls have tested positive for a little bun in the oven, and officials (as well as school administrators) were baffled as to why, all of a sudden, the girls in Gloucester were all sorts of knocked up. Crazy, right? And weird. I'll fully admit that to wind up with 17 girls pregnant in one high school at the same time seems a bit strange, especially when it's four times the level from the year before. Four times!

Completely baffled, officials turned to the only feasible explanation: Blame the movies. And when they looked around at popular movies within the past year -- whaddya know -- there was an Oscar winner with teen pregnancy scribbled all over it. Juno ... written by that teen pregnancy supporter Diablo Cody, and directed by a pregnant teen himself, Jason Reitman. Of course! The ridiculous rise in pregnancies had to do with Juno -- a film that made teen pregnancy look about as comfortable and enjoyable as stuffing yourself in a piece of old luggage and rolling down a mountain. There's the answer!

But should we talk to the girls? Maybe see if there's another explanation for all this? Nah. Leave it all on Juno ... after all, Fox Searchlight didn't hand out condoms outside movie theaters screening Juno (I sure as heck never got any condoms!), so, really, it's their fault for not paying closer attention. Right?

Ahem, and that's when the twist comes in ...

Ever since director Jason Reitman knocked one out of the ballpark with Juno, folks have been itching to see what the man takes on next. Yes, he's taken to producing a few things (like the Diablo Cody-penned Jennifer's Body), but what, exactly, will be his next directorial project. Well, according to Latino Review, they've heard from a source that the younger Reitman will direct an adaptation of the novel Up in the Air, written by Thumbsucker author Walter Kirn. Apparently, some digging reveals that Jason's dad Ivan Reitman is already executive producing the film after picking up a script from Sheldon Turner back in 2003.

Recently, Reitman told MTV that he was "writing something" and would "direct it at the end of the year." When pushed to reveal something, anything, Reitman said "it's a comedy and a drama [book adaptation]. Think Thank You For Smoking, but instead of political it's corporate." And if you look at the synopsis for Up in the Air over on Amazon (I've never read the book personally), it fits right into the above description.

Here's a taste: "Officially, Bingham is a management consultant, specializing in the lugubrious field of career transition counseling (i.e., he fires people for a living). But what Kirn's airborne protagonist is really doing is pursuing his own private passion, his great white whale: accumulating one million miles in his frequent-flyer account. As Up in the Air opens, Bingham has set out on a final, epic traveling jag. He intends to visit eight cities in six days, thereby achieving his own vision of Nirvana somewhere over Sioux Falls, South Dakota."

No official word on this one yet, but the pieces definitely seem to be coming together. Anyone read the book? Is it a good fit for Reitman?

UPDATE: LR provides the following update: I just got off the horn with Jason Reitman's publicist. She did in fact confirm that Jason is adapting the book but that no deal is YET in place for him to direct.

Image removed at the request of the studio

Ahem. Where were we? Oh yes -- a few nude, er, new photos from the set of Jennifer's Body have arrived online, and it seems the lovely Megan Fox (pictured above) has finally transformed into a girl that doesn't wear any clothes. About damn time! (Last week she transformed into a motorcycle and we were all, like, what the F!) These new images come to us via The Bad and Ugly, who have a few more of Fox in and out of the lake, and let's just say they're a tad more revealing. For those who don't remember, Fox was recently named the sexiest woman in the world by FHM magazine -- and these new photos definitely help the girl live up to that title.

Written by Diablo Cody (Juno), Jennifer's Body stars Megan Fox as a newly-possessed cheerleader who begins killing her male classmates; specifically, those trying to woo her. Amanda Seyfried stars as Jennifer's best friend and the film's hero, while guys like Adam Brody show up as the lead singer of a band (see images of Brody's Nikolai character over at Just Jared).

Man, looking at that image above reminds me of those days when I was applying to be "guy who holds blanket over naked actress on set." Never got the job, of course, because I didn't have 3-5 years experience, but it was still fun to try. Jennifer's Body arrives in theaters next year ... as well as on the desktops of every horny male teenager in the world right ... about ... now.

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Here's a little something to take with you into the weekend: While on Howard Stern recently, Jason Reitman spilled a few beans on the upcoming horror/comedy he's producing called Jennifer's Body. Now, one would expect that with a film called Jennifer's Body, at some point we'd actually get to see, well, Jennifer's body. Good news everyone (if everyone included horny males between the ages of, say, 13 and 84) -- Reitman says Jennifer (played by Transformers hottie Megan Fox) will be going topless for a scene in the film; one that calls for her character to lure an unsuspecting teen male into the woods.

Unfortunately, you guys -- and some girls, I imagine -- won't be able to see her two friends because her hair will be covering those areas. As the Diablo Cody-penned script probably reads, "Totally unfair, square chair!" Starring Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Brody, J.K. Simmons and Johnny Simmons, Jennifer's Body centers on a possessed cheerleader (Fox) who specializes in killing her male classmates (specifically, those who follow her naked body into the woods). As things spiral out of control, her best friend Needy (Really? Needy?) steps up to try to save the day.

Jennifer's Body arrives in theaters next year.

[via Shock]

Now that the girls are all lined up to star in Jennifer's Body, it's time to bring in some of those hottie boys to populate the flick. The Hollywood Reporter tells us Adam Brody has hopped onboard the dark comedy/horror (written by everyone's favorite stripper-turned-Oscar winner, Diablo Cody), where he'll play Nikolai, "a hot lead singer of an up-and-coming band with a penchant for evil." Jeepers! Also joining the cast is Juno's dad, J.K. Simmons, who'll play Mr. Wroblewski, a high school science teacher.

Jennifer's Body marks a reunion for Juno's Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, the former of which will produce, not direct. That job has gone to Karyn Kusama. Already starring in the film is Transformer's Megan Fox; she'll play a cheerleader who becomes possessed by a demon and starts feeding off the boys in her town ... while still finding time to shovel out a good amount of pop culture references, one imagines. Amanda Seyfried will play Jennifer's best friend, and the one who's placed in charge of protecting the community. I'm looking forward to a badass teen horror/comedy with females in the lead. It's about damn time we get a female-centric scary movie that doesn't involve half-nekked females being tortured (though with Megan Fox in the lead, I wouldn't mind one scene ... or several ... but I didn't just say that). Jennifer's Body is due out next year.

Poor Disney ... They must have been aching at the thought of their High School Musical franchise coming to an end once number 3 hits the big screen. It's been an insane sensation, and certainly good for both the company and channel. But what do you do when it all comes to an end? You could look for new material, or you could spin it.

Variety reports that Walt Disney Pictures has picked Steven Antin (jerky prep Troy from The Goonies) to write and direct a new musical project for them, which will be produced by Scott Sanders (who recently developed The Color Purple musical). The plot and title are being kept under wraps, but they might as well call it High School Musical 4: The Next Generation. Antin says: "It's a music-driven movie set in a high school, geared toward a Disney audience." Gee, how original.

But we just might get a bit of a breather before it comes out. Antin has finished part of the screenplay, and says that this project is "neck and neck" with Burlesque for filming this fall -- he had written the script, and Diablo Cody spunked it up with a rewrite. Either way, we're not out of the musical woods yet. Stay tuned to see who wins the showdown between burlesque and teen singers!

Honest to blog, folks! Even though director Jason Reitman has said there will not be a sequel to the mega-hit Juno, the script for the sequel was written and -- get this -- you can own it for a crisp $100,001.00. Oh yes, my friends, the sequel to Juno (Juno 2 or Juno She's Pregnant Again?) is now available (in script form) on eBay. Unfortunately, Diablo Cody did not write the script -- someone by the name of screenwriter_in_paradise is the mind behind this masterpiece.

Thanks to Slashfilm, we get the following hilarious quote on the eBay page: "Juno grossed over $130 million domestically. I have written the sequel. If Mr. Mudd, Mandate or Fox Searchlight don't buy than it is available to any legitimate production company that wants to jump on the bandwagon. Your lawyers will tell you the names will have to be changed, so we will call this 111 page script Juno-like or Junoesque. A 4-page sample is available via e-mail." And how is Fox Searchlight not all over this friggin' winner right now? Searchlight? Are you out there? Were you aware that a sequel to Juno is already written ... and available on eBay? Why is this not in development yet? I'd definitely be interested in reading that 4-page sample, if only to see how it stacks up against the Juno sequel I wrote last week. Don't worry, now that I know the starting price, I'll offer mine up for only $99,002.00. Beat THAT screenwriter_in_paradise!

Well, that didn't take long. Only two days after the gal took home a best original screenplay Oscar, nude photos of stripper-turned-screenwriter Diablo Cody have surfaced online, courtesy of Egotastic. Most of the photos look a tad old, and they definitely shouldn't take anything away from her win (I'm sure the gal is used to being seen without any clothes on), but it does mean we're not exactly ready to stop talking about this rather amusing success story. The images show Cody in some pretty revealing outfits, and in one photo she's actually rocking the whip cream bikini top. Groovy. Then there's a few others of the girl swinging from a stripper pole in what appears to be her own house. Why don't I have one of those yet in my living room? Oh yeah, I'm not hot.

Personally, I couldn't help but snicker when this girl walked up onto the Oscar stage in a leopard-print dress and a "Jonny's Girl" tattoo. I suddenly felt like it was New Year's Eve at a dive bar in Jersey. What's interesting about that particular tattoo is that, according to reports (including Wiki), Cody divorced her husband (aka Jonny) in late 2007. So fellas -- anyone interested in a former stripper-turned-Oscar winner with a tattoo dedicated to her former husband on her arm? Don't all raise your hands at the same time. Nevertheless, we here at Cinematical dig Cody (her body, her tat and her script for Juno) and we wish her nothing but luck going forward.

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Well, the Oscars are a wrap. You can see all the winners right over here.
Cinematical staff did pretty well with our predictions, and so did our readers. You guys picked the winners for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Adapated Screenplay -- the same categories we got right. We missed Best Doc and both actress categories. Not bad overall.

What do you think about this year's Oscars? Did you think Jon Stewart did a good job with the hosting? Aside from the part where he kind of disappeared for the last hour, but I guess they usually do that towards the end when everyone wants to wrap it up already and get to the parties. What were the big surprises of the night? Any huge disappointments? (Go ahead, anti Diablo Cody contingent. You can say it.)

Oh, and who looked awesome, and who didn't? I thought Marion Cotillard, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner and Anne Hathaway had the best looks of the night among the ladies. On the guy's side, Johnny Depp and George Clooney both looked hot, and so did Denzel Washington. And Glen Hansard ... yeah, he was adorable too. I'm just saying.

Time for your thoughts on Hollywood's big night -- discuss away!



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The firestorm sparked by Lindsay Lohan's decision to pose naked for a photo spread in New York Magazine is fascinating. The comments in response to Erik Davis' post were mostly negative, either disparaging Lohan's looks or her reputation as a "bad girl." I'm sure her age (21) also affected how people felt about the pictures and her exposure in them. Would the reaction have been the same if she had appeared naked in I Know Who Killed Me, in which she played a stripper who kept most of her clothes on?

We'll never know, but we do know that not every actress who doffs her duds provokes such a heated reaction. And, sometimes, it's not even the actress' body parts on display. For example, initial reports were that Cate Blanchett appeared nude in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, but that proved to be false. The actress didn't feel the nudity was required, and so a "bum double" was called in. None of the other women nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Actress category appear naked in their nominated films, though three of them have done so in the past. In the Best Supporting Actress category, we find only Tilda Swinton has bared all before. Therefore, we'll cheat a little and add screenwriter Diablo Cody, who worked as a professional unclad dancer for a brief period in her life.

We've listed four nominated actresses and a nominated writer, all good women of distinguished accomplishment who, at one time or another, have appeared naked in public, all but one on the big screen. Who's Your Favorite Good Girl Gone Nude? And don't worry, the boys get their turn tomorrow.

Four years ago, it would've been easy to typecast Amanda Seyfried. She jumped from roles in two soap operas to a lead in Mean Girls -- one where her breasts would tell her what the weather would be. Right away, she also picked up a television role -- the murdered Lilly Kane on Veronica Mars. So, she moved from booberology to a girl whose sexy interludes led to her demise. But these days, she's mixing it up a lot more. Aside from starring in Mamma Mia, she's been playing a good-girl Mormon in Big Love (perhaps the only one with brains on the show).

So now, she's adding bookworm to the mix. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Seyfried will star with Megan Fox in Diablo Cody's upcoming comedy horror Jennifer's Body. Set in a Minnesota farming town, Fox stars as a cheerleader named Jennifer who gets possessed by a demon and starts eating the local boys. Seyfried co-stars as her best friend Needy, who "must take drastic measures to protect their town from the seductive teenager and her appetite for high school guys." Does this mean Amanda is now getting tough? If so, and she pulls it off, I'm sure we'll see lots more of her in the future.

As the project progresses, the focus keeps changing, but if all are right (here, here, and here) -- this looks to be Juno meets Evil Dead meets Buffy's "Becoming" meets Terminator 2. Whatever the case, you can be sure that there will be lots of snark and pop culture references. Production begins in Vancouver next month.

It's no secret that screenwriter (and probable Oscar nominee) Diablo Cody is a horror nut -- she told me last month that her career ambition is to become a horror movie director -- and we'll know soon enough if she has the chops for that. A source for Latino Review has sent in a detailed script review of Jennifer's Body, the next Diablo project that's ramping up for a March start. Megan Fox of Transformers fame will be the star, and it was recently announced that Girlfight director Karyn Kusama is helming. (I'm surprised Cody didn't take advantage of her huge exposure to demand the director's chair -- if Tarantino could force that transition, she certainly can.) Anyway, for those of you who prefer not to know anything about a movie before it's even filmed, consider the rest of this post a spoiler warning and avert your eyes from what lies beneath!

According to the scooper, the film will largely focus on the relationship between the titular Jennifer, a high-school sex bomb and all around homecoming queen type who is also possessed by satanic forces -- there's a real 80s vibe, apparently -- and her best friend, called Needy. Needy slowly starts to realize that something is seriously wrong with Jennifer, since the boys she goes out with don't come back. But enough about the story -- what's the critique? According to the source, the script is an "oddly-paced, slightly incoherent horror comedy. This is trying too hard to be some genre-smashing cult hit like Donnie Darko..." The reviewer mentions that there is plenty of R-rated gore, but says the whole thing plays more like "an ambitious writing sample than an actual roadmap to a decent film. While Juno had the heart and wide appeal to meet a mass audience, Jennifer's Body does not -- and on top of that, it lacks a well-paced plot and consistent tone." I guess we'll see.