Monster’s Ball Reunion!
We’ve been waiting and waiting, and it’s finally happening – the stars of Monster’s Ball, Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton, will appear together again in Tulia. OK, so maybe it’s not the reunion of the century, but the two thesps previously brought out the best in each other so let’s hope that lightning will strike twice. Berry’s already signed on for the role of an ACLU lawyer who takes the case of a deprived Texas town where half the black population are arrested on trumped-up drugs charges. There’s no confirmation yet on Thornton’s role, but our money’s on him playing a racist redneck. Just for a change.
Cowgirls Are Uncatchable
Intrepid Pictures are launching production on the fantastically-titled The Uncatchable Cowgirl Bandits of Nottingham, Texas (what is it with Texas today?). It’s the story of a group of rebellious young women in the titular town who rob several branches of a bank that’s “threatening their community’s livelihood and corrupting the town’s leaders”. Michael Tabb, who recently adapted Jeffrey Lent’s novel ‘In The Fall’ and wrote a Troy screenplay in 2000, is writing the script. What’s the betting the cowgirls do get caught, at least briefly?
Aretha Rates Jennifer
Aretha Franklin wants Jennifer Hudson to play her in a forthcoming film of her life. She was speaking at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame on Monday night, and said that Hudson would be an “ideal” choice. And that’s not just hot air. There’s a theatre production of Franklin’s life story already scheduled to debut in the coming months, with a film already in the early stages of development, and Hudson’s name has already been attached to the project. Now the question is which other cast members of The Blues Brothers should get the biopic treatment, following Ray Charles, James Brown and the Queen of Soul?
Iran** Hates Sparta**
Iran’s government is up in arms at the depiction of Xerxes and his Persian Empire in the film 300. The film, which depicts the Battle of Thermopylae which took place in 480 BC, is apparently “an insult to Iran”, “cultural intrusion”, “cultural and psychological warfare”, “a fabrication of culture and an insult to the people” and “hostile behaviour”. The fact that, history tells us, Persia unequivocally did try to invade Greece and were stopped in their tracks by a tiny contingent of Spartans and their allies is apparently neither here nor there. In any case, this is a storm in a teacup because a) most of the audience for 300 wouldn’t have known Persia was in any way linked to Iran without this kerfuffle and b) if we *must *find a modern day parallel for the tale of a superpower that attacks a tiny group of well-trained fanatics defending their homeland, Iran can consider themselves better represented by the Spartans than by Xerxes and co.