Did you see American Gangster this weekend? Was it good? Did you like Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character? I hope so, because Showtime has just picked up a new show that, according to Variety, will "chronicle the true story of flashy Harlem heroin dealer Leroy "Nicky" Barnes." Yup, Barnes is portrayed by Gooding Jr. in the Ridley Scott film American Gangster, however this new show will have no relation to the film; instead it's based on Marc Levin's recent documentary Mr. Untouchable (which will also serve as the name of the series). Both Forest Whitaker and Levin will serve as executive producers, with David Burke as a writer and exec producer.

Though some other outlets claim Whitaker will also star as Barnes, the Variety story makes no mention of it; only that he will produce. Then again, they don't say he won't star, so chances are we could see the Oscar winner take on the role. Here's how Variety describes the series: "[It] will tell the story of how Barnes built a drug empire in the 1970s that rivaled that of the Italian Mafia. It will show how he rose to great heights, but with his success coming at the expense of his Harlem community. Skein will also detail the government's war on drugs and how it failed for years to bring Barnes down." Personally, I'm really enjoying the new Showtime shows, and I'd love to see Whitaker take on a role like this. I mean, to be able to watch this guy do his thang every week would be a real treat. No word on when the series will air, but I would imagine next year at some point.

For those who thought the rest of town was just going to sit back and let Disney rule the High School Musical world, think again -- Variety reports Showtime, Lionsgate and Spitfire Pictures have come together and will shovel out their own flick featuring a bunch of high school kids putting on a musical. Only, instead of having Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens blow each other candy-coated kisses from across the gymnasium (is that a scene, I don't even know?), this new film will be a straight-up documentary. Written and directed by Barry Blaustein, the doc will follow students from three southern Indiana high schools as they compete musical-wise for a spot in the International Thespian Festival.

Confession time: I was one of those drama kids back in high school, and helped work on the musicals (the ones where it was grade against grade -- we called it Sing!), although I never actually, well, sang. Behind the scenes stuff mostly, but I point this out because I know the kind of drama a drama class can provide. It could get nasty. Real nasty. Apart from the in-school activities, viewers will also get a chance to see how these kids live offstage; we'll meet the parents, teachers, local politicians, what have you. And hopefully none of the kids will get caught taking nude photos of themselves. Lionsgate will throw the doc onto the festival circuit to start out with, and if folks are really digging it, we'll see a theatrical run before DVD. So, are you fans of High School Musical ready to see how it really goes down? Or are you more comfortable in the land of make believe?

There are plenty of examples to choose from when you think about the lost potential of Orson Welles. From being the young genius behind Citizen Kane, to a hammered "has-been" in a wine commercial, clearly his career ran the gamut. Welles.net recently posted that filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich announced that he would be completing Welles' "lost masterpiece," The Other Side of the Wind, which is something we've been hearing about for a while now. Bogdanovich apparently made the announcement during a press event in Florida, saying that a deal had finally been struck with Showtime for the project and said, "We now have a lot of work ahead of us." The film was the story of an aging director (John Huston) in the midst of an artistic and personal crisis.

Bogdanovich is planning on taking inventory of the completed footage that has been sitting in a vault in Paris for the past 30 years. From there, he hopes to collaborate with Welles' former partners and said that "The idea would be to try and get as close as we can to what Orson had in mind." Bogdanovich also said the film could hit theaters as early as 2008. Between piecing together a film with 30-year-old footage and new material based on second hand recollections, it appears that Bogdanovich has his work cut out for him -- he might want to start brushing up on those old interview notes just in case.

In between playing video games and preparing to take Indiana Jones on one last adventure, Steven Spielberg has decided to return to cable television -- this time, setting up a show at Showtime based on his own original idea. What's that? A show based on an original idea? Is that legal? The United States of Tara (which, in case you're wondering, has nothing to do with The United States of Leland, The United States of Spielberg or The United States of America) will follow the format of a half-hour single-camera show, and will be similar in tone to the channel's other hit show, Weeds.

With a pilot written by stripper-turned-scribe Diablo Cody (Juno), The United States of Tara will revolve around a wife and mother who suffers from multiple personality disorder (or, as they're calling it now, dissociative identity). I imagine most of the episodes will show her husband and two teenage kids trying their best to cope with a woman who goes from normal mom to chipmunk hiding behind the wall in the span of two minutes. Word is two of her personalities ("a lascivious teen girl" and "a macho adult man") appear in the pilot, with more set to emerge as the series plays out.

While this disorder is very serious to some, the best comedy often comes out of the most dramatic situations -- and, with Spielberg involved, I'm sure he'll play it safe and not offend too many people. Heck, a number of fantastic scenarios are already playing through my mind -- most of which involve mom embarrassing her poor kids. No word yet on what Spielberg's role in the series will be; chances are he'll wear an executive producer hat, but it would be cool if he directed the pilot. Though Showtime purchased the script, they won't decide whether to move forward on it until later this summer.

Being associated with Oscar is a very good thing indeed. Films that win an Academy Award (or many) will typically see a boost in ticket sales. Before that, the nomination alone benefits their box office performance. Now it appears that simply being shortlisted has its advantages, too. One day after the Academy released its narrowed-down list of feature documentary contenders, ThinkFilm announced they've picked up the rights to one of the films on that list. The company will distribute The Trials of Darryl Hunt, which was produced by HBO Films and directed by Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg. The doc premiered last January at Sundance and in April it won the audience award at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.

It tells the story of Darryl Hunt, a black man who was tried and convicted for the rape and murder of white newspaper reporter Deborah Sykes in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1984. Hunt was sentenced despite there being no physical evidence, simply off a testimonial given by a former Ku Klux Klan member. After ten years, in 1994, a DNA test cleared Hunt of the charges, yet he wasn't released from prison for another eight years.

The film would probably make for a good, though upsetting, double-header with the 2005 Sundance Special Jury Prize winner After Innocence, which examines the difficult process of re-entering society following, and despite, being exonerated. Unfortunately, such a double-header will likely never happen on television, since After Innocence was produced by HBO competitor Showtime. After Innocence was also shortlisted for the doc feature Oscar last fall, but didn't garner a nomination. Still, it did okay in limited release and gets occasional play on Showtime (including this Thursday morning). The Trials of Darryl Hunt, which was set to premiere on HBO sometime in 2007, will now get a theatrical and DVD release courtesy of ThinkFilm.

A new trend in Hollywood these days finds film actors making a move to TV; Ray Liotta, James Caan, and Kiefer Sutherland all made the switch with varying levels of success. The door still swings both ways though, and plenty of actors with a steady TV job still look to the big screen.

According to Variety, Jason Clarke, who is best known for his work on Showtime's Brotherhood -- a drama about a political family with ties to the Irish Mob -- has signed to star in the noir thriller Still Waters. The indie thriller is being directed by Carolyn Miller and is currently shooting in Missouri. So far, there haven't been any other casting announcements from the production and a release date has not been set. The film centers on a shadowy drifter type who causes chaos in the lives of a happily married couple. Clarke is playing the husband in the film, so he seems to be stuck in the family man role as he also plays the "straight-laced" brother in Brotherhood.

Clarke has been in a handful of films so far, but the bulk of his work has been on TV. Although, I'm sure he would probably rather forget about those two episodes of Two Guys A Girl and A Pizza Place.

Have you voted for our new name yet? It looks like Cinematicast is kicking ass, so if you'd prefer something else, go here and make your voice heard.  Otherwise, stay here and learn about Michael Moore's battle with the Smithsonian, Michael Eisner's quest for You Tube cash, and why the guy who remade Rollerball could very well be going to jail.

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Hosts
Karina Longworth

Editor
Randall Bennett

Music
Love as Laughter - I'm a bee

Format
4:55, 28.6 MB

Program
00:00 - McTiernan pleads guilty
01:32 - Smithsonian plus Showtime = Angry filmmakers & TV producers
02:37 - Micheal Eisner involved with two online video startups
03:47 - The Oscars are back to February, at least for now

On September 1, 2004, Chechen terrorists took over School #1 in Beslan, Russia, capturing both the school grounds and the 1200 children and parents who had gathered there to celebrate the first day of school. What transpired over the next 54 hours for those hostages -- sandwiched together in a sweltering gymnasium without food or water -- and their helpless loved ones gathered outside was a tragedy so incomprehensible that any film that attempts to tell its story is practically guaranteed a degree of success. Such is the case with Three Days in September, a Showtime documentary that will air on the channel in May, after premiering at Tribeca.

Narrated by Julia Roberts, the film tells the story of the Beslan school siege through the eyes of those who were involved, including three adults who were hostages, a girl who spent the entire three days outside the school with her mother hoping her little sister would make it out alive, and Rulan Aushev, a former president of Ingushetia who was the only person allowed inside to negotiate with the terrorists. Their interviews are inter-cut with news footage of the crisis, limited video from inside the school (shot by the terrorists), and images of the ruined school as it looks today, and provide details as Roberts’ voice-over takes viewers the through the chronological events of the siege.

A lot of people have taken to calling the Masters of Horror series a Showtime production, but the truth is that the experiment was born over at Anchor Bay. Series creator Mick Garris had the idea to snag a bunch of the finest horror-makers under the sun, have each one direct an hour-long mini-movie, and then let the Gorehounds devour the goods through the magic of DVD. But then Showtime got involved, and they aired 12 of the 13 episodes between last December and March of this year. (The 13th episode, Takashi Miike's Imprint, was deemed too harsh by the Showtime folks, which means you won't be able to see it till the DVD hits shelves.)

Unfortunately, Anchor Bay has taken a fairly money-hungry approach to releasing Masters on DVD: Two episodes hit stores yesterday, available individually or as part of a 2-pack. But with a list price of $16.98 apiece (which means a retail cost of about 11 bucks each), it seems that the horror faithful are expected to dole out about $150 if they want the entire season. (By comparison, my 13-episode collection of the brilliant Firefly set me back only about 40 bucks!) But hey, nobody's saying you have to buy 'em all, right? We horror geeks aren't ravenous completists and ferocious collectors ... are we? (To be fair, if the first 2 DVDs are any indication, each release promises to come stocked with loads of extra goodies, so at least we're getting some value for our money.)

Anyway, to commemorate the DVD debut of the series (well, the first two episodes) I thought it might be helpful to give our readers a Masters Guide -- despite the fact that I've seen precisely ONE episode of the show so far! Click below for a list of all the actors, the Masters, the release dates, all 13 plot synopses, and a variety of trivial hoo-hah intended mainly for the hardcore horror freaks.

 

 

Joe Dante is the least prolific of the 80s wunderkinds. The man responsible for Gremlins, Innerspace and a terrifying fourth of Twilight Zone: The Movie can direct at the same quality level as his contemporaries, but he hasn't been given a corner of Hollywood real estate to flesh out his signature style - less sugary than Spielberg and more cartoonish and mischievous than Zemeckis. This is the director who stopped Gremlins cold for ten minutes so that Phoebe Cates could give her classic "I hate Christmas" speech. He seems to pull together a feature film about once every five years, on average, so when you can catch him at work it's a treat. Witness his recent stint as a guest director on Showtime's Masters of Horror series, where he directed an hour-long episode entitled Homecoming. The homecoming in question: dead jarheads from the Iraq war, who pop out of their flag-draped coffins at Dover Air Force base and up sticks for Washington, D.C.

Movie fans and Showtime subscribers looking for a change of pace are taking to -- and some, toking to -- the network's new comedy, Weeds. In it, Mary-Louise Parker of Saved! plays Nancy, a suburban housewife and mother of two who turns to dealing pot to survive after her husband suddenly dies and leaves her and the boys with next to nothing. In a recent episode, Parker is discussing the spike in demand with a teenage dealer, played by Justin Chatwin, who played Tom Cruise's son in War Of The Worlds.  "They've been playing Winged Migration for the midnight show all week, wiped me out," he explains. "Shit hasn't gone this fast since Passion of the Christ." Nancy, amazed, replies, "People got stoned for The Passion of the Christ? That's...disturbing." "It's not as disturbing as it is if you're not stoned," the teen answers, nonchalantly. "It's a straight up snuff film!"