About halfway through Playing for Keeps, I noticed that I hadn’t laughed yet but so far had found it pretty watchable. Having Uma Thurman parade around in her frillies certainly doesn’t hurt, and added to that are the ever-delightful wiles of Judy Greer, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Jessica Biel. The movie treats them as basically eye-candy (as well as Gerard Butler), so why can’t I?

Butler plays George, a former soccer superstar recently relocated to Virginia to reclaim his wife Stacie (Biel) and, on the side, reconnect with his son. He spends his mornings filming demo tapes for a shot as an ESPN sportscaster; his afternoons watching his son’s little-league soccer practices; and, later, his nights bedding the many soccer moms.

One day he decides to take over for the apathetic little-league coach, earning the respect of Stacie and the adoration of his son and the previously mentioned soccer moms. He also makes the acquaintance of Carl (Dennis Quaid), a successful businessman and husband of the lovestruck Patti (Thurman) who has an eerie and obnoxious habit of back-slapping like a yokel who’s just told a joke. Anyway, Carl bribes George to put his son in the goalie spot and get his daughter to screech the national anthem before each game.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that we’re big fans of Alfred Hitchcock around here. His his films are classics of cinema and his storytelling abilities are an inspiration to generations of filmmakers. In short, he was a genius.

A new movie, appropriately titled Hitchcock, is coming out soon seeking to capture the essence of the man and his vision and give us a glimpse behind the curtain of Hollywood. Anthony Hopkins plays Hitch and to help get you ready, Fox Searchlight has released a new featurette from the movie.

In it we get a behind the scenes look at the movie with Director Sacha Gervasi and stars Hopkins and Helen Mirren. “They dissect the eccentric, fascinating love story and creative collaboration between Alfred Hitchcock and Alma Reville, the woman that seemingly went unnoticed. Together the pair made some of the most powerful films in history.” Indeed.

Sounds very interesting. Check it out after the break. Look for Hitchcock to hit theaters on November 23rd.

Hitchcock is one of those handful of films that in any other year would be at the top of the heap for the award bait season we are about to head into. You have several high-profile actors in a biopic about one of the greatest directors of all time, and nearly everyone is playing someone else famous.

Yet with the huge number of “prestige” films hitting cinemas in the next four months, flicks like this one can get lost in the shuffle. Hoping to avoid that fate, the studio has released a brand new poster and trailer for Hitchcock and it is worth taking a look at. If only for seeing Jessica Biel as Vera Miles, who seems ridiculously perfect for the role.

On the other end of the spectrum is Anthony Hopkins as the titular director. As a still his look seems jarring and distracting, but it will be Hopkins acting that will be the pivot point for this film. If he is not fantastic in the part, the whole thing will probably fall on its face, but if he can nail it, Hitchcock could be a real contender for one of the best films of the year.

That is probably what makes this film so intriguing, even with the film so close to release it could still land anywhere between best picture or bomb of the year. Keep your eyes peeled to The Flickcast for any new updates on this fast approaching project and check out the trailer and full poster after the jump.

Interesting development in the casting of The Wolverine. We reported that Jessica Biel might be signing on to an important role in the upcoming film, but then it didn’t happen.

Of course this is why we qualify these reports with has ‘might’, but it looks as if Jessica balked. No word on if she went another direction because of the script, the timing or just a general dislike to Hugh Jackman.

The movie chugs forth though, and it looks like Fox has already made gestures to another actress to fill the role of Viper, Twitch is reporting:

Twitch has learned that Fox is currently in talks with Svetlana Khodchenkova for the part and are expected to close the deal quickly. The twenty nine year old Russian actress has done most of her work in Russia to this point but may be familiar to some western audiences thanks to her part in Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

A solid, if untested, actress for what is likely an important role in a tent-pole blockbuster. There is a lot working against this film, but there is hope, because at its core Wolverine and Hugh Jackman are capable of being great.

Keep tuned to The Flickcast for any new updates as this project speeds towards production.

The Wolverine should not exist. The first Wolverine solo movie was so awful that even a dyed-in-the-wool X-Men fan like myself can’t justify it. In addition to that, Fox just reincarnated their main X-Men franchise with First Class which is progressing forward with its own sequel.

So The Wolverine is an oddity, one that is a shining example of Fox’s stubbornness. Good thing for us fans, that stubbornness might actually be paying off.

Twitch is reporting that none other than the excellent Jessica Biel has been offered a major role in the sequel:

Jessica Biel has been offered the role of Viper, a complex character who at one point was a peer of Logan’s as well as an enemy. She was a major player in criminal organization Hydra and, in one story arc, blackmailed Logan / Wolverine into marrying her.

I am now about to enter into the world of ridiculous pontificating, so bear with me. Biel is a bankable star, one that is likely playing a character who is an agent of Hydra and has deep ties to both Wolverine and Nick Fury. We already know Sony was interested in allowing Oscorp to be used in Avengers…

I am calling it now, Jessica Biel’s character will be the first to jump studios and form the first connections between Fox’s X-Universe and Marvel’s movie-verse.