Discovery

> Filmwad Breaks it Down: Friday, November 30

November is nearly over, and with the first month of the strike coming to a close, there doesn't seem to be much hope in sight. The Writers Guild have been meeting with "the man" all week, but no proposals are sticking. Here's hoping that December will bring better news. Although one positive strike-related story did come up today. Late Night's Conan O'Brien will be paying his 75 member non-writing staff out of his own pocket so that they can keep their jobs at NBC while he and the other WGA members continue to protest. So here's a tip of the hat to Mr. O'Brien for being a real mensch.

Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn are getting together for some septuagenarian Oscar-winner lovin' in the indie romance Lovely Still. It's being written and directed by first-timer Nik Fackler who, if he knows what he's doing, will have two guaranteed phenomenal performances on his hands.

John Cusack is going to star in a movie called The Factory directed by Morgan O'Neill, the winner of the Australian Project Greenlight. The role of a cop who goes off the edge sounds like a great part for Cusack, but as is the case with Lovely Still, he's being left in the hands of an amateur. I hope these guys realize how good they've got it.

Woody Allen's new muse, Lady Spain, has turned him away. The internal conflicts over the city of Barcelona allocating tax payer dollars to his film Vicky Cristina Barcelona have led to the American filmmaker setting his sights elsewhere for his two next films, which were previously expected to be filmed in Spain as well. How do you say c'est la vie in Spanish

The first trailer is for Untraceable, starring Diane Lane and Colin Hanks. The premise seems a little far-fetched to me. And really, any non-comedy screenwriter who puts a line like "You think this is it It's just the beginning," to paper should maybe consider other career options. Diane Lane is still a good-looking older woman though.
Release Date: January 25, 2008

-David Morgan