A Black List spec script written by Lauryn Kahn may have found its director in Jake Szymanksi (Saturday Night Live). Kahn, who had previously worked as an assistant to Adam McKay at “Funny or Die,” had her comedy effort picked up by Fox 2000 earlier this year. Szymanski, a director of numerous shorts at “Funny or Die,” has been eyed by the studio to helm the project, He’s Fuckin’ Perfect. The plot follows a girl who is savvy in the ways of social media but hesitant when it comes to romance. Using her tech skills to vet her friends’ dates, she happens to stumble upon the perfect guy and decides to turn herself into his ideal woman. Emma Stone was previously reported to be circling the role.

He’s Fuckin’ Perfect will be produced through Gary Sanchez, the production company of Will Ferrell and McKay, who also helped Kahn hone and shape her script. Hit the jump for more on the project and an example of Szymanski’s work.

Eva Mendes has joined Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper in The Place Beyond the Pines with Greta Gerwig in Talks to co-star.  Derek Cianfrance’s follow-up to Blue Valentine stars Gosling as a biker-turned-bank-robber and Cooper as a cop-turned-politician in the multi-generational crime drama.  Deadline reports that Mendes will play the robber’s love interest and mother of his child while Gerwig would play the politician’s wife.  Filming begins next month.

Mendes recently co-starred in The Other Guys and Last Night.  She was in the running for the remake of Total Recall, but I think missing out on that film to do this one is a positive outcome.  As for Gerwig, she’s set to star opposite Joel Kinnaman in the indie romantic comedy Lola Versus.

Sony Pictures has offered Kate Beckinsale  the role of Lori opposite Colin Farrell in their Total Recall remake.  Diane Kruger, Kate Bosworth, and Jessica Biel have each read for the part of Lori.  This is the first time Beckinsale has been linked to the film, though her involvement is no surprise: Beckinsale is slightly married to the director, Len Wiseman.  They previously collaborated on the Underworld movies.

If Beckinsale accepts, Biel has a backup; early reports suggested the actress is after the role of Melina.  Yet that may prove yet another dead end for Ms. Biel.  Deadline hears Eva Mendes and Rosario Dawson are “the serious contenders” for the role.  Bryan Cranston is confirmed to play villain Vilos Cohaagen in the remake.  Read more on the story after the jump.

Doug Liman first set up Luna with Jake Gyllenhaal at DreamWorks in 2007, then with Paramount, then put it on hold for a couple years to direct Jumper and Fair Game.  Liman was actively working on a Three Musketeers adaptation before Paul W.S. Anderson beat him to the punch.  So he turned his attention to All You Need Is Kill, a spec sci-fi script with plenty of heat behind it.  However, All You Need Is Kill has reportedly lost steam, and Liman has returned his focus to Luna (now “Untitled Moon Project”).  But Gyllenhaal has since moved on, so Liman is meeting with a bevy of young Hollywood stars to fill the role.  Heat Vision indicates the director has already spoken with Rosario Dawson, Megan Fox, Rachel McAdams, Eva Mendes, Zoe Saldana, Olivia Wilde, Andrew Garfield, Emile Hirsch, and Chris Pine, and plans to meet with more names in the coming week.

Details on the project after the break.

Now that Len Wiseman’s remake of Total Recall has Colin Farrell in the role originally played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1990 Paul Verhoeven film, the film is casting for the lead female roles.  For those who haven’t seen the original film, the two lead female roles are Douglas Quaid’s (Farrell) wife Lori (played in the original film by Sharon Stone) and the other is Martian freedom fighter Melina (originally played by Rachel Ticotin).

Deadline reports that Diane Kruger and Kate Bosworth have read for the role of Lori; Paula Patton, Jessica Biel, and Eva Green have read for Melina, and Eva Mendes has read for both roles.  Hit the jump for my thoughts on the casting.  Total Recall is set to open on August 3, 2012.

Tribeca Film and Miramax have just sent out a press release announcing their plans to release the drama Last Night this Spring.  The film premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and stars Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes, and Guillaume Canet.  Tribeca Film will distribute the film theatrically and also through national VOD platforms.  Miramax will handle home video, television sales, and long-term digital rights.

Last Night “centers on a married couple (Knightley and Worthington) apart for an evening when the husband takes a business trip with a colleague (Mendes) to whom he’s attracted.  While he’s resisting temptation, his wife encounters her past love (Canet).”  Hit the jump for the full press release.

Clash of the Titans director Louis Leterrier’s wife Béatrice is set to direct her first feature film, and in quite a different style from that of her husband. In a recent interview, Leterrier revealed that her project Wrecking Ball will be a dramatic comedy with Eva Mendes attached to star. Although Mendes is the only actor currently signed on to the movie, her star power should help in attracting bigger names to the film.

For more on Wrecking Ball, including small details regarding Mendes’ role in the film, hit the jump.

One of the more under-reported films to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this past September was Massy Tadjedin’s (Wednesday) debut Last Night. Originally one of the late great Miramax’s final purchases, the film now finds itself without a buyer in lieu of the company’s closing. However, with names such as Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, and Eva Mendes attached, don’t count on that to be the case forever.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer, as well as a synopsis.

If you’re like me, you like booze, fast cars, fast women and Will Ferrell. If you aren’t like me than go away because I don’t like anyone not like me. With that out of the way, a video has been produced for “Pimps Don’t Cry”, a song Will Ferrell and the slinky Eva Mendes tenderly sing to each other in The Other Guys. It doesn’t approach the same level of profane, raunchy frat boy irreverence as Step Brothers “Boats ‘N Hoes”, but it’s still a quick fun watch. The video features the always sexy Eva Mendes and Cee- Lo trading verses about the perils of pimpdom. Considering its origins, it’s a pretty good track and the video sports all kinds of cool 70’s exploitation editing and visuals. The Other Guys is currently in theaters and if you haven’t seen it do so. Now.  Pimp smack the jump for Funny Or Die’s video and click here for Will Ferrell’s NYPD recruitment video.

What’s better than one funny video?  Two.  The answer is “two funny videos.”  The first video is a fake trailer for an adaptation of the “educational” computer game The Oregon Trail.  I put “educational” in quotes because even though the game tried to teach you about life in mid-19th century life in America, anyone who’s ever played it really only learned the following: play as the Banker, shoot way more food than you could ever carry, and to accept that at least one member of your family will die when you ride the rapids at the end of the game.  It’s an amusing trailer, but becomes less so when you realize that one day there probably will be an Oregon Trail movie.

As for the other video, we have Eva Mendes promoting her sex tape. (It’s also a way to promote The Other Guys in which she plays the wife of Will Ferrell’s character)  Once you watch the video, you’ll understand that I’m not link-baiting.  Well, maybe a little bit.  Hit the jump to check out both videos.

There are two very important things to know about writer/director Adam McKay’s (Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers) The Other Guys:

1. The movie is extremely funny.

2. While press conferences are usually terrible, The Other Guys press conference was one of the best I’ve covered in five years.

Thankfully, Sony let me video tape the entire thing, so you can watch Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton and Director Adam McKay do improv for about 40 minutes with hysterical results. The thing to know about press conferences is, no matter how good they are, the studios never let you use video, and trying to write up great back and forth banter is nearly impossible.  But now that the studios are finally taking a more 21st Century approach to interviews (i.e. letting us use video), I’m optimistic this is a sign of things to come.

Trust me when I say, if you’re a fan of Will Ferell and Adam McKay movies, you REALLY want to watch this press conference.  Especially since they talk about how to keep your pimp hand strong and when asked what they’re favorite cop movies are…the answers are awesome.  Also, make sure to watch Wahlberg’s reactions to some of the questions and answers…it’s priceless.

Sony has released five movie clips from director Adam McKay’s (Talladega Nights, Anchorman, Step Brothers) The Other Guys and you can check them out after the jump.  The movie stars Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Ray Stevenson, Samuel L. Jackson, and Dwayne Johnson.  I caught a screening a few days ago and am happy to report I absolutely loved this movie. If you’re a fan of McKay/Ferrell movies, get ready for another awesome movie.

As you’ve probably seen in the trailer and TV spots, Ferrell and Wahlberg play partners that never get in on the action.  But due to landing a great case, their fortunes might change.  Trust me, you’re going to love this film.  For a taste of what’s to come, check out the clips:

The international trailer for Adam McKay’s upcoming action-comedy The Other Guys has gone online.  The film stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as a pair of desk-bound cops who decide to take on a major case and prove they’re as good as the department’s super-star detectives (played by Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson).

I like this international trailer more than the previously-released domestic one because it doesn’t feature yelling-Will Ferrell and instead highlights the comedic stylings of stating-the-obvious-Will Ferrell.  Also, Eva Mendes gets in a good joke at the end.  Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The Other Guys hits theaters on August 6th.

Sometimes Nicolas Cage’s choice of films makes it difficult for us to remember just how good of an actor he is. Hey, a guy has to work, right?  However, Cage’s performance in Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans serves as a reminder that Cage is in fact worthy of holding the title of Academy Award winner.

Right up there with his performances in 1995′s Leaving Las Vegas and 2002′s Adaptation, Cage’s portrayal of Terrence McDonagh, the “bad lieutenant”, is something that should not be missed.  In fact, it seems almost criminal that the film only had a limited release and was overlooked completely throughout awards season. It was easily one of the best of 2009. My full review of Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans on DVD after the jump:

While a trailer for director Adam McKay’s The Other Guys has yet to be released, a Sony video stand at ShoWest has a brief look at the interaction between Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell.   In the film, the two plays cops that never get in on any of the good cases.  But when an opportunity arises for “The Other Guys” to step up, things don’t quite go as planned.

As a huge fan of Ferrell and McKay’s last films (Step Brothers, Anchorman, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby), I cannot wait for this August when the film is getting released.  Hit the jump to check out the 30 second clip.