Writer/director Paul Haggis (Crash) has made a couple of last minute casting additions to his next project, Third Person.  Maria Bello and Adrien Brody are the latest to join a cast that now includes Liam Neeson, Olivia Wilde, James Franco, Kim Basinger, Mila Kunis, and Moran Atias.  In the vein of Haggis’ Oscar-winning 2004 drama Crash, the film follows three intersecting stories set in Paris, New York, and Rome, “with each storyline following a different stage of a love relationship from the beginning, middle, and the end.”

Variety’s report doesn’t provide details on Bello’s character, but Brody plays the love interest of Atias.  We also know that Neeson and Wilde play a journalist and a gossip columnist, respectively, in the New York storyline.  Production begins this week in Rome.  Hit the jump for casting news concerning the 9/11 drama September Morn.

We’re currently in a time when Hollywood seems more likely to revamp, reboot, remake or re-adapt an already established property than to take a chance on something wholly original.  Financially, this makes sense as the general public is already aware of the franchise in question and may be more likely to go see a new iteration out of a sense of nostalgia or plain old curiosity.  We’ve seen Hollywood continually mine our rich, fertile and imaginative childhoods as a source of box office fodder (Transformers, G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant/Alien Ninja Turtles) and that’s not likely to stop any time soon.  So I’m here to take the initiative and offer up some forgotten franchises, some lesser-known vintage properties and some downright obscure media to sacrifice to the box office gods.  Our initial feature will plead the case for a re-imagining of one of my favorite mid-90s animated shows and you can read it after the jump.  Hollywood! Adapt This: Disney’s Gargoyles.  

It’s been 36 years since Ed Asner took a guest role in the original Hawaii Five-0 series in 1975, and now Deadline reports the veteran actor will return as that exact same character on CBS’ series reboot. In a strange almost paradoxical turn, footage from the original series will be used in the new episode featuring Asner’s return. The original episode titled Wooden Model of a Rat saw Asner playing August March, an up-and-coming world class smuggler. Thirty years later, March is reformed after spending 30 years in prison for murder. Living on O’ahu, the new Five-0 crew approached March to help with a smuggling case. This seems like a strange merging of the two series, but it’s definitely a cool move for fans of the original series who have stuck with the reboot. It may not make the most sense (at least on the surface), but it’s certainly an interesting idea.

There are literally hundreds of Christmas films lingering on the shelves of video stores around the world. Most of them are junk – forgettable slapstick fare involving goofy people doing goofy things in the name of goofiness – yet every now and again one jumps out and has enough allure to end up a perennial holiday favorite (check out Collider’s list of Top 10 Christmas flicks if you haven’t already).

Such is the case with Jon Favreau’s 2003 Elf, an otherwise forgettable film if not for Will Ferrell’s sugar-high, candy coated, even inspired performance. The former SNL-star does his damndest to ensure an enjoyable comedy experience, yet obtrudes the film in a way that makes it impossible to enjoy unless you find his overtly rambunctious humor amusing. Personally, I think the man is a god – Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) remains one of the great comedies – capable of squeezing hilarity from even the most rudimentary of circumstances, and so my opinion is a biased one. Still, I can see how Ferrell’s brand of humor may turn off some; I understand why people get annoyed when he strips naked (far too often) and screams obscenities with high pitched fury. But you have to admit, the man takes chances – sometimes his method works, sometimes it doesn’t.  Continued after the jump:

While covering the panel for Batman: Under the Red Hood at Comic-Con, I stumbled upon the announcement that Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s highly praised All-Star Superman storyline would be made into a full-length animated feature. Now we have the full cast listing and the date you can expect to see the Eisner award-winning storyline brought to life: February 22, 2011. Among the talented cast assembled to voice the icons are James Denton (Desperate Housewives) as Superman, Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) as Lois Lane, Anthony LaPaglia (Without A Trace) as Lex Luthor, and Ed Asner (Up) as Perry White. As you can see, they have quite a cast for the film and having read the comic it’s based on after picking it up at the convention, I now understand why it received wild applause when it was announced. Hit the jump for my brief impressions and the full press release, including what to expect on the home video release in terms of special features.

Kristoffer Aaron Morgan and Eric Vespe (aka Kraken and Quint of AICN) have begun to assemble a cast for their horror film The Home: namely Louis Gossett Jr. (Iron Eagle), Ed Asner (Up) and Fionnula Flanagan (the Lucy to Desmond Hume’s Charlie Brown on Lost). Bloody Disgusting reports that Brian Cox (chewing scenery in the recent Red) and the great Cloris Leachman (Raising Hope) are also in talks to star in the horror thriller.

The Home concerns a young man who, after suffering a horrible accident, goes to recuperate at a nursing home… that just so happens to be infested with carnivorous monsters. Tough break. Having unfortunately visited a nursing home not too long ago, I can tell you that they are heartbreakingly sad and terrifying all at once. I wasn’t sure whether to cry for the elder woman, who stared transfixed at a blank unplugged television screen as yellow droplets rolled down her leg, or run screaming from the poor woman. Add monsters into the mix — and well, I get the shudders just thinking about it. More about old people and monsters after the jump. (No easy jokes about them being the same thing, please.)

With some major casting additions, HBO’s telepic Too Big to Fail now lives up to its name.  William Hurt has already signed on to star in the behind-the-scenes look at the 2008 financial crisis, directed by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential).  James Woods, Paul Giamatti, Billy Crudup, Ed Asner, Kathy Baker, Cynthia Nixon, Ayad Akhtar, Topher Grace, Dan Hedaya, Michael O’Keefe, Tony Shalhoub, and Joey Slotnick have now joined the cast.  Hit the jump to see the real-life personas they’ll assume.

We have two quick pieces of casting news for you this morning.  First up, the incredibly sexy Ashley Greene (The Twilight Saga) has signed on to co-star in the Miley Cyrus comedy LOL along with Thomas Jane (Hung).  According to THR, “The story centers on a teenage girl (Cyrus) who is dumped by her more sexually experienced boyfriend (George Finn) while her divorcee mother (Demi Moore) struggles to move on with her life.”  Greene will play “a high school bad girl” (nice) and Jane will play Cyrus’ father.  The film also stars Ashley Hinshaw (Gossip Girl) as Cyrus’ best friend.

Hit the jump for Kali Hawk’s two new projects.

When talking about the latest Pixar, it’s easy to fall into superlatives. Really, there’s only one modestly bad apple, and that’s Cars. The other film singled out as less than is A Bug’s Life, but that’s a solid film in its own right, and probably their most underrated. So is it fair to call Up a masterpiece? Yes. Yes it is. My review of Up after the jump.