Superman Still Looking For a Female Lead - But It's NOT Lois Lane

Here's a scoop! No one reads Newspapers.

According to a recent article posted on Variety, Warner Bros. and director Zack Snyder have not yet found their female lead. But, the big news is that the lead character will not by traditional Superman love interest Lois Lane.

Alice Eve, Rosamund Pike and Diane Kruger are apparently all being considered for the role, whatever it may be. Before the news that Lois Lane wouldn't appear, speculation was running high as to who would be cast, with Rachel McAdams being one of the front-runners (But if I were casting the role? Rashida Jones, all the way)

I really don't quite know what to make of this news. Is it just Lois who's out? Or are they giving a miss to the whole Daily Planet crew? Because having Clark Kent walking around the Daily Planet without Lois would definitely feel awkward. Will the story even be set in Metropolis at all? That's a pretty major part of the whole mythology, and to lose it may make some people (okay, insane Interwebs fanboys) cry that they have strayed too far.

On the one hand, I can see why they made this call. If there's one aspect that we have covered pretty much fully in the Superman films it is the whole relationship with Lois and the Daily Planet setting. That and Lex Luthor and land schemes. Sidebar: isn't it insane that in Superman The Movie Lex steals nuclear missiles for a real estate swindle? I mean, he could sell the fricking missiles and make an assload of money and not have to irradiate his real estate.

Anyway, perhaps this opens up great possibilities for the film. Maybe it puts Superman in some other setting? Perhaps a New Gods storyline? A major criticism of Superman Returns was that, with all the improvements in visual and special effects, they still had him going up against Lex Luthor. It would really have to pull out all the stops to have Superman go up against Darkseid, that's for sure. But with Christopher Nolan behind things, I had assumed they would be taking a similar approach to the Batman films, namely creating a realistic world to ground the fantastic elements.

Who knows? But the possibility is intriguing.

RIP - Maria Schneider

Some sad news today, as word comes that Maria Schneider, who starred as Jeanne in the classic and controversial film Last Tango in Paris, has died. She was just 58 years old.

Schneider had started acting in films as early as 1969, but it wasn't until she co-starred with Marlon Brando in Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris that she became famous internationally. The story of Paul (Brando), who, after his wife's suicide, enters into an anonymous affair with a young French woman (Schneider) who is about to be married. It was immensely controversial for its frank and explicit sex scenes between Brando and the then 20 year old Schneider. It was loudly decried, and released with an X-rating. However, Brando's performance was celebrated for its brutal vulnerability and honesty.

While Brando, and even Bertolucci to some degree, escaped relatively unscathed, Schneider took the brunt of a lot of the outrage. This situation was exacerbated once she revealed she was openly bisexual and that she was a user of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. At the time, she spoke warmly of the experience of making the film, and of her relationship with Brando and Bertolucci. However, in the years that followed, she revealed that she felt manipulated and humiliated during the making of the film, and she said she considered Bertolucci to be "a gangster and a pimp". She remained friends with Brando for the rest of his life, but did comment that on set he wasn't terribly sensitive to how she felt at the time.

The experience and the furor surrounding it did lead to her gaining larger stardom. In 1975 she starred opposite Jack Nicholson in The Passenger, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. In 1976, she was slated to star in the ill-fated Caligula, but walked off the set after she refused to do nudity. She checked herself into an institution in Rome. The years since Last Tango in Paris had taken their toll, and her drug addiction, combined with a suicide attempt, left her in a dangerous state.

By 1980, she had recovered, and she began working steadily in European films once again. She starred in films like A Woman Like Eve, Savage Nights and Jane Eyre throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Though she never reached the heights of stardom she achieved in the 1970s, she did seem to be happy with both her work and life.

Sadly, she had battled an unknown illness for some time, which eventually claimed her life.

Gordon-Levitt Joining Dark Knight Rises

Word's coming out that the cast for The Dark Knight Rises is getting effing ri-donk-ulous with the news that Joseph Gordon-Levitt has joined the cast. No one has revealed what role he's going to play, but speculation is running from Hugo Strange to the Riddler to some sort of copy-cat version of the Joker.

So, just to confirm, here's the cast for this flick: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy and now Joseph Gordon-Levitt. You just know Nolan's going to stick Cillian Murphy in there too. 

Still, I love Gordon-Levitt, he's consistently amazing. Nolan really has a magic touch when it comes to casting, and no matter what role he plays, he'll probably be great.

Superman Fights for Truth, Justice and Steak and Kidney Pie

I'm comfortably heterosexual, but that man is hunky.

Word around the playground is that British actor Henry Cavill will be the new Superman. Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder have confirmed that the 27 year actor will be the next Man of Steel in Warner's upcoming reboot.

Cavill is mostly know for his role on The Tudors, where he plays Henry's confidant Charles Brandon, but he has also appeared in films such as Stardust and Tristan + Isolde. However, he's almost more famous for the roles he has been up for, and close to, but didn't quite land. He was strongly considered for the role of Batman that eventually went to Christian Bale. He also was one of the front-runners for James Bond before Craig landed the role. To top it off, this is not his first kick at Superman either, as he was one of the front-runners for that role before it went to Brandon Routh.

Oddly, this means that three of the biggest super-hero characters around are now being played by people whose background comes from the UK. Bale as Batman, Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, and now Cavill as Superman. Hell, even Ryan Reynolds is a Canuck, and he's playing Green Lantern. Thank God for Robert Downey to show people a true-blue, red blooded American super hero, goddammit!

HBO Takes Sorkin's Latest Idea to Pilot...

Soon after his snagging an Oscar nomination for the script for The Social Network, HBO has announced it will take Aaron Sorkin's latest television idea to the pilot stage, heralding the scribe's return to TV after the spectacular failure of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

The pilot focuses on the behind the scenes at a cable news network. This had long been rumoured to be his next project, especially after he revealed he had been hanging around the set of Keith Olbermann's MSNBC series (from which Olbermann was recently, and publicly, forced to depart).

Sorkin, who had a cult success with the short-lived Sports Night before creating and running the massive hit The West Wing, has not had a television series on the air since Studio 60... and expensive and hugely anticipated series that barely lasted a season before being cancelled. Opinion of that show still sharply divides fans.

I think this news is good news, and news that more closely fits in with Sorkin's style than Studio 60... ever did. While I thought the show was well-cast and well-shot, it was clear that Sorkin had no flair for writing the sketches that were supposed to appear on the show, leaving one with the impression that the show within the show wasn't actually any good. Also, Sorkin likes to tackle real-world issues, and it rang a little false to have them tackled by comedy stars and Hollywood execs.

But a news show? With both the cynicism and the idealism and the possibilities for the patented Sorkin dialogue? Coupled with no-holds-barred HBO? Sounds like a great match to me.

The APC Net

Hi, folks!

Well, as if I didn't have enough trouble keeping up with The Nerd Report, I have decided to launch a new blog - this one dedicated to an analysis of Doctor Who.

It's called The APC Net (after a computer network in the episode The Deadly Assassin). If you're a fan of the show, or are mildly interested in seeing what all the hubbub is about, then head on over and take a look.

Not to worry, I'll still be making it a priority to post here and enthrall you all with shallow observations, thinly veiled sarcasm, overpowering nerdery, and barely concealed contempt.

The 83rd Annual Academy Award Nominations...

The Oscar nominations were announced today and there were a number of surprises that caught more than a few people off guard. No Best Director nom for Christopher Nolan. Andrew Garfield being left off the Best Supporting list, and Ryan Gosling being left off the Best Actor list, as well. But, while some may disagree with who was left off, the question then becomes who would you kick off that is currently on there? Look at the Best Actor category. Hard to deny any of the men who are on there already. Personally, while I admired Tom Hooper's work on The King's Speech, when you compare it to the virtuosity and vision of Nolan, I do feel that he should have taken Hooper's spot. But it's hard to exclude the director of the front-runner, I guess. In any case, the nominees all look deserving, which is a good thing.

BEST PICTURE
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

BEST ANIMATED FILM
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
David O. Russell, The Fighter

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Hors la Loi (Outside the Law) (Algeria)
Incendies (Canada)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Dogtooth (Greece)
Biutiful (Mexico)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Another Year, written by Mike Leigh
The Fighter, Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; 
Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
Inception, written by Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right, written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
The King’s Speech, Screenplay by David Seidler

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 Hours, Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
The Social Network, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3, Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
True Grit, written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Winter’s Bone, adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini