2009’s been a big year for George Clooney and we haven’t even seen any of his films yet. He has three due out in the next eight weeks, all retaining some Oscar Bait potential, not coincidentally because of his involvement. This week, we’ll see his The Men Who Stare at Goats, followed by Fantastic Mr. Fox around Thanksgiving and the Jason Reitman-directed Up in the Air come Christmas. Those are just the films in release. He’s currently filming The American for director Anton Corbijn and is now in talks to star in the new film from Alexander Payne, The Descendants.

“Variety” states the story “centers on a wealthy landowner who takes his two daughters on a search for his wife’s lover in the hopes of keeping his family together.” Surprisingly, the script was not written by Payne and writing partner Jim Taylor, but by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, essentially actors-turned-writers, based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. Payne hopes to start filming in February in Hawaii. Tropical locations are certainly popular settings for films right now after the success of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Couples Retreat.

You might remember my recollection of my time as an extra on Alexander Payne’s last feature film, Sideways. Though it seemed to be a comedy of errors on my part, I still enjoy the man’s films for the most part. Election is one of the great films released in 1999, making the list that much more exquisite and I’ve had a fondness for About Schmidt long before it became infamous for its Kathy Bates nudity. Although you could pretty much match any quality filmmaker with George Clooney and have this next sentence be true, it sounds to me like their collaboration is a match made in heaven. I already can’t wait.

The renowned English children’s author, Roald Dahl, has had the majority of his novels and stories adapted from page to screen, resulting in Nicolas Roeg’s The Withes, Henry Selick’s James and the Giant Peach and Danny DeVito’s Matilda, as well as Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the alternatively titled Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, directed by Mel Stuart in 1971.

Dahl’s works have this distinctive air of offbeat whimsy and substance that haven’t quite been matched on screen by a filmmaker with the same posture and lifework characteristics as Wes Anderson – although Tim Burton would certainly qualify, as well, his film was a remake of Mel Stuart’s 1971 classic. With The Fantastic Mr. Fox, cult flag-bearer and Criterion wonder-boy Wes Anderson has adapted the story of a thievish family fox, his many talented friends, and his neighboring farmers who disapprove of their survival techniques, which involve stealing chickens from their farms.

Anderson made it big in 1996 and 1998, with arguably his best works, Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, where the director established his style of dark, dry humor mixed in with genuine emotion and sensationalized, yet relatable characters – often played by Wes Anderson mainstays Owen and Luke Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray. This culminated with The Royal Tenenbaums in 2001, which brought all of the director’s fashionable and identifiable idiosyncrasies into a comparatively big-budgeted, all-star production that put all other dysfunctional families to shame with its bleak, yet once again, relatable family portrait. Now, he brings his old family (Schwartzman, Wilson, Murray lend their voices) in with the new (George Clooney as Mr. Fox, Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox) and ventures into the realm of stop-motion animation for the first time in his career.

Director Wes Anderson with the cast of "The Fantastic Mr. Fox."

Anderson signed on as director after the film rights were bought for Roald Dahl’s novel in 2004, but two years later, Henry Selick (the animation director at the time) had to leave the project to focus on his adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline” – released earlier this year. Like any live-action Anderson film, The Fantastic Mr. Fox will not appear as traditional stop-motion animation, but since the majority of shooting was done in this tradition, it is classified as such. Voicework, hardly within the confines and comforts of a cozy studio, was recorded pretty much anywhere, according to Anderson. “Well, for this film we recorded all the voices on locations. We went out in a forest, we went in an attic, we went in a stable. We went underground for some things. There was a great spontaneity in the recordings because of that, I think.”**

The script, which was written by Anderson and Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale, Margot at the Wedding) looks to have all of the deadpan witty bantering that Anderson fans have come to expect and marks the first time the two writer/directors have collaborated since 2004’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The PG-animated film premiered at the London Film Festival on October 14th to warm reactions and begins its platform release on November 13th with a New York, Los Angeles debut.

**quote from RT article

Based on a non-fiction book by Jon Ronson of the same name, The Men Who Stare at Goats explores and examines the U.S. Military’s research and experimentation with psychic and paranormal powers over the last three decades, carrying over into the present situation in Iraq. Much like Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant!, the film, adapted by Peter Straughan, takes an unbelievable true-life account and turns into a farcical comedy with a big-name cast. The title is to be taken literally – referring to attempts by so-called psychic soldiers (aka “Jedi Warriors”) to kill goats by simply staring at them.

The Men Who Stare at Goats also reunites frequent collaborators and Smoke House production company co-founders George Clooney and Grant Heslov, who have worked together on Leatherheads and Good Night and Good Luck, both directed by Clooney himself. Now, the director’s chair belongs to Heslov, who is helming his first feature film since the golf comedy, Par 6, went undistributed in 2002.

George Clooney plays Lyn Cassidy, a self-anointed "Jedi Warrior."

Clooney receives top billing as Lyn Cassidy, a former U.S. military psychic soldier who has recently been reactivated before running into Bob Wilton, a reporter stumbling onto the story of a lifetime, played by Ewan McGregor. The two then join forces in a crazed and comical “adventure” across the Iraq War landscape. Jeff Bridges plays Bill Django, the founder of the psychic program, while Larry Hooper, a former psychic soldier who now runs an Iraqi prison camp, is portrayed by Kevin Spacey. It’s also worth mentioning a supporting role by the great Stephen Lang (Public Enemies, Avatar), who now feels synonymous with the name Michael Mann, at least in my eyes.

Among many firsts, The Men Who Stare at Goats has got to be the first Iraq War-set comedy. The film is also shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Elswit (“There Will Be Blood”), who will attempt to substitute the landscapes of New Mexico, California and Puerto Rico for the Iraq-set locations. Following strong, solid buzz from the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals in early September, The Men Who Stare at Goats should provide smart, escapist adult entertainment for those queasy of Vince Vaughn’s recent output when it releases through Overture Films on November 6th.

A few months ago, we dropped a news tidbit on you about George Clooney starring in a film titled A Very Private Gentleman, which was based on the book of the same name by Martin Booth, about an assassin who conceals his identity while living in a quaint, village town. Now, the project has been re-dubbed The American and we have a fuller plot description for you.

Courtesy of Focus Features:

Alone among assassins, Jack (played by Mr. Clooney) is a master craftsman. When a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected for this American abroad, he vows to his contact Larry (Bruce Altman of this fall’s Peter and Vandy) that his next assignment will be his last. Jack reports to the Italian countryside, where he holes up in a small town and relishes being away from death for a spell. The assignment, as specified by a Belgian woman, Mathilde (Thekla Reuten of Focus’ award-winning In Bruges), is in the offing as a weapon is constructed. Surprising himself, Jack seeks out the friendship of local priest Father Benedetto (Italian screen and stage veteran Paolo Bonacelli) and pursues romance with local woman Clara (Italian leading lady Violante Placido). But by stepping out of the shadows, Jack may be tempting fate.

The script was written by Rowan Joffe (28 Weeks later) and will be directed by Anton Corbijn, who gained some fame directing the Joy Division biopic, Control in 2007. For some reason, this film’s plot description reminds me a bit of In Bruges, but I’m guessing it won’t be as comically toned. The film just began shooting in Italy and I’m eager to see it in its full glory soon enough. What do you think about Clooney as assassin?

Because the title reminded me, check out the video for La Coka Nostra’s “I’m An American” track. Hell, the whole album is awesome.

George Clooney has only three feature directorial credits to his name and his second film (Good Night and Good Luck) was the only one with any sort of political persuasion in it, but he’s about to return to the well for feature number four, Hamdan v Rumsfeld. According to Female First, he’s bringing along friend Matt Damon to star.

The film will chart the plight of the Osama bin Laden’s chauffer, who was captured in Afghanistan and shipped to the terrorist detention facility in Guantanamo Bay. Damon is slated to play the chauffer’s lawyer, Charles Swift, who takes his client and their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. It’ll be a courtroom drama and the script will be written by the master of political courtroom drama, Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men).

I wasn’t a big fan of Clooney’s last directorial output (Leatherheads), but few were. I still think he has a good eye about him and a collaboration with Damon and Sorkin could make this a powerful piece. Who knows when this will get off the ground, but I’d imagine the sooner the better. We were finally granted our first great Iraq war film this year (The Hurt Locker), so it’s about time we get our first great courtroom drama out of this mess, too. Do you think this could be it?

Character banners is code for posters we missed in our weekly round-up in this case.  Or, more specifically, posters that we found out about right after we posted our Movie Poster Round-Up post.  Nevertheless, they probably would merit inclusion in such a post, but because that is such a stacked post, and there are a lot of these banners, I decided to give you another post just with The Fantastic Mr. Fox character banners.  Generous, I know.  Here, courtesy of GATW I present to you said banners.  Enjoy your weekend!

The Fantastic Mr. Fox is one of the movies we will be profiling later this year closer to it’s release in theaters, currently scheduled for arrival on the big screen on November 13th.  We gave you an initial look at some of the characters in the movie and have already posted the first trailer for the film, which features old-school stop motion animation to get the results that Anderson wanted to achieve.  In a lot of ways, what we have seen so far, truly fits Anderson’s style of directing.  The visual style he has used in such films as Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums in the past actually remains prevalent from the footage we have been able to catch thus far.  The film will feature voice work from George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Bill Murray among others.

This featurette video for Wes Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on the children’s classic book of the same name, takes you behind the scenes revealing some of the highly detailed processes that it took to create what we will see on the big screen.  This gives the viewer a greater appreciation of the amount of work that is involved in the use of stop motion animation technique for filmmaking.  The video is voiced by one of the stars, Jason Schwartzman and features George Clooney, the director Anderson, and many crew members involved in the process. Take a look and tell us what you think.  Props to First Showing for the video.

It’s day number two of Robert Rodriguez Week here at The Film Nest and today we bring you our first classic scene from the director’s ouevre.

By 1996, Rodriguez had already worked alongside fellow film-fanatic-turned-filmmaker, Quentin Tarantino, as  they each wrote and directed a segment form the quadruple-tiered Four Rooms. Tarantino wrote the script for From Dusk Till Dawn (with Robert Kurtzman getting story credit) and was set to direct his first feature since Pulp Fiction, but instead chose to focus on his screenplay and his role as Seth Gecko, thus passing the directorial opportunity to his friend, Robert Rodriguez.

This is the first film Rodriguez directed not based on his own script, and this opening scene has Tarantino’s hand prints all over it. There isn’t much set-up to be given since it’s the opening scene of the film and although a tad long, every second is exceptional. It’s been too long since I’ve seen this film and revisiting this scene tells me I need to see see it again. Rodriguez was given a great screenplay to work from and his effort truly shows. Enjoy!