By “The Film Nest” guest contributor Chase Kahn (see him in the comments section as well).

“A worried man with a worried mind”, croons an aged Bob Dylan over the opening credits, voice raspier than ever. Michael Douglas plays a struggling writer and literary professor in the midst of a serious life crisis. His wife has just left him, he can’t finish his second novel and he’s in love with the chancellor of the university; her husband also happens to be head of the English department.

In between making early 90’s thrillers (The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, The River Wild) and venturing into contemporary Nancy Meyers territory (In Her Shoes, Lucky Me), Curtis Hanson peaked in 1997 with his neo-noir police saga L.A. Confidential. He would follow it up three years later with his 2000 box-office flop Wonder Boys, an exceptional yet underrated and seldom seen film that grossed a mere $19 million domestically. Even with a solid backing by most critics at the time, for whatever reason, the movie never caught on significantly with audiences or awards-season voters, catching just a screenplay, editing and best song nomination at the Oscars.

Douglas plays said professor and novelist Grady Tripp, in love with the aforementioned school chancellor (Frances McDormand) and a mentor to students James Leer (Tobey Maguire) and Hannah Green (Katie Holmes). All the while, he’s hassled by his editor (Robert Downey Jr.) who needs Grady to finish his book as badly as Grady does – for reputations’ sake. To make matters worse, Grady’s most troubling student – the brilliant but reserved James Leer – has just shot his boss’s dog to death at a party, which now finds its resting place in the back of Grady’s 1966 Ford Galaxy.

Michael Douglas as Grady Tripp, a worried man, indeed.

Wonder Boys is essentially a darkly comic ensemble film about finding your purpose, taking action and pushing forward to achieve it – don’t sit idle wallowing in your daily routine. This notion is mirrored in Grady’s unfinished novel, which is pushing 3000 pages without an end in sight. Grady doesn’t have writer’s block, as he describes, he just, “can’t stop.”

It’s also very much fundamentally about the relationship between Grady (Douglas) and his most talented yet troubled student James (Maguire). Hated by his fellow students and quietly “spooky”, he makes his home out of a bus station, snacking on cheese sandwiches out of the vending machine for food. One day, while “rescuing” James from his grandparent’s basement, Grady and his editor, Terry (Robert Downey Jr.) run into a freshly typed paragraph still rolled around the typewriter. “His heart, once capable of inspiring others so completely could no longer inspire so much as itself. It beat now only out of habit,” it reads. Grady isn’t rescuing James, James is rescuing him.

No, Spider-Man is not a part of "The Avengers," sorry.

Douglas finds the twisted ironic center of this character and brings real emotion and humor to him. His filthy and tainted pink robe and leathery, wrinkled brows depict the years of stagnant progression, or lack there of, that have taken a toll on his life which is now clearly in its latter half. In fact, everybody in the cast is great. Before becoming Peter Parker, Tobey Maguire is fantastic here, his blank expression speaking louder than words ever could. Robert Downey Jr. shortly displays the eccentric humor and talent that he would later carry into works like Zodiac and Iron Man. Rip Torn, Frances McDormand and a “Dawson’s Creek” Katie Holmes all supply adequate weight to their respective roles, as well.

Wonder Boys is based on Michael Chabon’s novel of the same name, which was loosely based on his life and a professor he had in college named Chuck Kinder, who also had an inordinately long, unfinished novel. Chabon himself also took seven years in-between 1988’s “Mysteries of Pittsburgh” (his debut) and 1995’s “Wonder Boys”, the exact same amount of time that it’s been since Grady’s debut novel won the PEN award.

An amazing writer, Chabon is also very clearly a movie fan. In addition to references to Errol Flynn and Marilyn Monroe here, in his 2007 novel, “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union”, his alternate history sees Orson Welles finishing his elusive “Hearts of Darkness”, something only a die-hard film fan would ever dream of. I’m sure someone like Chabon would find a lot of like here in Wonder Boys, a real hidden gem.

Buy this Films U Missed here.

Some very disappointing news today regarding Oliver Stone’s upcoming sequel to his 1988 financial-balloon film Wall Street. A few weeks ago, we brought you the exciting news that Javier Bardem was cast alongside Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf to play a villainous hedge fund manager (as if there were any other).

According to financial magazine, “Forbes,” Bardem had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts and “5 or 6 other offers.” He has apparently opted to co-star alongside Julia Roberts in a romantic film entitled Eat, Pray, Love, based on a best-selling novel. Booty.

After the news of Sean Penn leaving The Three Stooges, this is probably the next most disappointing casting about-face. I still hope Stone can deliver a film as good as the original and I have faith that he can, but with Bardem’s participation it almost seemed inevitable. Now that Bardem is gone, who would you like to see fill his character’s shoes?

Wall Street 2, subtitled Money Never Sleeps, is still tentatively slated for a February 2010 release.

This is just awesome news. Javier Bardem has been a stud for far too long and any film he’s in pretty much has to be seen. According to “Deadline Hollywood,” Bardem has joined the cast of Oliver Stone’s Wall Street 2.

The cast already includes the original Gordon Gekko himself, Michael Douglas, and the budding star who continues to rise, Shia LaBeouf.

In order to be successful, one must project an image of success at all times.

The film takes places 21 years ofter the original and Gekko has finished serving his prison sentence. He attempts to warn Wall Street that the bottom is on the verge of falling out, but his cries fall on deaf ears. He instead pursues rebuilding his fractious relationship with his daughter. Meanwhile, LaBeouf’s character is a young upstart, engaged to Gekko’s estranged daughter. When his mentor supposedly kills himself, LaBeouf suspects a villainous hedge fund manager, to be played by Bardem. LaBeouf asks Gekko for help and in turn aids Gekko in his relationship with his daughter.

I think the casting is great and of course the timing of the film couldn’t be better. It’s slated for a February 2010 release. Bardem has proven he can play the most menacing of villains, as evidenced by his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for No Country for Old Men. I’m excited for this, as the original Wall Street was great and I’m now envisioning having to rewatch it very soon.

What do you think of the casting so far? How about the plot?

I’m really confused with the title of this movie and its release date. The Ghost of Girlfriends Past is supposed to be a different spin on “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens. With Ghosts in the title, wouldn’t it be better if this were released near Halloween? Or wouldn’t it make sense if it were released near Christmas since it’s one of the most famous holiday stories? Nope, this one is slated to open in May and I can see it’s already out of place with its theme and title. Yes, the title is stupid and it’s yet another romantic comedy with Matthew McConaughey, since Failure to Launch, The Wedding Planner and Fool’s Gold were so “good.”

"Are you sure you don't want me to take my shirt off? Because I can."

McConaughey stars as Connor Mead, a womanizing (shocker of all shockers) photographer who makes a habit of ditching women, even though they may like him.  While attending his younger brother Paul’s (Breckin Meyer) wedding, he ends up seeing Jenny (Jennifer Garner), the best friend of the bride (Lacey Chabert).  Jenny used to be an old flame of Connor’s, but he ditched her when things were getting serious. Still bitter about the situation, Jenny warns him not to distract her friend’s wedding. Connor decides to challenge himself by still meeting a woman at the wedding without causing any harm. While in the bathroom contemplating his course of action, he is approached by his Uncle Wayne (Michael Douglas), a ghost who also had his way with the ladies. He tells Connor that ghosts of three women he used to date will approach him. Saying it’s for his own good, the ghost of girlfriends past (Emma Stone), present (Noreen DeWulf) and future (Amanda Walsh) take him on journey through his past love life (like Ebenezer Scrooge). They show him all the women he has dated, including his first encounter with Jenny. Connor, feeling bad about how he treated Jenny when they dated, must learn from his mistakes and try to win her love back.

The movie is directed by Mark Waters, who also directed the enjoyable Mean Girls and Just Like Heaven, which also uses the ghost element. It’s written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (Rebound, Four Christmases) and you would have thought with two writers that they would clear up some of the confusion surrounding the elements, but I guess not.

"I'm going to keep eating you, and if you tip over, it's your own fault...Oh, no."

Not only am I confused with the title, but I’m also confused about the movie itself. Are the ghosts of girlfriends past dead? Wouldn’t you have to be dead in order to be a ghost? Of course, wouldn’t it be devastating to McConaughey’s character that three women he used to date are now deceased? What did they die from, an STI? If that’s the case, Jenny might want to continue resisting Connor’s charm. Maybe it’s just easier to come up with a solution by saying this movie looks horrid. It will probably fulfill its role as date movie, and I pity the ones that take the film up on that offer.

Ghost of Girlfriends Past opens May 1^st.