After her wonderfully sad and scary turn in "Black Swan," I'm happy to see Winona Ryder will be headlining a new picture.

This one will be a thriller with a great title -- "The Stare" (it almost sounds like Bette Davis' "The Star"). Also, Ryder gets to go crazy. Yes.

Oh, and James Franco also stars.

Here's more:

"Deadline reports that, [James] Franco and Ryder have signed on to star in "The Stare," a new film about a playwright (Ryder) who begins to hallucinate and become paranoid as she struggles to get her newest production off the ground.

"Franco will play one of the actors in her production, according to Deadline; he is a student of director Jay Anania, who heads the acting program at NYU, one of many universities that Franco attends."

 

Sad news. I always had a soft spot for Michael Sarrazin, from the masterful "They Shoot Horses, Don't They" to the underrated Paul Newman directed "Sometimes a Great Notion."

The actor has passed away at the age of 70. Rest in sweet peace, Mr. Sarrazin. And no more "yowza, yowza, yowza."

Here's more from The LA Times:


"Michael Sarrazin, a tall, dark-eyed Canadian actor who starred opposite Jane Fonda in Sydney Pollack's 1969 film 'They Shoot Horses, Don't They?', died of cancer Sunday at a Montreal hospital, said his agent, Michael Oscars. He was 70.

"Born May 22, 1940, in Quebec City, Sarrazin grew up in Montreal and began acting in high school. He came to Hollywood in the mid-1960s after signing a contract with Universal.

"He appeared in a flurry of films beginning with the 1967 movies 'Gunfight in Abilene' with Bobby Darin and 'The Flim-Flam Man' starring George C. Scott. The next year, Sarrazin starred in "The Sweet Ride" opposite Jacqueline Bisset, and they began a relationship that lasted several years.

"Sarrazin was up for the part of Joe Buck in John Schlesinger's 'Midnight Cowboy' but lost it to Jon Voight when the film's producers wouldn't agree to Universal's demands for borrowing Sarrazin."
 

Gwyneth Paltrow -- movie star, Margot Tenenbaum, country singer, Cee-Lo interpreter of song, domestic goddess, cookbook author and as you may know, GOOP.

Here's more from a profile in The New Yorker:

"It’s tough for some people to accept Gwyneth Paltrow’s transformation from movie star to domestic goddess. Something about the combination of her willowy looks, her glam life style (she is married to Chris Martin, the Coldplay front man), and the unlikely food tips in her e-mail newsletter, Goop—'I was stationed at the deep fat fryer (Delight! Fried zucchini! Fried anchovies!)'—produce​s cognitive dissonance. But Paltrow takes it in stride.

"'I’ve been the cook amongst my family and friends for years,' she said the other night. 'That’s why I wrote the book. Because my friends are, like, ‘How do you make that? I want your chili recipe!’ ' The book is Paltrow’s first cookbook, 'My Father’s Daughter'—the title refers to her father, the late television producer Bruce Paltrow. It advises readers, 'Invest in what’s real. Clean as you go. Drink while you cook.'"

 

Today is tax day. Not Friday, like I thought, but today. If you filed Friday -- congratulations, you are done! You made a deadline early -- it's a remarkably wonderful feeling, isn't it?  If you've not filed, that's your business, but I would suggest to get on top of it since you're closing in on your final hours.

I think I'm writing this entry to myself. One needs to pat oneself on the back, even if from a fluke of not knowing the real tax day. "It's not today? You mean, I'm three days early?"

What if it had been earlier? Oh, don't even think of that ...

In case you're wondering, the above photo is Sophia Loren being arrested for not paying taxes in 1982. We love her regardless.

Now again, send those taxes in! 

Based on my movie-going experience, everyone and their grandmother went to see Robert Redford's "The Conspirator" over the weekend.

 At a 4:30 Saturday showing in New York City, the movie was sold out. It was heartening to see so many people that interested in a movie about the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln (unless they thought they were stumbling into a movie about a lawyer and his car -- that other Lincoln movie), but I guess the majority of film fans were actually watching a talking macaw.

That is heartening also -- a number one Jesse Eisenberg film.

Here's more about this matter:

"Moviegoers around the world headed to 'Rio' for the weekend.

"The 3D animated misadventure of a Brazilian macaw scored the biggest opening so far this year at the North American box office, and was the top choice overseas for a second weekend, distributor 20th Century Fox said on Sunday.

"The film sold an estimated $40 million worth of tickets across the United States and Canada during the three days beginning April 15, coming in at the top end of expectations.

"It also provided some rare good news at the box office where sales so far this year are down 19 percent to $2.65 billion, according to box office analysts at Hollywood.com."

 

When Nicolas Cage is involved, it doesn't seem strange at all. All we need now is the Werner Herzog remake of "Midnight Run." Now that would be wonderful.

From The Wrap:

"Listen real carefully, and you can almost hear an A&E programming executive squeek, 'Oh please, run.' The network's reality TV bounty hunter, Duane 'Dog' Chapman posted the $11,000 bond needed to spring Nicolas Cage from a New Orleans jail.

"Cage was arrested Saturday morning on one count of domestic abuse and one count of disturbing the peace, according to police records. Witnesses say the actor was very drunk and was taunting police, who were looking into an argument he was allegedly having with his wife at the time."

 

Are you excited for "Fast Five"? This writer is. As a film lover, a gear-head, and a sucker for Vin Diesel hauling a** in a muscle car, the fifth "The Fast and the Furious" film looks like a promising entry into the speed demon franchise. And the cars! Oh, the cars!

So I am happy to announce that MSN is posting the live webcast streaming premiere of "Fast Five" in, yes, Rio, today, 5 p.m. PST.

Check it out below.

 

Peter Jackson just can't escape the Shire!

Here, the director walks us through the production of "The Hobbit" in this 10-minute behind-the-scenes-se​t video. I actually don't like these types of things before the picture -- it sort of ruins the magic -- but there are those who get thrilled by this stuff.

For those who get stoked by Jackson talking Bilbo's historic moments in the Misty Mountains and more ("That looks like a foot. Or an arm"), here you go: