Is Leonardo DiCaprio going to be J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood's upcoming biopic?

Well apparently Deadline (in this article here) believes that he's in negotiations for the role. I'm not sure if he's the right choice or not, but he's certainly an interesting one, if nothing else.
-Thoughts?

Clint Eastwood to make a J. Edgar Hoover biopic his next film?

So it seems, and it's a script by Dustin Lance Black of 'Milk' fame as well. Here's the story in The Hollywood Reporter:

Clint Eastwood is lining up his next directing project, a biopic of controversial FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.

Eastwood is teaming with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment on the pic, which was initially set up at Universal, where Imagine has been developing it. Dustin Lance Black, who wrote biopic "Milk," penned the script.

Hoover was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935 and turned it into an efficient crimefighting organization. He remained its director until his death in 1972, but his sculpted persona was already coming apart at the seams; he employed the FBI to harass political activists and used illegal methods to make secret files on leaders. Many biographies also assert the man was a closeted homosexual and cross-dresser.

The Hoover project isn't set up at a studio, though it will most likely end up at Warner Bros., where Eastwood and his Malpaso shingle are based, as a Malpaso-Imagine production. Malpaso's Robert Lorenz also would serve as a producer in addition to Eastwood and Grazer.

There is a small connection between Hoover and the studio: Warners hired Hoover to act as a consultant on its 1959 movie "The FBI Story" and on the ABC spinoff series "The F.B.I."

Eastwood, who is in post on his drama "Hereafter," worked with Imagine in 2008 on the 1920s-set Angelina Jolie drama "The Changeling."

-This has a lot of potential...thoughts?

The first official word on Invictus arrives...

...and it's positive, but not a rave. The review is found here from Newsweek and David Ansen, who also has a look at some other big upcoming movies like Up in the Air, Crazy Heart, The Last Station, and A Single Man. As for Invictus, this is the most positive thing I've heard about the flick yet, but it's still early, so Clint could be back in Oscar's favor sooner than you think.
-Thoughts?

Invictus FINALLY gets a Trailer for us to know it actually exists...

At long last, here is the trailer:

-Honestly, I'm not too impressed, though it's tons better than the fractured look that Entertainment Tonight posted...thoughts?

And on that note, we get a Poster for Invictus...

Worth the wait?

Well, we finally get some info about 'Invictus'...

...but only that it's got a rating, and is rated PG-13. Not exactly a poster or a trailer, but at this point, I'll take what I can get.
-Thoughts on the rating?

Clint Eastwood is already looking to team up again with Matt Damon on a new project, a thriller written by Peter Morgan!

This fascinating project is detailed by this in Variety:

Matt Damon will star in "Hereafter," Clint Eastwood's next producing-directing project for Warner Bros., with lensing on the thriller set to begin this fall.

For Eastwood, the project's a move into supernatural territory. Warner Bros. is keeping the logline under wraps beyond describing the project as a thriller in the vein of "The Sixth Sense."

Peter Morgan, who received an Oscar nomination for "Frost/Nixon," penned the script.

Eastwood's producing through his Warner-based Malpaso banner with Kathleen Kennedy and Eastwood producing partner Robert Lorenz. Kennedy and Marshall's company will receive a production credit.

Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, Morgan and Tim Moore are exec producing. Project was originally set up at DreamWorks.

Damon can currently be seen in Steven Soderbergh's "The Informant." He will be seen starring opposite Morgan Freeman in Eastwood's "Invictus," the true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's underdog rugby team to help unite their country. "Invictus" is set to open Dec. 11.

Eastwood first expressed interest in "Hereafter" late last year when it was still at DreamWorks, which had picked up Morgan's spec in March 2008 when it was still a part of Paramount. DreamWorks held onto the project as part of its separation pact with the Melrose studio (Daily Variety, Nov. 14).

Eastwood previously worked with Spielberg on "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima," both of which Spielberg produced.

-Thoughts?

Clint Eastwood comes to DVD this week...and wants you off his lawn

Not that it should surprise anyone based on the title of this piece, but Eastwood's latest film is one of the ones being released to DVD this week. None of the films out particularly wowed me, but one must be named my PICK OF THE WEEK, and after some soul searching I've decided to give it to:
Gran Torino
Even though I had some major issues with this film, I found it to be better than average, just mildly disappointing coming from Clint. Granted, I'm in the minority on this, so I decided to give it top honors this week since it will likely be what most people pick up on DVD this week anyway. If you're an Eastwood fan, it's a good movie to add to your collection, just don't go in expecting a masterpiece. That being said, this might be his last acting role, so it's worth buying for that reason, if no other.
-Also out we have The International, which took Clive Owen, a relevant subject matter (banks ruining lives, though here they murder instead of simply rob), and managed to somehow make an incredibly mediocre movie out of it. It's not terrible by any stretch, but it's not that good either, so think long and hard before you pick this out up. It wastes more potential than almost any movie this year. Speaking of wasted potention, Crossing Over is out this week as well, and most of you are aware of my severe distaste for this film, both in my review and on the Podcast. It's a Crash wannabe that fails at every turn and wastes a director's talent along with some good actors. It's a real disaster.
-Rounding out the releases this week are the pretty dull sex farce Fired Up, which annoyed me a lot for many reasons, but mainly for having 30 year olds play teens...again. The other release is Sarah Jessica Parker's melodrama Spinning Into Butter. It pretty much skipped theaters, and watching it you know why. It's not a piece of crap, but it plays more like a Lifetime movie than a theatrical release.
-My Vintage pick this week is a good way to get Will Ferrell's Land of the Lost out of your mind. It's Stranger than Fiction, and it's Ferrell's best work so far in his career. It's funny and sad and touching, just a wonderful film. Check it out if you have yet to do so. It plays like Eternal Sunshine in a minor key, if that makes any sense.
-What will you be watching on DVD this week?

Clint Eastwood manages to receive the Palme d'Or before Cannes even gets started!

And with no film in competition at this point either! It's an honorary award, and Variety has the story:

Clint Eastwood received an honorary Palme d’Or from Cannes festival toppers Gilles Jacob and Thierry Fremaux to celebrate “the talent of a grand master at the summit of his craft” at a private ceremony in Paris on Wednesday.
Eastwood, in France for the release of “Gran Torino,” has a long relationship with Cannes stretching back to 1985 when “Pale Rider” played in competition. He has returned to present “Bird,” “White Hunter Black Heart,” “Mystic River” and “Changeling.”
“When I made my first film 39 years ago, no one in the U.S. -- except for Roger Ebert who was always very enthusiastic -- believed in me as a filmmaker. But French cineastes have always been very supportive,” Eastwood told guests at a Paris restaurant. “France remains one of the rare countries that approaches cinema as an art form.”
Fremaux said of the honor, “In the U.S., they call this a lifetime achievement award, but in French the word achievement means ‘done’ and Clint Eastwood is far from being done. We’ll call it an ‘opening award.’ “
Fremaux said the fest gave the Palme d’Or to Eastwood on Wednesday because he won’t be able to attend Cannes this year.
-Just in case we thought he might have to go some time with no awards....check the Palme d'Or off his list.

Next Year's Best Picture...

What do you ladies and gents think it will be? Blind guesses at this time, to say the least, but will Peter Jackson get back to the big show with The Lovely Bones, or Clint Eastwood with The Human Factor, or Martin Scorsese with Shutter Island, or Ang Lee with Taking Woodstock, or Quentin Tarantino with Inglorious Basterds? Will one of the films pushed back to 09 make a splash, like The Road or The Soloist? Will Pixar's Up do what WALL-E couldn't? Will Judd Apatow make his Funny People into Oscar People?

-Who knows at this point, and this is obviously a very small sampling of what's out there, but feel free to take a stab at it!