The upcoming Clint Eastwood film, Trouble with the Curve, is said to have welcomed a new addition to the cast: Matthew Lillard, who starred in a few Scream movies and played “Shaggy” in Scooby-Doo. According to Entertainment Weekly, Lillard is in negotiations to star opposite Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams in Trouble with the Curve, a drama about an old baseball scout (Eastwood) who takes his daughter on one last scouting trip. The film is scheduled to go into production this year, with a 2013 release.

Director Baz Luhrmann is currently hard at work adapting F. Scot Fitzgerald’s famous novel The Great Gatsby, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio. We’ve gotten the first image of DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, in a shot with co-stars Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire. The Great Gatsby is scheduled for release later this year.

If you have been reading the trades then you know that Australian actor Joel Edgerton has for a long been connected to the untitled Osama Bin Laden film with Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal attached. Edgerton, who is best known for starring in the Warrior has made it official – he has signed on to star.

According to the trades, Edgerton has been the number one choice since as early as May; but he had some scheduling conflicts and dealings with an unfinished script. Since Edgerton bowed out of Warner Bros. sequel to 300 and the script is now done, he’s joined the Bin Laden film, which also includes Jason Clarke.

Bigelow will direct the film from Boal’s script. The story focuses on the Navy Seal team that tracked and eventually killed Osama Bin Laden. Boal and Bigelow are well-known for their Hurt Locker collaboration – winning the Oscar for best movie.

The film is scheduled to go into production in February with a release date set for December 19, 2012.

Several roles are still open for casting. One role involves a female reporter entrenched with the Navy Seal team. Variety reports that Rooney Mara had been a possible choice, but her The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo promotion schedule ended that bright idea.

The Aussie has made a name for himself with such films as Animal Kingdom and Warrior. His next big film is The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan.

Something big for you today, folks, as the crew out at Anchor Bay sent over a copy of Our Idiot Brother for us to review. And this one’s going to be a lot stranger–yet also a lot more engaging–than you might think.

Our Idiot Brother follows a family of four, three sisters whose lives may look pretty good but have some interesting issues scattered throughout and a brother who’s got possibly just a bit too much trust in humanity. While the sisters have industriously built their lives, their brother went into organic farming. And his organic farm covers a whole lot more than impressive strawberries and the best rhubarb in town, as he discovers when he gets locked up. His girlfriend–yes, he has a girlfriend–has thrown him off the farm, and with nowhere left to go, he turns to his sisters. But their brothers’ uncompromising honesty and faith in humanity–even in the strangest parts–will shake up their world beyond all their expectations.

It’s hard to call a movie heartwarming without it sounding like some giant sad cliche, but Our Idiot Brother does an excellent job of doing just that. See, this one focuses on what happens when a big part of your life is suddenly changed, and that changes the whole picture. And that’s how it works for the whole family: Ned loses the farm, his only real stability, and the family gains the biggest destabilizing influence of all, a man who has virtually no stability. This ends up changing everything, and the process of changing manages to make them all substantially better. You’d think that would be a big cliche, and I suppose it is on some level, but there are plenty of laughs thrown in for added variety and substance. Paul Rudd dancing to Willie Nelson’s Midnight Rider is inherently wild, and it gets better from there as their brother’s unusual philosophy interacts on all their lives.

Plain and simple, Our Idiot Brother is surprisingly fun to watch, especially for a movie that’s basically about people’s lives changing. This is going to be a shot of drama that will go down very smooth, thanks to the laughs mixed in.

The Screenhead Ten Scale gives Our Idiot Brother a very sharp eight out of ten. It’s hard to find drama that doesn’t choke you under the weight of its own self-importance, and Our Idiot Brother takes a path that you’re certainly going enjoy.

Photojournalism has often been regarded as one of the more exciting branches of the fourth estate, and if you want to see that for yourself, then it’s a good idea to check out Five Days Of War, a copy of which the folks out at Anchor Bay sent us for review. You’ll be able to get this one Tuesday, and you’ll want to see it when it hits.

Five Days Of War takes us back to 2008′s brief, sharp war between Russia and Georgia. And a group of journalists are out in the midst of the combat, filming and doing what they can to get the story. They even manage to save a school teacher caught in the middle of the horror. Things only get worse the farther in they get, and they’re recording every last scrap of it. And this diligence has drawn the attention of the various parties involved in the fighting, who want desperately to suppress the news, because when you’re fighting a war the last thing you want is CNN or the like to start screaming “war crimes”. But there’s a problem–the Beijing Olympics is going on right at the same time, so the networks are shorthanded. And that means the footage that our reporters are risking their lives for may never get out in the first place.

Part commentary on the media industry and part commentary on war, the commentaries do have a tendency to get a bit heavy-handed, but they’re going to be packaged in the midst of so much straight-up action that it’s going to be hard not to be engrossed by what you’re seeing here. If you ever wanted to see a combination of action and drama done right, look right here. The best part is it’s even going to offer a few–a very few–laughs along the way serving as a way to break up some of the tension, which is a nice bonus. You run constant tension and it stops being entertaining and starts being just plain old grueling. And Five Days Of War does an excellent job of breaking up its tension occasionally enough to where you get the full effect of it without it being too much of a strain on you.

It’s a top-notch experience that delivers up a whole lot, and is going to be hard to watch in a few places, but at the same time, will put on one impressive show for a great many reasons. If you ever wished your action movies had a bit more substance to them, or if you just want a kind-of-realistic account of war journalists, then you’ll definitely want to have a look at Five Days Of War.

The Screenhead Ten Scale gives Five Days Of War an eight out of ten–it’s going to be loud, violent, and bloodsoaked, but one thing it will not be short on is pure substance.

Impressively prolific studio Lions Gate brings us another set of terrific titles to make up the multi-review this week, and the block this week is made up of three they’ve sent out for us: Mob Rules, From Prada To Nada, and KJB.

Mob Rules gives us a dose of dramatic action, as we go out to London. A pair of felons with a penchant for Shakespeare find themselves out for revenge in a bid to get back the money they should have received from a job gone wrong years prior. And said felons have a plan to get it all back that’s going to take them from London to America and points beyond.

While there is both plenty of action and drama in Mob Rules, there’s an interesting sense of humor running throughout that crops up at unexpected points and gives a distinct note of surprise that’s very welcome. Think of this like a slightly gritty, slightly urban, slightly downsized, and very, very English version of Ocean’s 11. The end result is still very watchable, and brings together a lot of interesting and largely dissimilar (but surprisingly interrelated) plot points that make this one unexpectedly deep.

From Prada To Nada, meanwhile, takes us out to California, where a couple of Beverly Hills princesses have been living it up on Daddy’s fortune. But when Daddy’s fortune goes the way of the dodo, the duo finds themselves staying with their aunt. And in the process, they get exposed to a whole new side of life. Will the experience make them better people? Or will it break them just as much as it broke Daddy?

If this one is giving off a Simple Life with Paris and Nicole kind of vibe to you, then rest assured, you’re not alone. However, considering that this is actually a strange kind of Latino version of Sense and Sensibility (complete with mariachi band at a man’s funeral), it’s going to be a little deeper than you might think. Okay, it’s going to be a lot deeper than you might think. It’s actually a reasonable facsimile, though it’s been a while since I last read Sense and Sensibility. Fair warning, though: it will spend a good chunk of time being a total downer, but then, so did pretty much everything Jane Austen ever wrote. Still though, it’s surprisingly engrossing stuff, and you’ll likely get a kick out of it, especially if you have a literary bent.

Lastly we’ve got KJB, which here is an acronym for the King James Bible. And this is the story of how it came to be. For those of you not familiar, the story of the King James Bible is actually a deep and complex tale that’s jammed to the gills with intrigue and just a little suspense to round out the whole package. See, a lot of people had a vested interest in keeping the King James Bible out of a lot of people’s hands, and this is going to give you at least some of the story behind that.

I say some, of course, because this is actually a Dove Family Film selection. That basically means that you’re not going to get the whole story out of this, but you’ll get quite a bit of it, anyway. And considering the kind of performances put up here, you should be reasonably happy with the final outcome. Want a shot of history that doesn’t come from the History Channel for a change? Like religious history? Then you’ll be in excellent company with this one.

So there you go, another three fine Lions Gate titles; each have their ups and downs, and each one will cater toward a specific interest, but each will be worthwhile in its own way. You’ve got plenty of great options out there, and keep it right here for plenty more to come!

This week’s multi-review comes our way from the folks out at Lions Gate, who sent out a variety of impressive titles for us to tackle, and we’ll be looking at a real mixed bag of them today with Blood Out, Pros And Ex-Cons, and Rabbit Hole.

We kick things off with Rabbit Hole, a movie that introduces us to Becca and Howie, a young couple who kicked off life together in the grandest of fashions, together, along with their young son only eight months prior. But fast forward to eight months later and we see how much life can change in even the shortest of times. But will the loss that Becca and Howie find themselves forced to endure break their life apart again and provide them with a whole new loss, each other?

Considering that this is based on a stage play, you probably have a pretty good idea of what we’re in for here, a downer on an absolutely epic scale that some people will take the opportunity to call “powerful” or “moving” but for the most part just means is the opportunity to feel really, really depressed for ninety minutes or so. And, just as a bonus, it will feel much, much longer. That’s not to say the whole thing is bad, of course–it’s got some really nice moments in here that should make you smile–but for the most part we’re watching a movie about a couple whose kid has recently died and they’re moving apart as a result. It hangs over everything, and though this is, for the most part, the point, it still doesn’t exactly make for light-hearted entertaining fare.  Good, but not good if you’re looking for a happy, fun experience.

Next up is Pros And Ex-Cons, and now we join a pair of the titular ex-cons who’ve joined up with a crime boss who has a mysterious project in mind for them. They finish the job nicely, but discover that the job didn’t go as smoothly as they’d thought when they took it on. Now they’ve got to undertake a much more dangerous project in order to correct the first before it’s too late. And moreover, they’re going to be in the middle of a whole lot of other affairs as well.

I know I’m being a little bit cryptic about this one, and with good reason. If I go too far into it and tell you about the projects in question, I’ll actually give away large parts of the movie. And on the surface, you might think this sounds like one of those great English crime dramas like Layer Cake, Snatch, or Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Indeed, that’s just what’s going on here. It’s actually quite fun in a few parts, very much Ocean’s 11 style as done by complete incompetents.  If you like your crime dramas with a little bit of comedy involved, then you’ll be very happy with Pros And Ex-Cons.

Lastly, we’ve got Blood Out, a movie that gives us a man who loses his brother to gang violence far too soon in life. And now, a small town sheriff is the only thing that can get justice for the murder when the big city police refuse to step in and do the job. But the further in the sheriff gets, the more he discovers that things were never really as they seemed.

Admittedly, the biggest red flag in this one is the appearance of Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, which has never exactly been a bell-ringer as far as quality filmmaking goes. But still, the end result isn’t too bad. It’s very much an action title, but without the comic edge that we got from Pros And Ex-Cons. Straightforward and predictable were the watchwords for this one, but still, it’s reasonably likeable. It’s got something of the Walking Tall vibe in it, though without the fun that one put up thanks to the unusual styling that The Rock brought along in the role of county sheriff. Blood Out takes itself substantially more seriously than it probably should, and this is to its detriment, but the end result is still of fairly good quality.

And there you have it, another three choice titles from Lions Gate to make up our weekly multi-review. Some better than others, of course, but no matter what your taste there was likely something in here for you today.

Depending on which demographic you fall into you might be shocked to discover that there are 5 times more Twilight fans than NFL fans on Facebook, and there are 4 million more Twilight fans than Metallica fans, who have been influencing the world for 30 years.

But, I am happy to say that Twilight fans do not beat out Harry Potter fans. With that said view an awesome infographic showing how popular the vampire franchise is compared to other popular topics.

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The Blu-ray/DVD release of Water for Elephants from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment sponsored giveaway is now over and we have picked the two winners. Christian N. and Renee Walters are our winners!

Christian says, ”I’ve heard a lot of good reviews for this. Hope it lives up!”

I am sure it will Christain!

Renee says, “I would love this for my daughter! Thanks so much for the fantastic giveaway!”

You are welcome Renee, and I hope your daughter shares this wonderful movie with you.

Take a journey back in time with the romantic tale based on Sara Gruen’s New York Times #1 Best-Seller novel of the same name, “Water for Elephants”, on Blu-ray and DVD.

Starring Academy Award-winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line), Robert Pattinson (Twilight series) and Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds), the film presents an epic tale of forbidden love in a magical place filled with adventure, wonder and great danger.

Showcasing the decadence of a bohemian circus and the majesty of its animals against the backdrop and beauty of a bygone era, Water for Elephants makes the ideal holiday gift idea for your favorite film buff, fashionista or book-lover!

Mirror Mirror is a spectacular rendition of the classic fairy tale starring Oscar winner Julia Roberts as the Queen, Lily Collins as Snow White, Armie Hammer as Prince Alcott, Sean Bean, as the King and Nathan Lane as the Queen’s hapless and bungling servant, Brighton. An evil queen steals control of a kingdom and an exiled princess enlists the help of seven resourceful rebels to win back her birthright in a spirited adventure comedy filled with jealousy, romance and betrayal that will capture the imagination of audiences the world over.

Visionary director Tarsem Singh (Immortals) rewrites fairy tale history as a wicked enchantress (Roberts) schemes and scrambles for control of a spirited orphan’s (Collins) throne and the attention of a charming prince (Hammer). When Snow White’s beauty wins the heart of the prince that she desperately pursues, the Queen banishes her to the forest, where a ravening man-eating beast hungrily awaits.

Rescued by a band of diminutive highway robbers, Snow White grows into an indomitable young woman determined to take back her realm from the treacherous Queen. With the support of her subjects, she roars into action in an epic battle that blends spectacle, magic and contemporary humor in Singh’s signature, jaw-dropping visual style.