Does Django have his Black Hat?

More interesting news about Quentin Tarantino’s new spaghetti western project, Django Unchained.

Word has it Leonardo DiCaprio may be coming aboard as villainous slave trader Calvin Candie. It's an interesting idea, a little reminiscent of when Henry Fonda decided to play the badest of the bad in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West.

If cast, DiCaprio might join Will Smith, who's rumored to be considering the title role. Smith could use an image makeover in a big way, though I really have to squint hard to see him in Tarantino’s universe. He'd be playing a slave turned bounty hunter here.

Meaning to do for the Western what Inglourious Basterds did for the war movie, the names that have been cropping up lately make for a great roster of old west characters: Idris Elba, Samuel L. Jackson, Cristoph Waltz, Franco Nero, Treat Williams and Keith Carradine.

There's no screenplay I'm more anxious to read right now, so if anybody is good at picking up a trail...?

Fall TV preview: genre show roulette

Everybody wants the next Lost. For everyone that gets it right (Fringe), there are well-intentioned hopefuls who just don't quite connect (The Cape, Invasion, Surface).

I think we're all curious about Steven Spielberg's Terra Nova, with humans from the year 2149 time-traveling back to the prehistoric era to somehow improve the future. It could be really great. It stars Avatar's Stephen Lang, a tremendous actor. Hoping it doesn't end up being less Jurassic Park and more Land of the Lost. anyone remember Earth 2? All I know is that those dinosaurs will have to look better than they do in the trailer. Lang looks like the only non dino with any real choppers:



Fox is offering up J.J. Abrams' Alcatraz -- again with the time travelling (sorry, China). when 302 convicts from 1963 show up in 2011 looking exactly as they did when they were incarcerated.




A lot more intriguing is Jonathan Nolan's (Dark Knight writer and brother of Christopher) Person of Interest, starring Lost veteran Michael (Ben Linus) Emerson as a mysterious billionaire helping a former CIA agent fight the good fight.



I'm really digging the vibe of The River, in which a famous nature show host (Bruce Greenwood - Captain Pike!) disappears in the Amazon. Six months later, his emergency beacon goes off, sending his friends and family into action...



Finally, one of the weirdest shows on the horizon (looking to fill the King of the Hill void?) is Fox's animated take on Napoleon Dynamite, from original writer Jared Hess and The Simpsons Mike Scully, with the movie's original stars doing the voice work. Here's hoping for lots of Rex Kwan Do...

Dexter lands a commanding presence

Commander Adama is moving to Miami. Showtime has announced that actor Edward James Olmos will be joining the cast of Dexter for its sixth season, premiering this fall. Little is known about the plot, though Olmos will be portraying an enlightened religious studies professor. Also cast for season six are Mos Def and Colin Hanks.

Showtime President David Nevins has said that season 6 would bring Dexter back to his roots and be more like earlier seasons. We'll find out what that means this fall.

Fasten your seatbelt, dad...

When I was 10 years old, my dad took me to the movie theater to see Le Mans, starring Steve McQueen. I remember the in-your-face shots with the camera fastened to the front of the car, flying down the road. It felt like we were right there in the middle of the race. Le Mans is the famous French endurance race lasting 24 hours. McQueen is coming back to the race after being involved in an accident that took the life of a fellow driver the year before. Say Hello to his Gulf-Porsche 917...

It debuts on Blu-ray this week. I'm really looking forward to watching Le Mans again, dad. Thanks for taking me out for some seriously cool excitement, way back when.

You can complete your speed demon double-feature with John Frankenheimer's earlier Grand Prix, starring James Garner.

Grand Prix is packed to the gills with sixties romances and subplots, but it was released in Cinerama and has been restored from the original 65 mm Super Panavision elements which should be nothing short of eye-damagingly sharp in Hi-def. Gentlemen, do not attempt to drive after seeing these movies...!

1939 – film’s fantastic year.

The other night we watched John Ford’s Revolutionary War drama, Drums Along the Mohawk, from 1939. That year is widely considered to be the greatest year in movie history. It was certainly a busy one for Ford, who also made Stagecoach and Young Mr. Lincoln that very same year.

These days we have to work at it to come up with five features that are truly worth being nominated for the Academy Award. But in 1939, the stars were in alignment and the Gods were smiling. Just consider this list of films that debuted during that golden, halcyon year:

The Wizard of Oz

Gone with the Wind

Wuthering Heights

Dark Victory

Goodbye Mr. Chips

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Ninotchka

Of Mice and Men

Dodge City

The Women

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Beau Geste

Destry Rides Again

The Four Feathers

Gunga Din

The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Oklahoma Kid

Only Angels Have Wings

I’m betting that most readers have never seen most of these, other than Oz and Gone with the Wind. But many of them are downright classics that have helped shape the face of every piece of cinema that's come since. So if it's been a while since you've watched a movie made before 1960, maybe it's time to savor a little history and go take a drink from the well.

Fall TV preview: Mad Men inspired Pan Am

Fall TV premieres might seem a world away at this point, but that doesn't stop the networks from teasing us a little early. One candidate that sounds interesting is ABC's new drama, Pan Am, aiming to evoke a 1960's Mad Men-at-30,000-feet vibe (you know that's got to have been the pitch). Back in the day, Pan Am was of course the epitome of international jet set cool. Pan Am stars Christina Ricci as a stewardess.

Pan Am was written by Jack Orman, who's worked on JAG, ER and Men of a Certain Age. The pilot's directed by West Wing veteran Thomas Schlamme, a real TV pro. A package with some promise - Ricci is way underrated - here's hoping the folks involved give us compelling characters and do justice to this fascinating era.

Breaking news: Benedict Cumberbatch will appear in The Hobbit!

Benedict Cumberbatch will appear in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit alongside Sherlock costar Martin Freeman (aka Bilbo)! The duo were at the TV Baftas over the weekend to recieve the award for Best Drama series for Sherlock. Backstage, Freeman accidentally let slip that Cumberbatch had signed on for The Hobbit as well.

When asked about his role, Cumberbatch hushed up; "I can't say at the moment, thank you very much." A red-faced Freeman added; "I knew I was a sort of a big mouth but I didn't realise to what extent I was a big mouth, and I've just ruined everything. I might not actually go back to a job - they might have just sacked me."

Freeman is back for a brief stay in the UK to film a second series of Sherlock, which will air later this year.