Ben Affleck may play the husband in 'Gone Girl'

I love good casting. After reading Gillian Flynn's bestseller and page-turner Gone Girl, I know that Ben Affleck would be great in the part as the husband, a role THR reported today the actor is seriously considering. The question now is who will play the second lead, the wife. Reese

Witherspoon is producing the adaptation, and sadly she's not playing the lead, which is too bad, because she's perfect for the role. Maybe after her run-in with the law earlier this year, the part of a good girl who has a dark side felt too close to home.

But back to Affleck. Without giving too much away, he plays a man whose wife goes missing on their fifth wedding anniversary. He's a guy with some flaws (he may be seeing someone on the side), and the suspicions of the police quickly turn to him. But as he tries to solve the puzzle of his missing wife, some details turn up that start to put her under suspicion. Both characters have to play good and bad, which requires some excellent acting chops--and casting.

Affleck generally plays the good guy. Even when he's a criminal, like in The Town, he's a likeable character. Apparently, the stars in the running to play the wife include Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, and Natalie Portman--who have also generally played good-natured heroines, Theron and her Monster and Young Adult roles excepting. If the casting director were to choose two stars equally known for playing nice characters, it would play nicely off the dilemma in the thriller itself--if both stars are usually good, the audience may wonder,  which one is actually bad?

David Fincher has signed on to direct the adaptation, which Flynn herself adapted. Affleck would appear in Gone Girl before he directs his next feature, Live By Night, so it seems like the 20th Century Fox production may be planned for a 2014 release.

The thriller '11.11.11' borrows RKO's famous naming strategy

By Sarah Sluis

I groaned when I heard that Epic Pictures group has a film in the works called 11.11.11, set to release the same day. It seems like an idea pulled out of a hat. After all the buzz this year about 10.10.10, a fortuitous date that many people picked for their wedding celebrations, going through all this number stuff again seems like a drag.

But this isn't the first time a horror movie was pitched on title alone. One of the great RKO horror producers of the 1940s, Val Lewton, who would create his movies to match titles assigned by the studio based on moviegoer surveys, yielding such sensationalistic titles as I Walked with a Zombie, Cat People, and The Seventh Victim. Who wouldn't want to see one of those movies? Martin Scorsese in particular has been influenced by his work, and his documentary on Val Lewton showed up amidst last week's onslaught of horror movies on Turner Classic movies.

Of course, Val Lewton's films had a charm to them--psychological, filled with tension, and with a 1940s style and costuming that brings to mind snappy films like His Girl Friday. I can't say I feel the same way about the prospects for 11.11.11. The movie will be directed by Saw veteran Darren Lynn Bousman. As for the "scariness" of the number 11, apparently in this film universe the digits' appearance signifies the presence of angels or spirits. Spooky....

'This Is It' shows Michael Jackson as we want to remember him

By Sarah Sluis

I knew Michael Jackson first as someone photographed with scarves and clothes covering his head. Magazine articles speculated about his appearance and plastic surgery, allegations were put forth about his sexual abuse of children, and his own children had mysterious paternity and maternity.

That's not the Michael Jackson you see in This Is It. For a younger generation, many of whom filled the seats at my Wednesday night screening, the concert documentary offers an opportunity to see the King of Pop back in peak form. He's guarded, not reclusive, and his exacting nature comes across as perfectionism, not diva behavior.

Because Michael Jackson is holding back on singing in the rehearsals to preserve his voice, the most stand-out songs are those staged with elaborate choreography. The dancing has incredible energy, precision, and ingenuity. Even surrounded by powerful dancers half his age, Jackson comfortably holds the lead. The dancers also help cue our awe. A casting session whittles down the hundreds of immensely talented dancers vying for a spot, and the ones that remain seem overjoyed by the opportunity to work alongside one of their idols. They applaud during rehearsals and show an incredible amount of respect for the man who has influenced contemporary dancing.

For those curious about the challenges of staging big concert productions, plenty of behind-the-scenes moments abound. The audience at my screening got a big kick out of Jackson's direction to let a song intro "simmer," and shouted the phrase back at the screen with a joyful glee--"Let it simmer, Mike!" One of Jackson's accompanists, after getting grilled by Jackson about the "simmering" pace, goes on to convey his respect for a pop artist who is such a perfectionist. He actually knows all his records and exactly how everything should sound. In the age of Auto-Tune, Jackson is a welcome anomaly. Though it seems he was planning on using echo effects live, judging from one performance, he brings with him a history of pop singing independent of the technological crutches standard in today's music world.

This Is It is worth going to the theatre for the crowd, but not necessarily for the IMAX. While the quality is far better than you would expect, the aspect ratio sometimes shifts to something smaller and grainier. Director Kenny Ortega, who was in charge of both the stage and film production, puts together an engaging two-hour experience. He expertly conveys half-completed effects, and instead of feeling like you missed something, you fill in what could have been. By showing us the strength of Jackson's would-be stage performance, This Is It seals his reputation as an icon.

Leading men find their new weapon-toting roles

By Sarah Sluis

This week a whole slew of top male stars revealed their latest action/thriller roles. Besides their lethal weapons and testosterone-fueled characters, the hero-with-a-past and the one-last-job tropes appear to be particularly popular. Here's the round-up.

Mark Wahlberg has signed on to play a former alcohol smuggler. Hard times, along with a persuasive, devious friend, lead him back into the business. The movie will be a remake of Reykjavik-Rotterdan, a critically praised Icelandic film. Since the producers are changing the location of the action to a more American-friendly place, the title will likely change as well.

George Clooney just started filming The American, in which he will also play an assassin who has decided to hang up his silencer for good--after one last job. He starts acting as if he's already checked out as he waits for a final kill in a small town in Italy, befriending a local priest (does the assassin feel guilty for committing one of the deadly sins?) and romancing a local lady. These conspicuous acts of socialization, however, threaten his safety.

Ryan Reynolds may play a former Secret Service agent who left under disgrace in Motorcade. He gets his chance at redemption when he happens to be around when the U.S. President is kidnapped. Tom Cruise was reportedly eying the role before he decided to do Wichita. Jon Casser ("24") is now set to direct after Len Wiseman (Underworld series) left the project.

Adrien Brody will play the leader of a group of elite warriors in Predators,

a role he apparently lobbied hard for (If you doubt his leading-man credentials, remember how he comforted Naomi Watts in King Kong). Robert Rodriguez is directing. There's no sign of a tortured past, but how could they not write one in? Just look at Brody's mournful face!

Of all these movies, The American and Reykjavik-Rotterdam are the ones I'm most excited about. The American is produced by specialty studio Focus, indicating it isn't going for genre dreck, and George Clooney has a track record of choosing roles in the "action/war/thriller" genres that go way beyond--Three Kings, Ocean's 11, the upcoming Men Who Stare At Goats, Syriana, Out of Sight.

Reykjavik-Rotterdam obviously has something special going on in style or tone that has drawn local audiences. Unfortunately there's no U.S. distributor--yet--so we have to take their word for it. While many local projects fail in the remake, subtitled thrillers like Tell No One have a je ne sais quoi that seems to draw audiences.