After the gut-wrenching terror of No Country for Old Men (I haven't been that tense in a movie theater since, well, ever), I can safely say that I am incredibly relieved that the Coens' next film, Burn After Reading, looks like it is going to be a lot more fun. First Showing now has some stills from the Coens' black comedy, and it would appear that the brothers are returning to what I like to call their 'Raising Arizona roots.'

Burn is the story of a CIA agent (played by George Clooney) who is assigned to investigate the case of a former agent named Ozzie Cox (John Malkovich) who has taken his revenge on the agency by writing a tell-all memoir. When Cox's ex-wife (played by Tilda Swinton) steals the only copy and leaves it behind at her gym, the gym's owner (Frances McDormand) and star personal trainer (Brad Pitt) see an opportunity to engage in a little blackmail.

The Coen flick just got the nod to open the Venice Film Festival this year, but Burn will not be making an appearance at Cannes this year (which is a little strange considering the luck they had at the French festival last year). This makes it zero for two for Pitt now that his other high-profile film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, also failed to make the list for Cannes. Burn After Reading is scheduled for wide release on September 12th, 2008.

No sooner do I write an adulatory post about George Clooney than I come upon this story about the trouble he's been having with the Writers' Guild of America over credit for the Leatherheads screenplay. He's so upset at the way he's been treated that he's gone "financial core" at the Guild, which is an irreversible decision making him a limited, non-voting, dues-paying member. He says he would have quit altogether, but that would have basically prevented him from working as a screenwriter in Hollywood.

According to Clooney, the original Leatherheads script by Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly had been bouncing around for almost two decades before he took it, rewrote it as a screwball comedy, and got the project greenlit. He believes that he wrote all but two scenes of the resulting film. But when the credit squabble went to arbitration before the WGA last fall, the guild determined that Clooney didn't deserve screen credit for his work. That was the end of the line for him (he declined to appeal), though he kept the matter quiet at the time because of the ongoing writers strike.

Yesterday, Monika asked if we were tired of George Clooney, who has undeniably been everywhere since making his escape from ER in the mid-1990s. I wanted to weigh in, because my answer is a curious one, and it sadly wasn't an option in Monika's poll: I used to be tired of him, but I'm not anymore.

I think the peak of my tiredness came with the dreadful Perfect Storm in 2000. I remember being so sick of seeing Clooney pop up as these boring, poker-faced, tediously noble action heroes. I hadn't seen his earlier B-movie efforts at the time, and the triple-threat of Batman & Robin, The Peacemaker and The Perfect Storm made me wish he'd never been born. (I had seen Three Kings, and honestly don't remember why that didn't change matters for me -- I think I wrote it off as a fluke, and was more impressed with Ice Cube anyhow.) What an anodyne heartthrob, I thought, with no personality or real talent. Get him out of my sight.

I totally think it'd be fun to hang with George Clooney for the day. Not even for the attention, the women or the chance that Perez Hilton would write silly little things all over a photo of George and I. Fact is, the guy just looks like he has a good time with life (granted, good looks and millions of dollars probably help some). Above you will find an exclusive clip from Moviefone's latest Unscripted installment featuring Mr. Clooney and his Leatherheads co-star John Krasinski.

Not only did they ask each other questions YOU left for them right here on this very blog, but they also revealed plenty in the "unscripted" questions they asked one another. Who won a thousand bucks in a one-on-one basketball game behind the scenes: Clooney or Krasinski? Whose perfect date consists of drinking and yelling? And why do the boys care so much about Fifi from San Francisco? (Where are you Fifi -- you're a star now!) Check out the clip above, then head on over to Moviefone for the entire Unscripted interview. Fun stuff.

Leatherheads tackles its way into theaters on April 4.

Try as I might, I cannot find a video of the press conference for Leatherheads, and it seems the only one who noticed this story was Jeremy Smith from CHUD. I pass it on to you, because everyone likes a little George Clooney story on the weekend.

Farragut North, Beau Willimon's play (and hot Hollywood property) has been attached to Clooney (he's supposed to direct) since last fall, and it sounds like it might be going forward at last. However, Clooney denied he would be appearing in the film, saying, "I think there are a lot better actors for that than me." Oh, George. Such modesty. He doesn't expect to start production until next year, and there's no word as to whether Leonardo DiCaprio is still attached to star.

As the movie revolves around a young idealist on a presidential campaign, some may feel Clooney missed the boat on the timing. But I don't think so -- next year will give audiences a chance to catch their breath after this year's election. How many people want to go watch a film about a presidential campaign, and then come home to the real thing on CNN? Willimon's play is also set to debut on Broadway this summer, and the film might be hinging on its reception.

No one does classy political drama like Clooney. If Willimon's play is all that it is rumored to be, audiences can expect a brilliant movie -- and Clooney more gold statuettes. . .

Ah, George Clooney and John Krasinski. Sigh. I mean, not to get all ridiculously fangirl on you, but I am unashamed to admit that I have massive crushes on each of them -- and not even celebrity crushes, but bonafide crushes, like, "Who the hell is this loser cocktail waitress he's dating, he should be mine, goddammit, ALL MINE" ... err, too much?

Well, apparently there is a movie god, because Clooney and Krasinski are starring in a movie together -- a romantic comedy called Leatherheads -- and I'm all over this sucker like mud on a linebacker. Seriously, the only way this could top my fantasy-boyfriend-meter would be if Nathan Fillion were starring in it, too. But, ahem, to be professional for a moment: Clooney directed and stars in Leatherheads as Dodge Connelly (great name), a football player in the 1920s, which is just before professional football has become an actual organized sport. His team loses its sponsor and the league is on the verge of collapse until he hires a ringer: college star and WWI hero Carter Rutherford, who may just be too good to be true. Renée Zellweger co-stars as a reporter who falls for them both; and can you blame her?

Well, tie me down and call me Nelly, 'cause we've snagged Clooney and Krasinski for a Leatherheads Unscripted, in which they'll interview each other using your questions. Trust me, if I could stalk... um, attend the taping I would, but you can do the next best thing, and that's ask them whatever you want in the comments section below. Submit any questions by this Friday, March 14, and then check back here on Monday, March 31, to see if yours made the cut. Oh, and be sure to include your first name and the city and state where you live -- but please, no "John, will you marry me?" questions. I mean c'mon, show a little professionalism. [insert self-mocking emoticon here]

Isn't it some kind of law (or sin) to remake a cult classic? Especially a movie that is a cult classic because it is, you know, incredibly bad?

Well, it should be. But it's already too late. The Hollywood Reporter posts that we're getting a remake of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! whether it is a crime against humanity or not. (I am probably being too harsh, the sequel did launch the career of George Clooney.)

The movie will be directed by Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine, creators of the insanely popular Ask a Ninja Web series. "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! is the masterwork of a generation," Nichols said. "We can only aspire to recapture that magic." Well, I like their sense of humor about it. Frankly, though, I think Nichols and Sarine could do better -- their ninja was on NPR! 80 million Web hits can't be wrong. Why not give them the money to tackle something original?

Surely a remake of Frogs can't be too far behind.

Even though a lot of fans of The Coen Brothers haven't been all that happy with the results of their collaborations with George Clooney (I think I was one of the eight people in the world who actually enjoyed Intolerable Cruelty.), I've still got a good feeling about their CIA comedy, Burn After Reading. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Focus Features will release the dark comedy on September 12th of this year.

Burn has an all-star cast including Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, and Tilda Swinton. I would guess that it's been like 'old home week' on set; we all know that Clooney and Pitt are buddies, and Swinton could be an honorary member of the boys club after her Oscar winning performance in Michael Clayton (and judging by her acceptance speech, she seems comfortable with a little verbal rough-housing).

The comedy stars Malkovich as Ozzie Cox, a CIA vet who gets fired for being an alcoholic, and writes out his revenge in a memoir. His soon-to-be ex-wife (Swinton) accidentally leaves the memoir at a gym, where it falls into the hands of a trainer, Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt), and the gym's owner Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand), who want to exploit the discovery. It sounds like a pretty 'fluffy' flick, but I think we could all use a break from the Coens' more "intense" point of view, wouldn't you agree, friendo?

If you still haven't seen all the Oscar-nominated films, you're not alone. I still haven't seen a number of them, and I have less excuse than most people. After all, I live in a city in which pretty much every nominee has played. Some major contenders I haven't gotten around to -- with little reason for not -- include Atonement, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Into the Wild, all of which are still in theaters and are probably best to see on the big screen.

Apparently, at least according to Variety, a lot of people are seeing the Oscar nominees on the big screen compared to in previous (recent) years, as cumulatively the five Best Picture contenders have seen a significant bump at the box office since the nominations were announced. I would be extremely excited if I didn't believe the truth is that Juno's tremendous success has elevated the Best Picture box office average. The comedy is showing on far more screens, is much more accessible to a wide audience and has so far earned twice as much money domestically as the next highest-grossing Best Picture nominee. Variety also this week had published a story about how Juno is the one movie that may save the Oscar telecast's ratings, since it's the one movie people have actually been able to or bothered to see. One thing I will note, though, is that Best Picture nominee Michael Clayton came out on DVD this past Tuesday and yet there was still a significant number of people seeing it in theaters through the week. Additionally, I would be interested to know how many people took advantage of yesterday's AMC Theatres-hosted Best Picture marathon.

Forget about the nuances of cinematography, the precision requirements of editing, the challenges of costume design, and the dazzle of visual effects. All we really want from a movie is a great quote! I'm kidding, of course -- we want more than quotes -- but every screenwriter dreams that one of his lines will join the immortals ("Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown"). What are the best candidates from this year's crop of Best Picture nominees?

There Will Be Blood surely must have the edge so far. Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) explains the facts of life to Eli Sunday (Paul Dano) and utters the memorable rejoinder: "I... drink... your... milkshake!" The quote has already taken on a life of its own.

Juno has so many it's hard to choose. Paulie (Michael Cera) says, "I still have your underwear" and Juno (Ellen Page) replies, "I still have your virginity." I also like Juno's dad (J.K. Simmons): "Thanks for having me and my irresponsible child over to your house. "

Michael Clayton is epitomized by George Clooney's line as the titular attorney: "I'm not the guy you kill. I'm the guy you buy!"

Atonement caught my attention when young Briony (Saoirse Ronan) confides in a friend: "What's the worst word you can possibly imagine?"

No Country for Old Men is more about atmosphere and landscape than dialogue, but it's hard to resist: "You can't stop what's coming," spoken by a weather-beaten yet wise Barry Corbin.

Now it's your turn. What are your favorite quotes from this year's Academy Award nominees for Best Picture?

The last movie José saw was The Simpsons Movie. And he didn't seem to know much about this year's Oscar race. And he was much more interested in telling me about the fare before me, a beautiful woman who apparently flashed him. But I decided to ask him for at least some random predictions anyway. See, it was late Friday night (actually technically early Saturday morning), I'd had a few too many to drink and I really, really wanted someone to just make sense of the 2008 Academy Award nominees. Aside from the Best Actor race, none of the categories seem to have a sure thing. It's really anybody's guess who will pick up Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress. So why not ask José, a NYC cab driver originally from El Salvador, for his less-than-expert opinion? He's got a good chance of bettering the predictions of the pundits anyway.

Before I get to José's picks, though, I must acknowledge that I borrowed the ask-a-cabbie idea from the NYC publication The L Magazine, which includes in each issue a regular feature called Fare is Fair, in which random cab drivers around the city are asked their opinions on a topical issue. I've never before seen The L do this with the Oscars, so I've done it myself, and I hope they don't mind. Consider it a form of flattery, because really it's my favorite piece to read on the subway every other week when the latest issue arrives in the street corner bins.

And now a transcript of my and José's conversation:

You know how it is on Valentine's Day, if you're not involved with (or married to) anyone. You try to avoid those annoying radio and TV commercials about how the men need to show their love by buying the women in their lives all kinds of fancy things. You attempt to make plans with friends, but they're all hoping for something romantic or planning to mope about their lack of romance. Maybe you join the Anti-Valentine's League, maybe you just try to ignore it all until the hype is over.

But there you are on Valentine's Day night with no plans, and naturally you gravitate toward the time-tested entertainment method of sitting in front of the TV with a good movie. Pizza and/or ice cream might also be part of the viewing process. For years, I liked to curl up with a thin-crust pizza from the local pizza joint, a pint of that Ben and Jerry's ice cream with the chunks of brownies in it, some Dr. Pepper (to be tres Agnes Gooch about it) and my favorite Valentine's movie, Some Like It Hot. After all, it is set around the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, so it's a delightfully sideways hat tip to the holiday. Plus, that glorious last line. But maybe you're in a different mindset on February 14. Here's a list of movies to cover whatever kind of mood might strike you that night, as you ponder which movie you want to spend St. Valentine's Day with.

I think I'm ready to give up trying to figure out what's going on with this movie -- I'll just wait till November and judge it then. But here's the latest intangible -- Bollywood actress and British tabloid staple Shilpa Shetty has just joined the cast of Quantum of Solace in an as-yet undetermined role, along with moderately well-known supporting actor David Harbour, whose role is also undetermined. Although it's being touted by MI6, the source of this information appears to be that Harbour and Shetty's names both popped up on IMDB over the weekend, so I would wait for EON confirmation next week before this becomes really, really official. IMDB does have a name for her character, though -- Devi. This late casting of Shetty is a curiosity, since she was considered a prime candidate for a Bond girl during the initial casting phase, and the Bond producers were known to be interested in working a Bollywood favorite into the film to take advantage of the synchronous orbit of Bollywood and British cinema.

Surely they don't have room for three Bond girls, do they? Shetty is very popular in Britain and recently got worldwide press attention for a mini-scandal involving Richard Gere, so I think it's more than likely that this role will amount to a cameo, like Madonna in Die Another Day or like British actress Christina Cole's role as "Ocean Club Receptionist" in Casino Royale. Remember that little scene where Bond checks into the Ocean Club and has a momentary flirtation with a stop-you-in-your-tracks-gorgeous blonde behind the front desk? I'm thinking they invited Shetty to do one of those parts and she agreed, perhaps after quietly losing out on getting one of the main Bond girl parts. But what do I know -- I thought Arterton was Moneypenny. Meanwhile, filming continues to roll on, and more confusion is sure to follow.

Even the crankiest critics were singing the praises of 2007. I had an unusually easy time assembling a year-end list of ten great films, and wound up with a rich list of runners-up besides. I'd say that I saw at least three masterpieces, with the jury still out on a few more. George Clooney was a big part of all that with his intelligent thriller Michael Clayton, but that's not quite good enough for the Oscar-winner. In an interview with Radio Times (posted on BBC), he complained that Hollywood is "no longer making masterpieces."

Clooney names his golden age of cinema as 1964 to 1976, when, "you could find 10 films a year that were masterpieces." Sadly, Clooney didn't name his ten masterpieces per year for these years. I'd love to see that list. I'd have trouble coming up with ten for 1965, but I'd definitely agree that 1974 was a superior year. Clooney also denied rumors about plans for an "ER" reunion, but he wasn't all gray skies and rain clouds. He turned on some of his aw-shucks charm and talked about his good fortune, rather than talent, that has made his career. "Had I not got the Thursday night ten o'clock slot at ER, if they'd put us on Friday night, then I wouldn't have a film career," he said. "That's luck, not my own genius, though I like to think it was."