Have you read Pride and Prejudice?

Yep. Didn't like it much. Read Emma and Sense and Sensibility too. I tend to find Jane Austen to be an author whose brilliant stories generally make it worth the effort of wading through her (in my opinion) incredibly frustrating, over-expository prose, though not always. Emma is the only one I could honestly say I like, I think, and even that is a middling like.

I'm not a big fan of the expository letters from Lydia, etc, in the book, though I admit that the letter Elizabeth writes to Mr. Darcy is one of the few moments in the book that I didn't feel the drama was crippled by Austen's style. I can see the director's issues in catching the drama on film, however.

In quality movie news:

Jessica Simpson is set to take over Pamela Anderson's role in the long-awaited big screen version of beach TV show Baywatch. The sexy singer is set to don the infamous red swimsuit adored by many fans of the popular lifeguard series when she plays CJ Parker, the role which launched Anderson to stardom. A source tells British newspaper The Sun, "Jessica really caught the eye in The Dukes Of Hazzard film last summer. She was the unanimous choice for the Baywatch role. Jessica has all the assets to make Pam's part her own." Producers hope David Hasselhoff will agree to star in the film in his original role as Mitch Buchannon.

and

English film-maker Gurinder Chadha is in talks to direct the movie adaptation of 1980s soap opera Dallas - a week after Robert Luketic walked out on the project. Luketic abruptly quit the 20th Century Fox-produced movie last week amid reports he was unhappy with the casting choices. Jennifer Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, John Travolta and Luke Wilson are currently in negotiations to play Sue Ellen, Miss Ellie, JR and Bobby Ewing respectively. Kenyan-born Chadha is known for her work on Bend It Like Beckham, What's Cooking? and Bride and Prejudice.

God, just thinking about the letter at the end of Persuasion gets me all melty.

I think it's safe to say that you're not the target audience.

I think it's safe to say that you're not the target audience.

I'd have to agree.

ION, [link]

The producer of Terminator 4 - slated to begin production in Australia next year - has said the project will certainly go ahead, whether Arnold Schwarzenegger can make a cameo appearance or not.

According to UK tabloid the Mirror, Andy Vajna said: "We would like Arnie as a cameo. We want to go on with the Terminator and turn it into a real sci-fi picture - there is a very interesting role for Arnold if he wants it. But I'm not sure where he is with his politics - we'll see."

Vajna. That's an unfortunate name to have to use in English-speaking places.

Possible surprise endings to Snakes on a Plane:

After single-handedly killing all snakes on board and landing the plane, Jackson steps onto the tarmac and removes his trench coat only to reveal that he is, in fact, made entirely out of snakes.

The Chicago Tribune has a fun article on the Snakes on a Plane online phenomenon. Loved this:

So, who stars in "Snakes on a Plane"? Who do you think? Good God, there are snakes on the plane! Venomous vipers, in a glorified flying bus, miles above the ground! You need someone tough -- a Jedi, Shaft, Jules from "Pulp Fiction"! You need someone who speaks entirely in exclamation points! With poignantly placed expletives peppered throughout his speech! You need Samuel L. Jackson!

We watched Mirrormask last night. I think it was a very good use of CGI, to support the story in a way that couldn't be done without CGI.

The DH thought it was Labyrinth for the post-MTV generation. I thought it was more The Wizard of Oz, and I'm wondering if the two could profitably be compared. Oz kicks off with Dorothy leaving the real world, disrupting the balance in Oz by taking the Wicked Witch out of the picture, and then puts the wearable shiny magic charm on her feet, which ultimately allows her to get home. Along her road, she encounters personalities and images from her real world.

The inciting incident in Mirrormask (not revealed chronologically) is not-Helena putting the wearable shiny magic charm on her face, then hiding it, disrupting the balance of OtherPlace by taking the White Queen out of the picture, and leaving the unreal world. Helena, trying to fix things, encounters personalities and images from her real world.

There are even flying monkeys in both.

One wonders what not-Helena thought about the White City's Prime Minister turning up as her father in the real world, sans yonic mask.

Spidey3 Villain confirmed.

Trek 11 Not Dead?

Screenwriter Erik Jendresen told SyFyPortal that his proposed Star Trek: The Beginning, the 11th film in the franchise, is not dead, though Paramount has made no decisions about moving forward with the franchise.

Jendresen's script would take place after the events of TV's Star Trek: Enterprise and before those of the original series, during the Earth-Romulan war. The film would center on an entirely new crew and ship, led by a captain called Tiberius Chase, the site reported. The film is envisioned as the first in a trilogy that would culminate in the formation of the United Federation of Planets.

"We wanted to reveal the actual cause of that war, which was surprising to all involved at the time," Jendresen told the site. "We simply wanted to reveal the truth behind that startling incident."

Jendresen (TV's Band of Brothers) was commissioned to write a script last year, but uncertainty about the moribund franchise was heightened when Paramount merged with DreamWorks and management changed.

For now, Paramount is still evaluating what to do with its most profitable franchise and whether it will resurrect Jendresen's script.

"There is a producer at Paramount who has been championing this and the notion that we have the opportunity to plug the gap with this trilogy." Jendresen said, without providing names. "We have a chance here to fill in the canon, and to create a continuum ostensibly from the beginning from Enterprise all the way out to the future."

Huh. That actually sounds interesting....