Paul Dano to Star in Most Indie Movie Ever
Paul Dano got his start in the super indie film "L.I.E." Then he did bigger things like "Little Miss Sunshine" and "There Will Be Blood." Now he returns to his indie roots with what sounds like the indiest indie ever.
So Yong Kim will direct the indie drama "For Ellen," which stars Dano as a struggling indie rocker who arrives in a small Midwestern town after "an overnight long-distance drive." This sounds like the film version of every early Modest Mouse album. [Variety]
•"Avatar" was obviously the big winner in tonight's Golden Globes, picking up best film (drama) and best director awards. (Missed the them? Check out all the best parts here.) But "Glee" also came out on top, finally breaking "30 Rock"'s bazillion-year streak in the "best comedy or musical" series. If it had to be someone, we're glad it was "Glee." [THR]
•Conan to FX? It's well known that Fox is interested in getting Conan O'Brien to be funny on their network. But now FX—Fox's 'edgier' cousin—is making it known they'd like Conan to consider hosting a show there. Maybe in the model of "The Daily Show?" This makes "Animal Planet" the only channel not actively courting CoCo. [Variety]
•Newly pudgy Gerard Butler is planning on playing a reformed drug-dealing biker. Based on a true story, "Machine Gun Preacher" follows a "biker tough guy who found God and became a crusader for hundreds of Sudanese children who've been kidnapped." So, sort of like Butler's Gamer meets Dave Eggers' What is the What [Deadline]
•We are irrationally excited about this new AMC miniseries about the Teapot Dome scandal, probably because our high school American History class left us with a weird, vague notion of what the Teapot Dome scandal was. If our memory serves us right, it was that time that Sacco and Vanzetti tried to help the Supreme Court break up John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company but accidentally started Segregation instead. [Variety]
•Paula Abdul may be making people cry on TV again with Simon Cowell! Abdul is in negotiations with Cowell to be a judge on the new "American Idol" clone "X Factor." Yay? [THR]