Jon Cryer and James Spader have signed on for Robert Rodriguez’s Shorts, a family adventure movie also starring William H. Macy and Leslie Mann.

Rodriguez (pictured), who also wrote the screenplay, is producing the film with Elizabeth Avellan under their Troublemaker Studios banner. Rodriguez is serving as his own director of photography, editor and visual effects supervisor. He’s been known to do everything (if you haven’t seen El Mariachi yet, you MUST check it out).

Also among the cast is Jimmy Bennett (Star Trek), Kat Dennings (The 40-Year-Old Virgin), Trevor Gagnon (The New Adventures of Old Christine), Leo Howard (G.I. Joe), Devon Gearhart (Changeling), Rebel Rodriguez (Planet Terror), and Jake Short and Jolie Vanier.

“Shorts” is in fictional Black Falls, a suburb where everyone works for Black Box Unlimited Worldwide Industries, Inc., whose communication gadget is sweeping the country. A young boy (Bennett) discovers a rainbow-colored rock that grants wishes to anyone who holds it, which first causes havoc amongst the kid population before turning up several notches when adults get their hands on it.

Image: Robert Rodriguez, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Columbia Pictures, 2003; Source: Hollywood Reporter

I still have to watch the original Donnie Darko (it’s on my list - I’ve heard it’s fab in that special dark fab way), but a sequel is in the works called S. Darko.

Elizabeth Berkley and Briana Evigan are on board for the film, being directed by Chris Fisher. Ed Westwick (Gossip Girl) and Justin Chatwin (The Chumscrubber) also are in the movie, which stars Daveigh Chase, reprising her role from the original cult classic.

The story picks up seven years after the first film, following Donnie Darko’s sister, Samantha, who deals with her broken family, flees town with her best friend (Evigan) and is plagued by bizarre visions.

Berkley plays a speed-freak-turned-Jesus-freak whose sentiments about ridding the world of its sin are rivaled only by her infatuation with her dreamy pastor.

Image: Donnie Darko, NewMarket Films, 2001

I sure have missed my Sex and the City girls, because seeing them again on the big screen is like going home again. True to the HBO TV series on which this film is based, it’s all about love, forgiveness, relationships, and especially friendships. If you were addicted to the TV series as I was, I can almost guarantee you’ll love this movie. And even though it would be fun to see it with girlfriends, I didn’t mind seeing it alone. The girls on screen were my best girlfriends for those 148 minutes (yes, it’s a tad long).

And if you don’t like the movie, let me know why in the comments section at the bottom of this review!

More after the jump, including a trailer (I promise not to reveal too much of the plot)…

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Sex and the City. Sarah Jessica Parker and the gang return for more cosmos and Jimmy Choos. Gecko Preview. Check back later for my review.

The Strangers. All Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman want is a laid-back vacation. Too bad they picked a remote house stalked by psycho killers.

Bigger, Stronger, Faster (limited). Director Christopher Bell examines the life of steroid users — and why the heck do we want our heroes to be bigger than life anyway?

Stuck (limited). Mena Suvari is a kindly nurse who hits a homeless man (Stephen Rea) with her car.

The Foot Fist Way (limited). After his wife cheats on him, a martial-arts teacher hopes to regain his pride in the ring.

Savage Grace (limited). Julianne Moore gets bored with her husband (Stephen Dillane) and has an affair with her biological son (Eddie Redmayne). Yep, you read that right.

The Unknown Woman (limited). A young Russian woman works as the housekeeper and nanny to a rich Italian family who are harboring a dark secret.

Image: Sex and the City, New Line Cinema, 2008

Sydney Pollack, who passed away this week at the age of 73 after a nine-month battle with cancer, was one of those filmmakers who did it all.

His IMDB.com page lists among his skills: director, producer, actor, and cinematographer. He helmed plenty of movies, either directing or producing or both, but I get the feeling he must have stepped in wherever there was a weak link in the filmmaking process.

His career spanned back to 1959, when he acted on the TV series Playhouse 90. He continued on to do a variety of TV shows, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Ben Casey, Will & Grace, and most recently, was executive producer on the HBO movie, Recount.

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Yeah. I can see this.

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Robert Downey Jr. might be donning silk pajamas to play Hugh Hefner. Director Brett Ratner told EW that he’s met with the Iron Man star to portray the Playboy founder in his planned biopic, tentatively titled Playboy.

“Robert Downey Jr. agreed to do it based on the script,” says Ratner. “We’re gonna hand him the script very shortly. He loves the character and the role, and we’ve been meeting with him on it. So, if he wants to do it, we’re excited to have him.”

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Reviews are coming in for Sex and the City, and they’re mixed. Personally, I think female reviewers will probably love this movie more than male reviewers. I plan to love it, and I hope it works out that way. I’ll let you know tomorrow night.

Roger Ebert, on the other hand, says he’s not the right person to review this movie, but adds, “Perhaps you will enjoy a review from someone who disqualifies himself at the outset, doesn’t much like most of the characters and is bored by their bubble-brained conversations.”

I like pretty much everything Roger Ebert writes, so even though I plan to like Sex and the City, I also appreciate his male view on the movie.

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Rainn Wilson, best known as Dwight Schrute on The Office, continues to expand his acting creds.

This summer, he’s starring in The Rocker, about a failed drummer given a second shot at fame, hitting theaters August 1, 2008 . He’s also voicing a part in Dreamworks’ Monsters vs. Aliens, scheduled for a March 27, 2009 release. He’s got a bunch of other projects lined up, as well.  

Now he’s signed on for Dreamworks’ Transformers 2, the sequel to last year’s megahit about a race of alien robots smashing it out on Earth. The movie re-teams director Michael Bay with returning stars Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro.

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After seeing the movie Suspension, I jumped at the chance to interview director Ethan Shaftel (pictured). It’s a sci-fi thriller that grabs you at the beginning and doesn’t let go until the end credits roll. Read my review of the film here.

Jane: I was reading through some of the other Suspension reviews, and it’s funny that we all used the words “riveting” and “mesmerizing.” I think it’s because I really didn’t know where the story was headed.

Ethan: It’s not quite the same as an action extravaganza that you might be totally engaged in. It’s something slower and more drawn-out, and you don’t know where it’s headed. So, I think that’s why those words come to mind, and it’s what we were hoping to achieve with that kind of effect.

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Suspension. Daniel (Scott Cordes) loses his wife and son in a car accident and discovers that his son’s video camera has the ability to stop time. Gecko Review  Q&A w/Director Ethan Shaftel  Official Site

Cassandra’s Dream. Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor are two brothers who meet a woman (Hayley Atwell) who convinces them to commit a crime.

Darfur Now. This documentary profiles six people involved in the genocide happening in Darfur. Official Site 

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