If you don't know the name Billy Ray, you should, and I'm not talking about Billy Ray Cyrus. (There's no reason to know him.) The filmmaker Billy Ray, despite having a name like a Dukes of Hazzard character, has written and directed two excellent fact-based movies about powerful figures who were brought down by their own hubris. Shattered Glass told of a promising young journalist who was ultimately disgraced for making up news stories, while Breach chronicled the fall of a morally upright FBI agent who sold secrets to the Russians.

For his next act, Ray will tell another true story about an ethically compromised man: Allen Raymond, a Republican political consultant who went to prison for some shady maneuvers he pulled in trying to swing a tight Senate race in New Hampshire in 2002. Raymond's memoir, How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative, was published earlier this year, and Ray will write and direct the movie version for Fox Searchlight sometime in 2009, according to Variety.

What did Raymond do? It's actually kind of brilliant, in an evil way. With funding from New Hampshire's Republican State Committee, Raymond hired a telemarketing firm to constantly jam the state's Democratic headquarters' phones with hangup calls, preventing the Democrats from making any outbound calls on Election Day. Meanwhile, the Republicans were making the customary get-out-the-vote phone calls all day long, and their candidate won the election by a very narrow margin.

Dirty tricks surely happen on both sides of the political fence, and if How to Rig an Election turns out to be nothing more than an anti-GOP diatribe, at least it will have been based on Raymond's own account rather than someone else's. But I suspect Ray will do a better job than that. Breach and Shattered Glass both did a classy job of presenting their moral dilemmas, and How to Rig an Election has the potential to be another thought-provoking case study.

Making unnecessary sequels and cashing in on current events are two of Hollywood's favorite things. So when an opportunity arises to do both at the same time, you better believe they're going to do it! Hence the long-rumored sequel to 1987's Wall Street, which Variety reports is being fast-tracked to capitalize on the stock market's new relevance in ordinary people's lives.

The sequel will focus on Gordon Gekko, the slick-haired, suspender-wearing corporate-raiding devil played by Michael Douglas in the original, newly released from prison as the sequel begins. Variety says 20th Century Fox intends for Douglas to star, though he hasn't signed on yet. But why wouldn't he? The last time he played this part, he got an Oscar for it, and it's not like he's super-busy making super-awesome movies these days. The sequel reportedly doesn't involve the Charlie Sheen character at all, which is probably just as well. The other one and a half men would get lonely without him.

The screenplay is being written by Allan Loeb, who wrote 21 and who also happens to be a licensed stock broker. He knows his greed and his card-counting and his shady gambling practices -- he sounds like a good fit. A director hasn't been assigned, but it's safe to assume it won't be Oliver Stone again.

Does any of this sound like a good idea to you? Yes, people are talking about Wall Street (the financial market, not the movie) again -- but they're talking about how much they hate it, and how angry they are at those greedy bastards for contributing to the economy's current screwed-up condition. The sequel is going to be a tough sale if it tries to make Gekko's "greed is good" mantra seem appealing or exciting again. On the other hand, if Gekko is humbled and chastened now, will he still be interesting? What direction do you think the Wall Street sequel should go?

Another day, another intriguing project from Ryan Kavanaugh and his Relativity Media shingle. According to Variety, their latest script acquisition is D. B. Weiss' Kashmir, which has already attracted the interest of director Jean-Jacques Annaud.

Weiss' script revolves around three ex-mercenaries who receive a tip as to the location of a terrorist who boasts a $30 million bounty on his head. For that kind of money, they decide to brave a trip into Kashmir, the volatile region between Pakistan and India. And because nothing is ever so simple as heading into a dangerous region to hunt a terrorist, all three men have their own reasons for the journey, and their working relationship is sorely tested.

The idea comes from those early days of the War on Terror, when the U.S. government actually was putting up wanted posters -- it's a sign of how much has happened that I can't remember if anyone ever collected on them. Annaud, ever the adventurist, has every intention of shooting as close as he can to Kashmir, and is traveling to Pakistan with Weiss for research.

While I'm a bit tired of terrorism plotlines, the story has all the classic marks of a Western -- and I'd love to see it tackled as such. Annaud certainly does grueling journeys (inner and outer) and sweeping vistas well, though the final result can be wanting. Here's hoping he can take the best parts of Enemy at the Gates and combine it with his eye for landscapes, and give us a good old fashioned bounty hunt.

Here's a round-up of some stuff (and things) currently causing waves online:

-- Moviefone has launched the latest installment of Unscripted, featuring stars Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Banks discussing their new film W. using reader questions and some of their own. Additionally, above you'll find some newly-released art for the film. Heh.

-- After breaking up with Paramount, Dreamworks has officially found a new f*ck buddy in Universal, so says Variety. The two signed a seven-year worldwide distribution deal.

-- Darren Aronofsky's The Fighter looks to be in trouble. Now that the writer-director is working hard on that Robocop remake, seems this other flick is being neglected. Brad Pitt has apparently dropped out, and Mark Wahlberg -- who's been training for the role for over a year -- doesn't seem to know the film's current status. All that being said, Slashfilm claims their scouting locations in Mass.

-- A few photos of Mel Gibson on the set of Edge of Darkness have appeared online, most of which show the man going full-Diddy, forcing some woman to hold an umbrella so the sun doesn't, ya know, shine on the poor man. In case you forgot, this film marks Gibson's return to acting as a homicide detective investigating the death of his daughter. See image to the right, click to see enlarge. [via Crabbies Hollywood]

-- A theme park in the UK is actually moving forward with a ride based on the Saw films, called Saw - The Ride. I bet folks will just kill to get on it. HAR! Apparently, we're looking at a ride with "beyond vertical drop of 100-degree from a height of 100ft, as well as a rather sinister sounding "three inversions" to add to the fun." Who's down? [via IGN]

Guillaume Depardieu, the 37-year-old son of Gerard Depardieu, died today in Paris from a bout of acute pneumonia. Depardieu, who's starred in upwards of 20 films, struggled with drugs and drinking over the years.

A few new images of Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac in the new film Soul Men have arrived in the Cinematical inbox. Check them out in the gallery below.

From one sexy role to another: Carla Gugino will soon (hopefully) be on the big screen as Sally Jupiter, hero and pin-up girl of Watchmen, and now she's taking on another seductive role. Variety reports the gal will be the last point in the romantic love triangle called Every Day, which got cooking earlier this month. Liev Schreiber plays a guy who writes for a "semi-pornographic TV show" (that wasn't in the earlier news release!) that gets propositioned by his colleague (Gugino). But the man already has wife Helen Hunt at home, and this "strains his marriage to the breaking point." Could you resist if Gugino was tempting you?

Meanwhile, we've got Rachael Harris, who stood her own against mockumentary heavyweights in For Your Consideration (she played Mary Pat Hooligan, the actress who played the lesbian coming out to her family in Home for Purim). Variety reports that she's going to nurse Todd Phillips' The Hangover with the likes of Bradley Cooper, Heather Graham, and more. Graham is already playing a Vegas local, so maybe Harris will play the bride who might get left at the altar. But the actress isn't all laughs -- one of her upcoming films is The Soloist.

Lastly, we've got a cute, Korean hip-hop dancer on the way -- Som Dam-bi has signed onto Hype Nation. But this isn't just a tale of dancing: "An American dance crew goes head to head with a crew from South Korea," one that mixes hip-hop moves with at least one gun-toter. Oooh, it's like You've Been Served International!

With J.C.V.D. charming audiences everywhere and making the unlucky of us foam at the mouth to see it, the big question has become: Would this be the start of a great career twist, or a charming, but fleeting, aberration for Jean Claude Van Damme? Rather than taking it step by step, the dude has jumped head first into the deep end -- next up will be Van Damme's labor of love, Full Love, which he wrote, produced, directed, and stars in. It's supposed to be a personal story, but is currently all hush-hush. But now we've at least got a peek inside, courtesy of Twitch. They've posted five images from the film, including the thumbnail to the right. It doesn't show much, but one thing that's definitely not there -- JCVD splits.

Turning from possible success to definite success -- CNN reports that Tim Robbins has nabbed himself a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. In the ceremony last week, the actor said: "I used to take the bus from here to Burbank to go to work. When the bus was late, I would walk up and down and throw my cigarettes down. Now I have the honor of having this done to my star."

Meanwhile, if you've dug the tunes coming out of Repo! The Genetic Opera, Horror-Movies.ca reports that the film's soundtrack will be up for free for one day only, today the 13th, on the flick's official website. Go now!

And one last nibblet: Variety reports that Mark Waters, director of films like The House of Yes, Mean Girls, and The Spiderwick Chronicles, is heading to TV to helm the pilot Eva Adams. Adapted from the Argentinian telenova Lalola, the series will follow a womanizer who gets turned into a woman and must endure what he used to dole out.

Success Stories:
Happy-Go-Lucky (Miramax)
Religulous (Lionsgate)
Ballast (Alluvial/Required Viewing)

One Brit edged out another, as RockNRolla, Guy Ritchie's zippy yet utterfully forgettable "return to form" Brit crime flick, narrowly claimed the #1 spot among limited releases, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. To my mind, though, Mike Leigh's much riskier Happy-Go-Lucky ($20,000 per screen at four theaters) is the surprise winner in the independent world, with a strking lead performance by Sally Hawkins as a preternaturally cheerful schoolteacher who sounds as though she could set teeth on edge as easily as she warms hearts. I'm curious but wary. The film will expand wider on Friday; if you've seen it, is it a tonic for difficult times or a passive aggressive form of torture?

Speaking of possibly unpleasant experiences, I'm also surprised by the excellent returns for Larry Charles' Religulous. The doc has earned more than $6.7 million in just two weeks; A. J. Schnack of All these wonderful things points out that it's the first doc since Michael Moore's Sicko "to score back-to-back multi-million dollar weekends." I grew tired of Bill Maher's smirking, self-righteous ridicule years ago, but perhaps I'm in the minority. If you've seen the doc, are you a big fan of Maher? Or is it the subject matter that made it a must-see?

Lance Hammer's Ballast deserves a big hand. Not only did Hammer write and direct a highly-praised drama, he decided to take on distribution duties as well, opening it at a single Manhattan theater the weekend before last. The earnings were not stunning, but very respectable for picture without stars. It expands to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Washington, Philadelphia and St. Louis before the end of October, according to indieWIRE. Will you check out Ballast if it opens near you?

(We first saw it back at Sundance, but the indie drama Good Dick is opening this weekend in limited release. So here's a reprint of our review from last January.)


By: Scott Weinberg

Yes, the title of the movie is "Good Dick," no, there's no character named Dick in the film, and yes, I definitely think that the flick's eventual distributor will change it to something a little less, well, tacky. But I believe a brave distributor will come along and show this fine little film some love -- despite its frequent proclivity for very frank and seriously explicit sex talk. Fortunately, the film comes from a very sincere and heartfelt place, which makes the few "uncomfortable" moments perfectly acceptable ... and frequently quite fascinating.

Jason Ritter and fantastic newcomer Marianna Palka star as a pair of unnamed twenty-somethings who don't "meet cute," don't fall madly in love, and don't really get along all that well -- yet they still make for one of the most fascinating on-screen movie couples in quite some time. "He" is a homeless video store clerk who has a desperate yearning for some romantic contact. "She" is a seriously unhappy young woman who seems to have a strong affection for hardcore pornography. "He," for some strange-yet-sweet reason, can see through her powerfully unpleasant exterior -- and he seems to be well and truly smitten with this dysfunctional female. "She" claims to have no affection whatsoever for her new sorta-boyfriend, but she also welcomes him into her apartment (and bed) time and time again. Oh, but she won't get physical. At all.

(We first caught Joe Swanberg's "Nights and Weekends" at Austin's SXSW Film Festival, but since it's opening in limited release this weekend, we're reprinting our review from last March.)

By: Erik Davis

Nights and Weekends marks writer-director Joe Swanberg's fourth consecutive film at the South by Southwest Film Festival, and it's quite possibly his strongest work yet. Here, Swanberg co-directs and stars alongside girl-next-door-with-an-edge Greta Gerwig – and the two play a couple struggling through the highs and lows of a long distance relationship. What we see is what we don't see, if that makes any sense, as Swanberg and Gerwig consciously chose not to hand this one to the audience on a silver platter. Case in point: There's really no narrative at all. One would think a film with no narrative would be the equivalent of recording you and your significant other watching TV on a Friday night – cuddled up, chitter chatter with a pause for a snack here and there.

On the surface, Nights and Weekends is just that – a regular night (or nights) with regular people who talk just like us or them or your friend with the huge crush on that guy we all kinda know. But look a little deeper and Nights and Weekends is so much more than "just another 'Mumblecore' flick about confusing relationships and missed opportunities." Swanberg and Gerwig do a tremendous job tapping into everything we love about our relationships, as well as everything we hate – and they do this with moments, glances, kisses and tears. No score. No set pieces. No set up and payoff. In an interview the morning after the film's world premiere, Swanberg told me that's exactly how he remembers his own life: as random scenes, conversations or smiles – a mixed fruit basket of love, lust, fear and disappointment.

I tried to get the YouTube version embedded up in here, but it looks like it's been yanked down -- which means you're better off going through the official Twilight website, which will direct you to the appropriate social networking site. Because what's more social than sitting in a quiet movie theater for two hours?

I tried to check out the trailer for myself, but between the always-twitchy MySpace and the various "blockers" I have installed on my browser ... it just didn't happen. So I'll leave it to those hardcore fans who already love the film (despite the fact that it doesn't open until the end of next month) to tell me how this new promo clip rates on the omg-O-meter. Also available at the official site is your chance to win an autographed Twilight baseball, which seems kinda silly because they should be giving away bats.

(Actually, skip the MySpaz site altogether. Watch the trailer in wonderfully diminutive "widget" style right here.)