I’m not saying there hasn’t been another instance in movie history in which the star of a film has looked this similar to the director. I’m asking someone to prove otherwise. Last summer I noticed a striking similarity between Public Enemies director and cowriter Michael Mann and costar Jason Clarke, but that’s a different equation.

Inception director-writer Chris Nolan; star Leonardo DiCaprio.

Vulture editor Claude Brodesser-Akner shares some exclusive details on New Line’s Escape From New York remake, which apparently has no director and no star. Early rumors mentioned Brett Ratner or Jonathan Mostow to helm and Gerard Butler to star. Kurt Russell‘s Plissken was a hoot but the original John Carpenter feature (which I did a Manhattan set story on back in ’79) was, for me, no more than okay. All I could think of when I saw it was “boy, has Carpenter lost it or what?” (He peaked with the original Assault on Precinct 13.)

“It’s not that Valentine’s Day is a chick flick. I’ve seen funny chick flicks. This is a nitwit flick — the movie equivalent of an elaborately wrapped package which turns out to contain only styrofoam peanuts. If you want to see a funny, romantic and touching film for Valentine’s Day, rent Charlie Chaplin‘s City Lights. If you want to see Valentine’s Day, light your money on fire and watch it burn — it will have an equivalent entertainment value and you’ll save on gas, parking and snacks.” — from Marshall Fine‘s just-posted review.

I’ve been keen to read Joel and Ethan Coen‘s True Grit script for a while now. This morning a draft of it (their third, dated 6.12.09) arrived in my inbox. I was dazzled right away by the robust poetic flavor of the Old West dialogue, which I presume is partly taken from the Charles Portis novel. There’s hardly a single line that resembles the English spoken today in the U.S. of Eloi, and it’s pure pleasure. True Grit-speak is as specifically unto itself as the Elizabethan English spoken during William Shakespeare‘s day.

The Coens being the Coens, the story is grittier, more character-rich and funnier (in their usual sardonic oddball way) than the one used for the 1969 Henry Hathaway version with John Wayne, Kim Darby and Glenn Campbell. Jeff Bridges is going to have a field day as Rooster Cogburn, but then we knew that going in.

The Coens are apparently intending to cast an unknown as Mattie Ross, from whose perspective the story unfolds and who supplies the narration. They held an open casting call in Tulsa, Oklahoma about a month ago, and reportedly put out the word that “no acting experience is necessary.” The Oklahoman‘s Brandy McDonnell wrote that Mattie is “to be a simple, tough-as-nails 14-year-old…steely nerves, straightforward manner.” She cautioned that “hopefuls are advised not to make the mistake of trying to appear like or imitate Kim Darby, who played Mattie Ross in the original film.” And “no make-up model types.”