By Romeo San Vicente
Foster and Winslet team for Polanski's 'Carnage'
Lesbian icon Jodie Foster is becoming the go-to gal for working with Hollywood pariahs. She's still trying to get her latest directorial effect, "The Beaver," into theaters, despite the fact that it stars Mr. Voicemail himself, Mel Gibson. And now she's signed on to work with Roman Polanski, whose recent evasion of extradition over his statutory rape case in the 1970s didn't exactly garner him a lot of goodwill. Foster will star opposite Kate Winslet in Polanski's "God of Carnage," about a playground conflict between two boys that escalates into a war between their parents. Once again, Polanski has assembled an impressive array of talent, with Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz playing one of the husbands and Tony-winner Yasmina Reza adapting her own play. Reza generally writes in French – Christopher Hampton wrote the English translation of "Carnage" that played London and Broadway – but with Matt Dillon also in the cast, one assumes the film will be in English when it starts shooting in early 2011.
Dominic Cooper says 'Hello Darkness'
Romeo is, admittedly, starting to feel vampire fatigue, but that doesn't mean that interesting filmmakers can't find a fresh way to bring bloodsuckers to the screen. Bill Condon may wind up redeeming the whole dull "Twilight" franchise by directing the final installments, and now "Quinceanera" directors (and gay couple) Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland could give the genre a new twist with "Hello Darkness." This look at the world of the undead introduces a class element – Dominic Cooper ("Mamma Mia!," "The History Boys") stars as a working-class, blue-collar sort of vamp who finds himself falling for a wealthy student, played by Imogen Poots. (Poots, recently seen in "Centurion," is becoming something of a vampire pin-up – she's also in the upcoming "Fright Night" remake.) With Julie Christie in front of the camera and producer Todd Haynes behind it, it wouldn't come as a shock if "Hello Darkness" earns warm greetings when it opens in 2011.
Kimberly Peirce's 'Wicked Lovely' faeries
It's always been frustrating that we don't hear about more major projects from Hollywood's cooler lesbian filmmakers. Maybe they're just pickier? Whatever the reason, it's at least a bit of good news that "Boys Don't Cry" and "Stop-Loss" director Kimberley Peirce is working on something new with the potential to be pretty huge. "Wicked Lovely" is the name of her new feature and it's based on a popular series of novels by Melissa Marr that concern a teenage girl who can see the faery world. When the faeries find out they have an observer it transforms both parties for better and for worse, apparently including some unwelcome overtures from the faery king to his new human friend. Vince Vaughn is producing and casting is still up in the air. Calling Elle Fanning…
Lesbian 'Lip Service' for the BBC
American audiences who watched and fell in love with the original British version of "Queer As Folk" were just happy the series even existed; they didn't think too much about the fact that it was populated by cast of relatively unknown actors. Well here comes the lesbian remix, as "Lip Service" hits the BBC for a six-episode run. Starring up-and-comers Laura Fraser, Ruta Gedmintas and Fiona Button, the series will explore the lives and loves of a group of twentysomething lesbians in Glasgow, Scotland. You can safely expect a lot of regional differences (and most likely a firmer grasp on reality) from the glamorous soap that was "The L Word," not the least of which are sure to be accents that require subtitles. And though there's no stateside air dates scheduled, it's a pretty safe bet this will find its way to BBC America. For now, the series debuts in October in the U.K.
