Today we have the first photos and some new information about Tar, which stars James Franco, Jessica Chastain, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and many more. Though you may not have heard about the project, or may have only skimmed over the IMDb page, it’s definitely worth your attention.

The film, adapted by James Franco and the students in the class he teaches at New York University, is a compilation of ten short films each directed by a student. They’re based on a book of poems titled Tar by Pulitzer Prize winner C.K. Williams.

Tar has been described a film in the same vein as New York, I Love You. Each short film will be based on one poem, that when bought together as a whole, will act as a look at the poet’s life through his poetry.

The film is expected to be released later this year.

Franco has now shepherded a project for NYU graduate students that’ll result in two poetry-centric anthology features: “Tar” based on C.K. William’s book of poems of the same name, and “Black Dog, Red Dog,” based on a book of poems by Stephen Dobyns. Students — who had to win a competition for the opportunity — separately helmed shorts based on individual poems with their entries combined into a cohesive feature-length narrative.

The presence of Franco has also attracted some big name actors to the projects, with Jessica Chastain and Mila Kunis featuring in the Williams feature, Olivia Wilde, Chloe Sevigny and Whoopi Goldberg are all part of the Dobyns pic, and Franco is involved in both in an acting and producing capacity. Sounds like a fascinating project, and this initiative from Franco is likely to make film school students all over the globe jealous (imagine working with Chastain and co. as a student!?).

“Tar,” which is backed by Franco’s production company Rabbit Bandini and exec producer Victorino Noval, is reportedly nearing completion and eyeing a premiere at TIFF, while ‘Black Dog’ is still being edited. And not only that, any financial gains from the features will be put into future endeavors of a similar nature. Nice.

[Indiewire]

Daily Times Pakistan published today an interview with the amazing actress Sissy Spacek (The Help), in which she speaks about her career, film roles for women and building a career.

One of the questions was about the current actress she likes. Check her answer:

Which current actresses do you like? Whom you think you influenced?
I’ve no idea who I’ve influenced. I worked with so many wonderful young actresses on ‘The Help’. Jessica Chastain is one of my favourites. She’s been phenomenal in so many different films. Emma Stone is a wonderful comedienne and just a whip-smart girl. Felicity Jones is a favourite of mine. I love Amy Adams. It’s a tricky thing to build a career. I feel for young actresses. The industry just kind of gobbles them up and it doesn’t give them much breathing room. Sometimes you see a wonderful performance and then they disappear. We as a society are kind of like piranha. We gobble things up.

More screen captures! I have just added over 500 BluRay-quality screen captures of Jessica from Ralph Fiennes’s 2011 film Coriolanus. Check it:

Sad news for us geeks. Jessica announced that she won’t be able to be at Iron Man 3.

Sorry to say that Iron Man 3 isn’t going to work out. My schedule is jammed packed and I can’t fit anything else in. The press announced my possible attachment far too soon. I know many of you wanted me to be involved, and I’m so sorry to disappoint you. Hopefully there’ll be another Marvel film in my future. Shane Black and everyone on the IM3 team are really wonderful. I’m very excited to see the film when it comes out. xx

The Help got four nominations at 2012 MTV Movie Awards: Movie of the Year and Best Cast, with also two nominations for Bryce Dallas-Howard for “Best On-Screen Dirtbag” and “Best Gut-Wrenching Performance”.

Fans can vote online until the awards show airs on June 3 on MTV!

Another image of Jessica in “Lawless” has surfaced:

Pretty!

With the release of “Lawless” official trailer we have now a few new images to share with you, including pretty behind-the-scenes images. Check it:

The first trailer for the period crime drama Lawless has gone online. Based on the novel The Wettest County in the World, the film stars Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy as two brothers who become bootleggers in the South during Prohibition.

The trailer is amazing!!

Lawless will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month and opens nationwide on August 31st.

With only about four weeks left before Iron Man 3 begins shooting, some casting additions are still being made. Not only has the great Sir Ben Kingsley come on board in a villainous capacity, but the charismatic Guy Pearce is reportedly adding his talent to the Marvel movie. Now, the latest reports have Jessica Chastain back on track to join the threequel. Her role is purportedly that of a sexy scientist who rivals Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in intelligence. Chastain was previously thought to be in the mix for the role before scheduling issues complicated matters. With her film The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers pushed back, it looks like Chastain will be joining Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and possibly Scarlett Johansson for Iron Man 3.

Deadline is reporting that Chastain is once again the frontrunner for the “sexy scientist” role in Iron Man 3. The studio had previously entered into meetings with Diane Kruger, Isla Fisher and Gemma Arterton for the role, but apparently wants to advance Chastain to the top of the list.

Now all “Iron Man” fans like me can start screaming…