Yesterday, we found ourselves confused over the news that Johnny Depp would be playing Tonto in a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced The Lone Ranger. Why would such a great actor be willing to play a sidekick role in a silly and unnecessary big-budget adaptation? Now, over at Ain’t-It-Cool News, we might have gotten our answer.

According to a “source,” George Clooney has shown “a lot of interest” in the project, and naturally the feelings are reciprocal from Disney. Obviously all of this is wildly unconfirmed, but it almost makes sense. Perhaps Mr. Depp signed on to the role because he knew he’d get the chance to work with Mr. Clooney. (Or maybe he just wanted the chance to ride a horse.)  read more »

For those of you still holding out hope that George Clooney might return for the final season of ER, it’s all over. Mr. Clooney has once again spurned his former TV show, leaving his publicist to utter one of the great lines of the week: “He is on the record as saying he is not coming back. It is something he has already done. He is busy making movies.” Hilarious! You can practically feel the disdain wafting off the page! The publicist might as well have put “movies” in italics.

We can’t say we really disagree with Mr. Clooney’s decision. He hasn’t appeared on an episode of ER since 2000 and left as a regular cast member in 1999.  read more »

The year that George Clooney turned 36, he starred in the forgettable The Peacemaker and the unforgettable (in a bad way) Batman and Robin. Based on those massive duds, it would have been hard to predict that only eleven years later, Mr. Clooney would not only have an Oscar, but also be one of the biggest movie stars in world. We bring up George Clooney's 36th year because we couldn't help but think of it when we read about Ben Affleck's next project.

The much-maligned actor, who turned 36 just a month ago, has signed up to star in and direct The Town. Warner Brothers has an existing script for the film, which is based on the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan, that Mr. Affleck will also re-write. The Town centers on a bank robber who falls into a star-crossed love affair with the manager of the bank he just robbed. Needless to say, things don't go well.

That sounds a little bit like Out of Sight, the Steven Soderbergh gem that started George Clooney on his Cary Grant career track.  read more »

Now here's a movie that we're going to see! Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey are in negotiations to star opposite George Clooney in the new film The Men Who Stare at Goats, based on the book by the same name. Mr. Clooney is producing the film, while his long-time partner, actor Grant Heslov (we loved you in True Lies, Grant!) will handle the directing duties.

The plot sounds like a mixture of the Bourne movies and Fringe. A struggling, down-on-his-luck reporter (Mr. McGregor) meets a man who claims he's a former military psychic soldier who was re-activated post-9/11 (Mr. Clooney). Predictably, the two go on a wild adventure through Iraq to find the truth about the psychic program that may or may not deal with soldiers bending spoons and exploding goats... with their minds!  read more »

Burn After Reading
Running time 96 minutes
Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton

Joel and Ethan Coen’s Burn After Reading, from their own screenplay, strikes me as one of the most willfully awful movies I’ve ever seen. What makes it even worse is that every one of the “name” performances—George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, and Tilda Swinton—seem determined to best each other in projecting the idiocy of their caricatured middle-aged losers. Yet the early scenes are not intended for middle-aged audiences, but, rather, for teenage viewers and listeners who can be expected to howl with laughter at every gratuitous use of the F and S four-letter words.  read more »

We here at the Culture Czar happen to be big fans of Variety and particularly of reviewer Todd McCarthy. Many times we’ll read his reviews, nod along, and even make mmmhmmm noises at our desk. Which was why we were shocked (shocked!) to see his review of the Coen brothers new film Burn After Reading, which opened the Venice Film Festival last night:

"After their triumphant dramatic success with 'No Country for Old Men,' the Coen brothers revert to sophomoric snarky mode in 'Burn After Reading.' A dark goofball comedy about assorted doofuses in Washington, D.C., only some of whom work for the government, the short, snappy picture tries to mate sex farce with a satire of a paranoid political thriller, with arch and ungainly results.  read more »

OMG could George Clooney and Brad Pitt please stop being so charming/funny/arch whatever they are? At a Venice Film Festival press conference today promoting the new Coen brothers movie Burn After Reading, the irrepressible duo found themselves answering the same questions we swear they did last year, or at some other press thing.

Reporter to Brad Pitt: Will Clooney ever settle down?

Clooney to reporter: ''I am so surprised to hear that question. That is honestly the first time I have been asked that...I am getting married and having a child today.''

Pitt then told Clooney that he could share his own six-child brood, since he'd "have two more by next year.  read more »

Like everyone else we know, we’ve become a little obsessed with Mad Men. And a late night perusal of IMDB revealed to us the following interesting tidbit: Talia Balsam, who plays Mona Sterling -- wife of the awesomely inappropriate Roger Sterling -- is the real life wife of actor John Slattery, who portrays Roger Sterling. Neat! But, wait there more. Ms. Balsam, whose television credits stretch back to Happy Days, is the niece of Dick Van Patten, and, perhaps more excitingly, the only woman to have married George Clooney. The couple wed after a long courtship in 1989, but split after three years (“Talia and I were together for a long time,” Mr. Clooney told Parade magazine in 1998. “She was the girl I chased and was in love with, the girl I always wanted to marry.”) Mr. Clooney, as we know, has gone on to say he’ll never marry again. Ms. Balsam, on the other hand, married Mr. Slattery, with whom she has a ten-year-old son. This leads us to the conclusion that Talia Balsam has just about the best taste in silver fox men, ever. Madam, we salute you!

George Clooney's production company will produce a new half-hour comedy for Showtime called The Fall of Bob. The lead character, Bob (obviously), will narrate his life through flashbacks as he propels himself from a building. Morbid stuff. Variety is reporting that Showtime has been busy courting the big names since greenlighting the Steven Spielberg-produced, Diablo Cody-penned United States of Tara.

The channel also just piloted the darkly comedic "The End of Steve," from Matthew Perry and Peter Tolan .

Less than a month after breaking things off with George Clooney, Sarah Larson has landed herself an ad campaign modeling a new line of couture dresses by designer Christian Audigier, People reported.

Ms. Larson shot the ads on Monday in L.A. Mr. Audigier told the magazine, "She is a fresh, elegant and classy girl. I saw her on a red carpet and liked her style and European look."

Ms. Larson's agent, Kenya Knight, said, "Sarah was picked by Christian Audigier because she looks fabulous in everything she wears.”

The ads will be out later this month.