Stuff You Need to Know: Daniel Day-Lewis is Abe, Honestly

The frustrating thing about pop culture websites is they try to slam you with update after update–and most of it you simply don’t need to know. One post a week, catching you up with everything. That’s what we do. Pour some espresso and get your dose.

The Lincoln biopic, helmed by Spielberg, is a month into production and Hollywood Reporter had the first glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis in full makeup as Abe. And damn. That’s pretty awesome. Cosette’s response: “Did he build a log cabin this time?” Yes. And studied his lines off a shovel. Is it just me or does this just make you want to see Day-Lewis fight vampires? Also, note that Variety says Jared Harris (the upcoming Moriarty–who, holy shit, that’s Richard Harris’ son!) will play Ulysses S. Grant and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln.

Akira reworked plot points pointed out over at io9. Dindrane and fans of the original are warned to stay away, as you will have a severe allergic reaction. Here’s a taste: “Kaneda (Garret Hedlund) is a bar owner in Neo-Manhattan who is stunned when his brother, Tetsuo, is abducted by government agents led by The Colonel (Ken Watanabe).” And on from there.

Canada, we’re jealous. And I’m not just saying that in a Leigh kind of way. I’m saying you have the BBC iPlayer before us. $8.99 for iPad VOD to get BBC shows. We’re supposed to get it soon, but it’s not soon enough. Seriously. Source.

Boardwalk Empire hits DVD and Blu-Ray on January 10th from HBO. I tell you these two key things: cast and crew commentaries (six of them) and an enhanced picture-in-picture viewing on all twelve episodes. That latter bit is Blu-Ray only. Pre-order the DVD or pre-order the Blu-Ray from Amazon by clicking where appropriate.

The resurrected Dallas has a trailer out. I share it with you to say two things: one, I think they’ve nailed it. Hard to say if anyone will watch, but I do think they’ve nailed what they’re trying to nail. And two, isn’t it odd to hear “And don’t forget to like Dallas on Facebook for the latest news”?

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Death of a Salesman is coming back to Broadway in March. Director? Mike Nichols (Charlie Wilson’s War). Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman is Loman. Also in the cast: Andrew Garfield as Biff. Jesus, I need to get back to NYC. Source: Variety.

Want to get ahead of the game on Dark Knight Rises? A six-minute prologue will be shown on IMAX screens ahead of Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol. That’s on December 16th here, December 21st in the UK. That’s almost cool enough to get me in front of an IMAX screen again. Source: Variety.

Sweet Jebus, but I want this docu: Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films. If you were like me and grew up during the video store heydey of the 80s, Cannon was one of those studios that gave you fare like Missing in Action, American Ninja and, yes, Masters of the Universe. Drafthouse Films snagged distribution and it will hit cinemas late next year along with…holy shit…”a traveling roadshow retrospective of Cannon’s most known works.” Come to Atlanta or there will be Pain. Source.

Ender’s Game happening? Finally? Seriously? Nah. Can’t be. But it’s closer than it’s ever been: it has a release date of March 15, 2013. Asa Butterfield (Hugo) will play Ender and Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) is in talks to play Petra. Reportedly among the candidates to play Col. Hyrum Graff: Harrison Ford. Written and directed by…Gavin Hood (the Wolverine movie). Source: Variety.

Sorry, friends, but the Evil Dead remake is happening and it’s at Sony. But Raimi is producing, so if it goes wrong you know who to blame. Source: Variety.

Grammy noms are live. You can find the full list here.

New John Carter trailer. Still not sure how I feel about it. But it’s Andrew Stanton, so I’m there.

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Juan of the Dead has Germany, Russia, UK and Japan distributors but nobody lined up for the U.S. yet. And no dates for anything on their official site. Damn. Source: Variety.

To Kill a Mockingbird is hitting Blu-Ray for the first time (and Limited Edition Blu-Ray combo and DVD) on January 31st in a 50th Anniversary Edition from Universal. Among the BD combo pack highlights: a picture-in-picture companion feature where you can bridge off to other interviews and such while watching the film. Pre-order the DVD, pre-order the Blu-Ray or pre-order the Limited Edition Blu-Ray Combo Pack from Amazon by clicking where appropriate.

Sweet mother of the apothecary’s widow. Alan Cumming is going to do a one man Macbeth in July at the Lincoln Center in NYC. One man. As in, he’s doing the whole play himself. Holy crap. Source: Variety.

David Milch (Deadwood) is going to stay at HBO. That’s not the interesting part. The interesting part is that he and HBO have a setup whereby Milch can make a project based on the works of William Faulkner…any that aren’t already tied up elsewhere. I would be okay with As I Lay Dying as a maxi-series. You? Source: Variety.

Darren Aronofsky is directing Noah? Whoa. Christian Bale has passed on the role and now Michael Fassbender might take it. (Dear Aaron: First Irish Magneto, then Irish Noah? Discuss.) The scribe on the project is John Logan (Hugo). And I’m interested to see Aronosfky’s take on this story, considering the last one was so…um. Yeah. Source: Variety.

Christopher Plummer is awesome. Here he is hanging out with George Clooney, Albert Brooks, Nick Nolte and others. Telling awesome stories about Lear and being drunk. This is part of Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Season roundtable. The total bit is an hour. Why isn’t this an ongoing talk show? Who wouldn’t watch this?

Moving on to the next bit that’s worth watching, it’s fascinating to watch Plummer, Brooks and Clooney talk craft…and can you imagine getting such a compliment from Gary Goddamn Oldman? Holy shit…

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Afghanistan is getting its own version of Sesame Street called Baghch-e-simsim (Sesame Garden). It started today and according to Variety, it’s supposed to educate kids there, since a small percentage of them actually go to kindergarten. A variety of puppets from different countries will be appearing, including Big Bird, Elmo and Grover.

Star Trek news: Alice Eve (Entourage) is nearing finalization of her role in the new film–a role that’s new to the Trekverse, while Benicio Del Toro is playing a familiar character? Who’s a villain? Is Del Toro…Kahn? Source: Variety.

Twilight Zone is still in the script stage…latest scribe in talks is Tony Peckham (Sherlock Holmes). So it’s nowhere near happening yet, although the Variety story points out it’s going to be one story. Which is a bit alarming.

TwoMorrows has a Cyber Week Sale going through December 5th. Tons available for 50% off. Seriously, if you dig comics or Lego–or more importantly, if somebody on your gift list does–you’ll want to take advantage. Here’s the list of titles. Enjoy.

Tom Cruise is apparently in talks to star in We Mortals Are, based on the Japanese novel All You Need is Kill (which is, frankly, a more awesome title). The story? According to the article, Cruise would be “playing a soldier defending Earth from attacking aliens. Killed in battle, he is then stuck in a time loop that causes him to relive that day over and over while gaining strength and skill each time as he tries to change his fate.” So, what, it’s John Steakley’s Groundhog Day? So be it.

New Woman in Black trailer is up. I’m pleased to say Daniel Radcliffe is recovering from Potter just fine. Looking forward to this, actually.