There are people who would tell you Kate Beckinsale (above) is nothing more than a beautiful woman with no acting talent. I say nay-nay to that, and think comparing her to the popular choice for beauty and talent Charlize Theron (upcoming “Snow White and the Huntsman”) is unfair since they both do different things exceptionally well. While Theron is great at drama, she was never good at action films (“Aeon Flux” was terrible), and where Beckinsale excels at kicking ass (“Underworld” for the win) she hasn’t really tested out her dramatic side. Beckinsale was never really given a meaty role that she could just dive into, until now; she has been cast in the upcoming drama “The Trials of Cate McCall.” According to Deadline, she will star alongside Nick Nolte (“Warrior”) and James Cromwell (“Eraser”) in a story in which she plays a former hotshot prosecutor who threw her career away when she became an addict. Hoping to regain credibility and win custody of her estranged daughter, the lawyer takes on the appeal of a wrongly convicted murderer. Directed by Karen Moncrieff (“The Dead Girl”), Kate has a real chance to prove what she is worth working alongside the two veteran actors, and this could be the chance she needs to not be deemed “another pretty face.”

Taylor Lautner (“The Twilight Saga”) is trying desperately to get out from underneath the shadow of the Werewolf character that made him famous. Unfortunately, due to some poor choices, it looks like he is going to have a more difficult time than his co-stars did. According to THR, Lautner is set to star in “Tracers,” a pseudo-rip off of the upcoming Joseph Gordon Levitt starrer “Premium Rush.” The film is horribly described as: “New York City bicycle messenger, Cam (Lautner), is the hottest thing on two wheels, but he is in debt to an organized crime gang.  When he crashes his bike into a sexy stranger, Nikki, Cam is immediately seduced by her and the thrill of the world of parkour.” Apparently hitting people with your bike makes you a professional at dodging gangsters and scrambling across rooftops. The movie makes me roll my eyes just reading the plot, so I’m pretty sure there is no hope for it once it hits the big screen. After Lautner’s failure to take off with “Abduction” last year you would think he would be a little more selective with his roles. Given the plot of this film it would seem he has chosen to do just the opposite, and is willing to sign his name anywhere someone will let him. Maybe Adam Sandler shouldn’t have been so quick to cast him in “Grown Ups 2.”

It looks like computer generated films are becoming the way of the future. “Thunder Run,” an upcoming all computer-generated 3D action-thriller, has just secured financing from Paradox Entertainment. According to Screen Rant, the film is an adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent David Zucchino’s “Thunder Run- The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad,” and tells of the capture of the Iraqi capital by American forces at the onset of the Iraq war in April 2003. It is being adapted by Academy Award winner Robert Port (“Twin Towers” (short)) and Ken Nolan (“Black Hawk Down”), and will be directed by Simon West (“Con Air”). So not only do we have an amazing behind the camera team, but the cast is pretty excellent as well: Gerard Butler (“Reign of Fire”), Matthew McConaughey (“Reign of Fire”), and Sam Worthington (“Man on a Ledge”). When they say it will be all CGI in my mind that brings me back to “Beowulf,” but it could quite possibly be more like “Avatar.” Either way the question still needs to be asked; what’s the point of making it all computer-generated? Wouldn’t it be easier and more “realistic” if they just filmed it like an actual war movie?

Ooh la la, Mesdames et Messieurs, it's Cannes time. Like we always do about this time, this year's Cannes Film Festival and its many splendors start today, Wednesday the 16th. I'm covering the festival this year, but my accommodations aren't terribly convenient for the South of France (being in New York City), and there's some concern that there isn't enough bandwidth for me to astrally project. So I may not be able to catch a ton of screenings, but I can provide a handy-dandy list of things that totally fucking rule about Cannes:

1—Topless starlets: I don't want to get all drooly Neanderthal male-gaze-y on y'all, but it's one of the fundamental laws of the universe that tits are awesome. Also simple math: South of France + oodles of international entertainment industry muckety-mucks all over the place + entertainment industry aspirants = lots of very pretty people trying to get noticed. And even when titties aren't openly out, they're behind smashing designer clothing.

2—Endless arguments over how “Cannes” is pronounced: This from the non-Francophone contingent. Since I'm a serious intellectual (see bullet point 1) and so well-educated I can move objects with my mind, I'll take this opportunity to clear things up once and for all: it's pronounced like “can” except you don't flatten the vowel and use the “n” as a complete stop. You don't pronounce the “a” like “ah,” and nothing is funnier than some dipshit thinking he's being sophisticated going “I'm going to Cahhhhhhn this year” because then you can hit him with a Ricardo Montalban joke he won't get.

The two best parts of “Tropic Thunder” might be reuniting for another comedy. Vulture has learned that Tom Cruise (“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”) and Robert Downey Jr. (“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”) are in talks to star in the action/comedy “El Presidente.” Set to be directed by Jay Roach (“Meet the Parents”), the film would have Cruise playing a gung-ho Secret Service agent assigned to protect a reviled former President of the United States (Downey Jr.). Surprisingly, both actors have the ability to be quite hilarious, but it really depends on the writer and script. This film was written by “Parks and Recreation” scribe Dan Goor, but that means nothing to me since I don’t watch that show (I hear it’s hilarious though). One could only hope and pray that this team-up happens; not only is Cruise entertaining when he is kicking ass, but add humor to that mix and you have the perfect summer movie. 

THR is reporting that the always-cute Rachel McAdams (“Morning Glory”) has joined both “About Time” and “A Most Wanted Man.” The former is directed by Richard Curtis (“Love Actually”) and is described as, “a fantastical feel-good movie” about a man (Domhnall Gleeson) and his ability to travel back in time. He eventually meets the girl of his dreams (McAdams), and if this is in any way realistic she will probably end up with someone else. The latter is directed by Anton Carbijn (the boring “The American”), and has Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Along Came Polly”) playing a near-dead half-Chechen, half-Russian man on the run in the city’s Islamic community desperate for help and looking to recover his late father’s ill-gotten fortune. A young female lawyer (McAdams) and private British banker become entwined in his fate, and all the while they are being watched by a covert German spy unit. I have to say the thriller sounds a lot more exciting then yet ANOTHER time-traveling romance movie. As much as I love McAdams, she does tend to settle into these cute feel-good roles instead of challenging herself with more difficult fare.

Is it worth $10? Yes

The best movies are, not coincidentally, also the smartest. They endeavor not just to entertain but also to comment on society, politics, foreign relations, etc. For comedies this is harder because it’s easy to write something off as a meaningless silly joke, but everyone knew what Charlie Chaplin was doing in 1940 when he made “The Great Dictator” to mock Hitler. Similarly, everyone knows Sacha Baron Cohen is ridiculing the likes of Kim Jong Il and Saddam Hussein with “The Dictator,” a funny if not always biting satire on American politics and culture.

Cohen plays a filthy rich North African dictator named Aladeen who pays famous celebrities for sex, kills his citizens at will and has changed 300 words in his language’s dictionary to “Aladeen.” He rules without regard for anyone but himself, and goes so far as to have a 1972 Munich Olympics simulation on his Wii that allows him to knock on the Israeli team’s door and go in shooting. Cohen can get away with this because he’s Jewish and, let’s be honest, you’re an idiot if you take it seriously.

The Grey stars Liam Neeson as Ottway, a tough yet vulnerable man with a painful past. It is this past that leads him to accompany a group of oil drillers out into the Alaskan wilderness and protect them from the ferocious wolves that prowl the area. The film itself is a terrific survival story, teeming with suspense, and set against the backdrop of some beautiful Alaskan scenery. Rent It.

“Chronicle” is the latest entry in the recent “Found Footage” fad. It stars Dane DeHaan as Andrew, a teenager who obtains telekinetic powers, i.e., the ability to control objects with his mind. As a result, a lot of CGI mayhem ensues, and while impressive looking, it is somewhat hollow. As guest critic Dan Souto put it, “As a whole I thought this was entertaining, but in no way, shape, or form could I ever recommend someone spend $10 to see this; it is a rental at best. So, Rent It.

“The Avengers” dominated its competition again this weekend, and Box Office Mojo has the numbers for us. The ensemble film earned another $103.2 million domestically, bringing its domestic take to $373.2 million. It has now broken a few more records like: fastest movie to $300 million/$350 million, and highest eight/nine/ten-day grosses. Internationally the film has earned around $800 million, and it has now crossed the $1 billion mark collectively. It is the fifth Disney movie ever to do so, joining: “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” “Toy Story 3,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” and “Alice in Wonderland.” Settling for second place, the Johnny Depp starrer “Dark Shadows” earned a measly (by comparison) $30 million. Third place went to “Think Like a Man,” which held strong after four weeks in release and earned another $6.3 million. The film has a domestic take of about $81.9 million. “The Hunger Games” is still haunting me, and held on to the fourth place spot with another $4.4 million. Rounding out the top five was “The Lucky One,” which earned another $4.1 million, and now has a domestic gross of about $53.7 million. Hopefully the release of “Battleship” on Friday helps kick “The Hunger Games” from the top five at long last.

Cult film director Neil Marshall (“Dog Soldiers”) has sank his teeth into a Dracula-themed movie. Over a decade in development, “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” is finally making some head-way in production. Based on the Bram Stoker novel from 1897, the tale tells of the Demeter, the ship that transported Dracula from Transylvania to London, washing ashore in London with only one crazy survivor on board. Heat Vision is reporting that Marshall is taking over for David Slade (“30 Days of Night”), and that the film includes Sir Ben Kingsley (“A Sound of Thunder”), Noomi Rapace (upcoming “Prometheus”), and Jude Law (“Road to Perdition”). Marshall is great at creating suspense/horror and action set pieces. Just look at his film and TV history: “Doomsday,” “Centurion,” “The Descent,” and the upcoming “Game of Thrones” episode “Blackwater.” If the film casts a few more powerful actors, then we could finally have a real vampire movie on our hands (“Twilight” ruined everything).