Let's see: a serious, multigenerational, semi-autobiographical family drama starring Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson and Julia Roberts -- it sure sounds like Oscar buzz for Fireflies in the Garden should have gotten turned up to 11 by now. There hasn't really been any; the bad reviews from the film's out-of-competition premiere at Berlin probably didn't help. Still, that cast is tough to beat (there's also Ryan Reynolds, Carrie Anne-Moss and Hayden Panettierre), and the movie should be able to land with at least a minor splash if its eventual US distributor puts in a bit of effort.

There's now a full international trailer up at one of the film's websites. If the movie does indeed suck, the trailer doesn't telegraph the suckage -- it makes the film look solid, respectable. The reviews, on the other hand, make it sound embarrassing, with the sort of logistical difficulties (Texas failing to stand in for Chicago; implausible casting of younger and older versions of the same characters) that shouldn't really plague a production this high-profile.

Director Dennis Lee is making his feature debut after directing a well-received short film called Jesus Henry Christ. It's a heck of a pedigree for a first film, though the scenario and the reviews (and the director's last name) make me think of Jieho Lee's The Air I Breathe -- a feature debut by a director with a strong short on his resume, and a spectacular cast, that turned out to be completely unwatchable.

The 2008 Berlin International Film Festival awards have been announced, and while I've only seen one of the films that picked up prizes, I'm very excited about the results. The top honor, the Golden Bear, went to Tropa de Elite (The Elite Squad), which is the first fiction film directed by Brazilian filmmaker José Padilha, who last gave us the brilliant documentary Bus 174. It was also scripted by Oscar-nominated writer Bráulio Mantovani (City of God) and tells the story of a captain in Rio's Special Police Operations Battalion and the corruption within the city's military police force, particularly its brutality in the handling of Rio's favelas. The film was hugely popular in Brazil when it was released there last fall, though mostly it was viewed illegally via the internet. Originally due out in the U.S. last month from The Weinstein Co., Moviefone now shows the film as being a Summer 2008 release, hopefully with a lot of support now thanks to the big win in Berlin.

Another Latin American cinema winner was Mexico's Lake Tahoe, the latest from Fernando Eimbcke (Duck Season), which picked up the Alfred Bauer Prize for innovative filmmaking and a FIPRESCI critics prize. Other winners include Errol Morris' eagerly anticipated documentary on Abu Graib, Standard Operating Procedure, which won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize (aka second prize) and Paul Thomas Anderson, who won the Silver Bear award for best director, for There Will Be Blood. Anderson's film also received a Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Music) for Jonny Greenwood and its score. The Silver Bear award for best screenplay went to Xiaoshaui Wang for In Love We Trust, while the Silver Bears for acting went to Sally Hawkins, for her peformance in Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky, and Reza Najie for his performance in Majid Majidi's The Song of Sparrows. Kumasaka Izuru won a best first film award for Asyl -- Park and Love Hotel. For the rest of the Berlin winners head over to the festival's website.

Madonna's directorial debut, Filth and Wisdom, which is playing the Berlinale in the artsy "Panorama" section, opened today, and our good friends over at indieWIRE had one of the few one-on-one interviews Her Madonna-ness granted to her film fest subjects. indieWIRE reports that buzz from folks coming out of the screening was (some might say surprisingly) mostly positive.

The film, originally envisioned as a short but expanded to 85 minutes, tells the tale of "three friends desperate to better their lot in life, who must duel with the reality of their circumstances." There's A.K., a would-be rock superstar who keeps things afloat while waiting for his ship to come in by turning tricks as a cross-dresser; Holly, who trains as a ballerina by day while working as a stripper at night to survive; and Juliette, who works in a pharmacy while saving money to live her dream of moving to Africa to help children in need.

Madonna chose to show her film at Berlin and, according to the indieWIRE piece, has no plans for further fest screenings. Instead, the film's team is exploring distribution options, "both traditional and non-traditional," so you may be able to see it sooner rather than later. In the meantime, you can check out indieWIRE's excellent writeup of their Madonna interview, and see a sneak-peek three-minute scene from the film. Added bonus for all you guys out there (well, girls too, let's not make gender assumptions here) -- most of the clip is a scene of strippers practicing pole dancing. In, you know ... an artsy way.

In the midst of Sundance Deals and mainstream news, here are some indie bites:

• While it won't be competing, Jam! reports that Guy Maddin's wonderful film My Winnipeg will screen on the opening night of Berlinale's International Forum of New Cinema program. (Check out my TIFF review here.) Personally, I wish it could compete and then take over the world, but I realize that Maddin hasn't gotten enough recognition yet. (He's seriously one of the most accessible filmmakers of strange fare out there. Go check him out if you haven't already.) While Winnipeg isn't competing, another production with Canadian roots is -- Amos Kollek's Restless.
• Meanwhile, Til Schweiger continues to face problems. After ticking people off with his risque all-ages comedy, now Variety reports that he's quit the German Film Academy in protest. Why? Because Keinohrhasen, the movie that's been making waves, wasn't considered for a German film award. The Academy claims they didn't register in time, and that should it get registered, it could be eligible in 2009. I guess that wasn't good enough for Schweiger.
• Remember that movie ban in China? Well, now Variety reports that The Water Horse will be the first foreign film to screen to bust through the ban, over the previously announced Atonement. The latter is screening on February 22, but Horse nabbed itself a February 16 screen date. Will this "blackout" continue? Is it all just a farce? Stay tuned!

Sometimes I wish I had a large, waiting-to-be-used stash of money that would allow me to go to every film festival that caught my fancy. The other option would be to convince a patron of each fest to wear a mini camera on their lapel, but that would be, well, illegal, so let's stick with the other fantasy. Like many of the big fests, Berlinale is looking to be all sorts of tasty. We've already had some previous screening announcements, and now Reuters has added even more eagerly-anticipated films to the fest list.

In the realm of Berlin's competitive films, Kristin Scott Thomas' I've Loved You So Long has been added to the roster. In the "out of competition" offerings at Berlinale, filmgoers can delight in a who's who of big names. There's Fireflies in the Garden, the Julia Roberts-starring film about a town devastated by an unexpected tragedy. (It's also a film that co-stars the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hayden Panettiere, and Ioan Gruffudd.) Or, if you want to dip back into history, there's Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman's The Other Boleyn Girl. And, what could be better to wrap up the festival than a movie for fans of film? Berlinale will perfectly close with Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind. (Check out James' Sundance review!)

The festival will run from February 7 to 17.

There's going to be some shiny, happy people at Berlinale this year. At least, some that get to bask in a big, musical, cinematic light. According to the folks over at indieWIRE, Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones concert flick, Shine a Light, will open the 58th Berlin International Film Festival when it kicks into gear on February 7. That's not a bad start to the fest, which has already announced some of the films that will compete this year. In December, titles like Errol Morris' S.O.P.: Standard Operating Procedure were announced, and just last week, flicks like Julia and Elegy were added to the roster.

But back to the Stones. The footage for this film was shot during two concerts at New York's Beacon Theater back in 2006. But this wasn't your average concert-production affair. As iW describes, Scorsese's film used sixteen cameras and collected over half a million feet of concert footage. That's compounded by all the big names involved, which I mentioned in a post about the film last July -- such as Oscar-winner Robert Anderson and cinematographer John Toll. But larger-than-life old men prancing around isn't all you can look forward to in the film. There's also performances by Jack White and Christina Aguilera (who gets a very-close wiggle with Mick Jagger), and behind-the-scenes footage. You can check out a trailer on Moviefone right here.

The Berlin International Film Festival (which starts Feb. 7) announced eight of its competition titles a month ago, followed by the revelation that a film directed by Madonna (!) would premiere there out of competition. Now seven more competition titles have been announced, and quite an international affair it is!

GreenCine Daily has a good rundown of the films, but here are the basics: Feuerherz (Heart of Fire), by Luigi Falorni (The Story of the Weeping Camel); Julia, by Erick Zonca (The Dreamlife of Angels), starring Tilda Swinton; Lady Jane, by Robert Guediguian (The Last Mitterand); Elegy, by Isabel Coixet (The Secret Life of Words), starring Penelope Cruz, Ben Kingsley, and Dennis Hopper, based on Philip Roth's The Dying Animal; Caos calmo (Quiet Chaos), by Antonello Grimaldi; Happy-Go-Lucky, by Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies, Topsy-Turvy), starring Sally Hawkins; Sparrow, by Johnnie To (Exiled); and Kaabee, by Yoji Yamada (Twilight Samurai).

In addition, Denzel Washington's The Great Debaters, which opened in the U.S. on Christmas, will play at Berlin as a "featured presentation," i.e., not in competition.

Meanwhile, in neighboring country The Netherlands, Variety reports that the Rotterdam International Film Festival (starting Jan. 23) will open with Lamb of God (Agnus Dei), the first fiction feature from Argentinian documentary director Lucia Cedron. The film is about the kidnapping of an elderly man, which forces his daughter to return to Argentina after 22 years in exile overseas.

Finally, visitors to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in sunny California (starting Jan. 24) will find that the kick-off film is Definitely, Maybe (pictured), the new Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy that opens theatrically on Valentine's Day. (What, the Santa Barbara programmers couldn't get Over Her Dead Body?) A significantly less depressing announcement is that the closing film is the U.S. premiere of The Unknown Woman, by Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso, Malena).

Pinch me, I must be dreaming -- Madonna directed a movie?! And it will receive its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival?! Will wonders never cease? The Associated Press is reporting that Filth and Wisdom "will screen in the Panorama section, outside the main competition." A check of the festival web site turns up this press release, which confirms the news: "Music star Madonna will give her directorial debut alongside the works of underground star Bruce LaBruce and TEDDY winner 2007, Zero Chou from Taiwan."

Madonna was rumored to be directing a film entitled Blade to the Heat, inspired by a 1959 boxing match which resulted in the death of one of the combatants after he slurred the other's sexuality. That project may still be mired in development. Filth and Wisdom apparently stars Stephen Graham, Richard E. Grant and Eugene Hutz. Her official site says that she directed a television ad earlier this year, so she may be gearing up for more projects to come. Production on Filth and Wisdom, described as a low budget, 30-minute comedy possibly based on some of Madonna's own life experiences, began in May.

The IMDb page lists Tim Maurice-Jones as cinematographer; he previously worked with Madonna's hubby Guy Ritchie on Revolver and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Dan Cadan is listed as the writer; he's also worked with Ritchie for years, steadily moving his way up the production chain.

In general, Madonna has not been well served on the big screen, though I have a soft spot for her role in Desperately Seeking Susan. I'm very curious to see how Filth and Wisdom turns out. Will Madonna become a director to reckon with? The Berlin Film Festival runs from February 7-17.

If there's one thing that can be said about Isabella Rossellini, other than praising her talents, is that she knows how to pick interesting filmmakers to collaborate with. She was put on the map for her work in David Lynch's Blue Velvet, and now she's been spending a lot of time with Canada's Guy Maddin. She starred in The Saddest Music in the World, and he helped her make an excellent short, doc film about her father Roberto called My Dad is 100 Years Old. Now she's continuing to make shorts, and Variety reports that she will open Berlin International Film Festival's 38th Forum sidebar with Maddin -- just a year after they screened the Roberto tribute there.

On the second day of the festival, Guy will screen My Winnipeg, his snowy homage to his hometown that I reviewed during TIFF, while Rossellini will contrast his black and white humor with her international premiere of Green Porno, which is looking to be the next step in the actress' sexy filmmaking. Her directorial debut, Oh La La, dealt with cities, sex, and symphonies, whereas this short film is a "collection of three one-minute shorts that explore the mating behaviour of insects." I wonder if that will include the decapitating mating rituals of preying mantises?

If you can't make your way to Berlin to see her take on sexin' insects, or you want to see her in something much more mainstream, you can head to your local theater and see her in The Accidental Husband -- that romcom with Uma Thurman and Jeffrey Dean Morgan -- this March.

Next to Cannes and Venice in the pantheon of great film festivals is Berlin, a huge international affair that boasts more visitors than any fest in the world. It's been running since 1951, making it one of the oldest in the world, too. So it's not surprising that there's plenty of anticipation when the festival organizers announce the lineup, and Monday's revelation of eight of the titles for the 2008 edition -- which launches Feb. 7 -- was met with great delight.

Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (picture) will play; not a big deal to me, since it opens theatrically in the States on Christmas anyway. What's noteworthy, as Variety points out, is that it's the sixth Daniel Day-Lewis film to play at the fest. Also, Anderson's Magnolia played there in 2000 -- and won the top prize, the Golden Bear.

Call me a nerd, but the film that piques my curiosity is S.O.P.: Standard Operating Procedure, a documentary about Abu Ghraib by Errol Morris -- for my money, the best documentary filmmaker currently working. The Fog of War, Mr. Death, The Thin Blue Line -- all stunning. I hope S.O.P. is as good as we've come to expect from Morris.

Already a hit in its native Brazil, The Elite Squad (Tropa Elite) -- about the war between gangs and police in Rio -- will compete. And there's lots more death on the docket: Lake Tahoe (¿Te acuerdas de Lake Tahoe?), about a teen coping with his father's death, from Mexican director Fernando Eimbcke (Duck Season); Germany's Cherry Blossoms (Hanami), by Dorie Dörrie, about a man with cancer whose wife dies; In Love We Trust (Zuo you), about a mother with cancer (directed by Beijing Bicycle's Wan Xiaoshuai); Gardens of the Night, in which children endure some miserable foster care; and previous lifetime achievement award recipient Andrzej Wajda's Katyn, about the Soviets' massacre of Polish war prisoners in 1940. Cheery!