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So I’m trying to figure out how the heck I’m going to play dumb enough and finagle my way into a test screening of Watchmen tomorrow night here in Portland, but outside of that I’m intrigued by this trailer for a flick named Franklyn.

The dystopian fantasy film is from first-time filmmaker Gerald McMorrow.  He’s concocted a “split narrative set simultaneously in contemporary London and in a future metropolis ruled by religious fervor.  It’s the story of four lost souls, divided by two parallel worlds, on course for an explosive collision when a single bullet will decide all their fates.”

Ryan Phillippe plays a masked vigilante detective named Preest, the only atheist in Meanwhile City, who is searching for his nemesis in the monolithic fantasy metropolis ruthlessly governed by faith and religious fervor. Bernhard Hill plays Esser, a broken man who is searching for his wayward son amongst the rough streets of London’s homeless. Sam Riley plays a heartbroken guy named Milo, who is desperately trying to find a way back to “the purity of first love.” And Eva Green plays an art student named Emilia whose suicidal artwork is “becoming increasingly more complex and deadly.”

That much we do know.  How they all interlock and collide together we don’t.

The cast is good enough and the plot sounds interesting enough, but the trailer doesn’t do much for me.  It’s okay, even though it seems shoddily put together (there are some weird transitions and it’s evident that right now a moratorium needs to be placed on recycling a Clint Mansell score).  Hard to get a read on the movie because it’s going for the seductive play your cards close to your chest routine.

We’ll see.  Franklyn comes out in the UK on January 30th.  No distribution or release date has been lined up yet.

IMAGES COURTESY OF FADED YOUTH

A few school districts in Illinois have banned hugging in elementary and middle schools, where students feel violated for expressing affection for friends…but adults don’t follow the same rules. Even when a hug is shared with the woman you’ve been accused of having an affair with and breaking up your seven-year marriage.

From Faded Youth, photos of Ryan Phillippe and Abbie Cornish, his costar in the upcoming film, “Stop Loss”, on a friend’s patio in Beverly Hills, sharing what appears to be a cigarette (though partaking in the 1998 film “Homegrown” may suggest he’s not anti-marijuana) and a hug.

Following his divorce from Reese Witherspoon, with whom he has two children, Ava and Deacon, Phillippe had this to say: �I�m not a perfect person, but I�m not guilty of a lot of the things I have been accused of. My priority is and always has been the health and safety of my family,� Phillippe said to People magazine.

On November 20 of last year, just following the announcement of the Ryan-Reese divorce and when speculation was high that Cornish was “the other woman,” the Australian actress denied any reports of a romance:

“We were very good friends and we did spend a lot of time together, yeah,” she was quoted by the Dailynews, as saying.

“But we’re friends and that’s it,” was quoted by Star magazine, as saying,� she added.

Earlier tabloids had claimed that Witherspoon decided to end her marriage to the Crash star after learning he had romanced Cornish on the set of their new movie, “Stop Loss” in Texas.

Reports also suggested that the Legally Blonde star found out about her husband’s alleged romance with Cornish after reading a saucy note on his BlackBerry phone.

But Cornish insists the reports are all false.”

Ah, the “good friends” excuse. Photos are damning evidence, so they’ll have a fun time backpedaling through the new gossip that they have resumed their romance. Best of luck to you, Ryan and Abbie! Suggestion: avoid any use of the phrase “good friends” as it almost always implies something more.

Kimberly Pierce made quite a stir with her 1999 flick Boys Don’t Cry.� It earned actress Hillary Swank an� Academy Award for best actress.� Pierce hasn’t made a movie since then.� This time around she’s tackling the difficult story of soldiers returning home from Iraq and being forced to go go back.

Ryan Phillippe is the soldier in question who refuses to go back to Iraq.� The film co-stars Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Timothy Olyphant and Abbie Cornish.

One wonders how this film will be received by soldiers, since I’m guessing no one involved with the production has ever served in the Armed Forces.� Will soldiers take to a movie, which essentially glamorizes desertion of duties?� Love to hear anyone’s thoughts on this.

Stop-Loss hits theaters March 28, 2008.