Spec this out.

At the GreenCine Daily, we are all running around like headless chickens -- with David Hudson away for a few days, and Craig Phillips threatening to move to Canada, post-CA election. But we do have some fun stuff to share with you anyway...

Resistance isn't futile? The MPAA (Motion Picture Asses of, er, Association of America)'s decision to ban "for your consideration" screener copies which are sent to thousands of Oscar voters every year has ticked off many folks. The whole thing came about ostensibly to prevent piracy, but many indie filmmakers and distributors are suspicious that it was a move calculated to squeeze out indies from winning so many darned Oscars. Purposeful or not, it will definitely hurt the little guy, who depend on such screeners to get their films to voters who may not otherwise have access to them. Miramax, initially supporting the idea, now joins the ranks of smaller indies in opposing it. John Waters (left): "I think the studios are sick of the independents winning every award. I think the piracy thing is a smokescreen." (Thanks to Cinema Aficionado for the tip)

Speaking of Miramax, the Quentin Tarantino opus Kill Bill is opening this weekend. Or should we say, part 1 is opening, since it has been Matrix-ized. The reviews in the States won't be out for a few more hours, but over in the UK, at least at the BBC Online, critics are evenly divided on it. Neil Smith says it's a return to form for QT: "All the trademarks of a QT work are here: an erratic, jumbled-up chronology, a superb soundtrack of forgotten retro classics, and an eccentric cast that combines hot stars du jour with familiar old faces." But Darren Waters rips it as a "shambles." And now it's up to the rest of us to decide if it kicks ass or just bites it. And that's it, more QT plugs for at least a day!

I see dead tigers. Hey, According to Done Deal, one of my favorite reads of the past summer is being adapted into a movie, and I'm not surprised about any of it: Life of Pi, Yann Martel’s novel about an Indian boy becomes shipwrecked in the Pacific and is left to fend for himself on a twenty six foot life raft with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra and a Bengal tiger (the latter being the key critter for him to worry about.) M. Night Shyamalan will adapt and (presumably) direct. Hopefully, there will be no baseball bats added to the storyline.

And speaking of spec script sales (we're all about bad segues here at the GC Daily): Thought it might be fun to list some other recent script sales, while throwing in a wild card -- a fake -- to test your mettle. See if you can peg the made-up spec script sale in this batch:

• The Akhnaten Adventure: A pair of Manhattan twins' new wisdom teeth hold secret powers understood only by their Uncle Nimrod, who explains to them that they are actually genies. Their powers are put to the test in Egypt, where they must fight against an evil genie.
• Wonder Woman: The superheroine battles evil forces, and producer Joel Silver battles creative forces in this comic book brought to life.
• Take Me to Your Leader: Sci-Fi Comedy. A NASA janitor accidentally launches himself into space, then falls back to Earth in Iowa, where everyone thinks he's an alien.
• Stop Me If You've Heard This: Comedy about a man who loses his memory the day after he gets a promotion, has serious deja vu problems, and has 24 hours to solve who he is before he loses his job and his fiancee. Adam Sandler is in talks to star.
• Hard Hearts: A bounty-hunting couple who must chase down their most dangerous prey while planning their wedding.

Answers tomorrow!

And this one's for real: Rumors have been circling that Dave Eggers' autobiographical book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, is being turned into a movie and that it may be adapted by British author Nick (High Fidelity) Hornby, but Eggers' has final say on that. Universal is angling for this one, and Kimberly Pierce (Boys Don't Cry) may direct. As PlanetOut notes, it's been awhile since we've heard from her. Obviously this project has a ways to go, but I thought this was pretty interesting, if not staggering, news.

This is staggering news, though, or at least, cool, coming to us courtesy of Kung Fu Cult Cinema, via the good graces of SignalStation:

"Takashi Miike and Takeshi Kitano are currently shooting their team up project about a time period samurai movie. The cast list has been expanded with some very exciting names: Ryuhei Matsuda (Oshima's Gohatto and Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring and 9 Souls) Yoshio Harada (Onibi, 9 Souls) rocker Yuya Uchida (known to Miike fans as the long-haired yakuza boss of Deadly Outla Rekka) Susumu Terajima (many Kitano and Miike projects) and Mitsuhiro Oikawa (the Chinese gang boss in City of Lost Souls).

Oh yes, and two K-1 fighters, one of whom is the hulking American Bob 'The Beast' Sapp. This is clearly not going to be a conventional period piece..."