Writer-director Terry Gilliam's movies have had such a reputation for being beset by unforeseen problems that The Onion spoofed the former Monty Python member's propensity for terrible luck. (This was even years before the untimely and tragic death of Heath Ledger, who died soon after shooting began for Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.) An attempt to make a sequel to Time Bandits never got off the ground because several of the original actors had died. Budget disputes put the kibosh on other projects. Two attempts to adapt Alan Moore's Watchmen never came to fruition. Way back in 2000, Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote was beset by a flood and an injury that sidelined star Jean Rochefort. But it looks like Gilliam's luck may be changing for the better.

I know this will come as a huge shock to anyone who has been living under a rock for the past several months of Twilight mania, but I'll just spill it: The movie, based on a series of books for teens, did phenomenally well at the box office. Starting with sold-out midnight screenings on Thursday, it went on to make $70.6 million in its opening weekend, joining an elite group of films to become profitable in a matter of days, a boon for small film company Summit Entertainment, which made the movie on a relative dime ($37 million to make the movie, another $30 million in marketing). And it jumped ahead of last week's box office winner Quantum of Solace for the fourth-highest opening weekend this year.

So you've just seen Twilight, and you are now officially addicted to Robert Pattinson. You need him like a flower needs sunlight, or like a teenage girl needs a dangerous-yet-non-threatening vampire boyfriend. You've bought the T-shirt, the calendar, everything you can get your hands on, but now you need a tiny, three-dimensional totem of Edward to worship and adore. You need a doll, or, better yet, an action figure. Like, right now. Well, Edward thinks you should wait, and if you really love him, you will.

Josh Brolin seems to be having some trouble deciding once and for all whether or not to take the role of comic book antihero Jonah Hex. Last month, it seemed like the deal was all but done, with Brolin beating out Hex hopeful Thomas Jane for the part. Then just weeks later, he answered both "Nope," and "Don't know yet," when Collider asked him if he'd be doing the movie. He also detailed some of the thought process that goes into his decisions when it comes to picking roles. To spare you a case of mental whiplash, here's a summary: He asks himself a bunch of questions, second-guesses himself and others, then gets a little embarrassed by the whole thing. Now comes the latest news that writers/directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor have dropped out of directing due to "creative differences."

So, on a whim I decided to have lunch at celebrity hotspot the Ivy yesterday. That's right, I just hopped in my private jet and flew three hours for an overpriced salad. And it's a good thing I did, too, because I'm able to bring you a conversation I overheard between the canine star of Bolt and what I gathered was his agent. Seems the pooch is worried about being able to pull in big box office numbers for his bosses at Disney, and why wouldn't he be? He faces some stiff competition.

It's hard to judge Twilight like any other movie, for a number of reasons: First off, you have to consider the audience. It was sort of made for them, and if it appeals to them, it's a success, right? Then there's the buzz factor: How much would we like this movie if there were no buzz? Finally, there's the fact that it's technically an independent film that's been widened due to said buzz. If watched as an indie, the movie might make people feel very differently than it does in its current context. All of these elements are important when reviewing Twilight, so I'm trying to keep them all in mind when I say what I'm about to say.

"The good ole Moviefile," you think to yourself. "They won't report on something Twilight-related two days in a row. Because I can't get away from Twilight news in the media or on my walk to class or at the bottom of the ocean -- the Moviefile will save me!" Oh contraire, Écouter. We can't bring you any more non-Twilight news, because frankly, there isn't any. I checked. I mean, there isn't much to say beyond Ben Affleck is touring refugee camps in the Congo, (for like, awareness of the plight of the people of the Congo, not for fun or anything) and Winona Ryder was briefly hospitalized in the UK for an unknown condition after she became ill on a flight from LA to London. She was probably freaking out because there was nothing to steal but, literally, peanuts. That's all I've got, people! It's that and sparkle-in-the-sun vampires! I tried. I did. To the Twilight!

As I was making my way around the internets a few days after the election, reading all the articles on the historic vote, I came across one in the Washington Post about an African-American man by the name of Eugene Allen, who had worked as a butler in the White House for 35 years, starting his job in 1952. At the time, he wasn't even allowed to use the public restrooms in his native Virginia because of the color of his skin, and he and his now-86-year-old wife had talked about how amazing it was that America was on the brink of electing a black man as President. The article, a superbly written piece which ended with the devastating news that Eugene had cast his ballot alone on November 4th, as his wife had died a day before the election, was just picked up by Columbia pictures and will be made into a movie that will tell Eugene's life story.

We've got writers! We've got directors! We've got... well, writers and directors, mostly. First up, there is the long-awaited news about talent being attached to First Avenger: Captain America. Sadly, the acting talent question remains a mystery, but The Chronicles of Narnia scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (a name I will henceforth be calling the handsy guy on my Saturday morning bus) have been attached to pen the script for director Joe Johnston. As most know, the Captain America story is that of rejected army candidate Steve Rogers who undergoes an experiment that gives him enhanced strength and reflexes. And of course, an indestructible shield. The film will be set during World War II, after which the character will then appear in the modern-day set Avengers film, which will come out in May of 2011. I don't know if the weird time-space continuum that links Narnia with our world and makes time pass differently is going to help them, there. Should be interesting.

If you like your comic books with a little primetime soapy action that the Parents Television Council disapproves of, prepare to get excited: Josh Schwartz, the creator and executive producer of Gossip Girl, Chuck and The OC has just been tapped to write the next film in the X-Men franchise, X-Men: First Class. Though 20th Century Fox is keeping mum on details of the project, word has it that the film will focus on the students of Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning and could bring back some prominent characters from some of the previous X-Men films, like Rogue, Iceman, Angel and some not-so-prominent blink-and-you'd-miss-them characters like Colossus, Jubilee and Shadowcat.