When actor Joaquin Phoenix announced last October that he was retiring from acting in order to pursue his musical career, it was speculated here in the Moviefile that maybe he was just a little bit crazy. It certainly seemed an unexpected development, considering that his other career choices in film were pretty smart in recent years, having starred in Walk the Line and the last two M. Night Shyamalan movies that were any good. Today, Phoenix's planet-sized crazy has managed to pull brother-in-law actor Casey Affleck into its orbit. Affleck isn't following suit and retiring from acting, too, but he will be taking on the role of documentarist in order to film the progress of Phoenix's new musical career.

Stephen Norrington has signed on to write and direct a "reinvention" of the James O'Barr comic, The Crow. Most remember the 1994 movie starring Brandon Lee as the resurrected dark hero who avenges his and his fiancee's murders. (Tragically, Lee was killed during filming.) Others are still trying to forget the three sequels that plagued their screens like the cinematic equivalent of bird flu. What would possess Norrington to tackle a movie that needs a reimagining like a crow needs a second cloaca? He says he wants to make the story "realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary-style." This will differ, he says, from the first movie's stylized, gothic tone.

This is the film fan's favorite time of year, right? And not just because they have hopes of their loved ones buying them all of the cool movies they asked Santa for this year, but also because it's awards season. This means that almost every day, there will be news about nominations, winners, and more -- some obscure, some mainstream. Here are today's (and this weekend's) awards tidbits.

If you've never heard of the new Michael Cera comedy Paper Hearts, you're certainly not alone. The indie film, which will debut at the Sundance Film Festival, has gone under the radar almost everywhere -- you won't find it on movie databases, and despite the fact that it stars Cera and a host of other talent from Judd Apatow's stable, the film is going to Sundance looking for a distributor. Because of those factors, of course, the semi-secret film has already garnered pretty high expectations. The project is described as being part documentary, part scripted comedy about the real-life relationship between Cera and his girlfriend Charlyne Yi (who played the pigtailed stoner girl in Knocked Up) in which music plays a key element.

Are you in need of an Iron Man fix? It's been two months since the DVD came out and you've already found the Easter eggs and watched it often enough to make your significant other put Iron Man underpants on his or her Christmas shopping list. How else are you supposed to get your fix? Filming hasn't even started for the sequel! Have no fear, my jittery friend. Relief has come through in the form of Jeff Bridge's personal photo diary, Making Iron Man.

No matter what your political leanings are, you can't deny that filmmaker Michael Moore generally always picks timely subjects on which to base his documentaries. His next film is no different, this time focusing on the global financial crises and the U.S. economy. Moore had originally been focusing on U.S. foreign policy in what was to be a follow-up to Fahrenheit 9/11, but switched tacks when Wall Street went and had themselves a meltdown. The movie is untitled, and according to those familiar with the project, will contain an end-of-the-empire tone, which is kind of scary when you think about it, particularly to a girl who just found out her inheritance is pretty much gone. Looks like I'll have to watch the movie to find out who to thank.