Balloon Man / Captain Cambridge’s Mandolin.

In the movie bin this Friday, Rhys Ifans goes psycho (while Samantha Morton, surprisingly enough, plays normal) in the trailer for Enduring Love, while Stuart Townsend must decide among Charlize Theron, Penelope Cruz, and fighting Hitler in Head in the Clouds (Thomas Kretschmann had better watch out…or he’ll soon be typecast as the friendly Nazi.)

Being There.

In the trailer bin, Geoffrey Rush channels Inspector Clouseau, Dr. Strangelove, and countless others in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, also featuring Charlize Theron (Britt Ekland), John Lithgow (Blake Edwards), Stanley Tucci (Kubrick), and Emily Watson (Long-Suffering Wife.) Well, it looks like more fun than Shine.

Down in the Water.

Good news for big-idea sci-fi fans…Apparently, Darren Aronofsky’s mysterious The Fountain is back from the dead, with Hugh Jackman replacing Brad Pitt. On the other end of the sci-fi scale, Charlize Theron is signed for a live-action Aeon Flux, which I could really see being Tomb Raider-terrible.

Academy Fight Song.

And in another campaign news, the Oscar contenders have been announced, with RotK leading the pack:

Best Picture: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. After three years of waiting, after A Beautiful Mind and Chicago, it’s payback time. Check out the spiffy New Line awards site, featuring some choice RotK clips.

Best Actor: What on earth is Johnny Depp doing in here? I’m a Depp fan too, but c’mon now. At any rate, I’m definitely rooting for Bill Murray for Lost in Translation, but could see Mystic River‘s Sean Penn picking it up too.

Best Actress: Haven’t seen it yet, but Charlize Theron in Monster has all the buzz, and it would take a better man than I to challenge the formidable power of best-actress-oscar-buzz.

Best Supporting Actor: Tim Robbins, Mystic River. I would’ve liked to see Sean “Samwise” Astin get a nod, but am glad that Ken Watanabe of The Last Samurai made it in.

Best Supporting Actress: Renee Zellweger, Cold Mountain, ho-hum. I’m surprised Mystic River‘s Marcia Gay Harden got a nod here after winning just a few years ago. Spread the love, people.

Best Director: PJ for RotK. The only real challenge is Sofia Coppola, and she’ll get hers in the Screenplay category.

Screenplay (Original): A la Quentin Tarantino, Sofia Coppola will win for Lost in Translation.

Screenplay (Adapted): This will probably be one of the few categories where RotK loses out (The best adaptation of the three was Fellowship, and that really should’ve won two years ago.) American Splendor, perhaps? They’re going to want to give something to City of God.