Next week brings "Snow White and the Huntsman," the second of this spring's Snow White-inspired movies (the previous one, "Mirror Mirror," sank without a trace). This one features a quite wicked-looking Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen, a let's-hope-she's-more-animated-without-vampires Kristen Stewart as Snow, and some fabulous-looking Colleen Atwood costumes. But are two Snow Whites enough? We shall see:

Happy holiday weekend!

Word reached my ears this morning that many ticketholders had to be turned away from a Seattle International Film Festival screening of the locally filmed comedy "Safety Not Guaranteed" (very enjoyable movie, by the way -- I saw it at a press screening) last night. I'm guessing that an unexpectedly large number of passholders showed up, filling up seats and not leaving enough room for those in the ticket line. That doesn't happen often at SIFF (in fact this is the first time I've heard of ticketed SIFFgoers not getting in), and it's a shame that so many people got turned away from a movie that they can see at a non-SIFF screening in just two weeks. A few weeks ago I published a list of SIFF movies that will be opening for regular theatrical runs after the fest; here's an updated version of tentative dates:

The Intouchables (opening June 1)
Moonrise Kingdom (June 8)
Safety Not Guaranteed (June 8)
Bel Ami (June 15)
Oslo, August 31st (June 8)
Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present (June 15)
Your Sister's Sister (June 15)
Lola Versus (June 15)
Keyhole (June 15)
True Wolf (June 22)
Brave (June 22)
Grassroots (June 22)
Polisse (June 29)
People Like Us (June 29)
God Bless America (June 29)
The Invisible War (June 29)
Take This Waltz (July 6)
Starry Starry Night (July 6)
The Do-Deca Pentathlon (July 6)
Elena (July 13)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (July 13)
Trishna (July 20)
Killer Joe (July 27)
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (August 3)
Unforgivable (August 10)
Compliance (August 24)
Sleepwalk with Me (September 14)
Step Up to the Plate (October 12)

To see which SIFF films are currently sold out (or close to it), go here.

I didn't exactly mean for this to be Trailer Week at P & P, but I'm swamped with SIFF deadlines and . . . well, frankly I've been dying to get a peek at Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's exquisite novel. So, how does it look? Like a Baz Luhrmann movie, but also kind of gorgeous. Still not sure why it needs to be in 3D, but if he can pull it off the way Scorsese did in "Hugo," it just might work. See what you think:

"The Great Gatsby" arrives in theaters Christmas Day. I can't wait.

Yes, go ahead and blink at that headline, but it's true: Charlie Kaufman ("Being John Malkovich," "Adaptation," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," and the upcoming and thoroughly weird-sounding "Frank or Francis") will write and direct a new HBO series, to star the ever-wonderful Catherine Keener. The half-hour comedy, which does not appear to have a title yet, is described as "an exploration of one day in a woman's life and how the events leading up to it can affect, or not, the reality in which she lives." I can see how that would be kind of Kaufmanesque. The project is "fast-tracked," which I guess means we'll see it before too long, but no date has been announced.

Speaking of HBO and female-centered comedies, anyone else watching "Veep"? I love the idea of it (Julia Louis-Dreyfus! The director/writer of "In the Loop"! Bungling staffers!) and I'm sticking with it for now, but I keep wanting it to be funnier than it is. I suspect it works better for people familiar with the D.C. political scene; maybe there are some in-jokes that I'm not getting. Anyone a fan?

Here it is -- a brand-new teaser for "Skyfall" (opening in November), featuring a moody Daniel Craig, a silent Judi Dench, a word association game (?) and a line of coffins. Hello, Bond. Happy 50th birthday!

Well, that felt like a Christmas present in May, didn't it? How many of us have been waiting for a scene in which Don and Joan, the two mysterious glamour-pusses of SCDP, sit in a warmly lit bar, with sentimental holiday music swirling around them, and drunkenly flirt with each other? I didn't know I was waiting for that exact scene, but clearly I was; I rewatched the show on its second broadcast two hours later, just to see that scene again. Like "The Suitcase," last season's marvelous episode that showed us the relationship of Don and Peggy, this scene was all about chemistry -- and about friendship. Don and Joan clearly adore each other -- watch how Christina Hendricks gazes at him, even when he's not looking -- and understand each other, and their interaction at the car dealership was an interesting mirror of Don's husband-and-wife ad pitches with Megan. (Loved Joan's smooth, perfectly honest answer to how many children they have: " Altogether four.") Horrified that her imperfect personal life has invaded her perfect world at the office (where she's always, always in control), Joan needed to feel admired again; Don, always at ease in a bar next to a beautiful woman, knew just what to say. (And what to send -- and write -- the next day.) What do you think might have happened if she'd said yes to that dance? And did those flowers signal just friendship, or a spark of something more? Unlike Harry (more on that in a minute), Joan is all about self-control -- she knows how disastrous an affair with Don could be. (Remember Allison?) But I wonder if Matthew Weiner's playing with us, or if this twosome is going to play out a little more. I know what I'm hoping -- and I know that I saw more actorly chemistry between Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks than in an entire season between Hamm and Jessica Pare. "Good night, sweetheart."

Whether it was afterglow from the Joan interlude (in which he quoted a line from a blast-from-the-past, Bobbi), the thrill of driving "the most beautiful car ever made," or just residue energy from yet another fight with Megan, Don seemed unusually revved up at the meeting; determined, for the first time this season, to roll up his sleeves and win an account through long hours and hard work. (Jaguar = Joan. Maybe? Both redheads.) And standing nearby, miserably clenching his teeth, was Lane, who seems intent on digging his own grave at SCDP. Pursued by the British taxman to the tune of 8,000 pounds, Lane convinced a (surprisingly shady-looking) banker to advance the company's line of credit, then snuck into Joan's office and wrote himself a check. (Enough to buy, we now know, a speedy Jag, with plenty of change.) Surely it'll be discovered soon? An interesting twist, though it seemed to come out of nowhere. I hope this isn't a speedy way for Jared Harris to exit the show; he brings a needed astringency.

Speaking of blasts from the pasts, who else hooted when Paul Kinsey returned as a Hare Krishna in a tattered yellow turtleneck? (And who else was convinced, for much of the show, that Lakmi was played by the same actress who played Midge? She wasn't, though.) Interesting subplot for Harry, who behaved like a weasel ("So this is completely allowed"?) before behaving like, surprisingly, a real friend. Harry's mostly been a punch line this season, so it was nice to see him emerge with a story, even though it felt self-contained; I doubt we'll see Kinsey again.

Overall, a very enjoyable episode, full of things getting thrown (spaghetti, model airplanes, Pete's ego), fantasy couplings (you know who I mean), weird office sex (ditto), surprise revelations (did we already know that Roger knew about Joan's baby? Or did that happen offscreen?) and, in the end, some surprisingly positive energy. In the words of Joan's chosen song at the bar (which gave this episode its title), may their New Year's dreams come true.

And what did you think?

Don and Joan, picture-perfect. "The only sin she's committed is being familiar." (Photo by Jordin Althaus; courtesy of AMC)

I was just going to ignore the new megabestseller "50 Shades of Grey," hoping that it would just gather up its whips and go away quietly, but I fear it deserves comment here because a) it was originally written as a sexy "Twilight" spinoff, with the characters named Edward and Bella, thus making it surely the most lucrative piece of fan fiction ever conceived, and b) it was the cause of an insanely competitive bidding war for movie rights earlier this spring, won by Focus Features in partnership with Universal. So yes, there'll be a movie, but braver souls than I will have to read the book and tell us who should play who. Such as Ellen Degeneres:

I don't know about you, but this having-to-wait-almost-a-year-for-more-'Downton-Abbey' thing is getting me down. I need a Dowager Countess in my life, not to mention gloves, hats, butlers, upstairs/downstairs romance, and mail at the breakfast table. Nonetheless, I shall wait, as decorously as possible, but in the meantime I'm keeping an eye on that cast. What are they up to?

-- Dan Stevens, who plays swoony good fellow Matthew Crawley, will co-star opposite Freida Pinto in "The Catastrophist," a love story set in the '60s Congo. He's also filmed "Summer in February," a love story co-starring Emily Browning and set in the "Downton" prewar time period, and will star on Broadway this fall in "The Heiress," based on the Henry James novel, alongside Jessica Chastain and David Strathairn.

-- Michelle Dockery, who plays that uppity minx Lady Mary, will appear in this fall's star-studded new film version of "Anna Karenina," as Princess Myagkaya. She'll also sing on an album, to be released later this year, alongside co-star Elizabeth McGovern.

-- McGovern, whose Lady Cora makes perfect sense to us now that we know her mother was Shirley MacLaine, performs with her band Sadie and the Hotheads (no, I am not making this up). She's also in the British rom-com "Cheerful Weather for the Wedding," which recently had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

-- Jessica Brown Findlay, who plays the lovely Lady Sybil, will star in "The Winter's Tale," an adaptation of Mark Helprin's 1983 novel to be released by Warner Bros. and said to co-star Russell Crowe and Will Smith.

-- Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton, those dueling frenemies (Violet, the Dowager Countess of Granthan, and Cousin Isobel Crawley), can both be currently seen enduring the discomforts of India in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." Wilton also appears on the British TV series "North by Northhamptonshire," and Dame Maggie stars with Michael Gambon and Billy Connolly in "Quartet," directed by Dustin Hoffman and recently picked up for U.S. release by The Weinstein Company.