Mark Ruffalo

Heralded Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles ("City of God") has landed the coveted opening-night slot Wednesday at the 61st annual Cannes Film Festival. His film "Blindness," starring Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo, is a psychological thriller about a city succumbing to an epidemic. It joins a slate of films including Clint Eastwood's thriller "Changeling," starring Angelina Jolie, and Steven Soderbergh's double Che Guevara biopics: "The Argentine" and "Guerrilla." Screening outside of competition at the festival, which ends May 25, is Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

If you know Gerard Hopkins' Victorian-era poem "Spring and Fall," a reflection on the loss of innocence addressed to a young child named Margaret, you have a clue about what writer-director Kenneth Lonergan is getting at in "Margaret. " This contemporary lament, starring Anna Paquin, seems partly inspired by the poem, though Hopkins is but one of many literary references scattered about. Here is my lament: Lonergan has created a forceful yet extremely fitful film that teases with moments of brilliance only to frustrate in the end. "Margaret" is an unrealized dream, one you wish he'd gotten as right as his 2000 debut, "You Can Count on Me": tightly constructed, lightly played, with Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo as disconnected siblings.

Joe Mantello, who was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Ned Weeks in the 2011 Broadway production of "The Normal Heart,” has signed on for a different role in Ryan Murphy's film adaptation. Mantello will play Mickey Marcus in the on-screen incarnation of Larry Kramer's autobiographical drama about the early days of the AIDS epidemic in New York City. The previously announced Mark Ruffalo will star as activist Weeks. Emmy-winner Murphy (“Glee”) will direct the “Normal Heart” film, which Kramer adapted from his 1985 landmark play.

You need not have lost your job to appreciate "Small Days," the late-night offering at the Hudson Backstage. You need only sense the career anxiety prevalent in this era of corporate downsizing. Playwright Timothy McNeil plays Henry, a laid-off engineer who spends most of his days watching TV reruns and drinking whiskey. His wife left him, and to make ends meet he's taken a night job delivering pizzas.

SOMETIMES a reporter has to stick his neck out just a little. Even if that means putting himself squarely in the sights of a killer to get him to make a move. Robert Downey Jr. plays San Francisco Chronicle crime reporter Paul Avery on the trail of the Zodiac Killer in David Fincher's "Zodiac."

Warner Bros. has abruptly replaced directors and temporarily stopped production on its big-budget, untitled romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston that is based on the seminal 1967 film "The Graduate." Director Ted Griffin, a noted screenwriter who was making his debut behind the camera, was ousted only 10 days into filming and will be replaced by veteran director Rob Reiner, according to Hollywood's two trade papers, Daily Variety and the Hollywood Reporter.

* "Margaret," Timothy McNeil's coming-of-age play, circa 1968, directed by "You Can Count On Me" star Mark Ruffalo, runs Jan. 19-Feb. 25 at the Hudson Backstage Theatre, 6537 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. $15. (323) 856-4200, (323) 860-8835. * "A Slippery Slope" and "Morning, Noon & Night," monologuist Spalding Gray performs two of his latest solo shows, Thursday ("A Slippery Slope") and Friday ("Morning, Noon & Night") at the California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido.

The gritty boxing saga "Girlfight" and the tender sibling reunion tale "You Can Count on Me" shared top honors Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival, the nation's top showcase for independent movies. The two movies split the grand jury prize for best dramatic film. "Girlfight" also won the dramatic directing award for Karyn Kusama, and "You Can Count on Me" won the Waldo Salt screenwriting award for Kenneth Lonergan, who also directed the film.

SAG rewind: Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis cozy on a couch beside Darren Aronofsky, while "The Kids Are All Right" stars Mark Ruffalo and Annette Bening talked intensely at the People Magazine/Entertainment Industry Foundation post party at the Shrine Auditorium.... Also there: "Modern Family" stars Sofia Vergara, Eric Stonestreet, Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen celebrating their ensemble win, a pregnant Jane Krakowski chatting with Matthew Morrison, and Andrew Garfield and Jesse Eisenberg toasting Grey Goose cocktails.