So Quentin Tarantino segues from video store clerk to world-famous movie director, and all I get for my video store daze is a lousy web site?

Not that I don’t love my web site …

Tarantino is back in the news this week. He’s shopping, finally, his “Inglorious Bastards” script. Looks like he’ll be dancing with his regular partners but might have Brad Pitt to kick around on set.

The director has been talking up this script for years - it’s a remake of the 1977 WWII flick that’s like a nastier version of “The Dirty Dozen.” It starred Bo Svenson and Fred Williamson, a veritable 1970s tag team cast.

Just caught up with the film via a screener DVD, and I must say it’s got Tarantino written all over it. Am hoping the project yields one movie … not the two that’s being whispered about a la “Kill Bill.”

(Photo: Quentin Tarantino routinely pops up in his own films, like this scene from “Death Proof.”)

If “Drillbit Taylor” feels familiar, it’s because its nebbishy leads are a carbon copy from last year’s “Superbad.” The comparison doesn’t flatter “Drillbit,” a lesser comic vehicle from the Judd Apatow assembly line. He produced, but did not write the new-to-DVD comedy.

My Washington Times review still shares some love for the movie, a lot more affection than most critics are doling out for the film. Hard to go wrong with Owen Wilson in full slacker mode, and some of that “Superbad”-style bonding makes “Drillbit Taylor” a notch above the usual teen fare. Just not a big notch.

(Photo: “Drillbit Taylor” shows his young pals how to take a punch)

Audrey Tautou is just as beguiling on the phone as she is on the silver screen.

Spoke to the actress recently, with only a modest assist from a translator, about her new French comedy “Priceless.” My Washington Times interview explores how she picks movie roles. Essentially, she waits until a director gives her a call. Must be nice.

That slacker attitude wouldn’t work well in the U.S., but Tautou works steadily overseas. Seems there’s no shortage of directors looking for her phone number.

What kid wouldn’t want her own island? Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin gets that wish in “Nim’s Island,” a new family-friendly film due on DVD August 5. And parents are granted their own wish - a PG-rated movie with only one flatulence joke and little else to make you want to earmuff your children.

Breslin plays Nim, a bright girl who lives on a remote island with her scientist father, Jack (Gerard Butler, keeping his “300“ abs to himself, ladies). Their life is darn near idyllic. Jack “island” schools her in between research experiments, and when Nim gets bored she pals around with her pet lizard and sea lion. But when her father leaves for a two-day trip at sea and doesn’t come home, Nim may be alone - permanently.

Enter Alex Rover (Jodie Foster), an agoraphobic author who tries to come to Nim’s rescue. Alex first came into contact with Nim because she needed help from Jack on fleshing out the details of her latest book. Alex ends up e-mailing Nim, which is how she learns about Jack’s disappearance. [click to continue...]

French actress Audrey Tautou drew comparisons to Audrey Hepburn during the early part of her career. Now, she’s staring down such lofty praise with “Priceless,” a French import with serious echoes of Hepburn’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.“ And don’t you know the diminutive Tautou stands up tall in the tale of the ingenue tape.

The romantic comedy, released June 24 on DVD, finds Tautou slinking from one rich man after another along the Cote d’Azur. Irene (Tautou) works hard for her boyfriends’ money, but she can’t resist the goofy charms of a bartender named Jean (Gad Elmaleh of “The Valet” fame) who pretends he’s as rich as the men Irene routinely fleeces.

A few mistaken identities later, and Jean goes broke trying to keep up with Irene’s lifestyle. But two can play Irene’s game, so Jean pairs up with an aging socialite who plies Jean with enough money to keep up his pursuit of Irene. [click to continue...]

Director Barry Levinson hasn’t made a good movie since Pauly Shore’s heyday (yes, the MTV alum actually had a heyday in some people’s eyes).

So plenty is riding on his upcoming film “What Just Happened?” a Hollywood satire starring Robert De Niro. He may be doomed from the start, commercially speaking. De Niro isn’t a box office draw anymore, and a Hollywood comedy might amuse me, but most people likely won’t have much invested in the subject matter.

One positive sign emerged today - Rotten Tomatoes published a red band trailer from the upcoming film. Check it out. It’s got some saucy language so expect to punch in your birth date before viewing the material.