***”McClane, who has handily defeated effete Eurotrash in the past, is destined to find himself overshadowed this weekend by a Parisian rat with a refined palette.” Gregg Kilday can’t hold back the snark in reporting that Ratatouille is looking likely to beat Live Free or Die Hard at the box office this weekend.

***Variety seems to think the odds are with McClane. Pamela McClintock notes that Live Free’s $9 million opening day is not only Bruce Willis’ best opening since the mega hit Armageddon, it’s the best first-day tally for a Die Hard film, ever.

***What kinds of unsavory things did Marc Forster have to do in order to get two jobs in two weeks? The newly anointed Bond director is partnering with Mandate Pictures to develop Land of Roses , about “a suburban mother who, with the support of her fellow outraged townspeople, attempts to exonerate a hardworking Middle Eastern father falsely imprisoned as a terrorist by Homeland Security.”

***Speaking of unsavory, Jim Carrey has been hired to star in and produce Sober, a Universal-based comedy poking fun at addiction. According to Variety, hilarity ensues when “a hard-partying software exec [is] assigned a court-appointed Sober Buddy to keep him under control during a critical business trip to Las Vegas. A perfect plan falls apart when the Sober Buddy (Carrey) falls off the wagon.” Delightful!