Movie buzz: Say what?|Goth golly

WHO Tom Hardy

THE MOVIE "The Dark Knight Rises"

THE DEAL The British actor, currently starring in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," plays the gas-masked villain Bane in Christopher Nolan's upcoming "Batman" finale, but there's one problem: Audiences can't understand what he's saying, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Bane's mask feeds him a super-drug but also covers his mouth, leading some Twitter posters (who watched a lengthy preview before a recent "Mission: Impossible" screening) to complain that Bane is unintelligible. "Mmrbl ffrmrff," was one tweeter's impression. Nolan is reportedly aware of the problem but may make only minor changes to the sound.

WHO Sean Penn

THE MOVIE "This Must Be the Place"

THE DEAL The actor plays an aging goth rocker in this curious-looking comedy-drama recently added to January's Sundance Film Festival lineup, Deadline.com reports. Penn's soft-spoken character, Cheyenne, whose lipstick and rat's-nest coif are clearly modeled on The Cure's Robert Smith, goes out of his comfort zone to track down a Nazi war criminal; even odder, the soundtrack is by Talking Heads, whose 1983 song provides the movie's title. The director is a little-known Italian named Paolo Sorrentino.

WHO Diane Keaton

THE MOVIE "Darling Companion"

THE DEAL The 65-year-old actress plays her first lead role in several years in this Sony Pictures Classics film that was recently chosen to open the 27th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival in January. Keaton stars as an unhappily married woman who rescues a stray dog; Kevin Kline plays her husband, who loses the dog. Dianne Wiest and Richard Jenkins are also in the movie, which was directed and co-written by Lawrence Kasdan ("The Big Chill").