http://chud.com/nextraimages/mark-ruffalo.jpgThere are a number of things that make David Fincher’s Zodiac a masterpiece. I can’t go into them all here, but one of the main weapons Fincher has is his cast, and one of the best performances in that cast comes from Mark Ruffalo. He’s always been a great actor, but he’s been flying just under the mainstream radar for years, and if there’s any justice, Zodiac is going to do a lot to change that.

And maybe The Brothers Bloom will help as well. Ruffalo has just signed on to join Rian Johnson’s incredibly awaited follow-up to Brick, playing the older of the titular con man brothers. Adrien Brody plays the younger brother, while Babel’s Rinko Kikuchi plays a woman who helps the duo in their scams. Also on board is the beautiful Rachel Weisz.

This is such great news – Rian is casting the hell out of this movie, and I keep hearing killer things about the script (again, I have it but I won’t read it. Damn tempting, though), so The Brothers Bloom is shaping up to be one of 2008’s great films. It starts shooting next month.