Ryan Reynolds and Bradley Cooper are signing up for take-your-dads-to-work day.

The busy actors are attached to star in an untitled original action-comedy written by Sheldon Turner (“Up in the Air”), who snagged north of seven figures for the gig. The story follows two friends, who are also San Francisco cops, whose fathers were once partners on the police force. The older generation is forced out of retirement to help their sons crack a case, with typically antagonistic results.

The actioner is meant to have an updated “Lethal Weapon” flavor that plays into edgier R-rated territory.

Neal Moritz (“The Bounty Hunter”), Andrew Panay (“Wedding Crashers”) and Reynolds’ Dark Trick Films partner Jonathon Komack Martin (“Van Wilder”) are producing along with J.C. Spink and Chris Bender of Benderspink (“A History of Violence”).

Panay and Turner first developed the pitch, then called “Blowback,” five years ago with Dwayne Johnson, then known as The Rock, attached to one of the roles. The current iteration is not yet set up at a studio, but Moritz’s Original Film banner is housed at Sony, where he is also producing “The Green Hornet.”

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RRRIIIIINNNGGGG! You know what that means? School is back, and all the children of the world become depressed…..what a tragedy ha-ha. Anyways school is back in session and what does that make you think of? School related movies….right? I could be wrong, but thats just what i like to think of. I’m actually back in school. I was attending one college for awhile until i decided to switch schools during christmas break.

So i have not been in school at all this year until now. So, to get into the spirit of back to school, i thought i’d list 5 of my favorite school related movies for you all to check out……when your done with your homework of course. i don’t want to get you in trouble. anyways lets start the list from #5 all the way to #1 then leave this post a comment saying your favorite school movies FYI these movies are not in order from least to best. Just the ones i liked the most.

5) Ferris Buller’s Day off:

Who can forget this awesome School related movie? you know what the best part is about it? School is barely even in it! haha. Nah i really love this movie. Though i could never do what Ferris did. I don’t have the bravery, or the backbone, to perform such a devious act! haha. However, i will admit i have played hooky in college, but don’t tell my Mom. haha If you have time go watch this classic movie from the master of teen movies John Hughes!

4) Fast Times at Ridgemont High:

You know what still surprises me about this movie? the Fact that it had Sean Penn playing the surfer guy, and he pulls it off so well. ha-ha No this movie is a classic. so many famous scenes you can think of. Especially the one involving Phoebe Kates, a swimming pool, and Slow motion…..oh yea lol. Anyways nah i can watch this movie anytime of the day. If you have time to kill, then i suggest a visit to Ridgemont High.

3) Kick-Ass:

Yea yea i know this isn’t a school movie, but you can’t deny that it has elements of a good school movie. The only difference between this movie, and other school movies is that this one has the main teenager as a superhero. So i guess i’m cheating by adding this, but hey…..who hasn’t cheated……Hello?

2) The Breakfast Club:

It would be a crime not to add a classic like this to this list. I mean the magic of this movie is no matter how old it gets its message never dies. This is just an amazing movie that no one should miss. Especially if your in high school. now let me say this….i will never forget you breakfast club!

1) Harry Potter Film series:

I love Harry Potter! You know i never would have thought of this for a list like this. Usually its all about some old movie from the 80’s. But come on Harry potter is all about School. just the difference is Harry is learning to be a wizard instead of learning Math or something boring like that. anyone seeing Part 1 of Deathly Hallows? i know i am

Anyways guys this is my list of my favorite school related movies. What are yours?

This past week, there has been tons of news coming out about the upcoming Fantastic Four movie reboot, tentatively titled Fantastic Four: Reborn. All of the cast from the original two Fantastic Four movies will replaced in the new movie, and unlike the first film, it will not be an origin story. Instead it will incorporate the team’s origin into the film’s opening credits, similiar to 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. In the running for the role of Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic are actors Adrien Brody and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, with Brody supposedly being the frontrunner. Actress Alice Eve and actor Kevin Pennington, both of whom have been rumored to star in many Marvel movies over the past few months, are top contenders for the roles of Susan Storm/The Invisible Woman and Johnny Storm/The Human Torch respectively. The fourth member of the Fantastic Four, Ben Grimm, also known as The Thing, will be completely CGI in the reboot, but there is no word on who will be voicing him. Dr. Doom is expected to be the main villain again, with True Blood actor Stephen Moyer being the frontrunner for the role. Another character supposed to appear in the film is the Silver Surfer, although it is unkown how big his role will be. There are three names being tossed around for who will direct the upcoming reboot. They are Joe Carnahan (The A-Team, Smokin’ Aces), David Yates (Harry Potter 5, 6, and 7), and James McTeigue (Ninja Assassin, V for Vendetta). The film is slated to start filming next spring in 3D for an expected Summer 2012 release.

In other, non-movie related news, the Fantastic Four is about lose one of their own. In Jonathan Hickman’s current run on the Fantastic Four comic book series, one of the four isn’t going to survive the next issue. The upcoming storyline, simply titled Fantastic Four: Three, will kick off with the death of one of the four teammates, according to Hickman himself. Granted, death in the Marvel Universe doesn’t mean much (See: Steve Rogers), but Hickman isn’t planning on making this death a temporary thing. When asked if the series will even still be called Fantastic Four this time next year, Hickman blunty stated: “No”.

Groupon is offering Fandango movie tickets for $4 (you don’t even have to pay the regular $1 Fandango fee). It also includes 3d movies.. Click here

“Vamps” is one of those upcoming films that we just keep getting more and more excited for(lol no), the more we hear about it. The Amy Heckerling comedy is currently filming in Detroit, but that isn’t stopping them from adding a whole slew of new, exciting actors.

To refresh, the film already boasts Alicia Silverstone and Krysten Ritter as two beautiful female vampires living the “good nightlife” in NYC, which is interrupted when love comes into the picture. Sigourney Weaver plays the vampire queen who turned them, and a whole bunch of pretty men like Dan Stevens and Justin Kirk will be there for the ogling. What could make this cast any better, you ask?

Malcolm freakin’ McDowell, that’s who. The man who terrified us in “A Clockwork Orange,” “Heroes,” “In Good Company…” heck, we’re sure he’ll probably even give us the spooks in “Easy A,” has joined the cast as none other than Vlad the Impaler, also known in this universe as Vlad Tepish. Did we mention his character loves wearing velvet jogging suits and knitting? Count us in.

In addition to Malcolm, two other cast members have recently joined the fold. Marilu Henner will play a vamp named Angela who was recently awakened to her former hot self. And there’s Zak Orth (he’s been in lots of things even if he wasn’t a notable actor in them), who will play a nerdy friend of the girls who thinks he’s much more hardcore than he actually is. And if we can guess how these things will go, he’ll probably end up being a romantic interest for either Alicia or Krysten’s character.

Did we mention Malcolm McDowell will be in this?!

Brad Pitt is planning to make a movie version of video game hit Red Dead Redemption.

Sources say the Hollywood heartthrob is the hot favorite to play renegade outlaw John Marston in an epic cowboy shoot-em-up based on the PlayStation game.

“This is an exciting project with a great character at the center of it,” a source said.

“The idea is to make this in the style of an epic Western movie but with a few modern touches.

“Brad is perfect for the role and he is being given first refusal.”

Source

Rottentomatoes.com Tomatometer:

Since Will Forte announced his departure from “Saturday Night Live” yesterday, rumors have been flying about who will replace him. The Comic’s Comic has the scoop on who the most likely candidates are. Right now it looks like they will making up to three new additions to the cast: Chicago-based improviser and sketch comedian Paul Brittain, Vanessa Bayer – another Chicago-based improviser and stand-up comic – and Taran Killam, a member of The Groundlings in L.A.

According to Sean L. McCarthy at The Comic’s Comic, Killam (photo: far right) has the most credentials under his comedy belt, with appearances on both “Mad TV” and Nick Cannon’s “Wild ‘N Out,” as well as a recurring character named Blauman on “How I Met Your Mother.”

As for Bayer and Brittain (photo: center and far left, respectively) “SNL” is no stranger to Chicago talent. Both comedians are veterans of improv, sketch, and stand-up comedy at notable Chicago venue iO Chicago, and Bayer runs with Second City’s Touring Company. Brittain has also made several appearances on NBC’s improv/mockumentary show “Sports Action Team,” currently in its second season.

It seems like “SNL” has some pretty talented people in mind, albeit not very diverse ones. “SNL” has always skewed young and white, and these comics reflect that trend.

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John Cusack will star as Edgar Allen Poe in “The Raven” for Intrepid Pictures and FilmNation. Cusack disclosed his attachment via a Twitter post Friday. Shooting is scheduled for late fall in Serbia with James McTeigue (“V for Vendetta”) directing.

Intrepid Principals Trevor Macy and Marc D. Evans will produce with FilmNation’s Aaron Ryder, who brought the script to Intrepid.

Project’s been in development for several years at FilmNation and Endgame, which is no longer involved. “The Raven” is based on a Hannah Shakespeare/Ben Livingston script set in the last five days of Poe’s life, when a serial killer is running around Baltimore using Poe’s stories as the backdrops to his killings. Poe and a young detective have a ticking clock to outsmart the killer before he kills again.

FilmNation will sell international rights, and Intrepid is in conversations with domestic distributors. Poe’s best known work is the poem “The Raven,” published in 1845. He died four years later at the age of 40 in Baltimore.

Cusack was seen most recently in MGM’s “Hot Tub Time Machine.”

Intrepid co-produced “The Strangers” and is co-producing and co-financing “The Cold Light of Day” with Summit, commencing principal photography Sept. 6 in Spain.

Two-year-old FilmNation is a foreign-sales and production banner and is in production on “The House at the End of the Street” with Jennifer Lawrence, Max Thieriot and Elisabeth Shue.

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Coming up necks for Twilight bloodsucker Jackson Rathbone: A potentially recurring role on ABC’s No Ordinary Family.

The 25-year-old actor—whose two summer films, Eclipse and The Last Airbender, collectively grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide—will play Trent Stafford, a high school classmate of Kay Panabaker telepathic Daphne. Trent was recently the victim of a home invasion robbery, and I’m guessing Daphne will join forces with her superhero parents to help catch the perp.

Rathbone last appeared on the small screen in 2009, when he guest-starred as a serial killer with multiple personalities on Criminal Minds.

N.O.F. premieres on Tuesday, Sept. 28.

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Three new character posters for Never Let Me Go

Three new character posters have been posted on the official homepage for Mark Romanek’s new feature, the adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s celebrated book, Never Let Me go.

Here’s the synopsis:

As children, Ruth, Kathy and Tommy, spend their childhood at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. As they grow into young adults, they find that they have to come to terms with the strength of the love they feel for each other, while preparing themselves for the haunting reality that awaits them.

Judging by the trailer, these beautifully composed close-ups of the three lead (Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan) perfectly reflect the style of the film. Romanek is a master visualist (the photos he frequently posts on Twitter are clearly the work of a hugely talented individual).

The film of opens this year’s London Film Festival and it’s released nationwide on 14 January 2011.

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“Mission: Impossible 4″ Casting

Vampire star Kevin Zegers, Letters to Juliet’s Christopher Egan and Hurt Locker actor Anthony Mackie are all testing to star opposite Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 4!

The young actors will test with Tom on Thursday and Friday at Paramount, according to Deadline.

Tom and J.J. Abrams are producing the latest installment in Ethan Hunt’s adventures.

WHO DO YOU THINK should star opposite Tom Cruise in MI:4?

Charisma Carpenter and Sean Patrick Flanery in The Human Factor

Joe Francis to sue ‘Piranha 3D’ Filmmaker

Piranha 3D director Alexandre Aja has told EW he is not worried about the possibility of legal action by Girls Gone Wild chief Joe Francis. In the film, which was released on Friday, Jerry O’Connell plays a character named Derrick Jones who runs a Girls Gone Wild-type operation called Wild Wild Girls. Jones is shown snorting cocaine and encouraging two underage characters to drink liquor. Last week, according to The Hollywood Reporter, a lawyer representing Francis sent a letter to Piranha 3D distributors The Weinstein Company cautioning “all those associated” with the film to refrain from maligning Francis. The letter stated that “any defamatory or disparaging statements; or depictions in the media or in the film itself, or other statements that portray Francis in a false light, will be met with swift litigation to recover substantial damages.”

“I believe Mr. O’Connell may lose more than his penis if he and the Weinstein Co. choose to release this film and continue to falsely associate me with its questionable content,” Francis told The Hollywood Reporter, referring to a sequence in the movie during which Derrick Jones’ penis is indeed bitten off by piranha.

But according to Aja, the character in the spring break-set movie was actually inspired by a number of different people. “When I was writing and developing that character, which was in the original script, I never thought about Joe Francis,” said the French director. “I am not [concerned]. There are so many person like that. Spring break is about thousands and thousands of kids getting drunk and partying. Around them you have very bizarre people. On the one hand, you have the very religious ultra-Christian people trying to convince them to read the bible and not show their boobs. And on the other hand, you have people from the adult industry coming to provoke and tease college kids and have them doing crazy stuff on camera. This character of Jerry O’Connell’s was, for me, a human piranha. But not based on anyone specifically. Writing that script and creating the Wild Wild Girls, you cannot help yourself but think about Girls Gone Wild and about Joe Francis. But it’s a very very, very, very, very, different character. People might recognize a little bit of him, but it’s based on so many other people.”

Record-breaking Movie Fan Dies

A movie enthusiast who held a Guinness World Record for the number of films he had watched has died at the age of 65.
Gwilym Hughes, of Dolgellau in Gwynedd, used to watch up to 14 films a week and kept a record of each one he had seen.

He held the Guinness World Record from 2008 having sat through more than 28,000 movies. He saw his first film, King Solomon’s Mines, in 1953 but his favourite film remained Lawrence of Arabia, directed by David Lean.

Mr Hughes died on Monday at Wrexham Maelor Hospital. He leaves a widow, Eirlys.

A spokesperson for Guinness said: “We would like to offer our condolences to his family and friends.”

Mr Hughes, a retired painter and decorator, became interested in films as a child after an illness left him in hospital for two-and-a-half years.
For a time, he was strapped to an iron frame. In an interview in 2008, he said he clearly remembered watching King Solomon’s Mines.

He said: “You can imagine what it was like. I could only waddle my feet and move my hands and head.

“I was in an iron frame, and you saw these moving things in front of you. You just couldn’t wait for the next time.

“They were so wonderful. It just clicked my imagination.”

He started touring the cinemas in Dolgellau, Barmouth and Porthmadog and kept detailed records of what he had seen. He included a cast list and often a photograph or newspaper cutting about the film.

The development of video and DVD meant he could watch films at home but said it did not rule his life.

He said: “People think that I’m glued to the television set 24 hours a day but I’m not because I’m a member of about 10 organisations.

“I watch films from about 9pm until about 12. Sometimes I could set up one on the televisions in the study. It works out about 10 to 14 films a week.”

His favourite films were Lawrence of Arabia, Hedd Wyn, Zulu, The Dambusters and The Sundowners.

ANNA PAQUIN and KRISTEN BELL!

USA Today is reporting that both Paquin (“X-Men,” “True Blood”) and Bell (“Veronica Mars,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”) will appear in the upcoming slasher four-quel. The article doesn’t say what roles either actress will be playing, only that they will appear in a cameo capacity. Could one (or both) of them be playing the film’s opening victim, a la Drew Barrymore’s role in the original “Scream?” We’ll find out when “Scream 4″ opens nationwide on April 15, 2011.

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Carey Mulligan (An Education) is in negotiations to join Ryan Gosling and Bryan Cranston in Universal’s action-thriller Drive, reports Risky Business.

To be directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (Valhalla Rising, Bronson), the film is based on the James Sallis novel about a Hollywood stunt driver (Gosling) who moonlights as a getaway car driver in heists. In the book, the stuntman’s already-exciting existence gets jolted when he discovers that a contract has been put out on his life.

Mulligan will play an ex-con’s girlfriend who is taken along for the ride.

The project starts shooting around Los Angeles next month. Hossein Amini (Killshot) wrote the adapted screenplay.

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Academy Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie is set to make her feature film directorial debut. A love story set during the Bosnian war, the film focuses on a Serbian man and a Bosnian woman who meet on the eve of the war and the effect the war has on their relationship.

Based on an original screenplay written by Jolie, the actors will be solely compromised of various ethnicities from the region of the former Yugoslavia.

Jolie will produce the film alongside GK Films’ Academy Award winning producer Graham King and King’s business partner Tim Headington.

Jolie, King and Headington most recently collaborated on the upcoming film “The Tourist” starring Jolie and Johnny Depp and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, set for theatrical release on December 10th through Columbia pictures.

In addition to “The Tourist,” GK Films produced “The Town,” written and directed by Ben Affleck, set to be released by Warner Bros. on September 17, 2010. The company is currently shooting the 3-D film “Hugo Cabret,” directed by Martin Scorsese.

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Nearly everyone who has seen the LITTLE FOCKERS trailer has asked the same thing: where’s Dustin Hoffman? As many know, the actor and studio weren’t able to agree on his pay rate. Hoffman wanted a certain amount, Universal didn’t want to pay and Hoffman was gone. It’s a shame because he was easily the funniest part of MEET THE FOCKERS.

Well, Hoffman may be back. Deadline just reported that LITTLE FOCKERS is about to film some extensive pick-up shots this September. Appearing in four of those six scenes will be Hoffman. According to the report, the film is in such serious trouble that Jay Roach and John Hamburg contacted Dustin Hoffman and convinced him to come back for the third film. The site says Hoffman will appear in several scenes opposite his onscreen wife Barbra Streisand and then a big scene at the end with other major characters. The other re-shoots concern Ben Stiller and the children of the film.

We’ve heard that LITTLE FOCKERS is experiencing some problems (i.e. it’s horrible) but it’s surprising to see the series producers reaching out to Hoffman like this. I don’t know what is in those six scenes they’re filming but it’s good to hear Father Focker will be back. Will this repair the ailing movie? Probably not, but at least it’ll give us more Hoffman.

Jessica Alba to Headline ‘Spy Kids 4′

According to THR, Jessica Alba (The Killer Inside Me, Fantastic Four) is in talks to star in Spy Kids 4, writer-director Robert Rodriguez’s planned reboot (of sorts) of the family-oriented Spy Kids franchise. Like Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, Spy Kids 4 will be, for better or for worse, released in 3D. Rodriguez obviously liked what he saw in Alba’s supporting roles in Sin City five years ago and Machete, the low-budget, Mexploitation flick that opens September 3rd, to bring her back for a role in his next film.

In Spy Kids 4, Alba will play a former spy, the mother of a baby (like Alba in real life) and step-mother to two preteen children. The stepchildren will take over the “Spy Kids” mantle first worn by Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara. In the previous installments, the parents, played by Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino, were supporting characters. If that’s the case, Alba might be the most or second most, depending on who signs on to play her husband in the film, credit, but be off-screen for long periods of time.

While the other roles have yet to be cast, Banderas, Vega, and Sabara are expected to appear in Spy Kids 4, presumably in cameos or significantly smaller roles. Spy Kids 4 will be shot in Austin, Texas at Rodriguez’a Troublemakers Studios with a reported $30 million dollar budget. Principal photography is expected to begin next month.

Buyers From Around the World Took Home Over 1100 Lots of Iconic Props, Costumes and Set Pieces From Lost

Calabasas, CA, August 23, 2010- The DHARMA Van, Hurley’s Camaro and the DHARMA Jeep,
three hugely iconic symbols from the hit ABC television series, LOST highlighted the just
completed two-day “LOST” THE OFFICIAL SHOW AUCTION. Profiles in History conducted the
auction in partnership with ABC Studios. Buyers from over 50 countries to competed to
purchase their own piece of the show, with winning bids far exceeding anyone’s
expectations.
Highlights include:
·        DHARMA Van: $47,500
·        Dial mechanism & mirror array from the Lighthouse: $27,500
·        Island time-shifting frozen wheel: $22,500
·        DHARMA Jeep: $20,000
·        Hurley’s Camaro: $20,000
·        Daniel Faraday’s journal w/extensive handwritten notes: $20,000
·        Swan Station Computer: $16,000
·        “Pilot” script signed by J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof  $15,000
·        Season Six production artwork: $15,000
·        Season One production artwork: $14,000
·        Desmond’s fail-safe key with “Joe Inman” dog tag; $11,000
·        Jack’s death costume from the series finale, “The End”: $9,000
·        Large section of Oceanic Flight 815 wreckage: $9,000
·        Charlie’s “DS” ring: $9,000
·        Locke’s Compass: $8,000
·        Baby Aaron’s crib: $8,000
·        Fragment of Jacob’s tapestry: $6,500
·        Hurley’s winning Mega Lotto Jackpot ticket: $5,500
·        Jack’s Pilot episode costume” $3,000
·        Sawyer’s paperback copy of “Watership Down”:  $2,750
·        Sawyer’s improvised reading glasses from Season Three: $2,250
·        Set chair for Matthew Fox “Jack”: $1,200
Profiles in History’s next Hollywood memorabilia auction is scheduled for December, 2010.
Hollywood Treasure, a new television show which follows Profiles in History’s owner Joseph Maddalena on his worldwide search for lost pieces of Hollywood history, premieres on Syfy November 4, 2010.

The $ituation on Dancing with the Stars

Ok! is reporting, and the L.A. Times confirming, that the financially set Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino will be joining Audrina Patridge and Brandy on the next season of Dancing With the Stars, where he will revolutionize the ab-displaying male dance costume.

SOURCE

‘Piranha 3D’ to Receive Sequel

Strong reviews and a $10 million opening was enough for Dimension Films to get working on a sequel of Piranha 3-D. The studio confirmed today that plans for another bloody gore fest are in the works with director Alexandre Aja and producer Mark Canton re-teaming with Dimension. “We are thrilled that audiences are not just loving Piranha 3-D, but cheering for it,” says Canton. “And it’s fantastic that so many critics are really getting the movie and recommending it. We can’t wait to get to work on the sequel.”

What would said sequel look like? No plotline has yet been decided, but Aja, when interviewed a couple weeks back, said the team has been throwing around a lot of different story lines. “We had many ideas, like the full moon party in Thailand — a huge event with like 200,00 young people from all around the world taking mushrooms and partying on the beach.” Ahh, a perfect environment for man-eating fish.

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Miley Cyrus can’t be tamed and is ditching her Hannah Montana-persona for an edgy new role in the upcoming film, ‘LOL: Laughing Out Loud.’ Hollywood Life has seen the script and reports that Cyrus’ character loses her virginity, smokes pot, gets wasted and kisses two girlfriends on the lips. Her character even accidentally shows her mom Ana, played by actress Demi Moore, her Brazilian wax. “You’re my daughter, and I won’t let you turn into a porn star!” Ana tells Lola.

In an interview with MTV, Moore praised Cyrus’ acting and professionalism.

“She’s great, and I think that she is incredibly grounded,” Moore said. “[Miley] is a true professional, and she truly has a wonderful family.”

The film focuses on communication gap between Lola and her mother, due to the increasing use of YouTube, iTunes and Facebook. Lola’s mom, Anne, “accidentally” reads her teenage daughter’s racy journal and dicovers Lola’s wild ways. The film will debut next year.

popeater

You’ve gotta hand it to Taylor Lautner.

The guy’s been relatively hush-hush ever since the premiere of Eclipse back in June, and quite frankly, we were beginning to wonder if we’d hear from him again amid all this Robsten love-nest chaos.

Well, the next big Taylor Lautner story is here, and it’s pretty unexpected…wait, on second thought, maybe it’s been a long time coming?

The story is this: Pretty boy Tay-tay  ordered a $300,000 personal trailer to use while shooting his new flick Abduction with Sigourney Weaver and Alfred Molina (sounds très professional).

Taylor is claiming “emotional distress” and “annoyance” over the loss of his trailer…and we’re claiming the same about his claims. Get it?

We think this is so typically Taylor, to keep something bottled up like this and then just release it on the world and his adoring fans. The kid is 18 and he’s complaining that he didn’t get his RV? How different is this from those boy-crazy teens complaining about their BMWs on the dearly departed MTV show My Super Sweet Sixteen? Not much.

Tay, take a step back and look at what you’re doing. Emotional distress? You know Robert Pattinson would never do something like this—the dude got hit by a freakin’ taxi and smiled about it!

The fact that Taylor’s filed the lawsuit means we’re going to see a lot of annoying legal jargon headlining across Taylor’s pretty face.
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At the New York Film Festival next month, Hollywood will unleash “The Social Network,” a biting tale of the Silicon Valley giant Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Now Facebook must decide whether to bite back.

After fretting for months over how to respond, the company appears to have decided that its best bet is to largely ignore the movie and hope that audiences do the same — that “The Social Network” will be another failed attempt to bottle a generation, like “Less Than Zero,” and not culturally defining, as it aspires to be, in the way of “Wall Street” or “The Big Chill.”

Behind the scenes, however, Mr. Zuckerberg and his colleagues have been locked in a tense standoff with the filmmakers, who portray Facebook as founded on a series of betrayals, then fueled by the unappeasable craving of almost everyone for “friends” — the Facebook term for those who connect on its online pages — that they will never really have.

Mr. Zuckerberg, at 26 a billionaire, and his associates are wary of damage from a picture whose story begins with the intimacy of a date night at Harvard seven years ago and depicts the birth of a Web phenomenon in his dorm room.

By his account, and that of many others, much in the film is simply not true. It is based on a fictionalized book once described by its publicist not as “reportage” but as “big juicy fun.”

“It’s crazy because all of a sudden Mark becomes this person who created Facebook to get girls or to gain power,” said Chris Hughes, a Facebook co-founder who left in 2007 to join the Obama presidential campaign. “That’s not what was going on. It was a little more boring and quotidian than that.”

Scott Rudin, a producer of “The Social Network,” said two top Facebook executives, Elliot Schrage, the vice president of communications, and Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer, “saw the movie a while ago, and they do not like it.”

Mr. Rudin described months of backdoor contacts during which he tried to ease relations with Mr. Zuckerberg by letting colleagues of the Facebook chief read the script, and even by accommodating them with small changes. Facebook had insisted on bigger changes, which the producers declined to make. In the end, Mr. Rudin said, “We made exactly the movie we wanted to make.”

Mr. Zuckerberg declined to be interviewed for this article. In a recent onstage interview, he said, “Honestly, I wish that when people try to do journalism or write stuff about Facebook that they at least try to get it right.” He later added, “The movie is fiction.”

But Mr. Rudin said the movie was about conflicting truths, as recalled by Mr. Zuckerberg and his associates, largely in a pair of court cases that ended in settlements. “There is no such thing as the truth,” Mr. Rudin said.

In a statement, Facebook acknowledged that “it’s a sign of Facebook’s impact that we’re the subject of a movie — even one that’s fiction.”

“The Social Network” is being rushed into awards contention by a pair of Hollywood’s most powerful filmmakers, the director David Fincher and the writer Aaron Sorkin. The two worked without acquiring the rights from Mr. Zuckerberg and other subjects, relying instead on the journalist Ben Mezrich’s book, “The Accidental Billionaires,” and on the legal protection provided to free speech, along with Mr. Rudin’s diplomacy. The book drew heavily on interviews with Eduardo Saverin, a co-founder of Facebook and a former friend of Mr. Zuckerberg’s, who later felt that he was unfairly sidelined.

For months, Mr. Rudin said, he talked with Mr. Schrage and others about a collaboration that would have involved incorporating work from David Kirkpatrick, who was writing a separate book about Facebook. Eventually, it became clear “that we were not going to be working together,” Mr. Rudin said, though he maintained contact long enough to screen a nearly finished film for Mr. Schrage and Ms. Sandberg.

Filmmakers often elect not to buy rights for people who figure only marginally in a picture. That is also the case for television movies that adhere closely to the public record. But studios like to lock down the rights to their principal living subjects, if only so they will not be bound to literal truth in their portrayals.

Mr. Rudin said rights were unnecessary in this case, partly because of the extensive legal record.

Among the undisputed facts in Mr. Sorkin’s script, a version of which has long been posted online, is that Mr. Zuckerberg, as a 19-year-old college student, became deeply involved in the creation of an online social network that grew from a few hundred users in 2004 to perhaps half a billion today.

The film, which is set for release by Sony Pictures on Oct. 1, clearly aspires to importance. “Want a perfect body, want a perfect soul,” chants a chorus of voices over the part of the movie trailer that shows Mr. Zuckerberg, portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg, rising to prominence like an Internet Sammy Glick.

In Mr. Sorkin’s telling, Mr. Zuckerberg is not so much villain as antihero, a flawed human being whose deep need for acceptance becomes the driving force behind a Web site that offers the illusion of it.

If “The Godfather” was about family and “Network” about rage, “The Social Network” appears to be mostly about emptiness.

“I’m talking about taking the entire social structure of college and putting it online,” Mr. Eisenberg sputters in his eureka moment.

The movie deals heavily with themes familiar to Hollywood, like friendship and betrayal, but makes little effort to explain Silicon Valley or the Facebook phenomenon. Indeed, much of the story borrows from depositions taken in cases pressed by former associates — Mr. Saverin, Divya Narendra and Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss — over the founding and subsequent ownership and control of Facebook.

The film is also sprinkled with scenes of extravagant parties, and it is not clear how authentic they are. As of this week, Mr. Rudin said, one remaining question was to what extent the finished film would include a scene that depicted Sean Parker, the Napster co-founder who was heavily involved with Facebook’s early history, delivering his dialogue while a pair of teenage girls offer partygoers lines of cocaine from bared breasts.

Matthew Hiltzik, a spokesman for Mr. Parker, declined to comment. But a person who was involved with research for the film, and spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid conflict with the producers, said that sequence was one of several that were mostly made up.

Mr. Rudin said his main concern about the scene involved how much could be shown without compromising the movie’s hoped-for PG-13 rating.

As for the portrayal of Mr. Zuckerberg, Mr. Rudin offers no apologies.

Mr. Zuckerberg is “simultaneously a builder and a destroyer,” Mr. Rudin said. “It’s a big subject. It’s a big American subject.”

Mr. Kirkpatrick, whose book, “The Facebook Effect,” is a reported account of the company’s history, says much of the film, including many of the details of Mr. Zuckerberg’s personal life, are made up and “horrifically unfair.” He said that Facebook might be forced to deliver a forceful rebuttal once the film has its premiere, especially if it turned out to be a hit.

“They are going to try to ignore it but are going to be unable to,” he said.

SOURCE

Remember Oscar, the adorable little feline who can not only purr and meow but also tell when someone is about to pass away? We all heard about Oscar a few years ago when the New England Journal of Medicine published a story about him and promptly frightened anyone with a cat.

Oscar’s bizarre tale (I almost typed “tail”) is now getting the big screen treatment. According to Variety, writers Stephen Lindsey and Luis Ugaz are adapting the book about Oscar. The book, Making The Rounds With Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat by David Dosa is all about the cat and his ability to figure out who was nearing death’s door.

Here’s a better summation of Oscar’s talents, via The Guardian:

During his five-year stint at the dementia unit, the cat has earned a reputation as a harbinger of impending death, reputedly curling up alongside patients who had just a few hours left to live. His habits have served as an early warning system to staff, giving them time to contact the friends and relatives of the patient. Dosa suggests the animal may be drawn to the odour of ketones, the biochemicals released by dying cells.

According to Dosa, Oscar continues to go about his duties at the nursing home, “mostly to the delight of family members struggling to deal with the death of their loved ones”.

While this is a fascinating story, I am having trouble visualizing it as a movie. Will the movie be told from a nurse’s perspective? A family members? Will Oscar be the main character or a supporting part? Will this movie be a drama or family film or, worse yet, a comedy?

No word on director, studio or casting for Oscar.

SOURCE!

True Blood stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer wed Saturday evening at a private residence in Malibu, Calif., UsMagazine.com has confirmed. Guests — many of the bearing gifts in purple boxes and with purple bows — included Elijah Wood and True Blood costar Carrie Preston with husband Michael Emerson (Lost). Paquin, 28, and Moyer, 40, exchanged their vows beneath a tent across the street from the beach.

The couple announced their engagement last August. Connecting over daily breakfasts at a West Hollywood cafe, they began dating a few months after filming first began in 2008 for HBO’s smash vampire series, now in its third season. On the show, Paquin (a 1994 Oscar-winner at age 11 for her role in The Piano) plays Sookie Stackhouse, the psychic, mortal lover to vampire Bill Compton (Moyer); their first kiss occurred onscreen.

But the duo waited until February 2009 to debut their real-life romance — a delay that was “very intentional on both our parts,” British actor Moyer explained at the time. “It was very important to me that the cast and crew we were working with didn’t feel it was fickle….We didn’t want to take anything away from the show.”

Moyer proposed to Canadian-born, New Zealand-raised Paquin on a Hawaiian beach, presenting her with a ring — a rustic diamond set in an antiqued platinum inset — he helped design with jeweler Kathy Waterman. Why Hawaii? “There was a song in the first season, ‘White Sandy Beach in Hawaii,’ which was kind of funny and ironic,” he told Access Hollywood last year. “[It] all started out as a joke and then we decided to go to Hawaii with my kids,” says the actor, who has a son, Billy, and daughter, Lilac, from two previous relationships.

These days, Moyer splits his time between his native London and the Venice, Calif. home he shares with Paquin.

“With Anna it’s just about pure trust, on camera and off,” Moyer gushed in the July issue of Playboy. “I have never trusted anybody like I trust Anna.”

“I feel so lucky right now,” Paquin says in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. “Life is pretty great.”

Source

Michelle Rodriguez has admitted that she was happy to leave her “butch” film image behind and embrace a sexier role in Machete.

The 32-year-old actress, who co-stars in the new action-thriller, claimed that she was typecast for several years, playing women in uniform, and revealed she was relieved to have finally broken the “annoying” streak.

In an interview with Movie Hole, she said: “You know what was amazing to me? Finally not having a frickin’ cop outfit. I’m so tired of these butchy polyester outfits. It seems every time I do something I’m wearing some government outfit – it’s so annoying. With the exception of Fast And The Furious, I’m always in uniform. I’m always like, ‘Can I just get rid of this butch outfit and be hot for once?’”

The 32-year-old also revealed that she told director Robert Rodriguez that she would not expose her breasts on camera.

She added: “That was one of my first conditions before we even started, ‘I’m not taking this off and you’re still interested Robert, you can pay me’ – I’m joking.

“But I understand why some did. I think it’s that some people have that Cleopatra appeal, some people have that warrior appeal, and some people have the mother appeal – whatever your power is as a woman, go for it! Run with it!”

Machete arrives in US cinemas on September 3.

“I play a firecracker whose father is a doctor who is in the business of curing hysterical women … he cures them basically by getting them off and that actually happened. I end up having a sort of unexpected love affair with this guy who works for him, and who by mistake invents the vibrator,” says Maggie Gyllenhaal

Maggie will star alongside Jonathan Pryce and Hugh Dancy, who will play the inventors of the sex toy. It’s slated for a 2011 release.

Source

The sleepy little steel town of Weirton, West Virgina, is about to get a big dose of Hollywood glamour.

According to Production Weekly, director J.J. Abrams and his cast and crew for the super-secret film, ‘Super 8,’ will move into the hamlet — which is nestled among the hills of the Ohio River Valley — later next month.

Details on the sci-fi film, which is being produced by Abrams’ boyhood idol, Steven Spielberg, have been kept very close to the vest. (We don’t even have an inkling as to who’s set to star.) But there have been rumors that it’s an homage to Spielberg’s early days when Super 8 MM film was all the rage, and a trailer for the flick did debut back in May when ‘Iron Man 2′ hit theaters.

While very few details on the production are available, reports by the Associated Press reveal that many of Weirton’s 20,411 residents have received letters explaining that the filming of a movie called ‘Darlings,’ about a 14 year-old boy in a 1970’s steel town, will be shot primarily on the town’s main street. (Apparently at one time, Abrams tried to throw snoops off the trail by pretending to be working on a reboot of 1980’s Matt Dillon starrer, ‘Little Darlings.’)

Despite clearly herculean efforts by Abrams’ Bad Robot production company to keep details under wraps, nuggets of information are bound to pop up once the rumored $45 million production gets under way at the end of September. Shooting will reportedly last for up to three months and, when it concludes, Abrams will get to work on directing ‘Star Trek 2,’ which is expected to be released in 2012.

‘Super 8′, which will be released by Paramount Pictures, is slated to hit theaters next summer.

Source

Apparently Paramount is holding open-call auditions, again, today:

FEMALE 13-14 – AN ABSOLUTELY STUNNING NATURAL BEAUTY, STRONG AND CONFIDENT WITH A GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR. SHOULD HAVE A MIDWESTERN FEEL.
MALE 13-14 – VERY HANDSOME AND/OR STRIKING. MUST HAVE A GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR. SHOULD HAVE A MIDWESTERN FEEL. MUST BE 5’6” TO 5’11”

With Hugh Jackman’s recent decision to quit Avon Man, he’s got more time in his schedule to train for Fox’s sequel to Wolverine. And now it appears that the choice of director has been narrowed down to two possibilities, with Twilight: Eclipse’s David Slade and Red’s Robert Schwentke the leading contenders, according to the Vulture blog.

Slade, of course, can parlay his recent experience directing hairy creatures that fight and his past work on the likes of 30 Days of Night and Hard Candy. While thanks to Red’s healthy buzz, Schwentke has become something of the Ryan Reynolds of the megaphone world, lining up possible projects one after the other.

According to Vulture’s sources, Slade has the upper hand right now, but Jackman is even now putting them through their paces, Dragon’s Den-style to see who gets the job. Okay, so he’s probably just talking to them, but we like to think of it that way.

Christopher McQuarrie has written one of the most recent drafts of the script, which finds Logan still in Japan (where one of the tags from the first film left him). He kicks off a romance with a woman who is already engaged to be married, but of course that doesn’t stop Wolvie given his foul mood after the events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Cue a fight!

Once a director has been picked, the film is scheduled to start shooting in January.

The other night when report came in that January Jones was cast as Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class, I asked the obvious and rhetorical question, “so apparently Alice Eve did not get the part?”

Eve had previously been linked to the role with enough certainty that everyone was including her as a known member of the ensemble cast. Then, this Jones news came out of nowhere. Well, ComicBookMovie.com has exclusive information from an anonymous source at Marvel via a volunteer contributor that Eve was signed on but requested to be let out of her contract because she wasn’t happy with the latest script changes. She was in Sex and the City 2, by the way, if that says anything about how much worse First Class might be.

If that’s not rumor enough for you, the site also claims Marvel is interested in her for a minor villain role in The Avengers. Because this unnamed character is said to be part of the Thor comics, The Feed logically presumes she’d play The Enchantress, which also would fit with Loki being that film’s main villain, and could maybe lead to a bigger part in Thor 2. It could all depend on just what comic book character she would prefer. ComicBookMovie.com also says she’s up for Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman in Fox’s Fantastic Four Reborn (the franchise reboot), in which she’d get to act alongside a reportedly 100% CGI version of The Thing.

SOURCE

A proposed Aquaman movie that was in development by DC Entertainment has been dropped by Warner Bros. as a development project because they thought the franchise had “..no viable or feasible future.”. My friend works within Warner Bros. and is the same source that emailed me the Superman Screen Test List.

The Aquaman movie was to be adapted by unknown Screenplay and Script writer Ben Grant with an early 2014 release setting up a Justice League movie in the summer. It was to be produced by Appian Way which is helmed by Leonardo DiCaprio.

My source had this to say on the film. “They were struggling to put together a film that would have been good enough to translate to screen. Aquaman is a difficult character to have in a solo movie because his Rogue’s isn’t good enough compared to characters like Batman and Superman. He also doesn’t have the back up characters and writing proved difficult which is why Warner Bros. and DC decided that they should drop the solo movie and just put him in JLA with a little intro, most likely as the King of Atlantis who is approached by the rest of the League.”

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Some movies simply demand repeat viewings, and a second watch often reveals new details you’d missed the first time. Here’s our pick of ten movies that deserve to be watched twice

The vast majority of films produced are made purely for money, and this isn’t really all that surprising when cash is still very much considered king in Hollywood. Nevertheless, every now and then a film comes out that commands your attention, engages your senses, and stays with you for quite sometime after it’s finished.

Some call it art, others proclaim it the work of a genius and some, rather more simply, refer to it as a decent film. Either way, it doesn’t really matter how you label them, one simple fact unites them all: some films are so good you have to see them at least twice, whether it’s to understand the complexities of the plot, or just to fully get your head around how good they are. Here are ten films that fall into those categories…

Primer (2004)

Primer, which was made for a reported $7000, was the debut of engineer-turned-filmmaker, Shane Carruth. The film went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007, and is probably one of the only films on this list that you will actually need to see more than twice to fully grasp.

The film itself is concerned with time travel and its implications. However, the crux of the story is based on engineering and invention. Basically, how the process of creating something can sometimes yield unexpected results. In this case, it’s time travel.

The basic premise of the film is concerned with two friends, one of which is played by Carruth, who inadvertently discover how to manipulate the fabric of time. But it quickly gets out of hand as doubles, paradoxes, death and deep philosophical questions ensue.

Ex-engineer and mathematician, Carruth, isn’t afraid of using a bit of jargon either, and as a result, the film’s dialogue is almost as difficult to follow as the plot twists and paradoxes later on.

Nevertheless, this is a brilliant, shining example of just how good independent cinema can actually be. Sure, it’s confusing as hell, but this is exactly what makes the second and third viewing all the more satisfying.

Memento (2000)

Memento is famous for two things: putting Chris Nolan on the map and being confusing.

The plot of the film is simple enough on the surface. A man known as Leonard Shelby is suffering from short-term memory loss and is out to find the people that killed his wife, which kind of sounds like your typical revenge film, right? Wrong.

As soon as the film begins, Nolan has complete control over your senses, dragging you into the hell that is Shelby’s life by forcing you to experience his condition, plight and paranoia firsthand as you inhabit a place where time, faces, relationships and surroundings have absolutely no meaning whatsoever.

The direction and script are amazing, as are the lead performances, courtesy of Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano.

Memento is terrifying, funny, disturbing and confusing. It raises questions about the nature of reality, our perceptions of it and how grief can affect one’s entire being. It’s also a fine example of just how good, and thoroughly meticulous, Chris Nolan is behind the camera, too.

This film is essential viewing for anyone that hasn’t yet seen it, plus, it’s just as good the second time round too.

Mulholland Drive (2001)

David Lynch is one of the greats when it comes to creating hangover-inducing films. In fact, this top 10 could quite possibly be made up entirely of Lynch films, but that wouldn’t be much fun. So, in the context of this feature, we’ve chosen Mulholland Drive.

Mulholland Drive starts off innocently enough, with Naomi Watts’ wide-eyed country bumpkin character, Betty Elms, taking her first tentative steps into the predictably seedy and profoundly disheartening world of Hollywood acting.

But before the lovely Betty can begin to make a name for herself on the silver screen, she’s sucked into a dark and sinister conspiracy involving a mysterious woman with amnesia, a seedy film director called Adam Kesher and an even more mysterious nightclub called, wait for it, Silencio.

On paper, Mulholland Drive doesn’t sound that complicated or confusing. But it really is/ So much so, that there’s even ten clues written inside the DVD case. But even with these helpful little tidbits of information, Mulholland Drive is still thoroughly taxing on the ol’ gray matter.

But what’s even more bizarre about the film is that it originally started out life as a pilot idea for a TV series. Just imagine what that would have been like. Twin Peaks in Hollywood, anyone?

Overall, Mulholland Drive is as likely to frustrate, as it is to delight, so be warned.

That said, it’s still an amazing piece of cinema and, as an added bonus, it also features possibly one of the greatest scenes ever committed to screen which involves two men, a diner, and something disturbing ‘round back…

12 Monkeys (1995)

If you thought Cormac McCarthy’s vision of the future in his novel, The Road, was pretty grim, trust us, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Compared to the one portrayed in 12 Monkeys, it’s practically a utopia.

Bruce Willis plays James Cole, a convict/survivor from the future, who is sent back in time by the new ruling class of feudalistic Nazi scientists to obtain information about the manmade virus, which wiped out humanity and forced the survivors to live in what can only be described as underground prisons. Needless to say, once he’s arrived, Cole doesn’t fancy going back.

On the whole, 12 Monkeys isn’t overtly complicated, it’s just a very good film and it explores the idea of time travel in a very gritty and unique way. There’s no fancy machines or friendly eccentric doctors. It is pure and unadulterated grimness with more than a few dollops of brutal violence thrown in for good measure.

The casting is brilliant, as is the direction, courtesy of Terry Gilliam. Brad Pitt impresses no end in a role that is probably one of his finest moments to date. Couple this with the finale of the film, which is easily up there with the best of them, and it’s easy to see why many, including us, feel that 12 Monkeys is easily one of the most notable sci-fi films of the last twenty years.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

There isn’t much you can say about Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey that hasn’t already been said a million times. It’s cinematically perfect, moving, and probably one of the finest depictions of the ascent of mankind ever depicted.

If you haven’t seen this film then it should be the first thing you do when you wake up tomorrow. Really.

The only thing that is unfortunate about 2001: A Space Odyssey is that Hollywood no longer makes, or seems to even bother funding, films of this calibre. It’s sort of like comparing Snow Patrol to Led Zeppelin, and then concluding that the former is somehow satisfactory enough, even though it lacks anything near what the latter had over four decades ago. And this, when you think about it, is extremely depressing.

Open Your Eyes (1997)

Open Your Eyes, which was written and directed by Alejandro Amenábar, came out in 1997 in Spain, but was subsequently remade, either for money or because some people don’t like reading subtitles, a year later by Cameron Crowe.

Crowe’s remake was called Vanilla Sky, starred Tom Cruise, and like most remakes, it really isn’t as good as the original. But why? Well, it probably has something to do with the fact that repetition, in any walk of life, does not create originality, just conformity and boredom.

Sure, Vanilla Sky is a decent enough film, but if you haven’t see Open Your Eyes it will completely ruin it for you, and this is what makes the fact that a remake was made so soon after its initial release an absolute travesty.

Nevertheless, Open Your Eyes is a fantastic film in every sense of the word. It raises some very deep philosophical questions about the nature of consciousness, reality and the human condition, and in a much more refined and sensitive way than the remake.

In short, this is an immense film and one that is best served raw, that is, with no prior knowledge of Vanilla Sky.

Pi (1998)

Pi, which is easily Darren Aronofsky’s best work to date, is concerned with numbers, patterns and how mathematics can explain everything around us, from nature, to the stock market, to the true name of God.

The film’s unlikely protagonist is Max Cohen, played by Seth Gullette, who lives a solitary life spent working on formulae and theories in his small inner-city flat. Max occasionally meets up with his aging mentor and friend, Sol (Mark Margolis), where the two play a board game (I’ve completely forgotten the name of) and discuss advanced mathematics, philosophy and the dangers of going too close to the edge, mathematically speaking, of course.

At least, that’s what he did before he discovers a pattern within a sequence of 218 numbers that can explain everything about nature, reality and the true essence of God.

Obviously, this is quite a valuable commodity, and once word gets out about Max’s discovery, he has sleazy corporate types and hardcore religious nuts dogging his every move. Cue paranoia, headaches, seizures, injections and one hell of an amazing sound track for the next 80 minutes or so.

The thing that makes Pi so good, though, besides the actual story, is the look, feel and overwhelmingly disturbing atmosphere of the film, which is conveyed so perfectly through Aronofsky’s direction and choice of camera and lighting.

In fact, the general look and feel of the film itself is probably best described as something you might experience during a particularly hellish nightmare.

Pi is essential viewing and because of the nature of the questions it raises, it simply gets better with each viewing. Plus, it only cost $60,000 to make.

Brazil (1985)

Terry Gilliam’s Brazil was released in 1985 and has divided the opinions of all who have seen it since into two very distinct camps: people either love it, or absolutely hate it, at least in this scribbler’s experience, anyhow. But what else would you expect from the mind of Terry Gilliam?

Yes, Brazil is both surreal and funny in parts, but it is also a damning commentary on the ramifications of an over bureaucratised society. Think of it as a mixture of 1984, Monty Python and Franz Kafka.

The basic premise of the film follows Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce), a low-level, but highly aspirant civil servant at the Ministry of Information, who lives a normal life, happily trundling along as a cog in a wheel. But when Sam attempts to correct an ‘oversight’ by the MOI concerning the death of a man, his world is turned upside down and the barrier between reality and his dreams is blown apart once and for all.

Brazil is weird, wonderful, abstract and highly poetic and this is why we love it so much. The story isn’t complicated at all, but the themes and ideas explored are and this is why it is such a rewarding film to watch over and over again.

The sets are massive, the acting is brilliant, and Gilliam’s vision of the future, while not being highly original, is certainly very entertaining and there’s even a cameo from Robert De Niro as a plumber with a massive disdain for ‘big government’.

Brazil is Gilliam’s masterpiece, featuring an absolute stonker of a cast that includes Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond and Bob Hoskins, all of whom put in brilliant performances, which is why every serious film fan should have at least one copy of Brazil on DVD somewhere in their home.

Solaris (1972)

Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris might not be one the most well known sci-fi films of all times, but it’s easily one of the best.

Steven Soderbergh remade it in 2002 with George Clooney taking centre stage. The 2002 version definitely wasn’t as good as the original, but at least Soderbergh had the decency to let the original air for a good 30 years before remaking it for modern day subtitle haters.

The premise of Solaris is simple. A scientist is sent out to a top secret space station that’s located near what is thought to be intelligent life, after one of the crew members mysteriously dies.

However, there are no monsters, aliens, gunfights or mutiny in this film and this may disappoint some viewers. But it really shouldn’t, as Solaris is one of the most mind-blowing sci-fi films of all time, and it’s probably also one of the quietest too.

Some have said that Solaris is an answer to the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey. But it isn’t. And to simply pass it off as this doesn’t do it justice.

Solaris, in every respect, is an absolute masterpiece that is easily on par with Kubrick’s 2001. I got it on DVD whilst at university and watched it about four times in the first week of owning it. There really is just something very powerful about Tarkovsky’s Solaris. It hits you on a level that is usually only stimulated by very good literature. And this is why it is a film that is a pleasure to watch and absorb time and time again.

Inception (2010)

Inception (like you don’t already know!) is concerned with ideas and dreams, which, as we all know, are quite confusing in themselves. Nevertheless, Inception steams into this subject full throttle as we join a team of thieves for hire, lead by a man called Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), whose job it is to get into people’s dreams, steal whatever idea his employers want removing, and get out without them knowing.

It sounds complicated and on the whole it kind of is, although, it’s nowhere near as complex as some people have been making out. That said, Nolan definitely doesn’t make it easy for the viewer, but that’s what makes the film so utterly brilliant. That and the amazing sets, overwhelming special effects, and massively powerful soundtrack, which are all brought together to create easily one of the best ‘mainstream’ films of the last 20 years.

This is a film that has to be seen in the cinema to be fully appreciated. It is absolutely massive, so make sure you pick a cinema with a gigantic screen. It’ll be the best £10 you’ve spent on the cinema in a long time.

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The newly major-label free Weezer have a new album, Hurley (aka the one with the absurd, Lost-referencing album cover), out September 14 via Epitaph. They’ve got a new single out, too, the alt-rock-tastic “Memories”. Lots of looking ahead towards the future, right? Well, it seems that Weezer might look back with a possible tour that would find the band playing their two most beloved albums, 1994’s Weezer (aka “The Blue Album”) and 1996’s Pinkerton, in their entirety, as MTV reports.

Frontman Rivers Cuomo told MTV News about the possible touring plans while shooting the sure-to-be-ridiculous video for “Memories”: “We have this really exciting idea to do a tour where we spend two nights in each city, and the first night, we play the entire Blue Album, and the second night, we play the entirety of Pinkerton. We’re just running it by promoters right now to see if there’s sufficient interest in the markets to do something like that, and if they’re on board, it’s gonna happen.”

Drummer Pat Wilson added to MTV, “”Yeah, it would probably be a Blue/Pinkerton tour. It’s an idea, we’re still examining the mathematics of everything, looking at the logistics and schedules … you know.” Sounds like it might happen, then– let’s hope they don’t play, uh, anything after Pinkerton.

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British actor-comedian Simon Pegg joked that he got ‘beaten up’ by director Steven Spielberg while shooting a film together.

The 40-year-old actor stars in Spielberg’s new flick The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn, and he revealed that making the movie was a hands-on experience – after the legendary US director scrapped with him onset during a fight scene.

Pegg said at Movie-Con: ‘There was one day where [Spielberg] actually demonstrated to [co-star] Andy Serkis how Captain Haddock should beat me up.

‘I was lying on the floor with him holding me by the lapel, shaking me, hitting me against the floor, and I was just laughing because it was f****** Steven Spielberg!’

The Adventures Of Tintin is scheduled for release in 2011.

BATMAN BEYOND:
THE COMPLETE SERIES

LIMITED EDITION COMPILATION SET! INCLUDES ALL 52 ACTION-PACKED EPISODES
plus THREE NEW BONUS FEATURETTES

WARNER HOME VIDEO TO DISTRIBUTE DVD Set NOV. 23

Warner Bros. Animation’s breakthrough series Batman Beyond comes to DVD for the first time in its entirety. Featuring DC Comics’ iconic hero, Batman, Batman Beyond: The Complete Series presents nearly 20 hours of animated action spread over 52 episodes, as well as all-new bonus featurettes and a 24-page, 8”x 12” collectible booklet. Batman Beyond: The Complete Series will be distributed by Warner Home Video on November 23, 2010 as a nine-disc limited edition DVD set for $99.98 (SRP).

Batman Beyond: The Complete Series centers on Terry McGinnis, an ordinary teenager … until his father is mysteriously murdered. Suspecting foul play at his father’s company, Wayne/Powers Corporation, Terry meets Bruce Wayne and learns of a secret identity hidden for decades. Now too old to don the cape and cowl as Batman, Wayne refuses to help – so Terry does what any brash young kid would do: steal the Bat-suit and take matters into his own hands! Vowing to avenge his father’s death, Terry dons the high-tech suit tricked out with jetpacks, a supersensitive microphone and even camouflage capabilities in search of his father’s assassin. It’s 52 action-packed episodes following the adventures of the partnership between an ex-crimefighter and his apprentice, starring Will Friedle (Boy Meets World) as Terry McGinnis and, reprising his seminal role, Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series) as Bruce Wayne.

Casting throughout the series’ 52 episodes featured award winners from feature films, primetime television and the Broadway stage – from Paul Winfield, Stockard Channing and Seth Green to William H. Macy, Wayne Brady and Teri Garr – not to mention George Lazenby (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service), Dan Castellaneta (The Simpsons), Jodi Benson (The Little Mermaid), George Takei (Star Trek) and Henry Rollins (the front man for the rock band, Black Flag).

An all-star production team was headed by executive producer Jean MacCurdy and producers Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, Glen Murakami and Paul Dini. Writers on the series included Burnett and Dini, as well as Stan Berkowitz, Bob Goodman, Rich Fogel, Hilary Bader and John McCann.

Included in the beautifully custom designed package is a 24-page, 8”x 12” collectible booklet with the inside perspective and artwork from the vaults especially compiled by DC Comics for this release.

Three new bonus features created specifically for the Batman Beyond: The Complete Series are:

TOMORROW KNIGHT: THE BATMAN REBORN
The “Batman Beyond” creative team gives you a peek into the character of Terry McGinnis, and what made him worthy to become the new Caped Crusader.

GOTHAM: CITY OF THE FUTURE
A look at Gotham City, circa 2039, and how the team built a realistic vision of the near future while remaining true to the city they created in Batman: The Animated Series.

THE HIGH TECH HERO
Explore the technology behind the Bat-suit, its amazing powers and the real world science that inspired it.

The collection will also contain the DC 75th anniversary documentary, Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics.

“Batman Beyond was a landmark series as it created altogether new directions for the iconic character, and added dimensions for fans both old and new to the Batman mythology,” said Amit Desai, WHV Vice President of Family, Animation & Sports Marketing. “Warner Home Video is proud to release this important series in an all-encompassing box set, just in time to make a perfect holiday gift for the ultimate fan.”

Who will be SPIDER-MAN’S new love?

Heat Vision, the always reliable site, has gotten a great scoop: a shortlist of names for the new SPIDER-MAN female lead. Perhaps the most surprising bit of news from their story is that Mary Jane Watson will not be the love interest in Marc Webb’s film. No one knows if the female part will be Gwen Stacey or another character.

I’ve got to say I’m disappointed to say goodbye to Mary Jane. Sure, Spider-Man has had other girlfriends but Mary Jane is his one true love (regardless of what’s happening in the current Marvel universe). I understand that Columbia is wanting to take the series in a different direction but they shouldn’t stray too far from the comics. Still, I’ll give Marc Webb the benefit of the doubt.

Without further ado, here are some of the names Heat Vision uncovered:

• Imogen Poots (currently in the FRIGHT NIGHT remake)
• Ophelia Lovibond (NOWHERE BOY)
• Lilly Collins (THE BLIND SIDE)
• Teresa Palmer (THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE)
• Emma Roberts (currently in SCREAM 4)

They also report that Mary Elizabeth Winstead was a contender but has since “fallen out”. Head over to the link to see pictures and get some more information.

Heat Vision stresses that we are still a long way off from an official casting. These ladies are being flown out to LA to have meetings with Marc Webb and Andrew Garfield. If none of the girls fit the part, another round of casting will occur. It’s obvious that the film will be vastly different from the Sam Raimi franchise. We know that the new movies will be based in reality, set in high school and have more to do with the personal problems of Peter Parker rather than the big world superhero woes of Spider-Man. That fact seems to make many fans nervous, with some wondering if the new series will be akin to TWILIGHT and other teen-aimed properties. Me, I just want to see some web-slinging.

What do you think? How do you feel about the departure of Mary Jane? Any of these names stand out to you? Does this make you excited or nervous for the new series?

SOURCE!

Make room for another Victoria’s Secret supermodel mommy.

Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom are expecting their first child together, the Australian model tells the Spanish edition of Vogue in its September issue.

“Yes, I am pregnant. Four months along,” says Kerr, 27, confirming much buzz about a possible baby after the couple announced their engagement in June, then quietly wed in July.

Settling down and starting a family has always been on the agenda for Kerr.

“My ideal situation would be to live on a farm in a solar-powered house with a hammock and a vegetable patch,” she told Page Six Magazine in 2008. “When this is all over, that’s where I’ll be. I’ve always wanted kids, so someday, eventually, yes, it will happen.”

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She may be known for her playful giggles and killer looks, but now movie star Cameron Diaz has become the most dangerous celebrity on the Internet.

Diaz, 37, is top of the list of the most dangerous celebrities to search for online, above second-placed Julia Roberts, according to computer security company McAfee, Inc. Last year’s most dangerous Web celebrity, Jessica Biel, fell to third. One in ten websites featuring the “Knight and Day” star contain malicious software intended to infect computers and steal data from users, according to research released on Thursday by McAfee.

Creators of malicious software use celebrities as lures, baiting fans and followers to click on and download seemingly innocuous content containing programs designed to steal passwords and other private information for profit, said Dave Marcus, director of security research at McAfee Labs.

“They know that people want to have screensavers of popular individuals. They follow hot topics on the Web and create their poisonous content accordingly,” Marcus said. “This relates to a larger trend of using social engineering lures. A lot of times a cyber criminal will mine Twitter, or follow Google Trends, to poison those links. It’s very clear they will use news trends to lure,” he said.

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen came in at fourth, followed by Brad Pitt, one of only two men to be listed in the top ten. “Brad Pitt is historically one of the most dangerous celebrities to search on,” said Marcus. “He’s always up there.”

Former Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima came in sixth, followed by Jennifer Love-Hewitt and Nicole Kidman, who tied for seventh. Tom Cruise ranked eighth, and Heidi Klum and Penelope Cruz tied for ninth. Anna Paquin, the star of TV hit “True Blood”, rounded out the top ten.

This is the fourth time McAfee published the annual list of dangerous individuals. Marcus said he’s seeing the same types of malicious software being distributed, but in higher numbers. “We tracked more malware in the second quarter of 2010 than ever before,” Marcus said.
McAfee found 6 million unique, newly created pieces of malicious programing. “That’s about 60,000 pieces per day. It’s a big, honkin, onerous number,” he said. The study used McAfee’s SiteAdvisor ratings to track risky sources of celebrity content on the Web, and used these results to calculate an overall risk percentage.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67I49B20100819

A few highlights:

* “Hurt Locker” director Kathryn Bigelow has met with Will Smith for her next feature film “Triple Frontier.”

* J.J. Abrams has an idea to turn the popular kissing game 7 Minutes in Heaven into a thriller about two teens who enter a closet and emerge only to find all of their friends dead.

* Paramount is negotiating to pick up Jason Reitman’s ”Young Adult,” a dark comedy that reunites him with Oscar-winning “Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody.

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Ryan Reynolds to Star In ‘Safe House’

Things just keep getting better and better for Ryan Reynolds.

His list of upcoming films is mind boggling: ‘Green Lantern,’ ‘The Change-Up,’ ‘Deadpool,’ ‘R.I.P.D,’ ‘Most Wanted’ and ‘Gunsmoke.’ Now he wants to squeeze in a starring role opposite Denzel Washington in Universal’s ‘Safe House,’ according to TheWrap.

Reynolds will play a young CIA agent who must transport a dangerous criminal (Washington) to safety after both are attacked at a safe house.

‘Safe House’ is scheduled for production in early 2011, after Reynolds finishes up ‘The Change-Up’ and before he begins shooting Fox’s ‘Deadpool’ or Universal’s ‘R.I.P.D.’

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It looks as if Lionsgate has tapped into Chatroulette with hopes of freaking out bored teens hoping to stumble across some nudity. Instead, a lucky few will bare witness to one of the following creepy ass clips that tease The Last Exorcism. Thumbs up to Lionsgate for coming up with a great (seriously, this is brilliant) new way of spreading the word! In theaters August 27, after a career spent helping the devout through prayer and trickery, Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) invites a film crew to document his final fraudulent days as an exorcist. Soon his faith is truly tested when a desperate plea from the father of a possessed girl (Ashley Bell) brings him face to face with the devil himself.

Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter defended his style of storytelling via his Twitter page today after one of his stars complained to a Chicago paper that the actors were often left in the dark about future plotlines. Sutter tweeted that “I regret some of my cast feel that the writers are conspiring to `keep actors in the dark’” after star Charlie Hunnam (Jax Teller) said he didn’t appreciate the lack of information about his character. “There’s a philosophy here, which I don’t always agree with as an actor, that it’s better for actors to know as little as possible,” Hunnam told the Chicago Tribune. “I actually don’t agree with that because most of my experiences in acting are in film, where you know all of the answers going in, and you make your choices accordingly.

“Keeping actors in the dark is not always the right move, because without knowing the direction that something’s going, one can make slight mistakes,” Hunnam continued. “There has to be a big, psychological leap to get to where you’re being taken.”

Today, Sutter tweeted that “I share big story arcs with my actors before we start shooting” and “try to bring them up to speed emotionally so we’re all on the same page” before continuing with “the specific plot twists and turns are not locked down until i’m into my draft. That means the actors don’t know until they get the script.” He writes later that “I love my cast and try to challenge their talent with quality writing and deep, 3-dimensional stories … that effort requires focus and time” before posting “perhaps if they were doing a network procedural they’d have a showrunner who could tell them everything and assuage their apprehension.”

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She’s never in one place for very long, and earlier today (August 19) Nikki Reed was spotted at LAX International Airport.

Joined by a gal pal, the “Twilight” babe looked snazzy in a black jacket with black trousers as she pulled her suitcase through the terminal.

In a recent interview with MTV, Nikki talked about the upcoming “Breaking Dawn” films and her character Rosalie’s intense desire to see Bella Swan give birth to Edward Cullen’s baby, even if it means losing her life.

“Here’s how I look at it: I try not to be super opinionated and vocal, because in Hollywood, that seems to only lead you in the wrong direction. I try to relate this particular case to Rosalie and not make it metaphorical or symbolic of anything else.”

“I think that Rosalie just always wanted to be a mom, and that’s how I look at it. It has nothing to do with being pro-life or anything. I think it’s about her want, her need to be a mother, and this is the only opportunity she’s ever going to have, so she’s willing to let Bella die so she can have that and fulfill that, and that’s how I look at it. It’s her own personal desires.”

The Silent Hill cinematic sequel might be currently on ice, but the franchise’s comics series isn’t.

Out this October, Silent Hill: Past Life is a four-issue monthly series penned by Tom Waltz, the writer on the upcoming Silent Hill game, Silent Hill 8 (working title). Here is the synopsis (via Fangoria):

“Jebediah ‘Hellrider’ (Oh) Foster is a violent outlaw in the Dakota Territory of 1867. When he falls for a godly widow (Oh) who longs to escape from the Wild West to an abandoned family home in Silent Hill, Foster follows-but peace is not what awaits.” (…Oh)

The Silent Hill comic series expand the SH universe and have been published since 2000. Waltz began writing for the series in 2008’s Silent Hill: Sinner’s Reward.

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