Jordan Will get Engaged

Yvette Prieto and Jordan Jordan is engaged to marry his girlfriend, Cuban-American model Yvette Prieto, The Connected Press reviews. The National basketball association legend, 48, sprang the question over Christmas weekend. The pair continues to be together for 3 years. Take a look at photos of Jordan This is Jordan's second marriage - he was married to Juanita Vanoy for 16 years. They've three children together: two sons, Jeffrey Michael and Marcus James, along with a daughter, Jasmine. Following his 19-year career in basketball - throughout that they assisted the Chicago Bulls win six titles and was named best player five occasions - Jordan has become majority who owns the Charlotte now Bobcats.

Oscar Dog Showdown: Who's Cutest?

Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images The morning after Barbara Walters unveiled her "10 Most Fascinating People" for 2011, a story began circulating that the veteran ABC News reporter plans to retire in 2012.our editor recommendsBarbara Walters Names Steve Jobs Most Fascinating Person of the Year (Video)Barbara Walters Reveals 'Most Fascinating' Details, Makes Kardashian Dig on 'Letterman'The Kardashians Make Barbara Walters' 'Most Fascinating People of 2011' List PHOTOS: The Most Talked-About TV News Faces TMZ reported that, while taping an upcoming segment with President Barack Obama, Walters was overheard expressing an interest in interviewing him once more before she retires "next year." Walters, who continues to run primetime specials with ABC News in addition to her weekly duties as a panelist on The View, has been speculated to be on the brink of retirement for years -- something an ABC acknowledged while dismissing the story. "Barbara has joked that she is retiring every year since the Clinton Administration," said ABC News EVP Jeff Schneider in a statement. "Anyone who just did a day trip to Syria and a 90 minute primetime special and interview with the President and First Lady hardly sounds like someone retiring from anything." VIDEO: Barbara Walters Names Steve Jobs Most Fascinating Person of the Year (Video) Whether or not she has an exit strategy for her career, she has cut back on her duties. 2010 marked the last installment of her Oscar special and she usually appears on The View just three days a week. PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery The Most Talked-About TV News Faces ABC News Barbara Walters

Robert Downey Junior. Drags On 'Sherlock Holmes'

We have been getting fun attempting to dissect everything which has been taunted or featured within the "A Virtual Detective: A Game Title Of Shadows" marketing campaign, without getting too detailed or spoilery obviously. From the feel of things, it's obvious that there's a great deal happening with new figures and supervillains and the like. Director Guy Ritchie told us this movie is much like the first but on anabolic steroids, for instance, even though among individuals clearly amped up elements would be the action sequences, there also appears to become a large amount of Holmes dressing and lower in a number of hide. When MTV News swept up with Robert Downey Junior. lately we requested him what he loved most about all of the costume changes and also the benefits and drawbacks of males wearing drag. "Most of them are hide, a number of them are innovative, but virtually the whole opening from the film I am putting on a Chinese dress Gui, that we loved greatly," he stated having a smile. Additionally towards the Gui, Holmes stays time like a bell hop, an seniors guy, curtains and wallpaper and outfitted like a lady. We requested Downey Junior. what it's about males in drag that never does not draw a couple of laughs, regardless of situation. "I'm not sure. It should not be funny if they are meaning to achieve that,Inch he stated. "Within this situation he's trying use a convincing disguise. I believe what's funny is Holmes outfitted like a lady busting in on Watson and Mary on their own honeymoon. Which I like." Exactly what do you think about males outfitted as women for laughs? Inform us within the comments or on Twitter!

Steven Spielberg on 'War Horse'

Steven Spielberg on 'War Horse'Although audiences will likely identify most with the humans performing in Steven Spielberg's "War Horse," the director says the actors who surprised him most were the equines.The film is based on a play of the same name (based in turn on Michael Morpurgo's novel) that employed elaborate puppet horses to represent the relationship between a young man and Joey, the horse his father sells into military service to aid the struggling family. In bringing the sweeping World War I epic to screen, Spielberg used live stallions for dramatic battle scenes as well as emotional moments.He credits the film's horse master, Bobby Lovgren, for making the horses comfortable with being on set and working with the actors."The horses need to trust the people they're around," Spielberg says. "They can't just show up for work in the morning, hit their mark and emote their feelings. They have to actually understand who they're in scenes with."Though Spielberg is known for running an organized, efficient shoot, the director says he was gratified by the "happy accidents" that happened while shooting "War Horse" -- "I mean those wonderfully unpredictable moments where Joey responded beyond anything we had ever planned for," he says. "Every day was filled with surprises and little moments of wonder for all of us. By the end of this experience, everybody had a new respect for the intelligence and the sensitivity of horses."Although Joey's journey from plowing fields to battling the enemy seems to mirror young Elliott's arc in "E.T.," Spielberg doesn't see the similarities as parallels. They're simply common touchstones that attract him to stories."So many of my characters in so many of my films are thrown into situations that they're unprepared for and have to rise above their own self doubts," he says. "That's just a recurring theme in many of my pictures."EYE ON THE OSCARS: THE DIRECTOR Helmers hot to globe trotWoody Allen | Stephen Daldry | David Fincher | Michel Hazanavicius | Terrence Malick | Bennett Miller | Alexander Payne | Jason Reitman | Martin Scorsese | Steven SpielbergIn the Mix Contact Christy Grosz at christy.grosz@variety.com

'Boardwalk' draws 3 million for season finale

The 2nd-season finale of "Boardwalk Empire" came 3 million audiences Sunday evening, on componen using the first-season closer. Cinemax skein also came 834,000 for any repeat showing later at night to create the entire to three.8 million. Pay cabler has restored the Atlantic City-set Prohibition drama for any third season and also the Terrence Winter-produced skein looks to become a longtime player for Cinemax. At 10 p.m. rigtht after "Boardwalk Empire" would be a sneak preview from the David Milch-written horseracing drama "Luck." Set at Santa Anita Park and starring, among many, Dustin Hoffman, Denis Farina and John Ortiz, the pilot received 1.a million. The state regular season starts Jan. 29. The 1.a million was beneath the 3 million who updated directly into begin to see the season finale of Milch's last show for Cinemax, "John From Cincinnati," but that series had the advantage of series-ending episode of "The Sopranos" if this first showed in 2007. Sunday would be a busy evening for other cablers too. A&E offered two hrs from the Stephen King miniseries "Bag of Bones," which introduced in 3.3 million audiences. Showtime went the penultimate episodes of year for "Dexter" (1.9 million) and "Homeland" (1.3 million). Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com

The Good Wife Exclusive: Court Is Back In Session for Denis O'Hare

Denis O'Hare Court is back in session for Denis O'Hare. The Tony winner will reprise his role as Judge Abernathy on an upcoming episode of The Good Wife, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively. O'Hare, 49, has appeared in four episodes of the CBS legal drama as the famously liberal judge. His episode is scheduled to air at the end of January. American Pie's Jason Biggs lawyers up on The Good Wife "We have missed him a lot," series co-creator and executive producer Robert King tells TVGuide.com. "He doesn't have to wear the burn makeup for this." King is referring to O'Hare's current series gig on American Horror Story, as Larry "Burn Man" Harvey. He is also set to reprise his role as vampire king Russell Edgington on True Blood when the HBO drama returns for Season 5 next summer. The Good Wife airs Sundays at 9/8c on CBS.

Jerry Sandusky Declines Abuse Accusations Again (Video)

BERLIN -- Lars von Trier's apocalyptic drama Melancholia blew them within the 24th European Film Honours, Europe's version in the Oscars, taking home three trophies, including best film.our editor recommends'Melancholia': Second Trailer Shows Stunning Cinematography (Video)'The Artist': What sort of Black-and-White-colored Quiet Movie Defied the probabilities and Increased being an Oscar ContenderWhy The Eu Film Honours Will Matter This Year "I don't have a very message from Lars to suit your needs as they has stopped making public claims. I am in a position to't imagine why," mentioned among Melancholia's producers as she recognized very good on von Trier's account, making reference to the the director's infamous professional-Hitler quips in Cannes this year. Melancholia's cameraman Manuel Alberto Claro got the most effective cinematography jerk for his hypnotic lensing of earth's final days and production designer Jette Lehmann won the EFA on her behalf opulent sets. Melancholia was the probabilities-on favorite to simply accept top prize as of this year's EFA's. The host in the 24th European Film Honours, German comedienne Anke Engelke, acknowledged the film's leader status when she started the show, making her entrance on stage in the wedding dress walking in slow-mo, aping Dunst's character inside the von Trier drama. But Von Trier was outshine inside the best director race by fellow Dane Susanne Bier on her behalf Language Oscar champion In the Better World. As well as the European Film Academy preferred Tilda Swinton's gripping performance since the mother from the killer in We must Discuss Kevin to Kirsten Dunst's depressed bride in Melancholia, giving Swinton the most effective actress jerk. Colin Firth added an EFA best actor trophy to his Oscar in what will most likely be his last recognition for your King's Speech. Neither Firth nor Swinton handled to obtain for the EFA ceremony, which was somewhat low-wattage if this involves star energy. The King's Speech's award haul also incorporated the most effective editing recognition for Tariq Anwar as well as the People's Choice Award selected on by European cinema goers. Oscar favorite The Artist won one EFA for top composer jerk for Ludovic Bource's classic score. Bource designated the film's canine star for "inspiring all the music" in Michel Hazanavicius' film. Another strong Oscar contender, the 3 dimensional dance film Pina from Wim Wenders won best European documentary. Belgium brothers and sisters Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne needed the most effective script recognition for script for the Kid getting a bicycle. Belgium's other large win in the evening was for Oxygen, from first-timer Hendes Van Nuffel, won the eu Discovery prize for top debut feature. Inside the finest surprises in the evening, French acting legend Michel Piccoli, who was simply nominated inside the category for playing the Pope in Habemus Papam, was hauled on stage to recieve a very long time achievement award from actor Bruno Ganz and director Volker Schlondorff. Nevertheless the finest laughs in the evening came due to Stellan Skarsgard and also the tribute to Mads Mikkelsen, champion in the award for fulfillment in European cinema. Skarsgard switched it about his old friend in to a small-roast. "I don't admire you for that looks, because you're not attractive," Skarsgard riffed. "You own an 'interesting' face. I realize you've been selected hottest guy in Denmark like 6 occasions but people are by people who don't know you. And that we must remember, Denmark is definitely an very small place." But Skarsgard ended around the sweet note. "Mads, whatever you do features a clearness in it. There's nothing fuzzy by what you ought to do. You're acting is clean, elegant and extremely poetic." The finest applause in the evening was for veteran British director Stephen Frears, who received a very long time achivement recognition. "Really, I'm whatever you don't," Frears mentioned for the audience of European film professionals. "I'm no auteur which i make cheerful films because I am in a position to't stand the misery any more. I'm merely a bloke who makes films and hopes everyone else likes them. Which I'll make an effort to fare best next time.In . Full report on European Film Award individuals who win: EUROPEAN FILM 2011 Melancholia Dir. Lars von Trier EUROPEAN DIRECTOR 2011 Susanne Bier for In the Better World EUROPEAN ACTRESS 2011 Tilda Swinton in We Must Discuss Kevin EUROPEAN ACTOR 2011 Colin Firth inside the King's Speech EUROPEAN Film author 2011 Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne for your Kid getting a bicycle CARLO DI PALMA EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER AWARD 2011 Manuel Alberto Claro for Melancholia EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY 2011 Pina Dir. Wim Wenders EUROPEAN ACHIEVEMENT IN WORLD CINEMA 2011 Mads Mikkelson EFA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Stephen Frears EUROPEAN CO-PRODUCTION AWARD - PRIX EURIMAGES Mariela Besuievsky EUROPEAN ANIMATED FEATURE FILM 2011 Chico & Rita Dir. Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal & Fernando Trueba EUROPEAN EDITOR 2011 Tariq Anwar for your King's Speech EUROPEAN PRODUCTION DESIGN Jette Lehmann for Melancholia EUROPEAN COMPOSER Ludovic Bource for your Artist EUROPEAN DISCOVERY - PRIX FIPRESCI Oxygen (Belgium/Netherlands) Dir. Hendes Van Nuffel PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD The King's Speech EFA Online Video AWARD The Wholly Family PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery Your building of 'The Artist' Related Subjects The King's Speech Melancholia The Artist Colin Firth Kirsten Dunst Tilda Swinton Tom Hooper Susanne Bier Lars von Trier Aki Kaurismaki Michel Hazanavicius Worldwide

Dark Knight Rises Prologue Confirmed

Six IMAX minutes to screen before M:I4It's been leaked previously and retracted again, but there's official confirmation from Warner Bros. that the six-minute Dark Knight Rises prologue will be shown before IMAX screenings of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol later this month. *Cough* Told you so.Says Christopher Nolan of the decision: "Our experience on The Dark Knight shooting and projecting IMAX 15 perf 65mm/70mm film was inspiring. The immersive quality of the image goes beyond any other filmmaking tool available, and in revisiting Gotham, we were determined to shoot even more of the movie in this unique format. Giving the fans an early look at an IMAX sequence is a great way to draw attention to what I believe will be an incredible way to experience our story when it comes out next summer."Those lucky folk in the US will clap their eyes on the prologue when M:I4 lands there on December 16, while over here we'll have nearly a week to dodge the inevitable online blow-by-blows. December 21 is the date to circle if you're in the UK.The following screens will be showing the footage in the UK: BFI London; the National Media Museum IMAX in Bradford; Glasgow Science Centre IMAX Cinema; and Odeon Manchester IMAX @The Printworks in Manchester. If you need another reason to see Tom Cruise hang off the Burj Khalifa on an IMAX screen, look no further. The Dark Knight Rises is in cinemas on July 20, 2012.

Ratings: People Dont Love I Hate My Teenage Daughter

I Hate My Teenage Daughter I Hate My Teenage Daughter, which didn't get a lot of love critically, also didn't get a lot of love from viewers, as the show lost some 37 percent of its lead-in's audience, Nielsen overnights show. Muppets and models, meanwhile, gave The CW its most-watched Wednesday in a year. NBC's Christmas in Rockefeller Center declined by 5 percent from a year ago, and Harry's Law set series highs in both viewership and the 18-to-49-year-olds, while the Grammys special rose 12 percent from a year earlier. Catch up on today's news 8 p.m.CBS: Survivor: South Pacific 10.92 million viewers (3.1 demo rating)ABC: The Middle 6.01 million (1.8); Suburgatory 5.26 million (1.7)Fox: The X Factor 10.87 million (3.7) {8-9:30 p.m.}NBC: Christmas in Rockefeller Center 9.42 million (1.8)CW: Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa 2.40 million (0.8) 9 p.m.CBS: Criminal Minds [rerun] 7.55 million viewers (2.1 demo rating)ABC: Modern Family [rerun] 7.16 million (2.6); Happy Endings [rerun] 4.96 million (2.1)Fox: I Hate My Teenage Daughter 6.84 million (2.8) {9:30 p.m.}NBC: Harry's Law 9.91 million (1.4)CW: America's Next Top Model 1.93 million (0.8) 10 p.m.CBS: Grammy Nominations Concert Live 5.36 million viewers (1.9 demo rating)ABC: Revenge 4.01 million (1.2)NBC: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 9.83 million (2.2)

REVIEW: The Lady Flubs Its Chance to Tell the Story of Aung San Suu Kyi

There’s something immobile at the center of The Lady, a kind of Botoxed biopic with an unlikely director — Luc Besson — manning the syringe. Technically, that something is the figure of Aung San Suu Kyi: Here the Burmese activist is played by Michelle Yeoh, who gets the already wearisome Shepard Fairey treatment on the film’s poster, and seems to have attended the special edition stamp school of acting in preparation for the role. Almost to a scene, Yeoh is so still and serene she’s practically submerged, her dialogue seeming to rise like beatific air bubbles that burst into tiny, untroubled smiles at the surface. Rather than ripple out — and risk the suggestion of any small mercy of movement whatever — Yeoh’s performance forms a kind of undertow that pulls the surrounding story and characters into the hagiographic shallows, where they float like sea monkeys with better set dressing, blooping away about Burmese democracy. Besson begins The Lady with an X-ray of the origin story that opens his last producing project, Colombiana: A young girl bidding farewell to her about-to-be martyred father. Here it is Suu Kyi being kissed good-bye in 1947 by her dad, Burma’s interim prime minister and founder of its independent army, before he is killed in a coup. From there we move to Oxford in 1998, where Suu Kyi’s husband, Michael (David Thewlis), has just been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. Michael’s twin brother (also Thewlis) shows up to offer some words of comfort, and we learn that his wife has been stuck in Burma for almost a decade, and he hasn’t seen her in three years. This little info drop is the first of several pieces of rather pressing news that are revealed, if not dully, then with a distinct lack of dramatic horse sense. Suu Kyi’s story is worthy of Puccini, which is its own challenge, but The Lady lays its cards down so casually that it would be easy to assume that anyone might interrupt an urgent personal visit from England home to Burma — as Suu Kyi does during a subsequent flashback to 1988 — to give a game-changing speech at a massive political rally for peace, or that receiving a Nobel Prize is as easy as buttering up an insider at an academic cocktail party. From that 1988 trip, the story of Suu Kyi’s conversion to homeland activism takes over, but our sense of Burma’s political climate remains murky and malleable. Elections and sentencings happen without any real sense of what’s at stake, beyond the dictatorial gamesmanship of the country’s military junta, led by a cigarette-sucking cartoon of General Ne Win (Htun Lin). Much of what follows alternates between scenes of Suu Kyi — who transitions seamlessly from Oxford housewife with a writing habit to saintly figurehead who is never less than fully turned out in elegant silks with flowers tucked into her hair — inspiring the people with stump speeches for peace, and the General’s fist-shaking schemes to detain her. Detain he does, with years-long house arrests, periods that for reasons that are poorly understood continue despite the fact that Suu Kyi wins a 1990 election by a landslide. Her family — Thewlis and two teenage sons played by Jonathan Raggett and Jonathan Woodhouse — are allowed to visit intermittently, but even when she’s free, Suu Kyi vows not to leave Burma, knowing she would not be permitted to return. What is actually accomplished by this vow is frozen, like the rest of The Lady, inside of Suu Kyi’s Mona Lisa smile. When Besson presses on the romantic drama of the central couple’s separation, the script (written by Rebecca Frayn) tatters under the strain: Thewlis is neutered into a piece of tweedy furniture — constant, supportive, there — who says things like, “If they think I’m going to take this lying down they’ve got another thing coming!” and “Another refusal, and all the while time slipping through my fingers!” Suu Kyi says she has a terrible temper but endures her mother’s death, her family’s absence, and a hunger strike with the same temperate, monsoon-proof expression. Given The Lady’s Teflon, cinema-of-quality surface (the odd vernal, Asiatic vista is thrown in for variety) and almost childishly palatable contents (triple-blended for global smoothness), the film’s two organic moments feel miraculous. The first illustrates the translation of Suu Kyi’s heated standoff with the militia into myth as it is pantomimed across Rangoon in a brief, brilliant montage. The second is much (muuuuch) further on, as Suu Kyi shares in her Nobel Prize ceremony by transistor radio, an award her family accepts in her stead in an unexpectedly lyrical sequence. Knowing that it’s still possible to breathe life into Pachelbel’s Canon only enhances the sense that the rest of this somnolent hymn to a national hero is a sorely missed opportunity. Follow Michelle Orange on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

TBS Conan OBrien-Produced Comedy Pilot Casts Its Leads

EXCLUSIVE: TBS has cast up-and-coming comedian Jay Malone and UCB performer David Neher as the 2 leads in the half-hour comedy pilot from Conan OBriens production company. The untitled multi-camera project, referred to as BFF, centers on Mark (Malone), a family man who quits his day job and returns to the neighborhood where he grew up. There, he reunites with his quirky childhood best friend Roland (Neher) who still lives with his parents. The project, from O’Brien’s Conaco Prods. and Warner Horizon, was written by Ben Wexler, who serves as showrunner, Ross Novie and Jay Rondot. The three are executive producing with OBrien, David Kissinger and Jeff Ross. The Conaco project is one of 3 half-hour pilots at TBS, along with Men at Work and Sullivan & Son.

Ashton Kutcher: 'Man' finds new man

KutcherAll eyes were on Ashton Kutcher when he stepped in to fill the "Two and a Half Men" void left by Charlie Sheen. Though the first episode's astronomical showing, which saw 28.7 million tune in, could be chalked up to curiosity, the CBS skein continues to impress two months later, as Monday's No. 1 entertainment series in all key demos.Still, not everyone was amused by Kutcher's performance. The season premiere called for him to appear nude in a scene. "We were trying to figure out how we were going to do that in front of a live studio audience," says Kutcher, who dusted off a prosthetic made for his "Naked Man" Internet sketch from a few years back. "When I took my clothes off, the audience could tell that I wasn't really naked. But we didn't tell the Standards and Practices person from CBS that I was going to do that, so she came down screaming from her booth, freaking out."In addition to filling Sheen's shoes, the actor-producer-Internet trailblazer also filled seats at the multiplex in 2011. Kutcher's edgy romantic comedy "No Strings Attached," which nabbed $149 million worldwide, did particularly strong business overseas -- an impressive feat given that such fare typically doesn't travel well. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Ough Gervais on Golden Globes Bubble, and 6 Other Tales You Will Be Speaking About Today

Happy Tuesday! Also in today’s edition from the Broadsheet: Channing Tatum may be the latest subject of Guy From U.N.C.L.E. gossips… Felicity Johnson will Hughes up with Warren Beatty… We’re conveying Meryl Streep and Joel Coen to China… and much more. · The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has before the finish of the week to find out whether it really wants to bring Ough Gervais back for his third Golden Globes hosting gig in The month of january. I'm able to’t even believe this can be a real internal debate — obviously they invite Gervais back (presuming he even really wants to host at this time he’d really have more attention turning this sad, sad group lower than he'd taking their cash and consuming their beer onstage). But here’s the “controversy” because it apparently stands today: “NBC has place the HFPA inside a lose-lose situation. When the Hollywood Foreign Press states ‘Yes’ to Ough, it risks turning the Globes in to the Ough Gervais Show and departing the sense they’re yearly tossing an excellent party while inviting somebody that humiliates all the visitors. Whether it states ‘No,’ the HFPA appears like it's no spontaneity about itself.” Really, no: It puts any nominees who decline to go to within the position of getting no spontaneity about themselves, and also, since everybody’s having to pay to experience anyway, who’s likely to not appear? Get it done, already, HFPA. [Deadline] · Could Channing Tatum function as the lead for that Guy From U.N.C.L.E? Someone’s agent appears to consider so. [Deadline] · Actual headline: “Russell Brand to Star in and convey Comedy The Leader Stole My Girlfriend.” And Russell Brand stole my will to reside. [THR] · Breakout Constantly actress Felicity Johnson has apparently nabbed the feminine lead in Warren Beatty’s lengthy-gestating Howard Hughes film that might really get produced in our lives. [Deadline] · Meryl Streep and Joel Coen are some of the People in america headed to some cultural summit in Beijing, where Streep will screen The Iron Lady the very first time. Tough crowd! [Variety] · With J. Edgar dead both in this area-office and Oscar water, an autopsy in without doubt so as. Who understood it was 9 % Watchmen? That’s enough to kill anything. [Moviefone] · Below may be the only Jobs tribute you’ll ever need, which terrific interview using its illusionist, Paul Gertner, persuasively describes why. Brilliant, heartbreaking items that nonetheless makes me wish to smash my Mac to bits. [Press Play/indieWIRE]

'The Muppets' Premiere Red-colored Carpet Arrivals

Jason Segel, Can Be, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and also the stars of Disney's family comedy, opening in U.S. theaters November. 23, walked the eco-friendly carpet in the film's premiere on November. 12 at Hollywood's El Capitan Theatre. The feature, composed by Segel and Nicholas Stoller, marks the very first Muppets movie produced in 12 years.

FEINBERG'S 5: Billy Crystal, AFI Fest, 'The Iron Lady,' 'Margin Call,' Morgan Freeman

Kevin Winter/Getty Images These, in my judgment, are the five awards-related stories from the past week that every self-respecting movie buff should know about...our editor recommendsBilly Crystal to Host the OscarsMeryl Streep Movie 'The Iron Lady' to Open Dec. 30Roadside Celebrates 'Albert Nobbs,' Prepares to Mount Late Campaign for 'Margin Call'Morgan Freeman to Receive Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement at Golden GlobesSteven Spielberg's 'The Adventures of Tintin' Gets North American Premiere as 25th AFI Fest Closes 1. The Academy Makes the Best of It It was a rollercoaster of a week for the Academy. As THR was the first to report, Brett Ratner, who had been named the producer of February's Oscar show, resigned from the job on Tuesday after provoking a firestorm of controversy by stating during a Q&A that "rehearsal is for fags" and explicitly discussing his sex life with Howard Stern. Then, on Wednesday, Eddie Murphy, whom Ratner recently directed in Tower Heist and recruited to serve as the host of the Oscar show, also walked away from the show, leaving things in disarray. But that same day, Brian Grazer, the co-chief of Imagine Entertainment and the Oscar-winning producer of A Beautiful Mind (2001), stepped up to the plate and agreed to replace Ratner, and, on Thursday, Billy Crystal, the popular host of eight previous Oscar shows, agreed to come back and fill in for Murphy. (As a publicist friend said to me, it's a pretty safe bet that Crystal's opening monologue will begin, "Good evening and welcome to the Oscars. I'm your host, Eddie Murphy!") PHOTOS: Oscar Hosts Through the Years Despite the inconvenience and stress that the last week must have caused the Academy, they actually came out of it in pretty good shape; after all, does anyone doubt that they'd have preferred a Grazer/Crystal combo over Ratner/Murphy in the first place? Now, the Academy can devote its full focus to Saturday's third annual Governors Awards ceremony, at which actress/producer Oprah Winfrey will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and honorary Oscars will be presented to actor James Earl Jones (in absentia -- he didn't want to miss a night of his West End play Driving Miss Daisy) and makeup artist Dick Smith. (Click here to read my preview of the event and interviews with all three honorees.) 2. AFI Fest Closes Out Fall Festival Season The fall festival season drew to a close with the 25th annual AFI Fest, a week-long festival that was held in Hollywood (primarily at Grauman's Chinese and Egyptian theaters) and was bookended by two highly-anticipated films. The opening night screening was the world premiere of Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar and the closing night screening was the North American premiere of Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin, both of which generated mixed-leaning-positive responses from critics. PHOTOS: 'J. Edgar' Kicks Off AFI Fest In-between, many other awards hopefuls that have been playing on the festival circuit for months were also screened, including contenders for the big eight categories (Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist, Steve McQueen's Shame, Roman Polanski's Carnage, Luc Besson's The Lady, Ralph Fiennes's Coriolanus, Lynne Ramsey's We Need to Talk About Kevin, Oren Moverman's Rampart, Simon Curtis's My Week with Marilyn, Lars von Trier's Melancholia), foreign language category (Wim Wenders's Pina, Asghar Farhadi's A Separation, Bela Tarr's The Turin Horse), and doc category (Werner Herzog's Into the Abyss). Be sure to check out my recent interviews with Coriolanus's director/star Fiennes (click here) and The Lady's star Michelle Yeoh (click here). 3. Iron Lady to December 30 The Weinstein Company has decided to push back the release date of Phyllida Lloyd's Margaret Thatcher bio-pic The Iron Lady -- which stars Meryl Streep in the title role -- from December 16 to December 30. This move, along with the fact that a trailer for the film has yet to be released, has stirred up doubts about whether the film will provide to be the awards contender that many expected it might be. Indeed, this film will test whether Lloyd will bring her game up to Streep's historic level (Streep seems to get nominated every time she appears in a film), or Streep will bring hers down to Lloyd's (Lloyd is best known for the 2008 big screen adaptation of Mamma Mia!). Either way, Harvey Weinstein will have a stake in the best actress Oscar race: he's also distributing My Week with Marilyn, which features an awards-caliber portrayal of Marilyn Monroe by Michelle Williams, who has been nominated twice in the past. 4. Margin Call Surprises Roadside Attractions has decided to mount a late but aggressive campaign on behalf of the timely Wall Street drama Margin Call, which was written and directed by first-time filmmaker J.C. Chandor and features an incredible ensemble cast led by Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, Demi Moore, and Mary McDonnell. The film, which was released concurrently in select theaters and on VOD on October 21, quickly generated enthusiastic support from critics and phenomenal numbers on VOD, convincing the little studio -- which has previously guided The Cove (2009), Biutiful (2010), and Winter's Bone (2010) to Oscar success -- that they have a second contender on their hands to go along with Albert Nobbs, for which they hope to score a best actress nod for Glenn Close and a best supporting actress nod for Janet McTeer. Margin Call, which one publicist described as "The Help for men," received a best ensemble Gotham Awards nod earlier this month, and seems to have a strong shot a best ensemble SAG nod and a best original screenplay Oscar nod; a so-so shot at best supporting actor SAG/Globe/Oscar nods for Irons and/or Spacey (although both are currently working overseas and therefore unable to do much glad-handing); and a long shot at a best picture Oscar nod. Roadside has already mailed screeners to the HFPA, with others for SAG and the Academy still to come; Quinto is doing SAG Q&As and will probably attend the Gothams, perhaps with Irons and other members of the cast; and the studio is starting to buy ads on various websites that might be read by awards voters. 5. Globes to Fete Freeman The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced that actor Morgan Freeman will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, January 15. The 74-year-old, whose booming voice has been likened to God's, made his film debut in 1964. In the years since, he has given memorable performances in dozens of critically and/or commercially successful films. Freeman has received five Academy Award nominations and five Golden Globe nominations, winning the best supporting actor Oscar for Million Dollar Baby (2004) and the best actor (musical or comedy) Globe for Driving Miss Daisy (1989). Previous recipients of the honor, which is determined by the HFPA's board of directors, include Alfred Hitchcock, Lucille Ball, Sidney Poitier, Sophia Loren, Sean Connery, Barbra Streisand, Martin Scorsese, and, at last year's ceremony, Robert De Niro. PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery Most Unforgettable Oscar Speeches PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery Actors Who've Played Politicians Billy Crystal Brett Ratner Clint Eastwood Morgan Freeman Oscars Oscars 2012 J. Edgar Tower Heist

'The Descendants': Alexander Payne Goes Behind the curtain of George Clooney Pic

This story first came out inside the November. 18 problem in the Hollywood Reporter magazine. "It's hard to shoot boat moments, it calculates," states author-director Alexander Payne in the resigned deadpan. "I didn't understand that before. Clooney understood it. He mentioned: 'You hate vehicle work? Boat tasks are vehicle concentrate on steroid drugs.' " George Clooney, the star of Payne's new movie The Descendants, certainly understood what he was talking about: Wolfgang Petersen practically drowned the actor 10 years earlier throughout filming in the Perfect Storm. In comparison, the climactic scene Clooney and Payne needed to film for Descendants might have been small -- a grieving father and also the two kids floating in the canoe from the island of the island of oahu's Waikiki Beach -- nevertheless it needed lots of heavy equipment and 40 crewmembers on several watercraft rocking in large increases, in addition to a preteen actress in the meltdown and seasick focus pullers. "You're in Hawaii, and so the weather changes pretty quickly, plus you've got two moving parts concurrently that are not controlled by you -- they're controlled with the moon," states Clooney. "It absolutely was frustrating for him as they wanted it really to become number of people venturing out getting a camera." Payne, 50, pointing his first feature in seven years, typically makes movies that are short on technical complications: His previous film, Sideways, involved two males driving around California's Santa Ynez Valley. But he confesses that on any film, he fears "the frequently unwieldy method of production will hinder the closeness from the products I'm shooting. With this type of intimate little scene, it absolutely was as though the Marine Corps were carrying out exercises throughout them." PHOTOS: George Clooney's Career in Pictures Nevertheless the controlled chaos and uneven waves matched up in the turmoil gone through by Descendants' central family, the Nobleman, inside the wake of non-public tragedy. Clooney's Matt King can be a effective lawyer and heir with a gorgeous little bit of Hawaiian property who must cope with a quartet of sudden challenges: His wife drops in to a coma carrying out a boat accident her absence forces him to navigate a completely new authority role along with his two uncontrollable kids his relatives wants him to promote their valued landholding which he discovers that his hurt wife happen to be getting an affair. Comedy and tears ensue -- and, as this is an Alexander Payne movie, frequently inside the same moment. The project required its come from 2007 when two London agents handed a galley copy in the novel, put together by native Hawaiian Kaui Hart Hemmings, to Payne's creating partner, Jim Burke. He and Payne loved it and optioned it through their Fox Searchlight deal each week before it hit book store shelves, though in those days they basically designed to work as producers. Payne, situated in Omaha, Neb., was deep into writing a considerably bigger project titled Downsizing along with his writing-creating partner, Jim Taylor, so Burke hired comedy actor-authors Jim Rash and Nat Faxon (Reno 911!) to tackle the variation. Although numerous filmmakers came knocking and director Stephen Frears shown serious interest, nobody committed. Once Payne recognized Downsizing may have a hard slog finding financing, he made a decision arrived revisit pointing, so he dove into Descendants rather. "It had all the elements -- a enjoyable human story somewhere and among a category of people which are unique for just about any film," states Payne. "I hopped in solid." With This summer time 2009, he was focusing by themselves adaptation, which was ready to shoot by March 2010. Inside the interim, Payne needed two monthlong excursions for the islands to take the culture, explore locations and choose the mind in the novel's author, who acquired inside the The area of the island of oahu capital of scotland - Kailua and moved back there four years ago, after grad school. "I make narrative films, however greatly hold the attitude from the documentarian too, just what the truth is throughout my fiction films has great resemblance to real existence," states Payne, which has modified the books Election, About Schmidt and Sideways for your silver screen. "Descendants might be it I've been most faithful to and several such as the author because it's her world. It absolutely was a stretch personally, which i needed to be right." PHOTOS: 'Descendants' Star and THR's Next Gen Class of 2011 Once Payne requested Hemmings to the process just like a "guide," she considered in on potential locations, local conversational phrasings, wardrobe options in addition to which accessories should portray natives. She wasn't shy about adding dialogue suggestions, either. The evening of her 33rd birthday, she stopped with the director's accommodation to talk about the script and offered a kind of dialogue for Sid (Nick Krause), the not aware teen who's dating King's older daughter: "I'd put his nuts around the dresser and bang these with a spiked softball softball bat." In those days, Payne was noncommittal. "Now it's inside the movie!" states Hemmings. "It's my proudest moment." Hemmings also inadvertently developed a bigger contribution. "Alexander asked for me whom I saw inside the role, and my first answer was George Clooney," she states. Since it happened, Clooney, 50, had desired to utilize Payne since the filmmaker passed down him for your Thomas Haden Chapel role in Sideways. Ever since then, Payne happen to be busy creating and writing projects (I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Ray) and finalizing the divorce from actress Sandra Oh. However, if Payne, script in hands, met with Clooney again within the Toronto Worldwide Film Festival in fall 2009, the actor readily came onto play what he calls a "schlub," an psychologically detached guy who is able to't even win a quarrel along with his teenage daughter. Shailene Woodley, 19, and Amara Burns, 11, who play King's kids, travelled towards the island of the island of oahu 10 days just before the ten-week shoot to develop a reputable family dynamic with Clooney. "I did so play a physician on the program for five years, therefore i have labored with kids a good deal,In . states the first sort star of ER. "You just spend sufficient time together to ensure that they feel relaxed enough to offer you a hard time.Inch Related Subjects George Clooney Alexander Payne The Descendants Honours Season Preview 1 2 next last

Chernin Buys Foreign Exchange Pitch; Shawn Harwell Writing, Jeff Tomsic To Direct

EXCLUSIVE: Chernin Entertainment has acquired Untitled Foreign Exchange, a comedy pitch that Shawn Harwell will write and Jeff Tomsic will direct. Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark and Jenno Topping will produce for Chernin Entertainment, which won the pitch with a preemptive offer made from the company’s discretionary fund. Tomsic gets the directing job after helming a number of shorts, including I’m Having A Difficult Time Killing My Parents, which debuted at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. He’s also directed shows for MTV and VH1 and campaigns for Dr. Pepper, Hasbro and other brands. Harwell cowrote Dog Fight, the Warner Bros comedy that Jay Roach is directing with Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. He also scripted Hench with Danny McBride for Warner Bros and Neal Moritz, and was a staff writer in McBride’s HBO Series Eastbound & Down. Both are repped by CAA and Tomsic is managed by Generate.

Daniel Radcliffe's 'The Lady in Black' New Photo: Foggy Terror and Damaged Fences [Moviefone Exclusive]

It is just Tuesday, however it was already quite a few days for Daniel Radcliffe. Additionally to reaching the finals from the 25 Under 25 Individuals Choice Award competition -- opposite his 'Harry Potter' co-stars Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Tom Felton -- a brand new frightening still photo from Radcliffe's approaching thriller 'The Lady In Black' has additionally been launched. Toss in the DVD and Blu-ray debut of something known as 'Harry Potter and also the Deathly Hallows Part 2' on Friday, plus you've got a zeitgeist-y hat-trick couple of stars could accomplish. Browse the ominous 'Woman in Black' pic ahead. [Click for bigger] Out February. 3, 'The Lady in Black' concentrates on a youthful lawyer (Radcliffe) delivered to an online town to handle the matters of the deceased client -- that is fine, until he encounters a terrifying ghost. Watch a clip below and prepare to cover your vision. [Top Photo: Getty] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook RELATED

Covert Affairs' Chris Gorham on Auggie's New Girlfriend: It's a Very Complicated Relationship

Christopher Gorham, Devin Kelley Spoiler alert! Auggie will pay out lots of time in bed on Covert Matters. OK, that is not really surprising, but what's surprising is the fact the resident ladies' guy is trading it with just one lady.Have a look at photos from Covert Matters"I believe that it is good we'll finally see him getting a girlfriend," Christopher Gorham notifies TVGuide.com. "We have not looked into that yet - we view him with females and [his ex], but this can most likely be interesting for him. It's something he wasn't expecting, that's certainly.InchAuggie's lady friend is not Annie (Piper Perabo), yet it's not some chick he meets inside a bar either. She's Parker (Devin Kelley), the greater youthful sister of Billy, who died inside the Iraq mission that blinded Auggie. They meet on Tuesday's episode (10/9c, USA) inside a memorial held by Billy's family that Annie encourages him to visit.InchPossibly, it's a very complicated relationship," Gorham states. "It starts progressively. She will get that spark that he's really drawn to. She's caring and she's also youthful than him. It doesn't mirror Auggie's relationship with Annie, but it's much like it, especially Auggie and Annie in Season 1 when Annie really needed him which he looked after her. There's a bit of this. Frankly, Auggie kind of stumbles into this relationship. I don't think that he switches into it planning this to become relationship."Though that appears just like a government-type connection, Gorham demands the bond is reciprocal and healthy since the two bond over Billy's dying. So what's Auggie like just like a boyfriend? Well, for starters, we'll see his much much softer side, or a little from it no less than.Concealed Affairs' Sendhil Ramamurthy on Jai 2., going shirtless with Chris Gorham"His feelings avoid him a little, not, like, yanking his heart out crying or anything such as this, but he'll get amazed at how deep his feelings are for Parker. In my opinion he thinks he loves her. I am unsure if he's doing or else, but he thinks he's doing,Inch Gorham states. "Honestly, In my opinion in the extended-term relationship, Auggie might be a difficult boyfriend! He's so excellent at keeping things near the vest rather than talking about personal data. It's such a part of him, that's something which might be very attractive around the short-term basis, in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, that could get really frustrating."His relationship with Parker arranged in to the "short-term" category, that ought to make Annie-Auggie 'shippers happy. Kelley will simply are available in three of Season 2's final six episodes as Parker leaves to start her service inside the Peace Corps. The happy couple comprises a choice about what direction to go, but it's definately not final. "Once the relationship continues, therefore it certainly may, you have to may explore really that in Season 3," Gorham states. "It's a very open question regarding what will happen."Consistent with character, Auggie keeps the bond round the lower-low, but Annie eventually finds out using what Gorham calls an "awesome scene." How that thought will affect Annie's (dormant?) feelings for Auggie may have by helping cover their the finale. "It requires proper care of inside a satisfying way of everyone else when you're getting in it,In . Gorham states. "All six of those episodes will definitely push Annie and Auggie's relationship in to a new arena."Covert Affairs' Sendhil Ramamurthy: Jai becomes a pressure being thought withWhile Auggie will get a lot of action in your house, he won't be seeing any in the office. You will discover no area missions for him throughout all six of these episodes - though Gorham did visit Venice, Berlin, Stockholm and London because the show shot on spot to shoot behind-the-moments footage as Auggie - but he'll take part in some friendly warfare while using lately promoted Jai (Sendhil Ramamurthy)."They don't trust each other. There's a collegial, adversarial relationship, as well as the adversarial a lot of it can get ratcheted up," according to him. "Jai eventually takes something from Auggie which get Auggie pretty hot. I'm just glad Sendhil's finally arrived at take his shirt off throughout all six of these episodes!"And therefore is Ramamurthy - he did challenge Gorham to have an ab-off in Season 3 and guaranteed it absolutely was happening."I'll just hands him the trophy at this time around and basically save myself the sit-ups," Gorham states. "You can't always believe what Sendhil states. In my opinion more youthful crowd mentioned a Heroes movie was happening eventually! Where am i with this particular? ... Listen, I'm only carrying it out if [Peter] Gallagher is at too. I told the males next season that individuals must rent a house in Toronto and hang up web cameras and possess our personal little webisodes!"

Britannia Awards Taps Presenters

Robin Williams, Anne Hathaway, Helen Mirren and Jason Isaacs will be among the presenters at BAFTA LA’s 2011 Britannia Awards, set for November 30 at the Beverly Hilton. Alan Cumming is hosting the ceremony, which will air December 4 on TV Guide Network. The already announced 2011 honorees are Warren Beatty (Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film), Helena Bonham Carter (Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year), John Lasseter (Cubby Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment), Ben Stiller (Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy), and David Yates (John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing).

Charlotte Gainsbourg on Melancholia, Kirsten Dunst and Lars von Trier: 'He's Always Right'

This week finally brings Melancholia to limited theatrical release in the US, where prospective viewers have spent the five months since its Cannes premiere attempting to parse the great, fraught, near-instant mythology of director Lars von Trier’s latest masterpiece. Finally the work can speak for itself — or mostly speak for itself, anyway, with help from co-star and modern-era von Trier muse Charlotte Gainsbourg. Melancholia features Gainsbourg and Kirsten Dunst and Claire and Justine, sisters brought together at the former’s house for the latter’s wedding only to see its opulence and joy flushed away by Justine’s debilitating depression. Meanwhile, Claire’s short-tempered husband John (Kiefer Sutherland) studies the approach of a new planet named Melancholia, which may or may not be on a crash course with Earth. Justine’s convalescence dovetails with Claire’s apocalyptic panic, setting off the sisters’ epic exploration of the outer limits of love, family, faith and hope. Dunst’s performance earned her Best Actress honors at Cannes — the same prize Gainsbourg received in 2009 for her wrenching turn in von Trier’s Antichrist. Movieline recently spoke with Gainsbourg about that winning tradition, the maddening filmmaker and why America’s a nice place to visit yet she wouldn’t want to live here. What was your reaction when you saw Melancholia for the first time? It was the same as with Antichrist: I wasn’t sure… It was weird. And that’s what I told Lars: “I thought it was really weird.” I don’t get to see the film the way it is then. Seeing it in Cannes really helps because there’s a real audience. There’s something quite magical in Cannes when it happens — the nervousness you can have being in the middle of that kind of screening. But I can’t say I have the right perspective when I watch the film. I’m happy whenever I’m not on screen. I’m happy looking at the scenes where Justine is and I’m not. Then I was able to really watch. Otherwise I’m too much a part of it. Do you have siblings? Yeah. Did being a sister inform this role? Sure, but more than that… Having siblings, yes. Being a mother, too — even with Justine. There’s a relationship of protectiveness. Lars really pointed that out. He asked me to watch Persona, which had that relationship — nurse to patient. So that was interesting. And we did a few hours of rehearsals with Kirsten playing around that — taking care of her, and her being a patient, and I being a nurse. That’s the relationship we worked on. And then of course it’s completely the other way around. Well, not the other way around; I get to the place where she was in the beginning at the end of the film. Once she doesn’t need me anymore, that’s when I fall apart. That’s interesting. I mean, what kind of relationship did you want to cultivate with Kirsten herself before the film? How close do you want to be to her? It’s all instinctive. We don’t need to pretend that we’re sisters in real life. We had a glass together, and we joined up after the shoot, and we had dinner, and we were quite close. But we didn’t need to work on that. It’s written in the scenes, and it’s obvious. There was something very obvious in the way I could touch her. She’s a very loving person. There’s a sensuality with her figure that made me want to hold her in my arms. There’s something very natural in the scene where I try to give her a bath, and she let’s go completely. It was obvious that you wanted to protect her. I didn’t have to go far pretending. It was there. Is that type of sensuality something you’ve instinctively drawn from in general — with other actors and other situations? I think it’s very important. Also, how comfortable you are using your hands — touching someone. I kind of like that. Sometimes people make you feel very uncomfortable, and you’re very shy touching them. I remember shooting with a little girl, and it was so tough to get together. I was playing her mother, and we were so shy, one to another. We couldn’t touch each other. In the scene she had to brush my hair, and it was so hard. The physical aspect of touching someone’s skin is really hard. Is it? Yeah. To get the confidence, yeah. But you strike me as such a courageous, confident actor. I’m not confident. But when I know what I have to do, and if it’s a question of pushing yourself? I love pushing myself. But I need a little push. And Lars is pretty good at that. Yeah! He makes me feel very uncomfortable, but I think that’s what I like: to be very unbalanced, to be put in an awkward situation, very unsure of myself, to be in need of his acceptance or his indications and his validation, really. Really being in his hands. That’s personal to you, though — Charlotte Gainsbourg. You need that for yourself. I need that from him. I’m sure he’s aware of it, but it’s not something we’ve discussed. I trust him so much, that I need to let go with him. I don’t think I’d do this with someone else. Have you ever felt that element of your working relationship compromising the characters? Where he wants to push to one point, but you have another in mind? No, not at all, because he’s always spot-on. He has a judgment that I trust completely. He has a way of listening that is so accurate and so precise. He’s always right. That’s a lot of trust. It is, but it’s great to be able to work in those conditions. You need to trust a director. If not, you can’t let go. You can’t explore a scene. You’re going to be bad at one point; you need to trust that the director is not going to use it. You can explore a scene and go too far. Sometimes, when I’m not comfortable, it’s being too aware of yourself and fearing ridicule too much. You need to get there in order to go back to something maybe more accurate. You have to push yourself a little too far, I think.

Oscar Winner 'The King's Speech' Competes for European Film Academy's Top Award

LONDON -- The Oscar-winning film The King's Speechhas another chance to add to its burgeoning awards roster with a tilt at this year's European Film Academy's best European film award.our editor recommendsEuropean Film Academy Names European Discovery NomineesThe European Film Academy, Asia Pacific Screen Academy Form AllianceStephen Frears to Receive European Film Academys Lifetime Achievement AwardOscar-Winning 'The Kings Speech' Makes European Film Academy Long List The film's Oscar-winning star Colin Firth also finds himself in the running to pick up yet another top notch award for his turn as the stuttering King George VI in the European Academy's best actor category. Should The King's Speech reign on the evening of the awards it will have overcome a list of heavyweight arthouse contenders including The Artist, written and directed by Michel Nazanavicius, Susanne Bier's Haevnen (In a Better World) and Aki Kaurismaki's Le Havre. Also looking to upset the coronation of The King's Speech is Lars von Trier's Melancholia and Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's The Kid With a Bike. Firth also finds himself with some stiff opposition in the European actor category with several turns from the best film nominations featuring. Jean Dujardinfor his role in The Artist, Mikael Persbrandt in Haevnen and Andre Wilms for his outing in Le Havre find themselves alongside Michel Piccoli in Habemus Papam challenging for Firth's crown. The European best actress shortlist includes Kirsten Dunst, an actress who also possesses a German passport alongside her U.S. creditentials, for her turn in Melancholia. Dunst finds herself up against fellow Melancholia star Charlotte Gainsbourg, Cecile de France for The Kid With a Bike and Nadezhda Markina for her outing in Elena. But the actress being tipped to beat is Tilda Swinton for her dominating screen presence in We Need To Talk About Kevin. All eyes and ears will be on the stage should von Trier triumph in the evening's best European director category for Melancholia. Challenges come from the Dardenne brothers (Bike), Bier (Haevnen), Kaurismaki (Le Havre) and Bela Tarr for A Torinoi Lo. Best European screenwriter of 2011 will also come from the Dardenne Brothers (Bike), Kaurismaki (Le Havre), Von Trier (Melancholia) or Anders Thomas Jensen (Haevnen). The nominations have been narrowed down from a long list made up by the 20 countries with the most EFA members, which have voted one national film directly onto the list, while further films were added by EFA board members and experts. Leading the way with seven nominations is Melancholia, followed by four nominations each forThe Artist, The Kid with a Bike, The King's Speech, Le Havre and Haevnen. Films from 32 European countries were repped on this year's long list. The more than 2,500 EFA Members will now vote for the winners. The 24th European Film Awards will be presented in Berlin on Dec. 3 this year. Related Topics International The King's Speech Melancholia The Kid With a Bike The Artist

'Parenthood's' Monica Potter: Kristina's Postpartum Depression is Real

"Parenthood's" Monica Potter is making sure the NBC series remains an authentic depiction of family drama.After her character, the loyal and almost saint-like Kristina Braverman, delivered baby Nora around the Jason Katims ("Friday Evening Lights") drama, she spoken with the showrunner about including postpartum depression moments. "I put that available since it is a genuine factor and lots of women contacted me about this,Inch mom of three informs "The Hollywood Reporter." "I met a lady who had been dealing with severe postpartum depression and that i introduced up to Jason and that he allow me to go towards the place I'd go without having to be a Darlene Downer."Following a dramatic -- and often comedy (Peter Krause's Adam Braverman attempting to be "stylish" was priceless) -- episode by which she gave birth, Kristina returns home and, much towards the chagrin of her oldest daughter, Haddie (Sarah Ramos), struggles to locate balance between being careful of herself, the home, a baby, along with a boy with special needs."[I am playing it] like I am unraveling and you will find things from my control, that is how women feel when they have just were built with a baby," she states. "I have felt it at some point during my existence and that i always prefer to incorporate the actual stuff into playing her."Potter adds that Kristina will have a problem with most of the things new moms face in determining who they really are beyond as being a wife and mother. "Lots of women have battled with this particular -- I have a problem with this -- where would you become yourself?" she states."You'll continually be a mother, however i think women lose themselves once we get into motherhood and as being a wife," she states. "It's like daily we awaken and that we perform the same things every single day and that we become robot.Between juggling her obligations fully house with Adam busy starting their recording studio, The Luncheonette, Potter notes that Kristina will not be lower for lengthy."I seem like Kristina will go another way," she states. "She has been so encouraging of Adam and also the family for such a long time and she or he just were built with a baby and today she's tugging herself up through the bootstraps and saying, 'I'm still an individual, I have a existence beyond as being a mother and wife.' ""Being a parent" airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on NBC. The Hollywood Reporter

Blu-ray pals Facebook to keep sales up

With Blu-ray sales growing this year, digital Entertainment Group desires to keep the momentum going through the holidays and contains enlisted Hollywood as well as the electronic products biz to create the greatest social media campaign for your format through Facebook. Since the overall homevideo biz is experiencing a 5% rise in revenue through the 3rd quarter -- its first quarterly sales increase since 2008 -- greater than 100 Facebook pages will launch a "Win large with Blu-ray" contest that will "educate movie fanatics on the benefits of Blu-ray home theatre,Inch the DEG mentioned. Bert Kreischer, host of Travel Channel's "Bert The Conqueror," has become representative for your contest, through which individuals who win will probably be granted a Blu-ray prize pack each week. Kreischer as well as the DEG produced three short videos that will show on participating partners' Facebook pages. Effort launches now and runs using the next 15 days. Virtually all of the art galleries are involved in the campaign, similar to indie distribs like Anchor Bay and Image Entertainment and electronic products producers like LG Electronics, Panasonic, The brand new the new sony Electronics and Toshiba America Information Systems. "The most effective 20 Hollywood film pages alone on Facebook have an overabundance than 250 million collective 'likes,' so by joining up exceeding 100 similar partners, we understood this might be one of the greatest contest ever being completed on Facebook," mentioned Amy Jo Cruz, executive director in the DEG. "Clients are trading nearly eight several hours monthly on Facebook now. There's no better approach to tout the benefits of Blu-ray to engaged and receptive clients nationwide.In . Promotion is powered by Peer Squared, designers in the ShareAndTell Professional social contest and rewards platform. The DEG reported Monday that third-quarter sales of homevideo game game titles inside the U.S. totaled $3.9 billion, up from $3.7 billion this past year. Blu-ray created $423 million through the 3rd quarter, due to top merchants like "Transformers: Dark in the Moon," "Thor," "X-Males: Top Quality,In . "Bridesmaids," "Fast Five" and "Alien: The Whole Saga." Streaming, electronic sales, and VOD elevated 50% to $812 million through the quarter, with VOD alone, producing $420 million of the through the 3-month period, up 5%. The rental biz still created $607 million from subscription-based disc-by-mail services like Netflix, which elevated 5%, and $414 million hauled in by rental costs from kiosks like Redbox through the quarter. DVD sales were off 15% to $1.3 billion. Overall, purchasing Blu-sun sun rays acquired $1.23 billion for your first seventy five percent of year, compared to $1 billion for a similar period this past year. Many of the uptick remains credited to "Avatar," which offered 11 million models on Blu-ray. Before that film, game game titles created 16% from the sales, normally, within the Blu-ray format. Now, it's around 25%, with a lot of game game titles moving greater than 50% on Blu-ray. An thought 52% of houses inside the U.S. now own a Blu-ray player, representing 33.5 million houses, the DEG mentioned. However, the entire home theatre sector remains lower 2% to $12.3 billion for your first seventy five percent. Still any signs and signs and symptoms of growth and development of physical dvd disks is welcomed by Hollywood's homevid divisions, given how art galleries are trying to coax more clients to buy rather than rent movies. Contact Marc Graser at marc.graser@variety.com

Jacqueline Paige...Got the Part

Jacqueline Paige...Got the Part Role: An alpha female in 'No Shelter,' a Katie Costello music video By Jesse Landberg October 29, 2011 "I look at this quite strategically," says Jacqueline Paige in reference to her increasingly well navigated (if not yet extensive) acting career. "I'm excited, but I do realize this is a business." Armed with business acumen and a drive to "infiltrate the industry from every way possible," this former business and legal studies major has found no shortage of eager investors in her talent since leaving college radio for TV, theater, and, most recently, music videos.With "No Shelter," a video for singer Katie Costello, Paige gained dynamic reel footage and great connections and became SAG-eligible, thanks to the producers' use of the Screen Actors Guild's New Media Agreement. Not a bad return for about 12 hours of work. Yet Paige candidly admits that when she first saw the project's casting notice in Back Stage, she was less interested in the music than in a timely deliverable."I'm currently trying to work on building up my reel," she says, and she felt that a music video would "be something interesting to transition between one major scene and another major scene, just something different. I love that music videos are finished in a daythat's amazing. When you're doing a movie, you do one scene in a day." But Paige did not submit herself for the gig right away. "I normally shy away from music videos, as unfortunately most times you're asked to be scantily clad," she explains. "But I looked up Katie Costello, and I liked her music, her look, and her vibe."The video's director, Matthew Pizzano, is grateful that Paige took a chance and sent in a submission. He eventually cast her as one of two "alpha females," a synchronized duo of snooty fashionistas who try to turn the video's naive protagonist into one of them. "This role needed to come from the actress's look and how she carried herself," Pizzano says. "Her movements needed to be rhythmic, and the character needed to have a certain degree of haughty status. [Jacqueline] had the look we were going for, and just from doing some minor direction exercises, it was clear that she could hit the notes she needed to hit during the course of the shoot."A former model, Paige used her fashion industry experience to create a unique body language for the largely dialogue-free role. "I remember what those people are like: the mentality, the lingo, the walk, everything. Even the facial expressions," she says, revealing the slightest trace of an English accent. "Drawing on that was helpful, because that's not naturally who I am."It wasn't the first time her fashion background gave her a leg up in the acting business. Of her headshot, Paige says, "I know it's different; it's more of a fashion shot. But I can't tell you how much more work I book with that shot than my general headshot, so I keep using it."Has Back Stage helped you get cast in the past year? We'd love to tell your story. Be in the weekly column by emailing casting@backstage.com for NY or bswcasting@backstage.com for Los Angeles with "I Got the Part" in the subject line. Jacqueline Paige...Got the Part Role: An alpha female in 'No Shelter,' a Katie Costello music video By Jesse Landberg October 29, 2011 "I look at this quite strategically," says Jacqueline Paige in reference to her increasingly well navigated (if not yet extensive) acting career. "I'm excited, but I do realize this is a business." Armed with business acumen and a drive to "infiltrate the industry from every way possible," this former business and legal studies major has found no shortage of eager investors in her talent since leaving college radio for TV, theater, and, most recently, music videos.With "No Shelter," a video for singer Katie Costello, Paige gained dynamic reel footage and great connections and became SAG-eligible, thanks to the producers' use of the Screen Actors Guild's New Media Agreement. Not a bad return for about 12 hours of work. Yet Paige candidly admits that when she first saw the project's casting notice in Back Stage, she was less interested in the music than in a timely deliverable."I'm currently trying to work on building up my reel," she says, and she felt that a music video would "be something interesting to transition between one major scene and another major scene, just something different. I love that music videos are finished in a daythat's amazing. When you're doing a movie, you do one scene in a day." But Paige did not submit herself for the gig right away. "I normally shy away from music videos, as unfortunately most times you're asked to be scantily clad," she explains. "But I looked up Katie Costello, and I liked her music, her look, and her vibe."The video's director, Matthew Pizzano, is grateful that Paige took a chance and sent in a submission. He eventually cast her as one of two "alpha females," a synchronized duo of snooty fashionistas who try to turn the video's naive protagonist into one of them. "This role needed to come from the actress's look and how she carried herself," Pizzano says. "Her movements needed to be rhythmic, and the character needed to have a certain degree of haughty status. [Jacqueline] had the look we were going for, and just from doing some minor direction exercises, it was clear that she could hit the notes she needed to hit during the course of the shoot."A former model, Paige used her fashion industry experience to create a unique body language for the largely dialogue-free role. "I remember what those people are like: the mentality, the lingo, the walk, everything. Even the facial expressions," she says, revealing the slightest trace of an English accent. "Drawing on that was helpful, because that's not naturally who I am."It wasn't the first time her fashion background gave her a leg up in the acting business. Of her headshot, Paige says, "I know it's different; it's more of a fashion shot. But I can't tell you how much more work I book with that shot than my general headshot, so I keep using it."Has Back Stage helped you get cast in the past year? We'd love to tell your story. Be in the weekly column by emailing casting@backstage.com for NY or bswcasting@backstage.com for Los Angeles with "I Got the Part" in the subject line.

Large Bang Theory's Kaley Cuoco Is Engaged

Kaley Cuoco Sorry, brainiacs: Kaley Cuoco comes from the marketplace. The Big Bang Theory star is engaged to Josh Resnik, People reviews. "Due to everyone's well wishes! So sweet and means a great us! #ecstatic" the actress tweeted. Large Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco unveils past real-existence relationship with co-star Cuoco, 25, was formerly connected with co-star Johnny Galecki before dating Resnik, a dependancy specialist. Cuoco and Galecki dated for just two years before separating six several days before their figures referred to as it well round the CBS series

OWN looks at journey to 'Lovetown'

TranterOWN is developing BBC Worldwide Prods.' "Lovetown, USA," an original unscripted TV project about mass matchmaking in an American town, for a potential 2012 series bow. In the show, a group of expert matchmakers would set up operations for 30 days in a city of approximately 15,000 people, looking to pair up as many eligible singles as possible. The mayor, local business and community leaders and everyday citizens would participate. On Monday, the show's casting began its search for the centerpiece town. Izzie Pick Ashcroft, Jane Tranter, Rob Bagshaw, Charlie Debevoise and Mark Hickman will exec produce. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com

Networks Hedge Gadhafi Coverage as Rebels Take Credit for Killing Him

Libyan rebels took credit Thursday for capturing and killing Col. Moammar Gadhafi.our editor recommendsGadhafi's Son Fails in Attempts to Be Hollywood MogulNo Hollywood Ending for Gadhafi Later Thursday, Libya's prime minster confirmed he had been killed. UPDATE: CNN, MSNBC, Fox Air Gruesome Cell Phone Video of Dead Gadhafi Before the confirmation, multiple spelling's of Gadhafi's name instantly became Twitter trending topics as people speculated whether the controversial leader had been shot to death. VIDEO: Journalists Under Attack A graphic photo was also posted that purported to show the Libyan leader with gunshots to the head. CNN also posted what they say is video of his capture. CNN's Anderson Cooper hedged his reports online, warning on Twitter, "Conflicting unconfirmed reports on #Gadhafi's condition and status. Rumors quickly spread and get repeated as facts. Best to wait and see." "#libya fighters say #Gadhafi has been captured. But this is unconfirmed, and they've made false claims in past," Cooper added. Most other outlets also wrote about Gadhafi, but made sure to indicate the news had not yet been confirmed. PHOTOS: The Most Talked-About TV News Faces GlobalGrind Global Grind Speaking to Al Jazeera, NTC military chief Bel Haj confirms that #Gadhafi has been killed. bit.ly/oUipBW P The Associated Press NATO confirms it hit a convoy of Moammar Gadhafi loyalists fleeing Sirte as the city fell today: apne.ws/okjiAd -EC #Libya poniewozik James Poniewozik [Time Magzine] Reports: Qaddafi dead, Gadhafi wounded, Khadafi arrested, whereabouts of Gaddaffi and Qadafy unknown. WSJ Wall Street Journal Breaking: Misrata Military Council, which claimed to have captured Moammar Gadhafi today, says he has died in custody. wsj.com PHOTOS: Rachel Maddow On... NBCLA NBC Los Angeles BREAKING NEWS.. Unconfirmed reports .. Gadhafi is captured and may be killed.on.msnbc.com/nj8vmN ktla ktla #BREAKING NEWS: NTC Official says #Gaddafi has died of his wounds bit.ly/ogonQT #libya #gadhafi CNNLive CNN Live Unconfirmed reports former Libyan leader #Gadhafi has been captured. Watch Libya's Al Ahrar network live: on.cnn.com/cnndcl1 AP The Associated Press RAW VIDEO: Libya fighters fire guns in the air as they celebrate getting full control of Gadhafi hometown: apne.ws/nnQSjk -EC 1 hour ago Favorite Retweet Reply Viewers took issue with the conflicting reports, with one named shawneemon Tweeting, "The reporter on CNN said the they "think" they have 100% confirmation that Gadhafi is dead. Something is very wrong with that statement." Related Topics CNN Anderson Cooper

Showmanship in the office in TV debates

The large set that CNN has sprawled out on the floor in the Sands Exposition Center for your Western Republican Debate on Tuesday fits the dimensions in the Vegas strip, but it's also suggestive of some other trend in the 2012 election cycle: The debates are not only found drawing ever-bigger audiences, they are progressively ambitious as occasions. With cable news systems planning for a nearly weekly stream of debates -- more than twelve are planned through the relaxation in the primary race, with three introduced just on Monday -- pressure is onto stand out, through elaborate production values and huge in-studio audiences. CNN's 266-ft-extended and 90-ft-wide makeshift auditorium, by getting an arc stage thrusting into the audience, is "actually the greatest free-standing debate set that anybody has ever useful for presidential debates, to date as we could tell," states Mike Feist, CNN's Washington bureau chief and senior V . p .. Some 1,500 people will probably fill everyone else. Anthony Crivello, a Tony-award champion starring in "Phantom -- A Las vegas Spectacular," is scheduled to sing the country's Anthem, and Feist states the opener "will feel just a little like the opening from the Olympic telecast." This can be a extended means by the quaint Chicago studio where John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon met for your first public presidential debate in 1960. How large a couple of from the debates reflects the evolution of political coverage, particularly for your cable news systems which wrap their brands around presidential campaigns, marketing not just 24/7 coverage round the trail, however personas and categories of writers. The occasions are often sparse in ads, and so the assistance to channels is at promotion, not necessarily revenue. In the last cycle, CNN began in the standard mold by placing Republican candidates before Air Pressure One for just about any debate within the Reagan Library -- a venue repeated by MSNBC this year -- after which it adopted that tabs on a Democratic debate before a star-studded audience within the Kodak Theatre. Fox News has attracted the greatest audience up to now, with 6.millions of who seen the Sept. 22 debate it backed with Google. MSNBC's coverage from the debate within the Taxation Presidential Library on Sept. 7 came 5.4 million. Bloomberg TV, which backed a debate the other day, doesn't freely release its ratings but it is been thought around millions of, that's low this cycle but strong by Bloomberg's viewership standards. CNN's coverage in the Tea Party-backed debate on Sept. 12 came 3.6 000 0000 audiences, up from the 3 major major.2 million who seen the Nh debate. Facing "Monday Evening Football," it absolutely was nevertheless enough to win the evening against its cable news rivals. What's ironic is the amounts, oftentimes, are greater in comparison as to the these were inside the same period in the last cycle, which came record interest for just about any race readily available for parties. While polls show huge public distrust of people in politics and Washington, that has not saved audiences away. Alan Schroeder, connect professor at East U. in Boston and author of "Presidential Debates: four decades of High-risk TV," states the GOP debates this cycle "have carried out out just like a extended-running TV series, getting a familiar cast of headliners and supporting players gathering regularly to fit wits before larger than usual audiences." He notes the cycle got away and off to a later start in comparison to 2008, which this year there is the "unsettled character in the area, increased with the schism between traditional Republicans and Tea Party Republicans." More youthful crowd indicates another factor: the debates are seen not just through the telecasts though broadly circulated clips online together with other video sites. That was the situation using the final cycle, however the introduction of Twitter together with other social networks have aided get targeted traffic to the occasions. E-mailed questions are actually transformed by people Tweeted instantly, as CNN can do on Tuesday. Some form of social media or public participation is becoming routine, along with the Commission on Presidential Debates, which will sponsor the fall 2012 matchups between each party's nominee, is trying to find techniques to modernize what are actually most likely probably the most formal in the occasions. But CNN's Feist disputes notions -- advanced even by Sarah Palin -- the debates and campaign coverage are becoming a completely new kind of reality television. Around CNN together with other news systems may search for superlatives for occasions, the occasions are actually make-or-break for campaigns just before the onslaught of 30-second ad spots. Audiences have many userful stuff here in regards to the candidates "because of the debates," Feist states. The primary focus at CNN's debate, moderated by Assault Gets worse, is predicted being on Herman Cain given his dramatic rise in the polls. "We take these very seriously," Feist states. "We feel they are essential national political occasions. It becomes an event that's prone to help Republicans choose their nominee for leader. The champion in the Republican nomination process might be the next leader from the united states . States. Would you like to ensure we still get it done. It is a large important event, and you need to address it as being a large important event. That's any particular item here." Kate Lunger, senior executive producer of CNN's special events team, mentioned that deckie's labored day and night since 6 p.m. on Friday to create the venue, since the space wasn't available because of an early on convention. The setup includes seven matching Fleetwood RVs for each candidate to relaxation and confide, arranged so by poll position. Because the set is certainly an extended version of people found in two other CNN debates, the Vegas locale will probably be apparent diversely. Likely to remain in everyone else is really a city legend, Wayne Newton. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

U.K. makes its way into 'Patagonia' for Academy awards

"Patagonia"LONDON -- The U.K. has selected "Patagonia" by Welsh director Marc Evans since it's submission for that foreign-language Oscar."Patagonia" may be the story of two parallel journeys, one with a Welsh couple to vacation to Argentina to operate on the relationship, and the other by an seniors Patagonian lady, and her nephew who visit Wales looking for their loved ones roots.It stars Matthew Rhys and pop star Duffy. Dialogue is within Welsh and The spanish language.BAFTA's film committee chose "Patagonia" for Academy Award submission. BAFTA only makes its way into a movie for that foreign-language Oscar race in a long time if this views there's a contender having a realistic possibility of a nomination. The final film it submit was "Afghan Star" last year.The U.K. has posted nine films previously two decades, seven of these Welsh. A couple of these, "Hedd Wynn" in 1993 and "Solomon and Gaenor" in 1999, received Oscar nominations, however the U.K. hasn't won the award."Patagonia" opened in the Dallas Film Festival this year, and subsequently performed in the Rio p Janiero, Mill Valley, London, Gothenberg and Glasgow fests, prior to getting a little U.K. theatrical release this March, grossing $84,000. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Beyonce Reveals About Waiting To Conceive, Keeping Her Marriage Strong

First Released: October 11, 2011 10:10 AM EDT Credit: Harper's Bazaar NY, N.Y. -- Caption Beyonce around the cover of Harpers Bazaars November 2011Beyonce is pregnant together with her first child, and also the usually quiet-about-her-personal-existence singer opened up up about why she anxiously waited to possess children. It was vital in my experience which i gave myself time to pay attention to becoming the lady I wish to be, building my empire, my relationship, and my self-worth, before I grew to become a parent, she told the November problem of Harpers Bazaar. Now God has fortunate us using the ultimate. So that as she prepares to go in motherhood, apparently in Feb 2011, the singer, 30, stated she's arrived at a place in her own existence where she is filled with confidence. I'm finally in the stage during my existence where I'm not so worried about other bands opinions about my existence choices, she told playboy. It's so liberating to actually understand what I would like, what truly makes me happy, what I won't tolerate. I've learned that it's nobody elses job to consider proper care of me but me. The Run The Planet artist has spent years not speaking about her relationship with husband Jay-Z, whom she married in 2008, but she broke her silence towards the magazine, explaining the way they keep their romance strong. We focused 3 years on our marriage and located it introduced us a level more powerful bond and connection, the singer stated. But like anything great and effective inside your existence, marriage takes effort and sacrifice. It needs to be something you and your husband deeply want. For additional with Beyonce, including photos and behind-the-moments video, visit HarpersBazaar.com. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Hugh Jackman: The Wolverine will probably be simpler

If Hugh Jackman's recent chatter in regards to the Wolverine promises one factor, it is the filmmaking team won't increase the risk for same mistakes that blighted X-Males Roots: Wolverine.Most of us believed that certain would be a little masculine, right?"In my opinion we've got the chance to nail the level of smoothness this time around around, to accomplish the opening-in-one. We have not handled that yet. Round the last movie we complicated it with many different other figures. There will end up more women this time around around, that's good. The ultimate one am masculine!" Jackman told The Protector.Oooooo-K. Please reveal less masculine does not necessarily mean less action? When the factor becomes some kinda weepy-eyed, touchy-feely, 'What's wrong with Wolvie?'-type flick you'll be able to count us out now."The completely new film goes more into the character. I don't think we view his rage expressed properly. We're letting opt for your one in the whole 'Who am I? Where did I result from? Not again, I've lost my memory' factor. I appear like that's sent most of us to relaxation. 'Yeah, whatever friend. We're bored! Fine, you're a sushi chef, whatever it absolutely was, will we just start the story now?'" Jackman added.Appears like we're in line. But be cautious Wolverine, we're jacking into Cerebro to follow those things of that certain cautiously.

Backbeat

A Karl Sydow in colaboration with Glasgow People Theatre presentation from the musical by 50 percent operates by Iain Softley and Stephen Jeffreys good Universal Pictures film put together by Softley, Michael Thomas and Stephen Ward. Directed by David Leveaux. Musical supervision and incidental music by Paul Stacey. Sets and costumes, Christopher Oram and Andrew D. Edwards lighting, Howard Harrison and David Holmes appear, Erection dysfunction Clarke and Paul Groothuis predictions, Timothy Bird and Nina Dunn movement, Nikki Woollaston production stage manager, Judith Cound. Opened up up, March.10. Examined March. 8, 2010. Running time: 2 Several hours, 30 MIN.Stuart SutcliffeNick Blood stream Astrid KirschherrRuta Gedmintas John LennonAndrew Knott Paul McCartneyDaniel Healy George HarrisonWill Payne Pete BestOliver BennettThe band features a gig within the upmarket Cavern Club but John Lennon isn't happy. "It's all regulated controlled gold lame and synchronized moves," he gripes. For the show's immense credit, this is actually the last description anybody uses about "Backbeat." Yes it's a bio-musical in regards to the formation in the Beatles, but a brain-dead jukebox it most certainly is not. David Leveaux's remarkably dark-well toned update of Iain Softley's stage version of his 1994 movie replaces glamour with guts, which can be a difficult sell nonetheless its compelling performances should convert it into a serious hit. Fans will be divided over who was simply a typical in the so-referred to as Great Four: Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison or Ringo Starr. But "Backbeat" barely features Ringo (he appears in the actual finish) and focuses rather round the love triangular between Lennon, Astrid Kirschherr and Stuart Sutcliffe. For anyone itchiness their heads inside the dramatis personae, Kirschherr (Ruta Gedmintas) was the German digital digital photographer who affected the band's look and Sutcliffe (Nick Blood stream) was the barely appreciated original bassist who died from the brain hemorrhage at 21. Instead of shamelessly shoehorning the entire back catalog in to a thin biographical sketch, "Backbeat" examines the pivotal associations previously, ending within the recording session for your first album. With only two exceptions, the musically vital performances are 50s R and B and rock 'n' roll covers this rock band carried out, not their unique tunes, which changed the appear and picture of 60s music. Additionally, helmer Leveaux's progressively absorbing production feels less as being a tuner, a great deal a lot more like a enjoy perfectly-completed tunes. Many of the success derives from Softley and Stephen Jeffreys' book, that's been elevated and stiffened since the production's first outing at Glasgow's People theater this season. Instead of producing applause for separate, distinct amounts, the expansion intercuts performances into and from significantly etched action. Amounts aren't made to reveal individual moments just like standard bio-musicals. They're remarkably bashed out, almost randomly, with the band that are plowing their way by having an extended quantity of gigs in the Hamburg venue closer to a brothel when compared to a decent club. Their rise is proven using the prism of Sutcliffe who, under bullying by his nearest friend Lennon, has abandoned his promising career becoming an abstract artist to participate the not named band. Sutcliffe's private tussle between his disposed of imagine existence just like a solitary artist as well as the all-too-real possibility of group success is saved central for the drama, and things acquire a mind when Sutcliffe realizes he's falling deeply deeply in love with Kirscherr. Neither the art versus. commerce equation nor the love interest versus. nearest friend scenario are exactly new, nevertheless the power of the three performances prove wholly convincing, most notoriously individuals of absolutely driven Andrew Knott, who'll not earn sympathy for Lennon, finding as forever furious. His sour command of every single situation eclipses the input of all the other band people, even McCartney (oddly well-sang by Daniel Healy). There's a pale intensity to willowy Gedmintas's performance as Kisrchherr. She's aided with the sophisticated usage of video projection showing her desire for both photography and Sutcliffe. A more compact production may have overdosed on her behalf account now famous stills. But here, black-and-white-colored online video may be used tp start a tone that's completely in line with Christopher Oram's stark, remarkably fluid design. His largely monochrome palette conjure the era as well as the mood of progressively tragic desperation. In addition is thoughtful Nick Blood stream as troubled Sutcliffe. Sporting dark glasses whenever feasible, he undercuts the king-of-awesome image with suggestions rather than overt expressions of unease that latterly move towards self-torture. Even though, "Backbeat" cunningly handles not to become gloomfest, as evidenced with the packet 'n' roll finish. Not everything works: The discomfort controlling the associations is ultimately unbalanced as well as the weather discomfort that Lennon finally feels lacks impact. Nevertheless the punchy portrayal of musicianship is undeniably exciting. Moments through which artists show the creative process are frequently feet-curling, nevertheless the amusing scene through which Lennon and McCartney re-write "Love Me Do" has such terrific detail it feels abnormally convincing -- like the relaxation in the show.With: Rosy Benjamin, Edward Clarke, Josie Dunn, Mike Ford, Ben Fox, Mark Hammersley, Dominic Rouse, Louise Shuttleworth, Adam Sopp, Charles Quick, James Wallace. Contact David Benedict at benedictdavid@mac.com

Testronic, Efilm's Scott get HPA Award

Testronic Labs and colorist Steven J. Scott of Efilm would be the readers from the Hollywood Publish Alliance's 2011 HPA Idol judges Award for Creativeness and Innovation in Publish Production."The Creativeness and Innovation Award was produced to recognize and recognition outstanding contributions from people and organizations from inside our publish-production community," stated HPA prexy Leon Silverman. "The HPA takes pride in realizing Efilm's Steven Scott for his role within the creative expression of Terrence Malick's 'Tree of Life' and also to Testronic for his or her File Based Laboratory."The Award recognizes companies and people which have shown excellence in publish-production, whether in creative storytelling and/or technical innovation. It might be granted (although not limited) to some unique creative project or any other kind of content, a workflow, proprietary technical development, hardware or software toolset or perhaps a creative approach. "I am so pleased to accept this award for any film In my opinion in and love a lot,Inch stated Scott, Efilm's creative director, "however it was (d.p.) Emmanuel 'Chivo' Lubezki, Terrence Malick and (vfx artist) Serta Glass whose creative needs assisted pioneer this innovative utilisation of the DI. I'd like to acknowledge EFILM's incredible Imaging Science and Engineering teams, who've chose to make this creative workflow possible.""Finding the Creativeness and Innovation Award is recognition from the greatest order, within our opinion, and very significant to us at Testronic Labs," stated Boss Seth Hallen. "The important thing implementation team from the File Based Lab at Testronic, brought by Adam Lesh, has take their best and many creative thought into developing a procedure that was of actual value and repair to the industry throughout a time period of rapid change." The 2011 Honours will be presented in the HPA Honours ceremony on November 10 throughout a gala evening in the Skirball Cultural Center in La. Contact Peter Caranicas at peter.caranicas@variety.com

Rooney Mara In Line For Oldboy

She's top choice for Spike Lee's remakeThis is just at the rumour and wishlist stage currently, but Twitch were first with the stories about Spike Lee and Josh Brolin, so we can be reasonably confident when they tell us that Rooney Mara is in serious contention for the female lead in Oldboy.That role would be sushi chef Mi-do, played in Park Chan-wook's film by Kang Hye-jeong. Lee's new version names her as Marie, according to Twitch, so there's probably reason to suspect that she won't be preparing sushi anymore either. But she'll presumably remain the love interest, who our hero Oh Dae-su / currently-unnamed-Brolin takes a shine to along the way to solving the mystery of his fifteen-year imprisonment. There's also the threat of her death hanging over his progress, just to spice things up. Oh, and without wishing to be spoilerific, perhaps there's more to her character than is immediately revealed...Mara, of course, is so hot right now in Hollywood, currently raging through David Fincher's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo as Stieg Larsson's violent goth punk hacker savant Lisbeth Salander. Oldboy would make for another edgy role in another dark remake, although as we've said before, Mark Protosevich has eight volumes of manga to draw from in his screenplay, and they don't much resemble the Chan-wook classic. There's potential for this to be a very different film, but comments from you guys on our previous reports suggest you're not very convinced by that argument...There doesn't seem to quite be a start-date for the Spike Lee Oldboy so far, but for all your current Rooney / Lisbeth needs, make sure you pick up the latest issue of Empire.

Watch Transformers 3 Dark Of The Moon Movie Online

Talkback: Should Chris Nolan Direct The Twilight Zone?

According to Variety, Christopher Nolan tops the shortlist to helm Warner Bros.’ Twilight Zone reboot, but he’s not alone on the list of potential candidates; Michael Bay, Alfonso Cuaron, and Rupert Wyatt are also in the mix to direct the big-budget, single-story version based on Rod Serling’s original sci-fi television series. Nolan may have an in with producer Leonardo DiCaprio and the studio that released his last five films, not to mention the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises. But should he get the gig? It might all be much simpler if each director was given a portion of the film to shoot, a la 1983’s Twilight Zone: The Movie, which split duties between John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller. Then again, probably not; could you see Nolan, Bay, Cuaron, and Wyatt sharing the same bill, let alone working together to create a balanced omnibus film? Meanwhile, there’s the question of each director’s upcoming schedule. Nolan and Bay already have other projects on deck, and it’d certainly be refreshing to see Bay go the small-scale route with his Pain & Gain crime pic than take on another huge franchise. Wyatt earned a bump with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which earned critical acclaim, but would he just go straight into prepping its inevitable sequel? Which leaves Cuaron. He’s certainly got the sci-fi/fantasy chops, with Children of Men, Harry Potter, and the upcoming Gravity under his belt. But is he the right guy for The Twilight Zone? Chime in below. Nolan, others may be slipping into ‘THE TWILIGHT ZONE’ [Variety’s Showblitz]