FILM NEWS: GLENN CLOSE GETS WORTHY OSCAR NOMINATION

Albert Nobbs gave Glenn Close and Janet McTeer Oscar nominations that were well deserved. It’s a story about a woman dressed as a man in 19th century Ireland in order to survive on her own. Overall, the movie has received three Oscar nominations, including makeup. It was also nominated for three Golden Globes (for best Lead Actress, Supporting Actress, and Original Song) but unfortunately did not win.

The biggest challenge when making it was perfecting that makeup. Close says “It’s not about putting on a moustache or doing anything other than trying to figure out how that life will change your face.” The makeup wasn’t supposed to just transform Close into a man but it had to demonstrate the struggles and hardships the character had been living through all these years. “I had a picture of a face of a woman from Albania, that was actually in National Geographic at least 10 years ago. In certain cultures, they’re called ‘Sworn Virgins’ and they are women who are designated to live as men if their family has no male heir. Here’s the face of a woman that I had as a paradigm. It wasn’t that she was putting on a fake moustache or a beard, it was just that she was living that life and what it had done to her face.” This had helped Close get into character as well as help the makeup artists create the exact look that was needed.

MOVIE NEWS: ‘WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN’

She may have been cheated out of an Oscar nod, but Tilda Swinton’s movie is worth checking out for sure. The physiological thriller We Need to Talk About Kevin is about the struggles of the mother of a teenage boy who murders high school students. Also stars John C. Rielly and Ezra Miller. Based on a mother who doesn’t have a maternal bond with her son and has psychologically affected how her son grew up. Swinton says “I’m a mother and I really, really love my children and I know how lucky I am that it was easy to like them from the very beginning. I was aware when they were born that it might have gone another way.”

The movie was shot in only 30 days! Director Lynne Ramsay was offered a budget only big enough to provide 30 days of filming from her studio, Oscilloscope Laboratories. That meant there were 25 setups a day and they were not allowed more than three takes per scene.

It premiered at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and was released in the UK in October. The movie has grossed about USD $2 million and it had yet to hit North America.

NEW IN THEATERS:
‘THE GREY’

The Grey starring Liam Neeson is the latest from the man who has become the king of the desperate movies, you could say! The guy who’s always in trouble and stuck. This one is a dramatic thriller about an oil drilling team whose plane crashes in Alaska as they try to survive the weather as well as a pack of wolves. Neeson says “there was something very primal about this story that triggered something in me. It’s just me and a bunch of guys out in extreme elements being pursued by, almost mythological, wolves. It’s their size, their intensity, and their hatred for mankind.”

The movie was filmed in British Columbia, Canada. Director Joe Carnahan says “It gets to be 30 below. I took off my hat to see how long I could last, and my skin was burning with frostbite in a little over a minute.” He also says that this freezing cold was perfect to get his actors into character! Neeson was not fond of the weather and had his doubts that they would even survive out there! He says “The first week was minus 40 and I was very troubled. I had trouble thinking, let along saying dialogue. I also thought after the first day ‘We’re never going to finish this film!’”

According to the cast, Joe didn’t want to film his actors acting but behaving. By throwing them into extreme conditions from 7:30 AM until 5:30 PM he was able to accomplish just that. Joe says “There’s a lot of wind, a lot of ice and snow. There are a couple of moments where I think ‘I wrote this script. I could have set it in Tahiti with wild boars…’ but that didn’t occur to me. Here we are now, on this God forsaken mountain, freezing our butts off.”

Neeson’s co-stars, James Badge Dale and Frank Grillo, said Liam was constantly moving around and doing things. Apparently Neeson did twice as much work as everyone else in the film. They had to work very hard to keep up with him, such a dedicated and great actor. Neeson had nice things to say in return “We were there to totally serve the script. Joe casted it very well. It was just a love-fest on set.”

MOVIE TRENDS: IMBEDDED IMAX SCENES

Filming regular blockbusters with IMAX scenes hasn’t caught on as fast as most had hoped. For now, movies continue to only partially shoot their films in IMAX because filming the entire movie in that way is difficult.

The reason why it’s hard shooting movies completely in IMAX is because the equipment used is larger and much heavier than standard equipment. The IMAX cameras are noisy, making recording dialogue quite tough as well as having a short film load: anywhere between 30 seconds and two minutes. Especially the cost of film stock is much more than the standard 35mm film.

IMAX film is 10 times larger than regular film and its projector magnifies 400 times! As of March 2011, there were 528 IMAX theatres in 46 countries.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol used 30 minutes of footage that was shot using IMAX cameras. Brad Bird, the director of the movie, believed that using IMAX would return “a level of showmanship” to Hollywood films, which he thinks has been lost to the monotony and flatness of movies presented in movie theaters.

“For me, the most immersing experience is actually filming in IMAX because the detail and the clarity is just unparalleled,” Bird says of filming the new Mission: Impossible.

Bird also says that filming in IMAX received great audience responses. “We were just showing people snip-its of the film and people were getting vertigo because the screens are so big that they actually feel like they were going to tumble into them. That’s the kind of stuff you live for as a filmmaker. The more you can make it a dream-like version of reality, that’s what you’re going for. You want to sweep people away and take them somewhere.”

Upcoming films that will be partially shot using IMAX technology are Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises and John Woo’s Flying Tigers.

MOVIE TRENDS: WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN 2012

Movie trends this year include more sex and women in leading roles on the big screen. We’ll be seeing many more movies guided toward ‘adults’ with its humor, violence, and the slight insanity of its characters.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Shame, and A Dangerous Method were all filmed with an older audience in mind. This genre, compiled with violence, sexuality, and psychosis, was thought to have met its demise a few years ago but has been proven that it’s very much alive and kicking. Other movies that have also portrayed this theme are The Black Swan, The Social Network, and The King’s Speech.

Another trend:

Women in leading roles will be taking over this year. We’ve already seen that the movie Haywire stars a real life female Mixed Martial Arts champion, Gina Carano, who can take on any man who has the guts to face her! Next to hit the big screen is The Hunger Games, the story about a girl chosen to fight to the death for the district in which she lives. Jennifer Lawrence stars as her character who shows strength and ambition to win The Hunger Games, because only one will make it out alive. Scarlet Johansson and Anne Hathaway also show their determination and resilience in The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, respectively, due out this year.

Another trend we’ll be seeing more of are actors taking on roles in lower budget films and promoting the movies themselves. We saw there wasn’t much coverage or advertising for Brad Pitt’s movie The Tree of Life but was promoted by Pitt’s fame itself.

Pitt has new crime thriller Cogan’s Trade and zombie movie World War Z that will all be hitting the big screen at some point this year.

MOVIE NEWS: HAYWIRE

Haywire is the highly anticipated action thriller featuring a woman who kicks some butt! The leading lady is a Black OPS soldier who is set up by her team during a mission and she has to fight quite a few people to stay alive. It stars Gina Carano, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Bill Paxton, Channing Tatum, Antonio Banderas, and Michael Douglas.

The movie was written with the intention of being filmed in Dublin but shooting in Dublin was not that easy especially when you have to as owners to use their rooftops! Peter Conway, the film’s Dublin Location Manager, said “for the rooftop chase we planned a logical route that Mallory would take for her escape, and then we had to get permission from each individual building owner. This took a few months to work out as there was a major bank and a major building society involved.” All for one scene!

Gina Carano stars. She’s not not even an actress. She plays the strong female lead of Mallory. She’s actually a Mixed Martial Arts champion and the character was created just for her! She enjoyed making the film. “Michael Fassbender was the first one I worked with so I just sat down with him and we started running lines. I was like ‘Oh, this is what running lines is!” says Carano. “Everyone was so down to do their own stunts saying ‘yeah, I want to fight her! We don’t want the stunt double, we want to do this!’” Some of her other costars expressed what a joy it was to work with her and Channing Tatum explained what it was like to fight her saying “scary. Just flat. Quite something to get manhandled by a beautiful woman.”

Even though Carano is an MMA champion she did have one challenge during an action sequence of the movie. “I had a problem with this one scene where I had to jump from one building to the next. They put this cardboard down but if I would have tripped or done anything I would have fallen to my death. I have a height problem but I got over it and was climbing on the sides of buildings and everything and I finally got through that hump that I had to get through” says Carano.

FILM NEWS: CORIOLANUS

Coriolanus is a good one! Based on a Shakespearean play starring Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Cox, and Jessica Chastain, it’s about the character Coriolanus, a Roman soldier who is banned from his city but who allies himself with a sworn enemy to take his revenge.

The thriller will be Fiennes’ directorial debut. He says “I felt it very strongly and I wanted to make it more than anything else. I couldn’t let go of it so I thought ‘You only got one life.’ I would have hated going through my whole life and not tried it. I just thought go for it!”

Fiennes also tried to relate Coriolanus to today’s society saying “there are things happening in this story that are clearly happening in the world today. The tensions between authority and the power of the people we see playing out around us.” There is a scene in the movie where Gerard Butler’s character, Tullus Aufidius, sees a murdered family and has a reactive rage to the sighting. On the day that the scene was filmed, Fiennes says “you could feel the electricity among the cast and crew, this extraordinary emotional flame. Our producer said, after filming the scene, ‘that’s Shakespeare, baby!’” 

AWARD NEWS:
GOLDEN GLOBES 2012

It moved along… didn’t drag and everyone looked great!  What more can you ask for from an awards show? Ricky Gervais did a good job this year. Don’t think anyone will be complaining too much. He tamed it and it worked. The crowd was with him. He seemed to offend just a few, yes (Elton didn’t seem to fancy him) but not nearly as many as a year ago as he took no REAL personal jabs. He figured out that comedy can’t be real for it will not be funny and will stab. When you exaggerate on something that is so far fetched, people laugh but don’t get offended. He finally figured out that’s what he had to do last year.

It was the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles… so many were best dressed, we can’t even pick. The red carpet rocked this year. Gorgeous with a capital G but then most of the actresses nominated are youngsters with virgin red carpet complexions and faces filled with joy and excitement. Stunning in their gowns were Angelina Jolie, director of In the Land of Blood and Honey, wore a champagne satin stunner, on-shoulder Atelier Versace gown with a red neckline. Wow! In person this was incredible! Her hair was in an updo and her make up, flawless.

Brad Pitt was her perfect accessory in a Salvatore Ferragamo three-piece tuxedo.

Also stunning was Sofia Vergara in a stunning dark turquoise, mermaid-fit, peacock strapless Vera Wang dress, which showed off her beautiful hourglass figure. Truly there are too many to mention.

George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio took it for the men, as always. George by the way is starting a small tequila company. There is money to be made in tequila.

The honorary Cecil B. DeMille award went to veteran favorite Morgan Freeman. His good friend, Sidney Poitier, presented the award to him. Poitier started off by saying a few kind words on Freeman’s acting skills “you become the character, the character becomes you and so begins a process that captivates your audience.” Poitier then ended his speech, wishing Morgan all his best with “may your journey be long and your characters continue to multiply.”

Complete list of Golden Globe Award Winners | 2012

— Best Drama: “The Descendants.”

— Best Comedy/Musical: “The Artist.”

— Actor, Drama: George Clooney, “The Descendants.”
— Actress, Drama: Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady.”
— Director: Martin Scorsese, “Hugo.”
— Actor, Musical or Comedy: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist.”
— Actress, Musical or Comedy: Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn.”
— Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, “Beginners.”
— Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, “The Help.”
— Foreign Language: “A Separation.”
— Animated Film: “The Adventures of Tintin.”
— Screenplay: Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris.”
— Original Score: Ludovic Bource, “The Artist.”
— Original Song: “Masterpiece” (music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry), “W.E.”

TELEVISION
— Series, Drama: “Homeland,” Showtime.
— Series, Musical or Comedy: “Modern Family,” ABC.
— Actor, Drama: Kelsey Grammer, “Boss.”
— Actress, Drama: Claire Danes, “Homeland.”
— Actress, Musical or Comedy: Laura Dern, “Enlightened.”
— Actor, Musical or Comedy: Matt LeBlanc, “Episodes.”
— Miniseries or Movie: “Downton Abbey (Masterpiece),” PBS.
— Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Kate Winslet, “Mildred Pierce.”
— Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Idris Elba, “Luther.”
— Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story.”
— Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones.”

NEW MOVIE: CONTRABAND

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi and Ben Foster, Contraband is a story about an ex-smuggler who gets back into the business to save his young brother-in-law who botches a drug deal and it has some great acting!

Mark Wahlberg says the action in the movie “is fantastic then again it’s grounded. In reality there’s some big action sequences but real and unexpected.”

Ribisi plays the part of Tim Briggs, the head honcho in the drug operation that was disrupted by customs officers and never completed by Wahlberg’s movie brother-in-law. He says “its something that’s dynamic in the way that it stretches the boundaries of ordinary filmmaking. It’s steeped in reality. This concept of what is real on the planet, about how contraband is bubbling but it’s not really known about. The director focused on the salt of the earth opposed to some sort of glamorous, choreographed action movie.”

The movie was filmed and set in New Orleans and gives the viewers a different perspective on the city. Kate Beckinsale said she had a wonderful time there “it’s such a particular city. I think that I wouldn’t have had a sense of what New Orleans is like if we hadn’t been here. You really have to be here to get a sense of the vibe. It’s been really nice to be able to have New Orleans be almost as much of a character in the movie as we are.”

To see Mark Wahlberg in action, Contraband hits theaters on January 13, 2012.

NEW MOVIES: TOM CRUISE – BUSIEST MAN IN HOLLYWOOD AGAIN

What a hit for Paramount! It’s mega successful Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is estimated to gross $600 million worldwide – a franchise best. Returning as Ethan Hunt, Tom Cruise has knocked it out of the ballpark this time and is back on top. Alongside Tom are Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, and Paula Patton trying to save the world from a nuclear war between the Americans and the Russians. It is Brad Birds action film directorial debut and is the first movie of the series to have been partly filmed with IMAX cameras. It’s AMAZING in IMAX. You have to see it that way!

The movie was filmed in numerous locations such as Moscow, Praugue, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Vancouver, and Dubai. Cruise did all his stunts in the film himself, even hanging from the tallest tower in the world, the Burj Khalifa. He says “we didn’t have a lot of test time. What they did first is they actually built walls for me just to practice my climbing and I would do drills.” Quite impressive for a 49-year-old!

Cruise also has three other movies being released within the next 18 months while simultaneously filming a new movie for Paramount titled One Shot. It’s being filmed in Pittsburgh and will be released in 2013. Cruise plays Jack Reacher, an ex-army homicide investigator found connected to a serial killer. He starts investigating the case and comes to some of his own conclusions. Fans of the novel by Lee Child have been up in arms over the film’s casting choice in Cruise. The original character is over six feet tall and Tom is five foot seven.

Rock of Ages, the musical featuring Cruise singing and rocking out comes out this June. Directed by Adam Shankman, the movie is star-studded staring Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Julianne Hough, Mary J. Blige, and Alec Baldwin. Cruise admits to being a little nervous having to perform one of Bon Jovi’s songs in the movie. Cruise says “I sat Bon Jovi down and I said ‘Man, you know, I’m going to sing your song. Give me some pointers.’ He said ‘You know what to do.’ I just went at it.” Tom does not disappoint, I hear.

Cruise is about to take part in an untitled science fiction film for Universal. Cruise and Warner Brothers are also discussing a lead role in its big budget sci-fi war epic We Mortals. Interesting how much Paramount is doing with him since it had cut ties with Cruise/Wagner Productions when Lions for Lambs came out in in 2007 for MGM because the movie was a flop. He had taken over as head of its United Artists label, which also did not prove promising: Valkyrie and Knight and Day were both flops in North America. Hollywood does realize that he's got some pluses: he still brings in the audience internationally – Knight and Day made $186 million overseas.

Cruise is good at wooing people. He makes it a priority to meet the next generation of executives and he's one of the few actors who goes out of his way to shake people's hands to get back in their good books. Cruise and his agents have proved to be flexible on movie business deal making, meaning he's working cheaper at times (he's getting only $5 million for Rock of Ages) and structuring deals to lower upfront fees in exchange for backend participation that will make him more money when his movies do well. Most of all, he’s liked because he gets out there. He's a big supporter of his own movies and likes to sell being a movie star.

OSCARS: TOM SHERAK – THE INSIDE STORY

The Oscars are around the corner and The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences head, Tom Sherak, is soon approaching the nominee deadline, which is at the end of this month. Sherak shares the reasons why the academy is now choosing 10 nominees for Best Picture as opposed to only having five in the category in previous years.

Sherak discusses the Academy’s choices for choosing 10 Best Picture nominations. He says “There are 230 critics around the world. Every one of them has a 10 best list. They don’t have an eight best list; they don’t have a six best list. They have a 10 best list. We said, you know what, let’s try 10.”

Sherak also considers the success of the awards last year, which was the second year they introduced 10 movies in the category after 66 years of nominating only five. He says “we did it last year and what we found was, the Academy members, the 5888 voting members, gave us 10 movies and a number of those movies connected to a big audience. We had a really good year last year. There were 43 million people watching our show on ABC. That was the fourth most watched show in the year for television.”

Sherak also makes it clear that “the Academy really has nothing to do with the making of the movies. Studios make movies. The Academy represents the different branches of making movies.” He is also encouraging voting members to watch the movies in the theater and not rely on the screeners to enjoy the film. He urges members to watch the movies in the way they were made to be seen.

The Academy Awards nominations will be announced Tuesday, January 24, 2012 5:30 am PT.

MOVIE TREND: BOX OFFICE DOWN – WHY?

What went wrong with the 2011 box office? It is quite shocking that movie attendance fell to its lowest level in 16 years in North America in 2011. There have been a few hypotheses as to why there seems to be such a drop in ticket sales: recession and increased ticket prices, too many sequels, or simply that today’s technology allows easy access to movies without having to go to the theater. Paul Dergarabedian, a Hollywood.com analyst, says, “If the films coming in 2012 can’t reverse this trend, then I think we need to reevaluate our expectations. We are living in a different world today than we did in the mid-‘90s in terms of the technology available to deliver media. That may finally be having an impact.”

It had been shown that an estimated 1.28 billion movie tickets had been sold this past year showing a 4.4% drop in sales from 2010. The lowest North American box office ticket figures were recorded in 1995 when only 1.26 billion were sold. However, overseas movies are booming and make up for the sales decline in the Americas. Outside of North America, the six major studios made $13.53 billion in ticket sales in 2011.

2012 does seem to be a promising year for moviegoers with the releases of The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, The Hobbit, The Amazing Spiderman, and Men in Black III.

MOVIE TREND:
OLD HOLLYWOOD IS BACK

A big movie trend is nostalgia, old Hollywood as everything old is new again. With the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards nominee The Artist now drawing audiences and critical reviews, there is now more classic interest. Classic movies are going to be shown in Hollywood outdoors now.

This year the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences will build an outdoor theater in Hollywood and an event space on land that was supposed to be a world-class Hollywood museum. Now a massive 17 thousand-square foot amphitheater goes up in May. The academy had bought the land in 2005 but the plan was scrapped after the economy hit troubled times and it couldn't raise the funds to build a whole facility. There will still be a museum but in an already standing building.

IN CONVERSATION:
STEVEN SPIELBERG

In a candid conversation with one of the greatest filmmakers in the world today, Steven Spielberg revealed how he feels at this point in his career, his upcoming projects, and advice for those getting started in the movie biz. His newest, War Horse is a critical winner.

You’d be surprised to hear what still makes him nervous at this point in his career. “I am still scared walking onto the set every morning on every movie everyday and that never changes because I don’t know what everyday is going to bring. I don’t know what nuggets of truth and authenticity and genius performances from the actors we’re going to find that day so the discoveries that filmmakers make every single day, no matter what storyboards I do, or any of us do, we can never really tell what we’re going to get that day. So every single day is an unknown. I get out of bed in the morning with a nervous stomach, I can’t eat breakfast until much later. In a way, that nervousness is what keeps me making movies, it keeps me hungry.”

His next project he’s working on now is Lincoln, but he says he definitely will be doing a musical. “I’d love to do a musical some day. I would love that. I have to find the right book, the right story, but some day I am going to make a musical. I’m producing a musical. I’m producing an NBC series called Smash coming out next year, early next year but I’m not directing it. I’d like to go off and direct a musical, that’s what I really want to do when I grow up.”

He says his penchant for working with new actors is for a reason. “I’ve had great luck working with unknown actors and that’s why I keep going back to that well and finding new people: Drew Barrymore from E.T., and Henry Thomas has never worked before. Henry did a small part in the movie before E.T. Christian Bale never worked before Empire of the Son. Dakota Fanning hadn’t done much work before I found her. I mean I love working with new actors for the first time and here’s the great thing about working with a new actor: they come on the set and they’re terrified, absolutely terrified. The great thing about our profession is that every single other actor that has a lot of experience, become mother and father hen to the new actor and that actor feels so looked after and taken care of.”

Here’s some advice for those starting in the business: “When I was first starting out and wanting to go into movies, my only alternative was to get an eight millimeter movie camera and luckily my dad had one so I was able to make a bunch of little amateur eight millimeter films when I was 12, 13, 14 years old. Today it’s a lot easier because almost every phone has a video app and look at all the amazing films that come on YouTube all the time. You really can show who you are, perhaps not exactly the long form of who you are making a feature film, but with a video camera, with any of the devices available today everybody has a chance to show everyone else, often millions of people all at the same time, what you’ve got, what your talent is, who you are as a person. What is your sense of humor like? How do you see the world? That’s what’s so wonderful today is that there’s a lot more chances to be discovered.”

What still excites a man like Steven Spielberg? “I think what still excites me is the fact that I’m still excited. I started shooting movies professionally in 1969, and I started making movies when I was 12 years old and I had that same feeling of ‘I cannot wait to do this. I cannot wait to wake up in the morning to do this. As nervous as it makes me, I cannot wait to shoot a movie to tell a story. It’s the same feeling I had as a kid that I still have today that has not changed. Outwardly I changed, we grow up, I have a lot more knowledge, more information, more war wounds, but what never changes is the passion that is no different than it was when I picked up my first camera when I was a little kid.” 

ANN’S PICK:
‘WAR HORSE’

Steven Spielberg’s latest, War Horse, is an absolute MUST see this holiday season. A perfect family movie, extremely moving and will definitely touch your heart. The acting is spectacular and the lighting throughout the film is stunning. I absolutely loved it and I’ve been telling everyone I speak with to go see it. It’s an epic film. Don’t miss out on this one – it’s well worth it.  It’s already gaining a lot of praise from the critics - Best Picture nominations for the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards.

War Horse is the story of a young man who enlists to service in WWI after his horse is sold to the cavalry. His journey takes him around Europe. It stars Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson and David Thewlis. It is a story of humanity, loyalty, strength and perseverance.

The story began as a children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo then as a stage play in London with the horses portrayed as life-size puppets. After seeing the play Spielberg decided to make a film version. "So many people came out of the play talking about the brilliant puppetry of the horses; but I came out of the play affected - not because they were puppets playing horses and great puppeteers creating a reality with those - I came out of the play very, very struck emotionally by the storytelling of the people who adapted Michael Morpurgo's book into a play.”

Even though battle and war are a huge part of the film, Spielberg does not consider War Horse to be a war movie.   "I consider it to be a character story," Spielberg insists. "I consider it to be a love story between a horse and young man and also a story of great hope and great connection that this horse makes to every character, both German and British, as the horse travels on an episodic journey …on almost an odyssey through his own experiences surviving the war. The war is a backdrop that allows us to create drama, but World War I isn't the reason I made this movie."

NEW MOVIE:
‘WE BOUGHT A ZOO’

Starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson and Thomas Hasen, We Bought A Zoo is the story of a single dad and his family in need of a fresh start so they move to the countryside to renovate and reopen a struggling zoo. Cameron Crowe directs. It is based on a true story and book of the same name.

Cameron Crowe has a great reputation in Hollywood. He is the one behind Say Anything, Almost Famous and Jerry Maguire.  Matt completely trusts Cameron as a director. "Without the Cameron Crowe input, I wouldn't have done it. It does feel like the kind of 'attendant pieces' are so highly combustible that you don't really want to mess with it, but it's a director's medium and, ultimately, the director is going to set the tone," Damon explained. "They're the arbiter of taste at the end of the day, so if you trust the director, you can pretty much go with any type of material. So that's why I rolled the dice on this one was really because of Cameron."

Damon plays a widower in the movie and says his character does a good job. He thinks he’s pretty well himself. "I do my best in real life and I think this guy trying his best. One of the things I really related to about the movie and the character is that he's desperately trying to do his best as a dad, which leads him to do this kind of incredibly desperate thing."

FILM TREND: INTEGRATING IMAX ‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE’

A huge film trend is combining regular movies with IMAX in the same film. The latest to do it: the brand new Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol starring Tom Cruise. There’s lots of good action in this one. Tom does all his own stunts again. It's directed by Brad Bird who did Toy Story 3, Up, and was the executive consultant for 182 episodes of The Simpsons. He says combining the two makes an experience so amazing that you feel like your falling into the scenes. “I pushed hard in the earliest meetings I had where Tom Cruise, J.J. Abrams and I went to Paramount to discuss what we wanted to do with this movie and I pitched the idea of shooting several sequences in IMAX. For me the most immersive experience is actually filming in IMAX because the detail and the clarity is just unparalleled. We have about 25 minutes of a film that is that way maybe slightly less than The Dark Knight which is the last film that really shot extensively in IMAX.”

Brad Bird insisted that the film was to be shot in IMAX, as opposed to 3D, as he felt that the IMAX format offered the viewer more immersion due its brighter, higher quality image, which is projected on a larger screen, without the need for specialized glasses.

He says the goal in filmmaking such as this, is to create a dream-like version of reality to take people away. “We were just showing people snippets of the film and people are getting vertigo because the screens are so big that they actually feel like they’re going to tumble into them. That’s the kind of stuff you live for as a filmmaker because it’s an experiential medium. The more you can make it like a dream, and like reality, but a dream-like version of reality, that’s what you’re going for. You want to sweep people away and take them somewhere.”

This is the fourth installment in the Mission: Impossible series. GhostProtocol was written by André Nemec  and Josh Appelbaum, and produced by Cruise, J. J. Abrams (director of the third film) and Bryan Burk.  The world premiere was in Dubai on December 7 with general release on December 21, 2011. It is the first Mission: Impossible film not produced by Paula Wagner, and the first of the series to be partially filmed using IMAX cameras.

Bird says “I love showmanship and I wanted all the first people who saw this movie to see it at its best.”

The film originally had the working name of Mission: Impossible 4, and codenamed "Aries" during early production.

Principal photography began by September 30, 2010. Filming took place in Dubai, Prague, Moscow, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Vancouver. Tom Cruise performed a sequence where Ethan Hunt scales the outside of the Buri Khalifa tower, which is the tallest building in the world, without the use of a stunt double.

The marketing for Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol has focused on the the Kremlin blowing up or Tom Cruise dangling off the world's tallest building, gunfights, explosions, cars and women.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol opens in select cities and IMAX on December 16th, then goes into wide release on December 21st.

NEW MOVIE: YOUNG ADULT

Young Adult, out this weekend and starring Charlize Theron is the story of a troubled woman who goes back to her home town trying to get back together with her ex-boyfriend who is now married with kids. She’s the girl everyone hated in high school, and is now a psychotic prom queen years later.

Charlize plays mean so well in this one. It’s a dark comedy from Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody again, so you know what to expect. They did Juno four years ago. This one is not like Juno but the tone is the same.

Charlize plays a troubled beauty queen years later on a downward spiral, loosing it, as she tries to recapture her past. She’s still pretty but still very mean and nasty. She plays a self absorbed young adult novel writer who hangs at the clubs drinking too much.

Stand up comedian and writer best known for his role on The King of Queens, Patton Oswalt, plays her buddy. Together they are perfection and in sync in Young Adult. Patton says: “I play a guy named Matt Freehauf who is still stuck in his home town and is the victim of what everyone thought was a hate crime. Turns out it was something even sadder and he’s filled with a lot of resentment and a lot of pain and sort of becomes Charlize’s character’s confident, and can call her on a lot of her crap which I don’t think she’s used to.”

NEW MOVIE:
‘TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY’

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth is a new espionage movie in theaters now. Gary Oldman plays the king of cool but under the microscope of the drama you find out he’s seriously intelligent and the mystery ensues. It’s a cold world espionage. A veteran is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a society agent with M16's echelon.

Gary describes the movies as being more raw than other spy movies today: “There are no gadgets, no gizmos, no Aston Martins.”

What’s so great about this movie is how well developed the main character is. Co-star Toby Jones says: “I think he’s a fascinating character because of his discretion, sobriety, self-control you don’t see celebrated in other action spies.” He’s described as the anti-Bond. He’s a great manipulator.

The story was originally a novel written by John le Carré. He describes the character as being extremely composed. “He’s out of sync with his employer constantly. He has a romantic agenda he can never fulfill. He sees a lot and can do nothing about it and seeing a lot is very painful.”

Colin Firth says: “I think he’s one of the most compelling characters created in this genre.” 

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS:
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

The Sundance Film Festival takes place next month, January 19-29, in Park City, Utah. John Krasinski, Helen Hunt, Michael Cera, Amanda Seyfried, Danny Glover and rap star Common are among the stars with movies heading to the Fest. It's put on by Robert Redford's Sundance Institute. The festival will include 110 feature-length films, chosen out of 4,000 submitted from around the world. Wish You Were Here is one of the movies premiering for the first time at the festival. It looks good.

Films announced that will compete for prizes at next month's independent-film showcase include dramas dealing with family crises, such as director Ry Russo-Young's Nobody Walks, with The Office co-star John Krasinski, featuring Danny Glover and Common. Helen Hunt stars with John Hawkes and William H. Macy in Ben Lewin's The Surrogate, a story about a 36-year-old man who has spent most of his life on an iron lung and now wants to loose his virginity.

These are just some of the 16 films in Sundance's competition for U.S. dramas. Past winners included eventual Academy Awards nominees Winter's Bone, Precious and Frozen River.

Sundance also announced 16 films competing in each of three other categories: U.S. documentaries, world dramas and world documentaries.

Below is the complete line-up:

U.S. NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS

• ’92 Skybox Alonzo Mourning Rookie Card (Director: Todd Sklar, Screenwriters: Todd Sklar, Alex Rennie)
• The Arm (Directors and screenwriters: Brie Larson, Sarah Ramos, Jessie Ennis)
• The Black Balloon (Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie)
• Dol (First Birthday) (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Ahn)
• Famous Person Talent Agency: Pearls of Asia (Director: Ivan Hurzeler, Screenwriter: Cami Delavigne)
• Fishing Without Nets (Director: Cutter Hodierne, Screenwriters: Cutter Hodierne, John Hibey)
• The Fort (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Renzi)
• Fourplay: Tampa (Director: Kyle Henry, Screenwriter: Carlos Trevino)
• Hellion (Director and screenwriter: Kat Candler)
• Henley (Director: Craig Macneill, Screenwriters: Craig Macneill, Clay McLeod Chapman)
• L Train (Director and screenwriter: Anna Musso)
• Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke (Director: Jillian Mayer, Screenwriter: Lucas Leyva)
• OK Breathe Auralee (Director and screenwriter: Brooke Swaney)
• Rolling on the Floor Laughing (Director and screenwriter: Russell Harbaugh)
• Song of the Spindle (Director and screenwriter: Drew Christie)
• The Thing (Director: Rhys Ernst, Screenwriters: Rhys Ernst, Avery McTaggart)
• Una Hora Por Favora (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway)

U.S. DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILMS

• Aquadettes (Directors: Drea Cooper, Zackary Canepari)
• The Debutante Hunters (Director: Maria White)
• Family Nightmare (Director: Dustin Guy Defa)
• The Meaning of Robots (Director: Matt Lenski)
• The Movement: One Man Joins an Uprising (Directors: Greg I. Hamilton, Kurt Miller)
• Odysseus’ Gambit (Director: Àlex Lora Cercós)
• Pluto Declaration (Director: Travis Wilkerson)
• The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (Director: Lucy Walker)

U.S. ANIMATED SHORT FILMS

• 38-39° C (Director and screenwriter: Kangmin Kim)
• Avocados (Director and screenwriter: Kataneh Vahdani)
• Dr Breakfast (Director and screenwriter: Stephen Neary)
• It’s Such a Beautiful Day (Director and screenwriter: Don Hertzfeldt)
• Night Hunter (Director and screenwriter: Stacey Steers)
• Once It Started It Could Not End Otherwise (Director and screenwriter: Kelly Sears)

INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS

• Barbie Blues/ Israel (Director and screenwriter: Adi Kutner) BEAR/ Australia (Director: Nash Edgerton, Screenwriters: Nash Edgerton, David Michôd)
• Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared/ United Kingdom (Directors: Joseph Pelling, Rebecca Sloan)
• Frozen Stories (Opowiesci z chlodni)/ Poland (Director and screenwriter: Grzegorz Jaroszuk)
• Fungus (Svamp)/ Sweden (Director and screenwriter: Charlotta Miller)
• Girl/ Sweden (Director: Fijona Jonuzi, Screenwriter: Gustaf Boman Bränngård)
• The Hidden Smile (El somriure amagat)/ Spain (Director: Ventura Durall, Screenwriters: Ventura Durall, Miguel Llansó)
• Juku/ Bolivia (Director: Kiro Russo, Screenwriters: Gilmar Gonzales, Kiro Russo)
• Killing the Chickens to Scare the Monkeys/ Sweden (Director and screenwriter: Jens Assu)
• Las Palmas/ Sweden (Director and screenwriter: Johannes Nyholm)
• Lazarov/ France (Director and screenwriter: Nieto)
• Long Distance Information/ United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Douglas Hart)
• Moxie/ United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Stephen Irwin)
• Playtime (Spielzeit)/ Germany (Director and screenwriter: Lucas Mireles)
• Random Strangers/ United Kingdom (Director: Alexis Dos Santos, Screenwriters: Laurence Coriat, Alexis Dos Santos)
• The Return (Kthimi)/ Kosovo (Director: Blerta Zeqiri, Screenwriter: Shefqet Gjocaj)
• Surveillant/ Canada (Director and screenwriter: Yan Giroux)
• Tooty’s Wedding/ United Kingdom (Director: Frederic Casella, Screenwriters: Laura Solon, Ben Willbond)
• Tumult/ United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Johnny Barrington)

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILMS

• Into the Middle of Nowhere/ United Kingdom (Director: Anna Frances Ewert)
• Stick Climbing/ Austria, Switzerland (Director: Daniel Zimmerman)

INTERNATIONAL ANIMATED SHORT FILMS

• 663114/ Japan (Director: Isamu Hirabayashi)
• Belly/ United Kingdom (Director: Julia Pott)
• Bobby Yeah/ United Kingdom (Director: Robert Morgan)
• A Morning Stroll/ United Kingdom (Director: Grant Orchard)
• Robots of Brixton/ United Kingdom (Director: Kibwe Tavares)
• Slow Derek/ United Kingdom (Director: Dan Ojari)

NEW FRONTIER SHORT FILMS

• The Conquerors (Les Conquérants)/ Canada, France (Directors and screenwriters: Sarolta Szabo, Tibor Banoczki)  thing we need is to successfully destroy an already existing one.
• The Diatom/ U.S.A. (Director: Chris Peters)
• Fragments of Dissolution/ U.S.A. (Director: Travis Wilkerson) Moving Stories/ Belgium (Director and screenwriter: Nicolas Provost) Seeking the Monkey King/ (Director: Ken Jacobs)

GARRY MARSHAL:
‘NEW YEAR’S EVE’

Garry Marshal’s latest New Year’s Eve follows along the lines of Valentine’s Day – and similarly, New Year’s Eve has a star-studded cast: Robert DeNiro, Hilary Swank, Halle Berry, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica biel, Ashton Kutcher, Lea Michele, Jon Bon Jovi, Josh Duhamel and Katherine Heigl.

New Year’s Eve is Garry’s favorite holiday. It was on that day, about 50 years ago, that he became engaged to his wife Barbara. "She was wearing a dress the same color as the dress Halle Berry wears in the movie. We were in love, we were dancing, and we said, 'Well, let's see how it works out.’ It's always been her favorite holiday."

The movie kept the same producers as Valentine’s Day, Mike Karz and Wayne Rice, as well as the same screenwriter, Katherine Fugate. A lot of discussion went on before Katherine sat down and wrote the script. "We talked about the kinds of experiences and circumstances that would best convey the themes of the movie across a range of different relationships. We wanted a story of first love and one of forgiveness, as well as stories about taking a risk, letting things go, revisiting an old flame, making amends, having a baby, starting fresh... with love being the mitigating force through all of them."

On top of all the celebrities starring in the movie, there are many cameos and supporting roles filled by more stars: Jake T. Austin, Jim Belushi, Cary Elwes, Carla Gugino, Cherry Jones, Jack McGee, Joey McIntyre, Alyssa Milano, Sarah Paulson, Sarge and Yeardley Smith.

Michelle Pfeiffer also starred in Garry’s Frankie and Johnny. "I love Garry. He has tremendous energy and he's always ready for anything. He's one of the best when it comes to giving audiences a story they're truly going to enjoy, something to relate to and laugh about, and who wouldn't want to be a part of that?"

Hilary Swank was new to working with Garry. "I can see why he's a comedy legend. His instincts are right on. He's always coming up with a funnier line or finding that balance between the drama and comedy, and he brings humor out of a story in a way that makes you laugh not just because it's funny but because it's so true,"

Zac Effron was a fan of Garry’s before he even became an actor. "He's incredibly cool. You could say we're from different eras, but we still had so much to talk about. I think it's impossible to meet Garry and not instantly pick up his enthusiasm. We just try to keep up."

MADONNA:
‘W.E.’

W.E., directed and co written by Madonna has already played at three film festivals but she's still nervous about opening it to the public. The movie is about the love story between King Edward the 8th who renounced the throne to marry a twice-divorced American woman Wallis Simpson. Actress Andrea Riseborough is great. She’s the new big name now. She plays Simpson, and says she didn't allow herself to become intimidated by Madonna because there simply wasn't enough time to do so. Madonna says she is aware the movie is being released at a time when interest in the royal family has increased thanks to the marriage of William and Kate. Madonna recorded a song called Masterpiece which plays over the credits of W.E. She says it will be featured on her next album.

ANN’S EARLY OSCAR PREDICTIONS: BEST PICTURE

THE DESCENDANTS

Directed by Alexander Payne and starring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller. THE DECENDANTS is the so-true-to-life story of a man reconnecting with his daughters after his wife goes into a coma. Gaining major nomination Oscar buzz., Payne says he liked working with George because "Directors don't hang out together very often, except at awards shows, but we all talk to each other about actors and everyone had told me how great he is to work with and - that was really true. He understands everything about filmmaking and he's more comfortable on a set than he is anywhere else. He's a total pro and he can play anything. I began to compare him mentally to Marcello Mastroianni and higher praise I cannot offer. He is who he is and looks like he does, and yet can still mould himself this way or that. He's just so versatile and you can plug him into a lot of things."

Payne, also director of Sideways, turned down Clooney for the lead in that movie when he wanted a part. "It's true, but he wasn't right for the Thomas Hayden Church part, playing a highly unsuccessful, washed-up TV actor. It would have unbalanced. It and become the joke of the film, and I didn't want that."

THE ARTIST

This is so good: The Artist. A black and white romance movie and a silent film. Every big buzz movie needs some kinds of shtick, some kind of hook, this one is the silence of it. Made by a French director with French stars but shot in LA. It’s set in 1927 when silent film went to talkies, the story of two actors set in Hollywood in the late 20's. It stars Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo (who will both be nominated this year) in that takes place in Hollywood, about a declining male film star and a rising actress. Dujardin won Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival this year where the film premiered.

The cast includes:

Jean Dujardin as George Valentin
Bérénice Bejo as Peppy Miller
John Goodman as Al Zimmer
James Cromwell as Clifton
Penelope Ann Miller as Doris
Missi Pyle as Constance
Ben Kurland as Casting Assistant
Bitsie Tulloch as Norma

Director Michael Hazanavicius wanted to make a silent film for years because many filmmakers he admires are from the silent days. He likes that pictures tell the story. According to Hazanavicius, this was a tough film to get made. No one took him seriously. He hand-picked his actors. Filming took place during seven weeks on location in Los Angeles. Throughout the shoot Hazanavicius played music from classic Hollywood films while the actors performed to put everyone in the mood.

Near the end the film slows a bit- and you’re craving for someone to scream out a line but it’s a silent film. Overall, a charming movie and something we have not seen before. The Artist was nominated for the  Best Film award at the 2011 European Film Awards.

THE TREE OF LIFE

Also expected to be up for best picture: Terrance Malick’s The Tree of Life starring Brad Pitt in a role originally meant for Heath Ledger. Sean Penn remained on the project after Ledger’s death in 2008. Already winning some awards, it ranked number one in the Sight & Sound’s Best of 2011 list. The list is based on international critical opinion. It recognizes “best, favorite and most important films of the year.” It also won co-feature of the year at the Gotham Independent Film Awards presented for independent films, taking place in New York city each year. This is the the largest membership organization in the United States for independent film. (founded in 1979) The awards showcase and honor films made mainly in Northeast. New York City is considered the home of independent film.

ANN’S EARLY OSCAR PREDICTIONS: BEST ACTRESS

Meryl Streep: ‘The Iron Lady’

Meryl Streep has a total of 16 nominations. Has won two but his year will likely be her third with her role in The Iron Lady playing Margret Thatcher.  She’s on to a good star. She won the Best Actress award from the New York Critics. She does a great job with a beautiful performance, once again, in a very challenging role. To play a real life person is so tough, especially when it’s someone like Margaret Thatcher, the first female Prime Minister of the U.K. Meryl really captures the essence and the nuances of the famous character.

Viola Davis in ‘The Help’

The entire cast in The Help was amazing. Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer were incredible. Viola Davis, though, really stood out and is getting lots of attention for her portrayal of a maid, Aibileen, in early 1960’s Mississippi. Of her character, Viola said:  “It’s very hard for Aibileen to tell her story because she has been told she’s invisible. All of the sudden someone says ‘Who are you?’ Two people from very different world and dangerous circumstances come together and enter into each other’s lives.”

Glenn Close: ‘Albert Nobbs’

Glenn Close stars in Albert Nobbs, a role she played on Broadway some 30 years ago. She has produced this film and was passionate about playing in it but it was very hard to get a movie like this approved by studios. Getting it done took some 15 years for her, having written the screenplay beginning five years ago. It is a low budget production. On playing the role, Glenn says: “It’s kind of a consummate challenge. It took a lot of thought, a lot of craft – very tricky character. Having played her on stage I was convinced that this story had huge power emotionally to affect an audience.”

Michelle Williams: ‘My Week with Marilyn’

Michelle Williams, in My Week with Marilyn, was challenged with playing the role of an ico but rather than imitate Marilyn, Michelle really brought her to life on screen. Hours and hours of study made this possible and she executed it beautifully. She is better than the movie itseld. One thing that helped her a lot was watching old Marilyn movies: “"I started with The Prince and the Showgirl. I started watching that movie while my daughter was in school, absorbing as much as I could, pausing it, trying to emulate what I had seen. I made a lot of mistakes, completely clueless, and then, one day, things started to come together." She went on to explain how deeply she got to understand Marilyn as a person, not just the character she portrayed. "I missed a major point about her in the beginning, which is that the Marilyn Monroe that we know and love is a character," she said. "It's a character that she created and played to perfection for all of us. But it wasn't her. And everything that I've read supports the idea that she was quite an ordinary-looking girl with an ordinary walk, an ordinary voice - that she had the kind of face that could fall apart in between glances. 'Marilyn Monroe' was a burst of energy that she put forth and because she was as talented an actress as she was, she pulled it off seamlessly. It's very easy to get attached to this idea of a hyper-sexualized walk and a sort of babyish, kittenish voice because we want that to be real and she succeeded but in fact, there was an entirely different human being underneath all of that.

Kirsten Dunst for ‘Melancholia’

Kirsten’s character of a bride on her wedding day while the world is collapsing around is a complicated one an this movie is not for everyone but Kirsten is great and I am not a fan of her or her work – until now. She’s really excited about the Oscar buzz she’s been getting. That would be awesome!" she exclaimed, beaming. "I would embrace that. I mean, yeah, winning Cannes was pretty spectacular. I’m very grateful. I felt if I was nominated [for an Oscar], I would be very, very grateful and honored. My family would be so happy and crying, yeah. It would be great because my family really celebrates things. I don’t want to jinx things either."

When she was 12, Kirsten was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in Interview with the Vampire. She lost. "Well, I lost," she recalled, "so I remember being a little kid and crying. I’m a little girl and everyone is like 'You’re gonna win! You’re gonna win!' And then I was like, 'uh, I didn’t win.' I was at a table with the cast of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and my Mom was like, 'Hide your face! Hide your face!” (and yes these are her exact quotes. Yikes)

ANN’S EARLY OSCAR PREDICTIONS: BEST ACTOR ALBERT BROOKS

Prediction: Albert Brooks will not only be nominated but will WIN Best Supporting Actor for his role of Bernie in the thriller Drive also starring Ryan Gosling. By the way, he was born Albert Einstein into a family of comedians: His brother is Bob Einstein, known as "Super Dave" Osbourne and was on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

On the character, Albert says: “Bernie spent his life dealing in legal to illegal situations depending on how he wants to make his money. I’ve never played a guy you really don’t want to fool around with.”

Producer Marc Platt says:  “For Albert Brooks to play a gangster and a guy who has his own anger, can lash out and kill within an instant is fascinating to watch.”

Brad Pitt for ‘Moneyball’

Despite more than 23 years as an actor and involvement in many critically acclaimed films, Brad Pitt hasn’t won the big award but he has not deserved a win yet. He has been nominated twice. Once in 1995 for Best Supporting Actor in Twelve Monkeys and in 2008 for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Both roles were great but in those years the competition was stiff. Now he’s getting buzz for his role in Money Ball.  The New York Film Critics Circle awarded him wi Best Actor for his work in both Moneyball and the The Tree of Life. Now, I’d say he’s officially one of the frontrunners in this year’s Oscar race.

George Clooney for ‘The Descendants’

George has already won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2008 for Syriana and two Best Actor nominations for Michael Clayton and Up in the Air. He shrugs off early Oscar buzz talk: “I don’t pay attention to that. I’ve been on both sides of that equation a few times now and what I have learned about it is: whenever someone says that, they’re complimenting the work and for that you say ‘thank you’. It’s a very nice thing to say. It’s the result of a lot of people doing a lot of hard work.” (this guy has got his head so screwed on properly, its such a pleasure to see but he is one of the rare ones)

AARON SORKIN SHOULD WRITE STEVE JOBS SCRIPT

Aaron Sorkin, the man behind The Social Network, is strongly considering writing a biopic on Steve Jobs. Sony has asked him to write the movie. “Right now I’m just in the thinking-about-it stages. It’s a really big movie,and it’s going to be a great movie no matter who writes it. He was a great entrepreneur. He was a great artist, a great thinker. He’s probably inspired my 11-year-old daughter Roxy more than he’s inspired me … she plays with all his toys.”


Sony was on the ball and purchased the rights to the best seller Walter Isaacson book before it was even published. It is no surprise they are after Sorkin. His The Social Network was nominated for eight Oscars, winning three. There is so much material for a great movie: a rivalry between Jobs and Bill Gates, a falling out with Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, and a rumored fierce temper. On top of it, Sorkin has his own history with Jobs. FYI: Jobs asked Sorkin to write a movie for Pixar, but turned it down saying he didn’t “know how to tell those stories.”

MADONNA:
DIRECTING ‘W.E.’

Madonna has set trends for decades and she’s behind the camera to bring history to the screen with W.E. Arriving in theaters early next year, W.E. is a two-tiered romantic drama that parallels the story of Wallis Simpson and her involvement with heir to the British throne, Prince Edward, and an American housewife circa 1998 who is obsessed with the story. Along with directing, Madonna co-wrote the film. She feels pressure when directing because it’s something relatively new to her. “I had the same kind of pressure when I began my music career and I was nervous and I didn’t know what to expect and people didn’t know what to expect and I had to earn my way in the world of being taken seriously in the music department and now I am well aware that I have to do the same in the world of film.”

NEW TO BLU:
LATEST RELEASES

If you're looking for some good Blu-Ray releases, here are a few of the ones that made headlines

THE TREE OF LIFE:

Terrance Malick polarizes audiences with this one. It's the controversial family drama that premiered earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival to both cheers and jeers. It’s the usual reaction to Malick’s work, which tends to polarize audiences because of his odd pacing and non-linear approach to storytelling.

BEGINNERS:

Beginners, starring Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor, is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray. It is a comedy/drama about a young man who must come to terms with the fact that his elderly (and recently widowed) father has come out of the closet and is leading an aggressively gay life with a new young beau.

HORRIBLE BOSSES:

Starring Jennifer Aniston, Horrible Bosses is a hard R-rated film that raises the standard “workplace comedy” to a new level.

CAPTAIN AMERICA:

Captain America: The First Avenger is a satisfying period piece detailing the origin of the most famous super-soldier. Set in the early 1940s, the story has a scrawny 98-pound weakling undergoing a top-secret military experiment that miraculously changes him from zero to hero. Star Chris Evens almost didn’t take the role in the begnning, but didn’t regret his decision afterward.

BENNETT MILLER: ‘MONEYBALL’ DIRECTOR GOES FROM SMALL TO BIG

Director of Moneyball starring Brad Pitt, Bennett Miller, went from directing a small film, Capote, to a big studio film, Moneyball. He talks about the experience of going from small to big in The Hollywood Reporter and I loved the line here. He was so candid when he spoke about trying to make this movie at the beginning.

Quote: “I probably shouldn't say this, but in one of the early conversations I had with the studio folks, I argued a lot. And then I got a call from [Sony Pictures co-chairman] Amy Pascal, who said, ‘Look, Bennett, you're making the movie. Everybody knows that the studio, at best, can exercise 7 percent of influence over the thing, but you need to be more generous in these meetings -- and let's just never talk about this again and never tell anybody about the 7 percent.’”

ROBIN WILLIAMS’ LATEST:
‘HAPPY FEET 2’

Robin Williams and Sofia Vergara bring the heat to the new Happy Feet in theaters now. It's the follow-up to the 2006 animated blockbuster that was a hit with critics and audiences. This time around, the story centers on Eric (the son of Mumble, from the first film), young and choreographically challenged penguin who runs away rather than join the colony. Robin Williams is a fan of his co-star Sofia Vegara. “She’s so sweet, so funny and so beautiful in person.” Elijah Wood, who was also part of the first one, is working on this one as well. Many other big stars feature in this one: Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Pink. 

One thing that director George Miller did on this movie was have all the actors in the same recording booth so they can really engage with one another. It is a bit more difficult technically, but it resulted in wonderful performances.

LEONARDO DICAPRIO: CHALLENGES WITH ‘J. EDGAR’ ROLE

Leonardo DiCaprio is likely up for a Best Actor nomination this year for his role in J. Edgar. It’s Clint Eastwood’s contribution of the year. Leo admits this was a real challenging one. It's extremely complex, and he portrays a man who was considered to be the most corrupt government official in modern history in The US. “The biggest challenge was something that was very clearly defined in the screenplay for me. How do you, not necessarily sympathize, but empathize with this human being? And not necessarily empathize, but how do you understand his motivations and how that manifested itself into politics and it was very intriguing to discover Dustin Lance Black’s screenplay because here for the first time I kind of understood what motivated him. At a very young age, his mother wanted him to rise to great power in politics and carry on the Hoover name to great glory and he was a young boy genius so he came into this bureau and really transformed our country and really organized modern forensics and rid our country of communist radicals and captured all the outlaws and really put a face on a federal system of police enforcement that to this day is incredibly intimidating.”

UPCOMING MOVIE:
‘MY WEEK WITH MARILYN’

A movie ready for an Oscar push (because that's what the Weinstein Brothers do) is My Week with Marilyn. In theaters November 23rd. Michelle Williams goes for the gold in this one. My Week with Marilyn is based on the memoirs of Colin Clark and depicts his experiences escorting Marilyn Monroe around London during the filming of the 1957 romantic comedy The Prince and the Showgirl. The cast includes Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench and Emma Watson. Michelle did everything she could to prepare. “I read everything, I watched everything, I listened to everything, I had every book, I had pictures on my wall – I was surrounded by her.”

In the early summer of 1956, 23 year-old Colin Clark wanted to make it in Hollywood’s film business. He worked as a lowly assistant on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl. The film that famously united Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), who was also on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott). Now 40 years later, his diary was published, but one week was missing and this was published later as My Week with Marilyn. It was the week he escorted Marilyn desperate to get away from her Hollywood pressures of work. This isn't an easy role to play but Michelle does it very well.

SPIELBERG’S ‘TINTIN’:
BIG NUMBERS EXPECTED

Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin is expected to deliver big numbers in North America when it opens December 21 in 3D and IMAX. It's a great adventure movie and it’s been doing very well overseas. It's an old fashion fun ride and a perfect family movie. Visually it’s really beautiful to look at too.

Based on the comic books created, it's directed by Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson. Spielberg acquired rights to produce a movie after the Belgian author's death in 1983 and he re-optioned them in 2002. Filming was due to begin in October 2008 for a 2010 release, but release was delayed to 2011 after Universal opted out of producing with Paramount who provided $30 million on pre-production. Sony then chose to co-produce.

Producer Peter Jackson’s company Weta Digital did the computer animation for this one. He will direct the sequel. Then, Spielberg and Jackson hope to co-direct a third film. The Adventures of Tintin will be in theaters in North America December 21 in digital 3D and IMAX.

During filming, directors Guillermo del Toro, Stephen Daldry and David Fincher visited. Steven Spielberg would try to treat the film like live-action, moving his camera around. He says "Every movie I made, up until Tintin, I always kept one eye closed when I've been framing a shot," because he wanted to see the movie in 2-D, the way viewers would. "On Tintin, I have both of my eyes open.”

Steven Spielberg says his favorite movie to make was E.T. “When we finish making a movie, we’re with people for many, many months, they become like our family but sadly when a movie’s over everyone goes on to other movies and we go home alone. I got so close to those kids, Robert MacNaughton, Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore that this time, when I went home from the production of E.T., I  didn’t want to go home. I wanted to come back to the movie but it was over and then I realized why was I feeling so sad that the experience had ended. I realized, for the first time in my life, that I wanted to have children. I never felt that before E.T. I have seven now thanks to E.T.” 

AMANDA SEYFRIED:
STARRING IN ‘LOVELACE’

Amanda Seyfried, who has signed on to star as Linda Lovelace in Lovelace, a biopic about the '70s porn actress, is filling in for Kate Hudson, who had the role before she got pregnant. Kate Hudson and James Franco were offered the lead roles but no deal was ever reached. Olivia Wilde was also interested in playing Linda Lovelace. Seyfried currently stars in the sci-fi thriller In Time.

Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman will direct Lovelace from a screenplay by Merritt Johnson and Andy Bellin. The screenplay is adapted from Eric Danville’s book, The Complete Linda Lovelace. It is the story of Linda Lovelace being discovered by Chuck Traynor, who turned her into a famous porn star. She ends up marrying him, and divorcing him blaming him for getting her into the adult entertainment industry.

Amanda chooses her roles based on what inspires her. “I think early on there was so many opportunities and I took the ones that spoke to me. I got scripts for young, dumb teenage girls and I didn’t do them because there were projects out there that were much more interesting and sophisticated and I just chose them. I was lucky I guess. Now my goal is, my first task at hand is to choose something different than the last project.”

Shooting of Lovelace is expected to begin in January.

LEONARD DICAPRIO’S LATEST: ‘J. EDGAR’

Out this weekend is Clint Eastwood and Leonardo DiCaprio’s latest J. Edgar, the biopic about the legendary and controversial first head of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover.  In the beginning, the movie almost didn’t get made even with Oscar-winning writer Dustin Lance Black and renowned producer Brian Grazer. Brian brought it to Universal, and didn’t get the green light. He then brought Clint Eastwood on board, and they then got the greenlight from Warner Bros. "With Clint, it's a really unique thing” Says Grazer “They don't use the two-letter word; they don't say no. What they say is, 'Yeah, let's do it but let's try to do it at a good price."

The movie was made for $35 million, which is a relatively small budget for a Hollywood studio movie. It was filmed in the backlots of Warner and Paramount in just 39 days.

Leonardo, it seems, is considering more the content of his work rather than his paycheck at the end when he chooses roles. In order to work with Clint, he brought down his fee to $2 million from $20 million. "He could have made a lot of money just doing spectacle movies with all kinds of CGI but he wants to vary his career, like I've always looked to vary mine as a director." The 81-year-old director doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. He literally acted out the fight scenes himself in order to teach DiCaprio and co-star Armie Hammer.

Leo plays an older character in the film. They thought of using visual effects but Leo was adamant that he wanted to look and feel the part when he was acting. He spent hours every day walking and talking with fake teeth, a nose stretcher, aging makeup and a skull cap. Makeup artist Sian Grigg and costume designer Deborah Hopper turned Dicaprio into the aging FBI director. They spend 6-7 hours a day on makeup alone. The movies spans over 50 years, seeing J. Edgar Hoover from his mid-20s into his 70s.

Meanwhile, Leo is looking forward to seeing Titanic in 3D.  "I haven't seen the 3D [version] at all yet; I am scheduled to -- I hear it's going to be fantastic," DiCaprio says. "Jim [Cameron] called me personally to tell me this was going to happen. I said, "Cool! I can't wait." There's nobody who can do it better."

MOVIE NEWS: ‘THE DOUBLE’

The Double starring Richard Gere and Topher Grace is a throwback to the classic espionage thrillers of the ’60s and ’70s. It centers on a pair of mismatched agents on the hunt for a notorious international assassin. Topher Grace admits he plays well with others. He stated: “ It’s such a great thing when casts come together. I am obsessed with ensembles. Cast Away would be my nightmare film. From That 70’s Show, to Traffic to Valentine’s Day or I just did an ensemble this summer that has a lot of great actors in it like Richard who you grew up watching. If I had a time machine somehow, and I went back to the 15 year old me, and was like ‘Guess what? You become an actor, and on top of you’re going to be in a movie where you play Richard Gere’s partner in a political thriller.’ I’d be like ‘You’re lying.’ Even 10 years ago I probably wouldn’t believe it. The best part of the job is being around people like him – the CEO’s of acting. A little bit kind of rubs off on you hopefully.”

This is writer/director Michael Brandt’s first feature film. He, along with his partner Derek Haas are the duo behind the script writing of Wanted and 2 Fast 2 Furious. They were barely out school, when they wrote the script for The Double. They were inspired by Three Days of the Condor and Marathon Man. This was even before 2 Fast 2 Furious. It took a decade to get The Double on screen. They had 30 days to shoot a 45 day schedule – and he says they were the best 30 days of his life. The project they are currently working on is Wanted 2.

BIG BUZZ:
‘ANONYMOUS’

Anonymous is a stylish period piece speculating on the long-held myth that the works of William Shakespeare were really penned by someone else. It’s been a prickly issue in the world of literary scholars. It’s a premise usually taken up by pretentious university students and never taken too seriously.

Director Roland Emmerich says that the more he reads  Shakespeare’s plays the more he is convinced that he didn’t write the works. He likes that his movie is bringing up controversy and has people arguing. He thinks it’s the function a movie should have. The question will never be answered, but he thinks the important part is that people are asking the question.

Star Joely Richardson loves Shakespeare no matter who he really was. Whether it was one man, or a group of writers, the Shakespeare idea as a whole covered so many important subjects that have stood the test of time from astrology, to the most basic human condition, to comedy, to love and tragic love.

JOHNNY DEPP:
‘THE RUM DIARY’

Hard to believe a Johnny Depp film can be a flop but it happened. His movie The Rum Diary only made $5 million on its opening weekend last weekend. It was a movie that was a long time in the making. It was written in the ’60s but not published until 1998. It almost never made it to screen. It is adapted from a novel by Hunter S. Thompson.

Director Bruce Robinson was contacted by Johnny Depp while on vacation with his family in Spain asking if he wanted to write direct and write the screenplay for the movie. He knew it was a risk, but because he trusts Johnny and because he is a huge fan of his as a person he agreed. Bruce wrote Jennifer Eight for Paramount Pictures 17 years ago and had a horrible creative experience, so he wasn’t not sure right away if he wanted to write another film. He thought: “This is the world’s number one film star and if he’s prepared to take a chance, then so am I.”

Bruce says Johnny really knows how to do his job and thinks that some people forget about talented he is because he is such a huge star. They were on set 46 days, so it was quite intense. They woke up at 5:00am and didn’t eat lunch because it was too tense while filming. They would stop filming at 8:00 pm, which is when they would start re-working scenes. Ironically, they would drink wine at the end of the night to get through it.

RUNAWAY PRODUCTION:
MONTREAL & TORONTO BEAT VANCOUVER NOW

The trend in runaway production is changing. Montreal and Toronto are taking over from Vancouver for US production because Quebec and Ontario have better tax credits now. Hollywood producers spent $778 million in British Columbia last year down from 2009's 1.1 billion dollars. In Quebec and Ontario producers can now get a 25% tax credit. That is 25% of the overall budget whereas other provinces give 25% of just the labor expenses. Labor makes up about half of most film productions.

The increase in Quebec and Ontario tax credits are putting pressure on British Colombia that used to be the go-to Canadian province for runaway productions. There are no caps on the Quebec tax credit. This means it’s available for films at any budget. There is an extra tax credit of 5% for films that do special-effects and/or digital animation work in Quebec.

MOVIE TREND:
MONEY VS. MORALS IN 'MARGIN CALL'

An ongoing theme for filmmakers these days is “money vs. morals.” The latest one is the very intense dramatic corporate thriller Margin Call. With protesters filling the streets of financial districts these days, it's another movie about the timely topic. It goes behind-the-scenes at a major investment firm and shows us how decisions were made within the walls of a Wall Street company just before the financial crash of 2008. The writing is strong and the acting excellent, especially Kevin Spacey who truly gives one of his best scenes ever on screen in this one.

The cast also stars Star Trek’s Zachary Quinto (who also produced the movie,) Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker and Demi Moore. The movie has a Keifer Sutherland '24' feel as it takes place over 36 hours at a large investment bank loosely modeled on Lehman Brothers as the crisis unfolds. It's a great movie about scheming bankers that really looks at high finance. It's worth seeing for sure but note: if you don't follow Wall Street, it may be tough to understand. On the other hand, even if you don't understand, the actors are so good, that they are worth watching.

One of the stars, Paul Bettany, applauds the 'occupy' movement. He thinks it’s a beautiful thing that we live in a place where our voices can be heard.

In Margin Call, players are pitted against each other leading up to the Wall Street collapse. It's a great look at what goes on behind closed doors and we see how they operate, something we are not usually privy to.

What Paul likes most about his character is that he really knows who he is and he sees life as a sporting event. He wants to be first at the finish line, but if he’s not he won’t whine, he accepts that the other one was better. He didn’t agree with his politics, but he said there was a lot to like in the clarity in the personality of his character.

NEW SCI-FI THRILLER:
‘IN TIME’

The young breed of trendsetting actors making headlines today includes Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilde, Cillian Murphy, and Alex Pettyfer – and - they all star in the new science fiction thriller movie In Time.

When Will Salas is falsely accused of murder, he must figure out a way to bring down a system where time is money, literally, enabling the wealthy to live forever while the poor, like Will, have to beg, borrow, and steal enough minutes to make it through another day. Set in a retro-future when the aging gene has been turned off and people stop aging at 25 but stamped on their arm is a clock with how long they will live. (That's one way one to stop overpopulation.) Here, the rich live forever while the poor are programmed to expire at the age of 25.

This is Justin Timberlake’s first action movie and I've got to say, this guy can do anything. He is definitely a triple threat in the business and can do it all. He loved doing an action film and said he was able to live out a lot of boyhood fantasies like learning how to stunt drive and shooting guns.

When it comes to his career, Timberlake says his moves are governed by one thing: sincerity. He doesn’t have any desire whatsoever to do anything unless it’s inspiring whether it be writing songs or playing a part in a movie.

There is a plagiarism suit out against the movie. A fiction writer, Harlan Ellison, claims the plot was based on his award-winning 1965 short-story "Repent, Harlequin!" The suit names New Regency the distributor, and director Andrew Nichol.

YOUNG ACTING SENSATION:
ELIZABETH OLSON

Elizabeth Olsen, the third Olsen sister, stars in Martha Marcy May Marlene. The movie is a tortured tale of a very damaged young woman trying desperately to put her life together again and to re-assimilate into conventional society after escaping life in a cult compound. She is haunted by the traumatic events suffered under the control of a seductively twisted leader. Elizabeth concentrated what was on the script as far as character research was concerned. She spoke to director/writer Sean Durkin whenever she had questions. She didn’t want to speak to others who had gone through the same thing because she felt it would take away from the character that Sean imagined. She wanted to stay true to his vision.

Olsen is truly poised for success with this role. The movie has powerful performances by a cast that includes Academy Award-nominee John Hawkes who brings a quiet menace. The trend each year is to find one young female actress who stands out. This year I say it's Elizabeth Olsen.

ANIMATION SEQUEL TREND:
‘PUSS IN BOOTS’

Antonio Banderas now stars in Puss In Boots, the spin off from Shrek. The movie is the back-story of the Latin lover and swashbuckling adventurer. From Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation, Puss in Boots introduces a new set of characters including Puss’ female counterpart Kitty Softpaws (voiced by Salma Hayek), the scheming Humpty Dumpty (voiced by Zach Galifianakis), and the mean outlaw couple Jack and Jill, (voiced by Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris.) Chris Miller, who made his feature directing debut with Shrek the Third, directs Puss’ 3D.

He referenced Zorro for the character as well as Indiana Jones and James Bond. Miller credits his voice star Banderas, as “completely the fuel for the character. I couldn’t imagine anyone else doing that voice. And no one understands that cat better than Antonio. I’d taken a pass at the screenplay in early 2008, and right before I started I talked to Antonio about what he wanted with the character. And the first thing he said was: Whatever you do, you just have to punch a huge hole in his heart, give him something he’s lost that he has to regain. That was Antonio’s main suggestion, and it’s really what the story is about. It’s about this guy who was on the right path in life and something terrible happens that sends him off into the world as a fugitive. In Puss in Boots, he’s trying to clear his name and right the sins of his past. I give a lot of that credit to Antonio.”

MOVIE TREND:
REVISITING OLD CLASSICS

A continuing trend in movies: revisiting old classics. One out this weekend is The Three Musketeers staring Logan Lerman, Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Steven, Orlando Bloom as the Duke of Buckingham and Milla Jovovich as Milady de Winter. It is the story of a man, D'Artagnan, who leaves home to fight for the French king. He makes three friends who join him: the three musketeers. They must stop the villains from stealing the French throne and bringing Europe into war.

It is a remake of Alexandre Dumas' classic 1844 novel, The Three Musketeers, which has been a favorite in Hollywood since the beginning of film-making. Paul W.S. Anderson, director and producer, is also the one behind the Resident Evil movies. He's known as an action director, so you can expect loads of actions - he really wanted to step up his game here. In the movie, they are bringing 21rst century technology to a 400-year-old story.

The movie is packed with sword fighting and Paul made sure it looked very real - real swords with real people fighting. You can actually see the sparks coming off the blades when the swords meet. There are no stunt doubles in the movie. The actors trained in sword fighting for four months.

MOVIE TREND:
MOTION CAPTION
'REEL STEEL'

A big Hollywood trend used in films today, recently used in Reel Steel, is motion caption. Motion caption is the process of recording live movement, and using that information to animate digital characters.  In theaters now, Reel Steel is set in the year 2020 where robot boxing is the biggest sport. Hugh Jackman plays a former boxer who competes indirectly by getting a robot that mirrors every move he makes.

Motion caption was used with real boxers actually boxing each other. In motion capture, the actors’ movements are recorded many times per second. The information collected is called animation data in a process called match moving. It is mapped onto a digital model, and that model (the character in the movie) does the same movements as the actor. An older technique is called rotoscope which was used in the 1978 animated film Lord of the Rings. In this technique, the actors are filmed, and that footage is used to make a hand-drawn character. 

The great Sugar Ray Leonard choreographed the moves. Hugh was so honored to be working with Sugar Ray as he had always been a fan. He was intimidated to get into a rink and start boxing with him.

Hugh hosted the Oscars a few years back, now has high hopes for Eddie Murphy this year. He says he can’t wait to watch him. He watched his stand up comedy tapes as a kid and considers him one of the funniest guys out there. Hugh had a blast hosting the Oscars and hopes one day he gets to do it again.

GEORGE CLOONEY:
DIRECTORS REPORT CARD

George Clooney directed The Ides of March, the political thriller I’ve been speaking so much about. All of his colleagues were impressed by his directing skills on this one. He's getting better and better as a director each time out. His co-star, Ryan Gosling says it’s hard to find anyone who is more informed, educated and experienced than George is as both an actor and a director. Ryan does say the reason he is so good is because he has an acting background and he knows first hand what kind of environment to make on set to make everybody comfortable and happy.

Marisa Tomei says George was in complete control of the set, but did it in such a way that he was guiding his actors, not reprimanding. Working in a movie as a director and working as an actor are two completely different ways of thinking – we hear George switches from one to the other really well. George feels that Ryan is one of the most talented actors of his generation. Meantime, George denies that Ides of March came from the John Edwards campaign. He said the movie was written long before the John Edwards thing broke and it wasn’t really modeled after anybody.

TV TREND:
A-LISTERS STILL MOVING TO TV

The TV trend continues: more big screen directors and producers are moving to the small screen. It is the thing to do now if you're in film. The latest are the Coen Brothers, following in the footsteps of Martin Scorcese with Boardwalk Empire, then Steven Spielberg with Terra Nova. The Oscar-winning Coens are co-creating an hour-long comedy project for FOX. It’s called HarveKarbo, a comedy about a private investigator in LA whose cases often get involved with the elite in Hollywood. The brothers won three Oscars for No country for Old Men in 2007 - they are sure to bring good stuff to TV. They are never predictable.

Meantime, another major movie producer is moving to TV, Jerry Weintraub – the legendary veteran Hollywood producer behind The Ocean’s 11,12,13 franchise and the Karate Kid. He’s going to be behind a new drama series set in the world of evening news. I love this one. It will be called The Producer and is coming to CBS. Jerry Weintraub is quite the Hollywood living legend. He is a major humanitarian and received the Unicef Humanitarian award. He has a great book to pick up if you like insider Hollywood stories. It’s his memoir called When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead.

MOVIE TREND:
POLITICAL THRILLERS BOOMING

Political thrillers are huge right now. George Clooney’s ‘The Ides of March’ that you’ve heard so much about, is about political backstabbing and betrayal and the rise and faII of a presidential candidate and his press secretary.

It's co-written and directed by George but he says he didn’t set out to make a political film. He felt it was more a film about moral choices. He thought it was a fun moral tail, and once you put it in the world of politics it amps up the problems.

The movie also co-stars DC native Jeffrey Wright. He said when you grow up there you absorb politics. He agrees with George that it is not a political film, but more of a gangster film that explores human behavior.

The movie kicked off the Venice Film Festival and the early critical reviews were positive but a bit reserved.

Clooney stars as Gov. Mike Morris, a liberal, Morris’ campaign is run by Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman), with Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling) Zara’s most talented aide.

The cast is so strong and does a superb job. It has good pacing.

Some feels like it makes a bigger fuss about itself more than it should. It’s George’s four outing as a director. It’s very good, its not the best ever. Ryan Goslng goes a bit too much in his last scene but its riveting.

HOLLYWOOD TREND:
ON BROADWAY IN DROVES

Hollywood actors are moving to the Broadway stage more than ever before. Today, a celebrity can be an economic necessity for a Broadway show, because if Hollywood stars didn't come many of these shows wouldn’t even be produced in the first place. Broadway still garners big money for Hollywood stars.

Brooke Shields just extended to do the Adams Family until December. Now Hugh Jackman will be in a show called Back on Broadway. It starts October 25th. He will perform musical numbers with an 18-piece orchestra until January 1. This one is going to be his favorite musical numbers that reflect his life and his career. He did the show in Toronto and San Francisco and they sold out.

Meantime in theaters, Real Steel, is a sci-fi film set in the near future. He plays a washed up boxer in the film that's a mix of The Champ, Iron Man and Transformers.

He made a pact with himself that he would only get into Broadway if it was a show he was excited to go to work for. He said on a week off, he would rather work on the Broadway show than golf with his buddies.

Daniel Craig is another Hollywood actor who has shown interest in working on stage in a play. He’s reading scripts at the moment. He likes the experience of theater because it’s more real. He said as an actor it gives you great humility because you have to go out there, stand in front of an audience and get it right – there are no second takes.

FILM NEWS:
OSCAR RACE IS UNDERWAY

Betting is already on in Britain for February's Oscars:

 "War Horse" from Steven Spielberg has 5-2 best picture odds, while the silent film "The Artist" and Clint Eastwood's "J. Edgar" coming in at 4-1.

Bettors seem to like Oprah Winfrey's chances at being host too. Also on the list of other in the business: The Help, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Brad Pitt’s Moneyball and Terrance Malick’s The Tree of Life, also starring Brad Pitt.

DANIEL CRAIG:
CHANGING LOOK OF BOND

When it comes to setting trends, the James Bond franchise remains a leader. Now Daniel Craig is promising a new look when Bond resurfaces.  Dream House is Daniel’s newest film in theaters right now. It's a horror movie. It must be pretty horrible since no one wants to talk about it. There have been no advance screenings and no interviews from the stars. It doesn’t promise much for the film’s future. It's a suspense thriller about a family that moves into a house that holds dark mysteries within its walls, grisly murders committed years earlier. The house is not happy with its new occupants.

It’s directed by Jim Sheridan (from In the Name of the Father) and it co-stars Daniel’s new wife Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts. Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes say they want Bond 23 to be the best Bond ever. He says they need to go back to all the books and movies and improve upon it. Sam has been a huge Bond fan his whole life.

When he first played in a Bond movie, Daniel was so excited about the slick suits he got to wear. Now he can’t wait to take them off and finds them uncomfortable.

THE NEW ANNA FARIS:
NOW HEADLINING

There's one actress who has been in the headlines a lot and in a movie right now What's Your Number. It's that silly goofy comedy you heard about. It's not good but Anna Faris is good at this kind of comedy. It’s very predictable. Here's an interesting thing, Anna's now headlining movies. This actress has revamped her look into more of a sex symbol. Have you see her lately popping out of her dresses with bleach blonde hair?

She looks good but wow, did she ever get the memo on what a Hollywood star has to look like today to compete. Anna Faris has never really made a difference in our lives but now with this new look that’s changing. In What’s Your Number she plays young woman determined to find a husband by revisiting all 20 of her former lovers. Based on the best-selling novel, 20 Times a Lady, the film co-stars Chris Evans, Chris Pratt and Adam Samberg. 

MICK JAGGER:
NEW MOVIE PROJECT ‘TABLOID’

Mick Jagger is returning Hollywood, reportedly about to produce  a thriller tentatively called Tabloid which was derived from his original idea. Mick Jagger came up for the idea and has signed the writer of A History of Violence. He may star in it as a global media mogul with poor morality. If he does, it will be his first acting gig since 2001 in The Man from Elysian Fields.  It’s about a journalist gets seduced and sucked into that immoral world.

He's 68 now. He co-founded the production company Jagged Films in 1995 and received production credits for 2001's Enigma and 2005's TheWomen.

ANN’S MOVIE PICKS:
‘50/50’

A very good movie out right now, 50/50 is one you’ll be hearing about the rest of the year. It’s directed by Jonathan Levine and stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogan. Inspired by a true story, it is about a 27-year-old who is diagnosed with cancer. For such a somber subject, you’ll get laughs in this one. 50/50 is a good-hearted look at the life and near-death of a young man struck down with a possibly fatal form of cancer and the people with whom he chooses to surround himself.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt says there is a lot that could be distracting in showbiz. He said the important thing is to love movies, telling stories, acting and art that is what you focus on – if not it is easy to be derailed. 

MUST SEE:
‘MACHINE GUN PREACHER’

Make sure you put Gerard Butler’s Machine Gun Preacher on your list. It’s a good one! It's a fact based drama telling the inspirational story of a former drug-dealer biker who found himself reformed and answering the call to save hundreds of kidnapped and orphaned children in war-torn Sudan. It's about one man’s extraordinary journey.

Marketers for the film are going for a broad market with a special focus on churchgoers and motorcycle clubs. It premiered to a standing ovation at the Toronto International Film Festival screening. It's from the director of Monsters Ball and The Kite Runner.

For the first time, Gerard Butler shows he can really act. He’s really good and I’m happy he’s finally picked a good movie worth something. Machine Gun Preacher is the true story of Sam Childers.

The first time Gerard met Sam was at Sam’s house. Gerard described him as being very comfortable and in his element. He sat down and Sam handed him a gun. He started playing with it not knowing it was loaded. He said it was a test.

Machine Gun Preacher is in theaters now.

MOVIE TREND:
A-LISTERS IN SECONDARY ROLES

Have you seen the new action thriller Killer Elite yet? It’s Gary McKendry’s latest starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro. It’s got a good style, lots of action, car chasing and guns – but the story is so all over the place that it’s exhausting to watch. I was craving to be more at the edge of my seat and it definitely needed more De Niro.

Now here’s the trend we are seeing: major actors playing secondary characters. That’s what Robert De Niro does in this one – he’s not the lead. He was in Bradley Cooper’s Limitless and now he’s in Clive Owen and Jason Statham’s espionage thriller.

I say he gives these movies weight that they wouldn't necessarily have. When you see De Niro is in a movie- you say: “Oh it’s got to be good. If he took the role it must be a good film.”

Jason loved working with Robert as well as Clive Owen. He said doing an action scene with Clive was a big privilege because of the intensity that comes with it.  Clive did all his own stunts in this one. A lot of preparation was required. He said he likes doing them because he sees it as the same as a dialogue scene – it’s still acting. It’s got to be right, and he doesn’t want anyone else doing it for him – that’s why he does them all himself.

SIGOURNEY WEAVER:
CAREER STILL HOT

Abduction is the action thriller co-staring Sigourney Weaver from director John Singleton, starring Taylor Lautner, Alfred Molina and Lily Collins (Phil Collins’ daughter.) Sigourney is truly a trendsetter. She's still in the business and getting big roles (all without plastic surgery.) No matter what she does in a movie, she makes each scene that much more interesting, and seem more intelligent.

Her film career spans every genre. She has starred in three of the most successful sci-fi series Avatar, Aliens, and Ghostbusters. She has Oscar nominations for Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl. In Abduction, Sigourney plays Dr. Geraldine Bennett, a therapist/CIA operative.

She says she now likes playing smaller roles, where her characters’ actions help set the plot in motion. She admits it’s been a great year. She knows how lucky she is in this business today. She feels she’s gotten to a point she’s not only offered good parts, but hard parts as well.

MOVIE RENTALS:
ALTERNATIVES TO NETFLIX

Netflix got so many people upset recently when they raised prices. If you're looking for alternatives to Netflix, here are some ideas:

Epix:  A joint venture between Paramount, MGM, Lionsgate, and Viacom. Epix offers 150 movies but you need a cable subscription. www.epixhd.com

Amazon: It recently signed an agreement with CBS making shows like Star Trek and The Tudors available instantly on the site. Over 8,000 video titles are available instantly via Amazon for a fee.  www.amazon.com

Hulu Plus: allows access to the most current episodes of TV shows has lot of movies available than its free Hulu counterpart. www.hulu.com

GOOD FAMILY FLICK:
‘DOLPHIN TALE’

A good wholesome movie to put on your list is Dolphin Tale. Good family movies are hard to find, other than animation. This one deals with inspirational values. It’s inspired by a true story about the friendship between a boy and a dolphin. Strangers come together to save the life of a wild dolphin whose tail was severely damaged in a crab trap. The dolphin was rescued and transported to a marine hospital and was miraculously saved by a marine biologist and a prosthetics doctor.

The marketing studio is reaching out to home-schooled children for this one. It stars Harry Connick Junior, Ashley Judd, Kris Kristofferson and Morgan Freeman. Morgan says he doesn’t do much when he travels to different locations for movies. He goes on set, works and goes back to the hotel. The most he’ll do is dinner at a nice restaurant. He says being high-profile, he doesn’t like leaving and being followed by people and paparazzi.

MOVIE NEWS:
MUST SEE FILMS FOR FALL 2011

Want to know the must-see films this fall? I've got the list of the top movies coming out of the Toronto International Film Festival and the rest of Hollywood that are the must-sees for this fall. I’ve narrowed it all down for you.

SEPTEMBER

Moneyball: starring Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jonah Hill is based on a non-fiction book about two small-town general managers who put together a winning team against all odds.

Dream House:  This one is out September 30. It stars Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts, about a family that moves into a home where many murders were committed and find themselves as the next target.

OCTOBER

The Ides of March: This is the first of two George Clooney films to coming out this fall. George Clooney directed and stars in it. It’s out October 7th. George plays a democrat running for president. Ryan Gosling is the media strategist on his campaign who knows a secret about the politician and has to decide whether he stays or blows the whistle. The film co-stars Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood and Jeffrey Wright.

The Big Year: This one stars Steve Martin, Owen Wilson and Jack Black. Out October 14, it’s a comedy about competitive bird watching. It’s got funny all over it.

Martha Marcy May Marlene: Try remembering the name and saying it. It’s out October 21. It's a thriller starring Elizabeth Olsen, the younger sister to Mary-Kate and Ashley playing a member of an abusive cult trying to break free with the help of her estranged sister. It co-stars Oscar nominee John Hawkes.

The Rum Diary:  Out October 28, The Rum Diary is another one to put on your list starring Johnny Depp and Aaron Eckhart.  It’s adapted from a novel by Hunter S. Thompson about a freelance journalist who finds himself at a turning point in his life while writing for a run-down newspaper in the Caribbean. He tries to find a more secure niche for himself.

NOVEMBER

Melancholia: Out November 11, Melancholia stars Kirsten Dunst, Alexander Skarsgård, Stellan Skarsgård, John Hurd, and Kiefer Sutherland. Kirsten won the best actress at Cannes for this one. It’s about two sisters who find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide into the Earth.

The Muppets: Opening November 23 this one stars Amy Adams, Jason Segal and Chris Cooper. Fans help the Muppets save their old theater from a greedy oil tycoon.

The Descendents: This is the second George Clooney film out this fall – out November 23. I liked this one a lot. Director Alexander Payne, who also did Election and Sideways, directs this one. It's a mix of comedy and drama. It’s a story about a Hawaiian man (Clooney) dealing with a wife in a coma from a boating accident when he finds out she’s been cheating on him. It co-stars Beau Bridges, Judy Greer and Robert Forster.

NEW TO BLU-RAY:
‘CITIZEN KANE’

New to Blu-Ray is Citizen Kane, considered one of the greatest most influential movies ever made. The 3-disc box set includes previously released material with some new material. It is the 70th Anniversary Collector’s Edition. It is directed by and stars Orson Welles. Also in the cast is Joseph Cotton, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick, Everett Sloane and Dorothy Comingore.  It also includes interview segments and documentary features.

Originally released in 194, it is the story of the life and loves of a ruthless publishing tycoon. It was thought to be a personal attack by Welles on William Randolph Hearst.

FILMMAKING TREND:
‘CROWD-FUNDING’

There's a trend right now called 'crowd-funding'. It's for independent filmmakers. They can get their money online now. There were quite a few movies at TIFF this year that used a website to get financing. Financial backers constantly drop out and then the filmmaker is left holding the bag with dreams of getting their movie out there. When the film is finished and about to be shipped to the festivals and money is missing many are now doing going online to ask the fans for money. Kickstarter is the largest such site. So far it’s helped filmmakers raise 32 million dollars - amazing! It truly is a sign of the times.

www.kickstarter.com

MOVIE TREND:
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

The movie Warrior in theaters now, focuses on Hollywood’s latest sports phenomenon, mixed martial arts (MMA). Fox Sports announced a seven-year deal with leading MMA promoter Ultimate Fighting Championship that will include four UFC shows on Fox and 32 shows on the Fox’s FX cable channel. Fox paid $700 million for the deal. Director Gavin O'Connor was surprised the movie was referred to as a chick flick. When they screened the movie for the first time in front of a test audience, Gavin went to the studio and they told him he created a chick flick. He scored in the 90’s with women above 25. The movie got great scores with men, but even higher with women.

The sport is so violent, a lot of the stars were injured during the making of the movie. One star that didn’t get injured: Jennifer Morrison. She blew Gavin away at the audition – he was hiring her no question.

BEHIND THE SCENES:
‘CONTAGION’

Contagion, now in theaters had more than 80% of the audience over the age of 25 opening weekend as it came in number one. Fear of germs was big for the cast and crew while working for this one. There was more Purell than ever on this movie set. Actors had never seen anything like it. The crew replaced handshakes with fist-bumps.

Actress Marion Cotillard was always a “germaphobe” but after working on this one she now cleans every doorknob in the hotel room and the TV remote control. Director Steven Soderbergh says his behavior hasn’t changed much but he has become a lot more aware of it now. He sees the world differently – he will always be conscious of it.

While making the movie, Steven had a very clear approach: keep everything very, very simple. The entire film was shot with two lenses. When he would look at a scene, he would try and figure out how few shots he needed as opposed to how many. He wanted it to be, in terms of style, the simplest movie he’s ever made. Often, that can require more thought. He wanted every shot and every cut to have a purpose with no waste. He wanted everything to be so simple that all the viewer focuses on is he performances.

NEW SCORSESE DOC:
‘GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD’

The upcoming HBO / BBC documentary, directed by Martin Scorsese and Olivia Harrison, is based on the life of The Beatles member George Harrison. It's called George Harrison: Living in the Material World. The film follows his story from his early life living in Liverpool, the success of The Beatles, his experiences in India and the influence of the culture on his music. Interviews include: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Olivia and Dhani Harrison, Eric Clapton, Phil Spector and Tom Petty.  

It’s long but good. The running time is 208 minutes. In the U.S., HBO will air the film in two parts on October 5 & 6.

VARIETY writes -

In the words of friends and family interviewed – he was "a red-blooded man" (McCartney) prone to "anger" (Starr) with "no filter" (Ono) and others say - "a very extreme personality (that led him) very heavily into drugs" By acknowledging but not belaboring these faults, the film hints at what made Harrison such a restless individual -- albeit primarily though euphemism, supported only once by visual evidence (when he threw a drink in a photographer's face).Later, an older-and-wiser Harrison reflects, "People say I'm the Beatle who changed the most, but to me, that's what life's about." That ongoing transformation also makes Harrison the Beatle best suited to a portrait of this magnitude, not only for dramatic reasons, but also because his issues seem to run deepest.

In the last half hour, starting with Lennon's assassination, we learn that Harrison spent much of his life practicing how to leave his body. Not everyone frets about death, but those who do face a daunting uphill journey en route to accepting their mortality. As "Living in the Material World" draws to a close, ending as countless musician biopics have before, Scorsese poignantly shows that Harrison left the world as he wanted: positive-minded, wiser and at peace. Now, through not only his music but also this thoughtful portrait of a lifelong seeker, part of that enlightenment can be ours.

FILM FESTIVALS:
THE BREAKDOWN

TIFF 2011 is underway, Venice and Telluride made their mark and one thing is for sure: momentum from festivals is crucial and the battle is on. Venice is often accused of “front loading" its programs, with all the big-name movies screening over the first four or five days. This is because Venice knows as soon as TIFF begins, the stars leave town to get their Oscar campaigns launched. Without a doubt, festivals are make-or-break for films. The first vibe on a film is so influential.

When looking at all the festivals, Cannes remains the leader but the Venice Film Festival is the oldest in the world and has huge glitz surrounding it each year in August and beginning of September. Many of the stars come directly to TIFF from Venice. Venice realizes that TIFF is a threat. Celebrities with hopes of statuettes are now feeling that Toronto can get them the hype they need.

A couple of a weeks ago, Venice’s red carpet saw George Clooney open the festival before heading to TIFF for his backroom betrayal movie the Ides of March which he directed as you know. By the way, George Clooney won’t be doing The Man from U.N.C.L.E. because he has scheduled a back as well an arm operation. You won’t be seeing him working on any action movies for a bit.

Why are Venice and TIFF specifically so important to the industry? Acquisitions and buzz of course, but it’s also a first chance for producers to see a real audience’s reaction, letting them know the direction a film will go. Take Black Swan last year. It opened Venice and critics started the rave about Natalie Portman, which took her right to Oscar gold.

There's a hierarchy in the world's film festivals. Cannes is still the leader. Venice and Berlin are close rivals but Toronto is right up there. Oscar winners now often begin the road in Canada. Slumdog Millionaire and The King's Speech both won the audience award in Toronto. Many producers and studios like the idea of proximity to Hollywood and like to avoid the expense of Venice. Canada can maybe get them a US distribution deal. Right after Venice and Toronto, there are San Sebastián, Rio, Abu Dhabi, Tokyo, Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin.

NEW MOVIE:
‘5 DAYS OF WAR’

Currently in very limited release, 5 Days of War is an international action/adventure set against the brief war between Russia and the Georgian Republic in 2008 and telling the story of an American journalist and his photographer caught in the crossfire as they attempt to alert the world to what’s going on. The film is shot on location.

Director Renny Harlen says he likes working on movies that give him a real reason to wake up in the morning. He’s been making action movies and thrillers for 20 years and he came to Hollywood with a childhood dream of being on a movie set, calling the shots and blowing up things. As he grows up, he looks for another kind of meaning from his life and his career. With this one, he told a story that is close to his heart.

NEW MOVIE RELEASE:
‘SHARK NIGHT 3D’

Hoping to scare up some action at the weekend box office is Shark Night 3D which centers on a group of college students being terrorized by a fresh water shark while spending a weekend at a Louisiana lake. Directed by David R. Ellis from a script by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes, the cast includes Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan and Chris Carmack.

Ellis sets a very relaxed atmosphere on set. It is very collaborative – everybody has the ability to contribute. Each actor is different and he finds what they desire and need to get into their character. 

NEW RELEASE:
‘A GOOD OLD FASHIONED ORGY’

The raunchy R-rated comedy A Good Old Fashioned Orgy took 14 years to make and is finally in theaters now. It is about a group of friends in their thirties who decide to celebrate the sale of their longtime party house by throwing their best theme event ever. It’s written and directed by Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck from The Larry Sanders Show.

Gregory says that when they started writing the movie in 1997, before Wedding Crashers and Old School, the whole R-Rated comedy hadn’t happened yet. The movie came about because he had spoken to a friend who went a party in the hills where an orgy broke out and he didn’t believe him.

TIFF: EXPECT TO SEE…

The countdown is on for the Toronto International Film Festival. It officially begins September 8 and ends September 18. The biggest A-listers will be in town: this will be the first year many industry events and public screenings will take place at the new building TIFF Bell Lightbox. It's got comfortable seating, clear projection and pitch perfect sound. They say it’s the best place to see movies during the festival. Last year I checked it out on the final days of the festival as it had just opened. This will be the first year it’s getting full use.

For the first time ever, TIFF will be opening with a documentary. Director Davis Guggenheim’s doc following Bono and U2, called From the Sky Down, will open the festival at the first gala on September 8th. It looks at 1991's acclaimed seventh studio album, Achtung Baby, and the 20 years that have followed through new interviews and previously unseen footage from Berlin and Dublin.U2 has endured and thrived.

Guggenheim, is best known for winning an Oscar for AnInconvenient Truth and directed last year's education-reform documentary Waiting for Superman. U2 is one of the all-time top-grossing acts, with Bono of course regarded as a prominent activist for numerous causes, particularly in the Third World.

TIFF is also has the world premiere of Pearl Jam Twenty, directed by Cameron Crowe. The documentary starts pre Pearl Jam - more than 1,200 hours of rarely seen or never before seen footage. The press release says the film is “told in big themes and bold colors with blistering sound."The film chronicles the years leading up to the band's formation, the chaos that ensued soon after their rise to mega-stardom, their step-back from centre stage, and the work culture that would sustain them.

The Madonna-directed W.E. will have its North American premiere at TIFF. It’s about the nature of true love and sacrifices made. It is described as "a romantic exploration of the mysterious connection across decades between two women confronting the consequences of desire.”

George Clooney stars in the family drama The Descendants and will also be premiering his directorial effort The Ides of March, co-starring Ryan Gosling. Clooney co-wrote and stars in Ides, which is coming directly from premiering at the Venice Film Festival. Gosling will also be in Toronto for the action-thriller Drive co-starring Carey Mulligan.

The Descendants is about a land-owner who tries to re-connect with his two daughters after his wife slips into a coma after a boating accident. He later has to reconcile his lifestyle with his desires when he discovers that his wife had been having an affair.The film was originally scheduled to be have a limited release on December 16 but was moved to November 23. Jenney Yagodich is a cultural educator in Hawaii. She says the locals loved that George came to the islands to shoot the movie.

Also in Toronto this year, Brad Pitt, starring in the biographical baseball comedy-drama Moneyball based on the true story of Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A’s, and how he created a competitive baseball team at a fraction of the cost of the large market teams. Moneyball stars Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright and Kathryn Morris. It's based on the book Moneyball; the art of winning an unfair game. It focuses on the GM who used computer analysis to compete against teams with bigger budgets. It opens September 23, 2011.

There is also Michelle Williams who will walk the red carpet for Take This Waltz, which she shot in Toronto last year. Also in Toronto walking the red carpet will be Jude Law in 360, JonHamm for his comedy Friends with Kids and Matthew McConaughey will be pushing his dark comedy Killer Joe.

Jennifer Garner will be in Toronto for her producing of the ensemble film Butter with her co stars Hugh Jackman and Olivia Wilde.It also stars Jennifer in this political satire during the recent 2008 democratic election. The twist is that it takes place in a small town in Iowa at a butter carving competition.

Carey Mulligan will be on the red carpet for Shame, where she stars alongside Michael Fassbender. It is the story of a 30-something man living in New York who is unable to manage his sex life. After his wayward younger sister moves into his apartment, Brandon’s world spirals out of control. Shame is an examination of the nature of need, how we live our lives and the experiences that shape us.

Also walking the red carpet will be Channing Tatum in TenYear about a highschool reunion, Blake Lively in the coming of age film Hick, and Mary Kate and Ashley Olson’s younger sister Elizabeth for the film Peace, Love & Misunderstanding.

Canadian director David Cronenberg’s psychological drama, A Dangerous Method was produced in partnership with Telefilm Canada, based on a play about Sigmund Freud and CarlJung and the birth of psychoanalysis set in 1904 to 1912.It stars Keira Knightley as a Russian girl, who was not well known until the 1970’s when letters were found to the surprise of many people, that she was a huge influence on both them. She started off as a patient of Jung’s, who was a Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker and the founder of Analytical Psychology. He was one of the best-known pioneers in the field of dream analysis. The film shows how some mental issues are cultural created rather than physiologically.

Also in town will be Joseph Gordon Levitt and SethRogen for their comedy about two friends, one who's diagnosed with cancer. The movie is called 50-50, just like his chances.They are funny together.

Winnie, the biopic of South Africa's Winnie Mandela starring Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard will be premiering as well as Trespass,a Joel Schumacher thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Nicolas Cage. It is set in a private, wealthy community where priority is placed on security and no exception is made for the Miller family's estate. Behind their pristine walls and manicured gardens, Kyle, a fast-talking businessman, has entrusted the mansion's renovation to his stunning wife, Sarah. But between making those big decisions and keeping tabs on their defiant teenage daughter, Sarah often finds herself distracted by a young, handsome worker at their home. Nothing is what it seems, and it will take a group of cold-blooded criminals led by Elias, who have been planning a vicious home invasion for months, to bring the Miller family together. When they storm the manor, everyone is tangled up in betrayal, deception, temptation and scheming. Kyle, Sarah and Avery will take the ultimate risk to make it out with their lives, and their family, intact.

The French film Beloved, starring Catherine Deneuve and then the spy thriller PageEight are what close the festival.

Full list of actors attending:

Aamir Khan, Aaron Eckhart, Aaron Poole, Abigail Breslin, Adelaide Clemens, Adrienne Ciuffo, AJ Bowen, Alessandro Nivola, Alex Russell, Alexander Gammal, Alexandra Chowaniec, Allie MacDonald, Amanda Plummer, Amber Heard, Amy Grey, Amy Madigan, Amy Ryan, Anamaria Marinca, Andrea Riseborough, Anna Hopkins, Anna Mae Routledge, Andy Sparacino, April Telek, Aqib Khan, Ari Cohen, Audrey Mars, Barry Pepper, Belén Rueda, Bill Gates, Bill Murray , Bill Pullman, Bjorn Lomborg, Blake Lively, Bob Hoskins, Bruce Greenwood, Bruce Springsteen, Carey Lovelace, Carey Mulligan, Carla Sacks, Carrie Ng, Catherine Deneuve, Catherine Keener, char davies, Charlotte Rampling, Christopher C.J. Wallace, Christopher Plummer, Cindy Nelson, Clive Owen, Colin Firth, Connor Paolo, Craig Roberts, Cyril Dugovic, Danielle Harris, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Dave Lawrence, David Suzuki, David Timoner, Dominic Cooper, Doro Bachrach Dwight Yoakam, Edward Norton, Ellen Page, Emily Hampshire, Emma Roberts, Emma Stone, Emmanuel Bilodeau, Erwin Strauss, Evan Sneider, Fisher Stevens, Francesca Gasteen, Freida Pinto, Garrett Dillahunt, Gemma Arterton, Geoffrey Canada, Geoffrey Rush, George Rush, Georgina Haig, Glenn Howerton, Guerilla Girls, Hallie Switzer, Harvey Keitel, Helen Mirren, Hilary Swank, Irène Jacob Isabelle Blais, Jackson Rathbone, Jake Johnson, James Caan, James Franco, Jason Jones, Javier Bardem, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Connelly, Jeon Do-yeon, Jeremy Renner, Jill Hennessy, Jim Broadbent, Joe Swanberg, John Brolin, Jon Hamm, Jon Lovitz, Jonathan Baldock, John Legend, Josh Hartnett, Josh Lucas, Juan Diego Botto, Julian Richings, Julie Bilson Ahlberg, Juno Temple, Kailey Swanson, Kat Dennings, Kat Germain, Keanu Reeves, Keir Gilchrist, Kelly Preston, Kevin Spacey, KodiSmit-McPhee, Kristin Scott Thomas, L.J. Benet, Lambert Wilson, Laura Dern, Lee Jung-jae, Lee Pace, Lesley Chilcott, Lesley Manville, Liana Liberato, Liv Tyler, Ludivine Sagnier, Macha Grenon, Malin Akerman, Maria Bello, Marion Cotillard, Martha Wilson, Martin Sheen, Martina Gusman, Mary Steenburgen, Matt Damon, Maya Hawke, Megan Fox, Melanie Laurent, Michael Angarano, Michael C. Hall, Michael Moore, Michael Pena, Michael Sheen Mickey Rourke, Milla Jovovich, Minnie Driver, Miranda Richardson, Molly Parker, Morgan Davidoff Nadia Litz , Natalie Portman, Nicole Kidman, Noah Reid, Oliver Ackland, Olivia Newton-John , Olivier Barthelemy, Om Puri, Paolo Costanzo, Patrick Labbé, Paul Giamatti, Paul J. Spence, Penn Badgley, Philomène Bilodeau, Pierre Bergé, Rachel Weisz, Rachelle Lefevre, Rainn Wilson, Ray Winstone, Rebecca Hall, Rebecca Hill, Reece Thompson, Rick Miller, Robert De Niro, Robert James, Roberta Cairney, Romain Duris, Ron Hynes, Ron Perlman, Ronnie Fridthjof, Rosamund Pike, Ross Clark, Ruth Charney, Ruth Sheen, Ryan Gosling, Ryan Kwanten, Ryan Phillippe, Ryan Reynolds, Sally Hawkins, Sam Rockwell, Sara Stockman, Sarah Kolasky, Sarah Peter, Sarah Silverman, Scott Speedman, Seán Cullen, Shannon Woodward, Stephen Eric McIntyre, Stephen Root, Temuera Morrison, Terra Hazelton, Thomas Haden Church, TJ Power, Tracy Lawrence, Uma Thurman, Valentina Berisa, Vera Farmiga, Vincent Cassel, Will Ferrell, William B. Davis, William H. Macy Woody Harrelson , Xiao Min, Yasmin Paige, Zach Braff, Zach Galifianakis, Zak Santiago

Full List of directors attending:

Aamir Bashir, Aaron Phelan, Abe Sylvia, Achero Mañas, Adam Wingard, Alejandro González Iñárritu, álex de la Iglesia, Alex Gibney, Amos Gitai, Andrew Lau, Andrucha Waddington, Andy De Emmony, Anna Boden, Anne Emond, Antoine Bourges, Anurag Kashyap, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Atom Egoyan, AviNesher, Barr Gilmore, Barry Blaustein, Belmin Soylemez, Ben Affleck, Ben C. Lucas, Ben Stassen, Benoit Jacquot, Boo Junfeng, Brad Anderson, Brandon Cronenberg, Brian D. Johnson, Bruce LaBruce, Bruce McDonal, Callum Cooper, Cam Woykin, Carl Bessai, Carla Susanto, Caroline Monnet, Catherine Breillat, Catherine Martin, Charles Ferguson, Charlotte Sachs Bostrup, Chris Chong Chan Fui& Yasuhiro Morinaga, Chris Kraus, Christophe Nick, Thomas Bornot, Clint Eastwood, Dan Popa, Dan Rush, Daniel Cockburn, Daniel Espinosa, Daniel Hendler, DanisGoulet, Danny Boyle, Darragh McDonald, Darren Aronofsky, David M. Rosenthal, David Schwimmer, Davis Guggenheim, Deborah Chow, Delfina Castagnino, Denis Cote, Denis Villeneuve, Derek Cianfrance, DjoTundaWaMunga, Dominic Angerame, Douglas Gordon, Dustin Lance Black, Ed Gass-Donnelly, Emilio Estevez, Emmanuel Shirinian & Russell Bennett, Emre Sahin, Eran Riklis, Eric Lartigau, Eriko Sonoda, Errol Morris, Ezra Holland, Federico Veiroj, Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal, Tono Errando, Firas Momani, Francois Ozon, Frederick Wiseman, Gabriel Range, Gareth Edwards George Hickenlooper, Gilles Paquet Brenner, Greg Atkins, Guillaume Canet, Guillem Morales, Guy Maddin, Guy Moshe, Hans Olson, Helga Fanderl, Ian Sharp, Iciar Bollain, Im Sang-Soo, Ingrid Veninger, Isaac Cravit, Isabelle Stever, J. Clay Tweel, Jacob Tierney, James Andean & Francois Xavier Saint-Pierre, James Benning, James Gunn, James Wan, Janus Metz, Jeff Barnaby, Jem Cohen, Jerome Sable, Jim Mickle, Joe LoBianco, Jody Shapiro, John Bolton, John Cameron Mitchell, John Carpenter, John Curran, John Gray, John Madden, John Price, John Sayles, John Turturro, Jonathan Nossiter, Jonathan Sobol, Jose Luis Guerin, Juanita Wilson, Julian Schnabel, Julien Carbon, Julio Hernandez Cordon, Justin Chadwick, Justin Lerner, Katrin Bowen, Kaveh Nabatian, Kazik Radwanski, Kelly Reichardt, Ken Loach, Kevan Funk, Kevin Jerome Everson, Khalo Matabane, Kim Longinotto, KiranRaoKirePaputts, Koen Mortier, Ky Nam Le Duc, Larysa Kondracki, Laura Israel, Leon Ford, Linda Hoaglund, Liz Van Allen Cairns, Laurent Courtiaud, Louis Belanger, Louise Alston, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Madison Brookshire, Mahamat-SalehHaroun, Malcolm Venville, Manuel Martin Cuenca Marie-Josee Saint-Pierre, Marion Hansel, Mark Hartley, Mark Romane, Martin Sokol, Matt Reeves, Max Winkler, Michael Dowse, Michael McGowan, Michael Nyman, Michael Rowe, Michael Snow, Michael Vass, Michelangelo Frammartino, Mike Goldbach, Mike Leigh, Mike Mills, Milcho Manchevski, Mitch Glazer, Nadia Litz, Nathaniel Dorsky, Nick Fox Gieg, Nicolas Pereda, Nigel Cole, Oliver Husain, Oliver Schmitz, Ondi Timoner,Ozlem Sulak, Pablo Trapero, Pasquale Scimeca, Patricio Guzman, Pelin Esmer, Perry Bard, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Pierre Thoretton, Rachid Bouchareb, Rebecca Meyers, Reha Erdem, Richard Ayoade, Richard Bowen, Richard J. Lewis, Risteard O Domhnaill, Robert Redford, Rodrigo Cortes, Romain Gavras, Rowan Joffe, Ryan Fleck, Ryan Redford, Sara St. Onge, Sarah Bouyain, Sarah McCarthy, Saverio Constanzo, Seren Yuce, Sergei Loznitsa Shawn KuSion Sono, Sophie Fiennes, Sophie Goyette, Stefano Incerti, Stefano Pasetto, Stephen Frears, Steve Nash, Steven Silver, Sturla Gunnarsson, Susanne Bier, Tao Gu, Tayfun Pirselimoglu, Terry Miles, Theodore Ushev, Theron Patterson, Thom Andersen, Thom Zimny, Tom Hooper, Tom Tykwer, Tomonari Nishikawa Tony Goldwyn, Trevor Anderson, Vincent Biron, Vincent Gallo, Vincent Grenier, Wang Bing, Werner Herzog, Will Gluck, William D. MacGillivray, Woody Allen, Wuershan, Xavier Dolan, Yoel Meranda

COMPLETE FILM LINE UP

Contemporary World Cinema:

Always Brando, Ridha Béhi, Tunisia World Premiere After meeting

Azhagarsamy’s Horse, Suseendran, India International Premiere

Beauty, Oliver Hermanus, South Africa/France North American Premiere

Blood of my Blood, João Canijo, Portugal World Premiere

Bonsái, Cristián Jiménez, Chile/France/Argentina/Portugal

North American Premiere

Colour of the Ocean, Maggie Peren, Germany World Premiere

Death for Sale, Faouzi Bensaidi, Belgium/France/Morocco World Premiere

Elena, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia North American Premiere

Extraterrestrial, Nacho Vigalondo, Spain World Premiere

Footnote, Joseph Cedar, Israel North American Premiere

The Forgiveness of Blood, Joshua Marston, USA/Albania/Denmark/Italy North American Premiere

Free Men, Ismaël Ferroukhi, France International Premiere

From Up on Poppy Hill, Goro Miyazaki, Japan International Premiere

A Funny Man, Martin P. Zandvliet, Denmark International Premiere

Future Lasts Forever, Ozcan Alper,

 

Turkey/France/Germany World Premiere

Good Bye Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran North American Premiere

Goodbye First Love, Mia Hansen-Løve, France/Germany Canadian Premiere

Guilty, Vincent Garenq, France North American Premiere

Gypsy, Martin Sulík, Slovakia North American Premiere

Heleno, José Henrique Fonseca, Brazil World Premiere

 

Himizu, Sion Sono, Japan North American Premiere

Hotel Swooni, Kaat Beels, Belgium International Premiere

Islands, Stefano Chiantini, Italy World Premiere

Juan of the Dead, Alejandro Brugués, Spain/Cuba World Premiere

Land of Oblivion, Michale Boganim, France/Germany/Poland/Ukraine North American Premiere

Last Days in Jerusalem, Tawfik Abu Wael, France/Israel/Palestine/Germany North American Premiere

Last Winter, John Shank, Belgium/France North American Premiere

Lena, Christophe Van Rompaey, The Netherlands/Belgium World Premiere

Lipstikka, Jonathan Sagall, Israel/United Kingdom North American Premiere

Lucky, Avie Luthra, South Africa/United Kingdom World Premiere

Man on Ground, Akin Omotoso, South Africa World Premiere

Michael, Ribhu Dasgupta, India World Premiere

Miss Bala, Gerardo Naranjo, Mexico North American Premiere Laura, a young aspiring beauty queen, finds her dream turned against her when she unwillingly gets involved with a criminal group at war. This film explores the many extremes of modern Mexican society when the world of beauty pageants and current drug war collide.

Mr. Tree, Han Jie, China North American Premiere

Omar Killed Me, Roschdy Zem, France North American Premiere

Restoration, Yossi Madmony, Israel Canadian Premiere

Rose, Wojciech Smarzowski, Poland International Premiere

Rough Hands, Mohamed Asli, Morocco World Premiere

A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, Iran North American Premiere

The Silver Cliff, Karim Aïnouz, Brazil North American Premiere

Sons of Norway, Jens Lien, Norway International Premiere

Superclásico, Ole Christian Madsen, Denmark North American Premiere

Think of Me, Bryan Wizemann, USA World Premiere

UFO in her Eyes, Xiaolu Guo, Germany World Premiere

Union Square, Nancy Savoca, USA World Premiere

Your Sister’s Sister, Lynn Shelton, USA World Premiere

388 Arletta Avenue Randall Cole, Canada World Premiere

Billy Bishop Goes to War Barbara Willis-Sweete, Canada World Premiere

I’m Yours Leonard Farlinger, Canada World Premiere

Sisters & Brothers Carl Bessai, Canada World Premiere

Galas:

Albert Nobbs Rodrigo Garcia, Ireland World Premiere

Butter Jim Field Smith, USA World Premiere

From the Sky Down Davis Guggenheim, USA World Premiere

A Dangerous Method David Cronenberg, France/Ireland/United Kingdom/Germany/Canada North American Premiere

A Happy Event Rémi Bezancon, France World Premiere

The Ides of March George Clooney, USA North American

Premiere

The Lady Luc Besson, France/United Kingdom World Premiere

Moneyball Bennett Miller, USA World Premiere

Peace, Love & Misunderstanding Bruce Beresford, USA World Premiere

Starbuck Ken Scott, Canada North American Premiere

Take this Waltz Sarah Polley, Canada World Premiere

W.E. Madonna, United Kingdom North American Premiere

Closing Night Film: Page Eight, David Hare, United Kingdom
The Awakening, Nick Murphy, United Kingdom World Premiere

Beloved, Christophe Honoré, France International Premiere

Hysteria, Tanya Wexler, USA/United Kingdom World Premiere

Killer Elite, Gary McKendry, USA/Australia World Premiere

Machine Gun Preacher, Marc Forster, USA World Premiere

Trespass, Joel Schumacher, USA World Premiere

Winnie, Darrell J. Roodt, South Africa / Canada World Premiere

Masters

Arirang Kim Ki-Duk, South Korea North American Premiere

Hard Core Logo II Bruce McDonald, Canada Toronto Premiere

Pina Wim Wenders, Germany/France Canadian Premiere

This is Not a Film (In Film Nist) Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Iran Toronto Premiere

Almayer’s Folly (La Folie Almayer), Chantal Akerman, Belgium/France North American Premiere

Faust, Alexander Sokurov, Russia North American Premiere

Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki, Finland North American Premiere

I Wish (Kiseki), HirokazuKore-Eda, Japan International Premiere

The Kid with a Bike (Le Gamin au vélo), Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France/Italy North American Premiere

Once Upon A Time in Anatolia (Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da), Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey/Bosnia & Herzegovina Canadian Premiere

Outside Satan (Hors Satan), Bruno Dumont, France North American Premiere

Restless, Gus Van Sant, USA North American Premiere

Snows of Kilimanjaro (Neiges du Kilimandjaro), Robert Guédiguian, France North American Premiere

The Turin Horse, BélaTarr, Hungary North American Premiere

Midnight Madness

The Day Douglas Aarniokoski, USA World

God Bless America Bobcat Goldthwait, USA World Premiere

The Incident Alexandre Courtes, France World Premiere

Kill List Ben Wheatley, United Kingdom Canadian Premiere

Livid Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, France World Premiere

Lovely Molly Eduardo Sanchez, USA World Premiere

The Raid Gareth Evans, Indonesia World Premiere

Sleepless Night Frederic Jardin, France/Belgium/Luxembourg World Premiere

Smuggler Katsuhito Ishii, Japan World Premiere

You’re Next Adam Wingard, USA World Premiere

Visions:

ALPS, Yorgos Lanthimos, Greece/France North American Premiere

Century of Birthing, Lav Diaz, The Philippines North American Premiere

Cut, Amir Naderi, Japan North American Premiere

Dreileben (Three Lives), Christian Petzold, Dominik Graf and Christoph Hochhäusler , Germany North American Premiere

Fable of the Fish, Adolfo Borinaga Alix Jr., The Philippines International Premiere

House of Tolerance, Bertrand Bonello, France North American Premiere

KOTOKO, Shinya Tsukamoto, Japan North American Premiere

The Last Christeros, Matias Meyer, Mexico/The Netherlands World Premiere

The Loneliest Planet, Julia Loktev, USA/Germany North American Premiere

Monsters Club, Toshiaki Toyoda, Japan World Premiere

The Mountain, GhassanSalhab, Lebanon/Qatar North American Premiere

Mushrooms, Vimukthi Jayasundara, India/France North American Premiere

Play, Ruben Östlund, Sweden/France/Denmark North American Premiere

Porfirio, Alejandro Landes Colombia/Spain/Uruguay/Argentina/France North American Premiere

Random, Debbie Tucker Green, United Kingdom International Premiere

The River Used to be A Man, Jan Zabeil, Germany International Premiere

Swirl, Helvecio Marins Jr. and Clarissa Campolina, Brazil North American Premiere

This Side of Resurrection, Joaquim Sapinho, Portugal World Premiere

Discovery:

Las Acacias, Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina/Spain North American Premiere

Alois Nebel, Tomás Lunák, Czech Republic/Germany/Slovakia North American Premiere

Among Us, Marco van Geffen, Netherlands North American Premiere

Avalon, Axel Petersén, Sweden World Premiere

Back to Stay, Milagros Mumenthaler, Argentina/Switzerland/Netherlands North American Premiere

Behold the Lamb, John McIlduff, United Kingdom North American Premiere

Breathing, Karl Markovics, Austria North American Premiere

The Brooklyn Brothers, Beat the Best Ryan O’Nan, USA World Premiere

Bunohan Dain Said, Malaysia World Premiere

Cuchera, Joseph Israel Laban, Philippines International Premiere

The Good Son, Zaida Bergroth, Finland International Premiere

Habibi, Susan Youssef, Palestine/USA/Netherlands/United Arab Emirates North American Premiere

Hanaan, Ruslan Pak, South Korea North American Premiere

Historias Que So Existem Quando Lembradas, Julia Murat, Brazil/Argentina/France North American Premiere
The Invader, Nicolas Provost, Belgium North American Premiere

J’aimeregarder les filles, Frédéric Louf, France International Premiere

Lost in Paradise, Ngoc Dang Vu, Vietnam World Premiere

The Other Side of Sleep, Rebecca Daly, Ireland/Hungary/Netherlands North American Premiere

Pariah, Dee Rees, USA International Premiere

Roman’s Circuit, Sebastián Brahm, Chile/Argentina World Premiere

Summer Games, Rolando Colla, Italy/Switzerland International Premiere

The Sword Identity, Haofeng Xu, China North American Premiere

Twiggy, Emmanuelle Millet, France World Premiere

Twilight Portrait, Angelina Nikonova, Russia North American Premiere

Volcano, Rúnar Rúnarsson, Denmark/Iceland North

American Premiere

Real to Reel

The Boy Who Was King Andrey Paounov, Bulgaria/Germany World Premiere Director Andrey Paounov (The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories) explores the strange history of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha who became Bulgaria

Comic-Con: Episode IV – A Fan’s Hope Morgan Spurlock, USA World Premiere

Crazy Horse Frederick Wiseman, USA/France North American Premiere

Dark Girls Bill Duke and D. Channsin Berry, USA World Premiere

Duch, Master of the Forges of Hell Rithy Panh, France/Cambodia International Premiere

Gerhard Richter Painting Corinna Belz, Germany International Premiere

Girl Model Ashley Sabin and David Redmon, USA World Premiere

I’m Carolyn Parket: The Good, The Mad and the Beautiful Jonathan Demme, USA North American Premiere

In My Mother’s Arms Atia Al Daradji and Mohamed Al Daradji, Iraq/Netherlands/United Kingdom World Premiere

Into the Abyss Werner Herzog, USA World Premiere

Last Call at the Oasis Jessica Yu, USA World Premiere

The Last Dogs of Winter Costa Botes, New Zealand World Premiere

The Last Gladiators Alex Gibney, USA World Premiere

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, USA World Premiere

Paul Williams: Still Alive Stephen Kessler, USA World Premiere

Pink Ribbons, Inc Léa Pool, Canada World Premiere

Samsara Ron Fricke, USA World Premiere

Sarah Palin – You Betcha! Nick Broomfield and Joan Churchill, United Kingdom World Premiere

The Story of Film: An Odyssey Mark Cousins, United Kingdom World Premiere

Surviving Progress Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks, Canada World Premiere

The Tall Man Tony Krawitz, Australia International Premiere

Undefeated Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin, USA International Premiere

Urbanized Gary Hustwit, U.S./United Kingdom World Premiere

Whores’ Glory Michael Glawogger, Austria/Germany North American Premiere

Mavericks:

In Conversation With… Francis Ford Coppola

The Island President

The Love We MakeNeil Young Life

Sony Pictures Classics: 20 Years in the Business

Tahrir 2011: The good, the bad, and the politician

TildaSwinton

 

Special Presentations

11 Flowers

50/50 Jonathan Levine, USA World Premiere

360 Fernando Meirelles UK/Austria/France/Brazil World Premiere

Afghan Luke Mike Clattenburg, Canada North American Premiere

Americano Mathieu Demy, France World Premiere

Anonymous Roland Emmerich, Germany World Premiere

TheArtist Michel Hazanavicius, France Toronto Premiere

A Better LifeCédric Khan, France World Premiere

Breakaway Robert Lieberman, Canada World Premiere

Burning Man Jonathan Teplitzky, Australia World Premiere

Café de Flore Jean-Marc Vallée, Canada North American Premiere

Chicken with Plums Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud, France/Germany/Belgium North American Premiere

Coriolanus Ralph Fiennes, United Kingdom North American Premiere

Countdown Huh Jong-ho, Korea World Premiere

Dark Horse Todd Solondz, USA North American Premiere

The Deep Blue Sea Terence Davies, United Kingdom World Premiere

The Descendants Alexander Payne

Drive Nicolas Winding Refn, USA Canadian Premiere Ryan Gosling

Edwin Boyd Nathan Morlando, Canada World

Elles Malgorzata Szumowska, France/Poland/Germany World Premiere

The Eye of the Storm Fred Schepisi, Australia International Premiere

Friends With Kids Jennifer Westfeldt, USA World Premiere

 

Goon Mike Dowse, Canada World Premiere

HabemusPapam Nanni Moretti, Italy/France North American Premiere

Headhunters Morten Tyldum, Norway North American Premiere

Hick Derick Martini, USA World Premiere

The Hunter Daniel Nettheim, Australia World Premiere

Jeff, Who Lives at Home Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, USA World Premiere

Keyhole Guy Maddin, Canada World Premiere

Killer Joe William Friedkin, USA North American Premiere

Like Crazy Drake Doremus, USA International Premiere

Machine Gun Preacher Marc Forster, USA World Premiere

Martha Marcy May Marlene Sean Durkin, USA Canadian Premiere

Melancholia Lars von Trier,

Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany North American Premiere

Monsieur Lazhar Philippe Falardeau, Canada North American Premiere

The Moth Diaries Mary Harron, Canada/Ireland North American Premiere

The Oranges Julian Farino, USA World Premiere

Pearl Jam Twenty Cameron Crowe, USA World Premiere

Rampart Oren Moverman, USA World Premiere

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Lasse Hallstrom, United Kingdom World Premiere

Shame Steve McQueen, United Kingdom North American Premiere

A Simple Life Ann Hui, Hong Kong, China North American Premiere

The Skin I Live In Pedro Almodóvar, Spain North American Premiere

Take Shelter Jeff Nichols, USA Canadian Premiere

Ten Year Jamie Linden, USA World Premiere

Trishna Michael Winterbottom, United Kingdom World Premiere

Twixt Francis Ford Coppola, USA World Premiere

Tyrannosaur Paddy Considine, United Kingdom Canadian Premiere

We Need to Talk About Kevin Lynne Ramsay, United Kingdom Canadian Premiere

Where Do We Go Now? Nadine Labaki, France/Lebanon/Italy/Egypt International Premiere

Woman in the Fifth Pawel Pawlikowski, France/Poland/United Kingdom World Premiere

The Cardboard Village, Ermanno Olmi, Italy International Premiere

Damsels in Distress, Whit Stillman, USA North American Premiere

Death of a Superhero, Ian Fitz Gibbon, Germany/Ireland World Premiere

The First Man, Gianni Amelio, France/Algeria/Italy World Premiere

In Darkness, Agnieszka Holland, Canada/Germany/Poland World Premiere

Intruders, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Spain World Premiere

Life Without Principle, Johnnie To, Hong Kong North American Premiere

Low Life, Nicolas Klotz, Elisabeth Perceval, France North American Premiere

Mausam (Seasons of Love), Pankaj Kapur, India World Premiere

My Worst Nightmare, Anne Fontaine, France/Belgium World Premiere

Rebellion, Mathieu Kassovitz, France World Premiere

A Simple Life, Ann Hui, Hong Kong/China North American Premiere

Sleeping Beauty, Julia Leigh, Australia North American Premiere

Terraferma, Emanuele Crialese, Italy International Premiere

That Summer, Philippe Garrel, France/Italy/Switzerland North American Premiere

Violet & Daisy, Geoffrey Fletcher, USA World Premiere

Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale, Wei Te-Sheng, Taiwan North American Premiere

Wuthering Heights, Andrea Arnold, United Kingdom North American Premiere

Canada First

Amy George Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas, ON Canadian Premiere

Leave It On The Floor Sheldon Larry, ON Canadian Premiere

Nuit #1 Anne Emond, QC World Premiere

The Odds Simon Davidson, BC World Premiere

The Patron Saints Brian M. Cassidy, Melanie Shatzky, QC World Premiere

Romeo Eleven (Roméoonze) Ivan Grbovic, QC North American Premiere

Wetlands (Marécages) Guy Édoin, QC North American

Premiere

Opening Night

ANN’S MOVIE PICK:
‘THE DEVIL’S DOUBLE’

A movie you have to see is The Devil’s Double the story of Saddam Hussein's playboy son Uday and his body double. An army lieutenant Latif is forced into the world of the royal family and all the glitter as he becomes the fiday, which means body double of Uday. British Dominic Cooper does an outstanding job in playing both roles - Uday and Latif. His performance is Oscar worthy. Uday was known as the black prince - the wild boy who loved being brutal. With no moral center, Uday is a sadistic, power-hungry psychopath, and Latiftries to break away.This movie’s violence makes Scarface look tame.

The movie is directed by wild man himself, Lee Tamahori and it’s written by Micheal Thomas. It’s exciting to watch but only for the glitz and the acting. It's not a political movie and doesn’t say anything newsworthy other than a peer inside a nasty life of extreme. There is lots of gold and lots of over the top living.

BEHIND THE SCENES:
‘COLOMBIANA’

Thanks to Hurricane Irene, the weekend boxoffice dropped 20% making it one of the worst boxoffice weekends all year. Many East Coast theaters closed to ride out Irene, about 1,000 shut down for at least part of the weekend.

The thriller Columbiana, starring Zoe Saldana brought in just $10.3 million and ranked 2nd place. With Luc Besson behind this one, you would think that Columbiana would be as good as they come. It does have a lead star who is now offcially a great action star and Saldana is the best part of the movie. It's stylized and looks very good but miss fires on other things. For a change, this one opened in Europe first on July 27, 2011 and was released in North America afterwards. Sony's PG-13 thriller made $3.8 million on Friday in 2,614 theaters.

There has been controversy around the film with some accusing the movie of stereotyping Columbians and Columbian culture. Many groups have rejected the movie calling it defamatory. The films slogan is “vengeance is beautiful.” The budget was $40 million. Besson's Europa Corp also produced the franchises Hitman and Transporter.

Saldana is great as an action hero, it’s just too bad no one else in the supporting cast holds up to her. She can definitely carry an action picture. This film has lots of chases, martial arts, guns, weapons and plenty of major action. Saldana does the stunts as well as Angelina Jolie in her action heyday. She plays a woman who witnessed her parents' murder as a child in Bogotá and grows up to be a hardened assassin. She works for her uncle as a hit man by day but her personal time is spent engaging in vigilante murders looking for the man responsible for killing her parents.

Zoe did all the stunts and fighting herself so she had to do a lot of intense training beforehand. Her training ranged from martial arts, to combat fighting, to weight training and she had to learn how to use guns. She trained with the head of the LAPD who fought with the Israeli military. She is no stranger to the action genre – she also did Avatar and The Losers. She worked with the stunt coordinator that trained Matt Damon years ago for the Bourne Identity. The director wanted the fight scenes to be similar to the Bourne movies – real and very raw.

MOVIES:
‘30 MINUTES OR LESS’ – WHAT’S WRONG?

30 Minutes or Less starring Jesse Eisenberg is in theaters now. In general the film has not held up it grossed an estimated $13 million in it's first weekend, below studio expectations but not a loss due to the film's relatively low budget. The movie is not a memorable one for Ben Stiller as he produced it through his production company, Red Hour Films. Director Reuben Fleisher says he did his best - knowing its success lay in the hands of the audience. He says there are no measures you could take in the making of a movie to make a classic – it’s all about the viewers.

MOVIES:
‘FRIGHT NIGHT’ & THE VAMPIRE TREND

The vampire is a trend that continues on TV and on film with storylines like True Blood and Twilight remaining huge. Fright Night the vampire remake was recently released with the same cinematographer as The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Colin Farrell plays the sexy vampire in this one. Fright Night is considered a classic by most horror fans. Colin Farrell thinks it’s worth making and remaking.

Star Anton Yelchin is the one I say is the next big thing. This kid can act. He’s so real in his performances and you root for him because he cares.He has starred in Hearts in Atlantis with Anthony Hopkins and House of D with Robin Williams. He thinks vampires are so popular because they are very easily applicable to whatever point you want to make. You could apply it to a teen movie just like you could apply them to something spiritual. They look human and they are sexual predators and very powerful.

‘FINAL DESTINATION 5’:
WHY IT WORKS

Final Destination 5 follows in the bloody footprints of its predecessor. It's the latest installment in the franchise that prides itself on the ingenious and over-the-top ways one can die. This time around, a man’s premonition saves a group of doomed co-workers from a suspension bridge collapse. One of the things director Steven Quale did when he got the job was he watched all four previous Final Destination movies back to back. He looked at it and tried to find what worked and what didn’t. As a filmmaker, he knew the audience had certain expectations, they knew there was going to be deaths. He realized the death alone wasn’t what worked – it was the suspense leading up to the death and the different twists and turns.

Despite the gore, the movie manages to scare up a few laughs. Star Emma Bell believes laughter is a good release for anything traumatic that happens in our lives – and its definitely needed. She says in her personal life, she’ll giggle when she’s in a really shocking situation even if she doesn’t think it’s funny, it’s her defense mechanism. She says that’s what happens in these movies.

KRISTEN STEWART:
‘SNOW WHITE’

Snow White is coming to the big screen but this one isn’t so innocent. It will star Kristen Stewart of Twilight. She’s happy to bring Snow White to life. It is currently shooting in the U.K. Snow White and the Huntsman is the first of two projects based on the popular fairy tale involving a beautiful princess, an evil queen, a charming prince and a cottage full of dwarfs. It's a less traditional telling of the story.

She said the role was not something she was originally jumping at, but she says the character has the amazing ability to channel fear into a focused, charged, driving energy. She doesn’t let her heart cloud her mind, and doesn’t let her mind get in the way of doing things she feels strongly about. She also loved that she could use a sword for the role. Charlize Theron also plays in the film. In the short period where she first met Kirsten she knew automatically she was going to be giving her a run for her money.

‘GLEE: THE 3D CONCERT MOVIE’:
WHAT HAPPENED

Glee: The 3D Concert Movie brings almost all of the familiar characters from the series to the big screen for a limited two-week theatrical run this month. There are show-stopping performances by Cory Monteith, Darren Criss, and Chris Colfer.  It’s great for the “gleeks” who might not have had the opportunity to see the show live.

For Lea’s Michelle’s audition for Glee, she sang On My Own from Les Miserables. She says that’s not typically the best audition song, because it’s so cliché, but she said her character would have definitely sung it, which is why she chose it. Other than that she would have stuck to obscure theater songs.

Chris Colfer and Darren Criss feel honored to represent a community as select as the gay community.  They feel like they are part of something that is bigger than the characters: a bigger story, a bigger idea. He says the members of the community are a lot stronger than they think they are. Their energy goes right back to them and into their performances. 

HOLLYWOOD TREND:
BOOKS TURNING INTO MOVIES

The trend of books turning into movies continues. Stephen King's got a new book coming out in November, a time travel story based on the assassination of JFK. Filmmaker Jonathan Demme has optioned the rights. Demme will write, direct as well as produce for the big screen. It's about an English teacher who goes through a time portal to stop the Kennedy assassination. Despite movies made about his works, Stephen King doesn't like being pigeon holed as a writer and often not taken seriously in the literary world. He doesn’t like the fact that there is a line drawn between serious literature and popular literature. He says with it comes snobbery calls it a “country club concept.”

‘BRIDGET JONE’S DIARY 3’:
IN THE WORKS

Bridget Jones's Diary 3 is in the works. Title Films has been considering a follow-up since 2009. No other details are yet available, including if Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant are confirmed, but Firth hinted last year he would be back. Bridget and Mark can’t have children she makes the mistake of going back to Grant's character for long enough to get pregnant. He dumps her, she’s left stranded and guess who comes back to rescue her.

NEW OSCAR PLANS:
LIMITING PARTIES

When it comes to Oscar parties, we will be seeing a change. They're working on them now as the academy is ready to enact tighter rules and limit Oscar parties. Last year saw of out-of-control campaigning with campaign parties and schmoozing events. Now the academy's board is going over a proposal that will likely include the throwing of parties and events that can be thrown to court awards voters. Studios won’t be allowed to throw parties likely to schmooze voters as they have. Complaints from members were up this year. It was looking like vote-buying, and nobody wants that.

A popular trend this past season was the third party endorser party, where a celebrity would host a reception honoring a close friend whose movie is in contention for awards. Julia Roberts hosted a well-timed screening and reception for Biutiful on behalf of her friend Javier Bardem, the love story between a father and his children who later landed an Oscar nomination for best actor. Celebs know they have the power to raise awareness for their pals who they think are deserving of recognition.

MOVIE BUZZ THIS WEEK: ‘THE HELP’

This one is getting lots of buzz for being funny and touching but it’s not perfect. It deals with race relations, stars a talented cast and is a tear-jerker at times. At other times it feels shallow and not sufficient. It’s getting great word of mouth though and it is worth checking out (a nice break form the superheroes this summer) The performances make really it.

Based on the book, The Help stars Emma Stone as Skeeter, Viola Davis as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as Minny. The three are very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960’s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. From their friendship a sisterhood emerges, instilling all of them with the courage to transcend the lines that define them and the realization that sometimes those lines are made to be crossed-even if it means bringing everyone in town face-to-face with the changing times. It's as much as some people want to watch when it comes to civil rights, so don't expect Shakespeare but it is enjoyable and will move you at times. It is only the second movie of the year to receive an A+ CinemaSocre after TriStar/Film District's Soul Surfer. TheHelp is appealing to females who are tired by Hollywood's big summer blockbusters.

DreamWorks and Participant Media co-financed the $25 million the movie. It was produced by Chris Columbus and Mike Barnathan's 1492 Pictures. A survey of 1,000 moviegoers by online ticketing service Fandango found that 77% of those interested in seeing TheHelp had read the book. 95% reported that the film's surprising comedy makes them more interested in seeing it. Nearly 70% are looking forward to seeing a summer movie with substance.

MOVIE TREND:
AUGUST NO LONGER NEW RELEASE GRAVEYARD

If you've been to the movies lately, you probably will admit there are a couple you've liked and it’s thanks to a trend that has died. August used to always be the graveyard for movies but not anymore. A lot of high profile movies have been slated for this month. It started with the rival of the Rise of the Planet of the Apes which stayed number one for the five days after it opened. It cost 93 million to make and by now it’s over 70 in North America. Hollywood is hoping that August keeps things going well. Summer box office tallies are up 4% over a year ago at this time.

GROUNDBREAKING DOCUMENTARY:
‘LIFE IN A DAY’

Have you seen the groundbreaking documentary yet, Life in a Day, where the world chronicled their lives on the same day, July 24th, of last year? Regular people went out with video cameras and shot their normal lives on that day, posted it on YouTube and producers took the footage and made a feature film that is not only interesting, but very moving. There were 80 thousand submissions and 45 hundred hours of video came in form almost every country in the world. The editor dictated what the movie would look like. 350 contributors made it in. It's a time capsule, a snapshot of peoples lives on one given day. It was produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Oscar winning director Kevin Macdonald.

He asked people a few questions: What do you fear most in your life today? What do you love? What makes you laugh? What do you have in your pocket? The film looks at individual lives but it all ties together showing a shared human spirit. It shows how similar we are despite the cultures. It's a historical global experiment of people just recording their days.

ROM-COM RECOMMENDATION:
‘CRAZY STUPID LOVE’

Crazy Stupid Love is a romantic comedy that is actually romantic and funny, two things many modern rom-coms forget to be. Relating the story of a man whose marriage falls apart, forcing him into the cold world of contemporary dating under the tutelage of his lady-killer pal. The movie stars Steve Carell, Julianne Moore and Ryan Gosling.  Gosling is showing his funny side in this one. He’s always wanted to make a comedy but he only wanted to do it with the right people. He was a huge Steve Carell fan and has seen all of his movies. Once he knew was in it, he was on board. He was also a huge fan of Emma Stone before the movie. Emma Stone is such a hot name in Hollywood today but she takes her fame lightly. She knows in this business it comes and goes so easily and knows things could easily change.

ADVICE:
HOW TO MAKE IT IN HOLLYWOOD

What does it take to get a movie made today? Steve Lee Jones, the CEO of Beeholder Productions and the producer of the upcoming movie about car mogul John DeLorean, knows just the answer. His last film was award winning You Don't Know Jack starring Al Pacino. Jones deals in the inner workings of Hollywood daily. His tenacity makes him one of the best. I sat down with recently in LA and wanted to know what makes a success in Hollywood today. He says it’s like winning the lottery if you can get one made and to the screen where the masses can see it. There is no easy formula. I asked him what it took, other than tenacity, to get a film made. He says you have to be relentless and completely dedicated to it. That means it’s work all the time – seven days a week. That means even social gatherings are work. You have to be “on” all the time. You never know who you might meet. You might even do everything right and create the perfect movie and it still might not happen. Those are things people have to keep in mind when entering this business. It’s not glamorous like the media portrays it. Jones worked in the corporate world before and said it was a lot more glamorous than the film industry is.

CRITICALLY ACLAIMED FILM:
ANOTHER EARTH

One of the favorites at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Another Earth, is a romantic fantasy that explores the possibility of a parallel reality and the philosophical questions that arise from the opportunity to get a “do-over” that would forever affect the lives of everyone around you. Rhoda Williams plays a bright young woman accepted into MIT's astrophysics program who aspires to explore the cosmos and a brilliant composer (William Mapother), has just reached the pinnacle of his profession. On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, tragedy strikes and the lives of these strangers become irrevocably intertwined. Mapother attributes the success of the movie to good editing.

ANN'S MOVIE PICK:
'SARAH'S KEY'

Recently released in theaters, Sarah's Key, is a must see. It’s very powerful and a good mystery along the way. Starring the wonderful Kristin Scott Thomas, it follows a journalists investigation, after 70 years of near-silence out about one of France's most shameful episodes: the internment of Parisian Jews by French authorities on behalf of the Nazis. It's the story of a young girl experiencing the Nazi occupation of France and is a good history lesson in French wartime days that many would like to forget. It’s an adaptation of the French novel Elle s'appelait Sarah by Tatiana de Rosnay and the movie has been well received by the critics - including this one.

It’s directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner, who grew up in France in the 1970's and 80's. Originally, his take on the Holocaust was that the Germans were the only ones responsible. When he read de Rosnay's novel, he learned otherwise: the French Government was involved in ridding Europe of Jews. Paquet-Brenner was moved, so much by the novel, that he brought the controversial story to the big screen. The film goes back and forth from 2002 and what happened 60 years during what was known as the Velodrome d'Hiver roundup of 1942. Few have ever spoken out about it anywhere in the world. On that date, French officials and police rounded up 13,000 of the city's Jews. They were carted off and grouped together for days in horrible conditions in one an indoor bicycle-racing track.

They were then sent to Auschwitz.

This is a great movie full of emotion with pain and joy as well as being spiritual too. A compelling tale that moves you and if you're a fan of the book you will not be disappointed by the movie. The performances are noteworthy. It does have slow parts that are lackluster but overall it works especially due to the editing and performances. Kristen Scott Thomas is quite the actress again in this one, she is due recognition in her career at some point soon. Oscar loves these kind of movies. Thomas goes back and forth from English to an impeccable French. I did find the going back and forth from languages a bit undesirable but the story makes up for it as does her acting. Thomas is actually better than the film.
She truly stands out.

MOVIE NEWS:
"THE WHEEL IN 30 MINUTES OR LESS"

Jesse Eisenberg is taking the wheel in the comedy 30 Minutes or Less. It's a far cry from The Social Network and Academy Award nominations. It opens August 12th. He pushes the “high-concept” envelope to the extreme. It’s the story of a slacker pizza-delivery guy strapped with a bomb forced to rob a bank by a couple of dim-witted crooks trying to finance a hit on a family member. There are chases scenes and stunt driving that Jesse does himself. He said that the crew would often fear for their lives because he’s not such a great driver. Thankfully, not one was injured.

IN CONVERSATION:
JOHNNY DEPP LOVES LIZARDS

Arriving recently on DVD and Blu-ray, Rango is a quirky, highly stylized animated family film that garnered considerable acclaim when released in theaters. Blending comedy with homage, it tells the story of a domesticated chameleon lost in the desert and elected sheriff of a varmint-populated town called Dirt. Directed by Gore Verbinski, the movie features the voice of Johnny Depp. Depp says he’s always had an affinity for lizards and he’s always felt somewhat close to them. While doing the Pirate of the Caribbean movies there were scenes where he had to run. There was a very specific run that he wanted and it was from seeing footage of a lizard running across the water.  He thought that Gore saw Depp as a perfect fit for the role because of the scenes of him running in the movie.

JAMES BOND:
SONY SAVES MGM

James Bond was saved and Sony and MGM joined forces to do it. James bond 23 will be released by Sony throughout most of the world. MGM will oversee distribution. The two studios have collaborated directly and indirectly in recent years on Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, 21, The Pink Panther and Zookeeper.  Bond 23 comes to theaters November 9th 2012 and stars Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem and Judi Dench. It is directed by Sam Mendes.

Sony's big name 2012 releases includes:

• Men in Black III
• The Amazing Spider-Man
• 21 Jump Street
• Resident Evil: Begins
• Total Recall

Meantime, Daniel Craig was one of the first actors Bond producers turned to when they decided to look for Pierce
Brosnan's 007 successor but he wasn't interested. Craig says: "I was like, 'This is silly. I've got a career. I mean, lovely, thank you very much, I'm very honored that you would even consider it, but I can't do it - sorry. But it was a good script.’ I went, 'OK, yeah, I understand.'"

NEW DOCUMENTARY:
COMIC-CON EPISODE IV

The great documentary filmmaker of Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock, is now making a doc about Comic-Con, the so-called geek convention. He followed seven die-hard fantasy fans as they wandered through the San Diego convention and chronicled their experiences. There’s an accompanying book called Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope. While they were making the film they realized there was a great opportunity to make a beautiful coffee table book that celebrated the geek culture. Spurlock is not in one frame of the movie. You don’t see him at all.

He stayed behind the camera for a change. The film shows the spectacle of geekdom that goes on at the convention. It’s also supposed to shatter the stereotypes. Spurlock says that when you read through the book and see some of the quotes from people, you realize there are some eloquent people there. He says there are thought-provoking things happening. It’s not just people walking around in costumes. He describes it as a celebration of the culture. What the book shows is that it touches all of us as children and that has now grown into something bigger that is now being passed down to another generation through movies, TV and games. Morgan Spurlock's film Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope is set to hit theatres this fall.

CAPTAIN AMERICA:
MORE ON THE WAY

Cowriter Stephen McFeeley and Christopher Markus will be back to write the sequel in a deal with Marvel Studios. It will hopefully incorporate both World War II and present-day sequences: The story will likely be in the present day. They are experimenting with flashback elements for more period World War II stuff. They can’t say much more than that but they made it baggy enough to refer to more stories in the past.

There are a couple of guys here in Hollywood who analyze the movie industry and say the superhero movie isn’t what it used to be. They're predicting a decline in interest soon for superhero movies going as far as saying we are about to see “the death of superhero.” There has been an abundance of successful superhero movies in the 21st century, but they say the popularity was due to the advances in special effects that took place 10 years ago and now that we’ve seen it all, there’s not much left to surprise. I have to say, I do not agree. I think people are going to see Captain America starring Chris Evans. Chris says when it comes to superheroes like this one, audiences have to come on the ride with the hero, as they, like us, have problems too.

MOVIE TRENDS:
RELEASE DATE CHANGES

There is a new trend taking over when movies are released in Hollywood. It used to be that films always opened with a big splash in the US and Toronto and then made their way gradually overseas but now we're beginning to see change. Take Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated, upcoming The Adventures of Tintin. It's opening in many international markets nearly two months before its December 23rd US and Canada debut. That's because Tintin is a story loved around the world. It was created by a Belgian artist in the late 1920s and generations of children grew up with the young reporter traveling the world with his dog Snowy. However, he's far from a household name among all North Americans, other than French speaking Quebecers, so the filmmakers and executives at Paramount hope the movie will catch fire with fans overseas in October and November and then WE will get interested in all of North America. It's the opposite way Spielberg's movies used to roll out decades ago, such as Jaws showing up in Europe and elsewhere as much as six months after premiering in North America. Why the sudden change? Hollywood needs help with its plummeting DVD revenue so it's looking to the overseas box office to help make up the gap. International revenues used to account for half or less of U.S. films' income. Now it's two-thirds or more. Tintin will open in the artists’ native Belgium and other European markets October 26th. It makes its way around the globe for the two months after that till it gets here. Spielberg and Jackson hope to do more Tintin movies if this one succeeds. Steven Spielberg says his collaboration with Jackson was effortless.

NEW DOCUMENTARY:
‘$ELLEBRITY’

Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Aniston are going to be part of a new Paparazzi Documentary called  $ellebrity. Rock and Roll photographer and WireImage co-founder Kevin Mazur chronicles the rise of tabloid journalism told through the lens. He will chronicle the rise of the modern-day paparazzi. WireImage (acquired in 2007 by Getty Images) is famous for shooting the stars at awards shows, onstage and on the street. Mazur started the project two years ago with encouragement from Marc Anthony. Anthony, soon to be ex wife Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Aniston, Sarah Jessica Parker, Elton John, Kid Rock and more were interviewed. It's in its final editing phase right now.

NEW TO BLU-RAY:
‘LINCOLN LAWYER’

New to Blu right now, one of this year’s best is The Lincoln Lawyer. It is a legal thriller based on the best-selling novel by Michael Connelly. It is set in several areas of Los Angeles. The story follows a slick criminal defense attorney who operates out of the backseat of his Lincoln Continental Sedan. It stars Matthew McConaughey and it’s worth checking out. He finds the concept of using a car as an office very practical. It’s a small space, you control it, and you’re always on the move.

‘THE SMURFS’:
STARS KATY PERRY & NEIL PATRICK HARRIS

Katy Perry is coming to the big screen in the new Smurfs movie. Isn’t that such a perfect fit? In an effort to reboot the popular 1980s cartoon franchise, the upcoming live-action/CGI 3D feature film The Smurfs reunites all the familiar characters from the series while introducing some new human helpers.

Katy Perry on playing a smurfette. She says when she’s doing the voice, it’s really interesting because she gets to be a part of creating her character and adding little nuances to who she is on the big screen. She describes it as being her voice with rocks thrown in it.

Meantime, Neil Patrick Harris also stars in The Smurfs. He plays a human. It is the first 3D movie he has ever done. It’s a different experience because contrary to what most would think there is no green screen used. The technology was advanced enough that it would recognize where he was. His job was really to know which color dot is which smurf at what time.

NEW DOCUMENTARY:
‘TABLOID’

There's a new documentary out in limited release so far called Tabloid.  It's from acclaimed filmmaker Errol Morris and it’s his ninth feature-length documentary. I say it’s among his best. It's a dark and demented fairy tale, about the exploits of Joyce McKinney a former Wyoming beauty queen who traveled to England where she went from stalker to kidnapper to rapist. Morris says if you like film noire you will like this one.

CAPTAIN AMERICA:
NEW FRANCHISE IS BORN AS MARVEL NOW MOVES TO DISNEY DISTRIBUTION

Even though some Hollywood experts think the superhero is soon on its way out as we are over saturated, the fact that Captain America: The First Avenger did so well on opening weekend has created a brand new franchise now. MARVEL comic book movies have done so well this summer, Thor and X-Men: First Class led the way, now Captain America. It topped the domestic box office with an estimated $65.8 million launch. Released in 3D it had the biggest openings of the summer for a non-sequel, and the
best of any superhero movie. $53.2 million was the debut of Green Lantern.

Captain America only made 40% of its grosses from 3D screens, less than Thor. It also drew a younger audience than Thor, with 43% of those buying tickets under the age of 25.

The film cost a reported $140 million, it is the final title to be distributed theatrically by Paramount per its deal with Marvel Studios.

Disney, owner of Marvel, will now take over the distribution of Marvel titles previously handled by Paramount.

Paramount will still have an interest in Avengers and Iron Man 3, including pay TV rights.

Captain America and Thor have done the best of any superhero pic this summer Domestic box office revenues were up as much recently over the same time last year.

MOVIE NEWS:
RELEASING OVERSEAS FIRST

There's a new trend in how Hollywood movies are released...Used to be films always opened with a big splash in the US AND Toronto and then made their way gradually overseas...but now we're beginning to see change.... Take Steven Speilberg and Peter Jackson's the highly anticipated upcoming: The Adventures of Tintin. It's opening in many "international" markets nearly "two months" before it's Dec. 23 U.S and Canada debut. That's because "Tintin" is a story loved around the world....Created in the late 1920s by a Belgian artist and generations of children grew up with the young reporter traveling the world with his dog Snowy...but he's far from a household name among all of North Americans - other than french speaking Quebecers - so the filmmakers and executives at Paramount hope the movie will catch fire with fans overseas in October and November and then WE will get interested.

It's the opposite way Spielberg's movies used to roll out decades ago, such as Jaws, showing up in Europe and elsewhere as much as six months after premiering in North America. Definitely the trend had changed.....The reason? Hollywood needs help with its plummeting DVD revenue so it's looking to the "overseas" box office to help make up the gap. International revenues used to accounted for half or less of U.S. films' income, but now it's two-thirds or more. "Tintin" will open in the artists native Belgium and other European markets Oct. 26th, then makes its wayaround the globe for the two months after that till it gets here.

Speilberg and Jackson hope to do more "Tintin" movies if this one succeeds. Interesting line from Steven Spielberg: says his collaboration with Jackson "was effortless.

Except for one person, quote "my great – actually, my best friend, George Lucas, this is the best collaboration I ever had."

'Transformers:
Dark of the Moon' Shatters Records!

Michael Bay’s third “Transformers” film, “Dark of the Moon,” set records for 2D, 3D and IMAX theaters across North America. The highest grossing movie in 2011.

Bay’s “Dark of the Moon” earned $97.5 million for the traditional Friday-Sunday frame. Tack on Monday, the actual July 4 holiday, and its cume goes to an estimated $116.4M. And, if you measure how well “Dark” did since opening last Tuesday evening, June 29, then “Transformers” actually made as much as $181.1 million.

It’s a major win for Paramount, Bay, leading man Shia LaBeouf and newcomer Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. “Dark of the Moon” set the record for highest-grossing July 4 weekend (beating Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2,” which made $88.2M), and also is the highest opening weekend of 2011. It’s still behind the second “Transformers” film, “Revenge of the Fallen,” but 60 percent o% or “Dark” tickets sold were 3D, so fans chose to see Bay’s effort in that enhanced format.

Pixar’s sequel, “Cars 2,” lost an estimated 60 percent of its opening weekend audience, making $32M over the four-day frame, now up to $123M overall.

Also down the holiday weekend was Cameron Diaz’s “Bad Teacher,” which earned an estimated $17M in its second weekend for a grand total of $63 million to date.

Tom Hanks’ directorial effort, “Larry Crowne,” averaged a dismal $5,295 per theater for a weekend gross of $15.7M. 
“Crowne” still did much better than Selena Gomez’s latest vehicle, “Monte Carlo,” which played to teen girls and walked away with $8.7M to show for it.

MOVIE ADVERTISING TREND:
“VIRAL CAMPAIGNS”

One of the latest movie trailer and promotional trends is the so-called viral campaign. The Batman series has done this extremely well. There’s a new Batman being shot right now in London, The Dark Knight Rises. Batman’s team had the brilliant idea of mixing viral sites with global treasure hunts. Fans are rewarded with insight into the movie and they get free tickets to preview before it opened.

There’s so much secrecy surrounding this latest Batman. Sir Michael Caine is in London shooting as we speak. He thinks Christopher Nolan is one of the greatest directors in the world an feels lucky to be able to work with him. This latest one is his fifth.

MOVIE ADVERTISING:
‘TIME-SHIFTING’

Studios use movie ad strategies to lure you; they need to keep evolving quickly now to deal with 'time-shifting' TV viewers due to DVR's. Usually 70% of a movies budget is devoted to TV advertising. Lately it's been a losing battle because a record amount of us are time-shifting when we watch shows and that means we're skipping a lot of the ads. A recent study finds that 62% of respondents use DVRs, as well as online sites like Hulu, or VOD.

This doesn't mean film ads on TV will stop because strong visuals still attract attention on the small screen. However, time-shifting is one reason why film-marketing dollars keep moving to the Internet. They're looking for of real engagement. Over the last five years the Web portion of film-ad budgets has doubled to about 10% and it’s expected to go up but, the response isn't coming fast enough for the studios. The time spent by many in the core 18-24 movie audience on Facebook is higher than on TV.  The studios know the have to follow those eyeballs.

This fall's TV season might see less high-profile movie ads on TV. Movie marketers should buy at least some TV spots to run earlier in their cycle than in the past. Movie ads usually come on Thursdays but since most time-shifters watch our shows within three days of the original airtime, that’s a disaster for a movie opening the next day on a Friday and its opening weekend. Bottom line: Movies are a very time-sensitive business.

INDIANA JONES:
ANNIVERSARY: 30 YEARS OLD

Happy Birthday Indiana Jones! The iconic adventurer turns 30. Wish a very happy birthday to Indiana Jones, who was introduced to movie audiences 30 years ago with the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was created by filmmakers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. George says that for writers, when they create characters, it is natural to fall in love with them. George started off in social sciences with interests in history and anthropology. He even considered being an anthropology professor. The character is very personal to him. He is named after George’s dog. He becomes more and more fascinated with the character over the years and it grew in ways he never expected it to. He says the character always brings him new insight.

WOODY ALLEN’S LATEST:
‘MIDNIGHT IN PARIS’

Midnight in Paris, starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams has now become Woody's highest grossing film domestically in years beating out two of his other well-reviewed movies of the last five years, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Match Point. It's had great word of mouth resulting in it moving from an initial six screens to over 1,000. The French location is also a winner and now Sony Classics, is smiling all the way to the bank. 

Woody says it was easy for him because no research was needed for Midnight in Paris. Growing up he was a great admirer of Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Elliot, Dahli and Picasso. These were all icons of his childhood and it came naturally to write about them and include them in his script.

Don't write of possible Oscar nominations. Trade bible Variety says that in the first half of 2011, the best movies to catch were:  Midnight in Paris, Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, and JJ Abrams' Super 8. 

MOVIE TREND:
‘GLOBAL FLAIR’

Hollywood studios are now incorporating world locations into the storylines to ensure world success at the box office. This is almost a must today. Viewers expect "global flair.” The first Cars movie became a trendsetting leader as a merchandising machine. This time around, instead of being set on iconic Route 66, the racing takes place in Tokyo, England, Italy.

Meantime, the man behind Cars 2 is two time academy award winning John Lassiter. His need for speed is at the heart of the Cars franchise. This time around, most of the original cast is reunited. Paul Newman’s character of Doc Hudson is sorely missed. Lassiter is the CCO, Chief Creative Officer, at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios.  He is also currently the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering. The first Cars movie was Disney’s most profitable merchandising properties ever. 

FILM NEWS:
MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS

Jim Carrey is one actor that has chosen to stay away from sequels. Other than the Ace Ventura movies, he's actually been able to spend most of his career avoiding bad sequels but he's changing his tune.

He says lots of people have been asking for him to be part of sequels for Bruce Almighty and Dumb and Dumber, where HE would actually star.

Based on the 1938 award-winning children's book - a house painter Mr. Popper writes a letter to Arctic explorers, then he receives a penguin in the mail. Makes his mischievous new pal a cozy new home in the freezer, then a female penguin pops in and now Mr. Popper finds himself surrounded by a growing family so - (like Joe Jackson) he begins training them to perform in a traveling show - called Popper’s Performing Penguins and the pandemonium ensues. The penguins steal the show from
Carry in this one.

Based on the 1938 award-winning children's book - a house painter Mr. Popper writes a letter to Arctic explorers, then he receives a penguin in the mail. Makes his mischievous new pal a cozy new home in the freezer, then a female penguin pops in and now Mr. Popper finds himself surrounded by a growing family 

FILM NEWS:
‘THE TREE OF LIFE’

It took the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival - The Tree of Life stars Brad Pitt and comes from famed writer director Terrance Malick. It's a family drama and its Terrance's first film in six years. It managed to polarized audiences at Cannes, when some booed and others rejoiced. This period piece is set around a family with three boys in the 1950's. Has a Benjamin Button feel as a drama featuring some surreal and sci-fi elements. An epic story of love and loss.

It’s the tale of a Texas boy's journey from the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as a lost soul in the modern world and hi quest for the meaning of life.

This is Terrance's 5th movie in his 40 years as a director. It also stars Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain but it’s one of Brad's best performances of his life. He just gets better with the more work he does.

The film runs 138 minutes.

ANN’S BEST MOVIE PICK:
‘I AM’

There is a movie that Oprah, Rosie and Ellen all say is a must see...and I agree. This film is transformational. It is trendsetting like no other this year.

I AM is a documentary from acclaimed director Tom Shadyac that will make you look at your life and make you think like you have never done before.

So memorable for me, parts of it come into my head daily and seem to teach me daily.

I really connected with the message and two questions posed: What is wrong with our world and what can we do about it? Share kindness. Give and take only what you need.

It's about real life and our journey through it.

The ultra-grounded Shadyac interviewed a variety of significant thinkers and doers – from the worlds of science, philosophy, academia, and faith – including such luminaries as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and David Suzuki.

He interviewed and asked about what we can do to make our world a better place - thus finding more happiness.

Oprah did an entire show on Tom, its millionaire director who has now sold most of his possessions since he realized money did ‘not’ buy happiness.

 

Shadyac, is one of Hollywood’s leading comedic directors and the creative force behind blockbusters Ace Ventura, Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor, Patch Adams and Bruce Almighty and the list goes on and on…

His films have grossed nearly TWO BILLION dollars and afforded Tom the glamorous and extravagant
A-List lifestyle of a Hollywood blockbuster filmmaker - BUT - after all the acquiring and living the so-called ‘good life’ our culture tells us we have to have - Shadyac turned most of it in. Gave it up. Sold it and gave it to those who needed it more.

He kept just enough for him to live happily and simply.

In that simplicity, he found true happiness.

 

I sat down with Tom recently in his Malibu home, now a modest (and yet beautiful) 1000 square foot mobile unit perched on the Pacific Ocean. 

The place was so relaxing, I could see why someone would prefer the life in the community of a nice Malibu mobile home unit rather than a mega house in the one-upmanship community of Beverly Hills where you do not connect with neighbors at a real level.

His home felt real and warm.

I liked that it felt unencumbered by “stuff.”
(as a result, I am planning a huge yard sale to get rid of most of my stuff now.
“’Stuff” does NOT a happy life make feels Tom.

It’s all about love.

I too believe there is a feeling of lightness and a sort of freedom when the superficial excess “stuff” is removed and not longer the pinnacle.

I could have spoken to Tom for days exchanging ideas and experiences. He captivated and moved me, as much, in person as in his Oprah appearance and with his movie. I have the screener and each time I view it I come away with more food for thought.

A few years ago, Tom had a cycling accident that left him incapacitated possibly for good. He had Post Concussion Syndrome, a condition where the symptoms of the original concussion don’t go away and that really got him to think, he said, “I want to do a movie that examines what’s wrong with our world these days.”

Symptoms of his ailment included intense and painful
reactions to light and sound, severe mood swings, and a constant ringing sound in the head.

He suffered months of isolation and pain and finally reached a point where he welcomed death as a release. I so related to this in my own life.

“I simply didn’t think I was going to make it,” he admitted but he finally recovered and came out with a new sense of purpose.

What Tom discovered was: the world he was living in was a “lie.”

Something wasn't right with his life – so he set out on a quest for enlightenment and to hare his findings.

He says he has never been happier.

For me and many others, I AM is the best film this year so far and will likely stay as my favorite documentary for years to come, that’s how much I enjoyed it.

(I have now seen it five times)

Since you're always writing me asking for movie recommendations – this is on the top of my 2011 list.

 

In the film, Tom examined the questions –

How much is enough and what do we need to live a purposeful life?  

He wanted to investigate how he - and we - could improve the way we live in the world - that we "are" our brothers keeper - that selfishness is not going to make you happy and that we are all connected and should assist on another rather then having our culture enforce striving ahead of others on a fast unconscious-to-those-around-us course.

Tom found: the basis of nature is in co-operation and democracy.

Shadyac is very specific about what he was after, wanting I AM to identify the underlying cause of the world’s ills – “I didn’t want to hear the usual answers, like war, hunger, poverty, the environmental crisis, or even greed. These are not the problems. They are the symptoms of a larger endemic problem.” 

He goes on to say, “In I AM, I wanted to talk about the root cause of the ills of the world, because if there is a common cause, and we can talk about it, air it out in a public forum, then we have a chance to solve it.”

Shadyac’s transformation remains a work in process. He still lives simply, is back on his bicycle and riding to work or as much as he can to keep a car off the road. He does still drive at times but it is always a very aware logical decision on his part.

Reflecting Shadyac’s philosophy is the economic structure of the film’s release:

ALL proceeds from I AM will go to ‘The Foundation’ for I AM, a non-profit established by Shadyac to fund various worthy causes and to educate the next generation about the issues and challenges explored in the film.  

When he directs another Hollywood movie, the bulk of his usual eight-figure fee will be deposited into a charitable account, as well. I love this man!

Tom wraps up saying: “St. Augustine said, ‘determine what God has given you, and take from it what you need; the remainder is needed by others.’ 

That philosophy - Tom Shadyac now ‘happily’ lives by.

Tom, you’ve got it all right.

Thank you.

Ann

MOVIE NEWS:
WOODY ALLEN’S ‘MIDNIGHT IN PARIS’

Have you seen Midnight in Paris yet? It’s very good and worth seeing. Written and directed Woody Allen, produced by a Spanish group and Allen's own production company.

It is the third film the two companies have co-produced, the others being Vicky Cristina Barcelona and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, now Midnight In Paris.

It stars Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Carla Bruni and Adrien Brody and Micheal Sheen.

It's a delightful blend of romantic comedy mixed with a healthy dose of nostalgia. Telling the story of a disillusioned man who finds solace in an imaginary world while walking the late night streets of Paris, 

The film is the first Allen has shot entirely in Paris, though both Love and Death (1975) and Everyone Says I Love You (1996 were partially filmed there.

 

This movie is great, his best movie in years!

The movie combines a light airy feel and also has wisdom.

Owen Wilson's character thinks he is transported back to the Paris years ago when the city was full of artists and authors

I love Woody Allen, have since day one because you never

know what you are going to get.

MOVIE NEWS:
'PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES'

“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” feels like it could be a TV version of the story that we have seen before. Directed by Gore Verbinski, who did Rango this year, has cut down on the number of characters, thank God! but there are still too many sub-plots going on. Johnny Depp is good but doesn't let loose enough. The visual effects are there but not quite like before. The movie is done in 3D but it's distracting. OK, that's my rundown.

“On Stranger Tides” takes place in Spain. A man is recovered with a journal he says contains a map to the Fountain of Youth.

The British crown wants it. Captain Barbossa is played by Geoffrey Rush co-stars. Rob Marshall, director of the Academy Award-winning “Chicago” and “Nine" adds some choreography to the battle scenes. Overall, this does not mean it's not a good movie - it's just nothing really new.

TV TREND:
ULTIMATE FIGHTING

In screen news...the big trend getting bigger by the day: Ulitimate Fighting.

Showtime Networks picked up the rights to the documentary Fightville, about Ultimate Fighting Championship competitors. Matt Damon will star and may even DIRECT - his new movie is about a man on the run from the law with his daughter - who is his accomplice!

Warner Bros. has bought the spec script called Father Daughter Time: A Tale of Armed Robbery and Eskimo Kisses.

meantime...

NBC is in talks for John Grisham's THE FIRM series. It would be a 22-episode series based on his best-selling 1991 novel and 1993 movie starring Tom Cruise.

The two-hour pilot script, picks up 10 years after the movie left off, with Mitch McDeere having just come out of the Federal Witness Protection Program after bringing down a Memphis law firm operated by the mob. But he and his family soon find their lives are still in danger. Casting is under way. The project is expected to go into production in Canada in July.

and...

Twentieth Television has inked a development deal with the former host for a talk show to potentially launch in fall 2012. Ricki Lake is heading back to daytime.

She's signed a development deal with Twentieth Television for a one hour talk show. Likely will launch in fall 2012. It will be shot in LA and will cover topics such as marriage, divorce, parenting and weight loss. The vice president of Twentieth calls her a pop culture icon who's built a career on candid, straight talk in a relatable nature.

It was seven years when she finished her previous talk show. A fall launch will put her in competition with Katie Couric's likely talk show.

FILM TRENDSETTER:
ANTHONY HOPKINS

Now turning to one of the best actors in the world today; Sir Anthony Hopkins. I love him. He is captivating. Starring now in Thor from the Marvel Comics world. If you were not crazy about his performances and choices with: The Rite, The Wolfman, Instinct, The Edge, Bad Company. You may be right for not loving them. Although I like anything he does. He admits now he was "phoning those in!" Quote: "I phone it in a lot as I’m getting older.” Hopkins says his role as Odin in Thor, he was not phoning it in this time.

Christopher Plummer recently said while promoting his upcoming “We still whore a little. When we have to, we do crap. Crap pays and we do it in order to do THE BETTER STUFF. The indies, the courageous ones, the ones that need powerful friends behind them - we do those for joy. We can afford to because we have done enough crap!

As of 2007, Anthony Hopkins resides in Malibu, California. He had moved to the United States once before during the 1970s to pursue his film career, but returned to London in the late 1980s. However, he decided to return to the U.S. following his 1990s success. Retaining his British citizenship, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen on 12 April 2000, and celebrated with a 3,000-mile road trip across the country.

Hopkins has been married three times. His first two wives were Petronella Barker (1967–1972) and Jennifer Lynton (1973–2002). He has a daughter from his first marriage, Abigail Hopkins (b. 20 August 1968), who is an actress and singer. Hopkins takes time to support other various philanthropic groups. He was a Guest of Honour at a Gala Fundraiser for Women in Recovery, Inc., a Venice, California-based non-profit organization offering rehabilitation assistance to women in recovery from substance abuse. Although he resides in Malibu he is also a volunteer teacher at the Ruskin School of Acting in Santa Monica, California.

Hopkins has attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, since suddenly stopping drinking in 1975.

Hopkins is a vegetarian last I heard.

In 2008, he began on a weight loss program, and by 2010, he had lost 80 pounds. Amazing! He is so focused.

Hopkins is a prominent member of environmental protection group Greenpeace and as of early 2008 featured in a television advertisement campaign, voicing concerns about Japan's continuing annual whale hunt.

Hopkins has been a patron of RAPT (Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust) since its early days and helped open their first intensive drug and alcohol rehabilitation unit at Downview (HM Prison) in 1992.

MOVIE TREND:
HORROR FLICKS

A big movie trend right now is the horror flick. Non-grisly movies that scare the heck out of you 'without' blood or ghosts. The trend now is a twist on the old haunted house genre, feels like The Exorcist or The Sixth Sense and the KEY to doing it right is - aim for the mysterious rather than blood and guts.

Horror is big because it costs little and can make lots and the trend now is making them 'outside' the studio system. They just seem to be better and are outside the studio system these days. Take “Insidious” - it is now the highest money making movie for Hollywood this year. It was released April 1 and holding up surprisingly well for a horror movie. It made $13.3 million opening weekend – which normally would have led to a final gross of about $30 million BUT Insidious has MADE OVER $50 million and counting. Director James Wan, is also the co-creator of the Saw movies. The haunted house movie feels played out but the challenge is to try not to look at it as an independent, low budget horror movie.

Lots of independent movies have great actors, like The Kids Are All Right. The key is to apply that mentality to genre films. If actors think the script is good and it allows them to do things they haven't done before they'll take it. There's something else happening in Hollywood today. They're shooting in real houses rather than on sets for horror films - in filmmaking. It's always easier to shoot movies in a controlled environment. You don‘t have to worry about traffic, outside noise and planes flying overhead and the authenticity of shooting on location adds to the realism of any movie. A camera can follow an actor outside of the house without cutting away.

Many studio horror films fail to scare us and it's now proven that the most successful, effective, scary movies out now are made outside the studio system.

BIG CELEB TREND:
ACTOR-DIRECTORS

Now turning to that ever-popular trend of actors wanting to direct. Ryan Philippe just said he hates the paparazzi much he may step behind the camera. Kate Hudson wants to direct as well while still acting. Her latest romantic comedy is called 'Something Borrowed' out in theaters everywhere. She thinks later in life she’ll end up directing. She can’t see herself sitting in a makeup chair for two hours much longer. She’s always been in the film business, and she’s had the opportunity to watch so many great directors, whether it be from her parents’ or her roles. She thinks the greatest lessons you could learn are by watching.

Kate is pregnant but says she’s still on board to star in biopic Lovelace after the birth of her baby. It’s the story of the porn-star turned activist Linda Lovelace. It is currently in pre production. It is one of two movies depicting the life of Linda Lovelace. Also being produced right now is Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story starring Watchmen’s Malin Akerman. The lead role was originally Lindsay Lohan’s but she was forced to drop out because of legal troubles. Malin couldn’t be happier about Kate’s pregnancy; because it means her film will likely be finished first thus have an edge over Kate’s.

Mark Ruffalo is also turning to directing. He’s done Sympathy For Delicious as his directorial debut. It is an offbeat, edgy story of faith, faith-healing and ultimate redemption. It tells the unusual story of a paraplegic who discovers that he has the otherworldly power to heal. On his first day on set he went to his trailer, locked the door, and had a panic attack; he started doubting himself. However, he said the second he said action, it felt really natural to him. He attributes it to all the great directors he’s had the opportunity to work with.

UPCOMING HOLIDAY MOVIES:
FULL SLATE

The Muppets has decided to throw its tiny Muppet hat into the Holiday 2011 season. As it stands right now, December 2011 is going to be a giant smack down between some heavy blockbusters.  On December 16th you have Alvin and the Chipmunks 3D, Mission: Impossible IV, and Sherlock Holmes 2. My theory is that one of these films is going to blink and move to a new date. The following weekend is owned by Steven Spielberg’s 3D motion-capture film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.  However, Tintin doesn’t have a built-in American audience like its three competitors from the previous week.  As for The Muppets, they have name recognition, but it’s going to need to rekindle interest since there hasn’t been a major Muppet movie in some time.

John Krasinski, who you probably know from The Office, will be playing himself in the film. He said it was a childhood dream and a surreal experience. He said the little kid in him, as well as the 31-year-old in him was giddy and excited about it.

The Muppets is being directed by James Bobin, who also did Flight of the Conchords. He will star Jason Segel who also co-wrote the film. It is scheduled for release November 23.

BEHIND THE SCENES:
THOR

The latest superhero flick from Marvel Comics is Thor. It is the story of a god/prince who discovers his inner superhero, saves Earth and sets the stage to become part of the team known as the avengers. It is directed by Kenneth Baranagh. The cast includes Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Jeremy Renner, Rene Russo, and Idris Elba. The big decision during pre-production was who would play the role of the iconic Thor.

They chose Chris Hemsworth despite being a newcomer in Hollywood.  Chris said it was surreal. He has been in the US for four years and has worked little roles here and there. He says it was a dream come true to work with people like Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins and to be able to play a superhero.

The movie was set just outside of New Mexico in a dessert with miles and miles of wide-open empty space. They built an entire town there as the set for the movie. They put in everything from sidewalks, telephone poles, street-lights, parking meters, and roads – all things that make a town.

NEW STUDIO TREND:
IN-HOUSE WRITING

Studios nowadays are now doing more in-house and outsourcing less. Take for example 20th Century Fox. They are launching an in-house writer’s studio. It will be dedicated to the development of emerging writers, new voices and new concepts. Writers will be hired, the relationships with producers will be coordinated and there will be a development process of ideas generated in the studio. The goal behind this is to pursue original ideas and be more cutting edge rather than rewriting existing scripts.

MOVIE TREND:
IN-THEATER DINING AND LECTURES

Two new additions are gaining momentum when it comes to the movie going experience. One is the Science Lecture Series due to a recent fascination with science. Many theaters are now offering Science on Screen series which started in Boston. They pair screenings of films with lectures relevant to the film so the audience can discuss its cultural relevance.

Also, there is now something emerging called the GastroPub Theater. In-theater dining has existed for a while but it’s becoming more wide spread now as the culinary cinema model catches on. It comes complete with gourmet meals, table service, cocktails for those of age and gourmet snacks.

UPCOMING MOVIE:
'THE HOBBIT'

The trend of book adaptations into movies doesn’t stop - Twilight, Harry Potter, Barney's Version, Jane Eyre and the list goes on and on. J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy was turned into huge blockbuster hit by director Peter Jackson. The trilogy was a follow up Tolkien's earlier children's fantasy novel The Hobbit which Jackson in now turning into a film. Production has already started. 

Many of the stars from the Lord of the Rings trilogy will return: Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, Martin Freeman, David Tennant, Ian McKellen and Orlando Bloom. Many of their characters weren't in the original book.

Orlando says he has a tremendous amount of respect for director Peter Jackson and would do anything for him. It’s the main reason why he’s on board.  

The Hobbit Pt. 1 is scheduled for release December 19, 2012.

BEHIND THE SCENES:
'HANNA'

Seems like the hottest designer for movie costumes these days is Giorgio Armani. His designs have appeared in American Gigolo, Ocean’s Thirteen, and The Dark Knight. Now they could been seen in the new movie Hanna worn by Oscar winning actress Cate Blanchett. She plays an intelligence agent who is secretly in contact with a teenage girl who has been trained as a world-class assassin.

Cate’s character Marissa was seen as the Wicked Witch of the story so here costume reflected that: Red in her hair, and green attire. "Working with Cate has always been a highlight for me," said Armani, "She embodies the perfect combination of consummate actor and world-class fashion icon."

Cate says she liked playing a character that was so cold and remote. The story itself may not enough to keep the viewers interested. But the action sequences definitely are. The visuals are stunning. They filmed in various locations like Finland and Morocco, which gave the movie a different quality and a life of its own.

MOVIE TRENDS:
SERIES & ANIMATION

The main strategy right now in Hollywood is producing trilogies, sagas and series. These days, as soon as a film does well, number two is being planned a week or two later. Take, Cowboys & Aliens. It doesn’t open until July 29 but already it has sequel written all over it. Universal Studios is hoping it's a money making brand. It stars Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, and Harrison Ford. It is directed by Jon Favreau and produced by Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard.

Get ready for more Johnny Depp in another Rango. Paramount Pictures' Rango is its first into the crowded field of big-budget digital animation.Computer animation is one of Hollywood's few growth industries, with nearly every major studio now wanting a piece of the market Pixar Animation, Disney and Dream Works Animation has. Rango put Paramount into direct competition with one of those industry giants, DreamWorks, which has been the studio's chief supplier of family animated films. Johnny Depp says he would work with director Gore Verbinski again. He says thereis no limits when working with him and he allows the actors to try all kinds of things.

HOP starring James Marsden and Russell Brand is coming back after big numbers.It had the biggest opening of any 2011 release — beating Rango by just $39,000. One of the big reasons for HOP’s success was that the that it didn’t disregard adult watchers. It was appealing enough for kids with enough adult material slipped in to allow parents to feel good about going.

Rio is another animation gaining notice. It is attracting people due to the colorful visuals and the non-stop music. It’s got all the same stuff that made the Madagascar movies such hits. The voice talent includes
Jesse Eisenberg, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez and Anne Hathaway. Anne says what sets Rio apart from the rest is the music. She says there something in it for everyone. It teaches kids to learn to trust themselves and there are fun characters and witty dialogue that parents will appreciate.

BEHIND THE SCENES:
'WATER FOR ELEPHANTS'

An exclusive clip from the much anticipated movie Water for Elephants was made available online before the red carpet began for Reese Witherspoon and Twilight’s Robert Pattinson. 20th Century Fox teamed up with the makers of mobile app Color for the premiere. Photos and videos that were taken using the Color app by attendees at the New York premiere were instantly shared to those in the immediate vicinity. The Color app is a free app for iPhone. The Android and Windows 7 versions are on the way. It allows you within 150 feet to capture and have real-time access to photos, videos and text. In one day, it was the second most popular social media application behind Facebook. There is now interest from high-profile musicians who now want to use it for their tours.

Set in the 1930’s, the movie is about a young, veterinary student who runs off to join the big top only to fall in love and danger. Reese describes Robert of a thoughtful, hardworking actor. She says he’s quiet, shy and keeps to himself. One of the main things that attracted Robert to taking on the role was the elephant – also that fact that he was working with Oscar winners.

BEHIND THE SCENES:
DAVID SCHWIMMER'S 'TRUST'

Trust, a movie recently out, stars Clive Owen and Catherine Keener. It is directed by Friends star David Schwimmer. It will be out on Blu-ray and DVD July 26.It's the dark story of a father and his 14-year-old whose daughter is targeted by an internet sexual predator. Turns out the online buddy she thought was another teenager is a middle-age man stalking the Internet in search of teenage girls.She's assaulted and her parents have to come to grips with what happened and try to help their daughter heal.

The theme hits close to home for Schwimmer. Many of his close friends and former girlfriends have experienced the trauma of sexual assault as a child – even rape. He passionately uses his name and his talents to bring attention to the topic and has been involved with
The Rape Foundation for 14 years. As a parent, Schwimmer's concerned about children’s easy access to the internet and its dangers.

Clive Owen does a good job playing the father. He liked the realism of the story and how it wasn't a cliché. It’s the reason why he signed on to the film.

'POM WONDERFUL PRESENTS:
THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD'

A new movie you’ve got to see is POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. I loved it. It’s about the world of product placement, marketing and advertising and it takes you behind the scenes. Morgan Spurlock, who also did Super Size Me, directs. The documentary fully financed by the very product placement the movie explores on screen. With humor and insight, he unmasks the marketing process, takes us directly into the pitch meetings and marketing presentations.The film’s focus is on branding and the many ways corporations are seeping into the every aspect of our daily lives. In the movie, Spurlock sold out in order to show how unhealthy advertising has become. Spurlock uses his integrity as currency to sell out to the highest bidder, in an effort to create a first – a “docbuster.”

Here's some backstory. To do this, Spurlock set a goal: make a documentary sponsored entirely by corporations. He's seen making cold call after cold call and pitching board rooms of marketing executives, in an attempt to convince brands that they should pay for the production of his documentary in exchange for him featuring their products in scenes throughout the film. Well there were dozens of failed attempts, but he got his first big break when Ban Deodorant agreed to be a sponsor. After other companies heard that Ban was on board, things really began to heat up. Soon, Spurlock was driving Minis everywhere, only staying in Hyatt hotels.

MOVIE NEWS:
HYBRID FILM TREND

A big trend right now in movies are hybrid films - half live action, half CGI. The one right now making a splash in theaters is the box office hit Hop, out in time for Easter. It comes from the creative minds of last year’s surprise hit Despicable Me. It’s about the Easter Bunny’s teenage son who tries to dodge his holiday responsibilities in favor of a career as a rock band drummer putting the family candy business in danger.

Russell Brand plays the Easter bunny in the film. He really enjoyed it. What he liked about it most is that in the world of children there are many different rules – a naivety, innocence and sweetness that he feels are beautifully captured in the film.

Even though star James Marsden has been around a long time, this a breakout role for him. For him, it was all about keeping it real. Every movie he does, whether it be an indie drama or a big budget action movie, he approaches it as being the best that he could do. He says some actors would take a role like Hop thinking it’s an easy role because it’s a kid’s movie, but he felt he needed to do more work for it than he ever had. The relationship with the non-existent rabbit had to feel really real.

MOVIE TRENDS:
THE TOP 4

Here are some movie trends you are going to be seeing:

-Multiple versions of films with multiple twists and endings

-Netflix and Facebook playing a big part in film personalization.

-Real-time instant personalization based on brain-response and dynamic modifications of the same movie.

Companies who are placing their products in films for advertising purposes are also making use of neuromarketing. They integrate their products at moment of maximal attention, emotional engagement, and memory movement. There is measurable value to the marketer.

STEVEN SPIELBERG:
2 FILMS THIS YEAR

December is going to be a big month for Steven Spielberg. He will be releasing two major movies within a week of each other. First up is the highly anticipated motion-capture adaptation of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn that he's doing with Peter Jackson and is being called a franchise starter.

He has been directing professionally since 1971. He’s a veteran now. When it comes to bad reviews, he says there are two things to do about it: you could expose yourself to all the positive and all the negative, triumph and suffer by reading and listening to everything you could get your hands on, or just keep working and go on to the next project. In his career he’s always tended to move on and not dwell.

The movie is being done in CGI with actors such as Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Spielberg’s drama WarHorse was pushed from August to an awards-friendly slot at the end of December.

MOVIE TREND:
PORTABLE DIGITAL STUDIOS

A huge trend that’s really taking hold in Hollywood: movie making going portable. I think it’s a brilliant idea…and it’s aimed at reducing film budgets.

The L.A. based Silverdraft company has come up with a 53-foot van equipped with an extensive range of production, VFX and post tools aiming to bring more post production and visual effects on set. Powered by a supercomputer, Silverdraft aims to create a faster, more collaborative approach to filmmaking. Manufacturers have started to offer smaller and lighter production tools.

Post houses have also been offering portable digital labs that create dailies and backups. Silverdraft is taking that concept even further by incorporating motion capture and other VFX tools along with editing, color grading and finishing. The company says they can record 2D or 3D from the digital camera directly into the truck, where work could begin on the spot. By taking the digital facility on set, all of the key creative decisions can be made right away.

So far filmmakers haven't been able to do this at the same time, outside of a building with a lightweight technology. The company says filmmakers need the ability to direct the digital world in the same way (and at the same time) as they are composing in the live action world.

PAUL GIAMATTI'S LATEST:
'WIN WIN'

Paul Giamatti’s latest, co-staring Amy Ryan is “Win Win” and is arguably the best new film, so far, this year. Set in New Jersey and telling the story of a down-on-his-heels attorney who volunteers as a high school wrestling coach where he discovers a star athlete, the story is an inspired exploration of family dynamics.

Paul and Amy barely knew each other and were told both the parts were written for them in mind. Giamatti plays a struggling suburbanite facing the usual material and moral anxieties in Win Win,

Paul acted alongside newcomer Alex Shaffer. He said it was fun to direct him and to see him grow into his skin as an actor. He liked seeing him increasingly understand the process day by day.

MOVIE TREND:
"NEURO SCIENCE" TO INCREASE BOXOFFICE

Studios are now getting into our brains to make movies, using something called neuro science to make them more appealing to people. Production companies have brain tested movie trailers through MRI, EEG, galvanic skin response and eye-tracking to better market their films but now they're using this same brain feedback to make the movie - the method is called neuro cinema. It uses neuro feedback to help improve scripts, plots, characters, scenes and effects.

Certain types of films get high activation scores in the amygdala region of the brain (the part that controls disgust, anger, lust and fear.) If filmmakers can control this excitement in the viewers, they control our reactions and that turns into buzz for a film. More and more studios are doing it to get bigger box office dollars. It also makes the development of the movie process more scientific and less based on instinct.

James Cameron has spoken on the subject saying: "a functional-MRI study of brain activity would show that more neurons are actively engaged in processing a 3-D movie than the same film seen in 2-D." Avatar was tested with neuro marketing, which used EEG and biometric techniques to measure different brain responses to scenes and sequences.

Many marketing executives of production companies tend to remain hushed on the subject but once the trend really takes off and becomes more accepted neuro cinema has the potential to be a huge film industry game-changer.

TABLETS:
CHANGING TV WATCHING DYNAMICS

Tablets are making their way into living rooms and ruining watching TV with other people. TV watching with someone has never been the most social of activities, but the laughing, sharing of popcorn, or quick comments about what you’re watching does make it something you want to do with someone rather than by yourself.

Bringing a tablet into the picture estranges you from the people you’re actually with. For example: while watching the Oscars, millions of people were compulsively checking their iPads to see what other people were saying on Twitter and discussing with them.

While these people may have been connected to others in cyberspace, they are completely alienated from the real people that are sitting right next to them. Essentially, the trend replaces real friends with cyber friends and followers. Grey’s Anatomy and Discovery Channel have released their own versions of iPad apps designed to be used while watching the show.

Cell phone etiquette has been heavily discussed, I think it’s time to bring in tablet etiquette as well.

MOVIE TREND:
ACTORS DIVERSIFYING THEIR ROLE CHOICES

A big Hollywood trend right now is comedic actors turning to dramatic roles to avoid typecasting. It's almost a must now in acting careers. You have to be able to do both if you're to be taken seriously.
Recent stars to make the switch are Zach Galifinakis, Ryan Reynolds, and Bradley Cooper.

For Brad, his dramatic role in Limitless that opened this weekend is a clear departure from his usual frat-boy comedy roles in Wedding Crashers and The Hangover.
Limitless is his first lead role in a big-budget film so studios will be keeping a close eye on its box-office performance to see if he can open a movie himself. He’s looking to be taken more seriously and has recently agreed to star in another drama, The Word, also about a writer at the peak of his career that discovers the price he must pay for stealing someone else’s work.

He's got the perfect attitude for making it long term when moving to drama. His goal is to work with great filmmakers and great actors and get better as an actor. What that means is that it’s not usually going to be the same kind of movie or the same genre.

Bradley studied at the prestigious Actors Studio Drama School in New York where many Hollywood legends have attended such as Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn and Andy Garcia.

Bradley says comedy and drama are the same acting strategy so it’s not hard for him. He says it may demand different ways in but the structure is essentially the same. You have to be very well prepared either way. His philosophy is “acting is acting.”

Bradley credits his Limitless co-star Robert De Niro as the reason he became an actor! He says he was never intimidated by sharing the camera with his idol - even with De Niro’s preference for rarely rehearsing lines to add spontaneity to the dialogue for realism. In fact, Bradley says, he found it relaxing since the two of them are very soft-spoken.

He’s got an upcoming comedy you might have heard of. The heavily anticipated The Hangover Part II will be in theaters May 26!

'TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT':
HOMAGE TO THE 80'S ERA

The 80's era theme is a huge trend that is so in vogue these days -from fashion, to music, to Hollywood. A new movie out that is following the trend is Take Me Home Tonight.

It is an R rated homage to the ME decade. Set back in the 80's is uses every 80's reference imaginable.

It stars Topher Grace who also was an executive producer. He says they wanted to make a movie that represented the 80’s, rather than make fun it of like a lot of movies do.

Cocaine, really popular in the 80’s, is featured in a lot of the party scenes in the movies. There was a lot of resistance from the studios because of it. It took two years to get it in theaters. The movie has an R-Rating, and deservedly so. Topher admits the movie isn’t for everyone.

MOVIE TREND:
FRANCHISE FATIGUE

The trend for Hollywood studios has been franchises. We keep getting one after another. It's being called Franchise Fatigue. A whopping 27 prequels or sequels will be out this year - that means one every other weekend.

Box office is down this year 20% so far and it's easy to see why. The movies are lousy I say. Hollywood has lost its creativity this year and really just wants a fast buck because sequels are guaranteed money; already have a built-in audience thus needing less marketing. They are there to satisfy viewers desire for a continuation of a storyline.

Here's a trend: random movies getting sequels!

• Swingers 2: Really? It came out in 1996 and was great with Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau but they’re too old now!
• Zoolander 2
• Shakespeare in Love 2: Worst Idea ever! It's part of a plan by the Weinstein Company to give reboots and follow-ups to the most famous movies the brothers made.

CASTING NEWS:
JULIANNE HOUGH IN 'ROCK OF AGES'

Dancing with the Stars dancer turned actress Julianne Hough is so hot right now. She is the “it” up and coming actress of the moment.
From the ABC hit series, to country music singer to Burlesque, Footloose and now a big musical - the screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Rock of Ages, starring Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin and Mary J Blige!

Right now director Adam Shankman and New Line Cinema are looking for the lead actor. The role is that of male lead Drew Boley, the aspiring musician who romances Julianne Hough's Sherrie. He must have a rock and roll signing voice they say.

The open casting will be held on March 26 at Central Casting in Los Angeles, CA. Here is also more information on rockofagesmoviecasting.com,

CASTING NEWS:
MELISSA LEO, JESSE EISENBERG, AND TRACY MORGAN TO STAR IN 'PREDISPOSED'

Academy Award winner Melissa Leo is set to star alongside Oscar nominee Jesse Eisenberg. They'll be in an independent comedy playing mother and son, called Predisposed.

It is a comedy is about a drug-addicted mother going to rehab on the same day her college-bound son is being interviewed to attend the prestigious music college Julliard. Tracy Morgan will play a drug dealer named Sprinkles. Talk about perfect casting for all three!

The movie is set to start production this summer.

STATE OF THE ART TREND:
EMOTION CAPTURE

A state-of-the-art technique being used in Hollywood moviemaking is emotion capture. Animated movies will never be the same again. Goodbye voice booth! Hello stage work!

Emotion capture was just used in the animated Rango and if you've seen it, you noticed that Johnny Depp in the movie moves and acts like Johnny Depp in real life.

Here’s how it works: the cast acts out their parts on a stage for 23 days using high-definition cameras to help make each character’s expressions as close to the actors’ as possible! They rehearsed and acted it as a play with props!

Emotion capture, not motion capture, is the big thing in movies now.

This allows for the witty verbal exchanges seen in the film to flow more naturally than if the actors did everything from a sound booth.

Rango is an homage to the classic westerns. It is cute and Rango himself, Johnny Depp is the voice of a classic lizard. It was animated to perfection by the brilliant staff at George Lucas's ILM! Up next for Johnny Depp is the adventure-drama The Rum Diary!

MOVIE TREND:
ADULT HORROR MOVIES

A new movie trend is adult horror movies. Matt Damon calls Contagion just that. Currently in production and set for release in the fall, Contagion reunites director Steven Soderbergh with Matt Damon in an action thriller centered on a worldwide pandemic and the team of CDC doctors’ efforts to control the outbreak. The all-star cast also includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet. Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Jon Hawkes, Laurence Fishburne, Bryan Cranston and Elliott Gould.

Matt describes the movie as the most realistic pandemic movie that has ever been made. He says it’s part mystery part horror.

Contagion opens October 21st.

MOVIE NEWS:
'HALL PASS'

The trendsetting Farrelly brothers, from There’s Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber, have just done Hall Pass, a raunchy comedy about a couple of bored husbands given a permission slip by their wives to take a week off from marriage. It was written and directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly

If the guys out there are having a hard time convincing your other half to go, the brothers insist it is a chick flick. They made sure the movie would appeal to both male and female audiences and had some female writers working on it. The movie is a guy concept, but women had strong input in the movie. As a result, in the movie women get to do more with a hall pass than the men!

BEHIND THE SCENES:
'BATTLE: LOS ANGELES'

Battle: Los Angeles is an action science fiction film directed by Jonathan Liebesman and starring Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Peña, Ne-Yo and Bridget Moynahan. Planned for release in March 2011, the film is set in modern day Los Angeles and follows a platoon of Marines and Airmen during a global alien invasion.

Jonathan Liebesman intended the film to be a realistic depiction of an alien invasion in the style of a war film, taking inspiration from the films Black Hawk Down and United 93 for his documentary style of filming.

Liebesman also drew inspiration from YouTube videos of marines fighting in Fallujah. As a result, the film was not shot in 3D as the director felt that combined with the handheld camera style of shooting would make the audience "throw up in two minutes." Instead standard film was used, intercutting footage from three different cameras. The filmmakers tested shooting the film digitally on a Red Camera but found the camera could not capture the same quality image as standard film. The film was shot for a PG-13 rating, as the director felt making the film overly gory did not suit the more suspenseful tone they were trying to achieve.

The events of the film are inspired by The Battle of Los Angeles, a falsely suspected air raid of Los Angeles that took place during World War II. The filmmakers chose to use this event as the basis for the film in an attempt to help ground the film in reality. The plot of the film suggests the unidentified aircraft were actually alien UFO’s on a reconnaissance mission, scouting the Earth to prepare for an eventual attack, which was then covered up by the government. Screenwriter Chris Bertolini tried to include humor and suspense as well as action, which he felt were important elements to help draw the audience into the drama. Aaron Eckhart said that the objective of the film was to make as realistic an alien invasion movie as possible; “The goal was: this is a war movie, a documentary style war movie – with aliens in it.” The actors went through three weeks of boot camp, in order to learn how to realistically operate as a marine platoon. On set, military advisors worked with the actors to ensure they gave a realistic performance.

While the director tried to use practical effects whenever possible, such as explosions, most of the aliens in the film are computer generated, as the director felt they would be too difficult to achieve practically. Only 10% of the aliens in the film were achieved practically. The invaders were designed by Paul Gerrad, who made them to appear "very alien.”

Special effects used in the principal photography included pyrotechnics. The most climactic of all was a large fireball-producing explosion, which was said to have alarmed some residents and passers-by. Film crews implemented use of a large “green screen” billboard at the base (end) of the "destroyed" interstate to use later for inserting CGI images of Los Angeles.

There was military support for filming, including some scenes filmed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California. Numerous Marine units assisted in filming.

MOVIE NEWS:
'THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU'

Matt Damon's new suspense romance science fiction thriller The Adjustment Bureau has probably peaked your interest. The cinematography is excellent so you will like the look of this one. It's not as out there as a typical Christopher Nolan film so this one will probably appeal to the masses who want simpler. It has more emotion and feeling. The part was written for Matt specifically.

Members of The Adjustment Bureau are “angels of fate.” They come into lives and make sure everyone stays on track. It's about what happens when you thumb your nose at fate. It makes us look at how powerful fate is - when two people are destined to be together.

The film is loosely based on the Philip K. Dick short story, “Adjustment Team.” It was written and directed by George Nolfi and also stars Emily Blunt. Matt plays David Norris, a charismatic congressman who seems destined for national stardom. He meets a beautiful dancer named Elise Sallas, played by Emily only to find that strange circumstances keep them from becoming romantically involved. Norris discovers forces are at work to separate them, and he peels the layers to find out why. The action takes place in various places in Manhattan and they really used Manhattan to shoot the film!

JAMES CAMERON:
MAKING OF NEW MOVIE 'SANCTUM'

The equipment that James Cameron created for Avatar now being used for his latest, Sanctum the 3D adventure in theaters right now. Even though the acting is mediocre and the script weak the photography is amazing. It uses the 3D photography techniques James developed to film Avatar and it will have you squirming in your seat.

The story was inspired by the film's co-writer Andrew Wight's near-death experience of leading a diving expedition miles into a system of underwater caves, then having to find a way out after a freak storm collapsed the entrance.

Created to perform in severe conditions, the engineering provides a breathless quest throughout crashing cliffs and towards the furthermost reaches in our subterranean earth.

Shot at the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, all of the underwater sequences took place in a large water tank in studio. Real caves were also filmed in South Australia's cave-diving region.

MOVIE NEWS:
'I AM NUMBER FOUR'

There is a new trend we’re seeing a lot in movies these days: the Twilight effect. Twilight has been a huge hit - so now the copy cats are coming out.

The suspense thriller I Am Number Four is produced by Steven Spielberg and is a sort of Twilight for the 20’s crowd.

Some insider back story, director Michael Bay brought the manuscript of the teen book, I Am Number Four to Stacey Snider and Steven Spielberg at DreamWorks. A bidding war developed for the film rights between DreamWorks and J.J. Abrams, with DreamWorks winning.

The rights were purchased with the hope of attracting the teenage fans of the Twilight saga films and the potential of establishing a franchise. At least six more installments are planned by the book's publisher.

Number four is played by new Hollywood “it boy” Alex Pettyfer. The director is D.J. Caruso who did Eagle Eye and Disturbia. It's about an extraordinary young man who's a fugitive who hides his identity and is on the run from enemies sent to destroy him.

CELEBRITY TREND:
ACTORS PLAYING REAL-LIFE CHARACTERS

There is a huge trend in Hollywood now that has actors playing real life characters. Actors like doing these because often these kinds of role lead to Oscars.

Sasha Baron Cohen is starring in a dramatic turn playing Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury and he will be in another movie playing Saddam Hussein. Colin Firth is going to win the Oscar this year for his role role as King George VI.

John Travolta may be playing mobster John Gotti. Michael Douglas is playing Liberace and Matt Damon as Liberace's lover. Leonardo DiCaprio will play FBI head J. Edgar Hoover.

Hot on the heels of his stand-out performance as one of the Winklevoss twins in the award-winning film The Social Network, actor Armie Hammer has just signed on the dotted line to play Clyde Tolson in that much-anticipated biopic, J. Edgar.

JACK BLACK:
PRODUCING TV SHOW 'MY LIFE AS AN EXPERIMENT'

The trend of movie stars moving to the TV business continues. NBC just picked up a comedy pilot from Jack Black. It’s called My Life as an Experiment, based on a book that focuses on a magazine writer who puts himself and his family in unusual situations for his pieces, which somehow always reflect back on his marriage. Black is one of the executive producers and wrote the script but will not be starring. As far as doing films, he says he really does love doing animation.

NEW DOCUMENTARY:
JUSTIN BIEBER 'NEVER SAY NEVER'

Looking for a tween blockbuster? Leave it to the Bieber.. Justin Bieber ‘s Movie: Never Say Never is a documentary feature film that chronicles the 2010 concert tour of the world’s most popular teen singing idol. A true product of the viral video generation, Bieber went legit when music moguls (and former teen idols themselves) Usher and Justin Timberlake competed to sign him. The documentary features concert footage. It hits theaters on February 11th.

There is a lot of behind the scenes footage of Justin as he gets ready for his show and of him returning to his hometown in Ontario to the street he used to perform on and give advice to other teen performers.

'THE GREEN HORNET':
CAMERON DIAZ & SETH ROGAN

Superheroes are hotter than ever in movies and on TV.

The Green Hornet, starring Seth Rogan and Cameron Diaz is a superhero film, about a superhero without superhero powers. He's a newspaper publisher who is secretly a masked crime fighter. The Green Hornet originated in a 1930s radio program and has appeared as a TV series and in comic books. Seth co-wrote the screenplay. The studio was then in early talks with Nicolas Cage to play the lead. Cameron Diaz is the love interest. She got a call that Michel Gondry and Seth Rogan were going to be working together on a film. Those two minds together intrigued her. Seth says she's a pretty cool chick.

They wanted Van Williams, who played the Green Hornet in the 1960s series, to make a cameo appearance as a cemetery guard but he wasn’t available. James Franco does have a cameo early in the movie, playing a rival drug dealer in a scene with Cristolph Waltz. I felt the movie was not funny and actually pretty boring.

IN CONVERSATION:
ASHTON KUTCHER 'NO STRINGS ATTACHED'

Ashton Kutcher stars in No Strings Attached a story of friends with benefits and get this,Ashton says he was shooting so many sex scenes he got tired of it! "I never thought that anything related to sex would be something I'd get tired of! You're there and you're doing the scene and you're like, 'Do we have to shoot another sex scene?' You're always waiting, wondering when the word 'cut' is going to be said. How far are we taking this? Are they going to call cut? The director would come back and say, 'I think you need to orgasm sooner.’ So your male machismo is like 'No, no, no. It would take me much longer than this'.”

Ashton had a secret sex scene technique for the movie, which he learned from acting legend Laurence Olivier."I just start by apologizing," he says. "When in doubt, use Sir Laurence. He said something like 'I apologize if I get aroused and I apologize if I do not get aroused' and you have to say it with the accent. But there's sort of always that kind of awkward state of like, 'Is this OK? Is that OK?' Then in between it's like, 'Let's act like nothing happened', and then you see how good an actor you are."

When it comes to his real life with Demi, Ashton says there is no secret to all to their success."At the end of the day, I think it's about the right wife - finding somebody who is the right one.”He admits he does have to work at maintaining their spark."I'm constantly reminding myself, no matter how amazing my relationship is, keep working on it. Things can always get better, even when it's going great.I think romance sort of coincides with effort. Recently, I was working in another country and I had one day off.
So I flew home to see Demi for an hour and then turned around and went back.”

BEHIND THE SCENES:
‘INCEPTION’

The Golden Globe best drama nominated movie Inception has just come out on DVD. It received a Critics’ Choice award nomination for best movie as well. The awards take place in LA January 14 and the Golden Globes Jan 16.

For those who have yet to see it, the visuals are incredible. There's one scene in particular of the street folding over in Paris. If you haven't seen this movie, it's a must! It's directed by The Dark Knight’s Christopher Nolan.

Here’s some insider back-story on this one. It took nine years for this one to be made. In 2001, Nolan wrote an 80-page treatment about dream-stealers, and he presented it to Warner Bros. The story was originally written as a horror film. Feeling he needed to have more experience with large-scale films, he opted to work on Batman Begins, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight. Then he spent six months polishing up the script for Inception before Warner Bros. bought it in February 2009. He cast Leonardo DiCaprio and the rest is history.

Leo says his relationship with his directors has changed of the years. He started off really looking at the director of his films as a father figure, whatever they said he did. That isn’t the relationship he has with them now. It is now a much more of a collaborative situation. He even brings ideas to the table, it’s more like a partnership.

The movie shot in six countries and four continents. It finished in Canada.

It was officially budgeted at $160 million. Nolan's reputation and success with The Dark Knight helped secure the film's $100 million for advertising alone! Released to critical acclaim, the film grossed over $21 million on its opening day, with an opening weekend gross of $62.7 million.

TRENDSETTING DIRECTORS 2011:
COEN BOTHERS

True Grit stars Oscar winner Jeff Bridges who plays a great off beat US marshall who drinks too much, is inappropriate, bends the rules and is hired by a young girl, newcomer Hallee Steinfeld, to find the murderer of her father.

The movie is directed by the Coen brothers, considered to be the best in the business today. Jeff Bridges loved working with them, he considers them the top in their field. He says they’ve really gathered a group of great artists for this film.

Matt Damon who plays the Texas ranger says the Coens are in demand. He has met them and seen them many times over the years being in the business and he followed them very closely, but never got the chance to work with them - the perfect role never came up. When the opportunity came for True Grit, he was thrilled to get a phone call from them.

IN CONVERSATION:
NICOLE KIDMAN & AARON ECKHART ‘RABBIT HOLE’

Nicole Kidman will likely be nominated for an Oscar this year for her latest film Rabbit Hole. Nicole and co-star Aaron Eckhart are both nominated for Golden Globes. For those who have not seen it yet, don't shy away because you think it will be too depressing. It's meaningful.

Yes, it tells the story of a couple looses their young son, but it’s really about all one goes thru at ones lowest and trying to find life again. It's really about marriage, family and survival and hope.

The movie says a lot with few words - how dark life can get and how strong love is. Aaron is superb. He was Nicole's number one choice for the role. She produced the film. The scenes with the two of them are raw. He says the movie has moments you will relate to seeing as it’s a movie about family.

When it comes to her movie choices, Nicole says she only wants to do movies that are about one thing, the most important thing in life. The theme is most of her films is love in different forms; yearning for love, losing love etc. The loss of a child was the most terrifying place to go for her. That’s where she tends to go creatively, places that terrify her.

Aaron loved the chance to work with Nicole and that she really nailed it. He describes her as an actor who knows her craft and passionate about what she does. He says she’s dedicated and close to the material all the time.

MOVIE NEWS:
WHAT MAKES A CLASSIC?

What really makes a classic? Ed Zwick, director best known for The Last Samurai, The Siege and Blood Diamond is extremely respected and is responsible for very prominent films. He says a movie is a classic when the audience, no matter what age, can relate to the characters. He defines a classic as being new in every generation. That is there is something so recognizable in the behaviors of the people, that you could feel is you, no matter how old you are.

What helps make a movie a big success that will live on is the actors and their research before the movie. He describes great actors as being sponges. They take everything in, and those bits find their way into their work. It also makes its way into the director’s work – a classic movie is truly a collaboration of everyone involved.

Timing is also everything when it comes to becoming a classic. The Maltese Falcon is considered by many to be the very first film noir. America was coming out of the Great Depression and into a world war. It was perfect timing for that sort of film.

Another example of a classic is Billy Wilder’s Some Like it Hot. This is the original romantic comedy and has spawned decades of the genre.

BACK STORY:
STARS SALARIES ‘HOW DO YOU KNOW’

Jack Nicholson is the godfather of cool for Hollywood. Veterans like Jack, Dustin, and De Niro are back this month and they show how it's really done!

Jack Nicholson is in How Do You Know, Robert De Niro is in Little Fockers and Dustin Hoffman is in Little Fockers and Barney's Version. Even at this point in his life, Jack has a real appreciation for his show biz life and career. He finds it a very exciting business.

The writer, director, producer of Jack’s latest romantic comedy How do You Know James L. Brooks is the guy behind Mary Tyler Moore and Taxi. His latest stars are Jack, Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson.
It’s a movie about people at a crossroads deciding what comes first and the pivotal decisions when trouble hits. It's about hitting rock bottom and figuring it all out.

The movie cost a whopping $120 million (before tax breaks brought it down to $100 million). Why did a romantic comedy cost so much? One reason for the price tag is the salaries for all this talent.

- Reese Witherspoon ($15 million)
- Jack Nicholson ($12 million)
- Owen WIlson ($10 million)
- Paul Rudd ($3 million)

Brooks will earn about $10 million - plus backend for writing, producing, and directing. That's about $50 million for the major talent alone. The cost was also high because of the time Brooks devoted to production and postproduction and his decision to reshoot the beginning and end of the movie. His working style is very slow and meticulous.

Reese says it paid off and audiences will definitely relate to this one. She says a lot of people can relate to going on a terrible blind date and just being at crossroads in your life, trying to make big decisions.

Owen Wilson says James L. Books is one of the greatest TV comedy-director-producer-writers with the Mary Tyler More story and Taxi. He says that when he laughs, it’s infectious. He says you can judge a man by his laugh, and he thinks it his definitely the case with Brooks. He has one of the all time great laughs. Even Paul Rudd agrees! He would laugh even during shooting. At first it distracted the actors, but then it encouraged and made them perform better because it was instant feedback.

MOVIE NEWS:
TRON LEGACY

Tron: Legacy starring Jeff Bridges is Disney's sequel to the 1982 sci-fi fantasy was #1 at the boxoffice its opening weekend and it stood out because it stars and returned Jeff to the role. Tron cost $200 million to make and $17 million to make the first. Jeff says coming back to it 28 years later was a big thrill. The original writer and director, was on board for the two. It used the latest stereoscopic technology with advanced photorealistic computer animation and live action.

Jeff is playing both a father and a son that reunite. Advanced technology and lots of make-up was used to make him look 30 years younger for one of the roles. He is the first actor in cinematic history to play opposite a younger version of himself. If the technology catches on, age boundaries in acting just might disappear!

Jeff says the movie is a nostalgic return for adults today who watched the original as children.

Disney took measures to boost female interest in the two weeks leading up to the release while Narnia Voyage of the Dawn Treader displayed an even appeal in all four quadrants.

DOCUMENTARY:
CLIENT 9: THE RISE AND FALL OF ELIOT SPITZER

Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, about his resignation after the prostitution scandal in ’08, this film is a character-based drama about the disgraced governor. Unbelievable he has been given a CNN show, absurd! But the movie is good as it features real life characters we know, but reveals conspiracies we had no idea about. Hank Greenberg, ex-CEO of AIG is in the movie and Eliot Spitzer himself is also interviewed.

Academy Award nominee Alex Gibney, one of the best out there, directs it today. He is the one behind the famed documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.

It is a very different movie for Gibney. It is done in a very different style than his other rags-to-riches-then-back films like Casino Jack and the United States of Money. Gibney narrates the documentary himself.

TOP 10:
MOST PIRATED MOVIES & TV SHOWS

Here are the top 10 trendsetting movies that are the most pirated movies online right now. What are people so desperate to see? The number one film being snitched is going to shock you: Despicable Me! Let’s hope the kids aren’t doing this.

Here’s the full list:

1. Despicable Me
2. Inception
3. Easy A
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
5. The Sorcerer's Apprentice
6. The Social Network
7. Takers
8. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
9. Dinner for Schmucks
10. Shrek Forever After

TV is a victim of piracy too. The top 10 pirated TV shows are:

1. Gossip Girl
2. The Event
3. Dexter
4. Beverly Hills 90210
5. Lie to Me
6. The Walking Dead
7. Boardwalk Empire
8. Lost Girl
9. True Blood

CASTING TREND:
ROLES HARD TO COME BY FOR SOME

Many actors and actresses have to take lesser roles these days. Their number is up, they aged and they aren’t the “it” people anymore. Billy Bob Thornton is one of those Hollywood actors who feels affected by this trend. He'd been away from movies for two years when touring with his band. He realized that the quality of movies he was offered before he left was a lot better than now, just two years later. He says "They sent me over the scripts that are available and they're just horrible. I realize that in two short years movies have gone from movies about people and real situations to nothing but fantasy movies and teenage vampires and 3D...like the lead character is an eagle!" Two years ago he considered himself a movie star guy, now he feels he's settling for smaller roles. Billy Bob’s latest movie is Faster in the co-starring role with Dwayne Johnson.

ANN’S PICK:
THE COMPANY MEN

Now turning to movie news.

The Company Men starring Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones as white collar workers over 50 is definitely worth catching.

They play three corporate guys trying to come to terms with widespread downsizing at their company. If you can relate to guys having to give up their private jets, then you will relate. Hollywood has found the theme of the recession to be popular. Up in the Air with George Clooney showed us that we might find these movies kind of therapeutic because they hit close to real life.

It’s written and directed by Emmy-award winning veteran writer-producer-director John Wells. He is known best for his TV on ER and The West Wing. He does a good job showing us how bleak it can be while still keeping some love and a sense of humor. This is his big screen directorial debut. There’s great acting in this. The guys, as expected, are all solid. They do what they do best so it’s worth going just to see them. It's really depressing to hear of more people being laid off since the recession covered that, but watching them act and interact is the best part.

BEHIND THE SCENES:
'LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS'

Now turning to movie news and ‘Love and Other Drugs’ starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. Have you seen it yet? She is good in this one and has really turned into a great actress.

It has an interesting backstory. It's based on the book Hard Sell a tell-all from a former Pfizer top Viagra salesman.When seeing the R-rating, Pfizer’s PR department was worried, thinking that the movie revealed the sleazy side of the drug sales industry that was so detailed in the book.

They were relieved to see the R-rating pertained to the sexual content and nude scenes - not the truth behind Viagra!

Director Ed Zwick who did Blood Diamond and The Last Samurai's goal with this one was to make a sophisticated romantic comedy. He didn’t want to dumb it down like most of the other ones. He wanted to show the complexity and seriousness of two people in love.It's racy and shows a lot more nudity than most romantic comedies. Jake described working as “a nude fest on set”. Zwick defends the nudity. They determined that the scenes in the movie had a purpose. Every scene was a narrative that added to the story – the relationship would grow or change with each. He says the two stars were both committed to authenticity and totally got his approach to work. Whether someone was clothed or unclothed was based on whether it was of service to the scene.

JIM CARREY’S LATEST:
I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS

Jim Carrey's latest I Love You Phillip Morris is a comedy co-starring Ewan McGregor about a con artist who falls in love with his cellmate.

The movie was to be released originally in April of last year, but numerous delays pushed it. It had its debut at Sundance in 2009. It got great reviews so why would a film with significant media attention and an A-list cast be shelved? Some suspect it's the gay-themes in the movie. Homosexuality is very prevalent throughout the whole film.

Money may also have been a culprit and a lawsuit didn’t help. Finally it got a North American distributor and they were able to movie forward.

MOVIE TREND:
DINING IN THEATER

Now turning to a new movie trend in the US: Dining while watching a movie – in the theater!

More and more cinemas are offering this service.

This is a whole new spin on the typical dinner and a movie date.

These new theaters combine restaurant cuisine and cocktails, with the immersive movie-going experience.

When I say a meal, I’m not talking chicken fingers and hamburgers. I’m talking cuisine: Bleu Cheese Chips, Blackened Salmon, and Lobster Ravioli with desserts like Chocolate Loving Spoon Cake.

There are even full-service bar and lounge areas inside which features all types of beer, wine and cocktails.

MOVIE PROMOTION TREND:
POP UP SHOPS

A new trend that Hollywood is now turning to: Pop up shops.



It’s the latest trend right to get people talking about a movie.

These are temporary shops that open up to create buzz, selling merchandise linked to the movie.

Disney is following the trend to promote TRON: Legacy with their Disney Tron Pop-up Shop.

It’s open for six weeks, selling merchandise like clothing, jewelry, collectibles, music and art and there will be a café available for shoppers with a TRON themed menu.

The pop up shop opens December 17.

The movie is released the same day.

MOVIE TREND:
INDIAN INVASION

Now turning to a new movie trend these days: Films opening overseas before the U.S. or Canada


Fox Star Studios India will release The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader on December 10 in India, a week ahead of its U.S. release.

This makes it the second Hollywood film (after James Bond Quantum of Solace in 2008) to open in India first.

In India they are going all out for it. It is the biggest release for a Hollywood film to date.

There will be over 800 prints including dubbed versions in Hindi and regional languages.

Narnia films feature in the top five Hollywood franchises released in India.

The Chronicles of Narnia books have sold over 150,000 copies in India, along with over 100,000 DVD units, with the first release The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe becoming the top-selling DVD of 2006.

MOVIE TREND:
CANADIAN PRODUCERS RECRUITING HOLLYWOOD

Hollywood - now even Canadian producers are going there in search of a name that will get them noticed.

New trend: Canadian producers now hiring Hollywood stars more than ever before to boost visibility of their film.

It is crisis-era in the film business and Canadian producers are finding it harder and harder to sell their projects. By bringing in American and other foreign actors, it gives them an easier time to secure enough financing to take off and avoid box office failure.

It's truly a reality. Without a big name we won’t get out of our studios to do a junket, see a film or even watch your screener. Canadian names just don’t cut it unless they have moved to the US and made it big in America. Only then will they be given a look. What is with us? Why do we always do that?

Jessica Biel is one of those actresses being recruited. She has been recruited for the movie The Tall Man, which marks French director Pascal Laugier's English-language debut. It is currently being shot in northern British Columbia. It has Biel as a mother who tracks a mysterious figure that has kidnapped her child.

Other Canadian movies following the trend:

- Daydream Nation which stars Kat Sennings and Andie McDowell
- The Whistle Blower a political thriller starring Rachel Weisz and Vanessa Redgrave
- A Beginner’s Guide to Endings starring Harvey Keitel and Scott Caan
- Wrecked starring Adrien Brody.

HOT THEME IN HOLLYWOOD:
WIZARD OF OZ

Big trend alert this week: The Wizard of Oz is hot again.

Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis may do a remake as his next project. Warner Bros. wants him to put together a live action feature based on the original script. By the way, that script actually had 19 writers, including actor Bert Lahr, who played the cowardly lion.

Glee star Lea Michele is headlining Dorothy of Oz, an animated 3-D film also starring Kristin Chenoweth, Kelsey Grammer, Martin Short and Hugh Dancy due out in 2012.

There's also director Sam Raimi who is set to take on Disney’s Oz: The Great and Powerful - a 3-D tale about the Wizard of Oz before he was the Wizard of Oz! Robert Downey Jr. is in talks for the leading role.

CASTING NEWS:
INSIDE LEONARDO DICAPRIO’S KENNEDY FILM

We're hearing more about Leonardo DiCaprio and the film about Jofn F. Kennedy - he will star in the film about the conspiracy theories behind his murder. We know that Leo will be producing and starring as an FBI informant and that Warner Bros. Film to be released in 2013.

DiCaprio will play Jack Van Laningham, an FBI informant who obtains Mafia godfather Carlos Marcello’s confession for ordering JFK’s assassination. It is based on the book Legacy of Secrecy.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s father, George DiCaprio, brought the book to his son’s attention and will be producing with him.

The director of the film still remains a mystery. It has been a bit of a guessing game. The press release says “an acclaimed director who has previously worked with Leonardo has expressed interest"

MOVIE TREND:
RE-RELEASING AND RE-TREADS

Now turning to the big trend: Re-Releasing.

We are now getting re-releases of stuff we don’t even want re-released!

James Cameron has now said he officially will not be working on Cleopatra in 3D. He’s too busy with his Avatar follow-ups, two sequels for Fox scheduled for release in late 2014 and 2015.

He won't be directing other features for the next three or four years.

However, there are two other projects he will be producing:
Guillermo del Toro's At the Mountains of Madness for Universal and a remake of Fantastic Voyage.

Meantime the Avatar Special Edition Blu-ray is here in a few weeks.

It Includes 45 minutes of never-before-seen additional footage which is 36 more than in the August re-release of the DVD. This time you will get more behind the scenes, deleted scenes, documentaries and artwork.

It also includes bonus special features for the first time. The movie is presented in 2D on the disks. 3D Blu-Ray will be out next year.

Titanic is also being re-released in theaters in 3D!

You will now be able to feel yourself swallowing the water and the wind on your back as king of the world.

April 15th 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking.

The conversion work to 3D format is quite the job, and quite the bill as well. It is expected to cost $10 million - $15 million.

The 3D version of the movie will eventually hit Blu-ray.

Also, there's news that George Lucas is set to release 3D conversions of Starwars in 2012. They were waiting until enough 3D screens made it worth the while. The first one will be The Phantom Menace. The rest will be released at the same time in consecutive years, depending on how well the re-releases do.

Each conversion takes at least a year to complete.

MOVIE TREND:
REMAKES OF THE OLD

Now turning to remakes from Top Gun to Risky Business.

Some huge films are being tackled.

Top Gun, isn’t that a blast from the past?

I hear the new Top Gun won’t be a remake but a reinvention.

Director Tony Scott says it will be about unmanned aerial vehicles or drones the air force currently uses. Tom Cruise will have a small role.

Director Ridley Scott is currently juggling eight projects including the Alien prequels. By the way, his brother director Tony Scott who just did Unstoppable isn't far behind.

Tony had signed on for a big screen version of comic series Nemesis. He also has Potsdamer Platz, Hell’s Angels, and The Associate to do. Top Gun 2 is now in the works at Paramount but it may be a few years before we see it.

Meantime, I hear a script is going around for a Risky Business 2 but no studio is on board. This one would see Joel Goodsen grown up and happily married, until he meets his old flame.

Tom Cruise would be back for this one in the lead role all grown up now.

Over at FOX, David Duchovny says a third installment of an X-Files big screen movie is now being written. They’re pretty much just waiting on a go-ahead from the studio. The second movie only made about seven million but fans want another.

HOT NEW WEBSITE:
IMADEAMOVIE.COM

Now turning to a hot new website for movie enthusiasts.

Imadeamovie.com is a web based movie studio that finances full-length micro-budget films. It allows anyone to experience the thrill of movie making first hand - whether you’ve got a script or just want to be someone who finances and then gets an on screen producer’s credit.

The website works with memberships. Members can vote on casting, script changes, auditions for roles, and music for soundtracks. The best part is it gives small independent film-makers new sources of financing for their projects.

Membership is free for those who want to comment on auditions and music.

A $49.95 membership will give you the title of “Associate Producer” for any of the available film projects.

The website was launched in April.

It has had 500,000 unique visitors and membership has doubled.

IMAX UPDATE:
IMPROVED

IMAX theaters are improving their surround sound like never before - something called the nXos Calibrator which is an equalizer that digitally tunes and monitors audio systems. The nXos is way better than the equalization we've been hearing more realistic and immersive movie-going experience.

Not only is it a benefit to you, it also helps those who operate the IMAX theaters. Before the nXos Calibroator, screening an IMAX movie was a much more complicated process. The technology provides the IMAX technicians with remote monitoring. This allows them to know on a day-to-day basis the status of the audio systems, which means corrections are applied instantly when changes in calibration are detected.

MOVIE NEWS:
SPEILBERG’S ‘ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN’

This Christmas at the box office get ready for not one but two Steve Speilberg films.

World War I drama War Horse and The Adventures of Tin Tin: The Secret of the Unicorn, both directed by Spielberg, will hit movie theatres December 28, 2010 and battle it out. War Horse will star David Thewlis and Emily Watson. Studio bosses at Dreamworks have pushed it back after screening footage in London last week.

Dreamworks CEO Stacey Snider says "The reaction to the footage – which (Spielberg) never usually shows - was that it feels like a big, holiday movie."

MOVIE TREND:
CASTING MULTIPLE BIG NAME A-LISTERS

There's a trend in Hollywood today that has studios using multiple huge name actors.

After the success of The Expendables which has grossed $248 million worldwide, an action movie with a cast of older celebrities is the hot thing now.

RED stars Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovitch, Ernest Borgnine and Helen Mirren and the buzz around Hollywood is whether Warner Brothers will regret passing on the DC Comics movie. The first film from sister company DC Comics that Warner Brothers did didn't grab.

Summit Entertainment ended up taking RED after Dreamworks passed, Paramount passed, Sony passed, Universal passed and Warner Brothers passed again!

Summit took it five months before it made a name for itself with a little film called Twilight. Summit in fact, showed it to Warners, hoping it might partner with it because Summit was looking for a studio to help out with the cost.

If you haven't seen it yet, RED is action packed ridiculous-ness but the actors are the mark. There's lots of gratuitous violence much comes form Helen Mirren’s gun handling.

RED cost $58 million to produce. It's turned into a kind of action-oriented Ocean's Eleven.

HANGOVER 2:
MOST ANTICIPATED SEQUEL

A survey was done and it asked which recent movie respondents wanted to see a sequel to.

The top choice was The Hangover starring Bradley Cooper with 37% of the votes. I agree, the chemistry with the actors on and off screen was memorable.

They are truly reinventing the buddy comedy with this one. Bradley explains what makes it different is that from the start, you don’t think it’s a buddy comedy - you think it’s a mystery detective story. Through that, you get to know about these three guys in this very crazy situation.

Writer/director Todd Phillips wants Tiger Woods in the sequel to help him regain his image.

The second choice for a remake among those surveyed was G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra and the alien film District 9 came in third pick.

THEATER TREND:
GREEN

There is a new trend in with theaters these days.

Many theaters are now making the movie-going experience a great, green adventure.


They are using buttery popcorn in eco-friendly bags, recycled 3-D glasses and buildings topped with solar panels. They are using solar panels to save energy - resulting in lower energy bills - and using recycled building materials for new theaters and existing facilities that are under renovation. Environmentally conscious theater construction and design are growing trends.

CASTING NEWS:
DE NIRO PLAYS LOMBARDI

Robert De Niro is going to play legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi in a biopic being developed by ESPN Films, Andell Entertainment and the NFL.


Titled Lombardi, the project is being written by Forrest Gump writer Eric Roth.

The film will focus on the years that Lombardi rebuilt the Packers into a powerhouse, and five-time champions, between 1959-67.

It will be released January 2012, between the AFC and NFC conference championship games and the Super Bowl.
Roth, who recently wrote The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, also penned the screenplay for De Niro’s 2006 drama The Good Shepherd.

FILM NEWS:
JAMIE FOXX PRODUCTION COMPANY

Now turning to the trends that have stars starting up their own production companies. The latest is Jamie Foxx setting up a second one. He has joined forces with writer-director-producer Deon Taylor to launch a production company called No Brainer Films.

It's Los Angeles-based and will focus on developing, financing, writing, directing and producing mainstream films and TV series budgeted at under $10 million.

First up from No Brainer is the TV series Tommy's Little Girl, created by Foxx, who is co-writing and co-directing with Taylor. They plan to sell to cable networks. It’s a mob drama starring Selma Blair, and Paul Sorvino.

Foxx and Taylor will continue to run their individual production companies, Foxx-King Entertainment and Deon Taylor Enterprises, which produce larger-budgeted projects.

Foxx's next appearance is in November in the Warner Bros. comedy Due Date opposite Robert Downey Jr.

BRUCE WILLIS:
‘UNBREAKABLE’ SEQUEL

Now turning to movie news.

Bruce Willis will reteam with horror director M. Night Shyamalan and make a sequel to 2000 thriller ‘Unbreakable’ about a man who discovers he has superpowers. They also did the ‘6th Sense’ together.

‘Unbreakable’ was originally written as the first film of a trilogy – Willis and the director are considering making part two of their next project now.

That whole story was written in three parts and Shyamalan just chose to shoot the origin story first where the two characters find out they have superpowers.

JAMES CAMERON BLACK EYED PEAS:
3D MOVIE


James Cameron is quite the busy guy. He's trying to help fight the oil spill, expanding 3D entertainment to new heights and now he's going to be working with Black Eyed Peas and creating a 3D big screen movie about their world music tour.

Group member Will.i.am told Vibe Magazine: "We have the biggest director because we are the biggest group on the planet."

Black Eyed Peas have sold more than 35 million albums worldwide. The group has toured from America and Europe, to the Middle East, South America, Asia and Africa - this movie will bring it all to us.

James Cameron will be showing us everything, onstage, behind stage and how they handle the pressures of world touring.

Cameron is not the first established director to make a concert film. Martin Scorsese released his Rolling Stones documentary, 'Shine a Light', last year with positive reviews.

NEW BIOPIC:
BARBARA WALTERS


Now turning to a new TV movie.

Barbara Walters, is negotiating with TV executives at HBO to adapt her best-selling memoir, 'Audition', about her 50-year career in journalism into a made-for-TV-movie. In her memoir, the veteran newswoman speaks candidly about breaking the glass ceiling for female anchors at NBC and later ABC, her failures as a mother to a troubled teen daughter, and her secret interracial affair with married Sen. Edward Brooke in the 1970s.

Her representative Cindi Berger has confirmed there is a lot of interest to develop the biopic, but declined to discuss which networks had made serious offers.

Walters, 80, underwent heart surgery to replace a faulty valve in May. On July 12, She made an appearance via video link on her hit ABC network show 'The View' to assure her fans she is fully recovered from the procedure. She will make a full return to the program in September.

FILM NEWS:
YOU TUBE MOVIE


YouTube is getting 'Life In A Day,' a historic global experiment to create a user-generated feature-length documentary film, shot by people around the world in a single day.

People were asked to record your daily lives on July 24th and upload the scenes to YouTube. It is a unique experiment in social filmmaking.

The videos will then be edited into a documentary entitled 'Life in A Day,' which will be produced by Ridley Scott, world-renowned producer of Gladiator and Black Hawk Down.

'Life in a Day' is a time capsule that will tell future generations what it was like to be alive on July 24, 2010.

It will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

It hopes to open people's eyes to the possibilities of user-generated film.

Those whose clips are chosen will receive a co-director credit and will be flown to Salt Lake City for the Sundance premiere.

ANGELINA JOLIE:
ACTION STAR


Not only is she getting the biggest salary in Hollywood, Angelina Jolie is breaking down gender barriers when it comes to action movies. No actress in Hollywood history has been able to ever take over the male-dominated genre of the action picture - not until Angelina Jolie that is, commanding 20 million dollars to play in the espionage thriller 'Salt.'

Today she's making what men make and more. This movie was originally written for Tom Cruise but he opted for 'Knight and Day' instead. Now, the unusual move of a female action star has been born. Hollywood doesn't consider Jolie a female action star - it considers her an action star. In the past 10 years, she has starred in five action films

Jolie's action films averaged $124 million in domestic grosses. Worldwide, those grosses totalled nearly $1.5 billion. 58% of Jolie's action grosses, on average, come from international audiences.

These figures are for her action roles alone – 'Wanted', 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith', the two 'Lara Croft Tomb Raider' movies, and 'Gone in 60 Seconds'.

Sony already has Brad Pitt's and her next projects: 'Moneyball' and 'The Tourist.'

'The Tourist,' which stars Johnny Depp and her as a femme fatale, opens in February.

Angelina is now considering playing 'Cleopatra' for Sony.

MOVIE TREND: BOXOFFICE TRADING ON STOCKMARKET


Movies are taking on a whole new twist. Not only can you watch the movies, you can now BET on the opening weekend tallies.

The first futures contract based on movie box office results will begin trading this summer. The U.S Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved a request by the Trend Exchange to offer futures contracts and options.

The contracts would begin trading four weeks before a movie opened - and end trading on opening weekend.

The first movie to get the green light: Takers, the crime film starring Matt Dillon, Chris Brown, Paul Walker and Hayden Christensen.

Takers opens August 20, which means trading begins the last week of July.

MOVIE DEALS:
CHANGE IN PAY FOR CELEBS


When it comes to how Hollywood celebrities get paid these days, there is a trend that continues.

There was a time, not too long ago, when actors like Will Smith, Denzel Washington, and Brad Pitt could earn a $20 million advance, plus 20% of the studio's half of box-office grosses.

The days of movie stars getting such 20/20 deals are over.

Now actors are being asked to become profit participants who earn money if the movie is a big hit. These deals are known as 'cash break zero.'

'Cash break zero' is the point where the studio has recouped production costs, which does not include distribution fees. This means actors are starting to get a participation share at cash break zero and only the highest-level talent are getting that deal.

Ultimately, it means the actor doesn't get back-end pay until the studio makes back its production costs.

MOVIE TRAILERS:
AT ULTIMATE HIGH


Are you noticing there are more and more trailers before a movie begins? Well, there's a reason... theater operators are often being paid to play extra trailers. Trailer numbers have surged in the past decade from two to four per film to a current five to seven, with an additional number of 30-second teaser trailers often tossed in as well. MPAA guidelines set a maximum length of 2 1/2 minutes per trailer, but don't address the number presented by individual studios. Get ready because soon, the new revenue streams may spread to theater lobbies.

NEW MOVIE:
FBI DIRECTOR J. EDGAR HOOVER


Ok, now here's another that has Oscar all over it. Clint Eastwood is teaming with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard's Imagine Films for his next directing project, a biopic of controversial FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935 and remained its director until his death in 1972. During his tenure, he employed the FBI to harass political activists and used illegal methods to make secret files on leaders.

FOX: TURNS TO TAPED AUDITIONS

Fox Network has a new way to audition actors for pilots. It's shifting to taped auditions instead of actors being there in person. The network has announced that it is phasing out in-person tests, in which finalists auditions for each role for network executives. Now, after passing live tests, performances are being filmed and sent to the network for judging. The upside is that there will be no long lines of actors in hallways. It also gives actors a chance to get it right, as they can record it many times, and now just send in the best one, whereas in live auditions, actors have one shot. The downside is that agents and managers never know when executives will be watching the tapes, therefore they don't get answers anymore on the spot.

YOU TUBE: STUDIO MOVIES NOW AVAILABLE

One of the biggest trendsetters in the world today is You Tube, the truly revolutionary video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. The new trend now is for Hollywood movie studios to use You Tube. Recently you tube reached an agreement with MGM, Lions Gate Entertainment and CBS which will allow the companies to post full-length films and television shows on the site, accompanied by advertisements. The move is intended to create competition with websites such as Hulu, which features material from both NBC and Fox. As you many know, ingenious YouTube was created in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees. In November 2006, it was bought by Google for $1.65 billion, and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google.

MOVIE MARRIAGES


Movie marriages....Actor/director combos are a hot trend in Hollywood these days. Big stars keep working with big directors. Russell Crowe is in every movie that Ridley Scott directs these days.

He did A Good Year with him...American Gangster and Body of Lies and the two are at it again - Scott is doing Nottingham with Russell, his adaptation of the Robin Hood legend. As for Leonardo DiCaprio...his guy is Martin Scorsese as you know. He's now doing his 4th film with Martin - 'Shutter Island' coming out next year. Scorsese had done 8 movies with Robert DeNiro.

They are doing one more - based on true mob story called "I heard You Paint Houses" and DiCaprio is doing two more with Martin...The Wolf of Wall Street" and "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt."and director Judd Apatow and Seth Rogan...they have done Freaks and Geeks, 40 year Old Virgin and next summer's "Funny People."

TV STATS: UNHAPPY PEOPLE WATCH MORE

Ok I've got some new stats to tell you about....How much do you like watching TV?

New research shows that unhappy people watch more TV while those who are happy - spend more time reading and socializing. The University of Maryland analyzed 34 years of data collected from more than 45 thousand participants and found that watching TV might make you feel good in the short term but is more likely to lead to overall unhappiness. Unhappy people watch more than 30 per cent more TV than happy folks. TV is not judgmental or difficult, so people with few social skills or resources for other activities can engage in it.....Even the unhappiest people can click a remote and be passively entertained....and...Unhappy 'married couples' also watch more TV...meantime - the worsening of the economy is said to be good for TV producers as more people will likely watch more in these tough times.

TV TRENDS:
THE SCIENCE AND ENTERTAINMENT EXCHANGE


Since science and technology have become staples of TV these days - the bar has been raised for better and more accurate science. Forensic investigation and medical shows such as CSI, House, and ER routinely incorporate cutting-edge science into their scripts. Get ready for better TV crime shows...

The National Academy of Sciences just announced the creation of "The Science and Entertainment Exchange," an initiative designed to connect entertainment industry professionals with top scientists and engineers to help the creators of television shows, films, video games, and other productions incorporate science into their work. The Exchange represents the Academy's first formal effort to reach out to the entertainment community and provide the creative minds of Hollywood with a direct connection to the creative minds of science. "Television and film" involve the public in the latest advances in science, medicine, and technology." Relying on the special connections - the Exchange can make introductions, schedule briefings, and arrange for consultations for anyone developing science-based entertainment content. The plan is endorsed by the Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America, Producers Guild of America, the Entertainment Industry Foundation, and Women in Film.

It's being promoted to all levels of writers, directors, producers, and others in the entertainment industry. Professionals involved in the creative process may contact the Exchange to be connected with scientists, engineers, health professionals, and other experts for help with their productions and stories. Movies like Children of Men, Mission Impossible, Déjà Vu, and A Beautiful Mind enlisted some aspect of science and technology to help tell their stories, while Iron Man, Minority Report, and the Star Trek series depend very heavily on a foundation of science.