By Borys Kit
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire got out of a rabbit hole, only to be ensnared by a spider's web.
Lindsay-Abaire, who won a Pulitzer in 2007 for his drama "Rabbit Hole," is in final negotiations to write "Spider-Man 4" for Columbia.
... Lindsay-Abaire has said in interviews that his plays tend to be "peopled with outsiders in search of clarity," which would put his work on sympathetic terms with Peter Parker, who in his classic incarnation is the perpetual outsider.
The choice of scribe also signals that that filmmakers are intent to focus on character, something that critics said got lost in the third installment.
Lindsay-Abaire, now writing the book and lyrics for the Broadway musical adaptation of "Shrek," has dipped his toe in Tinseltown before, with his adaptation of "Inkheart" due in January. He is also adapting "Rabbit" for 20th Century Fox and Nicole Kidman.
Click link for full article.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
MTV strikes deal to use Beatles songs in video game
By Michelle Nichols
NEW YORK (Reuters) - MTV Networks announced on Thursday a deal to use songs by The Beatles in a custom video game similar to its popular "Rock Band" video, marking the groundbreaking band's first major plunge into digital music.
There is no set release date or sale price for the game, but it is due to be ready for a worldwide release in about a year, said MTV Networks and The Beatles' Apple, which handles the affairs of the group that broke up in 1970 after revolutionizing rock and roll in the 1960s.
The companies released few details about the game -- which will be a custom video and not a "Rock Band" brand game -- saying it is still in development. They would only say that it will be an "interactive music making game."
Click link for full article.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - MTV Networks announced on Thursday a deal to use songs by The Beatles in a custom video game similar to its popular "Rock Band" video, marking the groundbreaking band's first major plunge into digital music.
There is no set release date or sale price for the game, but it is due to be ready for a worldwide release in about a year, said MTV Networks and The Beatles' Apple, which handles the affairs of the group that broke up in 1970 after revolutionizing rock and roll in the 1960s.
The companies released few details about the game -- which will be a custom video and not a "Rock Band" brand game -- saying it is still in development. They would only say that it will be an "interactive music making game."
Click link for full article.
Gary Oldman joins Washington in "Book of Eli"
By Borys Kit
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Gary Oldman is in negotiations to star opposite Denzel Washington in "The Book of Eli," an action thriller that returns the British actor to his more villainous side.
It centers on a lone hero named Eli (Washington) who must fight his way across the wasteland of a near-future America to protect a sacred book that might hold the key to saving the future of humanity.
Oldman will play Carnegie, the despot of a small makeshift town deficient of standard necessities, services, and most noticeably, laws. Carnegie is determined to take possession of the book Eli is guarding.
Click link for full article.
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Gary Oldman is in negotiations to star opposite Denzel Washington in "The Book of Eli," an action thriller that returns the British actor to his more villainous side.
It centers on a lone hero named Eli (Washington) who must fight his way across the wasteland of a near-future America to protect a sacred book that might hold the key to saving the future of humanity.
Oldman will play Carnegie, the despot of a small makeshift town deficient of standard necessities, services, and most noticeably, laws. Carnegie is determined to take possession of the book Eli is guarding.
Click link for full article.
Samuel L. Jackson riding "Last Dragon" remake
OH WHY, OH WHY?!!
By Leslie Simmons
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Samuel L. Jackson is taking on another heavy role.
Having most recently played a dirty cop in "Lakeview Terrace," Jackson is set to star as a bad guy again in a remake of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy's 1985 cult classic "The Last Dragon."
Jackson will play Sho'Nuff, the Shogun of Harlem, a role played in the original by the late Julius Carry, whose spiel included asking ego-driven questions like "Am I the baddest mofo lowdown around this town?" Each time his gang of thugs answered, "Sho'Nuff!"
Click link for full article.
By Leslie Simmons
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Samuel L. Jackson is taking on another heavy role.
Having most recently played a dirty cop in "Lakeview Terrace," Jackson is set to star as a bad guy again in a remake of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy's 1985 cult classic "The Last Dragon."
Jackson will play Sho'Nuff, the Shogun of Harlem, a role played in the original by the late Julius Carry, whose spiel included asking ego-driven questions like "Am I the baddest mofo lowdown around this town?" Each time his gang of thugs answered, "Sho'Nuff!"
Click link for full article.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Downey, Favreau sign on for "Avengers" at Marvel
By Borys Kit
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Iron Man" duo Robert Downey Jr. and director Jon Favreau will reunite for "The Avengers," Marvel Studios' film about its team of superheroes.
Don Cheadle, whose deal to replace Terrence Howard in the "Iron Man" movies has been finalized, also has signed to perform in the action movie. It is set for release in 2011.
Downey has signed a four-picture deal with Marvel Studios, which will see him reprise the character of Tony Stark not only for "Iron Man 2" and "Iron Man 3," but also for the "Avengers" movie. (The deal retroactively includes the first "Iron Man," which grossed $580 million at the worldwide box office this year.)
Click link for full article.
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Iron Man" duo Robert Downey Jr. and director Jon Favreau will reunite for "The Avengers," Marvel Studios' film about its team of superheroes.
Don Cheadle, whose deal to replace Terrence Howard in the "Iron Man" movies has been finalized, also has signed to perform in the action movie. It is set for release in 2011.
Downey has signed a four-picture deal with Marvel Studios, which will see him reprise the character of Tony Stark not only for "Iron Man 2" and "Iron Man 3," but also for the "Avengers" movie. (The deal retroactively includes the first "Iron Man," which grossed $580 million at the worldwide box office this year.)
Click link for full article.
Monday, October 27, 2008
New cartoon "Coraline" fuses stop-motion, 3-D
By Carolyn Giardina
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Director Henry Selick describes his upcoming "Coraline" as a marriage of "old-fashioned" stop-motion animation with the latest 3-D techniques.
During a footage presentation Friday, roughly 20 minutes of Focus Features' "Coraline" -- the first stop-motion animated film to be produced in stereoscopic 3-D -- was shown. It was mostly finished, though it did include some temp music.
"Coraline" is an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's best seller, which follows a young girl who walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. The film opens wide on February 6.
The clips shown Friday include the sequence where Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning) discovers and enters the alternate world. In that environment, Coraline encounters the "Other Mother" (Teri Hatcher), who tries to keep her from going home, as well as a variety of characters who perform circus-style acts. In another scene, the girls run from the home, but as Coraline distances herself, the colors and setting seems to wash away.
The clips demonstrated how Selick -- shooting his first stop-motion feature since 1993's "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" -- uses the 3-D format as part of the storytelling. For instance, the sequence in Coraline's real world is fairly shallow, while the director brings greater depth to the alternate environment.
"I love how 3-D captures the essence of stop motion," he said.
"Coraline" is being produced in Portland, Ore., at Laika Entertainment, the Phil Knight-owned facility that encompasses the former Vinton Studios.
Selick's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" has been remastered in stereoscopic 3-D and was rereleased in the format in fall 2006, last year an again this year.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
This is a great children's book which I highly recommend.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Director McG is "Spy" guy for action franchise
By Borys Kit
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Warner Bros. has acquired "Dead Spy Running," an upcoming spy novel by British author Jon Stock, for "Charlie's Angels" director Joseph "McG" Nichol. The project is envisaged as a potential franchise.
Story details are under wraps, but the book, the first in a trilogy, aims to reinvent the spy genre telling the origin story of newly trained spy in a tone that mixes "The Bourne Identity" with the works of John Le Carre. "Running" sold to a HarperCollins imprint in a bidding war and will be published in 2009.
Click link for full article.
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Warner Bros. has acquired "Dead Spy Running," an upcoming spy novel by British author Jon Stock, for "Charlie's Angels" director Joseph "McG" Nichol. The project is envisaged as a potential franchise.
Story details are under wraps, but the book, the first in a trilogy, aims to reinvent the spy genre telling the origin story of newly trained spy in a tone that mixes "The Bourne Identity" with the works of John Le Carre. "Running" sold to a HarperCollins imprint in a bidding war and will be published in 2009.
Click link for full article.
Crispin Glover joins "Alice in Wonderland"
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Crispin Glover has signed on to play the Knave of Hearts in Tim Burton's adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland" for Disney.
Glover joins Mia Wasikowska as Alice and a cast that includes Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter. His character is put on trial for stealing the Queen of Hearts' tarts, and is defended by Alice.
Burton is using a combination of live action and performance-capture technology to tell the Lewis Carroll story. Glover worked in the medium for the 2007 release "Beowulf."
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
Glover joins Mia Wasikowska as Alice and a cast that includes Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter. His character is put on trial for stealing the Queen of Hearts' tarts, and is defended by Alice.
Burton is using a combination of live action and performance-capture technology to tell the Lewis Carroll story. Glover worked in the medium for the 2007 release "Beowulf."
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
The Happening
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Wikipedia: "In New York City, people inexplicably begin committing mass suicide. First they become disoriented, followed by resorting to the most convenient way to kill themselves. Initially believed to be a bioterrorist attack, the pandemic quickly spreads across the northeastern United States."
Although the film seems to drag half the time, the overall story concept is very intriguing. What if our abuse of the environment forces it to react ... against us. As one environmentalist character puts it, "the pandemic may have only been a warning, like "a rash preceding an infection."
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Speed Racer
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Bloody awful!! I think my five year old nephew even got bored with it.
Wikipedia: "Anthony Lane of The New Yorker said the film was "of no conceivable interest to anyone over the age of ten" and that the convoluted plot was "barely worth unpicking". Noting the "lollipop hues", Lane questioned how the film could still end up "bleached of fun", and concluded that the answer was with the theme first mooted by Wachowskis' in The Matrix that "all of us, whether we know it or not, are squirming under the thumb of dark controlling forces." In Speed Racer, Lane argues, this comes in the form of villain Royalton, who "vows to crush [Speed] with 'the unassailable might of money.'" Citing the Wachowskis' involvement in V for Vendetta (2005), Lane said Speed Racer was not as "criminally poor" as that film, but that it was "more insidious". He concluded: "There's something about the ululating crowds who line the action in color-coordinated rows; the desperate skirting of ordinary feelings in favor of the trumped-up variety; the confidence in technology as a spectacle in itself; and, above all, the sense of master manipulators posing as champions of the little people. What does that remind you of? You could call it entertainment, and use it to wow your children for a couple of hours. To me, it felt like Pop fascism, and I would keep them well away."[55]"
Iron Man on DVD
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Jacket: "Suit up for action with Robert Downey Jr. in the ultimate adventure movie you've been waiting for, Iron Man! When jet-setting genius-industrialist Tony Stark is captured in enemy territory, he builds a high-tech suit of armorto escape. Now, he's on a mission to save the world as a hero who's built, not born, to be unlike any other."
BUY IT, RENT IT, WHATEVER! This is one of the better comic book adaptations. Robert Downey Jr. gives a very entertaining portrayal of the anti-hero who is bound to make mistakes, but ultimately finds his way. I already look forward to the sequel. Oh, and be sure to watch the end of the credits for a bonus scene.
BUY IT, RENT IT, WHATEVER! This is one of the better comic book adaptations. Robert Downey Jr. gives a very entertaining portrayal of the anti-hero who is bound to make mistakes, but ultimately finds his way. I already look forward to the sequel. Oh, and be sure to watch the end of the credits for a bonus scene.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on DVD
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Jacket: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull finds Indy trying to outrace a brilliant and beautiful agent (Cate Blanchett) for the mystical, all-powerful crystal skull of Akator. Teaming up with a rebellious young biker (Shia LeBeouf) and his spirited original love Marion (Karen Allen), Indy takes you on an action-packed adventure in the exciting tradition of the classic Indiana Jones movies!"
A fun, hokey film for the kids or kids at heart. It follows the same formula as the previous three films, but I did not find it as engaging.
Wikipedia: "The mixed fanbase reaction did not surprise Lucas, who was familiar with mixed response to the Star Wars prequels. "We're all going to get people throwing tomatoes at us," the series' creator had predicted. "But it's a fun movie to make."[109] Some fans of the franchise who were disappointed with the film adopted the term "nuked the fridge", based on the scene in the film, to denote the point in a movie series when it has passed its peak and crossed into the level of the absurd, similar to "jumping the shark".
A fun, hokey film for the kids or kids at heart. It follows the same formula as the previous three films, but I did not find it as engaging.
Wikipedia: "The mixed fanbase reaction did not surprise Lucas, who was familiar with mixed response to the Star Wars prequels. "We're all going to get people throwing tomatoes at us," the series' creator had predicted. "But it's a fun movie to make."[109] Some fans of the franchise who were disappointed with the film adopted the term "nuked the fridge", based on the scene in the film, to denote the point in a movie series when it has passed its peak and crossed into the level of the absurd, similar to "jumping the shark".
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Books are shelter in financial storm, sellers say
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Burying your head in a book during the crisis buffeting world financial markets may be just what the doctor -- or the bookseller -- ordered, publishers argued on Wednesday at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
While luxuries are increasingly unaffordable, most people still have enough money to buy a book, and booksellers could even use the opportunity to stage a resurgence, said Fran Dubruille, director of the European Booksellers' Federation.
Click link for full article.
While luxuries are increasingly unaffordable, most people still have enough money to buy a book, and booksellers could even use the opportunity to stage a resurgence, said Fran Dubruille, director of the European Booksellers' Federation.
Click link for full article.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Rebel
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Wikipedia: "Vietnam in 1922 is under colonial French ruling, and anti-French rebellions by peasants have emerged all over the country. In response, the French have activated units of Vietnamese secret agents to track and destroy the rebels. One agent is Le Van Cuong. Although branded with a perfect track record, Cuong's inner conscience is troubled by the sea of Vietnamese blood he has spilled. Following an assassination of a high ranking French official, Cuong is assigned to seek and kill the notorious leader of the resistance. Cuong encounters Vo Thanh Thuy, a relentless revolutionary fighter and the daughter of the rebel leader. She is captured and imprisoned by Cuong's cruel superior, Sy. Cuong suspects that Sy knew about the attack on the French official before it happened, and could have prevented it. Suspicious, he warns Thuy that her organization has a mole, helps break her out of prison and becomes a fugitive himself. Her fiery patriotism inspires Cuong, and he develops feelings for the young woman as well. Meanwhile, Sy is tracking Cuong and Thuy, knowing the pair will lead him to Thuy's father."
The Rebel (Dòng Máu Anh Hùng in Vietnamese) is a 2007 Vietnamese martial arts film directed by Charlie Nguyen and starring Johnny Tri Nguyen and Dustin Nguyen.
This is definitely worth renting for the action scenes alone.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall - On DVD
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Quite funny and rental-worthy.
Wikipedia: "Matt Pais of the Chicago Tribune said it's "the kind of movie you could watch all day because, like a new flame, you can't get enough of its company and are just glad to see where it takes you."[7] Richard Roeper highly praised the film for its laugh-out-loud moments as well as its worthiness to be an instant classic and went as far as to say he would put it on his list of 50 favorite comedies of all time. [8]"
Click post title for link to official website.
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
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This was seriously a page-turner. Bella is finally getting everything she wanted, but is it worth the price? Jump into Breaking Dawn and follow Bella into the next phase of her eternal journey.
I really do enjoy discussing the series with friends, family and fellow aficionados. I'm always surprised by the range of readers it has attracted and I look forward to the film adaptation. I hope it lives up to the hype.
I really do enjoy discussing the series with friends, family and fellow aficionados. I'm always surprised by the range of readers it has attracted and I look forward to the film adaptation. I hope it lives up to the hype.
Official Website:
Click here to read Entertainment Weekly's exclusive preview of the first chapter of Breaking Dawn.
October 9, 2008: The final trailer for Twilight the movie is now available to view. You can watch the HD version at the MySpace.com Trailer Park or the regular version in the widget at TwilightTheMovie.com. Also, we added another new movie poster to the movie page. Enjoy the trailer.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Lost in Translation? A Swede’s Snub of U.S. Lit
Interesting article. Click link for full post.
By CHARLES McGRATH
Published: October 4, 2008
If you’re John Updike, Philip Roth, Don DeLillo or Joyce Carol Oates, you don’t have to worry about whether the phone bill has been paid. You won’t be getting the call from Stockholm next week.
On Tuesday, Horace Engdahl, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, the organization that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature, gave an interview to The Associated Press and, while not dropping hints about this year’s winner, seemed to rule out, pretty much, the chances of any American writer. “Europe is still the center of the literary world,” he said, not the United States, and he suggested that American writers were “too sensitive to trends in their own mass culture.” He added: “The U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don’t translate enough and don’t really participate in the big dialogue of literature. That ignorance is restraining.”
By CHARLES McGRATH
Published: October 4, 2008
If you’re John Updike, Philip Roth, Don DeLillo or Joyce Carol Oates, you don’t have to worry about whether the phone bill has been paid. You won’t be getting the call from Stockholm next week.
On Tuesday, Horace Engdahl, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, the organization that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature, gave an interview to The Associated Press and, while not dropping hints about this year’s winner, seemed to rule out, pretty much, the chances of any American writer. “Europe is still the center of the literary world,” he said, not the United States, and he suggested that American writers were “too sensitive to trends in their own mass culture.” He added: “The U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don’t translate enough and don’t really participate in the big dialogue of literature. That ignorance is restraining.”
Using Video Games as Bait to Hook Readers
By MOTOKO RICH
Published: October 5, 2008
CARLSBAD, Calif.— When PJ Haarsma wrote his first book, a science fiction novel for preteenagers, he didn’t think just about how to describe Orbis, the planetary system where the story takes place. He also thought about how it should look and feel in a video game.
The online game that Mr. Haarsma designed not only extends the fictional world of the novel, it also allows readers to play in it. At the same time, Mr. Haarsma very calculatedly gave gamers who might not otherwise pick up a book a clear incentive to read: one way that players advance is by answering questions with information from the novel.
“You can’t just make a book anymore,” said Mr. Haarsma, a former advertising consultant. Pairing a video game with a novel for young readers, he added, “brings the book into their world, as opposed to going the other way around.”
Click link to full article.
Published: October 5, 2008
CARLSBAD, Calif.— When PJ Haarsma wrote his first book, a science fiction novel for preteenagers, he didn’t think just about how to describe Orbis, the planetary system where the story takes place. He also thought about how it should look and feel in a video game.
The online game that Mr. Haarsma designed not only extends the fictional world of the novel, it also allows readers to play in it. At the same time, Mr. Haarsma very calculatedly gave gamers who might not otherwise pick up a book a clear incentive to read: one way that players advance is by answering questions with information from the novel.
“You can’t just make a book anymore,” said Mr. Haarsma, a former advertising consultant. Pairing a video game with a novel for young readers, he added, “brings the book into their world, as opposed to going the other way around.”
Click link to full article.
Dennings pals up to Harrelson for "Defendor"
By Gregg Kilday
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Kat Dennings, who stars in "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," which bowed in theaters this weekend, is in negotiations to join Woody Harrelson and Sandra Oh in "Defendor."
Written by Peter Stebbings, who also is making his directorial debut, the film centers on a regular guy (Harrelson) who believes he has a secret superhero identity. Dennings will play a teenager he befriends, while Oh is cast as his psychiatrist.
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Kat Dennings, who stars in "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," which bowed in theaters this weekend, is in negotiations to join Woody Harrelson and Sandra Oh in "Defendor."
Written by Peter Stebbings, who also is making his directorial debut, the film centers on a regular guy (Harrelson) who believes he has a secret superhero identity. Dennings will play a teenager he befriends, while Oh is cast as his psychiatrist.
Run Fatboy, Run
Jacket: "It's the London Marathon, and thousands of feet pound along the Thames Embankment. Two of those feet belong to out-of-shape, out-of-luck Dennis Doyle. He's running to gain the respect (and hopefully, the love) of Libby, the girl he left pregnant and heartbroken at the altar five years earlier. And running alongside Dennis is Libby's handsome, successful, self-confident and very fit new boyfriend.
Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead), Thandie Newton and Hank Azaria star in a runaway laughfest from debuting director David Schwimmer (Friends). Can Dennis win back what he lost by lacing up some hi-tech footwear? One thing's for sure: He's putting his heart and soles in the attempt."
You can never go wrong with Simon Pegg. You are always guaranteed some knee-slapping laughs wherever he's involved. (Especially the blister scene!)
Made of Honor
He's a maid of honor on a mission to prove he's the best man.
Jacket: "Tom loves his life, until he realizes he also loves his best friend Hannah. But when Hannah gets engaged to a dashing Scotsman and asks Tom to be her maid of honor, Tom faces hostile bridesmaids, bridal showers, and bad hair days, all in an effort to pull off the perfect wedding and steal the bride. He's a maid of honor with a plan."
NOW ON DVD.
This follows your typical romantic comedy formula. Think of it as an updated version of "My Best Friend's Wedding". Worth the rental.
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