As they'd appreciate it

Rhys Ifans and Joely Richardson spend some time. For starters evening only, the Tudors ruled again london within the March. 25 bow of "Anonymous." Speaking about whether Shakespeare did pen the entire shebang credited to his title, Rhys Ifans gave his take: "There's virtually no evidence to prove, to be able to qualify, that William Shakespeare of Stratford was the author of individuals plays." He found the final outcome that his character, the Earl of Oxford, "is definitely an very convincing candidate." "For me that you've a question mark," mentioned Joely Richardson, who plays Full Elizabeth I, pretending to ponder the issue. "The Oxfordians, the Baconians, the Stratfordians, lots of people say it absolutely was a girl, lots of people say it absolutely was this collaboration -- therefore i anticipate further analysis." Helmer Roland Emmerich grew to become an associate of his cast including Rafe Spall, David Thewlis and Jamie Campbell Bower for your festivities. Publish screening, site visitors ongoing with a whiskey-fueled afterparty within the May Fair Hotel. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Frederick Gordon-Levitt in talks for Django Unchained

If you have lately requested yourself if Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino's undertake the spaghetti western, might get any cooler, the odds are you'd have clarified yourself 'no'.Well prepare to revise that answer as news is available in that Frederick Gordon-Levitt is placed to become listed on the film, based on a study by Variety (through the Playlist).Gordon-Levitt is a in-demand actor at the moment. Cancer dramedy 50/50 continues to be generating him good notices, and also shooting The Dark Dark night Increases, he's courier-cyclist thriller Premium Hurry within the can.It's really a release date change of this film that may allow JGL to look in Django, as he'll reduce marketing responsibilities for early the coming year when Tarantino expects to shoot.And that is before he begins filming Spielberg's lengthy-gestating Lincoln subsequently.It isn't presently obvious who he'll play in Django Unchained, but we do not care: just sign him up already! If he comes aboard, he'll join Beginning co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, in addition to Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Kurt Russell, Samuel L Jackson, Don Manley and much more.

Moammar Gadhafi's Death: What Hollywood Is Saying

News that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had been killed by rebels Thursday was met with both serious and light-hearted responses within the industry.our editor recommendsCNN, MSNBC, Fox Air Gruesome Cell Phone Video of Dead GadhafiNews Organizations Defend Airing Gruesome Gadhafi Death VideoGadhafi's Son Fails in Attempts to Be Hollywood MogulPaul Scheer's 'NTSF:SD:SUV' Receives Second Season Pick-Up Harry Potter actor Michael Gambon wrote, "F**k me, they got Gadaffi; Bin Laden and Voldemort are dead. It's surely only a matter of time until Jeremy Kyle's reign of terror is over." Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers alluded to the dictator's reported obsession with his looks, "Gadhaffi's last words were "How my hair look, Mike?" #Unconfirmed" and "And he was so close to making general #Gadhaffi." The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg also made note of Gadhaffi's appearance: "Hard to believe, but not a bad-looking guy... RT @TPM: Qaddafi in 1970. Take a look: tpm.ly/pdSzKA." Drive co-star Albert Brooks, whom Feinberg interviewed in Sept., highlighted Gadhaffi's hair as well, "Gaddafi killed. Libyans rejoice. Just For Men stock plummets." CNN personality Piers Morgan mixed fact and commentary in his post, "A Planet fails to mourn RT @TheEconomist Muammar #Qaddafi, ruler of Libya, died on October 20th, aged 69 econ.st/pw0GVk." Alyssa Milano stuck to the facts, "Head of Libya's Military Council Says Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi Is Dead /via @nytim" Rapper Talib Kweli expressed surprise, "Just seen pic of Gaddafi, killed by rebels. wow." Late Show With David Letterman co-head writer Justin Stangel joked about the multiple spellings of the man's name, "Lame conspiracy theory: They killed Gaddafi, but they didn't kill Qaddafi. Letterman's other co-head writer, Eric Stangel, kept if lighthearted as well, "A friend of mine in Libya told me Muammar #Gadhafi was eating at the Harley Davidson Cafe in Sirte when he was killed. Can anyone confirm?" Comedian Paul Scheer mused,"Now with Gadaffi gone the only dictators left are those free credit report guys." Related Topics

Second Tintin Trailer Arrives

Bikes, watercraft, fire and sandwichesIt's barely per week because the first first demonstrated, but here's another new trailer for your Adventures Of Tintin.That certain seems being for American audiences, who've to hold about until December for slice of Spielberg/Herge action, ultimately get it inside a couple of days. '! Take that, Yankees!Trailer another factor to consider isn't entirely different for the first, it ought to be mentioned. But many importantly it's one minute longer, enabling for a lot of much-extended seafaring Snowy being distracted from some important make use of a sandwich and Haddock identifying it's smart to start a fire place... In The BOAT.The Adventures Of Tintin, you will need no telling, stars Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in bleeding edge performance capture. It's directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by Jackson, and put together by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, based on Herge's The Crab While Using Golden Claws, The Important Thing In The Unicorn, and Red-colored-colored Rackham's Treasure.It's within the Uk on October 26, and you'll read Empire's world-first Tintin review here.

TV Guide Network Checks Hollywood's Infamous Urban Stories

Marilyn Manson, Josh Saviano, The Question Years TV Guide Network is considering 25 of Hollywood's urban stories inside a new special. Would be a dead munchkin hanging without anyone's knowledge of the Wizard of Oz scene? Did Marilyn Manson play Paul Pfeiffer on Question Years? And among the all-time long lasting questions: Did a mix of Pop Rocks and soda kill Mikey in the Existence cereal advertisements? Obtain the truth behind the crazy tales. Comics for example Penn Jillette and Gilbert Gottfried are featured, in addition to some people active in the stories like voice of Wendy's chihuahua Carlos Alazraqui. Crazy Hollywood Urban Stories airs Monday at 8/7c on television Guide Network.

FEINBERG FORECAST: 'Tintin' Triumphs in London, 'Descendants' Descends on New York, 'Rum' Hangover in Hamptons

Courtesy of Paramount Among the things that factored into this week's projections (which appear further down on the page)... The highly-anticipated 3D motion-capture/animated film The Adventures of Tintin, which was directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson, was unveiled for the first time today in London, where it screened for the press in advance of its Paris premiere next week. The rollout couldn't have gone better, thus far -- to cite but just two raves, THR says that "Spielberg brings the slightly antique world of the famed European comic-book series to splendid, action-filled life as only he can," and Variety calls it "a rollicking return to action-adventure form... a whiz-bang thrill ride... [that] should do thundering typhoon biz globally." The film, which Paramount hopes to qualify for the best animated film (feature) Oscar category, to say nothing of the best picture category, will be released stateside on December 21. The 49th annual NY Film Festival had an eventful closing week. First, on Monday, it hosted a highly buzzed-about "surprise screening" of an unfinished film -- their first since Beauty and the Beast (1991) 20 years ago -- which turned out to be native NYer Martin Scorsese's 3D-flick Hugo. Scorsese introduced the Paramount film before the lights went down, and stars Asa Butterfield and Chloe Moretz took their bows after they came up. (Full reviews are being held until the film is complete, but initial "reactions" to the film have been respectful, if unenthusiastic, and its awards prospects seem pretty slim.) Then, it was Wim Wenders's turn to showcase a 3-D movie that he directed -- the dance doc Pina, which premiered at Berlin and previously in Telluride and Toronto. And now, virtually the entire team behind the Telluride/Toronto sensation The Descendants -- co-writer/director Alexander Payne and stars George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Judy Greer, Nick Krause, Amara Miller, Beau Bridges, and Matthew Lillard -- are in town for the fest's closing night screening later this evening. (Fox Searchlight has packed a lot of other promotional stops into their brief visit, as well, including Q&As for BAFTA, SAG, and the PGA -- one of which was moderated by yours truly last night.) In the wake of the world premiere of Simon Curtis's My Week with Marilyn at the NY Film Festival last Sunday, The Weinstein Company decided to push back the film's release date from November 4 to November 23, and also to screen the film at the 19th annual Hamptons International Film Festival. Both films suggest that Harvey Weinstein's awards outlook for the film -- and particularly for Michelle Williams's prospects in the best actress category for her performance as Marilyn Monroe -- was emboldened by its reception in NY. The aforementioned Hamptons International Film Festival may not be as high-profile or span as many days as the concurrently-operating NY Film Festival (five vs. 17), but the fest in the remote vacation spot for east coast Oscar voters played host to at least as many2011 awards contenders as the fest on the Upper West Side, including Another Happy Day, The Artist, Butter, Coriolanus, The Descendants, Le Havre, The Kid with a Bike, Like Crazy, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Melancholia, My Week with Marilyn, Shame, Undefeated, and We Need to Talk About Kevin -- many of which were accompanied by major talent. (It's not a coincidence that many of those films trace back to studios and PR firms with big presences on the east coast, such as The Weinstein Company, Fox Searchlight, and Strategy PR. The fest is too much of a schlep for most of their bigger west coast counterparts.). The biggest hit of this year's fest: The Artist, which was announced as the winner of the audience award on Sunday night. The Hamptons fest also further clarified the awards prospects -- or lack thereof -- of Bruce Robinson's Johnny Depp-vehicle The Rum Diary, which premiered at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Friday and then showed again in the Hamptons on Saturday and Sunday. The fact that the film has been given such a quiet rollout, as opposed to playing the festival circuit, was a clear sign of trouble. Now, Eric Kohn of IndieWire, who saw it in the Hamptons, confirms that it is "vividly average... a subpar comic adventure that's nonetheless admirable for its restrained vision of [Hunter S.] Thompson in his early gestation period." It sounds like FilmDistrict will be best served by focusing its awards efforts around Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive, which is a long-shot but does possess a passionate following, and perhaps Angelina Jolie's In the Land of Blood and Honey, which nobody has seen yet. I'm hearing that Warner Brothers, sensing that the best picture race is still wide open, will begin giving Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 -- the last installment in the decade-spanning blockbuster franchise that has collectively earned over $7 billion, more than any other franchise ever, including Star Wars -- a major awards push in the coming weeks and months. Will the strategy employed by the Lord of the Rings franchise -- to encourage voters to reward the entire franchise by rewarding the final installment -- work for this franchise, too? That one was the vision of a single auteur (Peter Jackson), whereas this one has featured contributions from a wide variety of people (including top-notch folks like Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron, Mike Newell, and David Yates). Will that help or hurt it with the Academy? It will be interesting to see. A new report claims that The Weinstein Company has been "quietly putting on test screenings" of John Hillcoat's prohibition-era crime drama The Wettest County in the World, which stars Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Jessica Chastain, Guy Pearce and Mia Wasikowska, among others -- this despite the fact that studio officials have insisted to me that it will not be snuck into the 2011 race as a last-minute surprise, a la Clint Eastwood's films Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), both of which wound up scoring best pic Oscar nods. (The former won). Is Weinstein, as this report suggests, "trying to ascertain if he needs to throw another film into the fray"? Between The Artist, The Iron Lady, My Week with Marilyn, Coriolanus, The Bully Project, and Undefeated, it seems to me that the little studio's plate is already quite full... but I suppose they could always make room for more. The Academy has released its short lists of the films that will be eligible for nominations in the categories of best foreign language film (63 countries submitted entries) and best documentary short (eight have been named, from which three to five will be nominated). This week marked the release of the first trailers for Fox Searchlight's Shame and Roadside Attractions's Albert Nobbs; a new clip of Phase 4 Films's Another Happy Day (which we exclusively debuted on The Race); and the DVD and Blu-Ray of Fox Searchlight's The Tree of Life. BEST PICTURE Frontrunners The Artist (The Weinstein Company, 11/23, TBA, trailer) War Horse (Disney, 12/25, TBA, teaser) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Warner Brothers, 12/25, TBA, trailer) The Descendants (Fox Searchlight, 11/23, R, trailer) Midnight in Paris (Sony Pictures Classics, 5/20, PG-13, trailer) Moneyball (Columbia, 9/23, TBA, trailer) J. Edgar (Warner Brothers, 11/11, R, trailer) The Help (Disney, 8/12, PG-13, trailer) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Sony, 12/21, TBA, trailer) The Iron Lady (The Weinstein Company, 12/21, TBA, teaser) Major Threats Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Focus Features, 12/9, TBA, trailer) The Ides of March (Sony, 10/14, TBA, trailer) The Tree of Life (Fox Searchlight, 5/27, PG-13, trailer) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2 (Warner Brothers, 7/15, PG-13, trailer) Drive (FilmDistrict, 9/16, R, trailer) My Week With Marilyn (The Weinstein Company, 11/23, TBA, TBA) Carnage (Sony Pictures Classics, 12/16, R, trailer) The Adventures of Tintin (Paramount, 12/21, TBA, trailer) Possibilities We Bought a Zoo (20th Century Fox, 12/23, TBA, trailer) Like Crazy (Paramount Vantage, 10/28, PG-13, trailer) Young Adult (Paramount, 12/9, TBA, TBA) A Dangerous Method (Sony Pictures Classics, 11/23, TBA, trailer) Super 8 (Paramount, 6/10, PG-13, trailer) Hugo (Paramount, 11/23, TBA, trailer) 50/50 (Summit, 9/30, R, trailer) The Way (Producers Distribution Agency, 10/7, TBA, trailer) In the Land of Blood and Honey (FilmDistrict, 12/23, TBA, TBA) BEST DIRECTOR Frontrunners Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) Steven Spielberg (War Horse) Stephen Daldry (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) Alexander Payne (The Descendants) Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) Major Threats Clint Eastwood (J. Edgar) Bennett Miller (Moneyball) David Fincher (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) George Clooney (The Ides of March) Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) Tate Taylor (The Help) Roman Polanski (Carnage) Phyllida Lloyd (The Iron Lady) Tomas Alfredson (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) Possibilities Steven Spielberg (The Adventures of Tintin) Martin Scorsese (Hugo) Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) Cameron Crowe (We Bought a Zoo) Jason Reitman (Young Adult) David Cronenberg (A Dangerous Method) Simon Curtis (My Week With Marilyn) Angelina Jolie (In the Land of Blood and Honey) BEST ACTOR Frontrunners Jean Dujardin (The Artist) Brad Pitt (Moneyball) George Clooney (The Descendants) Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar) Michael Fassbender (Shame) Major Threats Gary Oldman (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) Woody Harrelson (Rampart) Ryan Gosling (The Ides of March) Ryan Gosling (Drive) Anton Yelchin (Like Crazy) Michael Shannon (Take Shelter) Daniel Craig (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) Thomas Horn (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) Owen Wilson (Midnight in Paris) Possibilities Paul Giamatti (Win Win) Matt Damon (We Bought a Zoo) Christoph Waltz (Carnage) John C. Reilly (Carnage) Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50) Demian Bichir (A Better Life) Michael Fassbender (A Dangerous Method) Martin Sheen (The Way) Rhys Ifans (Anonymous) Tom Hardy (Warrior) Johnny Depp (The Rum Diary) BEST ACTRESS Frontrunners Viola Davis (The Help) Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs) Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) Major Threats Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) Felicity Jones (Like Crazy) Charlize Theron (Young Adult) Keira Knightley (A Dangerous Method) Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin) Jodie Foster (Carnage) Kate Winslet (Carnage) Possibilities Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre) Ellen Barkin (Another Happy Day) Michelle Yeoh (The Lady) Rachel Weisz (The Whistleblower) Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia) Vera Farmiga (Higher Ground) Adepero Oduye (Pariah) Saoirse Ronan (Hanna) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Frontrunners Christopher Plummer (Beginners) Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn) Jim Broadbent (The Iron Lady) Tom Hanks (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) Major Threats Jonah Hill (Moneyball) George Clooney (The Ides of March) John Hawkes (Martha Marcy May Marlene) Albert Brooks (Drive) Viggo Mortensen (A Dangerous Method) Brad Pitt (The Tree of Life) Jeffrey Wright (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) Possibilities Nick Nolte (Warrior) Armie Hammer (J. Edgar) Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Ides of March) Patton Oswalt (Young Adult) Thomas Haden Church (We Bought a Zoo) Ezra Miller (We Need to Talk About Kevin) Corey Stoll (Midnight in Paris) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Frontrunners Berenice Bejo (The Artist) Octavia Spencer (The Help) Vanessa Redgrave (Coriolanus) Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) Jessica Chastain (The Help) Major Threats Sandra Bullock (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) Carey Mulligan (Shame) Emily Watson (War Horse) Judy Greer (The Descendants) Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life) Evan Rachel Wood (The Ides of March) Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) Possibilities Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) Bryce Dallas Howard (The Help) Judi Dench (J. Edgar) Naomi Watts (J. Edgar) Scarlett Johansson (We Bought a Zoo) Anna Kendrick (50/50) BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Frontrunners Richard Curtis, Lee Hall (War Horse) Eric Roth (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash (The Descendants) Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian (Moneyball) Tate Taylor (The Help) Major Threats Steven Zaillian (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) George Clooney, Grant Heslov (The Ides of March) Roman Polanski (Carnage) Hossein Amini (Drive) Cameron Crowe, Aline Brosh McKenna (We Bought a Zoo) Possibilities Pedro Almodovar (The Skin I Live In) James Ellroy, Oren Moverman (Rampart) John Logan (Hugo) Christopher Hampton (A Dangerous Method) Emilio Estevez (The Way) John Logan (Coriolanus) John Banville, Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs) BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Frontrunners Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) Dustin Lance Black (J. Edgar) Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady) Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) Major Threats Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy Mae Marlene) Asghar Farhadi (A Separation) Diablo Cody (Young Adult) Drake Doremus, Ben York Jones (Like Crazy) Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter) Tom McCarthy, Joe Tiboni (Win Win) Possibilities Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids) J.J. Abrams (Super 8) Adrian Hodges (My Week with Marilyn) Will Reiser (50/50) Rebecca Frayne (The Lady) Mike Mills (Beginners) Dee Rees (Pariah) Angelina Jolie (In the Land of Blood and Honey) BEST ANIMATED FILM (FEATURE) Frontrunners The Adventures of Tintin (Paramount, 12/21, TBA, trailer) Rango (Paramount, 3/4, PG, trailer) Happy Feet 2 (Warner Brothers, 11/18, TBA, TBA, trailer) Cars 2 (Disney, 6/24, TBA, trailer) Arthur Christmas (Sony, 11/23, TBA, trailer) Major Threats Puss in Boots (DreamWorks, 11/4, TBA, trailer) Rio (20th Century Fox, 4/15, G, trailer) Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked (20th Century Fox, 12/11, TBA, TBA) Winnie the Pooh (Disney, 7/15, G, trailer) Possibilities Kung Fu Panda 2 (DreamWorks, 5/26, PG, trailer) The Smurfs (Sony, 7/29, TBA, trailer) The Lion of Judah (Animated Family Films, 6/3, TBA, trailer) BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM (FEATURE) Frontrunners The Interrupters (The Cinema Guild, 7/29, TBA, trailer) Project Nim (Roadside Attractions, 7/8, PG-13, trailer) Buck (IFC Films, 6/17, PG, trailer) Senna (Producers Distribution Agency, 8/12, PG-13, trailer) If a Tree Falls (Oscilloscope, 6/22, TBA, trailer) Major Threats Hell and Back Again (Docurama Films, 10/5, TBA, trailer) Cave of Forgotten Dreams (IFC Films, 4/29, G, trailer) Into the Abyss (Sundance Selects, 11/11, TBA, TBA) Koran by Heart (HBO Documentary Films, TBA, TBA, trailer) Page One: Inside the NY Times (Magnolia, 6/24, TBA, trailer) Tabloid (Sundance Selects, 7/15, R, trailer) Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (Submarine Deluxe, TBA, trailer) Magic Trip (Magnolia, 8/5, TBA, trailer) Bill Cunningham NY (Zeitgeist Films, 3/16, TBA, trailer) Possibilities The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (Sundance Selects, 9/9, TBA, trailer) Pearl Jam Twenty (Abramorama, 9/20, R, trailer) Bobby Fischer Against the World (HBO Documentary Films, TBA, TBA, TBA) The Whale (Paladin, TBA, TBA, TBA) The Bully Project (The Weinstein Company, TBA, TBA, trailer) Revenge of the Electric Car (Westmidwest Productions, TBA, TBA, trailer) The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (Sony Pictures Classics, 4/22, PG-13, trailer) African Cats (Disney, 4/22, G, trailer) Life in a Day (National Geographic, 7/29, PG-13, trailer) Still Seeking Domestic Distribution Bombay Beach The Carrier Footnote BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM Frontrunners A Separation (Iran) Where Do We Go Now? (Lebanon) In Darkness (Poland) Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) Postcard (Japan) Major Threats Le Havre (Finland) Declaration of War (France) Happy, Happy (Norway) Omar Killed Me (Morocco) Pina (Germany) Sonny Boy (Netherlands) Possibilities Black Bread (Spain) Montevideo: Taste of a Dream (Serbia) The Flowers of War (China) The Turin Horse (Hungary) Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Turkey) Morgen (Romania) As If I Am Not There (Ireland) The Rum Diary The Adventures of Tintin The Descendants

Tom Savini will appear in Django Unchained

Special effects genius Tom Savini will appear in front of the camera in Quentin Tarantino's slave western Django Unchained.Savini's playing Elvis Brittle, one of the outlaw Brittle brothers who sell Django and his wife Broomhilda into a life of slavery, instigating the circumstances that lead to Django's rampage of revenge.Savini's worked with Tarantino before of course, acting alongside him in From Dusk 'Til Dawn, and appearing in Tarantino-related projects Planet Terror and Machete, but this is the first time QT will be calling action on his old pal.Savini joins an already impressive cast which includes Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russell and Don Johnson.Django Unchained will be released in 2012, which is currently looking to be the greatest year in the history of cinema.

London Film Fest Opens With Law, Weisz in '360'

LONDON (AP) The London Film Festival, an international cinema showcase, opens Wednesday with "360," a fittingly globe-spanning drama that moves from London to Vienna, Rio de Janeiro and Denver, Colorado.The film by "City of God" director Fernando Meirelles stars Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz in a daisy chain of interlinked love stories based on Arthur Schnitzler's century-old play "La Ronde."The two-week festival features more than 300 features and shorts from 55 countries. It promises something for cinephiles and celebrity-watchers alike including two star turns from George Clooney. He directed and stars in political thriller "The Ides of March" and plays a detached father thrust into a caring role in Alexander Payne's "The Descendants."Stars expected on the red carpet range from funnyman Seth Rogen to dramatic powerhouse Michael Fassbender playing both a sex addict in Steve McQueen's "Shame" and Carl Jung in David Cronenberg's psychoanalytic drama "A Dangerous Method."Films with literary roots include Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut, "Coriolanus," Andrew Arnold's brooding "Wuthering Heights" and "Trishna," and Michael Winterbottom's India-set take on Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles," starring Freida Pinto.Founded in 1957 to show the best of the year's world cinema to a British audience, the festival has in the past few years tried to carve out a place on the international festival calendar with bigger pictures and more glittering stars.While most of the films have already made their debuts at Sundance, Cannes, Toronto or Venice, there are 13 world premieres in the lineup, most of them new British features.Highlights include "The Kid With a Bike," a drama from Belgium's Dardenne brothers; Nanni Moretti's Vatican satire "We Have a Pope"; Sundance hit "Martha Marcy May Marlene," starring Elizabeth Olsen as a traumatized cult runaway; and French director Michael Hazanavicius' delightful silent-film homage "The Artist."Controversy may be provided by "W.E." Madonna's take on the romance between King Edward VIII and American divorcee Wallis Simpson, critically derided at its Venice debut and Roland Emmerich's Shakespeare-bashing "Anonymous," which stars Rhys Ifans as the putative true author of the Bard's plays.On Oct. 26, the festival will hand out a best-picture prize, from a shortlist that includes "The Artist, "The Descendants," Aleksandr Sokurov's Venice Film festival winner "Faust" and Lynne Ramsay's high school massacre drama "We Need to Talk About Kevin."The festival closes Oct. 27 with "Deep Blue Sea," which stars Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale stiff upper lips a-quiver in Terence Davies' adaptation of Terrence Rattigan's play about a postwar love triangle.Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

IMG Letter Removed Mike Ovitz From Board

Michael Ovitz And IMG World And Teddy Forstmanns Brain Cancer: The Actual Story, As Well As What Ovitz Explained About This There won't be any formal announcement because IMG frantically wants all of the harmful speak with quiet lower.Therefore the unsavory Michael Ovitz situation was handled in privatethis week having a formal IMG letter getting rid of him from owner Teddy Forstmann’s advisory board. (One insider informs me that three other board people who backed Ovitz’s allegedtakeoverattempt were removed too. However I don't have any additional confirmation so won’t get into detail.)Thus ignobly finishes another of Ovitz’s longest personal and professional associations after hewas charged with maneuveringto run and/or own the worldwide management and production giantwhile 71-year-old Teddy fought brain cancer.The accusations against Ovitz incorporated that hewas bothering management by demanding IMG financial records pressuring leader/COO Mike Dolan and senior IMG professionals to are accountable to him by trying to setup a so-known as executive committee inside the board to supervise IMG activities due to Forstmanns illness and treatment and approaching Forstmann, Little & Co partners and traders letting them know he was thinking about purchasing IMG using the backing of Greg OHara, the controlling director of 1 Equity Partners LLC. Ovitz strenuously refused tome all of the allegationsand was adamant that running Teds clients are not something Im thinking about at this time. My job would be to support my pal who's really sick.” On the other hand, with buddies such as this around the eve of Yom Yippur, who needs opponents?

Watercooler: Gossip Girl's Best Non-Couple

Penn Badgley, Leighton Meester OK, we all know we have stated it before, but this bears repeating: Serta and Blair take Gossip Girl to another level.Despite the fact that they might not be couple-ant like these were last season, the authors have sensibly restored the pairing by reducing them in to the type of friendship the show needed. Honest, humorous and, obviously, peppered with La Waldorf's haughty Upper East snide commentary regarding their class variations, the mismatched buds would be the realest factor moving in a global where Serena can land employment in Hollywood simply by getting read a magazine and Elizabeth Hurley really wants to do Nate inside a stairwell.Last evening, we've got another dose of Penn Badgley and Leighton Meester's engaging dynamic after Serta hauled themself from Brooklyn to provide Blair an assist as she battled together with her secret pregnancy. Should she tell Prince Snoozy, despite the fact that the infant may be Chuck's? Or should she keep quiet and risk a royal scandal giving birth to some Bass-tard? You will find very difficult solutions, without a doubt, however when she confessed to Lonely Boy that they was "afraid to get rid of everything" and that he responded, "you will still have me," there is no question that people XOXO both of these as part of your.How about you? Are you currently digging Serta and Blair as besties?Sign up for TV Guide Magazine now!

The Five Primary Motivations for Releasing an Oscar Hopeful in December

Sony Pictures The vast majority of this year's awards hopefuls have already played at least once on the festival circuit (Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Telluride, Toronto, and/or NY) and/or gone into general release. Most of those that have not are set for October or November releases. But a select few others are being held until December, the last month in which they are eligible to qualify for Oscar consideration this year, and are being screened for the press only selectively before then, if at all. PHOTOS: Oscars Party Pics We all know that it is generally imprudent to release awards hopefuls early in the year -- though there have been exceptions (most recently The Hurt Locker), early releases tend to be forgotten and/or drowned out by the end of the year rush, when invitations to screenings and screeners of newer films with fresher hype start to pile up and the strategic challenge and cost of reviving interest in earlier films can be enormous. But why wait until so late in the awards season to unveil a contender? PHOTOS: Backstage at the 83rd Academy Awards I had my own suspicions, but decided to reach out to several top awards strategists for their take, and have come up with five different motivations. As you can see below, I believe that each of this year's end-of-the-year releases falls under at least one of them. "The Last Man Standing" Definition: A film that has the on-paper pedigree of a major contender and hopes to swoop in and take over the conversation after everyone else has already shown their hands. Past Examples: A Beautiful Mind (12/21/01); Gangs of NY (12/20/02); Cold Mountain (12/25/03); The Aviator (12/17/04); Dreamgirls (12/15/06) 2011 Examples: Young Adult (12/9), a dramedy written by Oscar winner Diablo Cody, directed by Oscar nominee Jason Reitman, and starring Oscar winner Charlize Theron; Carnage (12/16), a dramedy adapted from a hit Broadway production, co-written for the screen/directed by Oscar winner Roman Polanski and starring Oscar winners Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, and Christoph Waltz, plus Oscar nominee John C. Reilly; We Bought a Zoo (12/23), a dramedy adapted from a best-selling novel, co-written for the screen/directed by Oscar winner Cameron Crowe and starring Oscar winner Matt Damon; War Horse (12/25), a drama adapted from a best-selling novel-turned-hit Broadway production, directed by Oscar winner Steven Spielberg, and with contributions from an Oscar-winning team of collaborators including producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, film editor Michael Kahn, and composer John Williams. Upside: The "old-school model," it allows a film to avoid the festival circuit (where it would be just one of many films being discussed, could get knocked down a notch, and, even if it survives intact, would have to try to maintain momentum for months thereafter), and to instead drop in like a shiny new toy right before the end of the eligibility period. Downside: As other contenders fall short of expectations, anticipation only builds for those that have not yet been seen. High hopes -- and particularly the "frontrunner" label -- can prove very hard to live up to. * * * "The Opportunist" Definition: A film that is primarily aimed at making money over the holidays, and for which any awards attention will be seen as icing on the cake. Past Examples: Titanic (12/19/97); The Great Debaters (12/25/07); The Lovely Bones (12/11/09); It's Complicated (12/25/09); Avatar (12/18/10) 2011 Examples: The Adventures of Tintin (12/21), Steven Spielberg's animated/motion-capture 3D adaptation of a popular series of comic books, produced by Spielberg, Peter Jackson, and Kathleen Kennedy and featuring the work of the master of motion capture, Andy Serkis, among others; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (12/21), David Fincher's adaptation of Stieg Larsson's blockbuster novel-turned-Swedish film, which up-and-comer Rooney Mara (The Social Network) as the title character opposite James Bond himself, Daniel Craig. Upside: When it comes to the end of the year, making money and garnering awards attention often go hand-in-hand, so if a studio can accomplish its primary objective of connecting in a big way with the general public then it will also only improve its chances of connecting with awards voters. Downside: Not crafting an awards strategy early on can put you at a great disadvantage when going head-to-head with films that have. With the money that Avatar wound up making, Fox could have afforded to hire every awards strategist out there, but because the studio was so focused on making back its huge investment at the box-office (understandably), they didn't really have any pros working on awards strategy until The Hurt Locker's "David vs. Goliath" and "ex-wife vs. ex-husband" narratives had already taken hold, costing it the best picture Oscar. * * * "The Late Scramble" Definition: A film that was only recently completed and is being quickly turned around in time to qualify for eligibility this year. Past Examples: Million Dollar Baby (12/15/04); Letters from Iwo Jima (12/20/06); The Reader (12/10/08) 2011 Examples: The Iron Lady (12/21), Phyllida Lloyd's biopic of Margaret Thatcher, which stars Lloyd's Mamma Mia! (2008) star Meryl Streep as the title character, only wrapped post-production days ago; Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (12/25), Stephen Daldry's adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer's best-selling novel, which stars Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, among others, and which was only shot earlier this year, and which is still being finished. (I have heard rumors that The Weinstein Company might surprise people with John Hillcoat's star-studded The Wettest County in the World before the year comes to a close, but the studio, which already has its hands full with numerous other awards hopefuls, insists that it has no such plans.) Upside: As Clint Eastwood films have proven on numerous occasions, dropping a quality film into a race that few ever thought it would ever be a part of can reap great rewards. Downside: Strategists' hands are largely tied, in the sense that even they themselves can't see the film until only shortly before everyone else has to, leaving them little time to reframe expectations, drum up interest, book screening rooms, and get the film and talent in front of the various critics and awards groups. * * * "The Titillator" Definition: A film with controversial/risque content is given early screenings on the festival circuit and then goes away for a while, hoping to ride early festival buzz/curiosity late into the season. Past Examples: Brokeback Mountain (12/16/05); Atonement (12/7/07); Blue Valentine (12/29/10) 2011 Examples: Shame (12/?), Steve McQueen's sure-fire NC-17 film starring Michael Fassbender, in the performance that won him the best actor award at September's Venice Film Festival, as a sex addict (who spends much of the movie completely nude and engaged in sexual acts) and Carey Mulligan as his troubled sister (who is also shown nude in an extended full-frontal scene); Pariah (12/28), Dee Rees's semi-autobiographical film, which impressed at Sundance, starring Adepero Oduye as a young semi-closeted lesbian (who is shown engaging in sex acts, playing with sex toys, and dancing to sexually-explicit songs); We Need to Talk About Kevin (12/?), Lynne Ramsey's disturbing drama about a mother (Tilda Swinton) whose son (Ezra Miller) goes on a killing rampage at his school, which played at Cannes, Telluride, and Toronto, and raises difficult questions about whether an evil person is born or becomes that way. Upside: The early screenings get people talking -- "The movie is so crazy/disturbing/realistic... I wouldn't be surprised if Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams actually had sex in it" or "The movie is fascinating... and Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan both have scenes of full frontal nudity!" -- causing interest to spread like wildfire ("I've heard it's unlike anything else out there!"). These sorts of films often result in acting nominations (which are chosen by actors, who tend to admire and reward risk-taking), but not much else. Downside: Titillating content, in and of itself, is never enough to get a movie into phase two, so it better have more to it than just that. * * * "The Chris Christie" Definition: A film that few really expect to be in the running this year, but that could still surprise us. Past Examples: Breaking and Entering (12/15/06); Factory Girl (12/29/06); Miss Potter (12/29/06) 2011 Examples: Butter (12/?), an entertaining light comedy starring Jennifer Garner that screened at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals and is set to be distributed by The Weinstein Company; In the Land of Blood and Honey (12/23), a low-budget indie written and directed by Angelina Jolie and set to be distributed by little FilmDistrict; The Lady (12/?), a quiet, understated historical drama directed by Luc Besson and starring Michelle Yeoh that played at Toronto, where its distribution rights were purchased by the Cohen Media Group; Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (12/?), a drama written by Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy, directed by Oscar nominee Lasse Hallstrom, and starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, and Oscar nominee Kristin Scott Thomas that premiered at Toronto and was acquired there for a considerable sum by CBS Films. Upside: Low expectations. Downside: Low profile. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Lionsgate To Adapt YA Series 'Chaos Walking'

Lionsgate, already in production on the high-profile adapation of book sensation The Hunger Games, has picked up the feature rights of another award-winning young adult novel series, Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness. Doug Davison, the one-time partner at Vertigo Entertainment whose credits include How to Train Your Dragon and The Grudge, will produce via his new label, Quadrant Pictures. The trilogy is set in a dystopian future against a backdrop where humans are colonizing a distant Earth-like planet. When a phenomenon called the Noise allows everyone's thoughts to be heard, wiping away all privacy, the corrupt mayor of the colony makes a play to seize power and wipe out the indigenous alien race, with only a young man being the only one to stop him. STORY: Lionsgate Developing 'Dead Island' Zombie Pic The books, published by Candlewick Press in the US and Walker Books in the UK, have won critical praise and numerous awards; the series was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, one of the highest honors in the kidlit world, with the final book winning the prize this past June. Some critics have compared the dark tone to Hunger Games, something not lost on Lionsgate. "Apart from the story elements, the world in the stories is so vividly imagined," said Lionsgate co-COO and motion picture group president Joe Drake. "These are books, much like The Hunger Games, that we feel truly beg to be brought to life on film." Ness, an American who lives in the UK, is repped by Michelle Kass Associates in London and Berh Abramson in LA. Lionsgate