Emile Hirsch to play Hamlet

Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild, Milk, Speed Racer) has signed on to play Hamlet in a new feature adaptation of William Shakespeare’s renowned tragedy. Catherine Hardwicke, fresh off directing Twilight, is set to direct the film with a script by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia).

Hamlet tells the story of a young man faced with the dilemma of whether he should exact revenge on his father’s killer. In true Shakespearean form, the murderer happens to be his uncle. This version, similar to the 2000 adaptation staring Ethan Hawke, will be set in present day America.

Catherine Hardwicke on her vision of Hamlet:

“I had a great time working with Emile on ‘Lords of Dogtown’, so when he suggested ‘Hamlet’, I was intrigued. We read the play aloud and when I heard Emile speaking Shakespeare’s amazing words, I was flooded with images. We edited the play tightly, making the words extremely accessible. In our version, we’re working hard to make ‘Hamlet’ a thrilling cinematic experience — the violent, intense, and romantic scenes that happen ‘off-stage’ in the play will be shown in vivid detail.”

Oscar winning producer’s Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen (MILK) on their different take on Hamlet:

“This project was the brainchild of Emile Hirsch, who we had the pleasure of working with on ‘Milk’. Hamlet was in college when the story takes place, yet there hasn’t been a movie version with an appropriately-aged actor playing the role. Our goal is to present the story as a suspense thriller. We want to make it exciting and accessible for an audience today,” Jinks and Cohen said in a joint statement.

I do like Emile Hirsch as an actor. I thought he was stunning in Sean Penn's Into the Wild. How do you feel about another version of Hamlet?

Source: Gordon and the Whale

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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What's Wrong With Virginia? Liam Neeson and Jennifer Connelly know

Liam Neeson and Jennifer Connelly are starring in the drama What's Wrong With Virginia for Tick Tock Studios says Variety.

Oscar-winning writer Dustin Lance Black ("Milk") penned the script and makes his directorial debut on the project.

Connelly will play the charming but psychologically disturbed mother of a 16-year-old son.

Her 20-year clandestine love with a sheriff (Neeson), who is running for the state senate, is tested when her son begins a relationship with his daughter.

Hopwood DePree, Scott Brooks, Christine Vachon and Eric Watson will produce while "Milk" helmer Gus van Sant will executive produce.

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Oscars Acceptance Speech - Sean Penn - Best Actor

Sean Penn - 2009 Best Actor Oscar for Milk.
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I am Sam Milk - Sean Penn Mash-Up

Sean Penn stars in the inspirational film about the life and times of Sam Milk, the man who fought for the forbidden love of a young girl, with the help of some friends and a lawyer from the Yellow Pages.

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Oscars - 2009 Academy Awards Winners

The Oscars have been announced and looks like Slumdog Millionaire sweeped the board. Heath Ledger won best supporting and Sean Penn won best actor. What did you think of the results? Any surprises or totally predictable? Was Stephen Colbert correct in his predictions? There is an Oscars thread set up in the forum if you wish to have a chat about it.

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader

Best Actor: Sean Penn in Milk
Richard Jenkins in The Visitor
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

Best Actress: Kate Winslet in The Reader
Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie in Changeling
Melissa Leo in Frozen River
Meryl Streep in Doubt

Best Director: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry for The Reader
David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant for Milk

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Josh Brolin in Milk
Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt
Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road

Best Original Screenplay: Milk written by Dustin Lance Black
Frozen River written by Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky written by Mike Leigh
In Bruges written by Martin McDonagh
WALL-E screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon. Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

Best Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
Doubt written by John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon screenplay by Peter Morgan

Best Animated Film: WALL-E
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda

Best Animated Short Film: La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

Best Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. ZolfoChangeling – Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
The Dark Knight – Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
The Duchess – Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
Revolutionary Road – Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

Best Costume Design: Michael O'Connor for The Duchess
Catherine Martin for Australia
Jacqueline West for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Danny Glicker for Milk
Albert Wolsky for Revolutionary Road

Best Make-up: Greg Cannom for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan for The Dark Knight
Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz for Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire
Tom Stern for Changeling
Claudio Miranda for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wally Pfister for The Dark Knight
Chris Menges and Roger Deakins for The Reader

Best Live Action Short Film: Spielzeugland (Toyland)
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig

Best Documentary: Man on Wire
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Trouble the Water

Best Documentary Short Film: Smile Pinki
The Conscience of Nhem
The Final Inch
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

Best Visual Effects: Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin for The Dark Knight
John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan for Iron Man

Best Sound Editing: Richard King for The Dark Knight
Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes for Iron Man
Tom Sayers for Slumdog Millionaire
Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood for WALL-E
Wylie Stateman for Wanted

Best Sound Mixing: Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty for Slumdog MillionaireDavid Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick for The Dark Knight
Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt for WALL-E
Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt for Wanted

Best Editing: Chris Dickens for Slumdog Millionaire
Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Lee Smith for The Dark Knight
Mike Hill and Dan Hanley for Frost/Nixon
Elliot Graham for Milk

Best Music: A.R. Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire
Alexandre Desplat for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
James Winner: Newton Howard for Defiance
Danny Elfman for Milk
Thomas Newman for WALL-E

Best Forgeign Film: Departures
The Baader Meinhof Complex
The Class
Revanche
Waltz with Bashir
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Oscars 2009 - Best Picture Profanity Reel

All five movies nominated for a Best Picture Oscar re-cut to their profanity reels. Now combined in one video. Definitely contains spoilers...

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USA Network and Universal in 9-Figure Film Deal

USA Network inked a nine-figure deal for the basic cable and broadcast premiere rights to two dozen of Universal Pictures' films, including Will Ferrell-led Land of the Lost and Borat sequel Bruno.

The deal, which covers mostly pre-buys of theatricals to be released throughout 2009, could be worth north of $200 million, depending on how the titles perform at the box office. If the slate were to underperform in theaters, the package would cost USA about half that.

Cable deals for theatricals are generally paid on a 10%-13% sliding scale of box office returns, depending on performance. This deal is constructed that way, sources say.

Despite massive job losses nationwide in January 2009, the U.S. box office tally was the best ever for a January: $1.030 billion, according to Media by Numbers. The returns marked a 19% year-to-year increase over 2008.

What's more, basic cable networks across the board rely heavily on theatricals during the daytime and on weekends, and use them as a platform to lead viewers into original programming, the only genre that tends to outperform theatricals in cable ratings.

“We knew we would have to go in aggressively and pay what it takes to get [the films], and we knew what they wanted to make from it,” says Jane Blaney, executive VP of programming, acquisitions and scheduling for USA.

FX bought the rights to much of Universal's 2008 slate last year in what the studio claimed was a “groundbreaking deal.” That agreement covered 15 films, and was estimated to be worth about $100 million when it was signed.

In addition to Land of the Lost and Bruno, the USA agreement includes State of Play, with Ben Affleck and Russell Crowe; Duplicity, starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen; Fast & Furious, with Vin Diesel; Public Enemies, with Johnny Depp; Funny People, with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen; The Wolfman, starring Benicio Del Toro; and already released titles such as Milk and Frost/Nixon. Other movies in the package star Philip Seymour Hoffman, Matt Damon and Jennifer Aniston.

“This is one of the biggest slate deals that you would see, across the board in term of volume,” says Frances Manfredi, executive VP and general sales manager for cable and non-theatrical sales at NBC Universal Television Distribution. “USA put a killer deal on the table, they were very aggressive, and very wisely aggressive. We think this will serve them very well.”

USA will get to air some of the movies starting in 2010, with most heading to the network in 2011, following a premium cable window on HBO.

Source: B&C
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Vanity Fair Partnerships Photo Shoot by Annie Leibovitz

Vanity Fair have Annie Leibovitz latest shoot, which focuses on the partnerships that looks at the actor-director team ups that defined 2008.

Above is Darren Aronofsky and Mickey Rourke from The Wrestler.
Clint Eastwood who directed and starred in Gran Torino.
Sam Mendes and Kate Winslet made Revolutionary Road
Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Woody Allen and Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Gus Van Sant and Sean Penn - Milk
Danny Boyle and Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire

They are great photos and lots more over at Vanity Fair.
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The British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominations

The BAFTA nominations came out a while back and I thought I had posted them but obviously not. Here they are and appear similar to the Oscar nominations. Check out the award at the bottom as you can vote for your rising star of 2009.

The Orange British Academy Film Awards take place at the Royal Opera House on Sunday 8 February.

BEST FILM
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Ceán Chaffin
FROST/NIXON – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard
MILK – Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen
THE READER – Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti, Redmond Morris
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Christian Colson

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
HUNGER – Laura Hastings-Smith, Robin Gutch, Steve McQueen, Enda Walsh
IN BRUGES – Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh
MAMMA MIA! – Judy Craymer, Gary Goetzman, Phyllida Lloyd, Catherine Johnson
MAN ON WIRE – Simon Chinn, James Marsh
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Christian Colson, Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD
for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for their First Feature Film
SIMON CHINN (Producer) – Man On Wire
JUDY CRAYMER (Producer) – Mamma Mia!
GARTH JENNINGS (Writer) – Son of Rambow
STEVE McQUEEN (Director/Writer) – Hunger
SOLON PAPADOPOULOS, ROY BOULTER (Producers) – Of Time And The City

DIRECTOR
CHANGELING – Clint Eastwood
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – David Fincher
FROST/NIXON – Ron Howard
THE READER – Stephen Daldry
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Danny Boyle

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BURN AFTER READING – Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
CHANGELING – J. Michael Straczynski
I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG – Philippe Claudel
IN BRUGES – Martin McDonagh
MILK – Dustin Lance Black

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Eric Roth
FROST/NIXON – Peter Morgan
THE READER – David Hare
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD – Justin Haythe
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Simon Beaufoy

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX – Bernd Eichinger, Uli Edel
GOMORRAH – Domenico Procacci, Matteo Garrone
I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG – Yves Marmion, Philippe Claudel
PERSEPOLIS – Marc-Antoine Robert, Xavier Rigault, Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud
WALTZ WITH BASHIR – Serge Lalou, Gerhard Meixner, Yael Nahlieli, Ari Folman

ANIMATED FILM
PERSEPOLIS – Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud
WALL•E – Andrew Stanton
WALTZ WITH BASHIR – Ari Folman

LEADING ACTOR
FRANK LANGELLA – Frost/Nixon
DEV PATEL – Slumdog Millionaire
SEAN PENN – Milk
BRAD PITT – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
MICKEY ROURKE – The Wrestler

LEADING ACTRESS
ANGELINA JOLIE – Changeling
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS – I’ve Loved You So Long
MERYL STREEP – Doubt
KATE WINSLET – The Reader
KATE WINSLET – Revolutionary Road

SUPPORTING ACTOR
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. – Tropic Thunder
BRENDAN GLEESON – In Bruges
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN – Doubt
HEATH LEDGER – The Dark Knight
BRAD PITT – Burn After Reading

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
AMY ADAMS – Doubt
PENÉLOPE CRUZ – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
FREIDA PINTO – Slumdog Millionaire
TILDA SWINTON – Burn After Reading
MARISA TOMEI – The Wrestler

MUSIC
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Alexandre Desplat
THE DARK KNIGHT – Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard
MAMMA MIA! – Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – A. R. Rahman
WALL•E – Thomas Newman

CINEMATOGRAPHY
CHANGELING – Tom Stern
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Claudio Miranda
THE DARK KNIGHT – Wally Pfister
THE READER – Chris Menges, Roger Deakins
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Anthony Dod Mantle

EDITING **
CHANGELING – Joel Cox, Gary D. Roach
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
THE DARK KNIGHT – Lee Smith
FROST/NIXON – Mike Hill, Dan Hanley
IN BRUGES – Jon Gregory
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Chris Dickens
**As there was a tie in this category there are six nominations

PRODUCTION DESIGN
CHANGELING – James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
THE DARK KNIGHT – Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD – Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Mark Digby, Michelle Day

COSTUME DESIGN
CHANGELING – Deborah Hopper
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Jacqueline West
THE DARK KNIGHT – Lindy Hemming
THE DUCHESS – Michael O'Connor
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD – Albert Wolsky

SOUND
CHANGELING – Walt Martin, Alan Robert Murray, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff
THE DARK KNIGHT – Lora Hirschberg, Richard King, Ed Novick, Gary Rizzo
QUANTUM OF SOLACE – Jimmy Boyle, Eddy Joseph, Chris Munro, Mike Prestwood Smith, Mark Taylor
SLUMDOG MILLIONARE – Glenn Freemantle, Resul Pookutty, Richard Pryke, Tom Sayers, Ian Tapp
WALL•E – Ben Burtt, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Matthew Wood

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Eric Barba, Craig Barron, – Nathan McGuinness, Edson Williams
THE DARK KNIGHT – Chris Corbould, Nick Davis, Paul Franklin, Tim Webber
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL – Pablo Helman, Marshall Krasser, Steve Rawlins
IRON MAN – Hal Hickel, Shane Patrick Mahan, John Nelson, Ben Snow
QUANTUM OF SOLACE – Chris Corbould, Kevin Tod Haug

MAKE UP & HAIR
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Jean Black, Colleen Callaghan
THE DARK KNIGHT – Peter Robb-King
THE DUCHESS – Daniel Phillips, Jan Archibald
FROST/NIXON – Edouard Henriques, Kim Santantonio
MILK – Steven E. Anderson, Michael White

SHORT ANIMATION
CODSWALLOP – Greg McLeod, Myles McLeod
VARMINTS – Sue Goffe, Marc Craste
WALLACE AND GROMIT: A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH – Steve Pegram, Nick Park, Bob Baker

SHORT FILM
KINGSLAND #1 THE DREAMER – Kate Ogborn, Tony Grisoni
LOVE YOU MORE – Caroline Harvey, Anthony Minghella, Sam Taylor-Wood, Patrick Marber
RALPH – Olivier Kaempfer, Alex Winckler
SEPTEMBER – Stewart le Maréchal, Esther May Campbell
VOYAGE D’AFFAIRES (THE BUSINESS TRIP) – Celine Quideau, Sean Ellis

THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD
MICHAEL CERA - Juno, Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist
NOEL CLARKE - Kidulthood, Adulthood, Dr Who
MICHAEL FASSBENDER - 300, Hunger, Eden Lake (possible The Sweeney)
REBECCA HALL - Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost / Nixon
TOBY KEBBELL - Control, RocknRolla
Vote for your Rising star of 2009

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2009 Oscar Nominations are out

The nominees for the 81st Academy Awards have been announced. Looks rather interesting. No Dark Knight for Best Picture although Heath Ledger gets the nod.However, it is up for Best Editing which is a bit odd as I felt the editing in places was an absolute mess.

The 81st Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 22nd at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood with a live airing on ABC starting at 8 PM (EST).

PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
Clint Eastwood - Changeling
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon

ACTOR
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
Mike Leigh - Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin McDonagh - In Bruges
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon - Wall-E

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Eric Roth & Robin Swicord - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
David Hare - The Reader
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire

ANIMATED FEATURE
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz With Bashir

ART DIRECTION
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Tom Stern - Changeling
Claudio Miranda - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wally Pfister - The Dark Knight
Chris Menges & Roger Deakins - The Reader
Anthony Dod Mantle - Slumdog Millionaire

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

ANIMATED SHORT
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

LIVE-ACTION SHORT
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)

VISUAL EFFECTS
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

COSTUME DESIGN
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

MAKEUP
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

FILM EDITING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

SOUND MIXING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Wanted

SOUND EDITING
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Wanted

ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
James Newton Howard - Defiance
Danny Elfman - Milk
A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
Thomas Newman - Wall-E

ORIGINAL SONG
"Down to Earth" from Wall-E
"Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire
"O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire

I think Slumdog Millionaire will clean up this year. What are your thoughts? Any surprises?

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Happy New Year everyone

A belated Happy New Year to you all (yesterdays posts were all prescheduled as I wasn't near a computer).

Did you all have a good time? Drink too much? Make resolutions that you have already broken.

We had a quiet one. Put our 2 year old daughter to bed then Catherine, my son and I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (I enjoyed it more seeing it the second time now that the anticipation for it had gone - still full of faults but an enjoyable romp) before turning over to Jools Holland on BBC2 and welcomed in the New Year. Then it was in bed for about 00:15!

I just want to thank everyone who has visited this little site since it started back in the middle of last year. It's been a fun few months since Chisholm said to me, "You should do a film blog and post reviews for us to read." Since then people from all over the World have found it and seem to like it. Big thanks to you all and to all the regulars to the site and the forum. I'm also blown away by the fact I've had a couple of proper interviews with some film makers and an favourite author of mine. Hopefully there will be more interviews to come in this year.

What was your film highlight of 2008? What are you looking forward to in 2009? I can't wait to see Zack Snyder's Watchmen (although I have a horrible feeling the court case will just delay it's release). I also want to see Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire and many other things.

Once again thanks. Now go out and tell a couple of friends about the site. Let's spread the word people.

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The Random - Avatar: The Last Airbender, Clash of the Titans, Eric Roth does Sci-Fi, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Dark Knight,

Noah Ringer, Jackson Rathbone ("Twilight"), Nicola Peltz ("Deck the Halls") and singer Jesse McCartney have been cast in M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender," a live-action adaptation of his popular Nickelodeon anime-inspired series "Avatar" reports Entertainment Weekly.

Cultura y Espectáculos reports that the archipelago off the coast of North-West Africa is set to be used for portions of the filming on the Louis Leterrier-directed remake of 1981's Clash of the Titans. Other location shooting on the $80 million project is expected to take place in Ethiopia, Iceland and London. Around a month of the twenty week shoot will take place on the islands around May-June next year.

Eric Roth (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) says that he's keen on doing a big sci-fi feature in the future. "I’m going to do a big space…I don’t want to say odyssey…that’s been done, but a space movie for Warner Brothers and I want to start like in…I don’t know…sometime next year" he tells Collider. Roth says its an original ideas of his and wants to mix "the intelligence of “2001” and the mythology of “Star Wars”...I don’t want to make it so intellectual that it’s confounding, but on the other hand I’m not so sure I can write the kind of wonderful fantasy that Lucas does."

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen director Michael Bay says that the first trailer will hit either on the Superbowl or in early February. Here's the latest update from his official blog: "Back from Egypt and Jordan - we had a wonderful shoot over there... Our Trailer for Transformer you have been asking about - First there will be a teaser poster soon after the new year, and the teaser trailer will be out either in the theaters early Feb. or on the Superbowl. Cannot decide yet. I’m going to release some set stills on this site in a few weeks."

The Duplass Brothers, more commonly known as Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass, have announced the cast for their next feature film. Tentatively titled Safety Man, the story centers on a recently divorced man, played by John C. Reilly, who meets the woman of his dreams, played by Marisa Tomei. However, she has a teenage son, played by Jonah Hill, who has no interesting in sharing his mother with a new man. The Duplass Brothers have a very unique brand of comedy, part of which involves shooting all the scenes in the film in sequence, as opposed to out-of-order like most other films.

The Los Angeles Film Critics had awarded WALL-E “Best Picture of the Year”, a first for an animated film.

The New York Film Critics Circle announced their yearly award winners - Josh Brolin (Milk) edged out Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) for the Best Supporting Actor award

Nikki Finke is reporting that The Dark Knight has broken the record for the most Blu-rays sold in just one day of release. The Dark Knight sold over 600,000 copies on Tuesday alone, while the previous record holder, Paramount’s Iron Man, sold 400,000 Blu-ray copies in one week. The Dark Knight also sold 3 million copies on good old DVD. No word yet on how many *ahem" copies have been sold in pubs!

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Oscars - What do you think will win Best Picture

I recently posted the ad that had been taken out to promote The Dark Knight for Best Picture at next years Oscars.

That got me thinking about what could possibly win The Best Picture. On my wanders around the World Wide Web there are a few films that seem to be in the running for Best Picture. They are as follows:

Australia - Nicole and Hugh get it on in the outback.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Brad Pitt ages backwards.

The Dark Knight - Bale growls as The Batman, Ledger does a magic trick and there are two Aaron Eckharts but I didn't see any jousting.

Doubt - Meryl Streep and Amy Adams are nuns. Is it a porno? Philip Seymore Hoffman wishes.

Frost/Nixon - The head Lycan dude fron Underworld interviews Dracula.

Gran Torino - Clint Eastwood plays a rascist and has a nice car.

Milk - Sean Penn play a big gay bottle of semi-skimmed or a politician or something.

Nothing But the Truth - Kate Beckinsale outs a CIA agent with hilarious consequences.

Rachel Getting Married - Rachel is getting married and her sister does drugs

The Reader - Kate Winslet is a Nazi who likes to have bedtime stories read to her. Ahh isn't that sweet!

Revolutionary Road - Kate Winslett and Leonardo DiCaprio set sail on the Titanic while living in 1950's Connecticut and argue a lot or something. I could be wrong. Not sure how Kate got the part in the film directed by her husband? Is Billy Zane in it?

Slumdog Millionaire - Indian kid wins Who Wants to be A Millionaire. Danny Boyle still goes on about 28 Days Later wasn't a zombie film.

The Wrestler - Mickey Rourke is a washed up has-been. In this film he plays a wrestler.

WALL-E - CGI Pixar fest with a cute little robot.

Sadly I've only seen a couple of them (Dark Knight, WALL-E) although a fair few of them have yet to be released so it's not that bad a thing. I do want to see Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Gran Torino, Milk and The Wrestler and the others I'm all a bit meh about. I personally think Benjamin Button will win the best picture Oscar purely from all the buzz and reviews I've been reading about it.

Which film do you see winning Best Picture? How many of the above list have you seen and what are you looking forward to seeing? Which ones will you avoid? What films should be on the list? Will Billy Zane win best actor?

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The Random

Aussie actress Teresa Palmer has been added to the cast of John Eyre's "The Last Warrior".

Indie company Werc Werk Works will finance and co-produce "The Turin Horse," a new movie from Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr that will use the story of a farmer and his horse as an existential metaphor... (full details)

Danny Boyle admits that he shot "Slumdog Millionaire" with a PG-13 rating in mind, despite the film landing an R from the MPAA. He also admits that he tried to appeal the rating but doesn't seem to have had any success... (full details)

'W.' screenwriter Stanley Weiser talks about his "Wall Street" sequel treatment that he penned a while ago and is being ignored by "21" scribe Allan Loeb who's penning the upcoming project entitled "Money Never Sleeps"... (full details)

Despite a press release indicating Michael Bay had approved the upcoming Transformers theme park ride, Bay himself has just announced he isn't happy with what they have presented him... (full details)

Legendary Pictures ("Batman Begins," "Superman Returns") is in negotiations to acquire Epic Games ("Gears of War," "Unreal Tournament") - the first film financing company to start investing money in video games... (full details)

Real life couple Christopher Lee and Fann Wong are in advanced talks to star in Singaporean romantic comedy "The Wedding of the Year." The dark story deals with a marriage between two celebrities whose fans have been tracking their romance and rooting for nuptials. Pic will be released in Singapore by Golden Village in time for Chinese New Year in late January... (full details)

Mirovision is developing a third remake of Korean helmer Kim Ki-young's 1960 masterpiece thriller "The Housemaid"...The story follows a maid who ruins a family. Gina Kim ("Never Forever") penned and is attached to direct the $2.5 million Korean-language remake... (full details)

Danny and Oxide Pang ("Bangkok Dangerous," "The Eye") will next direct the horror feature "Child's Eye" for Universe Intl. Holdings. Shooting is scheduedl to start in April or May... (full details)

Joss Whedon has revealed that his original pilot for the new Fox series "Dollhouse" was thrown out completely and several characters were removed from the show... (full details)

Jackson Rathbone tries to defend the Donnie Darko sequel S. Darko: “Look at the original Donnie Darko. When it was first released, did anybody like it? No, it was a year later. Through people talking, people got it. We’re in an opposite boat, because people loved the first one after a while. Maybe they’ll warm up to this, too. Or, they’ll hate the idea of it, but once they see it, I think they’re going to turn around. It takes the idea of the film and it goes beyond, answering and delving into more questions than Donnie Darko did. A lot of people are pissed that Richard Kelly is not involved, but he did sell the idea. He did give the license to do it. So it’s not like he’s opposed to it.” [Shock]

Danny Elfman is developing a broadway show based on the life of Harry Houdini and he also might be doing a Cirque Du Soleil show at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood in 2010. [Collider]

The Playlist takes a look at the soundtrack for Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

Universal is giving Pride and Glory director Gavin O’Connor another chance, a Vince Vaughn comedy film called Sunny and 68. [Variety]

The Wackness hits DVD and Blu-Ray on January 6th 2009. [movieweb]

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso complains that he doesn’t have enough time to read comic books: “It’s hard to read comic books as my time is now restricted.” [boingboing]

Cinema Blend has 26 new photos from Gus Van Sant’s Milk.

Gus Van Sant, he will be directing an adaptation of 1968 Tom Wolfe’s book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. [Reuters]

Rob Cohen is trying to get xXx: The Return of Xander Cage into production by late spring, for a Summer 2010 release. [collider]

Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode will star in Tom Ford’s directorial debut, an indie drama titled A Single Man. [Variety]

Universal has preemptively bought Mike Sobel’s disaster-action pitch Skyscraper. [CS]

Natalie Portman is set to star with Scott Cohen and Charlie Tahan in Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, a Don Roos-directed adaptation of an Ayelet Waldman novel. [Variety]

Amy Adams will star in the indie drama Daughter of the Queen of Sheba, Karen Croner’s script based on Jacki Lyden biography. [Variety]

To promote Anaconda 3 on DVD, Sci-Fi Channel has launched an online game called Snakes on a Babe featuring David Hasselhoff.

Neil Gaiman is producing a live-action adaptation of his new New York Times best-seller The Graveyard Book. [MTV]

Netflix will offer HD streaming to XBox Live members first. [/Gamer]

Adrien Brody will become The Courier for Russell Mulcahy. [FirstShowing]

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