2010
03.02

Getting ‘LOST’ at the 2010 Paley Television Festival

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Nearly 2000 fans were in attendance for the the “LOST” symposium held last Saturday during the 27th annual Paley Television Festival in Los Angeles. Show runners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse fielded questions concerning the show’s final season and its many mysteries.

Sharing the stage with Lindelof and Cuse were go-to-director Jack Bender, cast members Terry O’Quinn John Locke), Michael Emerson (Benjamin Linus), Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert), and Zuleikha Robinson (Ilana) and a few of the program’s writer/producers.

As “LOST” fans have come to expect, very little was actually revealed during the panel, with Lindelof and Cuse warning fans not to expect answers to every mystery presented during the show’s six seasons.

That said, the evening did provide plenty of teases, the most notable being:

1. We will see the Man-in-Black again,

2. Richard Alpert and Ilana may share a common trait (more will be learned about the two when they exchange words during a future episode).

3. Charlie and Widmore will return.

4. Desmond and Penny will be seen again. We’ll aslo find out if Desmond was really on the plane during the flash-sideways in the season six premiere episode.

5. Hurley and Libby’s connection will be addressed.

6. Walt may or may not return (though his dog Vincent will).

7. Jacob’s proclamation that people are coming to the island will prove to be true.

8. Lindelof said that the word he would use to describe the final three hours of “LOST” is “water.”

IGN scored some pretty fun and insightful interviews with the show’s creators and writers during their coverage of PaleyFest 2010. Take a look:

The Paley Television Festival runs through March 14 at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills, CA.

2010
03.01

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Anchor Bay Entertainment presented MTV with an exclusive look at the new one-sheet (pictured above) for their upcoming psychological thriller After.Life. The poster is less creepy than the first and showcases its three lead actors: Christina Ricci, Liam Neeson, and Justin Long.

(UPDATE: To see first official After.Life trailer, click here)

After.Life, which held its premiere back in November as part of the AFI Fest in Los Angeles, is director Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo’s long-awaited feature film debut. The film’s plot centers on a young woman (Ricci), the victim of an automobile accident, who awakens to find that she is being prepped for burial by a mysterious mortician (Neeson) who insists that she is ready to crossover to the hereafter.

After.Life will have a limited theatrical run starting on April 9. The film is rated R for its disturbing images, language, and generous helping of Christina Ricci nudity.

2010
03.01

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Director Zack Snyder’s 3-D animated feature debut Guardians of Ga’Hoole is undergoing a name change to appeal to moviegoers who may think a Ga’Hoole is a terrorist sleeper cell. Warner Bros. is now calling the film Legend of the Guardians.

(UPDATE: To see images from the movie, go here. To find out about Ga’Hoole’s first official trailer, go here)

Guardians of the Ga’Hoole is the best-selling 14-book series by children’s author Kathryn Lasky. It tells the story of a young orphaned barn owl named Soren and his quest to escape a group of war-mongering owls by seeking refuge on the island of Ga’Hoole among wise and virtuous owls. The film adaptation is based on the first three volumes in the series: The Capture, The Journey, and The Rescue.

Voices for the project are provided by Jim Sturgess, Sam Neil, Hugo Weaving, Miriam Margolyes, Helen Mirren, Geoffrey Rush, Abbie Cornish, Emilie De Ravin, David Wenham, Ryan Kwanten, Jay Laga’aia, and Emily Barclay.

Legend of the Guardians is slated for release on Sept. 24.

2010
03.01

A Novel Trailer for ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’

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Seth Grahame-Smith took the publishing world by surprise last year with his clever Jane Austen-meets-the-living dead mash-up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (a film adaptation is in the works). The New York Times bestselling author is now sinking his teeth into American history with his new novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, available March 2 from publishing house Grand Central.

A trailer for the book has been circulating the web. Check it out:

The book’s official synopsis reads:

While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years.

Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.

Man, I really hope someone writes The Diary of Ann Frankenstein next. That might actually make me leave my 60″ Bravia to seek out a library card.

2010
03.01

Julianne Moore Finds ‘Shelter’ with Jonathan Rhys Meyer

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Looks like screenwriter Michael Cooney has been brainstorming with the voices in his head to dream up his latest split-personality thriller Shelter.

The man behind the 2003 gem Identity, has once again penned a suspenseful mind-fuck that centers on a schizophrenic murder suspect (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and the religious psychiatrist (Julianne Moore) working his case.

Check out the trailer:

The film’s synopsis reads:

Dr. Cara Jessup has made a career out of defying the notion of multiple personality disorders.  In the courtroom, her views and testimonies as an expert witness against multiple personality disorders have resulted in the death sentence of more than half a dozen murderers. Cara is devoted to science, but even her husband’s horrific murder did not cause Cara to lose her faith in God. Not so for her young daughter Samantha, a committed unbeliever.

After a particularly troubling court case, Cara’s father Dr. Harding introduces her to his new patient – Adam. The more she unearths about Adam, the more her life and those closest to her are endangered. As she explores Adam’s past, Cara’s world begins to fall apart and she is forced to question her strong beliefs in science and in God. Racing against the clock to solve the mystery surrounding Adam, Cara must not lose faith or it could have grave consequences for her and her family.

U.K. moviegoers can seek Shelter on April 9. Sadly, a U.S. release date has not been announced.

Julianne Moore can also be seen in the erotic-thriller Chloe. Click here to see an interview.

2010
03.01

Abbie Cornish & Robert De Niro Join Bradley Cooper in ‘Limitless’

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Abbie Cornish (The Legend of the Guardians: Owls of Ga’Hoole) and Oscar-winner Robert De Niro (Machete) are set to star opposite Bradley Cooper (Midnight Meat Train) in director Neil Burger’s (The Illusionist) new mind-bending thriller Limitless.

Based on the book “Dark Fields” by Alan Glynn, Limitless is the story of a struggling copy-writer (Cooper) who finds financial success after stealing an experimental pharmaceutical drug called MDT-48 that makes people smarter, but slows down their perception of time.

Cornish will play Cooper’s character’s ex-wife, while De Niro takes the role of the powerful financial mogul out to get him.

A drug that makes people smarter would probably make folks realize they shouldn’t be taking drugs. Sounds like a market-killer to me. I’ll stick to pushing meth, thank you.

2010
02.28

Vanessa Hudgens & Mary-Kate Olson Get ‘Beastly’ Together!

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Vanessa Hudgens and Mary-Kate Olson star in CBS Film’s re-imaging of the classic “Beauty and the Beast” tale Beastly.

Based on author Alex Flinn’s book of the same name, Beastly tells the story of an arrogant high school pretty-boy (Alex Pettyfer) whose face is made to look like R&B artist Seal after he pisses off the school’s goth-chick (Olson) who happens to be a witch. To break the spell, he must make nerdy-hipster classmate Lindy (Hudgens) fall in love with him before the year is through.

To learn more, check out the featurette:

Beastly is directed by Daniel Barnz (Phoebe in Wonderland) and costars Neil Patrick Harris, Peter Krause, Lisa Gay Hamilton, and Dakota Johnson (daughter to Don Johnson & Melanie Griffith).

Witchy Woman: Mary-Kate Olson

Witchy Woman: Mary-Kate Olson

Beastly arrives in theaters on July 30.

2010
02.27

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Box office champ Will Smith is eyeballing Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspicion for possible remake. The affable actor has expressed interest in producing the film and taking on the lead role originally played by Cary Grant.

Suspicion centers on a young bride’s fears that the charming—but broke—man she married is plotting to kill her to collect on her life insurance. The 1941 mystery-thriller is based on Francis Iles’ 1932 novel Before the Fact, which had a much darker ending than Hitchcock’s film.

The last time Smith played a white man’s role in a movie was in Barry Sonnenfield’s disastrous 1999 remake of the Wild Wild West. He played the part of Robert Conrad’s James T. West.

Personally, I’d like to see Smith take on a black actor’s role. Maybe Wesley Snipes’ part in Passenger 57 or Wesley Snipes in Boiling Point. Wesley Snipes is very black.

2010
02.27

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The Hollywood Blvd. Cinema in Chicago, IL hosted a 25th anniversary screening of Robert Zemeckis’ beloved 1985 classic Back to the Future.

The event included a Q&A and meet-and-greet with stars Christopher Lloyd (Doc Brown), Lea Thompson (Lorraine McFly), Claudia Wells (Jennifer Parker), and James Tolkan (Principal Strickland).

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After the screening, the actors all reportedly piled into the prop DoLorean DMC-12 parked outside the theater and attempted to head back to the ’80s to fire their agents—except for Llyod who simply went back to 2008 to buy better fire insurance for his home in Montecito, CA.

Check out the gallery:

2010
02.27

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Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova serves as a reference model for director Louis Leterrier’s CGI-produced Medusa in Warner Bros.’ upcoming remake of the 1981 fantasy-adventure classic Clash of the Titans.

While the idea of using a hot babe in such a manner may seem odd, it should be noted that fifth century artists often portrayed the gorgon as both beautiful and frightening.

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What you see here are scans from Empire magazine’s Clash of the Titans photo spread featuring Medusa’s transformation to snake woman. Admit it, you’d totally hit that.

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Clash of the Titans stars Sam Worthington (Avatar) as Perseus, Liam Neeson (After.Life) as Zeus, and Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter) as Hades, lord of the underworld. The film arrives in theaters on April 2.

To see a trailer, click here.