"Tollbooth" never enters original territory (Reuters)
February 24, 2006Reuters - Hmmm, let's see, a Jewish household peopled by exasperated, loving parents and three daughters, coping with such issues as interfaith relationships and familial breaking away. Sounds familiar, no? Like a fiddler on the roof, only not.
Oscar's foreign films make strange bedfellows (Reuters)
February 24, 2006Reuters - You've got Palestinian suicide bombers, young men about to explode in a South African shantytown, Nazis, Italian incest victims and World War One soldiers.
Corbett Trades Movie Scripts for Music (AP)
February 24, 2006
AP - This just might be the role actor John Corbett was born to play.
S. Korean Movie Centers on Gay Theme (AP)
February 24, 2006AP - Just as "Brokeback Mountain" has become a pop-culture phenomenon in the United States, a gay-themed movie has racked up big box-office in South Korea.
"Brokeback" rides into popular culture (Reuters)
February 24, 2006
Reuters - It began as a simple love story
between two gay cowboys that movie critics wondered whether
America would embrace.
RiverRun Film Fest to Honor Ned Beatty (AP)
February 24, 2006
AP - The RiverRun International Film Festival next month will honor Ned Beatty, star of 1972's adventure-thriller "Deliverance."
Spidey's Dark Side
February 24, 2006Spider-Man, a bad guy?! The webslinger's return to the big screen is more than a year away, but director Sam Raimi has released the first teaser pic from Spider-Man 3 — and it looks like Peter Parker's alter ego has eschewed his trademark red-and-blue gear for an all-black tights get-up. What's the deal? The suit-swap has fans of the movies/Spidey comics buzzing that, although little has been confirmed about Spider-Man 3's plot, the new outfit suggests action may revolve around the Venom comic-book storyline. Venom is born when a temporary black costume that Spidey dumps springs to life and pairs up with a disgraced journalist who has an ax to grind with Our Hero … In other superhero — or rather superheroine — news, rumors of a Supergirl flick have begun anew, thanks to the growing excitement over this summer's Superman Returns. Reportedly at the top of the list to play Kara Zor-El/Linda Lee: The O.C. star and tabloid frienemy of Paris Hilton, Mischa Barton.
"I (BARK!) Want to Thank … "
February 24, 2006As sweet as it would be to carry home one of the little golden guys on Oscar night, Capote Best Actor nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman may be having mixed feelings about his status as the favorite to win. Seems when he was a teen, Hoffman and a group of pals — including Capote director Bennett Miller and screenwriter Dan Futterman— made a bet: If any of them ever won an Oscar, the winner would have to get up on the stage and bark his entire acceptance speech. "We were very serious," Hoffman says. "Literally, we were like, 'I'll do that.'" And recently, Hoffman says, one of his old pals reminded him of the bet. "The thing is, you can't just bark, you have to bark until they pull you off (the stage). Let's hope I don't have to get up there." Hoffman may not be alone in his humiliation though … Miller and Futterman are also Oscar nominees, which could make for one dog day evening on March 5.
Phoenix a Clancy Hero?
February 24, 2006Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix is reportedly in talks to set sail as the star of the next Tom Clancy movie adaptation, Without Remorse. The movie, to be directed by John Singleton (Four Brothers), revolves around Navy SEAL-turned-CIA operative and Viet Nam vet John Clark, who returns to Southeast Asia to rescue American soldiers listed as MIA — oh yeah, and to thwart a group of drug smugglers who have threatened his girlfriend. The character appeared in earlier Clancy book movies Clear and Present Danger and The Sum of all Fears, played respectively by Willem Dafoe and Liev Schreiber, and was to make his solo debut in a mid-'90s version of Without Remorse that never made it past pre-production.
Bygones Boost Blonde Bond
February 24, 2006Sure, zealous fans are banding together on the Internet to protest his 007-worthiness, he's missing a couple of teeth, Hollywood's A-list actresses weren't exactly lining up to star opposite him, he can't drive his own supercool spy guy car — and those revealing full-frontal pics of him floating around the Web seem to have been snapped in, ahem, rather chilly temperatures. But there is a bright spot of news for newbie James Bond Daniel Craig: A couple of former 007s have, well, not exactly leapt, but sauntered to his defense. Pierce Brosnan, who Craig replaces as the most recent Bond in this fall's Casino Royale remake, says too much fuss has been made of Craig's on-set scrape that led to two missing teeth. "I got stitched up and sewn up a few times; it just didn't get in the papers," Brosnan says. "There's going to be mishaps." Meanwhile, old school Bond Roger Moore argues that the Craig naysayers should reserve judgment for the finished product. "He's a helluva good actor," says Moore. "So why attack him?"
German theater chain yanks controversial 'Wolves' (Reuters)
February 24, 2006Reuters - German multiplex giant CinemaxX has pulled the Turkish action blockbuster "Valley of the Wolves: Iraq" from theaters after accusations that the film, which stars Billy Zane and Gary Busey, is anti-Semitic and anti-American.
Comencini's Oscar nom beats the gender odds (Reuters)
February 24, 2006Reuters - What is it with Italian female directors and the Oscars? In 78 years, only three women -- Italy's Lena Wertmuller ("Seven Beauties"), Australia's Jane Campion ("The Piano"), and Hollywood's Sofia Coppola ("Lost in Translation") -- have been nominated for best director.
For some, Murray docu is "Unknown" quantity (Reuters)
February 24, 2006Reuters - As presented in the documentary "Unknown White Male," which Wellspring Media is releasing Friday (February 24) in Los Angeles and New York, the story of Doug Bruce is so weirdly mysterious that it would strain the credibility of even the most logic-defying of soap operas.
West finds 'Vacancy' at Screen Gems (Reuters)
February 24, 2006Reuters - Director Simon West, whose "When a Stranger Calls" recently opened at No. 1 for Screen Gems, is booking another reservation with the Sony genre label.
Talkington in her 'League' with Fox pic (Reuters)
February 24, 2006Reuters - Fox 2000 has tapped Amy Talkington to pen an untitled Junior League-themed project.
Screenwriter Weitz putting 'Game' face on (Reuters)
February 24, 2006Reuters - Chris Weitz has signed on to adapt and produce Neil Strauss' best-selling seduction tome "The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists" for Columbia Pictures.
4th "Potter" is No. 5 on all-time overseas list (Reuters)
February 24, 2006
Reuters - Warner Bros. Pictures'
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" has crossed the $600
million mark in international receipts and ranks fifth among
all-time international releases.
Disney finds ghost writer in Jacobs (Reuters)
February 24, 2006Reuters - Oscar-nominated screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs has been tapped to rewrite "The Banshee and Fin Magee" for Walt Disney Pictures.
Rob Reiner Denies Impropriety in Preschool (AP)
February 24, 2006AP - Hollywood director Rob Reiner denied any wrongdoing Thursday in response to recent scrutiny about the potential misuse of taxpayer funds for a June ballot initiative he is spearheading.
New Directors marks 35th anniversary (Reuters)
February 24, 2006Reuters - The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art's New Directors/New Films series will celebrate its 35th anniversary with an international collection of projects, a roundtable of featured helmers and a documentary retrospective.