Twitnuuz: Movies & Cinema

What a the literary greats can teach us about the fine points of make-believe Famous writers have previously shared insights on symbolism, reading, and writing itself. Underlying many of these meditations is a broader curiosity about the intricate interplay…

We had a wonderful turnout for our first 1book140 contest, in which we asked readers to nominate, then vote, on what a 2012 equivalent to a “Longitude Prize” should be. We easily chose a shortlist of ten imaginative ideas. Interestingly, when it came…

Clive Owen’s film with the Man on Wire director spins a new tale out of well-worn material. BBC Films The Irish Republican Army has long been a favorite subject for filmmakers. Not only did it shape modern Irish history, but the organization’s internal…

Liam Neeson’s new film lacks a much-advertised battle. It also lacks much of a point. Open Road The person in charge of marketing Liam Neeson’s new survival thriller should to be fired. No one likes spoilers, but in this case, there’s something to be…

Would people care more about hockey if there were better players to root for? AP Images Every week, our panel of sports fans discusses a topic of the moment. For today’s conversation, Hampton Stevens (writer, ESPN and The Atlantic), Patrick Hruby (writer,…

Yesterday, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich turned heads when he announced his plan to establish a permanent moon base by the year 2020. Gingrich’s critics were swift to attack the practicality of his plan, as well as point out that he…

I stumbled over this trailer not too long ago for this upcomign film starring Guy Pearce. The movie flew under my radar for the most part until I took a look at this video. Yes, I have kicked myself repeatedly and you will too if you don’t watch….

We know this movie is coming. He’s said it for years, and has been boasting more confidence than usual within the last few months that this film would be made. This time the guy has gone on NATIONAL TELEVISION and let the world know that Jack Bauer…

A few more high-res images for Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’ have been uncovered and this film has once again put the fanboys in a mild to catstrophic frenzy. I’ve yet to see anything disappointing about this movie, thus far. Take a…

Ferris Bueller is an icon. No, a megastar. Anyone at least in the 30-ish age range knows who the man is and how he forever changed our hearts. I was going to hang it up for the day until I saw this: Real? Joke? Or is this part of a commercial, (more than…

Egg Hatchery? Why the hell is there an egg hatchery in Prometheus? This photo doesn’t answer many questions but creates new ones instead. And If you notice there’s that emphasis on that giant head statue thing. Via: MovieWeb Prometheus will…

Terminator 5 has a lot of variables. Is Justin Lin directing or not? Depends on who you ask. Okay, is Arnold ‘Governator’ Schwarzeneggar gonna return to star? Depends on who you ask. Fine, Will it return the series to an R-rating? Abso-freakingFucking-lutely….

There’s quite a few rumors making the rounds on the web today. A few of them are related to the filming schedules for some of the Avengers’ solo movies and Neal McDonough, who played Dum Dum Dugan in Captain America, says that Captain America…

The Rock says get your rood poo candy asses over here and look at this trailer for his new movie while he flexes his pecks and rides bees. Wait, he’s serious! This is for a movie! It’s calling itself a sequel to “Journey to the Center…

Evangeline Lilly. My eyes never get enough of her and I often find myself being absorbed into the deep emerald ocean she has for her own peepers. Last time I posted about her the poor girl was a bit apprehensive about her role in Peter Jackson’s…

After successfully beating up on countless European henchmen in Taken and Unknown, Liam Neeson is now set to face off against some hungry wolves in The Grey. The survival thriller opens at 3,185 locations this weekend, and should claim first place ahead…

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows led the overseas box office for the third-straight weekend, this time dropping 38 percent to $18.3 million. The movie added $2.5 million in Brazil, and also continued to play well in China (though official numbers aren’t…

After two years in a row in which the Best Picture race was populated with a handful of blockbusters, The Help is the only one of 2011’s nine nominees that has so far earned more than $100 million. On average the movies have made just $57.6 million prior…

Underworld Awakening sunk its teeth in to the top spot at the box office this weekend, though that didn’t stop Red Tails from also putting up strong numbers in its debut. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and Haywire were less impressive, though,…

The late week indications that Red Tails might pull off an upset this weekend proved to be unfounded, as Underworld Awakening easily took first place at the box office on Friday. Red Tails did have an above-average turnout, though, and it should wind…

Like the dreams of Inception, The Words is a story about a story within a story. On the top level, there is a plot featuring Dennis Quaid and Olivia Wilde. In the middle, there’s Jeremy Irons, Bradley Cooper and Zoe Saldana. And on the bottom, there’s…

With the exception of True Blood creator Alan Ball’s very serious-sounding Banshee, today’s TV Bits is all about the funny. After the jump: Dwight Schrute could leave Dunder Mifflin for Schrute Farms Paul Feig will direct Goldie Hawn in HBO’s…

While Sundance is best known for movies that sell for millions and stir up controversial topics, most of the movies are simple, well-written, well-acted films that are solid, but often get lost in the mix. Lynn Shelton‘s follow-up to Humpday,…

Craig Zobel‘s Compliance made me want to walk out of the theater. Not as a reaction to the film’s quality, however. On the contrary, Compliance is actually quite accomplished. Actually, it’s so effective it made me want to walk out because…

Briefly: It is probably shallow to become more interested in a movie when the rating is R rather than PG-13. But then, the action/comedy/romance This Means War looks fairly shallow, so my slightly elevated interest in the movie might be a perfect match…

With all the fuss about this spring’s The Hunger Games, I’d almost forgotten all about Josh Hutcherson‘s other blockbuster franchise, which began in 2008 with Journey to the Center of the Earth. But Hutcherson hasn’t, of course,…

If Stanley Kubrick were still alive, Room 237 would make him extremely happy. Directed by Rodney Ascher, the experimental documentary gives the legendary filmmaker a ton of credit, maybe too much at times, as it explores several wild, and not so wild,…

The Great Snow White Showdown of 2012 has been brewing for about a year and a half now, but it looks like we’ll have to wait just a tiny bit longer to see how things shake out. Mirror Mirror has pushed its release date back by two weeks from March…

2012 looks like it could be a year with a particularly strong crop of movies, and the b-picture isn’t getting left out of the action. This week alone we’ve got The Grey and Man on a Ledge (with the former being a lot more satisfying than the…

Sequels! Everyone loves them. That is, if we define ‘everyone’ as studio and production executives who don’t like to take risks, and so are prone to throwing money at new projects that are recognizably related to old projects that have…

The Reveille cohorts are back in business together. In one of his first major deals since taking the reins of National Geographic as president, Howard Owens has signed a three-for-one project deal with Ben Silverman’s Electus. It includes the development…

Embattled News Corp. scion James Murdoch is to ankle the board of drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, the company announced today. GSK said Murdoch would not stand for re-election in order to focus on his role at BSkyB and in light of his decision to move to the…

Lionsgate-Summit Offers Discounted Tickets For Films This Weekend EXCLUSIVE: To movieogers on the coasts, the Marcus Theatre chain isn’t a household name. But people in flyover country go to the more than 50 first-run theatre locations in Illinois,…

Maïwenn’s Cannes Jury Prize winner Poliss leads the nominees for France’s César Awards with 13, including all the major categories and several acting nods for the ensemble. The Artist garnered 10 nominations including Best Film, Director,…

Revolver Entertainment and Picturehouse Entertainment have jointly acquired all UK rights to Josh Radnor’s Liberal Arts and Bart Layton’s feature documentary The Imposter. Both films premiered in Sundance this week. Liberal Arts stars Radnor along…

London, 27 January 2012: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is delighted to announce that John Hurt will receive the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award at the Orange British Academy Film Awards ceremony at London’s Royal Opera…

Wrongly convicted of espionage, Guy Pearce turns out to be the government’s go-to guy when the president’s daughter is trapped aboard an orbital maximum security prison. Executive producer Luc Besson co-wrote with first-time feature directors…

The Web is abuzz over this 10-second Super Bowl clip-tease featuring Matthew Broderick as a grown-up Ferris Bueller. What might he be advertising?

EXCLUSIVE: Former Hollywood agent John Fogelman just phoned to tell me that his FactoryMade Ventures and JC Penney are announcing a 3-year partnership on Friday. The retailer announced on Wednesday it is rebranding itself “jcpenney” and will…

The found footage “genre” has become trend in Hollywood, with new Paranormal Activity’s replacing the Saw films every year, and many more to come. When it comes to horror found footage films, Sundance has a strong history, with Blair Witch Project premiering…

I’m here all the way to the very end. Even though this is my sixth year at the Sundance Film Festival, for those past five years straight, I’ve attended all 10 days of the fest. Sundance (and most major film festivals) last a full 10 days, which is quite…

“The island is real.” Back before 3D started making its way to respectable films and all the rage hit the big screen, there was the gimmick theme park ride of Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D with Brendan Fraser and Josh Hutcherson. While the…

We’re still waiting for another trailer for The Dark Knight Rises to surface, but a read pointed out that franchise fan Doğan Can Gündoğdu has crafted something that just might whet your appetite. Though there haven’t been any opening credit sequences…

Towards the end of December we caught another trailer for the sci-fi film Escape from M.S. One, but here in the United States the film will be known as Lockout. And now we have another trailer for domestic audiences that brings the action again. The film…

In 2010 I found myself completely impressed by the claustrophobic thriller Buried starring Ryan Reynolds which takes place entirely in a coffin buried underground. Now a similar concept comes along in the form of Brake, a new thriller starring Stephen…

Since his 2008 debut Synecdoche, New York, writer/director Charlie Kaufman hasn’t gone behind the camera again, but now the filmmaker will be in the director’s chair very soon with the musical comedy Frank or Francis gearing up for production. Steve Carell,…

After being announced last summer, it looks like Paramount Pictures and Platinum Dunes are moving forward with their horror comedy The Hauntrepreneur as Variety reports Russell Brand is now attached to the project. This comes after Russell Brand stepped…

The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) [video-break]The Blooper: Judd Apatow shouts ever more offensive line cues to his off-screen wife Leslie Mann (1:26) Best Detail: Mann balks at the ecstasy line: “Honey, we have kids!”

Star Wars (1977) The Movie: Yes, the movie. And the toys, the novels, the soundtracks, costumes, the endless imaginary lightsaber duels. Feel the force. Moment That Stuck In The Memory: Frankly, we were hooked during the opening seconds, as…

Adrian Veidt Wealth: $74bn From: Entertainment, self-help, energy, technology, genetics, cosmetics As Seen In: Watchmen (2009) The Veidt tower, some 90-storeys tall, pierces the skyline of New York city. A golden V symbol sits atop the tower as an ever-prominent…

Night Of The Living Dead (1968) The Movie: George Romero rewrote the rulebook for low-budget filmmaking with offal, pessimism and an army of the undead that grows and grows  with every passing year. Too bad a cock-up on the copyright front meant…

Early ambitions During a 2010 interview with The Playlist, Tarantino made the first indication that he was interested in shooting a western. However, his take on the classic genre would take aim at the elements of history many Americans would rather forget….

3 Idiots (2009) The Movie: A wickedly funny coming of age drama, in which a trio of engineering students make their way through college via a series of run-ins with their irascible dean. It might sound like a hackneyed set-up, but the pathos and humour…

Horses The Image: It looks like an experiment with polyjuice potion gone awry doesn’t it? Not sure whether Harry’s miserable exclamation is a result of the accident or Hermione’s godawful pun… Artistic Flair: Good, but for the…

A Big Year Right now, Tom Hardy is what you’d call ‘on it’. With a flurry of projects due in multiplexes over the next 12 months, the Hammersmith-born actor who used to twist himself into anxious, self-loathing, substance-abusing knots…

Gregg Kilday The indie drama, about complicated family relationships, will mark the feature directing debut of Josh Boone.read more

THR Staff Liam Neeson is praised for his performance as the leader of a group of stranded men fighting against the elements and a terrifying pack of wolves.read more

Gregg Kilday The winners’ films will be showcased at AFI Fest 2012.read more

Borys Kit The pitch hails from “The Mentalist” writer Ken Woodruff.read more

Mike Barnes A native of Mexico, he played Indians in the ‘70s films “Jeremiah Johnson” and “Ulzana’s Raid,” two highlights in a 40-year career as a character actor.read more

Rebecca Ford The Anchor Bay thriller stars Cage and January Jones as a married couple, whose world is turned upside down when they enlist the help of a hitman, played by Guy Pearce.read more

Pamela McClintock The action pic opens against Summit thriller “Man on a Ledge” and Lionsgate’s Katherine Heigl action-comedy “One for the Money”; award contenders “The Artist” and “The Descendants” make major expansions.read more

Sophie A. Schillaci The Aussie actor discussed his latest film with THR, which will hit theaters nationwide on Friday, Jan. 27. read more

Duane Byrge This low budget coming of age story follows two L.A. teens as they forge a unique friendship and face big decisions. read more

Todd McCarthy Rodney Ascher’s doc investigates the hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror film “The Shining.”read more

I can’t decide what’s more amazing: That we’re already in the ninth month of 1book140, or that it’s taken us this long to read a graphic novel. It’s a genre about which I’m both entirely ignorant and avidly interested. (How do I square that circle? I’m…

The Times chronicles boxer Claressa Shields from Flint, Michigan. It’s amazing at the end to see her coach say when he gets done with her she’s “going to be a real lady.” It’s amazing how much that word—lady—has changed. A century ago it definitely…

There’s not much time left in the Broadway run of David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish. I understand that a West Coast tour will happen later this year, followed perhaps by a movie. Whenever and wherever you might have a chance, my advice is: See it. My wife…

The new book Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention tells of steampunk adventures using meticulously crafted, faux-documentary imagery. Kate Reade’s airship Aegis, en route to the North Pole to rescue survivors of the ill-fated Italia expedition,…

Julian Palacz’s Algorithmic Search for Love, an interactive digital media installation, works like a search engine; viewers can search a collection of films for a certain spoken phrase and the program plays back a montage of all those moments in sequence….

An interview with Lionel Shriver, whose novel has been turned into a film that goes into wide release this week. Osilliscope We Need to Talk About Kevin expands to more theaters this week. The movie, based on a 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver, follows Eva…

For Pilgrimage, the photographer turned her camera away from celebrities and toward important places in our cultural history. AP Images Before doors opened to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Annie Leibovitz: Pilgrimage, a crowd of reporters gathered…

While January is a relatively slow time of year for music, The Big Pink have recently unleashed their newest album, entitled Future This. Sounds like a vague threat of some sort, doesn’t it? And that would be in keeping with the posture of the band’s…

As the new film shows, updates of the bard’s tales require both excess and respect for the text. Weinstein Co. Ralph Fiennes’s Coriolanus, now in theaters, drips with masculine aggression from the film’s very first moments. A tattooed man runs his blade…