LOS ANGELES (AP) A bloody Western and the comedic tale of a trash-talking teddy bear lead nominees for the 2013 MTV Movie Awards.

MTV announced Tuesday that "Django Unchained" and "Ted" each have seven bids at the annual kudo-fest, set to air live on April 14 from the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City, Calif.

"Silver Linings Playbook" earned six nominations and "The Dark Knight Rises" collected five. Other top nominees include "The Avengers," ''Skyfall," ''Pitch Perfect" and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."

Fans can vote online for the winners in all categories, including the two newest ones: Best shirtless performance and best musical moment.

Double nominee Rebel Wilson will host the show. She'll be joined by Will Ferrell, who will receive MTV's inaugural Comic Genius Award.

___

Online:

www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/2013/

Read More

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Popular vampire movie "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2" was savaged at the Razzie Awards on Saturday, earning seven "wins" in the annual contest for the worst movies and performances of the year.

"Twilight" star Kristen Stewart, co-star Taylor Lautner and director Bill Condon were awarded Golden Raspberry statuettes for their parts in the final installment of the blockbuster film franchise. That film alone has taken an impressive $829 million at the global box office.

Robert Pattinson narrowly escaped a personal mauling, but the entire "Twilight Saga" cast earned a Razzie for "worst screen ensemble."

The Razzies, created in 1980 as an antidote to the backslapping of Hollywood's glitzy awards season, also singled out R&B star Rihanna for scorn.

The singer was deemed worst supporting actress for her debut movie role as a sailor in 2012 sci-fi action movie "Battleship."

American comic actor Adam Sandler, a frequent Razzie target, was awarded not-so-coveted golden raspberry statuettes for worst actor and worst screenplay for his comedy "That's My Boy" about a father reuniting with his long-abandoned son.

Last year, Sandler swept all 10 Razzie categories for his comedy "Jack and Jill," in which he played both the male and female leads.

The winners rarely turn up to the Razzie ceremony, which was held on Saturday night in a Hollywood hotel near the Dolby Theatre, where the 85th annual Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday.

The nominees and winners of the Razzies were chosen by more than 650 members of the Golden Raspberry Foundations and 70,000 votes cast on movie review website Rotten Tomatoes.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) The "Twilight" team finally has earned some love or loathing from Team Razzies.

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2" was picked as last year's worst picture Saturday by the Razzies, an Academy Awards spoof that hands out prizes for Hollywood's lousiest movies on the eve of the Oscars.

The finale to the blockbuster supernatural romance dominated the Razzies with seven awards, including worst actress for Kristen Stewart, supporting actor for Taylor Lautner, director for Bill Condon and worst screen couple for Lautner and child co-star Mackenzie Foy.

Adam Sandler was named worst actor for the raunchy comedy "That's My Boy," his second-straight win after 2011's "Jack and Jill," which swept all 10 Razzie categories a year ago. Pop singer Rihanna won worst supporting actress for the action dud "Battleship."

"Twilight" movies had been well represented in Razzie nominations over the years but had not won any key awards there. Razzie voters joke that as with "The Lord of the Rings" finale winning best picture at the Academy Awards, they were waiting for the last "Twilight" flick on which to heap their scorn.

"I have a pet theory, which is that the box office on 'Twilight' films is very impressive, but my theory is that instead of 40 million individual girls going to see it, it's 8 million girls going to see it five times each. People who love those movies just adore them," said Razzies founder John Wilson. "I believe the attitude of people who really love 'Twilight' movies toward this subject is very similar to the pomposity with which the Academy Awards addresses the whole rest of the world. Our whole existence is all about making fun of pompous, so 'Twilight' really is right up our alley."

The "Twilight" finale also won for worst screen ensemble and worst remake, rip-off or sequel. For worst picture, it beat out "Battleship," ''That's My Boy," the family flick "The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure" and Eddie Murphy's comedy flop "A Thousand Words."

Stewart's worst-actress prize came for both "Twilight" and her fairy-tale update "Snow White and the Huntsman."

In the five "Twilight" movies, Stewart stars as sullen teen Bella Swan, who falls for ageless vampire hunk Edward Cullen (worst-actor nominee Robert Pattinson) and finds herself at the center of a love triangle with him and her childhood pal, werewolf stud Jacob Black (Lautner).

Stewart set a consistent standard of emotional stoniness throughout the "Twilight" movies, Wilson said.

"Acting should involve having an expression on your face, and she is blank, other than the morose kind of half-Goth thing her character does," Wilson said. "I didn't realize Snow White and Bella were soul sisters, because of the very limited range of what she can do. I think it was Dorothy Parker who said about Katharine Hepburn that she runs the 'gamut of emotions from A to B.' Kristen Stewart is so expressionless she might as well be a brick wall."

Sandler's "That's My Boy," which also won the worst-screenplay Razzie, flopped at the box office and continues a gradual decline in receipts for the comic actor's movies.

"He's an enormous star who is on what I call the 'down-alator' of his career," Wilson said. "He's about to step off the same cliff Eddie Murphy stepped off about 10 years ago. Eddie Murphy has never come back, and Murphy is more talented."

Read More

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actress Megan Fox has been cast in the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie, according to filmmaker Michael Bay, who directed the actress in two Transformers films.

The two appear to have resolved their differences after Fox compared Bay to Hitler in a magazine interview. The actress was replaced by British model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in the third Transformer film after making the comment.

"TMNT: we are bringing Megan Fox back into the family!" Bay wrote on his website.

Fox's agent confirmed that the 26-year-old new mother would play April O'Neil, the crime-fighting turtles' human friend.

In an interview with the British magazine "Wonderland" in 2009 Fox described Bay as nightmare to work with.

"He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is," she said.

Bay responded in a 2011 GQ interview saying executive producer Steven Spielberg had advised him to fire Fox.

"Megan loves to get a response," he said. "And she does it in kind of the wrong way."

Bay has said that one of the original creators of the Ninja Turtles was helping to develop the script for the film that is due to be released in May 2014.

(Reporting by Noreen O'Donnell; editing by Patricia Reaney and Jackie Frank)

Read More

BERLIN (AP) A Romanian drama that centers on a woman's effort to cover up her son's responsibility for an accident in which a boy is fatally injured won the Berlin film festival's top Golden Bear award on Saturday.

"Child's Pose," directed by Calin Peter Netzer, emerged as the winner from a field of 19 films that included a strong eastern European contingent this year the 63rd edition of the event, the first of the year's major European film festivals. Netzer said he was "a little bit speechless" at the award.

The tale of corruption and guilt depicts the efforts of an upper-class mother, played by Luminita Gheorghiu, to bribe witnesses to give false statements and keep her son the driver, who was speeding at the time of the accident out of prison.

"This is about a ... pathological relationship between mother and son," he told reporters later. "The rest is really just a backdrop," Netzer told reporters, stressing that it is "a very universal story" and that "corruption is not something which is only taking place in Romania."

A runner-up Silver Bear went to "An Episode In the Life of an Iron Picker," in which a Bosnian Roma, or gypsy, couple re-enact their own struggle to get treatment after their baby died in the womb. The movie was made on a tiny budget by Danis Tanovic, whose "No Man's Land" won the Oscar for best foreign-language film in 2002.

Nazif Mujic, the husband, was voted best actor by the festival jury.

"Of course, I'm not an actor I simply played my own story. I played myself in my family. I don't know what I should say," Mujic, who says that he still has no regular job and collects scrap metal as he did at the time the drama played out, told 3sat television.

Best actress was Paulina Garcia for the title role in Chilean director Sebastian Lelio's "Gloria." Garcia plays a divorcee at the end of her 50s trying to stave off loneliness, rushing into singles' parties but struggling to overcome disappointment.

American filmmaker David Gordon Green was honored as best director for "Prince Avalanche," a movie about two road workers whiling their way through a long, monotonous summer with little more than each other for company. It's a remake of an Icelandic film, "Either Way."

The best script award went to dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi for "Closed Curtain," a movie he co-directed with longtime friend Kamboziya Partovi in defiance of a ban on filmmaking.

The film, in which the two directors play the main roles, reflects Panahi's frustration at being unable to work officially it's set inside an isolated seaside villa, much of the time with the curtains drawn.

Partovi accepted the award on behalf of Panahi, who wasn't allowed to leave Iran, telling the audience that "it's never been possible to stop a thinker and a poet."

The prize for outstanding artistic achievement went to Aziz Zhambakiyev for his camerawork in Kazakh director Emir Baigazin's "Harmony Lessons," which centers on a teenager tormented by his schoolmates.

The festival's Alfred Bauer prize for innovation went to Canadian director Denis Cote's "Vic+Flo Saw a Bear."

A seven-member jury led by filmmaker Wong Kar-wai chose the winners.

Wong said the jury gave "special mentions" to two more films that didn't win awards, acknowledging "the integrity of their vision and their conviction that cinema can make a difference."

Those were Matt Damon's Gus Van Sant-directed drama on shale gas drilling, "Promised Land," and South African director Pia Marais' "Layla Fourie."

Read More

NEW YORK (AP) From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama, C-SPAN is taking a look at first ladies.

On Monday, the public service network is launching a 35-part series on first ladies that will stretch for a year. Almost all of the first ladies will get a single 90-minute episode.

Executive Producer Mark Farkas says the stories are an interesting way to look at political and social history. Dolly Madison and Eleanor Roosevelt were very influential. There also have been tragic figures, like Jane Pierce, whose son was killed shortly before husband Franklin's inauguration. She didn't make an appearance as first lady for two years.

C-SPAN is working with the White House Historical Association on the series.

Read More

BERLIN (AP) Martial arts epic "The Grandmaster" kicked off the Berlin Film Festival on Thursday, introducing an international audience to Yip Man, the man who mentored Bruce Lee and brought kung fu to the masses.

The movie by Wong Kar-wai is running out of competition because the director also heads this year's jury.

Shanghai-born Wong and his fellow jurors among them American actor-director Tim Robbins will have to choose from 19 movies competing for prizes at the 63rd Berlinale.

These include the Steven Soderbergh thriller "Side Effects" with Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Gus Van Sant's film "Promised Land" about the shale gas industry starring Matt Damon.

Juliette Binoche portrays a troubled French sculptor in "Camille Claudel 1915," while "Gold" tells a tale of German immigrants seeking their luck in late 19th-century North America.

Competing also are romantic thriller "The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman" with Shia LaBeouf and Evan Rachel Wood, and "Closed Curtain" by Iranian film maker Jafar Panahi, who was barred from leaving Iran to attend the festival.

The winner of one award has already been announced. French filmmaker Claude Lanzmann will be honored for his life's work. Lanzmann's nine-and-a-half hour documentary "Shoah" about the horrors of the genocide of European Jews was screened at the festival in 1986.

In total more than 400 films will be shown at the Feb. 7-17 event known for its focus on social and political works.

Jury president Wong said ahead of the festival that Berlin was about the "experience of a true pleasure of sharing ideas" in the cinema.

Speaking Thursday about his own work, Wong told reporters that the biggest challenge while making "The Grandmaster" was the fact that he doesn't practice martial arts himself.

Wong said he was nevertheless drawn to the figure of Yip Man, Bruce Lee's mentor, because of his fortitude in the face of a lifetime of hardship, beginning with his childhood in Imperial China through the revolutionary years and ending in Hong Kong under British colonial rule.

"His life basically is like the modern history of the early days of our republic," said Wong. "During all these periods you can see how a martial artist stands up for his principles and his honor in front of all this hardship"

The international cut of "The Grandmaster" premiering in Berlin has been shortened from the version released in China last year. The film stars Tony Leung ("In the Mood for Love") and Zhang Ziyi, best known internationally for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

____

Festival website: http://www.berlinale.de

Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) "Zero Dark Thirty" hunted down the top spot at the box office and easily won it.

Sony Pictures' controversial Osama bin Laden raid drama nabbed first place with $24 million in its first weekend in wide release, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The film, which opened in a limited run last month, earned five Oscar nominations last week, including best picture, original screenplay and actress for Jessica Chastain as a dogged CIA operative.

Open Road Films' horror parody "A Haunted House" starring Marlon Wayans debuted in second place with a solid $18.8 million. The Warner Bros. mobster drama "Gangster Squad," starring Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling as off-the-books police officers battling a mob boss played by Sean Penn, opened below expectations in third place with $16.7 million.

After earning Oscar nominations last week, several Academy Awards contenders benefited at the box office. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences moved up the unveiling of the Oscar nominations to Thursday, three days ahead of Sunday's Golden Globes, Hollywood's second-biggest awards ceremony organized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

"The timing is great because there are a host of these awards contenders still out there," said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst at Hollywood.com. "'Django Unchained,' 'Les Miserables,' 'Lincoln,' 'Silver Linings Playbook' and a few others are still out there. Which movies win tonight at the Golden Globes will definitely receive a boost going forward."

At the Golden Globes, "Zero Dark Thirty" will be up against "Argo," ''Django Unchained," ''Life of Pi" and "Lincoln" in the best motion picture drama category. It's also competing against those films for the best picture prize at the Oscars ceremony on Feb. 24, as well as "Amour," ''Beasts of the Southern Wild," ''Les Miserables" and "Silver Linings Playbook."

Controversies surrounding "Zero Dark Thirty," which depicts waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, may have helped create buzz for the film. Several lawmakers accused the CIA of misleading "Zero Dark Thirty" filmmakers by allegedly telling them such interrogation methods helped track down terrorist mastermind bin Laden in 2011.

"There are so many facets of 'Zero Dark Thirty' that have created interest in it," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution at Sony. "Ultimately, it's a great film. That's the piece that you really need to have to get this great of a result. I think it's a film that's not only going to do well in the marketplace but also be talked about for years to come."

The weekend's third place finisher, "Gangster Squad," similarly attracted controversy last year after the mass shooting at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater left 12 dead. Warner Bros. pulled the movie's trailer and delayed the release out of sensitivity because the film originally featured a scene with mobsters ruthlessly shooting into a movie theater audience.

The entire sequence featuring Brolin's character being ambushed inside famed Hollywood movie palace Grauman's Chinese Theater was removed from "Gangster Squad" and replaced with a new scene, which cost millions of dollars to reshoot, set in Los Angeles' Chinatown neighborhood. The rest of the film's many bullet-ridden Tommy gun battles remained intact.

"There's nothing that indicates violence was an issue," said Jeff Goldstein, general sales manager at Warner Bros. "I don't think that's the case here. The exit polling tells us that people liked what they saw in 'Gangster Squad.' I think we'll have a nice hold going into the holiday weekend where people will be more available and have more leisure time."

Internationally, "Life of Pi" dominated in 68 territories with $35.8 million, bringing its worldwide total to $452.1 million. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" followed closely behind with $35.1 million in 62 territories. The worldwide total for the first "Hobbit" chapter is now $886.1 million. "Les Mis" earned $35.6 million in 23 territories, giving it a $234.3 million worldwide total.

Overall business in North America this weekend came in at $142 million, up more than 7 percent from the same period last year, when the Mark Wahlberg thriller "Contraband" led the box office with $24.3 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com. It marks the third weekend in a row for Hollywood when business has been up over last year.

___

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Zero Dark Thirty," $24 million ($1.2 million international).

2. "A Haunted House," $18.8 million.

3. "Gangster Squad," $16.7 million ($9.1 million international).

4. "Django Unchained," $11 million.

5. "Les Miserables," $10.1 million ($25.5 million international).

6. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," $9 million ($26.1 million international).

7. "Lincoln," $6.3 million.

8. "Parental Guidance," $6.1 million ($4.6 million international).

9. "Texas Chainsaw 3-D," $5.1 million ($1.2 million international).

10. "Silver Linings Playbook," $5 million.

___

Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "Life of Pi," $33.2 million.

2. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," $26.1 million.

3. "Les Miserables," $25.5 million.

4. "Jack Reacher," $17.8 million.

5. "Wreck-It Ralph," $11.6 million.

6. "Gangster Squad," $9.1 million.

7. "Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola," $6.5 million.

8. (tie) "Anna Karenina," $6.3 million.

8. (tie) "The Impossible," $6.3 million.

9. "Man On The Edge," $6.2 million.

10. "Cloud Atlas," $5.6 million.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang.

Read More

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) Steven Spielberg had a great day at the Academy Awards nominations, where his Civil War saga "Lincoln" led with 12 nominations.

It was not so great for Kathryn Bigelow, Tom Hooper and Ben Affleck, whose films did well but surprised dare we say shocked? Hollywood by failing to score directing nominations for the three filmmakers.

"I just think they made a mistake," said Alan Arkin, a supporting-actor nominee for Affleck's Iran hostage-crisis tale "Argo."

"Lincoln," ''Argo," Bigelow's Osama bin Laden manhunt thriller and Hooper's Victor Hugo musical "Les Miserables" landed among the nine best-picture contenders Thursday.

Also nominated for the top honor were the old-age love story "Amour"; the independent hit "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; the slave-revenge narrative "Django Unchained"; the shipwreck story "Life of Pi"; and the lost-souls romance "Silver Linings Playbook."

A mostly predictable bunch. But it's baffling how Bigelow the first woman to earn the directing Oscar for her 2009 best-picture winner "The Hurt Locker" missed out on a nomination for one of last year's most-acclaimed films.

"Yes, it was a surprise," Spielberg said of Bigelow. "But I've been surprised myself through the years, so I know what it feels like."

Spielberg was snubbed for a directing slot on 1985's "The Color Purple," which earned 11 nominations, including best picture. He also was overlooked for director on 1975's "Jaws," another best-picture nominee.

"I never question the choices the academy branches make, because I've been in the same place that Kathryn and Ben find themselves today," said Spielberg, who finally got his Oscar respect in the 1990s with best-picture and director wins for "Schindler's List" and another directing trophy for "Saving Private Ryan." ''I'm grateful if I'm nominated, and I've never felt anything other than gratitude even when I'm not gratitude for at least having been able to make the movie. So I never question the choices."

Especially this time, when "Lincoln" has positioned itself as the film to beat at the Feb. 24 Oscars. Its nominations include best actor for Daniel Day-Lewis for his monumental performance as Abraham Lincoln, supporting actress for Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln and supporting actor for Tommy Lee Jones as abolitionist firebrand Thaddeus Stevens.

Oscar directing contenders usually are identical or at least line up closely with those for the Directors Guild of America Awards. But only Spielberg and "Life of Pi" director Ang Lee made both lists this time.

The Directors Guild also nominated Affleck, Bigelow and Hooper, but the Oscars handed its other three slots to David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook" and two real longshots: veteran Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke for "Amour" and newcomer Benh Zeitlin, who made his feature debut with "Beasts of the Southern Wild."

Zeitlin, whose low-budget, dream-like film about a wild child in Louisiana's flooded backwoods won the top honor at last year's Sundance Film Festival, said he never expected to be competing "alongside the greatest filmmakers alive."

"I'm completely freaking out," Zeitlin said. "Those guys taught me how to make films. The VHS pile that was on the VCR when I was born was past Spielberg movies, and that's why I started wanting to do this, was watching them thousands and thousands of times."

Other nominees were caught off guard over how the category shook out.

"I would be lying if I didn't say I was surprised," Russell, a past nominee for "The Fighter," said about Bigelow.

Lee, who won the directing Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain," agreed that there were surprises but pleasant ones, particularly for Zeitlin's inclusion.

"Newcomers, veterans, a European," Lee said. "It's great company, and it's an honor to line up with them, and encouraging because there is a newcomer."

Colleagues of snubbed filmmakers were not so happy.

"That put a damper on my enthusiasm," ''Argo" co-star Arkin said of Affleck, an A-lister who's arguably proving himself a better director than actor. "I thought his work was the work of an old master, not somebody with just two films under his belt. I thought it was an extraordinary piece of directing."

"I would have loved him to have been recognized in this," Hugh Jackman, a best-actor nominee as Hugo's tragic hero Jean Valjean for "Les Miserables," said of director Hooper. "But no one will be able to take away the achievement, nor really that the eight nominations that 'Les Miz' has are more shared with him than with anyone."

Composer Alexandre Desplat, who wrote the music for "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Argo" and earned a best-score nomination for the latter, said he was puzzled over Affleck and Bigelow's exclusion.

"I think they both deserved to be nominated," Desplat said. "Unfortunately, I don't decide."

"Zero Dark Thirty" has had backlash in Washington, where some lawmakers say it falsely suggests that torture produced a tip that led the U.S. military to Bin Laden. It's hard to imagine that affecting the film's Oscar nominations, though, given Hollywood's history of playing loose with facts in depicting true-life stories.

The academy's directing snubs virtually take "Argo," ''Les Miserables" and "Zero Dark Thirty" out of the best-picture race, since a movie almost never wins the top prize if the filmmaker is not nominated. It can happen 1989's "Driving Miss Daisy" did it but a directing nomination usually goes hand-in-hand with a best-picture win.

The nominations held other surprises. "Amour" won the top prize at last May's Cannes Film Festival but mainly was considered a favorite for the foreign-language Oscar. It wound up with five nominations, the same number as "Zero Dark Thirty," which came in with expectations of emerging as a top contender.

Along with best-picture, director and foreign-language film, "Amour" picked up nominations for Haneke's screenplay and best actress for Emmanuelle Riva as an ailing, elderly woman tended by her husband.

"It's the last stage of my life, so this nomination is a gift to me, a dream I could never had imagined," Riva said. "Michael's talent is to make the film real. ... That's why it touched the world. We are all little, fragile people on this earth, sometimes nasty, sometimes generous."

Riva is part of a multi-generational spread: At 85, Riva is the oldest best-actress nominee ever, while 9-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis is the youngest ever for her role as the spirited bayou girl in "Beasts of the Southern Wild."

Spielberg matched his personal Oscar best as "Lincoln" tied the 12 nominations that "Schindler's List" received.

Two of Spielberg's stars could join the Oscar super-elite. Both Day-Lewis and Field have won two Oscars already. A third would put them in rare company with previous triple winners Ingrid Bergman, Walter Brennan, Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. Katharine Hepburn holds the record with four acting Oscars.

A best-picture win would be Spielberg's second, while another directing win would be his third, a feat achieved only by Frank Capra and William Wyler, who each earned three directing Oscars, and John Ford, who received four.

"Lincoln" also was the ninth best-picture nominee Spielberg has directed, moving him into a tie for second-place with Ford. Only Wyler directed more best-picture nominees, with 13.

"I think Steven is a full-fledged genius. I think he has transformed the motion-picture industry more than once, and he's constantly pushing the envelope and changing," Field said. "He stands alone. And he has the most profound respect, and he's a scholar of John Ford and William Wyler and many others. ... He's a scholar of all of this because he's so endlessly curious."

___

AP entertainment writers Christy Lemire, Sandy Cohen, Anthony McCartney and Derrik Lang in Los Angeles and AP writers Jill Lawless in London and Thomas Adamson in Paris contributed to this report.

Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) It took Leatherface and his chainsaw to chase tiny hobbit Bilbo Baggins out of the top spot at the box office.

Lionsgate's horror sequel "Texas Chainsaw 3-D" debuted at No. 1 with $23 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The movie picks up where 1974's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" left off, with masked killer Leatherface on the loose again.

Quentin Tarantino's revenge saga "Django Unchained" held on at No. 2 for a second-straight weekend with $20.1 million. The Weinstein Co. release raised its domestic total to $106.4 million.

After three weekends at No. 1, part one of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" trilogy slipped to third with $17.5 million. That lifts the domestic haul to $263.8 million for "The Hobbit." The Warner Bros. blockbuster added $57.1 million overseas to bring its international earnings to $561 million and its worldwide total to about $825 million.

Also passing the $100 million mark over the weekend was Universal's musical "Les Miserables," which finished at No. 4 with $16.1 million, pushing its domestic total to $103.6 million.

Like other horror franchises, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" has had several other remakes or sequels, but the idea always seems ripe for a new wave of fright-flick fans. Nearly two-thirds of the audience was under 25, too young or not even born when earlier "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movies came out.

"It's one of those that survives each generation. It's something that continues to come back and entertain its audience," said Richie Fay, head of distribution for Lionsgate.

"Texas Chainsaw" drew a hefty 84 percent of its business from 3-D screenings. Many movies now draw 50 percent or less of their revenue from 3-D screenings, but horror fans tend to prefer paying extra to see blood and guts fly with an added dimension.

In narrower release, Matt Damon's natural-gas fracking drama "Promised Land" had a slow start in its nationwide debut, coming in at No. 10 with $4.3 million after opening in limited release a week earlier.

Released by Focus Features, "Promised Land" stars Damon as a salesman pitching rural residents on fracking technology to drill for natural gas. The film widened to 1,676 theaters, averaging a slim $2,573 a cinema, compared with $8,666 in 2,654 theaters for "Texas Chainsaw."

Hollywood began the year where it left in 2012, when business surged during the holidays to carry the industry to a record $10.8 billion at the domestic box office.

Overall business this weekend came in at $149 million, up 7 percent from the same period last year, when "The Devil Inside" led with $33.7 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com. But with strong business on New Year's Day last week, Hollywood already has raked in $254.2 million, 33 percent ahead of last year.

Box-office results ebb and flow quickly, so that lead could vanish almost overnight. But with a steady lineup of potential hits right through December, studios have a chance at another revenue record this year.

"The month that we had at the end of last year that led us to a record year continued right through New Year's and on now to the first official weekend of 2013," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "We're looking for an even stronger year this year. That's in the realm of possibility. But we have 51 weekends to go."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Texas Chainsaw 3-D," $23 million.

2. "Django Unchained," $20.1 million.

3. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," $17.5 million ($57.1 million international).

4. "Les Miserables," $16.1 million ($14.5 million international).

5. "Parental Guidance," $10.1 million.

6. "Jack Reacher," $9.3 million ($22.3 million international).

7. "This Is 40," $8.6 million.

8. "Lincoln," $5.3 million.

9. "The Guilt Trip," $4.5 million.

10. "Promised Land," $4.3 million.

___

Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "Life of Pi," $60.1 million.

2. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," $57.1 million.

3. "Jack Reacher," $22.3 million.

4. "Wreck-It Ralph," $19.5 million.

5. "Les Miserables," $14.5 million.

6. "Rise of the Guardians," $9.6 million.

7. "Three Warriors on Distant Shores," $9 million.

8. "Skyfall," $7.4 million.

9. "The Impossible," $7 million.

10. "The Tower," $6.5 million.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) Oscar voters will have an extra day to cast their ballots.

The motion picture academy says it's extending the deadline for members to vote for the Academy Awards to Jan. 4, following criticism of its new electronic voting system.

The nominations are set to be announced Jan. 10.

Ric Roberton, chief operating officer of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said the extension will make the transition to online balloting as smooth as possible.

The academy partnered with electronic voting firm Everyone Counts Inc. earlier this year to develop the first Oscars online voting system.

Voting in the past has been compiled strictly through paper ballots. The new system allowed members to vote either online or through the mail.

The 85th annual Academy Awards are scheduled for Feb. 24.

Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) A tiny hobbit has a mighty hold on the box office, staying on top for a third-straight week and wrapping up a year that saw a record-breaking $10.8 billion in total annual grosses.

The Warner Bros. fantasy "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" remained at No. 1 with $32 million for a total of $221.7 million, according to final studio figures Monday. That's slightly down from the Sunday estimate of just under $33 million but enough to retain first place in a holiday weekend that featured the much-anticipated debuts of awards contenders "Django Unchained" and "Les Miserables."

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," Warner Bros., $31,960,000, 4100 locations, $7,795 average, $221,743,000, three weeks.

2. "Django Unchained," Weinstein Co., $30,122,888, 3010 locations, $10,008 average, $63,443,153, one week.

3. "Les Miserables," Universal, $27,281,735, 2814 locations, $9,695 average, $66,720,160, one week.

4. "Parental Guidance," Fox, $14,554,053, 3367 locations, $4,323 average, $29,342,745, one week.

5. "Jack Reacher," Paramount, $14,010,000, 3352 locations, $4,180 average, $44,661,000, two weeks.

6. "This Is 40," Universal, $12,501,060, 2914 locations, $4,290 average, $36,431,350, two weeks.

7. "Lincoln," Disney, $7,337,362, 1966 locations, $3,732 average, $131,867,159, eight weeks.

8. "The Guilt Trip," Paramount, $6,700,000, 2431 locations, $2,756 average, $21,102,000, two weeks.

9. "Monsters, Inc. 3-D," Disney, $6,447,437, 2618 locations, $2,463 average, $18,573,901, two weeks.

10. "Rise of the Guardians," Paramount, $4,900,000, 2055 locations, $2,384 average, $90,230,000, six weeks.

11. "Skyfall," Sony, $4,600,000, 1637 locations, $2,810 average, $289,600,000, eight weeks.

12. "Silver Linings Playbook," Weinstein Co., $4,079,314, 745 locations, $5,476 average, $27,330,036, seven weeks.

13. "Life of Pi," Fox, $3,780,269, 1178 locations, $3,209 average, $86,650,453, six weeks.

14. "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away," Paramount, $2,400,000, 840 locations, $2,857 average, $7,407,000, two weeks.

15. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2," Summit, $2,359,289, 1191 locations, $1,981 average, $286,039,065, seven weeks.

16. "Wreck-It Ralph," Disney, $1,855,213, 913 locations, $2,032 average, $175,505,332, nine weeks.

17. "Argo," Warner Bros., $1,015,000, 345 locations, $2,942 average, $108,474,000, 12 weeks.

18. "Anna Karenina," Focus, $525,790, 218 locations, $2,412 average, $10,705,866, seven weeks.

19. "Flight," Paramount, $460,000, 400 locations, $1,150 average, $91,922,000, nine weeks.

20. "Hyde Park on Hudson," Focus, $429,694, 84 locations, $5,115 average, $1,737,996, four weeks.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) The James Bond blockbuster "Skyfall" has risen back to the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office, taking in $10.8 million.

That brought its domestic total to $261.4 million and its worldwide haul to a franchise record of $918 million.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Skyfall," Sony , $10,780,201, 3,401 locations, $3,170 average, $261,400,281, five weeks.

2. "Rise of the Guardians," Paramount, $10,400,618, 3,639 locations, $2,858 average, $61,774,192, three weeks.

3. " The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2," Summit, $9,156,265, 3,646 locations, $2,511 average, $268,691,029, four weeks.

4. "Lincoln," $8,916,813, 2,014 locations, $4,427 average, $97,137,447, five weeks.

5. "Life of Pi," Fox, $8,330,764, 2,946 locations, $2,828 average, $60,948,293, three weeks.

6. "Playing For Keeps," FilmDistrict, $5,750,288, 2,837 locations, $2,027 average, $5,750,288, one week.

7. "Wreck-It Ralph," Disney, $4,859,368, 2,746 locations, $1,770 average, $164,402,934, six weeks.

8. "Red Dawn," FilmDistrict, $4,236,105, 2,754 locations, $1,538 average, $37,240,920, three weeks.

9. "Flight," Paramount, $3,130,305, 2,431 locations, $1,288 average, $86,202,541, six weeks.

10. "Killing Them Softly," Weinstein Co., $2,806,901, 2,424 locations, $1,158 average, $11,830,638, two weeks.

11. "Silver Linings Playbook," Weinstein Co., $2,171,665, 371 locations, $5,854 average, $13,964,405, four weeks.

12. "Anna Karenina," Focus, $1,544,859, 422 locations, $3,661 average, $6,603,042, four weeks.

13. "The Collection," LD Entertainment, $1,487,655, 1,403 locations, $1,060 average, $5,455,328, two weeks.

14. "Argo," Warner Bros., $1,482,346, 944 locations, $1,570 average, $103,160,015, nine weeks.

15. "End of Watch," Open Road Films, $751,623, 1,259 locations, $597 average, $39,989,766, 12 weeks.

16. "Hitchcock," Fox Searchlight , $712,544, 181 locations, $3,937 average, $1,661,670, three weeks.

17. "Talaash," Reliance Big Pictures, $449,195, 161 locations, $2,790 average, $2,397,909, two weeks.

18. "Taken 2," Fox, $387,227, 430 locations, $901 average, $137,700,304, 10 weeks.

19. "Pitch Perfect," Universal, $305,765, 387 locations, $790 average, $63,517,408, 11 weeks.

20. "The Sessions," Fox, $218,973, 197 locations, $1,112 average, $4,948,342, eight weeks.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp. ; Sony , Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc. ; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co. ; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc. ; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. ; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc. ; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Read More

Andrew Cooper/Courtesy of Summit Entertainment

To callously belittle the “Twilight” franchise is to insult thousands of people who have truly invested their hearts and souls into a movie franchise that, in many ways, has had a very real and profound impact on their lives.

So what if Bella Swan served as a poor role model? So what if the actors seemed so uncomfortable on screen you thought they might actually jump off it, run down the aisle and leave the theater? Sometimes, poor role models are the easiest to relate to. They usually have issues, and who among us doesn’t? As for the acting: if you have a few days I can tell you all about the movies I love that feature some of the worst performances you’ll ever see.

In other words, it’s OK to like bad movies. Which brings me to “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2″, a “Twilight” movie that is NOT BAD. Not bad at all!

Well, maybe a little bad.

When we last left Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan, her true love, Edward Cullen, had turned her into a vampire to save her life. Giving birth to their demon child, Renesmee, killed Bella Swan the human but birthed Bella Swan, the vampire. It also, thank god, killed Bella Swan the boring, whiny, lightning rod for monster love and birthed Bella Swan, the kick-ass, lightning-fast, I can-now-beat-Kellan-Lutz-at-arm-wrestling vampire.

When Bella wakes up as a vampire, she’s actually waking up for the very first time in her life — or in this case, afterlife. Our heroine quickly discovers she has tremendous strength and speed and incredibly keen senses, especially her ability to smell human blood. Unfortunately, this is when we experience our first of several CGI effects fails in the film. It’s Bella and Edward running through the forest as Bella hunts for blood (animal blood, of course) for the very first time. Wow, we are talking serious second-rate, high cholesterol cheese. Awful? Yes, but, sure to please everyone who’s blinded by their love for these characters. Besides, Bella’s new attitude is so intriguing, we can forgive this kind of neglect.

That is, until Bella meets her half-blood baby, which is a complete CGI bobble-headed freak. Like Kenan Thompson’s character on Saturday Night Live would say, “What’s up with that?” Even so, it’s when Bella meets her baby that she really starts to impress.

See, Bella had no idea that Renesmee is being protected by Jacob following that moment in the last movie when he, as a werewolf, imprinted on Renesmee. I know what you’re thinking: “Ewww.” However, as Jacob explains to Bella, “It’s not what you think.” With her new-found strength, Bella slaps Jacob around and gets some laughs in the process.

And with that, we have finally moved on from the bizarre love triangle that was Bella, Edward and Jacob. It’s now Edward and Bella forever, while Jacob will devote his life to the half-blood princess. The End. Right!

Renesmee is growing fast; 15 minutes into the movie she’s the size of an 8-year-old girl, and of course, this girl has special powers. She can touch your cheek and make you see the truth (a potential presidential debate moderator for 2016?). She can also float in the air. When one of the Cullens’ cousins sees Renesmee floating and catching snowflakes, she assumes Edward and Bella have turned a child into a vampire and, according to vampire law, that’s illegal. Who knew? So she runs to Italy and tells Aro (Michael Sheen), head of the Volturi, which gives him and all of his delightfully beautiful, creepy underlings something to do — kill the Cullens! By the way, Sheen is so fantastic in this role, it’s obvious he enjoys playing it.

I’ll stop with the plot details here. Instead, I’m going to tell you that “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2″ contains about the best 20 minutes of the entire franchise. It’s content so surprising, so thrilling and so shocking that it’s completely incongruous with the rest of the franchise and is, quite frankly, did-not-see-that-coming awesome. My jaw literally dropped. Suddenly, the sanitized, teen emo porn that had been the “Twilight” franchise turns into a Robert Rodriguez-inspired climax rich with excitement and an emotional depth previously unseen in these films.

It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, and the final moments of the “Twilight” franchise finish very well. Bella, although she had to die and become a vampire to do it, changes for the better and morphs into an admirable metaphor and role model.

Three-and-a-half out of five stars.

Source : http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/11/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-2-movie-review-franchise-ends-on-an-exciting-note/

Read More

Look, if you've seen the other four movies and loved them, you're going to love this one, too. If you enjoy hate-watching them (like we usually do), there's plenty for you here as well. If you hated them and somehow think this one is going to be miraculously better, then you've got another thing coming. Or, if you are like the young woman sitting behind us at the screening who had never seen any part of the saga before, you will ask a million questions throughout the movie about the characters, laugh at unfunny things and then think it was a quality movie. Don't be that person.

Anyway, this is the culmination of the Edward and Bella saga in which the Volturi catch wind of the fact that the Cullens have what they believe is an immortal child, but is just freaky little human/vampire hybrid Renesmee, who ages from the creepiest CGI'd baby you've ever seen to a pre-teen girl over the course of the movie. Naturally, this film (which could have been easily condensed into the last one) is filled with ridiculous moments, so we've spotlighted the most insane. Spoilers possibly ahead for those movie purists who haven't read the books.

The Aforementioned Freaky Baby
Edward and Bella had a baby, Jacob imprinted on it and now that Bella's awakened from her vampire rebirthing, she's ready to see her kid. When they say it's a face only a mother could love, this is what they are talking about. Someone took a possibly cute baby and then made it all weird, like that E-trade kid, just so it could have facial expressions. They couldn't find a bunch of real babies that would coo and smile on command? Oh, and it has a magical hand that reaches up and shares Bella's memories, but it looks like something that was chopped off a cheap toy-store doll.

The Imprinting Reaction Shot
In one of the best-filmed scenes in Breaking Dawn, Part 2, Bella discovers off-camera that Jacob imprinted on her child, and then we see her reaction as she tosses him out of her house. And then she fights with all the werewolves who come to Jacob's aid, which allows us to see the new strong Bella, with her shiny and clean hair. None of this makes imprinting on a baby, who will be a fully mature woman in a few years, any less disgusting. Though, somehow, watching Jacob in wolf form with the young girl makes it a bit less gross, because it looks like she's just got an overgrown puppy looking out for her, direwolf style.

More Sparkles
Bella gets to sparkle in the sunlight, and she looks like a female version of Rumpy from Once Upon a Time. With all the money that these movies have made, it's ridiculous that they can't afford better special effects. That, and the shots of her running in the woods with Edward, are particularly bad. Plus, the decapitations are almost cartoonish. Maybe this series would have been better in animated form entirely.

The Insanely Long Credits
For some reason, between the lengthy opening credits and the end title cards (where each character from all of the movies gets their own little shout out), the credits on this movie probably take up a good ten minutes of the running time. We weren't sitting there with our stopwatches, but it had to be close. Though it was amusing to see Bryce Dallas Howard's Victoria in one shot and then Rachelle Lefevre's Victoria on another.

The New Wolves Being Called Up
The influx of vampires to the area means that there need to be more werewolves to protect the land. That's all well and good, but there's a scene where a young boy is walking along and just spontaneously turns into a werewolf and rolls down a hill. It made us laugh out loud... and we're pretty sure we weren't supposed to.

The Baby Burning Scene
This falls under the ridiculous, but almost veers into ridiculously awesome: During a flashback to Jane (Dakota Fanning), we see immortal children (babies who have been turned into vampires) all bloody and disgusting, and then Jane tossing the baby onto the fire. It might be the best thing we've seen in any of these films.

The Vampires From Around the World
When all of the Cullen supporters started showing up, we kind of felt we were in a vampire version of Epcot with all the different stereotypical characters from all the different countries. Though we did like Benjamin's element-controlling powers, and we were glad to see that our beloved Lee Pace found work... even if it was a brief stint as a scruffy vamp in the final film.

Father Issues
In order to keep Bella's dad from freaking out, Jacob goes and strips in front of them (because what would a Twilight movie without Taylor Lautner stripping down to his skivvies at some point) and the turns into a wolf so that Charlie will come visit Bella at the Cullen's and not be weirded out by her sudden cold temperature. But the Cullen family preps Bella by teaching her to act human, and how to sit in a chair, when earlier we saw her gently moving around her home without any issue at all. And apparently Bella's mom doesn't give a hell about her kid now that she's married off? Because she doesn't even call in this one.

The Sex Scene
Edward and Bella do it as vampires for the first time, and she says that he was clearly holding back when she was human. We almost vomited a little in our mouths.

Bella's Special Powers
Sure, Bella has super-human strength and can kick Emmett's ass at arm wrestling, but her special power is shielding. This involves her looking extremely uncomfortable, squinting a lot and projecting badly CGI'd beams of light out of her brain to protect her loved ones from pain. It's... something.

The March to Battle
The Cullens assemble friends to help stand against them with the Volturi over the course of several months, and the Volturi weirdly walk across the snow. Why not sneak attack? Or come more quickly? We see that the Volturi can actually zip around fast when they want to, so why give the Cullens time to prepare? And why the painfully slow walk across the snow? Same goes for Alice's awkwardly slow entrance.

The Almost Awesome Battle Scene
Not to spoil too much, but they reveal in the trailers that the Volturi eventually turn up in Forks for an ultimate showdown. It had been a while since we'd read the books, so maybe we forgot the big twist here, but it was kind of a surprise to see this bloody battle filled with very visceral beheadings. If only the CGI effects were believable.

The Lord of the Rings-style Ending
We won't spoil it, but the movie ends a couple of different times. Let's just say that until you see the actual credits roll, the movie isn't over. There aren't any hobbits jumping up and down on beds, but there are certainly some memorable images there.

So, are we glad that we saw all five films? Well, yeah, it's a pop cultural phenomenon and we like to be up on those sorts of things. Did we occasionally feel like we were wasting our lives? Yes, but we've also watched far too much bad television to really let that get to us. Do we wish we could get that time back? Probably, but then again, these films -- particularly this last one -- provided some good belly laughs (mostly at the film's expense, though a few seemed to be tongue-in-cheek moments actually intended to be humorous), so at least we can console ourselves with that. Are we happy that we never have to see another one (unless they decide to do a Jacob and Renesmee ten-years-later sort of thing)? You better believe it.

Source : http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/mwop/moviefile/2012/11/breaking-dawn-part-2-after-abo.php

Read More

The zombie apocalypse is officially on, and this first preview will show you how it starts.

After quite a long wait, we have finally set our eyes on at least some piece of the ginormous zombie flick, "World War Z," starring Brad Pitt. The only thing that might seem confusing about the teaser trailer is the "zombie" part.



The hordes of sprinting crazies are never identified as the undead, brain chompers that we've grown very familiar with in the last few years, but the teaser trailer curiously never even hints that the masses might be zombies. But as this is an adaptation of the book by famous zombie author Max Brooks and the "Z" stands for "zombie," you can rest assured that the undead will make an appearance in the movie.

Aside from that, what will certainly strike you about "World War Z" even from the trailer is the sheer scale of the thing. We start simply, as most of these movies do, with Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane, a U.N. employee, as he sits in his car with wife, played by "The Killing" star Mireille Enos, and two daughters. Soon, their guessing game in the car turns dark when helicopters begin to circle and the street ahead of them explodes.

From there, the war against the zombie horde begins, and Lane is asked to play a vital role in assault against the undead, having to leave his family behind. The scale on which "World War Z" is working is largely new for the genre, which tends to focus on a small group of survivors holed up in a shopping mall or country house. Here, we get a tower of bodies piling up to scale a wall instead.

"World War Z" comes from director Marc Forster, who previously directed "Quantum of Solace." Reports of extensive reshoots and a number of rewrites made headlines after the movie was pushed from its initial release in December of this year. It is now scheduled to open in theaters on June 21.

Source : http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1697067/world-war-z-trailer.jhtml

Read More

Brad Pitt fights a horde of zombies in the new trailer for "World War Z," a film that had its fair share of conflict off-screen as well.

Paramout was originally set to release "World War Z," an adaptation of Max Brooks' novel about the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse on Earth, in December. The film was shifted to June of 2013 after "significant reshoots" were requested by the studio. In June, Damon Lindelof ("Lost," "Prometheus") was reportedly hired to work on the script -- with specific focus on the ending -- despite the fact that "World War Z" finished production in 2011. (In the end, it was never confirmed that Lindelof did work on the script.) Meanwhile, as Vulture reported, the messy post-production process was exacerbated further by the fact that Pitt and director Marc Forster ("Quantum of Solace") weren't on speaking terms.

Yet the first trailer looks strong, with Pitt trying to save his family from the zombie epidemic that's plaguing the world.

Watch the trailer below.



Source : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/08/world-war-z-trailer-brad-pitt_n_2094292.html

Read More

IS NOT just about all the explosions! BAM! POW! to actor Tom Hardy playing a giant villain Bane in "The Dark Knight Rises."

One of the scenes are still stuck in his mind.

Hardy as Bane rises above the Batmobile to rally a crowd of prisoners escaped - and then immediately crumpled.

The actor, who packed on 30 pounds of muscle for the movie, passed out in the scorching summer.

"I wore a gray coat and the length of my body armor," he told The News the world premiere of the final Monday at wilting epic "Dark Knight" Christopher Nolan's trilogy.

"It's not that different from the weather today. Anyway, I passed out. I am aware of for some afternoon."

Besides a brief setback, however, not much stands in the way of Hardy.

Instead of exhausting physical training.

Instead formed a tight mask to his face, that Bane uses to continue to pump gas to reduce the pain if not crippling.

And not a shadow of Heath Ledger's Academy Award winning performance as the end of the last arch-enemy of Batman, Joker, in 2008 that "The Dark Knight."

Nolan and screenwriter, Jonathan Nolan and David Goyer, deliberately choose Bane as the villain because he is so very different from the Joker.

While Goyer told Empire magazine that some studio executives suggest Riddler from the beginning, the filmmakers are not interested in becoming derivative.

Where the Joker wanted to mess with Batman's head, trying to tear it from the shoulder Bane superhero.

These are criminals, created by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench and artist Graham Nolan, who rocked the world of comic book fans' debuted in 1993 with Batman during a fight broke again.

"Bane is the first enemy that you know can physically destroy Batman," said the Dark Knight himself, actor Christian Bale.

Although he soon became a name on the lips of millions of moviegoers, it turns out the creator of the comic book character Venom originally planned on calling him - until the editor called back with bad news.

"We are embarrassed to find out Spider-Man has a high profile villain named Venom," Moench said. "We do not know. Chuck pulled the thesaurus and found" Bane "is a synonym for poison and it's a name that sounds good."

A name that sounds good for muscle intimidator who looks Mexican wrestling ring directly. Which unfortunately does not look that translates well to the big screen. (Exhibit A is a cartoon Bane played by Jeep Swenson, and fortunately with little screen time, in 1997's "Batman & Robin.")

Hardy version will be much, much different.

"Free Mask Lucha? Nolan said ignore it, I have an idea," said Hardy, laughing. "The idea is to take a lateral, and I do not wear a mask Lucha and I'm not wearing Lycra pants."

With or without Lycra pants, Hardy trained continuously for four months to fill the costume before the cameras start rolling on "The Dark Knight Rises."

"Tom is one actor who is a transformative actor," says producer Emma Thomas. "When we do a costume fitting for Bane, for example, he would come - and this before he had put a lot of bulk - he would go in and he looks quite slim and trim ... then he will hold his body in different ways and rather stick to the gut out, do something with his shoulder and suddenly you'll see exactly what he would do. "

Source :  http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/tom-hardy-packed-30-pounds-villain-bane-dark-knight-rises-article-1.1117794

Read More