Loath as we are around here to give away free advertising, the last lunge of Inglourious Basterds' sprint to the Oscar-race finish line is something that both awards-season campaigners and observers will be studying for a while. Sure, the suspicious Hurt Locker takedowns and the rabbi-recruitment drives are one thing, maybe even kind of standard in the historical scheme of things. But this new, crunch-time banner ad wields its own scintillating magic -- the kind of magic that springs one to attention, tilts your head in curiosity and coaxes that most profound purr of reactions: "Say whaaaa?"
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· Slashfilm's got a sneak peak at brand new Toy Story 3 character Twitch. Click over for a closer look.
· Cameron Crowe may direct an adaptation of the novel We Bought a Zoo, which is about...well, that, basically.
· Meanwhile, Dean Parisot will helm Central Intelligence, starring Ed Helms.
· John Lasseter post-mortems the underperforming The Princess and the Frog: "[It] had a perception problem -- that it was for little girls and kids. It was nothing to do with the technique, and when my career's over, I think it'll be in the Top 5 of the ones I'm most proud of."
· Stephen Moyer misses filming scenes with Anna Paquin in the upcoming season of True Blood. He's been practicing his "Sook-ehhh" for nothing.
Just as quickly as the Winter Vancouver Olympic coverage (temporarily) saved NBC from fourth-place ratings, the peacock transitioned out of icy sports and into celebration-mode. After Jay Leno and Jamie Foxx sprayed down the Tonight Show audience with champagne (more on that later), Jimmy Fallon fêted his one-year anniversary at Late Night and his most-frequent visitor. But just because NBC had mostly forgotten America's great athletic feats in Vancouver did not mean other networks had. David Letterman welcomed Olympic ski accident survivor Bill Murray, Stephen Colbert wrapped up his Vancouver coverage and George Lopez chatted underwear with Olympic beauty Julia Mancuso. Those clips, as well as the other highlights you missed while rehearsing that foxtrot, after the jump.
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Everything seems to be coming up Betty White these days, aside from that Jay Leno appearance last night that we'll just all agree to forget about. The latest feather in her cap? The ardor of Robert Pattinson, who used an appearance on The View to douse the fan frenzy that started when rumored girlfriend Kristen Stewart showed up to yesterday's Remember Me premiere. "I think Betty White is probably one of the sexiest women in America," he told the View panelists this morning. "She's vibrant, it's sexy. I think the more age, the better." [E!]
You can't watch a two-hour Southern epic like The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love without analyzing it like a gumshoe stewing around Tara's charred remains. Here's what I noticed: After 120 minutes of family interactions, Skittle-colored flora, and five-minute helicopter trips, Texan bachelor Jake Pavelka chose between nice girl Tenley and "confrontational" Vienna. Three questions remain: 1) Did he make the sane choice? 2) Do we see a future for the new couple/PR duo? 3) What do we make of Jake's sudden gig on Dancing with the Stars? Julie Miller and I hash it out after the jump. Spoilers ahead!
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See! It really was just that troublesome 10 pm timeslot and those faulty lead-ins. Last night, Jay Leno returned to the driver's seat of the 11:35 PM Tonight Show and not only trounced CBS, but got twice the ratings of David Letterman. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno's second premiere scored a 2.0 rating among adults 18-49 compared to Letterman's 1.0 rating. Temporary rating surge thanks to ConanGate rubbernecking, boost in viewers because of NBC's Winter Olympics coverage, or is America just ready to forgive Jay Leno? [TVbytheNumbers]
Want to be moved, quite possibly to tears? Then watch this preview footage of the courageous and infallible Roger Ebert on today's Oprah. In the clip, he debuts his new computerized voice for his equally amazing wife, Chaz Hammelsmith Ebert, who hasn't heard him speak since July 1, 2006.
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There are good years for a filmmaker, and then there are great years. Sophie Barthes' 2009 was an all-out great year, beginning with the premiere and acquisition of her feature debut Cold Souls at Sundance, followed by the critical acclaim that greeted her Paul Giamatti-plays-himself dark comedy upon its release last summer. Add a new baby and three Spirit Award nominations (including Best First Screenplay) to the mix, and Barthes has a considerably tough act to follow. But as she told Movieline in the days leading up to the Spirits, she's ready to get back to work -- even if it means contending with awards madness.
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Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time started filming almost two years ago, and it's had an unusually long post-production schedule, which is a good thing for a (typically rushed) summer movie, right? Hey, it worked for Star Trek! So why, then, is this new trailer so leaden?
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USC has conducted a study of the 100 top-grossing movies of 2007 -- a year boasting such wrecking-ball-betesticled he-fests as Transformers, 300 and Wild Hogs -- and found that women made up only a small percentage of the Hollywood workforce who made them. Only 30% of the 4,379 speaking characters identified in the films were female, while 83% of the writers, directors and producers were male. On the bright side, when female executives were shepherding the films, it tended to increase the number of female characters in them. The same held when a woman was listed as at least one of the screenwriters. Said Geena Davis, founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (I really want a T-shirt that says that): "These important findings provide valuable insights that we will utilize as we continue to engage content creators to improve gender representation and portrayals." [USC News]
While we're facing a dreadfully slow news day ahead, don't worry: We've got comedy! Thank ABC for the laffs this morning, with the network threatening to pull the network's plug on more than 3 million Cablevision subscribers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Which isn't so funny in itself, except that after two years of haggling over carriage fees and extending its Cablevision deal on month-by-month terms, ABC has set its new contract deadline for March 7 -- you know, Oscar night?
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Last night, Tom Bergeron and Melissa Rycroft interrupted ABC's three-hour Bachelor finale extravaganza to announce the 11 new celebrities who will compete on the tenth season of Dancing with the Stars. Per usual, the list includes a few unrecognizable names, some overexposed reality personalities, a couple professional athletes and one senior citizen. Click through for the complete list (including their professional partners) and Movieline's own predictions.
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The news that Universal pushed MacGruber back from April 23 to May 21 had Movieline's Dept. of Conspiracy Theories abuzz with speculation. Was this the result of ongoing legal wrangling with the creator of MacGyver? Would it impact the film's bow this month at South by Southwest? No and no, it appears: This is just another repercussion of The Losers' release-date scrambling by Warner Bros. -- nothing to see here, folks. Or rather, there is something to see, you'll just have to wait a month. You know what they mean. [LAT]
· Another film actor is trading in his big screen chips temporarily for a turn on premium cable. This time, the Oscar-winner is Dustin Hoffman, who will star in Michael Mann's horse-racing drama at HBO. The pilot, written by David Milch, will center on an intelligent, intuitive tough man (Hoffman) who always has been involved with gambling, from bookmaking and money laundering to casino operations. Dennis Farina and John Ortiz round out the cast as the tough man's trusted chauffeur and trainer. [THR]
Chris Harrison crowns the next Bachelorette, Lindsey Vonn tries out primetime, and more TV Bites after the jump.
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· Nicole Kidman is attached to star in the title role of The Wedding Doctor, playing a woman who analyzes couples' compatibility and "interpersonal dynamics" only to determine she's a better mate than the bride-to-be of one of her male clients. It's basically Hitch for the more dedicated romcom crowd, and you know what? I'll take it. Anything that portends another vintage Manohla Dargis tirade is truly just fine by me. [Vulture]
Russell Brand's Arthur finds a director, an Escort makes its way at DreamWorks, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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