· Christ, it is dead out there. At we'll always have Christopher Plummer stealing THR's actor roundtable -- no small accomplishment opposite fellow panelists George Clooney, Nick Nolte and Albert Brooks -- with a reflection on his hugely challenging role in... The Sound of Music? "Because it was so awful and sentimental and gooey. You had to work terribly hard to try and infuse some miniscule bit of humor into it. [...] It's a very good picture [for] what it is." Now you know. [THR]
· Discussing her latest collaboration with partner Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter had this to offer about the vampire saga Dark Shadows: "This is a thing he raced home to see when he was about age 10, so it's returning to his childhood roots of what he loved watching. It's actually a really bad, hilariously bad soap opera, and because it's so bad, he felt he had to make a hugely expensive movie. [...] It's going to be unlike [anything], I think. It's dangerous to say that. But it's very original and it's kind of uncategorizable. It's going to be impossible to sell, frankly, because it's just so ... it's a soap opera, but it's very, very subtle. I don't know. We'll see." [MTV Movies]
· Hailee Steinfeld is the latest name touched by speculation around Ender's Game, reportedly close to joining the adaptation of Orson Scott Card's sci-fi classic that has already locked in Hugo star Asa Butterfield in the lead. [Variety]
· New Year's Eve stands out among the December release eyeing multiple coveted Razzie Awards nominations. Go get 'em, Garry Marshall! [Grantland]
· In other, more baffling kudos news, the Satellite Awards nominations were announced Thursday, with War Horse faring especially well among the competition that includes, well, pretty much every other movie with its hat in the awards season ring. Ridiculous, but like I said, it's dead out there. [indieWIRE]
· Speaking of awards season, here's a worthwhile piece basically explaining why you should stop worrying and love the Hollywood marketing bomb. [Variety]