David Letterman may have already declared Natalie Portman the winner of this year's Oscar for Best Actress but the Black Swan star still has quite a few academy voters to woo, too. Could her recent media blitz, in which she tells everyone from MTV to Us Weekly how her extensive ballet training required up to eight hours of bar routines and a 20 pound weight loss, help her campaign? Movieline takes a look at the track record for highly publicized dieting actors winning (and losing) Oscar gold and sees where Portman fits.
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While there is not much confusion about (or variation among) the themes Sofia Coppola has explored in her four feature films, she has encountered some speculation and rumor-mongering about the inspiration for some of her male characters. Continuing this trend, Coppola has recently copped to basing Somewhere's disillusioned actor (played by Stephen Dorff) on a collection of famous actors, including one Coppola family member. In honor of this acknowledgment, Movieline reviews the famous men from whom Sofia gleaned both alleged and admitted inspiration the past decade.
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By now you've had a few hours to digest the news that James Franco and Anne Hathaway will host the Academy Awards next year, something that is likely a dream come true for Twentieth Century Fox (perhaps Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis can do an interpretive dance to commemorate the ten Best Picture nominees, too!). But who else was considered? Ahead, Movieline imagines 20 rejected Oscar-host pairings based on the selection of Franco and Hathaway.
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Happy Thanksgiving! Or, you know, Happy pre-Thanksgiving. However you want to commemorate the day before our nation's oldest original holiday ritual, remember to count your blessings -- be they loved ones, health, wealth, Anne Hathaway salvaging SNL's season... you name it. They're in your life and in your culture, often interfacing in powerful ways. Let's all gather now to give thanks. The turkey won't get cold, I promise.
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Last night, Natalie Portman appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman to plug her new Oscar contender, Black Swan. Over the course of the conversation, Letterman managed to completely embarrass Portman with his constant assertions that Portman is a shoo-in for Best Actress. But after some research, we discovered that Portman, a frequent guest in the Letterman hot-seat, has a way of tickling the talk show host's playfully flirtatious side.
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The domestic and international release schedule for Captain America: The First Avenger was unveiled today. What wasn't released is what Captain America: The First Avenger will be titled internationally. Just like Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was retitled to Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S. market, some titles just won't work in other parts of the globe. And considering this country's standing in world opinion these days, Marvel may want to distance themselves from the word "America" as much as they can. With that, Movieline offers Marvel 20 international title suggestions for Captain America: The First Avenger. You're welcome.
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It's not often you see "poor Russell Crowe and Paul Haggis" written in a sentence, but there you go. Faced with the guaranteed blockbusting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I (which grossed $24 million from its midnight screenings; a not-quite-Twilight-ian amount), Crowe and Haggis will likely see their thriller, The Next Three Days, fall by the wayside at the box office. Thankfully, though, they aren't alone in trying to scale Mt. Potter. Ahead, Movieline remembers the six other films that opened opposite the record-setting franchise.
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As anyone who has ever spent eight hours watching consecutive episodes of Cops (don't judge) knows, there is a fine line between bad and brilliant television. Some television is horrible because abominable writing and overacting mesh so weirdly well, that a series becomes unintentionally hilarious; other times, ridiculous conceits, tragically unfunny hosts and drunken reality subjects accidentally yield entertainment. Sadly, TV scientists have yet to isolate a foolproof formula to replicated this "bad but brilliant" genre, but Movieline has identified five programs that qualify for the category.
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Russell Crowe tries his best at counterprogramming this weekend with his new prison break thriller, The Next Three Days. But how did Crowe get to the point of bankable action star after his debut on an Australian television series? You can always trace a direct line through a handful of roles (not necessarily his best roles, mind you) to illustrate what led to an actor's current success, and with Crowe, that line twists through soap operas, cop dramas, thrillers, and, of course, one fateful Oscar night. Let's look at eight performances -- including one of his earliest -- that trace the evolution of Russell Ira Crowe.
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The most surprising thing about 127 Hours -- which is as good (and gross) as advertised -- is that the film features a veritable cavalcade of recognizable actresses. Not that they have all that much to do -- this is a one-man (and arm) show, after all! In an effort to sort out their respective impacts on the film, here's another edition of Movieline's patented Screen Time Check. Be forewarned: Spoilers ahead.
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Director Darren Aronofsky revealed the title for his Wolverine sequel yesterday beginning the first part of Nerd Apoplexy. Simply called The Wolverine, it will be set in Japan as Logan must battle a family of samurai-sword wielding ninjas to wed his true love. Aronofsky claimed that it will be a "one-off" standalone project and not a direct sequel to the terrible, terrible, terrible X-Men Origins: Wolverine. While that's awesome news that we're all going to ignore the first movie, I feel like that title just isn't punchy enough. Join me below as I try to brainstorm some alternate titles for Wolvie's return
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Yesterday, Movieline celebrated the news that Penguin Publishing had enlisted Push author Sapphire to pen a sequel to the book that eventually became Lee Daniels' Oscar-nominated Precious. The new book will reportedly center on "the son of the main character from Push as he approaches manhood -- alone, brutalized and with the soul of an artist." And while Sapphire has prematurely titled the novel The Kid, the higher powers at Movieline understand that this title will just...not...do. So join Louis Virtel, a few writers from the hit sitcom Mike & Molly and I below as we brainstorm more deserving titles for Precious's return.
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Denzel Washington returns to the big screen this weekend with his new unstoppable train movie called, well, Unstoppable. But how did Washington get to the point of bankable action star after his film debut in something called Carbon Copy in 1981? You can always trace a direct line through a handful of roles (not necessarily his best roles, mind you) to illustrate what led to an actor's current success, and with Washington, that line has recently had quite a few more dramatic explosions than it used to. Let's look at eight performances -- including his very first -- that trace the evolution of one Denzel Hayes Washington.
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Today is Veterans Day, when we honor those Americans who risked their lives for causes that are often too big or too complicated for mere civilians to understand. But there's always the movies, where the veteran returning home has been a longtime standard for processing this country's complex relationship with war.
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Assuming you count Hollywood Homicide, Harrison Ford makes his return to comedy after a seven-year absence in today's Morning Glory. But how did Ford get to this point after his big-screen debut wayyyy back at the tender age of 24? You can always trace a direct line through a handful of roles (not necessarily his best roles, mind you) to illustrate what led to an actor's current success, and with Ford, though still well respected, that line has had a bit of a downslope as of late -- well, until today. Let's look at eight performances -- including his very first -- that trace the evolution of one Harrison Ford.
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