Andy Serkis brings up an interesting point when he insists that motion-capture acting -- a la Rise of the Planet of the Apes -- is acting, plain and simple. As the performer, you record movement and voice, much like any conventional thespian, except later someone colors over you with computer voodoo. But does that take anything away from the award-worthiness of a role? Should the Oscars key up their appreciation of this artform?
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· As part of the new Current series 50 Documentaries to See Before You Die, Morgan Spurlock cozied up to the controversial Thierry Guetta, Mr. Brainwash from Exit Through the Gift Shop, the man who may or not be an actual Banksy product. So! Does Mr. Brainwash still hear from the man who made him famous? Click through to watch a behind-the-scenes video, then stick around for more Buzz Break.
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Less than a month after a bizarre incident in which The Amazing Spider-Man actor Rhys Ifans was cited for a backstage altercation at Comic-Con, the city of San Diego has declined to press charges: "After reviewing differing witness accounts, our prosecutors concluded there was not sufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt," a rep for the Attorney's Office told E! News, leaving Ifans free to pester his true nemesis: Spidey! [E! Online]
The insanely busy Bryan Cranston, whose upcoming slate includes Contagion, Drive, Total Recall, John Carter, Rock of Ages, Red Tails, World War Z, and Argo, has revealed plans to direct his own adaptation of David Wiltse's novel, Home Again. The crime thriller/mystery drama follows an ex-FBI agent who returns to his family in small town Nebraska only to become caught up in a murder investigation.
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Just a quick heads-up for our distinguished readers in New York: I'll be at the Apple Store SoHo tonight with Jesse Eisenberg discussing his new comedy 30 Minutes or Less. It's out today! You should see it! It will no doubt form the basis of a range of stimulating questions for the actor, though I can think of a certain David Fincher project and/or upcoming Woody Allen film that might come up as well. You never know.
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There have been so many unofficial images of Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar floating around the Internet that you'd think it he was starring in The Dark Knight Rises. As such, this is a momentous occasion: the first official photo of DiCaprio in the Clint Eastwood-directed biopic of J. Edgar Hoover has shown up online, and... well, it looks a lot like all the spy pics. Click through for a new (old) look.
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Also in this Friday edition of The Broadsheet: Jonathan Demme grabs latest Stephen King book... Justin Lin decapitates Highlander... Bert & Ernie are not married... and more ahead.
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Say hello to August and its snazzy genre-specific programming! The four wide releases this weekend cater to quarantined-off needs, meaning there's something in theaters for your whole family -- from mom (The Help) to stoner brother (30 Minutes or Less) to thrill-seeking sister (Final Destination 5) to kid cousin (Glee: The 3-D Concert Movie). Which film will wind up atop the box office come Sunday night? To the forecast!
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One of the grimmest plays of the 20th century, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, is returning to Broadway with Mike Nichols as director and a star-studded cast next spring: Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman is slated to play the tragic protagonist Willy Loman, Linda Emond will play his wife, and Social Network Perkins doppelganger Andrew Garfield will play Willy's son Biff, which makes perfect sense because Garfield has the Malkovichian hair flip. That leaves Willy's other son Happy up for casting. Who should it be?
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Director Justin Lin had no idea how well his supercharged sequel Fast Five would go on to perform back when he was filming it -- but he [Edit. correction: prepped] a 12-minute sequence for a sixth Fast & Furious film (his next upcoming production) just in case: "I already have a 12-minute sequence done. I did it just as an exercise. I had it done before we were finished with Fast Five, actually. So I wanted to do that just to have it there and to be honest with you, I didn't know if I was going to do a Fast Six. I didn't know if people were going to embrace Fast Five and we were going to have an opportunity. But I felt like I really wanted to make sure that the last scene, which I had talked to Vin [Diesel] about countless times -- I wanted to make sure that was done." [Box Office Magazine]
Here's some big casting news to spice up this particularly slow news day: Julie Christie, Susan Sarandon and Richard Jenkins will star in The Company You Keep, the drama which Robert Redford will direct and star in alongside Shia LaBeouf, Nick Nolte and Brit Marling. The film is being adapted from Neil Gordon's novel about "an ex-Weather Underground militant wanted by the FBI for 30 years, who must go on the run when his true identity is exposed by a young, ambitious reporter." Production begins in Vancouver next month. [Deadline]
Why do celebrities ring the New York Stock Exchange bell? Is it because they have a project to promote, a longtime fascination with the stock market, a complex fetish for percussion instruments and stressed-out traders in suits? Who knows! But a lot of celebrities have gotten to ring the opening bell the past few years, and thanks to a new article in The Atlantic, we now know which movie stars are responsible for kicking off the biggest drops in recent memory. Be forewarned: Captain America may be able to protect the country against Nazis but his mighty shield cannot protect the NYSE.
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Back in June, Sony released a controversial teaser poster for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo that featured a topless Rooney Mara and her exposed nipple ring. "I've already started to read posts about how hot Rooney [Mara] is with her nipple ring on full display. That's enough to start my blood boiling," wrote Women in Hollywood's Melissa Silverstein in the wonderfully titled post The Pornification of Lisbeth Salander. "Lisbeth [Salander] is not supposed to be hot. That's one of the reasons why we love her so much." Responding to the general discontent for the first time, Mara doesn't necessarily agree.
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Colton Harris-Moore -- a teen who spent two years stealing airplanes, boats and cars, evading authorities, and burglarizing homes -- is picking up $1.4 million in restitution money to be paid to his victims from Fox for the rights to his story (though he'll only collect if Fox exercises its options). Known as the 'Barefoot Bandit" because he once committed a crime without shoes, the convicted Harris-Moore is in jail awaiting trial for an October sentencing which could land him 10 years in jail. The Oscar-winning scribe Dustin Lance Black was hired to write the picture. May I suggest a title? Barefoot in the Clink? [Deadline]
In 2007, a 19-year-old from Tennessee named Chris Crocker used YouTube to defend a mildly disturbed pop star named Britney Spears. His efforts didn't quite sway her detractors, but the gargantuan amount of attention he received for yelling, "Leave Britney Alone" proved that YouTube was a startup starmaker -- and you only needed a camera and a computer to plug yourself into its intergalactic Jumbotron. Now, a new documentary called Me At the Zoo about the platinum-topped viral phenom needs Kickstarter cash to finish production. Could your investment be worth it?
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