Peter Berg's beloved TV series Friday Night Lights ends this week, capping its rollercoaster five-season run with an Emmy nomination and a fantastic oral history of the show by its creators and stars over at Grantland. But this might not be the end for FNL, if, as reports say, Berg and Co. are trying to get another Friday Night Lights movie off the ground, to pick up where the small-screen storyline left off.
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In this weekend's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Ralph Fiennes reprises his role as Lord Voldemort, the noseless, screamy "Dark Lord" archenemy of our bespectacled box office hero Harry Potter. How did the English Oscar-nominee transform himself from chilling Nazi war criminal to a J. Lo love interest and back again to another kind of purity-seeking evildoer?
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It's all my weary fingers can do to type another word about the blockbuster final installment of the Harry Potter film series, but here goes: Aren't you going to miss Ron Weasley? Harry's Hogwarts sidekick and Hermione's adoring foil, the awkward man-child facing maturity by fire in this weekend's climactic Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Oh -- and the dumbfoundedness. Alllllways ready with the dumfoundedness.
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Time for yet another Twitter hashtag war: This time we're following the example of Patton Oswalt (who says he stole the gag from tweeter John Ross Bowie), and invoking the hashtag #ArtHousePorn. Let's hear your libidinous riffs on arty cinema! We'll list the best five examples we found on Twitter, add a few of our own, and then you can show us all up with your funny funniness.
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· Real talk: During the midnight screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 that yours truly attended, the new teaser for The Dark Knight Rises went over like a Dementor. Let's hope that the teaser for The Amazing Spider-man -- reportedly due next week -- works a little better. Judging from this goofy picture of Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker using his Spidey senses on the basketball court, it might. But can he dunk? Click through for a look, then stick around for more Buzz Break.
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What's up in Vanessa Hudgens's world? "I have been so stupidly busy working on Gimme Shelter. I'm so excited and proud of the work I've been doing and let me tell you, you all are going to be SHOCKED with how I look in this movie," she wrote on Facebook. In the film, Hudgens plays a pregnant teen runaway who goes looking for her father (Brendan Fraser). "It's crazy sauce." And how! We're not in Sucker Punch anymore. [Facebook via People]
We all saw it coming, and not just because of the lines of cape-wearing, wand-waving fans stretching into half the world's local horizons: The franchise-ending cocktail of anticipation, hype and 3-D also known as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 earned $43.5 million from midnight showings nationwide. And yes, that would be a record. Handily.
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Customarily on Fridays, when a new movie reaches theaters over the howling, nose-pinching, and often very funny protests of the critical establishment, the saltiest of those responses are gathered here for your browsing pleasure. That's given that there is enough of a sample, or that the stinker in question is intended for a broad enough audience for us to advise viewers of the open manhole in their path. And then... there's the Sarah Palin documentary.
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Oh, for Pete's sake. On the heels of the ten other stills of Hobbit dwarves, comes this first peek at Balin and Dwalin, "close relatives of Thorin" and "two of his most loyal and trusted friends." That's the bad news. The good news is that with the addition of Balin and Dwalin, there are now enough Hobbit dwarves to fill out that calendar Movieline helpfully pitched on Thursday. Hooray? Click through for a look.
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Judging from the advanced ticket sales and pent-up anticipation, the chances are good that you braved the crowds of costumed Harry Potter fans to see The Deathly Hallows Part 2 at midnight. The tragic, violent and nostalgic finale hits many of the notes Potter fans have been waiting to see onscreen with aplomb ("I open at the close"!), but there are still some pretty hefty changes -- especially involving Alan Rickman's Severus Snape. Why did screenwriter Steve Kloves decide to move the location of Snape's biggest Hallows moment?
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Also in this Friday edition of The Broadsheet: Akira finds a director... Jennifer Love Hewitt will head to Jewtopia... Ethan Hawke gets scary... and more ahead.
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Do you smell that? No, no -- not the faint, salty vapor of Muggle tears humidifying multiplex lobbies worldwide. I'm talking about those Harry Potter viewers' money, which has already changed hands at record rates with possible history to come. How much can the much-anticipated, much lamented blockbuster earn this weekend? To the Forecast!
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This weekend's new release Winnie the Pooh is a soft-spot for us blowhards at Movieline, as it combines cherished characters, a charming new story, and a slender run time. All wonderful things! However, in the past 50 years, Winnie the Pooh and his friends have enjoyed some not-so-pure moments on their numerous VHS adventures, and in honor of Pooh's latest film, Movieline is shedding light on seven of those now. Heffalumps abound!
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Our not-very-long national nightmare is over. Despite some reports to the contrary, it appears Friends With Benefits star Mila Kunis will accompany Sgt. Scott Moore to the Marine Corps Ball in November. Access Hollywood first cast doubt on the planned date because of Kunis's busy year-end schedule, but her representatives were able to work things out. Can't wait for the prom pics! [Fox News]
Hurrah for Tweet-happy directors! Thanks to Adam Shankman (@adammshankman), we've got our first look at Catherine Zeta-Jones in character as the mayor's wife in Shankman's now-filming musical Rock of Ages, along with a glimpse of two retro rocker cameos you can expect to see in the film.
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