Two very different posters emerged for November's release of the 23rd James Bond installment, Skyfall. In one, current Bond incarnation Daniel Craig looks the upright perfectly dressed 007. Sure he has a gun, but he holds it more like a martini as he stands in perfect posture with the Union Jack and what appears to be the City of London in the background. The second one ditches the British flag for a more casual James Bond hitting the dirt in action (with blazer), with a side view of Craig pointing his pistol at an unseen assailant with large 007 emblazoned in the background.
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It is certainly one of the most anticipated questions in recent casting memory. Who is going to play the role of Christian Grey in the film version of Fifty Shades of Grey. Two of the rumored top contenders for the scintillating part, Ryan Gosling and Alexander Skarsgård seemed a bit blindsided by the question at the recent Toronto International Film Festival, with Gosling giving a mostly noncommittal response, while Skarsgård gave a more thoughtful exchange on the red carpet of the TIFF premiere of What Maisie Knew. Fans can even be heard screaming out, "You have to play him!"
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As protesters in Pakistan, Indonesia and Afghanistan raged against the anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims over the weekend, the media was also awash with photos and video of the Egyptian immigrant first tied to the crude inflammatory video, Nakoula Basseley, as he was escorted from his Southern California home looking like the Elephant Man so that he could be questioned by police. (See the video after the jump.) Basseley, who was first identified as Sam Bacile — a pseudonym that calls to mind the word "imbecile," — covered his face with a white scarf and wore a newsboy's cap on his head to protect his identity. His appearance didn't remain hidden for long, however. more »
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is going to do for sugary drinks what he did for smoking early on in his tenure, though movie theaters in the city are ready to take on his honor's plans to keep audiences from slurping too much sugary fizz while sitting in front of a screen. The new regulation, which won the support of NYC's board of health, will ban calorie-soaked sugary drinks such as sodas from being sold in theaters, concession stands, cafeterias and restaurants larger than 16 ounces. The ban comes in the wake of the city's past public health initiatives which outlawed smoking in bars, offices and some public areas. It has also banned trans fats and has forced fast-food restaurants to list calorie counts on their menus.
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Anna Gurji's acting experience in Innocence of Muslims may turn out to be more frightening than any horror/fantasy genius Neil Gaiman ever wrote.
On Monday, the Sandman author posted a letter he received from Gurji on his website, Neil Gaiman.com. Gaiman explained that he met Gurji, who hails from the Eastern European country of Georgia, on the set of Michael Reaves film Blood Kiss, in which he plays a small role. During the first read-through of the script, Gurji read the part of the female lead in the film. "So I've acted with Anna and spent time with her," Gaiman wrote on his site. "She's a good sort." more »
Digging into the rabbit hole of a mystery that is the inflammatory, anti-Muslim film Innocence of Muslims — the amateurish viral trailer for which set off protests and violent attacks in at U.S. embassies in Libya, Egypt, and other cities this week — Vice Magazine and Gawker have fingered the man they believe directed the project last year in California. Did industry veteran Alan Roberts (AKA Robert Brownell), a B-movie director and editor behind cult/softcore Cannon/Golan & Globus-era schlock Karate Cop, The Sexpert, and The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood, make the incendiary anti-Muslim screed?
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Roger Friedman of Showbiz 411 reports that U.K. mega-singer Adele will sing the title theme song to the next James Bond joint, Skyfall — though, grain of salt: He's confirming his own scoop here, and the phrase "I think I can confirm for you what I said some months ago" doesn't inspire total confidence. But it's Friday, and a girl can dream! And Friedman's got it right when he argues that "Adele’s sound is the quintessential James Bond sound." Also, those other recent 007 themes did roundly suck. Bring on Agent Adele! [Showbiz 411]
Making his first press appearance since that headline-grabbing Republican National Convention speech, Clint Eastwood laughed off his rambling, off-the-cuff missive to an invisible Obama. “It didn’t get the response I wanted,” joked the 82 year-old actor and filmmaker at a press conference for his upcoming baseball flick Trouble With The Curve, “because I was hoping they’d nominate me.”
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Steve Klein says there's no blood on his hands.
In the aftermath of violence in Libya over the virulently anti-Islam video Innocence of Muslims initial media reports pointed to a Coptic Christian filmmaker named Sam Bacile, the pseudonym for Egyptian immigrant Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. But according to an A.P. report, Klein, a California insurance agent and Vietnam War veteran, has become the unrepentant public face of the crude video that has resulted in the deaths of four American diplomats, including America's Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens.
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Ending nearly a year of speculation, the Film Society of Lincoln Center announced two replacements for long-serving Program Director Richard Peña, who is set to step down at the end of 2012 after serving 25 years in the post. Kent Jones will be the new Director of Programming for the annual New York Film Festival, while Robert Koehler will serve as Director of Programming, Year Round.
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Orwa Nyrabia is free. The Syrian filmmaker, whose Aug. 23 abduction by military security there prompted a long list of filmmakers to call for his release, was freed on Wednesday in "strong and good spirits," according to his family.
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Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg try to navigate the ups and downs of breaking up while remaining BFFs in Lee Toland Krieger's Celeste and Jesse Forever, which is also one of the more vibrant LA-set pictures in recent memory. Declare your love for C&J and their bittersweet dramarama with a 10-word review of the film, now in wide release, and you could win a poster signed by the cast. A signed poster that you can cry to late at night whenever you get lonely!
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It is by far and away no secret that Hollywood compensation for a certain cadre of stars have been rocketing beyond the stratosphere for some time now, but one A-lister, in the form of Brad Pitt, says that the era of paychecks reaching into the tens of millions for some may be coming to a close.
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Days after his empty chair speech made Clint Eastwood a polarizing symbol of the Republican National Convention, hometown paper The Carmel Pine Cone scored an exclusive follow-up with the 82 year-old former Mayor. His explanation? He made it up on the fly moments before taking the stage. You don't say! "They vet most of the people, but I told them, 'You can’t do that with me, because I don’t know what I’m going to say'... There was a stool there, and some fella kept asking me if I wanted to sit down. When I saw the stool sitting there, it gave me the idea. I’ll just put the stool out there and I’ll talk to Mr. Obama and ask him why he didn’t keep all of the promises he made to everybody." [Carmel Pine Cone via USA Today]
Oscar-winner George Clooney lent his voice to President Obama's campaign for a video introduction Thursday night to close out the Democratic National Convention, but it was a trio of leading ladies — Kerry Washington, Scarlett Johansson, and Eva Longoria — who gave the DNC a rousing jolt of star power in Charlotte, NC.
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