It is a very special Thursday here at Movieline HQ. Not just because it's Super 8 Eve, but because we have some birthdays to celebrate. Get out the sheet cake! Like the now-30-year-old Natalie Portman, star Johnny Depp -- one of the finest actors of our generation -- has a birthday on June 9. The Oscar nominee turns 48 today, and that means it's time to look back on some of his best onscreen work. What's your favorite Depp performance? Let's discuss ahead.
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Earlier this week, Sacha Baron Cohen was spotted on the New York set of The Dictator wearing an American flag-inspired jumpsuit. Casual! Especially for a film about a dictator who gets deposed from his country and heads to America to find a new life. Now, the first official look from the film has arrived, and it features Cohen in clothing much more befitting of a Saddam Hussein-like tyrannical ruler. Click through for your first glimpse.
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If you were hoping to see the Rian Johnson-directed Looper in theaters this year, some bad news: it won't get released until Sept. 28, 2012. That's unfortunate for a number of reasons -- it's Johnson's follow-up to the underrated Brothers Bloom; it stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a twisty time travel plot -- but mostly just because it means you have to wait 15 months to find out what Bruce Willis is shooting his massive machine gun at in this picture. [Rope of Silicon]
On this day back in 1981, in Jerusalem, the world welcomed a baby girl named Natalie Hershlag. Within a little more than a decade, Hollywood would welcome her as Natalie Portman. Now, with arguably the role of a lifetime not too far away in her rearview mirror and motherhood of her own in the offing, Portman turns 30. Which naturally begets some looking back: What's her finest screen moment?
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Also in this Thursday edition of The Broadsheet: Jonah Hill could reteam with the Duplass Brothers... Mark Wahlberg really wants that sequel to The Fighter... George Clooney gets involved in Weinergate, somehow... and more ahead.
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Every film from The Goonies to Newsies to Carrie is being adapted into a musical these days, so it's not terribly surprising that another feature film is getting ready for its Broadway close-up. This time the movie is Big Fish, Tim Burton's 2003 adaptation of Daniel Wallace's novel.
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Leonard Stern, who created the seminal '50s sitcom The Honeymooners with Jackie Gleason and wrote 12 feature films (including two Abbott and Costello vehicles), died on Tuesday at age 88 in Los Angeles. In addition to acting as head writer for The Steve Allen Show and producer of the flat-out funniest show of the '60s, Get Smart, Stern also served as president of the Producers Guild of America. Let's honor his legacy with a clip from one of his first films, a little flick about a dynastic duo venturing overseas.
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Who can help that the Harry Potter alums are so likable, intelligent, and cute? I cannot. I have tried, and more than once. Emma Watson's Perks of Being a Wallflower co-star Logan Lerman snapped Twitpics of most of the cast hanging out behind the scenes, and Watson's picture is the most magnetic. Look at those still-childlike eyes! Accio, her genes.
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Based on a new analysis of Rotten Tomatoes movie reviews, Slate has determined that Jennifer Love Hewitt is the worst-reviewed actress since 1985. If this statistic sounds impressive, that's because it is.
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It may not be nearly as racy as the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo poster porn, but Summit has released the first poster for Paul W.S. Anderson's Three Musketeers. Take a look at the official artwork for the 3D remake of Alexandre Dumas's famed story -- and figure out which cast members carry the most marketing weight based on their poster size. Sorry in advance, Matthew Macfayden.
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Earlier this week, the British Board of Film Classification refused to approve The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) for public distribution on DVD, meaning that the British people will not be able to add the gross-out sequel to their home library anytime soon -- legally, at least. As disappointing as this is for Tom Six fans, this is not the first time that the UK has banned a film because of illicit content and it won't be the last. As such, let's remember nine other films that were prohibited overseas.
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Abracadabra! Variety reports that Jesse Eisenberg has agreed in principle to star in Now You See Me, a "magician-heist" thriller from Clash of the Titans director Louis Leterrier. Jake Gyllenhaal and Melanie Laurent are reportedly in talks for the film as well. What this means for Eisenberg's rumored reunion with Noah Baumbach remains to be seen, though perhaps the Social Network star has some time expanding tricks up his sleeve. (Groan!) [Variety]
This morning we relayed that Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol scribes Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec would head up a reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is probably good news. Problem is, the best parts of hard-bitten 1990 original should be preserved in turtle wax for eternity. You simply can't recreate the essence of a film where the chief voice talent is Corey Feldman, and why on Earth would you try? Here are five elements from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that can't be topped or (probably) even retooled.
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Paul Greengrass has seen his name attached to a number of projects in recent months -- from Cleopatra to Memphis to The Deep Blue Good-by -- but it appears the director is finally closing in on a follow-up to Green Zone. Deadline reports that Sony has made an offer to Greengrass to take the reins on the adaptation of Richard Phillips' Somali pirates survival memoir, A Captain's Duty. Tom Hanks is attached to star as Phillips. [Deadline]
· Accio, adorable! As part of a new production featurette for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, you can watch the original Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone screen test with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. They're so young! They're such bad actors! For further proof of how far all three have come as performers (specifically Radcliffe and Grint), click ahead -- then stick around for more Buzz Break.
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