Given author Stephenie Meyer's close connection to Summit's Twilight films (she came onboard to produce the final two films), the vampire saga has retained a firm sense of authenticity even as scripter Melissa Rosenberg has tweaked and added details to translate Meyer's vision for the big screen. But a new EW Breaking Dawn Part 2 preview teases a "pretty big shock" for fans expecting stark faithfulness to the series-ender. What could be more shocking than the all-out vampire/werewolf/baby-loving party that already is Breaking Dawn?
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The Bourne Legacy, The Campaign and Hope Springs are among the latest in studio fare churned out for your summer popcorn pleasure. And some - at least - are worth a view. But if you're itching for something else beyond the grain, check out the latest from Spike Lee, whose Red Hook Summer begins its roll out this weekend with an expansion set throughout the rest of summer. Actress/director Julie Delpy's sequel to her hilarious 2 Days In Paris opens, but this time she trades Paris for New York in, fittingly, 2 Days In New York, in which she stars opposite Chris Rock. And David Duchovny stars in Goats, which is finally making its way to the screen after a decade in the making. More teasers, insight and films here beyond the blockbuster...
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Whovians, rejoice! A Doctor Who movie is in the works, reports the BBC, commissioned to celebrate the long-running sci-fi series in time for its 50th anniversary. Entitled An Adventure in Space and Time, the 90-minute drama will travel back through the decades to revisit the history of the beloved show and its creation in the early 1960s. "This is the story of how an unlikely set of brilliant people created a true television original," said writer Mark Gatiss of the TV film, which is slated to arrive next year.
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In a move that should cause some shockwaves through the indie filmmaking world, one of independent film's most recognizable producers, Ted Hope, will takeover as Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society. The organization annually produces the April San Francisco International Film Festival - the oldest such event in the Americas - in addition to other year-round programming events and filmmaker support services. A long-time figure in New York where he produced films through his companies Good Machine, This Is That and Double Hope Films, he will head west to San Francisco where he will take on the position beginning September 1st. Hope succeeds fellow indie veteran Bingham Ray, who tragically died January early in his tenure at SFFS.
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U.K. born actor Bob Hoskins said Wednesday he is retiring following a diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease. A representative announced the actor's retirement. His career spanned four decades, most recently appearing in Snow White and the Huntsman.
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After much speculation, the Venice Film Festival officially said Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master will join the event's Competition as its 18th title. Organizers of the 69th annual event taking place August 29th to September 8th, added four more titles in all Wednesday to the festival's roster.
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You need only utter the words "Rocky loves Em-ily" or "Light up the eyes!" to transport me to the wondrous time known as the early '90s, when timeless classics — timeless, I say! — such as Touchstone's tale of Rocky, Colt, and Tum Tum opened up new worlds for 11-year-old me. Hollywood.com's Michael Arbeiter knows what I'm talking about: "[As] rich and dense as the history of the ninja might be, it wasn't until the date of August 7, 1992, exactly twenty years ago today, that the identity of the Japanese spy and soldier really hit its potential in terms of relevance in the canon of American film. For on this date, the great Jon Turtletaub bequeathed unto the world his third directorial feature: 3 Ninjas." Preach.
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Yesterday at a $35,800-per-ticket fundraiser at the Westport, Connecticut home of Harvey Weinstein, President Obama big upped fellow dinner guest/event co-host Anne Hathaway while pretty much nailing his critique of The Dark Knight Rises: "She's spectacular," POTUS enthused. "I got a chance to see Batman, and she was the best thing in it. That's just my personal opinion." Ours too, Mr. President. Ours, too.
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Decades after making a name for herself as reporter and film critic at the New York Herald Tribune, New York Magazine, and the Today show, trailblazing journalist Judith Crist died Tuesday in Manhattan, confirms the New York Times. Crist additionally wrote for TV Guide, Saturday Review, Gourmet and Ladies’ Home Journal during her career, which included a longtime stint as professor of journalism at Columbia and a cameo in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories. After the jump, watch an interview with Crist filmed in May, on her 90th birthday, in which the spry critic took a look back at her fruitful career.
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You can bet your Ben Wa balls E.L. James is going to cash in on her Fifty Shades of Grey merchandising empire once the steamy lit porn's movie adaptation gets going. But while Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele have yet to be cast, you can start getting in the mood with the official 50 Shades of Grey Classical Album, featuring fifteen classical ditties referenced in the books that got James' creative juices flowing — a preview of the eventual soundtrack to Christian Grey's big screen S&M outing?
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The Russian-born American businessman and cultural philanthropist Martin E. Segal died Sunday just under two months before the 50th anniversary of the New York Film Festival, the premiere Manhattan film event hosted annually by the venerable organization he founded, the Film Society of Lincoln Center. He was 96.
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TDKR will likely rule the big box office for a third weekend in a row and Total Recall is a re-make that should bring out a decent mass of humanity. But there are a number of new specialty releases also braving the theaters this weekend that are more than worth your $$. Among this weekend's new ""indie/specialty/limited release" newcomers are 360 with Rachel Weisz, Jude Law and Anthony Hopkins. The Babymakers with Paul Schneider and Olivia Munn and Celeste and Jesse Forever, starring Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Elijah Wood and Ari Graynor and Soldiers of Fortune with Christian Slater, Sean Bean, Ving Rhames and Dominic Monaghan. Also on tap are Girlfriend Boyfriend by China/Taiwan/Hong Kong specialty outfit China Lion and doc Sushi: The Global Catch.
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Scarlett Johansson's sexy pillowy voice has once again been lent to recorded music. The Avengers star joined French recording star Lulu Gainsbourg for a club-loungy version of Bonnie & Clyde. The song is just one from other notables who took part in an album, which Gainsbourg created as a tribute for his father, Serge Gainsbourg. Other famous voices bellowing for the album called From Gainsbourg to Lulu are Iggy Pop, Rufus Wainwright as well as Johnny Depp and now ex Vanessa Paradis.
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Elizabeth Olsen has given her two cents and two thumbs up to Fifty Shades of Grey, the best-selling erotic drama by E.L. James that has been the subject of a flurry of Twitter and blog posts over the summer over who will (or should) be cast in the lead roles. But the Martha Marcy May Marlene star who is currently filming Very Good Girls and has a couple of other projects in post-production said that the novel is "kind of great" for helping its female base to embrace fantasies and to openly discuss their sexuality.
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Indie pic
Celeste and Jesse Forever played Sundance back in January and achieved that much sought-after hallmark of success: an acquisition deal with a big-name distributor - in this case the venerable Sony Pictures Classics. But the movie that had some false starts before shooting began did make it to the screen and if a gala screening of the film last night in New York is any measure, it should see more success. In addition to cast members Rashida Jones (who also co-wrote the film) and Rebecca Dayan as well as writer Will McCormack and director Lee Toland Krieger,
Anne Hathaway,
Paul Rudd,
David Schwimmer,
Amy Poehler,
Aziz Ansari, Andy Cohen and Max Greenfield turned out for the event, hosted by The Peggy Siegal Company and the International Rescue Committee.
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