Acclaimed, Pulitzer-honored science fiction/fantasy author Ray Bradbury has died at the age of 91 in Los Angeles, following one of the most fruitful creative writing careers of the 20th century. The man behind such genre classics as Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes leaves behind a stunning legacy spanning works adapted for television, film, and the stage.
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Also in Tuesday afternoon's news round-up, Participant Media picks up Mexican actor/filmmaker Diego Luna's latest project starring Michael Peña and America Ferrera, Relativity scores Alberto Iglesias for its latest project, indie thriller Backgammon gets rolling, meeting young Hollywood's "It-Photographer" and Moscow's Bolshoi to hit U.S. theaters.
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A swarm of celebs including cast members turned out Monday night for the New York premiere of Jane Fonda and Catherine Keener starrer, Peace, Love & Misunderstanding at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The event, which benefited The Women's Media Center, held its post-screening bash at the Royalton Hotel in Midtown. The party didn't take a cue from the film's hippie-vibe, but who needs bohemian when there's champagne and sliders to guzzle! Along with Fonda and Keener, fellow cast members Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chace Crawford, NatWolff, Marissa O’Donnell and Maddie Corman joined in for the party hosted by Forevermark and The Wall Street Journal.
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Also up for Tuesday morning's new round up, Oscilloscope picks up a SXSW selection, MTV Movie Awards suffers a decline in ratings. Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins readies for the camera to play the role of a rock legend and Venice taps an Italian actor to lead its Horizons jury.
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Also in Monday afternoon's news round up, Outfest unveils its 30th anniversary lineup, Ashley Tisdale joins the next Scary Movie, Cannes and Sundance winner Beasts of the Southern Wild is set to open Stateside film festival, Matt Dillon and Brendan Fraser are among the cast set for a new dark comedy, Christina Ricci will join Susan Sarandon in an upcoming project and Christopher Nolan says good bye to Howard Hughes pic.
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Elizabeth Olsen looks modestly dressed in her Victorian-era full-length dresses and hats for her role in the erotic thriller Therese Raquin, which she is currently filming in Budapest, Hungary. Olsen plays the title character Therese Raquin in this project, directed by Charlie Stratton and also starring Harry Potter's Tom Felton and Jessica Lange. Her character is apparently forced into a loveless marriage with her sickly cousin Camille, played by Fenton.
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Movies reigned where once music videos played... MTV hosted its annual Movie Awards in L.A. over the weekend from the Gibson Amphitheatre, morphing the venue into a futuristic drive-in of sorts. Russell Brand MC'd the show, which featured four "Golden Popcorn" wins for The Hunger Games, an on-stage performance by Johnny Depp and a roasting for Trailblazer award-winner Emma Stone.
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In 1996, it arrived. Within a few days, it struck box office gold. And on July 3, 2013, it comes back...in 3-D! 20th Century Fox has announced plans to re-release Roland Emmerich's original destructo-blockbuster Independence Day next year in an extra dimension, because America apparently can't get enough of seeing Will Smith battle aliens. (Bad Boys in 3-D? Now that I'd pay to see.) Plan your 2013 '90s sci-fi flashback movie nights accordingly. [Collider]
Don't worry, no Prometheus spoilers here, just a peek into the brain of Sir Ridley Scott, who opened an interview with press by musing on... tape recorders. And Star Trek. And light speed. Naturally.
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The latest in a string of big budget studio movie lawsuits has been lobbed at the makers of Men in Black 3, with extra Danika Gerner claiming that she was outfitted with a costume that led to her suffering "serious bodily injuries" during filming last May. The curious part: Reports give no clues as to just how Gerner's costume injured her, or which background character she played. More on the litigious wardrobe malfunction after the jump.
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This just in from Disney HQ: After bashing records across the globe, The Avengers will go from puny Earthbound box office domination to the final frontier, screening for six lucky multinational cosmonauts currently in orbit: "Marvel Studios announced today that they arranged with NASA to transfer their record-breaking blockbuster film Marvel’s The Avengers to NASA’s Mission Control in Houston, which will uplink the film to the International Space Station (ISS), currently orbiting 220 miles above Earth. The film will then be screened for the space station crew’s exclusive enjoyment." (Take that, Pentagon!) Keep an eye out for Loki up there fellas, eh? [Press release]
It's no secret that Chinese censors are tough nuts to crack when it comes to Hollywood imports like Men in Black 3. And, sure — those scenes of aliens with reptilian tongues disguised as Chinatown restaurant workers serving up contraband foodstuffs played on easy jokes, and were reportedly excised from the Chinese release. But was there something more subtle and subversive at play when Agent J "neuralized" a crowd of innocent Chinatown bystanders?
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It's not quite Willy Wonka's suit, and it should probably belong to the young actor who wore it onscreen, but it's a good cause, so hey: "Focus Features is donating an original costume from its acclaimed new movie Moonrise Kingdom, directed by Wes Anderson, to Variety the Children’s Charity of New York for Variety New York’s online auction." Read on for more from Focus's announcement and the auction site CharityBuzz.
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What to even say about this wild report out of Hong Kong, where the provocateurs at Apple Daily — basically the Daily Mail of the East — have published the scandalous allegations that actress Zhang Ziyi sexually serviced "various rich and powerful figures" in China from 2007 to 2011, starting with a disgraced politician and eventually earning the equivalent of $110 million for her "work." Wait, what?
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I don't recall the 1994 Pauly Shore/Andy Dick effort In the Army Now being a "huge box office success and fan favorite," but I'm happy to take the co-stars' words for it if it means leaving well-enough alone and not foisting In the Army Again on an unsuspecting population still reeling from a decade of war abroad. Even if it means not seeing them save "Katey Parry [sic] from a USO show gone bad" — our national psyche has endured enough, has it not?
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