· Between this new poster for Never Let Me Go and yesterday's poster for Let Me In, it's going to be an awfully insistent fall movie season, isn't it? Click through for a bigger image, and more Buzz Break.
Even 46 years later, Don Draper can't catch a break from Ad Age. Columnist Rance Crain takes Mad Men to task for how the season premiere represented Don's failed lunch interview with the publication's wooden-legged reporter: "No. 1, we never did interviews over lunch; No. 2, we didn't take notes in shorthand; No. 3 we didn't ask cute-ass questions; and No. 4, our pictures were never bigger than our stories." No truth to the rumor that Roger Sterling is lining his birdcage with printouts of this story. [Ad Age]
It's the oddest development since Alia Shawkat was third-billed in the closing credits for The Runaways despite having no lines: ventriloquist comedian Jeff Dunham managed to parlay his cameo in Dinner for Schmucks into becoming the fourth-billed actor on the poster. Whose reps need to take a lesson from Dunham's clearly terrific agent and lawyers? Let's see...
It was just a matter of time before Oliver Stone backtracked on his recent comments about Hitler, the Holocaust, the Israeli lobby in the US and "the Jewish domination of the media." And so, late Monday, the apologies flowed.
Rihanna will make her bigscreen debut opposite Alexander Skarsgard and Taylor Kitsch in Battleship, because what the hell. Her role in Peter Berg's game adaptation has not been specified, but most observers agree she's got the polish and presence to play the coveted coordinate role D-6. Developing... [Variety]
Also in today's stimulating trade news and developments: Daniel Craig makes the obvious official... Sam Worthington comes and goes... Miramax still isn't a done deal.... and more.
· Steve Buscemi is both convincing and gorgeously lit in HBO's new series Boardwalk Empire, which features the directing talents of one Martin Scorsese and the most infamous gangsters of the past 100 years. "Monopoly," this ain't. [Zap2It]
The Wall Street Journal published an odd feature today elaborating on documentarian Ric Burns's little-known in-house film commissioned by Goldman Sachs. You might best recognize Burns as the director of the epic PBS series New York and as the co-director (with his brother Ken) of the landmark documentary The Civil War. You might not recognize Burns as a filmmaker like hundreds (if not thousands) of others who take private industrial gigs between their more commercial projects. Which somehow seems to be giving folks ethical brain cramps today. One question: Why?
The season premiere of Mad Men was watched by 2.9 million viewers last night -- up from the record 2.8 million that watched the premiere last summer. There would be a celebration in the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce conference room to recognize this feat, but the lack of a table somewhat hinders office social events. [THR/The Live Feed]
Engaged (and engaging) as Oliver Stone was in his recent chat with Movieline, I can tell you he knows how to put an interviewer on the defensive. But he can also make you laugh! Or wince. Or wince and laugh. Or maybe just wince. Depends on your mood I guess -- and exactly what he said about the Jews, Hitler, Russia, Israel, WWII and the media this time around.
· You may have seen Chloe Moretz covered in blood before during Kick-Ass, but Let Me In's Comic-Con poster went back to that same sanguineous well. Click for bigger and check out more new bits after the jump:
Nothing says villainy like a mustache -- preferably one that comes with a twirl and a damsel tied to a railroad track. While it's unclear if the villains played by Peter Sarsgaard and Mark Strong in Green Lantern will add those accessories to their facial hair, one thing is certain: In the Martin Campbell film, the bad guys have flavor savers, the good guys do not. Ahead, help Movieline figure out which supervillain wears their 'stache better.
What's in the water over at Showtime? In addition to Laura Linney, Cynthia Nixon, Gabourey Sidibe and Oliver Platt, The Big C has added Liam Neeson to its now-sprawling cast. Linney and Neeson -- it's a quasi Love Actually reunion! The series premieres on Aug. 16, so adjust those DVR's accordingly. [Courant/TV Eye]
The British government announced today it plans to shutter the UK Film Council, the organization which has overseen the distribution of federal lottery funds to more than 900 films and other related enterprises since its inception in 2000. UK culture minister Jeremy Hunt announced the consolidation of the council along with that of several other arts offices. The government is still expected to underwrite portions of indie budgets, though UKFC critics have long maintained the selection process is rigged toward insiders and old boys, or old chaps, or old lads, or whatever you want to call them. Developing... [
The Other Guys director meets The Boys... Elisabeth Shue moves into the House on the End of the Street... The Weinstein Brothers keep fighting for Miramax. This and more as Hollywood Ink continues after the jump.
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