And so another week -- another month! Oy! -- closes at Movieline. It was a blur, but we'll piece it all together with the help of the good-old Week in Review. Make sure to check back with weekend editor Christopher Rosen on Saturday, and have a good one!
· The trailer for Buried looks like YouTube yanked the imagery for copyright reasons. But no, no: Key visual stimuli occurs at clip's end. Effective! [Deadline]
Movieline's commenters know better than to visit the multiplex in a time when Time-Warner Cable broadcasts all the best cinema nowadays, but this gives them reason to vacate the den. In addition to the gorgeous violet marquee and a glorious popcorn-and-Icee deal, you're also guaranteed a swift execution -- and at so many available times! I can't decide if that image looks more like a late-entry Goosebumps cover or a final in a Shirley Jackson short story. At any rate, five commenters win tickets to the afterworld -- let's meet 'em!
An intriguing Friday rumor has Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn at the top of Fox's list to helm its reboot X-Men First Class. Having proven his dexterity and skill with young people in costume killing villains, the director would merely need to leave the C-word behind and this is his. But does he want it? Sources close to Vaughn say maybe not. Developing... [Deadline]
Happy hour is here, and so Movieline hits the bar with our favorite Friday drinking buddies, the Say Whaaaa? Singers. They'll have an O'Doul's for now, though, because a review of the week's most insane, outrageous, baffling and otherwise absurd news stories is enough to make anyone feel tipsy by sundown. Read on and find out what I mean.
Last month, Hank Azaria told Movieline what he's got planned for his live-action spin on Gargamel in the Smurfs movie, and now there's physical proof. Paparazzi snapped pictures of the actor in costume on the film's NYC set, and...yeah, he looks pretty Gargamel-y. [Coming Soon]
Lest you think Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Dinner is just a place for wonky political reporters and politicians to get their drink on while listening to host Jay Leno cackle at his own jokes, the event looks like it might draw more celebrities than ever before. And not just beltway celebrities, but real ones! Think Steven Spielberg, Alec Baldwin, Michael Douglas, Betty White and Justin Bieber, just to name five. But which celebrity attendees stick out like a sore thumb?
A very excited Warner Bros. announced today that the long-awaited follow-up to The Dark Knight finally has a release date: July 20, 2012. The film doesn't yet have a title, a cast, a plot, a director (though Christopher Nolan is widely assumed to be helming), or a format announcement (3D? IMAX? Both?) but what would be the fun in divulging those? British tabloids need something to guess about. [Box Office Mojo]
If you'd like to see Saturday Night Live veterans Al Franken, Dan Aykroyd, Dana Carvey, and Kevin Nealon together again (and you live in the Los Angeles area), you're in luck. The foursome is appearing at the House of Blues this Saturday and for the low, low price of $2,400 (more expensive tickets are available) you can attend their show. Part of the proceeds will go towards Franken's 2014 Senate reelection campaign. [HuffPo]
· It's a good thing the new Sex and the City 2 poster identifies who these ladies are, because the studio has employed a retoucher who'd rather make you guess. Click for bigger.
· Rose Byrne has joined the Kristen Wiig bridesmaid comedy as Wiig's rival. This had better not become Bride Wars, ladies.
· Sad news for Halle Berry: she's split from long-term flame Gabriel Aubry.
· Might the May Gay Day reveal be country singer Shelby Lynne?
· Meredith Vieira accidentally uttered an expletive on the Today Show this morning, most likely killing off a few of Williard Scott's centenarians in the process.
Justice officials in Switzerland say they will not accept secret, unsealed testimony from a former prosecutor in the Roman Polanski case. The director's lawyers wanted the testimony -- which reportedly impugns the judge in Polanski's 1978 trial and sentencing -- unsealed in an effort to block his extradition. The Swiss say they will instead move forward "on the assumption that the extradition request from the U.S. is based on correct statements." Anyone want to predict the date he lands in L.A.? [AP]
It arrived last week like a bolt from Heaven itself: RestoreStephenBaldwin.org, your one-stop shop for charitable contributions to the most famous bankrupt born-again Christian in Hollywood. Its mysterious provenance and outlandish ambition was the stuff of near-instant Internet legend, and today, as if to burnish that legend, Stephen Baldwin would just like to explain that it's not his fault.
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If you were intrigued by the notion of Noah Baumbach reuniting with his Greenberg star Ben Stiller for an out-of-character adaptation of the children's classic Mr. Popper's Penguins, here's some bad news: the LAT says Baumbach is now off the project. A shame. We really would have liked to see Mr. Popper destroy those pet penguins with some passive-aggressive psychological warfare. [LAT]
If you're still wondering why Kenneth Branagh was hired to direct the big-budget adaptation of Marvel's Thor, perhaps the first image of the character will convince you.
Universal's schedule reshuffling produced a lot of oddities -- Your Highness has been pushed back to 2011? Really? -- but among the most notable is that the Matt Damon-starring The Adjustment Bureau is now set to open against the Ben Affleck-directed The Town on September 17. Who could be behind this nefarious plan to pit the Oscar-winning best friends against each other? This smells like the Jim Brooks camp all over again! [Box Office Mojo]
FILM NEWS 