· James McAvoy is reportedly attached to star in a biopic of Ian Fleming, the one-time British intelligence officer and WWII veteran who also happened to create James Bond. Currently in development under the rather on-the-nose title Ian Fleming, the film would cover Fleming's playboy lifestyle leading up to the war, his life-changing combat experience and, with any luck, his fondness for spanking. That's entertainment. [Pajiba]
Mel Gibson makes enemies in Mexico, Palm Springs prepares for some luminaries, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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For those who have yet to witness its splendor: How does the red band trailer of Youth in Revolt titillate us? With four-letter words, erection humor, and Nine Inch Nails-reminiscent come-ons! Michael Cera will tickle your belly button from the inside, ladies -- then he'll embark on a naughty "downward spiral."
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In the past ten years, a tragically short television life became a badge of honor for some television series; certain shows were just too smart, quirky or under-advertised to be appreciated by the mainstream. Like most rock stars whose early deaths made them icons, hasty cancellations have immortalized some of this decade's best programs. After the jump, seven series that flamed out too soon.
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What's that you say? You've grown hopelessly addicted to our Fave Fives, printing them up and amassing them like some crazy lady in Kentucky who lives up to her waist in decades of accumulated trash, filth and dessicated cat carcasses? (Sorry -- we watched Hoarders last night and it's hard to shake off.) Well then, you're in luck! Next up is New York-based comedian, author and sexpot Julie Klausner, whose book, I Don't Care About Your Band: What I Learned from Indie Rockers, Trust Funders, Pornographers, Felons, Faux-Sensitive Hipsters, and Other Guys I've Dated, comes out on Groundhog Day 2010. Click on to learn what five pop culture moments Julie deemed 2009's most essential.
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Radar brings sad news that iconic Poltergeist actress Zelda Rubinstein is in ill health and has been taken off life support, according to a friend of Rubinstein's. "Her lungs and kidneys have failed and she's in and out of consciousness," said the friend. "It's only a matter of time now -- she doesn't have long to live." 2009's been a harsh twelve months. [Radar]
Having learned nothing from the catastrophic lessons of whoring out their previous game-changing classics for selfish, seasonal-variety-show needs, the Fox brainstrust had apparently been plotting an Avatar-themed holiday TV special, set to air shortly after the opening of James Cameron's half-billion-dollar sci-fi gamble. According to these pages from a leaked memo obtained exclusively by Movieline, the show followed an original plot taking place some years after the action of Avatar ends, and featured many original and several new characters, plus appearances from some surprise visitors to Pandora. Click on for two proposal pages of what could have been a monumental addition to the holiday special canon.
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· There is no news out there, and thus, Kevin Jonas's wedding pictures have snagged both the cover of People and the lead item in today's Buzz Break. Mazel tov!
· Enragingly un-Oscared composer Carter Burwell gave a great interview to Museum of the Moving Image.
· Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift have broken up. I will hazard a guess that the terms of their agreement include a reconciliation just prior to the release of their upcoming film Valentine's Day.
· You may not know teary new True Blood import Joe Mangianello, but he's already had to deal with two hulking male stalkers.
· If you're curious why Warren Beatty would compare Jane Fonda to a python, here is the terribly inappropriate answer.
While the '00s -- or the Aughts, or whatever you want to call the decade almost past -- end at midnight Thursday, they leave a spectrum of legacies for us to consider heading into the '10s. Not a lot of them were very good for movies, unfortunately, but filmgoers can still find some pretty significant influences in all the debris and disappointments. And love them or hate them, some of the most important influences came in convenient character form. Read on for an assortment of the essentials, and of course add your own after browsing.
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· Just when Warner Bros. was thought to have an insurmountable lead in the 2009 box-office sweepstakes -- having forecast a record $3.99 billion global haul by the close of business this weekend (which evidently counts among this year's receipts, go figure) -- Fox has darted along the inside with its own prediction of $4 billion for the year. The latter studio points to huge holiday grosses for Avatar and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel as late revenue drivers; surely Warners can find $10 million of Blind Side revenue left under its couch cushions as college bowl games take off this weekend? Developing... [Variety]
MGM contemplates its suitors, Disney contemplates Marvel's B-list, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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· The trailer for Cop Out preceded my weekend showing of Sherlock Holmes, and even the mouthbreathers at The Grove couldn't muster a couple neanderlaughs for that thing. This is what we've been waiting for? "Cop Out?" Wasn't that a 30 Rock punchline? I'm almost positive it was. There is no genre-subversion going on here. There is only genre. Terrible, terrible genre. CUE THE RAGGA! [Apple]
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Prayer works according to Joe Manganiello, Alan Ball's latest werewolf, who credits his True Blood casting with the hours of spiritual pleading he clocked 25 years ago: "When I was a little kid, the nun at my elementary school said if you pray for something hard enough, it'll happen. And I would pray every day with all of my heart that God would turn me into a werewolf." Over two decades later, Manganiello's pleas were answered with an invitation to Bon Temps, which crumbled Sookie's future wereman-meat into fitful sobs: "I'm not afraid to admit that I started crying." Now that his tears have dried, Manganiello is subjecting himself to daily "Werewolf Workouts" to get that Lautner 16-pack. [EW]
· Well hey, here's a new piece of key art advertising the just-dated second season of Showtime's United States of Tara (which will premiere March 22). Click for bigger.
· Joe Johnston is readying Captain America for a hopeful June start. (Between that, The Hobbit, and Spider-Man 4, it's going to be a crowded summer for shooting heavy FX tentpoles.)
· VH1's list of the most shocking music moments sadly does not include sister station MTV forsaking music altogether.
· Demi Moore may claim that her hip wasn't airbrushed away on the cover of W, but the Korean version of the magazine appears to have digitally reinserted it.
· Thor's Chris Hemsworth and his brother, Miley Cyrus beau Liam, got into an altercation a while back at a nightclub, and are now famous enough for it to be featured on TMZ. Congrats, boys!
Seeing Avatar made me appreciate two things above all else:
1) The sheer amount of man-hours required to invent the planet of Pandora and make it plausible, even beautiful
2) Chris Pine's performance in Star Trek
Sure, Pine had nothing to do with Avatar -- instead, James Cameron cast Australian actor Sam Worthington as his lead character, Jake Sully. Still, I couldn't help but be reminded of Pine's James T. Kirk because both Pine and Worthington played such similar arcs this year: Both of their cocky sci-fi assholes were gradually humbled by new, earnest friends, then found it within themselves to become the leaders we always knew they could be. So why did I watch Pine's take on his character and think "movie star," while with Worthington, I'm not so sure?
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With his usual, door-to-door caroling routine scuttled by the virtual ball and chain of chatel-arrest, Roman Polanski instead chose the holiday-card route to get his warmest season's greetings to beleaguered supporters around the world. It helped if you spoke French, as it came in the form of a letter to noted intellectual and pro-Polanski firebrand Bernard-Henri Lévy. But just in case, a translation follows the jump.
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Because you loved them so much last week, we're carrying our Fave Five feature through to the end of the year. Next up is one from former MTV VJ, television host and writer/comedian, Dave Holmes. What were his five biggest pop culture weaknesses of the past year? Let's examine the situation. (Lifts up shirt, flexes abdominals until they spell out "2009".)
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