Happy Tuesday! Also in today's edition of The Broadsheet: The plug is pulled on Paradise Lost (for now)... A pair of Weinstein award horses sniff the backlash... Universal gets back in the Angelina Jolie business... and more.
The notorious embargo on David Fincher's adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has officially been lifted, and thus you can expect a frenzied film-culture commentariat to weigh in with raves, rumblings and other reactions all day. Things are no different here, where a few first impressions are making the rounds.
Just when you thought that Hollywood had run out of hit movies to adapt into Broadway musicals, word is spreading that Mike Myers is in discussions to translate his '60s spy spoof series for the stage. But just how involved will the franchise creator and star be in Austin Powers: The Musical -- especially when he is reportedly busy writing a fourth film installment for the British secret agent?
"For a film that claims to be sexually responsible, the Twilight movies are awfully dependent on teenage sex to attract viewers," James Franco, actor/director/writer/student and now film critic, reveals in his write-up of Breaking Dawn - Part 1 in the Paris Review. "The actors prance about like pieces of meat, their disturbingly developed bodies on full display; Taylor Lautner's rippling teenage chest is just a little better than the child beauty-pageant stars at the end of Little Miss Sunshine." For Franco's complete thoughts on Team Jacob vs. Team Edward and Bella's nightmare pregnancy, click here. [The Paris Review]
It's heeeeere. The 2011 Black List -- Franklin Leonard's annual compilation of the year's "most liked" screenplays that have not yet been produced -- was announced this morning, comprised of scripts that will satisfy every genre curiosity, from historical crime to Internet rom-com to intentional Steven Spielberg derivative (introducing another movie called Jurassic Park). Acquaint yourself with the films that could be next year's Juno and The Social Network below.
Twit wit welcomes you to its grimmest weekend yet: This week's new movie slate includes The Sitter (blech) and New Year's Eve (THUNDER BLECH). Luckily, Twitter's finest came out to snark at the offerings, and five of them were bold enough to make our chart. Click through for the shakedown.
Nationwide audiences had New Years Eve and The Sitter to choose from this weekend, and so, they didn't. This weekend's box office tally is weak, and Breaking Dawn, Part I is still lingering in the top 3 like an undead slime. Time for some Dragon Tattoo upheaval, STAT. Bring on Christmas! Let's discuss the breakdown after the jump.
The Walk of Shame is upon us! And if you can't be in New York City to join me, Jen Yamato and our local friends of Movieline in visiting the watering holes featured in Michael Fassbender's superb new film, you can always keep tabs on the action via Twitter -- we'll be livetweeting here all night!
What the saying again? You can fool some moviegoers all the time and all moviegoers some of the time, but you can't fool all of them all the time? Something like that -- maybe we should ask Warner Bros., Garry Marshall and all the stars stuffed so ruthlessly into New Year's Eve, who recycled the model that earned the aromatic Valentine's Day a $56 million opening weekend and found less than a third of that crowd ready to fall for it again. Still, it will be enough for first place on a pillow-soft weekend. Your Friday Box Office is here.
In this weekend's Young Adult, Charlize Theron plays a bitter teen lit author who returns to her hometown to reclaim her high school sweetheart. (A high school sweetheart who also happens to be a perfectly happy husband and new father.) So how did the South Africa-raised Theron transform herself from a delicate ballet dancer to a Oscar-winning onscreen homewrecker?
Happy Friday! Now that all the "real" news is out of the way, let's focus on the things we really care about -- namely, that Jodie Foster's estranged 89-year-old father Lucius was sentenced to five years in jail for taking $130,000 in down payments for homes he never built. That's naughty, Mr. Foster! Be in prison now. In honor of this sacred occasion, let's reflect on Jodie Foster's worst parents in film. I know my pick.
After some initial vexation from both director Michel Hazanavicius and star Jean Dujardin about The Artist's wonder dog Uggie factoring in this year's awards conversation, the duo seems to be warming ever so gradually to the notion that people liking Uggie is good for the movie. "When people say the dog is a good actor, it makes me happy," Hazanavicius said in his latest interview. "I take it as a compliment for myself and the trainer." Fair enough! And as for Dujardin? How about prime placement on the Golden Globes' Web site praising his canine castmate?
Bad news about Lindsay Lohan's Playboy cover: It's kinda cute! Sure, it's waterlogged with Photoshop tricks and the Marilyn Monroe thing's been done 145,000,090 times, but it's an undeniably successful photo. Unfortunately, it's also calls to mind a number of questionable images. Here are the first 10 things that Lindsay Lohan's Playboy debut reminded me of -- please add your own recollections after the jump.
You've seen the locations. You've (hopefully) seen the movie. And now, New Yorkers, you are invited to live out at least parts of Michael Fassbender's acclaimed Manhattan odyssey on Saturday during Movieline's Walk of Shame. [UPDATE: We're livetweeting along the way! Read on for details...]
FILM NEWS 
