The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday announced the election of Tom Sherak as its new president, replacing the termed-out Sid Ganis. A few other notables settled into new roles behind him -- including Tom Hanks and Kathleen Kennedy as vice presidents and Pixar genius John Lasseter as secretary -- but 40-year Hollywood veteran Sherak is just enough of a behind-the-scenes insider that he requires a proper introduction. Learn a few things and say hi after the jump!
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Quentin Tarantino was in top form on Monday night, introducing the New York premiere of Inglourious Basterds with the rousing battle cry, "Are you ready to see some Basterds fuck up some Nazis? Yeah, motherfucker!" What didn't follow were grateful thanks to the event's co-sponsor, with Tarantino asking, "Are you ready to see Hugo Boss dress up some Nazis?" That unfortunate historical reality was probably not what he or Harvey Weinstein bargained for, but that's the one they got.
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From Unlikely Words, the same blog that brought you the Everything Tracy Jordan Said series of 30 Rock scripts reduced to their most "THAT'S RACIST, LIZ LEMON!" essences, we now present Everything Don Draper Said Season 1. "True Mad Men fans have just lost a morning of work. Enjoy!" they write. Slightly reminiscent of Garfield Minus Garfield, when Don's profound philosophical insights into the fundamental nature of the human condition are plucked from the rest of the power rankings, it really lifts Draperism to the next level. [Unlikely Words]
· Wait, sorry... THE Beaver! THE Beaver! You know what I mean: The Jodie Foster-directed, Mel Gibson-starring comedy-drama about one bummed-out fellow's efforts to find comfort in his ubiquitous beaver hand puppet. Summit Entertainment is in advanced talks to acquire worldwide rights for the film, and why not? The studio seems like just the right fit for a fragile, tough-to-market indie after its striking success with The Hurt Locker and Bandslam and... All right, never mind. Fox Searchlight, where are you when we need you? [Variety]
Jon Hamm gets Punch-ed, Rosario Dawson joins Unstoppable and much more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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· The Rotten Tomatoes Show asked Eli Roth to name five of his favorite films (his responses, after the jump), and he overlapped with mentor Quentin Tarantino's list exactly once -- sadly, not in head-scratching appreciation of the Woody Allen/Jason Biggs film Anything Else. A free lollipop to any journalist who can get Quentin to explain that one! (OK, no free lollipops. A Blue Mountain eCard, perhaps.)
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Summit announced the start of production today on The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, and alongside the press release, the studio confirmed the casting of two pivotal roles. So, which actors will be joining Taylor Lautner's Shirtless Wolfpack Boyband, and how might we already know them? (Hint: You might not want to say where you recognize one of them from.)
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There are a host of pros and cons attached to Project Runway's move to Lifetime, but at least the network's been able to pull out all the stops when it comes to celebrity guests. While Bravo's Runway once had to resort to Debra Messing for its all important season finale, Lifetime's announced the inclusion of Nicole Kidman in its one-off special Project Runway: All-Star Challenge, airing before the Lifetime series premiere this Thursday. This is going to cast an unwelcome spotlight on Andy Cohen's bid to add Levi Johnston to Top Chef. [People]
Harry Sloan, the embattled CEO whose four-year stewardship of MGM oversaw a greater management of debt than anything resembling a consistent film slate, was removed from his post Monday night by the studio's board of directors. Replacing him as the collective "office of CEO" will be a cluster of studio brass including president Mary Parent, CFO Bedi Singh, and vice-chairman Stephen Cooper -- a crisis-management superstar who previously had a hand in restructuring Enron. Impressive! But can he tame a lion?
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· Up in the Air, George Clooney's team-up with Juno director Jason Reitman (which costars two of my favorite scene-stealing actresses, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick), has got a poster.
· "Because Brad [Pitt] has a big family at home, sleeping on the set is the only time he gets to sleep," Quentin Tarantino told David Letterman last night. And we all know what happens then.
· Robin Wright is attempting to divorce Sean Penn for the third time.
· Jennifer Lopez hosted a dinner last night for newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Debbie Schlussel is so psyched right now!
· Real Housewives force of nature NeNe Leakes has revealed that she used to be a stripper. I can't say I'm surprised, as I feel like a peep show customer every time the bodacious NeNe leans forward in a tank top.
While the accuracy of our report about an escalating feud between American Idol's Adam Lambert and Kris Allen over a supposedly one-of-a-kind puffy-sleeved outfit that both planned to wear on their respective album covers has been thrown into question, there's no denying that the very notion of such a fashion-related catfight between the two singers has elicited an outpouring of feedback from their most passionate fans (on Oh No They Didn't's Idol boards). Last we checked, the post had elicited eight pages of alternatingly confused and amused comments, and at least one mocked-up album cover, with Allen's head placed on the controversial outfit alongside the proposed title of his L.P. debut, Songs in the Key of America. [ONTD]
Never again will Twilight's squealing fan base need to endure Comic-Con and other hostile fanboy sanctuaries for a look at their heroes. Summit Entertainment is spinning off its bread-and-butter franchise as a touring feast of meet-and-greets, autograph sessions, sob-streaked star sightings and all the hype one can muster under one hotel roof.
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Oscar-watchers would have proposed this even without the five extra Best Picture berths this year, but District 9's critical and commercial receptions appear to have made it an unlikely contender in the early '09 awards-season race. And now, according to one report, even the Academy itself is investing in the hype.
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Looks like Sal wasn't the only one to receive a surprise happy ending: Mad Men's third season opener got the best ratings in the show's history. 2.8 million viewers tuned in, an audience 34% larger than the one that watched last season's premiere. Over the course of its repeat airings, it drew a total of 4 million viewers. That's a lot of serviceable bellboys! [LA Times]
We thought it couldn't get any more revealing than when he shared the fact that his favorite movie of the past 17 years is the underrated Woody Allen gem, American Pie Presents: Little Stifflers, but Quentin Tarantino's all-access media assault in support of Inglourious Basterds continues, making a stopover yesterday at Howard Stern's Sirius studios. And in typical Stern style, the disarming radio host coaxed more out of the genre-obsessed auteur than any interviewer to come before. David Carradine's final gasps; sexual attraction to Kathy Griffin; his thing about feet: they hit it all. We run down the most fascinating for you now, with much help from the Internet's leading Stern summarizer, marksfriggin.com:
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That's not a planned sequel to forthcoming sci-fi head-exploder, but rather the low-concept prequel in which the supercomputer designed to accommodate ticket requests for this Friday's Avatar Day throws up its virtual hands and laughs in James Cameron's face.
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