The Hollywood and Bollywood Data base

Marvel Kills Off Superhero Icon in 'Avengers Vs. X-Men'

2012-09-13T00:11:00.001-07:00

The crossover storyline saw one of comics' most recognizable characters felled by a friend.

There’s been a serious casualty in Marvel’s latest crossover comic book event, Avengers vs. X-Men.

[Warning: Spoilers for Avengers vs. X-Men No. 11 are below.]

STORY: Rare 'Avengers', 'X-Men' First Issues Sell For Record Prices

In the latest issue, Professor Charles Xavier dies when one of his prized former students, Scott Summers (better known as Cyclops), kills the mustant visionary. But in Cyclops' defense, he had been taken over by the Phoenix in a previous issue.

Marvel says it did not plan Xavier’s death when initially plotting the event. But as writer Brian Michael Bendis pushed forward with the story, “it became obvious that this had to be the last stand of Charles Xavier,” Marvel editor-in-chiefAlexo Alonso told the Associated Press.

In Fox's X-Men films, Patrick Stewart’s Professor X was killed by a Phoenix-powered Jean Grey in 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand.

It’s an adage among comic book aficionados that “no one in comics stays dead” (with a few notable exceptions). With that in mind, fans took to Twitter to express doubt that Xavier will stay dead for long.

PHOTOS: 'X-Men: First Class’ Style Gallery

“A Moment of Silence for Professor Charles Xavier, who has now died for the 38th straight time or so. #AVX,” tweeted Jimmy Kimmel Live writer Jeff Loveness.

“Professor Charles Francis Xavier is dead. Again. RIP Professor X. We'll see you again in about a year or so,” observed another skeptic.

Marvel and Bendis have said Xavier’s death will provide story fodder for upcoming X-Men comic books, which will examine the fallout from the mutant leader’s demise.

Universal Picks Up Hot David Guggenheim Script 'Black Box'

2012-09-13T00:03:00.000-07:00

UPDATED: Scott Stuber's Bluegrass Films and Madhouse Entertainment are attached to produce the action thriller from the writer of "Safe House."

Universal has emerged the winner of a big bidding war for the latest spec by David Guggenheim, the Us Weekly editor-turned-hot Hollywood scribe.

Scott Stuber's Bluegrass Films and Madhouse Entertainment are attached to produce the thriller, which is titled Black Box.

STORY: 'Safe House 2' in the Works at Universal (Exclusive)

The script went in Wednesday to all the studios and quickly drew bids from every major studio except Disney. The all-day bidding war came down to DreamWorks, Warner Bros. (with Bradley Cooper attached to star and produce via his 22nd & Indiana banner) and Universal (which produced Guggenheim's Safe House).

The story is kicked into motion when Air Force One goes down over America. An investigator’s life is put in jeopardy when he discovers the plane's black box, which contradicts the official cause that the plane went down due to technical issues.

The script is described as being tonally in the vein ofEnemy of the State, the 1998 Tony Scott-directedWill Smith thriller, and Three Days of the Condor, the classic 1975 political thriller that starred Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway.

Sources said the deal was in the high-six figures.

STORY: 'Act of Valor,' 'Safe House,' 'The Vow' TV Rights Bought by FX

With this latest sale, Guggenheim remains at or near the top of the heap when it comes to spec sales, a market that has become increasingly troubled in the last half-decade as branded and comic book movies have become studios’ choice of material.

His first spec, Safe House, made his name and got made into the hit Denzel Washington-Ryan Reynolds film. His spec Medallion was picked up by Millenium and made intoStolen, an action thriller starring Nicolas Cage and Malin Akerman that is awaiting release. He also sold a pitch called Puzzle Palace that was acquired by Summit with McG attached to direct. "Every thing he writes, sells!" said one exasperated but amazed exec.

He is repped by Paradigm, Madhouse Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham.

TALAASH first trailer: Aamir-Rani-Kareena's intriguing outing

2012-09-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

After an intriguing first teaser of Aamir Khan starrer TALAASH - THE ANSWER LIES WITHIN the makers have come up with a riveting first theatrical trailer of the film, which releases along with BARFI! on 14th September 2012. If the first teaser perplexed us to the core, the theatrical is surely going to set us scratching our brains!

The trailer begins with a stern, serious, dogged cop Aamir Khan (Inspector Shekhawat), who will go to any length to unravel the truth -from roughing up the gangsters to diving underwater to interrogating prostitutes, taking up a mysterious case - Accident or a Crime? The case is intricate as Aamir rightly says ''Yeh Bahut Hi-profile case Hai Kuch Bhi Baahar Nah Jaana Chhaiye...''. Aamir on his mission to figure out the baffling truth bumps into a prostitute Kareena Kapoor (Rosy), who shows her willingness to help him.

And if this was not enough there comes a new twist in the tale, now Aamir is forced to confront his shrouded past, an apparent clue to all his questions. Rani Mukherji, who plays Aamir's wife, is clueless about his engagements. She complains that he never expresses himself. Aamir finds himself in a fretful situation while searching for the reason behind an accident.

Aamir plays a cop after a long time. However, unlike BAAZI and SARFAROSH , which had action and/or patriotic theme as its base, TALAASH has a suspense thriller setting.

CHECK OUT: Aamir wants to watch JALPARI based on female foeticide

After a power-packed performance in GANGS OF WASSEYPUR and KAHAANI,Nawazuddin Siddiqui is once set to beguile with his act in TALAASH.

The first look poster and teaser were launched way back in January. The film was supposed to release somewhere in May-June but our perfectionist got busy with his TV show 'Satyamev Jayate' and postponed its release. The whodunit is directed by Reema Kagti and produced by Farhan Akhtar-Ritesh Siddhwani's Excel Entertainment in association with Aamir Khan Productions and Reliance Entertainment. The film is jointly written by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti.

The edgy, intriguing TALAASH is all set to hit the screens on November 30, 2012!

Yash Chopra's Shahrukh Khan-Katrina Kaif starrer titled JAB TAK HAI JAAN

2012-09-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

The wait is finally over and now all the speculations can also rest! As the Yash Chopra directed and Shahrukh Khan-Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma starrer, which did the rounds of news for its title, has finally & officially got a name. The much touted movie is named as JAB TAK HAI JAAN.

YRF released two posters from the film one bearing a title of the film and the three leading actors from the film - Shahrukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma and the second one shows Shahrukh Khan shown riding a Royal Enfield bike in army attire. It is also accompanied with a small poetry reflecting strong emotions which reads:

Teri aankhon ki namkeen mastiyaan
Teri hansi ki beparwa gustaakhiyaan
Teri zulfon ki lehrati angdaaiyaan
Nahi bhoolunga main
Jab tak hai jaan, Jab tak hai jaan
Tera haath se haath chodna
Tera saayon ka rukh modna
Tera palat ke phir na dekhna
Nahin maaf karoonga main
Jab tak hai jaan, Jab tak hai jaan

CHECK OUT: Yash Chopra's SRK-Katrina starrer - commemorating his five glorious decades

Yash Chopra is making a comeback into direction after eight years with JAB TAK HAI JAAN. The film definitely promises to be a masterpiece as it has industry stalwarts like Oscar winner music maestro A R Rahman, who has composed the music of the film, veteran writer & filmmaker Gulzar, cinemateography by Anil Mehta and produced by Aditya Chopra.

JAB TAK HAI JAAN is scheduled for a November 13th 2012 release.

Jennifer Lopez: Not Missing 'American Idol' Yet

2012-09-12T07:29:00.002-07:00

At the same time, the former judge says: "It was hard for me to move on."

Two months after exiting American Idol, Jennifer Lopez isn't looking in the rear-view mirror.

"Am I missing Idol? Not yet. I miss it in theory right now. It was hard for me to move on, I really loved it. But no, not yet," Lopez tells THR. "I'm on tour and I'm having a great time doing that and I will miss it when I see it on TV and remember all the great moments I had there. But right now ... I got my hands full."

Lopez embarked on her first major world tour alongsideEnrique Iglesias this summer after announcing her Idoldeparture following two seasons at the Fox competition's judges' table. The 11th season wrapped up in May, after which judge Steven Tyler also jumped ship, citing allegiance to his band,Aerosmith.

PHOTOS: Poll: 79% of 'Idol' Viewers Want Simon Back

Meanwhile, Lopez left to focus on her music, her acting and other endeavors. She's working behind the scenes, too, as a TV producer, having recently sold a drama pilot, The Fosters, to ABC Family; she's also partnered with the Hispanic cable channel nuvo TV on new programming including a backstage docu-series on upcoming European leg of her tour.

Back at Idol, changes are afoot: Iglesias is no longer in the running to become a judge, according to a THR source. The show plans to announce a revamped judge quartet comprised of Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban and Randy Jackson in time for the audition process, which will launch at the end of this month.

Sam Bacile, Filmmaker Behind Anti-Islam Movie that Sparked Riots, in Hiding

2012-09-12T07:23:00.000-07:00

The American ambassador to Libya was killed, along with three others, during protests against an American-made, low-budget film condemning Muslims.

(AP) LOS ANGELES — An Israeli filmmaker went into hiding Tuesday after his movie attacking Islam's prophet Muhammad sparked angry assaults by ultra-conservative Muslims on U.S. missions in Egypt and Libya.

Speaking by phone from an undisclosed location, writer and director remained defiant, saying Islam is a cancer and that the 56-year-old intended his film to be a provocative political statement condemning the religion.

Protesters angered over Bacile's film opened fire on and burned down the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. In Egypt, protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy in Cairo and replaced an American flag with an Islamic banner.

U.S. ambassador to Libya killed

Bacile, a California real estate developer who identifies himself as an Israeli Jew, said he believes the movie will help his native land by exposing Islam's flaws to the world.

"Islam is a cancer, period," he repeatedly said in a solemn, accented tone.

The two-hour movie, Innocence of Muslims, cost $5 million to make and was financed with the help of more than 100 Jewish donors, said Bacile, who wrote and directed it.

The film claims Muhammad was a fraud. An English-language 13-minute trailer on YouTube shows an amateur cast performing a wooden dialogue of insults disguised as revelations about Muhammad, whose obedient followers are presented as a cadre of goons.

It depicts Muhammad as a feckless philanderer who approved of child sexual abuse, among other overtly insulting claims that have caused outrage.

Muslims find it offensive to depict Muhammad in any manner, let alone insult the prophet. A Danish newspaper's 2005 publication of 12 caricatures of the prophet triggered riots in many Muslim countries.

Bacile was apologetic about the attacks, but blamed lax embassy security and the perpetrators of the violence.

"I feel the security system (at the embassies) is no good," said Bacile. "America should do something to change it."

The film was dubbed into Egyptian Arabic by someone Bacile doesn't know, but he speaks enough Arabic to confirm that the translation is accurate. It was made in three months in the summer of 2011, with 59 actors and about 45 people behind the camera.

The full film has been shown once, to a mostly empty theater in Hollywood earlier this year, said Bacile.

Why Julia Roberts Turned Down a Role From Barbra Streisand

2012-09-06T10:22:00.001-07:00

The actress said no to the role of Margaret Bourke-White in the new movie "Skinny and Cat."

This story first appeared in the Sept. 14 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Nobody says no to Barbra Streisand -- except Julia Roberts.

Streisand offered the actress the role of Margaret Bourke-White in the 2013 film she'll produce and direct, Skinny and Cat, about the photographer's marriage to writer Erskine Caldwell. The movie looks to be shooting in Jan. of 2012, with Streisand doing both directing and producing honors. It's her first turn behind the camera since 1996's The Mirror Has Two Faces -- 16 years, in fact.

STORY: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts to Star as Mother-Daughter in 'August: Osage County'

And Roberts, about to start August: Osage County, co-starring Meryl Streep, about a family crisis where the father, played by Sam Shepard, is an alcoholic and leaves home -- turned her down flat, even though the two are purportedly friends.

No telling if Roberts' dance card was full or, as she has said many times during the past few years, she just doesn't want to work that much. Skinny now is listed as starring Cate Blanchett and Colin Firth. And that's not exactly non-A list.

Ryan Lochte to Make '30 Rock' Cameo, Says Ryan Lochte

2012-09-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

UPDATED: The breakout Olympic star says he's filming an appearance on the NBC comedy.

Ryan Lochte plus Liz Lemon equals pure comedy gold.

New York magazine's website The Cut reports that the Olympic gold medalist and party boy will make a cameo on NBC's 30 Rock this season, the series' last. So said Lochte on Wednesday night, at a party for shoe designer Brian Atwoodto kick off New York Fashion Week.

"I know I have the cameo for 30 Rock in the morning, and after that, E! And then Live With Kelly. So I’m all over the place," he told The Cut.

A 30 Rock rep confirmed the cameo with THR, giving no further details.

Lochte, who has expressed Hollywood ambitions, is beginning a stint as an E! News correspondent this week, covering the Fashion Week shows and scene.

"I’m gonna be the one interviewing people, which is going to be totally weird," he said. "It’s going to be a different role, so I’m definitely gonna — it’s gonna be totally different."

Expect the unexpected: this summer in London, Lochte managed to steal the spotlight from Michael Phelps, making as many headlines for his dating habits and unconventional mouthgear as his medals. He was also photographed racing Prince Harry at a Las Vegas hotel pool -- but he missed the party afterward where the flame-haired royal disrobed as seen (or ogled) in photos leaked online.

Clint Eastwood's 'Trouble With the Curve' to Close Tokyo International Film Festival

2012-09-06T06:32:00.000-07:00

The movie, about a baseball scout on the verge of retirement, was directed by Eastwood's protege Robert Lorenz and also stars Amy Adams, John Goodman and Justin Timberlake.

TOKYO -- Trouble with the Curve, starring Clint Eastwood and directed by his protégé Robert Lorenz, will close the 25th Tokyo International Film Festival on Oct. 28.

The film tells the tale of an aging baseball scout (Eastwood) with failing vision who takes a road trip to check out a hot prospect with his daughter, played by Amy Adams, during which they finally connect with each other.

John Goodman and Justin Timberlake also play scouts in the film, the latter acting as love interest for Adams’ character, while Eastwood’s son Scott appears as a baseball player.

The film will be released by Warner Entertainment Japan on Nov. 23. It opens in the U.S. on Sept. 21.

Zoe Saldana On Her Chemistry With Bradley Cooper: 'We Didn't Care Where The Camera Was'

2012-09-06T05:45:00.001-07:00

The "Avatar" actress tells THR why she picked a low-budget movie, what made the production collaborative and what made her on-screen marriage work - but "no comment" on whether she and Cooper are a real-life couple.

Zoe Saldana didn’t want to do The Words. When first approached about the role in 2011, she didn’t even want to act.

After the film's Hollywood premiere Tuesday, Saldana recalled feeling tired and burned out -- she had starred in half a dozen movies when her career took off with the 2009 global smashAvatar.

“After Colombiana (in which she plays an assassin)I was a bit spent and really wanted to take a breath,” she recalls.

THR Cover Story: Bradley Cooper, The Serious Evolution Of A Leading Man

If she was going to act, Saldana wanted to do more big action roles. She certainly didn’t want to play someone’s wife in a low budget independent film. “I wanted to shoot guns,” she says. “I wanted to play strong roles.”

Then she read the script for The Words, a movie that had taken 13 years to reach the screen, and she fell in love with the words she read. “It was the kind of story that I would have loved to read as a book,” says Saldana. “I wasn’t looking for a role like Dora, but then I saw what she really was about. She was a very strong woman. She was very unconditional. She was very supportive.”

At the heart of the movie is Saldana’s combustive chemistry with Cooper. She says that made both of them better actors: “I’ve always said that when you watch movies and a love story falls short of what you wanted it to be, as an actor, as a person who works in films, you know that ninety percent of the time it didn’t work is because there was no chemistry, they didn’t work out a friendship, they didn’t feel safe around each other, they weren’t communicating properly."

PHOTOS: Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana At The Hollywood Premiere Of 'The Words'

That wasn't the case on this set, Saldana said.

"Bradley is a very dedicated and open professional. It’s really good when you can balance that with an actor as opposed to an actor that just comes prepared and just goes, ‘don’t fuck up my light’ and ‘this line is my close-up.’ We didn’t care where was the camera was," she said. "It was just like we were both part of this extensive conversation.”

Rumors flew during and after the production that the sizzle on the screen had translated into a real life romance between Saldana and Cooper. When asked about those rumors, Saldana smiles and after a glance at her publicist, coyly replied, “No comment.”

Brian Klugman, who wrote and directed The Words with his childhood friend Lee Sternthal, feels Saldana came aboard initially because of the cast they had already assembled by the time she was sent the script. “People were fascinated by it at that point,” says Klugman. “They were like, ‘That’s a real cast.’ Obviously the draw of those two guys (Cooper and Jeremy Irons) brought in the other actors.Dennis (Quaid) came in, Olivia Wilde and then Zoe Saldana.”

So she met with the two first time director/writers, Klugman and Sternthal, both of whom had been friends of Cooper since they were all children growing up in Philadelphia. She liked that they felt like a kind of extended family.

PHOTOS: Bradley Cooper, A Day In The Life In Pictures

“When I sat down with Brian and Lee I was very intrigued by them,” says Saldana., “how these two young men could get along so well and have amazing chemistry and a beautiful partnership professionally and as friends write something with such a sensitive touch, and as men have it be balanced. I felt that sort of that gear that kicks in when it comes to human emotion in terms of how one feels about one’s self - when you don’t feel good enough; when you want your voice in that world; and how you feel when you are in love and you want to give everything.”

She also felt that it would be an experience that would reward her in ways that mattered most to her, she recalls: “I just thought this might be this might be something where I might learn from these characters - a lot. I like that. I love growing and I love playing characters that are sort of estranged from me, because I end up learning a lot about them and about myself. “

So The Words became the only movie that Saldana made in 2011, and the experience was everything she hoped it would be.

“I like working in a family environment where I know that everyday you go to set and you’re not breaking the ice,” says Saldana. “You can be yourself. And your opinions and your ideas and whatever input you may have is highly regarded, considered and also implemented. It was a very interactive experience.”

“As an actor - as the very dominant creature that I am - I yearn for that,” continues Saldana, “and sometimes I will walk away from something when I feel that It might not be a good three months for me, because three months out of your life, means something. The older you get, the more you feel it’s your time . I become very overprotective with my time.”

VIDEO: Behind The Scenes Of THR's Bradley Cooper Cover Shoot

Most of all Saldana reveled in being creative and collaborative, and made to feel a part of this family of actors, filmmakers and crew.

“I’m very opinionated and I just was expressing and everybody was too, but it was collaborative because it was all for the sake of the story,” adds Saldana. “We didn’t become to be a part of this project for the money, we all know that (the entire movie was shot for $6 million). When you do a film like this it’s real heart, so we all wanted to be there. It’s a real difference when you have to verses when you want to. “

It was a huge challenge to make a movie that deals with three different time periods and multiple locations on a very tight budget, all in one city – Montreal. “We were first time filmmakers, so it was like, ‘Why not?’” says Sternthal. “People would say, ‘You can’t do that.’ But then it was sort of like a game for us to see how far we could push it. Let’s see if we can do it?”

Once she was on the set, it all came together for Saldana: “You go to work, you’re alive and you’re very present and you leave work and you’re still thinking about the story and thinking about the characters. You’re not thinking about ‘how big is my trailer? Is the light focused on me?’ You’re thinking about, ‘Well maybe Dora (her character) and Rory (Cooper’s character) have to end up together,”’ or ‘No, this will break them up.” Because they have a true love and the lie (at the center of the movie) came between them. It’s like one of them bit the apple.”

The more she got involved, the more she wanted to be involved. She thought about her role, about the movie, about the characters day and night.

“I would email Brian in the middle of the night," recalls Saldana, “and then the next morning even before I entered hair and makeup I would tell him, ‘I have a question for you. So what about this? Is it too much? Am I being too annoying?’ And he was like, ‘Are you kidding me? Come on!’ It was very good. “

Even when the workday ended, like any family they remained together; and the conversation about how to make the movie even better continued.

“Brian and Lee made it a homework every evening that after we would wrap we would always go and have dinner,” says Saldana. “All of us together: producers, the directors, the actors. It was still (about the movie) at dinner. That was the topic of the conversation. It was always the massaging, the story, thinking about your characters and how do we get this further. ‘Here’s what I think, but what about this?’”

“By the time you get to set, its such a living organism that all you have to do is just be in it and allow it to just be,” adds Saldana. “I love that. I’m not a professional, I didn’t go to school to learn all these techniques. I just know it from myself that I’m a very open person. I try to remain that way every time, every morning when I wake up. I get a stone thrown at me, I want to catch it properly and throw it back. When you get to work with people that are that way, you feel in really good hands and it just makes you work really hard. The story translates just how you imagined it and just how you were told it was going to be. “

Tatiana Kelly, who produced The Words with Jim Young, says that with the pressure of a low budget and short production schedule, it was that chemistry that became the glue that brought the picture together. “What’s so crazy is actually Bradley and Zoe knew each other before,” says Kelly. “Everybody was kind of thrown into this because it’s a 25-day shoot….It is such an intense pressurized situation. We were so thankful that everybody across the board was able to have that kind of chemistry. I think it’s so believable.”

Saldana says she is often the biggest critic of the movies she appears in, and it is rare that she doesn’t find fault. However, The Words is a movie she is happy to have made.

“I’m very proud of it.” Says Saldana. “Usually I’m not this way. I’m not completely happy all the time, because everybody has their own version of what they read. This time it wasn’t exactly what I thought it was, but it was great. It was beautiful.”

Angelina Jolie Seeks to Dismiss 'Blood and Honey' Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

2012-09-06T05:32:00.001-07:00

Author James J. Braddock sued weeks before the 2011 film was released, claiming Jolie had ripped off his book The Soul Shattering to create the Bosnian War drama

Filmmaker Angelina Jolie, producer GK Films and distributor FilmDistrict have fired back at a lawsuit accusing them of infringing copyrights by releasing In the Land of Blood and Honey, the actress' 2011 directorial debut about the Bosnian War.

Author James J. Braddocksued weeks before the film was released, claiming Jolie had ripped off his 2007 book The Soul Shattering to create the story (she wrote the script in addition to directing). Braddock also claimed he had met with producer Eric Sarkic about possibly turning his book into a movie and was shocked when Sarkic ended up producing Blood and Honey.

Jolie claimed she came up with the ideas in the movie from working as a UN ambassador. And in court papers filed this week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Jolie, GK Films and FilmDistrict specifically shot down the allegations in the suit.

Read the Court Papers Here

"Defendants deny that they violated the Berne Convention for the production of Literary and Artistic Works or any other law at issue in this case, including United States copyright laws," the 13-page Answer states. "Defendants further deny that the protectible elements of the Motion Picture and the book entitled "The Soul Shattering" are legally or substantially similar under controlling Ninth Circuit law."

Jolie and the other defendants admit that they didn't receive permission from the author, whose real name is Josip J. Knezevic, but "they deny they were legally required to obtain licensing or permission from Plaintiff," the court papers state.

Jolie, GK Films and FilmDistrict are repped by a team from L.A.’s Reed Smith. Braddock is represented by the Adli Law Group.

Premium Rush: Film Review

2012-08-23T06:27:00.002-07:00

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a bike messenger targeted by a crooked cop in director David Koepp's asphalt-action tale.

An asphalt-action tale as unadorned as the fixed-gear cycle its hero rides, David Koepp's Premium Rush supplies just enough dramatic rationale to set a series of Manhattan bike chases in motion and then follows without pretending it cares much about anything beyond the adrenaline. A quick pace and always-enjoyable lead Joseph Gordon-Levitt will please moviegoers, even if the pic's ticking-clock approach isn't as invigoratingly pulpy here as in the Koepp-penned Snake Eyes and Panic Room.

Gordon-Levitt plays Wilee, a law student-turned-bike messenger who blew off the bar in favor of battling traffic for peanuts. His bike, lacking fancy gear-shifts or even a brake, is dumb steel compared to the slick cycles his coworkers ride, but Wilee and the film embrace its stubborn brand of constantly-forward motion as an existential imperative.

Sent uptown to his alma mater, Columbia University, to fetch an envelope destined for Chinatown, Wilee becomes the targetof a bad cop (Michael Shannon) bent on stealing the package -- which contains a marker for $50,000, intended as payment for smuggling a refugee from China to the U.S. Koepp's script, co-written by John Kamps, zips back in time occasionally to explain itself -- showing, for instance, how the package's sender (a Chinese Columbia student who happens to be the roommate of Wilee's girlfriend) wound up fretfully entrusting this valuable slip of paper to a daredevil on two wheels.

But the main attraction of these narrative detours is the time they afford us with Michael Shannon, who chews scenery while accumulating massive debt in Chinatown gambling dens, then desperately setting out to repay it by intercepting Wilee's package. Shannon and Aasif Mandvi (as Wilee's dispatcher) are high points in a supporting cast that otherwise fails to add much to one-note roles.

Gordon-Levitt sets aside much of his boyish charm to play a character who relies less on wit than nerve. As he hurtles down New York streets, the actor's alert eyes are as vital in conveying the kinetic geography as is Mitchell Amundsen's camera, and Koepp's occasional time-outs -- stopping action to visualize possible routes through vehicle-and-pedestrian chaos before settling on the least hazardous one -- are effective in getting us on Wilee's hyper-perceptive wavelength.

Whether Wilee is being chased by Shannon's unmarked cop car, trying to catch up to competitive co-worker Manny (Wolé Parks, who with a bit more charisma could have made a mark here), or dodging the odd out-of-nowhere cab door, the cycling action is consistently invigorating, clearly relying on actual stunt work instead of CG (and recalling a time when that would have gone without saying).

Though he cheats his geography from time to time (weaseling Harlem's elevated train tracks into scenes set further downtown, say), Koepp clearly enjoys setting his action on actual NYC streets. For all the gains planners and activists have made in carving bike lanes into the city's grid, it's strangely comforting to see that some riders will always find exciting ways to make them unsafe.

Production Company: Pariah

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez, Wolé Parks, Jamie Chung, Aasif Mandvi

Director: David Koepp

Screenwriter: David Koepp, John Kamps

Producer: Gavin Polone

Executive producer: Mari-Jo Winkler

Director of photography: Mitchell Amundsen

Production designer: Thérèse DePrez

Music: David Sardy

Costume designer: Luca Mosca

Editors: Derek Ambrosi, Jill Savitt

PG-13, 90 minutes

Ranbir's character in BARFI! is like Raj Kapoor, says Anurag Basu

2012-08-23T06:26:00.000-07:00

For his role in Anurag Basu's BARFI!, Ranbir Kapoor takes cues from grandfather's Chaplinesque look

Remember Raj Kapoor's legendary roles as a happy-go-lucky tramp in AWARA (1951) and SHREE 420 (1955)...He had apparently taken inspiration Hollywood great, Charlie Chaplin, to play these characters,
sporting the now famous ill-fitting trousers and floppy hat.

And now, 57 years later, his grandson Ranbir Kapoor has taken pointers from his late grandfather for his next film. Ranbir's look in his upcoming film BARFI! is an instant reminder of late Kapoor's Chaplinesque avatar, complete with a thin moustache, umbrella and hat.

In the movie, BARFI! is a simpleton, who is deaf and mute and always has a prank up his sleeve. When Anurag was designing BARFI!'s look, he wanted a very innocent and loveable appearance. He instantly thought of Raj Kapoor in AWARA and SHREE 420 and his look was also believed to be a take on Chaplin's. Also Ranbir's familial connection with Raj Kapoor made it all the more special.

Anurag Basu, confirms, "Ranbir plays a loveable character, someone you adore and who leaves a lasting impression on your mind and heart. I can say his character is like that Raj Kapoor, Charlie Chaplin and Roberto Benigni. The shades are similar to the lovable tramp, much like you have seen these actors portray with ease. They mesmerised audiences with their charm and simplicity."

Madonna Considering a Move to Rome

2012-08-22T09:58:00.002-07:00

The Material Girl, who has drawn the ire of the Vatican over the years, is eyeing luxury properties in two of the city's neighborhoods, according to reports.

ROME – Reportedly tiring of life in London and New York, the Material Girl is said it be mulling a move to the Eternal City.

The Italian media reported Wednesday that Madonna may be looking to acquire a luxury property in Rome.

The most likely candidates: a luxury villa on the Aventine Hill, or a penthouse apartment in the iconoclastic neighborhood designed by early 20th century architect Gino Coppede. There is no official word from the camp of the singer born as Madonna Louise Ciccone about a possible move, though the 54-year-old pop icon has always maintained close ties with Italy, the home of her ancestors.

Madonna’s personal donation of $500,000 to help the victims of the devastating 2009 earthquake in Abruzzo was at first larger than the aid from the U.S. government. She has also opined periodically on Italian affairs, and has been a vocal critic of media tycoon and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Madonna’s directorial effort, W.E., which told the story of the love story between British King Edward VIII and American divorcee Wallis Simpson, premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year.

But she has also been attacked repeatedly by the Vatican, which called the video for her 1989 hit "Like a Prayer" "blasphemous" for its visions of burning crosses, statues that cried blood and a scene where Madonna herself seduced a black Jesus Christ. In 2004, she was also criticized for promoting the Kabbalah religious belief, which the Vatican considers to be a threat to Roman Catholicism.

Most recently, church officials blasted her for the decision to sing while hanging from a crucifix during a 2006 concert in Rome. After that show, Cardinal Ersilio Tonino, speaking for Pope Benedict XVI, said, "This time the limits have really been pushed too far. She should be excommunicated."

She last attracted headlines in Italy in June, when during another concert in Rome, Madonna flashed her buttocks, revealing her black undergarments and fishnet stockings, to the delight of concertgoers.

Rome has been a popular destination for the entertainment world’s elite since the Dolce Vita days of the 1950s and 1960s. But in recent years, few top stars have gone as far as to move there.

'Catching Fire' Casts Sam Claflin as Finnick

2012-08-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

UPDATED: The "Snow White and the Huntsman" actor has joined the sequel.

Sam Claflin has been officially cast as Finnick Odair in the Hunger Games sequelCatching Fire.

Claflin had been widely speculated to join the sequel, which is set to hit theaters Nov. 22, 2013. He joins new cast members Jena Malone as Johanna Mason and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee.The Snow White and the Huntsman actor is the latest to join the followup, to be directed by Francis Lawrence.Described as "charismatic" and "clever," Finnick -- from District 4 -- won the Hunger Games when he was 14.

Here's the official logline for the film: "Catching Firebegins as Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) has returned home safe after winning the 74th annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a 'Victor's Tour' of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) -- a competition that could change Panem forever."

Claflin starred in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Huntsman as Prince William. He recently finished The Quiet Ones opposite Mad Men'sJared Harris and Mary & Martha with Hilary Swank.

Nina Jacobson's Color Force will produce with Jon Kilik.

'Lincoln' One-Sheet: Daniel Day-Lewis is a Pensive President

2012-08-22T09:55:00.002-07:00

Disney released a black and white look at the actor as a deep-in-thought 16th president.

Abraham Lincoln was known to have a solid sense of humor and knack for telling anecdotes, but all signs point to Steven Spielberg's biopic of the president focusing on his very serious side.

Disney, the studio behind the Oscar-winner's Lincoln, released the one sheet for the film on Wednesday, offering yet another look at Daniel Day-Lewis's uncanny resemblance to the bearded commander-in-chief.

While all the art thus far has focused on Day-Lewis, there are plenty of other big stars that will take turns in 1860s garb:Sally Field plays Mary Todd Lincoln,Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays their sonRobert Todd Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones is Thaddeus Stevens, and Jared Harris takes onUlysses S. Grant.

Last Dance: Melbourne Review

2012-08-22T09:54:00.001-07:00

Julia Blake and Firass Dirani star in a taut, low-budget hostage thriller from Australia.

MELBOURNE – Two personalities at utter cross-purposes are claustrophobically tucked inside a dimly lit interior in David Pulbrook’s low-budget hostage drama Last Dance. Ratcheting up the tension are top-notch performances from veteran actress Julia Blake (Innocence, Human Touch) as an elderly Holocaust survivor and handsome up-and-comer Firass Dirani (Underbelly) as the Palestinian terrorist who takes her captive in her own apartment after a botched suicide bombing at a local synagogue.

Co-funded by the Melbourne International Film Festival’s Premiere Fund, this carefully put together, humanistic thriller grapples intelligently with a hot-button international issue. The Australian production, Pulbrook’s first outing as a director after a solid editing career, can expect a good festival run following its MIFF bow and arthouse crowds should appreciate its simmering intensity when it releases domestically later this year.

The clanging of trams in the opening scene marks the setting as multicultural Melbourne, but the vexing complexities of the conflict in the Middle East resonate globally, as does the ability of compassion to rise above all. Sadiq Mohammad (Dirani) is on the run after fleeing an inner-city bombing attack that has felled many innocent people along with a fellow radical. As sirens wail and search helicopters buzz overhead, the gravely wounded young man bundles Jewish widow Ulah Lippman (Blake) into her home and prepares to hide out as he awaits instructions.

But the spirited elderly victim moves quickly through terror to indignation and disgust and so begins a battle of wills as the two set forward their opposing ideologies and argue over the meaning of the term “soldier.” Menacing at first, Sadiq reveals enough of himself to allow Mrs. Lippman’s maternal instinct to take over when he collapses from his shrapnel wound and, rather than escaping, she nurses him back to health while fending off interest from the authorities and a meddlesome neighbor (Alan Hopgood).

A practically airtight screenplay, an eight-year-long collaboration between Pulbrook and first-time scripter Terence Hammond, allows a supremely unlikely bond to develop organically, with revelations about their individual pasts revealing shared sorrows. It is to the credit of the two leads, who carry what is essentially a two-hander, and to Pulbrook’s shrewd camerawork that the film remains dramatically absorbing to the end.

Venue: Melbourne International Film Festival

Production company: Ulah Films

Cast: Julia Blake, Firass Dirani, Danielle Carter

Director: David Pulbrook

Screenwriters: David Pulbrook, Terence Hammond

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane

Executive producers: William Fayman, Ann Lyons, Peter deRauch

Director of photography: Lee Pulbrook

Production designer: Les Binns

Costume designer: Louise McCarthy

Music: Michael Allen

Editor: Phil Reid

Sales: Becker Film Group

No rating, 90 minutes

Publicists Battle to Rep Robert Pattinson

2012-08-22T08:41:00.005-07:00

After the cuckolded star told Jon Stewart his "biggest problem in life" was not hiring a publicist, firms like 42 West and Sunshine Sachs came calling -- quickly.

It was an innocent joke: "My biggest problem in life is, I'm cheap and I didn't hire a publicist," Robert Pattinson toldJon Stewart Aug. 13 on The Daily Showwhile promoting Cosmopolis amid theKristen Stewart cheating hoopla.

Sources tell The HBDb the comment set off a mini-frenzy among top Hollywood publicity shops, many of which were salivating at the prospect that Pattinson -- who for years has gone without a personal PR rep -- might finally take one on.

The Twilight star's manager, Nick Frenkel, is said to have been inundated with phone calls and e-mails from firms including 42West, Sunshine Sachs and others seeking meetings to pitch press strategies for the 26-year-old star (and offering to slash fees).

Frenkel declines comment, but one source says Pattinson still has no desire to add a publicist to his team. Notes one veteran rep: "He's actually doing really well on his own."

Mila Kunis, Casey Affleck and James Franco Set To Join 'Third Person' Cast

2012-08-22T08:40:00.002-07:00

The trio are in negotiations to join Oscar winner Paul Haggis' movie, which is being produced by Belgium's Corsan.

LONDON – Mila Kunis, Casey Affleckand James Franco are in negotiations to join the cast for Paul Haggis' Third Person, alongside Liam Neeson andOlivia Wilde.

he production is being funded, produced and hawked by Belgian based company Corsan and is scheduled to begin shooting on location in Rome in October this year.

Haggis is currently in the Italian capital in pre-production and is finalizing cast.

The script follows three inter-connected love stories of three couples in three cities, Rome, Paris and New York.

The Italian-set segment revolves around a young couple on a road trip, to be played be Affleck and Moran Atias.

Both Neeson and Wilde worked with Haggis on The Next Three Days and will play writers in the Paris-set section of the film.

Kunis is negotiating to play one half of an estranged couple in New York, with Franco playing her partner in the segment.

"These are complex characters in a challenging story; I'm humbled that so many talented people have placed their faith in me," Haggis said.

Corsan CEO Breuls will produce the movie alongside Haggis and his producing-partner Nozik.

Added Haggis: "I am grateful to have such terrific producing partners in Paul Breuls and Michael Nozik. Now I just need to survive five months of amazing pasta.“

Breuls said the project "exemplifies the kind of film" his company wants to make.

"Corsan's ambition has always been to develop creative partnerships with great filmmakers and give them the space and support to create artistic yet highly commercial films," Breuls said.

Corsan World Sales will be handling international rights to the film in Toronto next month.

Imax to Simultaenously Debut 'Dark Knight Rises' and 'The Amazing Spider-Man' in China

2012-08-22T08:39:00.001-07:00

The August 27 screen clash, prompted by Chinese government regulations, will see the Warner Bros. pic play on 78 super-sized screens, while the Columbia Pictures blockbuster fills 78 screens.

TORONTO – Batman and Spider-man are set to clash in China.

Imax on Wednesday revealed Warner Bros. Pictures’ s The Dark Knight Rises and Columbia Pictures’ The Amazing Spiderman will open simultaneously in China on its screens from August 27.

The clash, out of the hands of Imax as Chinese authorities direct screen traffic in that market, will see Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises open on 78 Imax screens, while Marc Webb’sAmazing Spiderman will fill 74 of its super-sized screens in China.

Both blockbuster films are expected play in China for around five weeks.

“We view this cannibalization as negative as the hope had been that they would not toggle the two films,” Ben Mogil, an entertainment analyst with Stifel, wrote in an investors note Wednesday.

“However, given certain blackout periods for non-domestic films and overall government regulation in terms of Hollywood film scheduling, there appears to have been little leeway in this area,” Mogil added.

Amazing Spider-Man has so far grossed $700 million worldwide.

Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 also played on Imax screens.

Producer Cassian Elwes Drew on Agenting Skills to Subdue Unstable Airline Passenger

2012-08-22T08:05:00.002-07:00

“It was like talking to a crazy actor who wants to walk off a movie set,” says the former William Morris employee of the Aug. 19 incident on a cross-country JetBlue flight.

Film producer Cassian Elwes has been the toast of the Twitterverse since he tweeted the harrowing tale of talking down a highly unstable fellow passenger on an Aug. 19 JetBlue flight from New York to Los Angeles. The plane was diverted to Denver so the man, who identified himself as a Marine and former heroin addict named Marco, could be arrested for assault.

As Elwes tells it, after Marco had groped a pregnant woman and growled at other passengers, Elwes volunteered to sit next to him, hoping to calm him until police could intervene on the ground. “I went into my agent mode,” says the former William Morris employee, who was returning from a weekend trip back east to help his daughter move into her first apartment. “It was like talking to a crazy actor who wants to walk off a movie set, someone who isn’t listening to logic. It’s about playing into their ego and anger.”

It worked — in due time. Elwes, now at work on Lee Daniels’ The Butler, soon had Marco telling him about his recent short-story writing effort (the protagonist was, gulp, a kamikaze pilot): “It was fine. I’ve dealt with nuttier personalities in Hollywood.”

How Kristen Stewart's Apology Backfired (Analysis)

2012-08-22T08:03:00.002-07:00

An anonymous industry insider offers a defense of the starlet after her ill-advised makeout session -- and even more ill-advised mea culpa.

OK, people. Enough is enough. Let’s cut Kristen Stewart a break. She didn’t kill anybody. She’s 22. She’s not married. What was she doing? She was making out with somebody. What were you doing when you were 22? Either you were making out with somebody or you wished you were. OK, the guy she was making out with is married with children. That’s really deplorable, no doubt about it. And of course she’s the only person in L.A. to be making out with a married person, right? Ha! As if. In fact, I’d bet that right now 17 percent of the people reading this are making out with somebody they shouldn’t be, and another 28 percent are looking forward to doing so next weekend. So save your outrage, huh? I mean, why do you think people go into show business?

Her fans are upset. A bunch of them are running around wearing T-shirts that say “trampire” on them. You know what I think? I think fans like that are the real vampires, because they suck.

Sure, we can feel sorry for RPat. I mean, we don’t know RPat. We don’t know what was going on at home when KStew and RPat were just sitting around the house. We do know that actors fly away from each other all the time and that their relationships aren’t, you know, etched in stone, so why punish one 22-year-old unmarried actress for what her fellow professionals have been doing since Shakespeare left the original Anne Hathawayback in Stratford?

Naturally, some of the misery K has gone through is earned, fair and square. She screwed up, the way even people do who are not sensuous, immature, impulsive, emotionally bumptious actors, and she got busted. She then made the ultimate mistake. She apologized, publicly, in a lame and soggy statement. Don’t these people have phones? Why don’t they use them to call the people (with a small p) to whom they should really be apologizing? The fact that she entered the ritual dance sincerely only made it worse. Without revealing too much, I’ll just say that in my non-anonymous role with a massive multiplayer media monolith, I have learned one thing: Apologies are viewed by the vengeful, lustful, titillated body politic as the appetizer that comes before the main course — an execution in the town square. Music! Turkey legs for everybody! Huzzah!

And so it was for poor Stew. The fact that she paid the private price — losing Robert Pattinson, the guy she loved — was only the beginning. On Aug. 14, it got down to business — and that’s frickin’ ridiculous. First, the director she was making out with was fired from the Snow White and the Huntsman sequel. That was stupid enough.

Then maybe he wasn’t fired. Instead, it’s K.Stew who’s off the project. Huh? The sequel to Snow Whitewill go off ... without Snow White? Because the starlet was making out with somebody other than her fan-approved boyfriend? Now the jihad is extending to her career as a vampire! Fan conventions for the 1,475th iteration of the Twilight saga are being canceled. No promotional work for you, young lady!

Come on, people. Who are we talking about here? Fatty Arbuckle? Roman Polanski? The madness has to stop! Was the famous head of one of the greatest Hollywood studios fired back in the ’30s when he was known to require that a new starlet be delivered to his office every day after lunch? WasCleopatra fired for descending into sexual frenzy with her Mark Antony during filming? Half of this town is screwing the other half at any time! It's a tradition! You're not going to change that by Stalinizing Snow White!

Hey, you know what? I’ve got a better idea for the agents, studio executives and so-called fans who are now heaping misery on Stewart’s head. Take all that righteous indignation and focus it where it belongs — on the fat, sleazy, greasy, predatory pond scum who stalk the underbrush with their high-powered digital gear, prying into other people’s lives and selling the stinking evidence of their targets’ frailty back to us in poisonous morsels. That’s right. Go out today and do some good in the world. Kick a creep in the head. You’ll be glad you did.

And as for you, Kristen, it’s time to shed the scarlet A that people are trying to put on your chest. Stop cringing. Stop accepting punishment. Stop conforming to the expectations of all the hypocrites and reconfigure the role you’re playing. You can do that. You’re an actress: You don’t owe anyone even the smallest peek at your true self. Get up off the couch, put away the vat of ice cream, put on something foxy and go out. Be seen. If anybody gives you any crap, tell them to go f— themselves. Celebrity means never having to say you’re sorry.

Todd McCarthy: How Tony Scott Finally Won Me Over

2012-08-22T08:01:00.001-07:00

The HBDb's chief film critic writes that the late director's films were "never my cup of tea -- until, finally, one very much was."

His death has been shocking, unlike any other of someone of prominence, putting one in mind, as much as anything else, of the climax of his brother's Thelma and Louise. Awful, especially for his family, but nonetheless stone cold sobering even for those of us who knew him only by reputation and through his work.

Tony Scott's films were never my cup of tea -- until, finally, one very much was. Ever since he burst on the scene three decades ago, Scott was known for shooting the hell out of nearly every sequence to achieve maximum sensation. This aesthetic, which he and his brother Ridley had pushed to new levels in commercials, dovetailed perfectly with the style Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer were pursuing at Paramount in the 1980s, so when Tony and the producers they found each other for Top Gun, it was a perfect testosterone-fueled Hollywood marriage.

From this point on, however, the discussion becomes entirely a matter of taste. For many (it was the biggest-grossing film of 1986)Top Gun was fun, exciting and sexy. For me, it was hollow, phony and dispiriting, subtextually about and by macho guys who'd found something even bigger and more impressive than Ferraris to show off in. Ultimately, the best thing about Top Gun wasQuentin Tarantino's hilarious “gay way” analysis of it in the otherwise forgettable 1994 film Sleep With Me.

Having found his commercial niche as a brash, flashy, sometimes vulgar action painter on celluloid, so it went for quite a while for Tony Scott on Beverly Hills Cop II, Days of Thunder, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance (written by Tarantino) and, maybe worst of all, The Fan. Uniformly, these are films that possess flair of a prodigious but particularly narrow sort that precludes the co-existence of any genuine emotion, ideas or substance; all the count are the facile feelings and impressions generated by the carefully orchestrated combination of images and music.

Tucked in amongst these projects was Revenge. Jim Harrison's great novella held as much promise for a terse, disturbing, sexy and suspenseful film as anything I had ever read and it might have lived up to its potential if either John Huston or Walter Hill, two of the directors who wanted to do it, had ended up making the film. That Tony Scott so completely missed the opportunities inherent in the text convinced me that he, unlike his brother, was actually averse to material that had any meaning, seriousness or weight to it; when presented with a glorious opportunity, he seemed to nearly go out of his way to thwart its potential.

Thus disenchanted and mostly having avoided Scott's films for some years, I was mildly surprised by how the authentic power and the strength of the performances overshadowed the superfluous stylistic gimmicks in Man on Fire. The Taking of Pelham 123 was OK too, and when you factor in Crimson Tideand, to a lesser extent, Deja Vu, it's clear Scott had a pretty good thing going with Denzel Washington. The actor was never preening, noble or self-serious in the five films they made together, usually just a working-class guy trying to deal with the matters at hand.

Which leads to their final collaboration and what, sadly, was the director's last film, Unstoppable. Given my earlier aversion, I was astonished in 2010 to find myself putting a Tony Scott film on my 10 best list for the year. This Rust Belt thriller had its director's fingerprints all over it: The commitment to extreme action, frenetic cutting, stripped down dialogue and all the rest. But it was also a great blue-collar action movie with a social critique embedded in its guts; it was about disconnected working class stiffs living marginal lives on society's sidings, about the barely submerged anger of a neglected underclass. This was the kind of extra dimension that, it seemed to me, had always been lacking from Tony Scott's work, some connection to the real world rather than just silly flyboy stuff and meaningful glances accompanied by this year's pop music hit.

While successful enough, Unstoppable was not as widely recognized for what it was, even by Scott's usual supporters, as I thought it should be. But even if the film didn't inspire me to reassess the director's earlier work -- I'm not convinced there's any subtext there I missed the first time around -- it did provide a measure of hope that his gritty view of life, and a way to express the nature of human impulses through screen action, would continue to be so naturally and expressively conveyed in his work. Alas, it came too late. But it was a great way to go out.

Ananth Mahadevan's documentary film awarded at Kolkata International Film Festival

2012-08-22T07:58:00.002-07:00

The acclaimed Bollywood filmmaker Ananth Narayan Mahadevan won the Best Documentary Film award for the film STATE OF THE ART, produced by Siddhivinayak Cinevision Pvt.Ltd, at the recently held Kolkata Shorts International film festival (KISFF).

Kolkata, the hub of Bengali Cinema witnessed the Kolkata Shorts International film festival amidst the presence of galaxy of established & aspiring filmmakers. Minioxoffice, a Noida based short films marketing & Promotion Company took the initiative to bring Kolkata International Short Film Festival in association with filmmakers from all over nation. During the occasion FSIFF also observed the '100 years of Indian Cinema'.

The reputed national award winning Bengali film director Mr. Atanu Ghosh was the festival jury along with reputed folk & Bengali films singer Dippanita Acharya. Both the judges have hugely appreciated the work of short filmmakers. Mr. Arijit Dutta, reputed film producer & MD of Priya entertainment as the chief guest of festival award ceremony.

The festival has received 126 shorts films from all over India including short films from Iran, Spain, Israel, UK etc. The selection panel has shortlisted 42 films out of total. The festival screened shortlisted short films, documentaries, animation & music videos. Beside this festival has featured Spanish & Iranian films package. A master class on 'Short films marketing, promotion & revenue generation through short films has also conducted, as informed by festival director Mr. Rambhul Singh.

The festival is dedicated to serve the short filmmakers and aims to provide platform to aspiring, students and professional filmmakers to showcase their talent with networking opportunities with other filmmakers.

"The festival objective is to contribute in the development of aspiring filmmakers, to create short films culture in India, promotion of short films, developing sources of revenue generation from short films and to make short film making a commercial enterprise," said festival director Rambhul Singh, who is an award winning film director. The festival was conducted at Hotel De-Sovrani, Salt Lake in Kolkata was a huge success.

Here's the list of other award winning films:

Best Short Film:

Pranayathil Oruval Vazhthappedum Vidham by Director Manilal
Production: Independent, Trisoor

Best Short Film (Student):

CHATKHAARA by Director Syed Maaz Kazmi
Production: Dept. of Communication Studies, Pune University

Best Documentary Film (Student):
IN RAGS by Director Abhishek Chandra
Production: NID, Ahmadabad

Best Animation Film(Student):
A STORY by Director Laxmikanta Jena
Production: We7 Team, ZICA, Bhubaneswar

Best Animation Film:
ROMEO SPIKES by Director K.D Shybu
Production: Vismayas Max Animations, Trivandrum

Best Music Video:
DISTANCE by Director Arnab Chatterjee
Production: Wiztoonz Academy of Media & Design, Bangalore

Special Festival Mention- Jury:
- IMAGINATION (Short Film) by Director Anto
Production: Nietzche Production House

Emmys 2012: Nicole Kidman's American Accent Is Still a Work in Progress

2012-08-22T07:54:00.001-07:00

Taking on the tongue once again in "Hemingway & Gellhorn," the actress tells The HBDb she's always studying: "It's like preparing your thesis: an enormous amount of studying and preparation."

The Hollywood and Bollywood Data base: How much did you know about war correspondent Martha Gellhorn before doing this film?

Nicole Kidman: I didn't know anything about her, unfortunately. I did a crash course on her. Director Philip Kaufman provided many avenues for research -- I was able to watch film of her, look at photos, read her letters. There was so much access to Martha's mind and behavior, but it required an enormous amount of reading and studying; also, learning more about Hemingway, the Spanish Civil War, what ignited the Second World War. But my main goal was to absorb Martha's brilliance.

The HBDb: You've played many roles in which you showcase a very convincing American accent. Do you still have to practice this regularly while you're shooting?

Kidman: Yes. I worked with Tim Monich, who's a fantastic dialect coach I've known for so many years. We studied Martha when she was an older woman. There are interviews she did with the BBC, and we took them as the basis of her accent. But by that time, she had a very British accent, so we had to take some of those sounds out. You know, all of this stuff is … if you have to do it, it's like preparing your thesis: an enormous amount of studying and preparation.

The HBDb: It sounds as if this film was like going to graduate school for you.

Kidman: (Laughs.) Yes, exactly! Like I did my thesis on Martha Gellhorn … and a little bit of Hemingway. I feel like as long as I can do all of that groundwork, I can go and be freer in the character. Then you're the expert. During shooting, I could say, "You know, this or that is more authentic to her true nature." At one point, Phil said: "Well, she's yours now. You've really morphed into her." It was especially beautiful playing her as an older woman, too.

The HBDb: How did it feel to see yourself as the older Martha, complete with dramatic aging makeup?

Kidman: A little freaky. I was like, "Oh God, what happened to my life? I'm so old." At the same time, I was so inside of her by that stage -- I was smoking all the time, walking like her -- I just kind of existed in that place of being that age. And I didn't talk to anybody out of character. Her voice sort of came with it. When you hear those BBC interviews -- she drank and smoked an enormous amount -- you hear that deep voice. I love it because it's such a lived-in, tired voice. Originally, those scenes when I'm older were scheduled to shoot midway through production, but I asked whether we could shoot them at the end. By then, I felt I'd lived her life, so it was easier.

The HBDb: You had great chemistry with Clive Owen, who plays a convincing Ernest Hemingway, her tempestuous lover and husband.

Kidman: Thank you. I loved that he didn't pull punches or choose the "safe" route. He really went for it. He's a very, very smart actor. Also, it helped that Philip, Clive and I were very, very tight. You really want to be bonded, you know?

The HBDb: How big is Philip on rehearsing?

Kidman: Well, we definitely talked a lot, went to dinner a lot. Then we'd run scenes and talk about them. He's very collaborative, and he loves actors -- he really loves actors. You can also feel the love he felt for Martha. He loves strong women who are going to push the boundaries and not conform. You see that in a lot of his movies, and I adore him for that because I'm very committed to those sort of roles, too.

The HBDb: There is a lot of alcohol consumption in this movie. Were there any days on set when you didn't have to pretend that you were inebriated?

Kidman: (Laughs.) No. But I've definitely never played a part like this, ever. As Philip says, Martha often out-Hemingway'd Hemingway with the drinking.

This is your first Emmy nomination. How does it feel to be invited to the show?

Kidman: I'm blown away. I'm absolutely thrilled and excited to attend. I actually just got back from the Olympics. We only saw the Opening Ceremony, but it was amazing. Now that I'm home, I really have to focus on getting an Emmy dress.