New on the site
Oscar mania: In the last week alone, I've put up a minor SAG play-by-play ("Penn has deigned to grace us with his pres—JOHNNY DEPP WON! HOLY SHIT!"), the hand-coded Oscar pool (shakes fist at Yahoo Movie Games for punking out), and numerous Oscar predictions. We have 50 players in the pool so far, and anyone is welcome to submit an entry until the moment Billy Crystal walks on stage Sunday night. Also, if you just yearn to show your player status off to the world, icons are available:
Occupation Girl: Speaking of icons--I've got "Heroine Addict" icons for Livejournal, MSN messenger, blogs, or web pages. It's sort of a feminist, "I dig chicks who rule" meme.
Sunday: International Oscar party/play-by-play. If you liked what we did for the Golden Globes, well...
See Short Attention Span Theater for daily reports on updates and housekeeping, or our Yahoo Group for email alerts and newsletters.
Top stories
Box office: The Passion of the Christ opened as the #3 Wednesday debut of all time with $26.6 million. (Cinescape)
Oscar Watch: MCN 100's Choices for the Oscars; Odds on Best Actor - Depp Surges; In Oscar News; Predicting the Tech Categories; Jeff Lelek's Final Oscar Predicts
Latest pool stats for the top six categories ("will" win, not "should" win):
Best Picture: Return of the King (97.8%)
Best Director: Peter Jackson (91.1%)
Best Actor: Bill Murray (63.04%)
Best Actress: Charlize Theron (89.1%)
Best Supporting Actor: Tim Robbins (76.08%)
Best Supporting Actress: Renée Zellweger (67.39%)
New images
Cinema Confidential: Be Cool set pics
Coming Soon: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Godsend, Hidalgo, Secret Window, Ultraviolet set pics
Empire Movies: posters for Shrek 2, Raising Helen, Connie and Carla, Godsend, Kill Bill Vol. 2 (pictures and poster), posters for The Alamo, The Ladykillers, King Arthur, Starsky & Hutch, Secret Window, The Johnson Family Vacation, 13 Going on 30, The United States of Leland, New York Minute, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Alexander
IMPA: posters for The Whole Ten Yards, Breakin’ All the Rules, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Starsky and Hutch, Godsend, Thunderbirds, Scooby Doo 2, Mean Creek, Troy, The Alamo, Hidalgo, Dawn of the Dead
Jo Blo: SharkTale poster
Killer Movies: 41 Kill Bill Vol. 2 stills
Latino Review: Vermin Man from Constantine, Man on Fire, Taking Lives, Saved! poster, Never Die Alone, Blade: Trinity, Breakin’ All the Rules poster, NASCAR 3D poster
Movieweb: Hidalgo, The Reckoning, Wormtail in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The Z Review: King Arthur, Kill Bill Vol. 2, The Big Bounce, New York Minute, Taking Lives, Spartan, Closer, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Club Dread, Mean Creek
Trailers and multimedia
Apple: Man on Fire, The Girl Next Door clips, Broken Wings, Evil (Best Foreign Film nominee), Laws of Attraction, Bon Voyage, The Cookout, “The Lord of the Rings: The Journey,” Beauty Shop, Van Helsing (#3), 13 Going on 30, Ella Enchanted, Godzilla
iTunes: City of God, Cold Mountain, Master and Commander, Mystic River, Seabiscuit, The Last Samurai, The Missing, The Return of the King, Whale Rider
CHUD: Casshern
Empire Movies: The Punisher, Mean Girls, Starsky & Hutch clips, New York Minute, The Whole Ten Yards, The Passion of the Christ TV spots, Raising Helen, Troy, Harry Potter, Hidalgo, Shrek 2, I Heart Huckabees, Laws of Attraction, Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights, Club Dread, The Final Cut
The Movie Box: Hellboy TV spot, Saved, Man on Fire, Hidalgo clips, Starsky and Hutch clips, The Girl Next Door clips, Intermission clips
Trailer Park: Beauty Shop, Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation, Connie & Carla, Good Bye Lenin, Around the World in 80 Days
Casting calls and future films
Quick casting
Aeon Flux: Charlize Theron? (the casting’s for sure—the question mark is mine) (Jo Blo)
Batman Begins: Current Oscar nominee Ken Watanabe will play Ra’s Al Ghul (whose Al Ghul? Ra’s Al Ghul), not Liam Neeson, who is playing a sub-villain named Ducard. Morgan Freeman will, in fact, play Lucius Fox. (Empire Movies)
Bob the Butler: Tom Green (Killer Movies)
Che: Benicio Del Toro, Ryan Gosling, Benjamin Bratt, Javier Bardem, Franka Potente, dir. Terence Malick (Jo Blo)
Crazy in Love: Josh Hartnett, Radha Mitchell, Erica Leerhsen, Gary Cole, Sheila Kelly, John Carrol Lynch (Killer Movies)
Dragonball Z: Tom Welling as Goku? (CHUD)
Fast and the Furious 3: Paul Walker is out, Vin Diesel is (still) back in (Moviehole)
Fierce People: Donald Sutherland, Diane Lane (Coming Soon)
The Fountain: Is it back on, with Hugh Jackman instead of Brad Pitt? No word on whether Cate Blanchett is still involved. (Jo Blo)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Viktor Krum will be played by some Bulgarian kid living in London, no name given. (Coming Soon)
Hip Hop Cops: dir. Peter Berg (Empire Movies)
Hot Dog: Johnny Knoxville (Movieweb)
House of Wax: Elisha Cuthbert? (Killer Movies)
King Kong: Peter Jackson says that “one or two” Rings cast members may end up in the film, depending on what roles get written into the script, and that much of the LOTR crew is on board. Keep an eye on this one, given that Jackson discovered not just Orlando Bloom but Kate Winslet back in Heavenly Creatures. (Coming Soon)
Ice Harvest: John Cusack, Monica Bellucci, Billy Bob Thornton, dir. Harold Ramis (Killer Movies)
The Last Face: Sean Penn, Robin Wright Penn, Javier Bardem (Movieweb)
Prime: Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock (Coming Soon)
The Punisher 2: Whoa, whoa, whoa! Can’t you let the first one bomb before you start rushing out another one? (Moviehole)
Tamara: Sarah Thompson (“Angel”). Premise: “An outcast high-school girl is accidentally killed during a nasty prank. She soon returns from the grave, however, as a seductive teen vixen with mind-control powers who seeks revenge on her tormentors.” (Moviehole)
The Upside of Anger: Kevin Costner, Joan Allen, Erika Christensen, Evan Rachel Wood, Keri Russell, Alicia Witt, and… writer/director/costar Mike Binder. How’d he nail a cast like this? (Killer Movies)
More films
Batman Begins: Well, it’s better than “Batman: Intimidation,” at any rate. (Empire Online)
Chronicles of Riddick: Cinescape has spoilers. You know, “better than The Matrix” doesn’t carry the weight it used to.
Elektra: Film Jerk has more story details.
Firefly: The Movie: There’s gonna be one? (CHUD)
A Good Year: Ridley Scott will direct an adaptation of Peter Mayle’s upcoming novel. Premise: “The novel tells the story about a London banker who changes his life after he inherits a vineyard in Provence. Trouble arises when an American woman shows up to also claim ownership of the property.” If they fall in love, I’m walking out. (Cinescape)
Herbie the Love Bug: I’m asking you—I’m begging you—please: No. (Killer Movies)
Inkheart: New Line is taking its LOTR money and reinvesting in fantasy, including this German fantasy trilogy; book 2, Inkblood, will be published in the US next year. (His Dark Materials has also been optioned by New Line.) (SciFi Wire)
The Poseidon Adventure: Wolfgang Petersen is considering a remake. Didn’t we make that movie seven years ago? And wasn’t it called Titanic? (Empire Movies)
Raiders of the Lost Ark: Heard about those guys who made a shot-by-shot remake in their back yard? (Good article on it in the “Hollywood Issue” Vanity Fair just out.) Well, Scott Rudin just bought the rights to their life story. (Empire Online)
The Runelords: Franchise Pictures is going to adapt the David Farland books into a film trilogy, with filming beginning this June. (Killer Movies)
Sin City: Robert Rodriguez will direct an adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel series—in fact, he’s already shot an opening with Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton. (Empire Movies)
The Sparrow: George Miller is in talks to direct. Premise: “The Sparrow, an adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Mary Doria Russell, is set in the near future and tells the story of a Jesuit priest who leads a mission to a newly discovered extraterrestrial culture, with disastrous results.” Man, I remember reading about this movie when I was in high school, and they were talking about Antonio Banderas starring. He made The Thirteenth Warrior instead (woo…?). (SciFi Wire)
Underworld 2: …isn’t happening (yet) after all? (Moviehole)
X3: Cinescape reports that Bryan Singer may film the third and fourth movies simultaneously. It’s the big thing now (Pirates of the Caribbean sequels may go the same route) thanks to LOTR and The Matrix, but really, it only makes sense to film as much as you can once you’ve got expensive sets and a hard-to-pin-down ensemble all in one place.
Reviews (Here be spoilers!)
AICN: The Dreamers, The Punisher, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, The Passion of the Christ, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
CHUD: Club Dread
Cinema Confidential: Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, The Passion of the Christ
Empire Movies: Club Dread, Starsky & Hutch, Welcome to Mooseport
Film Jerk: Club Dread, Good Bye Lenin, Twisted, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, The Passion of the Christ, Eurotrip, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Teknolust, Welcome to Mooseport
Latino Review: Guillermo del Toro has seen Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and he loves it; Twisted, Club Dread, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights
Mr. Cranky: Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Eurotrip, The Passion of the Christ, Twisted
Roger Ebert: The Passion of the Christ, Against the Ropes, Broken Lizard’s Club Dread, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Lana’s Rain, My Architect, Osama, Twisted, Welcome to Mooseport
Salon: Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Twisted, The Passion of the Christ
Supercala: The Passion of the Christ, Club Dread, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Welcome to Mooseport, Eurotrip, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra
Upcoming DVDs
CHUD: Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Babylon 5 (S4), Billabong Odyssey, Gilligan’s Island, The Stupids, My Fair Lady, Secondhand Lions, Mrs. Miniver, Blow-Up, Dead Heat, Daddy & Them
DVD Fanatic: The Three Stooges: The Stooges and the Law, Queer as Folk (S3), Star Trek: Voyager (S1), The Chase, Hamlet, The Man Without a Face, Matchstick Men, The Missing, My Life Without Me, Just One of the Guys
DVD File: Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Myra Breckinridge, Mother Jugs & Speed, Grand Hotel, Book of Love, Masked and Anonymous, Pieces of April, Radio, Ararat, Commitments, Queer as Folk (S3), Cold Creek Manor, My Life Without Me, Rules of the Game
DVD Savant: Quartet, Letter to Brezhnev, My Life Is Hell, The Passion of Anna, American Gun
DVD Talk: Celebrating AFI, Cops: Caught in the Act, Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, Richard III: Criterion Collection, The Girl From Rio, My Life Without Me
Empire Movies: Lion King 1-1/2, Intolerable Cruelty
IGN DVD: Futurama (S3), Spy Kids 3D: Game Over, The Missing, School of Rock, Cold Creek Manor, Matchstick Men, Runaway Jury, Intolerable Cruelty
Interviews and profiles
Empire Online: Michael Madsen (Kill Bill Vol 2)
IGN: David Goyer (Batman, Iron Man), Philip Kaufman (Twisted)
Latino Review: Bill Paxton (Club Dread), Diego Luna (Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights)
Moviehole: Amy Smart and Carmen Electra (Starsky and Hutch), Elisha Cuthbert (The Girl Next Door)
SciFi Wire: Matthew Lillard (Scooby Doo 2), David Goyer (Blade: Trinity, Batman: Intimidation), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Scooby Doo 2), Francis Lawrence (Constantine)
Superhero Hype: Christian Bale (Batman Begins)
Other news
Ananova: British Jews criticise Gibson's film; Charlize Theron hits the big time; Batman title revealed; Bookies close the book on the Oscars (ROTK is too popular to take bets on); Cusack teams up with Bellucci; Hopkins to star as Ernest Hemingway; Titanic voted worst Oscar winner; Depp and Theron top Screen Actors Guild Awards; Tina Turner comes out of retirement for musical movie; Zellweger confident about landing 2004 Oscar; Downey re-enacts Chaplin role; Depp and Law's UK film sets in jeopardy
Chicago Sun-Times: 'Apes' issues ring true 35 years later; 'Tears' chronicles the plight of Mexican-American migrant workers; 'Pop-n-play' DVDs swing into kiddie market
IMDB: Pals Fear for Lonely Affleck; Rosie O'Donnell Weds Lesbian Partner; 'Friends' Cast Split on Reunion Show; J.Lo and Affleck's Wedding Edited from Movie [Jersey Girl]; Woman Dies of Heart Attack During 'The Passion'; Roberts and Newell's Onset Friction; Zellweger and White To Wed?; Jessica Emerges As Favorite for Daisy Duke Role; Anderson: "I Have Retired"; Klum's Fidelity Questioned by Briatore
Jam Showbiz: Oscar glitz and glamour returns; Denys Arcand one cool dude; 'Passion earns $20M on first day; 'Deuce Bigalow' sequel finalized; Ridley Scott to direct Mayle book; Ben/J.Lo wedding scene cut from film; Audience reaction mixed to 'Passion'
Salon: Return of the Hero (mainly about Master and Commander); Is Arwen Pro-Life? (and other political musings)
USAToday: Oscar races to get ready for his big close-up; Who will win? Who should win?; Beyond Twisted; Rosie marries
Yahoo: Public Can Finally See Gibson's 'Passion'; Disney Wants Pooh Merchandising Suit Out; Oscar Accountants Get to Work as Voting Ends
Zap2It: Seven charges dropped in Kelly porno case; Hopper to Host Vegas Fest; Actor Randolph Dead at 88; Zap2it Readers Pick 'King'; Valenti Receives Heston Award; How to be an Oscar Swag Hag; Krauss Gets the Cinderella Treatment
Fun and games
Cinema Confidential: contests for Hidalgo, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Twisted, Against the Ropes
Fametracker: The 2004 Rasco P. Soultrain Awards; Inside the Hollywood Star Chamber 2004; Galaxy of Fame Special Speculative Edition: What If They Win Their Academy Awards?; Best Picture Nominees Turned TV Series: 2007-08; Live from the 2004 Las Vegas Oscar Pool Invitational; Naomi Watts's Fame Audit; Handicapping Oscar's Best- And Worst-Dressed; Sean Penn's Fame Audit (“Just a few months back, GQ ran a little blurb titled ‘38 Things That Will Piss Off Sean Penn This Month’”); The Vanity Fair Coverline Challenge in The Mediator!
Short Attention Span Theater: Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara rehearsing for their Best Song performance on the Oscars (picture); a visual breakdown of who’s in the Academy, occupation-wise; Oscar pool stats; Oscar seating arrangements from LOTR News (“Elijah won’t see a thing sitting behind Liv”); The Spambot of the Christ; The Merchandise of the Christ; FYC ad shenanigans may get DreamWorks in trouble; Neil Gaiman kicks Todd McFarlane’s ass in court; link to the original “A Sound of Thunder” story by Bradbury; SAG play-by-play (scroll down to Sunday 2/22)
Parting shot
Galaxy of Fame Special Speculative Edition: What If They Win Their Academy Awards?
** MERCURY: ON FIRE
"Hello, I'm Seabiscuit, your Best Picture winner for 2004. Don't you think it was fitting that the movie about a long-shot racehorse who defied the odds and won over the hearts and minds of Depression-era Americans should have come from behind to capture the hearts and minds of Recession-era Americans and taken the year's top movie prize? It was poetic! There was one significant respect in which Seabiscuit's win different from Seabiscuit's wins, however: none of the races the original Seabiscuit won led to full-scale riots around the world. I guess those Lord of the Rings fans were really counting on a Return of the King Best Picture win as an acknowledgement of the entire trilogy, and when that didn't happen, they got pretty pissed off and took to the streets in their elf ears and hobbit feet and Gandalf hair extensions in cities all over the world, and started overturning cars and setting newspaper boxes on fire and surfing on bus roofs like they did on elephants in that one really fake-looking scene in...sorry! Didn't want to add insult to injury! If by 'injury,' you mean 'a reported $3.7 million in damages that my Oscar win indirectly caused.' So, thanks! And, sorry." **
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