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In his first foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2013's Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn proved that a good soundtrack can be as crucial to a movie as any other element. The film's carefully selected array of '60s and '70s pop hits breathed new life into decades-old songs and provided a crucial piece of character for protagonist Peter Quill. He repeated the trick in the 2017 sequel and the 2023 threequel, proving that a good soundtrack isn't just about providing background music, but can speak to the inner lives of the characters and the world of the film.

Now, over a decade since debuting Peter Quill's "Awesome Mix," Gunn has brought that keen skill for needle drops to his new role as creative head of the Dcu. This is on full display in the Dcu's first official project, Max's animated series Creature Commandos, which features a rich playlist...

Michael Smiley has been turning heads with roles in Bad Sisters, The Lobster, The Other Boleyn Girl, and Luther. But ask the actor whos currently starring alongside Elijah Wood in the family adventure film Bookworm about his early days, and hell recall starting out as a stand-up comic and sharing a place with the likes of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the 1990s. All three of them were in the brilliant UK comedy series, Spaced.

It was a bit like a frat house, I guess, Smiley recalled. What was interesting about it was that everybody was exploring their abilities and trying to push their talent. So, short little films were getting made, little bits of animation were getting done, ideas were being bandied about, storytelling was going on in the early hours of the morning, music was being mixed, parties were being thrown. He added:

It was all leading up to Spaced.

A quirky Kiwi misadventure is the basic foundation of Bookworm, director Ant Timpson's impressive follow-up to his much darker first film, Come to Daddy. He brings along the star of that movie, Elijah Wood into this enjoyable tale, which finds two souls in flux and hoping to find lighthearted resolution in their lives.

Meet Strawn Wise (Wood), a washed-up American magician/illusionist who returns to his young, estranged daughter Mildred (Nell Fisher) during a time of crisis. Raised by her financially strapped Mum, Mildred has been immersing herself in lavish literary adventures, and now, when life has become most challenging, she wants to go on a real one. In the New Zealand wilderness, in fact, and perhaps with her befuddled pops. The mission: to discover a mythical black panther.

Theres enough in that premise alone to attract audiences of all kinds, but thanks to the taut script by Toby Harvard,...

Crossing, the fourth feature film from Swedish filmmaker Levan Akin (And Then We Danced), opens with white serif text that reads: “Both Georgian and Turkish are gender-neutral languages: they make no distinction of grammatical gender.” This linguistic factoid becomes instantly relevant as the film focuses on one Georgian woman’s...

An ambling father-daughter road trip through ‘90s Poland, Julia von Heinz’s Treasure is an odd hybrid. On one side it’s a meandering portrait of a father (Stephen Fry’s Edek) and daughter (Lena Dunham’s Ruth) reconnecting after the death of her mother. To which end it’s the type of tragicomedy Sundance used to pump out at a relatively fast pace: both inoffensive and more than a little bland. On the other side Treasure is, somewhat explicitly, a portrait of the collective trauma of the Holocaust.

Ruth treks to Poland to revisit the scenes of her family’s experiences in the lead-up and during their imprisonment in Auschwitz-Birkenau. An unhappy journalist living in New York, she wants to know more about her family. Not wanting to have his daughter visit these sites alone, Edek comes along but is also––quite obviously for everyone that isn’t Ruth...

Liev Schreiber is backing the documentary Ukrainians in Exile. Janek Ambros’ doc, executive produced by two-time Oscar winner Janusz Kaminski (Schindler’s List), will go out two days before the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Feb. 24.

Spotlight and Everything Is Illuminated star Schreiber is throwing his support behind the short documentary looking at the refugee crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Schreiber’s charity BlueCheck Ukraine, which the actor set in the wake of the invasion to vet and raise funds for nongovernmental organizations on the ground, is joining with Ambros on the release of the doc, which will go out online Thursday, Feb. 22. The Nation Magazine is bowing the film multiplatform across its website, YouTube and social media accounts. BlueCheck Ukraine will use the release to call on viewers to donate via bluecheck.in. Steven Spielberg’s longtime cinematographer Kaminski (Schindler’s List) is an...

Exclusive: Producers Peter Saraf and Eddie Rubin, who are in Park City to premiere the Sundance buzz titles Out of My Mind and Winner, have joined forces to create Optimistic Pictures, to develop and produce film and TV properties with an independent sensibility.

Saraf is the co-founder of Big Beach, the producer/financier responsible for one of the greatest successes to break at Sundance, the 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine. After a massive bidding battle that was won by Fox Searchlight ($10.5 million and 10% gross), the film got four Oscar noms including Best Picture, won two Oscars and grossed $101 million, on an $8 million production budget.

After their first teaming on The Farewell, Saraf and Rubin are reuniting with that indie hit’s star Awkwafina. She’ll produce and star in an adaptation of G, the Ling Ma short story which is included in her National Book Critics Circle Award winning collection, Bliss Montage.

The American Film Institute has its sights set on Matthew Libatique.

The Oscar nominated cinematographer, who graduated from the institution in 1992, has been tapped to receive AFI’s Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal. It will be presented during the AFI Life Achievement Award tribute to Nicole Kidman at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on April 27.

The medal is awarded annually “to an alumnus of either the AFI Conservatory or the [AFI Directing Workshop for Women] who best embodies the qualities of the late director: talent, taste, dedication and commitment to quality filmmaking.” Schaffner, who died in 1989, won a best director Oscar for Patton in 1970. Recipients of the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal include David Lynch, Edward Zwick, Amy Heckerling, Terrence Malick, Darren Aronofsky, Patty Jenkins, Paul Schrader, Janusz Kamiński, Caleb Deschanel, Lesli Linka Glatter, Rachel Morrison, Melina Matsoukas, Siân Heder and others.

The honor comes as Libatique has earned raves for working on Bradley Cooper...

Elijah Wood, a renowned American actor, has captivated audiences with his versatile and impressive performances for over three decades. Born on January 28, 1981, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Wood’s career as an actor began at a young age. He has starred in numerous films and television series, most notably as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson’s blockbuster The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. This article delves into the life and career of this iconic actor, showcasing his incredible journey from child star to accomplished Hollywood actor.

Early Life and Childhood Elijah Wood. Depostiphotos

Elijah Jordan Wood was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as the second of three children to Debbie Krause and Warren Wood. His parents managed a local delicatessen together. Wood’s ancestry includes English, German, Austrian, and Danish roots. As a child, Wood displayed a natural talent for performing, which led his mother to take him to the...

Elijah Wood may be having a bit of a moment with "Yellowjackets," but it's far from his only headline-grabbing role. Wood has been steadily working on our screens since the late 1980s, with a varied career that includes acting in TV and movies, doing voice work, producing and writing, and more.

While Wood definitely has become a permanent fixture in pop culture thanks to his role in "The Lord of the Rings," his career is much more eclectic and varied than just the blockbusters. He's the kind of actor who seems to delight in taking unusual and creative projects, with roles ranging from outright comedy and family-friendly hits to thrillers, dark dramas, and everything in between. Let's take a look back at some of his big-screen highlights over the years.

Elijah Wood Movies 1. "Back to the Future Part II"

Did you know that Wood's very first on-screen credit was in...

Elijah Wood is joining “Yellowjackets” Season 2 in a season-long guest art, Showtime announced on Friday.

The “Lord of the Rings” star will play Walter, a dedicated citizen detective who “will challenge Misty (Christina Ricci) in ways she won’t see coming,” per a description from the network.

The series co-creators and co-showrunners, Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, recently confirmed to TheWrap that — in the contemporary storyline— Misty’s true crime skills will be put to use trying to find Natalie (Juliette Lewis), who was abducted by persons unknown in the Season 1 finale.

Also Read:

‘Yellowjackets’ Season 2 Casts Simone Kessell as Adult Lottie

Lauren Ambrose of “Six Feet Under,” and Simone Kessell of “Obi-Wan Kenobi” were recently announced for series regular roles in Season 2, as adult Van and adult Lottie, respectively. Liv Hewson and Courtney Eaton, who play the teen versions of Van and Lottie, have also been upped to series regulars.

It's hard not to love "Little Miss Sunshine." Sure, some aspects might not have aged as well as others, but you can't deny the earnestness and genuine love felt throughout every second of the movie. Made right in the middle of indie filmmaking's mumblecore movement, it seems like a time capsule of a very special time in American film, where you didn't necessarily need a big star producer or director to make your movie; just a good story.

However, it definitely took a while for the movie as we know it to take shape. According to the introduction of the published shooting script, screenwriter Michael Arndt started the first draft of the script all the way back in 2000, finally completing it in 2001. After he abandoned the idea of shooting it himself on a microbudget, he teamed up with Deep River Productions to find a director that would work for the project.

Exclusive: Warner Bros studio veteran Ravi Mehta has been named Head of Physical Production, Post-Production, VFX at 20th Century Studios. He will oversee all aspects of physical production for the Disney-owned 20th Century studios film division.

Mehta spent 24 years at Warner Bros where he became EVP Physical Production for the studio in the spring of 2015. He served as the executive on a slate of movies including American Sniper and The Accountant. With the announcement of the Warner Max film label, Mehta went on to oversee all features for the new streaming platform including Stephen Soderbergh’s forthcoming No Sudden Move.

Prior to the aforementioned positions, Mehta oversaw physical production at Warner Independent Productions, whose prrojects included Everything is Illuminated, Infamous and The Astronaut Farmer. In 2002, he was upped to production executive, being assigned the more budget-challenging of films such as North Country and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Celebrate the magic of friendship and the nostalgia of the ’80s when My Little Pony: 35th Anniversary Edition Collection arrives on Blu-ray (plus DVD) October 16 from Lionsgate. Enjoy the original 1986 My Little Pony: The Moviefor the first time ever on Blu-ray, alongside the exciting 2017 movie adventure! Featuring the guest voices of comedy legends Danny DeVito, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Rhea Perlman, and Tony Randall, the 1986 movie on Blu-ray delivers ’80s nostalgia with high-definition sparkle! The new 2017 movie features the voice talents of the My Little Pony Mane 6 alongside a star-studded cast, including Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Liev Schreiber, Taye Diggs, Uzo Aduba, Zoe Saldana, and Sia. Just in time for the 35th anniversary of the My Little Pony brand, fans can relive the wonder of the original ponies and experience their evolution with this four-disc collection. The My Little Pony: 35th Anniversary Edition Collection Blu-ray will be available for the...

Exclusive: As his Showtime series Ray Donovan moves to New York for its sixth season, Liev Schreiber has joined up with Matthew Stillman to launch Illuminated Content, a Gotham-based venture to develop, produce and finance TV and movie projects. Former Maven Pictures producer Hardy Justice will head up development and production at the company’s offices in New York. The aim is to generate three to four projects per year across various platforms, with Illuminated Content producing and co-financing.

The company will allow Schreiber and Stillman to accelerate the entrepreneurial ambitions they have built on separate tracks. Operating around his Ray Donovan schedule — where he is producer and has directed several pivotal episodes — Schreiber has methodically been broadening his canvas. Schreiber made his feature directorial debut on an adaptation of the Jonathan Safran Foer bestseller Everything is Illuminated and most recently starred, co-wrote, and produced Chuck, the indie drama about the life of Chuck Wepner,...

(We’re going to kickstart our weekly discussion of USA’s Mr. Robot season 3 by answering one simple question: who had the biggest mental breakdown in this week’s episode? “Metadata: the story behind the data,” Elliot intones as he rustles through Darlene’s apartment underneath the FBI’s stakeout. “Getting information is one thing, but how it was created, where and […]

The post ‘Mr. Robot’ Review: Everything is Illuminated as ‘Metadata’ Plays Catch-Up appeared first on /Film.

Michelle Williams is enjoying a Roman holiday with a new mystery man.

The Manchester by the Sea actress, 36, was spotted kissing and holding hands with a handsome date in Rome, Italy on Saturday.

Williams was all smiles as they walked through the Campo De’Fiori street market in the Italian capital, where they each took turns sampling from the local fare. The duo were joined by her daughter Matilda, 11.

The actress is currently in the city filming her new movie, All the Money in the World, about the John Paul Getty III kidnapping in Italy in the ’70s. Ridley Scott is directing the film,...

IFC has released the first trailer for its upcoming biopic Chuck, which is set to hit theaters on May 5. While many fans may not know Chuck Wepner by name, the New Jersey boxer served as the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone's iconic character Rocky Balboa. Liev Schreiber stars as Wepner, whose extraordinary true story is told for the first time on the big screen.

Chuck Wepner was a liquor salesman from New Jersey who went 15 rounds with the greatest boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali. In his ten years in the ring, Wepner endured two knockouts, eight broken noses, and 313 stitches. But his toughest fights were outside the ring: an epic life of drugs, booze, wild women, incredible highs and extraordinary lows in IFC's biopic.

Liev Schreiber is joined by an all-star cast that also includes Naomi Watts, Elisabeth Moss, Ron Perlman, Jim Gaffigan, Michael Rapaport and Pooch Hall, with...

For those of you with Amazon Prime benefits, you may or may not have realized just how many great, free horror movies the site’s streaming service has to offer for members (something I sadly didn’t realize until late last year myself). I recently spent a few hours combing through their entire library and came up with this list of 31 horror movies (spanning several different sub-genres) that are sure to make for fun and fright-filled ways to get you ready for Halloween.

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)

When their peaceful town is ravaged by a zombie invasion, three scouts and one badass cocktail waitress will fight for the badge of a lifetime and put their scouting skills to the test to save mankind from the undead.

Interview with a Vampire (1994)

Box office superstar Tom Cruise ("A Few Good Men," "The Firm") stars in the hotly anticipated adaptation of Anne Rice's gothic novel.

Last week, Dominic Monaghan sent our nostalgic little hearts all aflutter when he tweeted a picture of his mini-reunion with Lord of the Rings co-stars Billy Boyd, Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom.

With The Hobbit trilogy now concluded and Peter Jackson having theoretically said goodbye to Middle-earth forever, Monaghan's post got us thinking about the rest of the Fellowship. Below, we take a look at all nine members of the Fellowship and what they're up to today.

Elijah Wood (Frodo)

After Frodo said his goodbyes and departed for the Undying Lands (don't pretend you're not tearing up at the mere memory), Elijah Wood veered away from blockbuster lead roles in favour of an eclectic mix of indie movies comprising the great (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), the good (Everything Is Illuminated) and the ugly (Green Street).

His most memorable post-Frodo role has to be mute, cannibalistic serial killer Kevin in Frank Miller's Sin City,...

“Ray Donovan” star Liev Schreiber makes his television directing debut with Sunday's episode of the series about a head-cracking Hollywood fixer. The actor also directed the 2005 feature “Everything Is Illuminated.” Sunday's episode, titled “Walk this Way,” finds the Donovan family coming together for the first in the second season to celebrate Conor's birthday. As tensions mount, Ray reacts as he never has before. Also read: ‘Ray Donovan’ Is ‘Not an Homage’ to ‘The Sopranos,’ Creator Says The series follows Schreiber's Ray as he tries to clean up Hollywood's messes while avoiding those created by his own father (Jon Voight, pictured above.

Elijah Wood is set to take on his first major role in a live-action studio film in nearly a decade. The "Hobbit" star, who enjoyed a brief role in 2012's "An Unexpected Journey," has signed on to star opposite Vin Diesel in "The Last Witch Hunter" for Lionsgate Films' Summit Entertainment arm, the studio announced today. Also starring Rose Leslie and Michael Caine and directed by Breck Eisner ("The Crazies," "Sahara"), the film centers on an "immortal witch hunter" (Diesel) who must team up with a female witch to stop a group of New York City covens from unleashing an unholy plague on humanity. Wood's role is not being specified at this time. Wood has hewed mostly to independent movies since his "Lord of the Rings" breakout, with roles in such little-seen films as "Everything Is Illuminated," "Day Zero," "Celeste and Jesse Forever" and the gruesome 2012 horror remake "Maniac." Upcoming...

Exclusive: UTA has just signed Liev Schreiber. Maybe it’s because I love that Showtime series Ray Donovan and especially Schreiber’s hard-edged title protagonist, but this feels like a real coup for UTA. You can tell that even though he’s a vet, Schreiber’s best work is ahead of him after this career changing role. Schreiber got a Golden Globe nomination this year for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama for Ray Donovan. Schreiber, who had been repped by CAA, recently wrapped a turn as Soviet chess master Boris Spassky in the Ed Zwick-directed Pawn Sacrifice, with Tobey Maguire playing enigmatic American chess champion Bobby Fischer. Schreiber‘s recent credits include The Reluctant Fundamentalist; Salt; X-Men Origins: Wolverine; Defiance; The Manchurian Candidate; and A Walk On The Moon. The agency will continue to help Schreiber in the small and big screen pursuits as well as stage.

Exclusive: UTA has just signed Liev Schreiber. Maybe it’s because I love that Showtime series Ray Donovan and especially Schreiber’s hard-edged title protagonist, but this feels like a real coup for UTA. You can tell that even though he’s a vet, Schreiber’s best work is ahead of him after this career changing role. Schreiber got a Golden Globe nomination this year for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama for Ray Donovan. Schreiber, who had been repped by CAA, recently wrapped a turn as Soviet chess master Boris Spassky in the Ed Zwick-directed Pawn Sacrifice, with Tobey Maguire playing enigmatic American chess champion Bobby Fischer. Schreiber‘s recent credits include The Reluctant Fundamentalist; Salt; X-Men Origins: Wolverine; Defiance; The Manchurian Candidate; and A Walk On The Moon. The agency will continue to help Schreiber in the small and big screen pursuits as well as stage.

X-Men franchise director Bryan Singer, whose first two features debuted at the Sundance Film Festival — including The Usual Suspects in 1995 — was one of the industry figures named to the Sundance juries that will judge this year’s films when the festival begins next week. Singer, who has X-Men: Days of Future Past due in May, will be one of five members of the U.S. Dramatic Jury. Other members of the juries include Tracy Chapman, Lone Scherfig, Leonard Maltin, and screenwriter Jon Spaihts (Prometheus). A complete list of the juries, courtesy of the Sundance Film Festival, can be viewed after the jump.

When Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief hits bookshelves in 2005, one critic referred to it disdainfully as “Harry Potter and the Holocaust.” This reaction likely spurred from that decade’s ubiquitous Holocaust literature aimed at teens; among them, Everything is Illuminated and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which received lesser film adaptations. However, Zusak’s novel was a book of deep feelings and big thrills, with an aching humanity filling the story and the haunting spirit of Death narrating. It was a vibrant tale set against a dismal wartime backdrop. Brian Percival’s film adaptation, in comparison, is too plain, lacking any of the dynamism that drove Zusak’s bestseller.

The Book Thief follows the life of young Liesel Meminger (Sophie Nélisse), a nine-year-old girl abandoned by her mother and left in the custody of Hans and Rosa Huberman (Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson). Liesel is quiet, with sorrow-filled eyes,...

A lot has changed since Alan Jones from Total Film coined the term Splat Pack referring to a group of gory movie makers who sought to stretch the boundaries of what would be considered acceptable in an R rated film. The sea of blood and guts that rolled across the cinema screen starting in 2002 gradually pulled back to low tide. PG-13 became the new R rating once again and the MPAA decided to pull itself up by its bootstraps to enforce its code. For the Splat Pack, originally consisting of Rob Zombie, Eli Roth (the Frank Sinatra of the Pack according to Quentin Tarantino), James Wan, Leigh Whannell, Robert Rodriquez (added later by association), Greg McLean, Neil Marshall, Alexadre Aja and Darren Lynn Bousman, filmmaking has gone as usual, and each has made a substantial contribution to the horror genre in a positive way, testing the limits of our stomach...

Sure, Sunday tends to be overcrowded with high-end TV, including "True Blood," "The Newsroom," "Copper," "Dexter," "Ray Donovan" and more, but what to watch the rest of the time? Every Monday, we bring you five noteworthy highlights from the other six days of the week. "First Comes Love": Broadcast Premiere Monday, July 29 at 9pm on HBO Nina Davenport, the filmmaker whose chronicling of Iraqi film student Muthana Mohmed's internship on "Everything is Illuminated" found her inexorably being dragged into the story herself in 2007's "Operation Filmmaker," turns her camera fully on herself in her new documentary "First Comes Love." The 41-year-old New Yorker documents her journey toward single motherhood when she finds herself entering her 40s with no steady partner in sight and a growing concern that the window during which she can have a child is coming to an end. "Pov": "Neurotypical" Monday, July 29 at 10pm...

This star known for his versatile roles in indie films and blockbuster movies alike is set to appear on the small screen in the new Showtime drama Ray Donovan premiering this Sunday. Here are five things you probably don't know about Liev Schreiber.

1. Born Isaac Liev Schreiber on October 4, 1967 -- his mother Heather says she named him after her favorite author, Leo Tolstoy, whose Russian name was Lev.

Pics: Star Sightings

2. Growing up, his mom didn't allow him to watch color films so he often viewed black and white movies at a local revival house in New York. The first color feature he saw was Star Wars at age 10.

3. At a towering of 6-foot-3, he once said it's not easy having the nickname "huggy," which he's had since childhood.

Video: Watch Naomi Watts Dazzle as Diana

4. His directorial debut came in the 2005 dramedy Everything Is Illuminated, starring Elijah Wood, and he also penned the film's screenplay.

5. Was...

Elijah Wood really defies all Hollywood expectations. After making a graceful transition from child stardom, he became a pop culture icon as Frodo in The Lord of the Rings movies while balancing out all that box office mojo with equally great performances in smaller, more personal films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Everything Is Illuminated. He’s also now in his third season as the suicidal Ryan the darkly comic Wilfred, returning this week on F/X. Wood takes his talents to more sinister depths in Franck Khalfoun’s Maniac (inspired by the 1980 film of the same name), in which he plays Frank, an isolated young man who restores antique mannequins in an industrial area of Los Angeles and freelances as a serial killer with a fetish for scalping his female victims. His murderous ways are spurred by an unhealthy relationship with his mother who exposed Frank to things as a child that he...

Elijah Wood may not have been in many blockbuster roles since his career-defining performance as Frodo in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but he's stuck around for those who have been paying attention.  He played the main character in Liev Schreiber's Everything Is Illuminated, and I think we all remember his spine-tingling role as a cannibalistic serial killer in Sin City.  Now, his next major role is one that he can probably thank Sin City for getting in Maniac.  Check after the jump for the poster:...

The Guardian Teacher Network has resources this week to help you explore the Holocaust and the stories of its survivors

The proposed changes to the history curriculum leave the study of the Holocaust more or less intact. One approach to introducing and further exploring the subject is via individuals' stories, told through film and visual history.

The Guardian Teacher Network has thought-provoking teaching resources to share, with the focus on a set of resources centred on Steven Spielberg's award-winning film Schindler's List, created by www.schindlerslegacy.co.uk to mark the film's 20th anniversary. The film, which tells the story of a group of Jewish people saved by the actions of a German businessman, Oskar Schindler, has been much used in schools all over the world.

Spielberg used the profits of the film to set up the Shoah Foundation to collect Holocaust survivors' stories. It has so far captured...

After his star-making turn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Elijah Wood defied expectations by taking on more challenging and sometimes quite unnerving roles in films such as Everything is Illuminated and Sin City. In perhaps his darkest and most unsettling turn yet, Woods will soon be hunting and scalping beautiful young women in Maniac.

We’ve already gotten a look at Maniac‘s creepy, evocative opening sequence. Now, a trailer for the movie’s UK release shows off a bit more of the psychotic Frank’s overall goals and methodology.

Already out in French and German theaters, Maniac is a remake of the 1980 cult-classic directed by William Lustig (later of the Maniac Cop series). Directed by Franck Khalfoun (P2) and written partially by Alexandre Aja (Piranha), Maniac is one of the curious few French-produced films that is intended to be ...

Click to continue reading ‘Maniac’ UK Trailer Showcases...

Violent, witty and peppered with references to past pop culture, Tarantino's film-making style has its own dictionary entry. Do any other modern directors have the same clout?

Tarantinoesque (adj) – referring to or reminiscent of the work of the American film-maker and actor Quentin Tarantino (born 1963), known for the violence and wit of his films.

No one these days, not even the Collins English Dictionary, doubts how influential Tarantino has been over his 21-year career. Any lippy thriller featuring pop culture-fried dialogue and flip violence in the wake of Reservoir Dogs – 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag, The 51st State, the works of Guy Ritchie – were branded you know what. And, impressively, it cemented into an enduring idiom: Joe Carnahan was still painting from the palette in 2007's Smokin' Aces, and reviewers were handing out the Tarantinoesque badge, a touch dog-eared now, as late as this Christmas gone, to Martin McDonagh's Seven Psychopaths.

Another year winds down, and it's time to reflect on the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2012's horror offerings. We're giving you ten different lists this time, and per usual they come in a variety of formats, each reflecting the unique styles of our writers. We've also compiled them to come up with the year's overall winners and losers.

And don't be lazy by just reading along! Give us your own lists in the comments section below. We want to hear what you thought of the year in which we dodged the Mayan apocalypse but find our beloved genre facing some dark days as violent movies, video games, TV shows, etc., are coming under increased scrutiny following recent events.

But back to the matter at hand; we averaged out the top and bottom five vote getters on everyone's lists, and here are the results:

Best: The Cabin in the Woods...

After enabled the superpowers to three high school friends, Max Landis will next fuel his new young leads with sex, love and friendship in ‘the weirdest, most surreal way possible.’

The co-writer for Chronicle (with Josh Trank), son of filmmaker John Landis will make his feature directing debut with the sexual-identity comedy called Me Him Her.

He also made a name for himself launching the viral video The Death and Return of Superman and being attached to a number of other writing projects.

Now comes word that an indie comedy called Me Him Her written by him as well, is about three young leads, ‘at least one of whom is struggling with their sexuality.’ The so-called ‘quarter-life-crisis’ story takes place in Los Angeles and will be produced and fully financed by Big Beach Films (Safety Not Guaranteed).

Exploring sex, love and friendship, the story which ultimately emphasizes that conceptions of...

Max Landis, the scriptwriter for "Chronicle," will make his feature directing debut with the sexual-identity comedy "Me Him Her," a representative for Landis has told TheWrap. The so-called "quarter-life-crisis" story takes place in Los Angeles and follows three youngsters hung up on their sexuality. It's expected to start production next spring or summer. The film will be produced and fully financed by Big Beach Films ("Safety Not Guaranteed"), which has produced a number of directorial debuts with actors, including Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Jack Goes Boating") and Liev Schreiber ("Everything Is Illuminated"). Landis, who...

Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings, Wilfred) is set to play the lead role in the new comedy feature film The Late Bloomer from Dignity Film Finance (Dff), it was announced today by the producers. Jesse Israel of Ineffable Pictures, Heidi Jo Markel of Eclectic Pictures will produce and Dff President Maggie Monteith, will executive produce and finance the film.

Expected to go into production in January 2013, Monteith produces the film with Jesse Israel, Markel and Brent Emery, (Coup d'Etat Films). Raphael Kryszek, Ineffable Pictures' founder, is also executive producing.

International sales agent Cargo Entertainment, led by Marina Grasic, Jan Korbelin and Mark Lindsay is on board to handle International distribution rights to the film and will introduce The Late Bloomer to overseas buyers at Afm in November.

Directed by Randall Einhorn (FX's Wilfred, NBC's The Office), The Late Bloomer is based on the 2001 acclaimed memoir Man...

Elijah Wood (The Lord Of The Rings, Wilfred) is set to play the lead role in the new comedy feature film The Late Bloomer from Dignity Film Finance (Dff), it was announced today by the producers. Jesse Israel of Ineffable Pictures, Heidi Jo Markel of Eclectic Pictures will produce and Dff President Maggie Monteith, will executive produce and finance the film.

Expected to go into production in January 2013, Monteith produces the film with Israel, Markel and Brent Emery, (Coup d.Etat Films). Raphael Kryszek, Ineffable Pictures. founder, is also executive producing. International sales agent Cargo Entertainment, led by Marina Grasic, Jan Korbelin and Mark Lindsay is on board to handle International distribution rights to the film and will introduce The Late Bloomer to overseas buyers at Afm in November.

Directed by Randall Einhorn (FX.s .Wilfred,. NBC.s .The Office,.), The Late Bloomer is based on the 2001 acclaimed memoir Man...

Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh has a lot to say about literature. Most famous for his musical talents, both in Devo and as the composer responsible for the sounds of Rushmore, The Rugrats and The Sims 2, Mothersbaugh is also a visual artist who has ventured into painting, drawing and customized 'art rugs.' While his exploits in the world of letters have been less well-documented, Mothersbaugh's literary roots run deep. He spoke with Huffington about his obsessive writing habit, love of Pynchon and secret desire to accidentally run into Jonathan Safran Foer.

What was the first book you remember thinking was worth reading?

Gravity’s Rainbow. I grew up in the Televangelistic capital of America – Akron, Ohio. I became very curious about what was really happening in this world we lived in – what was real, what made sense and what didn’t. I loved Gravity’s Rainbow’s dealing with free...

Almost two years ago, Kirby Ferguson joined me on Reject Radio to discuss his concept that everything was a remix. This was just after creating his first video which used side-by-side comparisons of songs to show that even our heroes (namely Led Zeppelin) lifted work from other artists and from traditionals in order to craft songs we now think of as iconic. There was no doubt that this same principle could be applied to movies, and it was unsurprising when Ferguson followed up with a film-centric entry. So, Everything is a Remix. “Transforming the old into the new is Hollywood’s greatest talent.” Ferguson, through impressive and entertaining editing, has called to the forefront the truth of creativity involving a great amount of borrowing, homage and sometimes flat-out theft. Now, he’s been invited to give a Ted talk, and as you can see, his main focus isn’t movies, but...

Peter Jackson gives us a look at his studio in the latest production video for The Hobbit. I really like the peek into the fascinating world of the set and production designers. Even Legolas makes an appearance. Part one of the film will have its world premiere November 28th in New Zealand. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released beginning December 14, 2012 while the second film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is slated for release the following year, beginning December 13, 2013.

Under Jackson.s direction, both movies are being shot consecutively in digital 3D using the latest camera and stereo technology. Filming is taking place at Stone Street Studios, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand.

Among the creative behind-the-scenes team returning to Jackson.s crew are director of photography Andrew Lesnie, production designer Dan Hennah, conceptual designers Alan Lee and John Howe, composer Howard Shore and make-up and hair designer Peter King.

The Solution Entertainment Group (.The Solution.) has acquired international rights to Grand Piano, the new thriller from Spanish producing team Adrian Guerra and Rodrigo Cortés (upcoming Red Lights, Buried), starring Elijah Wood (upcoming The Hobbit, The Lord Of The Rings trilogy), written by Damien Chazelle and to be directed by sought after Spanish director Eugenio Mira (The Birthday), it was announced today by The Solution.s founders and partners, Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel.

Guerra and Cortés will produce the film, scheduled to start shooting in July, under their Spain-based company, Nostromo Pictures.

Forced into early retirement because of crippling stage fright, Wood is a piano virtuoso who returns to the stage where the recital turns deadly and he is forced to literally play for his life in the tense and twisted psychological thriller.

The Solution will be presenting the title to international buyers at the upcoming Cannes Film Market.

The post-lotr career of Elijah Wood — a period that’s now over eight years old, if you can believe it — has, for the star of such a massive franchise, been pretty low-key. If anything, he’s taken big parts in small films (Everything is Illuminated, Green Street Hooligans, Celeste and Jesse Forever), while, at the same time, taken big projects (Eternal Sunshine, Sin City) that gave him small parts.

Now, he may have found something of a middle-ground. According to THR, Wood will take the lead role in Grand Piano, an independent thriller scribed by Damien Chazelle (Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench) and directed by Eugenio Mira. The film centers on a piano player who, after spending five years on a professional leave of absence, comes back to perform a concert, but finds a “threatening note” scribed on the sheet music. Seeing as this is a thriller, said...

Sydney- Anthony Lapaglia and Toni Collette are to make their directorial debuts as part of a group of filmmakers who will each direct one of 12 stories that will make up the new Sydney Unplugged feature project. Director John Polson, founder of the Sydney based Tropfest short film festival, and Arclight Films' Gary Hamilton are producing Sydney Unplugged as an ode to their home city in the vein of Paris Je T’aime and New York Stories. Directors Alex Proyas(Knowing), David Michôd (Animal Kingdom), Ivan Sen(Toomelah), John Curran(The Painted Veil), Kieran Darcy-Smith(Wish You Were Here), Liev Schreiber(Everything is Illuminated), Rachel

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Filmmaker and Tropfest founder John Polson used last night’s festival to announce more details of his new collaborative film project.

The project, in a similar vein to Paris Je t’aime and New York I Love You, will be a collection of 12 short films directed by acclaimed filmmakers, most of which are Sydney-based.

Polson, producing with Gary Hamilton, announced the film would be called Sydney Unplugged as well as announcing the directors to be involved.

Directors include David Michod (Animal Kingdom), Alex Proyas (I, Robot), Kieran Darcy-Smith (Wish You Were Here), Ivan Sen (Toomelah), Liev Schreiber (Everything is Illuminated), Rachel Ward (Beautiful Kate), Ray Lawrence (Lantana) and Russell Crowe (Texas).

Polson said: “It’s no secret some hugely talented directors, actors and others either live here or are from here. It’s about time this talent got together to tell stories that showcase one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

So happy and yet so sad at the same time. Syfy has just announced its spring schedule, and surprise! The final season of fan favorite Eureka will premiere not in the summer as it usually does, but on April 16. The sooner the better, we say, and we can’t wait.

According to the announcement there are some great shows coming our way, including the second season of Lost Girl, a Treasure Island miniseries, the premieres of Monster Man, Dream Machines, and Total Blackout, the return of Ghost Hunters, Hollywood Treasure, and Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, and of course some Saturday Original Movies. Here are the details:

Syfy’S Spring 2012 To Feature More Original Series And Original Hours Of Programming Than Any Spring Season In Channel’S History

February 16, 2012

Syfy’S Spring 2012 To Feature More Original Series And Original Hours Of Programming Than Any Spring Season In Channel’S History...

[1] HBO has developed quite a reputation for attracting high-profile, high-quality talent, with the likes of Steve Buscemi and Dustin Hoffman leading shows on the network, and now they've brought on one of their biggest names yet. Ben Stiller has signed on to star, direct, and executive produce All Talk, a comedy from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, with Alan Alda in talks to co-star. Scott Rudin is set to executive produce with Foer, Stiller, and Eli Bush. More details after the jump. Deadline [2] reports that All Talk will be a "politically, religiously, culturally, intellectually and sexually irreverent" series centered around a Jewish family living in Washington, D.C. The series marks Stiller's return to the small screen, where he got his start on The Ben Stiller Show and other series. Although Stiller has continued to appear on television as a guest star on shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm,...

HBO is getting into the Ben Stiller business. The actor, who got his big break on a short-lived, eponymous sketch show on MTV/Fox, has signed on to star, direct and executive produce All Talk, a new HBO comedy pilot from novelist Jonathan Safran Foer (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Everything is Illuminated). The project, which is being billed as “politically, religiously, culturally, intellectually and sexually irreverent,” revolves around the daily and life-altering dramas of a Jewish family in Washington, DC. Emmy winner Alan Alda is currently in negotiations to join Stiller in front of the camera,

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Fancy some behind-the-scenes images from a quality upcoming drama? Interested in seeing Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock dressed up as your parents? Well it's your lucky day, because here are some new photos from Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, the new film out here on February 17.To say that this film has the odds in its favour might be fair. After all, nicest-man-ever Tom Hanks and nicest-woman-ever Sandra Bullock star as a married couple, it's directed by the Oscar-friendly Stephen Daldry and based on the book of the same name by Everything Is Illuminated author Jonathan Safran Foer.Then again, it actually focuses on a young boy called Oskar, played by complete newcomer Thomas Horn, and deals with the 9/11 tragedy, making it a bit different from your usual cuddly family drama. Oskar is a sensitive, intelligent sort who becomes obsessed with figuring out what a key belonging to his dad opens,...