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Nothing gold can stay, and to make room for everything new at Hulu in November, we have to say goodbye to dozens of the series and movies on the platform. The streamer will make room for its upcoming Christmas library by losing some of its horror-themed titles throughout the month, including “Stephen King's It,” most of its “Saw” franchise, and “Shaun Of The Dead.” Other major titles leaving the platform include Emma Stone’s breakthrough comedy “Easy A,” the Nora Ephron classic “Sleeping in Seattle,” and more.

Check out The Streamable’s top picks for what to catch this month on Hulu before they’re gone!

30-Day Free Trial $7.99+ / month hulu.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Leaving Hulu in November 2023? “A Walk to Remember” | Friday, Nov. 3

Before “The Notebook,” “A Walk to Remember” was the go-to Nicholas Sparks coming-of-age schmaltz. Mandy Moore makes her film starring debut...

We might be entering the dog days of summer but Hulu isn’t slowing down. The streamer’s list of new releases for August 2023 is a pretty impressive collection of content.

The biggest Hulu original this month is season 3 of true crime comedy Only Murders in the Building on Aug. 8. This time around Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd are joining the already-stacked cast that features Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. This season’s central murder appears to take place at a theater (outside the building) but I think we’ll let it slide.

That’s far from the only worthwhile original in August as Aug. 2 sees the premiere of the third and final season of superb comedy Reservation Dogs. That will be followed by South Korean sci-fi series Moving on Aug. 9, Solar Opposites season 4 on Aug. 14, and A Murder at the End of the World on Aug. 29. Of course,...

Aside from George Lucas, one of the most important figures in the legacy of Star Wars is arguably Lawrence Kasdan. The filmmaker made his screenwriting debut on 1980's Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, co-writing the script with Leigh Brackett, and he returned to co-write Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi with George Lucas himself. More than 30 years later, he returned to co-write Star Wars: The Force Awakens with J.J. Abrams, and he is also writing the Star Wars Anthology: Han Solo Movie with his son Jon Kasdan, which is set for release on May 25, 2018. During a new interview with the German newspaper Bild (translated by The Supernaughts), the writer revealed that the Han Solo Movie will be his last Star Wars film.

"This is my last film for this saga. I did not even want to do this last one anymore, but my family loved the idea.

Beverly Center: Flynn’s Final Scandal Makes for Interesting Cinematic Footnote

It’s been eight years since Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland’s 2006 sophomore film, Quinceanera swept up the Audience and Grand Jury Prize awards at the Sundance Film Festival. The directing duo is back with a re-ignition of an old Hollywood scandal in The Last of Robin Hood, a glance at the final years of Errol Flynn and his romantic entanglement with a female minor. While the material is unerringly fascinating and features a trio of notable names, it’s a rendition that feels a bit too polished and hardly as seedy as it should be. It seems attempts have been made to assuage unnecessary heartache to the relatives of the ingénue at the center of this strange ménage-a-trois, and the resulting film seems a heavily polished reenactment too apprehensive to really get its hands dirty. Yet, the...

A24, in conjunction with director Matt Shakman, the film’s producers and in partnership with Directv, announced today that they have acquired all Us rights to Matt Shakman’s directorial debut Cut Bank. The film had a successful Us premiere at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival and will next make its International debut at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

Written by Robert Patino, Cut Bank is an exciting modern-day thriller with a cast that includes Liam Hemsworth, John Malkovich, Billy Bob Thorton, Bruce Dern, Teresa Palmer, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Oliver Platt.

Dwayne McLaren (Liam Hemsworth) a high school star athlete recently turned auto mechanic, dreams of getting out of his tiny Montana town and whisking his pageant-hopeful girlfriend, Cassandra (Teresa Palmer), away to the big city. But his plan sets in motion a deadly series of events and thrusts him into a police investigation headed by Sheriff Vogel (John Malkovich...

If anybody knows how hard it is to write a script for a massively popular film franchise, it's Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt. In the late '00s, when he signed up with Pixar to pen the Toy Story 3 screenplay, Arndt cycled through endless drafts while facing immense pressure from the outside world. Eventually, though, his three years of grueling toil paid off, as the computer animated blockbuster won the Oscar for Animated Feature Film in 2010.

Decoding the Star Wars Casting Rumors

Unfortunately for Arndt, he won't be recognized in...

Exclusive: Participants include Germany’s Sol Bondy, Jennifer Fox [pictured] from the Us, and Canada’s Lauren Grant.

Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap), the intensive training and networking programme for European Canadian and American producers, has announced the 26 participants selected for this year’s programme.

Partners on the initiative, which is now four years old, are the Erich Pommer Institut in Potsdam, Germany (the creator of Tap), Strategic Partners in Halifax, Canada and Ifp in New York. The scheme also includes observer producers from India and Mexico.

Tap is supported by the Media Mundus Programme of the European Union, by Telefilm Canada, and Vff (Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten mbH) Germany.

The three training modules are taking place in Berlin, Halifax and New York City between June and September 2013. The selected producers also participate in the Atlantic Film Festival’s Strategic Partners and the Ifp’s Independent Film Week in New York.

Nadja Radojevic...

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... well, Ok, 30 years ago (on May 25, 1983) in our own galaxy, came the theatrical release of "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi." The installment triumphantly wrapped up the "Star Wars" saga for all time. Or so we thought. Little did we know that the movie's cuddly-but-ferocious Ewoks would soon spawn a cottage industry of spinoffs, or that we'd be getting a trilogy of "Star Wars" prequels in another 16 years, and "Jedi" sequels another 15 years after that ("Episode VII" is due in 2014). Nor did we know, at the time, how close "Jedi" came to being an art-house film (judging by the directors whom "Star Wars" guru George Lucas initially asked to take the helm), or how close we came to losing Han Solo (Harrison Ford), or many of the other secrets of "jedi," which you can read below. 1. David Lynch...

Kevin Kline and Maggie Smith will star in the Paris-set dramedy "My Old Lady," the feature directorial debut of Israel Horovitz, who adapted the film from his play. Protagonist Pictures will take the film to international buyers at Cannes next week. In "My Old Lady," French-speaker Kevin Kline (last seen in "Darling Companion" and heard as a voice on Fox's animated series "Bob's Burgers") will play Mathias, a New Yorker who goes to Paris to deal with his estranged father's assets. But he finds old lady Mathilde (Maggie Smith of "Downton Abbey") living in dad's apartment with her daughter (Jane Birkin) and learns he must wait until she dies to gain possession of the apartment. Horovitz's screenwriting credits include Istvan Szabo's "Sunshine" (1999), which won a European Film Award for best screenplay, and "The Strawberry Statement," winner of the 1970 Jury Prize at Cannes. Principal photography for "My Old Lady" begins in Paris on September 9th.

The Oscars may be right around the corner, but awards season in Hollywood never really ends. On Friday, the Humane Society of the United States announced nominations for its Genesis Awards, which will see Universal Pictures’ whale-centric Big Miracle compete for feature film honors with Lawrence Kasdan’s Darling Companion, about the search for a lost dog, Fantastic Films’ Dehli Safari and Imax/Warners’ To the Arctic 3D. Film Review: Big Miracle The awards, which honor news and entertainment media for raising awareness of animal issues, will be presented at the Hsus’ Genesis Awards Benefit Gala, hosted by Dancing With the

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Universal’s Big Miracle, Sony’s Darling Companion, Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report and FX’s Sons Of Anarchy are among the film and television programs nominated for the 2013 Genesis Awards. The annual honors from the Humane Society of the United States recognize news and entertainment media in 15 categories for helping raise awareness of animal issues and animal protection. This year’s awards gala will be held March 23 at the Beverly Hilton, where the Hsus Wyler Award will go to pop star Ke$ha. Feature Film Big Miracle Universal Pictures Darling Companion Kasdan Films / Sony Delhi Safari Fantastic Films International, LLC To The Arctic Imax /Warner Bros. Dramatic Series Grey’S Anatomy “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” ABC Harry’S Law “Gorilla My Dreams” NBC Sons Of Anarchy “J’ai Obtenu Cette” FX Sid Caesar Comedy Award The Colbert Report Representative Steve King on dogfighting Comedy Central Futurama “31st Century...

Freeway is a very special dog to Beth and her family. She and daughter Grace found him wounded and abandoned by the side of a motorway at a time when both their identities were in flux. On the day he came into their lives he united Grace with the vet who became the love of her life and gave Beth a new reason to awaken to each day in a home now empty of the family she had raised. The dog came to be a symbol of the family’s unity and a bond between them as their lives took different paths.

Now Freeway is missing, lost in the woods that surround the family cabin on the day that Gracie married. Family members old and new unite in the search to find the irreplaceable pet and embark on an emotional journey that will help them each to embrace the next chapter in their lives.

"There was a chance to capture some of the spirit of the original trilogy that I'd worked on. I thought there's an audience out there -- my grandchildren, lots of original Star Wars people -- and there always will be. It's only good that we try to do some more great ones." After all the news about Star Wars recently, I'm glad we get to hear some updates directly from the people involved. Thanks to a tip from SlashFilm, it was IGN who was lucky enough to catch both Star Wars screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg at the Final Draft Big Break screenwriting awards and get some interesting, if not vague, quotes out of them. Up first, while IGN spoke with legendary Lucasfilm screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan (Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, The Big Chill, Silverado, The Bodyguard, Darling Companion), not much was...

Nearly 30 years after its inception, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival finds itself at a crossroads. Having wrapped its 11-day run last weekend, the 28th edition of the Sbiff presented a characteristically eclectic assortment of nearly 200 films, a half-dozen movie star tributes and a quartet of industry-heavy panels. But can it remain relevant in a changing and increasingly competitive festival landscape? “Any successful film festival needs an identity,” notes Sbiff executive director Roger Durling. Although Santa Barbara programmers routinely seek out quality work by rising directors, recent years have also seen their share of merely serviceable items more noteworthy for the marquee value of their talent. Last year’s opener “Darling Companion,” for instance, was a meandering comedy that would surely have been overlooked but for its director (Lawrence Kasdan) and a cast that included Diane Keaton and Kevin Kline. As a result of...

Sky Store customers can catch doggie drama Darling Companion on Christmas Eve - three months before it comes out on DVD. After a bedraggled dog is saved from the side of the freeway by Beth (Diane Keaton) and daughter Grace (Elizabeth Moss), it becomes part of the family. However, despite the mutt being instrumental in Grace finding a husband, Beth's husband Joseph (Kevin Kline) can't stand the sight of it.

The Oscars are almost upon us, and the past few weeks have treated us to the shortlists competing in a number of categories, including Best Animated Feature, Best Visual Effects, Best Documentary, and Best Original Score.

With the nominations announcement creeping ever closer at the start of next month, the Academy have now announced a seventy-five-long list of songs that are eligible in the Best Original Song category.

The list features some absolutely stellar songs that have debuted on the big screen this year, including Adele’s impressive Bond theme, Skyfall.

Tom Hooper’s highly anticipated Les Misérables is also in the running with Suddenly, composed specifically for the film, and it should be great to see how it’s received both by audiences and the Academy in the coming weeks.

We’ve got plenty of choices from animated films in the mix – the animated ones are often the strongest...

Seventy-five songs from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2012 are in contention for nominations in the Original Song category for the 85th Academy Awards®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today. The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film and song title: “For You” from “Act of Valor” “Metaphorical Blanket” from “Any Day Now” “Let It Rain” from “Being Flynn” “Learn Me Right” from “Brave” “Touch the Sky” from “Brave” “Airport” from “Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best” “Come on Girl” from “Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best” “Someday” from “Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best” “Protect the King” from “Brooklyn Castle” “California Solo” from “California Solo” “Casa De Mi Padre” from “Casa De Mi Padre” “Del Cielo” from “Casa De Mi Padre” “Yo No Se” from “Casa De Mi Padre” “No Other Plans” from “Celeste and Jesse Forever...

Seventy-five songs from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2012 are in contention for nominations in the Original Song category for the 85th Academy Awards®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today.

The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film and song title:

”For You” from “Act of Valor”

“Metaphorical Blanket” from “Any Day Now”

“Let It Rain” from “Being Flynn”

“Learn Me Right” from “Brave”

“Touch the Sky” from “Brave”

“Airport” from “Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best”

“Come on Girl” from “Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best”

“Someday” from “Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best”

“Protect the King” from “Brooklyn Castle”

“California Solo” from “California Solo”

“Casa De Mi Padre” from “Casa De Mi Padre”

“Del Cielo” from “Casa De Mi Padre”

“Yo No Se” from “Casa De Mi Padre”

“No Other Plans” from “Celeste and Jesse Forever...

There are 75 original songs that qualify for the Oscar this year, but really everyone has been waiting to hear about one.

Adele’s title theme to Skyfall surged to #1 on iTunes just days after debuting in October, but some feared the number by her and Paul Epworth would be ruled ineligible for the Oscar because it incorporates elements of the classic 007 theme, which of course is not original.

But the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided it was not a significant enough problem to boot it from the potential nominees, and included it without...

I mentioned on today's podcast that my three nominees for Best Original Song for the 2013 Critics' Choice Awards were "100 Black Coffins" from Django Unchained, "Skyfall" from Skyfall and "Ladies of Tampa" from Magic Mike. Of my nominees only "Skyfall" made the official list of nominees, but hopefully the Academy will right a couple of wrongs as both "100 Black Coffins" and Matthew McConaughey's "Ladies of Tampa" are among the 75 songs listed as in contention for a nomination at the 2013 Oscars. The Academy just released the following list of which all voting members of the Music Branch will receive a Reminder List of works submitted in the category and a DVD copy of the song clips. Members will be asked to watch the clips and then vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements in the category. The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes...

The Oscars are a little over two months away, and with so many fantastic films released throughout this year, the anticipation surrounding the announcement of the nominations next month is running on high.

So far, we’ve had the shortlists for the Best Animated Feature, the Best Visual Effects, and the Best Documentary categories.

Now the Academy has announced the list of 104 films that are eligible in the Best Original Score category, and it’s going to be very interesting to see what makes the final cut come nominations time next month.

I think Hans Zimmer’s score for The Dark Knight Rises is, hopefully, a lock, because it is amazing. I also loved James Horner’s score for The Amazing Spider-Man, but can’t decide whether or not I think it will earn a nomination.

Alexandre Desplat has three films in the running this year, with Argo, Rise of the Guardians,...

Indian composer A.R. Rahman is in the Oscar race once again for the original score at the 85thAcademy Awards. His composition for the film “”People Like Us” has found place in the long list of 104 composers vying for the nominations.

Rahman composed for the Alex Kurtzman directed “People Like Us” starring Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Jon Favreau and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Rahman won two Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009 for “Slumdog Millionaire”.

104 scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2012 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category.

The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 10, 2013.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on February 24, 2013. The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below in alphabetical order by film title:

“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” Henry Jackman, composer “After the Wizard,...

One hundred four scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2012 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 85th Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today. As noted by various online Oscar pundits, most noticeably missing is Moonrise Kingdom. A Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Score category will be made available with a nominations ballot to all members of the Music Branch, who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements. The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award. Click Here for the complete rules.

In February, Ludovic Bource won the Oscar for Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) for The Artist at the 84th Academy Awards.

The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below...

As far as I'm concerned, the two most memorable scores of the year belong to Cloud Atlas and Beasts of the Southern Wild. That said, I made an egregious and unforgivable mistake when filling out my Critics' Choice nominations and forgot to include not one of them, but Both of them! Shame. I feel it. Now I have to hope my fellow Bfca members came through where I failed. However, we will discuss Critics' Choice nominations more on the upcoming episodes of the RopeofSilicon podcast, for now we're talking Oscar as the Academy has released a complete list of all 104 original scores competing for Best Original Score at the 2013 Oscars. I have not yet posted my predictions for Best Original Score and while I am making a fuss above concerning Cloud Atlas and Beasts of the Southern Wild, I think both of those stand a very strong chance at a nomination this year.

One hundred four scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2012 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 85th Academy Awards®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today. The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below in alphabetical order by film title: “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” Henry Jackman, composer “After the Wizard,” Stephen Main, composer “Alex Cross,” John Debney and Sebastian Morton, composers “The Amazing Spider-Man,” James Horner, composer “Anna Karenina,” Dario Marianelli, composer “Argo,” Alexandre Desplat, composer “Battleship,” Steve Jablonsky, composer “The Bay,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin, composers “Being Flynn,” Damon Gough, composer “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” Thomas Newman, composer “Big Miracle,” Cliff Eidelman, composer “Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story,” David Cieri, composer “Brave,” Patrick Doyle, composer “Brooklyn Castle,” B. Satz, composer “Chasing Ice,” J. Ralph, composer “Chasing Mavericks,...

After appearing in five features this year with Zero Dark Thirty, People Like Us, Darling Companion, Safety Not Guaranteed and Your Sister’s Sister (not to mention every episode of The League), we’ve got a look another upcoming work from writer/actor/director Mark Duplass. Back in January Ld Entertainment acquired the rights to Black Rock, a Sundance selection for which he wrote the [...]...

As we anxiously await an announcement regarding a director for Star Wars: Episode VII, Disney is continuing to recruit more writing and producing talent for the upcoming trilogy. A couple of weeks ago, we heard that Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) had already written a treatment for the new movie and was likely to be writing the script as well. This has since been confirmed, but according to a recent report, Arndt may not be alone. Sources indicate that two more writers have been approached to work on the new trilogy including veteran screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, who is no stranger to the Star Wars franchise. According to THR (and as originally reported by Deadline), Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg have both locked down deals to write separate installments of the new trilogy and also to produce as well. Since Michael Arndt is reportedly penning Episode VII, it seems likely that...

One of the key ingredients to the success of that sweet original "Star Wars"trilogy was maverick screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, who brought his trademark wit ("You could use a good kiss!"), bold characterizations and dramatic urgency to the scripts for "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi."

Now discerning fans can take a Xanax and relax a little more knowing the sequels will be in good hands, Kasdan's hands, as The Hollywood Reporter confirms that deals have closed to have him, along with ace writer Simon Kinberg (of the "X-Men" and "Sherlock Holmes" franchises), come aboard to write and produce Episodes 8 and 9.

The big idea is to get them going on the next two chapters simultaneously with Michael Arndt's work on Episode 7 so as to create a more cohesive new trilogy. That's a smart move on Disney and producer Kathleen Kennedy's part, especially when you consider...

Many consider Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back to be the best film ever made in the franchise, so fans can sigh a heavy bit of relief in the fact that the film's screenwriter, director Lawrence Kasdan, is being sought by Walt Disney Pictures to return in penning the screenplay for Star Wars: Episode VIII.

Lawrence Kasdan also wrote Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi and Raiders of the Lost Ark for Lucasfilm. Disney's plan is to get the director, known for helming the 80s classic The Big Chill and this year's romantic comedy Darling Companion, working on the sequel to Star Wars: Episode VII while that first film is still being written by the earlier confirmed Michael Arndt.

Screenwriter Simon Kinberg is being eyed to cover scripting duties on the final chapter in this upcoming trilogy, with Star Wars: Episode IX.

Though your brain might not naturally flick to Kevin Kline when you hear that someone will be playing screen legend Errol Flynn, he does at least have the voice and the chin for the role. And since The Last Of Robin Hood is set during Flynn’s last days at the age of 50, he could be perfect casting.Kline is attached to play Flynn in the time shortly before he died of a heart attack. He spent his last couple of years romancing 17 year-old Beverly Aadland who he allegedly first seduced when she was 15 and had co-starred in his last film, Cuban Rebel Girls.Susan Sarandon is also looking to take part as Florence, Beverly’s stage mother who pushed her daughter into performing when her own aspirations to be a star didn’t work out.Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland have collaborated on the script and plan to start directing the movie in January,...

Chicago – “Darling Companion” may be the first film consisting entirely of footage resembling the background action in an erectile dysfunction commercial. It has the score of a Campbell’s ad, the premise of a Hallmark card and the script of a self-parodying Lifetime dud. Side effects may include headaches, irritability and a guaranteed loss of interest.

What possessed Diane Keaton, Kevin Kline, Richard Jenkins, Dianne Wiest and Sam Shepard to sign on to this dreck? Perhaps it was the once illustrious reputation of writer/director Lawrence Kasdan, who was last seated behind the camera for 2003’s unfortunate “Dreamcatcher,” and perhaps never should have returned. Like “Larry Crowne,” Kasdan’s patronizing would-be crowd-pleaser is populated by people who are far more intelligent than the script that has entrapped them. The very notion that they assumed anyone would’ve been entertained by this simple-minded drivel is insulting.

Blu-ray Rating: 1.0/5.0

To be fair,...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Oct. 30, 2012

Price: DVD $30.99, Blu-ray $35.99

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Released in a limited number of theaters, Safety Not Guaranteed is a quirky comedy starring the ever quirky Aubrey Plaza (TV’s Parks and Recreation).

In the movie, Plaza plays magazine intern Darius, who volunteers to be part of a group given the assignment to interview the man who placed a classified ad seeking a companion for time travel.

Karan Soni (Worst. Prom. Ever.), Jake M. Johnson (TV’s New Girl), Mark Duplass (Darling Companion) and Jeff Garlin (TV’s Curb Your Enthusiasm) also star in the film.

First-time feature film director Colin Trevorrow helmed the movie, with a script by Derek Connolly, also a newbie in features.

Safety Not Guaranteed grossed $3.8 million in its limited number of screenings at the box office, getting rave reviews from both critics and moviegoers. Miami Herald‘s Rene Rodriguez said...

Moviefone's New Release Pick of the Week "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" What's It About? Hugh Grant voices the Pirate Captain, a lovable loser and the leader of a ship full of swashbuckling outcasts. The Captain's quest to win the coveted "Pirate of the Year" award sets him on a slapstick journey involving a desperate-for-ladies Charles Darwin, a too-smart-for-humans chimpanzee and a gluttonous, murderous Queen Victoria. See It Because: Aardman Animation, the studio behind "Wallace & Gromit" and "Chicken Run," return with a stop-motion adventure bursting with never-ending slapstick and sly English witticisms; it's a great British riff on "Looney Tunes" and you'll need more than one viewing to catch all the jokes. Watch The First Ten Minutes from "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" - (Also Available on Redbox DVD & Blu-ray | Amazon Instant Video) Moviefone's Blu-ray Pick of the Week "Quadrophenia" (Criterion Collection) What's It About? Inspired by The Who's rock album of the same name,...

I have no idea how studios choose their release dates, but this week is packed. It's not necessarily a week loaded with quality films, but considering the lackluster weeks recently I have no idea why they wouldn't have waited to unload some of these a couple weeks ago when they could have dominated a weaker marketplace. Some of the more intriguing titles are catalog selections in my "Even More" selection including individual releases of the Extended Editions of Lord of the Rings on Blu-ray and 100th Anniversary Blu-ray releases of Universal's Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, Airport and Harvey not to mention season releases of "The Walking Dead", "Homeland" and "Once Upon a Time". That said, there are a few solid titles among this week's releases and be sure and check out the new release dates as I now have confirmed dates for the DVD and Blu-ray releases of Prometheus, The Amazing Spider-Man and Brave.

This week: Will "Battleship" sink or swim on DVD and Blu-ray? The mega-budget summer flop about a naval fleet fighting off alien invaders had a reported budget of about $209 million but had to rely on the foreign box office to keep it afloat.

Also new this week is the romantic drama "The Lucky One" and the stop-motion animated adventure "The Pirates! Band of Misfits."

'Battleship'

Box Office: $65 million

Rotten Tomatoes: 34% Rotten

Storyline: Peter Berg directs this epic blockbuster wannabe inspired by the Hasbro board game. Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna, Alexander Skarsgard, Brooklyn Decker, Liam Neeson and many more take on a hostile extraterrestrial spacecraft armada over Hawaii and try to thwart the aliens' destructive plans before all hope is lost.

Extras! Exclusive to the Blu-ray version is a guided tour of the "USS Missouri" — also known as "The Mighty Mo" — with Berg, senior tour guide Reginald H. Johnson and Michael Carr,...

This week on Blu-ray, a couple of this summer’s theatrical releases are already hitting home video, and the most recent seasons of a few well-loved television series get the Blu-ray treatment in anticipation of the upcoming fall TV premieres. Briefly: Battleship (Two-Disc Combo Pack: Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet) Darling Companion The Lucky One (Movie only+UltraViolet) The Pirates! Band of Misfits (Three-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD) Starship Troopers: Invasion Think Like a Man (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy) Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Second Season (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) Homeland: The Complete First Season Sons of Anarchy: Season Four The Walking Dead: The Complete Second Season (Limited Edition) Hit the jump for more details. Battleship (Two-Disc Combo Pack: Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet) Director Peter Berg’s (Hancock) loose adaptation of the popular board game took a lot of flack from critics and wasn’t exactly a box office smash,...

Besides the basic plot of a dog going missing, something went very wrong where the plot of Darling Companion is concerned. Sharing writing duties with his wife Meg, famed writer and director Lawrence Kasdan weaves a story about a husband and wife (Kevin Kline and Diane Keaton) whose marriage has long since fallen into a rut and gets a shot at revitalization when a search in the woods for the family pet forces them to remember why they fell in love in the first place. It sounds like a heartwarming film perfectly tailored for empty nesters, but unfortunately Keaton’s part devolves into an insane caricature and her position in the film’ conflict becomes untenable. The emotional plea that was supposed to make her sympathetic just makes her seem unstable, and thus Darling Companion loses steam very early on.

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Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Aug. 28, 2012

Price: DVD $30.99, Blu-ray $35.99

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

You gotta love a good dog movie, and Darling Companion has not only a cute dog, but also a helluva cast.

Diane Keaton (Morning Glory) leads the charge as Beth, who’s struggling with a self-involved husband (Kevin Kline, No Strings Attached) and an empty nest. After she saves a bedraggled dog lost dog from the side of a freeway, Beth forms a bond with the animal. But when Kline’s Joseph loses the dog after a wedding at their vacation home in the Rockies, a distraught Beth gets help from the remaining guests and a mysterious young woman (Ayelet Zurer, Man of Steel) for the search. Along the way, the searchers are affected by the adventure, which takes them in unexpected directions.

Dianne Wiest (Rabbit Hole), Richard Jenkins (Let Me In), Elisabeth Moss (TV’s Mad Men...

Forget The Expendables; Last Vegas is the elderly cast I want to see engaging onscreen. Not a hard choice, after all, when the meatheaded bodybuilders have to go up against Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, and — as Deadline now lets us know — Kevin Kline, the (now) final member of this older quartet. (Physically, it’d be no match, but in terms of pure talent and onscreen chemistry? Come on.)

Jon Turteltaub is directing the Dan Fogelman-penned comedy, wherein “four best friends in their late 60s who decide to escape retirement and throw a Las Vegas bachelor party for the only one of them (Douglas) who remains single.” During this excursion, the bachelor of the hour and De Niro‘s character find themselves in love with the same woman; let’s only pray she’s actually somewhere in their age range.

Kline will certainly bring the funny to...

Though the roster of leading men was almost complete on older-bloke-bachelor-party comedy Last Vegas, there remained one slot to be filled besides Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Michael Douglas. Consider it locked up, as Kevin Kline will also head to the gambling city.Dan Fogelman wrote the script, which finds fogeyish friends heading to Sin City to celebrate the bachelor party of the last of their number to get hitched (Douglas). But amidst the boozing and partying, old rivalries and wounds get reopened, especially between Douglas and De Niro.Deadline doesn’t specify exactly what Kline will be doing in the film besides being part of the core group, but we’re hoping he’s able to let loose and go toe-to-toe with the other actors.John Turteltaub will be getting them all to Vegas ready for a shoot set for this autumn.Kline, who last appeared in rom-com...

Kevin Kline is joining Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Michael Douglas as the fourth buddy in the CBS Films and Good Universe comedy about old friends who decide to throw a Las Vegas bachelor party for the only one of them who has remained single. Jon Turteltaub is directing Last Vegas from a screenplay by Dan Fogelman, with production set to start in the fall. Laurence Mark and Amy Baer are producing, with Good Universe’s Nathan Kahane executive producing with Lawrence Grey. Matt Leonetti will co-produce. Kline most recently appeared in Lawrence Kasdan’s Darling Companion, and also is circling a role in Charlie Kaufman’s Frank Or Francis. (Photo: Getty Images)...

Kevin Kline is set to join Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas and Morgan Freeman in the upcoming Last Vegas , Deadline reports. Directed by Jon Turteltaub ( National Treasure , While You Were Sleeping ) from a screenplay by Dan Fogelman ( Crazy, Stupid, Love , Tangled ), Last Vegas is a comedy about four old friends who decide to throw a Las Vegas bachelor party for the only one of them who has remained single. Kline appeared earlier this year in Lawrence Kasdan's Darling Companion . The ensemble comedy is being produced by Laurence Mark ( Julie & Julia , Dreamgirls ) and Amy Baer. Good Universe's Nathan Kahane will executive produce along with Lawrence Grey. Matt Leonetti will co-produce. Executive Vice President of Production Maria Faillace and Creative...

Title: Your Sister’s Sister Director: Lynn Shelton (‘Humpday,’ ‘We Go Way Back’) Starring: Mark Duplass (‘Humpday,’ ‘Darling Companion’) Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt (‘Rachel Getting Married,’ TV’s ‘Mad Men’) While summer blockbusters heavily rely on visually stunning special effects and stunts to draw in viewers, one of the most intriguing, thought-provoking movies this season is the independent film ‘Your Sister’s Sister.’ Reuniting screenwriter and director Lynn Shelton with her ‘Humpday‘ star Mark Duplass, ‘Your Sister’s Sister’ expertly and courageously explores what happens when people realize their self-perception isn’t really in line where they truly are in life. The dramedy, which hits select theaters tomorrow, also interestingly explores sibling relationships, and [ Read More ]...

Mark Duplass is certainly having a banner year. The independent filmmaker’s work ethic is that of a rabid squirrel, frenetically jumping in between the lanes of acting and directing over the years, without ever getting hit with a dud. Since the 2005 indie hit The Puffy Chair, co-directed with his older brother, Jay, Duplass has managed to position himself in front of the camera as well as behind it. This year he has acted in a string of films: Your Sister’s Sister, Darling Companion, the upcoming People Like Us, and Safety Not Guaranteed, a recent hit on the festival circuit. In addition, there’s Black Rock, a film that Duplass wrote and his wife, Katie Aselton, directed. And with his brother Jay, he directed the crossover hit with Jeff, Who Lives at Home, starring Jason Segel and Ed Helms, while later this summer the duo returns with the sports dramedy The Do-Deca-Pentathlon,...

If we need to crown an indie king for the first half of 2012, then there is no other choice than Mark Duplass. In 2012 alone he has directed, written, produced and released Jeff, Who Lives At Home; produced and written Black Rock (which saw its debut at the Sundance Film Festival); written, directed and produced The Do-Deca-Pentathlon (which comes out this summer); produced and starred in Safety Not Guaranteed (out at the end of next month); performed a small role in the upcoming People Like Us, and starred in Lawrence Kasdan's Darling Companion (and that's not even the full list). Considering that he has another season of the FX series The League starting this fall and just signed on for the sci-fi comedy Convention, you'd think that he'd be interested in taking a bit of time to relax and get his mind straight, but apparently that's just not part of...

Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy, Country Strong, and the upcoming  On The Road and Inside Llewyn Davis), Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), Jessica Brown Findlay (PBS. .Downton Abbey.), Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls), Oscar nominee Terrence Howard and three-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams (The Fighter) will star in acclaimed fine artist Andrew Levitas. comedy/drama Lullaby. It was announced today by Mimi Steinbauer, President and CEO of Radiant Films International, and producers Andrea Stone-Brokaw of Ananta Productions and Cary Brokaw (The Player, Short Cuts, Angels In America, Closer) of Avenue Pictures. Radiant Films will be offering the film to international buyers of the Cannes Film Market.

Levitas will direct the feature film from his own script which is set to start shooting in June 2012 in New York City. The Producers are in discussion with several domestic distributors but the North American rights have not been licensed.

Filled with considerable comedic beats,...

Now that convention season is officially upon us, it seems appropriate to turn our sights to the most anticipated of all conventions: the national box convention.  That's right my friends, Sir Ben Kingsley (Hugo) and Mark Duplass (Safety Not Guaranteed) will star in the indie pic, Convention, a sci-fi comedy centered around a box convention, at which an intrepid inventor (Duplass) premieres his creation: a five-sided box.  His revolutionary design seems destined to turn the world of folded boxes on its end until  he learns that his production process alters the space-time continuum.  Commercial director Justin Reardon will make his feature debut in Convention, with a script from Christopher Painter.  Hit the jump for more on Convention. Variety reports that Jennifer Aniston is also circling the role for Duplass's character's sister, an instrumental figure in preventing the end of the world due to the inventor's "special fold." Rushmore's Paul Schiff...

In all the discussion last week about Johnny Depp’s eighth film collaboration with Tim Burton on Dark Shadows another actor/director team has a work that’s about to reach theatres, Darling Companion is the sixth film that actor Kevin Kline has made with screenwriter/ director Lawrence Kasdan. It’s hard to believe, but their first together, The Big Chill was released thirty years ago. The new film harkens back to their earlier efforts like Chill and Grand Canyon since it addresses family issues and surrounds Kline with a great cast of seasoned screen vets. Amidst the high decibel destruction of this Summer’s blockbusters a small story about a long married husband and wife ( and their pet ) may be a relaxing change-of-pace.

The film begins as Beth ( Diane Keaton ) is cooing to her new grandchild at the Denver airport. After she says goodbye to her youngest daughter’s family,...

Along with his older brother, Jay, Mark Duplass has carved out a varied career largely on his own terms, parlaying the indie success of “The Puffy Chair” and “Baghead” into ”Cyrus” and “Jeff, Who Lives at Home,” two higher-profile yet still idiosyncratic comedies. This year les frères Duplass will be out in force, showcasing the full array of their talents as writers, directors and, in Mark’s case, as an actor. His latest film is Lawrence Kasdan’s “Darling Companion,” in which he plays a buttoned-up doctor named Bryan who, while helping his family search for a missing dog, develops a crush for an exotic, quirky housesitter, Carmen (Ayelet Zurer). Recently, on the eve of he [ Read More ]...

You have to love Diane Keaton -- she's 66 and still a fashion icon.

Keaton stopped by Today recently to talk about her new film Darling Companion, when even Matt Lauer couldn't help but notice her eye-catching nails.

Related: Get the Look -- Multi-Colored Nails

"I like to do them myself," Keaton joked, flashing her perfect plaid manicure. "Can you tell I painted those on? ... That's so not true," she laughed.

But what's even more impressive is that she managed to incorporate a fad -- nail art currently being all the rage -- perfectly into her already well-known style (specifically her penchant for menswear), proving you're never too old to have a little fun with trends!

Related: Meet the 90-Year-Old Face of Mac...