Hollywood NEWS time

NEW YORK (AP) — The musical “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” will go on as scheduled Thursday night, a day after the cast and crew were shaken by a death backstage that scrubbed a performance.

A stagehand was found dead Wednesday night just before the curtain was to rise for the 8 p.m. show at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Stars Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette announced the cancellation from the stage.

The producers said in a statement that the “incident was not caused by an accident related to the production.” They said the cast, crew and theater staff mourn the loss of a member of their theatrical family.

Police say they responded to a report of a 29-year-old male in cardiac arrest. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. His name was not released.

Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office, said an autopsy was pending. Bruce Cohen, a spokesman for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, declined to comment.

The show that was canceled was to be the show’s 100th performance.

Though speculations and photographic evidence were all pointing in Blake Lively’s direction, it would appear that Leonardo diCaprio did not yet chose his girlfriend post – Bar Refaeli.

He was recently spotted out and about with a “mystery blonde” in New York. Knowing Leonardo and his tastes in girls, the mystery blonde, is, biensur, a model: Anna Jagodzinska (you may remember her from a Vogue cover? I guess this makes Vogue’s May 2009′s Models’ Boyfriends pictorial outdated?). I wonder where Leo gets his relationship advices from? Anna Wintour? (via)

In a recent interview with Fox News, James Cameron opened up about the next two Avatar film, set for release in 2014 and 2015.

Although they are still a long way away, we have some news about the shooting schedule and how exactly the two sequels are going to work.

"We're shooting the two films back-to-back, so I'm writing two scripts, not one, which will complete a [three]-film story arc – not really a trilogy, but just an overall character arc so I'm pretty excited about that."
He also talked about the new 3D technology they are working on for the film saying, "We're doing a lot of preliminary work right now on new software and new animation techniques and so on. We're creating a new facility in Manhattan Beach so everybody that's not already dead is coming back."

So the film is really just going to be like a 10 hour story broken into three movies? Interesting. Cameron must have a lot of ideas and adventures for Pandora!

Are you excited to see more stories from Pandora?

Look, I think it’s safe to assume that when someone creates a multi-billion dollar film franchise, that person is then allowed to live the rest of their life on a plane of existence that’s well above the rest of us. It’s at this higher level that those privileged few can experience life’s sweetest nectars, like socking a horse in the face, purchasing a mail order concubine or, in the case of James Cameron, writing three films about the same subject and then claiming that they’re not a trilogy. The dude made Aliens, for crying out loud, just let him ramble on about whatever the hell he wants to and just be sure to nod your head excitedly if he looks over this way.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Cameron was sure to carefully complicate the explanation of his current preproduction process.

We’re shooting two films back-to-back, so I’m writing two scripts, not one, which will complete a [three]-film story arc – not really a trilogy, but just an overall character arc so I’m pretty excited about that. We’re doing a lot of preliminary work right now on new software and new animation techniques and so on.


I can’t help but picture Cameron up late at night with a flashlight under his blankets, simultaneously typing away on his laptop, while his feet hold a pencil that’s jotting away on a notepad. Again, when you’ve generated enough revenue, mortal rules are no longer applicable. When James Cameron gets asked if there’s pressure in writing two more Avatar juggernauts, modesty need not apply:

There’s always an expectation. I had to deal with that after ‘The Terminator’ back in 1984. All of a sudden I had a big hit movie and it was ‘what are you doing next?’ But my job is take the audience on a journey and entertain them. The second I am sitting down writing, I just go to Pandora. I don’t think about that stuff, about standing on a red carpet. It has its own life, really. The characters have their own lives.

I think the important lesson learned here today is that James Cameron has been pimpin, since been pimpin, since been pimpin. Dude already knows how to juggle massively successful films, can write three-script character arcs that are not trilogies and he can even keep his sh*t together around freaks in blue makeup. American hero? Psssh, obviously.

Recently Fox News had a chat with director James Cameron about his upcoming sequels to his biggest-blockbuster-ever, blue-aliens-in-the-rainforest movie Avatar. Strangely enough, they framed the interview around the idea of economic growth for America (which is especially weird given the anti-industry, anti-imperialist message of the first film), but they also managed to get some quotes about his filming plans and how he’s approaching the writing process for the next two films.

Cameron said, “We’re shooting two films back-to-back, so I’m writing two scripts, not one, which will complete a free-film (sic) story arc – not really a trilogy, but just an overall character arc so I’m pretty excited about that.” He also seems to think that there are some big expectations for a follow-up to Avatar, but he’s trying not to sweat it, “There’s always an expectation. I had to deal with that after The Terminator back in 1984. All of a sudden I had a big hit movie and it was ‘what are you doing next?’ But my job is take the audience on a journey and entertain them. The second I am sitting down writing, I just go to Pandora. I don’t think about that stuff, about standing on a red carpet. It has its own life, really. The characters have their own lives.” Even though Avatar looked amazing and brought in a lot of money, I can’t recall too many people being much enamored with the script, so I don’t think he’s quite got the huge expectations for an Avatar sequel that he did for a sequel to the awesome The Terminator; but if he’s able to deliver on an Avatar 2 at the level he did for T2, one of the top three action movies of all time, then we may all be in for a treat when we go back to Pandora ourselves.

On the business, jobs creating end of things, Cameron said, “We’re doing a lot of preliminary work right now on new software and new animation techniques and so on. We’re creating a new facility in Manhattan Beach …” But that didn’t seem to be enough of a quote to base an entire article on job growth, so Peter Gend, who is a visual effects instructor at the Art Institute of California, added, “It’s absolutely going to generate jobs. There is a plethora of visual effects artists and a lot of them are out of work right now, so it’s a really great place to get a lot of talented people. What goes into his motion capture process is really different than what anyone else does.” So take that, foreign audiences that made the original Avatar such a huge economic success! These movies are going to make our economy unstoppable! USA! USA! USA!

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn Movie (2011) Production Company An adventure story of a junior reporter named tintin. he follow the story to the ends of the earth, though he often finds his own life in danger. His assistants may include a white dog named Snowy, Captain Haddock's crazy, chaotic genius Professor Calculus and the Thompson Twins. to a sunken ship commanded by Capt. Haddock's ancestor and go off on a treasure hunt. adventure filled with emotion and a very interesting story joke then you can see the closest theaters.
In Movie Theaters release date: December 23, 2011 Nationwide
Directed by: Steven Spielberg



Daniel Craig : Red Rackham
Simon Pegg : Inspector Thompson
Jamie Bell : Tintin
Nick Frost : Thomson
Cary Elwes ; Pilot
Andy Serkis ; Captain Haddock
Toby Jones : Silk
Mackenzie Crook : Ernie
Tony Curran : Lt. Delcourt
Sebastian Roché : Pedro
Daniel Mays : Allan
Gad Elmaleh : Ben Salaad
Phillip Rhys : Co-pilot
Mark Ivanir : Afgar Outpost Soldier
Jacquie Barnbrook : Lady in the Phonebox / Old Lady

After getting drunk, getting drugged, and stealing a tiger, a police car, and a small Asian man — and misplacing their best friend in the process — you would think Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) would have learned their lesson about having “one last night out with the guys.” Apparently not, because when it’s Stu’s turn at the altar, the members of the “Wolfpack” find themselves living Santayana’s famous aphorism as literally as possible.

The result is one of the laziest sequels made in quite a while.

A lot of what made the original Hangover work is still visible in The Hangover: Part II, mainly because returning director Todd Phillips and his screenwriters have taken the expedient route of repeating the first film in so many details and with so few variations it’s hard to find a reason to bother watching the new one. You’d be just as well off watching the first one over again.

The constant demand for a sequel is “the same but different.” It could be the details of the world created, or dangling plot threads, or just really interesting characters, and then those elements could be taken and developed further. But Phillips isn’t having any truck with that, instead putting the same characters through the exact same wringer as before.

There are some differences, but they’re all so superficial they make no real difference. The action has been moved from Vegas to Bangkok. The wedding is Stu’s, not best friend Doug (who is excluded from the entire adventure despite being conscious and available this time around), and the person missing is Teddy (Mason Lee), the little brother of Stu’s fiancée. And the tiger and baby have been combined in the form of a drug-selling monkey.

But the actual actions all of these “changes” provoke are entirely the same as before, and there is nothing less funny than a joke to which you already know the punchline.

To be fair, a lot of that is true only in relation to the first film, and I’m judging it for what it’s not instead of for what it is. So what is The Hangover: Part II, actually? Sporadically funny, but also missing the extra “something” needed to go from mediocre to good.

If you’ve seen the first, what’s missing is surprise, and no matter how fair you try to be, that will be hard to get past. A lot of the original’s biggest laughs were tied in with the plot as much as their individual set ups, and losing that extra leg knocks a lot of the foundation off-balance. Phillips and company have thought long and hard about how far over the top to take some of their gags, and they’ve gone a pretty fair way.

Surprise combined with horror is the hallmark of Phillips’ comic style’ and he’s trying as hard as he can to top himself with The Hangover: Part II, but that focus only goes as far as the actual gags themselves. It feels less like The Hangover: Part II than it does like The Hangover 2.0, as if Phillips were trying to go back and make the first film funnier instead of making a new one.

On the other hand, if you’ve never seen the original, The Hangover: Part II does work much better as the kind of madcap romp the filmmakers seem to have in mind, as the “Wolfpack” hook up with the scene-stealing Chow (Ken Jeong) again to try and find what part of Bangkok’s underbelly they left Teddy in. But the connections between and development of the characters are completely absent; outside of Stu, Phil and Alan are along basically just because they were part of the group the first time around and are expected to be back. It’s a problem especially visible with Cooper, who doesn’t have Galifianakis’s mugging ability and whose character did all the developing he was going to do already.

The Hangover: Part II is decently funny, but it’s also a colossal waste of time. The filmmakers have put so little effort into creating something new that even the jokes suffer, because we already know how it’s all going to come out.

Good news, Hangover fans! The lawsuit regarding Ed Helms‘ Mike Tyson tattoo in The Hangover Part II has been settled.

OK! NEWS: THE HANGOVER PART II MIKE TYSON TATTOO TO BE DIGITALLY ALTERED FOR DVD LAWSUIT

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ed’s tattoo will be staying on his face for the DVD release of the film.

Warner Bros. and Missouri tattoo artist S. Victor Whitmill reached a settlement, the terms of which were not disclosed.

“Warner Bros. and Mr. Whitmill have amicably resolved their dispute,” Whitmill’s attorney Geoff Gerber told THR. “No other information will be provided.”

OK! NEWS: THE HANGOVER PART II MIKE TYSON TATTOO CASE WON’T DELAY FILM’S FRIDAY RELEASE DATE

Whitmill sued Warner Bros. in April asking for the release of the The Hangover Part II to be stopped because it used his copyrighted tattoo without permission.

A judge allowed the release of the film on time, but the case continued and Warner Bros. said it would digitally alter the tattoo for DVD if the case didn’t settle quickly.

According to sources, a deal was reached after an all-day mediation in St. Louis on Friday.

Not unlike an animated version of Hong Kong martial arts actor Sammo Hung, the rotund panda Po (voiced by Jack Black) encompasses a glorious blend of comedic and heroic qualities. In this sequel to the 2008 film Kung Fu Panda, Po is now established as the mighty Dragon Warrior, but that doesn’t prevent him from still being a bit of a klutz, overly excitable and all too easily distracted by affairs of the stomach. So when Po and his fellow kung fu masters The Furious Five go on a mission to liberate Gongmen City from the evil peacock Lord Shen (voiced by Gary Oldman), the theoretically opposing aspects of Po’s character are given full flight to deliver a spectacular computer animated adventure that is both hilarious and exhilarating.

What really elevates Kung Fu Panda 2 to make it one of the best feature films produced by DreamWorks Animation is the unexpected poignancy it delivers about half way through the film. Initially the concept of Po only just realising he’s been adopted (his ‘father’ is a goose) is nicely played for laughs. Both he and Lord Shen have parental abandonment issues, which not only creates a pleasing hero/villain duality but also leads to some extremely emotive sequences when Po learns about his origins and then responds accordingly. DreamWorks Animation have predominantly distinguished themselves for having an irreverent and casual style, where pop-culture references and throw-away gags took precedence, but with How to Train You Dragon and now Kung Fu Panda 2, DreamWorks have demonstrated they can deliver heartfelt stories amid the excitement and laughs.
And the excitement and laughs are there in abundance. While it’s not on the same level of the anarchic collapsing of the forth wall humour in the classic 1953 Warner Brothers cartoon Duck Amuck, there are a couple of very playful gags constructed around an awareness of cinematic space. Regardless, the one-liners and facial expressions from the characters are hilarious too. The action is inventive and incorporates the blend of slapstick humour and use of found objects as weapons that distinguishes the earlier films of Jackie Chan and also Stephen Chow. In fact, Kung Fu Panda 2 is the most representative and respectful appropriation of Hong Kong and Chinese action cinema by Western cinema since the Kill Bill films.

The conflict between technology when used as a weapon and the inner-peace of kung fu is played out effectively without being preachy, and the film very skilfully weaves together its various themes to deliver an all-encompassing conclusion. So much thought has clearly gone into the writing, sound design and animation of Kung Fu Panda 2 and it also contains some of the best use of 3D technology in a computer animated film to date. The first film was a lot of fun; this sequel is even more fun but also something quite special.

X-men: First class takes us to the beginning of the X-men saga. The movie centers on the origins of Magneto , a holocaust survivor , and Professor X,an academic in genetic mutation, showing how different but similar they are. It reveals a secret history of the Cold War and our world at the brink of nuclear Armageddon during the Cuban missile crisis.

As the mutants discovers, harnesses, and comes to terms with their formidable powers, alliances are formed that will shape the eternal war between the heroes and villains of the X-Men universe.

Ryan Reynolds portrays Hal Jordan as he becomes one of the Green Lanterns. I really enjoyed myself watching this much anticipated film.
Another of the classic comics turned into a possible movie franchise. It's slightly hard to explain what it is about without ruining any of it. Basically he gets chosen to be a green lantern by a dying lanterns ring which holds their power. He believes the ring has made a mistake because but the lanterns claim it never makes a mistake. He must join the lanterns to fight the evil source fear powered by parallax.
4/5 for great comic superhero action
Rating 12A
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Mark Strong, Geoffrey Rush, Peter Sarsgaard and Clancy Brown.
Another great comic book adaptation from DC that will hopefully evolve into a series.
Thanks for reading and continuing to do so

A test pilot is granted a mystical green ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers, as well as membership into an intergalactic squadron tasked with keeping peace within the universe.

Director:
Martin Campbell
Writers:
Greg Berlanti (screenplay), Michael Green (screenplay), and 5 more credits »
Stars:
Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Peter Sarsgaard

From the trailers, I would never really want to watch this movie after the trailers, but as my friends want to go watch it, I decided to join them. As I've watched all the interesting movies in theaters, there was nothing else to watch.

Firstly, Green Lantern is not my favorite comic book hero, nor is Ryan Reynolds my favorite movie star.

As I've watched Thor not too long ago, I felt that the story was quite similar... After all, its a comic book adaptation.

Green Lantern is an annoying super hero, I felt that the explanation on the powers of the superheros, it did a slightly better job of saying that they heros are powered by "Will" and the enemy is powered by "Fear" instead of "Green" and "Yellow"

Its a fun movie, the effects are pretty ok and the story was fun and enjoyable as long as you do not over analyze the movie.

Caution:

1) Do not watch this movie with critics... They will nag all the way home and argue in the car.
2) Do not watch this movie with nerds... They will try to analyze the science and somehow try to justify a comic??
3) The purple alien is naked under the "Green Lantern Suit" so when he dies, he dies naked.

Throughout the movie, you see that Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) is simply an annoying prick. Not sure if there was much character development or anything at all, and everything seems pretty predictable.

Not much plot, no imagination, sucky story.

Avoid it and watch it when it comes out on TV.

Even when I watched it with discounted tickets, I felt it was a waste of money.

Angelina Jolie has spent several years portrayed as the villain who stole Brad Pitt from Jennifer Aniston.

According to Life & Style, she’s now getting her revenge.

The magazine claims Jolie is helping to spread the rumor that Aniston is a “home wrecker” who pried Justin Theroux away from Heidi Bivens, his longtime girlfriend.

“Angelina is having a good laugh over Jen’s new scandal,” says a Life & Style “insider.”

But that’s not all!

“She’s been calling mutual Hollywood pals and helping to spread the accusations against Jen,” claims the article.

The “insider” quotes Jolie as asking friends, “Who’s the home wrecker now?”

“She even joked that maybe now that Jen’s being seen as the bad girl, she’ll get better acting roles,” adds the mag’s source.

Jolie’s “needlessly cruel” alleged actions mean that, “just as Jen’s gotten her love life back on track, Angie’s trying to sabotage her again.”

Uh-huh.

All of this is fascinating, except, as Life & Style itself points out repeatedly, Aniston did not steal Theroux and is not a “home wrecker.” Theroux and Bivens broke up way before he and Aniston hooked up.

Also, as Life & Style observes, there’s no bad blood between Theroux and Bivens, who “appears to have moved on.”

So what we have, essentially, is this:

Life & Style uses the unsubstantiated (and bizarre) allegation that Angelina Jolie is telling people Jennifer Aniston’s a home wrecker to write a giant article about Aniston’s man-stealing “scandal,” even though no one – including the mag itself – actually seems to think she stole Theroux.

Jolie isn’t the one trying to “sabotage” Aniston.

The tabloid is.

Tom Cruise is looking to get a big thumbs up from audiences as the pre-buzz for his performance in ‘Rock Of Ages’ is very positive.

According to Stephen Baldwin, brother of Alec Baldwin, Tom Cruise’s performances on set have been mind-blowing or as the actor put it ‘intergalactic’. Why is it that Tom Cruise has gone so high in his new ‘singing career’? More than likely he has a knack for singing that hasn’t been discovered for the screen yet, and with the movie getting a lot of hype because of it, we hope it will be something memorable.

Tom Cruise shows no end to his diverse career and onscreen performances from the epic ‘Top Gun’, that was recently ripped off by a Chinese news agency, to ‘Mission Impossible’ and now ‘Rock Of Ages’, the musical

On the less glamourous side of Stephen Baldwin’s endorsement, the actor is currently ‘battling’ Kevin Costner in the courts, who claims he had duped him out of keeping shares in his now highly successful venture on an oil cleaning machine.

Apparently, Tom Cruise is the real deal. He can act, he can dance, and get this — he can actually sing!

For some reason we had our doubts, but reports from on set are starting to stifle those doubts quickly. Especially from Julianne Hough, who calls him "astonishing."

She said:

"I'm not kidding, the guy can sing. The guy can dance, the guy obviously can act. I mean, he can do it all, and he does it all very well."

"I wasn't there for the first day of shooting for his stuff, but I just got people emailing me, like, 'Oh my gosh,' chills, standing ovation, holy crap, the crew was blown away. And I'm like, 'I missed it! What the heck?' So, he's astonishing."

"Yeah, oh yeah, it's ridiculous. There are no words to describe how amazing Tom is. I mean, he's so in it."

Wow! We hope she's right, we mean, we don't really have a reason NOT to trust her (except that she's involved with the movie and wouldn't want to say he's terrible).

LIONSGATE AND ALLIANCE FILMS ANNOUNCE SALE OF LIONSGATE'S CANADIAN DISTRIBUTOR, MAPLE PICTURES, TO ALLIANCE FILMS

Alliance Assumes Responsibility For Long-term Film, TV, Home Entertainment and Library Output Deals With Lionsgate





SANTA MONICA, Calif., VANCOUVER, British Columbia, and MONTREAL, June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), a leading global entertainment company, and Alliance Films, a leading Canadian distributor of motion pictures and television programming, announced that the Alliance group has agreed to purchase Lionsgate's Canadian distributor Maple Pictures for approximately $38.5 million subject to a working capital adjustment. The announcement was made by Lionsgate President and Co-Chief Operating Officer Steve Beeks and Alliance President Charles Layton and remains subject to approval by Canadian regulatory authorities.


The Alliance group will acquire Maple and its film library and will assume responsibility for Maple's exclusive five-year output deal with Lionsgate for Canadian distribution of Lionsgate's motion picture and television product and Maple's exclusive long-term arrangement for distribution of Lionsgate's prestigious filmed entertainment library in Canada. Maple founders and Co-Presidents Laurie May and Brad Pelman will join the Alliance team.


"We're delighted to partner with Alliance, an iconic brand in the Canadian filmed entertainment business, in a long-term relationship that assures that our product will be handled by an experienced team with unparalleled knowledge of the Canadian marketplace," said Beeks. "This deal also allows us to sharpen our focus on our core assets that are critical to our growth trajectory, and it is an important step in the ongoing process of simplifying our business."


"This transaction combines two extraordinary distributors in Canada and strengthens the distribution infrastructure we offer to our content partners," said Layton. "We're thrilled to add Lionsgate's new films and very large, renowned library to Alliance. We look forward to working with the entire Lionsgate team in the years to come."


Maple Pictures was founded in 2005 by May and Pelman, two former Lionsgate executives, and has emerged as one of Canada's leading distributors, recently releasing such hit motion pictures as Lionsgate's The Expendables, the Academy Award-winning The Hurt Locker and recent Academy Award nominees Winter's Bone and Biutiful. Upcoming Maple Pictures releases include Conan, Warrior, Abduction and next year's first installment of The Hunger Games franchise from Lionsgate as well as Our Idiot Brother from The Weinstein Company and recent Cannes Film Festival winner for Best Director Drive, which will be released in the U.S. by FilmDistrict.


"We're proud to have helped build Maple Pictures into an important brand in Canada during the past six years, and we're looking forward to combining our forces with Alliance," said May and Pelman.


About Lionsgate

Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) is a leading global entertainment company with a strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution and new channel platforms. The Company has built a strong television presence in production of prime time cable and broadcast network series, distribution and syndication of programming and an array of channel assets. Lionsgate currently has 15 shows on more than 10 networks spanning its prime time production, distribution and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed hits as "Mad Men", "Weeds" and "Nurse Jackie" along with the popular comedy "Blue Mountain State" and the syndication successes "Tyler Perry's House Of Payne", its spin-off "Meet The Browns," "The Wendy Williams Show" and "Are We There Yet?".


Its feature film business has generated more than half a billion dollars at the North American box office in the past year, fueled by such hits as THE EXPENDABLES, THE LINCOLN LAWYER, TYLER PERRY'S MADEA'S BIG HAPPY FAMILY, SAW 3D, THE LAST EXORCISM, KICK ASS and PRECIOUS. The Company's home entertainment business has grown to more than 8% market share and is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rates. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 13,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate brand remains synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.


About Alliance Films Inc.

Alliance Films Inc. is one of the top five independent filmed entertainment companies in the world. A leading multinational distributor, co-financier and producer of filmed entertainment, its member companies, Alliance Films and Alliance Vivafilm (Canada); Momentum Pictures (UK) and Aurum Producciones (Spain), offer integrated delivery of content in all media.


Strategic partnerships include exclusive distribution rights to films from Relativity Media in Canada and the UK; Focus Features, The Weinstein Company, Miramax and CBS Films in Canada; as well as ongoing relationships with Summit, FilmNation Entertainment, Exclusive Media, IM Global, Lionsgate International, Wild Bunch, Constantin Films, EuropaCorp and Nu Image in all three territories.


Key production alliances include: a co-production and acquisitions deal with Italy's Medusa Film; a first-look deal with Iain Canning and Emile Sherman's See-Saw Films which produced the multiple Academy Award® winner The King's Speech; a joint venture with IM Global in the Automatik production company; and a deal with Paranormal Activity producer Jason Blum that has produced the box office hit Insidious from director James Wan and the upcoming The Bay from filmmaker Barry Levinson.


Alliance Films and Alliance Vivafilm have a dominant presence in Quebec, maintaining numerous first-look deals with the most successful domestic producers with titles including De pere en flic from Cinemaginaire, which delivered $10.8 million box office in Quebec alone to become the highest ever grossing title in that province, as well as Cafe de Flore, directed by Jean-Marc Vallee (Crazy, Young Victoria) and Le Sens de l'humour, directed by Emile Gaudreault (De Pere en flic).


Current and upcoming films where Alliance Films has an equity position or otherwise enabled projects to be financed include: The Woman in Black, Safe, Area 51, Goon, and The Moth Diaries. Upcoming theatrical releases include: Safe (Canada & UK), Larry Crowne (Canada), The Three Musketeers 3D (Spain and Canada), The Ides of March (Canada) and thecontinuation of the smash hit Twilight franchise (Spain).

TIME’s Richard Corliss has assembled a rich multimedia slideshow of his choices for the 25 best animated features of all-time. Each movie gets a fine tribute from Corliss illustrated with clips. For those who want to scan the full list before clicking through TIME’s presentation, Alex Billington at FirstShowing has helpfully extracted a list of titles.

25. Lady and the Tramp (1955)
24. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
23. Yellow Submarine (1968)
22. Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! (2008)
21. Kung Fu Panda (2008)
20. Paprika (2007)
19. Tangled (2010)
18. The Lion King (1994)
17. Akira (1988)
16. Happy Feet (2006)

15. Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
14. The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
13. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
12. Toy Story (1995)
11. Toy Story 3 (2010)
10. The Little Mermaid (1989)
9. Finding Nemo (2003)
8. The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
7. Up (2009)
6. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
5. Spirited Away (2001)
4. Dumbo (1941)
3. The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979)
2. WALL-E (2008)
1. Pinocchio (1940)

In a career spanning over 25 years, Tom Cruise has been one of the top grossing stars at the global box office throughout the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, with his films topping $2.8 billion in worldwide ticket sales. He became the first actor in history to star in five films to consecutively gross $100 million or more at the US box office. He reached iconic status long ago and has a career and lifestyle to rival anyone working in the film industry today.

But Tom Cruise is far more than the money making machine some people label him as.

Nominated for three Academy Awards and the winner of three Golden Globes, Cruise has proven himself to be much more than the star of blockbuster movies, or a just another actor trading on his looks or appeal. The list of directors who have chosen to work with him reads as a who’s who of legendary film makers; Scorsese, Spielberg, De Palma, Mann, Coppola, Kubrick, both Scott brothers, Oliver Stone… the list goes on. The actors who have worked alongside him include Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Duvall, Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, and Paul Newman - a list to rival that of his directors.

He commands and has earned respect from his peers both in front and behind the camera, and his body of work is proof in itself that Tom Cruise was, is, and remains one of the industry’s most valuable and iconic talents.

It is a difficult choice to select just five films form his career, but I believe these perfectly define the essential work of Tom Cruise:

5. Top Gun (1986, dir. Tony Scott)

Cruise’s most popular and iconic film to date, Top Gun is one of the quintessential films of the 1980s and the film which catapulted him into super stardom.

The very definition of a high-concept picture, Top Gun became one of the first mega hits for now-legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer (working with the late Don Simpson at the time) and was the most successful film in the US that year. So successful in fact, the US Navy had its highest application rate in years from young men wanting to be the next Maverick!

Certainly not Cruise’s best film, but deserves its place on the list for the future roles he landed as a result.

Key Scene: Maverick and Goose hi-five and utter the classic line “I feel the need, the need for speed!”


4. Collateral (2004, dir. Michael Mann)

The first and only time Cruise has played the villain in a movie and the role of Vincent is one of his most memorable to fans. Cool, cold, and calculated, Cruise takes to the as if he’d been playing the bad guy all of his career. Yet again, Cruise chose a screenplay which gives him something different to add to his CV and a director in Michael Mann who shot the film in glorious hi-def, making it one of Cruise’s most gritty film to date.

Key Scene: Vincent and Max stop in the cab to watch a Coyote cross the road. Both men are hypnotised by the animal’s presence. No words are spoken, there is nothing which can be said.

3. Magnolia (1999, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

After the run of box offices smashes in the mid to late 90s, Cruise made two of his best pictures to date in Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, and P.T. Anderson’s Magnolia.

Magnolia joins the list as it marked Cruise first true ensemble piece. The posters didn’t focus on his name or face, the trailers didn’t sell the film as a Tom Cruise vehicle, and his screen time is evenly shared with the other star names across the film’s 3 hour duration.

Here Cruise gives arguably his best performance. His portrayal of T.J. Mackey shows us a side we’d not seen before - a range of emotions and subtle nuances perhaps not required in previous films or scripts. Both nasty and strangely compassionate, Cruise does so much in a relatively short space of time, it must be viewed as masterclass in character acting. The Academy Award nomination was well deserved.

2. Minority Report (2002, dir. Steven Spielberg)

2002. The biggest director in the world directs the biggest star in world. It doesn’t get much more monumental in Hollywood partnerships than Spielberg and Cruise.

The film is one which gets better with each viewing. At first perhaps it’s a great looking sci-fi thriller, but you soon realise Minority Report is much more than that, there are so many layers and themes, I won’t even try to list them all here.

A neo-noir, detective story, and sci-fi adventured rolled into one, the picture delivers on many levels and is enjoyable for audiences looking for just action and thrills, as well as those of us wanting something to think about long after the film has ended.

The collaboration proved so successful that the actor and director teamed up again just 3 years later for War of the Worlds. But it is the film, Cruise’s first in any of the aforementioned genres, that stands out as arguably his most entertaining and rewarding blockbusters.

1. Rain Man (1988, dir. Barry Levinson)

My number one choice for the essential Tom Cruise film is the 1988 Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Original Screenplay; Rain Man.

This, out of all of his films, shows Cruise at his very best. At only 26 years of age, Cruise gives a performance in character acting well beyond his years. The accolades went to Hoffman for his role as the autistic savant, Raymond Babbitt, and no one can argue the genius of his performance. But to understand and appreciate the film, you must understand the role Cruise plays as his brother, Charlie, and how important it is to the film’s over riding success.

Charlie is the only one to change in the film - his character is the only one with an arc. Raymond remains the same at the end as he does when we first meet him, but the adventure we go on is with Charlie; it is his anger, pain, frustration, and ultimately, his love we feel throughout the film’s perfectly paced and executed picture.

Followed immediately after by Oliver Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July, Rain Man opened the eyes of any critics of the young star’s potential to be more than just another flash in the pan actor. It is his finest hour, a film of true class throughout, and one which reminds us of Tom Cruise at his very best.

I sparred a bit on Twitter with @TurboPokerOnlin about his belief that record fields in WSOP 1k’s would be a “major” story … and eventually conceded that it might-would probably come in at #9. (NOTE to self: Do a “WSOP Top Ten Stories” post.)

But what I didn’t expect as a top story that now is .. the non-bracelet daily “deepstacks” at the Rio — specifically the $235 2pm event. Say what you will about the value in playing in a tournament with 20 percent rake … this event has more people talking about it, multiple times a week, every week, consistently, probably moreso than any other at the WSOP. It started off with a few hundred players each day (nice), and soon began drawing more than 600 (kinda wow) … and then 800 (for sure wow) and then just a few days ago (OMG!) 1,100 — a record field size for such a non-bracelet event at the WSOP. The suits, we can suspect, are practically speechlessly giddy.

Actress Emma Stone is reportedly dating “Spider-Man” co-star Andrew Garfield.

Garfield split from his longtime girlfriend Shannon Woodward this May.

"They got close during filming and have been hooking up... They haven't gone public, but he's told his friends,” dailystar.co.uk quoted a source as saying

When did the Pirates of the Caribbean movies become so convoluted? It was a shock in 2003 when Curse of the Black Pearl came out and wasn't awful. In fact, it was an adventurous, exciting time at the movies that played above and beyond the cash grab idea of Disney turning a theme park ride into a feature film. Then Dead Man's Chest provided the stuffing for that perfectly baked goose. Even still, the balance between grand imagery, exciting battles, and expansive story-telling was in check. It wasn't until At World's End that it all seemed to be out of control. Now, with the fourth and latest film of the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, a decision was made to hold back. At least on the expensive visuals.

But words on a page are cheap. Dialogue, exposition, plot turns, and catty banter is cheap, and it's something On Stranger Tides piles on in droves. In fact, it's so piled on, coupled with a jerky, kitschy, and at times graceless directing style from Rob Marshall, that this latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie looks and feels exactly what the movie-watching world feared Curse of the Black Pearl would be eight years ago. An unabashed cash grab.

The synopsis of the film should be quite simple. Johnny Depp has returned as Captain Jack Sparrow, the often-slurred speech and sun-stroked pirate who is as charming as he is circuitous. This time he's in search of the famed Fountain of Youth, but he's not the only on this quest. The Spanish, the British, even the "pirate all pirates fear" Blackbeard, played here by Ian McShane, are on the trail. See? Simple, right.

Well, leave it to returning screenwriters Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio to complicate these narrative matters about as much as Jack Sparrow complicates any given situation he's in. Deceptions and side-turning abounds in On Stranger Tides to the point where people are fighting with swords, and you really aren't sure why. Maybe it has something to do with pirates always being out for themselves and no one else, but somewhere in the mire of the dialogue and exposition, buried way down underneath the verbal brambles we have to trek through, Elliott and Rossio to think they've gotten across to their audience perfectly.

And maybe much of that can be excused - it certainly was in Dead Man's Chest and At World's End to an extent - if the overall adventure is thrilling, if the action set pieces are worthy of blockbuster filmmaking, and if there's a weight to any of the characters involved. None of these are the case. Instead, we're offered a sword fight here, a chase through the streets of London there, and a mermaid attack to toy with us that something more exciting might be just on the horizon. But none of these moments are allowed to play simply or naturally. There always has to be additional beats thrown in to fluff up the run time. At one point Sparrow is being forced to jump off a cliff, but instead of just jumping or being pushed, we have to sift through banter, then threats, then a lame version of Russian roulette, then more banter, then a Voodoo doll shows up. You just want the guy to friggin' jump!

Of course, much of these action scenes could be commendable from a visceral stand-point if they were well shot. Thank you, Rob Marshall, for not even giving us that. Much of the action is shot in horrendous close-ups, usually in dark areas to make it impossible to differentiate between the characters, and sometimes he even has a tendency of trying to shoot action around foreground objects. An early sword fight between Sparrow and someone impersonating him has more than a few basement beams and wine barrels to completely impede the audience's view. It's like parts of the movie walked off the screen and sat themselves right in front of you in the theater, only you can't move your head to look around them.

Little can be said in Depp's - or anyone else in this movie - favor. It's a phoning in of a performance the likes of which we've yet seen from him, but the good news is he's the main character this time around. There's no Will or Elizabeth to play Luke or Leia to his Han Solo, and a ceaseless Jack Sparrow is one of the last things the Pirates franchise needed.

This time around, though, he has Penelope Cruz to play off. She plays Angelica, a female pirate whose motives might not be altruistic. Hey, she's a pirate. And though the two are given moments here and there with which to build a connection, it never takes hold. They end up coming off like two balls in a pinball machine clanging against one another and making all kinds of unbearable racket as they go.

McShane seems lost playing the one-dimensional Blackbeard, the very epitome of a thinly constructed movie villain. Geoffrey Rush returns as Barbossa, and he's fine here even if Elliott and Rossio appear to have not idea what they were to do with him. There's a budding romance between Sam Claflin's Philip, a priest, and Astrid Berges-Frisbey's Syrena, a mermaid, but the chivalrous nature Philip shows the captured Syrena is forced to say the very least. As soon as he screams at her captors that "SHE HAS A NAME!", you just want to smack someone.

At least a smack would have been something more exciting than what On Stranger Tides has to offer. It's convoluted and tacky, and it has an ongoing tendency to bury the audience's attention with needless narrative outgrowths. A straight-forward pirate adventure full of ship battles - nary a cannon is fired in the entire movie - and melees would have been a much welcomed change of pace for the Pirates franchise. But that's not what we get with On Stranger Tides. We get bland action, frustrating plot points, and the lamest Jack Sparrow we've seen on screen. It's enough to make you thankful you're not a pirate.

Clearly, people around the globe are starved for entertainment. For those of you keeping score, Pirates Of The Caribbean 4's cume to date is Domestic $221.6M and International $735.2M for a worldwide total of $956.8M. It now stands as the 10th-biggest release of all-time on a worldwide basis, passing Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part I but behind Pirates Of The Caribbean 3. In fact, three of the Top 10 films are the Pirates franchise. And Johnny Depp has four of the Top 10 films (three Pirates and Alice In Wonderland).