Archive: December 2010 (171-180 of 304)

Dec 10 2010 06:15 PM ET

First look at 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides': Capt. Jack Sparrow goes to London

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Peter Mountain

For any Capt. Jack Sparrow fans out there jonesing for a taste of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Disney has released a first batch of stills to tide you over (no pun intended) until the film hits theaters next May. The fourth installment of the Pirates franchise chronicles Johnny Depp’s Sparrow on his quest for the elusive Fountain of Youth, on which he’s joined by a woman from his past named Angelica (Penelope Cruz) whose motives are unclear. Along the way, Sparrow finds himself unwillingly taken aboard the ship of the pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane). In these photos, we get a preview of what’s new — a first look at Cruz (complete with groovy, pimp-hat-esque headwear) and McShane (looking like a heavy-metal pirate in black leather and eyeliner) — as well as Sparrow in familiar modes of being dragged by Royal Guards through King George’s palace and then escaping from said Guards atop a moving carriage.  READ FULL STORY »

Dec 10 2010 05:59 PM ET

Did Michael Bay just apologize for 'Transformers 2'?

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Michael Bay has spent half a decade working solely on huge action movies about alien robots who transmogrify into product placement cool cars, with only the occasional break to focus on artsy stuff. But the upcoming Transformers: Dark of the Moon will apparently be his last go-round with the franchise. So it’s not surprising that, at the end of this long strange trip, Bay is feeling a little bit more contemplative than usual. In a freewheeling interview with Collider, Bay talks excitedly about a whole host of topics. Main point of interest: Bay speaks openly about some of the problems that derailed the second film in the franchise (which, if memory serves, was subtitled Return of the Revenge of the Rise of the Fallen). “On the second movie we got burned,” says Bay. Noting the quickened pace of pre-production due to the writers’ strike, Bay notes, “We had to agree on a story in three weeks, and then we knew they were going on strike. It was a f—ed scenario all the way around. It wasn’t fair to the writer, it wasn’t fair to me, and it wasn’t fair to anybody.” The director does insist, “it was still an entertaining movie,” but he also admits, “I think we failed on certain aspects.”

Bay claims that they’re taking the lessons learned on Fallen to heart: “I got rid of the dorky comedy,” he says, which is presumably code for “No more minstrel-bots.” READ FULL STORY »

Dec 10 2010 05:30 PM ET

No, fight-fans -- There's no Arturo Gatti in 'The Fighter'

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Boxers-Arturo-Micky-WardImage Credit: Al Bello/Getty ImagesWhen Mark Wahlberg first told people he was making a movie about Micky Ward, one of the most common reactions was, “Cool, who’s playing Arturo Gatti?” To many boxing fans, Ward and Gatti are inseparable because of their three historic brawls that secured their legacies as two of the toughest pound-for-pound warriors in the sport. In 2002 and 2003, the two men squared off three consecutive times within a span of 13 months. Their fights were videogame slugfasts, the kind of brawls that if they happened in the movies, you’d say, “That’s so unrealistic, because no one can give and take that kind of punishment.” Check out Round 9 of their jaw-rattling first fight, which may just as well have taken place in some dark alley. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 10 2010 05:15 PM ET

Excess Hollywood: Sam Neill heading for 'Alcatraz'

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  • Jorge Garcia isn’t the only star of J.J. Abrams’ Alcatraz to go island hopping. Jurassic Park‘s Sam Neill will star alongside Sarah Jones in the pilot about the infamous prison for Fox. Prisoners are nuthin’ compared to these guys. And kids. [Deadline]
  • Casting we adore for Dumbledore: Michael Gambon, known to Harry Potter fanatics as Hogwarts’ headmaster, is set to appear with Dustin Hoffman in HBO’s Luck. In the series — about horse-racing — Gambon will play Hoffman’s nemesis. [TV Guide]
  • CBS has picked up Two Broke Girls, a new comedy from Michael Patrick King (Sex and the City) about two financially struggling women in New York City. That’s what happens when you use Sex and the City as a life example. [Deadline]
  • DreamWorks plans to release Me and My Shadow in March 2013. The 3-D animated feature centers on a shadow who is stuck with “the world’s most boring human.” Oof, poor guy. [Variety]
Dec 10 2010 04:42 PM ET

Weekend Box Office Poll: Will you see 'The Tourist'? 'Narnia'? Or maybe 'Tangled'?

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If Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie co-starred with a talking mouse and a godlike lion in an action-fantasy about fighting evil monster gangsters, you’d probably want to see that movie, right? Well, that will never happen. But if you go and see The Tourist and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader this weekend, there’s always a chance that your brain will fuse them together into one beautiful whole. EW’s John Young thinks Dawn Treader, the third film in the Narnia franchise, will walk away with the highest gross of the weekend: $40 million. He predicts The Tourist will make about half that, and the rest of the top five will be held by Thanksgiving holdovers Tangled, Harry Potter and the Etc. Etc., and Burlesque. (The Fighter and The Tempest will be in limited release this weekend. What’s with all the “The” movies? Which would you rather see: The Tempest-Fighting Tourist…or The Tourist-Fighting Tempest?)

But hey, what do we know? PopWatchers, will you be seeing either of the new wide-release movies? Have all your friends finally convinced you that Tangled is good, or that Burlesque is bad enough to enjoy? Tell us what you’ll be seeing in the poll, and if you feel like it, tell us why you’ll be seeing it down in the comments? (Personally, I’ll be seeing Dawn Treader, but only because I’m currently working on a book about threequels. No, I’m not.)

Dec 10 2010 04:22 PM ET

Reese Witherspoon on her visit to the White House with Paul Rudd: 'It was INSANE.'

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how-do-you-knowImage Credit: David James; Michael Kovac/Getty ImagesBeing a movie star can get you access to some pretty exclusive places. While shooting her upcoming romantic comedy How Do You Know in Washington D.C., Reese Witherspoon and her co-star Paul Rudd managed to score a special private tour of the White House. As the actress tells EW in this week’s cover story, what happened next was “totally surreal”: “While we were getting a tour, we got a message from the Oval Office that Obama wanted to say hi to us,” Witherspoon remembers. “We went to the Oval Office, and there was Hillary Clinton having a meeting with Joe Biden. It was insane. Then Obama came out and he turned to Paul and said, ‘I loved you in I Love You, Man.’ I grabbed Paul and I was like, ‘Are you freaking out right now?’ He’s like, ‘I’m freaking out!’ We were so tongue-tied it was ridiculous. Obama was like, ‘What are you guys doing in town?’ I started talking about the movie and I was like, ‘We’re doing a movie and…uh, I’m playing a character, who, uh…I’m working with Owen, uh…Owen…’ I could not remember Owen’s last name. And Paul goes, ‘Wilson!’ Like it was a party game.”

For the full interview with Reese Witherspoon, check out the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, on stands today.

Dec 10 2010 03:46 PM ET

Brian Boitano on his NBC 'Skating Spectacular' and which Christmas carol he hates

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Filed under: Food and Drink, Television, TV and tagged: , , , ,

Brian-BoitanoImage Credit: Joe Kohen/WireImage.comHow do you know it’s the holiday season? For me, it’s when I get the press release announcing the annual Brian Boitano Skating Spectacular on NBC. This year’s special — which features performances to live music by Heart, opens with “Barracuda” and closes with “Magic Man” — tapes Dec. 16 in Sioux City, Iowa, and airs Dec. 26, at 4 p.m. ET. Boitano will be skating his solo number to “Crazy On You.” (Michael Weiss gets the unplugged version of “Alone.”) Boitano phoned us this afternoon from Atlantic City, where he’s taping another NBC special, A Salute to the Golden Age of American Skating (airing Dec. 25, 4 p.m. ET), tomorrow. (For that, he’s skating his classic program “Shenandoah/They Call the Wind Maria,” and yes, for those like me who would consider a road trip to see him on the same ice as Paul Wylie again, there will be an all-star group number. “If the group ever gets here,” he says, after a workout on the ice. “I’m like the first person here. I’m like, ‘Where the hell is everybody?’” Who’ll be the last person to show up? “Debi Thomas,” he says without hesitation.) While he waited, we asked him how he knows it’s the holiday season. Not surprisingly for a man nominated for a Tasty Award for Best Home Chef in a Series (vote now!), planning a cookbook (most likely titled What Would Brian Boitano Make?, just like his show), and booked to cook for HP executives at the Sundance Film Festival next month, many of them revolve around food.

Brian Boitano knows it’s the holiday season when… READ FULL STORY »

Dec 10 2010 03:43 PM ET

'Spider-Man' reboot: Chris Zylka will play Flash Thompson

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Chris-ZylkaImage Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesFlash Thompson is the jockiest jock in comic book history. He plays football, throws parties, bullies nerds, and is nicknamed “Flash.” Peter Parker’s teenaged nemesis wasn’t onscreen very much in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy (although, fun fact, he was played by Joe Manganiello, the terrifically ugly actor who now plays Alcide on True Blood.) But since Marc Webb’s Spider-Man reboot is set in Peter’s high school days, it follows that Flash will probably be more of a presence. So keep an eye on Chris Zylka, who will be playing Flash in the movie, according to The Wrap. Zylka’s best-known for appearances on Hannah Montana and MTV’s My Super Psycho Sweet 16 trilogy. (Yup, trilogy.) Part of the fun of the Flash Thompson character is that his low-level bullying somehow felt just as terrifying as the supervillains’ various evil schemes. He was a breath of fresh air and bitter high school reality. Of course, he also adored Peter Parker’s web-swinging alter ego. (Irony!)

Between Andrew Garfield as the new Spidey, Blonde Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben, possibly Sally Field as Aunt May, and Rhys Ifans as the Villain-To-Be-Named-Later, casting is just about finished on the key roles for the reboot. PopWatchers, do you like what you see so far? Think Zylka can pull off Flash? Is it just me, or does be bear a striking resemblance (along with a vaguely similar surname) to ’80s bully Billy Zabka?

Dec 10 2010 02:44 PM ET

How do you like your Santa? Naughty or nice?

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For nearly 200 years, our popular impression of Santa Claus has been shaped by the beloved holiday poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” in which chubby and plump St. Nick’s twinkling eyes, merry dimples, rosy cheeks, and cherry nose set the mold for the iconic elf. (See: Miracle on 34th Street and The Polar Express.) But it only takes a few seconds of this semi-NSFW clip to be reminded that there is such a thing as too much jolly. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 10 2010 02:17 PM ET

This week in trailers: A 'Transformers' teaser, Hugh Jackman's 'Real Steel,' and more!

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If this week’s trailers were in a Jeopardy category together, it would have to be “Movies About Things That Aren’t Human”: You’ve got the giant robots in Hugh Jackman’s Real Steel, the aliens in I Am Number Four, the giants who are both robots and aliens in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the chatty birds in Rio, and Mel Gibson’s disturbing puppet in The Beaver, to name a few. Check them out, and then let us know which one you think will get the most actual human into theaters. READ FULL STORY »

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