Image Credit: Nicola Dove
Which raunchy comedy concerning a quartet of male friends and their alcohol-fueled misadventures in a warm foreign country grossed $71m when it was released in the U.K. last year? Surprisingly, the answer is not The Hangover Part II—which garnered a comparatively meager $53m—but The Inbetweeners Movie, a big screen spin-off of a U.K. sitcom about four hapless teenagers.
Image Credit: Carlo Allegri/AP
Michael Clarke Duncan, who received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in 1999′s The Green Mile, has died, EW confirms. He was 54.
The actor, who most recently played Leo Nox on Fox’s Bones spin-off The Finder, suffered a heart attack in July that kept him in the intensive care unit for over a month.
The 6 -foot-4 Duncan made a name for himself by playing roles that called for someone of his massive size — like bodyguards and bouncers. His role in 1998′s Armageddon was among his first exposure to mainstream audiences, who quickly fell in love with Duncan’s charming demeanor. He went on to appear in The Green Mile as death row inmate/healer John Coffey, the role that earned him his Oscar nomination. He also appeared in The Whole Nine Yards, Sin City, Daredevil, and many television shows, including Chuck and The Finder.
A statement from his rep is below:
Michael Clarke Duncan passed away this morning in Los Angeles, said his fiancée, Reverend Omarosa Manigault. The Oscar-nominated actor suffered a myocardial infarction on July 13 and never fully recovered. Manigault is grateful for all of your prayers and asks for privacy at this time. Celebrations of his life, both private and public, will be announced at a later date.
In what appears NOT to be an April Fool’s Day joke, Ashton Kutcher is set to play Steve Jobs in an upcoming indie pic from Swing Vote director Joshua Michael Stern, EW confirms.
The film, titled Jobs, will be written by Matt Whiteley and chronicle the late Jobs’ journey “from wayward hippie to co-founder of Apple,” according to Variety, who first reported the news. He is said to start filming in May after Two and a Half Men wraps its current season. (It is worth noting, as well, that Kutcher is not yet officially set to return for another season of the CBS hit.)
Jobs died in October after a battle with cancer.
Unless you were wise enough to register for a 3-D-capable television during your surprise wedding (well played, Andy and April), the new television trailer for the upcoming re-release of Titanic probably looks and feels just as you remember it. Kate and Leo are once again the doomed young lovers, Rose and Jack, the visual effects are still eye-popping, and deny it all you like, Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” gives you goosebumps. “Are you ready to go back to Titanic?” Come on, Bill Paxton, like you even needed to ask. Watch the clip here: READ FULL STORY »
The Undefeated, Stephen K. Bannon’s documentary that favorably highlights the amazing political journey of Sarah Palin, will premiere on Reelz Channel on March 11. That’s a day after HBO premieres its film Game Change, based on John Heilemann and Mark Halperin’s account of the historic 2008 presidential campaign and starring Julianne Moore as Palin, Ed Harris as John McCain, and Woody Harrelson as Steve Schmidt, the strategist who came to second-guess his initial brainstorm to potentially put Palin one heartbeat from the presidency.
Read more:
Sarah Palin’s ‘The Undefeated’: We saw it so you don’t have to!
Trailer for Sarah Palin documentary ‘The Undefeated’: From Maverick to Warrior
‘Game Change’ director says his Sarah Palin isn’t a caricature. Plus, a new poster.
Sarah Palin ‘Game Change’ meltdown: Julianne Moore talks portrayal
‘Game Change’ trailer: Julianne Moore’s Sarah Palin does NOT want to go back to Alaska
Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Kristen Wiig will honor her Bridesmaids producer Judd Apatow with the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy at the Writers Guild of America awards in New York City, the east coast wing of the WGA announced today. The award is named after the veteran TV writer (The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Saturday Night Live, The Dennis Miller Show) who was president of the WGA, East for 14 years.
Daytime TV writer Claire Labine (General Hospital, One Life to Live, Guiding Light) will receive the Ian McLellan Hunter Award, given to a writer for their body of work.
The WGA Awards will be held on Feb. 19 at the B.B. King Blues Club in New York City, and at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. Rachel Dratch is hosting the event in New York, Joel McHale and Zooey Deschanel will emcee in L.A.
Read more:
‘Bridesmaids,’ ‘The Descendants’ lead WGA nominees
Joel McHale, Zooey Deschanel to host WGA awards show
You had better be incredibly invested in the outcome of the rematch between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots (or that Madonna and LMFAO halftime show) come Sunday, because at this point you’ve probably seen most of the pre-released Super Bowl commercials. Of course, if you’re just as interested in seeing Eli Manning face off against Tom Brady as you are watching Matthew Broderick face his Ferris Bueller past, you should probably steer clear of Sacha Baron Cohen’s General Aladeen.
In a Super Bowl-themed ad for The Dictator, Cohen’s Aladeen informs that not only has he purchased NBC (maybe he’ll do something about Whitney?), but he knows “the final score.” Thankfully the dictator spares us the news of who emerged victorious and instead shows previously seen trailer footage — including Megan Fox’s appearance and his own unsportsmanlike conduct during a track meet — from the upcoming comedy. Watch: READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival
The Directors Guild of America announced its annual awards tonight at a ceremony in the Grand Ballroom above the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The Artist‘s Michel Hazanavicius took home the prize for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Feature Film. Fellow nominees Martin Scorsese (Hugo) and Alexander Payne (The Descendants) also spoke at the event while accepting their nomination medallions. As is his custom for awards events, nominee Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) was not present; nominee David Fincher (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) had to fly to the premiere of his film in Tokyo, Japan, although he did attend the nominee breakfast Saturday morning.
Hosted by Kelsey Grammer, the evening also feted directors for feature documentaries, and TV dramas, comedies, reality shows, made-for-TV movies and miniseries, soap operas, children’s programming, and commercials.
Since 1948, the DGA Award winner for feature film has gone on to win the Academy Award for Best Director every year save for six exceptions, most recently when Rob Marshall took home the DGA Award for Chicago in 2002, while Roman Polanski won the Oscar for The Pianist.
Check out the full list of winners below: READ FULL STORY »
Most fans of Carrie Preston know her best as the high-strung Arlene on HBO’s True Blood, or her recurring role as the brilliantly ditzy lawyer Elsbeth on CBS’ The Good Wife. But she was at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her work behind the camera, as the director of the distaff sex comedy That’s What She Said. It isn’t her directorial debut — that was the 2005 indie 29th and Gay — but it is her first time at Sundance as a filmmaker. So to commemorate the occasion, we took to the skies, riding a gondola at the Canyons Resort high above Park City, Utah. As I struggled to overcome my fear of heights, Preston gamely talked about her film, her hilariously harrowing trip to the annual Sundance directors brunch, and what to expect from both True Blood‘s Arlene (more Scott Foley!) and The Good Wife‘s Elsbeth (is Will’s grand jury case over?). Check out our interview below: READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images
Because of the 487 hour (approx.) time difference between Los Angeles and New Zealand, Bret McKenzie was asleep when it was announced his Muppets movie tune “Man or Muppet” had been nominated for an Oscar. “My phone was ringing hot,” says the Kiwi and Flight of the Conchords member about discovering the news. “Then I checked my email. I had a lot of emails.”
