Sunday 27 July 2014

Windblown nuclear melodrama is earnest attempt at period piece

Manhattan is an earnest attempt to dramatize the lives of the scientists and their families living in tactical isolation and under strict security in Los Alamos, N.M., during the latter part of World War II.

The United States is racing to design and build an atomic bomb before the Germans can develop the devastating next-generation weapon themselves.

The action centers on two teams competing for primacy, funding, and resources. John Benjamin Hickey (who plays Chumhum founder Neil Gross on The Good Wife) gives an intense performance as Frank Winter, a scientist completely consumed with the project.

We've long heard rumors of The Last of Movie being a real thing, it appears now as if those rumors are true. Today, Sony tweeted what appears to be the official poster for the movie, and fans are going coo-coo for cocoa puffs already.

The poster only revealed Ellie with backpack on her back and a knife in her hand. It didn't say much, nor did it give us an idea who will end up playing the character. What the poster did tell us, however, is that The Last of Us movie is a real thing, and it could be ready for prime time by 2016 if production begins next year.

When it comes down to who will be playing who in The Last of Us film, we have no concrete idea apart from some rumors we've come across. From what we understand, it appears Sam Raimi will be directing the movie, and Neil Druckmann is expected to pen the script.

LOS ANGELES: Actor Emma Stone says she felt intimidated by filmmaker Woody Allen while working in his directorial venture Magic in the Moonlight. The actor stars alongside Colin Firth in the film. For the 25-year-old, working under Allen’s direction was nerve-racking because the team weren’t given time to get comfortable with him. Firth plays a celebrated stage magician, asked to debunk an American clairvoyant named Sophie Baker (Stone), who appears to have hoodwinked a rich American family in their home on the Riviera.

“It was hugely intimidating. I think after a while you get your sea legs a little bit, but there’s no rehearsal process, there’s no real getting-to-know Woody at all. You are just terrified. It’s all cold,” said Stone.

The Amazing Spider-Man star, who claims Allen “goes to great lengths” to keep his scripts under wraps, didn’t even meet with the director before she was offered the part.

Shocking CCTV footage of Queen Bey's hubby Jay being attacked by Solange in a lift after the Met Ball was leaked earlier this year - and we've been dying to find out what the row was about ever since

THAT lift fight between Beyonce's sister Solange and Jay Z was over Rihanna, it has been claimed.

Shocking CCTV footage of Queen Bey's hubby Jay being attacked by Solange in a lift after the Met Ball was leaked earlier this year - and we've been desperate to find out what the row was about ever since.

Bel Kaufman, who turned her experiences teaching in the New York City public schools into the comic novel “Up the Down Staircase,” one of the best-selling books of the 1960s, which was later made into a film, died July 25 at her home in Manhattan. She was 103.

Her daughter, Thea Goldstine, confirmed the death to news outlets. The cause was not disclosed.

With pitch-perfect tone, “Up the Down Staircase” captured the humor, pathos and administrative nonsense of the urban high schools in which Ms. Kaufman had taught for 15 years.

Thirty years ago today, Prince's funkadelic rock opera Purple Rain hit theaters. Grossing $7.7 million its opening weekend, the film cemented the rock legend's status as a chart-topping, Academy-Award-winning songwriter, and put Minneapolis on the map as an epicenter for innovative music. The Purple Rain soundtrack has sold 20 million copies to date, according to Billboard.

The semi-autobiographical film stars Prince as a gritty performer named "The Kid," a talent struggling with violence in his family life. The loose plot centers around his strained relationship with his father and a burgeoning romance with Apollonia, a striking new girl in town who is hell-bent on becoming a performer herself. The racy love scenes between the pair, although a bit cringe-worthy now, became as iconic as Prince's pranks, including the infamous scene where he insists on "purifying" Apollonia by having her dive into the icy Minnetonka River.

Things got a little crazy at a Keith Urban concert in Massachusetts Saturday (July 26) night.

Billboard reports emergency service workers from six towns responded to numerous reports of illness at Urban's concert in Mansfield, Mass.

According to officials, alcohol consumption was the likely cause.

The magazine's site also reports ambulances arrived from Eaton, Foxboro, Mansfield, North Attleboro, Norton and Plainville to help private ambulance services at the concert held at the Xfinity Center.

Aretha Franklin didn’t get any respect at a Canadian fast food restaurant.

The Queen of Soul was reportedly scolded by a Johnny Rockets worker in Niagara Falls, Ont. for wanting to eat her takeout order - gasp! - inside the restaurant.

Franklin had just finished a sold-out show in nearby Lewiston, N.Y. and stopped into the restaurant to order her usual, a hamburger and cherry coke.

It's time to kick off one of the most historic days in Comic-Con history. Saturday at Comic-Con 2014 - it starts with Warner Bros (perhaps some Justice League?) and ends with Marvel. The WB panel kicks things off as the first show of the day, highlighting these movies: The Wachowskis' sci-fi Jupiter Ascending, George Miller's long-awaited Mad Max: Fury Road, and Peter Jackson's finale The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. There may be some very special surprises, tons of never-seen-before footage, reveals, interviews, appearances and much more. We'll be live blogging the full panel from start to finish.

Updates LIVE directly from Warner Bros Comic-Con panel on Saturday, from 10:00AM - 12:00PM PDT:

12:00 - And that's it! Warner Bros panel is over and things have finished up. Covered three films plus the Batman v Superman surprise at the beginning.

Jennette McCurdy wants everyone to know that she is not a role model and she is proud of her choices. In a rather lengthy rant on Reddit earlier this week, the Nickelodeon star took to the internet to address her recent image problem.

As reported by The Inquistir, the iCarly star took to Reddit to address the many criticisms her once squeaky clean image has suffered due to a March leak of sexy lingerie photos on the internet. The selfies, combined with reported tension between her and co-star Ariana Grande, has hurt Jennette McCurdy in the eyes of the public.

But according to her rant, Jennette does not feel the need to defend herself:

Piper Perabo has reportedly tied the knot with her longtime love Stephen Kay, JustJared.com can confirm!

The couple got married on Saturday (July 26) in New York City, according to Us Weekly. A New Orleans-style band played at the reception that evening.

Piper and Stephen work together on their hit USA series Covert Affairs – she’s the lead actress of the show while he is a director and executive producer.

Thirty years after the final film in the Mad Max trilogy came out, Max is back and madder than ever.

Tom Hardy plays Max in the upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road, a re-imagining of the original 1979 Mad Max that starred (and launched the career of) Mel Gibson. After the success of the first in the trilogy, director George Miller went on to make Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior in 1981 and then Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985 before hitting a wall in the development of a fourth film.

The Griffins are headed to Springfield, in Fox's highly anticipated "Family Guy," "The Simpsons" crossover episode.

According to a Fox news release, the special one-hour show, "The Simpson Guy," will be the Sept. 28, 2014, season premiere of "Family Guy."

The episode, according to the Entertainment Weekly website, EW.com, will find the Griffin family on a road trip that takes them to Springfield, where the two iconic animated families meet.

Things are heating up between Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed.

The duo has not only been consistently hanging out since they sparked romance rumors last weekend, but also reportedly packed on the PDA when they attended a Comic-Con after party Saturday night.

The 35-year-old Vampire Diaries hottie and Twilight Saga actress were kissing and holding hands inside of the Entertainment Weekly party at Hard Rock Hotel's Float Bar, a source tells E! News. "They were so together," the insider said. Another source told E! News Somerhalder and Reed "were hot and heavy," adding that "they weren't hiding their PDA at all."

DC bested Marvel at Comic-Con with its film presentation Saturday -- at least when it came to early online buzz.

The first look at Warner Bros. and DC's "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" edged out Marvel's "The Avengers: Age of Ultron," generating 112,108 overall mentions and 8,356 intent-to-view mentions, or 7%, according to research group Way to Blue.

LOS ANGELES – Luc Besson's "Lucy" proved mind can overpower muscle, topping a remake of "Hercules" by director Brett Ratner at the box office on the weekend.

The Universal Pictures-released movie starring Scarlett Johansson as an accidental psychokinetic took in $44 million in North American movie theaters over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Hercules," starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and produced by Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, brought down an estimated $29 million.

They made their names on buzzy TV shows, and now they’re diving headfirst into the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Ant-Man’s cast Corey Stoll and Evangeline Lilly. The announcement was made at San Diego Comic-Con, because of course it was. Saturday’s Marvel presentation was a relatively low-key event considering that many expected huge announcements concerning the casting for Doctor Strange or some sort of surprise. Instead audiences were treated to the rolling out of Stoll and Lilly, which some will find comforting after Patrick Wilson jumped off the Ant-Man ship that same weekend.

As for who they’ll be playing, Stoll will be playing the film’s Big Bad, a man named Darren Cross who goes by Yellowjacket for his supervillain persona. Of the casting, Marvel head Kevin Feige said:

Pratt, best known to date for his turn as a chunky trickster in NBC's 'Parks and Recreation,' has become an unlikely action hero in the Marvel movie, opening late Thursday in New York City. The 35-year-old actor said he spent five months turning extra weight into muscle for his role as Star Lord.

Actor Chris Pratt brought his own laser-gun sound effects to the set of “Guardians of the Galaxy” — much to the chagrin of the filmmakers.

“I blew a couple of takes because I was making the shooting sounds with my mouth while I was filming,” Pratt says laughing.

SAN DIEGO – The arrival of Frozen's Queen Elsa on ABC's Once Upon a Time sounds like a corporate synergy dream, but producers say it was a matter of creativity, not business strategy.

They wanted Elsa and other characters from the animated Frozen, an Oscar-winning box-office hit, on the fourth-season drama, which returns Sept. 28 (8 p.m. ET/PT), because the two Disney-owned entities embrace similar themes.

"Our show is about a family coming together. That's exact what we love so much about Frozen, that it was two sisters and putting that family together," executive producer Edward Kitsis says. "What we love is you have Elsa, who is not a villain, but she had to face a really tough growing up, contending with who she is, and that's very similar to Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and Regina (Lana Parrilla)."

Below, check out Kristen Bell as iconic nanny Mary Poppins in an all new Funny or Die spoof! In the video, Mary Poppins is quitting her post as overseer of the Banks children. As she explains in song, 'Just a three dollar increase, can make a living wage', in a send-up of the Disney tune, 'Spoonful of Sugar.'

Kristen Bell is currently starring as 'Jeannie Van Der Hooven' in the third season of the Showtime series, "House of Lies." Earlier this year she reprised the title role in Warner Brothers' film "Veronica Mars" and she also lent her voice to the acclaimed new Disney animated feature, "Frozen."

They were seen jetting out of Los Angeles on Thursday.

And on Friday Sylvester Stallone, his wife and three daughters landed in the South of France for a leisurely family holiday.

The Rocky actor and his clan was seen arriving at their European coastal destination and making their way down to a luxury yacht.

The 68-year-old star walked down to the jetty with Sistine, 16, Sophia, 17, and 12-year-old Scarlet in tow and met up with other friends at the marina before hopping on the impressive vessel.

Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams is in line to take on the lead role in Sam Raimi's upcoming movie The Last Of Us.

The actress, made famous for her portrayal of Arya Stark in the hit HBO drama, has not yet officially signed up for the role though writer Neil Druckmann and producer Raimi revealed at Comic-Con that they have met with the 17-year-old.

The film, which is an adaptation of a 2013 video game, will be set in a post-apocalyptic America.

San Diego - A dynamic new lead and an epic-scale chase will be at the center of the new "Mad Max" reboot, as Australian director George Miller reignites his explosive action thriller franchise as the fight for survival in the wasteland rages on.

"Mad Max: Fury Road," the fourth installment of the "Mad Max" franchise that began in 1979 with Mel Gibson in the lead role, saw a post-apocalypse dystopian Australiawhere police officer Max Rockatansky battles hardened criminals of the outback.

Time Warner Inc-owned Warner Bros' "Fury Road," due in theaters next year, is set 45 years in a post-apocalyptic future, and Miller said the whole film is a "105-minute chase scene through the wasteland."

So now we're really sure Stephen Colbert is a fan of The Hobbit.

The late-night host delivered quite the surprise Saturday afternoon when he showed up at San Diego's Comic-Con to host The Hobbit panel. Chris Hardwick was scheduled to moderate but was more than happy to pass on the hosting duties to his friend.

While many fans were ecstatic to see Colbert, others were simply shocked to see him dressed as a lake-town spy.

"I can't believe I get to do this," Colbert said in a video that aired moments before he took to the stage with his son.

Despite rumors making the rounds to the contrary, Sean Penn and Charlize Theron are not engaged yet. Rumors began earlier this week when Charlize was seen wearing a ring on her engagement finger at LAX on July 23rd. And it wasn’t just any old kind of ring, it was a diamond ring — so you know that got the gossips talking!

The ring is an Anita Ko Leaf Ring in 18k yellow gold, but the bling didn’t come from Sean. A source revealed that Charlize foot the bill for the $4,900 piece of jewelry herself. Hey, a girl can buy her own jewelry, right?

Previously, Charlize has spoken of their relationship in the fashion bible, “Vogue”. She said, “A friend kind of stepped into that [romantic] role, and I really didn’t see it coming. We were just really good friends. And it’s been slow going because you are aware that you could screw that up and lose it. We had to think about it. But at the end of the day, it was somewhat effortless.”

American actress Joan Rivers supported Israel saying the country has the right to defend itself against Hamas.

“You cannot throw rockets, and expect people not to defend themselves,” in an address to Palestinians, during an interview with the entertainment website TMZ.

Kendra Wilkinson, reality star and one of Hugh Hefner's former girlfriends, is reportedly "done" with huband Hank Baskett.

The 29-year old is said to be devastated over allegations that her husband, NFL player Hank Baskett, cheated on her with transgender model, Ava Sabrina London, while she was pregnant with their second child.

The issue is too overwhelming for Wilkinson, who is said to be "mortified" by Baskett's indiscretion.

Wilkinson is said to have no interest in reconciling with the athlete.

It’s a case of good news, bad news for Game Of Thrones fans.

Having traditionally written one episode per series, George RR Martin has revealed he won’t be writing an episode of season five. But fans shouldn’t be too disappointed – he’s using the extra time to focus on finishing The Winds Of Winter.

Martin has penned episodes include season two’s Blackwater – featuring one of the most epic battles the show has seen so far – and season four’s The Lion And The Rose, featuring the Purple Wedding.

However, the creator won’t be featuring in season five, with Martin deciding to focus on the latest installment of the written series instead.

Fans of The Simpsons and Family Guy have been given a sneak peek at the upcoming crossover episode – and it’s pretty great.

Nearly five minutes of footage aired at Comic-Con this weekend, with in-jokes galore to keep fans of both shows entertained.

There’s a reference to the ongoing mystery regarding the exact location of Springfield when Stewie ponders which state they’re in. Brian responds: ‘I can’t imagine we’re allowed to say.’

LOS ANGELES - Media reports say the children of Casey Kasem are almost certain the remains of the radio personality are at a Montreal funeral home.

Representatives of the three children are speaking to a number of media outlets about their father.

Fox News quotes a spokesman for Kasem's three children who says they are adamant that their father had no connection to Montreal and to their knowledge had never been there before.

Before taking the role of the Godfather of Soul, the actor played baseball legend Jackie Robinson in '42'

For a long time, it seemed James Brown — the man known to millions of fans as “Mr. Dynamite” — was too explosive for the big screen.

In the last 10 years of Brown’s life, producers tried to get his larger-than-life story to fit into a movie. They couldn’t get the right script, director or actor in place. When Brown died on Christmas Day 2006, things got even tougher.

Zack Snyder has finally given given us what we have all been waiting for at Comic-Con: the first official look at Wonder Woman.

But as much as I want to rave about how awesome it is and how cool, I just can’t, because in all honesty I am completely underwhelmed.

I am not sure if it is because there was so much build-up, or if it is because her outfit is a muddy brown that lacks any real wow factor. Or if it is just because I am still not overly convinced by the casting? And is it just me, or has Wonder Woman been dipping in Xena’s Warrior Princess’s wardrobe?

Marvel has revealed it's to release a sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy in 2017.

The announcement was made at the Comic Con event in San Diego during a discussion about another of Marvel's franchises, the Avengers.

Josh Brolin has been confirmed to play super villain Thanos and will feature in both Avengers: Age of Ultron and Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

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