The Screening Room

A lot can change in a week's time.

In preparation for my New Moon coverage I saw the first Twilight movie on Sunday and was not that impressed. Still, I dove head first into the Twilight pandemonium Thursday night thanks to a fan meet-and-greet with actor Charlie Bewley at the AT&T store off of Park Lane and Central Expressway.

Of course I've heard about and covered the Twilight madness for nearly a year now, but with the new movie I figured it was time to investigate more into what's surely a moment in pop culture history. Thankfully, Bewley's sort of new to it all as well, and the fans weren't hesitant to let me know what they loved about it.

Join our conversation at 1 p.m. Monday as we discuss the new Twilight film. We'll be discussing parental concerns, casting changes, book vs. film, and we'll take a look at the film from a guy's perspective. To give you some background on our Twilight expertise, click the "Continue reading" link down below to see who we have on the panel.

Twilight fans are getting another addition to the empire with news out today that a "family restaurant" called Volterra will open in Forks, Wash., where the vampire book and movie series is set.

So, now there's a TV show, a lounge, several homes on the Web and so on and so forth.

Turns out the folks in charge of opening this restaurant didn't check with another place called Volterra in Seattle. But owners Annette and Tim Root say that "Volterra" is just a working name.

Stay tuned.

(Photo of Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen and Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan by Kimberley French for Summit Entertainment)

Michael Jackson's This Is It opens at 11 p.m. Tuesday in area theaters, though the movie's official opening date is Wednesday. Tickets are widely available, including at www.thisisittickets.com and at individual theaters and movie Web sites such as Fandango.

The movie's running time is 1 hour and 51 minutes, for those of you wondering just how much of the reported 120 hours of footage made it onto the screen.

I'm sure the DVD will be ready for purchase during the holiday season. Aren't you?

Really? They don't have even one Oscar betwixt the three of them? Lauren Bacall, Roger Corman and Gordon Willis will receive honorary Oscars at a gala to be held Nov. 14. Little Shop of Horrors has always been my favorite play, my favorite movie, with my favorite songs. I figured the Academy wouldn't see the genius there, but, really, you would've thought that with all the films that Bacall and Corman made that they would have at least stumbled on an Oscar. Really.

Bacall, Corman, Willis to get honorary Oscars
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Actress Lauren Bacall, producer-director Roger Corman and cinematographer Gordon Willis are the first Oscar winners of the season.
The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday that the three will receive honorary Oscar statuettes.
Bacall made her screen debut with Humphrey Bogart in "To Have and Have Not" in 1944. She went on to star in more than 30 films, including such classics as "The Big Sleep" and "Key Largo." Corman has directed more than 50 films and produced more than 300 during his five-decade career, including "It Conquered the World" and "The Little Shop of Horrors (1960). Willis is a two-time Academy Award nominee for "Zelig" and "The Godfather, Part III."
The board also voted to present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producer-executive John Calley. His producing credits include "Postcards from the Edge," "The Remains of the Day," for which he earned a Best Picture Oscar nomination, "Closer" and "The Da Vinci Code."
All four awards will be presented at the Academy's inaugural Governors Awards gala event on Nov. 14 in Hollywood.

Tyler Perry, once again, isn't showing his latest movie to critics. We probably couldn't sway you one way or the other about his film anyway. But the headline on the explanation below says it all. So check Guide Daily and dallasnews.com on Saturday for a review.

I Can Do Bad All By Myself, without any help from critics
By Robert W. Butler
The Kansas City Star

TYLER PERRY'S I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF
Rated PG-13
Time: 1:53
What is it? Madea (writer/director Tyler Perry in full-bosom drag) practices tough love on miscreant kids, putting them in the hands of their aunt (Taraji P. Henson), a nightclub singer struggling to get her own life together.
Why didn't Lionsgate show it to the press? It's been several years since Perry has shown his work in advance.
Why we'd see it: Perry's work is hugely popular, and Bad looks to have his trademark blend of raunch and moral uplift -- with musical numbers, too (Mary J. Blige and Gladys Knight are in the cast).
Why we wouldn't: Seems to some of us that Perry keeps remaking the same movie.

(Photo of Taraji P. Henson from Lionsgate)

Well, well ... we have two offenders this week. Rumer Willis' star turn as a damsel in a bit of distress isn't going to get the critic treatment in time for opening night. Ah, well. We've got you covered until the review hits Guide Daily and dallasnews.com.

Sorority Row doesn't allow critics
By Robert W. Butler
The Kansas City Star
SORORITY ROW
Rated R
Time: 1:41
What is it? After one of them dies in a prank gone wrong, sorority sisters try to keep the death a secret ... but find themselves stalked by a murderous stranger.
Why didn't Summit Entertainment show it to critics? Hollywood has realized even positive reviews can't help exploitation efforts like this one.
What others are saying: "Boasting a welcome sense of tongue-in-cheek humor and girlsploitation heroics (all the product placements get a bit much, though), Sorority Row isn't just another brain-dead and bloodthirsty exercise in macabrely entertaining those who like to watch people die in gruesome, graphic ways," says EmpireOnline.co.uk.
Why we'd see it: There's a big shower scene, right?
Why we wouldn't: No-name director and cast don't inspire confidence.

(Photo by Michael Desmond/Summit Entertainment)

If you hurry, you can catch a wax figure of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine as it hits the Dallas stop on its five-city tour in anticipation of the Sept. 15 release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine on DVD and Blu-ray. The wax figure is at the Blockbuster Video at 3501 McKinney (McKinney and Lemmon) until 7 p.m.

If that's too much information too late, then you can wake up early tomorrow morning and head downtown to WFAA studios in Victory Park (3030 Olive St.). The wax figure will be there at 8:15 a.m. Sharp. (LOL ... I crack myself up!)

Tussauds spokesman Neil Linssen, who is also a sculptor and artist, is riding shotgun withthe statue. He'll talk about the sculpting process. The head of this particular figure took more than six weeks so that they could get an accurate likeness of Jackman.

I'll race you there! (And, um, yeah. That's the wax figure to your right ...)

More often than not, we'll all know a film is opening on a certain date, but we won't get to see it in time to give you a review. That hamstrings us just as much as it does you, dear reader. So, I've found this little feature that we'll try to trot out every time we miss out on the big films.

You can always come back home for the review, though, just not on Friday ... Sigh. This week's hold-out? Gamer, starring Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall and Ludacris, ahem, Chris Bridges.

By Robert W. Butler
The Kansas City Star
GAMER
Rated R
Time: 95 mins.
What is it? In the future people play video games in which real living humans -- convicts who volunteer hoping for an early release -- become pawns in life-and-death scenarios.
Why didn't Lionsgate show it to the press? The studio has a longstanding policy of not screening most of its exploitation and genre titles for critics.
Why we'd see it: We're big fans of Scottish actor Gerard Butler (as one of the prisoners who gets wrapped up in the game) and Michael C. Hall (TV's Dexter, as a sinister game designer).
Why we wouldn't: Writers-directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor made the high-energy, low-content Crank films. This looks like more of the same ... and we're looking for something more substantial.

(Photo of Gerard Butler by Saeed Adyani/Lionsgate)

What a deal! Disney is set to aquire Marvel Entertainment, giving them access to the Marvel vaults and every character Stan Lee ever dreamed of. While it's a boon for Marvel shareholders, what might that mean for Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.)? Will Disney, notorious for scrubbing clean anything it touches, demand that future representations of Stark and his hard-partying ways be toned down?

Will the Punisher adopt a Mickey Mouse shirt instead of his death skull. Will Wolverine suddenly start playing nice? Will Minnie and Magneto run off together? Stay tuned. This should be fun.

I will say this: Marvel is late to the game as DC has been under Warner Bros. for years. Perhaps that's why the movies made from DC comics seem to have more of a soul and less popcorn. What say you?

(Photo by DAMIAN DOVARGANES/The Associated Press of Stan Lee with one of his creations at Marvel)

Dolby 3D has arrived. It made an impressive debut on Friday at Studio Movie Grill -- the only place in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that has Dolby 3D at the moment -- in the form of X Games 3D: The Movie. The film itself is not exactly my vision of cinematic heaven, but it offered a good showcase for an amazing new technology, which is vastly superior to any 3D I've ever seen. Maybe it's the glasses. They're hardly the cheap, roadside-gas-station-like sunglasses you're used to wearing for 3D movies. Each pair of the Dolby 3D glasses costs $28. Brian Schultz, the owner and founder of Studio Movie Grill, told me he purchased 900 pairs for each Studio Movie Grill. That's $25,000 per outlet, and the cost is increasing, since Studio Movie Grill is now available in Dallas (Royal Lane and Central), Addison, Plano, Lewisville, Arlington and at two locations in Houston. It was really cool to watch Dolby 3D previews of A Christmas Carol (starring Jim Carrey) and the Alice in Wonderland movie starring Johnny Depp that won't arrive until 2010. Lynne McQuaker, director of creative affairs at Studio Movie Grill, says one of the boldest examples of Dolby 3D promises to be the highly anticipated Avatar, director James Cameron's first feature film since Titanic. It opens Dec. 18. Studio Movie Grill will also show live concerts in Dolby 3D in the coming months. You can read all about it in this story, which appears in the GuideSunday section of The Dallas Morning News.

Photo: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs will make its Dolby 3D debut on Sept. 18

Multiple sources including CNN.com are reporting that director John Hughes has died of a heart attack in New York.

Hughes directing credits include Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

So the man who brought us Showgirls and Sharon Stone's, er, interrogation scene in Basic Instinct now wants to turn his attentions to the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Yeah, you read that right.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- "Basic Instinct" screenwriter Joe Eszterhas is moving from racy to religious for his next Hollywood project.

The writer whose credits include the sexually explicit megabomb "Showgirls" plans an original screenplay on the Virgin of Guadalupe, an icon of the Virgin Mary that supposedly appeared to a Mexican peasant in the 16th century.

Once notorious as a heavy boozer and smoker in Hollywood, Eszterhas overcame his addictive habits and found God after he was diagnosed with throat cancer.

"This is a labor of love for me," Eszterhas said. "I have been hoping for some time to write a film that is both entertaining and inspiring."

Eszterhas' as-yet-untitled Guadalupe project is being written for Mpower Pictures, founded by producer Stephen McEveety, whose credits include Mel Gibson's religious blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ."

"Basic Instinct" with Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone established Eszterhas as one of Hollywood's top screenwriters, while the much-anticipated "Showgirls" became one of the industry's all-time flops.

I came across the trailer for Alice in Wonderland (creepy) and thought I would share it on the blog. Alas, when I went to do that, Disney had filed a copyright claim for it on YouTube. Go ahead, click on it. It says "This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions."

So, I noticed that my friend Sandi Jo found another trailer embedded in another place. But here's the rub. If Disney is stalking the Web, trying to keep people from seeing this trailer, I'm not setting us up like that.

It's all over the Web, though, in Disney-approved places which doesn't include some of my usual haunts. And it's a sight to behold. There's Facebook groups devoted to the Red Queen, the White Queen and the Mad Hatter. The group who has the most members at 4 p.m. Pacific will get the first look at the trailer that Tim Burton was supposed to present at Comic-Con tomorrow. Run, children, and press play.

(Photo of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter courtesy of Disney via the Associated Press)

Could it be that Brüno had a killer first round only to be knocked out in the second? TIME magazine has a fascinating story about Brüno losing major box-office share from the moment it opened at 12:01 a.m. Friday through the rest of last weekend. Brüno did finish first in the weekend sweepstakes, but the experts are calling it a defeat, of sorts, because the dropoff was so substantial from the end of Friday to the end of Sunday. And why? TIME blames it on Twitter, saying it may become the first movie casualty of the Twitter age.

Photo: Sacha Baron Cohen as Brüno

So, DC Comics is going all movie again and this time the casting's for Green Lantern. Rumor (and the Hollywood Reporter and Wired.com) has it that the casting is down to three, ahem, stars to play Hal Jordan. You know, he's the straight-arrow pilot picked by a dying alien to join the Green Lantern Corps, protecting that sector of the Universe that contains Earth.

Anyway, the three finalists are: Justin Timberlake (Alpha Dog, numerous Saturday Night Live appearances); Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, Wedding Crashers); and Ryan Reynolds (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Proposal).

Either way, I don't know if I like any of them for Hal Jordan and it seems that the producers, writers and director all have a different favorite. Just squash it, I say, and go with the John Stewart Green Lantern. And for that? Well, I'm all about some Henry Simmons.

Until then, "In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight."

(Photo from atomicpopcorn.net)

Brüno made its way into theaters today, so now we can see whether it passes the box office test. Sacha Baron Cohen's previous guerilla effort, Borat, earned $260 million worldwide. Having seen the new movie, I'm amazed by his utter fearlessness in going after such targets as a real terrorist, not to mention incting a near riot in Fort Smith, Ark. Baron Cohen uses Brüno to make a bold statement about homophobia, as Borat attempted to pull the mask off racism. But already, Brüno has its critics. Salon suggests in its review that gay-rights groups may be less than thrilled with the movie, and Newsweek quotes sources in Arkansas who question the authenticity of scenes filmed there. I wrote this story last Sunday that quoted two women who attended the taping of a fake Brüno talk show in Carrollton about a year ago and who were less than thrilled with what went down.

Photo: Sacha Baron Cohen as a gay Austrian fashionista in the new movie Brüno.

Brace yourself is right. Bruno, Sacha Baron Cohen's latest entry in guerilla filmmaking, arrives in theaters July 10. As I have written about before (in this story), Baron Cohen came here a year ago and filmed scenes at an office park in Carrollton. He lured in the unsuspecting by having his production team recruit audience members for a new TV talk show on family values. What ensued was pretty wild. You can read more about it on Sunday, when I offer my latest on Bruno's escapades (and how he offended a whole bunch of local people). I just got back from Baron Cohen's native London, where he is wildly popular. Mention his name at a pub and they start telling their favorite stories from Da Ali G Show, especially the one where he duped soccer star David Beckham and his wife, ex-Spice Girl Victoria Beckham. As Mike Bell, the colorful owner of Portobello Gold in Notting Hill, London's best pub-hotel, told me, he thinks Baron Cohen is "brilliant." My own favorites were his Da Ali G Show interviews with former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Bruno is apparently so wild that in England, it got an 18 rating, meaning that no one under 18 can get in to see it. Period. You can read about that in this story.

Photo: The one and only Sacha Baron Cohen

Iron Man 2 won't be out until May 2010, but that doesn't stop fangirls (and boys) from salivating over every scrap we get out of Marvel and anywhere else.

Jon Favreau is back as director, and Robert Downey Jr. (perfect casting, right?) is back as Tony Stark. This time, though, we get Mickey Rourke joining in on the fun.

What'll he look like as Whiplash? Well, I got you. Always. Look up.

(Photo from Marvel.com)

Well, I don't think founder Dan Florio meant his Web site to be an aid for all of us trying to avoid a recurrence of kidney stones, but it's sure going to help.

Florio's Web site, wonderfully titled Runpee.com, tells you when it's OK to leave during a film because you have to, well, you know ... He came up with it while watching Peter Jackson's King Kong (at least it was an inspiration for something besides my S.O. yelling at the screen, "Leave the monkey alone!").

I sure could have used it when I saw every film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy in one sitting. No matter; it's here now, with the tagline of "Helping your bladder enjoy going to the movies as much as you do." With even comedies heading into the three-hour ring, now every moviegoer's bladder (bless your heart, pregnant women; the Web site even has a maternity T-shirt) can breathe a sigh of relief.

Community activist Jason Roberts is doing some cool things at the storied Texas Theatre, and Saturday night promises to be one of the coolest. At 7 p.m. Saturday, he and the Oak Cliff Foundation are showing the legendary movie Bonnie and Clyde at the Jefferson Boulevard theater, where, of course, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested in 1963. The Oak Cliff Foundation has renovated the Texas Theatre and is trying to do more. They have shown the movies Oswald's Ghost and JFK, and the Dallas Summer Musicals would eventually love to use it as one of its venues. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker hailed from West Dallas and undoubtedly spent plenty of time in Oak Cliff, maybe even at the Texas Theatre, which opened in 1931. Saturday marks the 75th anniversary of the ambush that killed the lawbreaking pair, whose exploits are chronicled in the 1967 movie, directed by Arthur Penn and starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. (Please click below to read on.)

Photo: Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde

The final film starring Heath Ledger, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, had its premiere at Cannes.

Director Terry Gilliam, if you remember, thought of canceling the production when his star was found dead from an accidental prescription pill overdose. But three other A-list stars stepped in to play Ledger's character in three different incarnations during the fantastical sequences in the film: Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell. The actors played for peanuts, as the money they would have been making was set aside for Ledger's daughter with actress Michelle Williams (Wendy and Lucy), Matilda.

Awwww. Right? Well, reviews have been circulating and they're killing the movie softly.

One would have hoped for better as an epitaph for Heath Ledger, one of Hollywood's rising stars but it's early yet. We'll see.

(Photo of Terry Gilliam by ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP/Getty Images)

Exclusive interview by the Los Angeles Times:

For more than 2 1/2 years, Farrah Fawcett's battle with cancer has sparked a flurry of headlines for celebrity tabloids. But it has also stripped the actress of her ability to seek treatment while maintaining her privacy, she said in an interview.

In a three-hour conversation with The Times in August -- her only media interview after being diagnosed with anal cancer in September 2006 -- Fawcett denounced the National Enquirer for publishing leaked details about her illness, including some that she said were false. And she criticized UCLA Medical Center for failing to protect her medical records from snooping employees.

The former "Charlie's Angels" star, 62, said she set up a real-life sting operation to prove to UCLA that one of its employees was leaking her medical data to the Enquirer. She also talked about the pressure she felt from the hospital to donate money to set up a foundation in her name.

(Read the rest of the story, and see video of Fawcett's interview.)

A two-hour documentary, Farrah's Story, about the actress's struggle with cancer, will air Friday on NBC.

Photo: Farrah Fawcett arrives for the MTV Video Music Awards in this August 2004 file photo. (AP file)

From the Associated Press:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal have made it official.

Amanda Silverman, Gyllenhaal's publicist, says the couple were married Saturday. She didn't provide any details.

Gyllenhaal and Sarsgaard have a daughter, Ramona, who was born in October 2006. They announced their engagement earlier that year.

Gyllenhaal's film roles include "The Dark Knight" and "World Trade Center." Sarsgaard has appeared in the films "Jarhead," "Boys Don't Cry" and "Kinsey."

The couple recently co-starred in an off-Broadway revival of the classic play "Uncle Vanya."

Well, we've got your first look at the Wolf Pack right here.

Alex Meraz (Paul), Chaske Spencer (Sam Uley), Bronson Pelletier (Jared), and Kiowa Gordon (Embry) star in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, in theaters Nov. 20.

(Photo courtesy of Timothy White)

That crazy Sacha Baron Cohen came to North Texas last June and punked dozens of unsuspecting citizens at a Carrollton office park by inducing them to show up as the audience for a "new television talk show." I wrote a column about it (click here to read it) because my son was among those who showed up for the $50 cash they were giving out. It turns out Cohen was using this local audience as comic fodder for his next movie, which features the gay Austrian fashionista Bruno. We have seen Bruno before, in the Da Ali G series on HBO, but apparently, few of the folks who showed up at the office park had ever heard of him. Well, now the London Times has an "exclusive" trailer of the Bruno movie on its Web site. Click here to view it. Bruno is scheduled for a July release.

Photo: Sacha Baron Cohen invades the catwalk in Milan, Italy, to film a scene for his forthcoming Bruno movie

For those of us in the newspaper business, two new movies have taken on special resonance. I went to Studio Movie Grill last night to see State of Play and was frankly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Sure, it's a Hollywood movie but a decent thriller and although some of its references to print journalism are ludicrous (who does the editing at that paper?), much of it rang true. Russell Crowe plays a reporter dedicated to the best of print journalism, a guy who's sniffing out not just a big story but a HUGE story and realizing he needs time, most of all, to give it justice. One of his newsroom colleagues is a blogger who thrice daily feeds the on-line beast, even if the information is not quite ready for prime time. And Helen Mirren plays the editor trying to satisfy a new owner who likes celebrity gossip most of all. Friday marks the release of The Soloist, which apparently deals, in part, with layoffs and buyouts at the Los Angeles Times, whose columnist, Steve Lopez, discovered the schizophrenic homeless guy who plays a mean cello -- the guy at the heart of the story (played by Jamie Foxx). Check out this blog post about The Soloist.

Photo: Russell Crowe in State of Play.

Twilight junkies, here's the latest. Michael Sheen, who wowed as Tony Blair in The Queen and Frost in Frost/Nixon, is going (bad) vampire on us for New Moon according to eonline.com. So, does this bring a class to the project? Or does it bring Sheen down to earth? Do you like the choice?

The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Grammy winners Gladys Knight and Marvin Winans have joined the cast of Tyler Perry's next film, I Can Do Bad By Myself. (Every time I see that title, I think of the song by Jesse James and finish the lyrics, "and I don't need no help to starve to death.")

Already attached to the film are Mary J. Blige, Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Adam Rodriguez (CSI: Miami).

There's obviously going to be a lot of singing going on, with Knight playing a choir-singing matriarch in the film about teens sent to live with their hard-living, nightclub-singing aunt (Henson). Knight, Blige and Winans will sing in the film. And, yes, Madea will be in attendance.

This just in: Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke (right) will be ringside for Wrestlemania XXIV, this Sunday at Houston's Reliant Stadium.

Rourke received several awards nominations for his role as Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler, putting the actor back in the limelight decades after he first came onto the scene in Hollywood. Never one these days to turn up his nose at a good thing, Rourke will continue his feud with WWE Superstar Chris Jericho during the event celebrating Wrestlemania's 25th anniversary. Rourke called Jericho out from the red carpet at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in January, challenging him to a fight. Jericho rose to the challenge, confronting Rourke on Larry King Live.

Who knows? Maybe Rourke will channel "Randy" and climb into the ring. For now, though, he'll be ringside in support of some of my favorites, including Ric "Nature Boy" Flair, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (remember the cartoon Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling with Roddy, Junkyard Dog, Iron Sheik, etc.?) and Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat, all Hall of Famers. The legends will all fight Jericho, and according to a press release, "Jericho will not only be looking to defeat the Legends, but also to show Rourke the difference between being a movie actor and a real WWE Superstar."

You can watch the whole thing live on pay-per-view. Or you can wait for the inevitable blog report.

(Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP)

Patience is a virtue, fanboys. You couldn't wait until this summer?

From CNN.com:

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Someone stole an "incomplete and early version" of the next installment in the blockbuster X-Men movie series and posted it on the Internet this week, according to the studio that owns the billion-dollar film franchise.

Twentieth Century Fox said the FBI was investigating who leaked "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," which is set for release in U.S. theaters May 1.

"The source of the initial leak and any subsequent postings will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law; the courts have handed down significant criminal sentences for such acts in the past," the studio's statement said.

Removing the pirated files from the Internet may prove an impossible challenge, an industry source said. This source did not want to be named because of the sensitive nature of the matter.

Although the studio said it was removed from the Web site that first hosted it, the digital file has probably been downloaded tens of thousands of times, the source said.

"It's not removed from the Internet," the industry source said. "It's still there."

Continue reading on CNN.com.

Photo: Hugh Jackman stars in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Courtesy: 20th Century Fox

So, people are now getting off their sofas and headed to the places depicted in movies. Case in point: The family who lives in the house depicted in The Haunting in Connecticut is complaining of obtrusive, and sometimes scary, visitors.

I get it. You've done the research, or you've watched the special on the Discovery Channel. You figure, "What harm can it do if I just drive by the house? Maybe I'll see a curtain move and get a chilly thrill?" Um, no. Real people trying to carry on real lives now live in the house.

So, if you must, ride by. But don't knock on the door and frighten the children that now live there.

(Photo by Jessica Hill/The Associated Press)

The Hollywood Reporter reports that MacGyver is in the works to become a feature film for New Line Cinema. Maybe this is another sign of the apocalypse, or maybe it's just a sign that Hollywood is only betting on bankable projects.

Richard Dean Anderson, lately of Stargate SG-1, starred as a jack-of-all-trades secret agent that you wouldn't want to leave tied up next to some peanut butter, a paper clip and a headache powder - you'd be in for one big bomb.

(1994 Photo by Peter Kernot)

It's been buzzed about for a while now, but Dakota Fanning has signed on to The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the fast-tracked sequel to Twilight.

The Hollywood Reporter, People.com, MTV.com and various other sources says it's now official that she'll play the vampire Jane, who is "sweet but sneaky" and "sinister." Really, are there any other kind of vampires?

Back in January, when the scuttlebutt was at full scuttle, Fanning told MTV News that "I'm glad that people are excited about me possibly being in it. That's so nice! We're both pale. ... I don't think they'd have to put a lot of makeup on me if it works out. I'm pretty pale as it is."

It'll be interesting to see Dakota take on a character such as this one. Her acting chops are undeniable. But are her fans ready to see her vamp out?

(Photo by MARIO ANZUONI/Reuters)

There's no rest for those Jonas Brothers. It seems that after they visited with local fans outside the Main Event in Grapevine in the wee hours of Sunday morning (watch our video and read about it here), they went on to the home of Jayla Cooper, a nine-year-old from Grapevine who is battling leukemia. Jayla came to national attention as a "child bride" when she married 7-year-old Jose Griggs, who is also battling cancer.

Watch the "Early Show" video of the Jonas Brothers visiting Jayla.

It wasn't quite Waiting for Godot, but it sure felt that way as 10:30 p.m., the announced arrival time, morphed into 1:16 a.m., and the temperature kept dropping into the low 30s. But there we were, on the red carpet, in front of the sprawling Main Event entertainment center near the Cinemark Grapevine, waiting for the Jonas Brothers to jet in from Atlanta Saturday night (er, Sunday morning) and talk to the news media and, of course, a horde of screaming fans about their new movie, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience. (Please click below to read on!)

Photo: Fans in Atlanta scream for the Jonas Brothers, who then flew to Dallas, where they would not arrive until after 1 a.m. Sunday

The final pieces are falling into place for the Harry Potter saga. Fans know that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is coming out July 17 and that part one of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is due out Nov. 19, 2010. Now People reports that the date for part two is fixed: July 15, 2011. Which is not to say that dates can't change. But it does bring an air of finality to the end of the Potter era. An era I will sorely miss.

Now we know the Jonas Brothers are getting a lot of love lately, but this item from Common Sense Media really caught our attention. Not only have they given the Jonas Brothers a 2008 Common Sense Media "Onnie" Award for serving as "strong positive role models for kids and teens," they're working on a 25 Things We love About the Jonas Brothers list. (They've got five reasons posted, they're looking for 20 more).

So, what say you Jonas fans, big and small? Can you tell us 25 things you love about the Jonas Brothers before the Common Sense list is complete?

Oh, no, say it ain't so. It's bad enough when you mess with supposed classics like The Stepford Wives or Friday the 13th. But Clue? CLUE!? That 1980s greatness of Leslie Ann Warren, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, etc etc etc? You, Mr. Gore Verbinski, want to mess with the comic brilliance that is CLUE?

You, sir, are dead to me.

But since this is apparently a foregone conclusion, I leave it to you, gentle readers: Who would be your dream re-make cast? What's your favorite scene/quote from the original?

Here's mine:

(Props to EW's Popwatch for bringing this to our attention.)

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Howard Zieff, a film and television commercial director whose works included "Private Benjamin" and "My Girl," has died. He was 81.

Zieff died Sunday of Parkinson's disease in Los Angeles, said his wife Ronda Gomez-Quinones.

From The Associated Press:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Mickey Rourke is headed to the Academy Awards both as a nominee and a grieving pet owner after the death of his 17-year-old Chihuahua, Loki.

A representative for Rourke, Judy Woloshen, said the actor's beloved dog died Monday night.

Says Rourke: "Loki is deeply missed but with me in spirit. I feel very blessed that she fell asleep peacefully in my arms."

Rourke, who's having a career comeback with his acclaimed performance in The Wrestler, was especially close to Loki and is a longtime owner of chihuahuas.

He thanked all his dogs -- living and dead -- after winning the Golden Globe for best actor last month, saying "sometimes when a man's alone, all you got is your dog."

Photo: Mickey Rourke and Loki with director Darren Aronofsky on Sept. 6, just before the awards presentation at the Venice Film Festival in Italy. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Among the Hollywood bold-face names of this year's Academy Award nominations is one that deserves special mention: Megan Mylan.

South Oak Cliff High School's varsity cheerleading squad has a shot at fame -- and $5,000 -- in a promotional contest for Sony Pictures' new film Fired Up, which opens Feb. 20. To win, though, the girls need your help.
The team already earned $300 in the first phase of the contest, when it performed a one-minute routine incorporating the phrase "Fired up!" on Jan. 31 at Kidd Springs Park Rec Center. Now the Bears' cheerleaders have advanced to the online phase, where the winner will be chosen by Internet voters.
Two dozen teams nationwide made the cut, and videos of their routines have been posted at www.firedup.mtv.com. Go online to watch and cast your ballot (you can vote once a day). The contest ends Monday, so check it out soon. The winning squad will get a cool 5 grand.

Kate Winslet, Mickey Rourke (right) and Slumdog Millionaire continued their gallops toward the Oscars as each won big at the British Academy Film Awards. Slumdog won seven awards, including best picture and best director for Danny Boyle, who thanked the folks who helped get his father's cable back on. Winslet (The Reader) and Rourke (The Wrestler) took home best-acting honors.

Heath Ledger won the award for best supporting actor for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight.

(Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)

Friends and relatives have been telling me for months how much they like the on-demand feature on their cable outlets. Well, I'm a DirecTV (satellite television) subscriber, and it too offers an on-demand feature. I hadn't really explored it until recently and was amazed at what it offers. We watched Witness for the Prosecution, the 1957 film starring Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, Tyrone Power and Marlene Dietrich and directed by Billy Wilder, who was nominated for an Oscar. (Laughton was nominated for Best Actor, and his wife, Lanchester, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.) We also watched The Fortune Cookie, the 1966 film starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. I was amazed to learn that Wilder directed both. Both great movies, and I wasn't charged a penny for either one. There's so much out there nowadays, when it comes to computer-related downloads of movies, it's amazing. And Apple TV, which allows you to watch what's on your iPod or iTunes in high-def, is also amazing -- the envy of every teenager, I've come to find out.

Photo: Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau

Really!? I'm a fan of the women and the shoes and the whatnot, but c'mon! As much as I enjoyed this summer's flick, it felt very much like a much delayed (and much needed) swan song. This just strikes me as last desperate guests who just won't leave the party.

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- There's still sex to be had in the city, even though Carrie Bradshaw has settled down with one man.

New Line Cinema spokeswoman Candice McDonough confirms that "Sex and the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker, her three co-stars and writer-director Michael Patrick King are signed for a sequel to last year's hit movie.

The film will reunite Parker and gal pals Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon.

In a statement, King says: "I'm very excited to work with these amazing actresses again and would love to give everyone more information about the sequel ... but I'm busy with my 'Sex' life."

New Line parent Warner Bros. plans to have the sequel out in summer 2010.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The film isn't even in theaters yet, but "Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire" has already spawned dueling lawsuits.

Lionsgate Films and The Weinstein Co. on Wednesday filed lawsuits in Los Angeles and New York, both claiming they had an agreement with producers to distribute the film.

"Push," based on the 1996 novel by the poet Sapphire and directed by Lee Daniels, was a darling at the recent Sundance Film Festival, picking up grand jury and audience awards.

Entertainment Weekly reports that Dakota Fanning will star as Jane in the Twilight sequel, New Moon.

Dakota Fanning's reps confirmed [Thursday] that the child actress has in fact been offered the role of Jane, a member of Italy's evil Volturi, for the Twilight sequel New Moon. The news was first reported by E! Online. No deal has yet been made. In fact, Fanning and her reps have not met New Moon director Chris Weitz nor Summit Entertainment, the studio behind the franchise. Rumors of the offer were swirling before Fanning's camp even received the official one. They will now meet with Weitz and company next week. New Moon is scheduled to begin shooting in March in Toronto and Italy.

Read the whole scoop here.

So what do you think, Twilight fans? Personally, I find Dakota Fanning just creepy enough to pull it off. Not as creepy as young-Christina-Ricci, but definitely more creepy than young-Kirsten-Dunst and in the same sort of "Oh, isn't she pretty? OH MY GOD!" as she rips out your throat sort of way.

If you ever wonder how Mickey Rourke went from sexy leading man in weird '80s films to weird leading man in '00 films, blame none other than the man himself:

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Mickey Rourke says there is only one person he blames for the spectacular implosion of his career the first time round -- himself.

"You lose your house, your wife, your career, your everything at one time," he says, "You've got to look in the mirror and go 'It's your fault.'"

For a long time it looked like Rourke was destined for obscurity. But, amazingly, he has battled his way back to the top.

It has taken him 15 years, but his critically-acclaimed role in Darren Aronofsky's latest film, "The Wrestler" might finally allow the actor to shake off the notoriety and grab on to the career that should have been his all along.

Continue reading.

Everybody loves a successful comeback, so I for one am cheering Rourke along. I mean, if Britney gets a second chance... Of course, here's hoping there's no Angel Heart sequel in the making.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Indiana Jones and "The Mummy" slayer are teaming up on the big screen - to battle not ancient, otherworldly baddies, but a big medical dilemma.

Brendan Fraser will join Harrison Ford for a medical drama set to begin filming in April, CBS Films announced Wednesday. The untitled movie will be the first production for CBS Films, a feature film division established in 2007.

Fraser will play a father who recruits the help of a medical researcher portrayed by Ford. CBS Films said the film's screenplay is inspired by "The Cure," a book by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Geeta Anand about John F. Crowley, a former Bristol Myers Squibb executive who started his own biotech company to save his two children from a rare muscular disorder

AFI Dallas announced that its third film festival will go from March 26-April 2 and announced a new presenting sponsor, NorthPark Center.

NorthPark Center has hosted several central films in the first two years of the festival. Now, as a presenting sponsor, they will hold more screenings and it's also where you will find the the AFI DALLAS box office, a film festival lounge, galas. NorthPark will also host some red-carpet and other events.

Victory Park will again serve as the "epicenter" of the festival, with some screenings shown on its big screens.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Days after checking himself into a Los Angeles hospital for pneumonia, Patrick Swayze says his condition is improving. The 56-year-old actor, who is battling pancreatic cancer, tells People magazine: "I am alive and plan on continuing to stay that way. ... I am almost in the clear."

Swayze says he checked into the hospital Jan. 9 because of a cough that he suspected was the result of an infection.

Swayze says: "I wanted to jump on it before it turned into a problem. As soon as I got home, I called my doctor and then went straight to the hospital and was immediately put on antibiotics."

Swayze's representatives did not respond to messages seeking comment on his health.

Last week, Swayze told ABC's Barbara Walters that his yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer put him "through hell" while he pushed ahead on his new TV series on A&E, "The Beast," which premieres Thursday.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Jackie Chan soon could be mentoring a karate kid.
The martial arts star is in negotiations to star in Columbia's remake of "The Karate Kid." He would take on the role of mentor Mr. Miyagi, made famous by Pat Morita in the original.
The studio also has signed Harald Zwart to helm the picture, which could begin shooting this year in Beijing.
Jaden Smith is set to star as the boy to be mentored by Chan's character. Like the original, which starred Morita and Ralph Macchio, the movie will examine the relationship between a martial arts expert and a boy who is picked on by bullies.
The setting will be relocated from the U.S. to China. Chris Murphy has been attached to pen the screenplay.
Chan next appears in Relativity's action-comedy "The Spy Next Door."
Zwart directed the hit "Agent Cody Banks" and Columbia's upcoming "The Pink Panther 2."

Twilight fans, rejoice! Your favorite werewolf is definitely back for the sequel:

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Taylor Lautner will be back to morph into the monstrous Jacob Black in the Twilight sequel New Moon.

There had been talk that a bigger, buffer, more menacing actor might play the role when the second of Stephenie Meyer's hugely successful vampire novels hits movie screens come Nov. 20. Lautner, by comparison, appears lean and sweet-faced in part one. But distributor Summit Entertainment and director Chris Weitz confirmed Wednesday that Lautner would be returning.

Stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson will also be returning as the saga's doomed young lovers, high schooler Bella Swan and brooding vampire Edward Cullen.

Catherine Hardwicke's Twilight opened at No. 1 with a whopping $69.6 million at the box office in November, the biggest opening ever for a female director. It has since grossed about $177 million domestically.

Fresh on the heels of its nomination for Best Picture from the Producers Guild, The Dark Knight received a nomination for best adapted screenplay from the Writers Guild of America.

The film was snubbed by the Golden Globes for any type of non-actor nomination, though Heath Ledger received a well-deserved supporting nod. And the movie did receive a nod for the stunts from the Screen Actors Guild. A note to the Academy: Just because a film has ears, a cape and a Joker doesn't mean it's not worthy of flying high.

(Photo by Stephen Vaughan/Warner Bros. Pictures)

From The Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- One of the digital wizards behind such cartoon smashes as WALL-E, Ratatouille" and Finding Nemo is getting an Academy Award.

Pixar Animation co-founder Ed Catmull is receiving the Gordon E. Sawyer Award, an honorary Oscar statuette, for lifetime achievement in computer graphics for filmmaking.

Catmull is receiving the prize at the academy's Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony Feb. 7, which precedes the Feb. 22 Oscars.

It's the second honorary Oscar for Catmull. He's a previous recipient in 2000 for developing Pixar's RenderMan software, which has been used in digital imagery for 45 of the last 50 films nominated for the visual-effects Oscar.

Catmull also has three past scientific and technical awards from the academy.

OK, so I'm watching the David Letterman show on Monday night, when the guest is Dustin Hoffman, who's appearing in the new movie Last Chance Harvey. He tells a great story about the time he played a woman for the movie Tootsie (best comedy ever), for which he won the Oscar as Best Actor. He was dressed up in drag and found himself on an elevator near the Russian Tea Room in New York City. Legendary actor Jose Ferrer happened to be on the same elevator. Mr. Hoffman, who decided to remain in character, started a conversation with Mr. Ferrer, leading up to an obscene remark, which was of course bleeped from the Letterman show. But before then, he, or rather she, kept telling Mr. Ferrer how she had learned to act while doing shows in Dallas. Don't you love these local connections?

Photo: Dustin Hoffman

In my business, we're always looking for the local connection. So, it was quite a kick to come across it twice in recent days (see entry above as well). I got a chance to see the fabulous new movie The Wrestler, in which Mickey Rourke plays a broken-down professional wrestler. For my money, Mr. Rourke deserves to win an Oscar for Best Actor. It's an incredible performance. At one point, the wrestler is working in a butcher shop, which bores him to tears. A guy comes in to buy some meat. The wrestler pretends he's a quarterback and asks the customer to go out for a pass. He hurls the wrapped-up meat, which makes a perfect landing in the guy's shopping cart. "How 'bout them Cowboys!" the wrestler shouts. See, I told you there was a local connection.

Photo: Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

Planning is already under way for the next Batman film -- with Eddie Murphy as the Riddler. Which leaves the question of whether Murphy, who has been more miss than hit for quite some time, can reinvent himself with this role.

Certainly Heath Ledger proved that a remarkable actor can plumb unexpected depths in what had been traditionally been the cartoon villain. Meantime, here's hoping that Ledger gets his much deserved Oscar for his Batman turn. Still can't get over the loss of so much talent when he just kept getting better and better.

First a new director, now a new release date. Will the same weekend in November be the charm again for the Twilight sequel, New Moon? The movie, which has not yet started filming, is already set to premiere Nov. 20.

Let's just hope director Chris Weitz is up to speed -- and yes, we mean that literally. Maybe a little vampire bite would help him the way it did the vampires in their Twilight baseball game -- still one of my fave scenes from the first flick.

Well, the die has been cast, undead fans. Variety reports that Chris Weitz, the director of About a Boy and The Golden Compass, has been tapped to direct the Twilight sequels in lieu of the the ignominiously dumped Catherine Hardwicke.

Word has it that he has the support of author Stephenie Meyer, too.

So what say you, Twilight fans? Does he have your confidence?

(Click below to read the story from Hollywood Reporter.)

Rotten Tomatoes has the trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. All I can say is: Is it May 1 yet?

From The Associated Press:

NEW YORK -- It's another boy for Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber.

A representative for Watts tells People magazine the couple welcomed their second son on Saturday.

The Australian actress and her actor boyfriend are also parents to Alexander Pete Schreiber, born in July 2007.

They have been dating three years and co-starred in the 2006 drama The Painted Veil.

Representatives for Watts and Schreiber did not immediately return phone and e-mail messages seeking further details.

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Batman epic "The Dark Knight," the political biopic "Milk" and the gritty drama "The Wrestler" were among critical favorites that landed on the American Film Institute's list of the year's 10 best movies.

Also on AFI's list, released Sunday, were the animated "Wall-E," Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino," the superhero blockbuster "Iron Man," the indie dramas "Frozen River" and "Wendy and Lucy," the adapted play "Frost/Nixon," and the Brad Pitt epic "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

Unlike other film honors, the institute does not rank films or pick one as the year's best. The filmmakers behind the top 10 choices will be honored at a luncheon Jan. 9.

Many of the films on the list picked up Golden Globe nominations last week and are expected to compete for Academy Awards. Oscar nominations are to be announced Jan. 22.

Among Globe best-drama nominees were "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," David Fincher's drama about a man who ages backward, starring Pitt and Cate Blanchett; and Ron Howard's "Frost/Nixon," based on the Peter Morgan play about the famous TV interview of Richard Nixon by David Frost, starring Frank Langella and Michael Sheen.

The AFI also released a top 10 list of TV shows for 2008, featuring "Breaking Bad," "In Treatment," "John Adams," "Life," "Lost," "Mad Men," "The Office," "Recount," "The Shield" and "The Wire."

The top 10 lists were chosen by two 13-member panels, one each for movies and television. Members included writer Mark Harris, filmmaker Robert Towne, and critics Leonard Maltin, Elvis Mitchell and Richard Schickel.

Once a year, Americans pay close attention to what a small group of foreigners have to say. That time is upon us again with the announcement of the Golden Globe nominations. Treated as the Thanksgiving before the Oscars Christmas, the Golden Globe nominations are treated as the opening bell of the Awards season and have acquired a reputation for being a harbinger of what the Academy Awards may bring. Let's take a look and see what their sooth-saying says about the coming trophy season.

They'll never do it, but the Golden Globe skit I'd most like to see is Meryl Streep in her nun habit from Doubt forgetting in the midst of a quietly intense tirade with Philip Seymour Hoffman what movie she's in and breaking into a song from Mamma Mia!, preferably "Mamma Mia, here I go again..."

I mean, if you're trying to save time in the telecast, wouldn't that be a fun way to combine mention of her nominations for Doubt and Mamma Mia!?

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Screen Actors Guild says it will send strike authorization ballots to its 120,000 members on Jan. 2.

The votes will be counted on Jan. 23, which will not be in time to potentially disrupt the Golden Globe Awards like the writers' strike did last year.

Approval by 75 percent of members is required to pass the measure. If approved, the SAG national board can call a strike.

Read more.

From the Associated Press:

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- The brother of actor Mark Ruffalo has died a week after he was shot in the head, police said Tuesday.

Scott Ruffalo, 39, died late Monday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills Police Sgt. Renato Moreno said.

A phone message left early Tuesday for a Mark Ruffalo publicist wasn't immediately returned.

Two people wanted for questioning about the shooting had surrendered themselves to police earlier Monday.

Shaha Mishaal Adham was suspected of shooting Scott Ruffalo, and authorities had issued an attempted murder arrest warrant for the 26-year-old. Brian Scofield was being held on a misdemeanor traffic warrant.

Jail records didn't indicate whether the pair have hired attorneys, but showed that a court date for Adham had been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday.

Scott Ruffalo, a hairstylist, was found with a gunshot wound to the head in Beverly Hills on Dec. 1. Police haven't discussed a motive.

Mark Ruffalo, 41, has appeared in the films "Zodiac," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "You Can Count on Me" and "Blindness."

You would think the Twilight folks would all be glad-handing and high-fiving each other after the movie's big debut. But no...according to Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily blog, director Catherine Hardwicke has already been canned from the sequels. The next one is New Moon and evidently the studio is considering making it back to back with Eclipse to cut costs.

Nikki speculates that this could be bad for Summit (by upsetting the show's female fans?) if they choose a male director instead -- what do you think? I was not enamored with the direction, but you would think that a $160 million on a low budget flick would generate a little more love or, at least, a gentler letdown.

Story.

From the Associated Press:

The National Board of Review has picked Slumdog Millionaire as the year's best film.

The board's picks, announced Thursday, are considered the first major harbinger of the Academy Awards. The win boosts the awards hopes for Slumdog, which is viewed as the independent film most likely to follow Juno and Little Miss Sunshine in Oscar contention.

Read more.

So what do you think: Have you seen Slumdog Millionaire? Does it earn the designation? What you you have picked?

Steven Soderbergh calls it 'Viva Las Vegas Meets Tommy.'

Read the story on MTV.com's movies blog.

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Fans of the holiday classic "A Christmas Story" are celebrating the film's 25th anniversary with a convention and trips to the house where the movie was made.

The 1983 film, an adaptation of Jean Shepard's memoir of a boy in the 1940s, was set in Indiana but largely filmed in Ohio. The movie starred Peter Billingsley as Ralphie Parker, a young boy determined to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.

The film was a modest theatrical success, but critics loved it. It eventually joined "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street" as a Christmas cult classic.

According to Yahoo! News:

Los Angeles (E! Online) - What fanggirls want, fanggirls get.

While there's still a week to go before Twilight opens in theaters, producer Summit Entertainment is already sinking its teeth into more installments of the vampire romance, acquiring the rights to the next three novels in Stephanie Meyer's series.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the studio has also secured the services of Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg to pen New Moon and Eclipse, the second and third installments of the would-be blockbuster franchise.

Further ensuring squeals from the masses: Lead bloodsucker Robert Pattinson is also on board for the first three films.

The principals have not yet signed for the fourth installment, Breaking Dawn (SPOILER ALERT--the one where regular teen Bella and her vampire love, Edward, finally tie the knot), but presumably that fact is still a significant number of years away from being a worry.

Twilight opens--as if you needed reminding--Nov. 21.

One of the finest documentaries I've seen in years is Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, which had an enthusiastic reception last March at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin. The filmmaker is Kurt Kuenne, whom local audiences may remember as the director of the heavily Texas-flavored Drive-In Movie Memories, produced by Don and Susan Sanders of Grapevine. Mr. Kuenne informs me in an e-mail that Dear Zachary, now being shown theatrically in various cities (thus making it eligible for consideration in the upcoming Academy Awards), will make its national television debut on MSNBC on Dec. 7. No dates yet for any theatrical showings in Dallas, so don't miss the showing on MSNBC. The story is nothing short of amazing.

Photo: The late Andrew Bagby, left, with filmmaker Kurt Kuenne

To watch a trailer of Dear Zachary, click the play button below:

File this under: Skeptical:

From Yahoo! movie news:

Joaquin Phoenix, who turned 34 years old just yesterday, stunned E! Online reporter Jason Kennedy with the announcement that he would be retiring from acting. The two-time Oscar nominee stated this on the red carpet at a Monday benefit for the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps, a charity founded by Paul Newman. Phoenix said that Two Lovers, his upcoming romantic drama with Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw, will be his final on-screen role. "This will be my last performance as an actor. I'm not doing films anymore... I've been through that. I've done it... I'm dead serious."

Read the complete story

High School Musical 3: Senior Year doesn't even open until midnight tonight, but word is already buzzing about the talent that can keep the franchise going now that stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Corbin Bleu have officially "graduated."

Keep an eye on the high school "juniors" introduced in the film, Matt Prokop, 18, and Justin Martin and Jemma McKenzie-Brown, both 14, especially as the Wall Street Journal reports that the Disney Channel has ordered a fourth movie ( the decision has not been made whether it will be released on T.V. or in theaters).

So, what do you think? Tell us if you would see a High School Musical 4 with these teens as the new leads?

I'm also wondering if they're holding out the possibility of Ashley Tisdale's Sharpay returning. The drama teacher does say that Sharpay may be coming back to help her in the drama department...Good idea -- or not?

Check our our review and more HSM 3 coverage here. And don't forget to stick around for some funny outtakes during the credits.

I'm conflicted.

The new Star Trek movie is basically the Trekkie version of Batman Begins, where we get to watch Kirk and Spock and the rest in their youth.

Paramount recently released some new images from the film, and this ensemble shot of the fashionable, hunky crew leaves me with a sinking feeling. Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not an underwear model for The Gap!

On the other hand, there are some actors I very much like in that shot. You've got Simon Pegg from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz scowling in the background as Scotty, while Karl Urban (Eomer from The Lord of the Rings) is almost unrecognizable in his blue shirt and puffy hair as Bones.

And Leonard Nimoy will apparently have a cameo as "Old Spock."

I'm still expecting this to stink, but there's a glimmer of hope.

See all the new shots at TrekMovie.com

From ETonline.com:

The Iron Man will soon have a new best friend! Don Cheadle will replace Terrence Howard as the superhero's best friend, Jim Rhodes, in 'Iron Man 2,' says The Hollywood Reporter.

Read more.

From the Associated Press:

Hospital officials say 37-year-old French actor Guillaume Depardieu has died from complications linked to a sudden case of pneumonia.

The son of French movie star Gerard Depardieu had been hospitalized since Sunday night, said officials at the Raymond-Poincare de Garches hospital in the western suburbs of Paris.

Depardieu acted in more than 40 films, including The Duchess of Langeais, which opened in Dallas in June.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- A cable channel is working on a television movie about a teenager from Alabama who went missing in Aruba in 2005 when she was on a graduation trip.

"The Natalee Holloway Story" is going to be based on a book by her mother, Beth Holloway. The Lifetime Movie Network has started preproduction. The movie will focus on the mother's efforts to find out what happened to her daughter.

The 18-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Ala., was last seen leaving a bar in Aruba with a Dutch college student and two Surinamese brothers. Extensive searches have found no trace of her.

Tanya Lopez, Lifetime's senior vice president for original movies, says in a news release the movie will raise awareness about how to keep children safe.

On the surface, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is about young love, about Michael Cera's Nick and Kat Dennings' Norah realizing, over the course of a crazy night, that they belong together.
But behind, under and all around that love story, the movie is about a lot of things and one of them is the transcendant power and importance of music and the singular manifestation of that power and importance in the homemade mix. As the movie's title reflects, that manifestation has gone through technology-driven re-formatting -- what used to be a mix tape is now a mix disc or even a digital playlist. But while the packaging has changed, the songs, as an intimate expression of self, remain the same.

Our good friends Victor Godinez and Andrew Smith have some movies-related news over on the tech blog:

Iron Man director says Blu-ray version has already outsold all previous Blu-ray movies

Netflix video streaming to Macs by year's end

Reuters reports:

Film director Spike Lee has set off a storm in Italy with a movie about black American soldiers fighting alongside Italian partisans in World War Two.

Surviving members of the resistance to the Nazi occupation of Italy have taken issue with Miracle at St. Anna ahead of the film's Italian release on Friday, distributing protest flyers and accusing Lee of distorting history.

Lee has said he wanted to set the record straight about the role played by black U.S. soldiers in the war. The film is based on a novel by James McBride and focuses on the all-black 92nd Buffalo Division which helped liberate Italy in 1944-45.

At the heart of the dispute is the film's depiction of an infamous 1944 massacre in the Tuscan town of Sant'Anna di Stazzema, where Nazi troops rounded up and killed 560 civilians.

Read the rest of the story

Miracle at St. Anna opened in Dallas on Sept. 26.

From the Associated Press:

Heath Ledger's 2-year-old daughter Matilda Rose will inherit all of her father's estate, Ledger's father says.

The Australian actor, who died from an accidental prescription drug overdose in January, signed a will before his daughter was born leaving everything to his parents and three sisters. Some had speculated his former partner Michelle Williams would lodge a claim for the money.

I was stunned when I heard about Paul Newman's death today. I know he was dying of lung cancer, but still...He lived his life with so much dignity and loyalty and generosity. He was the antithesis of all those moths circling around the light desperately seeking their 15 minutes of fame.

I am thinking of his Newman's Own food line. My son, David, is crazy about his tomato sauce. It goes down real easy, too, when you know it's made with healthy ingredients and all the profits go to a good cause -- more than $200 million to charity and still going under his daughter's supervision.

And I am thinking of my favorite Paul Newman movies. Yes, I know, there were so many good ones! Exodus is one of my sentimental faves. But I can watch The Verdict and Nobody's Fool over and over. And I love the way he voiced the old race car in Cars.

What are your favorite Paul Newman movies and memories?

Can't imagine what Oprah Winfrey could have left on her bucket list. Become a world-famous talk show host? Check. Become one of the richest women in the world? Check. See your face on the cover of your very own magazine every month? Check. Well, now she can check off one more thing. She's going to voice a role in an upcoming Disney/Pixar animated film. She's playing Endora, the mother of the princess in The Princess and the Frog. It's scheduled to release in late 2009.

From Associated Press:

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Stargazers seeking an up-close glimpse of Hollywood's royalty can win seats on Oscar night along the red carpet.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday that 300 bleacher seats will be up for grabs in an online lottery.

Beginning at 9 a.m. PDT Monday, movie buffs can enter for a chance to win a seat in front of the Kodak Theater for the Oscars scheduled for Feb. 22. The lottery runs through 9 p.m. Sept. 28.

Applicants can register for up to four seats at http://www.oscars.org/bleachers .

In previous years, as many as 20,000 fans have applied online for the bleacher seats.

From CNN.com:

Elizabeth Banks has what it takes to be a porn star or first lady. And she'll be strutting her stuff as both on the big-screen within a two-week span.

On October 17, Banks' take on Laura Bush arrives with "W.," Oliver Stone's film biography of President Bush, played by Josh Brolin. On October 31, Banks co-stars with Seth Rogen in "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," Kevin Smith's comedy about two best pals and platonic roommates who shoot their own skin flick to cover their mounting debts.

Farewell to a maestro:

Don LaFontaine, the voiceover king whose "In a world ..." phrase on movie trailers was much copied -- and much parodied -- has died, according to media reports. He was 68.

LaFontaine died Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, according to ETOnline, "Entertainment Tonight's" Web site. He died from complications from pneumothorax, a collapsed lung that causes air to build in the pleural cavity, his agent, Vanessa Gilbert, told "ET."

LaFontaine, who was born in Duluth, Minnesota, began as a voice actor in the mid-1960s while working as a recording engineer, according to his Web site. His strong, slightly gravelly voice was featured on trailers for thousands of films, including "The Godfather," "Fatal Attraction" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." For a time in the late '70s, LaFontaine was the official voice of Paramount Pictures.

Surely this guy should get some kind of posthumous award at the Oscars this year.

UPDATE: You might know Don from this recent Geico ad:

If you were planning on seeing Vin Diesel's big summer movie this week, you might want to rethink your movie choice. At least, that's what the director thinks:

French director Mathieu Kassovitz, who cradled and loved his Babylon AD project for 5 years, is mad as hell at Fox. Citing terrible management, budget shenanigans, bad producers and partners, Kassovitz says making the futuristic tale starring Vin Diesel was a hideous ordeal. What went so wrong with Babylon AD that its own director and star call it "terrible"?

In the film, Vin Diesel plays Toorop, an ex-mercenary who is getting paid to transport an important girl from one end of the globe to another, while dodging enemy fire and hiding from the oppressive government. But according to Kassovitz, it should have been so much more. He worked on a project whose main point was to focus on refugee trafficking in a gritty tomorrow, as well as political issues like censorship and a declining educational system.

Read the rest of the post here.

So: Another case of an evil studio sucking the life and creativity out of a project to make it more marketable? Or a director with auteur visions for his Hollywood popcorn flick? Does this whole thing make you more or less likely to see the movie?

It doesn't sway me from my "maybe I'll catch it someday on Showtime" plan. If anything, it provides a little vindication for my belief that if the studio thought it was a great blockbuster, it would have come out earlier in the summer. And if it was a big think piece, it would find a home this fall. But the end-of-summer dead zone? Not a good sign.

Via io9

Oh, Christopher Nolan, say it ain't so! Admittedly, movie rumors (particularly casting rumors) are a dime a dozen on the Internet, where tales spread like wildfire -- or like a high school grapevine:

The 62-year-old singer and actress is reported to be in talks to play Catwoman opposite Christian Bale in the third Batman film from British director Christopher Nolan.

The Oscar-winner will join a cast that includes Johnny Depp as The Riddler as she plays the whip-carrying burglar. The character has also been played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry.

Continue reading at Telegraph.co.uk.

Time will tell whether to believe this or not. Personally, I think anyone -- or anything -- is a step up from Halle Berry's turn as the iconic figure. But I'm having a hard time seeing how this choice fits in with Christopher Nolan's Batman-verse.

Finding it hard to resist belting out "The Winner Takes It All" or dancing to "Dancing Queen" with Meryl Streep at Mamma Mia!? Resistance is futile and actually detrimental at a new sing-along version of the hit movie opening Aug. 29 at AMC NorthPark and Cinemark Legacy in Plano.

It's part of a limited national release for this cleverly plotted cornucopia of ABBA songs, boisterously performed on a lush Greek island and which despite the scoffing remarks of some (mostly males, ahem!), has already scored more than $320 million worldwide.

Cool thing is, with the words on the screen, you don't have even brush up on the lyrics (as if you didn't know them all). Well, that takes care of our plans for Labor Day weekend...

And if you will be away for Labor Day weekend, look here to find out your closest sing-along location.

I.O.U.S.A., a documentary that inspects the financial troubles facing the country, officially opens on Friday, but a special presentation of the film will be shown Thursday. After the screening, a panel discussion featuring Warren Buffett and other financial leaders will be shown via satellite. All screenings will be held at 7 p.m.; for a list of participating theaters, go to www.fathomevents.com.

As you've no doubt heard by now, the 6th Harry Potter movie has been pushed from its original date of Nov. 21 to July 17, 2009. Apparently, that memo didn't get passed on to Entertainment Weekly, who features the wizard on the cover of its fall movie preview.
Now, working on a publication with deadlines, I understand how these things can happen -- you expect one thing and then someone pulls the rug out from under you after your deadline.
But you don't expect it to happen when you share a parent company with the cover story. Time Warner Inc. owns both Entertainment Weekly and Warner Bros., the studio behind the Potter franchise. Seems like an inter-office memo might have been appropriate in this case. Anyway, just passing that along so you don't feel like your company is the only one that doesn't get the word out to you on important news.