July 2009 Archives

He told the PA: "Javier is a wonderful actor but now he's so in demand that I don't know if I can. They (Penelope and Javier) are becoming too important (to work with) me."

The two actors worked together in Woody Allen's VICKI CRISTINA BARCELONA in 2008.

Disney is on the verge of putting Rob Marshall in as director of a fourth installment of "Pirates of the Caribbean," a move that puts the film on track for a 2010 production start, with Johnny Depp back as Captain Jack Sparrow.

There hasn't been a director at the helm of the pirate ship since April, when Gore Verbinski stepped out to focus on a movie version of the vidgame "Bioshock" for Universal (Daily Variety, April 7, 2009). Though that film's lost some momentum, Verbinski has moved on to other directing and producing projects.

More here.

He added: "He thought I'd be the one who could get him the rights [to make a Spider-Man movie], and I told him I couldn't. He would have to go to the Marvel company. But we did become friendly... and he was a great guy."

In other Stan Lee news, the comic book legend plays Larry King in the next IRON MAN movie.

David Self will adapt the Robert Ludlum novel of the same name, which is about a CIA operative who thinks he witnessed the execution of his lover after she was identified as a KGB double agent.

He tells MTV.com, "I can't say too much about [the film]. Except that we start shooting in a couple weeks! These things come together very quickly.

"We're casting right now, and the script just came out great. There are a lot of people we're sending it to, big names - but nobody that we've signed yet."

He adds, "Lindsay's cool. There's actually a cool part in the movie for her - if she takes it."

Katie Holmes is set to star in the next 'Sex and the City' movie. The 'Batman Begins' actress has reportedly been approached to take on the role of a feisty New York businesswoman who infuriates Kim Cattrall's man-eating character Samantha Jones in the forthcoming sequel. A source said: "The character they want her to play is a really ballsy, high-powered company executive who tangles with Samantha." Movie bosses are currently working on the follow-up to the 2008 hit 'Sex and the City: The Movie' - which was based on the long-running TV series about four female friends and their chaotic love lives.

Law enforcement sources tell us the man who filed a battery claim against Mel Gibson is making the story up and no criminal charges will be pursued. We're told after interviewing the man -- who claims Gibson tore his shirt after he attempted to take a picture of the star at Playhouse in Hollywood -- cops believe it was impossible for Gibson to have even made contact with him. They tell us Gibson was wedged in a booth with his pregnant girlfriend and couldn't have grabbed the guy's shirt. We're told the "victim" was asked to walk away at least 3 times before the alleged incident. Security told him no photography was allowed in the club, but he persisted. Cops say witnesses tell the same story -- the guy is making up allegations of battery. No one saw his shirt ripped when he left the club. Cops say it's a civil matter at best, and they don't expect to even interview Gibson.

It may seem unlikely, but the men of America are sick of Megan Fox. A dozen male-focused Web sites including AOL's men's lifestyle/humor site Asylum.com -- as well as Ask Men, Just a Guy Thing and Double Viking -- have sanctioned Aug. 4 as a Megan Fox media blackout day. Why the diss? All the editors feel the starlet has become a bit too overexposed -- and they're not just talking about her fashion sense. Fox has appeared on the covers of Esquire, Empire, Maxim, GQ UK, Entertainment Weekly and Elle this year alone, plus she did heavy press for her role as Mikaela Banes in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." "You can have too much of a good thing," says AskMen.com's Editor-in-Chief James Bassil, who tells us, "We're joining in the media blackout and giving our readers a one-day reprieve from the woman we've been drowning in all summer."

"Jude is delighted he's going to be a father again and hopes to play as much of a part in bringing her up as he has with his other children." The source added.

More here.

Director Joe Wright follows up his Oscar-nominated 2007 flick Atonement with 2009's The Soloist. Wright again takes on an adaptation of a book, but here he deals with a true story of mental illness.

As he searches the streets of LA for a story, newspaper columnist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey, Jr.) encounters a homeless violinist. Despite an instrument missing many strings, Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx) plays beautifully but speaks incoherently due to schizophrenia. He claims to have attended Juilliard, and Lopez confirms this.

"This movie is Steve Rogers's origin story, and I think it is our burden to make Steve Rogers as appealing as any of our other characters... he's not just the perfect boy scout who follows order every time. He has ideals he wants to live up to," he explained.

"Setting it in World War II - the Marvel version of World War II - I think is gonna open it up in another big way... What's funny is it will actually end up being, I think, our most diverse and our most international film, in terms of the content of the movies itself," he added.

Joe Johnston will direct the film, which is said to begin production in June 2010.

He added: "[The Black Panther is] from a fictional village in Africa and the timing is so right for that kind of character to come through.

"And while I'm in my prime, this is the time. We've got [Barack] Obama, now we need something on screen to represent."

Some remakes offer faithful adaptations of the original flicks - and then there's 2009's Race to Witch Mountain. How loose is this reworking of 1975's Escape to Witch Mountain? Looser than a pair of 52 waist jeans on Paris Hilton; the two films share general similarities but don't remotely feel alike.

In Race, a pair of teen aliens named Seth (Alexander Ludwig) and Sara (AnnaSophia Robb) come to Earth to retrieve a device crucial to the survival of their home planet. They crash and need an alternate method of transportation to get them to their goal. This lands them with Las Vegas cabbie Jack Bruno (Dwayne Johnson). The trio embarks on an adventure to get the essential gizmo and send the kids home, a quest made more difficult due to pursuers both human and extraterrestrial.

This year, Johansson was the headliner, promoting Iron Man 2, but it was an appearance by Megan Fox which had the geeks talking after one fan approached the star during a Q&A to promote her new supernatural western Jonah Hex.

"My question is for Megan," the man said. "I have a Sony HVR (video camera). It's not a true HD, but it gives a pretty good image. Anyway, my question is: I just graduated film school and I'm trying to help my career. I was wondering if you'd be interested in some kind of, like, celebrity sex tape?"

With that, a couple of security guards grabbed the fella and took him to an undisclosed location.

"Dude, I can't wait to see what you look like in 30 minutes," Fox's co-star, Josh Brolin, quipped as the man was dragged away.

Though published in 1971, "The Lorax" has a timely "green" theme. It is narrated by a greedy entrepreneur who, despite warnings from the tree-loving Lorax, strips a forest of its stock of Truffula trees to manufacture clothing. The results are catastrophic as all the animals leave and nothing's left.

The picture is targeted for a March 2, 2012, release, which falls on the birthday of Theodor Geisel, who died in 1991.

More at Variety.

Dr Murray is said to have given Jackson propofol through an intravenous drip the night before he died. The drug, also known as Diprivan, is used to induce unconsciousness in hospital patients before major surgery. Reports have said that it was found in Jackson's home.

A law enforcement official told the Associated Press that Jackson relied on propofol - marketed as Diprivan - like an alarm clock to help him sleep. A doctor would administer it when Jackson went to bed, then stop the IV drip when the singer wanted to wake up.

There's more here.

In a world of corruption, friendship seems to be the only thing that survives or does it?

The shingle picked up the rights to the book "Kong: King of Skull Island," a prequel to the well-known tale of the big ape.

Penned by Joe DeVito and Brad Strickland, book focuses on the backstory of Skull Island and how the giant gorilla became king there. It introduces other giant gorillas and dinosaurs only hinted at in the previous films.

The word is that the film will be produced using motion capture technology, very much like the stuff used in the Robert Zemeckis flick THE POLAR EXPRESS and the Spielberg and Peter Jackson collaboration TINTIN.

More here.

Frank Miller recently completed a draft of the graphic novel that follows up his original tale, a book that would serve as the basis for a new Warner Bros.-Legendary Pictures project. 

While Miller is still tweaking his version, the ball will soon rest in the court of studio, financing entity and producers (likely to include Gianni Nunnari's Hollywood Gang, Mark Canton' Atmosphere and Zack Snyder's Cruel & Unusual banners) to determine how easily, if at all, they can translate the story to the big screen.

Word is that the original film's director Zack Snyder, hot off the success of WATCHMEN, is interested in returning to helm a follow up. More here.

"We're going to shoot 'Pirates 4' in April and May of next year," Aviv told us during our interview. "We are going to release it hopefully in 2011 is the plan." He said that this time they would only be doing one movie this time that would "hopefully be the first of another trilogy."

 "It's not 100% closed yet by any means, but we've been talking to him and he seems enthusiastic and we're great fans of his obviously, so it's exciting that it could possibly happen. He would be one of the villains so that's all I can say."

Dafoe said: "I kissed her the first time in front of the camera. I touched her the first time in front of the camera. We saw each other naked for the first time in front of the camera. It's like that.

"I think Lars set a trust up. He's very thoughtful and he's very smart, so that sets the tone and it's good material."

He added: "Charlotte knows why she's there, I know why I'm there. We like each other. We work together to do the thing.

"I feel very sentimental about it. I always feel sentimental about people coming together 'for the greater' good kind of way, and that's what it felt like."

In the Loop might be best described as The Office meets Wag the Dog. Certainly, it features the witty word play and stylistic approach of the former while showcasing the biting, political satire of the latter.

This richly complex (and timely) comedy paints an intricate view of the conflict in the Middle East from both sides of the political coin. In the Loop features a stellar ensemble cast including; Tom Hollander, Mimi Kennedy, Paul Higgins, Steve Coogan, Olivia Poulet, Chris Addison, David Rasch, and Anna Chlumsky (of My Girl fame-she's all growns up). The performances are perfect right across the board, but the standouts are Peter Capaldi as a cocksure Scotsman with a foul mouth (seriously, I could listen to this guy drop f-bombs and insult his colleagues for days-HILARIOUS!), and James Gandolfini as a military man you don't want to mess with. The inevitable confrontation between Gandolfini and Capaldi is a highlight in a film overflowing with highlights

• 5.1 Audio
• Director's Commentary
• Knowing All: The Making of a Futuristic Thriller
• Visions of the Apocalypse
• Theatrical Trailer & TV Spots

[The game] is set in a medieval-style fantasy world called Azeroth populated by humans and such Lord of the Rings-style races as orcs, trolls and dwarves, but also the undead and blood elves. Players must choose whether to join the nefarious Horde or the Alliance faction.

The Warcraft universe has developed a global following of more than 11.5 million monthly subscribers since its launch in 1994.

The actress's military-style designer clothing was soaked on the boat trip to the HMS Belfast, where she joined her castmates for a photocall.

With her damp shirt and trousers drying slowly in the mild 20-degree weather, Sienna looked a tad on the cold side as she joined co-star Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum and Karolina Kurkova on the famous naval vessel.

• Extended Cut
• 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
• English, Czech and Hungarian DD5.1 Surround
• English, English SDH, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish subtitles
• Deleted Scenes (8mins)

• 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
• English DD5.1 EX Surround
• English and Spanish subtitles
• Audio commentary with writers/directors Neveldine/Taylor
• "Making of" documentary
• "Crank 2: Take 2" featurette
• Theatrical trailer
• Disc 2: Digital Copy

• 1080P 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• French DD5.1 Surround
• English SDH and Spanish subtitles
• Audio commentary with writers/directors Neveldine/Taylor
• Crank'd Out Commentary with cast and crew - Bonus View ™ Picture-in-Picture Mode (BD Exclusive)
• "Making of" documentary
• "Crank 2: Take 2" featurette
• Gag reel
• Wrap party
• Bookmarks & Blu-line Time Slider
• Lionsgate Live™ * (requires profile 2.0 player)
• MoLog™ - the first BD live application that allows users to insert and animate shapes, text, audio, and other graphics right into the film to create "blogs" to share with other MoLog users! (requires profile 2.0 player)
• Theatrical trailer
• Disc 2: Digital Copy

Cameron Diaz is negotiating to play a reporter and love interest in the Michel Gondry-directed pic that stars Seth Rogen as the masked crime fighter.

The picture is moving full steam ahead for a fall start date, even as the studio looks to replace Stephen Chow, who was going to play sidekick Kato. Rogen and Evan Goldberg wrote the script and Neal Moritz is producing through his Original Films banner.

More here.

A little bit of a surprise for this week's Film of the Week. It is a debut feature for one Duncan Jones, a man who is also known as Zowie Bowie, the son of one David Bowie, the pop star who once asked the question as to whether there is indeed Life on Mars.

For James's debut, he does not ask the same, but instead focusses his attention to the moon. An astronaut miner extracting the precious moon gas that promises to reverse the Earth's energy crisis nears the end of his three-year contract, and makes an ominous discovery. It's all good stuff in the film which is wowing critcs around the globe and securing the writer/ director a promising future in Hollywood.

It opens everywhere on Friday (24th July).

• 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
• English and Hungarian DD5.1 Surround
• English SDH, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish subtitles
• 11 Deleted Scenes (38mins)
• Commentary with Richard Curtis, producer Hilary Bevan Jones, and actors Nick Frost and Chris O'Dowd

• 1080P 2.35:1 Widescreen
• English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• German 5.1 DTS Surround
• English SDH, German, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Dutch and Norwegian subtitles
• 14 Deleted Scenes (46mins, HD)
• 6 Featurettes in HD
• Commentary with Richard Curtis, producer Hilary Bevan Jones, and actors Nick Frost and Chris O'Dowd

• 1080P 2.40:1 Widescreen
• English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• French, Italian, German and Spanish 5.1 DTS Surround
• English SDH, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish and Traditional Chinese subtitles
• U Control - Paul Walker and director Justin Lin Take Control of your player to reveal behind-the-scenes details
• U Control - Visit the Virtual Car Garage for an up-close inspection of the hot cars. Then create your own custom vehicle and share it with friends.
• BD-Live: Create your own Fast & Furious Video Mash-Up, featuring sizzling action and music from the film, then share it via BD-Live.
• BD-Live Centre - Access to download the latest trailers, host a chat with friends, upload your own webcam commentary and more
• Original Short Film: Los Bandoleros - exclusive short film which reveals the events leading up to the beginning of Fast & Furious
• Under the Hood - Muscle Cars and Imports
• Getting the Gang Back Together
• Driving School with Vin Diesel
• Shooting the Big Rig Heist
• And More- these most likely consist of the following from the US BD which have already been passed by the BBFC:
  • Gag Reel
  • Races and Chases
  • High Octane Action: The Stunts
  • South of the Border: Filming in Mexico
  • "Blanco" Music Video by Pitbull Featuring Pharrell
  • Feature Commentary with Director Justin Lin
  
  

• Audio Descriptive Track on Feature Film
  
• Commentary by director J.J. Abrams, writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman, producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Bryan Burk.
  
• A New Vision - J.J. Abrams' vision was not only to create a Star Trek that was a bigger, more action-packed spectacle, but also to make the spectacle feel real. Every aspect of production-from unique locations to the use of classic Hollywood camera tricks-was guided by this overall objective.
  
• Gag Reel-Bloopers featuring the entire principal cast.

According to The Wrap, Toshiba have made the switch to Blu-ray and will release their first player later this year.

Toshiba, which was once the major proponent of the now-defunct HD DVD format, will be joining the other side: Blu-ray.

CNET is reporting that, according to Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun,  the technology giant is getting ready to launch its first Blu-ray player.

More here.

Just as Jaws scared people away from the beach back in 1975, I'll bet that 1978's Midnight Express affected foreign travel to certain countries. Based on a true story, the film tells the story of Billy Hayes (Brad Davis), an American college student on a trip to Turkey with his girlfriend Susan (Irene Miracle). When he attempts to smuggle hashish out of the country, the authorities there apprehend him.

And that ain't good. Billy gets stuck in a corrupt system that wants to make an example of an American "drug pusher", and though he initially cooperates, he makes things worse when he tries to escape. Billy ends up in a ratty prison where the guards beat him for the slightest transgressions. The movie follows his ordeal as he tries to cope with his situation and make it out of jail.

The film will feature at least three videos, including an alternative version of Jackson's "Thriller," which were shot to be interstitial programming during the London concerts. The footage was meant to play in 3-D, but it's unclear as yet whether the feature film will present it that way.

"High School Musical" director Kenny Ortega, who shot the rehearsal footage, is expected to direct the feature, and sources said he's already beginning to put together the footage so Sony can release the film before year's end.

The re-building of Hobbiton has begun, with the planting of hedgerows and fruit trees. An extension to the path that passes in front of Bag End has been marked out also. There will be several new Hobbit holes dotted along its length.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,"  continuing the series' strong performance at the box office but failing to significantly outperform its predecessor, sold $159.6 million worth of tickets on its first five days in the U.S. and Canada, according to Warner Bros.

That's a solid opening given that the movie cost Warners $250 million to produce and another $155 million to market and distribute around the world. It's the third-biggest launch ever for a movie that opened on a Wednesday.

Colin Jacobson reviews the Zack Snyder release on the home format.

After the success of 2007's 300, director Zack Snyder returns to the graphic novel well with 2009's Watchmen. An adaptation of the mid-80s comic, the movie found favor with fanboys but unlike 300, it didn't go much of anywhere with the general public. While 300 earned a stunning $210 million, Watchmen petered out around $107 million. That's a decent figure but below expectations for the big-budget action flick.

Which is too bad, as I think Watchmen offers a much more satisfying experience than the all style, no substance 300. Set during an alternate version of 1985 in which the US won the Vietnam War and Nixon remains president, Watchmen posits a world in which superheroes have been banned. Most go underground or into retirement, as only two heroes - nearly omnipotent Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) and hotheaded Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) - operate with government approval. Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) continues to do his thing as a vigilante, however. When government official Edward Blake gets murdered, Rorschach discovers that Blake was The Comedian, and he sets out to solve the crime.

Adam Mast reviews HUMPDAY...

Humpday is a winning comedy that will probably draw comparisons to Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno. While these films do have a lot in common, Humpday emerges as the stronger picture.

In Humpday, the likable Mark Duplass plays Ben, a happily married thirty something whose white picket fence life is disrupted when life-long friend Andrew (Joshua Leonard) -whom he hasn't seen in quite sometime - drops by unannounced. Actually, Ben isn't at all surprised by Andrew's spontaneous appearance as it's the sort of thing he comes to expect from his carefree buddy.

The horrific accident occured when a pyrotechnic explosion went off too early, accidentally setting Jackson's hair on fire and leaving him with second and third degree burns to his face and scalp.

It is claimed that this was the period he started taking painkillers to which he later became addicted and some say was the cause of his sudden death last month.

Watch the new footage below.

-DANNY TREJO is returning (obviously) as "Machete", the madman bent on revenge.
-MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ ("Lost", Fast & Furious, Avatar) is said to be playing "Luz".
-JONAH HILL, the comedian who has starred in such films as Superbad and the forthcoming Adam Sandler comedy Funny People, will play "Julio".
-Lastly, a legend of our time, ROBERT DE NIRO, will take on the role of "Senator McLaughlin"

The Paramount drama, co-starring Amy Adams and Melissa Leo, is about Ward (Wahlberg) and his unlikely path to become world lightweight champion. Bale plays Dicky Eklund, Mickey's half-brother and a talented fighter who once went the distance with Sugar Ray Leonard in a title fight but then turned to crime and landed in prison. He then turned his life around and helped his under-performing brother find the spark for a remarkable run that led to the world title.

Hollywood actor Matt Damon will appear in the season six finale of TV show ENTOURAGE, according to reports. Producer Doug Ellin said that Damon came on board for his charity One By One.

"It wasn't hard to get him. Matt came on the phone with me and wanted to do something that focused on his charity," said Ellin.

Kevin Connolly, who plays E in the show said: "Doug wrote a scene where we're all at the airport together. Matt was all smiles. He was definitely there to have fun."

Co-star Adrien Grenier (Vince) added: "The joke is that Matt is very passionate about his charity - almost in a stalkerish kind of way. Vince becomes intimated by his intensity. He ends up bullying Vince into giving much more than he should."

The finale airs in the US on Octobe 4.

There's good news and bad news regarding Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The good news is, that Michael Bay's latest opus is slightly better than Bad Boys II. The bad news is, this obnoxious sequel is actually worse than Pearl Harbor. If you like Pearl Harbor and Bad Boys II, then there's probably no point in your reading this review.

In Revenge of the Fallen, Sam Witwicky (played by Shia LaBeouf) is off to college. This puts a strain on his relationship with hottie girlfriend Mikaela Banes (played by Megan Fox), but Sam's relationship issues become the least of his worries when he discovers that Megatron is back with a vengeance. So once again, its up to Sam and Optimus Prime to save mankind as we know it.

• Anamorphic Widescreen
• English, French and Spanish DD5.1 Surround
• English DD2.0 Surround
• English, French and Spanish subtitles
• Modern Monster Movie Making
• Three Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes
  • Monger's Plan
  • War Room Turns on Monsters
  • If You Don't Know
• DWA Music Video Juke Box
• Filmmaker Commentary
• The Tech of MONSTERS VS. ALIENS
• Top Secret Sneak Peek Files
  • How To Train Your Dragon
  • Shrek The Musical
  • Kung Fu Panda World
  • The Penguins of Madagascar
  • Shrek The Halls
  • Secrets of the Furious Five
  • MONSTERS VS. ALIENS Activision Game trailer

• B.O.B.'S BIG BREAK (in Monster 3D & 2D)
• Karaoke Music Party
  • "More Than A Woman" with B.O.B.
  • "Born To Be Wild" with Dr. Cockroach & Missing Link
  • "I Will Survive" with Ginormica
• Paddle Ball Game in Monster 3D
• DVD-Rom
  • MONSTERS VS. ALIENS Activision Game Demo with Cheat Code
  • Creature Feature Fun Factory
  • Kung Fu Panda World
  • Shrekster.com
  • MonstersVsAliens.com
  • DreamWorksAnimation.com

• 1080P Widescreen
• English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD
• French and Spanish DD5.1 Surround
• English, English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
• B.O.B.'S BIG BREAK in Monster 3D & 2D
• Paddle Ball Game in Monster 3D
• Modern Monster Movie Making
• Three Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes
  • Monger's Plan
  • War Room Turns on Monsters
  • If You Don't Know
• DWA Music Video Juke Box
• Filmmaker Commentary
• The Tech of MONSTERS VS. ALIENS
• Top Secret Sneak Peek Files
  • How To Train Your Dragon (HD)
  • Shrek The Musical (HD)
  • Kung Fu Panda World (HD)
  • The Penguins of Madagascar (HD)
  • Shrek The Halls (HD)
  • Secrets of the Furious Five
  • MONSTERS VS. ALIENS Activision Game trailer
• Karaoke Music Party with:
  • "More Than A Woman" with B.O.B.
  • "Born To Be Wild" with Dr. Cockroach & Missing Link
  • "I Will Survive" with Ginormica
• Exclusive Blu-ray Extras
  • Animators' Corner - Picture-In-Picture
  • Trivia Track

• 1080P 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English, Italian and Spanish 5.1
• Subtitles: English, English HOH, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
• Original Making-Of Featurette
• Ed Zwick and Rob Lowe in Conversation

• 1080P Widescreen
• English, Italian and Spanish 5.1
• Subtitles: English, English HOH, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
• Director, Editor and Motion Control Supervisor Commentary
• "The Special": Building Blue Thunder: Making-of the Helicopter
• 1983 Promotional Featurette

• 1080P 2.40:1 Widescreen
• English, Italian and Spanish 5.1
• Subtitles: English, English HOH, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
• Commentary with Director Joel Schumacher
• Joel Schumacher Remembers St. Elmo's Fire
• Music Video: John Parr - "Man in Motion"
• Deleted Scenes

• 1080P 2.40:1 Widescreen
• English, French and German 5.1
• Subtitles: English, English HOH, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Norwegian, Swedish, Turkish
• Commentary with Director Doug Liman & Editor Stephen Mirrione
• Making of Featurette
• "New" by No Doubt
• "Magic Carpet Ride" by Philip Steir
• "Steal My Sunshine" by Len
• Deleted Scenes

• 1080P 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English, French and German 5.1 Dolby TrueHD
• Subtitles: English, English HOH, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Norwegian, Swedish, Turkish
• Director's Commentary
• Blu-ray Game - Virtual Civil War Battlefield
• Featurette - The Voices of Glory
• Documentary - The True Story Continues
• Original Theatrical Making Of Featurette
• Deleted Scenes (with optional commentary)

Best known in the U.S. for the long-running Hanna-Barbera cartoon, the Smurfs were created in 1958 by Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford, known throughout the world as Peyo. The Smurfs, known as "Les Schtroumpfs" in French, were created for a Belgian series of comicbooks, first as minor characters.

The dwarflike villagers spawned a line of statuettes, games, toys, theme parks and a hit TV series, which ran as part of NBC's Saturday-morning lineup 1981-90.

J. David Stem and David N. Weiss wrote the script for the film.

Pegg, 39, added that he didn't know who had leaked the news to the press, "'cos it wasn't us".

The star is currently shooting the comedu PAUL with director Greg Motolla and Nick rost in the US.

He was first arrested in April after cops stopped his Audi car in Westminster, central London, and allegedly found eight bags of the Class B drug.

More here.

The scene, which showed fashionista Bruno forcing La Toya Jackson to eat sushi off the naked bodies of workmen, was cut after her brother's death.

Universal Pictures said it was cut "out of respect" for the Jackson family.

The cut scene, which lasted over a minute, was removed after Jackson died on 25 June.

It also showed Bruno trying to steal Michael's number from his sister's phone.

More at the end of the link above.

"At some point the world needs to see this production and I would imagine it could be done as a tribute with the family, with the brothers performing, some sisters, and the stars that were influenced by him. We are discussing with the family so the sooner, the better."He added.

"When we were making this film, we wanted it to be better than Borat and we thought, 'what could people see that they'd never seen before on film?'

"And one thing could be a comedian interviewing a terrorist which I think has never been done before, and for good reason."

Watch the video from the show below.

AP asked attendee Jensen Karp to document his experience at Michael Jackson's memorial service with a FLIP video camera. He sees $50 parking, Jennifer Hudson and Diddy finding their seats -- and a view of the service not seen on TV.

The previous films (THE DA VINCI CODE and ANGELS AND DEMONS) already accounted for over $1.23 billion in worldwide box office so it`s no wonder that Columbia Pictures is moving ahead with the third installment.

While I don't know if anyone clamored for a relaunch of the Pink Panther films without Peter Sellers, the 2006 flick with Steve Martin found a decent audience. No, its $82 million gross didn't light the box office on fire, but it demonstrated that crowds still liked Inspector Clouseau, even without the character's most popular interpreter.

That box office take also meant a sequel became inevitable - and we got that sequel in early 2009. In The Pink Panther 2, a master thief named The Tornado steals a variety of priceless treasures like the Magna Carta. Inspector Clouseau (Martin) wants to stay in France to protect the Pink Panther diamond, but he receives the order to go to Japan and participate in a "Dream Team" of detectives.

The film, which is being produced and directed by Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson, started shooting Tuesday in and around London and at Ealing Studios. Nick Moorcroft and Piers Ashworth wrote the script.

The cast also includes Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Gemma Arterton, Talulah Riley, Jodie Whittaker, Juno Temple, Tamsin Egerton, Celia Imrie and Fenella Woolgar, all of whom appeared in the first movie in the contemporary franchise, "St Trinian's."

The cast of "St. Trinian's II," in which the pupils and staff of the anarchic girls' school engage in a hunt for treasure and a battle against a women-hating secret society, also includes up-and-coming thesps Ella Smith, Zawe Ashton and Montserrat Lombard.

"Michael had been having financial troubles for years. The loan bought on his ranch was essentially just a hefty favour for the singer," the insider said. "Despite some of the bad memories that happened at Neverland, Michael just couldn't part with the ranch.

"He loved it. He had every intention of buying it back with the money earned over in England [during the O2 residency].

The actress has ditched her girl-next-door look for a racy image reminiscent of Madonna during her risqué Blonde Ambition Tour days in the 90s, complete with peroxide blonde hair and tattoos.

Diaz, 36, was snapped by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott in London for the July issue of the magazine.

More here.

The stars got well and truly soaked as they walked the red carpet in torrential rain for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth instalment of the hit franchise.

And bad weather can be a nightmare for female celebrities - as EMMA WATSON discovered last night.

The actress, who plays Hermione Grainger in the film, suffered an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction when a gust of wind left her flashing her knickers for all to see.

The film is released on July 15th. See the pics here.

Jermaine Jackson, Michael's brother then took to the stage and performed the song Smile, while wearing a white sequinned glove in honour of his sibling. Watch the performance below.

Music legends, sports figures, and civil rights leaders paid tribute to Michael Jackson today during an emotional, song-filled service at Staples Center that was part polished entertainment, part revival meeting.

The service culminated with Jackson's 11-year-old daughter Paris Katherine Jackson -- in tears -- telling the audience from the stage, "I just wanted to say, ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you can imagine. I just wanted to say I love him so much."

Michael Jackson's family and friends are now headed to a private reception.

Watch the entire Michael Jackson memorial right here, live as it happens! The show is running behind -- so be patient.

[Michael's] casket, believed to be a $25,000 gold-plated limited edition, set out at 9.20am local time (5.20 BST) in a hearse at the front of a motorcade of 16 black limousines and buses accompanied by police escorts. The family had considered flying in the body by helicopter, but it was deemed too dangerous to land among so many fans at the venue for the memorial, the downtown Staples Centre.

The private mourners gathered at the family home in Encino before 8am local time, to commemorate the singer who died suddenly aged 50 on 25 June after a cardiac arrest. A mass of flowers and cards from fans had to be barricaded off by police. Jackson's mother, Katherine, who has custody of his three children, travelled in the first limousine to the Forest Lawn cemetery where she had the chance to pay her own respects before the public events in front of thousands of fans and millions of television viewers began.

The memorial concert/ service was set to kick off at 10am local time.

The Times report that today's Michael Jackson memorial service is is expected to be the biggest event in the history of the internet.

Adam Ostrow, Editor-in-Chief of the San Francisco-based Mashable online social media guide, said that he expected the service to be "the biggest event we've ever seen online", and it would test the infrastructure of the internet and the websites broadcasting the service.

"It could just be the biggest thing ever in the history of the internet," Mr Ostrow told The Times. "The memorial service is happening during normal hours in the US when people will be at work, which means people aren't going to be in front of a TV, they are going to be at their computers and turning to the internet to watch the event."

The Jackson family and close friends will attend a private funeral at the Forest Lawn mortuary in the Hollywood Hills today, while social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace announced that they would stream live footage of the public memorial service at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.

Genre website ShockTilYouDrop.com have managed to get their hands on the trailer for the Megan Fox movie JENNIFER'S BODY.

She took on wise-crackin', leg-humpin' robots in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and now Megan Fox is wielding a voracious appetite and going head-to-head with Amanda Seyfried in Jennifer's Body, 20th Century Fox's horror offering arriving on September 18th. Screenwriter Diablo Cody (Juno) whipped up this hellish tale about a high school cheerleader (Fox), screwed over by a visiting rock band, who becomes possessed by a demon and begins to feed off of the fellas in her town.

The trailer is right here!

With predictions of the end of the world right around the corner, the time seems right for films about apocalyptic visions. In that vein comes 2009's Knowing. The film starts in 1959, as we see an elementary school class produce drawings for a time capsule. Spooky young Lucinda Embry (Lara Robinson) creates an odd numerical code instead, but it still ends up buried for future kids to see.

From there we leap to 2009 to meet MIT professor John Koestler, a single father who struggles to get over the death of his wife. His son Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) attends the school that buried the time capsule, and both are in attendance when they retrieve it. All the kids get to open the old documents, and Caleb ends up with Lucinda's.

My Sister's Keeper is a tear-jerker with a really provocative theme running through it's veins. This film comes courtesy of Nick Cassavetes (son of John), and as was the case with his adaptation of The Notebook, this somewhat manipulative movie gets a major boost from sincere performances.

At the heart of My Sister's Keeper is the story of young Anna Fitzgerald (played by Abigail Breslin), an intelligent eleven year old who was, more or less, genetically engineered to be a blood type match for her cancer ridden sister. As the film opens, Anna pleads with an attorney (played by Alec Baldwin) to medically emancipate her from her parents so that she will no longer be forced to medically aid her dying sister. At the surface, that sounds like cruel subject matter for a film, but there's actually quite a bit more to it.

Year One probably looked hilarious on paper, alas this is one of those comedies where most of the jokes got lost in translation. The entire project is even more disheartening taking into consideration that it was co-written and directed by Ghostbuster Harold Ramis.

Taking a cue from the likes of Mel Brooks and Monty Python, Year One features Jack Black and Michael Cera as Zed and Oh, a couple of dimwitted Neanderathals who, after being banished by their tribe, set out on an epic journey filled with adventure and self discovery.

Adam Mast reviews the year's biggest comedy.

The raucous new comedy The Hangover had distributor Warner Brothers on such a pre-release high, that the studio ordered up a sequel before the film even made its theatrical bow. For months, The Hangover has been garnering strong buzz through test screenings and presentations at events like ShoWest. The aggressive marketing payed off, because The Hangover has become a bonafide sleeper hit (at press time, it had pulled in a whopping $153 million-not bad for a film that cost in the neighborhood of $35 million to produce). So is this film as funny as everyone says it is? In my humble opinion, The Hangover is a hoot but it isn't exactly the comical masterwork some are proclaiming it to be.

Elizabeth Taylor has said that she will not attend the Michael Jackson memorial service in Los Angeles today. The award winning actress updated through her twitter page.

"I certainly don't want to become a part of it. I love him too much." She said in her update.

She later wrote: "I just don't believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others. How I feel is between us. Not a public event. I cannot guarantee that I would be coherent to say a word."

The event takes place at the Staples Center in the city later today.