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Hayden Christensen has signed with Independent Artist Group, indicating potential future projects beyond Star Wars. His role as Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars has had a significant impact on his career, both positively and negatively. The success of the recent Star Wars series, including his portrayal of Anakin, has led to a resurgence in Christensen's career, and he is looking to take advantage of it.

It seems that Hayden Christensen wants to conquer the big screen again, and not just within the world of Star Wars. The actor has now signed with an agency, Independent Artist Group, which could mean new projects coming for him in the future. Although the Canadian actor began working almost 10 years before his debut in the universe created by George Lucas, there is no doubt that the role of Anakin Skywalker has marked his career. Sometimes for the better, but other times for the worse.

Unfolding like a narcotized, hyper-literal remake of “Pleasantville” that looks as though it were almost entirely shot on the monochromatic set of Drake’s “Hotline Bling” video, Drake Doremus’ “Equals” is a painfully inert sci-fi romance that commits the gravest possible sin of modern cinema: It (almost) wastes Kristen Stewart.

One of those dystopian stories in which the vast majority of the world-building is accomplished via an inelegant barrage of expository information, “Equals” acclimates us to its sterile vision of the future by shoving information through the various screens that are built in to its set design. For example, a desk-sized tablet tells its user that The Great War eradicated most of mankind, bombs scorching 99.6% of the Earth’s inhabitable land (and 100% of its ugly people, it would seem). You know, just the trivial kind of detail that citizens of tomorrow might be liable to forget if not reminded by their inanimate workstations.

The Fast and Furious franchise is full of incredible special effects, but none are more impressive, or more subtle, than the series' efforts to make all of its leading actors appear exactly the same height. Take the scene in Fast Five where Dom Toretto squares off against Luke Hobbs: The two men can look each other right in the eye, even though, in real life, the Rock has a good six inches on Vin Diesel. This effect is repeated in Furious 7, where camera tricks bring the five-foot-ten Jason Statham up to the Rock's eye level — or is the Rock, Harrison Bergeron–style, being brought down? In the interest of transparency, let's peek under the hood to see the true height of the actors in the Fast and Furious franchise. We've put them in height order — just like a real family! (Note: Vin Diesel's height was variously reported as...

Pre-credit sequence. J'Tia is gone. "It's a complete roller-coaster ride," reflects Spencer, who is very grateful that Tasha and Kass chose him. "I just knew if we kept her, we would be back there in three days and regretting it," Kass reflects on her decision, which she describes as a "last minute" switch. "How my team has played this game is ridiculous. We're not the Brain Tribe, we're the Crap-for-Brains Tribe," Kass notes, dubbing the tribe, "Just a rolling log-jam mess with a couple nerds on top." Spencer jokes that the only thing standing between them and the Final 3 is "two entire tribes." The next morning... Tree-Mail! There's a hint that Reward and food are coming and they're hungry. The Brains think this is the start of their comeback. Or at least that's sure what they hope. Everybody arrives at the beach ready for a challenge and... "Alright everybody, drop your buffs,...

This is another edition of Short Starts, where we present a weekly short film(s) from the start of a filmmaker or actor’s career. Armie Hammer, who stars in the title role of Disney’s The Lone Ranger, has not been in many films. His first leading role was playing televangelist Billy Graham in the religious, indie biopic Billy: The Early Years, but it’s only since his memorable turn as both Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (aka “the Winklevii”) in 2010′s The Social Network that he’s become a major Hollywood player. It might have been earlier had the George Miller Justice League movie happened, but the casting of Hammer as Batman was not meant to be. Instead, in addition to the double duty as Mark Zuckerberg’s legal adversaries, he’s played prominent supporting characters in J. Edgar and Mirror Mirror and a deleted minor part in Hall Pass. Hammer...

It is apparently acceptable these days for movies to be made from just about any basic concept. Toys, comic books, preteen novels – twenty years ago this would be called lazy writing. Today, it’s big business. Here is my list of the top ten things that may be worthwhile to see transformed into movies. Feel free to add your own - or roll your eyes.

With the release of Battleship, we are reaching the zenith of a new era in movie making that began 10 years ago with the first film adaptations of Harry Potter and Lord Of the Rings. This is the era when the big studios have all but abandoned developing new, original ideas. This is an era of endless sequels, prequels, book-to-franchise adaptations, comic book superheroes, video game adaptations, remakes…the list goes on. No staple of popular culture is safe.

Personally, I’ll take something original over...

Kurt Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron" is set in a 2081 in which all Americans have been mandated equal by virtue of a series of Constitutional amendments. The truly exceptional are equipped with handicaps, while the mediocre are sometimes elevated to positions far above their natural abilities, all in the name of this equality.   The world of "Harrison Bergeron" has nothing to do with the world of CBS' "The Amazing Race" and the results of Sunday (December 4) night's "Amazing Race" really weren't analogous to anything in "Harrison Bergeron."    And yet, "Harrison Bergeron" came to my mind immediately as...

John Joseph Adams is a man after my own heart. He has pulled together an anthology of dystopian literature titled Brave New Worlds that spans the genre from one of the earliest (and best known) stories, Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," to recent works by authors like Paolo Bacigalupi and Genevieve Valentine. What caught my eye, besides the title that evokes my favorite novel, was the list of authors on the cover: Ray Bradbury, Orson Scott Card, Neil Gaiman, Ursula K. Le Guin, and so on--a veritable cornucopia of talent!

It's a huge book, with 34 stories that explore all sorts of different futures and worlds. Of course, some are better than others. I couldn't put down "Auspicious Eggs," by James Morrow, which envisions a future where reproduction is the law. S. L. Gilbow's "Red Card" is a clever little story about what happens when society gives a few select individuals a license to kill.

Here in Todd’s personal literary world there a few authors who rise right to the top of the heap. I’m a big fan of Haruki Murakami. Looking forward to the new Neal Stephenson rather a lot. But the big three here in Todd-land are Douglas Coupland, Chuck Palahniuk and Kurt Vonnegut. I came to Vonnegut the earliest of the three and have read every word the man ever published in his life and love just about all of them. Vonnegut has, however, proven rather difficult to adapt to the screen. Yes, there have been attempts, and a few of them have even been successful - I rather like the recent Breakfast of Champions - but his structural quirks and distinct voice generally make life difficult when people try to bring him to the screen.

Enter 2081, a new feature based on Vonnegut’s short Harrison Bergeron. It’s the...

Considering Kurt Vonnegut's short story Harrison Bergeron and the Bruce Pittman made-for-tv adaptation are a couple of my personal favorite things of all time, my jaw almost hit the floor when I saw this new adaptation. 2081 is short film directed by Chandler Tuttle which is based on one of Vonnegut's most profound and shortest of stories. "2081 is set in a dystopian future where everyone is “equal every which way,” a world in which a Handicapper General goes to enormous lengths to prevent competition and to eliminate innate human differences. Beautiful people wear disfiguring masks; intelligent people have loud, distracting noises piped into their heads to interrupt their thoughts; athletes are burdened with heavy weights. The end result is a society where no one can think, no one can love, and no one can register how much they have been dehumanized by social engineering--so much so that when the brilliant,...

The trailer has been creating a lot of buzz on many film blogs. It seems to take some of the concepts of Philip K Dick and P D James. The trailer has some really interesting images it is based on a short story Harrison Bergeron written by Kurt Vonnegut.

Here is synopsis for the film that seems to not yet crept into imdb or anywhere.

2081 depicts a dystopian future in which, thanks to the 212th Amendment to the Constitution and the unceasing vigilance of the United States Handicapper General, everyone is finally equal… The strong wear weights, the beautiful wear...

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I am always interested in movies that present an image of the future. Some are nothing more then blockbuster fluff like I,Robot, however some are smaller films and are a lot more interesting, Children of Men for example.

2081: Everyone Will Be Equal is based on the short story Harrison Bergeron by author Kurt Vonnegut, 2081 depicts a dystopian future in which, thanks to the 212th Amendment to the Constitution and the unceasing vigilance of the United States Handicapper General, everyone is finally equal... The strong wear weights, the…...