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Austin, TX – One thing that SXSW attracts are movie stars. With the big premieres headquartered at the famous art deco Paramount Theatre in Austin, audiences were treated to appearances by the legendary Susan Sarandon (“Gutter”), a reunited Cheech & Chong, and for the creme de la creme we were in the “Cage.” The great Nicolas Cage appeared on behalf of “Arcadian.”

Dammit Janet …

Susan Sarandon @SXSW for ‘Gutter’

Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

Susan Sarandon is an Oscar Winning (“Dead Man Walking”) and ultimate cult actress (the legendary Janet in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”). She made her inauspicious debut in the (naturally) cult hippie film “Joe” and has had memorable roles in “Pretty Baby,” “Atlantic City,” “The Hunger,” “Bull Durham,” “Thelma and Louise,” “Lorenzo’s Oil” “Robot & Frank” and most recently as the voice of Dr. Wong in “Rick and Morty.” She represented her latest star turn...

According to novelist Louis de Bernières, Nicolas Cage endured a time of turmoil while filming “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.”

The 2001 war drama, directed by John Madden, was in production while Cage was mid-divorce from Patricia Arquette. Author de Bernières recalled feeling “sympathetic” for Cage on set.

“Nic Cage was going through a horrendous time,” de Bernières said during the Henley Literary Festival (via The Independent), citing Cage’s divorce. “I was totally sympathetic about that, but he had to fly back to California every week, and he was in a really bad way. He didn’t want to chat really.”

Cage played the titular Captain Corelli, who led the Italian invasion over Greek island Cephalonia. Corelli falls in love with a local doctor’s daughter (Penélope Cruz) despite the fact that she’s engaged to another man. When the Italian army surrenders to the Allies in World War II, Corelli...

Russell Crowe is on the brink of 60, and appears to be taking a let-'er-rip approach to acting. The three-time Academy Award nominee (and winner of one) is no longer being precious about his role choices. After hamming it up alongside RZA in the Wu-Tang Clan founder's unabashedly gory martial arts epic "The Man with the Iron Fists," Crowe eagerly sought out parts in genre flicks that were highly unlikely to bring him more Oscar glory. Though he hasn't completely cut prestige pictures out of his cinematic diet, his best performance of the last decade was as a Yoo-hoo-obsessed detective in Shane Black's brilliant buddy comedy "The Nice Guys."

Crowe threw an extra layer of glaze on the ham as the Greek god Zeus in Taika Waititi's "Thor: Love and Thunder." It's a disappointingly uneven MCU installment, but Crowe's thick, Zorba-like accent is a hoot. While Crowe's broadly comedic...

Hugh Grant seems to have no problem revealing his candid thoughts, no matter how offensive they may be to others.

In his latest remarks, the British actor recalled making fun of his former co-star Drew Barrymore’s singing while working on their film “Music & Lyrics”.

“I’m auto-tuned a bit, but not as much as some,” Grant, 62, recently told Wired in an interview while recounting his singing in the 2007 rom-com.

“Drew Barrymore was in that film with me and I don’t think she’d mind me saying her singing is just horrendous,” he confessed. “I’ve heard dogs bark better than she sings.”

Read More: Hugh Grant Compares Himself To A ‘Scrotum’ At The 2023 Oscars

The “Love Actually” star then noted that after “they tuned her up,” Barrymore “sounded way better than me because she’s got heart and voice and rock ‘n’ roll.”

His remarks come after he recently went viral,...

Hugh Grant has picked the hill he wants to die on: A “Notting Hill” Easter egg, to be exact.

The deadpan actor revealed during a Wired video alongside “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” co-stars Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez that he found the ending of 1999 rom-com “Notting Hill” to be “nauseating” due to a small detail director Roger Michell included.

“Notting Hill,” which has been considered by many a rom-com classic over the years, stars Julia Roberts as Anna Scott, a famous actress who falls for local British bookstore owner William Thacker (Grant) while filming on location. The final scene shows Anna cuddling with William on a park bench as he reads a novel, one that had a special meaning to late director Michell.

“In that nauseating moment on the bench at the end, I’m reading ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ by Louis de Bernières, which was going to be his next film,...

Athens-based company Stefi Productions is developing mini-series project “Letters to Leonard,” a real life inspired drama that explores events in the personal relationship between legendary conductors Leonard Bernstein and Greece’s Dimitris Mitropoulos.

Described as a story about friendship, love, betrayal and the passion for music, the series has been co-created by Pierros Andrakakos, whose credits take in directing Antenna Studios’ series “Save Me,” plus servng as an assistant director on Universal Pictures’ “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” and Paramount Pictures’ “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.”

Also co-creator and the series’ producer, Giorgos Linardakis is known for his work as line producer on Greek TV series such as “Agapi Paranomi” and “Voices in Deep.”

“Letters to Leonard” is set in the extremely competitive arena of classical music and orchestra conducting.

Mitropoulos, a prominent and deeply religious conductor who lives an ascetic life, decides to do a bold photoshoot with...

Irene Papas, the Greek actress known for such films as “Zorba the Greek,” “Z” and “The Guns of Navarone,” has died. She was 93.

Greece’s Ministry of Culture and Sports confirmed the news Wednesday in a statement.

Papas starred in over 70 films and stage productions throughout her career spanning nearly six decades, from Hollywood features to French and Italian cinema. She also appeared in dozens of Greek tragedies, including the title role in the 1961 film adaptation of “Antigone.”

Born on Sept. 3, 1929, in the village of Chiliomodi near Corinth, Papas began her acting studies as a teenager and later worked on multiple film and TV projects in the ’40’s and ’50s, including “The Man from Cairo,” “The Unfaithfuls,” “Bouboulina” and “Attila,” among others.

In 1961, she played a supporting role in “The Guns of Navarone” starring Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn. Papas then starred opposite Quinn and Alan Bates in...

Nicolas Cage’s sometimes over-the-top performances, complete with meme-worthy lifted brows and bulging eyeballs, are getting their own showcase. “People think I’m not in on the joke,” the headline of his 2013 Guardian profile reads. Lest there be any doubt, he’s now acted in and produced a feature-length film to prove his point.

Channeling the meta-ness of “Adaptation,” Cage stars in “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” as a debt-ridden, washed-up actor named Nick Cage and as Nicky, his alter ego and a bad angel of sorts who appears to be 1980s-vintage Cage, here to facilitate internal dialogue. Per the film’s concocted biographical details, he has an ex-wife named Olivia (Sharon Horgan), a makeup artist he met on the set of “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin,” and a teenage daughter named Addy (Lily Mo Sheen), who thinks Humphrey Bogart was an adult film performer.

(Nick Cage is not to be...

The Oscar season may not have officially begun, but three talented leading men — Nicolas Cage (“Pig“), Matt Damon (“Stillwater“) and Winston Duke (“Nine Days“) — are all delivering awards-worthy performances in three very unconventional movies. Likely to face an uphill battle on the awards circuit, the right campaign and support from critics could help them gain some traction in the awards game.

It’s time we all have a serious talk about Nicolas Cage. It should be no surprise that he delivers a beautifully affecting turn as Rob, a truffle forager who hunts the person who stole his beloved pig, and yet, some still find Cage more worthy of memes than trophies. The 57-year-old actor’s overstuffed filmography is full of both box office successes (“The Rock” and “Face/Off”) and critical misfires (“Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” and “Windtalkers”). Cage’s media persona plays up his zany antics, and surely Andy Samberg’s...

NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service has a section dedicated solely to Nicolas Cage movies. With so many streaming service options available, it's hard to stand out from the rest of the pack. Obviously, diverse content and a decent amount of original content are the real selling factors, but Peacock is getting creative with their slick user interface and the Cage section, which might start a trend within rival platforms with other beloved actors.

As of this writing, Peacock has eight Nicolas Cage movies in their section dedicated to the National Treasure actor. The eight Cage movies include Joe, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Stolen, Rumble Fish, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Red Rock West, Bangkok Dangerous, and Drive Angry. Peacock offers a free and paid tier, with six out of the eight Cage movies showing up under the free model, so there's plenty there to get started with to see...

As Nicolas Cage returns to Oscar-worthy form in David Gordon Green's extraordinary Southern Gothic drama Joe, we celebrate some of the strangest roles he's essayed along the way, from insect-munching Manhattanite to bee-wrangling bear impersonator. It's not always pretty, but it's never boring...

Vampire's Kiss (1988)

After he was a leading man, but before he was a very good one, Cage played that 1980s stalwart – the Yuppy Dick – in this off-kilter black comedy. Enunciating in an inexplicably anglicised drawl, like Loyd Grossman shouting through a tube, his character Peter Loew confides to his therapist: "I brought this girl up to my place, really hot, you knooooooow... Suddenly, this bat comes sweeping down out of noooowhere. I'll be daaaaamned if I didn't get really turned on!"

From here things only get stranger, with Loew exhibiting all the usual signs of vampirism: cringing at the sign of crosses/mirrors, shouting the alphabet...

Here's your daily dose of an indie film in progress; at the end of the week, you'll have the chance to vote for your favorite. In the meantime: Is this a movie you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments. "On Hold" Tweetable Logline: Four people. Waiting. Each for something special. One of them could be you. Elevator Pitch: The film deals with the role of waiting in daily routine and life in general by observing four people, each of whom is on hold for something special. They wait for the better, the worse, the unexpected or just the unavoidable. Production Team:Director-producer: George Tsirogiannis Writers: George Tsirogiannis, Darío Acebales Starring: Stefania Kriezi, Giorgos Nikopoulos, Haris Trasanis, Andromahi Pouliasi Music: Deadfile Cinematographer: Petros Antoniadis Production Manager: John Nikolettos (Protasis Production, production services in Greece for "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" and "My Life in Ruins") About the Production: I decided...

This weekend at the Hamptons International Film Festival, a special tribute to Working Title Films was held as part of the festival's strain of British-themed programming (it just so happened to also coincide with the 10th anniversary of their beloved rom-com "Love Actually"). On hand for the panel were the company's current co-chairs Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan, who were later joined by special guests Edgar Wright and Richard Curtis, whose new film for Working Title, "About Time," also played the festival. Together, they helped illuminate what makes Working Title such a unique place for filmmakers, how the company was founded, and what they think the future of cinema holds. At the start of the panel, a brief highlight reel was run, reminding the audience of what an impressive and diverse roster the company has had—everything from the Coens' "The Big Lebowski" to the studio's breakout hit "Four Weddings and a Funeral" to,...

In an adaptation of Margaret Mazzantini's bestseller, Penélope Cruz stars as an infertile woman who returns to relive her past in Sarajevo. Here she talks about babies, breastfeeding and pacifism

When Penélope Cruz was shooting Twice Born – in which she plays an unhappily infertile academic – she was still breastfeeding her own young son. For some scenes, her character shares the screen with a rolling cast of newborns, swapped once they grew too big.

"Some of these babies were only a week old. And so they were smelling me and that made them want to eat. But I was playing a woman who couldn't feed because she hadn't given birth! That created a very strange but alive dynamic between me and those babies. You cannot learn something like that. And this film is full of moments that could not be planned."

Cruz leans forward, black trousers tapering to huge nude stilettos.

Didn't get an invite to this year's Oscars? Neither did Xan Brooks, but he stoically blogged the red carpet and then the ceremony anyway

10.57pm: And so it begins ....

11.25pm: Roll carpet, roll cameras: it's the 84th annual Academy Awards, live and lurid from Hollywood. The Guardian film team will be covering the event throughout the night, weeping with the winners and wailing with the losers as this season's awards circus clatters exhaustedly towards the finish line. This is where it ends, inside the Hollywood and Highland Centre (reputedly the winner of the 2007 "Ugliest Building in La" award). Inside, the victors shall be encased in gold, the vanquished shown the door and all manner of movies laid tenderly to rest.

But wait, kick back, and keep the war horses tethered: the actual ceremony does not officially commence until 5pm (Pacific time). Time enough to cast an eye back over some late-breaking Oscar news.

A Deborah Moggach book caught on film leads to Tulip Fever, and Ozwald Boateng makes a bid to dress Bond

Brought to book

In a brief scene in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Penelope Wilton is pictured relaxing in the garden of the eponymous Indian hotel reading a book. A quick shot reveals it's the novel Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach, who also happened to write These Foolish Things, upon which Ol Parker based the screenplay to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It's a sweet in-joke and recalls the one at the end of Notting Hill, where Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant are reposing on a garden bench and she's reading Captain Corelli's Mandolin. This was, at the time, a nod to Notting Hill director Roger Michell's proposed next film – he was slated to direct the Louis de Bernières bestseller. However, illness meant Michell had to drop out and...

This weekend, "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" is motorcycling to multiplexes across the country. Along with flaming asphalt, it will no doubt leave great controversy in the geekazoid community. Is it a fun B-picture offering a heavy dose of Crazy Nic Cage and frenzied Neveldine/Taylor camerawork? Or is a mess on wheels that makes the first "Ghost Rider" look like "Iron Man"?

I leave it to you to hammer this argument out, but there's one thing that's absolutely for certain: Nicolas Cage's fanboy cred.

The two-time Johnny Blaze doesn't just own an Academy Award statuette; he's got the heart of an unrepentant comic-book nerd, and he doesn't care who knows it. In case you weren't aware, let us detail the ways in which Nic Cage is Hollywood's A-list dork.

He Has a Secret Identity

Nicolas Cage wasn't born this way. When he appears in "Let's stay up all...

If there is one thing about Stephen Frears, he doesn't usually let too much time pass before he's on to the next project. And barely a week after his latest film "Lay The Favorite" premiered at Sundance, it looks like he may be on to something new. And now, it's not the developing remake of "The Hit" or "The Bengali Detective." Instead, it's "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight" and it's gearing up at HBO. The folks over at Shadow & Act first got wind of the project, and have learned that casting is underway. The film seems to be moving under the radar, but when is known thus far is that it has a script from Shawn Slovo ("Catch A Fire," "Captain Corelli's Mandolin") and Scott Ferguson ( past HBO successes "You Don't Know Jack," "Temple Grandin," "Recount") is one of the producers according to Montana Artists Agency. So what's it all about?...

Director Kriv Stenders Australian produced family feature "Red Dog" recently passed the $20 million mark at the Australian box office.

Adapted by screenwriter Daniel Taplitz, from "Red Dog", the best-selling novel by author Louis De Bernières ("Captain Corelli's Mandolin") the film follows the true story of 'Red Dog', a nomadic Australian sheep dog, found roaming the outback in search of his master, before returning to a mining town to inspire the locals :

"...in West Australia during the early 1970's, 'Thomas' (Luke Ford) walks into a bar where the locals are looking after a sick dog. He is told by 'Jack' (Noah Taylor) that this is no ordinary dog, but the great 'Red Dog' (played by Koko).

"Jack tells his story about how he first met Red. Then a man named 'Vanno' (Arthur Angel) shares how he became acquainted with the dog. The men recall how Red Dog...

Directed by Kriv Stenders and adapted by Daniel Taplitz, from the best-selling novel by award-winning author Louis De Bernières (Captain Corelli's Mandolin) the film tells the true story of Koko, the titular canine. Found roaming the outback in search of his master, he returns to a disparate mining town and reinspires the local residents.   Currently in the USA, at the Heartland International Film Festival, Red Dog producer Nelson Woss said, "The film has now clearly shown its box office potential in Australia and the team behind it are working hard to translate this local momentum into international box office success.

Patrick Malahide has joined the cast of Game of Thrones. The actor will appear in the show's upcoming second season as Balon Greyjoy, Winter Is Coming reports. Balon, who is the father of Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen), is the leader of the Iron Islands. Malahide has previously appeared in British dramas including The Singing Detective, Minder, Five Days, Survivors and Law & Order: UK. His film credits include Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Billy Elliot and The World Is Not Enough. Malahide is the latest (more)...

The Debt, a thriller due in theaters on August 31, arrives courtesy of John Madden, the director who hit big with Shakespeare in Love, missed bigger with Captain Corelli's Mandolin and broke boringly even with Proof, which wasn't bad, but would've been much better had the producers gone with Mary Louise-Parker (who starred in the Broadway production), rather than installing Gwyneth Paltrow as Oscar bait.

Now comes The Debt and one wonders where it will fall on the Madden Continuum. Will it skew toward Shakespeare or fall into Captain Corelli territory? Based on the film's trailer, I think it's safe to say Madden's latest ain't Shakespeare — hell, Shakespeare in Love ain't Shakespeare — but The Debt seems to have all the ingredients necessary for a satisfying night at the movies, specifically: Helen Mirren and Nazis. What else do you need from a movie?

Based on a respected 2007 Israeli flick I haven't seen,...

HollywoodNews.com: Our selected celebrity to be included in our “Hot Hollywood Celebrity Photo Gallery of the Day” is Penelope Cruz.

Penelope Cruz ◄ Back Next ►Picture 1 of 14

Penelope Cruz - "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" Madrid Premiere - Arrivals - Villamagna Hotel - Madrid, Spain

◄ Back Next ►Picture 1 of 14

Penelope Cruz - "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" Madrid Premiere - Arrivals - Villamagna Hotel - Madrid, Spain

Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born April 28, 1974) is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón (1992), to critical acclaim. Her subsequent roles in the 1990s and 2000s included Open Your Eyes (1997), The Hi-Lo Country (1999), The Girl of Your Dreams (2000) and Woman on Top (2000). Cruz achieved recognition for her lead roles in Vanilla Sky and Blow. Both films were released in 2001 and were commercially successful worldwide.

When he was asked to be guest director for a festival dedicated to films based on books, Jonathan Coe set out to disprove the adage that great literature makes terrible movies

In the course of their famous book-length interview, François Truffaut once asked Alfred Hitchcock about his approach to literary adaptation, and Hitch's response was as magisterial, worldly and mischievous as one would expect: "What I do is to read a story only once, and if I like the basic idea, I just forget all about the book and start to create cinema. Today I would be unable to tell you the story of Daphne du Maurier's The Birds. I read it only once, and very quickly at that."

Hitchcock's comment was the first thing that occurred to me when, towards the end of last year, I was approached with an interesting proposition. "From Page to Screen" is the...

With the release of Drive Angry 3D, Daniel Bettridge brings you a guide on how to tell if you're about to waste two hours of your life watching a bad Nicolas Cage film

Good news, film fans: Nicolas Cage's latest magnum opus, Drive Angry 3D, hits cinemas nationwide on Friday. Of course, you'd be forgiven for not getting your hopes up. After all, roughly 38% of Hollywood's second-rate output seems to star the indefatigable Cage, as the one-time Oscar winner continues to peddle a seemingly endless procession of frankly terrible flicks in an effort to keep the taxman off his back. Few stars can boast such a rollercoaster career as Cage. He's an actor who seems to lurch from role to role, punctuating the dark depths of an eclectic straight-to-video CV with some occasional award-winning highs. But faced with an avalanche of Nicolas Cage movies to choose from, how can...

A month after unleashing Nicolas Cage Loses His Sh*t, Harry Hanrahan has returned in this spin-off of sorts to that video, The Evolution of Nicolas Cage's Hair. If there's one thing more versatile than Cage's level of crazy, it's Cage's hairstyles over the years, which come complete with their own personalities. It's like a Chia of Crazy. It will amaze and confound you.

Prepare to be follicly-hypnotized for the next two-and-a-half minutes.

Here is a list of movies used in the video:

00'08 - Valley Girl

00'14 - Rumble Fish

00'18 - Racing with the Moon

00'21 - The Cotton Club

00'23 - Birdy

00'27 - The Boy In Blue

00'31 - Peggy Sue Got Married

00'35 - Raising Arizona

00'40 - Moonstruck

00'44 - Vampire's Kiss

00'49 - Fire Birds

00'52 - Wild at Heart

00'55 - Zandalee

00'59 - Honeymoon In Vegas

01'02 - Amos & Andrew...

The new Australian film Red Dog will have its world premiere at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival, held February 10 to 21, having been selected to screen in competition as part of Generation 14plus.   For those familiar with the daring work of Australian filmmaker Kriv Stenders (The Illustrated Family Doctor, Blacktown, Boxing Day, Lucky Country), it came as a surprise to learn the director was overseeing the decidedly family friendly Red Dog.   Adapted by Daniel Taplitz (Chaos Theory) from the novel by Louis De Bernieres (Captain Corelli's Mandolin), Red Dog tells the story of a spirited kelpie who roamed the West Australian outback in the seventies and eighties and unites a mining community along the way.

Ah, l'amour! From "Love Actually" to "Shakespeare in Love" to "Love Story," here's a collection of swoon-inducing movie quotes with the word "love" in them. Ya gotta love it! Movie Quotes: Love on the Big Screen"Great Expectations" (1998)

"She'll only break your heart, it's a fact. And even though I warn you, even though I guarantee you that the girl will only hurt you terribly, you'll still pursue her. Ain't love grand?" — Ms. Dinsmoor

"The Bridges of Madison County...

Back on a roll following Kick-Ass and now Bad Lieutenant, few actors have had as many ups and downs as Nicolas Cage. 'People who do the wrong thing win,' he tells Damon Wise

Until recently, things weren't looking so good for Nicolas Cage. In the 90s he transformed from a geeky, twitchy presence in soft dramas like Moonstruck and Peggy Sue Got Married into the oddest action hero of all time. Unlike Stallone and Schwarzenegger, Cage was a true livewire, a psychotic, tender presence who could kick ass even while being a doting father; who could forget him brawling to the death for the sake of his son's soft toy in 1997's Con Air ("Put the bunny back in the box!"). Cage was something mainstream moviegoers and indie mavens could agree on, a soldier for hire who could be put to service by David Lynch in one of his dark,...

When Aussies make films about animals they tend to be of the wild, predatory, terrorising variety, scaring people with sharks (The Reef), crocodiles (Black Water, Rogue) wild pigs (Razorback), or an entire, terrifying ecosystem (Long Weekend).

So it's with some surprise and apprehension that we have news of two new Australian films in development...one about a donkey and the other about a dog.

Encore is reporting that The Kings of Mykonos director Peter Andrikidis will direct Simpson, about a man and his donkey on the battlefields of World War I. No doubt it will be a much bigger war story, using this tale as the story backbone.

It sounds a lot like Steven Spielberg's upcoming War Horse, but is in fact based on a famous Australian story about a stretcher bearer who carried the wounded on his donkey during the battle at Gallipoli, in Turkey.

Stranger news still...

Josh Lucas will star in the "Red Dog" which is a tale of a kelpie dog that brought together a mining community in the 1970s and '80s. Filming is scheduled for five weeks in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Daniel Taplitz of "Chaos Theory" adapts based on the novel of the same title penned by Louis De Bernieres ("Captain Corelli's Mandolin"). Roadshow Films plans to release the film some time in 2011. ScreenWest, Screen Australia have invested with support from Woodside, Rio Tinto, Westrac, Skywest and Pedigree. Lucas' credits include 2008's "Management" with Jennifer Aniston and Steve Zahn as well as "Poseidon" back in 2006...

Subject: Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Kim Coppola), 46-year-old American actor

Date of Assessment: April 16, 2010

Positive Buzzwords: Indefatigable, resolute, gumshoe (as in "gum on my shoe")

Negative Buzzwords: Clueless, intense, flashlight

The Case: The following may sound like a rather cruel statement, but I can't think of a single friend or acquaintance (nor even an enemy) of mine who has admitted to being a Nic Cage fan since last century. Perhaps there's a secret society -- just as obtuse as Nic himself -- out there that prays for his exceedingly rare display of lucidity in movies like Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation. Admittedly, I loved the guy in the fairly underrated Raising Arizona, and it tickles me to watch those old 80s flicks -- Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Rumble Fish -- where Nic just pops up outta nowhere in manner of "Where's Waldo?" Now, however, the man is a bewilderingly impenetrable mess,...

Ahoy! Aaaargh! Pieces of eight! Savvy, etc… Just trying to get you in the right buccaneer mood for news that Penelope Cruz is in negotiations to join Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.It’s somewhat of a surprising bit of casting info, given that you wouldn’t normally expect to see Cruz cropping up in such a hefty tent pole, and especially since her “bigger” films have tended to be the mis-firing likes of Captain Corelli's Mandolin Gothika, Sahara. Oh, and a voice on G-Force.But as those titles suggest, she doesn’t always swim in indie waters and with her Nine director – the man who helped her score her latest Oscar nomination – Rob Marshall at the helm for this next Pirates adventure, plus what sounds like a meaty role written as an equal/foil to Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow, you can see why she might dive in.

Though the legendary filmmaker has only directed a handful of feature films, Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line) has quite a respectful following. With his most recent film, The Tree of Life starring Sean Penn and Brad Pitt, in post-production, Malick is already gearing up for his next project as Deadline Hollywood reports he has grabbed Christian Bale, Javier Bardem(No Country for Old Men), Rachel McAdams (Sherlock Holmes), and Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) to star in an untitled romance that he has written and will direct later this year. Literally no story details have surfaced anywhere on the internet yet. This is quite an impressive gathering of talent for a romance that is currently only described as a "powerful and moving love story." But none of these actors are strangers to romance with films like Captain Corelli's Mandolin (Bale), Vicky Christina Barcelona (Bardem), The Notebook (McAdams), and Paris...

There is still no solid agreement for Keira Knightley to take on one Miss Eliza Doolittle, but it looks like the remake of My Fair Lady may finally have found a director. One who is not Joe Wright. Variety reports that the helmer behind The Debt -- John Madden -- is currently in talks to direct the film. Seeing that The Debt hasn't come out yet, let's be more clear: The director behind Shakespeare in Love, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Proof, and Killshot is the guy circling this feature.

That should be pretty decent news for the film. While I can't say that his subsequent work has brought him the same acclaim, getting an Oscar nomination for Shakespeare proved that he's at his best when dealing with classic literary romance. And while I would've loved to see Baz Luhrmann take it on (he was previously linked to the shebang), I can't...

·Now serving: The first stills from Christina Aguilera's marquee debut in Burlesque! This image is only a couple of scenes ahead of her first stripping gig, where the barkeep hollers, "You've got one chance, honey," and Christina rallies with a teary-eyed, breast-smooshing tribute to Chaka Kahn, womanhood, and the John in the front row who knows the Midwestern resilience behind her violet eyes.

· Hamish Hamilton, the director of events like MTV's Video Music Awards, will helm the Oscars telecast.

· Nicolas Cage visited a Kenyan prison and handed out awards to wardens to highlight the issue of piracy in the Indian Ocean. The nervous wardens were grateful and shocked by the honor, though they muttered in unison that things really went downhill for him with Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

· The Emmys are moving back to August.

· Kirstie Alley quietly typed on Twitter that she's going beat up Conan O'Brien the next time she sees him.

Penélope Cruz became an actor because of Pedro Almodóvar—twice. The first time was in 1990, when Cruz was a young girl growing up in Alcobendas, just outside of Madrid, and happened upon the director's "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!," a wacky love story about a former porn star and her kidnapper. She was already a fan of Almodóvar's offbeat sensibilities, but this one had a profound effect on her. "That was the day I decided to look for an agent," Cruz reveals.Her Reign in SpainCruz was only 14 when she attended a cattle call held by agent Katrina Bayonas and found herself armed with sides from "Casablanca," along with 300 other people. Bayonas wouldn't even see her. "She sent me away. She said, 'You are too young. Come back next year,' " Cruz recalls. "I came back three days later, and she said it again. I said, 'I am not too young.

Nicolas Cage sometimes gets a bad rap. Yes, he's an Oscar winner, but his eclectic taste in movies has often drawn criticism, most famously from Sean Penn, who once accused Cage of s-tting on their profession. Say what you want about The Wicker Man or Bangkok Dangerous, but Cage is either the savviest or most fortuitous operator in Hollywood when it comes to his female costars. Yesterday's announcement that Mad Men's January Jones will costar opposite Cage in The Hungry Rabbit Jumps was only the most recent example. Toss in Diane Kruger (National Treasure, pictured), Jessica Biel (Next), Eva Mendes...

Penélope Cruz is possibly one of the most envied actresses in modern cinema. After a number of award-winning performances in her native Spain, she started commuting to Hollywood and starred alongside a generation's worth of hunky leading men, including Matt Damon (All The Pretty Horses), Johnny Depp (Blow), Nicolas Cage (Captain Corelli's Mandolin) and Tom Cruise (Vanilla Sky). She also captured the attention of legendary directors Woody Allen and Pedro Almodóvar along the way. Read on for some fascinating facts about the stunning star. 1. Born Penélope Cruz Sánchez on April 28, 1974 in Madrid, her mum was a hairdresser and her dad a car mechanic and salesman. 2. In her early acting days, Cruz starred in the video for 'La Fuerza Del Destino' ('The Force Of Destiny') by '80s Spanish pop group Mecano. She (more)...

Ifta winning Irish actor Aidan Gillen (The Wire) has begun filming on location in London in Lionsgate UK's big screen adaptation of Ken Bruen's crime thriller 'Blitz'. Starring alongside Gillen are; Jason Statham (The Bank Job, Snatch), Paddy Considine (The Bourne Ultimatum) and David Morrissey (Captain Corelli's Mandolin, State of Play). Directed by Elliott Lester, whose debut feature 'Love Is The Drug' was selected for Slamdance 2006, 'Blitz' has been adapted for screen by Nathan Parker (Moon) and focuses on a cop-hating serial killer who targets the officers of a South East London police station.

Belfast actor Ciaran Hinds (There Will Be Blood, Stop-Loss) has joined actors Helen Mirren (The Queen) and Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) for the thriller 'The Debt,' directed by John Madden (Captain Corelli's Mandolin). Written by 'Stardust' scriptwriters Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman and Peter Straughan (How to Lose Friends and Alienate People), the film is a fictional story centering on three young Israeli secret agents who in the 1960s kill a wanted Nazi war criminal. Years later, a man is uncovered who claims to be the murdered Nazi and one of the agents must try to uncover the truth. Mirren, Hinds and Wilkinson will play the three agents. The thriller which recently began shooting in London and will see the cast will travel to Budapest and Tel Aviv for filming.

No, the whole world hasn't come together to avoid Nicolas Cage movies. Yet.

It's not a bad idea, since he made $63 million in contracted salary for Windtalkers, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Gone in 60 Seconds, and Snake Eyes. If the effort ever does get coordinated, I suspect it might look something like this.

Incidentally, the more recognizable faces in that video are obviously lifted from some other public service announcement; Leonardo DiCaprio and Eva Longoria have not joined forces to stop Nic Cage movies. Yet.

The video comes from Magic Hugs, so be sure to check out their other videos.

Briefly, it appeared as though Nicolas Cage regretted his post-Oscar losing streak with movies like Captain Corelli's Mandolin and Windtalkers. Oh, let's not forget the dire Snake Eyes and 8mm. Don't even get me started on City of Angels.

But between 2002 and 2006 he made six pretty good to very good films in a row: Adaptation, Matchstick Men, National Treasure, Lord of War, The Weather Man, and World Trade Center. And then, whoa daddy, did the wheels come off. The best movie he's made since then is probably....uh...National Treasure 2. Unless you're a big fan of Wicker Man or Next, that is.

The downward trend will continue, with Cage signing up for the supanatural thrilla Season of the Witch with director Dominic Sena. Sena directed Gone in 60 Seconds, which is probably a misdemeanor, at worst maybe you get some community service. But it's not a felony, really.>p>

Anyway,...

Batman Begins star Christian Bale was left red-faced on the upcoming superhero movie's set last week - when he couldn't fit into his costume. The Captain Corelli's Mandolin hunk is currently in Iceland filming the fifth installment of the comic book franchise under the guidance of Memento director Christopher Nolan. But poor Christian had to suffer the indignity of the costume problems on his first day as Gotham City's crime fighting bat. A set insider explains, "The trouble is the suit is so tight, it takes three people to squeeze Christian into it. He ripped one suit then finally managed to get into another with the help of more than a few squirts of talcum powder."...

Penelope Cruz has slammed accusations she caused Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's marriage to collapse. Penelope has been dating the Hollywood star since wrapping their movie Vanilla Sky three years ago - the same time he split with sexy Nicole - and reports have always hinted Cruz caused the rift. And although she is keen to avoid inquiries into how her romance with Cruise blossomed, the sexy star fiercely denies they got together on the set of the 2001 Cameron Crowe movie. She says, "I've been accused of a lot of things regarding the men I've worked with. But the fact is that no relationship ever took place during the making of the film. We weren't together at that point in any other way. It was just work. It may have looked like that. But no." The 29-year-old star has previously been linked to a series of her movie co-stars including Matt Damon and Nicolas Cage, who she worked with on All The Pretty Horses and Captain Corelli's Mandolin respectively.

Spanish siren Penelope Cruz's Hollywood dream is hinged on the success of upcoming movie Sahara - after her previous films failed to catapult her to the top of the acting 'A' list. Tom Cruise's sexy girlfriend is said to be deeply disappointed that films such as Captain Corelli's Mandolin and Vanilla Sky failed to elevate her to the same status as his ex-wife Nicole Kidman. And competitive Cruz - who found fame in her native country thanks to a string of Pedro Almodovar hits - is determined to capture the public imagination with her role in the Matthew McConaughey-starring action film. A source says, "Penelope is ambitious but hasn't really been acclaimed as an 'A' list actress yet. She's better known for being Tom's girlfriend and is hoping this movie will put her on the map in her own right." Cruz, 29, will fly out to Morocco next month to begin filming her role as a UN scientist trying to avert an environmental crisis.

LONDON -- A program set up in May by the United Kingdom's Women in Film and Television and United International Pictures to foster more women directors in the industry said Tuesday that its first placement will join veteran British director Roger Michell's latest project. Cardiff-based TV director and producer Shreepali Patel will work alongside Michell (Changing Lanes) on the upcoming Pathe-backed project Enduring Love, an adaptation of Ian McEwan's best-selling novel. The movie, starring Daniel Craig, Rhys Ifans and Samantha Morton, starts shooting in September in the United Kingdom. Kevin Loader (Captain Corelli's Mandolin) and Michell's Free Range Films are producing for Pathe Pictures, the U.K.-based, lottery-fueled production arm of France's Pathe Prods.

SYDNEY -- The Australian film industry has received a much-needed new avenue of financial support with the announcement Monday that Sports and Entertainment Ltd., one of the country's largest live entertainment and sports promoters, has entered the sector through a joint venture with producer Nelson Woss, a Los Angeles-based Australian producer who most recently packaged Ned Kelly for Universal Pictures. The Sydney-based venture will be called Woss Group Films/SEL. Under the deal, funds for operating costs and development will be provided to Woss to source and produce Australian and international films for the world market. The venture already has a slate of films in development, including an $8 million adaptation of Red Dog, based on the novel by Louis de Bernieres (Captain Corelli's Mandolin) and a thriller from Australian filmmaker Bill Bennett, Deep Dark, to be co-produced in association with Go Films, which is owned by one of Australia's top entertainers, Nick Giannopoulos.

Director Oliver Stone has reportedly lost out in his bid to beat Moulin Rouge filmmaker Baz Luhrmann to shooting a biopic of Alexander The Great. Luhrmann has apparently secured a budget for his project so big Stone will be forced to shelve his rival plans for a similar film. The Australian is backed by big names such as Universal Pictures and 20Th Century Fox - and has signed up major star Leonardo DiCaprio as well as having a $150 million budget. And now Intermedia, the producer of Oliver Stone's picture are reluctant to commit in light of the competition. The German-owned company has recently financed two massive flops - K-19: The Widowmaker, starring Harrison Ford and Captain Corelli's Mandolin. An industry expert opines, "They might not want to take another gamble."...

Despite being brought up a Catholic and claiming to be a Buddhist, Penelope Cruz appears to be adopting her boyfriend Tom Cruise's controversial religion Scientology. The Captain Corelli's Mandolin actress visited the West Hollywood Scientology Center with her friend Ryan Haddon, wife of actor Christian Slater. Cruz may be adopting Cruise's religion in a bid to secure their reportedly rocky relationship. One of the alleged factors in the disintegration of Cruise and Nicole Kidman's marriage was Kidman's aversion to bringing up their children Connor and Isabella in the L. Ron Hubbard-created faith.