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Your browser does not support the video tag. Tony Goldwyn returns to directing after 14 years with the powerful family drama, Ezra, inspired by writer Tony Spiridakis' own experience raising his autistic son. The star-studded cast, led by Bobby Cannavale and Robert De Niro, brings to life the emotional journey of Max and his autistic son, Ezra. Goldwyn shares insights on the casting process and excitement for Channing Tatum's remake of his iconic film, Ghost.

Tony Goldwyn returns to the director's chair after 14 years with Ezra. Goldwyn has found widespread acclaim for his work both in front of and behind the camera over the better part of 40 years, starring in everything from the Patrick Swayze-led Ghost to voicing Tarzan in Disney's 1999 animated classic movie, as well as portraying President Fitzgerald Grant III on ABC's Scandal. Goldwyn has also helmed a variety of movies over the years, including his acclaimed debut,...

Let’s start here: watching Bobby Cannavale and Robert De Niro argue on a New York City street while cars angrily beep their horns is electric. Truly exhilarating to watch. Likewise, watching the great Rose Byrne manage multiple emotions on her face is tantamount to listening to Yo-Yo Ma play cello. Ezra, written by Tony Spiridakis and directed by Tony Goldwyn, tells the story of a separated couple’s attempt to raise their autistic son. Max (Cannavale) is a struggling stand-up comedian; his ex, Jenna (Rose Byrne), is trying to keep it all together and not doing well. Their son, Ezra (William A. Fitzgerald), is causing disturbances at his school. Soon he’s forced to go to a specialized school with other “special” kids. Max cannot allow this; neither can his temper. It’s all for Jenna and her lawyer boyfriend (Goldwyn) to do to keep Max from beating up the whole world.

The Cannes Film Festival has named the eight members of its main Competition jury who will join previously announced president Greta Gerwig in deciding the Palme d’Or and other key prizes at 77th edition running from May 14 to 25.

They are Turkish screenwriter and photographer Ebru Ceylan, U.S. actress Lily Gladstone, French actress Eva Green, Lebanese director and screenwriter Nadine Labaki, Spanish director and screenwriter J.A. Bayona, Italian actor Pierfrancisco Favino, Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda and French actor and producer Omar Sy.

The wife and long-time collaborator of Nuri Bilge Ceylan, screenwriter and photographer Ceylan co-wrote 2014 Palme d’Or winner Winter Sleep and also took co-writing credits on Cannes selected films Three Monkeys (Best Director Prize 2008), Once upon a time in Anatolia (Grand Prix 2011), The Wild Pear Tree (2018) and About Dry Grasses (2023).

Ceylan also appeared as an actress and took art director credits on her husband’s early films...

Bobby Cannavale, Robert De Niro and Rose Byrne lead a starry ensemble drama focused on caring for a neurodivergent child in the trailer for Ezra.

Director Tony Goldwyn’s family-focused feature is set to hit theaters May 31 from Bleecker Street after debuting at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Vera Farmiga, Whoopi Goldberg, Rainn Wilson and Goldwyn round out the film’s cast.

Ezra follows Max, a stand-up comic who lives with his father (De Niro) and decides to take his autistic son, Ezra (newcomer William Fitzgerald), on a road trip amid questions about the boy’s future.

“You’re fighting for something,” De Niro says in the trailer. “You might have to suffer consequences, but it’s worth it because you did it.”

Later in the footage, Cannavale says, “A dad’s job is to take his son down the field. If he gets tackled, all that dad...

A star-studded crime thriller from Oscar-nominated director Julian Schnabel is coming our way, with Orcasr Isaac, Jason Momoa, and Gerard Butler leading the cast. Schnabel’s In the Hand of Dante film is in production in Italy, with an Interim Agreement from SAG-AFTRA to allow filming during the ongoing strike. Based on the novel of the same name by Nick Tosches, In the Hand of Dante finds a piece of history in the clutches of criminals.

According to Deadline’s exclusive report, In the Hand of Dante “revolves around when the original manuscript of the Divine Comedy emerges in the clutches of a black-market smuggling ring in the dangerous underbelly of New York City, weary scholar Nick is called by the mob to authenticate it.”

“Overwhelmed by temptation, Nick defies the mafia and steals the manuscript in a frenzied bid to have it all. He follows a dark and violent...

U.S. actor Elena Kampouris (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3”) is set to star in the Sicily-set “Here Now,” a romantic thriller marking Italian director Gabriele Muccino’s return to English-language filmmaking. Muccino’s Hollywood credits include the Will Smith-starrer “The Pursuit of Happyness.”

Kampouris’ recent efforts comprise Netflix series “Jupiter’s Legacy” and the 2020 remake of “Children of the Corn.” In “Here Now” she plays Sophie, a young Californian who is traveling in Italy with her sister. During her last day of vacation in Palermo, Sicily, Sophie meets a boy named Giulio and his group of friends with whom she winds up spending “the most unpredictable, crazy, shocking, exciting, romantic and terrifying night of her life,” according to the film’s provided synopsis.

The movie’s other cast members include Saul Nanni, who starred in Netflix Italian original “Love & Gelato”; Lorenzo Richelmy, who toplined Netflix’s “Marco Polo...

Tony Goldwyn is best known as an actor who has starred in films like Ghost (1990) and on TV programs including Scandal (2012-2018). But he has also quietly and consistently built an impressive résumé as a director, with A Walk on the Moon (1999), The Last Kiss (2006), Conviction (2010) and, most recently, Ezra. The dramedy just had its world premiere as a sales title at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it had audiences laughing and crying and has generated raves, especially for the performance of its lead actor, Bobby Cannavale.

Ezra centers on a single father, stand-up comedian Max (Cannavale), who is fiercely protective of his autistic son, Ezra (William Fitzgerald), and winds up taking him on the run rather than allowing him to be sent to a special school and medicated. The film also stars Rose Byrne as the boy’s mother; Goldwyn as her new boyfriend; Robert De Niro as...

If you're just catching up on "Suits," you may have noticed the long-running series is packed with cameos connected to the cast in real life. One exciting appearance is by actor Jacinda Barrett, Gabriel Macht's real-life wife of almost 20 years. She plays Harvey's love interest in season two, a former lawyer named Zoe. Though the Australian actor is only in three episodes, the pair's chemistry is undeniable.

In season two, we learn that Zoe, a fellow Harvard Law School graduate and former Pearson Hardman colleague, dated Harvey five years prior. They reunite when Zoe is brought on as a jury consultant in Harvey's case, but ultimately, their relationship ends quickly as Zoe has to leave the state to take care of her niece. Zoe has since become a fan favorite of Harvey's girlfriends, though it's hard to rival Harvey and Donna's will-they-won't-they relationship on screen.

Barrett first entered...

Adapted from the 2015 novel by Katherine Center, Netflix’s “Happiness for Beginners” largely takes place in the wilderness, where different kinds of people are forced to bond while braving the elements as they hike the Appalachian Trail. Led by “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and “The Office” alum Ellie Kemper, the gaggle of goofballs provides laughs of all kinds as well as some heartfelt moments.

Zealous camp guide Bennett (Ben Cook) keeps everything interesting, especially when he scolds Helen (Kemper) for her careless mistakes on the hike and praises Jake (Luke Grimes) for all of his perfect moves in setting up and taking down camp. Nico Santos and Gus Birney even more humor to this romantic comedy story.

Here’s who plays who in “Happiness for Beginners”:

Helen (Ellie Kemper)

Ellie Kemper portrays Helen, who wants to start over after she divorces her husband. She experienced infidelity and a miscarriage during their marriage.

Lisa Hochstein may have become popular with Bravo fans after appearing on The Real Housewives of Miami, but she’s now known by the world after her messy divorce from plastic surgeon Lenny Hochstein became public. Now that the truth is out there, people want to know more about Lisa’s story.

After joining the Real Housewives franchise in 2012, her lifestyle became a topic of conversation because of how lavish it was. At the same time, behind that vanity was someone with a powerful story who made her dreams come true in America.

Lisa Is Not A Miami Native

Rhom left Bravo in 2013 before being rebooted on Peacock in 2021. Not much has changed about Lisa between then and now on The Real Housewives of Miami, but her story is just as interesting.

Related: The Main Cast Of The Real Housewives Of Miami Then And Now

Lisa grew up in Toronto,...

MTV's The Real World was basically the beginning of reality television. Before The Hills, Selling Sunset, and The Kardashians existed, MTV paved the way by featuring regular non-famous people living their lives out in the real world. Some of the people featured on The Real World went on to become celebrities in their own right and famous for other things. Those who never watched The Real World may not even be aware of certain famous people who got their start on that show.

Related: This Infamous Real World Momen Was Totally Staged

The series began in 1992, ran for over a decade, and featured all kinds of different people and personalities from all walks of life. Most seasons featured a group of seven strangers as cast members who shared close living quarters. Obviously, the show was full of drama. Let's find out what celebrities got their start on The Real World on MTV.

During the last few years, and through an acquaintance made possible by Mostafa Sarwar Farooki, I had the pleasure of getting to know Professor Fahmidul Haq, discuss with him a bit about Bangladeshi cinema, and also feature his writings in Asian Movie Pulse. Thus, it was very interesting for me to read and review his first book in English, but also a challenge, as it is always the case when you review the works of someone you know. Let us take a closer, and hopefully, objective look at the book however.

on Amazon

The “story”, after highlighting the concept of “brief” mentioned in the title as a panoramic view on local cinema, begins with some general facts about the current situation of the industry, as much as audience tendencies regarding motion pictures. The next chapter deals extensively with the beginning of Bangladeshi cinema, a topic that is...

Pearl Jam fans are a fiercely loyal bunch, but a quick glance at Twitter, Facebook, and their fan forums shows that many of them are getting a little impatient when it comes to the band’s North American tour plans. The group was originally supposed to hit U.S. arenas in March 2020, but they had to push back the dates because of the pandemic. Fans were told to hold onto their tickets, and in November 2021 they were given a long-awaited update.

“We’re announcing that the previously scheduled shows in...

Zig Dulay was born in Santiago, Isabela and holds a degree in Communication Arts from the University of the Philippines Baguio and Masters in U.P. Diliman specializing in creative writing. He directed his debut feature, “The Last Kiss” in 2011. He wrote several scripts for different directors. After his short “Missing” in 2013, he directed several multi-rewarded long features, with “The Baggage” winning a number of awards, including the Golden Cyclo at Fica Vesoul in 2016.

On the occasion of his presence in the International Jury of Fica Vesoul 2022, we talk with him about the ways he has changed as a filmmaker through the years, shooting indigenous people, the way he shot “Black Rainbow”, his latest movie, the Filipino movie industry and many other topics.

You have been shooting movies and TV series for more than 10 years now.In what ways do you feel you have changed from the beginning of your career until now?...

Image Source: Getty / Jeff Kravitz

Taylor Swift is at it again, folks! After giving us a mission to uncode all the vault songs on her rerecorded Fearless album, the singer rewarded fans with another glimpse of one of the anticipated new tracks. Early Wednesday morning (without any forewarning), Swift dropped "Mr. Perfectly Fine" on YouTube. And just like her recently released vault track "You All Over Me," it appears to be about Joe Jonas, her ex.

It's understandable that a handful of Swift's vault tracks would be about the Jonas Brothers singer. The two dated and broke up right before her Fearless album was released in 2008. Her hit song "Forever & Always" was written about their romance and was added to the album at the last minute. While the two are on good terms now - she sent Jonas and Sophie Turner a present for their daughter - it seems like...

HBO Max is out with its list of everything new coming to the streaming service in October and everything leaving at the end of the month.

The list includes HBO Originals like the limited series “The Undoing” starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant, out Oct. 25, and David Byrne’s “American Utopia” special event about Byrne’s Broadway show that electrified audiences, out Oct. 17.

There is also Nathan Fielder’s comedic docuseries “How To With John Wilson,” out Oct. 23, and the first season finale of “Lovecraft Country” on Oct. 18.

Among the things leaving at the end of the month are “Amelie,” “Ocean’s 11,” “V For Vendetta,” “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.”

Read the full list here:

Oct. 1

A World of Calm, Documentary Series Premiere

Akeelah And The Bee, 2006 (HBO)

All-Star Superman, 2011

American Dynasties: The Kennedys, 2018

American Reunion, 2012 (HBO)

Analyze That,...

With Lovecraft Country still providing HBO and HBO Max with its horror content through October, the streamer is looking elsewhere for its spooky season offerings. HBO Max’s new releases for October 2020 feature some truly awesome horror library titles.

Jordan Peele’s Us, John Carpenter’s The Thing, and David Fincher’s Se7en all arrive on Oct. 1. That alone should be enough to last you through spooky season. And if it doesn’t, It: Chapter Two is right there as well. October is also a big month for Batman and Superman with Man of Steel arriving on Oct. 1 along with a whole of animated specials dropping that same day.

In relation to the library titles, this isn’t HBO Max’s strongest month from an original perspective. But there is still plenty to like here. The West Wing election special arrives on Oct. 15. That will be followed by David Byrne...

HBO Max is serving up a lot of great new movies this October. Fittingly for the spooky season, the Warner Bros. streaming service is adding a fair few classic horrors to its library next month, but there’s really something for everyone going up – from comedies to romances to sci-fi to superhero films.

Speaking of that last genre, DC lovers will be pleased to note that 2013’s Man of Steel, the movie that kicked off the Dceu, is among the titles arriving on October 1st. Besides that, there’s a bunch of animated DC pics dropping the same day, including Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and All-Star Superman. 2005’s Constantine featuring Keanu Reeves, meanwhile, also debuts on the service from the 1st.

That’s not the only film starring the beloved actor headed to the platform, though, as probably the highlight of October’s haul is the addition of the...

So here we are again. The world was in the middle of the cruelest summer ever, just staggering through late July, when Taylor Swift decided to make it all so much messier — her specialty. In a move that nobody saw coming, she announced a surprise album on July 23rd, less than a year after her career-capping smash Lover. (A year to the day after she dropped “The Archer.”) Like the rest of us, Swift had to cancel her summer, including her LoverFest shows, which would have been next week. Instead,...

Some artists surround themselves with managers and consultants, and strategize for months on how to get their album to the top of the charts. Mariah Carey hit Number One while she was sleeping.

On Monday, Carey’s eleventh studio album, E=MC2, shot to the top of the iTunes album chart, after a fan-generated hashtag calling for #JusticeforEMC2 began trending on Twitter overnight. The album, released in 2008, slowly re-entered the iTunes 200, ascending the list and peaking at the top spot by the time Carey woke up Monday morning.

The achievement...

If you grew up in the early 2000s, you no doubt rocked out to Aly & Aj's "Potential Breakup Song" at least once or twice as you tried to get over your middle school crush, but do you know which celebrity actually inspired the hit track? For years, fans believed it was actually about Joe Jonas - who briefly dated Aj Michalka during the Jonas Brothers' Disney Channel days - but now the sisters are setting the record straight.

Even though the lyrics seem to reference their tween romance - Aj mailed Joe a piece of birthday cake when they were dating - it turns out, the song isn't about him after all. However, another track from their Insomniatic album is. In a tweet, Aly & Aj confirmed that "Flattery" (one of their most underrated bops Imho) is about the singer.

This certainly isn't the first time Jonas has inspired a hit breakup track.

By Imran Fridaus

Introduction

Bangladesh cinema industry activities are situated in the capital city of Dhaka. This industry generally produced Bengali language films of different styles such as melodrama, social drama, political action film, formula film as well as independent films. Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (Bfdc) has played a center point of supporting and supplying raw materials in filmmaking. In 1898, people of this land first experienced moving images on the screen by the arrangement of a company named Bradford Bioscope Company; though it was limited to elite class audience. This region started producing movies with the short film “The Good Girl” in silent era (Hayat 1987). Within three years, Bangladesh experienced “The Last Kiss” (1931), its first feature length film. Both films were patronized by the royal family the Nawab Family (Hayat 1987). They formed a production company eventually in the 1930s titled as Dhaka East Bengal Cinematograph Society to produce films regularly.

2017-11-22T05:15:24-08:00David Cassidy Dies at 67

Partridge Family star David Cassidy died on Tuesday after being hospitalized for multiple organ failure. Cassidy had been both a TV and pop music star in the 70s, but he had struggled with substance abuse and health problems through his adult life.

Via The Hollywood Reporter.

David Cassidy, who made hit records and girls swoon in the 1970s as the young star of ABC's The Partridge Family, has died. He was 67.

Cassidy died Tuesday, according to his longtime rep.

He was reported to be in a Florida hospital suffering from multiple organ failure. "On behalf of the entire Cassidy family, it is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, our uncle, and our dear brother, David Cassidy," his rep, JoAnn Geffen, said in a statement given to The Hollywood Reporter. "David died surrounded by those he loved,...

Every week, we spotlight a kill that we just can’t get enough of. This is Kill of the Week. Just three years after the release of Prom Night 2, Mary Lou Maloney was brought back from the grave for 1990’s Prom Night 3: The Last Kiss. Actress Courtney Taylor took over the role for the franchise’s third […]...

David Cassidy, who recently exclusively revealed to People that he is battling dementia, broke out at age 20 as a musician and live performer of enormous talent and charisma.

He quickly became one of the biggest stars in the world for a decade and only recently announced he’d stop touring as a musician to focus on his health. But, Cassidy tells People that, even as he struggles with memory loss, “I can still sit in my living room with my guitar and play like I did when I was 17.”

Below, nine clips across Cassidy’s career that show exactly why...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Blood Simple (Joel and Ethan Coen)

For as accomplished as Joel and Ethan Coen’s debut Blood Simple comes across as to a viewer, like any director, they can’t help but recognize their flaws. That’s not to say their newly restored debut, now available on The Criterion Collection, doesn’t look and sound gorgeous — every bead of sweat dripping down M. Emmet Walsh’s face and every...

The summer after high school graduation is a contemplative time, a period when the future seems so frightening and yet so filled with possibility. Gabriele Muccino’s latest film “Summertime” follows Marco (Brando Pacitto) and Maria (Matilda Lutz), two Italian teens uncertain about their future but eager to embark on a road-trip through America. They land in San Francisco where they meet Matt (Taylor Frey) and Paul (Joseph Haro), a gay couple who take them in and show them around the city. Soon, the four become fast friends and embark on enthusiastic explorations of love, life, and themselves, trying to discover and define who they are during a summer they’ll never forget. Watch an exclusive trailer for the film below.

Read More: ‘Fathers and Daughters’ Trailer: Amanda Seyfried Learns To Love Again With The Help of Aaron Paul

Muccino first role to prominence with his 2001 film “The Last Kiss,...

Today marks the release of actor/filmmaker Zach Braff’s second directorial outing in Wish I Was Here, and it’s only his second film in a decade, after making his writing and directing debut with Garden State. During the past decade, he hasn’t even done too much in the way of movies, even after he left his hit television show Scrubs. Still, he’s got a new flick in theaters and I’m thrilled to have him back. Oddly enough though, a few articles this week have sort of bemoaned his return, so I wanted to counteract that negativity with some positivity, since I’m quite fond of his talents and hope he’s here to stay now. So, once again, I’m providing the optimist’s counterpoint. Braff spent the past ten years trying to get different projects off the ground, but they just never came to pass.

Most people probably remember Zach Braff from his long tenure on the now-defunct NBC sitcom Scrubs. Almost as many recollect his 2004 directorial debut, Garden State. (And no one thinks about 2006′s The Last Kiss, which Braff starred in and did uncredited rewrites on.) At present, though, people may best recognize Braff for the swelling kerfuffle over his decision to fund his latest effort, Wish I Was Here, through crowdfunding platform Kickstarter; it’s a case of contextual brouhaha overtaking actual discussion of the film itself.

A first glimpse of the movie via last month’s teaser trailer changed that somewhat; now, with the release of Wish I Was Here‘s full trailer, seen above, we may finally get around to talking about what Braff has up his sleeve and whether or not it’ll be worth watching. If anything, Wish I Was ...

Click to continue reading ‘Wish I Was Here...

Not content to defy credulity, The Last Kiss — an astonishingly vapid 1932 play by the justly forgotten team of Erbmann, Landor, and Marmel — dares to defy mathematics as well. After all, a big fat zero of a script like this should not be divisible by three. And a mere handful of bad actors should not be able to manufacture, as they have in the revival just opened in New Haven, a lifetime’s worth of theatrical disaster. Or so a reviewer might have responded to the dreadful play-within-a-play that makes up the first act of Sarah Ruhl’s Stage Kiss, opening now — in reality — at Playwrights Horizons. Happily, I can report that Stage Kiss itself is a gift and a rarity: a superb new romantic comedy that does justice to both sides of the genre equation. It’s moving, smart, and flat-out hilarious.What’s especially wonderful is how it gets...

She's carefree, quirky and criminally underwritten – say hello to some of cinema's most notable Mpdg offenders

This week's clip joint is by Dominic Kelly, who blogs at somewhereimnot.wordpress.com.

Manic Pixie Dream Girls (MPDGs), a recurring trope in the romantic genre, are happy-go-lucky, free spirited, criminally underwritten co-stars who exist solely as a vehicle for the stuffy, angsty and usually white male lead to discover himself and appreciate the wonders of the world. They're archetypes that get consumed, as parodied in a sketch by Us comedy group The Natural Disastronauts.

Earlier this year, movie writer Zoe Kazan spoke out against film criticism's discourse on the trope: "I think that to lump together all individual, original quirky women under that rubric is to erase all difference." She's completely right. Film needs challenging and surprising characters in order to bloom; the dismissal of any eccentric, remotely interesting female character as "just...

It is entirely possible that I was expecting too much from Playing for Keeps, and it is also entirely possible that I’m the only one who was. Yes, the film stars several big-name actors who’ve turned appearing in terrible films into a virtual art form, and yes, the film was directed by Gabriele Muccino, last seen on U.S. shores suicide-bombing Will Smith’s career with the hilariously loathsome Seven Pounds. But once upon a time, Muccino was an elegant cinematic poet of Italian middle-class angst, in films like The Last Kiss (the Italian original, not the Zach Braff remake). He even managed to carry over his stylistic sensibilities into the touching modern American poverty drama The Pursuit of Happyness (also starring Smith).And Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, and Catherine Zeta-Jones are all actors who remain essentially likable; you keep waiting for them to appear in something decent...

After the media hoopla that ensued following Billy Ray Cyrus's divulgence of his daughter's wedding plans, Miley Cyrus is now discrediting her father's words and tells Entertainment Tonight that her father "knows nothing" about her upcoming wedding plans with Liam Hemsworth.

Last week, Billy Ray revealed that his 19-year-old daughter would have three separate wedding ceremonies to celebrate her marriage, but Miley holds that her father fabricated her plans to the media.

Pics: Love in Pics: Miley Cyrus & Liam Hemsworth

"I don't know what my dad is doing or where my dad is on the planet," she told Et. "My dad knows nothing. I don't know what he is making up... I hate to put him on blast, but he doesn't know what he's talking about."

Cyrus and her Hunger Games fiance became engaged this summer after they rekindled their relationship, which initially sparked while the two were working on The Last Kiss film together.

Related:...

Venice -- Italian director Gabriele Muccino said Sunday that his next film would likely be a thriller or science fiction project. Muccino -- best known for L’Ultimo Bacio (The Last Kiss) from 2001 and a pair of Will Smith films, The Pursuit of Happyness from 2006 and Seven Pounds from 2008 -- spoke on the sidelines of the Venice Film Festival. Photos: The Scene at the Venice Film Festival Muccino’s just-completed project, a sports drama starring Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Uma Thurman called Playing for Keeps, will open in the U.S. on Dec. 7. Muccino

read more...

Get a new look at Gerard Butler, Jessical Biel and Catherine Zeta-Jones in the upcoming romantic comedy, Playing For Keeps.

Butler stars as a former soccer star who returns home to put his life back together and rebuild a relationship with his son. He gets roped into coaching the boy’s soccer team, where his attempts to finally become an “adult” are met with hilarious challenges from the attractive soccer moms who pursue him at every turn.

Here’s the synopsis for the film

Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Dennis Quaid star in “Playing For Keeps,” a romantic comedy about a charming, down-on-his luck former soccer star (Butler) who returns home to put his life back together. Looking for a way to rebuild his relationship with his son, he gets roped into coaching the boy’s soccer team. But his attempts to finally become an “adult...

With The Amazing Spider-Man slinging its way onto the big screen on the 3rd of July I thought the time was perfect to take a look back at some of director Marc Webb’s earlier work.

Webb made his feature directorial debut back in 2009 with one of the most memorable indie films this side of the millennium, (500) Days of Summer. It turned a budget of $7.5m. into $60m. at the box office – and no doubt huge sums since its DVD/Blu-ray release – and really put stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel on the big screen mainstream radar.

Before that, though, he’d long since made a name for himself directing some of the biggest and best artists around, working predominantly with rock bands, but also with the likes of Fergie, Regina Spektor, and P. Diddy.

Webb clearly has a great taste in music, with Coldplay’s ’Til Kingdom Come (the...

The big finale of "American Idol"'s 11th season is finally upon us this week, and we noticed that this year's two finalists look as cut out for the camera as they do for the stage (hello Phillip Phillips!).

It certainly doesn't hurt that so many "Idol" alums before them have successfully launched from the show's giant platform into the world of film.

In fact, there have been a lot of reality stars in general who've made a name in the movie scene. Here are our top 15.

15. Carrie Underwood, 'American Idol'

Credits: "Soul Surfer"

For "Idol" Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood, five Grammys, dozens of other accolades, four successful albums, and pretty hair just wasn't enough. She first gave her thespian itch a scratch on the small screen in 2010 with guest stints on "Sesame Street" and "How I Met Your Mother" before going full-blown Hollywood for 2011's "Soul Surfer,...

At 14, he was acting alongside Gwyneth. At 18, he was in a Woody. And now, after eight years as the star of Scrubs, Zach Braff has written a play. He talks to Laura Barnett about learning to swear like a Brit

About four years ago, Zach Braff faced up to the fact he had developed a fear of flying. Like most nervous flyers, he thought that learning a bit about aviation – "How the hell a plane flies through the air" – would help. But, unlike most nervous flyers, Braff ended up learning how to pilot a plane. "I fell in love with it," he says. "I got my licence two years ago. I have a little single-engine four-seater. It's great for those hour-and-a-half hops around La."

It's an example of the extraordinary can-do spirit that has underpinned Braff's career. Best known for his eight-and-a-half-year turn as the nervy young doctor Jd in...

Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method The 2012 finalists for the USC Scripter Awards, honoring both screenwriters and the original authors of adapted screenplays, are the following: Christopher Hampton for A Dangerous Method, adapted from John Kerr's nonfiction book A Most Dangerous Method: The Story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein and Hampton's own 2002 stage play The Talking Cure; Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash for The Descendants, adapted from Kaui Hart Hemmings’ novel (itself an expansion of her short story “The Minor Wars”); Moira Buffini for Jane Eyre, adapted from Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel; Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, and Stan Chervin for Moneyball, from Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game; Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan for their adaptation of John le Carré's thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Notably absent from the Scripter Award shortlist are Steven Spielberg's War Horse (adapted by Lee Hall and,...

'He said a lot of stuff that doesn't get said,' Jada tells MTV News of Irv's 'RapFix Live' appearance last month.

By Alvin Blanco

Jadakiss

Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/ Getty Images

Irv Gotti has another endorsement in his quasi-campaign to become president of Def Jam: Jadakiss thinks the producer and executive would be a good fit at the storied record label.

The Yonkers rapper "loved" Gotti's early October appearance on MTV News' "RapFix Live," when he insisted he was the "best man" for Def Jam's currently vacant presidency.

"It was one of the best 'RapFix' [interviews] ever," Jada told MTV News. "He said a lot of stuff that doesn't get said. He was able to [vent] without hating on the record labels or channeling any hate. ... Everything he said — me being on the inside looking out and him being on the inside looking out but now on the outside looking in...

The ever inconsistent Paul Haggis. I know some people loved Crash, for which he won an Academy Award, but his best stuff to me has been when he's solely on the scripting side. Million Dollar Baby, The Last Kiss, Letters from Iwo Jima, Casino Royale.  I'll put all of those over Crash and In the Valley of Elah anyday. His latest dual effort was the idiotic The Next Three Days, which was saved only...

Though some audiences have seen him in the Tribeca Film Festival selected film High Cost of Living, most of us haven't seen Zach Braff on the big screen since 2006 when he was in both The Ex and The Last Kiss. But now it sounds like the actor will return to movies in a big way as Deadline reports Braff is finalizing a deal to star in Sam Raimi's next film Oz: The Great and Powerful, the prequel to the classic Wizard of Oz. Braff will take the role of Frank, the loyal but under-appreciated assistant to Oz (James Franco) a magician who flees his traveling circus in a hot air balloon only to be blown off course into the land of Oz. The magician is treated as a powerful wizard and recruited to get rid of the Wicked Witch disturbing the peace. Mila Kunis is playing the wicked witch Theodora,...

After showing a ton of promise with 2004's Garden State, Zach Braff sorta fell off the map. He did a couple of other things afterwards, including co-writing and starring in the vastly underrated The Last Kiss a couple of years later. So while he stayed busy, he showed nothing of the burgeoning indie auteur that most expected him to develop into after his debut. After that miserable Jason Bateman...

After ramping up the sex appeal in Oz: The Great and Powerful with three attractive actresses playing witches, it looks like Sam Raimi’s next choice is going for the good-natured goofball angle, with Zach Braff set to play a bumbling assistant to James Franco’s titular wizard.He’s on for the role of Frank, the loyal, but undervalued assistant to Franco's wizard, who – we’re just guessing here – arrives with his boss in the magical land where three witches live. Michelle Williams is the prim and proper Glinda, Rachel Weisz the scheming Evanora and Mila Kunis the conflicted Theodora, who turns to the dark side when Franco rejects her romantic overtures.Since he made a real impact with his directorial debut Garden State, things have been a little quieter for Braff, at least behind the camera. Acting-wise, he continued his work on TV’s Scrubs and scored a...

Starring Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes. Directed by Massy Tadjedin.

By Sam Weisberg - May 7, 2011

Joanna (Keira Knightley) and Michael (Sam Worthington) are a gorgeous, chic married couple, living in a posh New York City loft. She's a freelance fashion writer, he's a successful real estate agent. Half-naked much of the time, they have cute domestic squabbles and make up over midnight snacks in the kitchen. They're at the three-year point of marriage, and a little bit uncomfortable with routine contentment—they broke up briefly during their pre-wedding courtship--but content nonetheless.

Then one night, at a party, Joanna spots Michael flirting with his co-worker, Laura (Eva Mendes). Michael is about to go on a business trip with Laura, and Joanna, understandably, is jealous. (Knightley has the most bashfully sexy smile in all of Hollywood, but even she couldn't sport a chin mole as alluringly as Mendes). It doesn't help that,...

After making a name for himself as the lead in the hit TV show "Scrubs" in 2001, Zach Braff stepped behind the camera in 2004 and unleashed "Garden State" on the world. You might have heard of it. This little indie that could earned over $35 million worldwide on a $2.5 million budget, had a best-selling soundtrack and resonated with a huge audience. Braff rode the rocket up, scoring lead roles in the comedy "The Ex" with Jason Bateman and Amanda Peet and, more notably, in a remake of the Italian film "The Last Kiss" with an adapted screenplay written…...

The Social Network: A great movie? Absolutely. My favorite of 2010. But it's basically about white-privileged Ivy League douchebags trying to become filthy-rich douchebags, from Mark Zuckerberg (smug douchebag) to Sean Parker (the Napster douchebag) to the Winkelvoss Twins, who were trying to out douchebag that douchebag Zuckerberg.

The Expendables: I think we can all agree that Steven Seagall and Jean Claude Van Damme movies are douchebag movies, whether enjoyed ironically (hipster douchebag) or straight up (meathead douchebag). The Expendables was just a higher class of douchebag movie with more stars. And if you're ever wondering what the one surefire marker for a douchebag movie is, ask yourself this: Does it feature an Mma star?

The Hangover: It's difficult to really place my finger on why The Hangover is such a douchebag movie, although it probably has a lot to do with Bradley Cooper, who has a certain popped-collar quality about him.

We haven't seen much of Zach Braff since the end of "Scrubs" and since his two post-Garden State films, The Ex and The Last Kiss failed to propel him to a feature movie player. He's now back in a decidedly un-Braffian role, playing the lead in The High Cost of Living, a dreary-looking low-budget Canadian film about a man who hits-and-runs a pregnant lady. Feeling guilty, he goes out of his way to make nice with the pregnant woman, who doesn't know he was the driver, and ... well, you can envision every beat of this film, since it's right out of the rom-com handbook, only the tone and tenor is turned on its head.

Still, I can't hate on Braff, so it's nice to see the guy in films again, even those that will receive only a token theatrical release on May 13. It's already on VOD, if you can find it.

For a moment there, the world seemed be his oyster for Zach Braff. The "Scrubs" star wrote and directed the mega indie hit "Garden State" which not only did gangbusters at the box office, but also spawned a best-selling soundtrack that suddenly had music supervisors everywhere looking at independent labels to find the music for their films. And then...Braff seemed to fade into the background a bit. He returned to his hit show and outside of "The Last Kiss" didn't do too much film work and found his…...

The new Russell Brand-fronted Arthur is, in my humble opinion, a mediocre update of a wonderfully funny time capsule of ’80s hedonism starring Dudley Moore. I can’t say I was all that into it. (Nor was EW critic Owen Gleiberman.) There are plenty of things wrong with the movie (like the ghastly lack of chemistry between Brand and his love interest Greta Gerwig) and I don’t think I’ll be encouraging any friends to rush out and spend their hard-earned money on it. But does it rank among the worst remakes of all time? This was the...