News

Plot: Two Mormons (Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher) on a mission knock on the wrong door and find themselves fighting for their lives, faith, and sanity.

Review: Heretic is the latest horror flick from A24, and like many of their genre efforts, it’s a provocative one. Questions of theology and faith are always timely, and much of this diabolical and impressively harsh horror film deals with whether or not – in the face of great conflict – you can maintain your faith or be swayed by both the desire to save your own life and the evidence you’re being presented with.

In this, Sister Paxton (Chloe East) and Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) are young Mormons fulfilling their duties as missionaries by essentially going door-to-door to try to convert people to their faith. Neither is a particular stickler for Mormon theology, with the movie opening with them discussing pornography and condoms,...

What happens when you’re a CIA hitman who can no longer trust the nature of his work? Aaron Eckhart finds out in Saban Films‘ Classified trailer, featuring The Dark Knight and Thank You For Smoking actor in a hard-boiled action role with enemies approaching from all sides.

Roel Reiné directs Classified from a script by Bob DeRosa. Here’s the official synopsis for Classified courtesy of Saban Films:

“Operating alone in the field for more than 20 years, a CIA hitman (Aaron Eckhart) uses the “Help Wanted” section of the newspapers to get his orders from the Agency. His long-lost daughter (Abigail Breslin), now a UK MI6 analyst, tracks him down to deliver shocking news: his CIA boss (Tim Roth) has been dead for years and the division long since shut down. Together, they set out to discover whose orders he’s been executing.”

Abigail Breslin and Tim Roth...

Star Trek: Picard's Todd Stashwick will star in Marvel Studio's upcoming Vision Quest television series. Stashwick joins Paul Bettany and James Spader who will reprise their MCU roles.

Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Stashwick would be reunited with Star Trek: Picard's showrunner, Terry Matalas, for the new project. Neither the character that Stashwick will play nor how prominent his role will be in the series has been confirmed at this time. The project, which has often been referred to by fans online as Vision Quest, is a spin-off and sequel to WandaVision and will be an installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to be released on Disney+. The first season is set to premiere sometime in 2026, with the Hollywood Reporter also saying that shooting for the series is tentatively planned for early 2025.

Related Kevin James Is Peter Griffin in Family Guy Live-Action Concept Trailer

A concept trailer...

A column chronicling conversations and events on the awards circuit.

I don’t know about you, but I spent my Valentine’s Day evening onstage at the Arlington Theatre for the Santa Barbara Film Festival’s American Riviera Award tribute to Brendan Fraser. I have to say it was definitely a love affair between the sold-out audience in that huge venue and the Oscar-, SAG- and BAFTA-nominated and Critics Choice Award-winning star of The Whale.

(L-r) Pete Hammond, Brendan Fraser and Sarah Michelle Gellar pose with the American Riviera Award

Sbiff produces these elaborate two-hour tributes to various Oscar nominees each year, and this year’s crop has included Cate Blanchett, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Colin Farrell & Brendan Gleeson together. I have been doing these for the past two decades and this one was so much fun to do, and you couldn’t find a more deserving or genuinely nice recipient.

“It’s a film that always had the intention to change hearts and minds,” Brendan Fraser said of The Whale, for which he is nominated for the best actor Oscar, ahead of receiving the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s American Riviera Award on Tuesday night.

The popular star, who was greeted with huge applause by the Santa Barbarians who packed the historic Arlington Theater, discussed his life and career with Deadline‘s Pete Hammond, who described the actor’s recent resurgence, after several years out of the spotlight that he had occupied since the early 1990s, as “the Brenaissance.”

Coming from an “itinerate family” that spent considerable time in Europe, Fraser said that seeing plays in London as a kid hooked him on the idea of becoming an actor. He studied at a conservatory in Seattle before heading to L.A. in 1991, where he was asked by Sherry Lansing...

At last, the 2023 Oscar Awards nominations have been announced and this year’s nominees are feeling a mix of emotions from “overwhelmed” to “overjoyed with happiness.”

Stars, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Michelle Yeoh, Austin Butler and Brendan Fraser are reacting to the exciting news ahead of the 95th Academy Awards, airing Sunday, March 12 on ABC, live from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

Check out how some of your favourite celebs are celebrating their nominations below.

Brendan Fraser’s remarkable performance in “The Whale” has earned him his first-ever Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Fraser shared that he’s feeling “absolutely overjoyed and deeply grateful to The Academy for this recognition.”

He also thanked The Academy “for recognizing Hong Chau’s beautiful performance and Adrien Morot’s incredible makeup. I wouldn’t have this nomination without Darren Aronofsky, Samuel D. Hunter, A24 and the extraordinary cast...

Take a look at "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, who recently shared a 'throwback' photo on Instagram from her 2007 "Maxim" pictorial, in celebration of Thanksgiving 2018.

"I'm just going to pin these up all over my house," said Gellar, "as a reminder not to overeat on Thursday."

Gellar, originated the role of 'Kendall Hart' on the ABC daytime soap opera "All My Children", winning the 1995 'Daytime Emmy Award' for 'Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series'.

She went on to portray 'Buffy Summers' on the WB series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997–2003), earning her five 'Teen Choice Awards' and a 'Golden Globe Award' nomination.

Her most successful films, in terms of box office receipts include "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (1997)...

..."Scream 2" (1997), "Cruel Intentions" (1999), "Scooby-Doo" (2002), "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" (2004) and "The Grudge" (2004)

Other notable film roles include "Harvard Man" (2001), "Southland Tales" (2007) and "The Air I Breathe...

Exclusive: First look at Sherlock and Pride star in Afm-bound thriller from The King’s Speech producer.

Screen can reveal the first look at Afm-bound crime-thriller Steel Country, starring Andrew Scott.

Scott, known for his villainous roles in Sherlock and Spectre, leads cast in the movie, which shot in the Us last month.

Written by Brendan Higgins and directed by Simon Fellows (Malice In Wonderland), the film is produced by The King’s Speech producer Gareth Ellis-Unwin. Editor is Oscar-winner Chris Dickens (Slumdog Millionaire), DoP is Michael Winterbottom regular Marcel Zyskind (The Killer Inside).

Bankside Films will be touting the project on promo at the Afm.

In Steel County, Scott plays a small town truck driver who turns detective when a young boy is found dead in a sleepy part of Western Pennsylvania. His investigations turn into an obsession to prove the boy has been murdered, leading to harrowing consequences.

The BAFTA-winner...

Exclusive: Gareth Ellis-Unwin (The King’s Speech) to produce; Mpc to produce and fully finance.

Andrew Scott, known for his villainous roles in Sherlock and Spectre, is to lead the cast of Steel Country, a crime thriller that begins shooting in the Us later this week.

Bankside Films has come on board to sell the Us-set thriller, written by Brendan Higgins and directed by Simon Fellows (Malice In Wonderland), ahead of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Scott will play a small town truck driver who turns detective when a young boy is found dead in a sleepy part of Western Pennsylvania. His investigations turn into an obsession to prove the boy has been murdered, leading to harrowing consequences.

The BAFTA-winner will co-star alongside Bronagh Waugh, who starred in TV crime series The Fall, and Denise Gough (’71, Jimmy’s Hall), who recently won an Olivier Best Actress award for her performance in stage play People, Places And Things...

Sosie Bacon may only be 21, but she has a lot going for her. On top of being 2014's Miss Golden Globe, through her father Kevin Bacon, she is connected to nearly everyone in Hollywood - including every other previous Miss Golden Globe, most of whom are also the daughters (or sons) of industry power players. And while some have a connection through their famous parents, others, such as Laura Dern (who happens to have famous parents), are also connected through their own work. Don't believe us? Here's how you get from young Ms. Bacon to all of her famous predecessors,...

It's Thursday. Friday's still quite a few hours away, and you're looking for something to help you pass your time. We totally hear you. The Internet has become a veritable theme park of time-killing activities, and the following one is a treat for sure!

As per the Pajiba website...

"Are you familiar with the movie and television trope in which someone is unexpectedly hit by a bus or other large vehicle? I’m sure that two or three instances of it immediately come to mind (and they’re assuredly in the video). We see it all the time (and it’s almost always effective), but I had no idea just how often it is employed until the noted video editor behind Harry Hanrahan compiled practically every instance ever of the trope into this supercut. It’s one of those brilliant video edits that blows up the trope, exposes it for...

Pulling off a red hot casting coup with Jennifer Aniston, Mark Duplass and Ben Kingsley attached, Justin Reardon's next feature film is the wild and hilarious comedy Convention that is set to shoot this summer with K5 International bringing the project to the European Film Market in Berlin this week.

Aniston (Just Go with It, Marley & Me), Duplass (Safety Not Guaranteed, Zero Dark Thirty) and Kingsley (Iron Man 3, Ender's Game) are set to star in this mind-bending comedy, embarking on a Charlie Kaufman-esque journey that puts them between the worlds of the cardboard box industry and inter-dimensional molecular mayhem. Justin Reardon has just finished production on his directorial debut A Many Splintered Thing starring Chris Evans and Michelle Monaghan

Convention finds mild-mannered Paul (Duplass) and his feisty sister Abby (Aniston) setting out to change the box storage world with Paul's invention of the 5-sided box. Breaking all...

Check out the new stills and “Scorpion Beer” commercial from Will Ferrell’s upcoming comedy Casa De Mi Padre! The Spanish-language film, which pays homage to classic westerns and telenovelas hits theaters March 16th.

Armando Alvarez (Will Ferrell) has lived and worked on his father’s ranch in Mexico his entire life. As the ranch encounters financial difficulties, Armando’s younger brother Raul (Diego Luna) shows up with his new fiancee, Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez). It seems that Raul’s success as an international businessman means the ranch’s troubles are over as he pledges to settle all debts his father has incurred. But when Armando falls for Sonia, and Raul’s business dealings turn out to be less than legit, all hell breaks loose as they find themselves in a war with Mexico’s most feared drug lord, the mighty Onza (Gael Garcia Bernal).

.Like. the film on Facebook: http://www.

Thanks for tuning in to Radio 66.6! Everything went smoothly for the first week so I'm back with another dose of music news. If you have a tip, feel free to submit it. Be sure to check back every Monday to stay up-to-date on the latest music headlines.

News

Drummer Bill Ward will apparently not be participating in Black Sabbath's upcoming reunion tour and album, as he has deemed the contract "unsignable." Read Ward's statement on the matter here and the rest of the band's announcement here.

Knut have gone on an indefinite hiatus. The Swiss sludge metal/post-hardcore band formed in 1994 and most recently released Wonder in 2010 on Hydra Head Records.

Eulogy Recordings has signed Kid Gorgeous (featuring members of Every Time I Die, Buried Alive, Anterrabae). The band will release an Ep entitled Blue Romance - their first material since reforming in 2010 - with three new tracks, a...

From Nala Films and Pantelion Films, here’s a look at the new trailer and poster for the Will Ferrell comedy Casa De Mi Padre! The Spanish-language movie hits theaters March 16, 2012.

Love how it pays homage to classic westerns and telenovelas – even the poster’s tagline of the “funniest movie you’ll ever read” – cracks me up. Can’t wait!

Armando Alvarez (Will Ferrell) has lived and worked on his father’s ranch in Mexico his entire life. As the ranch encounters financial difficulties, Armando’s younger brother Raul (Diego Luna) shows up with his new fiancée, Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez). It seems that Raul’s success as an international businessman means the ranch’s troubles are over as he pledges to settle all debts his father has incurred. But when Armando falls for Sonia, and Raul’s business dealings turn out to be less than legit, all hell breaks loose...

Check out the first trailer and second poster for the all new Will Ferrell comedy Casa De Mi Padre! From the people who brought you Anchorman, the Spanish-language film, which pays homage to classic westerns and telenovelas hits theaters March 16th 2012.

In the film, Armando Alvarez (Will Ferrell) has lived and worked on his father.s ranch in Mexico his entire life. As the ranch encounters financial difficulties, Armando.s younger brother Raul (Diego Luna) shows up with his new fiancée, Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez). It seems that Raul.s success as an international businessman means the ranch.s troubles are over as he pledges to settle all debts his father has incurred. But when Armando falls for Sonia, and Raul.s business dealings turn out to be less than legit, all hell breaks loose as they find themselves in a war with Mexico.s most feared drug lord, the mighty...

Check out the first teaser poster for the all new Will Ferrell comedy Casa De Mi Padre! From the “gringos” who brought you Anchorman, the Spanish-language film, which pays homage to classic westerns and telenovelas hits theaters March 16th 2012.

In the film, Armando Alvarez (Will Ferrell) has lived and worked on his father’s ranch in Mexico his entire life. As the ranch encounters financial difficulties, Armando’s younger brother Raul (Diego Luna) shows up with his new fiancée, Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez). It seems that Raul’s success as an international businessman means the ranch’s troubles are over as he pledges to settle all debts his father has incurred. But when Armando falls for Sonia, and Raul’s business dealings turn out to be less than legit, all hell breaks loose as they find themselves in a war with Mexico’s most feared drug lord, the mighty Onza (Gael Garcia Bernal...

So much happens in Matthew Leutwyler’s Answers to Nothing, but how much is actually relevant? An adulterous husband with a rockstar mistress and lawyer wife, a police detective best friend and her key suspect in a child kidnapping case, a recently graduated police officer and his grade school teacher neighbor, a racist black television writer and the soundboard mixer she meets while walking their dogs, and a recovering alcoholic caring for her brain dead brother all cross paths in Los Angeles. Southern California hides their secrets and opens them up to the tragedy of life and the mistakes made every second of every day. They try so hard to ignore the people around them, but what’s the point of living in a community if society refuses to watch out for each other?

This appears to be the main question Leutwyler and co-writer Gillian Vigman asks. Through the transgressions...

The first time Brendan Fraser and director Eric Brevig worked together, they made Journey to the Centre of the Earth 3D, and it turned a $60m. budget into $240m. at the box office.

The pair are now going to be re-teaming for William Tell: 3D, Deadline report, the tale of the classic Swiss folk hero with incredible aim who shot an apple sitting atop his son’s head with a crossbow.

Now a few years into the 3D technology revival/regeneration/however you’d like to describe it, you could arguably say that there’s less of a need to question why a film’s going to be shot in 3D. But nonetheless, I can’t see a very big need for this to be in 3D. Of course, there’s going to be the arrow shot, but that’s about it.

Still, even though he’s not been in...

Variety are reporting that Brendan Fraser has taken the lead role in upcoming comedy heist Whole Lotta Sole. The film will be directed by Terry George, who directed and co-wrote Hotel Rwanda and Reservation Road, and produced by Jay Russell, who produced and directed The Water Horse and family-film My Dog Skip (starring a very young Frankie Muniz).

The film currently has an approximate budget of $5.5 million, and will be filmed in Northern Ireland, where George is from. The plot revolves around:

“A young man robbing a fish shop in order to pay off a gambling debt; the heist goes terribly – and humorously – awry when it turns into a hostage situation.”

Fraser will be playing the role of the shopkeeper, who is on the run from his gangster father-in-law. Fraser’s career in the past few years seems not to have demonstrated his true potential, which we have seen in the likes of Crash,...

Juliette Lewis takes overacting to new heights in Conviction. But which other actors' panto performances have left you reeling?

Conviction is a dead-serious awards-tipped real-life courtroom weepie about a man wrongly convicted of murder, who languishes for 18 years in the clink while his devoted sis juggles bar work and single motherhood with a law degree to try and get him out. There's admirable thematic business about the true worth of DNA, and Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell act their socks off as the siblings. The supporting cast is top drawer, too, including a couple of Oscar nominees – Melissa (Frozen River) Leo and Juliette Lewis. Leo is chilly and exacting in the thankless role of a scantily-motivated bent cop. And Lewis is … well … Lewis is completely bananas.

She may have just two or three scenes, but, golly, does she milk 'em. Playing a white trash nympho alcoholic who's one of the chief witnesses for the prosecution,...

French filmmaker Patrick Alessandrin ("District 13: Ultimatum") has dropped out of plans to direct a film adaptation of the video game series "Kane and Lynch" at Lionsgate and Nu Image/Millennium Films reports The Los Angeles Times.

Alessandrin is the latest in a series of director names linked to the project so far. His departure has forced producers to go back to the drawing board and led to doubts about whether the project will go ahead at all, certainly a planned production start date of next month has been pushed back into the first quarter of next year at the earliest. A Lionsgate spokesperson confirms to the paper that a "start date is Tbd".

The story follows the mercenary Adam 'Kane' Marcus (Bruce Willis) and aggressive, schizophrenic killer James Lynch (Jamie Foxx) teaming to retrieve a dangerous device as ransom payment to retrieve Kane's kidnapped wife and daughter. Kyle Ward penned the script.

Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl’s new movie Killers had it’s world premiere where Lionsgate decided not only to stream the red carpet live, they also showed an internet only sneak peek of the first 13 Minutes of the film!

Spencer Aimes (Ashton Kutcher) is just your average, undercover, government-hired super-assassin accustomed to a life of exotic European locales, flashy sports cars and even flashier women. But when he meets Jen Kornfeldt (Katherine Heigl), a beautiful, fun-loving computer tech recovering from a bad break-up, he finds true love…and happily trades international intrigue for domestic bliss.

Three years later, Spencer and Jen are still enjoying a picture-perfect marriage – that is, until the morning after Spencer’s 30th birthday. That’s when Spencer and Jen learn he’s the target of a multi-million dollar hit. Even worse, the hired killers have been stalking the happy couple for years, and could be anyone: friends,...

Check out the final poster for Killers which stars Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher.

Spencer Aimes (Ashton Kutcher) is just your average, undercover, government-hired super-assassin accustomed to a life of exotic European locales, flashy sports cars and even flashier women. But when he meets Jen Kornfeldt (Katherine Heigl), a beautiful, fun-loving computer tech recovering from a bad break-up, he finds true love…and happily trades international intrigue for domestic bliss.

Three years later, Spencer and Jen are still enjoying a picture-perfect marriage – that is, until the morning after Spencer’s 30th birthday. That’s when Spencer and Jen learn he’s the target of a multi-million dollar hit. Even worse, the hired killers have been stalking the happy couple for years, and could be anyone: friends, neighbors, the grocery store clerk, even that crabby old guy shuffling across the street.

Now Spencer and Jen are on the run for their lives.

A new trailer for action comedy film Killers which stars Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl has appeared online.

The story follows a hitman (Kutcher) at the top of his game who falls for a computer tech (Heigl) and decides to hang up his guns. Years later, their suburban bliss is ruptured when he finds out there’s a hit out on him, forcing him and his spooked wife to go on the run.

Killers Photos

The movie is directed by Robert Luketic (21, The Ugly Truth, Legally Blonde, Monster-in-Law), The script was originally written by Bob DeRosa (The Air I Breathe) then revised by Ted Griffin (of Ocean’s Eleven, Matchstick Men, Rumor Has It).

Lionsgate is bringing Killers to theaters on June 4th this summer.

A group of 13 creditors who together are owed millions of dollars by David Bergstein and some 75 corporate entities he controls worldwide, including Capitol Films and ThinkFilm, have filed lawsuits in federal court in Los Angeles to force an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the immediate appointment of a trustee to take charge of whatever assets and businesses remain.

The creditors want an injunction to halt the planned auction of rights to more than 800 movies, including "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "The Air I Breathe" and Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown," scheduled for Monday by a company apparently controlled by Ron Tutor, a construction executive who has been Bergstein's longtime "silent" partner in the movie business.

"Because Bergstein has demonstrated repeatedly that he is unfit and incompetent, it is imperative that the court immediately appoint a trustee," the creditors say in the suits filed Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The creditors...

I’ve recently noticed a disturbing trend in Hollywood. I’m not sure what to call it but its basically where a well known African American actor wins a prestigious award (Golden Globe, Academy Award, etc) for a great performance and then goes back to choosing mediocre roles like they never won said award. I’ll give a few examples to illustrate the trend.

Jamie Foxx wins an Academy Award for Best Actor (Ray) and then follows it up with Stealth, Law Abiding Citizen, and Valentine’s Day. Halle Berry wins Academy Award for Best Actress (Monster’s Ball) and follows it up with Catwoman, Robots, and X-Men: The Last Stand. Terrance Howard blew us away with his Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in Hustle and Flow (I thought he should have won over Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote) but then followed up with Pride, The Perfect Holiday, and Fighting.

Avatar. $36 million. Yawn. Next.

Screen Gems has a knack for opening their B-movies on just the right weekend to fare well, so Legion's estimated $18.2 million take is right in line with last year's Underworld three-quel ($20.8 million) and the equally ammo-happy Rambo the year before that ($18.2 million). I'm not sure that it's enough to justify director Scott Stewart's vision of a trilogy (yeesh), but it's likely enough to put the film in the black by the time it hits home video.

Right on its tail was last weekend's overtly religious apocalyptic outing, The Book of Eli, with $17 million, and this weekend's other winged-man release, Tooth Fairy, which landed with $14.5 million. That number pales in comparison to The Rock's Disney vehicles (The Game Plan opened with $22.9 million, Race to Witch Mountain with $24.4 million), so we can only hope that dear old Dwayne will shake off this kiddie kick of his after this.

Kevin Bacon has joined 'Super' which is directed by James Gunn. Bacon will play Jacques, a drug dealer who destroys the life of Rainn Wilson's character by seducing his troubled wife (played by Liv Tyler). The spurned husband remakes himself as a superhero. Ellen Page also stars. Gunn wrote the script. Ted Hope produces via his This Is That. Ambush Entertainment's Amanda Marshall co-produces. Bacon was just nominated for a Golden Globe for the HBO drama "Taking Chance." His other recent credits include "Frost/Nixon," "The Air I Breathe and "Death Sentence."...

Inferno Entertainment — the production company behind Just Friends, Peaceful Warrior, and The Air I Breathe — has acquired the rights to Bad Girls, formerly in development at MTV Films under the title Lost Girls.

It's based on a MTV-Pocket Books novel by Alex McAulay, who is attached to write the screen adaptation of his book. Bad Girls, described as "a cross between Lord of the Flies and Heathers," tells the story of a rebellious teenager who is sent to reform school on a remote island and ends up embroiled with killers and drug dealers.

Other upcoming movies from Inferno include The Experiment, starring Elijah Wood, Forest Whitaker, and Adrien Brody, which began filming this month, and The Killer Elite, an action flick based on the best-selling true story by Sir Ranulph Fiennes and starring Jason Statham.

Next Showing:

Link | Posted 7/17/2009 by BrentJS

Bad Girls...

Mexico City -- Private firm Nala Investments and talent management company Latin World Entertainment have joined forces to launch Nala Entertainment, a Hispanic TV production venture that has begun operations with $100 million in funding.

Los Angeles/Miami-based Nala will focus on the financing, development and production of Spanish-language TV programs. Latin World Entertainment's chief executive Luis Balaguer says the upstart company is looking to produce two telenovelas a year with indie producer Argos, its Mexico-based partner.

A pilot already has been shot for Nala's first scripted series, "El Diez." Balaguer describes the program as " 'Entourage' meets the world of soccer."

Nala will be looking to sell its content to leading U.S. Spanish-language networks Univision and Telemundo and to broadcasters throughout Latin America.

Nala Investments is the parent company of Nala Films, which has produced such features as "In the Valley of Elah" and "The Air I Breathe."

Latin World...

"Grey's Anatomy" actress Katherine Heigl has signed on to star opposite Ashton Kutcher in the Lionsgate thriller Five Killers. We announced that Kutcher would be joining back in October, so this isn't the first time we've heard of it. Five Killers is being directed by Robert Luketic, of 21 and The Ugly Truth, and was originally written by Bob DeRosa (The Air I Breathe), with Ted Griffin (Ocean's Eleven, Matchstick Men) handling the rewrite. The story kicks off when a woman marries the man of her dreams (Kutcher), but their lives are turned upside down when they discover that their neighbors may be assassins hired to kill them. I'm going to be frank and say that I'm not that fond of Katherine Heigl. Why is everyone sticking up for her? She had a big break with Knocked Up, which I admit she was great in, but now every future project she...

The first trailer for Powder Blue has arrived online, which will soon be simply called “The Jessica Biel Stripper Movie,” for obvious reasons. However, it’s not just Jessica Biel topless and stripping (which would also make a great movie), but an ensemble film with a pretty solid cast.

There’s Biel, of course, as a stripper. Then there’s Forest Whitaker (who also produced) as a suicidal priest. Ray Liotta is an ex-con who wants to seek vengeance on his former co-workers. Eddie Redmayne is a mortician who falls in love with Biel’s character (naturally). These four Los Angeles residents come together by chance on Christmas Eve. It sounds a lot like the “happenstance” style plotline for The Air I Breathe, which Whitaker also starred in last year. Only with strippers.

Also, Patrick Swayze wears a crazy blond wig as the owner of the strip club in probably his last movie ever.

Lionsgate has recruited Ashton Kutcher to star in an action comedy titled Five Killers. The film will be directed by Robert Luketic, of Legally Blonde and 21 previously, and will begin production early next year. Lionsgate first picked up the project as a spec script by Bob DeRosa (The Air I Breathe), but Ted Griffin (Ocean's Eleven, Matchstick Men) is currently rewriting it. Kutcher will play a former hitman whose life is turned upside down because someone "from his past" paid a group of killers to bump him off. Sounds like the typical hitman bite-you-in-the-ass storyline, but we'll see if Griffin will make it unique. I gained a lot of respect for Ashton Kutcher after he starred in The Guardian; I thought he did a superb job in a challenging role. For some reason I feel like he's now got a grasp on strong emotional acting and I expect him to...

Does babyfaced prank-puller Ashton Kutcher have the chops to play a cold killer? Not without a comic edge, apparently. The trucker hat-wearing cougar-catcher is starring in Five Killers, an action-comedy about a reformed hitman who has been targeted by a quintet of assassins, courtesy of an unknown person from his past. Perhaps a Punk'd victim. Or Mr. Goodkat. Robert Luketic (21, Legally Blonde) is directing the Lionsgate project, which started as a spec by writer Bob Derosa (The Air I Breathe) and Ocean's Eleven writer Ted Griffin is now taking a crack at the script.

New York -- As the Tribeca Film Festival unveiled lineups for its Midnight, Restored/Rediscovered and new Encounters sections Tuesday, co-founder Jane Rosenthal explained the downsizing of her star-filled slate.

"Everyone told us there was so much to choose from last year, so hopefully this raises the bar for pictures and allows us to be a bit more selective," said Rosenthal, recovering from a flu that left her virtually unable to talk Monday. "Our curatorial program is a stronger program for it."

Organizers on Monday had announced the elimination of two NY/NY sections and plans to screen 159 features this year, down from 174 in 2006 (Hr 3/13).

Rosenthal added that the number of screening venues, which increased and expanded uptown last year, will increase and allow for more screenings of each film. The AMC Loews Kips Bay 15, AMC Loews 72nd Street 1 and Clearview Chelsea West will be added.

She seemed most enthusiastic about DJ Spooky's "Rebirth of a Nation," a "remix" of D.W. Griffith's 1915 epic "The Birth of a Nation" that deconstructs the controversial film. In an equally unusual event, film archivist Paolo Cherchi Usai will screen historical films to the "Passio of Arvo Part" music at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and Trinity Church.

The new Encounters program -- developed by festival executive director Peter Scarlet, managing director and programmer Nancy Schafer and senior programmer David Kwok -- will "focus on people stretching themselves, either the subjects or the filmmakers," Rosenthal said. The 23-film slate will include world premieres from actors-turned-producers Rosario Dawson ("Descent") and Benicio Del Toro ("Lovesickness") and actors-turned-directors Mary Stuart Masterson ("The Cake Eaters"), James Franco ("Good Time Max") and Diego Luna ("Chavez").

Other features in the new section are "The Air I Breathe," featuring five actors (Forest Whitaker, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Andy Garcia and Kevin Bacon) as characters in life-altering situations; Italy's Ellis Island-themed Oscar entry "Golden Door" (Nuovomondo); and "Suburban Girl," Marc Klein's adaptation of the best-selling novel "The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing."

Martin Scorsese and Scarlet have curated Restored/Rediscovered, preserving and presenting rare films. Cinda Firestone's prison riot docu "Attica," Grigori Chukrai's post-Stalin-era Russian love story "The Forty-First" (Sorok Fervyi) and actor Gerard Blain's 1973 French directorial effort "The Pelican" (Le Pelican) made this year's cut.

The 11-film Midnight program follows the offbeat, more commercial taste of similar late-night fest sections. Films include Michael Addis' fame docu "Hecklers," featuring Jamie Kennedy; Jim Hickey's gross-out comedy "Dirty Sanchez," featuring the eponymous U.K. comedy troupe; and John Erick Dowdle's serial killer thriller "The Poughkeepsie Tapes."

The entire 2007 Tribeca slate encompasses 244 films, including 75 world, 32 North American and 18 domestic premieres. Some 4,550 films were submitted to the fest, including 2,250 features.

By Stephen Saito

It's hard to say whether it's been the stifling heat or former Warner Independent chief Mark Gill's much-talked about "the sky really is falling" speech (published in full at indieWire here) that gave attendees of this year's Los Angeles Film Festival a sense of their own mortality. Then again, it could just be the way in which the effects of life-altering events have been examined in several of the festival's films, particularly in the narrative section.

When Gill, now heading up the indie shingle The Film Department, spoke at the adjoining film financing conference on the first Saturday of the festival, he decried the indie film marketplace as standing on the brink of oblivion, saying, "if you decide to make a movie budgeted under $10 million on your own tomorrow, you have a 99.9% chance of failure." On that basis, it's possible that "Winged Creatures," an ensemble drama...

Straight out of the slice-and-dice school of filmmaking, Vantage Point fractures chronology and perspective in a vain attempt to disguise its flimsiness.

Director Pete Travis has assembled an international cast to exploit the vaguest of notions about terrorism in Barry L. Levy's script. Tracing a half-hour period of a calamitous day from multiple points of view, the screenplay tosses in an of-the-moment camcorder angle. But there's no rhyme, reason or intrigue in this story of a presidential assassination, and unintentional laughs outnumber the moments of suspense. Going out to 3,000-plus screens, the film is poised for a muscular performance at the boxoffice, but for moviegoers seeking a compelling, solid action-thriller, the best vantage point would be outside the theater.

The action -- the film is all incident and mechanics, with no context, reflection or resonance -- unfolds, over and over, in Salamanca, Spain. World leaders have gathered for a groundbreaking World Summit Against Terrorism, and the president of the United States (William Hurt) is about to speak at a midday rally in the city's Plaza Mejor. Production designer Brigitte Broch's replica of the square, constructed in Mexico, is an impressive feat. DP Amir Mokri's overhead of the throng, bright with waving flags and summer clothes, has an abstract sheen, and the opening scenes suggest an undertow of foreboding that only unravels as the story proceeds.

In a mobile studio near the plaza, a TV news producer, Rex (Sigourney Weaver, in a brief, by-the-numbers turn), orchestrates her channel's coverage of the event. She reins in an opinionated reporter (Zoe Saldana) and a roving cameraman from "sideshow" complexities like the anti-U.S. protesters on the periphery. Rex is surprised to see Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) among the Secret Service agents accompanying POTUS to the rostrum. This is his first time back in the field since he took a bullet for the commander in chief a year earlier. Bullets seem to follow Barnes; President Ashton is shot moments after beginning his remarks. Two explosions go off, followed by pandemonium, a freeze frame and a flash-backward through the preceding 19 minutes of the film.

The story starts again at noon, this time from Barnes' POV. He's understandably on edge, and with the exception of supportive Agent Taylor (Matthew Fox), most of his colleagues question his job-readiness. As he anxiously scans the crowd, an American tourist with a video camera (Forest Whitaker) catches his attention, as does a fluttering curtain in an upstairs window overlooking the square. In the chaos after the shooting, a long-haired plainclothes Spanish cop, Enrique Eduardo Noriega), draws his suspicion.

The action stops again and rewinds, as it will do several times more, to take viewers through the events immediately surrounding the attacks. Tedium, not depth, accumulates. Intended big reveals are ho-hum, and each retelling merely adds a piece or two of information, along with increasingly ludicrous action. On a foot chase through the city, Enrique bounces off speeding cars with superhuman resilience. Ayelet Zurer, Said Taghmaoui and Edgar Ramirez are among the murkily crisscrossing plotters, and a little girl and her Ice Cream cone show up in a bid for emotional connection.

Roving cameras, quick cuts and propulsive music keep things moving, but they can't make them matter. Playing barely conceptualized stock characters, the actors provide rudimentary performances. Bruce McGill and James LeGros are particularly stilted in small parts as advisers to the president. In his second role this year, after The Air I Breathe, in a Mexico City-shot ensemble piece that ill serves his talents, Whitaker errs on the side of emoting.

In the central role, one probably meant to evoke the kind of conflicted heroism of Clint Eastwood's character in In the Line of Fire, Quaid comes closest to suggesting a human being. With his clenched body language, he clearly is trying to get under Barnes' skin. But unlike Eastwood, Quaid is given nothing to work with in this hamfisted scenario.

VANTAGE POINT

Sony Pictures Entertainment

Columbia Pictures presents in association with Relativity Media an Original Film production

Credits:

Director: Pete Travis

Screenwriter: Barry L. Levy

Producer: Neal H. Moritz

Executive producers: Callum Greene, Tania Landau, Lynwood Spinks

Director of photography: Amir Mokri

Production designer: Brigitte Broch

Music: Atli Orvarsson

Co-producer: Ricardo Del Rio

Costume designer: Luca Mosca

Editor: Stuart Baird

Cast:

Thomas Barnes: Dennis Quaid

Kent Taylor: Matthew Fox

Howard Lewis: Forest Whitaker

Phil McCullough: Bruce McGill

Javier: Edgar Ramirez

Suarez: Said Taghmaoui

Veronica: Ayelet Zurer

Angie: Zoe Saldana

Rex Brooks: Sigourney Weaver

President Ashton: William Hurt

Enrique: Eduardo Noriega

Ted Heinkin: James LeGros

Holden: Richard T. Jones

Running time -- 89 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13...

Sarah Michelle Gellar was so shocked by how realistically violent co-star Andy Garcia was while shooting scenes for their new movie, she had to walk off set. The actress grew close to Garcia while they made The Air I Breathe together - but found it hard to watch his method approach to his role as a crime boss. Gellar battled through scenes when Garcia was forced to beat up their co-star Brendan Fraser's gangster, and suffered herself when he turned on her character, a pop star. She says, "I had a hard time separating the scene from what is reality. And at one point I had to leave. I didn't know the scary side of Andy. I'm a small girl, and he doesn't let go. When he throws me up against a wall - that's actuality."...

ThinkFilm

NEW YORK -- Inspired as it is by the four emotions that an ancient Chinese proverb declares to be the building blocks of life -- happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love -- it's not surprising that debut filmmaker Jieho Lee's multipart drama The Air I Breathe suffers from a certain schematic quality.

A top-notch varied group of actors, no doubt attracted by the colorfulness of their roles, has been assembled, but their hardworking efforts are ultimately done in by the supremely pretentious nature of the material.

Utilizing a Robert Altman-style approach to its intertwined story lines and characters, the film, co-written by the director and Bob DeRosa, is not exactly subtle. Indeed, by the time it reaches its overly melodramatic conclusion, the main effect produced is unintentional laughter.

Each of the film's four segments depicts a character achieving one of the seminal emotions, albeit via O Henry-style narrative twists.

In the first, Forest Whitaker plays an accountant who attempts to solve his desperate financial problems by robbing a bank. The second features Brendan Fraser as an emotionally tortured hitman with the ability to see the future. The third has Sarah Michelle Gellar as a pop singer who becomes unfortunately beholden to Fraser's boss, a gangster named Fingers (Andy Garcia), who gets what he wants by removing his victim's digits. The fourth depicts the efforts of a doctor (Kevin Bacon) frantically trying to save the life of the woman (Julie Delpy) he loves from a potentially fatal snake bite.

The plot contrivances necessary to tie the story lines and characters together are not particularly meant to be believable, but their sheer piling ultimately becomes deeply ridiculous. Not helping matters is the overly aggressive visual style that incorporates frantic camerawork and frenetic editing.

Sony Pictures Entertainment's nascent acquisitions unit has entered into a multipicture co-financing and domestic distribution agreement with Inferno Films. The deal gives the Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group all media rights to films produced by Inferno.

The first film covered by the deal is "The Heaven Project", a psychological thriller starring Paul Walker and directed and written by John Glenn. The film is in production.

Pictures at the top of Inferno's development slate include a remake of George Cukor's "The Women", written and to be directed by Diane English, creator of television's "Murphy Brown"; "The Monkey Wrench", an adaptation of the Edward Abbey novel that will be directed by Catherine Hardwicke (William Goldman wrote the screenplay); and "A Dog's Story", a family drama inspired by a Japanese story of a man and his dog.

Inferno is in postproduction on "Smother", which stars Diane Keaton and was produced with Jay Roach. Recent film projects include Richard Kelley's "Southland Tales", with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Justin Timberlake and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson; "Just Friends", with Amy Smart, Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris; and "The Air I Breathe", starring Forest Whitaker, Kevin Bacon, Andy Garcia, Brendan Fraser and Gellar.

John Cho is set to star in CBS' untitled Scott Silveri comedy pilot.

Phillip C. Vaden also has been cast in the Warner Bros. TV project, which revolves around a group of people who hang out at an all-night diner from midnight-6 a.m.

Cho will play a regular at the diner, where he conducts business via his laptop. Vaden will play another regular, a preoccupied insomniac who is collecting doctorate degrees.

Cho recently wrapped Harold & Kumar 2, in which he reprises his role as Harold Lee. He next appears in The Air I Breathe and West 32nd, both of which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, and Smiley Face, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.

He is repped by the Gersh Agency, Principato-Young and attorney Alex Kohner.

Vaden, who will next be seen in the indie feature Man Maid, is repped by the Stone Manners Agency and manager Matthew Lesher.

Forest Whitaker has signed on to co-star in the Pete Travis-helmed thriller Vantage Point for Columbia Pictures. Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox and William Hurt already have boarded the project. Penned by Barry Levy, the story chronicles an attempt to assassinate the U.S. president in Madrid and is told from five points of view, unfolding in 15-minute increments. Whitaker will play an American tourist who captures video footage of the would-be assassin. Neal Moritz is producing through his Sony-based Original Film shingle, while Original's Tania Landau is executive producing. Sony's Andrea Giannetti is overseeing the project for the studio. Whitaker has generated Emmy buzz for his seasonlong stint on FX's The Shield, playing the nemesis of Michael Chiklis' character. The actor also has garnered advance praise for his turn as Idi Amin in the upcoming drama The Last King of Scotland. He recently wrapped Jieho Lee's ensemble drama The Air I Breathe and is voicing a character in Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are. Whitaker is repped at WMA and the Collective.