Tyler Perrys Latest The best spinner's Comedy Series Off And Away To OK Begin Holiday Evening

While other systems filled the Christmas with repeats and special offers, The best spinner's elected to produce a brand new scripted series on Black Friday. For many implies that would spell gloom and disaster, although not when the series has Tyler Perry’s title inside it. Perry once more demonstrated his drawing energy as his latest The best spinner's sitcom, Tyler Perrys For Better Or Worse, came 3.4 million audiences (1.8 million in grown ups 18-49) in the launch Friday evening. The series according to Perry’s Why Did I Got Married? movies was considerably lower in the stellar debut of Perry’s first The best spinner's sitcom, the lately canceled House of Payne, which opened up with 5.9 million audiences in June 2007, but nearer to the premiere audience for Perry’s second The best spinner's comedy Satisfy The Browns (4 million) in Feb 2009. For any launch in the center of a four-day holiday, For Better Or Worse did solid business. Now you ask , why the premiere was slotted there.

Golden Globe challengers for animated feature

It has been another strong year for animated features, both artistically and also at this area office. And also the HFPA can nominate five, using the champion possibly making the Oscar listing of best photos.The Adventures of Tintin: The Key from the UnicornClassic precursor: "Casablanca" meets "All over the world in 80 Days."Chances for any nom: It's all of the right elements -- Steven Spielberg pointing his first animated film, ground-breaking three dimensional motion capture (according to Jim Cameron's animation process produced for "Avatar"), Healing For Peter Jackson creating, and Difficulties, Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis doing voice-overs. Glowing reviews and huge B.O. overseas -- where it had been smartly launched first -- only increase its Globe chances. * * * Arthur Christmas Classic precursor: "Elf" and"Santa's Workshop."Chances a nom: The three dimensional computer-animated fantasy comedy is co-created by The new sony and respected U.K. animation house Aardman ("Wallace & Gromit") featuring the best periodic elements along with a top Brit voice-gloomy which includes Globe noms James McAvoy as Santa's boy Arthur and Imelda Staunton as Mrs. Santa, Globe fave Hugh Laurie (six noms, two wins) and Globe champion Bill Nighy. * * * RangoClassic precursor: "Pinocchio" with a few "High Noon" tossed in.Chances for any nom: Boasting a lot of firsts, Paramount's "Rango" displayed condition-of-the-art animation and visual effects by industry giant ILM, called the first animation film for ILM and "Pirates from the Caribbean" veteran Gore Verbinski. Having a stellar cast which includes Globe champion The Actor-brad Pitt -- charming because the swashbuckling eco-friendly, bug-eyed chameleon -- and Isla Fisher as his passion interest, the lizardy Western would be a global smash, raking in additional than $242 million and critical plaudits. * * * Puss in BootsClassic precursor: "Shrek" franchiseChances for any nom: Superbly animated in three dimensional, this prequel towards the "Shrek" films stars Antonio Banderas because the title character entirely Zorro/Latin lover mode, and was directed by "Shrek 3's" Chris Burns. The $130 million production also features the vocal talents of Salma Hayek as Cat Softpaws and Zach Galifianakis as Humpty Dumpty inside a redemption tale which should attract all HFPA cat-enthusiasts. * * * Kung Fu Panda 2Classic precursor: 2008's $631 million global smash "Kung Fu Panda"Chances for any nom: Starring a Globe-friendly cast which includes Julia Roberts and Dustin Hoffman, the well-received follow up gained $653 million worldwide -- which makes it the greatest-grossing film ever directed with a lady, Jennifer Yuh -- who won an Annie on her focus on the very first film. * * * Cars 2Classic precursor: 2006's "Cars"Chances for any nom: As the follow up was lovingly developed and directed by Pixar mind John Lasseter, and wound up grossing over $551 million worldwide (considerably, just 1 / 2 of what last year's "Toy Story 3" made), "Cars 2" unsuccessful to meet (maybe excessive) anticipation. Critical reception seemed to be mixed, which year may offer rivals a genuine opportunity to knock Pixar off its perch. * * * Gnomeo & JulietClassic precursor: Offspring of Wally Disney, Mario Puzo and also the BardChances for any nom: The kitschy, kid-friendly tale of rival tribes of British garden gnomes includes a strong voice-gloomy (James McAvoy and Emily Blunt because the title figures) as well as an even more powerful score from Elton John, who also professional created and worked with with Rhianna on "Hello, Hello." * * * RioClassic precursor: "101 Dalmatians"Chances for any nom: The irresistible Circus vibe of "Rio," the three dimensional CG extravaganza from native boy director Carlos Saldanha ("Ice Age") and Blue Sky, would be a $484 million global hit and appears tailor-designed for the party-loving Globes. * * * Happy Ft TwoClassic precursor: 2006's $385 million grossing Globe-champion "Happy Ft."Chances for any nom: The most popular penguin dance party teams four-time Globe champion Robin Williams with Globe those who win Kaira Pitt and Matt Damon, throws in beginners Sofia Vergara, Pink and customary, as well as showcases an eco-sensitive plot. * * * GOLDEN GLOBES RACETops in tubthumps? Best Picture: Drama Best Picture: Comedy or Musical Television Animation Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Marcia Gay Harden on Shailene Woodley in 'The Descendants'

Posted: Wed., Nov. 23, 2011, 12:00pm PTBy 'The Descendants'"In 2005 I had the great honor of playing Shailene Woodley's mother in 'Felicity: An American Girl Adventure.' I was immediately impressed by her work ethic, both on and off set. Here was a young girl flawlessly embodying a Colonial era, minuet-dancing, horseback riding rebel. Even then, she was working with a depth and caliber that separated her from so many other child actors. Indeed, she was an inspiration to all her cast.Not surprisingly, watching Shailene navigate the turbulent waters of 'The Descendants' was again riveting. She is tasked with being at once emotionally vulnerable and raw, and yet somehow guarded and cynical in all the same moment. Shailene is inspirational, refusing to fall back on cliche or vanity, but delighting us with her honest anger, her unexpected humor, and her shatteringly raw breakdown. She doesn't ask us to like her, but in revealing the truth of her abandonment and her disappointment with her mother, she allows us to identify with all of our daughters, and to yank at our hearts as we watch them grow up. Shailene, as one of your many moms, thank you for teaching me valuable lessons as I watch you grow up."Return to the SAG Preview Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Cameron Crowe Returns With 'We Bought a Zoo'

When Cameron Crowe was courting Matt Damon to star in "We Bought a Zoo," he traveled to the set of the Coen brothers' "True Grit" in Austin and presented Damon with a script, a CD of songs that he'd burned and a copy of "Local Hero" -- a perfect little 1983 movie in which Peter Riegert played an oil-company executive sent to buy a remote village in Scotland."My instructions were to not just read the script and make a decision," Damon says.Crowe had brought all the tools in his kit -- music, film and words -- not only to convey what he had in mind for this movie but to envelop Damon in the world he meant to create. "He said: 'I know what you're going to be afraid of; the bad version of this movie is really a movie you don't want to be in. That's what I'm afraid of too,'" Damon says. And that told Damon two things: that Crowe wanted to avoid making the bad movie and that he intended to fight against it with Damon as his brother-in-arms.Crowe was right: Damon didn't want to make what he calls "the Disney version" of the story about a grieving widower with two children who makes the unlikely decision to buy and restore a dilapidated zoo. "It might be popular, but it wouldn't be something that I'd be proud to be a part of," Damon says.As he listened to Crowe's music on a run through Central Park, though, he got a very different vibe. "There were all these songs I know but live versions that he got from sound boards," Damon says. "A song like, 'I'm Open' by Eddie Vedder -- he gave me a particularly moving version that I've never heard. I kind of finished that run and went, 'That's a really good feeling.' "Then Damon watched "Local Hero" and found it to be "a masterpiece."Still, Crowe, 54, hadn't directed a feature since the poorly received "Elizabethtown" in 2005. Damon says he wasn't thinking about that film but rather about Crowe's 1996 hit "Jerry Maguire." "I kept coming back to, this is the guy who did, 'You complete me,' " Damon says. "This is a guy who could aim for that small bull's-eye and hit it."So he signed on to do "We Bought a Zoo," happily succumbing like many before him to the delights of a Cameron Crowe seduction.As for Crowe, he says it was the other way around. Fox was imagining a shortlist of candidates for the lead, but Crowe says it was all over for him halfway through his meeting with Damon. What lured him was the actor's obvious appetite to play the emotion in the film."He's, like, wide open to a thrilling new peak and searching for it," Crowe says. "There's nothing, 'Kid, this is how we did it with Clint' about it." So "it was purely him seducing me because halfway through our meeting, I was like, 'I can't do this without Matt Damon.' And I declared it.""We Bought a Zoo" is a movie that defies easy categorization, so it might seem an unlikely project to come from Fox, which has not established a reputation for taking creative risks (unless you happen to be James Cameron). Damon plays the father who buys the zoo to begin an adventure and console his motherless children. Scarlett Johansson is the scrappy zookeeper. The film is a comedy and a drama; Tom Rothman, co-chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, calls it "an emotional event" and says no one should be surprised that the studio backed the project. (The film opens Dec. 23, but Fox is so high on it that the studio scheduled sneaks around the country during Thanksgiving weekend hoping to generate strong word-of-mouth.)"We do a lot of things around here that don't fit neatly into a niche, and this movie was one of them," Rothman says. "That's what's kind of great about it. You say, 'What movie does this remind you of?' and no one can give you a movie."That's why many in the industry say they are rooting for "Zoo" even if they have nothing to do with the film. "Cameron works from a truly, deeply creative place," says Paula Wagner, a producer on Crowe's "Vanilla Sky" (2001) and "Elizabethtown." "And I don't know that our business right now allows that. Our business became very focused on the business of it all. The buzzwords became about numbers, brands. But the word 'original' is coming back into our vocabulary. That's what I would say about Cameron: original, original, original."Says Crowe's former mentor, James L. Brooks: "He's singular -- that's the big deal about Cameron. There's one guy like that."Crowe was never a director to crank out one film after another: There were generally gaps of about four years from "Say Anything" (1989) to "Singles" (1992) to "Jerry Maguire" (1996) to "Almost Famous" (2000). But with a longer break than usual, it has been natural for some of Crowe's old associates in the industry to surmise that he had not made a film since 2005 because of disappointment. His 14-year marriage to Nancy Wilson of the rock band Heart ended in divorce in 2010. And "Elizabethtown," a $45 million film pairing Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom, had fizzled at the box office and brought unaccustomed wrath from critics.Crowe had taken some knocks for "Vanilla Sky," his adaptation of the Spanish film "Open Your Eyes," but the long knives really came out for "Elizabethtown." "The Village Voice" panned it under the headline "Almost Shameless," while "The NY Times" dismissed it as "a strange, messy stew of a movie."But Crowe seems baffled and a bit dismayed by the supposition that he was in a funk or somehow affected by the chilly reception of his most recent film. "Elizabethtown" was a movie made for all the right reasons, and people who connect with the movie really connect to it," he says. "It's not the biggest group of people ever, but I still really believe in 'Elizabethtown.' It wasn't, like, a savage blow."Instead, Crowe says he simply got engaged in writing scripts, including a long and ultimately frustrating effort to make a Marvin Gaye biopic with Will Smith. "We had many meetings where we talked about it," Crowe says. "And at the end, he couldn't say yes. It's a tough thing to play Marvin Gaye. He's a towering figure. Who would want to be the guy who played Marvin and didn't nail it? Will isn't wrong; the guy who plays it should be a guy who tears into it and knows it's the right thing, and I don't think he ever came around the corner on it."While working on that and other ideas -- and hanging out with his twin boys, now 11 -- Crowe says, "I got into such a script-writing mode that I lost sight of the joy of directing." Then Fox production president Emma Watts came to him with a draft for "We Bought a Zoo" by Aline Brosh McKenna ("27 Dresses," "The Devil Wears Prada"). The script was based on the 2008 book by Benjamin Mee, the man who actually bought the zoo. Watts found herself pitching the project to Crowe on her phone in the Neiman Marcus parking lot, and she says her hopes weren't high. After all, Crowe had written pretty much every film he had directed, and most felt very personal to him. "I don't get nervous very often, but I actually did," she says. "I thought for sure I was dead because he was being so polite to me."But Watts was thrilled when Crowe said he would try a rewrite to see if he could find his version of the movie. "There's nothing quite like a turn through his typewriter," Watts says. There are so many lines from Crowe movies that stick in the popular psyche: "You complete me." "You had me at hello." "Show me the money." "The guy just writes lines that you think of your whole life," Watts says."I knew talking on the phone to Emma that Benjamin Mee's real-life story had all the elements I love in storytelling: humor, great characters, love and an impossible dream," Crowe says. "I could already hear the music too. That story came knocking in a big way, and it didn't go away. You wait for the zing, and the zing happened on 'We Bought a Zoo.'"Crowe's website is called The Uncool, which is funny, of course, because Crowe has been the King of Cool for a generation that believes it really knows cool. His gift for making those around him feel included in his cool world is part of his magic. "I was incredibly susceptible to that because I was never cool," says one executive who has worked with Crowe. It's a quote that could come from many in Hollywood.Crowe came by his cool honestly. He was born in Palm Springs to a realtor father and a mother who taught English and sociology, demonstrated for peace and farm-workers' rights and recognized that her son was gifted. Crowe skipped kindergarten and two grades in elementary school. "It wasn't that I was a tiger mom and wanted to push my son," says his mother, Alice, now 90. "He was sort of bored."By the time he was in high school in San Diego, he was very obviously younger than his classmates, and he was battling a kidney disease, nephritis, which Crowe says he eventually outgrew. Crowe's mother says he was so out of place that he felt more secure hanging out in the school's newspaper offices. Crowe says the kidney condition gave him "permission to be a geek. You're weak, you go the doctors' offices a lot, and you're not on the teams at school so much. All of that opened the door for the arts because my mom was like, 'I'm taking you to the movies.' "If he felt uncool then, that didn't last long. At 13, Crowe started writing rock reviews for a local alternative paper, "The San Diego Door," even though his parents didn't allow rock music in the house. ("I wasn't that strict," his mother says. "It's just the lyrics bothered me. I thought they were very demeaning to women, especially.")The rest, as they say, is history. Crowe started corresponding with Lester Bangs, who had left the "Door" to become editor of the rock magazine "Creem." Crowe graduated from high school at 15 and on a trip to L.A., met "Rolling Stone" editor Ben Fong-Torres, who made him the youngest correspondent ever at the magazine. Crowe went on the road with the Allman Brothers Band at 18, and his work profiling such legendary rockers as Eric Clapton, Neil Young and members of Led Zeppelin not only enveloped him in permafrost cool but became fodder for "Almost Famous." His mother's dream -- that he would go to law school, or even college -- was doomed.On an assignment on the set of the 1978 movie "American Hot Wax," Crowe met producer Art Linson, who gave him a tiny cameo in the film. ("Whoever was there got to walk in," Linson says.) The following year, Crowe enrolled in Clairemont High School in San Diego as a young-looking 22-year-old and wrote the book "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." Linson optioned it before it was published. Crowe wrote the screenplay, and Amy Heckerling directed the film, which featured a cast of unknowns including Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Nicolas Cage (credited as Nicolas Coppola). The film was not only a sleeper hit, grossing $27.1 million, but became a pop culture touchstone."It was Cameron's voice," says Linson. "Half the things that were said out of people's mouths in that movie are part of the culture. Cameron has a wonderful ear. He listens and he's smart, so the details you hear are authentic."Crowe next teamed up with Brooks, who first produced "Say Anything," in which John Cusack courted Ione Skye. He then drove Crowe hard through many rewrites of "Jerry Maguire." "He's somebody who was successful at a weirdly young age," says Brooks. "He was successful in an amazing era when it was happening in the big time. There's an enormous sophistication to that, but he never became cynical." Crowe is "as sharp an observer as there is," Brooks continues, but "his heart is still true. His emotion is genuine. He loves all his characters."Crowe says Brooks -- who made him write out the manifesto that Tom Cruise's character announces, but never reads, in Jerry Maguire -- taught him to be even truer to his own voice. The film was not only Crowe's biggest commercial hit, with a gross of $274 million worldwide, but led to a close friendship and partnership with Cruise, who was a producer on "Vanilla Sky" and "Elizabethtown."Throughout his career, Crowe has seemed to operate on executives and producers almost like a drug. John Goldwyn, who was president of Paramount when Crowe made "Vanilla Sky" there, says the filmmaker's charm is unsurpassed. "There's nothing aggressive about him, nothing that makes you bristle," he says. "He makes you his friend. You can see why he was such a seductive interviewer."Says an executive who oversaw one of Crowe's films: "I really can't describe how he makes you feel that you can't question his choices. He is charming, cool, warm -- and you let down your guard as the boss." That paved the way for Crowe to make his particular brand of personal movie, some with budgets that seem surprisingly big, especially in retrospect: $60 million for "Almost Famous," $68 million for "Vanilla Sky" (though that one included Cruise in his heyday), $45 million for "Elizabethtown" (with no big star)."Cameron doesn't want to hear that something can't happen exactly the way he'd like it to happen," says a producer who has worked with him. "That's why some of his movies have been overpriced. There's a way to look at that as uncompromising. The other way to look at it is being a brat." (In the case of "We Bought a Zoo," Watts says Crowe came in under budget -- at about $50 million -- and ahead of schedule. And Rothman says the production "was one of the easiest and sweetest experiences I've had in a long time.")One area where Crowe very much wants his way is when it comes to preparation. Before shooting Zoo, he rented space in the Hyatt Westlake Plaza in the San Fernando Valley to plan and rehearse. He taped off areas that were the same size as rooms would be on the set and even brought in furniture. Crowe and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto blocked scenes, the cast rehearsed, and Damon says by the time the cameras were rolling, "It felt like executing a game plan; there were literally no surprises." All the more remarkable when you consider that the cast included lions and tigers and bears, literally.Exactly how seriously Crowe takes that commitment to preparation and rehearsal became clear when he cast Ashton Kutcher in "Elizabethtown." Kutcher was then still part of "That 70's Show," and Crowe told him he had to set aside a few weeks to focus only on the film. But sources involved with the project say Kutcher didn't heed Crowe's words. Although he promised he would deliver when the cameras were rolling, Crowe lost faith. "The thing about Cameron is, he never gets angry," says one involved in the production. He simply dropped Kutcher and, despite Paramount's resistance, cast Bloom."I'll spend months working with an actor, and I think I spent four months with Ashton," Crowe says. "At a certain point, it's like, 'This is not meant to be.' " And though the film didn't succeed with Bloom, Crowe says, "It felt like a noble crusade."Given actors and crew who are committed and prepared, it's hard to imagine any director who could create a more generous and inclusive environment. "He has a strong vision, but he has a sense of collaboration that is embracing of other people," says producer Wagner. "He likes to listen to people's thoughts. It's a special gift, really, that he has."Says Damon: "Everybody's respected, and their work is respected. When you're working with a benevolent dictator who wants to hear your opinion and the opinion of the entire crew, automatically you have this electric environment. Everyone comes to work with their ideas."Johansson felt it, too. "Cameron doesn't just direct his actors, he conducts them," she says in an e-mail from Scotland, where she's filming "Under the Skin" with director Jonathan Glazer ("Sexy Beast"). "On any given take, he might be playing a song and throwing out impromptu dialogue, all the while motioning enthusiastically by the monitor. You can actually hear him chuckling and gasping from behind the video screen during each take. He creates his own little world and invites everyone to live there for the run of production. Nothing is too over-the-top or too subtle to take a shot at. He's willing to try everything once on the chance he might steal one precious moment."Says Crowe of the filmmaking process: "It's gossamer. The best stuff is invisible. There's no formula. You have to cross your fingers and leap."Music weaves throughout Crowe's life and movies. "Singles," which followed friends in their 20s in Seattle, featured a song from Nirvana before the band got big. The track had to be dropped because by the time the film was done because the song had become too expensive to license. ("Kurt and Courtney snuck into the premiere at Grauman's and watched the movie anyway," Crowe says.) He also brought in pre-famous members of Pearl Jam to portray Matt Dillon's band in the film.Crowe keeps current: He thinks this is "one of the greatest times for music in decades. I'm talking about bands like the Civil Wars, Frightened Rabbit, the Belle Brigade, Dawes, Avey Tare, Sigur Ros, Radiohead, and Thom Yorke's latest electronic phase." Bob Dylan is Crowe's favorite DJ; his "Theme Time Radio Hour" is "the best thing on satellite radio. There are 100 episodes, and each one is a classic. I listen incessantly."For "We Bought a Zoo," Crowe got Jonsi of Sigur Ros to create a soundtrack. "He is very private, very picky about the projects he does, so we're honored he did this score," Crowe says. "The soundtrack -- a first for us -- is pure score, with two new songs, a 52-minute soundscape that is a complete musical journey, meant to be listened to from beginning to end. It ends with the movie's end-title track, which Jonsi asked me to help write lyrics for. It was a surreal experience after only writing tongue-in-cheek songs for fake movie bands in our movies." (The song is called "Gathering Stories.")Damon says Crowe played music on the set of "We Bought a Zoo," which was enormously helpful to him in preparing to play emotionally charged scenes. "It was a technique I've never seen before," Damon says. Sometimes the music overlapped with dialogue and lines had to be looped later, but in other cases, Crowe just played a part of a song before the scene was shot. It particularly illuminated a scene in which Damon is looking a photographs of his deceased wife."Music changes your mood and can bring you places that a lot of analysis and talking can't," Damon says.Fox executive Watts says she saw that when she visited the set. "He was directing Scarlett and Matt in this one scene, and there was this moment he was trying to get. I was thinking, 'I don't know if he's going to get it.' And he plays a piece of music right before the next take -- a piece of a particular song -- and they started the scene, and there it is. He's a national treasure, Mr. Cameron Crowe."For Crowe, the tactic produced the performance that he had to have. "What Matt does in the movie is that rarest of things: comedy and drama and real emotion," he says. "The list of people who can do that is the shortest list in acting, and it's the easiest thing to miss because he makes it look effortless. But it's not. It's the toughest. And for me, it makes the movie."Now that he's gotten back in the chair on "We Bought a Zoo" with such happy results, Crowe says he's eager to direct again. Not that he has any shortage of other projects. He's still doing journalism and has recently done an interview with Neil Young that is scheduled to run in "Rolling Stone" next year. He's also working on a compilation of his reporting on rock. "It's called 'Hamburgers for the Apocalypse' and includes new interviews with the artists I profiled in the day, from Zeppelin to Bowie to Joni Mitchell," he says.Crowe, who lives in Pacific Palisades, is also spending time with his sons, sharing custody with his former wife. "We go to the Pacific Dining Car in Santa Monica and have steaks and talk about girls," he says. "I get most of my pointers from them these days. We are fishing nuts and go sportfishing whenever we have time on the weekend. They're great fishermen, and we all fish together and then eat all we catch in a big fish cook-off, usually while watching Food Network." (Crowe's other cable passion: Chris Matthews.)But Crowe says he has scripts that he wrote in the past few years and hopes one of them will turn into his next directing gig. (He's just sent out a spec script which he says is Preston Sturges-influenced.)Although some in the industry observe that the business has changed since the days when studios were willing and able to lay wagers on the type of original material that has flowed from Crowe's pen, he believes that the audience is waiting for just such films."Character comedy-drama is really hard to get made right now, and I think that's a statement that feeds on itself," Crowe says. "But it's not necessarily true. It's the nourishing thing that people crave. People are going to go where they get characters that they remember. I don't think people are ever going to a place where they're like, 'I'm over stories about character and love.'"Crowe recalls a recent conversation his mother, Alice. "I can't help but write about love," he told her."What else is there?" she replied.Crowe's Five Favorite Films "Quadrophenia" (1979)"Local Hero" (1983)"Stolen Kisses" (1968)"The Rules of the Game" (1939)"The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001)MIX FOR MATT: No director knows music like Cameron Crowe. To woo Damon to do "We Bought a Zoo," Crowe burned a CD for him. "Even if it's not music that ends up in the movie, it's the feeling that counts," Damon says. Crowe played music on the set, too. By then, "Matt was emotionally DJ'ing and asking for songs."Save It for Later Pete TownshendI'm Open (Live) Eddie VedderWar of Man (Live) Neil YoungSoul Boy The Blue NileMohammed's Radio Jackson BrowneSanganichi Shugo TokumaruAirline to Heaven WilcoBuckets of Rain Bob DylanThe Heart of the Matter (Live) Don HenleyI Will Be There When You Die My Morning JacketAin't No Sunshine Tom Petty And The HeartbreakersChild of the Moon Rolling StonesIf I Am a Stranger Ryan AdamsConcrete Sky Beth OrtonHelpless (Live) Neil YoungDon't Be Shy (no piano) Cat StevensNerstrand Woods Mark Olson And The CreekdippersWhy It's So Hard to Find a Copy of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" The first time Cameron Crowe based a movie on a true story was nearly 30 years ago, when he wrote a screenplay from his first book, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story." The Amy Heckerling-directed film became a sleeper hit and a cult classic. At 22, Crowe had spent a year as a senior at Clairemont High School in suburban San Diego, chronicling the experiences of his "classmates." Typical of Crowe, the book played both funny and sweet. But if you want to read that book, be prepared to open your wallet: Fast Times has been out of print since the early '80s, and copies can be found on eBay and other sites at prices ranging from $125 to $345. And Crowe tells "THR" he likes it that way:Why hasn't "Fast Times" been republished? It's the one thing that I still have the rights to, and I like that there's one thing that's not readily available. I like knowing that if you really want it, you can find it, but nobody's pushing it in your face. I have been approached about republishing, but I haven't done it. I like it too much as a kind of bootleg.Are you surprised about the prices? I like those prices.How do you feel about the book now? I love the book. It's one of my favorite things that I've ever written. The book opens the door where all the stuff I learned as a journalist can be applied to a non-celebrity and it's just as interesting. You can interview a kid sitting in his room, and it's more interesting than Rod Stewart. It very much opened a door to being a screenwriter because it let you know that it was a level playing field, story-wise. The Hollywood Reporter

Steven Spielberg Hosting Special 'War Horse' Tests Throughout Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend is starting to look as being similar to Christmas within the multiplex.our editor recommends'War Horse': Latest Trailer Heavy on Orchestration, Heartstring Yanking (Video)Steven Spielbergs 'War Horse' Poster Debuts (Photo)'War Horse': Watch Trailer for Steven Spielberg's Adaptation DreamWorks introduced on Tuesday it'll hold special word-of-mouth tests of Steven Spielberg's War Equine on Sunday, November. 27 in 10 urban centers. PHOTOS: It's a Zoo This Season: 23 Honours Competitors Featuring Animals The primary screening are available in NY City, being a Q&A with Spielberg. The session will probably be beamed in via satellite for the other nine tests, additionally to streamed survive MSN.com with real-time text translation provided by Ortsbo.com. People attending the tests, or hearing the live stream, can text inside their questions. War Equine, good considerably acclaimed stage play and book, opens country wide on 12 ,. 25. On Saturday, November. 26, last century Fox holds official sneaks of Cameron Crowe's Christmas film We Bought a Zoo in hundreds of theaters nationwide. We Bought a Zoo, starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson and Elle Fanning, opens 12 ,. 23. Related Subjects Steven Spielberg War Equine

Hallmark greenlights 'Crew Nine'

Hallmark Hall of Fame has greenlit "Crew Nine," a drama starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as a youth counselor who inspires troubled kids. Pic will be helmed by Darnell Martin ("Cadillac Records"), from a script by Ligiah Villa-lobos ("Under the Same Moon"). Project will be the third Hallmark telepic to air on ABC under the licensing deal the net signed earlier this year after CBS declined to renew the franchise. The first title to fall under that deal, "Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith," airs Sunday. "Crew Nine" revolves around a counselor at a youth detention facility who trains kids to battle forest fires and assist the public during other natural disasters. Production begins this month in Atlanta. Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com

Taylor Quick Wins Large At AMAs

First Released: November 21, 2011 12:43 AM EST Credit: Getty Images Caption Taylor Quick accepts the award for Favorite Country Female Artist onstage in the 2011 American Music Honours held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Survive November 20, 2011LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Taylor Quick was crowned artist of the season in the American Music Honours for again. This really is so crazy! the nation celebrity stated after beat such challengers as Adele, Rhianna and Katy Perry to capture the 3 honours that they was nominated for at Sundays ceremony, including artist of the season, the shows greatest accolade that they formerly stated last year. I wound up writing the record on my own, so because you would recognition it by doing this, you've no clue what this signifies in my experience, stated Quick after winning the trophy for favorite country album for Speak Now. She seemed to be granted the prize for favorite country female artist. Nicki Minaj, the pink-loving stylish-hop diva, won two honours Sunday. She began the 39th annual fan-favorite ceremony by sporting a set of loudspeakers on her behalf much-spoken about posterior and was later honored as favorite rap/stylish-hop artist, besting an organization that incorporated mentor Weezy, and won favorite rap/stylish-hop album for Pink Friday. Theres a lot love within this room, beamed the pink-haired Minaj. Adele have been the nights leading nominee with four nods, but didnt have a presence in the show: She was absent in the ceremony because she's recuperating from recent throat surgery. Adele tied Quick with three honours: favorite pop/rock female artist, adult contemporary artist and pop/rock album for 21. Other those who win incorporated Maroon 5 as favorite pop-rock-bandOrpairOrteam, Blake Shelton as favorite country male artist, Lady Antebellum as favorite country band/duo/group, Beyonce as favorite soul/R&B female artist, Beyonce for favorite soul/R&B album for Noisy and Hot Chelle Rae as new artist of the season. The ceremony within the Nokia Theatre within an abnormally wet La was drenched with 17 musical performances. Attacking Young Boys got within the holiday spirit among a forest of neon lights with Underneath the Mistletoe, and Kelly Clarkson, putting on a shimmering red-colored gown together with her hair taken aside, shipped a swinging rendition of her hit Mr. Realize It All as back-up ballroom dancers outfitted as nineteen thirties-era photography enthusiasts clicked the very first-ever The American Idol Show champion. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony shared custody of the children of rapper Pitbull, who became a member of the first kind couple in a set of separate performances. Lopez carried out basically an active version of the vehicle commercial starring the Idol judge set to Papi using the vehicle onstage before starting into her hit On the ground. Pitbull later came back to the level and became a member of Anthony for Rain Over Me. Lopez expressed surprise when she won the favourite Latin music artist award. It has been up and lower and merely exciting and overwhelming and thus a lot of things, Lopez stated from the this past year. Several artists shipped removed-lower performances: This Guitar Rock Band Perry crooned a difficult Basically Die Youthful, a pink-haired Perry supported herself on guitar for The One Which Got Away along with a platinum-blonde Chris Brown simply sang All Back prior to being became a member of with a troop of helmet-clad back-up ballroom dancers for any fancy interpretation of Say It Beside Me. There have been collaborations, too. Lopez became a member of a glowing-in-the-dark will.i.am for his new single Hard. Christina Aguilera dueted with Maroon 5 on the Moves Like Jagger, after which Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine teamed with Gym Class Heroes for his or her hit Stereo system Hearts. Bieber became a member of LMFAO in animal-print pants for that shows finale, which ended with everybody on stage including David Hasselhoff draining lower to smiley-face under garments. Copyright 2011 through the Connected Press. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Ricky didn't lose their number

Millions will be closely watching Ricky Gervais' opening remarks when he emcees his third Golden Globes on Jan. 15.Ricky Gervais' scalding humor raised eyebrows and hackles for his hosting of the most recent edition of the Golden Globes.The Brit comedian took shots at a handful of folks in the Beverly Hilton ballroom, including Robert Downey Jr., Johnny Depp and past HFPA president Philip Berk. Those who weren't happy with Gervais' jokes expressed their displeasure to the press and the story continued on for several days after the last acceptance speech was made.So how has the HFPA responded? By hiring Gervais again.The January 2011 telecast garnered solid ratings, bringing in an average audience of 17 million viewers. This return engagement by Gervais could draw even more, with viewers waiting to see at whom the host will hurl insults.Leading up to the announcement that Gervais was coming back for a third time, the Brit funnyman had done a bit of a flip-flop on whether he would return. In an October interview on "Live With Regis and Kelly," Gervais suggested that he would likely turn down another gig emceeing the Globes."I don't think I should really," he said at the time. "I did it twice and the reason I did it twice is I wanted to improve on the first year and I don't think I could top it, so I'll probably leave it there."As the Gervais stint's storm raged, the old adage about "no such thing as bad publicity" also began circulating."Clearly it was the most outrageous and irreverent Golden Globes show we've ever seen," recalls TV Guide critic Matt Roush. "The show has a reputation of being looser and funkier in some regards, but they revere the stars and Gervais insulted them to their face. That crossed the line."Some don't mind a Globes host taking shots at those in the room as long as the material is worthy."I think if you go after famous and powerful people you have to go after them with material that is so good that it is going to translate to everyone," says AOL TV critic Mo Ryan. "You must make it fresh so it isn't just 10-year-old Hugh Hefner jokes."The Golden Globes enjoys its reputation as one of the awards season's most laid-back affairs with wine flowing from bottles visible on the telecast. As a result, it has been marketed in recent years as an anything-can-happen event.That aura has long been a nightmare for Globes directors and producers but a boon to reality-addicted viewers looking for something to shake up the telecast.Before Gervais officially reupped for the job, the HFPA had the option of going hostless or with multiple hosts, both of which has occurred in the past. While that might have been the safer move, it clearly wouldn't have the ratings impact of Gervais coming back. And thus the org decided that a Gervais-hosted-Globes is dangerous but makes for good television.So now that he is returning, it's highly unlikely he'll take it soft on to the industry in which he skewered. The comedian has remained confident his previous performance was the right way to go."I was surprised (by the media reaction)," Gervais said on "Regis and Kelly." "I don't think I went over the top. I went there to entertain. You can't regret something you meant to do and I meant to do every second of it."GOLDEN GLOBES PREVIEWRicky didn't lose their number | Peace for a time as org and prodco collaborate | No-limit rule a boon for global pic parade | HFPA denies being starstruck in noms process | Marketing strategies can shift at Globes time | No rest for the bleary-eyed | New kids on the block Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Multiple houses add to "Heist" vfx and post

Several vfx houses contributed to the post-production and visual effects of Universal's Brett Ratner-helmed, Ben Stiller/Eddie Murphy action comedy.Working under the same roof in Manhattan, the Gotham facilities of Company 3 and Method Studios, both subsids of Deluxe Entertainment Services and part of Deluxe Creative Services Group, collaborated on effects and DI color grading. The joint effort yielded 138 vfx shots, with Company 3 prexy/co-founder and head of Deluxe Creative Services Group Stefan Sonnenfeld performing the DI color grading. The collaborators shared a single color pipeline and a theater, and were thus able to use the same projector for both visual-effects reviews and DI grading. As visual-effects shots took shape under the direction of Method vfx supervisor Greg Liegey and his team, Sonnenfeld could immediately contribute his input. "As we developed the visual-effects shots, the filmmakers could review exactly what they would later see in the DI theater," said Method Studios' exec VP Dan Glass. "If there were questions about how a shot would look during the final grade, we consulted with Stefan, who was right there in the building. If Stefan wanted to see how a shot was evolving and possibly augment or modify his pre-grade, he did that as well. This created efficiencies that saved the production time and eliminated any surprises throughout the DI grading process." Added Sonnenfeld: "This is an excellent example of the synergy our companies strive to provide our clients. It's especially exciting because it demonstrates how we take on complex and challenging feature films in our NY operation."Vfx and design house Gravity was also contributed to "Heist," producing more than 200 vfx shots. The company's work included digital set extensions, photorealistic CG buildings, a CG car, CG stunts, CG face replacements, digital matte paintings, and simulations. Under the direction of digital effects supervisor Yuval Levy and VP of features and TV Karin Levinson, the Gravity team provided helmer Ratner and vfx supervisor Mark Russell with a series of pre-visualized sequences and style frames that illustrated the most climactic scenes of the film. These previs scenes became the blueprint for the shooting of the heist sequences.The majority of Gravity's work focused on the sequences involving the heist, in which characters played by Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy and Matthew Broderick steal a classic Ferrari from a corrupt billionaire's penthouse apartment through an exterior window on the 65th floor. For these scenes Gravity created a series of greenscreen window comps so that views of Manhattan seen from inside the penthouse and the views of the tower's opulent apartments would be appear authentic. "Working with Gravity from the beginning on the previs gave us a head start in making these sequences work down the road," Russell said. In addition, design and vfx company Phosphene created CG environments for the pic, building such elements as the tower's rooftop swimming pool and deck and the interior of a three-cab, 60-story elevator shaft. In all, the Phosphene team, under the direction of creative director John Bair, augmented and manipulated the physical environment in approximately 70 complex 3D CG set extensions. "NY's vfx infrastructure and community is growing at a very fast pace," said Phosphene co-founder/exec producer Vivian Connolly. "We are experiencing a trend of wonderful directors finishing their films here." Added Ratner, "It would have taken any other huge vfx company months to pull off what Phosphene did in a matter of weeks with perfection." Contact Peter Caranicas at peter.caranicas@variety.com

Annalisa (Il paese delle spose infelici)

A Fandango relieve a Fandango production, along with Rai Cinema. (Worldwide sales: Fandango Portobello, London.) Produced by Domenico Procacci. Directed by Pippo Mezzapesa. Script, Antonio Leotti, Antonella Gaeta, Mezzapesa, good novel "Il paese delle spose infelici" by Mario Desiati.With: Nicolas Orzella, Luca Schipani, Aylin Prandi, Cosimo Villani, Vincenzo Leggieri, Gennaro Albano, Antonio Gerardi, Roberto Corradino, Rolando Ravello, Valentina Carnelutti, Nicola Rignanese, Teresa Saponangelo.Notwithstanding moments of visual beauty, Pippo Mezzapesa's debut, "Annalisa," only from time to time makes its narrative arrived at existence. Were the helmer just striving to capture the spirit of adolescence via this the 19 nineties tale occur southern Italia, then having less ligament may be pardoned, but more youthful crowd desires to tell an account in regards to a couple of mismatched pals as well as the mysterious lady they befriend, and here the pic doesn't hold interest. Respectable though rarely inspired, "Annalisa" isn't likely to produce a dent fitness center play much further afield. New kid Veleno (Nicolas Orzella) is called "faggot" by his peers (though he is not coded as gay). Awesome classmate Zaza (Luca Schipani) befriends him, and so they become intrigued by Annalisa (Aylin Prandi) after she attempts a very public suicide. Zaza uses Annalisa's self-destructive promiscuity, yet won't accept it when she services others. Meanwhile, he's caught between soccer dreams and drug peddlers. Annalisa's character remains frustratingly underdeveloped, as well as the drug subplot feels forced, its climactic moment practically discarded. Lenser Michele D'Attanasio nicely captures the strong summer season light, though faces are very frequently in shadow.Camera (color), Michele D'Attanasio editor, Giogio Franchini music, Pasquale Catalano production designer, Sabrina Balestra costume designers, Francesca Vecchi, Roberta Vecchi. Examined at Rome Film Festival (competing), March. 30, 2011. Running time: 81 MIN. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

'Immortals' Ultra-Violence: Does Hollywood Need More Descriptive R-Rating?

'Immortals' definitely delivers the fiercely pitched battle scenes you expect from an action epic, but if you think the carnage is on par with '300' or 'Gladiator,' think again. Director Tarsem Singh cheerfully explained his stance on screen violence to Moviefone and admitted his goal is to make audiences uncomfortable. Remember the scene in 'The Cell' where Vincent D'Onofrio unspools a victim's intestines? Expect a lot more of that kind of literally stomach-churning ickiness in 'Immortals,' which pushes the R-rating so hard, we have ask: Is it time for a new "hard R" label? Spoilers ahead as we discuss the more gruesome scenes in 'Immortals.' Now, don't get me wrong. I'm one of the biggest 'Gladiator' fans you'll ever meet. When Russell Crowe beheaded another gladiator with a swift two-sword stroke, I cheered along with the rest of the audience. Singh, however, is adamantly against that kind of enjoyment of R-rated violence. As he told Moviefone, he wants the audience to "feel bad." Well, mission accomplished. The script is by brothers Vlas and Charley Parlapanides, but the execution seems to be all Singh's doing. Consider these scenes (spoilers, of course): -- Theseus (Henry Cavill) watches helplessly as a soldier cuts his mother's throat in close-up. -- A monk who's been tortured cuts off his own tongue rather than reveal the location of oracle Phaedra (Freida Pinto) -- A defector is rewarded by King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) by having his face scarred and his testicles bashed in with a giant mallet. -- King Hyperion kills a minion by pushing his eyes into his skull -- Three women are roasted alive inside a metal sculpture. We hear their muffled screams and see them dying as their rescue comes too late. Those scenes read horrible enough, so you can only imagine what they're like in 3D. Similar scenarios have played out in previous films (the eye-gouging in 'Blade Runner,' say, or poor Aaron Eckhart's fire-roasting fate in 'The Missing'), but the sheer pile-up of unpleasantness in 'Immortals' makes each scene that much more distasteful. That's to say nothing of the final battle, when the internal organs are flying fast and furious -- in 3D! -- as combatants are split in two. Certainly, some people will eat up 'Immortals,' but when you're spending $75 million on a movie, shouldn't you want the majority of moviegoers to enjoy themselves? It's hard to believe a director and a studio would deliberately set out to alienate a paying audience with such over-the-top violence, yet Singh is proud of his accomplishment and considers anything less to be "dumbing down." He's not alone: in the press notes, producer Mark Canton (who previously produced '300') boasts, "It's in your face. We're not playing it safe. History isn't safe. Mythology isn't safe. And we're really not interested in safe." Yes, the movie is rated R, but when that rating is also given out for an excess of the f-word, as with 'The King's Speech,' 'Billy Elliot' or 'Good Will Hunting,' clearly the ratings system is broken. It's been said before, but the British have a far more helpful system that more accurately conveys what you can expect when you go see a movie. In the UK, 'Immortals' had to be cut to earn a "15" rating, the same rating that was given to '300' without any cuts being made. The scenes listed above had to be toned down to avoid getting a UK "18" rating. In the U.S., the scenes remain untouched (if the version I saw at the press screening is the same as the one that's being released to theaters) for a meaninglessly blanket R rating. The MPAA warns of "strong bloody violence and a scene of sexuality." Interestingly, '300,' which had its share of violence but never hit the same visceral, disturbing notes as 'Immortals,' was also rated R for "graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity." Given the MPAA wording, you'd think that "graphic" would be more extreme than "strong." You would be wrong. If "sickeningly graphic" violence (Singh's own assessment of one end of his filmmaking spectrum) is your thing, then you'll enjoy 'Immortals.' But with movies like 'Immortals' and 'Human Centipede' on the market, there needs to be a different rating to warn people who prefers less extreme violence what they're in for if they buy a ticket. And those of you going just for the extreme violence will be jarred by the overall schlockiness, an immensely unsatisfying storyline and the camp factor of gods dressed like go-go dancers. You have to wonder, who is this movie for? Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Movieline's Week in Review: Good There's help Difficult to get

It’s over. It might mean the most effective of news or perhaps the worst of news, a completely new beginning or perhaps the utmost in closure. Its extremity is unmatched, its harsh clearness frequently benumbing. Lots of people discovered now exactly what it’s over meant for them. For the majority of the relaxation people, it couldn’t be over very quickly. But you're going to get much more closer here with Movieline’s Week in Review. · Think you'd a difficult week? You may have been Brett Ratner. Or Eddie Murphy. Or John Grazer. Or perhaps the AMPAS establishment. Brutal. · Annnnnd, action, Jason Bourne. · Appreciate now’s illustrious interviewees Henry Cavill, Charlotte now now Gainsbourg, Bill Condon, Werner Herzog, Tarsem and Jay Duplass. · At debuts from Tintin to Haywire, we'd you covered at AFI Fest. · Despite Adam Sandler striking bottom, we thought we would can remember the good occasions. · Go watch Melancholia. Now. · Nice knowing you, J. Edgar Oscar hopes! · A Where’s Waldo movie is happening, apparently. Be sad accordingly.

Roland Emmerich Puts the Brakes on his Sci-Fi Action Movie 'Singularity'

Jochen Luebke/AFP/Getty Images Roland Emmerich's Singularity has halted pre-production in order to focus on the script.our editor recommendsEXCLUSIVE: 'Scream' Actress Neve Campbell in Talks for 'Singularity''Anonymous' Director Roland Emmerich: 'I Don't Like to Shoot Action Scenes' The movie, budgeted at $175 million, was due to begin shooting in March 2012 in Montreal, and Emmerich was due to read with actors this week as it worked towards a May 2013 release but those plans have changed as Emmerich has decided to work on the script. STORY: 'Anonymous' Director Roland Emmerich: 'I Don't Like to Shoot Action Scenes' Insiders say that Emmerich wasn't happy with the screenplay, which focuses on a young man whose body is made up a swarm of nanobots, giving him all sorts of powers at the same time as it brings unwanted attention from an evil corporation. Emmerich wrote the script with frequent collaborator Harald Kloser. Emmerich and the studio are bringing in futurist and AI specialist Ray Kurzweil to work with Emmerich. Singularity is a term used by technologists to signify the emergence of a super-intelligence that would overtake human intelligence. STORY: How Roland Emmerich Made 'Anonymous' on a Budget Sources say the work on the script is not due to budgetary concerns a la The Lone Ranger nor is it due to the poor performance of Anonymous, which saw Emmerich stray from this usual genre to make a period drama focusing on Shakespeare. The $30 million feature has only taken in $3.2 million worldwide since it's October opening. Anonymous

Parnes puts out shingle

Legit industry vet Joey Parnes is set to hang out his own shingle with Joey Parnes Prods., a new outfit focusing on producing and managing Broadway plays and tuners. Parnes is currently wrapping up a stint as interim exec director of the Public Theater, where he also served on the search committee for a permanent replacement to fill the post. Joey Parnes Prods. aims to offer a range of services that includes exec producing and general management as well as consultation for non-profit theaters, including those plotting a commercial Broadway transfer. Longtime general manager Parnes recently helped shepherd the Public Theater's revival of "Hair" to the Main Stem, where it recouped and picked up a Tony. The new Parnes office -- where Parnes will be joined by colleagues Sue Wagner, John Johnson and Nate Koch -- is currently set to produce Judy Garland bioplay "End of the Rainbow," skedded for an April opening on the Main Stem. Further projects with the Public are also in the offing. Over his 30-year career in the business, Parnes has managed or produced a string of Rialto outings including "The Merchant of Venice," "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?" and the original production of "Dreamgirls." His resume also includes stints as a coordinating producer for the Tony Awards as well as a two-year gig in the mid-1990s as exec producer at the Public. He finishes off his current term at the Public at the end of the month. Joey Parnes Prods. will operate out of Parnes' current office in midtown Gotham. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

Disney Interactive Will Give You Content To YouTube The Coming Year

The businesses introduced today that Disney brings “family-friendly video entertainment” to Google’s video site in addition to Disney.com beginning at the start of 2012.”Programming includes video attracted from relevant family-friendly content presently available across YouTube, original video created by Disney, in addition to a mixture of current Disney Interactive original series, choose Disney Funnel programming and Disney user produced content,” the businesses stated today. First of all in Feb is going to be an authentic video series according to Disneys hit mobile game Wheres My Water? and it is primary character Swampy.With internet video consumption overflowing and YouTube at the middle of that trend, we have seen an chance for Disney Interactive and YouTube to create Disneys legacy of storytelling to an alternative generation of households and Disney fanatics around the platforms they prefer, Disney Interactive Co-Leader Jimmy Pitaro states. YouTube’sGlobal Mind of Content Close ties Robert Kyncl states his operation has 800 million customers worldwide.

Academy Dinner Honors 2011 Nicholl Fellowship Winners

Academy Announces Winners Of 2011 Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships Although they are certainly best known for thoseother awards they hand out in February, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences do a lot more throughout the year. One of its prized events happened Thursday evening at a dinner atthe Beverly Wilshire, where the26th annualDon and Gee Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships were awarded to what Academy president Tom Sherak described as the “Academy’s Magnificent 7.” The Nicholl Fellowships were established in 1985 and are now chaired (and hosted)by new Academy governor Gale Anne Hurd, who told me she’s been on the Nicholl committee since 1989. Each of the writing fellows (or teams) will receive a $35,000 prize in order to continue developing their scripts (checks arehanded out in installments with the understanding that the recipients will complete a feature-length screenplay during their fellowship year), and the Academy is not involved otherwise commercially with the scripts in any way and holds no rights to them. Even with the Oscars in the mix, Sherak opened the program by saying: “This is my favorite event. It’s nights like this that I wish I were an agent. You want to sign every one of them.” He added these few winners were chosen from among a record 6,730 entries by the 24 judges and committee members who read everything. It was quite a night that also included a rousing keynote address from David Seidler,this year’sreigning Best Original Screenplay winner for The King’s Speech and “new Academy member”at age 74. At the reception before the dinner, I asked Seidler how the Oscar has changed his life at this age. Hejoked, “Producers now owe me more, but it takes them longer.” Seidler is red-hot, though, having completed two new scripts over the summer and now embarking on two rewrites. He asked me who I thought was the front-runner to win Original Screenplay this year and I suggested probably Woody Allen for Midnight In Paris. “Well, he has me beat then,” Seidler said. Allen at 76 would usurp Seidler asthe oldest winner ever in that category, meaning that Seidler’s record could be short-lived. His speech, which he said was working on right to the last minute, won over the crowd and certainly provided inspiration for the writers in attendance. “I just only want to talk to the writers here. Usually, you want to talk to aspiring writers and you wind up talking to perspiring writers, but look, you beat the odds, you persevered and you won,” he told the enthusiastic crowd.”After I metwithFrancis Coppola (about writing Tucker), he said, ‘Have your people call my people.’ I didn’t have any people. I had a friend who had an agent. I came to this town at age 40. It’s nice to come at an age when most people are leaving. …Don’t write for Mercedes or mortgages. Write what is in your hearts and souls and it should have honesty and morality. We are the only entity who can move souls. We should Occupy a Studio,” he said to rousing applause. I sat next to two of the chosen fellows, Chris Bessounian and Tianna Langham, the latter telling me she was so nervous she had completely lost her appetite. They had been entering their script, Guns And Saris, for the past four years but only managed to get to the semifinals before this year so they also hedged their bets and enterted a second script. When they got the congratulatory call from the Academy, Bessounian had to ask , “Uh, which script?” He added that when the winners’ names appeared on this website lastmonth, it was a big deal. “The most exciting thing was seeing our name on Deadline. It’s our home page,” he told me. The other fellows chosen were Dion Cook for Cutter, John MacInnes for Outside The Wire, Matthew Murphy for Unicorn and Abel Vang & Burlee Vang for The Tiger’s Child. With the exception of Cook (from Altus, Okla.), all are from Southern California even though entries were received from all 50 states and around the world. In addition to Hurd, the committee includes such notables as Eva Marie Saint, Bill Mechanic and Naomi Foner. Previous winners have included Jason Micallef, whose new film Butter premiered at Toronto; Ehren Kruger, who wrote Transformers: Dark Of The Moon; Mike Rich, who wrote Secretariat; Susannah Grant, who went on to win an Oscar nod for Erin Brockovich; and Andrew Marlowe and Terri Miller, who met as fellows, married and now produce the ABC series, Castle.

The Five Most Cringe-Inducing Quotes From Leonardo DiCaprio's New You are able to Occasions Profile

How do you from the greatest celebrities on the planet have the ability to have a low profile among a culture of 24/7 celebrity news coverage? They kinda can't, and that's why it's almost unfathomable -- as well as admirable -- that Leonardo DiCaprio in some way handles to become uber-famous all and keep his rockstar-esque mystique. Knowing that, so how exactly does an entertainment reporter approach a job interview with Leo? Well, if you are NY Occasions author Brooks Barnes, you request him about his supermodel female friends, make an effort to charm the hell from him, then completely spoil the finish of 1 of his movies. Therefore, Moviefone presents for you 5 most cringe-inducing quotes from present day NY Occasions profile of Leonardo DiCaprio. On dating models "And private questions aren't appreciated. Just why do he dates all individuals models? He put a glance -- um, duh, wouldn't you should you could? -- after which frosted over. 'I've never really spoken about this type of stuff, and, very professionally, I am likely to ensure that it stays this way,A he stated." How his 'J. Edgar' makeup can lead to some sexually-billed fanfic "[DiCaprio] estimations he spent about two days from the 39-day shoot as 'old [J. Edgar] Hoover,' which needed sitting upright to 5 hrs each day in [the] makeup chair... 'It's like you have been slathered in honey and covered with a huge duvet.' (Relayed through a reporter he had just produced a brand new fantasy for his crazier female fans, he chuckled.)" On his role in 'Shutter Island,' which will get unceremoniously spoiled "[DiCaprio's] figures are mainly tortured, unsympathetic, bigger-than-existence men produced by using a small club of the-list company directors, most particularly Martin Scorsese ... [DiCaprio plays] a mental patient in 'Shutter Island.'" [Editor's note: We do hope you were not waiting for your someone to originate from Netflix!] On his 'J. Edgar' putting on weight "Mr. Black also takes note of Mr. DiCaprio's fondness for German chocolate cookies. 'Some of individuals pounds on later [J. Edgar] Hoover weren't prosthetic,' he stated. 'I'll say it. Leo got just a little body fat.'" On his 'playful' eyes "Personally Mr. DiCaprio results in just as you think he'd. He was tired, coming in a morning interview the next day of flying to La from Australia, where he'd been filming 'The Great Gatsby.' But he seemed to be playful -- individuals blue eyes might have been jet lagged however they still handled to twinkle -- and exceedingly polite." [via NYT] [Photo: Warner Bros] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Mike Royce sets second Fox laffer

Mike Royce has set up a second comedy project at Fox. The "Men of a Certain Age" creator-exec producer and 20th Century Fox TV have landed a script-plus-penalty order for an untitled multicamera laffer about a two-income couple who are determined to "have it all" but wind up forced to make compromises to achieve that goal. Royce is writing the script and will serve as exec producer. Shortly after inking an overall deal with 20th in September, Royce took the reins of a pre-existing 20th comedy project for Fox about an ex-con who moves in with his younger brother. "Little Brother" has been in the works at the network for a while from 20th-based 21 Laps and Hat Trick Prods. With Royce on board, Fox gave the project a put pilot order. Royce is repped by UTA, manager Cary Hoffman and attorney Jared Levine of Barnes Morris. Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com