How USA Co-Presidents Will Move Beyond the 'Blue Skies' Programming (Q&A)

Spotify on Wednesday announced that it is launching Facebook-style apps that add certain features and functionality to its online music service.our editor recommendsSpotify to Launch Facebook-Style AppsGoogle Music Launch Unveils a Solid Competitor to Apple, Amazon, SpotifySpotify Boasts 458% Year-on-Year Revenue BoostSpotify: As Media Goes Gaga Over Launch, Pandora Stock FallsSpotify Usage Explodes After F8, Facebook Integration According to the company, developers can now create HTML 5 apps for Spotify. The apps announced included ones for THR's sister publication Billboard, Rolling Stone and Pitchfork as well as Songkick, a concert listings site, and TuneWiki, which that displays lyrics to a song as it's playing. PHOTOS: Apple Products in TV and Movies One app will display lyrics while a song plays, while another will generate a list of upcoming concerts by artists in a user's playlist and provide links that allow users to buy tickets. Stockholm-based Spotify's "app finder" is will include reviews from magazines and blogs that let users listen to albums as they read reviews. The apps will be free for paying and non-paying users. During the announcement in NY, CEO Daniel Ek touted the move as "bringing music to where it should have been." Meanwhile, the apps also could help differentiate Spotify amid growing competition from the likes of Google, Apple and Amazon.com. So what do the tech experts have to say about the announcement? CNET's Greg Sandoval was less than impressed. "Maybe because we're so used to the app platforms from iTunes, Android, and Facebook that Spotify's announcement today that it too is building such a platform doesn't inspire much awe," he wrote. "Or maybe it's because the new apps that the company demonstrated today at a press event here don't do much that's new." He also questioned" how much music fans care about new ways to interact with their music users will even be interested in the apps" as well as what motivation developers have "to build for the service when they won't be allowed to generate revenue from their wares like they can with iPhone or Android apps." STORY: Spotify to Launch Facebook-Style Apps Likewise, Gizmodo's Adrian Covert expected more from the announcement. "Many of these apps, only being developed in the past couple of weeks were minimal, and reps for each company promised more features in the near future," Covert wrote. "I'd definitely like to see more dynamic generation of lists and recommendations-- or even filters for general Spotify navigation -- based on a certain criteria unique to each sites content." On the other hand, Wired's Eliot Van Buskirk was more optimistic. "Ever since Spotify launched users have requested new features -- everything from 'DJ mode' to the ability to buy tickets," he wrote. "This strategy of outsourcing those new features to outside app developers makes a lot of sense from that point of view, because it allows Spotify to add a massive number of optional features that will be invisible to users who just want the vanilla version." He added: "Talk of [application programming interfaces mayseem like the stuff of technology wonkery, geekery or nerddom, but think about it: A kid coding away in a basement all night, anywhere in the world, can build apps within the most popular music subscription service in the world. Want to play your friends' Facebook preferences? Create a party playlist automatically based on the people attending? Tag songs to locations so that others can stumble across them? ... With Spotify's revamped API, and the ability to include the apps within Spotify itself, the sky is the limit." STORY: Spotify Boasts 458% Year-on-Year Revenue Boost TechCrunch's Josh Constine was similarly hopeful, writing that Spotify's "new integrations ... unlock the potential of its massive music catalogue." "The apps could inspire longer listening sessions that expose users to more ads, get them more attached to their paid accounts, and share more links that drive referral traffic from Facebook," he added. PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery Apple Products in TV and Movies Related Topics Facebook Spotify

Occupy Los Angeles: Hundreds of Protesters Planning to Defy Midnight Eviction

This story first appeared in the Dec. 2 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.our editor recommendsFrom 'The Artist' to 'War Horse,' 23 Awards Contenders That Prominently Feature Animals (Photos)The Making of 'The Artist''The Artist' Star Berenice Bejo to Wear Her 1920s Costumes on Red CarpetsHow Rin Tin Tin Ruined Any Oscar Shot for 'The Artist's' Jack RussellMichel Hazanavicius, the Artist Behind 'The Artist,' On the Great Crowd-Pleaser (Video) Somehow, Michel Hazanavicius managed to come up with something that even the French thought was loopy. For years, the Parisian writer-director -- an analytical guy who sees filmmaking as what he calls "playing with codes" -- had been captivated by an idea. But financiers got cold feet just hearing about it; the boutique television stations that typically fund sophisticated European films walked away. Even in a nation of cineastes and revival houses -- a country in which a major film movement was once launched by a band of movie critics -- his dream looked to be dead on arrival. PHOTOS: The Making of 'The Artist' "I wanted to make one for a long time," the director says about his fascination with doing a black-and-white silent set in the 1920s. His long limbs folded over a table at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills, he talks about his heroes like F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang. "But it's even difficult to convince myself, or to convince anyone else, it is even possible. I found that some producers -- really all of them -- were a little bit cold." It didn't help that the 44-year-old Hazanavicius was known in France for the box-office-friendly, period-conscious OSS 117 spy parodies, in which a kind of Gallic Bond scampers through the 1950s and '60s. "What I needed was a crazy guy," he says. Enter Thomas Langmann, 40, whom Hazanavicius calls "the craziest producer in France." Langmann, the son of Oscar winner Claude Berri (who directed Manon of the Spring and produced Roman Polanski's Tess), worked a bit with Soderbergh and Coppola as a young man and produced some French smashes in his 30s. Langmann sees producing as a species of gambling. "It was always about betting on directors," he says of the philosophy his father passed down. "I knew if we made a film in black and white and we succeeded, it would be original." It took director and producer awhile to sync up -- early ideas such as a feature with an invisible protagonist didn't make the cut. "I really wanted to make an entertaining movie," Hazanavicius says, noting that many European silents were tragic romances. "I thought it was unfair to ask people to come to a black-and-white silent movie that was also dark -- it would be too much." But finally the two came up with an idea that worked: a film about a '20s matinee idol who struggles with the advent of talkies. PHOTOS: Behind the Scenes of our Directors Roundtable Photo Shoot With Michel Hazanavicius The movie that resulted is being talked about as the first silent film with real best-picture Oscar chances since Wings, the 1927 Clara Bow film that arrived soon before the talkies changed the game (it won). The Artist opened in the U.S. on Nov. 25 -- just two screens each in NY and Los Angeles -- but already has banked an impressive $12 million since its release in France in October. More important, the film took the best actor award at Cannes, where it played to rapturous audiences, and it has gone on to seduce judges at festivals around the world and sweep the season's audience awards from Chicago to the Hamptons to San Sebastien. "It is as wonderful a film as it is modern," says silent-film collector and producer Serge Bromberg, who has seen the movie six times at festivals, "with jaw-dropping cinematography, good acting, wonderful knowledge of classic cinema. And it has the flavor of the old. But it is not a film of the '20s; the pace is not the same, and its constant humor gives it some distance from what a film of the '20s would be." Hazanavicius was already an admirer of the silent era, but as he wrote, he immersed himself deeply for several months, reading actors' biographies, going to screenings of Murnau and Frank Borzage and early John Ford at Paris' Cinematheque, studying photographs and playing music of the '20s and early '30s. STORY: 'The Artist' Star Berenice Bejo to Wear Her 1920s Costumes on Red Carpets He wanted Jean Dujardin -- a bankable French star known mostly for comic roles -- to play the lead, Valentin. "Of course, I said: 'You're crazy. It's impossible,' " says Dujardin. Hazanavicius also asked his girlfriend, Berenice Bejo, the Argentina-born French actress who appeared in A Knight's Tale and in his OSS films, to play a studio extra named Peppy, shot into fame by a chance encounter. "I said, 'No way -- no way,' " recalls Bejo, who has two children with the director. "Not with me." The two eventually were persuaded, and their presence caused a change in the movie itself. The original vision for the film focused on Valentin's isolation. But as Hazanavicius got deeper into the film, Peppy began to seem major, and the movie became a romance. Dujardin had only ever scratched the era's surface. "I knew only the masterpieces of Keaton and Chaplin," he says. "It was a real discovery for me to find King Vidor's The Crowd," a film about a man lost in the big city of the 1920s that the actor calls "very modern, very touching; it helped me to assemble all the different references." PHOTOS: It's a Zoo This Season: 23 Awards Contenders Featuring Animals As a model for his character, he found Douglas Fairbanks -- the actor who started making films in 1915 and whose career faded as talkies ascended. "In all his films," Dujardin says, "he doesn't ask himself any questions," never straining against the limits of the swashbuckling style required by such films as Robin Hood and The Mark of Zorro. "It's pathetic when you know the talkies are coming, but he's also very generous. He's like my character George Valentin: He can be arrogant, but he has integrity. He believes in his art. He fights for it." (Valentin needs that integrity -- as he spirals downward, it's all he has, besides liquor and an attentive, scene-stealing dog to keep him warm.) Bejo's research found inspiration in Gloria Swanson -- who, unlike Fairbanks, excelled after the silent era. She fell for Swanson's autobiography, which describes a life very different from the desiccated former star she played in Sunset Boulevard. "She started in the silent period and then went to the talkies and then to TV," Bejo says. "I got a sense of the atmosphere of the period." To make a film about Hollywood, Langmann reasoned, you had to shoot there. By now he'd drawn some funding from French station Canal+ and invested considerably from his own company, La Petite Reine. But the costs of coming to America -- and surrendering French government subsidies -- raised the stakes substantially. (The film's eventual budget came close to $20 million.) STORY: 'The Artist': The Not-So-Silent Entry Shooting at the Paramount and Warner Bros. lots -- as well as locations like the beautifully lit center court of downtown L.A.'s 1893 Bradbury Building, known to film buffs for its role in Blade Runner -- inspired the crew over the 35-day shoot. (Dujardin was put up in an old house in the Hollywood Hills -- he thinks to amplify his isolation for his slide in the movie's second act.) "Hollywood, in my opinion, is the big star of the movie," says Hazanavicius. Also crucial to re-creating the era onscreen was the work of costume designer Mark Bridges, who worked on all of Paul Thomas Anderson's films, including Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood. Some of his vision for The Artist came from the MGM documentary 1925 Studio Tour. "You could see what the carpenters, what the plasterers wore," he says. "Even those guys in their bib overalls had a necktie. And a lot of hats, either for warmth or bad hair days." Surprisingly, director of photography Guillaume Schiffman shot the film in color because today's black and white is too sharp, not grainy enough. He used unusual filters to diffuse the whites and mute the blacks slightly -- and as the film went on, with its main character losing some of his sheen, the light got grayer. Although Hazanavicius deliberately had chosen very expressive actors -- Americans John Goodman, James Cromwell and Penelope Ann Miller round out the cast -- they found the limitations were difficult at first. For Bejo, working without lines threw her off. (The actors improvised in English while onscreen, to give their mouths something to do, mixed with a few of the "lines" shown to the audience on intertitles.) But she eventually found a way to inhabit the role. "If it was a talking movie, she would have been the same -- would have moved the same way, winked the same way, danced the same way," she says. "The challenge was to try to focus on the body language, but the rest of it was finding a way of being an American actress. I think of American actors -- they take up a lot of space, they talk really loud, they talk with their hands. So I had to find that, since being a French actor, everything is more petite." STORY: How 'The Artist's' Fashions Are Impacting the Red Carpet To keep communing with the past, the director kept the music of the era -- George Gershwin, Cole Porter -- in constant rotation while they shot, and he brought cast and crew to see films at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax, and to the Nuart for its revival of Murnau's Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (a morality tale about the corrupting influence of the city Murnau made for Fox in 1927) . The director applied some of what he learned: Murnau, for instance, had instructed his protagonist from Sunrise to wear heavy, weighted shoes on set after he fell on hard times; Hazanavicius did something similar when he dressed his fallen star in suits slightly too big for him. "He's not as perfect as he was in the first act," he says. Hazanavicius credits the world's fascination with Hollywood for the film's international appeal, but the enormous enthusiasm of Harvey Weinstein is the reason it has exploded out of the gates during the festival season into the awards race. Weinstein, who had enjoyed the OSS films, had heard about the movie from Langmann and in March flew to Paris, where he saw the film alone in a screening room. Weinstein was not ambiguous in his praise. The Artist, he says now, "treasures the American cinema I love. It's an inspiration, everything about the movie -- where they shot the movie, the way they used American cast and crew. It's just a love letter to American cinema." Langmann was impressed with Weinstein's urge to pull the trigger without any associates along to vet the decision. It was still months before Cannes -- it was not even assured at this point that the film would be released in France -- but by the time of the festival, the deal to distribute in the U.S., the U.K. and other regions was done. The film ends with a tap dance that required more work than anything else in the film. "I think 95 percent of the preparation was for the tap dancing," Hazanavicius says. Bejo recalls her practice with both pleasure and exasperation: "Five months, every day." The film was shot in as close to real sequence as possible -- in part to give the actors time to learn to tap dance, and partly so they would travel the same journey as George and Peppy before arriving at the climactic scene. "The dance is all about their characters," Hazanavicius says. "If it's just a performance, it's not interesting." Bejo's attitude toward the conclusion captures some of the quality that makes her character -- and the film -- so winning. "I kept telling myself: 'Just smile, look at each other, enjoy the moment. The happier you are, the less people will look at your feet. Just act, don't try to be good -- your feet will follow.' " PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery The Making of 'The Artist' Related Topics The Artist 1 2 next last

'Twilight' bests holiday beginners

'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Beginning -- Part 1'Despite the Thanksgiving glut of B.O. champion "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Beginning - Part 1" along with a trio of kidpics, brought by Disney's "The Muppets," overall domestic box office still was lower roughly 10% versus. last year's extended holiday play period.In 5 days, "Breaking Beginning" collected $62.3 million for any cume of $221.3 million, while "The Muppets" settled for second place, having a debut of $42 million through Sunday.Neither pic could match last year's top game titles: "Harry Potter and also the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" made almost $75 million in 5 days "Twisted" bowed with $68.7 million.The 2010 other debut VIP's, including new records "Arthur Christmas" and "Hugo," handled to keep their very own, though large budgets might make that it is hard for either film being lucrative. "Arthur Christmas," which cost you a reported $98 million, arrived in the high-finish of anticipation, by having an believed $17 million. "Hugo," meanwhile, was created by GK Films for north of $150 million and obtained a five-day take of $15.4 million (substantially much better than pre-weekend forecasts within the low-double numbers)."Hugo," distribbed Stateside by Vital, were built with a relatively reserved rollout at 1,277 locations, which 75% from the weekend gross originated from roughly 1,000 three dimensional locations. In comparison, "Arthur Christmas," which released at 3,376 locations, gained 53% of their total from 2,378 three dimensional playdates.Componen vice chairman Take advantage of Moore said on "Hugo's" release strategy, calling it "a great rollout for any movie that are more expensive than $100 million." He added that "this movie has certain assets that warrant another type of release pattern," namely, reviews that are positive and reactions from kudos groups.Componen intends to expand "Hugo" to a lot more than 2,000 locations by 12 ,. 9.Overseas grosses can help both "Hugo" and "Arthur Christmas." The first kind pic launches next weekend within the U.K., where "Arthur Christmas" already continues to be carrying out extremely well for 3 days, having a local cume of $12.7 million. As a whole, "Arthur Christmas" has cumed $22.3 million from 24 marketplaces outdoors the U.S.Warner Bros.' second-week Stateside holdover "Happy Ft Two" could beat both "Arthur Christmas" and "Hugo," landing within the No. 3 place by having an believed $18.4 million in 5 days. Pic's Stateside cume now stands at $43.8 million.Despite the fact that overall totals lagged, no-one can blame the small men.Fox Searchlight saw an outstanding expansion for "The Descendants," which cracked the very best ten because of its second straight week - this time around, grossing a five-day $9.two million from just 433 locations.Also carrying out well was the Weinstein Co.'s niche set of "My Week With Marilyn" and "The Artist," the second which bowed at four locations for that weekend's greatest per-screen average in 72 hours at $52,604. "My Week With Marilyn," which bowed Wednesday at 123 engagements, obtained within the lengthy weekend an overall total $2.a million, using the weekend's best Friday-Saturday bump of 31%. (Pic broadened to 244 playdates on Friday.)The new sony Pictures Classics' new entry "A Harmful Method" first showed Wednesday at four locations, calculating an outstanding $60,236 per screen for 5 days. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com

'Cole Project' bows in Queens

Director-choreography Chet Walker, one of the co-creators of the 1999 terp tribute revue "Fosse," is at work on a new dance-centric outing, "The Jack Cole Project," set to have its world preem this spring at Queens Theater in the Park. Walker's latest tribute tuner focuses on choreographer Jack Cole, whose work is best known from his dance numbers in classic pics including "Some Like It Hot," "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "Gilda." Cole's Broadway credits included "Kismet" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," and he's considered an influence on legit names including Fosse and Jerome Robbins. "Cole Project" aims to re-create dances in Cole's style as well as incorporate new numbers based on Cole's work in Hollywood, on Broadway and in nightclubs. Show follows in the footsteps of another musical, "Chix 6," which recently debuted at Queens Theater, a troupe in the midst of a new-tuner push that's unusually ambitious for an outer-borough company. Walker's troupe Walkerdance is the resident dance company at Queens Theater. Cast has not yet been set for "Cole Project," which is skedded to open May 3. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

'Harry Potter' Stays Put at Top of Home Entertainment Charts

Industrial Light and Magic/ParamountJ.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" Paramount has plotted a course for May 17, 2013, for its next Star Trek sequel, which it plans to shoot in 3D. The release date slots the sci-fi franchise into a very busy tentpole-filled May 2013, coming right after Marvel/Disney's Iron Man 3 and Warner Bros.' Guillermo del Toro-directed Pacific Rim.our editor recommendsComic-Con 2011: 'Terra Nova' EPs Talk 'Star Trek' Memories, Killing Captain Kirk and Their Hopes for the Upcoming Fox DramaHollywood's A-List Redefined PHOTOS: Hollywood's A-List Redefined Earlier this year, director-producer J.J. Abrams, who directed the first Trek reboot, was tied up with Super 8 and hadn't committed to directing the new episode, forcing the studio to abandon its original date of June 29, 2012. But the studio's announcement of a new release date for Summer 2013 indicates that Abrams is happy with the status of the script from Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof. The 2009 Star Trek movie grossed $386 million worldwide. Paramount, looking to the way Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. relaunched the Batman franchise with Batman Begins, is hoping the newly refurbished Starship Enterprise will reach even greater heights with this second installment. PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery Hollywood's A-List Redefined J.J. Abrams Paramount Pictures Star Trek

Jimmy Fallon Apologizes to Michele Bachmann for 'Late Night' Song Intro

Bloomberg/Getty Images Jimmy Fallon has apologized to Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann for the introduction that was played when she appeared on his show Monday.our editor recommendsMichele Bachmann Slammed with Song by 'Jimmy Fallon' BandMichele Bachmann's Campaign Manager Calls CBS News Producer a 'Piece of S---' Amid 'Media Bias' Allegations PHOTOS: Hollywood's Memorable Mea Culpas When the Minnesota Congresswoman came out to greet Fallon, the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon house band, The Roots, greeted her with the 1985 Fishbone song called "Lyin' Ass B--ch." Fallon tweeted Tuesday, "I'm honored that @michelebachmann was on our show yesterday and I'm so sorry about the intro mess. I really hope she comes back." PHOTOS: Michele Bachmann on the Campaign Trail The song choice was criticized by many, including Fox News' Todd Stames, who wrote, "Could you imagine if the network had pulled a similar stunt with First Lady Michelle Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton? NBC is not commenting and Fallon doesn't appear to have the fortitude to respond. So allow me to fill in the blanks: NBC, you disgust me." Stames went on to slam Fallon, "As for Fallon, what's there to say about a man who earns his living playing make believe? He's a sniveling, inurbane court jester who degrades women." PHOTOS: 10 Entertainers Democrats and Republicans Love to Hate Democratic Congresswoman Nita Lowey called the incident "insulting and inappropriate" in a statement Tuesday, "The choice of song to introduce Michele Bachmann on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night was insulting and inappropriate. I do not share Michele Bachmann's politics, but she deserves to be treated with respect. No female politician -- and no woman -- should be subjected to sexist and offensive innuendo like she was last night. The Roots, Jimmy Fallon, and NBC should apologize." The Roots' drummer Questlove had alerted his Twitter followers of the pending song choice on Monday. He told The Hollywood Reporter that Fallon and producers had not been told about it in advance, "The performance was a tongue-in-cheek and spur of the moment decision. The show was not aware of it and I feel bad if her feelings were hurt. That was not my intention." Jimmy Fallon Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Politics Michele Bachmann

Covert Matters Exclusive Sneak Look: Joan Notifies Annie to get the job done in the Nice Way!

Kari Matchett and Piper Perabo Joan, who's been very challenging to Annie on Covert Matters, will need another approach now.Hidden Affairs' Chris Gorham on Auggie's new girlfriend: It's a very complicated relationshipAfter an resource is destroyed in Russia, Annie (Piper Perabo) has reservations about considering the main suspect: the daughter from the ex-CIA analyst whom she'd been designated with monitoring. Enter Joan (Kari Matchett) to once again talk her into happening the mission. But unlike her past orders, that certain is really a lesser stern edict plus much more of sweet heart-to-heart.Watch the clip: Covert Matters airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on USA.

Summer season Games ((Giochi d'estate))

'Summer Games'A Look Now! (in Europe) relieve a Peacock Film, Classic production, in colaboration with RSI, RSG SSR, Arte. (Worldwide sales: Rezo Films, Paris.) Produced by Elena Pedrazzoli, Amedeo Pagani. Executive producer, Ilann Girard. Directed by Rolando Colla. Script, Colla, Roberto Scarpetti, Olivier Lorelle, Pilar Anguita-MacKay, Zoe Galeron.With: Armando Condolucci, Fiorella Campanella, Francesco Huang, Chiara Scolari, Marco d'Orazi, Alessia Barela, Antonio Merone, Roberta Fossile, Aaron Hitz, Monica Cervini, Giorgio Gobbi, Max Zampetti, Michele Napoleone. (Italian, French dialogue)There's not new in the world in "Summer season Games," a fantastically shot and mostly well-socialized drama that crudely juxtaposes the every once in awhile overlapping cell phone industry's of grownups and youngsters within an Italo campground. Latest feature by Rolanda Colla, a Swiss director of Italian descent, is credited with a staggering five screenwriters (like the helmer) but struggles to build up something original to convey the grown-up characters' pre-divorce bickering particularly comes lower to some pileup of threadbare cliches. Good-searching pic will repetition Europe inside the foreign-language Oscar derby and contains arranged a few scattered niche theatrical activities in continental Europe. Occur a campground round the sunny Italian coast, "Games" initially focuses on sulky digital digital rebel kid Nic (Armando Condolucci), who's at odds along with his somewhat crass working-class father, Vincenzo (Antonio Merone). They're on vacation with Nic's kid brother, Agostino (Marco d'Orazi), as well as the boys' mother, Adriana (Alessia Barela), whose marriage to Vincenzo clearly has seen better days. When safeguarding Agostino's recognition, Nic (short for Nicola) can get in to a scuffle with Marie (Fiorella Campanella), a lady from French-speaking Europe who also talks Italian. She's also on vacation along with her family, having a youthful sister (Chiara Scolari). As often happens with kids, their mutual bitterness is rapidly forgotten when bigger group adventures beckon, namely a rickety shed in the nearby cornfield that becomes the hideout of those two sister sets together with a nearby kid (Francesco Huang). Even though daredevilry, cruelty and uninhibited character in the children's games appear somewhat familiar, Colla finds exactly the right tone with this particular material, remaining observant without becoming sensationalistic, preachy or too detached. Sadly, the identical cannot be mentioned in the film's portrait of Nic's parents, who appear stuck less in the loveless marriage just like a simple template of conjugal strife. The means by which Colla and also the small military of authors contrast the overbearing presence of Nic's father, which has anger-management issues, with the fact Marie, Nic's potential paramour, does not have father, is actually on-the-nose it handles to get rid of any symbolic or undercover impact. Carrying out a somewhat shaky start, youthful Condolucci evolves into his role and can acquire some strong moments through which he becomes the narrative linchpin, embodying that difficult age when kids become conscious of a number of things their parents do aren't right, but haven't enter their particular enough to forthrightly dismiss authority. Opposite him, Campanella is less consistent, while Merone particularly is boxed in by weak character development. Other artists are often fine. Besides Condolucci, the film's other star is undoubtedly the cinematography of newcomer Lorenz Merz, which luxuriates in sun-dappled and penumbral designs and tanned summer season skin tone. It achieves some contrasts and detail that's rarely seen on HD films (shot here while using Red-colored-colored camera) and may catapult him up report on youthful lensers to make use of in Euroland.Camera (color, HD-to-35mm), Lorenz Merz editors, Colla, Didier Ranz music, Bernd Schurer, Nikolaj Grandjean production designers, Paola Genni, Martino Sulmoni, Andi Schraemli costume designers, Daniela Verdenelli, Sara Facchini appear (Dolby Digital), Juerg Lempen. Examined at Thessaloniki Film Festival (Open Horizons), November. 7, 2011. (In Venice, Toronto, Busan, Warsaw film festivals.) Running time: 98 MIN. Contact Boyd van Hoeij at news@variety.com

Steve Carell, Dork Craig Team for 'Lunatics'

If you are creating a movie in Hollywood and Steve Carell is not attached in some manner, you are most likely doing the work wrong. The hilariously busy and beloved star will apparently team with famous authors Dork Craig and Alan Zweibel to have an adaptation of the forthcoming novel 'Lunatics.' In The month of january, it concentrates on two warring suburban fathers, whose conflicts escalate with world-altering results. Carell, who'll produce, would play Phil, a dog-store owner and kids's soccer ref, who will get right into a major disagreement with another father throughout one game. Not sure yet alternatively father, consider Universal may be the studio behind that one, start speculating the studio's usual comedy suspects: Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and can Ferrell. Since departing 'The Office,' Carell continues to be acting just like a guy possessed. He's set to star in 'Burt Wonderstone' with Jim Carrey, 'Foxcatcher' for director Bennett Burns, 'Great Hope Springs' with Meryl Streep, 'Despicable Me 2' and 'Dogs of Babel,' along with the already shot 'Seeking a buddy for that Finish around the globe.A No moss about this moving stone. Craig is really a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, while Zweibel is among the original authors of 'Saturday Evening Live' and who owns many Emmys in addition to a Thurber Award. 'Lunatics' comes to print an internet-based on Jan. 10, 2012. [via Deadline] [Photo: Getty] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook RELATED

ROLL CALL: Olsen Twins Top Vogues Best Dressed List

First Published: November 10, 2011 2:37 PM EST Credit: Getty Images Caption Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen attend the Christian Louboutin Cocktail party at Barneys NY in NY City on November 1, 2011 LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Your Daily Dispatch of Celebrity Shenanigans Mary-Kate & Ashley Best The Middleton Sisters: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen might have received their fair share of fashion flack over the years, but this year the twins are golden in the eyes of Vogue. The 25-year-old sisters top Vogues annual Best Dressed issue, which also includes fellow celebrity siblings Dakota and Elle Fanning, Beyonce and Solange Knowles and Kate and Pippa Middleton. Check out the entire list, HERE! CMNay!: Speaking of the opposite of Best Dressed, we present to you country singer Laura Bell Bundy from the CMA Awards last night in Nashville did she think she was going to a pool party? RippedNicki!: Jonathan Lipnicki is letting it all hang out and we mean the guns and the abs! Check out a recent photo shoot the former child star did where he shows off his extremely worked-out body. And for more Lipnicki fun, check out his recent visit to Access Hollywood Live, HERE! Nics Wise Purchase: Oh Nicolas Cage, Roll Call doesnt like having to tell people what to spend their money on, but according to TMZ, the actor recently dropped two thousand dollars on a knife! The actor reportedly bought a Don Dezarn original at Northern Knives in Anchorage, AK, on Wednesday. The pricey blade has a mammoth ivory handle and a bald eagle engraved on the blade! And what will Nic reportedly do with his knife? He allegedly told employees at the shop that he plans to use it as a steak knife! Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Craig Sloane will get 'Penthouse' view

Brit thesp Craig Sloane ("Hollyoaks") is placed to become listed on Michelle Monaghan and Michael Keaton in Dimension Films' thriller "Penthouse North." Monaghan stars like a blind photojournalist instructed to play a deadly bet on cat and mouse having a sadistic criminal (Keaton) who'll visit absolutely nothing to retrieve a lot of money of stolen diamonds hidden in her own penthouse apartment. Sloane will have Chad, Keaton's partner in crime, who poses like a useful stranger to be able to obtain a crucial bit of information in the protag. Their own existence is endangered when he does not get what he needs and it is instructed to call his sadistic boss for help. Frederick Ruben ("Sleeping Using the Enemy") is pointing from the script by David Loughery ("Obsessed"). Duo will also be creating with Shaun Sackman and Michael Baker, while Jon Shiffman is professional creating the pic, which begins production on 12 ,. 7 in Ottawa. Sloane, who's most widely known for his role as Niall Rafferty around the Funnel 4 cleaning soap "Hollyoaks," presently stars opposite Mark Rylance in "Jerusalem" around the West Finish, which follows a effective operate on Broadway. Sloane is repped by Innovative Artists, Lisa Willoughby at BWH Agency working in london and Isaac Dunham at Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Hurwitz. Contact Shaun Sneider at shaun.sneider@variety.com

Jennifer Lawrence: 'Hunger Games Isn't Twilight

First Released: November 2, 2011 5:11 PM EDT Credit: Lionsgate Caption Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth within the Hunger GamesLOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The approaching film adaptation of Suzanne Collins dystopia books, The Hunger Games, may have a hardcore group of followers along with a female lead caught between two males, but star Jennifer Lawrence states her approaching project isn't the Twilight Saga, a minimum of not. Hunger Games isn't Twilight, even though I hear the evaluations, its really premature to express that it'll function as the same phenomenon, the actress told Vanity Festivals December problem. Im so happy with the job we did around the film [director Gary Ross] and also the entire cast and crew were amazing, and that i cant wait for this to become introduced to existence because I believe its an essential story, she ongoing. Whether it does be a crazy phenomenon, Ill take in my freedom now! For her beloved Katniss character who endures numerous attempts on her behalf existence while fighting to outlive within the games and it is instructed to kill others Jennifer suggested that shes representing her as somebody who takes zero pleasure in taking somebody's existence. These children are killing each other only if it normally won't, theyll die. Its pointless, pointless, unjustified violence. Its heartbreaking, she described. After I auditioned, I told Gary, I realize if you do not hire me, but please keep in mind that after Katniss shoots a bow and kills someone, her face can't be bada**. Adding, So, theres nothing awesome about her. It is not like she looks round the arena and goes, Yeah, I acquired this. I believe she looks around helplessly, and thinks, I designed a promise to my sister which i would survive now I must kill to be able to achieve this. The Hunger Games, that also features Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Woodsy Harrelson and Lenny Kravitz, is slated hitting theaters on March 23, 2012. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Jerry Seinfeld First Guest Host To Follow Along With Regis Philbins Live! Departure

First Released: November 1, 2011 3:18 PM EDT Credit: Getty Images NY, N.Y. -- Caption Jerry Seinfeld attends the Broadway opening of Colin Quinn Lengthy Story Short in the Royalton Hotel, New york city, November. 9, 2010Departing morning TV hosts Regis Philbins chair on Live! wont have enough time to awesome off before Jerry Seinfeld arrives because the first guest host from the publish-Regis era. The most popular week day talk show is announcing that Seinfeld will join ongoing co-host Kelly Ripa for 3 days, airing November. 21-23. The show stated Tuesday that visitors scheduled to become listed on Ripa and Seinfeld are actor Jason Segal, actress Kim Cattrall, comedian-host Howie Mandel, Naked Chef Jamie Oliver which fabulous Muppet, Miss Piggy. Philbin is departing the show November. 18 after 28 years since it's host. You will find no intends to immediately announce a lasting successor. The soon-to-be-re-named Live! with Kelly continues to air in many metropolitan areas at 9 AM ET. Copyright 2011 through the Connected Press. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Bill Paxton Could Direct Kung Fu, and 6 Other Stories You'll Be Talking About Today

Also in today’s edition of The Broadsheet: Big-screen Fall Guy reboot gains speed… An evangelical Christian blockbuster is en route to a reboot… A Verge favorite lands a new role… Guess who’s getting the porn treatment… and more. · Some mornings I feel like I just can’t do this any more — not because there’s anything inherently disaffecting or terrible about news that Bill Paxton (yes, that Bill Paxton) is rumored to be in discussions to direct a movie reboot of the TV show Kung Fu, but because, like, I don’t know. Is this interesting? I mean, I think so? I can’t tell. Someone persuade me to look forward to hearing more about this or Sunlight Jr. or Untitled Werewolf Thriller, please, or just put me down like one of those ruined carriage horses at the end of its run. Either/or, whatever works. [Deadline] · Ah, here’s another one: “Martin Campbell Eyeing The Fall Guy,” a report that the man who brought you Green Lantern may pair with the writers of Thor and X-Men: First Class to revive the ’80s stuntman-cum-bounty hunter TV show. Whatever. [Deadline] · Or how about this: “Left Behind, the faith-based, action-packed book and movie series about the End Times, is getting a film reboot.” This one will apparently have a more of a disaster edge; the producers are presently on the lookout for a director, and/or a beating. [THR] · Erstwhile Verge designee Corey Stoll — who broke into the big-time big-screen ranks this year as Ernest Hemingway in Midnight in Paris — will be back at the movies in the indie dramedy Decoding Annie Parker. Stoll will play Sean, a young doctor who befriends Samantha Morton’s title character and tries to help her achieve her medical goals. [Press Release] · The sordid sexual-assault saga of Dominique Strauss-Kahn will finally get the porn-flick treatment you always hoped it receive. [Gawker] · Three days after leading his team to one of the more dramatic World Series victories in the last 20 years, veteran St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa called it a career. Right behind ya, buddy. [AP]