Kirsten Dunst opens up everything (Including dress)

Kirsten Dunst decided to seek help for her depression and came out a better person.

While promoting her new movie Melancholia on The Ellen Show, Kirsten Dunst opened up for the first time about her own experiences with depression.

“There’s no way to bring it up without saying what it is – you suffered from depression,” began Ellen Degeneres.

While Dunst shared that she’s not comfortable talking about her personal battle, she admitted that her depression and time spent in rehab back in 2008 was due to the pressures of fame. “I dealt with it. Yeah. That and it's also interesting as an actress you're supposed to be sensitive and vulnerable and have this side to you. But then your supposed to be super sociable and 'on' and like nice to everybody. That's a weird dichotomy. It's a lot to ask of a person. It's not a normal thing."

The actress has been acting since the age of 10 and growing up in the spotlight took a toll on her. So much so that she checked herself into the Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Utah to start over. "I definitely took a little bit of a break. And also, when you're in your 20s you need figure things out and take a step back. I had been acting so long, all my life. I think I just needed a little bit of some perspective. It was good for me and it re-inspired what I do, too."

According to Gather, Dunst is taking precautions to make sure that while she is back in the limelight she doesn’t spiral downward, including staying away from Hollywood parties. “I avoid the red carpet as much as possible. You have to do it to promote your movies obviously, but you won’t see me at an event just for the sake of it.”

Box Office No.1 'Immortals'

"Immortals" fought off the competition at the box office this weekend, emerging victorious with the No. 1 title.


The film, an expensive 3-D sword-and-sandals epic, claimed the top spot with a solid $32 million, according to an estimate from distributor Relativity Media. That was enough to fend off Adam Sandler's cross-dressing comedy "Jack and Jill," which took in a decent $26 million. The Clint Eastwood-directed "J. Edgar" biopic, meanwhile, collected a modest $11.5 million.

"Immortals" marks Relativity's biggest self-released opening ever. That's welcome news for the independent studio, many of whose films -- including "Machine Gun Preacher" and "Take Me Home Tonight" -- have failed to resonate with audiences in recent months. The company made a big bet on "Immortals," spending about $80 million to produce the Tarsem Singh-directed picture and at least $50 million more to market it.

The audience for "Immortals" was composed largely of young males, a demographic that has proved difficult to lure into theaters in recent months. About 66% of the audience -- 75% of which was younger than 35, and 60% of which was male -- opted to shell out a few extra bucks to watch the movie in 3-D. The film attracted a diverse crowd, as roughly 35% of the audience was Hispanic. Moviegoers assigned "Immortals" an average grade of B, according to market research firm CinemaScore -- the same score that both "Jack and Jill" and "J. Edgar" received this weekend.

"Immortals," set in ancient Greece and starring future "Superman" Henry Cavill, was produced by the filmmakers behind the 2006 blockbuster "300."

"Immortals" will fail to generate the kind of revenues that film did, however," as "300" ended up raking in more than $450 million worldwide. This weekend, "Immortals" opened internationally in 35 foreign markets, collecting an estimated $36 million. The film performed especially well in the United Kingdom, Russia and Greece, claiming the No. 1 spot in each country. Relativity is not self-releasing the film overseas, however -- the company presold the film to a number of foreign distributors, minimizing the upside if "Immortals" is successful abroad.

"Jack and Jill" is one of the lowest debuts Sandler has had with a broad commercial comedy. In the last decade, most of the actor's similarly themed films have started off with between $30 million and $40 million. The opening for "Jack and Jill" is only slightly higher than that of 2009's "Funny People," the Judd Apatow-directed comedy about cancer that premiered with about $22 million.

Sony Pictures spent about $79 million to make "Jack and Jill," which appealed to a 53% family audience this weekend. While Sandler's films typically maintain strong holds at the box office, a number of kid-centric pictures are opening around Thanksgiving and will present some serious competition.

The film could make up some ground overseas, where Sandler's big comedies have crossed the $100-million milestone in recent years. The movie -- which received a dismal 3% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes -- grossed $2.7 million from Mexico and Colombia this weekend.

Eastwood's film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as late FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, appealed largely to an older crowd this weekend. About 66% of those who saw the picture were older than 50.

While "J. Edgar" earned the best reviews of any new film released this weekend, critics did not like it nearly as much as some of Eastwood's other recent movies. In an effort to spread positive word-of-mouth about the picture, Warner Bros. released the movie in seven theaters on Wednesday. Including those midweek grosses, the film has now made $11.6 million.

"J. Edgar," which was produced for about $35 million, opened to slightly less than Eastwood's last film, "Hereafter." That movie also earned middling reviews, debuting last year with $12 million and ultimately collecting $32.7 million domestically. The film did far better abroad, however, where it grossed $72.5 million. It remains to be seen how "J. Edgar" -- which has far more American themes than the supernatural "Hereafter" -- will fare internationally.

[Updated at 12:57 p.m. Nov. 13: Is Justin Timberlake the latest Hollywood star to hold surprising clout overseas? The singer-turned-actor is hardly Johnny Depp, but his last few films have done better abroad than domestically. "In Time," his sci-fi action flick released in the U.S. three weeks ago, has already collected $53.7 million abroad compared to its $30.7-million stateside tally. The Andrew Niccol-directed movie is currently playing in 53 foreign countries and has performed best in Russia, where it has grossed $13.2 million. The film, which also stars Amanda Seyfried, has yet to open in a number of major international markets, including France and Japan.

The last film in which the actor had a major role, July's romantic comedy "Friends With Benefits," also did well abroad. The movie costarring Mila Kunis made $93.7 million of its $149.5 million global total internationally. Even "Bad Teacher" -- the raunchy summer comedy in which he had a supporting role -- and last year's "Yogi Bear" -- in which he voiced the animated sidekick Boo Boo -- sold slightly more ticket sales in foreign countries than in the U.S.

Weekend Box Office Result - Immortals on Top

Weekend Box Office Result - Immortals on Top

 Here are the top 10 current movies at the domestic box office, with international grosses when available, according to studio estimates and Hollywood.com:


1. "Immortals" (Relativity): Opened to $32 million. $36 million overseas in 35 foreign markets.

2. "Jack and Jill" (Sony): Opened to $26 million. $2.7 million overseas in two foreign markets.

3. "Puss in Boots" (Paramount/DreamWorks Animation): $25.5 million on its third weekend, down 23%. $4.5 million overseas in four foreign markets. Domestic total: $108.8 million. International total: $48.1 million.

4. "Tower Heist" (Universal/Relativity): $13.2 million on its second weekend, down 45%. $7.6 million overseas in 36 foreign markets. Domestic total: $43.9 million. International total: $20.6 million.

5. "J. Edgar" (Warner Bros.): Opened to $11.5 million. Domestic total: $11.6 million.

6. "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas" (Warner Bros./New Line): $5.9 million on its second weekend, down 54%. Domestic total: $23.2 million.

7. "In Time" (Fox/New Regency): $4.2 million on its third weekend, down 45%. $8.5 million overseas in 53 foreign markets. Domestic total: $30.7 million. International total: $53.7 million.

8. "Paranormal Activity 3" (Paramount): $3.6 million on its fourth weekend, down 57%. $7.1 million overseas in 52 foreign markets. Domestic total: $100.8 million. International total: $88.6 million.

9. "Footloose" (Paramount): $2.7 million on its fifth weekend, down 39%. Domestic total: $48.9 million.

10. "Real Steel" (Disney/DreamWorks): $2 million on its sixth weekend, down 42%. $12 million overseas in 41 foreign markets. Domestic total: $81.7 million. International total: $147.5 million.

Film Review - Captain America: The First Avenger

 So far, so good for The Avengers this summer. Thor’s a pretty cool guy and now it’s Captain America to show off what he’s got. Sure, he comes with the superhero standards – buff body, noble intentions and a sleek costume – but other than that, he’s nothing more than a poster boy for Marvel movies. Steve Rogers makes for a better propaganda symbol than superhero.

Chris Evans is Steve Rogers, a Brooklyn native desperate to serve his country. Sadly, his intense determination isn’t enough to make up for his slight stature and asthma, amongst other physical deficits, and his enlistment application is stamped with a big red F, time and time again. It isn’t until Steve crosses paths with Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) that he finally gets the chance to prove himself, well, an enhanced version of himself. Erskine straps Steve to some high tech contraption, pumps him full of glowing blue fluid and so Captain America is born.

Meanwhile, Hitler is building the ultimate weapon for himself, or so he thinks. The Nazi regime funnels resources into their deep science division, Hydra, in hopes that the unit’s leader, Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), will deliver a power the Allies cannot defeat. Problem is, Schmidt is obsessed with some sort of otherworldly power, a power his cohorts don’t believe in. When Hitler attempts to shut Hydra down, Schmidt, or Red Skull, is ready to take the reigns and conquer the world for himself. The only one who can stop him? Guess who.

Sure, Steve Rogers is a noble character and his dream of joining the army is endearing, but the entire first act of the film is tainted by poor CGI. Little Steve looks more like a character out of a Tim Burton animation than he does a legitimate smaller version of Evans. In fact, the character would fit perfectly in Tarik Saleh’s Metropia. The only time the pre-Captain America Steve looks legitimate is when his back is to the camera and that’s because that’s the only time he’s 100% a real person.

Things get much better once Steve emerges from the Erskine pod. A mix-up lands Steve in an army propaganda play rather than on the battlefield and that’s where the power of the cheesy time-lapse montage kicks in. We follow Steve from show to show as he gets into the gig and builds an audience. However, when he takes his act overseas and performs for the soldiers, he’s stopped dead in his tracks, as is the film. The switch is so abrupt between goofy wannabe soldier and man on the front lines that it’s hard to digest. Sure, Steve is far more muscular and has super strength, but what does this guy know about infiltrating a heavily armed compound? And who taught him how to parachute out of a plane in the midst of an airborne firefight?

Of course, any superhero film comes with some believability issues, but that’s the challenge, to overcome them and Captain America just doesn’t pull it off. Much of the blame belongs to some terrible effect work, in terms of little Steve and beyond. It’s so glaringly obvious when practical stunt work is used as opposed to CGI, it’s distracting and takes you out of the film.

In terms of the performances, they’re one note almost across the board. The only person that’s the slightest bit engaging and alive is Toby Jones as Red Skull’s right hand man, Dr. Arnim Zola. He’s a bit of an enigma and the fact that you can practically see the wheels turning in his head makes you desperate to get inside it. Otherwise, Captain America offers up a bunch of straight shooters. Evans is the noble hero, Weaving the dubious villain, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky, the loyal sidekick and Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter, the Captain’s crush. They’re playing superhero movie stereotypes and make no effort to take them further.

However, again, this is a superhero movie we’re talking about and that also inherently has the power to be somewhat entertaining when working with the basics. There are some visually stimulating action sequences, cool costumes and poignant hero-saves-the-day moments, but otherwise, Captain America has little to nothing to offer. Then again, there is that teaser for The Avengers after the credits.

Starring: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Dominic Cooper, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Neal McDonough

Film Review - Captain America: The First Avenger

 So far, so good for The Avengers this summer. Thor’s a pretty cool guy and now it’s Captain America to show off what he’s got. Sure, he comes with the superhero standards – buff body, noble intentions and a sleek costume – but other than that, he’s nothing more than a poster boy for Marvel movies. Steve Rogers makes for a better propaganda symbol than superhero.

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Film Review: Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon

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Never thought I'd find myself sticking up for the ungracious Megan Fox who appeared in the first two Transformer pictures, but she's a helluva better actress than the comely Rosie Huntington-Whiteley who comes to this movie direct from a Victoria's Secret runway.

OK, that's not saying much as Fox isn't a great thespian, but she can utter lines better than Huntington-Whiteley does in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the third in director Michael Bay's series of sci-fi epics featuring the heroic Autobots and the nasty Decepticons.

For those of you who have been living on a planet far, far away, you should know that Fox was dismissed from Dark of the Moon before shooting began for dissing Bay in a magazine interview.

Huntington-Whiteley plays Carly Miller who works for some Washington government organisation.

She hooks up with the movie's human hero Sam Witwicky ,played ,for the third time by Shia LaBeouf.

Huntington-Whiteley shows up in a figure-hugging, tighty-whitey dress but she's all window dressing and doesn't exactly excel at delivering her banal lines. Poor Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. She may be beautiful but she can't act for toffee.

As one wag joked after the screening I attended in London, 'Rosie makes Megan's acting look as good as Kate Winslet's'.

Well, that might be stretching it a bit, and bringing Kate Winslet into it is a bit of an insult, but I knew what he meant.

And ,it could be said that this kind of automated, 3D extravaganza doesn't require actors with great thespian skills, although Oscar winner Frances McDormand playing head of the national intelligence agency is class personified.

It's the action between the good guys, sorry, robots, led by Optimus Prime and the Deceptiicons that counts and Bay doesn't disappoint.

There are some fabulous action sequences and epic battles that take your breath away.

It's technically sublime, but if does go on a bit. After two and a half hours I did feel as If I was suffering from metal fatigue.

However, Bay sets the story up well with a prologue set in the early 60s, when Kennedy was in the White House, and the movie suggests that the space race between The USA and Russia was kicked off when each nation detected an unknown vessel had crashed on the dark side of the moon.

By the way, this is the second summer blockbuster that begins in the Sixties .Remember , Matthew Vaughn's briliant X Men:First Class. That , too, was set against a backdrop of the 60s.

Anyway, the American moon astronauts had a secret mission, they had the task of finding out what had crash-landed there.

Decades later, with President Obama in office (we get to see Nixon in the White House, too) the 'package' from the moon turns out to be more than bad news.

Could this be the end of the Earth as we know it? Not if Optimus and his transformers can help it.

There's plenty of deception and betrayal to add to the mix and a pretty scary giant metal worm creature that causes a lotta havoc.

These Transformer movies are nonsense, of course, but they allow Bay and his team to push the envelope as far as movie technology is concerned and at least you feel get a sense of the shock and awe of giant hulking metal creatures clashing.

After a while though your brain yearns for signs of intelligent life in the universe. You know, creatures who can, perhaps, hold a sensible conversations instead of merely booming in a baritone voice about the end of this and the end of that.

That said, I enjoyed the odd flashes of wit ,like a scene showing a bit of Star Trek featuring Spock

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and, as every Transformer fanboy knows, Leonard Nimoy provides the voice of Sentinel Prime.

And Bay has a couple of mini Autobots deliver a withering smackdown of Fox's character Mikaela Banes.

It's an amusing moment, to be sure, but a bit below the belt.

Bay didn't need to make such an obvious dig about Fox,especially as she's not in the movie and doesn't have a right of reply.

 Watch Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Unseen Hot Videos 

Film Review: X-Men: First Class

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We All know how Hollywood loves to create franchises and then flog them to death, so how do you keep things fresh and exciting?

Rather than just pumping out the increasingly desperate sequels, one answer is to go back to basics. And the latest brilliant example of such a revamp is X-Men: First Class.

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Film Review: Apocalypse Now - Oscar Winning War Movie

The 1970s was Coppola's decade. He was involved in a succession of masterly films, as screenwriter on Patton, producer of American Graffiti, director of the first two Godfather films and The Conversation, and finally, in 1979, as true auteur of Apocalypse Now.

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'The Hangover Part II' a Funny, Formulaic, Desperately Shocking Carbon Copy

Business and creative people go together as well as fine wine at a burger joint. Riding on the heels of the monumentally profitable “The Hangover,” in “The Hangover Part II” the brass win out over the artists.

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Film Review: The Hangover: Part II

The headache has truly set in for the laboured and self-conscious The Hangover Part II. It's more a remake than a sequel.

We all enjoyed ourselves during that first movie. But now … well, the hangover has begun. And begun so powerfully, so oppressively, that you might almost suspect the success of the original was created specifically to engender this comedown as a piece of conceptual art. 

Each reminder of the original, each repetition, each desperate, hair-of-the-dog attempt to recapture the party feeling: it's exactly like living through a hungover flashback-memory of what had once seemed so great.

In Hollywood, said William Goldman, nobody knows anything. Who knew The Hangover, from fratpack comedy director Todd Phillips, was going to be such a huge hit? Nobody – perhaps not even the people involved. The story of a Vegas bachelor party that goes horribly wrong looked pretty ropey on paper, and yet it was great. Some thought it was sort of a monkey-typing-Hamlet fluke, but it's actually the sort of fluke that only happens to smart people who keep trying.

The Hangover was funny and the structure was daring. Act one: pre-party – then we jump straight to act three, post-party, and the movie is about the bleary, amnesiac guys trying to piece together act two: what the hell happened? This is not definitively revealed until the sequence of digital photos over the final credits. Brilliant! It showed the spirit of movies like The Usual Suspects or Reservoir Dogs.Bradley Cooper had the chops – he had been a forgettable, almost invisible presence in many movies before this, but he blossomed in H1. There were some cracking comedy turns. Zach Galifianakis was great as the weirdo brother-in-law Alan and Ken Jeong was a real find as the abusive comedy gangster Mr Chow. Everything came together.

Sadly, H2 can't even quite claim the credit of being the first Hangover sequel: the road-movie comedy Due Date, directed by Todd Phillips and starring Galifianakis and Robert Downey Jr, attempted to cash in on its success, none too successfully. At least it tried a vaguely different plot. Hangover Part II seeks only to repeat almost every element of the first movie. It's not a sequel, closer to a shot-for-shot remake. This time, the guys go to Thailand for a wedding, in the same shark-jumping way that the Sex and the City girls whooshed off to Abu Dhabi for their profoundly depressing sequel. It feels a bit like a feature-length Christmas special of a well-loved British sitcom.

The original's quirks have now become a formula. The grim daytime shots of Vegas at the beginning are now grim daytime shots of Bangkok; the tiger is now a monkey; there's a different sequence of photos over the final credits. Pretty much everything has its equivalent. Infuriatingly, all the fun has been drained from the movie, simply in repeating almost every trick. The same: but lame, and lame because the same.

Now it's the nerdy dentist Stu (Ed Helms) getting hitched, to a beautiful Thai woman Lauren (Jamie Chung), whose father hates Stu. Slightly insultingly for Justin Barth, his character Doug was the groom-to-be who disappeared in the first movie but he doesn't get a turn at participating in the hi-jinks now.

Stu stays in the story and Barth's nice-but-dull character is sidelined. Stu's goofiness is evidently considered more important to the action, and Phillips perhaps considers that the gang already has a handsome guy in the form of Cooper's Phil. 

Now it's the bride's sweet younger brother Teddy who tags along on the stag night, disappears, and has to be found at all costs, because he is the apple of his father's eye: he is played by 21-year-old Mason Lee, son of the director Ang Lee. Jeong and Galifianakis seem very subdued and under-par compared to their earlier appearances.

Then there's the question of the big non-PC cameo to match Mike Tyson's bizarre performance in the original. Rumours have been rife. We had heard about Mel Gibson (that idea was abandoned), Liam Neeson (reportedly cut) and even Bill Clinton.

Actually, Paul Giamatti makes an appearance as a bad-tempered tough guy, but this isn't the big cameo – that comes in the form of the celebrity booked to sing at Stu's wedding. You may be hoping for Liza Minnelli. Well, no spoilers, but suffice it to say, this too is a bit of a letdown.

Making The Hangover Part II must have been like going up to a great guitarist who'd just pulled off a brilliant improvised solo, and telling him he had to repeat the performance the next night, note-for-note. The result is self-conscious to say the least.

I have to admit that there are one or two nice lines. When the guys gather outside Alan's bedroom, preparing to invite him along, Jeffrey Tambor, playing Alan's father, tells them to "Go in slowly; let him acclimatise." When Stu defiantly claims: "There's a demon in me!", Alan hits him with a zinging comeback in the bad-taste spirit of the first film. Flashes of fun like this are rare. It's a sobering experience.

Fourth 'Pirates of the Caribbean' unsatisfying?

Captains always go down with the ship  even the swishing, mumbling, mascaraed ones.

How else to explain why Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow has remained  helming the serviceable but unsatisfying Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides  when most of his former mates have bailed? Apparently Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighy and Stellan Skarsgard all snapped up the last of the lifeboats.

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International Hollywood Box Office Results

International Box Office: ‘Fast Five’ sets Universal record with US$86.6M

Universal Studios Fast Five roared to the Top of the foreign theatrical circuit’s box office chart on the weekend, grossing US$86.6M from 6,979 locations; for a per-screen average of more than US$12,000 in 58 overseas territories.

Opening in 44 new markets and almost doubling its $45.9 million gross from the pastr week, Fast Five’s take was described by Universal as the biggest International weekend in the Company’s history, besting the previous weekend record, US$84.3M grossed by Y 2005’s King Kong update.

Fast Five, has been playing overseas for three weeks no, and has taken US$184.8M offshore, lifting its Worldwide total to date to US$324.7M.

The film’s Mexico opening, US$8.6M from 500 spots, was a market record for a Universal title. In Brazil, Fast Five was # 1 with US$5M from 310 locations.

Market opening records for Universal were also set in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Uruguay. Fast Five is also # 1 in Italy, US$7.4 million at 420 spots, and in France US$8.8M from 500 sites.

The 5th sequel in the Turbo-charged Car action franchise, directed by Justin Lin and co-Starring Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Paul Walker, has 5 territories yet to play with 3 opening this week including China.

The Top foreign grosser in the Action Car franchise is Y 2009’s Fast & Furious, drawing US$208M offshore.

Paramount’s release of Marvel Entertainment’s Thor, last weekend # 1 title on the foreign circuit, finished 2nd this time with $46 million drawn from 12,476 locations in 60 offshore markets. That was a about a 50% drop from the $87 million gross marked in the 1st round.

Director Kenneth Branagh’s 3-D interpretation of a Stan Lee comic book about an otherworldly Warrior defending Planet Earth opened in 4 markets, the biggest was China where “preliminary indications” put the debut gross at $2.3 million from the film’s 1-day Sunday opening, said Paramount.

In 11 days, Thor has grossed $176 million offshore.

Rio, 20th Century Fox’s family-oriented animation title, finished # 3 on the weekend with $16.2 million from from 8,706 screens in 67 markets, raising the film’s take after a month of overseas playtime to $292.3 million.

Opening in 23 markets on the weekend, Fox’s Water for Elephants, the Depression-era drama costarring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, grossed $11.1 million from 3,764 screens in 45 markets for an offshore take of $21.3 million. Water finished # 4 overall.

Sony opened Priest, a SYFY thriller in 3-D co-starring Paul Bettany and Cam Gigandet, at 1,460 sites in 4 markets for a weekend take of $5.5 million. The biggest debut was Russia, where the take was $2.9 million from some 700 locations. Priest finished # 5 on the weekend.

Summit International’s Source Code opened # 2 in South Korea, and grossed an estimated $4.3 on the weekend overall from 1,350 screens in 39 markets. The thriller starring Jake Gyllenhall has a foreign take of $40.8 million.

Warner’s period Werewolf fantasy Red Riding Hood pushed its foreign gross total to $50 million thanks to a $2.6 million weekend at some 2,400 screens in 44 markets. Its Arthur update starring Russell Brand, drew $2.3 million from 1,100 screens in 17 markets for an international take of 12.7 million.

Other International takes: Sony’s Just Go With It, $109.8 million; Warner’s Hall Pass, $36.4 million; Universal’s Hanna, $1.9 million in opener in the U.K. at 413 sites; Fox’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid, $6.6 million; Universal’s Paul, $50.4 million; Fox’s Gulliver’s Travels, $194 million; and Universal’s Hop, $61.9 million.

Johnny Depp speaks out on 'Pirates' franchise

Johnny Depp opens up to the Hollywood Reporter on his hands-on role behind the scenes of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise ("On Stranger Tides" hits theaters May 20) and why he admires the principles of the plunderers.

Q: It's been four years since the third "Pirates." What happened?

A: Had I had a little more control at the wheel early on, I would have spaced them out more. One of the reasons "On Stranger Tides" took this amount of time was to really focus on what we could do to make it interesting and new and fresh and not just rehash the same old jokes.

Q: Was it right to shoot the previous two back-to-back?

A: The second and third parts were tacked on, in a way. It wasn't initially written as a trilogy, so the writers had to find the mathematics to connect all three — and in doing that, there were subplots and sub-subplots, and it got confusing and a bit complicated. I said, "Look, let's make it very simple and to the point."

Q: Is that why you worked so closely with the writers? And when did you all start?

A: I was doing "Public Enemies" at the time we had our initial talk. And then we would sit down and go: "What do you think of this? What do you think of that?" And I'd throw my two cents in. I can't help myself! Just in terms of the character, there are bits and bobs that come as you are going through the story meetings, or as late as when the camera's about to roll.

Q: Did you continue researching real-life pirates?

A: I'm always doing research. It's a lifelong fascination. In a weird way, pirates had an ethic that was infinitely more agreeable than [that of] the government and the British military. For example, when you became a pirate, even if you were just press-ganged and chucked on ship, there were equal shares; you got a certain amount of rations of rum each day. In the British military, they could be awful: "You'll do this, and you won't like it, and it'll be tough."

Q: Speaking of tough, what was the toughest part of the shoot?

A: I had a little bit of a physical ailment. I must have done something to my back during a stunt and ended up with this bad sciatic situation. It was this horrible, grinding electricity going through me. I kept shooting; there was no choice. I'd just limp on set. It was monstrous, man — so horrible that I actually started to like it! It was bad, and I had it a good three weeks to a month. But I got used to it and kind of missed it when it was gone.

Q: Would that make you think twice about a fifth "Pirates?" A script is in the works.

A: I've seen nothing yet. It boils down to story, script and filmmaker. But it's not something where I would say, "Let's shoot it next month to get it out by Christmas 2012." We should hold off for a bit. They should be special, just like they're special to me.

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Movie Review: Attack The Block

Attack The Block, or Attack Da Block, Yo, Innit, if we want to go for the full street effect, is a riotous blast of sci-fi with a quintessential British sense of humour. That doesn't mean its laugh-out-loud every step of the way, no, its comedy lies in the premise as much as offering visual gags and one-liners.

Despite the cast mixing up American and British slang (they our British bobbies 'Feds', for example) and dealing with outer space beasties, this is a very British affair. Forget Richard Curtis' smug Oxbridge rom-coms with their calculated international appeal and picture-postcard London.

Director Joe Cornish offers a more convincing portrayal of modern city and its inhabitants. It isn't some Broken Britain rant or a Ken Loach movie with aliens. Although that would be interesting to see. Instead it's a half-believable portrayal of kids lives on a council estate in south London. Basically they smoke weed, mug strangers and talk shit. Then some aliens turn up.

Moses, Pest, Jerome and the gang are little thugs who in the opening scene mug a young nurse walking home at night after work. The opener is highly convincing and even scary. It's depressingly accurate. The movie's origin lies in Cornish's own mugging six years ago. Instead of 'taking out the scum' and making Harry Brown, he made a fun sci-fi comedy where 'inner city meets outer space'.

Cornish plays a very neat trick as his central characters, at first, are very unlikeable. He coaxes out sympathy and understanding as the story goes on. It might not be totally convincing, but at least he tries to offer an emotional arc. Once the alien lands and the kids, naturally, kick the shit out of it and parade it around their estate like a trophy, the shit hits the fan and they learn - very quickly - that their actions have consequences.

In some ways Attack The Block is reminiscent of last year's French zombie actioner The Horde. The high rise council block is the locale for a fantasy event where different types of people come together in an uneasy alliance. When all hell breaks loose the young lads and gals stand up to the terror and slowly but surely open up as human beings. Moses has a troubled background and looks older than he actually is. Pest gets most of the film's big laughs whether he's trying to chat up the nurse they've come to rely on after mugging, or admitting the whole scenario is scary but "sick" at the same time.

Cornish's debut is an assured film and lots of fun. The street lingo is spot on and often bemusing. It also looks fantastic - and most importantly - cinematic. One scene involving aliens, a smoke-filled corridor and the gang is genuinely creepy. It stops being a comedy for a moment and enters the horror world. Amazingly, Cornish isn't above killing off the odd kid, either. This is a comedy, sure, but it's not Monster Squad or Goonie larks.

The best and worst summer flicks hollywood is coming, for better or worse

The summer of 2011 will bring some strange things to movie theaters:

Cowboys on horseback shot at by space ships.

Little blue men on a mission.

And Captain Jack Sparrow in pursuit of a mermaid.

But despite the oddities of the coming movie season, there's a cornucopia of films coming that will undoubtedly include some gems, some bombs and many, many movies somewhere in the middle.

Best Bets:

"Priest," with Paul Bettany. This tale of a retired priest who's been a veteran vampire hunter just looks fascinating in previews, and Bettany is one of the best action actors around.

"Larry Crowne," with Tom Hanks as a fired worker who goes to get a college degree, with Julia Roberts as his downer of a teacher. Hanks is perfect for his role as a positively upbeat guy who turns his teacher's world around.

"Bad Teacher" is about just that, but Cameron Diaz looks perfect as a shallow teach trying to win a contest and a rich suitor played by Justin Timberlake.

Could she recapture the crazy comedy of "Something About Mary"?

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" just has to end the series with a bang. The young actors have grown--literally and figuratively--and the story itself has everything you'd want to finish an epic series.

"The Help" has a great cast and is one of the most popular books of our time. Emma Stone and Viola Davis should become bigger names after this tale of African-American maids.

"Green Lantern" looks to be the best of the summer's comic-book flicks, a list that includes "Thor," an "X-Men" sequel, "Captain America: The First Avenger" and more.

"Lantern" has the appealing Ryan Reynolds, and previews have included some very cool special effects.

"Something Borrowed" has Kate Hudson as the spoiled gal she plays so well, and the under-appreciated Gennifer Goodwin as the friend she takes advantage of--this time, taking her man.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part-2 New Trailer:

Pirates of The Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides New Trailer

Priest New Trailer

Harry Potter Emma Watson Unseen Hot Videos

Harry Potter Emma Watson Unseen Hot Pictures

Hollywood Movie Thor opens “Superhero Season”

"Thor", the first of several superheroes debuting on movie screens this summer, hits US theaters with out-sized hopes resting on the Norse deity's expansive shoulders. 

Hollywood is praying that the God of Thunder and Marvel Comics staple will electrify a dismal 2011 box office, and squeeze more life out of a superhero genre that - with some of the most iconic characters already established franchises - is beginning to look tired.

"Thor" might seem an unlikely candidate to resuscitate the North American box office. The founding member of the original Avengers vanquishes his foes with a magical war hammer and the ability to call down thunder and lightning.

But with most of the marquee Marvel and DC Comics pantheon already committed to film, Hollywood is reaching ever deeper into the barrel to fish out new action hero franchises.

The challenge for classically-trained British film director Kenneth Branagh - more usually associated with Shakespeare - was to make sure his first venture into the world of the 3D action genre stood above the fray.

"It flips the usual superhero story. It isn't the ordinary man who's bitten by a spider and acquires supernatural powers," Branagh told.

"Here we have a superhero with those powers - a God indeed - who has to lose everything and engage with our audience," he said.

From the looks of things, "Thor" commands an edge in avoiding me-too status. It boasts Oscar-winning actor Anthony Hopkins, and fellow Oscar winner and fanboy favorite Natalie Portman.

It's also among the first out the gate, beating "Green Lantern", an X-Men prequel and "Captain America" to the punch, and is one of the few originals in a summer movie season packed with sequels like "Fast Five" and "Hangover 2".

"As Marvel said to me when I joined up: 'this is our most difficult property'. There's so many ways for this to go wrong: too kitschy, too campy, too broad comedy, too sci-fi," said Branagh, adding that he relished the challenge of doing a movie so completely out of his comfort zone.

'The Hangover 2' Release Threatened Over Tattoo Accusation

"The Hangover Part II" faces a problem less than a month before it hits theaters. S. Victor Whitmill, a tattoo artist who gave Mike Tyson his distinctive facial art, is suing Warner Bros. Pictures over the similar-looking facial ink on Ed Helms' face, and asking for an injunction to stop the movie's release.

A complaint has been filed on Thursday, April 28 in federal court in St. Louis. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the statement read, "When Mr. Whitmill created the Original Tattoo, Mr Tyson agreed that Mr. Whitmill would own the artwork and thus, the copyright in the Original Tattoo."

"Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. - without attempting to contact Mr. Whitmill, obtain his permission, or credit his creation - has copied Mr. Whitmill's Original Tattoo and placed it on the face of another actor...," the statement continued. "This unauthorized exploitation of the Original Tattoo constitutes copyright infringement."

Also being attached to the lawsuit was Whitmill's copyright registration for the "Original Tattoo", and Tyson's signature as a proof that the ex-champ granted rights in the work. In addition the document, some pictures of Whitmill applying the design on Tyson's face were included.

In trailers and posters for the second installment of the comedy, Helms sports a body art while enduring the hilarious situation in Bangkok. Helm's tattoo looks like Tyson's, and was also chiseled on the same spot as Tyson's. Tyson himself made an appearance in "The Hangover" as himself, chasing the main characters after they stole his tiger.

On another "The Hangover 2" news, Ken Jeong has recently posted on his Twitter page a new poster for the movie. The actor wrote, "Latest poster for The Hangover Part II...." , before attaching the new picture.

"The Hangover 2" is scheduled for May 26 release across the nation during Memorial Day weekend. The gang from the first film are in Bangkok to celebrate Stu's wedding when they discover themselves in another state of black-out.

Also reprising their roles as Helms' buddies are Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, and Justin Bartha. Jamie Chung, Nick Cassavetes and Juliette Lewis are among actors supporting the movie. Todd Phillips returns to serve behind the lens.

The Hangover Part-II New Trailer

Film Review: `Thor`, Hollywood extravaganza at its shiniest best

It will go down in history as the most elaborately planned movie franchisee, spanning years and different movies (including sequels) and multiple characters with individual films. And despite knowing that such an extravaganza can be possible only from the marriage of one between Marvel and Hollywood, you continue to marvel at it. The latest marvelous addition to this collection is "Thor".

Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins) a god, grows up to be a warrior too arrogant of his strength to maintain a fragile peace in the kingdom. Seeing his arrogance Odin takes his power and casts him to earth so he can learn to be humble.

Devoid of his power and unable to even move his weapon, a hammer forged from a dying star, he, with the help of a kind scientist Jane (Natalie Portman) learns the value of life and a humility and in the end is ready to sacrifice himself to save his friends.

"Thor" was a dangerous gamble for Marvel. He is not one of the popular characters among the avengers. To dedicate and entire movie, some would have said, was foolhardy. But the film "Thor" amply illustrates that if the will is right, creativity can indeed be brought to be a good slave.

"Thor" is Hollywood extravaganza at its best. It is expected of a film of this magnitude to have good effects. However, the film understands that the effects have to serve the story and not mask a nonexistent one. To bring out human elements in a story about gods, takes skill.

Also the costumes, set design and magical elements are put up in such a way as to make the clan of gods look like and advanced alien race rather than a magical race of gods. That gives the story a science fiction angle, like the other films in the Avengers` series, "Iron Man" and "Hulk", and the upcoming "Captain America", instead of a mythical, magical dimension that would not have fit in with the others.

Chris Hemsworth has gained more than few pounds for his role as Thor. From his impish arrogance of "Star Trek" to the magnificent arrogance of a god, he has come a long way both as an actor and as a star.

The film would delight fans of Avengers and Marvel comics with its hidden references. So we see the agent Coulson from SHIELD we first encountered in "Iron Man"; Samuel L. Jackson makes a unaccredited appearance after the end credits; and there`s reference to Tony Stark, Jeremy Rainer in a small cameo is set up to be "Hawk Eye" in the "Avengers" and Loki is set up to the arch-enemy for the "Avengers".

The Marvel master, Stan Lee too makes an appearance in a funny cameo. Fans should sit through the last credits, for a minute extra that has become an USP of this series.

"Thor" makes a good metaphor against vanity. One should not be too proud to be strong and that wisdom is worth aspiring for. Hope Marvel would have the wisdom to continue with good cinema in the next "Captain America" and "Avengers" offerings.

Vin Diesel spends time in the ‘Fast’ lane

In Hollywood, substantial careers are said to have legs — but in Vin Diesel’s case, it’s wheels.

Ever since the shiny-domed tough guy burned rubber as the breakout star of 2001’s “The Fast and the Furious,” Diesel’s Dom Toretto, the hulking chief of a ring of car thieves, has been the bread and butter of Diesel’s career.

This Friday’s “Fast Five” is the fifth installment of the rubber-burning franchise.

The gravel-voiced actor skipped the first sequel, “2 Fast 2 Furious,” had a cameo in the next, “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,” and returned to star in “Fast & Furious,” which reignited the franchise. Here’s a peek in the rearview:

“The Fast and the Furious” (2001)

Plot: Cars go vroom as undercover cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) infiltrates street racer Dom Toretto’s (Diesel) hijacking truck ring and falls for his sister Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster).

Also starring: Modified Honda Civics

Box-office domestic gross: $145 million

“2 Fast 2 Furious” (2003)

Plot: O’Conner, no longer a cop, is busted by the FBI and watched by customs agent Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes). He’s also forced to infiltrate gangster Carter Verone’s (Cole Hauser) crew to get his record cleaned. He partners with childhood buddy and ex-con Roman “Rom” Pearce (Tyrese Gibson).

Also starring: Modified Nissan Skyline, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and a Mitsubishi Eclipse

Box-office domestic gross: $127 million

“The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” (2006)

Plot: Street-racing teen Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) is sent to Tokyo to be with his military dad after a crash. There he meets military brat Twinkie (Bow Wow), who introduces him to underground drift racing. They tussle with the Drift King (Brian Tee).

Also starring: Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

Box-office domestic gross: $63 million

“Fast & Furious” (2009)

Plot: O’Conner, now with the FBI, needs to infiltrate a heroin ring run by the mysterious Braga (John Ortiz). Dom comes out of hiding as he searches for the killer of his lover Letty (Michelle Rodriguez).

Also starring: Nissan Skyline GT-R, Chevrolet Chevelle

Box-office domestic gross: $155 million

Hollywood 3-D Animation Movie 'Rio' Continues on top of the US box office

 Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg's talking birds have edged out Tyler Perry's sass-talking grandma at the weekend box office.

Hathaway and Eisenberg's animated family adventure “Rio” took in US$26.8 million to remain the No. 1 movie for the second-straight weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

“Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family” debuted a close second with US$25.8 million, another solid opening for writer-director Perry, who also stars as boisterous, opinionated grandma Madea.

Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson's circus romance “Water for Elephants” premiered in third-place with US$17.5 million.

“It's nice to have two movies in the top-three,” said Bert Livingston, distribution executive for 20th Century Fox, which released both “Rio” and “Water for Elephants.”

The weekend's other new wide release, Disney's nature documentary “African Cats,” opened at No. 6 with US$6.4 million.

Morgan Spurlock's product-placement documentary “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” opened with fair but unremarkable business in limited release.

The latest from the maker of the hit documentary “Super Size Me” took in US$135,139 in 18 theaters, averaging US$7,508 a cinema. That compares to an US$11,254 average in 2,288 theaters for “Madea's Big Happy Family,” which had by far the best cinema average among the top-10 movies.

Hollywood scored its second-straight weekend of rising revenues, good news for studios that have been in a box-office slide since last fall.

Receipts totaled US$138 million, up 39 percent from the same weekend last year, when “How to Train Your Dragon” was No. 1 with US$15.4 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

The upward trend likely will continue next weekend with “Fast Five,” the latest movie in “The Fast and the Furious” action franchise, expected to have a huge opening, said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

“I think we're going to have three up weekends in a row, and for us, that's a roll. We've been down for so long,” Dergarabedian said. “It really points out how cyclical this business is.”

A love-bird story centered on rare parrots, “Rio” raised its domestic total to US$81.3 million. The movie has taken in US$204.7 million more overseas, for a worldwide haul of US$286 million.

“Rio” held on well to its audience, revenues dropping a scant 32 percent in the second weekend, while “Water for Elephants” came in a bit above industry expectations.

Adapted from the best-selling novel, “Water for Elephants” features Witherspoon as the star of a Depression-era circus, with Pattinson co-starring as a veterinarian who falls for her despite her jealous, tyrannical husband.

“It felt like old-time filmmaking for me and I think for the audience,” Livingston said. “I think it's going to play for a long time. People are going to talk about it.”

While Perry's latest “Madea” flick was unable to knock “Rio” off its perch, the filmmaker has been a prolific and consistent box-office earner, averaging two movies a year for distributor Lionsgate over the last four years.

“He has the most loyal fan base that I certainly have ever been associated with,” said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate. “They just continue to come out and flock to the cinemas and see his movies, whether it's a drama or comedy. He knows how to speak to his audience.”