Deadline reports that Al Pacino has been tapped to play famed Penn State fixture Joe Paterno, the legendary football coach who enjoyed the winningest reign in history before the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal marred his legacy. A little side-by-side photo comparison shows that Pacino bears a resemblance to the late coach, if you squint a bit; after a spotty run in film and TV of late (veering from the TV movie You Don’t Know Jack , which earned him an Emmy and Golden Globe, to the Adam Sandler comedy Jack & Jill — let’s not even talk about Dunkaccino ), JoePa’s rise and fall might offer some meaty material for the Oscar-winner. Though the project is still in development — ICM is shopping it around, according to Deadline — Pacino is attached, and a script will be adapted from Joe Posnanski’s New York Times bestselling biography Paterno . [ Deadline ]
Here is Maxim Hottie winner Melanie Iglesias at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards. You might know her better as the girl who “ served Kate Upton ” or from those sexy flip book videos . I have no clue what she’s doing at this event but judging by those sweet chesticles, Melanie is probably the most talented one there. Enjoy. *Check out Melanie Iglesias’ hidden talent here
Former couple share embrace on night when both won major awards. By Gil Kaufman Chris Brown hugs Rihanna at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards Photo: MTV News
Yeah, you’re gonna want to buy the October issue of British Vogue — if only for Christa D’Souza’s bewildered recollection of the one time Kristen Stewart opened up to her, a month before le scandale , during a Parisian smoke break: “‘My God, I’m so in love with my boyfriend. I wish he was here now. I think I want to have his babies. God, I miss him. I love the way he smells. And him me. Like, he loves to lick under my armpits. I don’t get this obsession with washing the smell off. That smell of someone you love. Don’t you think it’s the whole point?’ Looking back, the exchange still feels surreal. It took place just three weeks before those incriminating pictures were allegedly taken. Was she even talking about Pattinson? Was she having on me? Who knows? ” [ Vogue UK via iSubscribe ]
Also in Wednesday afternoon’s round-up of news briefs, Fantastic Fest will close out its September event with Red Dawn . And David Slade is the eyed for a Disney pic based on a young-adult novel. World Premiere of Red Dawn to Close Fantastic Fest Director Dan Bradley’s action-pic Red Dawn will close out Fantastic Fest September 27th. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Isabel Lucas and Josh Hutcherson, the film revolves around a group of teenagers embarking to save their town from an invasion of North Korean soldiers. A Korean-invasion-themed party will follow the premiere screening to celebrate the closing night of the festival. Fantastic Fest will take place September 20 – 27 in Austin, Texas Javier Bardem Humanitarian Doc Heads to Theaters Sons of the Clouds: The Last Colony is produced by Academy Award-winning actor Javier Bardem, Alvaro Longoria and Lilly Hartley, the documentary, directed by Longoria of Morena Films and will screen at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13. The film features Javier Bardem and focuses on a forgotten, unresolved conflict in Northern Africa where the de-colonization of the Western Sahara has displaced nearly 200,000 Sahrawi people to refugee camps. Distributor GoDigital said it will begin its theatrical run at IFC Center in NYC in mid-October, followed by a series of screenings around the country. Edward Burns Holiday Pic Heads to Theaters The Fitzgerald Family Christmas , a family drama that reunites Burns with cast members Connie Britton and Michael McGlone from The Brothers McMullen will have a late-November release via Tribeca Film which picked up the film. The story revolves around sibling rivalry and an estranged father (Ed Lauter, The Artist ) who returns home for Christmas for the first time since he walked out on his family 20 years ago. Family rifts emerge, and like with any family, Christmas brings a mixed bag of complicated emotions and dynamics. The film will screen at the Toronto International Film Festival September 9th. Xan Cassavetes’ Kiss of the Damned Heads to Theaters Magnet Releasing, genre arm of Magnolia Pictures picked up worldwide rights to Cassavetes’ erotic vampire film that will close International Critics’ Week this Friday in Venice. The film centers on Djuna (Joséphine de La Baume), a beautiful vampire who tries to resist the advances of the handsome, human screenwriter Paulo (Milo Ventimiglia), but eventually gives in to temptation. When her troublemaker sister Mimi (Roxane Mesquida) arrives unexpectedly, Djuna’s love story is threatened and the whole vampire community becomes endangered. Around the ‘net… Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, Kerry Washington to Speak at DNC The three will follow the Foo Fighters on Thursday’s lineup at the Democratic National Convention. Eva Longoria also is expected to speak before Obama’s appearance, THR reports . Disney Eyes David Slade for Matched The studio is in negotiations with Slade to direct an adaptation of the Ally Condie young-adult novel. The series revolves around a girl in a “dystopian future where choice is taken away, and a young woman falls in love with a guy she has not been matched with,” Deadline reports .
Also in Wednesday morning’s round-up of news briefs, director Ben Wheatley boards a project set in the 17th century. Scott Derrickson eyes a paranormal police thriller. And the Toronto International Film Festival ‘s Capital gets a deal. Ben Wheatley Eyes Psychedelic A Field in England The Kill List director’s next project is described as a 17th century tale set during the English civil war. The story written by him and wife/creative partner Amy Jump revolves around the aftermath of a large battle in which a group of deserters is captured by an alchemist ( Kill List ‘s Michael Smiley) and his henchman, The Guardian reports . Scott Derrickson to Direct Beware the Night Derrickson ( The Exorcism of Emily Rose ) will direct the paranormal police thriller. The story is set in New York and follows a police officer who investigates real-life demon possessions, exorcisms and werewolves after dark, The Wrap reports . Michael Moore, Ken Loach, Others Lose Julian Assange Bail Money Filmmakers Michael Moore and Ken Loach as well as socialite Jemima Khan and publisher Felix Dennis have lost £200,000 ($317,130) in bail money they had provided for the WikiLeaks founder after he fled to the Ecuadorian embassy over the summer to avoid extradition to Sweden where he faces sexual assault charges. Oliver Stone, Danny Glover and Bill Maher were among the signers of a petition earlier this summer requesting that Ecuador accept Assange’s asylum request, THR reports via the Guardian . MPAA’s Chris Dodd Praises Democratic Party Stance on Intellectual Property The former Democratic senator gave his approval to the Democratic Party platform position on internet freedom and intellectual property a week after saying similarly about the Republican Party platform’s position about the two issues. Dodd said he was “pleased” adding that it “reinforces the critical importance of protecting America’s intellectual property while ensuring the free flow of information on the internet,” THR reports . Political Suspense thriller Capital Heads to Theaters Cohen Media group has picked up the Toronto 2012 title directed by Costa-Gavras. The film centers on a head of a giant European investment bank who desperately clings to power when an American hedge fund company tries to buy them out. Gabriel Byrne stars, Deadline reports .
As they used to say in my hometown, Kal Penn knocked Clint Eastwood’s dick in the dirt Tuesday night with a smart — and subtly smart-alecky — celebrity turn at the podium on the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC. In contrast to 82-year-old Eastwood’s aimless — and heartless — speech in support of Mitt Romney , Penn, 35, gave a focused, funny speech that, like the Harold & Kumar franchise, proved to be a lot smarter than it’s stoner-targeted marketing campaign advertised. (Actually, I think there’s an argument to be made that stoners are some of the sharpest cultural consumers on earth, but that’s an argument for another day.) What I particularly appreciated about Penn’s speech was that it hit important DNC talking points without sounding like corny propaganda, and the actor struck an inclusive note that, I suspect, could sway some hawkish-yet-hip fringe voters to cast their ballot for President Obama. And that was in a single sentence: “I’ve worked on a lot of fun movies but my favorite job was having a boss who gave the order to take out Bin Laden and is cool with all of us getting gay married,” Penn told DNC delegates. “So thank you invisible man in the chair for that.” Duuuude! In a single soundbite, Penn, a former Associate Director for the White House’s Office of Public Engagement, accomplished a remarkable hat trick: He twitted Eastwood’s RNC performance; reiterated the administration’s support for gay marriage and reminded us that Osama Bin Laden was taken out under Obama’s leadership — a goal that, given America’s post-9/11 fury, should have been accomplished during the eight years of George W. Bush’s presidency. Penn’s reference to Bin Laden’s death was particularly smart because it sent the message that the Democratic Party does not engage in facile stereotyping. Penn is Indian-American, but if he hasn’t been singled out at an airport because his skin tone resembled the 9/11 terrorists’, I bet that he knows a lot of people who’ve had that experience. When Penn plainly stated his support for Obama’s silencing of Osama, I could hear a hundred Fox News-perpetuated stereotypes vaporizing with a satisfying sizzle. It’s not the first time that Penn has messed with the American public’s pat view of good and bad in a post-9/11 America, by the way. He blew me away in 2007 when he played Ahmed Amar on 24 . Penn’s performance repeatedly defied my expectations — especially when he turned out to be the terrorist that, I assumed, he couldn’t be thanks to my own internal stereotypes about political correctness. Penn’s decision to take that role at that particular time in American history was brave indeed, and that same year he told New York magazine that he’d almost turned down the part because “It was essentially accepting a form of racial profiling.” “I think it’s repulsive,” Penn explained. “But it was the first time I had a chance to blow stuff up and take a family hostage. As an actor, why shouldn’t I have that opportunity? Because I’m brown and I should be scared about the connection between media images and people’s thought processes?” Penn blew stuff up again tonight — in the best way possible. President Obama was smart to use him as a convention opener. Check out Penn’s speech below and please tell me whether you agree or not in the comments section below. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Boy band tellsf MTV News they may go au naturel at the awards show airing Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/PT. By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Jim Cantiello The Wanted Photo: MTV News
Oh, those Oogieloves — even a record-setting, all-time low worst box office opening of all time can’t keep ’em down. At least, according to Oogieloves mastermind Kenn Viselman, who managed to spin the G-rated kiddie pic’s abysmal $448,131 three-day take (that’s roughly $207 per screen) into something positive. Debuting to shockingly low $47-per-screen results on Wednesday, Oogieloves was headed for the wrong kind of notoriety even as business picked up ever so slightly over the long holiday weekend; by Labor Day, numbers across its 2,160-theater opening had risen to $72 per screen. Improvement! Speaking with The Wrap on Monday, Viselman, who boasted of turning the Teletubbies into a phenomenon and opened Oogieloves in wide release under his own Kenn Viselman Productions banner, embraced the silver lining: This was never about box office,” Viselman told TheWrap Monday morning. “It was about exposure. We’ve now got the notoriety we were trying to get for weeks before the film opened,” he said. He said that a financing glitch weeks before the release hurt the marketing of the film. “I won’t say we’re not disappointed, for our team and for the exhibitors who both did a great job,” he said. “But this wasn’t made to win the Academy Award — it was made to get parents to get up and dance with their kids. I know from talking with parents who did take their kids to see it, that they loved it. “The attention we’re getting as a result of this is going to help our video on demand and DVD campaigns,” he said, “and it’s going to help the next films, whether they’re theatrical releases or video.” Next films . Ahem. The “interactive” children’s adventure involves three giant candy-colored creatures called the Oogieloves trying to find five magical balloons in time for their friend’s birthday party. Along the way they cross paths with a veritable buffet of C-listers (Chazz Palminteri, Jamie Pressly, Cloris Leachman, Cary Elwes, Christopher Lloyd, Toni Braxton) who sing and dance and encourage the kids in the audience to follow suit. It’s worth noting that in spite of the plot and box office response, Oogieloves did garner some critical support. Over at Rotten Tomatoes it boasts a 32 percent Tomatometer rating; one parenting-oriented publication called it ” enthralling for preschoolers .” My friend Nick Robinson took the liberty of Tweeting his Oogieloves theatrical experience yesterday in a mostly empty theater — if singing and shouting and dancing and blowing kisses at the screen is encouraged in Oogieloves , why not live-Tweeting? If you’re not among the target demographic of parents enduring talking vacuums and Doc Brown in a sombrero for the sake of their toddlers, this might give you the best idea of what it means to live through Oogieloves : From a narrative perspective the movie is troubled because it has failed to establish why the balloons are magical. #OOGIELOVES — Nick Robinson (@Nickrob) September 04, 2012 The vacuum cleaner is mad that the #OOGIELOVES drank milkshakes and he made sure the pillow was asleep so he could flirt w/ the window.— Nick Robinson (@Nickrob) September 04, 2012 I don't even like Cary Elwes that much but I feel bad for him as a human being. #OOGIELOVES — Nick Robinson (@Nickrob) September 04, 2012 The balloons sang a song and then they set the movie up for a sequel. #OOGIELOVES — Nick Robinson (@Nickrob) September 04, 2012 THE OTHER PEOPLE JUST WALKED OUT!!!!!!!!!! #OOGIELOVES it's not Over— Nick Robinson (@Nickrob) September 04, 2012 Reward Robinson for doing this so you don’t have to by following him on Twitter . And can we all have a moment of silence for poor Cary Elwes? Here’s a clip of him in Oogieloves as “Bobby Wobbly.” It’s worse than I’d feared . Previously: So, WTF Is An Oogieloves, Anyway? Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
