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MADAGASCAR Escape 2 IMAX

post from Rama's SCREEN on 12 May 2008 11:56:29 PM. © Rama's SCREEN

There are things in this life that don’t need to be done, and this is one of them, unfortunately some people see it necessary to be done leaving the rest of us asking, Why! IMAX Corporation and DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. today announced an agreement to release MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA into IMAX® theatres worldwide [...]

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http://www.ramasscreen.com/2008/05/12/madagascar-escape-2-imax/

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Swinging With Indy [Short Ends]

post from Defamer on 12 May 2008 11:50:00 PM. © Defamer

· There are 27 different movies in this Indy-themed swingstravaganza. (And at least one classic Activision Atari 2600 title.) How many can you name? [Black20]
· Dennis Farina was so preoccupied worrying about gels and liquids, he had a total brainfart about the .22 he was carrying through LAX security. [LAT]
· It seems a certain Chace Crawford is getting invited to George Clooney after-parties and mobbed by the Cruises, and Penn Badgley isn't. XOXO, Defamer Girl [NY Daily News]
· Isaiah Washington filed a complaint with SAG over Grey's Anatomy's use of his photo in a newspaper article about his character on last week's episode. [Reuters]
· Hey—unicorns!

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http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/defamer/full/~3/289165992/swinging-with-indy

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Uwe Boll wants to make GRAND THEFT AUTO Movie and
ZOMBIE MASSACRE Movie and Youre Invited!

post from Rama's SCREEN on 12 May 2008 11:44:11 PM. © Rama's SCREEN

You gotta hand it to Uwe Boll (Bloodrayne, In The Name of The King). He may be currently the worst Hollywood director but he won’t stop at nothing.He’s determined that he’s the best and no matter what people might say, no matter what petition may come, he will keep making movies. Pretty cocky for a [...]

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http://www.ramasscreen.com/2008/05/12/uwe-boll-wants-to-make-grand-theft-auto-mov
ie-and-zombie-massacre-movie-and-youre-invited/

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Live, From New York, It's Saturday Night: Defamer
Pays A Visit To Studio 8H [Saturday Night Live]

post from Defamer on 12 May 2008 11:30:00 PM. © Defamer

It's difficult to properly convey to you the excitement level that hits you the second you walk through the revolving doors at 30 Rockefeller Center before a live taping of Saturday Night Live. After all, it's one of the hardest tickets to get in show business. So, unlike a concert or athletic event where you can see the eyes of some attendees glazing over from boredom, everyone who is in attendance is someone who desperately wants to be there. As anyone who is in the building will attest, the energy in these moments is both palpable and kinetic. And that's just in the lobby of the ground floor of the building!

As you have probably gathered by now, your Uncle Grambo was fortunate enough to be one of the lucky 250 or so people who got to watch this weekend's episode of SNL (host: Shia LaBeouf, musical guest: My Morning Jacket) from the friendly confines of Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center. A full run-down of the evening follows after the jump.

We arrived in the building around 10:15pm, just about 75 minutes before the show officially commences. As you walk in the lobby of 30 Rock, there are dozens (if not hundreds) of people lined up behind velvet ropes along the walls, many of whom look as if they have spent the majority of the day waiting in line for tickets. Fortunately, thanks to the good graces of the NBC PR department, we were able to walk straight in, save for a short conversation with the keepers of the magical guest list. Let me tell you, it was quite hilarious watching a slew of people approach these staffers and attempt to namedrop their way into the show (our favorite attempt was when one young blonde lass tried to use the "My brother is a lawyer at NBC" line). As we waited our turn to go up the elevators up to Studio 8H, we found ourselves standing next to one Suze Orman, whose teeth are even more blazingly white when you see them up close and personal (little did we know at the time, but SNL MVP Kristen Wiig would do an amazing impression of her later in the show).

Our press escort popped out of the elevator bank at approximately 10:40pm and scooted us upstairs. As you walk from the elevator bank to the studio, you stroll down a long hallway that is lined with framed photographs of the litany of SNL cast members who once populated these very same halls. Seeing the faces of Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Mike Myers, Gilda Radner and Eddie Murphy, you can't help but feel like you are small part of a grand tradition of comedic greatness. As you make your way closer and closer to the stage, you encounter various levels of security. If memory serves, we had to show three different sets of security/PR people along the way. And while we were handed both wristbands and tickets when we walked in, the most important credential we had all evening was, surprisingly, the envelope that the tickets came in. As for why, not sure we'll ever know.

After a few minutes of waiting around (perhaps the ushers were cleaning up the popcorn from the aisles?), we were taken to our seats just after 11pm. We sat in the back row of the studio, which was actually the fourth row of what I'll affectionately call the "upper deck" (meaning, not the swivel chairs you see on the floor while watching the show). We were directly in line with the main stage where Shia LaBeouf would deliver his monologue some forty minutes later.

We sat next to an affable hippie and his son, the elder of whom explained to us that he worked on a number on the "fake commercials" that SNL has shot over the years. But just when I was about to ask him if he was present for the filming of the legendary Schmitt's Gay spot, I noticed that Claire Danes, of all people, was walking down the aisle towards me. She was accompanied by her slight of stature BF, Hugh Dancy, and another friend was not famous. She looked far skinnier than I remembered her from her last on-screen role, Stardust, and her hair looked exceedingly thin. That said, there is no denying that she is straight up gorge. After all, it's not everyday you look Angela Chase right in the eyes.

As my heart rate returned to normal, my attention shifted to the flurry of activity down below our seats on the set. As Lenny Pickett and the Saturday Night Live Band warmed up the crowd with a number of R&B standards, stagehands were running around putting last minute touches on the various set decorations. Occasionally, the venerable Lorne Michaels would pop his head out, look around, and duck back beneath the set (presumably to tweak the skits from the dress rehears performance). With approximately 10 minutes left before showtime, Don Pardo wandered out onto center stage to begin warming the crowd up. He was quickly followed by Jason Sudeikis, who explained the rules of the road to the audience ("Be sure to laugh your asses off!") and cracked a few jokes, all the while wearing orange-accented hi-tops and Kansas Jayhawks basketball shorts.

Then, in a totally unexpected turn of events, Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen joined the band for a rousing performance of Blondie's "One Way Or Another." Wiig played the part of Deborah Harry amazingly well; not only was her voice crackin', but she had the Harry hip sway down pat. Meanwhile, Fred Armisen turned in a very serviceable Chris Stein impression, shredding on the electric guitar in such an impressive fashion that I almost forgot he used to be a drummer and not a guitarist. As soon as the song wrapped up, the house lights began to dim.

As the stagehands rolled a faux presidential backdrop onto the main stage and turned on a lamp that was sitting next to a formal chair, Amy Poehler emerged dressed as Hillary Clinton for the evening's cold open (I would later learn that the audience at the dress rehearsal saw a different cold open, one that took place at DNC headquarters). As she quickly reviewed the cue cards, Lorne Michaels approached her and knelt down to give her a quick and quiet pep talk. This was my favorite moment of the evening; although Lorne has a bit of a rep for being enigmatic when it comes to his relationships with the cast members, there was something in his body language and the way that he approached Poehler that radiated a very fatherly and caring vibe. It was something you would never see on television, but somehow, it spoke volumes about how close-knit the SNL family truly is.

And from there, the rest of the show was, at least for me, a blur. If I were to note one thing about seeing the show live and in person that you don't see when you watch on TV, it would be how frenetically paced things are on-set. The very second the red light goes off on a camera, crew members are tearing down sets and physically grabbing cast members. In particular, after Shia LaBeouf's monologue, a woman came bounding at him from off-stage and literally TORE the suit coat off his back as she pushed him backstage for a costume change (he appeared as a Doug Henning-esque magician about 45 seconds later in a slightly puzzling "Match Game" spoof). Despite the hectic pace,there was never a moment where the set even approached chaos (controlled or otherwise); rather, all of the on-stage hustle seemed to radiate a thoroughly professional vibe.

It's also worth noting that, despite the frenetic pace, we saw nary a frown or disgruntled look on any of the cast or crew members' faces. Instead, smiles abounded everywhere you looked during the commercial breaks. If the performers were tired or stressed out, they certainly didn't show it.

There was one other interesting factoid from the evening that stood out. In the sketch where Bill Hader plays Vinnie Vedecci, the Italian talk show host with a penchant for smoking multiple cigarettes during the course of his celebrity interviews, one crew member drew the assignment of smoking the cigarettes that he would hand to Bill Hader in-between shots. He seemed to relish this job, as he chain-smoked his way through half of four cigarettes during the course of the sketch. Also, throughout this entire bit, both Fred Armisen and Will Forte sat on the side of the stage, where the camera would occasionally cut to them. As a part of the skit, they were both eating a bowl of spaghetti. Whereas Fred Armisen mostly twirled the spaghetti around with his fork, Will Forte ate almost the entire portion of pasta that was sitting in front of him during the course of the sketch. Looks like someone skipped their dinner!

The skit we chose to bring you above was the last sketch of the evening. Although both Kristen Wiig and Kenan Thompson were the evening's stand-out performers, it was Amy Poehler's performance as a mom who wanted to ensure her children were dressed as "New York Funky" as possible that made us (and the rest of the audience) laugh the hardest.

Then, just as quickly as it began, the 90-minute show came to a close. After watching Shia wish everyone a happy Mother's Day, we walked out into the lobby, where we noticed a VERY gorgeous (and sober looking) Tatum O'Neal holding court with a few friends and cast members. We debated going up to her to say hello, but instead decided to make our way to the elevators. We met up with a few friends who just so happened to be at the taping, too, and headed off into the night, feeling exhilarated after what could only be described as a truly special evening. Regardless of what you think of the show, after witnessing everything that goes down in between skits and commercial breaks up close and in person, there is no denying that the people who put SNL together are some of the hardest working people in television.

Be sure to tune in next week for the Season Finale of the Saturday Night Live's 33rd season. The host is Steve Carell and the musical guest will be Usher.

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http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/defamer/full/~3/289154315/live-from-new-york-its-satur
day-night-defamer-pays-a-visit-to-studio-8h

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Mark Millars Kick-Ass in Pre-production

post from /Film on 12 May 2008 11:27:23 PM. © /Film

A film adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr’s Kick-Ass has now officially entered pre-production according to Comic Book Resources. (...)

Comment on this now or read more at slashfilm.com.
Tags: Jane Goldman, Kick Ass, Mark Millar, Matthew Vaughn

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/slashfilm/~3/289141780/

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Halloween H20

post from Shiny Movie Guide on 12 May 2008 10:34:00 PM. © Shiny Movie Guide

Halloween H20 (1998)
Dir: Steve Miner

20 years later, Michael tracks down Laurie, who is now the dean at a Californian private school.
Entertaining movie that follows on from Halloween II and ignores the events of the other sequels. The film benefits from Jamie Lee Curtis' return and the empty school provides a good setting. It's pretty straight forward stuff and while the script is weak, it does have some good scares and a fairly pacy second half.

Story: 5
Acting: 7
Directing: 6
Scares: 7
Gore: 6
Overall: 6

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http://shinymovieguide.blogspot.com/2008/05/halloween-h20.html

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Bill Mahers RELIGULOUS Pushed Out to October

post from Meet In The Lobby on 12 May 2008 10:02:06 PM. © Meet In The Lobby

If you’re excited to see Bill Maher’s Religulous in late spring / early summer, you’re gonna need the patience of Jesus himself. Well, not really, but that makes for a good joke. Lionsgate has decided to delay the movie’s[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/meetinthelobby/~3/289101005/bill-mahers-religulous
-pushed-out-to-october.html

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Trends: Are Movie Men the New Leading Ladies
[Opinions]

post from Film School Rejects on 12 May 2008 09:40:00 PM. © Film School Rejects

Last Friday, Lisa Schwarzbaum of "Entertainment Weekly", unleashed onto the world a brilliant thesis noting that romantic comedies are back, men are getting more sensitive, and asking the question: Are movie guys the new girls?Today, we here at FSR offer an answer: No.In all fairness, you should read her entire ...

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FilmSchoolRejects/~3/289098261/trends-are-movie-me
n-the-new-leading-ladies.php

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Twilight May Look Sexy On-Screen, But The Only
Action On-Set Involved 'Runny Noses' And 'Hail Globs' [Sexual Fevers]

As we noted last week, the highly anticipated Twilight franchise appears to be far steamier and sexier than the books? tween fans may have expected. And a profile on the film in yesterday?s LAT suggests the series? author Stephenie Meyer may be just as surprised. Described by the article's author as "chaste," the Mormon mother of three sounds like the near opposite of director and "troubled-teen expert" Catherine Hardwicke. But as the article reveals, no matter how hot and bothered we felt after watching the teaser trailer, the actual action on set wasn't putting any of its gorgeous cast members in the mood:

Slathered in pale vampire makeup with alternating doses of sun, rain and "hail globs the size of golf balls," actors huddle in a heated ?fire tent? and stuff Kleenex to their cold, runny noses; they exchange rubber boots for Adidas just before the cameras roll.

It seems as though filming a vampire movie in Columbia Gorge hasn't exactly helped the central Romeo and Juliet-esque characters of Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart) look as irresistible as they look in the teaser trailer: "They carry hot-water bottles (while PAs hold umbrellas over their carefully made-up heads)." But despite the very un-sexy sound of it, all that fog and mud may be precisely the right formula for creating a background for the alluring teenage blood-suckers Hardwicke has "re-imagine[d]...as evil rock stars. Gigandet wears a leather jacket festooned with what he jokingly calls his 'flair' - trophies from victims, ranging from police badges to wedding rings to schoolgirl baubles...Laurent rocks some dreads. Wild-huntress vampire Victoria, is decked out in a massive fur coat that would do Mick Jagger proud."

Knowing we'd still be attracted to Mick Jagger even if he was Kleenex-stuffed and soaked in white powdered makeup, we remain just as teased as we were last week.

'TWILIGHT' TAPS TEEN VAMPIRE ROMANCE [LAT]

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http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/defamer/full/~3/289095844/twilight-may-look-sexy-on+sc
reen-but-the-only-action-on+set-involved-runny-noses-and-hail-globs

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'Sex And The City' Premiere Upstaged By World's
Stupidest Head-Corsage [The Birds And The Bees And The City]

If you're feeling a little cheated by the fact that Sex and the Movie (try it! It's catching on!) had its world premiere today in a town better known for Black and Tans and battered cod than Cosmos and Sushi Samba, there is some comfort to be taken from the fact that London's splashy red carpet get was completely overshadowed by That Thing On Sarah Jessica Parker's head.