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Un thriller psicológico protagonizado por Cate Blanchett. © Apple TV

Apple TV ha publicado un teaser tráiler del thriller psicológico Observada (Disclaimer), la esperada serie del cinco veces ganador del Oscar Alfonso Cuarón basada en la novela superventas de Renée Knight. La serie tendrá su estreno mundial en el Festival Internacional de Cine de Venecia.

La miniserie de siete episodios sigue a la aclamada periodista Catherine Ravenscroft (Blanchett), que ha construido su reputación revelando los delitos y transgresiones de otros. Cuando recibe la novela de un autor desconocido, se horroriza al darse cuenta de que ahora ella es la protagonista de una historia que expone sus secretos más oscuros. Catherine se apresura a descubrir la verdadera identidad del escritor, y mientras tanto, se ve obligada a enfrentarse a su pasado antes de que destruya tanto su propia vida como las relaciones con su marido Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen) y su hijo...

Cate Blanchett se enfrenta a su pasado en este thriller psicológico. © Apple TV

Apple TV ha fijado la fecha de estreno del thriller psicológico “Observada”, la esperada serie del cinco veces ganador del Oscar Alfonso Cuarón basada en la novela superventas de Renée Knight. Además, ha publicado la primera imagen en la que se ve a su protagonista, Cate Blanchett.

La miniserie de siete episodios sigue a la aclamada periodista Catherine Ravenscroft (Blanchett), que ha construido su reputación revelando los delitos y transgresiones de otros. Cuando recibe la novela de un autor desconocido, se horroriza al darse cuenta de que ahora ella es la protagonista de una historia que expone sus secretos más oscuros. Catherine se apresura a descubrir la verdadera identidad del escritor, y mientras tanto, se ve obligada a enfrentarse a su pasado antes de que destruya tanto su propia vida como las relaciones con su marido Robert...

Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline are set to star in an adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel “The Good House” at Amblin Partners, the studio announced Monday.

Production will begin this week in Canada on the film based on Ann Leary’s novel of the same name. Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky, who also co-wrote the script, are set to direct.

“The Good House” follows Hildy Good (Weaver), a wry New England realtor and descendant of the Salem witches, who loves her wine and loves her secrets. Her compartmentalized life starts to unravel as she rekindles an old romance and becomes dangerously entwined in one person’s reckless behavior.

Also Read: Watch Sigourney Weaver Exhort Samantha Bee to Cheer on Journalists at 'Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner' (Video)

Jane Rosenthal, Berry Welsh and Aaron Ryder are producing on behalf of FilmNation Entertainment. The executive producers are Erika Hampson,...

Discovery, Inc. and BBC Studios have struck a “multi-million pound global content partnership,” the companies said on Monday, which will bring BBC’s “Planet Earth,” “Blue Planet,” “Life,” “Dynasties” and other natural-history titles to Discovery’s Svod platforms.

The 10-year deal, which should close in late spring, relies on Discovery launching a new global streaming service for natural history programming by 2020 that will operate outside the U.K., Ireland and China.

In addition to the hundreds of hours of already existing content, Discovery and BBC Studios will develop new landmark factual content together. The two companies will co-fund a dedicated development team within BBC Studios.

Also Read: Discovery's David Zaslav Made Nearly $130 Million Last Year

Discovery will now also take full ownership of UKTV’s “lifestyle” channels, like Good Food, Home, and Really, while BBC Studios gets the “entertainment” ones. Following completion, James Gibbons will manage the lifestyle channels as part of Discovery’s U.

Discovery and BBC Studios have inked a nearly $400 million programming deal that will see high-end natural history programming from the latter play on a new Discovery global streaming service set for launch by 2020. Under a decade-long deal, Discovery has acquired a raft of BBC content for its new Svod service and will work with BBC Studios, the U.K. pubcaster’s production and distribution unit, to develop new programming across natural history, travel, science and other factual genres.

Discovery CEO and president David Zaslav said the new, as-yet-unnamed streamer could launch for under $5 a month.

Separately, the two companies have untangled ownership of the UKTV channels group, with Discovery set to take the lifestyle networks and BBC Studios the entertainment channels in a deal that will see BBC Studios pay the U.S. firm £173 million ($226 million).

The announcement Monday of Discovery’s upcoming factual streaming platform comes as the...

Seth Rogen’s rambunctious brand of self-deprecation tends to dictate the tone of the many raunchy studio comedies he’s appeared in over the last decade, but “Long Shot” finally provides a co-star who can match that dopey charm. In director Jonathan Levine’s frisky romantic comedy, Charlize Theron’s workaholic Secretary of State exudes power and intimidation with her every move, putting Rogen’s overbearing journalist-turned-speechwriter in his place even as they fall in love; in the process, she injects this formulaic movie with fresh bite.

A romcom fantasy that funnels aspects of “Notting Hill” and “Dave” through a raunchy filter, “Long Shot” turns its endearing couple into a savvy vessel for exploring America’s fractured times. As Rogen’s shaggy humor finds its match in Theron’s domineering energy, “Long Shot” is overlong and rough around the edges, but its imperfections speak to an endearing knack for the messiness of modern times.

What if the woman who had been your babysitter when you were 13 years old went on to become secretary of state, and was now positioned to be the first female president of the United States? If you were Fred Flarsky, this would be your carpe diem opportunity — the right time to go after that unrequited childhood crush (played here by Charlize Theron) and make her yours.

That’s pretty much the premise of Jonathan Levine’s “Long Shot,” a retrograde romantic comedy that somehow manages to pass the public’s #MeToo test at this precise moment — judging by the raucous audience enthusiasm at its SXSW Film Festival premiere — but is bound to embarrass everyone a year or so down the road, once the think pieces have picked it apart. More creepy than romantic, more chauvinist than empowered — and in all fairness, funnier and more entertaining than any comedy in months...

Which actors are the most "Presidential"? To find out, we assembled this exclusive list of actors who have portrayed the President of the United States more than once.

Getting the opportunity to portray a Us President in film is rare. It can be a dignified role, and many times the actor has to be able to exhibit certain qualities we would traditionally associate with the Us head of state. Us Presidents are also depicted in film in a variety of ways. Some of them are the main characters for their respective films, where others are simply bit parts designed to represent the figurehead. Other roles may be satires, caricatures, or played for comedic effect. Regardless of the purpose or the depth of the role, there have been a limited number of Us President roles in the last century of motion picture projection.

Of course, some actors are more Presidential than others.

With the country in the grip of midterm election fever Tuesday, Sony Pictures is opening the Hugh Jackman political drama “The Front Runner” in two theaters in Los Angeles and two in New York City.

Jason Reitman, director of “The Front Runner,” told Variety that his film is especially relevant now — even though the events in it took place 31 years ago. And he’s riveted by the current election.

“I have no idea what’s going to happen,” he admitted. “Today feels like a mystery because the country is so divided. The movie asks questions that are very timely — about how we consume news and what is relevant versus what is private.”

Jackman brings Gary Hart to life as a charismatic presidential candidate whose campaign crashes and burns in 1987, thanks to the revelation of an extramarital relationship with Donna Rice. The Miami Herald newspaper followed Rice on a flight from Miami to Washington,...

This might sound familiar to film buffs: A lying and philandering U.S. president suffers a debilitating stroke and is furtively replaced by a body double, who then foils the plot by honoring duty and country. So goes a new musical remake of the 1993 movie “Dave” by Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures that is debuting with Broadway aspirations at D.C.’s Arena Stage. New York does seem a plausible goal for this enjoyably light-hearted show, but its creators might first consider reworking an overtly maudlin finale.

There’s much to admire in the homespun fable about integrity and patriotism, wrapped in an inviting package filled with buffoonery and self-deprecating humor. In an even-keeled production from top-tier creators and talent, any resemblance to actual current White House occupants is strictly fortuitous — that is, if you overlook the Twitter-prone president who can’t spell. Call it a timeless show that couldn’t be timelier.

From a Tony and Pulitzer Prize award-winning creative team comes the world-premiere musical comedy Dave, adapted from the Oscar-nominated film. Dave tells the story ofhigh school teacher and presidential lookalike Dave Kovic, who is hired by the Secret Service as a stand-in for the Commander-in-Chief. When the President falls ill under less than 'presidential' circumstances, Dave is thrust into the Oval Office to avoid a national scandal, and must find a way to gain the trust and love of the American people...and the First Lady.Subscription packages, including Dave, are currently available. Single tickets for Dave go on sale March 28, 2018. Patrons may call the Arena Stage Sales Office at 202-488-3300or visit arenastage.org. Dave runs July 13-August 19, 2018.For complete 201819 Season details, visit arenastage.orgshows-ticketsthe-seasonindex-18-19.shtml.

In this edition of Canon Of Film, we take honor the release of ‘Ocean’s 8‘ by taking a look back at one of Gary Ross’ early screenwriting achievements in ‘Big‘. For the story behind the genesis of the Canon, you can click here.

Big (1988)

Director: Penny Marshall

Screenplay: Gary Ross & Anne Spielberg

Having seen ‘Big‘ so often, that the magic of it has worn thin on me, I notice on my latest viewing something I hadn’t thought of before, in that now that Josh has returned to being a normal 13-year old, what will happen to him. Is he a normal 13-year old anymore, after spending six weeks as an adult working in the corporate market, having sex with women, earning a paycheck, going on dates, exactly how will his life change after this experience? It’s probably not much of a point that people will observe watching the film,...

Antoine Fuqua and “Sully” writer Todd Komarnicki are developing a film about the 2003 terrorist attack at Mike’s Place, a beachside blues bar in Israel.

Komarnicki will produce through his Guy Walks Into a Bar banner and also direct from a script by Tony Spiridakis. Fuqua’s production credits include “Southpaw” and “Olympus Has Fallen.”

The duo optioned the 2004 documentary “Blues by the Beach,” directed by Joshua Faudem, and the film rights to Jack Baxter’s 2015 graphic novel “Mike’s Place: A True Story of Love, Blues and Terror in Tel Aviv.” The filmmakers have also obtained Baxter’s life rights.

When the bombing took place, Baxter had been working on a documentary about Mike’s Place, a venue popular among young people, where discussion of politics and religion were not allowed. A suicide bomber attacked the bar, killing three people and injuring 50, including Baxter and security guard Avi Tabib,...

During the production of the romantic comedy “Dave,” which celebrates its 25th anniversary on Monday, director Ivan Reitman would frequently drop by the editing room to see what editor Sheldon Kahn had assembled.

Reitman had watched about two-thirds of the movie when he realized one scene didn’t work — when Dave (Kevin Kline), a good-natured employment agency owner hired to impersonate the officious President Bill Mitchell after the Potus suffered a stroke, and the no-nonsense First Lady (Sigourney Weaver) return to the White House after sneaking out.

“I didn’t buy that Sigourney and Dave bonded when they went back into the White House,” Reitman said. “It was just that they snuck out and they talked a bit and then they snuck back. It didn’t feel that they had earned each other’s trust. It was just a movie movement instead of an earned movie moment.”

So they turned...

1. Candace Bushnell and Jay McInerney. 2. Alexis Bledel and Christian Siriano. 3. Dave and James Franco. From PatrickMcMullan.com. Vf Daily’s picks for the top three parties around the globe last night. Party Like It’s 1984 What: Party for Jay McInerney’s new book, How It Ended. Where: Cru restaurant, New York City. Who: Jay McInerney, with children Maise and Barrett McInerney, wife Anne Hearst McInerney, and stepdaughter Amanda Hearst. Also, Carmen Dell’Orefice, Rudy Giuliani, Judith Giuliani, J. T. Theodoracopulos, A. M. Homes, Brad Gooch, Andrew Saffir, Bettina Zilkha, Candace Bushnell, Charles Askegard, Morgan Entrekin, Dirk Wittenborn, Gillian Hearst-Simonds, Helen Lee Schifter, James Lipton, Bobby Zarem, Michael Gross, Nicole Miller, Terry McDonell, André Balazs, Sharon Bush, Richard Johnson, Binky Urban, and Ken Auletta. Why: Because it’s been 25 years since Bright Lights, Big City was published and we were eagerly waiting for McInerney’s latest. Talking Point: The equal measures of literarti and glitterati present.

This week, the world of late night television experiences its biggest shakeup in years, as Jimmy Fallon takes the reigns of NBC's "Late Night" from Conan O'Brien, who, at the start of June, will take over "The Tonight Show" from Jay Leno, who moves on to start his own talk show at 10pm. With talk show hosts on our minds these days, it seemed like a good time to look back and see how they've fared on the silver screen.

Qualifications for inclusion were simple: the talk show host in question has to be best known -- and most successful -- in their show business career as a talk show host. Craig Ferguson, current host of CBS' "Late Late Show," carved out a long and successful career as an actor and director of such films as "The Big Tease" before accepting the slot after David Letterman, so he was out.

The plot thickens: we're now told that Jerry Goldsmith's score for The Last Hard Men also incorporated some of his work from the 1965 spy movie Morituri! Graham Rye's letter regarding Jerry Goldsmith's score for 100 Rifles which was recycled for The Last Hard Men, has drawn a number of comments from readers, some of whom have shed some light on the mystery of why such a revered composer might want to use a previous score in a new movie:

Hi Lee

Well Graham is both correct and incorrect about the soundtrack for the above. The story of The Last Hard Men score is that a score by Leonard Rosenman was rejected and, whether due to time constraints or cost, Fox simply chose to track the movie with cues from three Jerry Goldsmith Fox westerns (100 Rifles, Rio Conchos and the remake of Stagecoach) and also his score for the thriller Morituri.

For Equity contract information, refer to our complete listings online at www.backstage.com/spotlight. If your company is not listed but you would like to be included in next year's list, contact Laura A. Butler, Research Editor, at Back Stage, at [email protected] La Jolla Playhouse P.O. Box 12039 La Jolla, CA 92039 (858) 550-1070, fax (858) 550-1075 www.lajollaplayhouse.org Christopher Ashley, artistic director Casting: Casts productions in-house and through independent casting directors by invitation only. Send pix & resumes to above address, Attn: Casting. See website for more information. Internships available. Season: Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre: Continuous City (March 19 - 22). Future schedule Tba. Marin Shakespeare Company P.O. Box 4053 San Rafael, CA 94913 (415) 499-4485, fax (415) 499-1492 [email protected] www.marinshakespeare.org Robert S. Currier, artistic director Casting: Casts productions in-house. Send pix & resumes to: Robert Currier. Please see website for specific audition dates and information. Internships and/or apprenticeships available.

Enjoy an evening with The House Theatre of Chicago and its newest production, Rose And The Rime. The original Midwestern fairy tale will play the Chopin Theatre (1543 W. Division St.) February 19 to April 11, 2009. Special offers and events are currently available. Rose And The Rime Benefit Night with Peter Sagal House enthusiasts are invited to join Peter Sagal, host of NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me (and House board member) for a panel discussion at 7 p.m. on Saturday, February 28, 2009 at the Chopin Theatre (1534 W. Division St.). A wine and dessert reception will take place prior to the panel and all participants are invited to watch a special performance of Rose And The Rime at 8:30 p.m. Panelists will be Company member and Rose And The Rime cast member Carolyn Defrin (The Sparrow, Dave DaVinci Saves the Universe), director Nathan Allen, lighting designer Lee Keenan and co-writer Chris Matthews. Individual...

Enjoy an evening with The House Theatre of Chicago and its newest production, Rose And The Rime. The original Midwestern fairy tale will play the Chopin Theatre (1543 W. Division St.) February 19 to April 11, 2009. Special offers and events are currently available. Rose And The Rime Benefit Night with Peter Sagal House enthusiasts are invited to join Peter Sagal, host of NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me (and House board member) for a panel discussion at 7 p.m. on Saturday, February 28, 2009 at the Chopin Theatre (1534 W. Division St.). A wine and dessert reception will take place prior to the panel and all participants are invited to watch a special performance of Rose And The Rime at 8:30 p.m. Panelists will be Company member and Rose And The Rime cast member Carolyn Defrin (The Sparrow, Dave DaVinci Saves the Universe), director Nathan Allen, lighting designer Lee Keenan and co-writer Chris Matthews. Individual...

He’s the Chief Executive, the Chief Legislator, the Commander-In-Chief, the Chief Diplomat, and just about the Chief Everything. The President of the USA is one of the most symbolic and fictionalised figures in the world.

Barack Obama is inaugurated this week. Will he be able to sort out Iraq? Fix the economy? Restore faith and pride into a divided America? No one knows, but what we can do is look back at some of Hollywood’s offers of President of the United States, and see how they sized up to mighty challenges.

These are the Top Ten Movie Presidents to ever grace our screens.

10. President “Unknown Name” - Henry Fonda (Fail Safe)

In a movie that is practically the serious drama version of Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove; Henry Fonda plays a president on the brink of nuclear destruction. After an accidental breach of Russian security, a missile is launched and is heading for Moscow,...

Sing “The Star Spangled Banner”, play a little baseball or chow down on some apple pie as today is all about America. Yes, the eyes of the world are on the Us of A as Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States in a mere matter of hours. Here at Boxwish we’ve gotten into the American spirit by looking at how real-life presidents have been given the Hollywood treatment in our feature here, but American TV news channel CNN has taken a different approach rating its favourite fictional and real-life inhabitants of the Oval Office. And the top pick isn’t immediately obvious coming in the shape of Peter Sellers’s President Merkin Muffley from Stanley Kubrick’s seminal black comedy Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

It’s an unusual choice, very much at odds with...

Peter Sellers' portrayal of President Merkin Muffley in cult movie Dr. Strangelove has topped a new list of fictional and real-life U.S. leaders.

Sellers' famous role in the 1964 Stanley Kubrick film beat out Harrison Ford's James Marshall (Air Force One) and Kevin Kline's William H. Mitchell (Dave) in the CNN Inauguration Day countdown.

The only real-life leader to make the list is outgoing U.S. leader George W. Bush, as portrayed by Josh Brolin in W. He comes in at number 10.

The full list is:

1. Peter Sellers as President Merkin Muffley (Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb); 2. Harrison Ford as James Marshall (Air Force One); 3. Kevin Kline as William H. Mitchell (Dave); 4. John Travolta as Governor Jack Stanton (Primary Colors); 5. Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd (The American President)...

I don't believe I have ever reported the nominees for the International Film Music Critics Association before, but in the spirit of covering more award season news than is probably necessary I figured, "What the hell?" The nominees listed below make up the fifth annual International Film Music Critics Association Awards for Excellence with Wall-e receiving the most nominations including Film Score of the Year, Best Score for an Animated Film, Best Film Composition (for "Define Dancing") and Composer of the Year for Thomas Newman. The other big nominee is Danny Elfman who received the most individual nominations this year with seven: Composer of the Year; Film Score of the Year and Best Documentary Score for Standard Operating Procedure; Best Drama Score for Milk; Best Action/Adventure Score and Best Individual Cue for Wanted ("Success Montage"); and Best Fantasy/Science Fiction Score for Hellboy II: The Golden Army. The International...

When "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" premieres on June 1, the show will have a whole new look as well as a new host, but it will still have a sense of humor. At least it will if O'Brien has anything to do with it -- which he does. "Television is changing rapidly, and I want to make sure [the new 'Tonight Show'] isn't too buttoned up," O'Brien told reporters at the NBC Television Critics Association junket at the Universal Hilton. "I want to make sure it is funny and a worthy 'Tonight Show.'" That said, O'Brien is very much aware of the all the buzz about the changing of the guard, especially since NBC announced its plans for Jay Leno to have a one-hour nightly series at 10 p.m. "I think there has been speculation and uneasiness every time there has been a change in 'The Tonight Show' host," he explains. "If...

Mice have enjoyed a great ride in the movies. The animated variety first rose to prominence thanks to Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse in the late 20s, enjoyed a rebirth as heroes in the late 70s and 80s with The Rescuers, The Secret of Nimh, The Great Mouse Detective, and An American Tail, and overflowed into live-action territory a few years later with Stuart Little. More recently, Flushed Away was a superior entertainment about a spoiled upper-class mouse who must learn to survive in the wild and wooly sewers, while the superb Ratatouille gave a rat a rare favorable turn in the spotlight as a culinary artist.

Adapted by Gary Ross (Pleasantville, Dave) from the award-winning book by Kate Dicamillo, The Tale of Despereaux features both a rat and a mouse in leading roles, but the self-described fairy tale is much more than a slapdash character study of two rodents. The...

The Tale of Despereaux

Starring Matthew Broderick, Emma Watson, and Dustin Hoffman

Directed by Bob Fell and Rob Stevenhagen

Rated G

The Tale of Despereaux unfolds like a children’s book, which is good news since this is, after all, adapted from a children’s book. Without being overly complicated, its story is a bit of a page-turner, although some of the time you’d be content to just stare at the pictures.

Animation has likely never been a bigger financial boon for studios (in a time when most other movies carry with them huge question marks), and it has never been more on the forefront of emerging technologies. Despite any traditional soft spots you might have for Disney classics like Bambi, this is a true golden age of animated film.

Despereaux comes to us not from Disney, DreamWorks or even Fox, but rather from Universal. Though its only other...

Frank Langella won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Richard Nixon in the play Frost/Nixon, but he prefers his performance in the film version. "It's less theatrical, more internal, and more tragic than on stage," he says. "The comedy elements have been played down." He credits director Ron Howard for helping him make the transition. "Ron is an actor-oriented, not concept-oriented, director," Langella says. "He spent hours with me trying to understand the man's emotions, his highs and lows. Ron is relentless, observing you down to the flutter of an eyelash. There were a lot of takes. The major challenge was endurance and concentration and being able to give Ron what he needed in 14-hour days." Langella captures the essence of Nixon — the walk, the body language, the speech patterns — without resorting to impersonation. To prepare for the role, he studied hours of tapes of the former president,...

Movie Jungle has new images up for Universal Pictures' "The Tale of Despereaux" animated adventure. The film opens on December 19th and features a wonderfully talented array of actors including Matthew Broderick, Emma Watson, Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Lloyd, Robbie Coltraine, Kevin Kline, William H. Macy, Richard Jenkins, Stanley Tucci, Frank Langella, Ciaran Hinds, Tony Hale, Frances Conroy, Bronson Pinchot, Tracey Ullman and Sam Fell. Directed by Sam Fell and Robert Stevenhave, the film is adapted for the screen by Gary Ross based on the 2004 Newberry Award-winning book by Kate Dicamillo. Ross was hte helmer of the remarkable "Seabiscuit" of 2003 as well as "Dave," "Lassie," "Big" and "Mr. Baseball." Once upon a time, in the faraway kingdom of Dor, there was magic in the air, raucous laughter aplenty and gallons of mouth-watering soup. But a terrible accident left the king broken-hearted, the princess filled with longing and the townsfolk despondent.

Movie Jungle has new images up for Universal Pictures' "The Tale of Despereaux" animated adventure. The film opens on Christmas Day and features a wonderfully talented array of actors including Matthew Broderick, Emma Watson, Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Lloyd, Robbie Coltraine, Kevin Kline, William H. Macy, Richard Jenkins, Stanley Tucci, Frank Langella, Ciaran Hinds, Tony Hale, Frances Conroy, Bronson Pinchot, Tracey Ullman and Sam Fell. Directed by Sam Fell and Robert Stevenhave, the film is adapted for the screen by Gary Ross based on the 2004 Newberry Award-winning book by Kate Dicamillo. Ross was hte helmer of the remarkable "Seabiscuit" of 2003 as well as "Dave," "Lassie," "Big" and "Mr. Baseball."...

Annie Lennox wowed audience at the American Music Awards with an emotionally-charged performance - just three months after undergoing successful spinal surgery.

The former Eurythmics singer was ordered to endure six months of physiotherapy before doctors expected her to walk properly again - after determining she was suffering from an impinged nerve in August.

Lennox's contributions to music were marked before her rousing performance on Sunday - when she was presented the Award of Merit at the 36th Annual AMAs in Los Angeles - lifting the star-studded audience to their feet.

Standing to take a bow, she was presented the award by pop superstar Justin Timberlake: "The Award of Merit is being given tonight to an artist who means a lot to me personally. There are certain musicians that other musicians love, and she is one of those special artists, held in the highest regard by her peers.

"l love that she's always been on the cutting edge of fashion, she's always looked so so cool and taught us how to look cool. Then there's her humanitarian work. She's been an activist for just causes all over the world, mostly in silent ways that you've never even heard about. She does this from her heart, motivated purely by love."

Imploring the audience to sit, Lennox added, "It's been an incredible journey - music, my friends, my accompaniment through my life, so much of my life. Much of that was with Dave Stewart, of the Eurythmics and it is very important that I say half of the award goes to Dave also.

"Thank you so much for this. I never thought that I would live to see the day that I could be 53-years-old, standing on the stage and so many people have inspired me in this experience and too many to mention."

Lennox joins a long list of music legends including Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney and Whitney Houston, who've also been honoured with the award.

The folks at Son of Jason Films sent Fangoria a trio of exclusive clips from their new fright feature Sam Hell; you can see them below. The movie was directed by Michael Bayouth, who was also one of the producers and gives the company its name: He’s the offspring of Ted White, who played masked maniac Voorhees in Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter.

“In Sam Hell, a young man who runs a Halloween spooky house finds what he believes to be an old movie prop at a yard sale, and decides to work it into his chilling attraction,” Bayouth tells Fango. “The grotesque decayed head in a cage turns out to be the real remains of a deranged mass murderer who begins to possess Sean, making him continue his bloody killing spree. When Sean’s girlfriend Jill realizes what’s happening, she enlists a pair of paranormal ass-kickers...

A hearty Boxwish congratulations to Democratic Senator Barack Obama who has won the Us presidential elections. The news brings to a dramatic close the long and drawn out race to the White House that has seen enough highs and lows to be a worthy of a Hollywood movie. And in true Boxwish style we’re celebrating the big news with a feast of presidential pictures. So, whether you fancy swotting up on past leaders of the Free World or enjoying fictional ones – we’ve got just the thing…

Real-life presidents

Obama will become the 44th Commander in Chief come next January and if he wants to see how some of his predecessors fared there’s a whole library of cinematic choices. We’ll be touching on the likes of Nixon, JFK and W. on Friday, but Thirteen Days is a gripping look at a president battling an international disaster (Kennedy...

Harrison Ford has landed at the top of a new list of the best movie presidents.

His portrayal of President James Marshall in Air Force One has beaten out Morgan Freeman in Moviefone.com's quirky pre-u.S. presidential election poll.

Ford's Marshall landed 24 per cent of more than 1.1 million votes. Freeman's portrayal of President Tom Beck in 1998's Deep Impact came in second with 16 per cent.

The top five are:

1. Harrison Ford in Air Force One

2. Morgan Freeman in Deep Impact

3. Michael Douglas in The American President

4. Bill Pullman in Independence Day

5. Kevin Kline in Dave.

Harrison Ford has been named the fictional Us president movie fans would most like to see in the White House. The Air Force One star pipped Morgan Freeman to the post in the online AOL Moviefone poll, which drew 1.1 million votes. Freeman gathered 176,303 backers for his role as president Tom Beck in the 1998 film Deep Impact. Michael Douglas was third for The American President, followed by Bill Pullman in Independence Day and Kevin Kline in Dave. Moviefone editor-in-chief Scott Robson told Reuters: "It seems everybody is looking for a commander-in-chief who can come in and take command. Our (more)...

Harrison Ford has been named the fictional Us president movie fans would most like to see in the White House. The Air Force One star pipped Morgan Freeman to the post in the online AOL Moviefone poll, which drew 1.1 million votes. Freeman gathered 176,303 backers for his role as president Tom Beck in the 1998 film Deep Impact. Michael Douglas was third for The American President, followed by Bill Pullman in Independence Day and Kevin Kline in Dave. Moviefone editor-in-chief Scott Robson told Reuters: "It seems everybody is looking for a commander-in-chief who can come in and take command. Our (more)...

There's actually a lot of noteworthy geek news today -- but alas, none of it is amazing enough to really warrant an entire post. Believe me, it makes me a sad panda not getting to devote an entire post to Wolverine. So, let's just get right down to it:

Producer Lauren Shuler Donner talked up X-Men Origins: Wolverine over on Superhero Hype: "It's closer to the first X-Men in tone because it's a little darker, but there's a lot of action. It's his origin story. It's really good. I've been in the editing room the last couple of weeks and I think that it's good and that audiences are going to like it. But it's a little darker ... You haven't seen this side of him. It's darker and sadder and it's kick-ass. There's a ton of action. It's really kick-ass." She also suggested the film borrows from Wolverine's Victorian...

To mark the release of Sony Pictures Classics' "Rachel Getting Married," we've thrown together what we think are some of the best wedding toasts seen in film. "Rachel Getting Married" stars Anne Hathaway, Debra Winger, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Mather Zickel, Anna Deavere Smith, Anisa George and Tunde Adebimpe. Hathaway has grown up from the "Princess Diary" days and shows her true value as an actress who is most adaptable. Anne's had her time with some of the best of Hollywood, most recently in this summer's strong performer "Get Smart" starring Steve Carell. From comedy, family, drama, horror, animated, romance and more, Hathaway is the poster child for talent and versatility. What's "Rachel Getting Married" about? This is a contemporary drama with an aggressive sense of humor about the return of an estranged daughter to the family home for her sister's wedding. Kym's (Hathaway) reemergence throws a wrench into the family dynamics,...

Despite their on-air rivalry for the past 15 years, David Letterman is displaying empathy for Jay Leno – given the way NBC is showing the Tonight Show host the door, to be replaced by Conan O'Brien on June 1, 2009. "Unless I'm misunderstanding something, I don't know why, after the job Jay has done for them, why they would relinquish that," the CBS Late Show host, 61, tells Rolling Stone in excerpts made available to the Associated Press and The New York Times. "I guess they thought it was a less messy way to handle what happened to me at NBC. I don't know." Asked...

Though he had performed onstage and on British television for more than 15 years, Ben Kingsley was a relative unknown when he won the leading role in Richard Attenborough's 1982 epic Gandhi, which swept the Oscars. Kingsley's Best Actor award didn't pay initial dividends, perhaps because he was identified too closely with the part, but when he earned a second Oscar nomination in 1991 for his role in Bugsy, his versatility was undeniable. Since then, he's offered up Oscar-nominated turns in Sexy Beast and House Of Sand And Fog, and memorable roles in Searching For Bobby Fischer, Dave, Death And The Maiden, and Schindler's List. He's been particularly prolific this summer, appearing in The Wackness; The Love Guru; War, Inc.; and Transsiberian. In the new film Elegy, based on Philip Roth's novel The Dying Animal, Kingsley stars as David Kepesh, an aging college professor and notorious lothario who launches a...

Universal enjoyed a heavenly bow with "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," as the action fantasy from helmer Guillermo del Toro grossed an estimated $35.9 million to top the domestic boxoffice this weekend.

Sony's Will Smith starrer "Hancock" -- like the session champ, a film about an offbeat superhero -- absorbed a modest 47% drop over its sophomore outing to ring up $33 million in second place and a 10-day cume of $165 million.

More than 900 3-D screens padded grosses of the Warner Bros.-distributed adventure film "Journey to the Center of the Earth," lifting the New Line-Walden Media co-production to a better-than-expected $20.6 million in third place over the busy frame.

But Fox's Eddie Murphy comedy "Meet Dave" debuted as weakly as feared, with just $5.3 million in seventh place.

Industrywide, the weekend's $151 million represented a 17% decline from the comparable frame last year, even though the top three films all outperformed pre-frame expectations. But the 2007 comparison was always going to be a tough one, matching up with a year-ago frame topped by a $77.1 million opening for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

The boxoffice season is now tracking 3% behind last summer. Year-to-date, 2008 is 3% behind the same portion of last year, at just under $5 billion.

Among this weekend's other holdover titles, Picturehouse's "Kit Kittdredge: An American Girl" dropped just 29% in its second session of wide release to produce $2.4 million in 10th place. The Abigail Breslin-starring Depression-era yarn -- spun from a popular line of girls' dolls -- now totes an $11 million cume.

"It was all matinee business," Picturehouse president Bob Berney said of the latest frame. "It looks like we're going to hang in there and become the matinee movie for the summer."

Among limited releases, Sony Pictures Classics' Ben Kingsley starrer "The Wackness" added 25 engagements for a total of 36 and grossed $224,715, or a solid $7,249 per playdate, with a cume of $478,964.

IFC's period drama "The Last Mistress" added four theaters for a total of 23 and grossed $73,232, or an acceptable $3,184 per venue, with a cume of $289,291.

ThinkFilm's Werner Herzog-helmed Antarctica documentary "Encounters at the End of the World" added 13 runs for a total of 32 in grossing $83,950 -- a so-so $2,623 per location -- with a cume of $365,688.

The "Golden Army" opening represented a 50% improvement over 2002's $23.2 million opening for Sony-distributed "Hellboy." Universal grabbed the chance to work with del Toro in producing a franchise follow-up after Sony -- which partnered with then-producer Revolution Studios on the original -- passed on the sequel rights.

"The campaign peaked, and I think the reviews really helped," Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said. "We're really happy. We loved doing the project with Guillermo. This guy has so much talent, and (releasing the sequel) was the right thing to do."

The first "Hellboy" grossed $59 million domestically, but the rousing start should see the sequel approach or even surpass $100 million. That could tempt del Toro and Universal to collaborate on a second sequel, and preliminary discussions about that already have been held.

Del Toro and topliner Ron Perlman posted career bests with the bow, in both cases surpassing their opening with 2002's "Blade II" ($32.5 million).

"Golden Army" skewed heavily male, with audiences almost evenly split between moviegoers under 25 and older patrons. More than half of the film's support came from urban and Latino moviegoers.

"Journey" -- a PG-rated actioner starring Brendan Fraser -- featured double-screening at dozens of its 854 3-D venues, which rang up theater averages more than three times higher than those in conventional venues.

"That's the highest of all the films we've released," RealD chairman and CEO Michael Lewis said. "So we're really thrilled."

More than 57% of the total "Journey" tally -- or $11.7 million -- came from 3-D locations, which represented just 30% of its total playdates.

For Warners, the release presented all sorts of distribution and marketing challenges, and studio execs were passed the baton on the film just months ago when New Line was downsized from a production-and-distribution division to a production shingle.

"We exceeded people's expectations," Warners distribution president Dan Fellman said. "People just thought it would perform for young boys and their parents, and it was much broader than that."

About 40% of tickets represented non-family purchases, with 73% of patrons 25 or older. Males represented 60% of audiences.

"Dave" was a disappointment ranking at the lower end of Murphy's career openings.

"People liked the movie, but not enough of them came," Fox senior vp distribution Bert Livingston said.

Fox, New Regency and Dune co-produced and financed "Dave," whose space alien theme bore unfortunate parallels with Murphy's "The Adventures of Pluto Nash." That comedy bomb opened to $2.2 million in August 2002 and grossed just $4.4 million domestically.

Looking ahead, next weekend is shaping up as a potentially watershed session for the summer boxoffice.

Interest is so high in Warners' Batman sequel "The Dark Knight" that midnight and even 6 a.m. showtimes have been set for the Christian Bale-Heath Ledger starrer's opening day on Friday. Also scheduled to unspool are "Mamma Mia!" -- Universal's star-studded adaptation of the Broadway musical, which is looking strong with older women -- and "Space Chimps," a CGI comedy from Fox that could do modestly well with family audiences.

That will make for six wide openers over a span of eight days, challenging holdover films to maintain market traction with moviegoers often displaying a collective short attention span these days.

Not that any of that seemed to hurt "Hancock" this weekend.

"That was a fabulous hold for the picture, and it just goes to show the star power of Will Smith," Sony distribution president Rory Bruer said.

Also this weekend, DreamWorks Animation's Paramount-distributed animated feature "Kung Fu Panda" became the summer's third $200 million grosser, after "Iron Man" ($312.7 million) and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" ($310.5 million). "Panda" pulled in another $4.3 million to land in eighth place on the frame and boost its domestic cume to $202 million.

Man, you gotta love the escapism of Gary Ross movies. Dave, Pleasantville, Seabiscuit...I wish he was directing the remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon (after all, he's the writer and producer on the upcoming monster flick).

But Ross works at his own pace, which is admirable, and he's grabbed a really high quality property here in the animated children's flick, The Tale of Despereaux, and he's credited as co-director with Sam Fell, who directed Flushed Away. Based on the Newberry Award-winning book by Kate Dicamillo, it's the journey of Despereaux Tilling, who's slightly different than the other mice. But it's the individuality that makes his story worth telling - and there's a lesson in that for kids all over the place.

You might recognize some of the voices in what appears to be a gorgeously and lovingly rendered animated effort: Dustin Hoffman, Emma Watson, Christopher Lloyd,...

By Neil Pedley

It's a battle of filmmaking titans this week, the kind of event that comes around once in a lifetime . Steven Spielberg and Uwe Boll will duke it out at the multiplexes. (Forgive us, but that might've been our only opportunity to ever get to put those two names in the same sentence.)

"The Children of Huang Shi"

Set during the Japanese occupation of China during the 1930s, this sweeping historical epic comes from Roger Spottiswoode, the director behind both "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot" and the narrative remake of "Shake Hands with the Devil." The first official co-production between Australia and China, the film tells the true story of Australian nurse (Radha Mitchell), who with the aid of a British journalist (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), escorts 60 orphaned children 700 miles through the Liu Pan Shan Mountains to evade Japanese secret police. "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" co-stars Michelle Yeoh...

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Gary Ross has signed up for television duty, teaming with Bruckheimer Television and Warner Bros. TV for a drama project dubbed Invisible that has landed a pilot commitment at NBC. The project is described as a medical thriller about a renegade researcher who is tracking a mysterious disease through the Centers for Disease Control. Ross is set to pen the script and serve as an executive producer alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Bruckheimer TV chief Jonathan Littman. Ross earned Oscar nominations for adapted screenplay and best picture for his 2003 period drama Seabiscuit. He also snared Oscar noms in writing categories for 1993's Dave and 1988's Big. He also wrote and directed the 1998 cult-fave film Pleasantville. Among his recent feature projects, Ross is shepherding a remake of the 1954 creature-feature classic Creature From the Black Lagoon through his Universal Pictures-based Larger Than Life Prods. banner. (HR 10/20). Ross also has been signed by FX to pen one of the episodes in its upcoming miniseries The Ten Commandments (HR 1/12).