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19 articles from 2008

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Television Notes

11 November 2008 8:37 PM, PST | From Comicmix.com | See recent Comicmix news

Camelot

Modern day interpretations of classic tales seems to be in vogue.  First, NBC retells the King David story through Michael Green’s Kings and now Showtime and the BBC announced plans to produce Camelot telling, well, you know what.

The new show comes from Michael Hirst and Morgan O’Sullivan, the duo behind the cable network’s successful series The Tudors.

Hirst will be writing the scripts and serve as executive producer, much as he has done on the series featuring King Henry VIII.  That show completed its second season in the spring and saw its rating rise 6% and the third season just wrapped production for an April debut.

Variety noted that Showtime has aggressively filled their production slate with several other originals beginning with the Diablo Cody-written show, United States of Tara which will star Toni Collette, debuting in January. Other shows range from the half-hour sitcom Nurse Jackie,

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Robert Greenberger

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Sneak Peek of Showtime's New Series 'United States of Tara'

7 November 2008 1:58 AM, PST | From Aceshowbiz | See recent Aceshowbiz news

Showtime network will have a new upcoming dark comedy series which will be premiered on January 18 at 10/9c. The series is entitled "United States of Tara" and starred by Toni Collette as Tara. The network has picked up the series for original 13 episodes including the pilot.

The story will revolve around Tara's life as a wife and a mother of two children who suffers from multiple personality disorder. John Corbett joins the series by playing as Tara's husband, Max. Other involved actors and actress are Brie Larson, Keir Gilchrist, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Nathan Corddry.

"United States of Tara" is written by the Oscar-winning Diablo Cody and produced by veteran director Steven Spielberg. Showtime's president, Robert Greenblatt, has described the series as a sort of "Weeds" meets "Sybil" or "The Three Faces of Eve".

AceShowbiz.com

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First Look at United States of Tara

6 November 2008 6:33 AM, PST | From Hollyscoop.com | See recent HollyScoop news

There’s a new series coming to Showtime in January. It’s called The United States of Tara, written by Diablo Cody, produced by Steven Spielberg, and stars Toni Collette. That’s quite the trio. Toni plays Tara, a wife and mother of two, who suffers from multiple personality disorder. Her husband Max is played by John Corbett. Showtime has just released this teaser for the series. It looks great!

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Cinematical Seven: Greatest Supporting Performances in Horror Films

28 October 2008 8:02 PM, PDT | From Cinematical.com | See recent Cinematical news

In researching this list, I made two realizations: most horror films don't bother with supporting casts; the supporters are often ghosts and monsters and supernatural forces (the other humans tend not to listen). And also, there are more great performances by women in horror films. Consider just the list of women who were nominated for -- or won -- Oscars for horror films: Patty McCormack, Janet Leigh, Ruth Gordon, Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Sigourney Weaver, Kathy Bates, Jodie Foster, Juliette Lewis, Toni Collette, etc. Perhaps women are more intuitively in touch with the supernatural. Either way, I think I came up with a pretty good list:

1. Maria Ouspenskaya in The Wolf Man (1941)

Her name's a mouthful, but once you learn to say it, you'll never forget it. She was born in 1876, which put her at about 65 when The Wolf Man was made. She was a theater actor,

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Jeffrey M. Anderson

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Hamptons Film Festival Kicks Off With "Valentino: The Last Emperor"

16 October 2008 4:18 AM, PDT | From icelebz.com | See recent iCelebz news

The 16th International Hamptons Film Festival kicked-off in East Hampton Wednesday night with a screening of the fashion documentary "Valentino: The Last Emperor."

The film marked the first time a documentary has been chosen to open the five-day festival. "Valentino" focuses on the legendary Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani and takes a look at a lifestyle that includes a massive estate in France, a yacht, five jet-setting pugs and parties with guests that include Gwyneth Paltrow, Elton John and Michael Caine.

Celebrity News Service has learned that "Valentino" brought out a few well-known people, including Judith Giuliani, the wife of the former New York City mayor, who strolled across the red carpet at the UA movie theater with local radio host Steven Gaines. Australian filmmaker Elissa Down, was also on hand to screen her film "The Black Balloon," starring Toni Collette.

Various speakers at the film festival alluded to the

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Review: Towelhead

6 October 2008 8:47 AM, PDT | From The Hollywood News | See recent The Hollywood News news

Alan Ball's extraordinarily uncomfortable look at middle America suburbanites is a provocative expose on race, sexuality, politics, and the dark side of human nature. To give a little more insight into the film's controversial subject matter, one need look no further then the bold title.

Summer Bishill gives a powerful performance as Jasira, a thirteen year old Arab American girl whose recently divorced mother (played by Maria Bello) forces the young and confused girl to move in with her strict, Lebanese father (played by Peter Macdissi) in a small Texas neighborhood. While adjusting to her new life, Jasira is either physically or emotionally abused by just about every person she comes into contact with.

There is no question that Ball's film . based on a novel by Alicia Erian - will make you squirm, but it's also a surprisingly hopeful film. Set in a universe not unlike American Beauty, Towelhead

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'The L Word' Set to Come Back in January Next Year

6 October 2008 1:00 AM, PDT | From buddytv.com | See recent BuddyTV news

Fans of Showtime's The L Word should start gearing up for the upcoming final season of series, which is set to join two other shows premiering in January.  Tagged by Showtime as a “fab female triple-header,” January 18 will see the final episode of The L Word premiering, followed by the comedy United States of Tara and the second season of Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

We previously reported that The L Word will be spawning a spin-off, which Showtime CEO Matt Blank says will come from the “storyline at the end of The L Word, the final episode in the final season, [in which] there will be an open-ended component to it.”

"[Creator] Ilene [Chaiken] is going to carry that story along on the Internet, which we think is an interesting way to keep The L Word experience going," he explained.  "Then if we decide to go ahead with the spinoff that storyline

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BuddyTV

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Co-Star Showdown: Collette + Hoffman v. Hunt + Schreiber

3 October 2008 6:02 PM, PDT | From Cinematical.com | See recent Cinematical news

Filed under: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Casting

In one corner, we have Toni Collette and Philip Seymour Hoffman (doesn't that sound good already?). The Hollywood Reporter posts that Psh has just signed his voice up to star opposite Collette in Mary and Max, a claymation project from Down Under. Sort of like a claymation version of Love Letters, the film focuses on two penpals who foster a friendship over 20 years while one lives in Australia and the other in the Us. I don't know if this is a tale of classic pen to paper, or something a little more modern with late-night Internet session while one goes to bed and the other rises. To make things even more interesting -- it's the feature debut for Harvie Krumpet Oscar winners Adam Elliot and Melanie Coombs.

In the other corner, there's one of the strangest couplings I've read in a while -- Helen Hunt and Liev Schreiber.

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Monika Bartyzel

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Seymour Hoffman joins ‘Mary and Max’ voice cast

1 October 2008 3:44 PM, PDT | From screeninglog.com | See recent screeninglog news

Philip Seymour Hoffman is set to voice one of two lead characters in Adam Elliot’s upcoming claymation project “Mary and Max,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Hoffman will lend his voice to Max, a 44-year-old man living in New York who exchanges letters with the lonely 8-year-old Mary (voiced by Toni Collette) in Melbourne.

The trade also says the film is narrated by Australian legend Barry Humphries and features a cameo from Eric Bana, among others.

“Mary and Max” marks the feature debut of Elliot and producer Melanie Coombs, who won an Oscar for their 2003 short flick “Harvie Krumpet.”

Hoffman recently starred in “Charlie Wilson’s War,” “The Savages” and “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.” He will next be seen in “Synecdoche, New York,” followed by “Doubt.”

Franck Tabouring

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Claymation Hoffman

1 October 2008 12:55 PM, PDT | From JoBlo.com | See recent JoBlo news

Philip Seymour Hoffman will be lending his voice to one of the titular characters in the upcoming claymation project Mary And Max. He'll of course be portraying Max, with Toni Collette portraying Mary, in a story in which Mary and Max are pen pals, one in Australia and one in the U.S., who forge a a strong relationship over the course of twenty years. The film will be narrated by famous Australian comedian Barry Humphries and will apparently feature cameos from Eric Bana, singer Renee Geyer...

Omar Aviles

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Opening This Week: A 9/11 noir, a Flaming Lips film and a Coens comedy

8 September 2008 7:07 AM, PDT | From ifc.com | See recent IFC news

By Neil Pedley

Some might be quick to dismiss this week as part of the post-summer lull, but others might see it as a week of films that have been years in the making . it's been 13 since the now re-paired Robert De Niro and Al Pacino were last on screen together, while Diane English's remake of "The Women" took 12 to make it to the big screen, and the Flaming Lips' "Christmas on Mars" spent a mere seven years in the offing. As for fans of the Coen brothers, it only seems like forever since "No Country for Old Men."

"Able Danger"

Another week, another 9/11 conspiracy film, this one actually getting released on the seventh anniversary of the tragedy. Loosely inspired by "The Maltese Falcon," this Dv noir offers something of a date movie for far-left conspiracy theorists who take issue with perceived abuse of power on the part of our government.

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Neil Pedley

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Hit With Opposition, 'Towelhead' Sticks With Its Title

27 August 2008 12:09 AM, PDT | From Aceshowbiz | See recent Aceshowbiz news

Amidst Muslim leaders' demand of the retitling of "Towelhead", the Warner Independent Pictures' controversial drama stays firm with its chosen title. Rejecting the idea to make some changes in the naming of the film, its director/producer/writer Alan Ball reasoned that the title is important for the movie to be true to its original concept.

Insisting that the title will be kept, Ball shared his point of view on the matter. "As a gay man, I know how it feels to be called hateful names simply because of who I am," he explained. "Therefore, I felt it was important to retain the title of Alicia Erian's novel, in which she so effectively dramatizes the pain inflicted by such language, something many people of non-minority descent never have to face."

"I believe one of the unintended consequences of forbidding such words to be spoken is imbuing those words with

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AceShowbiz.com

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Towelhead Director: Name Stays The Same

26 August 2008 9:06 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

The director of controversial movie Towelhead has hit back at calls to retitle the film, insisting it is "important" to stay true to the original concept.

Muslim leaders have urged movie executives at Warner Bros. to rename the flick because the word is "offensive and exploitative" to American Muslims and Arab-Americans.

But Alan Ball, who directs the film adaptation of the Alicia Erian novel, insists he will keep the title as it was intended.

He says, "As a gay man, I know how it feels to be called hateful names simply because of who I am. Therefore, I felt it was important to retain the title of Alicia Erian's novel, in which she so effectively dramatises the pain inflicted by such language, something many people of non-minority descent never have to face.

"I believe one of the unintended consequences of forbidding such words to be spoken is imbuing those words with more power than they should ever have, and helping create the illusion that the bigotry and racism expressed by such cruel epithets is less prevalent than it actually is, which we all know is sadly not the case."

The film, starring Aaron Eckhart, Summer Bishil and Toni Collette, is about a young Arab-American girl's struggles with life and sexual obsession. The heroine of Erian's story is dubbed 'Towelhead' by her enemies.

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Muslims Outraged Over 'Towelhead' Title

25 August 2008 6:32 PM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Muslim leaders are urging movie executives at Warner Bros. to retitle their new movie Towelhead because the word is "offensive and exploitative".

Los Angeles members of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) insist the derogatory term is offensive to American Muslims and Arab-Americans. They go so far as to state the term 'towelhead' as "a racial and religious slur".

In a letter sent to studio executives, the Islamic civil rights and advocacy group has asked that the film, directed by Alan Ball, be called Nothing is Private - a title previously used in some markets.

CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush writes, "The word is commonly used in a derogatory manner against people of the Muslim faith or Arab origin... We have no desire to inhibit the creative process or your right to produce any film you wish. However, I ask you to take the above concerns into consideration and examine the social implications of releasing the film under its current title.

"It is unfortunate that a major film studio would choose to exploit an ethnic slur as a sensational promotion for a movie. Mainstreaming a bigoted term in this manner will only serve to legitimize and normalize anti-Muslim prejudice in our society."

The film, starring Aaron Eckhart, Summer Bishil and Toni Collette, is adapted from Alicia Erian's novel about a young Arab-American girl's struggles with life and sexual obsession. The heroine of Erian's story is dubbed 'Towelhead' by some ignorant and bigoted Americans.

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Trailer: Towelhead movie trailer

1 July 2008 10:38 AM, PDT | From toxicshock.tv | See recent toxicshock news

Warner Independent released a brand new movie trailer for the upcoming film “Towelhead” by director Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) and starring Summer Bishil, Aaron Eckhart, Peter Macdissi, Toni Collette and Maria Bello. Plot: A young Arab-American girl struggles with her sexual obsession, a bigoted Army reservist and her strict father during the Gulf War. Based on Alicia Erian’s novel “Towelhead”.

Brian Corder

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Ledger, Irwin listed in dictionary

2 June 2008 12:05 PM, PDT | From Digitalspy | See recent digitalspy news

Late stars Heath Ledger and Steve Irwin have been included in the Collins Concise English Dictionary. The pair join comedian Russell Brand and F1 star Lewis Hamilton in the latest edition. Mini biographies of Muriel's Wedding actress Toni Collette, boxer Joe Calzaghe and Australian author and broadcaster Clive James also appear. The dictionary is now available online for the first time. A spokesman said: "We cannot put in every (more)

By Beth Hilton

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Collette Denies Turning Her Back On Music

7 April 2008 5:11 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Actress/singer Toni Collette has slammed reports she is set to abandon her musical career now that she has become a mother.

Collette, 35, has kept a low profile since giving birth to daughter Sage Florence in January - causing fans of her 2006 album Beautiful Awkward Pictures to assume the debut would be her last.

But the Muriel's Wedding star is adamant she is continuing to write songs.

A spokeswoman for Collette says, "While there are no firm plans for a second album, Toni is passionate about her music and is constantly writing."

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Collette Gives Birth to Baby Girl

11 January 2008 | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Actress Toni Collette and her husband Dave Galafassi are celebrating after welcoming a baby girl into the world. The Little Miss Sunshine star, 35, gave birth to little Sage Florence on Wednesday in her native Sydney, Australia. A representative for Collette tells People.com, "All are well and very happy!" Collette and musician Galafassi have been married for four years and the newborn is the couple's first child.

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Collette Gives Birth To Baby Girl

10 January 2008 11:08 AM, PST | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Actress Toni Collette and her husband Dave Galafassi are celebrating after welcoming a baby girl into the world.

The Little Miss Sunshine star, 35, gave birth to little Sage Florence on Wednesday in her native Sydney, Australia.

A representative for Collette tells People.com, "All are well and very happy!"

Collette and musician Galafassi have been married for four years and the newborn is the couple's first child.

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2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000

19 articles from 2008

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