The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is now accepting entries for the 2012 Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition. As many as five $35,000 fellowships will be awarded through the program in November.

The Nicholl Fellowships competition is open to any individual who has not earned more than $5,000 from the sale or option of a screenplay or teleplay, or received a fellowship or prize of more than $5,000 that includes a “first look” clause, an option or any other quid pro quo involving the writer’s work.

To enter, writers must submit a completed application online, upload one PDF copy of their original screenplay in English and pay the entry fee before 11:59 p.m. PT on May 1, 2012. The regular entry fee is US$52; an early-bird entry fee of US$35 is available for those who enter by 11:59 p.m. PT on March 15, 2012.

Online applications, rules and other details are available at www.oscars.org/nicholl.

Fellowships are awarded with the understanding that the recipients will each complete a new feature-length screenplay during the fellowship year. The Academy acquires no rights to the works of Nicholl fellows and does not involve itself commercially in any way with their completed scripts.

Last year’s competition drew a record 6,730 entries. Since the program’s inception in 1985, 123 fellowships have been awarded.

Among the recent achievements by Nicholl fellows: Destin Daniel Cretton wrote and directed “I Am Not a Hipster,” which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival; Andrew Marlowe created and executive produces and Terri Miller serves as a writer-producer on the ABC series “Castle”; and Jeffrey Eugenides published his third novel, The Marriage Plot, which is a National Book Critics Circle award nominee.

Meanwhile, Hollywood and the rest of the movie society is getting ready to the night of the Oscar. It was recently announced that new names has joined the group of A-List presenters at this years ceremony. One is first-timer Emma Stone who appears in the Best Picture nominee ‘The Help.’ Her other film credits include ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love.,’ ‘Friends with Benefits,’ ‘Easy A’ and ‘Superbad.’ She will be seen next in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ and ‘Gangster Squad.’

A more seasoned presenter is Academy Award winner Penélope Cruz who won an Oscar in 2008 for her supporting role in ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona.’ She was also nominated for her lead performance in ‘Volver’ (2006) and for her supporting role in ‘Nine’ (2009). Her other film credits include ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,’ ‘Sex and the City 2,’ ‘Sahara,’ ‘Vanilla Sky,’ ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ and ‘Blow.’

Another relatively fresh face is Bradley Cooper. Cooper will be seen next in ‘The Words’ and, later this year, in ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ and ‘The Silver Linings Playbook.’ His film credits include ‘The Hangover Part II,’ ‘Limitless,’ ‘Valentine’s Day,’ ‘He’s Just Not That Into You,’ ‘Yes Man,’ ‘Failure to Launch’ and ‘Wedding Crashers.’

Cooper and the others joins a stellar list of previously announced Oscar presenters, including Halle Berry, Rose Byrne, Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Tom Hanks, Angelina Jolie, Milla Jovovich, Ellie Kemper, Jennifer Lopez, Melissa McCarthy, Wendy McLendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph, and Kristen Wiig.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

The article The Academy Announces Screenwriting Competition appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Brad Pitt has been voted the Top Money-Making Star of 2011 in Quigley Publishing Company’s 80th Annual Poll of Motion Picture Exhibitors. This is Pitt’s sixth appearance in the Poll, but his first win. Exhibitors felt Pitt was responsible for more traffic to theatres than any other Hollywood star based on his performances this year in “Moneyball,” “The Tree of Life,” and “Happy Feet Two.”

The Quigley Poll, conducted each year since 1932, is an annual survey of motion picture theatre owners and film buyers, which asks them to vote for the ten stars that they believe generated the most box-office revenue for their theatres during the year. It has been long regarded as one of the most reliable indicators of a star’s real box office draw because the selections are made by professionals whose livelihood depends on choosing the films and actors that will bring audiences to their theatres. The Quigley Poll lists the results of all the Polls since Marie Dressler, Janet Gaynor, and Joan Crawford took the top three places in 1932.

George Clooney placed second this year based on “The Ides of March,” where he was also the director, producer, and co-writer, and “The Descendants.” Johnny Depp, last year’s winner, made it to number three this year with 2011 roles in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and “The Rum Diary.”  Depp has placed in the poll seven times, as has this year’s number four, Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in “J. Edgar.” Matt Damon, number five, had a very busy year with “Contagion,” “The Adjustment Bureau,” “Margaret,” and “We Bought a Zoo.”

Sandra Bullock, winner of 2009, placed number six, which marks her fifth appearance in the poll. She first placed in the survey in 1995. There were two first-timers this year, Bradley Cooper number seven and Ben Stiller number ten. Bradley Cooper was in “The Hangover Part II,” and Ben Stiller was in “Tower Heist.” Robert Downey, Jr. was number eight on the strength of “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” and Meryl Streep was number nine as ‘The Iron Lady” and is in the Top Ten for the fourth time.

Tom Cruise has not placed in the Poll since 2006, but he has been in the Top Ten 20 times since 1983 and has been voted number one the most of any actor – seven times. Tom Hanks, Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, and Bing Crosby have all won five times. Clint Eastwood has been in the poll 21 times starting in 1968. Currently, exhibitors appreciate him more as a director that brings audiences to their theatres. John Wayne, Doris Day, and Shirley Temple each finished first four times, but John Wayne was voted one of the Top Ten Money-Making Stars an astounding 25 times from 1949 to 1974.

Exhibitors were also asked to name the Stars of Tomorrow for 2011, one actor and one actress who they feel will be Top Money-Makers in the years to come. The 2011 winners are Rooney Mara, who played Lisbeth Salander in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” and Jonah Hill, who had a breakthrough performance in “Moneyball” and starred in “The Sitter.”

Top Ten Money-Making Stars of 2011

1. Brad Pitt
2. George Clooney
3. Johnny Depp
4. Leonardo Di Caprio
5. Matt Damon
6. Sandra Bullock
7. Bradley Cooper
8. Robert Downey, Jr.
9. Meryl Streep
10. Ben Stiller

Stars of Tomorrow:

Rooney Mara
Jonah Hill

The article Brad Pitt, Top Money-Making Movie Star of 2011 appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The reboot of The Crow is taken from the shadows and given the chance to shine once more. The film is based upon a comic book by James O’Barr. It is about a rock guitarist named Eric Draven, who is witness to his fiancée’s murder by thugs, then killed right, after by viciously thrown out of his apartment window. A year later on Devil’s Day, a day when thugs come out and rule the streets, Eric Draven rises from the dead to avenge his own, and his fiancée’s deaths.

The last four sequels to The Crow have all been duds compared to the original. The first installment starred the late Brendon Lee, Bruce Lee’s son, who died on The Crow’s set by a bullet wound in the abdomen by a dummy bullet. The bullet, lodged in the barrel of the gun by previous usage, went undetected. When shot, the bullet unlodged and entered Brandon Lee’s stomach and hit his spinal cord. Even with his tragic death, the movie was hailed for its action sequences as well as for its gritty, gothic production design.

With the reboot, the creators were going to take a different approach toward the design. Stephen Norrington was supposed to be the director, but due to creative differences, was replaced by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later). Fresnadillo is to complete his most recent work Intruders soon but has many other upcoming projects like House of Horror and The Monkey’s Paw. In order for him to work on The Crow, he will have to drop one of his projects.

The real question that floated around for some time is what will happen to the script? Nick Cave wrote the original script for Norrington, but with the movie changing hands to Fresnadillo, the original was entirely rewritten by Alex Tse, the writer for Watchmen. Tse does not have a lot experience as Watchmen is his only well known project.

As for the cast, the main question is who will play the main character and rumor has it that Mark Walberg turned down an offer for the lead. Recently, it seems like Bradley Cooper will get the role.

The Crow would have been shooting already if it were not for the lawsuits that followed the story around. Relatively Studios wanted to distribute the movie to other distribution branches rather than use the Weinstien Company. This was due to Weinstein botching the release of Relativity’s movie Nine which bombed at the box office. Weinstein claimed that this was a breach of contract. However, the courts sided with Relitivity and now Weinstein will try to defend themselves in an arbitration as Relitivity tries to get the contract nullified, allowing Relitivity to distribute the movie through another company.

Even with all the changes and lawsuits, The Crow will be interesting to see. Some were upset about the reboot. They believe that Hollywood should just let the cult classic stay as it is.  But others felt there was no harm in making one more.  Hollywood already made four inauspicious sequels if they want to make a lousy fifth one then that is fine. Who knows, it might be better than the first. It is still in development, but it is one project that is worth keeping eyes on to see how the production will play out.

Due to lawsuits, Norrington leaving and having to draft a new script, the movie in the development stage for way too long. It has been drastically changed, and there have been so many disputes over the movie.  The real question is not who will star in it or who will distribute it. The real question is will The Crow reboot ever take flight?

The article The Crow Revival: Not Easy Raising the Dead appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Did you love “The Hagover Part II?” Or were you completely disappointed to the max?

It looks like critics are bashing the film, saying it’s complete garbage- while others are saying it’s definitely worthy. It’s getting some high grades, plus it made $135 million in its opening weekend.

A question that lingers is if “The Hangover” needed a sequel in the first place. The first movie was beyond successful, not just at the box office, but all over the Internet and audience’s words. People continuously talked about how much they loved the movie, which brought the film to not just have a high popularity mark, but to become one of the biggest cult classics. Sometimes it’s not necessarily the money that makes a movie successful. It’s how a viewer handles what they’re watching, and boy, did they watch well!

But was a sequel really that necessary? Maybe it would’ve been better if “The Hangover” was left as a great memory. This movie could be something that everyone will talk about in thirty years as that one movie that should be a crime to not watch. Because no one in their right mind would have made a sequel to “Heathers.” Or to “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” But there were some popular movies that made pretty decent sequels, including “American Pie,” “Austin Powers,” and “Shrek.”

The original ‘Hangover’ did have some crazy moments to remember. Just the opening scene left some anticipation. When Bradley Cooper is talking to the groom’s fiancee about how they “messed” up really badly, one can tell that there’s going to be quite a story coming along the way. And the scene when they wake up in their hotel room with all the random items and animals around? Who would’ve thought that all of that could be explained?

Now the second version ought to have some more hilarious facts to be explained. The trailer already shows that the group of guys go to Thailand for another wedding where they wind up with another adventure. Alan wakes up with his head shaved while Stu wakes up with a tattoo- on his face. This is the one that led Mike Tyson’s tattoo artist to sue Warner Bros. for copyright infringement since Mike Tyson happens to have a similar tattoo.

The trailer of this movie leaves some more questions. What it all comes down to is “What the heck is going on now?!” That might drive some people to check this movie out. But how much of the audience will be satisfied? Will people think of this as a complete waste of time, and a poor exuse for the film industry to make some extra cash? Or will people think of it as another fun and happy adventure with pleased results of seeing the old Wolfpack back together again?

You’re the audience. What do you say?

The article “The Hangover Part II” Love it?-Or Not appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.