Despite a weak box office opening, the Weinstein Company said that they have no plans to yank Nine from theaters. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie will play in 1,412 screens in the United States this coming weekend,…

“Yes, I am Daniel Day-Lewis, and, yes, I am WALKING on a COUCH. That’s right, the same manner of couch you’ve been quaintly using as seating for oh so many years, and I’m walking on it–practically the exact opposite of sitting! Sorry I don’t believe in labels. Unconventional? Sure. Offensive? I’m not trying to start a revolution. DDL just plays it like he sees it, and when he sees a couch, sometimes he just wants to take a little backlit stroll across it. Deal.” (Thanks, Phijsl.) ‘Nine’ Pictures [Rotten Tomatoes]

Although Blake Lively's slut-errific outfit may have eclipsed everything else at the premiere of The Private Lives of Pippa Lee last night, the event drew a slew of celebs, from a darker-locked Robin Wright Penn (loves!), a loose-topped Penelope Cruz…

Now I know I’m not the only one who is fascinated by the prospect of watching the great Daniel Day Lewis singing and dancing in Rob Marshall ’s Nine . But the first trailer has been released on Apple for Marshall’s adaptation of the Tony-nominated play of the same name, and if you were hoping for a glimpse of Lewis doing jazz-hands, then you’re going to be disappointed. But, jazz-hands aside, after watching this trailer I think I may have to change my opinion of the directing talents of Mr. Marshall — because Marshall’s musical skills look better without Renee Zellwegger doing ‘3/4 shot’ dance numbers while warbling her heart out. Nine is based on the classic Fellini film, 8 1/2 , and centers on the famous film director, Guido Contini. The story is set in early-1960s Venice, and on the eve of Contini’s 40th birthday he is struggling to complete his latest film, and attempting to balance the women in his life. Those women include his wife Luisa (Marion Cotillard), his mistress Carla ( Penélope Cruz ), his muse Claudia ( Nicole Kidman ), his producer Liliane ( Judi Dench ), and his mother ( Sophia Loren ). But that’s not all, because as Monika told us back in 2008, Stacy Ferguson (better known as Fergie) will play a whore from Contini’s youth, and Kate Hudson also has a small role as an American fashion journalist. It’s not often you get this many big name actresses in one film, but I’m sure Lewis won’t have any trouble handling all that estrogen. So to the strains of ‘Be Italian’ we finally get our first glimpses of the big-budget musical, and it looks like Marshall may owe a small debt to the style of Bob Fosse ’s production numbers once again. But that doesn’t mean Nine won’t be a good time at the movies for fans of both Broadway, and classic cinema. So take a look, and tell me what you think. Oscar contender? Nine will arrive in theaters on November, 25th. Filed under: Music & Musicals , The Weinstein Co. , Remakes and Sequels , Nicole Kidman , Trailers and Clips Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Hey, there’s this now: a trailer for Nine . No, not numeral 9 , the animated, post-apocalyptic ragdoll film that looks so promising –this is spelled-out Nine , a new film by Chicago director Rob Marshall that, to the untrained eye, looks basically like Chicago with mostly better actors. (To my untrained eye, anything with burlesque musical numbers is some kind of variant of Chicago .) So here it is, Chicago 2 :

The Academy Awards are known for their traditions (among many other things), and this year you may have noticed that some of those traditions were broken. Jack Nicholson wasn’t sporting a pair of dark sunglasses and a devilish grin from the front row, Javier Bardem wasn’t in attendance to help present the Oscar for best supporting actor and, likewise, Daniel Day-Lewis wasn’t there to help present the best actor award. Granted, Oscar’s tradition of the prior year’s best actor and actress winners (in supporting and lead) presenting the latest award to the opposite sex was ditched in favor of a same sex group thing — but that still shouldn’t have given last year’s winners an excuse not to show up. After all, both Marion Cotillard and Tilda Swinton were there. So where was everyone? The Envelope did a little digging and were informed via a few secret sources that, originally, Jack Nicholson was asked to participate as part of a group for the best supporting actor award (and most likely be the one to speak of Ledger’s Joker performance), but ducked out because he only wanted to present alone. Meanwhile, Bardem (who won best supporting actor last year for No Country for Old Men ) didn’t show because he was suffering from a back injury. Day-Lewis, however, had a much lamer excuse: he was tired. Not only was the best actor winner for There Will Be Blood against the group thing as well, but he was also apparently too tired from work on his new film Nine to show up and present. Wow, so what’s up with this group thing? Sure, I wasn’t crazy about it, but it’s a little sad when your ego is so big you demand to be on stage alone … at the Academy Awards, no less. What do you folks think? Do these actors need to get over themselves or do they have every right to present solo? Filed under: Awards , RumorMonger , Celebrities and Controversy , Newsstand , Oscar Watch Permalink | Email this | Comments

There are those moments in a darkened theater that make you feel like you can take on the world. For me, those moments are why I go to the movies, to be so wrapped up in the story that I’m not just a spectator anymore, I’m a participant; and the 1993 true life political drama, In the Name of the Father , has one of the moments. Jim Sheridan ’s film about a group of young Irish that were wrongfully convicted of an IRA bombing, is a brilliant film for plenty of reasons (not the least of which are the acting talents of Daniel Day Lewis , Pete Postlethwaite , and Emma Thompson ) but what amazes me is that by the time the film is nearing an end, your nerves are raw, and your sense of righteous indignation reaches a fever-pitch — and that’s when Thompson gets to shine. In one short scene, she manages to give a voice to everything that the audience is feeling, and that release is what makes this film so memorable. It isn’t an easy story to tell, but Thompson brings it all home…plus I still get goose bumps when she yells to the heartless Inspector “…and by god, you got you’re blood!” — Tell it sister! See what I mean? I get all pumped up just thinking about it. Follow me on Twitter Filed under: Drama , Fandom , Trailers and Clips , Scenes We Love Permalink | Email this | Comments

It was last night’s Meryl Streep chit-chat that got me to thinking; Hell, 15 nominations is impressive enough, and she’s even won the dang Oscar twice! For Kramer vs. Kramer and Sophie’s Choice . But while in the lovely land of Hollywood that’s a track record to be amazingly proud of, the simple truth is that, in the land of baseball, Meryl Streep would be batting a lusty .133. I’ve seen American League pitchers who can bat .133! And that silly thought led to the next logically silly one: If Meryl Streep is batting .133, who ELSE is batting poorly? And conversely … who’s leading the league? Now, I’ve got to limit eligibility to those who’ve been nominated at least three times, because otherwise we’d have Anna Paquin as Mickey Mantle. And I’m limiting this project to actors only, because that way one can squeeze another post or two out of this lame concept if people actually like it. 1.000* — Hilary Swank (2 for 2); Kevin Spacey (2 for 2) .500 — Daniel Day-Lewis (2 for 4) .400 — Sean Penn (2 for 5); Tom Hanks (2 for 5); Denzel Washington (2 for 5); .333 — Maggie Smith (2 for 6); Tommy Lee Jones (1 for 3); Helen Mirren (1 for 3); Philip Seymour Hoffman (1 for 3); Marisa Tomei (1 for 3); Alan Arkin (1 for 3); Renee Zellweger (1 for 3); Kathy Bates (1 for 3); Geoffrey Rush (1 for 3); Julia Roberts (1 for 3); Russell Crowe (1 for 3) .285 — Michael Caine (2 for 7) .250 — Jack Nicholson (3 for 12); Julie Christie (1 for 4); Cate Blanchett (1 for 4); William Hurt (1 for 4); Frances McDormand (1 for 4); Morgan Freeman (1 for 4); Ben Kingsley (1 for 4); Diane Keaton (1 for 4); Holly Hunter (1 for 4); Jon Voight (1 for 4); More after the jump Filed under: Awards Continue reading This Decade’s Oscar Winner Batting Averages Permalink | Email this | Comments

All this week we’ll be highlighting some of our favorite scenes from Oscar-winning films and performances leading up to this year’s Academy Awards on Sunday night. Yeah, I’ll say it: Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance in There Will Be Blood is not only one of the best we’ve seen in the last couple of decades, but I’ll go as far as to say it’s one of the best performances by a male actor that I’ve ever seen. Day-Lewis won the best actor Oscar last year for his role as oil-hungry entrepreneur Daniel Plainview in this film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Most people love to replay the final moments from this flick — which include that oh-so-memorable line about drinking milkshakes — but there’s something about this scene below that I just adore. Something about the little mind games Plainview and Sunday (Paul Dano) play; the lies, the deception, the greed, the anger, the heartbreak — it’s all just brilliant. Of course this scene means a whole lot more when you watch it in context, but I also believe this scene by itself makes for a great preview of the overall themes and plot of the entire film. Check it out below … There Will Be Blood Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read Jeff’s review Filed under: Fandom , Trailers and Clips , Scenes We Love Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nicole Kidman rides shotgun in a light blue Alfa Romeo convertible as she films new scenes for her upcoming movie musical, Nine , in Rome, Italy on Wednesday (January 28). Her costar Daniel Day-Lewis drove Nicole out of Cinecitta film studios as they filmed a scene involving paparazzi. Nine is based on the 1982 Tony Award-winning musical of the same name and is being directed by Rob Marshall ( Chicago , Memoirs of a Geisha ). I have a sinking feeling we’re going to be in for a real treat with this movie! Plot via Wiki: A middle-aged film director Guido Contini ( Day-Lewis ) is trying to complete his next film. His only problem is that he has too many women in his life: Luisa ( Marion Cotillard ), his wife, Carla ( Penélope Cruz ), his sexy mistress, and Claudia ( Kidman ), his muse and protege. 15+ pictures inside of Nine star Nicole Kidman …