Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince Coming Jul 15th
June 7, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under FEATURED, MOVIES
After an extra long wait (first due to the writer’s strike, then to Hollywood’s deciding to push it back some more), HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE is finally coming out July 15h. Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Michael Gambon, this film also brings back such favorites as Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, Maggie Smith, David Thewlis, Tom Felton and Julie Walters, while adding some new actors to the mix: Jim Broadbent brings Professor Horace Slughorn to life, while Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (nephew to Ralph Fiennes) gives us insight into the young Tom Riddle aka Voldemort. Read more
2009 Screen Actors Guild Awards Announced
January 26, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under House, Hugh Laurie, MOVIES, TV SHOWS
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
SEAN PENN Harvey Milk "MILK" Focus Features
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
MERYL STREEP Sister Aloysius Beauvier "DOUBT" Miramax Films
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
HEATH LEDGER Joker "THE DARK KNIGHT" Warner Bros. Pictures
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
KATE WINSLET Hanna Schmitz "THE READER" The Weinstein Company
Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Motion Picture
"SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" Fox Searchlight Pictures
RUBINA ALI Youngest Latika
TANAY HEMANT CHHEDA Middle Jamal
ASHUTOSH LOBO GAJIWALA Middle Salim
AZHARUDDIN MOHAMMED ISMAIL Youngest Salim
ANIL KAPOOR Prem
IRRFAN KHAN Police Inspector
AYUSH MAHESH KHEDEKAR Youngest Jamal
TANVI GANESH LONKAR Middle Latika
MADHUR MITTAL Oldest Salim
DEV PATEL Older Jamal
FREIDA PINTO Older Latika
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
PAUL GIAMATTI John Adams "JOHN ADAMS" HBO
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
LAURA LINNEY Abigail Adams "JOHN ADAMS" HBO
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
HUGH LAURIE Gregory House "HOUSE" FOX
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
SALLY FIELD Nora Walker "BROTHERS & SISTERS" ABC
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
ALEC BALDWIN Jack Donaghy "30 ROCK" NBC
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
TINA FEY Liz Lemon "30 ROCK" NBC
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
"30 ROCK" NBC
SCOTT ADSIT Pete Hornberger
ALEC BALDWIN Jack Donaghy
KATRINA BOWDEN Cerie
TINA FEY Liz Lemon
JUDAH FRIEDLANDER Frank Rossitano
JANE KRAKOWSKI Jenna Maroney
JACK McBRAYER Kenneth Parcell
TRACY MORGAN Tracy Jordan
MAULIK PANCHOLY Jonathan
KEITH POWELL Toofer
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
"MAD MEN" AMC
BRYAN BATT Salvatore Romano
ALISON BRIE Trudy Campbell
MICHAEL GLADIS Paul Kinsey
JON HAMM Don Draper
AARON HART Bobby Draper
CHRISTINA HENDRICKS Joan Holloway
JANUARY JONES Betty Draper
VINCENT KARTHEISER Pete Campbell
ROBERT MORSE Bertram Cooper
MARK MOSES Herman “Duck” Phillips
ELISABETH MOSS Peggy Olson
KIERNAN SHIPKA Sally Draper
JOHN SLATTERY Roger Sterling
RICH SOMMER Harry Crane
AARON STATON Ken Cosgrove
(Amazing – some of my favorites/picks actually won something! Hooray for Hugh Laurie, Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney, Kate Winslet , Heath Ledger, Robert Morse, and Vincent Kartheiser, just to name a few…)
81st Annual Academy Award Nominees
January 23, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS, Angelina Jolie, MOVIES
According to the official website of the The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the nominees for this year’s Oscars are as follows: Read more
NOBEL SON & DOLLHOUSE – Eliza Dushku in 2 New Projects
December 6, 2008 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS, Eliza Dushku, MOVIES
Eliza Dushku (TRU CALLING, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) takes on 2 new roles: a character named City Hall (no, that’s not a typo) in the upcoming indie film NOBEL SON and as Echo in TV’s DOLLHOUSE.
NOBEL SON stars Alan Rickman, Bryan Greenburg, Mary Steenburgen, Bill Pullman, Danny DeVito, Ted Danson, Ernie Hudson and Eliza Dushku. According to the official website synopsis, Read more
TWILIGHT’S Female Director is Now #1
November 23, 2008 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under MOVIES
Based on estimates made on Sunday, Catherine Hardwick (THIRTEEN, LORDS OF DOGTOWN) now has the largest opening weekend for a female director. TWILIGHT brought in approx $70.6 million dollars, beating the old record held by Mimi Leder. whose film, DEEP IMPACT, had opened at $41.1 million dollars back in 1998.
Plans for a sequel based on the 2nd book, NEW MOON, are already under way, but it’s not known if Catherine Hardwick will helm it. She’s said, “I want to be sure that it’s going to be done right. I don’t want to rush into it. It’s not like “FRIDAY THE 13TH” or “HALLOWEEN,” you can’t just do it super fast and knock another one out. I want to understand their plans and all that.” However, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are already on board for the second installment.
AUSTRALIA – Lose Yourself in the Movie
November 14, 2008 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under MOVIES
I’ve always had an affinity for all things Australian, especially their movies and actors. A few of my all-time favorite Australian movies are THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER, MAD MAX, GALLIPOLI. CROCODILE DUNDEE, PITCH BLACK, BREAKER MORANT, THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA – QUEEN OF THE DESERT and STRICTLY BALLROOM. (They seem to have a little something for everyone: drama, sci fi, horror, comedy, crossdressing, comedic dancing… And the gorgeous scenery! Wow…)
And the actors that have come out of Australia are amazing: Cate Blanchett, Claudia Black, Bryan Brown, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Paul Mercurio, Hugo Weaving, Toni Collette, Heath Ledger, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman are just a few of the people I will go out of my way to watch–and listen to. Gotta love that accent! (Must be something in the water that keeps churning out all that talent…)
Speaking of Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, they have a new movie coming out in theaters November 26th: AUSTRALIA.
According to the synopsis:
“AUSTRALIA is an epic and romantic action adventure, set in this country on the explosive brink of World War II. In it, an English aristocrat (NICOLE KIDMAN) travels to the faraway continent where she meets a rough-hewn local (HUGH JACKMAN) and reluctantly agrees to join forces with him to save the land she inherited. Together, they embark upon a transforming journey across hundreds of miles of the world’s most beautiful yet unforgiving terrain, only to face the bombing of the city of Darwin by the Japanese forces that attacked Pearl Harbour. With his new film, director Baz Luhrmann is painting on a vast canvas, creating a cinematic experience that brings together romance, drama, adventure and spectacle.”
It should be interesting to see how Lurhmann does with such dark subject matter as the bombing of Darwin. I loved STRICTLY BALLROOM (quite twisted, yet touching), but MOULIN ROUGE! didn’t quite hit the mark and both were musicals, not large-scale dramas. (I only saw a little of ROMEO+JULIET – I’m not a huge Leonardo diCaprio fan.)
Russell Crowe was to be in AUSTRALIA originally, but the part went instead to Hugh Jackman. Rounding out the main cast are Bryan Brown, David Wenham, Essie Davis, and Jack Thompson.
“Lose yourself in the movie, find yourself in Australia…” (Tagline from the movie)
One of these days I’ve just got to visit that country and see it for myself. Films just aren’t enough…
TWILIGHT Already Setting Records
November 12, 2008 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under MOVIES, MUSIC
The movie hasn’t even come out yet, but TWILIGHT, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, has already set a record – its soundtrack album hit #1 on the Billboard 200 chart this week, outperforming AC/DC’s Black Ice at #2, followed by the soundtrack to Disney’s High School Musical 3 at #3, Hinder’s Take It to the Limit at #4 with Pink’s Funhouse taking spot #5.
It’s highly unusual for a soundtrack to top the charts before the movie has even hit the screens, much less take the #1 spot.
The movie, based on Stephanie Meyer’s bestselling series, comes out in theaters November 21st. Stewart (ZATHURA) plays Bella Swan, a teenager who finds herself in love with a vampire played by Pattinson (HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE).
Based on the reception the album has already received, it’s probably a safe bet the movie itself will also score big at the box office. (Pattinson has been continually mobbed at pre-screening events by hundreds and thousands of young girls trying to get a glimpse of the actor bringing the supernatural “Edward Cullen” to life.)
If you want to check out the music for yourself, click on the box below:
UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS
November 3, 2008 by Spotlight-on WM
Filed under MOVIES
Coming January 2009, this prequel to UNDERWORLD and UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION brings back Bill Nighy (Viktor), Michael Sheen (Lucian), Shane Brolly (Kraven) and Kevin Grevioux (Raze – he also helped write the original story the first movie was based on).
Rhona Mitra takes over the part of Sonja, Lucian’s love. (Her character was only previously seen in flashback, played by Jazmin Damak.)
UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS gives us the backstory of the Death Dealers and their slaves, the Lycans, taking us to where it all began. (UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION already gave us some of the origin story, but this provides the entire tale.)
THE INTERNATIONAL (2009): Clive Owen, Naomi Watts
November 2, 2008 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS, Clive Owen, MOVIES
They control your money. They control your government. They control your life. And everybody pays. THE INTERNATIONAL tells the story of an Interpol agent (Clive Owen) who attempts to expose a high-profile financial institution’s role in an international arms dealing ring. It also stars Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl and James Rebhorn. Here are some stills from the upcoming movie, due out February 13, 2009: 
Boy, Clive Owen is easy on the eyes… (Even when it looks like he’s been dragged behind a car…) He’s one of my favorite actors: intense, believable, classy and intelligent.
New STAR TREK Movie Photos
November 2, 2008 by Spotlight-on WM
Filed under MOVIES
Paramount and J.J. Abrams have released 7 new photos from the upcoming STAR TREK movie: 
Also, the upcoming issue of Empire magazine will have an exclusive photo shoot of Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine, including three exclusive new stills straight from the USS Enterprise.
