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They’re Giving Jackie Chan An Honorary Oscar And All Is Right With The World Although they stopped televising them in 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Governor Awards remain one of the most gratifying portions of the awards season. Free from the politics that constantly swirl around the main race and the various vicious campaigns within it, the honorary Oscars are just about honoring people who deserve a salute for their contributions to the film industry....

This Week In Trailers: Aroused, The Alan Partridge Movie, Fools Day,The Look Of Love, Don’t Stop Believin' Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week we get a double dose ofSteve Coogan, hang some brain as we talk with some porn stars, get serious as we consider recidivism, cheer on some bloody kids trying to stash a dead body, watch as Japan’s detritus from a tsunami washes ashore in the US, and watch a wee man completely becomeSteve Perry....

Thomas Tull On The Challenges Of Making A Good Movie Out Of ‘World Of Warcraft’ Over the weekend I was in San Francisco doing interviews at the junket forPacific Rim. At the roundtable interviews we were graced with the presence of Legendary Pictures headThomas Tull, and he was asked if theWorld of Warcraftmovie was going to begin production in early 2014 as producerCharles Roventold us last month, and explained their plan to finally make a video game movie that doesnt suck....

TV Bits: ‘American Dad!’, ‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’, ‘The World According To Jeff Goldblum’ & More In this edition of TV Bits: First up, TBS has ordered two more seasons ofSeth MacFarlane’s animated seriesAmerican Dad!. It’s one of cable’s highest rated comedies, reaching an audience of nearly 18 million viewers when counting all TBS platforms. During the upcoming season, the series will celebrate its 300th episodes, a milestone that has only been reached by a few adult animated shows....

VOTD: Get A Closer Look At ‘Ghostbusters’ Gadgets And The Void’s VR Experience We’re heading into the final two weeks of promotion leading up to the release ofPaul Feig’s newGhostbusters. Companies like Lyft are getting in on the fun by offering a fans a chance toget a ride in the new Ecto-1and you should keep an eye out for Twinkies with key lime slime cream inside them. And now two new videos offer a couple different glimpses at the movie....

Warner Bros Developing A LEGO Movie? With the success ofTransformers: Revenge of the FallenandGI Joe: The Rise Of Cobra, movie studios are looking for the next toy they can turn into the next huge big screen franchise. Problem is, most of the good properties have already been snatched up, and we’re beginning to see Hollywood scraping the bottom of the barrel, acquiring the rights to board games and toys from yesteryear that either lack any recognizable narrative (ie Stretch Armstrong, Viewfinder) or no longer have name recognition from today’s kids....

Warner Bros Wins Jonathan Liebesman’s Odysseus: “300 Meets Taken” Late last week, Warner Bros won a bidding war against Paramount Pictures to gain the rights toJonathan Liebesman’sOdysseus, a retelling of the story of the legendary Greek King and hero of Homer’s epic poem, the Odyssey. After fighting in the Trojan Wars for 20 years, Odysseus returned home to find his kingdom under the brutal occupation. He is forced to single-handedly fight a battle against an invading force, to take back his wife, his son and his kingdom....

Wonka Begins Production, Keeps Getting More Interesting With Olivia Colman, Sally Hawkins On Board I remain extremely skeptical about “Wonka,” the Willy Wonka origin story that will star Timothée Chalamet as a hot young Wonka who f**ks. And yet … the movie has drawn some serious talent. For one thing, Paul King, who helmed the wonderful “Paddington” movies, is directing. And now, “Wonka” has added some exciting cast members: Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, and Olivia Colman....

‘Annette’ Actor Simon Helberg On Serving Director Leos Carax’s “Meticulous Vision” [Interview] You likely knowSimon Helbergfrom his work onThe Big Bang Theory, but if you’re looking to see him stretch an entirely different set of acting muscles, you should check outAnnette, the bizarre new musical written by pop bandSparksand directed by French filmmakerLeos Carax(Holy Motors). Helberg plays an unnamed accompanist-turned-conductor with a complicated relationship to an opera singer. I recently had the chance to speak with him about learning how to actually conduct in preparation for the role, Carax’s “incredibly exacting” vision for the movie, and Helberg’s character’s unique relationship to the audience (he breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the viewer multiple times)....

‘Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina’ Season 4 Trailer: You Are Cordially Invited To The End Of All Things It’s the end of the world, and somehow, it’s Sabrina Spellman’s fault. Must be Tuesday. But this apocalypse is different than all the others, because it’s the final battle that Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka) and the witches of Greendale will ever fight, asChilling Adventures of Sabrinais set to wrap up its run on Netflix with its fourth and final season....

‘Exterminate All The Brutes’ Trailer: ‘I Am Not Your Negro’ Director Raoul Peck Explores Colonialism In HBO Docuseries With his Oscar-nominated documentaryI Am Not Your Negro, directorRaoul Peckupended film conventions, basing his film on James Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript “Remember This House,” and exploring the history of racism in the U.S. through a mixture of documentary footage, archival material, animation, and scripted scenes to create a truly singular documentary. He’ll be expanding on those experimental techniques with his new HBO docuseriesExterminate All the Brutes, which seeks to explore colonialism and its wide-reaching ramifications, including the renewed rise of white supremacy....

‘Frozen II’ Filmmakers On How Anna Has “Everything To Lose” In The Sequel [Interview] 2013’sFrozenwas about two estranged sisters finally coming together again after years of separation, with their small family restored and everything seemingly set up for a “happily ever after” ending. But directorsJennifer LeeandChris Buckdidn’t think the story of Elsa and Anna was finished, and even though the dynamic has changed between the characters, the sequel presents them with new challenges as Elsa experiences a far-off voice calling to her in the night....

‘Halo’ TV Series Recasts Cortana, Hires Original Voice Actress From The Games Assuming Showtime’s television adaptation ofHaloever actually makes it to the small screen (and considering this property’s rocky path through Hollywood, that is not a guarantee), the show will be porting over one of the game’s most famous voices into the world of the series.Halohas hired a new – um, old – well, notold, but aprior– Cortana actress during a recent recasting session....