News

Clockwise from top left: Priceless (Screengrab); 2 Days In Paris (Screengrab); Jeffrey (Screengrab); Something’s Gotta Give (Screengrab); The Big Sick (Amazon/Lionsgate); My Man Godfrey (Screengrab)

Lovers of romantic comedies have an array of options on Amazon Prime Video—particularly when it comes to oldies but goodies. Cary Grant classics abound,...

Born in New Mexico in 1997, Amber Midthunder was raised in and around the entertainment industry, as the daughter of an actor and a stuntwoman-turned-casting director. She made her first on-screen performance at the tender age of four in "The Homecoming of Jimmy Whitecloud," and has been acting ever since, with a number of film and TV credits to her name. A citizen of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribe through her father, Midthunder is one of the most prominent Native American actresses working in Hollywood today.

Although perhaps most famous for her breakout role in "Prey," she's taken on a variety of different genres, appearing in everything from action blockbusters and police procedurals to indie dramas and television comedies. The young actress shows no signs of slowing down, either: She is slated to play Princess Yue in the much-anticipated live-action adaptation of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and will also star in "Rez Ball,...

There’s never a bad time for a new superhero show, mind you. But with Amazon’s brilliantly bloody The Boys having been off air for five or so months now, the streaming world is particularly due for a new supe. With its list of new releases for March 2021, Amazon is going to be rectifying that.

The animated adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s comic series Invincible is set to arrive on Amazon Prime this March 26. Kirkman’s comic series is a colorful, thrilling, and violent take on superhero myths and the series that it inspired will feature a truly impressive cast. Take that all into account and this will be an important addition to the streaming superhero canon.

Also arriving in March is another big ticket item for Amazon. The long-awaited Coming to America sequel, Coming 2 America, will premiere on March 5. Eddie Murphy returns as Prince Akeem Joffer who...

Hopefully March will bring respite from crippling snow storms and frigid temperatures for much of the globe. And if it doesn’t? Well, Hulu’s got some new streaming options at least!

Hulu’s list of new releases for March 2021 are relatively slight on Hulu originals. Thankfully, one beloved original of note is coming back this month. Solar Opposites will premiere all episodes of its second season on March 26. This sci-fi animated comedy from Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland is a breath of fresh alien air.

On the movie side of things, Hulu is premiering Boss Level on March 5. This actioner will star the delightful Frank Grillo and the decidedly less delightful Mel Gibson. Speaking of delightful though, the documentary Kid 90 will arrive on March 12. This comes from Punky Brewster star Soleil Moon Frye and features hours of footage she shot in the ’90s that will depict what...

Netflix has acquired “Blue Miracle,” the Dennis Quaid film formerly known as “On the Line.”

Based on a true story, “Blue Miracle” centers on Casa Hogar, a Mexican orphanage that was struggling to survive after Hurricane Odile hit in 2014. On the brink of bankruptcy, the residents enter the world’s biggest fishing tournament in hopes of winning the prize money to save their home.

Along with Quaid, the cast includes Raymond Cruz, Anthony Gonzalez, Jimmy Gonzales, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Fernanda Urrejola and Bruce McGill.

The streaming service has not set a release date yet.

Julio Quintana, whose credits include the 2016 Martin Sheen drama “The Vessel,” directed the film. He also co-wrote the script with Chris Dowling.

Producers were Javier Chapa for Mucho Mas Media, Darren Moorman for Reserve Entertainment, Chris George for Redwood Ranch Productions, Ben Howard for Third Coast Content and Trey Reynolds for Provident Films. Provident Films co-financed the film with Endeavor Content.

Just in time for the Australian Open — the first Grand Slam event of the tennis season — streaming service Pandora has released a list of the most “thumbed up” songs by Australian artists on its platform. The new data is part of a collaboration between Pandora and the Tennis Channel, timed to the start of the Australian Open tournament, which runs from February 8th to February 21st.

Gotye and Kimbra’s 2011 mega-hit, “Somebody That I Used To Know,” tops Pandora’s list, followed by Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” (featuring Charli Xcx), and AC/DC’s classic,...

Exclusive: The trio of investor-philanthropist Vicky L. Patel, producer Steve Barnett and singer-actor-writer Alan Powell have teamed to launch Monarch Media, a new film and TV production company. The plan is to develop and produce 2-3 feature films a year in all genres and budget levels, as well as make a push into developing TV series and live event/theatrical properties.

Among the first projects in the Monarch pipeline is Deathrow-mance, a film written by Nick Ball and John Niven and based on an original concept from Tommy Wirkola (Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters) and Benedicte Westbye. Monarch optioned the script via its film fund and is now packaging the project, which will be directed by Wirkola.

Deathrow-mance centers on a British media executive who hastily marries an American death row inmate as a loophole to avoid being deported and losing a huge buyout of her company. After new evidence...

Hey, fellow "Legacies" fans. We are back at you with some very important and intriguing news for the second season of your favorite show. Before we get started though. Did you guys see the premiere episode yet? It was good, right? Things definitely won't ever be the same with Hope. That's for sure. Anyways, back to the big season 2 news at hand. There's going to be yet another new student to arrive on the scene. However, she will not be attending the Salvatore school. Oh, no, no, no. This young lady will arrive at the Mystic Falls High school. Her name will be Maya and she is being played by actress Bianca Santos. This news was first revealed by the people over at Deadline.com and according to their description of this new Maya character, she's going to turn out to be quite the important recurring character this season. They...

Exclusive: An intriguing new student is coming to Mystic Falls High this fall. The Fosters alumna Bianca Santos is set for a pivotal recurring role on the upcoming second season of the CW drama series Legacies.

Santos will play Maya, a sharp-tongued and flirtatious new student at Mystic Falls High, the sister of Ethan and the daughter of Sheriff Mac.

Legacies is a spin-off of The Originals and features characters from both series and its predecessor, The Vampire Diaries. The series stars Danielle Rose Russell as 17-year-old Hope Mikaelson, descended from some of the most powerful vampire, werewolf and witch bloodlines. She attends the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted, where fellow supernaturals learn to hone their skills.

Legacies is produced by Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios in association with My So-Called Company, with executive producers Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries), Brett Matthews (The Vampire Diaries), Leslie Morgenstein and Gina Girolamo (The Originals).

Santos is best known for her roles as Lexi Rivera in the Freeform drama series The Fosters, and as Lucy Velez in the MTV comedy series Happyland. She also starred in the films Ouija, The Duff and Priceless. She is repped by Marni Rosenzweig at The Rosenzweig Group and attorney Lev Ginsburg.

Exclusive: French Riviera-set ensemble romantic comedy to co-star Adèle Haenel, Audrey Tautou, Vincent Elbaz and Damien Bonnard.

MK2 has acquired worldwide rights to Pierre Salvadori’s ensemble romantic comedy The Trouble With You revolving around a police officer who finds out that her late police chief husband was corrupt to the bone, a discovery that unleashes a farcical chain of events.

Adèle Haenel co-stars as Yvonne, a police officer on French Riviera who discovers her dead husband Santi led a double life after a criminal she is interrogating recognises her wedding ring as the loot from a jewellery heist he helped stage.

The discovery sends her life into a tail-spin. Her late husband was hailed as a hero by his colleagues and their young son after he died in the line of duty. She grapples with whether she should come clean about her husband’s true persona. Close colleague Louis advises her to keep quiet.

Louis is played...

Knowledge Series 2014 – Remakes – Creative & Financial Viability: Deborah Benattar, MD, La Fabrique Films during the Knowledge series 2014 session on remakes – Creative & Financial Viability at the 8th Nfdc Film Bazaar 2014, held at the Marriott Hotel, Panjim, Goa, India on November 21, 2014. (Manoj Patil/Solaris Images)

Remake rights instead of original scripts are in high demand in the Hindi film industry and the trend is only going to go up with time. But can an industry depend entirely on borrowed ideas for its growth? The question was addressed in a panel discussion on “Remakes: Financial and creative viability”, held as part of Knowledge Series, at the ongoing Nfdc Film Bazaar in Goa.

Producer-director Rohan Sippy, Deborah Benattar of La Fabrique Films, Amar Butala of Salman Khan Ventures and entertainment lawyer Ameet Naik were part of the panel moderated by Hollywood Reporter’s India correspondent Nyay Bhushan.

Rohan Sippy said, “It’s not up to...

If one can expect anything from Michel Gondry, it is that along with the whimsy and touch of the bizarre inherent in his work is an element of truth.  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind uses erasure imagery to illustrate the pain of heartbreak. Be Kind Rewind has friendly video store employees creating their own versions of Hollywood hits for their neighborhood.  Gondry's latest film, love story Mood Indigo, however, is utterly drowning in whimsy and lacking any figment of truth.

Debonair and bearded Romain Duris (Populaire, The Beat That My Heart Skipped) stars as Colin, living off family money in a spacious Paris apartment. Audrey Tautou (Amelie, A Very Long Engagement) plays cute Chloe, whom Colin meets at a party. The plot goes something like this: guy meets girl, guy and girl fall in love and marry, flower grows in girl's lung.

There's also a B-plot, involving a friend (Gad Elmaleh,...

Icelandic director Bendikt Erlingsson’s Of Horses And Men won the Golden Iris Award, the top prize at the 12th Brussels Film Festival.Scroll down for full list of winners

Of Horses And Men won €10,000 ($13,600) and beat out 11 other competitors at the festival, which ran from June 6-14.

The drama about the deep relationships between members of a small Icelandic community and their horses debuted in Iceland last August and has toured the festival circuit ever since, beginning with the San Sebastian Film Festival in September. It was released in the UK last weekend.

Other notable winners included Swedish director Anna Odell’s The Reunion, which won the White Iris Award for best first film, as well as €2,500 ($3,400).

Odell’s feature about her imagined high school reunion picked up two other prizes at the festival, the Fedex Cinephile Award and the Rtbf TV Prize of Best Film.

Another film that scooped multiple awards was Farewell To The...

Anushka Sharma and Sidharth Malhotra will be the lead couple in Tarun Mansukhani’s next film. The director of Dostana is in charge of the Indian remake of French film Priceless (2006). According to the Hindustan Times, both actors have agreed to do the film, although the contract signing has not been done yet.

They are not the only ones involved in the project. The newspaper also reports that Karan Johar has come on board as a co-producer together with Siddharth Roy Kapur, managing director of the Walt Disney Company India.

The film (titled Hors de Prix in French), directed by Pierre Salvadori and starring Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh in the lead roles, tells the story of a young gold digger who mistakenly woos a mild-mannered bartender thinking he’s a wealthy suitor.

Reports also claim that Alia Bhatt was initially considered for the film, but as the actress and...

The Family Stone director to remake French hit for Umedia.

Thomas Bezucha, director of comedies The Family Stone and Monte Carlo, has boarded the English language remake of French hit Priceless for European film group Umedia,.

The 2006 romantic comedy, starring Audrey Tautou, proved a box-office smash in France on its original release and went on to be sold in more than 60 international territories.

The remake has been greenlit for production early summer 2014, shooting on location on the French Riviera.

It will centre on Alec, a shy and hard-working English waiter at a grand hotel on the Riviera, who is mistaken for a millionaire and seduced by Lauren, an American girl with expensive tastes, whose lifestyle is made possible only by the generosity of very wealthy men.

When Lauren discovers Alec’s true identity and limited resources, she bolts - but Alec, determined to woo Lauren no matter what the cost, pursues her along...

While most in America still know Audrey Tautou as "Amélie," in France, the actress has carved out a robust career by playing wildly varied characters in films that couldn't be further removed from Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Parisian fantasy, in hits like "Priceless" and "Coco Before Chanel." In her most recent role in the late Claude Miller's final film "Thérèse," based on the classic 1927 novel by François Mauriac, Tautou proves her formidable range by embodying the titular heroine, a woman stuck in a loveless marriage and dull provincial life after wedding for convenience. With the female oppression of the period and her arrogant husband weighing her down, Thérèse makes a reckless decision that could potentially threaten her social standing for life. Indiewire sat down with Tautou in New York to discuss her turn in the drama which opens today, working with the late director, and her career post "Amélie." Watching this,...

Can you feel The Heat? Sidenote: How excited do we all think the producer’s of The Heat are that The Miami Heat are NBA champions?! Millions of people searching for basketball scores must have stumbled upon a little movie starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. Genius marketing! Before you head off to the beach to beat the heat (Ok, I’ll stop now), check out the reality TV, new mini-series, and more pop culture fun this week:

Monday

Under the Dome, series premiere, 10 p.m., CBS

A mini-series to fill your summer TV watching void, Under the Dome, based...

Audrey Tautou, known for her sweet and light roles in such films as Amélie, Priceless and Pot Luck turns in a much darker direction in the late director Claude Miller's final film Thérèse Desqueyroux, which closed 2012 Cannes Film Festival last year and which opens in the UK on June 7. The French star plays the title role in the adaptation of Francois Mauriac's novel about a frustrated wife whose desire for freedom spells trouble for her husband (Gilles Lellouche). Earlier this year I met her at the Unifrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris to talk about the experience.

Did you have any qualms about such sombre role?

I was delighted that a director of the stature of Claude [Miller] could imagine me in a role that was so different than anything I had done before. It is always a gift to have...

Next month Audrey Tautou will host the opening ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival, an honour only given to a select few. Is she finally overcoming the curse of her most successful film?

For someone as shy and discreet as Audrey Tautou, the next few weeks will be feel uncomfortably like putting her head above the parapet again, exposed to potshots from her Gallic critics.

On the other hand her British fans, who remember her as the pixie-faced heroine of The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain, one of the most successful French films of all time, can look forward to a feast after the famine.

Next month the film Thérèse Desqueyroux, an adaptation of the François Mauriac 1927 classic released in France last November, in which Tautou plays the title role of a repressed wife who poisons her domineering, misogynistic husband, will open in British cinemas.

Around the same time, Tautou...

After 2011's critically scorned flop The Green Hornet, Michel Gondry needed a strong follow-up. Thankfully, the intimate teen drama The We and the I won critical praise upon its debut at 2012's Cannes Film Festival and all along the festival tour that followed. Though the film hasn't yet secured a U.S. release date, it is possible Stateside Gondry enthusiasts could see it as early as this year. But that's not all! The filmmaker recently wrapped on Mood Indigo, a fantastical drama that stars such French luminaries as Audrey Tautou (Amelie), Omar Sy (The Intouchables), Gad Elmaleh (Priceless), and Romain Duris (Hearbreaker). This movie is slated to open in France on April 24th, and a U.S. release will likely follow later this year. So with so much too look forward to from Gondry, fans can toast 2013 by checking out his recently released animated short, "Haircut Mouse." Posted on Vimeo...

At the end of a conversation with French actor Audrey Tautou at the Empire Hotel overlooking Lincoln Center, she asks for a photo. She stands and moves toward me with a camera in her hand, poised to take a snapshot—but not of the two of us, just me."Otherwise I will forget who I met in New York," she says with a smile, her almond eyes and brunet curls peeping up from behind the lens. Then the shutter clicks and she waves goodbye.It is really the only moment in our interaction reminiscent of the role that made Tautou an overnight sensation at 24: the titular character in writer-director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Amélie." In the 11 years since, she has matured into one of France's biggest names, starring in such films as "A Very Long Engagement" in 2004, "Priceless" in 2006, and "Coco Before Chanel" in 2009.In the new romantic comedy "Delicacy,...

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (Spwa) and Samuel Goldwyn Films are partnering on the U.S. theatrical release in addition to jointly acquiring North American rights to Park Pictures Features. Robot & Frank, the 2012 Sundance Film Festival favorite, starring Academy Award® nominee Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Academy Award® winner Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking), James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Golden Globe® nominee Peter Saarsgard (Shattered Glass), Jeremy Sisto and Jeremy Strong. Additionally, Spwa has acquired all media rights for Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe including Russia.

The deal was negotiated by Spwa’s Executive Vice President of Business Affairs, Michael Helfand, and Joe Matukewicz, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions, with Peter Goldwyn, Vice President of Acquisitions, representing Samuel Goldwyn Films. CAA and ICM.s Jessica Lacy negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers. ICM represents Langella, Sarandon and Strong.

.We have loved this project from the script stage...

While several characters in the "Mission: Impossible" films are taken from the original 1960s TV show, Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt was created specifically for America's movie star extraordinaire. Hunt's M.O. is that he doesn't stop ... ever. The unflappable Imf super-agent will do whatever it takes to stop a madman from unleashing warfare, be it chemical, nuclear, or other.

Who could possibly go head-to-head with such a deadly adversary? We chose New York-based actor, writer and Gen-x slacker icon Ethan Hawke, not so much because he has the necessary skills to beat someone of Hunt's caliber, but because their names are kinda similar.

On the eve of the "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" release, find out who comes out on top in this battle of monumental proportions.

Occupation

Ethan Hunt: Agent of the elite Impossible Mission Force (Imf)

Ethan Hawke: Actor, director, screenwriter and novelist

Advantage: Hawke,...

Tintin fans are getting excited for the animated movie “The Adventures of Tintin.” James Curran of SlimJim Studios created an unofficial title sequence for the film. He used elements featured from each of the 24 Tintin books. The music is composed by Ray Parker and Tom Szczesniak. Even one of Tintin’s writers took notice. “So @slimjimstudios does unofficial #Tintin titles vimeo.com/30402976, Spielberg sees ‘em, give him invite to prem & job on next movie…” tweeted Edgar Wright over the weekend. Well, Curran certainly gained a fan. The story is about Tintin, an intrepid young reporter whose relentless pursuit of a good story thrusts him into a world of high adventure. The animation voice cast includes Jamie Bell (“Billy Elliot,” “Jumper”), Andy Serkis (“The Lord of the Rings” “The Prestige”), Daniel Craig (“Casino Royale,” “Munich”), Simon Pegg (“Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz”), Nick Frost (“Paul,” “Pirate Radio”), Gad Elmaleh (“Priceless,...

Beautiful Lies is available on Blu-ray & DVD on November 7th and courtesy of Trinity we have three copies of the Blu-ray to give away.

After the success of Priceless, Pierre Salvadori reunites with Audrey Tautou (Coco Before Chanel) in Beautiful Lies, a fresh and funny romantic comedy about a chatty hairdresser who concocts a plan to cheer up her mother who is suffering from a serious case of the blues after having been left by her husband.

Starring: Audrey Tautou, Nathalie Baye, Sami Bouajila

All you need to do for your chance of winning a copy of the Blu-ray is email contest@obsessedwithfilm.com with the e-mail header Beautiful Lies. Make sure you leave your full name and address and please only enter if you are 12 or over. Winners will be notified in November.

Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures released the second full trailer for “The Adventures of Tintin” on Apple iTunes. The story is about Tintin, an intrepid young reporter whose relentless pursuit of a good story thrusts him into a world of high adventure. The animation voice cast includes Jamie Bell (“Billy Elliot,” “Jumper”), Andy Serkis (“The Lord of the Rings” “The Prestige”), Daniel Craig (“Casino Royale,” “Munich”), Simon Pegg (“Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz”), Nick Frost (“Paul,” “Pirate Radio”), Gad Elmaleh (“Priceless,” “The Valet”), Toby Jones (“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” “The Mist”) and Mackenzie Crook (“Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Finding Neverland”). “The Adventures of Tintin” is directed by Steven Spielberg (“Schindler’s List”) and with Peter Jackson (“The Lord of the Rings”) as a producer. The screenplay is written by Steven Moffat (“Sherlock,” “Doctor Who”), Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”) and Joe Cornish (“Attack the Block,...

Audiences go bananas for James Franco prequel, while The Smurfs hits the jackpot with the kids

The winner

When Twentieth Century Fox's Rise of the Planet of the Apes opened the first weekend of August in the Us with $55m (£33.6m), the UK arm of the studio must have felt some pressure. An equivalent result here would be £5.5m – a tall order, you might think, since Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, although it began life in August 2001 with a remarkable £5.45m, did not bequeath much residual affection for the franchise, and James Franco is not a proven draw in the UK. In fact, Rise delivered a very healthy debut of £5.84m in the UK, albeit boosted by previews totalling £1.1m.

By comparison, Captain America debuted two weekends ago with £2.98m, and X-Men: First Class back in June with £5.44m including previews of £2.01m. Earlier in the summer, Thor kicked off with £5.45m,...

More enjoyable than their previous collaboration on Priceless, Pierre Salvadori's second film starring Audrey Tautou is a romantic comedy too flimsily plotted to qualify as a farce. She plays a beauty parlour owner in the attractive Mediterranean port of Sète, where for reasons not worth going into, a multilingual, Harvard-educated ex-Unesco official (played by Sami Bouajila, the handsome star of last year's Outside the Law) is working for her as an odd-job man, and an anonymous love letter he sends her is diverted to her troubled mother (Nathalie Baye). Baye is wholly delightful. Tautou is what the French call une emmerdeuse.

RomanceComedyPhilip French

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After the hit 2006 comedy Priceless, writer/director Pierre Salvadori joins forces again with internationally acclaimed actress Audrey Tautou for another situational romantic comedy, Beautiful Lies, looking at how misinterpretation and unfrequented love can bring a bittersweet but charming dose of humour.

Tautou plays 30-year-old Emilie, owner of a hairdressing salon who employs Jean (Sami Bouajila), a handyman who is secretly in love with her. Emilie has problems of her; apart from her own cynical view of love and relationships, she wants to cheer up her mother, Maddy (Nathalie Baye), who still pines for her four-year-absent husband who lives with another younger woman. Emilie receives a passionate love letter one day, signed by an anonymous author (who is actually Jean), and terrified at seeing her mother fall deeper and deeper into despair, decides to concoct a crazy plan: she’ll change the name at the top of the letter and send...

Deathly Hallows dominates the UK for the fourth weekend in a row, while Abrams/Spielberg alien movie makes a quiet landing

The winner

Achieving a feat that eluded Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Part 2 manages a fourth weekend at the top of the UK box-office chart, the first film to do so since Toy Story 3 a year ago. Dropping a moderate 38% from the previous weekend, Deathly Hallows Part 2 added nearly £7m in the past seven days, for a total to date of £62.38m. That's enough to earn it seventh place in the all-time UK chart, ahead of the second and third Lord of the Rings films, and just behind The Fellowship of the Ring.

Deathly Hallows Part 1 had grossed £42.6m at this stage of its run, after four weekends. If Part 2 follows the same trajectory of decline, it will max out around £77m, beating Toy Story 3 to be...

She pretty much defined French cinema in the 70s and 80s: intimate, kooky, charming. Now Nathalie Baye can add 'properly funny' to her CV

In Nathalie Baye's new film, there are lots of funny scenes, but this one's especially good: she hobbles fantastically through the streets of Sète one broiling summer morning, in bare feet and nightie, tailing a young man who has just deposited a love letter in her mailbox. (The love letter wasn't actually intended for her, or at least it was, but it isn't a real love letter. And the young man isn't supposed to have delivered it, still less been seen doing so. But more of that later.)

Anyway, there's one of the undisputed greats of French cinema, 63 years of age, 80-odd films to her name, an actor who has worked with Truffaut and Godard, Pialat, Chabrol and Tavernier, who has won four Césars and...

Katrina Kaif has reportedly been turned down for the rights to remake a French film. The actress had been keen to produce a Bollywood version of the 2006 movie Priceless, starring Amelie actress Audrey Tautou. Priceless centres on a young gold-digger who woos a bartender after falling under the impression that he is a millionaire. A source told Mumbai Mirror: "She gave lot of time and energy to this (more)...

Katrina Kaif

Katrina Kaif wanted to remake a popular French film but unprofessional attitude from the makers crushed her French connection

There is a general trend in Bollywood of actors turning into direction or production. Most popular B-town actors like Shah Rukh Khan (Red Chilies Entertainment), Juhi Chawla (co-owner of Dreamz Unlimited with Srk), Farhan Akhtar (Excel Entertainment), Aamir Khan (Aamir Khan Productions) etc have established and are constantly emerging successful in this field. British Indian actress Katrina Kaif (of Namastey London 2007 fame) also had plans to turn producer.

Katrina Kaif with sister Isabel Kaif

Rumors of her producing a film (a French film that apparently had impressed Katrina) and casting her sister Isabel Kaif in the same was ablaze till a few days back. When gossipmongers racked their brains to guess the film Katrina was remaking, the light-eyed Kaif revealed herself that she was keen to remake the 2006 French movie Priceless.

Coming Friday to theaters is a mind-bending action flick, a kid-friendly comedy, a politically fraught biopic, and a family comedy out of France. As such, our list of correlating Instant Watches is full of action, laughs, and stars galore!

—

Sucker Punch

Zack Snyder returns to ass-kicking with this twisted tale of an institutionalized girl who retreats into an alternate reality, where she can become her own savior.

Pack your weekend with action and heroines with these pulse-pounding flicks:

Aliens: Collector’s Edition (1986) This gritty follow-up to Alien centers on Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the badass who inspired many imitators and a two more sequels. While each of the Alien movies is worth a watch, this one scored Weaver an Oscar nod. Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, and Bill Paxton co-star; James Cameron directs.

The Fifth Element (1997) The heroine of Luc Besson’s candy-colored sci-fi adventure isn’t just...

Valentine’s Day is the time to show that special someone how much you care by lavishing them with gifts! Or it’s that irksome time of year where every business exploits the promise of love and romance to sell you candy, flowers, jewelry, and bow tie-wearing bears. This holiday is at once a day of sincerity and cynicism.

It’s truly a magical time.

No matter which side of the Vday divide you fall, we’ve got some choice movie picks whether you’re a love lover or a holiday hater.

————

For Those Who Love Love

Want something sweet to screen this Valentine’s Day?

Here’s a list of spectacular flicks that prove once and for all that love conquers all!

Love Actually {2003}

Rom-com master Richard Curtis’ Christmas-set ensemble piece weaves together various feel-good tales (for the most part) that reveal the various ways of love. Full of beloved actors,...

I'm not going to salander Rooney Mara or anything, but I would have preferred for original Lisbeth Salander, Noomi Rapace, to come out to America to reprise the role in David Fincher's English-language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (and sequels). But rather than do as Penelope Cruz did for Vanilla Sky, Rapace declined to be considered for the remake and instead is looking for other ways to break into Hollywood.

Will she be successful? Throughout the 20th century we saw so many foreign actresses rocket to stardom in Hollywood, but in the past decade there have been a number of surprising disappointments. Occasional industry conquerors like Cruz and maybe Marion Cotillard (we'll see) break the modern mold, but for the most part Hollywood miscasts and undervalues imported starlets. So, I don't foresee Rapace being the next Lena Olin let alone the next Ingrid Bergman. More likely...

French comedians Gad Elmaleh and Manu Payet have joined the cast of Woody Allen.s romantic comedy "Midnight in Paris."According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film is currently shooting on location in Paris.The all-star cast includes Adrien Brody, Rachel McAdams, Owen Wilson, Kathy Bates, Elsa Pataky, Michael Sheen, Marion Cotillard and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.The film focuses on a family traveling to Paris for business, including a young engaged couple whose lives are changed throughout the journey.Elmaleh recently starred in Francis Veber's "The Valet," opposite Audrey Tautou in "Priceless" and Roselyne Bosch's Holocaust drama "The Round-Up" opposite Jean Reno and Melanie Laurent. Payet recently starred in Elmaleh's film "Coco."...

Moneyball

"Parks and Recreation" star Chris Pratt has joined the cast of Bennett Miller's baseball-themed "Moneyball" which begins shooting next week in Los Angeles says Risky Biz.

Pratt plays Scott Hatteberg, the late 90's backup catcher for the Red Sox whose career was stalled by elbow surgery.

Guns, Girls and Gambling

Chris Kattan ("Undercover Brother") and Helena Mattsson ("Surrogates") have joined the cast of Michael Winnick's indie crime thriller "Guns, Girls and Gambling" for Freefall Films reports Heat Vision.

The story involves the race for a priceless Hopi warrior mask stolen during a poker game at an Indian casino. Christian Slater, Gary Oldman, Dane Cook and Megan Park also star.

Kattan plays Gay Elvis, one of a slew of Presley impersonators. Mattsson will play a tall, blond female assassin.

Midnight in Paris

French comedians Gad Elmaleh ("The Valet," "Priceless") and Manu Payet ("Coco") have joined the cast of...

Paris -- Marion Cotillard and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy won't be the only Frenchies spending "Midnight in Paris" with Woody Allen with Gallic comedians Gad Elmaleh and Manu Payet tapped for the prolific director's France-based film currently shooting in Paris.

Both will have only small roles, with Elmaleh shooting for three days and Payet for just one. Elmaleh has recently starred in Francis Veber's "The Valet," opposite Audrey Tautou in "Priceless" and more recently Roselyne Bosch's Holocaust drama "The Round-Up" opposite Jean Reno and "Inglourious Basterds" star Melanie Laurent.

Payet, a well-known funnyman on French small and big screens, recently starred in Elmaleh's film "Coco."

The Gallic cast will break bread and fromage with the already-announced all-star cast that includes Adrien Brody, Rachel McAdams, Owen Wilson, Kathy Bates, Elsa Pataky and Michael Sheen in the story about an American family who head to the French capital on business.

The pressure...

Shrek's weekend dominance did not prevent a solid debut for Heartbreaker, but preview estimates suggest the opening weekend of Twilight: Eclipse will shake things up next time round

The saviour

It's been a long wait, but finally it's here: a movie that consumers actually want to see. After a whole month in which no new release has grossed as much as £4m, Shrek Forever After has arrived to pack the multiplexes. The green ogre's fourth adventure opened with £8.96m, including just over £3m in previews. This is the second biggest debut of the year, behind Alice in Wonderland (£10.56m). The Shrek sum represents 81% of the total grossed by the whole of this weekend's top 10 films. It also helped the market record a 227% increase on the previous weekend, when Get Him to the Greek streaked miles ahead of a weak field of battle-weary veterans.

Shrek Forever After might be bringing salvation...

Katrina Kaif has announced that she will be stretching her wings into the field of production and hopes to do a remake of a French movie from 2006. She expects to star in the movie herself. “My role in the film has dark shades to it. I play a conniving, ambitious woman. It’s a gloriously grey character, the kind I haven’t played before.” However, at the moment, the deal for the rights has not been finalised so she has been cagey about the title.

The film buffs here at Bollyspice have been scratching their heads in an effort to pin down the movie in question. It could well be the amazing Tell No One – a labyrinthine thriller about murder and corruption that you really need to see twice to understand fully. The film stars Francois Cluzet and Marie-Josee Croze. Produced by Luc Besson, and based on a novel by Harlan Coben,...

Anchor Bay sent over the new poster for Spread, the new Ashton Kutcher movie. I know - I'm surprised I didn't get a Tweet from him about it, too.

The Kutch plays a serial womanier - or as the plot outline describes him, "a sexual grifter" - who has bedded so many women it's kind of become his profession. He lives for free, courtesy of the older attorney he entertains (Anne Heche), and then he meets a young waitress playing the same game he is.

There are lots of movies that have used similar approaches before (the Audrey Tautou movie Priceless, most recently), and they're usually fine until the story actually has to go somewhere. It's played a few festivals, and some reviews are better than others.

• She may be Jean-Pierre Jeunet's main muse, but Audrey Tautou has forged a new working relationship with comedy helmer Pierre Salvadori. After pairing on the box office darling Priceless (Hors de Prix) where it made plenty of Euros in profits in France and made a whopping over 2 million dollars in receipts for Samuel Goldwyn Films in its domestic run, the two will come together on a new romantic comedy which is also starring Nathalie Baye and Sami Bouajila. Co-written by Salvadori and Benoît Graffin, Soins Complets (Full Treatment) centres on a hair salon manager (Tautou) unable to help her mother (Baye), who has been feeling depressed since her husband left her. But the young woman receives an anonymous love letter which gives her an idea: she changes the name of the address and puts that of her mother's instead. This plan works almost too well: her mother recovers

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• This Valentine's Day, Samuel Goldwyn Films has released the poster one sheet for its rom com being referred to as the French Breakfast at Tiffany's. Set against the wildly atmospheric backdrop of the south of France, Jean (Gad Elmaleh), a shy young bartender, is mistaken for a millionaire by a beautiful, scheming opportunist named Irene (Audrey Tautou). When Irene discovers his true identity, she abandons him, only to find that a love-struck Jean has no intention of letting her get away. Jean’s comical attempts to gain her affections gradually evolve into setting himself up as a gigolo at a luxury hotel, until Irene finally starts to warm to her persistent, persuasive suitor. ...

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• For the past couple of years there seems to be a courteous exchange of roles between two French actresses - both dark haired, cute and demographically friendly to the tons of roles that have been written for them. They usual make themselves known via international, multiple territority projects and sometimes the smaller French fair. This tennis match involves Marion Cotillard and Audrey Tautou. 2007 was all Cotillard thanks to her weighty performance the life of tragic French singer Edith Piaf, but this year we have Tautou will play the titular role in Anne Fontaine's untitled Coco Chanel biopic, but first she'll grace the screen in a smaller French comedy Priceless (Hors de prix). Samuel Goldwyn Films releases the film this coming March 28th. Written and directed by Pierre Salvadori, this is set against the wildly atmospheric backdrop of the south of France, Jean (Gad Elmaleh), a shy young bartender,

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The 19th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival announced its complete 2008 lineup Tuesday, with a screening of the Audrey Tautou starrer Priceless set as the event's closing film.

In all, the Jan. 3-14 festival will screen 222 feature films from more than 66 countries, with 69 premieres and 55 screenings of official Oscar submissions for foreign-language film. The U.S. premiere of Before the Rains (USA/India) will be spotlighted during its World Cinema Now Gala.

Festival director Darryl Macdonald described the event as "more streamlined" than in years past. Last year, Palm Springs featured 254 films from 73 countries.

"The result is a richer and more focused event that maintains the festival's concentration on quality international programming while highlighting the diversity of its offerings in a more accessible, audience-friendly way," Macdonald said.

Helen Hunt's directorial debut, Then She Found Me, will be the fest's opening-night feature, and Atonement director Joe Wright will be honored with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award; other nods are set for Sean Penn as director of the year and Halle Berry as the recipient of the Desert Palm Achievement Award.

NEW YORK -- IDP sister distributors Samuel Goldwyn Films and Roadside Attractions scored two Berlin pickups Wednesday, with Goldwyn nabbing all U.S. rights to the Audrey Tautou-led French romantic farce Priceless and Roadside grabbing North American theatrical rights to the spiritual chef docu How to Cook Your Life.

Pierre Salvadori's Priceless, which has grossed more than $15 million since its December opening in France, stars Tautou as a French Riviera gold digger who mistakes a poor hotel bartender (Gad Elmaleh) for a potential sugar daddy. After she learns the truth and abandons him, he turns from an obsessed suitor into her willing protege, learning the ropes of being a gigolo to win her heart.

Doris Dorrie's Life follows San Francisco-based Zen priest and cookbook author Edward Espe Brown as he relates the connection between Zen Buddhism, cooking and how we live our lives. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.