In the midst of the superhero movies and the franchise installments and raunchy comedies aimed squarely at the youth market, the summer of 2012 has a little prize inside for adult audiences with Hope Springs starring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, and Steve Carell. I’m not crazy about the poster. Poor Meryl has had all of the character photoshopped out of her face. (She looks a lot like Rosemary Harris.) We also have some images and a first trailer, which I found much more amusing and charming than This is 40. How odd.

Kay (Meryl Streep) and Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) are a devoted couple, but decades of marriage have left Kay wanting to spice things up and reconnect with her husband. When she hears of a renowned couple’s specialist (Steve Carell) in the small town of Great Hope Springs, she attempts to persuade her skeptical husband, a steadfast man of routine, to get on a plane for a week of marriage therapy. Just convincing the stubborn Arnold to go on the retreat is hard enough – the real challenge for both of them comes as they shed their bedroom hang-ups and try to re-ignite the spark that caused them to fall for each other in the first place.

Directed by David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada, Marley & Me), Hope Springs also stars the resurging Elisabeth Shue, Jean Smart and Marin Ireland and opens on August 10 in the US but not until 4th January in the UK.

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Let's get right to it shall we? Maggie would want it that way…

The Iron Lady features an Academy Award winning performance by Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first and only female Prime Minister.

Directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) and written by Abi Morgan (Shame) The Iron Lady depicts Margaret Thatcher’s rise to power in Great Britain as she  breaks through the ‘glass ceiling’ of gender and class. The story focuses on the price that is paid for power, particularly by this extremely complex woman.

“THE IRON LADY is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century's most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world.”

I personally wasn’t all that impressed with the movie, but Streep as usual was amazing (even if I was never able to forget that it was Streep).

The Iron Lady Blu-ray Combo Pack contains six supplemental features. DVD and digital copy discs are also included.

-Making The Iron Lady (SD, 12:20): Cast and crew discuss the character, the history, the work and camaraderie of the entire cast, the importance of the young Margaret and young Denis, the mother-daughter relationship, and Streep's performance.

-Recreating the Young Margaret Thatcher (SD, 2:44): A piece the regurgitates some of the same material from the above supplement as it focuses in on the part and performance of Alexandra Roach.

-Denis: The Man Behind the Woman (SD, 2:33): A short look at the work of Actor Jim Broadbent and the part he plays.

-Battle in the House of Commons (SD, 2:28): This extra briefly examines shooting the Parliament scenes, again regurgitating a little bit from the Making Of supplement.

-Costume Design: Pearls and Power Suits (SD, 2:43): Costume Designer Consolata Boyle discusses the film's wardrobe and its evolution through the course of the movie.

-History Goes to the Cinema: Featuring My Week with Marilyn, W.E., Coriolanus,The Iron Lady, and The Artist (SD, 18:04): A look at these movies and the real life history behind them. (All TWC projects btw)

The Darkest Hour was filmed on location in Russia. It follows five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack. 

Released in 3D, the  action-thriller highlights the classic beauty of Moscow alongside mind-blowing special effects from the minds of visionary filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Night Watch, AbrahamLincoln: Vampire Hunter) and director Chris Gorak. This is only Gorak's second feature. His first, Right at Your Door, was a hit at Sundance in 2006.

As it turns out, this really didn’t have anything to offer the ever expanding 'alien-invasion genre', other than "the classic beauty of Moscow" and watching it crumble (although there is a new way for aliens to zap people).

The Darkest Hour stars Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachel Taylor and Joel Kinnaman as well as many, many Russians.

Special Features:

-Survivors (1080p, Dolby Digital 5.1, 8:10): A short film based in the world of The Darkest Hour that's actually a little bit better than the main feature.

-The Darkest Hour: Visualizing an Invasion (1080p, 12:09): A detailed look at the process of creating the film's most crucial visual effects.

-Deleted and Extended Scenes (1080p, 4:48): Anne and Natalie at the Airport, Skyler Brags to Tess, Ben and Vika Talk About Their Siblings, A Toast to the Fallen Comrades, and Natalie and Sean Talk About Anne and Ben. With optional director commentary.

-Audio Commentary: Director Chris Gorak discusses the history of the production, its similarities to Red Dawn, the assemblage and work of the cast, shooting in Moscow, specific filmmaking locations within the city, working in 3D, challenges of the shoot, a delay in the shoot due to natural disaster, the specifics of the plot, visual effects, score and sound design, and more.

My Dog Tulip is a film we haven’t talked about before. It’s an animated love story about a man and his dog and features the voices of Christopher Plummer, the late Lynn Redgrave and Isabella Rossellini.

MY DOG TULIP is a bittersweet retrospective account of author J. R. Ackerley's 16-year relationship with his beautiful yet intolerable German shepherd, Tulip. To Ackerley's surprise, Tulip turned out to be the love of his life, the ideal friend he had been searching for in vain for so many years.
 

Special Features:

-MAKING TULIP, a making-of featurette

-Theatrical trailer

-MUTTS Shelter Stories

-Sneak peek at the filmmakers' latest project SLOCUM AT SEA WITH HIMSELF

-Downloadable materials

-Optional 5.1 soundtrack

-Subtitles for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing

There’s a film called Sleeping Beauty out this week as well, but trust me, it’s not for the kiddos.

Jane Campion presents Sleeping Beauty, a fascinating depiction of a young woman's reckless decent into a shocking world of erotic desires. Lucy (Emily Browning in a breakthrough performance) is a young university student possessed by a kind of radical passivity; letting coin tosses decide random sexual encounters and enduring her menial jobs with an uncomplaining patience. After answering an ad in the student newspaper for a lingerie waitress, Lucy is secretly initiated into the job of a “Sleeping Beauty”, for which she is sedated and given in absolute submission to her clients. As this unnerving experience begins to bleed into her daily life, Lucy develops the courage to break the spell and discover what happens to her while she sleeps. First-time director Julia Leigh creates a bold cinematic vision with her shocking retelling of the classic myth that poses its heroine as a rarified sex-worker confronting ideas of feminine sexuality with bravado and precision.

(I submit Leigh was inspired less by the classic fairy tale than by Ann Rice’s {writing as A.N. Rocquelaire} series of books)

The film premiered at Cannes last year to polarizing reviews. Critics either loved it or hated it. It was an official selection at TIFF, got a limited release in NY and LA and then promptly disappeared. Now’s your chance to watch 2 hrs of Emily Browning “sleepwalking” naked.

Finally, here’s a film that I truly hope finds an audience on dvd and VOD. Tyrannasaur was Irish actor Paddy Considine’s (Dead Man’s Shoes, In America) award winning directorial debut. Among other things, he beat out Ralph Fiennes and Coriolanus for the most promising debut award at the BAFTAs.

Tyrannosaur follows the story of two lonely, damaged people brought together by circumstance. Joseph (the wonderful Peter Mullan) is an unemployed widower, drinker, and a man crippled by his own volatile temperament and furious anger. Hannah (Olivia Colman) is a Christian worker at a charity shop, a respectable woman who appears wholesome and happy. When the pair is brought together, Hannah appears as Joseph’s potential savior, someone who can temper his fury and offer him warmth, kindness and acceptance. As their story develops, Hannah’s own secrets are revealed; her relationship with husband James (Eddie Marsan) is violent and abusive and as events spiral out of control, Joseph becomes her source of succor and comfort.

Take a look at the trailer:

Special Features:

-Deleted scenes

-Dog Altogether, Paddy Considine’s original short upon which the feature length film is based.

-Audio commentary with the director and producer

-Theatrical trailer

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Well, it’s all over but the shouting.  (You think I'm kidding, the crowds were insane!) The winners have been declared for the Orange British Academy Film Awards for 2012 held tonight February 12 at the Royal Opera House in London.  Miss Piggy was a lovely and gracious hostess  and a welcome addition to the regular red-carpet personalities like Edith Bowman and  Fearne Cotton. Jon Hamm showed up just to class up the joint, as did presenter Penelope Cruz.

Sir Tom Jones kicked things off with a musical homage to 50 years of James Bond. It was a little difficult to discern the words, but he's still got the voice. Host Stephen Fry, was, as always witty, charming and erudite.

You’ll find the complete list below, but in case you haven’t heard yet, The Artist swept almost every category for which it was nominated. That’s not really all that surprising and it does pretty much seal the deal for the Oscars in two weeks time. If Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and its star Gary Oldman were going to pull any upsets, this would have been the place for that very British film to do it.  TTSS did win Best Adapted Screenplay (which was deserved. I thought it would. The writers are British, of course, but one of the cowriters, Peter Straughan’s wife Bridget O’Connor, died before seeing it produced) as well as Best British Film. 

So, needless to say, Oldman and Michael Fassbender were denied and Jean Dujardin is going home with the golden mask. (Although I would have liked to have seen Fassy get it, I thought surely the British Academy would see fit to reward Oldman. I do think, however, that Dujardin’s win puts the nail in Clooney’s Oscar coffin.)  George did show up of course, just in case. As did Brad Pitt. George was flying solo and Brad was sans Ange. He must have left her in Berlin. Love the pic of George and Colin Firth sharing a bro-hug. And only the beautiful Livia Firth could get away with that manly tux on the red carpet.

Ralph Fiennes (Coriolanus) was denied in favor of another first-time actor turned director Paddy Considine who was awarded the Best Debut by a British Director, Writer or Prducer prize for Tyrannosaur.  Ralph looked fantastic though and we all know that’s more important.

Meryl Streep glammed it up and put on the ritz as if she expected to win. Everyone predicted it was in the bag for her in Blighty and they were right.  (There were ads for The Iron Lady during the BBCAmerica telecast of the BAFTAs that emphasize the fact that it's been 29 years since she won an Oscar. Heavy-handed in my opinion.) Viola Davis lost out, but her costar Octavia Spencer continued her run and won Best Supporting Actress for The Help. (Who were those guys Spencer had with her? They look like bodyguards.) Poor Michelle Williams who seemed a front-runner at one point, has all but been forgotten. She looked good though. 

Kenneth Branagh lost out to Christopher Plummer, but I’m just glad he showed up (Plummer didn't). I can’t get enough of him. He’s still as adorable as he was in Henry V. (And can I just say that I freakin’ LOVE that his wife isn’t some waifish trophy?)  Although, I do have to say Gary Oldman always looks like someone just handed him the keys to the kingdom whenever you see him with his arm around wife no. 4, Alexandra Edenborough.

One category that was a surprise: the Orange Rising Star Award. Last year it was won by Tom Hardy, and in the five years before that it was won by the likes of Kristen Stewart, Noel Clarke, Shia Labeouf, Eva Green and James McAvoy. This year the nominees were Chris Hemsworth (Thor, The Avengers, Snow White and the Huntsman) who showed up with his gorgeous pregnant bride, Elsa Pataky, Eddie Redmayne, (My Week with Marilyn, Pillars of the Earth, Les Miserables), Tom Hiddleston (Thor, The Avengers, Deep Blue Sea, War Horse, Midnight in Paris), Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids for which he won an IFTA the night before, The Boat That Rocked, Friends with Kids) and Adam Deacon (Kidulthood, Adulthood). Guess who won? That’s right, the actor you’ve never heard of. I guess the other four don’t need a leg up, at least according to UK cinema-goers, who vote for the award. Deacon couldn't believe it either, calling it "surreal" before saying "Fank you".  Actually Adam Deacon appeared in a movie ten years ago with Gerard Butler. Deacon was in Shooters when he was just 16. I guess that’s a reason to watch it again. *coughlikeIneedonecough*

Martin Scorsese was given the British Academy Fellowship Award,sort of a 'lifetime achievement' award, presented to him by Max von Sydow. It was an oddly introduced tribute with only two taped testimonials, one by Robert De Niro and another by Christopher Lee (who appeared in Hugo this year). I guess  they couldn't given him this one and Best Director, so that went to Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist. (By the way, how does a movie with no dialogue win Best Original Screenplay?)

Some exciting news was leaked on the red carpet as well. Bond girls Naomie Harris and Berenice Marlohe, who both looked stunning, were in attendance and Harris revealed that Skyfall would include “a lot” of Daniel Craig nakedness. You read that right. She said “nakedness”.  Now, while I don’t expect Craig to go all ‘Fassbender’, another slow climb out of the sea, dripping wet in those tight blue trunks would be appreciated. Just sayin’.

The biggest surprise of the night, Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe showed up to hand out the BAFTA for Best Picture…The Artist. (Since it was a suprise they didn't walk the red carpet. It would have exploded from the hotness.)

So here’s your complete list of winners as well as a lot of pretty pics of the pretty people.  Meet you back here in two weeks for the Oscars!

Outstanding British Contribution To Film

John Hurt

Best Original Screenplay

Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Kristin Wiig, Annie Mumolo – Bridesmaids
John Michael McDonagh – The Guard
Abi Morgan – The Iron Lady
Woody Allen – Midnight In Paris

Best Supporting Actress

Carey Mulligan – Drive
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Judi Dench – My Week With Marilyn
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Octavia Spencer – The Help

Outstanding British Film

My Week With Marilyn
Senna
Shame
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
We Need To Talk About Kevin

Best Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn
Jim Broadbent – The Iron Lady
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Ides of March
Christopher Plummer – Beginners

Best Production Design

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
War Horse

Best Debut by a British Director, Writer or Producer

Richard Ayoade – Submarine
Paddy Considine, Diarmid Scrimshaw – Tyrannosaur
Joe Cornish – Attack the Block
Ralph Fiennes – Coriolanus
Will Sharpe, Tom Kingsley, Sarah Brocklehurst – Black Pond

Best Film Not in the English Language

Incendies
Pina
Potiche
A Separation
The Skin I Live In

Best Costume Design

The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
My Week With Marilyn
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Best Makeup & Hair

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
The Iron Lady
My Week With Marilyn

Best Cinematography

The Artist
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
War Horse

Best Film Editing

The Artist
Drive
Senna
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Best Sound

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
War Horse

Best Original Music

Ludovic Bource – The Artist
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore – Hugo
Alberto Iglesias – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
John Williams – War Horse

Best Visual Effects

The Adventures of Tintin
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
War Horse

Best Animated Short

Abuelas
Bobby Yeah
A Morning Stroll

Best Short Film

Chalk
Mwansa The Great
Only Sound Remains
Pitch Black Heist
Two And Two

Best Film

The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
The Help
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Tomas Alfredson – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Lynne Ramsay – We Need To Talk About Kevin

Best Actor

George Clooney – The Descendants
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Michael Fassbender – Shame
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Gary Oldman – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Best Actress

Berenice Bejo – The Artist
Viola Davis – The Help
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton – We Need To Talk About Kevin
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn

Best Adapted Screenplay

Jim Rash, Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Tate Taylor – The Help
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon – The Ides of March
Steve Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin - Moneyball
Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Best Animated Film

The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Rango

Best Documentary

George Harrison: Living In A Material World
Project Nim
Senna

Rising Star Award

Adam Deacon
Chris Hemsworth
Tom Hiddleston
Chris O'Dowd
Eddie Redmayne

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I love listening to intelligent, talented, self-aware (but not self-important) actors talking about their craft and their process. One of the reasons I adore Viola Davis is that she is so fiercely intelligent and well-spoken.  Unlike athletes, whom I would prefer were never allowed to speak (well, not never but certainly not into a microphone), I find it fascinating to hear actors, the kind of people who speak for a living, talk about the things or the people that inspire them. Since it is their job to move an audience, I want to know what moves them. Actors go to the movies too. What do they feel when sitting in the dark and watching a particular performance? Do they relax and enjoy or are they critiquing? Were they moved by the same things that moved me?

Time magazine, in celebration of Oscar month, has gathered together some of the actors who gave the best performances of the year. While most of them are Oscar nominated, it is very teling that one of the included actors, who did indeed give one of the best performances of the year, is Michael Fassbender, who as we know, was NOT nominated. We also know how I feel about that slight. It would appear that TIME agrees with me.  I could go on and on about each of the actors included in this clip,  I’ll let them speak for themselves.  (I love that they included Uggie!)

Enjoy the video. Then go to the link and read the very entertaining copy. To hell with the best performance by an actor,  I just know they're going to hand George Clooney an Oscar for being the coolest guy on the planet.

By the way, the video was shot by Sebastian Kim who photographed Michael Fassbender for that incendiary cover of Interview magazine.

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…well, so did a lot of other ‘starlets’. Actually this is the cover of the annual Hollywood Issue. Every year the mag, which has been around since 1913 (with a hiatus from ’35 to ‘83), pays tribute to old Hollywood glamour with an issue timed to coincide with the Academy Awards and more often than not, featuring the faces of Hollywood’s future.

This year is not only no exception but, in my opinion it’s one of the more visually stunning covers of the past few  years. Opting for trendy pastels, the actresses included, shot by the great Mario Testino, all look like they stepped off of the set of Grand Hotel or Dinner for Eight.

(I love Vanity Fair. Not only is it the first place I was ever published – letter to the editor but I'm taking it- but I used to collect them for the covers. i stopped when stbx threatened to turn me in to "Hoarders".)

The cover would not have been complete without this year’s “IT Girls”, Jessica Chastain, Rooney Mara, Jennifer Lawrence and Mia Wasikowska (three of whom have been nominated for an Oscar either past or present). Featured on the fold-out are Elizabeth Olsen, Adepero Oduye and Shailene Woodley over to Paula Patton, Felicity Jones, Lily Collins and Brit Marling.

Behind the scenes of the shoot with Mario Testino

Jessica Chastain on meeting Meryl Streep and her Ralph Fiennes fan-girl moment

Rooney Mara on David Fincher

Other vids can be found on the Vanity Fair site.

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Tom Hardy is not exactly a social butterfly. He doesn't generally do "the scene" (especially since he's changed his hard-partying ways). But it's no coincidence that he has attended a pair of heavily publicized events in his native London in the past couple of weeks. Just before Christmas he was seen at the Royal Ballet's Nutcracker gala and last night he turned out for the red carpet premiere of The Iron Lady starring Meryl Streep. The reason he's been out and about more than usual is that he's also doing some serious fundraising for a charity, called FLACK, of which he's a patron and that's in danger of being shut down.

All of my favorite actors have an inate intelligence. Meatheads need not apply, but I love it when they actually have a heart and a social conscience. As if the raspy whiskey and cigarettes voice with the posh accent, the puppy eyes, the sinful mouth,  the body built for mayhem and the huge talent weren't enough to make my knees weak (Hey, I'm keeping it clean, we're talking about his altruism here), Hardy is trying to raise £45,000 to save the charity, which benefits London's homeless, and the deadline is this week.

He had this to say about his reasons for getting involved:

"I learned about the challenges faced by the homeless community in Cambridge when I starred in the film Stuart: A Life Backwards, which was a pivotal role in my career.

"Homelessness impacts people for life and in many cases causes mental health problems and drug and alcohol addictions. It's a cause that means a hell of a lot to me personally as I know from my own experience how tough it is to battle addiction."

As of last night they were at 92% of their goal. I wish him success.

In other Hardy news, one of his 2012 releases, The Wettest County in the World, the bootlegging drama with Shia LeBeouf and Jessica Chastain, has been pushed back from April to August. August isn't generally a big month for drama, but Harvey Weinstein has a plan. He wants to capitalize on the Post-The Dark Knight Rises interest that is sure to be generated by Tom Hardy as that film's chief villain, Bane. He's planning to take The Wettest County in the World to the Venice Film Festival.  Enjoy the pics of Tom in rain-soaked London.

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Directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia! ) and written by Abi Morgan (Shame) The Iron Lady depicts Margaret Thatcher’s rise to power in Great Britain as she  breaks through the ‘glass ceiling’ of gender and class. The story focuses on the price that is paid for power, particularly by this extremely complex woman.

“THE IRON LADY is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century's most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world.”

Jim Broadbent plays her husband Denis Thatcher as most of know him. As a young man he’s played by Harry Lloyd (“Game of Thrones”) and when the trailer first opens, every time I see it, I think it’s Fred Armison’s face in the camera and I’m about to see a promo for “Portlandia”. The supporting cast includes Anthony Head, Iain Glen, Richard E. Grant, Nicholas Farrell and Olivia Coleman.

As much as I admire Meryl Streep and her chameleon like ability to transform herself and particularly her voice, into anything she wills, I’m not convinced, judging from the two trailers released, that she’s pulled off Margaret Thatcher. I still only see and in particular HEAR Meryl Streep. And that’s not right. As much as this woman has achieved and yet has only one Oscar, for Best Supporting Actress and not lead, under her belt, I’m still not convinced that this is the role for which the spell should be broken. Of course, what I think doesn’t matter. If ‘the powers that be’ have decided that this is her year, she’ll get it for her body of work, regardless of what I think.

The Iron Lady opens for its obligatory awards qualifying run in the US on December 30, 6^th January in the UK  and wide in the US on January 13.

We've got a lot of little tidbits that have been coming in lately, like great new images from flicks we've been talking about.

Here's a new Image from One for the Money with Katherine Heigl and Daniel Sunjata. Apparently she's impressed with the size of  his gun. Heigl plays Janet Evanovich's popular character, Stephanie Plum. The film opens Jan. 27 in the US and 24 Feb. in the UK.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is the story of a nine-year-old amateur inventor, jewelry designer, astrophysicist, tambourine player, and pacifist searches New York for the lock that matches a mysterious key left by his father when he was killed in the September 11 attacks. Thomas Horn plays Oskar, Sandra Bullock plays his mother. The film gets a limited release December 25.

The Iron Lady is a look at the life of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with a focus on the price she paid for power. It gets a limited release December 30.

I'm really looking forward to Red Tails. A crew of African American pilots, the "Tuskegee Airmen", having faced segregation while kept mostly on the ground during World War II, are called into duty under the guidance of Col. A.J. Bullard. The aerial shots look amazing. The film opens January 20 in the US.

Here's a first look at Matthew McConaughey in Mud, a drama centered on two teenage boys who encounter a fugitive and pact to help him escape from an island in the Mississippi. Also starring Reese Witherspoon and Michael Shannon and directed by Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter), it's not due out until 2013.

In one of the two versions of Dickens' Great Expectations now in production, Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) stars as Pip, alongside Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes.   Mike Newell directs. It's out sometime in 2012.

Last, but not least, we have a great new image from Disney/Pixar's Brave, featuring Lord MacGuffin, who will be voiced by Kevin McKidd. Set in Scotland in a rugged and mythical time, Brave features Merida, an aspiring archer and impetuous daughter of royalty. Merida makes a reckless choice that unleashes unintended peril and forces her to spring into action to set things right. It's out June 22.