by Brendan Bettinger^[1]    Posted:February 22nd, 2012 at 9:29 pm

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Jennifer Aniston was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday.

Her Just Go With It co-star Adam Sandler and Wanderlust castmates Malin Akerman and Kathryn Hahn were among those saluting the former Friends star at the ceremony as her boyfriend and Wanderlust co-star Justin Theroux and father, actor John Aniston, looked on.

Unveiling her star, the actress said, “It feels very surreal to be honest. I was born here and it’s sort of something you went and saw as a kid and got excited about just walking and seeing the names. To imagine that you’re going to be there is really special. It’s fun.”

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We have three new posters to share with you:

• Wanderlust^[1] – One last poster before the Paul Rudd/Jennifer Aniston comedy hits theaters this Friday, February 24.
• Starlet^[2] – A smoky shot of Dree Hemingway to promote the SXSW premiere.
• 2 Days in New York^[3] – The French one-sheet for Julie Delpy‘s follow-up to 2 Days in Paris; in addition to directing, Delpy stars opposite Chris Rock.

Hit the jump for the posters and more information on each project.

I liked the last collaboration between Rudd and director David Wain, Wanderlust.  The supporting cast is great, too: Justin Theroux, Alan Alda, Malin Akerman, Ken Marino, Joe Lo Truglio, Kathryn Hahn, Lauren Ambrose, Jordan Peele, Kerri Kinney.  But there’s nothing about this particular material that draws me in, so I have been eagerly awaiting the first reviews.  They are starting to come in, and thank god, it’s good.

Official synopsis:

George (Rudd) and Linda (Aniston) are an overextended, stressed out Manhattan couple.  After George is downsized out of his job, they find themselves with only one option: to move in with George’s awful brother in Atlanta.

On the way there, George and Linda stumble upon Elysium, an idyllic community populated by colorful characters who embrace a different way of looking at things.   Money?  It can’t buy happiness.  Careers?  Who needs them?  Clothes?  Only if you want them.

Is Elysium the fresh start George and Linda need?  Or will the change of perspective cause more problems than it solves?

Dree Hemingway and Besedka Johnson star in Sean Baker‘s drama Starlet, which will have its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in March.  Baker co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Bergoch about “the peculiar friendship between a 21-year-old girl and an 85-year-old woman in the San Fernando Valley.” Stella Maeve, James Ransone and Karren Karagulian co-star.  Poster via THR^[4]:

Official synopsis:

STARLET explores the unlikely friendship between 21 year-old Jane (Dree Hemingway), and 85 year-old Sadie (Besedka Johnson), two women whose worlds collide in California’s San Fernando Valley. Jane spends her time getting high with her dysfunctional roommates, Melissa and Mikey, while taking care of her Chihuahua, Starlet. Sadie, an elderly widow, passes her days alone, tending to her flower garden.

After a confrontation between the two women at Sadie’s yard sale, Jane uncovers a hidden stash of money inside a relic from Sadie’s past. Jane attempts to befriend the caustic older woman in an effort to solve her dilemma and secrets emerge as their relationship grows.

2 Days in New York premiered to positive reviews at the Sundance Film Festival in January.  The film will hit French theaters in March.  For us here on the other side of the ocean, Magnolia will release 2 Days in New York on VOD and in North American theaters later this year.  Poster via Allocine^[5]:

The synopsis:

Writer/director Julie Delpy follows-up her 2007 comedy 2 Days in Paris with this tale of a happy couple who finds their comfortable relationship put to the test during an tumultuous family visit. Marion (Delpy) and Mingus (Chris Rock) both come from failed relationships. But by bringing their children together, they’ve managed to form a small yet happy family. Tensions in their household soon begin to spike, however, when Marion’s jovial father (Albert Delpy – the director’s real-life father) show up on their doorstep with his randy daughter and her peculiar boyfriend in tow. Later, as the motor-mouthed houseguests shatter every taboo imaginable, the happy couple begins to question their commitment. [MSN^[6]]

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Michael Jackson’s former physicist Dr. Conrad Murray has filed new legal papers he hopes will help land him back in court to prove his tragic patient died from financial stress.

Murray claims his manslaughter conviction should be overturned on the grounds that the judge should have allowed him to prove the King of Pop was so stressed out he recklessly gambled on his life by self-administering a fatal dose of anaesthetic Propofol.

The doctor has been fighting for his freedom ever since he was jailed last year.

In his new documents, obtained by TMZ.com, he states, “Mr. Jackson was in debt approximately $ 440 million and desperately needed to fulfill a contractual commitment at the O2 arena in London.”

His lawyers continue, “He (Jackson) was on the verge of losing his entire estate to foreclosure. The pressure to fight through his insomnia, to rehearse and be the entertainer he was in his earlier years was overwhelming.

“His motivation and resulting desperation were relevant to show a likelihood or reason to act in a manner inconsistent with good judgment.”

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Although it’s been two years since The Weinstein Co. picked up the Swedish thriller, Snabba Cash, the movie finally has a release date of July 27^th. Directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House), the film (being released as Easy Money) is based on a novel by Swedish author Jens Lapidus and follows a taxi driver (Joel Kinnaman) in Stockholm who gets caught up in a drug-running operation. The novel itself was at the heart of the film’s release delay because the English translation is only just arriving on American shores this April. Pointing to the success of the Stieg Larsson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) books and banking on the box-office magic of Espinosa’s Safe House, Harvey Weinstein hopes the wait will be worth it. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.^[1][2][3]

The LA Times^[4] reported on Snabba Cash/Easy Money’s new release date. The film had previously gone to the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, but then disappeared without further progress. In regards to the delay, Weinstein had this to say:

“We love the movie, but we needed the book to be out here. We were getting mixed messages on the publishing.”

It doesn’t hurt that Safe House is currently experiencing a successful box office run and Weinstein will be able to use that fact in marketing Easy Money:

“Audiences that see Safe House don’t necessarily go to  see a Scandinavian-subtitled movie. But we still feel the movie could do well for a foreign-language picture. It could make four or five million dollars.”

If successful, there’s the possibility of Easy Money turning into a trilogy, something alluded to by AMC’s The Killing star, Kinnaman in a previous interview with Steve^[5]. Look for Easy Money on July 27th.

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We’ve got a couple of TV casting stories to share with you this evening. First up, Superman Returns star Brandon Routh, Elizabeth Regen (The Professional), and Lucy Davis (Shaun of the Dead) have joined the CBS half-hour comedy pilot Partners. The multi-camera show comes from Will & Grace creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan and centers on two lifelong friends and business partners Charlie, who’s straight and Louis, who’s gay. Michael Urie plays Louis and Deadline^[1] reports that Routh will play Louis’ partner, “a former alcoholic, club hopping model, now a sober, vegan nurse.” Sadly, the nurse is devoid of any vegan-infused superpowers.

Regen will play Ro-Ro, Charlie and Louis’ colorful assistant while Davis (who starred on the original British version of The Office) will play a bookkeeper for Charlie’s fiancé, played by Sophia Bush. Routh is no stranger to the small screen as he had a memorable recurring character on NBC’s Chuck, and I think his infectious charm suits him well for this role. Hit the jump for casting news concerning The Hangover star Justin Bartha joining Ryan Murphy’s high-profile comedy pilot.

Additionally, Glee/American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy has found his two other leads for the half-hour comedy pilot The New Normal^[2]. The series is described as “a heartwarming comedy about a blended family of a gay couple, Bryan and David, a gynecologist, and a woman, cash-strapped waitress and mother of one Goldie, who becomes a surrogate to help them have a child. Book of Mormon star Andrew Rannells is already set as Bryan, and Deadline^[3] reports that Justin Bartha will play David while Scottish actress Georgia King is poised to play Goldie.

Murphy co-wrote the pilot with Ali Adler, and Ellen Barkin is set to appear as Goldie’s mother. There’s no guarantee that the single-camera comedy will go to series, but I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet given Murphy’s “God of Television” status as of late. Murphy’s great at coming up with novel ideas for series, but his long-term execution generally becomes spotty. Nip/Tuck crashed and burned after a few seasons, and Glee has been suffering creatively for quite a while now. Hopefully Adler will have a solid hand in the show should it go to series in order to keep it from going full-on soap too quickly.

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David Cross opened up to Playboy about his cocaine use at a White House Correspondents’ Dinner, telling the magazine that he only snorted a small amount of the drug — and did it more for the principle than the high.

“It wasn’t even that much cocaine,” the actor/comedian recalled of the 2009 incident, which has been, um, buzzed about in the rumor mill over the past few years.

Cross estimates that he was some 65 feet away from Obama when he hoovered up the go-go powder.

“It was literally the size of, I don’t know, a tick. It was a tiny granule of coke that I put on my wrist and said, ‘Watch this. I need a witness.’ And then I ducked under the table and did it. It wasn’t like I got high. The jolt was similar to licking an empty espresso cup.”

According to Cross, “It was just about being able to say that I did it, that I did cocaine in the same room as the president,” Cross said. “I’m not proud of it, nor am I ashamed of it.”

Cross — who’s gearing up to reprise his role as Tobias Funke in the “Arrested Development” revival set first as a series for Netflix, then a theatrical movie — has admitted to the incident in the past, though he hasn’t previously addressed it in as much detail.

Cross attended the dinner as a guest of his girlfriend, actress Amber Tamblyn.

Cross’s only regret from the incident, he told Playboy, was that Tamblyn got “in trouble by association.

“I was her date, her plus-one, and she got dragged through the mud because of what I did,” Cross laments. “She had nothing to do with it. She didn’t know I was going to do it. And because of that she’ll never be invited to the White House again. That’s not cool.”

Cross and Obama would seem to have a bit in common, aside from proximity at the Correspondents’ Dinner; in his 1995 book “Dreams From My Father,” the president admitted to using marijuana and cocaine, saying that he did “maybe a little blow.”

JAM! Showbiz

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Sacha Baron Cohen is not someone you would describe as uncontroversial. Now, his over-the-top antics may have gotten him banned from the 84^th Annual Academy Awards. He’s been a British hip-hop artist (Ali G Indahouse), a Kazakhstani immigrant (Borat) and a flamboyant Austrian fashionista (Bruno), each one more polarizing than the last. Apparently his new character from The Dictator, General Aladeen, is not welcome at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ annual awards show. Hit the jump to find out what got The Dictator banned and to see why this might all just boil down to a publicity stunt one way or another.^[1][2]

Deadline^[3] reported on the MPAA’s withholding of Cohen’s tickets to this year’s Academy Awards. Cohen, who is known for doing live stunts in character to drum up interest in his movies, had petitioned the Academy to allow him to strut the red carpet as The Dictator. Rather than simply turning down the idea, they had reportedly banned him from the show, even though Cohen’s movie, Hugo^[4], is up for eleven nominations, including Best Picture^[5]. An insider from the Academy summed it up nicely as follows:

“Unless they’re assured that nothing entertaining is going to happen on the Red Carpet, the Academy is not admitting Sacha Baron Cohen to the show.”

Without Cohen in attendance, “nothing entertaining” is exactly what the Academy will get. However, THR^[6] is reporting that the Academy hasn’t yet banned Cohen, they’re just waiting him out. So says an Academy spokesperson:

“We don’t think it’s appropriate. But his tickets haven’t been pulled. We’re waiting to hear back.”

On one hand, if the Academy allows Cohen to publicize his movie, they’ll open the door for others to do it in the future. Only this year, they made an exception to let movie-related advertising run during their commercial breaks. Then again, I’m reminded of Ben Stiller dressed full-out in an Avatar costume, complete with blue makeup. So where is the line to be drawn?

Except for the return of Billy Crystal to the host’s podium^[7], the broadcast is unlikely to contain any surprises, either in the scheduled program of events or in the winners’ bracket. Perhaps this is all just a stunt dreamed up by Cohen and the Academy to up the shock value when General Aladeen makes an uninvited appearance, but that may be too much excitement to hope for. Starring Cohen, Ben Kingsley, John C. Reilly, and Anna Faris, The Dictator opens May 11th.

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LOS ANGELES – Judy Garland’s ruby red slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” have found their way home.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said on Wednesday it had acquired one of the four known surviving pairs of the iconic shoes made for the 1939 movie, with the help of Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg.

The shoes, regarded as one of the world’s best-known film props, are believed to have been worn by Garland’s character Dorothy when she clicked her heels three times to return to Kansas from the fantasy land of Oz near the end of the movie.

The slippers were previously due to be sold by Los Angeles auction house Profiles in History in December, with an estimated selling price of $ 2-$ 3 million. But auction house officials said they did not sell at that time.

The academy, which organizes the annual Oscar awards, said that DiCaprio and Spielberg had headed a group of “angel donors“ to purchase the shoes for a museum planned by the academy.

Academy officials declined to say how much was paid. A pair of red test slippers for “The Wizard of Oz” from the Hollywood collection of actress Debbie Reynolds sold for $ 612,000 in May 2011.

“Leo’s passionate leadership has helped us bring home this legendary piece of movie history,” added academy chief executive officer Dawn Hudson. “It’s a wonderful gift to the Academy museum project, and a perfect representation of the work we do year-round to preserve and share our film heritage.”

DiCaprio, star of “Titanic” and “Inception”, donated money from his own foundation. Other donors included Spielberg and former Warner Bros. and Yahoo! Chairman Terry Semel.

The shoes, marked #7 Judy Garland, are said to be the most pristine of the four pairs of slippers known to exist. One pair is in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C., one is in private hands and another was stolen from the Judy Garland museum in Minnesota.

The academy and the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts announced plans in October to establish a museum to display movie-related treasures.

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Production is currently underway on director Gore Verbinski’s big-budget iteration of The Lone Ranger^[1], and a last minute casting addition has been made. Given that the film was put on hold for a bit while Verbinski and Disney retooled the budget, the production schedule was pushed back. As a result, Dwight Yoakam was forced to drop out^[2] of the pic last week. While I’m sad to see Yoakam go, I think Verbinski’s found a suitable replacement. Deadline^[3] reports that William Fichtner (Drive Angry) will fill the bad guy role that Yoakam had previously been set to play.

Fichtner is a terrific character actor who’s had memorable turns in everything from The Dark Knight to Black Hawk Down. Johnny Depp is set as Tonto with Armie Hammer playing the titular Ranger. Fichtner joins a cast that now includes Helena Bonham Carter, Ruth Wilson, James Frain, and Tom Wilkinson. The actor recently wrapped a role in Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium^[4] opposite Matt Damon. The Lone Ranger opens May 31st.

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