Australian Academy lauds 'Artist'

"The Artist" took top picture, actor and directing honors at the first Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Intl. Awards Friday evening. Michel Hazanavicius was named best director at the inaugural ceremony, while "The Artist's" Jean Dujardin and "The Iron Lady's" Meryl Streep landed the acting nods. Voters were tied on screenplay honors, so awards went to both "Ides of March" and "Margin Call." AACTA prexy Geoffrey Rush announced the winners in five categories at an intimate West Hollywood ceremony at Soho House. "As our industry becomes a truly global entity, it is fitting that the new Australian Academy recognizes the industry's best, both at home and abroad," Rush said. Although the Australian Film Institute has been in existence for more than a half-century, the academy was created last summer as a professional offshoot and modeled after the branch structure of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "We're hoping it's the beginning of a great tradition," said AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella. Trewhella said AACTA has between 1,500 and 2,000 members and is looking to grow further. The group is also looking ahead to a second developmental phase, which includes opening an office in Los Angeles to promote Australian productions in the U.S. The AACTA Intl. Awards are designed to honor film excellence regardless of geography, as determined by a jury of Australian entertainment professionals. Contact Christy Grosz at christy.grosz@variety.com

Foreign exchange Boss on Coping with the "New" Charlie Sheen, Plans for Season 2 of yank Horror Story

Charlie Sheen, Jessica Lange Simply how much does Foreign exchange Leader and Gm John Landgraf find out about his network's approaching Charlie Sheen comedy Anger Management? Something he calls "a snippet from the narrative.Inch The show, a loose adaptation in the 2003 Adam Sandler-Jack Nicholson movie of the title, will premiere in June. Foreign exchange professionals have not yet go to a single script, but Landgraf mentioned he was convinced by advisable pitched simply with the kinder, gentler Sheen seen throughout the final number of several days on something from the media mea culpa tour. Sheen even switched up the other day to woo reporters inside a Fox TV event where he pronounced themselves lately "mellow." Foreign exchange buys Charlie Sheen's new sitcom Anger Management "In my opinion you saw a very different Charlie Sheen [only at that event] than you'd been seeing inside the press," Landgraf told reporters Sunday at FX's winter TV previews. "I saw that guy inside the room and a few things i heard will be a really excellent pitch for just about any comedy series -- funny, complicated, as well as the character that Charlie must be playing." In Anger Management, Sheen may have a man getting a checkered past together with an elaborate relationship along with his teenage daughter. Beyond that, Landgraf confesses he is doing not know very well what the show is. "All Let me tell you is I type in the process as positive after i can," he mentioned. "I don't believe it is a publicity stunt." Mostly like, according to Landgraf, the project values Sheen's past problems. "Personally, In my opinion when Charlie desires to get his house in order including his problems with substance abuse and also the problems with their very own family... which he desires to execute a show through which he, becoming an actor, has more complicatedly positive associations with women... my estimation is always that that's one really positive factor," Landgraf mentioned. "Not only for Charlie, but it is really an optimistic factor for society... I'm all for giving him the opportunity to show things around." Also to be fair, the show comes cheap to Foreign exchange, which acquired 10 episodes to series without going to an airplane pilot. Landgraf compares the company design, specific at back-finish distribution, to TBS' deal due to its Tyler Perry sitcoms. Because of that, "we not have a similar amount of creative input and control after we do over our other series," Landgraf mentioned. Anger Management will most likely run just like a companion for your network's highly rated reruns of two and a half Males. The American Horror Story finale: Ryan Murphy notifies us who's coming back for Season 2 For American Horror Story, which will start with scratch next season having a completely new cast and story, Landgraf mentioned audiences can invariably see some familiar faces. Series executive producers Ryan Murphy and Kaira Falchuk will be in conversations with two or three in the stars from Season 1 about returning for the show - in entirely different roles. To make sure that's truly the final you will notice in the Harmons, who all wound up - obligatory spoiler alert - dead and haunting the house happily ever after. Landgraf mentioned the network understood immediately the household wasn't extended for your living. "I realize that sounds crazy to people people who saw the pilot, but [Murphy and Falchuk] understood whatever they i did so and where they were going," he mentioned.

Dallas: We Never Preferred to Remake the first

Dallas After 21 many one of the finest TV high high cliff-wardrobe wardrobe hangers ever, Dallas returns to TV this June on TNT. Just don't call the completely new series a reboot or possibly a remake. "I possibly could not imagine developing a remake. We view it. There has been 357 episodes," Dallas executive producer Cynthia Cidre told reporters Saturday at TNT's winter TV previews. "It really made an appearance natural to get together with Ewing family 2 decades later." Once we return to Southfork, Bobby Ewing is happily re-married - to Desperate Housewives' Brenda Strong! -- and also the adopted boy, Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe) is wanting to push the Ewing family in to a new, more eco minded direction from oil. However, J.R.'s boy, John Ross (Josh Henderson), has different ideas in regards to the family business. Just just in case you're worried the brand new Dallas would lack conflict, John Ross' girlfriend Elena (Rapid as well as the Furious' Jordana Brewster) may also be Christopher's ex-fiancée. "[The script] honored all of the intricate facets of what Dallas was formerly, and basically, we've dropped in 2 decades later," executive producer Michael M. Robin mentioned. "The storytelling elements resemble.In . TNT releases dramatic new Dallas trailer Precisely how did producers lasso original stars Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray and Ray Hagman? "Focus on 80. The amount of people do you realize working at 80? Together with employment they love using those who they love," mentioned Hagman, who told everybody else that his current cancer treatments are "going along perfectly.Inch And as opposed to other refurbished series (à la Tori Spelling's blink-and-you-missed-it cameo round the new 90210), the returning original cast people aren't just back for nostalgia. "[This program] actually was to integrate them fully while using new cast. "It is not two separate story lines," Cidre mentioned. "Up to now we've experienced every episode, unless of course obviously Cynthia and Mike have plans we haven’t heard about,In . Duffy mentioned, who mentioned he's left his infamous shower-scene days behind him for your new kids. "The greater youthful people convey more stamina and they have a function inside the show, but we're here." (When asked for about the probability of more returning figures, particularly Bobby Ewing's ex-wife Pam (Victoria Principal), producers appeared open to the idea when the series remove. "I am unsure yet," Cidre mentioned. "We create it one season at any time and hopefully we'll get yourself a second season.") Keck's Exclusives: TNT's Dallas for everybody up more Lucy and Ray Although Metcalfe, Henderson as well as the relaxation in the beginners won't obtain that same understanding of audiences since the returning vets, they aren't worried about winning inside the fans. "Our figures derive from who they may be. Just of who Christopher it's part of Bobby, as well as the do i think the John Ross and J.R.," Metcalfe mentioned. "We're generation x that's moving people timeless styles" of avarice and love. Precisely how will producers ensure nothing overlaps while using series' original run? More often than not there's someone watching. "Immediately, I never preferred to violate something which had really happened," Cidre mentioned. "After we are generating a choice within our, someone is researching all 357 episodes. You need to recognition the first show as well as the original conception." Up to now it seems they isn't getting too much of times approaching with new material. "After 13 years, she provided my first slap," Hagman taunted about Gray. "You weren't made to hear that," she added, "nevertheless it was great!" Will you watch the completely new Dallas?

Watercooler: One Tree Hill's Last Stand

Richard Burgi, Sophia Rose rose bush It's the beginning of the conclusion and we are uncomfortable with this.Even though some people can experience that particular Tree Hill has happened its prime, you'll find people diehard fans who still think existence inside the small town that managed to get the WB-CW merger might have to go the like. Like Celine Dion's heart. Simply with super-sensitive voice-overs and crazy baby caregivers.For people individuals who up-to-date towards the final season's premiere last evening, that belief only agreed to be compounded with the pile of tales that have been created help drive this last batch of episodes. Inside the opening three minutes alone, we have got costly-posted glimpses of mayhem later on that could fuel an entire tenth season. Within the shot of Serta loading a gun alongside Chris Keller and also the Jimmy Neutron hair for the mental issues driving Clay's sleepwalking, it's apparent there's a still lot happening using these figures, numerous whom happen to be around since Day 1 (yay, Brooke and Haley!), some we're finally starting to love (that could be you, Chase). Being completely honest, an entire episode of Brooke driving around while using twins, narrating her feelings about maturing in Tree Hill would not be an undesirable factor whatsoever. She, greater than anybody, is promoting most likely probably the most which we lovelovelove Sophia Rose rose bush.But alas, the show's fate remains sealed, so we'll have to be pleased with what executive producer Mark Schwahn calls "a 13-part miniseries" which will be "somewhat deeper and a little more questionable." What do i mean? May be that people are gonna see some type of body count just before the finale (and not because of that clip of Haley identifying a look and feel inside the morgue or perhaps the gossips of Nathan's kidnapping). Important figures have remaining formerly and taking into consideration the quantity of wackadoos came and gone, a few deaths could create some serious lather for your soap's swan song. Which, knowing this show's killer type of music, will likely be some awesome emo ballad set with a montage of moments we'll remember.Are you currently presently sticking while using show 'til the conclusion? Or are you currently presently inside the Hill?Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

'The Hunger Games' Unscripted: Ask Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Banks a Question!

The odds are in your favor, 'Hunger Games' fanatics. On Wednesday, Jan. 11 in Los Angeles, Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Banks -- better known to you as Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark and Effie Trinket -- will participate in Moviefone's patented Unscripted. That means they'll be answering your questions, big and small, about 'The Hunger Games'! Before you faint from excitement, leave your burning query in the comment module below! 'Hunger Games' fans will have until Monday at 8 p.m. EST to ask a question. Check back to Moviefone closer to the 'Hunger Games' release date in March to see the completed video. Starring Lawrence, Hutcherson, Banks, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland, 'The Hunger Games' hits theaters on March 23. Can't see the EventBox? Click Here.Voices Heard Media [Photo: Lionsgate] 'The Hunger Games' Photos See All Moviefone Galleries » Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Tony Blankley dies at 63

Tony Blankley, a conservative author who served as press secretary to Newt Gingrich during the 1990s, provided political commentary for CNN, NBC and NPR and appeared as a regular panelist on "The McLaughlin Group," died Saturday night in Washington, D.C. He was 63 and had been suffering from stomach cancer.During a long career as a political operative and pundit, Blankley was a spokesman for and adviser to Gingrich from 1990-97. Gingrich became House Speaker when Republicans took control of the U.S. House of Representatives following the 1994 midterm elections.Earlier, Blankley spent six years in the Reagan administration in a variety of positions.From 2002-07, he served as editorial page editor of the Washington Times. In recent years, he also wrote a syndicated newspaper column and served as a political commentator for both radio and TV. Born in London, Blankley moved to California with his parents as a child and became a naturalized American citizen. He worked as a child actor in the 1950s, appearing in such TV shows as "Lassie" and "Highway Patrol" and playing Rod Steiger's son in the movie "The Harder They Fall."Blankley is survived by his wife, Lynda Davis, and three children. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

An Evening With 'My Week With Marilyn'

An Evening With 'My Week With Marilyn' January 5, 2012 Photo by Laurence Cendrowicz/The Weinstein Company Back Stage and the SAG Foundation invite you to An Evening With"My Week With Marilyn" in Los Angeles. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with actors Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh.The screening will be Friday, January 6 at 7 p.m. at the Harmony Gold Theatre, 7655 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. Free parking is available.To attend, please email EveningWith@backstage.com with "Marilyn" in the subject header. Indicate if you plan on bringing a guest. This event is free, but we overbook to ensure capacity so please arrive early. You will not receive a response until the event is full."My Week With Marilyn" has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Picture. Stars Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh have both received SAG Award nominations and Golden Globe nominations for their work in the movie.In the early summer of 1956, 23 year-old Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), just down from Oxford and determined to make his way in the film business, worked as a lowly assistant on the set of 'The Prince and the Showgirl'. The film that famously united Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), who was also on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Aurthur Miller (Dougray Scott). Nearly 40 years on, his diary account The Prince, the Showgirl and Me was published, but one week was missing and this was published some years later as My Week with Marilyn - this is the story of that week. When Arthur Miller leaves England, the coast is clear for Colin to introduce Marilyn to some of the pleasures of British life; an idyllic week in which he escorted a Monroe desperate to get away from her retinue of Hollywood hangers-on and the pressures. An Evening With 'My Week With Marilyn' January 5, 2012 PHOTO CREDIT Laurence Cendrowicz/The Weinstein Company Back Stage and the SAG Foundation invite you to An Evening With"My Week With Marilyn" in Los Angeles. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with actors Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh.The screening will be Friday, January 6 at 7 p.m. at the Harmony Gold Theatre, 7655 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. Free parking is available.To attend, please email EveningWith@backstage.com with "Marilyn" in the subject header. Indicate if you plan on bringing a guest. This event is free, but we overbook to ensure capacity so please arrive early. You will not receive a response until the event is full."My Week With Marilyn" has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Picture. Stars Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh have both received SAG Award nominations and Golden Globe nominations for their work in the movie.In the early summer of 1956, 23 year-old Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), just down from Oxford and determined to make his way in the film business, worked as a lowly assistant on the set of 'The Prince and the Showgirl'. The film that famously united Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), who was also on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Aurthur Miller (Dougray Scott). Nearly 40 years on, his diary account The Prince, the Showgirl and Me was published, but one week was missing and this was published some years later as My Week with Marilyn - this is the story of that week. When Arthur Miller leaves England, the coast is clear for Colin to introduce Marilyn to some of the pleasures of British life; an idyllic week in which he escorted a Monroe desperate to get away from her retinue of Hollywood hangers-on and the pressures.

Amanda Seyfried Offered L'ensemble des Mis' Cosette

And Taylor Quick might be EponineWith the time ticking lower ever faster towards the planned release date of his ambitious movie musical version of L'ensemble des Miserables, director Tom Hooper is searching to complete up filling the rest of the key parts for that film. And today comes word from Twitch that Amanda Seyfried and singer Taylor Quick happen to be offered the roles of Cosette and Eponine.Cosette, obviously, is among the major roles within the plot. The grown daughter of Fantine (Hathaway As Catwoman), she's the lady that Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) rescues and switches into. She also eventually ends up inside a love triangular with driven student Marius (Eddie Redmayne) and Eponine (Quick, presuming she signs).Neither artist is within, let alone finishing, formal discussions yet, but they are certainly interesting options. Quick is well-established within the record companies but has rarely behaved her only true film credit is small role one of the ensemble of Valentine's. Seyfried, meanwhile, includes a well-established acting CV but Hooper may also be searching to tap another of her abilities: her opera training.Yes, whispers happen to be flying the director is striving to possess his cast sing their musical amounts live rather than mouthing along to pre-recorded material. We'll find out if that pans out.With Russell Crowe also within the cast as determined lawman Javert (who tracks Valjean over time chronicled within the film), Hooper is searching to start shooting in Feb.

Nets focus their wares at winter TCA

Kiefer Sutherland returns to Fox using the new series 'Touch.'NBC's musical drama 'Smash' debuts the next day of the Super Bowl.HBO's new equine-racing series, 'Luck,' stars Dustin Hoffman.ABC's midseason records range from the new drama 'The River.'NBC has got the most on the line using its midseason efforts, but all the broadcast nets is going to be struggling to get that promotion because the semiannual dog-and-pony show referred to as Television Experts Assn. tour starts its winter gathering in Pasadena on Wednesday. Running through Jan. 15, TCA begins having a two-day presentation by PBS prior to the tv stations begin their parade, using the nets keen to convince journos their approaching series would be the next large factor.NBC, together with ABC, has got the most midseason shows to tout. However with the Peacock inside a much harder predicament compared to resurgent Alphabet, network topper Bob Greenblatt come in salesperson mode, marketing NBC's new shows that has a lot at risk. The internet arrived to fall rich in wants "Prime Suspect" and "The Playboy Club," each of which were canceled, and comedies "Whitney" and "Up Through The Night," that have carried out adequately but been not even close to outbreaks.Now, nothing might be more essential this midseason to NBC than coming back reality skein "The Voice" and rookie drama "Smash" -- premiering the evening of and next day of the Super Bowl, correspondingly -- using the idol judges and casts from both series on stage to create awareness. "The Firm," in line with the John Grisham novel, also is a major element of NBC's midseason sked, and also the internet thinks Jason Isaacs starrer "Awake" may bring in sci-fi auds that won't have started to NBC previously.To tubthump its choices, the Peacock will throw a night time soiree around the CalTech campus Friday prior to the NBCUniversal cablers dominate the TCA tour on Saturday.Next is Fox, that will turn to gain some traction for newbie series and Kiefer Sutherland starrer "Touch," "Bones" spinoff "The Finder" and "Alcatraz," from professional producer J.J. Abrams.While network leader Kevin Reilly required a far more reasoned approach in the summer time TCA in Beverly Hillsides concerning the new fall shows, Simon Cowell told participants then he expected "The American Idol ShowInch-like amounts for "The X Factor." That clearly put "X Factor" within the crosshairs of TV journos. Knowing that, Reilly will probably be confident selling his new wares but will not oversell.With Monday devoted to ABC's kids, news and daytime divisions, Paul Lee will require happens Tuesday loaded with full confidence following a very healthy fall. Alphabet has been doing well with drama hits "Revenge" and "Not so long ago" in addition to comedy newcomer "Suburgatory."Midseason records for ABC include three dramas -- "The Stream,Inch "GCB" and "Scandal" -- and comedy "Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23." Internet will even provide a comedy showrunner panel, with "Modern Family," "The Center,Inch "Suburgatory" and "Happy Being," in addition to a panel devoted to "Desperate Average women," that will sign off in May.CBS makes TCA because the most powerful broadcast internet and does not cash to provide in midseason. Although prexy Nina Tassler may get onstage and just crow concerning the Eye's perf -- "2 . 5 Males" relaunched itself because the top comedy as a whole audiences and "2 Broke Women" looks to become a long term player -- Tassler, with little a new comer to promote, has made the decision to not engage participants within an professional session.Corporate brothers and sisters CW and Showtime will share Jan. 12 before cable shuts the festivities Jan. 13-15. Cinemax, inside a rare morning session as well as forgoing an professional panel, will tubthump a number of new series. Pay cabler has lots of heavyweight talent of display, including Dustin Hoffman ("Luck"), Nicole Kidman (telepic "Hemingway & Gellhorn") and Erectile dysfunction Harris and Julianne Moore, who play John McCain and Sarah Palin within the TV movie "Game Change."Other cable sections that may generate interest and may prove lively discussions include "Dallas" on TNT, Kevin Smith's "Comic Males" for AMC and Louis C.K.'s sitdown for his self-entitled Forex skein. Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com