Movies

Jake Gyllenhaal says almost everybody in society ought to relate to his new movie 'Nightcrawlers'.
The eagerly-awaited film concerns those people who monitor police scanners and then race to crime scenes to film eye-catching incidents before selling the footage to TV news channels.
Gyllenhaal argues that society is complicit in this activity, explaining to the Guardian newspaper: "I equate it with fast food. We all know [it's] bad for us. But people demand it ... This narrative of fear and this spinning of news has a great detrimental effect."
The 33-year-old actor said it's important people remain aware of this issue, warning of the potential impact of "these images ... coming at us so fast and so graphically. It can have a negative effect on us."
Meanwhile, the movie's writer-director Dan Gilroy - whose previous work includes 'The Bourne Legacy' - explained that he's witnessed so-called nightcrawlers at first hand.
He said: "We get there and three young girls had been ejected from a [speeding] car. Our technical adviser [a nightcrawler himself] ... got out of our car and filmed it. Within five minutes, he'd sold the footage for several thousand dollars to the local station. Next night, we saw [several] fatalities. This is just night-time in LA."
He added that while the upcoming film may exaggerate some aspects of nightcrawling, it's not far removed from the reality.

Sigourney Weaver loses roles because of her height.
The 'Prometheus' star admits some directors are reluctant to cast her in their movies because, at 6ft tall, she would tower over her male co-stars.
She said: "I've been lucky with my career. When I started, hardly anybody wanted to hire a woman who was six feet tall.
"What man wants to spend their days on set standing on an apple box just to be able to look into my eyes? A lot of directors decided to pass on hiring me."
Sigourney got her big break starring as Ellen Ripley in 'Alien' and admits it was an unusual step for her to make as she had previously been such a "snob" about movies and only wanted to work on stage.
She told Britain's HELLO! magazine: "Ripley gave me a career. Without her, my life would have taken a different direction.
"I was a real snob at times and didn't really want to do cinema. All I really wanted to do was theatre."
And despite the lasting popularity of the sci-fi series, the actress doesn't want to be thought of as a legend.
She said: "I don't feel comfortable being called a legend or a star. I'm thankful for being able to provide a good living for my family but I can do without the fame part."

Tom Hardy, Ryan Gosling and Will Smith are close to signing on for new superhero movie 'Suicide Squad', according to reports. The trio of actors are in negotiations with Warner Bros. about lead roles in the DC Comics adventure as well as actress Margo...

Robert Downey Jr. took home a 30 foot letter 'A' from the set of 'The Avengers'.
The 49-year-old actor likes to collect props from his films as mementos to remind him of his movies, and he recently received a gigantic letter 'A' that he joked he wanted when he was filming the 2012 hit movie 'The Avengers'.
He told UK station BBC Radio 1: "On the last Avengers, there's this scene where there's this 'A' which is probably 30 feet tall, and I'm looking at it, and we're shooting in England, and I go 'I need that in my office in Venice'.
"About two weeks ago, a wheeler showed up, I'm like 'What the heck is this doing here?!' And they go, 'This is the 'A' you asked for.' And I go, 'They brought it?!' So now we have a massive Avengers 'A' that will be prominently placed."
Although he likes to collect props, Downey admits he was disappointed not to get an armoured suit from the set of any of the three 'Iron Man' films.
When asked if he still had the iconic costume, he said: "That's a tough commodity, I have some helmets!"
The Golden Globe winner was appearing on the station to promote his new movie 'The Judge' and explained that he enjoyed playing his character, Hank, as it is not a character which audiences would expect from him.
He added: "What I wanted to do was set it up an expectation that this is going to be something you're familiar with, me playing the kind of character you're familiar with, and over the course of three acts, just punch that idea in the stomach."

Shailene Woodley says filming sex scenes is always awkward.
The 22-year-old actress has a number of raunchy scenes in Gregg Araki's upcoming drama-thriller 'White Bird in a Blizzard' - including one in which her character Kat loses her virginity - and she's confessed she doesn't think there's anything actors can do to avoid the awkwardness.
She explained: "It's always an awkward situation when you have to pretend to be intimate with someone that you're not actually intimate with ... I think the awkwardness probably lends itself to these great virginity scenes."
Woodley's co-star Shiloh Fernandez (Phil), however, claims he didn't find shooting the scenes uncomfortable and admits he even enjoyed the cringey action.
He told the New York Post newspaper: "It was really just sort of fun for us to dive into this and just laugh at the whole silliness of not having anything sexual happen, and having to wear these pads on your private areas."
'White Bird in a Blizzard' premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year and is released in cinemas worldwide later this month.

Warwick Davis has been cast in 'Star Wars Episode VII'.
Director J.J. Abrams has brought in the 44-year-old actor to appear in the hotly-anticipated sequel to join returning actors Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher as well as new faces John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac.
The announcement was made on the official 'Star Wars' YouTube account with Warwick posting a spoof video - titled "Will Warwick Davis Appear in Star Wars Episode VII?" - showing him waiting months by his phone for a call from Abrahams, 'growing' a beard as he waits for an offer.
When he finally gets the call, the actor is heard saying on the line: "Hello Warwick Davis. Yes J.J. hi. Would I like to appear in 'Star Wars: Episode VII'? Let me think about it. Just got to check the diary, yep good. Pinewood, yeah I'll be right there. May the force be with you."
As he hangs up, Warwick shouts out "yes!" in excitement.
His casting has sparked speculation he could reprise his role as Wicket the Ewok, who he played in the final film of the original trilogy 'Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi'.
Warwick - who also portrayed Wicket in two TV spin-off movies 'The Ewok Adventure' and 'Ewoks: The Battle for Endor' - also appeared in prequel 'Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace' playing the character Wald, who was childhood friends with the young Anakin Skywalker.
Shooting on the new film is currently taking place at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, South East England.

James Cameron says it could be fun to "completely re-invent" 'Terminator'.
The famed film director - who was responsible for the original 1984 film 'The Terminator' starring Arnold Schwarzenegger - has hinted that he might revisit the franchise once 'Terminator: Genisys' is completed.
Talking to Empire magazine, James said: "I haven't really thought that far ahead yet. I've got plenty of time to think about it. It might be fun to completely re-invent the franchise. A lot has to do with what happens in the meantime, people may have 'Terminator' fatigue."
Regarding the new 'Terminator' movie, which is due out in 2015, James added that he isn't concerned with how this film could affect his 'Terminator' legacy.
He said: "It's not my problem! It's like being a grandparent, the kids come over and you can send them back. When I walked away from the franchise, I had to do it with the sense that I can invest in emotion. To me, it's all upside, because if it's good, it's good for Arnold."
He then added that he has every faith in the new film's writer Laeta Kalogridis.
James told the magazine: "I hoping it's great. I'd like them to get it right, and based on the script that I read there's a pretty good chance that it could. It looks like it could be fun."

Guillermo del Toro says Ron Perlman is his "good luck charm".
The 50-year-old director has worked with the actor on several occasions - most famously on the 'Hellboy' films - and cast him as Xibalba, ruler of the Land of the Forgotten, in his new animated movie 'The Book of Life'.
Guillermo - who produced the film - insists Ron is one of his favourite actors to work with because the 64-year-old actor inspires his work.
Speaking to ShortList magazine, he said: "I cast Ron (in 'The Book of Life') simply because he can do anything. I've worked with him repeatedly, and he's almost a good luck charm to me. He gets cast as these heavies, but he can do comedy so well. I thought he was perfect for Xibalba. Ron is so good at that blend of charm and creepiness. I'm a better writer when I write for him."
Guillermo wanted to make 'The Book of Life' - which also features Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube voicing characters - to introduce some of his home country Mexico's lesser known folklore to an international audience.
He said: "In 'The Book of Life', I wanted to show the Mexico that isn't out of a tourist guide, but has the explosion of light and sound you get when you go to the country. There's an incredibly rich folklore that's not explored often in cinema - we have two supernatural characters in the film that embody it. One is La Muerte, a personification of death, and the other is Xibalba, inspired by the idea of hell in southern Mexico that's survived from Mayan times. It's fascinating how the old magical ideas of death and the afterlife were merged with the influence of Spanish Catholicism."

'Interstellar' is an "evolution" in filmmaking for Christopher Nolan.
The acclaimed director assembled an all-star cast for the movie - which follows a team of space travellers as they go through a wormhole - and despite the scale of the production, its star Matthew McConaughey insists it is very "intimate".
He said: "Nobody is able to put more scope, scale, awe on screen than Chris.
"But I think he was wanting to take the next step, toward something more intimate. It was an evolution."
For the director, who wrote the script with his brother Jonathan, he wanted to make an "honest" film about "human nature" and the way people interact.
He explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly magazine: "The film is about human nature, what it means to be human. It sounds like a very grand statement, but I don't intend it to be. I mean it in the way, say, 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre' is about dramatising ideas of human nature.
"When you take an audience far away from human experience as possible, you wind up focusing very tightly on human nature and how we are connected to each other. What the film tries to do is to be very honest in that appraisal."