Movie News: Thursday, November 30

Inland Empire
    ( Release: Dec. 6, 2006   Rated: Rating Pending    Details | Photos  ) — Even with previous mind-benders like Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, director David Lynch out weirds himself with Inland Empire. Two Lynchian veterans, Laura Dern and Justin Theroux, are actors starring in a movie who fall in love and can't figure out if they're real people or if they're the characters they're supposed to be playing. Intercut this with hallucinogenic non sequiters like a sitcom starring bunny people and a traipse through a bleak Polish landscape and you've got a David Lynch movie like no other.

Days of Glory
    ( Release: Dec. 6, 2006   Rated: Rating Pending    Details | Photos  ) — During WWII, four idealistic North African men join the French army to defeat the Nazi menace, but they soon find they have a second enemy they must fight: The discrimination against them by the French soldiers they're trying to help.

Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj
    ( Release: Dec. 1, 2006   Avg. Score: 0/5     Details | Tickets | Trailers | Photos | Reviews  ) — There's more wild partying and mayhem when Taj (Kal Penn) from the first Van Wilder film travels to England to teach a few snooty Oxford University students how to overcome their natural reticence.

Heavies pull weight in actor nominations (Reuters)
   

Reuters - Lead or supporting actor? That is the question that various awards groups as well as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are turning their attention to as "for your consideration" season gets under way.

"Penguins" march Hallmark to its best day ever (Reuters)
   Reuters - Hallmark Channel's big movie acquisition paid off during the weekend as "March of the Penguins" drew strong numbers for the network.

Clooney books two crime projects for 2008 (Reuters)
   

Reuters - George Clooney has signed on to two high-profile projects with Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Independent Pictures.

Selma Blair Legally Divorced (E! Online)
   

E! Online - Selma Blair and Ahmet Zappa are single again.

Disney says moviegoers will see past Mel's rant (Reuters)
   

Reuters - Moviegoers will likely look past Mel Gibson's off-screen behavior when they view his new film "Apocalypto," said Dick Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, the film's distributor, on Thursday.

Axel Foley Lives! (E! Online)
   

E! Online - The heat is on—again.

Paramount has signed up Eddie Murphy to reprise his role as wisecracking detective Axel Foley for a fourth installment in the Beverly Hills Cop saga,  the studio confirmed Thursday.

Stars set to come out for Sundance premieres (Reuters)
   

Reuters - The Sundance Film Festival on Thursday unveiled a roster of over 120 movies set to screen at January's event, with a slate of world premieres featuring stars ranging from Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman to pop queen Lindsay Lohan.

Streep in action for political thriller (Reuters)
   

Reuters - Meryl Streep has joined the cast of "Rendition," a political thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon.

Clooney Doubles Up (E! Online)
   

E! Online - People just named George Clooney's the Sexiest Man Alive.

Obama, Ludacris talk about guiding kids (AP)
   

AP - Barack Obama is coming for that Number One Spot. The senator, contemplating a run for president, met privately with Ludacris on Wednesday. "We talked about empowering the youth," said the rapper, whose real name is Chris Bridges.

Serb festival defies China and reinstates film (Reuters)
   Reuters - Serb film festival officials on Thursday reinstated a film withdrawn at the request of the Chinese embassy, after critics accused them of caving into pressure and imposing self-censorship.

Thursday 'View' kind to drunken DeVito (AP)
   

AP - The ladies of "The View" are laughing off Danny DeVito's loopy behavior during his appearance on the daytime talk show.

Madonna accepts monitoring over adoption (AP)
   

AP - Madonna accepts a High Court ruling allowing a coalition of human rights groups to monitor her as she tries to adopt a Malawian toddler, the singer's lawyer said Thursday.

Sundance has Jackson, Lohan, Paltrow (AP)
   AP - Samuel L. Jackson stars in two top dramas at January's Sundance Film Festival, while other key names announced Thursday in the event's celebrity-driven premieres include Lindsay Lohan, Gwyneth Paltrow and Penelope Cruz.

Morgan Freeman releases new movie on Web (AP)
   AP - Just two weeks after "10 Items or Less" opens in theaters Friday, it'll be available for digital download from Clickstar, a company that Morgan Freeman's production company and Intel have founded to bring small movies to those who live far from boutique cinemas.

Disney sees overseas box office rising (Reuters)
   

Reuters - Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook said on Thursday he expects international box office receipts to account for 70 percent of the company's film revenue over the next decade, up from the current 55 percent.

"Blood Diamond" has a point, but who will listen? (Reuters)
   

Reuters - The message in new movie "Blood Diamond" is clear: know the history of a precious gem before buying it. But whether moviegoers pay attention to this "message movie" is a big question for the film's makers.

Movie Happening - Online Competition for Indian American films
   An online entertainment company is organizing a competition for Indian American on the occasion of the first Atlanta Indo-American Film Festival (AIAFF) scheduled in November. The films chosen in this competition will be screened at the festival and a global audience will view it. The aim is to give Indian American filmmakers an opportunity to showcase their films and also give viewers the chance to see them apart from encouraging Indian film buffs to watch them