Yahoo! News: Movie News

Movie News

• Grammy-winning composer Clare Fischer dead at 83 (AP)

  AP - Clare Fischer, a Grammy-winning composer who wrote scores for television and movies and worked with legendary musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, has died. He was 83.

• Screen Actors Guild votes to approve merger plan (AP)

  AP - The Screen Actors Guild national board of directors has voted to approve a plan to merge with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

• Academy makes credits exception for 'Tree of Life' (Reuters)

  Reuters - The Academy has made an unusual exception for "The Tree of Life," determining that the film has four true producers and should not be limited by an AMPAS rule that limits the number of producers on a Best Picture nominee to three.

• Trio of actors confirmed to present at Spirit Awards (Reuters)

  Reuters - Penelope Ann Miller, Michael Shannon and Zoe Saldana are the first confirmed presenters for this year's Film Independent Spirit Awards, Film Independent announced exclusively to TheWrap on Friday.

• SAG, AFTRA boards vote on proposed merger (Reuters)

  Reuters - The Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists boards of directors are scheduled to vote on a proposed SAG-AFTRA merger agreement over the next few days. Depending on their progress, they could make an announcement during the SAG Awards on Sunday.

• "War" reduced to PG-13 after Fox trims sexual content (Reuters)

  Reuters - When "This Means War" hits theaters on Valentine's Day, the Reese Witherspoon action comedy will arrive with a PG-13 rating, TheWrap has confirmed.

• Friend says on 911 call Demi Moore was convulsing (AP)

  AP - Demi Moore smoked something before she was rushed to the hospital on Monday night and was convulsing and "semi-conscious, barely," according to a caller on a frantic 911 recording released Friday by Los Angeles fire officials.

  
  

• Movie Scores: How the critics rated the new movies (AP)

  AP - Liam Neeson continues to impress critics with his reinvention as an action hero as he approaches 60 in this weekend's "The Grey."

  
  

• British film "Shadow Dancer" lifts crowd at Sundance (Reuters)

  Reuters - A tense British thriller about a mother deeply entrenched in the IRA and forced to choose between the organization and the family she loves has earned high praise among the foreign films at this week's Sundance Film festival.

• Katherine Heigl goes for "Money" in new caper film (Reuters)

  Reuters - Katherine Heigl has headlined several romantic comedies such as "27 Dresses" and "The Ugly Truth," but for her newest film, the former "Grey's Anatomy" TV star toplines an action comedy "One for the Money," in theaters of Friday.

• App developer gets Oscar nomination for film that doubles as iPad app (Appolicious)

  Appolicious - The nominations for the 84th Academy Awards are upon us, and there’s one unexpected nominee among the usual list of Hollywood studios, crew and actors – an iPad developer.

• Stay warm and queue movies by the fire with these Netflix-related iPhone apps (Appolicious)

  Appolicious - When the evening forecast calls for fierce winds, icy roads and inches of snow, date night can turn south in a hurry. Thankfully, Netflix, along with a device to stream the service, can turn what would be a chilly night right around. But what’s the best app to make sure your queue is stocked with all the movies you want to see? There are plenty of options out there, so let’s take a look at a few.

• SAG statuette has an interesting backstory (AP)

  AP - The television academy's Emmy has her wings. The motion picture academy's Oscar has his sword. But the Screen Actors Guild's statuette, known as "The Actor," may have the hottest bod of the Hollywood award season.

  
  

• Finding Paul Simon, seeking "Sugar Man" at Sundance (Reuters)

  Reuters - Two documentaries that cast eyes back to South African apartheid and speak to music's healing power have shared the spotlight at the Sundance Film Festival this week among a wide selection of movies about songs, singers and musicians.

• Sundance question: How to spend a billion dollars (AP)

  AP - The million-dollar question at the Sundance Film Festival, home of low-budget stories shot on begged and borrowed cash, is this: What would you do if you had $1 billion to make your movie?

  
  

• Winslet to receive honorary French 'Cesar' (AP)

  AP - British actress Kate Winslet is to receive an honorary award next month from organizers of the French equivalent of the Academy Awards.

  
  

• Factbox: Main competition films at Berlin festival (Reuters)

  Reuters - The 62nd Berlin film festival opens on Thursday February 9. and ends on February 19., with the awards ceremony taking place on February 18.

• Arab Spring, Fukushima star at hard-hitting Berlinale (Reuters)

  Reuters - Social upheaval and political awakening will form the focal themes of the 62nd Berlin film festival, director Dieter Kosslick said, as films depicting the Arab Spring and Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear facility take centre stage.

• Sundance doc examines costs of US war on drugs (AP)

  AP - Eugene Jarecki's documentary at the Sundance Film Festival looks at the cost of America's war on drugs — its social and human as well as financial cost.

  
  

• IFC Films acquires "Killer" (Reuters)

  Reuters - IFC Films has purchased the North American rights to the thriller "Simon Killer," TheWrap has confirmed.