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Latest Video: FilmCrunch 067: Hairspray, Chuck & Larry, Premonition reviewed

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep review Hairspray, Chuck & Larry, and Premonition in this episode of FilmCrunch.
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Mission: Impossible 4 - Ghost ProtocolMission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is the most successful film in the movie series' franchise. The Brad Bird-directed film - which sees Tom Cruise return as operative Ethan Hunt, alongside Jeremy Renner and Simon Pegg - has made $571 million worldwide since its release late last year, and studio Paramount has admitted it is delighted with the success.

"Brad Bird, Tom Cruise, J.J. Abrams and the entire team who worked on M:I4 created an incredibly entertaining film, one that fans worldwide embraced in record numbers," said Rob Moore, Vice Chairman of Paramount. Mission: Impossible II is the next most successful film in the franchise, earning $546 million worldwide.

Brad has previously joked he was terrified about being the director who killed off Tom when he made him hang off the world's tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai for the fourth installment of the movie: "I think every director that has worked with him in these kinds of films probably has that feeling where your eyes snap open at three in the morning and you go, 'My god, what am I doing?' Definitely."


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Daniel Craig filming SkyfallJames Bond movie Skyfall is to shoot almost entirely in the UK.

The forthcoming 23rd installment of the franchise - starring Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem and Dame Judi Dench - was expected to shoot in locations across the globe including Bali and China, but budget cuts means Turkey is now the only other country the movie will go to.

"Six different countries were selected but after several technical and financial problems, it was decided to scale back and just use Turkey as the sole foreign location," a source said.

British beaches will be used - including Bognor Regis on the south coast - in addition to Pinewood Studios. "As well as Pinewood's incredible facilities, the UK has some stunning beaches, particularly along the south coast near Bognor and parts of Wales," the source added.

Skyfall has already begun shooting on location in London including Canary Wharf and Charing Cross, and the film - being directed by Sam Mendes - is due for release in November.


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Daniel Craig as James BondThe first official synopsis has been released for forthcoming James Bond movie Skyfall.

The eagerly anticipated movie - which will see Daniel Craig return in the role as the British spy - will place the relationship between the leading man and character M, played by Dame Judi Dench, under pressure.

"Daniel Craig is back as James Bond 007 in Skyfall, the 23rd adventure in the longest-running film franchise of all time. In Skyfall, Bond's loyalty to M (Judi Dench) is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost."

The movie - which stars newcomers to the series Ben Whishaw and Javier Bardem - is currently shooting in London and is due to be released in November 2012.

Click to continue reading Skyfall Synopsis Revealed


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Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol

Despite the major competition over the holiday weekend, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol took number 1 at the box office for the second week in a row with $29.6 million.

Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows kept its number 2 spot with $21 million, while the family film Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked moved up one spot to number 3 with $16.4 million. The highly-anticipated David Fincher film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was bumped down to number 4 with $14.8 million, and Steven Spielberg's War Horse rounded out the Top 5 at $14.4 million.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: M:I-4 Continues to Outrun Competition

Read More | Box Office Mojo

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Woman in Black posterDaniel Radcliffe believes the Harry Potter franchise has been a "double-edged sword."

The 22-year-old actor shot to fame playing the titular boy wizard in all seven movies and while he learned a lot from the films, he admits it was hard to see his acting shortcomings played out in public while he honed his craft. "It's only recently I've become aware of the problems people had with me in the films. And, you know, people are obviously entitled to their opinions. But we learn from our mistakes. You know, I'm at the age most actors would be when they've learned from their mistakes in private and done drama school for three years. It's a double-edged sword. I had the amazing privilege of working with these fantastic actors for 10 years and learning from them, but I also had - we all did - the slight curse of somebody seeing, basically, our acting exercises."

Daniel believes his acting has improved massively working on his new film The Woman In Black because he had learned to connect with his emotions: "The emotional stuff is the trickiest, absolutely. And that's why I feel I made some strides in this film because actually, for the first time, I felt able to really allow my own emotions to come out through the character. I know it sounds bizarre to say this now, but it was a fairly new experience for me, for whatever reason. I think I had a sense of it on the last Potter, but not before then."


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Daniel Craig as James BondDaniel Craig has "no desire" to "escape" James Bond. The British actor - who will portray the iconic British spy for the third time in Skyfall and is rumored to have signed up for an additional five movies - thinks if he signed up for anything radically different in between films, people would accuse him of trying to stop himself being typecast.

"I don't think, 'This will look good next to that...' If that's what you do, you're inhibiting yourself against instinct, which is just wrong. Of course I could [play a role like a child killer]. Whether I'd want to is another matter. I think it would smack slightly of, you know, 'Oh, he's only doing that to get away from Bond.' I've got no desire to escape the role. I love playing Bond - it's fantastic."

Despite his love of playing Bond, Daniel admits he almost quit the franchise when studio MGM ran into financial difficulties, causing delays to the next film in the series: "There was that long hiatus where Bond maybe wasn't happening. I'd got it into my head that if it went another two years on top of the two-year gap we'd already had, then they should probably find someone else. And I should think about getting on with things."


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Rooney Mara as Lisabeth SalanderRooney Mara says appearing in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has made her less feminine. The 26-year-old actress admits aspects of playing the rebellious Lisbeth Salander in the new movie stayed with her and has changed her style.

"Before I got the part I was definitely more feminine and girlie. I wore a lot of pale shades and I haven't really rediscovered that yet. I've kept with the black and dark colors."

In the movie, Rooney's psychologically-damaged character exacts revenge on her rapist, but despite the graphic nature of some of her scenes, the actress insists they didn't affect her because of the physical transformation she underwent for the role: "Because Lisbeth looked so different to me with the tattoos and piercings, it just never really felt like me so I didn't feel strange or embarrassed."

As part of her research, Rooney spent two months in Sweden - where the story is set - before the filming began and found the experience very helpful: "It was incredibly helpful because you can't really understand the characters until you've spent part of a winter there. For me, the cold and the dark were really difficult to overcome."


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Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Robert Downey Jr. was "pretty terrified" filming scenes with Jared Harris in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

The 46-year-old actor - who reprises his role as the fictional British sleuth in the movie - felt pressure working with the 50-year-old star due to "complicated camera shots," but he believes his co-star's determination to pull off a great portrayal of criminal mastermind Professor James Moriarty is key to the film doing well.

Click to continue reading Robert Downey Jr’s Sherlock Terror


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Noomi Rapace as Lisabeth Salander

"I felt like she lived in me... My Lisbeth was my Lisbeth. I gave her my life and my soul for one-and-a-half years, and then I was finished. I’m so done with her... My whole body was just kind of throwing Lisbeth out of me. I was like, I don’t know who I am anymore! It’s almost like you’re coming out of a… It’s like you’ve loaned yourself to someone else."

- Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows actress Noomi Rapace, reflecting on her portrayal of Lisabeth Salander in the original adaptations of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series.

(Make sure to check out other notable quotes.)

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Kiefer SutherlandThe 24 movie will begin shooting in spring. 20th Century Fox have given the go-ahead to the big screen spin-off of the popular TV series - which came to an end after eight series earlier this year - with a proposed schedule hinged on when renowned writer Mark Bomback delivers a new version of Billy Ray's original screen play.

Mark is expected to submit his script early in the new year, meaning filming on the movie - which will see Kiefer Sutherland return to the role of Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) agent Jack Bauer - can begin a few months later. According to Deadline.com, the studio currently has around five directors in mind to helm the project, which has been in the pipeline for several years.

Kiefer has previously spoken of his "excitement" about the film, which will see 24 change from its usual real-time format in order to cope with the limitations of cinema: "It is going to be a two-hour representation of a 24 hour day, so we were not going to be restrained by the real time aspect of the TV show. With the TV show we always had to have the crisis come to us because we couldn't move. Twice we put Jack on a plane and it was a disaster. This will be different - it will be very feasible to get from Eastern Europe to England in the course of 24 hours! And the crisis can be more personal - it doesn't have to be a huge bomb, it doesn't have to take out the rest of the world. It's very exciting."


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