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A 'Wedding Crashers' sequel is happening

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wedding crashers

Didn’t see this one coming.

Starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, Wedding Crasherswas a sizeable hit when it landed in cinemas back in 2005. The R-rated comedy, that co-starred Isla Fisher, Rachel McAdams, Christopher Walken, and Bradley Cooper, grossed just shy of $300 million at the global box office. Not bad for a movie with a modest $40 million budget.

It helps that Wedding Crasherswas and is funny, and it came at a point in Vince Vaughn’s career where his eye for a comedy script was a lot sharper that it would in the ensuing years.

It was something of a surprise that a sequel wasn’t ordered in the aftermath of the original film’s success. But now, 11 years later, we learn that a follow-up is finally on the cards.

“There’s some talk of it,” Isla Fisher revealed to The Today Show.“I bumped into Vince Vaughn at a party and he said that apparently we’re going to be making a sequel. So I’m really excited to see what’s happened to Gloria.”

No further details are around at the moment, and it’s unclear if originaldirector David Dobkin – who most recently directed The Judge– will be back.

SEE ALSO: 50 movies that critics really hate but normal people love

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14 'Harry Potter' references you may have missed in 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'

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newt scamander scarf

Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."

J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" spin-off, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," is finally in theaters.

It's the first of five planned movies, all written by Rowling herself. The first installment takes place in the same magical universe as the "Harry Potter" series, but in 1926 New York instead of during the tail end of 20th century Britain.

Still, there are a lot of obvious connections to the "Harry Potter" books. Newt Scamander, the film's chief protagonist, is the author of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," one of Harry's first-year textbooks at Hogwarts, and Scamander's future grandson also marries Luna Lovegood, as noted at the end of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

Plus, Gellert Grindelwald, the villain, was once best friends with Albus Dumbledore.

But there are also some smaller hidden moments or clues you may have missed. Here's what we noticed:

A MACUSA worker pulls a silver wisp of Tina's memories out of her head, in a scene where Tina is sentenced to death.



She extracted a memory. It works in the same way Dumbledore and other characters extracted their memories for the Pensieve.



Percival Graves thinks Credence Barebone is a squib, which is a magician-born person who can't practice magic.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

How an acclaimed children's book became an Oscar contender that has people sobbing

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a monster calls Focus Features final

Author Patrick Ness had already built up a loyal following in literature thanks to his young adult/sci-fi “Chaos Walking” trilogy, but it was a children's book he didn't even start, now an acclaimed movie, that has brought him worldwide attention.

A Monster Calls” follows 13-year-old Conor O’Malley who, while struggling to cope with his mother’s terminal cancer, meets a tree monster who tells him stories that help him confront his own fears.

Ness' powerful words matched with the vivid illustrations by Jim Kay led to the two winning the Carnegie Medal and Greenaway Medal, esteemed literary awards from British librarians, in 2012.

Ness has now adapted the book into a feature film that stars Felicity Jones ("Rogue One") as the sick mother, Liam Neeson lending his voice as the CGI tree monster, and newcomer Lewis MacDougall as Conor O’Malley. Having found ritical acclaim on the film-festival circuit, it's now in the talk for the award season.

But the way Ness got involved in “A Monster Calls” is a tearjerker itself.

The original idea for “A Monster Calls” came from British author Siobhan Dowd. An activist for most of her career, she embarked on a new career after being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in 2004 as a children’s book author. After writing acclaimed works including “A Swift Pure Cry” and “The London Eye Mystery,” she had begun work on “A Monster Calls” at the time of her death in 2007.

Not wanting to see her final story fade away, Dowd’s publisher called on Ness in 2010 to complete the project.

“There were 1,000 words of prose for a few of the characters, not all of them, and the structural idea that the tree would tell stories. But not much else,” Ness recently told Business Insider. “My initial reaction was to say probably not because I'm a real purist. Every time I have tried to do anything other than wanting to tell the story, it has gone badly.”

1a monster callsBut Ness couldn’t get Dowd’s idea out of his head. And he began to think up dramatic moments the Conor character would have to release his internal anger.

“I said to my editors, ‘As long as I have freedom. As along as I have the same freedom Siobhan would have granted herself, I’ll do it,’” he said. “It can't be in memoriam because that's not a story. So I always viewed it as not trying to write the book that she would have written but to write a book that she would have loved.”

When “A Monster Calls” became a hit, Hollywood quickly came calling, which was a surprise to everyone involved, but Ness didn’t go into the meetings for a movie adaptation blinded by the accolades.

“I did a peculiar thing, it turns out, without even knowing it was peculiar. I didn't sell the rights,” Ness said. “I was having some conversations, some with quite big people in Hollywood, and there was talk of, ‘Well, we can change this, we can change that.’ And I was thinking, well, this doesn’t feel right.”

Refusing to hand over the book rights, Ness decided in 2012 to write a script on spec.

“I thought, let’s shoot for the moon,” Ness said. “I put these great big tales in the script and hoped I could get a filmmaker who understood what was needed and then bring 10 times the stuff I would have never thought of." 

The script got on the list of top unproduced screenplays, known as the Black List, in 2013, which got the attention of producer Belén Atienza, who brought the script and book to director Juan Antonio Bayona (who will be making the sequel to "Jurassic World"). The two quickly signed on to make it.

Now having an attractive packaged deal, Ness, Atienza, and Bayona went out to shop it. Participant Media and River Road Entertainment signed on that year to finance the movie on a $43 million budget with Focus Features following to take on distribution.

Ness was on hand for most of production. There was a moment during the making of the movie when the visual effects were created for the tree monster’s tales (inspired by Jim Kay’s book illustrations), when it sunk in that his story was coming to life.

Patrick Ness Alberto E Rodriguez Getty“I was just thinking, I came up with that, I made this stuff up,” Ness said. “Just the idea of other people talking about the stuff that I made up and making something bigger. Visuals that I could never dream up. It’s weird and wonderful because it's no longer in your brain. That’s an amazing day.”

“A Monster Calls” had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September to sobbing audiences and high praise (the movie currently has an 84% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes). It continues to play fests before its limited release in the heart of award season on December 23 (it will go wide on January 6, 2017), but Ness can’t get into the awards talk. For him, the prize is the finished work.

“For me, what matters is I’m proud of it,” he said. “You love your books for their strengths and their flaws. I didn’t think I would feel that way with the film, but I’m really proud with the decisions that were made.”

SEE ALSO: The 30 best movie endings of all time, ranked

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The 'Deadpool' sequel has found a new director

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Following the shocking departure of "Deadpool" director Tim Miller from its sequel in late October, the franchise has quickly rebounded with signing on one of the directors behind the popular Keanu Reeves action movie, "John Wick." 

According to numerous reports, the film's studio, Fox, has locked David Leitch, who along with co-directing "John Wick" is known for his decades-long work in stunts on numerous titles, including "Fight Club,""300," and two of the Jason Bourne movies.

Leitch's action background will pay off for "Deadpool 2," which has some high expectations thanks to the dazzling sequences Miller pulled off in the first movie. 

The search for a director for "Deadpool 3" is already in the works, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Miller exited "Deadpool 2" due to creative differences he had with the film's star Ryan Reynolds. Miller wanted to make a sequel larger in scope than the gritty original that would have been three-times the budget. Reynolds wanted to keep the sequel modest and concentrate on its clever writing.

"Deadpool" screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are currently working on the script for the sequel. There is no release date as of yet.

Leitch wrapped recently on his second film, "The Coldest City," starring Charlize Theron.

"Deadpool" opened in February with the biggest R-rated opening weekend of all time ($132.4 million). The movie went on to make over $780 million worldwide.

SEE ALSO: The 30 best movie endings of all time, ranked

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'Game of Thrones' star Emilia Clarke is joining the Han Solo movie

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emilia clarke

Emilia Clarke, who plays the popular character Daenerys Targaryen in "Game of Thrones," has been cast in the upcoming Han Solo movie.

In an announcement that was posted on StarWars.com on Friday night, Clarke will be joining Alden Ehrenreich, who will star as a young Han Solo, and Donald Glover, playing a young Lando Calrissian, in the untitled movie that is currently in production.

There are no details yet in who Clarke will be playing.

Clarke will next be seen in season seven of "Game of Thrones." Recently she has been making strides into movies.

In 2015 she starred in the failed reboot of the "Terminator" franchise, playing Sarah Connor in "Terminator Genisys," and earlier this year she starred in the successful romantic drama "Me Before You."

The Han Solo movie will open in theaters in 2018.

SEE ALSO: 50 movies that critics really hate but normal people love

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Everything we know so far about the Han Solo 'Star Wars' movie

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han solo 1

The highly anticipated "Star Wars" Han Solo anthology film is beginning production and we can't wait to see our favorite space scoundrel as a youngster.

Though the movie (which doesn't even have a title yet) doesn't come out until 2018, there's a lot of news about it that we can delve into as we wait for the date to get closer.

There's the duo directing the movie, the raising star who will be filling Harrison Ford's boots, the popular stars in supporting roles, and more.

Below is everything we know so far about the movie.

SEE ALSO: Here's everything we know so far about "Star Wars: Episode VIII," the sequel to "Force Awakens"

The directors are Phil Lord and Christopher Miller of "The Lego Movie" fame.

Lord and Miller are the hottest commodities in Hollywood at the moment.

Since their successful debut, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," they have done "21 Jump Street" and its sequel, "The Lego Movie," and are the executive producers of the hit TV show "The Last Man on Earth."



The movie has "Star Wars" longtime screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan.

Lord and Miller have by their side one of the main storytellers of the "Star Wars" saga, Lawrence Kasdan, along with his son, Jon.

Lawrence is responsible for penning "The Empire Strikes Back,""Return of the Jedi," and "The Force Awakens."

 



Alden Ehrenreich is playing young Han Solo.

Alden beat out a collection of established names and unknowns to win the role.

He's known at the moment for his breakthrough role in the Coen brother's "Hail, Caesar!" and currently in the Warren Beatty movie, "Rules Don't Apply."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

'Fantastic Beasts' easily wins the weekend box office

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fantastic beasts trailer

The "Harry Potter" spin-off movie "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" took in an estimated $75 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, according to pro.boxoffice.com

An impressive figure for the first of five movies that will explore Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and his adventures while collecting fantastic beasts.

Though the movie had a smaller opening weekend than any of the "Harry Potter" movies — Warner Bros. was not expecting it to make that kind of money — it tied the ninth best domestic opening weekend of 2016, matching "Zootopia" ($75 million).

Though it can be argued that the movie being released in over 4,000 screens domestically (with a reported production budget north of $180 million and a marketing budget of $150 million) and only making $75 million isn't necessarily a win, Warner Bros. is looking at the global game with "Fantastic Beasts." Bringing in $143 million internationally is likely the figure that WB is reassured about the film's staying power.

As expected, "Fantastic Beasts" swallowed up the market, as new releases and holdovers all underperformed over the weekend. "Doctor Strange" came in second place with $17.6 million; "Trolls" came in third with $17.5 million.

SEE ALSO: 'Game of Thrones' star Emilia Clarke is joining the Han Solo movie

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Here's what the cast of Disney's next animated movie 'Moana' looks like in real life

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Moana and Maui with hook Disney

Nearly everyone will recognize Dwanye "The Rock" Johnson's voice in Disney's newest animated movie "Moana," but they may be surprised by other familiar faces behind the new cast of characters.

Scroll down for a look at the voice actors in "Moana."

Disney's first Polynesian princess is Moana — the daughter of a chief being primed to lead the people of Motunui.



Moana is voiced by Auli'i Cravalho, a 15-year-old newcomer to the acting world.



In the movie, Moana teams up with a demigod named Maui.



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THEN & NOW: The cast of 'Harry Potter' 15 years later

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harry potter daniel radcliffe

Wednesday marks the 15th anniversary of the release of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," the first movie in the franchise about a young wizard destined to be a hero, adapted from J.K. Rowling's novels.

When the first "Harry Potter" movie was released in 2001, Daniel Radcliffe was an 11-year-old with only a few acting credits to his name.

Needless to say, a lot has changed since then. Radcliffe went on to gain international fame, playing roles on the stage and screen.

But he's not the only one. Many of his Hogwarts classmates and professors have starred in some of our favorite films and television shows, from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" to AMC's "Fear the Walking Dead."

In honor of the anniversary, here's a look at what the many stars of the "Harry Potter" franchise are up to now:

SEE ALSO: 'Harry Potter' author J.K. Rowling rails against bullies and bigots after Donald Trump's win

DON'T MISS: 'Harry Potter' star Daniel Radcliffe reveals the advice Donald Trump gave him when he was 11 years old

THEN: Daniel Radcliffe starred as bespectacled and famed wizard Harry Potter.



NOW: Radcliffe's career has spanned stage and screen. He had roles in "Kill Your Darlings" and "Trainwreck" and starred in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" on Broadway in 2011. This year, Radcliffe was honored with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Also in 2016, he starred in "Swiss Army Man,""Now You See Me 2," and "Imperium." Next, he'll appear in the Greg McLean-directed drama "Jungle," in 2017.



THEN: Rupert Grint played Harry's redheaded best friend, Ron Weasley.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

13 major questions we have after watching 'Fantastic Beasts'

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Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."

J.K. Rowling's new "Harry Potter" spinoff movie made its way into theaters on November 17, and fans around the world were introduced to a whole new set of characters in the wizarding world.

"Fantastic Beasts" follows the story of magizoologist Newt Scamander as he navigates New York City. He eventually learns that an Obscurial — Rowling's newest Dark Magic creation — is terrorizing the city. Newt gets caught up in a dramatic showdown between the Obscurial, the American wizard government MACUSA, and the evil wizard Grindelwald.

But even after the two hours of exposition on New York's magical community, Grindelwald's rise to power, and Obscurials, we walked away with lots of questions. 

fantastic Beasts

First on our list: How did Grindelwald impersonate Graves?

The end of the movie revealed that Percival Graves (played by Colin Farrell) was really Grindelwald in disguise. But the other Aurors at MACUSA treated Graves as if they had known him for quite sometime. He was high up in the ranks, and had regular meetings with President Picquery. 

So, if we assume that Graves was a real wizard, was Grindelwald simply using Polyjuice potion? That's what Barty Crouch Jr. did to impersonate Mad Eye Moody in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," so the method tracks with Rowling's previous writing.

macusa graves fantastic beastsWe think this sounds easier than the alternative, which is that Grindelwald not only disguised himself through other means, but took the time to magically convince everyone at MACUSA he was a real person.

If it was Polyjuice, then where is the real Graves?

The Polyjuice answer would mean that Graves's body is still out there somewhere. Will we see the real Graves in future movies? We enjoyed Farrell's portrayal of a shrewd Auror with Dark Magic sympathies, so it'd be great to see him again.

Grindelwald is taken into custody by MACUSA. How will he get out?

We know there are four more "Fantastic Beasts" movies in the works, and Grindelwald will be the main villain throughout the series. Which means his easy capture at the end of this first installment must be thwarted soon. Does he have allies planted inside MACUSA?

grindelwald fantastic beastsWas he actually not trying too hard to escape, and being captured was all part of his larger plan? We're eager to see what trickery he has up his sleeve.

Did Credence survive? Was the Obscurial really destroyed?

Upon our first viewing, we assumed Credence was killed by the Aurors at the end of his big showdown with Graves/Grindelwald. But then we noticed a suspicious line in the published screenplay, and a producer of the movie cast even more doubt on Credence's permanent departure from the series.

credence fantastic beastsIf Credence may still appear in future movies, how did he survive? Will Newt help him, or will Credence go down a path towards Dark magic? 

What happened to the Deathly Hallows Grindelwald gave to Credence?

The necklace Grindelwald gave Credence Barebone had the ability to notify Grindelwald when the wearer touched the Deathly Hallows symbol. Did it survive the big fight? Does Newt have it now? Or, if he's still alive, did Credence keep it? 

Speaking of Credence, what happened to Modesty?

Modesty — the kind of creepy girl who was Credence's fellow adoptee — was teased throughout the movie as if she was also an Obscurial. But then Credence's big reveal happened, leaving Modesty terrified and hiding in her destroyed former home.

credence family fantastic beastsWill she return to the series? Or is she just a homeless orphan living in New York City now? Is there any chance that she did have magical powers, too?  

What's up with Newt's brother, the war hero?

When Newt was brought to MACUSA by Tina, several of the witches and wizards in the room seemed to recognize the surname Scamander. But they quickly realized Newt was the younger brother of the famous Scamander they knew, a man who was some kind of war hero.

This seems like a super-specific detail of Newt's family history to bring up, so we're assuming it isn't the last we'll hear of this world-renowned older brother. 

newt scamander eddie redmayne fantastic beasts

How did that Swooping Evil rain potion work? Are all the wizards also obliviated? How did it obliviate people who were indoors?

At the end of the movie, Newt used Frank the Thunderbird to distribute diluted extract from his Swooping Evil all across New York City. Earlier in the movie Newt said the extract would help people forget bad things — similar to the way the "obliviate" spell works.

Frank did this by presumably mixing the Swooping Evil liquid in with the rain, so anyone touched by the rain automatically had their memory modified.

fantastic beasts jon voightBut did that impact the wizards who were standing in the rain, too? And how did it work on the No-Majs who weren't outside? The whole sequence left us unconvinced that things were going to go back to normal so easily.

Who is Leta Lestrange, and what happened between her and Newt?

An important scene between Queenie and Newt revealed that his ex-best friend (and probable girlfriend) at Hogwarts was a woman named Leta Lestrange. We know the Lestrange family from the "Harry Potter" series as a pretty evil legacy of wizards. So what was Newt's relationship with her all about, since he seems like such a good-natured Hufflepuff?

queenie fantastic beasts

Queenie used Legilimens to reveal that Newt's relationship with Leta was "real close," and that the mention of her name was clearly causing him some emotional pain.

Was Leta the student whose life was endangered by a magical beast, causing Newt to be expelled?

We think it's possible that Leta is connected to Newt's troublesome past at Hogwarts. When Newt was being interrogated by Graves, the auror reveals that Newt was accused of endangering the life of another student with a magical beast. Maybe she was the student who was nearly killed, and that's why their relationship ended? 

graves newt fantastic beastsWe hope more of Newt's past is revealed in the future movies either way, since his character was charming, but a little underdeveloped in this first "Fantastic Beasts" movie.

Is Queenie going to reintroduce Jacob to the magical world?

Last but not least, we're dying to know if Jacob will become part of the gang again in future movies. The ending seemed to indicate he was remembering Queenie, since he touched his neck where the Murtlap bit him and he smiled. Plus we know there's some memories hidden in Jacob's subconscious because his pastries are all designed to look like the magical creatures Newt showed him. 

queenie jacob fantastic beastsJacob's reactions and scenes with the witches and wizards were some the best moments in "Fantastic Beasts," and it would be a shame if he stayed ignorant to the magical world.

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21 insanely difficult 'Harry Potter' trivia questions even die-hard fans have trouble with

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Do you consider yourself to be an expert on all things "Harry Potter"? There are many internet hubs perfect for putting that knowledge to the test, from discussions on the /r/harrypotter to user-submitted quizzes on Goodreads.

In order to track down the toughest "Harry Potter" trivia questions, we put our own memory to the test on Scholastic's "Wizard's Challenge"— an online quiz with a wide range of difficulty.

Combining expert-level questions found there along with some doozies asked during a New York City trivia night, we've compiled a list sure to challenge the average "Harry Potter" fan.

Scroll down to test your wizardry. The questions are above the photos, and the answers are below the photos.

Many know that Gryffindor's ghost is Nearly Headless Nick. But what is his full name?

Answer: Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington.



Harry, Ron, and Hermione help save the Sorcerer's Stone from being stolen. How old was its co-creator, Nicholas Flamel, when he decided to destroy it?

Answer: 665.



Snape grilled Harry about this on his first day in Potions. Monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant, also known as what?

Answer: Aconite.



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Here are the must-see movies most likely to win Oscars in 2017

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fences paramount

As Thanksgiving approaches, it's time to take another look at the movies in contention for the 2017 Academy Awards.

Since our first pass at predicting the people and films that are in the running for the little gold men, there have been a few additions and a few that have dropped out of the running.

The poor reaction to Ang Lee's "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" has pretty much pushed the movie out of the running for most of the main awards. (It's still in contention for its technical feats.) Meanwhile, "Fences," starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis and directed by Washington, is blowing away audiences in early screenings.

Below is our latest look at the movies and talent that have a chance to take home Oscar gold next year:

SEE ALSO: 19 famous movies that have been banned around the world

Best Picture

In the running:

"Arrival"
"Fences"
"Jackie"
"La La Land"
"Lion"
"Manchester By The Sea"
"Moonlight"
"Silence"
"Sully"

If the Oscars were handed out today, the winner would be: We're still strong on "La La Land." And it's one of the few feel-good movies on this list, which might be something that will stick with Oscar voters. But don't sleep on "Lion," which is being released by The Weinstein Company — the Weinsteins have a habit of playing upset at the Oscars. And yes, the movie is good enough to knock off "La La Land."



Best Director

In the running:

Damien Chazelle, "La La Land"
Garth Davis, "Lion"
Clint Eastwood, "Sully"
Barry Jenkins, "Moonlight"
Pablo Larrain, "Jackie"
Kenneth Lonergan, "Manchester By The Sea"
Martin Scorsese, "Silence"
Denis Villeneuve, "Arrival"

If the Oscars were handed out today, the winner would be: It's still Damien Chazelle for "La La Land." But if the buzz for another movie increases in the best picture category, this will change. Often the movie that wins best picture also takes home the director honor.



Best Actor

In the running:

Casey Affleck, "Manchester By The Sea"
Ryan Gosling, "La La Land"
Tom Hanks, "Sully"
Michael Keaton, "The Founder"
Matthew McConaughey, "Gold"
Dev Patel, "Lion"
Mark Wahlberg, "Patriots Day"
Denzel Washington, "Fences"

If the Oscars were handed out today, the winner would be: There's really no other way to say this — Casey Affleck gives the best performance of the year. It's hard to see anyone taking the prize from him, but it's still early.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Pixar just released the first teaser trailer for the next 'Cars' sequel and it's pretty grim

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Happy Monday! Pixar just surprised fans with the first official teaser trailer for the next installment in the "Cars" series.

"Cars 3" will be racing into theaters next summer and it's not looking good for Lightning McQueen. The film will be directed by Brian Fee who directed the first two movies in the franchise.

Here's the official synopsis from Disney and Pixar:

Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) is suddenly pushed out of the sport he loves. To get back in the game, he will need the help of an eager young race technician, Cruz Ramirez, with her own plan to win, plus inspiration from the late Fabulous Hudson Hornet and a few unexpected turns. Proving that #95 isn’t through yet will test the heart of a champion on Piston Cup Racing’s biggest stage!

"Cars 3" will be in theaters June 16, 2017.

Watch the trailer below:

 

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NOW WATCH: It’s surreal to watch this 2011 video of Obama and Seth Meyers taunting Trump about a presidential run

23 movies on Netflix that bookworms will love

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The INSIDER Summary:

• Movie adaptations of books can bring them to life or ruin them.
• Here are some of the best book-to-movie adaptations on Netflix right now.
• Highlights include classics like Forrest Gump and tearjerkers like A Walk To Remember. 


There are a wide variety of movies based on books on Netflix, so that means there are plenty of chances to either love or detest seeing your favorite literary works in cinematic form. After all, bookworms often have a love-hate relationship with movie adaptations of books. On the one hand, there's the excitement of seeing your favorite authors' work get recognized in such a big way, and watching their stories and characters come to life on the big screen. On the other hand, there's an uncomfortable conflict if the portrayals onscreen don't match the story you pictured in your head, particularly if it's a book that you've read many times (and therefore probably have some very set feelings about).

Additionally, sometimes a movie is already "ruined" for you if you've read the book and therefore know how the story ends. For example, the movie Fight Club would have a very different impact on someone who had already read the book than it would on someone who was going in fresh. It's also worth nothing that not all book-to-movie adaptations are created equal, and sometimes the screen version of a certain novel is just bad. It's disappointing when that does happen, but the good news is that there are plenty of other adaptations that are worth watching. Here are some movies available to stream on Netflix that any bookworm will enjoy.

1. The Color Purple

 

Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey both made their film debuts in this adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.



2. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Before the American adaptation with Rooney Mara, there was this Swedish version with Noomi Rapace.



3. Forrest Gump

The movie is so iconic that you might not have even known that it was based on a novel.



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Here's everything we know about the next 4 'Fantastic Beasts' sequels

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macusa fantastic beasts

Warning: This post includes spoilers for "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is the first of five J.K. Rowling-written movies, and from the film's start  we know we're in for something bigger than expected.

While the film follows magizoologist Newt Scamander and his suitcase of magical creatures, the rise of Grindelwald, a powerful dark wizard, overshadows the entire movie. He wants to expose magic to non-magical folk and start a war between magicians and non-magicians. Through that, wizards can win and rule the world. He's not such a nice guy.

We see Grindelwald in newspaper clippings at the beginning of the film. And at the end — in a twist — it turns out that Percival Graves, the head auror of MACUSA, was Grindelwald in disguise the whole time.

We're bound to see Grindelwald, played by Johnny Depp, in the future sequels. Here's what we can expect.

The series will be about defeating Grindelwald.

grindelwald fantastic beasts

J.K. Rowling has said the series will span 19 years. The first movie takes place in 1926, so the series should wrap up by 1945.

1945 is the year that Albus Dumbledore famously defeated Grindelwald in an epic duel, leading to Grindelwald's impisonment. The years could be a councidence, except...

We're going to see Dumbledore again.

Dumbledore and Grindelwald were childhood best friends, and Dumbledore is definitely goimng to figure into the rest of the series. David Yates, who's directing the series, said during a press junket for the film they're casting the role right now.

At the time, Dumbledore was the Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts, under the headmastership of Armando Dippet. So will we see Dumbledore at Hogwarts again? Well ...

Dumbledore in office good lighting

We're headed back to Europe.

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" refreshingly took place in New York, not Britain. But at the end of the movie, Newt Scamander, the film's protagonist, boards a ship back across the ocean.

We know that the next movie takes place in Paris and the United Kingdom, so he might be headed there. And if he ends up in the U.K. and we're supposed to see Dumbledore, then there's a chance we'll get to see Hogwarts again.

There's also a deleted scene where Credence Barebone is on a ship leaving New York. He might join up with Scamander, or he might end up elsewhere. Credence and Grindelwald will be "main players" in the series, according to producer David Heyman.

hogwarts great hall harry potter

We also know that Gridelwald never had much of a reputation in Britain, and that he was largely overshadowed by Voldemort, decades later. Grindelwald, who went to the Scandanavian wizarding school Durmstrang, mostly had his activities confined to Eastern Europe.

But we also might stick around in New York.

At the end of the film, Queenie Goldstein steps into Jacob Kowalski's bake shop. Kowalski, a No-Maj, had his memory erased, but it looks like he still has some attachment to his magical adventure. He bakes pastries in the shape of magical animals, and when he locks eyes with Queenie, he touches the scar on the back of his neck left by a murtlap bite.

queenie jacob fantastic beasts

Perhaps we can expect Queenie and Jacob to reunite and figure out some kind of romantic development. We could see that happen in New York or maybe they'll end up in Paris or somewhere else.

There are wizarding schools all over the world that we can visit.

Grindelwald's rise — though we know it was contained — was a global event. He ended up in America, after all. J.K. Rowling has written about wizarding communities and schools all over the world, including in Japan and Africa. There are plenty of locations available for the series to travel to in its four planned sequels.

The Deathly Hallows could become a big part of the plot.

When Dumbledore and Grindelwald were young ambitious friends dreaming of world domination, they considered going after the Deathly Hallows — three magical objects that make their beholder the "master of Death." The objects are the Elder Wand, the Cloak of Invisibility, and the Ressurection Stone.

hallows necklace

At this point in the story, Grindelwald already has the Elder Wand. Did he stop there? Or is he still going after the other two objects?

Grindelwald's sign, after all, is the Deathly Hallows symbol. It's still a big part of his brand.

Credence has an adopted sister who may have magical powers who could potentially reunite with him.

Though it's not entirely clear in the movie, Credence's sister Chastity gets killed in the blast which kills Mary Lou at the orphanage. However, Credence also had an adopted sister called Modesty he was close with who was interested in magic. She was caught playing with a toy wand. 

Graves believed she may also have magical powers.

credence fantastic beasts

What happened to Modesty? We never found out at the end of "Fantastic Beasts," but now we know that there may be one more American witch out there, so we'll probably find out. Will she follow Credence to Europe? Or will she chart her own way in America? 

Scamander and Tina Goldstein will eventually get married.

J.K. Rowling's guidebook "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," written in 2001, uses Newt Scamander as the pseudonymous author for the book. In the "About the author" section, it says Scamander is retired and "lives in Dorset with his wife Porpentina."

tina newt scamander fantastic beasts

But there's more of Scamander's love life to discover first.

Scamander has some complicated past with a girl named Leta Lestrange. Newt keeps a photo of her, and they had a close relationship at Hogwarts. Also, she comes from a family of dark wizards. Newt probably has to take care of that baggage before he can settle down with Tina.

Speaking of which, what did happen back at Hogwarts, anyway?

We know that Newt was expelled from Hogwarts — possibly under the headmastership of Phineas Nigellus Black — after taking the blame for a magical experiment that endangered the life of another student.

It seems to have something to do with his frienship with Leta Lestrange, but the details are still a little hazy. Compare it to Hagrid's situation, for example, where he was expelled from Hogwarts for ostensibly endangering the lives of other students, and had his wand taken away.

Will we find out what happened? J.K. Rowling seems to indicate that we will.

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Disney's new movie 'Moana' has a bonus scene worth sticking around for after the credits

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Moana Disney trailer new

The INSIDER Summary:

• Disney's newest movie "Moana" comes to theaters November 23.
• Make sure to sit through all of the credits for a bonus scene at the very end.



"Moana" arrives in theaters this week, and we can guarantee Disney fans will love the studios new feature film. For the super fans out there, make sure you sit through all of the rolling credits after the movie ends.

Post-credit scenes have become a staple in Disney and Marvel movies, and "Moana" is no exception. 

There's a small bonus scene at the end that's worth staying for. We won't spoil its contents now, but we believe the snippet is fun enough to warrant a few extra minutes in the theater.

Plus there's an Easter egg embedded in one of the graphics shown during the credits, so you can occupy yourself trying to look for that (Hint: "Wreck It Ralph").

moana

Another fun tidbit from the credits comes from the music. The first song that plays is Alessia Cara's pop version of "How Far I'll Go" but the second song is sung by Lin-Manual Miranda himself!

Miranda co-wrote the music for "Moana," and his signature lyricism shines through the most on a song called "You're Welcome." In the movie it's sung by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Maui, but the version heard in the credits is Miranda and Jordan Fisher

If you want to be a real honorary Mouseketeer, pass along the message to your fellow moviegoers about the bonus scene. Disney fans will surely love "Moana" and the bonus scene alike.

"Moana" is in theaters November 23 with early showings Tuesday evening.

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'Arrival' nails how humans might actually talk to aliens, a linguist says

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arrival alien language

It’s not often you see a sci-fi blockbuster centered on linguistics. Thankfully, "Arrival" is fairly accurate in its portrayal of the field, according to professor Jessica Coon, who consulted on the movie.

"Early on before they started filming, I read a few drafts of the screenplay, and I was asked to give feedback on some of the more linguistically relevant parts," Coon, who teaches linguistics at McGill University, recently told Business Insider. "A lot of the comments they took into account. Some of them they said, 'Linguists in the end are not Hollywood's main audience, it'll be all right if some of these don't make it in.' In the end, it turned out great, I think."

"Arrival," based on the short story "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang, focuses on humans trying to communicate with mysterious aliens, called heptapods, who appear around the world. It stars Amy Adams as linguist Louise Banks.

The production, filmed in Montreal, turned to McGill professor Morgan Sonderegger for help creating a strange spoken language, splicing whale songs, big cat purring, and more.

Production designer Patrice Vermette and his wife, artist Martine Bertrand, took the lead in visualizing the written language, creating around 100 swirly circular symbols. Stephen Wolfram, founder of Mathematica coding software, and his son, Christopher Wolfram, helped analyze the symbols. And then Coon got involved.

"I worked a lot with the set crew, helping get the visual aspect of being a linguist and doing linguistics right," Coon said. "They came to the office, they took pictures of everything, they borrowed books off the shelf, they had me go in and write on the white board in Amy Adams' office. They brought me to the military cryptography tent and wanted to know what's going to be on the white boards here where they're deciphering the language, what's their to-do list look like? How would somebody annotate these logograms? So they sent me a stack of these logogram printouts and said, well, you're a linguist, figure it out."

arrival alien language

In the movie, Banks and physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) focus on cracking the written language, which is portrayed in the smoke-like symbols.

"The way a linguist would approach this is the same way a linguist would approach understanding the grammar of a human language, which is looking for patterns," Coon said. "In the movie, one of the scenes they show is Ian walking and they're trying to get the heptapod equivalent of 'Ian walks' or 'Ian is walking.' Then maybe they would ask for 'Louise is walking' and look at these two symbols and say what do they have in common?"

The idea is that you have to figure out those basics before you can build up to complex questions.

"What the film gets exactly right is both the interactive nature but also that you really have to start small," Coon said.

amy adams arrival

Aside from looking and sounding strange, the heptapod language has some unique features. One is the disconnect between the spoken and the written versions.

"A really interesting thing about this heptapod language is it doesn’t have any relationship to the spoken heptapod language," Coon said. "As far as I’m aware, human written languages are always based on human spoken language... A heptapod might wonder why did we waste this medium just writing down the same thing that we would say."

Analyzing the languages, of course, took creative license.

"[The creators] are the first to admit that it’s not a full language, this is not the next Klingon," Coon said.

Indeed, it would not have been possible to create an alien language that lived up to its description in the book, since understanding the timeless language supposedly unlocked the ability to see into the future.

"It’s an artistic idea of how complex a language could be, how different a language could be," Coon said, "but, no, this is art."

arrival logogramsarrival logogramSOYL CPT 008Coon says consulting for a sci-fi film was a rare treat.

"It’s never happened, and I’m not sure it will ever happen again, but that’s something that’s so great and unusual about this movie," she said. "Here we have a movie where an academic is the protagonist, and not just an academic, an academic linguist, the hero of a sci-fi movie."

SEE ALSO: It takes a while to spot what's sci-fi about Black Mirror's best episode

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‘Fantastic Beasts’ quietly killed off a character during the movie and you probably didn’t even realize it

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newt scamander fantastic beasts

Warning: This post includes spoilers for "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."

At the end of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,"there are a few lingering questions, some of which hint at where the next four movies in the series might go.

It'll be exciting to see which characters return. Will Jacob fall in love with Queenie again? Will we get to see Dumbledore at Hogwarts? One character definitely won't be coming back, though, and that's young Chastity Barebone. You may not have noticed it, but the character was killed off in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in the film.

After Credence Bareboneturns into an Obscurus and kills Mary Lou, their adoptive mother, Percival Graves gives the orphanage a visit. Graves finds Mary Lou's body marked with signs indicating she was killed by an Obscurus.

Barebone fantastic beasts chastity modesty credence mary lou

If you missed Chastity in the scene, J.K. Rowling's "Fantastic Beasts" screenplay confirms Chastity was dead, too.

The place is destroyed—moonlight filters through gaps in the roof, and Chastity lies dead amid debris from the attack. Graves slowly enters the church, wand still drawn. Eerie sobbing can be heard from somewhere in the building.

Mary Lou’s body lies on the floor in front of him, the marks on her face visible in the moonlight. Graves considers the corpse: A realization dawning on his face—no horror, merely wariness and intense interest.

Chastity, along with Modesty, was adopted by Mary Lou barebone. While the plot moves along to Modesty, we never learn much more about Chastity — if she was blood-related to Credence, if she was a witch herself, or anything else about her. The film just leaves her in the dust.

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Here's everything leaving Netflix in December that you need to watch before it disappears

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50 First Dates Columbia Pictures

With the holidays upon us, this is the perfect time to dive into some great movies on Netflix. But make sure to watch these before they're gone in December. 

Memorable titles on the chopping block include "American Beauty,""Top Gun,""Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood,""Valley of the Dolls,""Just Friends,""Spy Kids," and the very tolerable Adam Sandler comedy "50 First Dates."

Here's the full list of everything leaving Netflix in December. We've highlighted in bold some of the titles you should check out before they disappear.

SEE ALSO: 50 movies that critics really hate but normal people love

Leaving December 1

“50 First Dates”
“American Beauty”
“Black Ops” (Series 2)
“Camp Takota”
“Carmen Jones”
“Cats & Dogs”
“Curious George: Swings Into Spring”
“Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood”
“Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
“Event Horizon”
“Frequencies”
“McConkey”
“Medora”
“Monkey Business”
“Myth Hunters” (Season 1-2)
“Neil Young: Heart of Gold”
“Paycheck”
“Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie”
“River of No Return”
“Sling Blade”
“Thor: Hammer of the Gods”
“The Great War Diary” (Season 1)
“The In-Laws”
“The Out-of-Towners”
“Top Gun”
“Valley of the Dolls”
“World Trade Center”



Leaving December 2

“Legends of the Knight”
“The Red Baron”



Leaving December 3

“The Best of Me”



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Michael Shannon explains the one part of the movie business he finds 'disgusting'

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Michael Shannon Kevin Winter Getty Business Insider1

Though you may have only recently realized the talents of Michael Shannon thanks to his work on “Boardwalk Empire” and in mainstream movies like “Premium Rush” and “Man of Steel,” he has been acting for over two decades with some of his best work only being seen by small arthouse crowds.

Shannon will be the first to admit he doesn’t have a problem with that. “I’m not primarily profit-driven, necessarily,” he recently told Business Insider in New York City before the presidential election, though he also says there are some movies he will now stop doing.

Counting movies that were shown at film festivals this year, Shannon will have appeared in 10 movies before 2016 is over, a handful of them independent projects that will receive (or received) limited release.

One of them is “Frank & Lola” (opening December 9). A dark and twisted love story set in Las Vegas in which Shannon plays a guy who uncovers the troubled past of his girlfriend (Imogen Poots), it’s the kind of low-budget film the actor has built his career on, but he admits the effort is greater than the pay.

Shannon is never shy to speak his mind (look at what he said after Trump won the election), and in his conversation with us, he revealed why he's come to his career decision and why one day he might just stop acting completely.

Jason Guerrasio: What interested you in “Frank & Lola”?

Michael Shannon: When I went out to LA for the Oscars the year I was nominated [for 2008's "Revolutionary Road"] I met with [director] Matt [Ross]. He got a hold of me through my agent and we talked about "Frank & Lola." That was a long time ago. I thought maybe that had fallen by the wayside but finally through great perseverance by Matt he managed to get it together and I just have a huge admiration for people that are that tenacious. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm usually more drawn to the people involved. I mean, the story is fine. I like the story. I wanted to do something that I considered romantic. I felt this was a very romantic picture and not in a silly way. A lot of people ask me why I don't make romantic comedies and I personally have never had a comedic experience in romance. It's not funny. So I guess that's why I don't do it. 

Guerrasio: You say you were impressed by Matt's hustle to get the movie made. You were in a few movies this year that either just played on the festival circuit or won’t get very wide releases. In some way do you do these movies because your name now can get them made?

Shannon: Maybe. I don't really think it does to that extent. There are some people who say, "I'll see anything you do." So if that's honestly the truth then yeah, maybe so. But directors insist, they say, "You really need to do this, I can't think of anybody else." And I think, "I can. I can think of somebody else. But okay, whatever you say."

Guerrasio: I feel that is a testament to you being a working actor, constantly on the grind. You aren’t going to get studio movie paychecks regularly. Do you have a number in your head of the movies you have to make a year to be financially stable?

Shannon: No. No. Honestly, I would prefer to work less than I do. I finally reached the tipping point. It's bizarre because for so many actors there's a real hunger to work and so many actors don't get opportunities. I try to always remember that and be mindful of that, but at a certain point. I mean, I didn't make any money making "Frank & Lola" or "Wolves" [which played at this year's Tribeca Film Festival]. And I told myself basically when I did "Wolves," I'm not doing this anymore. I'm done. From now on the conditions are going to be different. 

Guerrasio: Because for you and your family, you have to make money. 

Shannon: Yeah.

Guerrasio: You're at a point now where you can actually make some money in this business, is that the thinking?

Shannon: I’m not primarily profit-driven, necessarily. But what I'm angry about, and I've gone on record saying this, is I think that financiers get away with murder. They realize they can get something for nothing and they won't settle for anything else. There's something called a Schedule F. If I work for a Schedule F contract that basically means I'm doing the movie for free because by the time I pay all my commissions and taxes there's barely anything left for me to live on. This whole notion that you do work that you love for very little money and then you go out and do something you hate to make money —

Guerrasio: One for you, one for them —

Shannon: I find that disgusting. I'm not going to do that. Because honestly I could very easily just not do this anymore and not miss it. So I just started making demands, because why not, I don't have anything to lose. [Laughs] And then there's the film thing versus the theater thing. I'll do the theater for free any time. I still go back to Chicago and work at my little theater company there and it's on the house. But with movies, movies are a grind, man. 

frank and lola universal pictures

Guerrasio: Especially the lower-budget movies you work on.

Shannon: Yeah. When we were shooting "Frank & Lola" we'd be in a casino. There was one week where we were shooting in a casino all night long. It was in the Wynn. We had to shoot at night because that's when it was slow and quiet. And you get to the point where you're so tired and things just get sketchy and most of the time a day on the film set you're not acting. I'd say maybe 10 percent of your day is spent acting. The 90 percent is spent trying to figure out how you're not going to lose your goddamn mind.

Guerrasio: So when you say you don't have any issue walking away from acting, how serious are you about that?

Shannon: There are certain people I will always respond to, but I certainly don't need more names in my Rolodex. If I just did whatever Jeff Nichols ("Loving") told me to do and Ramin Bahrani ("99 Homes"), Liz Johnson ("Elvis & Nixon"), I would be fine with that. And if Paul Thomas Anderson and David Lynch happened to call once in a while. I always drop what I'm doing for Werner Herzog. But I need to keep it contained now. 

Guerrasio: I’ll ask actors sometimes what else they would do if they didn't act and many don't have an answer because they say they don't know how to do anything else. 

Shannon: I have other interests. I've always had other interests. I've always been interested in music and frankly I have a lot of concerns about the world and sometimes I think that acting is not contributing in a meaningful way. I can't say exactly what I would do instead but something more helpful.

Guerrasio: Like what?

Shannon: Well, Greenland is melting. The fact that it's not the most talked-about issue, period, it really blows my mind. But I live in Red Hook and we had Hurricane Sandy there and it's bounced back and everyone's feeling good and there's even more business but I'm like that's going to happen again. There's no way that's not going to happen again. 

elvis and nixon

Guerrasio: Let's end on a fun one. Which role did you enjoy doing more, the Mr. Green character in "The Night Before" or Elvis in "Elvis & Nixon"?

Shannon: They were different kinds of fun. Mr. Green, it was a lot of fun to showcase my improv. Because I did a lot of improv in Chicago. I took Elvis dead serious. I worked my butt off. It got fun after it stopped being scary. It was scary for a while. 

Guerrasio: Does the fear end during shooting or not until after?

Shannon: During shooting. It's about repetition. Show up enough days in a row and put on a costume, you just stop worrying about whether you're pulling it off or not, it just doesn't matter anymore. You go, "Well, in this particular movie I am Elvis Presley and there's not much anybody can do about it right now." [Laughs]

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