09.11.2011 | By Ted Faraone |
There are several things wrong with “Contagion,” the latest from helmer Steven Soderbergh. The most egregious is Warner Bros.’ US marketing campaign which uses taglines including “The world goes viral September 9,” “Don’t talk to anyone,” “Don’t touch anyone,” and the heroic “Nothing spreads like fear.” Oh, please! Read More
09.8.2011 | By SBC Staff |
CSI: Miami co-star Adam Rodriguez is the latest Latino to land a small role on Chris Nolan’s next Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. What he will play is unknown at this moment, but Rodriguez will for sure have some screen time in the film. Rodriguez will be joined by Nestor Carbonell, who is also Latino and who plays the Mayor of Gotham.
Rodriguez was recently in ‘I Can Do Bad All by Myself’ and ‘Let the Game Begin’. He’s mostly known for his work as a detective in CSI: Miami, but he’s trying to break through into movies and this is as good a break as ever to make some noise in Hollywood.
The Dark Knight Rises has no official plot yet, but according to the trailer we saw and the set photographs, it will center around Batman once again fighting for good and on a quest to stop Bain, and Catwoman from creating chaos in Gotham.
09.8.2011 | By Jack Rico |
Joe Wright will direct the epic romance Anna Karenina, adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel by Academy Award winner Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love). The Working Title Films production will commence filming in the U.K. and Russia this month. Focus Features will distribute the movie domestically, and Universal Pictures International (UPI) will distribute the movie internationally, in the second half of 2012.
Anna Karenina marks Mr. Wright’s third Working Title movie with Focus and UPI, following the award-winning boxoffice successes Pride & Prejudice and Atonement. Also for Working Title and UPI, he directed The Soloist; also for Focus, he most recently directed the hit adventure thriller Hanna.
Working Title co-chairs Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are producing Anna Karenina with Paul Webster; the three were Academy Award nominees as the producers of Mr. Wright’s Best Picture-nominated Atonement. Also with Focus, Mr. Webster was a Golden Globe Award nominee as producer of Eastern Promises.
Keira Knightley, Academy Award-nominated for Pride & Prejudice, will star as Anna Karenina in her third collaboration with Mr. Wright. Ms. Knightley will be starring opposite two-time Academy Award nominee Jude Law, as Anna’s husband Aleksei Karenin; and Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy), as Count Vronsky. Rounding out the cast will be Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire), Matthew Macfadyen (Pride & Prejudice), Domhnall Gleeson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Alicia Vikander (The Seventh Son), two-time Academy Award nominee Emily Watson, Olivia Williams (Hanna), and Ruth Wilson (Luther).
Also reteaming with Mr. Wright on Anna Karenina are Academy Award-winning composer Dario Marianelli, twice-Academy Award-nominated costume designer Jacqueline Durran, and three-time Academy Award-nominated production designer Sarah Greenwood. The cinematographer will be Academy Award winner Philippe Rousselot. Melanie Ann Oliver (Focus’ Jane Eyre) will edit the feature. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui will be the choreographer on the movie.
The story unfolds in its original late-19th-century Russia high-society setting and powerfully explores the capacity for love that surges through the human heart, from the passion between adulterers to the bond between a mother and her children. As Anna (Ms. Knightley) questions her happiness, change comes to her family, friends, and community.
Focus Features CEO James Schamus said, “Joe Wright is a master filmmaker, and with Tom Stoppard’s brilliant screenplay this Anna Karenina will be full of both pageantry and emotion. To realize Joe’s vision, we have the perfect producing partners in Working Title and Paul Webster, whose acumen is unsurpassed. With Keira Knightley playing this iconic role and a splendid cast supporting her, today’s moviegoers will be drawn to this powerful story.”
Mr. Bevan commented, “Everyone at Working Title is proud to affirm a longtime collaboration with Joe Wright through this, our fourth picture together. That we are able to re-convene cast and crew from Pride & Prejudice and Atonement makes it all the more exciting. We anticipate that this will be a defining screen version of Anna Karenina.”
09.8.2011 | By Jack Rico |
After his Ghetto Klown Broadway extravaganza, Colombian actor John Leguizamo is getting ready for his costarring role next to Katherine Heigl in ONE FOR THE MONEY. We have the new poster, check it out below.
Heigl stars as Stephanie Plum from the popular heroine of Janet Evanovich’s worldwide best-selling sixteen-book mystery series – to vibrant life in Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment’s movie.
A proud, born-and-bred Jersey girl, Stephanie Plum’s got plenty of attitude, even if she’s been out of work for the last six months and just lost her car to a debt collector. Desperate for some fast cash, Stephanie turns to her last resort: convincing her sleazy cousin to give her a job at his bail bonding company…as a recovery agent. True, she doesn’t even own a pair of handcuffs and her weapon of choice is pepper spray, but that doesn’t stop Stephanie from taking on Vinny’s biggest bail-jumper: former vice cop and murder suspect Joe Morelli – yup, the same sexy, irresistible Joe Morelli who seduced and dumped her back in high school.
Nabbing Morelli would be satisfying payback – and a hefty payday – but as Stephanie learns the ins and outs of becoming a recovery agent from Ranger, a hunky colleague who’s the best in the business, she also realizes the case against Morelli isn’t airtight. Add to the mix her meddling family, a potentially homicidal boxer, witnesses who keep dying and the problem of all those flying sparks when she finds Morelli himself…well, suddenly Stephanie’s new job isn’t nearly as easy as she thought.
ONE FOR THE MONEY is a fresh, funny action-comedy directed by Julie Anne Robinson and also starring Jason O’Mara, Daniel Sunjata, John Leguiziamo, Debbie Reynolds and Debra Monk. Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment present a Lakeshore Entertainment Lionsgate Wendy Finerman production in association with Sidney Kimmel Entertainment Abishag Productions. Directed by Julie Anne Robinson. Screenplay by Stacy Sherman & Karen Ray and Liz Brixius. Based on the novel by Janet Evanovich.
09.7.2011 | By Jack Rico |
Producer Alicia Keys is proud to announce that Dulé Hill, Mekhi Phifer, Tracie Thoms, Puerto Rican actor Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Condola Rashad will star in the Broadway premiere of STICK FLY, the critically-acclaimed American play by Lydia R. Diamond and directed by Kenny Leon. STICK FLY begins previews on Friday, November 18, 2011 and officially opens on Thursday, December 8, 2011 at the Cort Theatre (138 W. 48th Street). Tickets are now on sale through Telecharge.com.
“My producing partners and I are thrilled to have such a strong and talented ensemble cast assembled,” said Alicia Keys. “Having this incredible group of actors to help bring Lydia’s beautiful play to life is going to take Broadway’s wattage to the next level!”
Returning to the Broadway stage, Emmy Award nominee Dulé Hill (“Psych,” “The West Wing”) will play Kent “Spoon” Levay (a writer), Tracie Thoms (Rent, “Cold Case,” The Devil Wears Prada) will play Taylor (Kent’s fiancée and an entomologist), and Tony Award-winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Seven Guitars, Lackawanna Blues) will play Joe Levay (Kent & Flip’s father and a neurosurgeon). Making their Broadway debuts, Mekhi Phifer (“ER,” 8 Mile) will play Flip Levay (a plastic surgeon), and Drama Desk Award nominee Condola Rashad (Ruined) will play Cheryl (a maid). Casting for the role of Kimber, a part-time teacher, will be announced at a later date.
It was supposed to be a relaxing weekend at the family home on Martha’s Vineyard… until the baggage got unpacked. Set at the elegant summer home of the well-to-do LeVay family, STICK FLY begins when two adult sons bring their significant others (one a fiancée, the other a new girlfriend) home to meet their parents for the first time. Soon, secrets are revealed, civilities are dropped and identities are explored in a harsh new light. Race and rivalry, class and family, all come together for an explosive comedy of manners about today’s complex world.
The creative team for STICK FLY includes David Gallo (Scenic Design), Reggie Ray (Costume Design), Beverly Emmons (Lighting Design) and Richard Fitzgerald / Sound Associates (Sound Design).
STICK FLY will be produced on Broadway by Nelle Nugent, Alicia Keys, Samuel Nappi, Reuben Cannon, Sharon A. Carr/Patricia Klausner, Huntington Theatre Company, Dan Frishwasser, Charles Salameno in association with Joseph Sirola & Eric Falkenstein.
STICK FLY was developed in a recent co-production last year between the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston and Arena Stage in Washington D.C. The play had its world premiere at Chicago’s Congo Square Theatre Company in 2006 and was subsequently performed at theatres including the McCarter Theatre in 2007 and the Matrix Theatre Company in Los Angeles in 2009. STICK FLY is the recipient of 2011 Independent Reviewers of New England Awards for Best Play and Best Director of a Drama (Kenny Leon); 2010 LA Drama Critics Circle Awards for Best Production, Best Direction and Best Ensemble Performance; a 2010 LA Garland Award for Playwriting; a 2009 LA Weekly Theatre Award for Playwriting; and, the 2006 Black Theatre Alliance Award for Best New Play. It was also a 2008 Susan Blackburn Prize finalist and a nominee for the 2006 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work.
Tickets are now available by calling Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200, (800) 432-7250 outside the NY metro area, or online at Telecharge.com.
08.19.2011 | By Jack Rico |
*Updated 2026
In 2026, when fantasy action has become more polished and expensive, Conan the Barbarian reads like a blunt reminder that gore and muscle are not enough to make a reboot feel alive.
08.12.2011 | By Jack Rico |
*Updated April 2026
From drama to comedy, Michael Peña, the Chicago native with Mexican blood from Jalisco and San Luis Potosi, is in my opinion, one of the most underrated actors in the film business. He is also the next Latino actor who will win an Oscar. His performance as Jesus Martinez in The Lincoln Lawyer was as visceral and absorbing as any performance this year in a supporting role. Read More
08.1.2011 | By Jack Rico |
Centennial, Colo. – August 1, 2011 – Blasting onto the silver screen with the intensity of its original release nearly 30 years ago, the pop culture phenomenon Scarface, starring Al Pacino and directed by Brian De Palma, returns to movie theaters in a one-night Fathom event on Wednesday, August 31 at 7:30 p.m. local time. Presented by NCM Fathom and Universal Studios Home Entertainment, audiences nationwide will get the opportunity to experience one of the most influential gangster classics ever made like never before — with all-new restored high-definition picture and enhanced audio. Fans who attend this special event will also get an exclusive look at a 20-minute special feature that showcases interviews with popular filmmakers and talent expressing how this epic feature redefined the gangster genre, leaving an enduring influence on cinema.
Tickets for the Scarface Special Event are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, visit the NCM Fathom website (theaters and participants are subject to change). The Scarface Special Event will appear in more than 475 select movie theaters across the country via the new digital cinema projection systems.
“Almost 30 years after its initial release, Scarface remains iconic and stirs passionate responses from audiences around the world,” said Dan Diamond, vice president of NCM Fathom. “Now, fans can experience Scarface like never before in theaters with spectacularly updated visual and sound quality, and never-before-seen elements in an historic, one-night event.”
Scarface is a 1983 American crime drama and masterful collaboration between acclaimed director Brian De Palma and Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Oliver Stone. Produced by Martin Bregman, Academy Award® winner Al Pacino stars as Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant who finds wealth, power and passion beyond his wildest dreams…at a price he never imagined. Scarface was nominated for three Golden Globe® Awards (including Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Score), and was named one of the Top 10 Gangster Films of All Time by the American Film Institute.
This one-night, in-theater event celebrates the first-ever Blu-rayTM release of Scarface on September 6 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Fans of Scarface will enjoy the restored high-definition picture and 7.1 audio plus see exclusive new bonus content that reveals the film’s iconic legacy as one of the greatest crime sagas of all time. For a limited time only, the Scarface Special Limited Edition Blu-rayTM comes with collectible SteelBookTM packaging, 10 exclusive art cards, a digital copy of the film and a DVD of the original 1932 Scarface, making it a must-own addition to every film fan’s library. And, for the ultimate collector and cigar enthusiast, an elegantly hand-crafted Scarface-themed humidor will also be made available in an exclusive, never-before-available, limited edition.
07.29.2011 | By Estelle Gonzales Walgreen |
*Updated March 2026
Quick Answer: The Smurfs are called Los Pitufos in Spanish (pronounced pee-TWO-foes). The name comes from a Catalan folktale character called Patufet.
In Spanish, a Smurf is a Pitufo, and The Smurfs are Los Pitufos. That translation is the practical answer readers are searching for; the larger ShowBizCafe question is whether the name still carries the same pop-culture feeling in English and Spanish.
For another ShowBizCafe look at how English and Spanish move through pop culture, see our guide to Spanglish songs and their music videos.
