With a slew of Emmy Award and Golden Globe wins and nominations to its name over the past few years, 30 Rock has become one of the most popular comedies on TV, with a cast led by Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, and Tracy Morgan, and featuring more cameos than you can shake a fist at, including Will Arnett, Julianne Moore, Matt Damon, James Franco, Michael Sheen, Elizabeth Banks, and so many more.

The show’s sixth season kicked off in the States earlier this month, and NBC have put up a brilliant episode highlight for last night’s episode, via The Playlist, in which the brilliant Emma Stone, Andy Samberg, and Nick Cannon cameo. If you’re a fan of the show here in the UK but haven’t seen any of the new episodes, then you may want to look away now, but the 50-second spot really doesn’t give anything away, it’s just a lot of fun.

Lightly poking fun at Garry Marshall’s recent star-studded films, Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve, we see Stone, Samberg (nicely credited as ‘Andrew Samberg’), Cannon, and Jane Krakowski (who plays Jenna Maroney on the show) starring in a trailer Martin Luther King Day that Jenna’s playing to the rest of the 30 Rock characters. Naturally, it’s a lot of fun, as you can expect from the show.

I’m still yet to see the fifth season, which comes out on DVD here on 12^th March, but am already looking forward to seeing this scene in the full episode in the sixth season. Here’s the great new clip to enjoy. Got MLK? Brilliant.

We got our first look at Adam Shankman’s upcoming film adaptation of the Broadway musical, Rock of Ages, back in the summer with a great photo of Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand looking the part, followed swiftly by one of Tom Cruise looking awesome on stage.

The first trailer and poster for the film have now debuted over at Apple’s iTunes Movie Trailers, via ComingSoon.net, and they are fantastic, with Baldwin especially shining in his scenes, and looking awesome with a full head of long, shaggy hair.

““Rock of Ages” tells the story of small town girl Sherrie and city boy Drew, who meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams. Their rock ‘n’ roll romance is told through the heart-pounding hits of Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Whitesnake, and more.”

The cast is excellent, with Diego Boneta and Julianne Hough starring in the younger roles of Drew and Sherrie, and an older cast headed up by the likes of Cruise, Baldwin, Brand, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Paul Giamatti, Mary J. Blige, Malin Akerman, and Bryan Cranston.

The film is due to hit our screens on 8^th June next summer, and judging by this first trailer, it’s going to be a lot of fun, with some ridiculously great music from start to finish. Without further ado, here’s the trailer in all its musical awesomeness, followed up by the film’s first poster. And if you’d like to watch the trailer in stunning HD, then you can click over to Apple here.

Felicity Jones (Albatross) has landed the lead female role in Warren Beatty’s Howard Hughes biopic.

The as-yet-untitled film will centre on a young woman (Jones) who develops a relationship with Hughes’s young driver and confidante, before she falls in love with Hughes.

Justin Timberlake, Alden Ehrenreich, Annette Bening, Jack Nicholson, Alec Baldwin and Owen Wilson are reportedly in the mix for other, unspecified roles.

Beatty will direct from his own script, with production penciled in for an early 2012 start.

Jones will next be seen in Like Crazy, which is due to hit U.K. cinemas on February 3, 2012.

Source: Deadline

In an interview with Leicester Square TV at the London Hong Kong Film Week, Infernal Affairs writer and director Alan Mak thinks that a second ‘The Departed’ movie could be on the way but no news yet as to whether Martin Scorsese would return to direct. Mak wrote the screenplay for the original movie, Infernal Affairs / Mou gaan dou on which The Departed is based.

In the interview, Mak admits he has been approached by some American companies to do a sequel to the 2006 movie which starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson, Ray Winstone, Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin to name but a few! It came away with four Oscars at the 2007 awards ceremony which would explain why these American companies may be lining up for a sequel.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see but it sounds like it’s on the cards to happen. Check out the interview below in full and tell us your thoughts in the comments section.

To mark the release of The Aviator on Blu-ray 19th September, Miramax have given us two copies of the movie to give away.

Directed by Martin Scorsese, THE AVIATOR is the story of aviation pioneer Howard Hughes (LEONARDO DICAPRIO). The film centers on Hughes’ life from late 1920s to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

THE AVIATOR was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning five, including one for actress CATE BLANCHETT.

To be in with a chance of winning the movie, simply answer the following question using the form below:

Who directed the movie The Aviator?

[contact-form-7]

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 26th September at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

Here’s yet another first look image of the Derek Martini directed movie starring Blake Lively, Chloe Moretz, Alec Baldwin, Juliette Lewis, Eddie Redmayne and Rory Culkin called Hick. As with all the other posts that we’ve put up in the last hour, it comes from the Toronto Film Festival website which was updated with hundreds of lovely new images from movies set to show at this year’s festival.

A Nebraska teen gets much more than she bargained for when she sets out for the bright lights of the big city.

This new image shows Blake Lively pulling Chloe Moretz out of a shop! Nuff said!

Source: TIFF

With his latest film, Midnight in Paris, coming out of Cannes with a healthy critical buzz the prolific filmmaker is already in pre-production for his next stop on his European jaunt with a stop in Rome for The Bop Decameron and today the latest iteration of the famous Allen Ensemble cast was revealed.

Some of the actors on the list were already rumoured to have signed up, and Allen himself confirmed Judy Davis, a frequenter co-star of Allen’s who last appeared for Allen in his 1998 film Celebrity, was set to star but the full list has some choice surprises.

Here’s the full cast, culled from Deadline, to whom we owe thanks.

Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penélope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig and Ellen Page. Co-stars include Antonio Albanese, Fabio Armiliata, Alessandra Mastronardi, Ornella Muti, Flavio Parenti, Alison Pill, Riccardo Scamarcio and Alessandro Tiberi

Yes. That’s Ornella Muti from Flash Gordon. Greta Gerwig is another very interesting addition to the cast. She has done some exceptional work of late, and she has an incredible screen presence so I’m hoping she’ll have more than a passing role here. I’ll happily watch anything Allen produces and it’s good to see the director reuniting with some of his co-stars of old as well as casting some of the more interesting young actors around.

As for the film’s plot we can do no better than quote the fine folks at Cinema Blend who quoted Allen at the recent Cannes press conference. He said thie film will be:

a broad comedy, not a romantic comedy, of various tales interwoven. I’m one of them, in one of them. All the parts are quite significant, there are no cameos. There just happened to be a part that I could play. I can’t play the love interest anymore, which is tremendously frustrating. My wife and myself go to Rome because our daughter is going to marry an Italian boy that she met there, and we go over to meet him and meet his family, and what ensues. The film is very broadly funny.

Oh Woody, you had me at Decameron…

TomCruise.com which obviously we follow avidly (and we do follow him on Twitter!) have released the first image Tom in his new movie, Rock of Ages. If you missed the previous image from the film, click here to take a look at Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin making the most of rock style!

The movie stars Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Akerman, Paul Giamatti to name but a few and should be with us Summer next year.

A small-town girl arrives in Hollywood at the height of the 1980s rock-music scene.

Click the image below to enlarge.

Hasn’t the world become a better place since Alec Baldwin began to lighten up, shed some of his ego (if not his weight) and show off his considerable comedic chops in small screen favourite 30 Rock.

As if you needed another reason to smile, he’s now been snapped by director Adam Shankman (with co-star Russell Brand) on the set of 80’s musical Rock of Ages in a somewhat outlandish, yet strangely natural-looking rock get-up.

With reports that the actor had to be talked into staying on what looks like an incredibly fun productions by the film’s producers (Alec – Catherine Zeta-Jones, Paul Giamatti, Malin Akerman, Mary J. Blige and even Tom Cruise have also investing in having fun here!), having now seen this image, surely he realises that to have jumped ship would have been a real tragedy.

Keep smiling Alec. You rock.

Via Cinema Blend

Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago) has signed on to co-star in ensemble musical Rock of Ages.

Zeta-Jones will star opposite Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Mary J. Blige, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Julianne Hough, and newcomer Diego González Boneta.

A small-town girl arrives in Hollywood at the height of the 1980′s rock-music scene.

Adam Shankman (Hairspray) will direct, with production expected to begin in May.

Offspring Entertainment, Maguire Entertainment and Corner Store Entertainment will co-produce.

Source: THR

Following on from the likes of Jeff Bridges and (good sport) Alec Baldwin being immortalised in the world of Disney, Johnny Depp and the somewhat unlikely Patti Smith have now been subject to famed photographer Annie Leibovitz’s lens.

Unsurprisingly, Depp and Smith are both kitted out in Pirates of the Caribbean garb for this two page magazine spread, which is part of a series of images celebrating the studio’s icons (which in this case, originated in the form of a classic ride via the Disney theme parks).

Singer/songwriter Smith is actually nowhere to be seen in the POTC credits on IMDb, but given Depp’s power in Hollywood, he could probably invite any of his pals along to be included in the photo shoot.

Images via Disney Parks Blog

Woody Allen’s proclivity to pepper his films with an enviable cast continues apace as Variety confirms the recent rumours that Jesse Eisenberg was to sign on to star in Allen’s next film and goes one further by announcing that Super girl Ellen Page also has a part.

Alec Baldwin was already set to the Rome based film, about which nothing (naturally) is known except that Allen has enlisted his Oscar winning Vicki Christina Barcelona star Penelope Cruz to star.

Eisenberg is a seemingly obivous fit for Allen’s work, while Baldwin worked with the director twenty one years ago in Alice with Mia Farrow, Page is another actress whose star is on the rise and has never yet been anything less than charming in every film I’ve seen her in.

Another film, another great cast – let’s hope this one continues Allen’s resurgence after Match Point and VCB. His latest, Midnight in Paris, opens Cannes next month.

Alec Baldwin (The Departed) has signed on to appear in Woody Allen’s latest as-yet-untitled directorial feature.

Baldwin will star opposite Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), who revealed her involvement last week.

In addition, Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) is also rumoured to be circling the film.

Little is known about the project apart from the fact it will shoot in Rome this summer.

Allen’s Midnight in Paris will open the 64th annual Cannes Film Festival next month.

Source: Sky Movies

Alice Eve has joined the cast of Men In Black III as the younger version of agency head Emma Thompson.

Eve will star opposite Thompson, Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Rip Torn, Alec Baldwin, Jermaine Clement, Sharlto Copley and Nicole Scherzinger.

Barry Sonnenfeld is directing.

Agent J (Smith) is forced to travel back in time to team up with the young Agent K (Brolin) to save the world.

It was recently announced that Men In Black III had extended a pre-planned holiday hiatus, with production expected to re-commence at the end of March.

Men In Black III will be released on May 25, 2012 by Sony Pictures.

Source: Deadline

We’ve brought you some casting rumours lately for “Rock of Ages”, an adaptation of a stage play set around the world of 1980′s rockers and those rumours are now starting to take a more definite shape. The film adap will be directed by Adam Shankman (The Wedding Planner, Hairspray, Bedtime Stories) and Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway have now both been confirmed as on board.

Cruise will, as already rumoured, play Stacee Jaxx, the arrogant rocker at the centre of the story. Hathaway is in talks to play a journalist who, despite being intent on exposing Jaxx’s decadence, winds up falling for his charms. Deadline quite rightly point out that the casting of Cruise is very much the lynch pin here, enabling others who have been circling the project (Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin) to commit, safe in the knowledge that the project is proceeding with a heavyweight star on board. Hathaway’s involvement may not yet be a dead cert. THR say that filming is aiming for a May start date, which will clash royally with Hathaway’s involvement in The Dark Knight Rises as Selina Kyle. Whether she will be able to juggle the shooting dates, or have to back off, we will surely find out soon.

More as we hear it.

Sources: Deadline, THR.

According to rumour, Russell Brand is the latest star hoping to get involved with Adam Shankman’s Rock of Ages, a screen adaptation of the stage musical set for production at New Line.

Brand, who previously worked with Shankman on Bedtime Stories, has reportedly taken a liking to the role of Lonnie, who runs an ’80s rock club for owner Dennis (a part currently being circled by Alec Baldwin).

Scripted originally by the musical’s book writer, Chris D’Arienzo, and receiving rewrites from Little Miss Sunshine Oscar winner Michael Arndt, buzz around the film is currently on a high, with news suggesting that Tom Cruise will soon be confirmed to play rock star Stacee Jax.

Following on from his work in surprise flop The Tempest with Helen Mirren and Alfred Molina, this could prove to be Brand’s highest profile project yet. But although the comedian played the part of Lothario rocker Aldous Snow in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek, will his pipes have what it takes to carry a duet of REO Speedwagon’s Can’t Fight This Feeling with Alec Baldwin? Only time will tell.

Deadline had the story.

Recently 2009 Oscars hosting favourite Hugh Jackman chose to suit up once again for Wolverine and ruled himself out of returning to host Hollywood’s biggest night, and while this year’s hosting duo of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin did a good job they are not hosting next year’s event.

It’s been announced today that James Franco and Anne Hathaway are the dynamic duo doing the honours, making pre-scripted small talk and handing out gongs. It’s unexpected to say the least, though they are certainly icons of the young Hollywood which the Academy hope will ramp up the ratings.

Famously Bob Hope and Billy Crystal were Oscar mainstays in the 1960s and 1990s respectively and Jackman aside it has usually been a collection or solo comedians who have hosted the big backslap, and there’s absolutely no telling how Hathaway and Franco will do, particularly as Franco is pretty much guaranteed to be nominated for Best Actor for his role as Aron Ralston in Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours.

Click here to see how Jackman opened proceedings two years ago, with Anne Hathaway making a memorable contribution. It’s a class act.

Want the official word? Here’s a press release for your eyes,

Beverly Hills, CA — James Franco and Anne Hathaway will serve as co-hosts of the 83rd Academy Awards®, Oscar telecast producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer announced today. Both have previously appeared on the telecast but not in hosting capacities.“James Franco and Anne Hathaway personify the next generation of Hollywood icons— fresh, exciting and multi-talented. We hope to create an Oscar broadcast that will both showcase their incredible talents and entertain the world on February-27,” said Cohen and Mischer. “We are completely thrilled that James and Anne will be joining forces with our brilliant creative team to do just that.”

Franco, who currently can be seen in “127 Hours,” will be making his second appearance on an Oscar telecast. His other film credits include “Eat, Love, Pray,” “Date Night,” “Milk” and “Pineapple Express.” Franco is also known for his portrayals of Harry Osborn in the “Spider-Man” trilogy.

Hathaway will be making her fifth appearance on an Academy Awards telecast. She was recently seen in “Alice in Wonderland” and currently can be seen in “Love and Other Drugs.“ Hathaway’s other film credits include “Bride Wars,” “Becoming Jane,” “The Devil Wears Prada” and “The Princess Diaries.” She was nominated for an Oscar in 2008 for her lead performance in “Rachel Getting Married.”

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Deadline had it, although they did that awful Toldja nonsense too.

Whether or not you wish it were the other way around, Hugh Jackman has reportedly turned down the opportunity to reprise his hosting duties for the 83rd annual Academy Awards so that he can fulfil his X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2 obligations. Priorities, Hugh!

To be aired live on the 27th February next year, the Oscars will clash with his and director Darren Aronofsky’s planned location shoots in New York and Japan.

Proving popular back in 2009, Jackman had initially intended on returning for the 2011 ceremony after taking a year out. With the host usually announced on November 3rd, it is not yet known if last year’s hosts – who could forget Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin’s collaboration – will return for the second year running.

Were you a fan of Jackman’s hosting skills? Who do you think might replace him? Let us know in the comments section below. Personally, my money’s on Winkleman. She’s everywhere.

Shawn Ryan, creator of the critically acclaimed series “The Shield” is to adapt “Without Remorse”, a Tom Clancy bestseller from the early 90′s.

Unlike many of Clancy’s books, Without Remorse does not centre around the character of Jack Ryan (who has already been played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck, with a rumoured Chris Pine reboot also in the works), following instead CIA-operative John Kelly. John Kelly appears in some of Clancy’s books under the alias John Clark and was played by Willem Defoe in Clear and Present Danger and Liev Schreiber in The Sum of all Fears.

In Without Remorse, Kelly goes up against a Baltimore drug ring who were responsible for the death of his girlfriend and although the novel itself is set in the 1970′s, no decision has been made yet as to whether the film will be set in the present day.

Given that TV’s The Wire has pretty much established the authoritative modern depiction of drug culture in Baltimore, it might be better to make the film more of a period piece, even if it does add to the production cost to have to buy in a load of flared trousers.

There’s no more news as yet on casting or a director, but we will pass on any juicy information as soon as we get to hear it.

Vulture had the story.

It has taken Lymelife almost two years to find its way onto DVD, having done well on the festival circuit last year and boasting a very impressive cast, Derick Martini’s film is a coming of age drama which seeks to find its own identity in the crowd of similar fare.

Em wrote an excellent review here, and spoke to the director Derick Martini here and both are required reading as there is much to recommend this film, which bats away the easy comparisons to American Beauty and The Ice Storm with its ensemble cast being the biggest weapon in its arsenal. Martini was blessed with a very strong cast whose intimate and understated performances resonate throughout the film, and his confidence in his storytelling allows an organic flow of narrative in which our interest ebbs and flows but ultimately we are carried along, engaged and invested.

Those currently enjoying Scott Pilgrim will no doubt be won over by Kieran Culkin’s wonderfully deadpan performance and it is he and his brother Rory who provide the film’s best moments. Alec Baldwin’s embodiment of dysfunction is a little too broad on the page but is given extra dimension in his moments with Cynthia Nixon and the aforementioned elder Culkin.

It’s no surprise that the moments when the characters pair up offer the film’s highlights and there’s much to enjoy with Rory Culkin’s awkward courting of Emma Roberts’s Adrianna as well as Timothy Hutton and Cynthia Nixon’s battered and embittered meltdown and while there is a light touch to some of the moments of self discovery there’s a lot to this story than volcanic family dysfunction and gazing at navels.

For a film which debuted in Toronto nearly two years ago and had only a limited theatrical release across the world I’m hopeful that Lymelife will find an audience with the DVD release today. There’s enough star power in the cast to catch the eye of the DVD shelf broswer and if you give it a chance the subtle charm of Lymelife will win you over.