Tyler Perry Stars in Tyler Perry's Why Did I Cast Kim Kardashian?

Even I, a beleaguered devotee of Tyler Perry’s melodramatic, muumuu-rocking oeuvre, had a difficult time accepting the inevitability of… God, I can’t even write it. Kim… ugh. Kiiiimmmm… fuck. KimKardashian. Kim. Kar. Dashian. Whew. OK. Even I had a difficult time accepting the inevitability of Kim Kardashian’s casting in Perry’s upcoming The Marriage Counselor, and that was before the tragic unraveling of her nuptials to that discarded oaf, whoever he was. I wasn’t alone, either; other fans’ disapproval pelted the door of the specially reinforced storm closet where Perry sought refuge. Now, with Kar… Kar… da… Ugh. With her shooting completed, the filmmaker finally took to his blog today to explain himself. And it is good. Like, the Dickensian intrigue of our day: I could not have imagined I’d be getting all these emails about Kim Kardashian. I HAVE SEEN THEM!! YOU HAVE BEEN HEARD!! …LOL. Now, may I say something? Can a brother get a word in?….LOL. Y’all gave me a new movie title, Tyler Perry’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman Cause You Hired Kim Kardashian, Don’t Make Me Take Off My Earrings and Boycott Yo A**. …LOL. Some of my ladies are upset. Ok, all jokes aside, can I have my say? Will you at least here [sic] me out? I was in a Mexican restaurant and the cutest little old woman stopped me and said, “I want to talk to you about KAR-DAT- CHA-NEM.” I said, “Ma’am?” She said, “What is wrong with you putting her in the lead role of your movie?” By the time I explained to her that she was not in the lead role and why I thought she should be in The Marriage Counselor, she said, “Oh, I see your point and I can’t wait to see the movie.” So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to share with you what I said to her then maybe you’ll see why I wanted her in the film. This movie is about a young lady named Judith (Jurnee Smolett), who grew up in the countryside of Virginia in a trailer park. She was raised in the church by her mother Sarah (Ella Joyce). Judith married her childhood sweetheart Brice (Lance Gross) and had the perfect life until she graduated college and went to work in the big city. After college, all she wanted to do was be a marriage counselor, but the only job she could find was working for a matchmaker named Janice (Vanessa Williams). Janice has several employees that work for her, including a woman named Ava (Kim Kardashian). Ava is constantly trying to influence Judith on everything from her shoes to her hair. Judith meets a man at work named Harley (Robbie Jones). Harley challenges everything in her life from her marriage to her husband to her faith. Meanwhile, Brice (Lance Gross), Judith’s husband works at a pharmacy owned by Mrs. Waco (Renee Taylor). Brice has just hired a coworker named Melinda (Brandy), who has some major demons that she is running from. In the end, the choices that both of these young women have made come crashing down on them and their lives will never be the same. I wish I could tell you more, but I don’t want to ruin it for you. After I finished writing this movie, I sat back and re-read it. Half way through my read, the gravity of what I had written hit me. I knew that this message was not only for my age group, but for all audiences, especially the youth. ESPECIALLY THE YOUTH!! YOUNG FOLKS NEED TO SEE THIS!!! And not just the young people that follow me, but the young people that are following other young people, as well. I wanted a younger cast, that’s why I put Jurnee in the lead and invited Lance Gross, Robbie Jones and Brandy. About two months ago, long before I even heard about Kim’s marriage or divorce, I was trying to finish up the casting. I said to one of my producers, “who else is out there that young people are looking up to?” One of my producers showed me pictures that his daughter had taken of several hundred kids lined up around the corner to get into a Kardashian store. They wanted to meet Kim. I thought, what better person! She literally has millions of young people following her. I thought and still do think, that it would be very responsible of her to be a part of this film. To have the young people that look up to her, see her in a film that is about, what happens in life when you make the wrong choices. Whether you’re aware of it or not, to be honest with you I wasn’t, millions of young people adore her and are following her every move. If one of those young people see this film and find the strength to live a better life and not go through what these characters went through in this movie, then we have all done what I feel I’m being led to do here. I hope you understand. I really do! And lastly, because I believe that my films speak from the inside out, why wouldn’t Kim Kardashian be invited into a film about Faith, Forgiveness and the healing power of God? What is wrong with that?? Oh, Lord. Nothing! Nothing at all. Just ignore the armed guards and keep a lawyer handy; art will no doubt win out in the end. · Kim Kardashian in the Marriage Counselor [TylerPerry.com]

Could Be Has Issue With The Curvature

She may join Clint Eastwood inside the dramaFirst-time director Robert Lorenz has a bit more clout than most newcomer filmmakers, thinking about the truth that he's Clint Eastwood's extended-time business partner inside their Malpaso production company and guaranteed the legendary thesp's services for his drama Issue With The Curvature. But he's had less luck obtaining a leading lady to see Clint's estranged daughter inside the film. The newest possibility? Could Be.Shape finds Eastwood becoming an aging baseball scout fighting using the beginning of blindness who decides to go on holiday to Atlanta to check out a possible youthful star inside the making. His daughter begrudgingly goes along wishing of repairing their relationship.Lorenz and Eastwood had initially approached Sandra Bullock for your female lead, who made an appearance game and became a member of foretells accept role. But organizing difficulties have handled to obtain impossible on her behalf to register. Still, Adams can be a solid second choice and was apparently already on Lorenz' wish report on possible stars.Adams may also be fairly busy, so we'll discover if she comprises an offer. However when she does, she'll be adding Eastwood for the report on symbols she's labored with recently, including Kermit (inside the Muppets) and Superman (in Guy Of Steel, which she's presently shooting).

Leslie Unger resigning from AMPAS

UngerAfter 19 years using the Academy of movement Picture Arts and Sciences, communications director Leslie Unger is resigning, she confirmed to Variety.Among her responsibilities, Unger was largely accountable for the publicity efforts all around the Oscar ceremony, which incorporated a lot of the preproduction and technical aspects. Her resignation occurs the heels of the tumultuous week for that Academy, throughout so it lost producer Brett Ratner and host Eddie Murray, who have been changed by John Grazer and Billy Very.However the Academy itself continues to be going through a substantial cultural change since current Boss Beginning Hudson's arrival captured. Hudson hired marketing professional Christina Kounelias towards the recently produced publish of chief marketing officer in August, directly above Unger. Longtime executive director Bruce Davis also upon the market this season after 22 years.Unger continues to be communications director since 2007, presuming the title after John Pavlik upon the market.The Academy hasn't stated whether or not this would title a alternative. Contact Christy Grosz at christy.grosz@variety.com

'Oz' Munchkin Karl Slover dies

Karl Slover, who played one of the Munchkins in 1939 classic film "The Wizard of Oz," died Tuesday in Dublin, Ga. He was 93.The 4-foot-5 Slover played the lead trumpeter in the Munchkins' band.He appeared at a "Wizard of Oz" festival in Chesterton, Ind., in September and signed autographs.A native of what is now the Czech Republic, Slover was 2 feet tall at age 8, and his father sent him to work in a traveling show. He changed his last name from Kosiczky to Slover, the name of the family that owned the carnival where he worked, and became an American citizen in 1943.Slover, who was 21 when he appeared in "The Wizard of Oz," also had roles in "They Gave Him a Gun" (1937), classic screwball comedy "Bringing Up Baby" (1938), "Block-Heads" (1938) and all-midget Western "The Terror of Tiny Town" (1938); he played a baby a few years later in Billy Wilder's classic alcoholic-bender film "The Lost Weekend" (1945).Much more recently, Slover made appearances in a number of "Oz"-related documentaries, including "We're Off to See the Munchkins" (1993), "I Married a Munchkin" (1994) and "Memories of Oz" (2001). He also appeared on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" and "Entertainment Tonight."(Associated Press contributed to this report.) Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

'The Pitch-dark Hour' One-Sheet Promises Holiday Destruction (Photo)

This holidays, five youthful people only will make an effort to survive their Pitch-dark Hour in Chris Gorak's sci-fi thriller. Summit has released its first one sheet for your 3d film, which reads "Survive the holidays.Inch The art features a crowded city street engulfed in flames and destruction. The Pitch-dark Hour stars Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirby, Max Minghella and Rachael Taylor as several youthful individuals who end up stranded in Moscow carrying out a devastating alien attack. The film, searching for a Christmas Day release, combines the classic great factor concerning the Russian city with mind-coming effects by director Gorak and Timur Bekmambetov. Emile Hirsch Summit Entertainment

New Hobbit Video From Jackson

PJ updates round the 3DIt's been four several days since we last had an update within the number of The Hobbit, so finally this is a new video from Jackson, replete with Hobbity goodness and, particularly this time around around, everything 3d.Jackson's fourth Hobbit video-blog seems designed to allay any fears we may have around three dimensional, and specially the limitations that frequently drain colour and light-weight within the screen. As a bit of the showcase we get a full think about the sinister forest of Mirkwood, that's presently searching as being a Roger Dean album cover. The over-saturated headache-inducing psychedelia is always to atone for the fact the Red-colored-colored camera "eats colour". Similar problems have to be overcome inside the make-up department, and that we receive a demo with Graham McTavish as Dwalin, whose face looks crazily sunburned to make sure that it doesn't show as yellow on-screen. She's pale arms though. "I've barely seen daylight for six several days", he sobs.We have a proud tour from you department, and Jackson's range of cutting-edge Red-colored-colored Epics: four dozen of those, named after Jackson family people, dogs (Tricky-Woo? Really?) as well as the Beatles. You will discover crane cameras and handhelds, with Jackson insisting the machine isn't as cumbersome since you may frequently hear, which he's shooting while he more-or-less would (apart from requiring to make it happen through mirrors). The 3 dimensional effects can definitely be accomplished and modified "live". Alan Lee and John Howe are even doing 3d concept art!There's talk of good and bad space, interocular and convergence, and 48-fps: two occasions the conventional shooting and projection speed.But also for people who couldn't give a longbottom leaf in regards to the tech stuff, you will discover more exciting glimpses inside the ten-minute clip. Mirkwood aside, we have seen a eco-friendly-screen "polystyrene and plaster pine forest" Andy Serkis doing a bit of pointing and Elijah Wood searching for and enthusingStephen Hunter's Bombur pressed off his foot quick shots of Elrond (Hugo Weaving) together with a sword-transporting Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Bilbo (Martin Freeman) enabling dwarfs to spill through his legendary round door. Which is that Last Bridge we view the business approaching, near where the encounter while using trolls happens?"Nearly everything we've been talking about, - the 3 dimensional, the 48 frames - you can't really see," Jackson apologises. "However, you'll...InchThe Hobbit: An Unforeseen Journey is going next December. So when you fancy casting your brain back, there's an extremely great tenth-anniversary Our god In The Rings feature in our Empire.

A Really Harold & Kumar three dimensional Christmas: Film Review

The minds behind A Really Harold & Kumar three dimensional Christmas were not kidding about this three dimensional within the title. Things come flying from the screen every couple of moments - a flaming Christmas tree, showers of glass, lawn ornaments, plenty of eggs, pot smoke, overflowing confetti and, keep an eye out, here comes your kitchen sink! The 3rd installment of those mildly effective stoner comedies does not a lot work off a script like a record: Are we proven any spurting bloodstream lately? Includes a youthful child unintentionally pulled in to the movie's misadventures consumed any new drug? Just when was the final racial joke? Let us not lament how another comedy series went from the rails because that one really has not. Not so long ago - that moment 2004 when Harold & Kumar Visit Whitened Castle grew to become something of the cult hit - the joke was that here is a stoner road movie in regards to a bookish Korean-American as well as an Indian-American party animal, ethnic stereotypes filling out for that usual Anglo stereotypes who'd inhabit these roles. The NYers - well performed by John Cho andKal Penn - embarked in to the evening seeking smokes, women and slider mobile phones in a Whitened Castle hamburger joint. VIDEO: 'A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas' Red-colored Band Trailer: The 2nd Coming of Neil Patrick Harris Nothing has transformed. After being waylaid through the lame Harold & Kumar Avoid Guantanamo Bay in 2008, Harold and Kumar, searching well past 30 - the stars always performed much more youthful compared to what they were - return for an additional nocturnal ramble which will progressively transfer to surreal fantasy. However the situation, for the three dimensional claptrap, remains basically exactly the same: Two reasonably authentic figures tumble right into a Wonderland of sheer nonsense. How funny this nonsense is is going to be based in the minds of audiences. So in cases like this, responses will very within the extreme. One could develop appreciating the Marx Siblings, Three Stooges and John Landis comedies and could still find this movie's only funny line concerns Kal Penn's brief career diversion in to the Obama Whitened House. Others will bust a stomach poking fun at the robot waffle-maker, an unexpected emergency virgin, Ukranian mobsters, African-American people along with a significantly hurt Santa. VIDEO: John Cho, Kal Penn Promise Holiday Cheer in 'A Very Harold & Kumar three dimensional Christmas' The script by Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg, who've written the 3 films, shows desperation within the what-can-we-do-now stress that inspires a lot of the storyline. Such as the Whitened Castle movie did not? Yet fundamentally of the movie lies a genuine problem: What goes on when former college buddies drift from one another? Harold has bought in to the middle-class American dream using the luxurious house within the and surrounding suburbs along with a beautiful wife Maria (Paula Garces), although one that, being Mexican which as being a comedy trafficking in racial stereotypes, has a family headed with a father (Danny Trejo) and relatives that appear to be like they happened in from the Robert Rodriguez movie. Kumar, however, continues to be a pot-smoking kid at 30, whose girlfriend Vanessa (Danneel Harris) would ditch him only she's just learned she's pregnant. A package misaddressed to Harold's former abode - Kumar's mess of the walk-up flat - brings the 2 together on Christmas Eve and, naturally, disaster develops. A Christmas tree, captivated by an errant joint, rises in smoke, necessitating the 2 males as well as their new "close friends" - Kumar's horny friend Adrian (Amir Blumenfeld) and Harold's suburban wuss amigo Todd (Tom Lennon) - to hazard the night's many caprices to locate a appropriate substitute. Without doubt serious drug abuse just before the film can make these adventures much more amusing, however, you will find periodic inspired plane tickets of fancy such as the movie's sudden deviation into claymation with stop-motion figures, all of the winks and nods within the three dimensional Christmas but another appearance by Neil Patrick Harris playing a personality known as "Neil Patrick Harris." You may think about this movie like a lineal descendent from the Hope-Crosby road pictures, which required two new figures into misadventures, musical amounts and self-referential gags as well as in-jokes that performed with audiences' reminiscences of past movies and movie conventions themselves. It's as harmless because it is stupid so neither the claymation schlong nor a seriously drugged child should offend. They'll, obviously, and even the filmmakers are relying on anyone to think this really is all edgy humor much more fact Cheech and Chong beat everybody towards the punch years back. (Up in Smoke is the greatest stoner comedy ever and that is the finish from the discussion.) So A Really Harold & Kumar three dimensional Christmas is, like its forerunners, a mildly directing naughty comedy, missing the pure comic nastiness of Bad Santa or even the sheer audacity of Up in Smoke. Tech credits achieve kudos - whoops, let us make that solid marks - for that three dimensional shenanigans and also the claymation by an Or-based company, HOUSE Special. A shorts and TV director named Todd Strauss-Schulson made his feature debut with this particular movie and has not been pointed out so far while he appears to create little personality or vision for this effort. The film's success really comes lower to Kal Penn and John Cho and also the almost endearing, idiotic figures they've produced of these three films. Opens: November. 4 (Warner Bros.) Production companies: New Line Cinema presents in colaboration with Mandate Pictures a Kingsgate Films production Cast: Kal Penn, John Cho, Amir Blumenfeld, Tom Lennon, Danny Trejo, Elias Kotaes, Neil Patrick Harris, Paula Garces, Danneel Harris, Eddie Kaye Thomas, David Krumholtz, Bobby Lee Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson Screenwriters: Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg Producer: Greg Shapiro Executive producers: Nathan Kahane, Nicole Brown, Richard Brener, Michael Disco, Samuel J. Brown Director of photography: Michael Barrett Production designer: Rusty Cruz Music: William Ross Costume designer: Mary Claire Hannan Editor: Eric Kissack R rating, 1 hour 30 minutes Neil Patrick Harris

James Bond is on Twitter, and 5 Other Stories You'll Be Talking About Today

Happy Thursday! Also in today’s edition of The Broadsheet: Steve Carell goes to the Dogs… Ryan Seacrest and Reese Witherspoon are teaming at last… The worst performances ever… “Pile On Eddie Murphy” Day… and more. · A James Bond press conference this morning in the UK brought the previously surmised news that the film known as Bond 23 will in fact be called Skyfall, as well as the slightly destabilizing confirmation of Bond’s presence on Twitter and Facebook — thus requiring the movie’s epic 169 character plot synopsis (“Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost”) to be broken into two separate tweets. You can’t stop progress! [@007] · Another day, another Steve Carell project in development. This time it’s the drama Dogs of Babel, an adaptation of Carolyn Parkhurst’s novel about a professor who attempts to get his dog to speak out about his wife’s death, which the dog witnessed. Once director John Carney is set to direct. [LAT] · Ryan Seacrest is officially producing his first movie, a romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon. There are no words. [THR] · This slideshow of 50 performances that ruined movies is kind of great, though I don’t know if Tommy Wiseau at No. 5 is actually a badge of honor for The Room or not. Either way, there is no disputing No. 1. [TotalFilm via Pajiba] · It’s apparently “Pile On Eddie Murphy” Day: Celebrate with the listicles “The 12 Crappiest Movies of Eddie Murphy’s Career” and “10 Reasons We’re Done with Eddie Murphy.” [Pajiba, Flavorwire] · The NCAA is dead! Long live the NCAA! [Grantland]