Yay!! Amazing new movie news to pass along today … Natalie Portman, one of my fave young actresses ever, is starring in and producing the big screen adaptation of the amazingly charming novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. For those of you not in the know, Grahame-Smith amended Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice by adding zombies … which, to be honest, makes for an EXTREMELY entertaining read:

Given Natalie Portman’s elegant demeanor, a turn in a period Jane Austen adaptation was inevitable. Portman will star in and produce “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” a film that is based on the bestselling book written by Seth Grahame-Smith and Austen. Lionsgate will finance and distribute. Quirk Books published the tome. Though Austen’s name is on the book, Grahame-Smith took the liberty of adding bloodthirsty flesh-eating zombies to the mix. Portman will produce through her handsomecharlie shingle with Annette Savitch, plus Darko Films’ Richard Kelly, Sean McKittrick and Ted Hamm. Described as an expanded version of the Austen classic, the book tells the timeless story of a woman’s quest for love and independence amid the outbreak of a deadly virus that turns the undead into vicious killers. Portman will play feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet, who is distracted from her quest to eradicate the zombie menace by the arrival of the arrogant Mr. Darcy. Darko just released “The Box,” “World’s Greatest Dad” and “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” … “Natalie and I are longtime passionate fans of Jane Austen’s books and this a fresh, fun and thought-provoking way to approach her work,” Savitch said. “The idea of zombies running rampant in 19th Century England may sound odd, but it lends a modern sense of urgency to a well known love story.”

This is great and totally unsurprising news. I read this book last April and loved it to pieces. I have never been a Jane Austen fan but I was very surprised how much I liked her work with the addition of a bunch of zombies ;) I can absolutely see Natalie Portman as Elizabeth Bennet: Zombie Killer … brilliant, brilliant idea. After the jump, check out a couple of FULL COLOR photos from the hard-cover edition of the book that give a bit of a feel for the fun story …

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Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire were joined by Broadway star Cheyenne Jackson and fashion designer Christian Siriano and others at an NYC premiere screening event for their new film Brothers which was held at the SVA Theater last night. Unfortch, tho, Jake Gyllenhaal — who also stars in the film — was not in attendance at last night’s event. Here are a few photos from the red carpet arrivals along with some deets about the movie itself:

Natalie Portman joined Toby Maguire for the premiere of their new movie Brothers in which they star alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in a modern take on the prodigal son parable. Portman plays Grace Cahill whose husband Sam, played by Maguire, is the model citizen, war hero and son of a combative Vietnam veteran. His brother Tommy is played by Jake Gyllenhaal. Tommy is a drunk who has recently been released from prison but when the news of the suspected death of his brother reaches the Cahill family, the delinquent brother turns over a new leaf to protect Sam’s children and wife. Tommy falls for Grace only for his brother to miraculously return from harrowing torture in Afghanistan and a battle for the beautiful Portman’s affection ensues. Focusing on political apathy for war and the troubles faced by families of servicemen, Brothers has been tipped for award success in the new year.

I only recently heard about this movie when I saw a trailer for it on TV … now that I’m learning that the film is a modern re-telling of the Prodigal Son parable, I’m even more intrigued. Despite my intense love for Jakey poo, I think this film looks really good overall (ie. I’d prolly see it even if Jake weren’t starring in it). From what I’ve seen thus far of Maguire’s performance in the few clips I’ve seen already, it looks like his character is really … intense … and poor Nat is stuck in between the two brothers. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing this flick … despite it’s serious tone, it looks like a movie I’d deffo want to see in theaters, despite the holidays.

[Photo credit: Splash News, Wireimage; Source]

Actress Natalie Portman is featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of V magazine. Altho her coverstory interview is not yet available online, we do get to check out her V mag photoshoot shot by famed photographer Mario Testino:

Natalie’s shoot with Mario Testino took place earlier this year in London and features a harder look for her. I understand this magazine feature will focus a bit on her new film Brothers which hits theaters this holiday season … but, as I mentioned above, her article is not yet available online for reading just yet. After the jump, check out a few photos from her magazine spread — she looks fantastic …

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Celebs of varying stature and fame made their way to Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center in NYC, NY last night to attend the 2009 American Ballet Theatre Gala. Musician Rufus Wainwright, who tends to have more of an affinity for opera, was in attendance as well as Gossip Girl newbie Joanna Garcia and BFFs Natalie Portman & Mila Kunis. The newly single Emmy Rossum (who filed for divorce from her hubby a couple of weeks ago) showed up on the arm of Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons:

Oh wait, I’m sorry … Emmy showed up with Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz, not Sideshow Bob … sorry about that. But, c’mon, you can see how I got confused. It’s nice to see young celebs taking an interest in the arts … why, David and I attended a ballet performance of Romeo and Juliet here in LA just this last July for my birthday. I sincerely hope the celebs who attended last night’s gala affair did so out of an honest appreciation for dance rather than an available opportunity to dress up and pose in their finery for a photo op.

[Photo credit: Wireimage]

The Broadway production of Hamlet, which stars Jude Law and first ran in London’s West End earlier this year and which I got to see in previews last month, officially opened on the Great White Way last night. While there are a couple of very favorable reviews of the show HERE and HERE, there are other reviews that are decidedly … less favorable. Here is a sampling of what some of the theater critics are saying about the show and Jude Law in particular:

To be, or not to be … a hit on Broadway? That is the question Wednesday morning as the reviews come in for Jude Law’s turn as Hamlet in the much-anticipated Broadway turn for the production, which originated in London to acclaim and opened at New York’s Broadhurst Theatre Tuesday night. Reaction is decidedly mixed. “If Hamlet talks about his mind, you can bet that Mr. Law will point to his forehead; when he mentions the heavens, his arm shoots straight up; and when the guy says his gorge rises, rest assured that he clutches at his stomach. If every actor were like Mr. Law, signed performances for the hard of hearing would be unnecessary,” snipes Ben Brantley of The New York Times. “If anything, Law starts out too overwrought, moaning and gnawing through the great soliloquies as if they were causing him intestinal distress,” Time Out New York’s David Cote notes. Others put in much kinder terms. “His Hamlet is no brooding philosopher/prince; he’s an angry young man, a bundle of nerves forever threatening to explode,” raves USA Today’s Elysa Gardner , who considers Law’s soliloquies “both muscular and exquisitely lyrical.” The traditionally acerbic John Simon of Bloomberg News, however, found nothing poetic about Law’s “flashy, frequently jocular and unsubtle” performance in a play “aimed at neophyte audiences lured to the play not only by the star but with the added promise of a thriller liberally sprinkled with yocks.” Time Out New York, which generally lauded Law, was one of many that had a bone to pick with the supporting cast, finding Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Ophelia ho-hum, and Geraldine James and Ian Drysdale’s Gertrude and Claudius an example of actors taking the phrase “the banality of evil” too literally. Then thank God Jude’s pretty, all critics agreed. Noted The New York Times: “Mr. Law’s undeniable charisma and gender-crossing sex appeal may captivate Broadway theatergoers who wouldn’t normally attend productions of Shakespeare.”

LOL! As much as I loved the show myself, I have to agree with the NY Times critic … I had forgotten that, indeed, Jude mimics physically the words that come out of his mouth … I mean, I’m sure he’s going for emphasis but he does do it for most of the show. In all honesty, I do feel that many of the reviewers who have negative things to say might be speaking from a place where they would be hard pressed to bestow positivity no matter how good an actor like Jude Law is. While I agree that there is some merit to some of the negative reviews, I don’t feel that all of the criticism is very fair. After the jump, check out a few photos of Jude taking his curtain call bows last night at the completion of his official Broadway debut performance and see which celebs made their way to the Broadhurst Theater for opening night …

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A whole slew of celebs have gotten together to appear in a PSA produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, will.i.am, Tobey Maguire and Forest Whitaker in an effort to encourage the American youth to register to vote by telling them not to vote. The vid is a lengthy 4 minutes long but is deffo worth watching in full:

An effective strategy? Or, a plea destined to fall on deaf ears? You decide.

[Source]

Bravo TV aired the second episode of the 5th season of Project Runway last night and for this ep they introduced a PR challenge first. Not only were the designers not allowed to shop for the materials they needed to use (that task was left up to their models) but they had to work with “green” eco-friendly materials for their entire design. This ep also featured a celebrity guest judge who is “green”-minded … someone I didn’t guess who appear on the show but, once she did reveal herself, made a perfect fit as guest judge … unfortch, her follow-thru and excitement level was severely lacking:

To be honest, I was very surprised at who got eliminated last night … and I was very impressed with a particular designer who is starting to get on my nerves (big time) but managed to pull off a very nice design in the end. After the jump, find out who was in, who was out and what went down on the ep entitled The Grass Is Always Greener …

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