Writers Guild of America nominates'Black Swan'and'Social Network'for 2010 best screenplay awards

Huge hits such as"True Grit"and"Inception"will be up against smaller films such as"127 Hours"and"The Kids Are All Right"for screenplay honors from theWriters Guild of America.

"Inception"and"The Kids Are All Right"were among guild nominees Tuesday for best original screenplay, along with"Black Swan,""The Fighter"and"Please Give."

"True Grit"and"127 Hours are in the running for adapted screenplay, along with"I Love You Phillip Morris,""The Social Network"and"The Town."

Some of the year's most acclaimed films, including"The King's Speech,""Winter's Bone"and"Toy Story 3,"were ineligible because they were not made under the guild's contract guidelines.

Guild winners will be announced Feb. 5.

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R2-D2 creator,'Star Wars'visual effects Oscar winner, passes away

The man who helped bring to life the lovable R2-D2 and countless other on-screen characters died earlier this week.

Grant McCune, a special effects artist who won an Oscar for his work on the original"Star Wars"movie, passed away Monday at his home in Hidden Hills,Calif.

McCune, who succumbed to a battle with pancreatic cancer, was 67.

His career in Hollywood - which began with the 1975 hit"Jaws"- skyrocketed after his work under directorGeorge Lucas' 1977 classic. As a member of the visual effects team, McCune– who also appeared in the film as a Death Star gunner – was the chief model maker. He would receive a secondOscar nominationfor his work on 1980’s"Star Trek: The Motion Picture."

McCune’s work was also present in notable films such as"Superman,""Caddyshack,""Die Hard,""Batman Forever,""Spider-Man,""Spaceballs,""Ghostbusters II"and"Speed."

He is survived by his wife, Katherine, and two children.

With News Wire Services

 

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Lydia Hearst-Shaw, Charles Casillo slam Lindsay Lohan movie rumors about'Dogs in Pocketbooks'

Lydia Hearst-Shawhas thrown to the dogs rumors that she will star in aLindsay Lohan-inspired movie.

The heiress and model took toTwitteron Tuesday to slam reports that she was starring in"Dogs in Pocketbooks,"a script byCharles Casillothat he claimed was based on the life of the troubled red-headed star.

"My hair is Red because I am the new face of Schwarzkopf color,"she said."I am a model. I dyed my hair to front the campaign."

The 26-year-old great grandaughter ofWilliam Randolph Hearstlater added that she is currently working onBernard Rose's"Two Jacks"and a movie called"Catwalk."

"Thank you all for your messages of encouragement during my transition into acting,"she tweeted."I truly love and appreciate it. At this time I am Not officially signed onto any other projects. Thank you."

Hearst-Shaw's agent told the Daily News on Tuesday that she was offered the role of a rehab-hopping movie star, but had"no knowledge of the project nor any ties to Lindsay Lohan."

Meanwhile, Casillo toldtmz.comthat the comments about Lohan were"totally blown out of proprtion"and that the"Dogs in Pocketbooks"heroine is in fact a composite of starlets likeParis HiltonandBritney Spearsas well as LiLo.

His comment came on the heelsDina Lohantelling the gossip website that the family was considering suing Casillo for using LiLo's"likeness"without compensating her.

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Sofia Coppola:'Somewhere'director's as elusive as Stephen Dorff's Johnny Marco in Chateau Marmont

Sofia Coppolais somewhere inside the person talking about her new movie, but she's not about to give herself up.

Like the central character she wrote forBill Murrayin"Lost in Translation" -- and even more likeStephen Dorff'sJohnny Marcoin the filmmaker's latest release,"Somewhere" -- she appears disconnected from her surroundings.

Or maybe the daughter of legendary directorFrancis Ford Coppolais simply estranged from the press like Johnny, the Hollywood star who evades questions with a charming smile and a cocked eyebrow before retreating into his hotel room to playGuitar Herowith his daughter.

Johnny seems to be such a product of the Hollywood system -- a hip alcoholic womanizer who drives a sports car and neglects his family -- it's hard to believe he feels empty, as his silences seem designed to suggest. Sometimes silence isn't profound -- it's just silence.

In the end, you have to take the creator's word for it.

Coppola sits quietly in the middle of a large empty room. Known to shun make up, today she wears a little too much blush and lipstick. Her coolness, juxtaposed with the garish make up, recalls the scene in"Lost in Translation"when Bob (Murray) sits in the hotel bar flirting withCharlotte(Scarlett Johansson), oblivious to the hair clips holding his suit in place at the back.

Stephen Dorff andElle Fanningstar in 'Somewhere.' (Franco Biciocchi)

"I like your bag,"I tell Coppola as she rummages through a boxy looking leather satchel.

"Thanks!"she says, appearing genuinely pleased."I designed it."

"Who for?"

"Louis Vuitton."

"Oh,"I say, crestfallen. Those bags turn out to cost more than $3,000.

"I know,"Coppola says apologetically, perhaps pre-empting criticism by criticizing herself first.

It's a surprising stance considering Coppola is such an accomplished filmmaker. The New York-born writer and director was the first American woman to be nominated for anAcademy Awardfor directing in 2003 for"Lost in Translation"and, in September, she became the first American woman to win the Golden Lion at theVenice International Film Festivalfor"Somewhere."

"You're considered superficial and silly if you are interested in fashion, but I think you can be substantial and still be interested in frivolity,"she toldVanity Fairfour years ago.

That frivolity acts now as a sort of punctuation. She carries a bright pink notebook with the gold initialsS.C.embossed on the cover. Her phone rings and she reveals her brother, Roman, is taking her 4-year-old daughter, Romy, to TheRockettesand she's coordinating. She then confesses that she watched"The O.C."while living inParis, where she wrote"Somewhere"following her daughter's birth.

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Natalie Portman's'Other Woman'homewrecker trailer recalls Benjamin Millepied, Isabella Boylston

Natalie Portman's role as a homewrecker in her new movie"The Other Woman"appears to be an instance of art imitating life.

In the newly released trailer forDon Roos'"The Other Woman,"the 29-year-old actress playsEmilia Greenleaf, a woman who cheats with her married boss, Jack (Scott Cohen).

In flashbacks, the film -- formerly known as"Love and Other Impossible Pursuits"-- reveals that Jack divorced Carolyne (Lisa Kudrow) to marry the woman with whom he has been forging an office romance.

In January of this year, reports surfaced that Portman had a little office romance of her own on the set of“Black Swan.”

WhileBenjamin Millepiedwas not married when they started dating, theNew York City Balletprincipal was reportedly living with fellow dancerIsabella Boylstonaround the time he hooked up with Portman.

According toThe New York Observer, the 32-year-old dancer and his girlfriend had an apartment in theEast Villageand vacationed in theCaribbeanandMartha's Vineyardas late as September.

But the happy couple posted their lastFacebookphoto in November,okmagazine.comreports, around the time Millepied started work on"Black Swan."

Fan sitenatalieportman.composted candid photos of Portman and Millepied walking her dog inNew YorkonChristmas Evelast year. The couple was photographed kissing as early as Jan. 12 of this year inManhattan.

Though the actress' rep would not comment on her personal life at the time, Portman recently announced she and Millepied were engaged and that she was expecting her first child.

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'Biutiful'review: Javier Bardem can commune with dead, but film fails to communicate with viewer

A man faces hardship in modern-dayBarcelona. WithJavier Bardem. Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu. (2:28) R: Nudity, violence. At the Sunshine. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Uxbal (Javier Bardem), our guide through Alejandro González Iñárritu's bleak"Biutiful,"is a frazzled man at the end of a hard life.

A denizen of Barcelona's lower depths, he's forced to make ends meet by doing sleazy work for black marketeers and trafficking immigrants for sweatshop owners. Meanwhile, his estranged wife— a streetwalker and addict — can't be trusted with their two young children, whom he loves deeply (the awkward title is how his youngest misspells"Beautiful").

A diagnosis of prostate cancer gives Uxbal months to live, and while his crisis causes guilt and fear, he's prepared, for better or worse. That's because Uxbal can speak to the dead, a talent the movie presents without fuss, as if it were just one more burden poor Uxbal has to shoulder.

That ability to commune with spirits is as hackneyed here as it was earlier this fall whenMatt Damondid it inClint Eastwood's"Hereafter."Luckily,"Biutiful"has more on its mind, though its squalid atmosphere and characters are hard to live with for two and a half hours. Still, its portrait of a man with nothing who must deal with the end of everything while trying to safeguard his children has moments of power and poetry.

The biggest problem is that Iñárritu, whose hardscrabble films ("Amores perros,""21 Grams"and"Babel") have decreased in payoff despite his rich humanity, still packs in all the melodrama he can. At least"Biutiful,"unlike his others, isn't torn between several stories that finally interweave. Here, it's all Bardem, and this great actor's careworn face and sensitive presence counts for a lot. He ultimately can't save the soul of"Biutiful,"but he makes the journey easier.

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'Blue Valentine'review: Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling are heartbreakingly perfect couple

A married couple's relationship is seen in flashback. WithMichelle Williams,Ryan Gosling. Director:Derek Cianfrance(1:52). R: Sexuality, nudity, language. At the Angelika; at Lincoln Plaza starting Friday.

Halfway into"Blue Valentine,"a work so beautifully acted and emotionally honest it is my choice for best movie of the year, there's an amazing flashback scene you hope never ends.

In it, Cindy (Michelle Williams), a student at a community medical college, is on a date with Dean (Ryan Gosling), a blue-collar guy who has just moved toBrooklynfromFlorida.

They ask each other if they have any talents. She can sing every President's name, in order; he can play the ukelele. Then, she dances as he strums and croons off-key— and in a dimly lit doorway of a formalwear shop in the middle of the night, they laugh and goof and fall in love.

But it does end— beginnings have to — and we're back to where this tough-minded yet melancholy film began: in the present, where Cindy and Dean are almost a decade into their marriage. Everyday stresses have worn them down. They're raising a 6-year-old daughter. Cindy is working all the time and frazzled. Deanis dedicated but burnt out from trying to keep them together.

These moments— some of which take place in a blue-tinted motel room they've rented to get away from things — are heavy with the recognition that something's over.

Director Derek Cianfrance, who crafted the film over a 12-year period with co-writersJoey CurtisandCami Delavigne, understands the rhythms of life, of arguments and affection and reconciliation. As we see Cindy and Dean before they meet and during their courtship, we like who they might become, which makes what they are heartbreaking.

Comparable to the films ofJohn Cassavetes— except Cianfrance adds an ethereal musical score by a Brooklyn band called Grizzly Bear —"Blue Valentine"could be seen as the perfect antidote to Hollywood's usual empty-souled, assembly-line romances. But that puts this tender, intense, perceptive film in company that doesn't deserve it.

jneumaier@nydailynews.com

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