ENTER TO WIN A DOUBLE PASS TO SEE "RUBY SPARKS"

Official Artwork for Ruby Sparks

Mr. Will-W.:Pop Maven and Fox Searchlight want to give Readers a chance to see a Toronto Advance Screening of the incredibly cute Ruby Sparks, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who brought us 2006's Little Miss Sunshine.

The Romantic Comedy centers around Calvin (Paul Dano), a young Novelist who achieved phenomenal success early in his career but is now struggling with his writing -- as well as his romantic life. Finally, he makes a breakthrough and creates a character named Ruby who inspires him. When Calvin finds Ruby (Zoe Kazan), in the flesh, sitting on his couch about a week later, he is completely flabbergasted that his words have turned into a living, breathing Person.

The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy already is calling the Film "an imaginative High-Wire Act with finesse and charm.".

Ruby Sparks also stars Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Alia Shawkat and Steve Coogan.  It opens in Toronto and Vancouver on August 3, 2012, followed by Calgary on August 10, 2012.  Screenings take place in Toronto and Vancouver Thursday, August 2, 2012.

To enter to win a Double Pass, click "like" on this Post at Mr. Will-W.:Pop Maven on Facebook before July 27, 2012. Please indicate also which of the three Cities you would like Passes for. You should also be following on Twitter here.  Good luck!

Visit the Official Website for Ruby Sparks here.

(Photo credit: Fox Searchlight)

RENEE ZELLWEGER & COLIN FIRTH REUNITE AT "THE KING'S SPEECH" AUDI PARTY

Renée Zellweger & Colin Firth

She hasn't looked this good in years!  Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth did a Bridget Jones's Diary reunion of their own reunion at Château Marmont last night as Audi hosted a part for Oscar Contender The King's Speech. 

The Party was full of talent including the likes of Amanda Seyfried, Michelle Williams, Busy Phillips, Cory Monteith, Gerard Butler and Orlando Bloom.

The Party comes one day after the annual Oscars Luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel where Nominees showed-up in full force except for a noticably absent Director David Fincher for The Social Network.



NEW YORK FILM CRITICS SOCIETY WINNERS ANNOUNCED - "THE SOCIAL NETWORK" CONTINUES TO DOMINATE

Still from The Social Network

One of the more important precursors to the Oscars is the New York Film Critics’ Circle Awards just held earlier today. In what’s looking more and more like a shoe-in for Best Picture next February is David Fincher’s The Social Network, which won top honour of Best Film; Fincher also nabbed Best Director.  But get this though - The Social Network this weekend was also awarded Best Film unilaterally by the Los Angeles Film Critics Assocation, the Boston Society of Film Critics and New York Film Critics Online. 

Surprisingly, Best Actress was handed to Annette Bening for The Kids are All Right over Natalie Portman in Black Swan, while Best Actor honours went according to plan with Colin Firth, winning in that category for The King’s Speech.  Black Swan won for Best Cinematography possibly due to a local bias seeing that much of the Film was shot in Brooklyn.

Melissa Leo, just in Toronto this past weekend, won Best Supporting Actress for The Fighter, yet another trophy in her cabinet after just receiving an award for that same performance, from the Boston Society of Film Critics too. Mark Ruffalo won for Best Supporting Actor in The Kids are All Right and it would be amazing to see him rewarded with an Oscar nomination next year for the first time.

Click here to read about more of the Winners.

(Photo credit: Sony Pictures)

THE NEW YORK TIMES' ACTORS WHO DEFINED CINEMA IN 2010

Vincent Cassel in The New York Times

I look forward to this every year! The New York Times has just published their annual Photos of The Actors Who Defined Cinema in 2010 and as expected, the Black & White Portraits are stunning.

Among those photographed by The New York Times' Solve Sundsbo this year are the likes of James Franco, Natalie Portman, Jesse Eisenberg, Vincent Cassel, Annette Bening, Javier Bardem, Matt Damon and more.  My favourite is the above Gene Kelly-like shot of Cassel.

Click here to see the complete series of Portraits or purchase Sunday's edition of The New York Times which includes a free Magazine with these photos.  Portman will be gracing its Cover in case you needed that extra incentive.

I know I don't own these Photos, but I can't help posting a couple more of my favourites because I love them so much!

CAST OF "THE SOCIAL NETWORK" HONOURED AT HOLLYWOOD AWARDS GALA

The Social Network's Rashida Jones, Josh Pence, Jesse Eisenberg,
,Justin Timberlake, Max Minghella and Andrew Garfield

Congratulations to the cast of David Fincher's The Social Network who were honoured at the Beverly Hilton last night for the 14th annual Hollywood Awards Gala.  And Awards season still hasn't begun yet! The Actors won the  Ensemble Acting Award and my guess is that they're likely to win the Screen Actor's Guild Award for Best Ensemble Cast on Sunday, January 30, 2011 too.

Other Actors honoured last night include:

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT REVIEW

Director/Screenwriter Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right is an actor's dream come true - the type of opportunity that comes rarely with meaty, well-developed stories and multi-layered characters.

Annette Bening (Nic) and Julianne Moore (Jules) are a perfect pairing as a Lesbian couple who raise two children together who were conceived via artificial insemination. Mia Wasikowska (Joni) and Josh Hutcherson (Laser) play the children who go on a search, without their mothers' knowing, successfully locate their biological father, sexy Mark Ruffalo (Paul). Normally the stories end there, and rarely do stories ever touch upon what really happens after the Reunion has passed; Cholodenko goes there totally. What changes are there dynamically when a family which has not had a Father Figure, suddenly has one?