Upright Citizens Brigade Web Series to Skewer 'The Talk,' 'The View' (Exclusive)

NY - Zynga shares are scheduled to price after the market close on Thursday and start trading on Friday.our editor recommendsMichael Kors' Fashion Company Prices IPOZynga to Raise up to $1 Billion in IPO But ahead of the social gaming firm's IPO, Wall Street analysts have expressed differing views on the stock's outlook. Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia slapped a "sell" rating on Zynga shares and a price target of $7, the NY Post reported. That is below the expected pricing range of $8.50-$10. "When you look under the hood, what you see is growth slowing significantly, margins under pressure, and free cash flow is diminishing," Bhatia said. Plus, former flagship game FarmVille has peaked. Meanwhile, BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield said in a report on Wednesday that investors should participate in the IPO of the company that makes games for Facebook, such as CityVille and Mafia Wars. "We view social gaming and particularly Zynga's social games in much the same way - they are a new "cure" for boredom, and unlike TV, social games can be played anywhere on the planet that you have Internet access, while TV requires you to be in your living room - although YouTube and TV Everywhere are changing that," Greenfield wrote. "Furthermore, whereas most people watch TV alone or with their family, Zynga connects you to friends and family." Even if Zynga prices its IPO at the high end of its IPO range at $10, "we believe its shares offer compelling upside over the coming year," he added. "With a significant increase in the pace of game launches having just begun late in the fourth quarter 2011 and expected to continue into 2012, we believe our 2012 bookings forecast of $1.5 billion is achievable and could be conservative." Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com Twitter: @georgszalai Related Topics Zynga

Kaira Pitt honored by Palm Springs fest

PittBrad Pitt can get the Desert Palm actor award in the users hand Springs Intl. Film Festival. The thesp will probably be honored within the Jan. 7 honours gala for his be employed in "The Tree of Existence" and "Moneyball."Pitt recently received top acting honours within the NY Film Experts Circle for photos as well as the Boston Society of Film Experts for your Bennett Burns-helmed baseball drama.Situated by Mary Hart, the gala will probably be held in the users hand Springs Convention Center. Formerly introduced honorees include "The Artist" helmer Michel Hazanavicius and thesps George Clooney, Glenn Close, Octavia Spencer and Michelle Williams. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Diane Keaton Could've Dated Steve Jobs: 'What an Idiot I Was' (Video)

Donald Trump announced that he is backing out of moderating a Republican debate in Iowa on Dec. 27.our editor recommendsDonald Trump Scolds Michele Bachmann as Debate Implodes, Teases Return to Presidential RaceDonald Trump's GOP Debate: Rick Perry Becomes Fourth Candidate Who Won't Participate Why? Because the billionaire says he may still run. "It is very important to me that the right Republican candidate be chosen to defeat the failed and very destructive Obama Administration, but if that Republican, in my opinion, is not the right candidate, I am not willing to give up my right to run as an Independent candidate," Trump said in his statement. "Therefore, so that there is no conflict of interest within the Republican Party, I have decided not to be the moderator of the Newsmax debate." PHOTOS: 10 Hollywood Players That Will Make a Difference in the 2012 Elections Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum were the only Republican candidates who had agreed to appear at the Dec. 27 debate moderated by Trump. After the announcement came that Trump would be moderating the Dec. 27, some of the candidates, including Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman, expressed their belief that the debate was just for spectacle and refused to attend. "This isn't about ratings for Donald Trump; this is about jobs for the American people," Huntsman told CNBC when he announced he would not participate. Several prominent Republicans have reportedly urged candidates to skip the event. They predicted it would be a media circus and a distraction from important issues. PHOTOS: The Movies and Stars Dems vs. GOPers Love (and Love to Hate) On Tuesday morning, The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Trump, who admitted that he was wavering on his decision to moderate the debate. "The problem is the Republicans are afraid that if I run as an independent candidate, they don't want to have a debate and then have me announce that I'm running as an independent candidate," Trump told THR. Trump also told THR that he is still considering a run for president as an independent candidate. He told THR that he wouldn't make any announcements until after the finale of The Celebrity Apprentice. The new season premeires on Sunday, Feb. 12 and the finale airs May 20. PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery Box Office Politics: The Movies and Stars Dems vs. GOPers Love (and Love to Hate) Related Topics Donald Trump Politics

Redbox to Team With Verizon on Internet-Streaming Business

CBS has nabbed a police procedural from the Queen. The network has made a script deal for an untitled cop show from Queen Latifah. The project, about a street savvy Philadelphia woman who realizes her calling as a homicide detective after a defining moment, hails from Flavor Unit Entertainment and CBS Studios. Charles Murray (V, Castle, Criminal Minds) will pen and executive produce the drama, withLatifah (Single Ladies, Let's Stay Together) set to executive produce through her production banner Flavor Unit Entertainment.Flavor Unit's Shakim Compere and Shelby Stone along with production company Rocklin/Faust's Nicole Rocklin, Blye Faust and Renata Adamidov are attached as executive producers. If it ultimately makes it to air, the project will join other Latifah-produced entries, including VH1's Single Ladies and BET's Let's Stay Together. Latifah is also prepping a daytime talk show with Sony Pictures Television. Murray, who is writing and directing indie drama Things Never Said, is repped by UTA, Industry Entertainment and Morris-Yorn; Latifah is repped by WME and Eisenberg, Tanchum & Levy. Email: Lacey.Rose@THR.com; Twitter: @LaceyVRose PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery 20 Best and Worst Music to Movie Crossovers Related Topics Queen Latifah CBS TV Development

Christopher Plummer Begins Anew With 'Beginners'

Christopher Plummer Begins Anew With 'Beginners' By Melinda Loewenstein December 8, 2011 Christopher Plummer in "Beginners" Within the film "Beginners," Christopher Plummer provides a subtle and honest performance as Hal, opposite Ewan McGregor as Hal's boy Oliver. After his wife of 45 years dies from cancer, the 75-year-old Hal begins his existence over by being released as gay, simply to be identified with cancer themself a couple of years later, departing Oliver to begin again making feeling of everything. It is a career-high turn by Plummer, possibly still most beloved as Captain Von Trapp in "The Seem of Music" and who gained his first Oscar nomination for 2009's "The Final Station."Author-director Michael Mills was set on getting Plummer play Hal. Mills known as the actor as well as sent him a lettersomething Plummer states is rare nowadays. "It is a nice, old-fashioned touch," he calls it, adding he was drawn to the entire feel from the story. Mills "worked by using it with your charm, also it am touching, and it wasn't sentimental within the bad feeling of the term,Inch he states. "It wasn't mawkish. It had been a difficult, honest, and happy movie."But Hal is dependant on Mills' father, which had Plummer concerned. When he and Mills met, however, the director assured him he wanted Plummer to experience the smoothness how a actor saw fit and wasn't concerned about him doing an imitation. "He am simple and easy , not picky and never possessive about his writing from the role," Plummer states. Mills' pointing style permitted him to become free and relaxed in the portrayal, he adds, and that he immediately attached to Hal: "Everything fell into position so easily, and also the writing am kind of fluid and natural."Plummer's interpretation is realistic, not over-the-top or flamboyant, emotional although not melodramatic. A lot of his performance is unspoken, that they thinks creates a powerful film. "Movies are great once the author knows what not write and allows silence take over," he describes. "Movies ought to have very little dialogue as you possibly can.InchStereo and Beyond Plummer started his professional acting career in the late teens and "never looked back," he states. In early stages, he labored in radio in Montreal and NY. In those days, the nineteen forties, radio was the medium from the moment, and there is an array of radio programs created in Montreal. He is constantly on the make use of the abilities he developed there, he states, for his operate in narration and animated films, such as the recent Pixar film "Up." He states he loves doing voice work: "It brings me to the past of radio."Plummer got his learning theater, then in movies. "I had been playing all of the classical parts. I still do. Which means you require a versatile instrument to achieve that,Inch he states, observing he values formal vocal training. Throughout his career, he's ongoing to operate in theater and film, "that we think is really a terrific method of carrying out things, since you never become bored,Inch he states. "So you keep your technique as well as your understanding of the craft flowing by going to the theater." Although he does not prefer one medium towards the other, "I do not think anything can replace an active audience's reaction. This is exactly why I return to it. Simply to replenish the pleasure of hearing laughter and responses from real live folks the audience."Inside a career that spans decades, Plummer has already established the chance to play 100s of roles, but he states the majority of the great ones have experienced the theater. "This is where the truly amazing writing is," he reasons. "The theater is where where an actress has the opportunity to do all of the great roles which have been written for hundreds of years. And that's not just challenging, but it is fascinating and daunting and ambitious."Plummer states, "I play the role of as different as you possibly can in each and every role I play." This is often observed in the variations between a couple of his most recent figures: Hal, who discovers he's dying right after beginning his existence like a gay guy, and also the Swedish magnate who's the only real "nice guy" in David Fincher's approaching film "The Lady Using the Dragon Tattoo."The Seem of Who audition Although Plummer has rarely auditioned in the career, he recalls one audition, for that original Broadway manufacture of "Camelot," starring Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. Ernest "Fritz" Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner, the show's composers, requested Plummer to audition for that role of Lancelot. The actor thought it might be fabulous to operate around the musical because Moss Hart was pointing, but he was concerned the vocal demands needed an experienced singer. But Lerner and Loewe convinced him in the future and sing for them. So he labored difficult on his voice and eager "Till There Is You" from "The Background Music Guy," then sang it while Loewe performed the piano. After finishing the song, Plummer states, "I understood I wasn't will make it, since the role, Lancelot, was almost operatic. And So I switched to Fritz independently and that i stated, 'Fritz, where can you really place my voice?' And that he stated, 'No levels, no lows, somewhere in the centre.A Which maybe it was.InchThat audition is simply one illustration of Plummer's readiness to accept challenges. He thinks all acting is really a challengebut one that may be mastered. "That is what is exciting and that is the mystery of acting," he states. "You welcome these new challenges every single day.Inch With experience, "it is a little simpler to satisfy individuals challenges because you have developed a confidence along with a technique, so that's just a part of the overall game, along with a very valuable and exciting part."Outtakes His advice to stars: "Try to stay sober. Before the curtain call. As well as for God's sake, have some fun. Don't suffer for the art. Simply have fun."Regardless of the numerous credits to his title, you will find roles he'd still enjoy playing, including Shakespeare's Falstaff a treadmill of Chekhov's figures. May be the great-grand son of Mister John Abbott, the 3rd pm of CanadaFor his role in "Beginners," Plummer was named best supporting actor through the National Board of Review and gained a Spirit Award nomination for the best supporting actor. The film also won best ensemble in the Gotham Independent Film Honours. Christopher Plummer Begins Anew With 'Beginners' By Melinda Loewenstein December 8, 2011 Christopher Plummer in "Beginners" Within the film "Beginners," Christopher Plummer provides a subtle and honest performance as Hal, opposite Ewan McGregor as Hal's boy Oliver. After his wife of 45 years dies from cancer, the 75-year-old Hal begins his existence over by being released as gay, simply to be identified with cancer themself a couple of years later, departing Oliver to begin again making feeling of everything. It is a career-high turn by Plummer, possibly still most beloved as Captain Von Trapp in "The Seem of Music" and who gained his first Oscar nomination for 2009's "The Final Station."Author-director Michael Mills was set on getting Plummer play Hal. Mills known as the actor as well as sent him a lettersomething Plummer states is rare nowadays. "It is a nice, old-fashioned touch," he calls it, adding he was drawn to the entire feel from the story. Mills "worked by using it with your charm, also it am touching, and it wasn't sentimental within the bad feeling of the term,Inch he states. "It wasn't mawkish. It had been a difficult, honest, and happy movie."But Hal is dependant on Mills' father, which had Plummer concerned. When he and Mills met, however, the director assured him he wanted Plummer to experience the smoothness how a actor saw fit and wasn't concerned about him doing an imitation. "He am simple and easy , not picky and never possessive about his writing from the role," Plummer states. Mills' pointing style permitted him to become free and relaxed in the portrayal, he adds, and that he immediately attached to Hal: "Everything fell into position so easily, and also the writing am kind of fluid and natural."Plummer's interpretation is realistic, not over-the-top or flamboyant, emotional although not melodramatic. A lot of his performance is unspoken, that they thinks creates a powerful film. "Movies are wonderful once the author knows what not write and allows silence dominate,Inch he describes. "Movies ought to have very little dialogue as you possibly can.InchStereo and Beyond Plummer started his professional acting career in the late teens and "never looked back," he states. In early stages, he labored in radio in Montreal and NY. In those days, the nineteen forties, radio was the medium from the moment, and there is an array of radio programs created in Montreal. He is constantly on the make use of the abilities he developed there, he states, for his operate in narration and animated films, such as the recent Pixar film "Up." He states he loves doing voice work: "It brings me to the past of radio."Plummer got his learning theater, then in movies. "I had been playing all of the classical parts. I still do. Which means you require a versatile instrument to achieve that,Inch he states, observing he values formal vocal training. Throughout his career, he's ongoing to operate in theater and film, "that we think is really a terrific method of carrying out things, since you never become bored,Inch he states. "So you keep the technique as well as your understanding of the craft flowing by returning towards the theater." Although he does not prefer one medium towards the other, "I do not think anything can replace an active audience's reaction. This is exactly why I return to it. Simply to replenish the pleasure of hearing laughter and responses from real live folks the crowd.InchInside a career that spans decades, Plummer has already established the chance to experience 100s of roles, but he states the majority of the great ones will be in the theater. "This is where the truly amazing writing is," he reasons. "The theater is where where an actress has the opportunity to do all of the great roles which have been written for hundreds of years. Which isn't just challenging, but it is fascinating and daunting and ambitious."Plummer states, "I play the role of as different as you possibly can in each and every role I play." This is often observed in the variations between a couple of his newest figures: Hal, who discovers he's dying right after beginning his existence like a gay guy, and also the Swedish magnate who's the only real "nice guy" in David Fincher's approaching film "The Lady Using the Dragon Tattoo."The Seem of Who audition Although Plummer has rarely auditioned in the career, he recalls one audition, for that original Broadway manufacture of "Camelot," starring Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. Ernest "Fritz" Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner, the show's composers, requested Plummer to audition for that role of Lancelot. The actor thought it might be fabulous to operate around the musical because Moss Hart was pointing, but he was concerned the vocal demands needed an experienced singer. But Lerner and Loewe convinced him in the future and sing on their behalf. So he labored difficult on his voice and eager "Till There Is You" from "The Background Music Guy," then sang it while Loewe performed the piano. After finishing the song, Plummer states, "I understood I wasn't will make it, since the role, Lancelot, was almost operatic. And So I switched to Fritz independently and that i stated, 'Fritz, where can you really place my voice?' And that he stated, 'No levels, no lows, somewhere in the centre.A Which maybe it was.InchThat audition is simply one illustration of Plummer's readiness to simply accept challenges. He thinks all acting is really a challengebut one that will be mastered. "That is what is exciting and that is the mystery of acting," he states. "You welcome these new challenges every single day.Inch With experience, "it is a little simpler to satisfy individuals challenges because you have developed a confidence along with a technique, so that's just a part of the overall game, along with a very valuable and exciting part."Outtakes His advice to stars: "Try to stay sober. Before the curtain call. As well as for God's sake, have some fun. Don't suffer for the art. Simply have fun."Regardless of the numerous credits to his title, you will find roles he'd still enjoy playing, including Shakespeare's Falstaff a treadmill of Chekhov's figures. May be the great-grand son of Mister John Abbott, the 3rd pm of CanadaFor his role in "Beginners," Plummer was named best supporting actor through the National Board of Review and gained a Spirit Award nomination for the best supporting actor. The film also won best ensemble in the Gotham Independent Film Honours.

'Chico' merges style with music

Published: Thu., 12 ,. 8, 2011, 4:00am PTBy 'Chico and Rita'With its ambitious sweep and epic story of affection, passion, and heartbreak occur the jazz mobile phone industry's of Cuba, NY, Paris and Vegas across several decades, "the large challenge was choosing the best method to tell the storyline, in addition to nailing the film's style and all sorts of the particulars," states co-producer Michael Rose. "The spanish language designer Javier Mariscal, who directed with Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba ("Belle Epoque") and Tono Errando, includes a very distinct style, therefore we labored hard at converting (his style) into animation. We'd a really complex script, wonderful these dance sequences and club moments, and that we stayed testing different animation techniques."Ultimately, they made the decision to visit "the costly route," using classic hands-attracted 2D animation. "You will find cheaper methods for making animated films, however, you simply do not get the standard of look and character acting all of us wanted, and CG wasn't right for the topic matter," Rose states.After that it required they a lot more than six several weeks to obtain the right artists who could "discover the poetry" in individual cels. "All of the design and development and original artwork ended at Mariscal Estudio in Barcelona," he states, "and more from the animation was captive-raised to various galleries all over the world -- however it was all controlled from Barcelona."The film, having a budget of $13 million, required seven years from beginning to end to accomplish, with physical production taking a lot more than 2 1/24 months. "We have already talked about other ideas, utilizing the same techniques," Rose states. EYE Around The Academy awards: ANIMATION Animated photos boost property valuesWhether focusing on a shoestring hands-attracted project or pushing the limits laptop or computer-produced technology, the 2011 choices transformed major challenges in getting their animated visions to screen. Here's how:'Arthur Christmas' 'Chico and Rita' 'Gnomeo and Juliet' 'Rango' 'Wrinkles' 'Rio' Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

ITV Studios America Pacts With M3 Creative For Series Development

EXCLUSIVE: ITV Studios America has signed a first-look development deal with M3 Creative, Andy Meyers’ creative agency that is branching out into series production. The pact covers rights on original non-scripted projects from M3, which specializes in branded content, marketing and advertising across all platforms and has clients that include Disney, NBCUniversal and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences. ITV Studios America acquires, develops and produces reality and scripted fare for the U.S. market; its slate includes Prime Suspect, Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, First 48 and Steven Seagal: Lawman.