Josh Hartnett Fights To The Finish In 'Bunraku' Teaser

All Josh Hartnett needs is his fists to kick some serious butt in the newest teaser for "Bunraku." Who needs set-up for a movie when a minute-long video clip can just show Hartnett beating up on baddies left and right? Clearly his character, The Drifter, has some anger issues to deal with. "Bunraku" first premiered as an official selection during Midnight Madness at 2010's Toronto International Film Festival, and is slated to hit theaters on September 30. Though this trailer only shows off Hartnett's skills fighting his enemies, the movie does have a lot more to offer -- "It's not all about fighting," Woody Harrelson's character tells The Drifter, though he doesn't exactly agree. Coming from director Guy Moshe, "Bunraku" is inspired by the style of Japanese puppet theater from which it got its name. The CGI-heavy film mixes shadow-play fantasy with the reality that we saw in this teaser. "Bunraku" follows Nicola the Woodcutter, played by Ron Perlman, as a shadowy crime boss who rules everything east of the Atlantic. He is flanked by his lady Alexandra, played by Demi Moore, and Killer #2, played by Kevin McKidd. One night, a drifter -- Hartnett -- heads to the Headless Horseman Saloon to set about killing Nicola. He teams up with a samurai named Yoshi, played by Gackt, and the two go about bringing down Nicola. Do you feel sufficiently teased for "Bunraku" by the above clip? Are you ready for Hartnett's non-stop fists of fury? Tell us in the comments section below or on Twitter!

Fall TV Start Looking: Lisa Edelstein about the Good Wife

The Great Wife Lisa Edelstein trades Dr. Cuddy's pencil skirts for lawyerly pantsuits in her own first publish-House gig, three instances of CBS' The Great Wife (the show returns September 25). "They known as soon once i formally left [House]. I felt it had been a very good idea to leap to a different wonderful drama," she states. "Plus, my mother is enthusiastic about it." She plays a "free-spirited" attorney named Celeste who's protecting a physician inside a malpractice suit. "Celeste has more pliable ethics and she's free in ways that Alicia can not be. Celebrate for excellent opposition." She also "shares some colorful history with Will. We partied around a little." For additional first examines fall TV - including Criminal Minds, Vampire Journals and Law & Order: SVU - get this week's problem of TV Guide Magazine on newsstands Thursday, August 25! Sign up for TV Guide Magazine now!

Schwentke Considering Poison Kitchen

Tracing the rise of the Nazi partyAlthough his work up to now - including Flightplan, The Time Traveller's Wife and Red - has been largely fictional, director Robert Schwentke always seems to be pondering the idea of making something based in fact. Case in point: he's now attached to make The Poison Kitchen for Constantin Film. Written by Ninja Assassin's Matthew Sand (a worrying sign, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now), Kitchen traces the true story of the Muenchener Post, the Munich-based newspaper that traced the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party and was ringing the alarm bells about their plans long before anyone else. Such was Hitler's anger at the paper's actions that he called it the Munich Pest and, once he rose to power in 1933, sent storm troopers to destroy the editorial office and printing presses and throw the staff into prison. "We've always wanted to do a movie about the ramp up to 1933: what happened in the early years, how did Hitler get to where he ended up and how did that work? That's really about this time, said Constantin's Martin Moszkowicz in a statement picked up by Variety. This isn't the first historical piece Schwentke has considered - he's still interested in real-life sub drama Shadow Divers. But the real world will have to wait until next year at the earliest, as he's busy getting ready to make R. I. P. D. , featuring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges as dead cops battling evil for Universal...

Remembering Annette Cardona

Remembering Annette Cardona By Travis Michael Holder August 10, 2011 Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images Annette Cardona One of my most indelible memories of my dear friend Annette Cardona, who passed away last Wednesday at age 63 after a swift and unexpected battle with cancer, is sitting with her at the opening night of the revival of "A Chorus Line" a few years ago. Tears streamed down her face through most of the performance, partially because her mentor and pal Michael Bennett had asked her to play one of the major roles in the original New York production, but after a long and arduous decision process, Annette had chosen instead to take another juicy offerto play Aldonza/Dulcinea in "The Man of La Mancha" on Broadway opposite Herschel Bernardi.But neither the memory of her fast friendship with the late great Bennett nor the loss of a plum role in a historic production was the main reason "A Chorus Line" brought tears to Annette's eyes. Granted, as she was my frequent companion for many an opening night over my years reviewing for Back Stage and Entertainment Today, I can attest that even Neil Simon could make Annette cry. No, the reason was simple: She had a heart the size of all outdoors and spent her life caring more for those around her than anyone I have ever known.Of course, Annette is remembered first by the general public as Annette Charles, enduringly famous for the dance sequence she shared with John Travolta as Cha Cha diGregorio, the "baddest girl at St. Bernadette's," in the film version of "Grease." Of all the public figures with whom I have spent time, no one I have ever known was more instantly recognizable than Annette. People felt comfortable approaching her, and she in turn responded with her signature warmth and genuine humility at being told over and over again that Cha Cha was so many fans' favorite character in the movie.Cha Cha, however, was far from her only accomplishment. Beginning with a questionable I.D. as a teenage flamenco dancer in small clubs in her native Los Angeles, Annette was discovered by Edwin Lester and brought to the long-defunct L.A. Civic Light Opera to appear in his production of "West Side Story," beginning a long and celebrated Broadway and international stage career, working with such significant director-choreographers as Bennett and Bob Fosse in "Sweet Charity," "Coco," and "Promises, Promises" and as standby for Chita Rivera in Meredith Willson's "1491." Among her many accomplishments, Annette followed the L.A. cast of the musical "Hair" into the Aquarius Theatre in Hollywood to originate the role of the Acid Queen in the Who's rock opera "Tommy," starred as Anthony Quinn's daughter in the world premiere of Tennessee Williams' "Red Devil Battery Sign," and took on multiple roles in "Candide" for Leonard Bernstein. She also starred in the controversial Haskell WexlerGeorge Lucas movie "Latino," among many film and TV appearances, and was especially proud to have performed for President and Mrs. Reagan at the White House alongside Mary Martin, John Raitt, and Itzhak Perlman. Still, none of that was enough for Annette, who returned to school at the height of her success, receiving degrees in both theater and psychology and eventually earning a master's from the NYU School of Social Work in 2001 to become a mental health clinician with the objective of utilizing her background in the performing arts to reach and motivate culturally diverse at-risk youth. But even that wasn't enough for Annette, who, while continuing her work as a psychologist, took on a whole new second simultaneous career as a professor of speech and communication in the Chicano studies department at California State University, Northridgeas well as continuing to put creaky old-timers like me through our paces at her strenuous Tuesday-night weekly dance workshop in Sherman Oaks. At the time doctors diagnosed her illness last month, Annette was about to begin yet another job, teaching alongside yours truly at New York Film Academy's West Coast Universal Studios Hollywood campus. Having last spring joined "Grease" director Randal Kleiser at NYFA's special screening and discussion of their classic film, my students could not stop talking about Annette, whom I had encouraged them to meet after the event. Her radiating love for everyone, especially blossoming artists, and her sincere caring for the future of the arts impressed and inspired them immeasurably. As I join her loving family and many, many steadfast and shocked friends mourning her untimely death, I keep thinking of those students and how much the fickle universe has robbed them of an amazing learning experiencebeing taught by someone with the determination and unstoppable spirit of Annette Cardona. It would have been a gift they would have never forgotten. Remembering Annette Cardona By Travis Michael Holder August 10, 2011 Annette Cardona PHOTO CREDIT Angela Weiss/Getty Images One of my most indelible memories of my dear friend Annette Cardona, who passed away last Wednesday at age 63 after a swift and unexpected battle with cancer, is sitting with her at the opening night of the revival of "A Chorus Line" a few years ago. Tears streamed down her face through most of the performance, partially because her mentor and pal Michael Bennett had asked her to play one of the major roles in the original New York production, but after a long and arduous decision process, Annette had chosen instead to take another juicy offerto play Aldonza/Dulcinea in "The Man of La Mancha" on Broadway opposite Herschel Bernardi.But neither the memory of her fast friendship with the late great Bennett nor the loss of a plum role in a historic production was the main reason "A Chorus Line" brought tears to Annette's eyes. Granted, as she was my frequent companion for many an opening night over my years reviewing for Back Stage and Entertainment Today, I can attest that even Neil Simon could make Annette cry. No, the reason was simple: She had a heart the size of all outdoors and spent her life caring more for those around her than anyone I have ever known.Of course, Annette is remembered first by the general public as Annette Charles, enduringly famous for the dance sequence she shared with John Travolta as Cha Cha diGregorio, the "baddest girl at St. Bernadette's," in the film version of "Grease." Of all the public figures with whom I have spent time, no one I have ever known was more instantly recognizable than Annette. People felt comfortable approaching her, and she in turn responded with her signature warmth and genuine humility at being told over and over again that Cha Cha was so many fans' favorite character in the movie.Cha Cha, however, was far from her only accomplishment. Beginning with a questionable I.D. as a teenage flamenco dancer in small clubs in her native Los Angeles, Annette was discovered by Edwin Lester and brought to the long-defunct L.A. Civic Light Opera to appear in his production of "West Side Story," beginning a long and celebrated Broadway and international stage career, working with such significant director-choreographers as Bennett and Bob Fosse in "Sweet Charity," "Coco," and "Promises, Promises" and as standby for Chita Rivera in Meredith Willson's "1491." Among her many accomplishments, Annette followed the L.A. cast of the musical "Hair" into the Aquarius Theatre in Hollywood to originate the role of the Acid Queen in the Who's rock opera "Tommy," starred as Anthony Quinn's daughter in the world premiere of Tennessee Williams' "Red Devil Battery Sign," and took on multiple roles in "Candide" for Leonard Bernstein. She also starred in the controversial Haskell WexlerGeorge Lucas movie "Latino," among many film and TV appearances, and was especially proud to have performed for President and Mrs. Reagan at the White House alongside Mary Martin, John Raitt, and Itzhak Perlman. Still, none of that was enough for Annette, who returned to school at the height of her success, receiving degrees in both theater and psychology and eventually earning a master's from the NYU School of Social Work in 2001 to become a mental health clinician with the objective of utilizing her background in the performing arts to reach and motivate culturally diverse at-risk youth. But even that wasn't enough for Annette, who, while continuing her work as a psychologist, took on a whole new second simultaneous career as a professor of speech and communication in the Chicano studies department at California State University, Northridgeas well as continuing to put creaky old-timers like me through our paces at her strenuous Tuesday-night weekly dance workshop in Sherman Oaks. At the time doctors diagnosed her illness last month, Annette was about to begin yet another job, teaching alongside yours truly at New York Film Academy's West Coast Universal Studios Hollywood campus. Having last spring joined "Grease" director Randal Kleiser at NYFA's special screening and discussion of their classic film, my students could not stop talking about Annette, whom I had encouraged them to meet after the event. Her radiating love for everyone, especially blossoming artists, and her sincere caring for the future of the arts impressed and inspired them immeasurably. As I join her loving family and many, many steadfast and shocked friends mourning her untimely death, I keep thinking of those students and how much the fickle universe has robbed them of an amazing learning experiencebeing taught by someone with the determination and unstoppable spirit of Annette Cardona. It would have been a gift they would have never forgotten.

Laurence Fishburne to experience Perry Whitened in Guy of Steel

Laurence Fishburne Appears like the one thing to complete after departing a criminal offense procedural would be to join Guy of Steel.Laurence Fishburne, who left CSI after two seasons, has signed onto the Superman reboot as Daily Planet Editor-in-Chief Perry Whitened, Entertainment Weekly reviews.Laurence Fishburne exits CSI after two seasonsFishburne may be the first black actor to experience the part. He works Frank Langella, who performed Whitened in 2006's Superman Returns. Jackie Cooper, who filled the role within the Christopher Reeve movies, died in May.Christopher Meloni in foretells join Guy of SteelMan of Steel, created by Christopher Nolan and directed by Zack Snyder, stars Henry Cavill (within the title role), Can Be, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane and Christopher Meloni. Meloni, obviously, left Law & Order: SVU after 12 years before joining Guy of Steel becoming an over-all.Guy of Steelstarts production this fall and it is slated hitting theaters June 14, 2013.

Second Tron: Uprising trailer online