Green Zone was advertised as Jason Bourne in Iraq. It’s not. Yes it has Matt Damon, and yes it’s directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum), but ChiefWarrant Officer Roy Miller isn’t an international super-spy, he’s a soldier. He can’t kill eight people with his bare hands and he can’t disappear into a crowd.

Instead, Roy Miller wants to know why he’s been getting bad intelligence. The Pentagon tells him where to look for weapons of mass destruction, and they’re wrong every time. Finding an ally in CIA Agent Martin Brown, Miller investigates further; tracking down the top-secret source, code-named Magellan, who’s been leading him in circles.

Of course, seven years after Green Zone takes place, we know why Miller never found any WMDs; they were never there to begin with. Greg Kinnear plays Clark Poundstone, fictional Pentagon Liaison and giant sleazebag, who’s there so we have someone to blame.Green Zone has already begun to accumulate criticism, but Roy Miller’s the good guy in this movie, not the United States.

Green Zone isn’t a great action movie, and it’s not an epic war film. Green Zone isn’t even a very good conspiracy movie. We already know how it ends. But that’s kind of the point. If everything goes according to plan, the United States will supposedly be out of Iraq in August, and as we hopefully draw nearer to the end, it’s important for us to remember why we began the war. Because ChiefWarrant Officer Roy Miller is right, the reasons why we go to war are important. Green Zone tells us what we already know, but it’s something we need to be reminded of nonetheless.

And for the latest and last movie in the franchise — “Shrek Forever After” — Myers and the gang returns along with new A-list talent, like Megan Fox who plays “The Princess in the Tower.” But for the movie’s chief bad guy, the silken-tongued Rumpelstiltskin, Dreamworks hired the voice talent of Walt Dohrn.

Who?

Unlike much of rest of the cast, Dohrn doesn’t regularly walk the red carpet or make appearances on Letterman. Instead, he’s a writer and animator who started out working on “SpongeBob SquarePants” before landing a gig on “Shrek 2.” Since then, he worked his way up to Story Editor for this movie. So how did a guy with a below-the-line job land an above-the-line part? We tracked him down and found out.

“It just stuck,” he told me.

During the very beginning of production, Dohrn and his colleagues would hash out the characters and plot with storyboards, mouthing out all the voices. Later, he recorded the dialogue of many characters, from Puss-in-Boots to Fiona, as a part of a scratch track for the animators to animate to. Everyone loved the way Dohrn brought Rumpelstiltskin to life.

“The whole time, we thought we’re going to find an actor for the part,” he said. He didn’t know that he would be the actual, official voice of the movie’s villain until Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffery Katzenberg made the decision. By that point, Dohrn had already played the part, in various capacities, for over a year.

He said that he initially found working opposite the likes of Mike Myers daunting but those worries were soon assuaged. “He was great. He’s a filmmaker himself so he knows what it’s like to make a movie. And he’s been doing the part so long that really knows the inside of Shrek’s head.”

The animator-turned actor also revealed how he got into the part. “My character shouts a lot. So before going into the booth, I would drink, like, 20 cups of coffee and get good and yelly.”

So would this gig tempt him into the Hollywood fame machine? “It was sort of a joke around the office that I would go on to pursue my acting career, like appearing on ‘Law & Order’ or something.” In the meantime, he seems plenty happy finishing up the movie in time for its May 21 release date

The result is that almost every character we know in Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland is now a wispy-haired bishie. Yes, even the grinning Cheshire cat, who is now a fetching lad with cat ears and punk fashion sensibilities.

And then there’s the Mad Hatter, who is not really mad, nor is he the flame-haired, crazy-eyed version played by Johnny Depp in the upcoming Tim Burton movie which premieres nationwide this Thursday. He’s just a good-looking chap, who happens to wear a hat … and is the head of a mafia gang named “the Hatters”. Uhm. I see.

The fact that these characters are now bishonen is not surprising since this alternative Alice in Wonderland tale is actually based on a dating simulation game by Japanese video game maker Quinrose.

The story, however, starts out quite like the Carroll story: While relaxing in the garden with her sister Lorina, Alice Liddell is distracted by a white rabbit who demands that she follow him. This is where the tale goes a little differently: when Alice refuses, said rabbit (whose name is Peter) turns into a long-haired bishonen with rabbit ears who whisks her away and throws her down a deep, dark hole, and she ends up in Wonderland.

While Wonderland is indeed the same strange place, the characters in Wonderland, besides being mostly made up of pretty boys, seem to be in love with Alice! Fortunately, Alice has enough sense to know that this isn’t exactly normal.

Bear with me as I narrate the rest of the tale, as I had a tough time following the story and my interpretation could be wanting.

It seemed to me, on my first reading, that Alice complains much about her lot. No wonder, since random cute guys appear ever so often to confuse her (and the readers) about their motives. (And some of them can be a bit grabby too, brr!)

The second time round, things were a little clearer. Apparently, Wonderland is at war, and those who claim to love her have to do so because of some game. And not everyone is happy to do so. Also, in order for Alice to return home, she has to talk to as many Wonderland denizens as possible.

If you’re confused, I don’t blame you as I’m not exactly on the same page with the creators of this tale myself. I am still not sure where this story is heading to, what its purpose is, and what the lads are there for except to satisfy some desire to cram as many bishie as possible in a manga.

Far too many characters are introduced too quickly and without a reason for us to relate to any of them. And with the men dragging Alice to one strange place and situation after another at breakneck speed, I felt a little mad towards the end.

Perhaps that’s how it’s supposed to be: things have to be this confusing and the pace so manic because we’re in Wonderland, where things aren’t supposed to make sense. (I’m being sarcastic.)

The art, at least, is pleasant. If you have a thing for bishonen, you’re in for a treat, though the backgrounds are plain and rather boring.

Alice, too, is a bearable heroine – she doesn’t swoon helplessly into the arms of any man she encounters, and some of the men have a dangerous edge that makes them microscopically more intriguing.

Modern Warfare 2 co-creators Jason West and Vince Zampella, fired for alleged insubordination on Tuesday in a surprise move that shocked the entire industry, filed a strongly worded lawsuit with a California court today.

The filing described Activision as demonstrating “astonishing arrogance and unbridled greed,” and accuses the company of terminating the pair in order to avoid paying them “substantial” royalties from last year’s Modern Warfare 2 release, heralded as the biggest launch in entertainment history.

“Instead of thinking, lauding, or just plain paying Messers. West and Zampella for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public,” the filing says, “last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual ‘investigation’ into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of ‘insubordination’ and ‘breach of fiduciary duty.’”

The pair are seeking — among other things — damages in excess of $36 million, and a restoration of their rights to the Call of Duty franchise.

In turn, Activision described the pair’s claims as “meritless,” and insists it showed “enormous patience” before making its decision. The company also took the opportunity to reassert its ownership of the colossally successful Call of Duty franchise.

“Over eight years, Activision shareholders provided these executives with the capital they needed to start Infinity Ward, as well as the financial support, resources and creative independence that helped them flourish and achieve enormous professional success and personal wealth,” the company said in a press release. “Activision remains committed to the Call of Duty franchise, which it owns, and will continue to produce exciting and innovative games for its millions of fans.”

Looks like this battle is just getting started.

The actress — who stars opposite Depp in the new Tim Burton picture Alice in Wonderland — admires how the Pirates of The Caribbean star has remained so grounded.

“I think Johnny does it by setting an example,” says Mia, who plays Alice in the film.

“I am trying to anticipate what is about to happen to me,” she added. “I think I will take it as it comes, and act accordingly.”

Mia — who’s from Canberra, Australia — recently admitted she wishes she could have spent more time filming with Johnny.

“For a lot of the film Alice is three-inches tall and she’s on the Mad Hatter’s hat or on his shoulder or in his pocket,” she said last month. “For scenes like that we shot separately.

“I would shoot my stuff then Johnny would shoot his which was a real pain. Eventually they did work our a way we could shoot some scenes together but it was very frustrating because Johnny is an amazing actor and you want to be with him for every scene.”

SHE is one of the most versatile actresses around and there seems no stopping Helena Bonham Carter since her debut as the tragic lead character in Lady Jane (1986). She has since starred in a variety of films ­including as a regular on the Harry Potter series of movies playing the evil Bellatrix Lestrange, as well as appearances on television and stage projects.

Carter, 43, is a regular face on ­director Tim Burton’s feature films such as The Big Fish, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride. Burton is her domestic partner and father to her two children.
She now appears in Burton’s latest ­feature Alice in Wonderland, an epic ­adventure shot in 3D, together with actor Johnny Depp ­(another regular in Burton’s films) who is a close friend of the couple and godfather to their son. Their daughter Nell also has a minor part in the film.

In an interview on the movie, Carter explained that this Alice in Wonderland is an original story that is inspired by Lewis Carroll’s classic. “I think this is what Tim has brought to it. We’ve got all the same characters as in the original story – but, genius as it was, it doesn’t actually have a story or plot to speak of.

“Alice (newcomer Mia Wasikowska) goes from one episodic encounter to ­another, and meets madder and madder people. What Linda Woolverton (the screenplay writer) has done is fashion a story with an ­emotional context for the film’s events to occur. In this, there’s a point to the whole story and a journey for Alice.”

Alice is no longer a little girl here but a 19-year-old ­trying to find out who she is. Throughout the journey of self-discovery, she meets a lot of strange characters.

Said Carter: “I love the main message here, in that it’s okay to be mad – some who are mad make the best people. I also think that the story resonates ­because, to a young child, everything’s incredibly confusing. I can see that with my son, Billy.

“As a parent, I’m constantly ­interpreting. You can see that he and Nell, who’s now a year old, are in a state of ­wonder. But then there is also the ­wondering, like, what does that mean?

“When I read the script, it made so much sense to me. It was really lyrical and had great heart. So you really do want to know what’s going to ­happen next.”

Carter explains the story has many ­characters but they are all mad in ­different ways. “The Hatter, the Red Queen, the March Hare, even the Rabbit’s got deep anxiety problems. Everybody is in a state of deep, emotional instability, really, except Alice. Alice is the normal one. Personally, I find madness or any emotional instability fascinating. Sane people are kind of boring to play.”

So the story is essentially about Alice who started out as an outsider in her own world, getting a different point of view in life and realises that being different is something to be celebrated and not be ashamed of.

When asked to describe the character of the Red Queen, Carter recalled the day Burton told her she was going to play the Queen. “I saw the first drawing he did. And there was this picture of a really angry person with a really big head.

“So, I play the Red Queen who has got ­emotional problems. It takes nothing, practically, for her to lose her temper. She doesn’t really rule through any kind of justice or fairness, but through ­terror.

“I chop off people’s heads – that’s my solution to everything. It probably comes from an underlying insecurity about having such a big head while everybody else has a normal head.”

To get a deeper insight on the character, Carter looked back at Carroll’s book and noted that he referred the Red Queen as somebody who was afflicted with an ungovernable passion, just full of this fury and rage. “No matter what the offence, her solution to everything is to chop off a head.”

Burton on the other hand suggested she watch Mommy Dearest, which is one of his favourite films. Carter was also inspired by Bette Davis in her role as Baby Jane Hudson in ­Whatever ­Happened to Baby Jane.

She describes playing the Queen as fun ­likening the character to a spoilt child who has no ­compassion for anyone else’s feelings except her own.

Alice encounters the Red Queen when she goes to Underland, a place she mistook for the ­Wonderland she visited as a child.

Carter said: “The White Queen should have been queen, although I’m the eldest. It’s just that our parents passed me by and gave the crown to my younger sister. Everyone is in a state of unrest.

Meanwhile, all of the supporters of the White Queen are ­rebelling, and I continue to rule with the only person I love, Stayne, the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover), my right-hand man.”

This is also the first time Carter has worn an ­Elizabethan style costume since playing Lady Jane 24 years ago. She has to endure three hours of make-up to get her looks right.

She also has to work with green screen ­technology which meant talking to no one in particular on the sets most of the time. But she insisted that wasn’t the ­biggest problem.

“The big hazard was I lost my voice pretty much every day by 10 o’clock, because she (the Red Queen) shouts a lot. ‘Off with his head! Off with her head!’ It’s quite exhausting losing your temper all the time.” – BVCT

” Shutter Island” earned $22.2 million during the three days beginning Friday , taking its 10-day haul to $75.1 million, distributor Paramount Pictures said.

Leonardo DiCaprio , who has collaborated previously with Scorsese, stars in the picture as a federal marshal stranded at a prison hospital for the criminally insane off the coast of Massachusetts in 1954.

“Cop Out,” which stars Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as a pair of New York City cops, opened at No. 2 with $18.6 million in ticket sales, distributor Warner Bros. Pictures said.

Overture Films’ zombie conspiracy thriller, “The Crazies,” an update of a 1973 George Romero picture, followed at No. 3 with $16.5 million.

Both films had been targeting openings in the low- to mid-teen millions.

Paramount is a unit of Viacom Inc. Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc. Overture is a unit of Liberty Media Corp.

The Fox Searchlight release directed by Karan Johar averaged $15,500 from 120 theatres across the United States and Canada over Feb 12-14 weekend. The previous record was held by Shah Rukh’s musical extravaganza “Om Shanti Om” which grossed $1.76 million from 114 theatres when it was released over the Diwali holiday weekend in 2007.

“My Name Is Khan” opened Friday with $444,000, rose 65 percent to $734,000 Saturday, and is estimated to dip 7 percent to $682,000 on Sunday, Valentine’s Day.

Monday’s Presidents’ Day holiday in the US will lead to a four-day debut of more than $2 million. MNIK also generated the highest per-theatre average of any film in the Top 20 over the weekend.

Meanwhile “My Name Is Khan” is getting good reviews from US critics with variety.com saying “This riotously overstuffed and enormously enjoyable drama races forward with incredible drive.”

Trade publication Hollywood Reporter in a review from Berlin said, “It’s well worth the 162-minute journey” noting “Shah Rukh Khan comes to America (although in a Bollywood film) and shows why he is an Indian mega-star.”

“The thing about some Bollywood superstars is that they are actually fine actors as well as charismatic performers. So it’s not surprising in ‘My Name Is Khan’ to see Bollywood mega-star Shah Rukh Khan – he’s light-years beyond a mere superstar in Hindi cinema’s cosmology – challenge himself to expand his acting range and possibly his international fan base.”

“This is a movie not built for subtlety, but it does tackle a subject American movies have mostly avoided – that of racial profiling and the plight of Muslim-Americans. It also allows Shah Rukh Khan to display his talent to an even wider audience,” it says.

The Los Angeles Times called it “a sweeping epic in the melodramatic Bollywood manner yet emerges as a potent, engaging and timely entertainment.” MNIK “is a potent, energetic heart-tugger and Khan and Kajol, major Bollywood stars, are highly appealing and equal to the demand of their emotion-charged roles.”

“At its best ‘My Name Is Khan,’ set mainly in America, is an affecting fairy tale about the perils of goodness,” said the New York Times.

“‘Khan’ is one of a handful of Hindi films (“New York,” “Kurbaan”) about Indians living in a paranoid, post-9/11 America, and there’s something fascinating about looking at this country through a Bollywood lens, even when the story is a kind of fairy tale.”

“Skillfully directed by Karan Johar and with an evocative score by Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy, ‘Khan’ jerks tears with ease, while teaching lessons about Islam and tolerance,” the Times said.

““I said to [the people involved with the Ghostbusters 3], ‘I’ll do it if you kill me off in the first reel.’ So now they are going to have me as a ghost in the film.”

According to Imdb.com, the cast remains relatively unchanged from the first two. Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis are all confirmed for the film. Scary Movie persona Anna Faris and Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s Eliza Dushku are listed as rumored. They still have yet to announce who will be playing Weaver’s son, Oscar, in the film.

I ain’t ‘fraid of no ghost…

The film, starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as lovers whose romance is curtailed by the 11 September attacks, took $32.4m (£20.6m).

James Cameron’s Avatar took $23.6m (£15.2m) after seven weeks at number one, raising its domestic total to $630.1m (£405m).

John Travolta film From Paris With Love opened at three with $8.1m (£5.2m).

Dear John, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, had not been expected to surpass the other-worldly epic but performed considerably better than its estimated box office figure of $20m (£12.8m).

NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE
1. Dear John – $32.4m
2. Avatar – $23.6m
3. From Paris With Love – $8.1m
4. Edge of Darkness – $7m
5. Tooth Fairy – $6.5m
6. When in Rome – $5.5m
7. The Book of Eli – $4.8m
8. Crazy Heart – $3.7m
9. Legion – $3.4m
10. Sherlock Holmes – $2.6m
Source: Hollywood.com

It also had a record opening for Super Bowl weekend – traditionally a quiet weekend in cinemas – topping the $31.1m (£20m) debut for Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert in 2008.

Travolta’s latest offering was the actor’s worst opening weekend since misfiring lottery comedy Lucky Numbers took $4.5m (£2.9m) in October 2000.

Mel Gibson thriller Edge of Darkness and comedy Tooth Fairy starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson completed the top five.

Another new entry in the top 10 was Oscar-nominated Crazy Heart at eight, starring Jeff Bridges as a hard-living country music singer.

Meanwhile, Avatar has become the most successful film of all time at the UK box office.

UK cinemas have sold £71.6m of tickets for the sci-fi parable since it premiered on 10 December, surpassing the £69.17m Mamma Mia! took in 2008.

We know what became of Arnold, and Sly will be marshalling many of his old sparring partners in “The Expendables” this summer. But with the exception of Jason Statham, yesterday’s hard men have given way to today’s boys: softies like Michael Cera, Jude Law and Shia LaBeouf. When Robert Downey Jr. is “Iron Man” and Edward Norton is “The Incredible Hulk,” it’s obvious there has been a sea-change in what the movies are telling us a real man looks like.

Which brings us to Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, the ex-WWE star who transitioned to movies with “The Mummy Returns” and “The Scorpion King.”

Fifteen or 20 years ago, Johnson would probably have found his niche churning out violent exploitation thrillers for the video rental market. he has dabbled in that direction, with “Walking Tall” and “Doom,” but he’s really thrown himself into the kind of family comedy that Schwarzenegger pioneered when he wanted to soften up his image; the kind where the he-man is the punchline, until he learns to be a bit of a she-man.

In “The Game Plan,” Johnson was an egomaniacal NFL star who submitted to a beauty makeover and ballet lessons to placate the 8-year-old daughter he didn’t know he had.

In “Tooth Fairy,” he’s an egomaniacal hockey star, a bulldozer who earned his nickname by knocking out his opponents’ teeth. He’s a star attraction in a minor league team and bitter enough about his diminished prospects to pour cold water on anyone else’s big time dreams — and believe that he’s doing them a favor.

In the same no-B.S. spirit, he almost sets his girlfriend’s daughter right about the other tooth fairy, the one who’ll swap a dollar for your baby tooth while you’re sleeping. Fortunately, the girlfriend, Carly (Ashley Judd), intercedes and sends him off to sleep alone in punishment — which is when he’s summoned to fairyland and ordered to make amends by serving two weeks’ tooth fairy duty, complete with a fetching blue tunic, wings and a magic wand that works only if you truly believe …

This is every bit as infantile as it sounds, with fairy dust on top.

Apparently, the script has been kicking around since 1992, when Herr Schwarzenegger was a prospect, but it’s hard to imagine that any of the five credited screenwriters spent any real time developing an idea that calls out for the trash bin.

Among the supposedly comic indignities Johnson endures, almost all are squandered by director Michael Lembeck’s clumsy execution. The Rock wearing a pink tutu feels like leftover business from “The Game Plan.” Shrinking to the size of a string bean to sneak into a sleeping kid’s room, that just feels kind of creepy.

And throwing amnesiac dust around to cover his tracks — that could have been funny, but you might wish you could get hold of some for yourself before the show is over.

Collateral damage extends to Julie Andrews, inexplicably coaxed out of retirement to play a fairy overseer, and lanky British comedian Stephen Merchant (Ricky Gervais’ partner in “The Office”), who towers over Johnson by a good three inches and predictably enough finds zero rapport with the 6-foot-4-inch muscleman.

Billy Crystal injects some vaudeville shtick as a sort of fairy version of James Bond’s Q, and the jokes are so old they’re almost funny. For the rest, it’s like pulling teeth.

And Johnson? He grins and bears it but seems to have misplaced the genial charm that allowed us to overlook his shortcomings in the acting department. At one point, he even flushes himself down a toilet. He can expect his career to go the same way if he can’t find better material than this.

Director James Cameron’s groundbreaking 3-D spectacular added to its haul over the four-day Martin Luther King holiday weekend with another 54.4 million dollars, box office tracker Exhibitor Relations said.

The movie has raked in more than 1.6 billion dollars worldwide since its release and is on course to overtake Cameron’s 1997 Oscar-winner “Titanic,” which remains the highest-grossing film of all time with 1.8 billion dollars.

In North America “Avatar” has earned 504.9 million dollars in only 32 days, and now stands third behind 2008 Batman sequel “The Dark Knight” (533.3 million dollars) and “Titanic” (600.8 million).

“The records are starting to look inevitable now — Cameron will end up sinking his own ship,” quipped Exhibitor Relations chief analyst Jeff Bock in reference to “Avatar’s” pursuit of “Titanic.”

“The box office numbers have moved beyond the usual demographics. People who would never normally go to see a science fiction film or a film in 3-D are going to see ‘Avatar’ because they want to be part of the conversation.

“And it is also attracting repeat business — people going to see it two, three, four or five times. That is extremely unusual for a film released outside the summer season.”

This weekend’s stellar performance came as “Avatar” celebrated its best drama and best director accolades at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, confirming the film’s status as an Oscars front-runner.

The enduring appeal of “Avatar” proved too much for Denzel Washington vehicle “Book of Eli”, an action movie set in a post-apocalyptic world which debuted with a respectable 38.4 million dollars.

In third place was “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson’s latest film, “The Lovely Bones”, an adaptation of Alice Sebold’s acclaimed 2002 novel about a murdered schoolgirl who helps her family catch the man who killed her from the afterlife. The film, starring Irish actress Saoirse Ronan and Susan Sarandon, picked up 19.9 million dollars in its first weekend on wide release.

In fourth was family film “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” which added another 15.3 million dollars to its four-week haul of 196.4 million.

Hong Kong film legend Jackie Chan weighed in at fifth place with his slapstick comedy “The Spy Next Door”, which took 13 million dollars.

Sixth place was occupied by “Sherlock Holmes” with 12 million dollars.

Director Guy Ritchie’s high-octane take on the adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary London detective, played by Robert Downey Junior, has taken 182.2 million dollars in four weeks.

Love triangle comedy “It’s Complicated,” starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, dropped to seventh, taking 9.6 million dollars.

Falling two spots to eighth was “Leap Year,” a romantic comedy starring Amy Adams and Adam Scott, which took 7.0 million.

Ninth belonged to “The Blind Side”, about a white couple who give an illiterate black teen a home and a new lease on life, earning 6.9 million dollars.

“Up in the Air,” starring George Clooney in the acclaimed story of a corporate downsizer who questions his role in life, rounded out the top 10 with 6.5 million dollars.

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Shutter Island – The Director Martin Scorsese & actor Leonardo DiCaprio unites again for the film after getting together on Gangs of New York, The Departed & Aviator, 3 films that took along hefty audiences in theaters.

In fact, each group effort amended upon its predecessor. Gangs collected $seventy eight millions then Aviator made $ one hundred and three million & then The Departed bulged $ one hundred and thirty two million. Rendered that record, Mr. DiCaprio & Mr. Scorsese are at the cutting edge of Shutter Island’s marketing.

The Film is basically inspired by the novel. Shutter Island was earlier pumped-up as 1 of the few big films of Oct 2009 and a challenger for the full-grown audiences and year-end awards as well, given its ancestry. Shortly earlier than its release, distributor Paramount Pictures suddenly put it back to February 19, when it will be the exclusive fresh stellar countrywide release.

Beyond the names, the Film Shutter Island is being canted over as a visually-striking mental and occult thriller, a line that’s done work with such past times titles like Identity, 1408 and Gothika. The sub-genre has also experienced recent flops with the Number 23, murkier and The Jacket, but, if Shutter Island’s advertising continues the point, it’s braced to score leastwise a solid & satisfying opening weekend sampling.

Film director Martin Scorsese had the Cecil B. DeMille Award last night at the Golden Globe Awards. The director, film writer, producer & actor alleged that he wished he could compose music but he can not. Scorsese jested and carried on to allege he would bear on to make films.

“I get in the same line as anyone else,” Sutherland told Canwest, laughing and appearing visibly relaxed in an uncharacteristically formal, tailor-made suit and silk tie. No torn jacket or sweat-stained shirt for the man who plays TV’s most famous counterterrorism agent — at least, not on this day.

“I go through the same search as everybody else,” Sutherland continued. “They probably talk to me a little more than the other passengers, but that’s about it.”

” You know, I’m always shocked that the people I’m flying with will say, ‘Oh, I feel safer on the plane.’ I’m thinking, ‘You must not watch the show because everybody around me gets killed.’ ”

24′ s eighth season begins this Sunday on Global and Fox. It has been a remarkable run for the fictional, real-time counterterrorism thriller that first aired in November 2001, just a few short weeks after the 9/11 terror attacks.

Sutherland says he’s still stoked to be working on 24, despite the long hours and gruelling demands on his time, onscreen and off.

“This has been one of the greatest gifts of my life,” he said quietly. “I’ve always said that as long as people want us to make it, and people are really interested in watching it, I’m absolutely open to continuing. Right now, though, my focus is on finishing Season 8.”

Sutherland says that, even though 24 began filming just five weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the program was never intended to mirror real-world events. That it happened was an unhappy coincidence, he says.

“Our objective is, and always was, to create this unbelievably fast-paced dramatic circumstance that takes place in a 24-hour period. The fact that it aligned with things that were happening in the news caught us completely off guard.

“I think one of the things that the audience has been able to relate to is that, in our world, there is some resolution at the end. In the context of the show, Jack Bauer and the other characters are doing something about it, and the audience becomes a part of that. I think we live in a world, with regard to terrorism, in which there is this constant fear, and we feel helpless about it. So I think that 24, in many ways, alleviated a lot of

stress that people were feeling on a day-to-day level.”

The new season of 24 finds Bauer a different man than he was during that first season in 2001. He’s a grandfather. He looks more comfortable in a formal suit and tie. He’s less apt to mix things up with the baddies — physically, at any rate.

“I would have to think that Jack Bauer is probably a little slower now,” Sutherland said, deadpan. “There’s a kind of adrenalin that kicks in when you’re actually doing it. A lot of the physical stuff that we get to do on our show comes in bursts. It’s not sustained over a 12-hour day.

“I haven’t had a break from it for eight years, so I couldn’t really tell you what it’s like to go away and then come back to it. I was at an event recently for our 150th episode with some of the others who were there from the beginning. They put together a montage from the beginning through the 150th episode, and I remember thinking how cool all of this was. And then about halfway through this little documentary, they showed some pictures of us from Season 1. We realized that we had aged. And we stopped laughing.”

Interestingly, the epic has been written by Salman 20 years ago and is an Eros International Media Ltd presentation and Vijay Galani Moviez production.

“I had written the story 20 years ago, but at that time it wasn’t possible to make the film. I thought now is the right time to make it, so I did… I showed the story to my father (noted writer Salim Khan) and the biggest fear was what is he going to say. But he said it’s a good story,” Salman said.

Made at a budget of around Rs 44 crore, (Rs 440 million) Veer has been directed by Anil Sharma and marks the big screen debut of Zarine Khan, who is said to have a close resemblance to Salman’s actress girlfriend Katrina Kaif.

“It’s a love story set in the backdrop of a war for independence. I play a Rajasthani princess,” said Zarine.

Shot extensively in Rajasthan, it is a story of bravery, treachery and love.

Set in colonial India, the film encapsulates a period when the British enslaved India with their divide and rule policy and kings and nawabs fell for it, except for the Pindaris who preferred death to dishonour and fought till their last breath. Salman plays one of the bravest and strongest Pindari soldiers named Veer.

As Veer takes on the might of the British Empire, he also has to fight the conniving King of Madavgarh as well as his own jealous tribesmen. The stakes are high as he has to avenge his father’s dishonour as well as get over the hurdles in love as he romances princess Yashodhara, the daughter of his sworn enemy.

Also shot in Britain, it is also the first Bollywood film to be shot in the premises of Buckingham Palace.

Despite having the facility of special effects, the film also boasts of using thousands of real horses and other animals for authenticity.

What is to be seen is whether Veer relives Salman’s last year’s magic at the box office thanks to massive hit Wanted, which marked his return to action.