Hugh Laurie

This Season of HOUSE M.D. Will Be the Last

by Ethan Anderton    Posted: February 8th, 2012 at 3:27 pm

After much speculation, the producers of House M.D. have finally come to a smart decision. The current eighth season of the medical drama series starring Hugh Laurie will be the last. With Lisa Edelstein opting not to come back this season, the writing was on the wall for Dr. Gregory House to end his practice, and now it’s official. While the show certainly should come to an end at this point, this season has been surprisingly decent, especially with new cast members like Charlyne Yi and Odette Annable. The most recent episode, a departure from the show’s usual formula, was one of the best of the season, and while the writers certainly still have some fight left in them, it’s time to give House and his team a respectful exit. Does that mean we’ll see some old faces stop by for a clean wrap up? We’ll have to wait and see. Hit the jump for a heartfelt thanks and farewell from producers David Shore, Katie Jacobs and Hugh Laurie, as well as a statement from Kevin Reilly, President of Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company.

Hugh Laurie ARTHUR CHRISTMAS Interview

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: November 27th, 2011 at 8:54 am

In Aardman Animation’s animated family film Arthur Christmas, Hugh Laurie voices Steve, Santa Claus’ (Jim Broadbent) eldest son and who pushes the North Pole into using newer technology to help Santa make his deliveries in one night.  However, when one child is accidentally overlooked on Christmas Eve, the entire Claus family has to come together to make things right.  As you might expect from Aardman Animation, it’s loaded with jokes for adults and kids will love it.  Here’s Matt’s review.

Recently, I sat down with Laurie and we talked about how he got involved in the project, what was it like to work for Aardman Animation, how the process compared to his previous experiences on Hop and Monsters vs. Aliens, and who is his favorite actor and director.  Hit the jump to watch.

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 22nd, 2011 at 2:36 pm

I’ve always been slightly perplexed when people ask “How does Santa deliver all his presents in a single night?”  It’s as if the possibility of a fat and jolly gentleman who lives in a hostile climate and has consumer goods made by an army of elves is completely plausible, but there’s no getting around the physics of the delivery.  And if that’s the hang-up, then why not simply answer back, “Magic,”?  Aardman Animation’s Arthur Christmas has fun indulging the question of “How?” but knows that it can be funny and heartwarming if you let Christmas night be magical.

5 Clips for ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: November 7th, 2011 at 8:25 pm

Aardman Animation—the studio behind Chicken Run and the charming adventures of Wallace and Gromit—has sent over 5 clips from their latest effort, Arthur Christmas.  The film reveals the answer to the age-old question: “So how does Santa deliver all those presents in one night?”

For more on Arthur Christmas, check out Steve’s thoughts on the first 30 minutes and interview with director Sarah Smith.  James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, and Ashley Jensen comprise the voice cast in the November 23 release. Watch the clips after the jump.

Theatrical Trailer for ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: October 4th, 2011 at 11:45 am

The full theatrical trailer for Arthur Christmas has gone online. The film comes from the fine folks at Aardman Animation (the people behind Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run), and centers on Arthur, Santa’s son, and his quest to deliver the last Christmas present for a forgotten child on Christmas Eve. The teaser trailers were amusing enough, but we never really got a sense of the story. This full trailer gives us a good idea of the plot, and features the nutty humor that we’ve come to expect from Aardman. It’s goofy and doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it also hints at a good amount of heart sure to come through from the unassuming Arthur. We were shown a full scene from the film at Comic-Con (which Matt and I both really liked), and you can read my recap of that panel here.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer. The film features the voices of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, and Imelda Staunton. Arthur Christmas opens in 3D on November 23rd.

First Images from THE ORANGES, SALMON FISHING IN YEMEN, and WOMAN IN THE FIFTH

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: July 26th, 2011 at 1:22 pm

Wrapping up our coverage of new images from movies premiering at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival (at least for now since I’m sure more are on the way), we have the first images from Julian Farino’s The Oranges (starring Hugh Laurie, Leighton Meester, and Adam Brody), Lasse Hallstrom’s Salmon Fishing in Yemen (starring Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt), and Pawel Pawlikowski’s Woman in the Fifth (starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Ethan Hawke).

Hit the jump to check out all of the images.  We’ve also provided the synopses.  The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8th – 18th.  For all the new TIFF images we’ve posted, click here.

Hugh Laurie to Star in Andrew Adamson’s MR. PIP

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: April 13th, 2011 at 1:38 pm

Hugh Laurie is set to star in an adaptation of Lloyd Jones novel’ Mr. Pip for writer-director Andrew Adamson (Shrek 2).  According to Risky Business, “Mr. Pip tells the story of the last white man left on the war-torn island of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, who reopens a school and reads his favorite novel, Great Expectations, to the students, inspiring a gifted 14-year-old named Matilda.”  For who can inspire a classroom full of fertile young minds better than The Last White Man (my rejected title for the film)?

Laurie is continuing to star on Fox’s House, and will co-star in the indie drama The Oranges with Leighton Meester and Catherine Keener.  He’s also providing voice work for the upcoming animated film Arthur Christmas.  Hit the jump for a statement from Laurie on joining Mr. Pip and a synopsis of the novel.

7 Clips from Universal’s HOP

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: March 19th, 2011 at 9:08 am

Universal Pictures has released seven clips from director Tim Hill’s (Alvin and the Chipmunks) CG/live-action family film, Hop.  The film, which comes from Illumination Entertainment (the same company that made Despicable Me), stars James Marsden (Enchanted) as a slacker who finds himself taking care of the Easter Bunny (voiced by Russel Brand) after he accidentally injures him.  Hop also stars (or features the voice of) Kaley Cuoco, Gary Cole, Elizabeth Perkins, David Hasselhoff, Chelsea Handler, Hank Azaria and Hugh Laurie.  Hit the jump to check out the clips:

New Trailer and Images for HOP

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 9th, 2011 at 10:06 am

Universal has released a full-length trailer for their upcoming live-action/CGI family comedy Hop.  The film features Russell Brand as the voice of the Easter Bunny scion who doesn’t want the gig of delivering candy to people.  Also, he shits jelly beans.  I never expected to see a trailer where a character shits out jelly beans on to the roof of James Marsden’s car, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer along with some new images.  Hop opens April 1st.

Director Gary Ross Talks THE HUNGER GAMES

by Tommy Cook    Posted: December 17th, 2010 at 2:52 pm

Last month, director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) was announced as the director to Suzanne Collins’ acclaimed novel The Hunger Games.  Ross recently sat down with EW to talk about his approach to the adaptation. Ross played rather coy about the project in the interview but did offer up some choice words in regards to the heroine of the novel Katniss:

“What makes Katniss attractive is her strength and her assuredness and her defiance and ultimately her compassion. And I don’t mean just physical strength. I mean a real strength as a human being. She knows her own truth. She feels deeply and fiercely. And this is something that the actress has to bring with her.”

The Hunger Games is part one of a trilogy focusing on an eighteen-year-old girl, who in a dystopian future must fight to the death against various other teenagers (a la Battle Royale). In the wake of Twilight, The Hunger Games has seemingly become the new “it” young adult novel. I must admit that in an effort to remain current – I too have begun to read the novel. I’m only fifty or so pages in the book; but it does show some actual literary value – something of which I couldn’t say about Stephanie Myer’s opus. For more on The Hunger Games, including some quotes from Ross in regards to casting the film as well as an official book synopsis, hit the jump.

Teaser Trailer for ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

by Max Lichtig    Posted: December 6th, 2010 at 1:49 pm

Sony Pictures just released the trailer for the upcoming holiday animation flick Arthur Christmas and I gotta say, it looks oddly hilarious. The film stars James McAvoy (known for kickin’ toosh in Wanted), Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, and Imelda Staunton and is directed by Barry Cook (Mulan). Arthur Christmas is the next animated movie from Aardman Animation, the hilariously witty team behind Wallace and Gromit. Yet while Wallace was shot using clay-mation, Arthur will be in CGI. But this movie has another interesting behind-the-scenes factoid…one of the writers, Peter Baynham, helped write the stories for both Borat and Bruno. This is probably one of the last films I would expect someone like that to work on, but now I am particularly excited. Animated films usually shine most when there is witty adult humor thrown into the kiddy shenanigans, and I can only expect all that and more from one of the minds responsible for getting Sacha Baron Cohen to seduce Ron Paul.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and the synopsis.  Click here to check out the teaser poster.

First Trailer for HOP

by Ramses Flores    Posted: November 23rd, 2010 at 3:53 pm

Universal Pictures has released the first teaser trailer for Tim Hill’s (Alvin and the Chipmunks) upcoming CG/live-action family film, Hop.  The film, which comes from the same company who made this summer’s Despicable Me, stars James Marsden (Enchanted) as a slacker who finds himself taking care of the Easter Bunny (voiced by Russel Brand) after he accidentally injures him.  Instead of letting you know what the film is going to be about, the teaser instead features a cute CGI rabbit playing the drums to Song 2 by Blur.  Why?  I don’t really know.   Hop opens on April 1, 2011.  You can hit the jump to watch the trailer and to read a plot synopsis for the film.

First Poster for Aardman’s ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

by Jeff Ames    Posted: November 3rd, 2010 at 8:29 pm

With AFM starting today, a teaser poster for Aardman Animation’s 3D holiday adventure Arthur Christmas has been released.  Featuring the voice talents of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, and Imelda Staunton, Arthur looks to continue Aardman’s terrific run of top-notch animated films that includes the popular Wallace and Gromit series, and DreamWorks’ Flushed Away. Previous artwork for Arthur can be found here.

The children’s film will reportedly be filmed utilizing CG-animation, unlike Aardman’s earlier works which were brought to life via clay-mation. The company used a similar process for Flushed Away, which was a modest hit when released back in 2006. Arthur Christmas is directed by Barry Cook (Mulan) and Sarah Smith (TV mini-series Thin Ice), and written by Smith and Peter Baynham. The film will be distributed by Sony Pictures November 23, 2011. Hit the jump for the poster and the synopsis.

McAvoy, Laurie, Broadbent, Nighy, Staunton, and Jensen to Provide Voice Work for Aardman Animation’s 3D Holiday Film ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 2nd, 2010 at 2:05 pm

James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, and Ashley Jensen will be providing the voice talent for Aardman Animation’s 3D CG-animated film Arthur Christmas.  McAvoy will voice the title character who is Santa’s son who must save Christmas.  I have a tough time believing anything could stop the holiday seeing as I couldn’t go 24 hours from Halloween without being pummeled by Christmas marketing.  Variety reports that Laurie will play Arthur’s older brother Steve and the heir to the Christmas throne (Christmas apparently being a monarchy).  Broadbent will play Santa.  Variety makes no mention of how the spaceship on the promo poster figures into the story.

I’ve got relatively high hopes for this film considering Aardman (best known for Wallace & Gromit) usually delivers delightful animated films.  The film is due out on November 23, 2011.

HOUSE M.D. Season Six DVD Review

by Ethan Anderton    Posted: October 26th, 2010 at 1:59 pm

After spending five seasons with a medical procedural drama, any normal show would be comfortable with little to no development from episode to episode. But this is House M.D. we’re talking about and after the shake-up of core cast members left Dr. Gregory House with a new team, I’ve come to expect only the best from the creative team behind television’s best medical drama. The sixth season of the Hugh Laurie led series delivers even above the highest expectations right from the start of the two-hour season premiere through some of the most innovative episodes of the entire series leading to a a most desired romance that will have dedicated fans jumping for joy. Unlike the strange illnesses that plague House every episode, it’s no mystery that season six of House M.D. is one of the best. Find out why after the jump.

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