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Controversial British director Ken Russell - best known for the 1975 film “Tommy” – died on Sunday at the age of 84.

Russell’s biggest commercial success was his trippy adaptation of The Who’s rock opera, starring Roger Daltrey as the title character. The film also featured Eric Clapton, Jack Nicholson, Tina Turner and Elton John. But there’s much more to Russell’s long and fascinating career than “Tommy.” Here are five facts worth noting.

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Tags Ken Russell

"Dark Knight Rises" watchers, today's your lucky day! We're kicking the week off right with no less than three items straight out of Gotham City and into your virtual reading space, including new interviews with Christian Bale and some terrifying thoughts on what the new "Dark Knight Rises" trailer might look like.

Get all that and more after the jump!

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Tags christian bale, the dark knight rises

It will be interesting to see how Disney proceeds with marketing "John Carter," formerly "of Mars," Andrew Stanton's big-budget adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs fantasy novels. With an untested star, Taylor Kitsch, and a first trailer that left most people lukewarm about the film's prospects, a boost in profile is certainly called for.

Something along those lines began last week when Entertainment Weekly published photos of the six-armed White Ape, a staple in the novels that's getting a more threatening treatment for the film version. Check it out after the break.

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Tags andrew stanton, disney, john carter, Taylor Kitsch

Citizens of Earth, prepare yourself: "Star Trek 2" has an official release date.

The upcoming sequel to the 2009 hit will land in theaters on May 17, 2013, according to Deadline. Paramount bumped Roland Emmerich's delayed film "Singularity" back to November 2013, paving the way for "Trek 2" to boldly go towards its new May release date. Even more exciting is the news that J.J. Abrams and team are planning on shooting the flick in 3D, though there's no confirmation of that at the moment.

With filming set to begin on January 15, it sounds like the film is well on its way to finally being completed.

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Tags Star Trek 2

Welcome to the big time, Ben Whishaw! The 31-year-old Brit has been cast as Q in "Skyfall," the 23rd James Bond film.

If you’ve only seen the Bond movies of the Daniel Craig era, you may not be familiar with Q, so here's some background info: Q is not really a name, but a job description (like Judi Dench's M). As the head of MI6's Q division, Q provides our hero with all of the gadgets he requires to get his missions done. Need an invisible car? Underwater jet pack? Explosives disguised as toothpaste? Then Q's your man!

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Tags Ben Whishaw, james bond 23, Skyfall

Sure, we're really excited that Billy Crystal is now hosting the Oscars and blah blah blah but, let's face it, how cool would it have been if that "Muppets for Oscars" campaign had actually panned out?

In the few days between when Eddie Murphy exited as host and Crystal took over, there was a brief glimmer of hope that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would choose to have "The Muppets" host instead. The film is shaping up to be one of the highest-rated movies of the year, and has enough public press that the box office might soon reflect that, so (in our humble opinion) it could have been a perfect match-up. "The Muppets" screenwriter Nick Stoller agreed in a recent interview with MTV News.

"That was a really exciting three days," he said. "It would have been so good!"

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Tags Bret Mackenzie, Nick Stoller, Oscars, The Muppets

by Amanda Sprecher

Being an orphan is no laughing matter… unless we're talking about the movies, in which case growing up without parents can actually yield some incredible results. It's become a long standing film trope that parents tend to be the one thing standing in the way of their children's magical adventures — a trope that's pushed even further this week with the release of "Hugo," Martin Scorsese's 3-D family film about a young orphan's fantastic journey through Paris.

In honor of "Hugo" and this fine tradition, here are some of the best examples of awesome movie orphans!

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Last week, reports surfaced that Woody Harrelson did not like the film that's earning him Best Actor buzz, "Rampart." The film, a re-teaming for him and his "Messenger" director Oren Moverman, follows one of the dirtiest cops the LAPD has ever seen and was one that Harrelson felt incredibly passionate about while working on it.

"I had such high hopes for this movie. I really felt it was going to be great. Didn't like it," Harrelson said. "It veered substantially away from what we shot, and it was substantially different from the script, the ending, several characters dropped out. Lots of things changed."

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Tags Rampart, woody harrelson

by Jim Gibbons

Hollywood has a long love affair with history that rivals some of cinema's greatest romances. While mustaches may not be tremendously hip nowadays, many fine films take place in eras where the 'stache was much more commonplace. Though Movember—the men's health charity event where gentlemen grow and groom mustaches to raise funds for the Livestrong and Prostate Cancer Foundations—is a relatively young fundraiser, 'stache-growing participants can look to the past for present-day mustache motivation.

Brad Pitt as Lieutenant Aldo Raine in "Inglourious Basterds"
Sure, Aldo Raine's World War II-era 'stache may not have helped his ability to pull off a proper Italian accent, but that certainly didn't stop this mustachioed soldier from killing more than his fair share of Nazis—one of history and cinema's most recognizable groups of villains. Groomed to perfection in the field and undercover, Raine's mustache was as easily recognizable as his big f---ing knife!

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Tags Movember

"Prometheus" fans, today's your lucky day: at long last, here's your first look at actual characters from Ridley Scott's glorious return to the sci-fi scene!

The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly features several new photos from "Prometheus," including one that's made its way online. The image, which you can see above, centers on three of the main characters from Scott's loosely connected "Alien" movie, played by actors Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Logan Marshall-Green.

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Tags Logan Marshall-Green, Michael Fassbender, noomi rapace, prometheus