FROM MTV.COM: Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly met and fell in love on the set of the 2001 Oscar-winning drama "A Beautiful Mind." For almost the rest of the decade, they managed to avoid working together. It wasn't for lack of trying.

The two actors tried to line up an adaptation of Philip Roth's Pulitzer Prize-winning "American Pastoral" in 2004, in which they were to play a married couple torn apart by violence, but the project never took off. It wasn't until late 2008 that Bettany and Connelly reunited on camera. Again, they chose to portray a couple struggling to keep their relationship together, this time in the Charles Darwin biopic "Creation" (out January 22).

Continue reading Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany Compare 'Creation' Marriage To Their Own

FROM MTV.COM: You'd figure that formulating the basics of evolutionary biology would involve some hard traveling, both mental and nautical. But sweat cures? Stuffed-bird riots? Little ghostie girls chattering in a corner? Who knew about that stuff?

Director Jon Amiel's "Creation" is an imaginative approach to an impossible project. First, it undertakes to tell the story of the naturalist Charles Darwin's 20-year struggle to write "On the Origin of Species," his world-changing book about the way in which plants and animals have evolved over the ages through a process that Darwin called natural (as opposed to divine) selection. The movie also sketches in the five-year-long, globe-girdling voyage during which he collected the compendious data for his book, along with much peripheral information about his health (wretched), his relationship with his devoutly religious wife (strained) and his apparently never-ending connection to his dead 10-year-old daughter (feverish). This is a lot of material to pack into 108 minutes, and "Creation" goes lumpy in attempting it.

Continue reading 'Creation': Natural Man, By Kurt Loder

Tonight, the Toronto International Film Festival kicks off with the world premiere screening of "Creation," directed by Jon Amiel. The movie stars real-life husband and wife Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly as Charles Darwin and Emma Darwin, respectively. It is an adaptation of the Darwin bio "Annie's Box" by Randal Keynes.

Of course, "Creation" just kicks things off. There's a whole weekend of indie madness to immerse yourself in. Sure, those of us who aren't fortunate enough to be in Toronto are going to have to wait. But there are some good flicks coming out of the fest, stuff that you're sure to see hit theaters in some form in the coming months. Here are a few of the highlights we have to look forward to... Read more...

-- The Sundance Film Festival will add the Next section for next year's gathering. The category will showcase six to eight films which make "innovative and original" use of low-/no-budget features. I wonder if "District 9" would have made the cut. (Variety)

-- Buried in a report on the upcoming lineup for Dino De Laurentiis Co., it was revealed that an adaptation of Karen Russell's novel "St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves" is in the works. The story follows a group of girls raised by werewolves as they are being prepared to interact with civilized society. (Variety) Read more...

by Joel Hanek

Mix an early-20s Jennifer Connelly, a cameo by John Candy, a plot that involves teenagers physically trapped in a building -- thus forcing them to spend time with one another, confront stereotypes and (inevitably) fall in love -- and then add a cross-promotion with Target that is basically an integrated marketer’s wet-dream. What is this crazy thing, you ask? John Hughes’ classic romantic teenage comedy, “Career Opportunities”.

The 1991 film, overshadowed for many by Hughes’ other monster early '90s releases ("Home Alone," "Dutch"), stars Frank Whaley, a charismatic goofball of an actor. He's got a million cameos under his belt and only a few starring roles -- most notably, “Swimming with Sharks," which co-stars Kevin Spacey. Read more...

Tim Burton’s done comic book heroes, big budget futuristic adventures and sci-fi alien invasion stories, yet the director has never introduced one of his films into the hallowed halls of the geek-tastic carnival that bows down in worship to all those genres: Comic-Con. 2009, though, is going to be Burton’s year.

On Friday, July 24, Burton will pull on his producer’s cap and bring his post-apocalyptic animated escapade “9” to San Diego. And when he does, he’s hoping to get over a traumatic experience he had at the convention in the late ‘70s. Read more...

We're only a short while away from the December 12 release of "The Day The Earth Stood Still," and now we've got a couple exclusive clips to whet your appetite for this remake of the sci-fi classic. So watch below as extraterrestrial Klaatu (Keanu Reeves) informs earth babe Helen (Jennifer Connelly) that the planet and everyone on it are, like, totally screwed.

When you're through with that, click here to watch another exclusive clip of Will Smith spawn Jaden pleading with Connelly to let him kill everything in sight. Kids today.

- Many Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day – the day “Ghost Busters 3” was officially confirmed. Three-quel to be written by “Office” scribes Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. (Slashfilm)

- Guillermo del Toro outlines his next decade of directing, including post “Hobbit” films such as “Slaughterhouse Five” and “Hellboy 3.” (CHUD)

- This is getting to be a mystery worthy of the great detective himself: Russell Crowe now reportedly cast as MORIARTY in Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes.” (Latino Review)

- Michael Moore’s latest documentary flick to be available for free download on September 23. (Slacker Uprising)

- Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly join forces to portray married couple in “Creation,” the story of Charles Darwin. (THR)