'The Artist': How a Silent Movie Became an Oscar Contender

Somehow, Michel Hazanavicius managed to come up with something that even the French thought was loopy. For years, the Parisian writer-director -- an analytical guy who sees filmmaking as what he calls "playing with codes" -- had been captivated by an idea. But financiers got cold feet just hearing about it; the boutique television stations that typically fund sophisticated European films walked away. Even in a nation of cineastes and revival houses -- a country in which a major film movement was once launched by a band of movie critics -- his dream looked to be dead on arrival."I wanted to make one for a long time," the director says about his fascination with doing a black-and-white silent set in the 1920s. His long limbs folded over a table at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills, he talks about his heroes like F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang. "But it's even difficult to convince myself, or to convince anyone else, it is even possible. I found that some producers -- really all of them -- were a little bit cold." It didn't help that the 44-year-old Hazanavicius was known in France for the box-office-friendly, period-conscious "OSS 117" spy parodies, in which a kind of Gallic Bond scampers through the 1950s and '60s. "What I needed was a crazy guy," he says.Enter Thomas Langmann, 40, whom Hazanavicius calls "the craziest producer in France." Langmann, the son of Oscar winner Claude Berri (who directed "Manon of the Spring" and produced Roman Polanski's "Tess"), worked a bit with Soderbergh and Coppola as a young man and produced some French smashes in his 30s. Langmann sees producing as a species of gambling. "It was always about betting on directors," he says of the philosophy his father passed down. "I knew if we made a film in black and white and we succeeded, it would be original."It took director and producer awhile to sync up -- early ideas such as a feature with an invisible protagonist didn't make the cut. "I really wanted to make an entertaining movie," Hazanavicius says, noting that many European silents were tragic romances. "I thought it was unfair to ask people to come to a black-and-white silent movie that was also dark -- it would be too much." But finally the two came up with an idea that worked: a film about a '20s matinee idol who struggles with the advent of talkies.The movie that resulted is being talked about as the first silent film with real best-picture Oscar chances since "Wings," the 1927 Clara Bow film that arrived soon before the talkies changed the game (it won). "The Artist" opened in the U.S. on Nov. 25 -- just two screens each in NY and Los Angeles -- but already has banked an impressive $12 million since its release in France in October. More important, the film took the best actor award at Cannes, where it played to rapturous audiences, and it has gone on to seduce judges at festivals around the world and sweep the season's audience awards from Chicago to the Hamptons to San Sebastien."It is as wonderful a film as it is modern," says silent-film collector and producer Serge Bromberg, who has seen the movie six times at festivals, "with jaw-dropping cinematography, good acting, wonderful knowledge of classic cinema. And it has the flavor of the old. But it is not a film of the '20s; the pace is not the same, and its constant humor gives it some distance from what a film of the '20s would be."Hazanavicius was already an admirer of the silent era, but as he wrote, he immersed himself deeply for several months, reading actors' biographies, going to screenings of Murnau and Frank Borzage and early John Ford at Paris' Cinematheque, studying photographs and playing music of the '20s and early '30s.He wanted Jean Dujardin -- a bankable French star known mostly for comic roles -- to play the lead, Valentin. "Of course, I said: 'You're crazy. It's impossible,' " says Dujardin.Hazanavicius also asked his girlfriend, Berenice Bejo, the Argentina-born French actress who appeared in "A Knight's Tale" and in his "OSS" films, to play a studio extra named Peppy, shot into fame by a chance encounter. "I said, 'No way -- no way,' " recalls Bejo, who has two children with the director. "Not with me."The two eventually were persuaded, and their presence caused a change in the movie itself. The original vision for the film focused on Valentin's isolation. But as Hazanavicius got deeper into the film, Peppy began to seem major, and the movie became a romance.Dujardin had only ever scratched the era's surface. "I knew only the masterpieces of Keaton and Chaplin," he says. "It was a real discovery for me to find King Vidor's 'The Crowd,'" a film about a man lost in the big city of the 1920s that the actor calls "very modern, very touching; it helped me to assemble all the different references."As a model for his character, he found Douglas Fairbanks -- the actor who started making films in 1915 and whose career faded as talkies ascended. "In all his films," Dujardin says, "he doesn't ask himself any questions," never straining against the limits of the swashbuckling style required by such films as "Robin Hood and The Mark of Zorro." "It's pathetic when you know the talkies are coming, but he's also very generous. He's like my character George Valentin: He can be arrogant, but he has integrity. He believes in his art. He fights for it."(Valentin needs that integrity -- as he spirals downward, it's all he has, besides liquor and an attentive, scene-stealing dog to keep him warm.)Bejo's research found inspiration in Gloria Swanson -- who, unlike Fairbanks, excelled after the silent era. She fell for Swanson's autobiography, which describes a life very different from the desiccated former star she played in Sunset Boulevard. "She started in the silent period and then went to the talkies and then to TV," Bejo says. "I got a sense of the atmosphere of the period."To make a film about Hollywood, Langmann reasoned, you had to shoot there. By now he'd drawn some funding from French station Canal+ and invested considerably from his own company, La Petite Reine. But the costs of coming to America -- and surrendering French government subsidies -- raised the stakes substantially. (The film's eventual budget came close to $20 million.)Shooting at the Paramount and Warner Bros. lots -- as well as locations like the beautifully lit center court of downtown L.A.'s 1893 Bradbury Building, known to film buffs for its role in Blade Runner -- inspired the crew over the 35-day shoot. (Dujardin was put up in an old house in the Hollywood Hills -- he thinks to amplify his isolation for his slide in the movie's second act.) "Hollywood, in my opinion, is the big star of the movie," says Hazanavicius.Also crucial to re-creating the era onscreen was the work of costume designer Mark Bridges, who worked on all of Paul Thomas Anderson's films, including "Boogie Nights" and "There Will Be Blood." Some of his vision for "The Artist" came from the MGM documentary "1925 Studio Tour." "You could see what the carpenters, what the plasterers wore," he says. "Even those guys in their bib overalls had a necktie. And a lot of hats, either for warmth or bad hair days."Surprisingly, director of photography Guillaume Schiffman shot the film in color because today's black and white is too sharp, not grainy enough. He used unusual filters to diffuse the whites and mute the blacks slightly -- and as the film went on, with its main character losing some of his sheen, the light got grayer.Although Hazanavicius deliberately had chosen very expressive actors -- Americans John Goodman, James Cromwell and Penelope Ann Miller round out the cast -- they found the limitations were difficult at first. For Bejo, working without lines threw her off. (The actors improvised in English while onscreen, to give their mouths something to do, mixed with a few of the "lines" shown to the audience on intertitles.) But she eventually found a way to inhabit the role. "If it was a talking movie, she would have been the same -- would have moved the same way, winked the same way, danced the same way," she says. "The challenge was to try to focus on the body language, but the rest of it was finding a way of being an American actress. I think of American actors -- they take up a lot of space, they talk really loud, they talk with their hands. So I had to find that, since being a French actor, everything is more petite."To keep communing with the past, the director kept the music of the era -- George Gershwin, Cole Porter -- in constant rotation while they shot, and he brought cast and crew to see films at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax, and to the Nuart for its revival of Murnau's Sunrise: "A Song of Two Humans" (a morality tale about the corrupting influence of the city Murnau made for Fox in 1927) . The director applied some of what he learned: Murnau, for instance, had instructed his protagonist from Sunrise to wear heavy, weighted shoes on set after he fell on hard times; Hazanavicius did something similar when he dressed his fallen star in suits slightly too big for him. "He's not as perfect as he was in the first act," he says.Hazanavicius credits the world's fascination with Hollywood for the film's international appeal, but the enormous enthusiasm of Harvey Weinstein is the reason it has exploded out of the gates during the festival season into the awards race. Weinstein, who had enjoyed the "OSS" films, had heard about the movie from Langmann and in March flew to Paris, where he saw the film alone in a screening room. Weinstein was not ambiguous in his praise. "The Artist," he says now, "treasures the American cinema I love. It's an inspiration, everything about the movie -- where they shot the movie, the way they used American cast and crew. It's just a love letter to American cinema."Langmann was impressed with Weinstein's urge to pull the trigger without any associates along to vet the decision. It was still months before Cannes -- it was not even assured at this point that the film would be released in France -- but by the time of the festival, the deal to distribute in the U.S., the U.K. and other regions was done.The film ends with a tap dance that required more work than anything else in the film. "I think 95 percent of the preparation was for the tap dancing," Hazanavicius says. Bejo recalls her practice with both pleasure and exasperation: "Five months, every day."The film was shot in as close to real sequence as possible -- in part to give the actors time to learn to tap dance, and partly so they would travel the same journey as George and Peppy before arriving at the climactic scene. "The dance is all about their characters," Hazanavicius says. "If it's just a performance, it's not interesting."Bejo's attitude toward the conclusion captures some of the quality that makes her character -- and the film -- so winning. "I kept telling myself: 'Just smile, look at each other, enjoy the moment. The happier you are, the less people will look at your feet. Just act, don't try to be good -- your feet will follow.' " The Hollywood Reporter

Miley Cyrus Supports Occupy Movement With 'Liberty Walk' Clip (Video)

ESPN sat on a 2002 taped conversation between Laurie Fine, the wife of recently fired Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine, and Bobby Davis, the man accusing Fine of molesting him, for nearly a decade. The sports network says it did not broadcast the phone call until this Sunday because it did not have corroboration on the charges.our editor recommendsBob Costas on Jerry Sandusky's Sex Scandal: 'There Will Be More' to Come Out of the Investigation (Video)Howard Stern on Jerry Sandusky: 'They Should Cut His B---- Off' (Video)Penn State Scandal: Bob Costas Lauded for Jerry Sandusky 'Rock Center' Interview Syracuse fired Fine Sunday after ESPN's Outside the Lines played the tape. University Chancellor Nancy Cantor said in a statement addressed to students, faculty and staff on Sunday: "I am writing to let you know that Bernie Fine's employment at the University has been terminated effective immediately. Frankly, the events of the past week have shaken us all. The taped phone call that ESPN revealed today was not provided to the university by Mr. Davis during the 2005 investigation by our legal counsel. PHOTOS: Hollywood's Memorable Mea Culpas Davis is one of three men that has said Fine molested them during his tenure as the Orangemen's coach. Davis was a ball boy for the team for six years and told ESPN that the abuse "occurred at Fine's home, at Syracuse basketball facilities and on team road trips, including the 1987 Final Four." An excerpt of the conversation between Davis and Mrs. Fine indicated that she was aware of her husband's crimes: Davis: "Do you think I'm the only one that he's ever done that to?" Laurie Fine: "No ... I think there might have been others but it was geared to ... there was something about you." As for why ESPN sat on the tape for so long, reporter Mark Schwarz said on air Sunday: "We didn't have a corroborating second alleged victim and so we kept the tape for eight years not really knowing what to do with it until the second alleged victim, Mike Lang, came forward." Many comments on ESPN's website fault the Disney-owned channel for not doing anything about the alleged abuse earlier. Levans4692 wrote, "Where is ESPN's culpability in this? They held onto that tape for more than six years and didn't act. Isn't this what ESPN just lynched Joe Paterno for doing? Why didn't ESPN take it a step further. They possessed an actual tape of admission of abuse and didn't act??? Where is the morality? This sickens me...hypocrites." Pjrcol wrote, "Wait what ESPN knew someone was potentially molesting kids and sat on it!!???!!?? fuc% that espn that is bullcrap especially given the fact that you had pretty much all your analyst air their displeasure on Paterno and Penn St. when it quite clearly looks like you sat on info yourself." Porch 33 stated, "ESPN should be held just as accountable if all this is true. Why didn't they go to the police??" The Fine case is the second major molestation-related scandal for college sports in the past two months, following similar allegations against Penn St. assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. Related Topics ESPN

EC uncovers $283 mil guarantee fund

The city -- Plans to produce a 210 million ($283 million) financial guarantee facility for Europe's cultural and inventive industries were revealed Wednesday through the European Commission. Move could unlock as much as $1.35 billion in bank financial loans for small operators within the sector, it states, including for film and TV production.Facility will participate Creative Europe, a brand new program running from 2014 to 2020 which will absorb current Eu support for film and TV, such as the Media Program.The guarantee facility continues to be mooted because companies within the cultural and inventive industries are poorly offered by Europe's loan companies and don't fit well with existing systems to assist unlock credit. Obstacles incorporate a reliance upon intangible assets, for example intellectual property, as well as an output that's not prone to mass production. "Every film, book, opera, videogame is visible like a unique prototype," the Commission observed.The Commission has road-examined the guarantee idea within the film and TV industry having a $10.8 million Media Production Guarantee Fund. The EU contribution up to now of $2.7 million has produced financial loans to film producers worth $24.two million, it stated. If this finishes in 2013, this Media fund is going to be made available to the brand new, larger initiative, which is available to the entire cultural and inventive sector.The Commission continues to be careful to stress Creative Europe's ongoing support for that film and TV industry after reviews from the Media Program's imminent dying triggered a business stress captured.Below Wednesday's plans, a lot more than $1.2 billion will visit the cinema and audiovisual sector, from an overall total budget of $2.4 billion. This signifies a small increase around the $1 billion plowed into Media and it is worldwide companion program Media Mundus from 2007-13.However, your budget still must be examined by European government authorities and also the European Parliament before these figures are occur stone. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Christopher Walken Impersonator Who Fooled The AP Speaks Out

First Published: November 21, 2011 3:33 PM EST Credit: Access Hollywood Caption ESPN 980s Marc Sterne talks to Access Hollywood Lives Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Nov. 21, 2011LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- On Friday, the Associated Press had to issue a retraction when a writer for the news service included quotes from a man who they thought was Christopher Walken, taken from what they believed was a legit interview with ESPN 980. Unfortunately for the AP, it wasnt actually Walken talking about the night of Natalie Woods death, but rather ESPN 980s Marc Sterne doing an impression of the actor on The Tony Kornheiser Show. During the impersonation, Sterne acted as Walken speaking out about the re-opening of the investigation into Woods death. Walken, along with Robert Wagner, was aboard the yacht with the actress when she drowned in 1981. Lets be honest, Im sure Julia Roberts does a better Christopher Walken than I do and Im embarrassed for the AP reporter, Sterne told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Mondays Access Hollywood Live. Christopher Walken hasnt spoken about this in 30 years, do they really think hes calling into a D.C. sports show, to talk about Natalie Wood, and then, by the way, give fantasy football tips? It was absurd. And the interest in the faux interview only grew when AP published its report, under the impression the interview was real. After it aired and AP ran with it, everybody was calling the radio station saying we need the audio, and finally there was a producer that tracked me down and said, Can you just send me the audio? and I said, Oh sweetheart, youre going to be really embarrassed in about three seconds. And she said, Why? And I said, (puts on Christopher Walken voice) Because its me Chris right here, talking to you Its me doing the Chris Walken voice. As for AP, the wire service took credit for its mistake on Friday afternoon. The Associated Press has withdrawn the 12th and 13th Ld-Writethrus of its story about the Natalie Wood investigation. The story mistakenly quoted Christopher Walken as telling Washington, D.C. sports talk radio station ESPN 980 about his recollections from the night that Wood died. An Associated Press reporter mistook what was actually a station employees impersonation of Walken as a real interview, the news wire services correction read. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Cinthia Leon...Got the Part

Cinthia Leon...Got the Part Role: Ana Maria Pro in "Viva Cristo Rey," a nonunion play By Michael Coughlin November 19, 2011 Once in a while a simple hunch, with perhaps a bit of faith, may provide sufficient confirmation that a play is just right for an actor. With a heavy theater background and a strong foundation in the church, Cinthia Leon realized that a casting notice for 'Viva Cristo Rey' blended her craft and her faith. It was an exceptional opportunity on BackStage.com that she could not bypass.Initially, the title of the play (meaning "Long live Christ the King") was the hook for Leon. After beginning research, she says, "what grabbed me was the entire play. Every character is unique, and without one of them you're missing something." The role of Ana Maria Pro gave the actor a call of duty: to portray a real person with little documented history to go on. Much of the play is about Ana Maria's brother, Miguel Pro, who was executed in Mexico in 1927 for being a priest. Leon's journey to her character was lengthy. "On a personal note, I had been praying and trying to really find what this person was about," she says. "There was not a lot of literature about Ana Maria." After coming across a family portrait of the Pros, Leon noted that Ana Maria was the only one wearing a white dress, providing a clue to her role in the family: "She was the caregiver. The mother passed away, and she took care of all her brothers."Peter Gallagher, president of the G.K. Chesterton Theatre Company, instantly knew Leon was "a professional." He says, "She has a certain quality about her that gifted actors can show you in an audition. After her first cold read, we knew that she would be in the mix, and from there, it was just a matter of getting the family put together." Working with director Angel Duran, Leon welcomed being "challenged" and considered her experience "beneficial." She is quick to note that benefits only come with some degree of effort: "My mindset when I go to work is that I am there to work. [Angel] would push me, and I would keep going."Rehearsals in a church, complete with bells ringing at strangely opportune times, only heightened Leon's experience. In a moment when the villain of the play spews hateful dialogue, followed by the toll, she recalls, "Those bells would go off perfectly. There was something symbolic about it. It was not a clich momentit was beautiful." Just as moving were the performances. There were several after-show discussions, with audience members sharing their personal experiences about the religious persecutions in Mexico during the era of the play. "Coming from musical theater, doing 'Guys and Dolls' and 'West Side Story,' you touch people," Leon says. "But, it's completely different when you have a true experience. People [in the audience] are crying and talking about their actual families."Leon's L.A. theater roots provided one of the most valuable lessons she has learned to date, taught by her sixth-grade teacher Dave Ferris. Leon remembers, "I learned at 10 or 11 years old that even though you perform your best at an audition, you may not get the part." Of casting Leon as Ana Maria, however, Gallagher says, "Cinthia is probably a little younger than we had anticipated going, but she was so good, we couldn't let the age thing get in the way." Leon says she gained another lesson with the project: "I've learned a lot about what it means as an actor to really do your research." She also acknowledges being taken with G.K. Chesterton Theatre Company's mission of producing work based on true stories of faith and heroism. A hunch tells her to pursue more work with the company. For more information, visit www.cinthialeon.com.Has Back Stage helped you get cast in the past year? We'd love to tell your story. Be in the weekly column by emailing casting@backstage.com for NY or bswcasting@backstage.com for Los Angeles with "I Got the Part" in the subject line. Cinthia Leon...Got the Part Role: Ana Maria Pro in "Viva Cristo Rey," a nonunion play By Michael Coughlin November 19, 2011 Once in a while a simple hunch, with perhaps a bit of faith, may provide sufficient confirmation that a play is just right for an actor. With a heavy theater background and a strong foundation in the church, Cinthia Leon realized that a casting notice for 'Viva Cristo Rey' blended her craft and her faith. It was an exceptional opportunity on BackStage.com that she could not bypass.Initially, the title of the play (meaning "Long live Christ the King") was the hook for Leon. After beginning research, she says, "what grabbed me was the entire play. Every character is unique, and without one of them you're missing something." The role of Ana Maria Pro gave the actor a call of duty: to portray a real person with little documented history to go on. Much of the play is about Ana Maria's brother, Miguel Pro, who was executed in Mexico in 1927 for being a priest. Leon's journey to her character was lengthy. "On a personal note, I had been praying and trying to really find what this person was about," she says. "There was not a lot of literature about Ana Maria." After coming across a family portrait of the Pros, Leon noted that Ana Maria was the only one wearing a white dress, providing a clue to her role in the family: "She was the caregiver. The mother passed away, and she took care of all her brothers."Peter Gallagher, president of the G.K. Chesterton Theatre Company, instantly knew Leon was "a professional." He says, "She has a certain quality about her that gifted actors can show you in an audition. After her first cold read, we knew that she would be in the mix, and from there, it was just a matter of getting the family put together." Working with director Angel Duran, Leon welcomed being "challenged" and considered her experience "beneficial." She is quick to note that benefits only come with some degree of effort: "My mindset when I go to work is that I am there to work. [Angel] would push me, and I would keep going."Rehearsals in a church, complete with bells ringing at strangely opportune times, only heightened Leon's experience. In a moment when the villain of the play spews hateful dialogue, followed by the toll, she recalls, "Those bells would go off perfectly. There was something symbolic about it. It was not a clich momentit was beautiful." Just as moving were the performances. There were several after-show discussions, with audience members sharing their personal experiences about the religious persecutions in Mexico during the era of the play. "Coming from musical theater, doing 'Guys and Dolls' and 'West Side Story,' you touch people," Leon says. "But, it's completely different when you have a true experience. People [in the audience] are crying and talking about their actual families."Leon's L.A. theater roots provided one of the most valuable lessons she has learned to date, taught by her sixth-grade teacher Dave Ferris. Leon remembers, "I learned at 10 or 11 years old that even though you perform your best at an audition, you may not get the part." Of casting Leon as Ana Maria, however, Gallagher says, "Cinthia is probably a little younger than we had anticipated going, but she was so good, we couldn't let the age thing get in the way." Leon says she gained another lesson with the project: "I've learned a lot about what it means as an actor to really do your research." She also acknowledges being taken with G.K. Chesterton Theatre Company's mission of producing work based on true stories of faith and heroism. A hunch tells her to pursue more work with the company. For more information, visit www.cinthialeon.com.Has Back Stage helped you get cast in the past year? We'd love to tell your story. Be in the weekly column by emailing casting@backstage.com for NY or bswcasting@backstage.com for Los Angeles with "I Got the Part" in the subject line.

New Red-colored-colored Band Trailer For Your Sitter

Jonah Hill has one wild nightSince he apparently switched tracks to check his hands at stoner/action comedies, David Gordon Eco-friendly has family member moderate hit (Pineapple Express) then one large box office disappointment (Your Highness). Thinking about the truth that he's his eye on something altogether more well toned-lower afterwards, The Sitter might be his last chance to hack the crazy formula again for a while. And there's a completely new red-colored-colored band trailer for your film below.The Sitter finds Jonah Hill as Noah Jaybird, a stalwart slacker who's compelled by his mother to discover work. He confirms to help take proper care of some kids mostly must be) he figures it is easy money and B) he finds their mother attractive.But his charges use substantially greater than they can really handle, then when his girlfriend (Ari Graynor) cajoles him into visiting a party, he drags the sprogs by helping cover their him. Not suggested when he first needs to produce a pause and acquire some illegal substances... And things go downhill next.This like a red-colored-colored band effort, it's naturally full of promising, violence, drugs and general madness. The jury's still on where it'll fall inside the Eco-friendly canon, nevertheless it does boast the help of Mike Rockwell, Curb Your Enthusiasm's JB Smoove and Where The Wild Things Are's Max Records, among others.It is going to hit our cinemas around the month of the month of january 20.

Access Hollywood Live: Go Eco-friendly With Meatless Monday Quality quality recipes!

First Launched: November 14, 2011 3:54 PM EST Credit: Access Hollywood Caption Billy Rose rose bush and Package Hoover talk Meatless Monday with chefs Laurie David and Kristin Uhrenholt on Access Hollywood Survive November 14, 2011LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- To begin NBCUniversals Eco-friendly Week, author Laurie David and chef Kirstin Uhrenholdt visit having a couple of high quality quality recipes utilizing their book, Your Family Dinner, about the easiest method to not only eat healthy but save the climate too! Moninas Wheat Berry Salad Elements: 2 cups wheat berries (wild grain or farro will also be good) 1 cup dried red-colored grapes or cherries 1/3 cup canola or toasted walnut oil Zest and juice of two oranges Zest and juice of a single lemon Pepper and salt to taste 1 cup frozen edamame beans, defrosted (you don't have to prepare) 1 cup toasted pecans or walnuts Optional additions: feta, chopped dried apricots, chopped scallions, parsley, dill arugula, eco-friendly green spinach, pine nuts, or any other things your really wants to MAKE 6 Portions: In the large pot, mix the wheat berries with 6 portions of water. Give a boil and prepare, uncovered, for approximately 60 to 80 minutes, thinking about that they are quite unpredictable, so start tasting them after 45 minutes. When they are tender but nevertheless soft, drain and let awesome. Chuck the ball wheat berries while using red-colored grapes, oil, and zest and juice in the oranges and lemon. Season gener- ously with pepper and salt. Permit the salad spend some time not under 2 several hours and so the elements understand each other. Before serving, toss while using edamame and nuts. ********** Lentil Stew with Taters and Warm Indian Spices or herbs or herbal treatments Elements: 2 tbsps . essential essential olive oil 2 medium let us eat some let's eat some onions, chopped 3 cloves garlic clove clove, carefully chopped 2 tbsps . grated fresh ginger root root 1 tablespoon high quality garam masala 1 cup diced celery 1 large potato, peeled and cut into small cubes 2 cups brown peas, cleaned 1 14-ounce can diced tomato vegetables, undrained 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (or light coconut milk) 1 cup frozen peas, defrosted Pepper and salt to taste Yogurt, for garnish To Produce 46 Portions Within your soup pot, warmth the fundamental essential olive oil and fry the let us eat some let's eat some onions until wilted and golden, adding the garlic clove clove, ginger root root, and spices or herbs or herbal treatments and stir so to speak until they are aromatic. Be careful not to burn the spices or herbs or herbal treatments, because this means they are bitter. Take half of the mix and hang up it aside for later. Add the celery, potato, peas, tomato vegetables, coconut milk, and stock. Permit the stew simmer, without any lid, for approximately 30 to 40 minutes prior to the taters and peas are tender. Fold inside the remaining onion-and-spice mixture. Add the peas for the stew last to obtain their brilliant color. Simmer for the next short while prior to the stew is heated through. Season with pepper and salt. Serve getting a dollop of yogurt, warm naan bread or pita, and perhaps some brown grain, plain or cooked getting a 5 cups vegetable or chicken broth cardamom pod. ********** Oven Grains, Veggies and Cheese, Please Elements: 2 tbsps . essential essential olive oil 2 medium let us eat some let's eat some onions, sliced 2 cloves, garlic clove clove, chopped 2 cups sliced mushrooms Pepper and salt 2 bunches kale, chopped 2 bunches Swiss chard, chopped 1 cup grated Mozzarella dairy product 1 egg, beaten Squeeze of lemon 6 cups cooked, mild-tasting grains, like quinoa, barley or wheatberries 6 cups Aromatic Tomato Sauce (p. 98 within our book or possibly a simple marinara sauce like here or possibly your preferred store-bought tomato sauce, plus extra for everybody silently 2 cups mixed cheeses, as being a soft goat cheese, fresh mozzarella and Fontina To Produce 6 Portions (plus leftovers): Warmth a substantial nonstick skillet over medium warmth and drizzle in enough oil to cover the bottom. Saute the let us eat some let's eat some onions, garlic clove clove and mushrooms until they are soft and golden. Season with pepper and salt and dump them in to a bowl. In the large pot or pan getting a lid, steam the veggies until tender, 4 to 5 minutes (you might want to understand this completed in a couple of batches). Put the cooked veggies in the clean dishtowel or salad spinner and wring out all the excess water. Chuck the ball veggies while using Mozzarella dairy product and egg. Season getting a squeeze of lemon, pepper and salt. Pre-warmth the oven to 400 levels. Now treat all the elements like a lasagna. Put a layer of grains within your baking dish, top with tomato sauce, a layer of veggies, the mushroom mixture, together with a layer in the mixed cheeses. . . .and so on before you decide to finish getting a layer of tomato sauce and cheese. Top the dish with foil or possibly a lid, put it to the oven, and bake until bubbling, about 35 minutes. Then take away the lid and return the dish for the oven for 10 mins. To learn more, visit internet.TheFamilyDinnerBook.com and internet.MeatlessMonday.com. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All rights reserved. These elements is probably not launched, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Kourtney and Kim Take New You are able to Promo Foreshadows What Everybody Already Knows

Kim Kardashian The promo for Season 2 of Kourtney and Kim Take NY has appeared, and something factor is obvious: the writing was around the wall for Kim and Kris. (He traveled overseas and she or he discovered via Twitter!) E!'s Maintaining using the Kardashians spin-off will premiere Sunday, November. 27, and considering the tabloid craze all around the couple, it'll be rankings gold for that network.The trailer's tagline? "Its not all story book may have a happy ending."Kris Jenner: Kim did not earn money from the weddingEven though everyone knows the foreboding message refers back to the couples' impending divorce, it does not mean every gossip-fiend in the usa will not be watching. Browse the trailer on your own:

Barry Josephson steers sci-fi pic

Straight Up Films has partnered with producer Barry Josephson on an untitled sci-fi project with siblings David and Ian Purchase directing. Script is being penned by Edward and Chris Borey ("Continue") with Straight Up financing the development. Details are being kept under wraps. Straight Up partners Marisa Polvino and Kate Cohen will produce alongside Josephson. Annie Marter, who brought the project to Straight Up, will exec produce along with Alexander Young for Josephson Entertainment. The Purchase brothers directed short film "Escape From City 17." "We're very focused on developing studio-caliber fare and saw this as a great opportunity to get on board a high quality project from the ground up," Cohen said. Josephson produced "Enchanted" and "Life as We Know It."CAA reps the Boreys and the Purchases. It will represent the film's distribution rights. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

'Melancholia' leads EFA noms

SEVILLE, The country-- Lars von Trier's finish-of-the-world drama "Melancholia" tops nominations with this year's European Film Honours -- Europe's same as the Academy awards -- with eight mentions."Melancholia's" noms include best pic, director, actress (both Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte now Gaingsbourg) and film writer.Von Trier's film vies for that pic prize with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's "The Little One Having a Bike," Susanne Bier's "Inside a Better World," Aki Kaurismaki's "Le Havre," Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech" and Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist." "Melancholia's" rivals within the category all snagged four nominations. Introduced Saturday at Spain's Seville Film Festival, noms claim that EFA people haven't let Von Trier's episode and prohibit at Cannes in Damages "Melancholia's" likelihood of a best pic award, a minimum of only at that nomination stage.The Cannes fest declared Von Trier "persona non grata" after he declared he felt "sympathy" for Adolf Hitler at "Melancholia's" press conference. "Hopefully nominations free audiences from prejudices from the film plus they view it as only a film," stated Golem's Josetxo Moreno, who releases "Melancholia" a few days ago in The country.The lion's share of EFA noms visited box office hits or auteurs who command worldwide audiences. Inside a obvious wager on established European helmers, the director award sees exactly the same rivals because the pic prize, changing Hazanavicius with Hungarian Bela Tarr ("The Turin Equine").The 24th EFA those who win is going to be revealed 12 ,. 3 in Berlin. And also the nominees are: EUROPEAN FILM 2011-"The Artist," France directed by Michel Hazanavicius created by Thomas Langmann & Emmanuel Montamat -"Le gamin au velo" (The Little One having a Bike) Belgium, France, Italia directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne created by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd and Andrea Occhipinti -"Haevnen" (Inside a Better World), Denmark Susanne Bier created by Sisse Graum Jorgensen -"The King's Speech," U.K. directed by Tom Hooper created by Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin -"Le Havre," Finland, France, Germany directed by Aki Kaurismaki created by Aki Kaurismaki and Karl Baumgartner -"Melancholia," Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany directed by Lars von Trier created by Meta Louise Foldager and Louise Vesth EUROPEAN DIRECTOR 2011-Susanne Bier for "Inside a Better World"-Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for "The Little One having a Bike"-Aki Kaurismaki for "Le Havre"-Bela Tarr for "A Torinoi Lo" (The Turin Equine)-Lars von Trier for "Melancholia" EUROPEAN ACTRESS 2011-Kirsten Dunst in "Melancholia"-Cecile p France in "The Little One having a Bike"-Charlotte now Gainsbourg in "Melancholia"-Nadezhda Markina in "Elena"-Tilda Swinton in "We have to Discuss Kevin" EUROPEAN ACTOR 2011-Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"-Colin Firth in "The King's Speech"-Mikael Persbrandt in "Inside a Better World"-Michel Piccoli in "Habemus Papam"-Andre Wilms in "Le Havre" EUROPEAN Film writer 2011-Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for "The Little One having a Bike"-Anders Thomas Jensen for "Inside a Better World"-Aki Kaurismaki for "Le Havre"-Lars von Trier for "Melancholia" CARLO DI PALMA EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER AWARD 2011-Manuel Alberto Claro for "Melancholia"-Fred Kelemen for "The Turin Equine"-Guillaume Schiffman for "The Artist"-Adam Sikora for "Essential Killing" EUROPEAN EDITOR 2011-Tariq Anwar for "The King's Speech"-Mathilde Bonnefoy for "Drei" (Three)-Molly Marlene Stensgaard for "Melancholia" EUROPEAN PRODUCTION DESIGNER 2011-Paola Bizzarri for "Habemus Papam"-Antxon Gomez for "La piel que habito" (Your Skin My home is)-Jette Lehmann for "Melancholia" EUROPEAN COMPOSER 2011-Ludovic Bource for "The Artist"-Alexandre Desplat for "The King's Speech"-Alberto Iglesias for "Your Skin My home isInch-Mihaly Vig for "The Turin Equine" Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn Looked for for 'The Revenant'

Because Leonardo DiCaprio isn't attached and/or wanted for enough roles in Hollywood, Deadline reviews that director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu wants DiCaprio for 'The Revenant,' where he'd star just like a frontiersman hellbent on revenge. Inarritu also wants Sean Penn for your film, which focuses on Hugh Glass (DiCaprio), a 1820s fur trapper who'll get mauled having a bear to such extremes he can't even get moved in the forest for help. He utilizes two males to stay with him (Penn would play one) -- who rapidly double-mix Glass by leaving him to die. Spoiler: he doesn't, and heads on trips of retribution. DiCaprio and Penn have only spoken with Inarritu, so there's nothing occur stone 'The Revenant,' good novel by Michael Punke, is positioned to shoot next fall. [via Deadline] [Photo: Getty] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook RELATED

Back Stage Seeking 2012 Take Five Columnists

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