Google comes up media applications into single platform

Bing is searching to trap as much as Apple and Amazon . com having a refurbished method of digital content that crosses platforms and media. The search giant introduced Tuesday intends to unify Android Market, the applications store because of its popular mobile operating-system, with film rental fees, Google Music and Google eBookstore underneath the umbrella make of Google Play. The goal would be to provide competition to similar yet more centralized choices like Apple's iTunes, in addition to consolidate features which were formerly spread over several platforms. Through Google Play, music, books, films and applications all will be available with the cloud, and therefore content bought or saved through Google could be easily utilized on the user's connected smartphone, tablet and desktop. Customers may also effortlessly stop and restart content consumption across individuals products. Plainly absent in the Google Play announcement was Google TV, another entry in to the hardware business that might be an all natural platform for that new unified method of content distribution. But industry experts noted that Google Play is probably only a first phase of the even larger redefinition of their content strategy. The launch of Google Play comprises a significant rebranding of Google's Android Marketplace, which bowed in 2008. Based on the organization, you will find 450,000 applications and games available through Android, and will still be available through Google Play. While Google's content choices were formerly within the Android atmosphere, they'll be more conspicuously featured moving forward inside a redesign which will accompany the rebranding. Contrary, getting rid of the Android title will correct misperceptions that content was just open to Android-powered products Google Play could make content buying and streaming possible via Browsers too. Google Play is really a strategy right from the Apple playbook, that has tightly integrated the business's content choices using its own cloud solution, iCloud, and it is myriad products that move content around via its patented Airplay system. Amazon . com makes strides for the reason that direction too via its Amazon Kindle Fire tablet, that has been situated like a vehicle for media consumption over the company's robust online retail choices. While Google is not within the hardware business the way in which Apple and Amazon . com is, Google Play would likely reflect the growing consensus the search giant's future could be more device-centric. Google chairman Eric Schmidt suggested late this past year that the organization could partner around the deployment of the Nexus tablet and teamed this past year with Samsung and Asus on Chromebooks, a type of laptops run by its Chrome browser. Apple reported $1.7 billion in sales from iTunes within the 4th quarter of this past year. Google has not revealed its very own content sales figures, although it has not been shy about Android's commanding share of the market within the mobile category. Still, the ten billion application downloads Google reported in Android last December are far in the 25 billion Apple reportedfor its very own Application Store the 2009 week. The timing from the Google Play announcement might not be entirely coincidental coming only one previous day Apple is anticipated to unveil a brand new version from the iPad. But it will require greater than Google Play to steal the thunder of Apple's tablet and also the huge success it's loved, particularly like a device for media consumption. The latest of Google's primary content marketplaces, Google Music released last November among significant fanfare, although the service has since been beset by reviews of underperformance, along with its ongoing lack of ability to achieve a content cope with Warner Group (handles Universal Group, The new sony Music Entertainment and EMI were completed before launch). The organization lately indicated Google Music's consumer base is continuing to grow to 4 million customers. How to be redubbed Be A Musician, the service will still allow audio purchases, in addition to storage as high as 20,000 tunes within the cloud free of charge. Google makes movies available via Android since May of this past year within separate tab where game titles could be utilized for rental fees as little as $1.99. Available films are are extra time of YouTube Store, a place to go for game titles Google has introduced in via handles Warner Bros., The new sony Pictures and Universal Pictures last April. But Google has not had much success with YouTube Store, based on sources, an issue that Google Play may help correct by supplying a store more favorable to digital rental fees. Like Google TV, YouTube was plainly absent in the Google Play announcement, and just like the brand is making strides to push more premium content using a $100 million intend to push a brand new portfolio of channels with original programming. Google eBookstore continues to be active since 2010, the finish consequence of the business's questionable efforts to scan 100s of countless books. Google Play was introduced inside a blog publish by Google's director of digital content, Jamie Rosenberg. The modification is anticipated the unveil within the next a few days. The organization will tubthump the service now by providing deals on featured music, e-books, games and flicks. Every individual Google-operated application for music, books and film may also be re-named using the new Play brand. Customers will retain purchases formerly made through individuals applications. While Google Play may have a worldwide deployment, Google does not offer all kinds of media in each and every region because it does within the U.S.Watch the YouTube place: Contact Andrew Wallenstein at andrew.wallenstein@variety.com

Former Survivor Producer Talks From Prison: I Did not Kill My Spouse

Bill Pullman Bill Pullman is playing the leader - again. The Independence Day actor, who lately starred in Torchwood: Miracle Day, will portray the Leader from the U . s . States in NBC's 1600 Penn pilot. The comedy focuses on probably the most regular family on the planet - who so happen to reside in the Whitened House. Pilot Season: Obtain the scoop! As formerly introduced, Brittany Snow will have the oldest daughter, Becca, while Book of Mormon's Josh Gad will have Skip, her gregarious and clumsy older brother. Gad will even write and executive-make the pilot with Modern Family's Jason Winer.

Scribes feel piracy's bite

Christopher Keyser has already faced one big disappointment in the first five months of his tenure as the 30th president of the Writers Guild of America West -- last month's stalling of Hollywood anti-piracy legislation on Capitol Hill."Piracy's a very real issue for our members because it takes money right out of our pockets," he notes. "Unfortunately, the industry lost control of what had been a very populist message when it became more about censorship."It's unusual for the guild to find itself on the opposing side of a censorship debate, but because piracy is such a bread-and-butter issue to members, Keyser said it's clear the industry will have to regroup but continue the fight against copyright-infringing activity. As the guild prepares to honor some of its leading lights at Sunday's Writers Guild Awards, Keyser says he's acutely aware of how tough economic times have taken a toll on members who aren't marquee names. "It's a tough time for all middle-class people," he says. "The real issue for us is how to get through what continues to be a very difficult economic period." For that reason, he came out in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement early in his tenure -- during the first week of October -- and pledged that the WGA West would continue to be vocal on issues that impact writers and reach out directly to politicians via its political action committee. Keyser says the board's already laying the groundwork for negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers on a successor deal to the current master contract, which expires in May 2014. He was part of the board during the last negotiations cycle when the guild quietly reached a deal in early 2011 -- a sharp contrast to the previous round of negotiations, which featured a 100-day strike in 2007-08. WGA East president Michael Winship, who's in his third term, asserts that the outreach to members is well under way. "When you're getting ready for a negotiating cycle, you need to know about your constituents' concerns -- such as parity in cable with the broadcast networks and late pay," Winship says. Keyser's not venturing any kind of prediction as to how the negotiations might go when they start, noting that the key is to set bargaining priorities as a result of "consistent communication" with the membership. Both Keyser and Winship remain optimistic for expanding guild jurisdiction. The WGA East has scored some successes in organizing non-fiction cable TV at Atlas, Lion, ITV and Optimem. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

Clerks and Comic Superheroes Collide in Kevin Smith's Comic Book Men

Comic Book Men It took 41 years, but Kevin Smith is finally proving his parents wrong. "They always said, 'Your friends are idiots. You can't sit around and goof off with your friends.' I was like, 'Yeah we can,'" Smith tells TVGuide.com of his new AMC reality series, Comic Book Men, starring his childhood friends-turned-comic book store employees Bryan Johnson, Walt Flanagan, Mike Zapcic and Ming Chen. AMC green-lights Kevin Smith unscripted series Comic Book Men (Sunday, 10/9c) is best described as Pawn Stars plus Clerks multiplied by comic books: one part docu-series about the crazy clerks, quirky customers and collectibles at Smith's Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash comic book store in Red Bank, N.J., and one part talk show, where the guys gather together - no confessional needed - to discuss the store's newest and coolest acquisitions and beyond. And unlike those other Garden State-set reality series, the fist-pumping is kept to a minimum and the closest viewers will get to on-air drama is a bidding war at the Collingwood Flea Market. "It's not about real life," Smith says. "The store is where they go to f---ing escape real life and the live the fantasy of childhood." If a chatter-heavy reality show like Comic Book Men is an unlikely addition to the reality genre, then Smith is happily its oddball ringleader. The foul-mouthed indie filmmaker, best known for movies like Clerks, Chasing Amy and Dogma, has stepped out from behind the camera and into the limelight in recent years. He's released four books, fills venues across the country for his infamous Q&A sessions and oversees his own SModcast network of 13 regular podcasts, which includes "Tell 'Em Steve-Dave!", featuring many of the stars of Comic Book Men. "I'm there to set you up and bring you in to the world, but you're in safe hands with the boys," he says of the show, which he developed, executive-produces and co-stars in. Watch videos of Kevin Smith Although Smith happily owns up to reality TV indulgences like Oxygen's Snapped and Tori and Dean, he never saw himself returning to the small screen after ABC turned Sundance sensation Clerks into an animated series and canceled after two episodes in 2000. "The cartoon was such a bad experience," he says. However, when Smith was approached by a producer about doing something for AMC he couldn't pass up the opportunity to work with his favorite channel. "You don't want to be the one show that comes on like, "Oh, that's where AMC went wrong - with Kevin f---ing Smith," he says. Following the smash success of comic book series-turned-TV show The Walking Dead, AMC wanted a companion show that would keep the geeks glued after the zombies had gone off the air. Smith pitched the show and when AMC wanted to see and hear more, he decided to film the pilot presentation in his own store with the store's four main employees (all from the "Tell 'Em Steve-Dave!" podcast). The show was supposed to then find a different store and different cast for the series, but AMC thought otherwise. "[My producer] went, 'Dude, you're out of your mind. That's the show," Smith recalls. Kevin Smith to share his askew view with new talk show Aside from The Walking Dead's after show, Talking Dead, Comic Book Men represents one of AMC's first forays into reality television. "They're on a real hot streak, and they've figured out how to do reality with our show where I can hold my head up," he says. AMC also matched Smith's less-is-more belief when it came to marketing Comic Book Men. He famously brought his 2010 indie horror flick Red State to Sundance to auction the movie off, only to sell the distribution rights to himself in what was seen as a slap in the face to film studios. In the case of Comic Book Men, Smith is happy to promote the show himself (his more than 1.9 million Twitter followers could help) rather than see AMC shell out big bucks for billboards. "It's almost like a mid-90's Miramax sensibility," he says, referencing the film studio that helped bring indie films, like his own debut Clerks, into the mainstream. "AMC was really frugal in making the show," he says. "They're happy with a very small number. America has to really hate my f---ing friends in order for this not to work." Comic Book Men's debut comes as Smith is undergoing a major career renovation. He says his next film will be his last and and hopes to focus on his Q&As and podcasts full-time - ironic for the man known to millions simply as "Silent Bob." Smith is even shopping a daily Chelsea Handler-esque entertainment news talk show called Tonightly, which he would co-host. "The older you get, you wind up doing sh-- you never in a million years you imagined you would. I never thought I would get to a point where I don't want to make film anymore. Life changes," he says. "TV answered my view in a weird way this year and I wasn't pursuing it. It just happened." Comic Book Men premieres Sunday at 10/9c on AMC.

First trailer for Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World

Just yesterday, we were given a look at the first poster for Steve Carell end-of-worlder Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World, and now the film's first trailer has been released online.Seeking A Friend stars Carell as a man whose wife leaves him just as the apocalypse rears its ugly head.Desperate to make a meaningful connection before everybody dies, he enlists his neighbour (Keira Knightley) to help him find his childhood sweetheart. With asteroid Matilda set to destroy Earth in just three weeks, it's going to be a bit of a breakneck mission.Check out the trailer below...Firmly ensconced in the 'indie drama' genre, Seeking A Friend looks like a cosy little character-based chuckler set against an epic backdrop.Carell's no stranger to playing men gripped by midlife crises. He excelled at it in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine and Crazy Stupid Love, and looks to be just as good here.Not a stretch by any means, but scenes like the spot-on piss-take of corporate restaurants (Friendies!) promises some acerbic laughs along the way.There are also some great cameos from Patton Oswalt (Young Adult) and Melanie Lynskey, the latter sporting a truly terrifying wig and dress combo.Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World hits US screens on 22 June 2012, with a UK release date yet to be confirmed.

Pilot Season: Alexandra Breckenridge, Michael Landes Join NBC's Save Me

Alexandra Breckenridge, Michael Landes Alexandra Breckenridge and Michael Landes has joined the NBC pilot Save Me, TVGuide.com has confirmed. Deadline first reported the news. Pilot Season: Anne Heche lands leading role in NBC's Save Me The comedy stars Men in Trees alum Anne Heche as Beth Harper, a woman who starts to believe that she is channeling God after she has an accident. Landes (Lois and Clark) will play Beth's husband, Tom, a manager at an upscale hotel. Breckenridge (American Horror Story) will play Carly, a laid-off high school guidance counselor who words as a concierge at Tom's hotel - and also serves as his therapist and lover. Heche will serve as a producer on the project, which is executive-produced by John Scott Shepherd, Neal Moritz, Vivian Cannon and Scott Winant.

WB sets rewrite of 'Jetsons' script

Warner Bros. has tapped "Chewie" scribes Van Robichaux and Evan Susser to rewrite its bigscreen version of TV toon "The Jetsons." Donald De Line and Denise Di Novi are producing the live-action feature, which the latter has been developing for more than a decade with a number of different writers. Most recently, Adam F. Goldberg had been penning the screenplay. Storyline will center around the Hanna-Barbera show, which revolved around the life and times of George, Jane, Judy and Elroy Jetson. The TV series first aired in primetime in 1962 as Hanna-Barbera's Space Age counterpart to "The Flintstones." This isn't the first time a studio has brought the popular TV skein to the big screen. Universal released a "Jetsons" pic in 1990, directed by Joseph Barbera, co-founder of the Hanna-Barbera company and one of the creators of the original series from 1962. WME and Untitled Entertainment rep both scribes. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Sean Lennon named animation fest a.d.

West Coast preems of "A Monster in Paris" and docu "Adventures in Plymptoons" are among the highlights of the third annual Los Angeles Animation Film Festival next month.Sean Lennon has been tapped artistic director of the fest and will host screenings of films he has chosen, including "Akira" and "Fantastic Planet," which will feature a live score.Fest runs from March 7-11 at the Regent Showcase in Hollywood.The fest will also honor animator Bill Plympton for his contributions to the animation biz and will screen docu "Adventures in Plymptoons" as well as Plympton's first feature, "The Tune."Other pics screening at the event "The Iron Giant," with members of its cast and crew; a revival of Matt Stone and Trey Parker's "Team America: World Police"; and a 10th anni showing of the original "Shrek."For a more information, go to www.laafest.com. Contact Terry Flores at terry.flores@variety.com

Sundance: Magnolia gets '2 Days'

Magnolia just nabbed its second Sundance title in a day, as distrib announced Saturday evening it had picked up North American rights to "2 Days in NY."Just hour searlier, the distrib announced rights to the controversial drama "Compliance."The follow-up to Julie Delpy's "2 Days in Paris," "2 Days in NY," is a relationship comedy that also stars Chris Rock.Distrib plans a theatrical release in major markets and a run on Magnolia's Ultra VOD program.CAA repped the sale. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Oscar noms challenge small distribs

'Albert Nobbs'NY -- While year-finish film honours are an recognition together with an invaluable marketing strategy, for independent entrepreneurs they are also challenging. Furthermore to selling their film with a audience, indie distribs also needs to woo kudos voters, which requires some type of special finessing -- and they've to complete all this around the limited budget.The 2009 week, "Albert Nobbs" and "Margin Call" were among the indie films receiving Oscar nominations. The noms were a payback for careful and thrifty release plans. Inside the situation of "Albert," supplied by LD Entertaiment and Kerbside Sights, that meant single-week being qualified engagement, which was substantially less costly than the usual fourth-quarter theatrical release.The procedure for Roadside's other entry, Lionsgate co-acquisition "Margin Call," wound up being to construct buzz, also to possess a specific approach to media buys. Reviews which are positive due to its timely Wall Street material, additionally to individual to individual, were important. The film also acquired attention when its VOD availability didn't appear to harm its box office through the movie's fall day-and-date strategy."One of the challenges for movies that don't have massive marketing budgets is disbursing the word, however for your word to happen, you have to get yourself a critical mass of people to find out it," states Kerbside co-prexy Eric D'Arbeloff. "The Academy isn't that totally different from everyone else -- others will simply see movies in theaters, others watch screeners while others find out about the film utilizing their pals who have seen it on VOD. We felt like these were distinct audiences, (which) gave us a lot more individual to individual.InchPrizes season is available in an active season, with family a while and holiday holidays. Experts see many, many films, quite a few Academy of motion Picture Arts & Sciences individuals will work people, and thus do small amount of time to find out a substantial number of films before they develop a ballot."Albert Nobbs" saw Oscar noms for actress (Glenn Close), supporting actress (Jesse McTeer) and makeup. "Margin Call" was attracted on for original script.Kerbside sends out screeners and holds official AMPAS and guild tests, though less frequently because the art galleries do, states Kerbside co-leader Howard Cohen. The distrib dedicated to drumming up media interest. A year ago, Kerbside saw 2010 Sundance pickup "Winter's Bone" nab four top Oscar noms, including one to find the best picture.David Dinerstein, who aided recommend the "Nobbs" plan now heads LD Distribution, states tugging out "Nobbs" from theaters for just about any month after its one-week Oscar being qualified run in the finish of December aided put a small budget towards the best use."Rather than requiring to compete within the consumer level in individuals days, we felt we have to target people within the Academy as well as the guilds," according to him. "Using the nominations, it provides an opportunity to chop via a little simpler laptop or computer might have been otherwise." The limited country wide rollout that began Jan. 27 uses last week's noms and allows a few specific TV ads to attain potential Academy and guild voters.Dinerstein states Close's Career Achievement Award at January's Palm Springs Film Festival gave the pic an important boost too.To date because the cost towards the organization for Oscar attention, Dinerstein, much like others asked with this particular article, demurs. But according to him that, similar to the launch connected having a of LD's films, your financial allowance is under nearly all his rivals. "Without getting deep pockets, you need to be smarter, whether it is round the publicity side or possibly in choosing the sorts of screens you've,Inch according to him.4-year-old Oscilloscope saw its sixth Oscar nom when "In case your Tree Falls: An Account around the globe Liberation Front," a historic have a look at political activism, was attracted on inside the feature documentary category.Oscilloscope prexy David Fenkel states the little group inside the doc and foreign-language feature nominating committees can be a boon to indies, which causes it to be simpler to pay attention to the best people. Fenkel expects to possess director Marshall Curry discuss the film at new bookings in primary areas across the country, emphasizing its relevance.Newer to the sport is Drafthouse Films founder Tim League, whose sophomore release "Bullhead" acquired a foreign-language film nom. League cites the film's AFI Fest and Palm Springs honours (and helmer Michael R. Roskam's mention among Variety's 10 Company company directors to check out) as improving the violent thriller enter Oscar's 5 best, along with reaching to foreign-language committee voters.For his publish-nomination strategy, League expects to gradually slowly move the tentative April 27 release date to February, and furthermore to DVD screeners, he's finalizing streaming partners now to get the film into Academy members' houses, a technique sure to be-loved by cost-conscious distribs."I realize there is available a difficult road before us," League states. "We're smaller businesses -- an worker of three -- but we could be scrappy." Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Vertigo inks deal on 'Tattoo' novels

'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo'In a move that would probably appeal to Lisbeth Salander, DC Entertainment imprint Vertigo will publish a graphic novel based on Stieg Larsson's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" this fall.Vertigo is working closely with Larsson's estate and Hedlund Literary Agency to develop the book that Scottish crime author Denise Mina will pen, with cover image created by Lee Bermejo and art from Leonardo Manco and Andrea Mutti.Book hits bookstores in November."We're thrilled to be adapting this incredible story into a series of graphic novels," said Vertigo's executive editor Karen Berger. "Denise, Lee, Leonardo and Andrea have such great passion for the material and stylistically they're a perfect match to bring it to comics life. Their beautifully dark and visceral work will certainly blow us all away."The move to go the graphic novel route with Larsson's tale makes sense, given its origins as a bestselling phenomenon -- the first of a trilogy that has sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. Sales for all three books exceed 17 million copies in the U.S. alone, including digital sales of 3.5 million copies.Mina's cime novels include "Deception" and "Field of Blood." She has also written for Vertigo's "Hellblazer" series and most recently penned "A Sickness in the Family," another graphic novel for the publisher.Bermejo recently completed DC's "Batman: Noel," a followup to "Joker," both bestsellers; while Argentinian artist Manco's credits include "Hellblazer" and Italian artist Mutti first worked with Vertigo on "The Executor" graphic novel before its "DMZ" comicbook series. Contact Marc Graser at marc.graser@variety.com

Collins In Talks For Evil Dead Remake

She's the completely new Ash. Type of...As being a demon tearing using a forest, the remake of Mike Raimi's Evil Dead has out of the blue acquired pace in the last handful of several days which is now racing towards the screens. And in line with the gang at Bloody Disgusting, one of the primary ingredients could soon maintain place, with Lily Collins in final predicts play Mia, the important thing lady.Ultimately doubt Collins will probably be channelling Bruce Campbell's style, it might seem like Mia might be the brand new Ash inside the story, among several pals who mind with a remote cabin where they release evil forces within the Book in the Dead. one at a time, they're possessed...This time around around around, gleam subplot that finds Mia round the trip to detox carrying out a fight with drugs - which factors into people not thinking her when she tries to get some good outdoors help.With Raimi's Ghost House team controlling things, Fede Alvarez is pointing the completely new movie, working in the script he written with Rodo Sayagues, that has furthermore been using the beautifying hands of Diablo Cody.The film is searching to start shooting this March in Nz. Collins, meanwhile, we be seen this year in Tarsem Singh's undertake the Snow White-colored story Mirror Mirror. That particular will arrive on March 16.

Helmers, designers take the edge out of war

'The Flowers of War''War Horse'"War films are wonderful challenges," says Thomas Walsh, president of the Art Directors Guild. "But they're right at the top of the food chain in terms of assignments that are difficult to do well."That didn't stop two veteran directors -- Steven Spielberg and Zhang Yimou -- from taking a bite this year, with "War Horse" and "The Flowers of War," respectively. The first is set largely in the hellish world of trench warfare, the second during the nightmare days of the Nanking Massacre.But while both directors were unquestionably up to the serious challenges of staging war, destruction and battle scenes, they both did something unusual: Without stinting on the atrocities of battle, they chose to frame their stories as fables.That left some of the biggest challenges on each film up to the designers, costumers and makeup artists. They had to bring a sense of verisimilitude to every scene -- with an artistic twist."How do you mix being pragmatic and being poetic?" asks "War Horse" production designer Rick Carter. "That's the design challenge: To create a place where both of those aspirations are fulfilled."Carter and Spielberg have a relationship that spans nearly 30 years, which meant they had an easy, familiar way to communicate. Spielberg would sometimes say "surprise me," Carter recalls."Every day was like creating a new painting," Carter says.That meant finding a way to gradually lead the audience and the film from the green, rocky hills of Devon, England into the blasted, otherworldly surface of the war's battleground across the English Channel. Carter located an airfield west of London, gutted and trenched it, then sculpted it meticulously.Carter says he and Spielberg were influenced by the films of John Ford and David Lean, who knew how to make movies that evoked the landscape around them."You're tracking a sense of what was lost, and how you survive," says Carter. "That sort of thinking informed a lot of imagery, and that starts to form a fable."It was 2006's "Pan's Labyrinth," however, that informed the imagery of Yimou's "Flowers," says the film's production designer Yohei Taneda, who notes that both films tell their stories through the eyes of a young girl."Rather than reenact history," writes Taneda through a translator, "I felt it would be more interesting to add a slightly subjective, fable-like feel to depict war as experienced by the innocents."To achieve that, Yimou leaned heavily on contrasting spare bursts of color with a bleak, bombed-out landscape. Drab schoolgirl clothes contrasted with the silken outfits of prostitutes and an enormous stained-glass window."Yimou tended to have lots of requests and demands when it came to color," writes Taneda, who built the destroyed city of Nanking entirely on soundstages and backlots, almost the opposite of Spielberg's choice to stay largely on location. Taneda says he wanted to render the bombed-out city as "ruins deserving of love," with "each crumbling building distinctive and beautiful."But neither director wanted to tread on familiar territory. Spielberg told his department heads that "this is not ('Saving Private) Ryan.' " And in portraying the colorful red-light district, Yimou had no intention of using the signature lanterns he featured in 1991's "Raise the Red Lantern.""He strongly insisted he would never use lanterns on his movies again," writes set decorator Yoshihito Akatsuka, who then had to come up with a substitute and chose a Chinese decorated gate.Adhering to a "fable" atmosphere, however, required compromises. Spielberg's desire for a PG-13 rating on "War Horse" meant some "artistic license" had to be taken, as head makeup designer Lois Burwell recalls. She cites the gas burns on lead character Albert's eyes, which were first conveniently covered with a bandage and then muted once exposed. "But the integrity is still there," she says. "Accurate, but in a toned-down way. Remember, the war may be the premise but the film is about the emotions of the people and the animals."And therein is born the artistry: With both "Flowers" and "War Horse," the directors have taken the horror-film dictum of not showing the monster to heart, which leaves the scariest parts of each in the audience's imaginations and allows the human story to dominate. Still, it's a fine line to walk -- one that can't be accomplished without expert below-the-line department heads."I applaud anyone who makes a war film with moderation," says Walsh. "A good war movie is not a snuff movie. In lesser hands, a war movie coming out at Christmastime -- with animals -- could be a dangerous film. These movies prove that you can show the war, but celebrate the individual."Eye on the Oscars: Art Direction, Costumes & Makeup Scenes reveal souls | Makeup for beauty more than skin deep | Helmers, designers take the edge out of war | Realistic, exotic look for 'Lady' Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Fashion Slam: Ode For The Perfect Guy David Beckham

First Launched: The month of the month of january 4, 2012 5:32 PM EST Credit: H&M Caption David Beckham in new H&M campaign (Jan. 2012)La, Calif. -- Oh my gosh. Oh, my, my. Oh David Beckham. Exactly how should we love thee? Let us count the techniques. We could start with that 6-pack. The well toned torso. The chiseled arms. The facial skin is gorgeous, clearly. After which it theres.well, well allow it to relaxation only at that. Hes the whole package. So, enables all just take some time out of your busy day to know the soccer star showing up in tight skivvies in new ads for H&M. More youthful crowd was the facial skin, or possibly is the fact that body, of Armanis under clothes line last year. Total stud. I gotta send a sizable shout towards the stud inside my existence- my awesome husband, who's beyond understanding if the involves my Beckham obsession! Thanks! Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All rights reserved. These elements is probably not launched, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.