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The list of candidates for the 2020 Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors election is now out, with the winner in each branch being chosen directly from these entries rather than whittling it down to four finalists in each, as has been done previously. The list of candidates is made up of qualified AMPAS members who actually submit themselves.

Also new this year in the streamlined timetable, as Deadline exclusively reported May 16. The winners for the 17 open slots on the 54-member board will be chosen by preferential balloting, just like Best Picture race at the Oscars. Voting begins Monday and ballots are due back June 5.

The actors branch is the largest in the Academy and it also has drawn the biggest field of contenders for the one spot that is up. Incumbent governor Whoopi Goldberg is running for re-election against past governor Ed Begley Jr. vying to return to the board.

Whoopi Goldberg will be facing 18 other actors who want her seat on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors, the Academy revealed to its members on Friday.

The Academy posted the list of candidates for the board from all 17 of its branches, with incumbent Actors Branch governor Goldberg going up against a slate of challengers that includes past governor Ed Begley Jr., as well as Richard Dreyfuss, James and Stacy Keach, Tim Matheson, Joe Pantoliano, Lou Diamond Phillips and Rita Wilson, whose husband, Tom Hanks, served on the board for many years.

Other branches whose contenders hit double digits included Cinematographers (12), Directors (13), Executives (12), Producers (16), Sound (10) and Visual Effects (10).

But the Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch, in which incumbent Kathryn Blondell was ineligible to run again, has only a single candidate, Linda Flowers.

Also Read: Oscars Board Election Has New Rules - But Expect the Same Old Results

Blondell,...

The list of candidates for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 2020-2021 Board of Governors has been unveiled to members.

Voting begins on June 1 and ends on June 5.

Candidates run for three-year terms with a maximum of three terms. Each branch has three seats on the board. Only one of those seats is open each year because terms are staggered.

The candidates were posted on the Academy members’ portal on Friday afternoon. Below is the complete list (divided by branch) of those running for spots on the board.

Actors

Michael Lee Aday

Ed Begley, Jr.

Robert Carradine

Nicolas Coster

Colman Domingo

Richard Dreyfuss

Spencer Garrett

Bruce Glover

Whoopi Goldberg (incumbent)

James Keach

Stacy Keach

Peter Wong

Jodi Long

Tim Matheson

Joe Pantoliano

Lou Diamond Phillips

Andrea Riseborough

Andrew Stevens

Rita Wilson

Casting Directors

Kerry Barden

Richard Hicks

Margery Simkin

Debra Zane

Cinematographers

Andrzej Bartkowiak

Richard P. Crudo

Svetlana Cvetko...

Jack Cunningham (Ben Affleck) once had a life filled with promise. In high school, he was a basketball phenom with a full university scholarship, when suddenly, for reasons unknown, he walked away from the game, forfeiting his future. Now years later, Jack is spiraling down, triggered by an unspeakable loss, and drowning in the alcoholism that cost him his marriage and any hope for a better life. When he is asked to coach the basketball team at his alma mater, which has fallen far since his glory days, he reluctantly accepts, surprising no one more than himself. As the boys start to come together as a team and win, Jack may have finally found a reason to confront the demons that have derailed him. But will it be enough to fill the void, heal the deep wounds of his past, and set him on the road to redemption?

Academy Award...

Ben Affleck has been on the mend, both in his personal life and his career, suffering a few flops along the way and losing the title of Batman to Robert Pattinson after a couple of disappointing outings in the now dismantled Dceu. The actor returns with a stirring new drama called The Way Back. He is reuniting with The Accountant director Gavin O'Connor. Today, we get the first trailer and an official theatrical poster for this upcoming Warner Bros. Release.

Every loss is another fight. Academy Award winner Ben Affleck stars in TheWayBack, from Gavin O'Connor, Director of The Accountant. The movie will be in theaters starting March 6, 2020 just in time for Spring Break of next year. It's much to early to tell if this will be an awards season contender, but it has all the needed parts to make this something special.

Jack Cunningham (Ben Affleck) once had a life filled with promise.

At this point, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ governors election looks more like a round-up than a race; more than 180 members have declared their interest in filling 17 contested spots on the 54-member Board of Governors.

Voting in the run-off round starts on Monday and ends May 18. That will narrow the present field to a maximum of four nominees per branch in the final round, which follows.

For now, there are on average about 11 candidates in the running for each slot. In the casting directors and costume design branches, only three members have declared for each slot. But not so in the actors branch, where 17 members — including Brie Larson, Jacki Weaver and Meg Ryan — are vying for the spot being vacated by termed-out Tom Hanks; or the producers, executives, and public relations branches, all of which have a bumper crop of candidates. Marvin Levy, currently a governor in the public relations branch,...

The 19th annual Hollywood Film Awards took place on Sunday night, honoring an impressive array of film industry talent both in front of and behind the camera. While the honors in the past have been dinged for trying too hard to please everyone, there's no denying that the ceremony is successful at grabbing attention thanks to honoring huge hits like "Furious 7" and "Jurassic World."

For only the second time ever, the awards ceremony was aired on CBS, with "Late Late Show" host James Corden serving as emcee for the proceedings. Presenters were just as impressive as honorees, with everyone from Ryan Gosling to Selena Gomez to Jamie Foxx to Amy Poehler handing out trophies.

Check out the full list of winners -- including Will Smith, Amy Schumer, the "Straight Outta Compton" cast, and "Inside Out" -- below.

Career Achievement Award: Robert De Niro, presented by David O. Russell

Producer...

The Beverly Hilton Hotel was replete with celebrities on Sunday night (November 1) as the 19th Annual Hollywood Film Awards took over the place.

Hosted by James Corden, the shindig boasted famous folks like Amy Schumer, Will Smith, Carey Mulligan, Reese Witherspoon, Robert De Niro, Alicia Vikander, Channing Tatum and his wife Jenna Dewan.

Corden opened the show with the statement, "If you told me a year ago that I would be hosting the Hollywood Film Awards, I would ask you, 'What are the Hollywood Film Awards?’” And DeNiro poked fun at Tinseltown’s penchant for self-congratulatory events- "The Hollywood Film Awards are supposed to be the start to the awards season. For me the awards season started 40 years ago... that's a long f--king awards season."

And the honorees for the 19th Hollywood Film Awards are:

Hollywood Career Achievement Award

Robert De Niro, presented by David O. Russell

Hollywood Producer Award

Ridley Scott for The Martian,...

Once again, Hollywood Stars will be going to the first awards event of the season — The Hollywood Film Awards®. The ceremony will be hosted by critically and globally acclaimed actor, comedian and late night talk show host, James Corden and will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, on November 1, 2015. The Hollywood Film Awards, the official launch of the awards season®, has recognized excellence in the art of cinema and filmmaking for 18 years, honoring some of the world’s biggest stars. More than one hundred honorees have gone on to garner Oscar nominations and wins. Our confirmed presenters include: Steve Carell, Russell Crowe, Ice Cube, Johnny Depp, Laura Dern, Vin Diesel, Jamie Foxx, Selena Gomez, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal, Dakota Johnson, Armie Hammer, Amber Heard, Mark Ruffalo, David O. Russell, Kurt Russell, Amy Poehler, Quentin Tarantino, and Reese Witherspoon. Our confirmed honorees include:Robert De Niro, Ridley Scott,...

The stars scheduled to present honorees with their awards at the “19th Annual Hollywood Film Awards,” hosted by critically and globally acclaimed actor, comedian and late-night talk show host, James Corden. Presenters Steve Carell, Russell Crowe, Johnny Depp, Vin Diesel, Jamie Foxx, Selena Gomez, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal, Armie Hammer, Amber Heard, Ice Cube, Amy Poehler, Mark Ruffalo, David O. Russell, Kurt Russell, Quentin Tarantino and Reese Witherspoon will be in attendance at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, on Sunday, November 1, 2015 to honor their colleagues and friends. The Hollywood Film Awards, the official launch of the awards season®, has recognized excellence in the art of cinema and filmmaking for 18 years, honoring some of the world’s biggest stars. More than one hundred honorees have gone on to garner Oscar® nominations and wins. Honorees for this year’s show include: • Robert De Niro – “Hollywood Career Achievement Award” • Ridley Scott...

Awards season is almost upon us - and James Corden is going to help kick off the festivities.

The host of The Late Late Show has been selected to present next month's Hollywood Film Awards.

Corden's big gig will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, on November 1.

"James Corden is one of the brightest stars on television today. We can't wait to see what he has in store for the big night," dick clark productions CEO Allen Shapiro announced today (October 15).

The comedian is following in the footsteps of Queen Latifah, who hosted last year's Hollywood Film Awards.

This year's event will include Robert De Niro receiving the Hollywood Career Achievement Award and Furious 7 winning the Hollywood Blockbuster Award.

The Hollywood Film Awards have been held annually since 1997 in Los Angeles. A list of this year's winners is presented below:

Robert De Niro – Hollywood Career...

James Corden, critically and globally acclaimed actor, comedian and late night show star to host the “19th annual Hollywood Film Awards. The “19th Annual Hollywood Film Awards” will be hosted by critically and globally acclaimed actor, comedian and late night talk show host, James Corden. The awards ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, on November 1, 2015. The Hollywood Film Awards, the official launch of the awards season®, has recognized excellence in the art of cinema and filmmaking for 18 years, honoring some of the world’s biggest stars. More than one hundred honorees have gone on to garner Oscar nominations and wins. “James Corden is one of the brightest stars on television today,” said Allen Shapiro, CEO of dick clark productions. “We can’t wait to see what he has in store for the big night.” In the past year alone, Corden has taken over The...

Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated director and producer Ridley Scott will be honored with the “Hollywood Producer Award” for the film The Martian. The “19th Annual Hollywood Film Awards” will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, on November 1, 2015. The Hollywood Film Awards, the official launch of the awards season®, has recognized excellence in the art of cinema and filmmaking for 18 years, honoring some of the world’s biggest stars. More than one hundred honorees have gone on to garner Oscar nominations and wins. This year, the multi-nominated Ridley Scott shows once again he is the master of all film genres as he produces and directs the story of astronaut Mark Watney, who is presumed dead after a firestorm and left behind by his crew. The film stars Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels and Kate Mara. “Ridley Scott is one of the most prolific,...

Amy Schumer Set to Receive “Hollywood Comedy Award” for Trainwreck at the “19th Annual Hollywood Film Awards®” Emmy Award-winning writer, producer, comedian and actress Amy Schumer will be honored with the “Hollywood Comedy Award” at the “19th Annual Hollywood Film Awards.” The ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, on November 1, 2015. The Hollywood Film Awards, the official launch of the awards season®, has recognized excellence in the art of cinema and filmmaking for 18 years, honoring some of the world’s biggest stars. Honorees have gone on to garner many Oscar nominations and wins. Schumer wrote and starred in her first feature film, Trainwreck, which garnered excelled critical acclaim and box office success. Schumer is also in her 4th season of Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer, of which she won this year’s Emmy for Outstanding Variety and Sketch Series. It was previously announced that...

dick clark productions announced today that Academy Award-winning director Tom Hooper will be honored with the “Hollywood Director Award,” for “The Danish Girl”; Academy Award-winning actor Benicio Del Toro will receive the “Hollywood Supporting Actor Award,” for “Sicario”; Academy Award-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan will receive the “New Hollywood Award” for “Brooklyn“; the Swedish actress Alicia Vikander will receive the “Hollywood Breakout Actress Award,” for “The Danish Girl”; and the principal cast of the box-office smash “Straight Outta Compton,” Corey Hawkins, O’Shea Jackson Jr.and Jason Mitchell will be honored with the “Hollywood Breakout Ensemble Award.”

The “19th Annual Hollywood Film Awards“ will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, on November 1, 2015. The Hollywood Film Awards, the official launch of the awards season®, has recognized excellence in the art of cinema and filmmaking for 18 years, honoring some of the world’s biggest stars. Honorees have gone on...

Continuing on with the Hollywood Film Awards Series, we have a ton of new honorees to take a look at. Yesterday’s press release cited films like Amy, Black Mass, Bridge of Spies, Cinderella, The Danish Girl, Furious 7, Jurassic World, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Suffragette at the Hollywood Film Awards, making for a wide variety of titles with upcoming honors on their plates. It’s still just a small sample of what the awards ceremony will have to offer, but it does give us a look at what the precursors could potentially turn into down the line. That alone makes this a compelling list to look at today. In case you missed it, these are the honors that were announced yesterday: Hollywood Blockbuster Award Furious 7 Hollywood Documentary Award Amy Hollywood Cinematography Award Janusz Kaminski, Bridge of Spies Hollywood Film Composer Award Alexandre Desplat, The Danish Girl, Suffragette Hollywood Editing Award David Rosenbloom,...

Furious 7 to Receive the “Hollywood Blockbuster Award,” While Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth Receive the “Hollywood Song Award” for Their Hit “See You Again” From the Furious 7 Soundtrack Asif Kapadia to Receive the “Hollywood Documentary Award” for Amy Additional Honorees Announced in the Categories of Cinematography, Composer, Editing, Visual Effects, Sound, Costume Design, Make-Up & Hairstyling and Production Design Hollywood, CA, (October 5, 2015) dick clark productions (dcp) announced today that Universal Pictures’ box-office smash Furious 7 will receive the “Hollywood Blockbuster Award,” while Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth will receive the “Hollywood Song Award” for their massive hit “See You Again” from the film’s soundtrack.In addition, the “Hollywood Documentary Award” will be bestowed on director Asif Kapadia for his work on Amy. The “19th Annual Hollywood Film Awards” will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on November 1, 2015. The Hollywood Film Awards, the official...

David Rosenbloom calls them “movie moments,” those ephemeral slivers of magic discovered amongst the voluminous footage he sifts through in his role as an editor. They can be as small as a glance or as large as a cackle from Whitey Bulger. The latter can be found in Black Mass, Rosenbloom’s second collaboration with director Scott Cooper following 2013’s Out of the Furnace. The film traces the true story of Irish gangster Bulger’s thirty-year reign in Boston, abetted by his role as an FBI informant. Rosenbloom talked to Filmmaker about his start as an editor, his software of choice for […]...

David Rosenbloom calls them “movie moments,” those ephemeral slivers of magic discovered amongst the voluminous footage he sifts through in his role as an editor. They can be as small as a glance or as large as a cackle from Whitey Bulger. The latter can be found in Black Mass, Rosenbloom’s second collaboration with director Scott Cooper following 2013’s Out of the Furnace. The film traces the true story of Irish gangster Bulger’s thirty-year reign in Boston, abetted by his role as an FBI informant. Rosenbloom talked to Filmmaker about his start as an editor, his software of choice for […]...

'The Insider' movie: Al Pacino and Russell Crowe 'The Insider' movie: 1999 exposé of CBS news show barks, but doesn't bite Michael Mann's 1999 movie The Insider quote exchange: "It's old news. ... We'll be ok," says Don Hewitt (Philip Baker Hall), the creator of the CBS news show 60 Minutes. "These things have a half-life of 15 minutes." "No, that's fame," replies 60 Minutes anchor Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer). "Fame has a 15-minute half-life. Infamy lasts a little longer." The infamous "things" referred to by Hewitt and Wallace are the series of scandals that erupted in early 1996, when it was revealed that CBS had refused to air an interview with a tobacco company whistleblower because the network feared the (financial) consequences. What Freedom of the Press? Based on Marie Brenner's Vanity Fair article about the events that led up to that embarrassing – and disturbing – incident, The Insider tells the story of scientist Jeffrey Wigand...

(L-r) Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger and director Scott Cooper on the set of the as-yet-untitled Whitey Bulger film, which has begun filming on location in Boston. Photo credit: Claire Folger

Principal photography is underway on the as-yet-untitled drama based on the book Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob, about the infamous gangster Whitey Bulger.

The film stars Oscar nominee Johnny Depp (“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “Finding Neverland,” the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films) as Whitey Bulger and Joel Edgerton (“The Great Gatsby,” “Zero Dark Thirty”) as FBI Agent John Connolly.

Filming began in Boston under the direction of Scott Cooper (“Out of the Furnace,” “Crazy Heart”).

The film also stars Benedict Cumberbatch (“Twelve Years a Slave”) as Whitey’s brother, Billy Bulger, who is a Massachusetts State Senator; Jesse Plemons (AMC’s “Breaking Bad...

Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger and director Scott Cooper on the set of the as-yet-untitled Whitey Bulger film.

Principal photography is underway on the as-yet-untitled drama based on the book Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob, about the infamous gangster Whitey Bulger. The film stars Oscar® nominee Johnny Depp (“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “Finding Neverland,” the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films) as Whitey Bulger and Joel Edgerton (“The Great Gatsby,” “Zero Dark Thirty”) as FBI Agent John Connolly. Filming began in Boston under the direction of Scott Cooper (“Out of the Furnace,” “Crazy Heart”).

The film also stars Benedict Cumberbatch (“Twelve Years a Slave”) as Whitey’s brother, Billy Bulger, who is a Massachusetts State Senator; Jesse Plemons (AMC’s “Breaking Bad”) as Whitey’s longtime partner in crime, Kevin Weeks; Sienna Miller (HBO’s...

Check out the new IMAX trailer for Transcendence starring Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Cillian Murphy, Clifton Collins, Jr., and Morgan Freeman.

Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, working to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions.

His highly controversial experiments have made him famous, but they have also made him the prime target of anti-technology extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him.

However, in their attempt to destroy Will, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed—to be a participant in his own transcendence. For his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany), both fellow researchers, the question is not if they can…but if they should.

Their worst fears are realized as Will’s...

Johnny Depp stars as Will Caster in the intriguing new trailer for Alcon Entertainment’s sci-fi thriller Transcendence.

It marks the feature film directorial debut of Oscar-winning cinematographer Wally Pfister (Inception, the Dark Knight movies). Pfister directed the movie from a screenplay by Jack Paglen.

In theaters April 18, 2014, Depp plays Dr. Will Caster - the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, working to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions.

His highly controversial experiments have made him famous, but they have also made him the prime target of anti-technology extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him.

However, in their attempt to destroy Will, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed—to be a participant in his own transcendence. For his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany), both fellow researchers,...

Johnny Depp stars as Will Caster in two new photos from Alcon Entertainment’s sci-fi thriller Transcendence.

In theaters April 18, 2014, Depp plays Dr. Will Caster - the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, working to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions.

His highly controversial experiments have made him famous, but they have also made him the prime target of anti-technology extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him.

However, in their attempt to destroy Will, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed—to be a participant in his own transcendence. For his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany), both fellow researchers, the question is not if they can…but if they should.

Their worst fears are realized as Will’s thirst for knowledge evolves into...

Principal photography began today on the Relativity Media feature film ‘Out of the Furnace,” starring Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard, Woody Harrelson and Forest Whitaker and directed by Scott Cooper. Cooper will be collaborating with director of photography Masanobu Takayanagi, production designer Thérèse DePrez, art director Gary Kosko, costume designer Kurt & Bart, editor David Rosenbloom and stunt coordinator Ben Bray. Most of the filming will take place in the “mill towns” of Braddock, North Braddock and Rankin, Pennsylvania and other filming will take place in the greater Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. The official synopsis of the film is below: The currently-titled ‘Out of the Furnace’ tells the [ Read More ]...

Principal photography has begun today on the gripping and gritty dramatic thriller currently titled Out of the Furnace starring Oscar®-winner Christian Bale (The Fighter), Oscar®-nominated Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), Zoe Saldana (Avatar) and Oscar®-nominated Sam Shepard (The Right Stuff). Oscar®-nominated Woody Harrelson (The Messenger) and Oscar®-winner Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) have also joined the award-winning cast. Additional casting to be announced. The film is written and directed by critically-acclaimed Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart).

Collaborating with Cooper behind the scenes is a creative below-the-line team  including:  director of photography Masanobu Takayanagi (The Grey), production designer Thérèse DePrez (Black Swan), Emmy Award®-winning art director Gary Kosko (Star Trek), costume designer Kurt & Bart (Stoker), Oscar®-nominated editor David Rosenbloom (The Insider) and stunt coordinator Ben Bray (The Fighter).

Most of the filming will take place in the .mill towns. of Braddock,...

Principal photography has begun today on the gripping and gritty dramatic thriller currently titled Out of the Furnace starring Oscar-winner Christian Bale (The Fighter), Oscar-nominated Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), Zoe Saldana (Avatar) and Oscar-nominated Sam Shepard (The Right Stuff). Oscar-nominated Woody Harrelson (The Messenger) and Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) have also joined the award-winning cast. Additional casting to be announced. The film is written and directed by critically-acclaimed Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart).

Collaborating with Cooper behind the scenes is a creative below-the-line team including: director of photography Masanobu Takayanagi (The Grey), production designer Th&#233r&#232se DePrez (Black Swan), Emmy Award-winning art director Gary Kosko (Star Trek), costume designer Kurt & Bart (Stoker), Oscar-nominated editor David Rosenbloom (The Insider) and stunt coordinator Ben Bray (The Fighter).

Most of the filming will take place in the "mill towns" of Braddock,...

HollywoodNews.com:Principal photography has begun today on the gripping and gritty dramatic thriller currently titled Out of the Furnace starring Oscar®-winner Christian Bale (The Fighter), Oscar®-nominated Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), Zoe Saldana (Avatar) and Oscar®-nominated Sam Shepard (The Right Stuff). Oscar®-nominated Woody Harrelson (The Messenger) and Oscar®-winner Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) have also joined the award-winning cast. Additional casting to be announced. The film is written and directed by critically-acclaimed Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart).

Collaborating with Cooper behind the scenes is a creative below-the-line team including: director of photography Masanobu Takayanagi (The Grey), production designer Thérèse DePrez (Black Swan), Emmy Award®-winning art director Gary Kosko (Star Trek), costume designer Kurt & Bart (Stoker), Oscar®-nominated editor David Rosenbloom (The Insider) and stunt coordinator Ben Bray (The Fighter) .

Most of the filming will take place...

In Untraceable, the ever-capable Diane Lane plays an intrepid agent in the FBI's cyber-crime unit who is on the virtual trail of a psychopath who broadcasts his grisly torture killings on the Web.

Although the plot might feel as if it's made up of borrowed bits and bytes, thanks to Lane's typically committed performance and Gregory Hoblit's usual intelligent, brisk direction (Fracture, Primal Fear), the picture remains sufficiently compelling.

Toss in a killer who is sick and twisted enough to satisfy the "Saw" set, and you've got yourself a marketable Screen Gems release that should download solid midrange numbers.

Lane's Special Agent Jennifer Marsh is a single mother by day who works nights in the FBI's Portland, Ore., bureau trolling the Internet for fast-moving sexual predators and identity thieves.

It's a particularly intense game of cat and mouse that requires lightning-quick decisions and even quicker fingers on the keyboard, but Marsh and her partner, Griffin Dowd (Colin Hanks), usually nail the perps.

Trickier is finding a way to extricate herself from her high-tech, wired existence.

Driving home from work, she presses the OnStar button in her car to find out just how bad the traffic tie-up is in front of her, but she'll soon discover the annoying rubber-neckers checking out an accident is nothing compared to the growing millions logging onto a disturbing Web site offering real-time killings.

The first victim is a kitten, but the ante is upped considerably on killwithme.com, showing the systematic torture of kidnapped human prey whose ultimate time of death is hastened by the numbers of visitors to the site.

Initially the victims appear to be randomly snatched, but it soon becomes apparent that the killer is actually closing in on Marsh and her loved ones.

Hoblit, whose father was an FBI agent, maintains an effectively tense pace while making unpleasant observations about society's voyeuristic impulses, but it still can't cover one glaring character implausibility in the script -- credited to Robert Fyvolent and Mark R. Brinker along with Allison Burnett -- that lands Marsh in major hot water.

That misstep aside, Untraceable is highly watchable, anchored sturdily by Lane's convincing performance.

In addition to displaying an impressive dexterity with all that technical jargon, she really gets under her character's skin, struggling to establish some kind of division between work and home.

She gets solid support from Hanks, who shares his dad's easy affability and vocal quality, along with Billy Burke as a Portland police detective who joins forces with her, and reliable Mary Beth Hurt as her supportive mother.

Tech specs are all high res, with cinematographer Anastas Michos giving those unpleasant visuals a fittingly chilly, clinical appearance; while editor David Rosenbloom, a frequent Hoblit collaborator, cuts effectively to the bone.

UNTRACEABLE

Screen Gems

A Lakeshore Entertainment production in association with Cohen/Pearl Prods.

Credits:

Director: Gregory Hoblit

Screenwriters: Robert Fyvolent & Mark R. Brinker and Allison Burnett

Story: Robert Fyvolent & Mark R. Brinker

Producers: Steven Pearl, Andy Cohen, Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Hawk Koch

Executive producers: Richard Wright, Eric Reid, James McQuaide, Harley Tannebaum

Director of photography: Anastas Michos

Production designer: Paul Eads

Music: Christopher Young

Costume designer: Elisabetta Beraldo

Editor: David Rosenbloom

Cast:

Jennifer Marsh: Diane Lane

Detective Eric Box: Billy Burke

Griffin Dowd: Colin Hanks

Owen: Joseph Cross

Stella: Mary Beth Hurt

Running time -- 100 minutes

MPAA rating: R...

Given Vince Vaughn's recent success with landing punch lines, there was considerable hope that if anybody could inject a little zip into the stagnating romcom, he'd be the guy to pull it off.

And he still might -- one of these days.

In the meantime, there's "The Break-Up", a major disappointment of an anti-romantic comedy for which Vaughn shares producer and story credits in addition to sharing the screen with real-life squeeze Jennifer Aniston.

After a promisingly quirky start, "Break-Up" suffers a major breakdown from which it never recovers.

Audiences expecting a good time will instead be rewarded with wildly unsympathetic lead characters and uncomfortably long stretches without a laugh in sight. While they might initially be drawn in by the marketing department's promise of something a lot more entertaining, the end boxoffice result will likely be less than amicable.

Initially meeting at a baseball game, Chicago tour guide Gary Grobowski (Vaughn) manages to persuade art gallery employee Brooke Meyers (Aniston) to dump her male friend and go out with him basically by buying her a Hot Dog.

Flash forward to the couple living in what isn't exactly domestic bliss, with Brooke running around getting ready to host a dinner party for their families while Gary contentedly parks himself in front of the television.

With the cracks in their relationship finally reaching the breaking point, Brooke finally calls Gary for the jerk he is, but in her little schemes to make him realize the errors of his ways, Brooke only ends up matching him in the bad behavior department.

But what could have at best played out like a wilted "War of the Roses" ends up looking a lot more like Rob Reiner's misbegotten "The Story of Us".

It would have helped if director Peyton Reed ("Bring It On", "Down With Love") had been as concerned with giving his audience characters worth investing in as he was with all those stylish visual compositions, but the script, by first-time feature writers Jeremy Garelick and Jay Lavender, constantly leaves its actors in the lurch.

While Vaughn and Aniston do some solid emoting, the comedic element, such as it is, never feels organic to the rest of the film. Hints of what might have been can be found in colorful supporting turns from Vaughn's old "Swingers" pal Jon Favreau as his bartender buddy Johnny O; Judy Davis as Aniston's hysterically harsh gallery boss, Marilyn Dean; and especially Christopher Guest regular John Michael Higgins as Aniston's brother, Richard, who is obsessed with singing in his all-male a cappella group, the Tone Rangers.

But by the time the tacked-on ending to end all tacked-on endings arrives -- in which Vaughn's considerable, continuity-throwing weight loss is dealt with by Aniston noting, "You've lost weight" -- "The Break-Up" and its audience have long ago parted ways.

THE BREAK-UP

Universal

Universal Pictures presents a Wild West Picture Show production

Credits:

Director: Peyton Reed

Screenwriters: Jeremy Garelick, Jay Lavender

Story by: Vince Vaughn, Jeremy Garelick, Jay Lavender

Producers: Vince Vaughn, Scott Stuber

Executive producers: Peter Billingsley, Stuart Besser

Director of photography: Eric Edwards

Production designer: Andrew Laws

Editors: David Rosenbloom, Dan Lebental

Costume designer: Carol Oditz

Music: Jon Brion

Cast:

Gary Grobowski: Vince Vaughn

Brooke Meyers: Jennifer Aniston

Maddie: Joey Lauren Adams

Wendy Meyers: Ann-Margret

Riggleman: Jason Bateman

Marilyn Dean: Judy Davis

Dennis Grobowski: Vincent D'Onofrio

Johnny O: Jon Favreau

Lupus Grobowski: Cole Hauser

Richard Meyers: John Michael Higgins

Christopher: Justin Long

MPAA rating PG-13

Running time -- 105 minutes...

Reflecting our nation's current ambivalence about the CIA -- which is neither as hostile as it was during and after the Vietnam War nor as gung-ho as it was in the early days of the Cold War -- "The Recruit" follows the lead of 2001's "Spy Game". The filmmakers strive for an old-fashioned spy thriller while acknowledging the immorality and cold-bloodedness demanded by the clandestine organization. The top-billed Al Pacino and Colin Farrell bring plenty of emotional oomph to their shallow and routine characters, but audiences may find these spy games somewhat disappointing.

The film's major twist is telegraphed early and often, so it hits with the impact of a soft pillow. The film's strength lies in director Roger Donaldson's depiction of the recruitment and training of potential CIA agents. This does generate dramatic heat, while an edgy romance between Farrell and fellow trainee Bridget Moynahan produces its own kind of sparks. All of which may add up to a modest boxoffice success.

Pacino's veteran agent Walter Burke has two maxims: "Trust no one" and "Nothing is what it seems". This goes double, of course, for audiences watching movie thrillers. However, the decision by writers Roger Towne, Kurt Wimmer and Mitch Glazer to allow Walter to repeat these phrases constantly, while feeding the overall atmosphere of paranoia, does undermine many of the film's double reverses.

Farrell's James Clayton, a computer whiz with an appealing rebellious streak, gets recruited by Walter, who shepherds him through training at a CIA boot camp called "the Farm." Walter lures James to the Company with the tantalizing prospect that his father, killed mysteriously in a plane crash in South America a decade earlier, was himself a "spook." This also fulfills the tried-but-true gambit of the veteran officer serving as a father figure to the green rookie.

All recruits eye one another nervously. James and fellow recruit Layla (Moynahan) quickly develop a hot-and-cold sexual attraction made all the more difficult by their re-education as liars and sneaks. Meanwhile, Zack (Gabriel Macht) arouses James' suspicions, possibly because he's too all-American blond. Their training sessions represent the film's strongest moments as everyone works to master the lethal arts. It's Harry Potter's wizards school for antisocial grown-ups.

Once the film abandons the Farm to move all the characters back to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., the film veers into a much more conventional mode. Plus, we're already prepped not to trust or believe anyone's mission -- not James', not Layla's and not, for that matter, Walter's.

Pacino has gotten to the point in his career that he can get away with a one-note performance such as this because he plays that one note so beautifully. It's terrific fun to watch him tear into his outsized character with such relish. Farrell has to work awfully hard to hold his own in scenes with Pacino. Not without his own charisma, however, Farrell does manage. Moynahan, meanwhile brings cool intelligence and heated eroticism to Layla, letting us read her enigmatic behavior more than one way.

Donaldson is slowly working his way through the federal government in search of thrillers. Having done solid and gripping films about the White House ("Thirteen Days") and the Pentagon ("No Way Out"), he certainly finds a new way to deal with the old war horse that is the CIA. (He may have his work cut out for him when he hits the Department of Agriculture, though.) But the script betrays him in the second half with sheer silliness. Spies talk to one another over the open lines of a cell phone, and an agent sneaks into another agent's office while she is at lunch. The third act of betrayal and double betrayal is such a foregone conclusion that even James and Layla getting back together after their romance down on the Farm adds little spark.

The film does benefit from Stuart Dryburgh's crisp lensing and Andrew McAlpine's meticulous renditions of such inner sanctums as CIA headquarters and the creepy realm of the Farm.

THE RECRUIT

Buena Vista Pictures

Touchstone Pictures/Spyglass Entertainment

Credits: Director: Roger Donaldson; Screenwriters: Roger Towne, Kurt Wimmer, Mitch Glazer; Producers: Roger Birnbaum, Jeff Apple, Gary Barber; Executive producers: Jonathan Glickman, Ric Kidney; Director of photography: Stuart Dryburgh; Production designer: Andrew McAlpine; Music: KIaus Badelt; Costume designer: Beatrix Aruna Pasztor; Editor: David Rosenbloom. Cast: Walter Burke: Al Pacino; James Clayton: Colin Farrell; Layla: Bridget Moynahan; Zack: Gabriel Macht; Ronnie: Mike Realba.

MPAA rating PG-13, running time 115 minutes.

Too much of a Baby Boomer sci-fi fantasy of the Rod Serling variety to lure post-"Matrix" younger audiences in astronomical numbers, New Line Cinema's strong April 28 wide release "Frequency" is nonetheless a crowd-pleaser with a fairly fresh premise--what if a Mets-loving father and his son thirty years in the future could communicate, save each other from harm and change history?

Director Greogory Hoblit ("Primal Fear", "Fallen") is partly if not mostly successful with this deadly serious cinematic channeling of a wildly improbable scenario, written by newcomer Toby Emmerich, who has been president of New Line's music division for five years. The excellent production values and tuned in cast are key elements in exploiting the inventive payoffs. One goosebump-raising example is an ecstatic cop played by Andre Braugher (NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Streets"), silently becoming a believer as he watches with fore-knowledge a key moment in an historic baseball game.

Leads Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel ("The Thin Red Line") ham it up, but in a good way, as fireman father Frank and cop son John Sullivan, who through time-jumbling magnetic storms caused by the sun reach out to each other across the decades via the same ham radio. The film's biggest obstacle for some viewers is ostensibly its biggest selling point to genre fans, a convoluted plot that several times resorts to spacy montages as a way to help the fantastical premise move along.

Otherwise, there's no real romance, a bit of baseball and, yep, a serial killer. The front-end story of Frank takes place in October 1969, with the aurora borealis lighting up East Coast skies at night in beautiful, slowly shifting curtains of light and the Amazing Mets headed into the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles. The Mets still win in five games, but a lot of other headlines are messed around with in one of those puzzling science fiction conundrums that has the past and future co-existing on different planes and in weird ways medling together.

The movie seesaws between the two worlds after we're introduced to both, starting with upright, honest, solid-as-a-rock Frank (Quaid) in '69, who is loved dearly by his wife Julia Elizabeth Mitchell) and worship by young son Johnny (Daniel Henson). Best friends include Frank's fellow public servant Satch (Braugher), a police detective, and Johnny's neighbor Gordo (Stephen Joffe). All appears hunky-dory as the northern lights mystify and Frank's heroic tendencies seem to go along with a charmed life.

Drifiting off into cosmological areas best dealt with tangentially, we suddenly find ourselves with grown-up Johnny, now just John (Caviezel), still living in the family house thrity years later. He's also still friends with Gordo (Noah Emmerich), who remembers John's dad and his love of ham radios. You see, Frank died in a fire before the end of the Series, and John's life has not turned out too hot. Indeed, we're introduced to the near rock-bottom John when his mate (Melissa Errico) is leaving him.

Once contact has been made and both Sullivans believe they are communicating across time, John tells Frank about his impending death and history is changed. But in a nifty device whereby family photos and scrapbooks in the John's time keep changing, every action has a consequence. Frank still dies before his time from lung cancer, so John gets him to quit smoking. But when John starts fearing for his mother--after a random visit by Frank to the hospital where Julia works results in a killer (Shawn Doyle) surving poor doctoring--the movie morphs into a thriller/detective story.

As such, it can get mighty entertaining but eventually hinges on a violent resolution that lacks the desired punch. But the long running time is put mostly to good use. Many unanswered questions remain, but there's no mystery to the timeless contributions of cinematographer Alar Kivilo, production designer Paul Eads, editor David Rosenbloom and costume designer Elisabetta Beraldo in making the widescreen production a visual home run.

FREQUENCY

New Line Cinema

Director--Gregory Hoblit

Screenwriter--Toby Emmerich

Producers--Hawk Koch, Gregory Hoblit, Bill Carraro, Toby Emmerich

Executive producers--Robert Shaye, Richard Saperstein

Director of photography--Alar Kivilo

Production designer--Paul Eads

Editor--David Rosenbloom

Costume designer--Elisabetta Beraldo

Music--Michael Kamen

Casting--Amanda Mackey Johnson, Cathy Sandrich

Color/stereo

Cast:

Frank--Dennis Quaid

John Sullivan--Jim Caviezel

Jack Shepard--Shawn Doyle

Julia Sullivan--Elizabeth Mitchell

Satch DeLeon--Andre Braugher

Gordo Hersch--Noah Emmerich

Samantha Thomas--Melissa Errico

Running time -- 115 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG-13...

The wait has been worth it. DreamWorks Pictures has finally launched its first movie, and it's a smartly calibrated, mainstream entertainment.

Starring George Clooney and Nicole Kidman as a perfectly mismatched duo fighting world terrorism, "The Peacemaker" will certainly be a big moneymaker this fall on the domestic front, and down the line it should score winning international numbers and counter this country's sorry trade deficits.

Wired around the current, post-Cold War hot plot -- renegade terrorists hijack nuclear missiles within a dysfunctional Russia -- "The Peacemaker" is the cineplex equivalent of the airport paperback novel, Robert Ludlum's side of the rack. It's a crafty pasting of front-page reality, including the horrors in Bosnia, on top of well-proven story formulas. And it's torqued by the battling banter between Clooney and Kidman.

In screenwriter Michael Schiffer's complex but tightly compacted scenario, Clooney and Kidman step out in a variation of the battling-buddy movie. Except for the fact that they aren't exactly buddies: she's Dr. Julia Kelly, a straight-laced nuclear scientist and acting head of the White House Nuclear Smuggling Group, and he's Lt. Col. Thomas Devoe, an Army Special Intelligence officer. When a trainload of nuclear warheads is hijacked by terrorists in the Russian boonies, they're paired up to track down the terrorists before they can, say, deliver the nukes to Iran or, for instance, blow up the U.N. building. And, the clock is not just ticking, it's going fast-forward.

Although it may not beat out "L.A. Confidential" for the most subplots in a movie award, "The Peacemaker" is crammed with a heavy story-load, from geopolitics to the psychology of blue-collar women who have risen to the top of a male-dominated profession. Fortunately, Schiffer and director Mimi Leder don't allow the story to jam up, or for that matter, even slow down. Unfortunately, this full-throttle surge is somewhat akin to the traveler who doesn't stop to smell the roses along the way.

The best stuff is off the beaten plot: It's the human stuff, not the braininess of the narrative or the gadgetry of the effects, that's the highlight. In short, the movie's most refreshing and memorable moments involve the interplay between the loosey-goosey intelligence officer and the by-the-book nuclear scientist.

To be sure, even a movie as professionally scoped and intricately blueprinted as this one would fall flat if the chemistry between the leads wasn't there. And, Clooney, with his salt-and-pepper flair and seat-of-his-pants daring, is a believable and wonderfully appealing action hero.

Studio executives who are familiar with films before 1985 might recall a chap named Cary Grant who outwitted and outscrambled the bad guys in such winners as "North by Northwest" and didn't need a membership at Gold's Gym to do it.

Although his constant head tilting has become somewhat of a distraction, Clooney's suave edginess brings a welcome verve to a genre in need of tone rather than bulk. Similarly, Kidman's intelligent and appealing performance as, essentially, Clooney's brainy straightwoman, is refreshingly strong-spirited. She has the presence and confidence that makes one recall the best of strong-woman performers -- Rosalind Russell types who could dish it out and take it, no punches pulled.

Overall, Clooney and Kidman make an excellent pairing and could generate a franchise for DreamWorks, particularly if their battling banter is not shackled by overly busy plotting. Think William Powell and Myrna Loy.

Supporting players are well-selected and generally personalize some standard-issue roles. Armin Mueller-Stahl is particularly outstanding as an old-school Cold Warrior, and Marcel Iures remarkably manages to convey his terrorist character's psychology not in simplistic black-and-white tones but rather in the cracks of credible human frailties.

Technically, the film's Byzantine plotting is complemented by an appropriately murky look; credit cinematographer Dietrich Lohmann for the threatening tones. Editor David Rosenbloom's kinetic cuts bring thrust to the loaded story, while Hans Zimmer's stentorian music is a terrific blast in the great full-horned tradition of "The Guns of Navarone".

THE PEACEMAKER

DreamWorks Pictures

A Mimi Leder film

Producers:Walter Parkes, Branko Lustig

Director:Mimi Leder

Screenwriter:Michael Schiffer

Executive producers:Michael Grillo, Laurie MacDonald

Director of photography:Dietrich Lohmann

Production designer:Leslie Dilley

Editor:David Rosenbloom

Co-executive producer:John Wells

Costume designer:Shelley Komarov

Music:Hans Zimmer

Co-producers :Pat Kehoe, Leslie Cockburn, Andrew Cockburn

Casting:Risa Bramon Garcia, Randi Hiller

Visual effects supervisor:Michael Backes

Second unit director:Conrad E. Palmisano

Color/stereo

Cast:

Thomas Devoe:George Clooney

Julia Kelly:Nicole Kidman

Dusan Gavrich:Marcel Iures

Alexander Kodoroff:Alexander Baluev

Vlado Mirich:Rene Medvesek

Hamilton:Gary Werntz

Ken:Randall Batinkoff

General Garnett:Jim Haynie

Shummaker:Alexander Strobele

Appleton:Holt McCallany

CPN Beach:Michael Boatman

Senator Bevens:Joan Copeland

Santiago:Carlos Gomez

Dimitri Vertikoff:Armin Mueller-Stahl

Running time -- 122 minutes

MPAA rating: R...