The first teaser trailer for the upcoming Rise of the Planet of the Apes has arrived. Acting as a prequel to Planet of the Apes the story takes place in present day and centers on the genetic engineering that led to the ultra-intelligent apes and subsequent war for supremacy. The film stars James Franco and Freida Pinto and is directed by Rupert Wyatt. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is slated to release on August 5th.

After watching the Oscars last night – I came away thinking it was quite possibly the most boring Oscars of all time. It’s pretty sad when the best speech of the night comes from Best Song winner Randy Newman (he was hilarious!).

As for Anne Hathaway and James Franco – I thought they were DREADFUL. James Franco looked miserable the whole time, and his jokes fell flat. Anne Hathaway just laughed, smiled and giggled her way through the whole night, and to be honest, she really just drove me nuts. The number where she sang – was embarrassing to watch.

I read an article this morning that said she was too energetic, and I think that sums it up perfectly. It was just annoying.

The Anne Hathaway Oscars reviews were mixed, just like the show. Yet the Anne Hathaway Oscars routine was judged by a different standard than that of James Franco. The majority of critics noted that the two couldn’t have been more different in their approaches. While Franco was laid back to the point of appearing stoned to bloggers, his co star was exuberant at nearly every opportunity. As such, while critics wonder if Franco was way too relaxed, the Anne Hathaway Oscars reactions center on whether she was too energetic.

Although the two performed as a duo in the pre-taped opening sketch, they didn’t have much to do together after that. For most of the night, Franco appeared invisible, leaving a lot of the work for his co-host.

Yet for all of the James Franco and Anne Hathaway Oscars complaints, they are still young and popular enough to brush it aside. But if the Academy casts another duo in the future, they will likely try to have a less mismatched one.

When Kirk Douglas took the stage it was really just uncomfortable to watch. While he’s absolutely a Hollywood legend, I just found the whole thing incredibly sad.

What was your opinion of the night?

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The stars were out in full force last night for the 83rd Annual Oscar Awards in Hollywood, CA! There were some amazing dresses on the red carpet, and I’ll break them down a bit so you don’t have to sift through one giant post!

These stars wore Gucci to the event: Hilary Swank, James Franco, Javier Bardem, Christian Bale, Josh Brolin, Zachary Levi!

These stars wore Calvin Klein: Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes.

PS: Gwyneth Paltrow had one of my favorite dresses of the night! And Jennifer Lawrence looks stunning in red!

Photos: Fame

Our favorite talent win at the 2011 Independent Spirit Awards. Among award recipients are James Franco and Natalie Portman.

Because we like to recognize all of the talent behind film (not just the actors and actresses), here is a complete list of winners of the Independent Spirit Awards:

Best Feature: Black Swan

Best Director: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

Best Screenplay: Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right

Best Male Lead: James Franco, 127 Hours

Best Supporting Male: John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone

Best Female Lead: Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Best Supporting Female: Dale Dickey, Winter’s Bone

Best Cinematography: Matthew Libatique, Black Swan

Robert Altman Award: Please Give

Best First Screenplay: Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture

Best First Feature: Get Low

Best Documentary: Exit Through The Gift Shop

Best Foreign Film: The King’s Speech

John Cassavetes Award (best feature made for under $500,000): Daddy Longlegs

Piaget Producers Award: Anish Savjani, Meek’s Cutoff

Someone To Watch Award: Mike Ott, Littlerock

Truer Than Fiction Award: Jeff Maimberg, Marwencol

Source Images via Fame

Jake Gyllenhaal got a chance to roast ex-girlfriend Natalie Portman at last night’s Palm Springs International Film Awards. The two dated back in 2002, and were rumored to have re-kindled their romance in 2006.

Before awarding Portman, 29, the Desert Palm Achievement Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Jake Gyllenhaal was unabashed in his praise for his one-time girlfriend, whom he dated briefly in 2006.

“Natalie is the Audrey Hepburn of our generation,” the actor says, “She is elegant, graceful, has amazing eyebrows … is talented, really short, funny, smart, dedicated, incredibly kind.”

But despite her attempts to prove otherwise, no one is perfect, and with Portman’s fiancé, Benjamin Millepied looking, – and laughing – along, Gyllenhaal eventually got around to the “flaws” of the this award season’s it girl.

“She’s a vegan, which makes it really frustrating when you’re picking a place to eat,” Gyllenhaal said with a laugh, before adding, “She’s also recently announced that she’s going to be a mom, and her child will probably need therapy after seeing Black Swan.”

Source, Bauer Griffin

Pictured: Jake Gyllenhaal, Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Aaron Eckhart, James Franco, Andrew Garfield, Rashida Jones and Carey Mulligan.

Natalie Portman took her fans by surprise this week with a big announcement: She’s pregnant and engaged to marry her Black Swan choreographer, Benjamin Millepied. But that’s hardly the only excitement she’s got coming in the new year. The 29-year-old actress — who graces the cover of this week’s Oscar Race issue — is poised to score a Best Actress nomination for her career-high turn as a tormented ballerina in Black Swan, a role she says nearly destroyed her. “There were some nights that I thought I literally was going to die,” she says. “It was the first time I understood how you could get so wrapped up in a role that it could sort of take you down.” Instead, the performance has lifted Portman into the ranks of Oscar shoe-ins this year (alongside 127 Hours star and Oscar co-host James Franco, who also gets his own EW cover this week) and turned Black Swan into an unlikely box office star — with a little help from a steamy love scene between Portman and co-star Mila Kunis. “Everyone was so worried about who was going to want to see this movie,” Portman says. “I remember them being like, ‘How do you get guys to a ballet movie? How do you get girls to a thriller?’ And the answer is a lesbian scene. Everyone wants to see that.”

I’ve seen both Black Swan and 127 Hours, and I loved them both!! Black Swan was creepy, and pretty amazing. Natalie Portman (and Mila Kunis, in my opinion, both deserve Oscar nominations. Natalie was brilliant!) 127 Hours is probably one of my favorite films of the year. The 4 minute scene in which James Franco cuts his arm off is extremely brutal – but if you close your eyes (like I did) you will be happy you saw the movie. James Franco not only deserves the Oscar – but SHOULD win!

His only competition would be Jeff Bridges in True Grit, but I haven’t seen that yet. So until then – James gets my vote!

More at EW.com!

In 2010, James Franco has been the gift that keeps on giving, and this time it comes in form of male prostitution. In a televised interview with James Lipton for ‘Inside the Actors Studio,’ Franco reflects on the time when, researching a role, he ended up watching a gigolo have sex with a man.

“I found this guy that was kind of a perfect model,” Franco said. “He claimed to service both males and females. He took me on one of his jobs.”

At the time, Franco was studying for his role in ‘Sonny,’ where he played a male prostitute. To get a grasp for the part, Franco shadowed a gigolo in the back of a strip club, but things went a little further than he anticipated.

“The guy said, ‘Oh, you wanna play a prostitute? You want some real research? Then come with us,’” Franco recalls. “It went down. Everything went down, as you see in the movies and hear about. The eerie thing is, it was like a movie, but it wasn’t a movie — it was the real thing, happening in front of me.”

See the video at the source!