New York critics honor 'Zero,' 'Lincoln'
NEW YORK, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The New York Film Critics Circle has voted "Zero Dark Thirty" Best Picture and Kathryn Bigelow, the filmmaker who helmed it, Best Director.
The movie also scored the award for Best Cinematography.
Daniel Day-Lewis was selected Best Actor for "Lincoln," which also earned the prizes for Best Screenplay for writer Tony Kushner and Best Supporting Actress for Sally Field.
Rachel Weisz was declared Best Actress for "The Deep Blue Sea" and Matthew McConaughey Best Supporting Actor for "Bernie" and "Magic Mike"
The awards will be handed out during the group's annual ceremony Jan. 7.
"We're proud to offer up an especially distinctive slate of choices this year, reflective of the singular tastes of our membership. There were definitely some squeaker votes. I'm very happy with our results," 2012 NYFCC Chairman Joshua Rothkopf said in a statement Monday.
Rick McCallum leaving Lucasfilm
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Hollywood producer Rick McCallum says he is returning to his independent film-making roots after two decades of making blockbusters at Lucasfilm.
George Lucas announced earlier this year he had sold his company, which made the classic "Indiana Jones" and "Star Wars" pictures, to Disney for more than $4 billion.
Disney swiftly announced more "Star Wars" movies are on the way without Lucas at the helm, but now McCallum said he won't be helping out with them either.
"It's a producer's job to make possible a director's vision, whatever that may be," McCallum said in a statement on starwars.com.
"George never let the limits of reality constrain his vision, so the challenge to production was always to find ways to make anything possible, while being respectful to the fact that he was financing his own movies. To do that, we needed to keep that independent film-making mentality that requires you to innovate and improvise, while making movies of enormous scale."
"Rick is a close friend as well as an extremely talented producer. No matter how impossible I made the task, Rick was able to overcome the challenges," Lucas said. "In addition to putting together great crews and working miracles with the budget, he was instrumental in helping push film-making into the 21st century. He has a larger-than-life personality and made this amazing 20-year journey with him a fun one."
10.5M watched 'Walking Dead' semi-finale
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- About 10.5 million viewers tuned in to the mid-season finale of the Georgia-set zombie drama "The Walking Dead," AMC announced.
The last fresh episode until February aired Sunday night at 9 p.m. EST. The series, which is now in its third season, stars Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln as the leaders of a group of survivors on the run from blood-thirsty legions of the undead.
Encore broadcasts of the mid-season finale at 10 p.m. and midnight delivered an additional 3.6 million and 1.1 million viewers, respectively, the cable network said.
"The Walking Dead" is the first cable series in television history to reign as the biggest show of the fall season among Adult 18-49 rating, beating all broadcast and cable entertainment series, including "The Voice," "Modern Family," "X Factor," "Two and a Half Men," "The Big Bang Theory" and "Grey's Anatomy," AMC said.
"Representing both the studio and the network as AMC does on this project, I speak for so many when I say 'thank you' and congratulations to everyone involved," Charlie Collier, AMC's president, said in a statement Monday. "The records that 'The Walking Dead' shattered today represent an enormous achievement of which we are so proud."
Report: Byrne and Cannavale dating
NEW YORK, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Australian actress Rose Byrne and U.S. actor Bobby Cannavale are a new couple, sources told UsMagazine.com.
Byrne, 33, is best known for her work on the TV legal drama "Damages" and in the big-screen comedy "Bridesmaids."
Cannavale, 42, is a cast member of HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and can now be seen in the Broadway revival of "Glengarry Glen Ross."
"They've been dating for a few months," an insider told UsMagazine.com. "I think Rose is a good match for him."
