So Simon Delaney is well used to mixing in celeb circles. This experience should stand him in good stead as he has just been announced as the host for this year's IFTA awards, which will take place on February 11.

This is Delaney's second year to host the awards but he's playing his cards close to his chest when asked what he has in store for the night.

"People are already asking me 'what have you got up your sleeve for this year?'," he admits.

"We raised the bar last year with such a different show so expectations are now even higher for the IFTAs in February, so, no pressure.

"All I can tell you is that IFTA 2012 will be something very special!"

SIMON SAYS: IFTAs TO ROCK Celebrity gossip, news and photos: Very Hush Hush, Eugene Masterson

So I feel, Jan Fonda is mostly remembered for her activist movements during the '60s on Vietnam, and her love for the Vietcong, vs. the indifference to the dying American soldiers during the Vietnam War. She, Jane Fonda, like Jean Penn, found it [after soul-searching] productive to go and sympathize with the enemy, and run back home to their safe America and make their millions, she should had stayed over there, like Penn, the two cowards.

Again I must say, Jane was the spot light a year ago or so, with her movie Monster-in-Law, (and her recently published book), I wouldn't see one of her movies, should they give me free theater tickets, or Sean Penn's for that matter. Zebra strips can't be wipe off so easily. Anyhow, Jane was known to us soldiers back then, in Vietnam as Hanoi Jane and I know she apologized to the Vietnam Veterans prior to writing her book for it is in the book; Hollywood style, you know, with the showmanship and all, smirk and all, and all that crap.

She now proclaims to be a Feminist Christian, not sure what that exactly is (never heard of one), a new creature of some kind I would guess; something perhaps her and Shirley MacLean, devised. I mean, there is no such creature as a Feminist Christian, in the Christian faith, she would have to have started that up as a movement. Never has been. What that really means is she's a humanist and not a follower of Jesus Christ per se. Hence, she is part of the circle that believes she can buy her way into heaven under her own terms. I do not think the gates of heaven will bow to her new religion, it is a little stricter than that, nor is this Hollywood. I think she's better off with her Hollywood party lifestyle than trying to fool the masses: she's like a snake that sheds their sick: Hanoi Jane You can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all, all of the time.

Jane, Shirley, Sean Penn, Susan and Robinson, all silly little bears from Hollywood. Humanism is that last box of the end time doctrine and feminism is the last block to be placed in the box. So the only thing Hanoi Jane tells me is that we may be pretty close to end time events. Please don't insult Christendom with your new form of Christology.

I wonder if, in a year more crowded with quality films, Malick's big bang doodle would have come under greater scrutiny. It feels like this year we were faced with such an extreme drought that people were looking for something (anything) to latch onto – a boundary-pushing epic, by a troubled director, and a production that lasted, off and on, for four decades, is the kind of thing that really gets a film person's heart rate going. But not mine.

Instead, the movies that spoke to me were ones about heartache and loss, about love and violence (and how those two intermingle), about the ties and technology that bind us. Oh and spies. Yes, my list is chock full of spies – wicked witch spies and stiff-upper-lip spies and spies that dangle from the outside of the world's tallest building like it's nothing at all (because, to a spy, it really is nothing at all). Maybe it's just time to spy my list? I think so.

01. "Beginners" Going into "Beginners," I had no clue what I was in for. Or what it even was, really. I had never seen the trailer or the terrible poster (that somehow became the terrible Blu-ray art) and all I knew was that it was about Ewan McGregor and his father, played by Christopher Plummer. Based on that one sentence, I thought I was in for a snooze and prepared appropriately by ordering a bathtub-sized Coke. But from the opening frames, I was mesmerized, transfixed; for the rest of the running time I was alternately choked up, laughing out loud, or finding my heart very much in my throat, caught in swirling romantic swoon gusts. "Beginners" broke my heart in the ways I was hoping "Tree of Life" would, without having to resort to cosmic hoo-ha or dinosaurs. And yes, while there are a couple of twee touches that we could have skipped (has anyone ever in the history of human existence ever roller-skated around an empty hotel?), the movie is amazing in its emotional acuteness, depiction of loss and mourning and newfound, all-consuming love are beautiful and totally spot-on. And few films capture the sensation of memory as well as writer-director Mike Mills does here, the way that the mere act of standing in a particular doorway can send you down a zigzag of heartbreak and longing, unstuck in time and helpless to control it. We haven't even talked about the trio of pitch-perfect performances that anchor the film. Ewan McGregor, as the son who is dealing with the death of his father (Christopher Plummer), who came out as gay after his mother died, is the rare sad sack you root for; while Plummer gives the performance of his career, deeply nuanced and heartfelt. Melanie Laurent, as the French actress McGregor falls for after his dad's death, is radiant to the point of blindness. Movies like this, that don't have any hook to hang your hat on, rarely speak to me the way "Beginners" did. It's a micro-masterpiece.

02 "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" There are those that will complain that this version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is just as cold and wintery as its blustery Swedish locations, but they'd be wrong. Unlike the original Swedish movie, which lacked both style and substance, there's a very big (if very black) heart beating at the center of David Fincher's ashen adaptation. Thematically, it nicely compliments Fincher's earlier "Zodiac" and "The Social Network," both in the nitty-grittiness of real, tactile police work and the ways that technology drives us apart and brings us together. But whereas "Zodiac" was about the elusiveness of truth, a whodunit that never ends, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" doggedly proceeds towards a definite solution. And if Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), the goth-girl warrior and future feminist icon, isn't the manifestation of Mark Zuckerberg's inner autistic rebel, I don't know what is. There's a lot going on in this version, culturally (with talk about the Old Sweden and the New Sweden; there's a reason we have so many lingering shots of that bridge), artistically (has a dungeon showdown been done with so much scary, funny wit?) and meta-textually (Lisbeth munches on Happy Meals as Fincher's way of saying, "I finally did a big Hollywood franchise film, but just try to make action figures out this"). But back to the movie's heart – the film concludes, in a protracted, extra-long third act that includes a sly spy mission worthy of "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol," with two big emotional beats. I don't really feel comfortable talking about either just yet, but that final moment, scored by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' atmospheric drone, absolutely tore my heart out. Lisbeth is skilled at computers and crime, able to link disparate elements into one cohesive whole, but making a connection with another human proves infinitely harder.

03 "Drive" 2011's coolest movie was a tantalizing tale of a nameless stunt driver who drives getaway cars by night, scored by poppy electro jams and a eerie electronic score. Director Nicolas Winding Refn, building on the blood-and-disco aesthetic he's built in movies like "Bronson" and "Valhalla Rising," populated the pulpy atmosphere with colorful characters (Ron Perlman and Albert Brooks' Jewish gangsters, Bryan Cranston's conflicted father-figure) and splashes of Technicolor violence. Ryan Gosling embodied the character brilliantly – dreamy and composed one minute, stomping a guy's head into mashed paste the next. Together, the pair (Refn and Gosling) subverted the superhero genre, commented on the phoniness of Hollywood action movies, and made a compelling, singular piece of work all their own. Chances are, if you love movies, you loved "Drive."

04 "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" For all the confusion and accusations that the movie is remote and damp (not unlike the claims leveled at "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"), I found "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Tomas Alfredson's elegant adaptation of the beloved John le Carre novel, to be one of the most emotionally resonate movies of the year. Yes, it's ostensibly a Cold War thriller about stuffy British spies, led by a bespectacled, brilliant Gary Oldman, trying desperately to uncover a Russian mole operating amongst them. But what the movie is really about is far more dangerous: male insecurity. Why else would Alfredson linger on shots of men simply staring at each other? What's in that gaze? What does it say about the dynamics of male wifriendship, especially when that friendship becomes something more? With a gaggle of the most talented British actors of today and yesterday (everyone from John Hurt and Colin Firth to Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong, and Tom Hardy, in a role originally intended for Michael Fassbender), Alfredson gives you the impression that the spies' domestic life is just as deadly as anything to do with international espionage. Bonus points for the year's best movie-closing montage, set to the funky disco version of "La Mer" by Julio Iglesias. 

05 "The Skin I Live In"

Tonally, "The Skin I Live In" exists in that uncomfortable middle ground between high art and total camp, in which things like sex change operations, rape, and revenge, are tossed around with gleeful abandon like glitter at some underground sex party. This, as you might expect, put off some people. But that doesn't change the fact that "The Skin I Live In," Almodovar's twisted, beautifully told story of a mad scientist (Antonio Banderas) and his quest for revenge (yes, really), isn't totally balls-out (or balls-off) brilliant because, well, it is. Banderas, reuniting with the director for the first time in many, many years, brings a kind of unhinged dementedness to the character that could have easily been one-note and off-putting. But in his capable hands, he becomes a character who, in an odd way, you root for. His emotions are valid even if his actions are not. And Elena Anya, after a string of wonderful supporting performances in movies like "Room in Rome" and "Sex and Lucia," is a worthy successor to Penelope Cruz in the Almodovar canon as the object of Banderas' experimentation/obsession. A truly thrilling thriller, with a bizarre, labyrinthine structure, it might also be Almodovar's most beautiful-looking film, awash in color (including vibrant streaks of bright red blood). In a year when David Cronenberg dropped a humdrum psychoanalytic dud, Almodovar picked up the mantle and made a body horror stunner. 

06 "Contagion"

It's Irwin Allen by way of George Romero in Steven Soderbergh's humanist horror epic, lovingly embracing the traditions and tropes of 1970s disaster movies (particularly those films' reputation for all-star casts, here represented by Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lawrence Fishburne, and Jude Law) and creating a very real and very scary scenario for apocalyptic devastation, in which fear is just as deadly as the film's flu-like virus. "Contagion" is, in an era of increased distrust of the government and its motives, is surprisingly lefty in its politics – the pandemic is swiftly handled by a responsible and organized government. There are still doubts, at the end of the movie, about the potential side effects of the vaccine (expressed via Law's paranoid Australian blogger), but for the most part, it's a great ode to the talented, creative, and highly skilled government workers who are equipped to deal with not only the virus but the crush of disinformation which can spread just as quickly. Soderbergh cuts the movie together beautifully, weaving a dozen stories in almost as many countries, into a cohesive, compelling whole (Clint Martinez's spooky score helps too). "Contagion" also acts as a reminder of how crippling Soderbergh's planned retirement will really be. 

07 "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol"

When I originally submitted my list, I had "Rango" in this spot. I hadn't seen "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol" nor did I think it had any shot of cracking my list, let alone landing so high on it. Well, lists are always changing, and I loved "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol" to an almost unhealthy degree. Brad Bird, the animated master behind "Ratatouille," "The Incredibles," and "The Iron Giant," makes his first foray into the live action genre with this, the fourth entry in an admittedly tired franchise. Just don't tell Bird that. Rarely are giant tentpole movies authorial, but Bird is all over every frame of this thing. It was the best action movie of the year, hands down, and watching it in IMAX was one of the most enjoyable theater experiences we had all year. Each galvanic set piece seemed to top the one that came before it (highlighted by Tom Cruise dangling outside of the world's tallest building like some sort of skyscraper tree frog), with Bird building sequences like Robert Zemeckis in his heyday. He understands that it's not just about the objective, it's about the obstacle. And Bird put emphasis where it needed to be – in the characterization of the team, in the crisp editing, and in shaking up the formula we had grown all to aware (and weary) of. After week after week of big budget letdown, right before the year ends, we get this fizzy pop masterpiece. Choose to accept it.

08 "Hanna"

Director Joe Wright, who previously helmed the buttoned-down period pieces "Pride & Prejudice" and "Atonement," got some flak this year for suggesting that Zack Snyder's boobs-and-bullets fantasy epic "Sucker Punch," was misogyny masquerading as feminism, and he should know: he was responsible for "Hanna," which can only (poorly) be described as an oddball feminist fairytale. Wright has always been good with putting a sequence together, but for "Hanna," the tale of a young girl (Saoirse Ronan) trained by her father (Eric Bana) to be an assassin, he created a kind action movie cubism. Part of this has to do with his love of long, unbroken takes – sequences that would have been cut to ribbons by any other filmmaker now take on an unhurried elegance, as smooth as a chrome hubcap, that emphasize the physical choreography and spatial geography over the frenzied blast of post-'Bourne' adrenaline. It also has to do with the film's key contributors, electronic music pioneers The Chemical Brothers, who blurred the line between sound design and soundtrack and created the block rocking beats for Wright to rest his lovely experiment on. Joe Wright might not have reinvented the chase thriller, but he made it a hell of a lot weirder. Adapt or die.

09 "Margaret"

I feel kind of lucky just to have seen Kenneth Lonergan's messy, overlong (and long overdue) follow-up to "You Can Count On Me," which came out this fall with little critical fanfare and barely any box office. It feels like a film that Fox Searchlight, usually a strong supporter of more challenging, arty work, just wanted to get rid of, after years of post-production woes and multiple lawsuits filed. But its champions (myself included) will vigorously defend it, for its multilayered, novelistic sprawl; for its finely tuned, deeply human performances (had we seen Anna Paquin in this before "True Blood," as it was originally intended, she would have been revelatory); for its beautifully composited shots of New York City, or Paquin moving in slow motion through the streets; for the way it confronted 9/11 when things were still sensitive and raw. It might not be perfect and honestly I'd love to see the longer, Martin Scorsese-assisted cut, but few movies this year matched "Margaret's" ambition and fewer still matched its clarity of intent, visible even through the multiple cuts, creative infighting, delayed release and limp distribution. It's sort of amazing that "Margaret" was released at all; the fact that it's so good is nothing short of miraculous.

10 "Attack the Block"

The most assured directorial debut of 2011 came from Joe Cornish, a frequent partner of Edgar Wright (the two co-wrote the frantic "Adventures of Tintin" for some guy named Spielberg), who actually created a movie as cool as its tagline: "Inner city versus outer space." That's more or less all you need to know: aliens invade London, but pick the wrong part of town. Cornish corralled fine performances out of a cast of mostly non-actors, and peppered the scenario with a playful sense of gruesome gore, creatures both scary and unique, witty pop culture references, and a soundtrack, co-composed by electro-poppers Basement Jaxx, that was skuzzy and unforgettable. The movie's debut, at a midnight screening at South by Southwest, very nearly reached pandemonium-levels of excitement, and remains the movie-going highlight of 2011. It may not have made a dent at the box office, but this is deemed for cult classic status. See you at midnight. 

Best Animated Movie

"Rango"

2011 was not a particularly strong year for animated movies – Pixar produced its first creative (if not commercial) dud in the ideas-free "Cars 2," while Steven Spielberg finally made an animated film with "The Adventures of Tintin," possibly to show us the definitive example of what happens when enthusiasm tips over into mania. But "Rango" felt genuinely new and genuinely weird, the debut animated feature from both "Pirates of the Caribbean" director Gore Verbinski and the visual effects house Industrial Light & Magic. A riff on everything from classic westerns to "Chinatown," "Rango" was as idiosyncratically strange as it was visually ravishing, an animated western starring a chameleon (Johnny Depp) who is going through an existential identity crisis. Those expect the kind of cuddly DreamWorks fare were sorely disappointed – "Rango" is long and violent and thematically thorny; as refreshing as a tall glass of icy water in a dusty western town.

Runner-Up: "Winnie the Pooh," the beautifully animated Disney movie, which was given the forehead-slapping release date opposite "Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part 2." By the time parents needed something else to take their kids to, the charming and funny "Winnie the Pooh" had already left the theaters.

Best Documentary

"Tabloid"

Errol Morris returned to gonzo greatness and nobody gave a shit, apparently. Was it because he wasn't tackling a "serious" subject? Because I defy you to find a documentary as weird or wonderful as "Tabloid." An inspiring tale of love and fame, we saw this documentary way back on November 7th, 2010. And we've been in love ever since. The story, of a former beauty queen who traveled to England to abduct her former love, is told "Rashomon"-like, with various talking heads explaining his or her side of the subject. When the dust settles, you won't know who to believe (or what actually happened), but man, was it a rollercoaster. Why it didn't get more attention is beyond me, although you can (and should) rent it now.

Runner-Up: "Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel," a lovingly crafted homage to Roger Corman, the king of exploitation cinema. Director Alex Stapleton has an ideal biographical subject but doesn't go the easy route, instead showing us the complex man behind truly questionable films.

Best Foreign Film

"Miss Bala"

Heaps of praise are being thrown at "A Separation," less a film than an endurance test, and yet precious little ink is being spilled about "Miss Bala," a harrowing tale of the Mexican drug scene told in long, swirling, unbroken shots that would make Brian De Palma jealous. My guess is that "Miss Bala" is just too intense for most people, too adrenalized and in-your-face, compared to the stuffy and emotionally exhausting "A Separation." "Miss Bala" is a truly singular, thrilling experience and when it's released commercially early next year, you'll be hearing a lot more about it.

Runner-Up: "I Saw the Devil," the staggering South Korean horror epic by Kim Ji-woon that followed the fucked-up relationship between a serial killer and the husband of one of his victims, a sadistic (wait for it) spy!

Drew Taylor's Favorite Films Of 2011

With 2012 quickly approaching December becomes a time for reflection of the year that has passed and for Scarlett Johannson, she has a lot to look back on in 2011.

The actress divorced the love of her life, Ryan Reynolds, who has now moved into a pretty serious relationship with Blake Lively, as well as her five month whirlwind romance with actor Sean Penn.  Johansson also had to deal with the scandal that broke after very private photographs of her in the buff were leaked online.  While speaking to Access Hollywood, Scarlett spoke about the ‘challenging’ events that happened throughout 2011.  She said;

“I've had ups and downs. Certainly, this past year has been a lot of unexpected things in many beautiful ways, many challenging ways. You just have to kind of embrace it. For me, the most important thing is that it doesn’t affect my work and it doesn't affect my private life as much as possible."

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As for 2012, Scarlett has one thing in mind – sleep.  She said;

“I'm just looking forward to sleeping later than five in the morning. I just want to have a little vacation before I get back to finishing this job, and then just keep going."

Have you thought about your New Year’s resolutions?  Have you had a chance to think about all that’s happened in 2011?  Leave us your thoughts.

Scarlett Johansson talks about her ‘challenges’ from 2011

Sean Penn doesn't really need to do anything else to distinguish himself as an actor, but it looks like he is still pushing himself to greater heights. Milk is a movie that showcases not only the talents of Penn, who puts in an award-winning performance, but that of the cast and crew, making this movie a delight to watch.

The Gay Rights Movement

Based on a true story, Milk doesn't pretend to be anything but an honest film about human rights. Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) is an insurance agent who moves to San Francisco with his lover Scott (James Franco) to start a new life on Castro Street, and their camera shop becomes the center of the gay community in San Francisco in the few years after it opens. Harvey becomes more and more involved in the gay rights movement, and repeatedly runs for city supervisor in his efforts to better the lives of the people around him. The story is a true one, and sad, and shows a group's struggle for equality in the face of overwhelming odds and broad discrimination.

Acting the Part

Sean Penn is incredible as Harvey Milk, but his amazing performance is not lost amid mediocre acting, as James Franco pulls his weight in this film. I was impressed by the portrayal of their relationship, which comes across as sincere and real, and the first 30 minutes of the movie play out as a love story. Harvey and Scott get their store, are clearly madly in love, and build a strong group of friends in their new home. The mix of black-and-white photos of Penn and Franco with archive footage from the 1970's gives the story a realistic feel, and the supporting characters are excellent. Josh Brolin is perfect as the troubled Dan White, Emile Hirsch is terrific as the activist Cleve Jones, and Diego Luna plays a very funny off-the-wall Jack Lira. Throw Victor Gerber in there as the mayor of San Francisco, and you have a cast that will elevate any movie.

The Final Word

I loved this movie. The cast was amazing, the story was strong, and the direction was top-notch. It is definitely not an action movie, and some material is not suitable for children, but it has its comedic moments, and you'll love it if you're in the market for a solid drama.

When most people think of Martin Scorsese films, they think of dark, twisty tales with great depth and a spooky soundtrack that pull you straight into the reality of the film. Shutter Island is no exception, even though an avid movie goer may be able to figure out the direction of the plot. But even if you do the menacing film shots will still be enough to closely capture your attention.

Of course, it helps that Scorsese is working with some of the top actors of the past few years including Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, and Michelle Williams. It also helps that the mystery thriller was adapted from a Dennis Lehane novel, who is known as the author behind the renowned Sean Penn film Mystic River.

Although it took a year for Scorsese to kick the film into production, it is now underway with a suitable plot line that should thrill most. DiCaprio plays a US Marshall who along with his partner (played by Mark Ruffalo) heads to the namesake of the film to investigate the whereabouts of an escaped asylum inmate who is thought to still be on the island.

Along the way the two run into problems with the medical doctors on the island predominantly with the doctor played by Ben Kingsley and find themselves in a precarious situation while trapped on the island due to a storm. Of course, it would not be a Scorsese film without a twist, and this one is appropriately intriguing as DiCaprio starts to experience flashbacks of his murdered wife.

Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for the Weinstein Company

Unsurprisingly, actor and part-time liberal activist Sean Penn does not think very highly of the tea party. In an appearance on Piers Morgan Tonight, Penn said that the far-right movement is largely fueled by hatred of Barack Obama. "You have what I call the 'Get the N-word out of the White House party,' the tea party. This kind of sensibility, which is much more of a distraction." He went on to speculate that most tea partiers would be "confused" if asked to explain their position on topics such as Social Security, adding, "At the end of the day, there's a big bubble coming out of their heads, saying, 'Can we just lynch him?'" [THR]

Sean Penn Has His Own Name for the Tea Party — Vulture

Sean Penn is the latest celebrity to launch a scathing attack on America's Tea Party following Morgan Freeman's emotional outburst on Cnn last month.

Penn was also on Cnn and being interviewed by Piers Morgan when he was asked about Freeman's previous comments and came down on the side of the veteran actor, saying "If you ask a representative of the Tea Party, 'OK Social Security, socialist. Get rid of it?' They're going to get very confused," going on to add "at the end of the day, there's a big bubble coming out of their heads saying, you know, can we just lynch him?" He'd earlier also opined "You have what I call 'the get the N-word out of the White House party,' the Tea Party."

The 51 year-old actor joins a growing list of noteworthy faces who've criticised the Tea Party, including Bill Maher, Joy Behar, Janeane Garofalo, John Stewart and Eva Longoria, the latter stating that the party was "not the character of America."

However, black businessman Herman Cain defended the party's reputation and rebuffed the stars, arguing that "I just think it's sad that they're so short-sighted in really understanding what the whole Tea Party citizen movement is all about."

Last month Morgan Freeman had decried The Tea Party as being "a racist thing."

Sean Penn – Sean Penn Speaks Out Against The Tea Party

ScarJo sure knows how to land a guy!

Scarlett Johansson married Ryan Reynolds in Sept. 2008, but in Dec. 2010, the duo announced their separation. "We entered our relationship with love, and it's with love and kindness we leave it," the duo said in a joint statement. Their divorce was finalized in July.

But Reynolds, 34, certainly isn't the only man to pursue the actress! Before Johansson, 26, and Reynolds were together, she was romantically linked to Jared Leto, Derek Jeter and Josh Hartnett.

CHECK OUT US' GALLERY OF SCARLETT'S MANY MEN!

Post split, the actress had a five month romance with Sean Penn, 51, but the duo split in June because the Milk actor wasn't looking for anything "serious." She's also been spotted out and about with Justin Timberlake and Kieran Culkin.

PHOTOS: Scarlett and other stars who've channeled Marilyn Monroe

Tell Us: Who should Scarlett date next?

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Scarlett Johansson's Many Men

Scarlett Johansson might be bouncing back from her nude photo scandal with a more positive life turn – in the form of a new potential love interest.

Johansson and Kieran Culkin, a 28-year-old actor who is the younger brother of child star Macaulay Culkin, were spotted in Paris last week, according to People magazine.

The 26-year-old actress was reportedly in Paris to shoot a video. The two were first photographed on September 13 on a stroll and again the following day on the way to the airport for a flight back to the United States.

According to the magazine the two have spent time together in the past and might know each other from attending the same high school, the Professional Children's School in New York City. The school boasts notable alumni like Carrie Fisher, Robert Downey Jr. and Liza Minnelli.

Culkin is known for his roles in "Igby Goes Down," which earned him a nod for a Golden Globe award in 2003, and "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World." His first on-screen role came in 1990, when he played Fuller, the bed-wetting cousin of his brother's main character, Kevin, in the hit comedy movie "Home Alone."

Johansson reportedly split from Sean Penn in June. The two had never confirmed a relationship publicly. Johansson and Penn, 50, were first linked together in February, months after actor Ryan Reynolds filed for divorce from the actress after being married to her for two years. At the time, Johansson's spokesperson said the actress and Penn were just friends.

The actress officially split from Reynolds late last year. Reynolds filed for divorce in December 2010. Johansson and Reynolds wed on Sept. 27, 2008 in Canada after dating for about a year.

Reynolds cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split. Johansson filed her divorce response and the two listed December 14 as the date of their separation.

Johansson was recently the victim of a phone hacking which led to alleged nude photos of the actress being leaked on the internet. The woman in the photos is seen looking into the camera while lying on her back and also poses in front of a mirror.

Johansson's lawyer, Marty Singer, reportedly sent out warning letters to websites hosting the photos asking them to remove the photos immediately or face legal action, according to E! News. The FBI is reportedly investigating the incident.

"We Bought a Zoo" is Johansson's latest movie and is slated for release on December 23. The film is based on a memoir by Benjamin Mee and tells of a family man, played by Matt Damon, who buys a zoo and aims to renovate it following the death of his wife. Johansson portrays his girlfriend.

Check out the trailer for "We Bought a Zoo" below.

Scarlett Johansson spotted out in Paris with Kieran Culkin

Madonna has revealed she was attracted to her ex-husbands Sean Penn and Guy Ritchie because they are "creative" people.

Madonna likes "creative" men.

The 53-year-old singer has confessed she was attracted to her ex-husbands Sean Penn and Guy Ritchie because they were interesting and talented and admits both encouraged her to pursue her personal acting and directing dreams.

Speaking at a press conference following the screening of her new movie 'W.E.' – which Madonna directed – at the Venice Film Festival, she said: "I am and was attracted to very creative people which is why I married Sean Penn and Guy Ritchie, very talented directors, and they both encouraged me as a director to do what I did. They were both very supportive."

Although this is only the second movie the pop superstar has directed, she has appeared in a number of films – including 'Dick Tracy', 'Body of Evidence' and 'Evita', which earned her a Golden Globe Award – and admits movies inspired her to become an artist when she was a child.

She revealed: "I've always loved film, all my life. As a child I was always inspired by movies and I always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to make one … Making films is really hard in the first place. You have to believe in your subject matter and be passionate about it because there will be challenges along the way. You have to be prepared like the captain of a ship, no matter what happens you have got to keep going. So your spiritual foundation has to be strong."

'W.E.' focuses on the relationship between Britain's King Edward VIII's and American divorcee Wallis Simpson and his decision to abdicate the British throne in 1936 to marry her.

Madonna – Madonna Attracted To 'Creative' Men

It's rare for an actor to offer a subtle, multi-layered analysis of a movie, but Sean Penn — love him or hate him — is hardly a common actor. So it's interesting to note that, in a recent interview with French magazine Le Figaro, Penn gripes about his role in Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, but he essentially gripes about the same stuff that plenty of non-Sean Penn individuals were griping about in regards to Tree of Life. First and foremost, just what exactly was Sean Penn doing in that movie? "Frankly, I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing there!" the actor admits, while noting that even his director didn't seem to know the answer to that: "Terry himself never managed to explain it to me clearly." Penn also notes that the film's overall time-hopping, free-flowing tone left him cold: "A clearer and more conventional narrative would have helped the film without, in my opinion, lessening its beauty and impact." In short: If you're somebody who thinks that Tree of Life could have used fewer dinosaurs, then you and Sean Penn are in agreement.

Penn is hardly trying to insult Malick — he calls the Tree of Life script "the most magnificent I've ever read," and also notes that he still recommends the film because each person can find a "personal, emotional, or spiritual connection." But still, it's fascinating to see someone who actually worked behind the secrecy-shrouded veil of a Terrence Malick movie admit that he is very artistically opposed to some of the director's decisions. (Representatives for Penn did not respond to EW's calls for further comment; Malick remains happily ensconced within his no-comment cone-of-silence.)

It's worth pointing out that Penn's role in the movie isn't exactly the stuff of method-actor legend: The actor spends most of his scenes wandering around a symbolic Very Tall Skyscraper looking like someone in the grip of a low-level panic attack. And this is hardly the first time that an actor has felt a bit miffed about the ultimate shape of a Malick film: Adrien Brody was famously a main character in The Thin Red Line, but the theatrical cut left him with hardly any screen time. More recently, The New World's Christopher Plummer told Vulture that he wrote Malick an angry letter after seeing his role in the film chopped away into near-obscurity.

All of these actors have legitimate gripes, I suppose. In some alternate Fringe universe, there is probably a version of The Tree of Life that is more straightforward — a version of the film where you actually hear the characters' names, and where apparently important scenes aren't regularly elided down to a couple abstract shots of nature — but Malick's primary fascination with all of his movies has always been on less about the interplay between specific people than about the interplay between people and nature. In that sense, I actually find Penn's role in Tree of Life oddly moving. While we see his childhood dramas play out in a mid-century suburban wonderland of rivers, forests, and backyards that seem to go on forever, Penn is trapped in a modern-day glass metropolis — a vision of a man literally cut off from the natural world.

It might not be the deepest or most original story, but it's certainly rendered vividly, and much of that is due to Penn's anxious performance. (Actually, given what little we know about Malick, it actually seems likely that Penn was playing an autobiographical stand-in for the director.) Still, I'd be intrigued to hear what you think, PopWatchers: Do you think it's unfair for Malick to gleefully chop actors' screen time down to suit his vision? Was Penn's role completely extraneous? Does anyone else think it's interesting that Malick coaxes great performances out of first-time actors (Linda Manz in Days of Heaven, Q'orianka Kilcher in The New World, the kids in Tree of Life) while apparently casting superstar actors to play uni-dimensional archetypes?

Follow Darren on Twitter: @EWDarrenFranich

Read more:'Tree of Life': A Deconstruction

Sean Penn offers intriguing critique of Terrence Malick's 'Tree of Life': 'I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing there!'

Sullivan Stapleton, who stars in Cinemax’s original series Strike Back, is in negotiations to join the cast of Gangster Squad, Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow’s period crime movie.

Ruben Fleischer is directing the pic, which counts Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Emma Stone among its large cast.

Dan Lin and Kevin McCormick are producing. Jon Silk is co-producing.

Stapleton will play a childhood friend of Gosling’s dapper cop, a man who grew up to become a mob enforcer but later acts as a police informant.

Production begins September in Los Angeles.

Stapleton gained the town’s attention with his work in Animal Kingdom, the acclaimed Australian crime movie, with WME picking him for representation. The actor stars in the Cinemax’s 10-episode series Strike Back, which debuts tonight, playing a Delta Force operative working with a British military unit.

In addition to WME, he is repped by Shanahan Management in Australia.

Email: Borys.Kit@thr.com

'Strike Back' Star In Talks to Join 'Gangster Squad' (Exclusive)

Kelly Jones, Stereophonics frontman is loving life at the moment. He has been rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in Hollywood and is looking to add the title of Filmmaker to his ever impressive list of talents.

Kelly was spotted at a film festival in Italy last year hanging out and having a few drinks with George Clooney who was in town to promote his latest film, Oceans 14. Apparently George has always had the utmost of respect for the Stereophonics music over the years and has always wanted to meet Kelly. George invited Kelly back to his private villa in Italy where the two apparently sat up all night knocking back a few social beverages and discussing possible collaborations in the near future. George who is more into directing movies these days than actually starring in them asked Kelly to get involved with the writing and producing of music for his next feature film. Kelly of course was over the moon as he has long had a passion for movies and movie making.

Later in 2009, Kelly found himself standing alongside Sean Penn at Los Angeles Airport. The duo had met before and Kelly had an interesting proposal that he wished to discuss with Sean so he went over and had a chat with the movie star. Turns out, The Stereophonics vocalist who has always had a passion for writing music is a keen scriptwriter too and once had to make the big decision to pursue music instead of getting involved with films. Kelly mentioned to Sean Penn that he had an idea for a movie that he would like Sean to have a look at. The title of the movie was The Drop and is based upon a book called The Hangman's Tail which follows the life of an apprentice hangman from the early 1940's. Kelly Jones cleverly bought the rights to the book years ago and has long wanted to make a movie of it. Sean was so impressed with the story that once the plane had landed in London, Sean waited 20 minutes for Kelly to collect his bags and then asked for a copy of the script. Pretty impressive going for a small town Welshman

Full Ron Galella Interview l Order Galella's Books

Madonna With Sean Penn

Sean Penn and Madonna at New York's Lincoln Center leaving rehearsals for "Goose and Tom Tom," Aug. 20, 1986 Ron Galella: "They left one of the rehearsals and walked to their apartment on 55th street. The photographers were shooting and [Sean Penn] cursed at us and blocked Madonna. A few weeks later they came out of the theater and walked to the Ginger Man on the corner of the same block where they lived, west 55th street. They had dinner and walked to their apartment. There were about five paparazzis shooting. Sean Penn got angry and said, "You're on private property now," and started spitting at my nephew and I. He started boxing with my nephew but nobody got hurt. They were just boxing. Madonna went to the apartment door and started yelling, "Stop, stop," pleading with the photographers to stop shooting. Finally we all stopped. When we were leaving suddenly Sean Penn turned around and socked [photog] Vinnie Zuffante right in the nose, giving him a bloody nose without warning. They picked on him because he was small. [Penn] didn't pick on me. He's a bad boy. He has a temper, and he never was friendly to photographers, always shielding Madonna or himself, putting his cap down over his face. He was always pretty bad. But he was not the worst."

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While Madonna keeps getting older, her boyfriends keep getting younger.

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The singer was spotted packing on the PDA with her 24-year-old boyfriend, Brahim Zaibat, while celebrating her birthday in The Hamptons over the weekend.

While her two youngest children, David and Mercy, both 5, played in the sand, the dressed-down Material Girl shared a passionate kiss with the French break-dancer.

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The singer, who turns 53 Tuesday, began dating Zaibat in late 2010 after he performed at the launch of her Macy's clothing line with daughter Lourdes, 14.

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Madonna's previous loves include first husband Sean Penn, Warren Beatty, Dennis Rodman, Carlos Leon, second husband Guy Ritchie (they share son Rocco, 10), Alex Rodriguez and Jesus Luz.

The singer's manager, Guy Oseary, recently announced that Madonna is hard at work on her twelfth studio album.

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Things are heating up, and we aren't talking about the weather.

Rumor has it that former-flames Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel may be rekindling their romance. After a four-year relationship, the two parted ways in March, but by the looks of things the fire between them just hasn't died.

A source says that the pair are "quietly seeing each other again" and that they "have been talking the whole time and decided to give it another shot." Timberlake and Biel had lunch together in Toronto last week, and were cozy enough to share an order of pork tacos.

Both Biel and Timberlake were linked to other people during their split, but neither one developed a new relationship. The first hint at a possible reconciliation came from Justin's Vanity Fair interview, in which he called Jessica "the single-handedly most significant person in my life…she is the most special person." It sounds like a few months of the single life reminded him of what a good thing he had going.

Whether or not they're together, "Jesstin" isn't the only summer celeb coupling. Here's a shortlist of confirmed couples and rumored romances.

A mere two weeks after splitting from (relatively) long-time beau Cy Waits, Paris Hilton was spotted making out with 40-year-old director Todd Phillips. According to guests at Hilton's private Malibu party last Saturday, "The Hangover: Part II" director "had his hand permanently glued to her behind," and the pair "were making out constantly." It's Paris, people. What do you expect?

It looks like a reunion could be in the works for another former couple. Rocker Pete Wentz, soon-to-be ex-husband of Ashlee Simpson, was spotted in Los Angeles with his once-girlfriend Michelle Trachtenberg. The two grabbed coffee together on Sunday, looking right at home in each other's company. Whether it's love or caffeine addiction, only time will tell.

Actor Sean Penn showed off his newest age-inappropriate girlfriend last week, as the two caught some rays on a Malibu beach. After dating two blondes, Sean has hooked up with brunette Stacey Koplin, who kept her assets mostly covered while walking by the water. After his divorce from Robin Wright in 2010, Penn was linked to Scarlett Johansson, whom he allegedly dumped because he wasn't looking for "anything serious." Anyone want to bet on how long this will last?

Oh no, say it ain't so. Eat your hearts out, ladies. It looks like Prince Harry might be off the market and dating someone new. Despite taking on-again, off-again girlfriend Chelsy Davy to the royal wedding, Britain's most eligible bachelor has been spending time with lingerie model Florence Brundenell-Bruce, who goes by the unfortunate nickname "Flee." The two have supposedly known each other for six years, and a source says "Flee" is telling people she's "in love." The couple hung out backstage after a Killers concert, and an eyewitness claims that "Flee" was "completely doe-eyed" and "obviously really into him." We wonder how "lingerie model" will look on her princess application….

More from this Contributor:

Justin Timberlake Says He's "Just Better High"

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Romance Rumor Recap: Hollywood's Newest and Hottest Couples

The unlikely duo of Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn is no longer, People is reporting.

The idea that the two might have split began in earnest at the Cannes Film Festival, when Johansson was noticeably absent from the premiere of Penn's film, "Tree of Life." To be fair, Johansson has had plenty on her plate: she has been working on "The Avengers," filming in New Mexico.

Penn and Johansson's relationship was one that played out in public: they were spotted being flirty everywhere from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, to the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April.

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Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn may be over

Terrence Malick's Palme d'Or winner The Tree of Life, featuring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain, collected $493,788 since it opened on Friday, May 27, at four theaters in Los Angeles and New York, according to Box Office Mojo.

The three-day weekend average for the Fox Searchlight release was $93,231 per location. That's the second-highest opening of 2011, behind Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris' $99,834 average at six theaters.

The Tree of Life also had the biggest opening ever for a Fox Searchlight release, surpassing Black Swan's $80,212 last December.

Such a comparison, however, is lopsided, for Black Swan opened at 18 theaters. All things being equal, the fewer the number of theaters, the higher the per-theater average should be.

In fact, one could say that Black Swan fared better than The Tree of Life, considering that it opened at 4.5 more theaters than the Malick drama while its per-theater average was only 14% lower. (But then again, there are other issues at work, e.g., the number of seats available per screening and the number of screenings per day — The Tree of Life's running time is 35 minutes longer than Black Swan's.)

Back in 1998, Malick's The Thin Red Line averaged $56,506 (approx. $94,648 today) at five theaters. The Academy Award-nominated war drama went on to gross $98.1m (about $164m today*) worldwide, with 62% of that figure originating overseas.

In 2005, The New World opened at 3 theaters with a quite modest $10,288 per-theater average. The $30m period drama went on to gross only $30.53m worldwide.

As of May 22, The Tree of Life collected $2.4m in three territories: $1.88m in France, $657k in Italy, and $118k in Belgium.

The Tree of Life, which cost a reported $32m, will expand to 18 theaters next Friday. It should be playing at 200-300 theaters by early July.

* Estimate based on the "inflation-gauge" found at Box Office Mojo. International figures, however, are particularly difficult to update not only because one would have to take into account various inflation indexes, but also because of exchange-rate fluctuations.

Photo: The Tree of Life (Merie Wallace / 20th Century Fox)

Terrence Malick's THE TREE OF LIFE Box Office: Average Behind Only Woody Allen's MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

Scarlett Johansson is closer in age to Sean Penn's son than to her boyfriend, but is that causing problems between Sean and his son, Hopper?

And, Star magazine is reporting that the 17-year-old is having a hard time with dad's divorce:

"Robin does not want Hopper hanging out with Sean and Scarlett," a source reveals. "Hopper took Robin and Sean's divorce really badly — it hit him hard. And Robin [Wright] feels that it's not good for him to see his father flaunting his new, much younger girlfriend."

A source close to Penn tells RumorFix, "Nothing is more important to Sean than his two kids." In fact, Hopper just spent a week with his dad in Cannes.

Scarlett Johansson Coming Between Sean Penn & His Son? – News – Rumor Fix