I make this the lead story here only because it’s Friday and I’m a huge fan of the gaming series. Not awards related in the slightest, but I really hope they don’t screw it up. It looks like Sony has acquired the film rights to Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed.” Ubisoft has been really careful about who these rights went to and I hope that means they are being delicate with the story, because I happen to think the story of “Assassin’s Creed” — even if portions amount to little more than boiled down ancient alien theory — has a lot of potential. Of course, we’ll likely get some kind of bottled up distillation that loses what’s great about the narrative, but a guy can hope, right? [Variety]
Jude Law, who plays a smarmy investigative journalist in “Contagion,” defends investigative journalists. [TheTelegraph ]
Emily Watson talks “Oranges and Sunshine” and a little bit on “War Horse.” [Collider]
River Phoenix’s family wants nothing to do with the release of his final, unseen film “Dark Blood.” [Deadline]
Lynne Ramsay talks “We Need to Talk About Kevin” across the pond. [The Guardian]
“Martha Marcy May Marlene” actress Elizabeth Olsen on nudity, photo shoots and emulating Emma Stone. [Vulture]
The film’s director, meanwhile, talks researching cults. [24 Frames]
With “The Rum Diary” on the way, a curated guide to Hunter S. Thompson’s contributions to the bunny pages. [Playboy]
Anne Thompson offers her analysis of the Gotham Award nominations. (More on those later today in the podcast.) [Thompson on Hollywood]
Jeff Wells apologizes to Roland Emmerich for epic-film-bashing, really responds to “Anonymous.” [Hollywood Elsewhere]