Fast Five, the fifth instalment in the ever-healthy action franchise, was the most pirated movie of 2011 on BitTorrent, according to the LA Times.

The film was apparently downloaded some 9.3 million times, though the average number of downloads of the top 10 movies was lower than the equivalent list last year.

While box-office behemoths occupy the top 3 places (The Hangover Part II and Thor sit in spots 2 & 3 respectively), the remainder of the list is quite different to the top-grossing films.

This year's Twilight and Transformers films didn't make the top 10 most popular downloads, while Source Code, I Am Number Four and Sucker Punch (none of which broke the top 50 in terms of US grosses) did.

It's possibly most sad to see Source Code on the list - a smart, interesting, modestly budgeted sci-fi, the type of which we don't see enough of in cinemas.

If those illegal downloads could be converted to purchased tickets, we'd have a better chance of this kind of film getting made more often, instead of the countless sequels, remakes and reboots we're swamped with.

Here's the full list of the 10 most pirated movies (and the number of times they were downloaded):

1. Fast Five: 9.3 million

2. The Hangover Part II: 8.8 million

3. Thor: 8.3 million

4. Source Code: 7.9 million

5. I Am Number Four: 7.7 million

6. Sucker Punch: 7.2 million

7. 127 Hours: 6.9 million

8. Rango: 6.5 million

9. The King's Speech: 6.3 million

10. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2: 6 million

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Brock Lesnar always knew how to make an entrance. And even after losing to Alistair Overeem in the main event of UFC 141 Friday night, he knew how to make an exit as well, stealing the show in Las Vegas with his announcement that he was retiring from the sport of mixed martial arts at the age of 34.

Finishing with a record of 5-3, Lesnar’s slate didn’t truly reveal the impact he had on the sport in a little over four years, or what he had to overcome to get into the Octagon in the tail end of his short career. Needless to say, he will be remembered by fans of the sport, some who booed, some who cheered, but all of whom watched him when he competed.

A 2000 NCAA Division I national wrestling champion for the University of Minnesota, South Dakota’s Lesnar went on to international stardom as a WWE wrestler before leaving that world to try out for the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, despite a strong showing, Lesnar was cut, but he didn’t stay idle for long, opting to begin a career in mixed martial arts after a short return to pro wrestling.

“I originally wanted to fight when I was in junior college,” said Lesnar, who wrestled for Bismarck State College, in 2008.  “I took some summer school out in Lassen, California, where I met up with some guys who trained out of the Lions Den.  They booked me in a show in Reno, Nevada, and then I had to pull out because once you got paid to participate in something, the NCAA wouldn’t accept me, and I wanted to wrestle.  But I had actually started rolling and learning jiu-jitsu back in junior college when I was 19-20 years old.”  

After putting in the requisite work in the gym, Lesnar was signed to make his debut against seven-foot-two Hong Man Choi at a K-1 event in Los Angeles in June, but he was instead matched up with late replacement Min Soo Kim, an Olympic silver medalist in judo.

The fight was a blowout for Lesnar, who took Kim to the mat and pounded on him, forcing a tap out due to strikes in just one minute and nine seconds.  

“I was just so happy to put my fist in some other guy’s face,” said Lesnar of his pro debut.  “I felt like I was in heaven.  It did go fast, 69 seconds, and it felt like it was five seconds.”  

Lesnar immediately made it known that he wanted to compete in the UFC, and a meeting with company president Dana White ensued.

“From the first conversation I had with Brock Lesnar, I was confident that he was gonna fight in the UFC,” said White.  “He had fought in another show, and after he fought in that show, he realized what it was like to fight in a rinky-dink organization.  Fighters and athletes of that caliber want to come to the UFC because this is the place to be.  It’s the most professional, it’s got the best fighters in the world and if you want to make your name and cement your legacy, the UFC is the only place to do it.”

Eventually, Lesnar convinced White that he was ready to take on the best the UFC had to offer and that he didn’t want any gimme fights. And White didn’t give him any, matching him up immediately with former heavyweight champion Frank Mir at UFC 81 in February of 2008.

After a strong start, Lesnar was submitted by Mir, but by the time he rebounded with wins over Heath Herring and Randy Couture, he was the heavyweight champion of the world, a feat he accomplished in just four pro fights.

At UFC 100 in July of 2009, he avenged the loss to Mir via second round TKO, but was struck a few months later with the first of two bouts of diverticulitis that threatened his career and his life.

He refused surgery after the first case of diverticulitis struck and he made a miraculous recovery, capping off his comeback with perhaps the biggest win of his career, a second round submission victory over Shane Carwin.

Three months after the Carwin bout, Lesnar would lose his belt to Cain Velasquez, and after a stint as a coach on season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter, he was hit a second time with diverticulitis. This time, he opted for surgery and had 12 inches of his colon removed. But once again, he rose from the proverbial canvas to beat the ailment and step back into the Octagon.

And while getting halted in the first round by Overeem wasn’t the way he wanted to leave the sport, a promise to his wife and children to retire should he lose prompted the big man from Alexandria, Minnesota to make his announcement to the world Saturday night and end a career that was like a shooting star – it didn’t last long and it burned out at the end, but when it was at its peak, it was something you wouldn’t miss seeing for the world.

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Just five days ago, we brought you the first full-length trailer for the third installment in the Christopher Nolan directed Bat-Trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. Now, Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures have released some high resolution images from the film starring Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Tom Hardy (Bane), Anne Hathaway (Selina Kyle / Catwoman) and Gary Oldman (Jim Gordon).

Check them out, along with the trailer below!

[Click Images to Blow Sh!t Up]

Trailer: The Dark Knight Rises

Click here to view the embedded video.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ The Dark Knight Rises is the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, Leading an all-star international cast, Oscar winner Christian Bale (The Fighter) again plays the dual role …of Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Anne Hathaway, as Selina Kyle; Tom Hardy, as Bane; Oscar winner Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), as Miranda Tate; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as John Blake. Returning to the main cast, Oscar winner Michael Caine (The Cider House Rules) plays Alfred; Gary Oldman is Commissioner Gordon; and Oscar winner Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby) reprises the role of Lucius Fox.

The Dark Knight Rises is slated to hit theaters on July 20th, 2012.

 

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Not so long ago, we flagged up a news story in which an officially-branded Pez dispenser appeared to have given the first clue to what The Amazing Spider-Man’s interpretation of The Lizard would look like. And now, thanks to the controller for a toy car, we have an even better idea of what to expect!

A new range of radio-controlled vehicles is set to be released to tie in with next summer’s release, and one of said controllers appears to depict a very clear image of The Lizard’s scaly bonce.

Worryingly, he looks a little bit like the sort of plastic-suited villain the Power Rangers might pit themselves against, but to be fair to him, a remote controller doesn’t give much scope for scale or nuance.

In any case, it would appear that Marvel have had their thunder stolen in terms of unveiling the Lizard’s new look. Let’s hope this latest development gives them the prod required to release an official image sooner rather than later.

The Amazing Spider-Man is released in the UK on 4 July 2012. Until then, you’ll just have to make do with the toy car and as much Pez as you can stomach…

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The Secret Circle Photos & Spoilers: Cassie Digs Further Into Her Father's Past in Episode 11

As a follow-up to my advance preview of the January 5 episode of The Secret Circle (read it here), let me give you a few more details, because these details feed into the January 12 episode, titled "Fire/Ice".

In the January 5 episode of The Secret Circle, we're introduced to a new character named Lee.  As I mentioned in my preview, Faye wants to gain more power, so she and Melissa go on a road trip to find ingredients for a spell.  To procure these ingredients, the girls meet with a man named Lee.  What happens as a result of his help, I can't tell you.  But I can tell you that it's clear Lee will be sticking around for a little while, since he will also be appearing in the January 12 episode.

In the January 12 episode, Faye continues in her quest for power and asks Lee (guest star Grey Damon) to help her with a spell to achieve this.

Meanwhile, Cassie decides to look further into her father's past and she asks Adam for his help.  Their quest for information leads them to a creepy, but familiar, place.  Adam is also thrilled to be spending time with Cassie again and, after the whole Jake intermission, seems happy about their rekindled spark.  He works up the courage to ask her to the Fire and Ice dance at school, but she gives him a surprising response as a result of her friendship with Diana.

Use the arrows above to browse through photos for the episode.  Don't miss the "Fire/Ice" episode of The Secret Circle on January 12 at 9:00 p.m. on The CW.

The Secret Circle Photos & Spoilers: Cassie Digs Further Into Her Father's Past in Episode 11

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Welcome to the inaugural edition of my column, the Downes Side. So what will this column contain? Basically, think of it like that movie the Blind Side, but with fight predictions. There will be an engaging character, a giant football player-type, a feel good story and it will culminate with me getting an award as undeserving as Sandra Bullock’s Oscar (Helen Mirren got robbed!). 

Shifting from UFC fighter to UFC writer may seem quite different, but there are a number of similarities. For one, they both disappoint your relatives. As one unnamed family member told me, “Great, you’ve traded one dead end profession for another.” Plus, both are hazardous to your health: Writing has less physical trauma, but supposedly comes with more alcoholism and drug abuse. 

December 30's UFC 141 and New Year's Eve have a lot in common, too. Both are highly anticipated events with winners and losers. So come Saturday morning after the Friday night fights, who will be buying champagne by the magnum and who be alone at midnight with no one to kiss,searching for some type of sign to tell them they everything they’ve worked for the last few years hasn’t been in vain, crying into their pillow as they workshop their one-liners for the UFC 142 prediction column.... anyway, on with my picks.

Vladimir Matyushenko vs Alexander Gustafsson
Both
of these guys come into this fight looking to build on the momentum
they’ve been gathering. Alexander Gustafsson has rattled off three in a
row, the most recent being TKOing Matt Hamill into retirement. Vladimir Matyushenko is coming in after a 20 second finish of Jason Brilz in August and 15 years of experience ("The Mauler" was 10 when Matyushenko made his pro MMA debut.)

Gustaffsson
has a great future in the UFC, but he won’t have a great Saturday
night. The deciding factor here is power and Matyushenko’s will be too
much for Gustafsson to handle.

Prediction: “The Janitor”
cleans up and the Swede goes down in the second round; which is still
longer than my last piece of IKEA furniture lasted. 

Jon Fitch vs Johny Hendricks
Jon Fitch hasn’t lost a fight since 2008 and his last loss before that was 2002. Despite that impressive record, his fighting style hasn’t endeared himself to fans. The good news for fans is that Johny Hendricks has a wrestling pedigree that could prevent Fitch from executing his game plan. The bad news is that fans don't get to pick fights, otherwise GSP and Anderson Silva would headline every event, which would take place under PRIDE rules.

Plus, all the blue-chip rasslin' won’t matter, because Hendricks also has the tendency to want to stand and bang. He’ll catch Fitch with a couple good shots, rush for the kill, overcommit himself to a big shot and that give Fitch an opening to get him down.

Prediction: Fitch wins this one after 15 and then takes the title from GSP—the one for most decision victories in UFC history.

Nate Diaz vs. Cowboy Cerrone
This
has fight of the night written all over it. We could talk about who
would take the edge with regards to grappling ability, but let’s be
honest, the only way one of these guys is going to the ground is if he's
unconscious. And with the chins on these two, that’s probably even more
unlikely. 

Both of these scowling scrappers have slick
submission games and good cardio, leaving this bad blood bout to be
determined on the feet. Both like to use their long limbs and range to
tag opponents (sometimes even at pre-fight press conferences) and don’t focus on big power shots. Diaz may be more of a
“quantity over quality” guy when it comes to strikes, but Cerrone isn’t
too far behind.

Prediction: This one goes to the judges
and Cerrone wins by split decision. That’ll make Nate angry, and you
wouldn’t like it when a Diaz gets angry.

Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem
The
general consensus about this fight is that Overeem wins this easily
because Lesnar “can’t take a punch” (one of the few things I excelled at
- he should have called me to help him train).  I don’t know if Brock
has gotten a better chin since his last fight, but it won't come to
that. I see him charging like a mustang to secure the takedown, and this
will be one horse that Overeem can’t eat.

Prediction: Once he gets top control, Lesnar will use his ground and pound and the ref will stop this one in the first round.

That
concludes the first edition of the Downes Side. If you liked it, leave
some comments, suggestions and predictions of your own. If you didn’t –
keep it to yourself. I can’t afford to get fired from another job.

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With The Vampire Diaries set to return with new episodes on January 5, fans have a number of questions they hope to have answered.

Almost each one is based on the state of mind that each character will be in when we meet him/her again in a week. Can Elena and Damon accept that Stefan will never be the man they previously knew? How will Klaus react to the abduction of his relatives?

In an interview with TV Guide, producer Julie Plec offered a few teases/updates regarding where various key players stand and what decisions they will face moving forward. Excerpts are below...

STEFAN WILL BE "acting from a place of [aggression] and not completely rational," Plec said, adding that "revenge" toward Klaus will be his "priority."

ELENA WILL CONSIDER Damon as a love interest, as the tension that has been building between her and this Salvatore sibling may "come out and play" with Stefan out of the picture.

"The question of 'Does Elena love Damon [and] has she been fully falling for him all along?' is going to be very much a part of the season," Plec says.

But Elena will also question what it might take to protect those she loves. Might she need to become more like her doppelgänger? Look for this conflicted young lady to look deep within herself and realize that "sometimes a dark choice needs to be made, a violent act needs to be enacted."

KLAUS WILL GROW more vulnerable, Plec teases, but certainly won't become warm and/or cuddly, as the character becomes "madder and madder and more violent and more evil" as the season progresses.

We. Cannot. Wait.

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Christmas might be over, but the Batman-related pressies just keep on coming, with Anne Hathaway breaking Chris Nolan’s traditional wall of silence in order to give us an update on what we can expect from The Dark Knight Rises.

“Gotham City is full of grace,” says Hathaway. “You look at Heath’s performance as the Joker, there was a lot of madness there but there was also a grace and he had a code there. There’s a lot of belief and codes of behavior in Gotham and my character has one, too. A lot of the way she moves and interacts with people is informed by her worldview. Chris has given us all such complex, defined, sophisticated worldviews that it’s just a matter of doing your homework and getting underneath the character’s skin.”

“I really got into the comics after I was cast,” she continues, “and I like that when she made her first appearance she meets Bruce Wayne and says ‘Let go of me or I’ll claw your eyes out,’ and he says, ‘Careful, claws in or papa spank’. So I’m glad we’ve come a long way since then. I’m not saying anything against Bob Kane, though!”

And speaking of previous incarnations of the character, Hathaway isn’t remotely concerned by comparisons to Michelle Pfeiffer et al.

“What’s come before doesn’t limit or even affect this new version,” she says. “It doesn’t affect me because each Catwoman – and this is true in the comics as well – she is defined by the context of the Gotham City created around her. Catwoman is so influenced by Gotham and whoever is creating Gotham at the time. Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman was informed by Tim Burton’s Gotham and Eartha Kitt was informed by Adam West’s Gotham. You have to live in whatever the reality of the world is and whatever Gotham is.”

Still more intriguing is the description of a scene that precedes the interview in the LA Times. Eyes away now if you don’t want to know what happens...

“Gotham City is a war zone,” begins the description. “A ruthless madman named Bane has ripped away any sense of security and the citizens, haggard and clutching suitcases with refugee anxiety, sit behind barbed wire waiting to see what will blow up next. A hooded prisoner is dragged in – it’s Bruce Wayne, one of Gotham’s most famous faces – but the eyes of the crowd go instead to the woman in black standing at the top of the staircase.”

“‘Sorry to spoil things, boys, but Bane needs these guys himself,’ says sultry Selina Kyle, played here by actress Anne Hathaway, navigating the steps with stiletto heels that, on closer inspection, turn out to have serrated edges capable of leaving nasty claw marks in a fight. She also wears high-tech goggles that, when not in use, flip up and resemble feline ears.”

So Bane and Catwoman are working together? Make of that what you will. The Dark Knight Rises is released in the UK on 20 July 2012.

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Jesse McCartney has booked a role on CSI.

The singer/actor - who has also appeared on Greek and All My Children, among other programs - will guest star on a February episode of the CSI drama, according to a popular fansite.

McCartney will portray a recent college graduate named Wes who crashes his car and ends up working with Wes to determine what the heck happened.

The episode - titled "Seeing Red" and airing on February 15 - will mark the debut of new series regular Elizabeth Shue.

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If you haven’t seen the season one finale of American Horror Story, go watch it now. If you haven’t seen all of season one of American Horror Story, go watch it now. Don’t come back here until you do. Okay, welcome back! Wasn’t that finale EXCELLENT? Wow, what a conclusion! And I think you’ll agree that it left the possibilities for season 2 wide open.

According to showrunner and co-creator Ryan Murphy, that was exactly the intent. In fact, one of the biggest shockers of the entire season is what he had to say about it after it was over, during a question and answer session with reporters yesterday: American Horror Story was packaged from the start to be an anthology series. Season 2 will feature a mostly-new if not entirely new cast, setting, storyline, and horror. It won’t even be a house.

“Every season of the show will be a different haunting. That’s always been the plan. Every season of the show will have a beginning, middle and end, and all new characters and setting.

“There are all kinds of different American horror stories to tell. There are serial killing stories, prison stories, true crime stories…Each year of the show is designed to be a little miniseries unto itself. The only thing we’re not open to doing is a season on vampires.”

It is still possible that we’ll see Dylan McDermott or Connie Britton again, but they would have different roles. Nothing is set yet, however. As reported by Deadline, “We’re still negotiating with a handful (of the cast members) about returning,” Murphy said. “We’re also meeting with new actors whom we’ve targeted roles for. I will say that Connie and Dylan will not be playing the leads of the show in the second season. We’d love for them to come back and do something, maybe a smaller role or a cameo.” According to FX president and GM John Landgraf, however, “we haven’t yet picked up the option on anyone.”

Murphy has always been a big fan of Halloween (like Chad!) and loves the idea of this series airing in the fall and during Halloween, so it looks like we won’t be seeing this new and different season 2 for several months.

So, the story of the Harmons, Constance, and the Murder House is over, as it was always intended to be. Murphy told EW that he is in fact excited to have people go back and watch the entire first season now, having seen the conclusion, so that they can pick up on all the clues that were sprinkled in throughout the season. Constance was always going to be the survivor. Vivien will now be the matriarch of the ghosts. Moira got a happy ending, as a family member and a woman, no longer a servant. Violet will never talk to Tate again, and Tate and Hayden got what they deserved: to  be alone. “That’s what we wanted for them. Alone and tormented.”

[The Shakedown]

Wow. Okay. I still had hope for Tate. And that’s the beauty of ending the presentation of the story at this point; we’re all allowed to make up our own minds about what happens to everyone in their future. In my mind, he gets a happy ending too.

I love the idea of this series as an anthology. Think of each season as a multipart episode of The Twilight Zone. It’s brilliant, and I completely trust this series and its format to co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. American Horror Story was my favorite new show of the season throughout its run, and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us next year.

American Horror Story returns with Season 2 in 2012 on FX.

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