2010 HOLIDAY MOVIE PREVIEW: On the stage of the Performing Arts Center at SUNY's Purchase College, Natalie Portman, wearing a tutu and a distressed mesh top, elegantly pirouettes and then dips into the arms of dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied. “That's it,” director Darren Aronofsky calls out. “Very nice.”

But something apparently is not quite right. Millepied, who stands not unlike the statue of David in tights, quietly confers with Portman and then, separately, with Aronofsky. Soon, “Let's do it again,” the director says.

It's the middle of the 42-day production of “Black Swan,” Aronofsky's Dec. 3 release and the follow-up to his critically acclaimed “The Wrestler.” Once again, award season attention is swirling around Aronofsky's ability to draw a remarkable turn from an actor who is playing a performer perilously close to the edge. “The Wrestler” starred Mickey Rourke as a lumbering, doped-up giant who'd been chewed up by an unforgiving profession.

In “Black Swan,” Portman plays Nina, a ballerina who's way too deeply invested in playing the lead in a production of “Swan Lake.” She becomes increasingly unhinged in her pursuit to satisfy the demands of her choreographer (Vincent Cassel) to embody not only the controlled, beautiful white swan but also the passionate, unbridled black swan of Tchaikovsky's ballet.

One of the film's central themes — that there's a tension between control and losing oneself in the pursuit of artistic perfection — is taking curious shape on Aronofsky's set, as he tries to harness a powerful new element outside of his expertise: dance. “Normally, when I work with an actor, I am telling them what a scene is about, and they turn it into emotion,” Aronofsky says. “But Benjamin turns it into movement.”

Continue reading after the jump >>

In a nondescript office building on Cahuenga Boulevard, Frank Darabont is putting the finishing touches on the end of the world. The writer-director, known for such Oscar-nominated feature films as “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile,” is now masterminding the zombie apocalypse with his new television series, “The Walking Dead.”

Adapted from Robert Kirkman's graphic novels, “Walking Dead” follows survivors struggling to retain their humanity in a nightmarish world overrun by the undead. Darabont insists that the show, which debuts on AMC on Halloween, is allowing him the opportunity to marry his A-list sensibility with his inner geek.

Continue reading after the jump >>

It's hours before the Emmy Awards and Keri Russell is in a bathrobe in her hotel room, holding two phones to her ears. Her hairstylist is arriving, and she's feeling overwhelmed by all the primping that's about to take place.

The intense glamour regimen required by the awards circuit and the self-promotion that comes with a network TV series is a huge leap from the ungussied lifestyle she leads in Brooklyn, where the former “Felicity” actress rides her bicycle to the market and returns home with bags of food strapped to the back.

“Keri is so low maintenance, she makes Jason Bateman look like Gloria Swanson,” said Will Arnett, her costar in the new Fox comedy “Running Wilde.”

It's a folksy way of life, somewhat similar to that of the 34-year-old's latest character. In “Running Wilde,” Russell plays Emmy, who has spent her adult life as an environmental activist until her childhood sweetheart, the filthy-rich and foolishly extravagant Steve Wilde (Arnett), tries to win back her affection. But Emmy's philanthropic tendencies serve her ego more than they do humanity — and that, contrasted with her ability to be “so damn likeable,” according to Arnett, makes for some amusing moments.

“I think people will be surprised to see just how funny she is,” Arnett said. “Her character is so uptight and so rigid compared to mine; it allows for humor to reveal itself in unconventional ways.”

“Running Wilde” is her first full-time gig as a comedic foil. At the start of her career in the early '90s, Russell appeared on Disney's “The All New Mickey Mouse Club.”

“She hasn't really done a lot of comedy, but she's such a good student of whatever she's doing,” Arnett said. “It's really surprising how she can offset the seething anger and bitterness that you can only acquire through years of ‘The Mickey Mouse Club.'”

Russell brought some old promotional images showcasing a “humongous head of hair” to the “Running Wilde” set.

“The outfits alone from those days were comedy gold,” she said. “Maybe that's enough to prep me for this gig.”

-- Yvonne Villarreal

Photo: Kerri Russell poses for a portrait earlier this month. Credit: Carolyn Cole for the Times

2010 FALL TV PREVIEW: The heroic action figure gets a feminine touch this season, with Kelli Giddish's U.S. marshal, Maggie Q's assassin and Gugu Mbatha-Raw's spy leading the brawls.

Giddish is downright confident the gal she calls “Queen Bee” — the flesh-and-blood U.S. marshal training her to trail fugitives for NBC's new Jerry Bruckheimer drama “Chase” — means business.

“She weighs about a buck 15,” the gravelly voiced, sunny-haired actress said of the petite Houstonian. “She's a blondie. She wears her mascara. And she can kick your....”

The Georgia-born Giddish, 30, is also describing her Texas-size TV alter ego, U.S. Marshal Annie Frost, one of the 2010-11 season's empowered, action-adventure tough chicks whose job is to take charge, take names and take down the bad guys.

In the “Chase” premiere, which aired Sept. 20, Giddish jumped out of a helicopter to tackle a man twice her size, leapt off a bridge to river-wrestle a serial killer and flipped a dude over her shoulder with his own belt — which she ripped off his waist while he has her headlocked. “Take on Annie's ponytail,” she said, “and she'll take you down, buddy.”

Continue reading after the jump >>

2010 FALL TV PREVIEW:

‘House'

Fox, 8 p.m. Mondays

House = happy. Huh? No, you are not hallucinating. Cuddy loves him. We know she told him she didn't. But then she told him she did. They kissed. Just like in the hallucination. But it was real. Which means House is no longer popping pills and he has a girlfriend? What show is this again?

‘Glee'

Fox, 8 p.m. Tuesdays

Don't make me throw a Slushie in your face, you Lima loser. Just because New Directions lost at regionals doesn't mean you have a right to be insulting. They are winners because they have Mr. Schue and they have each other. And we all have Sue Sylvester.

‘Modern Family'

ABC, 9 p.m. Wednesdays

Today's lesson in family dynamics: Do not force your family members to wear the same color for a family portrait. If you do, you might end up with red wine on a white shirt, your stepmother kissing your husband on national TV, your brother's face-to-face confrontation with a Karmic pigeon, and a little boy marveling at his weight loss when he mistakenly wears his grandfather's underwear. And a mud fight to boot.

Finish catching up after the jump >>

“Undercovers” is one of the fall's more high-profile offerings, largely because of the involvement of marquee producer-director J.J. Abrams, the powerhouse behind “Alias,” “Lost” and “Fringe.” Abrams, who directed the big-screen revamp of “Star Trek” and is also in charge of the latest entries in the “Mission: Impossible” movie franchise, cowrote and directed the pilot for the series, and is an executive producer.

But the anticipation about the Abrams brand has been almost overtaken by the buzz over the fact that the show's two leading roles, Boris Kodjoe (“Soul Food,” “Madea's Family Reunion”) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (“Doctor Who”), are both black. The casting has brought the show more scrutiny, since having two minority actors in lead roles in a drama is a rarity on primetime network television.

The race issue has brought an edgier perspective to the series, which is designed to be light, fun and, most important, uncomplicated — you won't find any vanishing islands, flash-forwards or Rambaldi artifacts here.

Continue reading after the jump >>