Top 2014 films selected

    From “Birdman” to “Unbroken,” the American Film Institute (AFI) selected several films as its top picks for 2014, the organization said on December 8.

    Breaking the traditional selection of 10 films for the first time, the annual AFI list compiled 11 picks, including “American Sniper,” “Boyhood,” “Foxcatcher,” “The Imitation Game,” “Interstellar,” “Into the Woods,” “Nightcrawler,” “Selma” and “Whiplash.”

    James Franco to voice ‘The Little Prince’

    “The Little Prince,” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, is one of the most beloved and popular children’s books in print. And now, it’s about to have one more translation — into film!

    The CGI-stop motion film, which comes out in October 2015, is directed by Mark Osborne. It will feature the voice talents of James Franco, Benicio Del Toro, Rachel McAdams and Ricky Gervais.

    ‘IDA’ wins European Film Awards

    Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Ida,” a drama about a young novitiate* nun* who discovers her parents were Jewish and perished in the Holocaust, dominated the European Film Awards on December 13, winning five prizes, including best film, best director and people’s choice.

    “Ida” also won the special presentations award at the 2013 Toronto film festival. It has been nominated for best foreign language film at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and for the foreign-language Academy Award.

    ‘SPECTRE’ script stolen

    Early villains have emerged in the next James Bond film “SPECTRE”: hackers who stole a version of the screenplay as part of a devastating* cyberattack on Sony Pictures.

    Producers of the James Bond films said they learned on December 13 that an early version of the “SPECTRE” script was among material stolen and made public by hackers.

    “Eon Productions is concerned that third parties who have received the stolen screenplay may seek to publish it or its contents,” Eon said in a statement while warning that the script is protected by U.K. copyright laws.(SD-Agencies)