Photo: The Weinstein CompanyYou've heard of The Supremes. But have you heard of The Sapphires?

The true story of Australian soul music coming to Vietnam is told (and sung) in "The Sapphires," director Wayne Blair's musical biopic that, like "Good Morning, Vietnam" before it, looks at one of the most destructive conflicts of the 20th century through the eyes of entertainers who brought at least temporary relief to those who fought it.

The film opens in 1968 in Australia, where four talented Aboriginal women -- Gail (Deborah Mailman), Julie (Jessica Mauboy), Kay (Shari Sebbens) and Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell) -- are discovered by Dave Lovelace (Chris O'Dowd), a talent scout who convinces them to drop their country and western act and shapes them into the soul group sensation known as The Sapphires. They end up scoring the ultimate gig in, of all places, Vietnam, where they entertain the U.S. troops stationed in Saigon ... often at a risk to their own lives.

"The Sapphires," which is based on the stage play of the

Photo: Kevin Winter/WireImage

A clever pop culture reference with a Viagra joke thrown in … this is Seth MacFarlane’s Oscar night, all right.

MacFarlane, who expanded on his animated TV empire (“Family Guy,” “American Dad,” “The Cleveland Show”) in 2012 with his first feature film, the hit comedy “Ted,” has been tapped to host the 2013 Academy Awards presentation. One of the first promo spots for the show has been released, and suggests McFarlane’s trademark sense of raunchy humor will carry the day.

'Star Trek Into Darkness' cover (Photo: Entertainment Weekly)First of all, yes, there is still a new "Star Trek" movie coming out this summer. We had almost forgotten about it with all the "Star Wars" stuff going on. (And with secretive director J.J. Abrams in the captain’s chair for both sci-fi epics, we’re scrounging for any scraps of information we can get.)

And yes, we're still not quite sure of the exact identity of the villain Benedict Cumberbatch is supposed to be playing in May's “Star Trek Into Darkness.” Actually, we were about to throw in the towel on trying to figure it out, even admitting to ourselves that maybe there's really nothing secret at all about who the bad guy is and maybe he's just indeed some dude named "John Harrison" ...

... and then the new Entertainment Weekly came out.

Photo: Open Road Films

In the first half of my interview with director Steven Soderbergh, he went into great detail about what he's going to do during his retirement: He's looking to do nothing less than reinvent cinema.

In this second half, Soderbergh talks about his insanely busy schedule -- he's made five, count 'em five, movies in the past two years -- the difficulties of working in Hollywood, and how he completely freaked out of Matt Damon.

Photo: WireImageJesse Eisenberg, Emile Hirsch, and Diane Kruger have all signed on for the upcoming film “Midnight Sun,” about the making of the atomic bomb. The film marks the second feature as director by veteran character actor Chris Eigeman.

Eigeman's razor-sharp, hyper-articulate performances in ‘90s indie films like “Barcelona,” “Kicking and Screaming,” and “The Last Days of Disco” established him as something of an icon (the scene in “The Last Days of Disco” where Eigeman snorts hot black coffee to determine its similarity to cocaine being a particular highlight).

While a few unsuccessful projects followed, Eigeman persevered, appearing in memorable recent appearances on TV's “Girls” and “Bunheads.” In 2007 Eigeman directed his first film, “Turn The River,” which received positive critical notice. For “Midnight Sun,” his follow-up, Eigeman has enlisted Richard Rhodes, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the book “The Making of the Atomic Bomb,” as a consultant. (When making a film about the

Photo: Alliance FilmsRob Zombie's “Lords of Salem” leads an enticing slate of features at South By Southwest (SXSW)'s Midnighters program this year. The rocker-turned-horror director's latest, a riff in his inimitable style about witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last September and hits theaters this April 19^th.

Photo: Focus FeaturesGood news for animation fans – the folks who brought you “ParaNorman”

and “Coraline” have a brand new project in the works.

Laika, the Oregon-based animation studio who’ve earned critical acclaim and solid box-office returns with their ambitious blend of stop-motion animation and CGI, have announced they’re partnering with Focus Features to make “The Boxtrolls.”

The fantasy is based on “Here Be Monsters,” a popular novel for children from artist and author Alan Snow. The announcement comes as “ParaNorman” has won two Annie Awards (the animation industry’s Oscar), and is up for an Academy Award as Best Animated Feature.

“The Boxtrolls” tells the story of a community of eccentric underground dwellers who dress themselves in cardboard and survive by scavenging the cast-offs of the wealthy people of Cheesebridge. For some time, the Boxtrolls have been caring for a child who lost his parents as a baby, but as the daughter of a well-to-do family befriends the lad and his companions, they’re targeted by a maniacal exterminator who is convinced the Boxtrolls are monsters and not to be trusted.

Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy in 'Identity Thief' (Photo: Universal Pictures)This weekend ushers in a big-screen comedy that tests the limits of the road trip movie formula with head-and-neck punches, snake bites, car crashes and some excruciatingly uncomfortable roadside run-ins. It's only fitting we take a look back at torturous scenes in road trip movies through the years.

But first: In "Identity Thief," Diana (Melissa McCarthy) is so busted when the man whose identity she has stolen (Jason Bateman) comes a-knocking. Sandy Patterson's effort to hunt down his outrageous lady criminal spirals into a series of awkward, cringe-worthy and downright painful circumstances. Beyond all the physical beat-downs both characters endure, the most excruciating moment in the film is perhaps when Sandy -- who must stay in close proximity to Diana at all times -- is forced to listen to her spend a weird, loud, passionate night with a gentleman she just met at a roadside bar -- quite memorably played by Eric Stonestreet (see the clip below).

See some of the most painful road trip movie moments of all time: