Stan Winston: 1946-2008
Stan Winston, the father of modern special effects, died Sunday morning at his home in Malibu. Winston suffered from multiple myeloma, a disease he had been fighting off for years. ... read more
Gears of War heading to the big screen
First, the good news: Variety reports that a Gears of War film is being made by New Line and Temple Hill. Even better, it’s not being thrown together by... read more
George Clooney falls into Tourist trap
After optioning Olen Steinhauer's The Tourist last fall, Warner Brothers recently announced that Anthony Peckham will adapt the book into a screenplay as a star vehicle for George Clooney. Clooney's own Smokehouse production company will produce, with he, Grant Heslov and Nina Wolarsky to helm the project. The plot is about a man who (cue summer-movie announcer guy), accused of a murder he didn't commit, risks it all to unravel a conspiracy.... read more
War, Inc.
I wish I understood comedy enough to know why Dr. Strangelove makes... read more
Harry Potter mini-film coming to Universal Studios
Remember when J.K. Rowling said she was finished writing for the Harry Potter series? Turns out that lasted about as long as Jay-Z's retirement. It appears Rowling hasn't done away with her golden goose just yet, because the UK's Sunday Mirror is reporting that the she's written a brand new Harry Potter story to be adapted into a mini-film for the soon-to-open theme park at Universal Studios.... read more
The Shawshank Reunion to be held in Ohio this August
Conventions for movies are nothing new; they offer obsessives a chance to dust off their favorite costume and nerd it up with others who have just as much of a fixation over their media of choice. Now, a reunion, that's a little more classy. It seems that an anonymous member of the production team of The Shawshank Redemption knows this, because they've organized a get-together for the movie's cast and crew.... read more
Office spin-off show picks up Aziz Ansari
Chances are, not many are as thankful for the revamping of the NBC sitcom than Aziz Ansari. In the past two weeks, Ansari has signed on for parts in not just one, but two, of the network’s comedies that once again made Thursday nights “Must See TV.” ... read more
Catching Up With... Guy Maddin
It's safe to say that Guy Maddin's films look like no one else's. A throwback to early American and Weimar films, his avant-garde features show what has been lost by the current cinematic grammar while remaining extremely contemporary. His newest film, My Winnipeg... read more
The Incredible Hulk
It’s a common misconception that Marvel Studios’ The Incredible Hulk is... read more
Fresh Weeds: Little Boxes Dimebag #1 on sale tomorrow
If ever there was a reason to listen to the same song 10 times in a row, this is probably it. Weeds, the popular Showtime program chronicling the life of a suburban drug dealer/mom and her family, will release its Little Boxes Dimebag #1 tomorrow (June 17). The digital-only album features 10 versions of the show's iconic theme song, "Little Boxes," which is performed by a different artist at the start of each episode. This collection includes versions by Rise Against, Engelbert Humperdinck, Randy Newman and Billy Bob Thornton & The Boxmasters, amongst others.... read more
Paramount absorbs indie studio
[Above: The cast of Little Miss Sunshine]It's a sad season for independent films everywhere, but especially in Hollywood. As more and more movies flood the market, studios are being forced to scale back or absorb their indie studios. According to the Wall Street Journal, Paramount will disperse its label Paramount Vantage. The move will essentially save them a few million bucks per year.... read more
Encounters at the End of the World
"The National Science Foundation had invited me to Antarctica even though...” read more
Bob Odenkirk vs. Rogue Wave: the saga continues
There's something satisfying about seeing two heavyweights slugging it out, something about the grandiloquence of conflict between two binary opposites writ large. Ali Vs. Frazier. The Celtics Vs. The Lakers. Obama Vs. Clinton. Abbott & Costello Vs. Frankenstein. This world of epic matchups is poised to add another brawl to its ranks: Odenkirk Vs. Rogue Wave. As previously reported, the ex-Mr. Show star and the alt-rock up-and-comers recently had a fake spat over Mr. Odenkirk's artistic vision for their "Chicago X 12" music video. Well, it looks like Rogue Wave has responded with a salvo of their own, leaving little... read more
My Winnipeg
In his ninth feature, My Winnipeg, Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin uses... read more
Leonardo DiCaprio founding Atari as Nolan Bushnell
The rise and fall of the Atari empire is one of the fabled stories from the early days of video gaming, before games had elaborate orchestral soundtracks or fancy 3-D graphics. Heck, even before they had scrolling screens and a sound chip that could make more nuanced noises than "blip" or "bloop." As fascinating as this all is from a historical standpoint, it's a bit surprisng that this tale is being turned into a feature film with Leonardo DiCaprio as the star.... read more
The Happening
The Sixth Sense may be clever, but its coattails are only so long, and even if... read more
Sangre de mi sangre (Blood of My Blood)
Fusing a bit of Shake-spearean... read more
Jake Gyllenhaal moon film finds new writer
After recently receiving the crushing blow that Jake Gyllenhaal would not be appearing in the sequel to his breakthrough film Donnie Darko, rabbit-seeing psuedo-existential time traveling teens everywhere sighed an angst-ridden collective sigh. (At least, that's what we think they did.) But alas, there may be light at the end of the dreamy Gyllentunnel after all. ... read more
Quid Pro Quo
Billed as a steamy detective story about voluntary paralytics and... read more
Steroid doc Bigger, Faster, Stronger* hits theaters
Whatever your feelings on muscle men Sylvester Stallone and Hulk Hogan, you're going to want to see this. And it's getting easier: over the next few weeks, Christopher Bell's documentary about steroid culture, Bigger, Stronger, Faster*, will be expanding from 19 to 51 screens around the country.... read more
