Hey Everyone, generally I would be the one out in the cold to bring you coverage of some convention or festival, but this time I’m teaming up with the folks at a little publication called Variety to bring you the scoop on this week’s Sundance Film Festival. I’m sure they don’t have the vast resources at EM to do it right ;) So check this space for tons of coverage.

I was going to post this yesterday, but the Heath Ledger tragedy took priority and somehow talking about the Oscar race after his death seemed a little weird. I have to say that while I’m not enthused with this year’s selections, I agree with most of them. The only rant that I would have is Atonement and Michael Clayton Best Picture? Really? Does Cate Blanchett have blackmail material on the voters? She’s the new Tom Hanks, if she farts on screen she’ll get an Oscar Nomination. I hate Cate Blanchett, but I will admit she was strong in Elizabeth - in all her pasty face glory. Those were two of the worst films that I have seen all year. Love to see Juno got love. Atonement for best musical score? Are these people tone deaf? It was like nails on a chalkboard. I DESPISED the music in Atonement. Enchanted had THREE songs nominated and only one from Once? They couldn’t give Eddie Vedder a nod for his song from Into The Wild? Really? I liked Enchanted, didn’t love it and think it’s a tad overrated, but I thought the music was AWFUL and not that movie’s strong point. Where’s King of Kong for best Documentary? For those that care, here is the complete list.

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Generally, I don’t report news like this on the site because I don’t have anything to say when someone dies. Especially someone that I don’t know.  But I feel that I must comment on the death of Heath Ledger. He was probably one of my top 5 favorite actors. I loved everything that he’s done, he was always interesting, charismatic and made really good choices. Even when he wasn’t the star of a film and just part of an ensemble cast. Where most young stars play it safe, he took chances and his body of work was really diverse.  Heath was found dead in a New York City apartment today. I’m not going to speculate on the cause of death.  His talent will be missed.

Heath Ledger always enjoyed acting in school plays, and was usually cast in the lead. At the age of 10 he volunteered with a local theater company, and at 16 he landed his first professional role in Blackrock, a dead-serious Australian movie about rape and its aftermath. At 17 he played a gay cyclist on Sweat, a down-under TV series about elite athletes. He said he wanted that role because there were so few gays on television, he figured he could get some attention if he did the role justice. And he did. On the strength of Sweat, he was offered Roar, an action-adventure series for America’s Fox TV in 1997, with a pre-Felicity Keri Russell as the princess who loved him. True to the show’s title, Ledger, playing a fifth-century Celtic prince seeking vengeance for his brother’s murder, would roar before going into battle, but the show went out with a whimper in less than two months.

He was still virtually unknown in America when he played a young lad with a shady past wooing Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You, based on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. In The Patriot he played Mel Gibson’s son, kidnapped by the British. In A Knight’s Tale, very loosely based on Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Knight’s Tale, Ledger swashbuckled and jousted with Rufus Sewell and established himself as a rising star. In Monster’s Ball he played Billy Bob Thornton’s vomiting, suicidal son, in Lords of Dogtown he played the surf shop owner who took skateboarding to the extreme, and in Brokeback Mountain he played the manly ranch hand who herds sheep with Jake Gyllenhaal. He met his fiancé, Michelle Williams, on the set of Brokeback Mountain, and Gyllenhaal is their daughter’s godfather.

Iron Man is one of the top 15 movies I’m looking forward to this year. I will say that I’m mixed on the first trailer. All of the Tony Stark bits were right on target. Exactly what I want and expect from an Iron Man film. But the in armor stuff with the planes at the end of the trailer looked terrible. I’m holding out hope that the movie will rock.  Of course a big film like this has a video game attached. I watched the demo at Comic-Con and it looks gorgeous.  Here are some brand new sceenshots from the game.

 

We have news on the video game for the Spiderwick Chronicles, including a ton of new screen shots. Players can choose to play as ANY of the three Grace children; each possessing unique abilities crucial to combating hordes of Goblins, hunting and capturing Faerie creatures and solving puzzles to successfully complete each mission. Players may also adventure through special tasks in the Spiderwick Estate as Thimbletack, the tiny Brownie who helps the Grace kids throughout their journey. Equipped with context sensitive controls for attacks and environment interaction, the game includes several combat elements, along with a creature collection component that allows players to log objects found during the journey into the Field Guide, earning the player new abilities, quest solutions or unlockable items.

 

Studios are getting smarter about web marketing. What is Sweding you ask? Sweding is what YouTube is all about! It’s when you take something you love and make it your own. Like Jerry (Jack Black) and Mike (Mos Def) do when they make their own versions of GHOSTBUSTERS, ROBOCOP, and RUSH HOUR.  Now you can show your creative filmmaking skills on the Be Kind Rewind YouTube page http://youtube.com/bekindmovie by shooting and posting an interpretation of your favorite film. Fans are already starting to Swede, check out the Lord of the Rings videos and others in the Favorites gallery. Yours could be there next!!  Official Synopsis: Jack Black stars in Be Kind Rewind, a one-of-a-kind comedy from the mind of writer/director Michel Gondry (Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Black stars as a loveable loser stuck in a life that’s too small for his big dreams. But when he unintentionally erases all the tapes in a video store where his best friend works, he devises a plan to satisfy the store’s few loyal customers by re-creating and re-filming every movie they decide to rent. Be Kind Rewind features a cast that includes Mos Def, Danny Glover, and Mia Farrow. It is scheduled for a February 22, 2008 release. Release Date: February 22, 2008 To get Sweded, visit the official site at: http://www.bekindmovie.com

Twentieth Century Fox and Apple(R) today announced Digital Copy for iTunes(R), which provides customers who purchase a DVD with an additional Digital Copy of the movie. Just like movies purchased from the iTunes Store, an iTunes Digital Copy can effortlessly be transferred to iTunes and then viewed on a PC or Mac(R), iPod(R) with video, iPhone(TM) or on Apple TV(R). The first DVD to make its debut with iTunes Digital Copy is the Special Edition DVD premiere of the Family Guy “Star Wars” parody, “Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest,” which is being released in stores today. Fox and Apple are planning to deliver many more DVDs with iTunes Digital Copy this year.

“One of the most requested features DVD buyers have been asking for is the ability to get the movies they bought into their iTunes library,” said Jim Gianopulos, chairman and chief executive officer of Fox Filmed Entertainment. “We’re thrilled to offer such an incredibly simple way for our customers to get even more out of their DVD purchase, and we look forward to releasing many more DVDs this year with iTunes Digital Copy.”

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I used to be one of those people who hated creating top 10 lists each year. I always found it kind of trite and cliche. Now find it an interesting exercise to see if I can remember even a third of the movies I saw, much less come up with a top ten list. This has been one of those years where nothing really excited me enough to attend a screening. So I probably only saw about 150 movies this year. Out of that short list here are my top 10 films of 2007. Followed by a quick parting shot at the worst.

10) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

The first two Pirates films are two of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t do the full walk-out because I had my Niece and Nephew with me. So I wondered the theater for 40 minutes and when I came back, they were still on that damn Island. I loathed everything about that film - especially Captain Jack Sparrow. A little of him goes a very long way. So needless to say I wasn’t looking forward to sitting through the 3rd and final installment, but something amazing happened, I loved Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. I thought the story worked really well, the set pieces were gorgeous, I didn’t find Sparrow as annoying - because he was used sparingly. It wasn’t as gross and slimy as the 2nd one and most of all everything made sense.

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For many people the quintessential rock and roll spoof is the classic mockumentary This is Spinal Tap. Walk Hard is a spoof of the Rock and Roll bio picture and the music industry, but it’s not trying to be Spinal Tap, and it’s not trying to be a spoof of E!’s True Hollywood Story.  Well, then again maybe it is.   Honestly, I’m not quite sure what it’s trying to be. The humor is not sophisticated, or dry, or even over the top. It goes for the sweet middle ground, and you know what?  That’s ok, because, for the most part this movie works.  The first 1/2 hour has some laugh out loud moments, 30 minutes into it, it clearly runs out of steam, but picks up again for the third act.

John C. Reilly’s Dewy Cox is part Elvis crossed with Johnny Cash, his music makes girls go wild.  He eventually falls in love with his own June Cash, his backup singer Darlene Madison (played by Jenna Fischer) He’s chasing the dream of one day writing the perfect song that sums up his entire life.  Along the way he has a series of tragedies including the death of his brother and mother which sends him spiraling out of control and into a world of drugs given to him by his constantly high band mate Sam (Tim Meadows). That’s about all the plot you need to know.  

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After several years of contentious bickering and lawsuits, Peter Jackson and Newline Cinema have kissed and made up. This means The Hobbit is officially a go.  Check out the full announcement.

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