The Ultimate DVD Geek
The Island
by Doug Pratt

Bay describes the basics of the production, and also attempts to justify his choices. "There are people who think that some of the product [placement] in this movie, that we were whoring out the movie and we were making the commercial. Now let's face it guys, the world is focused on products. Products surround us and for us to think in the year 2019 we're not still going to be focused and have products and labels, flying at us from every different vantage point, is just unreal, it's not a true world. So that's my statement for people who have given me a hard time for thinking I'm just trying to whore out the movie and just make a big advertisement."

Who Will Get Nominated? Best Supporting Actress For eight days, you can put your powers of Oscar prognostication to the test. Each day a different category. Each day someone wins an award season collection of DVDs. Wed: Supporting Actress Tuesday: Original Screenplay

Sundance on Ice by Ray Pride After seeing the deeply disturbing, angry, vital doc The Ground Truth: After the Killing Ends, about the abandonment of Iraq War veterans by the US government, I was hypnotized by the flag waving behind Cisero's, at a pour for filmmakers and journalists. Nearby, Mexican director Carlos Reygada (Battle of Heaven) and his crew are conspiring in Spanish and Kirby Dick and Eddie Schmidt (This Film Is Not Yet Rated) are talking about censorship.

The Reeler A Good Listener by ST VanAirsdale "The story was just so unbelievably intense," Collette said when asked how she prepared. "I think basically this woman is very needy and wants love, and I think it's a very basic need to take it to the nth degree. I feel sorry for her. And I don't know how I prepared for it."

10 Days Of Sundance The Illusionst And The Science Of Sleep by David Poland The Science of Sleep appears to be Michel Gondry's "Fuck you, Charlie" to Charlie Kaufman, who seems to have gotten far too much credit for Gondry's taste for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Again, waking sleep is a focus. But, unfortunately, this time Gondry only has himself to structure the narrative and he could have used a real screenwriter.

Sundance: Status Kuo Episode Eight: The Irascible Harold Wexler (quicktime) Haskell Wexler had just finished with an afternoon of press interviews when he stopped to share with us his first 24 hours of Sundancing before heading off to dinner with his wife Rita and Who Needs Sleep? producer Tamara Maloney." Episode Nine: Michael Rappaport At The Premiere Of His Movie, Special Episode Ten: Are You On The List? Earlier Episodes .

The Weekend Report
by Leonard Klady

Underworld: Evolution sent a chill through the domestic marketplace with a potent debut estimated at $27.1 million. The vampire yarn far out-distanced all competition including no better than fair launches of the family values End of the Spear and the national bow of The New World. Nonetheless, it was a sufficient lead to send grosses soaring above 2005 levels and bear out the old industry saw about it being a "product driven" marketplace.
Weekend Estimates (Full List)
Domestic Market Share

20 Weeks To Oscar
Looking Back With Forward Still Ahead
by David Poland

Before we get to the real surprises, in two weeks, let's look at what surprises we can take away from this year's Oscar season so far.

TINKLE TINKLE - Can you hear that? Every time a bell rings, someone becomes a star. This year that someone is Terrence Howard, who has not only given great performances, but has also shown himself to be up to the superstar game off the screen.

The Oscar Charts
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The Gurus Look At The Big Eight Categories ...

Best Picture
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Original Screenplay
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Director

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It's Oscartown, Jake
Acquiescence
by Kristopher Tapley

Brokeback Mountain, Good Night, and Good Luck. and Syriana (to a lesser extent) continue to pop up as major awards contenders, forcing the season into a state of predictability at this point. But I think it's important to grasp - at the very least - that the state of art in the cinema has come to a point of concentrated statements much like the invigorating work that came out of the 1970s.

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MCN DVD Wrap-Up
The Constant Gardener

The Constant Gardner was as provocative as it was exciting to watch … unusual for a picture grounded in the dramatization of such a complex socio-economic issue as unethical pharmaceutical research. More>>

The Hot Button: The Constant Gardner is two movies. It is a mystery/thriller, set in Kenya. It is also a powerful love story.

Plus: Wedding Crashers: Uncorked, Broken Flowers, The Constant Gardener, Hustle & Flow, Saraband, The Magnificent Seven, Dead Poet's Society, Good Morning Vietnam, Secuestro Express, Café Lumiere, Missing in America, Strong Medecine, Gunsmoke, All In The Family, Rebus, The Pale Horse: Agatha Christie, Hands of a Murderer, Gerald McBoing Boing, Stormy Weather, Hallelujah, Green Pastures, A Great Day In Harlem, The Gospel: Special Edition, Snatch: Deluxe Edition

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Updated throughout the day
Updated: 9:28 pm

Chris Penn Dies At 43

Miramax Shooting At The Night Listener, Picturehouse Trying To Lock Up Half-Nelson, Deals For Stephanie Daley, Open Window, The Illusionist, And Still, Wordplay, Expected Soon

A Deal Driven By Fear
Earlier - It's A $7.4 Billion Marriage For Disney And Pixar

Germain On Dick's Ratings Rant

From The Guy Who Gave Us Dodgeball: Magnum PI: The Movie

Everybody Hates Chris Meets Smallville
WB + UPN = The CW

Mizrahi's Back For The Oscar Red Carpet, But Academy Is Watching Carefully
"I can predict we would be extraordinarily angry if that happened on our carpet. I cannot predict what we would do afterwards"

MTV Looks Back At The Lighter Side Of Cross-Dressing In Film

Factory Girl Finds A Home With The Weinstein Co

The Academy Museum Finds A Hollywood Location

Eve And The Fire Horse And Roger Ebert

Sundance: The Science Of Sleep Goes To Warner Independent
And - The News From Park City

Tourtellotte On The Immigration Subtext Of Sundance 2006

Spielberg Finally Gets A Bit Pissed About The Treatment Munich Has Gotten
Earlier - Tony Kushner Defends Munich Territory

The Reeler On Night Listener and Wordplay

Sundance: The Bidding War For The Science Of Sleep Begins
Earlier - Bobcat's Doggie Tale
And - Sunday, Sunday

The Producers Guild Loves Brokeback

Picture Sundance On Ice

Cannes Opens With Ron Howard And The DaVinci Code

September Dawn: History Of Religious Fervor And Violence Right Here At Home

Sundance Buzz Dead Wrong... As Usual... P-Rice Buys LMS For $10 Million
Earier - Sundance Buzz Says Paramount Buys Little Miss Sunshine Starring Steve Carrell

Smart Uses For CGI, Dreams John Patterson

New ClearPlay-Like Battle... Pre-Loaded iPods

Anthony Kaufman On The Withering Market In America For Foreign Films

The Sundance Kid Finds The Thought Of An Affleck/Damon Remake Depressing

The Always Intense Tony Franciosa Dies At Age 77

Geoff Pevere Thinks Some Movies Are Way Too Long, And He Says God Agrees With Him

The Sundance Year Of The Music Doc: Hip-Hop & Manhood, The Talking Heads, Neil Young, And The Beastie Boys

20 Worthy Performances That Shouldn't Get Forgotten At Voting Time From Claudia Puig

Mark Lawson Explains Why Cache (Hidden) Is A Critic Fave - And Why It Should Be

Marr & Wingfield Report That Disney/Pixar Talks Are Heating Up... But Is The News Just An Attempt To Find Out If Wall Street Will See This As The Next AOL Merger?

Halbfinger Hearts Alpha Dog's Nick Casavettes

The Man Dances With The Attitude (Or Is That Altitude?) That Brung Her
"Despite the hype and the frigid climes Sundance remains invaluable - wildly annoying, but invaluable."

The BAFTAs Have Nominated

AMPAS Has Spoken ..
Kris Tapley On Syriana's Screenplay Switch Midstream - It's Not Adapted, It's Original

USA Today Previews Ten At Sundance
The News From Park City

He Shoulda' Been A Cowboy
Harry Hamlin's Gay Love Story Movie Didn't Make Him A Star

David Germain Gets Excited About 2006

Jack Mathews Makes A Case For Terence Howard, Crash And Capote

Sundance Trailers To Whet The Appetite
Michael Rappaport's Special
Sarah Polley in The Secret Life of Words

When Animators Blog

So Distubing For So Many Reasons ..
Captain Kirk, A Kidney Stone, And Someone Willing To Pay $25k

International Tensions And Other Challenges Of Rating Memoirs Of A Geisha In China

Last Year Ray, This Year Walk The Line: The March Of The Musical Bio-Pics

Russia's Museum Of Cinema Goes Dark

Malaysia's Intellectual Property Protection & The MPAA Team Up On Piracy

Scott & Emanuel Globeathize

The Art Directors Nominate

"I'm Campaignin' Here..."
The Original Brokeback Ride, Midnight Cowboy, Set For A Glamorous DVD Re-Release, Just In Time For What Is Hoped to Be The Peak Of The Brokeback Mountain

"What The HELL Happened To That Copy Of The Flamingo Kid They Were Sending Me?"

That Great Opening Song From The Golden Globes

The Sundance High School & The Hard Core Art Film

LouLu Looks At Aniston Craziness For Sundance Kickoff, Friends With Money

Kathleen Turner On What Really Makes A Woman Sexy And Why You Don't See It In Movies

Golden Globe Goes
Brokeback Mountain, Walk The Line
Hoffman/Huffman/Phoenix/ Witherspoon
Film And Television

Hans Zimmer To Score Da Vinci Code

ThinkFilm Grabs Down In The Valley

The 177 Film Santa Barbara Film Festival Line-Up

David Thomson On Marshall Fine On John Cassavetes

The Online FIlm Critics Give A Little Love To A History Of Violence And Sin City

A Good Piece On The Roll Out Of Digital Projection... Except For The Lazy & Inaccurate "Can This Save Theatrical?" Obsession

A Piece On The New Kirby Dick Doc That Seems Too Busy Trying To Be Blog-Clever To Actually Be Clear About Its Point

Tricks For Marketing A Small Movie

How Many Times Have You Seen Walk The Line? She's Heading Towards #63

Roger Ebert Remembers Chuck Jones And His Looney Tunes

How Did MCN Miss The Title Bump Of Ms. Utley & Mr. Gilula Moving Into The COO Position In The P-Rice Empire?