In 2004, writer-director Pablo Berger delivered an unlikely yet charming little Spanish-Danish comedic hybrid, “Torremolinos 73,” about an exasperated encyclopedia salesman who, along with his wife, accidentally trips into a career directing pornographic movies for import to Northern European countries. It took more than eight years for his totally different but equally unique follow-up, “Blancanieves,” the winner of 10 Goya Awards, the Spanish equivalent of the Academy Awards. (The film was also Spain’s official Best Foreign Language Film Oscar submission.) In a case of good news/bad news, though, Berger’s movie — a black-and-white silent film that re-imagines the tale of Snow White through the prism of bullfighting, while also serving as  [ Read More ]

With the success of last year’s Academy Award-winning romance comedy-drama ‘The Artist,’ the third annual My French Film Festival is showcasing the recent talent in French cinema. UniFrance Films has partnered with Eurocinema, the North American television and satellite platform for the online festival, which is currently running until February 17. The festival’s on-demand television channel is available in 30 million homes through major cable operators, including Comcast, Cablevision and Verizon. My French Film Festival, which was created by Regine Hatchondo, the Executive Director of UniFrance films, has increased in popularity with film fans all over the world. Last year, the second edition of the festival registered 1.3 million viewings  [ Read More ]

Penelope Ann Miller has filed for legal separation from her husband of nearly 12 years, James Huggins, TMZ is reporting. The actress, who appeared in this year’s Academy Award-winning film for Pest Picture, ‘The Artist,’ filed the papers on March 14 in the L.A. Superior Court. Miller and Huggins have two children together, 11-year-old Eloisa and two-year-old Maria. The actress cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the divorce. Miller requested to terminate the court’s ability to award spousal support to Huggins. She also requested sole legal and physical custody of the children, with Huggins receiving child visitation rights. Written by: Karen Benardello

The box office results for the weekend of March 2nd – 4th sees audiences flocking to the world of Dr. Seuss once again. Nearly tripling runner-up “Project X”, Universal finally has a reason to celebrate its 100th anniversary with its first big hit of the year. Here are the studio estimates: 1. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax ($70.7 million) 2. Project X ($20.7 million) 3. Act of Valor ($13.7 million) 4. Safe House ($7.2 million) 5. Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds ($7 million) 6. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island ($6.9 million) 7. The Vow ($6.1 million) 8. This Means War ($5.6 million) 9. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance ($4.7 million) 10. The  [ Read More ]

Who’s ready to take a baby step towards the summer season? Sure, May is still a ways away, but March tends to be a month for movies that have blockbuster qualities. Then again, that likely won’t pertain to Project X. Todd Phillips hit it big with The Hangover, but that was an R-rated comedy made for an 18+ audience. Project X, however, is for a demographic that won’t be able to get in to see it. Still, it could end up kicking off its run with about $15 million, somewhat similar to Easy A. The Lorax, on the other hand, is undoubtedly off to a big start, likely scoring just  [ Read More ]

It’s hard not to be happy if you receive an award, especially one so great as the Independent Spirit Award. Yesterday the annual awards show took place in Santa Monica where a mixture of the mainstream and independent cinema crowd all curled up together under one tent to honor all those movies that were voted the best of the year. After some of the filmmakers and actors received their awards they were brought over to the press room where we talked to them about taking home the wonderfully crafted statue. Easily one of the happiest recipients of them all was screenwriter Will Reiser who won the award for Best First  [ Read More ]

Penelope Ann Miller sparkled in Blue Nile jewelry as she graced the red carpet at the 84th Academy Awards at the Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, California. The actress, who played Doris in the Oscar winner for Best Picture, the first silent film to win the award since the inaugural ceremony in 1929, wore a three-carat pink diamond ring, surrounded by pink and white diamonds. Miller also wore an art-deco 24-carat diamond encrust cuff bracelet and 11-carat halo drop diamond earrings. The jewelry is part of Blue Niels’ “Extraordinary Collection,” which was exclusively created for celebrity red carpet appearances and Hollywood premiere events. Blue Nile jewelry is considered to  [ Read More ]

Members of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have sung their praises for the silent frontrunner of the 84th Academy Awards, honoring the romantic dramedy ‘The Artist’ with Best Picture. The movie is the first silent film to win Hollywood’s most respectable award since the original Oscar ceremony in 1929, when William A. Wellman’s ‘Wings’ was honored. In all, ‘The Artist’ won five awards at the 2012 Academy Awards, which were broadcast live on ABC from the Hollywood & Highland Centre in Hollywood, California. Actor Jean Dujardin won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of George Valentin in the film, making him the first French actor  [ Read More ]

Host Seth Rogen said during his opening monologue “With all the four seasons, there’s no season better than awards season.” For a town like Los Angeles, he speaks the truth. The whole city lights up in the warm glow of awards season around this time every year as Hollywood’s brightest and most talented are given prestigious awards further heightening their career. But what about the independent circuit? That’s where Film Independent comes in, an organization that formed the Independent Spirit Awards that not only honors some of the mainstream cinema we all are acquainted with but tips their hats to the indie front where the constant passion for filmmaking always  [ Read More ]

To help Netflix compete with pay cable movie channels, The Weinstein Company has made a deal to make some of the studio’s foreign language, documentary and other movies exclusively available to users of the on demand Internet streaming media, Slashfilm is reporting. As a result, such films as ‘The Artist,’ ‘Coriolanus’ and ‘W.E.’ will premiere on the Netflix Watch Instantly service, instead of such movie channels as HBO or Starz. The deal was reportedly made because The Weinstein Company’s research shows that certain movies will likely perform better with Netflix subscribers, instead of on cable. However, the deal is viewed as a blow to cable company deals. Other films making  [ Read More ]

Penelope Ann Miller sparkled in Blue Nile Jewelry as she attended the 2012 Screen Actors Guild Awards on January 29 in Los Angeles. The actress, who was nominated for Best Ensemble for ‘The Artist,’ wore Blue Nile sapphire and diamond stud earrings, ring and bracelet, and a premier eternity diamond bracelet. The sapphire and diamond pieces are part of Blue Nile’s “Extraordinary Collection,” and were created for celebrity red carpet appearances and Hollywood premiere events. Miller also wore Blue Nile jewelry, an iolite and diamond earrings and a ten carat vintage-inspired diamond cuff bracelet, at the Director’s Guild of America awards. The ceremony, which was held the evening before the  [ Read More ]

The ensemble cast of 2011′s hit drama ‘The Help’ were among the surprising winners at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. The ceremony, which was held Sunday, January 29, 2012 at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center and aired live on TNT and TBS at 8pm ET/5pm PT, presented the Actor statuette for the outstanding film and prime-time television performances of 2011. The guild, which is often the most accurate predictor of who’s going to win Academy Awards, awarded Viola Davis for her performance as Aibileen Clark in ‘The Help.’ She beat front-runner Meryl Streep, who won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama for her  [ Read More ]

Drama, drama, drama. And no, I’m not referring to the genre. We’ve got folks at odds all throughout the industry. India’s Central Board of Film Certification isn’t happy with the level of nudity in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but David Fincher isn’t willing to make the required cuts, so it looks like Dragon Tattoo will be a no go for India. Similarly, Hungary gave a rather naughty Shame poster the thumbs down. On the other hand, we’ve also got quite a bit of film appreciation floating around out there, namely the nominations for the 84th Academy Awards. Hugo topped the pack with 11 honors while The Artist followed  [ Read More ]

It’s been a few hours since the official list of nominations for this year’s 84th Annual Academy Awards were announced, and in typical fashion, not everyone is happy with all of the results, which include myself. Now it’s time to air out what was the best, and the worst, of this morning’s quick broadcast, along with a few predictions of who could win what. Again, Just Let “The Artist” Win Best Picture Already The Michel Hazanavicius film has been practically sweeping every other awards show that it’s been nominated into, so why wouldn’t it walk away with a couple of golden boys under it’s belt? It’d be surprising if this  [ Read More ]

Here come the superheroes! We’ve got The Avengers plot details as well an update on Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot. On top of that, there are a slew of new stills floating around out there including a few from The Dark Knight Rises and a shot of a duo that might as well be superheroes, Sylvester Stallone and Yu Nan in The Expendables 2. Over in awards season territory, Jennifer Lawrence nabbed the opportunity to unveil the Academy Award nominees alongside Tom Sherak while the critics already revealed their favorite films of the year, which consisted of The Artist, The Help and more. Looking further into the future, James Cameron’s next  [ Read More ]