• Interview with Morgan Spurlock – Director Morgan Spurlock Director of “Supersize Me” releases his new and controversial film, “Where in the World Is Osama bid Laden?” where he discusses and reveals information on the relationship between America and the Middle East.
• Lack of money and an abundance of creativity has won “Under the Bombs” many awards.  “Under the Bombs” is a French-Lebanese productions shot in 2006, only 4 days after the Israeli bombing of southern Lebanon. A woman hires a cabdriver to take her into a war zone to find her missing son and sister “For several days, they pass through the war-torn area, following the sometimes bloody trail of her loved ones who were displaced several times.”
• Sundance gvies the opportunity for a huge range of cultures to express themselves. Already they have shown films in which “An Israeli man and a Palestinian woman fall in love in Berlin against the backdrop of the 2006 World Cup. A white trailer park mom from upstate New York teams with a Mohawk nation woman to smuggle illegal Chinese and Pakistani immigrants into the U.S. A half-Italian, half-English art star living in the states tries to adopt a pair of orphaned Sudanese twins” and countless other films which deal with different cultures, but the same idea of coming together.
• Photo gallery of Sundance

If the strike doesn’t end before the Oscar ceremony on February 24th, it could stretch well into the second half of the year. That’s the current buzz in Hollywood. And the studios have stepped up, inviting the Writers Guild back to the round table for the first time since communication broke down on December 7th.

Scanning daily trade papers right now is like watching ancient reruns. While the industry awaits progress, reporters continue to speculate on the same issues, over and over: the WGA wants jurisdiction over new media. Will they get it? The WGA wants residuals on new media. Can they get it? The WGA wants jurisdiction over reality and animation programming. Can they accept the fact they probably won’t get it?

Studios dealt an intimidating blow to the writing community early last week, when Warner Bros. TV, CBS Paramount Network TV, 20th Cent. Fox TV and Universal Media Studios dropped the axe on a handful of contracts, officially severing ties with a total of almost 75 writers and producers. While the studios issued statements blaming those cuts on the strike, one WGA rep maintained that, “the responsibility for people losing their jobs or for deals being cut rests solely on the shoulders of the conglomerates that illegally walked out on negotiations December 7.”

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Yipee!!! Now the fun begins. . . Check out the full list here

Oscar nominations were announced this morning with There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men leading with 8 nominations apiece. But what were the surprises and snubs. . .

Well, it’s clear the Academy has no love for Into the Wild. Only scoring two nominations, the film has been hot and cold during awards season, but many expected it to gain at least a Best Director nod for Sean Penn. Maybe another year?

While the Academy may not love Into the Wild, they sure do love Cate Blanchett who was nominated twice: Best Actress for Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Best Supporting Actress for I’m Not There. The nod for There is no surprise, however, her inclusion in the Best Actress field sure is, bumping potential nominees Keira Knightly and Angelina Jolie out of the running. Another surprise in the Best Actress category is Laura Linney, whose work in The Savages has largely been unrecognized this award season.

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Best Picture Nominees

• Atonement
• Juno
• No Country for Old Men
• Michael Clayton
• There Will be Blood

Best Actor Nominees

• George Clooney in “Michael Clayton”
• Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood”
• Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
• Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah”
• Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises”

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For Part I of What’s the Buzz, click here.

In the last article, I took a look at the buzz surrounding a certain movie and how that can both have positive and negative effects. Now that it’s the weekend after, audiences have responded to the buzz surrounding Cloverfield, giving it a record breaking weekend at the box office despite lukewarm reviews. In other words, mission accomplished.

But the hype surrounding a certain film also has huge effects during award season. In fact, in many cases, it is believed to even pick winners for the industry’s most prestigious prize, the Academy Award.

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I am not a “family film” or “animal film” fan. I prefer action adventure, blow ‘em up, chase ‘em around kind of movies. So when my neighbors’ kids gave me the DVD “Firehouse Dog” I put it aside to watch “later”. I didn’t really think about it again until just recently. I happened to be in Petco and was talking to a guy who brought it up. He started telling me about the background of the movie and that it was made to honor a pooch named Rosebud.

The movie wasn’t about Rosebud’s life or anything like that. The filmmaker simply wanted a tribute to a very special dog. In looking for the right project they didn’t want a “talking dog” movie or anything like that, just a really special dog story. “Firehouse Dog” became that story. I decided to dust off the DVD and take a look this weekend.

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THE WINNER: Cloverfield
Weekend Gross: $41,000,000
Totak Gross: $41,000,000

27 Dresses:
Weekend Gross: $22,427,00
Total Gross: $22, 427,000

The Bucket List:
Weekend Gross: $15,150,000
Total Gross: $42,709,000

Juno:
Weekend Gross: $10,250,000
Total Gross: $85,376,533

National Treasure: The Book of Secrets:
Weekend Gross: $8,148,000
Total Gross: $198,030,000

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If I didn’t grow up in the 80’s, there’s no way in hell I would’ve ended up in LA. Here’s why:

The sheer triumph and power projected through Hollywood during the cocaine decade inspired me to dream beyond my anonymous hometown. Movies like “Teen Wolf,” “Three O’Clock High,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and everything in the John Hughes library struck a strident chord with kids like me: kids from the suburbs, kids who weren’t popular but weren’t unpopular, kids destined to remain ‘burbanites’ forever, only to assume middle class asshole status in the land of opportunity. But something happened inside of my mind every time I heard Michael J. Fox utter the words, “I’m sick. Of being. So average.” Something happened in my gut when I watched him turn into a werewolf and van-surf, then kick ass at basketball while a song called “Win in the End” played in the background. I tasted victory vicariously through a few dozen teen flicks of the 80’s, and have been chasing that high ever since.

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First, let me say that as a film critic I have a difficult job. Especially when one enjoys the cinema. Which of course begs the question, why would you be a film critic if you didn’t? My point being, there’s an obligation to tell the truth about what was seen and give you an honest opinion. So it is with a sad face and lightened wallet that this review begins.

Once again, it appears that those silly previews have done me in. You expect so much and then, Wham! Congratulations, you’ve just been had. Such is the case in “Cassandra’s Dream.” With heavy hitters like Colin Farrell, Ewan McGregor, Tom Wilkinson, and director Woody Allen at the helm, surely something good would come of it right? Nope.

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