Reel Artsy

Music Video: She & Him "In The Sun"

2010-03-09T19:28:00.001-05:00

M. Ward is too cool for you. Zooey Deschanel dances in the library and hula hoops in the gym. "In The Sun" is proof that She & Him's upcoming album Volume 2 is picking up right where their debut album left off...amazing.

[HT The Playlist / Pitchfork]

TV Tonight - Lost

2010-03-09T15:12:00.001-05:00

A new episode, entitled Dr. Linus, airs tonight at 9/8c on ABC. Ben deals with the consequences of an uncovered lie. It was written by Edward Kitsis/Adam Horowitz and directed by Mario Van Peebles (New Jack City, Posse). Is it just marketing or will Ben actually die? And who will kill him? (let's face it he's not going by natural causes)

Notable New Releases

2010-03-09T12:24:00.001-05:00

Up In The Air
Jason Reitman has crafted a modern masterpiece with his third film. He is able to combine sharp funny writing with emotionally rich characters in a stunning way. There are big laugh out loud moments followed by moving drama that will have you tearing up. The performances are astonishing in their honesty, the editing is remarkable, and Reitman's musical choices are flawless.

Extras include:

Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Shadowplay: Before the Story
Sad Brad Smith "Help Yourself" Music Video
Storyboard Comparisons
American Airlines Prank

Precious
An incredibly powerful film thanks to the amazing performances. It's difficult to watch due to the subject matter, but worth watching if only once.

Extras include:

Commentary
From Push to Precious
A Precious Ensemble
Oprah and Tyler: A Project of Passion
A Conversation with Lee Daniels and Sapphire
Audition: Gabourey Sidibe
Deleted Scene
Reflections on Precious

Capitalism: A Love Story
Missed this one in theaters, but look forward to checking it out.

Extras include:

Deleted Scenes
What If, Just What If, We Had Listened to Jimmy Carter in 1979?

The Kids Are Alright Blu-ray
The Who in Blu.

Extras include:

Commentary

TV Tonight - Chuck

2010-03-08T20:29:00.000-05:00

A new episode, entitled Chuck Vs. The Beard, airs tonight at 8/7c on NBC. Chuck loses his ability to "flash" and is forbidden to participate in a mission. But with his spy peers out on assignment, troublesome forces affect the benched Chuck back at the base. Diedrich Bader and Cedric Yarbrough guest star! It also marks the directorial debut of star Zachary Levi.

The Runaways - New Trailer

2010-03-08T20:10:00.000-05:00

Here's the official trailer for the Joan Jett biopic The Runaways. Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning rock 1970s style with some kick-butt songs. I'll probably see it twice.

In theaters March 19th.

Official Website: www.runawaysmovie.com

Night of 100 Stars [VIDEO]

2010-03-08T17:04:00.001-05:00

Here's a short video from yesterday's Night of 100 Stars Oscar viewing party at The Beverly Hills Hotel.

Oscar Picks

2010-03-07T15:53:00.002-05:00

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards air tonight at 5pt/8et on ABC! Check out all my picks below (who I want to win, not necessarily who I think will win). Unfortunately I didn't see any of the nominated docs, foreign films, or shorts this year.

Best Picture
"Inglourious Basterds"

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"

Best Actress
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

[READ MORE...]

Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

Best Supporting Actress
Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"

Best Animated Feature
"Up"

Best Screenplay (original)
"Inglourious Basterds," written by Quentin Tarantino

Best Screenplay (adapted)
"Up in the Air," screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Best Music (original score)
"Up" Michael Giacchino

Best Music (original song)
'The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)' from "Crazy Heart," music and lyrics by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Art Direction
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" art direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; set decoration: Caroline Smith

Best Cinematography
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" Bruno Delbonnel

Best Costume Design
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" Monique Prudhomme

Best Film Editing
"Inglourious Basterds" Sally Menke

Best Makeup
"Star Trek" Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow

Best Sound Editing
"Up" Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Best Sound Mixing
"Star Trek" Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin

Best Visual Effects
"Avatar" Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones

Oscars Red Carpet

2010-03-07T15:24:00.000-05:00

I was just on the red carpet for the 2010 Academy Awards. There's a lot of buzz as the start time approaches. Here's a short video...

Which films and actors do you hope win? Share your thoughts about all things Oscar related...

TV Tonight - SNL

2010-03-06T16:14:00.000-05:00

Saturday Night Live returns with a new episode tonight at 11:30/10:30c on NBC. Zach Galifianakis hosts with musical guest Vampire Weekend! Should be a great show.

Korean Film Fest 2010

2010-03-06T04:49:00.001-05:00

The Korean Film Fest had its opening night at The Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. Here's a quick video and some pictures from the red carpet...

(Aaron Yoo)

(John Cho)

[READ MORE...]

(Filmmakers from Le Grand Chef 2: Kimchi Battle)

[Photos by Wilki W.K. Tom]

Win $3000 in the API Count PSA contest

2010-03-05T16:59:00.006-05:00

Asian and Pacific Islander Communities are underrepresented by Census numbers, but you can help change that! Help get the word out by making a 30 – 60 second video about how the Census is safe, easy and important. Your video could screen at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific American Film Fest 2010, be seen nationally, and win you the grand prize of $3000! Fill out an entry form at www.apicount.com and get started now!!! Deadline for entries is March 26th, 2010.

Four $500 awards will be given in the categories of English language PSA for Asian Audiences, English language PSA for Pacific Islander Audiences, Pacific Islander language PSA, and Asian Language PSA. The grand prize winner will be selected from these four categories and awarded an additional $2500 and have the honor of having their PSA screen before every film shown at the Los Angeles Asian Film Festival.

The direct link to the PSA contest page is: www.apicount.org/contest

Also you can take a look at our no budget PSA promo video. Just one of the things I get to do with the other girls while I am at the office.

Legend Of The Guardians

2010-03-05T14:35:00.000-05:00

Visionary director Zack Snyder follows up Watchmen with an animated movie based on a book series about owls. Yes you read that right. Much like Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, you can still see his trademark style all over it and I can't wait to see what he does with the genre. In case you're wondering, the music used in the trailer is 30 Seconds to Mars.

The Oscars Are Near... [VIDEO]

2010-03-04T19:20:00.000-05:00

Hollywood & Highland is buzzing with final preparations for The Oscars. They set the rain tents up in case it gets wet the night of show but today was all sunshine.

For a full list of this year's Academy Award nominees click here.

TV Tonight - The Office

2010-03-04T13:31:00.000-05:00

It's finally back! A new hour-long episode, entitled The Delivery: Part 1 & 2, airs tonight at 9/8c on NBC. In Part 1, Pam’s contractions begin but she and Jim are determined to wait it out as long as possible so they can have more time at the hospital. Meanwhile the rest of the office tries to distract Pam from the pain with food and entertainment. In Part 2, Michael anxiously waits for Pam and Jim’s baby to be born. Back at the office, Erin makes Andy jealous when she has lunch with Kevin. Part 1 was directed by Seth Gordon (The King of Kong) and Part 2 was directed by Harold Ramis.

Introducing Christen Marquez

2010-03-03T15:07:00.001-05:00

Meet out newest contributor...

Christen Marquez began her career in filmmaking when the first short video she made in high school was selected for screening at the Sundance Film Festival’s Gen-Y studio. Encouraged and excited by the experience she went on to complete her BFA in Film and TV production at NYU Tisch. During school she supported herself as a freelance camera assistant on music videos, independent features, commercials, and a lot of reality TV. Her experiences working in reality TV gave her the opportunity to see how large productions used spontaneous events to construct dramatic stories. Christen took these techniques, fused them with her own passion for documentary film, and began her own production company Paradocs Productions.

This past summer she worked with the Puyallup Tribe in Washington State to create a 20-minute documentary on the yearly tribal canoe journey with Longhouse Media. She has also produces and directs short news and lifestyle videos for vimby.com and Los Angeles I AM. While working on her first hour-long documentary for PBS Hawaii and CPB called Haku Inoa: To Weave A Name. Which is being produced with support from The Ford Foundation, Pacific Islanders in Communications Minority Media Consortia, and Reel Grrls.

You can follow her on Twitter @paradocsfilm

Welcome to the team!

[Photo credit: Victor Pascual]

Where to Watch the Oscars: Cinespace with the folks of Visual Communications

2010-03-02T19:34:00.007-05:00

I just bought my ticket to watch the Oscars at the Visual Communications fundraiser. It's going to be fun to dress up, drink free Jinro sochu, and root for the Hurt Locker. Click here to buy your ticket!

To Get $5 off enter the promo code CY (thanks Clayton!) but you have to buy your ticket before Friday 5 PM

Tickets are:

$20 for students
$30 General Pre-Sale
$35 At The Door

Hope to see you there!

[Location: Los Angeles]

TV Tonight - Lost

2010-03-02T19:16:00.001-05:00

A new episode, entitled Sundown, airs tonight at 9/8c on ABC. Sayid is faced with a difficult decision, and Claire sends a warning to the temple inhabitants. It was written by Paul Zbyszewski/Graham Roland and directed by Bobby Roth. Look forward to seeing a Sayid episode after last week's overly melodramatic father-son Jack episode. Hopefully more Dogen too.

NAACP Image Awards [Photos]

2010-03-02T18:11:00.001-05:00

Our photo contributor Wilki W.K. Tom snapped these photos at the NAACP Image Awards over the weekend. I interviewed a bunch of people and I'll be posting those soon. For a full list of winners and nominees click here.

(Hill Harper)

(Selena Gomez)

(Erica Hubbard & Rhyon Nicole Brown)

(Anika Noni Rose)

For more photos click here.

Notable New Releases

2010-03-02T12:46:00.001-05:00

Where The Wild Things Are
After years of anticipation, Spike Jonze's vision absolutely lived to my expectations. It is a beautiful film about childhood. Jim Henson's costumes, Karen O's music, Max Record's lead performance, the surprisingly dark script, and Jonze's loose direction all come together to form a pitch-perfect portrait of the isolation and imagination of a kid. It is a film that I will continue to revisit for years to come.

Extras include:

Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More To Life Short Film
HBO First Look
Maurice and Spike
Max and Spike
The Records Family
Carter Burwell
The Absurd Difficulty of Filming a Dog
The Big Prank
The Kids Take Over the Picture
Vampire Attack

Ponyo
It's Miyazaki. Buy it.

Extras include:

Meet Ponyo
Storyboard Experience Picture-in-Picture track
The World of Ghibli - Behind the Studio
The World of Ghibli - Enter the Lands Interactive Tour

[READ MORE...]

Gentlemen Broncos
Missed this one in theaters, but the combination of quirky director Jared Hess, Flight of the Conchords member Jermaine Clement, and Sam Rockwell at his silliest make it a must have.

Extras include:

Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Outtakes
One Nutty Movie: Behind the Scenes of Gentlemen Broncos
16 mini-documentaries featuring the cast of Gentlemen Broncos (BD Exclusive)

Alice
This Syfy channel mini-series in the vein of Tin Man looks interesting and co-stars the awesome Tim Curry. No extras so a rental is the way to go.

The Neverending Story Blu-ray
Bastian Bux in Blu! Sadly no extras but still worth it for the movie itself.

Clash of the Titans (1981) Blu-ray
The original stop-motion spectacle. Check it out before you see the CG-filled remake. I love Harryhausen and can't wait to see this remastered version.

Extras include:

A Conversation with Ray Harryhausen
Myths and Monsters Gallery

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin Blu-ray
A must-own martial arts classic, now in high-def.

Extras include:

Commentary with RZA of Wu-Tang Clan and film critic Andy Klein
Interview with Gordon Lui
Shaolin - A Hero Birthplace
Interview with RZA, Andy Klein, and David Chute
Concert Video for Wu-Tang Clan's Gravel Pit

TV Tonight - The Big Bang Theory

2010-03-01T16:19:00.000-05:00

A new episode, entitled The Excelsior Acquisition, airs tonight at 9:30/8:30c on CBS. Sheldon misses an opportunity to meet comics mogul Stan Lee when he has to go to traffic court after getting a ticket because of Penny. Guest starring Stan Lee as himself! Nuff' said.

Don McKay

2010-03-01T15:21:00.001-05:00

Writer/director Jake Goldberger's debut film, stars Thomas Haden Church as a man who flees his hometown after a tragedy and returns 25 years later to attempt to rekindle his romance with an old high school girlfriend (Elisabeth Shue). It's nice to see Church play something other than his usual lovable slacker character and it also co-stars the great Melissa Leo.

Repo Men - You. Upgraded.

2010-02-26T17:17:00.003-05:00

To promote the new film Repo Men, Universal has released clever ads showing the articifial organs people can buy in the movie. Check out the rest after the jump. [click for bigger versions]

[READ MORE...]

Criterion Collection Announces May Titles

2010-02-26T02:20:00.002-05:00

On May 11, the illustrious studio will release Fritz Lang's psychological thriller M on Blu-ray. A week later, Nicolas Roeg's Walkabout will hit shelves on DVD/Blu-ray. Finally, on May 25, Criterion will release John Ford's classic western Stagecoach and By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volumes One and Two on DVD/Blu-ray.

M Blu-ray
Peter Lorre stars as serial killer Hans Beckert in Fritz Lang’s harrowing masterwork M, a suspenseful panorama of private madness and public hysteria that to this day remains the blueprint for the psychological thriller.

Extras include:

Audio commentary by German film scholars Anton Kaes and Eric Rentschler
The long-lost English-language version of M
Documentary on the physical history of M, from production to distribution to digital restoration
Conversation with Fritz Lang, a fifty-minute film by William Friedkin
Claude Chabrol's short film M le maudit, plus a video interview with Chabrol
Classroom audiotapes of editor Paul Falkenberg discussing M and its history, set to clips from the film
Video interview with Harold Nebenzal, son of M producer Seymour Nebenzal
Stills gallery, with behind-the-scenes photos and production sketches
A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Stanley Kauffmann, a 1963 interview with director Fritz Lang, the script for a missing scene, and contemporaneous newspaper articles

Walkabout
A young sister and brother are abandoned in the harsh Australian outback and must learn to exist in the natural world, without their usual comforts, in this hypnotic masterpiece from Nicolas Roeg.

Extras include:

Audio commentary featuring director Nicolas Roeg and actress Jenny Agutter
Video interviews with Agutter and actor Luc Roeg
Gulpilil-One Red Blood (2002), an hour-long documentary on the life and career of actor David Gulpilil
Theatrical trailer
A booklet featuring an essay by author Paul Ryan

[READ MORE...]

Stagecoach
This is where it all started. John Ford’s smash hit and enduring masterpiece Stagecoach revolutionized the western, elevating it from B movie to the A-list. It features John Wayne, in his first starring role for Ford, as outlaw Ringo Kid.

Extras include:

Audio commentary by noted western authority Jim Kitses
Bucking Broadway (1917), a fifty-four-minute silent western by John Ford, with new music by Donald Sosin
Extensive video interview with Ford from 1968
New video interview with Dan Ford, biographer and grandson of the director, about Ford's home movies
New video interview with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
New video essay by writer Tag Gallagher
New video feature about Monument Valley
New video interview with stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong about Stagecoach stuntman Yakima Canutt
Radio dramatization of Stagecoach from 1949
Theatrical trailer
A booklet featuring an essay by David Cairns and the short story that inspired the film

By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volumes One and Two
Working outside the mainstream, Stan Brakhage made nearly four hundred films. Challenging all taboos in his exploration of “birth, sex, death, and the search for God,” Brakhage turned his camera on explicit lovemaking, childbirth, even autopsy.

Extras include:

Brakhage on Brakhage, a collection of video encounters with the filmmaker
Audio remarks on selected films by Stan Brakhage
For Stan, a short film by Marilyn Brakhage
Excerpts from a 1990 interview with Brakhage
Footage from Brakhage's salon at the University of Colorado
Audio recordings of two lectures by Brakhage
A booklet featuring a foreword and program notes by Marilyn Brakhage, as well as write-ups of the films and an essay by Brakhage expert Fred Camper

Chloe

2010-02-26T00:35:00.000-05:00

The new film by Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter, Adoration) stars Julianne Moore as an untrusting wife who attempts to prove that her husband is cheating by hiring an escort to seduce him. Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried co-star with a script by Erin Cressida Wilson (Secretary, Fur). It is based on the French film Nathalie. Egoyan always manages to make complex, thought-provoking films and I look forward to seeing these three great actors clash together.

Awkwardly Cute Awards - Web Series

2010-02-24T18:38:00.003-05:00

Continuing with the Awkwardly Cute Awards, it's time to spotlight three web series that offered a good amount of quirky moments. All three series were created exclusively for the web, each ground-breaking in their own way.

Rockville CA
Music nerds.

For Deb and Hunter, their lives revolve around indie rock. They meet at a local venue (think LA's Spaceland) and banter over who knows more about "the scene." Excutive producer Josh Schwartz (The O.C., Gossip Girl, Chuck) wanted to showcase music in original way and instead of going the soundtrack route Rockville CA features live sets from real bands. Some notable performances include: Passion Pit, The Kooks, Lykke Li, Lights and Anya Karina.

Watch now: www.thewb.com/shows/rockville-ca

The Lake
High school nerds.

Summer crushes, family drama and beach barbecues. Olivia is the new girl. Drew is the shy guy. And everyone on Lake Eleanor knows that should end up together except them. The series was directed by Jason Priestley (90210) and premiered last summer on TheWB.com. You can check out my interview the star Heather Ann Davis here.

Watch now: www.thewb.com/shows/the-lake

The Guild
Computer nerds.

Felicia Day is the unofficial web series queen. She financed the first season of The Guild with support from fans, then later on secured a deal with with xBox and Microsoft. The award-winning show is about a group of online gamers whose lives are as offbeat as their online adventures.

Watch Now: www.watchtheguild.com

Missed the first part of the Awkwardly Cute Awards? Then check out the Best Couples of 2009.