Hey Filmmakers! Want to have the chance to go to L.A and meet a major Hollywood player? Now's your chance. Screen Gems' Prom Night and UGO have partnered up and created a film contest for upcoming filmmakers. The winning hot shot will get $1,000 and a trip for two to Los Angeles to meet with the head shark (film executive) at Sony Screen Gems. For further details, visit UGO.COM

Prom Night stars Brittany Snow, Scott Porter, Jessica Stroup, Dona Davis, Collins Pennie and Idris Elba. The film is rated PG-13 and scheduled to open on Friday, April 11th. Find a synopsis of the film below.

Synopsis:
Donna’s senior prom is supposed to be the best night of her life. After surviving a horrible tragedy, she has finally moved on and is enjoying her last year of high school. Surrounded by her best friends, she should be safe from the horrors of her past. But when the night turns deadly, there is only one person who could be responsible…a man she thought was gone forever. Now, Donna and her friends must find a way to escape the sadistic rampage of an obsessed killer, and survive a night “to die for.”

Today the line up for 2008's SXSW Film Festival were announced. The short films will be announced Tuesday, February 12.

Here's the lineup:

21
Director: Robert Luketic. Writers: Peter Steinfeld, Allan Loeb. Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne.
Based on the true story of a group of MIT students who, under the guidance of a cryptic professor, take Vegas casinos for millions through the mathematical art of counting cards. (Opening Night Film)
(more...)

Comingsoon.net reports:

Empire Film Group, Inc. has acquired the motion picture production and distribution rights to Henson, an original screenplay by Robert D. Slane that chronicles the life and achievements of Muppets creator, Jim Henson. Empire has pegged the film for production in late summer with a $30 million budget to be funded through a consortium of international presales and co-production partners.

"This is a major project about an entertainer of legendary stature and worldwide acclaim," said Dean Hamilton-Bornstein, CEO of Empire Film Group. "The script is superb and should provide a terrific roadmap for a completed film that will satisfy both mainstream audiences and critics. We're very excited about this acquisition and the commercial caliber of this project."

Henson covers the life of puppeteer, filmmaker and entertainment mogul Jim Henson, from his early fascination with television as a teenager, through his spectacular career and life achievements. Empire anticipates hiring a major director, such as Penny Marshall, and hopes to attract notable star cast in key roles. Bornstein will act as Executive Producer, with Empire Home Entertainment President Eric Parkinson producing the film along with Xavier Mitchell.

"Jim Henson is one of the best known and most beloved entertainers of all time," said Parkinson. "His story is inspiring, tragic, heartwarming and epic, and will make for an important and entertaining motion picture. This is the sort of movie that Empire will be pursuing as we build the company into a leading independent studio."

This is definitely the season for biopic films, and I am very glad to see this one lit. People around my age demographic grew up with Sesame Street. Thanks to Big Bird, I learned how to count and say no to drugs.

I wonder who will play Mr. Henson? Jason Lee? Giovanni Ribisi? Phillip Seymour Hoffman (you know he could pull it off)? Who would you cast if you were in charge?

So it goes like this. I woke up early to do my normal movie blog browsing to see which things I should add to our site, and I stumbled upon this:

Jason Bateman has just confirmed to me that the creative minds behind Arrested Development (Mitch Hurwitz and Ron Howard) have put the wheels in motion toward a major motion picture of the Fox TV comedy so many of us adore. I'm told by insiders that Jason and other Bluth family members have received calls from producers (Hurwitz and Howard) asking if they would be willing to shoot a movie.

"I can confirm that a round of sniffing has started," Bateman says. "Any talk is targeting a poststrike situation, of course. I think, as always, that it's a question of whether the people with the money are willing to give our leader, Mitch Hurwitz, what he deserves for his participation. And I can speak for the cast when I say our fingers are crossed."

Jeffrey Tambor also revealed on XM Radio's the Ron and Fez Show that he has been approached by Ron Howard to see if he's willing to do an Arrested film. (You can hear that interview below.)

For the record, both Jason and Jeffrey's answers were: Hells yeah. And I hear from other sources that other castmembers were called and that everyone seems to be very much on board and excited by the prospect.

Insiders also tell me that while creator Mitch Hurwitz does not yet have a script, he has a good, solid understanding of what he'd like to do for the movie, and Universal is very much interested.

"Up top, havin' a good year."
GOB BLUTH

I'm so glad they are finally giving this a green light. Arrested Development was far beyond funny and intelligent, but was shot down in flames due to poor ratings, even though DVD sales kept it going through season two and three. AD fans, how do you feel about this? And, what line do you constantly use from this series?

Source E!Online

Wow. Liam Neeson's "I told you I was a badass" skills are finally coming to surface. This obviously was filmed a long time ago though, as Maggie Grace does not pass for a high school student now.

This is set to be released overseas this month, but still no U.S. date. No clue as to why, but cant wait to see Liam kick some foreign ass!

There are certain guidelines nerds across the world must follow in order to have a successful website. They are as follows (no particular order):
1. You can make a living entertaining people with your cute URL.
2. Someone besides yourself makes a factual wikipedia page about you.
3. The guy that shot/edited most of the music videos for that one band, Midlake, contacts you and wants to shoot one of your video reviews.

With that said, we are happy to share with you that we have finally achieved one of those three things. Jon Collins, of Midlake music video fame, will be shooting/editing our next video review, Be Kind Rewind. Check out his short, but sweet, demo reel below. Look for our review on February 22, the same day the movie drops. Holla!

Jon Collins Demo Reel

1. The Brave One

Starring:
Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Nicky Katt, and Naveen Andrews
Directed by:
Neil Jordan
This is by far one of director Neil Jordan’s most mainstream movies. Mr. Jordan is the talented hand behind such art house gems as Crying Game and The Good Thief.
Jodie Foster stars in this vigilante justice film about a woman who hunts down and murders the men who brutally killed her lover.
The Brave One asks the same question at the center of all revenge films. When is it ok to take in the law in your hands? Despite a tired theme, The Brave One does have a strong sense of suspense and the quality acting by everyone involved is enough to make this an entertaining but by no means a great film.

2. Across The Universe

Starring:
Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturges, and Joe Anderson
Directed by:
Julie Taymor
Set in the 1960’s, dock worker Jude (Sturges) travels to America in search of his father. Once there, Jude meets and falls in love a beautiful teenager named Lucy (Wood), but the relationship is soon disrupted by the changing spirit of the 60’s.
Across the Universe is inspired by the music and soul of the Beatles. The film is very ambitious and at times, beautiful piece of work. The musical numbers (all involving Beatles songs) are elaborate and mesmerizing. However, the love story is as standard and boring, as the film’s style is impressive. Across the Universe contains many movie clichés, but is defiantly worth a look due to its great production values and musical numbers.

These following films are also being released but have not been seen by anyone from Gordon and the Whale. Oops!
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,
Elizabeth: The Golden Age,
and Snow Buddies

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Poor Jessica Alba. I'm willing to bet she thought she had a The Ring/Grudge hit on her hands. If I was her, I would fire my agent ASAP. I'm very aware the movie hit number two this weekend, but I have no doubts in my mind it will have a nasty fall off the bandwagon come week two. When you rely on extremely loud sounds to scare your audience, you know you're in a bit of a bind.

NO THANKS.

Rent and watch the original. It scared the freckles off my face.

Here;s the trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's new film, The Happening. It's a paranoid thriller about a family on the run from a natural crisis that presents a large-scale threat to humanity starring Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and John Leguizamo.

Reminds me of this Japanese film called Suicide Club. Which was really violet and sucked. This teaser looks awesome and I believe in Shyamalan can have another hit on his hands. Yes, I know his last film Lady in the Water was embarrassing to watch, but don't forget the solid good ones he did. Someone does need to tell him to heavily think when doing taglines. "We've Sensed It. We've Seen The Signs. Now... It's Happening." I mean, Seriously? Watch the trailer below and tell me what you think!

The Happening opens Friday, June 13! FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH!!!!!

Rating: 5/10

Director, Writer: Jeff Lowell
Cast: Eva Longoria, Paul Rudd, Lake Bell
Studio: New Line Cinema

I'm still new to writing reviews for movies. It's a lot easier if I really liked the movie. I could ramble on for hours about everything. The great script, the unique cinematography. The actors chemistry. With all these things, I could ramble for hours. But what do I do if I see something I didn't like, and had nothing to nice to say? I don't like trash talking because no matter how bad the film is, somebody on that set busted their ass to get it completed and into theaters.

When asked what I thought about OVER HER DEAD BODY, I could only come up with five words: Thank God for Paul Rudd! If he hadn't taken part in this film, I probably would have been way too frustrated to write anything at all. But I'm going to try:

Chick Flick (as taken from Urban Dictionary)

1. A film that indulges in the hopes and dreams of women and/or girls. A film that has a happy, fuzzy, ridiculously unrealistic ending.
2. A genre of movies that has been formed all on it's own combining the genres of Romance, Drama, and Comedy. These movies are filled with cliche after cliche, yet so irresistable for the female population to go out and see the next version. Each contains the same plot with the Character names changed. Producers see sales of these movies soar when the members of the female population are eithe PMSing or just plain MSing. Must have Kleenex box in hand.
3. A movie a guy goes to with the sole purpose of making out.

Whatever your preference, OVER HER DEAD BODY is one of those movies you take your girlfriend to see because last weekend it was your pick, and she had to sit through RAMBO.

The only thing that annoyed me to no end was the lack of good special effects. I'm sure the budget wasn't epic, but seriously, if you're going to attempt at "ooh/ahhing" people with forms of CGI, make it look good. One example of this is the scene when Kate (Longoria) won't leave Ashley's (Bell) medicine cabinet. Oh wait, and the scene when she's hovering over them while they are making out. Mirror flip anyone?

Like I said, I don't like trashing movies so I'm going to leave it at that. If you have to go see this movie with your girlfriend, just know that you are scoring major points in her book and if you actually squeeze out a few laughs (which, surprisingly, I did) you can double those points. It's not a bad deal I guess.

PS If you're the girlfriend, just know that your man loved the movie and loves you even more. (points tripled)