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News

Kate Winslet to Star in HBO’s ‘Mildred Pierce’ Remake

May 4, 2010
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Movie adaptations of novels often prove to be cases of “they should have left well enough alone.”  With remakes of adaptations, the risk can be doubly great.  Fortunately for Hollywood, the early books of James M. Cain seem to have written with films in mind. Cain was proof of the old axiom that pulp fiction [...]

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Ridley Scott Announces Two Alien Prequels to Be Shot in 3D

April 28, 2010
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Director Ridley Scott has announced that he’ll direct two (yes, two) prequels to his 1979 sci-fi hit, “Alien.”  Scott announced last July that he would direct a single prequel, but apparently the project has spawned a prequel-sequel, if there is such a thing.  If the plan bears fruit, Scott will put a definitive stamp on [...]

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The Wall Street Casino Comes to Hollywood

April 21, 2010
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As if America hadn’t already reached a saturation point with synthetic securities, some of the wizards on Wall Street have dreamed up a new investment vehicle which will no doubt further obscure the underlying value of an industry that is already held together by an amalgam of smoke, mirrors, tarot cards, baling wire and chewing [...]

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DirecTV Takes Aim at Netflix

April 19, 2010
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In an attempt to steal a few morsels off of Netflix’s plate, satellite TV vendor DirecTV is launching a new service called DirecTV Cinema.  In an agreement similar to the one recently reached by Blockbuster with some of the major Hollywood studios, DirecTV will be able to offer movies on demand nearly a month before [...]

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Roger Ebert “At the Movies” Again

March 31, 2010
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Last week, Disney-ABC Domestic TV formally announced the cancellation of “At the Movies,” the final iteration of the long-running syndicated TV show that began as a showcase for the dialogue between Chicago film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel.  Disney’s announcement ran as follows:
After 24 seasons with us in national syndication, the highly regarded movie [...]

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Netflix Considering a New iPhone App

March 2, 2010
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According to a report in The Washington Post, there’s a rumor circulating that Netflix is exploring the idea of deploying a new iPhone app for streaming movies and TV shows.  Actually, it’s a bit more than a rumor.  Netflix is currently conducting a survey with their user base to ascertain what [...]

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The 33rd Portland International Film Festival – Trailer

February 6, 2010
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Program Highlights: This year’s festival has an exciting mix of offerings from established masters, notables of the future and possible Oscar candidates.  Festival-goers will surely recognize names such as Alain Resnais, Ken Loach, Peter Greenaway, Marco Bellochio, Chen Kaige, Jan Hrebejk, Catherine Brelliat, and Hong Sang-soo, all of whom have offerings this year. And  audiences [...]

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Steve Jobs Introduces the iPad – Video

January 27, 2010
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Apple CEO Steve Jobs officially launched his company’s latest gadget, the iPad, today in a packed auditorium in San Francisco.  The long-rumored device, which has actually been in development in one form or another for the past 20 years, won’t actually go on sale for another 60 days, but Jobs gave a live demonstration of [...]

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A New Career for Conan O’Brien?

January 23, 2010
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So Conan O’Brien has pulled the plug on his Tonight Show operation, and moved on, after a mere seven months in the House that Johnny Built.  While he launched comic barbs at NBC during much of his last week of broadcasts, and vowed to make each of his last five shows, if not funny, at [...]

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YouTube Partners with Sundance to Offer Films Online

January 22, 2010
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In a move that is seen as a first step away from a strictly ad-supported business model, Google’s YouTube is partnering with Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival to offer five films from the 2009 and 2010 festival line-ups on a rental basis.  There’s a limited time window for renting the films, Jan. 22 through Jan. [...]

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