News

Key Art for UFO. Photo credit: Courtesy of Showtime.

Showtime announced it will air UFO, a four-part docu-series from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Glen Zipper exploring our fascination with unidentified flying objects, and what clandestine influence the American government, lucrative private companies and the military may have in shielding the truth behind extraterrestrial phenomena to further their own agendas. Directed by Mark Monroe (Icarus) and Paul Crowder (Riding Giants), the seriesexplores unsettling theories of a subject that recently reached national headlines, and has historically been the focus of powerful politicians and CEOs, while average citizens pursuing the very same truth have been ridiculed and ostracized. The series is a co-production by Bad Robot and Zipper Bros Films.

Showtime will release all four episodes of the new series UFO to its subscribers at midnight on Sunday, August 8, prior to its on-air debut that night at 9 p.m. Et/Pt.

J.J. Abrams is ready to get to the bottom of unidentified flying objects, and Showtime is giving him the platform to do just that. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Glen Zipper are behind “UFO,” a four-part docu-series that will look at the phenomenon of mysterious objects in the sky and “what clandestine influence the American government, lucrative private companies and the military may have in shielding the truth behind extraterrestrial phenomena to further their own agendas.”

Mark Monroe (“Icarus”) and Paul Crowder (“Riding Giants”) will direct the series, which comes as new attention is placed on what the government knows about UFOs, and what it may or may not be telling us. The series comes in the wake of a 2017 New York Times article that revealed that the Pentagon had been secretly tracking UFOs for years.

The Pentagon has even declassified some footage of events like the time in 2015 that U.S. Navy...

Exclusive: After making his bow at Sundance last January, extreme surfer Laird Hamilton has caught his wave with Sundance Selects. The distributor has acquired U.S. rights to Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton, the documentary directed by Last Days in Vietnam and Ethel helmer Rory Kennedy. The film seemed to take the baton from Riding Giants, another seminal surfing film that briefly described how Hamilton was growing from Hawaii surf rat toward the sport's…...

Exclusive: Andrew Herwitz has picked up four world premieres for his Sundance slate and added a fifth title from Main Street neighbour Slamdance.

The line-up includes Will Allen’s Us Documentary Competition entry Holy Hell (pictured), about a California cult that features footage shot by the director over the course of years while serving as the group’s videographer. Holy Hell premieres on January 25.

How To Tell You’re A Douchebag comes from first-time filmmaker Tahir Jetter about a relationship blogger in Brooklyn who meets his match. The Next entry’s world premiere is set for January 25.

Us Dramatic Competition entry Spa Night by Andrew Ahn premieres on January 24 and centres on a Koreatown family in Los Angeles.

Heidi Brandenburg and Matthew Orzel’s When Two Worlds Collide premieres in World Cinema Documentary Competition on January 22.

The story centres on Peruvian president Alan Garcia’s attempts to extract oil and minerals from untouched Amazonian land and his...

The Chinese animation studio has launched a Los Angeles-based production office and brought on industry veterans and longtime producing partners Sandra Rabins and Penney Finkelman Cox.

Original Force president and founder Harley Zhao (pictured, centre) told guests at a party in Downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday evening that the company has started production on three features and will aim produce at least one CG film approximately every 18 months.

Rabins (pictured at far left) and Finkelman Cox (pictured at far right) will serve as co-presidents of Original Force Animation and are partners with Zhao on the newly launched animated feature division.

The new arrivals launched Sony Pictures Animation in 2002 and have deep ties to DreamWorks Animation. They have overseen such titles as Shrek, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and Open Season and have begun to assemble their team for the inaugural slate.

Meanwhile Peter Adee, formerly president of marketing at Universal Pictures and MGM, is consulting...

The Chinese animation studio has launched a Los Angeles-based production office and brought on industry veterans and longtime producing partners Sandra Rabins and Penney Finkelman Cox.

Original Force president and founder Harley Zhao (pictured, centre) told guests at a party in Downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday evening that the company has started production on three features and will aim produce at least one CG film approximately every 18 months.

Rabins (pictured at far left) and Finkelman Cox (pictured at far right) will serve as co-presidents of Original Force Animation and are partners with Zhao on the newly launched animated feature division.

The new arrivals launched Sony Pictures Animation in 2002 and have deep ties to DreamWorks Animation. They have overseen such titles as Shrek, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and Open Season and have begun to assemble their team for the inaugural slate.

Meanwhile Peter Adee, formerly president of marketing at Universal Pictures and MGM, is consulting...

The surf documentary has a long and storied history. As seen in The Endless Summer and Riding Giants and dozens in between, surfers and filmmakers have been traveling the globe together for decades, documenting the unique lifestyle and incredibly beautiful sport. The latest entry into this specific genre is out today. It’s called Strange Rumblings in […]

The post ‘Strange Rumblings in Shangri-La’ Trailer: Globe-Trotting Surf Documentary Now on iTunes appeared first on /Film.

"Go for it man, get into it. That's the whole point, right?" Lionsgate & Wrekin Hill has debuted another new trailer for the Australian film Drift, starring Myles Pollard, Xavier Samuel and Sam Worthington as surfing legends from the 1970s. We ran a much longer original trailer back in December, but this one is a tighter cut focusing on the drug drama that could "end it all." It looks a bit better than Chasing Mavericks, and I am curious to check it out sometime, but not before I watch Soul Surfer or Lords of Dogtown or the doc Riding Giants first. The trailer ends on a fairly odd note, but if you dig surfing or Australia give it a look. Here's the brand new trailer for Morgan O'Neill & Ben Nott's Drift, in high def from Apple: In the 70s, two brothers Andy & Jimmy (Myles Pollard & Xavier Samuel) battle killer waves,...

Check out this cool trailer for a crazy looking new surfing documentary called Storm Surfers 3D. I love watching surf documentaries! I'm a huge fan of films such as The Endless Summer parts one and two, Riding Giants, Billabong Odyssey and several more. Storm Chasers looks like it's going to make a great addition to all of those docs. Not only am I a fan of these films, but I also enjoy surfing, just not waves as big as these guys ride, because I would die.

The film centers on Aussie surfers Ross Clarke-Jones and Tom Carroll as they hunt down the craziest waves on the planet and then ride them. The movie is narrated by Toni Collette, and you can check out the first trailer here! I can't wait to see this film! It looks intense. ...

Following in the footsteps of surfing documentaries like Step into Liquid, Riding Giants and The Endless Summer, a new documentary is diving into the ocean, showing the seemingly insane thrill-seeking hobby of big-wave riding. But this time, the action will come at audiences in another dimension with Storm Surfers 3D. Not only are Tom Carroll and Ross Clark-Jones surfing legends, but they have surf forecaster Ben Matson helping them track and chase giant storm systems in order to catch the biggest and most dangerous waves. Seriously, some of this footage is breathtaking and unbelievable. It should be impressive in theaters. Here's the first trailer for the documentary Storm Surfers 3D from YouTube: Combining cutting-edge 3D technology and bravura filmmaking, Storm Surfers 3D is the ultimate big-wave thrill ride, directed by Justin McMillan and Chris Nelius.. The film follows best friends and surfing legends Tom Carroll and Ross Clarke-Jones, along with surf forecaster Ben Matson,...

Celebrating the confirmation of its premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) announced today that Sound City will be released as an HD digital download (DRM-free) and stream February 1 via SoundCityMovie.com. Fans who pre-order the film now will receive instant exclusive rewards followed by a stream and download of the entire film on February 1. The pre-order price of the DRM-free film is $10 and is also available to send as a gift. A pre-order date from iTunes and other digital partners will be announced shortly. The film will also be released theatrically, in association with Variance Films, on February 1. A list of cities and theaters will be announced shortly.

Sound City, the film, was conceived by Grohl after purchasing the legendary custom-built Neve 8028 recording console from Sound City Studios last year. The board, built in 1972, is considered by many to be the crown jewel of analog recording equipment,...

In the wake of the confirmation of its premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) has given fans an unprecedented peek behind the scenes of his directorial debut: The official trailer for his feature documentary film, Sound City, about the legendary Van Nuys, CA studio has just been unveiled via @soundcitymovie and @foofighters.

Grohl, who will travel to Sundance next month along with select artists featured in the film and its forthcoming soundtrack album commented yesterday, “As a first time director, I am humbled to be able to share my passion for songwriting and storytelling with this incredible cast of legendary musicians, as seen through the extraordinary story of America’s greatest unsung recording studio, Sound City. Being included in this group of artists is a true honor, and the Sundance Film Festival is the perfect place to premiere a film about craft, integrity, and passion for art.

Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters and Nirvana announced today that his directorial debut, the feature documentary film, Sound City about the infamous recording studio in Van Nuys, California will have its premiere screening at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Grohl and select artists from the film will be in attendance at this year's Festival. More information can be found at SoundCityMovie.com. Here's what the director had to say about his first film.

"As a first time director, I am humbled to be able to share my passion for songwriting and storytelling with this incredible cast of legendary musicians, as seen through the extraordinary story of America's greatest unsung recording studio, Sound City. Being included in this group of artists is a true honor, and the Sundance Film Festival is the perfect place to premiere a film about craft, integrity, and passion for art. I am over the moon!

By Susan Lamarca

A local sneak peek of the documentary 1: The Unvarnished Story helped kick off the 2012 Formula One Us Grand Prix in Austin on November 15. The red carpet included former drivers Emerson Fittipaldi, Jackie Stewart and Brett Lunger, plus  Bernie Ecclestone, President and CEO of F1 Management and F1 Administration.

1 is an account of Formula One from the 1960s and 1970s, culled from thousands of hours of archival footage and contemporary interviews with 60 drivers and professionals. During those years, television audiences and sponsors brought business to motor racing as advancements in technology and engineering increased the performance of race cars. These decades marked the most dangerous period in the history of the sport, and many drivers were killed due to lack of safety regulations.

Producer Michael Shevloff introduced director Paul Crowder (Riding Giants, Dogtown and Z Boys) and writer Mark Monroe before the screening. After working on the...

There have been many feature films with the ultimate goal of glorifying and immortalizing life among the waves. For my money, you can't beat Riding Giants, the 2004 documentary about big wave surfers, but the recent film Chasing Mavericks is offering up a more narrative approach. Outdoor clothing company Patagonia has now submitted its entry into the library of surfing media with Deep Water, a web series that follows the life of a big wave surfer in Hawaii. The subject of Deep Water is Kohl Christensen, who serves as Patagonia's 'surf ambassador'. Christensen lives on Oahu, where he leads a double life as both a surfer and a farmer. He doesn't seem to be as in interested in money or big competitions, preferring to take on giants for the thrill alone. From what I can understand (or at least from what the first episode tells me), Christensen is a much-respected figure in the big-surf world.

Wow, the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival already has been amazing!

Sliff’s main venues are the the Hi-Pointe Theatre, Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium and the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, Il

The entire schedule for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival be found Here.

http://cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2012

Here is what will be screening at The 21st Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival today, Thursday, November 15th

Shorts Program 8: Quirky Relationships

Shorts Program 8: Quirky Relationships plays at 5:00pm at the Tivoli Theatre

Shorts that give romance a twist.

Boo! (Rupert Reid, Australia, 2012, 5 min.): An aging married couple keep their love alive by staying one step ahead of each other. Coffees (Alex Beh, U.S., 2012, 11 min.): As a last-ditch effort, Mikey decides to go to his ex...

Long time Formula 1 enthusiast and Golden Globe nominated actor, Michael Fassbender, has signed on to narrate Exclusive Media's Spitfire Pictures' new documentary film 1, it was announced today by the film's producer and Exclusive Media co-chairman Nigel Sinclair and fellow producer Michael Shevloff together with director Paul Crowder.

Fassbender, is the German-Irish actor who stars in Inglourious Basterds, X-Men: First Class and Prometheus. For his acclaimed performance in Shame he won the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award. He recently completed shooting Terrence Malick's latest and untitled film with Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara and Natalie Portman and will shortly begin production on Jane Got a Gun also starring Natalie Portman and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Here's what producers Nigel Sinclair and Michael Shevloff had to say in a joint statement.

"We are honored that Michael has...

Michael Fassbender, the charismatic actor who brought Prometheus' android, David, to life, will now lend his voice to Formula 1 racing documentary, 1. A long-time F1 fan, Fassbender will narrate the documentary from award-winning filmmaker Paul Crowder (Riding Giants). Written by Mark Monroe (The Cove), 1 is an action documentary that brings the spectacle and drama of Formula One Grand Prix racing to the big screen. Complete with never-before-seen footage and interviews with 12 former champions as well as power players from the F1 world, 1 will screen tomorrow at Austin's Paramount Theater and will be completed with Fassbender's narration. Hit the jump for the full press release. Here's the full press release: Michael Fassbender Drives Exclusive Media’S Spitfire Pictures’ Formula 1™ Documentary “1” Golden Globe Nominee To Narrate Highly Anticipated Feature Film Los Angeles, California (November 14, 2012) Long time Formula 1™ enthusiast and Golden Globe nominated actor, Michael Fassbender, has signed on to narrate Exclusive Media...

Long time Formula 1. enthusiast and Golden Globe nominated actor, Michael Fassbender, has signed on to narrate Exclusive Media.s Spitfire Pictures. new documentary film .1., it was announced today by the film.s producer and Exclusive Media co-chairman Nigel Sinclair and fellow producer Michael Shevloff together with director Paul Crowder.

Fassbender is the German-Irish actor who stars in Inglourious Basterds, X-men: First Class and Prometheus. For his acclaimed performance in Shame he won the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award. He recently completed shooting Terrence Malick.s latest and untitled film with Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara and Natalie Portman and will shortly begin production on Jane Got A Gun also starring Natalie Portman and X-men: Days Of Future Past.

.We are honored that Michael has agreed to lend his voice to our film. He is one of the most...

"It's not a death metal band, an extreme diet club or historic dominoes association."

The name "Bones Brigade" could certainly apply to any of the above, but skate enthusiasts will know it refers to what many consider to be the greatest skateboarding team of all time.

Director Stacy Peralta ("Dogtown and the Z Boys," "Riding Giants,") returns to the park once again for a look at this gang of teenage misfits who, for most of the '80s, dominated the industry with their complete dedication to a disrespected art form: skateboarding.

"Bones Brigade" features interviews with Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain, Steve Caballero, Mike McGill and many more. Check out Caballero waxing (ripping? shredding?) nostalgic about the old days in our exclusive clip from the film.

"Bones Brigade: An Autobiography" will hit Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Download on Nov. 6.

Here's another great trailer for Stacy Peralta's latest documentary Bones Brigade: An Autobiography, which follows the rise of skateboarding in the 1980's. This was such an incredible documentary, and a must see for anyone that is a fan of Tony Hawk and the skateboarding scene. Hell, even if you're not, it's still an amazing documentary worth watching!

The Bones Brigade is a skateboarding team that was organized by 70's skateboarding legend and the film's director Stacy Peralta in the early 80's. He set out to start his own team of skaters, gathered together a group of no-name kids that had a deep passion for skateboarding, and mentored them to the top. This team produced some of the greatest, most legendary skateboarders of all time including Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Tommy Guerrero, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain and Rodney Mullen, who I admired as a kid growing up in the 80's.

This weekend sees the Gerard Butler-starring, Curtis Hanson/Michael Apted-directed surfing picture "Chasing Mavericks" sneak unheralded into theaters, joining a relatively small but illustrious list of surfing movies. Not many fringe sports have been as lucky to have movies like "Big Wednesday," "Point Break" and "Riding Giants" focused on them, of the relatively few that have been made. While IMDb is littered with football, baseball, basketball and hockey movies, most sports are lucky to get one movie made about them, let alone a decent one. So, with "Chasing Mavericks" in mind, we've picked out five films that center around sports that you don't find on cinema screens all that often. Some are great, some are terrible, but all provide a side of athletics that's rarer than some inspirational football movie or goofy basketball comedy. Read on below, and let us know your own favorite obscure sports movies in the.

Bones Brigade: An Autobiography was one of the best and most entertaining documentaries that I saw up at Sundance this year, and today we bring you a great new trailer!

The Bones Brigade is a skateboarding team that was organized by 70's skateboarding legend and the film's director Stacy Peralta in the early 80's. He set out to start his own team of skaters, gathered together a group of no-name kids that had a deep passion for skateboarding, and mentored them to the top. This team produced some of the greatest, most legendary skateboarders of all time including Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Tommy Guerrero, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain, and Rodney Mullen, who I admired as a kid growing up in the 80's. These guys took skateboarding to a whole new level of awesomeness, brought the sport into the mainstream, and turned it into a booming business that they could make a ton of money from.

For being such a documentary hotshot, Stacy Peralta is one of the coolest directors I've ever met. His films, which include the classic skateboarding film "Dogtown and Z-Boys," "Riding Giants" about surfing, and the definitive South La gang film, "Crips and Bloods: Made in America," are just as cool. Both Peralta and his films are unpretentious, straight-to-the-point and completely affecting. Here at Toronto's Hot Docs' Doc Talks, Cinema Eye's Aj Schnack sat down with Peralta, who is in town promoting his film "Bones Brigade: An Autobiography," about the group of skateboarding legends he was a part of in the 1980's, and "No Room for Rock Stars," a film he produced about the Vans Warped Tour. Peralta's friends, it turns out, asked him six years ago to make "Bones Brigade," about the skateboarding team that included Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Steve Caballero, Lance Mountain, Tommy Guerrero and...

Confirming widely circulated rumors, Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters and Nirvana announced today that he will direct and produce a feature Documentary film, Sound City about the infamous recording studio in Van Nuys, California. The film was conceived by Grohl after purchasing the legendary Neve 8028 recording console from Sound City Studios last year. The console, built in 1972, is considered by many to be the crown jewel of analog recording equipment, having recorded such artists as Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Cheap Trick, Guns and Roses, Fear, Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, Slipknot, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, and countless other musical legends over the past 40 years.

Through interviews with the artists and producers that created decades of musical history at Sound City, the film will showcase the amazing history of the studio, focus on the albums recorded there that went on to change the world, discuss the human element of...

Bones Brigade: An Autobiography Directed by: Stacy Peralta Featuring: Tony Alva, Steve Caballero, Tommy Guerrero, Tony Hawk, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain, Rodney Mullen, Stacy Peralta, George Powell In his break-out documentary, Dogtown and Z Boys, director Stacy Peralta told us the story of how he and his friends turned skateboarding from a goofy novelty for dorks and children into an extreme sport. Now, with Bones Brigade: An Autobiography, Peralta shows us how the next generation of skaters (that he personally scouted, coached, and sponsored) turned skateboarding into a worldwide phenomenon. Prepare yourselves for 90 minutes of fluorescent t-shirts and Flock of Seagulls haircuts. Like most historical docs, Bones Brigade is driven by talking heads and archival footage, but there is such an incredible array of amazing archival footage here, much of it from Peralta's own personal collection, that the film is never dull. What is surprising about the footage, most of...

Here's a film clip from Stacy Peralta's (Riding Giants, Dog Town and the Z Boys) new documentary Bones Brigade: An Autobiography, which is one of the best films that I've seen up at the Sundance Film Festival so far. It's a documentary that follows the 1980's skateboarding team the Bones Brigade, who changed the sport forever. This was a team of young unknown skaters who were brought together by Peralta in the early 80's to kick skateboarding's ass.

The video below is listed as a trailer, but it's actually a film clip from the movie showing Tony Hawk going against his rival Christian Hosoi, and goes into detail about the fans and their rivalry. I absolutely loved this movie, and it's one you have to watch! Even if you're not into skating, it's still just a great documentary.

Check out the clip and tell us what you think!

Here's...

Due to my lack of research preparing for the Sundance Film Festival, Bones Brigade: An Autobiography wasn't even on my radar. When I first saw the title I wasn't even sure if it was the "Bones Brigade" skateboarding team that I grew up knowing, reading about, and watching. Then when I saw that it was directed by Stacy Peralta I knew that it was, and I was excited as hell to see it!

The Bones Brigade is a skateboarding team that was organized by 70's skateboarding legend Stacy Peralta in the early 80's. He set out to start his own team of skaters, gathered together a group of no-name kids that had a deep passion for skateboarding, and mentored them to the top. This team produced some of the greatest, most legendary skateboarders of all time including Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Tommy Guerrero, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain, and Rodney Mullen,...

It's been over a decade since skateboarding pioneer Stacy Peralta brought his partially autobiographic documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys" to the Sundance Film Festival and walked away with an Audience Award and a prize for his direction.   Since then, Peralta has successfully chronicled big wave surfers in "Riding Giants" and street gangs in "Crips and Bloods: Made in America," proving himself to be more than just a one-trick pony as a documentarian, but rather an astute chronicler of men who live extreme lives on the fringes of the mainstream.   Peralta returned to Sundance on Saturday (January 21) night for the...

This spring no less than three British-made sports documentaries get a cinematic release. Does this mark the start of a new relationship between sport and film?

Sport and cinema have been uneasy bedfellows over the years, their dual history mapped out by a series of rather awkward public conjoinings. Football has long been something close to a running joke on film, its high points restricted to the Brian Glover Pe teacher bits in Kes, the luminous pre-modern internationalism of Escape to Victory, and any action movie in which geezer-for-hire and former Wimbledon clogger Vinnie Jones takes a beating.

Perhaps sport and film stand apart as poles: an oil-and-water collision of the loud, the outdoor and the boisterous with the dimly lit, the indoor and the ruminative. That might be about to change. This month three British-made sporting documentaries have had a cinematic release. Two are cricket films: From the Ashes...

McFly have revealed to Digital Spy that they were heavily influenced by Dogtown and Z-Boys for their new fly-on-the-wall series. The boyband said that the 5* series McFly on the Wall is considerably different from Kerry Katona and Peter Andre's Next Chapter formats, claiming that they were more inspired by traditional documentaries. "Our references were... and don't get me wrong...we're probably not even close, but our references were Riding Giants and Dogtown and Z-Boys," said Harry Judd. "More documentaries than reality shows." Tom Fletcher added: "None of our show is set up. I would never do a camera shot that's (more)...

Part of what makes the Oscar-nominated documentary The Cove so riveting is that the film is treated like an espionage thriller. And we can probably thank screenwriter Mark Monroe for much of its exciting narrative. Whether as a writer, director or producer, Monroe tends to work on documentaries with a sporting or adventuring edge. Prior to The Cove, he'd been involved with docs and series about soccer teams, boxing, basketball and sailing. His most recent film, Amir Bar-Lev's Sundance hit The Tillman Story, tackles the story of a pro football player turned tragic war hero.

Monroe's next sport to document is Formula One racing, according to Variety. He'll write the currently untitled project for occasional collaborator Paul Crowder, a filmmaker who also has a background in sports documentaries, having co-directed Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos and edited Stacy Peralta's Riding Giants...

One of the most daring and revealing documentaries of last year is also one of the most talked about. The Cove is an eye-opening look into the dolphin slaughtering in a secret cove off the coast of Japan which has gone from its Audience Award winning premiere at Sundance last year to an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary. Now Variety says the film's writer, Mark Monroe is teaming up with Paul Crowder (who has edited docs like Riding Giants, and co-directed Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who) to make a documentary on the world's fast paced and most expensive sport Formula One auto racing. Read on! No on has successfully crafted a narrative film based on Formula One auto racing, but the most recent was the 2001 film Driven with Sylvester Stallone, so it sounds like a doc might give the sport its due diligence. Three production companies (Spitfire...

"There is no Beat Generation ... just a bunch of guys trying to get published" Allen Ginsberg (James Franco) in Howl.

The opening film at Sundance is a prestigious position to be in: Robert Redford introduces the film, stars are in attendance, and as a result it can be difficult to score tickets. This year was no different with people lining the sidewalk to the theater holding signs asking for extra tickets. However, if you look back at the opening night film for the past few years, you can see that it has never ended up being the most buzzed-about film at the festival: Riding Giants (2004), Happy Endings (2005), Friends With Money (2006), Chicago 10 (2007), In Bruges (2008), and Mary & Max (2009).

Unfortunately, Howl is in the same boat. And to paraphrase Ginsberg himself: There is no Howl ... it's just a bunch of scenes trying to be a movie. Directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (The Times of Harvey Milk,...

Riding Giants (Blu-ray)Sony Home ENTERTAINMENT2004/Rated PG-13/105 minsNow Available – List Price $24.95 Stacy Peralta, who wrote and directed Dogtown and Z-Boys, the terrific 2002 documentary about the invention and culture of skateboarding, takes a look at where the sport got much inspiration from, big-wave surfing. His follow-up documentary Riding Giants is a passionate yet fun examination of the daredevil sport and its larger than live pioneers who were driven by their thrill seeking instincts. Also serving as the film's narrator, Peralta takes us back to surfing's origins with the humorous “1000 Years of Surfing in 2 Minutes or Less” which reveals the development and evolution of the sport amongst Polynesian cultures in the early twentieth century. Told in a Terry Gilliam animation style, the segment takes the story from pre-Christian Hawaii through the Captain Cook islands to southern California and then to a small group of West Coast refugees who went to the...

Even though Christmas has passed and we’re into the new year, there’s always time for new DVD releases. This week’s releases include , and the second Dawn of the Dead, End of Days, The Green Berets and 10 Things I Hate About You. Of these releases, we are all pretty excited about The Last Starfighter (pictured above).

Check out this week’s releases:

Movies

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 ~ Bonnie Hunt, Shawn Levy (Blu-ray)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ~ Anna Faris (DVD and Blu-ray)

Dawn of the Dead (2004) ~ Sarah Polley (Blu-ray)

Dogtown and Z-Boys ~ Sean Penn, Jay Adams (Blu-ray)

End of Days (2pc) ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger (Blu-ray)

The Final Destination ~ Bobby Campo, Mykelti Williamson (Blu-ray and DVD)

The Green Berets ~ John Wayne (Blu-ray)

Last Starfighter ~ Lance Guest (Blu-ray)

10 Things I Hate About You ~ Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Julia Stiles (Blu-ray)

50 Dead Men Walking ~ Jim Sturgess, Sir Ben Kingsley,...

Not a lot of exciting releases this week on DVD, but I'm sure some people will be interested in checking out a couple of last year's biggest 3-D movies, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and The Final Destination. Also, if you need to catch up before the next season starts on HBO, Big Love: The Complete Third Season is out today, and on Blu-ray, you've got Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 plus a couple of Stacy Peralta documentaries. I don't want to tell you how to spend your money, but you might want to wait for next week instead. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs [1] (+ Blu-ray [2]) The Final Destination [3] (+ Blu-ray [4]) Trucker [5] 50 Dead Men Walking [6] (+ Blu-ray [7]) Lorna's Silence [8] The Ministers [9] (+ Blu-ray [10]) 3 Ways To Get a Husband [11] The Hip Hop Project [12] 10 Things I Hate About You: 10th Anniversary Edition [13] (+ Blu-ray [14]) Big Love: Season 3 [15] Chuck: The Complete Second Season [16] (+ Blu-ray [17]) Iron Man...

Here are the new Blu-ray Releases for January 5th, 2010:

via highdefdigest.com

10 Things I Hate About You: Special Edition (Disney/Buena Vista) 50 Dead Man Walking (Phase 4 Films) Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 (Universal) Cheaper By The Dozen 2 (20th Century Fox) Chuck: The Complete Second Season (Warner Brothers) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Sony) Dogtown and Z-Boys (Sony) The Final Destination 3-D (New Line Cinema) The Green Berets (Warner Brothers) IMAX: Solarmax (Razor Digital) Riding Giants (Sony) Wicked Lake (Shriek Show)

Vactor’s Picks Of The Week:

Other Fused Film Related StoriesVactor’s Blu-ray Bulletin for December 29, 20099 Animated Films of All Time! ">FusedFilm’s Favorite 9 Animated Films of All Time! Vactor’s Blu-ray Bulletin for December 22, 2009Vactor’s Blu-ray Bulletin for Dec 1, 2009Blu-ray Bulletin for October 13, 2009Lie to Me Season 1 (Blu-ray)">DVD Review: Lie to Me Season 1 (Blu-ray)...

It's the first Tuesday of a new year, and coming out of the Christmas buying season it's a pretty slow week for new releases. Only two theatrical titles make their bow, along with a few catalog and television titles. This is the DVD Report for Tuesday, January 5.

The venerable "Final Destination" franchise had already gone through three films by 2006, and understandably the producers wanted to shake things up for the next volume. They did that by entering the world of 3-D. The film series, which finds young folks having premonitions of death that come true for people around them, is known for concocting outlandish death scenes (roller coaster accident, a race car careening into the crowd, etc.). So it was only natural to take it to the next level by literally throwing these bizarre tragedies into audience's faces with 3-D.

"The Final Destination" comes to Blu-ray and DVD equipped with those red-and-blue glasses,...

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Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs I just reviewed the Blu-ray edition (read that here) and was unfortunately unimpressed. At 81 minutes I expected a brisk and entertaining film, but what I got was a film that runs about 20 minutes too long and seemed to get worse and worse as the remaining minutes ticked away. The Final Destination I can't bring myself to watch what I truly hope is the final installment in this frachise again. I was extremely disappointed in this film after my interest was piqued at Comic Con last year. Oh well, can't win 'em all. Trucker Now here's a film that isn't all that bad, but I would only recommend it as a rental at this point. You can read my review for a complete breakdown, but in short it's a well-acted film that falls apart...

Maybe he ain't got time to bleed, but Jesse Ventura had time to sit down with Rotten Tomatoes to reveal his top five films. And I have to say, it's a pretty damn good collection.

A co-star of Schwarzenegger in Predator, the former pro wrestler and Minnesota governor has a new show that debuted this week called Conspiracy Theory. In fact, it garnered 1.6 million viewers on truTV, a record for a debut on the cable outlet. If you read Ventura's latest book, you know he's pretty deeply entrenched in conspiracy theories, and I think for a lot of people, they're quiet obsessions - UFOs, JFK, 9/11, and on and on.

There's even a conspiracy theory movie on his top five, and it's the best example of that sort of thing we have. I like that Ventura specifically mentions the editing in JFK, because I don't know that I've ever seen a better edited film.

Release Date: Jan. 23 [limited]

Director: Stacy Peralta

Writers: Stacy Peralta & Sam George

Cinematographer: Tony Hardmon

Studio/Run Time: Balance Vector, 93 mins.

Stacy Peralta, best known for his films about skaters and surfers, may not seem like the best filmmaker to untangle the complicated history of gang violence in Los Angeles. But his previous film, Riding Giants, is one of the rare surfing documentaries that appeals to non-surfers like myself, and applying that same sense of storytelling and visual style to a weightier subject actually works surprisingly well.

In this week's edition of Indie Roundup, we look at deals, docs, fests, and ... a refrigerator?

Deals. Our friends at indieWIRE have posted news about all kinds of distribution deals in the past seven days. World War II drama Woman in Berlin, for example, has been picked up by Strand Releasing for a summer release, and Arlen Faber, which stars Jeff Daniels and just played at Sundance, has been acquired by Magnolia, also for summer release. Magnolia's genre division Magnet Releasing got the rights to Tony Jaa's action flick Ong Bak 2 -- more on that one from me in next week's Asian Cinema Scene.

Box Office. The new doc from Stacy Peralta, Crips and Bloods: Made in America, scored the highest per-screen average among all films last weekend, earning $13,978 at the one theater where it's playing in Los Angeles, per Box Office Mojo. Peralta previously made the well-received...

By Neil Pedley

This week, a strong international lineup stacks up alongside some domestic B-movie madness and traditional big-budget nonsense.

"California Dreamin"

Despite being technically unfinished at the time of its 27-year-old director's tragic and untimely death in a car accident in 2006, this raucous satire from the late Romanian filmmaker Cristian Nemescu ably illustrates what a great young talent was sadly lost. Partly a slight of American hegemony, partly a where-do-we-go-from-here meditation on his homeland post-Cold War, Nemescu's darkly comic tragedy was inspired by true events. Unfolding against the backdrop of the Kosovo conflict, the story centers on a train carrying Nato military equipment through Romania before being delayed in a station by a corrupt railway chief in order to exploit its cargo and the U.S. Marines guarding it.

Opens in New York.

"Crips & Bloods: Made in America"

Having previously chronicled the origins and the history of surf culture...

Burger King’s new “Whopper Virgin” commercials are drawing controversy online. Did you know that the spots were directed by Dogtown and Z-Boys and Riding Giants director Stacy Peralta? Burger King commissioned Peralta to document a 20,000 mile international journey to find people who have never heard of the Whopper to perform “the world’s purest taste test”. Peralta visits a remote locations around the world, tempting poverty-stricken villagers with a fast food burger (hence the criticism). Thirteen planes, two dog sleds and one helicopter later, they have produced a short advertorial documentary film, which you can watch below. Discuss: What do you think? Is Peralta’s short doc unethical? via: Popcandy Related Stories No Related [...]...

New York -- Oscar winner Alex Gibney is taking off with "Gravity," a documentary about the extreme sport of Base jumping.

The director of "Taxi to the Dark Side" and "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" will executive produce and serve as a mentor on the docu, a look at death-defying athletes who jump off buildings and cliffs. Marah Strauch directs.

The movie's credits will feature a who's who of docu-world figures: "Riding Giants" producer Jane Kachmer will produce, along with Strauch and Eric Bruggemann. Josh Braun and Dan Braun of docu sales-agent powerhouse Submarine Entertainment will exec produce.

Base jumping, begun in the 1970s by engineer-filmmaker Carl Boenish, involves an athlete who jumps off natural and manmade objects without a cushion or harness and opens a parachute late in the jump. (Base stands for buildings, antenna, span and Earth). The movie draws from footage Boenish took three decades...

• The man once known for kick flips and sucking brown water from swimming pools for more alluring sk8ing terrain has now evolved into an established docu-filmmaker with examples such as Dogtown and Z-Boys and Riding Giants. With next week's Sundance 08 edition, Stacy Peralta makes a 180 degree turn veering into the hardly spoken about subject matter that is destroying many lives.Narrated by Forest Whitaker, Made in America looks at the Crips and Bloods, the doc examines the conditions that have lead to decades of devastating gang violence among young African Americans growing up in South Los Angeles. We'll be featuring more on Stacy during Sundance in the mean time here is the production poster. ...

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• This year's Spectrum section has been sectioned off into two: which if you ask me just makes pure logistical sense. Among the list are some regular Sundance faces and notably many first time filmmakers in this non-competitive category. The highly anticipated documentary film from Morgan Spurlock (that's him above on the camel) gets featured in doc section - after taking on McD's this time out he does what the U.S president has failed to do: actually try and find Bin Laden. Another film that will generate smiles is Stephen Walker's Young@Heart - imagine Coldplay sung by your grandma... Sony Pictures Classics picked up those rights a while back. Stacy Peralta goes from extreme sports back ground (Riding Giants) to looking an the gang wars between the blue and red teams in California.In the features section we have director (Xx/Xy) Austin Chick's newest about

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The American Cinema Editors announced nominations on Thursday for the 2004 ACE Eddie Awards recognizing outstanding editing in film, television and documentaries. Nominees for best edited dramatic feature film are Miramax Films' The Aviator, Finding Neverland and Kill Bill: Volume 2, DreamWorks' Collateral, Fox Searchlight Pictures' Kinsey and Warner Bros. Pictures' Million Dollar Baby. The five nominees for best edited comedy or musical include Focus Features' Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Fox Searchlight's Sideways, MGM's De-Lovely, Pixar Animation Studios' The Incredibles, and Universal Pictures' Ray. In the best edited documentary race are IFC Films' Fahrenheit 9/11, New Yorker Films' My Architect, and Sony Pictures Classics' Riding Giants.

Documentarian Stacy Peralta, whose surfing film Riding Giants opened this year's Sundance Film Festival, has struck a deal with Columbia Pictures to make his narrative feature debut on an untitled surfing film. Peralta will direct the project from a script he will co-write with Sam George, his writing partner on Riding Giants. It's described as an original film and not a remake of Giants, though one of the subjects from the film will make waves in Peralta's new project, he said. Giants, due to roll out next month from Sony Pictures Classics, explores the lives and passions of big-wave surfers from around the world with a heavy focus on surfers Greg Noll, Jeff Clark and Laird Hamilton and three epochs of big-wave surfing. Peralta said his untitled feature will focus on the life and surroundings of Noll, whom he called "the Babe Ruth of surfing."...