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Alexis Arquette was honored by her close friends at a special event on Sunday – one week after the late star died at age 47 from complications related to AIDS.

Fans of the transgender trailblazer and several friends who belonged to Arquette's close circle gathered at The Pig 'n Whistle in Hollywood for the Alexis Arquette: Celebration of Life Party. The event was hosted by Sham Ibrahim, 37, a fellow drag performer who met the star in 1999.

About 50 friends and fans were on hand for the party. Arquette's favorite artists – David Bowie, Tears for Fears, Madonna, the Killers and the Pet Shop Boys – played in the background,...

Alexis Arquette was honored by her close friends at a special event on Sunday - one week after the late star died at age 47 from complications related to AIDS. Fans of the transgender trailblazer and several friends who belonged to Arquette's close circle gathered at The Pig 'n Whistle in Hollywood for the Alexis Arquette: Celebration of Life Party. The event was hosted by Sham Ibrahim, 37, a fellow drag performer who met the star in 1999. About 50 friends and fans were on hand for the party. Arquette's favorite artists - David Bowie, Tears for Fears, Madonna, the Killers and the...

DVD Playhouse: May 2011

By

Allen Gardner

Blow Out (Criterion) Brian De Palma’s greatest Hitchcock homage, with a dash of Antonioni thrown in for good measure. John Travolta gives one of his best turns as a sound-effects engineer who unwittingly records a political assassination, then finds himself hunted by a ruthless hitman (John Lithgow, a memorably creepy psycho) after saving the life of the kindly, albeit dim-witted call girl (Nancy Allen, excellent) who was with the deceased. Terrific blend of suspense and very black humor, perhaps De Palma’s finest hour as an auteur. Beautifully shot by Vilmos Zsigmond. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Interviews with De Palma, Allen, cameraman Garrett Brown; Photo gallery; De Palma’s 1967 feature Murder a la Mod; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 2.0 surround.

Kes (Criterion) Ken Loach’s landmark 1970 film is both a heart-rending portrait of adolescence, and a pointed socio-political commentary on life in the North of England.

A ton of you threw me firmly under the bus when I did my top 10 Sci-Fi Films of 2009 over Moon. I got tons of downright rude comments about how dare I not include moon and what a moron I was. In defence I pointed out the film had a piss poor release and I never was afforded the opportunity to see it. Even in its DVD release Rogers Video the largest video chain in Canada did not have a single copy for sale. So I ended up going to HMV and buying a copy after impatiently waiting for Rogers to get a copy and my verdict is in. Although those of you who acted like keyboard tough guys throwing piss and vinegar my way were out of line your argument was sound. Moon is genius.

In Moon Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon,...

As you all know quite well, "Avatar" hit theaters this weekend. And while celebrities have ways of finagling themselves tickets to official premieres -- I think there's a secret handshake or something -- plenty of them turned out to "slum it" with their adoring public for public screenings of the movie. Or at least, that's what it seems like based on the influx of tweets on our Twitter-Wood feed.

The tone has been mostly positive on the Hollywood insider front. Hell, last week superstar actor Ben Stiller appeared on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" with only one thing in mind: pimping James Cameron's sci-fi epic! "Oh, I'm here to talk about 'Avatar.'" he said. "I'm really excited about it, Conan. It's gonna be... it's just going to be an amazing movie." Hit the jump for more from celebs on "Avatar," fresh from the Twitter-Wood feed.

@johncmayer...

Thanksgiving is a time for giving and making sacrifices, even if you're Jason Reitman and that means giving up your first class seats on a flight for the turkeys being pardoned by President Obama tomorrow. The "Juno" director tweeted a pic today from his travels, leading a pack of other photo posts that included John Hodgman's view from a Pixies concert last night and Denise Richards showing what she looks like while getting her hair highlighted.

Scope those out after the jump along with a discussion about the title of "Ninja Assassin" by Edgar Wright and Bryan Lee O'Malley, Eliza Dushku "World of Warcraft" nerdery on display and more. It's all in the Thanksgiving Eve Twitter-Wood report for November 25, 2009.

Twitter Pic of the Day:

@JasonReitman Got kicked back to Economy, because the Presidential Pardoned Turkeys are taking up all of first class. http://twitpic.com/qwh55

-Jason Reitman,...

Amid a summer of explosive spectacle - there can barely be a stick of dynamite left unlit in Hollywood - David Bowie's son Duncan Jones surprised everyone with his directorial debut: An old-school sci-fi film called Moon.

Made for just $5million by Liberty Films and released by Sony Pictures Classics, Moon lands on DVD and Blu-ray next Monday, November 16. The new website for the film has now gone live (and you can see it here).

This psychological drama - which was on a limited theatrical release - stars Sam Rockwell (Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, Frost/Nixon) and features the voice of Kevin Spacey as a computer called Gerty.

Rockwell is Sam Bell, a Lunar Industries worker supervising the mechanical extraction of the clean fuel helium-3 from rocks on the surface of the moon.

Bell is nearing the end of a solitary three-year contract during which he has been...

“Every one is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody”

– Mark Twain

Duncan Jones is a genius. In bringing his feature debut Moon to the big screen he has made a film that pays graceful homage to such luminaries as Kubrick, Spielberg, and Robert Wise to name a few, and can stand proudly in their company with his beautiful metaphysical movie which is as accomplished in its execution as it is limitless in its ambition.

Jones’s Moon is a unique and intelligent thriller with the twin benefits of an outstanding (and Oscar-worthy turn) by Sam Rockwell and a script which takes familiar sci-fi concepts and draws out a superior narrative without ever relying on the conventions of the genre. It is an incredibly difficult trick to pull off, but as I was watching the film I sat literally breathless in admiration as Jones let the story flow,...

You can bring home the critically acclaimed directorial debut of Duncan Jones on DVD and Blu-ray early next year. Moon will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 12, 2010. The DVD will be priced at $27.96 Srp, while the Bd will go for $37.95 Srp. The film stars Sam Rockwell, Dominique McElligott, Kaya Scodelario and the voice of Kevin Spacey.

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is nearing the completion of his 3-year-long contract with Lunar Industries, mining Earth's primary source of energy on the dark side of the moon. Alone with only the base's vigilant computer Gerty (voiced by Oscar-Winner Kevin Spacey, 1999 Best Actor, American Beauty) as his sole companion, Bell's extended isolation has taken its toll. His only link to the outside world comes from satellite messages from his wife and young daughter. He longs to return home, but a terrible accident on the lunar surface leads to a disturbing discovery that...

A few weeks back, director Duncan Jones revealed some of the DVD and Blu-ray release details for the import release of his highly acclaimed film Moon via his twitter account (@ManMadeMoon). And ever since, we've been waiting for official word from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Today, we have that official word in the form of the press release below. The film will hit Blu-ray and DVD here in the states on January 12th, and it will include what appears to be a solid amount of special features. This includes two commentary tracks, two Q&A featurettes and two behind the scenes featurettes. Not bad for a smaller release. I for one will be keeping an eye out for Moon and picking up this release, as this film is certainly on my list for year end awards. See the official press release below: Culver City, Calif. (November 9, 2009) – Sam Rockwell (Frost/Nixon, upcoming...

It may come to you as no surprise that Kristen Bell is a huge George Carlin fan. But did you know that she once co-composed a musical based on his comedy? The Twitter-Wood feed picked up a few details about her un-produced masterpiece today, and I have to say, someone should get that on stage -- soon!

Other Twitter-Wood revelations included Rose McGowan's willingness to appear on "Mad Men" -- yet another move I would support! Several other tweets may be slightly less shocking -- for instance, that Tom Felton's hair-dying adventures have resumed, or that Kevin Nealon makes jokes about Kim Jong Il. You'll understand when you read today's Twitter-Wood report below. But first, for those of us out there without ready access to a beach, here's Miley Cyrus laughing in our faces in the Twitter Pic of the Day.

Twitter Pic of the Day:

@mileycyrus You are my sunshine.

Protests, marches, and link-passing have taken over Twitter following last week’s contested election results in Iran, and the Twitter-Wood feed has been no exception. Alyssa Milano has been particularly persistent with her #iranelection-tagged tweets, and directors Errol Morris, James Gunn, and Jon Favreau all logged on to comment on the events in Tehran.

Meanwhile, a few tweets squeaked through with details from the “Iron Man 2” and “Casino Jack” sets, as well as from Wil Wheaton’s guest appearance on the TNT series “Leverage.” Also, Jonah Hill joins Kat Dennings and Nick Jasenovec in doubting the legitimacy of the controversial Michael Cera Twitter account that I’ve mentioned before. Click onward for all of these, birthday wishes to actor Michael Showalter, a much more in 140 characters or less in today’s Twitter-Wood report!

Iran Election pt 1: @Alyssa_Milano Iranian football team wears green armbands during game. (correction) #Tehran #iranelection http://yfrog.

Moon is being directing by Duncan Jones, also known as Zowie Bowie, the son of David Bowie. Jones is a former ad exec turned filmmaker with only one film under his belt, a sci-fi short from 2000 called Whistle. The film follows Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) an employee contracted by the company Lunar to mine on the Moon the natural gas Helium 3, which could reverse Earth's energy crisis. Sam is stationed at the lunar base Sarang with only a robot named Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey), but two weeks before completing his three-year assignment, he begins feeling out of place. An extraction goes wrong, and Sam suspects Lunar of trying to replace him as he realises someone else is on the Moon.

Just got hold of some pictures of Sam Rockwell in a small science film called Moon. The film has been under the radar for quite sometime. Bloody Disgusting got some new pictures from the film. Sam Rockwell has been mining Helium 3 on the moon three years alone. Just two weeks shy of his departure from the lunar base Selene, Sam starts seeing and hearing things and feeling strange. When a routine extraction goes horribly wrong, he discovers that his employer has their own plans for replacing him and the new recruit is eerily familiar.

Moon is directed by Duncan Jones. Jones is a former ad executive turned filmmaker with only one film under his belt, a science fiction short called Whistle. I think the fact that Sam Rockwell is associated to the project has sort of got me interested on this project.

Click the thumbnails for the hi res images.