News

Crazy Legs Features has nabbed film rights to The Most Beautiful: My Life with Prince, the bestseller from Mayte Garcia, chronicling her romance with the iconic musical artist, for development as a scripted biopic. With the WGA strike in the rearview mirror, the company is now in search of a writer to pen the adaptation.

The first wife of the superstar born Prince Rogers Nelson, Mayte’s bestseller offers a perspective on Prince through their intensely personal relationship that shows a depth and nuance never revealed of the famously private and beloved artist. The book’s title is inspired by the hit song Prince wrote about their legendary love story that started backstage at a concert. What began as a friendship between two artists blossomed into a romance, thrived as a fairytale from their wedding day, and then struggled due to the devastating losses that ultimately ended their marriage in 2000. Still,...

The Paley Center for Media today announced that it will pay tribute to the extraordinary Kerry Washington with the special program Celebrating Kerry Washington: Conversation & Exclusive Preview Screening of Little Fires Everywhere.

The program will take place on Tuesday, March 17 at 7:30 pm.

“I’m truly honored to be returning to the Paley Center stage for this look back at my work,” said Kerry Washington. “And I’m thrilled to be previewing Little Fires Everywhere, as part of this extraordinary evening.”

“We’re thrilled to welcome back Kerry Washington to the Paley Center,” said Maureen J. Reidy, the Paley Center President & CEO. “Ms. Washington is a tremendous talent and we look forward to celebrating her remarkable career and to hosting the exclusive New York premiere of Little Fires Everywhere.”

Kerry Washington is among the most respected and influential talents in television today. A New York native, this versatile talent has...

Good movies tend to have solid taglines. Bad movies almost always have questionable taglines. Coincidence?

Taglines may not be the most important component of a film’s advertising, but having a good one can be beneficial. A good tagline should be something that is memorable, catchy, informative of the films’ plot or tone, and unique. Consider the tagline from Alien, “In space no one will hear you scream,” or Jurassic Park, “An adventure 65 million years in the making.” At other times, movie taglines have been famous quotes from the film. Examples are “One ring to rule them all,” from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, or “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy,” from The Shining. Simply put, having a solid movie tagline is worth the effort.

This is a look at a few films where the effort was clearly lacking or misplaced. Sometimes they are trying too hard.

Exclusive: CAA has signed Evan Ross, who recently wrapped The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2. The actor will soon be seen starring in the gritty drama Supremacy and The Wilderness Of James. Ross’s credits include Squatters, Jeff Who Lives At Home, Life Is Hot In Cracktown and 96 Minutes. The latter won him the Jury Award for Best Breakthrough Performance at SXSW. Ross also just signed with Capitol Records and will release an album in the fall.

Ross had been at Paradigm and continues to be managed by Link and lawyered by Ziffren Brittenham.

If movie and primetime TV stardom are the dreams of most actresses, then Kerry Washington is living the dream. At 36, she's starred in many well-known films including this year's Oscar award-winning film "Django Unchained," the award-winning "Ray," "Last King of Scotland," and her hit TV series, "Scandal." While she plays the love interest in "Peeples," the movie is not your standard romantic comedy. When she sat down with Moviefone, Washington discussed her taste for quirky, off-the-beaten path roles and revealed a part of her past that makes her well-suited for the role of Grace, a high-achieving daddy's girl in a upper-middle-class African-American family. You play a part of what can be called the black bourgeoisie. Did you do anything special to prepare for that? I always prepare. I like to study and research and prepare, but my family used to rent a home every summer in the Hamptons, in Sag...

Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival – it takes place this year between July 18 and August 6 and has always been about more than just the films. They offer plenty of panel discussions and master classes every year, and last year’s edition introduced the Frontières International Co-Production Market, uniting North American, European, and Australasian talent and funders in an initiative focused specifically on fostering genre film productions and relationships. Noteworthy projects from the inaugural edition included new works from seasoned filmmakers such as Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator) and Bruce McDonald (Pontypool), as well as up-and-coming talent like Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Resolution), Paul Campion (The Devil’s Rock), Jason Eisener (Hobo With a Shotgun), and Jorge Michel Grau (We Are What We Are). At the Fantasia Industry Rendez-Vous – a sort of three-day industry cocktail party – professional introductions were made, and many of the projects found co-producers and/or international sales agents.

Montreal's Fantasia International Film Festival, widely acclaimed as one of the largest and most influential genre film festivals in the world, is proud to announce the official selections of the second edition of its Frontières International Co-Production Market.

Frontières is the first and only international co-production market to connect North America with Europe, in an environment focused specifically on genre film production. It was just announced last week that Frontières will become a circuit in-between Fantasia, in July, and the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, in April. This initiative was made possible by funding from the Media Mundus program of the European Commission. Frontières was the only new initiative to be funded by the program this year.

The projects to be presented in the market feature an exciting array of filmmakers, from gifted newcomers to world-renowned maestros, coupled with numerous established international producers. The second edition of the Frontières International...

For the unfamiliar, Montreal is a city which hosts at least one film festival each and every month of the year. Of the dozens of fests, Fantasia Film Festival is without a doubt our favourite, and is widely acclaimed as one of the largest and most influential genre film festivals in the world. They’ve just announced the official selection of the second edition of its Frontières International Co-Production Market, and the slate is looking good. Frontières is the first and only international co-production market to connect North America with Europe, in an environment focused specifically on genre film production. The projects to be presented in the market feature an exciting array of filmmakers, from gifted newcomers to world-renowned maestros, coupled with numerous established international producers. The selection of the second edition of the Frontières International Co-Production Market will consist of the following 12 projects:

Casting the Runes (Canada / Germany / USA)

Director: Joe Dante (The Hole,...

Indie maven Buddy Giovinazzo (Combat Shock, Maniac 2, Life Is Hot In Cracktown, The Theatre Bizarre) is back with a new film, A Night of Nightmares; and the first stills, art, and more have made their way online! Check out the goods right here, right now!

The new flick, which stars Marc Senter, Elissa Dowling, and Jason London, will be having its premiere at this year's Fantasia Film Festival. Stay tuned for more about this title soon, and hit up the link to Twitch below for even more stills.

Synopsis

Mark Lighthouse is on his way to interview a subject for his underground music blog. Ginger, his newest singing discovery, is living in an old house up in the mountains, where she's agreed to give him an interview and cook him dinner.

At the house, Ginger is not only talented but an exotic beauty as well. Mark starts his video interview,...

Cult fave director Buddy Giovinazzo (Combat Shock, Maniac 2, Life Is Hot In Cracktown, The Theatre Bizarre) will be premiering his new feature A Night Of Nightmares at the upcoming Fantasia Festival and Twitch is pleased to present the first images, poster and synopsis for the film.Mark Lighthouse is on his way to interview a subject for his underground music blog. Ginger, his newest singing discovery, is living in an old house up in the mountains, where she's agreed to give him an interview and cook him dinner.At the house, Ginger is not only talented but an exotic beauty as well. Mark starts his video interview and he and Ginger hit it off right away. They banter good-naturedly, their time together is easy. When...

Being a political animal by nature is helping Kerry Washington in her starring television series debut.

Known for such movies as "Ray," the Oscar-winning "The Last King of Scotland" and the current "A Thousand Words," the actress plays a professional "fixer" on ABC's "Scandal." Premiering Thursday, April 5, the drama is the latest project of "Grey's Anatomy" mentor Shonda Rhimes, who based the central character on crisis-management consultant Judy Smith ... earlier an aide to President George H.W. Bush.

Politically active herself, as she was during then-Sen. Barack Obama's bid for the White House, Washington deems it "very exciting" to play someone as powerful in her own way as the president (portrayed in "Scandal" by actor-director Tony Goldwyn). "I love my job, and I'm so grateful that I'm getting to do it with people at the level they're at. I feel like the luckiest broad in showbiz."

By the end...

The Theatre Bizarre

Directed by Richard Stanley, Buddy Giovinazzo, Douglas Buck, Karim Hussain, David Gregory, Tom Savini and Jeremy Kasten

USA/France, 2011

A horror anthology in seven parts, The Theatre Bizarre is a throwback to the tradition of the port-manteaux films of the `60s and `70s. The main exponent of this type of film then was Amicus Films, a small British production company established by two American ex-pats (Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky) who wanted to take on the mighty (at the time anyways) Hammer Films at their game. The Theatre Bizarre, then, is a deliberate callback to that era, but with a contemporary sensibility that could only come from these directors having been exposed to myriad horror films by the likes of Fulci and Argento, and their own previous works of course; a true cross-pollination of styles and moods that is as refreshing and revolting as one might reasonably expect.

The first thought that came to mind upon arriving to director Buddy Giovinazzo’s then-shooting supernatural horror flick Ginger on Sunday, December 18 of 2011 was, “This looks like some place Charles Manson would have frequented back in the Sixties.” As I was to find, I was correct in that assumption, and as it turned out, Giovinazzo himself, too, was working hard to add yet another creepy chapter to the location’s storied past alongside Ginger stars Marc Senter and Elissa Dowling.

Arriving to set, the sprawling property along Big Tujunga Road for the most part was scattered haphazardly with ramshackle buildings roofed in sheet-metal, a rather stagnant pool, and abandoned machinery and horse stables, although as the wind whispered through the mature eucalyptus trees, so did an almost tangible feeling of rock 'n roll history. Those who’ve ever spent any time in the homes which dot Laurel Canyon know the feeling,...

Showing at this years London Film4 Frightfest, The Theatre Bizarre is an anthology film directed by six of the most varied film makers working in genre cinema today – Douglas Buck, Buddy Giovinazzo, David Gregory, Karim Hussain, Tom Savini and Richard Stanley, who makes his welcome return to the horror genre after Eighteen years away…

The Theatre Bizarre is a modern horror anthology inspired by the over-the-top shocks of Paris’ early 20th century ‘Theatre du Grand Guignol’. The feature will be comprised of six films by six cutting-edge genre directors enlisted from around the world and granted total creative freedom. The Theater Bizarre is executive produced by Daryl J. Tucker and produced by Severin’s Carl Daft, David Gregory and John Cregan, Metaluna’s Fabrice Lambot, and Michael Ruggiero of Nightscape Entertainment.

The project’s six filmmakers have all made at least one modestly budgeted and internationally acclaimed movie in the horror field.

The Theatre Bizarre

Directed by Richard Stanley, Buddy Giovinazzo, Douglas Buck, Karim Hussain, David Gregory, Tom Savini and Jeremy Kasten

USA/France, 2011

A horror anthology in seven parts, The Theatre Bizarre is a throwback to the tradition of the port-manteaux films of the `60s and `70s. The main exponent of this type of film then was Amicus Films, a small British production company established by two American ex-pats (Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky) who wanted to take on the mighty (at the time anyways) Hammer Films at their game. The Theatre Bizarre, then, is a deliberate callback to that era, but with a contemporary sensibility that could only come from these directors having been exposed to myriad horror films by the likes of Fulci and Argento, and their own previous works of course; a true cross-pollination of styles and moods that is as refreshing and revolting as one might reasonably expect.

3 – Theatre Bizarrre

Directed by:

Douglas Buck (segment The Accident)

Buddy Giovinazzo (segment I Love You)

David Gregory (segment Sweets)

Karim Hussain (segment Vision Stains)

Tom Savini (segment Wet Dreams)

Richard Stanley (segment The Mother Of Toads)

One of this year’s most anticipated films for genre enthusiasts is a horror anthology titled The Theatre Bizarr. There is a lot to be excited about here: first, cult icon Udo Kier (Blood for Dracula, Melancholia) stars in one segment. Second , the D.O.P. Of Hobo With A Shotgun and director of the incredibly fucked up Subconscious Cruelty Karim Hussain is directing one of the seven segments. Sir Richard Stanley, director of the cult classics Hardware and Dust Devil is directing another. Legendary special effects make-up artist Tom Savini and director of the Night of the Living Dead remake is also behind the director’s chair as is Buddy Gionvinazzo, who directed...

The omnibus chiller The Theatre Bizarre has its first trailer and it’s all kind of sickness. Thanks to Dread Central!

The project’s six filmmakers have all made at least one modestly budgeted and internationally acclaimed movie in the horror field. The films of Douglas Buck include the 2003 Sitges sensation Family Portraits: A Trilogy Of America and the recent remake of Brian DePalma’s Sisters. Buddy Giovinazzo exploded onto the genre scene with 1986′s Combat Shock and went on to write and direct such features as the Tim Roth-starrer No Way Home and last year’s acclaimed ensemble drama Life Is Hot In Cracktown (adapted from his novel), as well as numerous works for German television. UK native David Gregory is the industry’s foremost documentarian of horror films on DVD, and his 2008 feature debut Plague Town was hailed as “a nightmare captured on celluloid” by Fangoria. In...

I just came back from the Fantasia Film festival press conference and I am already overwhelmed. I’ve been looking over the schedule all afternoon (which includes around 126 films in just over three weeks) trying to figure out how to find time to watch everything I want to see. One of this year’s most anticipated films is a horror anthology titled The Theatre Bizarre featuring cult icon Udo Kier (Blood for Dracula, Melancholia) with film segments directed by Richard Stanley (Hardware, Dust Devil), Tom Savini (Night of the Living Dead remake), Buddy Gionvinazzo (Life is Hot In Cracktown), Douglas Buck (Sisters remake), Karim Hussain (Subconscious Cruelty), David Gregory (Plague Town), and Jeremy Kasten (Wizard of Gore remake). The film will have its World Premiere at the 2011 Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal on July 16th at 9:20pm, and you can be guaranteed we will be reviewing it. Severin Films...

Who's ready to get dirty with some gory new stills for the next anthology film to come our way that's making its world premiere at this year's Fantasia Film Festival? Yeah, we thought you would be. Read on for the goods!

The Theatre Bizarre is a modern horror anthology inspired by the over-the-top shocks of Paris' early 20th century 'Theatre du Grand Guignol'. The feature will be comprised of six films by six cutting-edge genre directors enlisted from around the world and granted total creative freedom. The Theater Bizarre is executive produced by Daryl J. Tucker and produced by Severin's Carl Daft, David Gregory and John Cregan, Metaluna's Fabrice Lambot, and Michael Ruggiero of Nightscape Entertainment.

The project's six filmmakers have all made at least one modestly budgeted and internationally acclaimed movie in the horror field. The films of Douglas Buck include the 2003 Sitges sensation Family Portraits: A Trilogy Of America...

Montreal's Fantasia International Film Festival, which will be held from July 14 to August 7, will kick off with Kevin Smith's Red State.

Fantasia also made the first announcement about the films that will be part of this 15th edition's line-up.

People can see the anthology film Theatre Bizarre. This coproduction between Canada, France, Germany, the UK, the USA reunites Richard Stanley (Hardware), Karim Hussain (La belle bête), Douglas Buck (Cutting Moments), Buddy Giovinazzo (Life Is Hot in Cracktown), David Gregory (Plague Town) and Tom Savini, as directors.

The festival will also hold the world premier of The Wicker Tree, from Robin Hardy. Moreover, a book launch is also expected because The Wicker Tree is based on the novel Cowboys for Christ, by Hardy.

As for a Canadian premiere, Ryoo Seung-wan's The Unjust will be screened. Besides, Ryoo will be invited by the festival's organizers to teach choreography for action films.

Shooting wrapped yesterday on a new anthology film with some heavy genre names to its credit. The film is being co-produced by Severin Films. No word yet on a release date.

Severin Films and France’s Metaluna Productions today announced their international co-production of The Theatre Bizarre, a modern horror anthology inspired by the over-the-top shocks of Paris’ early 20th century ‘Theatre du Grand Guignol’. The feature will be comprised of six films by six cutting-edge genre directors enlisted from around the world and granted total creative freedom. The Theater Bizarre is executive produced by Daryl J. Tucker, and produced by Severin’s Carl Daft, David Gregory and John Cregan, Metaluna’s Fabrice Lambot, and Michael Ruggiero of Nightscape Entertainment. Production on Richard Stanley’s (Hardware) segment ‘The Mother Of Toads’ began 10/10/10 in Montségur in the French Pyrenees.

The project’s six filmmakers have all made at least one modestly...

When the Fantasia International Film Festival returns to set Montreal ablaze this summer, the fantastic film festival – one of the largest and most influential of its kind in the world – will be celebrating its 15th anniversary with an astonishing three-week showcase of international genre cinema, from July 14th to August 7th, 2011.

The full line-up of over 120 feature films from across the world will be announced in another few weeks. But for now, Fantasia is proud to reveal several juicy teases, each related to the country it calls home.

2011 Artwork:

For the festival’s 2011 edition, a painting by esteemed Montreal artist Donald Caron was commissioned. As of this year, the festival will be calling its main jury award “Le Cheval Noir”, and it was desired that the event’s 15th-anniversary artwork would depict this in an imaginative way.

The poster art and award moniker are a nod to a wonderfully fantastical...

One of the largest and most influential film festivals of its kind in the world will be celebrating its 15th anniversary with three thrilling weeks showcasing international genre cinema, from July 14th to August 7th, 2011. The full line-up of over 120 feature films from across the world will be announced in another few weeks but Twitch released a press release from the festival detailing some exciting news. The festival has added a program Maple Syrup Thrills, a tribute to John Dunning and André Link responsible for such genre film landmarks as David Cronenbergs early break through hits Shivers, Rabid, as well as Happy Birthday To Me, Death Weekend and My Bloody Valentine.

Fantasia will award the trailblazing duo with a pair of Lifetime Achievement Awards and will also mount a special Dunning/Link retrospective series in order to allow a new generation of film lovers a chance to see some of...

Call me crazy but when the director of Life Is Hot In Cracktown and Combat Shock decides to direct a piece called I Love You, chances are it's not a rom-com. Produced as part of the Severin Films back anthology project Theatre Bizarre - which also features contributions from Doug Buck, Karim Hussein, David Gregory, Tom Savini and Richard Stanley - and starring Andre Hennicke (Antibodies) and Suzan Anbeh you can be sure while somebody may very well love something this aint going to be pretty. Check the images below....

Welcome to Beast’S Flashback, where like the critics said of Elias Mehrige’s Begotten: "we point a flood light in those places we choose not to look."inaugural edition of what is hoped to become a regular feature, allow the author to explain. In this space we will look at films from the past and present that have, for some reason or another, gone relatively unnoticed....

Even in these modern times, where nothing seems to be hidden, these films have evaded mass viewings, major DVD/Blu-Ray revivals, and far-reaching retrospectives, remaining below the surface, clawing at the coffins of avoidance, screaming to be let loose.

While these movies may not be well known, they still have a resonance on those few who have experienced them, some of which have become well-known genre auteurs, using these underground gems as the measuring stick against their own levels of celluloid depravity. You...

10– A Serious Man (18 Points)

Directed by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

Blending dark humor with profoundly personal themes, The Coen Brothers deliver their most intimate film yet. Expanding upon some of the themes they’ve played with in the past, the film deals with everything from man’s search for meaning, the existence of God, pattern and randomness in the Universe, and the essential solitude of the human condition. Euphoric, extremely funny, deeply serious, sad, troubling, warm and thoughtful. The Coens have finished the decade as America’s pre-eminent film-makers.

9- Kynodontas (Dogtooth) (19 Points)

Directed by Giorgos Lanthimos

Infused with its own brand of hyper-stylized realism, Dogtooth feels so out of this world that it is quite impossible to pin down. The winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, Dogtooth is so twisted and weird that the absurd comedy found in the films of Todd Solondz seems relatively lucid.

In early 2009, Severin's Evan Husney came across a very strange sight while checking out the scene at the Sundance Film Festival.  It was a mini-van adorned with numerous promotional flyers and a fake bird fake attacking from the hood.  Turns out, the driver was the creator of a film called Birdemic: Shock and Terror, which is, by any standard metric, a very bad film.  However, Evan saw something in the passion of the filmmaker and his film and convinced his partners to take a look.  This chance encounter led to several firsts for Severin Films.  Birdemic: Shock and Terror became Severin's first contemporary acquisition, it also became the first film that they decided to release theatrically.  Contrary to all logic, Birdemic has taken off, no pun intended, and the story isn't over yet.

It takes a company with big league cajones to step up to the plate with Birdemic and...

When I first got into collecting movies part of my obsession was all of those great extra features that would give me a behind the scenes look into a film and its creation.  It never really crossed my mind that someone had to put those together.  Someone does.  A lot of people do.  In fact, it is a nice little cottage industry.  There are several companies dedicated solely to creating extra features for DVD and Blu-ray releases.  One of these companies started out as Blue Underground in the UK many years ago with Carl Daft and David Gregory.  Daft and Gregory were middle school friends with a passion for films.  While they were working on Jim Van Bebber's The Manson Family in Los Angeles, they hooked up with John Cregan and started working together as Severin Films in 2006.  In 2009, Evan Husney came on the scene, allegedly as the result...

A new anthology is on its way that's attracting not only a lot of indie talent but also a segment from none other than Richard Stanley (Hardware) and Tom Savini. Interested? We thought you would be. Dig on the details and early artwork.

From the Press Release

Severin Films and France's Metaluna Productions today announced their international co-production of The Theatre Bizarre, a modern horror anthology inspired by the over-the-top shocks of Paris' early 20th century 'Theatre du Grand Guignol'. The feature will be comprised of six films by six cutting-edge genre directors enlisted from around the world and granted total creative freedom. The Theater Bizarre is executive produced by Daryl J. Tucker, and produced by Severin's Carl Daft, David Gregory and John Cregan, Metaluna's Fabrice Lambot, and Michael Ruggiero of Nightscape Entertainment. Production on Richard Stanley's (Hardware) segment 'The Mother Of Toads' began 10/10/10 in Montségur in the French Pyrenees.

Jack Nicholson's ex-girlfriend Lara Flynn Boyle has landed her own reality TV show. Cameras will follow the actress as she divides her time between Hollywood and her second life in Texas, where she lives with her real estate tycoon husband Donald Ray Thomas.

Bosses at E!, the network that launched Kim Kardashian's career, have commissioned a pilot for the show, reports Deadline. The "Twin Peaks" actress dated Nicholson from 1999-2001.

Lara Flynn Boyle has previously appeared in some TV shows such as "Amerika", "Terror on Highway 91" and "Las Vegas". She has also played in several movies including "Life Is Hot in Cracktown", "Baby on Board" and "Have Dreams, Will Travel".

Craig here with the next Take Three

Today: Kerry Washington

Take One: And the band played on

Jim McKay's Our Song (2000) was one of those New York high school coming-of-age films that often crop up from time to time. There were plenty on the late'80s/early '90s indie scene, but nowadays they're few and far between. The film follows three girl friends experiencing formative tribulations on their paths to adulthood. They navigate themselves through a summer of issues - teen pregnancy and suicide, their school's impending closure, family strife - in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, all whilst practising with The Jackie Robinson Steppers Marching Band in local parking lots for a Labor Day parade. It's a languorous, amiable film that, despite the surplus of social topics it raises, doesn't hammer any of them home with undue force.

Girl Power: Washington, Anna Simpson & Melissa Martinez in Our Song

Kerry Washington,...

Sci-Fi-London, London

The days when we're getting it on with blue-skinned aliens can't come soon enough for some, but in the meantime you'll find plenty of predictions for humanity 40 years hence here – most of them bad, but ingeniously so. And some of them not so far-fetched. Hungary's Transmission, for example, simply imagines a world where TVs and computers stop working, while 8th Wonderland sees social networkers ganging up on "real" countries, and genetic tinkering breeds bad news for Adrien Brody in Vicenzo Natali's Splice. Less serious are some trashy sci-fi all-nighters, or Bollywood oddity Love Story 2050, which predicts a Mumbai full of crap robots, flying cars and epic dance routines.

Apollo Piccadilly Circus, W1, Wed to 3 May, visit sci-fi-london.com

London Palestine Film Festival, London

With regular blockades and bombardments, it's an achievement to get anything made in Palestine, let alone a full-length feature. What's emerging instead is a steady flow of smaller,...

Hi,

I took myself to the movies Wednesday night. I’ve been pretty weary about watching movies lately. I just want that old feeling back. You know when you see something that makes you want to tell everyone you know about it or have a discussion with a friend about it after.

First, let me say that action stories involving drugs and guns don’t usually make my day. Now that you know that you can understand where I am coming from as I review this film. I wasn’t moved. I didn’t dig the slick dialogue or the cop vs. dealers war. Ethan was really good though. Wesley and Don delivered. (you like how I refer to them by their first name only? ) Lela Rochon made a cameo. Shots with the character in focus and the background blurred showed up a few times. The last 30 minutes or so...

Hey, Paulington! Is a Cinephile advice column that looks at life, love, and the movies. Anyone can send in a question, and Paulington will answer it. Sure, it's a really cryptic, cliched concept that has been around since the dawn of time. But we're spicing it up a little bit. Topics can range from anything: Sex, violence, haints and taints, your favorite movie! Paulington doesn't care. He's basically doing it for a paycheck. He's not really an expert on anything. But he sure does know a lot about movies and human nature. You can send your questions to:Hey, Paulington! Click on the name, and he will be sure to answer all of your submissions in a very timely manner. Here are this week's letters. Enjoy!Hey, Paulington! After seeing Avatar, I feel like every movie coming out in 2010 will not stand up visually. Please give me something to look forward to as i got nothing.

[Just when you thought the onslaught of Year End lists had come to an end here comes another.  We welcome Mitch Davis - head of International Programming at Montreal's Fantasia Festival and a very good friend to this site - with his year end wrap up.]

Ignore the grumpy naysayers who groan that 2009 was a weak year for world cinema. Nothing could be further from the truth.  Below are my top 11 picks, personal favourites among favourites (a top 30 list would have been unwieldy!). It bears mentioning that at the time of this writing, I've not yet seen The White Ribbon, Mother, Il Divo, Symbol, Vermillion Souls or Accident, to name but a few. In other words, this list, like all lists, is an incomplete snapshot.

11. In The Loop

If there was a funnier film this year, I must have missed it. Subversive, acerbic and gut-wrenchingly hilarious, like Dr Strangelove meets The Office. Incredible.

10. Drag Me To Hell

Sam Raimi's volume-eleven return to the genre is everything much of us had been hoping for: a grossout EC-comic rollercoaster that combines Grand Guignol horror, loopy wide-eyed humour and extreme physical trauma to make an epic of morbidly...

Here at Sound on Sight, we're gearing up for our epic coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival, so we decided to do clean house a bit by taking on two films we've been chomping at the bit to finally cover: cult director Buddy G's Life Is Hot In Cracktown, based on his short story collection of the same name, and British hit Bronson, from Nicolas Winding Refn (helmer of the Pusher series), which tells of Britain's most notorious inmate. Al and Mariko are still out of town, so Detroit Burns returns to the guest spot. listen now [1] Download the show in a new window [2] Listen on I-Tunes [3] RSS feeds [4] Sound On Sight Forum [5] Twitter [6] Facebook [7] Sponsored by Movieland Video 1972 St. Catherine Street West, Montreal. Visit Movieland for the biggest selection of individual DVD titles in Montreal. [1] http://www.soundonsight.org/SoundReviews/Episode152.mp3 [2] http://www.soundonsight.org/SoundReviews/Episode152.mp3 [3] http://itunes.

Life Is Hot in Cracktown will be released on DVD on August 25 and we are celebrating this critically-acclaimed independent film. We have a brand new contest running and we're giving away this brand new Director's Cut DVD to our readers. These hot discs will surely burn out of here fast, so enter this contest as soon as you can.

Winners Receive:

- Life Is Hot in Cracktown Director's Cut DVD

to win this new DVD today.

Life Is Hot in Cracktown shows the gritty, hard realities of a neighborhood, as well as the struggling, proud people who try to survive them everyday.

Marybeth (Kerry Washington) is a pre-op transsexual working as a prostitute and living with her lover, Benny, a small time burglar. In spite of their lines of work, they live a somewhat normal life as a married couple. Marybeth works the streets in the hopes of saving enough...

Life Is Hot in Cracktown hits DVD August 25th, and we have an exclusive video featurette that takes the viewer behind the scenes of Buddy Giovinazzo's latest drama. To learn how the director turned downtown Los Angeles into Cracktown, check out our clip below:

Life Is Hot in Cracktown shows the gritty, hard realities of a drug neighborhood, as well as the struggling, proud people who try to survive there everyday. Marybeth (Kerry Washington) is a pre-op transsexual working as a prostitute and living with her lover, Benny, a small time burglar. In spite of their lines of work, they live a somewhat normal life as a married couple. Marybeth works the streets in the hopes of saving enough money for her final sex change operation, so then she and Benny can be married. Manny (Victor Rasuk) works two jobs: the late shift in an all night bodega surrounded by young junkies,...

As the summer winds down, I decided to make my list of my ten favorite films so far in the year. With Tiff and Oscar season on their way, there's a good chance that only half these films will make my top ten come the end of the year, but I felt the need to champion them one more time. #1- Inglourious Basterds Directed by Quentin Tarantino Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino's Pierrot Le Fou, his 8 1/2, a movie about cinema and quite possibly his most sophisticated entertaining and exhilarating film to date. The film's climax has an image worth waiting a career for, one that evokes the timeless power of cinema - a force that Tarantino works to harness, at risk of alienating an action-hungry audience. Regardless, it's a distinctive piece of American pop art and somewhat of a transition for the director. Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino's war film but more...

If you've ever been to Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival, then you know that Mitch Davis is a legend. As Co-Director of both the festival and International Programming, he can usually be found howling into a microphone as he introduces his favorite films to the adoring audience.

He may be the front man, but Mitch asked if we'd make sure to acknowledge the other programmers, all of whom contribute to make Fantasia the greatest genre festival in North America. So thanks not only to Mitch but also to Tony Timpone, Todd Brown, Simon Laperriere, Isabelle Gauvreau, Nicolas Archambault, King-Wei Chu, and Mijeong Lee. You stole our sleep and sanity for three weeks, but we love you for it!

Now that the festival's over and life is back to normal, we asked Mitch to wrap up this year's Fantasia coverage:

Mitch, congrats on surviving another year of Fantasia. Were there any unlucky...

If you've ever been to Montreal Fantasia Film Festival, then you know that Mitch Davis is a legend. As both Co-Director of the festival, and of International Programming, you can usually find him howling into a microphone as he introduces his favorite films to the adoring audience. He may be the front man, but Mitch asked if we'd make sure to acknowledge the other programmers, all of whom contribute to make Fantasia the greatest genre festival in North America. So, thanks not only to Mitch, but also to Tony Timpone, Todd Brown, Simon Laperriere, Isabelle Gauvreau, Nicolas Archambault, King-Wei Chu and Mijeong Lee. You stole our sleep and sanity for three weeks, but we love you for it!

Now that the festival's over, and life is back to normal, we asked Mitch to wrap up this year's Fantasia coverage:

Mitch, congrats on surviving another year of Fantasia. Were there any...

Because Fantasia program director Mitch Davis is incredibly proud of and excited by this event and will positively explode if somebody doesn’t show it some love soon, I present the following:

Hell On Earth: The Films Of Buddy Giovinazzo

A special tribute to one of the USA’s most unsettling independent voices, known for his haunting depictions of everyday horrors: poverty, addiction, violence and abandonment. Enormously powerful, honest and raw, the shattering work of filmmaker and novelist Buddy Giovinazzo has rarely been shown in this country. To right this wrong, we’ll be paying special tribute to the man with the International Premiere of his new feature, Life Is Hot In Cracktown, and a special screening of the filmmaker’s own 16mm answer print of his seldom-seen director’s cut of Combat Shock. Giovinazzo will be in town to host both screenings. Cracktown, which stars Kerry Washington, Illeana Douglas,...

Fantasia Festival is North America’s premiere (and largest) genre film festival. It is also my favorite film festival and so I could not wait to share the highlights of this years line up. Below is just some of the films we will be reviewing on our upcoming podcasts. The Children - North American Premiere UK Dir: Tom Shankland A holiday weekend turns into a nightmarish battle for survival when children inexplicably begin to slaughter their parents. Far more frightening than Children Of The Corn or the bulk part of other killer kids pics that have preceded it, this British powerhouse shocker ranks among the best horror film offerings of recent years. The Children inverts unconditional love with an impact that will freeze your blood. Would you be able to protect yourself if the people you loved wanted to cut you to pieces without any sense or reason? The film's terrors are character-driven,...

Ok, so I'm lazy.. I copy and pasted the press release, which is after the break, and we have reviews of quite a few of the films playing, including White Lightnin', Left Bank, Blood River, Cryptic, Deadgirl, The Horsemen, I Sell the Dead.. with Kaifeck Murder coming soon (once I can figure out what to write).

Movies I'm really interested in seeing: French Pa flick Mutants, Smash Cut, Possibility of an Island, Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, and Thirst.

But alas, I won't be there. Instead, a friend of ours will be providing some reviews for the week he is there, so everyone give a big thanks to DirtyRobot! Woop!

Check out the film greatness after the break! Oh, and there's more to come...

The past 12 months have been a treasure trove for sharp, individualistic visions of the unusual. Keep your hands on the bars as we give you a...

Kerry Washington has reportedly insisted that she has steered away from being typecast as an actress. In her upcoming film, Life Is Hot In Cracktown, the actress plays a transgendered, crack-addicted prostitute and has admitted she could have been more successful in Hollywood if she would have chosen to play stereotypical roles throughout her career. Washington told Vibe magazine: "I think in some ways (more)...

Kerry Washington credits playing a transgender woman in new film Life Is Hot In Cracktown with ending her battle to stay slim in size zero-obsessed Hollywood.

The actress stars as drug-addicted prostitute Marybeth in the upcoming crime drama, based on a collection of short stories by Buddy Giovinazzo.

And Washington has given up dieting and spending hours in the gym since realising many young women would be desperate to have her curves.

She says, "The thing I learned about being a transwoman is you're not a guy trying to be a woman, you're a woman who's body has in some way betrayed you.

"I learned to embrace my curves because if I wasn't born with these curves - if I had gotten these curves from a doctor the way a lot of people do - then I would really celebrate (having) them more. So instead of going to a gym to get rid of the curves, I had to really embrace my femininity."...

The world of independent cinema is a tough road these days. Even with established stars, it's hard for most films to get a distributor. "Life Is Hot In Cracktown" is doing it the old fashioned way, one city at a time.Opening in Los Angeles this Friday, the drama features established actors Kerry Washington, RZA, Victor Rasuk, Shannyn Sossamon, Illeana Douglas, Brandon Routh, Mark Webber and Lara Flynn Boyle. An ensemble drama about the effect's of drugs on an inner city neighborhood, here's more from the film's official synopsis.Based on Buddy Giovinazzo’s best-selling novel, "Life Is Hot In Cracktown" shows the...

This week in theaters, everyone seems to have opted to go dark, with cinemas offering up grieving families, persecuted immigrants, endangered pop singers and the slow death of intimacy in the internet age. This is... supposed to be summer, right?

Download this in audio form (MP3: 9:34 minutes, 13.2 Mb) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [Xml] [iTunes]

"Afghan Star"

With the American version still able to compel 30 million people into a zombie-like trance each week, "Pop Idol" is the latest craze sweeping the nation of Afghanistan, where contestants are subject to a campaign of intimidation that puts Simon Cowell's abrasive jibes in perspective. Having snagged both the Audience Award and a Directing Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival, director Havana Marking goes beyond the bright TV lights to follow four of the season's finalists, including female contestants under constant threat of violence and death. In English, Pashtu, and Dari with subtitles.

Below you can checkout the poster for Life Is Hot In Cracktown, based on the best-selling novel by Buddy Giovinazzo.  It comes out in limited release on June 26th. Life Is Hot In Cracktown shows the gritty, hard realities of a neighborhood, as well as the struggling, proud people who try to survive them everyday.  Marybeth (Kerry Washington) is a pre-op transsexual working as a prostitute and living with her lover, Benny, a small time burglar. In spite of their lines of work, they live a somewhat normal life as a married couple. Marybeth works the streets in the hopes of saving ...

Cinematical has just received this exclusive clip from Life is Hot in Cracktown, which looks to be a pretty intense ensemble drama about a group of people trying to survive on the drug-infested inner-city streets. Based on Buddy Giovinazzo's novel (he also wrote and directed the film), Life is Hot in Cracktown sports an impressive cast that includes Kerry Washington, Brandon Routh, Victor Rasuk, Lara Flynn Boyle, Evan Ross, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Ileana Douglas, RZA ... and I can keep going.

In the clip below (which may be a smidge Nsfw for partial nudity), we meet Marybeth (Kerry Washington), a pre-op transsexual working as a prostitute who lives with her lover Benny (Desmond Harrington), a small time burglar. Aside from following this not-so-ordinary couple while they do their best to live an ordinary life, we also infiltrate the lives of a number of other characters -- from a welfare hotel...