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Prepare to be captivated by an encore episode of 48 Hours that delves into a perplexing crime seen through the eyes of a child. On Saturday, August 19, at 10:00 p.m. Et/Pt, tune in to CBS for the episode “What Angelina Saw.” Hosted by correspondent Peter Van Sant, this emotionally charged story unravels a tragic incident that left a community in shock.

The night of May 7, 2014, will forever remain etched in Angelina Fernandes’ memory. At just 11 years old, she was thrust into a chaotic scene that unfolded within the walls of her own home. Waking up to the frantic efforts of neighbors attempting to save the life of Andrew Wagner, the fiancé of her mother, Stephanie, Angelina’s young eyes bore witness to a tragedy that would forever alter her life.

Andrew Wagner’s life was tragically cut short by a fatal knife wound to his neck, and the events...

Kato Kaelin won big at Monday’s Milwaukee Brewers game, where he was part of a group that won the 50/50 raffle.

Kaelin, a Milwaukee native, spoke to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about his lucky day, saying, “I love the Brewers and they were winners, and this just made it so much sweeter that we were winners at the game, too.”

He attended the game with his brother, sister-in-law and a friend. His brother, Bob, bought the raffle ticket for $30, according to the Associated Press. Fifty percent of the money collected will go toward a charity, while the other 50 percent goes to the raffle winners.

11th Gasparilla International Film Festival to Screen 35 Features Including J.K. Simmons’ ‘All Nighter’“All Nighter”

The 11th edition of Tampa’s most prominent film event, Suncoast Credit Union’s Gasparilla International Film Festival (Giff), will take place March 2-March 9, 2017 at the Tampa Theater and AMC Centro Ybor. Gavin Wiesen’s “All Nighter,” starring Academy Award-winner J. K. Simmons will have its World Premiere as part of the festival.

A total of 35 films and over 70 shorts will screen over eight days and will include international and regional premieres of narrative features, documentaries and short films from around the world. In addition to the film program, Giff will also feature master classes and panel discussions.

The title sponsor, Suncoast Credit Union, has been committed to the festival for three consecutive years with the goal of bringing quality entertainment and enrichment to the community. The Suncoast Credit Union also sponsors the Family Fun...

Suncoast Credit Union Gasparilla International Film Festival (Giff) announced its official selection for the annual event held at the Tampa Theater and AMC Centro Ybor in Tampa, Florida, from March 2-March 9.

The festival will host the world premiere for All Nighter starring Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons and directed by Gavin Wiesen.

There will be 35 films and over 70 shorts, in which it will host international and regional premieres of narrative features, documentaries and short films around the world.

Here are the highlighted line up of the films:

Opening Night Film:

Burn Your Maps: A nine-year-old boy, grieving with his parents over the recent loss of his baby sister, becomes obsessed with the idea that he’s a Mongolian goat herder who belongs back home in his small village in Mongolia. Cast: Vera Farmiga, Jacob Tremblay, Virginia Madsen, Suraj Sharma. Directed by Jordan Roberts

Closing Night Film:

Unleashed: When...

“Breakable You” is like a kinder gentler version of Woody Allen’s “Crime and Misdemeanors”: a rumination on human fallibility and corruption with lower stakes but a lot more sexual heat in its heart. Freely adapted by writer-director Andrew Wagner (“Starting Out in the Evening”) and co-screenwriter Fred Parnes from Brian Morton’s well-reviewed novel, “Breakable You” is the story of the Weller family, a cluster of neurotic New Yorkers who live outwardly charmed but inwardly tempestuous lives. “Matriarch” is perhaps the wrong word for Holly Hunter’s lithe and whippet-thin Eleanor, a character notably more obese in the book.

The world premiere of Ritesh Batra’s adaptation of the Julian Barnes novel starring Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling will kick off proceedings at the 28th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 5.

The Sense Of An Ending (pictured) is Batra’s second film after The Lunchbox and will open through CBS films on March 10.

Taylor Hackford’s The Comedian starring Robert De Niro will close the event (Spc opens the film on January 13) as festival brass unveiled the full roster of Premieres, New Voices/New Visions, Modern Masters, True Stories and After Dark.

World premieres include Colin Hanks’s Eagles Of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends) (Us-France); Andrew Wagner’s Breakable You (Us) starring Holly Hunter, Tony Shalhoub and Alfred Molina; Catalina Aguilar Mastretta’s Everybody Loves Somebody (Mexico); and Simon Aboud’s The Beautiful Fantastic (UK-us).

Rounding out the world premieres are: The Concessionaires Must Die! (Us) by [link...

The contradiction in film criticism certainly does not go unnoticed. Sure, there are countless films that are praised and applauded for its excellence in quality and creativity. Unfortunately, the overlooked cinema fare that deserves just as much attention (more so than some of the recognized critically-acclaimed selections on an impressive selection of critics’ and moviegoers’ radars) get lost in the proverbial shuffle. It is simply the professional hazard of the movie industry because not every well-received and standout gem will get its rightful due come major awards season in Hollywood.

Just how many times have we as movie reviewers and/or movie fans become indignant when we realized that the special piece of entertainment we personally and critically cherished came up short and empty in expectations? Again, every smart kid in the classroom cannot get a gold star as we remain a competitive society in the world of celluloid superiority.

Here is a preview at the upcoming films being distributed by Roadside Attractions this year. They have some pretty fantastic things lined up. Take a peek!

Project Nim

In Theatres June 10th

From the Oscar-winning team behind Man On Wire comes the story of Nim, the chimpanzee who in the 1970s became the focus of a landmark experiment which aimed to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. Following Nim’s extraordinary journey through human society, and the enduring impact he makes on the people he meets along the way, the film is an unflinching and unsentimental biography of an animal we tried to make human. What we learn about his true nature – and indeed our own . is comic, revealing and profoundly unsettling.

The Future

In Theatres July 29th

The Future tells the story of a thirty-something couple who,...

Director and producer Gary Winick, a friend and mentor to many in the independent film community, died Sunday afternoon in New York at the age of 49. The cause was brain cancer, a friend told Indiewire.

As the comments in that Indiewire piece — “an amazing mentor,” “a generous visionary,” “one of the finest human beings in our industry”— attest, Winick was a rare soul in the world of independent film. He was a smart, compassionate and truly giving person, and, even as his Hollywood career took off, he never forgot his roots. While he was crafting smart and heartfelt mainstream movies, he continued to advise, nurture and be a resource to a younger community of filmmakers who were still awaiting their own breaks.

Winick’s films include the tough and nuanced addiction drama Sweet Nothing, with Michael Imperioli and Mira Sorvino; the witty and improbably charming Tadpole, with Aaron Stanford, Sigourney Weaver...

By Sean O’Connell

Hollywoodnews.com: Filmmaker Gary Winick passed away Sunday evening. He was 49.

“Gary Winick died today,” Matt Dentler Tweeted during the Oscar telecast. “Too late to make the Oscars tribute, but way too early. He leaves behind a legacy of supporting indie film and NYC.”

A producer and director, Winick crossed most people’s radars when he directed the indie hit “Tadpole” in 2002. He quickly moved to mainstream success with Jennifer Garner’s “13 Going on 30” and the live-action updated of “Charlotte’s Web.” His last picture was the romantic drama “Letters to Juliet,” with Amanda Seyfried.

“By luring the likes of Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke and then-budding auteurs like Rodrigo Garcia and Rebecca Miller, Winick gave digital filmmaking credibility at a time when it didn’t seem like the inevitability it is today and, better yet, produced 19 films between 2001 to 2007 that included gems such as Linklater’s ‘Tape,...

As Cinetic's Matt Dentler sadly noted in his tweet announcing the passing of Gary Winick last night, the timing was "too late to make the Oscar [in memorium] tribute, but way too early." In a cruel twist of fate, it wasn't unusual for the writer/director, who was set to turn 50 next month, to be ahead of his time.

Winick was of course a filmmaker first, leaving behind a dozen films that grew from small-scale indie dramas to crowdpleasers such as "Charlotte's Web" and "Letters to Juliet" that charmed audiences by the millions. Yet his most enduring legacy is likely the one he left on a smaller community, the thousands of filmmakers who have and will continue to benefit from his work as a digital pioneer at the turn of the century as the founder of InDigEnt, the collective he created with Cinetic's John Sloss and IFC Films [our corporate sibling] to make films for under $100,000 on digital video.

Frank Langella, Michael Sheen in Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon (top); Mickey Rourke in Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler (bottom) Colin Firth, Sandra Bullock, Christopher Plummer: Oscar Veterans 2009 Frank Langella Frank Langella was nominated in the Best Actor category for Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon. Langella lost to Sean Penn in Gus Van Sant's Milk. That was Langella's first Oscar nod in a film career that spanned 38 years, from his debut in Frank Perry's Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) and Mel Brooks' The Twelve Chairs (also 1970) to George Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck. (2005) and Andrew Wagner's Starting Out in the Evening (2007).   Mickey Rourke Mickey Rourke was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler. As mentioned above, Sean Penn was that year's winner for Milk. That was Rourke's first nomination. Rourke began his film career in a small supporting...

Joanna Newsom. Photograph by Annabel Mehran. There are certain people you’d expect to be a fan of Joanna Newsom, the harp-strumming singer-songwriter who ascended to the Pitchfork pantheon thanks to the “dense, well-mapped beauty” of her music. My neighbor Andrew Wagner, despite being a founding editor of the design bible Dwell and the current editor-in-chief of the D.I.Y. magazine ReadyMade, is not one of them. He’s too damn manly. While I play softball all summer, he plays hardball—in Queens! And his beard makes him look like a lumberjack or an old-timey charlatan, not some big indie-rock wuss. And yet! Somehow he likes this self-consciously strange music. Since Newsom has a big three-disc album coming out today on Drag City, I decided to put Andrew on the spot—forcing him to defend his approval of her self-consciously odd output against every objection our own Bill Bradley could summon.

If you happen to be an aspiring director then this is for you. Film Independent, the non-profit devoted to artists and independent filmmaking is now accepting applications for its 9th Annual Director’s Lab, an eight-week course designed to help directors who are in the midst of prepping films. Sound good? Well, read on to get all the latest details on the program, how to apply and other goodies.

Film Independent Now Accepting Applications

For 2010 Directors Lab

* Deadline is October 5, 2009 -

Film Independent’s 9th Annual Directors Lab is an intensive eight-week incubator designed to help directors who are prepping their feature films, and is sponsored by Kodak.

Taking place in Los Angeles during the winter, the Lab assists directors with strong, original voices develop new narrative feature films, improve their craft, and advance their filmmaking careers in a nurturing, yet challenging creative environment.

To apply, please visit: http://filmindependent.

More CineVegas coverage at Risky Biz blog

Las Vegas -- CineVegas, the annual gathering of indie film powerbrokers amid the slot machines and black-jack tables, wound down Sunday after providing several breakouts -- and more than a few surreal spectacles.

Among the world premieres to make a splash were Jeff Mizushima's "Etienne!," Frankie Latina's "Modus Operandi" and Kyle Patrick Alvarez's "Easier With Practice."

Mizushima's "Etienne!" was a conversation piece for many over the weekend. The film, a spiritual cousin to "Lars and the Real Girl," centers on a pudgy loner who has only one friend -- the titular dwarf hamster -- whom he decides to take on a bike trip up the California coast after the critter is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

"Operandi," meanwhile, was the talk of the festival among media and execs after its premiere Saturday night. Nominally a thriller involving a revenge-bent CIA agent,...

Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and Los Angeles Film Festival, has selected eight filmmakers and film projects to be part of its eighth annual Directors Lab.

Taking place in L.A. from now until the end of March, the lab is an eight-week incubator designed to assist new directors to improve their craft and advance their careers.

This year's Lab Mentors include writer-directors Kasi Lemmons ("Talk to Me"), Keith Gordon ("The Singing Detective"), Alfredo De Villa ("Nothing Like the Holidays") and Andrew Wagner ("Starting Out in the Evening").

The 2009 Directors Lab filmmakers and their projects are:

-- "Arcadia," Olivia Silvia

-- "Untitled 'Biscuit' Project," Cedar Sherbert

-- "Close to Me," Jonathan V. Hludzinski

-- "Half Truth," Wade Gasque

-- "Learning Uncle Vernon," Sheldon Candis

-- "Operation June Black," Bridget Bedard

-- "Tallulah," Sian Heder

-- "Why We Pull the Trigger," Eric Lin...

Frank Langella won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Richard Nixon in the play Frost/Nixon, but he prefers his performance in the film version. "It's less theatrical, more internal, and more tragic than on stage," he says. "The comedy elements have been played down." He credits director Ron Howard for helping him make the transition. "Ron is an actor-oriented, not concept-oriented, director," Langella says. "He spent hours with me trying to understand the man's emotions, his highs and lows. Ron is relentless, observing you down to the flutter of an eyelash. There were a lot of takes. The major challenge was endurance and concentration and being able to give Ron what he needed in 14-hour days." Langella captures the essence of Nixon — the walk, the body language, the speech patterns — without resorting to impersonation. To prepare for the role, he studied hours of tapes of the former president,...

ORLANDO -- Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, Bennett Miller's Capote, Phil Morrison's Junebug, Lodge Kerrigan's Keane and Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know each earned two nominations as the 15th annual Gotham Awards were announced Monday by New York's Independent Feature Project. Brokeback, Capote, Keane and Me and You all received best feature nominations for the awards, which will be handed out Nov. 30 at Chelsea Piers' Pier 60 in New York. The fifth best feature nominee was David Cronenberg's A History of Violence. Those nominated for breakthrough director were July for Me and You, Miller for Capote, Morrison for Junebug, Andrew Wagner for The Talent Given Us and Alice Wu for Saving Face.

Independent dramas were the sure bets at the 2004 CineVegas Film Festival. Andrew Wagner's The Talent Given Us, a family drama, was awarded the jury prize, while Larry Golin's coming-of-age drama Cross Bronx won the audience award. John Harkrider's Mitchellville, about a man's secret past, received the jury's honorable mention. The jury prize is presented to a feature-length narrative film seeking U.S. distribution. The jury included director Darren Aronofsky, actress Sarah Polley and IndieWire's Wendy Mitchell. Elsewhere, Dennis Hopper, chairman of the CineVegas advisory board, presented the Marquee Award to Jack Nicholson. Hopper also presented the Half-Life Awards to Sean Penn, Robin Wright Penn and Holly Hunter. Vanguard Director Awards were given to Bruce Conner, Julian Schnabel and David Lynch. Meanwhile, a special Changed My Life Award was presented to Dean Stockwell. All tributes and screenings took place at Palms Casino Resort's Brenden Theatres.

Screen Gems' D.E.B.S. will open the sixth CineVegas Film Festival, with New Line Cinema's The Notebook serving as the closing-night film. A total of 36 features/docus, including seven world premieres, and 19 shorts will be unspooled during the fest, which is set to run June 11-19 in Las Vegas. Films making their world premiere at the festival include Chris Fisher's Hillside Strangler, Mitchell Altieri's Lurking in Suburbia, Kim Dempster's Marmalade, John Harkrider's Mitchellville, Michael Gibson's Numb, Andrew Wagner's The Talent Given Us and Until the Night from Gregory Hatanaka.