News

Across Canada, Indigenous musicians are reclaiming their voices, weaving a new sonic landscape that’s captivating listeners worldwide.

From defiant rappers to charismatic pop singers to innovative DJs, these rising stars are reshaping the sonic landscape of the nation, infusing their music with a profound sense of identity, resilience and cultural pride.

This Indigenous History Month, get hip to these 10 rising Indigenous musicians enriching Canada’s cultural fabric — they’re the voices you should be listening to.

Zoon

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Our favourite song: “A Language Disappears”

Zoon (a.k.a. shoegaze artist Daniel Monkman) has woven their Indigenous experience and activism into throughout their work. This can be seen in the lushly orchestrated, Polaris Prize-longlisted Bekka Ma’iingan and its first single “A Language Disappears”, which acknowledges the fear of Indigenous people that their language and culture will be forgotten.

In today’s film news roundup, “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” adds to its cast, Afm announces its programming, “Bullitt County” gets a release, and “1985” will open NewFest.

Castings

CBS Films and eOne have hired Lorraine Toussaint, Dean Norris, and Gil Bellows for the “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” movie.

The film is being directed by André Øvredal from a script by Kevin Hageman, Dan Hageman, Guillermo del Toro, Patrick Melton, and Marcus Dunstan from the bestselling trilogy of books by Alvin Schwartz. Del Toro is producing with Sean Daniel and Jason Brown of Hivemind along with J. Miles Dale and Elizabeth Grave.

The movie follows a group of teens who must solve the mystery surrounding a wave of spectacularly horrific deaths in their small town. Previously announced cast members include Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Austin Abrams, Gabriel Rush, Austin Zajur, and Natalie Ganzhorn.

CBS Films...

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Andrew Garfield is facing some major backlash following comments he made on Monday, in which he said, "I am a gay man right now, pretty much, just without the physical act."

The 33-year-old actor, who is currently starring as Prior Walter in a London production of Angels in America, opened up about how he prepared for his role as a gay man during a Q&A panel and the issues he faced when taking on the role.

"One of my main concerns, which I feel every day when I do this play, is that, as far as I know, I am not a gay man," the actor said. "Maybe I’ll have an awakening later in my life, which I’m sure will be wonderful and I’ll get to explore that part of the garden, but right now I’m secluded to my area, which is wonderful as well. I adore it...

Piper Paddock is only 7 months old — and she’s already undergone an astonishing six heart surgeries.

The “fighter,” as her parents call her, was diagnosed with a rare heart defect of the tricuspid valve. She’s now preparing for her seventh (and hopefully final) procedure. Her parents, both New York state troopers, are confident their daughter will survive.

“She’s our little trooper,” Piper’s mother, Gia Paddock, tells People. “She is so outgoing and happy go lucky. She’s facing so much, but she’s so strong and determined.”

Piper was born with Ebstein’s anomaly and has spent...

Disney’s latest fairy tale princess musical “Moana” is heading to a robust estimated $75 million-plus Thanksgiving holiday weekend total. One crucial contributor to this South Pacific animated feature, directed by the “Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin” team of Ron Clements and John Musker, is “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who needs only an Oscar to complete his Egot-qualifying “In the Heights” Grammy and 11 Tony wins for his second Broadway musical, “Hamilton,” plus a Primetime Emmy for his 2014 Tony Awards opening song “Bigger” for host Neil Patrick Harris. (The Pulitzer Prize for “Hamilton” is frosting on the cake.)

While Miranda said he isn’t seeking it, he has been chasing the youngest Egot-holder to date, Bobby Lopez, “my whole life,” Miranda told me in our video interview. His mentor went to the same elementary school and high school and was working on “Avenue Q” in previews “right when I was getting out of school.

Disney’s latest fairy tale princess musical “Moana” is heading to a robust estimated $75 million-plus Thanksgiving holiday weekend total. One crucial contributor to this South Pacific animated feature, directed by the “Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin” team of Ron Clements and John Musker, is “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who needs only an Oscar to complete his Egot-qualifying “In the Heights” Grammy and 11 Tony wins for his second Broadway musical, “Hamilton,” plus a Primetime Emmy for his 2014 Tony Awards opening song “Bigger” for host Neil Patrick Harris. (The Pulitzer Prize for “Hamilton” is frosting on the cake.)

While Miranda said he isn’t seeking it, he has been chasing the youngest Egot-holder to date, Bobby Lopez, “my whole life,” Miranda told me in our video interview. His mentor went to the same elementary school and high school and was working on “Avenue Q” in previews “right when I was getting out of school.

Actor Mike Djukic, director Richard Eames and art director Helena Tay Eames of Flushed.

The winners of the 28th annual West Australian Screen Awards, hosted by comedian Rhys Nicolson, were unveiled last night at the Heath Ledger Theatre in Perth. The big winner of the night was short drama We Were Here, directed by David Vincent Smith and produced by Joshua Gilbert and Simon Camp, which won four gongs including Cinefest Oz Best Short Form — Drama and Jaguar Best Performance by an Actress for Alexandra Nell.s performance. Flushed, written, directed and produced by Richard Eames, took out three awards including The Backlot Perth People.s Choice Award. . Feature film Bad Girl, written and directed Fin Edquist and produced by Steve Kearney, Bruno Charlesworth and Tenille Kennedy, took out the night.s most coveted award for Media Super Best Long Form — Drama, winning over The Legend of Gavin Tanner and Bngvel.

Actor Mike Djukic, director Richard Eames and art director Helena Tay Eames of Flushed.

The winners of the 28th annual West Australian Screen Awards, hosted by comedian Rhys Nicolson, were unveiled last night at the Heath Ledger Theatre in Perth. The big winner of the night was short drama We Were Here, directed by David Vincent Smith and produced by Joshua Gilbert and Simon Camp, which won four gongs including Cinefest Oz Best Short Form — Drama and Jaguar Best Performance by an Actress for Alexandra Nell.s performance. Flushed, written, directed and produced by Richard Eames, took out three awards including The Backlot Perth People.s Choice Award. . Feature film Bad Girl, written and directed Fin Edquist and produced by Steve Kearney, Bruno Charlesworth and Tenille Kennedy, took out the night.s most coveted award for Media Super Best Long Form — Drama, winning over The Legend of Gavin Tanner and Bngvel.

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit the interwebs. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

The Films of Albert Brooks

We can think of no better way to celebrate the holiday weekend then curling up with the hilarious, often touching films of Albert Brooks. All of his directorial features — Real Life, Modern Romance, Lost in America, Defending Your Life, Mother, The Muse, and Looking For Comedy in a Muslim World — have now been added to Netflix. What are you waiting for?...

Drew Barrymore recently separated from husband Will Kopelman. But the mother, actress, business mogul, purveyor of beauty products and fine wine, appeared to have her sweet disposition and good humor back during Godiva's 90th Anniversary fete at The Marlborough Gallery in West Chelsea on Friday evening. And, although she was wearing heels, figuratively speaking, her two feet were planted firmly on the ground. "Next year is going to be really exciting!" she told People. Barrymore, 41, was wearing a demure black dress paired with a rectangular black lacquer bag by Edie Parker that read "Frankie" on one side in gold leaf,...

Drew Barrymore recently separated from husband Will Kopelman. But the mother, actress, business mogul, purveyor of beauty products and fine wine, appeared to have her sweet disposition and good humor back during Godiva's 90th Anniversary fete at The Marlborough Gallery in West Chelsea on Friday evening. And, although she was wearing heels, figuratively speaking, her two feet were planted firmly on the ground. "Next year is going to be really exciting!" she told People. Barrymore, 41, was wearing a demure black dress paired with a rectangular black lacquer bag by Edie Parker that read "Frankie" on one side in gold leaf,...

This weekend, Atlanta-based actors and writers Jeremiah Parker Hobbs and Jessica DeMaria will debut their new breath-taking,folk-rock musicalTHE Last Time We Were Here atThe New York Musical Theatre Festival Nymf.There are only two performances of this special event Saturday, July 25, 3pm, and Monday, July 27, noon, both at The Laurie Beechman Theatre at the West Bank Cafe located at 407 W. 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Atlanta-based actors Jeremiah Parker Hobbs and Jessica De Maria have recently launched a KickStarter to help fund their new musical The Last Time We Were Here's participation in the acclaimed New York Musical Theatre Festival Nymf. As part of their KickStarter campaign, running through May 9th, the pair has recently begun a series of interactive videos that asks you to share your favorite story of visiting the 'City that Never Sleeps'...

Alas, it’s the end of an era. Though its closing was previously announced, and then denied; but this time, it’s for certain. Oprah Winfrey announced today in Chicago that her Near West Side Harpo Studios will shut down by December of this year, and she will move to Los Angeles. Whatever Own programs that are still being made at studio, will cease production this week. In a statement, Winfrey said: "[Chicago has] been everything for me. I've spent more hours in this building than I have any other building on Earth... We were here when there was nothing but hoes and rats on the street, and now it's one of the hottest neighborhoods..." (and she’s not lying. 20 years...

Mortdecai director David Koepp chats to us about the film, along with Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, Mission: Impossible & more.

This piece contains spoilers for Snake Eyes and Mission: Impossible (the first one)

David Koepp has a rather solid CV as a director, including Secret Window with Johnny Depp, the underrated ghost story Stir Of Echoes, and the really fun Joseph Gordon-Levitt bike messenger action film Premium Rush. But as a screenwriter, he’s worked on some of the biggest films of the last 25 years – Jurassic Park and its sequel, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Angels and Demons, Mission: Impossible, and Spider-Man.

He’s also had a hand in other notable Hollywood hits (and flops) including Carlito’s Way, The Shadow, Snake Eyes, Zathura, Panic Room, Death Becomes Her, and many, many more. He’s had a fascinating career.

His latest directorial effort is Mortdecai, a...

On Sunday the 5th of October the star studded Slam Tour hit London.

Performing on stage at the O2 Arena were some of Bollywood’s dream team including Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and Abhishek Bachchan.

The tour revolved around Farah Khan’s heavily anticipated Diwali release Happy New Year and reflected the spirit of the film, a dance competition.

BollySpice were at a spectacularly special press conference with the Happy New Year team through which we got to know the emotion amidst the film and the tour as well as the personal journey the stars have made.

It was clear to see the genuine chemistry between the star cast.

In fact not just chemistry but a genuine feeling of team spirit resonated.

Srk, Farah Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and Boman Irani especially charmed with their cheeky sense of humour – as you will read!

Bringing you the highlights of the press conference,...

Once again, we have the fantastic, the indomitable, the flying-fingered Jeri Jacqui! on the transcripts!

Some good stuff from yesterday. Since I was on the Maze Runner set (report here), I've read the book and have been itching to see what Wes Ball made of it. They showed it to some fans earlier in the week and it got some good twitter buzz.

Let's check out what Fox offered yesterday at Sdcc!

Maze Runner

Wes Ball (director)

James Dashner (author)

Will Poulter - Gally

Kaya Scodelario - Teresa

Dylan O’Brien - Thomas

Ralph Garman (Mod): Please welcome director Wes Ball, author James Dashner, Will Poulter, Kaya Scodelario and Dylan O’Brien. Dylan, as Thomas, an actor tends to want to use his environment etc. and you have none of those advantages with this character.

Dylan: Yes, there isn’t that much to go off of. Taking it in...

June is Lgbt Pride Month. What better way to commemorate the occasion than by streaming these 10 great Lgbt documentaries on Netflix (okay, we can think of some other ways)? From the love stories of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and curator-collector Sam Wagstaff in "Black White + Gray" and the four decades long romance of Thea Spyer and Edie Windsor (which eventually led to their groundbreaking marriage ceremony once Doma was overturned) in "Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement," these documentaries portray Lgbt life and love -- as well as the challenges and tragedies faced by AIDS ("How to Survive a Plague," "Wish We Were Here"), discrimination ("Brother Outsider") and anti-gay laws in places like Uganda ("Call Me Kuchu") as well as in the U.S. ("Bridegroom"). Read More: Here are New Titles on Netflix This June After delving into the deeply serious, thoughtful and provocative "Red Without Blue," which explores the struggles...

In the most arresting moment from the 2012 documentary How to Survive a Plague, playwright and activist Larry Kramer observes the squabbling between the members of Act Up, a coalition that pressed for more government testing of drugs for AIDS victims. In the middle of the shouting, Kramer stands up and yells, with vitriol, “Plague! We are in the middle of a plague!” Instantly, the furor in the room subsides.

Kramer was known as a fierce, furious, iconoclastic personality who had been fighting on behalf of the virus originally deemed the “gay cancer” in the early 1980s. His views were far from mainstream, and although his rage-filled attacks toward government on evening talk shows inflamed an audience, he soldiered on. Kramer’s most remarkable artistic achievement was his 1985 Off-Broadway play, The Normal Heart, which was as angry and sanctimonious as him.

Now, The Normal Heart is a powerfully acted and fiercely...

Larry Kramer’s fiery 1985 play The Normal Heart, which was revived on Broadway in 2011, is on its way to be one of HBO’s most prestigious projects in 2014. Based on the efforts of activist Ned Weeks in the early 1980s to create an HIV advocacy group, The Normal Heart also focused on the members of the angered gay community in New York during those years, as the AIDS crisis was about to become part of the national conversation.

A short trailer for the HBO film, which airs on May 25th, is now online and only shows a few glimpses at the all-star cast, which includes Mark Ruffalo as Ned Weeks and Taylor Kitsch as Felix Turner, a journalist who falls in love with Weeks. Matt Bomer, Alfred Molina, Jim Parsons, Jonathan Groff, Alec Baldwin and Julia Roberts round out the terrific ensemble.

Unfortunately, there is not a lot of footage in this trailer,...

The wait is almost over. With HBO’s Game of Thrones fourth season returning Sunday, Entertainment Weekly sat down with showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss in our annual pre-premiere spoiler-free chat. In the lively chat below, the duo talk about how they pulled off their most ambitious season yet, tease what’s to come for some fan-favorite characters and answer some burning franchise questions.

Entertainment Weekly: You traumatized everybody with the Red Wedding. Happy?

Dan Weiss: It feels good to make so many people feel so bad.

David Benioff: We were here in Dubrovnik scouting when somebody emailed us that reaction video,...

The story of activist group Act Up and its struggle with authority in the early years of Aids makes for a compelling and often moving documentary

"Plague!" howls screenwriter/playwright Larry Kramer like some Old Testament prophet in one of the many arresting moments from this urgent, heartbreaking, and ultimately empowering account of how Aids activists took control of their own destiny in the late 1980s when the Us government and health services failed to do so. Kramer is addressing an increasingly heated Act Up (Aids Coalition to Unleash Power) meeting, silencing those who have fallen into factional bickering with a voice which conjures up rage, anger and defiance.

Kramer's outburst is extraordinary, captured in grainy footage along with 700 hours of archive material (TV interviews, news broadcasts, reportage), through which director David France sifts to put us right there in the middle of the emerging struggle. What's even more remarkable...

The ground rules were set early on in the Ifp Film Week panel "Neorealist Features & Hybrid Documentaries." There was to be no talk about "business." We were here to talk about art -- the art of cinema and how to transcend categorization. Moderated by David Wilson, co-conspirator, True/False Film Fest, the discussion involved ways in which filmmakers can defy categorization with films that are not quite documentary and not quite traditional narrative features. "I've submitted my film to various festivals and I've won awards in the documentary category, the narrative category and the experimental category," said Lynne Sachs, director, "Your Day is My Night." The audience laughed at the notion of a film that is able to straddle all of those categories, but the filmmakers on the panel nodded because they understood the situation all too well. As Tim Sutton, director of "Pavilion" put it, "I'm not a documentary filmmaker.

In the same way that television wasn’t ready for a mini-series called “Holocaust” until the 1970s, it’s taken three decades for filmmakers to tackle the devastating early years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic with any kind of historical perspective. On the heels of the acclaimed and powerful documentaries “We Were Here” and the Oscar-nominated “How to Survive a Plague,” we now get the docudrama “Dallas Buyers Club,” about one of many grassroots efforts to get non-fda-approved drugs and supplements to terminally ill patients. It’s been 20 years since “Philadelphia,” the last movie to feature a handsome, beloved movie star as a.

Telluride, Colo. -- Partiers jammed the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art Friday evening for a reception hosted by The Hollywood Reporter and UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television. Poking his head above the crowd was the very tall Penn Jillette, producer of the documentary Tim's Vermeer, directed by his on-stage partner and fellow magician Teller. "We were here over 20 years ago with Arthur Penn who directed Penn & Teller Get Killed," Jillette told THR. "It's what we were working for from the very beginning, going to Telluride. But it's a bigger deal now." Photos: Telluride Film Festival: The Films   Circulating among the crowd were Ralph Fiennes,

read more...

An heir is born! Kate Middleton gave birth to a son this afternoon in London. The proud parents welcomed their new prince at 4:24 p.m. local time and announced the news four hours later via an official press release. We were here to break down everything we know about the big event, take a look at the baby's upcoming first year, and hear statements from the palace itself. Click to watch today's very special Popsugar Live!!

The eligibility of documentaries for awardage from both that lusted after winged woman (Emmy) and the coveted naked man (Oscar) is a labyrinthine maze from which we would never exit were we to foolishly enter. In fact, someone needs to make a documentary about That to sort it all out. Documentaries leave strange crumbs all over both the big and small screens on their long walking journey through often complicated and extremely protacted "releases".

I bring this up because a portion of the Emmy nominations were announced today (like The Grammys there are hundreds of categories) in the non-fiction fields of news and documentary. I was surprised, for example, to see Semper Fi: Always Faithful, The Loving Story and We Were Here as nominees. You may recall they were all Oscar finalists (though not nominees) back in 2011 and now they're up for 2013 Emmys! Actual nominees from that Oscar year show up too,...

Do You Think You Can Tell?: Darcy-Smith’s Debut Promising, if Ultimately Contrived

Establishing an effective and potentially chilling set-up during its first few frames, Kieran Darcy-Smith’s Wish You Were Here evocatively recalls the Pink Floyd tune with which it shares a name for what promises to be a poetically charged mystery. Too bad that a stodgy and predictable finale will leave you cold, and potentially mars the film’s initial charms. Co-written with actress and star of the film, Felicity Price, Darcy-Smith builds an effective scenario to feverish foreboding, releasing its tension in a twinned lashing of shocking violence. But once the fury subsides and all has been revealed, it ends with the thud of a nicely packaged cliché.

Plopped into the midst of Dave (Joel Edgerton) and the very pregnant Alice’s (Felicity Price) strained domestic situation, we learn that they have recently returned from a...

A Hitchhiker’s Guide: France’s Documentary a Masterful Ode to AIDS Activism

By focusing on the birth of the Activist group Act Up in 1987, when the United States was already six years into the AIDS epidemic and the crisis was still being largely ignored by the powers that be, documentary filmmaker David France uses this as a jumping board into a massive and overwhelming subject. With How to Survive a Plague, he manages, largely through actual film and media compiled from the period, to streamline the history of the ongoing AIDS crisis, homophobic informed politics, and gay rights while honoring the history of the brave souls that challenged the system in an arduous battle that finally developed a manageable and helpful treatment to those infected. This heartfelt and moving documentary, opening in a particularly hopeful period of time in the ongoing struggle for Lgbt American citizens to obtain equal rights,...

For quite some time I've wanted to start a regular queer-themed column on Indiewire. The precursor to this idea -- at least in large part -- was written at last year's Sundance Film Festival. It was basically a personal essay reflecting on David Weissman's intensely affective documentary "We Were Here" (which had premiered at the festival) in relation to my own experiences with HIV/AIDS and the media. As that essay detailed, I come from a generation of queer men that largely found out about HIV/AIDS through the mainstream media. As a result, I had by my late teens developed a problematic, unnecessary fear of the virus (and a drastic lack of real knowledge regarding it) perpetuated by these largely ignorant media representations. But then I found my way to Gregg Araki's "The Living End," Peter Friedman and Tom Joslin's "Silverlake Life: The View From Here,...

The Avengers won't have to worry about the Justice League assembling on the big-screen for another few years, but they do have some present competition to worry about: the Guardians, a group of legendary heroes consisting of Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman and Jack Frost.

Frost and the gang take center stage today with the release of "Rise of the Guardians," and the question will inevitably come up: which group of heroes would beat the other, Earth's mightiest or Earth's most legendary?

Unsurprisingly, the "Guardians" cast and crew voted firmly in their own favor.

"No contest: we'd wipe them off the map," director Peter Ramsey tells MTV News. "We're the original superheroes. We were here first. Iron Man and Captain America — they probably believe in these guys anyway. They'd be awestruck by Santa Claus."

"First of all, we're mythical and magical characters with all these skills,...

Review by Barbara Snitzer

This movie is an excellent, engrossing, and necessary document to an important period of history.

Living in New York City in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I was familiar with Act-up. At least I thought I was.

Act-up is the acronym for the Aids Coalition To Unleash Power, an organization founded by gay activists to pressure the powers that be to help them fight the deadly disease ravaging their community. Their accomplishments have benefited every citizen of the United States, gay and straight, and they deserve our recognition and gratitude.

After watching this movie, I felt old and sad. Old because I remember how frightening AIDS was. I remember learning of the deaths of artists I had just discovered, like the fashion designer Patrick Kelly and disco diva Sylvester. I remember exactly where I was when I heard Freddie Mercury had died. Having dated some “confused” guys,...

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Chicago – There have been several strong documentaries about the AIDS crisis in America, including last year’s breathtakingly good “We Were Here,” but “How to Survive a Plague” has a unique angle in that it’s not as much about the unimaginable death of a community in a time of crisis but how that community came together to save itself. As people lay dying, those in power needed to be woken up to do something through protest and “Plague” chronicles that movement. It’s a powerful piece of work, one of the best documentaries of the year.

It’s hard to imagine being a part of the homosexual community in a major city like New York in the ’80s. Not only were loved ones dying but their life partners were being evicted because their names weren’t on the lease. People were being left in emergency rooms for days...

Former Warner Independent Pictures and Red Flag Releasing executive Paul Federbush has been hired by the Sundance Institute as international director of its feature film program. Reporting to feature film program founding director Michelle Satter, Federbush officially begins his new role September 24. The feature film program is a year-round effort to find and support filmmakers through development labs, grants, awards and other types of mentoring. The international side of the initiative involves Sundance-run programs in places such as India and the Middle East, which Federbush will oversee and expand. Read More: Annenberg Foundation Bestows $1 Million Three-Year Grant on Sundance Institute While at Red Flag, which he launched in 2009 with former Wip colleague Laura Kim, Federbush distributed films such as “8: The Mormon Proposition,” “ReGeneration,” "Norwegian Wood" and “We Were Here,” a continuation of the work he was...

Looking for a must-see list of great gay documentaries? We've got you covered. We recently asked our readers to nominate up to five of their favorite documentary films via write-in vote. Thousands responded and we tabulated the results to bring you the top 25 here. All of these films are definitely worth a look and to help you learn more about titles you might not be familiar with, we've included trailers, links to reviews, official film websites and more. Plus, for three of the titles we've even embedded the full movie thanks to the Logo Docs library.

So here they are, the 25 Greatest Gay Documentaries. Which ones have you already seen? Which ones do you need to see?

25. Saint of 9/11

Summary: Sir Ian McKellen narrates this inspiring portrait of Father Mychal Judge, a New York City Fire Department Chaplain who wrestled with his sexuality, his genuine dedication to life as a priest,...

And now we have the Saturday programming for the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con. For the full rundown on the Con’s website, go here. But I’ve accumulated the highlights, featuring a myriad of our favorite upcoming and ongoing film and TV projects like: After Earth, Planet Of The Apes, Once Upon A Time, True Blood, Hannibal, Mockingbird Lane, Pacific Rim, The Hobbit, Grimm, Being Human, Vampire Diaries, True Blood, The Following, Iron Man 3 and Revolution. Check it out below.

10:00-11:00 After Earth— Enter the world of After Earth with an in-depth panel that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the universe of the upcoming film and comic book. With the film now in post-production and set to hit theaters next June, screenwriter Gary Whitta (Book of Eli) and director of photography Peter Suschitzky(The Empire Strikes Back) will discuss the making of the film. They will be...

Another day, another Comic-Con schedule! Are you ready to plan out our Saturday at this years convention!? Once again there's a ton of great panels going on including Iron Man 3, Pacific Rim, Man of Steel, The Hobbit, Marvel TV, Django Unchained, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and more!

Saturday has shaped up to be a hell of a great day for those of you attending Comic-Con. I've put *** next to all of the panels that we want to attend, but like every year, I'm sure we'll be covering a lot more stuff.

We'll be wearing our GeekTyrant shirts, so if you see us walking around San Diego and the convention center, please stop and and say hi! We'd love to meet our readers. We will also be holding our annual meet-up on Wednesday night before the crazy geek storm.

Check out the schedule below and let us know what panels you'll be attending,...

Another day, another schedule for the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con. Next up is Day 3 - Saturday, July 14th - which is just about as chock-full of events for the horror crowd as Friday the 13th!

As always, our focus is the horror panels, but included are a few others that we think will be of interest as well. Remember that times and participants are subject to change so keep your eyes on the official Sdcc site for updates. And hopefully they'll provide a fix soon for the Sdcc smartphone app - in years past it's been extremely helpful.

10:00-11:00 Comic-Con How-To: Anatomy of a Fight Scene, Part One— Stories are about conflict, and there is no purer form of conflict than a good ol' fisticuffs-style brawl-or sword fight, laser battle, western shootout, or even two chicks pulling each other's hair. How do you put that much action down on...

On TV this Thursday: Saving Hope’s Alex may break the neck of Charlie’s ex, Suits‘ Trevor may break some news to Jessica, Breaking Pointe may break some hearts and The Wanted may break some decibel levels. As but a supplement to TVLine’s original features (linked within), here are eight programs worth watching tonight.

8 pm Breaking Pointe (The CW) | Once the final rehearsals are over, Adam must decide who’ll dance the lead roles. Kids, remember: As Showgirls taught us, if you don’t get the part, your rival could always have an “accident.” Break a leg!

8 pm...

I had the occasion to have lunch with film industry veteran Jonathan Dana at Cannes and he shared some war stories of what it means to be a "producer" in this day and age.

Zc: So Jonathan, what is it that you do?

Jd: Over my 41 years in the business I have done just about everything except own a theater, including being a partner in two of the prominent indie companies of the 80's and 90's (Atlantic Releasing and Triton Pictures),  before going back on my own in 1995 as a producer and producer's rep. I was also an initial investor in and, with the founders, supervised the launch of indie film community Withoutabox.com, now an operating division of IMDb.

I do both docs and fiction films and enjoy each. Two of my recent docs as a rep have been 2012 Spirit Award nominee "We Were Here" which has its televison premiere on Independent Lens this week, and "The Invisible War" which won the American Doc Audience Award at this year's Sundance and opens theatrically imminently.

As a producer does that mean you came to Cannes to sell something?

We're always selling something, no?

Did you have specific goals in mind for Cannes?  Did you achieve those goals?

Yes, I always have a specific mission in Cannes, whatever it might be in any particular year. One of the art forms, and survival skills, is being able to define your goals in your own mind ahead of time so you can constantly keep steering back to the mission amidst the apparent chaos of the fest and market. And yes, the fest was a success for me, despite its rather unusual wet weather.

This year my mission was to move forward a slate of films I am executive producing with Code Entertainment, the excellent production/finance company run by Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt with whom I have worked for many years ("You Kill Me", "Kill the Irishman", "Drowning Mona", "Sad Jack", upcoming.)

I also had the pleasure of representing the interests of screenwriter Jose Rivera, Rick Berg's client at Code's management division, who was unable to attend the premiere of his "On the Road". I loved the film, and it was a great 'red carpet' evening, with fine weather to boot!

How important is networking to what a producer does?

It's obviously a big part of the job, especially at a Cannes like this one where so many new sales and financing companies were announced. It is important to stay current, even though it often makes your head hurt. I was proud of myself this year, going totally electronic with my iPhone, both for scheduling and for keeping meeting notes, making the usually horrific task of post-Cannes debriefing entirely tolerable.

Do you have any advice for producers and filmmakers who feel that it's just too expensive to justify the cost of going to Cannes or another major festival?

There are many ways to skin a cat. No one event is irreplaceable. Just keep moving forward with the resources at hand. No one ever failed at the movie business just because they did not go to any particular festival.

Do you have any anecdotes or a particular "Cannes moment" of note?

Having been to Cannes 30 times, I am fortunate to have had numerous Cannes moments, including huge triumphs and failures, as well as the tiny moments that are at least equally memorable, so it is hard to pick one. I do remember standing at the top of the red carpet with Patty Hearst, a lovely woman, after the premiere of her biopic that we made with Paul Schrader, staring out at the crowd, thinking "Wow, there's all kinda ways to get to the top of these stairs."

Previous article on Sydney's Buzz about Jonathan Dana.

Next up. . .The International Sales Agent

Written by Zack Coffman.  Follow Zack's film marketing tips and adventures @choppertown on Twitter.

Being John Malkovich (Criterion Collection) I have seen this movie only once and I can't say I entirely warmed to it, but I'd also say it isn't necessarily a film that deserves too harsh a critique upon a one time viewing, there is a lot to swallow here and a Criterion edition may be exactly what it needs to help viewers explore the deeper corners of the film. Then again, has anything Charlie Kaufman written ever been a one-and-done kind of film?

This Criterion edition includes a featuring Michel Gondry, referred to in the Criterion supplements as director Spike Jonze's "friend and competitor", a new behind-the-scenes documentary, a conversation between actor John Malkovich and humorist John Hodgman, an interview with Jonze and more. Get all the details here.

 

The Grey The Grey led to a lot of conversation on this site and I'm sure with the new DVD and...

Director Summer DeRoche.s short documentary The Globe Collector is one of three Australian films that have gained selection in the UK Sheffield Doc/Fest, the June 13-17 event headed by former Australian International Documentary Conference director Heather Croall.

The other two films are director Catherine Scott's Scarlett Road, about sex worker Rachel Wotton and her work with clients who have a disability, and Amy Gebhart's We Were Here, which was created using "donated" footage as part of a Screen Australia/YouTube experiment in communal filmmaking.

A portrait of one man.s lonely quest to protect a part of technological history being fast forgotten, The Globe Collector showcases the weird and wonderful world of Andrew Pullen, who holds over 10,000 globes in one of the largest private collections. Pullen also happens to have Aspergers Sydnrome, something the film sets out to prove is merely a label for a man who has...

Alan Cumming was famous (and out) for quite a while now, but it's been a while since he's been front and center. "Any Day Now," playing this week at the Tribeca Film Festival, is a subtle, simple showcase. It's the story of a mismatched gay couple in the 70's who find themselves taking care of a child with Down's Syndrome and fighting for their parental rights, fighting institutionalized and socialized homophobia. This decades-old screenplay finally hits the screen with style, humor, and heartache.

Something that is starting to change in movies is that we're seeing more actors coming out than ever before, and suddenly we're seeing more gay stories being told. In the past, you know, it was always a straight celebrity getting acclaim for playing gay and being risky.

Well, gosh, I haven't really thought about it to be honest. You're right that things are changing in that sense. I suppose the difference with this is that this is not a big film. If it was a studio picture, I probably wouldn't be playing that part. I don't have a thing about straight people gay parts, necessarily. Of course, as long as you're convincing and do the part well, all's well. I don't really think it matters what you do in your underpants.

Watching the film, I was wondering where a movie like this comes in in the changing landscape of gay cinema, because it's not a contemporary piece. What do you think?

It's interesting. This is the first day I've been talking about it, and I've seen it just once, and everyone's in on it and having opinions about it while I'm forming mine. I think it's sort of niche-y. I don't go into things thinking about it in a broader scope. For me, it was just about this couple, and the fact that forty years on, nothing much has actually changed. How it fits into gay cinema, I'm not actually sure. Well, actually I do. I think it's really good to keep cataloguing gay stories like this. I was watching, on the plane over here from London... Do you know the documentary "We Were Here"?

Yeah, of course! I'm amazed they're showing it on planes.

Yeah, on the Virgin flight. And, you know, I felt really proud. In a similar vein, it's cataloguing experiences gay people had in the seventies. And I think both films really gets it, not only because it's a gripping story that gets you emotionally, but it's also good to remind people that people had to be afraid of losing their jobs because of their sexualities. The idea of adopting was seen as an insane idea. And actually, it still is to an extent in the states.

What was it like acting across from someone with Down's syndrome?

It was actually really amazing. Every emotion about his interaction with the world was so immediate. When he was happy, he was jumping up and down. When he was not, he was weeping. It was good to be reminded of what it feels like to be around someone who is completely in the moment. That's a good lesson for what you're supposed to be as an actor. What was most important was getting to know each other for him to be comfortable around me. It was a lovely experience. I never felt that we were having to slow things down to accommodate him at all. I had a great time being with someone who was so emotionally pleasant. And he'd do things like come up and put your head on your shoulder; if he liked you, he'd come up and tell you. I love that.

This is a movie about discrimination. Do you have any stories about being discriminated against?

Not really in terms of specific incidents. If you are a queer person, it is a big part of the world. Quite simply, you're a part of society and you're not treated equally. The whole idea of "Oh, we've come so far, and look how much we've achieved." I agree that we've come so far, but look around. Everyone in New York is happy that we can marry and we've got all these legal rights, but I think the biggest obstacle for gay people to fight against is being complacent. That would be terrible. I mean, we obviously shouldn't be thankful for something that is a right. You know what I mean? I don't have any specific stories of being discriminated against, but I guess I do feel discriminated against as a queer man living in the world. Yes. Yes, I do.

What would you like to see change in the immediate future?

In America, I hope there will be a federal intervention to make sure that there is true equality. Last year, I spent a lot of time looking up online to see which states you could adopt in, because you know, it's such a waste that in states where you have civil partnerships or marriage, you can't legally adopt. I would love for all these things to come from a federal edict. I don't think state-by-state is gonna cut it. In the South, there's legislation to not teach about homosexuality in schools. These people say, "We don't like that, so we don't want it taught in our schools." But would you say, "I don't like slavery, so I don't want that taught in schools"? It's such a terrible argument these people are making, because it's like they want homosexuality to disappear. We're here, we're queer, get used to it. You know? I was just in London. In London, you can get married. Well, actually, because of the semantics, you can get a civil partnership. But it's all about not disappearing, not being complacent. In the East End of London, there were all these buses going by saying "Some people are gay. Get used to it." Millions of them. Millions and millions of buses. I think that's the greatest.

The Lost Boys @ Tribeca, brought you by Diet Coke. Diet Coke is giving away free Tribeca screenings online. Just go to Tribecafilm.com and hit the “Shift” and “X” keys at the same time and a special film will be unlocked for you to view. Do it now!

Alan Cumming was famous (and out) for quite a while now, but it's been a while since he's been front and center. "Any Day Now," playing this week at the Tribeca Film Festival, is a subtle, simple showcase. It's the story of a mismatched gay couple in the 70's who find themselves taking care of a child with Down's Syndrome and fighting for their parental rights, fighting institutionalized and socialized homophobia. This decades-old screenplay finally hits the screen with style, humor, and heartache.

Something that is starting to change in movies is that we're seeing more actors coming out than ever before, and suddenly we're seeing more gay stories being told. In the past, you know, it was always a straight celebrity getting acclaim for playing gay and being risky.

Well, gosh, I haven't really thought about it to be honest. You're right that things are changing in that sense.

Chicago – “Undefeated” takes some time to connect. It’s like a football team that starts slow and can’t quite find the right play calls for the first quarter. I’ll admit to being nonplussed at the start of the film as it seemed unfocused and a bit disconnected. Then something amazing happens. These guys start to connect. They start to become real. You start to root for them. Feel for them. Even care about them. This is one of the best sports documentaries of the last few years and while I don’t think it should have won in a Very good year for non-fiction film, I’m really not upset at all that it did.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Damn, 2011 was amazing for documentaries. Werner Herzog made two (“Into the Abyss,” “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”). Steve James made one nearly as good as his “Hoop Dreams” (“The Interrupters”). Cameron Crowe (“Pearl Jam Twenty...

Seth Rogen hosted the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday evening and the winners are:

Best Feature: The Artist. Also nominated: 50/50, Beginners, Drive, Take Shelter and The Descendants.

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist). Nominated: Mike Mills (Beginners), Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive), Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter), and Alexander Payne (The Descendants).

Best First Feature: Margin Call. Nominated: Another Earth, In The Family, , Martha Marcy May Marlene and Natural Selection.

Best Male Lead Performance: Jean Dujardin (The Artist). Nominated: Demián Bichir (A Better Life), , Ryan Gosling (Drive), Woody Harrelson (Rampart) and Michael Shannon (Take Shelter).

Best Female Lead Performance: Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn). Nominated: Lauren Ambrose (Think of Me), Rachel Harris (Natural Selection), Adepero Oduye (Pariah) and Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene).

Best Supporting Male Performance: Christopher Plummer (Beginners). Nominated: Albert Brooks (Drive), John Hawkes (Martha Marcy May Marlene), John C Reilly (Cedar Rapids) and Corey Stoll (Midnight in Paris...

For the past twelve years, the Independent Spirit Awards have been held the night before the Oscars, and although the two sets of nominees sometimes overlap, traditionally the Spirit Awards end up honouring most of the films that the Academy ignores. This year things might be a little bit different, however, as Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist ended up taking home a handful of the major Spirit Awards including Best Feature, Best Director and Best Male Lead. As far as I know, the Spirit Awards and the Academy Awards have only picked the same Best Picture once before: Oliver Stone's Platoon in 1986. Christopher Plummer also won for Best Supporting Male, while Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) won for Best Female Lead. Is this all a sign of what's to come tomorrow night? There are at least a few Spirit Award winners who won't be repeating at the Academy...

Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist" was the big winner at the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards. The black-and-white silent film took home Best Feature, Director for Hazanavicius, Best Male Lead for Jean Dujardin, and Best Cinematography for Guillaume Schiffman.

In the performance categories, Michelle Williams took home the Best Female Lead award for her Marilyn Monroe portrayal in "My Week with Marilyn." Shailene Woodley, snubbed by the Academy for her memorable performance as George Clooney's daughter in "The Descendants," won Best Supporting Actress while Oscar frontrunner, Christopher Plummer, received the Best Supporting Actor award for his performance in "Beginners."

Held on Santa Monica Beach and hosted by Seth Rogen, the 27th Film Independent Spirit Awards will be broadcast by IFC at 10 p.m. Pst/Est.

Here's the complete list of winners (highlighted) and nominees of the Independent Spirit Awards:

Best Feature

50/50 - Producers: Evan Goldberg, Ben Karlin, Seth Rogen...

Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, The Artist The Artist, Jean Dujardin, Michelle Williams: Spirit Award Winners Best Feature (Award given to the producer) 50/50 Producers: Evan Goldberg, Ben Karlin, Seth Rogen Beginners Producers: Miranda de Pencier, Lars Knudsen, Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Jay Van Hoy Drive Producers: Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker, Adam Siegel Take Shelter Producers: Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin * The Artist Producer: Thomas Langmann The Descendants Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor Best Director * Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist Mike Mills – Beginners Jeff Nichols – Take Shelter Alexander Payne – The Descendants Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive Best Screenplay Joseph Cedar – Footnote Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist Tom McCarthy – Win Win Mike Mills – Beginners * Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash – The Descendants Best International Film (Award given to the director) * A Separation (Iran) Director: Asghar Farhadi Melancholia (Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany) Director: Lars von Trier Shame (UK) Director: Steve McQueen...