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2006-05-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

Rapper Ice Cube in Welcome Back, Kotter

2006-03-17T10:31:00.000-08:00

Rapper/actor Ice Cube is set to produce and play the lead in a big screen version of the '70s TV series 'Welcome Back, Kotter.' The series focused on a teacher who returns to his highschool to teach a group of misfits, whose students were known as the 'Sweathogs.' According to Variety, the rapper/actor, who already executive produces the FX reality series Black, was a big fan of the show and is very excited with the deal. The show's creators, Gabe Kaplan (who played Kotter) and Alan Sacks, who were wary of selling the rights, received an offer they couldn't refuse and the production is anticipated to begin this fall.

There was no bigger fan of the original show than me, and I'm very excited to be able to put a new twist on it.
- said rapper Ice Cube -

Meanwhile, in other celebrity news, rapper Ice Cube, has finally given details about his upcoming album ‘Laugh now, cry later’.

Harrison Ford wants to star in 'Indiana Jones'

2006-03-17T00:43:00.000-08:00

The Hollywood actor Harrison Ford has revealed that he plans to star in the newest addition in the Indiana Jones. Film-maker George Lucas has finally given the go ahead to a script for the long-awaited Indiana Jones sequel, and has passed it onto director Steven Spielberg for fine tuning. The actor Harrison Ford has said that he is almost ready to reprise his role in Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones IV.

Steven Spielberg and I now have a script in hand that we both like. I believe that we can start with the filming soon.
- Harrison Ford said to German magazine Fit for Fun -

George Lucas to make 3D TV series of Star Wars

2006-03-16T23:47:00.000-08:00

According to the news, Star Wars creator George Lucas has agreed to write 100 one-hour 3D episodes of Star Wars for television. The series is being produced by Rick McCullum and will fill in the missing years between 2005' Revenge Of The Sith, and original film Star Wars, made in 1977. The TV series will focus on the rise of Darth Vader's dark empire and will feature original actor Anthony Daniels, who played robot C-3P0. It seems that the series will introduce "a whole bunch of new characters" and be "much more dramatic and darker"

Apple offers first full-length movie on iTunes

2006-03-16T21:54:00.000-08:00

After offering Music Videos, Short Films and TV shows for download on their iTunes Music Store, Apple now is offering the first full-length movie through the iTunes video downloads service. The TV movie "High School Musical" is offered at $9.99, after it was briefly available for $1.99. The movie was produced by Disney, a company that has on board Apple's boss - Steve Jobs. Some users already complained about the quality of the movie (487MB), because of its limited resolution of 320 x 240 pixels.

Previous Week Top Ten Box Office

2006-03-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

Previous Week Top Ten Box Office: Weekend of March 12, 2006

1. Failure to Launch - new
2. The Shaggy Dog - new
3. The Hills Have Eyes - new
4. 16 Blocks
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 2nd place )
5. Madea's Family Reunion
( Weeks Released 3 - Last week on 1st place )
6. Eight Below
( Weeks Released 4 - Last week on 3rd place )
7. Aquamarine
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 5th place )
8. Ultraviolet
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 4th place )
9. Pink Panther
( Weeks Released 5 - Last week on 6th place )
10. Date Movie
( Weeks Released 4 - Last week on 8th place )

Out of Top Ten Box Office of last week are:

Dave Chappelle's Block Party
Curious George
Firewall

Angelina Jolie in Sin City sequel?

2006-03-14T11:09:00.000-08:00

According to the news, actress Rosario Dawson has confirmed reports that Angelina Jolie will be signing on for the sequel to Sin City. Of course the production on the film is on hold while the Hollywood actress is pregnant. Angelina Jolie who is currently expecting a baby with Brad Pitt is reportedly eager to star in the movie. I must admit this came as a surprise to me, but it would be interesting to see Angelina Jolie in Sin City sequel.

The film's kind of been postponed because Robert (Rodriguez, the director) has been interested in Angelina Jolie for the lead. But she's very pregnant right now. So that's putting an understandable hold on the film.
- says Dawson -

Jennifer Lopez play Sue Ellen in Dallas?

2006-03-14T10:13:00.000-08:00

According to Variety the Latin actress Jennifer Lopez has reportedly been offered the role of Sue Ellen in the 'Dallas' movie. Although Jennifer Lopez hasn't signed a deal yet, John Travolta has been offered the starring role of J.R., Luke Wilson is in talks to play Bobby and Shirley MacLaine could play Miss Ellie. Unfortunately, the film shooting couldn't start until Travolta makes his next movie, the big screen version of the Broadway musical "Hairspray.”

Microsoft Unveils Project Origami

2006-03-11T11:26:00.000-08:00

The Ultra-Mobile tablet PC that uses Microsoft’s new Origami technology was unveiled recently by Samsung at CeBIt in Germany. The new UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) will sell for less than $1,000 and weighs just 779gm with a 7in touch screen. It also has a 40GB hard drive, 512MB of Ram and Bluetooth 2.

It supports only 11b Wifi, not the faster 11g, and it uses a Celeron processor. The gadget, a small computer that runs a full version of the Windows XP operating system, has no keyboard. The battery power averages about 2.5 to three hours, and it will have up to a 60GB hard drive.

Video Games for Family Guy

2006-03-09T03:15:00.000-08:00

According to news, television series currently showing on BBC2 - Family Guy is going to be turned into a series of video games. 2K Games yesterday announced its plans to develop and publish a series of Family Guy (DVDs) video games starting with a current-generation game being released in Autumn of this year. 2K Games will work closely with Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane on series of video games, which will feature all your favourite characters plus locations seen in the TV show.

TiVo new pricing structure, no more lifetime subscription!

2006-03-08T23:20:00.000-08:00

The maker of the popular set-top digital video recorder, TiVo Inc., announced new, simplified pricing plans and eliminated lifetime subscription - not affecting TiVo's current base of subscriptions. The changes to the pricing structure and service-only options will launch next week. TiVo will be offering three pricing plans that will include both the TiVo service and an 80-hour TiVo box. The worst part is that the subscriptions are basically like cell phone contracts, but without the credit check. You have to choose a one, two, or three-year commitment, for example:

One year: $19.95 a month or $224 prepaid
Two years: $18.95 a month or $369 prepaid
Three years: $16.95 a month or $469 prepaid

iTunes Multi-Pass 'Subscriptions' for TV Shows

2006-03-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a partnership between iTunes and Viacom Inc.'s Comedy Central Network, Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes online music and video store has launched a new service called Multi-Pass that lets users buy downloads of television shows like "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report". Fans will be able to buy the next month's series of 16 new episodes via Multi-Pass for $9.99, or to pay $1.99 per episode.

What makes it different from other online music subscription services like Napster or Real Networks' Rhapsody, is that consumers will not lose their music if they unsubscribe.

PlayStation 3 in delay!

2006-03-06T23:40:00.000-08:00

Variety posted an article this week detailing Sony CEO Howard Stringer reports about an official release date for the PlayStation 3, as well as the company's plans to introduce BluRay. Accoding to the information we won't see PlayStation 3 this spring, the much-anticipated console will arrive until fall.

Sony's new PlayStation 3 was widely expected to be introduced this spring, but will be delayed as the company fine-tunes the chips that are crucial to the success of the console's Blu-ray function.
- says Sony CEO Howard Stringer -

George Clooney takes home first Oscar

2006-03-06T23:09:00.000-08:00

Hollywood superstar George Clooney won his first-ever Oscar Sunday, picking up the best supporting actor prize for his role in the political drama "Syriana". Clooney, who also produced "Syriana", in which he plays an overweight former CIA agent at the centre of political intrigue in the movie, paid tribute to his fellow nominees and said that the movie world had brought the problems of AIDS, civil rights and other issues to national attention.

I'm proud to be part of this academy and proud to be part of this community and proud to be out of touch.
- said George Clooney -

Here’s a list of the winners at the 78th annual Academy Awards

[from thecelebrityblog.com]

3 Oscars for Crash and Brokeback Mountain

2006-03-06T23:04:00.000-08:00

Crash and Brokeback Mountain each took home three Oscars on Sunday, but it was Crash that scored top prize of the night, Best Picture, at the 78th annual Academy Awards. The other two Oscars for Crash were also for Original Screenplay and Film Editing. Meanwhile, Brokeback Mountain, which went into the night with a leading eight nominations, won for Best Director for Ang Lee, Adapted Screenplay and Original Score.

In his speech, Lee thanked Annie Proulx, who wrote the short story that the movie was based on, and said he made the film for his father, who passed away shortly before Lee starting filming Brokeback Mountain.

[from thecelebrityblog.com]

26th Annual Golden Raspberry (Razzie) Award 'Winners'

2006-03-06T22:59:00.000-08:00

The "winners" have been announced for the 26th annual Razzie awards and, for those not aware, the Razzies (or Golden Raspberry's) are handed out the day before the Oscars each year and honor the worst of Hollywood. Among celebrity couples are - known as TomKat - Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes being named "most tiresome tabloid targets" at Saturday's 26th Annual Razzie Awards.

Razzies Awards were also given to Jenny McCarthy, who was named worst actress for her film Dirty Love. The movie, which she cowrote with ex-husband John Asher, also won worst film of the year, worst screenplay and Asher was named worst director.

Rob Schneider bested Cruise in the worst actor category for his role in Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo while Hayden Christensen won worst supporting actor for Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Couldn't miss Paris Hilton who was named worst supporting actress for her death scene in the horror film House of Wax.

The full list of 26th Annual Golden Raspberry (Razzie) Award 'Winners'

James Bond to drive a Ford Mondeo in Casino Royale

2006-03-06T22:41:00.000-08:00

Accoding to the Sun, James Bond, who is usually seen in an Aston Martin loaded with gadgets, will drive the Ford in new movie Casino Royale. It seems the car makers paid movie chiefs nearly £14 million to get their car used by James Bond.

It seems beside a £22,000 Mondeo, the new Agent 007 - Daniel Craig - will also drive "the old" Aston Martin - the classic DB5 and the latest model - the DBS. The Mondeo is being used for chase scenes in the Bahamas is a souped-up 140mph model and because Craig drives only automatics, the car had to be modified.

[from thecelebrityblog.com]

King Kong leads Empire nominations

2006-03-02T03:22:00.000-08:00

The movie King Kong is leading the nominations for Empire Magazine's 2006 film awards, being named in five categories including Best Film. With four nominations each were Pride&Prejudice, Crash, and Wallace& Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. The awards are the only film accolades to be voted for solely by the British public.

For the for Best Director award are Peter Jackson, (King Kong) Steven Spielberg (War Of The Worlds), Joe Wright (Pride&Prejudice), Ron Howard (Cinderella Man), Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins) and Nick Park and Steve Box (Wallace& Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit).

Male celebrities like Matt Dillon, Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Andy Serkis and Viggo Mortenson are all up for Best Actor award. Meanwhile female celebrities like Naomi Watts, Keira Knightley, Thandie Newton, Renee Zellweger and Hilary Swank have all been nominated as Best Actress award. The ceremony will be host by British comedian Bill Bailey and will be held in the Hilton London Metropole on 13 March.

Victoria Beckham in 'Dynasty'?

2006-03-02T02:06:00.000-08:00

The pop celebrity Victoria Beckham is reportedly set to star in the big screen remake of '80s soap 'Dynasty'. The pop singer is said to play super-bitch Alexis - a role made famous by Joan Collins - in the Hollywood version of the classic show. Victoria Beckham is said to have won the role after her pals Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes recommended her to 'Dynasty' creator Aaron Spelling.

Film bosses reportedly think the pop singer has the "British style and sass" needed for the film, which is about a wealthy Denver oil family. Other celebrities like pop star Jessica Simpson and actor Bruce Willis are also considered to star in the new film.

AP & MSN launched online video-news service

2006-03-02T01:23:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, the Associated Press and Microsoft Corp. launched a new service which allows member Web sites to offer free video news clips and share in advertising revenue generated from the service. The AP Online Video Network, which is powered by Microsoft's MSN Video, is ready to show about 40 video clips a day produced by the AP which will be included in the service and which will cover national and international news as well as business, technology and entertainment stories.

"Brokeback" declared Hollywood's word of the year

2006-03-01T11:59:00.000-08:00

The Global Language Monitor has released its annual list of the years most influential Hollywood words and phrases, and has placed "Brokeback", as in the film title 'Brokeback Mountain', the top word of the year.

Is no surprise that in second place as most influential Hollywood words and phrases list was "Brangelina," the term given to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's romance.

Third on the list was "Petronoia," a phrase inspired by the film 'Syriana' and meaning an irrational fear of the collapse of the oil industry, followed by global economic crisis while on fourth place in the list was "Tuxedo," a reference to the nature film 'March of the Penguins', followed by the term "pimping", which came in fifth, thanks to the film 'Hustle and Flow', which is about a pimps dream of becoming a rap star.

Apple to buy Disney?

2006-02-28T08:27:00.000-08:00

There are some rumors on Internet that Apple might make an attempt to buy the Walt Disney Co. The rumors started off in Barron's, the Dow Jones weekly magazine, by Mark Veverka where is noted that Apple now boasts a stock-market value of more than $60 billion -- $10 billion more than Disney's, and that when Disney completes its acquisition of Pixar, Steve Jobs, who heads both Pixar and Apple, will become Disney's largest shareholder. Moreover, several analysts considers that Disney will soon develop a movie downloading service for its video iPods, which are expected to sport larger screens in their next evolution.

'Crash' wins best picture at NAACP Image Awards

2006-02-27T00:58:00.000-08:00

The Oscar-nominated film Crash was named best picture by the NAACP at its 37th annual Image Awards on Saturday. The awards show honours the achievements of African Americans in film, television and music. Other winners included ABC's Grey's Anatomy for television drama, and the UPN comedy Everybody Hates Chris for outstanding comedy series.

Crash was given the Image Award for outstanding motion picture, beating out nominees Hustle & Flow, Coach Carter, Hitch and Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Oscar-nominee Terence Howard also received a best supporting actor award for his performance in the film.

Alicia Keys, Jamie Foxx, Mariah Carey were also among Image Awards Winners.

Costume Designers Guild Awards Winners

2006-02-27T00:41:00.000-08:00

Memoirs of a Geisha costume director Colleen Atwood was twice honored during the eighth annual Costume Designers Guild Awards in Beverly Hills, winning the period film costume design award for Memoirs and was presented with the Lacoste Spotlight in Film Award Saturday night, reported Daily Variety.

Among other winners were also Danny Glicker who won the contemporary film costume design prize for Transamerica and Isis Mussenden won in the fantasy film category for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

HBO's Six Feet Under designer Jill Ohanneson took the prize in the contemporary television category while HBO's Rome designer April Ferry won in the period/fantasy category. Designer Eduardo Castro won in the TV movie/miniseries category for CBS' Elvis.

Mariah Carey to star in Tennessee

2006-02-27T00:24:00.000-08:00

According to the news, the R&B celebrity Mariah Carey will star in Tennessee, in which she plays a waitress who sets off with two brothers to find their estranged father, in order to help them in saving their younger brother, who has leukemia.

The drama is to be directed by Aaron Woodley (Rhinoceros Eyes) from a script by Russell Schaumberg. The film will be produced by Lee Daniels (Monster's Ball) and shoots in New Mexico and Tennessee this spring, reports Variety. Apparently, Daniels got the idea to cast her after watching Mariah Carey's Grammy-winning album "The Emancipation of Mimi" become the biggest selling disc of 2005.

Samuel L Jackson and 50 Cent Unite for "Home of the Brave"

2006-02-25T12:44:00.000-08:00

Samuel L Jackson, Jessica Biel, Christina Ricci, Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson, and Brian Presley are said to co-star in the dramatic movie, "Home of the Brave". A new war movie called -"Home of the Brave" follows three soldiers as they attempt to adjust to life back in the States after lengthy tours in Iraq. In fact the movie has some true to life references and is about a group of soldiers who return home from IRAQ and have to deal with settling back into civilian life. Hip-Hop star 50 Cent will star as a doctor and next to Samuel L. Jackson this film could have a chance. Filming is expected to begin on March 6, 2006 in Morocco and later in Spokane, Washington.

Desperate Housewives for Latin American TV

2006-02-25T00:22:00.000-08:00

Television executives announced two days ago that four local version of Desperate Housewives - Amas De Casas Desesperadas - will be produced for Latin American TV. Desperate Housewives new version will air on Argentina's Artear, Colombia's RCN, and Ecuador's Teleamazonas, while a Portuguese language version will be produced for Brazil's Rede TV as Donas De Casa Desesperadas.

Filming will begin in late April in Buenos Aires, Argentina and the Latin American version will follow the script and format of the US original, but each series will have their own cast and will include local cultural references.

Previous Week Top Ten Box Office

2006-02-23T04:08:00.000-08:00

Previous Week Top Ten Box Office: Weekend of February 20, 2006

1. Eight Below - new
2. Date Movie - new
3. Pink Panther
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 1st place )
4. Curious George
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 3rd place )
5. Final Destination 3
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 2nd place )
6. Firewall
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 4th place )
7. Freedomland - new
8. When a Stranger Calls
( Weeks Released 3 - Last week on 5 place )
9. Big Momma's House 2
( Weeks Released 4 - Last week on 6 place )
10. Nanny McPhee
( Weeks Released 4 - Last week on 7 place )

Out of Top Ten Box Office of last week are:

Brokeback Mountain
Underworld: Evolution
Hoodwinked

Brokeback Mountain dominated British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards

2006-02-20T21:44:00.000-08:00

Controversial movie "Brokeback Mountain", already favorite for next month's Hollywood Oscars, dominated the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards winning four trophies including best picture. The movie stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as two Wyoming cowboys who develop a romantic, sexual relationship during long months of work together in isolation.

Gyllenhaal was named best supporting actor, and Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee won the best director prize at the awards ceremony. The best-adapted screenplay award went to Brokeback writers Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana for their adaptation of a short story by author Annie Proulx.

With 10 nominations, the movie "The Constant Gardener", took home just one trophy for best film editing. Best actor went to Philip Seymour Hoffman, who played the title role of Truman Capote in a biopic about the flamboyant writer.

Best actress was awarded to Reese Witherspoon and best supporting actress went to Thandie Newton for her role in "Crash". Lord David Puttnam was given the Academy Fellowship, a lifetime achievement award for outstanding contribution to Britain's film industry.

The movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" was honored with three technical awards: costume, music and cinematography, while the movie "Crash" had nine nominations and finished with two trophies including original screenplay.

Titanic is highest romantic movie of all time

2006-02-17T11:07:00.000-08:00

Titanic topped in a list of the top ten grossing love movies of all time. According to Hollywood.com, the 1997 hit, which won eleven Oscars, was the winner with nearly 813 million dollar, almost double of Disney animation The Lion King, which earned 476 million dollar.

The top ten, as compiled by Hollywood.com:

1: Titanic - $813 million
2: The Lion King - $476 million
3: Aladdin - $325 million
4: Ghost - $315 million
5: Dances with Wolves - $270 million
6: Armageddon - $267 million
7: Pretty Woman - $262.5 million
8: Jerry Maguire - $216 million
9: Terms of Endearment - $214 million
10: What Women Want - $210.5 million

Previous Week Top Ten Box Office

2006-02-13T22:02:00.000-08:00

Previous Week Top Ten Box Office: Weekend of February 12, 2006

1. Pink Panther - new
2. Final Destination 3 - new
3. Curious George - new
4. Firewall - new
5. When a Stranger Calls
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 1st place )
6. Big Momma's House 2
( Weeks Released 3 - Last week on 2nd place )
7. Nanny McPhee
( Weeks Released 3 - Last week on 3rd place )
8. Brokeback Mountain
( Weeks Released 10 - Last week on 4 place )
9. Underworld: Evolution
( Weeks Released 4 - Last week on 6 place )
10. Hoodwinked
( Weeks Released 5 - Last week on 5 place )

Out of Top Ten Box Office of last week are:

Something New
Annapolis
Walk the Line
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe

Movie review: Firewall

2006-02-13T00:44:00.000-08:00

First of all Harrison Ford plays in Firewall and with that I guess I said it all. The movie shows Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford) whi is head of network security for a large Seattle based bank. Married to Beth (Virginia Madsen), an architect who designed the house they live in, and having two well-adjusted kids, the older Sarah (Carly Schroeder) and the younger Andy (Jimmy Bennet). Jack Stanfield who is a bank security expert, whose specialty is designing infallible theft-proof financial computer systems, Jack is forced to find a flaw in his system and steal $100 million, because the lives of his wife and children are in stake. Of course the movie is a great one as Jack is trying to find solutions for all his problems.

Genre: Action, Thriller, Crime, Drama
Starring: Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, Jimmy Bennett, Virginia Madsen, Robert Patrick
Directed by: Richard Loncraine
Produced by: Charlie Lyons, Dana Goldberg, Bruce Berman

Score: 4.5 / 5

Movie review: Curious George

2006-02-13T00:10:00.000-08:00

The production of Curious George is the movie version of the children’s book by author H. A. Rey and his wife Margret. Ted loves his work at the local museum, but goes on an expedition to the jungles of Africa to find an ancient statue. While there he runs across George, a curious little monkey that gets into everything. When Ted returns to the city after finding a significantly smaller statue, George follows him and as soon as George arrives in the city, Ted soon finds his hands full with the troublesome monkey. George is a fun-loving monkey in Africa that likes to help any way he can. Unfortunately, what he does to help usually is the wrong thing to do.
Well produced and directed "Curious George" features a good performance by Will Ferrell, nice animation, and a decent soundtrack. It's a great movie for kids and adults.

Genre: Comedy, Kids, Family, Animation, Adaptation
Starring: Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, David Cross, Eugene Levy, Dick Van Dyke
Directed by: Matt O'Callaghan
Produced by: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, David M. Kirschner

Score: 3.5 / 5

Tomy Teddy Bear MP3 player

2006-02-12T23:26:00.000-08:00

Japanese toy maker, Tomy - who is well known for its children’s products - is making portable audio player too. The Teddy Bear MP3 Player, which is going to be released on end of next month at price $80, won’t impress you with its technical specifications just its cute looking. Only 128MB of memory for all your MP3 and WMA files, 8 hours a battery and won’t even do FM radio.

MP3 Player mobiBLU DAH-1500i with 2GB

2006-02-12T23:07:00.000-08:00

MP3 Player mobiBLU DAH-1500i - which has a great voice and FM-recording capabilities, innovative combination headphone and lanyard design, EQ presets and custom setting plus SRS option help songs sound even sweeter and and USB rechargeable lithium-ion battery - is a small MP3 player, measuring 24 x 24 x 24mm (0.94 x 0.94 x 0.94-inch which weighs just 18 grams (0.63 ounces) and that goes now at 2GB.

While for 512MB goes to $99 and $130 for 1GB, the mobiBLU DAH-1500i 2GB MP3 Player is available for pre-order now for $159.99 at Amazon.com, and you also have the blue and silver option.

Movie review: Final Destination 3

2006-02-11T23:36:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this film series? Because if you did you should know what to expect from Final Destination 3. The movie has the same direction as a premonition appears from the beginning of the film at pre-graduation party at an Amusement Park where Yearbook photographer Wendy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has a premonition that the coaster is going to crash.

The action begins as Wendy lost her boyfriend in the “accident,” Wendy eventually teams up with Kevin (Ryan Merriman), who lost his girlfriend. As it was expected Kevin has discovered an article on the Internet about a similar incident six years ago, a plane crash in which several people exited the plane before takeoff, but then the “Hand of Fate” picked off the survivors in the order in which they would have died had they been on the plane. (from the 1st Final Destination) Eventually, Wendy discovers that the photos she took at the Amusement Park provide clues as to how each person will die. If you work at it really, really hard, you MAY manage to cheat Fate again, and have Death skip over you and go on to the next person, but it’s a temporary cheat, since Death cannot be stopped. I recommend this film those who have seen Final Destination and Final Destination 2, but don't let kids in the room.

Genre: Horror, Suspense, Thriller, Sequel
Starring: Ryan Merriman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Texas Battle, Gina Holden, Dustin Milligan
Directed by: James Wong
Produced by: Warren Zide, Craig Perry, James Wong

Score: 4.5 / 5

Sony Blu-ray for $17.95

2006-02-09T03:15:00.000-08:00

Sony Pictures set prices for its Blu-ray disc that will be available later this year. Sony said older titles would sell wholesale for $17.95, while new release titles would sell for $23.45. The studio has decided to not offer a suggested retail price, saying retailers could choose their own price structure and that the company believed in a free market.

iPod Shuffle new prices

2006-02-09T02:28:00.000-08:00

Apple cut the price of its cheapest iPods and introduced a smaller-capacity version of the iPod Nano. The iPod Shuffle is now available for $69 from $99 for the 512MB model and $99 from $129 for the 1GB version - both $30 cheaper than before. A new iPod Nano can now be had for $149 for a 1GB version, which holds about 250 songs. The $199 2GB and $249 4GB models introduced in September are still available.

Apple has sold more than 40 million iPods since its October 2001, accounting for 70% of the U.S. digital music player market.

The winners of the 2005 Engadget Awards!

2006-02-09T00:48:00.000-08:00

Engadget.com revealed the winners of the 2005 Engadget Awards, "the most interesting, innovative, feature-rich gadgets 2005 had to offer". The list goes form Gadget of the Year till Wireless Technology of the Year where every time we have Readers’ Choice (representing votes of thousands of readers cast) and Engadget Pick (picks selected for each of the 26 categories).

Other categories are: Worst Gadget of the Year, Merger of the Year, Weird Gadget of the Year, Disappointment of the Year, Display of the Year, Cellphone of the Year, Smartphone of the Year, GPS Device or Application of the Year, Handheld of the Year, HDTV of the Year, Home Entertainment Device of the Year, Household Device of the Year, Peripheral of the Year, Robot of the Year, Tablet PC of the Year or Wearable Device of the Year.

Some of The winners of the 2005 Engadget Awards:

Gadget of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Apple iPod (5g)
Engadget Pick: Microsoft Xbox 360

Most Anticipated Gadget of 2006
Readers’ Choice: Sony PlayStation 3
Engadget Pick: Sony PlayStation 3

Desktop of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Apple Power Mac G5 (quad)
Engadget Pick: Sony RC Series

Digital Camera of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Canon EOS 5D
Engadget Pick: Canon EOS 5D

Game Console of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Microsoft Xbox 360
Engadget Pick: Microsoft Xbox 360

Laptop of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Apple PowerBook (15-inch)
Engadget Pick: IBM Thinkpad Z

Media PC of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Apple iMac G5 with Front Row
Engadget Pick: Niveus Media K2

Portable Audio Device of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Apple iPod Nano
Engadget Pick: iRiver U10

Portable Video Device of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Apple iPod (5g)
Engadget Pick: Cowon A2

Apple launched 1GB iPod nano

2006-02-08T00:28:00.000-08:00

Apple Computer Inc. has launched a 1GB iPod nano priced at $149. The new version comes in the same design as the 2GB and 4GB versions and users can store 240 songs or 15,000 photos on the portable player. The iPod shuffle will now be priced at $69 of the 512MB version and $99 for the 1GB version. Before the price cuts, a 512MB Shuffle could cost $99, while a 1GB Shuffle could cost about $129.

iPod nano features high-resolution color screen that allows users to display album art while playing music, view photo slideshows or play games in full color. iPod nano also features the same 30-pin dock connector as the iPod and works with a wide range of over 2,000 accessories developed for iPod.

iPod nano also features integration with the iTunes Music Store and the iTunes digital music jukebox and also includes Apple’s patent pending Auto-Sync technology that automatically downloads a user’s digital music collection, photos or Podcasts onto iPod nano and keeps it up-to-date whenever iPod nano is plugged into a Mac or Windows PC using USB 2.0.

GPS and Email for Sony Playstation Portable

2006-02-07T22:24:00.000-08:00

This year the Playstation Portable will be adding Email support and GPS according to American Playstation Magazine. According to the news, Email will happen through Sony Mail and each user can create a unique ID name that corresponds with their unique PSP ID number and will be used to login to the mail system. Users will not have to access a website to check their mail. The GPS system will exist from an UMD with the necessary cards and software and a USB receiver to locate your position.

Previous Week Top Ten Box Office

2006-02-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

Previous Week Top Ten Box Office:

1. When a Stranger Calls - new
2. Big Momma's House 2
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 1st place )
3. Nanny McPhee
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 2nd place )
4. Brokeback Mountain
( Weeks Released 9 - Last week on 6th place )
5. Hoodwinked
( Weeks Released 4 - Last week on 5th place )
6. Underworld: Evolution
( Weeks Released 3 - Last week on 3rd place )
7. Something New - new
8. Annapolis
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 4th place )
9. Walk the Line
( Weeks Released 12 - Last week on 12 place )
10. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
( Weeks Released 9 - Last week on 9th place )

Out of Top Ten Box Office of last week are:

Last Holiday
Glory Road
The Matador

Brokeback & Crash win WGA Awards

2006-02-05T22:32:00.000-08:00

Brokeback Mountain was named best adapted screenplay and Crash won the top original screenplay award Saturday night at the 58th annual Writers Guild Awards. Both films are Oscar contenders for best picture, while Brokeback Mountain will lead this year's list of Academy Award with eight nominations.

In other WGA awards,"Grey's Anatomy" won the writing award for a new series, while the crew of writers for "Lost" were honored in the dramatic series category.

Larry David, the writer and star of the HBO comedy "Curb Your Enthusiasm," won for best writing in a comedy series and in the television animation category, Michael Price won for "Mommie Beerest" an episode on the long-running Fox show "The Simpsons."

Other WGA winners announced Saturday:

TELEVISION:

Episodic Drama: "Autopsy" ("House"), Lawrence Kaplow, Fox.
Episodic Comedy: "You Can't Miss the Bear" ("Weeds"), Jenji Kohan, Showtime.
Long Form-Original: "Warm Springs," Margaret Nagle, HBO.
Long-Form Adapted: "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers," Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, based on the book by Roger Lewis, HBO.
Comedy/Variety Series: "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," Mike Sweeney, Chris Albers, Jose Arroyo, Andy Blitz, Kevin Dorff, Dan Goor, Michael Gordon, Tim Harrod, Berkley Johnson, Brian Kiley, Michael Koman, Brian McCann, Guy Nicolucci, Conan O'Brien, Allison Silverman, Robert Smigel, Brian Stack, Andrew Weinberg, NBC.

Movie review: The World’s Fastest Indian

2006-02-03T22:33:00.000-08:00

While Big Momma’s House 2 and Underworld 2 are on the spotlight, The World’s Fastest Indian which opened in limited release (February 3, 2006) will probable not be appreciated as it should. The World’s Fastest Indian is the story of Burt Munro, (Sir Anthony Hopkins) a motorcycle enthusiast from Invercargill, New Zealand. Burt owns a 1920 Indian motorcycle, which he continues to modify over the years, leading to his breaking of the 1967 land-speed record for 61-cubic inch motorcycles at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah at the age of 68. Hopkins charisma carries the film from start to finish. He plays Munro as a thoughtful, but completely open man. Slightly eccentric and totally trusting of the world and his place in it.

Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Historical
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Lawford, Bruce Greenwood, Paul Rodriguez, Diane Ladd
Directed by: Roger Donaldson
Produced by: David Gribble

Score: 4.5 / 5

About.com Online Video Content

2006-02-02T23:23:00.000-08:00

About.com, one of the largest Web sites for practical consumer information and advice, announced it will add more online video content while extending advertising and sponsorship opportunities. This month and in March, the company plans to launch new video content for the Health and Home & Garden areas later this month with sections which will offer sponsorship opportunities for marketers.

About.com's free broadband programming provides marketers a contextual advertising opportunity for TV spots and branded product placements within related video content online.

Apple sued by iPod user over hearing loss

2006-02-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

Apple is being sued by a Louisiana man who claim that the iPod music player can cause hearing loss in people who use it. According to the complaint, John Kiel Patterson, the devices can produce sounds of more than 115 decibels, a volume that can damage the hearing of a person exposed to the sound for more than 28 seconds per day. The man seeks compensation for unspecified damages and upgrades that will make iPods safer even though he does not specify whether he suffered hearing loss from the device.

Experts said that iPod's ability to cause noise-induced hearing isn't any higher then any other types of portable music players and the "risk lies with the user and where they set the volume."

Apparently Apple was forced to pull the iPod from store shelves in France and upgrade software on the device to limit sound to 100 decibels.

Warner Bros to sell movies on net

2006-02-01T22:18:00.000-08:00

Because in the first half of 2005, 1.7 million Internet users illegally downloaded 11.9 million movies in Germany, Warner Bros said that has been taking action against illegal file-sharers. Warner will sell movies, such as Batman Begins and TV series The OC, and TV shows over the Internet in Germany, Austria and Switzerland from March. According to the news, films will be made available to registered users of the service from the day they are released on DVD in the German language.

Its In2Movies service will use the same file-sharing technology that has led to an increase in movie piracy, and apparently with a later version will also enable viewers to store movies and TV shows on portable devices.

Brokeback Mountain Eight Oscar Nominations

2006-02-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

Brokeback Mountain will lead this year's list of Academy Award with eight nominations, including those for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor Heath Ledger and supporting players Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Williams. The 78th annual Academy Awards will be broadcast live on ABC from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on Sunday, March 5. Three films with six nominations are Crash, Good Night, and Good Luck and Memoirs of a Geisha, though Geisha was shut out in the top categories. Besides Ledger, Phoenix and Capote star Philip Seymour Hoffman, Terrence Howard scored a Best Actor nomination while for Best Actress, the race is considered to be heaviest between Witherspoon in Cash, and Huffman in Transamerica.

For the list of Academy Awards nominees, read rest of this entry >>

[from thecelebrityblog.com]

Jessica Simpson and Tom Cruise among Razzies nominations

2006-02-01T21:38:00.000-08:00

The nominees of the annual Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies - an Academy Awards that honors the year's worst achievements in film - had been announced. The nominees were revealed by organization The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation and the Razzies will be announced on March 4th, the day before the Oscars.

Tom Cruise will compete for the year's worst actor award with Will Ferrell, Jamie Kennedy, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Rob Schneider while on the other side at female celebrities actresses Jenny McCarthy and Jessica Simpson picked up three nominations. Jessica Alba, Hilary Duff, Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton, Carmen Electra, Katie Holmes... are other celebrities who are on the list.

For this year's Golden Raspberry Awards nominations read the rest of this entry >>

[from thecelebrityblog.com]

Lost, Crash & Desperate Housewives Topped SAG Awards

2006-02-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

The Lost, Crash and Desperate Housewives took top TV honors at the 12th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night, where the evening was dedicated to the art and honor of acting. Among other celebrities, Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) were named best movie actress and actor, respectively, and Desperate Housewife Felicity Huffman was singled out as lead in a comedy series. Sean Hayes, of Will & Grace, won as male lead in a comedy, while 24 star Kiefer Sutherland and Sandra Oh, of Grey's Anatomy, were both named best actors in a drama series.

The list of winners Screen Actors Guild Awards is as follows:

MOVIES:

Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Supporting Actor: Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
Ensemble Cast: Crash

TV:

Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries: Paul Newman, Empire Falls
Actress in a TV Movie or Miniseries: S. Epatha Merkerson, Lackawanna Blues
Actor in a Drama Series: Kiefer Sutherland, 24
Actress in a Drama Series: Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy
Actor in a Comedy Series: Sean Hayes, Will & Grace
Actress in a Comedy Series: Felicity Huffman, Desperate Housewives Drama Ensemble: Lost Comedy Ensemble: Desperate Housewives

[from thecelebrityblog.com]

Previous Week Top Ten Box Office

2006-01-31T00:48:00.000-08:00

Previous Week Top Ten Box Office - January 23/29, 2006:

1. Big Momma's House 2 - new
2. Nanny McPhee - new
3 Underworld: Evolution
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 1st place )
4. Annapolis - new
5. Hoodwinked
( Weeks Released 3 - Last week on 2nd place )
6. Brokeback Mountain
( Weeks Released 8 - Last week on 5th place )
7. Glory Road
( Weeks Released 3 - Last week on 3th place )
8. Last Holiday
( Weeks Released 3 - Last week on 4th place )
9. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
( Weeks Released 8 - Last week on 6th place )
10. The Matador
( Weeks Released 5 - Last week on 28th place )

Out of Top Ten Box Office of last week are:

Fun with Dick and Jane
End of the Spear
Hostel
King Kong

Movie review: Nanny McPhee

2006-01-31T00:10:00.000-08:00

Nanny McPhee is a movie based on a series of British books published for children in the 60’s, titled Nurse Matilda and written by Christianna Brand. With his children - who are nightmare - and with the family’s evil Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) - who has been supplementing the families income and threatens to tear the family apart and send him to debtor’s prison if he does not marry within the month - the widowed father Mr Brown find himself in a complicate situation but that until Nanny McPhee arrives at his door, determined to turn the children into upstanding citizens. Thanks to Nanny McPhee's 5 lessons, we see transformations both in the lives of the Brown family as well as with Nanny McPhee. What follows is a story quite fictitious and fairy tale-like.

Genre: Comedy
Starring: Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Angela Lansbury, Kelly MacDonald, Celia Bannerman
Directed by: Kirk Jones
Produced by: Lindsay Doran, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner

Score 3 / 5

Movie Review: Annapolis

2006-01-30T23:56:00.000-08:00

Annapolis movie about Jake Huard (James Franco), who had always dreamed of attending Annapolis Naval Academy and becoming a naval officer, being just the son of a poor dock worker. With the help of his father Bill (Brian Goodman), Jake becomes a promising amateur boxer and Annapolis has a legendary annual boxing competition, so he's championed for admittance by navy recruiter Lt. Commander Burton (Donnie Wahlberg).

Unfortunately Jake's dream (which came true) turns into a nightmare thanks to his instructor Cole (Tyrese Gibson) and of course the two will end up in the final round of the boxing competition. The best parts of the movie were the indirect lessons on what it takes to be a good father. Several scenes showed what kind of impact parents have (positive and negative) when they encourage their sons or ignore them.

Genre: Drama
Starring: James Franco, Jordana Brewster, Vicellous Reon Shannon, Donnie Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson
Directed by: Justin Lin
Produced by: Steven Nicolaides, Mark Vahradian, Gym Hinderer

Score: 3 / 5

Movie review: The Matador

2006-01-30T23:43:00.000-08:00

“The Matador” is a film based on an unlikely friendship between a hitman, Pierce Brosnan - who plays Julian Noble - and a normal “nice” guy, Greg Kinnear - who plays Danny Wright. Their friendship begin thanks to a conversation in a hotel bar and as the film progresses we see that these two are not so different after all. In the end, we see that Danny ( who is a down-on-his-luck businessman who is still mourning the death of his young teenage son) is no different than the assassin. He is just as evil and greedy and will do anything to succeed.

The film is not about a real friendship, it's about a friendship of convenience and it shows the level of corruption, it is alco vulgar and dirty and is not to be viewed by children and/or teenagers.

Genre: Thriller, Drama, Comedy
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis, Adam Scott, Philip Baker Hall
Directed by: Richard Shepard
Produced by: Amanda J. Scarano, Bob Yari, Mark Gordon

Score 2 / 5

Big Momma takes U.S. box office

2006-01-30T11:32:00.000-08:00

"Big Momma's House 2", a sequel to the 2000 Martin Lawrence comedy, has topped the U.S. box office by grossing 28 million dollars in its debut week. Big Momma beat off competition Nanny McPhee and Annapolis. Universal's "Nanny McPhee", after raking in 14 million dollars in its premier week came in second, while last week's top movie, Underworld: Evolution dropped to third place, earning 11.1 million dollars, reports E!Online.

The top 10 films, based on estimates compiled Sunday by Exhibitor Relations are:

1. Big Momma's House 2, $28 million
2. Nanny McPhee, $14.1 million
3. Underworld: Evolution, $11.1 million
4. Annapolis, $7.7 million
5. Hoodwinked, $7.3 million
6. Brokeback Mountain, $6.3 million
7. Glory Road, $5.1 million
8. Last Holiday, $4.8 million
9. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, $4.4 million
10. The Matador, $3.8 million

Brokeback Mountain wins DGA Awards

2006-01-30T00:09:00.000-08:00

Brokeback Mountain's director Ang Lee has won another award after his controversial movie was named Best Feature Film at the Directors Guild Of America (DGA) Awards. Brokeback Mountain beat out competition from George Clooney for Good Night, And Good Luck, Paul Haggis for Crash, Bennett Miller for Capote and Steven Spielberg for Munich. This film is now the favorite one to win the Best Picture Oscar in March (06).

The full list of winners at the 58th Annual DGA Awards is:

Best Feature Film - Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee)
Best Documentary - Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog)
Best Movie For Television - Warm Srings (Joseph Sargent) and Lackawanna Blues (George C Wolfe)
Best Reality Television - Three Wishes (Tony Croll) and Fear Factor (J Rupert Thompson)
Best Daytime Serial - General Hospital (Owen Renfroe)
Best Dramatic Series Night - Rome (Michael Apted)
Best Children's Programme - Edge Of America (Chris Eyre)
Best Musical Variety - Swan Lake With American Ballet Theater (Matthew Diamond)
Best Comedy Series - My Name Is Earl (Marc Buckland)
Best Commercials - Craig Gillespie at MGZ
Lifetime Achievement Award - Clint Eastwood

Movie review: Underworld: Evolution

2006-01-29T23:17:00.000-08:00

Although the first movie 'Underworld' and this one 'Underworld: Evolution' have the same director, Len Wiseman, they are very unalike. The sequel picks up right were the first movie left off, but then turns into a different film genre., although Selene, a Death Dealer vampire, played by Kate Beckensale, is still the hero, and Michael is her trusty, hybrid werewolf-vampire sidekick.

The main theme of the sequel is that the twin brothers that were originally taken ill by a strange virus and then each bitten by a different animal (Marcus a bat and William a wolf) now want to help and support each other in a new scheme to rule the word. Unfortunately William locked away in a vault so secret that only one “living-dead” soul knows where he can be found.

But if the two brothers ever get together, the world will cease to exist. Selene, with the help of Michael and the twins’ father, must stop Marcus from reaching the super werewolf’s underground vault.

Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Bill Nighy, Derek Jacobi, Shane Brolly, Michael Sheen, Tony Curran
Directed by: Len Wiseman
Produced by: Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg

Score: 2 /5

Movie review: The New World

2006-01-29T22:39:00.000-08:00

Director Terrence Malick's drama The New World takes place during the formation of Jamestown. The New World contains a story about an old world where English arrive and settle in America. In Virginia 1607, three ships arrive from England with people eager to begin a new life in a new land. On board is Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell) who is being held prisoner for treason, but soon released and commissioned by Captain Newport (Christopher Plummer) to lead a brigade upriver and find food. The mission is to meet with natives but Smith’s men are lost, and he alone survives.

In captivity Smith meets the beautiful young Native American girl “Pocahontas” (Q’orianka Kilcher) and falls in love with her. Even though their love is true, each of their lives is different. This film is more like the story of Romeo and Juliet who seem to explore the relationship between a man and a woman in those times.

Genre: Romance, Historical Drama, Adventure
Starring: Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer, Christopher Newport, Q’Orianka Kilcher, Christian Bale, David Thewlis, Noah Taylor, Irene Bedard
Directed by: Terrence Malick
Produced by: Sarah Green

Score: 4 / 5

Microsoft portable device as rival to Apple's iPod?

2006-01-27T23:13:00.000-08:00

Microsoft is said to making a device to compete with Apple's iPod. A report in U.S. magazine Business Week is speculating that, Apple's rival Microsoft is considering making a portable device that would play music, video, and possibly even video games.

Microsoft's Peter Moore didn't confirm the reports, telling Business Week that no decision has yet been made. If that will happen, the portable device would use XBox 360's popularity but even so the Microsoft chances aren't so big, as we all know Apple is ahead the giant software in the digital music business.

Apple Expands iTunes Podcast Service

2006-01-27T22:07:00.000-08:00

Apple Computer Inc.expands iTunes podcast service by introducing "iTunes U". According to the reports, iTunes U is a nationwide expansion of a service that makes lectures and other educational materials accessible via Apple‘s iTunes software.

As a pilot school, the University of Missouri offered podcasts of lectures through its school network before it signed up with Apple. Students use recording equipment in lecture halls and the material is then made available for download to an iPod, Mac, PC, or any other device or computer.

iTunes U features among others:

Access to educational content, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Supports secure web-based standards for authentication and authorization.
Site administrators can require authorized users to sign-on securely.
Integrated podcasting support. Automatically generate a podcast feed from within any course.
iTunes U complements learning management systems, including Blackboard, WebCT, and Sakai.

MTV Provides Content to iTunes

2006-01-27T21:20:00.000-08:00

MTV provides content to Apple's iTunes -- we can even say that MTV is willing to cooperate with iTunes success -- after MTV is developing its "Urge" digital music service (a 'rival' service of iTunes) in cooperation with Microsoft. According to the news, this new deal includs content from MTV, MTV2, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon; 14 shows are available with this initial launch, bringing iTunes' TV offerings to over 40 programs at US$1.99 per episode.

Meanwhile, Apple has added new shows from different networks on the iTunes Music Store:

The N - South of Nowhere (Season 1)
SOAPnet - Soapography (Season 1)
Nickelodeon - SpongeBob SquarePants (Season 1), Dora the Explorer (Season 1), Zoey 101
MTV - Beavis and Butt-Head, Laguna Beach, Wonder Showzen, Gauntlet 2, My Super Sweet 16 (Season 1-2), Jackass, Punk'd (Season 1-3)
Comedy Central - South Park (Season 1-2), Drawn Together (Season 1-2), Best of Comedy Central Stand-Up
ABC Family - Wildfire (Season 1-2)
The Munsters and The A-Team were also recently added

Networks make $1.44 per TV show from iTunes downloads while Apple only 55 cents

2006-01-27T11:03:00.000-08:00

Apparently, from $1.99 of each episode of ABC series Lost and Desperate Housewives - on iTunes, 55 cents goes for Apple and the remaining $1.44 to the network. Who believes that Apple earns less than double for a video download of those two wanted shows than it does from a song sold on iTunes? According to Hollywood Reporter, Apple's music take is about 29 or 30 cents per song from a major label, it gets 55 cents from videos.

TiVo Brings Podcasts to TV Sets

2006-01-26T01:43:00.000-08:00

Tivo records shows what it thinks you might like, based on the shows that it knows you do like. In present TiVo roll out of various broadband services - including access to podcasts, games, music and online movie ticketing - via television sets, allowing users to play podcasts on their TVs. The program, which began in November, developed the RSS application via which the podcasts are read. According to the news, a set of services from Yahoo is also offered, including access to Yahoo Photos via TV and weather and traffic reports; for now, those services are ad-free, but in the future Yahoo may decide to place ads.

Disney buys Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 Billion

2006-01-25T12:08:00.000-08:00

Walt Disney Co. has agreed to buy Steve Jobs's Pixar computer-animation studio for $7.4 billion. The deal is expected to be completed in the middle of the year, the companies said Tuesday. Under the new deal - Steve Jobs's Pixar, the creator of “Toy Story”, “Finding Nemo” and other great animation, will get a seat on the Disney Board and the President of Pixar Ed Catmull will serve as the President for the new Pixar Disney Animation studios.

Disney and Pixar can now collaborate without the barriers that come from two different companies with two different sets of shareholders.
- says Steve Jobs -

Skype offers Video Chat

2006-01-24T00:56:00.000-08:00

After Yahoo Messenger and ICQ which have been offering video chat for some time, the Version 2 of Skype's software now allows you to make video as well as voice calls over the Internet. The new video system requires Windows 2000 or XP and at least 400 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM and 15 MB free disk space on your hard drive. With speakers, microphone and a webcam, in present Skype is the best way to make video chat or voice calls with people all around the world.

Previous Week Top Ten Box Office

2006-01-23T23:25:00.000-08:00

Previous Week Top Ten Box Office - January 16/22, 2006:

1. Underworld: Evolution - new
2. Hoodwinked
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 2nd place )
3. Glory Road
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 1st place )
4. Last Holiday
( Weeks Released 2 - Last week on 3rd place )
5. Brokeback Mountain
( Weeks Released 7 - Last week on 9th place )
6. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
( Weeks Released 7 - Last week on 4th place )
7. Fun with Dick and Jane
( Weeks Released 5 - Last week on 6th place )
8. End of the Spear - new
9. Hostel
( Weeks Released 3 - Last week on 5th place )
10. King Kong
( Weeks Released 6 - Last week on 7th place )

Out of Top Ten Box Office of last week are:

Tristan & Isolde
Cheaper By the Dozen II

Brokeback Mountain takes PGA Award

2006-01-23T12:34:00.000-08:00

The controversial, Brokeback Mountain scored again by taking the top prize Sunday at the 15th annual Producers Guild of America Awards. Best picture of 2005, critically acclaimed drama about two cowboys in love, Brokeback Mountain beat out competition from Good Night And Good Luck, Capote, Walk The Line and Crash.

Meanwhile, Brokeback Mountain was the most honored film of 2005 at Monday night’s 63rd annual Golden Globe Awards.

Other winners at the awards ceremony held at the Universal Hilton included:

Long-Form Television: The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, HBO
Episodic Drama: Lost, ABC
Episodic Comedy: Entourage, HBO
Variety Television: The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Syndicated
Non-Fiction Television: 60 Minutes, CBS

Disney Buys Pixar Animation Studios?

2006-01-22T23:37:00.000-08:00

According to the news, Disney is considering today to buy for $7 Bilion Pixar Animation Studios in front with Steve Jobs, as the CEO of Pixar. Steve Jobs's remarkable success, may save Disney who have struggled to release original and financially successful productions. If Disney acquires Pixar, the perfectionist Jobs would join the company's board of directors and for start there may soon be a much larger amount of Disney content available on iTunes in coming months. As Steve, Disney has also nothing to lose because thanks to Steve Jobs reputation and capabilities, Disney could aim to a total success, as Jobs got us used to.
Analysts said "Jobs' instincts as a tech guide could help Disney navigate the digital media landscape to find new ways of distributing its movies and television shows."

Movie review: Match Point

2006-01-22T02:28:00.000-08:00

Director/writer Woody Allen narrates a funny tale in 'Match Point' of passion by introducing a poor guy into a rich world. The story is set in England where Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) a former tennis pro who is hired by a posh London club to teach tennis to wealthy clients and meets Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode) who takes tennis lessons from him and they develop a casual friendship.

With a mutual interest in opera Chris meets Tom's sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer) who he ended up having a romantic relationship. However when Chris meets Tom's girlfriend Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), everything changes as they up having a short sexual relationship. Anyway Chris got married to Chloe and she desperately wants to have a child, but unfortunately for her, a year later Chris goes Nola who ends up pregnant.

Genres: Comedy, Drama and Thriller
Starring: Brian Cox, Matthew Goode, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
Directed by: Woody Allen
Produced by: Stephen Tenenbaum, Gareth Wiley

Score: 3 / 5

Movie Review: Tristan & Isolde

2006-01-19T11:29:00.000-08:00

Tristan & Isolde its about two lovers in the dark ages and their tragic romance: Tristan, the shining knight of Britain, Isolde, the fair princess of Ireland cursed with a life that she does not want. In the medieval legend of Tristan and Isolde become doomed against the forces of royal politics. English knight Tristan wins the hand of the daughter of the Irish King, but the love threatens the truce between their two countries.
The movie focuses loyalties and on how Tristan must be faithful to both his love Isolde, (the wife of his best friend, Lord Marke), and Lord Marke himself, who has placed his blind trust in Tristan. Its a good movie if you like tragic love stories.

Genre: Drama, Romance, SciFi/Fantasy
Cast: James Franco, Sophia Myles, Rufus Sewell, David O'Hara, Henry Cavill
Director: Kevin Reynolds
Producer: Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Elie Samaha, Giannina Facio, Moshe Diamant, Lisa Ellzey

Score: 3 / 5

BBC launches Parenting Video On Demand

2006-01-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

According to the news, BBC Television allows viewers to access bite-size, video clips from hit BBC parenting shows, via a new Parenting Video on Demand player. The Parenting Video aims to put parents in control as they search by topic, age, or programme to find the specific parenting information they need. The BBC is offering bite-size, video clips from hit BBC shows such as Child of Our Time and Little. Any UK resident with a computer and a broadband connection, can access free Parenting Video on Demand from January until June.

Movie review: Hoodwinked

2006-01-19T08:23:00.000-08:00

Suitable for all ages "Hoodwinked" is an updated re-telling the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood. Starting with the end, Hoodwinked is not a quality animation movie. The film tells a simple story - Little Red Riding Hood going to grandm's house with her little basket and encountering the "big bad wolf.” The cops burst in and a crime scene is declared. Under interrogation, each story is revealed in 20-minute sequences, which add up to many different angles of the same story told apart.

Genre: Comedy, Family, Animation
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, James Belushi, Anthony Anderson, Patrick Warburton
Directed by: Tony Leech, Todd Edwards, Cory Edwards
Produced by: Maurice Kanbar, Sue Bea Montgomery, Preston Stutzman

Score: 3 / 5

Apple iPod sales over Xbox 360 this Christmas

2006-01-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

Who stated that the Xbox 360 topped the list of popular Christmas toys, over Apple's iPod? According to Steve Jobs, Apple had sold more than 14 million iPods around the world, while CNN reports, that "Microsoft Corp. has only sold 600,000 of its new Xbox 360 video game consoles in the United States since its November launch".

Apple's iPod music player continues to be popular, in the last three months of 2005, helping to almost double its quarterly profits. Meanwhile, the sales of Apple's computers totaled 1.25 million during the quarter, below market expectations.

Previous Week Top Ten Box Office

2006-01-18T23:57:00.000-08:00

Previous Week Top Ten Box Office - January 15, 2006:

1. Glory Road - new
2. Hoodwinked - new
3. Last Holiday - new
4. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
( Weeks Released 6 - Last week on 2nd place )
5. Hostel - new
6. Fun with Dick and Jane
( Weeks Released 4 - Last week on 4th place )
7. King Kong
( Weeks Released 5 - Last week 3rd place )
8. Tristan & Isolde - new
9. Brokeback Mountain
( Weeks Released 6 - Last week 8th place )
10. Cheaper By the Dozen II
( Weeks Released 4 - Last week on 4th place )

Out of Top Ten Box Office of last week are:

Munich
Memoirs of a Geisha
Rumor Has It...
The Family Stone

Movie review: Brokeback Mountain

2006-01-18T22:42:00.000-08:00

Brokeback Mountain its an epic American love story, based on the short story by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Proulx. The movie its about two young men Ennis del Mar (Ledger) and Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal) - a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy - who meet in one summer morning in Wyoming 1963. Through the summer they are getting closer but after three months the two part ways and over the next four years lead separate lives - getting married and having kids. However one day, Jack visits Ennis in Wyoming and the situation becomes unclear. Although Ennis and Jack struggle to keep it secret, they meet up several times annually but when they are apart, they thinking of fidelity, commitment and trust.

Genres: Drama, Romance and Western
Starring: Linda Cardellini, Kate Mara, Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams
Directed by: Ang Lee
Produced by: Michael Costigan, Michael Hausman, Larry McMurtry

Score: 4 / 5

Brokeback Mountain was the most honored film of 2005 at Monday night's 63rd annual Golden Globe Awards, scoring in four categories: best dramatic picture, best screenplay, best song and best director, from seven Golden Globe nominations. The movie was also Named Best Picture of 2005 by the New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Southeastern Film Critics Association, and Boston Society of Film Critics. Winner, Golden Lion, 2005 Venice Film Festival.

Brokeback Mountain wins 4 Golden Globes Awards

2006-01-17T23:41:00.000-08:00

Brokeback Mountain was the most honored film of 2005 at Monday night's 63rd annual Golden Globe Awards, scoring in four categories: best dramatic picture, best screenplay, best song and best director. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon both won top prizes for their roles in the Johnny Cash bio Walk the Line, which also took the Globe as best picture, musical or comedy.

Philip Seymour Hoffman won best actor in drama for his portrayal of In Cold Blood author Truman Capote, while Felicity Huffman took the Globe for best dramatic actress in a film, Transamerica.

Desperate Housewives was named best comedy series and Steve Carell was named best actor in a comedy series (The Office). As for best foreign-language movie - Paradise Now, from Palestine.

Here's the Golden Globe Awards top winners.

[from thecelebrityblog.com]

Video game industry hit record sales

2006-01-17T01:14:00.000-08:00

The sales of video game hardware, software and accessories hit a record $10.5-billion in 2005, the NPD Group research firm reported. Apparently the sales are getting higher, as the old record of $10.3-billion set in 2002 was 6 per cent higher than the $9.9-billion reported in 2004.
Nintendo's Game Boy Advance and Sony's PlayStation Portable jumped 42 per cent to $1.4-billion in 2005 and Game Boy Advance programs made up 52 per cent of total sales.

According to the news, Electronic Arts Inc.'s "Madden NFL 06" for Sony's PlayStation 2 was the most popular title of the year and tt was followed by Nintendo's "Pokemon Emerald" for Game Boy Advance and Sony's "Gran Turismo 4" for the PlayStation 2.

Movie review: Glory Road

2006-01-17T00:17:00.000-08:00

The movie Glory Road is inspired by a true story of the underdog Texas Western basketball team.The first time African American starting lineup of players, who surprisingly won the 1966 NCAA tournament title. Racial integration was just beginning but Haskins, (Josh Lucas) a dedicated college basketball coach, changed the history of basketball with his team's victory. Haskins is the coach who teaches his players about values as well as technique, gathering them from different backgrounds into a team.

Genres: Sports
Starring: Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Austin Nichols, Evan Jones, Emily Deschanel
Directed by: James Gartner
Produced by: Chad Oman, Mike Stenson, Andrew Given

Score: 2.5 / 5

Stephen Chow working on sci-fi movie and 'Kung Fu Hustle' sequel

2006-01-16T01:50:00.000-08:00

According to the recent news, Hong Kong comedian Stephen Chow is working on a US$20 million science fiction movie as well as a sequel to his successful action comedy "Kung Fu Hustle". Stephen Chow had said earlier that filming on the "Kung Fu Hustle'' sequel would start in either late 2005 or early 2006.

The report said Chow has already found American investors for the sci-fi movie and the comedian Chow is attending the Golden Globes ceremony because "Kung Fu Hustle'' is nominated in the best foreign film category.

Girls audition for part in Harry Potter movie

2006-01-16T00:07:00.000-08:00

Thousands of teenage girls, aged 13 to 16, auditioned on Saturday for the part of trainee wizard Luna Lovegood in "Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix."
In the book - the role in the next Harry Potter film - Luna is described as being an unusual character who is considered somewhat of an outsider by her classmates.

Only British and Irish citizens were being auditioned and the successful auditioner will join cast members Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry; Emma Watson, who is Hermione Granger; and Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley in the film.

Xbox 360's HD-DVD to be replaced by Blu-Ray?

2006-01-14T07:17:00.000-08:00

After a week ago when Microsoft announced their latest HD-DVD add on for their new console, Peter Moore has revealed that Microsoft is considering the possibility to try Blu-Ray drive for the system. According to Japanese electronics website - ITMedia -, Microsoft’s point man for its Xbox, Moore revealed that if the HD-DVD format looses out to the Sony backed Blu-Ray, Microsoft could release the add-on to remain competitive with Sony's PS3. We all know that Microsoft prefers HD-DVD format and the chances that the Blu-Ray may that it place are indeed small.

Movie Review: Last Holiday

2006-01-13T23:24:00.000-08:00

The light comedy "Last Holiday" is a remake of the 1950 film originally starring Alec Guinness in the Queen Latifah role. Georgia Byrd is a church-going woman living in New Orleans who works at a local department store where she sells cookware. With many dreams and aspirations, she lists them all in her book of "possibilities".

But that untill one day when she gets terrible news at the hospital - she has a terminal disease with a couple of weeks to live, only to find out later she was misdiagnosed. Depressed that she didn't live her dreams, Georgia finally quits her job, and decides to head to Europe to meet world famous Chef Didier, her idol.

Once there, she treats herself to expensive clothes, fine food, and a luxury hotel, she attracts the attention the hotel wheeling Matthew Kragen, who believes that Georgia is there to steal business away from him...

Genres: Comedy and Drama
Starring: Queen Latifah, Alicia Witt, LL Cool J , Giancarlo Esposito, Gerard Depardieu
Directed by: Wayne Wang
Produced by: Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey, Richard Vane

Score: 2.5 / 5

Creative Zen Vision:M Wins CES MP3 and Portable Video Award and also Overall Best in Show Award

2006-01-13T22:45:00.000-08:00

Creative announced that the Zen Vision:M portable media player beat thousands of other companies and all the big names in consumer electronics from all over the world and won the "Best of CES" 2006 award in the MP3 and Portable Video category and that it also won the overall "Best in Show" award, being the fourth consecutive year that Creative has won a "Best of CES" award.

The Zen Vision:M supports music subscription services including but also supports downloads from online music stores including Yahoo! Music, Soundbuzz, Napster, MSN Music and AOL Music Now. The battery provides up to 14 hours of music playback and delivers up to four hours of video playback. The Zen Vision:M also provides extensive video format support, including MPEG -2, MPEG -4 Simple Profile formats such as Xvid, WMV, and MJPEG. The Zen Vision:M also supports TiVoToGo for free viewing of TV shows recorded on a TiVo personal video recorder.

Levi Strauss to launch iPod-compatible jeans

2006-01-12T04:28:00.000-08:00

The Levi's brand announces the iPod-compatible jeans, Levi's RedWire DLX Jeans which will be available in fall. The jeans design integrates iPod plug and play technology and its compatible with most iPod systems. Apparently the wearable technology revolution features also a special joystick incorporated into the jeans' pocket and retractable headphones to enable easy operation of the iPod.

Design features include:
• Easy Pocket Storage
• "Hip" Controls
• Handy Wire Retractor

EvolutionTV captures video, TV to iPod

2006-01-11T13:50:00.000-08:00

The release of a public beta of EvolutionTV software, with real-time TV and video capture for iPod video and Sony PSP, was announced by Miglia Technology. EvolutionTV not only that lets you to capture video from other media such as VHA, DVD and H18 but also, allows you to record TV, schedule recordings, and access Online TV guides.
However, EvolutionTV software requires a Mac with USB 2.0 connectivity, PowerPC G4 1GHz processor or higher, and Mac OS X 10.4.x and higher.
Retail price is $250.

Colin Farrell Sex Video Hits Internet

2006-01-11T02:08:00.000-08:00

Actor Colin Farrell and a Playboy Playmate's sex video made appeared Tuesday on the Internet, violating a court order blocking it release. Apparently a website (DirtyColin.com) has the 15-minute sex video featuring Farrell and his then-girlfriend, Nicole Narain, Playboy magazine's Miss January 2002.

A website attempting to distribute an unauthorized tape of Colin Farrell was shut down today. Mr. Farrell will take legal action against anyone who tries to distribute this tape. There was no immediate comment from Farrell's attorney.
- Farrell's publicist released this statement Tuesday -

Farrell, currently starring in "The New World," was also in the news recently when it was announced that he had checked into a treatment center suffering from exhaustion and dependence on prescription medication.

[from thecelebrityblog.com]

AOL Adds Video Search Technology: Truveo

2006-01-11T01:12:00.000-08:00

AOL reportedly bought a video search provider last month. Truveo's technology builds an index of online video clips by crawling Web sites with video content. Truveo launched its video search engine in September 2005 and it has 1.8 million video assets in its index.

AOL would integrate Truveo with its own video search products, which include Singingfish, a multimedia search engine AOL bought in November 2003. Apparently after this combinatatinos the video search engine will have approximately 4 million videos in its index.

Saturday Night Live comes to iTunes

2006-01-11T00:48:00.000-08:00

A limited number of Saturday Night Live comes to iTunes Music Store, being now available at Apple’s online music store for viewing on video iPods or personal computers. Apparently the company will sell the archived skits of the NBC Universal show for $1.99 each.

According to the news, the Saturday Night Live is the latest effort by Apple to expand its iTunes video library, which also includes episodes of TV shows such as NBC's The Office" and ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost".

Hostel earns $20m topping the US box office

2006-01-11T00:10:00.000-08:00

A low-budget, ultra-violent horror film 'Hostel' topped the US box office this weekend, generating $20.1m on its debut, in front of rivals such as King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia and Munich.

A group of backpacking American college students visit a brothel in Slovakia, where they encounter not eastern European beauties but the buzz of chainsaws – has received mixed reviews.

Horror films have come in and out of favour in Hollywood since the release of silent-era classics, such as Dracula. Hostel has been billed as the first of a new generation of intensely violent US horror films, following a recent trend in Japan and harkening back to the American "slasher" pictures of the 1980s.

Applesauce Polish holds 'Most-Abused iPod' contest

2006-01-10T08:43:00.000-08:00

Applesauce Polish holds a “Most-Abused iPod Giveaway” contest during Macworld Expo 2006 in San Francisco from January 9th to the 13th.
That iPod which has more scratches and damage than the ones on display at the Applesauce Polish booth, will receive as prize a free Applesauce Scratch Removal Kit and a 4GB iPod nano. The company intends to remove scratches from the plastic front and display, and the metal backing of all iPod models.

Google Launched Video Download Service

2006-01-10T08:14:00.000-08:00

Google Inc. announced the opening of the Google Video Store, the first open video marketplace where consumers can buy and rent a wide range of video content from a major television network. Any video producer, large or small, can upload their content and distribute it for free or at a price and of course video prices are set by the content provider. There is also the choice to offer your content with or without copy protection.

iPod and Sony Playstation Portable users will be able to download and watch any non-copy-protected content from Google Video. However although Google Video Store will be available around the world, premium content is only available in the United States and only to Windows 2000 or Windows XP users.

This collection of videos will include among others:

* Music videos from SONY BMG of many celebrities
* Feature length independent films from Greencine.com
* Historic, news and educational footage from ITN
* Charlie Rose interviews with many celebrities
* Cartoon classics from Classic Media
* Children's educational programming from Clearvue
* Clips from Getty Images' Archive Films Collection

ESPN and ABC Sports content on Apple's iTunes Music Store

2006-01-08T13:40:00.000-08:00

Walt Disney Company recently announced that Apple's iTunes Music Store will includ content from ESPN and ABC Sports, being the first to offer sports programming on the iTunes Music Store. All of the content is available for $1.99 per episode.

Versions of all four BCS Bowl Games from ABC Sports will be available on the iTunes Music Store and there will also be the ABC Family's original series "Wildfire," "Kim Possible" and "The Proud Family" or SOAPnet's original biography series "Soapography." "America's Funniest Home Videos" and the popular 1970's Saturday morning "School House Rock" vignettes and episodes of Buena Vista Television's "Ebert and Roeper are going to be be available too.

ESPN will come with Best Of The X Games, "SportsCentury" interviews from ESPN Classic's award-winning biography series, the popular "This is SportsCenter" commercials, and select ESPN Original Entertainment programs - including "Knight School," the forthcoming reality program featuring Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight, which will premiere on iTunes.

There will also be free ad-supported video podcasts from ABC News, including daily segments from "Good Morning America" and the "World News Tonight" webcast, as well as ABC News Now's "Money Minute," "Medical Minute" and "Buzz Cut."

Christopher Lee voted 2005 most marketable film star

2006-01-08T12:30:00.000-08:00

The famos actor Christopher Lee has been named as the most marketable film star in the US, by a poll conducted by USA Today, beating celebrities like Samuel L Jackson or Gary Oldman. Lee got the top in 2005's list of most saleable stars thanks to 'Charlie and The Chocolate Factory', 'The Corpse Bride' and 'Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith' which grabbed an estimated 640 million dollars.

The Top 5 most marketable film stars in the US:

1. Christopher Lee
2. Ewan McGregor
3. Morgan Freeman
4. Samuel L Jackson
5. Gary Oldman

Peter Jackson promotes gorilla plight with DVD release

2006-01-08T11:27:00.000-08:00

King Kong director Peter Jackson has added a documentary film about the plight of gorillas to the forthcoming DVD release, in a bid to prevent the extinction of the endangered species. The purpose of the DVD release is to increase public awareness of the species. Charity premieres of King Kong have also raised more than $100,000 for the conservation project. Jackson also is teaming up with the International Gorilla Conservation Programme for the environmental campaign.

Vin Diesel in The Pacifier: Review

2006-01-05T02:12:00.000-08:00

In the movie The Pacifier you can see Vin Diesel as you never did. The actor plays Navy Seal Shane Wolfe, who fails to get scientist Howard Plummer back alive in a covert mission. Wolfe's next assignment is to move in Plummer house to protect his 5 children while the wife Julie Plummer travels to eventually find a key in her husband bank deposit box.

Wolfe mission doesn't stop here as he also has to uncover Plummer's secret Ghost project, which is the reason why the kids are in danger. Vin Diesel struggles to maintain control over the kids and the action turns very easy to comedy. A joy watching the movie especially if you like comedy and its also funny to see Vin Diesel training everyone around.

Genre: Comedy / Action
Director: Adam Shankman
Cast: Vin Diesel, Lauren Graham, Faith Ford, Brittany Snow, Brad Garrett, Max Thieriot, Chris Potter, etc.

Score: 4.5 / 5

The Da Vinci Code: European premiere at the Louvre

2006-01-05T01:33:00.000-08:00

Producers of the movie The Da Vinci Code are considering the film's European premiere to be at the Louvre art gallery in Paris, France, where the story begins. More than seven million people visited the gallery last year - a new record attendance. Director Ron Howard was given special permission to shoot the movie The Da Vinci Code" in the Louvre.

‘The Da Vinci Code’ captures the concepts of a murder mystery thriller in which Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is trying to solve the an enigmatic riddle - fined it next to a dead body in Louvre. Apparently the riddle leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci, ingeniously disguised by the painter. Langdon is working with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, to unveil the mystery.

Genre: Drama / Mystery / Thriller
Starring: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Ian McKellen.
Directed: Ron Howard
Writing credits: Dan Brown (novel) Akiva Goldsman (screenplay)

Mr & Mrs Smith Review

2006-01-02T02:08:00.000-08:00

Mr & Mrs Smith - John and Jane Smith (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) are an ordinary married couple with a “five or six” years boring marriage, despite the fact that when they got married because they fell madly in love. What makes this film captivating is that they are both professional assassins without knowing one about each other. Apparently John is a building contractor and Jane is a corporate executive but that not for long time. The secrets were safe until one day when Jane and John received the same target, and because they failed the mission, they had to go one after another. From this till the truth comes out was only one step and John and Jane will try to take each other. Fortunately, they end up admitting their love and became a perfect team.

Mr & Mrs Smith is a good movie with great scenes, a romantic comedy, with good acting, lot's of explosions. Angelina and Brad are both attractive and capable actors, they look perfect on screen because of their eyeball bounding... and let's be honest this film has nothing without their sexual chemistry.

Genre: Action / Comedy / Romance
Starring: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn, Efren Ramirez, Theresa Barrera, Angela Bassett, Ron Bottitta, Adam Brody, Miguel Caballero, Patrika Darbo, Keith David
Written by: Simon Kinberg
Directed by: Doug Liman

Score: 4.5 / 5

Rumor Has It Review

2006-01-01T04:57:00.000-08:00

Rumor Has It a good movie? Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston) is very undecided about her life however she agreed to marry her boyfriend Jeff, but despite her decision she isn't at all sure she want that. Sarah's life is messed up as she is aspiring as journalist. In top of all Sarah has to attend to her sister's wedding. Unfortunately for Sarah, she never felt close to her relatives - a tennis-obsessed Pasadena family.

At a party before the ceremony Sarah discovers that her mother, who died when she was young, had an affair with another man a few days before marrying her father. Through investigation Sarah learns that her mother's lothario was a friend of Charles Webb, the man who wrote "The Graduate." Her family was the basis for the Robinsons and her grandmother, Katherine (Shirley MacLaine), is the woman Simon and Garfunkel sang about. The millionaire Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner) helps Sarah to uncover the truth about her family. The movie is very predictable, a reason more why the film received bad reviews. I honestly don't recommend it, you can spend that time to watch another movie, like The Family Stone, but its your choice after all.

Genres: Comedy and Drama
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo, Richard Jenkins
Directed by: Rob Reiner
Produced by: Paula Weinstein, Ben Cosgrove, George Clooney

Score 2.5 / 5

The Ringer Review

2006-01-01T03:50:00.000-08:00

The Ringer is a story about a man who feigns a mental disability in an attempt to win the Special Olympics, starting with Johnny Knoxville, one of the creators of "Jackass," the cable TV series. Knoxville's character discovers that these athletes (many of them recruited from the real Special Olympics) are indeed very special. The story begins by trying to paint Steve Knoxville as a good person forced into a bad decision. He needs money to pay for an operation for his uninsured gardener.

His uncle Gary came up with the idea of Steve entering the Special Olympics, expecting Steve to win. The character meets Lynn, a Special Olympics volunteer with whom Steve falls in love. The idea is that Steve spends the entire movie feeling like a jerk while she thinks he's mentally retarded and you can guess the rest of the movie.

Genres: Comedy
Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Brian Cox, Katherine Heigl, Jed Rees, Bill Chott
Directed by: Barry Blaustein
Produced by: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly, Bradley Thomas

Score: 3.5 / 5

Memoirs of a Geisha Review

2005-12-28T13:14:00.000-08:00

The movie Memoirs of a Geisha is based on the hugely popular book of the same name by Arthur Golden. It is a story about a young girl who, along with her sister, is sold by their poor, fisherman father. One girl, who becomes a geisha in 1930s Japan, is taken to work in a house for geishas, the other ends up in a brothel. Ziyi Zhang plays a girl who becomes Sayuri, the most desired geisha in Japan. The dramatic tension comes from the interactions between Sayuri and her geisha rivals, rather than from her unrequited love, a wealthy man she knows only as the Chairman (Ken Watanabe) this encounter transforms her life. Most of the other geisha are Gong Li, who takes jealousy to new heights as the ravenously vindictive Hatsumomo.

Starring: Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Youki Kudoh
Directed by: Rob Marshall
Produced by: Patty Whitcher, Bobby Cohen, Roger Birnbaum

Score: 4 / 5