The plucky underdogs are front and center this weekend during a brief break between the summer sequel heavyweights. They’ll be trying to steal what little bit of box office they can post-Pirates, pre-Ocean. Have to move fast though, Clooney and his Ocean’s crew seduce your ticket dollars next week with their sensitive eyes, well-tailored suits and charmingly witty speech-cadence.

Knocked Up - Seth Rogen accidentally impregnates Katherine Heigl during a one-night-stand (I should be so lucky), hilarity ensues. Damn near the entire cast of cult hit “Freaks and Geeks” make appearances in the film. Advance word on this movie has been VERY positive. Director Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin) knows how to make people laugh. He's also a marketing genius as evident by the funnyordie clip he has going around with Michael Cera.

Crazy Love -The name says it all. A documentary about the love/hate relationship between Linda Riss and Burt Pugach in all of its adulterous, violent, passionate glory. Sending a girl flowers is quaint, sending hired goons to throw lye in her face and blind her for life...that's crazy love.

Day Watch - Part two of the Russian gothic-horror "Night Watch" trilogy (the first film, "Night Watch" came out in 2004, "Dusk Watch" is in production) again deals with the forces of light and dark battling it out in Moscow. There's a more involved plot with vampires and all manner of supernatural beings, but its too convoluted to share in this space. Know this, "Day Watch" is Russia's first post-communism film to hit $30 million in receipts. That's not saying much in our land of billion-dollar blockbusters, but in Russia it was absolutely colossal.

More new movie releases after the jump...

Written and photographed for LAist by Eric Reyers.

In a city of movie lovers as picky about projection as they are snarky about snacks, elevating the theater-going experience is no easy feat. The redesigned Landmark Theater at the Westside Pavilion has made a bold gambit by transforming a small, typically janky mall theater into a high-end mecca for indie film.

When it opens this Friday, June 1, Landmark's flagship venue in the Los Angeles area will show the chain's traditional slate of indie, foreign and art house films. But they will do it in a high style uncommon to art house cinemas.

From the sleek, glass-walled exterior to the plush theater seats to the upmarket cocktail bar, the Landmark Westside Pavilion is hoping to surpass the Arclight and make a name for itself as Los Angeles' best or at least poshest theater.

I could write a movie review of Knocked Up -- and maybe I still will -- but it will just be a long list of hilarious moments (there's the part where he does this one thing... and then she says this other thing...) in a movie overflowing with hilarity. Trust me on this: you will walk out of the movie floating on fluffly pink cloud of funny-ness, and I don't want to spoil a second of it for you.

The other noteworthy aspect of Knocked Up? Traditional American Values. Really & truly. Despite all the potty humor and personal awkwardness in director Judd Apatow's films, the values on display in his movies are remarkably traditional, so I wasn't at all surprised to read in Stephen Rodrick's profile of Apatow in Sunday's NY Times magazine that Apatow is a really square guy. Thankfully this hasn't impeded his sense of humor.

Both of the films Apatow has directed offer up the kind of conservative morals the Family Research Council might embrace — if the humor weren’t so filthy. In “Virgin,” the title character is saving himself for true love. "Knocked Up,” which opens on June 1, revolves around a good-hearted doofus who copes with an unplanned pregnancy by getting a job and eliminating the bong hits. In each of the films, the hero is nearly led astray by buddies... By the end, Apatow exposes the friends as well meaning but comically pathetic and steers his men toward doing the right thing.

Aside from the fact that Seth Rogen was/is a big time stoner (surprise, surprise!), another thing you'll learn in the NY Times article is that Katherine Heigl wasn't the first choice for the female lead. The role was originally offered to Anne Hathaway who refused to be in a movie that contained such graphic shots of a baby being born.

Here's what you won't learn in the NY Times article (in fact, Apatow claims in the article Rogen was his ONLY choice for the male lead): the role was originally played by Michael Cera, AKA George-Michael on Arrested Development. Here's a clip of Apatow trying to direct Cera on set, which sheds some light on why the change was made. Defamer thinks it's a fake, and I tend to agree. There don't seem to be too many hard feelings, as Cera will co-star in Superbad, a film cowritten by Seth Rogen & his best friend, Knocked Up executive producer Evan Goldberg.

Written and photographed for LAist by Cecil Castellucci, author of The Plain Janes and Beige. More pics available here.

The force was strong with everyone at Star Wars Celebration IV. There really was a lot to do, which is a quality problem to have at a convention.

Besides the Vader Project, which, by the way I am still totally obsessed with I can't say I did much more than walk around, buy a dark side t-shirt, a bunch of Burger King Empire Strikes Back glasses, ogle the great costumes, hang around at the Petree Stage hosted by Scott Chernoff and meet that scoundrel Lando Calrissian.

That's right. Billy Dee Williams.

Written and photographed for LAist by Cecil Castellucci, author of The Plain Janes and Beige. More pics available here.

Yesterday, I went to go check out the action at the LA Convention Center, which is playing host to Star Wars Celebration IV. It was the preview Fan Day for the Official Star Wars Fan Club members. I'm member number one bagazillion.

I'm not going to lie. I have a love hate relationship with Star Wars. I also have a Queen Amidala tattoo. It's 'cause I slept in a tent on Hollywood Blvd. for Episode I for six weeks to wait for tickets and at the time I thought that would be a good idea.

I just say this so you know, when it comes to Star Wars, I'm jaded, and kind of over it, but I'm still hardcore.

Then again, when it comes to Star Wars, even Mayor Antionio Villaraigosa is hardcore. So hardcore, that he declared today, the thirtieth anniversary of the movie Star Wars, Star Wars Day in Los Angeles.

I just let out a happy wookie roar.

Every summer it seems that there’s one mega-budget studio movie that just goes bust-o. This summer I’d wager that flop is going to be the new Fantastic Four movie, but in 2003 I was fairly certain that Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was going nowhere. After all, it was based on a freaking Disneyland ride, it had no really big stars (Johnny Depp was considered more a fine actor than a guy who could open a movie), its director was relatively unproven (The Ring was scary, The Mexican was too, but in a different way) and it was about pirates for crying out loud. Who cared about pirates? Apparently, only millions and millions and millions of people. Pirates was the breakout hit of the summer and we now live in a Pirates world.

Which brings us to the end or, more specifically, the World’s End. When last we left Miss Swann (Keira Knightley) and Mr. Turner (Orlando Bloom) in Dead Man’s Chest, they had just enlisted the aid of the cruel and camp Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) in an effort to save the even more camp Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) from the prison of Davy Jones locker. At World’s End opens in Singapore, where our heroes are trying to obtain a crew, a ship and, most importantly, a secret map from one of the Pirate Lords, Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat). Of course, things do not go as planned. They never do in the Pirates universe. One could almost use those words as a gloss for the entire plot of every Pirates movie (Okay, so they do this so they can get this so they can do this. Cool, then what happens? Well…things do not go as planned. Really?!).

George Lucas is notoriously stringent when it comes to copyright and trademark issues, but it looks like the director has finally realized that remix is the aesthetic of the new millennium, or at least this first decade of it.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Lucasfilm is taking approximately 250 clips from the various Star Wars movies and making them available to fans who want to download and use them in Internet mash-ups, re-mixes and re-cuts.

The clips, which run up to 60 seconds long, are debuting on Starwars.com as part of the 30th-anniversary celebration of the film's release. Lucasfilm swears it's like totally not gonna sue if you use them. They say they're even going to release more Star Wars clips in the coming months. The downside?
-it's unclear from the WSJ article what format the clips will be available in
-it seems you can only use Eyespot's proprietary editing app to create your mash-ups
-a team of Eyespot screeners based in Costa Rica (love that outsourcing!) must vet each video before it goes live
-it's not clear if you can upload the final videos to any site or only to Starwars.com

Someone at the company must've realized that if you can’t beat 'em, you might as well join 'em... and make money doing it.

Andy Samberg has to be one of the luckiest guys alive. Look at that goofball. Between trysting with starlets like Natalie Portman and Kirsten Dunst, his day job includes making shorts like "Lazy Sunday" at Saturday Night Live. And it all started with video sketches Samberg and his Lonely Island cohorts posted on the Web. (The other two guys got writing gigs on SNL.) So it’s fitting that Samberg is helping kick off YouTube Sketchies, a nine-week comedy video competition that begins today.

The three-stage competition involves creating funny videos then having them judged by "entertainment industry professionals" and YouTube users. The contest is sponsored by Sierra Mist (owned by PepsiCo), so the winners will receive "a brand assignment and a production budget" to create a funny, soda-themed short that will be featured on the company's site. Also you get some free tickets to Andy Samberg's next movie.

Submissions for Round 1 are being accepted until May 31. Entries must be original videos that are shorter than 3 minutes, and you have to be a legal U.S. residents to enter.

Elmore Leonard is 81. He has written 41 novels (yes, that's right, 41) including The Bounty Hunters, Forty Lashes Less One, Gold Coast, Rum Punch, Cuba Libre, Mr. Paradise & The Hot Kid. His novels and short stories have been made into dozens of films including Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Be Cool, Jackie Brown and the forthcoming Killshot, 3:10 to Yuma and Freaky Deaky. The man, it is safe to say, has been busy. It's also safe to say that he's a legend.

He writes fast and loose, but the dialogue is always slick and cool. Perfectly cutting, perfectly timed, perfectly perfect. Leonard's uber-gritty brand of crime is especially notable because his strong female characters frequently get the upper hand and it's never just about their feminine wiles. More often, Leonard's leading (and not so leading) ladies get the best lines, the smartest dialogue, the best revenge (except for Bridget Fonda in Jackie Brown...) when it all goes up in smoke. In flames. In a hail of bullets.

The weird bit, though, is that so few people know the name Elmore Leonard. When you say his name and that he'll be in town tonight (which he will be: 7pm @ Book Soup), people stare at you. Don't return emails. Don't know who you're talking about. They know his films - they can even quote whole scenes of dialogue from them - but they don't know who wrote the words they love. That's a shame, a sad, sad shame.

Leonard is as funny in person as his dialogue is smooth and you've got two chances to see him talk about his new book, Up in Honey's Room. He'll be at Book Soup tonight @ 7pm and he'll be at Writer's Bloc (reservations required) tomorrow night at 7:30pm talking with producer Walter Mirisch of West Side Story fame. You now know who he is. You have no excuses. Go right your wrongs and see the man speak the words you've spoken a dozen times without knowing they were his.

Photo Credit: Leo Buurman

By now most Americans understand that something awful is happening to the people of Darfur. Relatively few, though, could clearly explain exactly what that is. With an artful simplicity, The Devil Came on Horseback reveals the true scope and horror of the continuing genocide in Darfur. Widely lauded since its debut at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, this fantastic documentary deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible.

The story is largely told through hundreds of photographs taken by former Marine captain Brian Steidle who worked in Darfur for six months observing a cease-fire for the African Union. While there he witnessed the targeted ethnic cleansing of many thousands of “African” Sudanese at the hands of their Arab government and its proxy militia, the Janjaweed (an Arab colloquialism, “the man with a gun on a horse”).

The photographs Steidle returned with are unsparing in their revelation of brutality. In one, a charred, contorted corpse is all that remains of a man who had been handcuffed and burned alive. In another, a man lies in a pool of his own blood, castrated and left to bleed to death. Others—many—show children with crushed skulls, their skin rotting off or partially burned away. Torture and rape are commonplace. Whole villages are incinerated following an attack to prevent anyone from returning. The violence is spectacular in its totality and ruthlessness. And through all of this, Steidle and his fellow observers can do nothing. They can neither protect nor evacuate anyone. They are unarmed. They are not allowed to intercede.

When Basic Instinct 2 and Flicka came out last year and flopped right out of the gate, it didn't scare Hollywood away from continuing to remake classic movies.

Here are just a few remakes coming at you that will probably also avoid (with the year they're due to be released):

The 39 Steps (2009)
Adventures in Babysitting (2008)
The Birds (2009)
Conan the Barbarian (2008)
Deathrace 3000 (2008)
Escape from New York (2009)
The Evil Dead (2008)
Fahrenheit 451 (2007)
Flash Gordon (2008)
Hairspray (2007)
Halloween (2007)
Sunset Boulevard (2008)
The Warriors (2008)

Reviewed for LAist by David Grossman.

When I hear the name Goethe (pronounced ger-the), my mind goes to the writer's remarkably sad book The Sorrows of a Young Werther and the copycat suicides that it inspired (a trend only slightly more bothersome then hearing people still say "Not!" à la Borat). Despite the gloomy connotations of its name, the Goethe Institute has found a way to stage some pretty cool events like this year's "Starring Berlin" series, which showcases 40 films set in Berlin as a tribute to Los Angeles and Berlin's 40 year sister cityness (let's just pretend that's a word). The 20th screening in the series feature two films dealing with post-WWII Germany, Ingo Rasper's comedic short Dufte and the surprisingly free-spirited East German film Berlin - Ecke Shönhauser.

All photos taken by Rob Takata for LAist.

Last night the Mann Village theater in Westwood hosted the premiere of writer Judd Apatow's latest comedy, Knocked Up. The movie is hilarious! From start to finish. And worth watching multiple times. But we'll save the review for another day.

Here are some snaps from the post-premiere party, which was held at a dolled-up parking lot adjacent to the theater.

Nearly two decades have passed since the last Rambo movie, but for Sly Stallone it's like time never stood still. His mullet is a little longer and his face is craggier, but otherwise the trailer for John Rambo, (AKA Rambo IV), which debuted yesterday on Aint It Cool News, looks like it was unearthed from a Reagan-era time capsule.

This iteration of the Rambo franchise finds our eponymous hero living as a humble craftsman somewhere in the Southeast Asian jungle. He rents his boat to a group of white humanitarian workers who are swiftly captured by sadistic Burmese rebels. Out come the bandana, the war paint and the crossbow. Some filmmakers might use a set-up like this to mirror or even critique the current war that our country's mired in. Not Sly.

Did I mention that in addition to starring in this film, Sylvester Stallone directed and co-wrote John Rambo? This suggests that instead of bringing in an outsider to cast a critical eye on the story and update it for the new millennium, Stallone had the leeway to make a bunch of silly, self-serving decisions. The trailer bears that out. It's early yet, but I smell Razzie...

Diary Of A Mad Housewife & The Last Of Sheila
It's another crazy 1970s double feature. Directed by Frank Perry Diary Of A Mad Housewife stars Carrie Snodgress (rocker Neil Young's girlfriend for a time in the 70s) and Richard Benjamin as a young, well-to-do Manhattan couple whose marriage hits the skids thanks to obnoxious, self-absorbed hubby. The film feels dated, but Snodgress' Oscar-nominated performance still rings true.

The gem on tonight's double bill is The Last Of Sheila, a little-known 1973 whodunit caper set on a boat. James Coburn plays a producer who throws a party on his yacht on the one-year anniversary his wife, gossip columnist Sheila Green, was killed in a hit-and-run accident. The entertainment consists of a parlor game where each guest receives a card with a piece of fake gossip written on it. the object is to hide what's on your own card while discovering what's on everybody else's. the only problem is that these tidbits of gossip are true, and everybody has a secret to hide. Written by the unlikely team of Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim, the ensemble cast includes Richard Benjamin, James Mason, Raquel Welch and Dyan Cannon.

WHEN: Wednesday, May 23 at 7:30 PM
WHERE: American Cinematheque at The Aero Theater: 1328 Montana Ave. (at 14th St. in Santa Monica)

Thrift Store Movies III
Found movies get their due at the Hammer's third annual selection of films, videos, and slides rescued from the obscurity of thrift stores, swap meets and dumpsters. Hosted by LA Weekly art critic Doug Harvey and with a slew of guest curators that includes Animal Charm (their compilations of re-edited, remixed videos are the shit!) the evening will include excerpts from recent and upcoming programs by the Coalition for Cinematic Conservation and Preservation at The Echo Park Film Center, vintage Asian and Indian music videos, and the classic ABC of Sex Education for Trainables.

WHEN: Wednesday, May 23 at 7:00 PM
WHERE: The Hammer: 10899 Wilshire Blvd. (at Westwood Blvd.)

The premise of CBS' upcoming Kid Nation may be the BEST idea for a reality show I have ever heard in my entire life: a group of 8 to 15-year-olds are plunked in a remote locale and forced to create their own society. Awesome! So awesome that William Golding's estate ought to sue for residuals, right?

Too bad spineless CBS execs already f*ed up the show by allowing kids to leave when they want and ending every episode with a feel-good moment. What?! Reality shows are all about the schadenfreude of watching a bunch of saps fight tooth and nail for every scrap of pseudo-stardom. I don't care if they're dealing with kids, this warm and fuzzy model of reality TV is bullshit. Haven't those silly execs read Lord of the Flies or seen Battle Royale? Here's how Kid Nation should work.

First, you stage some kind of accident and drop the kids on an island far, far away from civilization. Then you make them eke out a hardscrabble existence through subsistence farming. Then you undermine their attempts to create a participatory democracy by turning the show into a brutal game of manipulation and one-upmanship. You know, kind of like the real world. That would be edgy and entertaining. -Monsters & Critics

Modest Mouse Music Video Contest: Modest Mouse & mtvU are sponsoring a contest that gives fans the opportunity to create original animation as a backdrop for the music video of "We've Got Everything," from the band's latest album. The contest will be judged by members of the band, including former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, and the winner will receive a high-definition digital video camera. The deadline has been extended until TOMORROW, Tuesday, May 22. -Spin

We're all about creative dissent here at LAist. You got the pro view on the new Star-Vu Drive-In from Ryan Young. Now for something completely different. Here's an opposing take on the Star-Vu experience written especially for LAist by Josh Tate.

The words of Ian Malcolm troubled me as I surged onto the 405-N. "Dinosaurs had their shot and Nature selected them for extinction." The last three and a half hours of my life had been spent watching the 93-minute Shrek 3 at the spankin’ Star-Vu Drive-In at the Orange Country Fairgrounds. Christ, maybe there was a good reason that the drive-in had faded from our culture.

I wanted to like it. I swear, I really did. The last time I was at a drive-in I had managed to get completely wasted on only half a fifth of peach schnapps while enjoying the rare handie from my (then) c-tease of a girlfriend. Mind you, that was back in ‘87 so a thick aroma of nostalgia was percolating nicely as I pulled into the entrance of the Fairgrounds. There I met one of Star-Vu’s founders, Bob Deutsch, who seemed an eminently decent fellow, properly enthused about his new business and enjoying the corresponding cigar. This was the unfortunate highlight of the evening. Thereafter, my date and I spent the next 57 minutes inching towards the ticket counter located a scant quarter mile away and, more troubling, the rum buzz I had caught at dinner was disappearing.

By the time our car reached its slip, the movie was already 30 minutes late in starting, the concession stand was out of hot dogs and the popcorn was cold and unusually greasy. Star-Vu was undergoing some serious birth pangs. The movie eventually started about 45 minutes after the posted show-time of 10:30, but the audio was so hissy and the screen so dim that my date and I quickly submitted to the palpable schadenfreude impulse and cracked wise for the duration of the screening.

Avast! Shiver me timbers, ye scruvy dogs!

What is a Daily Movie Blarrrgh? It's what happens when you let a pirate write about movies and pop culture and life on the high seas. Why are we letting a pirate write about movies and pop culture? Who knows.

Out here in Tinseltown, movies are part of our livelihood. They are meant to be an event, an experience, a true artform to be appreciated. It is ironic then, that the one of the great moviegoing traditions of yesteryear, the drive-in theater, has been nearly wiped out from the Southern California landscape.

But this past weekend marked a comeback of sorts with the grand opening of the Star-Vu Drive-In in Costa Mesa. Located at the Orange County Fairgrounds, the Star-Vu is the first drive-in to run in Orange County since the Highway 39 Drive-In in Westminster was razed in 1997 to build a Wal-Mart. (Ain’t progress grand?) Currently, the Vineland Drive-In in City of Industry is the only other drive-in in LA/OC.

The Star-Vu runs off of an inflatable, 65’ by 33’ screen, with a capacity of 300 vehicles. It has the usual amenities of a drive-in, with a Fairgrounds-operated concession stand in the back, as well as a kiddie play area. The audio is transmitted via FM radio. Tickets run $8.50 per person and $5 for kids (with a $.50 surcharge if you purchase online), and the theater plays two shows a night, seven days a week.

I was able to catch the 8 pm Saturday showing of Shrek the Third, and while the movie left something to be desired (read: save your money and catch it on Netflix), the uniqueness of the drive-in experience still made it a worthwhile trip. The energy in the sold-out crowd made it feel more like a tailgate party, with kids running around and people hanging out while the sun went down. There were a lot of people who came out in their pickups and watched in the bed of the truck to make it an evening under the stars, as well as countless others in the standard-issue Orange County big-ass SUVs and minivans that popped the trunk open. Of course, because of the theater’s vehicle policy, I was able to secure some prime front center seats in my Accord because all of the big cars are required to park in the back or on the sides.

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of experiencing an enhanced version of what viewers all over the country will soon be exposed to when I went to see a screening of the movie Once, directed by John Carney and starting Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard. This film is a unique and singular treat, and while my experienced was bolstered by extras such as the Q&A with the directors and stars and the live musical performances afterwards, I have no doubt that the movie itself will hold up when viewed on its own.

I admit that my interest in the movie came from no great love of film nor a knowledge or interest of this particular movie, but rather my knowledge of and respect for the film’s male lead, Mr. Glen Hansard. Mr. Hansard best known for his work with the band he fronts, The Frames, of which I am a longtime fan.

In this role, Mr. Hansard plays a character very similar to his own real life persona so its not entirely surprising that he is very convincing as the vacuum cleaner repairman who moonlights as a guitar-slinging busker in Dublin.

With his big eyes and disintegrating guitar, Glen’s unnamed character is hugely endearing, and reminded me a great deal of Lost’s Charlie Pace- a little hapless, but well meaning and wholeheartedly devoted to music. When he is approached on the street by the unintentionally and thoroughly charming Girl, his life abruptly changes direction as the two of them enter into a passionate and productive musical relationship.

Spoilers after the jump, beware...

Picture yourself lounging on a divan surrounded by nubile, young interns fanning you with palm leaves and feeding you peeled Muscat grapes, as you type yet another hilarious stream-of-consciousness film review for Los Angeles' leading group blog.

Sound too good to be true? It isn't. It's a typical workday here at LAist headquarters, AKA Tony Pierce's lavish hilltop mansion, where the weed flows like water and the toilet paper is made of silk.

All this (and more!) could be yours. LAist is looking for a few good writers to contribute film reviews, DVD reviews, movie news round-ups, commentary, opinion pieces, interviews with filmmakers and actors, gossip tidbits and whatever other movie-themed content you can dream up. We're looking for smart, funny writers who can translate their love of film into smart, funny reviews and articles.

You will be expected to review at least one film per week, which should be no big deal if you love movies the way you should love movies to review them for LAist. But you will be able to get into press screenings to see the movies for free and in advance of their official releases. Plus there are all sorts of other cool events to go to.

If you think you've got the skills to pay the bills, check out our FAQ for potential writers. Still interested? Shoot me an email with the following info:
--your name
--a few sentences about yourself
--your favorite film genre(s) and/or filmmakers
and (most importantly)…
--a review of a recent film.

Send all this to me, Elina Shatkin, at my email address, which is: myfirstandlastname at gmail dot com. Good luck!

We're not sure how you say bullshit in French, but there's a "controversial" film slated to screen at Cannes this week that should be called Red Flag.

American indie film Last Looks has supposedly been blocked from entering France because it allegedly contains scenes of real deaths that occurred during the production. AP jumped on the "controversy," and even Film Threat bit, but the whole thing walks, talks and smells like a big fat fake.

If we are to believe the Associate Press, the deaths in question supposedly occurred during the production of American indie horror pic The Evil Eye, which was supposedly filmed in the summer of 2006 on the Turkish and Greek Islands.

French actress Vérane Pick was supposedly killed during the filming of a stunt scene involving a prop knife that "tragically turned out to be a real weapon." Malaysian born actress Ying-Yu Tan supposedly died of "unnamed injuries." And finally, director Zack Freedman, cinematographer Scott Maher and soundman Ryan Denmark were supposedly killed when the boat they were shooting from "blew up during a staged explosion at sea." Either this is the world's unluckiest film production or this is the latest in a long history of entertainment industry publicity stunts.

After the "deaths" and after the crew of The Evil Eye supposedly fled Europe, 19-year-old videographer Nick Brown, son of British-born film editor Barry Alexander Brown, somehow got hold of all the footage and turned it into a film called Last Looks.

Family members of the deceased crew members have supposedly been protesting the film on the Web site http://www.horror-no.com. And they supposedly alerted French customs officials, who then supposedly blocked the film from entry into France, where it is slated to screen out of competition at the Cannes Film Market. Yeah, right. Then why is there no contact information on the web site? Why are there no names of the grieving family members? Why isn't there even an email address or a petition to sign or a link to the MPAA or some other industry group to help pressure the film to not get distributed?

Because the whole thing is fake.

- There haven't been any films called The Evil Eye since 1973.

- There's no trail of dead actresses and crewmembers. Their "deaths" were first reported by Dimokratiki, a paper that's conveniently printed only in Greek.

- "Actress" Vérane Pick's only IMDB credit is as a producer of the indie comedy Winning Girls Through Psychic Mind Control.

- Cinematographer Scott Maher, who's also supposed to be dead, seems to be earning a paycheck on a few films right now as an electrician, and oh yeah he worked on that classic film with Pick, Winning Girls Through Psychic Mind Control.

700 extra hours -- yes, you read that correctly -- from David Lynch's Inland Empire have been culled into a documentary about David Lynch that is titled Lynch and is being pimped to international buyers at Cannes by Lynch himself. -Cinematical

Comic book author/graphic novelist Frank Miller will write and direct the live-action feature film adaptation of the Will Eisner comic book series "The Spirit" about a man who fakes his own death so he can fight crime from the shadows of Central City. - Variety

David Faustino AKA Bud Bundy on Married With Children was arrested for pot possession after a humiliating public argument with his ex-wife. -The Smoking Gun

A restored version of the 3D John Wayne film Hondo will screen at Cannes on May 21. -Videography

Yes, Sly Stallone, steroids are illegal in Australia. -AP

The bright shining star of David Mamet's latest film? Tim Allen. He'll lead the "mixed martial arts drama" Redbelt whose cast includes actors Chiwetel Ejiofor, Emily Mortimer, Joe Mantegna and (Mamet's wife) Rebecca Pidgeon along with martial artists Randy Couture, John Machado, Danny Inosanto, Enson Inoue and Ray Mancini. -Variety

Judgment in the Sahara trial is a draw. Clive Cussler must pay Phil Anschutz's company Crusader Entertainment $5 million, but Crusader might have to pay Cussler $8.5 million. Everybody doesn't win. Yay! -The Hollywood Reporter

Big Bad Mama & Black Mama, White Mama
Big Bad Mama, a 1974, Roger Corman-produced breasts-and-bullets flick, features the brilliant tagline, "The family that slays together, stays together." This B-movie version of Bonnie & Clyde is set in 1932 Texas and stars Angie Dickinson as a bootlegging, bank-robbing mom who joins up with Tom Skerritt and William Shatner to bilk society for all they can get. In between the robbing and killing are numerous sexy romps.

In Black Mama, White Mama two troublesome prisoners, a black revolutionary (Pam Grier in her breakout role) and a former call girl, are chained together but manage to escape. Still chained together, they must fight their way across the wilderness as they flee from a bounty hunter and incite a bloody shootout between gangsters and revolutionaries. Produced Roger Corman and co-written by Jonathan Demme, the film features a leering lesbian prison warden (is there any other kind?) and an exteeeeeeended shower scene.

WHEN: Wednesday, May 16 at 7:30 PM
WHERE: American Cinematheque at The Aero Theater: 1328 Montana Ave. (at 14th St. in Santa Monica)

Barbara Stanwyck Tribute
Barbara Stanwyck or "Stany" as she was sometimes known was one of the most memorable leading ladies of Hollywood's Golden Era, starring in more than 80 movies, ranging from romantic comedies and serious dramas to film noirs and Westerns.

She began her career in show business in 1922 as a chorus girl for $35 a week. She went on to star in great films like the Billy Wilder film noir Double Indemnity, the thriller Sorry, Wrong Number and the Preston Sturges comedy The Lady Eve, where she plays con-artist/golddigger Jean Harrington.

Wednesday night there's some sort of tribute thingy at AMPAS, but the real fun kicks off on Friday, when the UCLA Film & Television Archive begins a screening series of nine classic Stanwyck films that runs through June 10.

WHEN: Wed., May 16
WHERE: Samuel Goldwyn Theater at AMPAS: 8949 Wilshire Blvd. (three blocks West of Robertson Blvd. in Beverly Hills)

WHEN: Fri., May 18
WHERE: The Billy Wilder Theater at The Hammer: 10899 Wilshire Blvd. (at Westwood Blvd.)

Wanna make a film in only 12 hours without whoring yourself out on some dingy casting couch or selling your firstborn in exchange for a paltry production budger? Of course you do. So sign up for the first ever Los Angeles Film Race, a crazy 12-hour film competition that takes place on Saturday, June 2.

Here's how it works. At 11:59 AM on June 2, each filmmaking team (you choose your own teams well in advance) will be assigned a theme for their film. Past themes have ranged from the profound (revenge) to the practical (bad advice) to the whimsical (spare change). After receiving a theme, participants will have 12 hours to write, shoot and edit an original short film no longer than 4 minutes. Drop off your completed work no later than midnight and voilà. You're the next Steven Spielberg... or perhaps the next Tsai Ming-Liang... or the next Radley Metzger... or the next Brett Ratner. You get the idea.

The films will screen a week later on the evening of June 7, and the top films from each city will compete for cash and prizes on the national Film Racing Tour put together by NYC Midnight Movie Making Madness, LLC. Cities on the Film Racing Tour include Boston, New York, Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco and Toronto.

Think of it as "improv for filmmakers," says competition director, Charlie Weisman. "With digital technology, creative minds, and a little inspiration, anything is possible."

The deal is that you have to provide all your own equipment and personnel. That means you'll have to scour up some creative behind-the-lens types, round up a few aspiring actors, and beg, borrow or steal a video camera, editing software and whatever else you think you might need (lights, C-stands, a vat of raspberry jello).

The final registration deadline is approaching: May 30, 2007. Entry costs $95 per team.

Welcome to the lull between Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third, when studios and indie distributors alike unload little known films to sate audiences' hungry to be entertained by the fleeting magic of cinema.

28 Weeks Later... - Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Intacto, Psicotaxi) picks up where Danny Boyle left off in 28 Days Later with most Londonites infected by a "rage virus" that turns them into violent zombies and prompts the great debate of our time: Which do you prefer? The Old School Zombies of George Romero movies (relentless but slow-moving and generally mellow as long as they get a steady diet of brains) or the New School Zombies like the ones envisioned by Danny Boyle (fast-moving, rage-filled and hyper-aggressive)?

Six months after the rage virus first struck, London is being carefully repopulated by the U.S. Army (I smell political allegory), when a carrier of the virus is admitted to the city and unknowingly causes a second deadly outbreak. Boyle executive produced this movie, so it could actually be a good sequel instead of a crass attempt to cash in on a successful franchise.

Americanizing Shelley - The CEO of a Hollywood management company (Beau Bridges) challenges an American country boy and wannabe Hollywood player to Americanize an Indian girl from the Himalayas. Cultures clash, wackiness ensues, romance blossoms.

Chalk - A mildly funny mockumentary distributed by Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) about the experience of being a high-school teacher.

Delta Farce - A military spoof about three guys (Larry The Cable Guy, Bill Engvall & DJ Qualls) who are mistakenly identified as Army Reservists and shipped off to Iraq. Luckily for them, they don't have to spend much time dodging RPGs and suicide bombers, because they're conveniently and hilariously ejected somewhere over Mexico and crash land in the middle of a village run by a local warlord.

More new movie releases after the jump.

Oh look at me, I'm EMO-Man. This mask helps hide my shitty acting for at least half of my performances.

*Warning* Spoilers and a negative review after the jump

Silverlake Film Festival
The 2007 Silverlake Film Festival heads into its second and final week. Highlights include…

El Benny - A biopic based on the life of Benny Moré, considered by many to be the greatest Cuban singer of all time. The film concentrates on a period in the early 1950s when Moré left the orchestra of Duany and founded his own "Banda Gigante."

The King of Kong - Washington resident Steve Wiebe decides that he is going to beat the high score record for Donkey Kong, which was set in 1982 by Florida resident Billy Mitchell. A cross-country battle of epic proportions ensues.

Lakshya - Directed by Farhan Akhtar, this Bollywood film stars Roshan Seth (Krrish) as a slacker (or "lakshya") who enrolls in the Indian Military Academy, after his girlfriend announces he needs to find a goal in life.

The Last Western - Welcome to Pioneertown, California, the Old West town that Hollywood built and then forgot. Built in 1946 on the edge of the Mojave Desert to serve as a backdrop for Hollywood westerns, only a decade later the town was already a decaying outpost.

Red Without Blue - A documentary about two identical twins, Mark and Alexander Farley, who were born minutes apart in 1983 in Montana. By the time they were 14, their parents had divorced, they had come out as gay, and a joint suicide attempt precipitated a forced separation of Mark and Alex for two and half years. Today, Mark is attending art school in San Francisco, and Alex is living as a woman named Clair in New York.

WHEN: Wed., May 2 - Sat., May 12
WHERE: various locations including The Los Feliz 3, The Vista, King King, EchoPlex, Jensen Rec Center, Barnsdall Gallery Theatre and more.

Zoo
Based on the true story of Kenneth Pinyan, this film is described as a sensitive, dramatic account of a zoophile who died from internal injuries caused by the repetitive thrusting of a stallion's penis into his anus. Really. And you thought it was impossible to hear about man-on-equine love without snickering.

WHEN: Fri., May 4 - Thurs., May 10
WHERE: Nuart Theater: 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. (at Sawtelle Blvd. in West LA)

The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu
Hard-drinking, cat-loving Mr. Lazarescu (Ion Ficsuteanu) is whisked from overcrowded hospital to overcrowded hospital by a persistent ambulance driver, as he faces wrong diagnoses, ambivalence, annoyance and consternation -- until he finally dies. Directed by Cristi Puiu, this Romanian film won the 2005 Un Certain Regard Award at Cannes and overwhelming critical acclaim for its mix of human drama and black comedy.

WHEN: Fri., May 11-Sun. May 13
WHERE: American Cinematheque at The Egyptian Theater: 6712 Hollywood Blvd., (1 block East of Highland Ave. in Hollywood)

You know that saying, “truth is stranger than fiction”? I never really believed it… then I heard this story. There’s so much to it, I’ve got to give it to you in bullet points.

- A set of twins, boys, born minutes apart in rural Montana
- A picture-perfect Americana childhood, complete with holidays, summers at the lake, and supportive parents
- Cut to age 14: their parents are divorced, the boys have both come out as gay and they’ve attempted joint suicide.
- Today, one twin attends art school on one side of the country, whilst the other is living as a woman on the other.

Their story is told in “Red Without Blue”, a tender and beautiful documentary that won the Audience Choice Award at this year’s Slamdance. It’s also playing this weekend at the Silver Lake Film Festival. Details after the jump...

Have a beer with Fear! Slam at the Cuckoo’s Nest! Grab an Oki Dog with Pat Smear!

Thursday night at 7:30 pm., The Silver Lake Film Festival will be screening Dave Markey’s seminal punk rock film, The Slog Movie.

The Slog movie isn’t an outsider’s documentary of punk rock as a movement. It isn’t a bunch of grainy, archived clips edited into interviews with punk rock legends reminiscing about the Masque. When you are watching the Slog movie, you are literally looking through the eyes of Dave Markey, teenage punker - seeing everything he saw, and hearing everything he heard. Markey came of age in the 80s, along with LA’s hardcore punk scene. He played drums in Sin 34, and co-founded fanzine and record label “We Got Power!” with Jordan Schwartz.

The movie was shot on Super-8 over a period of two years, 1981 and 1982. It includes early live footage of the Circle Jerks, Redd Kross, and Circle One, among countless other Los Angeles punk bands.

Starting this Thursday May 3rd, our little bohemian neighborhood that could, Silver Lake, will be holding its nine day long, 7th annual Silver Lake Film Festival, complete with indie movies, indie music, and even indie darling Parker Posey accepting the “Spirit of Silver Lake” award. Right in the shadow of the bright lights, doctored scripts and smarmy agents of Hollywood, SLFF, dares the big studios to F with them.

2007’s SLFF kicks off tomorrow night with a screening of Fay Grim starring Posey at 7:30 at Barnsdall with an awards ceremony to honor the film's director Hal Hartley to follow. Simultaneously, at EchoPlex, The Slog Movie will be screened followed by Music Fests performances by Circle Jerks and 400 Blows. Venues for the film showings are peppered throughout the lovely neighborhood, from King King and the EchoPlex, to The Jensen Recreation Center and even MusicPlusTV’s studios. After parties and concerts accompany most of the screenings - the most anticipated one coming up this Friday May 4th at EchoPlex featuring Seawolf, Dengue Fever, The Bird and the Bee, and The Little Ones. Other festival programming includes Sustainable LA, Music Fest, Fringe Fest, Indian Film, Conspiracy Theory, and Artrotica.

Tickets are available online, and to check out the full schedule of events and screenings go here.

Photo by victoriabernal

Coffy & Foxy Brown
The New Beverly's two-month Grindhouse festival officially ended on May 1, but they're screening an awesome double-bill: Coffy and Foxy Brown. If only they'd screen Cleopatra Jones along with these films, you'd have God's perfect trio of sexy, ass-kicking blaxploitation flicks.

WHEN: Weds., May 2 - Thurs., May 3
WHERE: The New Beverly: 7165 Beverly Blvd. (1 block West of La Brea Ave.)

Japanese Video Art
The Radical Communication: Japanese Video Art 1968–1988 (video screenings) series combines a survey of the early history of video art in Japan (1968-1988) with presentations of contemporary Japanese video. Running 80 minutes long, the second program in this series features a selection of visual experiments in Japanese video art, including rare examples of early video activism and works that have never been screened in the U.S.

WHEN: Weds., May 2, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Harold M. Williams Auditorium, Getty Center: 1200 Getty Center Drive (West L.A.)
COST: Free, but a reservation is required.