Photo courtesy of Universal Wow! Most weeks I'm happy if there are a couple of new DVDs worth picking up. Today, I count at least eight that would be solid editions to any library. American Gangster may not have been the great film that many were expecting, but it was still solid studio fare. I'll say the same for Michael Clayton even though it inexplicably got better critical attention. Has Ang Lee ever made......

It's a fairly busy release schedule tomorrow with a few studio pictures and a bunch of indies hitting the screens. Neil Jordan directs Jodie Foster in The Brave One (or, as it was originally titled, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang: The Lady Bernie Goetz Story). Reviews are mostly positive and it does have the supremely underrated Nicky Katt (and the formerly underrated, now probably properly rated Terrence Howard), so I'll give it a......

The festival kicks off this morning with a director's coffee talk at the Landmark. Scheduled panelists include moderator James Mangold, Paul Haggis and the next Bond director Marc Forster. Tickets are $11. The big event today (and it's free!) starts at noon and runs until 6:00 p.m. at the Landmark Regent Theater. It's Live Earth Day: A Celebration of Earth and includes 50 short films commissioned by SOS-Live Earth. Some of the filmmakers who've......

-- Weep softly that you didn't get into tonight's sold-out, special screening of Dreamgirls at LACMA. Now dry your tears and pick up the pieces. If you're desperate to pay $25 to see a movie, you can catch Dreamgirls at the Arclight in its "Pre-Release Exclusive Engagement," which runs Dec. 15-24. Your "event-priced ticket" includes a "souvenir program" and a commemorative Dreamgirls' lithograph available only during this 10-day engagement (and forever after on eBay).......

Yep, that's Felicity Huffman, and yes, she wins Best Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards. Think she's got a shot at the Oscar? Sarah Silverman continues to knock it out of the park. And the attendees like her. "Finally there's an award show host that you'd wanna fuck," Kevin Smith says. He had a long dirty story to tell before announcing the best director winner. Best Foregin Film goes to Paradise Now, the only......

The DGA announced its best directing in feature film award nominees yesterday: Steven Spielberg for Munich - 10-time nominee, 3 wins: Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, The Color Purple Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain - 2-time nominee, 1 win: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Bennett Miller for Capote - first nomination Paul Haggis for Crash - first nomination George Clooney for Good Night, and Good Luck - first nomination Television award nominees will be announced......

If you're part of the multitude of scribes hoping to break into the biz, then it's time to dust off the script hanging out in your bottom desk drawer and head Downtown this weekend. Screenwriting Expo 4 runs today through Sunday at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Sponsored by Creative Screenwriting magazine, the Expo has more than 350 seminars, panels and workshops as well as a trade show during the three-day event. Noted guests......