Categories

Abroad

• Peter Jackson tries to figure out how to fix New Zealand film.
• French directors, coming and going.
• China vs. the '80s remakes.
• Seagal's "On Deadly Ground" an unexpectedly hot topic after last week's UK shooting.
• What 3D movies really need are more dance numbers.

Activism

• Almodóvar, Bardem and other famous Spaniards take on Franco.
• Flying tanks are sinking action movies.
• Japan vs. "The Cove": The battle continues.
• The disingenuousness of Jafar Panahi's right-wing advocates.
• The controversies of Cannes.

Awards

• New Oscars rules spark a debate on the line between special effects and animation.
• Video: Ghetto Film School Benefit Dinner 2010
• What's the best-shot movie of the last decade, according to cinematographers?
• Academy Awards consider a move to January.
• Mike Nichols, master of laughing though his heart is breaking.

Biz

• Edward Norton's Hulking absence will be felt in "The Avengers."
• The unexpected winners and losers at the indie box office.
• DVD-sniffing dogs, the more adorable side of the anti-piracy battle.
• Why do cult comedies have such trouble in theaters?
• Guillermo del Toro can't wrest the Rings from Gollum-esque creditors.

Coming attractions

• Jack Ryan, the character who can't seem to hold down a franchise.
• The overdeveloped titles of Andrew Niccol's films.
• The "X-Men" franchise goes forward by looking backward.
• Christopher Nolan's preferred actors.
• Adrien Brody, unlikely action star.

Controversy

• Swiss authorities release Roman Polanski.
• Questioning the apolitical status of Afghanstan doc "Restrepo."
• Oliver Stone should have made that Margaret Thatcher movie after all.
• YouTube wins its copyright case with Viacom.
• Even a doc about Arabian horses can be controversial.

Critic watch

• God help whoever gives "Inception" a negative review.
• The "it's just mindless entertainment" excuse.
• Is the secret to great animated films as simple as skipping the pop culture references?
• Why TV criticism is winning out over film criticism.
• Not a fan of "Toy Story 3"? The internet suggests you keep that to yourself.

Disc Covering

• Disc Covering: "Eyeborgs" which, to meye surprise, is not bad.
• Disc Covering: "Brock Enright: Good Times Will Never Be the Same" and neither will documentaries.
• Disc Covering: "The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It," an Apatow spoof, allegedly.
• Disc Covering: "The Stranger," Steve Austin stuns Camus (or not).
• Disc Covering: "The New Daughter," in which Kevin Costner battles a dirt monster.

Events

• A new Kongfrontation shows how the shift to CG has affected theme parks.
• Olivier Assayas talks "Zodiac," his new film "Carlos" and "what real life is about."
• Christopher Nolan: No 3D, no cell phone, lots of diagrams.
• "Nothing Lasts Forever," yet this Bill Murray movie persists.
• Italian cinema on American shores.

Festivals

• Kristen Stewart gets a warm "Welcome to the Rileys" in L.A.
• "Wanted" director Timur Bekmambetov starts a film festival.
• The Cannes 2010 award winners.
• Cannes never lost the plot.
• Repertory cinema's self-perpetuating cycle.

From the Editor

• Is this the end of the Indie Eye blog?
• David Hudson joins IFC.com.
• Rooftop shorts on the web.
• The stages of grief, as chronicled online.
• Cough to get off.

In quotes

• Bill Murray teaches us how to leave the room.
• Isabelle Huppert and the art of the difficult interview.
• The latest way to prove you're a serious actress? Take your clothes off.
• The secret cinephilia of Ken Kwapis, director of "Dunston Checks In."
• "Where the Wild Things Are" won't scar.

Marketing

• The "Greenberg" DVD cover promises a cheery rom com that's not, you know, misanthropic at all.
• The stranger side of movie tie-in theme park rides.
• Against all odds, the novelization trudges on.
• Adam Sandler plugs his movie by talking sports.
• Sex sells (they hope).

Memoriam

• The box office futures market has no future.
• Dennis Hopper, true independent.
• Brittany Murphy's husband, Simon Monjack, found dead.
• Alan Sillitoe, 1928-2010.
• Dede Allen, 1923-2010.

Odds

• Albert Brooks' secret epic aspirations.
• Clooney going to court vs. the Mel Gibson tapes.
• Watching "Rocky IV" on the big screen.
• America is no country for '80s directors.
• Bigger, younger, spoofier! When TV series head to the big screen.

Reviews

• "Gallants," a geriatric kung fu comedy.
• "Alien Vs. Ninja": I can sum this movie up in three words.
• "Symbol": Are you there, God? It's me, Hitoshi Matsumoto.
• "Bodyguards and Assassins": The revolution will be verbalized.
• Buzzed-about drama "The New Year" finds a new star in its outstanding lead actress.

Sundry

• "That loving feeling": Seven movies in which a character tries to win someone's heart with a public serenade.
• "Suddenly...": Seven different salutes to the Odessa Steps scene.
• Killer crossovers we'd love to see (and never will).
• Battle of the biopics: Eight rival pairings of movies about the same person.
• A selected history of Larry King cameos.

Trailering

• Oh hi, teaser for Tommy Wiseau's new project!
• "Let Me In," just like the awesome vampire movie it's adapted from, without the subtitles.
• Where the wild things are trailered.
• Trailering: Heartbreaking memorials, Irish dramas, more superheroes.
• Trailering: Three "Nights."

Watchy

• Fitting into a box, lessons to be learned from faith-based films.
• The unexpected cult status of Peyton Reed's "Bring It On."
• Los Angeles is getting to play itself again.
• Bad Stunt Double Theater: "Predator"
• "Thunder Bay," the perfect movie for the Gulf oil spill.

Zeitgeist

• When anticipation becomes everything.
• The big dreams of Lou Illar, the guy who wrote "Sidekicks."
• Have comedies become unfunny? Nah, they're doing just fine.
• Overcasting, when film casts overflow with familiar faces.
• Taking lessons from "Prizzi's Honor" instead of "The Karate Kid."