pimblr.com

The Good: Finally, a legal place to buy or rent TV and movies
The Bad: A special ARCHOS non-Macintosh media player that handles digital-rights management; almost no current prime-time TV shows; a small number of movies
The Verdict: This is a good start for online video in Canada, but its future depends on Bell’s commitment to it, as well as on the success of other online business models, including the popularity of video on demand from the cable companies
One thing the Internet has taught us is impatience. If we want something, we want it now.
The just-opened Bell Video Store, from communications giant Bell Canada, seems to prove that point. It opened Wednesday with almost 1,500 TV shows and movies for rent or purchase ranging from $1.99 to $19.99. Renters can order a given title and, once it has started to play, have 24 hours to watch it. Buyers can play the show as often as they want.
Bell understands the concept of impatience — or at least part of it — when it emphasizes two features of the service: It will bring new movies for sale online the same day they are released to your local DVD store, and that movies or TV shows will start to play only moments after they start downloading to the computer.
What Bell does not boast about is the modest number of titles available. With 674 movies and 822 TV shows, the range of Bell’s titles competes with ordinary corner video stores in every way except convenience. Browsing through the titles, one is struck by the small number of recent films, a larger number of movies dating back two to four decades and, in the case of a series of silent Laurel and Hardy titles, eight decades.
Many of the older films are classics, but don’t expect to put together your own personal film festival of, say, Gloria Swanson or Jackie Chan movies. In fact, the films and TV shows offered here have arrived primarily because they have successfully navigated a series of contractual hurdles, such as their studios’ relationships with Bell, their previously signed distribution agreements, their release date and their price on either side of the U.S.-Canadian border — all of which can vary wildly. Their presence in the digital stores has less to do with your tastes and more to do with the Canadian rights quagmire — and that’s the main reason why Apple does not bother to load the Canadian iTunes store with digital content for its iPod or Apple TV products.

theglobeandmail.com

“Bigger, Stronger, Faster” A very entertaining documentary about what steroids mean to America, seen through the fretful eyes of director Chris Bell and his brothers, bodybuilders all. The film hops over the wall of media outrage and wonders why Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire are accused of cheating when our entire culture rewards winning at all costs. As surreally entertaining as a Michael Moore film and less pushy too. (107 min., R) (Ty Burr)
“The Foot Fist Way” A low-budget comedy about a loser tae kwon do instructor (the remarkable Danny McBride, who co-wrote the script) that sustains a mood of bracing strip-mall satire for about 30 minutes before it begins repeating itself. The filmmakers can’t decide whether they’re making a frat-boy comedy or a work of acerbic indie realism. Some good, vulgar horselaughs, though. (87 min., R) (Ty Burr)
“Kung Fu Panda” The star of the new computer-generated family film isn’t Jack Black but the design-and-render gurus at DreamWorks Animation. Black provides the voice of a goofball panda in medieval China, desperate to prove himself to a Yoda-like master (Dustin Hoffman). A lushly beautiful, even soulful, visual experience has been yoked to a story line that wouldn’t fool a three-year-old. Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, and Seth Rogen provide additional voices. (91 min., PG) (Ty Burr)
“The Mother of Tears” The new bloodbath from the Italian horror maestro Dario Argento traverses the same trashy terrain as the average horror movie. But Argento sets the genre’s standard then surpasses it. This tale, about an archeologist besieged by demons that want to destroy Rome, is not Dario at his best. But his enthusiasm for shlock is contagious and gonzo. For this occasion he becomes the horror director who’d rather crack us (and himself) up than freak anybody out. (97 min., unrated) (Wesley Morris)

boston.com

A good documentary will take you places you didn’t plan to go, but I didn’t really expect that from Bigger, Stronger, Faster, an incisive and compulsively watchable look at America’s love affair with steroids. The film kicks off with a montage of the cheesetastic stars of the 1980s. There’s a pile-driving Hulk Hogan, a bare-torsoed Sly Stallone strafing his enemies in Rambo, and Arnold Schwarzenegger flexing his veiny, condom-filled-with-coconuts biceps. These ripped and snarling muscleheads incarnated the new, pumped-up American might of the Reagan era, with Gold’s Gym in L.A. as their training mecca, and Christopher Bell, the director of Bigger, Stronger, Faster, lets us know how much they meant to him as a kid. Of course, two of them (Stallone is the exception) have since admitted to using anabolic steroids — i.e., synthetic testosterone. By the time Bell shows us Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa smashing home runs, I’m thinking: Okay, we get it! Steroids are a lie! They turned the USA into a land of fraudulent jock kings!
The truth, according to the movie, is more complicated — and fascinating. Hooked on their image of hard-muscled potency, Bell and his two brothers, all of whom tended toward the tubby, became bodybuilders. Both the brothers embraced steroids, and the film presents them, with touching candor, as broken and desperate men, eager to escape suburban banality through their addiction to the vanity of power and size. Yet just when Bigger, Stronger, Faster looks like it will turn into an exposé of the evils of steroid use, the film takes a surprise turn. It admits that using steroids is ”cheating,” but it also says that steroids have been demonized — turned into a scapegoat for a society that craves…more.
The movie traces their use in athletics back to the 1950s, when they were given (in secret) to American Olympic teams to compete with the Soviets, who were already using them. Bell piles up compelling evidence that the drugs’ hazards and side effects, from ‘roid rage to liver damage, have been overstated by the media in Reefer Madness fashion. (We see hilarious clips from a cautionary 1994 Ben Affleck TV episode.) He poses the questions: Why is steroid use frowned upon — but sleeping in a high-altitude chamber to raise a bike racer’s blood-oxygen level okay? Why is Tiger Woods’ LASIK surgery, which gave him close to perfect vision, an acceptable performance enhancement? As a filmmaker, Bell has guts. He faces down the disgraced Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson, and he takes on the $24 billion body-supplement industry, a snake-oil empire in which ”Before” and ”After” photos are shot the same day. Not to mention the use of cortisone shots in locker rooms; the classical musicians who ease their performance anxiety with beta-blockers; and a dozen other examples. ”There’s a clash in America,” says Bell, ”between doing the right thing and being the best.” Bigger, Stronger, Faster is a portrait of a culture that claims to hate steroids but may, by now, be too pumped to do much about it. A-

ew.com

While the summer time is traditionally even more barren for awards shows than Jennifer Aniston’s lonely, lonely womb, we can always count on the MTV Movie Awards to satiate our seasonal cravings for celebrity carpet walking. What this award show lacks in prestige, it usually makes up for in star power. After all, what star with a summer movie to plug would turn down a virtually risk-free opportunity to accept an award for “Best Same-Sex Tongue Kiss” while reminding millions of viewers to remind them of their film’s release date? This year’s awards, hosted by Mike “The Love Guru Opens June 20th!” Myers, will feature appearances from Adam Sandler (who is receiving the coveted “Best Actor With A Movie Opening Next Week” award), Will Ferrell, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ed Norton, Liv Tyler, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Wahlberg and more. While the show will have a tough time eclipsing the bar that Sarah Silverman set last year (her teardown of famewhore Paris Hilton elicited universal acclaim from everyone but Paris herself), we here at Defamer will be doing our best to puncture the cloak of celebrity using the best tool we have available — a liveblog! Yes, that’s right, we’ll be coming to you live from the red carpet — we don’t have any clue how we got on the list, either — of Universal Studios beginning at or around 3pm PST on Sunday afternoon and going straight on through until whenever the show ends. We hope you’ll join us, it ought to be exciting. [MTV Movie Awards]
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defamer.com.au

If you have the cojones to watch this new trailer, please quickly seek rehabilitation afterward at FAIL Dogs. A friend close to this production continues to boast maniacally that $100 million box office is a lock. Rapping dogs kill, kids.
I.have.no.words. Did I really just see that? I can’t see anyone actually going to see this…except maybe Paris…with Tinkerbell.
So do you all click on the ads that promise to enlarge your penis size too? I’d throw in a comment about contracting a virus but that would just be overkill at this point.
Seriously, Disney recently indicated that they were going to decrease their yearly production slate, for garbage like this? Way to knock it out of the park Iger! Almost makes me long for the days of Eisner.
I really thought you were joking until I clicked through from my reader. I almost cried watching that.
I’m gonna go ahead and give Disney credit. This thing is a sure fire smash. Before I Hunter’s comment about the friend I thought to myself “100 mill at least.”
Regardless that this will mark one of humanity’s low points… somebody over at disney is doing their job.
That’s where I usually go when people say, “But this film isn’t for you guys, it’s for kids!” Yet the material that they keep trying to bullshit others into believing, is still insulting to kids. People can try and justify this and say its for a certain genre. But you can still make entertaining material for both kids and adults. It’s not some “alien” concept. It’s been done before many times.
This is just a typical Hollywood grab at putting some good ole’ “edge” on a film thats been made already. The difference is THIS ONE HAS LATINOS IN IT! Because they’re chihuahua’s you see.

slashfilm.com

‘02. Hugh Grant. An irresponsible playboy becomes emotionally attached to a woman’s 12-year-old son. (PG-13) (2:00) USA: Fri. noon, 2 A.M. (CC)
‘53. Spencer Tracy. Supported by her mother, a New Englander finally tells her salty father she wants to be an actress. (NR) (1:45) TCM: Fri. 6 A.M. (CC)
• The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
‘99. Voices of Kevin Clash. After a game of tug-of-war causes him to lose his favorite blanket, Elmo must venture into Grouchland to get it back. (G) (1:15) HBO: Tue. 7 A.M. (CC)
• The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
‘90. Andrew Dice Clay. A low-life private eye solves a rock ‘n’ roll murder involving a recording executive and his wife. (R) (1:45) ENC: Mon. 1:45 A.M. (CC)
‘05. Charlize Theron. In the last city on Earth, underground rebels dispatch their top assassin to kill a government leader. (PG-13) (1:45) SHO: Mon. 3:15 P.M., TMC: Fri. 1:15 A.M. (CC)
• The African Queen
‘51. Humphrey Bogart. An imperious woman makes a gin-soaked boat captain fight Germans in the World War I Congo. (NR) (1:45) TCM: Wed. 11:45 A.M. (CC)
‘01. Haley Joel Osment. In the future a cutting-edge android in the form of a boy embarks on a journey to discover its true nature. (PG-13) (2:50) TNT: Sun. 3:10 A.M. (CC)
‘97. Michael Jeter. Abandoned by a disagreeable clown, a golden retriever with a knack for basketball befriends a lonely boy. (PG) (1:40) ENC: Thu. 8:50 A.M. (CC)
‘94. Brendan Fraser. Attention-hungry musicians decide to grab the media spotlight by taking staffers at a popular radio station hostage. (PG-13) (1:40) ENC: Thu. 6:20 P.M. (CC)
‘80. Robert Hays. A pilot afraid to fly follows his stewardess ex-girlfriend and must take over for the poisoned crew. (PG) (2:00) COMEDY: Sat. 1:30 P.M. (CC)
• Akeelah and the Bee

post-gazette.com

EBay Inc. says it's cutting 125 jobs in Europe and North America, including 70 positions at the online auctioneer's headquarters in San Jose, Calif.
Company spokesman Jose Mallabo says the work force reduction is part of a reorganization to streamline operations _ not cut costs. He says the cuts amount to less than 1 percent of the company's global head count of 15,500 people.
Mallabo says the cuts in Europe are the result of a centralization of corporate functions. He wouldn't talk about what jobs were being affected at headquarters.
HDTV prices are coming down while the quality of the picture and sound are going up. The VIZIO 42-inch LCD 1080p HDTV sports many great features, a stunning picture, and crisp sound, all at a great price. VIZIO is relatively new to the world of HDTV, and the company provides great value and quality flat panel Plasma and LCD HDTVs. Read More

people.broadcastnewsroom.com

If someone remade "Rashomon" with "Bourne" sensibilities, it might look something like "Vantage Point."
A political thriller rooted in today's terror-wary consciousness, "Vantage Point" could be the conspiracy-theory movie to end all conspiracy-theory movies. There are plenty of potential villains around, and there's more than one crime on the agenda.
U.S. President Ashton (William Hurt) arrives in Salamanca, Spain, for an anti-terrorism summit with other world leaders. An excited crowd fills the city's historic Plaza Mayor. Security officers are everywhere, as are news cameras.
One of the Secret Service agents protecting Ashton is Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid), a veteran who took a bullet for the president in the recent past. Indeed, some might think it's too soon for Thomas to be back on duty, but agent in charge Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox) doesn't want to write Thomas off.
Thomas is on a stage a few feet from the president when shots ring out and Ashton is felled. Within seconds, the plaza is in chaos. As Ashton is rushed away for treatment, Thomas desperately looks for a way to find the shooter. Then a bomb goes off, creating more panic.
Before the story can advance much further, the film stops and rewinds to the starting time, only to proceed from the perspective of another character, repeating the process several more times until the stories converge in an adrenaline rush of a climax that solves most of the puzzle.

read_more

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood houses a special kind of movie. None of these films have won Oscars or made millions at the box office. But they are definitely classics.
Curator Lynne Kirste takes care of a rare collection of home movies featuring some of Hollywood’s legendary stars.
“Most of the time it’s people who don’t normally actually get to hold the camera,” says Kirste, “It’s actors, actresses, directors — they don’t actually get to shoot things themselves.”
One video shows a young Ginger Rogers happily swimming in her pool and looking every bit the dancer she was known to be. Rogers went on to win a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in 1941’s “Kitty Foyle.”
In another film, iconic director Alfred Hitchcock is horsing around with his children, no blood, knives or possessed birds in sight.
But even without a script or a set, these stars shine brightly on the screen.
“I think they are a little different sometimes in a few ways,” Kirste says. “One is that they tend to be a little bit more aware of what might get boring more quickly and I think it’s because they worked in making films and they kind of know ‘OK, enough of that, let’s move on.’”
Still, they wanted to capture their home lives on camera, just like the rest of us. One film shows Steve McQueen spending time with his little ones, just a doting dad with his family.
In the early days of moviemaking, stars often took home the equipment, giving themselves a chance to play director, producer and star in their own backyards.
David Muir and Hanna Siegel contributed to this report.
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abcnews.go.com

Tinseltown is abuzz. Top designers are working overtime dressing the actresses, and ballots marked with X’s are pouring into the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, all for Sunday’s Academy Awards. Among the categories, Best Picture … Best Original Screenplay … Best Use of Food in a Film …
Oops. They’ve forgotten that last category — again! Don’t they know that a great food scene can be the most powerful part of a movie? Mindful of that, we decided to announce our own awards: The Sauteed Celluloids. Here are our picks from 2007 for Best Food Film:
Kudos to the filmmakers of this animated movie, which follows the culinary aspirations of a rat who manages to triumph in the world’s most demanding food town: Paris.
“Ratatouille” successfully re-creates an authentic restaurant kitchen and hired star chef Thomas Keller to create the most sublime vegetable sculpture ever to grace the silver screen. So, boo to those who think animated films shouldn’t be nominated for Best Picture. Bravo and bon appetit!
In which crime doesn’t pay, but the image of a perpetrator’s rose-petal cake is priceless. The elegant trans-Siberian restaurant in the film may serve the most stunning Russian fare in London, with a succession of dishes rivaling any layout in Gourmet magazine — even though the blue-eyed proprietor, Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), is really the head of a notorious crime family. This mild-mannered monster is as fastidious at decorating the delicate rose-petal cake for a 100th birthday party as he is masterminding a cover-up of hundreds of bodies.
In one scene, he sweetly offers the naive midwife Anna (Naomi Watts) a spoon of borscht like her papa used to make, but maybe we understand why the duplicitous hero Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) keeps his fork to himself.
Thank goodness this is only a movie. Should a pregnant teen really be eating all that? Few healthful items pass through the lips of Juno (Ellen Page), a pregnant 16-year-old with an otherwise level head on her shoulders. She has decided to deliver the baby into the loving arms of a more age-appropriate, nutritionally knowledgeable mom.
Although the slang-speaking pubescent brags to her best friend that her solicitous stepmom won’t let her eat red M&M’s or stand in front of the microwave, Juno remains, after all, your typical teen, piling cola, fries and chips onto her lunch tray.
“The Bucket List”

chicagotribune.com