by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent   Everybody has their version of who Keanu Reeves is, that airhead guy from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure or the hero from Speed with Sandra Bullock or the enigmatic character in 47 Ronin released last year. And next he will star in and executive produce a TV series called "Rain." But wait, where has he been for the last few years? Noticeably on-and-off the Hollywood radar. Keanu, who turns 50 on Sept. 2, was ...

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent   On July 7, Michael Bay dot com congratulated its director with this header: “Michael Bay Milestone.” The text reads, “This past weekend Michael Bay became the second-highest-grossing director of all time. Congratulations Michael.”  The figures are from Box Office Mojo, an industry insider site, that ranked him as having grossed $2,078.2 M USD as a career benchmark, pushed up the ladder by the recent release ...

By Quendrith Johnson   Sometimes you forget how intricate filmmaking is based on how easy it all appears on screen. And along comes someone like Oscar winning editor/sound-pioneer Walter Murch who throws light on every aspect that makes cinema loved worldwide. On the nuances of sound design, Murch off-handedly lays down the fundamentals of an art he actually helped shape.  “My mantra is: ‘clarity and density.’ If something in a film is too dense (too rich or intr...

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent Maybe it was just a coincidence that Academy Award winning director Kathryn Bigelow was spotted making a stealth move out of the parking structure in Santa Monica on Day 2 of the American Film Market (AFM), but today, Nov. 5, heavy hitter Gary Barber, Co-Chairman/CEO of Spyglass will join Harvey Weinsten, Co-Chairman of The Weinstein Co., Nick Meyer CEO of Sierra Pictures, and Stewart Till, Chief Executive of The Icon Group in a heavy hitter rou...

by Marla LewinThe World Premiere of "One Lucky Elephant" at the L.A. Film Festival attracted  Lily Tomlin, Academy Award-director, Kathryn Bigelow and actress Persia White ("Girlfriends"), who saw the film and stayed for a special panel discussion hosted by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) that focused on the plight of elephants and other wild animals in captivity.  Moderated by NY Times journalist and author Charles Siebert, the panel featured the film’s di...

by Marla Lewin2010 BAFTA Awards Winners                                      photo (c) 2010 BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards for 2010 (BAFTA) were announced tonight at London’s Royal Opera House. In his first formal act as President of BAFTA, Prince William presented Vanessa Redgrave with a British Academy Fellowship. HRH Prince William succeeds Lord Attenborough in the position. David Parfitt, Chair of BAFTA, said: “The Academy has had a long...

By Maria Esteves - February 2, 2010 The 82nd Academy Awards nominations were announced by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) President Tom Sherak and 2008 Oscar nominee Anne Hathaway, on Tuesday, February 2, 2010. AVATAR, directed by James Cameron and THE HURT LOCKER, directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Cameron's ex-wife) picked up nine Oscar nominations including best picture and best director. The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony presented by AMPAS for outstanding film achieve...

By Marla Lewin The American Film Institute held its annual awards luncheon today in Los Angeles. The tenth annual event remained an honoree-only affair, with no press and no public in attendance. For each of the honored films and television programs, Hewlett-Packard, the event sponsor creates a scholarship to the world-renowned AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles. Because 2009 marked the 50th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic NORTH BY NORTHWEST, AFI acknowledged this lan...

By Marla Lewin     Directors Guild of America President Taylor Hackford announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2009.   The nominees are (in alphabetical order): Kathryn Bigelow The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment) James Cameron Avatar (Twentieth Century Fox) Lee Daniels Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (Lionsgate) Jason Reitman Up In The Air (Pa...