2009 Sundance Film Festival

You know the Sundance Film Festival is really in full swing when the adorably candid photos of some of our favorite actors and actresses start flooding in. There's something refreshing about these portraits of the stars, as they are a far cry from the glitz and glam of the red carpet. These pics are goofy and natural and people often just wear jeans for them. My kind of photo collection!

In this batch, cuties like Zooey Deschanel (in that royal blue coat I would love to find) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt snuggle up (in town for their quirky rom-com, 500 Days of Summer) while Mexican heavyweights Gael Garcia Bernal (sigh, cute) and Guillermo del Toro pose to promote their movie about Mexico and soccer, Rudo y Cursi. Also, I cannot look at the picture below of Michael Cera and Charlyne Yi, who star together in Paper Heart, without cracking up.

To check out these fun pics up close for yourself, just read more

While I won't be heading down to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival this year, I will be sorting through the humongous pile of festival entries to share with you some of the films I think look most promising. From quirky documentaries to talented young filmmaker debuts to a potential runaway hit, Sundance is filled with entertainment possibilities. Here are today's selections:

Brooklyn's Finest
Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), Brooklyn's Finest just became this year's first sale at Sundance. Apparently "Senator Distribution nabbed North American rights . . . on Saturday night, 24 hours after its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. . . Senator says it will release the film in the fourth quarter for awards consideration." According to Senator president Mark Urman, the company "went into aggressive pursuit right after Friday's screening." Wow! All of this spells good things for the cop drama which features a stellar cast (Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, Ellen Barkin). The plot is described as: "Three unconnected Brooklyn cops wind up at the same deadly location after enduring vastly different career paths." The guy responsible for the screenplay has a unique and intriguing story himself (you can read about it here). No clips available just yet, but now that it's been purchased I'm sure we'll hear and see much more about this film in the future.

Two more great-looking movies, with talented folks like Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Mickey Rourke, if you read more

The Sundance Film Festival is officially in full swing and big names flocked to Park City to promote their movies. Ben Affleck stopped on his way to DC for "Reporter," which he serves as executive producer. Jim Carrey had his girlfriend Jenny McCarthy to help support his role where Ewan McGregor is his boyfriend in I Love You Philip Morris. Ashton was there to promote his gigolo film, Spread, with his loyal wife Demi by his side. Funny ladies Amy Poehler, Parker Posey and Rachel Dratch posed for a portrait picture, which is a lot more tame than their film Spring Breakdown. Festival favorites like Michael Cera, Zooey Deschanel, and Sam Rockwell all showed off their films while Paris Hilton made sure to hit all the parties. Mariah continues to look elated in every photo with Nick but her movie "Push" is apparently pretty dramatic. Even Anna Wintour hit the festival this year to promote her debut in a The September Issue. The festival is just getting started so expect many more big names all week long posing in cute portrait shots, walking red carpets and attending parties.

To see tons more pictures including new dad Gael Garcia Bernal, Kevin Bacon, Emily Blunt, Susan Sarandon, Pierce Brosnan and many, many more just read more

This year marks the 25th anniversary for the Sundance Film Festival, which is about as long as some of us have been alive. It's easy to take for granted the fact that this festival held in a snowy little Utah town wasn't always the influential mega-event it is today. Recently the LA Times had an interesting retrospective about the festival's origins and the way it revolutionized independent film.

Some interesting nuggets:

• Steven Soderbergh's debut feature film is partly responsible for the festival's success. Director Bryan Singer reminisces, "Sex, Lies, and Videotape made guys like me go, 'If I can get into the Sundance Film Festival, I'll have a shot at a career.'"

• Aw, Kevin Smith was working as a convenience store clerk when he brought his little movie Clerks to Sundance. He says of the heady experience, "It was basically me showing up in Utah and the Mormon God saying, 'I am going to grant you every wish you ever had, including some you never thought of.'"
• Also, Smith tells the reporter that Clerks was made for $27,575.
• Originally the festival was called The Utah/U.S. Film Festival but after Robert Redford's gang took over in 1989, some changes were made. "Organizers began to shift the festival's focus toward contemporary films that took storytelling risks."
• The article asserts that "nobody embodies the go-for-broke moviemaking ingenuity now commonly associated with Sundance entries more than. . . Robert Rodriguez." Apparently Rodriquez (director of Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sin City) raised money for one of his movies by "volunteering for experimental clinical drug testing." Hard core.

Photo courtesy of Sundance

While I won't be heading to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival this year, I will be sorting through the humongous pile of festival entries to share with you some of the films I think look most promising. From quirky documentaries (like Chris Rock's) to talented young filmmaker debuts to a potential runaway hit, Sundance is filled with entertainment possibilities. Here are today's selections:

Adam
Boy, do I love me some Hugh Dancy and I've been waiting for this actor to land a juicy, leading role. Well, my prayers have been answered with Adam, in which he stars as a fellow who's a little bit different. The movie explores the idea that "truly reaching another person means bravely stretching into discomfiting territory — and the shake-up can be liberating." Dancy's co-stars include Damages's Rose Byrne, as well as Frankie Faison, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, and Mark Linn-Baker. I can't wait to see this one!

For two others, including that jail movie with Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor, just read more

While I won't be heading down to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival this year, I will be sorting through the humongous pile of festival entries to share with you some of the films I think look most promising. From quirky documentaries to talented young filmmaker debuts to a potential runaway hit, Sundance is filled with entertainment possibilities. Here are today's selections:

Good Hair
It's impossible not to feel a little emotional listening to Chris Rock describe how the idea for this documentary came about. In the video clip below, he says that despite how much he tells his daughter how beautiful she is every day, she still cried to him once, "Daddy, how come I don't have good hair?" Troubled by this, Rock "committed himself to search the ends of the earth and the depths of black culture to find out who had put that question into his little girl's head!" He himself claims this might be the best movie he's ever made. Intriguing? I'd say so.

To check out the comedian talking about his project, plus the lowdown on two other Sundance movies, read more

Though most of us aren't lucky enough to attend the Sundance Film Festival, we've probably all been to events that hand out hundreds and hundreds of plastic water bottles. Last year, Sundance alone gave out 50,000 single-serve bottles, most of which just end up in landfills.

So for the 2009 festival, which kicks off this Thursday, Sundance is partnering with an organization called FilterForGood, which is devoted to reducing bottled-water waste. Instead of wasteful one-off containers, festivalgoers will get free reusable water bottles provided by Nalgene, which they can then refill at Brita-sponsored water stations.

I've had a reusable water bottle for a while now, but if you haven't gotten one yet, you can visit FilterForGood's site and make a pledge to switch. The site also sells FilterForGood-branded bottles that let you support the cause. Don't worry: They're BPA free!

• Are these the best nude TV scenes of 2008? — Popwatch
• Knight Rider: going into the garage permanently? — Watch With Kristin
• Check out Daniel Radcliffe dishing on the final Harry Potter flicks. — The Lyons Den
• Seven TV sketch comedies that deserved more chances than Mad TV got. — TV Squad
• These are a few of Beck's fav-o-rite things. — Spinner
• Here's the full list of the competition lineup for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival! — Cinematical
• From Gossip Girl's addiction to cell phones and blogging, to The Office's use of the world's tiniest Bluetooth: What's your favorite TV show for tech stuff this year? — geeksugar
• A seven-word review of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. — FilmExperience

Photo courtesy of Showtime

• Quantum of Solace took the top spot at the box office this weekend with $70.4 million, the highest opening for a James Bond film ever. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa came in second. — BuzzSugar
• Barack and Michelle Obama had their first post-election interview on 60 minutes last night and spoke about the economy, re-deploying troops out of Iraq and much more. — CitizenSugar
• Comedian Wanda Sykes revealed she's "proud of being gay" at a Proposition 8 protest in Las Vegas on Saturday. — AP
• Proposition 8 protestors are rallying people to boycott Sundance Film Festival since it is in the state of Utah and the Mormon Church supported the ban on same-sex marriage. — E! Online
• The SEC has charged Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, with insider trading after selling shares of Mamma.com the day before they announced private financing and avoiding $750,000 in losses. — Wall Street Journal
• The O.C's Autumn Reeser is engaged to her college sweetheart, writer and director Jesse Warren. — Us Weekly

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures