American Cinematheque is presenting an Akira Kurosawa Retrospective at the Aero Theatre, Santa Monica, CA. Twelve of his works will be presented January 18th-31st, including Rashomon and The Seven Samurai. For information visit http://www.americancinematheque.com

Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks TV are re-teaming with TNT to exec produce a six-hour adaptation of the Stephen King/Peter Straub adventure novel The Talisman. The event has been scheduled for a Summer 2008 debut.

MAD ABOUT YOU: COMPLETE THIRD SEASON - FEBRUARY 06
Featuring many memorable episodes, including Jamie stealing cable and causing a city-wide blackout, Murray eating the Thanksgiving turkey, a flashback to Paul and Jamie’s wedding, Murray starring in a TV commercial, and Jamie’s ex-boyfriend publishing a comic book bearing her likeness. This season also features guest stars including Lisa Kudrow in her recurring role as the ditzy waitress Ursula, Eric Stoltz, Emmy winner Cyndi Lauper, Emmy winner Carl Reiner, Wendie Malick, Al Roker, New York Knicks legend Patrick Ewing, singer Lyle Lovett, supermodel Rachel Hunter, and former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani. Pre-Order Today!

GROSSE POINT: COMPLETE SERIES - FEBRUARY 13
Loosely based on Darren Star’s experiences while writing Beverly Hills, 90210, the series gives viewers a behind-the-scenes peek at the melodrama that goes on offscreen on a fictitious primetime teen soap opera. The comedy follows the lives of six young actors trying to adjust to the demands of instant stardom, as their hit show launches them into a world of premieres, paparazzi and power. There’s the two-faced diva, her insecure best friend, the wide-eyed newcomer who threatens the offscreen balance of power, the surfer stud, and the show’s resident (if balding) heartthrob. Guiding these “innocents” through the savage world of network presidents and last-minute rewrites are the producers, who live in constant fear that one misstep would sends ratings plummeting and their careers into oblivion. Guest stars from the first season include Kristen Davis, Jason Priestly, Elizabeth Berkley, Gordon Thomson, Katie Wagner, and Dweezil Zappa. Order the Amazon.com Exclusive Edition today!

ALL IN THE FAMILY: COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON - FEBRUARY 13
In the sixth season, Mike and Gloria finally move into their own home and discover Gloria is pregnant. After the baby is born, Archie has the baby baptized without their permission. While driving a cab, Archie rescues a woman who turns out to be a transvestite, and Edith starts volunteering at an old age home. Guest stars this season include Billy Crystal, Doris Roberts, Robert Guillaume, Bernadette Peters, and Golden Globe winner Betty Garrett. Pre-Order Today!

For more information or to become a member, visit FilmIndependent.org

2007 INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the Producer)

American Gun
Producer: Ted Kroeber

The Dead Girl
Producers: Tom Rosenberg, Henry Winterstern, Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright, Eric Karten, Kevin Turen

Half Nelson
Producers: Jamie Patricof, Alex Orlovsky, Lynette Howell, Anna Boden, Rosanne Korenberg

Little Miss Sunshine
Producers: Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa

Pan's Labyrinth
Producers: Bertha Navarro, Alfonso Cuarón, Frida Torresblanco, Alvaro Augustin, Guillermo Del Toro

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)

Day Night Day Night
Director: Julia Loktev
Producers: Julia Loktev, Melanie Judd, Jessica Levin

Man Push Cart
Director: Ramin Bahrani
Producers: Ramin Bahrani, Pradip Ghosh, Bedford T. Bentley III

The Motel
Director: Michael Kang
Producers: Matthew Greenfield, Miguel Arteta, Gina Kwon, Karin Chien

Sweet Land
Director: Ali Selim
Producers: Alan Cumming, James Bigham, Ali Selim

Wristcutters: A Love Story
Director: Goran Dukic
Producers: Adam Sherman, Chris Coen, Tatiana Kelly, Mikal P. Lazarev

BEST DIRECTOR


Robert Altman
A Prairie Home Companion

Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
Little Miss Sunshine

Ryan Fleck
Half Nelson

Karen Moncrieff
The Dead Girl

Steven Soderbergh
Bubble

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)

Chalk
Director: Mike Akel
Producers: Mike Akel, Angela Alvarez, Graham Davidson, Chris Mass
Writers: Chris Mass & Mike Akel

Four Eyed Monsters
Writer/Director/Producers: Arin Crumley & Susan Buice

Old Joy
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Producers: Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy, Anish Savjani, Neil Kopp
Writers: Jon Raymond & Kelly Reichardt

Quinceañera
Writer/Directors: Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland
Producer: Anne Clements

Twelve and Holding
Director: Michael Cuesta
Producers: Leslie Urdang, Michael Cuesta, Brian Bell, Jenny Schweitzer
Writer: Anthony S. Cipriano

BEST SCREENPLAY


Neil Burger
The Illusionist

Nicole Holofcener
Friends with Money

Ron Nyswaner
The Painted Veil

Jason Reitman
Thank You For Smoking

Jeff Stanzler
Sorry, Haters

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY


Michael Arndt
Little Miss Sunshine

Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck
Half Nelson

Goran Dukic
Wristcutters: A Love Story

Dito Montiel
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

Gabrielle Zevin
Conversations with Other Women

BEST FEMALE LEAD


Shareeka Epps
Half Nelson

Catherine O'Hara
For Your Consideration

Elizabeth Reaser
Sweet Land

Michelle Williams
Land of Plenty

Robin Wright Penn
Sorry, Haters


BEST MALE LEAD


Aaron Eckhart
Thank You For Smoking

Ryan Gosling
Half Nelson

Edward Norton
The Painted Veil

Ahmad Razvi
Man Push Cart

Forest Whitaker
American Gun


BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE


Melonie Diaz
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

Marcia Gay Harden
American Gun

Mary Beth Hurt
The Dead Girl

Frances McDormand
Friends with Money

Amber Tamblyn
Stephanie Daley


BEST SUPPORTING MALE


Alan Arkin
Little Miss Sunshine

Raymond J. Barry
Steel City

Daniel Craig
Infamous

Paul Dano
Little Miss Sunshine

Channing Tatum
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY


Arin Crumley
Four Eyed Monsters

Anthony Dod Mantle
Brothers of the Head

Guillermo Navarro
Pan's Labyrinth

Aaron Platt
Wild Tigers I Have Known

Michael Simmonds
Man Push Cart

Lowe's Companies, Inc. is heading to the movies this holiday season and taking its customers along for the family-fun adventure. The home improvement retailer has partnered with Twentieth Century Fox to offer shoppers two free movie tickets to see the new all-audiences comedy "Night at the Museum," starring Ben Stiller and Robin Williams, with every $100 gift card purchased between Dec. 1 and Dec. 20. The highly anticipated film has its gala world premiere in New York City Dec. 17 and hits theaters everywhere Dec. 22, just in time for the holidays.

"Lowe's understands that the holidays are an especially busy time of year, and finding the right gift for all of the people on your list can often be overwhelming," said Bob Gfeller, senior vice president of marketing at Lowe's. "While we offer hundreds of holiday solutions this season including holiday gift cards, Lowe's realizes what's most important to our customers is enjoying quality time with their loved ones. That's why we're confident this partnership will benefit the busy lifestyles of our customers while helping to make time spent together even more enjoyable."

Qualified customers can easily obtain their free movie tickets by simply logging onto www.lowes.com/nightatthemuseum and entering necessary rebate and personal information online. Twenty-four hours later, the tickets will be sent electronically via e-mail. Or, customers may mail in the Lowe's receipt to the specified address to receive tickets by mail in four weeks or less.

SOURCE: PRNewswire

Fans and collectors world- wide will want to "Put 'em up, put 'em up" when Bert Lahr's original lion costume from the 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz" goes on the auction block during Profiles in History's two-day Hollywood Memorabilia auction, beginning Thursday, December 14. Joseph Maddalena's Profiles in History, the number one company in the world for live and simultaneous Internet memorabilia auctions, will begin the two-day, three million dollar auction featuring over 900 items at 12 Noon (PST).

The "Cowardly Lion" costume is expected to sell for $400,000 - $600,000. It is regarded as the most coveted piece of Hollywood history extant. It stands alone as the sole "Wizard of Oz" character costume available to collectors in the public domain; the "Tin Man" was destroyed and the "Scarecrow" is currently housed in the Smithsonian.

Discovered at the legendary 1970 MGM/David Weisz Auction, the most famous sale in the history of Hollywood memorabilia. The costume is composed of real lion pelts, which have been sewn together to form the complete outfit. The costume is mounted on a steel armature positioned in the memorable "Put 'em up, put 'em up" pose from the film.

Collectors from around the world may bid in person either at Profiles in History's gallery located at 110 N. Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills, California; live on the Internet at www.ebayliveauctions.com; or by phone or fax. All items to be auctioned are available for review in a full-color catalogue obtainable through Profiles in History, or by visiting the company's website at www.profilesinhistory.com.

SOURCE: PRNewswire

Director Robert Altman, known for his remarkable ensemble films such as MASH, Gosford Park and "Nashville," has died at age 81. A recent recipient of the Academy of Motion Pictures Lifetime Achievement Award, Altman worked nearly up to the time of his death, having directed this year's A Prairie Home Companion.

Altman began his career making documentaries and soon moved into TV where he directed numerous episodes of shows such as Bonanza and Combat. Though he was very successful in television, it was the feature film MASH that really made Altman a household name. A series of popular movies followed such as McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Nashville, and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.

Nominated five times for Best Director, Altman never won but it's likely that everyone reading this article has watched at least one of his films. His work will live on for a long time to come.

Thanks to the public outcry, Fox has announced that it will NOT be airing the OJ special titled "If I Did It, Here's How It Happened." The AP news article on the subject has this quote from Rupert Murdoch.

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," Murdoch said. "We are sorry for any pain this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown-Simpson."

HarperCollins, a subsidiary of Fox is also pulling the book from the planned release schedule.

All of this makes me wonder, how long before the already taped special hits the Internet?

On November 28, evil gets raw!

SEE NO EVIL

SYNOPSIS
Seven feet tall. Four hundred pounds. A rusty steel plate screwed into his skull and razor-sharp fingernails that pluck out his victims' eyes. Reclusive psychopath Jacob Goodnight (WWE's Kane) is holed up in the long-abandoned and rotting Blackwell Hotel, alone with his nightmares until eight petty criminals show up for community service duty along with the cop who put a bullet in Jacob's head four years ago. When one of their own is kidnapped by the killer and with her fate uncertain, the remaining lawbreakers must fight this indestructible force of nature who has a violent score to settle. Directed by award-winning music video director Gregory Dark.

View the trailer

BONUS FEATURES
Audio commentary with writer Dan Madigan and director Gregory Dark
Audio commentary with WWE Superstar Kane and co-executive producer Jed Blaugrund
Featurette - Do You See the Sin?
Featurette - Kane: Journey into Darkness
Storyboard-to-film comparisons
Behind the Evil- WWE promotional spots

BASICS
Video: Widescreen
Audio: Dolby 5.1 Surround (English), 2.0 Stereo (English)
Subtitles: English and Spanish
Rated R for strong gruesome violence and gore throughout, language, sexual content and some drug use.
Run Time: 84 min

For more info, visit the official site

A National Education Association online poll reveals that actress Jessica Alba is the celebrity most respondents would like to see substitute teach for a day. The star of "Into the Blue" and "Fantastic Four" was the top pick with 46 percent of the vote. The runners-up include Oprah Winfrey (24 percent) followed by Angelina Jolie (14 percent), Will Smith (12 percent) and Andre Agassi (4 percent). NEA received more than 5,000 responses to the poll, which was conducted in advance of Substitute Educators Day on Friday, November 17.

"Although substitute educators play a key role in the classroom, they are often taken for granted," said Reg Weaver, NEA president. "Our celebrity Substitute Educators Day poll is an excellent way for us to spotlight the collective contributions of substitutes to schools nationwide. Just as actress Jessica Alba toiled long and hard before achieving stardom, substitute educators work tirelessly -- and often in relative anonymity -- to provide every child with a quality public education."

Public schools currently face a severe substitute educator shortage. In a survey completed by Utah State University, 96 percent of the nation's school districts said they had trouble finding substitutes.

For more information on Substitute Educators Day and American Education Week, please visit NEA's website http://www.nea.org/aew.