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Great Herzog Quotes...

From The San Francisco Chronicle -

The Thai food at this Sundance party was paid for by the Discovery Channel, which sponsored "Grizzly Man." Lena Herzog, Werner's beautiful, formidable Siberian wife, describes an agreement made a few years ago between television's two nature giants -- National Geographic and the Discovery Channel: When showing animals mating, show no more than three thrusts. "Three! " Lena cries, incensed. "Now they are censoring the animals! And," she continues, in the hushed tones of a spy, "in the last year we noticed the thrusts have been reduced to one. One thrust!"

"It's Bush," Werner Herzog mutters.

"It's appalling," Lena continues. "No wonder American women are frustrated. What's worse is that no one has said anything -- not a single word."

To think that this, of all cultures, would not notice.

Weekend Box Office

Hide & Seek continues a one of those rare trends that actually might have an effect on the long run at the multiplex. Meet The Fockers, White Noise, Coach Carter, Are We There Yet? ,and now this… five (six, if you count Fockers three times) straight weekends of very specific genre movies topping the charts, the last three of which performed above expectations. 

Yes, genre gets tired and the mediocrity of the films that come from these genres often lead to short legs.  But the key in the film business these days is delivering an opening weekend.  And two thrillers, one feel good urban cross-over drama, one urban cross-over comedy and one flat out comedy sequel. 

How can you not be programming your line-up with the power of these films in mind?

On the Oscar front, Million Dollar Baby came out of the gate strong, with a reported $5800 per screen and a total over $10.5 million.  The fight between The Aviator and M$B is now engaged, especially combining this start of wide release with Clint Eastwood’s DGA win on Saturday.

On the down side, Sideways looks like it may, sadly (for me, at least) be moving out of contention for the win after an expansion to 1694 screen led to only an estimated $6.3 million… which is not bad, but not a power move.  The gross and the per-screen were not far ahead of In Good Company… not good company for a film that wants to win Best Picture.

More to come….

Sundance Day 2 Photos - Group One

Inside Deep Throat Party
(Parental Guidence Required)

Sundance Day 2 Photos - Group Two

Inside Deep Throat Party
(Parental Guidence Required)

Sundance Photos - Day One, Group 2

Photos - Day One, Group 1

Blogging At The Dance

Hey all -

The blog will become a photo space during Sundance.  I may do some regular blogging along the way... but for now... photos!!!

Alive In Park City

I made it... let the fun begin!!!

BAFTA Announces...

... and joins the list of irrelevant precursors.

Just as Sideways competing against no major candidate at the Indie Spirits makes that award show irrelevant, BAFTA's The Aviator-only position means that the award means nothing... unless it loses, in which case it's an embarrassment.

Why Michael Moore Wasn't At The Globes

In a classic case of turnabout is not-so-fair-play, Dick Clark decreed from his hospital bed that Michael Moore, whose Fahrenheit 9/11 was ruled ineligible for the Globes this year, could not even attend the awards and pressured the HFPA into enforcing his decree. 

That’s right… Harvey Weinstein was told “no” by the HFPA.  Michael Moore was not allowed in the room.

You may recall the confrontation with Dick Clark in Bowling For Columbine.  Oops.