Finally the visual effects category appears to be getting more recognition. The Academy Awards next year will feature five nominees instead of the three that have so far been the norm. The board of governors also changed rules governing the Feature Animation category. The minimum length of these features has been brought down from 70 minutes to 40 minutes. This puts it on par with other feature film categories.

The changes seem to represent the ever growing impact of animation in the present filmmaking business. Graphics, stop motion animation and such have been growing quality and importance for a while now. But sadly it has lacked the recognition. The fact that Andy Serkis was refused a nomination for his role as “Gollum” in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy is still a sticking point for many.

In other news, James Cameron will bring back his blockbuster hit “Avatar” one more time to limited cinemas. Digital 3-D and IMAX 3-D theaters will start showing the movie from August 27th onwards. But this won’t be quite the same “Avatar” you’ve seen before. Eight minutes of new footage, including action scenes and new creatures, will be added to the movie. Cameron said that this release was in response to fans who want to spend more time on the fictional planet-moon of Pandora.

So far the extended version will be available only to the domestic market. But if it does well, it might make it out worldwide as well.

There were howls at midnight on Wednesday and none of them came from any canine maws. Instead they were howls of anguish as boyfriends and husbands alike took their partners to watch the newest installment of the “Twilight” saga.

“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” opened midweek and in a true show of strength raked in at least $30 million. Impressive as that maybe for a midweek opening, the success is highlighted further when you consider that it broke the record for an opening night haul in the series. The second movie in the series, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”, gathered over $26 million last year; but it opened on a Friday which obviously guaranteed it more traffic. Summit Entertainment, the movie’s distributor, could not give a final accurate figure as the total tally would only be arrived at on Thursday morning. However, they were quite confident that that it would be well past the $30 million mark by then.

The movie can only expect to go from strength to strength, as it is poised to run rampant over a massive five day run helped by the 4th of July weekend. The current record for the five day weekend is held by the sci-fi thriller “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and stands at $200 million. “Eclipse” looks set to sail past that figure with ease.

Success in that league will only ensure rapid processing of the next two movies in the saga; “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1″ and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2″ are set to be released in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

When Buggles sang the song, ‘Video killed the Radio star’, perhaps it was too early to see the dominance of the internet in our lives. Not only has it taken multimedia to the next level but it is virtually a treasure trove of information about musicians, their history and their upcoming releases.

Be it country music or indie music, the internet gives you the latest information on their latest releases, the scoops about who they are dating and whom. But there is one more medium that has taken the world by storm: internet radio. You can listen to your favorite artists such as Garth Brooks and so on and so forth using this medium if you have a broadband connection and are able to look for them over the internet with ease.

While some people are more inclined towards devotional music, there are numerous Christian music radio stations that one can tune into in no time as well. Whether you like Christian Rock legends such as Petra, Third Day or even the softer music of Amy Grant and so on and so forth, one can begin their morning with some heart-lifting music.

Again, this all depends on the mood of the viewer, and so there are several radio stations that have been made available for their listening pleasure. So, get on the internet and spend your time listening to the music that you’ve always been wanting to listen but haven’t been able to access otherwise.

Nationalist groups have been suffocating the Oscar winning movie “The Cove” in Japan.  At least three theatres have canceled screening the documentary movie and twenty-three are in limbo trying to decide if they will show it or not. It was also banned from being shown at a U.S. Military base on the grounds of it being too controversial.

The movie documents an annual dolphin hunt that takes place in a Japanese village. The bloody slaughter is captured on hidden cameras and depicts the fishermen as local thugs.The protestors are pointing out that dolphin hunts are not found in only Japan but in other countries as well. They say that it is anti-Japanese and that the movie has links to Sea Shepard, the anti-whaling groups that has regular run-ins with Japanese whalers.

This is not the first time that Nationalist groups have flexed their muscle. “Yaksuni” was a movie that suffered the same fate two years ago. That movie was about a Japanese war shrine which honors Japanese soldiers, regardless of whether they were heroes or war criminals.

The current controversy has taken on overtones of suppression of the freedom of speech. Directors, academics and journalists have come together to write a letter to the theaters, asking them not to succumb to pressure from the Nationalist groups. An event was also held on Wednesday, where the movie was shown and discussions were held after wards on the issues of freedom of speech and theater cancellations.

Anne Carradine, wife of David Carradine is furious with the way the French production company handled his last production. She has launched a lawsuit against the company, MK2 S.A., claiming that they had failed to provide facilities to safeguard him.

The star of the seventies hit series “Kung Fu” was found dead in his hotel suite in June last year. Wild rumors have circulated as to how the star may have died. Although the general word bandied about is “suicide”, the popular theory is that the Carradine died of autoerotic asphyxiation. After two autopsies the cause of death has now settled down to “accidental asphyxiation”.

The star who was in recent times known for his role as the elusive Bill in the “Kill Bill” movies, had arrived in Bangkok for the filming of “Stretch”. The lawsuit accuses staff from the film as well as Carradine’s assistant of abandoning him in his room on their way to dinner when they were not able to contact him in his room. Carradine had contacted his assistant almost an hour later, but he was told that he would have to find his own means that night as the whole group was across town. It was after this incident that he was found dead. The lawsuit does not offer details on the actor’s death and nor does it specify how much is being claimed as damages.

MK2 was not prepared to comment on the lawsuit when they were contacted. They have halted production on “Stretch” and no plans have been made public as to how, if ever, the movie will be released.

Tolkien fans will have to wait a long time for “The Hobbit” to become a reality. The prequel to “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy has hit a massive bump in the road. Director Guillermo del Toro quit the production after being frustrated by continuing delays.

He said that it was one of the hardest decisions of his life, as he had spent almost two years working on the project. However del Toro will still be involved with the movie as a co-writer for the screenplays. He will fulfill this role along with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. Jackson is function as joint executive producer alongside his wife Fran. He managed to seal a deal with regards to the movie in 2007, after which he got del Toro on board.

The main reason for delays has been the situation at MGM. Reports of near bankruptcy have been hounding the studio since late last year and this has prevented any solid work on “The Hobbit” from going ahead. Contrary to popular belief, the movie has not been green lighted and the 2012 date touted by fans is quite unlikely to happen.

The movie required a long term commitment from the Director, and del Toro had been ready for the long haul. He had agreed to spend three years in New Zealand to bring the two part movie to life. Unfortunately with the delays that period had to be extend to six, which del Toro could understandably not commit to. Jackson is confident that this will not affect the production too much, as the movie is still in the early stages and does not even have a go-ahead from the studio.

British screenwriter Simon Monjack was found dead in his Los Angeles home on Sunday. Monjack was the husband of the late Brittany Murphy.
Although foul play was the conclusion by many, police refuted it and said that they had found no evidence of criminal activity or any foul play. According to Sgt. Louie Lozano, a police spokesman, the screenwriter’s death has been attributed to natural causes. The Los Angeles Coroner’s Office will now take over the investigation as criminal activity as a cause, has been eliminated.

At approximately 9.40 PM on Sunday night, firefighters had rushed to Monjack’s home in Hollywood Hill in response to an emergency call. The call had been made by a woman who is as yet unidentified. Murphy and Monjack did share their home with the Actress’s mother Sharon, but it has not been confirmed yet whether she was indeed the person on the phone.

It was only five months ago when Brittany Murphy was found dead in the same home. A visibly shaken and emotional Monjack spoke at his late wife’s funeral, extolling her virtues and calling her his soul mate and best friend. Murphy’s death was also cleared of foul play at the time, and the coroner’s office declared the death “accidental, but preventable”.

Contrary to speculation, the actress was not loaded with drugs nor did it find any evidence of drug abuse. The autopsy revealed that the she was under medication for a respiratory illness. Both her husband and mother said that she had been ill with flulike symptoms in the days leading up to her death.

The Vampire mania that is sweeping Hollywood seems to have no end in sight. “Twilight” and “New Moon” had boyfriends and husbands alike groaning, moaning and dreading a slew of copycats. But the newest offering from Lucas Foster and Warp Films tries to set things back to the way things were.
The movie is adapted from the book “Blood Oath” by Christopher Farnsworth, which hits stores this week. The plot centers around a vampire named Nathaniel Cade who is captured by the U.S. Army after the end of the civil war. Cade is then made to swear an oath to President Andrew Johnson to protect the Presidency, a task which he has carried out till the present day. His new challenge comes in the form of a biological weapon that somehow has links to the White House.

Foster, the producer responsible for thrillers like “Law Abiding Citizen” and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”, is very excited by the potential of the story and has great expectations for its success when it comes out in 2011. He is so excited that he has already purchased the movie rights to the unwritten sequel of the book. His decision may be justified as the book has received rave reviews so far. Foster also claims that the book has an excellent mixture of action and different supernatural creatures which keep it lively and exciting. He credits the author with pulling off an excellent job in creating a new vampire saga. Farnsworth has been brought in to help the screenwriters in their work and will receive executive producer credits in the movie.

The summer movie season is expected to kickoff with a bang as Iron Man 2 hits U.S. and Canadian screens this week. The good news for the producers has already started flowing in. The movie has already achieved excellent box office with its advanced overseas release.

The United Kingdom led the way with $12.2 million, followed closely behind by South Korea with $10.8 Million. Overall the movie has grossed over $100 million in its opening weekend overseas. Compare this to 2008′s Iron Man which made $585 million worldwide and you can see why the producers are smiling from ear to ear. The sequel to the 2008 superhero movie is expected to gross over $120 million when it debuts in North America.

This is especially good news for Walt Disney who purchased Marvel last year for a reported $4 billion. The film once again will feature Robert Downing Jr. in his armored suit fighting villains, making snappy comments and generally making the world a safer place. Iron Man 2 will be distributed by Paramount Pictures, which is owned by Viacom Inc., due to a deal that was struck before the Disney acquisition of Marvel.

Iron Man 2 is expected to unseat the current box office leader, “Nightmare on Elm Street”, which is a remake of the classic horror series. “Nightmare” has so far grossed $32 million, ensuring that the $30 million spent on producing the movie is recovered. It also holds the record for the best opening of any horror film in the April-May period.

The Oscar winning war drama “Hurt Locker” is going to war against piracy. The producers of the movie are taking action against thousands of users who took part in actively pirating the movie. The movie’s fancier, Voltage Pictures, has signed up with a group that is actively pursuing a case that targets peer-to-peer BitTorrent users.

The U.S. Copyright Group, which is based in Washington D.C., has already started the ball rolling with regards to several other movies. However, “Hurt Locker” is the only high profile movie on the list. “Call of the Wild 3D” “Far Cry” by German filmmaker Uwe Boll and “Uncross the Stars” are some of the others on the list. So far the group was not taken very seriously by many due to the low profiles of the ten movies that were on the list before “Hurt Locker”. The addition of the Oscar winner has sent ripples through the piracy circles and arrests are one of the options that could be pursued, following a favorable result in the lawsuit.

When the lawsuit is filed, the ISP’s will be subpoenaed for records. These records will then attempt to match IP addresses with unlawful activities on the BitTorrent network. So far the ISP’s have not co-operated fully in handing out the records, but this is mostly because it involves a lot of work for them to do so. The U.S. Copyright Group sends a settlement offer to individuals who are identified. From previous cases, they have a 40% success rate on the offers. Those who did not respond have been sent new offers. The Group said that if they fail to respond to that, lawsuits and arrests will follow. The same procedure is expected to be enacted for the “Hurt Locker” pirates as well.