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The National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre gestures as he speaks about the violent online video game "Kindergarten Killers", left, during a news conference in response to the Connecticut school shooting on Friday, Dec. 21, 2012 in Washington. The National Rifle Association broke its silence Friday on last week's shooting rampage at a Connecticut elementary school that left 26 children and staff dead. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Newtown kids pledge to toss violent video games, movies

Thomas Hargrove Scripps Howard News Service

Last updated Friday, December 21, 2012 - 3:43pm

WASHINGTON — The school massacre in Newtown, Conn., has renewed discussions -- and perennial disagreements -- among politicians and researchers about how violent movies and video games affect the nation’s youth.

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Violent programs canceled, delayed after Newtown shooting

Edmund Lee Bloomberg News

Last updated Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - 11:26am

NEW YORK - Movie studios and television programmers have postponed or canceled violent films and TV shows after a shooting left 20 children and six adults dead in a Connecticut elementary school last week.

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Director Peter Jackson signs autographs at the UK premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at The Odeon Leicester Square, London on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. (Photo by Jon Furniss/Invision/AP)

’Hobbit’ director says faster film speed boosts realism

Julie Hyman, Micahel White Bloomberg News

Last updated Friday, December 14, 2012 - 12:05pm

LOS ANGELES - Director Peter Jackson defended his decision to use new projection technology for "The Hobbit," calling it an "experiment" designed to give the 3-D fantasy film a more realistic look.

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This undated publicity photo released by Electronic Arts Inc. shows the downloadable "Zero Dark Thirty" map pack for the "Medal of Honor: Warfighter" video game.

'Call of Duty,' 'Medal of Honor' players can relate to new movie

Derrik J. Lang The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, December 14, 2012 - 10:41am

LOS ANGELES -- For anyone who's ever played a knuckle-bitingly tense matchup in a first-person military shooter like "Call of Duty" or "Medal of Honor," the final act of the upcoming film "Zero Dark Thirty" will feel very familiar. It depicts, almost entirely in real time, Navy SEAL Team 6's after-hours raid on Osama bin Laden's compound last year in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

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FILE - This undated publicity film image provided by Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. shows Jessica Chastain playing a member of the elite team of spies and military operatives stationed in a covert base overseas who secretly devoted themselves to finding Osama Bin Laden in Columbia Pictures' gripping new thriller directed by Kathryn Bigelow, "Zero Dark Thirty." (AP Photo/Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Jonathan Olley, File)

'Zero Dark Thirty' portrays mysterious woman behind CIA hunt for bin Laden

Greg Miller The Washington Post

Last updated Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - 10:24am

WASHINGTON - She was a real-life heroine of the CIA hunt for Osama bin Laden, a headstrong young operative whose work tracking the al-Qaida leader serves as the dramatic core of a Hollywood film set to premiere next week.

Her CIA career has followed a more problematic script, however, since bin Laden was killed.

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Pregnant Kate to miss 'Hobbit' premiere

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - 10:27am

LONDON -- The former Kate Middleton has cancelled a planned appearance at the U.K. premiere of "The Hobbit" due to acute morning sickness.

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New film format makes 'Hobbit' look fake at times

Ryan Nakashima The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, December 8, 2012 - 2:36pm

LOS ANGELES -- One thought struck me as I watched the new "Hobbit" movie in the latest super-clear format: "The rain looks fake. It's not hitting their faces!"

That is just one consequence of filmmaker Peter Jackson's decision to shoot his epic, three-part "Lord of the Rings" prequel with a frame rate of 48 images per second, double the 24 that cinemagoers have experienced for the past century.

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This undated publicity film image provided by the Sundance Institute shows Aston Kutcher as Steve Jobs in "JOBS," the 2013 Sundance Film Festival's closing night film in January. (AP Photo/Sundance Institute)

2013 Sundance Film Festival lists drama, documentary premieres

Contributed Standard-Examiner

Last updated Monday, December 3, 2012 - 10:40pm

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival has announced its Premieres and Documentary Premieres program.

Here’s the list, with descriptions and wording provided by the festival:

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Football fans get a close-up in 'Silver Linings’

Jake Coyle The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, November 30, 2012 - 3:27pm

NEW YORK — In David O. Russell’s "Silver Linings Playbook," Bradley Cooper plays an unstable former teacher trying to improve himself after exiting a mental institution. When his character, Pat Solitano, consults his otherwise level-headed psychiatrist Dr. Cliff Patel (Anupam Kher) on whether a Philadelphia Eagles’ jersey is appropriate attire for a dinner party, Patel questions which jersey. On hearing that it’s star wide-receiver DeSean Jackson, he responds unequivocally:

"DeSean Jackson is the man."

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Photo courtesy of Sundance Film Festival
Matthew McConaughey stars in “Mud,” a 2013 Sundance Film Festival Spotlight film about two teenage boys who encounter a fugitive and form a pact to help him evade the bounty hunters on his trail and reunite him with his true love.

Sundance 2013 spotlights edgy films

Nancy Van Valkenburg Standard-Examiner

Last updated Friday, November 30, 2012 - 1:40am

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival on Thursday announced some of its edgier offerings.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to announce the films selected for these sections because they illustrate the tremendous creativity and vibrancy of the independent film community,” Trevor Groth, festival director of programming, said in a news release.

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Sundance 2013 announces films for its U.S., World Competitions, Next program

Nancy Van Valkenburg Standard-Examiner

Last updated Thursday, November 29, 2012 - 12:54am

Here are the films the Sundance Film Festival announced Wednesday for its U.S. and World Competitions, and for the Next program.

All film descriptions are provided by the festival.

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Keri Russell (left) and Bret McKenzie appear in a scene from the film “Austenland,” included in the U.S. Dramatic Film competition at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Shannon Hale, of South Jordan, wrote the novel that is the basis for the film and shared screenwriting duties. (Photo courtesy of the Sundance Institute)

Utahn’s book, screenplay make it to Sundance 2013; Dramatic Competition offerings announced

Nancy Van Valkenburg Standard-Examiner

Last updated Thursday, November 29, 2012 - 12:54am

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival brings a story full circle for Utah author Shannon Hale.

Click here for list of films for U.S. and World Competitions, and the Next program

Films in the festival’s Dramatic Competition were announced Wednesday, as were films in U.S. Documentary, and NEXT categories.

And Hale, an author from South Jordan, could commute to the festival daily to support “Austenland,” should she so choose. Hale wrote the novel that is the basis for the film, and she shared screenwriting duties for the project.

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Sundance books record slate of female filmmakers

David German The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, November 29, 2012 - 1:20am

LOS ANGELES — The Sundance Film Festival has an apparent record lineup of female directors competing for its top honor this January.

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Director Peter Jackson, right, poses with his daughter Katie on the red carpet at the premiere of his new film "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," at the Embassy Theatre, in Wellington, New Zealand, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/SNPA, Ross Setford)

'Hobbit' fans turn out in elf ears, wizard hats

Nick Perry The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, November 28, 2012 - 11:16am

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Wearing elf ears and wizard hats, sitting atop their dad’s shoulders or peering from balconies, tens of thousands of New Zealanders watched their favorite "Hobbit" actors walk the red carpet Wednesday at the film trilogy’s hometown premiere.

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