Was it just me, or was anyone else that was surprised at the lack of statues taken away by Team Avatar.  Avatar won only three Oscars:  for visual effects (was there any doubt), and cinematography,  as well as art direction. But somehow I expected more, and apparently, by all the buzz, so did a lot of other people.

Some speculated that the Academy wanted to “show” Cameron that his highest-grossing movie of all times can be taken down by the least-expensive movie to ever be nominated – wrong.

Some speculated that the Academy wanted to finally give the “Best Directing” award to a woman – please – do we have to play the gender card?

In my opinion, there are two strong reasons why Avatar didn’t win more awards: Animated characters and Sci-fi. Read the rest of this entry »

Reprinted from an International Documentary Association press release

From the astonishing stories of starvation, persecution, and escape from the world’s worst human rights violator to the surprising inside story of an iconic cult, the International Documentary Association (IDA) presents this year’s DocuWeeks™ Theatrical Documentary Showcase.

Screening in Los Angeles and New York City July 31st through August 20th, 2009, IDA’s 13th Annual DocuWeeks™ Theatrical Documentary Showcase will present 18 feature films and 10 short films, a collection of some of the best groundbreaking documentary films from around the world. DocuWeeks™ returns to the ArcLight Hollywood (6360 W. Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles) and the IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue at West Third Street in New York City) for this annual showcase of documentary films qualifying for Oscar® consideration.

A complete schedule and additional information about each film can be found on the International Documentary Association’s website at www.documentary.org