TMZ gets scoops like the death of Michael Jackson (which they announced six minutes before he was officially pronounced dead) by a potent mix of paying informants and old-fashioned shoe leather, reports Paid Content. And TMZ wouldn't be TMZ without Harvey Levin (right). The Washington Post is less critical of TMZ's methods.

Back in January The Atlantic predicted the demise of the NYT. Well, the company's top brass sent a memo announcing that they are still around after all. And Ad Age reports that the Grey Lady will survive until at least 2012.

The Gannett newspaper chain, the nation's largest in terms of circulation, is set to cut more than 1000 jobs. Spin is cutting jobs too. And Vibe Magazine is over. The NYT's David Carr, for one, will miss it.

President Barack Obama, at the end of his funny, barbed and self-mocking White House Correspondents speech, graciously thanked the assembled press corps for doing their jobs --even when he disagreed with them--and recognized that their profession was under duress. He wished them well as they reinvent journalism.

At lunch last week, one studio marketing exec and I were puzzling over Time, Newsweek and EW. And as I ponder my own future, I am aware that writing for print gave me not only an editor and a deadline that forced me to focus serious time on a column, but gravitas as well. The blog just isn't the same. When it's in print, it means more. To everyone. Said studio marketer doesn't mind Patrick Goldstein's daily rantings online. It's when they wind up in print in the LAT that she gets upset. Is this attitude? Habit? The fact that holding something tangible in your hand makes it more important? Print still does have an advantage (along with serious advertising dollars), if folks can only figure out how to make it dovetail economically with the faster online world.

People take many blogs and online publications seriously, from The Daily Beast (where editors and deadlines still apply) to WSJ.com, where you can find Kara Swisher's All Things Digital blog. She recently interviewed Sharon Waxman, whose online pub The Wrap is trying to compete inside the trade space. Waxman asserted at a recent Fest of Books panel that the trades "never break a story" and "there's no place to go for the essential information you need if you are in the business of TV and movies." Really? She waxes on:

Meanwhile The Washington Post's Walter Pincus, writing in the Columbia Journalism Review, suggests that newspaper reporters and editors have been chasing the wrong goals, fame and glory, instead of serving their readers.

Let's play a game of true or false.

Summit says NO, Madonna will not appear in Twilight sequel New Moon, despite what you may read.

Director Marc Forster has worked with screenwriter David Benioff, twice, on Stay and Kite Runner, but until the Quantum of Solace director sees a finished screenplay, he's just interested in Benioff's Kurt Cobain biopic.

In a sign that studios are in no mood to take any chances these days, Ridley Scott's Nottingham will now be called Robin Hood. Don't mess with a brand name. And Russell Crowe will not only be trim and fit, he will play just the one role, not two, Scott tells MTV News. Production starts in two months.

TRUE, DreamWorks' money woes have jeopardized Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, which was to be his next picture after the currently filming TinTin, reports Kim Masters on Slate. EW has more.

TRUE, Zac Efron and Rob Pattinson will present on the Oscar show, but not together. The show will stress young Oscar attendees on the Red Carpet, hiding many others for a big reveal on the show itself. (TRUE, the Academy is trying to pull younger viewers.) TRUE, Dreamgirl Beyonce will sing, but new mother MIA will NOT sing on the Oscars. UPDATE: She might attend, though.

TRUE, Watchmen screens for junket press Tuesday night in L.A. Unfortunately, I have to do something else. Here's an early Time "non-review" and the latest clip:

The Oscar nominations are in and The Dark Knight did not make it to best picture. The Reader landed the slot instead, also scoring noms for Stephen Daldry for best director (over The Dark Knight's Chris Nolan), David Hare for adapted screenplay and Kate Winslet (instead of Revolutionary Road). The Dark Knight was in the running though, with eight noms, including a posthumous nom for Heath Ledger, who is the frontrunner for best supporting actor.

Harvey Weinstein is a happy man.

A late-entry in the Oscar race, The Reader was barely finished in time. But Weinstein knew he had a winner and several Oscar-watchers were telling me Golden Globes weekend that their Academy pals weren't saying they voted for The Dark Knight. They were hearing they liked The Reader, which finally landed five noms. (Penelope Cruz also landed a nom for supporting actress for TWC's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but Woody Allen was shut out for original screenplay.)

Media prognosticators who reach a consensus on these things aren't always right--check out The Gurus 'O Gold. Everybody said The Dark Knight--including me--because it was hard to figure anything else for that slot. The Reader was one of several possibilities, including two other films produced by Scott Rudin, Doubt (five noms) and Revolutionary Road (three). Rudin took his name off The Reader when he kept wrangling with Weinstein.

The other news was actors' actors Melissa Leo and Richard Jenkins landing nods. Many Academy voters loved Sony Pictures Classics' Sundance pick-up Frozen River, which also landed an unexpected nom for Courtney Hunt for original screenplay. The nom for Jenkins' quiet performance in The Visitor meant that Clint Eastwood did not get a slot for Gran Torino, nor did Leonardo DiCaprio for Revolutionary Road, which landed three noms, for costume design, art direction and supporting actor Michael Shannon. Eastwood had to console himself with Changeling's three noms (Jolie, cinematography and art direction). Gran Torino was shut out.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are also happy today, as both won noms. Jolie won an Oscar in 2000 for Girl Interrupted, while Pitt hadn't been nominated since his supporting role in Twelve Monkeys in 1996.

The best actress category was open for some surprises. Button's Cate Blanchett did not make it, nor did critics' faves Sally Hawkins and Kristin Scott Thomas, who were overlooked mainly because not enough people saw art-house entries Happy-Go-Lucky and I've Loved You So Long. Oscar perennial Mike Leigh did land his sixth Oscar nom, for his Happy-Go-Lucky original screenplay. He has never won.

Animated film Wall-E, from Pixar, didn't make it to best picture but it did earn six noms, including original screenplay, tying with Beauty and the Beast (which had four music noms). Pixar's Ratatouille earned five last year and won best animated feature, as Wall-E is likely to do.

Here's the list of noms, led by David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, with 13. Someone asked me to make my Oscar pics before this morning, and I backed out. You have to get a feel for the whole list. Heading toward the Academy Awards night on February 22, Benjamin Button will be slugging it out with Slumdog Millionaire. But Milk also did very well, which is why I'm still picking Sean Penn to beat Mickey Rourke, partly because The Wrestler landed only two acting noms. Milk is going to have to win something.

UPDATE: Tom O'Neil explains why Bruce Springsteen didn't make the cut.

The noms list is on the jump:

The Producers Guild vote is revealing. Its top five:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

The list will be the same for the Oscar on January 22, methinks. I went over the categories for each of the top contenders. These five films have more deep support from the Academy branches than any of their competitors, including Doubt, Revolutionary Road, The Reader, Gran Torino, The Wrestler and Wall-E.

Peter Morgan is parlaying his current status as the hottest screenwriter in Hollywood into his first directing gig, the third installment of his Tony Blair trilogy, starring Frost/Nixon's Michael Sheen as the British prime minister. Kathy Kennedy, who set up Morgan's script Hereafter at DreamWorks for director Clint Eastwood, will produce.

The question is, who should play Bill Clinton? John Travolta played him in Mike Nichols' Primary Colors. Got any suggestions?

According to the A.P., Jennifer Hudson returned to Chicago over the weekend and identified the bodies of her slain mother and brother. A young boy's body was found in the SUV that had been sought for Hudson's nephew. And William Balfour, the ex-husband of Hudson's sister (the mother of her missing seven-year-old nephew Julian King), is being held for questioning. Hudson is offering a reward for info about this case.

"Jennifer and her family appreciate the enormous amount of love, support and prayers they have received while she and her family try to cope with this tragedy and continue the search for Julian," said a statement from her publicist."

Things were going so well. Jennifer Hudson, the Oscar-winning actress of Dreamgirls and co-star of the current hit The Secret Life of Bees has lost her mother, reports say, to a Chicago gunman. Here's the A.P. and CBS News:

The mother of Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Hudson was reportedly found dead in a South Side home.

Two adults were found fatally shot at a home at 70th Street and Yale Avenue at 3 p.m. Friday, authorities said. Willie Davis, the pastor of the Hudson family's church, Progressive Baptist, confirmed that 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donnerson was one of the victims.

The other victim was a man, the Chicago Fire Department said.

Chicago police are now searching for a man and boy, believed to be driving on the North Side. The man is known as "William," has braids in his hair, and is driving a 1994 Chevy, according to police scanner traffic. The 7-year-old, known as Julian, is wearing a tan jersey with the number 5 on it, and tan slacks.

The shooting is believed to be domestic.

Joan Hyler, the veteran manager and former WMA talent agent, has been listed in critical condition at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after a bring struck by a car on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu late Friday night. Her friends and family have started a web page to keep track of her progress. The first posting has elicited more than 70 messages of support:

Posted 2 days ago
Dear Friends and Family,
Thank you so very much for all of your support and love. (This post is being written by Jessica Roberts, and Nancy and Louis Berlin, her sister and brother-in-law).
Joan had just parked her car Friday evening, August 16th, on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, when she was struck by a passing vehicle, and sustained severe and multiple injuries. LA Sheriff officers were first on the scene, and she was taken to Pepperdine, and transferred by air to UCLA Westwood, where she is undergoing treatment.
Because she had a piece of paper in her hand with the address of the house she was going to, the officers were able to let friends and associates there know what happened, and they were able to go to UCLA and maintain a vigil overnight, and through the day Saturday.
We do not have any further details on what happened, who was involved, why, or even where her car is, and which police agency has her purse, keys etc. It's the weekend in California, and everything is closed. Police said that a preliminary report on what happened would be available in 2 weeks.
Nancy and Louis flew in this morning, and met Larry, who also flew in in the AM.
From late Friday through mid-afternoon Saturday, doctors worked constantly to assess the injuries. It is still too early to know the extent of the damage or the severity of the injuries but Joan is responding to commands to wiggle her fingers, etc., which is encouraging.

I've known Joan for years, since her William Morris days, where as a pioneer woman agent, she inevitably hit the glass ceiling and turned manager. She has always been an island of warmth and sanity in a tough, stressful business. She kept an overview, and enjoyed analyzing shifts and trends. I helped her teach a class last year: she was having a blast sharing her experience and insight about this crazy industry with her students, who adored her.

Here's Sunday night's status report:

As expected, under pressure from Viacom prexy and CEO Philippe Dauman, Paramount execs Brad Grey, Rob Moore and John Lesher have completed their reorganization of Paramount and Paramount Vantage, and will lay off some 60 staffers on Thursday.

Here's the memo that's being sent to their staffers:

TO: Paramount Pictures Employees

FR: Rob Moore and John Lesher

RE: Announcement

DT: July 24, 2008

As you know, we announced last month that we would be reorganizing the Paramount and Vantage marketing, distribution and physical production departments to maximize efficiencies. As part of that process, we analyzed areas of redundancies and today, we announced we would be eliminating about 60 positions across the company. Many of the changes were a direct result of the consolidation of these departments and some were the result of identifying additional opportunities to streamline the organization. The goal is to be strategic and disciplined about how we manage the business for the long term, and to take into account the dynamic nature of the challenging marketplace.

As we have rebuilt and grown the organization, Paramount has consistently looked to evolve in a way that best serves our filmmakers, their creativity and our consumers. We are so grateful for the immense contributions by so many Paramount and Vantage professionals who have been instrumental in our successes so far.

Moving forward, this new structure provides us with a solid foundation as we prepare for our upcoming slate of diverse films, including The Duchess, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Revolutionary Road, G.I. Joe, Star Trek and Transformers 2, to name a few.

None of our successes are possible without your continued support and hard work – we really appreciate it.

Best, Rob and John

Holy batshit! Shades of Russell Crowe are haunting Dark Knight star Christian Bale, who got into something in advance of the record opening of the second Christopher Nolan Batman installment that caused his mother and sister to file assault allegations. Wow. We don't yet know what went on here.

How bad can it be to star in what could be the biggest movie of the year? Bad timing indeed.

Angelina Jolie gave birth to a boy and a girl by Caesarian section Saturday night. The obstretician who delivered the twins told the A.P. their names are Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline. UPDATE: Here's NYDN.

More creative baby-naming.

The future is 3D, declared DreamWorks animation czar Jeffrey Katzenberg on Tuesday before showing the first piece of 3D footage created by DreamWorks--a redo of an entire scene from the upcoming 2D movie Kung Fu Panda in RealD. (Everyone seems to like these cool RealD glasses better than the clunkier Dolby ones.)

The Theatre des Arts crowd at the Paris donned their 3D glasses and dug the intense action sequence. Then Katzenberg previewed a funny scene from the upcoming Monsters vs. Aliens, featuring a confrontation between the president, played by Stephen Colbert, and a just-landed alien. Here's the casting story.

It's all 3D all the time for DreamWorks Animation from now on, Katzenberg declared, exhorting the exhibs to upgrade to digital 3D. 2009 is the big year when some 10 to 12 digital 3D pics will hit screens--and there aren't enough of them yet--about 1000-- to handle a wide 3D release. UPDATE: Disney distribution and marketing chief Mark Zoradi on Wednesday predicts 4 to 5,000 3D screens by 2010. "In the next 24 months we'll reach a tipping point," he said. And exhibs are finally ready to step up and invest now that they see competitors doing better with Beowulf and Hannah Montana in 3D. Here's more on the impact of Hannah Montana on the biz.

Later in the day, Katzenberg showed Kung Fu Panda in all its CG 2D glory. The crowd ate it up. Katzenberg has this family formula down--it'll play for kids, young males, families, the works.

The pic boasts a lovable central character, the tubby panda (Jack Black) who adores kung fu and must channel his inner strength and purpose and listen to his master teacher (Dustin Hoffman) to become a great fighter and save the day. But the five kung fu heroes our young panda worships are not as well-developed as they might have been. No question this pic will score big this summer (June 6).

Here's an update on the Heath Ledger autopsy report. Warner Bros. is still trying to come to grips not only with his death, but how to proceed on finishing and marketing The Dark Knight (below). He was in the midst of filming Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (right). Ledger had starred in Gilliam's Brothers Grimm. UPDATE: Glenn Kenny's eulogy.

Heath Ledger was found dead in his SoHo apartment, Tuesday, surrounded by pills. It may not be a suicide. He was 28.

NEW YORK (AP) — Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at a downtown Manhattan residence in a possible drug-related death, police said. He was 28.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the Manhattan apartment believed to be his home. The housekeeper who went to let Ledger know the masseuse was there found him dead at 3:26 p.m.

The Australian-born actor was an Oscar nominee for his role in "Brokeback Mountain" and has numerous other screen credits.

How horrible. Sad. Regrettable. Ledger was just moving into the height of his powers. His work in the trailer to Dark Knight looks creepy and good. His Oscar-nominated performance in Brokeback Mountain revealed a deep sadness that must have been inside him. It's a terrible waste of a major talent who should have had a long career ahead of him. He had broken up with Michelle Williams, with whom he had a daughter. I've always been fond of this paparazzi shot from happier days.

The DGA nominees were announced this morning; these noms provide an excellent--through not entirely accurate--bellwether of where the Oscar nominations might go on January 22. The DGA tends to be slightly more populist and mainstream--it's a much bigger group than the Academy directors, including many assistant directors, production managers and folks who work in TV. Usually the winner of the DGA is the winner of the Oscar. But the five nominees don't always line up.

These five could well be the final Oscar five on January 22. But will the Academy directors go for Tony Gilroy, Sean Penn and Julian Schnabel? No Country for Old Men, Michael Clayton and There will be Blood are looking steady as they go for best picture slots. Into the Wild and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly are vying for the fifth slot with Juno and Sweeney Todd.

Tim Burton's omission here is a surprise. Youthful Jason Reitman and Joe Wright are not. I'm still sure that Juno has strong momentum, and that Atonement is still the kind of movie Academy voters love (though it is losing steam). Ridley Scott's omission is a sign of weakness for American Gangster. Martin Scorsese's The Departed was one thing, and American Gangster is another. Finally, Denzel Washington won for Training Day, and this role may seem too similar. The movie may be too been there, done that.

John Lesher is having a very good day: not only is he about to get promoted, but Paramount Vantage has three films in this line-up, two of them shared with producer Scott Rudin and Daniel Battsek's Miramax: No Country for Old Men and There Will be Blood. Miramax also has three, with Diving Bell.

And the nominees are:

Paul Thomas Anderson - "There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax Films) Unit Production Manager: Daniel Lupi First Assistant Director: Adam Somner Second Assistant Directors: Eric Lasko, Ian Stone, Richard Oswald Second Second Assistant Director: Jenny Nolan

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - "No Country for Old Men" (Miramax Films and Paramount Vantage)
Unit Production Manager: Robert J. Graf
First Assistant Director: Betsy Magruder Second Assistant Director: Bac DeLorme
Second Second Assistant Director: Jai James

Tony Gilroy - "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)
Unit Production Manager: Christopher Goode First Assistant Director: Steve Apicella
Second Assistant Director: Michael Pitt
Second Second Assistant Directors: Matt Power, Jason Ivey

Sean Penn - "Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage)
Unit Production Manager: John J. Kelly
First Assistant Director: David Webb
Second Assistant Director: Dylan Hopkins Second Second Assistant Directors: John R. Saunders, Ian Calip

Julian Schnabel - "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax Films)
Unit Production Managers: Stéphan Guillemet, A.F.R., Jon Kilik
First Assistant Director: Stéphane Gluck, A.F.A.R.
Second Assistant Director: Mathilde Cavillan

[Joel and Ethan Coen photos courtesy of New York Magazine]

The Golden Globes will wind up as a one-hour live press conference on NBC with some kind of pre-show and lots of party coverage, reports Variety. This way NBC News will cover the press conference announcing the winners, to be aired January 13 at 6 PM Pacific. A proposed Dateline special, Dick Clark Productions clip show and Access Hollywood after-party coverage may be part of the package are no longer part of the package. There will be no lavish Globe Awards dinner, but plenty of Beverly Hilton red-carpet and party activity for the news media and Beverly Hilton parties are being cancelled.

The mechanics of the one-hour announcement itself are still in the air. The original idea was that at some point during party festivities the HFPA would stop the proceedings and make the declaration of the winners. Cameras would be poised on the nominees at the different parties, so that there would be reaction from Atonement's Keira Knightley, for example, at the Universal/Focus party. This concept was scratched by the WGA.

NBC was trying to sidestep the WGA by putting together a series of Golden Globes shows that were not WGA shows. The WGA did not go along with this idea.

Why did the Hollywood foreign press not stick to its original plan of putting on the awards dinner Guild-style without an NBC telecast? Word is, they simply waited too long to apply for a waiver and negotiate a reasonable solution. They couldn't keep their heads on straight when they found themselves up against the wall. The Beverly Hilton, caterers, designers, florists, all were calling every hour to find out what was going on. Everyone winds up with significant losses.

When the HFPA met Friday, they insisted on not taping or delaying the telecast. And announcing the winners as planned, no matter what. The once-planned banquet without a telecast was no longer possible at that point. For its part, NBC was holding firm against the WGA and didn't want to cave.

Monday the HFPA went down the road with NBC of trying to have four hours of programming that night, which would have been more lucrative than cancelling the telecast. But NBC, Dick Clark and the Globes wound up with just a one-hour televised press conference. And there are plenty of people unhappy about that. What everyone is left with is what one observer calls "a strange thing at the Hilton Hotel in January."

There's never a dull moment over at Paramount. Indie prod-turned-Brad Grey favorite at Paramount, production exec Pamela Abdy, finds herself embroiled in a plot worthy of The Sopranos. A NYP story reveals that Abdy was caught on a wiretap discussing her intimate relationship with new Jersey mobster Joseph Perna:

Award-winning Paramount Pictures veep and producer Pamela Abdy has been identified as the girlfriend of a married New Jersey mobster nabbed this week on charges he helped run a multibillion-dollar illegal gambling ring with ties to the Bloods gang, court documents show.

Abdy - whose credits include "Garden State," "Babel," "World Trade Center" and "Freedom Writers" - was captured on wiretaps talking with her beau, reputed Luchese made man Joseph Perna, just minutes before she headed to a June movie screening, according to New Jersey authorities.

During their conversation, Abdy, who investigators said had a "personal dating relationship" with Perna, discusses their jobs, likening some film business execs to "made guys."

Abdy has been working on a project called "Gangsta Bitches." In recent weeks the exec v-p had been rumored to be ascending to replace John Lesher at Paramount Vantage. It is unlikely that under these circumstances Abdy will be able to keep her current job. Here's Variety's story.

It was a mistake.

While DreamWorks partner David Geffen has always demonstrated pitch-perfect timing in his big business decisions, the fateful move to take DreamWorks away from Universal to Paramount was a huge blunder. With a big financial deadline looming and General Electric dragging its heels, the DreamWorks partners sold DreamWorks live action to Paramount. And have regretted it ever since.

It's telling that Steven Spielberg did not leave the Universal lot. And likely never will. While the filmmaker is still at the top of the Hollywood food chain, DreamWorks' best hope for landing the rich deal they're after is the troica of Universal's Ron Meyer, NBC's Jeff Zucker and General Electric's Jeffrey Immelt (who admitted after the fact that it was a mistake to let the DreamWorks team go). It's less likely that anyone else will come through for them--although last week word was that Rupert Murdoch was in the mix. Here's today's NYT story.

And yet, leaving Paramount and starting over at Universal is a risky move for DreamWorks, no matter how much they despise working under the capricious leadership of Sumner Redstone. They would leave behind much of their development--unless they can buy some material back and make co-production arrangements on others. They will have to build their inventory up again. (Will Stacey Snider want to take on that backbreaking task? Will she want to return to the studio that she once ran?) What DreamWorks could lose is that often ephemeral thing that you don't want to ever lose in Hollywood. Momentum.

Variety's Todd McCarthy delivers a rave review of Paul Thomas Anderson's much-anticipated There Will Be Blood. We saw it at the same screening on Friday last week. McCarthy wanted to take his time with this review, and not rush it out the door. Here's a sample:

Officially penning an adaptation for the first time, Anderson turns out to have been inspired very loosely indeed by his source, Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel "Oil!" Pic betrays little of the tome's overview and virtually none of socialist Sinclair's muckraking instincts. Instead, it is more interested in language, in the twinned aspects of industry and religion on the landscape of American progress and, above all, in creating an obsessive, almost microscopically observed study of an extreme sociopath who determinedly destroys his ties to other human beings.

Notwithstanding its passing resemblance to "Citizen Kane," this theme is an odd one on which to build a big movie, especially in view of the extreme manner in which it ends; one can only guess at Anderson's personal reasons for dwelling on it with such unremitting fervor. But his commitment to going all the way must be respected in the face of conventional commercial considerations. Day-Lewis' Daniel Plainview is a profoundly anti-social fellow, malevolently so, and "There Will Be Blood" devotes itself to scratching, peeling and digging away at a man determined to divest himself of his past and everyone associated with it.

Here's the trailer:

My take on the movie: it is brilliantly written, acted, directed, mounted and scored. Like the novel, it reveals a key aspect of the American character. The oil catter played by Daniel Day-Lewis--who gives a towering performance sure to earn him award consideration--is driven, powerful, tenacious, and greedy. He is the sort of man who made this country, and still does. But he is also deeply sociopathic.

In some ways the movie is a companion piece to Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Americans are a remarkably violent people. Our country breeds and foments violence. But the movie's dark, grim, assaultive nature, and the finale that does not offer any light in the darkness, will drive many viewers away, especially women. It's an art-house movie for smart people with strong stomachs. Cinephiles will revel in this. As a writer-director, PTA will earn the respect of critics and peers. But a wide-audience spectacle this is not.

PTA lacks that warm touch that can open a movie up to a broader swath of viewers--compare this to the Coens' No Country for Old Men. That movie in its way also reveals the darkness in mens' souls. But there are many people--like Tommy Lee Jones' sheriff--fighting the good fight. Even if they lose, they are still fighting.

Finally, There Will Be Blood's greatest achievement is Day-Lewis's performance. He brings humanity to a character who might otherwise not have any, as interpreted by another actor.

UPDATE: Here's another rave from In Contention's Kris Tapley.

And here's what an editor pal of mine in NY thought (spoiler alert!):

Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, which wasn't ready in time for submission to any of the major fall fests, debuted instead as a secret showing at Fantastic Fest 3 in Austin Thursday night. Here's an early review from The Circuit:

The secret closing-night film of Fantastic Fest 3 in Austin, Texas, on Thursday night turned out to be the first public screening of Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood." Certain to be rewarded with year-end accolades, Anderson's film is a true American saga - one that rivals "Giant" and "Citizen Kane" in our popular lore as origin stories about how we came to be the people we are. In "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," it's not the gold that destroys men's souls but greed; in "There Will Be Blood," the commodity that drives the greed is oil.

UPDATE: Cinematical and John DeFore weigh in.

Count on Brian De Palma to drive people crazy.

His latest polarizer, Redacted, debuted in Venice on Friday to sustained applause and divergent reaction--see Reuters, Premiere, THR and Variety--and then met a mixed response stateside in Telluride on Saturday. (See Todd MccCarthy's fest wrap and GreenCine.)

De Palma wanted to bring attention to the War in Iraq, 18 years after his own similarly-themed Casualties of War. What he got was a debate about his filmmaking methods. Some admired his high-concept low-budget agit-prop mash-up of different video POVS, from a Marine's video diary to Iraqi insurgents planting IEDs at night to surveillance cameras and a glossy French documentary about a Samarra checkpoint.

And four festivals scheduled De Palma's $5-million indie docudrama with an anti-war message: Redacted now moves on to Toronto and finally, New York. Now 66, De Palma faces his first NYFF. And it may not be altogether pleasant.

The doc hybrid movie is nothing new. Filmmakers are always looking for something fresh and real, a new way to convince moviegoers that what they are seeing is not fake. Michael Moore uses the doc form to sell a political message in an entertaining way. And filmmakers Paul Greengrass, Kevin MacDonald and Michael Winterbottom have taken the art of verisimilitude to new heights with guerilla indie filmmaking techniques in docudramas like United 93, Touching the Void and A Mighty Heart. They throw actors into real situations with real people, they follow them with multiple portable cameras, they make you believe they are showing you something close to reality. They also set an awfully high standard.

De Palma cites United 93 as inspiration. It is understandable that an established studio filmmaker like De Palma would relish an opportunity to skip out on the hazards of making movies inside the big Hollywood machine. The director's first stab at returning to his indie roots, last year's moody film noir The Black Dahlia, achieved mixed results. But he enjoyed being the master of his universe on a modest budget in Eastern Europe; he had fun playing around with novelist James Ellroy’s dark materials.

But during the filming of Redacted, De Palma discovered that indie filmmaking has its own hazards. A brainy filmmaker who likes to provoke people with such films as Carrie, The Untouchables, Scarface and Carlito’s Way, De Palma is no stranger to controversy. He called me Sunday morning from Venice to explain what he was doing with Redacted, which in some ways harks back to his early indie years in New York shooting Hi Mom, Greetings and Home Movies.

Last year during his traditional tour to the Toronto fest to see films, De Palma went out to dinner with some old pals and met Laird Adamson from HDNet Films, the low-budget digital film division run by 2929 Entertainment czars Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner. Standing on the street after dinner, Adamson planted the idea that De Palma could have some fun on high def video, like Steven Soderbergh did with The Bubble. "We'll give you $5 million and you can make whatever you want," he told the filmmaker.

De Palma thought about what would lend itself to that format. He was impressed by HBO's Baghdad ER, which brought back his own memories of haunting the ER when his father was on duty, of "sorrow and suffering. I said to myself, 'boy some people will see this and think hard about what we're doing over there.' HD has intimacy on TV; it's more vivid than film."

The De Palma found a shocking event, the March, 2006 rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl and her family in Mahmudiya; five U.S. soldiers were charged; four were sentenced to five to 110 years. Redacted was "inspired" by that horrific episode, a word that De Palma has been told to use by HDNet Film's lawyers.

"It was almost the exact same incident we did in Casualties of War," he says. "You can't tell the insurgents from the people they're supposed to be protecting. In Casualties of War they were abducting a farm girl. There was the usual frustration trying to tell someone about it. It was impossible to get justice. Everyone wants it covered up and forgotten. I wanted to tell that story again, about Iraq."

The filmmaker is no stranger to documentaries: back at the start of his career in the 60s, The Responsive Eye was about Op Art, while Show Me a Strong Town and I'll Show You a Strong Bank was about the NAACP and the Legal Defense Fund. "I was shooting everything myself in those days," De Palma says. "I was brought up in the new documentary era of the Maysles brothers and Richard Leacock."

But since then De Palma has become a Master of the Universe who directs massive tentpoles starring Tom Hanks (Bonfire of the Vanities) and Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible). How was he going to squeeze himself down to $5 million?

Eight new films have been added to the Toronto Fest selection, including a number of potential Oscar contenders: Julian Schanbel's Cannes hit the Diving Bell and the Butterfly; Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney; Gavin Hood's Rendition, starring Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep; Neil Jordan's The Brave One, starring Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard; Terry George's Reservation Road, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Connelly, and Peter Greenaway's Nightwatching, starring Martin Freeman as Rembrandt and Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball's Nothing is Private, starring Toni Collette, which are seeking distribution.

The 32nd Toronto International Film Festival runs September 6 – 15, 2007:

GALA PRESENTATIONS
MICHAEL CLAYTON Tony Gilroy, USA

Tony Gilroy (screenwriter, THE BOURNE IDENTITY, THE BOURNE SUPREMACY) wrote and makes his feature directorial debut with this gripping legal drama about an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. Michael Clayton (George Clooney) takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's dirtiest work at the behest of the firm's co-founder Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack). Though burned out and hardly content with his job, Michael Clayton faces a divorce, a failed business venture and mounting debt, all of which have left him inextricably tied to the firm. At U/North, meanwhile, the career of litigator Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) rests on the multi-million dollar settlement that Clayton's firm is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion. But when Kenner Bach's brilliant and guilt-ridden attorney Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) sabotages the U/North case, Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career and his life. Produced by Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox, Steven Samuels and Kerry Orent, MICHAEL CLAYTON is a Mirage Enterprises/Section Eight production. The film is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures in association with Samuels Media and Castle Rock Entertainment.

RENDITION Gavin Hood, USA

Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, Peter Sarsgaard and Alan Arkin head an all-star ensemble cast in RENDITION, a compelling thriller from Gavin Hood, director of the Academy Award-winning TSOTSI (winner of the TIFF 2005 People's Choice Award). Witherspoon plays Isabella El-Ibrahimi, the American wife of Egyptian-born chemical engineer Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) who disappears on a flight from South Africa to Washington. Isabella desperately tries to track her husband down, while a CIA analyst (Gyllenhaal) at a secret detention facility outside the U.S. is forced to question his assignment as he becomes party to the man’s unorthodox interrogation. A New Line Cinema production, RENDITION is produced by Steve Golin and Marcus Viscidi from a screenplay by Kelly Sane. The film is distributed by New Line Cinema in the United States and by Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Distribution in Canada.

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
BEFORE THE RAINS Santosh Sivan, USA/India
The English language debut of acclaimed Indian director Santosh Sivan (THE TERRORIST, ASOKA), set in 1930s India. When a married British colonialist (Linus Roache) is caught having an affair with his beautiful housemaid (Nandita Das), he convinces his trusted farmhand (Rahul Bose) - a member of the housemaid's tribe - to help find a solution to the potentially deadly situation.

THE BRAVE ONE Neil Jordan, USA/Australia
Two-time Academy Award™ winner Jodie Foster stars in a bracing thriller from filmmaker Neil Jordan (BREAKFAST ON PLUTO, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, THE CRYING GAME). New York radio host Erica Bain (Foster) has a life that she loves and a fiancé she adores – and it all is taken away when a brutal attack leaves Erica badly wounded and her fiancé dead. Unable to move past the tragedy, Erica begins prowling the city streets at night to track down the men she holds responsible. Her dark pursuit of justice catches the public’s attention, and New York is riveted by her anonymous exploits. But with the NYPD desperate to find the culprit and a dogged police detective (Terrence Howard) hot on her trail, she must decide whether her quest for revenge is truly the right path, or if she is indeed becoming the very thing she is trying to stop. Also starring Naveen Andrews, Nicky Katt and Mary Steenburgen.

NIGHTWATCHING Peter Greenaway, UK/Poland/Canada/The Netherlands
The year 1642 marks the turning point in the life of the famous Dutch painter, Rembrandt, transforming him from a wealthy respected celebrity into a discredited pauper. At the insistence of his pregnant wife Saskia, Rembrandt (Martin Freeman, BREAKING AND ENTERING) has reluctantly agreed to paint the Amsterdam Musketeer Militia in a group portrait, a portrait that would become his most celebrated painting – The Nightwatch. Going about his work, Rembrandt discovers that there is conspiracy afoot after a man is shot dead during routine musket practice. Determined to bring these conspiracies to light, the artist builds his accusation meticulously in the form of the commissioned painting itself, simultaneously uncovering a seamy and hypocritical side to Dutch Society in the Golden Age.

NOTHING IS PRIVATE Alan Ball, USA

Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello and Academy Award nominee Toni Collette star in the feature directorial debut from Alan Ball (Writer, AMERICAN BEAUTY; Creator, TV's "Six Feet Under"). Based on the acclaimed book Towelhead, Ball’s NOTHING IS PRIVATE deals with the powerful issues of female sexuality, politics and racial bigotry, challenging preconceived notions of what is political and what is personal. America prepares for the first Gulf War. Thirteen-year-old Jasira (newcomer Summer Bishil) unwittingly enters into a dangerous flirtation with her mother's boyfriend, and is sent to live with her father Rifat (Peter Macdissi of "Six Feet Under") in the suburbs of Houston. An over-bearing and traditional man, Rifat is ill-equipped to deal with the rapid sexual awakening of his teenage daughter. Jasira's interactions with Rifat, her classmates and the neighbours on either side of her new home – liberal newlyweds and a conservative Army reservist – yield startling consequences, as Jasira comes to realize that she and only she should be in control of her body and her life.

RESERVATION ROAD Terry George, USA

A compelling tale about the lure of revenge and the power of redemption, the drama revolves around two fathers whose families and lives tragically converge with the death of a child. In the aftermath, Ethan (two-time Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix) and Dwight (Mark Ruffalo) each react in unexpected ways as their families struggle to cope and an emotional reckoning looms. Directed by Terry George (HOTEL RWANDA), the film also stars Academy Award winners Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvino.

LE SCAPHANDRE ET LE PAPILLON (THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY) Julian Schnabel, France

The remarkable true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric),a successful and charismatic editor-in-chief of French Elle, who believes he is living his life to its absolute fullest when a sudden stroke leaves him in a life-altered state. While the physical challenges of Bauby's fate first leave him with little hope for the future, he begins to discover how his life's passions, his rich memories and his newfound imagination can help him achieve a life without boundaries. Winner of Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival and based on Bauby's internationally acclaimed memoir, the film also stars Marie-Josée Croze (ARARAT, LES INVASIONS BARBARES) and Max Von Sydow.

Rafat Ali's paidContent is reporting that as many had suspected, Yahoo has moved Terry Semel out as CEO; Jerry Yang is taking over that role. So is AP.

It was Philadelphia Inquirer critic Carrie Rickey's idea. After realizing that the American Film Insititute's nomination ballot for last year's list of 100 best American movies comprised 400 titles, of which 4.5 were directed by women, she suggested that the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, of which she is one of 27 members, vote for their own list of best 100 movies of all time. The AWFJ sent in lists of films to create a ballot of their own, and voted for 100. (As a member, I voted too.) The top 100 list will be announced June 25. I have been leaked five, none of which were on the AFI's list of 400 nominees:

Appropriately for a women's list, two of the films are French (the AFI's list is American): Francois Truffaut's Jules and Jim
Julie Taymor's Frida
Martin Ritt's Norma Rae
Maya Deren's Meshes in the Afternoon
Max Ophuls' the Earrings of Madame De..

All five are visually rich dramatic movies that had a significant impact on film culture. Jules and Jim holds up as one of the great romantic triangles, with the unforgettable Jeanne Moreau at its center. Frida rests on the performances of Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina and Taymor's sophisticated painter's pallette. Sally Field won an Oscar for her role as a working woman who rises up against her bosses. A mesmerizing avant-garde surrealist tone poem shot in Los Angeles in 1943, Meshes in the Afternoon is still sharp and modern. And The Earrings of Madame De...is one of the most fun, erotic, glorious black-and-white romantic movies you'll ever see.

UPDATE: The news release is on the jump.

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have announced official casting on Indy Jones 4 directly via the movie's website. Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone and John Hurt will join Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf in the sequel which is set to open on May 22, 2008.

Where's Sean Connery? Lucas was holding out hope that he could lure him with the latest script last time I spoke to him at April's San Francisco Film Festival. Connery must have held out for too much money. Here's how they handle it in the release:

While the man with the hat is back, this time he's not bringing his Dad. Sean Connery, who retired from acting in 2005, said:

"I get asked the question so often, I thought it best to make an announcement. I thought long and hard about it and if anything could have pulled me out of retirement it would have been an Indiana Jones film. I love working with Steven and George, and it goes without saying that it is an honor to have Harrison as my son. But in the end, retirement is just too damned much fun. I, do however, have one bit of advice for Junior: Demand that the critters be digital, the cliffs be low, and for goodness sake keep that whip by your side at all times in case you need to escape from the stunt coordinator! This is a remarkable cast, and I can only say, 'Break a leg, everyone.' I'll see you on May 22, 2008 at the theater!"

Officially retired eh? I guess at age 76 that's allowed.

Julia Stiles is great casting as Sylvia Plath in a screen adaptation of Plath's autobiographical novel The Bell Jar. She's smart and strong with a definite dark side. I liked her in the 50s feminist drama Mona Lisa Smile. She looks right.

Ex-Paramount vice chairman Rob Friedman has finally finalized his long in the works Summit domestic distribution deal.

Contrary to various reports, the Weinsteins will not slice and dice the two halves of Grindhouse in the U.S. Last weekend the distributor quietly experimented with advertising Planet Terror and Death Proof's individual show times (without separating the films) in several markets including Memphis and San Antonio. The three-hour 11 minute movie is playing best in New York and L.A. and fair in the top ten movie cities, but is dying everywhere else. The experiment failed. Both movies performed exactly the same as they did in other flat markets.

From here, the Weinsteins are launching a longer version of Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof, to be enhanced by some 10-15 minutes, at Cannes next month. The two films will be released around the world in June and July. If they succeed as separate pictures, there remains a possibility that the company could consider a later limited art-house release. But the likely scenario is that they will look to recover their investment through DVD sales.

There's something about Erica Jong's fear of Flying that is so 70s, so much a part of my feminist eye-opening phase. Who can forget Jong's zipless concept? But I wonder how that book would translate to the here and now? How would Nora--the film's target audience-- ever understand what that book meant to women at the time? It's another world today. Maggie Gyllenhaal, says Fox News, may be getting close to starring in a Diane English film adaptation.

UA has finally made a key move: hiring a head of marketing, reports Variety:

Disney marketing honcho Dennis Rice is leaving the Mouse House for United Artists, where he will serve as president of worldwide marketing and publicity. Rice, who will report to Paula Wagner, will oversee all aspects of UA's marketing and publicity efforts.

Rice started at Disney in 1992 and left for October Films in 1998. He then served as president of marketing for Miramax and then returned to Disney in 2003.

Coming out of the Paramount commissary Friday after lunch I stopped and gasped as orange plumes of smoke spewed off the crest of the Hollywood Hills to the North. KNX radio did their usual excellent onsite reporting as I drove back to the office. The Oakwood Apartments and The Hollywood Sign were threatened. The Mt. Sinai and Forest Lawn cemeteries were halting funeral services. It was an area that had not been burned in recent memory, so there was lots of brush. There were no easy access roads. It's very dry here. We're in the middle of a long drought. Luckily, it's not a gusty day, and a western wind flow from the Pacific is expected Friday night.

Here's Variety's coverage:

Staffers at Warner Bros. and Universal Studios are keeping a close eye on a brush fire above in the hills above Forest Lawn Drive that is blanketing Burbank and Universal City area with smoke. The blaze sent flames close to the famed Hollywood sign. The fire broke out around 1:15 p.m. near the Oakwood corporate housing complex that sits on the hill along Barham Boulevard, according to broadcast reports. As of 3 p.m., the fire was not endangering the Warner Bros. or U studio lots, as the flames headed east and away from both lots, according to reps for U and Warner Bros. A Warner Bros. spokesman said fire officials specifically asked the studio not to evacuate employees to avoid congestion on Forest Lawn Drive and nearby streets. Warner Bros.' gates 7, 8 and 9 along Forest Lawn Drive have been closed, along with the stretch of Forest Lawn Drive that runs from Barham Boulevard, past the Forest Lawn cemetery to a 134 Ventura freeway onramp.

Smoke from the fire was visible on the other side of the hill in Hollywood, Beverly Hills and the Miracle Mile area. The blaze was the subject of much conversation Friday afternoon among industryites.

UPDATE: And here's the later story in the LA Times.