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YESTERDAY'S POLL
What FILM in 2009 do you HAVE to see?
X-Men: Wolverine - 38% The Watchman - 18% Terminator Salvation - 17% Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - 16% Twilight 2 - 6% Star Trek - 5% Avatar - 3% Angels and Demons - 2%
Movie Reviewers Team Reviews of all the mainstream movies playing at a theater near you!
SUNDANCE GOING THE DRESSING DOWN LOOK
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Sundance, the first major fest to take place in the midst of the brutal economic downturn, is likely to be a more subdued affair.
There will still be the usual distribs scouting pics and sellers offering a full range of fare, but the overall noise level at the fest, running Jan. 15-25, is expected to be turned down a bit.
Organizers are marking the fest's 25th anniversary with special "storytelling"-themed events and Web content. Steven Soderbergh will sit on a panel seeking to answer the question "What next?"
That question has haunted the indie and specialty arenas of late. Despite the fall emergence of breakouts like "Slumdog Millionaire," "Milk" and "Doubt" at the mini-majors, the hangover from 2008 has lingered as vets absorb the disappearance of Warner Independent and Picturehouse and a big pullback by Paramount Vantage just three years after its euphoric "Hustle and Flow" Sundance moment. Add the breakdown of ThinkFilm, Bob Yari's release arm and other pure indies and the ground has shifted significantly underfoot.
Funding for pics is available, but the capital-intensive distribution and marketing sectors have been in dire straits of late.
"It just feels a lot tougher this year because so much is changing," said Bob Berney, who headed Picturehouse before it was unplugged last year by Time Warner. "Even so, I'm looking forward to Sundance just for the chance to see movies because it's often been a place of renewal."
FOX: CUTTING COSTS BUT NOT WORKERS
Unlike several of its competitors, the Fox network doesn't plan to make any major employee cuts -- at least for now.
That's according to Fox Entertainment prexy Kevin Reilly, who told reporters Tuesday the net had found other ways to cut costs.
"This company is committed to not making massive layoffs," Reilly said during Fox's portion of the TV Critics Assn. press tour at the Universal Hilton. "None are in the works right now. We're a lean company in success, and that prepares us for hard times."
NBC and CBS cut several execs last month; the Peacock also merged its network and studio programming teams, triggering more pinkslips. ABC is rumored to be mulling staff cuts and may merge its network and studio departments as well.
But at Fox, Reilly said the net had already made some tough cuts during last year's work stoppage.
"Our bottom line was trimmed during the writers strike, and we didn't let the line back out," he said. "We're pretty lean."
But, he added, "Nobody's getting off unscathed. Who knows how long (this economic slowdown) will last."
WATCH FILMS
CLASSIC FILMS
BY GENRE
Doubt
Gran Torino
The Wrestler
The Reader
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Valkyrie
Bedtime Stories
Marley and Me
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Frost/Nixon
The Day the Earth Stood Still
