Movie Reviews | Book Reviews

Book review: 'The Garner Files' Los Angeles Times "When I'm pushed, I shove," Garner writes, quoting one of his own characters, Murphy Jones of the movie "Murphy's Romance." There are more than a few fistfights in "The Garner Files," as well as thrown furniture and golf clubs, but usually there's a ... See all stories on this topic » Los Angeles Times

Scathing reviews online for pretty good movie Ocala This past week, Dearly Beloved and I went to the Marion Theatre to see "The Three Musketeers" in 3-D. Before setting out on our little adventure, I read six or seven reviews of the movie to get a hint of what we were in for after we purchased our ... See all stories on this topic »

Movie Review: Paranormal Activity 3 ABC News ABC Digital News Associate Jackie Fernandez reviews the third installment of the Paranormal Activity series. *Subscribe: http://bit.ly/abcWNNvideos. See all stories on this topic »

Pauline Kael's legacy of movie lust The Jewish Journal of Greater L.A. In his review of the Kael biographies, Frank Rich writes in The New York Times Sunday Book Review that Kael's love of movies was akin to "orgiastic passion". What was so special, and striking, about Kael's movie criticism was that it broke with ... See all stories on this topic » The Jewish Journal of Greater L.A.

'Puss in Boots': What the Critics Are Saying Hollywood Reporter DreamWorks Animation's Puss in Boots clawed its way to the top of the box office its opening weekend, and it turns out that the critics were also fans of the feline-starring film. The film received favorable reviews overall, with an 86% rating from top ... See all stories on this topic » Hollywood Reporter

This Rotten Week: Predicting A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas and Tower Heist ... Cinema Blend But fear not loyalists, the Rotten Watch is back (albeit a day late) to kneed your doughy, movie-ravaged brains with predictions aplenty. This week Stiller and company get all caper-y and our favorite bong hitting duo returns for some holiday cheer. ... See all stories on this topic » Cinema Blend

Movie Review - The Rum Diary GardnerEDGE (A word of warning before I continue this review; I walked into this movie having not yet read the book. Other than "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", I have nothing to compare this movie to.) You might be wondering where the "rum" part in "The Rum ... See all stories on this topic » GardnerEDGE

BWW Reviews: Elton John's Million Dollar Piano A Solid Gold Addition To ... Broadway World In tribute to the movie star he sang "Blue Eyes," lovely despite the fact she was well-known for her violet eyes. John ended with "The Circle of Life" from The Lion King and "I'm Still Standing." John ended with "Circle of Life" from "The Lion King" ... See all stories on this topic »

Movie Review: The Last Rites of Joe May Huffington Post (blog) It's a cold world out there for guys like Joe - and Maggio and Farina let you feel that chill in The Last Rites of Joe May. Find more reviews, interviews and commentary on my website. by Marshall Fine by Marshall Fine. See all stories on this topic »

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A Good Scare - Reelviews Movie Reviews A lot of people like to watch "scary movies" around Halloween. Exhibit A, if one is needed, is the unprecedented box office gross of Paranormal Activity 3 in 2011. It's fair to question whether any film can truly be frightening. Maybe there are ... ReelViews New Reviews

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The 14 Worst Movie Reviews From America's Jerk Film Critic The 14 Worst Movie Reviews From America's Jerk Film Critic: Armond White is a professional troll. White writes for the New Yor... www.buzzfeed.com/.../the-14-worst-movie-reviews-from-ame...

Hollywood Gossip

Hope Solo Upset with Gossip Mags for Saying She Has Problem with Partner Maks Larry Brown Sports Hollywood gossip is truly gossip! Star magazine where do u get your sources! So sad," she tweeted. "Hows this for a source! Hell, I'll even attach my name to it! 'I GOT NOTHING BUT MAD LOVE & MAD RESPECT 4 MY PARTNER Maks!' Go ahead, quote it! ... See all stories on this topic »

Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart/Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie: Who's the more ... Metrowny.com Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were the lead story on all the tabloid TV shows and on every internet gossip site. But, has the reign of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as Hollywood's most talked about couple seen its last days? ... See all stories on this topic » Metrowny.com

The CW Signs Another Major Streaming Deal, This Time With Hulu Cinema Blend On the list to be added to Hulu's streaming content are Ringer, Hart of Dixie, The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl and America's Next Top Model. Viewers will still have to go to Netflix to get previous season episodes, as the Hulu deal offers the latest ... See all stories on this topic » Cinema Blend

Magic Castle Fire Closes Down Venue Monday as Organizers Assess Damage [VIDEO] International Business Times No injuries were reported. Sign up to get up- to- date celebrity news, gossip, and more! Sample At least 120 firefighters were sent to Magic Castle, which is located in the Hollywood Hills at 7001 W. Franklin Ave, to contain the blaze. ... See all stories on this topic » International Business Times

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Kim Kardashian Files for Divorce from Kris ... - The Hollywood Gossip By matt@iscribelimited.com (Hilton Hater) It's all over for Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries. Multiple sources confirm that the couple is getting divorced after just over two months of marriage. The Hollywood Gossip

Taylor Swift Nude Photos Leaked? | www.bricksandstonesgossip.com By JohnnyFree Young Hollywood gossip, updated daily with celebrity photos, celebrity news and celebrity rumors. ... Bricks and Stones Gossip Groups. Click here to view our growing list of Gossip Groups! ... www.bricksandstonesgossip.com...

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A Little Bird Told Us … Hollywood Gossip | PETA.org TMZ founder Harvey Levin is the breaking celebrity news—he's newly vegetarian and no longer wears leather . It's likely that Levin's love of animals caused...... www.peta.org/.../A-Little-Bird-Told-Us-_2620_-Hollywood-G...

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Movie Vs Book - Which Do You Prefer?

If you asked anyone today the following question; "Movie vs book, which do you prefer?" The popular answer would be a movie if the demographic were 21 or under. Since movies are far and above a much sexier entertainment medium, most people would rather be entertained with a higher level experience that combines visual and audio effects to stimulate the senses.

There is no doubt that movies and film have penetrated deep into our society and culture. Movies can stimulate and influence attitudes and drive major behaviors across a mass audience. Whether blockbuster action films or love stories that tug at our heart strings, movies try to deliver a promise that the audience will be taken into another place and time where fantasy and reality are easily crossed.

The question then becomes, is a Movie really a better entertainment medium for those who have read the book? Most often than not, the customer would say "No, the book was better". This then begs the question, why are we biased toward a story that resides on plain white paper as better entertainment than any studio can muster on the big screen with mega budgets and high profile stars? The answer is imagination.

When reading a book, we are so engrossed into the story line that our mind's eye has crafted a picture and emotional response that is highly intense and real. With this in mind, a movie production would be hard pressed to match what we already have formed within our mental file cabinet.

So why don't more people read "a good book" on a lazy afternoon, rather than plunk down 10 bucks on a quick fix? The answer is time. Comparatively speaking, the amount of time an individual needs to escape into a good book is a much more significant commitment. With time being a major factor, we are naturally drawn into the marketing machine that influences our decision to make a minor time commitment of a couple of hours vs several days.

In conclusion, when asked "Movie vs Book, which is better?" the book will probably be the answer most given.

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Owen Roberts

Movie Magic Marred by Foul Mouths

Recently, as my wife and I tried - and failed - to find a non-animated movie in which the "F" word is used less than a dozen times and more than two people survive in the end, I reflected on how movies of old had special meaning over my seven-plus decades.

I slept with Shirley Temple's photo under my pillow at the age of five. No child star was ever sweeter, or more talented.

I remember the almost unbearable wait as I saved a dime a week for five weeks so I could see the most expensive, most-heralded movie of its time, "Tarzan the Ape Man," over two years in the making! It was a cinema adventure seldom surpassed for me again.

Later, I daydreamed in class about dating Becky from the "Tom Sawyer" classic.

In 1939, I was rocked when Clark Gable said he didn't give a "damn" to Miss O'Hara in a movie so lengthy, I had to ask if Roosevelt was still president when I finally exited. Then along came "Raging Bull," about the life of boxer Jake LaMotta. One critic wrote that minus the "F" word, it could've been a silent movie.

To avoid a bully in the sixth grade, I often skipped school and attended movies in Iowa City with my earnings from long hours of selling Liberty, Look and Life magazines. Not as easy as today's $20 to $30 allowances parents fork over for doing chores an hour a week. And who really cares what the rating is if it's a gotta-see flick?

The only time my father took me to a movie before the divorce, we saw "Frankenstein." (I was traumatized for a long time and didn't scream out in a theater again until I saw "Psycho" with my own kids.

Outside an Iowa theater, I experienced a moment frozen in time. While standing in line to see an Abbott and Costello movie on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, the horrifying word was passed that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. The end of the world loomed!

Two years later, I donned a tux and became a doorman at the same theater - my first white-collar summer job. I bought a trench-coat like Robert Mitchum's and decided I'd be a foreign correspondent and maybe marry Rita Hayworth. It didn't work out that way, but I did break up with my teen girlfriend for swooning over Frank Sinatra and attending his latest movie eight times.

I took my now wife, Lovae, to a Washington, D.C. movie theater for a buck-fifty on our first date. As part of the stage show afterward, a "mentalist" named Daas displayed his famous psychic abilities by "reading" the minds and futures of patrons. Picking me, he said I would go west and someday write a successful book far, far in the future.

I moved my family to San Diego in 1959, where I began a new public relations career, over 20 years of it with the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld.

At age 75 I published my first book. It and my second book, memoirs of the zoo years, won first place prizes in their categories from the San Diego Book Awards Committee.

I have often wondered what happened to the seer who was so on-the-nose about the young man in the audience that night half a century ago. I had placed a question in that locked box in the lobby, which was never opened before he picked me from the mini-crystal ball he held as a prop.

My bride and I still attend the theaters here, hoping to see another "Cuckoo's Nest" or "Shane" or "Cool Hand Luke" or "The Way We Were" or even "The Graduate."

But, oh, how we miss the single-screen palaces, roomy and ornate. And the 50-cent popcorn. And dialogue as sharp as "All About Eve."

Maybe I'll write my own screenplay now that the books are doing well.

Bill Seaton is a prize-winning author and lecturer who has served nearly 25 years as public relations director of the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld and the California State Lottery. To learn more about the San Diego resident's books, blogs and awards, visit http://www.billseaton.com

Comic Books Go To the Movies

Comic books have been published in America for nearly 100 years, but they didn't hit their stride until the 1940s when characters like Superman and Batman were introduced. Now, over 60 years later, comic book movies have become staples of the summer movie season. This year saw the release of "Spider-Man 3," "Fantastic Four 2" and "Ghost Rider, "(all based on Marvel comic book characters). Plus, the surprise hit of 2007, the Spartan epic, "300," was based on Frank Miller's acclaimed 1998 comic book series. These four movies alone have made over $700 million for the bean counters in Hollywood. Not bad for characters that appear in $3 comic books each month.

2008 may be the best year so far for comic book movies, with Will Eisner's (the father of the American graphic novel) "The Spirit" due in January, "Watchmen," directed by 300's Zack Snyder due in March, Robert Downey Jr. as "Iron Man," Ed Norton as "The Incredible Hulk" and Christian Bale back as Batman facing off against Heath Ledger as The Joker in "The Dark Knight."

Why have comic book movies become so big in the last decade? "Two reasons," says Marc Bowker, owner of Alter Ego Comics, a comic book store in Lima, OH. "First, special effects technology has finally caught up with the imaginations of comic book artists." The Spider-Man films are a perfect example of movies that could not have been done well without the advances in effects technology. (Want proof? Check out "The Chinese Web," a Spider-Man TV movie made in the 1970s.) The second reason, according to Bowker, "Hollywood has run out of original ideas." Most of the best films of the last 10 years have been based on existing material - novels, comic books, musicals, etc. Many comic book characters have 25-50 years worth of stories to choose from that would make excellent films.

Movie studios have taken over the biggest comic book convention in the world, The San Diego Comic Con, where they buy up the rights to comic book characters, big and small. The studios also use San Diego to make major casting announcements for comic-related movies and start building buzz around those films. At the 2007 San Diego Comic Con held in July, Zack Snyder was officially announced as the director of "Watchmen," and key cast members were revealed. Warner Bros. also held a scavenger hunt to promote the 2008 release of the new Batman film, "The Dark Knight."

The relationship between Hollywood and comic books shows no signs of ending anytime soon. There are dozens of movies based on comic books in active development, including non-super hero comics like Vertigo's "Y: The Last Man," and this fall's "30 Day's of Night." As long as the comic book industry keeps creating memorable characters with great stories, Hollywood will be waiting to bring those stories to the big screen.

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Hollywood | Celebrity

Hollywood studio defends filming in Chinese city Seattle Post Intelligencer Rights activists have criticized a Hollywood studio for filming a buddy comedy in an eastern Chinese city where the blind, self-taught activist lawyer is being held under house arrest and reportedly beaten. Relativity Media is shooting part of the ... See all stories on this topic »

West Hollywood closes streets for Halloween festival Los Angeles Times The City of West Hollywood will suspend permit parking for the Halloween Carnaval from 5 pm Monday to 6 am Tuesday. Parking meters will be enforced. City Hall Parking Lot ($15 fee), 8300 Santa Monica Blvd. Kings Road Parking Structure ($15.00 fee), ... See all stories on this topic »

Celebrity Baby Scoop: Celebrity parents share their Halloween plans Kansas City Star "Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood" stars Bill Horn and Scout Masterson are "The Guncles," and are dads to daughter Simone, 1. CBS: What are your Halloween plans this year? The Guncles: "Halloween is serious business at the Masterson-Horn house! ... See all stories on this topic »

'Celebrity Autobiography: The Next Chapter' Finds Unintended Humor In Stars ... Huffington Post ... from a vast array of celebrity memoirs. The self-indulgent, often eye-rollingly smug musings of a number of Hollywood and MTV A-listers, from Justin Bieber to Suzanne Somers to Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, lend the show its crispy comedic edge. ... See all stories on this topic »

Celebrity Jihad: The Smut Site with Topless Photo of 'Taylor Swift' Offers ... International Business Times Durka Durka started at Celebrity Jihad after he "swore a Jihad against the Zionist (expletive) in Hollywood" and citing that "biting insults" would bring the demises of "an image-obsessed celebrity." The photographs of various female celebrities ... See all stories on this topic » International Business Times

Why don't we care whether Jessica Simpson is pregnant? CNN (CNN) -- It seems that in recent years, Hollywood has been "baby crazy," and celebrity followers have flocked to entertainment shows, websites and magazines with a voracious hunger to get the latest news on which stars are expecting a visit from the ... See all stories on this topic »

Hollywood Halloween Countdown #1 WNCT (blog) Speaking of movies, the Hollywood Halloween Countdown has finally reached the number one spot. Since I started this countdown, my goal was to offer up suggestions for fun movies for your Halloween parties, or to simply get into the Halloween mood. ... See all stories on this topic »

ROLL CALL: Hollywood Halloween Hits: Jessica Alba's A Witch, Nicole Richie As ... Access Hollywood Jessica wasn't the only witch to haunt Hollywood this weekend. Find out who else donned the big hat (but appears to have misplaced her broomstick) this weekend, HERE! Plus, what did Heidi Klum, Kim Kardashian and Snooki dress up as? ... See all stories on this topic » Access Hollywood

Celebrity Halloween Costumes: From Sexy to Scary (PHOTOS) Celebuzz Whether it was Heidi Klum going over-the-top with her human body extravaganza costume at her always-insane party or even just celebs submitting their photos via Twitpic — a la Lea Michele and her Black Swan-inspired outfit — Hollywood went gaga for ... See all stories on this topic »

Becoming Marilyn Newsweek How Michelle Williams wiggled and wept her way into the soul of Hollywood's greatest icon. For Michelle Williams, playing Marilyn Monroe in the new film My Week With Marilyn was like building a house. She had to start with the foundation, ... See all stories on this topic » Newsweek

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Hollywood Street Brawl Involving 100 People In Costumes Leaves 1 ... By Alan Carter http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/photo-galleries/2011/ Celebrity Costumes · Dress Your Pet. HOLLYWOOD (CBS) — About 100 Halloween revelers, many in costume, got into a heated brawl early Sunday, with a 27-year-old man taken to the ... CBS Los Angeles

Taylor Swift Denies Nude Photo Is Her ... - The Hollywood Reporter By THR staff Follow THR on Twitter · The Hollywood Reporter on LinkedIn .... Related. Album review: Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now' · Justin Bieber MVP of NBA All-Star Celebrity Game · MORE VIDEOS · See All Videos ... Hollywood Reporter - Top Stories

Steve Jobs' Sister Recalls the Apple Co ... - The Hollywood Reporter By Philiana Ng UPDATED: Mona Simpson gave a moving eulogy at her brother's memorial service earlier this month. Tech

Thompson Square Called 'Hot' by Hollywood Standards By Nancy Dunham What Nashville country couple was just called scorching red 'hot' even by Hollywood standards? Well, they've been married a while and are up for CMA Awards. Taste of Country

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at Cal ... - The Hollywood Reporter By Erik Pedersen Follow THR on Twitter · The Hollywood Reporter on LinkedIn .... Best Celebrity Halloween Costumes · The Internet's Teen Queen · Winehouse Has Secret New Album · Madoffs Tell All on '60 Minutes' · The Huffington Post logo ... Music

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SOPA: Hollywood Finally Gets A Chance to Break the Internet ... As promised, here's the first installment of our closer review of the massive piece of job-killing Internet regulation that is the Stop Online Piracy Act. We'll start with ... www.eff.org/.../sopa-hollywood-finally-gets-chance-break-int...

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » Jim Rockford Tells ... But they wouldn't just say the writer of the show was a conservative, so what he says doesn't matter. After all, they only quote hollywood if the script agrees with ... bighollywood.breitbart.com/.../jim-rockford-tells-occupywallst...

Haunted Hollywood: Marilyn Monroe's Ghost, 'The Exorcist' and ... Family Film Guide · This Week in Movies · Unscripted · Celebrity Interviews ... But who needs a movie when the real lives of Hollywood's brightest stars are just ... blog.moviefone.com/2011/.../haunted-hollywood-ghost-storie...

Lindsay Lohan Gets New Smile from Celebrity Dentist - People She thanks Dr. Bill Dorfman of Extreme Makeover – but her gums still hurt. www.people.com/people/article/0,,20541208,00.html

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Movie Review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

As a long-time fan of the Harry Potter book series, it is always with trepidation that I approach a new Harry Potter movie. With the recent release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I felt even more uneasy than usual. As the longest book in the series to date, it was almost painful thinking of all the potential cuts that would be made to package an 800+ page book into a two-and-a-half hour movie. After my relative disappointment with the movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, I admit I was quite worried about the new Harry Potter movie.

Thankfully, though, the movie met nearly every expectation I had. Everything in the book had been culled except for the main thrust of the plot and all of the action, but this resulted in the most action-packed, breathless Harry Potter movie thus far, from the dementor attack, to Harry's first kiss with Cho, to the final battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort. The only drawback to this approach is that major themes were presented as simple one-time occurrences and some of the continuity of the book was lost in the movie.

One main theme where this was apparent was Harry's detention punishments by Professor Umbridge. The book focused much more on the physical torture being inflicted on Harry and his resilience in the face of the unfair, brutal detention sentence. Another theme only briefly mentioned in the movie is the interaction of the adult members of the Order of the Phoenix and their desire to shield the children from its meetings and actions. The students, on the other hand, do their best to penetrate the secrets and learn what they can about the Order. The movie only glosses over these interactions, which make up significant portions of the book.

However, in such a short movie, it was amazing that so many themes were hit upon. Although it is in more of a "Greatest Hits" type of format, there are really only a few scenes or themes that did not make it into the movie. One of the more powerful scenes in the book that I found missing from the movie was the students' visit to Ron Weasley in the hospital after the snake attack, where they were also introduced to Neville Longbottom's parents, who had been tortured into madness by the Death Eater, Voldemort follower Bellatrix Lestrange. This visit provided some valuable insight into both the main characters as well as Neville, in an emotionally powerful scene. Although it was not central to the book, it was a scene well worth seeing in the movie.

Arguably, the character of Dolores Umbridge is the most irritating professor to have graced the halls of Hogwarts during Harry's years there. The movie does a remarkable job of bringing out the most unlikeable traits of the Professor Umbridge. From her irritating cough, "Hem, hem," to the use of Ministry of Magic Educational Decrees to take away the students' rights and privileges and take over control of Hogwarts, to the arrogant attitude that results in her eventual downfall late in the story, it is hard to imagine a more grating character. The actress who plays Umbridge does so masterfully.

The special effects in the movie, as in all of the Harry Potter movies, are great, and the acting is believable. While it could not have been easy paring down a book of this size into a more manageable movie, the end result is a wonderful visit to Harry's world and the best summary of the book that could be expected. For anyone who has not read the books or seen any of the other movies, all this talk of "He Who Must Not Be Named," Muggles, and wizards wearing black masks of death will seem absurd and confusing, but for those of us Harry Potter fans, the movie only makes the week-long wait for Book 7 that much slower. In fact, in my case, the movie did exactly what I am sure it was designed to do: when I got home, I pre-ordered the book on Amazon.com and will be eagerly reading in when it gets here on Saturday.

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Let The Movie Run In Your Head

Everybody and their sister wants to write a novel. Are they capable? Sure. Will they? No. Why? They make it harder than it really is.

Think back to when you were a child and daydreamed. Your imagination soared taking you to places you'd never been or allowed you to do things you couldn't do in real life. Writing a novel is the same.

It's daydreaming one page at a time.

First, you come up with a premise for your novel. I came up with the idea of someone being struck by a bolt of lightning. A simple start but one I let my mind take hold of and run with to produce Conspiracy.

Next, I daydreamed about what could happen to this person. Being intrigued with the idea of ESP throughout my life, the next thought came. What if this person gained super natural powers with her near death experience? Not the usual powers but something totally different.

The more I daydreamed and wrote my "what ifs", the more real my character became. I was no longer directing my character, she was directing me. It was as if a movie was running in my head and all I was doing was taking dictation.

In sports, this would be called "being in the zone." In writing, this is what I call being in the alpha state. The place between consciousness and sleep. You are daydreaming with a purpose. Your mind isn't wandering aimlessly but is totally focused inside your head in this dream or movie.

Time literally seems to stand still while you are in this alpha state. The words flow until your body starts to ache from the waist down because of non-movement. This is when you flip out of the zone and realize hours have gone by and you're surprised at the number of pages you've written.

So you yawn, stand up, stretch and put yourself and your writing to bed knowing this is going to happen day after day, page after page until your novel is finished. Yeah, right -- like your muse is that compliant.

Well yes, it can be if you let it. The trick to flipping in and out of this alpha or daydream state at will is going back over your writing each day and rewriting until your character starts to intrude again. At first, this could take 2 hours or 2 days but it will come because your character likes making his/her movie. And, your daydreaming is their route to the real world.

By the time you're half way through your novel, the time it takes to flip into your alpha state will be as little as 2 to 10 minutes. Why? Because you know your character so well, s/he is immediately there ready to let you view more of the movie so you can take the dictation. In fact if you skip one day to have a "real" life, count on your character berating you for your slovenly behavior.

Finally, the day arrives when the movie is finished. Or so you think. Your character has other plans. S/he wants a sequel and begins to show you another movie. So what do you do? You let the movie run in your head.

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Movie Downloads - Using The Net To Get The Movies You Want

If you have a high speed internet connection you have access to a song, movies, books, and a host of other digital entertainment and educational information. But you're also exposed to some new dangers and opportunities to be taken for a ride.

Music, video, and movie downloads have grown tremendously over the last eight years; moving from free wheeling, and under the licensing radar to not only legal, but incredibly prosperous for those companies with the right business model.

Music Downloads

If you can think of a song you can probably find a site offering to download it for a price, usually somewhere around 99 cents a download. Other sites, such as ++++ offer a membership which includes unlimited downloads.

Given the size of the music files, and the fact that they are usually in an MP3 format, the downloads are typically quick and easy. And they can be played on an iPod or any other standard MP3 player or with an mp3 application such as RealPlayer © or Windows Media Player. And while iPod dominates the portable player market, companies such as Motorola and Sony offer devices to the consumer. A quick search on FROOGLE shows a wide range of devices at an equally wide range of prices. Of course, the primary factor in the cost is the amount of memory available for storage. The larger the memory, the more expensive the unit is.

Television shows such as ABC's Lost or other shows will generally take longer to download; anywhere from five to 10 minutes. And of course, the ability to play these programs is more limited.

But even with the greater restrictions, video downloading (music videos, old television programs and other video files is still relatively simple and relatively cheap. Most vendors (iPod, and others) charge anywhere from 99 cents to a couple of dollars to download a single song. Additionally, the smart vendors allow the person downloading the file to play it on at least one other computer.

Unlike music, music videos, and television programs, movies downloads are still relatively awkward. Many require an hour or more to download (if nothing disrupts the process), require a proprietary application to play, and can only be played on your computer. Some will allow the person who downloaded the file to "register" it on at least two other computers. This can be a little less than cozy unless you have a networked computer and can play the downloaded movie through an entertainment center.

As with music downloads, more and more movie vendors are coming on line every day, offering anything from the 1930's classics to more current fare including Ultraviolet, Planet of the Apes and the Terminator series.

Prices run the gamut as well. More current movies downloads can cost as much as $19.95, older movies less than ten dollars. Television shows will typically run from $1.50 to $2.00.

As with most things in life, the download technology offers trade offs. Sometimes the amount of time spent downloading the movie is as much time spent simply driving to the video store. The amount of tweaking needed to make a proprietary player work can knock the luster off the ability to see that movie none of the video stores carries.

It all comes back to a saying that has been around for ages: Let the buyer beware. Vendors are going to promise the sky. Rarely will they deliver it, but sometimes they can come close. You have to figure out which one delivers and which ones just say what you want to hear.

Okay so if you really want to harness the power of the internet and movie downloads it is imperative that you use a good provider. By selecting the wrong provider you can be left with slow downloads and even open yourself up to viruses etc. Check out the most popular and highly respected movie download site online at Movie Downloads.

Preserve Your Heritage by Printing Your Own Family History Book

In time the VHS tape was developed and large cumbersome movie cameras that would use these tapes to record family events and have them played on your home VCR and TV. In time, very small, moderately priced, digital movie cameras were introduced, where the movies could also be played back directly from the camera to your television, and the sales went wild.

Then the digital still camera started to become popular and the digital movie camera has gone from three versions of digital tape to a mini CD. In the mean time the sales of digital cameras have rocketed and all sorts of different versions, attachments and recording medias have been developed.

If you were one of the people who used an old 8mm or Super 8mm movie camera, and now want to watch those old movies, it is getting difficult to find projectors to view them on, and if you had a VHS movie camera, it has long since been retired (probably in the same place your old film camera is).

The only thing that has remained constant in recording family history over that past several hundred years are books. You don't need any special machinery to view them, they don't go obsolete and they last for generations.

If you are one of the lucky families that with a family Bible which has been used to record aspects of your family over the generations, consider yourself very fortunate. But now you can do even better. With the technologies available today anyone can put together a Family History Book. You can combine both pictures and text to make some of the most interesting and compelling books you will ever read. Family History Books will be cherished by your entire family for generations to come.

With most families having access to at least one home computer, and often a scanner to scan old pictures, making a family book is fun and easy. All you really need to get started in a home computer with some sort of word processing software on it like Word, Works or WordPerfect. If you have a scanner and want to add pictures into your document you will make your book much more interesting and valuable.

Remember that if you want to use color pictures through out your book you will need to get your book printed on a color printing machine, which of course is more expensive to reproduce than a B&W book. (in some cases individual color pages can be inserted into a B&W book but this can service can add up in cost too, unless you just have a few color pictures you want to add).

One of the first things to do before you even get stated is to contact all your family members. You will want to do this for two reasons, first you will want to be able to get pictures and information from them for the book, and second, you will want to know how many people might be interested in getting a book when it is finally printed. The more books you can get printed, the less it will cost everyone to get a piece of family history.

We recommend that you contact a quality book printer or self publisher before you start your book, to get some details on the best way to proceed. Pictures for example should be in at least 300 dot-per-inch size, otherwise they just do reproduce well. It would also be beneficial to use one of the better quality word processing software packages, this may also save you money later on if conversions need to be done. Once you understand some of the criteria needed to make your book the best it can be, you can begin your project. Since this is a book that will be around for many decades, you will want to take a bit more time at the beginning to ensure you understand the best ways to proceed.

All in all, it is pretty easy to become the author of a valuable piece of family history. You will have the ability to make this book exactly the way you want, and that is one of the features that will make it so valuable in the future.

So... go ahead and get started, these kinds of projects are fun for everyone. Your family members will enjoy digging out old family pictures and relating stories to you. You might even want to add in a family reunion before you complete the book, wouldn't it be nice to have a group photo to go into the book? Imagine the fun you can have creating a lasting legacy of your family's history.

Colin Knecht is a co-founder of Bookmark Self Publishing, a revolutionary new company dedicated to help authors achieve the dream of printing and selling their books. Find out more at www.bookmarkselfpublishing.com.

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The Legal Hurdles of Adapting A Novel or Book

Here's a question I recently received from a student:

The Question:

Given that I have very few connections to the industry, how would you best recommend moving forward if I have a novel in mind I'd like to adapt? Is it necessary to have a literary agent? Is it best to go through the publishers to find out about the rights? What would help me to get my foot in the door?

My Answer:

Most likely, novels by major authors will have already been snapped up by people with much deeper pockets than you have. However, older or lesser known novels and non-fiction books by less famous authors may very well be available. And some very old novels even exist in the public domain, which means you can use them without optioning anything!

Contacting The Subsidiary Rights Department

The way to start is by contacting the Subsidiary Rights Department at the book or novel's publisher. You can usually find the contact information for the Subsidiary Rights Department down in the fine print at the bottom the publisher's website, or by calling the publisher directly.

Break Out Your 1990′s Technology

Believe it or not, many Subsidiary Rights Departments still require contact via fax, so unless your publisher accepts email requests, go ahead and crank back the calendar to 1994, break out your old fax machine, and get ready to rock.

The fax (or email) you send should include the following:

Your Name

Your Company Name (if Applicable)

Your Address

Your Fax Number

Title of The Novel

Author's Name

Publisher

Publication Date

ISBN Number

A Request To Know Who Controls The Film Rights For The Novel

A Blank Space For Them To Write That Person Or Company's Contact Info

Make sure your return fax number is printed clearly on the form, so they know who to send it back to!

Contacting The Rights Holder

Once you have the name of the person, company, or agent that controls the film rights, you can go ahead and reach out to them (usually by phone or email) about optioning the novel or book.

What The Heck is An Option?

Essentially an option is a legal agreement that gives you the right to buy or sell the film rights for a book or novel at an agreed upon price. Most options last for a year, and give you an option to extend for a second year for a fixed additional payment. Depending on the perceived value of the book or novel you're optioning, an option can cost a fortune, or as little as a dollar.

The option is the thing that gives you the right to actually SELL the screenplay you write based on somebody else's book or novel.

It's not your job to know the ins and outs of options. When the time comes, you will hire a lawyer to walk you through the option agreement. For right now, just concentrate on contacting the rights holder, finding out if the film rights are available, and asking if he or she would be willing to work out a "free" (technically $1) or inexpensive option with you so that you can adapt the book or novel into screenplay form.

Your Pitch

If you're like most writers, you probably don't have a ton of money to spend on an option. If the novel's been sitting on the shelf for years, the rights holder may simply be delighted to know that someone is interested. But the chances are, you're going to have to do a little bit of selling of yourself in order to convince the rights holder that it's in their best interest to put their project in your hands.

So that means before you pick up the phone, you want to have a clear take on the material, and an exciting pitch for how you'd transform it into a marketable screenplay, and maybe some ideas for big stars who could play the lead role once your screenplay is finished, and how your version of the adaptation would be perfect for those actors.

Remember, You Are Bringing Real Value To The Project

Generally, if the film rights for a book or novel are still available, it means the rights holder has already done everything in their power to sell the project as a film and failed. That means your script could give them a second chance to show someone how this story really could make a great movie and turn it from another project sitting in their files into a hot commodity that can bring them lots of money.

If you're going to risk a year of your life writing that script for them with no upfront compensation, it's reasonable to expect them to give you a year long option and the rights to extend for a second year for a reasonable amount of money.

What If They Want You To "Audition"

If the rights holder asks you for a short treatment or a writing sample, it's probably worth your while go ahead and send it. But don't under any circumstances start writing a screenplay until you legally control the option on the material.

I can't tell you how many writers I've known who have "auditioned" by writing a script with the hopes that a rights holder would like it, only to have the rights holder sell the book or novel out from under them- often for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the script.

Why You Need A Lawyer

Remember that you only control the rights as long as you control the option, which means that once the option expires, you can't sell your script without the author's approval. That means you want a real entertainment lawyer to draw up your option agreement for you (even if you're optioning the story for a dollar).

Think about the time you're going to invest in this project. Do you really want to stake everything on an option agreement you pulled off the internet? You need an expert to protect your investment, and make sure you can do something with it when it's finished.

Public Domain Books And Novels

As you can tell, when rights holders are involved, optioning a book or novel can be a challenging process for a young writer. However, if the book you're interested in adapting was published in the United States prior to 1923, most likely you don't have to go through ANY of this! Because most likely that book is in the public domain.

For this reason, if you're interested in adaptation, one of the best places to start is with old books that you can use as you like without any option agreement.

The rules of public domain can be complex, so make sure to double check that the book is in the public domain before you start writing.

Writing Your Adaptation

Of course, optioning the book or novel, or discovering the public domain book you want to adapt is just the beginning. The process of making your adaptation is an art in itself.

Legal Disclaimer: I am a screenwriter and not a lawyer. Though I hope that this information will be useful to you, please be aware that no part of this article should be considered legal advice. For such advice please consult an entertainment attorney.

Ready To Take The Next Step?

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Australian Action Movie Gets Good Reviews

A recently released Australian action movie has received good reviews. Tomorrow When The War Began is a young adult movie about a group of teenagers who leave for a camping trip while on school holidays. While they are away they notice a lot of planes flying overhead but aren't too concerned about it as the annual Commemorative Day festivities are on back home so think the planes have something to do with that.

When they arrive back home from their trip they are in for a shock. Their homes are deserted, their families nowhere to be found, some of their animals are dead, and they contact the outside world on their phones as there is no reception.

They decide to head into town that night to uncover what's going on. They are shocked to discover the main street buildings are half standing, armed soldiers are patrolling the streets, and their family and most of the rural community of Wirrawee is being held captive at the showground.

Deciding that they have to do something to stop the enemy force that's invaded their country the group decide to form a guerrilla army group and do what they can to obstruct the stronghold the soldiers have over the town.

There are plenty of action sequences showing how they do just that, with many a moment in the movie having you sitting on the edge of your seat. The young actors in the movie do a credible job playing the teens under threat and fighting back with some ingenious schemes

The movie is based on the book of the same title that was written by acclaimed Australian writer, John Marsden in 1993. It is one in a series of seven books in the Tomorrow series that are very well loved by young adult readers; the reading audience they were written for.

It has been a long time coming for the first book in the series - Tomorrow When The War Began - to be made into a movie. Fans of the book have been voting with their feet as they turn up in droves to watch the movie that was produced from one of their favorite books.

Stuart Beattie is the screen writer who weaved his magic of adapting the book to the big screen and if box office takings are anything to go by, movie goers are enjoying his movie adaption of the book.

For details about the cast of the movie and when the DVD is coming out be sure to visit Tomorrow When The War DVD, and for a good review of the movie visit Tomorrow Movie Review

Entertaining Stories Revolving Around Jewelry Boxes in Movies, Books, and Plays

It is interesting to know that jewelry boxes have featured in many movies, plays, and books. Hollywood movies have used them frequently to tell a story. There are several movies that mysteriously revolve around a jewelry box.

'The Black Swan' is a famous movie starring Natalie Portman and she even won an Oscar award for her incredible performance. In the movie, every night when she goes to bed with all her toys, she would dream of a ballet dancer in a musical jewelry box.

A South Korean film, titled 'When A Woman Breaks Her Jewelry Box', was released in the '70s, in which a woman breaks her jewelry box to get to know the truth about her mother. When all along she had thought that her mother was dead, she was actually alive and this was revealed when she opened her mother's jewelry box. It was voted best film and also won an award at the Blue Dragon Film Award ceremony.

Another scary movie which involved a jewelry box is 'What Lies Beneath' with Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford. Michelle discovers the jewelry box at the lake behind their home and that was the clue which helped her to solve a murder mystery. She was constantly disturbed by a ghost appearing before her and you have to watch the movie to enjoy the thrilling conclusion.

Thriller movies like 'Pirates of the Carribean' have also used treasure chests and jewelry boxes extensively.

In the 80's, Dalton Moore, an administrator at the Swindon High School, wrote a lovely play named 'The Missing Bride'. The students were trained to act so naturally that they won an inter-school competition. This play was all about a bride who went missing from her wedding party.

Everyone in the party were apprehensive about the bride being missing. They searched high and low in the house till they found the jewelry chest which looked old and made an effort to open it. When they opened it they found, to their dismay, only her dress and the bride had disappeared.

Her body was missing but her beautiful wedding dress was in place. There was perfect silence and the audience was scared to death! Finally the play explained that the old house, which was bought for the bride and groom was haunted!

In Greek mythology the story of the famous Pandora's box is well-known that the Gods had given a pretty girl a lovely jewel box and was asked not to open it. But curiosity got the better of her and she opened it only to release all kinds of diseases and destruction into the world.

Jewelry boxes find a place in fairy tales too. In the story of "The Emperor's Clothes" the clothes and the richness of the treasure chest which was used by the king is described in detail.

In the famous books of J.K. Rowling who wrote the "Harry Potters" series of books. The first book tells us that Harry is a wizard and he inherited his fortune form his parents. This fortune was kept in jewelry chests at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. This is the first series called "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"

From adults to children love thrilling stories and ones which involve jewelry boxes and hidden treasures are a sure hit with them. The whole family is thrilled, whether it is a story book, or a play, or when watching a movie together!

This article on entertaining stories revolving around jewelry boxes in movies, books, and plays was written by Rachael Celia Berlie of MarqART Gift Shop.

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