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During the next two weeks, 177 films will screen from more than 50 countries. It's the largest film event in Northern California, and more than 10 percent of all movie tickets sold in San Francisco this year will be to a movie in this festival (kind of mind-blowing when you think about it – wow, SF really likes independent films!) Aw yeah, Nug readers – the SF International Film Festival is on. It's the oldest film festival of its kind in the United States, and considered to be one of the Top-10 film festivals in the world. Sure, it's a venerated, lauded institution and this is their main event, with a ton of notable world premieres, North American premieres and West Coast premieres scheduled -- like the scheduled world premiere of Andy Garcia's documentary on Cachao.  Andy Garcia not only directs and acts as a lead in the documentary, but he is rumored to appear at the opening of the film.

But why we love it: because even in a post-Netflix world, occasionally movies are a once-in-a-lifetime event. In 2003, we watched a screening of Oliver Stone's movie about Fidel Castro, "Comandante." It was scheduled to air on HBO three months after the film festival – big whoop. It was presumed that if you missed it at the film festival, it seemed certain that you would be able to watch it a few months. But what happened next sealed the movie's fate: just a few weeks after the screening, Castro went on a rampage and executed a few people without proper trials. The international climate changed and for some reason, Stone was forbidden to screen the movie ever, anywhere, ever again. Stone, the only American film director ever granted permission by Castro to make a documentary about him, with exclusive months-long access to the reclusive revolutionary – all to be shelved like the McGruder film, and will need something like Freedom-of-Information-Act request to ever see the light of day. Who knew that one of Fabian's early posts to this blog would be one of the few things ever to be written about it?

Wesley Snipes was found guilty of tax evasion charges in Florida in a case that started almost two years ago and is awaiting sentencing.  The IRS claimed that he owed $12 million in taxes because he filed false refunds.  Not only will Snipes have to pay these back taxes and interest, which have now been found to total over $15 million, but the Assistant Attorney General prosecuting the case wants Snipes to pay a $5 million fine and spend three years in prison!

Snipes attorneys say that probation is the appropriate punishment and submitted three dozen letters from friends of Snipes attesting to his character. Those coming to Snipes' aid included Denzel Washington and Woody Harrelson. 

I think the most damning evidence is that documents filed by the IRS prove that Snipes shipped millions of dollars to accounts in Switzerland, Antigua and the Isle of Man to avoid paying taxes on that money.  Blade is guilty and he should get some prison time if you ask me.  Rich people shouldn't continue to get away with this shit.  I pay my taxes, why shouldn't this bitch?

Update: Snap!  Snipes was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Melissa called someone a freak-a-zoid this morning and it reminded of the song from Midnight Star.  And now, thanks to the Internets, I was able to find a video for the song that I had never seen before.  The video is freakier than the song itself:  it has a bunch of sadly dated computer graphics and the "whitest guy they could find" acting like a mime.  Wow, you gotta love the eighties.

Asia Argento as The Last Mistress

We have finally made our film selections for this year's festival.  As always, we will try and bring you a special report about the opening night excitement.

The opening night film this year will be The Last Mistress (France 2007), directed by Catherine Breillat.  The film is based on a controversial novel by 19th century author Jules-Amédée Barbey d’Aurevilly.  The story centers on a Frenchman on the verge of marrying an innocent aristocratic young French socialite.  But before doing so, he confesses to an affair with a Spanish mistress to the bride's grandmother. A surprisingly open-minded old woman, the grandmother seems to delight in every sordid detail of the young man's relationship with his mistress.

The other films that we will be watching during this year's festival are as follows:

Jay-Z gets the money and the girl

Earlier this week, there was a story that Jay-Z was in the middle of negotiating a $150 million deal with Live Nation for tour performances over the next 10 years to promote 3 future albums. 

Well, apparently on Friday Jay-Z, 38, and Beyonce, 26, were married on Friday putting to an end a 6-year courtship.  They reportedly tied the knot in a small ceremony in Jay-Z's apartment. Gwyneth Paltrow and other celebrities were spotted by paparazzi as they arrived at Jay-Z's place on Friday and friends of the couple leaked the good news.  No official word from their publicists as of yet.

Well, if it's true, this guy is big pimpin' for'real!  All he needs to do is finalize the New Jersey Nets' relocation to Brooklyn, New York and his plans for world domination will be nearly complete.

In the video above, please check out the drummer in the background.  He is totally channeling Tommy Lee in a spinning drum cage circa 1987 like on the Girls, Girls, Girls tour.  This guy seems totally out of place from the rest of the band and it's funny as all hell.  He definitely stole the show in this performance.  Big ups to Meerenai for emailing me this gem.

Mariah laughing all the
way to the bank

Mariah Carey surpassed Elvis in No. 1 singles with "Touch My Body," her 18th No. 1 single.  She is now second to only The Beatles, who managed 20 No. 1 singles in their illustrious career.  That is incredible!  If someone would have told me 10 years ago that this chick was going to someday be within striking distance to the Beatles record I would have said they were crazy.  I guess it helps that she is pretty good looking.

In Googling for a photo of Mariah for this post I found a whole lot of boob shots and crotch shots for her.  I picked this one because believe it or not, it was one of the more conservative photos and this blog is after all a family show.  I can't help but think that if she didn't look like a porn star that she likely wouldn't be as popular.

I know she *can* sing, I am not saying that she can't!  I just think that her overwhelming success wouldn't have been possible without all of the bikini shots and the Playboy pics.    Not that there's anything wrong with that!  It just adds to her allure.  I am sure that Mariah is going to juice her looks for as long as she possibly can.  After all, it's a lot harder to sing "Touch My Body" when you are in your forties or fifties.  She is still looking hot so she's working it.  Besides, you don't want to see a grandma singing that song do you?

Tyra Banks and Brady Green

Last week, a creepy guy showed up at a New York taping of the Tyra Banks Show with a duffel bag filled with magazine clippings of the super model and extremely detailed notes on how he has tried to contact her.

Needless to say, Tyra freaked out and called the cops.  He was asked to leave the studio but he came back a while later.  At that point, cops rained down on him and he was arrested for stalking, harassment, and criminal trespass.

The man that was arrested was later identified as Brady Green, 37, from Dublin, Georgia.  He allegedly has been terrorizing Tyra for months by attempting to contact her with multiple letters and phone calls.  He was released by a judge under his own recognizance after appearing in court.

The L.A. Times ran a front page apology to Diddy for the story they ran last week in which they implicated Diddy in shooting Tupac Shakur outside of a record studio in New York (see previous post).  Here's an excerpt of the public apology:

"The bottom line is that the documents we relied on should not have been used...We apologize both to our readers and to those referenced in the documents...and in the story."

Diddy and his lawyers are nothing short of unimpressed and surely will pursue a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper.  This is not the end of this by a long shot.  I predict an out of court settlement in the L.A. Times' future.

Apple is reportedly in talks with content providers about making iTunes completely free for customers that decide to pay more for their iPods or iPhones.  Surely, Apple is willing to share or give the additional device markup to the music publishers in exchange for the content.  I doubt the publishers would take a flat fee, since their royalty contracts with the artists are not structured this way.

If Apple can get the publishers to agree to this it will be great for those who are purchasing their iPods or iPhones for the first time.  I would think that the added premium on price will likely pay-off in the long run.  My guess is that it would be a $249 premium for a device lifetime subscription.  But what about those, and I am not one of them, who have already purchased hundreds if not thousands of dollars in iTunes music?

Frankly, I doubt that this subscription model will even happen given the "old school" thinking and artist contracts that publishers still have.  Stay tuned.

Diddy ready to let about 20 lawyers
rain down on the LA times.

The LA Times ran a story on their website this morning allegedly linking the 1994 attack of Tupac Shakur at a New York recording studio with Sean "Diddy" Combs.  The sad thing is that the story claims that the story is based on FBI records, interviews with people at the scene of the 1994 shooting, and statements to the FBI by an informant, but none of the sources are on the record!  What kind of shoddy journalism is that!  Don't we expect more from the LA Times, or is it just another blog!?

Diddy put out a statement denouncing the story, saying "The story is a lie...It is beyond ridiculous and completely false. Neither (the late rapper Notorious B.I.G.) nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during or after it happened. ... I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story."  Frankly, I am shocked too.  I am not trying to pick sides here, but if you are going to accuse someone of attempted murder, you better have enough information and sources to back it up.  If I was Diddy, I would sue the hell out of the newspaper for libel!

I am sure that this will not be the end of this brouhaha--stay tuned!

There is rumor that The Bionic Woman (TBW) has been canceled after only 8 episodes!  NBC Universal denied the rumor a month ago and said that production on the show would resume after the writers' strike.  Well, the strike is over and the show's production has not resumed.  Smells like death for the show.  Everyone expected a shortened season due to the strike but expected the show to be renewed for at least a second season.

What's interesting about this is that TBW was getting higher ratings than Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, yet Fox will be bringing Ms. Connor back next Fall.  It seems that NBC brass has decided to kill their extra investments in the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre outside of Heroes.  Heroes is still by considered a hit show even though its ratings have dropped, maybe that has scared them a bit.  Perhaps the production costs of TBW far outweighed the ad sales and it was simply a business decision.  Who knows?

But this is all speculation on conjecture and rumor.  If the rumor turns out to be true then shame on NBC for killing a pretty good show with a loyal following.

Function: noun
Etymology: Exact etymology unknown. Combination of the words psycho, from Gr. psychh meaning the soul, the mind, or a person afflicted with psychosis; and biddy, adult female chicken, 1913. Literal meaning of combined words is "crazy chicken."
Date: circa 1960
Definition: 1) a dangerous, insane or mentally unstable woman of advanced years; 2) a colloquial term for a sub-genre of the horror/thriller movie also known by the name "Older Women in Peril," which was most prevalent from the early 1960s through the mid-1970s (see Wikipedia entry).

We watched the film Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? a few nights ago and can honestly say that "crazy chicken" does not even begin to describe Bette Davis's character in the film.  Just the clumped mascara she wore alone is enough to give you the willies.

George Lucas and his Lucasfilm team are working on an animated film that will be released in August called Star Wars: Clone Wars. The full-length theatrical release will be followed by an animated series that will air on the Cartoon Network. I know what you are thinking, "if it is animated it's going to suck." But after taking a look at the film trailer and production video, I can honestly say that I am now really excited about both the film and the subsequent series.

Unless you have been under a rock, you have probably already seen Sarah Silverman's "I'm F*cking Matt Damon" video and Jimmy Kimmel's "I'm F*cking Ben Affleck" video. To put it in perspective, as of this writing these videos have been seen by a third of the audience of the Oscars. Check them out, they're pretty funny.