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Today's batch of MPAA ratings come with the expected PG-13 rating for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, an R-rating for the Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, World War II drama The Railway Man and an R-rating for the Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Kate Upton comedy, The Other Woman, which Fox plans on appealing before it hits theaters on April 25. Check out the complete bulletin directly below. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Rated PG-13 For sequences of sci-fi action/violence. Release Date: May 2, 2014 Beethoven's Treasure Tail Rated PG For mild crude humor and peril. Earth To Echo Rated PG For some action and peril, and mild language. Note: Edited For Re-rate. Content Is Different From PG Rated Version Under Title "Echo" Bulletin No. 2267 (4/10/13). No Change In Rating Or Rating Reason. Only This Edited Version Is Rated. Enchanted Kingdom Rated G Ida Rated PG-13 For thematic elements, some sexuality and smoking. Like A...

Throughout March, The Lunchbox has been winning over audiences and film critics alike in a handful of Us cities. This weekend, the award-winning film will release in several more major cities at top arthouse cinemas in Boston, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Jose, San Diego, Charlotte, and Denver.

Directed by Ritesh Batra, the film stars Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in tour de force performances. We here at BollySpice loved it saying the magic of this film has to be experienced. You can read our recent rave review here.

New theaters opening The Lunchbox on Friday, March 21 are:

La Jolla Village Theatre

La Jolla CA

Cinearts @ Palo Alto Square

Palo Alto CA

Century 16 Downtown

Pleasant Hill CA

Camera 3 Cinema

San Jose CA

Chez Artiste 3

Denver Co

Kendall Square Cinema 9

Cambridge Ma

West Newton Six Cinemas

West Newton Ma

Manor Twin

Charlotte Nc

Ritz Center 16

Voorhees NJ

Ritz Theatres 5

Philadelphia...

Fox Searchlight is hoping for big things with the small film that is Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, which opened to record numbers in only four theaters over the weekend, where it brought in over $800,000. It will expand into an additional 43 cities this weekend (see the list below), but before that happens the studio has released a brand new red band trailer. I posted my "A" review earlier today where I wrote: A lot of the enjoyment here is in the familiarity of style and a harkening back to his R-rated tone, which has been missing for a couple of films. Grand Budapest is a warm and soothing bath with familiar smells, which is to say it's altogether wonderful. Time will obviously tell where this places in Anderson's oeuvre, but for now I simply can't wait to see it again. There's a lot to love about this film...

The Silicon Valley home where Apple co-founder Steve Jobs grew up and built some of his first computers is now on the city's list of historic properties. The historical commission in the city of Los Altos voted unanimously for the historic designation on Monday night, the Palo Alto Daily News reported. Any proposed renovations to the modest, ranch-style home now require additional review. The home, where Jobs and his foster parents moved in 1968, is currently owned by Patricia Jobs, Steve Jobs's sister. The commission didn't need her permission for the designation, although she could appeal it to the city council.

Just when we thought there was a food truck for everything, we found one we never thought we'd see: one from the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts! Yes, the first official Four Seasons food truck, known as the Fs Taste Truck, just hit the road on the West Coast. It started out in Palo Alto, moved to San Francisco, and will hit Santa Barbara; Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and Westlake Village in the L.A. area; and Scottsdale, Ariz., before wrapping up in Santa Fe, N.M., this November. Covering three states and more than 1,000 miles, the truck and tour are meant to show off the brand's culinary skills. "Food is a passion for us at Four Seasons and we are always seeking to share that in inspiring and...

Inveterate inventor whose noise-reduction system enhanced cinema and music-lovers' listening experience

Billions of people must have pushed the Dolby buttons on their cassette recorders, or seen movies such as Star Wars in Dolby Stereo, without thinking of the eponymous inventor of the world's most popular noise-reduction system. Nonetheless, the name and the company's "mirrored D" Dolby Digital logo will live on for decades following the death of the inveterate inventor Ray Dolby from leukaemia at the age of 80.

Dolby transformed the film industry by improving sound quality with his Dolby A noise-reduction system, widely installed following the popularity of Star Wars and other films by George Lucas. He also had a huge impact on the tape-cassette business thanks to the almost universal adoption of the consumer version, Dolby B.

His noise-reduction system worked by applying a pre-emphasis to the audio recording, usually boosting the quieter passages. The reverse process was used on playback.

Seven actors are about to embark on career adventures, having been named by Theatre Communications Group the 2013 recipients of William & Eva Fox Foundation Resident Actors Fellowships. The program awards cash grants to actors and places them with host theater companies from around the country, where the performers work to hone their crafts. This year the Fox Foundation, working with Tcg, awarded grants totaling $217,500. Five up-and-coming actors will receive Extraordinary Potential Fellowships, which will provide each with $15,000 in grant money and an additional $10,000 toward student-loan relief. The recipients are Sun Mee Chomet (who will be hosted by Mu Performing Arts in St. Paul, Minn.), Cindy Im (TheatreWorks, Palo Alto, Calif.), Jennifer Kidwell (Pig Iron Theatre Company, Philadelphia), Orlando Pabotoy (Ma-Yi Theater Company, New York), and Daniel Robert Sullivan (Roundabout Theatre Company, New York). Two established actors—Evelina Fernandez (the Latino Theater Company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, Los Angeles) and...

The top stories of the week from Toh!Awards:Why George Clooney Is Skipping Early Awards Circuit with "The Monuments Men": See New PosterBox Office:Top Ten Highest Grossing Woody Allen Movies vs. "Blue Jasmine"Features:toh! Ranks the Best Films of Wong Kar-Wai, with an Intro by David Chute (Audio Interview)Your Week in Streaming: A Bad Teacher, Zac Efron in Tighty Whities, Pasolini's Marxist Jesus and MoreFestivals:Venice Film Festival 2013 Review: Frears' 'Philomena' is a TriumphVenice Film Festival 2013 Review: Reichardt's 'Night Moves'Telluride Film Festival, Diary One: Big Anticipation for the 40th AnniversaryTelluride Review: Jason Reitman's "Labor Day" Is a Suspenseful Romantic Heart-TuggerTelluride Update: Buyers Lining Up for Divisive "Under the Skin," Strong Debut "Palo Alto" and Provocative "Starred Up" (Trailer)Venice Film Festival 2013 Review: "Gravity"Venice Film Festival 2013 Review: "Joe," Starring Nicolas CageVenice Film Festival 2013 Review: "Tracks," Starring Mia...

The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival in now something of a misnomer on three counts. The nearly-three-weeks of screenings unspooled in nine locations splayed all over the Bay Area, including Berkeley, Oakland, Palo Alto, and San Rafael.  The program includes other events in addition to films: parties, panel discussions, concerts, and this year a special "multi-platform media" storytelling event. The title of this year's festival, "Life Through a Jew(ish) Lens," indicated that this year the programmers included films where one might be hard-pressed to discern the overtly Jewish content -- examples include "After Tiller," the powerful documentary about third-trimester abortion providers, and another documentary, "The Trials of Muhammed Ali," about the Supreme Court ruling on Muhammed Ali's conscientious objector status in the Vietnam war, where the program notes "No, Muhammed Ali is not Jewish.  But certain films when placed in a Jewish context inspire truly Jewish...

In the last wave of Tiff announcements, it’s the Discovery section that we’re most curious about as it normally is loaded up with the rookies, many first-time and second time filmmakers breaking into world film festival circuit programming with genuine gems. Among the 25 plus selected films that make up the programme, we’ve got a handful of U.S. independent films in the likes of Mark Phinney’s Fat, a pair of Us in Progress Paris projects in Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly’s Beneath The Harvest Sky and Tommy Oliver’s 1982, while a newbie filmmaker part of the clan in Gia Coppola makes the trip from Venice Film Festival’s Horizon section to Toronto with the book to film adapation of James Franco Palo Alto (see pic above). Also from Venice, we have the Venice Days included Bethlehem, from Israeli helmer Yuval Adler and an item that...

Considering her smarts, success, and the fact that she just posed for Vogue, you might find Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!, a bit intimidating. But in the 3,000-word profile featured in the fashion magazine's September issue, Marissa comes across as pretty normal. Of course, not many working moms can start a national dialogue on work-life balance, like Marissa did when she banned working from home at her Internet company. But on the whole, the latest look into her life comes up with some surprisingly typical details. Here are some excerpts from Vogue that stood out. She drives an old car. "Most days she drives herself back and forth to work in an eighteen-year-old BMW." She and her husband have pretty typical hobbies. "They run half marathons together and love hiking, skiing, travel, and good restaurants." And she met him through a friend. "The couple met in 2007, via a mutual friend.

Linsanity, Evan Jackson Leong’s documentary about Asian American basketball phenom Jeremy Lin, will make its Taiwanese theatrical debut October 11th of this year, which follows the October 4th U.S. release date set a few weeks ago.

The film premiered at Sundance and was also selected to play at this year’s South by Southwest. After the announcement of the U.S. release date, many from Taiwan were hoping they would also get a chance to see the story of Lin, who is of Taiwanese descent.

While Lin was born in America, both his parents emigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan in the 1970s. The film follows Lin from his childhood in Palo Alto, California through his meteoric rise to stardom with the New York Knicks during the 2012 NBA season. Leong began filming in 2010, a season when Lin’s numbers (2.6 points per game, 1.4 assists per game) were anything but spectacular.

One of the most buzzed about movies at Sundance this year was the documentary Linsanity. The movie follows Jeremy Lin’s life from his childhood in Palo Alto, Calif., "to his meteoric ascent to stardom in early 2012 with the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Assn., giving rise to the term Linsanity."

Our writers Eli and Ben saw the movie, and they had nothing but amazing things to say about it. You can watch their glowing video review for the movie here.

I really wish I had been able to see it for myself up at the film festival, but I'm glad that my chance is coming later this year. The doc was picked up by Ketchup Entertainment, and they will release it on October 4th, 2013!

Here's the synopsis:

In February 2012, an entire nation of basketball fans unexpectedly went 'Linsane.' Stuck in the mire of a disappointing season,...

In anticipation of the expansion of "Blackfish" to Berkeley, CA; Cambridge, Ma; Chicago, Il; Evanston, Il; La Jolla, CA; Palo Alto, CA; Pasadena, CA; Philadelphia, Pa; Pleasant Hill, CA; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; San Rafael, CA; Santa Ana, CA; and Washington, DC this weekend, Magnolia Pictures has released a new, shorter, teaser, that is set to scare audiences into finding out more about the treatment of killer whales in captivity. "Blackfish" has gained notoreity for exposing of the treatment of killer whales in water theme parks and for pissing off SeaWorld so much that they released a series of assertions defending their business.   Read More: SeaWorld Unleashes 8 Assertions About 'Blackfish' and Filmmakers Respond...

New York, May 31: Cameron Diaz is reportedly getting cosy with billionaire PayPal and Space X founder Elon Musk.

The 40-year-old actress has been spending time with the 41-year-old South African American entrepreneur over the past few months, the New York Post reported.

Sources told the publication that the 'Charlie's Angels' star and Musk got to know each other after she bought one of the electric sports car from Tesla Motors - where the entrepreneur also acts as CEO - earlier this year.

Insiders said that the duo kept in touch and Musk has been travelling from Tesla's headquarters in Palo Alto to Los Angeles, California,.

Owners of Sony’s Ultra HDTVs will soon be able to access 4K movies delivered to their sets via a Sony 4K media player (pictured above), which was first previewed at CES and launches this summer. To help make this possible, Sony Pictures is working with eyeIO--a privately-owned Palo Alto startup that develops H.264 and H.265 compression encoding technology for video delivery--which will use its tools to prep the Sony movies in 4K (3840x2160). Story: Nab and CinemaCon: Reflections on 4K Sony Pictures Technologies president Chris Cookson endorsed the company in a statement: “From the cinema to the home,

read more...

Cameron Diaz has been getting cosy with billionaire Elon Musk. The 'Gambit' actress has been spending time with the 41-year-old Tesla Motors CEO and the pair are said to be getting on very well, according to the New York Post newspaper. Cameron first met Elon after she bought an energy friendly sports car, a Tesla Model S Ev, from his company earlier this year and the pair have been getting on so well he has been travelling from Tesla's headquarters in Palo Alto to Los Angeles, California, on a regularly basis to see her. Cameron is on the hunt for a man...

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard-educated doctor wife, Priscilla Chan, traded web surfing for wave surfing again this week. The couple - who first met at a fraternity party and married last May at the couple's Palo Alto, Calif., home - are enjoying all the things Kauai has to offer on their latest vacation to Hawaii. With Zuckerberg, 28, keeping cool in shorts and a T-shirt and Chan in a royal blue skirt, the couple were spotted on a stroll Sunday. It's not their first trip to the area - they spent their first Christmas as a married couple on Maui.

Palo Alto, CA – Motion Picture Laboratories, Inc. (MovieLabs) has introduced John Carney as its new President and CEO. Carney is a technology industry leader with more than 25 years of experience in software systems and product development. As President and CEO of MovieLabs, Carney will oversee research and development aimed at continuing to expand and diversify the ways audiences can watch the movies and TV shows they love. Prior to taking the helm at MovieLabs, Carney was Senior Vice President of Engineering at Comcast, where he defined and led multiple complex operations and technology projects. He also established the West Coast office of CableLabs, the cable industry’s research and development consortium dedicated to pursuing new technologies. Before that, Carney served as President of TVWorks, a joint venture between Comcast and Cox, where he launched a new ecosystem for interactive television. He was also the co-founder and Cto of MetaTV, an interactive television software company.

The director of two Step Up movies and Justin Bieber's Never Say Never may not have been the most likely recruit to direct an all-out action film like G.I. Joe Retaliation, but Jon M. Chu says action films are much more than just directing stunts and explosions which he learned from working with Justin Bieber.

The task of rebooting the G.I. Joe franchise was given to director Jon M. Chu. The original cast (except for Channing Tatum) was replaced with Dwayne Johnson as the lead Joe with help from D.J. Catrona and Adrianne Palicki, and a cameo by the resident tough guy, Bruce Willis. The Palo Alto, Ca native and USC School of Cinema-Television alumni broke into Hollywood directing Step Up 2: The Streets (2008) and Step Up 3D (2010). He then went on to helm Justin Bieber's documentary Never Say Never in 2011.

Transitioning into a

Read more.

Scientists have created a 3D display that could mimic the Princess Leia hologram in Star Wars – even on mobile phones

Scientists have created a glasses-free, 3D display that could mimic the famous hologram projection of Princess Leia in the original 1977 Star Wars film.

The display is small and light enough to work on mobile phones, and produces images that appear in 3D even when viewed from different angles, the scientists said.

To make the device, researchers at Hewlett-Packard Labs in Palo Alto, California, built a transparent screen with tiny light emitting diodes (LEDs) around the edges. Light rays sent towards the centre encounter pixels that steer the light out of the screen in different directions.

Through careful control of the light, the device sends slightly different images to each eye, which are combined in the brain into a 3D object.

A prototype of the device, described in the journal Nature,...

Ashton Kutcher‘s take on Steve Jobs will not come out on April 19th, 2013 as had been expected since the Apple company celebrates its 37th anniversary that day. Open Road Films, which picked up the film in January before it closed the Sundance Film Festival, has yet to set a new release date. The distrib of the film reportedly requires more time to market the film. The indie Steve Jobs biopic previously titled jOBS, the distrib has also made the wise decision of omitting the Apple-speak and simply retitling it Jobs. Partially shot in the Palo Alto, Calif., garage that was Apple’s birthplace, Joshua Michael... Related posts: First Clip From Jobs Biopic First Look at Ashton Kutcher as Steve jOBS Details Revealed for Steve Jobs Biopic Starring Ashton Kutcher Jobs Adds Ron Eldard and James Woods Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs in Biopic Jobs...

Different Lenses is a column where different views on the same cinematic subject are analyzed, dissected and discussed. This column will examine how two different filmmakers approach the same subject, how two films from the same filmmaker change or alter that filmmaker’s view on a subject, or how larger, overarching film movements comment on and interact with each other.

By examining the differences between these films, filmmakers and movements, we can understand what these different views mean, and what they say about their filmmakers’ view of the subject matter and the world around them. This first edition will look at two films by David Fincher, Fight Club and The Social Network, to see how they reflect Fincher’s understanding of how masculinity and the power that comes with it are changing in American society.

Note: Spoilers for both films follow.

Sometimes, looking at the two different works on the...

That's right, kids; the Evil Dead crew will be hitting off WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center over Easter weekend, March 29-31, and to get you primed for their arrival, they've created an announcement video with director Fede Alvarez and producers Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert.

Can't wait until then? Maybe your city is one of the remaining lucky ones that will be home to some advance screenings:

Berkeley, CA - 3/14/13

La Jolla, CA - 3/14/13

Palo Alto, CA - 3/14/13

Sacramento, CA - 3/14/13

San Francisco, CA - 3/14/13

Kansas City, Mo - 3/19/13

Cleveland, Oh - 3/20/13

Gainesville, Fl - 3/21/13

Las Vegas, Nv - 3/21/13

Orlando, Fl - 3/21/13

Washington, DC - 3/21/13

College Station, TX - 3/25/13

Pittsburgh, Pa - 3/26/13

Fairfax, Va - 3/27/13

St. Louis, Mo - 3/27/13

Cincinnati, Oh - 3/28/13

Columbus, Oh - 3/28/13

Greensboro, Nc - 3/28/13

Hampton, Va - 3/28/13

Honolulu, Hi - 3/28/13

Miami, Fl - 3/28/13

Minneapolis, Mn -3/28/13

New York, NY - 3/28/13

Tallahassee, Fl - 3/28/13

Tempe, Az - 3/28/13

Washington,...

According to data obtained by Joystiq, it appears as if the majority of the Sony stores in the Us have dropped the price of both the 3G and Wi-Fi only models of the PlayStation Vita to $199.97, representing a $100 and $50 discount respectively.

Interestingly, the price drop does not appear to have taken place at Sony stores nationwide, or even statewide for that matter. In California the Sony stores in Costa Mesa, Glendale, Los Angeles, and Santa Clara all report the discounted price, however, the Palo Alto store is still selling the Vita for its initial $250/$300 price point. Additionally, only half of the Sony stores in Florida, Texas, and Virginia are confirmed to have lowered their Vita price tags.

Employees at the Denver, New Jersey, and Las Vegas locations all confirmed that not only has Sony decided to lower the PlayStation Vita price tag but the company has also discontinued the 3G model of the handheld.

Following today's press event for the Evil Dead remake at the currently under way SXSW Film Fest, our woman on the scene, Heather Wixson, snapped a photo of the t-shirt that was given out, and it provides the locations and dates of the film's upcoming 29-city "Screening Tour."

Here's the lowdown on the tour, which begins in Boulder in just a few days and includes two stops in our nation's capital:

Boulder, Co - 3/11/13

Eugene, Or - 3/12/13

Portland, Or - 3/12/13

Seattle, Wa - 3/12/13

Berkeley, CA - 3/14/13

La Jolla, CA - 3/14/13

Palo Alto, CA - 3/14/13

Sacramento, CA - 3/14/13

San Francisco, CA - 3/14/13

Kansas City, Mo - 3/19/13

Cleveland, Oh - 3/20/13

Gainesville, Fl - 3/21/13

Las Vegas, Nv - 3/21/13

Orlando, Fl - 3/21/13

Washington, DC - 3/21/13

College Station, TX - 3/25/13

Pittsburgh, Pa - 3/26/13

Fairfax, Va - 3/27/13

St. Louis, Mo - 3/27/13

Cincinnati, Oh - 3/28/13

Columbus, Oh - 3/28/13

Greensboro, Nc - 3/28/13

Hampton, Va - 3/28/13

Honolulu, Hi - 3/28/13

Miami,...

Long before she was facing off against aliens in this weekend's "Dark Skies," Keri Russell tackled something even scarier: College.Back in 1998, Russell starred as the title character in "Felicity," a college freshman from Palo Alto, CA who followed her high school crush to NYC.The show ran for four seasons on The WB and is best recognized now for its ratings dive after Russell chopped off her trademark curly hair.With a supporting cast of hot guys like Scott Speedman and Scott Foley and gal pals like Tangi Miller and Amy Jo Johnson, the show was definitely easy on the eyes.But how have the stars aged in the 10+ years since it went off the air? Find out in the gallery above!And check out Keri in action on FX's "The Americans" ... and this weekend in theaters. Watch the "Dark Skies" trailer below: Read more...

Emma Roberts has been tapped as the lead of Delirium, Fox‘s drama pilot from Karyn Usher, 20th TV and Chernin Entertainment. Based on Lauren Oliver’s bestselling book trilogy about a world where love is deemed illegal and can be eradicated with a special procedure. With 95 days to go until her scheduled treatment, Lena Holoway (Roberts) does the unthinkable: she falls in love. Usher executive produces the pilot with Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope and Paula Mazur. This marks Roberts’ return to television, where she rose to fame as the teenage star of the Nickelodeon series Unfabulous. The actress, daughter of Eric Roberts and niece of Julia Roberts, had been focused on features for the past six years despite multiple pilot offers from the broadcast networks. Roberts, repped by CAA and manager David Sweeney, recently completed the New Line comedy We’re The Millers, Lionsgate’s Empire State and the indie Palo Alto Stories.

At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Steve Jobs stood as the icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. Jobs details the major moments and defining characters that influenced Steve Jobs on a daily basis from 1971 through 2001. The film plunges into the depths of his character, creating an intense dialogue-driven story that is as much a sweeping epic as it is an immensely personal portrait of Steve Jobs' life. The filmmakers strove for absolute authenticity in making the film, including shooting in the historic garage in Palo Alto, that served as the birthplace to Apple Inc. Directed by Joshua Michael Stern, written by Matthew Whitely, shot by Oscar-winning...

Actor speaks of 'terrifying' health ordeal at the Sundance premiere of the Apple founder's biopic

Christian Bale is rumoured to have lived on coffee and one apple a day to achieve his emaciated physique in The Machinist. But not everyone is suited to unorthodox diets, as Ashton Kutcher discovered after adopting the late Steve Jobs's fruitarian regimen in preparation for a new biopic of the technology magnate.

Speaking at the premiere of Jobs at the Sundance film festival on Friday night, Kutcher revealed that he went to hospital with pancreas problems after following a strict diet of fruit, nuts and seeds. Jobs, who was often reported to be a fruitarian, died of pancreatic cancer in October last year.

"First of all, the fruitarian diet can lead to, like, severe issues," Kutcher told USA Today. "I went to the hospital like two days before we started shooting the movie. I...

For Ashton Kutcher preparing to play Apple co-founder Steve Jobs meant chowing down on - fittingly - apples. The jOBS star, 34, followed a fruit-only diet to get into character as the late visionary for the biopic, which premiered Friday night at the Sundance Film Festival. But channeling Jobs's reported diet took a toll on Kutcher's health: Two days before filming began, he was admitted to a hospital for pancreas problems, according to USA Today. "First of all, the fruitarian diet can lead to like severe issues," Kutcher said following the movie's screening. "I was like doubled over in pain." It's...

At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Steve Jobs stood as the icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. Jobs details the major moments and defining characters that influenced Steve Jobs on a daily basis from 1971 through 2001. The film plunges into the depths of his character, creating an intense dialogue-driven story that is as much a sweeping epic as it is an immensely personal portrait of Steve Jobs' life. The filmmakers strove for absolute authenticity in making the film, including shooting in the historic garage in Palo Alto, that served as the birthplace to Apple Inc. Jobs made its debut tonight at the Sundance Film Festival. Though initial reactions are...

Open Road Films, in partnership with Five Star Feature Films, will release Jobs – the highly anticipated film chronicling the story of Steve Jobs’ ascension from college dropout to one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of the 20th century – nationwide on April 19, 2013. April 2013 marks the 37th anniversary of the founding of the Apple Computer Company. Jobs had it’s premiere this past Friday, (January 25) as the closing night film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Directed by Joshua Michael Stern, written by Matthew Whiteley, shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Russell Carpenter and produced by Mark Hulme, Jobs details the major moments and defining characters that influenced Steve Jobs on a daily basis from 1971 through 2001. Jobs plunges into the depths of his character, creating an intense dialogue-driven story that is as much a sweeping epic as it is an immensely personal portrait of Steve Jobs’ life.

The filmmakers strove for absolute authenticity in making the film,...

A release date has been set for the new biopic about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs title jOBS, starring Ashton Kutcher as the title innovator. Due to be premiered at Sundance Film Festival tomorrow night, the film is not to be confused with the other Steve Jobs film project being written by Aaron Sorkin, which will reportedly play out in three acts in real time.

Here’s a portion of the news release:

Open Road Films, in partnership with Five Star Feature Films, will release jOBS – the highly anticipated film chronicling the story of Steve Jobs’ ascension from college dropout to one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of the 20th century – nationwide on April 19, 2013. April 2013 marks the 37th anniversary of the founding of the Apple Computer Company. As previously announced, jOBS will premiere this Friday, January 25 as the closing night film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Directed by Joshua Michael Stern,...

The founder of Facebook is doing more than just social networking with one of the country's highest-profile Republican governors: Mark Zuckerberg will host a fundraiser for New Jersey's Chris Christie at his Palo Alto, Calif., home next month. The Facebook CEO met the Republican in 2010, when Zuckerberg donated $100 million to improve schools in Newark, Christie's strategist, Mike DuHaime, told TheWrap. Christie will attend the Feb. 13 fundraiser, DuHaime said. A Facebook spokeswoman said in a statement to TheWrap that Zuckerberg and his wife have worked closely Christie on education reform...

Open Road Films, in partnership with Five Star Feature Films, will release Jobs – the highly anticipated film chronicling the story of Steve Jobs’ ascension from college dropout to one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of the 20th century – nationwide on April 19, 2013. April 2013 marks the 37th anniversary of the founding of the Apple Computer Company. As previously announced, Jobs will premiere this Friday, January 25 as the closing night film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Joshua Michael Stern, written by Matthew Whiteley, shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Russell Carpenter and produced by Mark Hulme, Jobs details the major moments and defining characters that influenced Steve Jobs on a daily basis from 1971 through 2001. Jobs plunges into the depths of his character, creating an intense dialogue-driven story that is as much a sweeping epic as it is an immensely personal portrait of Steve Jobs’ life. The filmmakers strove for absolute authenticity in making the film,...

It was announced yesterday Joshua Michael Stern's jOBS, which takes a look at the life of Apple CEO Steve Jobs as played by Ashton Kutcher will hit theaters on April 19. The film details the major moments and defining characters that influenced Jobs on a daily basis from 1971 through 2000. jOBS plunges into the depths of his character, creating an intense dialogue-driven story that is as much a sweeping epic as it is an immensely personal portrait of Steve Jobs' life. The filmmakers were granted unprecedented access during shooting to the historic garage in Palo Alto, that served as the birthplace to Apple Inc. Along with Kutcher the film stars Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons and Matthew Modine. Today a clip from the film has arrived featuring Kutcher and Gad as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak a the two discuss the potential future of the personal computer. In the clip,...

The highly anticipated film chronicling the story of Steve Jobs' ascension from college dropout to one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of the 20th century opens nationwide this April. Jobs details the major moments and defining characters that influenced Steve Jobs on a daily basis from 1971 through 2001. The film plunges into the depths of his character, creating an intense dialogue-driven story that is as much a sweeping epic as it is an immensely personal portrait of Steve Jobs' life. The filmmakers strove for absolute authenticity in making the film, including shooting in the historic garage in Palo Alto, that served as the birthplace to Apple Inc. Directed by Joshua Michael Stern, written by Matthew Whitely, shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Russell Carpenter and...

The Steve Jobs biopic jOBS, starring Ashton Kutcher as the iconic Apple co-founder, will hit theaters for a wide release on April 19th of this year, the same month as the company’s 37th anniversary. The film is making its worldwide premiere this week as the closing night film of the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 25th and today, Open Road Films made the announcement of the theatrical release date.

The April 19th release date means this film will have to compete with Joseph Kosinski sci-fi thriller Oblivion starring Tom Cruise. If I had to guess, Cruise will own the box office that weekend, but jOBS definitely has the potential to do quite well.

The biopic, written by Matthew Whitely, chronicles Jobs’ journey from college dropout to one of the most influential men of our time, showing many of the important moments of his life between 1971 and 2001. Word is that...

Open Road Films has picked up the distribution rights of Five Star Feature Films' Steve Jobs biopic, jOBS. The movie is set to premiere at The Sundance Film Festival later this month, but Open Road has announced that it will be released in theaters in April of 2013.

The movie was directed by Joshua Michael Stern (Swing Vote) and stars Ashton Kutcher as Jobs. He definitley looks the part, and it will be interesting to see if he can act his way through it. Mark Hulme of Five Star Feature Films had this to say in a statement,

We set out to find the perfect partners to present jOBS to audiences worldwide, and we feel we have found one with Open Road. They were as impressed as we were with Ashton Kutcher's inspiring and unforgettable performance as Steve Jobs and are excited to distribute the picture in the U.S.

It was a topsy-turvy year for Mark Zuckerberg, the failed Jesse Eisenberg impersonator currently employed as the CEO of Facebook. On one hand, he acquired buzzy start-up Instagram and got married; on the other hand, the lawsuit-plagued Facebook Ipo was a disappointment, and also Instagram has totally sold out to the man, man. Zuckerberg also fell a truly embarrassing 22 spots on the Forbes list of the Richest People in America. Fortunately, per the last census, that still makes him richer than 311,591,882 in America. And earlier today, Zuckerberg reaffirmed his devotion to the noble cause of “not being a horrible rich...

Picking up where the sold-out 2012 TedxBroadway event left off, 2013’s daylong symposium in January brings together influential people in academics, entertainment, marketing, and media to discuss the future of Broadway. TEDxBroadway’s notable panelists, speakers, and performers will attempt to answer the question, “What’s the best Broadway can be: on stage, as an important neighborhood in New York City, and in terms of its cultural impact on the world.” Organizers of the event, which is known for attracting recognizable names, today unveiled a list of six more speakers, including “Star Trek” star George Takei, Pulitzer Prize-winning producer Daryl Roth, and cello-driven band Rasputina. TEDxBroadway also announced that David Sael, head of digital media for the National Theatre of Great Britain, Ellen Isaacs, an ethnographer and user experience designer at the Palo Alto Research Center, and Adam Thurman, directing of marketing for Chicago’s Court Theatre, will speak as well.

Yahoo!'s new female CEO Marissa Mayer spoke out for the first time about juggling the demands of tending to Yahoo! and a baby. But she made it all sound easy -- should she have? Marissa Mayer, I think it's terrific that you took on the incredibly demanding job of CEO of Yahoo! especially when you were six months pregnant. Appearing To Be Super Woman At 37, you are an inspiring role model for all young, working women. But when you gave your first interview since giving birth to your first child, son Macallister Bogue, on Sept. 30, you spoke out in a way that likely made the hearts of many working moms drop. It certainly wasn't intentional, but I think Marissa, in trying to be totally positive about your job, company and motherhood in general, you minimized the parenting demands you're under. "I knew that the job would be hard, and...

Mathematical model based on Wikipedia activity forecasts the earnings of the biggest movies with 90% accuracy

Patterns of activity on Wikipedia can predict the opening box office takings of blockbuster movies a month before they are released, according to scientists.

Taha Yasseri, a physicist at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, has created a mathematical model that takes into account data such as the number of readers and editors for the Wikipedia page of an upcoming movie and shown that it correlates with takings on the film's opening weekend.

Yasseri and his colleagues, Márton Mestyán and János Kertész, built the model using data on 312 movies with Wikipedia pages, out of a total of 535 that were released in the Us in 2010. Overall, the predicted box office takings matched reality with an accuracy of around 77%.

For the biggest movies in the sample - such as Iron Man 2, Alice in Wonderland, Toy Story 3...

Seventeen-year old Nat Wolff, best known from Nickelodeon's "Naked Brothers Band," will star in Palo Alto, the movie adaptation of James Franco's collection of short stories. Gia Coppola, the granddaughter of movie legend Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather), is writing and directing the indie. James Franco's Rabbit Bandini Prods. is producing. The dark story is about a group of teens in Palo Alto, Calif., who are bored so they find new ways to get into trouble. Wolff will play a kid who has a history of getting into car accidents after intaking illegal substances - (notice earlier "dark story" reference).

Wolff is experiencing a career resurgence. He was recently in New Year's Eve, is starring opposite Lily Collins in Writers and Selena Gomez in Feed the Dog, and he will be tempting Tina Fey to compromise her career in the Getting-Into-Princeton movie Admission.  

Source: Variety...

Untitled Cameron Crowe Project

Cameron Crowe has reportedly set his sights on Bradley Cooper to star with Emma Stone in his next feature, formerly titled "Deep Tiki", at Sony Pictures.

Crowe wrote and will direct the project which shoots next Spring. Scott Rudin is producing. [Source: Deadline]

Madame Bovary

Rhys Ifans ("The Amazing Spider-Man") has joined Sophie Barthes' new adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's classic "Madame Bovary" for Occupant Entertainment. Ifans plays Monsieur Lheureuse, a manipulative merchant.

Mia Wasikowska stars as a married woman who tries to climb the social ladder by engaging in extramarital affairs. Ezra Miller and Paul Giamatti also star. Shooting kicks off next Spring in Europe. [Source: Variety]

Palo Alto

Nat Wolff ("The Naked Brothers Band") has scored a leading role in the dark indie "Palo Alto" based on a collection of short stories by James Franco. The story follows a group of teenagers who have little to do except get into trouble.

Nat Wolff has joined the cast of Palo Alto which is based on James Franco's collection of short stories. Set in California, the plot follows teens who have nothing else to do but get into trouble. Seventeen year-old Wolff, who's known for Nickelodeon's The Naked Brothers Band will play Fred who has a history of car accidents after pot smoking with friends. Variety reports that Gia Coppola is helming and scripting the film produced by Sebastian Pardo as well as Miles Levy and Vince Jolivette of Franco's Rabbit Bandini Productions. Wolff, who was also in Garry Marshall's New Year's Eve comedy, was seen in this year's Toronto International Film Festival player Writers, alongside Logan Lerman, Greg Kinnear, Kristen Bell, Jennifer Connelly and Mirror Mirror star Lily Collins. He's in post-production for The Last Keepers with Aidan Quinn, Virginia Madsen and Olympia Dukakis, as well...

A documentary examining Bhutan, the tiny Himalayan kingdom that sets Gross National Happiness as a development goal instead of Gross Domestic Product, has become the top-funded active film on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. "The Happiest Place," directed by Palo Alto-based independent filmmaker Ben Henretig, has earned more than $83,000 -- 182 percent of the original $45,000 goal -- and 725 supporters, and features an original score by singer Imogen Heap, who is in the movie. The film chronicles the border-to-border trek -- 485 miles by foot and bicycle -- of a group...

By John Marshall, Associated Press

San Francisco -- The spot where Jimmy Stewart saved Kim Novak in "Vertigo" is at Fort Point, just under the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.

A few miles down the bay is Alcatraz, where Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery prevented missiles from launching and Clint Eastwood may or may not have escaped. Up on shore, there's Coit Tower, City Hall, the Transamerica Pyramid, all those hills that have been the setting for so many chase scenes.

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Filled with iconic landmarks, breathtaking scenery and a wide range of locations, San Francisco has a long history as a favorite site for filmmakers - and the movie buffs who want to see the places where their favorite scenes were filmed.

"So many people are so familiar with the icons, with the landmarks of San Francisco," said Bryan Rice, owner of San Francisco Movie Tours.

His college romp comedy Spring Breakers debuted at this week's Venice Film festival and he plays Playboy icon Hugh Hefner in the upcoming porn queen biopic Lovelace. Here are five things you probably don't know about James Franco.

1. Born April 19, 1978 in Palo Alto, CA, his father is of Swedish and Portuguese decent, while his mother is Russian/Jewish.

Video: James Franco Unleashes In Spring Breakers

2. He finished his Bfa degree in English at UCLA in just two years, at the age of 28. In addition, he earned two Mfa degrees -- both in writing -- from Columbia and Brooklyn College.

3. To get into his character for the 2001 TV movie James Dean, he briefly cut himself off from friends and family to try to experience Dean's sense of loneliness.

James Franco's Most Shocking Film Yet!

4. Says he actually stopped smoking pot before his role in Pineapple Express.

5. Someday would like to follow in his mother's footsteps and write...