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  • Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014
Actor/comedian Patton Oswalt to host VES Awards
LOS ANGELES -- 

The Visual Effects Society (VES) announced that actor/comedian/author Patton Oswalt will serve as host of the 12th Annual VES Awards on February 12 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.  This marks Oswalt’s third engagement as host of the annual celebration that recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation. 

“Look, no one drinks more or parties harder than visual effects artists.  They’ve promised to green screen a vat of bourbon into my stomach.  I had to say yes, “ said Oswalt on his return engagement.

Oswalt continues to find success in all areas of entertainment, from his Grammy-nominated comedy specials to his many memorable TV guest roles (including Parks and Recreation, for which he received a TV Critics Choice Award).  He is also currently featured in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, stars in Adult Swim’s The Heart, She Holler and is the narrator on ABC’s More

  • Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014
Kurt Russell remembers Paul Walker at Sundance
A Sept. 11, 2013 file photo of actor Kurt Russell (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
By Ryan Pearson, Entertainment Writer
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) -- 

Calling his late castmate Paul Walker "a terrific guy," Kurt Russell says he's not sure what will happen with his role in the latest "Fast & Furious" movie.

Russell joined the seventh film in the franchise and plays a father figure to Vin Diesel's character Dominic Toretto. The 62-year-old actor said he had one day left of filming when Walker died in a car crash outside Los Angeles last November.

"They're having to rewrite, they're having to do whatever they're having to do to deal with the situation. Listen, it's catastrophic. It's the worst thing that could happen to a movie, but it's not as bad as what happened to Paul," Russell said in an interview at the Sundance Film Festival, where he's promoting a documentary about his father's minor-league baseball team, "The Battered Bastards of Baseball." ''So everything is in perspective. He was a terrific guy. And life is full of curveballs."

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  • Monday, Jan. 20, 2014
Ken Burns making documentary on country music
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- 

PBS documentary maker Ken Burns is examining the roots of country music and how it has changed through the present day for a multi-episode series on public broadcasting.

Country fans have a wait ahead of them, though. PBS said Monday that Burns' country music project isn't set to air until 2018.

The noted documentarian has several other projects in the works for PBS, including one on the Gettysburg Address that will air this spring, and films on the Roosevelts, Jackie Robinson and Vietnam.

The country series explores the question, "what is country music." It will track the careers of the Carter family, Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and others.

  • Monday, Jan. 20, 2014
Sundance, Women in Film study female filmmakers
By Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) -- 

A study commissioned by the Sundance Institute and Women in Film Los Angeles finds that female filmmakers who participate in the institute's feature and documentary development labs succeed in equal numbers to men.

The executive director of the Sundance Institute, Keri Putnam, and the president of Women in Film Los Angeles, Cathy Schulman, presented the findings Monday at a private event during the Sundance Film Festival.

The study examined participation in Sundance's film-development labs and found that gender had no impact on the likelihood of a film's completion. About 41 percent of all lab projects by male and female filmmakers are finished, and 80 percent of those go on to play at major film festivals.

"Labs level the gender playing field," said lead researcher Stacy L. Smith of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California.

Women More

  • Monday, Jan. 20, 2014
Katie Couric makes documentary debut at Sundance
This photo released by the Sundance Institute shows Ariel Gulchin in the documentary film, "Fed Up." The Sundance Film Festival runs Jan. 16-26, 2014, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Sundance Institute, Scott Sinkler)
By Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) -- 

Along with her soon-to-end daytime talk show, fall engagement and recent move from TV to the web as Yahoo's global anchor, Katie Couric also made a documentary feature shown at Sundance.

"Fed Up" premiered Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival.

Couric linked up with "An Inconvenient Truth" producer Laurie David to make a film that explores the epidemic of childhood obesity and its not-so-obvious causes. Couric produced and narrates the film.

The 57-year-old TV anchor said she pitched David her idea over email, "and it took her about 10 seconds to say, 'I'm in.'"

"Three seconds," David said.

Couric said documentaries "are replacing journalism in some cases" because budget cuts and a taste for quick news bites means "nobody invests the time to really investigate some of the biggest social issues." A collection of headlines doesn't illuminate can't illuminate an issue the way a More

  • Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014
NBC will do live remake of 'Peter Pan'
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- 

Following up on the success of "The Sound of Music" last month, NBC said Sunday that it will broadcast a live version of "Peter Pan" in December.

It will be produced by the same team, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, that made "The Sound of Music" with Carrie Underwood. The live musical reached 19 million viewers, surprising even NBC entertainment president Robert Greenblatt.

No cast members were announced on Sunday.

"I have some dream choices, but I don't want to talk about it before approaching them," Greenblatt said.

"Peter Pan," which opened on Broadway in 1954, has a strong history with NBC. The network aired a live broadcast of the show from its own studios in 1955 with Tony Award-winner Mary Martin in the title role and most of the original Broadway cast, reaching 65 million viewers. That was a record for television at the time.

NBC broadcast the show live again in 1956 and 1960 More

  • Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014
Director Alfonso Cuaron Tries TV for First Time
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- 

Oscar-nominated director Alfonso Cuaron is trying television for the first time, teaming with producer J.J. Abrams on a new series.

The two have known each other for about 20 years, and Abrams was eager to work with Cuaron. Cuaron is up for a best director Oscar for "Gravity," the category he won at the Golden Globes.

Cuaron concocted the idea for "Believe," debuting March 10 on NBC, while shooting "Gravity" with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. He contacted Abrams, who came aboard as co-executive producer for the series starring Delroy Lindo, Kyle MacLachlan and Jamie Chung.

Cuaron joked Sunday to the Television Critics Association that after working in space, he wanted to do something where people weren't floating. The series revolves around a 10-year-old girl with supernatural powers who's pursued by sinister forces.

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  • Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014
Wiig mainstay for Hader in 'Skeleton Twins'
This photo provided by the Sundance Institute shows Bill Hader, left, and Kristen Wiig, in a scene from the film, "The Skeleton Twins," directed by Craig Johnson. The Sundance Film Festival runs Jan. 16-26, 2014, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Sundance Institute, Reed Morano)
By Jessica Herndon, Film Writer
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) -- 

Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are accustomed to sharing the same stage — and keeping a crowd in stitches — since starring on "Saturday Night Live" together from 2005 to 2013. But in their new film "Skeleton Twins," they get melodramatic.

Playing estranged, suicidal twins in the film that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, the pair tackles heavy inner demons. Milo (Hader) is a newly single aspiring actor, while Maggie (Wiig) can't seem to settle into her first healthy marriage with Lance (Luke Wilson).

"This being my first drama and also the biggest role I've had in a movie, it was nice having her there supporting me and keeping me relaxed," said Hader at the film's post-premiere party of reuniting with Wiig.

Hader, who is making a successful push toward film, as many "SNL" alums have also done, says he likes shooting a film more than live television.

"I love that you have More

  • Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014
Bromance? Ayoade suggests he and Redford have one
By Ryan Pearson, Entertainment Writer
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) -- 

Richard Ayoade says his connection to Sundance founder Robert Redford runs deeper than most filmmakers.

"I think Robert is grateful that I came. Now he's too proud to say that. But you can see in his eyes," Ayoade joked in an interview. "He doesn't want to focus the whole thing on me at this stage. It's kind of between us."

Ayoade, a British comedic actor, made his feature directing debut with the 2011 Sundance coming-of-age movie "Submarine." He claims a warm welcome from the 77-year-old Redford after returning this year with "The Double," which he directed and co-wrote.

"He's there turning down the beds, making sure everyone's got enough eggs. He's all over it. He's just there. But that's just Robert. He does too much, I tell him. He won't listen. It keeps him busy, that's the thing. Because otherwise the mind goes," Ayoade said in an interview, maintaining a deadpan face while his film's More

  • Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014
Lithgow, Molina show longtime love at Sundance
Writer and director Ira Sachs, center, poses with cast members John Lithgow, left, and Alfred Molina, right, at the premiere of the film "Love is Strange" during the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP)
By Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) -- 

John Lithgow said playing Alfred Molina's longtime lover in the film "Love is Strange" was "just like falling in love with this man."

The veteran actors portray a couple who marry after 39 years together in the Ira Sachs film that premiered Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival.

Once wed, one of the men loses his job as a music instructor at a Catholic school and the couple is forced to sell their apartment to survive financially. They end up living apart, staying with friends and family until they can remedy their situation. All the while, the couple comforts each other and has fun together.

"What I feel is really a success of the film," Sachs said, "is that these two men create the history of a 40 year relationship with all the texture."

Lithgow and Molina have been friends for 20 years but this is the first time they have worked together.

"I just knew this was going to work so More

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