News

Got quite a few today – more than yesterday…

Rapper Tone Loc (aka Anthony Terrell Smith) is 44 today. Did you know that the music video to Wild Thang, the track that launched him into super-stardom in the late 80s, reportedly only cost $340 to make? It looked like it . Loc has been busy in recent years acting in bit parts here and there for TV shows mostly. He’s also seen some of his most popular tracks used in a few movie soundtracks – most recently, Armored, Obsessed, You Me And Dupree, Charlies Angels: Full Throttle and others. I certainly hope he’s collecting royalty checks!

Actor Robert Gossett (cousin of Louis Gossett Jr) is 56 today; The man’s done a lot of TV work, with likely his most recognizable role as Commander Taylor on TNT’s The Closer. He’s also done the soap opera dance, with parts in The Young & The Restless and Passions.

Angry email from the production company aside, I'm starting to warm up a bit to this whole "how the hell did this get into Berlinale?" thing. Yes, David Carradine is in it and I like him, but he'll do pretty much anything, but beyond that we already detailed Lommel does mid-grade horror which Lionsgate puts out straight to dvd. Anyways, we now have a full synopsis courtesy of the Berlinale fest along with a still, and a behind the scenes video with footage from the film.

Southern Texas. Savannah and Cooper, a young couple in love, drive through the desert in a black 70s Cadillac convertible. Unaware that they are being followed, they check into a motel at the Mexican border. When Savannah leaves to buy food, a cop sneaks into the room, pulls his gun on Cooper, accuses him of murder and tries to arrest him. But Savannah, who had become suspicious,...

Berlin -- Richard Loncraine's "My One and Only," a '50s-era comedy starring Renee Zellweger and Kevin Bacon, was squeezed into the competition lineup for this year's Berlin International Film Festival, barely a week before the event kicks off.

Zellweger plays a glamorous single mom on the hunt for a rich man to foot the bill for her and her sons' lifestyle. Produced by Merv Griffith Entertainment and Ray Gun Prods., "My One and Only" will have its world premiere in Berlin. Essential Entertainment is handling international sales.

Berlin also added Lone Scherfig's Sundance favorite "An Education" with Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina and Emma Thompson and Davis Guggenheim's music documentary "It Might Get Loud" for its Berlinale Special Galas, ensuring the films will get the red carpet treatment without any of the pressure of competition.

All three films should give an added boost of star power to...

The Panorama section will comprise a total of 50 titles with about a third of those being documentaries and here's the first 21 of the list. Oddly enough Dominic Murphy's White Lightnin' will be playing although it's having it's premier at Sundance. Another film we reported on, Uli Lommel's Absolute Evil starring David Carradine will also be playing, and I'm still wondering how the hell they got that in there.

You can check out the list of all 21 titles after the break.

Absolute Evil by Ulli Lommel, USA (world premiere)

With David Carradine, Carolyn Neff, Ulli Lommel, Chris Kiesa

Ander by Roberto Castón, Spain (directorial debut and world premiere)

With Josean Bengoetxea, Cristhian Esquivel, Mamen Rivera, Pilar Rodríguez, Leire Ucha

At Stake by Iwan Setiawan, Muhammad Ichsan, Lucky Kuswandi, Ucu Agustin, Ani Ema Susanti, Indonesia

Panorama Dokumente

Coyote by Chema Rodríguez, Spain (world premiere)

Panorama Dokumente

Der Knochenmann (The Bone Man) by Wolfgang Murnberger,...

Cologne, Germany -- Julie Delpy, whose directorial debut, "2 Days in Paris" lit up the 2007 Berlinale, returns this year with her period thriller "The Countess," which will have its world premiere at Berlin's Panorama sidebar.

Jose Padilha, whose corrupt cops drama "The Elite Squad" was last year's surprise winner of the Berlinale Golden Bear, also has booked a return flight, for the Panorama premiere of "Garapa," his documentary examining poverty in Brazil.

Other highlights of 2009 Panorama lineup include "Absolute Evil," a crime thriller which teams up cult director Ulli Lommel ("The Boogeyman") with star David Carradine; the documentary "Coyote" from Chema Rodriquez ("The Railroad All-Stars") which looks at the issue of human trafficking and "Der Knochenmann" (The Bone Man) from veteran Austrian director Wolfgang Murnberger ("Silentium").

Actress Rie Rasmussen ("Angel-a") will unspool her directorial debut, "Human Zoo," which focuses on the trauma of a woman living in Paris who escaped the horrors of the Balkan war.