The long-awaited and much-hyped Transformers movie is soon to be gracing the silver screen, but before coming to your local theater, it will kick off in LA in style with a film festival-like premiere. Even better, the premiere will be open to the public.

The premiere will span four theaters, which will seat about 4,000 people. The premiere is open to the public, so if you’re in LA and you’ve always wanted to attend a premiere and mingle with the stars, you might want to check it out. The entrance fee will be $25, plus the cost of the pass for the event.

This is what the LA Times had to say about the movie’s premiere:

In one of the biggest premieres ever held in Los Angeles, the Bay juggernaut — about a race of alien robots trying to gobble Earth — will take over not one, but four Westwood movie houses on June 27, with 4,000 seats available, not just for swank “Transformers” stars like It-boy Shia LaBeouf or executive producer Steven Spielberg, but for actual members of the public.

Those who want get tickets to be among the first to see the big-screen version of the cartoon/toy line — “Transformers” doesn’t open to the general public until July 4 — can do so now by paying $25 on top of purchasing a pass to the film festival. Any premiere-only tickets remaining will be sold beginning June 8.

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Currently, sixteen U.S. cities, all by the name of Springfield, have been asked to take part in a competition to hold the world premiere of the Simpsons Movie in their town. None had turned down the offer, until now. Springfield, Minnesota has declined the offer to participate, citing the idea that it might not be a good idea to be associated with the fictional city of Springfield.

Springfield’s city manager Mac Tilberg says that it is probably not such an honor to be identified as the fictional town, and that Springfield, Minnesota is a “clean, close-knit community” with “no pollution, no waste dumps, nobody misbehaving all the time.”

Huh. Last time I checked the idea of the contest wasn’t to find a city that emulated the Simpsons’ Springfield, but rather, to bestow upon one lucky Springfield the honor of hosting the world premiere of a major motion picture. Not only will the winning town get notoriety, but they’ll also benefit from all the press coverage (and therefore extra $$$ spent in their town). As Homer would say… “D’oh!”

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While it seems that comics-turned-movies are quite popular these days on the big screen, Lionsgate and Marvel Entertainment have decided to take Dr. Strange straight to DVD. On August 14th, they will be releasing Dr. Strange, the latest title in the popular Marvel Animated Featured DVD series. This is the fourth release of the series signed between the two companies for direct-to-DVD releases.

The series features Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme as he uses his powers to face the terrifying entity threatening humanity. The DVD features CGI animation and a storyline that promises to stay true to its comic roots. Other special features of the DVD include a First Look at the Avengers Reborn feature, concept art, a “Who is Doctor Strange?” featurette, and the Best of Marvel Game Cinematics.

It will be available in both DVD and Blu-Ray disc formats, with respective retail prices of $19.98 and $29.99. Want to find out more? Visit the official Dr. Strange DVD website.

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Congratulations to Matt from Michigan, the latest Screenhead DVD winner. He’s taking home a copy of two great DVDs: Shanghai Express & Above the Law.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more Screenhead DVD giveaways and contests!

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While making a film that wins at Cannes does not always mean much in terms of box office, it will always carry undeniable prestige. The films that were awarded prizes at the 60th Cannes Film Festival represent a wide variety of films from a number of countries. Some will get wide distribution in theaters, while others may have to be sought out in future DVD releases. The following is a list of the winning films:

Palme d’Or: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, directed by Cristian Mungiu (Romania)
Grand Prize: The Mourning Forest, directed by Naomi Kawase (Japan)
Best Director: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, directed by Julian Schnabel (France)
Special Prize: Paranoid Park, directed by Gus Van Sant (U.S.A.)
Jury Prize (tie): Persepolis, directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud (France)
Silent Light, directed by Carlos Reygadas (Mexico)
Best Actor: Konstantin Lavronenko for The Banishment (Russia)
Best Actress: Jeon Do-yeon for Secret Sunshine (Korea)
Best Screenplay: Fatih Akin for The Edge of Heaven (Germany/Turkey)
Camera d’Or (Best Debut Feature): Jellyfish, directed by Etgar Keret & Shira Geffen (Israel)
Special Mention Debut: Control, directed by Anton Corbijn (U.K.)
Career Achievement Palme d’Or: Jane Fonda

Several of the films have U.S. distribution in place. While some past Cannes winners, such as Emir Kusturica, remain unkown to mainstream film audiences, others such as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino have seen their careers significantly boosted by Cannes victories. Jane Fonda is only the fourth person to be honored by the Cannes Film Festival with a career achievement award.

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Is there anyone who doesn’t know that today would have been the 100th birthday of John Wayne? Considering the number of movies Wayne starred in, choosing five films is impossible. I could have easily restricted myself to just the best films made with his frequent director, John Ford. Just remember that John Wayne almost didn’t become a movie star. Originally groomed by legendary filmmaker Raoul Walsh, the epic western The Big Trail, Wayne’s first starring film made in 1930, was a huge flop. It took almost a decade of work in low budget westerns before Wayne finally became a star. The following list is of my choice for key films in every decade starring the former Marion Morrison.

1. Stagecoach (1939). Nine years after The Big Trail, John Ford decides that the former college football star is ready to star in another major film. The cast and crew head out to Monument Valley because of the pictorial beauty, the first time for a John Ford film. A star is re-born when the camera dollies in on Ringo Kid, standing with a rifle in his hand. Stagecoach is a commercial and critical success, competing for Oscars with Gone with the Wind. Orson Welles said that he studied Stagecoach before making Citizen Kane.

2. Red River (1948). John Wayne leads a cattle drive with his adopted son, Montgomery Clift in his first film. John Ford reputedly stated about Wayne after seeing this film, “I didn’t know the SOB could act.” This was Wayne’s first film directed by Howard Hawks, who would work with Wayne several more times. The most famous scene is of Clift and John Agar showing off their guns to each other. Hawks was quite aware of the symbolism.

3. The Searchers (1956). Citing this film is almost a cliche now, but when The Searchers was first released, it was considered simply a good film, but nothing special. John Wayne has said this is one of his favorite roles. George Lucas remade one scene in Star Wars. Martin Scorsese used a clip in Mean Streets. Ron Howard even attempted to make his own version, The Missing. Best of all was the inspiration of Buddy Holly, who used a key phrase coined by Wayne to create his first major hit, “That’ll be the Day”. John Wayne grabs his own shoulder in tribute to silent cowboy star Harry Carey. One of The Searchers co-stars is Harry Carey, Jr.

4. True Grit (1969). John Wayne was always a political conservative. It was ironic that he finally won an Academy Award during the year of Easy Rider and Midnight Cowboy. Donning a black eye patch, Wayne cemented his iconic status as Rooster Cogburn. In a very small part is Easy Rider star and director Dennis Hopper. True Grit was Wayne’s final film with frequent director Henry Hathaway. In spite of his politics, Wayne came to the defense of True Grit screenwriter Marguerite Roberts, a former victim of the Hollywood blacklist of the Fifties.

5. The Shootist (1976). John Wayne was ill with cancer, making this film, about an ill gunfighter looking to die with dignity, the perfect ending to his long career. Don Siegel’s film reunited Wayne with co-stars from past films - Lauren Bacall, James Stewart and John Carradine, and also used clips from past films. At one point The Shootist was to star George C. Scott, who previously had expressed interest in True Grit.

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The laughs never end at National Lampoon, and to ensure that you too won’t be able to sit there mindlessly bored for another minute, National Lampoon has just added two new funny video shorts to their website. The first one is Sausage Fest, and the second one is Oh Dear God… This is Our Country!. Check them out below:

• Sausage Fest - When you’re at a party and you know there aren’t going to be any girls, grab an ice cold SausageFest.
• Oh Dear God… This is Our Country! - From sea to shining sea, like it or not, this is our country.

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Citing “scheduling conflicts”. Nicholas Cage has dropped out of playing the lead role of Al Capone in Brian De Palma’s follow-up to 1987’s “The Untouchables” - “Capone Rising”. I for one, am very happy with this development. Cage as a big-time mobster? I just can’t see it.

No replacement for Cage has been announced yet, but Gerard Butler remains committed to the project. “Capone Rising” is written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien. The film chronicals Capone’s rise to power in the mob world, and how his relationship with detective (and nemesis) Jimmy Malone first began.

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20th Century Fox has acquired the feature rights to Electronic Arts “The SIMS” life-simulation computer game. “The SIMS” movie will be a live-action feature based off of the game, which I’m not quite sure how they’re going to pull that off. However, considering that The SIMS is the world’s best-selling PC game with more than $1.6 billion in sales, it’s a logical next step for further marketing and money-making opportunities. Brian Lynch (Scary Movie 3) will script the film, but little else is known about it so far. The story is being kept under wraps, and there’s been no information given about the cast.

All in all, this whole project sounds pretty lame. I just can’t see how this will work, especially for a feature film. I can’t help but think that they’re only trying to capitalize even further off SIMS game addicts who they assume will be a built-in fanbase for the movie.

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With the impending June 15th release date of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, promotions for the movie are in full swing. 20th Century Fox’s latest promotion for the film, however, has been said to be illegal and the studio could face potential penalties and fines from the U.S. Government. So what exactly did they do?

20th Century Fox teamed up with The Franklin Mint to alter approximately 40,000 U.S. Quarters to feature the Silver Surfer character. The coins used were quarters honoring the state of California which entered circulation in 2005. As usual, they feature George Washington on the front, but the back of the coin has been changed to show a colorized version of the character on back. If you happen to find one of these coins in your change, hold on to it. Fans who find one can enter a contest online to win prizes and a private screening of the movie.

It sounds like a reasonable enough contest that someone obviously put some creative thought into, but unfortunately, it’s highly illegal. You see, in the U.S. it is illegal to intentionally alter or deface currency. Don’t believe me? Consult the United States Code, TITLE 18 - Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Part I - Crimes, Chapter 17 - Coins and Currency, § 333. Mutilation of national bank obligations, which states:

“Whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or
unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill,
draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking
association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System,
with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence
of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or
imprisoned not more than six months, or both.”

The US Mint said they learned of the promotional quarter this week, and advised the studio and The Franklin Mint that they were breaking the law. The Franklin Mint, however, contends that they’ve not broken the law, but will take whatever means necessary to correct the mistake or issue. But it’s too little, too late as the coins have already been defaced and released into the wild.

Ooops. Someone made a big boo-boo.

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