FilmBuff

Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island finally opens on February 19, after a last-minute release delay in the Fall of 2009. His first directorial effort after the Oscar-winning crime drama, The Departed, expectations are high for his latest collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio. It's also the latest adaptation of a Dennis Lehane novel, following critically-acclaimed film versions of his books Mystic River andGone Baby Gone. Can Shutter Island meet the buzz? The Los Angeles Times checks in with all three men [READ MORE]

When this year's Oscar nominations were announced, there were a few surprises. Among them, what is this animated feature called The Secret of Kells? How did a film that hasn't even been released, receive a nomination for Best Animated Feature over more popular titles such as Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs or Monsters Vs. Aliens? Now, people are about to find out [READ MORE]

The black holes observed during the iPad presentation are the focus of a recent New York Times article. Have a read and learn what may be in store for everyone's internet friend (Flash) and its upstart competitor (HTML5).

Kathryn Bigelow won the big prize on Saturday night at the annual DGA Awards, for her work helming the acclaimed war film The Hurt Locker. She became the first woman to ever win the prize for best feature film direction. The question now becomes [READ MORE]

This week FilmBuff announced the launch of our new mobile channel in conjunction with Babelgum!  We are excited to bring you the best in free movies and clips on your smartphone. 

See full press release below. [READ MORE]

Like most people I've more or less given up on CDs when it comes to purchasing music, heading instead to online destinations such as iTunes or the new download service lala. I managed to shed all unwanted CDs in recent years before it became impossible to even give them away. But when there's an album new or old that just has to be seen to be believed, I will visit the local High Fidelity-ish haunt and dig up the LP (or uuuuulp). Yes, the rather large black dinner plates with better sound than your average mp3 are still manufactured, and are surprisingly making a modest comeback according to some recent reports. [READ MORE]

A recent article in the New York Times discusses options for filmmakers as they navigate the changing distribution landscape.  See below for full text.

PARK CITY, Utah - The starkest picture to emerge from the opening days of this year's Sundance Film Festival may be of an independent film business forced to stretch in untested directions because its old distribution model no longer works. [READ MORE]

YouTube is partnering with us on a party at this year's Sundance Film Festival, and that's not all they're doing in Park City that should have people talking... The video site has announced a rental service partnership with some 2009 and 2010 Sundance titles. They will be made available for rental, on the site, throughout this year's festival. The New York Times has more on the story.

Having recently purchased Amazon's Kindle, I'm anxiously waiting to learn more about Apple's new tablet device, which is expected to be introduced next week. Apple recently extended an invitation to its January 27th media event, inviting people "to see our latest creation." The nature of the invitation and the secrecy behind the new device elicits thoughts of Willy Wonka allowing a select group into his factory to catch a glimpse of his newest creations. In his black t-shirt and blue jeans, Steve Jobs appears to be a far cry from Wonka, though they both seem to come from the same school of marketing. Will Jobs' new device live up to the hype? [READ MORE]

Louie Psihoyos’ The Cove won the top award at the 2010 Cinema Eye Honors on Friday, January 15. The film also won Best Producer and Best Cinematography. Other big winners included Burma VJ, October Country, and The September Issue. Get the full list of winners over at indieWIRE.