If you don't already have plans for Saturday, February 24, I have the best option for what to do -- provided you live near a participating AMC theater, that is. The cinema chain is offering an amazing deal to moviegoers on the eve of the Oscars: for the price of $30, you can see all five films nominated for best picture. Of course, you have to watch them in a row, from 11am to 11:30pm (or whatever time the 9:45 showing of Little Miss Sunshine lets out). In addition to the movies, though, you also get a large popcorn, a large drink -- with unlimited refills all day long -- and a "collectible pass."

Now, I can see if this is a little too much movie for most people to handle, but I can't express enough how good a deal it is. Plus, you could always leave before Sunshine (I would; I hate it), if you fear a numb butt (try to imagine 24 hours!). Considering I still need to see two of the nominees, it would be worth it for me to attend the whole marathon since at the participating megaplex in Manhattan two movies and concessions would run me about $30 anyway (unless I theater-hopped).

For all the plights of North American filmmakers, there's always someone, somewhere who has it worse, and it's usually directors in China. Chinese laws are quite strict, which often leads filmmakers to be incredibly creative in showing certain themes -- especially sex, as I briefly discussed in November. Director Li Yu is the latest casualty of strict Chinese censors. Her film, Lost in Beijing, was to compete at the Berlin International Film Festival this month, but her country has banned her from bringing the film to the fest. The film involves a relationship between the boss of a Beijing massage parlor (Tony Leung) and his female worker (Fan Bingbing).

According to Producer Fang Li, the ban states: "According to current regulations, your film needs further modifications and therefore is not allowed to go for the 57th Berlinale." This is, obviously, a huge blow to the film, as the festival begins in a week. He's also quoted as saying that Li Yu "is not in a mood to do anything." I'm not surprised! While the censors are open to further editing by the filmmaker, Fang has asserted that to do so would destroy the film. They plan to lobby the Film Bureau as long as they can, before deciding whether they want to ignore the ruling and attend the festival anyway. Fang also produced Lou Ye's Summer Palace last year, which was brought to Cannes without China's approval -- and ultimately led to the director being banned from filmmaking in China for the next 5 years. Hopefully Li Yu won't have the same fate.

20th Century Fox has a short memory ... or a lot of nerve. Despite the studio's very recent battle with German exhibitors on the issue of release windows -- which it lost -- Fox continues to see how far it can go with shrinking the time between its films' theatrical debut and video debut. This time Fox has upset the British market, announcing a UK DVD release date for Night at the Museum that is barely three months after the comedy's bow in UK cinemas. Like in Germany, there will be a boycott of the movie by most theater chains. Beginning tomorrow, Night at the Museum will not be shown in cinemas run by Cineworld, Odeon, Vue and Showcase.

People in the UK can still see the movie this weekend, but only at Empire, Apollo and some independent theaters, all of which claim a stronger obligation to the customers than to the goodness of a united national position (even though they apparently agree with that position). Despite the absence of real support from the little guys -- some of which, it is probable, need that Museum business this weekend -- Fox is likely to be hurt by the boycott. Museum is the second biggest movie of the season in the UK, and without the theatrical hiatus, it would continue to make the studio millions over the weekend. It is interesting to point out that Eragon, which is one of the films involved in the German boycott, is not part of the threat/action, possibly because it isn't performing nearly as well.

Hopefully, for customers, exhibitors and the image of Fox, there will be the announcement of a postponement of the Museum DVD before tomorrow morning. Otherwise, you'll hear of other effects come Monday.

American theater owners might want to learn from the European markets, because Italy (as I reported in November) and now Germany have won terrific battles in the release-window war. This past weekend German exhibitors put a ban on the Fox blockbusters Night at the Museum and Eragon in order to protest the studio's plan to put the Eragon DVD in stores three months after its theatrical release date. Fox has given in, stating that it will put a minimum of six months between its movies' cinema and video dates.

Both of the movies put on hiatus had been playing in Germany for awhile, and probably earned a majority of their grosses, but Fox still suffered as Night at the Museum fell from the #2 spot to #8 with a whopping 75% decrease in ticket sales. Also, surprisingly, Fox's just-released John Tucker Must Die was hurt; it fell from #4 to #13 with a 72% decrease -- though I can't imagine it would have done too well two weekends in a row. Another incentive for Fox, however, was its need to get Rocky Balboa into German cinemas next weekend. Exhibitors had threatened not to open the film if Fox didn't agree to demands.

Unfortunately for American cinemas, it probably isn't that easy to halt exhibition of any titles they choose to boycott. For some reason studios have a lot tighter hold on the theater business in the States. This news also shows how much Hollywood is more concerned with international box office than domestic. And I guess studios aren't worried about Germans importing American DVDs. If a movie like John Tucker Must Die can do so well over there, when it has been available on video here since November, then there's no worry if Eragon hits stores in the U.S. prior to six months from now.

Made in 1969, Jean-Pierre Melville's Army of Shadows received its official United States theatrical debut in 2006, and many critics named it one of the best films of the year. Now Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep (1977) could be poised to do the same in 2007. Milestone Films will debut the film at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival, followed by U.S. premieres in New York at the IFC Center on March 30 and in Los Angeles at the Nuart Theatre on April 6, according to a press release issued by the company.

Selected by the Library of Congress as one of the first 100 films in the National Film Registry, Killer of Sheep is arguably one of the two or three most important African-American features in history, and yet it has been little seen since its completion. The film tells the story of Stan (Henry G. Sanders), a Watts resident who works in a slaughterhouse. With little hope for the future, Stan finds beauty in the small things of everyday life.

Though critics have called him the most significant African-American filmmaker in history, Burnett's career has often fallen off the radar. Two of his biggest films, To Sleep with Anger (1990), starring Danny Glover, and The Glass Shield (1995), with Ice Cube and Lori Petty, suffered from bad distribution and advertising. In recent years, he has found slightly steadier work in television; he contributed an episode to the 2003 mini-series "The Blues," which also featured episodes by Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsese.

Even so, Burnett is reportedly at work on a new film, Nujoma: Where Others Wavered, shooting in Africa. In addition to Killer of Sheep, Milestone is also releasing Burnett's feature My Brother's Wedding (1983) and three short films, Several Friends (1969), The Horse (1973) and When It Rains (1995), to selected theaters. A DVD box set will follow in the fall.

Attention, everyone who has UHD (Universal HD) on their cable box. Universal has announced a one-time-only screening of Steven Spielberg's Jaws, beginning Saturday night at 10 p.m, EST. According to people who should know -- the guys who run Spielbergfilms.com -- this is a likely precursor to Universal making their high-definition print of the film available beyond the UHD service. The site also says that "we already have word that HDNet Movies will be broadcasting the HD transfer in 2008."

To give you an idea of how serious these Spielbergfilms.com guys are about their Spielberg, they have an entire archive of Jaws media clippings to sort through, so you don't miss out on any breaking Jaws news. The most recent newsworthy event in the Jaws universe before this announcement was back on November 29, when several items from the original film went up on the auction block, including a dorsal fin prop, a technical drawing of the shark from the production design team, and -- wow, I might have actually bid on this one -- the rod and reel Quint used when he strapped himself into that fishing-seatbelt-contraption thing.

Forget about whether or not the MPAA is actually making improvements to the film ratings system. You can believe that it is, or you can believe that it isn't. The important thing is that the board should be communicating more clearly to moviegoers the point of film ratings and the reasons for a film being rated what it is rated. The worse thing for independent cinema is not that films may unfairly receive an NC-17 rating; it is that the public misunderstands the NC-17 rating. This problem is still mostly the fault of the MPAA, along with the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO). Fortunately, the MPAA may be finally acknowledging this.

Last week, when the MPAA's ratings revision proposal was announced, there was mention of a plan to provide more specific descriptors for R-rated films, addressing whether they are more or less inappropriate for children. I wrote hopefully that this was a plan to steer away from the poisonous NC-17 rating. But in his official declaration of the new policies, Dan Glickman stated the opposite. The MPAA, he said, would like the world to love and embrace the NC-17.

At a Tuesday night Slamdance screening of the film "Children of God," a documentary on the cult of the same name, two members of the group were hustled out of a question and answer session when they started an impromptu protest and revealed that they were covertly recording the film for an unspecified purpose. A confrontation then followed that ended up in a tussle between the protesters and police on Main Street, in Park City. HBO is distributing the film in summer 2007, with documentary producers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey. Variety reports that HBO insiders have confirmed they will not refrain from pursuing their legal rights if those individuals attempt to distribute the material or do anything to interfere with the film's release.

The film examines the cult, which supposedly began in 1968 in Huntington Beach, California and is variously known as Children of God, Family of Love and Family International. In recent years, the cult's practices of extreme liberal sexuality have led to several members being accused of various crimes involving young people. The cult leader, one Richard Rodriguez, committed suicide while this film was being made.

I can think of so many movies I would love to see but can't, because they're not available on DVD right now. One movie I've wanted to see for years is Slither -- no, not the 2006 horror film, but the quirky 1972 film starring James Caan, written by W.D. Richter. However, it's not on DVD, I don't think it's something Turner Classic Movies would show and aging VHS copies are tough to find.

Austin filmmaker Nick Robinson has reminded me of another option for watching hard-to-find films: Start collecting 16mm prints and get a projector to view them from the comfort of home. Robinson recently posted a short personal documentary, Celluloiphilia, to YouTube (see the embedded video after the jump). In Celluloiphilia, he discusses the first 16mm print he ever bought, the 1973 movie Who? starting Elliot Gould. The clips he shows from the print have that reddish look found in color prints that haven't aged well, but I've seen a lot of movies in theaters that looked like that. When a movie is rare enough, you don't care about a little red or a few splices if it means you're actually getting to see the movie.

I'm sure you're probably already aware of that online virtual world called Second Life, and how the Sundance Channel has created a little island within Second Life in an attempt to bring indie fanatics from around the world together in one spot for screenings, interviews, parties and extra special exclusives. Recently, the Sundance Island officially opened up shop with a free screening of the buzzed-about flick Four Eyed Monsters, with directors Arin Crumley and Susan Buice on hand to answer questions afterwards.

Since things worked so well, Crumley and Buice have been asked to travel to Sundance to shoot daily videos which will be broadcast through YouTube as part of a collaboration (their first) with the Sundance Channel. Like Cinematical (which should be your first source for all things Sundance), the two filmmakers will skip around town interviewing filmmakers, attending panels, parties and (I imagine) having a blast, all the while providing us with the kind of uninhibited creativity they're known for.

And, for a sneak peak at what they have in store for us, Cinematical exclusively brings you their first official Sundance video -- essentially, an introduction to what lies ahead. Enjoy! (Oh, and if you're heading to Sundance and run into Crumley and Buice along the way, be sure to tell them Cinematical says hi.)

(Thanks to Jeff and Aaron for the tip)

Like most movie bloggers, I read the trade magazines. But I don't just read the obvious ones, like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. I also read related trades, such as Professional Candy Buyer and In Focus. The latter of these was the official magazine for the National Association of Theatre Owners, but its final issue has just hit the streets (er, cinemas). I haven't actually read the print version since leaving my former job as a theater manager, but I've kept up with NATO and the industry via the magazine's website.

With the end of In Focus, NATO will not be without a trade. It has chosen Box Office magazine, which has been around since 1920, to be its official publication. I've never been a big fan of the B.O.M. site, mainly because I was never familiar with the print version, but the site does have more in the way of content, like reviews and blogs, than the In Focus site. I guess I'll have to get used to it, as it will now be my main source for theater industry news and info.

I'm not sure how many of our readers are that interested in multiplex innovation and concession trends, so I rarely blog about the things I learn from In Focus, but I thought I'd share some of the last stories the trade has featured in its pages ...

If you live in Springfield, Illinois, you might have to wait until Sunday to see the new dance movie Stomp the Yard. Or you could simply avoid the cinemas operated by Kerasotes Theatres, which has postponed the movie for two days. Unfortunately for those who aren't able or willing to travel, the chain pretty much has a monopoly on the theater business of Springfield. Too bad, since it would be a good idea for people in the city to completely boycott Kerasotes after its CEO's racist assumptions.

Tony Kerasotes originally said that he wouldn't be showing the movie in any of his Springfield theatres, but pressure from the NAACP and members of the community made him change his decision to a two-day postponement. The reason for Kerasotes' first instinct to ban the movie was that he feared gang violence, which he denied had anything to do with race. Recently, at one of the Springfield Kerasotes Theatres, a fight broke out during a showing of Black Christmas, and one teenager was shot. Because most of those involved in that incident are not in custody, Kerasotes assumes a similar event could happen again.

Bollywood is no longer something to be ignored. It was understandable in 2001, when Ghost World hit screens, that many people had never heard of legend Mohammed Radi or seen him sing Jan Pehechan-Ho -- let alone seen ladies and gents go dance crazy without surf boards and bikinis. However, the power of Indian film cannot be ignored -- its volume and ticket sales are the largest in the world and the sensation is sliding out of India bit by bit.

Tonight, the legions of Bollywood fans in Toronto are in for a special treat, and not some quarter-costing sweet from a gumball machine. Tonight, Mani Ratnam's new Indian romantic drama Guru will have its world premiere at the Elgin Theatre. For any of you who think that $10, $15 or even $20 is too much to shell out for a film, try a top price tag of $500 -- and this isn't because the film won't come out for a while. It opens in Canada on Friday. Yes, Bollywood has gotten big enough in the multicultural city of Toronto that they'll charge upwards of 10 times what a premiere sells for at TIFF. And money isn't the only thing to hit high numbers -- city officials are expecting up to 10,000 people to hit Yonge Street in hopes to see one of the film's stars, Abhishek Bachchan or Aishwarya Rai. And they're probably not exaggerating too much. When Babel and the Indian film Never Say Goodbye premiered on the same day, Bollywood fans dwarfed those anxious to see Brad Pitt. Watch out, Hollywood! The Bollywood craze is hitting North America.

Sure, there are a lot of benefits to speed dating. You speed through a bunch of unimpressive candidates and get face-to-face time with people who are also looking for someone to spend Friday night with. At the same time, how much do you learn from a first impression and can you make a value judgement based on a speedy self-sales pitch? The Berlin International Film Festival seems to think so. Amongst the many opportunities for filmmakers to meet financial backers in the German city is their own form of swift selling.

When case studies on financing films gets to be too much, prospective sellers and buyers can partake in "speed matchings" and "country tables." This will be great for the people and places that will inevitably be zeroed in on. Of the US projects up for grabs is The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes from Joe Dante, who is responsible for two eighties classics -- Gremlins and Innerspace. Two other notable names looking for backing come from the Maple Leaf Land of Canada -- Sarah Polley, actress-turned-director and Clément Virgo, who was responsible for last year's super-saucy Lie with Me.

So, sure, this will be great for them. Their names have magnetic pull and are sure to attract much interest from those with cash to burn. However, what of the other films that make up the 37? I don't envy them and the stellar sales pitch they've got to create. Then again, maybe this is the way to go. With the clock ticking, maybe the world can finally stop some pictures before they ever get made ... but that is just wishful thinking.

I forgive readers for not reading completely through my post on international box office. It was a very long post, and at least one commenter decided that its information was boring. But if you did make it to the bottom, you may have seen a story that I thought to be slightly interesting, if not significant: Consumer groups in Italy were protesting the all-ages rating stamped to Apocalypto.

It didn't seem too important because consumer complaints are made all the time. But now it is more significant because the consumer groups have won, at least temporarily. An Italian court has overruled the Italian censors by placing an age restriction on the film. At least until a hearing commences on January 17, children under the age of 14 will not be allowed to see the film. According to the country's censors, the violence in the movie is historical, artistic and "a way of life" and therefore not inappropriate, but the one consumer group that brought the case to court thought differently (our own James thinks the violence is "clammy and silly stuff -- boring and blood-soaked and incredibly obvious"). Here in the States the rating was R, and similarly restrictive ratings were placed on the film in other markets. After this ruling, only Russia still lacks an age limit for admission.