Doggy Deadline—This Saturday, Aug. 28, is the deadline to submit your short videos to the Fifth Annual All-Dog Digital Underground Short Film Festival (a.k.a. Dogfest 2004). If you have a photogenic canine looking for his or her 15 minutes of fame, then shoot your short (five minutes or under) dog-based digital video and send it (along with a $25 entry fee) to: “Three Dog Bakery, 9821 Montgomery NE, Albuquerque NM 87111.” First, second and third-place prizes ($500, $300, $200) will go to an animal rescue group of the winner's choosing. Applications are available at www.abqdog.com/dogfest.html.

High-flying martial arts fantasy out-crouches the Tiger

It took Quentin Tarantino poking his finger into Harvey Weinstein's overfed ribs several times and offering to “present” the film for Miramax to finally release Hero here in the United States. The film, now called something unwieldy like Quentin Tarantino Presents Jet Li's Hero, was released throughout Asia in 2002 and went on to become one of the highest-grossing Chinese films in history. It was even nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar at the beginning of this year. And yet, it still didn't occur to Miramax to actually put the film in theaters for Americans to see. Miramax's shabby treatment of foreign titles is all but legendary, so it came as no surprise that the company seemed perfectly willing to consign this vivid cinematic wonder to the back shelves of Blockbuster.

An interview with actor Aaron Eckhart from Suspect Zero

Actor Aaron Eckhart quickly gained his indie street cred thanks to a trio of well-received film collaborations with pal/playwright/director Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men, Your Friends and Neighbors, Nurse Betty). Eckhart went mainstream shortly afterwards, playing opposite Julia Roberts in the hit drama Erin Brockovich.

“The Venture Brothers” on Cartoon Network

While HBO and FX continue to get tons of positive press and critical acclaim for seemingly every new TV series they produce, tiny Cartoon Network has quietly gobbled up an enviable share of cable TV's coveted 18-34 demographic. In fact, the network's late-night “Adult Swim” programming block regularly beats out cross-town rivals “Late Night With David Letterman” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

Week in Sloth

The Week in Sloth