Media Meeting--The UNM ARTS Lab will host New Mexico’s 3rd Annual Media Industries Conference this Friday, Feb. 2, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Student Union Building. This free conference, titled “New Challenges, New Opportunities,” will bring together people from across the media spectrum. More than 300 professional filmmakers, artists, researchers, technology developers, educators and students are expected to attend and network with others to learn about activities, challenges and opportunities in these growing fields.

Peter O’Toole still lights up the silver screen in randy romance

Oscar is a funny old thing. Lots of very deserving people don’t seem to have one. Three 6 Mafia has one, but Martin Scorsese doesn’t. Legends Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Kirk Douglas and Cary Grant never took home statues for acting. Roberto Benigni was handed an Academy Award for directing, but Alfred Hitchcock wasn’t. Peter O’Toole, nominated as Best Actor for work in Lawrence of Arabia, Becket, The Lion in Winter, Goodbye Mr. Chips and four other films, has never formally won. (The actor tried in 2003 to turn down an honorary Oscar, saying he still thought he had a chance to win one outright. Academy officials finally convinced him to accept it.)

Colorful or ludicrous?

It's been a good long time since anyone’s had to dust off the adjective “Tarantinoesque” to describe a movie. Back before the turn of 2000, in the wake of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, the Sundance Film Festival was spewing out hip, ironic, pop-culture-infused crime films faster than the shelves at Blockbuster Video could keep up with. That trend seemed to tire itself out and go to bed after a while—but now comes the hip, ironic, pop-culture-infused crime film Smokin’ Aces.

Ads blitz “Super Bowl XLI”

This Sunday afternoon, as the Colts vie for their first title since moving to Indianapolis and the Chicago Bears try to claim their first Super Bowl win in 20 years, an awful lot of people will be raking in an awful lot of dough. From the overpaid players to the hot dog vendors to half-time performer Prince to the folks selling bootleg T-shirts in the parking lot, everyone will be expecting to make money hand over fist. Of course, the people making the biggest paycheck are, as always, the ones from the network. CBS is asking a bank-breaking $2.6 million for each 30-second commercial that airs during the broadcast.

Week in Sloth

The Week in Sloth