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There's a moment early on in Frozen when Parker (Emma Bell), Lynch (Shawn Ashmore) and Dan (Kevin Zegers) debate the worst way to die (stuck on an unmoving ski lift that they assume will start up again shortly, the three friends need to somehow pass the time).  One of them answers that the worst way to die would be to burn to death, which is ironic considering the title of the film and its implications that the ski lift will not start up again at all and that the three skiers will discover the exact opposite horrors - psychological and physical - while trying to prevent freezing to death.  For instance, with the right conditions, one can get frost bite in as little as 5 minutes.  Hypothermia can cause parts of the body to go numb, loss of motor skills and the exhibition of incoherent behavior, even a stupor.  This isn't ironic so much as oddly poignant considering the same symptoms could be applicable to the poor protagonists stuck on the ski lift as well as the poor moviegoers watching Frozen.

It's official - James Cameron has now directed the two most lucrative films in history.  Before Wednesday, Avatar had already demolished the box office records for international and worldwide release previously held by Titanic.  Now that we've gotten past the hump of the week, Fox has confirmed that the Tuesday evening receipts for Avatar tallied $601.1 million at the domestic box office, surpassing Titanic's $600.8 million in becoming the highest grossing film ever.

If you answered yes to the above question then you've come to the right place (if you answered no I'm not even sure why you're still reading).  As you may have noticed over the past few weeks, Zoom In Online has been hosting On the Circuit interviews with as many of the 15 Best Documentary Feature Oscar short listed directors as possible.  Yesterday the nominees for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards were announced and the number of potential statuette winners was whittled down from 15 to 5 - The Cove, Food, Inc., Burma VJ, Which Way Home, and The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers - and we're proud to announce that we were fortunate enough to get interviews with directors of 4 out of the 5 nominated films (only Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith of Most Dangerous Man escaped us).

Tomorrow, the House Communications Subcommittee has scheduled a hearing on Comcast's proposed $30 billion takeover of NBC Universal, which would be the first-ever combination of a major broadcast network and a major cable provider.  Comcast, the nation's largest cable provider, announced last December plans to buy a controlling interest from General Electric in NBC Universal and its 26 TV stations, of which 10 are NBC O&O's.  NBCU also operates the NBC and Telemundo TV networks, 13 cable channels, a movie studio and two amusement parks.  Needless to say, this takeover is kind of a big deal, so it's understandable if NBC TV Affiliates Board Chairman Michael Fiorile, who represents some 200 affiliates, has a few concerns about protections.  It's also understandable then that non-NBC broadcasters who compete with NBC and its affiliates will register their own concerns with the FCC and Justice Department tomorrow as well.

We here at Zoom In Online realize that you probably spend so much time perusing our site that you may occasionally look up from your web browsing and notice that multiple days have passed. We appreciate that. While we can't make up for your lost days of work or missing your spouse's/friend's/relative's/child's birthday, we can update you on what you're missing in the outside world - what DVDs are being released, for instance. Check Zoom In Online every Tuesday to keep tabs on all the DVD and Blu-ray releases for the week.

Happy Groundhog Day everyone!  As you all know, today is the day when the eyes of the world turn to a sleepy town in western Pennsylvania to anxiously await the forecast of history's most popular weatherman, Punxatawney Phil.  Every year, Phil emerges from his ceremonial tree stump in Gobbler's Knob to the cheers of an enthusiastic crowd and prognosticates about our wintry future.  This year, as he has 98 times before, Phil saw his shadow, signaling six more weeks of winter and six more weeks of slumber for the critter.  CNN reports that in his long history, Phil has not seen his shadow only 15 times, but they also report that throughout that long history, he's only been 39% accurate.  In fact, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration claims Phil has "'no predictive skill.'"  Still, that doesn't diminish the excitement of the crowds that gather every year to catch a glimpse of Phil. 

Oh, and the 2010 Oscar nominations were announced today, but those were nowhere near as interesting and even more predictable.

We're in the stretch of the year where seemingly every award ceremony even remotely connected with cinema is dubbed as "one of the best gauges of likely success" for a film's chances at the Academy Awards.  Well, the Directors Guild of America Awards are no exception, but they may actually have a legitimate claim here.  Since the guild launched the awards in 1948, the DGA Award-winner for best-directed feature film has lost the Best Director Oscar only six times - most recently in 2002 Rob Marshall prevailed at the DGA Awards for Chicago and lost the Oscar to Roman Polanski for The Pianist.  So, with history on her side, Kathryn Bigelow added another feather to her potential Oscar cap by snagging the top directing prize for The Hurt Locker at last night's 2010 DGA Awards.

It's Friday again and that means there's a whole new crop of movies on which you can dump your money. You've no doubt worked hard this week tilling the fields and weaning your young and you wish to take in a film that won't leave you mourning the loss of funds you could've spent on booze. Choosing what film to see without any information is a bit like a round of "Press Your Luck," except landing on a Whammy won't leave you feeling insulted, robbed of your dignity, or wishing for physical harm to come about on another human being. Bad movies can do that to you. Here at Zoom In Online, we're your friends and we want to prove it by providing you with as much information as we can before you attempt to wade through a potential cinematic mine field. Consider us your cinematic D.A.R.E., except funnier and without all the poor results.

After 31 years, a slew of Oscars, a sale to Disney, the departure of its founders and months of speculation, Miramax Films has closed down.

There was some skepticism coming into this year's Sundance Film Festival in regards to the kind of high-profile deals we would, or more accurately, wouldn't be seeing from distribution companies.  After last year saw the festival yield very little in regards to headlining sales and many indie film distributors shut down (Warner Independent Pictures) or severely crippled (Miramax), it would be safe to say that industry insiders were cautious about what kind of business to expect from America's premier independent film festival.  However, with the festival more than halfway done, two multi-million dollar deals already struck and many more being negotiated, The Hollywood Reporter claims that "[the] independent films are all right."

We here at Zoom In Online realize that you probably spend so much time perusing our site that you may occasionally look up from your web browsing and notice that multiple days have passed. We appreciate that. While we can't make up for your lost days of work or missing your spouse's/friend's/relative's/child's birthday, we can update you on what you're missing in the outside world - what DVDs are being released, for instance. Check Zoom In Online every Tuesday to keep tabs on all the DVD and Blu-ray releases for the week.

Critics and industry insiders all assumed the awards momentum was heavily in favor of The Hurt Locker until the Golden Globes came along and overlooked it in favor of Avatar, now officially the second-highest grossing film in American history.  Last night, it seemed to have gotten some of its momentum back by taking the top prize at the Producers Guild Award beating out the box office behemoth as well as other likely Oscar contenders Up in the Air, Precious and Inglourious Basterds.

It's Friday again and that means there's a whole new crop of movies on which you can dump your money. You've no doubt worked hard this week tilling the fields and weaning your young and you wish to take in a film that won't leave you mourning the loss of funds you could've spent on booze. Choosing what film to see without any information is a bit like a round of "Press Your Luck," except landing on a Whammy won't leave you feeling insulted, robbed of your dignity, or wishing for physical harm to come about on another human being. Bad movies can do that to you. Here at Zoom In Online, we're your friends and we want to prove it by providing you with as much information as we can before you attempt to wade through a potential cinematic mine field. Consider us your cinematic D.A.R.E., except funnier and without all the poor results.

The 2010 Sundance Film Festival kicked off its annual festivities yesterday and though films will still be running at the Egyptian Theater, cinephiles and skiers will still be clashing over who has more of a right to hog the buses and excellent food will still be served at Main Street Pizza & Noodle, the first festival of the new decade will be very different from festivals of the past in many regards.

Technically, the Golden Globes are still considered the second most prestigious entertainment awards show behind the Oscars as well as a good indicator of who will be the big winners come time for the big show.  That's not true, of course.  With precious few exceptions (The Hangover, Up in the Air (screenplay), Mo'Nique, Christoph Waltz, Ricky Gervais making fun of literally everyone), the 67th Golden Globes further lobotomized intelligent film and TV viewers by rewarding box office over quality (Avatar, Best Motion Picture - Drama), sentiment over talent (Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side) and God knows what over brilliance (Glee over 30 Rock).  Perhaps it's time to stop putting the Golden Globes on such a pedestal and pass the torch to our friends across the pond at BAFTA, who have refreshed the awards season build up with their recently announced nominations.