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If you can't make it to Park City, Utah, in January for the Sundance Film Festival, don't worry -- Sundance will come to you! Sort of! If you live in one of eight specific cities! Still, it's a good start, and a pretty nifty idea.

They're calling it Sundance Film Festival U.S.A., and it will work like this. On Jan. 28, while the festival is taking place in Utah, eight filmmakers from the fest will travel to theaters around the country to show their movies to local audiences, followed by the customary Q&A. For the local audiences, it will be a decent approximation of what a real Sundance screening is like, minus the insane crowds and absence of parking. Several of the chosen cities are even in snowy climes, so you won't have to miss out on that aspect of Sundance attendance. If you're lucky, for the full effect, maybe you'll even run into a journalist complaining about the weather.

The selected theaters are: Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline, Mass.; BAM, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Music Box Theatre, Chicago; Downtown Independent, Los Angeles; Sundance Cinemas, Madison, Wisc.; Belcourt Theatre, Nashville; and Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, San Francisco. Tickets will be sold through the individual theaters. Each location will get a different film, and we won't know what those films are until after the festival announces its programming in December.

Dispatching filmmakers to appear with their movies live and in person is a cool innovation, and a good way to spread the Sundance vibe beyond the confines of Park City. But it makes me wonder if the next logical step is to simply beam the films via satellite to theaters around the country, the way they do with concerts and special events. As big as Sundance is getting, and as small as Park City is staying, I'm glad to see the festival expanding its reach any way it can.

Attention New Yorkers (or people who live somewhere near New York and from time to time travel to the city for a taste of some quality entertainment): The Sixth Annual Big Apple Film Festival begins tonight over at Tribeca Cinemas and runs through Saturday, November 7th. Named one of the "25 Coolest Film Festivals" by Moviemaker Magazine (partly because yours truly is heavily involved with all aspects of the festival, natch), this year's slate of over 100 different films looks to be their best yet.

Now this isn't some giant big city festival by any means; it's more of a small, intimate slice-of-NY-life sorta festival that supports and promotes homegrown talent. Tonight they're opening the festival with Against the Current, starring Joseph Fiennes, Elizabeth Reaser, Justin Kirk and Mary Tyler Moore -- and if you're one of the lucky ones in attendance, you'll spot a hottie Cinematical stud named Erik Davis hosting the post-screening Q&A. I'll also be on hand to host the Q&A for the closing night film, Breaking Upwards, and to watch that film's star, Zoe Lister-Jones (a pretty awesome actress who you need to put on your Watch List, like, yesterday) receive this year's Emerging Talent Award alongside Aaron Stanford, who's screening his new film How I Got Lost on closing night as well.

If you're a fan of indie film and fun, intimate film festivals, there's no reason why you shouldn't pop in and check out a film or several during the week. And if you happen to run into me during one of the screenings, do say hello.

For more info on the Big Apple Film Festival (including where to buy tickets), check out the fest's official website.

Back in October, Adam Shankman was determined to make the Oscars fun, itching to "kick up the funny a little bit" and celebrate entertainment. But there wasn't a whole new revamp in mind -- he still wanted to continue with the path laid out last year and have Hugh Jackman host ... but the actor refused. Rumors immediately started bubbling that Neil Patrick Harris was circling, but there were other funny men in his sights. Deadline Hollywood reports that Shankman and Bill Mechanic went to Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. to host as a duo.

But they said no.

Talk about a bummer. It's quite easy to imagine the red carpet coverage wind down, and Stiller and Downey Jr. dancing or strolling to center stage. They could easy bring a healthy dose of classic funny, yet still embody the new spin focused solely on entertainment and mirth. Hell, I would easily take Robert on his own. Can you imagine a series of blips where he acts out scenes from the top contenders or top grossing films? He could fall in love and be a lonely old man with a balloon house, travel into space, throw out classic Tarantino dialogue, channel Julia Child, suffer through a painful locker, feel the pressure of A Single Man...

But that dream is done. Is there any duo who could bring the same excellence? It would never happen, but if Ben and Robert are a no-go, I want insanity with a slice of brilliance by joining Christopher Walken and Jane Lynch. How about you? What other Oscar hosting duos would you suggest?

I'm in Savannah, Georgia to spend a week as a guest blogger for the Savannah Film Festival, an eight-day fest hosted in the historic Southern town by the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). [Read my entries in the "Voices from the Fest" section on the festival website.] As the town prepares to kick off the 12th annual festivities with the Iraq film, or rather post-Iraq film, The Messenger, I'm wondering how SFF's growing success might reflect or even influence the rise of film festivals that similarly fall somewhere in between the biggies (Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Venice) and the little guys.

For starters, a brief look at SFF's line-up and star-studded guest list. The festival begins today, October 31, with The Messenger, a Sundance entry that has Oscar possibilities but more likely will make a run at the Indie Spirit Awards. Stars Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster will be in attendance. (I will be attempting to run into them at the local Starbucks or wherever it is that Hollywood actors hang out when they visit other cities.) Another Oscar hopeful, the Emily Blunt-starring period biopic The Young Victoria, is screening the following day.

And then there are the almost certain Oscar pictures: George Clooney in The Men Who Stare At Goats; Lone Scherfig's An Education; Michael Haneke's Cannes winner The White Ribbon; Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, with star Jeremy Renner in attendance; and Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, which will bring both director Lee Daniels and his star Gabourey Sidibe to town.

Read on for more about this year's Savannah Film Festival.

When was the last time you were genuinely surprised at your local multiplex? Maybe it was the unexpected qualities of a movie that you'd formed preconceptions about -- which were then pleasantly upended. Or perhaps it was the simple fact that a little-heralded independent picture was actually playing at your local bijou, the one with 18 screens, of which 14 always seem to be filled with predictable Hollywood product.

From Scott Weinberg's Sundance review, I knew that Good Hair, directed by Jeff Stilson, would be educational. From Eugene Novikov's box office report, I knew that it opened at 176 theaters three weeks ago. (It expanded two weeks ago and again on Friday.) But I was still quite surprised that it was playing at my local 18-screen bijou, which had somehow escaped my notice until I was recently binging on a (progressively disappointing) horror triple-feature. With horror DVDs stacked up at home waiting to be watched over the weekend, I decided that a well-regarded documentary might be just the thing to cleanse my palette. So I was in just the right mood to kick back and be surprised.

As expected, co-producer and co-scripter Chris Rock is a wry narrator and on-camera guide. What caught me off guard was how funny the interview subjects are! When I first read Scott's review months ago, I latched on to his opening line: "I now know more about black womens' hair than any middle-class Jewish guy ever has" and unfairly categorized it mentally as 'good for you, not necessary to see in a theater.' While I wish that the theater had been packed, I laughed out loud frequently nonetheless.

Are you ready for another hippie, hippie shake? The New York Post reports that Cocktail is getting turned into a Broadway musical by producer Marty Richards, and Heywood Gould, the pen behind the book and film, will write it. But that's not all. Gould told them: "I am writing it as we speak. Marty Richards is on board and he's working on the score. It's far too early to talk about casting. We haven't approached anybody yet. But I do like Katie Holmes." Yes, original star Tom Cruise's wife. Gould might not be the end-all on decisions, but since he's involved with all the story's incarnations, I bet he has some sway.

The 1998 film focuses on a young guy (Cruise) who drops out of school and becomes a famous bartender. Eager to have his own bar, he heads to Jamaica to earn enough money. While there, he must choose between the girl he falls for, and the rich woman who needs a "drink-mixing stud." Is it terrible to root for the latter? Who wouldn't want their own personal bartender?

If this sucker becomes a reality, I predict Cocktail, Reimagined! -- starring Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise -- coming to the big screen by 2015. Yeah, he's 20 years older as it is, but could he resist returning to his bartending fame alongside Katie? Or maybe he'll leave the love to a young and lucky bloke, and take over Bryan Brown's (Doug) bar vet ways? Or Doug becomes the drink-mixing stud?

Speaking of Hollywood couples -- for a pair so into one another, is it surprising that they haven't co-starred together yet? Maybe Tommy is fearing another Eyes Wide Shut experience.

A blood-drenched young woman who immediately morphs from prom queen to telekinetic murderer is not the sort of fare that usually inspires musicals. Nevertheless, Brian De Palma's Carrie found its way into a song and dance production back in 1988. But it was no Evil Dead: The Musical ... it was a disaster. First, there was a a stint in Stratford that lasted three weeks. Then, five performances on Broadway. Just five -- the cheers mixed with plentiful booing and terrible reviews until it closed after a handful of shows -- thus becoming one of the most expensive flops in history.

I don't know if it's because Fame is in the air, and the production was choreographed by Debbie Allen and worked on by Dean Pitchford, but Variety reports that producers are bringing together a 29-hour Equity reading of the flop. The creators -- composer Michael Gore, lyricist Pitchford, and writer Lawrence D. Cohen are "revisiting and reworking" the script, but no further plans have been set yet.

Should Broadway, or Hollywood for that matter, be revisiting past flops and try to save them? Is it a waste of time? Or, will Carrie finally get the tuner reception she deserves? Me, I just watch the clip after the jump and wonder what on earth they could be thinking, and hoping Tinseltown's next move is not revisiting all of cinema's flops.

Hurray! At least one smaller movie theater chain (AmStar Cinemas / Grand Theatres nationwide) has banned cell phone usage and other theaters are considering it (Burlington, North Carolina). Maybe you know of others. What can we do to get all exhibitors to do likewise?

Perhaps cell phone / text message movie interrupters need to imagine the following scenario: You're watching a movie at home, you're in the dark all by yourself, you're in the narrative groove, you're caught up with the characters -- and then someone taps you on the shoulder and shines a flashlight in your face. When you motion to the stranger in your house to get the light out of your face, the stranger shrugs his shoulders as if to say, "What? I'm not doing anything wrong."

That's the rough equivalent. Complete strangers routinely and rudely disturb others by pulling out their cell phones, lighting up their equipment, and checking that all-important message. Then they take another few moments to type a response. Sometimes it's a phone call, and the stranger answers it right at their seat. Sometimes they proceed to check other messages, or keep the phone out to wait for a response to their text. Occasionally they think they're being "polite" by angling the phone away from others, which never entirely hides the bright, shining light. Texters know no age boundaries -- I've seen everyone from teens to well-dressed professionals to folks old enough to be my grandparents lighting up and talking or texting away. I've experienced it at public screenings, press screenings, and film festivals. Why do they do it? What can the rest of us do about it?

Since it's inception, bit-torrent has been the bane of filmmakers, film distributors, and studio shareholders alike. The popular file-sharing protocol has tons of legitimate uses, but there's no question that one of its largest uses is the mass dissemination of copyrighted material without permission of those who own said material; AKA movie piracy. However, a new service called VODO is planning on turning the worst aspect of peer-to-peer downloading into an advantageous new release platform for independent filmmakers.

The project, created by one of the gentlemen behind the movie piracy documentary Steal This Film, functions as an intermediary between downloaders and content creators and works a little something like this: A filmmaker interested in giving out his film for free submits their labor of love to VODO. A jury then approves the film for distribution, at which point it ends up on the VODO homepage as a bit-torrent download which can then be shared freely by users all over the world. Should a downloader enjoy a film and then want to support it, they can go back to the website which works as a portal directly to the filmmaker, be it to make a donation or ask for permission to show the film commercially.

When it comes to film festivals, cinephiles have a lot to choose from. But if you're in Los Angeles from October 30 – November 7, there's only one film festival that will have The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, The Road, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Youth in Revolt, A Single Man, and tons more buzzed-about indie, foreign, and genre gems – ALL FOR FREE. That's right, folks: AFI Fest is giving free admission for every single one of their films this year, so how can you possibly resist?

As Peter Martin wrote back in May, AFI's groundbreaking move to free ticketing is a daring experiment. (Tickets can be reserved online and via phone starting October 16.) I suppose the rationale is that if the cost of a ticket precludes film goers from attending, why not make it even easier to participate? One look at AFI's line-up, released yesterday, pretty much makes the decision for you.

Get the full list of (FREE! ) AFI Fest screenings after the jump.