Blog Posts by Jonathan Crow

Photo by Oscilloscope Pictures"We did anything we could to make this movie the best it can be because this is our big gamble," said Evan Glodell about "Bellflower," a movie he wrote, directed and starred in.

The film was made with no big-name stars or money, shot on the fly over the course of years. It's the sort of insane, heroic filmmaking that gives jaded film writers like me, beaten down by a summer of depressingly bland and timid blockbusters, some hope that cinema might not be dead after all. Whatever you think of "Bellflower" -- since the movie premiered at Sundance earlier this year, the movie has been polarizing -- it is unquestionably a brave and original cinematic debut by Glodell. In fact, it might just be one of the best films of the year.

Harrison Ford and his hat (Photo by Zade Rosenthal/Universal Pictures)"Costume is character."

So said "Cowboys & Aliens" star Harrison Ford during a recent video interview with director Jon Favreau. And who can really argue with a man who's brought so many cinematic icons to life? After all, what would Han Solo be without his trusty blaster and that black vest, or Indiana Jones without that bullwhip or his trademark fedora?

So when it came to picking a hat for the screen legend's character in "Cowboys," the film's seven producers (including Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg) had opinions on the matter.

See photos from 'Cowboys & Aliens' >>

"Spielberg had quite a lot to say about it," recalled producer and screenwriter Alex Kurtzman to the Los Angeles Times about the decision. "We were all very cautious about it because, obviously, we were putting Harrison Ford in a hat, which is only one of the most iconic images of the past 30 years. We needed to make sure that -- no pun intended -- we tipped a hat to iconography of Harrison Ford and also presented the

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesAt the beginning of "The Amazing Spider-Man" panel at Comic-Con on Friday, the moderator was interrupted by an insistent audience member dressed head-to-toe in an ill-fitting Spider-Man costume.

"Sorry, mind if I... HEY EVERYBODY!" shouted the stammering, nervous Spidey enthusiast.

"We're going to take questions at the end," intoned the moderator.

"Can I say one thing? I think that this might be the most incredible day of my life. I've always wanted to be in Comic-Con, in Hall H, as Spider-Man, with all you guys. It's always been a dream of mine."

And with that the guy ripped off the mask, revealing that he was in fact Andrew Garfield, star of the upcoming movie. "So thanks for having me." The crowd went crazy.

Garfield, who seemed as much fan as movie star, gushed to the audience, "This is the coolest moment of my life."

The big question at "The Amazing Spider-Man" panel Friday was how would this new film, which is slated to open July 3, be different from the hugely successful Sam

Publicists are flooding into San Diego, street vendors are selling T-shirts with obscure comic book references, and black-clad teens are lining up to catch a glimpse of their favorite "Twilight" star. Yes, it's Comic-Con season. But apart from the panels and the parties, what really symbolizes Comic-Con is the costumes. What would that annual gala to geekdom be without legions of fans decked out as the Joker, Lara Croft, or the odd Jedi?

Meet Victoria Schmidt, who takes the whole dressing-up thing to another level. By her own admission, she spends the entire year and most of her monthly paycheck on getting a guise just right, be it Princess Leia or Kate from "Lost." Click on the video below and see someone who takes Comic-Con very, very seriously.

Everyone from Yahoo! Movies is going to be in San Diego this weekend. Tell us what to check out at Comic-Con.

Errol Morris (Photo by IFC Films/Sundance Select)"It's got sex-in-chains. It's got dog cloning. It's got Mormon kidnapping. What more could you want?"

That's director Errol Morris describing his latest documentary, "Tabloid." The movie recounts the strange case of Joyce McKinney, a former beauty queen who became a tabloid sensation in the late 1970s when she was arrested, and eventually convicted in absentia, for kidnapping and committing "indecent assault" on Mormon missionary Kirk Anderson. He called it rape. She called it true love. The media called it "The Case of the Manacled Mormon."

Some of his other works include "The Fog of War," his Oscar-winning portrait of Robert S. McNamara, architect of the Vietnam war; "Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.," a look at a prison execution technician and Holocaust denier; and "Standard Operating Procedure," which looks at the Abu Ghraib scandal.

"Tabloid" centers on McKinney's account of events as her alleged lover Anderson didn't want to be involved in the movie. On

Jennifer AnistonJennifer Aniston has made a name for herself by playing the sweet but put-upon Rachel in "Friends" and her good-girl leads in a string of poorly reviewed romantic comedies.

In her new film, "Horrible Bosses," she plays a character that's anything but sweet. Her character, a foul-mouthed dentist named Dr. Julie Harris, parades around in lingerie and sexually blackmails her hapless assistant Dale (Charlie Day).

Aniston acknowledges that the role is a departure. "I don't want to play it safe all the time. I wanted to take a risk," she told the Chicago Sun Times.

She even dyed her trademark blonde locks brunette, much to the consternation of the studios. But for Aniston, the change of hair color was essential for the part: If she was going to go dark, so was her hair.

"There was just no way I could be saying those [raunchy] words and not look somewhat different," says Aniston.

"Horrible Bosses" might be a part of a large shift in Aniston's career and life.

For much of the last decade,

John Lasseter George Pimentel/Wireimage.com"It's a spy film. It's not a parody of a spy film. It is a spy film. It's just with cars as characters."

That's how director and Pixar honcho John Lasseter described his latest movie, "Cars 2." I talked to him at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch after he completed a long day of sound editing.

The original 2006 movie, "Cars," was anything but a spy flick. That film was a gentle, overtly nostalgic tale about a hotshot race car -- Lightning McQueen —- who, after getting waylaid in the Podunk hamlet of Radiator Springs, learns to kick back and enjoy the quiet charms of small-town life. Think "Doc Hollywood" meets "American Graffiti."

For "Cars 2," Lasseter drew from some very different flicks.

"I would say the biggest influence has been the three 'Bourne' movies — 'Bourne Identity,''Bourne Supremacy,''Bourne Ultimatum'; I just love those films."

He also credits the '60s TV show "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." along with, of course, the 007 series.

"What we like to do with Pixar is to change

Alexa Vega Everett Collection/Dimension FilmsDirector Robert Rodriguez is ginning up a reboot of his hugely profitable "Spy Kids" franchise. This one has a new crew of kids along with Jessica Alba and Joel McHale. It also features a return of the original main characters -- Carmen and Juni Cortez (Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara) -- only they aren't kids anymore. Call them Spy Young Adults.

In the first movie -- which came out way back in 2001 -- Carmen and Juni had no clue that their seemingly dull parents (played by Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) were actually semiretired members of the Organization of Super Spies. They quickly learned the truth, needless to say, and soon were members of the OSS themselves.

Daryl Sabara Then and Now Everett Collection/Dimension FilmsIn "Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World," which comes out later this summer, Carmen and Juni are still with the OSS and give the new kids -- Rebecca (Rowan Blanchard) and Cecil (Mason Cook) -- some pointers and much needed spy gadgets in their battle against the fiendish Timekeeper.

Since the last "Spy Kids" movie came out