Elizabeth Taylor died at the age of 79 in Los Angeles this morning.

Probably the best tribute that can be offered to Taylor is to look back on an outstanding film career, which TCM is doing on April 10th. The schedule, includes a stretch from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof to Giant which is about as good as film gets.:

6 a.m. — Lassie Come Home (1943), with Roddy McDowall and Edmund Gwenn; directed by Fred M. Wilcox.

7:30 a.m. — National Velvet (1944), with Mickey Rooney, Anne Revere and Angela Lansbury; directed by Clarence Brown.

10 a.m. — Conspirator (1952), with Robert Taylor and Robert Flemyng; directed by Victor Saville.

11:30 a.m. — Father of the Bride (1950), with Spencer Tracy, Billie Burke, Joan Bennett and Don Taylor; directed by Vincente Minnelli

1:15 a.m. — Father’s Little Dividend (1951), with Spencer Tracy, Billie Burke, Joan Bennett and Don Taylor; directed by Vincente Minnelli.

2:45 p.m. — Raintree County (1957), with Montgomery Clift, Eva Marie Saint, Lee Marvin, Rod Taylor and Agnes Moorehead; directed by Edward Dmytryk.

6 p.m. — Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), with Paul Newman and Burl Ives; directed by Richard Brooks.

8 p.m. — Butterfield 8 (1960), with Laurence Harvey and Eddie Fisher; directed by Daniel Mann.

10 p.m. — Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), with Richard Burton, George Segal and Sandy Dennis; directed by Mike Nichols.

12:30 a.m. — Giant (1956), with James Dean and Rock Hudson; directed by George Stevens.

4 a.m. — Ivanhoe (1952), with Robert Taylor and Joan Fontaine; directed by Richard Thorpe.

I have to admit that I haven't done a great job keeping up with the whole Twilight phenomenon, but I'm glad to hear the makers of the final film in series are keeping it real with all the incredibly disgusting details from the book.

Twihards, rejoice. Robert Pattinson tells Total Film that the scene where his character performs a caesarean with his teeth on wife, Bella (Kristen Stewart), has been filmed for the final part of the Twilight franchise, Breaking Dawn.

He's currently juggling filming with promotion duties on his new non-vamp flick Water For Elephants, and chatted to TF while in LA.

"Yeah, I’ve done it," RPattz laughed, "I’ve chewed it, spat it out!"

Though he's not allowed to give much more away (joking with Ryan Seacrest recently that he gets 'beaten' for revealing details), Pattinson promises that Breaking Dawn will be "very different to the other films - more like a horror film."

In other news, I'm calling Vampire C-Section as a band name.

Adding to Mari Herreras' blog entry below, viewers can actually see Michael Flatley on the big screen starting today.

Lord of the Dance in RealD3D (Not Rated) is now showing at El Con 20 and Park Place 20. The film will have a one-week run.

Showtimes are:

El Con 20: Thu-Wed 11:30, 2:05, 4:35, 7:05, 9:35
Park Place 20: Thu-Wed 11:15, 1:50, 4:25, 7, 9:35

For more information about the film, visit here.

I don't have much of a sense of what it must be like to be Win Butler of the Arcade Fire right now, but I imagine the number of possibilities that open up when you're one of the biggest indie rock bands on the planet, but at least how I'd see it, there's a danger in extending yourself a little too far. One minute, you're U2 off the success of Achtung Baby, the next you're releasing Pop and people are mocking your turn into a dance pop act. Maybe the Spike Jonze direct to DVD short film based on the most recent Arcade Fire album is a great idea, but the trailer makes it seems like Red Dawn meets The Wonder Years, but not in a good way.

Dear whoever decides what movies show at the Loft,

Color Me Impressed, a full length documentary about the Replacements, doesn't open in Minneapolis until May, but I assume it takes a little lead time to set these things up, so Loft Cinema, you need to get on bringing this movie to town. The music documentary series has been cool and Lemmy and Phil Ochs definitely deserve the recognition that a documentary provides, but c'mon, wouldn't it be a crime to know there's a Replacements documentary out there and not make an effort to show it? Just look at the people interviewed:

And in case you didn't remember, the Replacements were amazing.

"Alex Chilton":

Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

xoxo,
Dan Gibson

END:CIV, an independent film that points out the environmental destruction of civilization, will be screening at Dry River Collective, 740 N. Main St., on Wednesday, March 9, at 8 p.m. The director, Franklin Lopez, will be present during and after the film to answer questions.

To learn more about the film, check out the END:CIV website.

The Loft Cinema has the film Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune showing tonight as part of their One Hit Wonders series, a documentary looking at the life and influence of one of the most important folk musicians in American history. Tonight's screening will be introduced by Tucson author Tom Miller, whose remembrance of Ochs was reprinted in last Thursday's issue, and there will be music by Ochs before the show.

If you'd like to see the film tonight at 7:30, we have two pairs of tickets to give away, courtesy of the film's co-presenter, Zia Records. Go to our contest page, log in (or register for our site, if you haven't already) and we'll draw names at 5 pm and contact the winners via email.

Charles Ferguson, director of Inside Job, on accepting the award for best long-form documentary last night: "Forgive me, I must start by pointing out that three years after our horrific financial crisis caused by financial fraud, not a single financial executive has gone to jail, and that's wrong."

Related: Matt Taibbi's Rolling Stone article on the same subject.

The film 8 Murders a Day, a documentary that closely examines the escalating violence in Juarez, Mexico, will open in Tucson at the Harkins Theater, 5455 S. Calle Santa Cruz, on Friday, Feb. 25.

Two Tucson natives are featured in the film: author Charles Bowden and former television news reporter Paul Cicala.

Synopsis (from the film's website):

Since January 2008, the Juarez drug cartel, led by Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, has been in a turf war against the Sinoloa drug cartel, led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. This war is for the coveted smuggling routes into the USA. The Americans demand for illegal drugs has led countless weapons and cash to enter into Mexico in exchange for these drugs. This documentary investigates the current situation in Juarez, which has now become the murder capital of the world because of this turf battle. In 2007, the city of Juarez averaged less than one murder per day. Today, it is over 8 murders a day and counting. Interviews with print and television journalists, acclaimed authors, and college professors help look into perhaps the greatest human-rights disaster in the world today, with no apparent end in sight.

The film's website can be viewed here. For showtimes, visit the Harkins Theater website.

No one does "angry" like Nicolas Cage:

You've seen him drink angry, switch faces angry, train magicians angry, now see him Drive Angry...in 3D!

The screening is tomorrow night and quantities are limited, so you'll have to hurry over, but here's the info:

Summit Entertainment Invites You and a Guest to a Special Advanced Screening
When: Thursday, February 24th
Where: Cinemark El Con 20 at 9 pm.

Pick Up Admit Two Pass (between 8 am and 5 pm) at:
Territorial Newspapers
3280 E. Hemisphere Loop, Ste. 180
Tucson, AZ 85706

DRIVE ANGRY 3D opens in theater everywhere on Friday, February 25th; and is rated “R” for strong brutal violence throughout, grizzly images, some graphic sexual content, nudity, and pervasive language.

Here's the trailer: