David Von Ancken

A simple story told directly, "Seraphim Falls" is the kind of picture that one would naturally assume comes along several times a year. And likely did, if the year was sometime in the 1940s or '50s and directors such as Budd Boetticher and Anthony Mann were still active.

A simple story told directly, "Seraphim Falls" is the kind of picture that one would naturally assume comes along several times a year. And likely did, if the year was sometime in the 1940s or '50s and directors such as Budd Boetticher and Anthony Mann were still active.

Pierce Brosnan, looking suitably woolly and grizzled, stars as a man on the run from his past in the period suspense western "Seraphim Falls." A beautifully shot chase film by writer-director David Von Ancken and co-writer Abby Everett Jaques, it moves along with minimalist efficiency before running out of gas during an overlong allegorical final section.

Much has been made about the reduced dot-com presence at the Sundance Film Festival this year, but there still has been a lot of online activity there. At a Thursday-night party in Park City, Utah, new-media studio Hypnotic and partner Universal Pictures announced the winner of the Hypnotic Million Dollar Film Festival. First-time director David von Ancken was awarded a $1-million production deal for his short film "Bullet in the Brain."

On Oct. 7, 1999, Los Angeles-based filmmakers Jason Ward, Dave Garrett and Gene Laufenberg had on their hands a self-produced short about a group of elderly women who decide to play Russian roulette. Their agent wouldn't send the reel out because it was too dark, recalls Garrett. "We were all unemployed at this point, with no prospect of distribution on the film festival circuit or anywhere else."

Alien vs. Predator 2 Round one went to the Predators. Who will win this rematch in a small Colorado town? With Reiko Aylesworth, Steven Pasquale, John Ortiz, Shareeka Epps, Johnny Lewis and Sam Trammell. Written by Shane Salerno. Directed by the Brothers Strause. 20th Century Fox, Dec.