Directors

LAS VEGAS -- Here, in the place where his comedy franchise "The Hangover" began four years ago, Todd Phillips seems particularly at home. While the filmmaker wasn't nearly as inebriated as the protagonists of his raunchy film series, he admitted he was drunk on his second bottle of wine as he sat promoting his film in the bowels of the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Wednesday. It had been only an hour before that when Phillips jumped on stage to show movie theater owners the latest trailer for "The Hangover Part III," freely using expletives and urging the crowd to loosen up. "Way to turn a ... movie presentation into the Detroit auto show," he kidded after the Warner Bros.

"Oblivion" will make you remember, not forget. This Tom Cruise vehicle is a throwback to the days when on-screen science fiction was about speculative ideas rather than selling toys to tots - think of it as the most expensive episode of "The Twilight Zone" ever made. "Oblivion" is not perfect. Its dystopian story makes no apologies for its familiarity, echoing such films as "The Planet of the Apes," "The Matrix," "2001" and even "Wall-E. " And expecting the wheels not to eventually begin to fall off its pleasantly complicated, head-spinning plot (based on the director Joseph Kosinski's graphic novel)

LAS VEGAS -- At CinemaCon, most studios charm movie theater owners by putting their best-looking stars center stage. On Tuesday, however, Warner Bros. went a different route, opting to promote its summer slate with the help of its most recognizable filmmakers. Zack Snyder was here to show off a new trailer from his take on Superman, “Man of Steel.” Guillermo del Toro spoke of his passion for his big-budget robot tale “Pacific Rim.” Todd Phillips, the director behind “The Hangover” franchise, was meant to talk about the third installment of the comedy series -- but he also took the opportunity to try to liven up the crowd.

It feels as if we've hit a major movie slump. So much this year has disappointed. I wasn't entranced with Danny Boyle's crime thriller "Trance. " "42," Brian Helgeland's new drama based on baseball great Jackie Robinson's historic defiance of racial stereotypes, didn't knock it out of the park despite its good intentions. I even considered a shout-out for Selena Gomez and her gal-pals in "Spring Breakers" for exceeding low expectations. And so I find myself suggesting that you consider taking on the latest challenge from director Terrence Malick - "To the Wonder.

Raj Parr is one busy guy. In addition to overseeing the wines for all 18 restaurants in the Mina Group , he is a partner in the wine bar RN74 in San Francisco and Seattle, and is involved in two wineries on the Central Coast. That's why he's been spending more time lately in Santa Barbara than San Francisco. With winemaker Sashi Moorman , he founded Sandhi in Lompoc, which produces mostly Chardonnay from the Santa Rita Hills. The two just acquired the old Evening Land property there, where they'll produce estate Pinot Noir under a new name, Domaine de la Côte.

NEW YORK - Like world-class athletes, actors often measure their achievements by the degree of difficulty. Does a part require an unusual amount of range? An extraordinary number of man hours? Is it simply a matter of a chewy set of lines to get one's lips around? By all these standards, Alan Cumming would be an extreme-sports medalist. In a stage turn that will last nearly two hours, Cumming is set to play the part of Macbeth. Or, rather, the parts of Macbeth, as he tackles 15 roles from the Shakespearean tragedy, including the title character, Banquo, Duncan, Lady Macbeth and plenty of others (as well as, in a story that frames the performance, a disoriented mental patient reenacting the play)

UCLA Film & Television Archive's Celebration of Iranian Cinema showcases the work of such contemporary directors as Bahman Ghobadi ("Rhino Season"), Mani Haghighi ("Modest Reception") and Mohammad Shirvani ("Fat Shaker"), as well as paying homage to the country's veteran filmmakers. "A couple of years back, we decided one of the ways we wanted to grow the series for the long term was to look forward and back," said Shannon Kelley, head of public programs for the archive. So the festival kicks off Saturday at the Billy Wilder Theater on a classic note with Bahram Beyzaie's" Downpour," an acclaimed 1972 drama about a Tehranian schoolteacher.

Brian Helgeland, writer and director of the Jackie Robinson biographical film "42," expected his new movie would get an R rating from the Motion Picture Assn. of America. After all, the film, which was produced by Legendary Pictures and is being released by Warner Bros. Friday, is filled with coarse, racially charged language. In the picture, a variety of slurs are directed at the famed Brooklyn Dodger who was the first African American major leaguer. Most pointedly, he is called the N-word many times.

Pat Haden always seemed like a well-scrubbed character from your mother's favorite musical, so when he showed up last week in USC's big spring production — actors, crew and musicians outnumbering the football team — it wasn't surprise casting. Indeed, it might be yet another new career for the guy who vertically leaps from one thing to the next the way you and I leap from tee box to tee box. If this keeps up, he'll soon be running Paramount. Still, the other night he used the word "fidoodled," in his role as Postman No. 2. As in: "the way he's got this place all fidoodled up for you. " Musical theater may never be the same.

You won't be surprised to hear that a movie called "Fists of Legend" boasts plenty of hand-to-hand (and foot-to-body) contact. But the title of this overlong yet involving Korean actioner is a wink too. It refers to a fictional TV show that recruits middle-aged citizens to relive their high school fighting days in hyped-up mixed martial arts battles, all for the chance at fleeting reality fame and quick cash. Lured to perform are three long-estranged buddies - noodle shop-owning widower and ex-boxer Deok-kyu (Hwang Jung-min)