I’m curious at what point the RIAA figured out it may have been approaching digital downloads from the wrong perspective.  Entrenched in an old business model with a paradigmatic shift bearing down on them like a freight train, the RIAA dug in its heels and tried to sue every American who may or may not have been near a computer that illegally downloaded music.  Instead of trying to find a new business model to capitalize on digital downloads, the RIAA found its money better used by trying to convince people it was smarter to treat all customers like criminals.

Such grand failures are the stuff of great drama and HBO Films will turn that drama into one of their movies by adaptating Steve Knopper’s “Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age”.  Hit the jump for details and celebrate that you can download the latest Britney Spears album from the comfort of your home (or you know, whatever music; that’s just an example).

Writer, director, producer and actor Mike White is known for his rather eclectic dramedies, such as Chuck & Buck, The Good Girl, School of Rock, Nacho Libre and Year of the Dog, which is totally fine with him. Not looking to be a producer or director for hire, he enjoys working with his friends, like Jared and Jerusha Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) on their latest film, Gentlemen Broncos, about a lovable underdog (played by Michael Angarano) whose passion for writing science-fiction novels is turned upside down when his idol, the celebrated fantasy author Dr. Ronald Chevalier (Jemaine Clement), steals his story at a writers camp.

At the press day for the film, Mike White gave some updates on what he’s currently working on, including the HBO pilot Enlightened, headed into production in January 2010, as well as the status of Them (with Edgar Wright) and School of Rock 2. Look for what he said on “Gentlemen Broncos” very soon.

HBO makes great television. We all know that. Every year the cable channel produces series and mini-series that go on to win Emmys and create intense conversations about the latest episodes. And right now, the network is hard at work producing what’s sure to be a massive television event, “Boardwalk Empire”.

If you haven’t yet heard of the show, don’t panic. The network only shot the pilot a few months ago and the full series begins shooting next month. But the reason you should care is one name: Martin Scorsese. Yes, one of the greatest directors in Hollywood directed the pilot and he’s producing the show along with a few people that made “The Sopranos”. The show is a look at the origins of Atlantic City’s boardwalk and is based on the book “Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City” by Nelson Johnson. I recently got to speak to one of the stars of the show, Michael Stuhlbarg, and after the jump you can read what he had to say:

Paul Giamatti has just been cast as King John in the upcoming medieval action flick “Ironclad”.  King John is the villain* and he’s throwing down against a “Seven Samurai” (except knights instead of samurai) led by a formidable Knights Templar played by James Purefoy.  Hit the jump to find out who would win in a fight.

A few days ago, I attended the press conference for Ricky Gervais’ new film “The Invention of Lying” at the Toronto Film Festival. While you usually have to wait for the stars to arrive, Ricky showed up a few minutes early and when I went to put my recorder down, I managed to ask him a number of questions about his next project with Stephen Merchant called “Cemetery Junction”. If you’re a fan of “Extras” or the British version of “The Office”, Ricky and Stephen Merchant created the shows together and “Cemetery Junction” is the first film they’ve written and directed together.

Anyway, he told me while filming only recently finished, they’ve already done a friends and family screening and it turned out quite well. He also called the movie his “Saturday Night Fever”. For more on the project and his new HBO animated series “The Ricky Gervais Show”, it’s after the jump:

If you were to make a list of the Top 5 Miniseries of All-Time, HBO’s “Band of Brothers” would have to make the list.  An in-depth personal examination of the soldiers of Easy Company told in 10 parts, it may be the best cinematic depiction of the European Campaign of World War II of all-time.  But exploring the Pacific Campaign and America bringing its vengeance to Japan remains hazy in the public mindset with the flag-raising at Iwo Jima and the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  In March 2010, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman are throwing us back in the shit with the HBO miniseries, “The Pacific”.  Watching its new teaser trailer, I was thrown right back into the war and I can’t help but wonder if “The Pacific” may join “Band of Brothers” on that Top 5 Miniseries list.  Hit the jump to see the new teaser. Click here to see the first teaser trailer which debuted this past June.

My most anticipated film for the rest of the year is easily Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are”.  Like a lot of you, I’ve fallen more and more in love with the film with every new image, trailer, and poster that has popped out.  One of the things that was recently announced out of nowhere in hopes of promoting the film was that Spike Jonze had filmed a documentary about the man who wrote “Where the Wild Things Are”, Maurice Sendak, with plans of showing the documentary on HBO.  We now have a clip from that documentary. now entitled “Tell Them Anything You Want”, and you can watch it when hit the jump.

Continuing in their quest to regain television network preeminence, HBO has given the greenlight to yet another pilot.  “Enlightened”, the tentatively-titled, single camera comedy which stars Laura Dern, was developed by “School of Rock scribe Mike White.  More after the jump.

‘Tis the season for TV news: pilot orders, pickups and casting stories have started flying as television networks, large and small, shake off the dust of their long summer hiatuses.  Earlier today we reported that HBO had picked up Martin Scorsese’s “Boardwalk Empire” to series and yet we’ve sort of let another pilot from the one-time king of pay cable, “Game of Thrones”, fall through the cracks.  But that all stops today because the network’s adaptation of the wildly popular fantasy novel has just added “300″ star Lena Headey to its cast.  If that got your attention feel free to hit the jump for details.

HBO has picked up the Scorsese-produced “Boardwalk Empire” for 11 episodes.  The series will be set in 1920 at the dawn of prohibition and chronicles the life and times of Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), the undisputed ruler of Atlantic City, who was equal parts politician and gangster. If this news doesn’t make you say “fuck yes!”, especially after reading that little plot synopsis, then you really,really suck. You can get the full details after the jump.

Tommy Lee Jones has signed up to star and direct Cormac McCarthy’s “The Sunset Limited”, which will also star Samuel L. Jackson, for HBO from a script adapted by McCarthy himself.  Hollywood seems to be riding the Cormac McCarthy love train as of late with “No Country for Old Men”, “The Road”, and two other films based off of Comac McCarthy novels in the works.  To find out which two adaptations those are and to know more about “The Sunset Limited” hit the jump.

I’ve never read “Mildred Pierce”.  I’ve actually never read any book that has a woman’s name in the title.  Not “Jane Eyre”, not “Emma”, not “Madame Bovary”, or any of the others.  It’s because I’m sexist.  I read manly books like “Lumberjacks” and “Construction Workers” and anything by Ann Coulter.  Unfortunately for me, Variety says Kate Winslet is set to star in a miniseries adaptation of “Mildred Pierce” which will probably go to HBO and that’s good enough for me.

That’s the end of the story but because Kate Winslet is smoking hot, I’ve included another photo of her after the jump.

If you don’t know or don’t care about cinematic aspect ratios, you should.  There’s a reason everyone’s selling widescreen TVs now and a large part of it has to do with aspect ratios.  You know those black bars at the top and bottom of the screen when you’re watching shows like “Mad Men” or “Entourage”?  That’s because it’s what the director intended (also, on television it provides a more cinematic quality) and aspect ratio is considered by every director.  Almost every movie and most dramatic television shows have moved to this ratio and it’s not because it’s necessarily better as much as that’s the way the filmmaker thought it worked best.  When a movie gets butchered for distribution on television, especially cable television, that’s a travesty for a director.

Director Steven Soderbergh has had enough, and now he’s speaking out about it.  Hit the jump to read what he has to say.

If you’re a fan of David Simon (”Homicide”, “The Wire”, “Generation Kill”), you’re really going to enjoy the interview I did with Steve Zahn at the premiere of his new movie “A Perfect Getaway”. That’s because after talking about the film, he told me a ton of info about David’s new show which he’s a part of. The big info is the pilot is done and they start filming the first season this November! If you haven’t heard of the show yet, Steve says “Treme” is about the rebuilding of New Orleans right after Katrina through the eyes of the musicians. He says he play’s a DJ/musician named Davis that’s the voice of the jazz scene. He also talked about how badly he wanted to work for David Simon. Watch the full interview after the jump:

In news that should shock exactly no one, HBO has announced pickups for its only three shows - “True Blood”, “Entourage” and “Hung”.  They also confirmed that the seventh season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” will premiere on September 20^th.  More after the jump…

You would think that after five seasons of a show about an actor that’s the next “big thing” and his buddies that mooch off/help his career would get tired and worn out, but as this season proves Vince and the gang still have a few tricks up their sleeves.  This season has just the right amount of golden Ari blow-up moments, random gratuitous nudity, and celebrity cameos like Martin Scorsese, Stellan Skarsgard, and Seth Green to name a few, that I’m down to stay another season with this Entourage (that might be the cheesiest thing I’ve written in recent memory, but true nonetheless). My review is after the jump: