Author: Robert Greenberger

On Sunday, the American Film Institute joined the growing list of top 10 lists, naming the best films of the year.  Both Iron Man and The Dark Knight made the list, a first for the super-hero genre.  The Dark Knight was also named the year’s best film by novelist Stephen King in the current issue of Entertainment Weekly.

To qualify for their list, films had to possess "significant creative and/or production elements from the United States." The movie and television lists were selected by a 13-person jury, according to Variety.

The rigid qualifications led the acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire from being considered.  Other top 10ers left off this particular list include The Reader and Revolutionary Road.

AFI’s top 10, in alphabetical order:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Frost/Nixon, Frozen River, Gran Torino, Iron Man, Milk, Wall-E, Wendy and Lucy, and The Wrestler.

The AFI top 10 TV programs of the year, including series, telefilms and miniseries, are Breaking Bad, In Treatment, John Adams, Life, Lost, Mad Men, The Office, Recount, The Shield, and The Wire.

Stargate Universe will be headed by Robert Carlyle (24: Redemption) according to The Hollywood Reporter. The spin-off of Stargate will begin production in February with Sci Fi Channel planning to air the series over the summer. A 20-episode order is anticipated including the two-hour opener.

With Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis now complete, the cable channel has commissioned this third series in the franchise aiming it at younger watchers while at the same time describing it as both darker and edgier. Brad Wright and Robert Cooper, who have worked on the other series, will write and executive produce the new series.

The new series is described as following “a group of soldiers, scientists and civilians left to fend for themselves when forced through a Stargate after their hidden base comes under attack. The survivors, who emerge aboard an ancient ship missing in the far reaches of space, are led by Dr. David Rush (Carlyle), who works to unlock the ship’s mysteries and return the group home but also might have ulterior motives.”

"Robert Carlyle brings a depth, intelligence and complexity to his roles, which will fit perfectly with the fresh, new reinvention of this franchise," Sci Fi original-programming chief Mark Stern said. The remainder of the cast will be made up of largely unnown talent.

The Eureka Seven anime series will spawn a feature, Symphonic Poem Eureka Seven: Pocket Full of Rainbows, which will be broadcast in Japan during their Golden Week, holidays that occur between April and May.

The 50 episodes, known as Psalms of Planets Eureka Seven,  initially ran from April 17, 2005 through April 2, 2006 and spawned a manga series in addition to three video games.  Interestingly, two of the games served as prequel stories to the mecha series. The story has also been serialized over four prose novels.

Produced by Studio Bones, the story is about sky-surfing robot/mechas with a poignant romance and aired in America on Cartoon Network. Home video editions were released by Bandai Entertainment.

Nase Yamato’s Cigarette Kisses, which had been acquired for America by Broccoli Books has found a new home at Aurora Publishing’s Deux Press yaoi imprint. The book is now scheduled for release in the second half of 2009.

According to the company’s site, the title is about:

Yusuke and Soji were close ever since junior high, even to the point of being something more—but Yusuke was devastated when Soji suddenly announced that he was getting married. Three years later, Yusuke and Soji meet up again at their company smoke room, and though their love for cigarettes has brought them together, their love for each other remains unspoken. With the conflicted Soji trapped between marital obligations and true love, and his charming rival, Masahito, trying to replace the hole in Yusuke’s heart, what is Yusuke to do? Is Soji another guilty addiction that he’ll never be able to quit?

A sweet and sexy drama from the author of Pet on Duty.

Dust off your dancing shoes because disco is going digital.  Paramount Digital Entertainment announced Friday that the 1970s classic film Saturday Night Fever will be available for digital download and as a new rhythm and dance game developed specifically for the iPhone and iPod touch.

First released in 1977, Saturday Night Fever starred John Travolta as Tony Manero, a troubled Brooklyn youth who diverted attention away from his troubles with his job, parents, community and friends by dancing in the local disco club.  Considered to be a huge commercial success, the movie significantly helped to popularize disco music around the world and made Travolta a household name.

Tony Manero made his mark in both the film and in history with his infamous finger-pointed-in-the-air dance maneuver.  Now, with the release of Saturday Night Fever: Dance! – it’s all about the tap and slide.  Mastering the tap and slide functionality is the ultimate goal where players can make their mark, win the dance contest and become a disco dynamo – all with the touch of a finger.

Using an advanced touch interface, Saturday Night Fever: Dance! will revolutionize dance as we know it by training a new army of digital disco dancers.  With four levels of difficulty, players have the choice to play as one of two seventies-styled studs who will test their tap and slide skills to beats from the seventies including hit songs like "YMCA" (The Village People), "Shake Your Groove Thing" (Peaches and Herb), "Car Wash" (Rose Royce) and "Love Machine" (The Miracles).

Nobody likes to dance alone and with Saturday Night Fever : Dance!, you won’t have to.  There are two bonus features that enable multi-player modes beginning with a special Wifi feature that enables two players to synch-up and have their own dance-off from their individual devices in a tug-of-war-style manner.  Additionally, there is a hotseat mode that allows up to four players to compete by taking turns and passing the device off to one another.  Each player, in sequence, is allowed to chose a character and play to the same song while the game keeps track of each player’s scores.

Saturday Night Fever  will be available for $2.99 for rental on iTunes and Saturday Night Fever: Dance! is available now on Apple’s App store for $4.99.

Keith Goldberg has been hired by Dark Horse Comics’ Entertainment division as Senior VP Production according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Given Dark Horse’s current deal with Universal, the move was necessary to oversee the existing projects, such as War Monkeys, while giving Goldberg access to the company’s library for further exploitation in media. He will be based in Dark Horse’s Los Angeles offices.

Under the terms of the deal, announced in March, Universal would have creative access to all Dark Horse characters and properties, as well as any material that Dark Horse might acquire on its own and want to develop as a motion picture. In addition, Dark Horse would have the opportunity to distribute movies through Universal.

Goldberg is "the right person at the right time," according to statement from Dark Horse president Mike Richardson. "We’ve seen explosive growth throughout our company, and the film division is no exception. With the addition of an ambitious slate at Universal to our existing film projects, we needed to expand."

Goldberg was previously a production executive at New Line Cinema, working on 17 Again; Rendition; and The Number 23.