Anime visonary Mamoru Oshii's sequel to 1995 's Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence opens today. The premise of this futuristic saga set in Japan in 2032 is very reminiscent of Blade Runner: Batou, a cyborg detective must hunt down a gynoid (a feminized robot used as a sex slave) who's on the loose after killing her owner. You can view the trailer at IGN.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow also opens, and while much has been made of director/writer Kerry Conran's humble beginnings collecting scrap computer parts to build his all-CGI world, anything starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law is likely to be a fairly glossy affair.

The much less hyped all-digital Able Edwards is making the festival rounds. Campy and small-budget, yes, but the executive producer is Steven Soderbergh so this could get decent distribution in the near future.

I actually don't get IFC, and my bitter, envious heart should probably be relieved. Film School is a reality show that follows four NYU film students as they shoot their thesis films and try to get their feet in the industry door. "Who quits film school before their film is finished? Who completely loses their mind on set? Whose film is trashed by NYU professors?"
I don't know but I have the answer to this one: Whose NYU thesis film was destroyed because she got an undetectably damaged camera that mangled all the film? Always always shoot and process a test can of film, always. Better yet, use video and watch every take, knowing it'll be there when you go to cut.
Film School airs on IFC at 10:30 pm EST, Fridays.

I do sometimes wonder if film school has been made pretty much irrelevant because it's so much easier to get a DV camera and a copy of Final Cut Pro (alright, plus the powerful Mac to run it but it's still a lot less than a year at film school) and just do it yourself. But then again without USC, there'd be no THX 1138, George Lucas's first feature film, based on his thesis. With no THX there'd be no Star Wars. But with today's tools, Lucas wouldn't have needed USC. Star Wars needed to exist in this world, every geek knows that.
Everyone grab their cameras, we can all do it.
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"It was said that in 2046, nothing ever changed" - Wong Kar Wai's latest.