Tales From Earthsea

SEATTLE—May 16, 2013—(NASDAQ:AMZN)—Amazon.com today announced an expanded content licensing agreement with NBCUniversal Cable & New Media Distribution that will bring a variety of popular programs to Prime Instant Video. Prime Instant Video offers more than 40,000 movies and TV episodes for Prime members to stream on Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Roku, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Wii U, among other connected TVs and devices – all at no additional cost. To sign up for Amazon Prime, visit www.amazon.com/primeinstantvideo. Prime members will have exclusive unlimited subscription streaming access to prior seasons of the following NBCUniversal shows: · NBC’s dark fantasy drama Grimm, based on the collection of Grimm Fairy Tales, available today · USA Network’s legal drama Suits and serialized spy thriller Covert Affairs, available today · NBC’s new psychological thriller Hannibal, based on the novels by Thomas Harris and produced by Gaumont International Television, available later this year · Syfy’s new futuristic sci-fi and drama series Defiance, available early next year In addition, today’s announcement will add several fan-favorite shows to Prime Instant Video including NBC hit and Golden Globe nominated Smash, as well as Syfy drama series Alphas, Eureka and Warehouse 13. Also available are popular children’s programs including Curious George and Land Before Time, which will both be available in Kindle FreeTime Unlimited, the all-you-can-eat content service that brings together all of the books, games, apps, movies and TV shows kids and parents love. “We ... Read More »

Ari Folman's "The Congress" aka "Robin Wright at The Congress" aka "Reviewer's Nightmare" (last title mine) opens the director's fortnight at Cannes this evening and screened for a group of alternately beguiled and baffled press this morning. Evoking Miyazaki and perhaps on-form Gilliam in its best moments, and lurching oddly into "Southland Tales" territory in its worst, it is a film we'd be happy to call a fascinating muddle, were it not a little overstretched to really support even that summation. At the very least, however, should your copy of "Pink Floyd's The Wall" have worn out through overuse, we can see "The Congress" having a similar kind of life as a late-night stoner mindfuck. This is Folman's first return to Cannes (and to feature filmmaking; he's been keeping busy writing for TV otherwise) since 2008's Oscar-nominated and universally lauded "Waltz with Bashir." The five-year gap is attributed to many things, most often to his desire to work in a more...