The day after it was announced that the 74th Academy Awards would present an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, the New York Film Critics Circle has chosen WAKING LIFE as best animated film of the year. The 37-member New York Film Critics Circle is made up of New York-based newspaper, magazine and online film critics. While the awards are responsible for generating early Oscar-buzz for the winning films, the Circle is also known for their idiosyncratic picks. Now that the Animated Feature category is a lock, the critics will be weighing in right and left with their choices.

Walt Disney Pictures' Academy Award-winning animated classic, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, will celebrate its 10th anniversary with the January 1, 2002 release of a new Large Format Cinema Special Edition. Following the success of FANTASIA 2000, which was the first Disney film to be released in large format and grossed over $51 million, this special edition includes the newly animated six-minute musical sequence "Human Again," featuring the song written for the original film by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken.

Months of anticipation, followed by concern that not enough films would be submitted or found eligible, have led to the announcement that the 74th Academy Awards will include a category for Best Animated Feature. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued this press release announcing that a feature-length animated film will be awarded a competitive Oscar for the first time next March at the 74th Academy Award presentations.



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8. OCEAN’S ELEVEN SINKS HARRY POTTER. The remake of the Rat Pack classic OCEAN’S ELEVEN, with visual effects by E=mc2 and Cinesite, topped the box office this weekend, raking in $38.1M and taking the prize for the biggest December opening of all time. OCEAN’S ELEVEN was the only new wide release this weekend, so as each film moved down a notch to make room for the new number one, the order of the top ten stayed relatively the same.

Cinesite Hollywood completed two dozen shots for Universal Studios' new film SPY GAME, directed by Tony Scott and starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. Cinesite's work included the enhancement of reflections in an interrogation scene, blowing out a grid of lights in a night landscape scene, and adding muzzle flashes, sparks, bullet holes, dust and debris. Cinesite visual effects supervisor Kevin Lingenfelser said there are no blue or green screen shots in the film. A few explosions occur in the film, but they were achieved using practical, in-camera methods.

Visual effects and design company Reality Check Studios (RCS), completed over 75 effects shots for 20th Century Fox's BEHIND ENEMY LINES, now in theaters. As the primary visual effects house for the film, RCS artists built computer-generated planes, missiles, parachutes, and pilots and enhanced shots with smoke, debris and explosions. In an 8-minute sequence during which the lead character is shot down over enemy territory, RCS had a team of 16 animators working to create extensive 3D effects where CG elements were integrated into live action footage.

Hoping to get people back in theaters to see MONSTERS, INC. one more time, Disney/Pixar has announced that they will be adding a specially-created group of animated ``outtakes'' to the end credits of the film. Creating the animated bloopers is now a tradition for Disney/Pixar and has proved very popular with moviegoers. The outtakes will be shown in theaters beginning this Friday, December 7, 2001. Audiences will also be able to download a sneak preview of the outtakes beginning Friday at www.monstersinc.com and www.apple.com/trailers.

Although its weekend take of $24.1M represents a 58% drop from last weekend, HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE, with visual effects by Sony Pictures Imageworks and Rhythm & Hues, remained number one for the third week in a row, and crossed the $200M mark after 15 days. HARRY has earned $220.1M after three weeks of release. The rescue drama BEHIND ENEMY LINES, with visual effects by Reality Check Studios and OCS/Freeze Frame/Pixel Magic, came in a strong second, earning $19.2M in its debut.

Toronto-based visual effects company Mr. X, Inc. has been tapped by Lions Gate Entertainment for effects supervision and to create a mix of character animation, photo-realistic environments, effects animation and complete the compositing for Hypercube, the sequel to the 1997 sci-fi thriller Cube. The Mr. X team, led by president Dennis Berardi and visual effects supervisor Aaron Weintraub, are creating the effects for virtually everything that makes the cube a harrowing experience for those trapped within its confines.

DivXNetworks is offering a special program that allows independent filmmakers to license DivX video technology at no cost for certain types of limited commercial use. To promote this program DivX is showing the animated short Killer Bean 2 on the DivX site. Killer Bean 2 was released in 2000 and has been viewed over 1 million times across a number of Websites. The 7-minute short film can now be viewed in full-screen high-resolution DivX format at www.divx.com, along with the trailer for the forthcoming third installment Killer Bean 3.