Happy days are here again, Polaroid fans!! As you may recall, in January of 2009 a group called The Impossible Project decided to take on the Herculean task of personally saving the production of Polaroid instant film after the Polaroid company decided to halt production of the film and its instant cameras. The Impossible Project took control of an entire Polaroid film factory, hired the company’s employees and decided to take on the task of producing the film themselves. In October, The Impossible Project announced that the first batch of newly manufactured Polaroid instant film would be made available this year along with a new Polaroid One Step instant camera (in January of this year we got our first look at the new Polaroid PIC 100 instant camera). Yesterday, The Impossible Project made the world announcement concerning the release of their new batch of instant film … here is what the packaging will look like and some deets from yesterday’s press conference announcement:

A group of engineers and enthusiasts who leased an old Polaroid film factory in the Netherlands announced Monday that they had successfully reinvented instant film and will start selling packs this week. The news gives new life to some old Polaroid cameras. The company, called The Impossible Project, will sell film for SX-70 cameras made in the ’70s as well as more recent cameras that take 600-series film. Each film pack will cost $21 and produce eight black-and-white images. The company plans to introduce color film this summer, and expects to make 1 million packs in the first year. The film will be sold online initially, but the company expects to make it available in some stores as well. Polaroid stopped making instant film in 2008 … The revival of instant film was dubbed The Impossible Project because of the complexity of the product, and because key materials used in Polaroid’s formulation were no longer available, so the startup had to figure out a new way to make the film. The original Polaroid Corp. filed for bankruptcy in 2001, followed by the successor company in 2008. Holding company PLR IP now controls the Polaroid brand name, licensing its use mainly to electronics companies. It is not involved in The Impossible Project and the new packs won’t carry the Polaroid brand. However, PLR IP announced in January that new instant-film cameras would be launched this year that can use the packs.

This is truly amazing … do you see what a group of like-minded individuals can accomplish if they work hard enough for it? They can literally do the impossible! Just a couple years ago, the notion of Polaroid instant film was DEAD … now, we have the promise of brand new film to look forward to. As a big Polaroid fan, I couldn’t be more thrilled with this accomplishment. I’m so pleased that Polaroid is on board with this revival … their decision to manufacture a new camera to coincide with he release of this new film is brilliant. People … now is the time to get into taking photos with Polaroid instant cameras!! Now that we have Impossible Project film that will work in Polaroid cameras, there’s no excuse not to get in on the fun. Woot!!

[Source]

There are a couple of conflicting reports going around about an alleged altercation in Montreal, Canada that involved actor Jake Gyllenhaal over the weekend. On the one hand, a blogger who goes by the name DrunkenStepfather alleges that Jake assaulted a female friend of his after said blogger made a comment about Jake “kissing” the late Heath Ledger. On the other hand, an impartial third party witness clarifies that the comment made was not about “kissing” Heath but rather “killing” him and Jake — very obviously angry — merely called for the ejection of said blogger and his friends. I’ve had some personal dealings with this blogger and I can absolutely believe that he made the “killing” joke in the attempt to illicit a response from Gyllenhaal. Here’s a report from E! that details the whole disgusting scenario:

Did Jake Gyllenhaal roughhouse with a woman this weekend? No, we don’t mean in the fun way, babes. There’s a report going around that the Prince of Persia star got into a little altercation up in Montreal over the weekend. And we’re here to sort things out for you … The alleged incident supposedly went down Saturday night at restaurant Garde-Manger. Apparently Gyllenhaal was dancing on the bench of his table with a group of pals, ticking off a blogger from DrunkenStepfather a few feet away who found the show to be quite egocentric. Said blogger then went up to Jake’s table, turned to a girl there and goes (according the blogger himself): “Hey isn’t that the guy who kissed Heath Ledger?” Gyllenhaal apparently got in the guys face, told him to f–ck off and got the dude escorted out of the club. Only problem is in this he-said, he-said tale is that the blogger also claims his female guest was pushed about 10 times by Gyllenhaal before J.G.’s crew pulled him away. Gyllenhaal’s rep claims blogger’s story is “libelous” and informs us his lawyers are taking “immediate action” … Jake was definitely at the restaurant Saturday night (he’s a regular there) as was the blogger. Main discrepancy here? We’re told by sources who were present that the blogger in question said, “Hey isn’t that the guy who killed Heath Ledger?” prompting Jake to yell to the bouncers “get these guys out of my face.” The instigator and his crew were then thrown out. We originally read this blog post yesterday, where the site definitely had “killed” not “kissed” up until it was later changed. The post actually backs up this supposed kill claim by ranting in the item that if Jake was Ledger’s friend, he probably would have been there for him in his low point. Seriously can’t say we blame Gyllenhaal’s heated reaction. “Isn’t that the guy who killed Heath Ledger?” Not a funny joke, dude. We wish punches were thrown. As for this girl who was supposedly caught in the crossfire? Onlookers tell us “there were a bunch of girls” there but “no one was shoved or hurt.” Jake is currently in Montreal filming Source Code, which won’t be affected by this nonincident. We hear filming has been going “great” up there before this.

I’m telling you, I absolutely believe that the “killing” comment was made (and I do believe the story posted on his blog was changed in order to backtrack). This blogger has made a “career” out of writing some of the most outrageous things possible in order to offend in any way possible … I mean, that’s his shtick. It’s not the sort of thing that I endorse but I can understand that is a niche market that can entertain some people. To make an outrageous comment concerning the death of a friend is to absolutely ask for a response like this … so I’m not sure what the surprise is. Whatever actually went down, I’m certain that Jake was very happy to defend the honor of his late friend … and this blogger is prolly very much enjoying the attention his comment has garnered. It remains to be seen if this is the last we’ll hear of this story … but I wouldn’t be surprised if some sort of legalness comes from this verbal altercation. We shall see.

[Source]

My girl Shannen Doherty, who shot to fame on two of my fave TV shows — Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed, made her debut on the season 10 premiere of the competitive reality TV series Dancing with the Stars. Shannen and her 9 competitors performed LIVE on the show last night for the first time this season and, in my completely biased opinion, Shannen was amazing!!

I think I’ve been very open about my complete support of Shannen in this season of DWTS, so it should come as no surprise that I believe she is the best person to win this season’s competition. Sure, there may be stronger dancers competing against her but I’m always of the mind that non-dancers should be the only contestants allowed to compete. The fact that Shannen is dancing in order to better inspire her father to recover from his latest stroke is just … amazing. After the jump, check out video of Shannen‘s entire appearance on Dancing with the Stars last night …

Great news, Scream fans!! Things just all kinds of official in regards to the production of the latest installment of the very popular horror film franchise. You may recall that we heard in late January from Kevin Williamson himself that he has been hard at work on the script for Scream 4 and today we learn that the film will begin shooting this Spring with a release date in April of next year!

Dimension Films has greenlit “Scream 4″ to shoot this spring with a release date of April 12, 2011 — more than a decade after the release of “Scream 3.” Wes Craven will direct and Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox Arquette will reprise their roles along with a group of younger thesps. Dimension said its 2011 slate focuses on continuing its most successful franchises. The original “Scream” grossed more than $170 million worldwide in 1996; “Scream 2″ also took in more than $170 million in 1997 and “Scream 3″ topped $160 million after it was released in 2000. Craven helmed all three pics, which starred Campbell, Arquette and Cox Arquette. “‘Scream’ has been such an integral part of Dimension’s history, and I look forward to continuing the franchise,” said Dimension Films chief Bob Weinstein, who is also co-chairman of the Weinstein Co.

Hot damn, this is great news!! While April 2011 is still MORE than a year away we can take some comfort that we have a release date to look forward to. Considering that we just started hearing about specifics regarding casting last July and now we have everyone on board to reprise their roles AND an announced shooting schedule and release date … well, I think it’s all moving along very nicely. I hope we get to see some photos from the set of the film in the coming weeks … but we should be seeing promo stuff sometime at the end of this year to prep us for next year. WEE!! I love the Scream movies … all 3 of them. I am DYING to see what’s in store for part four!!

[Source]