Heard a rumor that your boy M. Night Shyamalan is filming scenes for The Last Airbender at Girard College today. Anyone up in that area spot the production?

The first trailer for the film, an live-action adaptation of the Nickolodeon animated kids’ series Avatar: The Last Airbender, just dropped. Peep above. The Insider says a majority of the flick has been shot at the Navy Yard and in East Falls.

philly.com

From philly.com:

Jeez, for what was originally pitched to me as a small, indie rom com, Fox Searchlight is really putting the promo push behind (500) Days of Summer, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel and written by Penn grad and Shore kid Scott Neustadter. This Sunday, June 21, starting at noon, you’ll have the opportunity to snap up some goodies, all on Fox Searchlight’s tab. Participating vendors include

• RITA’S WATER ICE- 1511 Spruce St. (Center City) — free kiddie-sized water ice
• PHILLY PRETZEL FACTORY- 2125 Oregon Ave. (South Philadelphia) - free pretzels
• WRDW-FM ICE CREAM TRUCK- South Street, Citizens Bank Park, Kelly Drive/Art Museum/Boathouse Row, Valley Forge Park - ice cream
• PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES GAME- Citizens Bank Park - one row gets free hamburgers (plus aforementioned ice cream)

Supplies are limited to 500 because promos are cute like that. So is the movie any good? Sam Adams thought so when he reviewed it as the opening night film at this year’s Cinefest:

At first blush, the feature debut of music-video veteran Marc Webb seems like a Fox Searchlight special: a young adult romance with a killer soundtrack and enough nudging self-awareness to disarm cynical Gen-Yers. The difference is that, unlike Napoleon Dynamite or Juno, (500) Days of Summer hurts. The time-scrambled script puts the meet-cute between Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel back to back with their decline, and the point where her fetching elusiveness shades into blithe cruelty. Webb tiptoes on the edge of clever-clever land and sometimes hurtles over the line; a Hall & Oates-scored musical number is a nifty set piece (and potent trailer-bait) but also shatters the mood. But for a movie that often doesn’t seem to have much on its mind, the cumulative effect is oddly devastating.

Related: INTERVIEW: (500) Days of Summer screenwriter Scott Neustadter

Last year, Shaun Brady told you about the inaugural Philadelphia Independent Film Festival:

Coming as it does in between the city’s two flagship festivals — April’s behemoth Philadelphia Film Festival and July’s ever-expanding Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival — the Independent Film Fest has to be looked at as David next to a pair of well-established Goliaths. But by focusing on indies, the new kid on the block has a distinct advantage in differentiating itself from the marquee names and crowd-pleasers that increasingly fill PFF’s catalog, and the niche programming of PIGLFF.

The PIFF is back at it again and on Monday the posted their schedule, which you can see after the the jump…

The fest takes place from Thu., June 25-Sun., June 28 at various venues around Northern Liberties. Tickets are $6-8 for a single film and $25-130 for full day passes. You can purchase tickets online or go to the box office at North Bowl, 909 N 2nd St., which opens for business this Monday (but is cash only).

Don’t forget to pick up tomorrow’s paper for a story on the PIFF and it’s sister Philadelphia Film Market.

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Don’t know what to do tonight? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

Look at those pretty 16 MM reels. Aren’t they romantic? Don’t you just wanna grab a blanket and a wine bottle and sit down in front of them with your beau, watching old movies? Yes, yes you do — and tonight, so long as Mother Nature doesn’t shit all over us again like it did yesterday (our below-normal precipitation rate be damned), you can at The Lawn Chair Drive-In. Lair of The White Worm is up, and judging by the trailer, it’s a weirdo ’80s horror flick that features vampires a very hot, dapper Hugh Grant. See it for yourself here.

Tue., June 16 (and every Tue. throughout the summer), dusk, free, Liberty Lands Park, Third Street above Poplar, lawnchairdrivein.com.

When Pressure Cooker, a doc about the cutthroat culinary arts program at Frankford High, premiered at CineFest this year, Sam Adams brought you inside the world of hardcore teacher Wilma Stephenson:

Wilma Stephenson, who teaches culinary arts at Frankford High, begins the documentary Pressure Cooker with her take on the Paper Chase speech: “Everything you’ve heard is true,” she tells a class of apprehensive seniors, “only it’s worse than that.” A tense and sometimes terrifying figure, Stephenson lashes out at students who make careless mistakes, and can be positively scorching with those who fail to show the proper respect to her or her kitchen. “She has good intentions,” says Erica, one of three students the movie focuses on. “Just sometimes she has bad people skills.”

Pressure Cooker gets its theatrical release this Friday (check the Movies section on Thursday for Sam Adams’ official review), and Stephenson and her students will be answering your burning questions at the Ritz at the Bourse all weekend. Here’s when you can catch them:

Friday
7p Filmmakers & Wilma Stephenson
9:30p Filmmaker and Wilma Stephenson

Saturday
1:30p Filmmaker
4:20p Filmmaker & Wilma Stephenson & Students
7p Filmmaker & Wilma Stephenson & Students

Sunday
1:30p Wilma Stephenson & Students
4:20p Wilma Stephenson & Students

Filmmakers Mark Becker and Jennifer Grausman (whose father founded the program that gives the Frankford High students their funding) will donate 15 percent of proceeds made from the 4:20 and 7 p.m. screenings to the School District of Philadelphia’s Children First Foundation, specifically benefiting Frankford High’s Culinary Arts Program.

The newly annointed QFest (previous the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival) gets up and running July 9-20 for the fifteenth year. Look out for our annual reviews round-up issue on the ninth but, in the meantime, here’s a list of films screening at the fest:

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martinschoeller.com

According to a story posted on Variety’s site yesterday, Jack Nicholson is headed to these parts. Nicholson is currently in negotiations to star in James L. Brooks’ next flick, which is slated to start shooting here in the near future. Bill Murray originally had the role but dropped out last minute. Nicholson stepped in for buddy Brooks, most likely because he thought his awards shelf was looking a little thin. (Nicholson’s previous projects with Brooks — As Good As It Gets and Terms of Endearment — account for two of his Oscars.)

The still-untitled movie is about a love triangle between high-society Paul Rudd, pro baseball player Owen Wilson (dude must love us) and Reese Witherspoon. Nicholson will play Rudd’s pops.

I’ve never been more excited to read the city’s various gossip columns. Sure, sure, seeing Bill Murray hanging out around town would have been awesome — he is Bill Groundhog Day, Ghostbustin‘-ass Murray, after all. But there are very few people I would celeb-stalk harder than Jack. Post your fave Nicholson movie in the comments. It’s a tough choice, but I honestly think I gotta Five Easy Pieces on this one, mainly because I love those ’70s movies where nothing really happens. But then there’s The Last Detail and Prizzi’s Honor and About Schmidt and The Departed and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and, and, and …

In the unlikely event that you haven’t been camping out in front of the Trocadero for the past two nights, be sure to get there early for their screening of Fanboys. Not only will you get free beer and popcorn if you show up before 7 p.m., but maybe you’ll also be the first one there, in which case your slick Boba Fett or Qui-Gon Jinn gear just might get you laid.

The film tells the story of friends who attempt to pilfer an early copy of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace from Skywalker Ranch. Too bad they didn’t succeed in stealing and burning the only copy.

Mon., June 1, $3, doors at 6:30, showtime at 8, The Trocadero, 10th and Arch streets, 215-922-LIVE, thetroc.com.

Surely you remember hometown hero Justin Guarini, he of the corkscrewed hair and subpar voice of the first season of American Idol, not to mention From Justin to Kelly? Homey’s career is just getting started. From the Greater Philadelphia Film Office’s casting call site:

Let’s also discuss how one of the only places I could find that embeddable clip was on the website for the Spike television network… Via Vulture

Remember when Demi Moore and girl crush fixation Parker Posey were ’round town? The outcome of their Philly chilling, Happy Tears, just got picked up for distribution. According to the Hollywood Reporter:

Roadside Attractions has acquired U.S. rights to Mitchell Lichtenstein’s “Happy Tears” and tagged the family comedy for release early next year.

The cast includes Parker Posey, Demi Moore, Ellen Barkin and Rip Torn.

“These are two larger-than-life performances from Parker Posey and Demi Moore as sisters who have a love-hate relationship,” Roadside company president Howard Cohen said.

Added Lichtenstein, “This is a tough time for independent film, and I believe that the team at Roadside Attractions knows how to find an enthusiastic audience for this funny, offbeat movie.”

A multihyphenate whose previous film was the 2007 horror comedy “Teeth,” the director is the son of painter Roy Lichtenstein.

Sisters with a love-hate relationship? Boring! Let’s parse, shall we?

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The trailer for Lee Daniels’ Sundance fave Precious is making its rounds ’bout the Internet. It’s no secret I’m a little cheerleader for this movie, and the trailer doesn’t really change that, mainly because I think it looks pretty good — especially the beginning (I’m a big fan of the super-stylized fantasy world). But then damn, does it get dark and maybe even (nooooooo!!!!) a little saccharine with the introduction of Paula Patton’s character (she’s the super-hot teacher). But take a gander at Mariah Carey. Her dowdiness is the penance she has to do for Glitter.

Related: Pushing It

USA Today has two production stills of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, which was shot in the twisty director’s hood of Bucks County..

USA Today

Noah Ringer is a 12-year-old martial arts master. Sure, he can’t buy alcohol or drive but he can still kick your ass.

Based on a Nickelodeon cartoon, The Last Airbender is about a young boy who can manipulate the weather. According to IMDB, “The story follows the adventures of the successor to a long line of Avatars who must put aside his irresponsible ways and stop the Fire Nation from enslaving the Water, Earth and Air nations.” If anyone can parse the plot and let me know what the hell that’s supposed to mean, that’d be great.

USA Today

Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel plays baddie Zuko. No relation to Danny.

Dev Patel’s part was initially supposed to go to teen heartthrob Jesse McCartney but groups protested heavily after they found at that a movie based on a cartoon with an entirely Asian cast was full of white people. Ah, Hollywood.

h/t Geek Tyrant