The reviews are already in the newspapers for "Minority Report" and... wow. RottenTomatoes.com reports an incredible 97% positive ("fresh") rating, with over 60 reviews counted. That compares to 27% "fresh" for Jerry Molen's last move, "The Other Side of Heaven."

Speaking of "The Other Side of Heaven"... new reviews are available from the Kalamazoo Gazette (3 out of 4 stars) and Entertainment Weekly (C grade):

http://interbridge.com/jamessanford/2002/otherside.html

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/movie/0,6115,249435~1~0~othersideofheaven,00.html

OLDHAM'S "SMITH FAMILY" DOC: Tonight (Tuesday, June 25th) at 9:00 PM (in Utah), Tasha Oldham's "The Smith Family" premieres on PBS (KUED). Everything we've heard about the 90-minute documentary has been very positive. There is an excellent article about it in The Progressive (Thank LDSToday.com for pointing to this link) - http://www.progressive.org/July%202002/mck0702.html. The PBS web site for for the documentary can be found at http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2002/thesmithfamily/index.html. The cinematographer for "The Smith Family", by the way, is Tahlee Booher, who also was the DP on Rob Sibley's "The Shadow of Light." Future scheduled airings in Utah (all on KUED) are June 28th at 12:30 AM, July 2nd at 9:00 PM and July 3rd at 3:00 AM. Check your local listings for broadcast times outside of Utah.

Tasha has also been working on her documentary "Sisters in Zion" for a long time, but I don't think that's complete. Now that "The Smith Family" has actually gone from the editing bay and a few film festival showings to actual television (PBS' POV series), Tasha is getting kicked off LDSFilm.com's "Up and Coming Filmmakers" page and moved to the "arrived" section. Here is a talented documentarian -- one to watch. The cinematographer for "The Smith Family", by the way, is Tahlee Booher, who also was the DP on Sibley's "The Shadow of Light."

ANDY ACROSS THE WATER (2002): 30 min. Written and directed by native Utah actor/director Leo Geter. Stars Mormon Broadway star Klea Blackhurst as "Kristen," the Latter-day Saint mom. Plot, IMDb: "An aging father, his large family, and a horse are thrown into turmoil when the father has a vision of the Second Coming." Plot, Aspen Shortfest program: "Andy Larson has spent years treating his family badly and theyºve had years to get used to it. Then he has a life-changing vision - but will his nearest and dearest be able to adjust? Set against the starkly beautiful landscapes of Southern Colorado, this down-to-earth family drama explores trust, forgiveness and redemption." Won Best Comedy at Aspen Shortsfest.

A GLIMPSE AT LATTER-DAY SAINT FILM HISTORY: You may have occasionally heard references to the "Nine Old Men". They were the people who started with Walt Disney when things were in an embryonic stage, and they stayed with him through the good times and the bad.

They are:
Les Clark
Ward Kimball
Ollie Johnston
Frank Thomas
Marc Davis
Milt Kahl
Woolie Reitherman
Eric Larson
John Lounsbury

Eric Larson and Les Clark were both born in Utah.

Eric Larson and Les Clark were animators (one of the two was usually the animation director or supervising animator) on a number of movies you may remember: Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, The Three Caballerosm, Make Mine Music, Casey at the Bat, Peter and the Wolf, Melody Time, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Mary Poppins, Song of the South, Steamboat Willie, Fun and Fancy Free.