"Cars" earned more awards on Sunday night. It won best animated feature at the 34th annual Annie Awards, which honor achievements in animation. The Route 66-based film defeated "Happy Feet," "Over the Hedge," "Monster House" and "Open Season" for the honor. The victory makes "Cars," directed by Pixar's John Lasseter, the front-runner for Best Animated … Continue reading “Cars” wins two Annie awards
Category: Movies
Song from “Cars” movie wins a Grammy
"Our Town," a song written by Randy Newman and performed by James Taylor for the Pixar movie "Cars," won the Grammy for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media on Sunday night at the 49th annual Grammy Awards. The other nominees in that category were Melissa Etheridge's "I Need to … Continue reading Song from “Cars” movie wins a Grammy
New “Devil Girl” trailer
A new trailer for the thriller movie, "Devil Girl," has been posted on YouTube. The movie, its producer told me, was shot on Route 66 primarily in Amboy, Calif., with other footage in Groom, Texas, and St. Louis. The film is in post-production now, and won't be finished until March. Until it's released in theaters, … Continue reading New “Devil Girl” trailer
“Devil Girl” movie shot on Route 66
Production recently wrapped on the thriller film "Devil Girl," which was shot on Route 66 and uses the historic road as its setting. Here's synopsis of the film, according to its Web site: Fay is a small town girl on a road trip to Hollywood to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. When her … Continue reading “Devil Girl” movie shot on Route 66
The case of the mysterious traffic surge
Traffic at Route 66 News jumped to record levels today, fueled mostly by a link from the Wigwam Motel in Rialto, Calif. The motel showed how its teepee design inspired the Cozy Cone Motel in the animated hit movie, "Cars." That link to here has existed for nearly 10 months, so I was flummoxed on … Continue reading The case of the mysterious traffic surge
Blu-ray Disc of “Cars” coming this summer
Buena Vista announced in early January the coming releases of a bunch of special Blu-ray Discs specially made for HDTVs. Among the coming Blu-ray releases is "Cars" this summer. For the uninitiated, Blu-ray discs contain a lot more data than standard DVDs or even HD-DVDs, making them ideal for the burgeoning high-definition television market. The … Continue reading Blu-ray Disc of “Cars” coming this summer
DVD review: “Independent America”
As a Route 66 aficionado, I don't need encouragement to patronize mom-and-pop businesses. Visiting independent stores remains a vital part of the Mother Road experience. So a documentary that advocates supporting mom-and-pops is preaching to the choir. However, I learned from the just-released DVD of "Independent America" (subtitled "The Two Lane Search for Mom & … Continue reading DVD review: “Independent America”
The Oscar-nominated song “Our Town”
Today, Randy Newman's song, "Our Town," performed by James Taylor, was nominated for an Academy Award for Original Song. Here is the song and its key scene from the hit Pixar animated movie, "Cars." "Our Town" is available on the "Cars" soundtrack. And, yes, the album and song both are available on iTunes.
“Cars” receives two Oscar nominations
The Disney/Pixar animated movie "Cars," which takes place on Route 66, was nominated for two Academy Awards today. One nomination was for Animated Feature Film. The other nominees were "Happy Feet" and "Monster House." The other nod was for "Our Town," written by Randy Newman and performed by James Taylor, for Original Song. Three of … Continue reading “Cars” receives two Oscar nominations
“Cars” wins a Golden Globe
The Disney/Pixar hit summer movie, "Cars," which takes place on Route 66, won a Golden Globe on Monday night for Animated Film, the first year of that category. Here's an excerpt from the Associated Press report of the awards ceremony: "Animation is awesome everybody. It's my life. I've lived in it. It's so exciting to … Continue reading “Cars” wins a Golden Globe