The LAT hopes to put Goldstein's knowledge and sources to work in a blog that brings responsible journalism to the faster-than-pulp pace of 24/7 online entertainment reporting.

The Big Picture is one of our favorite columns at the paper, and we're excited to see what it evolves into as a longtime journo wades into the world of full-time blogger. No word yet on whether he'll be reporting in his underwear (we highly recommend it).

That's the idea behind launching the Big Picture blog. As much as I've loved writing a once-a-week column, the world of entertainment and pop culture is moving so fast that it's become impossible to keep up with all the action without weighing in more often than once a week. Over the past few years, I've found myself addicted to reading blogs. The best ones offer a wonderfully brainy, personal and irreverent way of seeing the world. You'll see the paper now has 40-plus blogs, with more being launched all the time.

My guess is that someday soon our blogs will be the backbone of the paper. Journalists have discovered, to our chagrin, that information is everywhere these days. But readers still crave informed analysis and lively writing, which is something we can focus on as newspapers make the transition from mass circulation entities to niche-oriented publications. So while I've got lots to learn about the blogging life--and will surely stumble many times along the way--I'm eager to be a part of that new conversation.

Step Two: Start Blogging and Wait to Be Discovered

After college, Cody left her native Chicago for the romantic Twin Cities -- trading Post-it Notes for pasties while exploring the frosty Minneapolis underworld as a stripper. She described the perils of pole-dancing on the popular Pussy Ranch blog.

Because there are only a few blogs online these days (Technorati currently tracks a mere 112 million), it was a safe bet that a successful Los Angeles literary manager (Mason Novick) would find Cody's work and inquire from 3,000 miles away about her literary ambitions.

"Before Mason found me, all I'd written was the blogs for City Pages in Minneapolis," Cody said. "He asked me if I'd thought about writing something else. I started my book after that."

Oh great. Just what the world needs. Another lame-ass corporate-owned movie blog that doesn't know a freakin' thing about ... just kidding! We're actually quite happy to share the news that MTV Movies is now offering a brand spankin' new movie blog. Or at least I'm happy about it, and here's why: I'm a big fan of MTV's movie coverage. For the last year or so, they've done some really solid stuff. Aside from the clunky interface and long load times at the website, those guys do a damn good job with the scoops, the news and some consistently excellent interviews. So it's not like a "new" blog as much as it is an upgrade. A much more aesthetically pleasing and bandwidth-friendly upgrade.

Welcome to the MTV Movies Blog, updated throughout the day with exclusive movie news, trailers, interviews and more. Our team of film experts joins with celebrity contributors - from Eli Roth to Judd Apatow - to ensure that when it comes to the hottest flicks, you'll hear it first.

Having missed much of the explosive growth of its rivals Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., Lycos, now part of the second largest Korean Internet portal Daum Communications Corp. will launch a high-speed Internet video channel this week and let viewers watch movies simultaneously across the Internet and discuss them.

The service, called Lycos Cinema (http://cinema.lycos.com/) aims to combine two tenets of new Internet businesses -- online video and social networking, embodied by popular sites YouTube Inc. and News Corp.'s MySpace social network.

The ability to upload your own videos will come as early as December or early next year, Lycos Chief Operating Officer Brian Kalinowski told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

"The technology we've created allows for the virtual living room," Kalinowski said.

Grouper.com, acquired last August by Sony Pictures Entertainment, is offering snippets from 100 Sony films and TV shows for users to integrate into blogs and on social networking sites such as MySpace, the company said Thursday.

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This is the latest attempt to solve the copyright issue plaguing the video-sharing sector. Hollywood studios and other media companies are cracking down on sites that allow users to upload their copyright material without compensating them.

Universal Music Group filed suit against Grouper and Bolt.com for allowing users to post UMG's copyright material on those sites. Video sharing's largest player, YouTube, was sued last summer by a Los Angeles journalist after he saw several postings on the site of a video he shot of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

SYLVESTER STALLONE: I do. [LAUGHS] I, you know, the other day I, I usually paint characters or situations that are, you know, kind of emotional... bizarre. But lately I've been painting, dare I say it, flowers for the house. But they're bizarre flowers.

The "Project Starrlight" blog is on the Zap2it entertainment Web site produced by Tribune Media Services, which also syndicates "Brenda Starr." The comic, created by the late Dale Messick, is now done by Mary Schmich and June Brigman.

Mattison's credits include writing, producing, and starring in the independent films "Fish Without a Bicycle" and "The Third Wish." She has also appeared on "Party of Five," "Beverly Hills 90210," "Married With Children," and other TV shows.

There is no competing horror movie opening this weekend, so Snakes on a Plane should do well. This will confirm what we already know -- that Internet buzz can truly boost a film's performance at the box office. The only downside of Snakes being a box office smash is that we may have to deal with all sorts of "Something on a Something" sequels. You know, Snakes on a Boat, Snakes on a Train, Snakes on Your Bike, Snakes on a Segway. And when they run out of Snakes titles, they could always go for the cute, with Kittens on a Plane. That sounds like a good holiday movie.

Some of you know each other, others may not, but I'm calling all of your powers together because I have a goal that I cannot achieve alone. It's a goal of such lofty proportions that the mere thought of achieving it has me trembling in my darkened apartment. It's keeping me up at night. My goal, my quest, is to be an invited guest to the world premiere of the movie that is destined to change the world. A movie of such scope and awe that you need only read the title to understand everything you'll ever need to know about the movie. The fact that it's staring Samuel L. Jackson is a mere afterthought to the magical title. I want to attend the glitzy Hollywood premiere of:
Snakes on a Plane

"Blogs are becoming a vital part of an independent film scene that relies on word-of-mouth and alternative media to truly thrive," says Eugene Hernandez, editor of the pioneering indie film site IndieWire.com, which hosts some two dozen blogs and this year has asked 12 filmmakers from Sundance and the concurrent Slamdance to blog about their experiences.

BloggingSundance.com, a pioneering festival blog, was dreamed up by the founder of the Weblogs Inc. Network, Jason Calacanis, who persuaded the festival to let him blog in 2003. "I blogged live from inside movie theaters. I'd sit in the back row with my laptop," he recalls. "It's the closest thing to live coverage." Film fanatic Calacanis continued to blog Sundance through 2004 and '05, when he reviewed 19 to 20 movies by himself. "When I'm at Sundance I don't go to parties, I watch films," he says.

Now that blogging has officially become the new "cool" way to market a movie, it seems as if we no longer need to see the film once it comes out since the entire thing has already been shown to us over the course of a year and a half on that damn webpage. Between the interviews and the assortment of behind-the-scenes tours, these blogs are waging a tough battle against, what used to be, a sweet spoiler-free world.

So far, the new breed of promotional bloggers seems to be doing everything right. They have a motive for using the medium; they aren't jumping on the blog bandwagon without good reason. Their sites don't just generate awareness and buzz, but connect consumers with the company's products by inviting them into their personal world. Posts on these blogs have a purpose and allow users to relate to the people behind them.