Tugg, the web-based platform that allows you to bring fan-selected films to a theater near you, has added an extensive list of features from The Weinstein Company.  Now available are Best Picture Oscar-winners, The Artist and The King’s Speech, along with award-winning films Inglourious Basterds, The Reader and more.  Boasting over 500 titles, Tugg allows fans to relive the theatrical experience of some of their favorite blockbusters and sought after indies. Hit the jump to read the full press release.

There are two things to note about this recent release of Grindhouse. The first is that when the film premiered in the spring of 2007, much was hoped for this three hour double feature from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez’s half Planet Terror had a stripper (Rose MacGowan) and her off-again boyfriend (Freddy Rodriguez) battling a zombie plague brought on by a scientist (Naveen Andrews) and a crazy solider (Bruce Willis). Death Proof is the second half and has Kurt Russell playing a killer whose weapon of choice is a stunt car, and whose prey are young women (including Rosario Dawson, Zoe Bell, Tracy Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Vanessa Ferlito, Sydney Poitier, Jordan Ladd and Rose McGowan). But Tarantino’s and Rodriguez’s fan-base and the world at large either didn’t get or didn’t care about the movie, and so it flopped at the box office. It was meant to be a fun flagship production by the Weinstein company, and instead was a big black eye. As such the films were broken off and sold separately on home video. So finally, three and a half years later, the film comes as originally intended to DVD and Blu-ray. And my review of this three hour opus is after the jump.

Attendance picked up on Saturday after a typically slow start to the Labor Day weekend on Friday. George Clooney’s The American was able to pull ahead of fellow newcomer Machete, resulting in a clear weekend win for the understated action movie.

Audiences first got a glimpse of Machete as a fake trailer that was part of the Robert Rodriguez-Quentin Tarantino double-feature tribute to B-movies, Grindhouse. Now, it’s a full-length feature film, starring Danny Trejo as the first bad-ass Mexican superhero.

A legendary ex-Federale with a deadly attitude and skills to match, Machete attempts to start his life over as a day laborer on the streets of Texas. But, instead of disappearing into the mundane life that he desires, he becomes the perfect fall guy for a crooked politician and has to set out to clear his name and expose a deep conspiracy.

At the film’s press day, director/co-writer/producer/editor Robert Rodriguez and actor Danny Trejo talked about developing the character for a full-length feature, the timing of a film about immigration, assembling such an eclectic cast, all of the extra scenes that will be on the DVD and the possibility of sequels. Rodriguez also gave an update on Spy Kids 4 and the Deadpool film. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

One of the highlights of 2007′s Grindhouse was the fake trailer for Machete.  Shortly after the film got released, Robert Rodriguez’ started  talking about turning the trailer into a feature film with Danny Trejo reprising the role of Machete - a Mexican ex-Federale with a gift for wielding a blade.  With fandom excited, production moved ahead.

Since filming wrapped over a year ago on the feature, we’ve gotten a few trailers and a lot of images.  But with the film getting released on September 3, we’ve finally been given our first real look at the movie as Fox has provided us with four clips and you can check them out after the jump – along with the synopsis. With a cast that includes Danny Trejo, Steven Seagal, Robert De Niro, Cheech Marin, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, Don Johnson, and Jeff Fahey, I can’t wait to finally see the finished film next month:

In addition to the excellent Criterion Blu-ray news we reported earlier today, we have two more items that will please HD cinephiles.  First up, Blu-ray.com confirms a story we ran a couple weeks ago that hinted the Blu-ray of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse was on the way.  While there are no details about the set (although Edgar Wright said he did a commentary track for his fake trailer, Don’t), you should mark your calendars for October 5th.  I’m excited to see these films put back together because that’s how they were meant to be seen.

Hit the jump for news on the highly-anticipated Alien Anthology box set.

While the whole purpose of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse was to re-create the double-bill experience of going to a Grindhouse movie, The Weinstein Company split the film into two DVDs/Blu-rays: one for Rodriguez’ Planet Terror and the other for Tarantino’s Death Proof.  Grindhouse also featured fake trailers from Eli Roth (Thanksgiving), Rob Zombie (Werewolf Women of the S.S.), Edgar Wright (Don’t), Rodriguez (Machete), and Jason Eisener, John Davies, and Rob Cotterill (Hobo with a Shotgun).  While none of these trailers were included on the DVDs/Blu-rays, the last two fake trailers are currently being adapted into feature-length films, with Machete scheduled to hit theaters on September 3rd.

Today, Wright tweeted, “So, get this, tomorrow I am doing a commentary on ‘Don’t’. Some of you will know what that means is finally happening.”  Fingers crossed, it means that we’re finally getting the full Grindhouse on DVD/Blu-ray.  I’m not sure when we would get it, but I’d bet it would be timed with the DVD/Blu-ray release of Machete.  Hit the jump to check out Wright’s fake trailer for Don’t.

If you’re a fan of Danny Trejo, you’re going to enjoy going to movie theaters in 2010.  That’s because not only is Trejo the lead in Robert Rodriguez’ Grindhouse movie Machete, he plays a killer brought to another planet in director Nimród Antal’s Predators.

When I got to visit the Predators set last December, Trejo spoke to the visiting journalists about both films and his thoughts for sequels to Machete.  He also talked about working for Robert Rodriguez, his fellow co-stars, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to what he had to say:

Hobo with a Shotgun might just be the best movie title of all time, and this footage delivers just that and so much more, like flaming school buses, gangsters wielding machetes, a whole lot of blood and most importantly, Rutger Hauer shooting a lot of stuff.  Hobo with a Shotgun is the second film being made based on a faux trailer from Grindhouse, with Machete set to be released this year.  According to Quiet Earth, Jason Eisener’s hobo opus follows Hauer’s character, a homeless man who “goes about bringing justice to the city the best way he knows how-with a 20-gauge shotgun.”  Panhandling will never be the same.

More good news Grindhouse fans! As we reported on Friday, the spin off based on one of the faux movie trailers in Grindhouse, Machete has a release date set for Labor Day weekend.  Well, if the blood Machete spills won’t be enough to hold you over for very long, you can expect another Grindhouse gem to follow shortly….Hobo with a Shotgun.

For those of you that don’t know, Hobo with a Shotgun, was a brilliant faux trailer created by Nova Scotia director, Jason Eisener for Robert Rodriguez’s SXSW Grindhouse trailer contest in 2007.  Yesterday, Ain’t It Cool News reported that the full length feature film starts shooting today and they also revealed  Rutger Hauer has been cast as the Hobo!  Hit the jump for the original trailer: