Filmmaker James Cameron has been all over the TV talking about how he has been denied access to film the BP Oil Spill, despite the fact that the only images of the leak that are currently available are “crime scene video done by the criminal.” At today’s White House briefing, I took Cameron’s case directly to National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen, asking him if having documentation from a source other than BP might be worth a little risk.

Legendary director James Cameron has been one of the most vocal members of the film community during the BP oil spill clean-up process, even last week assembling a team to independently come up with some ideas.

But he says he was quoted out of context when he called the BP execs “morons” for turning down his help.

After his offer of help was rejected by the authorities in charge of the Gulf oil spill, director James Cameron is making the case for why he can help. At the very least, he is trying to prove everyone who said “huh?” wrong by proving his expertise in underwater filming and comparing his work to the journalism done on the shores of the Gulf.

As director of Titanic, James Cameron thought he could lend a hand to BP–you know, the energy giant that still hasn’t been able to stop the Gulf of Mexico oil spill 44 days later. Much to Cameron’s dismay, however, BP turned down his offer.

If last night’s “Miller Time” segment on the O’Reilly Factor proved anything, it’s that the current news cycle is finely tuned to bring out the best in Dennis Miller‘s sense of humor. He went one-on-one with Bill O’Reilly on a number of topics– the oil spill, the Joe Sestak job scandal, Sarah Palin‘s new neighbors– and not only managed to take a pretty hilarious stab at James Cameron, he got O’Reilly to use his best Cajun accent, too.

Last week actor Kevin Costner announced he was ready to lend a helping hand in the oil spill effort. Seriously. (Kevin Costner’s Oil Spill Clean-Up Machines Ready)

Now the Associated Press reports director James Cameron is weighing in. What’s happening? Apparently it’s all part of the Coalition Of Oscar Winners ready to help in this disaster relief effort.

The world’s most beloved film critic, Roger Ebert, is not a fan of the current 3-D trend. In an article in the current Newsweek, Ebert claims that 3-D movies are nothing but a trashy gimmick whose only real purpose is to steal extra money from audiences and this writer, at least, thinks he’s 100% right.

Avatar Director James Cameron played Hardball on MSNBC yesterday, and Chris Matthews delighted in exploring the environmental issues portrayed in the blockbuster movie.

But he also hit on another Cameron favorite – Glenn Beck. Oh, and Stephen Hawking and his ‘aliens will wipe us out’ theories.

After Avatar director James Cameron went off on Fox News host Glenn Beck for something he said three years ago, Beck responded on his show.

Last night the Red Eye team weighed in on the debate (and brought back the robots).

So today brought news that James Cameron thinks Glenn Beck is a “f*cking a**hole.” But not for any of the usual reasons that people usually give when they explain their strong dislike for the Fox host: Cameron specifically hates Beck because of that one time when Beck called him the Antichrist to his face. Or did he, as Beck asks on his show tonight? *Spoiler alert*: He totally did. But not to his face.

Glenn Beck is not making many friends in high profile places these days. Yesterday Cokie Roberts was quoted calling him “worse than a clown. He’s more like a terrorist.” Today comes word that Avatar director James Cameron does not think terribly highly of the Fox News powerhouse, either. To put it mildly.

The Oscars are over, the final ballot counted and final award given. But we know the Oscar voting results you’re really looking forward to haven’t been announced yet: ours! That’s right, after receiving an impressive 100 submissions, we’re here to announce who’s taking home our top prize. And the mittens go to…

Many of you have probably spent the past few weeks since the last major televised award show (for the record, that would be the Grammys, held way back on January 31) suffering withdrawals…but fear not, the Academy Awards are coming Sunday to satisfy your insatiable hunger for those oh so meaningful thank you speeches. What should you expect when the action starts in the Kodak Theater? Read on to find out.

According to the Wall Street Journal, James Cameron confirmed Tuesday night that he, James Cameron, the highest-grossing film director of all time, will turn Avatar into a novel.

How interesting, considering that the best parts of the movie were its special effects.

It was another early morning in Hollywood today as Anne Hathaway helped announce the 2010 Academy Award nominations. This years Academy Awards are notable in that the Best Picture category has expanded to 10 nominees for the first time in over half a century. Click the link here for the full list of nominees, but here are my instant thoughts:

The 2010 Oscar nominations are being announced as we speak. We’ll update this post as we go. Full list is here and Jonathan Fuhrman’s smart reactions here. Best Picture:

“Give it up for yourselves,” said James Cameron last night, accepting the Golden Globe for Best Picture for his giant blue 3D masterpiece, Avatar. He had already taken the Best Director nod — besting ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, who he generously acknowledged in his speech, and causing a minor Twitter firestorm by actually speaking in his [...]

Last night’s 67th annual Golden Globe awards marked the official start to this year’s awards season and also provided the first clue as to what we can expect at the Oscars (hint: longevity. Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges, and James Cameron all picked up awards last night). As usual the night provided its fair share of glittering stars, fashions hits and fashion ‘what was your stylist thinking’, teary speeches, funny speeches, good jokes, and a fantastic Martin Scorsese retrospective. You can read and watch all of Mediaite’s coverage here and here.

3D is old news. Yeah, it’s coming to TV in real-time, and James Cameron seems to have an affinity for it.* Great. But the technology has been around forever. As in, since the 1890s. The classic image of people wearing 3D glasses at the movies is from the 1950s, after all – half a century [...]

Did everyone go to the movies last weekend? Sure seems like it – the box office numbers were off the charts, with a three-day U.S. total of $278 million, shattering the previous record. Yes there was Avatar, pulling them in for the second weekend straight — in the business this is what we call a film that has “legs”, and Hollywood hasn’t seen legs this nice in a long long time — but for boffo B.0. like that, there needs to be more. And there was.

Hollywood puts more cinematic gifts under your Christmas tree than at any other time of year (outside of the big summer movie season, but these are Oscar bait). But how does a movie-goer determine what is the must-see film to put at the top of the list? It’s all about the buzz — and the film to beat at the box office during the last days of 2009 is Avatar. I think perhaps you have heard of this movie.

If you haven’t seen Avatar, but have been tracking its coverage over the past year or so, you already know all you need to know about the film’s success. Actually seeing it is, at best, superfluous to understanding why this one never had any chance but doing anything but packin’ em in and stuffing ‘em with popcorn and soda.

This weekend, I did what the advertisements told me to and went to see Avatar in IMAX 3D. Truth be told, it was kind of a disappointment. The problem isn’t the uncanny valley — the alien Na’vi look real enough — but the roteness of it all. At that, it is a good thing for society that James Cameron made it. Why? Because the film poured so much money into technological innovation, and that innovation will carry over to movies and projects to come.