Time flies when you're having fun! In the case of LAMB (The Large Association of Movie Blogs), it was less than 6 months ago that The Movie Fanatic became it's 22nd member. Right now, a milestone of sorts is taking place. Aside from launching member #69 (1 Minute Film Review), an exciting new 'something' is about to take place...

- - -

- - -

If you're reading this and you're a movie blogger, then it's about time you join the LAMB. Get the juice here:

The Large Association of Movie Blogs has arrived on the scene, and is intended for all audiences.

For movie blog readers: rather than hunting through Google or through any number of blog directories and/or blogrolls looking for a site that fits your liking, this is your one-stop shop. Read up on the latest sites: who's behind them, what their focus is, their goals and what you can expect when visiting. For movie bloggers: this is a place for your blog to be spotlighted, in its own feature post, for all to see.

Join now, click this link for more details!

dear moviefanatic,

I'm sooo disappointed with your top50 hottest young actors...where's Zac Efron? He is young and talented and hot and with a huge fanbase, why is he missing???? What is hotness anyway, can you define what it means???

- - -

- - -

First of all, thanks for the email! We're trying our best to respond to all our viewers' feedbacks, and sometimes it might take us a while to respond to some.

The top 50 hottest young actors is actually based on a number of criteria. Unlike other list like Moviefone's 25 under 25, or Fandango's 10 to watch, our list is not limited to young actors in Hollywood. We do not claim 'superiority' to their lists, nor we based our own list on theirs. Here's part of our intro...

We started with more than 150 names, drawn from Hollywood and the best of world cinema - featuring young actors from the most acclaimed films of the past five years. If the movies you’ve watched are mainly mainstream Hollywood fare, then some of the names (perhaps a lot of them!) will sound unfamiliar to you.

Zac Efron, was in fact, part of the initial 150 list, where he ranked #57. It's just that other actors were ranked higher than Mr. Efron, hence he was not included in the top 50.

Sheer acting talent and international appeal. That's what matter the most in our top 50 young actors list. But being popular doesn't hurt either, so we have that covered too! While you might think being cast in a huge box hit will rank high, think again- we believe you need to be more than just a box office star to be considered an actor.

- - -

- - -

Poll is now closed! Click this link to see the final results!

- - -

THE TOP 10: Arguably the hottest young actors today. We have multiple award winners, Oscar nominees, BAFTA winners, the cream of the crop.

Gael Garcia Bernal. If there is one actor we are absolutely certain to be a bonafide political and social activist, then it has to be Gael Garcia Bernal. His brand of political activism is not limited to attending benefit concerts or being photographed in a refugee camp, he goes beyond the cliché and takes it further to where the real action is.

- - -

- - -

Says Gael:

“I think we're all political, in a way. What has happened recently in my case is that, fortunately, I've been able to get more in touch with the things I can change and do.”

Just like in real life, his choice of roles reflects his ideals and principles. He is perhaps best known as the young Che Guevarra in The Motorcycle Diaries, as the rebellious Elvis Valderez in The King and as Padre Amaro in the explosive drama El Crimen del padre Amaro. With no mainstream Hollywood film to his credit, Bernal still managed to reach a worldwide audience with his thoughtful and provocative portrayals of young, rebellious and often outsiders in society. Together with good friend Diego Luna, he is now actively pursuing film production and directing; thus giving him more opportunity to produce and star in movies that deal with the most pressing social issues of the day.

Why he's on the top 10: Bernal is not only an amazing actor, he is now also a producer and film director. Aside from the fact that the most amazing filmmakers want him on their movies!

Latest Movies: New movies lined up include El Pasado, Rudy y Cursi, Blindness and Mammoth.

THE TOP 20: Almost there! These guys have it already- starring roles, amazing projects and multiple chances to work with some of the industry's cutting edge filmmakers. They are more than just 'matinee idols', they rock!

- - -

- - -

Poll is now closed! See the final results here!

Chris Evans - As many aspiring actors know, good looks is not enough to become successful in this biz. It takes more than that- perhaps even more important is the guts to take on the challenge posed by a role or how to deal with a difficult director. Chris Evans is not only a goodlooking guy, he is also quite talented.

- - -

- - -

" I think movies can strike a chord in a way that I don’t think many things can. So I thought maybe I would give acting a try and by the time I was a senior I had done five or six plays that I just loved. I moved to New York just to give it a shot and it went well and the first opportunity I had on film just sealed the deal. The contrast with theatre is that you have to play to the back of the audience and with film you can be as subtle as you like and really try and mirror reality, that’s the fun part of acting, trying to be authentic. " says Chris Evans.

Famous Roles: As Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four, as Mace in Danny Boyle's recent film, Sunshine and as Ryan in Cellular. The 25 year old Evans has indeed come a long way, from starting out in teen movies where he got noticed to being one of the industry's most sought-after young actors.

- - -

Fansites are supposed to be in fierce competition, even its owners/webmasters are involved in nasty rivalries. That's the basic premise I have learned to accept eversince I started operating tMF. Based on my experience dealing with webmasters that promote certain celebrities and from experiences of certain members of the tMF team.

- - -

- - -

Why is that, you might asked? Perhaps it's the need to feel secure and the continued perception that the celebrity is truly grateful only to one site and to no other... Take the case of Heath Ledger. If you're not privy to what's been going on before his death, you might be surprised at how much controversies the different fansites have been involved in. But before I continue with this already 'off-topic' commentary, let me just say that the way the many Twilight sites have been dealing with each other, all I can say is that they're all AMAZING.

There maybe rivalries in different levels- outscooping each other for news, securing interviews, posting the latest photos, but there is this camaraderie- a sort of belonging to one big family- that prevail within these sites. And with numbers come the power to change. ( I'm sure these sites will be involved in future campaigns and would successfully mobilize their members to achieve certain goals.)

Here are the top 3 Twilight sites we @tMF admire and enjoy: [ in no particular order ]:

THE TOP 30: Capturing their share of fame, buzz and awards, the top 30 represent some of cinema's finest young actors. There's the trio of Lou Pucci, Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield - exciting new teen actors on the verge of break through. Also on the list is the toast of Italy - the funny and charming Elio Germano...

- - -

- - -

Poll is now closed! See the final results here!

Nicolas Duvauchelle: With just a few films, twenty-five-year-old Nicolas Duvauchelle has become one of the most disconcerting presences in French cinema. It was Erick Zonca (La Vie rêvée des anges - The Dreamlife of Angels) who gave him his first great role in Le Petit Voleur [The Little Thief] (1998), in which he played an apprentice baker doing battle with a gang of yobs. With his tattooed arms and angelic looks, Duvauchelle soon caught the eye of the best French film directors, including Claire Denis, who gave him a role in Beau Travail [Good Work] in 2000, then in Trouble Every Day in 2001, in which he is literally devoured by vampire Béatrice Dalle.

- - -

- - -

A mysterious actor with an imposing presence, Duvauchelle is regularly sought out for films about sport or physical performance, such as Snowboarder in 2002 and Poids léger [Lightweight] in 2003, in which he plays respectively a snowboarder and a boxer. The advertising world is taking an equal interest in him: he was recently chosen by clothing labels Hugo Boss and Levi as an emblem of the new manliness. "

What a perfect description for France's rebellious star! It was the movie Le Grand Meaulnes that made us instant converts! Duvauchelle is not only charming, he has this sort of reckless devil-may-care attitude that lights up the screen.

UPDATES: tMF launches the new Top 50 listing, based on viewers' poll! Now see why these guys belong to the top 50, with a rundown of their most awesome roles and their movies to look out for this year and the next.

- - -

- - -

Sheer acting talent and international appeal. That's what matters the most in our top 50 young actors list. But being popular doesn't hurt either, so we have that covered too! While you might think being cast in a huge hit will ensure a high ranking, think again - we believe you need to be more than just a box office star to be considered a successful actor.

Special report by Jed Medina (Also a featured article at the IMDb HitList)

- - -

How it all began. We started with more than 150 names, drawn from Hollywood and the best of world cinema - featuring young actors from the most acclaimed films of the past five years. If the movies you’ve watched are mainly mainstream Hollywood fare, then some of the names (perhaps a lot of them!) will sound unfamiliar to you. Unlike other top lists you might have seen, this one has a more international flavor. Hey, it’s about time you got to see what your friends from the UK, Canada, Germany, and France have been raving about!

The Age Factor. Where are Christian Bale and Tobey Maguire? How about the great Leonardo di Caprio or Oscar winner Adrien Brody? Or that amazing actor Moritz Bleibtreu? It would be easy to have them at the very top of the list, but we narrowed the list to actors not older than 30. Even the likes of Cillian Murphy (31) and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (30) were excluded, though we would surely have loved to include them!

What we have here are emerging talents, the ones you will see getting the big roles in the near future - and some of them already have, with awards and nominations to boot.

Enough of talk, let's have them already!

Moviegoers were divided upon seeing Charlie Bartlett, one of the most recent coming-of-age flicks to hit the theaters. While I found it to be quite entertaining and in general a good film, I still look forward to what many at Sundance have been raving about:  The Wackness. This film is director Jonathan Levine's eagerly awaited follow-up feature to All the Boys Love Mandy Lane.

- - -

- - -

Winner of the Audience Award at Sundance 2008. NYC, summer 1994. A tender and cool coming-of-age story. Pot-dealing kid Luke Shapiro is trying to figure out how to solve his parents’ insolvency, beat depression, and get laid before pushing off for college. Luckily he’s got a deal going with a psychiatrist, Dr Squires, who trades therapy sessions for grass. It happens that the doctor’s marriage is crumbling, so the two – one in late adolescence, the other in late middle age – embark on a passage into new life stages. As Luke falls for a classmate who just happens to be Squires’s daughter, the summer heats up as he follows the doctor’s orders, learning to coexist with pain and make it part of himself, rather than let it become his downfall. A great, energetic soundtrack of vintage hip hop standards punctuates the movie throughout.

The movie stars Ben Kinsley, Josh Peck, Famke Jannsen and Mary-Kate Olsen. We're especially thrilled to see the up and coming young actor, Josh Peck.