Aaah! SO exciting! It has just been announced that Mary’s newly upcoming indie film “Smashed” has been entered in the Sundance Film Festival 2012 for dramatic competition.

For the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, 110 feature-length films were selected, representing 31 countries and 44 first-time filmmakers, including 26 in competition. These films were selected from 4,042 feature-length film submissions composed of 2,059 U.S. and 1,983 international feature-length films. 88 films at the Festival will be world premieres:

Smashed / U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Susan Burke, James Ponsoldt) — Kate and Charlie are a young married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of music, laughter and… drinking. When Kate decides to get sober, her new lifestyle brings troubling issues to the surface and calls into question her relationship with Charlie. Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Octavia Spencer, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally.

Huge congrats to Mary, Aaron, Octavia, Nick and director James Ponsoldt along with the rest of the cast and crew.

The Sundance Film Festival will take place January 19 through 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

If you want to check out the rest of the films that were chosen, check out the Sundance site here.

An expedition of a lifetime becomes a subterranean nightmare in The Thing, the thrilling prelude to John Carpenter’s 1982 film of the same name. Debuting on Blu-ray(TM) Combo Pack with UltraViolet(TM), DVD, Digital Download and On Demand on January 31, 2012, The Thing stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World,) as paleontologist Kate Lloyd who, along with the crew’s pilot Carter (Joel Edgerton, Warrior), discovers a mysterious organism buried in the ice.

The Thing Blu-ray(TM) Combo Pack includes an all-new UltraViolet(TM) copy of the film. UltraViolet(TM) is the revolutionary new way for consumers to collect movies and TV shows, put them in the cloud and stream instantly to computers, tablets and smart phones and soon, consumers can download to devices of their choice too. The Thing Blu-ray(TM) Combo Pack also includes a DVD as well as a Digital Copy of the film which is compatible with iTunes®, iPad®, iPhone®, iPod(TM) touch, Android or other retail partners. So now, consumers can truly enjoy their movies and TV shows anytime, anywhere, on the platform of their choice.

BLU-RAY(TM) and DVD BONUS FEATURES:

DELETED/EXTENDED SCENES

THE THING EVOLVES: Profiling key behind-the-scenes stories of the film from inception to completion, including pieces entitled “The Legacy,” “The Inspiration” and “The Evolution.”

FIRE & ICE: In a frigid environment and against a relentless foe, there’s only one hope: Fire. Join the cast as they train with flame-throwers, battle wild fires on-set and get schooled in the importance of understanding fire’s unpredictable personality.

FEATURE COMMENTARY: With Director Matthijs van Heijningen and Producer Eric Newman.

BLU-RAY(TM) Exclusive BONUS FEATURES: Unleash the power of your HDTV with perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound.

UltraViolet(TM): The revolutionary new way for consumers to collect movies and TV shows, put them in the cloud and stream instantly to computers, tablets and smart phones, currently available in the United States only.

Read the full article »

It’s time to wish the amazingly talented and beautiful Mary Elizabeth Winstead a gigantic happy birthday!

Mary: You’ve had such an awesome career throughout your life and all before you’ve hit the big 3-o. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Myself and Melanie, being the fans that we are, wanted to wish you a wonderful, fun and fantastic 27th birthday. You’ve been in the business for years and we’ve loved seeing you grow up and with each role you take, we see something new and exciting and we’re definitely looking forward to some of your films in the upcoming 2012 year and beyond.

We wish you a long, successful career and great personal life as well. Have an awesome birthday today and live it up! We love you!

Be sure to leave your comments for Mary below to read and wish her a happy birthday or see MEW.org’s birthday project here!

Mary is looking stunning in a new feature up on the Flaunt Magazine web site. In it, she talks about her upcoming film Smashed and The Thing. Here’s what the magazine offers:

Regards the reprisal of classics like Carpenter’s, Winstead remarks, “With The Thing, there’s this fan base that loves the original. Then there’s this whole other group of people that are like, ‘I like that—it looks awesome,’ and have no clue about John Carpenter’s. And that’s the gap they’re trying to bridge. But I think that there are a lot of reprisals that are not being done with the same kind of respect as the The Thing, and I think it’s getting out of hand. We really do need to go back to original material and we need to seek out writers who have original ideas.”

On Smashed:

Winstead says of Smashed, “I’ve spent years just wanting to do something like this—years of wanting to do something small and performance-focused, and everybody saying, ‘You’re not a financial name. We need somebody who’s a financial name.’ And then finally realizing that that’s not always true. You just have to go out there and find the people that are willing to make movies just for the sake of making good movies. You have to get out there and do it.”

“We’re trying to make it so that it’s a story about somebody surviving, and not a sad, depressing story of this person who’s messed up their life,” she says of her Smashed character who attempts sobriety while her lover, Paul’s character, continues to booze. “Something that’s a little bit more powerful and forward moving than that. That’s the main challenge of it—not getting bogged down and indulged in the emotion of it, of just sobbing and crying.”

Hit the link above to check out the full interview and see the latest pics of her photoshoot in the gallery!

I finally took the time to re-upload 1500+ captures of Make It Happen, Mary’s dance film from 2008. Click here to check them out!

Yes! Totally loved the pictures from this magazine so I’m excited to say that the outtakes from Mary’s Elle Magazine shoot from the November issue are now available for viewing in the gallery! Enjoy all eight new pics.

Mary’s upcoming film Smashed is one of many films being considered for the Sundance film festival. Here’s what they had to say:

An integral part of the indie filmmaking scene, when not contributing to Filmmaker Magazine helmer James Ponsoldt  appears to be busy mounting his next project and five yearsafter his breakout debut Off the Black (a Sundance entry in 2006) we now have his sophomore pic – a dramedy featuring Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul along with Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Look for Smashed to grab a U.S Dramatic or Premieres spot.

Gist: Co-written by James Ponsoldt and Susan Burke, this is the story of a married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of alcohol gets their relationship put to the test when the wife decides to get sober and begins attending AA.

Producers: Jennifer Cochis (Douchebag), Jonathan Schwartz (Like Crazy) and Andrea Sperling (Sympathy for Delicious)

This is great news for everyone in the film involved. Very cool!

I totally love this. Check out this cute & funny short video Mary did with Max Minghella. L’Echarpe is the classic story of man, woman, and scarf which unfolds in this imported French short showcasing the Steven Allen Spring 2012 line.

Update: I have added close to 40 screencaps from the short film which you can now see in the gallery.

I have added one new photo of Mary with her “Charles Swan” co-stars Katheryn Winnick and Charlie Sheen. The trio seemed to have filmed a funny scene at an ice cream truck. Check out the new photo in our gallery.

This is what MTV thinks anyway. A 300 sequel will soon begin filming and Mary’s The Thing co-star Joel Edgerton has already been cast, so MTV is thinking of actresses who could potentially play the role of Artemisia. Historical paintings depict Artemisia as a buxom brunette, and she is also being described for the film as manipulative and alluring.

Director Noam Murro is apparently not looking for a “star” in the role, and is planning to start testing actresses for the past over the next couple of weeks. Moviehole also asks who would be a good female lead for the role. So, would you guys like to see Mary in the 300 sequel? This is all speculation at the moment. No word on who will be testing for the role as of yet.