George Lucas

Zoe Saldana ('Star Trek') explores interspecies romance in James Cameron's long-awaited 'Avatar.'

Courtesy 20th Century Fox

No discussion of Avatar would be complete without mentioning its $230 million budget and the 15 years James Cameron devoted to making it. Fairly or not, such investments raise expectations: For Cameron, who directed The Terminator (1984) and Aliens (1986), and anointed himself “King of the World” upon winning 11 Oscars for 1997’s Titanic, anything less than a masterpiece might be branded a failure.

Filmmaker George Lucas and Tosca Cafe owner Jeannette Etheredge

Photos by Catherine Bigelow

Tosca Cafe, the most jaunty of the city’s gin joints, is also well-known as a destination for the celebrity set.

But last night in North Beach when Jeannette Etheredge celebrated the 90th anniversary of her beloved bar, the place was jammed with that most local of breed: San Franciscans.

Generations, in fact, gathered to raise a glass to this historic watering hole -- from cops, politicians, artists, ribald raconteurs to ballet dancers, theater folks, ink-stained wretches and the jet set.

Woman on the Verge: Catalina Saavedra plays a prickly maid in Sebastián Silva's winning drama.

Courtesy Elephant Eye Films

The San Francisco International Animation Festival continues through Sunday at the Embarcadero Center Cinema, featuring some of Walt Disney's earliest shorts and Tarik Saleh's futuristic thriller Metropia, in which a call-center drone (voiced by Vincent Gallo) breaks from his drab rout

1. Star Wars: In Concert!

This multi-media event features music from all six of John Williams' epic Star Wars scores. Part of a world-wide tour, the concert comes to the HP Pavilion on October 11.

Eye of the Na'vi: James Cameron's Avatar enjoys its first 16 minutes of fame.

Courtesy 20th Century Fox

By now, the story of Avatar is well known: James Cameron, who, along with George Lucas, has done more to revolutionize the moviegoing experience than any other filmmaker during the past quarter-century, began writing the sci-fi epic in 1994 and has been developing the photo-realistic 3-D technology necessary to realize his ambitious vision since the 1997 release of Titanic. After postponing the $200 million project on several occasions, his much-anticipated tale of human imperialism on an alien moon is due Dec. 18.

Apparently all celebs aren't following Ashton Kutcher's cue. "I'm not on Twitter. I like to spend a bit more time digesting," Robert Redford said Thursday at the 52nd annual San Francisco International Film Festival's Awards Night in the Westin St. Francis. Redford was the recipient of the Peter J. Owens Award, which goes to an actor who "exemplifies brilliance, independence and integrity," while fellow Bay Area resident Francis Ford Coppola was present and honored, as well, for receiving the Founder’s Directing Award.

LaBeouf (with Eagle Eye co-star Michelle Monaghan) was recently rumored to be joining the cast of the next Batman sequel.

Courtesy Paramount Pictures

Recently, the Sun – the London-based tabloid that seems to pride itself on movie-related misinformation – reported that Eddie Murphy and Shia LaBeouf would be joining Christian Bale and rumored Catwoman Rachel Weisz in Christopher Nolan’s next Batman sequel, tentatively titled Gotham.