Filmmaker Michael Winterbottom is one of the most versatile directors in his field. He can now add shooting Jolie to his resume. She stars in his new film, “A Mighty Heart,” which opens Friday. Winterbottom spoke with San Jose Mercury News reporter Mark de la Vina about working with the actress and reflected on the challenges of making a movie about the search for slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Nicole Wong, Google’s deputy general counsel in charge of compliance, is the point person for growing criticism of Google’s privacy practices. More than two dozen European privacy regulators have launched an inquiry into Google’s data protection practices. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission is probing Google’s pending $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, an online advertising company. Last week, Privacy International, a London group, ranked Google’s practices the worst among 23 top Internet services, including Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL. Wong spoke with the Mercury News about her job and Google’s approach to privacy.

Dean Takahashi and Mike Antonucci talk about the latest news and trends in video games. Today, they discuss the best — and worst — in graphics from “Lara Croft Tomb Raider Anniversary Edition” to the classic “Games of War.” In gaming industry news, the guys offer their thoughts on the sales figures for May just released for the Xbox 360, wii and PS3.

We sit down with Technorati’s CEO to discuss why he’s stepping aside as founder, whether the company is for sale and what plans exist to grow the San Francisco blog search engine into a media powerhouse.

“The Sopranos” comes to an end Sunday. Check out a critics roundtable about the show’s finale. The panel is made of up Bay Area MediaNews TV critics — Chuck Barney, Charlie McCollum and Susan Young — all moderated by Tony Lioce, an editor at the Mercury News. They talk about what will happen to the central character Tony Soprano, the legacy of the show and what the future holds for the actors after the series ends.

News and updates on video games, technology and gaming trends with Dean Takahashi and Mike Antonucci. This week Dean takes a look at “Shadowrun,” an online-only video game, while Mike talks about playing “Crush” for the PSB from Sega. Mike also shares details about the “Tomb Raider” anniversary edition and “Halo 2.” In breaking news, Mike reveals that Nintendo will increase its business presence in the Bay Area.

Born Michael Holbrook Penniman, the 23-year-old’s influences range from Japanese anime Cowboy Bebop to Marilyn Manson. He pens songs as character studies: “Most of the interesting characters from everyday life are the underdogs and are the outsiders, and I like to dress them up in these amazing clothes and paint incredible backgrounds behind them…I like to take reality and make it a lot more livable.”

Eli Roth, who’s part of a new wave of horror filmmakers, spoke to Arts + Entertainment reporter Mark de la Vina about his controversial, brutal movies that have delighted fans of all things scary. He talked about his films, how his father, a professor of psychology at Harvard, feels about them and why such graphic, frightening movies are a good thing.

R&B singer T-Pain explains his love for strippers, how hyphy will last forever and how Britney Spears is like any other artist he has worked with. He also gives an impression of Britney.

Dean Takahashi and Mike Antonucci talk about what video games they’re playing this week, including “Command and Conquer 3: Tiberiam Wars” and “Mortal Combat: Armageddon” for the wii. Plus, Dean gives an early review of “Stalker” and talks about multi-touch “finger painting” on the new Microsoft surface computing table.