| Venice remembers steel factory deaths in two films - Reuters |
| "Is my face burnt? I don't want to die!" shouts a steel worker engulfed in a fire last December at a ThyssenKrupp plant in northern Italy, shortly before dying with six of his colleagues. |
| Mayhem reigns in Toronto's "Midnight Madness" films - Reuters |
| Forget red carpets and polite Hollywood stars. Mayhem reigns at the Toronto film festival's "Midnight Madness" movies that kicked off, literally, with an early Friday morning screening of "JCVD" in which aging action hero Jean-Claude Van Damme pokes fun at his own career. |
| Olmi wins lifetime award at Venice film festival - AP |
| Italian director Ermanno Olmi received the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion for lifetime achievement on Friday. |
| Capsule review of `Bangkok Dangerous' - AP |
| Capsule reviews of films opening this week: |
| Review: Cage is a drag in dreary `Bangkok' - AP |
| Nicolas Cage is back to his dreary former self you know, the guy who starred a decade ago in such downers as "8MM" and "Bringing Out the Dead" with the tediously monotonous action flick "Bangkok Dangerous." |
| FIRST PERSON | "7 Days in September" Director Steven Rosenbaum on "The 9/11 Generation" - indieWIRE |
| EDITORS NOTE: Filmmaker Steven Rosenbaum's "7 Days in September," the critically acclaimed documentary about the days after September 11th, is one of five films about 9/11 that are being screened via SnagFilms' first annual "September 11th Remembrance in Film" program. The films are available in their entirety, without commercial interruption, at both http://www.snagfilms.com and www.indiewire.com between today and September 12th, 2008. |
| A Wild and Crazily Talented Guy - FilmStew.com |
| The film Traitor isn’t exactly burning up the domestic box office charts, having just passed the $12 million mark. But coming on the heels of story idea originator Steve Martin’s splendid memoir Born Standing Up, it is yet another reminder that the 63-year-old Waco, Texas native remains Hollywood’s true Renaissance Man, able to glide from one artistic endeavor to another. |
| indieWIRE INTERVIEW | "Ping Pong Playa" Director Jessica Yu - indieWIRE |
| Almost exactly a year ago, Jessica Yu's Ping Pong Playa premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Her first foray into feature fiction filmmaking after documentaries such as Academy Award winning short, "Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien" and last year's "Protagonist," "Playa" is about an Asian-American boy who dreams of playing professional basketball. "Playa" will open on nine screens Friday in the New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. indieWIRE talked... |
| Rourke, Hathaway lead in Venice as U.S. films shine - Reuters |
| A late flurry of independent U.S. pictures at the Venice film festival has blown the competition wide open ahead of the awards ceremony on Saturday. |
| Rogen shows some skin in Smith's `Zack and Miri' - AP |
| All Seth Rogen really wanted when he came to Hollywood was to make a movie with Kevin Smith. |
| Weekly wrap-up of entertainment quotes - AP |
| "Oh, please. They've been speculating whether we've been getting divorced I think almost since we got married. The same can be said as to whether she's pregnant or whether we're adopting another child. I think that's just the nature of gossip. ... Everything seems fine. As far as I'm aware." Guy Ritchie, on his marriage to Madonna. |
| "RocknRolla" finds Ritchie back with a vengeance - Reuters |
| First the good news: Guy Ritchie is back. Then the even better news: Guy Ritchie is back with his most accessible and enjoyable film yet in "RocknRolla." |
| Rourke seals comeback in "iconic" wrestler role - Reuters |
| Mickey Rourke seals his comeback with a critically acclaimed performance as a lonely, washed out wrestler whose life painfully echoes that of the troubled Hollywood outsider. |
| Ritchie rocks again with crime romp `RocknRolla' - AP |
| Crime just never stops paying for Guy Ritchie. |
| Michael Moore to release new film online for free - AP |
| Inspired by Neil Young and Radiohead, Michael Moore will release his new film online and for free. |
| Man gets prison for crime at Dunst's NYC hotel - AP |
| A drug addict who was arrested on charges of burglarizing Kirsten Dunst's New York City hotel penthouse suite has been sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison. |
| Stars wish they were in Dorothy's shoes - AP |
| It's been 70 years since Judy Garland first clicked her ruby slippers in "The Wizard of Oz," yet even the well-heeled celebrities who inhabit the wonderful land of Hollywood still find the shoes a thing of beauty. |
| "Bangkok Dangerous" kicks off fall movie season - Reuters |
| The fall box-office season gets off to a rather sedate start this weekend, with just one film opening in wide release -- Lionsgate's "Bangkok Dangerous," starring Nicolas Cage and going out without advance screenings for the press. |
| "Dark Knight" reigns as new Imax king - Reuters |
| The Imax-format release of Warner Bros.' "The Dark Knight" has blown past "The Polar Express" as the giant-screen exhibitor's top first-run release. |
| Poignant lion video inspires movie project - Reuters |
| Millions have seen the YouTube video of "Christian the Lion" reuniting in Africa with the two men who bought him from a high-end London department store in 1969. |
| Tarantino's take on WWII draws fire in Germany - Reuters |
| Seems you can't even be nasty to Nazis anymore. |
| Thriller pulls Walker, Christensen in "Deep" - Reuters |
| Actors Paul Walker and Hayden Christensen have been cast in "Bone Deep," a crime thriller being directed by John Luessenhop. |
| Strand bringing "Time" to screens - Reuters |
| Strand Releasing has acquired U.S. rights to British filmmaker Terence Davies' autobiographical documentary "Of Time and the City." |
| Samuel Goldwyn to release blues musical - Reuters |
| Samuel Goldwyn Films has nabbed domestic rights to the 1930s-era blues musical "Dark Streets," which features the first film score from B.B. King. |
| Bollywood film depicts terror threat in Mumbai - Reuters |
| An anonymous call threatening to bomb Mumbai city sets off a hair-raising search for the attackers in a new Bollywood thriller opening on Friday, the latest in a slew of Indian films based on terrorism. |
| "Ghostbusters" scares up "Office" writers - Reuters |
| Who's Sony going to call to pen its reboot of "Ghostbusters?" |
| Director Pellington offered "Solace" - Reuters |
| Director Mark Pellington, whose feature credits include "Henry Poole Is Here" and the concert film "U2 3D," will take the helm of "Solace," a mystery thriller for New Line. |
| Washington, Hughes brothers on same page for "Book" - Reuters |
| Denzel Washington will star in the post-apocalyptic drama "The Book of Eli" for directing duo Allen and Albert Hughes, whose features include "Dead Presidents" and "From Hell." |
| Toronto film festival gets off to a romantic start - Reuters |
| The curtain rose on the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday night with romance "Passchendaele" playing to a packed theater and starting a 10-day parade of films and stars at one of the world's top movie gatherings. |
| Michael Moore to release free documentary on Web - Reuters |
| Firebrand filmmaker Michael Moore will release his latest documentary exclusively on the Internet for free on September 23, eschewing a traditional theatrical rollout, he said on Thursday. |
| Tale of betrayal lures actress Snow - Reuters |
| "Prom Night" actress Brittany Snow is in negotiations to star in the thriller "Breaking the Girl." |
| George Washington biopic gets green light - Reuters |
| "Elegy" scribe Nicholas Meyer will pen a screenplay about the life of George Washington for Paul Allen's Vulcan Prods. |
| Buscemi, Landau sign on as "Company Men" - Reuters |
| Martin Landau, Steve Zahn, Steve Buscemi and Ron Livingston will star in the indie ensemble drama "The Company Men." |
| Connelly, Bettany to star in Darwin biopic - Reuters |
| Real-life husband and wife Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly have signed on to play a married couple in "Creation," director Jon Amiel's film about the life of Charles Darwin. |
| Conflict, cartoon, Hathaway lead Venice film charge - Reuters |
| A hand-drawn Japanese cartoon, the tale of a clash between native Indians and white settlers in Brazil and a portrayal of Ethiopia's bloody past are favorites to win the Venice film festival's top prize on Saturday. |
| Spotlighting the Soldier's SACRIFICE - FilmStew.com |
| Fed up with the media's glorification of Britney, Paris and Lindsay, a former cab driver takes it upon himself to document the stories of America's walking wounded. |
| Winterbottom Headed Back to Manchester - FilmStew.com |
| The maker of 24 Hour Party People is gearing up to shoot a new film in his hometown region. |
| Columbia Scaring Up Ghostbusters Revival - E! Online |
| Los Angeles (E! Online) - No need to believe in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trance mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis. |
| indieWIRE INTERVIEW | "August Evening" Director Chris Eska - indieWIRE |
| Director Chris Eska's "August Evening" revolves around an aging undocumented farm worker named Jaime and his young, widowed daughter-in-law, Lupe, who have their lives thrown into upheaval. Lupe happens to be more of a daughter to Jaime than his own children, and the two try to stick together but change is inevitable. At the heart of the story is the conflict between generations. Aging parents and grown children have difficulty expressing both their love and mutual disappointment in each other... |
| QUEER CINEMA NOTEBOOK | What We Learned on Our Summer Vacation - indieWIRE |
| [EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a regular series of articles taking a critical look at the state of contemporary queer cinema. In developing this column, indieWIRE turned to New York City based writers Michael Koresky and Chris Wisniewski, inviting them to take a sort of "he said, he said" approach to discussing queer films.] |
| Hathaway's dark role sparks early awards buzz - Reuters |
| Anne Hathaway's dark role in "Rachel Getting Married," which premiered this week in Venice, is generating early Oscar buzz, with several critics hailing her departure from fairytale and comic characters. |
| Hathaway sparks early awards buzz - Reuters |
| Anne Hathaway's dark role in "Rachel Getting Married," which premiered this week in Venice, is generating early Oscar buzz, with several critics hailing her departure from previous fairytale and comic characters. |
| TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "Daytime Drinking" Director Young-seok Noh - indieWIRE |
| EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. |
| REVIEW | Adult Swim: Chris Smith's "The Pool" - indieWIRE |
| [An indieWIRE review from Reverse Shot.] |
| Iraq film explores soldiers' addiction to danger - Reuters |
| In "The Hurt Locker," the latest film about the war in Iraq, a bomb disposal expert takes risks beyond the call of duty as he comes to realize that only one thing makes him feel truly alive -- dicing with death. |
| Deal Sheet: Frankenstein, Jekyll, Tarzan Resurrected - E! Online |
| Los Angeles (E! Online) - As if Hellboy and Hobbits weren't enough to keep him off the streets, Guillermo del Toro has literally scared up some more work. |
| Oscar for Capra's 'Prelude to War' given to Army - AP |
| The Army, with a hand from Hollywood, has received a long-lost Oscar back into its ranks. |
| 'Peanuts' animator Bill Melendez dies at 91 - AP |
| Bill Melendez, the animator who gave life to Snoopy, Charlie Brown and other "Peanuts" characters in scores of movies and TV specials, has died. He was 91. |
| Venice festival schedules showdown with Toronto - Reuters |
| The Venice Film Festival might be on a fresh collision course with the rival event in Toronto. |
| War films take new strategy at Toronto fest - Reuters |
| At this year's Toronto International Film Festival, the war movies are all wearing camouflage. |
| "Mermaid" makes splash on DVD sales chart - Reuters |
| "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning," a direct-to-video sequel, outperformed a hit comedy to top the U.S. DVD sales chart for the week ended August 31. |
| Demme sees cultural echoes in family drama "Rachel" - Reuters |
| Director Jonathan Demme's family drama "Rachel Getting Married" might not seem like it has political overtones, but Demme and screenwriter Jenny Lumet see some ties to the U.S. presidential election. |
| "Rachel" balances smart humor, melancholy - Reuters |
| Jonathan Demme, most recently at the Venice Film Festival with "The Manchurian Candidate," breathes a breath of honest cinema into a lackluster competition with "Rachel Getting Married," a film whose lightness of touch rides a wave of family conflict to perfectly balance smiles and tears. |
| Hail to the CHIEF - FilmStew.com |
| Remember the title CHIEF, because this Hawaiian short stands a good chance of resurfacing in the 2008 Academy Awards category for Best Live Action Short. |
| Putting Her HOUSE in Order - FilmStew.com |
| What with a February divorce and August comedy hit, 32-year-old Baltimore native Anna Faris may soon be looking back on 2008 as the year she turned the corner. |
| Judge nixes claims in Heath Ledger tape lawsuit - AP |
| A judge on Wednesday dealt a serious but possibly temporary blow to a lawsuit filed by a celebrity magazine reporter who has accused a paparazzi agency of secretly filming Heath Ledger doing drugs in her hotel room. |
| DISPATCH FROM VENICE '08 | Riding the Ups and Downs of National Cinemas - indieWIRE |
| There was a feeling, immediately after Cannes, that we were in the grip of some unforeseen phenomenon: a sudden and perceptible upturn in the fortunes of Italian cinema. True, Matteo Garrone's "Gomorra" was excellent -- and Paolo Sorrentino's "Il Divo" was, to my mind, even better -- but to herald a fully-fleged renaissance, on the basis of these two films, seemed a little optimistic, not to say premature. One swallow, after all, doth not a summer make. Many within the Italian film industry were... |
| TORONTO '08 | Eating, Drinking, and Shopping in Toronto: An indieWIRE Insiders Guide - indieWIRE |
| compiled by Peter Knegt (September 3, 2008) |
| New DVD releases: `Baby Mama,' `Forbidden Kingdom' - AP |
| Selected home-video releases: |
| TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "Vacation" Director Hajime Kadoi - indieWIRE |
| EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. |
| Bleak Japanese animation film brings war to screen - Reuters |
| The presence of two Japanese animation movies in competition at the Venice film festival this year has created a contest within a contest, and brought to the big screen two strikingly different pictures. |
| TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "Apron Springs" Director Sima Urale - indieWIRE |
| EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. |
| Ledger voted top summer movie villain - Reuters |
| Heath Ledger's chilling portrayal of the Joker in Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight" easily surpassed rivals to be named the summer's best movie villain in a poll released on Wednesday. |
| Hathaway plays ex-junkie in new family drama - Reuters |
| Actress Anne Hathaway takes on an unusually dark role as a former drug addict returning home for her sister's wedding in "Rachel Getting Married," a new film about a dysfunctional family haunted by the death of a child. |
| REVIEW | I Wish I Was a Baller: Jessica Yu's "Ping Pong Playa" - indieWIRE |
| [An indieWIRE review from Reverse Shot.] |
| Jackie Chan not upset about small role in Olympics - AP |
| Action movie star Jackie Chan said Wednesday he was not upset about his small role in the Beijing Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies because he was happy to play any part in promoting the games. |
| Toronto film fest includes Spike Lee, Coens movies - AP |
| Sundance is about new talent and small, personal films. Cannes is about highbrow cinema and celebrity-watching. |
| Don LaFontaine, voice of movie trailers, dies - AP |
| The omnipresent baritone and gravely bass undertones of Don LaFontaine's distinctive voice had the unique ability to seamlessly embellish big-screen kisses, slice through over-the-top explosions, perfectly pair with robust musical scores, glide alongside car chases and effortlessly co-star with any A-list talent in Hollywood. |
| Toronto film fest looks to lure buy-curious - Reuters |
| A number of high-profile movies are hoping to beat the odds and find receptive buyers at the Toronto International Film Festival, which kicks off Thursday. |
| Court sets date for studios' "Watchmen" battle - Reuters |
| The battle between Fox and Warner Bros. over the rights to the comic-book adaptation "Watchmen" took a big step toward resolution Tuesday when the federal judge presiding over the dispute set a January 6 trial date for the case. |
| "Mummy" director unwraps new "Tarzan" - Reuters |
| The director of the first two "Mummy" movies is taking a swing at Tarzan. |
| Charges filed in McConaughey surf battle - AP |
| Two surfers have been charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly throwing a photographer into the water as he tried to shoot pictures of Matthew McConaughey surfing, prosecutors said Tuesday. |
| Two Malibu men charged with attacking paparazzo - Reuters |
| Officials on Tuesday said they charged two Malibu men for attacking a paparazzo who was snapping pictures of actor Matthew McConaughey as he was surfing in the Pacific Ocean in June. |
| TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "Cold Lunch" Director Eva Sorhaug - indieWIRE |
| EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. |
| Auction raises cash for Superman's Ohio birthplace - AP |
| Superman's run-down house needs your help. |
| Badmouthing BIGFOOT - FilmStew.com |
| Future mockumentary makers may want to take note: when the subject of your film launches their own MySpace page, things can get ugly. |
| Alumni of ALCATRAZ - FilmStew.com |
| In a unique twist on the 'Where are they now?' game, filmmaker John Paget fashions a documentary around the reunion brunch from hell. |
| Singer-actor Jerry Reed dies at the age of 71 - AP |
| Jerry Reed, a singer who became a good ol' boy actor in car chase movies like "Smokey and the Bandit," has died of complications from emphysema at 71. |
| iW BOT | Summer Winners and Losers at the Specialty Box Office - indieWIRE |
| The Summer season - at least by the finance-fueled standards of the film industry - is over. While this past final weekend may have been slow for the studios, Indiewood was relatively bustling. Despite "Hamlet 2"'s disastrous expansion, there was lots of hope elsewhere. First Look's "Sukiyaki Western Django," IFC Films' "I Served The King of England," and TLA Releasing's "Another Gay Movie 2: Gays Gone Wild" led the iW BOT on a handful (or less) screens each, and a burst of August specialty... |
| 'Tropic Thunder' retains No. 1 spot at box office - AP |
| "Tropic Thunder" defended its position at the top of the box office with $14.6 million in ticket sales over the long Labor Day weekend. Vin Diesel's sci-fi thriller, "Babylon A.D.," debuted in second place. |
| Jude Law visits Afghanistan to promote peace - AP |
| Jude Law is visiting Afghanistan to promote peace in the war-ravaged country. |
| Lohan gets political on blog, sounds off on Palin - AP |
| Lindsay Lohan is getting political. |
| Toronto film festival set to kick off Oscar season - Reuters |
| The Toronto film festival will provide the unofficial kick start to Oscar season this week, with distributors keen to give an early look at possible awards contenders and perhaps uncover this year's sleeper hit. |
| Real-life Stasi film shows East German oppression - Reuters |
| Two years after the release of Oscar-winning movie "The Lives of Others," communist East Germany and its Stasi secret police are back in the spotlight in a new film that examines the persecution of a top cyclist. |
| Portman makes directorial debut in Venice - Reuters |
| Actress Natalie Portman presented her debut as a director at the Venice film festival on Tuesday with a short movie about a young woman who is dragged along to her grandmother's romantic date. |
| Ethiopian film explores nation's recent violent past - Reuters |
| A powerful new film chronicles the life of an Ethiopian intellectual who flees his country during the Marxist "red terror" in the 1980s, only to be viciously attacked in Germany by racist youths. |
| Actress Helen Mirren: I used to 'love' cocaine - AP |
| Oscar-winning British actress Helen Mirren said she used to love cocaine, but stopped taking the drug after learning that a Nazi war criminal profited from the trade, according to a magazine. |
| Marilyn Monroe film footage found in Australia - Reuters |
| An amateur film of Marilyn Monroe on the set of "Some Like It Hot" has surfaced in Australia almost 50 years after it was shot and is being put up for auction. |
| Tarantino gets his German girl - Reuters |
| German actress Diane Kruger, best known for her work in "Troy" and the "National Treasure" movies, has joined the cast of Quentin Tarantino's World War II movie "Inglorious Bastards." |
| Perelman in the house for "Poltergeist" - Reuters |
| He's heeeere . . . |
| "Insensitive" movies a magnet for protesters - Reuters |
| So you've got a new movie to release. Be advised: Someone, somewhere, is laying in wait, preparing to launch a protest. |
| Lethargy in Venice at film fest's halfway point - Reuters |
| As the Venice Film Festival reached its halfway point Monday, critics were, for once, unanimous: The lineup has been underwhelming. |
| MySpace to launch "High School Musical" contest - Reuters |
| MySpace plans to launch a contest on Tuesday to market the latest in Walt Disney Co's blockbuster franchise "High School Musical 3" in what the News Corp Internet social network called its biggest film campaign to date. |
| DISPATCH FROM TELLURIDE | A Weekend of Discoveries and Buzz at the 35th Telluride Fest - indieWIRE |
| Kimberly Reed's "Prodigal Sons," a documentary about estranged siblings struggling with their own identity and coming to grips with their past, was hailed by Telluride Film Festival organizers as one of the discoveries of this year's festival as the weekend event came to a close on Labor Day. Audiences responded to the film, filling its screenings and forcing organizers to add a number of additional showings of the movie. The filmmakers beamed all weekend that their festival debut exceeded even... |
| New Orleans celeb faction quiet as Gustav sputters - AP |
| When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans three years ago, celebrities reacted with a mix of grief, outrage and generosity. All-star telethons raised millions for storm victims, Kanye West and others derided the government's response even Sean Penn went to the region to personally assist in rescue efforts. |
| TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "The Stoning of Soraya M" Director Cyrus Nowrasteh - indieWIRE |
| EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. |
| Rapper Ludacris blends music, movie personas - Reuters |
| Best-known to music fans as Ludacris, Chris Bridges is contemplating a new moniker. |
| DISPATCH FROM VENICE | Competition Confounds in Venice; Cinema Star Claire Denis Shines Out of Competition - indieWIRE |
| With the press incensed by the lack of major interview opportunities (George Clooney and Brad Pitt, in town for "Burn After Reading", politely but firmly declined all requests), and industry numbers noticeably down from previous years, the Venice Film Festival had to deliver in terms of films, if it hoped to silence a growing army of naysayers. After three days, however, its competition was looking decidedly thin, and the chorus of jeers was growing louder by the hour. |
| Boyle film leads buzz at Telluride Film festival - Reuters |
| Film fans, directors, actors and industry executives mingled easily the past three days in this mountain town for the Telluride Film Festival where foreign films including director Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" gained strong buzz. |
| Hollywood endures summertime blues - Reuters |
| The lucrative summer moviegoing season in North America ended on a lackluster note on Monday as ticket sales limped to a new record while attendance slumped to a three-year low. |
| You Don't Mess with the Zetas - FilmStew.com |
| It’s one thing if your protest against a Hollywood movie garners the kind of press that such actions need to: witness the current outcries over the use of the R-word in Tropic Thunder and the seemingly derogatory nature of the title Towelhead. But what if you raise a ruckus and no one connected to the film pays any attention? |
| Venice critics praise film on Brazilian Indians - Reuters |
| A new Italian film brings to the screen the clash between Amazon Indians and wealthy Brazilian ranchers, exploring the collision of two worlds against a backdrop of land disputes, shrinking forests and poverty. |
| Films flounder as Venice festival hits halfway - Reuters |
| Blame it on the Hollywood writers' strike, the weak economy, or just plain bad luck. |
| DISPATCH FROM TELLURIDE | Storm Clouds: Doom & Glum Meets Optimism & Ingenuity On and Off Screen in Telluride - indieWIRE |
| "This is just the beginning," exclaims fictitious Romanian filmmaker Grig Brezianu in the early 1900s, "We will conquer the world with our art!" Young, idealistic, and resourceful -- and clearly liberated by pursuing an infant cinema still lacking conventions -- the director navigates the tensions between youth and aging, enthusiasm and cynicism, stage and screen, trial and error in Nae Caranfil's "The Rest is Silence." The dean of Romanian cinema, Caranfil dusted off his first screenplay... |
| "Duchess" a disappointing showcase for Knightley - Reuters |
| In "The Duchess," actress Keira Knightley's latest period picture, a lavish melodrama of aristocratic foolishness and betrayal is designed around the colorful though not always happy life of an 18th century socialite. |
| Fail grade for "College" calamity - Reuters |
| The current youth generation certainly is entitled to its own version of "National Lampoon's Animal House," but "College" isn't it. |
| "Babylon A.D." a futuristic mess - Reuters |
| After switching things up with "The Pacifier" and "Find Me Guilty," Vin Diesel returns to the action arena with "Babylon A.D.," a towering heap of nihilistic nonsense that plays like a cornball "Children of God." |
| "Dark Knight" still No. 1 at foreign box office - Reuters |
| "The Dark Knight" led the foreign box office for a third consecutive weekend -- and fourth overall -- as its international sales hit $417 million. |
| "Disaster Movie" less funny than real ones - Reuters |
| The title is something of a misnomer. "Disaster Movie," from the people who helped to concoct "Scary Movie," "Date Movie" and "Meet the Spartans," sounds as if it is going to send up such opuses as "The Poseidon Adventure" and "Earthquake." |
| "Thunder" still No. 1 at North American box office - Reuters |
| Action film parody "Tropic Thunder" clung to the top spot at the North American box office for a third straight week as the summer moviegoing season sputtered to a lackluster close, Hollywood studios reported on Sunday. |
| Montreal's Little Big MAN - FilmStew.com |
| Years from now, Thaer Karam will have to deal with puberty; this summer, he just wants to get through his first film festival. |
| Reitman Goes for RABIT - FilmStew.com |
| The production company responsible for the upcoming horror comedy Jennifer's Body gives a shout out to Australian filmmaker Anthony Lucas. |
| 'Dark Knight' swings past $500 million mark - AP |
| LOS ANGELES (AP) Batman's rich alter-ego Bruce Wayne has added half a billion dollars to his riches. "The Dark Knight" on Sunday became the second movie in Hollywood history to top $500 million at the domestic box office, raising its total to $502.4 million, according to estimates from distributor Warner Bros. |
| Japan's Miyazaki keeps computers out of cartoons - Reuters |
| Revered Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki has no intention of swapping his pencil for computer graphics and will keep hand drawing his films for as long as he can, he said on Sunday. |
| Actress Beart, director defend new tsunami film - Reuters |
| French actress Emmanuelle Beart and the Belgian director of her latest movie have defended "Vinyan," amid concerns that the film which opens with the 2004 tsunami may be insensitive to people affected by the tragedy. |
| DISPATCH FROM TELLURIDE | Amidst a Dearth of American Entries, Mining for International Gold in Colorado - indieWIRE |
| One day into the 35th Telluride Film Festival, attendees were buzzing about what the dearth of narrative American films here means for the fall crop of new features that typically are launched into the fall and the annual awards season. While last year the festival showcased "I'm Not There," "Into The Wild," "Juno," and "Margot At the Wedding," this year there are few to no American breakthroughs expected. Telluride's highly selective programmers typically screen the latest studio and Indiewood... |
| Documentary shows tough reality of doctors in war - Reuters |
| A new documentary on aid workers in war zones shows the tough choices, dilemmas and limits faced by doctors providing emergency care in extreme conditions. |
| Frank film looks at daily life in troubled Kashmir - Reuters |
| A new film set in Indian Kashmir seeks to go beyond stereotypes of the troubled region as either the idyllic backdrop to Bollywood movies or the subject of news reports and documentaries into the violence. |
| DISPATCH FROM MONTREAL | World Film Festival Hits, Misses With Expansive Program - indieWIRE |
| After weeks of rain, the sky finally cleared in Montreal this week right for the start of the 32nd World Film Festival. Many used the opportunity to gather on the steps of Place des Arts and enjoy the free outside screenings of "Some Like It Hot" and "The Right Stuff." The latter was part of the homage reserved for producer Alan Ladd, Jr., who also participated in a Q&A after a screening of "Young Frankenstein." Ladd, who does not usually watch his films after their initial release, had not seen... |
| Hollywood asks: who needs Harry Potter? - Reuters |
| Boy wizard Harry Potter won't be whipping up his magic when the fall film season begins next week, but Hollywood is hoping momentum from summer hits like "The Dark Knight" and a wide mix of new movies will keep audiences happy into the holidays. |
| Theron attends `Burning Plain' debut in Venice - AP |
| Guillermo Arriaga's directorial debut, "The Burning Plain," opens with a wide shot of a trailer ablaze in the New Mexico desert. While the landscape appears barren and exposed, it is concealing secrets that drive the story. |
| Iranian film explores transsexual world - AP |
| Organizers of the Venice Film Festival waited to announce "Khastegi (Tedium)" by first-time Iranian director Bahman Motamedian until the last minute to avoid alerting authorities to its sensitive subject: transsexuals in modern-day Iran. |
| Hollywood stuntwoman Hazel Warp dies at 93 - AP |
| Hazel Warp, who was Vivien Leigh's stunt double in "Gone With the Wind," has died. She was 93. |
| `The Burning Plain' debuts at Venice film festival - AP |
| Guillermo Arriaga's directorial debut, "The Burning Plain," opens with a wide shot of a trailer ablaze in the New Mexico desert. While the landscape appears barren and exposed, it is concealing secrets that drive the story. |
| New film adds to intrigue of Puccini love life - Reuters |
| A new film on Giacomo Puccini has uncovered letters and documents suggesting the composer may have a second living descendant, in a tangled tale of infidelity and vengeance befitting one of his operas. |
| Basinger and Theron team up for complex love story - Reuters |
| Oscar winners Kim Basinger and Charlize Theron play mother and daughter in "The Burning Plain," an intense story of love and betrayal and the directorial debut by acclaimed Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga. |
| Lindsay Lohan lashes out at father on blog - AP |
| Lindsay Lohan had words for her father on her blog. |
| John Lennon movie coming together - Reuters |
| The story of John Lennon is headed for the big screen with "Nowhere Boy," which will focus on the former Beatle's troubled adolescence. |
| Stars over the moon about Obama's speech - AP |
| First word on Barack Obama's historic nomination acceptance speech from a bevy of celebrities in attendance was decidedly partisan: "It was excellent," Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie said. "It was amazing." |
| David Duchovny in rehab for sex addiction - AP |
| LOS ANGELES (AP) David Duchovny has entered a rehabilitation facility for sex addiction. In a statement released Thursday by his lawyer, Stanton Stein, the actor said he did so voluntarily, adding: "I ask for respect and privacy for my wife and children as we deal with this situation as a family." |
| Showing LOBSTER Some Love - FilmStew.com |
| On the eve of its 20th anniversary, a schlocky sci-fi film with ties to Orson Welles is about to get its first "shadow cast" performance. |
| A Lead Actress Under Siege - FilmStew.com |
| In a horrible twist of fate, a rising teenage star has seen her career put on hold by the ongoing Russia-Georgia conflict. |
| German studio offers 'Valkyrie' extras settlement - AP |
| A German film studio has offered to negotiate a settlement with a dozen extras who were injured on the set of the Tom Cruise film "Valkyrie," despite their demands that the actor and his production company, United Artists, pay them $11 million. |
| Valentino walks red carpet for his documentary - AP |
| Of all the women Valentino has dressed in his 45-year career from Jacqueline Kennedy to Mariella Agnelli to Gwyneth Paltrow one red carpet moment stands out: When Julia Roberts wore a vintage black-and-white Valentino gown when she was awarded her best actress Oscar. |
| Kitano examines cruel art in Venice entry - AP |
| Takeshi Kitano presents a portrait of an artist who sacrifices his family and nearly his own life in pursuit of art in his new film "Achilles and the Tortoise." |
| Foreign films dominate Telluride Film Festival - Reuters |
| The Telluride Film Festival will show fewer American movies than usual at its upcoming 2008 edition with foreign titles dominating the list of 23 new features unveiled on Thursday from hundreds of entries. |
| New DVD releases: `Transformers' on Blu-ray - AP |
| Selected home-video releases: |
| TELLURIDE '08 | Leigh, Fincher, Schrader, and Youssou Ndour in Telluride Spotlight; Hollywood & Indiewood Lacking - indieWIRE |
| An even greater emphasis on new foreign language films and international classics marks the official lineup for the annual Telluride Film Festival which kicks off tomorrow in Colorado. While the festival frequently offers unannounced sneak previews of higher profile titles, this year's main program lacks the sort of star-drived, studio specialty division, Oscar-oriented titles that have been a staple of the fest's programming in recent years. "It was a funny year," noted Telluride Film Festival... |
| New film honors Valentino, "last king of fashion" - Reuters |
| Eight months after tearfully bowing out of fashion, Valentino returned to the red carpet with a film celebrating the man who dressed some of the world's greatest beauties from Jackie Kennedy to Princess Diana. |
| Coen brothers' spy comedy divides Venice critics - Reuters |
| The Coen brothers' latest film, the madcap comedy "Burn After Reading," has sharply divided the critics, unlike last year's acclaimed "No Country For Old Men" which won four Oscars including best picture. |
| Just a Minute With: Guy Pearce for "Traitor" - Reuters |
| Australian actor Guy Pearce first grabbed the spotlight playing a demanding drag queen in the cult classic "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert." |
| Japan horror guru's switch to home life pays off - Reuters |
| Dropping the blood-curdling fare that made his name paid off for Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who picked up an award at Cannes this year for a family drama that was his first non-horror work in years. |
| Venice opens with Pitt and Clooney in madcap comedy - Reuters |
| Brad Pitt and George Clooney star in a madcap comedy by the Coen brothers in which two gym employees get caught up in the cloak-and-dagger world of international espionage, with results both daft and deadly. |
| Spielberg, Affleck, J.Lo at Democratic convention - AP |
| Spielberg! Affleck! J.Lo! They were among the Hollywood celebrities attending events in Denver as the Democratic National Convention nominated Barack Obama as the party's presidential candidate. |
| TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "Lymelife" Director Derick Martini - indieWIRE |
| EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. |
| Kitano takes oddball look at world of art - Reuters |
| Japanese cult director Takeshi Kitano turns his oddball gaze on what he calls the "cruel" world of art and art collecting in his latest movie, which has its premiere at the Venice film festival on Thursday. |
| Japan's Kitano takes oddball look at world of art - Reuters |
| Japanese cult director Takeshi Kitano turns his oddball gaze on what he calls the "cruel" world of art and art collecting in his latest movie, which has its premiere at the Venice film festival on Thursday. |
| Terrence Howard hopes to be music hit too - Reuters |
| Terrence Howard earned an Oscar nomination for his role as a pimp aspiring to be a rapper in "Hustle & Flow" but the 2005 movie also shone a spotlight on the actor's musical talents and helped him land a record deal. |
| Hollywood stars talk politics at Dem convention - AP |
| Screenwriter and actor Danny Strong is interviewing colleagues at the Democratic National Convention for an Associated Press video diary. |
| Kardashian & Electra talk fitness, film and fame - AP |
| Carmen Electra, in a low-cut gold minidress, captures every photographer's attention as she steps out on a patio overlooking the Pacific. Her hair catches the ocean breeze as if on cue. Even her fiance is transfixed. He snaps a few photos with his cell phone. Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian, wearing a tight tank top and slim-fitting skirt, waits in the wings for the cameras to point her way. |
| George Clooney takes to "Air" - Reuters |
| George Clooney is in talks to star in "Up in the Air," an adaptation of the 2001 Walter Kirn novel, with Oscar-nominated "Juno" director Jason Reitman behind the camera. |
| Actress Greene taking "Summer" trip - Reuters |
| A family of serial killers has drawn "Twilight" star Ashley Greene into their web in the edgy indie thriller "Summer." |
| "Burn" finds Coen brothers in goofy mood - Reuters |
| In "Burn After Reading," the Coen brothers have taken some of cinema's highest-profile and most expensive actors and chucked them into looney-tunes roles in a thriller set in and about Washington. |
| DISPATCH FROM DENVER | Filmmakers Descend Upon DNC: Schnack's "Convention" Unites Top Doc Directors; Hickenlooper Shoots "Mayor"; Norton Tracks Obama - indieWIRE |
| Alongside the thousands of journalists reporting on the Democratic National Convention here in Denver, teams of filmmakers have been fanning out across the city to tell stories that might otherwise be overlooked. AJ Schnack ("Kurt Cobain About a Son") has tapped a cadre of acclaimed indie filmmakers to shoot a feature doc about the convention. Meanwhile, George Hickenlooper ("The Mayor of Sunset Strip," "Hearts of Darkness") is tracking his cousin, Denver mayor John Hickenlooper, while directors... |
| Sorkin to write Facebook story for big screen - Reuters |
| Writer-producer Aaron Sorkin, creator of "The West Wing," is about to get a whole lot of friends on Facebook. |
| Celebrity Birthdays - AP |
| Celebrity birthdays for the week of Aug. 31-Sept. 6: |
| Tween-friendly music films rock DVD sales chart - Reuters |
| Two Disney DVD releases with tween appeal, "Camp Rock" and "Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert," debuted at Nos. 1 and 3, respectively, on the national home video sales chart for the week ended August 24. |
| Sudanese plane hijackers surrender in Libya - Reuters |
| The hijackers of a Sudanese airliner surrendered to authorities in Libya on Wednesday after releasing all the passengers and crew, Libya's aviation authority said. |
| Here! Films acquires "Queen Raquela" - Reuters |
| Here! Films has acquired North American rights to the transsexual drama "The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela," winner of the Teddy Award for best feature at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival |
| Cuba Gooding Jr. to play "Gifted" doctor on small screen - Reuters |
| Cuba Gooding Jr. will portray a real-life neurologist in "Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story," a TNT original movie that will air under the Johnson & Johnson Spotlight Presentation banner. |
| Actors, advertisers extend commercials contract - AP |
| Two actors unions and the U.S. advertising industry said Monday they agreed to extend a contract covering commercials on TV, radio, the Internet and other new media by six months through March. |
| FEATURE - A Mirthful Mancunian - FilmStew.com |
| Flawed characters have made Steve Coogan a star in his native England. This summer, the Manchester native is aiming to broadside the U.S. |
| 99 BOTTLES of Celluloid - FilmStew.com |
| When you live in a town where the name of the baseball team is the Milwaukee Brewers, guess what a trio of local documentary filmmakers might dub "Wisconsin's worst kept secret?" |
| Venice Film Festival opens with Hollywood flash - AP |
| The Venice Film Festival opened Wednesday night with the premiere of the Coen brothers' dark comedy "Burn After Reading," giving a flash of Hollywood glamour to a festival lineup with a definite art house feel. |
| Clooney, Pitt leave personal questions open - AP |
| George Clooney and Brad Pitt: Bachelor and family man. |
| Writer's view of Sarajevo war to become film - Reuters |
| What started out as a personal journey to escape grief following his wife's death led Bill Carter to Sarajevo during its long siege in the 1990s, where he witnessed both terrible suffering and uplifting hope. |
| `Burn After Reading' opens Venice Film Festival - AP |
| The Coen brothers wrote their dark comedy, "Burn After Reading," with stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand in mind. Not necessarily a compliment. |
| TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "Medicine For Melancholy" Director Barry Jenkins - indieWIRE |
| EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. |
| Tilda Swinton digs in for charity in Venice - AP |
| It wasn't as easy as it looked. Tilda Swinton's first attempt at making clay impressions of her hands part of a fundraising effort to help restore Venice's St. Mark's Square barely left a print. |
| DISPATCH FROM VENICE | Personalities Aside, Venice Follows up on a Masterpiece - indieWIRE |
| More perhaps than any other A-list festival, Venice's fortunes seem bound up with the character of its director, the inimitable, mostly unknowable Marco Mueller. Like many festival veterans, Mueller doesn't lack for detractors. Festival gossips have thrilled for years to tales of his bad behaviour while at the helms of Rotterdam and Locarno -- everything from screaming abuse at his staff, and enacting violence upon defenceless office furniture, to his habit of reneging on promises with a blithe... |
| Coen brothers dark comedy premieres at Venice fest - AP |
| The Coen brothers wrote their dark comedy, "Burn After Reading," with stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand in mind. Not necessarily a compliment. |
| REVIEW | Once Upon a Time in the East: Takashi Miike's "Sukiyaki Western Django" - indieWIRE |
| [An indieWIRE review from Reverse Shot.] |
| Coens' dark comedy opens Venice film festival - AP |
| A dark comedy by the Coen brothers is opening the Venice film festival. |
| Review: `Frozen River' a gripping slice of life - AP |
| When the two women first cross the river together in the dead of winter, in a rickety Dodge Spirit Melissa Leo's character, Ray, says what the audience is thinking: "This is so ... stupid." |
| India's "Hari Puttar" caught in Harry Potter spell - Reuters |
| Hollywood's Warner Bros., which owns the rights to the Harry Potter movies, is suing an Indian production company whose new film is called "Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors," the studio said on Wednesday. |
| Michael Moore's pals make documentary films - AP |
| They make movies that deal with unpleasant topics such as war and racism, yet are entertaining and even humorous. They're passionate, mischievously creative, politically liberal. |
| Clooney, Pitt arrive in Venice for film festival - AP |
| George Clooney hosted a charity event Tuesday night to raise money for victims in Darfur. |
| YouTube screens "No End" doc - Reuters |
| Filmmaker Charles Ferguson is bringing his documentary "No End in Sight" to YouTube. |
| Swank swoops in for "Borrowed" rights - Reuters |
| Hilary Swank's 2S Films production company has picked up the screen rights to Emily Giffin's 2005 debut novel, "Something Borrowed," as well as its sequel, "Something Blue." |
| "Dead Men" still a go for Toronto festival - Reuters |
| Despite a legal threat from the spy drama's main subject, the world premiere of Kari Skogland's "Fifty Dead Men Walking" at the Toronto International Film Festival will go ahead as planned, the film's British co-producers said Tuesday. |
| German "Office" plans expansion to big screen - Reuters |
| "Stromberg," the German adaptation of the BBC hit TV series "The Office," is being adapted as a feature film. |
| Filmmaker Chick takes thriller route to Hamptons - Reuters |
| Sony Screen Gems and indie filmmaker Austin Chick are taking a trip to the Hamptons. |
| Warner Bros. finds "Chanel" a good fit - Reuters |
| Warner Bros. will produce and distribute the French-language Audrey Tautou-starring biopic "Coco Before Chanel." |
| Steven Spielberg still on board for "Tintin" - Reuters |
| Although Brussels' Herge Studios seems to think otherwise, Steven Spielberg remains committed to directing the first in a planned "Tintin" trilogy for DreamWorks. |
| Movie museum to honor Ben Stiller - Reuters |
| Actor/director Ben Stiller has been selected as this year's honoree for the Museum of the Moving Image's 24th annual black-tie salute. |
| Pitt, Clooney open Venice with Coen bros' satire - Reuters |
| Brad Pitt and George Clooney hit the red carpet on Wednesday with their latest movie "Burn After Reading," a satirical comedy by Oscar winners the Coen brothers which opens this year's Venice film festival. |
| Peter Jackson in "Tintin" director's chair - Reuters |
| The first of DreamWorks' Tintin movies will be directed by Peter Jackson, not Steven Spielberg, according to Herge Studios, which holds the rights to the vintage comic strip character. |
| The SHAWSHANK Replication - FilmStew.com |
| The similarities of Death Race to a certain 1994 Best Picture nominee make the Legally Blonde flavorings of The House Bunny look like a boob job. |
| Kate Hudson sued over volcanic ash hair products - Reuters |
| "Fool's Gold" star Kate Hudson has been sued by a firm that says hair care products she developed with hair stylist-to-the-stars David Babaii are based on ideas for using volcanic ash that the firm developed. |
| DreamWorks deal marks big changes for Bollywood - Reuters |
| Indian media company Reliance ADA Group's expected deal to finance a new incarnation of the DreamWorks film studio signals broader changes for Bollywood moviemakers looking to reach Western audiences, experts said. |
| Sci-fi movie "The Fly" gets opera treatment - Reuters |
| David Cronenberg's sci-fi terror movie "The Fly" has taken on a new life in the Canadian director's first foray into the world of opera. |
| Oscar's First Conscientious Objector - FilmStew.com |
| Once upon a time, the films of Dudley Nichols opened big at Ohio's historic Wapa Theater. On a recent August weekend, residents of the screenwriter's hometown were back to pay quiet tribute. |
| New documentary looks at shifting black culture - Reuters |
| Even as the United States has the opportunity to elect its first black president, prominent American author Toni Morrison says black college students today are not as focused on racial issues as their predecessors. |
| EVENTS | From "American" to "Pool," MoMA Fetes Chris Smith - indieWIRE |
| In 1995, Chris Smith's "American Job" had one of its first major screenings at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Receiving a small but respectful release, Smith's debut feature was, until now, his only narrative. 1999's "American Movie" followed, one of the rare '90s documentaries to crack a million at the box office, making it a then-rare popular documentary sensation. In an interview conducted with indieWIRE that year, Smith claimed "I would not be interested in doing a documentary again because... |
| Clooney, Pitt to walk red carpet walk for charity - AP |
| George Clooney and Brad Pitt will make two appearances at the Venice Film Festival this week. |
| Extras seek $11 million from Tom Cruise after accident - Reuters |
| Twelve movie extras are seeking $11 million in damages from Tom Cruise and his production company after suffering broken bones, cuts and bruises in the filming of World War Two picture "Valkyrie" in Berlin last year. |
| Anne Hathaway's politics, in her own words - AP |
| Celebrities are getting serious at the Democratic convention. |
| REVIEW | Dite-moi: Jiri Menzel's "I Served the King of England" - indieWIRE |
| [An indieWIRE review from Reverse Shot.] |
| Kevin Smith makes a porno with `Zack and Miri' - AP |
| Kevin Smith likes to watch porn online, not to get his jollies but to marvel at how extreme the art of exhibitionist sex can be. |
| "Juno" among finalists for Humanitas - Reuters |
| The screenwriters of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," "Juno" and "Lars and the Real Girl" have been named finalists in the feature film category of the 2008 Humanitas Prize, which honors writing that explores the human condition. |
| Sasso to the "Maximus" for National Lampoon - Reuters |
| Will Sasso, of "Mad TV," will lead the cast of National Lampoon's next in-house production, a spoof of sword-and-sandal flicks such as "Gladiator," "300" and "Troy." |
| "Towelhead" title draws objections - Reuters |
| An Islamic civil rights advocacy group has asked Warner Bros. to change the title of its upcoming film "Towelhead" because, it says, "the word is commonly used in a derogatory manner against people of the Muslim faith or Arab origin." |
| Ben McKenzie to star in "Trumbo" - Reuters |
| "The O.C." star Ben McKenzie will be hitting U.S. cinemas this fall in "Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun," the film version of his one-man stage show. |
| Woody Harrelson books trip to "Zombieland" - Reuters |
| Woody Harrelson is about to bash some brains and battle zombies. |
| DISPATCH FROM DENVER | Doc Talk As Democrats Open '08 Presidential Convention - indieWIRE |
| Documentaries may seem undervalued in the traditional theatrical marketplace of late, but alongside the Democratic National Convention -- which got underway today here in Denver, CO -- non fiction films are seen as a vehicle for awareness and change. Adjacent to the Pepsi Center downtown, where this week Democrats are gathering to endorse Barack Obama as their candidate for U.S. president, film folks from the Denver Film Society, Starz, and Seachange Communications have joined forces to create a... |
| "Traitor" dependable as solid, fast-moving thriller - Reuters |
| "Traitor" is the cinematic equivalent of an airport novel that can be purchased before a long flight, read en route and discarded upon landing. |
| Banking on BABY FOOD - FilmStew.com |
| Though first-time filmmaker Brice Tea is no longer following the baby food diet, he hopes that the movie his weight loss pursuits inspired can latch on to cult comedy status. |
| More MACBETH Mishaps - FilmStew.com |
| New on DVD, the indie comedy Never Say Macbeth appears to have added to the legend that Shakespeare's famous play is a cursed entity. |
| Time hasn't dulled edge of Dali's sliced eyeball - Reuters |
| Eight decades have passed since Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali and filmmaker Luis Bunuel portrayed a man slicing a woman's eyeball with a razor -- yet viewers still wince, groan and cover their eyes. |
| iW BOT | Sundance Trio Takes On The Specialty Box Office - indieWIRE |
| Three very different Sundance acquisitions found their way into the specialty marketplace this weekend. Two led the iW BOT, which ranks titles on per-theater-averages, in small bows. Tia Lessin and Carl Deal's Katrina doc, "Trouble the Water," grossed $28,606 on three screens for Zeitgeist Films," and Azazel Jacobs' "Momma's Man" grossed $11,072 from one engagement in New York for Kino International. The film with the most box office potential of the three, Andrew Fleming's "Hamlet 2," was also... |
| 'Thunder' pulls in $16.3M, holds off 'House Bunny' - AP |
| The action comedy "Tropic Thunder" clung to the top spot again at the weekend box office with $16.3 million, while the campus romp "The House Bunny" debuted in second place with $14.5 million. |
| Fall films: Bond, Bush, high school divas - AP |
| Hollywood's heavy hitter, Harry Potter, has been sidelined for fall, with the sixth adventure about the boy wizard transported from its original November release into next summer's schedule. |
| Highlights of Hollywood's fall, holiday schedule - AP |
| Highlights of the fall film slate (release dates are subject to change, and some films will play in limited release): |
| Magnolia, Landmark, and Cinetic Planning Parallel Theatrical & Digital Releases for Upcoming Wayne Wang Films - indieWIRE |
| For more than thirty years, Wayne Wang has navigated the vastly different terrains of the independent film industry and Hollywood. Now, he's preparing to extend his experience to another domain -- the Internet. Due to the close relationship between his latest two features, "The Princess of Nebraska" and "A Thousand Years of Good Prayers," Wang has decided to make "Princess" available online, for free, shortly after "A Thousand Years" hits theaters next month. Although the details of the... |
| `Hamlet 2' rocks with racy musical numbers - AP |
| "Rock Me Sexy Jesus." "You're As Gay As the Day is Long." "Raped in the Face." |
| For fall: Bond's back, Hollywood does high school - AP |
| Harry Potter pulled a disappearing act from Hollywood's fall and holiday schedule, his sixth big-screen adventure bumped from this November into next summer. |
| Former Bond Sean Connery launches autobiography - AP |
| He's recognized around the world as the iconic face of James Bond. But in Britain, Sean Connery is also well known as a proud Scot, and on Monday he returns to his hometown to launch his autobiography. |
| `Thunder' reigns again with $16.1 million weekend - AP |
| The action comedy "Tropic Thunder" weathered a rush of new movies to remain No. 1 for a second-straight weekend with $16.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. |
| Trio of actors get "Demoted" - Reuters |
| Sean Astin, Celia Weston and Sara Foster are being promoted to work alongside Michael Vartan and David Cross in the independent feature comedy "Demoted." |
| Sony specialty label nabs rights to "Paris" - Reuters |
| Sony Pictures Classics has acquired U.S., Australian, New Zealand and Scandinavian rights to Christophe Barratier's "Paris 36," a French-language feature that chronicles the story of three stage workers in the mid-1930s who decide to stage a show in their recently shuttered dance hall. |
| West, Lopez, Daughtry among stars in Denver - AP |
| Never mind those stinging "celebrity" ads, or the rebuttal by Paris Hilton. Musicians, artists and Hollywood types are descending on Denver and so what if Barack Obama doesn't need their star power? |
| Warners suit takes issue with Indian film's title - Reuters |
| Warner Bros. has filed a lawsuit against Mumbai-based producer/distributor Mirchi Movies related to the title of its upcoming film "Hari Puttar -- A Comedy of Terrors," which Warners feels is a tad too similar to its franchise about a certain young wizard. |
| Yet another big "Knight" at overseas box office - Reuters |
| Batman easily dominated a torpid late-summer weekend on the international circuit as "The Dark Knight" grossed $34 million -- nearly three times its closest competitor's take -- from 7,700 screens in 62 markets. |
| "Tropic Thunder" storms North American box office - Reuters |
| Action movie spoof "Tropic Thunder" commanded the No. 1 spot at North American box offices for the second straight week, narrowly conquering sorority-themed college romp "House Bunny." |
| Ben Holds Five - FilmStew.com |
| The hardest working sexagenarian in British show business has essentially morphed into his country's version of Morgan Freeman. |
| Walking a Tight Rope and Swinging for the Fences: Across the Country, Non-Profits React to SFFS Announcement - indieWIRE |
| "The rules of the game are in flux," noted Gabe Wardell via email last week, reacting to the news of the San Francisco Film Society's expansion into filmmaker services in the wake of the demise of the 32 year old Film Arts Foundation. "While some say the sky is falling, and others make bold predictions about the future of our independent film, the truth is that no one knows for sure what the future holds." Wardell, who runs th |