Hollynews - Film Industry News

2006-12-10T04:44:00.000-08:00

Police Arrest Two For Intercepting Films In Piracy Scheme

Police said a 22-year-old Los Angeles receptionist stole copies of films sent to the accounting firm where she worked, which received advance copies of DVDs on behalf of a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. By K.C. Jones InformationWeek Dec 6, 2006 03:28 PM Police said 22-year-old Los Angeles receptionist Sheryl Demesa stole copies of films sent to the accounting firm where she worked and lent them to her cousin John Acas, also 22. The firm received the advance copies of DVDs on behalf of a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Demesa has been charged with second-degree burglary and embezzlement. Acas is accused of uploading the films to the Internet and selling them.

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Top 5 films of 2006

Though it suffered from some poor audience reception due to its "Tom Cruise is a nutjob" factor, the JJ Abrams directed spy-thriller is still easily the best of the series. Trumping even Casino Royale in sheer fun factor, MI:III suffered from none of the pacing problems plaguing its thematic cousin. With plenty of over-the-top stunts, a pseudo-intelligent plot-line and, hey, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, MI:III is a modern espionage classic. 4- Little Miss Sunshine Proving that there is some small glory in making a solid indie flick, Little Miss Sunshine swept the festival circuit so clean it was only a matter of months before its official theatrical release. With an all-star cast including Steve Carell, Greg Kinear and Alan Arkin, Sunshine proves that a heart warming ending is possible without a deus ex machina or cranking up the sap.

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Reviews of Bobby, Deck the Halls, Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny

There are much better family films that everyone can go to - including Flushed Away - that will prove to be be worth the price you have to pay for admission. Deck The Halls isn't a horrible movie, just a forgettable one. Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny (Three and a half out of four stars) This is the hilarious tale of the birth of the world's greatest rock band known as Tenacious D. The story begins as a young Jack Black is not supported by his father (Meat Loaf) and is encouraged to leave home to pursue his dream of rock stardom by Ronnie James Dio, who comes to life through a poster to show the wannabe rocker the way. Soon Black meets up with Kyle Gass in California and is memorized by his guitar talents. Gass begins to train Black and the rest is musical history as Tenacious D is born.

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2006-12-05T04:54:00.000-08:00

Two Australian films head for Sundance

Two Australian feature films have been selected to screen at Robert Redford's 2007 Sundance Film Festival in the United States. Noise, featuring Love My Way star Brendan Cowell, and Clubland, starring Golden Globe winning actor Brenda Blethyn, beat more than 3,200 entries worldwide to secure a spot at the festival. The pair join 122 films selected to screen during Sundance, beginning on January 18 in Park City, Utah. Clubland's producer, Rosemary Blight, hopes their participation will propel Australian films further into the international spotlight. .

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A marriage of sports and films

The Sports Movies and TV Festival, which has been organised and promoted by Federation International Cinema Television Sportifs (FICTS) since last 23 years, is now being held in Mumbai for the second year. Connectivity with any sports in the film, documentary or TV show is the basic requirement for any filmmaker or TV producer / director to participate in the festival. Festival director Ritesh Sinha says, The reason behind bringing this festival to India is to give a platform to young and talented filmmakers. A good idea that gets translated into a film is a dream come true for any young maker. This is the first film festival aimed at realising those dreams. We hope this festival, which is very popular in Italy, is well- received by the filmmaking and the sports community in India.

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Festival films to be screened at schools

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an attempt to take cinema to the masses, the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy will organise screening of festival films at schools, colleges and public places as part of the 11th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK). As a prelude to the festival, the academy will screen films in different parts of the city. `Touring Talkies' will organise mini-festivals across the State after the IFFK, especially in the rural areas, which do not have access to international films. Children's films will be screened at select schools in the city from December 1 to 8. Films of popular Iranian directors Abbas Kiarostami's `Where is my friend' and Majid Majidi's `Children of Heaven,' Vittorio De Sica's `Bicycle Thieves,' Charles Chaplin's `The Kid' and such other films will be screened at schools.

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2006-12-04T05:04:00.000-08:00

SFCC awards go to UN chief, blockbuster movie and LG

SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Yonhap) -- The Foreign Correspondents Club in Seoul said Monday it has decided to award new U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, special effects blockbuster "The Host" and LG Electronics for their contribution to improving the image of South Korea abroad. PGA golfer Choi Kyung-ju and Lee Jung-hyun, whose music has transcended Korea and scored big in China, will also be awarded at the SFCC's year-end party at a hotel in downtown Seoul on Thursday. Ban was awarded in the category of society, and best picture went to Bong Joon-ho's "The Host," the story of a family's galling fight to save their daughter from the clutches of a monster residing in Seoul's Han River. "Dance if you feel like loving," a romantic-comedy musical, picked up an award in the performance category.

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In Movie Theaters the Week of

Based on the Christopher Paolini-penned bestselling fantasy novel about a youth whose discovery of a dragon egg leads him to become a knight and battle an evil king. The medieval-set tale revolves around a farm boy who learns he is the last of a breed of benevolent Dragon Riders, whose magical powers derived from their bond with the beasts. .

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Movie Review: Casino Royale And The Reinvention Of Bond

When critics say that Daniel Craig is the best bond since Sean Connery and closest to Ian Fleming's literary creation, are they reacting to minor changes in the Bond formula? After all, any Bond film made now has to take into account the MI series and the Bourne films, particularly the latter, which seem to have changed action movies forever? And isn't it time anyone making a Bond movie was influenced by Quentin Tarantino? Or took into account the newfound love for dark movies among both critics and audiences? Now, unlike in the sixties, everyone loves grey; black and white is pass. .

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2006-12-03T04:42:00.000-08:00

India's progress helped films to be noticed globally: Amitabh ...

The burgeoning economic progress of the country has given a huge fillip to Indian films globally, Bollywood mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan has said. "I always believed that when a country does well economically, everything about it gets noticed - its dress, culture, language and the films", the 64-year-old actor said on Friday evening in London while launching the album of his latest film Babul , which will have a world premiere on December 8. .

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RARELY SEEN BROOKS FILMS IN MINI-FESTIVAL

Wichita Film Festivals Inc. is hosting a mini film festival of four rarely seen classics to celebrate the 100th birthday of Louise Brooks, who left Wichita as an ambitious teen dancer and became an international cinema icon of the Jazz Age. All films will be shown in the Murdock Theatre in the 20th Century Center, 536 N. Broadway. The Thursday and Friday films begin at 7:30 p.m. The Saturday double feature begins at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $6 general admission, $5 students and seniors and $4 members. Brooks' nephew and niece, Dan Brooks and Roseanna Brooks of Wichita, will be special guests at Friday's screening and will speak with audience members beforehand. THURSDAY "Diary of a Lost Girl" (1929) German director G.W.

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TV and art films

Made in Japan. For aficionados of the Japanese cinema, there's plenty to marvel at again this week, mostly on IFC, where Akira Kurosawa's milestone Rashomon (1950; 6:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 5:55 p.m. Saturday) and the second chapter of Kinji Fukasaku's epic The Yakuza Papers: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (1973; noon Friday and 3:15 a.m. Saturday) which adds martial arts legend Sonny Chiba to its cast air. The cable network also adds Kon Ichikawa's Fires on the Plain (1959; 3:20 p.m. today), a grueling but also humanist examination of war's degrading effect on its pawns, the foot soldiers. Rarer still is Hiroshi Teshigahara's The Face of Another (1966; 2 a.m. Monday), which has its TV premiere on Turner Classic Movies. Starring Tatsuya Nakadai (Ran) as a disfigured man who receives a lifelike mask, the film is one of many Japanese movies that place post-Hiroshima existential isolation within a science-fictional context.

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2006-12-02T04:43:00.000-08:00

MOVIE REVIEW: "The Nativity Story"

If you've ever gazed at Christmas cards featuring artworks of the great masters and wished those images would magically come to life, "The Nativity Story" is your kind of movie. Delivering a dignified account of the very first Christmas, "The Nativity Story" is earnest, reverent and indisputably well-meaning. .

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NEW! Josh Duhamel Hints at Transformers Movie Scene

Another Interview with Josh Duhamel has popped up on the net. While still promoting his new film Turistas, TV Guide caught up with the actor. In the interview Duhamel also reveals a little bit about his character and his part in the Transformers Movie, when they meet a character he refers to as 'Vortex'. "He's the captain of the special-ops team when we first encounter Vortex, who incinerates their base. The six of us get out alive and try to get communication back to the U.S. to tell them what's going on. We then try to figure out how to beat these things". "Everything was shot, like, out in the desert or in downtown L.A. I don't know how they did it, but I was expecting a lot more green screen than we did". .

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MOVIE REVIEWS: THE NATIVITY STORY

The congregation is pretty much divided equally over the artistic worth of The Nativity Story, although the critics appear to be less judgmental over it than they were over Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. Actually neither side gets worked up one way or the other about it. A.O. Scott in the New York Times writes with little apparent enthusiasm: "Rather than trying to reinterpret or modernize a well-known, cherished story, the filmmakers have rendered it with a quiet, unassuming professionalism.." Gene Seymour in Newsday seems to indicate that the producers of the film fashioned it to avoid the controversy that descended on Passion. "The intent seems to be to release a movie about the Nativity that can be shown in living rooms and church schools for at least the next decade. If that's really all that was wanted or needed from The Nativity Story, the result could have been a lot worse.

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2006-12-01T04:46:00.000-08:00

Two Aussie films corralled for Sundance

TWO Australian feature films have been selected to screen at Robert Redford's 2007 Sundance Film Festival in the United States. Noise, featuring Love My Way star Brendan Cowell, and Clubland, starring Golden Globe-winning actor Brenda Blethyn, were among 3200 entries worldwide for the festival. The pair joins 122 films selected to screen during Sundance, beginning on January 18 in Park City, Utah. Clubland producer Rosemary Blight hoped their participation would propel Australian films further into the international spotlight. "We really need to find a platform to give us a profile and put it on the world stage," she said. "We are up against huge marketing budgets and huge films. For us, this gives us a platform and it gives us attention.

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Hrithik Roshan is happy with the success of his films and life

Everything seems to be going great for this actor who is a perfectionist and extremely meticulous about all his characters. Hrithik Roshans personal life is extremely happy with the birth of his son this year and professionally too the actor couldnt have asked for better roles and films. Both his films Krrish and Dhoom 2 have met with great success. Now the actor is gung ho about his next project, Jodha Akbar with Ashutosh Gowariker. There are also claims that Hrithik has been offered a lucrative deal with Adlab Films which makes him one of highest paid actors in the industry . But Hrithik takes it all in his stride and remains grounded even with all the success and the money. Hrithik recently signed a lucrative Rs.30 crore deal with Adlab Films and he modestly says Its just another deal that I have been signed on for by Adlab Films.

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2006-11-30T04:44:00.000-08:00

'Borat' Movie Sparks Controversy

The new film "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," about a fictional Kazakh TV reporter, is stirring controversy in the U.S. and abroad. "Yackshimash! My name a Borat! I journalist for Kazakhstan. My government sent me to U.S. and A to make movie-film. Please you look." In his coast-to-coast journey, fictitious Kazakh reporter Borat Sagdiyiev meets Americans from all walks of life. But he's no stranger to America. For more than three years, the character has appeared on the American cable network HBO as Borat, the sexist, homophobic and anti-Semitic simpleton who awkwardly tries to understand Americans and their ways. British comedian Sasha Baron Cohen created the character and plays Borat. The success of his TV series and the subsequent movie lies in the mock-documentary style of his comedy.

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Wal-Mart to Launch Movie Downloads, Remove Double-Face

Only a few months after they whined about the price Apple unveiled for digital movie downloads, Wal-Mart has announced a beta download service of their own, albeit a strange one. Kicking off yesterday, customers were offered an exclusive DVD bundle of "Superman Returns" wherein they could purchase the physical disk and then buy additional movie formats for digital download, namely $1.97 for portable devices, $2.97 for PCs/laptops, and $3.97 for both portable players and PC/laptops. “This unique 'Superman Returns' physical/digital DVD combination not only marks our first step into the video downloads market, but gives our customers the best of both worlds in movie entertainment," said Kevin Swint, the divisional merchandise manager for digital media at Wal-Mart.

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Movie Downloads Get a Boost from Wal-Mart, BitTorrent

If it's difficult to get your parents hip to watching movies off the Internet, industry forces are mobilizing to make the practice a more widespread reality. In separate announcements yesterday, mega-retailer Wal-Mart and dot-com outfit BitTorrent both moved one step closer to offering movie downloads to the masses. .

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2006-11-29T04:44:00.000-08:00

The Prestige is one of the best films of the year

The Prestige is the latest film from Batman Begins director Christopher Nolan. Based on the Christopher Priest novel, it tells the story of two magicians struggling to make an impact on the sensation seeking audiences of 1890s London. Aristocratic Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) has a flair for showmanship but little natural talent, while Cockney Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) has an instinct for what makes a magic trick but no patience for crowd pleasing dramatics. Angier and Borden begin as friends, working together under the tutelage of Cutter (Michael Caine), who literally pulls the strings behind the scenes of a magic show, until a tragic accident turns them into bitter enemies. Borden subsequently performs the trick of the Transported Man to public acclaim, spurring Angier on to discover the secret behind the seemingly impossible feat.

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Two Minnesota films nominated for Spirit Award

Two Minnesota-made independent films, "Sweet Land" and "A Prairie Home Companion," were nominated Tuesday for Spirit Awards, the indie-film world's counterpart to the Oscars."Sweet Land," directed and co-written by St. Paul's Ali Selim, was nominated for best first feature while its star, newcomer Elizabeth Reaser, will compete for the best-female-lead award against Catherine O'Hara, Robin Wright Penn and Michelle Williams."Prairie Home" received a best-director nomination for Robert Altman, who died last week in Los Angeles. But another notable Minnesota indie was snubbed: "Factotum," the critically acclaimed comic drama starring Matt Dillon, who won his second Spirit last year for "Crash."It should have been recognized," said Jane Minton, executive director of IFP Minneapolis/St. Paul, whose 600 members are among 5,000 voters nationwide that will select the winners.The ceremony, sponsored by Los Angeles-based Film Independent, will be Feb.

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“8 Films To Die For” Horrorfest: A Lost Opportunity

In a span of only 4 days, After Dark Films planned to release 8 independent horror movies for a series entitled "8 Films to Die For." These films, which have never been released before, were advertised as grotesque and violent cinematic explorations into the horror genre. Our resident horror expert Josh was planning on attending all 8 films over the long weekend to see first hand what kind of experience this was going to be. Unfortunately for the folks over at After Dark Films, this "Horrorfest" turned out to be the most uncoordinated, horribly thought out waste of time for everyone who went or was a part of the series. He only ended up seeing 6 out of the 8, due to the fact that after the first 6 his mind was completely numb and there was no way he would have lasted sitting through two more of the films.

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2006-11-28T04:47:00.000-08:00

Reeltime Claims World's First Download-to-Own Movie Service

This week, an Australian company called Reeltime ambitiously announced that it is the world's first company to offer download-to-own movie and TV service. Reeltime is also partnering with Universal Pictures to offer a number of old and new releases. The company touts its service as a true ownership service where customers do keep what they've downloaded and are allowed to burn movies at DVD quality to actual DVDs for playback on their home theaters. The service is launching with a focus on Windows PCs, and Play4Sure devices which support the WMV video format. Users who sign up to Realtime's service will be able to purchase and download movies in three different file formats: a streaming WMV format, a standalone WMV format that can be saved as well as transferred to Play4Sure mobile players and an encrypted DVD format.

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411's Tournament of Bad Ass Movie Characters: Round Two

Welcome to round 2 of 411 Mania's Bad Ass Movie Character Tournament. The first round saw hard fought contests with some early favorites going out early and others establishing their dominance. But this is the round that separates the men from the boys. BILLY JACK VS. INDIANA JONES Leonard Hayhurst: I'm sure these two could have long intelligent, philosophical conversations. But that is not what we want here. Jones would try the opening whip attack again, but Jack is quicker than Cogburn and would grab it to disarm. Jones would then go for his gun and Jack would cartwheel out of the way. Out of bullets Jones would be forced to rely on his fists, but Jack's whole body is a weapon. Winner: Billy Jack Ryan Latimer: Sorry, the only reason I voted for Jack to advance in the first round was because he was fighting Popeye, but not THAT Popeye.

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The Nativity Story: The Making of the Movie - Part 1

IF YOU ASK first-time film producer Marty Bowen what he would most like to see happen as a result of New Line Cinemas The Nativity Story, he will say quite candidly and with characteristic enthusiasm: I would like even the nonbeliever who sees it to be touched. I would like it to be a film my sister will take her kids to see, and one that her children will take their kids to see one day. I hope it will be a classic that theaters will show every year because of its authenticity, because we have tried to avoid the clichs of biblical films, tried to humanize the characters and revere them at the same time. They have, after all, earned the right to be on a pedestal. The Nativity Story, released on 7,000 screens worldwide on December 1, tells the story of the year before Jesus birth until the slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem, plus the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt to escape Herods wrath.

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2006-11-27T05:02:00.000-08:00

Air Malta showing films in flight

Passengers travelling with Air Malta on the London Heathrow and Gatwick, Manchester, Brussels and Frankfurt routes can now watch a number of feature films on board. This week, Air Malta has started showing a new selection of feature films, which will be changed every two months: In Her Shoes and Little Manhattan. A variety of feature films and documentaries such as the silent films of Charlie Chaplin are being shown on all other flights longer than one hour 40 minutes. For documentary enthusiasts, National Geographic is presenting a non-verbal series entitled Animals of the World showing footage of various animals in their natural habitat. Just for Variety brings musical and visual performances from the Montreal International Comedy Festival while Just for Laughs is a programme of hidden camera gags carried out on the street.

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Kid Watch An advisory for parents on current films

RATED PG Title / What it's about / Advisory Happy Feet In this animated film about penguins, baby Mumble finds he's different from the others: He can dance up a storm but is one tone-deaf aquatic bird. Mild scenes of penguins in peril. RATED PG-13 Title / What it's about / Advisory Casino Royale Daniel Craig takes a fresh approach to James Bond, presenting him as a rough guy with a grim sense of humor who's just been elevated to double-0 status. Violence, semi-nudity and sexual situations. For Your Consideration Christopher Guest gets a little edgier and more serious in his latest ensemble piece, this time taking on Hollywood and the effects of Oscar buzz. Lewd humor and sexual situations. RATED R Title / What it's about / Advisory Fast Food Nation This feature film, based on the best-seller, focuses on all levels of the multibillion-dollar fast-food industry, from animal slaughtering to flipping burgers.

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Liv Tyler Films Thriller in SC Town

FLORENCE, South Carolina -- Liv Tyler says when she first saw the title of the script for her new film, "The Strangers," she thought it was a comedy. Turns out it was a thriller about a couple trying to survive when three masked strangers invade their home. "I had stacks of scripts on the plane," she told the Morning News for Thursday's editions. "I liked the title of this one because it sounded like a comedy. After reading the first three pages, I was stuck on the script and called my agent and said `Please get it for me. I want to be in this movie.'" She has been in Florence making "The Strangers," costarring Scott Speedman, since Oct. 10. Filming is expected to be finished Dec. 4 and the film is scheduled for release next October. "It has a horror element and a thriller element, but it also has a human element," said Speedman, who starred in the television show, "Felicity." "To come in every day and getting, right away, to that level of intensity, that level of fear and anger -- it can be draining." To recharge, the film's crew has hit a few local spots, including a karaoke bar.

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2006-11-26T04:42:00.000-08:00

Northwest Arkansas Hosts Movie Premiere

The Tulsa author wrote "The Ultimate Gift" in five days and considered it a personal development book wrapped in a story.Whatever it's called -- personal development book or novel -- the thin, quick read has sold more than 3 million copies. It's also been made into a movie, which will premiere in Rogers this week and is set for general release in 2007.The screening Thursday at the Rogers Malco Town Center is part of a national premiere. The invitation event, which kicks off at 7 p.m., will offer hundreds throughout the region, including local philanthropists, donors and professional advisers, a glimpse into a story about gratitude, hope and possibility. The author will attend the premiere and the reception to follow.Many local civic and community leaders are hopeful individuals throughout the region will embrace the book's message.The movie, like the book on which it's based, tells the story of Jason, a 24-year-old man who undergoes a transformation of character as he learns from an elder relative the importance of 12 life-changing gifts.

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Worn out Hugh Jackman forbids wife and kids from movie set!

Washington, Nov 26: Actor Hugh Jackman has revealed that he had banned his family from being around him during the production of his new film The Fountain, because it was a physically and emotionally draining film. He says that he banned his wife and kids from the sets because he knew that the film was so complex that it would be hard for him to be the same father or a husband as he used to be earlier. Jackman, whose kids and wife usually travel with him for most of the films he does, says that his first gaze through the script had made him realize that The Fountain would be a complex film, and working on it could be very exhaustive. "This is the first time I worked without my family being there because we always sort of travel together. I said, `Dear, I have a feeling with this one there's not gonna be much left of me at the end of the day,' and there wasn't," Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

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Epic Movie, Wretched Trailer

Are you among the 14 people who actually paid money to see Date Movie? If so, at any point during that movie did you find yourself thinking "Wow, I really hope someone gives these filmmakers money to make another spoof movie!!"? Well, if so then you're an idiot. Because someone did. And now we have something to look forward to called Epic Movie.Based on this retina-demolishing trailer, Epic Movie looks to be yet another endless collection of movie-related sketch comedy bits. Yeah, just like Date Movie, all four Scary Movie movies, and every Leslie Nielsen "comedy" post-1981. To be fair, writer/directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer spent a good deal of time on their Date Movie audio commentary apologizing for the lame jokes and atrocious filmmaking ... so let's just see if the guys tried a little harder this time out.

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2006-11-26T03:03:00.000-08:00

Congregation Beth Israel to show Jewish films

All Saints' Episcopal, 928 Main St., West Newbury: Church member Meghan Harford leads a seminar on parenting teens, Dec. 10 from 6:30 to 8:15 p.m. She will focus on what it means to raise children to know Christ. Harford is a licensed child and family counselor. A panel discussion follows with grandparents who speak from the experience and wisdom of having seen their own children grow into adulthood. Chabad Lubavitch of Merrimack Valley, 310 N. Main St., Andover: Rabbi Yossi Lipsker leads a 12-week series on the book of Genesis, beginning Nov. 28 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.Read this article in full with a Plus Edition account.Click here to learn more .

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Emerging global market for Indian films

The former president of Film and Television Producers Guild, Amit Khanna, seconded the claim, saying there is an emerging global market for Indian films. Citing a multiplex in Paris that recently played Omkara, Water and Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, he said it was early days yet for Indian films abroad though there was a demand for all kind of Indian cinema, mainstream, regional as well as alternative cinema. Positive signals "It is too early to say how the market will react. But the signals are positive. We have even started dubbing Indian films in Latin American languages. We are looking at China too where for a long time there has been a thriving market of pirated DVDs of Indian films." Bobby Bedi, Chairman, CII Entertainment Committee, promised "focussed, segmented marketing" not done till now.

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Canadian films head to India

Toronto, Nov. 25 (PTI): Three Canadian films will be screened in various cities of India in a bid to highlight Canadian culture in the country. Sarah Polley's 'Away from Her' will be screened in Mumbai this January to highlight Canadian culture during an Ontario Trade Mission to India. The film, based on Alice Munro's short story, The Bear Came Over the Mountain, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Polley's debut film as director is about an elderly couple played by Gordon Pinsent and Julie Christie, dealing with Alzheimers. The U.K. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is leading a trade mission to India Jan. 14 to 21, with stops in Punjab, Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Two other Canadian films are also appearing on the festival circuit in India. Familia, a film about family ties by Quebec's Louise Archambault, will screen as part of the Chennai International Film Festival Dec 15-22.

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The Films Of James Broughton / Animal Charm

2006-11-15T00:40:00.000-08:00

While other experimental filmmakers have explored the boundaries of cinema through formalist rigor and shock effects, from the '40s to the '80s, James Broughton, as he put it, "followed his weird," and celebrated the body in touchy-feely films that even now could confirm a lot of people's worst suspicions about abstract artists. The 17 shorts on the three-disc DVD set The Films Of James Broughton contain plenty of scenes where dolled-up young people flounce around outside in slow motion, while Broughton recites poetry about how we must all "discover our oases." But Broughton also dared to move people, which set him apart from his avant-garde contemporaries, and in films like his impressionist autobiography "Mother's Day" and his allegorical study of human relationships "The Bed," the images still burn with sincerity.

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Today's TV: A new age of Hollywood movie brats

2006-11-14T01:13:00.000-08:00

During the 1970s, Hollywood flourished with intelligent and successful films. From The Godfather, to Shampoo, Taxi Driver, Jaws and Apocalypse Now, this era is often dubbed the golden age. The leaders of this group, directors Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, not only managed to make personal films through the studio system, but became famous in the process as "the movie brats." Nearly 30 years later, Imagine focuses on a new group of American directors who are also making original, unusual films within the Hollywood system – Wes Anderson, Alexander Payne, David O Russell, Richard Linklater, Noah Baumbach, Bryan Singer, Kimberly Peirce and Sofia Coppola. Like their 1970s forerunners, these new movie brats aim to make personal films that express their own distinctive voices.

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Rani Mukherjee on films, family, friends, marriage, kids and ...

2006-11-13T00:47:00.000-08:00

Rani Mukherjee is one of the finest actors in bollywood and she has proved this especially with her performance in Black. Rani too herself is extremely proud of her performance in Black and credits director Sanjay Leela Bhansali for having tremendous faith in her and extracting such a good performance from her. Rani will soon be seen in Ravi Chopras Baabul and also a Yash Raj film Tara Rum Pum . Rani credits her mother for having faith in her, that she could be a good actress and she is also the one who made Rani believe in herself. Rani claims that even though her father was part of the film industry she was never really exposed on a personal level to the film industry. Rani says I never thought I had any talent to be in films so it never occurred to me that I could be an actor.

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Unknown anti-naxal movie rides on Nandi

2006-11-12T04:27:00.000-08:00

HYDERABAD: Not many have heard about the film Pothe Poni and nor there were many patrons for it. But that did not prevent the movie, directed by Tammareddy Bharadwaja, from bagging the Nandi award for Best Film for 2005, which was announced on Saturday. The storyline of the film revolves around the "mindless killings" by the naxalites. "With the Andhra Pradesh government battling naxalites, Pothe Poni bagging the award is significant," said a film analyst. Before announcing the awards in the evening, the jury of the AP State Nandi Awards Committee-2005 led by its chairman P Doondeswara Rao called on chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and presented him a list of the award winners. Incidentally, Pothe Poni also has a passing shot of the CM. Pothe Poni was released on February 3, 2006, but any film that goes for censorship certificate in 2005 is eligible for the award, irrespective of its release date and year.

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Food, films help as some votes are cast past midnight

2006-11-09T05:36:00.000-08:00

Highlands Ranch - The wait was long for Douglas County voters - more than four hours for some folks. But they stood patiently, hour after hour, many with children in tow. A small group didn't get to cast a ballot until after midnight Wednesday, but the people kept their place in line, and, eventually, they voted. "At the very beginning, I thought about dropping out," said Mark Shields, an information technology consultant who waited past 11 p.m. at Cherry Hills Community Church. "But then I thought, 'What if everybody did that?"' David Conradt, like many who waited deep into the night to vote, got a chance to meet new people. They exchanged stories about themselves, their children and why they were determined to vote. They formed a community that was worth the wait.

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EMMANUELLE STAR: MOVIE WAS 'RATHER SWEET'

2006-11-09T04:58:00.000-08:00

Notorious EMMANUELLE star SYLVIA KRISTEL has compared the 1974 pornographic classic to "ALICE IN WONDERLAND", insisting modern day sex films leave it looking "rather sweet". The raunchy movie became the first commercially successful adult film on its release, and made its sexually voracious lead an instant star. But 53-year-old Kristel maintains the controversial film is tame by today's standards. She says, "Looking back, apart from the rape scene, it was rather sweet. "With all the pornography around today, if Emmanuelle was released now everyone would compare it to Alice in Wonderland." 09/11/2006 08:10 .

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Movie premiere to bring in the green

2006-11-09T04:04:00.000-08:00

Events surrounding the Austin premiere of filmmaker Richard Linklater's newest movie, Fast Food Nation, will bring in some green -- food, that is. The Austin Film Society is partnering with the Sustainable Food Center, a nonprofit that supports locally grown and community farming, to present the premiere on Nov. 14. The movie airs at 7 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre downtown. .

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Redford's Sundance Institute to finance films for phones

2006-11-09T03:33:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK - Actor Robert Redford's Sundance Institute will commission independent filmmakers to make short films for mobile phones, Redford said Wednesday. While film content is already available for cell phones, six independent filmmakers will be the first commissioned to make short films especially for the medium, Redford said. The filmmakers include Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, whose successful debut feature film Little Miss Sunshine is playing in cinemas across the United States. The deal was reached with telecom industry group GSM Association, which represents 700 mobile-phone operators, Redford said. Cellular companies hope to attract customers by adding features to phones. The project would support short films, which were once regularly shown at cinemas before audiences were "shoved into theaters and shoved out like cattle," Redford said.

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Movie Distribution trust considers cashing out of distribution ...

2006-11-09T03:05:00.000-08:00

TORONTO (CP) - Movie Distribution Income Fund (TSX:FLM.UN) is joining Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. (TSX:AAC.B) in putting their Motion Picture Distribution Limited Partnership up for sale. On Wednesday the partnership also reported a summer-quarter profit of $16.5 million, up from $14.5 million in the year-ago period, as revenue edged up to $123 million from $122.4 million. Alliance Atlantis, a specialty broadcaster whose marquee property is the "CSI" TV-series franchise, said Oct. 20 it wanted to sell its 51 per cent stake in Motion Picture Distribution LP, a leading movie distributor in Canada with other operations in Britain and Spain. The Movie Distribution Income Fund, holding the other 49 per cent, said Wednesday it has "determined to participate with Alliance Atlantis" in "a process that may result in a sale of some or all of its indirect interest in Motion Picture Distribution LP." The decision "is guided solely by our desire to obtain the best available value for our unitholders should control of MPD be affected by this process," stated Rubin Osten, chair of a special committee of the fund in a release.

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Stephen Poliakoff Writing and Directing Two Films For HBO and BBC.

2006-11-09T02:16:00.000-08:00

Stephen Poliakoff is set to write and direct two films for HBO Films and the BBC, one starring Michael Gambon, the other starring Maggie Smith.Both films are set in the same dark and moody house, and are linked by Joe (newcomer Danny Lee Wynter), a young man from whose perspective the stories are told. They both also star Rupert Penry Jones, Kelly Reilly and Rebecca Hall.The first movie, which is yet to be titled, explores the relationship between Elliot (Gambon), a strange and wealthy Londoner, and Joe, the teenage son of a cleaner who takes care of a grand, empty house Elliot owns. The Hollywood Reporter notes the second film, Capturing Mary, takes Joe and an older woman (Smith) into a dark and terrifying exploration of the woman's past, following her as a young girl (Ruth Wilson) as she encounters a charming, mysterious stranger (David Walliams) who affects her life forever.The films, which are currently shooting in London, will shoot back-to-back through January.

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