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Follow the Yellow Brick Walk of Fame
Marlon Brando, Clint Eastwood… the Munchkins? Believe it or not, they will all be enshrined together in immortality when the little guys from The Wizard of Oz receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 20, 2007. The event will be the culmination of a long campaign begun by independent theater owner Ted Bulthaup of Woodridge, IL, with the assistance of Warner Bros., Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and other major players. The ceremony will take place at 11:30 am in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, with a spectacular entrance promised when the Munchkins ride up in a horse-drawn carriage accompanied by the Hollywood HIgh School Marching Band. Dorothy would be proud. To find out more about the event, or attend a special screening of The Wizard of Oz on Monday, November 19, visit http://www.hollywoodheritage.org.
October 30th, 2007 | Category: News/Commentary | By Andre Ward
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium at the Starz Denver Film Festival
If you didn’t see enough of Natalie Portman in Wes Anderson’s short film Hotel Chevalier, then catch the sneak preview of her in Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium on Saturday, November 10 at the 30th Starz Denver Film Festival. This family-focused “Saturday-at-the-Movies” will take place at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Devner, CO and will include kaleidoscopes, jump ropes and members of the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Mammoth sports teams. In addition to, and more importantly than, the screening of the new film by Zach Helm, scribe of Stranger Than Fiction, the event will also include a toy drive for the ages. Over the course of the week, the festival will look to break the world record for largest toy drive by attempting to accumulate more than 12,000 pounds of toys to be donated through charitable organization, Toys For Tots. Help them reach this goal by bringing a toy for donation to the November 10th, and they will help you see the movie by rewarding you with two free passes to the screening. You can also bring your toys for donation to the Starz FilmCenter or The Children’s Museum from November 6 - 9 to redeem your free passes. For more information on this and other festival screenings, as well as the historic toy drive, visit www.denverfilm.org.
October 29th, 2007 | Category: Happenings | By Andrew Gnerre
The Smallest’s States Big Incentives
Known primarily for its small stature, many fruitful aspects of Rhode Island seem to be a result of overcompensation; this even holds true for its official name, The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which is the longest official name of any state in the union. Also larger than it as any right to be is the list of reasons for moviemakers to consider filming in Rhode Island.
Firstly, the state has a variety of diverse locations to choose from, ranging from urban hubs (Providence) and historical sites (Newport Casino, Slater Mill) to universities (Brown, University of Rhode Island) and beaches. It is in this aspect that the state’s small size is an advantage: Each of these distinct locales is within close proximity to one another.
October 28th, 2007 | Category: Location of the Week | By Andrew Gnerre
Producers Guild of America Makes Movies
The Producer’s Guild of America (PGA) is a resource for all things producing. It allows producers to interact and share information, as well as get together to discuss issues concerning their field.
As the PGA is a professional association and not a union, anyone can join to get the benefits. There are, of course, various application fees and annual dues. Benefits include job leads, access to elite networking opportunities, an extensive library of contracts that producers need to know, access to Academy screenings at awards time and regular seminars. They do not however, get involved with individual projects—so don’t ask them for money for your movie.
October 28th, 2007 | Category: Association of the Week | By Brian Hickey
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Ben Affleck Rides High with Gone Baby Gone
Okay, so there's a lot of talk lately of Ben Affleck—and not the type that he amassed just five years ago when "Bennifer" was the hottest thing in the tabloids. This time around, it's for the momentum he's regaining after years of critically-panned fare such as Forces of Nature (1999), Gigli (2003) and Surviving Christmas (2004). Beginning with his Golden Globe-nominated role in 2006's Hollywoodland and leading to his directorial debut, this month's Gone Baby Gone, Affleck has seen the kinder side of critics. But it was a long time coming after such a promising start.
October 28th, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week | By Mallory Potosky
Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson talk The Darjeeling Limited
Close friends and longtime collaborators Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson talk India, monkeys and The Darjeeling Limited on MySpace’s “Artist on Artist” series.
Artist on Artist: Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson
Roommates | Trailer Park
October 26th, 2007 | Category: News/Commentary | By Jennifer M. Wood
Celebrate Halloween with Nosferatu in New York
Still trying to figure out what to do this Halloween? Why not join Nosferatu, the Devil Music Ensemble and your friends at Rooftop Films as they present a special--and spooky--screening of F.W. Murnau’s vampire classic, accompanied by an original live score, at the Village East Cinema in New York City. It’s all happening on Halloween night in the East Village, with two screenings--one at 7:30 p.m. and the other at 9:30 p.m. Purchase tickets online at https://www.movietickets.com/purchase.asp?perf_id=463364305 or call 212/ 777-FILM. Tickets are $15.00. For more information on Rooftop Films, visit www.rooftopfilms.com.
October 26th, 2007 | Category: Happenings | By Jennifer M. Wood
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Adrienne Shelly Foundation Holds Fundraising Gala
Following the tragic death of beloved actress and director Adrienne Shelly in November 2006, The Adrienne Shelly Foundation was created to help young female moviemakers reach new frontiers through scholarships, grants and other resources. On Monday November 12, the foundation will hold its inaugural fundraising gala at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Alanis Morissette will sing live, and there will be a celebrity-filled reading of Shelly’s screenplay The Morgan Stories featuring Matt Dillon, Edie Falco, Mary-Louise Parker and others. The foundation will also launch an eBay auction at the gala, offering around 25 prizes such as movie walk-on roles and VIP tickets. Doors will open at 6pm for the 6:30 show, with a VIP reception to follow later at Bar Martignetti. Tickets are available at www.adrienneshellyfoundation.org.
October 25th, 2007 | Category: Happenings | By Andre Ward
Gavin Hood’s Moral Compass
Gavin Hood is certainly not playing it safe with his Hollywood directorial debut, Rendition. The film, which opened October 19, tells the story of Anwar El-Ibrahimi, a suspected Egyptian terrorist who “disappears” on an intercontinental flight. His American-born wife, played by Reese Witherspoon, and a CIA agent, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, are both forced to deal with the consequences of his mysterious detention.
October 21st, 2007 | Category: Moviemaker of the Week | By Andrew Gnerre
Woodstock Film Festival
In 1969 hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Woodstock, New York for a concert that would go down in American history. Featuring artists such as Sweetwater, Janis Joplin and Jefferson Airplane, the legendary Woodstock Music Festival brought about a revolution in artistic freedom that was hard to beat. Hard to beat, that is, until the Woodstock Film Festival began eight years ago. This year the popular annual cinema retreat lived up to its hometown’s most famous event by honoring historic musician and town denizen Bob Dylan with closing night selection I’m Not There, the alternative biopic by Todd Haynes. Tickets for the highly anticipated screening sold out during the first day’s sales.
October 22nd, 2007 | Category: Festival of the Week | By Mallory Potosky
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>David Slade Owns the Night
With 30 Days of Night, a graphic novel-inspired thriller that has vampires chomping through the Arctic darkness of a small Alaskan town, director David Slade makes a formidable foray into the cinema mainstream with but one independent feature under his belt. Having directed a long string of commercials and music videos, Slade premiered his first full-length movie, Hard Candy, at Sundance in 2005. The film quickly gained a cult following, which must have included producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, who asked Slade to direct their innovative vampire flick. "David has a style and a way of working unique unto him," says Tapert. "He is a believer in lots of tight shots, close-ups with attention to details, which frenetically ramp up his movie."
October 21st, 2007 | Category: Moviemaker of the Week | By Daniel Fritz
Terry George Gets His Revenge
Terry George has always been a screenwriter with a passion for serving victims of injustice. But when does the pursuit of justice become lust for revenge? George delves into the emotional complexities of this question with his latest project, Reservation Road.
Based on the John Burnham Schwartz novel of the same name, Reservation Road follows two men and their families in the shattering wake of a fatal accident. Divorced father Dwight (Mark Ruffalo) is wracked with self-loathing after killing Ethan Learner's son in a hit-and-run on a Connecticut backroad. Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix) manifests his grief by hunting obsessively for Dwight, which takes a psychological toll on the grieving father and, by extension, his wife, Grace (Jennifer Connelly) and daughter Emma (Elle Fanning). Dwight, meanwhile, struggles between an urge to turn himself in and the need to care for his son. Writer-director George hopes his movie will make audiences look at retribution and responsibility in a new way. "In this post-9/11 world," he says, "'an eye for an eye' needs to be examined through drama. What happens when that thing you see on television—‘revenge’—comes home to you on a very personal level?"
October 21st, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week | By Daniel Fritz
The FX Institute’s Special Effect on Moviemakers
Ask any casual movie fan and he or she will tell you that special effects are reserved for big productions directed by people like Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg. But Jon Gress, director of the upcoming 1 Anunnaki, begs to differ. Having taught digital and visual effects at the graduate level, Gress founded The FX Institute to help independent artists bring extra flash and pizzazz to their movies.
October 21st, 2007 | Category: Film School of the Week | By Andre Ward
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Red Carpet Invite to the premiere of Ridley Scott’s American Gangster
Bummed you didn’t get an invite to the world premiere of Ridley Scott’s new mob drama American Gangster, taking place at the historic Apollo Theater? Not to worry! Tonight, Friday, Oct. 19, americangangster.net will be streaming a live Webcast of the red carpet arrivals. You’ll still have to wait until November 2 to see the film yourself, but tonight you’ll at least get a chance to watch the likes of Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and Josh Brolin saunter toward the entrance to the screening of this sure-to-be box office champion. The Webcast begins tonight at 7 p.m. EST.
October 19th, 2007 | Category: Happenings | By Andrew Gnerre
Star Wars Saga Continues…
For better or worse, George Lucas isn’t going to let Star Wars die. On Tuesday, October 15, Lucas announced that he has begun work on a new live-action television show that takes place in the Star Wars universe. Lucas, who will not shop the show to networks until it is closer to completion, says the show will not include film mainstays Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. “The Skywalkers aren’t in it, and it’s about minor characters,” Lucas told the Los Angeles Times. The series was first mentioned by Lucas in 2005 during a Q&A session at Celebration III, a popular Star Wars fan convention. He has also started production on an animated Star Wars series that is slated to debut sometime in 2008. May the force continue to be with all of us… for a very long time.
October 19th, 2007 | Category: News/Commentary | By Andrew Gnerre
Give Til It Hurts This Halloween
The SAW franchise, unlike the characters in its films, is unkillable. But would you believe the slasher franchise is actually saving lives?
Lionsgate, the franchise's distributor, has once again teamed up with the Red Cross for its fourth annual “Give Til It Hurts” blood drive. Since the first SAW blood drive in 2004, filmgoers have donated 38,000 pints of blood that have helped save as many as 112,500 lives. Each year the amount of blood donated has nearly doubled. And the yearly tradition has become an integral part of the franchise, just like its yearly Halloween premiere.
October 18th, 2007 | Category: News/Commentary | By Brian Hickey
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Orson’s Oscar for Sale
On October 15, Sotheby’s announced the auction of Orson Welles’ Oscar for his 1941 masterpiece Citizen Kane. The statue, which was awarded to Welles and co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz for Best Original Screenplay, will be put up for auction on December 11 and is expected to fetch between $800,000 and $1.2 million.
October 17th, 2007 | Category: News/Commentary | By Andrew Gnerre
Allen Daviau to Conduct Kodak-Sponsored Cinematography Master Class
Five-time Oscar nominee Allen Daviau, the director of photography behind such contemporary classics as E.T., The Color Purple and Bugsy, will conduct a Kodak-sponsored Cinematography Master Class at the United Artists Theater in East Hampton New York this Saturday, October 20th at 12:00 p.m. EST. David Schwartz, chief curator of the Museum of the Moving Image, will host the discussion, which will focus on the art of creating compelling images for the big screen. The presentation will include clips from some of Daviau’s most famous work, including Empire of the Sun (1987), Avalon (1990) and Van Helsing (2004). This event is FREE and open to the public. For more info, visit http://www.hamptonsfilmfest.org/special/cinematography.php.
October 16th, 2007 | Category: Happenings | By Jennifer M. Wood
Rus Thompson’s Short Takes: October 2007
The wide shots and the close-ups
Favorite of the Month: The Lives of Others (2006)
A story of surveillance and intrigue set during the finals days of East Germany’s soul-killing embrace of Communism, this slow-burning political thriller deservedly won the Best Foreign Film Oscar over the flashy but empty Pan’s Labyrinth. Ulrich Muhe stars as a man who has given up everything for the State police, working as an expert in wiretapping and watching. But he begins to question his selfless devotion to the Party while staking out a renowned writer (the appealing Sebastian Koch) who is smuggling an anti-government manuscript to the West. The film builds scene upon scene with a quiet patience until a damning climax and then, touchingly, there is a subtle and profound coda. Muhe sadly died on July 22nd of cancer.
New Release of the Month: The Hoax (2007)
The Hoax may be the best thing Richard Gere has ever done: Better than that scene in Looking For Mr. Goodbar when he seduced the ill-fated Diane Keaton in his jockstrap; better than the sexy way he rode atop a locomotive in Days of Heaven; better than that scene in American Gigolo when he rubbed motor oil over his Ralph Lauren (or was it Calvin Klein?) shirt. Gere’s entire career seems to be composed of poses and props. But in The Hoax, Gere plays Clifford Irving—who, in 1971, pulled off the hugely entertaining feat of pretending to write the biography of Howard Hughes—as a likeable but corrupt huckster, keener on making money than honing his craft. Like so many characters spawned by the 1970s—Timothy Leary, Tiny Tim, DB Cooper—Irving’s capacity for celebrity far exceeded his talent. But unlike Leary, Tiny and (probably) DB, Irving is very much alive and still living a fine life in Aspen, Colorado.
Classic of the Month: Deliverance (1972)
I first saw this film in a drive-in theater with my mother when I was 13 years old. I’m not sure what she thought of the notorious “squeal-like-a-pig” scene, but for me it registered as one of the most shocking moments in a film that seemed to be channeling some kind of primal, undigested energy. It was raw, frightening, thrilling and beautiful and I have seen it more than a dozen times since. This 35th anniversary release features several mini-documentaries and updated commentaries, but it’s all just marketing, really, considering any version can do little to improve upon John Boorman’s fearless direction, Vilmos Zsigmond’s gorgeous ambient light cinematography and the performances of Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty. This reissue only serves to remind me why this film has remained in my personal Top 10 since that drive-in night 35 years ago.
Documentary of the Month: No End in Sight (2007)
It is now common knowledge, unless you live under a Bush-Cheney bumper sticker, that the Bush administration committed a series of grievous errors in the first few months of the Iraq War that virtually guaranteed the mess we are now in. The power of No End in Sight lies not necessarily in its recitation of these errors—although they are mind-boggling—but in the way the director of the film has managed to bring together, in one place, a veritable battering ram of experts who expose these deadly mistakes without pulling any punches. The men and women interviewed here were hired by Bush’s team because they had years of foreign policy training, and yet nearly every important decision they were paid to make was undermined or overruled by a small cadre of neo-conservative fantasists with little or no experience. Cheney, Rumsfeld and Paul Bremer formed a triad of incompetence so unprepared for an undertaking of this sort that they resorted to the only trait they were masters at: stubborn, willful, insulting obstinacy. What is great about No End in Sight is that the talking heads assembled here form a jury of such damning precision that the movie may as well have been called “Nowhere to Hide.”
Under-the-Radar: The Lookout (2007)
The movie has bad guys, good guys and good women gone bad. There are drugs, sex, guns and a shootout. It’s all pretty conventional…except that The Lookout has a few things going for it that transforms what could have been a routine, disposable thriller into one terrifically watchable Saturday afternoon matinee. What makes this movie good is not so hard to figure out: An excellent script, a tightly focused pace and top-notch performances. The talented and, it must be said, beautiful young actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the lookout of the title, a former high school Mr. Popular who suffered brain damage in a car accident that killed two friends. As a result, he experiences short-term memory problems, writes notes to himself, always locks his keys in the car and is suited only for a job as a bank janitor. His roommate is the older, and blind, Jeff Daniels (who is excellent). One of the more surprising elements of this often surprising little film is their relationship; neither one is so debilitated that he couldn’t survive on his own, but together they keep each other laughing and dreaming of a restaurant they want to open together. The Lookout was written and directed by Scott Frank, a veteran Hollywood screenwriter who wrote the entertaining Steven Soderbergh crime picture, Out of Sight. This is his first film as a director. He doesn’t do anything fancy with the camera, but he understands that the first rule of screenwriting is to show, not tell; and the second rule (although it’s a rule I made up) is to always deliver information in an interesting way. Frank does that, and he makes sure that the loose detail he introduces in the first act will play an integral part of the action in the third. The Lookout is not, nor is it intended to be, a masterpiece, but it’s a damn fine film that will make you wonder why more movies can’t be this unpretentiously good.
Give This a Miss: Away From Her (2006)
This film is a moving one, but the reason I can’t recommend it is because it’s not particularly accurate in its depiction of the ravages of Alzheimer’s Disease. As played by Julie Christie, Fiona, a woman who sees her future and checks into a care facility much to the dismay of her husband, is all too graceful, too well-kempt and too often given to moments of poetic clarity and icy lucidity. She is, after all, Julie Christie, who simply looks too good to be dying of a bastard of a disease that leaves people looking haggard, bewildered, ground down by anxiety, wasted and completely lost. Her makeup is just right, her hair too carefully placed. She sits up and delivers perfectly timed epithets that take her husband, and us, by surprise. Director (and actress) Sarah Polley’s film would have been better, more harrowing and thereby more illuminating if she had coached Christie to play it raw rather than refined. Viewers with an Alzheimer’s patient in their own family may weep at this movie, and then go home to see their own loved one ravaged by a despair that Away From Her shies away from.
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October 16th, 2007 | Category: Rus Thompson's Short Takes | By Rustin Thompson
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Shekhar Kapur
Dramas, even Oscar-nominated ones, rarely get sequels unless they're filled with web-crawlers, Decepticons, or Tyrannosaurus Rexes. So when Shekhar Kapur received a greenlight to film the period piece Elizabeth: The Golden Age--his return to the lace and frills first introduced in 1998's Elizabeth--it came as an interesting turn of events for many.
For the story's continuation, released to theaters Friday, October 12, 2007, Kapur convinced Aussie Cate Blanchett to reprise her Oscar-nominated role as the young monarch, with Geoffrey Rush returning as Sir Francis Walsingham. This time around Queen Elizabeth finds herself comfortably seated on the royal throne, just as intrigue and danger descend upon the court once again.
October 15th, 2007 | Category: Moviemaker of the Week | By Andre Ward
Tony Gilroy
The Oscar buzz had already begun when Tony Gilroy's directorial debut, Michael Clayton made its North American debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September. Released nationwide this past Friday, October 12, 2007, this movie marks a watershed moment for Gilroy as he expands on his already action-packed screenwriting credentials. Michael Clayton stars George Clooney as a "fixer" for a prestigious law firm--a glorified janitor who covers up clients' dirty deeds so big players can stay on top. Faced with a crucial settlement against an agrochemical company, the firm's star litigator goes off the deep end, and Clayton must rein him in to preserve the lucrative case.
But Clayton must also look at himself and face the consequences of his work--much like the hero Gilroy constructed for the popular Bourne trilogy. The New York screenwriter scripted all of the movies in the trilogy, which have been widely lauded as top-quality, nail-biting spy films.
October 15th, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week | By Andre Ward
Florida Media Market
"Our aim is to eliminate the 'starving artist' mentality and emphasize the business aspect of moviemaking," explains Florida Media Market founder Maritza Guimet. Based in Southern Florida, the Florida Media Market is a non-profit organization meant to connect the independent film community with international financiers, distributors and other members of the business half of the moviemaking process. As a moviemaker herself, Guimet had often undergone the arduous process of appealing to outsiders for funding and attending international markets to do so. Finding a great many people interested in the Sunshine State's moviemaking community--particularly the growing Latino contingent--she brought together the Florida Media Market and it's annual Global Film and Media Market.
October 15th, 2007 | Category: Festival of the Week | By Mallory Potosky
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>The Heartbreak Kids: Bobby & Peter Farrelly
Watching the Farrelly brothers' career evolve is a lot like watching a kid grow up. They started primarily with gross-out humor (see the scene in Dumb & Dumber where a character drinks a bottle of urine, or the infamous "hair gel" scene in There�s Something About Mary), but as they grew, they began to focus more on human emotions and interactions.
October 8th, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week | By Brian Hickey
Ang Lee’s Lust
Looking for the careful attention to detail and confident touch of an experienced auteur for that sweeping tale of romance? These days it would seem the man to go to for just such a feat is director Ang Lee. In the past he delicately balanced comedy and period drama in his adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility; paved the way for Chinese language martial arts films to appeal to every segment of the American population through Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; and turned the not-widely-accepted idea of homosexual love and devotion into engaging dinner conversation with Brokeback Mountain. He's back at it again this year, tackling the boundaries of affection during the Japanese occupation of China in the racy Lust, Caution.
October 8th, 2007 | Category: Moviemaker of the Week | By Mallory Potosky
Action/Cut’s Crash Course in Film
Not everyone can shell out thousands of dollars or spare the years necessary to attend film school. So Guy Magar, director of such movies as Children of the Corn: Revelation, has boiled down the essentials into one weekend of intense instruction. With his tutelage, the Action/Cut Filmmaking Seminars offer a comprehensive overview of the moviemaking process light on theory and heavy on actual film breakdown.
October 7th, 2007 | Category: Film School of the Week | By Andre Ward
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