Robert Preston

The son of a garment maker, Robert Preston Meservey was born on this day in 1918 in Newton, Massachusetts. He grew up in Los Angeles, California and became involved in theater in high school. He dropped his last name and joined the Pasadena County Playhouse where he performed with a number of other up-and-comers and was eventually discovered. Preston gained notoriety when he became a favorite casting choice of director Cecil B. DeMille. The two collaborated three times in four years, but Preston openly detested his benefactor. He is probably best known for his portrayal of Harold Hill in 1962’s The Music Man.

Quotable: “A man can’t turn tail and run just because a little personal risk is involved. What did Shakespeare say? ‘Cowards die a thousand deaths, the brave man… only 500’?” --Preston as Harold Hill in The Music Man

June 7th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 4

Short Takes: The Wide Shots and the Close-Ups

New Release of the Month: Apocalypto (2006)
As a director, Mel Gibson is a sadist. He revels in blood and gore, happy to provide us with three beheadings when one is probably enough. He has an antediluvian view of civilization: Life is nasty and brutish and shorter than the running time of his films. He is a simplistic storyteller, with a moral view as blunt as a caveman’s club. But as a cineaste, he is a savage lover of film, and Apocalypto is a forceful and powerful piece of moviemaking. Gibson is committed to a vision so uncompromising and vividly realized that you are willingly transported to the vanished world that he and his crew have created. Apocalypto is a spellbinding adventure tale, a journey filled with heart-stopping action and suspense and a final climax that involves you completely in the fate of the main character, a Mayan warrior named Jaguar Paw.

Favorite of the Month: The Good German (2006)
This picture is a dazzling exercise in style, and, for much of the movie’s running time, a crackerjack film noir. It’s another example of how Steven Soderbergh is one of the few directors working today willing to experiment with the formal process of moviemaking and storytelling. The experiments sometimes fail (just watch, if you can, last summer’s hideous Bubble). Some critics called The Good German a disaster as well but in nearly every way the movie accomplishes exactly what Soderbergh set out to do, which was to recreate a 1945 post-war black and white thriller, shot on studio back lots with rear projection exteriors, inserted newsreel footage, glamorous stars and a complex plot involving a femme fatale, a morally compromised hero and the early rumblings of the Cold War.
 
Under-the-Radar Movie of the Month: In This World (2002)
British moviemaker Michael Winterbottom took a small crew and two even smaller digital cameras to Pakistan shortly after 9/11 to make this breathless, poignant true-to-life story of two Afghan teenagers who embark on a cross-country journey from the refugee fields of Pakistan to the slums of London. Even though the story is a set-up, and the two boys are “acting,” everything else feels real and immediate in this picture. It’s a gripping, exhilarating example of how the tools of digital moviemaking, used with care and without the baggage of demanding big studio budgets, can result in bracing, topical cinema.

Documentary of the Month: Touching the Void (2003)
This is an absorbing, almost physically wrenching viewing experience. It’s the tale of two men mountaineering in the Andes and what happens when one of them has an accident that results in a life-and-death decision made by his climbing partner. And that’s just the beginning of the story! Normally the mixing of present-day, real-life interviews with dramatic reenactments results in a cheesy, unfulfilling attempt by moviemakers to cover up what should have remained an article in Outside magazine. But the technique works thrillingly in this documentary, a film about friendship and survival that evolves into a philosophical consideration of regret.
 
Classic Movie of the Month: Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Director Stanley Kubrick was often criticized for the cold, malevolent view of humanity presented in his films. But does the diabolical media brainwashing in A Clockwork Orange or the mechanical soldiers conditioned by a brutal boot camp sergeant in Full Metal Jacket seem so farfetched? How about a group of white male politicians planning their post-apocalyptic utopia in an underground bunker? Kubrick first intended Dr. Strangelove to be played as straight drama, but he thought the plot was too outlandish for audiences to believe it. What would he think now, with a current American administration that is, to quote Martin Scorsese, “beyond parody?” Satire seems an ancient lost art in comedies these days, since it requires a world-weary wit and performers with finesse and timing. Watch Peter Sellers in this timeless masterpiece and you’ll see what I mean.
 
Give this a Miss: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Pan’s Labyrinth is a cold and grim piece of work. It feels mechanically assembled rather than crafted. All spontaneity seems ground out of the plot. Its motive as allegory is obvious, and the film’s fantasy elements, including a grotesque talking faun, a giant bullfrog and twittering, shape shifting, flying fairies are—if you’re not into these kinds of things—too repulsive to look at. Fans of horror and fantasy will love this, but reality-based audiences are likely to blink more than once at director Guillermo del Toro’s self-indulgent sadism and creepiness. The story, set in a Spanish forest during Franco’s repressive regime, is the kind of metaphorical fairy tale that contains its own synthetic and malleable logic, so it doesn’t seem to me to be a particularly profound task to bend the fantasy creatures to the necessities of the plot. This makes del Toro’s reliance on shock effects such as the gnawing off of tiny fairy heads and a mandrake root that transforms into an infant seem random and beside the point.  

Check back in July for Rustin Thompson’s next edition of “Short Takes.” Read more about Rustin Thompson at www.rustinthompson.com.

June 7th, 2007 | Category: | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 1

Dean Martin

Dean Martin was born on this day in 1917 in Steubenville, Ohio. His real name was Dino Paul Crocetti, which he used until around 1940, when he started performing on radio broadcasts with local acts. In 1946, he teamed up with longtime comedy partner Jerry Lewis and together they achieved stardom. He took up acting and together the two starred in 11 films. In 1958, friction drove the comedy duo apart but Martin’s career continued to be a prosperous one. All told, Dean Martin appeared in 51 movies and hosted many television programs. He had his own show (under different names) for 19 years and had 40 Top 100 singles between 1951 and 1968. He died on Christmas Day, 1995.

Factoid: Only three of Martin’s songs ever went to number one: “That’s Amore,” “Memories Are Made of This” and “Everybody Loves Somebody.”

June 6th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 2

Online Film Casting Call from MySpace and Paramount Vantage

You think you got the moves to stand out in a MySpace crowd? Prove it!

Paramount Vantage and MySpace have partnered to create the first ever, online film casting call. Three grand prize winners will have their on-camera debut in Paramount Vantage’s major motion picture, How She Move.

Three (3) lucky grand prize winners will be flown out to the Toronto movie set on an all-expense-paid trip to meet the cast and be in a major scene in the film. Submit your photo now to http://www.myspace.com/howshemove.

Entrants will submit photos from their profiles to the film’s dedicated MySpace profile - http://myspace.com/howshemove. Producers of the film will then choose three winners, who will be flown out to the movie set to meet the cast and participate in the filming of a major scene.

Winners will have the opportunity to film behind-the-scenes footage on the set. The winner’s footage will be professionally edited by Paramount Vantage and posted on the film’s MySpace profile and the winner’s profile. The contest will run through 6/11/07 and rules will be posted on MySpace.

Paramount Vantage’s director of interactive marketing, Bladimiar Norman said, “The partnership with MySpace is not only an exciting opportunity to offer three people the chance of a lifetime, but also an innovative way to build awareness of the film within its target audience.”

“This is the first time MySpace has partnered with a major motion picture to allow our users the chance to win a walk-on role,” said Josh Brooks, vice president of content and programming for MySpace. “MySpace is the perfect platform to spread excitement for the film and offer our users a unique casting opportunity for How She Move.”

The film centers on a high school student who is forced to leave her private school to return to her old, crime-filled neighborhood, where she rekindles her passion for step dancing. When she enters an international step competition in hopes of changing her destiny, she learns that winning may come at a price. The film is scheduled for release in early 2008.

June 6th, 2007 | Category: Happenings | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 10

Vittorio Storaro’s Caravaggio at NYC’s Lincoln Center

Oscar-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC (Apocalypse Now, Reds, The Last Emperor) recently shot Caravaggio, about the renowned artist whom Storaro says was an inspiration for his own life’s work. The U.S. premiere of Caravaggio is at the Open Roads: New Italian Cinema Showcase at the Walter Reade Theater at New York City’s Lincoln Center. Screenings are scheduled at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, June 8 and at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 10. The Showcase program describes Caravaggio as “a sumptuous, riveting evocation of the life and work of the great Renaissance painter photographed by master cinematographer Vittorio Storaro.” Columbia University will also screen the film during a Caravaggio seminar on September 24 in conjunction with the New York Film Festival. Storaro will speak at that seminar. Caravaggio was produced by Institut del Cinema Català (I.C.C.), Televisió de Catalunya (TV3) and Titania Produzioni. A three-hour version of Caravaggio will air on the RAI Fiction television network in Italy in the fall. The cinema version is two hours. For more information, visit http://www.filmlinc.com.

June 6th, 2007 | Category: Happenings | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 1

Little Miss Sunshine

On this day in 2005, Little Miss Sunshine began shooting. With a budget of $8 million, the project was five years in the making as the moviemakers struggled to find financing. The film went on to debut at Sundance in 2006 where it received a standing ovation and an offer from Fox Searchlight Pictures for $10 million, one of the biggest offers ever made in festival’s history. By September 2006, Little Miss Sunshine was playing on 1,500 screens nationwide and had become a bona fide critical darling. By the end of the year, it had grossed nearly $60 million at the box office and been nominated for two Golden Globes and four Oscars (including Best Picture). Sunshine won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (for Alan Arkin) and Best Original Screenplay (for Michael Arndt).

Factoid: Abigail Breslin wore a fat suit to play Olive, whose dream it was to win the titular pageant.

June 5th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Film School of the Week: California College of the Arts

Thanks to the digital revolution, the tools of the moviemaking trade are now easily available to everyone. And while these advancements have created a new wave of moviemakers able to utilize the technology, that does not mean that all of them are necessarily able to bring together a cohesive and compelling movie. That’s where an education becomes useful--and the California College of the Arts steps in.
Beginning in the fall of 2008, the school will launch a new all-digital graduate film program, which, much like the school’s earliest classes, will be used to teach concepts based on the latest technological advancements. “Ultimately we are approaching digital [technology] as a tool with new aesthetic possibilities," explains Academy Award winner and CCA program chair Rob Epstein.

In 1907 cabinetmaker Frederick Meyer founded the California College of the Arts to educate students on the trades of the Arts and Crafts movement--a movement developed in response to the new technology of the Industrial Revolution. German-bred Meyer began with $45 in funds, three teachers and three classrooms. Today, CCA students roam two campuses and study 19 different undergraduate program--ranging from sculpture to the written word--and six fields of graduate work. Digital, narrative moviemaking is the next logical step.

“In keeping with the goals of the college, we see exciting possibilities for a narrative film program within an arts context,” says Epstein. Plus, “we will be ahead of the digital tsunami that is about to hit every film program, as well as the film industry--if I hasn’t already.”

Applications for the first semester of CCA’s graduate film program are due later this year. For more information, visit www.cca.edu.

Sound Off: The moviemaking world is still abuzz with word of the impending “digital revolution.” Where do you think this revolution will take us next? Let us know in the “Comments” section.

June 4th, 2007 | Category: Film School of the Week | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 12

Cannibal Holocaust

Cannibal Holocaust started shooting on this day in 1980. Directed by Ruggero Deodato, this film was part of a wave of exploitation era Italian films about cannibals and easily the most recognized of all of them. Featuring the actual killings of seven animals, graphic scenes of cannibalism and a racist portrayal of Amazonian natives, Deodato’s commentary on violence in the media has been a subject of controversy from the moment of its release. After 10 days at the domestic box office, the film was seized under suspicion of being a snuff film (a rumor that endured for years). In response, several countries banned Cannibal Holocaust, including Australia and the U.K. Still, many critics have commended Deodato on his direction and the conscientious message the film conveyed. Holocaust remains one of the most notorious grindhouse films of all time.

Factoid: Ruggero Deodato makes a cameo appearance in Eli Roth’s upcoming Hostel: Part II.

June 3rd, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 3

Screenwriter of the Week: Judd Apatow

Judd Apatow is just a loyal, humble kid from Long Island. Or so he would have you think. The truth is, he’s a loyal, humble, funny as hell kid from Long Island. And don’t you forget it.

Influenced by the likes of Bill Murray and Steve Martin, Apatow’s career has slowly blossomed into a comedian’s fantasy. Before garnering critical acclaim as a writer-director on the television series “Freaks and Geeks,” the comedian enjoyed stints on the writing teams of “The Ben Stiller Show” and “The Larry Sanders Show.” But it wasn’t until his 2005 directorial debut, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, that audiences finally discovered this was the wizard behind some of the funniest big- and small-screen comedies of the past 15 years.

Now the wizard is back with his unlikely band of brothers in Knocked Up. The comedy, starring “Grey’s Anatomy” star Katherine Heigl and Apatow regular Seth Rogen, offers the Apatow staple: A journey toward being good. “Basically, I try and make these movies with the thought that they’re about trying hard not to be an asshole,” explains the moviemaker. In this case, that means Rogen’s character will try to transform himself from pot-smoking slacker to responsible father figure in the nine months it takes his one-night stand to deliver their baby. “Hopefully,” Apatow muses, it’s “ultimately an uplifting movie about love and people trying to make connections with odd bedfellows.” And really, that’s all we ask for from this entertaining boy next door.

Sound off: While the story and screenplay might be all his own, Judd Apatow practices what he calls “writing a movie on its feet,” where improvisation is encouraged and often yields hilarious results. Of all the writer’s work, which line or exchange still manages to stand out? Share your thoughts in our comments section!

June 3rd, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 4

Top of the Box Office

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Buena Vista
Weekend Gross: $43,188,000
Total Gross: $216,527,000

2. Knocked Up
Universal
Weekend Gross: $29,284,000
Total Gross: $29,284,000

3. Shrek the Third
Dreamworks SKG
Weekend Gross: $26,704,000
Total Gross: $254,611,000

4. Mr. Brooks
MGM
Weekend Gross: $10,020,000
Total Gross: $10,020,000

5. Spider-Man 3
Sony Pictures
Weekend Gross: $7,500,000
Total Gross: $318,264,000

Totals courtesy of www.the-numbers.com.

June 3rd, 2007 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By MovieMaker Staff

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Moviemaker of the Week: Steven Soderbergh

In 1989 Steven Soderbergh began the Sundance Revolution--the beginning of the independent film movement as we know it today--when he premiered his low-budget feature sex, lies, and videotape at the iconic Park City festival. Its unconventional story and exceptional performances created the fest’s first true bidding frenzy among attending distributors and earned its director quite a few awards, including the Palme d’Or at that year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Soderbergh returned to Cannes this May with the premiere of his most recent project, Ocean’s Thirteen, the second sequel to his hit 2001 crime caper, Ocean’s Eleven. Ready to defend one of their own, the Ocean’s band of characters reunites with the goal of taking down one of Sin City’s wealthiest casino owners. Like its predecessors, the movie stars an impressive assemblage of today’s hottest acting talent, including Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Al Pacino, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle and frequent Soderbergh collaborator George Clooney.

After directing Clooney in 1998’s Out of Sight, the moviemaking pair established a production company, Section Eight, out of which emerged most future directorial efforts from both men. In 2001 Soderbergh achieved a feat few before have ever experienced: Two Best Director Academy Award nominations for Erin Brockovich and Traffic--the latter of which brought him home the trophy.

“For me, as a producer, there’s Steven Soderbergh and then there’s everybody else,” explains Jerry Weintraub, who has worked on all three Ocean’s movies with the renowned director. “In everything we have done together, we have a wonderful partnership. Any accolade that can be said about the guy, he lives up to. He is simply great.”

June 3rd, 2007 | Category: Moviemaker of the Week | By Mallory Potosky

Comments: 4

In Theaters Now: June 1, 2007

Day Watch
directed by Timur Bekmambetov
This sequel to 2004’s Night Watch finally sees a limited U.S. release after finding great success in its native Russia last year. For those unfamiliar with the trilogy, the Watch movies are a modern day darkness versus light story about the guardians who make sure the two remain separate. Night Watch was hardly watchable--it just didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Having said that, the sequels (this one and the upcoming Dusk Watch) are rumored to be vast improvements. Let’s hope that’s the case because I’d really hate to have to take down my Anna Kournikova poster over this.

Gracie
directed by Davis Guggenheim
This is a semi-autobiographical account of Elisabeth Shue’s childhood struggle to play soccer with the boys. In addition to producing with her brother, Andrew, Elisabeth returned to her New Jersey hometown to co-star (with her husband at the helm). We can assume that Gracie will reach its audience and do fairly well. It’s heart-warming in a sense to see a family come together and create art. At the same time, this does seem terribly narcissistic, doesn’t it?  On the other hand, you wouldn’t call a memoir narcissistic. Call me a hater.

Knocked Up
directed by Judd Apatow
We here at MM are very excited for Apatow’s latest. We expect this one to be every bit as fun and well received as his previous directing effort, The 40-Year-Old Virgin. In fact, it’s not too bold to suggest that this movie will do for longtime Apatow buddy Seth Rogen what Virgin did for Steve Carell. And where the last one didn’t hit theaters until mid-August, Knocked Up is set to hit the summer market straight on and show serious legs. Its release this week can’t come soon enough for all R-rated comedy lovers.

Mr. Brooks
directed by Bruce A. Evans
Kevin Costner, William Hurt and Dane Cook are all said to show their range in this dark thriller about a mild-mannered businessman (Costner) with a psychotic alter ego (Hurt). Cook plays his devious accomplice. It’s really hard to tell if a film in this genre is any good. Add to that the fact that Costner’s films are uneven at best and Mr. Brooks looks to be a real gamble. But there’s a lot of talent in this cast and something tells us this film is a cut above the competition.

Rise: Blood Hunter
directed by Sebastian Gutierrez
What a terrible, terrible title. It gives me heartburn. Reporter Lucy Liu wakes up in a morgue and realizes she is one of the undead. Then she goes back to reporting the news. I lied. That might actually be a fresh idea for a movie. Instead she takes the predictable course of seeking out the vampire sect who took her life. If this movie were sitting outside the theater in a wheelchair with a little tin cup and a crying infant, I wouldn’t give it my money.

--Kevin McCarthy

May 31st, 2007 | Category: In Theaters Now | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 2

Morgan Freeman

On this day in 1937, Morgan Freeman was born in Memphis, Tennessee. After four years as an Air Force mechanic, Freeman began his acting career on the stage before trying film in the 1970s. His breakout role was as New York pimp “Fast Black” in 1987’s Street Smart opposite Christopher Reeve, for which he earned an Oscar nomination. He followed this up with an extraordinary performance in 1989’s Driving Miss Daisy, garnering him a second nomination from the Academy. By the 1990s, his reputation as one of modern cinema’s foremost actors had been established. He supplements his acting career with frequent voice work, providing the narration for many of his own films as well as other major motion pictures such as 2005’s March of the Penguins.

Factoid: Morgan Freeman is the only African-American actor to appear in three Best Picture Oscar winners: Driving Miss Daisy, Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby.

May 31st, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 3

Clint Eastwood

One of today’s living legends was born on this day in 1930. Clint Eastwood began acting circa 1955, performing in B movies for Universal. A year and a half later, the studio dropped him (rumor being because a studio executive thought his Adam’s Apple was too big). Eastwood rebounded with a part on the long-running CBS western “Rawhide,” which led to his Man With No Name role in 1964 in Sergio Leone’s classic spaghetti western trilogy--A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Eastwood cemented his star status with the title role in Dirty Harry, a part he would reprise in its four sequels. Today he is equally well known as a talented director, having been nominated for three directing Oscars in the past four years and winning once. He has also served as producer on several of his films, accepting a Best Picture Academy Award in 2004 for Million Dollar Baby.

Factoid: On “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” Clint recounted how surprised he was to find himself starring in the hit film A Fistful of Dollars in 1964. The title had been The Magnificent Stranger up until days before the premiere and no one had clued him in.

May 30th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 3

Location of the Week: Shreveport, LA

Shreveport is beginning to get a creepy reputation. Located on the banks of the Red River in northwest Louisiana, Shreveport has emerged as a choice location for moviemakers from all over. According to a 2000 census, 12 percent of the city’s area is covered in water in the form of tributaries and wetlands, making it a great place to get that authentic bayou setting on film. So far this year, both The Reaping and Premonition have shown off some of Shreveport’s arresting landscapes. With Frank Darabont’s Steven King adaptation of The Mist arriving in November, we can only assume Shreveport is going to get even spookier.

But there’s another side that moviemakers are exploring. The state’s third-largest city, Shreveport serves as the cultural center for a large area covering parts of Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas. Kevin Costner must have enjoyed his time in Shreveport during the filming of last year’s The Guardian; he returned to the city play the title role in the upcoming Mr. Brooks, about an ironically split-personality businessman.

The city’s Economic Development Coordinator, Arlena Acree, says Shreveport prides itself on its accommodations. “Any buildings owned by the city or parish are free for use as locations and an advanced transportation infrastructure means you can shoot at four or five different places in a single day.” This is a film-friendly city, with special locations (an empty jail cell, for instance) set aside for moviemakers. The best part is Shreveport is very affordable and the State of Louisiana offers incentives to local talent.

For more information, visit www.shreveportfilms.com.

May 30th, 2007 | Category: Location of the Week | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 3

Screenwriter of the Week: Adrienne Shelly

Adrienne Shelly was the underground queen of indie cinema—an inspiration and champion for all her subjects—before her untimely murder in November of 2006. Earning modest success as an actress early on, Shelly stood out in films (including The Unbelievable Truth and Trust) by fellow Long Island native Hal Hartley. But while audiences might venture to understand the multifaceted moviemaker through her on-screen performances, it is Shelly’s off-screen work for which she strived to be better known. That is the work that can best tell the tale of her reign.

As an active advocate for female moviemakers, Shelly promoted her cause in the documentaries Searching for Debra Winger by Rosanna Arquette and In Their Own Words for IFC. As part of the New York film community she became a founding board member of the Gen Art Film Festival and passed along her moviemaking skills to students at the One on One Studios and New York University. Yet, to really know this late, great moviemaker, look no further than her own shorts and features, including the recent Sundance hit Waitress.

Out this week in limited release, Waitress is the very personal tale of pregnancy, love and baked goods that warm the soul. Written and directed by Shelly, the movie, although not autobiographical, brings to light some of the hesitant feelings of impending motherhood she herself developed with her own bun in the oven. More than that though, the movie is a culmination of Shelly’s vision and art brought to life. “I’ve never met anyone with such a strong vision--such an amazing sense of exactly what she wanted,” producer Michael Roiff told MM earlier this year. “If you look back at her script, her stage directions aren’t ‘suggestions’—they are specific to the very last detail—and that all shows up on screen.”

Though her rule has tragically ended, the legacy of writer-director-actress Adrienne Shelly will be one for the history books.

Sound Off: Adrienne Shelly’s life was cut short just before Sundance audiences (and now people everywhere) began falling in love with Waitress. Cinema history is full of tales of unrealized recognition. Who is your favorite moviemaker to not get his/her due until after passing?

May 30th, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 4

Top of the Box Office

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Buena Vista
Weekend Gross: $114,732,820
Total Gross: $127,972,864

2. Shrek the Third
Dreamworks SKG
Weekend Gross:  $53,039,992
Total Gross: $203,378,450

3. Spider-Man 3
Sony Pictures
Weekend Gross: $14,335,436
Total Gross: $303,977,758

4. Bug
Lionsgate
Weekend Gross: $3,245,556
Total Gross: $3,245,556

5. Waitress
Fox Searchlight
Weekend Gross: $3,076,035
Total Gross: $5,593,423

Totals courtesy of www.the-numbers.com.

May 30th, 2007 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Howard Hawks

One of the most under-celebrated directors of his time, Howard Hawks was born on this day in 1896. Over his career, beginning in the pre-studio days of the 1910s, through the silent era and lasting into the early 1970s, Hawks directed nearly 50 films, including classics like Scarface (1932), Sergeant York (1941), The Big Sleep (1946) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). Today he is remembered among the likes of great American directors like John Ford and Orson Welles, yet, the Academy recognized him with only one nomination, in 1942. John Ford won for The Grapes of Wrath that year, beating out Sergeant York and Welles’ masterpiece Citizen Kane. Hawks would not get his own Oscar until 1971, when the Academy voted to recognize him with a special award. Despite living in an era dominated by the studios, Hawks successfully produced and developed scripts for his own films, serving as a model for later writer-director-producers who would rise in esteem after the breakdown of the studio system.

Quotable: “A good movie is three good scenes and no bad scenes.”

May 29th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Bob Hope

Leslie Townes Hope was born in London on this day in 1903, the fifth of seven sons. His father, a stonemason, moved them to Cleveland, Ohio in 1907. Hope performed locally for several years and was discovered by comedian Fatty Arbuckle in 1925. A year later, he met George Burns and they traveled the vaudeville circuit with a pair of tap-dancing conjoined twins. He performed on several musicals and by the mid-1930s had begun doing films. It was around this time Leslie Townes Hope changed his name to Bob Hope, in response to a persistent nickname following him around: “Hopelessly.” Most of Hope’s fame came from his long tenure with radio and television (his relationship with NBC lasted over 60 years). Though never an Oscar winner, Hope is remembered as one of the great hosts of the Academy Awards, hosting or co-hosting 18 in all.

Quotable: “Welcome to the Academy Awards or, as it’s known at my house, Passover.”

May 28th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 1

This Day in Indie History: Saved!

Brian Dannelly’s Saved! went into limited release in the U.S. on this day in 2004. Produced by Michael Stipe’s Single Cell Pictures, Saved! was picked up for distribution by MGM/UA at Sundance earlier in the year. Dannelly wrote Saved! with his partner Michael Urban during their time together at the American Film Institute. They continue to work together and have several upcoming projects. Saved! was generally well-received as a smart, fair satire of Evangelical Christianity, but reactions among the religious community were varied. Dannelly staged several screenings for religious groups and used the film as a springboard for enlightened discourse. The success of this film paved the way for more serious material like the 2006 documentary Jesus Camp.

Factoid: Brian Dannelly dropped out of his Christian high school after receiving too many demerits.

May 28th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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In Theaters Now: May 25, 2007

Angel-A
directed by Luc Besson
Luc Besson’s 2005 romantic comedy, which he also wrote, finally hits North America in limited release. Andre, broke and deep in debt, decides to end it all by jumping into the Seine. But moments before him, a girl jumps first and he dives in to save her. You can probably fill in the blanks from here on out. The title could leave a little to the imagination, but a rom-com is a rom-com, and we’re betting the title in French sounds subtler.

The Boss of It All
directed by Lars von Trier
Danish moviemaker Lars von Trier’s little office comedy gets a limited release this weekend. The owner of an IT company hires an actor when a potential buyer wants to meet face to face with its fictional president. We’re willing to give this light comedy the benefit of the doubt. Though von Trier is not known for comedy, he tackles a few familiar themes with this one and seems to have pulled it off. If this sounds like something you would want to see, you probably won’t be disappointed. Take a pass if you’re still asking yourself, “Who’s Lars von Trier?”

Bug
directed by William Friedkin
The trailer for Bug reminds us that William Friedkin won an Oscar for directing The Exorcist. But that was almost 35 years ago. More recently he’s done Rules of Engagement (2000) and The Hunted (2003). His newest effort is about a paranoid Gulf War veteran holed up in a seedy motel room with a woman in hiding. People will probably go see this, because something about claustrophobic thrillers just gets them going. But when Lionsgate balks at a planned winter release and decides to put this up against Pirates instead, chances are this movie is five forms of lame. However, Bug was originally a play, and Friedkin has some experience with adaptations, so we could be wrong.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
directed by Gore Verbinski
Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann and Captain Barbossa team up to save Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones’ Locker. Here comes the third of the franchise juggernauts to join the summer blockbustin’ fray. Its opponents have already combined for a box office take topping $400 million. So how will Pirates size up? It’s a long one, running longer than Dead Man’s Chest, which many complained was too convoluted already. But the last adventure was still a lot of fun, looked terrific and made mountains of money. With the addition of Chow Yun-Fat and Keith Richards (playing Jack’s dad), we expect this third installment to blow the competition out of the water…. Moreover, we fully expect a Roger Ebert pull quote to that effect to appear in newspapers nationwide by next week. Other lines to look out for: “A terrific franchise Swann song,” “Jack, Kraken, Pop: The most important meal of the day” and “A theme park ride!”

--Kevin McCarthy

May 24th, 2007 | Category: In Theaters Now | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Bill “Bojangles” Robinson

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson was born on this day in 1878 in Richmond, Virginia. His career as a performer began at six years old. At seven, Robinson left school to concentrate on dancing and by 15, “Bojangles” had become the toast of Broadway. In the late 1920s, the popularity of black revues grew among white audiences and Robinson became a star. He appeared in several Hollywood comedy musicals, usually playing servant characters in antebellum America. Though his stardom waned in the 1940s, he was still wildly popular among audiences until his death at the end of the decade.

Factoid: May 25th is National Tap Dancing Day, in honor of Robinson’s birthday.

May 24th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Lincoln Motion Picture Company

Noble Johnson, an established actor of the silent era, and his brother, George, founded the Lincoln Motion Picture Company on this day in 1915. As the first studio owned and operated by African Americans, the company’s purpose, as Noble put it, was to present the African American “in his everyday life, a human being with human inclination and one of talent and intellect.” Having only a handful of employees and only finding booking opportunities in churches, schools and “Colored Only” theaters, Lincoln Motion Pictures failed to achieve any level of notoriety. Though the studio heroically struggled, it would close after five years, being credited with only six films. By Right of Birth was the studio’s last effort and the only one to accept white investors. The release proved unprofitable and ultimately the death blow to the venture. Still, these films served as a necessary response to disturbingly racist films like D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915) and an example for African American moviemakers throughout cinema.

Factoid: George Johnson hired 10 of the prettiest girls he could find to sell tickets to the two-day premiere of By Right of Birth and succeeded in selling out the event. Unfortunately, this marketing strategy did not have the legs to capture the public’s interest.

May 23rd, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Robert Lansing

On this day in 1928, American actor Robert Lansing was born. His given name was Robert Brown, but he chose the surname “Lansing” after the capital city of Michigan. Lansing began acting in the 1950s on Broadway, a place he’d return to periodically throughout his career. In the decades that followed, he gained a reputation as a TV action star with series like “87th Precinct,” “Branded,” “The Man Who Never Was” and “The Equalizer.” He also made two notable appearances in the science fiction classics “Star Trek” and “The Twilight Zone.” Late in his career, he served as president of The Players, a fraternal club of theatrical professionals. He died in 1994 at the age of 66 shortly after filming the final episode of “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.”

Factoid: The series finale of “Kung Fu,” which aired three weeks after his death, was dedicated in memory of Robert Lansing.

May 23rd, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Schindler’s List

On this day in 1993, filming ended on Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, four days ahead of schedule. Spielberg had shopped the film around for years, eventually trading projects with Martin Scorsese to direct it himself. He personally interviewed several Holocaust survivors, sometimes incorporating their experiences into the script. This three-hour epic retold the true story of Oskar Schindler, a Sudeten German businessman who saved the lives of over 1,000 Polish Jews by making them slave laborers in his factory. The film was unanimously lauded and was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, winning seven. It is the most commercially successful black and white film in cinematic history and is ranked among the greatest movies of all time by AFI, IMDb viewers and critics Leonard Maltin and Roger Ebert. Spielberg won his first two Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture.

Factoid: In 1998, Steven Spielberg received the highest civil distinction the Federal Republic of Germany has for his sensible representation of Germany’s history in this film.

May 22nd, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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