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In Theaters Now: Hancock & The Wackness
This July 4th weekend box office demonstrates what America is all about: Big superheros and movie stars battling it out against a potential independent gem.
July 4th, 2008 | Category: In Theaters Now | By Jessica Wall
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Check out the new Astro Boy!
Yes, that's right... Astro Boy is back! The popular anime character and 1960s television star will hit the big screen next summer with help from some of Hollywood's most animated actors. Nicolas Cage, Freddie Highmore, Bill Nighy and Donald Sutherland are among those that will bring the young robot to life in a big way. Get a sneak peek and more information about this movie at the 2008 Anime Expo, taking place July 3 - 6 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Mention MovieMaker at the IMAGI booth for a free Astro Boy special edition T-shirt. Or, if you can't make it to the event, enter here to win one of your own!
July 3rd, 2008 | Category: Contests, Happenings, News/Commentary | By Mallory Potosky
Wall-E: The Little Robot That Could
Looks like Hollywood has another summer box office hit on their hands with Pixar’s new film Wall-E. The lovable little robot stormed the box office this weekend, taking in $62.5 million in ticket sales. Falling into a surprisingly close second with just over $51 million was Angelina Jolie’s action-packed thriller Wanted, also starring James McAvoy and veteran Morgan Freeman.
June 30th, 2008 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By Beth Levin
In Theaters Now: Wall-E & Wanted
Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy take on a tiny robot from outer space in this weekend's box office premieres.
June 27th, 2008 | Category: In Theaters Now | By Kyle Rupprecht
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Steve Carell Outsmarts Mike Myers at the Box Office
Steve Carell won this weekend's summer comedy battle when his new film, Get Smart, also starring Anne Hathaway, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Alan Arkin, opened in the number one spot this weekend with just under $39.2 million. Carell beat out this weekend's biggest comedy threat, Mike Myers, whose new comedy The Love Guru came in fourth, with a disappointing $14 million. Unfortunately for Myers, it seems that the newbie team of Carell and Hathaway have beat the old Mr. Powers at his own game, with their new satirical spy comedy greatly surpassing his latest effort.
June 23rd, 2008 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By Beth Levin
Riding the Knife’s Edge
”I think it’s an illness,” director Isabel Coixet says of moviemaking. “It’s a virus you get somehow when you’re a kid and it’s always with you… There is a very specific word for that, a very scientific word called algolagnia. It’s the mixture between pleasure and pain. That’s why I say it’s a virus, because there’s no way you can get rid of it—no matter what.”
Isabel almost has it right. Algolagnia is defined as the pleasure one derives from inflicting or experiencing pain. But I get where she’s going with that quote, which comes from a new interview with her that will appear in the summer issue of MovieMaker. She’s saying that moviemaking is something that many of us can’t help doing because we’re hardwired to demand the kind of rush we only feel when riding that knife’s edge between security and risk, pleasure and pain, triumph and disaster. It’s not unique to moviemakers, of course—the same can be said of skydivers, high-stakes poker players and downhill skiers. Everyone who’s attracted to extreme activities craves a heightened sensation of being alive. Not to get all existential, but isn’t that what life is—a journey along the knife’s edge between heaven and hell? Moviemakers simply embrace the journey fearlessly, and enjoy the ride immensely.
June 21st, 2008 | Category: Grassroots Moviemaker | By Timothy Rhys
In Theaters Now: Get Smart, The Love Guru & Brick Lane
Steve Carell and Mike Myers compete to see who America's favorite funnyman is while Brick Lane adds a much needed arthouse flavor to this weekend's movie options.
June 20th, 2008 | Category: In Theaters Now | By Lauren Barbato
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>MM Remembers: Stan Winston (1946-2008)
His creations are legendary. Just to name a few…The Terminator, the Jurassic Park dinosaurs, Edward Scissorhands, Aliens, The Monster Squad, Predator and, most recently, Iron Man.
Stan Winston, the Oscar-winning make-up and special effects artist and the father of many iconic movie monsters, died of cancer on Sunday. Winston’s death immediately struck a chord, both among Hollywood moviemakers who collaborated with this creative genius and passionate movie fans who were in awe of Winston’s technical mastery. Although Winston was a seasoned professional, many of his Hollywood friends have noted the childlike enthusiasm and pure joy he still held for his work, even after more than 35 years in the business.
June 18th, 2008 | Category: MM Remembers | By Kyle Rupprecht
Baseball Cap, Emblazoned With The Foot Fist Way
Okay, let’s address the female elephant in the room. Her name is Hillary and in her brave, relentless, determined, stubborn, selfish, irresponsible, ridiculous, cunning, dangerous mission to, once again, sleep in the hallowed bed of the White House, she stirred up the question, “Can a woman really lead?” How dare she have tried to usurp that title from the more capable, rational, cold-hearted, assertive, likeable, powerful, alpha-male (insert ANY of the other candidates) who not only has been born to lead (by virtue of being a man), but has been trained to tell folks what the hell to do from the time he was captain of the football team (metaphorically speaking.)
June 17th, 2008 | Category: Notes From Movieland | By Anne Norda
Hulk Smash Box Office
It may not have earned as much as Ang Lee's original 2003 attempt at the adaptation, but, as predicted, Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, William Hurt and Tim Roth, rose to the top of the box office this weekend, taking in an estimated $54.5 million.
The weekend's other big opening, M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, starring Mark Wahlberg, John Leguizmo and Zooey Deschanel, performed better than expected with $30.5 million, earning the number three spot, while the family-friendly animated flick Kung Fu Fanda, featuring the voices of Jack Black and Angelina Jolie, held strong in second place with more than $34 million in receipts.
June 16th, 2008 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By Jennifer M. Wood
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Ben Stiller vs. Kurt Vonnegut: Respecting Your Audience of One
“Every successful creative person creates with an audience of one in mind.”
—Kurt Vonnegut
We had our first reading of the screenplay Saturday at the St. Lawrence Arts Center in Portland. I had put a call out for actor/readers and a great bunch of people replied. They sat on stage and we read through the entire script and then discussed it afterward. The whole process took three-and-a-half hours and the actors and audience members all had some good comments.
June 11th, 2008 | Category: Grassroots Moviemaker | By Timothy Rhys
Persistence of Vision: Pre-Production Begins on Rufus Rex
The date is June 6th and we’ve officially begun pre-production on Rufus Rex. What does pre-production mean on a grassroots movie? When you’re the screenwriter-producer-director it means that you’ve set a date for the start of principal photography and you’ve started working backward from there. The date I’ve chosen is September 22nd and we’ll wrap 21 shooting days later, on October 18th.
Between now and then I have to hire the crew, conduct casting sessions, pick and secure locations, raise money and orchestrate a thousand details in addition to continuing to polish the script, think about shots and movement and how 100,000 or so feet of film will all cut together… Basically, I have to be half artist and half businessguy if I’m going to be successful.
June 6th, 2008 | Category: Grassroots Moviemaker | By Timothy Rhys
Pardon My French: Make it Your Way or Why Do it?
Ah, Paris in the springtime… the flowers, the mist, the music... the incredible American repertory movie programming?
Jessica and I just got back from two weeks in France (the occasion being our long-delayed honeymoon) and of all the amazing things we saw and did and ate in that country, one of my favorite memories will always be our first night in Paris, when we checked into our hotel, went up to our room, set down our bags and—romantic guy that I am—immediately left to go to the movies. A few moments earlier we had walked by the L’ Action Ecoles (“The Action School”) movie theater in the 5th Arrondissement and a double feature was about to start— Five Fingers with James Mason followed by Broken Arrow with Jimmy Stewart. And both films were in English! I could hardly believe my luck!
June 6th, 2008 | Category: Grassroots Moviemaker | By Timothy Rhys
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Indietocin: Gauntlets, Wankers and Rufus Rex
There’s immense power in not only announcing that you’re going to do something challenging and grand, but actually getting the calendar in on the act. Saying when you’re going to do it is a far different animal than talking about wanting to do it. By giving yourself parameters you’re going from “wish” to “goal.” You’re throwing down the gauntlet and taking it up, all in the same breath. Not only that, but as soon as you vocalize the concept—even to your closest friends—you’ve put your reputation on the line. Your friends will either believe you because of what you’ve shown them in the past, or they’ll smile knowingly because of what you haven’t. You’ll be the object of admiration or the ever-lovable wanker, and the beautiful thing is that it’s completely your choice.
June 6th, 2008 | Category: Grassroots Moviemaker | By Timothy Rhys
Dario Argento Releases Mother of Tears
Horror fans, rejoice: Mother of Tears, the final installment in Italian horror master Dario Argento's trilogy opens today in select theaters throughout the country. Is your local arthouse one of them? Find out below—or visit the film's official Website, http://www.motheroftearsthemovie.com, for the most up-to-date info.
June 6th, 2008 | Category: News/Commentary | By Jennifer M. Wood
“Best of the Next in Horror” Contest is a Nightmare Come True for Horror Movie Fans
Do you have a passion for the great bogeymen of horror movies? Those terrifying figures hiding in darkened theaters, who have remained in the collective unconscious since they were first unleashed on the public? You know their names: Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Leatherface. Do you have the guts to add another nightmare-inducing character to the horror hall of fame? Now's your chance, thanks to Boost Mobile’s “Best of the Next in Horror” contest.
June 5th, 2008 | Category: News/Commentary | By Kyle Rupprecht
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Hands-On Film Workshops At Cine Gear Expo
Wanna get your hands on some 35mm film? Planning to be in Los Angeles on June 20 and/or 21st for Cine Gear Expo at the Universal Studios Backlot? Then toggle your computer screen over to http://www.kodak.com/go/stopbyshootfilm and pre-register for one of their Stop By Shoot Film workshops, taking place Friday and Saturday, June 20th and 21st, at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Classes will be offered in the 35mm format on KODAK VISION3 color negative.
“Stop By Shoot Film workshops provide an opportunity for filmmakers at all stages of their careers to experiment with the latest film tools and analyze what they created,” says Kodak’s Judy Doherty.
June 4th, 2008 | Category: News/Commentary | By Jennifer M. Wood
Time to Sacrifice My 28mm
What do I do when I'm not being a director?
All right, I have a confession. I have done NOTHING even tangentially related to the film business this month. Well... in a very, very tangential way, I did something… I wrote a poem! The New Yorker just rejected it. Okay, so my mom liked it. And my friend, Vivian, in Arkansas.
Let's see, what else did I do in the cinematic realm? I… participated in the theater of life! Yeah, participated, reveled in and rejoiced in life. I spent quality time worrying about making a living. These intoxicating thought forms take a ramble through my grey matter way too often since I have become a filmmaker… I'm broke, oh dear, I'm broke, oh dear, what will I do? What will I do? I will NOT waitress… not yet… I'm broke… maybe law school… etc… etc…
June 3rd, 2008 | Category: Notes From Movieland | By Anne Norda
MM Remembers: Sydney Pollack (1934 - 2008)
This is my favorite Sydney Pollack memory: It’s December 1982 in New York, during a press junket for Tootsie. Pollack approaches the roundtable of critics and feature writers with a spring to his step and a grin on his face. He knows, based on what he’s been told about the audience reaction at last night’s press screening, that all the hard work during the troubled production was worth it, that he has a hit—a really, really big hit—on his hands.
But the smile fades from his face when one of his interviewers (no, not yours truly) casually refers to a minor glitch that occurred during the screening: For a good two or three minutes midway through the movie, the soundtrack was silenced, and the only voices that could be heard in the screening room were those of grumbling audience members. Pollack listens to an account of the technical mishap with silent but obvious displeasure. He politely excuses himself, walks to the door and motions for two or three studio reps to join him in the hallway outside. Back at the table, we can’t quite make out the precise words that are being screamed. But there’s no mistaking who is doing the screaming.
May 27th, 2008 | Category: MM Remembers | By Joe Leydon
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>These Are Free, Right?
I'm a relentless truth teller (by "truth" I do not mean the eternal truths of the universe, I mean my personal and completely self-righteous opinion). I will blurt out my truth at the drop of a hat with complete disregard for the impact it has on others. I try not to upset people, but the sad truth is… I kind of enjoy irking those who dare to disagree with me. Knowing my nasty rebellious tendencies, Tim Rhys, publisher of MM, asked me to write a bi-weekly blog. He'd read a cheeky article I wrote for a friend's blog, www.hotinhollywood.tv, and found it somewhat amusing. My initial answer was a gracious "not in a million years." I was terrified that I'd write something incriminating or embarrassing. I think that's what he was counting on. Finally, I relented.
May 20th, 2008 | Category: Notes From Movieland | By Anne Norda
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Hits Cannes
The immensely entertaining Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull gives you the same sort of pleasurable rush—a potent mix of nostalgia-fueled glee and in-the-moment excitement—that you can get from a really great concert by a favorite band that first started charting in the 1980s. That is, provided it’s a concert where (a) the original players are obviously and unashamedly older, but still at the top of the their form, (b) they play both the oldies and the new stuff with the same full-out, rock-the-house energy, (c) the new members of the group fit in seamlessly because they’ve got the same beat, and (d) a bandmate who left the group a few albums back makes a welcome return midway through the performance.
May 19th, 2008 | Category: News/Commentary | By Joe Leydon
Jaman Launches “Movie Channel for the World”
Jaman.com announced the availability of instantly streamed, HD-quality movies—for free.
With nothing more than a simple click, cineastes can watch one of 100 ad-supported titles from the online distributor's collection of more than 3,000 films at no cost. Alternatively, those viewers who are less inclined to "pay" for the free films by watching the ads can pay just $1.99 to watch them commercial-dree. “By offering a free streaming media service along with our current rental and ownership download options, we are anticipating the future of digital cinema," says Jaman founder and CEO, Gaurav Dhillon. "With streaming, we provide our community with a quality viewing experience that is free and for our advertisers, we deliver a unique audience and premium and targeted placement opportunities.”
May 15th, 2008 | Category: News/Commentary | By Jennifer M. Wood
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Top of the Box Office
This weekend at the box office saw Iron Man holding steady for the second week in a row despite anticipated competition from the newly-released Speed Racer, starring Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci and Susan Sarandon. The first movie from Marvel Studios took in over $50 million dollars this past weekend, bringing its total gross up to $175 million. Speed Racer finished second with a cool $20-plus million.
May 12th, 2008 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By Mallory Potosky
Kodak at Cannes
Since 1987 Kodak has been the official partner of the Cannes Film Festival, sponsoring the Camera d’Or prize that is awarded yearly to the best feature film by a first-time director. The tradition continues in 2008 when, for the fifth consecutive year, the festival will also hand out the Kodak Discovery Prize for Best Short Film.
“Cannes draws a huge number of filmmakers from all over the world every year, which gives Kodak a great opportunity to host our customers and show them how committed we are to the industry and to motion picture innovation,” says Kim Snyder, Kodak’s president and general manager of the Entertainment Imaging Division.
May 8th, 2008 | Category: News/Commentary | By Mallory Potosky
Who’s Your Favorite Indy Sidekick?
After 27 years and what will soon be four movies in the franchise, Indiana Jones has introduced audiences to his fair share of sidekicks. Which of Indy's co-stars has scored the biggest response from audiences? The folks at MovieTickets.com asked that very question of site visitors--and determined that 37 percent of them preferred Short Round, Jonathan Ke Quan's character in the franchise's second entry, 1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Sean Connery took a quarter of the votes for his portrayal of the elder Jones, Professor Henry Jones, Sr., in 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
May 7th, 2008 | Category: News/Commentary | By Jennifer M. Wood
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