This Day in Indie History: Marlon Brando

Can any actor can live up to the legend that is Marlon Brando, who was born on this day in 1924? The suave bad boy who popularized the leather jacket as a symbol of rebel cool, the Nebraska-born Brando’s acting techniques developed throughout his studies at the New School and the Actors Studio in New York City. Under former teacher (and celebrated director) Elia Kazan, Brando won favor as Broadway’s Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Four years later his big-screen version of the same character brought the first glimmer of fame when he received a Best Actor Oscar nomination. (This would be the first of eight nods from the Academy throughout his illustrious career.) Buff up on film history by watching his one-of-a-kind performances in 1953’s Julius Caesar, Kazan’s On the Waterfront, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather and Apocalypse Now and the 1972 classic, Last Tango in Paris. Brando’s last movie, before passing away of lung complications in 2004, was opposite Robert De Niro and Edward Norton in Frank Oz’s The Score.

Factoid: Marlon Brando was the inimitable protector in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. For his patriarchal role, the actor won the Academy Award for Best Actor but chose not to show his face at the ceremony--instead enlisting a local actress to impersonate a Native American woman and appear on his behalf. His goal was to promote equality in Hollywood for the indigenous people. It was a cause so close to Brando that he had co-founded the American Indian Movement the previous year.

April 2nd, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Top of the Box Office

1. Blades of Glory
Dreamworks SKG
Weekend Gross: $33,000,000
Total Gross: $33,000,000

2. Meet the Robinsons
Warner Bros.
Weekend Gross: $25,056,000
Total Gross: $25,056,000

3. 300
Warner Bros.
Weekend Gross: $11,155,000
Total Gross: $179,662,000

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Weinstein Co.
Weekend Gross: $9,160,000
Total Gross: $38,428,000

5. Wild Hogs
Buena Vista
Weekend Gross: $8,389,000
Total Gross: $135,355,000

6. Shooter
Paramount Pictures
Weekend Gross: $8,000,000
Total Gross: $27,212,000

7. Premonition
Sony Pictures
Weekend Gross: $5,100,000
Total Gross: $39,342,000

8. The Last Mimzy
New Line
Weekend Gross: $4,000,000
Total Gross: $16,242,000

9. The Hills Have Eyes II
Fox Searchlight
Weekend Gross: $3,925,000
Total Gross: $15,808,609

10. Reign Over Me
Sony Pictures
Weekend Gross: $3,700,000
Total Gross: $13,331,000

All data courtesy of www.the-numbers.com

April 2nd, 2007 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By MovieMaker Staff

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Exhibitor of the Week: Ironweed Films

Though some might mourn the decline of box office numbers in recent years, the fading out of the movie theater as a venue of choice has made way for some true innovations in film exhibition. Netflix has popularized the rise of the Internet and the ease of renting by mail, but what options exist for cinephiles who are looking for something off the beaten path?

Ironweed Films fills this void with their monthly Film Club, which sends a DVD compilation to its members showcasing the best of today’s socially-conscious moviemaking. Even better, the DVD is yours to keep. “We look for important, newer films that have not yet received a wider distribution. Movies that deal with meaningful issues--censorship, war, our impact on the environment,” says David Steuer, head of production at Ironweed’s parent company, Act Now Productions. For instance, the latest installment of the Film Club, which explored the relationship between humans and the natural world, included a portrait of three bull-riding champions, a look at the local reaction to Timothy Treadwell’s death by bear mauling in Alaska and an interview with Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Mattha.

In addition to the Film Club, Ironweed works with organizations like the Earth Day Network to create action campaigns around the films that they screen. For a limited time, MovieMaker readers are invited to get a FREE TRIAL MONTH for the cost of shipping (just $2.95) and then only $14.95 per month thereafter. Log on to
www.ironweedfilms.com/affiliates/moviemaker/offer070227e to sign up or for more information.

Sound Off: Do you watch many “socially-conscious” films? Why or why not? Do you see film primarily as a vehicle for entertainment, or for effecting change? Talk back in the comments section!

--Jennifer Straus

April 2nd, 2007 | Category: Exhibitor of the Week | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 2

Festival of the Week: Woods Hole Film Festival

Sixteen years ago, the Woods Hole Film Festival was small, a one-day event in which five short films were screened. But those screenings were packed. And three of the five moviemakers showing their work were Bill Plympton, Kate Davis and Robert Stone--big-name talent for a start-up festival, or any festival for that matter.

Since that first event, the Woods Hole Film Festival has grown in stature and popularity. It is now the oldest independent film festival on Cape Cod, and part of what has allowed it to age so gracefully is its desire to form connections with likeminded people and organizations, resulting in programs like The Reel BlueFest and Filmmaker in the Schools. “We have been able to expand our reach by creating these relationships,” says Judy Laster, executive director of the festival. “The Reel Blues Fest takes place each summer during the film festival, and the film festival always programs music-related films to screen during the Blues Fest,” says Laster. “We have also developed Filmmaker in Schools through which the film festival gives back to the local schools through offering filmmaking classes to middle school students.”

From that modest one-day shorts festival 16 years ago, the Woods Hole Film Festival has developed into something much, much bigger. It’s a destination for moviemakers, but the festival has also become an important part of the community. That’s one distinction not every festival in an increasingly-crowded festival circuit can claim.

Entries are currently being accepted for the 2007 Woods Hole Film Festivals, which will take place July 28th – August 4th. Log on to www.woodsholefilmfestival.org for more information, or to submit your film.

Sound Off:  Besides forming relationships with groups and other film festivals to create the best possible film festival it can, the Woods Hole Film Festival is committed to its community. Does the strength of a festival’s ties to its community impact your decision to go to it? Let us know in our comments section!

--Dante A. Ciampaglia

April 2nd, 2007 | Category: Festival of the Week | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 3

Screenwriter of the Week: Quentin Tarantino

It’s nearly impossible to find a moviemaker or film enthusiast who has not heard of Quentin Tarantino. One of the industry’s living legends, his is a career and creative mind many aspire to emulate. While the tale of Tarantino’s road to fame is, by now, tired--weaned on movies as a video store clerk in California, discovered by its patrons, somehow made the right connections and landed himself at Sundance--his movies are anything but. The mind of this man is a complicated, pop-culture sieve, intuitively holding tight to meaty (and not-so-meaty) morsels and relieving itself of the rest. This is how he crafts one clever, absorbing screenplay after another--and the reason so many pay to enjoy them.

His half of the highly-anticipated Grindhouse, in theaters April 6, will undoubtedly do the same, proving that wit and form can prevail over the crowd-pleasing fare dominating the box office of late. It is, however, at times ironic that this type of crowd-pleasing fare is what inspires the screenwriter to new lengths, and has, in the past, helped to earn him nominations and awards from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, BAFTA, Cannes and the Independent Spirit Awards.

Tarantino’s unorthodox dialogue--interlocked with rigorous action sequences--has made Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, From Dusk Till Dawn, Jackie Brown and Kill Bill: Vols. 1 & 2 critical and popular darlings. When not in the director’s chair himself, Tarantino’s slick imagery has been transformed by the likes of Tony Scott (True Romance) and Oliver Stone (Natural Born Killers). All said, this screenwriter’s work has carved out its own niche in the continuum of film studies and already left its mark on the moviemaking community.

Sound off: Quentin Tarantino is well-known for his controversial subject matter and lightning-fast discourse. Together, they form some of moviemaking history’s best speeches. Which of this screenwriter’s memorable lines or conversations do you think deserves a top spot on the list? Everyone has got an opinion on this--share yours in our comments sections!
--Mallory Potosky

April 2nd, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 1

This Day in Indie History: Maestro

The short film Maestro hit Los Angeles theaters on this day in 2004. But its origins began on the other side of the country, when fellow Rockport College professors-writers-directors Doug Stradley and Daniel Stephens began visualizing a humble $5,000 short project. In the end, Maestro was 30 minutes in length, six times its original budget and featured an unexpected performance by “Saturday Night Live” head writer and performer Seth Meyers. This Rocky-inspired story stars Meyers as the older version of Tim Healy, a bowling alley employee fantasizing about the day he would be the greatest orchestral conductor in the world. His piece de resistance would be the cursed composition “Air,” which failed anyone who ever had a hand in it.

Factoid: Seth Meyers and Stan Grunder (the young version of Tim Healy) returned for writer-director Doug Stradley’s Cub Scout Pinewood Derby comedy, Thunder Road.

April 1st, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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In Theaters Now

Meet the Robinsons
directed by Stephen J. Anderson
In this latest animated film from Walt Disney Studios, Lewis (voices of Daniel Hansen and Jordan Fry) is an overachiever. His science fair experiments are ambitious, but they result in explosions so often that his teacher pleads with Lewis not to kill anyone. Lewis doesn’t have mayhem on the brain, though. Instead, he’s desperately searching for the family he’s never met. Lewis gets sidetracked when he’s plucked from the present and taken into the future to “Meet the Robinsons.” The Robinsons are a family he’d love to have, full of quirky eccentrics, but as Disney likes to browbeat, the only family you should yearn for is your own. Also starring the voices of Angela Bassett, Matthew Josten, Adam West, Tom Kenny, Paul Butcher and Tom Selleck.

The Lookout
directed by Scott Frank
The tagline for this thriller is “Whoever has the money has the power.” The punchline could be “...to deviously remake Memento.” Chris Pratt (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) suffers short-term memory loss after a car accident, forcing him to write stuff down to remember it. When he gets a job as a bank janitor, a maybe-former classmate manipulates Chris into helping him rob his employer while promising to help him overcome his memory problem. Nothing is what it seems… yadda yadda yadda… the credits roll. Audiences should heed the tagline: You have the money and the power to keep movies like this from clogging theaters. Also starring Jeff Daniels, Isla Fisher and Matthew Goode.

Blades of Glory
directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck
Will Ferrell has sent up television news and NASCAR, so the next logical step is, of course, men’s figure skating. Ferrell is a gruff, Journey-lovin’ figure skater and Jon Heder is his dainty, leotard-wearing rival. After they butt heads and cause some damage, they’re banned for life from singles skating. But thanks to a loophole, they’re able to put their differences aside, embrace each other’s styles and become a duo. If you’ve seen Anchorman or Talladega Nights, you know what kind of non-sequitor, classic rock-inspired humor to expect. Also starring Craig T. Nelson, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, William Fichtner and Jenna Fischer.

Peaceful Warrior
directed by Victor Salva
It’s not every film that gets ringing endorsements from both Sting and Deepak Chopra, but Peaceful Warrior gets one. In this Zen/New Age sports movie, Dan Millman (Scott Mechlowicz), a star gymnast with everything going his way, becomes paralyzed after a horrific motorcycle accident. During his recovery, he meets a mechanic named Socrates (Nick Nolte) who calls himself a “peaceful warrior” and acts as Dan’s Ghost Dog, teaching him how to become a peaceful warrior himself. It might sound a little hokey, but in an era of emotionally transparent, overcoming-the-odds sports movies, Peaceful Warrior has something going for it--perhaps earning the praise of Sting and Chopra. Also starring Amy Smart and Tim DeKay.

After the Wedding
directed by Susanne Bier
Another 2006 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award nominee gets a wider release this week, as After the Wedding, a thriller-drama from Denmark, makes its way into theaters. Mads Mikkelsen, recently seen as Le Chiffre in Casino Royale, is Jacob, the head of an orphanage in India that’s in desperate need of money. Rolf Lassgard is Jorgen, a Danish businessman who offers a lot of money to help the orphanage-if Jacob attends his daughter’s wedding. When Jacob makes eyes-and other things-with Jorgen’s wife, all kinds of bad things happen. In English and Danish. Also starring Sidse Babett Knudsen, Stine Fischer Christensen and Mona Malm.

March 30th, 2007 | Category: In Theaters Now | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Warren Beatty

Henry Warren Beatty joined his parents and older sister, Shirley MacLaine, when he came into the world on this day in 1937. Beatty’s first noticeable role was on the CBS sitcom “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis,” where he spent a short time as the resident heartthrob. His first feature, 1961’s Splendor in the Grass came soon thereafter. With longtime large aspirations, Beatty expanded his production role for his second movie, 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde. In addition to acting opposite Faye Dunaway, the actor produced the film. Both roles earned him Oscar nominations (the film was noticed for a total of 10).

Throughout the years, Beatty has continued to challenge himself with roles and production credits from Shampoo (which he co-wrote and starred in) to Reds (for which he won the Oscar for Best Director). In total, Beatty’s films, including Heaven Can Wait, Bugsy and Bulworth have garnered 14 Oscar nominations. At the 2000 Academy Awards ceremony the accomplished moviemaker was honored with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.

Factoid: In 1987 Warren Beatty hit a snag when Ishtar, the movie he produced and starred in, was deemed by critics as one of the worst ever made. Luckily he redeemed himself with such fare as Dick Tracy and a remake of Love Affair with his future wife, Annette Bening.

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

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This Day in Indie History: The Godfather

On this day in 1971, Francis Ford Coppola woke up to start production on The Godfather. Finalizing the script while on set and primarily concerned about collaborating with the actors, Coppola left most all of the decisions about visuals to his director of photography, Gordon Willis. Meticulous and slow-going in his lighting set-ups, Willis irked Coppola more and more as the production fell behind in its shooting schedule. On top of that, the mob thwarted the moviemaker’s ability to shoot in particular locations at specific times.

Although the movie release on March 15, 1972 ushered in both positive reviews and box office numbers, the production experience made Coppola question whether or not he wanted to direct the sequel. He relented—and returned in 1974 with The Godfather: Part II, often cited as the best of his mafia trilogy.

Quotable: “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” -Marlon Brando as Don Corleone in The Godfather.

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

Comments: 1

This Day in Indie History: Lucas

The David Seltzer-penned high school coming-of-age story Lucas was released to U.S. audiences on this day in 1986. Seltzer, previously known for writing The Omen, also took charge behind the camera as director. In a complete 180 from his previous work, this is a sweetly told tale of unrequited, teenage love. The story revolves around Lucas, a typical pint-sized science geek, his crush, beautiful new student Maggie, and her football player love interest, Cappie. An attempt to join the football team backfires and lands Lucas in the hospital. As an unexpected bonus, his injuries gain him the respect of the entire school--even the jocks that once goaded him.

Factoid: While the movie unfortunately did little to propel the career of its title star, Corey Haim, it did launch the careers of Winona Ryder (Mermaids, Reality Bites) and Jeremy Piven (Smokin Aces, “Entourage"). This was the first feature film for both.

March 27th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Quentin Tarantino

He’s not even 45 and Quentin Tarantino, born in Knoxville, Tennessee on this day in 1963, is already a moviemaking legend. By the age of two, his mother had moved him to Los Angeles. After leaving school at a young age, Tarantino began work at the famous California movie haven Video Archives. It was during his five-year stint there that the movie buff began imagining and writing some of his biggest hits.

Through a chain of connections, Tarantino met with Lawrence Bender, who helped to produce and release Reservoir Dogs at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival. Together the pair formed the production company A Band Apart and its divisions, including the Miramax distribution label Rolling Thunder. In 1994 A Band Apart released Pulp Fiction, arguably Tarantino’s most famous and well-respected work to date. It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes that year, plus honors at the Independent Spirit Awards, Golden Globes and the Oscars. Since then the writer-director-actor’s contributions to cinema have be seen in Four Rooms, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill: Volumes 1 and 2 and the highly anticipated Grindhouse, due out early next month.

Quotable: Quentin Tarantino is a walking pop-culture trivia game, frantically spouting off responses both on-screen and off. Ironically, so important is the writer that lines from his own screenplays have become part of that same lexicon. Case in point, Pulp Fiction’s “I’m going to get medieval on your ass” is sure to go down in movie history.

March 26th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Alan Arkin

New York comeback kid Alan Arkin was born this day back in 1934. The actor began his career as part of the folk group The Tarriers, but soon found his rightful path as an original member of Chicago’s “Second City” acting troupe.

Arkin’s stage career took off with a Tony Award for Carl Reiner’s 1963 comedy “Enter Laughing.” Four years later, he earned his first Oscar nomination for his debut feature, The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. His second nod came in 1969 with The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.

After dozens of screen appearances in-between, Arkin finally received his first Academy Award this year for his supporting role in the independent movie sensation Little Miss Sunshine. Other roles made memorable by Arkin include Captain Yossarian in Catch-22, opposite Peter Falk in The In-Laws, John Cusack’s therapist in Grosse Pointe Blank and a desperate salesman in Glengarry Glen Ross.

Quotable: Never missing a beat, Alan Arkin returned last year as the oddly comforting grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine. Despite a filthy mouth, his Grandpa character cleaned up around young Olive, who counted on him for support. When doubting her beauty, Grandpa classically assured her, “I’m madly in love with you and it’s not because of your personality.”

March 26th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 2

Moviemaker of the Week: Robert Rodriguez

For independent moviemakers there is perhaps no better example of creativity and ingenuity than the $7,000 man, Robert Rodriguez. The San Antonio native began his meritorious career back in 1991 when he and high school chum Carlos Gallardo completed a feature-length action movie in a small Mexican border town. Rodriguez famously sold his body to science to raise funds and acted as the movie’s director, cinematographer, camera operator, lighting technician, editor and every other conceivable member of the production crew. He was the new golden boy of independent cinema once El Mariachi and the story behind it became talk show and festival circuit fodder.

The moviemaker’s path took a few unexpected turns beginning with the 1992 Toronto Film Festival, where both the El Mariachi media frenzy and a friendship with Quentin Tarantino began. From that first feature grew the high-budget, celebrity-strewn sequels Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, with Rodriguez still pulling the weight of multiple crewmembers. Together with Tarantino, Rodriguez has completed five films. Dimension Films will release their latest collaboration, Grindhouse, on April 6, 2007.

As two movies on one bill, Grindhouse references those theaters of old that screened back-to-back explicit and taboo exploitation movies. Rodriguez’s segment, “Planet Terror,” features Rose McGowan and Freddy Rodriguez as a scarred couple out for revenge. Making sure he still has a hand in everything, this gritty thriller is produced, edited and scored by the famed moviemaker himself.

Sound Off: Robert Rodriguez raised money for his first feature film by becoming a lab rat. What is the furthest you have gone to complete a film? Let us know in the Comments section!

--Mallory Potosky

March 26th, 2007 | Category: Moviemaker of the Week | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 3

Film School of the Week: Mobile Film School

Getting an education in moviemaking can be tough-the best programs can be almost impossible to get into, and cost alone is enough of a deterrent for some. But what about those who have no access to a film school, or even the equipment they need to start making movies on their own? The Mobile Film School was founded with these people in mind, with the mission to reach out to underserved communities by bringing film school to them.

The Mobile Film School, which employs guest instructors like legendary documentarian Albert Maysles (Gimme Shelter), travels to rural areas in two buses: One containing editing suites and production equipment, the other holding a resource library and staff offices. They offer five-week courses in narrative and documentary moviemaking as well as acting, giving students the opportunity to express themselves via the medium of film.

The inaugural run of the Mobile Film School took place this February in the town of Manor, Texas, where high school seniors collaborated on the completion of a documentary short entitled In A Place Like This. “The students were so intuitive about the process, it was really exciting to watch,” says executive director and founder Lisa McWilliams. “They absolutely exceeded my expectations.”

For more information on the Mobile Film School’s upcoming workshops, visit www.mobilefilmschool.com.

Sound Off: Mobile Film School is one of several organizations sprouting up in order to help under-represented communities express themselves through the medium of film (Mira Nair’s moviemaking laboratory, Maisha, is another). Do you think programs like these should work to expose the rest of the world to the experiences of these communities, or should their goal solely be one of artistic expression? Talk back in the Comments section!

--Jennifer Straus

March 26th, 2007 | Category: Film School of the Week | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 12

Film Festival of the Week: Cucalorus

What’s in a name? At the Cucalorus Film Festival, apparently not much. “We just think it sounds cool,” says festival director Dan Brawley of his fest’s unusual moniker. But it’s this laidback vibe that makes Cucalorus a true festival gem for indie moviemakers.

When MM called this North Carolina festival the “best kept secret on the indie fest circuit” a few years back, we focused specifically on the caliber of films and huge growth it had achieved in just a few shorts years. But the real highlight, according to Brawley, “is what happens off the screen. When you gather filmmakers together and toss in a limitless supply of spirits, strange things happen.”

Now moving into its 13th year, the secret it out, mostly due to the always innovative and controversial movie selection on display each year. Want to get in on it while you can? Hang out with past participants David Gordon Green, Gus Van Sant and John Cameron Mitchell? Or check out some “penetrating films, cold Tuaca and a little raw meat?” Visit www.cucalorus.org for more details.

Sound Off: The Cucalorus Film Festival attracts some of the world’s most innovative indie talents to the bewitching arts town of Wilmington, North Carolina. What factors do you look for when entering or attending a film festival? Let us know in the Comments section!

--Mallory Potosky

March 26th, 2007 | Category: Festival of the Week | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 4

Top of the Box Office

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Weinstein Co.
Weekend Gross: $25,450,000
Total Gross: $25,450,000

2. 300
Warner Bros.
Weekend Gross: $20,510,000
Total Gross: $162,354,000

3. Shooter
Paramount Pictures
Weekend Gross: $14,501,000
Total Gross: $14,501,000

4. Wild Hogs
Buena Vista
Weekend Gross: $14,362,000
Total Gross: $123,815,000

5. The Last Mimzy
New Line
Weekend Gross: $10,200,000
Total Gross: $10,200,000

6. Premonition
Sony Pictures
Weekend Gross: $10,100,000
Total Gross: $32,191,000

7. The Hills Have Eyes II
Fox Searchlight
Weekend Gross: $10,000,000
Total Gross: $10,000,000

8. Reign Over Me
Sony Pictures
Weekend Gross: $8,000,000
Total Gross: $8,000,000

9. Pride
Lionsgate
Weekend Gross: $4,000,000
Total Gross: $4,000,000

10. Dead Silence
Universal
Weekend Gross: $3,467,520
Total Gross: $13,243,245

All data courtesy of www.the-numbers.com

March 26th, 2007 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 3

In Theaters Now

The Hills Have Eyes II
directed by Martin Weisz
In the preview for this sequel to the remake of the 1970s cult exploitation horror classic, one of the hill people drag “you” in a sack to their lair. (See, the camera is bound in the sack, where you’re supposed to be, and you’re pulled along the rocky terrain. Clever, huh?) Funny, that might be the only way a large number of people will see this ill-conceived exercise in quick-cash-in moviemaking. You know the drill: People get lured to the mountain and are killed by mutated hill people in gruesome ways. Save a few bucks and rent the original. Starring Jessica Stroup, Reshad Strik, Michael McMillian, Daniella Alonso and Lee Thompson Young.

Pride
directed by Sunu Gonera
This “inspired by true events” sports story deserves credit for thinking outside the gridiron. Pride takes place in a community center and is centered on Jim Ellis (Terrence Howard) starting up an all-black swim team for troubled teens. Racism, classism, politics and ignorance are all used in an attempt to tear down the swim team and the community center where they compete. There aren’t many swimming films out there, so Pride is already ahead of the pack. Of course, the film sinks or swims in its ability to rise above the sappy tide of teary sports movies convention. Also starring Bernie Mac, Kevin Phillips, Evan Ross and Nate Parker.

Reign Over Me
directed by Mike Binder
Adam Sandler is in full-on dramatic mode in this story of Charlie Fineman (Sandler) who loses his family in the September 11 attacks in New York City. When he runs into his old college roommate, Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle), the reclusive, disheveled Charlie begins to emerge from his shell. But it’s a precarious breakthrough as Alan navigates his way through Charlie’s emotional minefields in this exploration of the emotional and psychological fall-out resulting from 9/11. Also starring Jada Pinkett Smith, Liv Tyler, Saffron Burrows, Cicely Tyson and Donald Sutherland.

Shooter
directed by Antoine Fuqua
The set-up of Shooter sounds retread: Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) is a hardened military man, recruited into the service of his country by former colleague Colonel Isaac Johnson (Danny Glover) to prevent an assassination attempt on the president because Bob Lee is the best marksman in town. But thanks to director Antoine Fuqua’s skilled, action-oriented eye and Wahlberg’s intensity, Shooter looks like a no-holds-barred, R-rated action film for adults-something that’s increasingly rare nowadays. Also starring Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Rhona Mitra and Ned Beatty.

TMNT
directed by Kevin Munroe
The last time the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were on the big screen, they were traveling through time, pitching pizzas and going on concert tours. This time, the heroes in a half shell-Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo-return to theaters in an animated form, closer in tone to their comic book counterparts than the previous live-action incarnations. The Turtles’ arch-rival, Shredder, is “defeated” prior to TMNT, leaving the ninjas to repel an evil industrialist trying to take over the world by raising ancient monsters. Might not be as epic as the to-the-death battles with Shredder, but it’s still nice to have the Turtles back. Starring the voices of Patrick Stewart, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ziyi Zhang, Mako and Chris Evans.

March 23rd, 2007 | Category: In Theaters Now | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 2

Hope Davis

Hope Davis was born on this day in Englewood, NJ in 1964. The acting bug bit Davis early on; as a young girl she often performed neighborhood skits with childhood friend Mira Sorvino. Later, after attending Vassar and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, the actress took to Chicago’s theater scene, where she performed under the direction of John Cusack and Joel Schumacher. Her bond with the famous action director led to her first feature film role in Flatliners.

Her next role was a blip on the cultural scene as the French ticket agent that does little to help a distressed Catherine O’Hara in Home Alone. Since then Davis has found herself an independent film staple, with roles alongside Nicolas Cage (Kiss of Death, The Weather Man) and Campbell Scott (The Daytrippers, The Imposters, Duma, The Secret Lives of Dentists and the ABC drama “Six Degrees"). The blonde actress can be seen later this year in Charlie Bartlett with co-stars Robert Downey Jr. and Anton Yelchin.

Factoid: Hope Davis has had many a noticeable role since first affecting that French accent years ago. In 2004 the actress was nominated for both a Golden Globe Best Supporting Actress Award (for her work in American Splendor) and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female in The Secret Lives of Dentists.

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

Comments: 2

Stolen Summer

After the impressive and immediate success of Good Will Hunting, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck put together “Project Greenlight,” a competition aimed at allowing other “little guys” to strike it big. The first feature film result, Stolen Summer, was put into limited release on this day in 2002. Written and directed by rookie moviemaker Pete Jones, the cast included Aidan Quinn, Bonnie Hunt and Kevin Pollack. But the real stars were the young boys--an Irish-Catholic lad who believes his newfound friend, a terminally-ill rabbi’s son, will not go to heaven until converting to Catholicism. The movie made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2002. Despite high hopes and an inflated budget, Stolen Summer performed poorly in box office sales and never saw a wide theatrical release.

Factoid: The “Project Greenlight” HBO television series documented the trials and tribulations that went on behind the scenes from conception through production of Stolen Summer. It returned for another two seasons with limited success, producing the coming of age tale, The Battle of Shaker Heights, and the stylized horror spectacle Feast.

March 21st, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Thoroughly Modern Millie

Fifty years ago today Thoroughly Modern Millie hit U.S. theaters nationwide. Set in the 1920s, the musical stars Julie Andrews as the titular Millie Dielmount, Mary Tyler Moore as Miss Dorothy Brown, the unsuspecting woman in distress, and a supporting cast of Carol Channing, James Fox and John Gavin.

When Millie moves from small-town Kansas to the center of New York City, she changes her appearance and her occupation to score herself a wealthy husband. Her new home, at the Priscilla Hotel, turns out to be the cover for a white slavery ring, which Millie discovers just in time to save Miss Brown. The movie went on to receive seven Academy Award nominations in 1968, ultimately winning for Elmer Bernstein’s original score. Screenwriter Richard Morris also received an award for the Best Written Musical from the Writers Guild of America.

Connections: Before working together on Thoroughly Modern Millie, director George Roy Hill and Julie Andrews released Hawaii in 1966. Elmer Bernstein received his fifth career nomination for the same movie at that season’s Academy Awards, but it was with Thoroughly Modern Millie that he brought home his one and only trophy.

March 20th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Spike Lee

Socially-conscious director Spike Lee was born Shelton Lee in Atlanta, Georgia on this day in 1957. As a child, Lee moved with his family to Brooklyn, where he formed the New York identity that still follows him today. After receiving degrees from Atlanta’s Morehouse College and NYU’s film school, the aspiring director began a hot streak of successful movies beginning with 1986’s She’s Gotta Have It. The movie won recognition at Cannes and the Independent Spirit Awards. Lee followed two years later with School Daze, a comedy of class and race where “gammas” face off against the darker-skinned “jigaboos.” Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, Jungle Fever and Malcolm X weren’t far behind--all released within six years of the director’s first commercial success. Lee’s blunt portrayal of race relations in America brought popularity, controversy and awards to his doorstep. From his Academy Award-nominated documentary, 4 Little Girls, to his most recent feature, Inside Man, with Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, Lee has managed to remain within the Hollywood system while all at once bucking it.

Quotable: “Wake up. The black man has been asleep for 400 years."—from his Student Academy Award-winning NYU thesis film, Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barber Shop: We Cut Heads.

March 19th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 3

Top of the Box Office

1. 300
Warner Bros.
Weekend Gross: $31,185,000
Total Gross: $127,473,000

2. Wild Hogs
Buena Vista
Weekend Gross: $18,825,000
Total Gross: $103,993,000

3. Premonition
Sony Pictures
Weekend Gross: $18,000,000
Total Gross: $18,000,000

4. Dead Silence
Universal
Weekend Gross: $7,770,525
Total Gross: $7,770,525

5. I Think I Love My Wife
Fox Searchlight
Weekend Gross: $5,715,000
Total Gross: $5,715,000

6. Bridge to Terabithia
Buena Vista
Weekend Gross: $5,141,000
Total Gross: $74,917,000

7. Ghost Rider
Sony Pictures
Weekend Gross: $4,000,000
Total Gross: $110,202,000

8. Zodiac
Paramount Pictures
Weekend Gross: $3,073,000
Total Gross: $28,923,000

9. Norbit
Paramount Pictures
Weekend Gross: $2,722,000
Total Gross: $92,394,000

10. Music and Lyrics
Warner Bros.
Weekend Gross: $2,200,000
Total Gross: $47,377,000

All data courtesy of www.the-numbers.com

March 19th, 2007 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By MovieMaker Staff

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Location of the Week: New Mexico

With its rose-colored stretches of desert and broad, rocky mesas, the state of New Mexico seems an ideal place to capture the spirit of the American Southwest. From Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to Brokeback Mountain, New Mexico has appeared on screen as the home of that zll-American male archetype: The cowboy. With its long history of Native American, Spanish and American settlers, the state’s intermixing of cultures has made it a perfect locale for moviemakers looking to capture the unique history of this area of the United States. Since 1898, more than 700 films have been shot within New Mexico’s borders.

Only recently, however, has the state started moving toward becoming amenable to moviemakers looking to base their whole productions in the area. To this end, the New Mexico-based Rio Grande Studios has teamed up with British production company Turn of the Century Productions to work on an upcoming film, the action-adventure flick Judgement Day. The first feature to be produced from pre- through post-production entirely in the “Land of Enchantment,” Judgement Day will be directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak (Doom, Cradle 2 the Grave).

For information on shooting in New Mexico, visit www.nmfilm.com.

You can also catch NM’s desert plains in:
Independence Day
Every Which Way But Loose
Traffic
Superman
Natural Born Killers

Sound Off: Do you think it helps the independent film industry to have more films produced outside of Los Angeles and New York? Do you prefer to work outside of one of these bigger cities if you can complete pre- through post-production somewhere else? Weigh in by posting in the comments section!

--Jennifer Straus

March 19th, 2007 | Category: Location of the Week | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 35

Festival of the Week: Delray Beach Film Festival

Location: Delray Beach, FL
Festival Dates: March 13 - 18, 2007

With so many festivals popping up these days, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd. The Delray Beach Film Festival, however, has made an effort to be a bit different from the standard fest, taking advantage of its location on the sunny Florida shore, while still catering to the needs of the moviemakers and the local community. “We provide a relaxed atmosphere for filmmakers to network, schmooze and screen films,” says founder and director Michael Posner. “We have events daily for our filmmakers, free surfing lessons, free belly dancing lessons, a golf tournament, beach tennis lessons and workshops daily--and of course cocktail parties every afternoon and spotlight parties every evening.”

But DBFF isn’t just a bit of fun in the sun; all of the festival’s profits will be split between the Humane Society (Posner is a former veterinarian) and the communication departments of the Palm Beach County schools. Giving back to the community while making the most of an idyllic location? It’s clear that Delray is a festival that is making a difference in the moviemaking world and beyond.

For more information, visit www.dbff.us.

Sound Off: Do you think it’s important for festivals to be “different,” or do you prefer a more traditional festival program without all the side attractions? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments section!

--Jennifer Straus

March 19th, 2007 | Category: Festival of the Week | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 5

Exhibitor of the Week: Warner Home Video

Warner Brothers has long been a household name. Originally the family distribution and production outfit entertained only those audiences paying to sit in a theater. Now, as part of the Warner Bros. Entertainment empire and the Time Warner family, Warner Home Video (WHV) brings cinematic entertainment right to a movie lover’s front door. As the world’s largest global video distributor, WHV offers 7,000 features, 40,000 television titles and more than 14,000 animated movies to its consumers--many under the Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Home Video, New Line Home Video and MGM brand names.

Starting with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart and running all the way to Leonardo DiCaprio (both Blood Diamond and The Departed are Warner Home Video releases) and Robert Downey Jr. (A Scanner Darkly), for those looking for a movie to watch in the comfort of home, chances are it will be from Warner Home Video. And that’s something that will remain true for many years to come, with the Harry Potter series already a WHV staple and box office hits Happy Feet and 300 just itching for a release date.

Sound Off: When Warner Bros. Entertainment began, directors like Howard Hawks and Darryl Zanuck were on the payroll. Today’s studios work differently—optioning works from directors of varied acclaim and character. It’s part of the reason why Warner Home Video can bring the works of both independent and blockbuster moviemakers alike to anyone with a working DVD player. The newer system benefits the viewer, but what does it do for the moviemaker? Send us your feedback in our “Comments” section.

--Mallory Potosky

March 19th, 2007 | Category: Exhibitor of the Week | By MovieMaker Staff

Comments: 10

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