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Man on Wire Reaches Box Office Heights

by Lauren Barbato | Published Jul. 29, 2008

A new daredevil conquered the box office this past weekend, without the help of any flashy tricks or high-tech gadgets. After opening on only two screens in New York City on July 25th, Magnolia Pictures’ latest documentary, Man on Wire, grossed an impressive $51,392 over the weekend (Friday to Sunday), averaging $25,696 per screen. The highest per screen average of any film currently playing in the United States, Man on Wire even overtook this summer’s blockbuster sensation The Dark Knight, which had a per screen average of $17,000.
(No comments yet)

Hollywood Stands Up To Cancer

by Beth Levin | Published Jul. 25, 2008

Each year cancer kills more than a half million people in America alone. Through the new initiative Stand Up to Cancer, Hollywood industry giants are aiming to bring awareness to this fact and further aid in the fight against the disease. The organization’s first effort is a film challenge that will accept short films (less than three minutes) focusing on the subject of cancer, its effects and/or the battle against it. (1 comment)

Boy A Star Andrew Garfield Isn't Afraid to Be Picky

by Andrew Gnerre | Published Jul. 25, 2008

Andrew Garfield’s brief but impressive filmography thus far is no accident; the young actor is nothing if not selective. “I know I’d be really miserable if I was working on something that I didn’t believe in,” says Garfield, 24, whose first four feature film roles are each enviable in their own way. (No comments yet)

Nanette Burstein, Queen of DIY Docs

by Beth Levin | Published Jul. 25, 2008

Nanette Burstein just may be the queen of do-it-yourself documentaries and American Teen can prove it. The Academy Award nominee started her career as the writer and editor of the 1998 doc In the Name of the Emperor, which detailed the brutal 1937 massacre of more than 300,000 Chinese civilians. But her real claim to fame came with the 1999 movie On the Ropes, which she produced, directed and edited. The documentary, about the injustices of life in the boxing arena, won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival earlier that year and picked up a nomination for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards the next. (No comments yet)

Editor Richard Harris' X Factor

Oscar-winning editor works his magic with The X-Files: I Want to Believe

by Jessica Wall | Published Jul. 25, 2008

Editing is an integral part of creating suspense in a film—anyone who has seen Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) can attest to that. For a film like The X-Files: I Want to Believe (whose creators were so intent on producing a suspenseful aura for its audience that only a very elite group of those involved were given full scripts), having a skilled editor was crucial to its success. It made perfect sense when the moviemakers behind the film called in Richard A. Harris, an editor with plenty of experience (and an Academy Award) under his belt. (2 comments)

Another Step Up for John C. Reilly

by Kyle Rupprecht | Published Jul. 25, 2008

With his mass of curly hair and doughy face, John C. Reilly looks more like a bartender in a local pub than a typical movie star. Yet, it’s that regular-guy persona that makes Reilly such an endearing, successful character actor. In 2002 alone, the ubiquitous Reilly was in three movies that were nominated for Oscars (and, coincidentally, all released in the same month)—Chicago (for which he received a nod for Best Supporting Actor), The Aviator and The Hours—proof that the actor has a truly golden touch when choosing material. Reilly’s career has recently taken an unexpected turn, as the stage-trained thespian has proven to be surprisingly adept at playing larger-than-life characters in comedies like Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and his latest film, Step Brothers. MM takes a look back at some of Reilly’s most memorable performances. (No comments yet)

Shakespeare on Film: My Own Private Idaho

Gus Van Sant challenges classicists with My Own Private Idaho in MM's ninth week of Shakespeare on Film

By Daniel Rosenthal | Published Jul. 25, 2008

In the 1980s, Gus Van Sant was already writing a screenplay about gay hustlers in Portland, Oregon, when he saw Welles’ Chimes at Midnight and was inspired to make My Own Private Idaho double as a partial, modern-day adaptation of Henry IV. Together with River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves, the writer-director created a not especially engaging seventy-minute feature: Part love story, part road movie. (No comments yet)

Two Festivals Come Together in Kansas City

by Beth Levin | Published Jul. 24, 2008

Watch out, Midwest: A new festival is coming. It may sound a bit familiar though, for this new fest, the Kansas City FilmFest, is actually a joint effort of two former Missouri-based ones: KC Jubilee Film Festival and FilmFestKC. MM had the chance to ask festival president Fred Andrews a few questions about the new event, discussing both the issues and advantages that come along with re-creating a festival.
(No comments yet)

The Truth Is Out There: TV Adaptations Don’t Always Succeed

by Lauren Barbato | Published Jul. 24, 2008

For years, studio executives have followed a simple formula to cash in on certain franchises: Take a widely acclaimed television show, modernize and condense it into a 90-minute script and out comes an instant crowd-pleaser. Though a handful of TV adaptations have triumphed and achieved critical acclaim, many television-to-film adaptations fail miserably, ultimately revealing that oftentimes the jokes, drama and supernatural should be left to the small screen. (No comments yet)

That’s Quite a Cast of Characters

Zack Snyder assembles a cast of relative unknowns for Watchmen

by Mallory Potosky | Published Jul. 22, 2008

It was named one of TIME Magazine's 100 Best Novels of All-Time and won the Hugo Award for its achievement in Science Fiction. Now, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' graphic novel, Watchmen, is one of the most anticipated movies of 2009. Since Warner Bros. will tease audiences at this year's Comic-Con International, held July 24 - 27, MM thought it'd be fun to tease all of you who can't get out to San Diego this weekend. Here, another sneak peek at Zack Snyder's latest graphic novel adaptation. (No comments yet)

Dance with Films at this Week-Long Fest

by Kyle Rupprecht | Published Jul. 21, 2008

The 11th annual Dances with Films, taking place at the Laemmle Sunset 5 Theatre in Los Angeles from July 24 - 31, is a truly independent film festival where what you do, not who you know, is what really matters. Talent trumps connections at Dances with Films; the rules mandate that films in competition involve no established directors, actors, writers or producers. (No comments yet)

The Doorman Opens Up

Wayne Price straddles the line between fact and fiction

by Jessica Wall | Published Jul. 18, 2008

“What is a doorman without a door?” That is the question that director Wayne Price explores in his new movie, The Doorman, a film that balances the line between fact and fiction. The movie is a faux documentary that focuses on exclusive club doorman Trevor W. (Lucas Akoskin) who tries to maintain the façade of his elite lifestyle after the loss of his job. Largely improvised, The Doorman features both actors and non-actors in an interesting (and sometimes comedic) look at the club lifestyle and what happens when one man loses his position of power within that world. (No comments yet)

Zeitgeist Captures the Films of Our Times

MoMA celebrates Zeitgeist Films' 20 years of cinema history

by Kyle Rupprecht | Published Jul. 18, 2008

As part of the month-long retrospective “Zeitgeist: the Films of Our Times,” celebrating NY distributor Zeitgeist Films’ 20th anniversary, critically acclaimed moviemaker Atom Egoyan recently introduced a screening of his 1993 film Calendar, which was distributed by Zeitgeist, on Saturday July 12th at The Museum of Modern Art. Following the film, Egoyan conducted an interview with Zeitgeist founders Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo. (No comments yet)

Shooting The Dark Knight

Christopher Nolan and DP Wally Pfister shed some light on their latest collaboration

by Bob Fisher | Published Jul. 18, 2008

Flashback: Christopher Nolan is at the 1999 Slamdance Film Festival for the premiere of Following, his first feature-length film. Though he served as the writer, director and cinematographer, Nolan wasn’t interested in pursuing a career as an auteur. At the same time, he saw The Hi-Line, which premiered at the nearby Sundance Film Festival. Maybe it was destiny calling. That film's cinematographer was Wally Pfister, ASC.
(4 comments)

Shakespeare on Film: The Animated Tales

Shakespeare gets the thumbs-up from the younger set in MM's eighth week of Shakespeare on Film

by Daniel Rosenthal | Published Jul. 18, 2008

From 1990 - 94, Shakespeare—The Animated Tales exposed the younger set to 12 of Shakespeare's most famous plays. Adapter Leon Garfield scripted a dozen abridgments, which won three Emmy Awards and have screened in more than 50 countries. They merit collective rather than selective recognition, firstly because they provide an accessible introduction for young viewers and, secondly, because they triumphantly demonstrated to viewers of all ages that a medium too often associated solely with children’s stories could realize adult Shakespearean imagery and themes with as much imagination and poetry as live-action film. (1 comment)

Christian Bale Returns to Brooding Batman in The Dark Knight

by Kyle Rupprecht | Published Jul. 18, 2008

Back in 2005, Christian Bale might not have seemed the most likely choice to play the title role in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, the risky re-imagining of the classic comic book franchise. Yet, due to the first film’s critical and commercial success—and Bale’s stand-out performance—the Welsh actor is donning the black cape once again for the highly anticipated sequel, The Dark Knight. (No comments yet)

Meryl Streep and ABBA visit Greece with Mamma Mia!

Moviemakers overcome challenges to film the scenery of the Greek Islands

by Beth Levin | Published Jul. 18, 2008

Greece: The birthplace of the Olympic Games, theater and western civilization. This historically rich country is also one of the most picturesque places in the world. When scouting in Greece, most moviemakers have veered toward the beautiful Greek Islands, which are scattered about the Aegean and Ionian Seas within the vast Mediterranean. In total, there are 6,000 of these islands, only 227 of which are inhabited. Popular destinations and filming locations include: Mykonos, a rocky island covered with blue and white buildings and signature windmills, and Santorini, which sits on a mountain 350 meters above sea level and is considered to be one of the best places in the world to watch the sunset. (5 comments)

At the Height of Their Power

The 10 best, most popular and groundbreaking graphic novel adaptations

by Lauren Barbato | Published Jul. 17, 2008

Say goodbye to those flowery adaptations of 19th-century British literature and Oprah’s Book Club bestsellers. Studio executives have unearthed a new moneymaking inspiration in comic books and graphic novels—and this summer is full of them. From Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk—the first two movies from newly-minted Marvel Studios—to Wanted and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the season has already seen an unusual amount of these adaptations. This week audiences are eagerly awaiting another—arguably the most anticipated film this year, period—when The Dark Knight is released on Friday.

(2 comments)

Vancouver Film School Fishes For YouTube Talent

by Jessica Wall | Published Jul. 17, 2008

Online video communities are emerging as ideal places for unknown and often untrained artists to display their work. The Vancouver Film School (VFS) took advantage of this pool of young talent by holding an online competition, in conjunction with YouTube, to award scholarships to three aspiring moviemakers. The winners—Christopher Harrell, Stefan Ramirez Pérez and Jorge Rolando Canedo Estrada—can look forward to a great year spent honing their skills under the direction of accomplished faculty at a school that prizes hands-on experience and produces artists who have the creative vision as well as the technical knowledge they need to gain a foothold in the industry.

(1 comment)

Spotlight on Aspiring Moviemakers at the Angelus Student Film Festival

by Kyle Rupprecht | Published Jul. 16, 2008

Moviemakers with heart, take note: The Angelus Student Film Festival is awaiting your next film. The 2008 festival, which will be held Sept. 13 at the Directors Guild of America Theater in Hollywood, honors future moviemakers as they create works that respect the dignity and complexity of the human condition. And after 12 years honoring the inspiring works of student moviemakers, Angelus has expanded to include an accomplished jury for their documentary competition. (No comments yet)

For Bergman Fans, Film Is the Great Adventure

Late, world-renowned director’s legacy celebrated with “Ingmar Bergman: Film Is the Great Adventure”

by Kyle Rupprecht | Published Jul. 11, 2008

A new retrospective on the late, legendary auteur, Ingmar Bergman, who passed away last year at the age of 89, will unspool weekends from July through December at the IFC Center in New York. Entitled “Ingmar Bergman: Film Is the Great Adventure,” the series includes twenty of Bergman’s best films, including Smiles of A Summer Night (1955), The Seventh Seal (1957), Wild Strawberries (1957), Virgin Spring (1960) and Scenes from A Marriage (1973).

A remarkably influential, prolific and creative moviemaker, Ingmar Bergman was born in Sweden in 1918. The son of a Lutheran minister, Bergman’s avid interest in film and theater, as well as his creativity, began early in his life when (No comments yet)

Shakespeare on Film: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

MM's seventh week of Shakespeare on Film explores the Bard's original comedy duo

By Daniel Rosenthal | Published Jul. 11, 2008

Tom Stoppard originally sold the screen rights to Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, the stage comedy which made his name, soon after its 1967 premieres in the West End and on Broadway. He wrote a screenplay for MGM, then saw the project languish for twenty years until the rights were bought back and he rewrote the script and filmed it in what was then still Yugoslavia. With a cast featuring Tim Roth and Gary Oldman, Stoppard portrayed the events of Hamlet entirely from the point of view of the Prince’s doomed friends as they travel to Elsinore, kick their heels ‘off stage,’ and sail to England. (No comments yet)

It’s a 3D Revolution

Once the domain of schlocky 1950s horror movies, 3D movies will once again be leaping off the screen at a theater near you

by Andy Rose | Published Jul. 11, 2008

An exciting resurgence in 3D moviemaking indicates that what was once a fad is now a growing trend. Over the past few years there has been a huge increase in the production of 3D films. More than a half-dozen live-action and a dozen computer animated 3D films are currently in the studio pipelines—with more to come.

One reason for this surge in development is the availability of state-of-the-art digital technology. “It was always possible to show 3D, but never possible to show it in a reliable manner,” says Eric Brevig, an Oscar-nominated visual effects artist and director of this summer’s Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, the first live-action narrative feature to be shot and released in digital stereoscopic 3D. “It’s a convergence of technology,” he says. The problems of former 3D imaging simply no longer exist. (1 comment)

Haris Zambarloukos Defies Tradition

by Jessica Wall | Published Jul. 11, 2008

As the director of photography on this week’s limited release Death Defying Acts and the anticipated summer movie Mamma Mia!, Haris Zambarloukos is having quite a month. Both films are just steps on the ladder to success that Zambarloukos has been climbing for a while now. (No comments yet)

Recalled: Kimberly Peirce Shows the Depths of War in STOP-LOSS

by Mallory Potosky | Published Jul. 8, 2008

In a world where every cell phone has camera capabilities, the realities of the world are brought into our homes with relative ease. And for the first time ever this means the realities of war are brought along too. Soldiers, armed not only with guns but very often small, one-chip cameras are documenting their war-torn lives.
Everyone’s a moviemaker. But while these affecting stories are making their way beyond army barracks and war zones via email and other Internet tools, rarely do they reach the masses. Sometimes it takes a skilled hand and a known face to alert the public to a greater social purpose. In her second film, STOP-LOSS, writer-director Kimberly Peirce—along with the film's stars, Ryan Phillippe, Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Abbie Cornish—has put a mirror to the government, asking that they see soldiers as more than numbers, but as human beings—with families—deeply and forever affected by their experiences at war. (No comments yet)

Warren Beatty Honored with AFI Life Achievement Award

by Kyle Rupprecht | Published Jul. 8, 2008

On June 12, 2008, legendary Hollywood star Warren Beatty received the 36th AFI Life Achievement Award. The event will air on the USA Network, Tuesday, July 8th at 9 p.m. Guests including Beatty’s wife, Annette Bening, his sister Shirley MacLaine, Julie Christie, Robert Downey Jr., President Bill Clinton, Gene Hackman and old pal Jack Nicholson gathered to honor the multi-faceted moviemaker's contributions and lifetime commitment to cinema. (1 comment)

Toshiba and New York Film Academy Name Competition Winner

by Jennifer M. Wood | Published Jul. 3, 2008

As part of the ad campaign for its new REGZA brand of LCD TV’s, Toshiba partnered with the New York Film Academy to hold “The One to Watch” Film Competition. Students and alumni of NYFA were invited to create a 29-second film that showed why REGZA is “The One to Watch.” Each film had to tell a complete story and was evaluated by a panel of judges (with representatives from both Toshiba and NYFA) based upon humor, originality and relevance to the contest.

(No comments yet)

Thirteen Movies To Celebrate on the Fourth

by Lauren Barbato | Published Jul. 3, 2008

Each 4th of July Unabashedly patriotic, MM counts down the 13 movies—one for each stripe on the country’s flag—that will remind you exactly what it means to be an independent citizen… and maybe even an independent moviemaker.

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Shakespeare on Film: Antony and Cleopatra

In MM's sixth week of Shakespeare on film, we examine why Charlton Heston's Antony and Cleopatra didn't fare too well.

by Daniel Rosenthal | Published Jul. 3, 2008

After playing Marc Antony in the 1950 and 1970 Julius Caesars, Charlton Heston had become obsessed with adapting Antony and Cleopatra, which he considered Shakespeare’s finest work, but which had never previously been filmed at feature length. His love affair with character and play reached a rocky conclusion in this overlong epic. (1 comment)

Will Smith in Action

by Mallory Potosky | Published Jul. 3, 2008

Will Smith is the king of Hollywood—as named by Entertainment Weekly and Newsweek in their recent rankings—and the July 4th box office, which is why, with this weekend’s release of the movie Hancock, MM saw it fit to take a look at Will Smith in action.

(No comments yet)

Jonathan Levine's Total Wackness

Lessons learned in landing one of the world's greatest actors for The Wackness

by Jonathan Levine | Published Jul. 3, 2008

The prospect of meeting Ben Kingsley is a daunting one for any director, especially a man of such limited talent and eloquence as myself. So when I heard the news that Sir Ben had enjoyed my script for The Wackness and would like to meet me in Vancouver, my excitement was tempered by an immediate pang of terror.

I recalled the episode of “The Sopranos” in which Sir Ben attempts to blow off Christopher and his mob cohorts as they push their script onto him. Needless to say, I hoped my meeting would go a bit better than that... (No comments yet)

Facing the Digital Dilemma

Are you creating films to stand the test of time?

by Bob Fisher | Published Jun. 30, 2008

Digital video is fast becoming a popular alternative to traditional filmstock, but is it worth the cost of storage and the possibility of losing the movie forever? (No comments yet)

Pixar Introduces Wall-E

by Jessica Wall | Published Jun. 27, 2008

Previous to 1995, no animated feature had ever been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, but Pixar’s first movie (and the very first full-length computer animated film) changed all that. At the time of its release, Toy Story became the highest-grossing animated feature on record and put Pixar Studios on the map. The hardworking company followed its initial success with eight more feature films (including this weekend’s release, Wall-E), each one brimming with humor, ingenuity and technical prowess. With the release of Wall-E, MM takes a look at some of the Pixar films that have changed the face of animated movies and made the company into the well-loved household name it is today. (3 comments)

A Wanted Man

Chicago location director Mark Mamalakis shares his process for setting the perfect scene

by Carla Pisarro | Published Jun. 27, 2008

Having handled the locations for such films as Flags of Our Fathers, Ali and this summer’s action thriller Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy, Mark Mamalakis has become one of the film industry’s leading contacts in the Windy City. As he tells it, managing locations is one of the most intricate and important parts of the moviemaking process. (No comments yet)

Shakespeare on Film: Romeo and Juliet

With Romeo and Juliet, Franco Zeffirelli interprets the language of young love in MM's fifth week of Shakespeare on Film.

by Daniel Rosenthal | Published Jun. 27, 2008

With Romeo and Juliet, Franco Zeffirelli interprets the language of young love in MM's fifth week of Shakespeare on Film. Zeffirelli first sowed the seeds of this box-office triumph in 1960, when the Italian director-designer made his Shakespeare stage debut with Romeo and Juliet at London’s Old Vic. In 1967, he set out to replicate that Old Vic passion on film. He was confident of attracting a large international audience and, believing that “the kids in the story are like teenagers today,” took a gamble by casting actors almost as young as their characters: Leonard Whiting was seventeen, Olivia Hussey, chosen ahead of 350 other hopefuls, just fifteen. (1 comment)

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