All articles by Geoffrey Macnab – Page 179
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News
Bobby's Estevez grateful for Weinstein support
It was hats off to Harvey time at yesterday's Venice press conference for Bobby as director Emilio Estevez and star Lindsay Lohan both paidtribute to Harvey Weinstein, the head of The Weinstein Company (which will bereleasing Bobby in the US.) "Bobby Kennedy stood for thelittle guy and the underdog. Perhaps ...
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Beirut Film Festival makes plans for October event
Despite last month's war in Lebanon, the organisers of the seventh Beirut InternationalFilm Festival have confirmed that their event will be going ahead from Oct 4-11.A range of international titles have already been invited including Mark Dornford-May's Son OfMan, Jafar Panahi's Offside, Cannes hit Paris Je T'Aime,and Pedro Almodovar's Volver.The ...
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Smith hopes to bring Universal's Wanted to UK
UK producer Iain Smith (in Venice with two competitionfilms, The Fountain and Children Of Men)is in advanced negotiations to bring Wanted,a big-budget studio feature, to the UK. The project is beingfinanced by Universal. Adapted from a comic book, it is set in a contemporary US city. The director willbe from ...
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News
Sellars hopes to bring New Crowned Hope idea to other cities
Globe-trottingopera director Peter Sellars is in talks with twocities about the possibility of overseeing further events along the lines ofthe New Crowned Hope Festival, which has already yielded a handful of films competingin Venice and Toronto."Theseare the first steps," Sellars commented. "My hope isthat we can repeat this type of ...
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A-Film looking for Dirk De Lille's replacement
DirkDe Lille has left leading independent Benelux distributor A-Film for"personal reasons." His departure was confirmed yesterday in Venice by A-Film CEO Pim Hermeling.Itis yet to be announced who will replace De Lille. "Sofar, I haven't decided," Hermeling said. He addedthat he was not looking for a new director but for ...
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Reviews
The Queen
Dir: Stephen Frears. UK2006. 97mins.The British have been making films about their RoyalFamily almost since cinema began. What is so distinctive about Stephen Frears' brilliant new feature The Queen is that it is unfolds only a few years ago - in 1997 atthe time of Princess Diana's death - and ...
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News
Frears' Queen is royally received
Regal mania gripped the Lido following this weekend's world premiere of Stephen Frears' The Queen in competition at the Venice Festival. Frears, Helen Mirren and the film's producers received a standing ovation at their press conference.There was a whiff of republicanism as Frears met the British press in the gardens ...
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Consultant questions Venice's industry credentials
With 300 buyers in attendance and 80 market screenings, this year's Venice Festival would appear to be catering to industry demands as thoroughly as it can, given the Lido's awkward infrastructure. But Edith Grant, consultant to Venice's industry office, has questioned how deep the Biennale's commitment to staging a meaningful ...
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News
San Fu Maltha ready to fly with De Bernieres bestseller
BlackBookproducer San Fu Maltha has optioned bestseller BirdsWithout Wings from Louis De Bernieres, whose Captain Corelli's Mandolin was filmed in 2001 by WorkingTitle. Thestory is set in 19th Century Turkey, just as the Ottoman empire is beginning tocrumble. Dealingwith life in a small village split by religious and political tension, ...
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Granada steps up film commitment after Queen success
Following its success with The Queen, UK TV company Granada is to step up its commitment to feature film.Granada's controller of Drama and Comedy Andy Harries, speaking in Venice, has given details of a slate of new projects the company is developing. These include films with talent ranging from Paul ...
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News
Oliver Stone and Spike Lee get political in Venice
It was a day of fiery pressconferences in Venicewith Oliver Stone, Paul Verhoeven and Spike Lee allpresenting new films. A belligerent and upbeat Stone, on the Lido with World Trade Center, surprised onlookersby attacking the "cultural problem" of violence in US movies,chastising films such as Black Hawk Down and Pearl ...
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News
Nordisk to handle sales for Boe's Offscreen
Nordisk Film is to handle international sales on Camera D'or WinnerChristoffer Boe's latestfilm Offscreen,it has just been announced in Venice.Offscreen received its internationalpremiere in Venice Days earlier this week. The story of a man obsessed withputting his life on camera, the film was produced by AlphaVillePictures Copenhagen with support from ...
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Gil Rossellini plans two romantic comedies
Italian film-maker GilRossellini, whose latest film Kill GilII premiered in Venicethis week, is hatching two new feature projects. RaiCinema has already committed to boarding romantic comedy Once Upon A Time In Parma, set in the communitywhere parmesan cheese is produced. Rossellini is co-writing and will alsoproduce. It is yet to ...
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News
Seung-wan Ryoo stages Korean protest in Venice
Another festival, another Korean protest. Following in thefootsteps of Park Chan-Wook, who mounted a one-mandemonstration against the new screen quota laws in Korea during the BerlinFestival, fellow director Seung-wan Ryoo is taking to the streets in Venice.Today(Friday) at 4pm Ryoo will holdplacards denouncing the quota plans and mount a silent ...
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News
McGrath says Infamous offers distinct Capote portrait
First,in the early 1960s, there was Richard Brooks' film version of In Cold Blood. Then, last year, therewas Bennett Miller's well-received biopic, Capote,which netted Philip Seymour Hoffman an Oscar for his portrayal of the mercurialAmerican novelist, Truman Capote. Now, in Venice, a third film inspired byCapote's trip to Kansas to ...
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News
Williamson to team with Big Beach for Sunshine Cleaning
Former Focus Features production chief and now independent producerGlenn Williamson (whose latest film Hollywoodland received its world premiere in Venice yesterday) is to partnerwith Big Beach, the outfit behindbox-office hit Little Miss Sunshine,on Sunshine Cleaning.BigBeach is fully financing the project, with a budget of about $7m. Shooting isdue to begin ...
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News
Black Dahlia gets enthusiastic response in Venice
Brian De Palma's James Ellroy adaptation TheBlack Dahlia yesterday received a mixed but largely enthusiastic receptionas it opened the 63rd Venice Festival yesterday. Maverick crime novelist Ellroy himself - who attended the opening press conferencealongside stars Scarlett Johansson, Josh Hartnett,Aaron Eckhart, Mia Kirchner and director De Palma -was clearly delighted ...
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Venice opens with more talk of Rome rivalry
As the 63rd VeniceFilm Festival opened yesterday with the world premiere of Brian De Palma's TheBlack Dahlia, the rumbling row about what impact the upstart new Rome Festival(due to be held for the first time in October) will have on Venice's long-termfuture showed no sign of dissipating."We are in Venice.Let's ...
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News
Roger Michell opts out of next Bond film
Britishdirector Roger Michell has confirmed that he will notbe directing the next Bond movie, the 22nd in the 007 franchise."I'vedecided not to do it," Michell told ScreenDaily.com. "I was very tempted. Ispent a long time working on it but I wasn't tempted enough to actually jumpin. At the last minute, ...
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Reviews
Severance
Dir: Christopher Smith. UK. 2006. 95mins.The latest in a seemingly endless cycle of newBritish horror films, Christopher Smith's Severanceis slick, funny and determinedly superficial and derivative. The screenplay(co-written by Smith and James Moran) is leavened with sub-Viz humour, satirical asidesabout office politics and the arms trade, and self-parodicjokes. Smith, who ...