All articles by Leonard Klady – Page 2

  • Features

    Worldwide - Here comes the crunch

    2008-10-24T00:00:00Z

    Cinema may still prove to be recession-proof but the third-quarter figures for international markets do not suggest people are rushing to the multiplex for escapist entertainment.Global box office for Q3 generated approximately $7.28bn in ticket sales. Compared with 2007, that translates to a drop of roughly 0.5% and a decline ...

  • News

    International - 3D's looking flat

    2008-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Can technical innovation save the movie theatre as it faces up to a period of extreme competition'Technology has, of course, fundamentally changed the fortunes of the business before. On October 6, 1927, the talking pictures revolution was launched with The Jazz Singer at Los Angeles' Tower Theater.Sound could not lay ...

  • News

    In Focus: Thedomestic summer box office

    2008-09-05T00:00:00Z

    Domestic revenues for the four-month summer season from early May to Labor Day in September reached $4.2bn. That's a box- office decline of 1% from 2007 with admissions down by about 7%. At first glance, then, the overall picture appears disappointing.Considerable money has been spent on pumping up old franchises ...

  • Features

    The international view - Bringing it all back home

    2008-05-02T00:00:00Z

    Screen's first-quarter box-office survey indicates a widening gap between international and domestic performance. While US and Canadian revenues ran around 3% off the 2007 pace, the international tally was 30% up year on year. In financial terms that means the international market was responsible for $4.28bn (71%) of the $6.5bn ...

  • News

    Glickman says piracy concerns overshadow Internet neutrality

    2008-03-17T10:33:00Z

    Wedged somewhat gingerly in Motion Picture Association of American chairman Dan Glickman's address at the ShoWest convention last week was a discreet reference that opposed federal legislation intended to pave the way for 'net neutrality.'His terse comments included a belief that equitable access to the Internet would 'impair the ability ...

  • Features

    The International View - Summer's thirst for firsts

    2008-02-22T00:00:00Z

    I don't think we're ever going to see a summer like last year that was so reliant on sequels and remakes," suggests Fox distribution executive Chris Aronson. "And that's a good thing."It's not that the US film industry or those of France, Japan or India have slammed the door on ...

  • Features

    The international view - Going for Oscar gold

    2008-01-25T00:00:00Z

    Predicting the Oscar nominations is not an exact science, not least because the arcane voting system tends to throw up left-field candidates.The window of opportunity for distributors to cash in on a nomination is also very limited. But over the years, it has been possible to see a big picture. ...

  • News

    International Box Office review 2007

    2007-12-14T00:00:00Z

    By December 9, the six US majors - Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros, Sony and Walt Disney Studios - had recorded a total box office of more than $8.6bn in the international marketplace, surpassing their combined international gross for the whole of 2006 ($8.5bn). Last year ...

  • News

    The Russians are coming' Leonard Klady looks at the 'Russian disconnect' at the international box office.

    2007-10-25T17:00:00Z

    We all know about the great tradition of Russian cinema that embraces such movie gods as Eisenstein and Pudovkin, Tarkovsky and Bondarchuk. The modern scene post-Glasnost is another matter.The first real sense of a meaningful change might best be encapsulated in a personal anecdote that occurred at Las Vegas' ShoWest ...

  • Features

    International - Land of opportunity'

    2007-10-19T00:00:00Z

    The following glass half full/half empty debate has been going on for as long as I can remember. On the one hand is the argument that there's never been a worse time for independent and alternative film to get access to the North American marketplace. On the other hand, the ...

  • My Winnipeg
    Reviews

    My Winnipeg

    2007-09-25T15:49:00Z

    Dir: Guy Maddin.Canada, 2007, 80 Mins.

  • Reviews

    Young People Fucking

    2007-09-25T15:37:00Z

    Dir: Martin Gero. Canada, 2007. 91 MinsYoung People Fucking is quite clearly a title that's out to grab one's attention. Neither documentary nor hardcore, it's an ingeniously constructed pastiche of sexual encounters presented affectionately and with humour. Reminiscent of American independent movies of the 1980s, the film should really be ...

  • Reviews

    Shake Hands with the Devil

    2007-09-20T17:50:00Z

    Dir. Roger Spottiswoode. Canada 2007, 113 Mins.The tragic recent history that informed Hotel Rwanda is viewed from another angle in Shake Hands with the Devil. Viewed from the perspective of General Romeo Dallaire, who commanded United Nations forces during the 1993 crisis, it paints a picture of broader dimension that ...

  • Reviews

    Poor Boy's Game

    2007-09-18T15:25:00Z

    Dir. Clement Virgo. Canada , 2007. 102 Mins.Racial tension in an unusual setting and a quiet, authoritative voice pack a surprising punch in Poor Boy's Game, a new film from Afro-Canadian filmmaker Clement Virgo. Though framed around a grudge match in the boxing ring, the film has a considerably broader ...

  • Silk
    Reviews

    Silk

    2007-09-18T14:18:00Z

    Dir. Francois Girard. Canada/Italy/Japan 2007. 112 Mins.

  • Features

    International - A bigger picture

    2007-09-08T00:00:00Z

    As far as the film industry is concerned, it's a long hot summer. It defies seasonal or calendar considerations, running 18 weeks from early May through to the first weekend in September.At the conclusion of summer 2007, about $4.2bn was spent in North American multiplexes and an additional $6.3bn worth ...

  • Features

    Alternative view - Which local films have withstood the blockbusters'

    2007-08-10T00:00:00Z

    In North America, the vast majority of non-blockbuster product has not lasted more than two weeks on screen this summer. There have been exceptions, including Universal's Knocked Up and MGM's horror 1408. And there was good news for a few niche movies including Waitress, La Vie En Rose, Sicko, Once ...

  • News

    Bladerunner: making the cut

    2007-08-09T15:20:00Z

    Why do audiences have to wait for a DVD to see the movie the director really wanted to make' Leonard Klady argues the case.Later this year, Warner Bros Home Video will release a five-disc set of the seminal science-fiction thriller Blade Runner that will include what's been dubbed 'the definite ...

  • News

    Box-office opinion: rise of the machines

    2007-07-13T00:00:00Z

    Multiplexes were originally envisaged as a way of expanding choice, but are now being dominated by a handful of titles, argues Len Klady.When Garth Drabinsky opened the first Cineplex in Toronto back in 1979, the idea of having 14 viewing options under one roof was looked on with a combination ...

  • News

    Box-office opinion: India can strike the right note

    2007-07-06T00:00:00Z

    India's film industry is facing huge challenges, but a global breakout success may not be far away, says Len KladyIt has been a brutal summer. The movies that were supposed to set box-office records have come up short. And the seasonal surprises, while warmly welcomed, are failing to close the ...