Small MPU – Page 636

  • News

    DreamWorks wins Match Point as UK buyers circle

    2005-06-01T00:00:00Z

    After a ferocious bidding war, DreamWorks has picked upNorth American rights to Woody Allen's Match Point for a reported $4m.The deal comes as UK buyers continue to circle what is considered one ofAllen's strongest commercial prospects in several years. The film, his first tobe made in England, is being sold ...

  • Reviews

    Down In The Valley

    2005-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Dir/scr: David Jacobson.US. 2005. 125mins.Hailed as the De Niro ofhis generation, Edward Norton finally has a chance to remind us why in DownIn The Valley. After a string of supporting roles and odd career choices (TheItalian Job, The Score, Kingdom Of Heaven etc), he once againtakes centre stage with a ...

  • Reviews

    The League Of Gentlemen's Apocalypse

    2005-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Steve Bendelack. UK2005. 90mins.The League Of Gentlemen, rubber-faced Britishexponents of grotesque TV comedy, make a bravely eccentric cinema debut with TheLeague of Gentlemen's Apocalypse, a macabre farce that mixes theirdistinctive character playing with Hammer ghoulishness, movie-buff in-jokes andlashings of existential paradox in a Charlie Kaufman vein.The team - protean ...

  • News

    Dutch FilmWorks unveils big budget Cannes haul

    2005-06-02T04:00:00Z

    Netherlandsdistributor Dutch FilmWorks has unveiled a string of big budget acquisitionsfrom this year's Cannes film festival. Buys include Peter Hyams' $60m The Chaser fromSignature Pictures. An action film filled with special effects, it is about a bankrobbery which takes place in Key Largo during a tornado.It also bought Renny Harlin's ...

  • News

    India bans smoking scenes in films

    2005-06-01T00:00:00Z

    The Indian government has banned all scenes showing smokingor cigarette packs in films and TV programmes. The new law will apply to bothIndian films and to foreign films released in India.The move, part of a anti-tobaccoclampdown, also bans film-makers showing cigarette packs, billboards or usingany item with a cigarette brand ...

  • News

    Winchester creates UK releasing arm

    2000-05-11T19:06:00Z

    Winchester Films, the London-based sales and financing house that has recently forged a host a partnerships with high-profile US producers, is finally breaking into the UK distribution with its own theatrical releasing operation.Winchester has appointed former FilmFour distribution chief Mick Southworth to head the distribution arm, titled Winchester Film Distribution.Along ...

  • News

    French court upholds Engagement ruling

    2005-06-01T00:00:00Z

    The Paris court of appealshas upheld the decision to block Jean-Pierre Jeunet's A Very Long Engagementfrom benefiting from French subsidies.The film was stripped of its Frenchstatus in an original decision dating back to November last year. At issue is the financial structureof the production company for the film, 2003 Productions, ...

  • News

    Brave few shine behind Star Wars shadow

    2005-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Thisweek's international chart saw the battle of the also rans against the second(or in Korea's case opening) week of Star Wars: Episode III.WarnerBros' horror House Of Wax saw solid numbers with second place launchesin the UK, France and Belgium and other European debuts including Italy,Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands.TheOscar winning ...

  • News

    French court upholds Engagement ruling

    2005-06-01T00:00:00Z

    The Paris court of appeals Wednesday upheld its decision to blockJean-Pierre Jeunet's A Very Long Engagement from benefiting from French subsidies.The film was stripped of itsFrench status in an original decision dating back to November last year. Atissue is the financial structure of production company 2003 Productions, set upby Warner ...

  • News

    Gillies takes lead role opposite Cuthbert in Joffe's Captivity

    2005-06-02T04:00:00Z

    Daniel Gillies has been cast asthe male lead opposite Elisha Cuthbert in Roland Joffe's kidnap thriller Captivity, which began filming yesterday [Jun 1] in Moscow'sMosfilm Studios.Pruitt Taylor Vince, Michael Harney, Laz Alonso and newcomerChrysta Olsen round out the key cast in the story of two strangers who fall inlove after ...

  • News

    Cote, Gaul bookend 23rd annual Outfest in LA

    2005-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau's comedy Cote D'Azur (aka Crustaces Et Coquillages) and Craig Lucas' psychological thrillerThe Dying Gaul bookendthe 23rd Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival Outfest, which runs fromJul 7-18.Overall 232 narrative and documentary features and shorts from arecord 28 countries will screen at the event, which ...

  • News

    Former Alliance Atlantis executive Wilson launches LA publicity firm

    2005-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Former Alliance Atlantis Entertainment Group senior vice presidentof publicity Pam Wilson has launched publicity firm Ink Media Corporation inLos Angeles.Wilson will continue to oversee international publicity on the CSItelevision franchise forAlliance Atlantis, as well as other film and TV accounts.Prior to launching Ink Media, Wilson was responsible for thestrategic planning ...

  • News

    Doeren to deliver keynote at IFTA Production Conference

    2005-06-02T00:00:00Z

    Kodak Digital Cinema general manager William Doeren will deliverthe keynote address at the upcoming Independent Film & Television Alliance's(IFTA) annual Production Conference on Jun 16.This year's panels at the Beverly Hills event are titled Are Producing& Exploiting Successful Movies Easier Challenges for Independents', andUsing Production Incentives for Maximum Impact.Scheduled panelists ...

  • News

    Yaffe awarded CEO stripes at Canada's Alliance Atlantis

    2005-06-02T00:00:00Z

    Alliance Atlantis Communications is changing its managementstructure, with chairman and CEO Michael MacMillan assuming the title ofexecutive chairman while Phyllis Yaffe, currently chief operating officer, willassume the CEO title. In a statement,the company said the changes in the management structure were "designed tofurther align it with the company's focus on ...

  • Reviews

    Cold Showers (Douches Froides)

    2005-06-02T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Antony Cordier. Fr.2005. 100mins.The debut fiction feature from young French directorAntony Cordier, Cold Showers may not score heavily in terms of novelty:it is, after all, a small-town coming-of-age story trimmed with edgy teenagesex. Nevertheless, his rites-of-passage feature, which screened in Directors'Fortnight at Cannes, brings an unshowy, observation intelligence to ...

  • Reviews

    Cinema, Aspirins And Vultures (Cinema, Aspirinas E Urubus)

    2005-06-02T00:00:00Z

    Dir:Marcelo Gomes. Braz. 2005. 99mins.Odd, really, that up to now, nobody has ever thought ofmaking a film about a travelling aspirin salesman in north-eastern Brazil inthe early 1940s. First-time director Marcelo Gomes has not only come up withthe definitive movie on the subject - he also provided us with one ...

  • News

    Harry Potter ponders UK future

    2005-06-03T04:00:00Z

    Hard onthe heels of ScreenDaily.com's exclusive report that the next JamesBond film looks set to shoot in Prague comes more troubling news for thebeleaguered British production sector.HarryPotter producerDavid Heyman has confirmed to ScreenDaily.com that it is not certainthat the fifth installment of the franchise - Harry Potter And TheOrder Of ...

  • News

    Raintree revs up Stupid sequel

    2005-06-03T04:00:00Z

    Singapore's MediaCorpRaintree is cranking up production with two new projects set to shoot.Principal photography willbegin this month for I Not Stupid Too, sequel to 2002's smash hit INot Stupid.'I Not Stupid is a break-out hit and the most successful Singaporefilm. In Hong Kong alone, it was showing in theatres for ...

  • News

    Korean producers ready string of big budget hopefuls

    2005-06-06T04:00:00Z

    Korean audienceshave always had a complicated relationship with big-budget local movies. Some, such asaction film Shiri (1999), military drama Silmido (2003), orKorean War film Tae Guk Ki (2004), have emerged as record-breaking smashhits, with up to a quarter of the population lining up to buy tickets. At other times,however, an ...

  • News

    Colonna leaves CNC post after nine months

    2005-06-02T00:00:00Z

    After a nine month stint, CNCpresident Catherine Colonna has been named deputy minister of European Affairsby president Jacques Chirac's government.The news comes following France's "no" vote on the EuropeanConstitution and a flurry of musical chairs at the highest political levels. Colonna, formerly the spokesperson for the Elysee Palace -France's equivalent ...