VENICE (Reuters) - Zac Efron says his movie career is at a crossroads, and the former Disney teen idol is tempted more by less pay and hard graft than blockbusters and big bucks.
The 24-year-old, who became a household name in 'High School Musical', was in Venice on Friday for the world premiere of 'At Any Price', set in the cut-throat world of agriculture in which he plays Dean and Dennis Quaid his father Henry.
Efron's appearance on the Lido island across the water from the Canal City drew crowds of screaming girls begging for his autograph, and came a few months after he walked the red carpet in Cannes with another small-budget drama 'The Paperboy'.
Directed by Ramin Bahrani, At Any Price blends family drama with a searing attack on big business and chasing profits whatever the cost, as farmers in Iowa cut corners and cook the books in order to fulfil the mantra 'Expand or Die'.
'All I have, really, is the ability to look back at my elders and the people that I really respect in this industry, the actors that have been here before and really made an impact ... and I put myself in their shoes,' Efron said.
'I sort of stand here with, say, two roads in front of me,' he told reporters after a press screening of the film and ahead of its red carpet premiere at a glitzy evening gala.
'One (is) the easy path ... towards money and the other one being towards playing more interesting roles that I don't have all the answers to, or going with Ramin into the cornfields for a couple of weeks.
'It seems like the choice that I respect more. I'm following my gut here and this is what I want to be doing, you know. I'm hungry for it.'
Efron is one of several rising Hollywood stars in Venice this year, along with Selena Gomez ('Spring Breakers') and Shia LaBeouf ('The Company You Keep').
Venice organizers are hoping that young blood will help compensate for the lack of A-listers appearing at the world's oldest film festival this year.
For director Bahrani, At Any Price contains important themes of corporate greed and economic desperation that are being felt the world over.
'I don't want to say what the moral of the film is. I don't know,' he said.
'I wanted to ask questions, like what happens when you value expansion more than your community, more than yourself? ... Where have we gone in a world (where) the people who profited the most have gotten away with it and are dancing on top of everybody else?'
He likened Efron to more established actors like Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise and Paul Newman.
While some critics may argue such comparisons are premature, early reviews of the film have singled out Quaid and Efron for their performances.
'Continuing to distance himself from his origins as a pretty-boy teen idol, he (Efron) brings an intense, brooding stillness to the screen here, simmering with the frustrations of small-town entrapment,' wrote the Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney.
(Editing by Steve Addison)
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Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Shia LaBeouf shifts movie gears, goes "Lawless"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After a string of big-budget Hollywood flicks like the 'Transformers' and 'Indiana Jones' franchise films, actor Shia LaBeouf is downsizing his career and taking on new, dramatic challenges in movies such as 'Lawless'.
The film, which opened Wednesday to mixed reviews, is based on author Matt Bondurant's 'The Wettest County in the World,' a fictional account of his family in Prohibition-era Virginia, and LaBeouf said the tale touched him due to his own upbringing.
'In terms of the character's emotions, the things he goes through, where he winds up, what he's dealing with, the family elements, the alpha male fight, it was all things that resonate with me heavily,' LaBeouf told Reuters.
'Lawless' tells of the bootlegging Bondurant brothers, played in the film by Jason Clarke, Tom Hardy and LaBeouf. When Special Deputy Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) arrives from Chicago, he threatens the brothers' moonshine business.
Complicating matters are shifting family dynamics in which LaBeouf's character Jack, the youngest Bondurant, wants to prove to his older brothers he can run the business.
Against their wishes, Jack starts his own bootlegging operation, deals with a big city gangster (Gary Oldman) and flaunts his new, expensive suits and cars, hoping to impress a girl in town played by Mia Wasikowska.
For Jack, his older brothers are at times frustrating - one is an alcoholic suffering post traumatic stress following World War I and the other puts on an air of invincibility.
In real life, LaBeouf's own father is a Vietnam veteran who struggled with alcohol abuse, and the actor said the family dynamics in the film 'touched on a lot of aspects of my life'.
'Even as an only child, who grew up with a father who's very alpha male, who I was competitive with, who was a criminal...I looked at (the script) and thought, man, I could really bring these moments to light.'
The movie opened ahead of the long Labor Day holiday weekend in the United States, and has earned a 58.3 percent positive rating among reviews scored by moviereviewintelligence.com.
USA Today critic Claudia Puig wrote that the film had 'anachronistic moments, stilted dialogue and formulaic characters (that) hamper this intermittently involving tale.'
LABEOUF'S DRAMATIC TURN
After starring in films that were big on special effects but low on character, such as the blockbuster 'Transformers' flicks, the 26-year-old LaBeouf will likely see many more thoughtful, critical looks at his work in dramatic roles.
He has taken roles in a string of lower-profile movies, starting with 'Lawless' and including upcoming 'The Company You Keep' and 'The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman'.
LaBeouf, who began acting as a teenager, said the change in direction was a factor of his current age and stage in life. He is growing up, maturing and moving away from special effects-filled flicks with robots and computer generated images.
'Ask an 18-year-old what he wants to do: 'You want to do 'Transformers' or (a movie with Danish avant garde filmmaker) Lars von Trier?' He's shipping out for 'Transformers,'' said LaBeouf. 'Ask a 26-year-old what he wants to do - 'Transformers' or Lars Von Trier - he's shipping out for Von Trier.'
True to his statement, LaBeouf is currently in Germany shooting Von Trier's 'The Nymphomaniac' also starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and Stellan Skarsgard.
'The movie is about the intricacies of love and sex, what they both mean and can you remove one from the other,' said LaBeouf. 'It's just asking a lot of big questions.'
He recently told MTV that the script for 'Nymphomanic' requires him to perform real sex acts. It comes on the heels of his nude appearance in a music video for folk band Sigur Ros, and he recently admitted taking the hallucinogen LSD to prepare for his role in 'Charlie Countryman'.
'My sensibilities are changing as I'm changing,' he said.
(Reporting By Zorianna Kit; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Andrew Hay)
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The film, which opened Wednesday to mixed reviews, is based on author Matt Bondurant's 'The Wettest County in the World,' a fictional account of his family in Prohibition-era Virginia, and LaBeouf said the tale touched him due to his own upbringing.
'In terms of the character's emotions, the things he goes through, where he winds up, what he's dealing with, the family elements, the alpha male fight, it was all things that resonate with me heavily,' LaBeouf told Reuters.
'Lawless' tells of the bootlegging Bondurant brothers, played in the film by Jason Clarke, Tom Hardy and LaBeouf. When Special Deputy Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) arrives from Chicago, he threatens the brothers' moonshine business.
Complicating matters are shifting family dynamics in which LaBeouf's character Jack, the youngest Bondurant, wants to prove to his older brothers he can run the business.
Against their wishes, Jack starts his own bootlegging operation, deals with a big city gangster (Gary Oldman) and flaunts his new, expensive suits and cars, hoping to impress a girl in town played by Mia Wasikowska.
For Jack, his older brothers are at times frustrating - one is an alcoholic suffering post traumatic stress following World War I and the other puts on an air of invincibility.
In real life, LaBeouf's own father is a Vietnam veteran who struggled with alcohol abuse, and the actor said the family dynamics in the film 'touched on a lot of aspects of my life'.
'Even as an only child, who grew up with a father who's very alpha male, who I was competitive with, who was a criminal...I looked at (the script) and thought, man, I could really bring these moments to light.'
The movie opened ahead of the long Labor Day holiday weekend in the United States, and has earned a 58.3 percent positive rating among reviews scored by moviereviewintelligence.com.
USA Today critic Claudia Puig wrote that the film had 'anachronistic moments, stilted dialogue and formulaic characters (that) hamper this intermittently involving tale.'
LABEOUF'S DRAMATIC TURN
After starring in films that were big on special effects but low on character, such as the blockbuster 'Transformers' flicks, the 26-year-old LaBeouf will likely see many more thoughtful, critical looks at his work in dramatic roles.
He has taken roles in a string of lower-profile movies, starting with 'Lawless' and including upcoming 'The Company You Keep' and 'The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman'.
LaBeouf, who began acting as a teenager, said the change in direction was a factor of his current age and stage in life. He is growing up, maturing and moving away from special effects-filled flicks with robots and computer generated images.
'Ask an 18-year-old what he wants to do: 'You want to do 'Transformers' or (a movie with Danish avant garde filmmaker) Lars von Trier?' He's shipping out for 'Transformers,'' said LaBeouf. 'Ask a 26-year-old what he wants to do - 'Transformers' or Lars Von Trier - he's shipping out for Von Trier.'
True to his statement, LaBeouf is currently in Germany shooting Von Trier's 'The Nymphomaniac' also starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and Stellan Skarsgard.
'The movie is about the intricacies of love and sex, what they both mean and can you remove one from the other,' said LaBeouf. 'It's just asking a lot of big questions.'
He recently told MTV that the script for 'Nymphomanic' requires him to perform real sex acts. It comes on the heels of his nude appearance in a music video for folk band Sigur Ros, and he recently admitted taking the hallucinogen LSD to prepare for his role in 'Charlie Countryman'.
'My sensibilities are changing as I'm changing,' he said.
(Reporting By Zorianna Kit; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Andrew Hay)
This news article is brought to you by STOCK MARKET BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
"Great Expectations" rounds off London film festival
LONDON (Reuters) - An all-star film adaptation of Dickens' classic novel 'Great Expectations' will round off the London film festival this year, marking the 200th anniversary of the author's birth, organizers said on Thursday.
Starring Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch and Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham, the film will see Jeremy Irvine play Pip, an orphan who is catapulted out of poverty and transformed into a gentleman by a mysterious benefactor.
Directed by Mike Newell and scripted by 'One Day' author David Nicholls, the film will make its European premiere at the festival on October 21, before hitting British theatres on November 30.
Both Fiennes and Bonham Carter, whose partner Tim Burton will kick off the festival with his animated film 'Frankenweenie', are expected to attend.
'I'm proud that our new version of Great Expectations should be presented this year, the bi-centenary of Dickens' birth,' said Newell, who directed 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'.
'I've tried to make a film that is true to the theatrical vividness, energetic characters and high color that he is loved for, while mining the deep seams of emotional cruelty and madness that underlie one of Dickens' darkest-shadowed stories,' Newell said.
This year's British Film Institute (BFI) London film festival runs from October 10-21, and the full lineup will be announced on September 5.
(Reporting by Alice Baghdjian; Editing by Steve Addison)
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Starring Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch and Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham, the film will see Jeremy Irvine play Pip, an orphan who is catapulted out of poverty and transformed into a gentleman by a mysterious benefactor.
Directed by Mike Newell and scripted by 'One Day' author David Nicholls, the film will make its European premiere at the festival on October 21, before hitting British theatres on November 30.
Both Fiennes and Bonham Carter, whose partner Tim Burton will kick off the festival with his animated film 'Frankenweenie', are expected to attend.
'I'm proud that our new version of Great Expectations should be presented this year, the bi-centenary of Dickens' birth,' said Newell, who directed 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'.
'I've tried to make a film that is true to the theatrical vividness, energetic characters and high color that he is loved for, while mining the deep seams of emotional cruelty and madness that underlie one of Dickens' darkest-shadowed stories,' Newell said.
This year's British Film Institute (BFI) London film festival runs from October 10-21, and the full lineup will be announced on September 5.
(Reporting by Alice Baghdjian; Editing by Steve Addison)
This news article is brought to you by FREE ROMANTIC DATING SITE BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Venice opens with 9/11 film, aims to build bridges
VENICE, Italy (Reuters) - The Venice film festival opens on Wednesday with 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist', based on a novel of the same name which traces a young Pakistani's journey from Wall Street high flyer to suspected Islamist radical targeted by American intelligence.
The adaptation of Mohsin Hamid's 2007 novel was directed by Mira Nair, an Indian who lives in New York where she said attitudes towards her and others from Asia quickly changed following the 9/11 attacks.
'Suddenly it became a place where people who look like us became 'the other' and that was painful, and that was also part of the inspiration to make this film,' she told reporters after a press screening of the movie.
'It was a very complicated and painful time,' added Nair, who won the Golden Lion for best picture at the Venice film festival in 2001 with 'Monsoon Wedding.'
The film-maker said she felt well placed to portray the story of Changez, a young Pakistani played by British actor Riz Ahmed who is tipped for the top in the world of high finance before the events of September 2001 turn his world upside down.
Ostracized and drawing suspicion at every turn, he returns to Pakistan to teach in Lahore. There he is approached by a radical Islamist cell that wants him to join its violent campaign against Western interests.
Ahmed, who also starred in the controversial suicide bomber comedy 'Four Lions', said he shared some of Changez's frustrations. 'We are to some extent defined by the labels that are slung around our neck,' he told a news conference.
In a tense interview with an American reporter (Liev Schreiber) that runs throughout the two-hour movie, the viewer is left to guess what path Changez chooses and what, ultimately, the motives of both men are.
Nair told reporters ahead of the evening red carpet premiere which marks the opening of the festival: 'We all know there has been an enormous schism between East and West in this last decade. I sought to bring some sense of bridge-making, some sense of healing, basically some sense of communication.'
Nair has said she took as her starting point the 1966 movie 'The Battle of Algiers', acclaimed for its even-handed treatment of the Algerian war in the 1950s.
LACK OF STARS?
The Reluctant Fundamentalist, which also stars Kate Hudson and Kiefer Sutherland, kicks off the world's oldest film festival, this year celebrating its 80th anniversary.
Alberto Barbera takes over as artistic director after the departure of Marco Mueller, and he will have his work cut out to ensure that Venice remains one of the top three film festivals in the world amid growing competition from Toronto and beyond.
The competition lineup of 18 movies has won early praise from critics, and Venice has also launched a small market where producers and distributors can buy and sell titles and so make the notoriously expensive trip more commercially attractive.
'I think all of us at the Biennale (festival) were aware of the fact that you change or die because the competition with other festivals is too strong,' Barbera told Reuters.
The lack of A-list stars this year is a concern among some festival goers, although Barbera will hope that a new generation of up-and-coming acting talent, including Zac Efron and Selena Gomez, provides the kind of buzz on which festivals thrive.
The older generation will be represented by Robert Redford and Julie Christie, while Rachel McAdams, Philip Seymour Hoffman and the unpredictable Joaquin Phoenix also are expected.
One of the most talked-about movies over the next 11 days is likely to be 'The Master,' Paul Thomas Anderson's story about a religious cult bearing similarities to Scientology.
The 'There Will Be Blood' director has said the role of Lancaster Dodd, played by Hoffman, was partly inspired by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology.
Elsewhere, there will be plenty of on-screen sex with Brian De Palma's revenge thriller 'Passion' working up an early head of steam through a racy trailer featuring McAdams and Noomi Rapace.
Terrence Malick, back on the European festival circuit a year after 'The Tree of Life' won the Palme d'Or in Cannes, presents 'To the Wonder,' which has been given a film rating restricting it to adults due to scenes of nudity and sex.
Also in a slimmed-down main competition of 18 films is Marco Bellocchio's 'Bella Addormentata' about Eluana Englaro, a woman left in a vegetative state by a car crash, who was at the center of a lengthy right-to-die case that divided opinion in Italy.
(Editing by Steve Addison)
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The adaptation of Mohsin Hamid's 2007 novel was directed by Mira Nair, an Indian who lives in New York where she said attitudes towards her and others from Asia quickly changed following the 9/11 attacks.
'Suddenly it became a place where people who look like us became 'the other' and that was painful, and that was also part of the inspiration to make this film,' she told reporters after a press screening of the movie.
'It was a very complicated and painful time,' added Nair, who won the Golden Lion for best picture at the Venice film festival in 2001 with 'Monsoon Wedding.'
The film-maker said she felt well placed to portray the story of Changez, a young Pakistani played by British actor Riz Ahmed who is tipped for the top in the world of high finance before the events of September 2001 turn his world upside down.
Ostracized and drawing suspicion at every turn, he returns to Pakistan to teach in Lahore. There he is approached by a radical Islamist cell that wants him to join its violent campaign against Western interests.
Ahmed, who also starred in the controversial suicide bomber comedy 'Four Lions', said he shared some of Changez's frustrations. 'We are to some extent defined by the labels that are slung around our neck,' he told a news conference.
In a tense interview with an American reporter (Liev Schreiber) that runs throughout the two-hour movie, the viewer is left to guess what path Changez chooses and what, ultimately, the motives of both men are.
Nair told reporters ahead of the evening red carpet premiere which marks the opening of the festival: 'We all know there has been an enormous schism between East and West in this last decade. I sought to bring some sense of bridge-making, some sense of healing, basically some sense of communication.'
Nair has said she took as her starting point the 1966 movie 'The Battle of Algiers', acclaimed for its even-handed treatment of the Algerian war in the 1950s.
LACK OF STARS?
The Reluctant Fundamentalist, which also stars Kate Hudson and Kiefer Sutherland, kicks off the world's oldest film festival, this year celebrating its 80th anniversary.
Alberto Barbera takes over as artistic director after the departure of Marco Mueller, and he will have his work cut out to ensure that Venice remains one of the top three film festivals in the world amid growing competition from Toronto and beyond.
The competition lineup of 18 movies has won early praise from critics, and Venice has also launched a small market where producers and distributors can buy and sell titles and so make the notoriously expensive trip more commercially attractive.
'I think all of us at the Biennale (festival) were aware of the fact that you change or die because the competition with other festivals is too strong,' Barbera told Reuters.
The lack of A-list stars this year is a concern among some festival goers, although Barbera will hope that a new generation of up-and-coming acting talent, including Zac Efron and Selena Gomez, provides the kind of buzz on which festivals thrive.
The older generation will be represented by Robert Redford and Julie Christie, while Rachel McAdams, Philip Seymour Hoffman and the unpredictable Joaquin Phoenix also are expected.
One of the most talked-about movies over the next 11 days is likely to be 'The Master,' Paul Thomas Anderson's story about a religious cult bearing similarities to Scientology.
The 'There Will Be Blood' director has said the role of Lancaster Dodd, played by Hoffman, was partly inspired by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology.
Elsewhere, there will be plenty of on-screen sex with Brian De Palma's revenge thriller 'Passion' working up an early head of steam through a racy trailer featuring McAdams and Noomi Rapace.
Terrence Malick, back on the European festival circuit a year after 'The Tree of Life' won the Palme d'Or in Cannes, presents 'To the Wonder,' which has been given a film rating restricting it to adults due to scenes of nudity and sex.
Also in a slimmed-down main competition of 18 films is Marco Bellocchio's 'Bella Addormentata' about Eluana Englaro, a woman left in a vegetative state by a car crash, who was at the center of a lengthy right-to-die case that divided opinion in Italy.
(Editing by Steve Addison)
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A Minute With: Sam Raimi's truly haunting "Possession"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Film director and producer Sam Raimi, for the first time in a long career of spooking audiences with his horror films, has turned to real-life events for supernatural thriller 'The Possession,' opening in the United States on Friday.
Raimi, whose credits range from directing 2002's 'Spider-Man' to producing horror flicks such as 'The Grudge' and 'The Grudge 2,' produces 'The Possession.' The movie, directed by Ole Bornedal, is inspired by a newspaper account of a family that fights a demon known as a Dibbuk in ancient Yiddish folklore.
The spirit, which resides in a Dibbuk box, is said to possesses the bodies of people with the intention of devouring them. In 'The Possession,' the Dibbuk enters the body of a young woman and her parents must figure out how to stop it.
Raimi spoke with Reuters about his new movie.
Q: Is it true that you got the idea for this film from a story you read in the Los Angeles Times?
A: 'Yes, my partner and I read the article entitled 'A jinx in a box?' by Leslie Gornstein about this Dibbuk box that brought horror to anyone in possession of it. Then I researched more online and thought that this could be a great script. There were so many stories of different people and their experiences. We decided to focus on one family that encountered the box. This newly divorced couple and how they have to put aside any animosity to overcome this evil. That fascinated me.'
Q: I read that Ole Bornedal went a few unconventional routes during filming -- using real moths in one pivotal scene and casting reggae artist Matisyahu. Did you support the decisions?
A: 'Yes, absolutely. He (Matisyahu) is not just an unusual choice for shock value, I think he's really right for the film and his performance was exceptionally true and original. Ole wanted to update the traditional view of the wise, old rabbi and Matisyahu goes against all expectations. Yet you believe in his faith and he made the idea of an exorcist new to me.'
Q: As your first horror film based on actual events, was there anything more creepy about making 'The Possession'?
A: 'It was really spooky to work on! This, however, also presented a whole set of problems unto itself.'
Q: Such as?
A: 'We had to secure a lot of rights to the original L.A. Times article, to the various people involved. When you're writing a screenplay based on real events, there are times when there isn't a good dramatic structure and that's what happened here...So, we ended up dropping some of the actual events to drive the story forward and that's why it's based on actual events. Thankfully, we had fantastic writers in Juliet Snowden and Stiles White. They really created these original characters that you connect with.'
Q: What makes a good horror film in your opinion?
A: 'The needs of a horror film are the same needs as in any dramatic film. The audience has to connect. You have to have a solid main character that you can really understand and relate to. You have to know what they want. There has to be a set of believable obstacles that you watch them overcome, and there has to be an interesting resolution.'
Q: You've focused alot on horror films throughout your career. Why?
A: 'It's funny. I never liked horror films as a kid! I was a coward and they scared me (he laughs). But, at the time that I was a youngster trying to break into the business there was no indie (independent film) scene. There was no Sundance Channel. The only way to break in at that time was to make a horror film for a couple hundred grand. I literally started in horror just to break into the business!'
Q: Do you have a favorite from your body of work?
A: 'I don't actually. They're like children to me. I love them all equally.'
Q: What's new on the Sam Raimi front?
A: 'I'm currently working on a new supernatural story with my brother Ivan. We've just finished the treatment but I can't tell you anything about it just yet.'
(Editing By Bob Tourtellotte and David Gregorio)
This news article is brought to you by GLOBAL WEATHER NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Raimi, whose credits range from directing 2002's 'Spider-Man' to producing horror flicks such as 'The Grudge' and 'The Grudge 2,' produces 'The Possession.' The movie, directed by Ole Bornedal, is inspired by a newspaper account of a family that fights a demon known as a Dibbuk in ancient Yiddish folklore.
The spirit, which resides in a Dibbuk box, is said to possesses the bodies of people with the intention of devouring them. In 'The Possession,' the Dibbuk enters the body of a young woman and her parents must figure out how to stop it.
Raimi spoke with Reuters about his new movie.
Q: Is it true that you got the idea for this film from a story you read in the Los Angeles Times?
A: 'Yes, my partner and I read the article entitled 'A jinx in a box?' by Leslie Gornstein about this Dibbuk box that brought horror to anyone in possession of it. Then I researched more online and thought that this could be a great script. There were so many stories of different people and their experiences. We decided to focus on one family that encountered the box. This newly divorced couple and how they have to put aside any animosity to overcome this evil. That fascinated me.'
Q: I read that Ole Bornedal went a few unconventional routes during filming -- using real moths in one pivotal scene and casting reggae artist Matisyahu. Did you support the decisions?
A: 'Yes, absolutely. He (Matisyahu) is not just an unusual choice for shock value, I think he's really right for the film and his performance was exceptionally true and original. Ole wanted to update the traditional view of the wise, old rabbi and Matisyahu goes against all expectations. Yet you believe in his faith and he made the idea of an exorcist new to me.'
Q: As your first horror film based on actual events, was there anything more creepy about making 'The Possession'?
A: 'It was really spooky to work on! This, however, also presented a whole set of problems unto itself.'
Q: Such as?
A: 'We had to secure a lot of rights to the original L.A. Times article, to the various people involved. When you're writing a screenplay based on real events, there are times when there isn't a good dramatic structure and that's what happened here...So, we ended up dropping some of the actual events to drive the story forward and that's why it's based on actual events. Thankfully, we had fantastic writers in Juliet Snowden and Stiles White. They really created these original characters that you connect with.'
Q: What makes a good horror film in your opinion?
A: 'The needs of a horror film are the same needs as in any dramatic film. The audience has to connect. You have to have a solid main character that you can really understand and relate to. You have to know what they want. There has to be a set of believable obstacles that you watch them overcome, and there has to be an interesting resolution.'
Q: You've focused alot on horror films throughout your career. Why?
A: 'It's funny. I never liked horror films as a kid! I was a coward and they scared me (he laughs). But, at the time that I was a youngster trying to break into the business there was no indie (independent film) scene. There was no Sundance Channel. The only way to break in at that time was to make a horror film for a couple hundred grand. I literally started in horror just to break into the business!'
Q: Do you have a favorite from your body of work?
A: 'I don't actually. They're like children to me. I love them all equally.'
Q: What's new on the Sam Raimi front?
A: 'I'm currently working on a new supernatural story with my brother Ivan. We've just finished the treatment but I can't tell you anything about it just yet.'
(Editing By Bob Tourtellotte and David Gregorio)
This news article is brought to you by GLOBAL WEATHER NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Religion, 9/11 grab spotlight as Venice film fest opens
VENICE (Reuters) - Politics, religion and personal crisis combine in 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist,' the opening movie at this year's Venice film festival, which examines what the 9/11 attacks mean for a young Asian man destined for a bright future on Wall Street.
Based on the novel by Pakistan-born writer Mohsin Hamid, it is directed by Indian Mira Nair, one of a large number of female filmmakers in Venice this year and a winner of the festival's coveted Golden Lion for best film with 2001's 'Monsoon Wedding.'
'The Reluctant Fundamentalist,' which has its red carpet world premiere on Wednesday to launch the 2012 festival, is not eligible for awards because it screens outside the competition.
But organizers are hoping its themes of faith, alienation and radicalism will provide a provocative start to 11 days of films, interviews, press conferences, photo shoots and late-night parties on the Lido island, which is part of Venice.
''The Reluctant Fundamentalist' gave me the platform to create a dialogue between the subcontinent and the West, over a schism that becomes more and more pronounced each day,' Nair said of her new film.
She called it 'a story about conflicting ideologies, instead of competing fists, where perception and suspicion have the power to determine life or death.'
Venice, the world's oldest film festival, celebrates its 80th anniversary this year and welcomes back artistic director Alberto Barbera for another stint at the helm.
He takes over from the respected outgoing director Marco Mueller, and will have his work cut out to ensure that Venice remains one of the top three film festivals in the world amid growing competition from Toronto and beyond.
His competition lineup of 18 movies has won early praise from critics, and Venice has launched a small market to make the notoriously expensive trip to Venice more commercially attractive to movie studio bosses.
'I think all of us at the Biennale (festival) were aware of the fact that you change or die because the competition with other festivals is too strong,' Barbera told Reuters. 'They invested a lot in the last decade to renovate the structure of the festival, the scope of the festival and make sure Venice remained the same as it was 20 years ago.'
LACK OF STARS?
The lack of A-list stars this year is a concern among some festivalgoers, although Barbera will hope that a new generation of up-and-coming acting talent, including Zac Efron, Shia LaBeouf and Selena Gomez, provides the kind of buzz on which festivals thrive.
The older generation will be represented by Robert Redford and Julie Christie, while Rachel McAdams, Philip Seymour Hoffman and the unpredictable Joaquin Phoenix also are expected.
One of the most talked-about movies this year is likely to be 'The Master,' Paul Thomas Anderson's story about a religious cult bearing similarities to Scientology.
The 'There Will Be Blood' director has said the role of Lancaster Dodd, played by Hoffman, was partly inspired by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology.
The movie's distributor, The Weinstein Company, features a news report on its website calling 'The Master' a 'Scientology-tinged religious drama'.
Yet both Anderson and company chief Harvey Weinstein have played down parallels with the self-described religion that counts Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its followers but has been cast by opponents as a cult that harasses people who seek to quit and coerces followers to think like they do.
Elsewhere, there will be plenty of on-screen sex with Brian De Palma's revenge thriller 'Passion' working up an early head of steam through a racy trailer featuring McAdams and Noomi Rapace.
Terrence Malick, back on the European festival circuit a year after 'The Tree of Life' won the Palme d'Or in Cannes, presents 'To the Wonder,' which has been given a film rating restricting it to adults due to scenes of nudity and sex.
Also in a slimmed-down main competition of 18 films is Marco Bellocchio's 'Bella Addormentata' about Eluana Englaro, a woman left in a vegetative state by a car crash, who was at the center of a lengthy right-to-die case that divided opinion in Italy.
'Collateral' director Michael Mann leads the jury that decides who wins the Golden Lion. Last year the prize went to 'Faust' by Russia's Alexander Sokurov.
Out of competition, Redford arrives with political action thriller 'The Company You Keep,' while Saudi Arabia's Haifaa al-Mansour says her movie 'Wadjda,' in the 'Orizzonti' section, is the first feature to be shot entirely in the Kingdom.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
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Based on the novel by Pakistan-born writer Mohsin Hamid, it is directed by Indian Mira Nair, one of a large number of female filmmakers in Venice this year and a winner of the festival's coveted Golden Lion for best film with 2001's 'Monsoon Wedding.'
'The Reluctant Fundamentalist,' which has its red carpet world premiere on Wednesday to launch the 2012 festival, is not eligible for awards because it screens outside the competition.
But organizers are hoping its themes of faith, alienation and radicalism will provide a provocative start to 11 days of films, interviews, press conferences, photo shoots and late-night parties on the Lido island, which is part of Venice.
''The Reluctant Fundamentalist' gave me the platform to create a dialogue between the subcontinent and the West, over a schism that becomes more and more pronounced each day,' Nair said of her new film.
She called it 'a story about conflicting ideologies, instead of competing fists, where perception and suspicion have the power to determine life or death.'
Venice, the world's oldest film festival, celebrates its 80th anniversary this year and welcomes back artistic director Alberto Barbera for another stint at the helm.
He takes over from the respected outgoing director Marco Mueller, and will have his work cut out to ensure that Venice remains one of the top three film festivals in the world amid growing competition from Toronto and beyond.
His competition lineup of 18 movies has won early praise from critics, and Venice has launched a small market to make the notoriously expensive trip to Venice more commercially attractive to movie studio bosses.
'I think all of us at the Biennale (festival) were aware of the fact that you change or die because the competition with other festivals is too strong,' Barbera told Reuters. 'They invested a lot in the last decade to renovate the structure of the festival, the scope of the festival and make sure Venice remained the same as it was 20 years ago.'
LACK OF STARS?
The lack of A-list stars this year is a concern among some festivalgoers, although Barbera will hope that a new generation of up-and-coming acting talent, including Zac Efron, Shia LaBeouf and Selena Gomez, provides the kind of buzz on which festivals thrive.
The older generation will be represented by Robert Redford and Julie Christie, while Rachel McAdams, Philip Seymour Hoffman and the unpredictable Joaquin Phoenix also are expected.
One of the most talked-about movies this year is likely to be 'The Master,' Paul Thomas Anderson's story about a religious cult bearing similarities to Scientology.
The 'There Will Be Blood' director has said the role of Lancaster Dodd, played by Hoffman, was partly inspired by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology.
The movie's distributor, The Weinstein Company, features a news report on its website calling 'The Master' a 'Scientology-tinged religious drama'.
Yet both Anderson and company chief Harvey Weinstein have played down parallels with the self-described religion that counts Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its followers but has been cast by opponents as a cult that harasses people who seek to quit and coerces followers to think like they do.
Elsewhere, there will be plenty of on-screen sex with Brian De Palma's revenge thriller 'Passion' working up an early head of steam through a racy trailer featuring McAdams and Noomi Rapace.
Terrence Malick, back on the European festival circuit a year after 'The Tree of Life' won the Palme d'Or in Cannes, presents 'To the Wonder,' which has been given a film rating restricting it to adults due to scenes of nudity and sex.
Also in a slimmed-down main competition of 18 films is Marco Bellocchio's 'Bella Addormentata' about Eluana Englaro, a woman left in a vegetative state by a car crash, who was at the center of a lengthy right-to-die case that divided opinion in Italy.
'Collateral' director Michael Mann leads the jury that decides who wins the Golden Lion. Last year the prize went to 'Faust' by Russia's Alexander Sokurov.
Out of competition, Redford arrives with political action thriller 'The Company You Keep,' while Saudi Arabia's Haifaa al-Mansour says her movie 'Wadjda,' in the 'Orizzonti' section, is the first feature to be shot entirely in the Kingdom.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
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"Amazing Spider-Man" beats up "Dark Knight Rises" in China
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Spider-Man can beat up Batman - at least in the China.
In a head-to-head showdown there Monday, 'Amazing Spider-Man' debuted to $5.4 million, while 'Dark Knight Rises' made $4.5 million in its bow.
Sony's 'Amazing Spider-Man' was on 2,515 locations, many of them 3D, and benefited from the premium pricing and its running time, which is shorter than 'Dark Knight Rises' and allowed more showings. The China debut pushed 'Amazing Spider-Man' past the $700 million mark in worldwide grosses.
It was the best non-3D opening in China ever for Warner Bros., topping all the Harry Potter films except for the 3D finale and 'Inception,' which took in $1.7 million in 2010. 'Dark Knight Rises' was in 2,400 sites. Imax screens brought in $516,000.
The double booking is in part an attempt by China Film Group, which oversees movie distribution in that country, to limit the impact of U.S. films on the domestic box office. Warner Bros. tried unsuccessfully to negotiate for another release date.
This is the second high-profile showdown of the summer between American films in China. In late July, Fox's 'Ice Age: Continental Drift' swamped Universal's 'The Lorax' in a battle of animated family films.
The fourth 'Ice Age' film grossed $15.7 million, while 'The Lorax' took in only $964,000. 'Ice Age' was in 3,500 theaters, compared with just 1,060 for 'The Lorax.'
China is near the end of the overseas road for both 'Amazing Spider-Man' and 'Dark Knight Rises.'
'Amazing Spider-Man' has taken in $439 million abroad since opening on July 3 and has a worldwide gross of $703 million.
That's below the total rung up by the previous films in the franchise, but it still has to be seen as a successful reboot for a series that has taken in $3.1 billion since the original bowed in 2002.
'Dark Knight,' which will open in Italy on Wednesday, has made $524 million overseas. Coupled with its $422.3 million domestic total, its worldwide gross is $946.3 million.
'Dark Knight Rises' is on pace to become the second film this year and the 13th film ever to pass the $1 billion mark in worldwide grosses.
Disney and Marvel's 'The Avengers' joined the club earlier this summer and is No. 3 with $1.49 billion. It is behind two James Cameron movies, 2001's 'Titanic' at $2.18 billion and 2009's 'Avatar,' at $2.78 billion.
In April, 'Titanic 3D' posted the biggest box-office opening ever in China, with a $58 million weekend. That topped the previous high set last year, when 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' opened to $55 million.
Fox's Ridley Scott-directed science-fiction movie 'Prometheus' is set to open in China on September 3.
This news article is brought to you by SAVING MONEY BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
In a head-to-head showdown there Monday, 'Amazing Spider-Man' debuted to $5.4 million, while 'Dark Knight Rises' made $4.5 million in its bow.
Sony's 'Amazing Spider-Man' was on 2,515 locations, many of them 3D, and benefited from the premium pricing and its running time, which is shorter than 'Dark Knight Rises' and allowed more showings. The China debut pushed 'Amazing Spider-Man' past the $700 million mark in worldwide grosses.
It was the best non-3D opening in China ever for Warner Bros., topping all the Harry Potter films except for the 3D finale and 'Inception,' which took in $1.7 million in 2010. 'Dark Knight Rises' was in 2,400 sites. Imax screens brought in $516,000.
The double booking is in part an attempt by China Film Group, which oversees movie distribution in that country, to limit the impact of U.S. films on the domestic box office. Warner Bros. tried unsuccessfully to negotiate for another release date.
This is the second high-profile showdown of the summer between American films in China. In late July, Fox's 'Ice Age: Continental Drift' swamped Universal's 'The Lorax' in a battle of animated family films.
The fourth 'Ice Age' film grossed $15.7 million, while 'The Lorax' took in only $964,000. 'Ice Age' was in 3,500 theaters, compared with just 1,060 for 'The Lorax.'
China is near the end of the overseas road for both 'Amazing Spider-Man' and 'Dark Knight Rises.'
'Amazing Spider-Man' has taken in $439 million abroad since opening on July 3 and has a worldwide gross of $703 million.
That's below the total rung up by the previous films in the franchise, but it still has to be seen as a successful reboot for a series that has taken in $3.1 billion since the original bowed in 2002.
'Dark Knight,' which will open in Italy on Wednesday, has made $524 million overseas. Coupled with its $422.3 million domestic total, its worldwide gross is $946.3 million.
'Dark Knight Rises' is on pace to become the second film this year and the 13th film ever to pass the $1 billion mark in worldwide grosses.
Disney and Marvel's 'The Avengers' joined the club earlier this summer and is No. 3 with $1.49 billion. It is behind two James Cameron movies, 2001's 'Titanic' at $2.18 billion and 2009's 'Avatar,' at $2.78 billion.
In April, 'Titanic 3D' posted the biggest box-office opening ever in China, with a $58 million weekend. That topped the previous high set last year, when 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' opened to $55 million.
Fox's Ridley Scott-directed science-fiction movie 'Prometheus' is set to open in China on September 3.
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Monday, August 27, 2012
Josh Holloway in talks to join cast of "Ten"
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Josh Holloway is in negotiations to join the cast of David Ayer's action-thriller 'Ten.' He would join Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sam Worthington in the film, which is being produced by QED International and distributed in the U.S. by Open Road.
The film is loosely based in the Agatha Christie novel 'Ten Little Indians.' Skip Woods ('Swordfish,' 'The A-Team') wrote the adaptation, which follows a task force that robs a drug cartel. Holloway would play one of the members of the cartel.
The film will also star Malin Akerman, Terrence Howard, Mireille Enos, Joe Manganiello, Olivia Williams, Max Martini and Dawn Olivieri.
QED is producing with Roth Films, and Albert Ruddy. The film is due to start shooting in October.
Holloway's recent films include 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' and Robert Luketic's thriller 'Paranoia.'
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The film is loosely based in the Agatha Christie novel 'Ten Little Indians.' Skip Woods ('Swordfish,' 'The A-Team') wrote the adaptation, which follows a task force that robs a drug cartel. Holloway would play one of the members of the cartel.
The film will also star Malin Akerman, Terrence Howard, Mireille Enos, Joe Manganiello, Olivia Williams, Max Martini and Dawn Olivieri.
QED is producing with Roth Films, and Albert Ruddy. The film is due to start shooting in October.
Holloway's recent films include 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' and Robert Luketic's thriller 'Paranoia.'
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Kristin Chenoweth to co-host "Anderson Live" premiere
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Kristin Chenoweth will serve as the first co-host when Anderson Cooper's revamped daytime talk show returns September 10 for a second season, the show said Monday.
Chenoweth, who recently had to put a guest-starring run on CBS's 'The Good Wife' on hold due to injuries she sustained while filming the political drama, will be followed by guest co-hosts including Goldie Hawn, Kelly Osbourne, Cyndi Lauper, Howie Mandel, Erin Andrews, D.L. Hughley and Kellie Pickler.
Co-hosts are something new for Cooper's talk show, which is undergoing a number of changes from its first season. The show also gets a name change to 'Anderson Live,' from the previous 'Anderson,' and it will tape in front of a live audience in a new venue, moving from Lincoln Center to the CBS Broadcast Center in New York.
Celebrity guests for the upcoming season include Richard Gere, Beyoncé, Jake Gyllenhaal, Claire Danes, Meg Ryan, Ben Affleck, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Kerry Washington, Kelsey Grammer, Carol Burnett and Stephen Colbert.
'We've got a lot of fun, great things planned for the new season,' Cooper said of the changes. 'I am really excited to be joined by daily co-hosts and look forward to switching to a live format, which allows us more freedom to cover topical issues as well as connect more with the viewer at home.'
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Chenoweth, who recently had to put a guest-starring run on CBS's 'The Good Wife' on hold due to injuries she sustained while filming the political drama, will be followed by guest co-hosts including Goldie Hawn, Kelly Osbourne, Cyndi Lauper, Howie Mandel, Erin Andrews, D.L. Hughley and Kellie Pickler.
Co-hosts are something new for Cooper's talk show, which is undergoing a number of changes from its first season. The show also gets a name change to 'Anderson Live,' from the previous 'Anderson,' and it will tape in front of a live audience in a new venue, moving from Lincoln Center to the CBS Broadcast Center in New York.
Celebrity guests for the upcoming season include Richard Gere, Beyoncé, Jake Gyllenhaal, Claire Danes, Meg Ryan, Ben Affleck, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Kerry Washington, Kelsey Grammer, Carol Burnett and Stephen Colbert.
'We've got a lot of fun, great things planned for the new season,' Cooper said of the changes. 'I am really excited to be joined by daily co-hosts and look forward to switching to a live format, which allows us more freedom to cover topical issues as well as connect more with the viewer at home.'
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Friday, August 24, 2012
Cameron Crowe moving forward with "Beautiful Boy"
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - 'Beautiful Boy,' a long-gestating film adaptation of David Sheff's New York Times best-seller 'Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction,' is moving forward, an individual close to the project told TheWrap.
Crowe is looking to direct the film after he completes an untitled romantic comedy set up last month at Sony.
Crowe's script is a 'meditation' on both 'Beautiful Boy' and the related memoir written by Sheff's son, Nic Sheff, about his own experience on drugs, 'Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines.'
Paramount optioned the rights to both books in 2008, the year they were published, and had first considered Steven Zaillian to write the script for producer Plan B. Plan B is now producing with New Regency. Paramount is no longer involved.
'Beautiful Boy' refers to the song John Lennon wrote for his son Sean in 1980. David Sheff was inspired to have his own family after conducting the last major interview with Lennon before he was assassinated in New York in 1980.
Crowe also has been asked to work on an adaptation of Michael Chabon's novel 'Telegraph Avenue' for HBO, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap. The novel is set in Berkeley and takes place during the Bush/Kelly elections.
Last month, TheWrap reported that Sony had acquired Crowe's untitled romantic comedy, with Emma Stone attached to play the lead. Crowe is planning to shoot the film in Hawaii and is looking for a male lead. Scott Rudin is producing.
'Beautiful Boy' and 'Tweak' were published by Houghton Mifflin Co. 'Beautiful Boy' chronicles Nic Sheff's descent into methamphetamine abuse as a teenager from the perspective of his father.
Crowe last directed 2011's 'We Bought a Zoo.' The 'Almost Famous' filmmaker co-wrote 'Zoo' with 'Devil Wears Prada' writer Aline Brosh McKenna.
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Crowe is looking to direct the film after he completes an untitled romantic comedy set up last month at Sony.
Crowe's script is a 'meditation' on both 'Beautiful Boy' and the related memoir written by Sheff's son, Nic Sheff, about his own experience on drugs, 'Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines.'
Paramount optioned the rights to both books in 2008, the year they were published, and had first considered Steven Zaillian to write the script for producer Plan B. Plan B is now producing with New Regency. Paramount is no longer involved.
'Beautiful Boy' refers to the song John Lennon wrote for his son Sean in 1980. David Sheff was inspired to have his own family after conducting the last major interview with Lennon before he was assassinated in New York in 1980.
Crowe also has been asked to work on an adaptation of Michael Chabon's novel 'Telegraph Avenue' for HBO, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap. The novel is set in Berkeley and takes place during the Bush/Kelly elections.
Last month, TheWrap reported that Sony had acquired Crowe's untitled romantic comedy, with Emma Stone attached to play the lead. Crowe is planning to shoot the film in Hawaii and is looking for a male lead. Scott Rudin is producing.
'Beautiful Boy' and 'Tweak' were published by Houghton Mifflin Co. 'Beautiful Boy' chronicles Nic Sheff's descent into methamphetamine abuse as a teenager from the perspective of his father.
Crowe last directed 2011's 'We Bought a Zoo.' The 'Almost Famous' filmmaker co-wrote 'Zoo' with 'Devil Wears Prada' writer Aline Brosh McKenna.
This news article is brought to you by PARENTING KIDS - where latest news are our top priority.
Tony Scott's suicide note reveals no motive: report
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The suicide note left by film director Tony Scott contained no mentions of why the 'Top Gun' maker would take his own life, the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday, citing law enforcement sources probing the death that has baffled Hollywood.
The note, along with other letters Scott left behind before jumping from a Los Angeles bridge earlier this week, did not mention health problems and authorities told the LA Times they may never be able to determine a reason Scott took his own life.
Scott, 68, the brother of Oscar-winning director Ridley Scott, had recently completed a film and seemed to be in good health when he parked his car on a suspension bridge over Los Angeles harbor, climbed a fence to get to the edge and leapt off, plunging nearly 200 feet (61 meters) to the water below.
Reports surfaced that he might have had brain cancer, but Los Angeles County coroners determined those reports were wrong. An autopsy was performed and a final cause of death may not come for weeks, pending toxicology and other tests results.
Until then, the reason behind his suicide continues to be a mystery in the movie and television industry where Scott enjoyed a good reputation, having produced TV shows and made movies such as 'Days of Thunder' and 'Crimson Tide.'
Scott's body is expected to be buried at a private family funeral on Saturday.
(Reporting By Zorianna Kit; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Leslie Gevirtz)
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The note, along with other letters Scott left behind before jumping from a Los Angeles bridge earlier this week, did not mention health problems and authorities told the LA Times they may never be able to determine a reason Scott took his own life.
Scott, 68, the brother of Oscar-winning director Ridley Scott, had recently completed a film and seemed to be in good health when he parked his car on a suspension bridge over Los Angeles harbor, climbed a fence to get to the edge and leapt off, plunging nearly 200 feet (61 meters) to the water below.
Reports surfaced that he might have had brain cancer, but Los Angeles County coroners determined those reports were wrong. An autopsy was performed and a final cause of death may not come for weeks, pending toxicology and other tests results.
Until then, the reason behind his suicide continues to be a mystery in the movie and television industry where Scott enjoyed a good reputation, having produced TV shows and made movies such as 'Days of Thunder' and 'Crimson Tide.'
Scott's body is expected to be buried at a private family funeral on Saturday.
(Reporting By Zorianna Kit; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Leslie Gevirtz)
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Suri cruises to millions in "TomKat" divorce: report
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Katie Holmes walked away without a payment or alimony in her divorce with Tom Cruise, but the couple's six-year-old daughter, Suri, stands to receive $400,000 annually in child support until she turns 18, celebrity website TMZ.com reported on Friday.
Citing sources familiar with court documents filed by the former couple, whose divorce was finalized earlier this week, TMZ said the "TomKat" pre-nuptial agreement blocked Holmes from receiving any portion of the 50-year-old actor's $250 million fortune.
But Cruise will make child-support payments over the next 12 years that add up to $4.8 million, or $33,333.33 a month. TMZ also reported that Cruise must pay Suri's medical, education and extracurricular expenses.
Cruise's attorney declined to comment on the report, and a lawyer for Holmes did not respond to Reuters' request for confirmation.
Holmes, 33, surprised Cruise in late June when she filed for divorce from the "Mission: Impossible" star after a nearly six-year marriage. Cruise was in Iceland shooting a movie at the time.
The divorce, which took less than two weeks to settle, captivated the world and prompted questions about whether Suri will be raised in the Church of Scientology, with which her father has long been closely associated.
(Reporting By Zorianna Kit; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Ciro Scotti)
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Citing sources familiar with court documents filed by the former couple, whose divorce was finalized earlier this week, TMZ said the "TomKat" pre-nuptial agreement blocked Holmes from receiving any portion of the 50-year-old actor's $250 million fortune.
But Cruise will make child-support payments over the next 12 years that add up to $4.8 million, or $33,333.33 a month. TMZ also reported that Cruise must pay Suri's medical, education and extracurricular expenses.
Cruise's attorney declined to comment on the report, and a lawyer for Holmes did not respond to Reuters' request for confirmation.
Holmes, 33, surprised Cruise in late June when she filed for divorce from the "Mission: Impossible" star after a nearly six-year marriage. Cruise was in Iceland shooting a movie at the time.
The divorce, which took less than two weeks to settle, captivated the world and prompted questions about whether Suri will be raised in the Church of Scientology, with which her father has long been closely associated.
(Reporting By Zorianna Kit; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Ciro Scotti)
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Thursday, August 23, 2012
"Expendables 2" poised to repeat at box office
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The dog days have arrived at the summer box office.
There are no new superheroes, sequels or kids films. The weekend's two widest openers - Sony's 'Premium Rush' and 'Hit and Run' from Open Road - are not expected to mount a challenge for the top spot. There's even a chance that a documentary, '2016 Obama's America,' will crack the top ten.
Last week's No. 1 film, 'Expendables 2' will keep the top spot with around $14 million, industry analysts say.
After that, it will be a scramble between 'Bourne Legacy,' which is in its third week, the two new wide openers and 'ParaNorman' for the next several slots. All are projected to be in the $10 million range for the three days.
'Hit and Run,' which opened Wednesday to $625,000, is expected to gross around $8 million. Dax Shepherd's comedy cost $2 million excluding marketing costs.
'Premium Rush,' which Sony is rolling out on 2,100 screens, is an intriguing offering. The plot couldn't be much simpler: A bicycle messenger, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is chased around New York City by a dirty cop who wants an envelope that the messenger is carrying.
It's directed by David Koepp, who teamed with John Kamps on the screenplay. Koepp is best known as the writer behind a number of blockbusters, including 'Jurassic Park,' 'Mission Impossible' and 'Spider-Man.' He's also a part of the writing team on Paramount's upcoming and still untitled Jack Ryan project starring Chris Pine and Keira Knightly.
'Premium Rush,' however, has more in common with another film written by Koepp, 2002's 'Panic Room.' In that one, directed by David Fincher, Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart star as a mother and daughter who take refuge in a safe room during a break-in.
For Gordon-Levitt, coming off his 'Dark Knight Rises' supporting role, 'Premium Rush' provides an opportunity to establish himself as a box office force. Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez and Jamie Chung co-star.
Tom Ortenberg's Open Road is opening the romantic action comedy 'Hit and Run' on 2,700 screens, making it the weekend's widest opener.
Dax Shepard (TV's 'Parenthood'), Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper, Kristin Chenoweth and Beau Bridges star in the Primate Pictures production. It tells the tale of Charlie Bronson (Shepard), a nice guy with a questionable past who risks everything when he busts out of the witness protection program to deliver his fiancée (Kristen Bell) to Los Angeles to seize a once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity.
Shephard wrote the screenplay and shares directing duties with David Palmer. This is the second collaboration for the duo, who also co-directed 2010's 'Brother's Justice.'
The weekend's other wide opener is 'Apparition,' a PG-13 thriller from Warner Bros.
Todd Lincoln wrote it and makes his feature directorial debut with the film, in which a couple is haunted by a supernatural presence that is unleashed during a college experiment.
It stars Ashley Greene ('Twilight'), Sebastian Stan ('Captain America: The First Avenger') and Tom Felton ('Harry Potter').
Warner Bros. has it in roughly 800 locations.
A wildcard in the weekend mix is the anti-Barack Obama documentary, '2016: Obama's America.' It's based on a book by conservative author Dinesh D'Souza, 'The Roots of Obama's Rage.'
Rocky Mountain Pictures is aggressively expanding the film, which purports to detail what will happen should the president be elected to a second term, into 1,075 theaters.
That's a big jump from the 169 theaters it played in last week, when it brought in $1.2 million, a $7,393 per-screen average.
The timing is right, with the Republican National Convention opening Monday in Tampa, Fla. Advance ticket sales were brisk according to online ticket broker Fandango, which reported that the documentary was outselling 'The Expendables 2' on Wednesday.
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There are no new superheroes, sequels or kids films. The weekend's two widest openers - Sony's 'Premium Rush' and 'Hit and Run' from Open Road - are not expected to mount a challenge for the top spot. There's even a chance that a documentary, '2016 Obama's America,' will crack the top ten.
Last week's No. 1 film, 'Expendables 2' will keep the top spot with around $14 million, industry analysts say.
After that, it will be a scramble between 'Bourne Legacy,' which is in its third week, the two new wide openers and 'ParaNorman' for the next several slots. All are projected to be in the $10 million range for the three days.
'Hit and Run,' which opened Wednesday to $625,000, is expected to gross around $8 million. Dax Shepherd's comedy cost $2 million excluding marketing costs.
'Premium Rush,' which Sony is rolling out on 2,100 screens, is an intriguing offering. The plot couldn't be much simpler: A bicycle messenger, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is chased around New York City by a dirty cop who wants an envelope that the messenger is carrying.
It's directed by David Koepp, who teamed with John Kamps on the screenplay. Koepp is best known as the writer behind a number of blockbusters, including 'Jurassic Park,' 'Mission Impossible' and 'Spider-Man.' He's also a part of the writing team on Paramount's upcoming and still untitled Jack Ryan project starring Chris Pine and Keira Knightly.
'Premium Rush,' however, has more in common with another film written by Koepp, 2002's 'Panic Room.' In that one, directed by David Fincher, Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart star as a mother and daughter who take refuge in a safe room during a break-in.
For Gordon-Levitt, coming off his 'Dark Knight Rises' supporting role, 'Premium Rush' provides an opportunity to establish himself as a box office force. Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez and Jamie Chung co-star.
Tom Ortenberg's Open Road is opening the romantic action comedy 'Hit and Run' on 2,700 screens, making it the weekend's widest opener.
Dax Shepard (TV's 'Parenthood'), Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper, Kristin Chenoweth and Beau Bridges star in the Primate Pictures production. It tells the tale of Charlie Bronson (Shepard), a nice guy with a questionable past who risks everything when he busts out of the witness protection program to deliver his fiancée (Kristen Bell) to Los Angeles to seize a once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity.
Shephard wrote the screenplay and shares directing duties with David Palmer. This is the second collaboration for the duo, who also co-directed 2010's 'Brother's Justice.'
The weekend's other wide opener is 'Apparition,' a PG-13 thriller from Warner Bros.
Todd Lincoln wrote it and makes his feature directorial debut with the film, in which a couple is haunted by a supernatural presence that is unleashed during a college experiment.
It stars Ashley Greene ('Twilight'), Sebastian Stan ('Captain America: The First Avenger') and Tom Felton ('Harry Potter').
Warner Bros. has it in roughly 800 locations.
A wildcard in the weekend mix is the anti-Barack Obama documentary, '2016: Obama's America.' It's based on a book by conservative author Dinesh D'Souza, 'The Roots of Obama's Rage.'
Rocky Mountain Pictures is aggressively expanding the film, which purports to detail what will happen should the president be elected to a second term, into 1,075 theaters.
That's a big jump from the 169 theaters it played in last week, when it brought in $1.2 million, a $7,393 per-screen average.
The timing is right, with the Republican National Convention opening Monday in Tampa, Fla. Advance ticket sales were brisk according to online ticket broker Fandango, which reported that the documentary was outselling 'The Expendables 2' on Wednesday.
This news article is brought to you by GOING GREEN NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Film "Sparkle" recalls a time when Detroit shined
DETROIT (Reuters) - A two-story house on West Grand Boulevard was once a music-makers' paradise, but is now a monument - a museum, really - to a colorful city that, behind new movie 'Sparkle', is recalling its past with renewed pride.
The home of Motown Records, which became known as Hitsville USA during the record label's 1960s heyday, looked like many others on its block. But behind its walls, business was anything but usual, and 'Sparkle' seems to have captured the magic of the times, city residents told Reuters in recent interviews.
Young men and women, some barely out of their teens, wrote and recorded songs that were the driving force in building the multimillion-dollar label that launched the careers of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and The Supremes, among many others, giving Detroit an identity around the globe.
Last weekend's release of updated 1976 musical drama 'Sparkle' brought a wave of nostalgia to die-hard fans of the Motown Sound and Detroiters excited to see their city reflected positively on screen after years of struggle, including an auto industry that had fallen on tough times.
The movie features characters who hark back to a special era, plus cultural landmarks such as Baker's Keyboard Lounge and Cliff Bell's nightclub, which are still in operation today.
Life-long Detroiter Blanche Ussery, who saw 'Sparkle' with her family, noted a few omissions and minor inaccuracies, but said the story mostly captured the spirit of the city.
'I thought it was pretty much reminiscent of the times,' Ussery said.
Strikingly accurate, she said, was the courtship between 'Sparkle' co-stars Jordin Sparks and Derek Luke, which brought to mind a simpler time in Detroit. Luke's character pursued Sparks' protagonist at church, much like Ussery's husband sought her at People's Community parish, where they eventually married.
Cameo appearances in the film like that of Universal Motown recording artist and Detroit resident Kem, whose soulful love songs often pay homage to original Motown talents, also gave the movie an air of familiarity.
MUSIC STARS, EVERYDAY PEOPLE
Joe Spencer, a restaurateur and retired Detroit TV executive who earned writing credits on albums by Edwin Starr, singer of 1970 hit 'War', and girl group The Marvelettes, who scored with 'Please Mr. Postman', recalled the mood at Hitsville in its heyday. It was not unusual to find Diana Ross rehearsing in one area while singer William 'Smokey' Robinson listened to unreleased songs down the hall.
'Here you were in the same place with some of the world's greatest songwriters and hitmakers, and they were everyday people, too,' Spencer said.
Dorothy Simpson, who opened Simpson's Record Shop in 1966, said she largely owes the success of her still-operating store to Motown. Teenagers who pined for the latest single by The Temptations, Marvin Gaye or Martha & The Vandellas regularly filed into line in front of Simpson's cash register.
'We had them just about every day,' Simpson says of the young customers. 'That's what got us started, Motown.'
Motown Museum CEO Allen Rawls, who auditioned for the label as a teen, said the company's legacy still shines decades after Detroit itself began an economic decline. The city's population - now just over 700,000 - is about half what it was in 1970.
Brazelton's Florist and James H. Cole Funeral Home are among the Motown Museum's few neighbors still serving a community that survived a deadly 1967 urban rebellion, a drug epidemic, and years of joblessness.
It's a tribute to the music - and to Detroit - that people who speak little English tour Motown, and 'if a song comes on, they know every word', said Rawls.
The label eventually became property of Universal Music after founder Berry Gordy sold the company in 1972, having already moved the headquarters to Los Angeles.
'When they left, I think it created a big hole in Detroit's soul - and not just the music,' Spencer said, noting the 'social pride' the city felt as a breeding ground for music stars.
Michelle McKinney, an archives staffer at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, said Motown also was a soundtrack for the real lives of fans like her. She was almost an adult when she discovered the songs that her mother had banned from their home, calling them 'sinful'.
'The music helped me recognize what love was, so I really owe Motown a debt of gratitude,' McKinney said.
Motown also helped Detroiters become socially conscious, and some of the museum's exhibits link song lyrics to struggles for civil rights being waged throughout America in the 1960s.
'It made us a community,' said McKinney. 'We had our own movie stars and singing stars. We had some people to be proud of, from Detroit. They were our royalty.'
(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Dale Hudson)
This news article is brought to you by PARENTING KIDS - where latest news are our top priority.
The home of Motown Records, which became known as Hitsville USA during the record label's 1960s heyday, looked like many others on its block. But behind its walls, business was anything but usual, and 'Sparkle' seems to have captured the magic of the times, city residents told Reuters in recent interviews.
Young men and women, some barely out of their teens, wrote and recorded songs that were the driving force in building the multimillion-dollar label that launched the careers of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and The Supremes, among many others, giving Detroit an identity around the globe.
Last weekend's release of updated 1976 musical drama 'Sparkle' brought a wave of nostalgia to die-hard fans of the Motown Sound and Detroiters excited to see their city reflected positively on screen after years of struggle, including an auto industry that had fallen on tough times.
The movie features characters who hark back to a special era, plus cultural landmarks such as Baker's Keyboard Lounge and Cliff Bell's nightclub, which are still in operation today.
Life-long Detroiter Blanche Ussery, who saw 'Sparkle' with her family, noted a few omissions and minor inaccuracies, but said the story mostly captured the spirit of the city.
'I thought it was pretty much reminiscent of the times,' Ussery said.
Strikingly accurate, she said, was the courtship between 'Sparkle' co-stars Jordin Sparks and Derek Luke, which brought to mind a simpler time in Detroit. Luke's character pursued Sparks' protagonist at church, much like Ussery's husband sought her at People's Community parish, where they eventually married.
Cameo appearances in the film like that of Universal Motown recording artist and Detroit resident Kem, whose soulful love songs often pay homage to original Motown talents, also gave the movie an air of familiarity.
MUSIC STARS, EVERYDAY PEOPLE
Joe Spencer, a restaurateur and retired Detroit TV executive who earned writing credits on albums by Edwin Starr, singer of 1970 hit 'War', and girl group The Marvelettes, who scored with 'Please Mr. Postman', recalled the mood at Hitsville in its heyday. It was not unusual to find Diana Ross rehearsing in one area while singer William 'Smokey' Robinson listened to unreleased songs down the hall.
'Here you were in the same place with some of the world's greatest songwriters and hitmakers, and they were everyday people, too,' Spencer said.
Dorothy Simpson, who opened Simpson's Record Shop in 1966, said she largely owes the success of her still-operating store to Motown. Teenagers who pined for the latest single by The Temptations, Marvin Gaye or Martha & The Vandellas regularly filed into line in front of Simpson's cash register.
'We had them just about every day,' Simpson says of the young customers. 'That's what got us started, Motown.'
Motown Museum CEO Allen Rawls, who auditioned for the label as a teen, said the company's legacy still shines decades after Detroit itself began an economic decline. The city's population - now just over 700,000 - is about half what it was in 1970.
Brazelton's Florist and James H. Cole Funeral Home are among the Motown Museum's few neighbors still serving a community that survived a deadly 1967 urban rebellion, a drug epidemic, and years of joblessness.
It's a tribute to the music - and to Detroit - that people who speak little English tour Motown, and 'if a song comes on, they know every word', said Rawls.
The label eventually became property of Universal Music after founder Berry Gordy sold the company in 1972, having already moved the headquarters to Los Angeles.
'When they left, I think it created a big hole in Detroit's soul - and not just the music,' Spencer said, noting the 'social pride' the city felt as a breeding ground for music stars.
Michelle McKinney, an archives staffer at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, said Motown also was a soundtrack for the real lives of fans like her. She was almost an adult when she discovered the songs that her mother had banned from their home, calling them 'sinful'.
'The music helped me recognize what love was, so I really owe Motown a debt of gratitude,' McKinney said.
Motown also helped Detroiters become socially conscious, and some of the museum's exhibits link song lyrics to struggles for civil rights being waged throughout America in the 1960s.
'It made us a community,' said McKinney. 'We had our own movie stars and singing stars. We had some people to be proud of, from Detroit. They were our royalty.'
(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Dale Hudson)
This news article is brought to you by PARENTING KIDS - where latest news are our top priority.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Jolie, Pitt daughter to make film debut as young princess
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - She is only four-years-old but Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, daughter of actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, will soon follow in the footsteps of her famous parents, appearing in Disney movie 'Malificent,' the studio said on Wednesday.
The movie is expected to hit theaters in March 2014 with Jolie playing villain Malificent from animated classic 'Sleeping Beauty.' Vivienne will portray a young version of Princess Aurora who is cursed to sleep until awoken by kiss from a handsome prince.
'Angelina Jolie's daughter Vivienne will play a minor role as the child version of Princess Aurora opposite her mother in 'Maleficent,' Disney said in a statement. 'The live-action film explores the origins of Disney's most iconic villain, Maleficent, and what led her to curse Princess Aurora.'
No further details were available.
Vivienne Jolie-Pitt is the twin sister to brother Knox Leon. They were born in a hospital in Nice, France, on July 12, 2008.
(Reporting By Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
This news article is brought to you by ECONOMY BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
The movie is expected to hit theaters in March 2014 with Jolie playing villain Malificent from animated classic 'Sleeping Beauty.' Vivienne will portray a young version of Princess Aurora who is cursed to sleep until awoken by kiss from a handsome prince.
'Angelina Jolie's daughter Vivienne will play a minor role as the child version of Princess Aurora opposite her mother in 'Maleficent,' Disney said in a statement. 'The live-action film explores the origins of Disney's most iconic villain, Maleficent, and what led her to curse Princess Aurora.'
No further details were available.
Vivienne Jolie-Pitt is the twin sister to brother Knox Leon. They were born in a hospital in Nice, France, on July 12, 2008.
(Reporting By Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
This news article is brought to you by ECONOMY BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
Sam Claflin nabs Finnick Odair role in next "Hunger Games"
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' has found its Finnick Odair.
As has been expected, actor Sam Claflin officially has landed the part in the second installment of the successful franchise based on Suzanne Collins' series of books, Lionsgate and the filmmakers announced on Wednesday.
Claflin, last seen on screen as Prince William alongside Kristen Stewart in this summer's fairy-tale fantasy 'Snow White and the Huntsman,' will play a former District 4 Hunger Games winner.
He joins Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen, Liam Hemsworth's Gale Hawthorne, Josh Hutcherson's Peeta Mellark and a supporting lineup including Jena Malone, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amanda Plummer and Elizabeth Banks for the sequel to 'The Hunger Games,' which brought in over $684 million worldwide last spring.
'Nurse Jackie's' Lynn Cohen was cast August 2 as Mags, Finnick's 80-year-old mentor.
'Catching Fire,' due to hit theaters on November 22, 2013, follows returning Hunger Games champions Katniss and Peeta as they embark on a 'Victor's Tour' of the districts amid hints of rebellion and President Snow prepares for the 75th annual Games (the Quarter Quell).
Francis Lawrence is taking over directing duties from Gary Ross for 'Catching Fire,' and Nina Jacobson's Color Force is producing, in tandem with Jon Kilik.
Claflin just finished filming 'The Quiet Ones' with 'Mad Men' star Jared Harris and 'Mary and Martha' with Hilary Swank.
This news article is brought to you by TAXES BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
As has been expected, actor Sam Claflin officially has landed the part in the second installment of the successful franchise based on Suzanne Collins' series of books, Lionsgate and the filmmakers announced on Wednesday.
Claflin, last seen on screen as Prince William alongside Kristen Stewart in this summer's fairy-tale fantasy 'Snow White and the Huntsman,' will play a former District 4 Hunger Games winner.
He joins Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen, Liam Hemsworth's Gale Hawthorne, Josh Hutcherson's Peeta Mellark and a supporting lineup including Jena Malone, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amanda Plummer and Elizabeth Banks for the sequel to 'The Hunger Games,' which brought in over $684 million worldwide last spring.
'Nurse Jackie's' Lynn Cohen was cast August 2 as Mags, Finnick's 80-year-old mentor.
'Catching Fire,' due to hit theaters on November 22, 2013, follows returning Hunger Games champions Katniss and Peeta as they embark on a 'Victor's Tour' of the districts amid hints of rebellion and President Snow prepares for the 75th annual Games (the Quarter Quell).
Francis Lawrence is taking over directing duties from Gary Ross for 'Catching Fire,' and Nina Jacobson's Color Force is producing, in tandem with Jon Kilik.
Claflin just finished filming 'The Quiet Ones' with 'Mad Men' star Jared Harris and 'Mary and Martha' with Hilary Swank.
This news article is brought to you by TAXES BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
A Minute With: Keanu Reeves going digital with 'Side By Side'
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Keanu Reeves' latest film, 'Side By Side,' has no car chases, explosions or slow-motion bullets like those in 'The Matrix.' But for fans of cinema, it has something even more valuable - an inside look at digital technology's impact on traditional film.
The 98-minute documentary is co-produced by Reeves, who also acts as interviewer, and directed by Chris Kenneally and it features a who's who of Hollywood heavyweights discussing their views on making movies through film or digital means.
Filmmakers interviewed include James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, George Lucas, Danny Boyle, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan and Steven Soderbergh
'Side By Side' opened in Los Angeles on August 17, hits New York August 31 and plays around the United States in weeks to come. It is available nationwide on video-on-demand Wednesday.
Reeves recently spoke to Reuters about the movie.
Q: Where did the idea for 'Side by Side' come from?
A: 'A couple of years ago I was working on this film, 'Henry's Crime,' which I also produced, and I was talking with Chris Kenneally about all the new digital technology and all the changes in the industry. We were sitting in the post-production suite trying to match the photochemical image with the digital image, side by side, and it just hit me - film is going away, and we should document this whole evolution. So Chris and I gradually put a team together to make the documentary.'
Q: The film features interviews with some 70 top filmmakers, directors of photography and other experts. How did you pull all that together?
A: 'It wasn't easy and it took almost a year to film everyone. We began at the 2010 Camera Image festival in Poland and got a bunch of (cinematographers) there, including all these greats I'd worked with, such as Vittorio Storaro, Michael Chapman and Michael Balhaus. That was our start, and then word-of-mouth spread, and I began contacting some of the directors I'd worked with over the past 25 years. So that history together obviously helped get some of the big names on board and we just started building momentum. We ended up getting nearly 150 people and then we had to cut it down for the final movie.'
Q: Did anyone turn you down?
A: 'We got nearly everyone we wanted, although of course some people were unavailable or didn't want to be interviewed, for whatever reason.'
Q: Who was the hardest person to get hold of?
A: 'Chris Nolan, because his schedule on 'The Dark Knight Rises' was so crazy. It took a long time to set that one up.
Q: Nolan's always been an outspoken champion of film as opposed to digital. Is it true you appealed to his anti-digital sentiments by writing him an old-fashioned letter?
A: 'Yes, I actually wrote to him on an old-fashioned typewriter. I think he got a kick out of that and we finally shot him in his trailer on the Batman set in LA.'
Q: You also managed to get 'Matrix' directors, the Wachowskis. That was quite a coup as they haven't done an interview in over a decade.
A: 'Well, we've stayed friends since 'The Matrix' films and they were lovely. I felt honored that they wanted to be a part of this. And I think they add so much to this documentary and may surprise a lot of people with their views. Although they pioneered so many digital techniques in the 'Matrix' films, they have this big love for film and the look of film.
Q: Any other highlights?
A: 'Talking to George Lucas was pretty special. The sheer impact that he's had on digital cinema is just so amazing, and I learned so much. I mean, I wasn't familiar with his development of the EditDroid which then turned into the Avid but we all know about ILM and THX and his work with digital cameras. He's a true maverick and pioneer of where we are today. He's done it all.
Q: Having made the documentary, how do you feel about the future of physical film? Is it dead?
A: 'I think it is. Even Chris Nolan admits that film, if not dead, is now on life support, and it's just going to become more and more difficult to even get film. Personally I'm a big film fan and it's sad to see it go but the future is digital.'
Q: You're also behind the camera again directing your first big feature, a kung fu adventure titled 'Man of Tai Chi,' and shooting it in China. Did you go digital?
A: (Laughs) 'We did. I developed this project for five years and we're shooting on location in Beijing and Hong Kong. I'm having a great time directing and I definitely plan to do it again.'
(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Bill Trott)
The 98-minute documentary is co-produced by Reeves, who also acts as interviewer, and directed by Chris Kenneally and it features a who's who of Hollywood heavyweights discussing their views on making movies through film or digital means.
Filmmakers interviewed include James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, George Lucas, Danny Boyle, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan and Steven Soderbergh
'Side By Side' opened in Los Angeles on August 17, hits New York August 31 and plays around the United States in weeks to come. It is available nationwide on video-on-demand Wednesday.
Reeves recently spoke to Reuters about the movie.
Q: Where did the idea for 'Side by Side' come from?
A: 'A couple of years ago I was working on this film, 'Henry's Crime,' which I also produced, and I was talking with Chris Kenneally about all the new digital technology and all the changes in the industry. We were sitting in the post-production suite trying to match the photochemical image with the digital image, side by side, and it just hit me - film is going away, and we should document this whole evolution. So Chris and I gradually put a team together to make the documentary.'
Q: The film features interviews with some 70 top filmmakers, directors of photography and other experts. How did you pull all that together?
A: 'It wasn't easy and it took almost a year to film everyone. We began at the 2010 Camera Image festival in Poland and got a bunch of (cinematographers) there, including all these greats I'd worked with, such as Vittorio Storaro, Michael Chapman and Michael Balhaus. That was our start, and then word-of-mouth spread, and I began contacting some of the directors I'd worked with over the past 25 years. So that history together obviously helped get some of the big names on board and we just started building momentum. We ended up getting nearly 150 people and then we had to cut it down for the final movie.'
Q: Did anyone turn you down?
A: 'We got nearly everyone we wanted, although of course some people were unavailable or didn't want to be interviewed, for whatever reason.'
Q: Who was the hardest person to get hold of?
A: 'Chris Nolan, because his schedule on 'The Dark Knight Rises' was so crazy. It took a long time to set that one up.
Q: Nolan's always been an outspoken champion of film as opposed to digital. Is it true you appealed to his anti-digital sentiments by writing him an old-fashioned letter?
A: 'Yes, I actually wrote to him on an old-fashioned typewriter. I think he got a kick out of that and we finally shot him in his trailer on the Batman set in LA.'
Q: You also managed to get 'Matrix' directors, the Wachowskis. That was quite a coup as they haven't done an interview in over a decade.
A: 'Well, we've stayed friends since 'The Matrix' films and they were lovely. I felt honored that they wanted to be a part of this. And I think they add so much to this documentary and may surprise a lot of people with their views. Although they pioneered so many digital techniques in the 'Matrix' films, they have this big love for film and the look of film.
Q: Any other highlights?
A: 'Talking to George Lucas was pretty special. The sheer impact that he's had on digital cinema is just so amazing, and I learned so much. I mean, I wasn't familiar with his development of the EditDroid which then turned into the Avid but we all know about ILM and THX and his work with digital cameras. He's a true maverick and pioneer of where we are today. He's done it all.
Q: Having made the documentary, how do you feel about the future of physical film? Is it dead?
A: 'I think it is. Even Chris Nolan admits that film, if not dead, is now on life support, and it's just going to become more and more difficult to even get film. Personally I'm a big film fan and it's sad to see it go but the future is digital.'
Q: You're also behind the camera again directing your first big feature, a kung fu adventure titled 'Man of Tai Chi,' and shooting it in China. Did you go digital?
A: (Laughs) 'We did. I developed this project for five years and we're shooting on location in Beijing and Hong Kong. I'm having a great time directing and I definitely plan to do it again.'
(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Bill Trott)
Coroner says filmmaker's family ruled out cancer in his suicide
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The family of 'Top Gun' director Tony Scott told medical examiners the British-born filmmaker did not have brain cancer or any serious illness when he jumped to his death from a suspension bridge, a Los Angeles County Coroner Department official said on Tuesday.
Craig Harvey, operations chief for the coroner, also said Monday's autopsy revealed Scott, 68, had no obvious signs of a brain tumor. More lab tests are needed to rule out any microscopic traces of cancer that would have been too minute for a physician to detect while Scott was alive.
'The family told us it is incorrect that he had inoperable brain cancer,' Harvey said, adding that 'they advised us ... he had no serious medical issues.'
The disclosures added to the mystery surrounding Scott's suicide and contradicted an earlier unconfirmed ABC News report, attributed by the network to an unidentified source close to Scott, that he had inoperable brain cancer.
Scott, whose directorial work included 'Beverly Hills Cop II,' 'The Hunger,' 'Days of Thunder' and 'Crimson Tide,' parked his car in the middle of a suspension bridge over Los Angeles Harbor on Sunday afternoon, climbed an 18-foot-tall fence and jumped nearly 200 feet to the water below.
His body was recovered about three hours later. Coroner's officials said a suicide note was found in his office and a list of people to contact was found in his car. Authorities have not disclosed the contents of the note.
Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter has said investigators lacked any theories about what led Scott, one of the most prolific and successful directors in Hollywood, to kill himself.
He was reported to be involved in developing several film projects, including a sequel to his biggest hit, the 1986 fighter-jet adventure 'Top Gun,' which turned Tom Cruise into a major star and helped launch Scott's directing career.
(Reporting and writing by Steve Gorman)
This news article is brought to you by SPACE AND ASTRONOMY NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Craig Harvey, operations chief for the coroner, also said Monday's autopsy revealed Scott, 68, had no obvious signs of a brain tumor. More lab tests are needed to rule out any microscopic traces of cancer that would have been too minute for a physician to detect while Scott was alive.
'The family told us it is incorrect that he had inoperable brain cancer,' Harvey said, adding that 'they advised us ... he had no serious medical issues.'
The disclosures added to the mystery surrounding Scott's suicide and contradicted an earlier unconfirmed ABC News report, attributed by the network to an unidentified source close to Scott, that he had inoperable brain cancer.
Scott, whose directorial work included 'Beverly Hills Cop II,' 'The Hunger,' 'Days of Thunder' and 'Crimson Tide,' parked his car in the middle of a suspension bridge over Los Angeles Harbor on Sunday afternoon, climbed an 18-foot-tall fence and jumped nearly 200 feet to the water below.
His body was recovered about three hours later. Coroner's officials said a suicide note was found in his office and a list of people to contact was found in his car. Authorities have not disclosed the contents of the note.
Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter has said investigators lacked any theories about what led Scott, one of the most prolific and successful directors in Hollywood, to kill himself.
He was reported to be involved in developing several film projects, including a sequel to his biggest hit, the 1986 fighter-jet adventure 'Top Gun,' which turned Tom Cruise into a major star and helped launch Scott's directing career.
(Reporting and writing by Steve Gorman)
This news article is brought to you by SPACE AND ASTRONOMY NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Clues sought in suicide of film director Tony Scott
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Investigators sought clues on Monday to what prompted British-born filmmaker Tony Scott to take his own life in Los Angeles, while much of Hollywood focused on conflicting media reports about whether he was suffering from brain cancer.
Scott, director of such blockbuster films as 'Top Gun' and 'Beverly Hills Cop II,' jumped nearly 200 feet to his death on Sunday from a suspension bridge over Los Angeles Harbor, leaving behind a suicide note in his office and a list in his car of people to contact, authorities said.
Medical examiners on Monday performed an autopsy on Scott, whose body was recovered from the harbor nearly three hours after he jumped in, said Ed Winter, assistant chief of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office.
He said results of the exam likely will be kept confidential until toxicology and other tests are completed. A coroner's spokesman said that could take four to eight weeks.
Winter said he could not confirm an ABC News report that said Scott, the younger brother of director and three-time Oscar nominee Ridley Scott, had inoperable brain cancer. The report cited an unidentified source close to Scott.
The celebrity news website TMZ.com reported later on Monday that Scott's wife had told investigators that rumors of an inoperable brain cancer were 'absolutely false,' though TMZ did not specify the origin of its account.
Asked whether the suicide note found by friends in Scott's office or any other writings referred to an illness, Winter said, 'not to my knowledge.' Authorities have not disclosed the content of the note.
Winter also said investigators had no theories about what led Scott, who was 68, to kill himself.
Witnesses reported seeing Scott stop his car at about the midway point of the bridge shortly after noon on Sunday, climb a fence along the edge of the span and leap into the water, coroner's officials said.
His body was recovered from the water about three hours later.
California transportation officials said the center of the span, its highest point, is about 185 feet above the harbor surface, and the fence at that point, installed in the 1970s to keep debris from falling into the channel, is 18 feet tall.
Members of the film industry expressed shock at the death of one of Hollywood's most prolific and bankable producer-directors with reactions from Tom Cruise, Ron Howard and others.
Cruise, who shot to stardom in Scott's 1986 fighter-jet adventure 'Top Gun,' described the director as 'my dear friend' and said in a statement: 'I will really miss him. He was a creative visionary whose mark on film is immeasurable.'
Cruise was reported by Hollywood trade paper the Hollywood Reporter to be working with Scott on plans for a 'Top Gun' sequel and toured a naval air station in Nevada late last week with the director as part of their research for the movie.
Gene Hackman, who starred in Scott's 1998 spy thriller 'Enemy of the State' and his 1995 submarine drama 'Crimson Tide,' remembered him as 'always sensitive to the needs of an actor. We've lost a wonderful, creative talent.'
MAN IN THE RED CAP
Scott, frequently seen behind the camera in his signature faded red baseball cap, directed more than two dozen movies and television shows and produced nearly 50 titles.
He built a reputation for muscular but stylish high-octane thrillers that showcased some of Hollywood's biggest stars in a body of work that dated to the 1980s and established him as one of the most successful action directors in the business.
Two of his biggest hits were the 1986 fighter jet adventure 'Top Gun' and the 1987 Eddie Murphy comedy 'Beverly Hills Cop II.'
Other directing credits include the 1990 racing drama 'Days of Thunder,' which also featured Cruise; 'Crimson Tide,' co-starring Hackman and Denzel Washington; 'Enemy of the State,' which paired Hackman and Will Smith; and 2001's 'Spy Game,' which teamed Robert Redford and Brad Pitt.
Washington became Scott's most frequent star, appearing in four other films including a 2009 remake of subway hostage thriller 'The Taking of the Pelham 1 2 3,' co-starring John Travolta, and the 2010 runaway-train blockbuster, 'Unstoppable.'
Scott got his start making TV commercials for his older brother's London-based production company, Ridley Scott Associates, and moved into movies for television and film.
His feature directorial debut, 1983 vampire movie 'The Hunger' starring British rocker David Bowie and French actress Catherine Deneuve, was a flop that later became a cult favorite. Scott bounced back three years later with 'Top Gun.'
The brothers later formed a film company, Scott Free Productions, that made many of their films and TV shows.
The two were executive producers of two successful prime-time television dramas, 'Numb3rs,' which ran on CBS from 2005 to 2010, and 'The Good Wife,' which is still on CBS.
Filmmaker Richard Kelly, who wrote the screenplay for Scott's 2005 film 'Domino,' joined the thousands of online tributes on Monday.
'Working with Tony Scott was like a glorious road trip to Vegas on desert back roads, a wild man behind the wheel, grinning,' Kelly said.
Kevin Costner, who worked with Scott on 1990 movie 'Revenge' said: 'Tony was one of the good guys. He was a man's man who lived life as hard and as full as anyone I've ever met but there was always a sweetness to his toughness.'
Actor Val Kilmer, who appeared in both 'Top Gun' and the 1993 film 'True Romance,' called Scott 'the kindest film director I ever worked for,' and U.S. film critic Roger Ebert called him 'an inspired craftsman.'
Scott is survived by his third wife, Donna, with whom he had two children.
(Additional reporting by Mike Collett-White in London and Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles; Editing by Vicki Allen and Doina Chiacu)
This news article is brought to you by MOVIE CRITIC NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Scott, director of such blockbuster films as 'Top Gun' and 'Beverly Hills Cop II,' jumped nearly 200 feet to his death on Sunday from a suspension bridge over Los Angeles Harbor, leaving behind a suicide note in his office and a list in his car of people to contact, authorities said.
Medical examiners on Monday performed an autopsy on Scott, whose body was recovered from the harbor nearly three hours after he jumped in, said Ed Winter, assistant chief of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office.
He said results of the exam likely will be kept confidential until toxicology and other tests are completed. A coroner's spokesman said that could take four to eight weeks.
Winter said he could not confirm an ABC News report that said Scott, the younger brother of director and three-time Oscar nominee Ridley Scott, had inoperable brain cancer. The report cited an unidentified source close to Scott.
The celebrity news website TMZ.com reported later on Monday that Scott's wife had told investigators that rumors of an inoperable brain cancer were 'absolutely false,' though TMZ did not specify the origin of its account.
Asked whether the suicide note found by friends in Scott's office or any other writings referred to an illness, Winter said, 'not to my knowledge.' Authorities have not disclosed the content of the note.
Winter also said investigators had no theories about what led Scott, who was 68, to kill himself.
Witnesses reported seeing Scott stop his car at about the midway point of the bridge shortly after noon on Sunday, climb a fence along the edge of the span and leap into the water, coroner's officials said.
His body was recovered from the water about three hours later.
California transportation officials said the center of the span, its highest point, is about 185 feet above the harbor surface, and the fence at that point, installed in the 1970s to keep debris from falling into the channel, is 18 feet tall.
Members of the film industry expressed shock at the death of one of Hollywood's most prolific and bankable producer-directors with reactions from Tom Cruise, Ron Howard and others.
Cruise, who shot to stardom in Scott's 1986 fighter-jet adventure 'Top Gun,' described the director as 'my dear friend' and said in a statement: 'I will really miss him. He was a creative visionary whose mark on film is immeasurable.'
Cruise was reported by Hollywood trade paper the Hollywood Reporter to be working with Scott on plans for a 'Top Gun' sequel and toured a naval air station in Nevada late last week with the director as part of their research for the movie.
Gene Hackman, who starred in Scott's 1998 spy thriller 'Enemy of the State' and his 1995 submarine drama 'Crimson Tide,' remembered him as 'always sensitive to the needs of an actor. We've lost a wonderful, creative talent.'
MAN IN THE RED CAP
Scott, frequently seen behind the camera in his signature faded red baseball cap, directed more than two dozen movies and television shows and produced nearly 50 titles.
He built a reputation for muscular but stylish high-octane thrillers that showcased some of Hollywood's biggest stars in a body of work that dated to the 1980s and established him as one of the most successful action directors in the business.
Two of his biggest hits were the 1986 fighter jet adventure 'Top Gun' and the 1987 Eddie Murphy comedy 'Beverly Hills Cop II.'
Other directing credits include the 1990 racing drama 'Days of Thunder,' which also featured Cruise; 'Crimson Tide,' co-starring Hackman and Denzel Washington; 'Enemy of the State,' which paired Hackman and Will Smith; and 2001's 'Spy Game,' which teamed Robert Redford and Brad Pitt.
Washington became Scott's most frequent star, appearing in four other films including a 2009 remake of subway hostage thriller 'The Taking of the Pelham 1 2 3,' co-starring John Travolta, and the 2010 runaway-train blockbuster, 'Unstoppable.'
Scott got his start making TV commercials for his older brother's London-based production company, Ridley Scott Associates, and moved into movies for television and film.
His feature directorial debut, 1983 vampire movie 'The Hunger' starring British rocker David Bowie and French actress Catherine Deneuve, was a flop that later became a cult favorite. Scott bounced back three years later with 'Top Gun.'
The brothers later formed a film company, Scott Free Productions, that made many of their films and TV shows.
The two were executive producers of two successful prime-time television dramas, 'Numb3rs,' which ran on CBS from 2005 to 2010, and 'The Good Wife,' which is still on CBS.
Filmmaker Richard Kelly, who wrote the screenplay for Scott's 2005 film 'Domino,' joined the thousands of online tributes on Monday.
'Working with Tony Scott was like a glorious road trip to Vegas on desert back roads, a wild man behind the wheel, grinning,' Kelly said.
Kevin Costner, who worked with Scott on 1990 movie 'Revenge' said: 'Tony was one of the good guys. He was a man's man who lived life as hard and as full as anyone I've ever met but there was always a sweetness to his toughness.'
Actor Val Kilmer, who appeared in both 'Top Gun' and the 1993 film 'True Romance,' called Scott 'the kindest film director I ever worked for,' and U.S. film critic Roger Ebert called him 'an inspired craftsman.'
Scott is survived by his third wife, Donna, with whom he had two children.
(Additional reporting by Mike Collett-White in London and Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles; Editing by Vicki Allen and Doina Chiacu)
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British-born filmmaker Tony Scott jumps to death
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British-born filmmaker Tony Scott, director of such Hollywood blockbusters as 'Top Gun' and 'Crimson Tide,' jumped to his death on Sunday from a bridge over Los Angeles Harbor, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said.
Onlookers saw Scott, who was 68, parking his car on the Vincent Thomas Bridge and leaping into the water below at about 12:30 p.m. local time (1930 GMT), according to Lieutenant Joe Bale, a watch commander for the coroner's office.
Bale said the body was recovered by law enforcement from the harbor shortly before 3 p.m. and was subsequently identified as being that of the filmmaker and younger brother of fellow movie director Ridley Scott.
A note was found in Scott's car that Bale said he believed would turn out to be a suicide note, though he was not familiar with its contents. 'Typically, when they find a note in cases like this, it's not a shopping list,' he said.
The bridge, the surface of which clears the harbor's navigation channel by a height of about 185 feet, connects the port district of San Pedro at the southern tip of Los Angeles to Terminal Island in the harbor.
A spokeswoman for the filmmaker, Katherine Rowe, said in a brief statement, 'I can confirm that Tony Scott has indeed passed away,' adding only, 'The family asks that their privacy be respected at this time.'
MUSCULAR
Scott, born in North Shields, Northumberland, in England, and frequently seen behind the camera in his signature faded red baseball cap, is credited with directing more than two dozen movies and television shows and producing nearly 50 titles.
He was best known for muscular but stylish high-octane thrillers that showcased some of Hollywood's biggest stars in a body of work that dated back to the 1980s and established him as one of the most successful action directors in the business.
He got his start making TV commercials for his older sibling's London-based production company, Ridley Scott Associates, and segued into movies for television and film.
His feature directorial debut - 1983 vampire movie 'The Hunger' starring British rocker David Bowie and French actress Catherine Deneuve - was a flop. But he bounced back three years later with the fighter jet adventure 'Top Gun,' which starred Tom Cruise as a hot-shot pilot and followed that with another big hit, the 1987 Eddie Murphy comedy 'Beverly Hills Cop II.'
Other notable directing credits include the 1990 racing drama 'Days of Thunder,' which also featured Cruise, the 1995 submarine thriller 'Crimson Tide,' co-starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman, and the 1998 spy thriller 'Enemy of the State,' which paired Hackman and Will Smith. The 2001 espionage drama 'Spy Game' teamed Robert Redford with Brad Pitt.
Denzel Washington became Scott's most frequent star, appearing in four other films by the director - the 2004 vengeance drama 'Man on Fire,' 2006 sci-fi adventure 'Deja Vu,' a 2009 remake of 'The Taking of the Pelham 1 2 3,' a subway hostage thriller co-starring John Travolta, and the 2010 runaway-train blockbuster, 'Unstoppable.'
Scott and his older brother were executive producers together on two successful prime-time television dramas, 'Numb3rs,' which ran on CBS from 2005 to 2010, and 'The Good Wife,' which premiered in 2009 and is still running in CBS.
According to the Hollywood website Internet Movie Database, Tony Scott had been in production as the director of a film called 'Emma's War,' about a British aid worker in Sudan who marries a warlord seeking to control part of the country.
Scott is survived by his third wife, Donna, with whom he had two children.
(Reporting and writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Paul Simao and Patrick Graham)
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Onlookers saw Scott, who was 68, parking his car on the Vincent Thomas Bridge and leaping into the water below at about 12:30 p.m. local time (1930 GMT), according to Lieutenant Joe Bale, a watch commander for the coroner's office.
Bale said the body was recovered by law enforcement from the harbor shortly before 3 p.m. and was subsequently identified as being that of the filmmaker and younger brother of fellow movie director Ridley Scott.
A note was found in Scott's car that Bale said he believed would turn out to be a suicide note, though he was not familiar with its contents. 'Typically, when they find a note in cases like this, it's not a shopping list,' he said.
The bridge, the surface of which clears the harbor's navigation channel by a height of about 185 feet, connects the port district of San Pedro at the southern tip of Los Angeles to Terminal Island in the harbor.
A spokeswoman for the filmmaker, Katherine Rowe, said in a brief statement, 'I can confirm that Tony Scott has indeed passed away,' adding only, 'The family asks that their privacy be respected at this time.'
MUSCULAR
Scott, born in North Shields, Northumberland, in England, and frequently seen behind the camera in his signature faded red baseball cap, is credited with directing more than two dozen movies and television shows and producing nearly 50 titles.
He was best known for muscular but stylish high-octane thrillers that showcased some of Hollywood's biggest stars in a body of work that dated back to the 1980s and established him as one of the most successful action directors in the business.
He got his start making TV commercials for his older sibling's London-based production company, Ridley Scott Associates, and segued into movies for television and film.
His feature directorial debut - 1983 vampire movie 'The Hunger' starring British rocker David Bowie and French actress Catherine Deneuve - was a flop. But he bounced back three years later with the fighter jet adventure 'Top Gun,' which starred Tom Cruise as a hot-shot pilot and followed that with another big hit, the 1987 Eddie Murphy comedy 'Beverly Hills Cop II.'
Other notable directing credits include the 1990 racing drama 'Days of Thunder,' which also featured Cruise, the 1995 submarine thriller 'Crimson Tide,' co-starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman, and the 1998 spy thriller 'Enemy of the State,' which paired Hackman and Will Smith. The 2001 espionage drama 'Spy Game' teamed Robert Redford with Brad Pitt.
Denzel Washington became Scott's most frequent star, appearing in four other films by the director - the 2004 vengeance drama 'Man on Fire,' 2006 sci-fi adventure 'Deja Vu,' a 2009 remake of 'The Taking of the Pelham 1 2 3,' a subway hostage thriller co-starring John Travolta, and the 2010 runaway-train blockbuster, 'Unstoppable.'
Scott and his older brother were executive producers together on two successful prime-time television dramas, 'Numb3rs,' which ran on CBS from 2005 to 2010, and 'The Good Wife,' which premiered in 2009 and is still running in CBS.
According to the Hollywood website Internet Movie Database, Tony Scott had been in production as the director of a film called 'Emma's War,' about a British aid worker in Sudan who marries a warlord seeking to control part of the country.
Scott is survived by his third wife, Donna, with whom he had two children.
(Reporting and writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Paul Simao and Patrick Graham)
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Tuesday, August 14, 2012
John Stewart comforts Robert Pattinson with ice cream
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Robert Pattinson awkwardly tried to deflect questions about his recent issues with Kristen Stewart during an appearance Monday on 'The Daily Show.'
But Jon Stewart was there with two pints of ice cream goodness to try to pick up the pieces.
'The last time I had a bad break-up, Ben & Jerry's got me through some of the tougher times,' Stewart told Pattinson.
'We're just a couple of gals talking... tell me everything,' he coaxed.
Pattinson, who emerged from his recent self-imposed exile to promote his upcoming film 'Cosmopolis,' never mentioned Stewart by name and never alluded to the cheating scandal with her 'Snow White and the Huntsman' director Rupert Sanders.
But he acknowledged one mistake.
'My biggest problem in my life is I'm cheap and I didn't hire a publicist,' Pattinson said.
Stewart didn't really press the 'Twilight' actor to bare his heart, but he did offer some sage advice about the outpouring of global grief that greeted the news of Stewart's two-timing ways.
'When you are young and you break up, it's powerful and it feels like the world is ending,' Stewart said. 'This is the first time I have seen the world actually react that way.'
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But Jon Stewart was there with two pints of ice cream goodness to try to pick up the pieces.
'The last time I had a bad break-up, Ben & Jerry's got me through some of the tougher times,' Stewart told Pattinson.
'We're just a couple of gals talking... tell me everything,' he coaxed.
Pattinson, who emerged from his recent self-imposed exile to promote his upcoming film 'Cosmopolis,' never mentioned Stewart by name and never alluded to the cheating scandal with her 'Snow White and the Huntsman' director Rupert Sanders.
But he acknowledged one mistake.
'My biggest problem in my life is I'm cheap and I didn't hire a publicist,' Pattinson said.
Stewart didn't really press the 'Twilight' actor to bare his heart, but he did offer some sage advice about the outpouring of global grief that greeted the news of Stewart's two-timing ways.
'When you are young and you break up, it's powerful and it feels like the world is ending,' Stewart said. 'This is the first time I have seen the world actually react that way.'
This news article is brought to you by ADVANCED DATING ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
French mayor denies "Brangelina" to wed at weekend
PARIS (Reuters) - A French mayor on Tuesday denied a report in celebrity magazine Hello that quoted him saying Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who own a chateau nearby, were due to get married this weekend.
The A-list Hollywood couple own the 17th-century Chateau Miraval in southeastern France, and celebrity publications have been rife with rumors in recent weeks that they were planning to wed soon.
'I don't know who they are,' said Michael Latz, mayor of the village of Correns where the couple dubbed 'Brangelina' have their chateau, when asked if he had spoken to Hello.
He said he was not aware of any wedding, and added: 'It's nonsense. I've had 50 phone calls and I am telling everyone to get lost because this is tiresome and irritates me.
'I am going to pursue them (Hello) for misleading statements.'
Hello magazine reported on its website on Tuesday that the mayor had said Jolie and Pitt would marry this weekend, although it did not quote him directly.
Jolie, 37, and Pitt, 48, announced their engagement in April but have not publicly set a wedding date. The couple have been together since 2005 and are raising six children.
(Reporting by Brian Love; Writing by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
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The A-list Hollywood couple own the 17th-century Chateau Miraval in southeastern France, and celebrity publications have been rife with rumors in recent weeks that they were planning to wed soon.
'I don't know who they are,' said Michael Latz, mayor of the village of Correns where the couple dubbed 'Brangelina' have their chateau, when asked if he had spoken to Hello.
He said he was not aware of any wedding, and added: 'It's nonsense. I've had 50 phone calls and I am telling everyone to get lost because this is tiresome and irritates me.
'I am going to pursue them (Hello) for misleading statements.'
Hello magazine reported on its website on Tuesday that the mayor had said Jolie and Pitt would marry this weekend, although it did not quote him directly.
Jolie, 37, and Pitt, 48, announced their engagement in April but have not publicly set a wedding date. The couple have been together since 2005 and are raising six children.
(Reporting by Brian Love; Writing by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
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Monday, August 13, 2012
Jennifer Aniston engaged to actor Justin Theroux
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former 'Friends' star Jennifer Aniston is engaged to marry her actor and screenwriter boyfriend Justin Theroux, People magazine reported on Sunday.
'Justin Theroux had an amazing birthday on Friday, receiving an extraordinary gift when his girlfriend Jennifer Aniston accepted his proposal of marriage,' Theroux's representative told the celebrity magazine.
Aniston's publicist Steven Huvane confirmed the engagement.
Aniston, 43, and Theroux, 41, have been dating for more than a year and appeared in the comedy 'Wanderlust' in February.
No wedding date was announced.
The marriage will be the second for Aniston, one of Hollywood's favorite actresses and a frequent face in romantic comedies.
Her first union with Brad Pitt ended in divorce after five in 2005, when Pitt fell in love with actress Angelina Jolie, and Aniston's love life has been followed assiduously ever since by the world's celebrity media.
Aniston's previous boyfriends include singer John Mayer and actor Vince Vaughn.
Pitt and Jolie announced their engagement in April but have not publicly set a wedding date.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant)
This news article is brought to you by MOVIE GOSSIP NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
'Justin Theroux had an amazing birthday on Friday, receiving an extraordinary gift when his girlfriend Jennifer Aniston accepted his proposal of marriage,' Theroux's representative told the celebrity magazine.
Aniston's publicist Steven Huvane confirmed the engagement.
Aniston, 43, and Theroux, 41, have been dating for more than a year and appeared in the comedy 'Wanderlust' in February.
No wedding date was announced.
The marriage will be the second for Aniston, one of Hollywood's favorite actresses and a frequent face in romantic comedies.
Her first union with Brad Pitt ended in divorce after five in 2005, when Pitt fell in love with actress Angelina Jolie, and Aniston's love life has been followed assiduously ever since by the world's celebrity media.
Aniston's previous boyfriends include singer John Mayer and actor Vince Vaughn.
Pitt and Jolie announced their engagement in April but have not publicly set a wedding date.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant)
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Sunday, August 12, 2012
Revamped "Bourne" captures movie box office crown
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Action movie 'The Bourne Legacy,' with new star Jeremy Renner, raced to the No. 1 spot on U.S. and Canadian box office charts with an estimated $40.3 million in ticket sales over the weekend.
New adult comedy 'The Campaign' debuted in second place, winning $27.4 million at domestic theaters. The two new movies knocked three-time box office champion 'The Dark Knight Rises' to third place.
'Bourne Legacy' is the fourth movie in the spy franchise that previously starred Matt Damon and has grossed nearly $1 billion around the world. Damon played a CIA assassin with memory loss who tried to discover his true identity while evading the CIA's attempts to kill him.
Universal cast Renner in the new movie in an effort to reboot the series for future sequels. Renner plays agent Aaron Cross, who tries to escape his CIA pursuers with the help of genetic scientist Marta Shearing, played by Rachel Weisz.
Universal and privately held Relativity Media produced 'Bourne Legacy' for about $125 million. Opening weekend sales beat Universal's projections for a $35 million debut.
Nikki Rocco, Universal Pictures' president of domestic distribution, said the film performed as expected, and that the studio was happy with its opening weekend.
'It's a validation, it's a successful rebooting of the franchise,' she said, adding that it gives Universal an opportunity to continue the Bourne saga.
'The Bourne Legacy' nabbed $48.1 million worldwide over the weekend, bringing its global total to $88.4 million.
'The Campaign' also exceeded pre-weekend forecasts, which had the film debuting with around $20 million. The movie stars Will Ferrell and Zack Galifianakis as two candidates facing off against each other in a race for U.S. Congress.
Dan Fellman, president of theatrical distribution for Warner Bros., said the political comedy played especially well in Washington and Boston as the U.S. presidential campaign gets into full swing.
'We think that the real campaign will add to our 'Campaign',' he said.
'Dark Knight Rises,' the final movie in a Batman trilogy starring Christian Bale, took in $19.5 million at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters over the weekend. The blockbuster has grossed over $390 million in the U.S. and Canada since its July 20 debut.
'Hope Springs,' a new romantic comedy/drama, finished the weekend in the No. 4 spot with $15.6 million. The film stars Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones as an aging couple trying to bring a spark back to their marriage.
'Hope DOES spring,' said Rory Bruer, president of distribution at Sony, who expects the film to continue to play well among older audiences.
In fifth place, family film 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days' earned $8.2 million during its second weekend in theaters.
Despite doing well overseas, science-fiction reboot 'Total Recall' took in a meager $8.1 million its second weekend, taking a tumble from its tepid $26 million opening.
Comcast Corp's Universal Pictures released 'Bourne Legacy.' 'The Dark Knight Rises' and 'The Campaign' were distributed by Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc.. Sony Corp's film studio released 'Hope Springs,' and News Corp's 20th Century Fox studio distributed 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid.'
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Andrea Burzynski; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
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New adult comedy 'The Campaign' debuted in second place, winning $27.4 million at domestic theaters. The two new movies knocked three-time box office champion 'The Dark Knight Rises' to third place.
'Bourne Legacy' is the fourth movie in the spy franchise that previously starred Matt Damon and has grossed nearly $1 billion around the world. Damon played a CIA assassin with memory loss who tried to discover his true identity while evading the CIA's attempts to kill him.
Universal cast Renner in the new movie in an effort to reboot the series for future sequels. Renner plays agent Aaron Cross, who tries to escape his CIA pursuers with the help of genetic scientist Marta Shearing, played by Rachel Weisz.
Universal and privately held Relativity Media produced 'Bourne Legacy' for about $125 million. Opening weekend sales beat Universal's projections for a $35 million debut.
Nikki Rocco, Universal Pictures' president of domestic distribution, said the film performed as expected, and that the studio was happy with its opening weekend.
'It's a validation, it's a successful rebooting of the franchise,' she said, adding that it gives Universal an opportunity to continue the Bourne saga.
'The Bourne Legacy' nabbed $48.1 million worldwide over the weekend, bringing its global total to $88.4 million.
'The Campaign' also exceeded pre-weekend forecasts, which had the film debuting with around $20 million. The movie stars Will Ferrell and Zack Galifianakis as two candidates facing off against each other in a race for U.S. Congress.
Dan Fellman, president of theatrical distribution for Warner Bros., said the political comedy played especially well in Washington and Boston as the U.S. presidential campaign gets into full swing.
'We think that the real campaign will add to our 'Campaign',' he said.
'Dark Knight Rises,' the final movie in a Batman trilogy starring Christian Bale, took in $19.5 million at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters over the weekend. The blockbuster has grossed over $390 million in the U.S. and Canada since its July 20 debut.
'Hope Springs,' a new romantic comedy/drama, finished the weekend in the No. 4 spot with $15.6 million. The film stars Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones as an aging couple trying to bring a spark back to their marriage.
'Hope DOES spring,' said Rory Bruer, president of distribution at Sony, who expects the film to continue to play well among older audiences.
In fifth place, family film 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days' earned $8.2 million during its second weekend in theaters.
Despite doing well overseas, science-fiction reboot 'Total Recall' took in a meager $8.1 million its second weekend, taking a tumble from its tepid $26 million opening.
Comcast Corp's Universal Pictures released 'Bourne Legacy.' 'The Dark Knight Rises' and 'The Campaign' were distributed by Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc.. Sony Corp's film studio released 'Hope Springs,' and News Corp's 20th Century Fox studio distributed 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid.'
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Andrea Burzynski; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
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Friday, August 10, 2012
5 great movies about troubled marriages
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones play a longtime married couple who've fallen into a rut in the surprisingly honest and effective 'Hope Springs.' She hopes intensive couples' therapy will restore their romance; he's content to fall asleep in front of the television every night watching The Golf Channel.
Marriage, in all its states, is such a universal topic that it's been portrayed in countless films. But troubled marriages can provide showy performances and moments of uncomfortable truth. Here are five great examples:
-'Scenes From a Marriage' (1973): One of Ingmar Bergman's very best, this intimate and piercing drama follows a seemingly happy, upper-middle class Swedish couple over the years as their marriage falls apart. Marianne (Liv Ullmann) and Johan (Erland Josephson) destroy each other, drift apart and eventually wind up with other people, but still find themselves intrinsically tied to each other. Working with his longtime collaborator, the great cinematographer Sven Nyqvist, Bergman is unflinching and uncompromising in his examination of this flawed and all-too human love affair, and Ullmann and Josephson are pitch-perfect. Originally presented as a six-part TV miniseries, it was edited down to a feature film of nearly three hours. Not a moment of emotion has been lost.
- 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' (1966): I reference this movie a lot, I realize, but this week's list would seem empty without it. It's the ultimate train wreck: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton booze it up and berate each other in front a poor, unsuspecting young couple who had the misfortune of saying 'yes' to their invitation to come over one night. Mike Nichols' adaptation of Edward Albee's play, his assured directing debut, would have had a relentless sense of claustrophobia anyway. But the fact that Burton and Taylor had such a notoriously tumultuous off-screen relationship (they were married to each other in real life - for the first time) made their on-screen barbs seem that much more severe. Nominated for 13 Academy Awards, it won five, including best actress for Taylor's scathing performance.
- 'Blue Valentine' (2010): A heartbreaking drama about the disintegration of a marriage depicted in such raw, unadorned and sometimes uncomfortably close fashion, it makes you feel as if you're watching a documentary about a real-life couple. Michelle Williams earned the second of her three Oscar nominations here, although co-star Ryan Gosling deserved one just as much; each needs the other for their dynamic to work, and both deliver performances of convincing power. Director Derek Cianfrance skips back and forth in time between the idyllic days of their youthful courtship and the distance that divides them years later as working-class parents, once they've realized how different their goals are. Their overnight hotel getaway, a last gasp at salvaging their marriage, is both hopeful and heartbreaking.
- 'The War of the Roses' (1989): Because we had to have a comedy in here somewhere - even the blackest of black comedies - to keep ourselves from getting too terribly depressed. Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner reteam with their 'Romancing the Stone' co-star Danny DeVito, who also directs, for a film that couldn't be more different (and more bereft of romance). As Oliver and Barbara Rose, Douglas and Turner tear each other and everything around them apart. Calling this a messy divorce would be an understatement; what happens to the couple's opulent mansion more closely resembles a war zone. As much an indictment of the conspicuous consumption of the era as it is a cynical depiction of modern love.
- 'I Am Love' (2010): A vibrantly gorgeous film about a marriage slowly, quietly dying. The versatile and chameleon-like Tilda Swinton shows yet another side to her staggering talent here, speaking fluent Italian (and even a little Russian) as the gracious and impeccably dressed wife of a Milanese industrialist. She would seem to have it all with her husband and three children in their palatial home - until she realizes she's not happy. A young chef catches her eye and helps her rediscover the woman she used to be, inspiring a climactic departure of operatic proportions. Italian director Luca Guadagnino's retro-styled melodrama recalls Visconti and Sirk in its lush trappings, but Swinton's formidable presence at the center always keeps things grounded and real.
___
Think of any other examples? Share them with AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire through Twitter: http://twitter.com/christylemire.
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Marriage, in all its states, is such a universal topic that it's been portrayed in countless films. But troubled marriages can provide showy performances and moments of uncomfortable truth. Here are five great examples:
-'Scenes From a Marriage' (1973): One of Ingmar Bergman's very best, this intimate and piercing drama follows a seemingly happy, upper-middle class Swedish couple over the years as their marriage falls apart. Marianne (Liv Ullmann) and Johan (Erland Josephson) destroy each other, drift apart and eventually wind up with other people, but still find themselves intrinsically tied to each other. Working with his longtime collaborator, the great cinematographer Sven Nyqvist, Bergman is unflinching and uncompromising in his examination of this flawed and all-too human love affair, and Ullmann and Josephson are pitch-perfect. Originally presented as a six-part TV miniseries, it was edited down to a feature film of nearly three hours. Not a moment of emotion has been lost.
- 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' (1966): I reference this movie a lot, I realize, but this week's list would seem empty without it. It's the ultimate train wreck: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton booze it up and berate each other in front a poor, unsuspecting young couple who had the misfortune of saying 'yes' to their invitation to come over one night. Mike Nichols' adaptation of Edward Albee's play, his assured directing debut, would have had a relentless sense of claustrophobia anyway. But the fact that Burton and Taylor had such a notoriously tumultuous off-screen relationship (they were married to each other in real life - for the first time) made their on-screen barbs seem that much more severe. Nominated for 13 Academy Awards, it won five, including best actress for Taylor's scathing performance.
- 'Blue Valentine' (2010): A heartbreaking drama about the disintegration of a marriage depicted in such raw, unadorned and sometimes uncomfortably close fashion, it makes you feel as if you're watching a documentary about a real-life couple. Michelle Williams earned the second of her three Oscar nominations here, although co-star Ryan Gosling deserved one just as much; each needs the other for their dynamic to work, and both deliver performances of convincing power. Director Derek Cianfrance skips back and forth in time between the idyllic days of their youthful courtship and the distance that divides them years later as working-class parents, once they've realized how different their goals are. Their overnight hotel getaway, a last gasp at salvaging their marriage, is both hopeful and heartbreaking.
- 'The War of the Roses' (1989): Because we had to have a comedy in here somewhere - even the blackest of black comedies - to keep ourselves from getting too terribly depressed. Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner reteam with their 'Romancing the Stone' co-star Danny DeVito, who also directs, for a film that couldn't be more different (and more bereft of romance). As Oliver and Barbara Rose, Douglas and Turner tear each other and everything around them apart. Calling this a messy divorce would be an understatement; what happens to the couple's opulent mansion more closely resembles a war zone. As much an indictment of the conspicuous consumption of the era as it is a cynical depiction of modern love.
- 'I Am Love' (2010): A vibrantly gorgeous film about a marriage slowly, quietly dying. The versatile and chameleon-like Tilda Swinton shows yet another side to her staggering talent here, speaking fluent Italian (and even a little Russian) as the gracious and impeccably dressed wife of a Milanese industrialist. She would seem to have it all with her husband and three children in their palatial home - until she realizes she's not happy. A young chef catches her eye and helps her rediscover the woman she used to be, inspiring a climactic departure of operatic proportions. Italian director Luca Guadagnino's retro-styled melodrama recalls Visconti and Sirk in its lush trappings, but Swinton's formidable presence at the center always keeps things grounded and real.
___
Think of any other examples? Share them with AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire through Twitter: http://twitter.com/christylemire.
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"Hope Springs" for senior sex in Meryl Streep comedy
NEW YORK (Reuters) - In the popular 1979 film 'Kramer vs. Kramer,' Meryl Streep's character walked out on an unhappy marriage. More than 30 years on, Streep plays a middle-aged woman struggling hard to keep a sex-starved relationship together in her new movie 'Hope Springs.'
The bittersweet comedy-drama brings Streep, 63, and Tommy Lee Jones, 65, together for the first time as a couple whose marriage has so lost its spark that they give each other a new cable TV subscription for their 31st wedding anniversary.
Desperate for a shake up, Kay (Streep) persuades a reluctant Arnold (Jones) to attend a week-long counseling retreat with a couple's specialist, played by Steve Carell, the former star of TV comedy 'The Office.' All three sat down with Reuters in a joint interview.
'You get acclimated and I think people lose heart in themselves. You feel your own limits as time goes on and it's nice to have someone else to blame it on,' Streep said of Kay and Arnold's stale relationship.
Jones, better known for his dry-humored roles in the 'Men in Black' action movie franchise, said: 'People get bored. And lazy. They do look for someone to blame.'
The movie, which opened in U.S. theaters this week, mines the romance-for-the over 50s territory seen in Streep's more exuberant 2009 comedy 'It's Complicated.'
Streep, who has won three best-actress Oscars, said the movie was aimed at a discerning, baby-boomer audience that doesn't 'respond to the same sort of things that kids do. They're looking for something that used to be in films of their era, and they don't find it.'
'IT BETTER BE FUNNY!'
As Kay and Arnold try to find their way back to each other, they stumble through a series of sexual exercises often as sad as they are funny.
That includes Kay experimenting with a banana and an intimate, but awkward, movie date with her husband.
'It better be funny!' Streep quipped of the sex-act scene. 'It was uncomfortable for my knees. I have bad knees.'
Streep's Kay is an unglamorous retail employee whose husband is a cranky accountant with a regimented lifestyle.
Each day begins with Kay frying eggs and bacon for her spouse and ends when Arnold falls asleep in his lounge chair watching TV before Kay wakes him to head to their separate bedrooms.
'There's always one person who's agitated and one who says, 'It's fine,' said Streep. 'The drama is getting the one character to move the other to a place where they both discover how much they need and love each other.'
Carell says that while age is a theme of the movie, the story is universal and the struggles Kay and Arnold face could be experienced by people of any age.
'I think it's about love,' said Carell. 'It's about relationships. It's about commitment. It's about an older couple, but a good story is a good story.
'Hope Springs' has a 78-percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator website, with most critics praising the performances of the three lead actors.
Time magazine's Mary Pols said that it 'isn't an exciting movie, not remotely ... but I couldn't look away.'
Manohla Dargis of the New York Times was less enthusiastic, however, calling it 'an awkward cross between a domestic comedy and a marital tragedy that's laced with laughs, soggy with tears.'
(Reporting By Sabrina Ford, editing by Jill Serjeant and Philip Barbara)
This news article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE 201 - where latest news are our top priority.
The bittersweet comedy-drama brings Streep, 63, and Tommy Lee Jones, 65, together for the first time as a couple whose marriage has so lost its spark that they give each other a new cable TV subscription for their 31st wedding anniversary.
Desperate for a shake up, Kay (Streep) persuades a reluctant Arnold (Jones) to attend a week-long counseling retreat with a couple's specialist, played by Steve Carell, the former star of TV comedy 'The Office.' All three sat down with Reuters in a joint interview.
'You get acclimated and I think people lose heart in themselves. You feel your own limits as time goes on and it's nice to have someone else to blame it on,' Streep said of Kay and Arnold's stale relationship.
Jones, better known for his dry-humored roles in the 'Men in Black' action movie franchise, said: 'People get bored. And lazy. They do look for someone to blame.'
The movie, which opened in U.S. theaters this week, mines the romance-for-the over 50s territory seen in Streep's more exuberant 2009 comedy 'It's Complicated.'
Streep, who has won three best-actress Oscars, said the movie was aimed at a discerning, baby-boomer audience that doesn't 'respond to the same sort of things that kids do. They're looking for something that used to be in films of their era, and they don't find it.'
'IT BETTER BE FUNNY!'
As Kay and Arnold try to find their way back to each other, they stumble through a series of sexual exercises often as sad as they are funny.
That includes Kay experimenting with a banana and an intimate, but awkward, movie date with her husband.
'It better be funny!' Streep quipped of the sex-act scene. 'It was uncomfortable for my knees. I have bad knees.'
Streep's Kay is an unglamorous retail employee whose husband is a cranky accountant with a regimented lifestyle.
Each day begins with Kay frying eggs and bacon for her spouse and ends when Arnold falls asleep in his lounge chair watching TV before Kay wakes him to head to their separate bedrooms.
'There's always one person who's agitated and one who says, 'It's fine,' said Streep. 'The drama is getting the one character to move the other to a place where they both discover how much they need and love each other.'
Carell says that while age is a theme of the movie, the story is universal and the struggles Kay and Arnold face could be experienced by people of any age.
'I think it's about love,' said Carell. 'It's about relationships. It's about commitment. It's about an older couple, but a good story is a good story.
'Hope Springs' has a 78-percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator website, with most critics praising the performances of the three lead actors.
Time magazine's Mary Pols said that it 'isn't an exciting movie, not remotely ... but I couldn't look away.'
Manohla Dargis of the New York Times was less enthusiastic, however, calling it 'an awkward cross between a domestic comedy and a marital tragedy that's laced with laughs, soggy with tears.'
(Reporting By Sabrina Ford, editing by Jill Serjeant and Philip Barbara)
This news article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE 201 - where latest news are our top priority.
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