Peter Howell has written an interesting commentary examining why such critically acclaimed movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are not well received at the box office. Check out the Toronto Star to read his full commentary.
I think Peter may be expecting too much. Have droves of people ever rushed out to see the latest art-house movie? When you think back to the "golden age" of movies, there were not the volume of releases that we have now. It's almost impossible to see every movie that's being made so people have to make choices. Unfortunately, it's often the loudest and splashiest movies that catch people's attention. In today's world, marketing wins out over word of mouth.
The Boston Globe is reporting that Gwyneth Paltrow will be the lead character in a film about the life of screen legend Marlene Dietrich. The film will be based on Maria Riva's memoir titled "Marlene Dietrich".
The Walt Disney Company has sold all rights to Michael Moore's new documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, to Bob and Harvey Weinstein, a move that will enable the film to find a distributor. The film, which won the top prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival, has been a touchy issue for Disney ever since word leaked out that the studio would not allow its subsidiary Miramax, run by the Weinstein brothers, to distribute Fahrenheit.
The Toronto Star is reporting that a deal has been inked between Marvel Entertainment and Vancouver-based Lions Gate Entertainment that gives the filmmaker rights to characters in exchange for a share of profits from eight DVD movies.
Actress Kim Cattrall, who played the role of Samantha Jones, has turned down the chance to revive the character for a big screen production. Read more of the behind the scenes dirt at MSNBC
According to the official production weblog for the Spiderman films, the 3rd installment will be released on May 4, 2007. It's a long time to wait so hopefully it gets bumped up as production moves forward.
Michael Moore's controversial film Fahrenheit 9/11, a critical look at George Bush's rise to the presidency as well as his handling of Iraq and the war on terrorism, was cheered and applauded after its screening at the Cannes film festival on Monday. An early review posted on MSNBC (review by critic Desson Thomson of the Washington Post) was positive. Moore still has his detractors but hopefully the film will be judged on its own merits and not because of the person filming it. Moore reportedly spends far less time on screen, so I think that will be a big step in letting the subject matter do the speaking. For those with a shorter attention span, the BBC gives a nice overview of what other critics are saying.
According to a report from the Associated Press, "The Passion of the Christ" will be released Aug. 31 on DVD. Mel Gibson's company, Icon Productions, announced Monday that it has a partnership with 20th Century Fox for the home-video distribution. "The Passion of the Christ," which was filmed in Aramaic and Latin, will be presented with English subtitles on VHS and English and Spanish subtitles on DVD. No extra features were announced.
Ain't It Cool News has a rumor about Kraven and the Chameleon popping up to battle with Spidey in the third installment of this Marvel franchise.
IGN is reporting that the title character in the long-in-development King Conan: Crown of Iron will be played by wrestler-actor Paul Michael Levesque, a.k.a. Triple H. This would substantiate some long running rumours, mentioned by Triple H during an interview with Muscle and Fitness magazine. It should be noted that it isn't a done deal just yet. Levesque had also been rumored to be up for the role of Kon, Conan's estranged son. He'll next be seen as "Grimwood" in Blade: Trinity.
FoxNews and other news sources are reporting that actress Diane Lane (star of Under the Tuscan Sun), has settled her suit against production company Intermedia. Lane had alleged that the company had agreed to pay her $3.5 million to star in "Me Again" in a so-called "pay or play" agreement, a deal that specifies the actor or actress gets paid whether the movie is made or not.
ETV Inc. of Hollywood has signed an exclusive license agreement with American IDC Corp. to launch www.ninety-nine-cent-movies.com. The site will offer AVI-video downloads of full-length Hollywood classic movies for just 99 cents each. The site expects close to 500 classic movies available for download within 60 days.
The BBC reports that a shipment of film reels arriving for the Cannes Film Festivals, has been briefly blocked by show business workers currently striking in France. The workers strike should not disrupt the film festival any further, as it does not depend on part-time workers.
According to nationally syndicated columnist, James K. Glassman, "Super Size Me is not a serious look at a real health problem. It is, instead, an outrageously dishonest and dangerous piece of self-promotion. Through his antics, Spurlock sends precisely the wrong message. He absolves us of responsibility for our own fitness. We aren't to blame for being fat; big corporations are!" Check out the official website and then have a read over the reactions of some viewers at the Tech Central Station website. It's worth noting that the operators of the Tech Central Station site state they are "are grateful to AT&T, Avue Technologies, The Coca-Cola Company, ExxonMobil, General Motors Corporation, Intel, McDonalds, Merck, Microsoft, Nasdaq, PhRMA, and Qualcomm for their support." You take that for what's it worth !
The National Public Radio website is running a story on how the Walt Disney Co. is blocking its Miramax division from distributing Fahrenheit 9/11, a new documentary from filmmaker Michael Moore highly critical of the Bush administration. I'm not the biggest fan of Michael Moore and part of me wonders if this is not just a publicity stunt or political maneuvering within Disney. NPR also has an audio broadcast that explains some of the politics at Disney.
A new film about hold-up queen Monica Proietti is causing a stir as relatives complain about the depiction of the Montreal bad girl. The CTV News website is carrying a story about the controversy.
The Ontario Film Review Board's sweeping censorship powers are unconstitutional, a judge has ruled, effectively putting the nearly 100-year-old screening body out of the business of deciding what movies people can watch. Read the Toronto Star article and editorialfor more details.
The Globe and Mail has a short piece on the HotDocs film festival which ended on Sunday night in Toronto. This year, Hot Docs, the biggest documentary film festival and documentary market in North America, drew an audience of about 40,000.
Steven Spielberg's film, The Terminal, will open this year's Venice Film Festival (festival runs Sept 1-11). No other films have yet been announced for the festival. "The Terminal" tells the story of an Eastern European immigrant (Tom Hanks), who becomes a man without a country, stuck in the arrivals area at a New York airport as he does not have a valid passport. Catherine Zeta-Jones also stars in the film.