Posted Nov 24th 2008 7:32PM by William Goss
Filed under: Horror, Independent, Music & Musicals, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Lionsgate Films, Fandom, Distribution, Exhibition, Fantastic Fest
Back in September, standing outside of Austin's Paramount Theatre, myself and a couple of others listened to
Darren Lynn Bousman as he talked about the challenges he was facing in getting Lionsgate to properly release his
Repo! The Genetic Opera. The studio had taken down rave after rave after a select screening several months before, and now the next night's Fantastic Fest screenings were as good a chance as any to prove the film's worth.
Well, I saw the film the following night amidst an impressive turn-out of die-hard fans, so while I may have already made
my own thoughts clear, I cannot deny its growing (and all but inevitable) cult following, and it seems that neither can Lionsgate. Following a limited release and successful road tour,
Bloody Disgusting reports that each will be expanded in the weeks to come to include the likes of Phoenix, New Orleans, Boston, Philadelphia, and Houston.
As for everyone else, you can either keep your fingers crossed for a third tour (though Bousman and co-creator Terrance Zdunich may want to see their families for the holidays, who knows) or just wait for the DVD, which will apparently still hits stores in January.
Posted Nov 18th 2008 11:03AM by William Goss
Filed under: Documentary, Independent, Awards, Distribution, Fan Rant
There's a reason that us critics tend to hold certain films in excessive regard -- because after seeing hundreds and hundreds of them every year, to champion one or two or a dozen across those fifty-two weeks is a chance to bring attention to something that deserves it, something distinctly non-mediocre and perhaps unconventional.
Dear Zachary: a letter to a son about his father falls into that category. Erik praised it effusively from its
Slamdance premiere and
beyond; soon joining his ranks would be
Monika; and it currently lingers second to only one on my own tentative top ten list for 2008. We get it. According to
Rotten Tomatoes, 33 out of 34 critics get it. In fact, it seems like the only ones who don't get it just happen to make up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Continue reading Fan Rant: What's Up, Doc Committee?
Posted Nov 17th 2008 4:45PM by Eric D. Snider
Filed under: New Releases, Distribution, DIY/Filmmaking, Cinematical Indie
The Internets are saving independent film again! Often the biggest dilemma for small-time filmmakers is that distributing their movies, whether in theaters or on DVD, costs too much money. So we're seeing more and more films skip theaters, skip DVD, and go straight to the Internet, where movie downloads are becoming increasingly common.
The latest development is that a company called Cinetic Rights Management is releasing its catalog of indie films through Amazon's
Video on Demand service and its CreateSpace DVD on Demand system. The arrangement will allow customers to rent or buy digital copies of films that aren't available anywhere else, many of which are just as worthy of being seen as the ones that were lucky enough to get theatrical distribution. (And that often really is the only difference between a movie that makes it to theaters and one that doesn't: luck.)
The new arrangement launches today with the featured title
On Broadway (pictured), a gentle comedy about a Boston man who writes and stages a play in the back of his pub. The cast includes Eliza Dushku, Will Arnett, and New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre.
Continue reading More Independent Films Being Released on Amazon
Posted Nov 10th 2008 3:02PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Deals, MGM, Distribution, Newsstand, Home Entertainment
Who doesn't love watching full length movies, free, from the warmth of your laptop? It sounds lame, but I live for the weekends when I can curl up under my down comforter (I live in a climate akin to Moscow) and watch
Magnum Force at 2am. (
1970s Clint Eastwood and I are still going very strong, thank you.)
Well, thanks to a new deal struck between MGM and YouTube, free movie junkies will have another outlet to get their fix. According to
The Hollywood Reporter, YouTube will begin showing full length television shows and films from MGM archives. The partnership kicks off with old
American Gladiator episodes (yawn), but will soon step it up to include such brilliance as
The Magnificent Seven. (For some reason,
Bulletproof Monk is cited right alongside it -- which, arguably, is fine for 2am viewing but shouldn't be mentioned anywhere near
The Magnificent Seven.)
The downside? There will be advertisements running right alongside the video. And while ad banners are so rampant as to be easily tuned out, nothing can gunk up a streaming video like those wonderful badly coded advertisements. So while it will be very nice to be able to access
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly at any time of the day or night, it might be too, well, bad and ugly to watch. If you're dying to watch free movies, take it from Scott Weinberg and I -- just invest in a Netflix subscription and stick with the Watch Instantly feature for now. Hopefully, MGM will soon realize its movies deserve a similarly luxurious treatment, and make their film archives available to subscribers.
Posted Nov 5th 2008 9:03AM by Eugene Novikov
Filed under: New Releases, Box Office, Distribution, James Bond
If you lived in England, you could have seen
Quantum of Solace, like, six times already. Did you know that? How does it make you feel? Is it inappropriate, at this historic juncture, to say that I'm kind of outraged about this? Worse: it will open in fifty-seven (57) new markets this week, while we wait for November 14th.
Casino Royale opened in a few countries a day or two ahead, which was mildly pride-rankling, but this is ridiculous.
My (largely tongue-in-cheek) America-centrism aside,
Quantum of Solace made $39 million last weekend in the U.K., France and Sweden. According to
Variety, that's comfortably a record for a film opening in so few territories. In the U.K. alone,
Quantum topped
Casino Royale's first-weekend take by 35%.
In America (U-S-A! U-S-A!),
Casino Royale opened to $40.8 million around the same time of year in 2006. A UK-type spike domestically would put
Quantum at around $55 million in two weeks, which actually seems about right.
Casino Royale came on the heels of a bunch of Pierce Brosnan installments that many people considered middling (though I should note that the series' grosses nonetheless rose steadily through the Brosnan years). Bond is back now, and everyone knows it.
Quantum of Solace will be the biggest Bond yet.
Posted Nov 1st 2008 10:02AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Classics, Foreign Language, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Celebrities and Controversy, Distribution, Family Films, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Dreamworks, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek
You might remember that at the end of September, word came that
Steven Spielberg was having trouble
financing his Tintin trilogy. Universal Studios had passed on the film, leaving Spielberg and co-director
Peter Jackson without a major backer. According to
Variety, they've found one. Sony and Paramount Studios are in talks to co-finance the franchise, with Sony handling the foreign release, and Paramount overseeing the domestic. DreamWorks will have no association with the film whatsoever.
The news that
Tintin will still go ahead is good for fans -- but as always, there's a catch. Under the deal currently being negotiated, it looks as though there will only be two
Tintin films. Considering that a director was never assigned, or a script written, this may have been decided long before the financing fell through. Perhaps a third film hinges on the success of the first two installments, and its a project Spielberg and Jackson plan to return to. It's going to be a hard sell here in North America, where Tintin is largely unknown, and I wouldn't be surprised if Sony and Paramount are hedging their bets a little.
It's also unclear when this film will ever start shooting. When the deal fell apart with Universal, Spielberg lost the participation of his lead actor,
Thomas Sangster. They're going to need another Tintin -- and fast, as the first film is still expected to make its 2010 release.
This is a passion project for Spielberg and Jackson -- and at this point, it's going to take every ounce of that enthusiasm to ever get a motion-capture
Tintin on the big screen.
Posted Oct 29th 2008 11:50AM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Comedy, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Distribution, Exhibition, Fan Rant
I will never understand why we're so afraid of sex in this country. It boggles my mind. Not only are we deathly afraid of sex, but we're also afraid of words. Combine a scary word and a film that carries a sex scene or two and you have what some would argue was an act of terrorism. Seriously. Ask Utah Jazz and
Megaplex Theatres owner Larry Miller, who is refusing to screen Kevin Smith's
Zack and Miri Make a Porno because he feels "it's very close to an NC-17 with its graphic nudity and graphic sex."
To take a page from Eric D. Snider, who took a page from
SNL's Weekend Update ... really? Really, Larry Miller? So you have no problem screening
Saw V in your movie theaters and exposing your customers to over-the-top violence and gore, but
Zack and Miri is off limits? Really? Seriously? And you'll also screen films like
The 40 Year Old Virgin and
Knocked Up, which use raunchy, foul-mouthed language and feature rampant drug use, but you won't screen a film that has -- what? -- one to three scenes of nudity and "pretend" on-camera sex? Really? And this man is allowed to own an entire chain of theaters? Seriously? Really?
Now, it's been over a month since I last saw
Zack and Miri Make a Porno, but trust me on this one folks -- the on-screen nudity is tame and rather harmless. And if you're ponying up the cash to see a flick directed by Kevin Smith that includes the word 'Porno' in its title, then something tells me you're expecting a little bit of dirty. We here at
Cinematical call on Mr. Larry Miller to admit his moronic faults, screen
Zack and Miri Make a Porno in all of his theaters and write an apology note to Kevin Smith, his fans and myself for having to waste over 300 words on this idiot.
Oh, and I hope the Utah Jazz have a miserable season.
[via
NY Post]
Posted Oct 24th 2008 11:15AM by Eugene Novikov
Filed under: Horror, New Releases, Lionsgate Films, Fandom, Distribution
Dear
Midnight Meat Train,
It was so great to see you on Wednesday night at the old, one-screen Clay Theatre in San Francisco. Pretty awesome that someone caught your
pitiful theatrical release and decided to book you for a two-night run here. Actual people do things so much better than corporations sometimes.
Anyway, there's no easy way to say this: I love you. In fact, I think I might be
in love with you. Deep inside I think you know the depth of my affection. But let me list just a few examples of your awesomeness.
I love how artfully, how meticulously, you were directed. You're freakin' beautiful, is what you are. What happened to the
Ryuhei Kitamura who made the smug, ugly, useless
Versus? I wasn't prepared for this evocative, moody plunge into bleakness. Every shot is a wonderfully unreal composition of light and shadow; every angle and camera move seems calculated to make you as unsettling as possible.
I love that you took the time to get the details right. The little things -- they're so difficult. The relationship between the main character and his girlfriend/fiance is believable and sweet; there are some genuinely lovely scenes in the first half, moments where you just pause to regard these people outside of the plot. And those photos that are supposed to make Leon a star in the New York art world? Those are actually some great freakin' photos. I bought it, y'know?
Continue reading A Love Letter to 'Midnight Meat Train'
Posted Oct 17th 2008 8:02PM by Eric D. Snider
Filed under: New Releases, Paramount, Distribution, Exhibition, The Weinstein Co., Dreamworks, Movie Marketing, Oscar Watch, Daniel Craig
What's happening in Hollywood? Does no one have a day planner? Can nobody stick to a schedule? Pushing a film's release date back a week or two isn't a big deal, but when you move it to an entirely different calendar year, that changes everything -- especially its Oscar chances.
As we've already
mentioned, rumors are swirling that the Weinsteins'
The Road won't be done in time for its November release, and maybe not for December, either. Now we have three more titles on the move. Jeffrey Wells at
Hollywood Elsewhere is
reporting that the Weinsteins'
Hurricane Season, an Inspiring Sports Drama® about a high school basketball team composed of displaced Katrina survivors, is "not ready" for its planned Christmas Day release and is being pushed back to March. And at Paramount, two Oscar hopefuls,
Defiance and
The Soloist, are being bumped to 2009, too, according to
Variety.
The Soloist move is the one that should raise the most eyebrows. A true story starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. (pictured), it has all the hallmarks of a feel-good Oscar contender, and that's how Paramount and DreamWorks (which produced it) were positioning it. But now it's being moved from Thanksgiving to March, which is basically Paramount's way of saying they don't have much confidence in its Oscar potential after all. At the very least, it means they think its chances of making a lot of money (which are higher in March than in the crowded holiday season) are greater than its chances of winning awards. Which might actually be a very smart financial move, so good for them.
Continue reading 'Soloist,' 'Defiance,' 'Hurricane' all Pushed Back to 2009
Posted Oct 9th 2008 3:35PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Deals, Shorts, Distribution, Family Films, Home Entertainment
Sixteen years ago, we got
Beethoven -- not Ludwig, but rather the big ol' St. Bernard. Just in case
four sequels and a stint on television wasn't enough for you,
The Hollywood Reporter posts that Universal is releasing yet another direct-to-DVD sequel on December 30 --
Beethoven's Big Break. I guess they gave up punning on Ludwig with their titles. But just because it's not going to the big screen doesn't mean you can't see the pup in huge glory -- it seems that a giant Beethoven balloon will be part of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year. I bet it'll be cuter than the movie.
In other DVD news: Have you ever scoured the DVD shelves, discovered some strange, old film with current stars, and comment on how someone unearthed the crappy flick to make money on the actor's newfound fame? Well, this next bit is something like that.
THR also reports that ex 90210 gals
Tori Spelling and
Shannen Doherty are hitting DVD shelves with
Kiss the Bride and Kiss Me Deadly (respectively, and I don't think connected) to tap into some of that spotlight currently shining once again on Beverly Hills High. Ever watch either flick? Thumbs up ... down?
Finally, James Gunn's
PG Porn has debuted. You can check it out after the jump. Remember -- just because Aria Giovanni is in it doesn't mean that it's going to be explicit. So, check out
Nathan Fillion acting like a porn star who doesn't get the goods -- it's not quite Funny or Die funny, but I'll definitely keep watching.
Continue reading News Bites: Beethoven, 90210, and PG Porn
Posted Oct 9th 2008 2:03PM by Scott Weinberg
Filed under: Comedy, Horror, Independent, Distribution
Like several worthwhile movie companies,
Anchor Bay began by catering to the horror geeks. The company delivered fantastic DVDs of cult and classic genre flicks, and then began to branch out in all different directions. Over the past year or so, AB has dipped its toe into the theatrical pool, and now it looks like they're about to bring their cinematic output to a whole new level.
According to
Variety, the "plan is to primarily acquire finished films it will roll out theatrically on fewer than 100 screens before distribbing them on other platforms like DVD, Starz's pay-TV service, the Internet, pay-per-view and video-on-demand, for example." The article goes on to mention the distributor's early forays into theatrical release -- titles like
The Grand,
Sex and Death 101, and
Surfer, Dude -- but there's no mention of
Hatchet,
Spiral, and / or
Behind the Mask in this story? Coulda sworn
they were earlier than those other flicks.
Anyway, good luck to Anchor Bay in their ten-movie-a-year plan. Here's hoping most of their acquisitions are good ones -- and that a few slots are still dedicated to the scary stuff. (I'm betting that Rob Hall's
Laid to Rest will be one of AB's early releases, and Erik says the "very funny"
Bart Got a Room should also be on that list.) Glad to know that the money I spent on three different DVD versions of
Evil Dead 2 is being used wisely.
Posted Oct 3rd 2008 2:02PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Documentary, Tech Stuff, Distribution, Politics, Michael Moore
If you happen to already be of the opinion that
Michael Moore is not the lovable man of the people he appears to be, then this news probably won't be changing your feelings about him anytime soon. One month after Moore
offered up free downloads of his latest documentary,
Slacker Uprising, Torrent Freak
reports that "In a letter dated September 25th, lawyers representing Westside Productions LLC, owner of the
Slacker Uprising copyright sprang into action, demanding the removal of a torrent linking to the movie from any and all international sites."
Moore's latest was compiled of footage from his recent college tour -- a tour in which he traveled to colleges in the so-called 'swing states' to speak to students in an attempt to energize young voters. The film is a re-edited version of Moore's 2007 doc,
Captain Mike Across America, which screened at TIFF in '07 to
lukewarm reviews. Moore initially said the reason behind the free download was both a reward to fans who have supported him over the years, as well as a way to get out his message prior to the upcoming presidential election.
The download was offered only to those living in the US and Canada, but it didn't take long for the film to start popping up on numerous torrent sites outside of North America. Moore's lawyers inexplicably sent their letter to the DNS service (easyDNS) of one of the international sites pirating the flick, which is not required to comply with US law. A co-founder of easyDNS responded to Moore's lawyers with the following: "...Anybody with half a clue knows the net doesn't work like that. In any case, I've sent them our standard 'we're not the web host, we're just the lowly DNS service', but I did point out this seeming contradiction in Michael Moore's message vs. his lawyer's actions."
So while Moore may have every right to control how his film is distributed, maybe someone should have explained that old saying about the internet and
pee in a pool.
Posted Oct 2nd 2008 4:32PM by William Goss
Filed under: Drama, Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense, RumorMonger, Distribution, The Weinstein Co., Quentin Tarantino
The first time I came across a trailer for the Diane Lane/Thomas Jane/Mickey Rourke hitman thriller Killshot (only remaining on an AICN archive page and the errant DVD release), it was back in September of 2006. Since then, the Elmore Leonard adaptation has endured reshoots in January of 2007 and countless changes in release dates after that. Of course, there's also at least three test screening reviews that bring to light the entire removal of a character played by Johnny Knoxville from the film.
Now, not long after the Weinstein Company issued its latest round of supposed scheduling, Killshot's most recent date -- November 7, 2008 -- has been dashed away by this Los Angeles Times piece, and as pointed out, how does one struggle to release anything that John Madden, Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack and Quentin Tarantino all had hands in at some point? How does one struggle to even sell off domestic distribution rights to a film with this cast and that crew? The obvious answer is, of course, that the film is a downright dud, though the general pedigree and harshest reviews seem to suggest that it's not a total turkey.
The best-case scenario at this point is that the film rides the awards buzz of Rourke's performance in December's The Wrestler as suggested and gets a theatrical release in the early winter dumping grounds (through the Weinsteins' Third Rail arm, I'd bet), while the worst-case scenario is the film being directly downgraded to the level of a Blockbuster-exclusive curio. We shall see...
Posted Sep 29th 2008 7:32PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, Fandom, Distribution, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
Earlier today, Paramount and Marvel Studios announced an agreement for the former to distribute (worldwide) Marvel's next five self-produced flicks. In addition to this news, tentative release dates were given for
Iron Man 2 (moved to May 7, 2010),
Thor (moved to July 16, 2010),
The First Avenger: Captain America (May 6, 2011) and
The Avengers (July 15, 2011). The agreement is said to also cover
Iron Man 3. All I'm gonna say is what the hell will we do in 2009 without Superman, Batman, Spider-Man ... or any of these new Marvel films? Perhaps we should create Government Bailout Man and ask Oliver Stone to whip up the flick in about three months or so .... (not funny Davis).
But back to Marvel. It was announced earlier today that
Kenneth Branagh is in talks to direct
Thor (a ballsy move, but certainly one that comes with a lot of promise) while word is still out on filmmakers for
The Avengers and
Captain America ... and what's up with
Ant-Man? Obviously folks are really looking forward to seeing what Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. do with
Iron Man 2, but ... honestly ...
Thor just shot up past
Iron Man 2 on my must-see list. C'mon ... we're looking at a three-hour Shakespearean epic -- one that
must include Jeremy Irons playing someone we immediately hate. What's
not to look forward to?
But seriously, which upcoming Marvel film is at the top of your must-see list ... and why?
Posted Sep 24th 2008 3:30PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Animation, Casting, Disney, Fandom, Distribution, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels
During a Disney showcase in Los Angeles this afternoon, a few fairly big announcements were made -- most notably the fact that
Cars 2 is being bumped up from 2012 to the summer of 2011. John Lasseter also announced a series of animated shorts related to the
Cars franchise called
Cars Toons, and those will air on the Disney Channel, as well as (possibly) screen theatrically. With
Toy Story 3 arriving in 2010, this means Pixar will shovel out back-to-back sequels for the first time ever. Those Pixar fans seeking an original product will get one next year with
Up.
Also during the showcase, it was announced that
Oprah Winfrey has joined the voice cast of
The Princess and the Frog, where she'll play Eudora, the mother of the main character Princess Tiana (Anika Noni Rose). Due out on Christmas Day in 2009,
The Princess and the Frog returns Disney to their classic 2D animation and it follows a young girl who lives in the New Orleans French Quarter during the Jazz Age.
Princess and the Frog also marks the first time Disney has featured an African American princess.
We'll update this post should more info come out ...
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