All articles by John Hazelton – Page 20
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Reviews
Taxi
Dir: Tim Story. US. 2004.97 mins.Luc Besson's French franchise-starter Taxi certainly seems like a goodcandidate for a US makeover: like its two hugely successful sequels, the hit1998 original was essentially, after all, a Hollywood action comedy with aGallic spin. Whatever potential there may have been, however, is squandered bythis bland ...
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Reviews
Ladder 49
Dir:Jay Russell. US. 2004. 115mins.America'spost-September 11 love affair with the figure of the heroic firefighter getsthe big screen treatment in Ladder 49, a character-driven action dramapairing a boyish Joaquin Phoenix with a fatherly John Travolta. The pairingworks well enough and the drama is sensitively handled by director Jay Russell(My Dog ...
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Reviews
The Forgotten
Dir:Joseph Ruben. US. 2004. 90mins.Itstarts out feeling like a slightly soppy episode of The X-Files, withmotherly love replacing paranoia as the driving emotion. But teasing thriller TheForgotten gets perked up by a handful of judiciously used special effectsand a sense of mystery that could be described as Shyamalan-esque (as in ...
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Reviews
Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow
Dir:Kerry Conran. US. 2004. 106mins.Thespirit and look of vintage science fiction meets the digital technology ofscience fact in Sky Captain And The World of Tomorrow, an eccentricallyretro-futuristic adventure whose live actors appear in a world almost entirelycreated on computers. The mix of old and new produces some mightily impressivevisuals and ...
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Reviews
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Dir: Alexander Witt. US/Canada/UK. 2004. 94 mins.More zombies, more screen time for Milla Jovovich and the addition ofsome crucial characters from the games themselves are the draw in this sequelto 2002 video game adaptation ResidentEvil. The new elements may not add many non-gamers to the audience for whatis otherwise a ...
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News
ThinkFilm, New Line Home Entertainment sign US video deal
Independent distributor ThinkFilm has signed a US videodistribution deal with New Line Home Entertainment.Among the first titles to be released on DVD and VHS under the newpartnership will be Stephen Fry's British period drama Bright Young Thingsand Bayambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni's German-Mongolian documentary TheStory Of The Weeping Camel.Though the ...
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News
Indie icon Smith readies The Passion Of The Clerks
Ten years after he burst onto the US indie scene with Clerks,filmmaker Kevin Smith has decided to make a sequel to the now almost legendaryno-budget comedy. Smith will direct The Passion Of The Clerks from hisown screenplay, with principal photography set to begin next January andMiramax set to distribute.Brian O'Halloran ...
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News
Evergreen gets AMC digital roll-out
Under what the parties involved describe as a "unique partnership",independent US feature Evergreen will be digitally distributed to 115AMC theatres in 27 major US markets.The family drama, written and directed by newcomer Enid Zentelis,will premiere on Sept 10, being presented digitally using AMC's proprietaryDigital Theatre Distribution System (DTDS).The system eliminates ...
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News
Fox embarks on Dodgeball roll-out
SurpriseUS hit Dodgeball opens in its first major international territories thisweekend and distributor 20th Century Fox will be hoping that star Ben Stiller -whose Starsky And Hutch is now coming to the end of its better thanexpected international run - can drive the film to a strong internationaltotal.Dodgeball'sbroad comedy resulted ...
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News
Fox International embarks on Dodgeball roll-out
Surprise US hit Dodgeball launches in its first majorinternational territories this weekend and Fox International will be hopingthat star Ben Stiller - whose Starsky & Hutch is now coming to theend of its better-than-expected international run - can drive the film to astrong international total.Dodgeball's broad comedy resulted in a ...
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News
Fox, UGC to end French distribution partnership
Twentieth Century Fox and UGC are ending their French theatricaljoint distribution venture UGC Fox Distribution (UFD) and will launch separatedistribution operations in the territory at the start of 2005.In a joint statement, the companies attributed the end to volumeand shifting conditions in the French marketplace."With the number of titles UGC ...
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News
DreamWorks COO Hahn's exit fuels succession rumours
Veteran Hollywood executive Helene Hahn is to retire from her jobas DreamWorks' chief operating officer, fuelling speculation that Miramax chiefoperating officer Rick Sands will step in to replace her.While no replacement announcement seems to be imminent, DreamWorksis believed to be negotiating with Sands.Hahn's decision to leave the company she has ...
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News
The Machinist, Brother To Brother bookend IFP market
Brad Anderson's The Machinist and Rodney Evans' BrotherTo Brother will bookend the 26th annual IFP Market & Conference, whichruns from Sept 19-24 in New York.The Machinist, which stars Batman-to-beChristian Bale and is set to be released in the US through Paramount Classicson Oct 22, will get the Sept 20 opening ...
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News
Evans to receive Leadership Award at Toronto
Legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans is to be presented withthe Leadership Award at a gala evening for charity Best Buddies during thisyear's Toronto International Film Festival.The Sept 13 event will see Evans, producer of The Godfatherand Chinatown among other classics, join a list of previous awardwinners that includes Muhammad Ali, ...
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News
Evans to receive Leadership Award
Legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans is to be presented withthe Leadership Award at a gala evening for charity Best Buddies during thisyear's Toronto International Film Festival.The Sept 13 event will see Evans, producer of The Godfatherand Chinatown among other classics, join a list of previous awardwinners that includes Muhammad Ali, ...
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News
Chiocchi earns creative advertising stripes at Universal
Veteran Hollywood marketing executive Frank Chiocchi has beenpromoted to executive vice president of creative advertising at UniversalPictures.Chiocchi will report to Universal's marketing president AdamFogelson and will oversee all aspects of creative advertising for upcomingUniversal releases including Friday Night Lights, Cinderella Manand American Gangster.Previously serving as senior vice president of creativeadvertising, ...
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News
First Look, Content Film call off merger
First LookMedia and ContentFilm have "mutuallyagreed" to end the merger discussions that had been underway since thecompanies signed a non-binding letter of intent in June. In a statement, thetwo parties said they were "unable to resolve certain businessissues." "Both companies determined that itwas not in the best interests of either ...
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Reviews
Alien vs Predator
Dir:Paul W S Anderson. US. 2004. 101mins.Withnew backgrounds but the same old bad attitudes, two of 20th Century Fox'ssci-fi icons go head to head in AVP (as the marketing folks havehelpfully abbreviated it), a franchise face-off that looks set to consolidateHollywood's latest genre trend. The match-up, enthusiastically brought to thescreen ...
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Reviews
Collateral
Dir: Michael Mann. US. 2004. 119 mins. An intriguing noir thriller with an arresting digitalvideo look, Collateral returns masterstylist Michael Mann to the crime genre in which he first made his reputationand earned his loyal cineaste following. If the finished product never achievesthe intensity of Mann's 1995 crime classic Heat- ...
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Reviews
Catwoman
Dir: Pitof. US. 2004. 105 mins.Warner Bros' push to develop new franchises from the characters in its DCComics stable gets off to a shaky start with Catwoman, a flashy butuninvolving Batman spin-off (of sorts) with Halle Berry starring andone-named French talent Pitof directing.Berry's popularity, as well as brand and character ...