Small MPU – Page 211
-
Reviews
The Ant Bully
Dir: John A Davis. US. 2006.87mins.Familiar tropes and jokes are trotted out in squirmingly obvious fashion with The Ant Bully, an intermittently sweetly moralisingbut rather lacklustre and ramshackle animated tale ofshifted perspective in which an adolescent is shrunk to the same size as theants in his front yard.Visually, the movierecalls ...
-
News
Universal expands UK downloads through BT
Universal Pictures growing its download and VODbusiness in the UKthrough a new deal with British Telecommunications (BT). This follows onearlier deals with LoveFilm and Wippit.Universal Pictures UK and NBC Universal International TelevisionDistribution have struck simultaneous digital distribution agreements with BTfor download-to-own or video-on-demand offerings in the UK.Universal's film and TV ...
-
News
Duo to oversee acquisitions and co-productions at TWC
Maeva Gatineau andMichelle Krumm have been named executive vice presidents and co-heads ofacquisitions and co-productions at The Weinstein Company (TWC).Gatineau, based in the company's UK office, and Krumm, based in the LA office, will jointly lead worldwide acquisitions activities, and will report to Bob and Harvey Weinstein.Former acquisitions chief ...
-
News
World Trade Centre windfall for four NYC charities
Ten per cent of thefirst five days of North American box office from Oliver Stone's upcoming WorldTrade Centre will be donated to fourNew York-based charities.Of that portion, 50% will go to The World Trade Centre Memorial Foundation,while the remaining 50% will be divided among Tuesday's Children, The TributeWTC Visitor Centre, ...
-
News
Sundance names 2006 doc grant recipients
Projects exploring the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Filipina supply teachers in Baltimore, and the legacy of a Ku Klux Klan attack are among 15 to receive grants from the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund.The grants total $605,000 and comprise the first of two annual awards and were selected by human rights ...
-
News
Cinema ad revenues enjoy blockbuster boost in UK
Revenues from cinema advertising in the UK rose9.3% year-on-year for the first six months of the year.The Nielsen Media Research figures show that therewas a big spike - 34% - during last month's World Cup.Encouragingly the increase comes at a timewhen some other forms of advertising, including radio and TV ...
-
News
Lionsgate takes US and UK rights to Blood Trails
Lionsgate Films has picked up the German horror film Blood Trails by Robert Krause for distribution in the US and UK in the first quarter of 2007. Krause's film won the audience award at the recent Dead by Dawn Film Festival in Scotland and screened at the Madrid Fantasy Film ...
-
News
Superman Returns sets London IMAX record
Superman Returns may not have been able to move Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest from the top of the UK chart but its run at the British Film Institute's London IMAX has proven a triumph. Superman Returns, which opened at the venue including 20 minutes of 3D scenes ...
-
News
India's Mukta Arts unveils flotation plans
Subhash Ghai's Mukta Arts has lined up a $25m initial public offer on the Mumbai stock exchange for the second week of July, making it the first major Indian film production company to go corporate.The 17-year-old company has produced a string of Hindi hits including Taal, the first Indian feature ...
-
News
China box office up 40% with Hollywood in the lead
China's box office grew by 40% to $125m (RMB1bn) in the first half of 2006,compared to the same period last year, according to local reports, of which revenue-sharingHollywood imports accounted for 51%. The other 49% of the marketwas shared by flat-fee imported films and local productions. Sony's The Da Vinci ...
-
News
Contest winner cast in Shochiku franchise
In a break from the usualtalent agency system of Japanese movie casting, an unknown 20-year-old actresshas won a role in the 17th installment of Shochiku's long-running Free & Easy comedy series. Kyoto college student Hana Ebise was selected from more than10,000 entrants in Shochiku's nationwide "Star Gate" open audition contest,which ...
-
News
Jakubisko wraps shoot for $13.5m Bathory
Slovak director Juraj Jakubisko has wrapped principal photography on Bathory, anEnglish-language drama about the 17th-century Hungarian noblewomanand reputed murderess Countess Erzsebet Bathory.The $13.5m project is a Slovak-Czech-UK-Hungarianco-production. Jakubisko Film Slovakiais the delegated producer in partnership with JakubiskoFilm Czech Republic. Film & Music Entertainment and LunarFilms represent the UK side, and ...
-
News
Breaking News: Venice Line-Up Announced
IN COMPETITION OPENING FILM: THE BLACK DAHLIADir: Brian De PalmaUSA - 120'Main cast: Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Mia Kirshner,Mike Starr, Fiona ShawFALLENDir: Barbara AlbertAustria - 88'Main cast: Nina Proll, Birgit Minichmayr, Ursula StraussLA STELLA CHE NON C'ÈDir: Gianni AmelioItaly, France, Switzerland, Singapore - 103'Main cast: Sergio ...
-
News
Venice competition includes 21 world premieres
The 63rd Venice Film Festival (August 30-Sep 9) has unveiled an eclectic line-up, with directors such as Stephen Frears, Darren Aronofsky, Emilio Estevez, Emanuele Crialese and Alfonso Cuaron vying for the Golden Lion.For the first time in Venice's history, all 21 films in competition will be world premieres. "This ...
-
News
Venice line-up
IN COMPETITIONOPENING FILM: THE BLACK DAHLIADir: Brian De PalmaUSA - 120'Main cast: Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Mia Kirshner,Mike Starr, Fiona ShawFALLENDir: Barbara AlbertAustria - 88'Main cast: Nina Proll, Birgit Minichmayr, Ursula StraussLA STELLA CHE NON C'ÈDir: Gianni AmelioItaly, France, Switzerland, Singapore - 103'Main cast: Sergio Castellitto, ...
-
News
'Everything's being done right this time that wasn't done right back in the 1950s'
Long regarded as afilm-making pioneer, James Cameron is a self-described "evangelist" for digital3D. The director recently talked to Screen International about his vision ofcinema's future. A shorter version of this interview appears in the July 28print edition of Screen International as part of a cover feature on digital 3D.Screen International: ...
-
News
UIP crosses $1bn mark on July 21
UIP has joinedthe $1bn club in the international market this year. Following TwentiethCentury Fox International, which achieved the mark in record time in mid-June,UIP crossed $1bn in international returns on July 21.The result comes after two record-breaking years for the company, both of whichsurpassed $2bn in international grosses by the ...
-
News
Raindance to open with Brothers Of The Head
The 14th Raindance Film Festival will open with Keith Fulton andLouis Pepe's BrothersOf The Head.The mockumentarystars Harry and Luke Treadaway as conjoined twins whoare recruited to front a punk-rock band.Raindance runs Sept 27 to Oct 8 at several cinemas in London's West End.Tartan will release the filmin the UK on ...
-
News
Leader of the pack
Pierre Lescure, the new head of film and TV activities following the Vivendi Seagram merger, is unlikely to impose French culture on Universal Studios if his record collection is anything to go by. Patrick Frater reports.If Pierre Lescure were re-cast as an animal, he might come back as a bloodhound. ...
-
News
Chris Cornell recruited for next Bond soundtrack
Former Soundgardenfrontman Chris Cornell will perform the main titlesong for the forthcoming James Bond film CasinoRoyale. Cornell wrote the track,titled You Know My Name, with Bondcomposer David Arnold. "I've always loved Chris'work, both as a writer and as an artist, and had hoped someday to find theright film to inspire ...