Small MPU – Page 224

  • News

    Melbourne audiences praise Thank You For Smoking

    2006-08-22T11:13:00Z

    Thank You For Smoking, which releasesin Australia this week, wasthe most popular film among Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF)audiences.Director Jason Reitman and his long-time producing partner Daniel Dubieckiwere guests of the event with Dubiecki, whose father is Australian, exploringAustralian opportunities while in the country. The top five MIFF films according ...

  • News

    San Sebastian's pearls include Inarritu's Babel

    2006-08-22T11:25:00Z

    American films are the starsof the "Pearls" section and Spanish documentaries lead the Special Screeners inthe Zabaltegi sidebar of the upcoming Donostia-San Sebastian International Film Festival (Sept21-30).Among the "Pearls" competingfor the TCM Audience Award, which offers $38,503 (Euros 30,000)to the Spanish distributor, are Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu'sCannes best director winner Babel,starring ...

  • Reviews

    Material Girls

    2006-08-22T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Martha Coolidge. US.2006. 110mins.US teen icon Hilary Duff may never have exhibited theacting chops of, say, Lindsay Lohan, but she does atleast usually project some sort of likeable presence on screen. The problem' Duff is the same presence in every film that she'sever been in - and it's never ...

  • News

    Birds Eye View to host documentary festival

    2006-08-22T17:00:00Z

    The UK's Birds Eye View Film Festival, dedicated to womenfilm-makers, is presenting the third part of this year'sfestival with a documentary programme at London's ICA from Sept 15-17.The documentary festival includesthe UK premieres of AbbyEpstein's Until TheViolence Stops, Heather Lyn MacDonald's BeenRich All My Life, and Shelley Saywell's Martyr ...

  • News

    Dana Reid segues into production deal at Artisan

    2000-06-29T01:39:00Z

    Artisan Pictures has signed a first look production deal with Dana Reid, a former vice president of production at Artisan, and his new company Flash Entertainment. The arrangement covers theatrical and direct-to-video productions.Reid joined Artisan in 1997 from ICM where he worked alongside agent Ken Kamins. While at Artisan he ...

  • News

    Universal hires Baard to run Australia, New Zealand office

    2006-08-22T00:00:00Z

    Universal Pictures has hiredMike Baard (pictured) as managing director, Australia and New Zealand. The movecomes in the wake of the restructuring of UIP and the studio's preparations toopen its own theatrical operations in 15 major territories on Jan 1, 2007.Baard will report directlyto Duncan Clark, executive vice president, international distribution.The ...

  • News

    Minghella, Scott, Apted, Nair all premiere at TIFF

    2006-08-22T00:00:00Z

    New films from AnthonyMinghella, Ridley Scott, Michael Apted, Patrice Leconte, Mira Nair will maketheir world premiere at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival. TIFF organizers unveiled thecomplete line-up for the 31st event, totaling 261 features including85 world premieres from outside Canada. Among the higher-profileworld premieres getting the Gala treatment are:Breaking ...

  • News

    Emerging to screen Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film in 20 US cities

    2006-08-22T00:00:00Z

    New York-based digitalcinema network Emerging Pictures is partnering with Thirteen/WNET New York andother local PBS TV stations across the US to screen Andy Warhol: ADocumentary Film in theatricalvenues in 20 cities.The two-part, four-hourdocumentary, directed by Ric Burns, is part of Thirteen/WNET's American Mastersseries. Each PBS station will host the screenings ...

  • News

    jindabyne gets North American deal with SPC

    2006-08-22T00:00:00Z

    Sony Pictures Classics hasacquired North American rights to Ray Lawrence's jindabyne which had its world premiere in Directors' Fortnightat Cannes this year and which will have its North American premiere at Torontoas a Special Presentation.The April Films production,which is based on Raymond Carver's short story "So Much Water So Close ...

  • News

    Wolfe picks up seven gay and lesbian titles for US distribution

    2006-08-23T00:00:00Z

    Gay and lesbian-focused USindependent distributor Wolfe Releasing has picked up seven films on the summerLGBT film festival circuit. Wolfe president Maria Lynnand acquisitions director Orly Ravid attended Frameline in San Francisco,NewFest in New York City, the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and Outfestin Los Angeles in search of new ...

  • News

    Nolte, Foster, Suvari board Groundswell's Mysteries

    2006-08-23T00:00:00Z

    Nick Nolte, Jon Foster andMena Suvari have joined Peter Sarsgaard and Sienna Miller in the cast of TheMysteries Of Pittsburgh, the firstfilm to go before the cameras for Michael London's new financing and productionoutfit Groundswell Productions. Arclight Films has come onboard to handle international sales.The film starts shooting inPittsburgh on ...

  • News

    Showbox picks up UK rights to Edinburgh title Cards

    2006-08-23T00:00:00Z

    Shoreline Entertainment hassold UK rights to Dead Man's Cardsto Showbox Media Group. The film had its world premiere this week as a BritishGala at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Showbox plans to release thefilm theatrically later this year.The gritty drama stars PaulBarber as a struggling boxer from Liverpool who loses ...

  • News

    Bauer Martinez settles legal wrangles with McTiernan

    2006-08-23T00:00:00Z

    Bauer Martinez Entertainmentand film-maker John McTiernan have settled the litigation between them thatarose over the project Crash Bandits which McTiernan was to have directed for Bauer Martinez.The two parties have agreedto the dismissal of the April 26, 2006, complaint by Bauer Martinez and thesubsequent counterclaim by McTiernan."Bauer Martinez and JohnMcTiernan ...

  • News

    MPD begins legal proceedings against Loewy et al

    2006-08-23T00:00:00Z

    Antagonism between Canadiandistribution company Motion Picture Distribution (MPD) and a trio of formerexecutives escalated today, as MPD announced plans to seek legal redressagainst the executives while their lawyer vowed to "see the truth out in court".MPD launched the firstvolley, with a late afternoon release announcing it had commenced proceedingsagainst former ...

  • News

    Cruise/Wagner parts with Paramount in full media spotlight

    2006-08-23T00:00:00Z

    Tom Cruise and PaulaWagner's Cruise/Wagner Productions is leaving Viacom's Paramount Pictures after13 years at the studio. The news was the talk ofHollywood yesterday (Tuesday) after the publication of a Wall Street Journalinterview with Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone in which Redstone said "As muchas we like [Cruise] personally, we thought it ...

  • News

    Tulips still blooming at Italian box office

    2000-06-29T12:31:00Z

    The Danish box office is demonstrating that festival success is not the only route to success for locally-made films.Though Berlin-darling Italian For Beginners is still in 7th place after 19 weeks on release and has now scored some 830,000 admissions, other home-grown films like the comedy Flickering Lights (440,000), thefamily-film ...

  • News

    Dubrovnik's Libertas festival to open with Three Burials

    2006-08-23T10:19:00Z

    The second Libertas Film Festival begins Friday (Aug 25) with ascreening of Tommy Lee Jones' The ThreeBurials Of MelquiadesEstrada. Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelsonare among the guests expected to attend the six-day festival in the picturesqueCroatian port of Dubrovnik. M. Night Shyamalan's Lady In The Waterwill close the festival following ...

  • News

    Hunter and Gardner to head Glasgow festival

    2006-08-23T00:00:00Z

    AllanHunter and Allison Gardner will serve as joint directors of the third GlasgowFilm Festival (Feb 15-25, 2007). The festival'sprogramme of international and Scottish features and documentaries will beannounced in January.Hunter isthe Scottish correspondent for ScreenInternational and ScreenDaily.comand serves as the film critic for TheDaily Express and Scotland On Sunday.Allison Gardneris ...

  • News

    Kim Ki-duk stirs controversy in Korean film world

    2006-08-23T11:36:00Z

    Maverick Koreandirector Kim Ki-duk, known internationally for filmsincluding 3-Iron, Samaritan Girl and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring,has renounced all his previous films as "trash" saying he will leave the Koreanfilm world after a public brouhaha started on a television debate program. On Aug 18, whileappearing on an MBC TV ...

  • News

    New competition launched for UK screenwriters

    2006-08-23T14:00:00Z

    A new script competition hasbeen launched for emerging young UK writers. The Make Your Mark in Film With CobraVision is connected to EnterpriseInsight's Make Your Mark programme and Cobra Beer's short film competition CobraVision.The winner, working with ascript of the theme of "having an idea and making it happen" will ...