Small MPU – Page 402
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News
Belgrade Auteur festival in controversy over Summer Palace
The New Festivalof Auteur's Films (Nov 28- Dec 3) in Belgrade was supposed to open with Lou Ye's Summer Palace but the screening wascanceled after intervention from the Chinese Embassy.However, after the opening-night screening was cancelled, the festival board has responded to negative reactions from general public and the Helsinki ...
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News
Eros and ANYTIME agree deal to distribute Hollywood content in India
Bollywood studio Eros International has formed an investment deal worth up to £2.1m with Singapore based ANYTIME, a leading supplier of Video-on-demand, to distribute Hollywood movies on digital platforms throughout India.Subject to final due diligence, Eros will take a minority stake in ANYTIME, which counts 4 major Hollywood studios as ...
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News
Soldier video game falls foul of BC ratings board
Soldier Of Fortune, a CD-ROM based video game featuring the anguished cries and death-throes of its victims, has been rated as adult-only entertainment by British Columbia's film classification board. The ruling bans sale or rental of the game within the province to people under 18 and means the game's Canadian ...
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Reviews
Darkbluealmostblack
Dir/scr: Daniel Sanchez Arevalo. Spain.2006. 105mins.Pedro Almodovar's influenceis evident in Darkbluealmostblack,a kinky tragic-comic debut feature about dysfunctional families from Spanishwriter/director Daniel Sanchez Arevalo. But whereasthe master can make abrupt plot turns and mood shifts flow together smoothly, theundeniably promising Sanchez Arevalo tries too hard.At home Darkbluealmostblackhas taken $1m-plus, while beyond ...
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Reviews
Turistas (aka Paradise Lost)
Dir: John Stockwell. US. 2006. 89mins.Set in a remote Brazilian beach town and effectivelyplaying to a traveler's worst nightmares, Turistas details the grittymisfortunes that befall a marooned group of young adventurers. A tangledcombination of thriller elements, travelogue and streamlined bits of gruesomeimperilment, it successfully wrings some novel tension from its ...
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Reviews
Blood Diamond
Dir: Edward Zwick. US. 2006. 138mins.A well-written, well-acted and provocative politicalaction thriller, Edward Zwick's Blood Diamond provokes its audience into thinking about the impactof diamond lust on the Third World. But itsrelentlessly realistic depiction of contemporary African warfare - and the waydiamond smuggling funds it - is so horrific that ...
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Sundance unveils Premieres, Spectrum, Midnight sections
Sundance organisers unveiledthe upcoming Premieres, Spectrum, New Frontier, Park City at Midnight and Fromthe Sundance Collection programmes today [Nov 30].HBO-BBC co-production Longfordstarring Jim Broadbent and SamanthaMorton is the closing night film, while the US premiere of Sarah Polley'sdirectorial debut Away From Herstarring Julie Christie is named the Salt Lake City ...
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Anderson lines up starry cast for Filmax's Transsiberian
Ben Kingsley, WoodyHarrelson, Samantha Morton, Kate Mara and Eduardo Noriega are set to star inBrad Anderson's upcoming thriller Transsiberian for Spanish mini-studio Filmax Entertainment.The film, a co-productionwith Germany's Universum Film GmbH, is budgeted at $15m-$20m. Shooting will getunderway December 11 in such far-flung locations as Beijing, Russia andLithuania.The story follows ...
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News
Powell named vp, marketing, for Samuel Goldwyn, Roadside Attractions
Nathan Powell has joined Samuel Goldwyn Films and RoadsideAttractions as vice president of marketing.Powell will be based in the New York offices of IDP, the marketingand distribution arm of Samuel Goldwyn Films and Roadside Attractions, and willreport to IDP president Michael Silberman.'We are delighted and fortunate to have Nathan's talents ...
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News
Cinemavault closes post-AFM deals with Last Rites
Cinemavault Releasing International (CRI) has closed post-AFMsales on the zombie-sci-fi film Last Rites in Germany (Galileo), Brazil (Nordeste), South Africa (NuMetro), Italy (One Movie), and Japan (Gaga).Offers are imminent in France, Spain, Scandinavia and the Beneluxon the story of two rival LA street gangs forced to assist the police when ...
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News
Duran named UPI vp, distribution & marketing, Latin America
Mauricio Duran has been appointed vice president of distributionand marketing for Latin America for Universal Pictures International.Duran will oversee the theatrical marketing and distributionstrategies, supervising all aspects of business for the region, including thereview of potential acquisitions. He will oversee all new business initiativesand develop Universal's future distribution plan for ...
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News
007 should dominate for third weekend, Japan opens today
James Bond should prove too tough for his international rivals forthe third consecutive weekend as Casino Royale bears down on $200m.The 007 saga has reached $150m through Sony Pictures ReleasingInternational and is expected to add in the region of $30m-$40m this weekendthrough strong holds and the release in Japan on ...
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News
Babel gets director, ensemble awards at Palm Springs festival
The 18th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF)will present the cast of Babel with the festival's Ensemble Performance Award and AlejandroGonzalez Inarritu with the Director of the Year Award.Cast members Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchiare expected to attend along with Inarritu. This will be the ...
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News
Carlton sells Quantel to management team for $77m
UK media group Carlton Communications had ended its search for a buyer for editing equipment maker Quantel by striking a $76.9m (£51m) deal with a management buy-out team, Carlton said on Thursday.The buy-out team, which includes chairman Richard Taylor, struck the deal after securing backing from Lloyds TSB Development Capital. ...
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News
Seattle Film Festival announces year-round screening facility
Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) Group is developing a year-roundscreening facility at Seattle Centre's 400-seater Nesholm Family Lecture Hallat Marion Oliver McCaw Hall.The new theatre will become the flagship venue for the 33rd AnnualSeattle International Film Festival, which runs from May 24-Jun 17 2007.The city of Seattle will contribute $150,000 ...
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News
Golden Harvest sells stake in Golden Screen Cinemas
Golden Harvest, a HongKong-based regional exhibitor with more than 300 screens across Asia, is set to sell its 40.2% stake in Malaysia's Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) for $25m (RM91m) tofund expansion in China. The Golden Harvest stakewill be acquired by its partner PPB Group, a listed company on Malaysia's stock ...
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Swedish Film Institute overhauls staff and productions
The Swedish Film Institute will stage a majorreshuffle of its organisation, implementing new measures to better reach thegoals of Swedish film policy, and to improve the quality of Swedish cinema.Both production volume and personnel will be radically reduced."We want to take a more active role in theSwedish film industry, where ...
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Reviews
Dreamgirls
Dir: Bill Condon. US. 2006.130mins.As movie versions of hit Broadway musicals go, BillCondon's Dreamgirlsis more Chicago than Rent. Likely to set the box officealight over Christmas domestically and in the New Year around the world, it isalso bound to figure highly in Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, if notend-of-year critics ...
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Reviews
The Holiday
Dir: Nancy Meyers. US. 2006.136mins.Queen of saccharine Nancy Meyers returns with The Holiday, a bloated romantic comedywhich will inevitably be the indulgence of choice for millions of predominantlyfemale moviegoers during the upcoming holiday season. With What Women Want and Something's Gotta Give, Meyersestablished her own brand of contemporary rom-com:guilty pleasure ...
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Punk to promote The Gigolos with My Single Friend
Punk Cinema is teaming withthe UK dating website My Single Friend to promote their newfilm The Gigolos to single young professionals. The site attracts 300,000visitors per month and has more than 70,000 members, and Punk notes that theseusers are "above-average cinema attendees and fans of intelligent, independentmovies."The campaign, which includesadvertising ...