Small MPU – Page 561

  • News

    Italian industry rallies behind cinema strike

    2005-10-16T00:00:00Z

    Leading lightsin the Italian film industry joined a nationwide strike on FridayOctober 14, which closed down all cinemas, theatres and opera houses fora day and sent thousands to the streets to picketoutside theItalian Parliament. Those that tookpart included producers Aurelio De Laurentiis, DomenicoProcacci, RaiCinema chief Giancarlo Leone and actor-director Roberto ...

  • News

    Cecchi Gori announces comeback - again

    2005-10-17T04:00:00Z

    Almost fiveyears after his spectacular fall from grace, Italian former moviemogul Vittorio Cecchi Gori has announced - again - that he is back At a pressconference held in his luxurious Rome residence, Palazzo Borghese, theflamboyant producer said he expects several imminent legal victoriesthat will finally turn the tide and put ...

  • News

    Wolf Creek release hit by Oz murder trial

    2005-10-16T00:00:00Z

    A murder trialthat starts on Monday (Oct 17) has led to Australian distributor Roadshowwithdrawing home-grown horror flick Wolf Creek from some cinema screens at the requestof the Director of Public Prosecutions. The film will nolonger be shown in the Northern Territory from November 3 but will be releasedeverywhere else in ...

  • News

    Balkan films emerge as big winners at Warsaw festival

    2005-10-16T00:00:00Z

    Balkancinema was the big winner at this year's Warsaw International FilmFest (Oct7-16) taking home three of the top prizes. TheInternational Jury headed by Polish-born UK director Pawel Pawlikowski gave theNescafe Grand Prix for Best Film in the 'New Films, New Directors'international competition to Croatian filmmaker Ognjen Svilicic's comic drama SorryFor ...

  • News

    Fog remake takes lead at US box office with $12.2m

    2005-10-17T00:00:00Z

    The horror genre returned tothe top of the charts over the weekend as Sony/Revolution's remake The Fog opened narrowly ahead of last weekend's championWallace & Gromit on an estimated $12.2m. Paramount's romantic comedy Elizabethtown opened in third place on a middling $11m, while NewLine's action biopic Domino disappointed in sixth ...

  • News

    Were-rabbit casts its spell across the globe

    2005-10-17T00:00:00Z

    Animation ruledthe international waves for the second consecutive weekend as DreamWorksInternational's Wallace and Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-rabbit grossed an estimated $26.4m through UIP,powered by a mighty $11.3m UK launch.The UK debut in502 sites did not include $4.9m in previews and according to UIP executivesgenerated 96% more than the ...

  • News

    IndiVision project West set to crank up in Sydney

    2005-10-17T00:00:00Z

    West, the second film greenlit under the Australian FilmCommission's new low-budget initiative IndiVision, is scheduled to startproduction in Sydney next week. The first draft of the film waswritten by its writer/director Daniel Krige about 20 years ago when he was just16 years of age.The film stars young actorsNathan Phillips, whose ...

  • News

    Saudis open first cinema in 20 years

    2005-10-17T00:00:00Z

    Saudi Arabia is to allow the opening of itsfirst cinema in two decades, according to reports.The cinemawill be located in the InterContinental Hotel in the capital Riyadh, and will have 1,400 seats. There areno signs of a wider thawing of restrictions.The newfacility will present only cartoons aimed at women and ...

  • News

    AFI Awards to get makeover for TV debut

    2005-10-17T20:30:00Z

    Organisers of the AFI(Australian Film Institute) Awards have revealed a major revamp on the heels ofthe recent announcement that the event is being hosted by Russell Crowe.The awards have been splitinto a craft and non-feature awards event on Friday November 25 at theWaterfront City Pavilion and a cocktail party and ...

  • Reviews

    The Fog

    2005-10-17T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Rupert Wainwright. US.2005. 100mins.More turns out to be less in Revolution Studios'overly busy and insufficiently scary remake of John Carpenter's lean 1980horror yarn The Fog. With two youngTV actors starring and British actor-turned-director Rupert Wainwright at thehelm, the remake adds a lot of plot background and a bit of ...

  • News

    Irish Film Board, AtomFilms pair up for shorts

    2000-05-25T17:40:00Z

    The Irish Film Board and AtomFilms are set to unveil a joint initiative - "Irish Flash" - for the production and distribution of short films on the Internet. The move is the first step taken by the board since it made a policy decision late last year to direct some ...

  • News

    UK box office promises strong end of year run

    2005-10-18T04:00:00Z

    With a promising fourthquarter to come, the UK box office looks set to leave the rest of Europe in the shade and may even have an outside chance of beating 2004's numbers. After a phenomenal run forWarner Bros' Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, theterritory is just 4% down on last ...

  • Reviews

    Neverwas

    2005-10-17T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Joshua MichaelStern. US. 2005. 108mins.Harry Potter flies over the Cuckoo's Nest in Neverwas, a mixed-up attempt to combine a psychologicalthriller with a children's fairytale under the flawed assumption that the twogenres are not that different from each other.While the overall verdict onJoshua Michael Stern's debut feature is unlikely to ...

  • Reviews

    The Last Hangman

    2005-10-17T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Adrian Shergold. UK.2005. 90mins.A TV movie in every respect, The Last Hangman should enjoy a highly appreciative reception inits normal habitat, but is unlikely to hold the interest of theatrical audiencesfor all of its 90 minutes.The true story of Albert Pierrepoint, the last hangman in UK before capitalpunishment was ...

  • News

    Nikifor, Lazarescu win top Chicago prizes

    2005-10-17T00:00:00Z

    Organisers at the 41stChicago International Film Festival announced jury prize winners yesterday,headed up by the Gold Hugo award in the International Film Competition section forKrzysztof Krauze's Polish drama My Nikifor (Moj Nikifor).Cristi Puiu's Romanian entryThe Death Of Mr Lazarescu (Moartea Domnului Lazarescu) took the Silver Hugo special jury prize, while ...

  • News

    NBC Universal extends TV deals with Televisa, TV3

    2005-10-17T00:00:00Z

    NBC UniversalInternational Television Distribution has announced two key deals at MIPCOM inCannes, extending licensing deals with Televisa in Mexico and TV3 in NewZealand.Televisa hasextended its exclusive multi-year licensing agreement for free terrestrialtelevision rights in Mexico to NBC Universal's current and library televisionprogramming and feature films.Titles in thedeal include the upcoming ...

  • News

    Hard Candy sweeps prizes at Sitges

    2005-10-17T00:00:00Z

    David Slade's Hard Candy picked up best film and script honors at Spain'sInternational Film Festival of Catalunya, better known as Sitges (Oct 9-17).Brian Nelson wrote thescript for Hard Candy, a shockingtale of sexual politics and revenge about a thirtysomething fashionphotographer and a 14 year-old girl who meet online then arrange ...

  • News

    Media 8 brings Persuasion to AFM buyers

    2005-10-18T05:00:00Z

    Los Angeles-based productionand sales house Media 8 Entertainment has added Pretty Persuasion to its AFM slate after picking up all internationalrights from Prospect Pictures.The company will screen thepicture for buyers after the market kicks off in Santa Monica on Nov 2.Marcos Siega's high schoolsatire stars Evan Rachel Wood and received ...

  • News

    Almodovar, Trier among heavyweights on GFI board

    2005-10-17T00:00:00Z

    Pedro Almodovar,Lars von Trier, Cameroon's Jean-Pierre Bekolo and Mexico's Carlos Reygadas areamong the Global Film Initiative's (GFI) new 15-strong film board of filmmakersand industry personnel.GFI heads hopeto spread the organisation's message of cross-cultural understanding throughthe appointees, a full list of whom appears below."Filmmakers inevery corner of the world bring the ...

  • News

    2929 launches US sales and marketing service

    2005-10-17T00:00:00Z

    Continuing itsefforts to circumvent the traditional distribution model, Mark Cuban and ToddWagner's 2929 Entertainment has launched Truly Indie, a US sales and marketingservice for independent filmmakers.Truly Indie willsupply all basic marketing services offered by theatrical distributors,including publicity, promotion, press screenings and advertising.Each campaignwill be tailored to the filmmaker's needs and ...