Small MPU – Page 652
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News
Sizer joins Icon as head of development
Chloe Sizer has joined Icon Entertainment Internationalas head of development, reporting to CEO Martin Bigham. Sizer, who most recently served as Magic Light Pictures'head of development, will start with the company at the beginning of September2005. Bighamcommented: "Icon's London based operations have gone through many key changesthis past year. Chloe's ...
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Japanese film takeover deal collapses
Cable and broadband broadcaster Usen Corp. has revealed itwill not acquire film producer and distributor Nikkatsu from its parentcompany, game maker Namco.The deciding factor was reportedly strong opposition fromthe Nikkatsu labor union. In an interview with the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, a Usenofficial said that the company no longer "expects to ...
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News
Pair of film channels to launch in Germany
Germany's free-TV channels Tele 5 and NBC Giga are beingrelaunched as film channels from this autumn.Tele 5, which is a 100% subsidiary of Herbert Kloiber's TeleMuenchen Group (TMG), will be relaunched on September 22 and has acquired a70-title package from license trader Intertainment including Grey Owl, TheBig Kahuna and The ...
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Reviews
A Perfect Couple (Un Couple Parfait)
Dir/scr. SobuhiroSuwa. Fr-Jap. 2005. 104mins.Tailor-made for film festivals and those with apenchant for obscure material, Sobuhiro Suwa's A Perfect Couple is the sort offeature that will deter audiences whose patience is tried by films that delaydelivering their message.Shot in Paris with aFrench cast, this chiaroscuro (more scuro than chiaro) portrait ...
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News
Weber quits Bavaria to launch own sales outfit
Michael Weber, managingdirector of Bavaria Media and Bavaria Film International (BFI), is leaving thecompany to set up his own as-yet-unnamed world sales outfit. Munich based sales companyBFI will now be run by two of its experienced executives: head of salesThorsten Schaumann and head of marketing Thorsten Ritter who have been ...
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News
Meadows get mobile with 15 second short
Award-winning Britishdirector Shane Meadows has made a short film shot entirely on a mobilephone. The Stairwell, a 15-second short film, premiered on www.nokiashorts.co.uk on August 15 aspart if this year's Nokia Shorts competition. Meadows, who has directedsuch films as Dead Man's Shoesand TwentyFourSeven, shot thefilm in a few hours on ...
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News
New Line closes Rings distribution circle
New Line International has slotted the final key pieces into the worldwide distribution structure on its ambitious $300m Lord Of the Rings trilogy currently shooting in New Zealand. The Time Warner-owned studio is now rallying its partners for a massive coordinated promotional and merchandising blitz for the worldwide simultaneous release ...
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News
Turtles takes Melbourne audience prize
Iranian drama Turtles CanFly was the most popular featurefilm at the 54th Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), organisersannounced today. Its director Bahman Ghobadiwas a guest at Australia's most prestigious film festival, which wrapped lastweek.The homegrown drama LookBoth Ways, which was directed bySarah Watts and opens theatrically on Thursday, was voted ...
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News
Toronto set for Rossellini celebration, Aardman's Were-Rabbit
Guy Maddin and Isabella Rossellini willpresent the world premiere of the short film My Dad Is 100 Years Old, a celebration of the centenary of Italian filmmaker RobertRossellini, at the Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 8-17). It was oneof a number of personal appearances announced for this year's event including ...
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Reviews
Familia
Dir. LouiseArchambault. Can. 2005. 102mins.Louise Archambault's cheerful debut may bebookended by some ambitious statements about the inevitability of geneticinheritance, but by the end has proved to be a light romp that is more than happyto settle for crowd-pleasing solutions.If audience responseat Locarno, where Familia played last week, is any indication, ...
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Reviews
Wah-Wah
Dir/scr: Richard E Grant.UK-Fr-S Afr. 2005. 97minsAdd the name of Richard EGrant to the roster of actors who have made a successful transition to thedirector's chair. His feature debut Wah-Wah is an affectionate, keenly-observedportrait of a family's life set against the dying days of the British Empire.Working from autobiographical material, ...
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News
Former Screen colleague Krueger dies, aged 75
Ronald L Krueger, a former Screen International contributor and member of the HollywoodForeign Press Association (HFPA), has died of a heart attack in Los Angeles. Hewas 75.Born in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, Krueger worked in television production and sales, and served asa programming consultant for the television sales company Harrington Righter& Parsons in ...
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News
Muren, Miyazaki named among Hollywood Film Awards winners
The Hollywood Film Festival's board of advisors hasunveiled a roster of film recipients for the upcoming 9th annual Hollywood FilmAwards, which is set to take place in Beverly Hills in October.Warner Bros' Batman Begins will receive the Hollywood Sound of the Year Award, Disney'sHowl's Moving Castle earnsthe Hollywood Animation of ...
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News
Muren, Miyazaki score at Hollywood Film Awards
The Hollywood Film Festival's board of advisors hasunveiled a roster of film recipients for the upcoming 9th annual Hollywood FilmAwards, which is set to take place in Beverly Hills in October.Warner Bros' Batman Begins will receive the Hollywood Sound of the Year Award, Disney'sHowl's Moving Castle earnsthe Hollywood Animation of ...
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News
The Smiths cross $200m overseas benchmark
New Regency/Summit Entertainment/Weed Road Pictures' Mr And MrsSmith has passed $200min international ticket sales.The action picture stayed top in France through SND for the third weekend in a row and stands at more than $13.9m.In other market highlights, Mr And Mrs Smith has taken more than $21m in Germanythrough Kinowelt, ...
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Reviews
Rag Tale
Dir. Mary McGuckian.UK-Lux. 2005. 123mins.Bashing newspapers hasalways been popular sport for film-makers. But Mary McGuckian's Rag Taleadds nothing to the genre, despite its radically different technical approach,and ultimately only results in a muddle.Shot mostly in hugeclose-ups by three madly swinging HD cameras and using every type of distortinglens to twist ...
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News
FFC Australia revamps board
The Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) has revamped its board,appointing investment banker Alastair Walton and the high-profile entertainmententrepreneur Paul Dainty.The terms of four of the eight-member board have expired in the past sixweeks and a further two people are likely to be appointed soon by theAustralian Government, although it may ...
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News
FilmFour, Key back Vinterberg
The UK's FilmFour will take English-speaking territories on It's All About Love, the English-language debut from Festen director Thomas Vinterberg. Budgeted at an estimated $13m, the New York-set futuristic love-story, written by Vinterberg and Mogens Rukov, revolves around a world famous ice-skater separated from her lover. Key Films has boarded ...
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News
Greeks act to revitalise embattled box office
Greekdistributors have agreed to move back film release dates to Thursdays in anattempt to revitalise the country's embattled local box office. Until now,Fridays have been the traditional opening day for films. The move takes effectfrom today (August 18). Admissionsin Greece have plateaued in the past five years, at an estimated ...
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News
UIP readies global Were-Rabbit campaign
The long-awaited Wallace & Gromit - The Curse Of TheWere-Rabbit will bow in Australia on September 15, as internationaldistributor UIP mirrors the pattern successfully swum byShark Talelast year.With a North American premiere at the Toronto InternationalFilm Festival following within days, Wallace will open in the US throughDreamWorks on October 7 ...