Archive for November, 2009

George Clooney...staring at a goat.

The Men Who Stare at Goats debuted this weekend, and for those who may have missed it ComingSoon.net published an interview with the film’s director, Grant Heslov. The site makes apologies for the brevity of the interview because it was done over the phone and in a time-crunch, however they were able to squeeze in a number of interesting questions.

Overall the interview is of the same standard quality that most of the sites’ are. It has some simple, obvious questions, but for the most part it steers the interviewee into providing generally insightful responses. For anyone interested in seeing the film but hasn’t yet for whatever reason, or if you’ve seen it and would like to know more about it, I recommend reading this piece.

Also, expect to see us post our review of The Men Who Stare at Goats sometime this week.

Charlie Chaplin as the lovable Tramp

A British antique collector named Morace Park bought an old film can off of eBay several months ago, and little did he know that what was inside was a lost 6-minute short starring Charlie Chaplin titled Zepped. The short – which has no credits of any kind attached to it – was apparently used as a propaganda piece for British troops during World War I (the title being in reference to German Zeppelins, which the British eventually were able to conquer).

Park and his friend John Dyer have decided to have a film crew document their efforts to find out the origins of the footage, as well as everything else about it they can find. When the two men took the film to the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont, Calif., they surmised that the short is a compilation of outtakes from several different Chaplin films, but how or why those clips were strung together in a narrative fashion is still anyone’s guess.

To read more about this amazing story, click here.

Source: Variety

Short Take: The animation will leave you breathless, and the story is satisfyingly loyal

Director: Robert Zemeckis (Beowulf, Forest Gump)

Screenwriter: Robert Zemeckis, Charles Dickens (story)

Cast: Jim Carrey (Yes Man), Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight), Robin Wright Penn (State of Play), Bob Hoskins (Hollywoodland), Colin Firth (Love Actually)

Length: 1h 36m

Synopsis: A retelling of the Charles Dickens classic where when an old, greedy curmudgeon named Ebenezer Scrooge (Carrey) is visited by various spirits on Christmas eve who try to teach him the error of his ways in order to save his soul.

Read the rest of this entry »

Turner Classic Movies has announced its plans to host its own film festival next Spring.

“Over the past 15 years, TCM has become more than a television network – it is a community of passionate classic movie fans, a place where watching great films connects people. In April 2010, we will gather to watch great movies introduced by the the people who made them, listen to behind-the-scenes stories, enjoy newly restored films, and share our enthusiasm for classic cinema… at the first ever TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood.” – TCM

The festival will showcase over 50 films, and there will be guest appearances by actors, actresses, directors, and producers. TCM’s Robert Osborne will host the festival.

For more information, go to the festival’s website at www.tcm.com/festival

Short Take: Delightfully absurd, but probably not for everyone

Director: Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre)

Screenwriters: Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre)

Cast: Michael Angarano (Sky High), Jennifer Coolidge (A Mighty Wind), Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Concords), Sam Rockwell (Choke)

Length: 1h 30m

Synopsis: A teenage boy attends a creative writing camp and submits his sci-fi story in a contest only to have it stolen by one of the judges. Surprisingly, that story is then published and becomes a best-seller, and the boy must try to expose the judge for his plagiarism.

Read the rest of this entry »

Halcyon Co. has announced its plans to put its Terminator franchise rights up for auction in January. The company has been forced to do this after filing Chapter 11 in September. No parties have proclaimed interest in the franchise just yet, but it is reported to be worth around $70 million. Halcyon will announce its minimum starting bid price on November 20th.

The most recent Terminator film, Terminator Salvation, cost $200 million to produce and grossed $371 million worldwide, proving that the franchise is still capable of making significant profit. The rights would also include, though, merchandise, DVDs, and TV shows.

One thing that makes the franchise particularly attractive is that it has absolutely no ties to any studios. It is the only franchise its size with no partial or total ownership by a studio. Halcyon has said that will also consider recapitalizing as an option if a bidder was willing to propose doing so.

Source: Variety

Quick Opinion: Because the franchise is still making money, and the fifth film is already being written, you can bet that somebody will pay up for the rights to one of Hollywood’s more storied brands. Halcyon’s bankruptcy should only slightly delay the production of the next film, if even that. So really, fans and moviegoers shouldn’t feel any affect from this at all. Worst case scenario is that Halcyon sets its minimum starting bid too high and no bidders offer that amount, which could lead to an elongation of the process. However, even in this economy, it’ll be shocking if Halcyon Co. still owns the rights to Terminator come March.