George Clooney ribs Dick Cheney at Oscar lunch (Reuters)
February 13, 2006
Reuters - George Clooney, tongue firmly in
cheek, said he wanted Vice President Dick Cheney to be his date
at the Oscars. And Felicity Huffman said she was happy just to
be going as a nominee and not a seat filler or part of the
catering team.
Cash dividend: 3 "Line" DVDs arriving February 28 (Reuters)
February 13, 2006Reuters - Hoping to ride on the Oscar buzz for "Walk the Line," 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is rushing the Johnny Cash biopic to DVD in three versions February 28.
Paramount unit to tell Gore's "Truth" (Reuters)
February 13, 2006Reuters - Paramount's new specialty division has acquired worldwide rights to Participant Prods.' global-warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," featuring Al Gore.
Teen revenge goes to extremes in "Tamara" (Reuters)
February 13, 2006Reuters - There's nothing like coming back from the dead to increase a teen girl's foxiness quotient.
Docu delves into weird history of "California Riviera" (Reuters)
February 13, 2006Reuters - California dreaming meets good old American eccentricity and ecological emergency in the story of the Salton Sea -- or, as narrator John Waters puts it in this alarming yet highly entertaining documentary, "utopia and the apocalypse meet to dance a dirty tango."
Human comedy plays out in gentle, quirky "Happiness" (Reuters)
February 13, 2006Reuters - Czech filmmaker Bohdan Slama, whose feature debut, "Wild Bees," was well-received on the festival circuit, returns with another richly observed, nicely nuanced portrait of lives in transition.
"Jerusalem's" drama is well observed but low-impact (Reuters)
February 13, 2006Reuters - This debut feature from French filmmaker Karin Albou has plenty of important things on its mind, including the intersections among sex, religion and philosophy, but it handles them in the minutest of ways.
Solid action, stylish filmmaking mark "News" (Reuters)
February 13, 2006Reuters - Prolific Hong Kong lenser Johnnie To delivers another solid action picture with this latest effort, a cops-and-robbers yarn with social commentary mixed in along the way. While the thematic elements of the film don't work nearly as well as its meat-and-potatoes violence, there's enough virtuosity on display to make it well worth a look. "Breaking News" is playing at New York's Cinema Village.
Action on hold in Moreno's "Custodio" (Reuters)
February 13, 2006Reuters - In "El Custodio," writer-director Rodrigo Moreno takes a virtually unworkable premise and turns it into a virtually unwatchable movie. Wearying, prodding and so repetitive that you swear some scenes actually are repeating themselves, the movie spends a number of days with the bodyguard of a government minister.
"Free Will" journeys into a human heart of darkness (Reuters)
February 13, 2006Reuters - In "The Free Will," German director Matthias Glasner challenges himself to make a human monster sympathetic. His success will vary from viewer to viewer. For that matter, most people will not bother to spend nearly three hours with a sexual predator. Even students of abnormal psychology and edge cinema may be put off by the movie's remoteness from its characters and prodding pace.
Coroner: Chris Penn Died Accidentally (AP)
February 13, 2006
AP - Actor Chris Penn died accidentally from an enlarged heart and the effects of a mix of multiple medications, the county coroner's office said Monday.
Festival to Reunite 'Swingers' Actors (AP)
February 13, 2006AP - It's still money, baby.
Slater Seeks Joint Custody of Children (AP)
February 13, 2006AP - Christian Slater is seeking joint custody of his 4-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son, according to refiled divorce papers.
Natalie Portman Shaves Head for New Film (AP)
February 13, 2006
AP - Natalie Portman says she fulfilled a long-standing ambition by shaving her head for the sci-fi thriller "V for Vendetta."
Sound Mixer Hopes to Finally Snag Oscar (AP)
February 13, 2006
AP - This year, Kevin O'Connell might try lucky underwear.
"Jaws" Mastermind Dies (E! Online)
February 13, 2006
E! Online - Peter Benchley, the man who unleashed Jaws on the world
and kept generations of beachgoers out of the surf, has died.
New film tells bleak story of rape, love and death (Reuters)
February 13, 2006Reuters - German director Matthias Glasner tries to make viewers understand what it is like to be a serial rapist seeking to curb his sexual desires, in a bleak new film competing for the main prize at the Berlin Film Festival.
New film portrays German side of Dresden bombings (Reuters)
February 13, 2006
Reuters - German filmmakers have tackled the
touchy subject of whether the Allied firebombing of Dresden at
the end of World War Two was a "war crime" with a carefully
balanced melodrama that got its worldwide premiere on Monday.
'Pink Panther' Claws to Top of Box Office (AP)
February 13, 2006
AP - Inspector Clouseau bumbled his way to the top of the box office as Steve Martin's "The Pink Panther" debuted with $21.7 million to lead a rush of new releases.
Deneuve to Be Honored at Bankok Film Fest (AP)
February 13, 2006
AP - French screen idol Catherine Deneuve will come to a Bangkok film festival where she'll be honored for her contributions to cinema, organizers said Friday.
Altman's Film Wasn't Political on Purpose (AP)
February 13, 2006
AP - Director Robert Altman says his big screen adaptation of "A Prairie Home Companion" wasn't intentionally political, but "reflects the truth of what's going on in ourselves."
'Star Wars' Uncle Phil Brown Dies at 89 (AP)
February 13, 2006AP - Phil Brown, who played Luke Skywalker's Uncle Owen in the 1977 hit film "Star Wars," has died.
Wachowskis aim to provoke with "Vendetta" film (Reuters)
February 13, 2006Reuters - The good guy in the Wachowski brothers' latest cinematic adventure is a "terrorist" at war with the British government.
Box Office Goes Pink
February 13, 2006What is the world coming to when you can't count on a Harrison Ford movie to open in the #1 spot at the box office? Or the number two spot? Or the number three spot? In fact, Ford's new thriller Firewall brought in just $13.8 million, to finish in fourth place for the weekend, behind a tepidly received Pink Panther remake, a teen horror sequel's sequel and a cartoon monkey. Steve Martin's Panther eeked out the weekend win, earning $21.7 million, just clawing past Final Destination 3 at $20.1 million and the weekend's fourth major new release, the animated Curious George at $15.3 million. Last weekend's number one, When a Stranger Calls, fell to fifth place with $10 million. Overall, despite the Olympics kick-off and the blizzard in the northeast, the take was up 3 percent vs. the same weekend last year — and, so far this year, overall revenues are up almost 8 percent. All praise those quick and cheap horror movies.
Denmark's Bier throws iron in "Fire' (Reuters)
February 13, 2006Reuters - Susanne Bier, one of Denmark's most influential filmmakers, will direct "Things We Lost in the Fire" for DreamWorks.
Bernie Mac gets serious with 'PDR' (Reuters)
February 13, 2006
Reuters - Comedian/actor Bernie
Mac is in final negotiations to sign on for his first role in a
big-screen drama, co-starring with Terrence Howard in "PDR" for
Lionsgate Films.
Altman back with film about real-life radio show (Reuters)
February 13, 2006
Reuters - Veteran director Robert Altman has
chosen an old-fashioned radio show threatened with closure for
his latest film, a riotous yet touching story which actress
Meryl Streep said recalled a more innocent time for Americans.
French comedy is no joke at overseas box office (Reuters)
February 13, 2006Reuters - In the absence of any significant new rollouts internationally during the weekend, Steven Spielberg's "Munich," playing in 49 markets, found itself displaced from its No. 1 box-office spot by "Les bronzes 3: Amis pour la vie," a French-produced comedy that Warner Bros. is distributing in France.