Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon director Ang Lee is planning an English-language
adaptation of the 1997 French musical On Connaît la chanson by Alain Resnais.
Although apparently high on his priority list, the project may be postponed because
of the actors' strike expected to take place this spring. In the meantime, Lee
is working on the film version of the comic book series The Incredible Hulk.
...
Winona Ryder is set to play a journalist in Chasing the Dragon, to be directed
by Joel Schumacher. Inspired by a true story, the script centers on the life of
Irish journalist Veronica Guerin, who was killed while doing a story on drug trafficking
in Dublin in 1996. Producer Jerry Brunkheimer is expecting a 2002 release date.
Until then, Ryder has a cameo appearance in Simone by director Andrew Niccol.
...
Comedy writer-producer Diane English may get to add "director" to her title; the
Emmy-winner is in negotiations with New Line Cinema to helm their remake of The
Women from her script. Originally written for the stage, the story about a
circle of catty, competitive female friends was first brought to the screen in
1939. Though the film has been long in development - actresses Julia Roberts and
Meg Ryan were attached at one point - it may finally go into production as early
as this y...
The Deep End,
the newest work from filmmaking team Scott McGhee and David Siegel which is
screening in the Dramatic Competition here, has been picked up for all rights
in French speaking territories by French distributor ARP. Producers representative
Sloss Special Project announced the deal which is the first for the drama which
stars Tilda Swinton as a mother who desperately tries to protect her gay teenage
son from charges of murdering his lover. The film is one of the ...
Slamdance Film Festival
January 20 - 27, 2001 (Park City, Utah)
"Digital Schmigital"
was the title of Dan Mirvish's (Slamdance co-founder's) opening night poem.
It speaks for itself. Slamdance, however, will present a wide spectrum of digital
works during its week of exhibitions, including today's Daydream Believer,
which was shot on an ultra low budget by New York filmmaker Debra Eisenstadt.
Eisenstadt wrote, directed, shot and edited her 79 minute DV feature, wh...
Diane Keaton has
been chosen to receive the prestigious Modern Master Award at the 16th Annual
Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which runs March 1 - 11, 2001. The
Modern Master Award honors an actor/director who has enriched our culture through
his/her contributions to the film genre. The presentation will be moderated
by legendary talk show host, Larry King, followed by a screening of Woody Allen's
Manhattan Murder Mystery. Ms. Keaton, who received an Academy A...
After his studies, Matthieu worked at a TV channel, where he began to learn
video editing. Shortly thereafter, he bought his own video editing system and
began shooting and editing video footage, principally relating to Kung Fu. That
footage gave rise to the series "The Bite His Eye". Matthieu then
went on to create, with a circle of friends, a radio/TV website, www.krashtest.org
devoted entirely to digital production, comprising video, music, graphics - in
short everything and anyth...
Sundance Film Festival
January 7 - 18 (Park City)
The industry heavyweights
are weighing in with a less than enthusiastic review of the market potential
at Sundance this year as day three closes and no bidding war or breakout offer
has hit any filmmaker's table. Acquisitions exec's from major distribution companies,
including Artisan, MGM-UA and New Line/Fine Line, were looking bleary eyed and
unfulfilled as they emerged from marathon screenings today that yielded '...
Ben (22) and Chris (19) Blaine have been working together for roughly 19 years, largely on projects involving lego.
However in recent years their joint interests have turned more toward film.
They started Charlie Productions Ltd in 1997 with money won cheating at poker
in school and set about making short films with no film education save a couple of decent paperbacks.
...
This year's Golden
Globes brought few surprises but lots of laughs; Gladiator took the top
prize for Best Motion Picture and Julia Roberts won her third Golden Globe for
acting for her role in Erin Brockovich. In accepting her award, Roberts
joked that she never thought she would have to follow Bob Dylan, who won minutes
earlier in the best song category for "Things Have Changed" from the
Wonder Boys. Roberts was also a presenter for the Best Director category,
for w...
Snow flurries hit
late in the afternoon as the first full day of Sundance took off with a shot.
The big premieres got their hoped for attendance records as scores of industry
jammed the screenings of The Business of Strangers and Trembling Before
G-D (where rumor has it three deals hit the table by the time the lights went
up at the end of the screening), but the smaller profile, foreign films resonated
as well with audiences who had arrived at the festival unsure what to expect.
...
The cream may rise
to the top in most cases, but it was sour milk on the screens at Sundance this
morning. With but one or two exceptions, the day's early screenings were loudly
and roundly bemoaned as the worst of the fest starting with The Sleepy Time
Gal and quickly moving to Caveman's Valentine, Some Body,
Margarita Happy Hour and a split decision on Business of Strangers
which had some walk out among the crowd.
The stand-outs were stellar, included Henry Bean...
Slamdance Film
Festival
January 20 - 27, 2001 (Park City, Utah)
"We're hoping to
go home without our day jobs," said filmmaker Jim Marley III as he and his co-creator
Ari Margolis set out from Park City for their first trip into hills above town,
to the Silvermine, Slamdance's new headquarters. Their feature Black Days
will have its world premiere there on Sunday, January 21. Jim and Ari are one
of twelve filmmaking teams with features in competition at Slamdance during...
First the Jodie Foster-produced picture, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys,
was the centerpiece of the Premieres section. The mail-catalogs were printed;
the hype began. Then the film was pulled because it was not ready. In its place
went Invisible Circus, which is today listed in the official catalog
as the centerpiece premiere. Now the Sundance Film Festival announced that Dangerous Lives is back in its original time slot. The film is directed by
Peter Care and stars Jo...
Just as Sundance regained its centerpiece premiere, the Slamdance festival lost
its opening film, Brooklyn Babylon. Marc Levin's picture was pulled from
the festival by its producers, Artisan Entertainment and Off-Line, two days
before it was set to open the festival. It is still unclear why the producers
would want to restrict the screening of the film, and Levin is reportedly in talks to convince the producers to allow the film to screen. ...
Contrary to what
was reported yesterday, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys will not screen
at the Sundance Film Festival. The film, which stars Jodie Foster, was originally
selected as the festival's Premiere Centerpiece. However, it was pulled weeks
before the festival because the production team felt the film was not ready
to screen. It was replaced by Invisible Circus, which is now and will
be the Centerpiece Premiere.
...
The Chat Room is a virtual meeting place where the director, cast and/or crew will periodically participate in live roundtable discussions.
Fans of the film can also communicate here in a lively, spirited spontaneous debate.
Just enter your name, choose a password, and get ready to embark on an exciting conversation.
...
In an interview with Fox News Online,
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon producer James Schamus revealed that
neither Ang Lee nor himself had been paid in two years, and that Lee is having
to shoot a TV commercial to stay financially afloat. While the film looks set
to become the most successful foreign language title of all time in almost every
global territory neither director or producer have been able to capitalise on
the film's success. Furthermore, because of the antici...
After completing his current project - Beyond Borders with Ralph Fiennes,
Oliver Stone will direct one last film before retiring. The director told Premiere
magazine of his intentions, saying the project will be relatively light. "You don't have to make movies all your life" the director told
the magazine, adding, "Life wears you down, and then the films are stripping
away at something inside yourself. Each film takes something from you; you're
giving up part of your soul eve...
On January 22, Miramax Films will make
its 1999 feature production Guinevere
available for download over the Internet. For $3.49 and a 30-minute wait while
the 500-megabyte file downloads, surfers will receive to a 24-hour viewing license.
Last April, Miramax Films, a division of The Walt Disney Co., signed a deal
with SightSound.com to offer 12 features on the Web. In light of the current
threat of entertainment-swapping companies like Napster, the arrangement is
an ...
After clearly declaring his intention to NOT participate in the upcoming Planet
of the Apes remake, Charleton Heston has changed his mind. The hero of the
mythical 1968 film has signed on to take a small role in the Tim Burton-helmed
feature, already shooting in California, Arizona and Hawaii. Also new to the
set is Burton's girlfriend Lisa Marie. They join a cast that already includes
Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Tim Roth, Paul Giamatti, Cary-Hiroyuki
Tag...
4-minute promo for Beyond the Ocean ....
Three short clips from The Photographer....
Theatrical trailer of Dancing Soul ...
You’re chatting up my wife? You must be chatting my wife up ‘cause I don’t
see any other girl around in these woods? Well…….On Guard! ...
Chatelin Bruno 
