The Walt Disney Co. has acquired rights to the film adaptation of Darin Strauss's
novel "Chang and Eng", and Julie Taymor is negotiating to direct.
Based on the lives of Chang and Eng Bunker, the conjoined twins for whom the
term Siamese twins was coined, the film will attempt to bring out the longings
and humanity of the brothers. Attached at the chest, the twins married sisters
and fathered 21 children between them....
Hank Azaria is in negotiations to play the role meant for Robert Downey Jr.
in the upcoming America's Sweethearts. Awaiting a late-December court
date that could put him behind bars again for his recent drug arrest, Downey
Jr. was dropped from the film, which begins shooting in early January. Azaria
would play Catherine Zeta-Jones' lover in the film, which also stars Julia Roberts,
John Cusack and Billy Crystal. ...
Billy Crystal, the seven-time host of the Oscars, said he would not return this
year to host the 73rd
annual ceremony. His role in America's Sweethearts,
which begins shooting January 10 and wraps up around March 22, would prevent
him from preparing for the Academy Awards telecast, the actor said. A spokesperson
at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said that an emcee has yet
to be selected for the March 25 event....
Actress Julianne Moore, the star of recent hits Magnolia and Boogie Nights will
receive the 10th Anniversary Piper-Heidseick Tribute to Independent Vision at
the Sundance Film Festival. She will receive the honor at an awards January
20, 2001, where she will be interviewed live onstage and where clips from her
films will screen. The award was created to honor an artist who "has made a
significant and unique contribution to independent film." Previous honorees
include ...
Daniel Auteuil has been selected to preside over the France's 26th César awards,
scheduled for February 24, 2001 in Paris. One could say it's a step up from
his participation in last year's ceremony, when he took away the award for Best
Actor for his performance in Patrice Leconte's La fille sur le pont.
The nominations for this year's prizes will be announced January 29....
December 13 - 17
The sixth year of the Paris
Gay and Lesbian Film Festival kicks off with Krampack
by Cesc Gay (Spain) and features 30 films, including Chuck
and Buck by Miguel Areta (USA), Sex Revelations (If these
Walls Could Talk, USA) by Jane Anderson, starring Chloé Sevigny, Ellen DeGeneres,
Sharon Stone and Vanessa Redgrave. Another
highlight will be the screening of Queer as Folk, the gay show which
is currently a cult hit in England.
also on the ...
Richard Gere has signed on to take the lead in Steinbeck's Point of View
with Warner Bros. The film, which had attracted the attention of stars like
Tom Cruise and George Clooney, tells the story of a man with a potentially terminal
disease. The director has yet to be named....
An appeals court in Manhattan has greenlighted a $45 million lawsuit against
Leonardo DiCaprio for his alleged role in a fight that took place March 4, 1998.
According to prosecutors, DiCaprio encouraged friends to beat up Roger Wilson,
41, after he made advances at the star's girlfriend Elizabeth Berkley. ...
Hank Azaria is in negotiations to play the role meant for Robert Downey Jr.
in the upcoming America's Sweethearts. Awaiting a late-December court
date that could put him behind bars again for his recent drug arrest, Downey
Jr. was dropped from the film, which begins shooting in early January. Azaria
would play Catherine Zeta-Jones'lover in the film, which also stars Julia Roberts,
John Cusack and Billy Crystal. ...
Winstar Cinema has acquired distribution rights for Les
Destinées Sentimentales, by French director Olivier Assayas. The deal
comes on the eve of the distributor's States-wide retrospective of another French
filmmaker, Eric Rohmer. Nominated for last year's Palme d'Or at the Cannes
Festival, the film stars Emmanuelle Béart, Charles Berling, Isabelle Huppert
and Julie Depardieu. ...
Actor David Spade was attacked in his home by his personal assistant,
David Warren Malloy, Wednesday. The 29-year-old Malloy apparently
pointed a stun gun at his boss when caught trying to rob his Beverly
Hills home. The two then fought, and Spade called 911. Though Spade
was left unharmed, his assistant was taken to a nearby hospital.
The actor showed sympathy for his attacker in a statement saying
...
This year's international film festival Bratislava, held for the second time
ever in the Slovak capital of Bratislava,
smashed its records for attendance. By the midway point of the festival, Bratislava
had more than doubled its 1999 attendance, and had already welcome more than
20,000 fest-goers. Who needs Prague?...
Although his film The Bride of Fire was a hit at the Black
Nights Film Festival in Tallinn, Estonia, Iranian director Khosrow Sinaid
had to take other people's word on it -- because he never made it to the festival.
In Stockholm, he was forbidden to depart for Tallinn and was subsequently sent
back to Iran. At least Iranians were welcome across the border ...His countryman,
Abbas Kiarostami took home a prize for his film The Wind Will Carry Us.
...
Although the final lineup won’t be announced until early next year, the International
Film Festival Rotterdam has already confirmed some of the films to be screened
at the fest. Among the titles on the program are: Clara Law’s The
Goddess Of 1967, Ang Lee’s Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Sharunas Bartas' Freedom. In addition,
ten filmmakers have been commissioned by the festival to produce a digital video
diary. Rotterdam runs from January 24 through Feb 4 2001....
Kirk Douglas will be honored at the 51st
Berlin Festival for a lifetime of achievement in film. Festival organizers
emphasized the wide range of characters that the actor has played in over 80
feature films that have spanned a 55-year career. The awards ceremony takes
place in February....
Andie McDowell will play alongside Harvey Keitel in Ginostra,
the second feature film by French director Manuel Pradal. The project
comes three years after Pradal's feature debut, Marie Baie des
Anges. Shooting is set to begin December 17 in Italy. Meanwhile,
McDowell can be seen in Elie Chouraqui's Harrison's Flowers.
...
If MGM gets its way, Mike Myers will star as Inspector Jacques Clouseau
in the studio's remake of The Pink Panther, for which Ivan
Reitman is in negotiations to direct. Sources say that Myers was
hesitant to follow in the footsteps of Peter Sellers, who played
the inspector when the film series began in 1963. However, he apparently
agreed to participate in the project after a successful meeting
with ...
Mahamet-Saleh Haroun was born in Chad and now lives in France. His funny
yet telling docu-drama Bye Bye Africa chronicles his journey through his
native land, investigating ruined cinemas and discovering a film community
trying to recover from brutal war. Bye Bye Africa is part of Toronto's
Planet Africa series, a term which Haroun takes on scathingly during his
short film for the 25X25 serie. In 25X25, twenty-five filmmakers from around the world were given digital cameras by The Toronto F...
Renny Bartlett is the Canadian born director of Eisenstein, a
German/Canadian film about the life of famed Russian director Sergei
Eisenstein. Shot in the Ukraine and starring English actor Simon McBurney,
Eisenstein faced many unusual challenges, the least of which was working
with Russian film crews who had not worked for ten years....
John Greyson is an award-winning Canadian filmmaker known for his famous gay musical Zero Patience and the lovely film Lilies. Here he discusses
The Law of Enclosures, about a couple who have been together since
adolescence, based on the book by Dale Peck. This film also stars Sarah
Polley (Go) one of Canada's most promising stars....
Raymond de Feliita is the director and Michael Risopi the star of Two
Family House, a 1950's period piece about a hapless man Budddy (Rispoli),
who refuses to stop trying for success. His latest scheme is to rent a
dilapited house and convert half of it into a bar. His Irish tenant, an old
man and a very pregnant young wife have other ideas. Here De Felitta and
Rispoli discuss the film, it's history and the theme of culture and
Identity....
Raymond del Feliita is the director and Michael Risopi the star of Two
Family House, a 1950's period piece about a hapless man Budddy (Rispoli),
who refuses to stop trying for success. His latest scheme is to rent a
dilapited house and convert half of it into a bar. His Irish tenant, an old
man and a very pregnant young wife have other ideas. Here De Felitta and
Rispoli discuss the film, it's history and the theme of culture and
Identity....
Canadian born Kalesniko discusses his Gala film How to Kill Your
Neighbour's Dog, starring Kenneth Branagh as the curmudgeonly playwright
Peter McGowan and Robin Wright-Penn as his luminous wife Melanie. Peter,
haunted by his failing success, insomnia and a barking dog, works on his
new play as his wife frets about having children. They befriend the little
girl next door and the growing relationship enriches both their lives.
Here, Kalesniko talks about working with Branagh and Wright-Penn...
The London home that Madonna shares with boyfriend Guy Ritchie has
been hit by burglars for the second time. After a failed robbery
attempt last June, thieves succeeded Thursday in entering the Notting
Hill residence and taking, among other things, the keys that allowed
them to steal away with Ritchie's Range Rover. The vehicle was later
recovered in West London. Madonna, her two young children, and Ritchie
...
Suffering from a rare degenerative brain disorder, British comic
actor Dudley Moore bid farewell in a BBC television interview aired
Monday. The actor, who in 1981 was nominated for an Oscar for his
role in Arthur, said that he faces "a short and uncertain
future" and will soon die. The Parkinson's-related disease produces
symptoms such as falling, imbalance and slowed movements. Moore
lives in New Y...
