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2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 1999
1-20 of 21 articles from 2009 « Prev | Next »
Top Ten Working American Directors
7 October 2009 2:18 AM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »
Top Ten Working American Directors
A list like this is tricky to the point of madness. However, I'm going to save you the trouble by saying it right here, right now: Most of the choices on this list are obvious. There's a reason why certain names continually pop up whenever conversation drifts toward great American films. So there. I said it.
Yet, how do you weigh the likes of Francis Ford Coppola, a genius who delivered some of the all-time greatest films, but fizzled out 25 or so years ago, against a filmmaker like Woody Allen who has worked consistently for decades churning out both brilliant gems and disposable time wasters? How do you compare either of these directors against an auteur such as Spike Jonze who has only opened two films so far, but both are masterpieces?
In the end I just went with my gut. I knew there were »
- David Frank
Savannah Film Festival Includes Gala Screenings Of Feature Films
29 September 2009 7:06 AM, PDT | icelebz.com | See recent iCelebz news »
The 12th Annual Savannah Film Festival will be including gala screenings of feature films, including "The Young Victoria," "The Men Who Stare at Goats," and "Broken Embraces" among many others.
The film fest will also be attended by past guests and honorees, such as Peter O'toole, Michael Douglas, Jane Fonda, Sidney Lumet, Kathleen Turner, Norman Jewison, Tommy Lee Jones, John Waters, David Benioff, John sayles, Brett Ratner, Charlie Rose, George Segal, James Franco, James Ivory, Jeff Daniels, Alec Baldwin, Peter Bart, Army Archerd, Roger Ebert, Terrence Malick, Sydney Pollack, Vanessa, Lynn and Corin Redgrave, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Malcolm McDowell, and Milos Forman.
22 professional films and 12 student films will be showcased in competition, in addition to the special screenings.
The Savannah Film Festival will be held from October 31 to November 7.
»
Bacall, Corman, Gordon Willis Earn Honorary Oscars
13 September 2009 3:15 AM, PDT | GetTheBigPicture.net | See recent Get The Big Picture news »
This year's list of honorary Oscar recipients has been announced, and it's a varied list, but I don't think you can argue against any of the picks. Lauren Bacall, one of the most legendary film noir actresses who has remained active into her 80s, will be honored by the Board of Governors at next year's Academy Awards.
Joining Bacall, who co-starred with her future husband Humphrey Bogart in several mysteries of the 1940s, will be the one and only Roger Corman. Now, if you only know Corman as a director and producer of low-budget B-movies, you should be hipped to the fact that Corman is the root of one of the most significant family trees in movie history. He's influential in starting the careers of Coppola, Scorsese, James Cameron, Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante, Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich, Curtis Hanson, Nicolas Roeg, and John Sayles, among others. Six of those guys »
- Colin Boyd
Roger Corman Finally Deemed Oscar Caliber
13 September 2009 1:31 AM, PDT | DreadCentral.com | See recent Dread Central news »
When I read the news the other day that Roger Corman was selected to receive an Honorary Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, I was kind of surprised. Not because I couldn't believe Roger Corman would be given an Honorary Academy Award but because I'd have sworn they'd already done so years ago. Apparently not. Talk about an honor long overdue.
Roger Corman began his directing career with 1955's Swamp Women and last sat in the director's chair for 1990's Frankenstein Unbound, but he still remains active as a producer, such as his forthcoming Syfy production DinoShark. As one of his assistants once told me, "He'll be making movies until the day he dies."
If any of you are wondering why they would bestow an Oscar, Honorary or otherwise, upon a man whose cinematic canon includes the likes of It Conquered the World and The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent »
- Foywonder
Last Minute Venice Surprises: Hana Makhmalbaf, Joe Dante's 1968 Orgy and Peter Greenaway's The Marriage
24 August 2009 | ioncinema | See recent ioncinema news »
- Joe Dante will be presenting not one, but two films at the Lido. The Venice Film Festival will be presenting Dante's latest film - the 3D supernatural called The Hole and will include a re-cut showing for The Movie Orgy - Ultimate Version. The stitched together pic, that Dante made during his student days, is a back-breaking 280-minute look at the B films from the 50's and 60's which I'm sure would be a blast for film aficionados like Quentin Tarantino. The 66th Venice International Film Festival will also include a film from the Makhmalbaf. Youngest member Hana will show Green Days, which looks at women in Iran in docu form and fiction, this will be shown Out of Competition. Also showing is Angela Ismailos's Great Directors. There was a private screening at Cannes which I couldn't make and I regret, since it looks at contemporary cinema and talks with Bernardo Bertolucci, »
Quentin Tarantino: Imagining Hollywood without him
21 August 2009 6:57 AM, PDT | EW.com - PopWatch | See recent EW.com - PopWatch news »
Take your seats, class: Senior writer Chris Nashawaty concludes his in-depth weeklong study of all things Quentin Tarantino with his final installment of EW University. Check out our gallery of 20 Tarantino movie and movie poster faves, our look at the original 1978 Inglorious Bastards, our guide to the film-geek references in Tarantino's Basterds, and our Quentin Tarantino final exam. Imagining Hollywood -- and the world beyond it -- without Quentin Tarantino No one divides moviegoers like Quentin Tarantino. Those who are in his corner love his infectious cineaste enthusiasm, his references to obscure B-movies, and his pop culture-drenched, rat-a-tat-tat dialogue. The haters find his movies too long, too talky, and too ... well, just too much of everything. But just for a second, try to imagine Hollywood without him. It's harder than you think. Ever since the video store clerk-turned-world famous auteur unveiled 1992's Reservoir Dogs, his influence has rippled out and »
- Chris Nashawaty
Cinematical Seven: Our Alien Friends
18 August 2009 8:02 PM, PDT | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »
There's something a bit familiar about the premise of District 9 -- namely, the part where the human makes friends with the alien. Now, District 9 is a terrific movie, and director Neill Blomkamp delivered a lot of action, violence, pathos and kick-ass special effects on a relatively small budget.
But aliens? We've been friends with aliens before. In fact, this week marks the 25th anniversary DVD/Blu-ray release of The Last Starfighter, a low-budget fan favorite that sought to cash in on the popularity of both Star Wars and video games by sending an unsuspecting teen hero on a mission to save a distant galaxy. His recruiter-slash-buddy was Centauri, an intergalactic con man (played by Robert Preston, riffing on his Music Man persona in his last role).
Some of our other favorite aliens-as-friends movies:
1. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) -- Poor old Klaatu (Michael Rennie). He's just a »
- Dawn Taylor
'Piranha 3-D' Employs Real Actors For Gory Popcorn Flick
25 June 2009 8:56 AM, PDT | MTV Movie News | See recent MTV Movie News news »
MTV News visits the set with Paul Scheer, Jerry O'Connell, Jessica Szohr and others.
Jessica Szohr on the set of "Piranha 3-D"
Photo: MTV News
Lake Havasu, Arizona — Conventional wisdom says that if you want to watch a great artistic achievement, you look to accomplished filmmakers. If you just want to have a good time and eat some popcorn, you choose something loud, gory and unapologetically exploitative. But somewhere in the middle are the "Piranha" films — and when we recently visited the set of the franchise reboot, we found a unique mix of blood, babes and bona-fide actors.
"The movie is going to be insane, because as much blood as it has, it has the equal amount of boobies," grinned Paul Scheer, the "Human Giant" funnyman who stars in "Piranha 3-D" alongside a huge cast that includes Elisabeth Shue, Richard Dreyfuss (in a nod to his "Jaws" role), Christopher Lloyd, »
Cannes: Maggie Cheung and Your Nine "Great Directors"
23 May 2009 10:46 AM, PDT | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news »
Before the Palme D'Or is handed out, I've got two last bits from our buddy in Cannes but first (sigh) a big old frowny face in regards to the following nugget.
Maggie Cheung's scene in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds was cut before the Cannes opening and will not be restored even though Tarantino is returning to the editing room. Presumably he's tinkering for maximum audience playability. The cutting room floor is a regular habitat for actors with small roles but this time it really hurts: Maggie still works the red carpet, but never the silver screen. She retired from movies after Clean and 2046 five long years ago. Basterds was going to provide us with a rare chance to see one of the most bewitching living actresses on the big screen again. Damn!
*
On to cheerier topics.
The generous take on Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock appears to be that it's a "minor" effort. »
- NATHANIEL R
New Writer Announced For Brothers In Arms
19 May 2009 12:00 AM, PDT | toxicshock.tv | See recent toxicshock news »
Matthew Sand has been attached to rewrite the historical action drama “Brothers in Arms,” based on the book about the only black U.S. tank unit to fight in the European theater during World War II. Denzel Washington is attached to direct as well as produce alongside Alcon’s Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove. David Chisholm and John Sayles wrote the last script attached to the project before Sand was brought on for a rewrite. Based on the work by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anthony Walton, the book tells the story of how the unit that spearheaded the Allied Forces’ drive eastward toward Germany during the Battle of the Bulge [...] »
- Costa Koutsoutis
Washington Finds Writer For Brothers
18 May 2009 12:11 AM, PDT | EmpireOnline | See recent EmpireOnline news »
Denzel Washington has lined up a writer for Brothers In Arms, his long in-development directorial project about the only African-American tank unit to fight in Europe during World War II. Matthew Sand will write a new version of the script on what sounds like a an interesting true story.The 761st Tank Battalion overcame prejudice and became a key part of the post-d-Day offensive move east through Europe, spearheading the Battle of the Bulge and proving themselves to their comrades and a more racist era. Their story was captured in a non-fiction book by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (yes, the NBA star best known around these parts as the co-pilot in Airplane!) and Anthony Walton.John Sayles and David Chisholm previously wrote a draft of the script, with Sand now lined up to work on a new version. Sand recently worked on Ninja Assassins for the Wachowski brothers and director James McTeigue, »
Matthew Sand to Rewrite Brothers in Arms
17 May 2009 5:45 PM, PDT | MovieWeb | See recent MovieWeb news »
According to The Hollywood Reporter, it appears that Matthew Sand has been picked to rewrite Brothers in Arms for Alcon Entertainment.
The film covers the only black U.S. tank unit to ever fight in Europe during World War II.
Denzel Washington will be directing as well as producing this project. Aiding him will be Alcon's co-founders and co-CEOs Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove.
The film is based on a nonfiction book by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anthony Walton. It tells the story of the racial inequalities that the unit had to endure. It also covers how they proved themselves on the battlefield by leading the Allied Forces' move eastward toward Germany amidst the Battle of the Bulge.
Originally, screenwriters David Chisholm and John Sayles worked on the project. »
Pig Hunt Headed For The Egyptian May 5th ...
22 April 2009 9:02 PM, PDT | Twitch | See recent Twitch news »
[My thanks to Sean “The Butcher” Smithson for the following bit of news. Poster art, incidentally, by a certain Icelander we know rather well around here.]
The latest offering from director Jim isaac (Jason X, Skinwalkers) comes to the Egyptian Theater on Tuesday, May 5’th for a special one-off screening. Written and produced by noted author Robert Mailer Anderson (Boonville), this is one sizzling hot slice of giant killer pig mayhem you are not going to want to miss. If the idea of crazed bible thumping rednecks, dope growing cult women, and a 3,000 lb. swine with a taste for human flesh sounds like a good time at the movies to you then you ‘aint gonna be dissapointed neighbor! I had the good fortune of seeing it up here in my home of Seattle, and can give this film my wholehearted endorsement. Harkening back to flicks like Deliverence, Razorback, and Piranha, Pig Hunt is a genre bending ass-kicker that is sure to please, especially fans of the golden era of John Sayles. Do yourselves a favor if »
- Todd Brown
Adam Scott on "Piranha 3-D"
22 April 2009 10:03 AM, PDT | www.ohmygore.com/ | See recent OhMyGore news »
Adam Scott ("The Return") was recently announced as the male lead in director Alexandre Aja's fishy "Piranha" reboot. The film, starring Elisabeth Shue, is set in Lake Havasu, Arizona, where a tremor causes the lake's floor to open, setting free scores of prehistoric piranhas. It's up to Shue's character, the local Sheriff, and her teenage son, to essentially - not to sound too 'Mighty Mouse' - save the day. Scott, currently hamming it up as Henry Pollard on Starz' "Party Down", will play Novak, a diver for the Us Geological Service who helps discover the piranha outbreak. Scott tells "[Piranha 3-D] should be fun, I love the original and the pedigree involved, [Joe] Dante, John Sayles. Alex is an amazing director and a such a cool guy, really looking forward to it".... »
Piranha 3 Casts Male Lead
21 April 2009 2:30 PM, PDT | WorstPreviews.com | See recent Worst Previews news »
It was recently reported that Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas) has signed on as the female lead in the upcoming "Piranha 3-D" remake for director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes, Mirrors). Now, Moviehole has learned that Adam Scott (Step Brothers, Aviator, Knocked Up) will play the male lead. He will star as Novak, a diver for the Us Geological Service who helps discover the piranha outbreak. "[Piranha 3-D] should be fun, I love the original and the pedigree involved, [Joe] Dante, John Sayles," said Scott. "Alex is an amazing director and a such a cool guy, really looking forward to it." "Piranha 3-D" is set in Lake Havasu, Arizona, where a tremor causes the lake's floor to open, setting free scores of prehistoric piranhas. It is scheduled to hit theaters on March 19th, 2010. Click here to read more about "Piranha 3-D." »
Much Movement In New Direction
24 March 2009 11:56 PM, PDT | NYPost.com | See recent New York Post news »
Will the next Steven Spielberg please stand up? Now in its 38th year, the New Directors/New Films festival is a leading showcase for "emerging directors."
Spielberg, Spike Lee, Pedro Almodóvar, John Sayles and Wong Kar-wai are among those who got their starts at the festival, a production of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art.
Last year's big discovery was Courtney Hunt's "Frozen River," with Melissa Leo, which went on to garner two Oscar nominations. »
- By V.A. MUSETTO
Scenes We Love: The Brother From Another Planet
12 March 2009 4:03 PM, PDT | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »
In the '80s and '90s, I fell for Joe Morton. I watched him rock the stage in New York City, and he became my favorite, smart, unbeatable action star in Executive Decision. (One of the most underrated actors out there, and worth a lot more than Eureka.) And then in 2002, I fell for the work of John Sayles, diving into Casa de los babys and soon after, Silver City. But one night, as my eyes scanned the old section of my local rental haunt, I spotted a title: The Brother from Another Planet. I pulled it off the shelf and was shocked that by sheer coincidence, I'd discovered one of Sayles' first films, starring my beloved Joe.
The film focuses on a mute, three-toed alien (Morton) who crashes into New York City, gets transplanted to Harlem, and tries to avoid the two alien Men in Black trying to »
- Monika Bartyzel
Sayles tapped To Write Scar Tissue Adaptation
23 February 2009 11:00 PM, PST | toxicshock.tv | See recent toxicshock news »
John Sayles, known for both writing and directing films like “Silver City”, “Sunshine State” and “Lone Star”, has been tapped to pen the small-screen HBO series adaptation, based on the best-selling autobiography “Scar Tissue” by Anthony Kiedis, frontman of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Marc Abrams will be producing along with his Catapault 360 partner Michael Benson. “John writes from a real human place, and has already tapped into the relationship between young Anthony and his dad,” Abrams told Variety.com when Sayles’ confirmation was announced. The series, tentatively titled either “Scar” or “Scar Tissue”, will detail the early years of Kiedis and his father Blackie Dammett, a [...] »
- Costa Koutsoutis
Life of Red Hot Chili Peppers' Frontman Picked as Series
23 February 2009 8:30 PM, PST | Aceshowbiz | See recent Aceshowbiz news »
HBO is picking up a new series based on the life of Anthony Kiedis and has hired "The Spiderwick Chronicles" writer John Sayles to handle the project. Set as a drama, it will be centered on the early life of the Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman in 1970s West Hollywood and Los Angeles.
Having "Scar Tissue" as its working title, the series chronicles the childhood of Kiedis who lived with his mother in Grand Rapids, Michigan before moving to L.A. to live with his father when he was eight.
Kiedis' father, known as Spider, was dealing drugs for living in Sunset Strips and allegedly was supplying rock stars such as The Who and Led Zeppelin. All the while, hoping to get into the show business.
Kiedis is involved in the project and so is his father. Marc Abrams and Michael Benson from Catapult 360 said that Sayles has been in »
- AceShowbiz.com
Kiedis' Life Coming To Small Screen
23 February 2009 8:10 AM, PST | WENN | See recent WENN news »
Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis' autobiography is to be turned into a TV series.
Writer John Sayles, known for his work on movies Honeydripper and Silver City, has penned a script for a drama based on the rocker's childhood when he lived in West Hollywood with his father, who was known as Spider and worked as a drug dealer to the stars.
The project is tentatively titled Scar Tissue, the same name of Kiedis' memoirs, and will be set in 1970s Hollywood, reports Variety.com. »
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 1999
1-20 of 21 articles from 2009 « Prev | Next »
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