Keep the comic book strip movies coming! It’s all the rage right now. The next one to start production is based on the 1970s DC Comic Jonah Hex. And according to Variety, Josh Brolin  is in negotiations to star in it.

He’s in a little bit of a slump right now with the terrible reviews of W, but this could be the exact thing to get Josh back on his feet.

Comic book movies have done wonders for Robert Downey Jr., Christian Bale, and Tobey Maguire.

Tags: comic book, josh brolin, movie, rage, robert downey, robert downey jr

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To celebrate the digital movie-making revolution, a week-long festival showcasing the innovative work of independent filmmakers, both local and foreign, will begin tonight at Robinsons Movieworld in Robinsons Galleria, Ortigas, Quezon City.

The opening event, which will begin at 6 p.m. tonight, will be an hour-long film concert featuring excerpts from silent short films of Filipino filmmakers Lav Diaz, Roxlee and Kidlat Tahimik. Music will be provided live by indie band The Brockas.

Before each screening, the movie will be explained to the audiences by a local filmmaker. Among these speakers are Ato Bautista, Jeffrey Jeturian, Jim Libiran, Auraeus Solito, Adolf Alix, Raya Martin, Sherad Anthony Sanchez, Ditsi Carolino, Manny Montelibano and John Torres.

Tags: filmmakers, films, ins, movie, short films

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The NPD Group released numbers yesterday that made clear DVDs still dominate the movie landscape while consumers are spending just a teeny, tiny sliver on digital downloads. But don’t sound the alarm downloads are not dead in the water.

But this number doesn’t matter too much. DVDs are firmly entrenched in the U.S. entertainment scheme; people have been using them for years and are comfortable with the format. Downloads are a new idea for most people; it was only this spring that digital versions of new releases came out on the same day as DVDs. Plus the studios, which provide all that entertainment content, know that it’s not a big market. Variety wrote in April that studios knew the digital business would be small this year, but anticipated big growth by next year.

Tags: dvds, landscape, movie, movie download, new releases

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Unfortunate as it may sound, none of us are strangers to the idea that movie studios tend to interfere with a filmmaker’s vision. With market testing and trend-hopping being such a driving force behind pop corn movies, sometimes when a filmmaker gets too ambitious in trying to elevate the norm, he or she will get a rude awakening of how the process works, and they better play along if they want another gig. Mathieu Kassovitz, the director of the upcoming Sci-Fi actioner Babylon A.D., is unafraid of burning bridges and is bashing his own movie on the week of its release, after refusing to promote the film.

Back in April, I posted about a dispute regarding the film’s editing. Fox more or less barged into the editing room and took final cut away from the director. They only cut roughly 15 minutes out of an intended 2 hour film, but Kassovitz is still unhappy with the resulting 93 minutes.

Tags: movie, regard

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The next version of the Metro Nashville Board of Education has its work cut out for it on a number of fronts. Perhaps the most daunting task will be to find a new director of schools.

Presently, the climate in the school system would seem less than inviting for prospective director of school candidates.

The system is in what amounts to receivership with state government due to federal law and the system’s continual slippage under No Child Left Behind statutes. State officials presently appear to have more control of our local system than do our elected local officials.

There is also an incredibly contentious rezoning fight happening that is ongoing. The divisions there primarily on the board largely exist along racial lines. An election does not seem like a way to clear up either problem. The new people coming on will need a year to catch up.

That is why we suggest board members of the future might first look to local names to fill the directors chair. The arguments against weighting the search this way are numerous, mainly that Nashville should have the best person available from across the country.

That is true, we deserve no less. However, given the state of the system and the need for someone to be personally invested in fixing those challenges, local talent is a strong consideration the new board should not look past.

Tags: education, gover

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The plywood house was built in Takapuna’s Henderson Park for recently commissioned Kiwi film Under the Mountain.

The nearly complete frame was pictured in the North Shore Times last month. Now it has been removed.

North Shore City Council building consents manager Kelvin Goode said filming for Under the Mountain is running behind schedule.

Its production company told the council it would have to break the terms of a building consent to keep the house in place.

The consent only allowed the house to stay at the park for four weeks.

A new consent will be needed to put it back up at a later stage.

Under the Mountain production company Redhead Films could not be contacted on a number given by special effects providers Weta Workshops.

A Weta spokeswoman said confidentiality clauses bar her from speaking about the movie.

The New Zealand Film Commission granted funding to make Under the Mountain in October.

Tags: confidentiality clauses, consents, dth, films, goode, henderson park, iwi, kelvin, kiwi film, movie, new zealand film commission, north shore, north shore city, north shore city council, north shore times, plywood, redhead, special effects, spokeswoman, weta workshops, zealand film

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The events that precipitated a trial, a manhunt, and a Hollywood movie surfaced when a trio of hikers, walking in the mountains above Santa Barbara, California, heard what sounded like the intense buzzing of bees.

They discovered flies swarming around the fast decomposing body of Nicolas Markowitz, 15, executed in a burst of automatic gunfire.

“All this was done for the purposes of money and prestige,” said Santa Barbara Deputy District Attorney Ronald Zonen.

By then Hollywood - named after a relative, not the famous Wild West outlaw - had eluded police and was on the run.

His smirking face and shaven head appeared on America’s Most Wanted and Unsolved Mysteries TV shows.

The high-profile saga in which white boys - whose tattoos, drugs and guns aped a gangsta culture that had morphed from mean streets to suburbs - kidnapped a teenager, hid him in plain sight in front of preoccupied adults, then casually killed him, allegedly at the bequest of a young fugitive with an iconic name, gripped the national imagination.

Five years later, in March 2005, Hollywood was extradited from Brazil, where he had been hiding, to the United States. He pleaded not guilty to murder and kidnapping.

The 28-year-old still remains in limbo, his case delayed after Zonen was accused of impropriety.

Zonen had provided case files as an unpaid consultant to the producers of 2007’s Alpha Dog - in which a Hollywood-like drug dealer played by Emile Hirsch orchestrates the murder of a teenage hostage - claiming he hoped the film would help catch Hollywood. James Blatt, Hollywood’s lawyer, fears the publicity - which includes four trials and a book - may taint the jury pool.

Tags: aim, america s most wanted, automatic gunfire, bequest, case files, decomposing body, deputy district attorney, district attorney, emile hirsch, gangs, hikers, hollywood, impropriety, james blatt, jury pool, manhunt, mean streets, money, movie, national imagination, nicolas markowitz, producers, saga, santa barbara california, shaven head, unsolved mysteries, white boys, zonen

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French press generally commented positively on Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan`s film “The Three Monkeys” which is competing for the “Palme d`Or” award at the 61st Cannes Film Festival.

Commenting on the movie, French daily “Le Figaro” said Ceylan`s style, focusing on the ways to reflect human traces, resembled the style of French director Maurice Pialat.

While “Liberation” compared Ceylan to Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, another French newspaper “Parisien” said the Turkish director had a technically perfect frame.

Ceylan`s movie “The Three Monkeys”, which is a French-Italian joint production, displays a family`s efforts to stay together.

The screenplay of the film was written by Ebru Ceylan, Ercan Kesal and Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

Tags: bilge, cannes film festival, director ingmar bergman, french director, french press, human traces, kesal, liberation, maurice pialat, movie, palme, screenplay, swedish director, three monkeys

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Redemption, a made-for TV movie reflecting the harsh realities faced by many aboriginal youths living in Regina, hits the small screen tomorrow.

Based on the Gemini-award winning TV series that ran for three seasons on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (2003-2006), the movie depicts aboriginal teenagers living in Regina’s inner city as victims of gang activity, violence, prostitution rings and drug dependency.

But it also projects a message of hope, producer Laura Milliken says. “We wanted to get across there’s opportunity for redemption for everybody,” Milliken said. “There’s hope and there’s always somebody trying to instil change.”

The two-hour movie follows an ex-junkie/rapper named Red after he’s served time in prison for a crime he says he didn’t commit. Red returns home to Moccasin Flats and tries to face his past while dealing with the threat of gang violence.

Milliken said she was determined to overcome the horrific reputation inner-city Regina has garnered in Canada.

Recently labelled “Canada’s worst neighbourhood” by Maclean’s, Milliken said she wanted to tell the stories of the area rather than offer up judgments on it.

“We hear the stories, how in trouble aboriginal children are — they’re in gangs, they’re dropouts — but to humanize the people behind it, we tell a greater story that needs to be told,” Milliken said.

“It’s a really raw story about a community in Canada not many people hear of,” she added.

Milliken consulted Regina police, local community centres and women working the streets to ensure the project was connected to the people in the area and maintained a sense of authenticity.

“I tried to show the realities (of the Flats) but not brand it as the worst place to live,” she said.

Ron Harris, who played Red on the series, reprised his role for the movie.

“He finds himself spiritually and culturally,” Harris said of his character. “He finds he was a victim and realizes the importance of dealing with these issues.”

Tags: aboriginal children, aboriginal peoples television network, community centres, dropouts, drug dependency, elf, gang activity, gang violence, gangs, gemini award, harsh realities, hbo, inner city, judgment, junkie, laura milliken, maclean, message of hope, moccasin flats, movie, prostitution rings, raw story, ron harris, spirit, television, three seasons, violence

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When the sixth instalment of the 48Hours competition kicks off tonight around New Zealand nearly 10,000 cast and crew, in 600 teams, will head into a weekend without sleep while they write, shoot and edit their films.

When the stopwatch starts at 7pm the teams find out the genre for their film and a few random elements they must include.

A 15-member group calling themselves the Goat Embryo Project, mostly made up of Matiu/Somes Island Conservation Department and iwi volunteers, have chosen the island, in the middle of Wellington Harbour, for the shoot.

Producer Terese Mcleod, who has competed for the past four years, said the location, with only a generator for power, would force them to “keep it simple” – a key to success.

“We will have to make it work no matter what. The island has unbeatable panoramic views of Wellington and amazing spooky buildings.”

Director Alice Te Punga-Somerville said: “If we had to do a pastoral splatter movie then we’re good to go.”

Whatever the genre, her three-year-old nephew Matiu Somerville would star.

The last ferry back to Queens Wharf on Sunday is at 4.25pm, but one of the crew will use a pedal-powered kayak to get the film back by 7pm to be eligible for the $60,000 in equipment given to the winner.

Organiser Ant Timpson was looking forward to seeing what the group came up with. “If they pull it off it will be a miracle.”

Peter Jackson has agreed to be a wildcard judge for the fourth year running.

Tags: cast and crew, conservation department, embryo, films, fourth year, iwi, last ferry, mcleod, member group, movie, nephew, panoramic views, peter jackson, petition, punga, queens wharf, random elements, sixth instalment, somes island, stopwatch, terese, timpson, wellington harbour

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