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Category: Hollywood

  • PVR Director’s Rare to release Sri Lankan film, ‘With You, Without You’ in India

    PVR Director’s Rare to release Sri Lankan film, ‘With You, Without You’ in India

    MUMBAI: Renowned Sri Lankan director Prasanna Vithanage’s Oba Nathuwa Oba Ekka (With You, Without You) is all set to see a limited release in India with PVR Director’s Rare. Adapted from Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novella, ‘The Meek One,’ the film casts National Film Award winning Indian actress Anjali Patil and Sri Lankan actor Shyam Fernando in the lead. Originally a Sinhala and Tamil-language film, With You, Without You will release with English subtitles in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad on 13 June.

     

    Set in post war Sri Lanka, With You, Without You is the story of two people who collide accidentally. Through these characters, the film expresses a deep and seemingly unbridgeable chasm that conflict almost always creates. The two ends of the 30 year-old bloody civil war in Sri Lanka, 45 year-old Sri Lankan man Sarathsiri (Shyam Fernando) and 24 year-old Tamil girl Selvi (Anjali Patil) fall in love only to discover that the colour of love is blue, and life, shades of grey.

     

    Talking about the film, director Prasanna Vithanage said, “When I decided to adapt ‘The Meek One’ into a film, I based it upon the biggest issue of Sri Lanka which is the ethnic conflict. We live in a society which still has unhealed wounds from a war that lasted over thirty years and this confrontation of a Sinhalese man and a Tamil minority woman became the dramatic premise of my script. Their struggle with their own past for me was a metaphor for the struggles of the nation as a whole.”

     

    Added PVR JMD Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, “We are extremely pleased to announce the release of Sri Lankan film, With You, Without You in India. The film highlights a sensitive issue in the most touching way and we are sure that the audience will associate with the film, taking away the message that the director, Prasanna Vithanage has tried to convey. We look forward to continuing our association with the international film industries and bring quality films to our patrons in India.”

     

    With You, Without You has been screened and applauded at several Film Festivals like Chicago International Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival, International film festival of India, Kerala International Film Festival and Hong Kong International Film Festival to name a few. The film bagged the Russian Critic’s Prize at Sakhalin International Film Festival, SIGNIS Award at Milano African Asian Film Festival, Best Actress – Anjali Patil at 43rd International Film Festival of India etc.

     

    Click here to watch the trailer of the movie:

  • Johnny Depp to soon take on the role of famed illusionist Harry Houdini

    Johnny Depp to soon take on the role of famed illusionist Harry Houdini

    MUMBAI: Johnny Depp, the actor famously known for taking on different roles like Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Carribean franchise and the Mad Hatter in the Alice in Wonderland franchise is in negotiations to star as famed magician Harry Houdini in Lionsgate/Summit’s The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero based on the bestselling book by William Kalush and Larry Sloman, reports The Hollywood Reporter (THR).

     

    Since his death eighty years ago, Harry Houdini’s life has been chronicled in books, in film, and on television. Now, in this groundbreaking biography, renowned magic expert William Kalush and best-selling writer Larry Sloman team up to find the man behind the myth. Drawing from millions of pages of research, they describe in vivid detail the passions that drove Houdini to perform ever-more-dangerous feats, his secret life as a spy, and a pernicious plot to subvert his legacy. After years of struggling on the dime museum circuit, Harry Houdini got a break that put him on the front page of a Chicago newspaper. He never looked back. Soon Houdini was performing for royalty, commanding vast sums, and exploring the new power of Hollywood to expand on his legend.

     

    At a time when spy agencies frequently co-opted amateurs, Houdini went to London and developed a relationship with a man who would run MI-5. For the next several years, the world’s most famous magician travelled to Germany and Russia and routinely reported his findings.

     

    After World War I was successfully concluded, Houdini embarked on a battle of his own. He created a group of disguised field operatives to infiltrate the seamy world of fake spirit mediums. In doing so, Houdini triggered the wrath of fanatical spiritualists, led by the esteemed British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Death threats became an everyday occurrence, but the group would pose an even greater danger to Houdini’s legacy.

     

    Rigorously researched, and as exciting as a good thriller, The Secret Life of Houdini traces the arc of the master magician’s life from desperate poverty to worldwide legend, initiating the reader along the way into the arcane world of professional magic. In this remarkable book, Kalush and Sloman decode a life based on deception, providing an intimate and riveting portrayal of Houdini, the man and the legend.

     

    Depp is also set to revisit two of the earlier mentioned blockbuster franchisees in the coming year with Pirates of the Caribbean 5 and a sequel to Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass.

     

    History Channel announced late last year that they have given the greenlight to their four-hour Houdini miniseries. Academy Award winner Adrien Brody (The Pianist) will play Houdini with Kristen Connolly (House of Cards).

  • Denzel Washington new film trailer released

    Denzel Washington new film trailer released

    MUMBAI: After playing the criminal gone rogue, Denzel Washington now takes on the role of a vigilante out to protect the needful in the new action thriller, The Equalizer. Sony Pictures released the trailer for the new film earlier today.

     

    In The Equalizer, Denzel Washington plays McCall, a former black ops commando who has faked his death to live a quiet life in Boston. When he comes out of his self-imposed retirement to rescue a young girl, Teri, he finds himself face to face with ultra-violent Russian gangsters. As he serves vengeance against those who brutalise the helpless, McCall’s desire for justice is reawakened. If someone has a problem, the odds are stacked against them, and they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.

     

    Along with Academy Award winner Denzel Washington (Glory, Training Day), The Equalizer also stars MTV Movie Award winner Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass, Carrie) and Academy Award winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter). Washington produces the film along with Batman vs. Super: Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder. The film is based on the 1980s’ television series that starred Golden Globe Award winning Edward Woodward as a middle aged retired intelligence officer with a mysterious past who helps people in trouble. 

     

    Watch the trailer below:

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpOINF4f27k

  • Cannes Palme d’Or goes to Turkey’s Nuri Bilge Ceylan for feature and to Simón Mesa Soto for shorts

    Cannes Palme d’Or goes to Turkey’s Nuri Bilge Ceylan for feature and to Simón Mesa Soto for shorts

    NEW DELHI: Renowned Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan has won the Palme d’or for his film Winter Sleep on the conclusion of the 67th Cannes Film Festival.

     

    The award – to the best of the 18 in competition – was presented to him by the American actress Uma Thurman and the American director Quentin Tarantino. The Jury was presided over by Jane Campion.

     

    Nuri Bilge Ceylan said: “This is a huge surprise for me, I wasn’t expecting it. I don’t know what to say. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Turkish cinema, which is a happy coincidence. I would like to thank the Festival de Cannes for supporting this long project. Thank you to the Jury, to Thierry Frémaux and Gilles Jacob. I would like to dedicate this Palme d’or to the young people of Turkey and to those who lost their lives during the year. Thank you very much”. 

     

    The film also won the top award given by The FIPRESCI (International Association of film critics) jury headed by Esin Kücüktepepinar of Turkey.

     

    While Titli by Kanu Bahl from India was highly lauded, the film that was selected for Un Certain Regard and Gitanjali Rao’s 19-minute animated romance True Love Story in the Critics’ Week failed to make any mark. Behl was also a contender for the Camera d’Or, the award for feature directing debut.

     

    Sergio Leone’s Per un pugno di dollari (A Fistful of Dollars) presented by Quentin Tarantino, was screened at the end of the ceremony.

     

    Le Meraviglie (The Wonders) by Alice Rohrwacher received the Grand Prix award while the best Director Award went to Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher.

     

    The Jury Prize ex-aequo went to Mommy by Xavier Dolan (the youngest winner at 25) and Adieu Au Langage (Goodbye to language) by the renowned Jean-Luc Godard.

     

    The best acting awards went to actress Julianne Moore in Maps to the Stars by David Cronenberg and actor Timothy Spall in Mr Turner by Mike Leigh. Mr Turner also won the award of the Vulcan Award for Technical Artist of the Jury of the CST to Dick Pope, director of photography, for bringing to light the works of Turner.

     

    The Best Screenplay Award was awarded to Andrey Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin for Leviathan.

     

    The Palme d’Or for Short Films went to Leidi by Simon Mesa Soto.

     

    A Special Mention – Ex-aequo – was made of A?ssa by Clément Trehin-Lalanne and Ja Vi Elsker (Yes we love) by Hallvar Witzo.

     

    The Un Certain Regard Prize went to Fehér Isten by Kornél Mundruczó. FIPRESCI gave the Un Certain Regard award to Jauja by Lisandro Alonso.

     

    The Jury Prize went to Turist by Ruben Östlund while the Un Certain Regard Special Prize was awarded to The Salt of the Earth by the lauded Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado.

     

    The Ensemble Prize was given to Party Girl by Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger and Samuel Theis, and the film also received the Camera d’Or award in the Un Certain Regard, while the Best Actor Award went to David Gulpilil in Charlie’s Country by Rolf de Heer.

     

    In the Cinefondation category for student films, the first prize went to Skunk by Annie Silverstein from the Texas University at Austin in the United States, while the second prize went to Oh Lucy!  by Atsuko Hirayanagi of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia, Singapore and the third prize was given jointly to Lievito Madre by Fulvio Risuleo of Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Italy and The Bigger Picture by Daisy Jacobs of the National Film and Television School in the United Kingdom.

     

    The Nespresso Grand Prize in the Critics’ Award category went to The Tribe by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, which also received the France 4 Visionary Award. It additionally got the Gan Foundation Support for Distribution.

     

    The SACD Award went to Hope by Boris Lojkine.

     

    A Ciambra by Jonas Carpignano received the Sony CineAlta Discovery Prize for short film and the Canal+ Award for short film went to Crocodile by Gaëlle Denis.

     

    In the Directors’ Fortnight section, the Europa Cinema Label, the SACD Prize and the Art Cinema Award went to Love At First Fight (Les Combattants) by Thomas Cailley. The film also received the FIPRESCI award.

     

    The Illy prize for short film was given to Heartless (Sem Coraç?o) by Nara Normande and Ti?o.

     

    A special mention was made of It Can Pass through the Wall (Trece si Prin Perete) by Radu Jude.

     

    Ceylan’s film is a 210 minute morality tale about a former actor who runs a hotel in remote Anatolia. As winter approaches, he is alone with his young wife and her sister going through a divorce. The cold weather makes the hotel not only a shelter but a site where the three must confront their growing feelings of animosity.

     

    Mommy, like the films of Jean Luc Godard, has broken ground, and ironically Dolan shared the jury prize with the French New Wave director with the daring hand held camera and jump cuts. Godard’s film Adieu au Langage (Goodbye to Language) in the official competition uses colorized scenes and fragmentation in a rather well shaped non-linear narrative. Dolan’s “Mommy” represents a paradigm shift for cinematic language. Defying established aspect ratios, Dolan and his director of photography André Turpin used a perfectly square 1.1 instead of today’s widescreen formats. Mommy shot on 35mm explores futuristic Canada with new mental-health laws in this film about a mother with a violent son.

  • Annie Silverstein’s ‘Skunk’ wins first prize at the 17th CineFondation selection

    Annie Silverstein’s ‘Skunk’ wins first prize at the 17th CineFondation selection

    NEW DELHI: Skunk directed by Annie Silverstein from the University of Texas at Austin in the United States has bagged the first prize at the 17th CineFondation selection.

     

     With this, Silverstein’s first feature film will be presented at the Festival de Cannes.

     

    The second prize went to Oh Lucy! directed by Atsuko Hirayanagi from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia, Singapore. The third prize was won jointly by Lievito Madre directed by Fulvio Risuleo from Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Italy; and The Bigger Picture directed by Daisy Jacobs of the National Film and Television School, United Kingdom.

     

     The awarded films will receive €15,000 for the first prize, €11,250 for the second and €7,500 for the third.

     

    The CineFondation and Short Films Jury was headed by Abbas Kiarostami and comprised Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Noémie Lvovsky, Daniela Thomas and Joachim Trier.

     

     The awards were given during a ceremony held in the Bunuel Theatre, followed by the screening of the winning films.

     

     The CineFondation selection consisted of 16 student films, chosen out of 1631 entries coming from 457 film schools around the world.

  • Activities galore at India Pavilion of the Cannes Film Festival

    Activities galore at India Pavilion of the Cannes Film Festival

    NEW DELHI: The India Pavilion at the 67th Cannes Film Festival saw an unprecedented presence this year.

     

    Organised by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the packed pavilion was inaugurated on 15 May by Indian Ambassador to France Arun K. Singh, I&B secretary Bimal Julka and Indian cinema legend Kamal Haasan.

     

    Others present were veteran filmmaker and producer Ramesh Sippy; renowned filmmaker Sudhir Mishra; YRF Entertainment CEO, actor and producer Uday Chopra; screenwriter Arash Amel; Cannes Film Market executive director Jerome Paillard,; FICCI secretary general A. Didar Singh and filmmaker and producer Bobby Bedi.

     

    The Indian presence at the India Pavilion also included film industry stalwarts such as Film Federation of India president Ravi Kottarakara, T.P. Aggarwal who is the first Indian vice president of FIAPF – the International Federation of Film Producers Associations, and Film and TV Producers Guild of India CEO Kulmeet Makkar.

     

    The pavilion saw a lot of interesting activity with hoards of people jostling for space as they watched the interactive sessions. The first day saw a session on ‘The Making of Grace of Monaco’ – featuring Uday Chopra and Jonathan Reiman from YRF Entertainment – one of the producers of the opening film at the festival – and Arash Amel, the writer of the film. Anchored by Patrick Frater, Asia Bureau Chief of Variety, the discussion hinted at interesting growth and expansion for Indian cinema in the international space by means of collaboration and co-production.

    A very special session, ‘The Journey to Cannes’, was organised at the pavilion for ‘Titli’, India’s official entry in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival. (The festival’s Critics Week section had also selected another Indian film, Gitanjali Rao’s ‘TrueLoveStory’.)

     

    The cast and crew of ‘Titli’ – director Kanu Behl; actors Ranvir Shorey and Shashank Arora; writer Sharat Katariya; editor Namrata Rao; Yash Raj Films VP international operations Avtar Panesar; Sikhya Entertainment founder Guneet Monga and CEO Anurag Kashyap Films were felicitated by the Ministry of I&B, and also spoke about their experience of making the film and being selected to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

    A feature of the activities at this year’s India Pavilion at the Cannes Film Market was exclusive networking receptions co-hosted by the Ministry and film bodies, producers and filmmakers from three countries: New Zealand, Australia and Germany.

     

    The New Zealand event was organised in coordination with the New Zealand Film Commission; the delegation was led by NZFC CEO Dave Gibson, and comprised filmmakers and producers from the country; Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason led the Australia contingent; and German Films organised the third event.

     

    The Indian guest list saw representation from filmmakers, producers and industry body members at Cannes this year. This new initiative is aimed at promoting and forging ties for co-production and partnerships between India and these countries.

     

    On the sidelines of these events were structured B2B meetings between Indian delegates and international stakeholders in order to facilitate business promotion and explore opportunities for partnership between the Indian film community and the global one.

    Sessions were also held on co-production with representatives from India and six other countries, and a discussion on Single Window Clearance for promoting hassle-free film shooting for the global film community in India.

     

    Kamal Haasan was interviewed by critic and anchor Anupama Chopra; filmmakers Ramesh Sippy, Sudhir Mishra and Bobby Bedi were seen in conversation about Indian cinema today and going forward, and Indian films at Cannes over the years.

  • ‘Pulp Fiction’ anniversary at Cannes, ‘Django’ television series planned

    ‘Pulp Fiction’ anniversary at Cannes, ‘Django’ television series planned

    MUMBAI: To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the cult classic, maverick director Quentin Tarantino along with the stars of Pulp Fiction, John Travolta and Uma Thurman, treated the masses to a public screening of the cult classic on the beach at Cannes. Standing on a makeshift stage in front of a giant screen, Tarantino welcomed his two actors, who, one by one, walked down a sandy aisle before flanking their Pulp Fiction director.

     

    Pulp Fiction was the winner of the 1994 Palme d’Or (Golden Palm) from a jury presided over by Clint Eastwood; Pulp Fiction had its official world premiere at the Grand Theatre Lumiere on 19 May that year. However, although the film had been kept tightly under wraps and was screened for no one in the United States before its Cannes debut, a number of critics did get a secret sneak peek at it the night before.

     

    Prior to the screening, the cast and crew of Pulp Fiction were spot walking on the official red carpet at the Palais De Cannes and then attended a party hosted by Miramax Pictures.

     

    The Oscar-winning director told the audience at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday that he’s looking at a four-hour miniseries version of his acclaimed 2012 pre-Civil War Western Django Unchained.

     

     “I have about 90 minutes’ worth of material with Django [that] hasn’t been seen,” said Tarantino to USA Today. “My idea, frankly, is to cut together a four-hour version of Django Unchained… But I wouldn’t show it like a four-hour movie. I would cut it up into hour chapters. Like a four-part miniseries. And show it on cable television. Show it like an hour at a time, each chapter.”

     

    “We’d use all the material I have and it wouldn’t be an endurance test,” he added. “It would be a miniseries. And people love those.”

     

    Django earned a total of five Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture. It grabbed the golden statuette for Original Screenplay and Supporting Actor Christopher Waltz.

  • Cameras roll on ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’

    Cameras roll on ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’

    MUMBAI: Filming is underway on Warner Bros Pictures’ ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’, an adventure from director Zack Snyder, starring Henry Cavill in the role of Clark Kent/Superman, and Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman.

     

    The film also stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, with Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane returning from ‘Man of Steel’, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, and Holly Hunter in a role newly created for the film.

     

    It is written by Chris Terrio from a screenplay by David S. Goyer.  Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder are producing, with Benjamin Melniker, Michael E Uslan, Wesley Coller, David S Goyer and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers.

     

    The film will be mostly shot at Michigan Motion Picture Studios and on location in and around Detroit, Michigan; Illinois; Africa; and the South Pacific.

     

    Set to open worldwide on 6 May 2016, it is based on Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, Batman characters created by Bob Kane, and Wonder Woman created by

  • New Woody Allen film ‘Magic in the Moonlight’ trailer released

    New Woody Allen film ‘Magic in the Moonlight’ trailer released

    MUMBAI: Yahoo Movies has released the first look trailer of Woody Allen’s new movie Magic in the Moonlight. The movie comes after Allen’s Academy Award winning Blue Jasmine starring Cate Blanchett. Magic in the Moonlight is set in the 1920s France, rather reminiscent of the Academy Award winning Midnight in Paris.

    It stars Colin Firth as Stanley, an Englishman posing as an Asian magician who attempts to debunk fake spiritualists. He travels to the south of France to unmask a supposed medium named Sophie (Emma Stone) as a good-looking fake — but ends up falling for her real-world charms instead.

    “I had it on a piece of notepaper in my drawer for ages,” Allen told Entertainment Weekly on the film’s period European setting. “I knew it was a good plot, but I kept seeing it as a contemporary thing and something about that just didn’t smell right to me. Then when it occurred to me it could be set in the south of France in the 1920s, all of a sudden it just felt good.”

    Magic in the Moonlight boasts an ensemble cast led by Academy Award winning Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) and Golden Globe Award nominee Emma Stone (Easy A) with Hamish Linklater (The Crazy Ones), Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden (Pollock), Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award winner Eileen Atkins (Gosford Park).

    Imagine Midnight in Paris, with a Match Point and Scoop topping on a You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger cone! True fans of Woody Allen, that reference is for you!

    Click here to watch the trailer
  • Pretty Little Liars writer to pen teen horror film

    Pretty Little Liars writer to pen teen horror film

    MUMBAI: The writer/creator of the blockbuster teenage drama, Pretty Little Liars, I. Marlene King will soon write the screenplay for the motion picture adaptation of an upcoming teen horror novel. Lionsgate, has acquired the film rights to Daniella Vega’s upcoming book, The Merciless with Alloy Entertainment, a television production unit of Warner Bros. Television. Through her chilling debut, Vega aims to deliver blood-curdling suspense and terror on every page. According to the official synopsis of the book, by the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all: Is there evil in all of us?

     

    Here is the official synopsis of the book:

     

    Brooklyn Stevens sits in a pool of her own blood, tied up and gagged. No one outside of these dank basement walls knows she’s here. No one can hear her scream.

    Sofia Flores knows she shouldn’t have gotten involved. When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day at school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways. They said they wanted to save Brooklyn. They wanted to help her. Sofia didn’t realize they believed Brooklyn was possessed.

    Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn—but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation. All Sofia wants is to get out of this house. But there is no way out. Sofia can’t go against the other girls . . . unless she wants to be next. . . .

     

    Kirkus Reviews opines on the book that, “It’ll take a sturdy reader not to keep flinching—or put this exercise in sensation down altogether.”

     

    Lionsgate recently achieved tremendous success with Divergent, the dystopian teen romance starring Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley. The film just grossed a worldwide box office of $260 million including India.

     

    Pretty Little Liars will soon return to Zee Cafe with the fifth season which will deal with the girls, and how they have to adjust to the new world where Alison is in.