ITV

Category: International

  • Dujardin not averse for second silent film

    Dujardin not averse for second silent film

    MUMBAI: Jean Dujardin who recently won an Oscar for his role in The Artist has said that he was not averse to make another silent movie if it helped his chances of succeeding in Hollywood. The French actor, who won the Best Actor award said that he has some ideas of where he wants his career to go.
     
    "I‘m not an American actor, I‘m French and I continue in France. If I could make another silent movie in America, I would. But I‘ll always be a French actor in America. Nonetheless, there are a few ideas I would like to develop," Dujardin has reportedly said.

    Saying that he had a lot of fun working on The Artist, Dujardin went on to reveal that he had researched the role by watching old movies. "It was not really intellectual, and I‘m not an intellectual.I watched a lot of movies and had fun pretending to be a movie star in 1920s," he said.

  • Paramount to screen Godfather for a day

    Paramount to screen Godfather for a day

    MUMBAI: As part of a pact between Paramount Pictures and the Cinemark theatre chain, a restored print of Francis Ford Coppola’s Oscar-winning The Godfather is to be screened on 1 March at 55 Cinemark XD theatres in the US.

    Archivist Robert Harris and Gordon Willis, the film’s original cinematographer, have overseen the restoration of the best picture-winner, which has been re-mastered with 5.1 digital surround sound.

    Cinemark also plans to screen The Godfather Part II on its XD screens on 19 April.

  • Swedish actor Erland Josephson expires

    Swedish actor Erland Josephson expires

    MUMBAI: Swedish actor Swedish actor Erland Josephson, best known for his many collaborations with director Ingmar Bergman, expired on 25 February in Stockholm after a lengthy battle with Parkinson‘s disease. He was 88.

    In his long career, Josephson, the self-trained actor appeared in nearly 100 films and TV series as well as countless stage productions. His best-known work was with Bergman, whom he met during the late 1930s when he just 16 years old, was cast in a production of The Merchant of Venice that Bergman was directing at the age of 21.
     
    It was the beginning of a lifelong collaboration that saw the actor and director work together on 40 films and stage plays including classics like Scenes From a Marriage (1973) and Fanny and Alexander (1982).

    Though he was invited by Hollywood, Josephson preferred the European film and theatre scene. He reportedly turned down Richard Dreyfuss‘ role in Jaws 2 saying that he‘d prefer to have “intellectual battles with Liv Ullmann than fight with some shark.

    In addition to his acting, Josephson was creative director of Sweden‘s Royal Dramatic Theater from 1966-75 — a position he took over from Bergman. He was a prolific writer of plays, novels and memoirs. He also directed Marmalade Revolution (1980) that was screened in the competition section at the Berlin International Film Festival.

  • US congratulates Iranian director on Oscar win

    US congratulates Iranian director on Oscar win

    MUMBAI: The US government has congratulated Iranian director Asghar Farhadi after his film A Separation bagged the Oscar award in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

    "On behalf of all of us, to congratulate Iranian film director Asghar Farhadi on his Oscar win," said the US State Department in a statement. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the film was the first Iranian film to win an Oscar, "It really gives the world an invaluable picture of life in Iran. We applaud his achievement and celebrate the vibrancy and historical greatness of the independent film industry in Iran."
     
    The film was honoured at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles Sunday night.

    The only other Iranian film that was nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category was Children of Heaven in 1998.

  • ‘The Artist’, ‘Hugo’ win five Oscars each

    ‘The Artist’, ‘Hugo’ win five Oscars each

    MUMBAI: Silent black and white film ‘The Artist‘ and Martin Scorcese‘s 3D children‘s film ‘Hugo‘ bagged five Oscar Awards each this morning. The 84th edition of the show aired live on Star Movies.

    While ‘Hugo‘ dominated the technical categories winning in areas like sound, the Artist took home the big awards for picture, director and actor. It also won a couple of technical awards in score and costume design.

    The biggest applause, though, was reserved for Meryl Streep who won an Oscar after 29 years playing Margaret Thatcher in ‘The Iron Lady‘. She said, “When they called my name, I had this feeling I could hear half of America go, ‘Oh, no, why her again?‘ But whatever.

    “I really understand I‘ll never be up here again. I really want to think all my colleagues, my friends. I look out here and I see my life before my eyes, my old friends, my new friends.
    Really, this is such a great honour but the think that counts the most with me is the friendship and the love and the sheer job we‘ve shared making moves together”.

    After ‘The Artist‘ won, the director Michel Hazanavicius thanked Hollywood great Billy Wilder thrice showing the influence that old Hollywood had on the film.

    Streep received a standing ovation as did a tearful Octavia Spencer who won for ‘The Help‘ and Christopher Plummer who won for ‘Beginners‘. Plummer and Streep‘s awards could be seen as a reward for a lifetime of excellent work.

    It was a triumphant night for Harvey Weinstein who is back in the Oscar race with a big bang. Last year ‘The Kings Speech‘ which he championed took home best picture. This time he bought the rights to distribute the Artist. The Weinstein Company had also gone into overdrive pushing Streep for a long awaited win. Its documentary film ‘Undefeated‘ also won for best documentary.

    In the foreign language category, Iran‘s ‘A Separation‘ won. Woody Allen was a no show, although he won for Best Original Screenplay for Midnight In Paris. The George Clooney starrer, ‘The Descendants‘, was rewarded with Best Adapted Screenplay.

    Meanwhile ‘War Horse‘, the Steven Spielberg and Anil Ambani co-production, went home empty handed as did ‘The Tree Of Life‘ and ‘Moneyball‘. One of the highlights was a performance by Cirque Du Soleil. The show‘s host Billy crystal did a crisp job and the show finished in just over three hours. It was shorter in duration than most of the previous editions of the Oscar Awards ceremony Awards.

  • With no fight Journey 2 stands high

    With no fight Journey 2 stands high

    MUMBAI: Devoid of any serious competition, Warner Bros.’ Journey 2: The Mysterious Island maintained its No. 1 box office position for the third consecutive weekend by collecting $18.5 million from 8,500 screens in 48 offshore territories.

    A No. 1 opening in Italy, the film contributed $2.4 million from 418 screens and edged out French comedy blockbuster Intouchables that also made its debut in the market. The New Line/Walden Media family adventure has till yet grossed $159.2 million, $16.2 million more than foreign gross of the film’s 2008 predecessor Journey To The Center of the Earth.
     
    Foreign grosses for best-picture nominees at the Oscar like The Artist ($48 million versus $29 million domestic); The Help ($42 million versus $169.7 million domestic); The Tree of Life ($49 million versus $13.3 million domestic); Midnight in Paris ($98 million versus $56.5 million domestic); War Horse ($62.7 million versus $79 million domestic); Hugo ($46 million of which Paramount-handled markets account for $39.9 million, versus $69.4 million domestic); Moneyball ($34 million versus $75.6 million domestic); The Descendants ($77.7 million versus $79 million domestic); and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close ($8.5 million versus $31.2 million domestic).

    No.2 on the weekend was Safe House, Universal’s thriller starring Denzel Washington, opened in 11 territories and roped in $13.6 million on the weekend overall from 3,389 sites in 46 markets. Standing out was the film’s No. 3 bow in the U.K., which drew $3.6 million from 425 locations. Openings in Italy, Korea, Mexico, Panama and Indonesia are on tap this week.

  • Pakistani documentary wins an Oscar

    MUMBAI: Pakistani documentary film Saving Face beat opponents like The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement, God is the bigger Elvis, Incident in New Baghdad and The Tsunami and The Cherry Blossom to bag the Oscar award for best documentary (short) at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony.


    Directed by Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Daniel Junge, Saving Face- the 40-minute short chronicles the journeys of survivors of acid violence in Pakistan and the reconstructive surgery of their faces done free of cost by UK-based plastic surgeon, Mohammad Jawad who is regularly in Pakistan for the same.
     
    The documentary was filmed in Pakistan’s Saraiki, an area struggling with unemployment coupled with a dismal literacy rate.


    In the best documentary (feature) category, the Oscar went to Undefeated directed by TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Rich Middlemas.

  • Weinsten Co. in film financing facility with UBC

    MUMBAI: Seeking to put itself on a firmer financial footing as it looks for a comeback from the brink of a closure around two years ago, Weinstein Co. has sealed a deal for a new $150-million film financing facility with Union Bank of California (UBC).


    The news comes in the wake of expectations that this time Weinstein Co. would take home multiple trophies at Sunday‘s Academy Awards for The Artist which has been a far more modest box office success than The King‘s Speech.


    The new deal allows the studio behind films like The King‘s Speech and The Artist to pay off loans from Goldman Sachs and Ziff Brothers Investments that it took from them in 2009 and 2010 when it was struggling in bad waters to stay afloat.


    It was The King‘s Speech, that gave a good hope after it grossed $139 million in the US and Canada. While in 2009, the studio had taken a $75-million bridge loan from Ziff Brothers and a $50-million loan from Goldman in 2010.
     
    As part of the deal with Goldman Sachs, the New York-based studio turned over the rights of about 200 titles from its library to the company in order to pay off $400-million in debt. Goldman still controls those pictures, which include “Halloween” and “Vicky Christina Barcelona.”


    Weinstein has paid Goldman some of the money required to take back those pictures but has more payments to make.

  • Pakistani filmmaker at Oscars with documentary

    MUMBAI: Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy will be at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday and walk the red carpet in the hope of the golden knight in her hand for her documentary Saving Face.


    The 40-minute short, co-directed by US-based Daniel Junge, chronicles the journeys of survivors of acid violence in Pakistan and the reconstructive surgery of their faces done free of cost by UK-based plastic surgeon, Mohammad Jawad who is regularly in Pakistan for the same.


    Said Obaid-Chinoy, “This nomination is a testament to my belief that one’s background is irrelevant; anyone who strives for excellence will receive acknowledgment for their work. I feel proud to be representing Pakistan on such a prestigious stage. The problem with Pakistan has never been a lack of talent or ideas. We just have never had the right resources or infrastructure to project ourselves.”
     
    The documentary was filmed in Pakistan’s Saraiki, an area struggling with unemployment coupled with a dismal literacy rate.


    The documentary will compete against Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin’s The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement and Rebecca Cammissa and Julie Anderson’s God is the Bigger Elvis.


    Till today, Obaid-Chinoy has made 13 documentaries, all dealing with conflict situation.

  • Tugg Library adds two Oscar nominated films

    Tugg Library adds two Oscar nominated films

    MUMBAI: Tugg, Inc., a collective action web-platform that enables individuals to choose the films that play in their local theatres, has added Academy Award nominees The Tree of Life and Bullhead to its film library.


    The Tree of Life is one of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2011, having received 14 awards from critics groups across the country and appearing on over 100 Top 10 lists, the most of any film released last year.


    Observed The Tree of Life producer Sarah Green, “We believe The Tree of Life is a film people will want to see in theaters for generations to come. We are thrilled to be providing this opportunity for audiences to see it again, or for the first time, on the big screen; and to share the experience with their community.”
     
    A visceral crime drama that has received over 30 awards from film festivals across the world, Bullhead will expand theatrically in 20 new markets on 24 February.


    The film will be available through Tugg in markets where it does not have a traditional current or upcoming theatrical release.