Category: International

MUMBAI: Virgin Media has added the 3D version of Disney‘s Tron: Legacy and JackAss 3D to its stereoscopic content line-up.

The new films are available for rental on the platform along with existing 3D films such as Despicable Me, Legends of The Guardians – The Owls of Ga’Hoole and Saw: The Final Chapter.

3D films on Virgin Media are available from ?3.99 for a 2 day rental, while JackAss 3D costs ?5.99 and Tron: Legacy ?6.49. They‘re all available to customers with a V HD, V+ HD or TiVo box.

Besides the two new films, the deals struck recently with Paramount Pictures and The Walt Disney Company UK and Ireland could bear further fruit later on.

Avers director of On Demand Television and Strategy Aleks Habdank, “We’re thrilled to be adding this exciting range of new movies to our 3D video on demand service from two of the biggest studios Paramount Pictures and Disney.”

Incidentally, Tron: Legacy has also the distinction of being the first ever film to have had more pre-orders on Amazon.co.uk as a 3D Blu-ray than with any other home video format.
 

MUMBAI: The 54th annual San Francisco International Film Festival has a wide variety of films in its lineup of nearly 200 selections. Here is a short list of five recommended films.

Topping the list is Beginners, the opening night film. It is the story of man coming out at age 75. The focus of the story is Plummer‘s character‘s son (Ewan McGregor) and his struggle with childhood memories, the loss of his father, depression and an attempt at romance. The film would be shown on 21 April.

The second recommended film is The Mill and the Cross that traces the lives of people in and around Pieter Bruegel the Elder‘s 1564 painting, The Way to Calvary created during the brutal Spanish occupation of Flanders as Philip II‘s army wreaked havoc on the population, executing “heretics” by crucifying them. To be screened on 23 April.

Next recommeded film is the Japanese film Hospitalité that talks about the economic problems of working-class Tokyo residents. Among the strange happenings are unexpected secrets, the presence of a foreign blonde who speaks accentless English and surrealistic couplings. To be also screened on 21 April.

The fourth film is the Indian film Autumn directed by Aamir Bashir. The film, set in Kashmir was filmed on location in the beautiful Kashmir Valley and features non-professional or first-time Kashmiri actors.

The story follows the lives of a family in which one son has been lost in the conflict, and the younger son faces peril in everyday life, while his parents fight trauma and depression. To be screened on 25 April.

And the last recommended film is Ulysses. Odyssey-like wanderings of a Peruvian emigrant in Chile comprise the film in which the main character finds himself with a head wound on the pavement of a city and, feeling dazed, confused and disconnected, begins a journey back home.

On the way, he faces challenges on a somewhat smaller scale than those of Homer‘s Ulysses. Instead of mythical monsters, he deals with sleeplessness, a job search and immigration regulations. To be screened on 26 April and 2 May.
 

MUMBAI: Actor Nicolas Cage was arrested after he got drunk and started arguing with his wife in the street with his wife over whether a house they were in front of was theirs.

Police have said in a press release that Cage was arrested the previous evening. Police said the couple was in front of a home that Cage insisted they were renting. She said it wasn‘t theirs, and Cage then grabbed her arm.

The release said that the actor started hitting vehicles and tried to get into a taxi. A police officer seeing Cage drunk told him to get out of the cab. Cage then started yelling at the officer.

The actor has been booked on charges of domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace and public drunkenness.

He remained in the Orleans Parish Prison on Saturday afternoon. A judge set his bond at $11,000.

Earlier, Cage had been behind on taxes and has said he‘s had to sell numerous assets because of his finances. He sued his former business manager in October 2009 for $20 million, claiming the man‘s advice led him to financial ruin.
 

MUMBAI: Lionsgate has acquired U.S. distribution rights of the eco-horror thriller The Bay directed by Barry Levinson from Alliance Films.

“Ingenious genre films are and always will be a specialty at Lionsgate,” said Lionsgate motion picture group president Joe Drake. “The Bay is a shining example of the kind of truly fresh horror film that audiences are always ready for, and that we excel at eventizing with them. Thanks to Barry, we’ll all be afraid to go in the water for years to come,” he added.

The Bay unfolds in the found-footage style as it chronicles a horrifying biological disaster that arises from the Chesapeake Bay, an isopod parasite that carries an untreatable disease. As it jumps from fish to the humans in a small town, the victims capture the terror on home videos and the web.

The film has been produced by Blum, Schneider and Peli along with Levinson. Alliance, which will distribute the film in Canada, the UK and Spain, is presenting the film in association with IM global, which is handling foreign sales.

MUMBAI: Cinram International Income Fund has renewed service agreements with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment under which the former will continue to serve as the primary supplier for replication and distribution services for the studio across North America and Europe.

Te duo‘s 14-year relationship spans from VHS, to the launch of DVD and recently with the mainstream adoption of the Blu-ray Disc format.

Said Cinram International, Inc CEO Steve Brown, “It is with great pleasure we renew our alliance with Fox, a valued and essential partner. Fox helped firmly establish our growth from the company‘s origins inCanada to expansion in the US and worldwide market that has resulted in top-notch levels of manufacturing and distribution services.”

“Cinram has a strong history of providing quality service, with unsurpassed commitment and dedication. As the media landscape evolves, they will continue to play an integral role in our business for many years to come,” averred Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment president worldwide Mike Dunn.

For over 40 years, Cinram has worked with some of the biggest names in home entertainment, telecommunications and retail to ensure exciting movies, music, video games and wireless phones.Its full range of optical disc manufacturing, packaging, distribution and business intelligence solutions, guarantees your products flow smoothly and profitably to consumers around the world.
 

MUMBAI: The 2011 edition of the tle International Film Festival (SIFF) will open on 19 May with the award-winning film The First Grader.

The film is based on the true-to-life story of an 84-year-old Kenyan villager who went back to school to pursue the education denied him in his youth. 

Lauded at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Telluride Film Festival and the recent Palm Beach International Film Festival (where it was named Best Feature Film), The First Grader has been directed by Justin Chadwick.

An opening-night party at Seattle Center Exhibition Hall will follow the screening.

SIFF, now in its 37th year, will run till 12 June at multiple venues, including Seattle‘s SIFF Cinema, IMAX at Pacific Science Center, Pacific Place Cinemas, Benaroya Hall, Admiral Theater, Neptune Theatre, Harvard Exit Theatre and the Egyptian Theatre. Suburban venues this year include Everett Performing Arts Center, Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center and Kirkland Performance Center.

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures has signed Michael Stuhlbarg for a role in Men In Black III that the studio wants to release next year. In all likelihood, Stuhlbarg will be asked to play the role of Griffin which was originally to be played by Sharlto Copley, who caught the audience’s eye in the 2009 hit District 9.

Similar was the case of the 42-year old Stuhlbarg who was unknown until the Coen Bros. cast him in their 2009 film A Serious Man, that landed him a Golden Globe nomination.

Since then, Stuhlbarg has teamed up twice with Martin Scorsese on the stellar HBO series Boardwalk Empire and the forthcoming children‘s fantasy Hugo Cabret.

Barry Sonnenfeld is once again directing Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the threequel with Emma Thompson, Josh Brolin, Alice Eve, Jermaine Clement and more joining the cast.

Men In Black III will be released on standard and 3D screens on 25 May next year.

MUMBAI:The next two James Bond films from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) will be co-financed and distributed by Sony Pictures, it is understood.

The first film temporarily titled Bond 23 is set for worldwide release next year on 9 November. As for the next film, the studios said in a statement that they “look forward” to also partner on the film. 

Sony and MGM previously partnered on Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale. Together the films grossed almost $1.2 billion worldwide at the box-office.

MGM‘s new management reportedly negotiated a distribution pacts with other studios, including Viacom Inc‘s Paramount Pictures, but talks couldn’t progress on the financials.

As part of the Bond deal, Sony and MGM will explore co-financing opportunities on future motion pictures produced by each of the respective studios for the next five years, according to a statement.

That component favours MGM as it has no releases scheduled for this year. It recently announced it would co-finance Paramount‘s Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, a $60 million 3D film set for release in March next year.
 

MUMBAI: Woody Allen has firmed up to cast the likes of Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Penelope Cruz and Alec Baldwin for his next film. Besides writing and directing, Allen will also appear in the film.

As is typical of Allen‘s projects, he hasn‘t yet revealed a title or a plotline for the movie that will film this summer in the Italian capital. 

It may be remembered that Eisenberg voiced the lead character in the ongoing animated film Rio. Page is currently working on Super. Baldwin will be busy during his 30 Rock hiatus, since he‘s also playing the musical Rock of Ages.

Incidentally, Cruz appeared in Allen‘s 2008 film Vicky Cristina Barcelona that won her the best supporting actress Oscar.

MUMBAI:Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has been billed to screen in the out-of-competition section at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival on 14 May.

Following its Cannes unveiling, the film is scheduled to open in France on 18 May 18 and in the US on 20 May. 

The fourth film in the Pirates franchise, starring Johnny Depp will have its world premiere at Disneyland on 7 May at an outdoor, 3D screening.

In the past too, Disney has used Cannes to showcase its films. Last year, Pixar’s Up opened the festival.

Disney’s official festival line-up will be announced on Thursday.