Category: International

MUMBAI: Oscar-nominated Amy Adams‘ latest film Leap Year is set for release on 8 January.

In the Anand Tucker-directed movie, Adams plays Anna, a frustrated New Yorker who decides she can‘t wait to be asked the marriage question, so she heads to Dublin to propose to her boyfriend (Adam Scott) on leap day.

The only thing that doesn‘t co-operate with Anna‘s plan is the Irish weather. So when her flight on the way to Dublin is re-directed to Cardiff, Wales, she ends up on a boat across the stormy Irish Sea to Ireland. Then she sets out on a cross-country trek to Dublin, aided by Declan, a cynical innkeeper (Matthew Goode) who‘s been paid to get her there by 29 February.

Said Adams, “In the beginning, I play the modern woman who thinks she knows where she is going,” notes Adams of her character. Then she loses control, but by doing so, she finds out who she is and what she wants.”

Adams earned her second Academy Award nomination for her nun portrayal opposite Streep‘s stern Sister Aloysius in Doubt. And the 35 year old actress might pick up another Oscar nod for her Julie Powell to Streep‘s Julia Child in the year‘s well-received comedy, Julie and Julia.
 

MUMBAI: Mariah Carey was recently honored at the 14th Annual Capri Hollywood International Film Festival when she was given an award for her performance in Precious.

She won the award as the best supporting actress for her role as Miss Weiss, a social worker.

Said Capri festival program director Pascal Vicedomini said in a statement “This special award goes to an extraordinary and extremely gifted artist who has sold more than 200 million records worldwide making her the most successful female artist of all time.”

Precious has received high praise for its portrayal of a troubled 16-year-old dealing with poverty and sexual abuse.

Carey is set to begin her first North American tour in more than three years set to kick off on New Year‘s Eve.

MUMBAI: Warner Bros Pictures Group is set to reach global box-office industry record of $3.99bn for 2009. It thus surpassed its own previous industry mark of $3.66bn that it set in 2007.

According to its own projections, the studio‘s domestic gross will reach $2.13billion surpassing the industry record of $1.789billion set by the studio in 2008.

Warner Bros Pictures International is projected to reach $1.86bn year-end gross. This will mark the ninth consecutive billion-dollar year for both the domestic and international divisions.

In 2009, Warner Bros released nine films like Gran Torino, He‘s Just Not That Into You, Friday The 13th,Watchmen, 17 Again, The Hangover, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, The Final Destination, and Where The Wild Things Are. 

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince was the key driver for the year, earning $632 million overseas and $302 million domestically. It was the biggest film of the year globally and ranks as the second highest Harry Potter release in North America and the third highest internationally.

Four other films crossed $100m internationally in 2009. They were Yes Man on $132m, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button on $205m, Gran Torino on $121m, and The Hangover- the highest R-rated comedy in history in North America and overseas – on $190m.

Four other films crossed $100m domestically: Watchmen on $107m, Terminator Salvation on $125m, The Hangover on $277m, and The Blind Side, which has reached $185m and will cross $200m. Sherlock Holmes opened on December 25 and is a sure bet to cross $100m based on its early pace.

Warner Bros‘ 2010 releases include New Line‘s Valentine‘s Day starring Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jamie Foxx; Clash Of The Titans starring Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes; New Line‘s Sex And The City 2; Christopher Nolan‘s Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio; and Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1.

MUMBAI: The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has promoted Regina Render and Lisa Layer as assistant executive director.

Render has been with the Guild since 2001 as a special assignments executive focusing on diversity, contracts and immigration issues. In her new role, she will serve as the guild‘s chief diversity executive and liaison to city and county government.

Layer joined the DGA in 1997, serving in the Guild‘s Chicago office while she earned a master‘s degree in labor relations. In 2004, Layer transferred to L.A. headquarters as a field representative and was then promoted to special assignments executive in 2008.

Said DGA national executive director Jay D. Roth, “I am proud to announce the promotions of Regina Render and Lisa Layer, two long-time DGA executives who have served the membership with excellence and dedication.” 

“As assistant executive directors, they now take on additional duties as part of the DGA‘s senior management team. Regina and Lisa are skilled and capable executives and I know that they will do a great job in their new positions.”

Prior to her tenure at the DGA, Render was a senior representative at the L.A. County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, before becoming a business rep at the International Cinematographers Guild.

After graduating from NYU, Layer worked in New York City as an agent‘s assistant at ICM. In her new DGA position, she will work primarily in the areas of independent film and reality television.

MUMBAI: Avatar grossed much more in its second weekend than Fox International originally estimated. It added $152.8m to $413.2m after 12 days of release.

The result propelled the studios annual box-office tally to an industry-high of $2.28bn overtaking Warner Bros Pictures International‘s $2.24bn record from 2007.

The James Cameron film played on 14,686 screens in 108 markets. Combined with the $212.7m North American take Avatar has grossed $625.9m worldwide.

International business was driven by impressive holds and Fox‘s highest non-franchise launch in Japan on $14.5m from 749 screens, which was also Fox‘s fourth highest launch behind the Star Wars franchise. The 283 3D screen count comprised 38% of the entire count and accounted for 75% of box office.

In the second weekend, Avatar grossed a further $21.8m from 1,114 in France for $51.7m, $13.6m from 1,329 in Russia for $44.2m, $12.8m from 1,138 in Germany for $34.2m, $12.5m from 800 in Spain for $28.8m, and $6.5m from 735 in South Korea for $23.4m.

The film added $6.1m from 496 in the UK for $28.4m and $5.6m from 1,478 in Mexico for $15.1m and is now the second highest industry release of 2009 behind Ice Age 3.

Elsewhere, Avatar added $5.3m from 654 in Brazil after a 5 per cent climb to stand at $13.9m following the highest second weekend in industry history and added $2.8m from 71 in Hong Kong following a 44 per cent rise to stand at $6.9m.
It is the third highest Fox release ever and the seventh highest industry release after 11 days.

Latest figures put Taiwan at $7.8m, Holland at $6m, India at $10.7m, Sweden at $5.3m, Switzerland at $4.4m, and Singapore at $4.2m, where Avatar is the second highest Fox release ever behind Titanic on SGD 5.3m.

Avatar overtook Titanic in Malaysia to become the highest Fox release in history on $3.5m, and overtook Ice Age 3 in Indonesia to become Fox‘s biggest release ever on $2.9m.

The film grossed $3.367m on IMAX screens in a new IMAX record. So far Avatar has amassed $11.3m internationally and should overtake the $15m record within two or three days. The global IMAX take for Avatar stands at $35m.

MUMBAI: Halle Berry, Colin Farrell and Matthew Fox will present the 67th annual Golden Globe Awards on 17 January.

They join Jennifer Aniston, Mickey Rourke and Julia Roberts. Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, the names of whom were previously announced. 

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association‘s Cecil B. DeMille award to Martin Scorsese for his “outstanding contribution to the entertainment field.”

The show, hosted by Ricky Gervais, will be broadcast live on NBC.

The Annual Golden Globe Awards will be seen in more than 160 countries worldwide and is one of the few awards ceremonies that span both television and motion picture achievements.
 

MUMBAI: The American Film Institute (AFI) has hailed James Cameron‘s Avatar as one among the eight noteworthy events in the world of the moving image in 2009 as it released its list of the past year‘s “Moments of Significance” on Monday last.

The list is a companion piece to the AFI Movies of the Year and the AFI Television Programs of the Year, which were announced earlier in December. Ironically, Avatar failed to make the AFI‘s movies list.
However, in surveying the past year, the AFI described Avatar as a pioneering effort to unleash the human imagination, “a film that firmly established itself as a landmark in the way stories are told.”

The AFI added that Cameron‘s advances in CGI and 3D are “an achievement that will have profound effects on the future of the art form.”

According to the AFI, other film trends of note were “a dazzling explosion of noteworthy” animation and rising ticket grosses, which it said, demonstrated that “movies again prove a tonic for economic ails.”

Reviewing the TV scene, the AFI pointed to The Jay Leno Show at 10 p.m., which resulted in the loss of “five hours traditionally reserved for episodic drama”; it said that “reality television crossed a line in 2009 as the cultural craving for celebrity moved in a dangerous new direction,” as exemplified by the tales of the Balloon Boy and the Octomom and it also noted that the end of analog TV symbolically represented the changing TV landscape.

Rounding out the survey, the AFI remembered the death of Michael Jackson, saying that the subsequent documentary This Is It proved an unprecedented global eulogy for fans and friends of the King of Pop. And it also cited Twitter for creating “new and direct channels of communication for artists to speak directly to their fan base.”

The AFI will honour the creative ensembles behind each of its 10 movie and TV choices at a luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel on Jan. 15.
 

MUMBAI: Renowned Spanish producer Tedy Villalba died in Madrid after a long period of ill health. He was 74 years old.

Villalba worked with some of the biggest names in film, including Orson Welles and Stanley Kubrick, over a 60 year career. Beginning as a set designer and painter before moving into production, Villalba worked his way up from a production assistant to production manager and executive producer.

His list of films include David Lean‘s Dr Zhivago and Lawrence Of Arabia, John Huston‘s Moby Dick, Orson Welles‘ Mr Arkadin, Stanley Kubrick‘s Spartacus, Anthony Mann‘s El Cid and local director Pedro Almodovar‘s Dark Habits and What Have I Done To Deserve This?

Villalba was also director of the Film and Audiovisual School in Madrid for nearly ten years from 1994, and also served two terms as vice president of the Spanish Film Academy that earned him an honorary Goya in 2006.

MUMBAI: Indian films have marked a strong presence in the 21st edition of Palms Springs International Film festival-2010 which will be held from January 7 to 18 in Palm Springs, California.

Four Indian films are slated to be screened at the Palm Springs International Film Festival scheduled to be held in California from 7 to 18 January in Palm Springs, California.

The Man Beyond the Bridge directed by Laxmikant Shetgaonkar will be screened in the PSIFF‘s new voices/new visions competition that features works from debutant or first or second time filmmakers.

Dev D by Anurag Kashyap will be screened in the ‘World Cinema Now‘ section while Shyam Benegal‘s Well Done Abba will also be screened in the same section. Also finding a place is Thanks Maa directed by Irfan Kamal.

Of a total of 188 films from 70 countries that will be screened, other films in this competition are Angel at Sea (Belgium/Canada) directed by Frederic Durmont, Beautiful Kate by Rachelward, A Brand New Life (South Korea/France) directed by Ounie Lecomte, Brotherhood ( Denmark) by Nicolo Donato, Devil‘s Town ( Serbia) by Vladimir Paskaljevic, Heliopolis (Egypt) by Ahmad Abdalla, Huacho (Chile/France) by Alejandro Fernandez Almendras, La Pivellina (Austria/Italy) by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, Northless (Mexico/Spain) by Rigoberto Perezcano, Nothing Personal” (Netherlands/Ireland) directed by Urszula Antoniak, What You Don‘t See (Germany/Austria) directed by Wolfgang Fischer.

The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet‘s Struggle for Freedom by filmmakers Sonam and Sarin will be screened under ‘True Stories‘ section. With unusual intimate access, filmmakers Sonam and Sarin find a unique perspective on the Dalai Lama‘s trials and tribulations and follow him over an eventful year, including the 2008 protests in Tibet, the long march in India, the Beijing Olympics and the breakdown of talks with China.

While Michael Hoffman‘s The Last Station” will open the festival, The Lightkeepers by Daniel Adams will the festival.
 

MUMBAI: The Palm Springs International Film Festival that runs from 5 to 18 January will spotlight Australian cinema.

The program, ‘G‘Day USA: A Showcase of Australian Cinema‘, that will be shown on 9 January will showcase nine films of which a good number of star actors are known to American audiences.

Anthony LaPaglia, who was on the CBS drama Without a Trace stars in The Balibo Conspiracy about five Australian journalists who were murdered by the Indonesian army during the invasion of East Timor. 

Beautiful Kate that tells the story of a man who returns to his childhood home in the Australian outback to find out how his family‘s dysfunctional past stars actress Rachel Griffiths.

Last Ride stars Hugo Weaving as a man who takes his son on an unknown journey through the desert dealing with not just the elements but each other.

Weaving‘s Lord of the Rings co-star Miranda Otto stars in Blessed that is a film broken into two parts: one from the view of troubled children wandering the streets and then the point of view of the mothers who are struggling at home.

Hugh Jackman‘s wife Deborra-Lee Furness also stars.
The other films being shown include In My Father‘s Country, My Year Without Sex, Lucky Country, Samson & Delilah and the 1971 thriller Wake in Fright.