ITV

Category: International

  • Foster likely to direct Gibson in ‘The Beaver’

    MUMBAI: Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson are in talks to join the indie comedy The Beaver about a man who wears a beaver puppet on his hand that he treats as a real person.

    Moreover, Foster, who had last directed Home for the Holidays in 1995, is certain to direct this film as well. The script of the film has been written by first-time writer Kyle Killen.


    Anonymous Content, the company that is developing the project, has been trying to get this pushed into production quickly but has been struggling to find the right selection of actors and director.


    They‘re eager to make the movie



    this year and could finance it independently if no studio picks it up.


  • Lynn Shelton’s ‘Humpday’ in theatres

    MUMBAI: Lyn Shelton‘s Sundance smash Humpday released last weekend after generating strong early notices for its compelling story.

    Magnolia picked up the film shortly after its world premiere screening and it‘s been hopping across the globe since then.


    Humpday has since gone to numerous festivals and events including Cannes, Edinburgh, Provincetown, Seattle, Los Angeles, and recently Rooftop Films in New York City, before settling down into the upcoming theatrical release.


    It was heard that Shelton‘s idea for Humpday emerged from a conversation she had with fellow filmmaker Joe Swanberg who was apparently gushing about some of the gay films he‘d seen at Seattle‘s Hump fest.


    Similarly in Humpday, the two guys (filmmaker and actors Duplass and Leonard) decide to shoot and enter their straight-gay porn film in the Seattle festival. As a result of the experience, Sheldon naturally, has a lot to say about making quality films that don‘t break the bank.

  • Lindsay Lohan floats production company

    MUMBAI: Lindsay Lohan and her fashion-line partner are hoping to create some unforgettable TV and movie content after floating a new production company.

    Lohan and Kristi Kaylor, who runs Lohan‘s 6126 brand, named for Marilyn Monroe‘s birthday, have created Unforgettable Prods.


    The duo is developing several projects including a TV show called Faux Real described as ‘Entourage‘ for the fashion world.


    There‘s also a game show involving dating tentatively called That‘s What Friends Are For and a “docu-cause” TV show the pair will produce in conjunction with a charitable organisation.


    Kaylor said they‘re also in the midst of optioning a couple of books — one for film and the other for TV.


    Before her career in fashion, Kaylor was senior vp of Pacific Motion Pictures and had a producing deal with Longbow Prods. In 1999, she partnered with Jennifer Aniston for Voxxy, an online destination for girls that eventually was turned into a magazine catalog and sold.

  • Gibson to star in Foster film

    MUMBAI: Mel Gibson is in talks to play the lead role in a film directed by Jodie Foster.

    Foster will also co-star in The Beaver the story of which is about a depressed man who finds solace in his beaver hand-puppet.


    Earlier both of them starred together in the 1994 comedy Maverick.


    The film will mark Gibson‘s second acting role since 2003. Foster has previously directed 1991‘s Little Man Tate and Home for the Holidays in 1995.


    Producers Steve Golin and Keith Redmon are hoping to start filming in September in New York. The Beaver previously attracted the attention of a number of high-profile names in Hollywood, including director Jay Roach and actors Steve Carrell and Jim Carrey.

  • Sneak peek of Korean vampire tale ‘Thirst’ at HIFF

    MUMBAI: While the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) prepares for its 29th edition in mid-October, the Festival is presenting a special advance screening of Park Chan-Wook‘s “scandalous vampire melodrama Thirst.

    This special screening, provided with the courtesy of Focus Features, is open to current HIFF Ohana members only. The HIFF Ohana screening will take place on 26 July at Regal Dole Cannery Stadium 18 theatres.


    As a rare treat to local cineastes and Korean film lovers, director Park will be in attendance to introduce the movie.


    In addition, HIFF will have the honour to present Park with the ‘Vision In Film‘ Award, an award that is given at the Festival once in two years, honouring directors who have contributed to the global film oeuvre. Past recipients have been Ang Lee and Zhang Yimou.


    Thirst is scheduled to open in local theatres on 14 August.

  • Long Island International Film Expo on in Bellmore

    MUMBAI: The 12th Annual Long Island International Film Expo (LIIFE) that starts this week will feature Independent films and shorts both from Long Island and around the globe will go underway at the Bellmore Movies (222 Pettit Avenue, Bellmore) from 9 – 19 July. It will also feature panels, a cheese and wine reception and an award ceremony.

    “These are some of the best independent films in the world,” says director of the Nassau County Film Office, Debra Markowitz. “This year, the selected films to be screened come from 23 different countries and include 146 shorts and 24 feature-length films, she said.


    The Nassau County Film Commission and the Long Island Film/TV Foundation, an organisation set-up to help promote Long Island film production, were both involved in putting LIIFE together as well.


    With each passing year LIIFE has grown from screening just 40 films and has presented up to 170. This year some of the standouts include Tapped, a documentary about the bottled water business and Hope Deferred, a documentary about the importance of stem-cell research.


    Among other must-see flicks is a comedy about men who are in the business of making wedding videos called The Video Guys. The movie was written and directed by Dan Brennan and has already won numerous technical awards.


    Then there is Night for Day, a vampire movie, thriller and love story rolled into one. It is written, directed and produced by Russ Camarda who also acts in the film. Despite the differences in mood and genre, these films were both shot entirely on Long Island, directed by native Long Islanders, and share a similar cast of actors.


    A technical award ceremony is scheduled for 17 July as well as a closing and a star-studded award ceremony on 19 July. Among those honoured will be actress Nikki Blonsky, (of Hairspray fame) who will be receiving the Creative Achievement Award.


  • Disney sets up first ever 3D panel

    MUMBAI: Disney is dishing out what it‘s calling Comic-Con‘s first ever 3D panel, unleashing footage from Disney‘s A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland and Tron.

    Avatar director James Cameron, Carol‘s Robert Zemeckis and Alice director Tim Burton will make the trek to the Con for the first time. Producers Sean Bailey and Steve Lisberger will represent Tron.


    The two panels, set for 23 July in the cavernous Hall H of the San Diego Convention Center, will mark the first time any panel has screened reels in 3D, highlighting just how important that slice of the industry has become.


    Apart from the high-level interest in Avatar and Tron Hall H might also see a repeat of last year‘s female fan frenzy with Summit‘s presentation of New Moon. In the programme lineup unveiled Thursday by Comic-Con International, the Twilight sequel panel takes place after the Avatar session.


    All those eye-popping sizzle reels will require retrofitting to be done in the hall, including work on the projection system and the screen. Thousands of pairs of 3D glasses also will be needed. Fox and Disney are sharing the costs. It is unclear whether Bold and Comic-Con are participating in the cost-sharing.

  • Michael Moore documentary set for October release

    In a press release Moore said that his latest feature will explore the impact that corporate dominance and out-of-control profit motives have on the lives of Americans and citizens of the world. “It will be the perfect date movie,” said Moore.


    “It‘s got it all-lust, passion, romance, and 14,000 jobs being eliminated every day. It‘s a forbidden love, one that dare not speak its name. Heck, let‘s just say it: It‘s Capitalism.”


    Moore‘s last release was Slacker Uprising, which followed Sicko, about the health-care system in the US; Fahrenheit 9/11, about the Bush administration; and Bowling for Columbine, for which he won an Academy Award.

  • French Senate adopts revised piracy bill

    MUMBAI: The French Senate has adopted a revised version of the country‘s controversial anti-piracy law, after a provision in the original edition was struck down for being unconstitutional.

    Last month, the Constitutional Council nixed the provision in the Creation and Internet bill that enabled a new state agency, HADOPI to cut off the web access of anyone who, after two warnings, continued to download illegal content.


    France‘s highest legal body ruled that only a judge could bar an individual‘s access to the Internet.


    The revamped version of the bill that passed today now puts the fate of three-time offenders in the hands of a judge. The judge can levy a fine of up 300,000 euros or a two-year jail sentence.


  • Josh Lucas in ‘In Death In Love’

    MUMBAI: After playing a creepy, violent con man who mistreats women in his new film, Josh Lucas wants to find a much “lighter tone in his love life”.

    In Death In Love, the actor plays a sick misogynist who treats women terribly, but he insists the dark role gave him fresh perspective when it comes to his romance with actress Rachel McAdams.


    “It made me want a different kind of love in my life, that‘s for sure. It made me absolutely not want to ever feel this level of pain that I was willing to do to myself and other people for the character. It made me want to stay away from the kind of relationship where you‘re in a cycle of destruction with each other,” he says.