ITV

Category: Movies

  • Up In The Air named best film by NBOR

    MUMBAI: Jason Reitman‘s Up In The Air has been named the National Board Of Review‘s (NBOR) 2009 Best Film Of The Year.


    The film also earned a best actor award for George Clooney as well as best supporting actress award for Anna Kendrick and adapted screenplay for Reitman and Sheldon Turner.


    While Clint Eastwood was named best director for Invictus, Carey Mulligan won best actress award for An Education.
    Woody Harrelson took best supporting actor for The Messenger and Jacques Audiard‘s A Prophet was named best foreign-language film.


    In two of the most acclaimed performances of the year, Jeremy Renner won best breakthrough performance by an actor in The Hurt Locker and Gabourey Sidibe took the corresponding actress honour for Precious. Both are likely to receive Academy Awards attention.


    The Cove was named best documentary and Up best animated feature, while best ensemble cast went to It‘s Complicated. The key cast includes Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinski and Rita Wilson.


    The Spotlight award best directorial debut went to Duncan Jones for Moon, Oren Moverman for The Messenger, and Marc Webb for 500 Days Of Summer.

  • Optimum increases 2010 slate with nine acquisitions

    MUMBAI: Distribution firm Optimum Releasing has increased its slate with nine acquisitions including romantic comedy Leap Year, Bong Joon-ho‘s Cannes title Mother and Source Code, the second film from British director Duncan Jones.


    The distributor acquired Leap Year, which stars Amy Adams, and The Tourist, which is based on the Jerome Salle‘s film Anthony Zimmer and will star Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, through parent company StudioCanal‘s deal with Spyglass Entertainment.


    Optimum has also acquired the rights to Duncan Jones‘s sci-fi project Source Code. The film, the first to emerged from StudioCanal‘s deal with Vendome Pictures, will begin principal photography in March. It will star Jake Gyllenhaal as a man forced to relive a train bombing through a stranger‘s eye to figure out who is responsible.


    It has also bought Daniel Monzon‘s Spanish action drama Cell 211 from CJ Entertainment that has already been a major hit in Spain. The film stars Carlos Bardem, Luis Tosar and Marta Etrua and tells the story of a two men of different sides of a prison riot.


    Having handled his previous two films, Optimum says it is particularly pleased to have “snared” the rights to Bong‘s Mother, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes this year. It follows a widow trying to clear her handicapped son‘s name. Optimum acquired the film from CJ Entertainment.


    It will also handle the release Australian horror flick, The Loved Ones, which won the Midnight Madness Audience Award at this year‘s Toronto Film Festival. It is director Sean Byrne‘s debut film and is about a 17 year old student who is kidnapped by a fellow student and her father.


    Optimum has also acquired Darren Bousman‘s Mother‘s Day, which is currently in production. Starring Rebecca De Mornay and Shawn Ashmore, it follows sadistic members of a villainous family who return to their childhood home to terrorize its new owners.
     

  • Jakarta International Film Festival Kicks Off this Weekend

    MUMBAI: The annual Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest) now in its 11th year is set to kick off this weekend.


    Highlights from this year‘s festival are plentiful, including the fact that this is the first time ever that the open night film will be Indonesian itself. The film, Sang Pemimpi (The Dreamers), is the sequel to Indonesia‘s biggest box-office hit of all time, Laskar Pelangi (The Rainbrow Troops) that was released last year.


    The film festival will close with an invitation-only screening of “New York, I Love You.” 


    JiFFest will also include a Madani Film Festival, which will focus on films that have an Islamic theme. Interestingly, the Swiss Embassy will be doing some damage control with a Swiss Design in Hollywood Exhibition Master Class.


    The Congeniality award will go to Balibo, an Australian film depicting the murder of the Balibo 5, a group of journalists who were allegedly killed by the Indonesian military during the country‘s 1975 invasion of East Timor.

  • Cinematography Bill to be tabled in Parliament in 2010: Censor Chief

    MUMBAI: Censor Board chairperson Sharmila Tagore has said that a draft cinematography bill has been given to the Ministry for Information and Broadcasting for approval.
    The bill has the provision that there should be explanation if the film contains explicit language, violence or sex, besides mentioning the certification on the posters.


    However, Tagore said that the bill was not likely to be placed in Parliament before next year.


    Speaking on the sidelines of the International Film Festival in Goa, Tagore clarified,”Yes, our draft is with the Ministry, we have given the amended draft and it has been with the Ministry for some time.


    “They said that it will go to the Parliament in the Winter Session, but hopefully in the next session the draft will be placed in the Parliament.”


    A six-member committee was formed seven years ago to suggest changes to the Cinematography Act, 1952.


    Meanwhile, I&B officials are reportedly meeting in New Delhi on 5 December to discuss matters of piracy, certification and other issues.

  • UTV to release Harishchandrachi Factory on 22 January

    MUMBAI: After winning hearts of audiences abroad at various film festivals, Harishchandrachi Factory is set for its all-India release on 22 January.


    UTV Motion Pictures has taken the distribution rights for the movie that is co-produced by Paprika Media and Mayasabha Production.


    Harishchandrachi Factory is India‘s official entry at the 82nd Academy Awards and has been co-produced.


    Says UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur, “Harishchandrachi Factory is a film which has received incredible appreciation from around the world. We are promoting the film aggressively at the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs, and we hope to give it the best chance possible to receive the global acclaim it richly deserves. Indian audiences will get to watch the film on 22 January and we are confident its appeal will reach across all audiences irrespective of language.”


    Harishchandrachi Factory is Paresh Mokashi‘s directorial debut and stars extremely talented actors such as Nandu Madhav, Vibhawari Deshpande, Mohit Gokhale, Atharve Karve, Dilip Joglekar, Ketan Karande, Dhiresh Joshi, Sandip Pathak, Vaibhav Mangle, Ganesh Mayekar, Ambarish Deshpande, Pravin Tarde, Mayur Khandge, Gary Richardson and Gary Tanton.


    UTV has mounted an aggressive awards campaign for the film. In addition to the Academy Awards, Harishchandrachi Factory is also competing at the Golden Globes and the British Academy (BAFTA) awards.

  • Madholal Keep Walking to show at Asian Film Festival

    MUMBAI: Madholal Keep Walking (A song of a common man), a Hindi feature film, written and directed by Jai Tank, has been nominated for the 8th Third Eye Asian Film Festival (AFF) to be held in Mumbai from 4 December.


    Over 100 feature and short films from 24 countries like Turkey and Japan to name a few are participating in this week- long fest.


    Madholal is not like the other films which are only based on the train blast. The focus is on the resilience of the human spirit and the manner in which Madholal comes to terms with his fate. 


    The film features Subrat Dutta as Madholal Dubey, a Kolkata-based theatre actor who won the Best Actor award in the 8th Osian Cinefan Festival 2006 for the Bengali film Bibar (Calcutta unabashed).


    His last Bengali movie Chaturanga (four chapters) was shown in more than 50 film festivals.


    The aim of the Asian Film Festival is to bridge the gap between the Asian Film fraternities and promote Asian cinema

  • Nine, Rocket Singh and Avatar to grace Dubai Film Festival

    MUMBAI: Rob Marshall‘s musical film Nine will open the 6th Dubai International Film Festival on 9 December.


    The Indian Cinema gala will be the world premiere of Yash Raj Film‘s Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, starring Ranbir Kapoor will be premiered at the festival.


    The festival‘s Arabian Nights strand will open with the world premiere of Ali F Mostafa‘s City of Life. The film stars Alexandra Maria Lara, Sonu Sood, Saoud Al Ka‘abi, Yassin Alsaman and Jason Flemming.


    Rodrigo Garcia‘s drama Mother and Child, Alain Monne‘s Cartagena will open the festival‘s special focus on France.
    The festival will close on 15 December with James Cameron‘s 3D epic Avatar.


    The competition programme also includes two films from India that wiil also have their world premiere here – Subramania Shiva‘s Yogi and Shyam Benegal‘s Well Done Abba.


    China has one entry in Jian Wenli‘s Lan. Japan‘s Lost Paradise in Toyko, directed by Kazuya Shiraishi happens to be the final entry.

  • Palm Springs to honour Helen Mirren with career award

    MUMBAI: Helen Mirren will receive the 21stPalm Springs International Film Festival‘s Career Achievement Award on 5 January.


    Mirren won the Oscar for The Queen in 2007 and picked up an Indie Spirit lead actress nomination on 1 December for her role as Sofya Tolstoy opposite Christopher Plummer in The Last Station.


    Said festival chairman Harold Matzner, “Mirren is one of the most outstanding actresses of her generation and she delivers another fine performance in The Last Station.” 


    Mirren‘s other films include The Long Good Friday, The Madness Of King George, Gosford Park, Excalibur, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover and upcoming projects such as Brighton Rock, Love Ranch, The Debtand The Tempest.


    The festival will go on till 18 January.

  • Johnny Depp to receive achievement award at Bahamas fest

    MUMBAI: Johnny Depp will be honoured with the career achievement award at the Bahamas International Film Festival later this month.


    Sean Connery will present the award during the event that runs from 10 to 17 December.


    “We are proud of Depp‘s remarkable achievements and the great contributions he has made in all walks of life,” Bahamas Minister Of Tourism, Minister Vincent Vanderpool Wallace said.


    “We are glad this prestigious award and tribute is going to almost one of our own,” he added.
     

  • Spanish distributor DeaPlaneta picks up four US titles

    MUMBAI: Leading Spanish distributor DeaPlaneta has acquired Spanish rights of Robert Luketic‘s Killers and How To Make Love To An Englishman.


    Other films include Gary Mckendry‘s thriller The Killer Elite, Chuck Russell‘s $70m 3D film Arabian Nights and How To Make Love To An Englishman.


    The Spanish distributor also picked up Robert Luketic‘s action comedy Killers from Mandate Pictures.