ITV

Category: Movies

  • Michael Jackson cremated at private ceremony


    MUMBAI: More than two months after his death, Michael Jackson was buried at a private ceremony in the presence of 200 family and friends yesterday night.


    It was a simple and tasteful affair which saw the singer‘s mother Katherine Jackson was seen overcome with grief.


    As Jackson‘s brothers carried his golden casket from an outdoor seating area into the mausoleum, Mrs. Jackson had to turn backwards.


    Jackson‘s golden coffin, draped in flowers with a crown perched on top had not been put into the vault by the time the mourners left. Celebrities had come in much earlier than 7 pm when the outdoor service was scheduled to begin.


    Parents Joe and Katherine Jackson and the singer‘s children, 12-year-old Prince Michael, 10-year-old Paris Michael and 7-year-old Prince Michael II were all seated in the front rows for the service.


    Nearly 435 media credentials were issued to reporters and film crews who remained at a distance from the service.

  • Liam Neeson not to attend Toronto Film Fest

    MUMBAI: Irish actor Liam Neeson will not to attend the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival for the world premiere of his new film Chloe, it is understood.
    Festival organizers had previously announced that the actor would grace the awards but Neeson is said to be busy filming The A-Team in Vancouver and the scheduling of the shoot wouldn‘t allow him to attend the fest.

    But some speculate it‘s the actor‘s


    grief that‘s keeping him from traveling to Toronto. Neeson was filming Chloe in the city when his wife, Natasha Richardson suffered a head injury in a ski accident in Montreal last March. Neeson left the set to be by bedside his wife in the hospital in New York where she succumbed to her injuries.

    The film‘s co-stars Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfriend are expected to attend the festival.

  • Venice Film Festival kicks of in style

    MUMBAI: The Venice Film Festival that began last Wednesday will premiere Michael Moore‘s documentary on the U.S. economic meltdown and a drama starring Matt Damon

    Capitalism: A Love Story sees Michael Moore take on the corporate bosses with his trademark combative style, bringing the hot topic of economic gloom to the picturesque Lido waterfront while The Informant! directed by Steven Soderbergh featuring Matt Damon as a real-life crooked executive who exposed his company‘s price-fixing tactics, will be screened outside of competition.


    This year‘s jury is headed by Ang Lee.


    As usual, the film fest promises a global line-up with Egypt‘s The Traveller featuring Omar Sharif. Films from China, Austria, Israel, Japan, France, Hong Kong, Germany and Italy are also likely to be featured at the festival.


    The festival will run till 12 September.

  • Dark Film’s Husk – a horror film

    MUMBAI: Best known for playing the teenage Dexter in Showtime‘s Dexter, Devon Graye, along with CJ Thomason and Wes Chatham will star in Husk a horror film from After Dark Films.

    The story sees five friends on a weekend trip who get stranded in isolated farmland when crows attack their SUV. They soon realize that the cornfields are inhabited by re-animated human scarecrows who reproduce by killing and force their undead victims to join their ranks.


    Brett Simmons has also written the script is directing the project based on Simmons‘ short film.


    While Graye plays the head of the group, Thomason plays the blue-collar guy and Chatham is the jockey.


    The film has been produced by Courtney Solomon, Stephanie Caleb, Moshe Diamant and Limor Diamant for After Dark Films.

  • Adlabs Films to be rebranded as Reliance Mediaworks

    MUMBAI: After acquiring Adlabs Films Limited (Adlabs) in 2005, Anil Ambani is now changing the name of the company to Reliance MediaWorks Limited.

    The company said the original name, Adlabs Films, was reflective of the company‘s initial business as a film processing laboratory. But the company has now seen growth in the scale of its operations in the areas of exhibition, film and media services and television software.


    Adlabs Films Chief Executive Officer Anil Arjun says, “The name Reliance MediaWorks Limited more accurately reflects our identity as a diversified film and media services company with a global presence. We are privileged to draw upon the international recognition of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group brand, to further strengthen our leadership position in the media and entertainment business.”


    Interestingly, the brand Adlabs is with Manmohan Shetty, the founder of Adlabs Films who sold out to Reliance.


    Adlabs has entered new segments of the film production value chain including digital post-production, digital cinema mastering, studios/shooting floors, film and TV equipment rentals, visual effects and image enhancement, film restoration BPO and other value added services.

  • Ultra to release ‘Twin Mission’ on 11 September

    MUMBAI: Ultra is set to release Twin Mission on 11 September in India. The film will also see a simultaneous release in Hindi under the name, Judwon Ki Jung.

    Twins Mission is a 2007 Hong Kong martial arts-action-comedy film directed by action choreographer Kong Tao-Hoi and starring Wu Jing,Gillian Chung, Charlene Choi and Sammo Hung among others. The film is a bit of a spoof of the popularity and success of the Twins and leaves the audience with a cliffhanger ending.


    Ultra is also planning to release the film in Tamil and Telugu in the near future.

  • Michel Moore in fray for Venice’s Golden Lion award

    MUMBAI: This year the Venice,Film Festival has an impressive line up of films vieng for the Golden Lion prize.Filmmaker Michael Moore is using the fest to premiere his newest film Capitalism: A Love Story that centers around the US economic meltdown.

    Another hugely anticipated film is A Single Man directed by Tom Ford. It will star Colin Firth and Julianne Moore in the lead.

    Film personalities like Nicolas Cage, George Clooney, Oliver Stone, Charlize Theron, Eva Mendes, Richard Gere and Sylvester Stallone are expected to attend the festival which ends on 12 September.

  • Two film scribes killed in Manila

    MUMBAI: Two film journos were killed in their house on the outskirts of Manila on Tuesday night.

    Filipino-Canadian critic Alexis Tioseco and his partner Nika Bohinc, a Slovenian freelance writer were shot dead by one of three gunmen who burst into their home in Quezon City, Manila,


    Tioseco who was founder of Criticine.com, a website on Southeast Asian cinema was a regular contributor to publications including the Philippine Star, Screen International, Senses of Cinema and Osian‘s Cinema.


    Bohinc, who lived between Slovenia and Manila, was editor in chief of Ekran film magazine.


    “Philippine cinema has lost its most passionate champion, and I have lost two friends. Words cannot express the anger I feel at the injustice of it all,” said Raymond Phathanavirangoon, a programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival.


    Phathanavirangoon also said that the Toronto screenings of Filipino director Raya Martin‘s Independencia would be dedicated to the memory of the journalists.

  • Apple’s history now a documentary

    MUMBAI: Welcome to Macintosh, a documentary highlighting Apple‘s history and fan following is now available as a download on the iTunes movie store as well as on DVD.

    Welcome to Macintosh is a feature-length documentary that explores the many ways Apple Inc. has changed the world. Notable Apple personalities appearing in the film include Andy Hertzfeld, co-creator of the original Macintosh, Guy Kawasaki, long time Mac evangelist and Leander Kahney, author of the book
    ‘Cult of Mac‘.


    “The goal was to make a film that you can show to anyone, even someone that has never used a computer, and have them understand why so many people love Macintosh,” says Rob Baca, one of the film‘s co-directors.


    It is learnt that thousands of DVDs have been sold and more are on order. That, along with thousands of views via the Netflix Instant Queue in the first week of release.

  • Mehcad Brooks in ABC’s The Deep End

    MUMBAI: “True Blood” co-star Mehcad Brooks who featured in True Blood has been included in the cast of ABC‘s legal drama The Deep End.

    The show that is set in a Los.Angeles law firm has Brooks playing Malcolm Bennet.


    Incidentally, Benedict Talley was introduced in the same role in the first-season finale.


    Brooks, also co-starred in ABC‘s Desperate Housewives.