MUMBAI: The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences opened its open-air theatre in Hollywood on May 19 in the presence of Academy president Tom Sherak and CEO Dawn Hudson with a screening of the Kevin Kostner-starrer Field of Dreams.
The new facility, located in the heart of Hollywood consists of a public-access park, where the Academy will hold a 10-week screening series titled Oscars Outdoors throughout the summer. “It took us almost two and a half years to all agree this was a good idea. Sometimes you have to wait for good things,” Sherak has been quoted to have said.
“We hope Academy members will come, but it was built for the community, it was built for the city of L.A., and it was built for tourists around the world,” he added.
Classic PG-13 films will be shown on Friday nights, while family-oriented affair (think Goonies) will be screened on Saturday nights. Admission will range from $3-$5.
Tag: Hollywood
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Academy opens open-air theatre
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The Avengers collects Rs 246.7 mn in first week
MUMBAI: Having collected Rs 140 million in its opening weekend, Marvel Studio’s The Avengers grew through the week to net Rs 246.7million from its first week run, according to figures provided by UTV Motion Pictures.
UTV Motion Pictures, part of Walt Disney, is distributing the film in India.
With this, The Avengers has had an all-time third biggest opening for any Hollywood film in India and is the biggest Disney-Marvel movie in India ever.
Incidentally, the film released in approximately 800 screens in English and was dubbed in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil.
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Korean film fest in Hollywood from 23 June
MUMBAI: The first ever Look East: Korean Film Festival will take place on 23 and 24 June in Hollywood with a weekend of notable Korean film talent.
Headed by producer Martha Chang, the fest will take advantage of the fact that Los Angeles has the largest population of people of Korean descent outside Korea. “Korea and its influences, whether it be in movies, food or music, seems to be everywhere,” said Chang.
Directors whose work will screen at the event include Kwon Taek Im, Jee-woon Kim and Chang-dong Lee while champion of Korean cinema Pierre Rissient will be recognized for his contributions to Asian films.
As part of the celebration, stars from Korea including actors Byung-hun Lee and Sung-ki Ahn will cast their hand and footprints at Grauman‘s Chinese Theatre where screenings will also be held.
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It’s Chaplin’s birthday today
MUMBAI: Today is Charlie Chaplin‘s birthday. He would have been 123 today. Best known for his role as The Tramp, Chaplin wrote, directed and starred in a series of silent films that commented on the politics, economy and social structure of the day through slapstick, mime and comedy.
Born in Britain in 1889, Chaplin was born in Britain in 1889 and moved to Hollywood in 1910 to make a celluloid career. He became one of the most influential artistes of his time with films such as The Kid, City Lights, Modern Times, The Gold Rush and The Great Dictator, his only ‘talking‘ film.
In 1919 he founded United Artists with fellow stars Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith all of whom were seeking to escape the growing power consolidation of film distributors and financiers in Hollywood.
Chaplin was a famous ladies‘ man, marrying four times. His fourth wife was Oona, daughter of American playwright Eugene O‘Neill. Of his twelve children, daughter Geraldine is a well known and acclaimed actress in her own right.
Chaplin was made a Knight Commander of the British Empire in 1975. He was also given a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1970. He received three Academy Awards in his lifetime: Best Original Score for the movie Limelight, and two Honorary Awards.
Charlie Chaplin died in his sleep in Switzerland on 25 December 1977 at the age of 88. -
Annapurna Studios invests Rs 1 bn in 5 film studios
MUMBAI: In its hope to target Hollywood with cheaper labour and studio rentals in India, Annapurna Studios has added five state-of-the-art studios with an investment of Rs 1 billion.
Situated in an area measuring 10,00,000 square feet, this is one of Asia‘s most modern studios, offering concept-to-can facility.
Annapurna Studios managing director and popular Telugu actor Akkineni Nagarjuna said that the air conditioned studios with integrated facilities were on par with international standards. “We hope to attract Hollywood. We are already getting some inquiries,” he averred.
He said that Annapurna Studios would first target Bollywood, adding that very few studios in Mumbai had the kind of facilities which his studio offers.
Annapurna Studios, founded by his father and legendary actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao three decades ago, will throw open the new facility in a week. Nagarjuna expects a turnover of between Rs. 45 to
Rs. 50 crore by the end of 2013 from the new facility.Last year, the studio opened a film and media school that has so far trained 100 students in different fields of film, television and media.
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Bittoo Boss lacks in content and imagination
MUMBAI: Bittoo Boss is an attempt at making one of those cute movies that work once in a while. It is about an innocent and hard working but confident boy and a rich, with-it girl.
Pulkit Samrat is a videographer covering weddings. He has made a reputation for having a special knack for capturing the spirit and happiness around wedding events. So much so that muhurat would be overlooked if he was late to arrive at the venue.
Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak.
Director: Supavitra Babul.
Pulkit Samrat, Amita Pathak.But Pulkit Samrat is a hero right out of 1960s films, a simpleton and clean of heart. At one such wedding he sees Amita Pathak and is besotted by her.
Soon, he is chasing her instead of chasing work. But the taming of the shrew is not easy; she will have none of his charming ways until, finally, she sees a video shot by him and as a result reciprocates his love! Coming from a rich, high society family, however, she wants him to do something more worthy and attain monetary success. With intent to help him out, she uses her own clout at a local TV channel to get him work but only manages to get him humiliated.
Samrat, now determined to make it big, agrees to shoot porn films of honeymoon couples on the sly but the good soul that he is, he ends up doing something good for his targeted victims. Like in old fashioned films, in a couple of short sequences at the end, not only does the hero paint those who Amita Pathak called high society black but he also ends up with a lucrative contract and a fat cheque from Mohan Kapoor, whose daughter‘s honour he had protected.
Bittoo Boss is a low budget film but that does not justify its low in content and imagination story and treatment. Using a lot of local Punjabi flavour and accent, its standard of narration is cheap.
The idea of comedy in the film is half a dozen girls vying with each other to tell the hero, ‘meri kab lega!‘ Musically ‘Kaun kenda ..‘ is a hummable number. Photography is passable. Editing is slack. Dialogue is routine. In performance, Pukit Samrat is impressive this being his first film. Amita Pathak is not heroine material. Rest are okay.
Bittoo Boss is not the cute movie it thinks it is and will find it tough to sustain come day two after release.
Chhodo Kal Ki Baatein has limited appeal
Producers: Balasaheb Bhapkar, Shashank Bhapkar.
Director: Pramod Joshi.
Stars: Anupam Kher, Sachin Khedeekar, Mrinalini Kulkarni, Atul Parchure, Anajan Shrivastav, Suresh Menon, Vijay Parkar, Rajesh Vivek.Chhodo Kal Ki Baatein is a film on a contemporary businessman‘s life whose quest for success is never ending. So much so that he has no sense of priorities and neglects his family, his neighbours, and all social contact. There comes a time when his family revolts and he is left to fight the ghosts of his past acts.
The film is based on the Hollywood film Groundhog Day.
Sachin Khedekar is an IT professional who, having seen success, has got addicted to it and keeps on setting higher targets for him with every new success. For him the success is measured only in terms of the billions he can make. In the process, he has ignored his wife and a teenage daughter completely. His neighbours and their activities hardly exist for him except as a nuisance with their laughter club and cricket playing kids.
Giving priority to his business meet over his daughter‘s arangetram is the last straw as his wife and daughter walk out on him leaving him alone for the weekend; Sachin Khedekar starts the weekend with his friend, Atul Parchure, visiting bars but come night, he finds himself in a trap where every morning he wakes up to see the same newspaper and same sequence of events repeating while he is anxious to see Monday when he will sign a new Rs 1 billion deal. As his ordeal continues, Khedekar sets out to find a solution and meets Anupam Kher. With Anupam Kher, Khedekar learns to find happiness in life through various small things that he overlooked all the time.
The story is more personal and hence of limited appeal. Direction as well as the ambience is more Marathi-oriented since the film has also been made in Marathi. Performance wise, Sachin Khedekar is good while Anupam Kher excels.
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Kishore Lulla to get IFFLA honour
MUMBAI: The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) will honour Eros International group executive chairman Kishore Lulla and Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter and Alesia Weston at its 5th Annual Industry Leadership Awards (ILA).
Lulla has been instrumental in spearheading the growth of Eros International Group.
“It is an honor for IFFLA to bestow its highest accolades to such distinguished executives of the entertainment community. They were selected for their vision, leadership, and unique contributions to the educational, business, and creative arenas not only related to Indian cinema, but the film community as a whole,” IFFLA Board member Noel De Souza said.
“In addition we are thrilled that three of Hollywood’s most highly regarded talents join us for the 2012 Industry Seminar. We cannot wait for them to share their inspiring stories while enlightening and encouraging the fledgling filmmakers in our audience,” added De Souza.
Since the 1980‘s Lulla has expanded the company’s presence in the UK, USA, Europe, Middle East, Australia, Fiji, and other international markets. He is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and also a board member of the University of California, Los Angeles Film School (UCLA).
Commented Lulla, “The past few years we have witnessed an emerging popularity of Indian cinema outside of the Country. Eros is proud of its role in bringing this culture, its creativity, and energy to audiences worldwide.
“IFFLA has been a major component in elevating the presence of Indian cinema in the US, especially within the entertainment industry, and to be recognized by such a prestigious festival is truly an honour.”
The Awards will be presented on 12 April at the House of Blues Los Angeles.
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Rana Daggubati goes international with ‘A Momentary Lapse Of Reason’
MUMBAI: South hero Rana Daggubati will shortly make his debut in international cinema with Aditya Bhattacharya’s A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, being produced by Asif Noor, Aditya Bhattacharya and SunitaTati under the banner of Hyderabad-based Guru Films.
Raakh is the story of a young man, who, after witnessing the public humiliation and abuse of a female friend, vows to avenge her by going after the hoodlums.
Said Bhattacharya, “Rana perfectly fits the role as the scion of a wealthy Hyderabad Industrialist with real-estate ambitions in Los Angeles, who gets brutally sucked into that city‘s underbelly, setting off a chain of events that sucks him into a vortex of violence till he finds an unlikely ally and mentor in an over-the-hill LA Cop and the game changes.”
Though the cast of the film hasn‘t been disclosed yet, it will have an ensemble of Hollywood A-listers.
Daggubati, who shot to fame in Bollywood with Dum Maaro Dum, will soon be seen in Ram Gopal Varma‘s Department.
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UTV set to release ‘Avengers’ on 27 April
MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures is gearing up to release Marvel Studios’ The Avengers in India on 27 April.
The film has also been dubbed for Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
The Avengers will bring together the super hero team of Marvel Comics characters for the first time ever including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk and more as they are forced to band together to battle the biggest foe they‘ve ever faced.
The film has the much talked-about Hindi theme song Hello Andhero that was composed and performed by popular band Agnee and its lyrics were written by noted filmmaker Abbas Tyrewala.
Said UTV Motions Pictures senior VP Shikha Kapur, “The Avengers is the biggest Hollywood movie to be released this summer and we are delighted that Agnee and Abbas Tyrewala have given us a meaningful song like Hello Andhero – that celebrates the victory of good over the forces of evil.
The song has only added a new dimension to The Avengers that already boasts of having the biggest Hollywood star cast essaying supremely popular super heroes who come together for the first time to save the world.”
The film’s theme song and the music video will be widely marketed and will be available across various platforms.
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Jessica Biel in Hitchock film
MUMBAI: Hollywood actress Jessica Biel will play Vera Miles in Sacha Gervasi‘s Alfred Hitchock and the Making of Psycho.
The 30-year-old has joined an all-star cast including Scarlett Johansson as screen icon Janet Leigh and Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock in the film that will be directed by Gervasi, it is understood.
Miles played the role of Lila Kane, the sister of Janet‘s character in 1960‘s Psycho.
Psycho was nominated for four Oscars upon its release. Biel will next be seen in the remake of ‘Total Recall‘ opposite Colin Farrell.