Getting much love from the independent film scene is director/screenwriter Michael Hoffman’s “The Last Station”. Based on the novel by Jay Parini, the film tells the story of author Leo Tolstoy in his final days, as those around him seek to ensure his legacy will live on and reach as many countrymen and women as possible.
Of course, the film would be dead in the water if a decent actor wasn’t on hand to portray the Russian literary icon and in steps Christopher Plummer. He did a remarkable job of being a bit on the mad side of eccentric and ably pulls off being the father figure of a social movement, as he was made out to be by those looking for regime change in the country at the time.
And from an acting perspective, the film holds up. James McAvoy always seems to pull off the idealist in his roles, Plummer and Helen Mirren create a believable marital relationship and Paul Giamatti is at his mustache twisting again. McAvoy’s entanglement with Kerry Condon made for a decent love story and helped to round out his character but also felt a little like an element of the novel shortened for feature film considerations (as did a number of other interpersonal relationships).
I even credit Hoffman for not worrying about getting his largely British cast to pull off Russian accents of any kind and just going with their natural speaking voices for the most part. While I will always prefer to get actual Russians to play Russians (unless it’s Sean Connery), it’s nice to not worry about people dropping their accents or just being terrible in their attempts (i.e. Mel Gibson in “Edge of Darkness“).
Warner Brothers with Legendary Films made official just now what everybody in Hollywood already knew: its upcoming slate will be filled with 3D titles. Its feature film Clash of the Titans will be released in 3D worldwide and simultaneously in 2D on Easter Weekend April 2nd. (Which prompted several studios to hastily move release dates so as not to compete.) Doing the visual effects work will be Prime Focus, which received an Oscar nod today for Avatar.
Additional titles in 2010 that will be released in 3D (in addition to 2D) include Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (July), Guardians of Ga’Hoole (September), and Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (November) -- and I'm told Part II as well at a later date
Said Dan Fellman, President, Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros Pictures, in the announcement, “We are experienced and have been successful in the conversion of 2D to 3D going back to such hits as The Polar Express, select scenes in Superman Returns and the last two Harry Potter films.” Fellman continued, “The results for Clash of the Titans will be presented onscreen with the highest-quality images available today.”
Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros Picture Group, said, “We’re excited about 3D and look forward to bringing a rich, involving visual experience to audiences around the world.”
Article by Nikki Finke
Sundance 2010 has come and gone. Some films have been picked up for distribution. Others are weighing whatever offers have been made to them. Many are still waiting for their fate to take its turn.
Among the notable films to have been picked up for distribution (which means you will get to see them in theaters at some point) are Debra Granik's beautifully nuanced, dark and intimate film "Winter's Bone"; Davis Guggenheim's important and comprehensive study of the ailing education system in the U.S., "Waiting for Superman"; Michael Winterbottom's controversially violent film, "The Killer Inside Me"; the wonderfully acted "Blue Valentine"; and the documentary in competition "Family Affair."
While the business of acquisition continues to rage on after Sundance, the coveted competition awards were handed out Saturday night at the Racket Club in Park City.
Kudos should go out to Woodstock's own Leon Gast, who received the best directing award in the documentary category for "Smash His Camera," and, if I may add, this was extremely well-deserved. The film is masterfully done and Gast is indeed one of the best documentary filmmakers of our time.
After thirty-one years of operation, the New York and Los Angeles offices of arthouse movie distributor Miramax Films closes their doors today - effectively the end of the company reports The Wrap.
The move has been inevitable since the Disney takeover and Weinstein brothers departure years ago. In recent years the Mouse House has shrunk the company further and further. With Rich Ross' regime change at Disney late last year, the last remnants of the once powerhouse mini-major have been swept away in the name of strengthening the Disney brand in the coming digital future.
Throughout the 90's and most of the 00's, the mini-major produced a string of award-winners and commercial success stories including "The Aviator," "Chicago," “Chocolat," "The Cider House Rules," "Clerks," "Cold Mountain," "The Crying Game," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," "The English Patient," "Gangs of New York," "Good Will Hunting," "The Hours," "Kill Bill," "The Others," "Pulp Fiction," "The Queen,” “Shakespeare in Love," "Swingers," "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Trainspotting”
Recently the Weinsteins have tried to buy the name of their former company back, but Disney has not responded. Disney chief Bob Iger has generally made it known he'd be willing to sell Miramax outright for around $1.5 billion - a price too rich in the still quiet economy.
Leave it to James Cameron to sink the Titanic.
His sci-fi opus Avatar sailed past The Dark Knightto become the second highest-grossing film of all time and is bearing down on his 1997 epic Titanic, which holds the title with $601 million.
Now it's no longer a question of whether Avatar surpasses Titanic, but by how much.
The picture racked up $36 million this weekend, keeping it atop the box office for the sixth straight week and lifting its total to $552 million, according to studio estimates from box office tracking firm Nielsen EDI.
The haul puts Avatar on track to eclipse Titanic by the weekend or early next week, defying analysts who said that increased studio competition would make it impossible for a movie to beat Titanic.
But Cameron is churning up the box office the same way he did 12 years ago: by releasing his movie over Christmas and pounding the weaker films that tend to populate winter. While it's unlikely this film can stay No. 1 for four months as Titanic did, Avatar is showing striking similarities to its predecessor.
Consider: The most Avatar's ticket sales have fallen in one week is 26%, unheard of for a commercial Hollywood film not named Titanic. And Avatar set another record for most ticket sales in its sixth week of release, beating Titanic's $25 million.
Internationally, the film is even stronger. Avatar has taken in $1.81 billion worldwide, and will beat Titanic's record of $1.84 billion this week.
"We're getting people who are seeing it multiple times, of course," says Chris Aronson of 20th Century Fox, which released the movie. "But there are still people who haven't seen it yet and plan to. There's more business to do."
Marc Webb has officially signed on to direct the next "Spider-Man" film.
Webb has agreed to direct the first film but has anoption for at least two more.
Finding a director after Sam Raimi and Sony Pictures parted ways was the first major obstacle.
Now that Webb has signed on all eyes will focus on casting. No word on who will play the webslinger.
The newest "Spider-Man" film comes with a much smaller budget. Initial production estimates report a modest $80 million dollar budget for the first film. In comparison, the first "Spider-Man" film (2002) cost $140 million and the third film cost $260 million.
A smaller budget usually means the cast will be mostly unknowns.
The new "Spider-Man" storyline will steer away from the classic comics of the 60's and rely more on the recent "Ultimate Spider-Man" run by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley.
The success of "Avatar" in 3D has prompted George Lucas to consider doing the same 
with "Star Wars".
At the HBO Golden Globes party on Sunday Lucas was asked about "Avatar". Lucas replied, "I liked it. I make movies like that, I can appreciate what James Cameron went through to do it. I'm happy it's so successful, and worked very well in 3D. Haven't been a big fan of 3D, but that movie definitely improves in (the field of) 3D".
Lucas admits to already looking at ways to turn his "Star Wars" franchise into 3D. "We've been looking for years and years and years of trying to take 'Star Wars' and put it in 3D. But, the technology hasn't been there. We've been struggling with it, but I think this will be a new impetus to make that happen."
The New Wave has just lost its father, and France a rigorous observer of his time whose films represented better than most what it may mean to be French. Ten to 15 years older than the Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol, Louis Malle and François Truffaut, whom he would hire to write alongside him in the soon mythical Les Cahiers du Cinéma, Eric Rohmer, who died yesterday in his 90th year in Paris, had invented a completely distinct art form.
A graduate in classics and German and until the mid-1950s a professor of literature in provincial France, he always followed Rimbaud's mantra: "One must be absolutely modern."
In cinema, as a critic turned director (whose first film was made at the age of 39 in 1959), to him the poet's motto meant that one should be independent; not only intellectually and creatively but most importantly, free from financial imperatives and political pressure.
With the 18-year-old cinephile Barbet Schroeder, he founded Films du Losange, a production company which went on financing most of the 25 films he directed in his 50-year film career. His films would cost very little to make, apart from his most recent period piece fantasies such as The Lady and The Duke.
He relied on young or non-professional actors, and a small crew of faithful colleagues and friends. Resolutely modern, he would, before most film-makers, explore the technical possibilities of the medium, experimenting in the late 1970s with video, and later, with homemade 3D effects.
By Mike Fleming
Sony Pictures decided today to reboot the Spider-Man franchise after franchise director Sam Raimi pulled out of Spider-Man 4 because he felt he couldn't make its summer release date and keep the film's creative integrity. This means that Raimi and the cast including star Tobey Maguire are out. There will be no Spider-Man 4. Instead, Mike Fleming is told, the studio will focus on a Summer 2012 reboot from a script by Jamie Vanderbilt with a new director and a new cast. All this took place today at meeting on the lot today. An official Sony Pictures news release about it is expected out now (see below).
My sources tell me that Raimi told Sony Pictures: "I can't make your date. I can't go forward creatively." And, so, once he said "That's it", Sony Pictures co-chairman Pascal and Columbia Pictures' Matt Tolmach decided they didn't want to replace him and instead chose to reboot the franchise. Insiders also tell me that Tobey Maguire heard the news in a phone call with Amy today. I'm told Tobey wasn't upset. "He's made 3 great Spider-Man movies. He's done really well. But he's the kind of guy who, if Sam wanted to go forward, would have been there for Sam and the studio. Absolutely."
Mike Fleming has heard that, from Spidey, Raimi could move to World Of Warcraft, or to The Given Day, that terrific novel by Dennis Lehane, author of Shutter Island and Mystic River. Both are worthy projects, but World Of Warcraft is a huge franchise.
"Spider-Man 4" seems to be in a tangled web of uncertainty. 
Sony Pictures and director Sam Raimi are at odds about the direction to go with the villains for the fourth installment in the "Spider-Man" franchise.
The delay in the scheduled spring production start raises concerns about the film making its May 2011 release date.
The criminal Vulture is Raimi's pick for the primary antagonist in the film, however, the studio disagrees.
Sony Pictures would like a different villain and a romantic sub-plot with the Black Cat.
The delay in script approval and production will most likely leave a highly valuable opening date in the first weekend of the Summer. "Thor" could move it's release date up two weeks to fill the spot.