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Pedro Almodovar films to be showcased on new Latino film channel

In an unprecedented move by a Spanish-language pay-television channel, Cine Latino has finalized deals with five of the world’s leading film distributors, acquiring more than 90 new titles that include some of the most critically-acclaimed and biggest box office hits of recent years from across the U.S., Latin America, Mexico, and Spain.

Cine Latino has acquired major film packages from Sony, Disney, MGM, Lionsgate, and Gussi — the largest movie distributor in Mexico.

In another unparalleled move, Cine Latino has assembled the largest showcase of Pedro Almodovar films ever to be presented on a Spanish-language service. Titles include ‘Volver’, a Golden Globe nominee and winner of Best Actress and Best Screenplay at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival starring Penelope Cruz; ‘La Mala Educacion’ (“Bad Education”), one of Almodovar’s most serious works starring Gael Garcia Bernal; ‘Todo Sobre Mi Madre’ (“All About My Mother”), an Oscar-winning film starring Penelope Cruz; ‘Matador’ (“The Bullfighter”), an award-winning film with Antonio Banderas and Assumpta Serna; and ‘Atame!’ (“Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!”), a love drama starring Antonio Banderas and Victoria Abril. The Almodovar films will be available exclusively on Cine Latino.

Sample newly-acquired titles include:

— ‘El Crimen Del Padre Amaro’ (“The Crime of Father Amaro”), the Oscar-nominated, highest-grossing film in the history of Mexican cinema, starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Ana Claudia Talancon.

— ‘American Visa’, based on the best-selling book in Bolivia, starring Damian Bichir and Kate Del Castillo (from “La Misma Luna”). Winner of Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2006 Ariel Awards in Mexico.

— ‘Ninas Mal’ (“Charm School”), one of the most popular Mexican movies of 2007 starring four of Mexico’s favorite young actresses: Camila Sodi, Martha Higareda, Ximena Sarinana, and Maria Aura.

— ‘Secuestro Express’ (“Express Kidnapping”), the critically-acclaimed, box office hit from Venezuela, starring Mia Maestro and Ruben Blades.

— ‘Bluff’, a comedic thriller from Colombia that was presented at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, starring Victor Mallarino, Veronica Orozco and Carolina Gomez. Bluff was the highest-grossing Columbian movie of 2007.

— ‘Cansada de Besar Sapos’ (“Tired of Kissing Frogs”), one of the highest-grossing Mexican films of all time starring Juan Manuel Bernal, Itati Cantoral and Pedro Damian.

Penelope Cruz – Oscar winner this year?

Penelope Cruz, Mickey Rourke, and Kate Winslet are some of the names being talked about for the Oscars.

“To me, she’s the best actress around right now,” said Dennis Hopper, Penelope’s co-star in Elegy, at the 18th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York.

“She gives good performances this year – one in Woody Allen’s film Vicky Cristina Barcelona and one in Isabel Coixet’s Elegy – and they’re two of the best performances I’ve seen in years.”

Scott Franklin, producer of The Wrestler, revealed he has high hopes for his leading man Mickey.

“I think he’s being considered for all these accolades because he really brought a lot of honesty to it,” he said.

“I think he really dove into the material. He had a tremendous and honest working relationship with Darren (Aronofsky, director) – they trusted each other and that allowed Mickey to be free, and to really be himself and to go to places he needed to go to be Randy ‘Ram’ Robinson. He did a really great job. I hope he’s as proud of his own performance.”

Lena Olin had only compliments for Kate’s acting, whom she co-starred with in The Reader. There is buzz surrounding the British starlet for Revolutionary Road.

“She’s just so down-to-earth and so real. She’s an amazing woman. She’s very open, she seems to have good contact with her emotions, I think she’s worked very hard. She deserves it.”

Mendes, Vega and Scarlett promote ‘The Spirit’ in Madrid

Living it up in Madrid as they promote their new movie, Scarlett Johansson, Paz Vega and Eva Mendes were all on hand for a photocall for “The Spirit” on Tuesday (December 2).

The co-star cuties made their way to the Santo Mauro Hotel press room, playfully posing for photographers along the way.

As for the movie, “The Spirit” tells the story of “a rookie cop named Denny Colt, who returns from the beyond as The Spirit, a hero whose mission is to fight against the bad forces in Central City.”

Directed by Frank Miller, the film is scheduled to be released in theaters on Christmas Day (December 25).

Oscar season begins! ‘Frozen River’ wins big at Gotham Indie Awards

Courtney Hunt‘s “Frozen River” took best feature at the 18th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards Tuesday night in New York, while Tia Lessin and Carl Deal‘s “Trouble the Water” won best documentary during the ceremony held at Cipriani Wall Street in downtown Manhattan. “Frozen River”‘s Melissa Leo also won the Gothams’ breakthrough actor award.

“I did not see this one coming, I did not see this coming,” said Courtney Hunt, accepting the best film prize. She started by thanking her husband “who raised the fucking money (for this movie),” and also thanked Michael Barker and Tom Bernard from Sony Pictures Classics for supporting, “this little chick film.”

The wins at the Gotham Awards came on a day when the film also dominated the nominations for the annual Spirit Awards. “Frozen River” received seven Spirit nods, including best feature.

“I knew that the role was a role I could drive home,” Gotham Award winner (and Spirit nominee) Melissa Leo told indieWIRE earlier today, “And that the story was gripping and had meaning that’s worth its merit. But this… it’s quite miraculous.” At the Gothams this evening, Leo praised New York City as “the birthplace of independent film, truly indepndent film.” She also saluted IFP for their ongoing support of indie film.

“Hurricane Katrina showed us a lot about ourselves,” noted Carl Deal, aceepting the best documentary award with co-director Tia Lessin, praising the film’s subjects and the many people they worked with, also singling out Zeitgeist and now HBO which has signed a TV deal for the acclaimed documentary.
Both “Frozen River” and “Trouble the Water” won best feature and documentary respectively at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival where they debuted.

Also taking home Gotham accolades were Lance Hammer (“Ballast”), another Sundance fest winner, who took the breakthrough director award. Accepting the prize, Hammer thanked the IFP for their early support of his work, saying they supported him, “when I was just a schmuck.” And he singled out his cast, many of whom were in attendance with him at the event.

The casts of “Synecdoche, New York” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” shared the best ensemble performance award, while the Gothams’ “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You” nod went to “Sita Sings the Blues” by Nina Paley, receiving a $15,000 grant. “In a way I’d like to thank all the distributors who aren’t distributing the film,” Paley said. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”

Four tributes were also presented Tuesday evening in addition to the six jury prizes. Actor Penelope Cruz, HBO Documentary Films’ Sheila Nevins as well as directors Gus Van Sant and Melvin Van Peebles were honored during the two-hour ceremony. Van Peebles was praised “as the grandfather of American independent cinema.” “My wildest dream was not as big as this evening,” Van Peebles said, “But it’s not about me…” saluting the IFP, its support of filmmakers and American indie movies. “I am very very pleased to be here in these times,” he said, “There is this possibilty that you can do it.”

Twenty-two films received nominations in the awards’ six categories. Selecting this year’s nominees were 18 critics, journalists, and film programmers. Final award recipients were determined by separate juries of writers, directors, actors, producers, casting directors, composers and others directly involved in making films.

The 18th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards recipients:

Mejor Película:
“Frozen River,” directed by Courtney Hunt; produced by Heather Rae, Chip Hourihan (Sony Pictures Classics)

Mejor Documental:
“Trouble the Water,” directed and produced by Tia Lessin & Carl Deal (Zeitgeist Films in association with HBO Documentary Films)

Mejor Director:
Lance Hammer, director of “Ballast” (Alluvial Film Company)

Mejor Actor:
Melissa Leo (“Frozen River”)

Mejor Reparto Recundario:
“Synecdoche, New York“
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis and Tom Noonan (Sony Pictures Classics); Casting Director Jeanne McCarthy

empatado con:

“Vicky Cristina Barcelona“
Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz & Patricia Clarkson (The Weinstein Company); Casting Directors Patricia Kerrigan DiCerto & Juliet Taylor

Mejor filme que no está en tu teatro cercano:
“Sita Sings the Blues” written, directed and animated by Nina Paley

Shia LaBeouf has a new project – ‘The Associate’

Paramount Pictures has set Shia LaBeouf to play the title role in the bigscreen version of John Grisham‘s upcoming legal thriller “The Associate,” which the studio has just acquired rights to.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura is producing.

LaBeouf will play a student who’s about to graduate from Yale Law School when he’s manipulated into accepting a job at a prestige law firm and given privileged information about a multibillion-dollar lawsuit.

The novel, Grisham’s first legal thriller since 2005’s “The Broker,” will be published in January by Random House.

Grisham’s longtime rep, David Gernert, shopped the book by giving it to four producers. While some felt that lessened the book’s chances to find a suitor in a tight marketplace, the strategy worked.

Par-based Di Bonaventura, who as an exec worked on the Grisham films “A Time to Kill” and “The Client,” received the book in the Middle East, where he and LaBeouf were shooting “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” There, they agreed to do it together.

Deal gives Paramount another LaBeouf vehicle to follow the “Transformers” films, on which the studio partners with DreamWorks. He last starred for the studio in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

Wanted

Rated: R for strong violence including some torture, and for language throughout.
Release Date: 2008-06-27
Starring: Michael Brandt, Dean Georgaris
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.wantedmovie.com/

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Wanted provides the jolt of adrenaline one expects from solid summer entertainment. It exists solely to keep the heart pounding as it shifts from one gear to the next, decelerating only when exposition demands a reduction in pace. The movie marries the superhero origin film with the revenge thriller, blending them with hints of the frenzied intensity embodied by 300 and the visual orchestrations of The Matrix. The storyline, while not Pulitzer material, is strong enough to keep the average viewer involved. But this is one of those experiences where the brain is not the primary organ engaged by what flashes on the screen in the darkness.

The backstory of Wanted is of a young man who finds out his long lost father is an assassin. And when his father is murdered, the son is recruited into his father’s old organization and trained by a man named Sloan to follow in his dad’s footsteps.

 

Director Timur Bekmambetov showed in Night Watch that he knows how to do some arresting stuff with his cameras. He’s the everyman who discovers he’s more than he thought he was. He’s Peter Parker with an attitude. And, face it, who wants Mary Jane Watson when you can have Fox?

Angelina Jolie has always oozed sex appeal, but she’s never been able to match badass with dominatrix quite like this. Jolie doesn’t have any qualms about showing off her body, nor should she, considering how well sculpted it is. James McAvoy‘s American accent is a little flawed, but his transformation from dweeb to assassin is believable. Morgan Freeman adds a touch of class to things (much as he does with nearly every movie he’s in). There’s something perversely delicious, however, about getting to hear Easy Reader say two of George Carlin’s seven words that can’t be spoken on television.

 

The film’s sense of style is going to capture the praise of some who might normally not applaud a summer movie fueled by adrenaline and testosterone. But Wanted manages to deliver what action fans crave while still maintaining a veneer of artfulness. There are times when the film is flat-out silly (such as the spinning car assassination), but that’s part of the movie’s charm. At its worst, Wanted is never boring. At its best, it can be damn close to intoxicating. One word, written without apology, describes it best: fun.

Step Brothers

Rated: R for crude and sexual content, and pervasive language.
Release Date: 2008-07-25
Starring: Will Ferrell, Adam McKay
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/stepbrothers/index.html

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‘Four Christmas’ merries in a #1 gift at the box office

Thanksgiving weekend movie crowds gobbled up the Reese Witherspoon-Vince Vaughn holiday comedy “Four Christmases,” which premiered at No. 1 with $31.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The film raised its total to $46.7 million since opening Wednesday.

In terms of revenue, it was Hollywood’s second-biggest Thanksgiving period ever. The top 12 movies took in $223.7 million from Wednesday to Sunday, trailing only the $232.2 million haul over 2000.

“Twilight,” which had a huge No. 1 opening the previous weekend, took a steep 62 percent decline from its $69.6 million premiere.

Based on Sunday’s estimates, Disney’s animated “Bolt” had a slight lead on second place with $26.6 million for the weekend, to $26.4 million for “Twilight.”

In San Francisco, Focus Features’ film “Milk,” directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Sean Penn as slain Supervisor Harvey Milk, set a box-office record at the Castro Theatre. From Wednesday through Friday, the single-screen theater grossed $109,440 on “Milk,” breaking the previous three-day record of $50,584 set in May by “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” according to film promoters Terry Hines and Associates.

The film opened nationally on 36 screens, two of which, the Sundance Kabuki and the Embarcadero, didn’t begin showing the film until Friday. “Milk” opened at No. 10 nationwide with $1.4 million in just 36 theaters. The film had a strong average of $38,375 a cinema, compared with $9,571 in 3,310 theaters for “Four Christmases.”

The weekend’s other new wide release, “Australia,” opened at No. 5 with $14.8 million for the weekend and $20 million since premiering Wednesday.