Movie Gossip and News

[anakin]

A think on Total Film about movie inaccuracies...

http://www.totalfilm.com/features/15-du ... achronisms

[andrews]

Unseen Chaplin film b*ght for £3 on eBay.

An old film b*ght on eBay for £3.20 has turned out to be an unseen Charlie Chaplin movie.

Antique collector Morace Park from Essex received a shock when after b*ying a battered container which contained an "old film" from eBay, he discovered it was titled 'Charlie Chaplin in Zepped'. After finding no mention of the film after searching on the internet he teamed with his neighbour, a former head of education for the British Board of Film Classification, to unravel the mystery behind the film.
Seven minutes long, Zepped features a mixture of animation and live footage of Chaplin.

"It starts with live shots of Chaplin. It then turns into a dreamscape. We see a Zeppelin bombing attack. And then we see Chaplin taking the mickey out of the Zeppelin, at the time a powerful instrument of terror," explained Park.

Film history expert Michael Pogorzelski said after viewing the film, "It is an extremely interesting find. An unknown and uncatalogued Charlie Chaplin film."

It's believed the film was spliced together from out-takes and old Chaplin footage by Essanay - the film company which Chaplin worked for in 1914 before he left over a contractual and salary dispute.

Chaplin biographer, David Robinson, explained that Essanay tried several times to get mileage out of their former star after he left them by adding extra scenes to his previous films and then attempt to re-release them.

Chaplin tried to sue the company over these films, and it could explain why Zepped has never been seen by a wider audience.

The film has been valued up to £40,000. (not a bad return on your £3)

[andrews]

Who is Hollywood's most overpaid star?

Will Farrell has been named as Hollywood's most overpaid star.

Forbes has compiled a list of the most of the most overpaid actors by comparing their estimated p*y with the box office takings of films they’ve starred in over the last five years, plus DVD and TV sales.

So for every $1 (60p) Ferrell made, his films would earn an average of $3 (£1.80). The figure reflects his work on recent flop 'Land of the Lost' and disappointing box office results for 'Semi-Pro'.

Ewan McGregor is also seen as a poor investment – with erotic thriller 'Deception' a huge flop in 2008.

Billy Bob Thornton came third in the list, while Eddie Murphy was fourth. The funny man's recent films 'Meet Dave' and 'Imagine That' scored dismally with critics and box office punters alike.

Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise came sixth in the poll with his films earning an average of $7 (£4) for every dollar he received.

The Top Ten with some of their recent films are as follows:

1. Will Ferrell ('Land of the Lost', 'Step Brothers', 'Semi-Pro')

2. Ewan McGregor ('The Men Who Stare at Goats', 'Angels & Demons', 'Deception')

3. Billy Bob Thornton ('Eagle Eye', 'Mr. Woodcock')

4. Eddie Murphy ('Meet Dave', 'Imagine That')

5. Ice Cube ('First Sunday', 'Are We Done Yet?')

6. Tom Cruise ('Valkyrie', 'Lions For Lambs')

7. Drew Barrymore ('He's Just Not That Into You'), 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua')

8. Leonardo DiCaprio ('Revolutionary Road', 'Body of Lies')

9. Samuel L. Jackson ('Lakeview Terrace', 'The Spirit')

10. Jim Carrey ('Yes Man', 'Horton Hears a Who!', 'The Number 23')

[andrews]

Record 20 animated films vie for Oscar. (Reuters, Reporting by Bob Tourtellotte)

Oscar organizers on Wednesday said a record 20 animated films have been submitted for Academy Awards, from studio hits like "Up" and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" to independently made "Mary and Max."
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences began giving out Oscars specifically for best animated film in 2002, and since then, the number of award-hopeful cartoon flicks has steadily increased amid a boom in computer animation.

Among the films vying for the 2008 best animated feature film are Disney/Pixar smash hit "Up," about an old man and boy who float off to South America in a house tethered with helium balloons. It earned $507 million at global box offices this year, and is among the best-reviewed films of 2008.
But it will face stiff competition from the widely-liked "Coraline," which pulled in $121 million (73 million pounds) in worldwide ticket sales. In fact, several animated films are among this year's biggest hits including "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs."

Several movies on the list of 20, which will be narrowed to a maximum of five nominees competing for the animated Oscar, have not yet been seen by broad audiences. They include George Clooney movie, "Fantastic Mr. Fox," comedy "Planet 51 and Disney's "The Princess and the Frog."

The Oscars for 2009 will be given out on March 7, 2010 and nominees will be announced on February 2.

A full list of the 20 films is below:

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel"

"Astro Boy"

"Battle for Terra"

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"

"Coraline"

"Disney's A Christmas Carol"

"The Dolphin - Story of a Dreamer"

"Fantastic Mr. Fox"

"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs"

"Mary and Max"

"The Missing Lynx"

"Monsters vs. Aliens"

"9"

"Planet 51"

"Ponyo"

"The Princess and the Frog"

"The Secret of Kells"

"Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure"

"A Town Called Panic"

"Up"


I'm not going to admit how many of these I've seen! Too many, maybe.
I wonder which will win the Oscar? Only 5 will receive nominations. Any thoughts? Or opinions on this one?
It's a given that Up will be nominated. Fantastic Mr Fox should get a nod.

[andrews]

Two interesting? articles here - news for Britain's Got Talent stars!

Nick Frost is being lined up to star in a biopic of Opera star Paul Potts, according to reports.

The Shaun of the Dead, The Boat that Rocked, star is the producers first choice to play the Britain's Got Talent winner, reports The Sun.
The newspaper claimed that the film's bosses were struggling to find an actor suitable to play the former phone salesman and had even begun issuing casting calls. But it is now emerged that Frost is favourite to land the part.

Add to this:

Cowell will produce Hollywood movie of Susan Boyle's rise to fame.
Britain's Got Talent star Susan Boyle's amazing life story is to be made into a big-budget Hollywood movie.

Simon Cowell is reportedly said to be considering a number of offers from Hollywood directors who are keen to commit to the project and the entertainment mogul has said that he wants to be the producer of the film.


What next?


Wednesday 2nd December - well this is what's next - and I wish I had invented the X-Factor or Britain's Got Talent.

Does Ferrell have the X-Factor?

Will Ferrell wants to play Simon Cowell in a movie based on the music mogul's life.

The funnyman admits that he's a big fan of Cowell and admitted his famous character Ron Burgundy is similar to the music judge.
He said, "It would be my dream role. He's become a legend in five years, and one of the most famous people on TV.

"It wouldn't be hard for me to play him because I see a lot of Ron Burgundy in Simon Cowell - apart from Simon being ruder."

[andrews]

I've just read that Natalie Portman will apparently star in an upcoming version of Pride an Prejudice - with zombies. This retells Jane Austen's classic story with the addition of zombies. Variety magazine say that Portman will play the herione, Elizabeth Bennett. She will be distracted from her quest to eradicate the zombies by the arrival of the handsome and arrogant Mr Darcy. I wonder who will play him? Jane Austen will be turning in her grave!

[anakin]

From YouTube to Hollywood

A Uruguayan producer who uploaded a short film to YouTube has been offered a £18.5m contract to make a Hollywood movie.

The film will be sponsored by director Sam Raimi, whose credits include the Spiderman and Evil Dead films, reports the BBC.

Fede Alvarez's short film, Panic Attack!, featured giant robots invading and destroying Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.

It is 4 mins 48 seconds long and was made on a budget of less than £200 but has notched up more than 1.5m hits on YouTube in less than a month.

Alvarez said: "I uploaded Panic Attack! on a Thursday and on Monday my inbox was totally full of e-mails from Hollywood studios. It was amazing, we were all shocked."

The movie Mr Alvarez has been asked to produce is a sci-fi film to be shot in Uruguay and Argentina. He says he intends to start from scratch and develop a new story for the project.

"If some director from some country can achieve this just uploading a video to YouTube, it obviously means that anyone could do it," he added.

http://www.ananova.com/News/story/sm_3604977.html

[Beate]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100106/te ... f61ed.html

"Precious" tops NAACP Image awards nominations
2 hours 48 mins ago

The harrowing tale of a struggling Harlem teen in "Precious:Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" won a leading eight nominations for the NAACP Image awards on Wednesday.

The independent movie earned acting nods for newcomer Gabourey Sidibe as well as Mo'nique, Lenny Kraviz and singer Mariah Carey, along with as a best movie and best director nomination for Lee Daniels.

"Precious" will compete for the best movie category when the awards are handed out on Feb 26 with Michael Jackson's posthumous concert movie "This Is It", Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" which features the animated studio's first black princess, South African rugby movie "Invictus" and "The Blind Side."

Sandra Bullock, who plays a white mother who takes in a homeless African-American teen in "The Blind Side", also earned an NAACP Image Award best actress nomination.

Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the oldest and largest civil rights organisation in the United States. It launched its annual Image Awards, which honour diversity in movies, TV, music and books, 41 years ago.

Rapper Jay-Z led the music nominees with five nods, including his collaborations with Rihanna, Alicia Keys and Kanye West. Keys followed with three nominations.

In the TV categories, medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" received six nominations including best drama, while comedies "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" both got four.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant)

[Beate]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film ... chise.html
Spider-Man 4 scrapped and Tobey Maguire replaced in superhero franchise

Spider-Man 4 has been scrapped and the franchise will be "rebooted" with a new actor replacing Tobey Maguire.

By Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor
ublished: 12:18PM GMT 12 Jan 2010


Tobey Maguire will not return to the Spider-Man franchise The blockbuster sequel was due to start filming next month for release in 2011.

But director Sam Raimi was unhappy with the direction of the script and the film has been abandoned, along with stars Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.

Christian Bale 'fought with mother after she insulted his wife'Instead, Columbia Pictures announced plans for a replacement movie focusing on the High School years of Spidey's alter-ego, Peter Parker. It will be released in summer 2012 with an as-yet-unnamed actor in the starring role and a script by James Vanderbilt.

Last week, Columbia announced that Spider-Man 4 was on indefinite hold due to script problems. Abandoning the project will cost millions of dollars, as preliminary work on the special effects had already begun.

The first three films turned the Marvel Comics superhero into a box office hit, taking more than $2.5 million.

Studio co-chairman Amy Pascal said: "A decad ago we set out on this journey with Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire and together we made three Spider-Man films that set a new bar for the genre.

"When we began, no one ever imagined that we would make history at the box office and now we have a rare opportunity to make history once again with this franchise.

"Peter Parker as an ordinary young adult grappling with extraordinary powers has always been the foundation that has made this character so timeless and compelling for generations of fans.

"We're very excited about the creative possibilities that come from returning to Peter's roots."

Raimi said in a statement: "Working on the Spider-Man movies was the experience of a lifetime for me. While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job."

Columbia must continue actively developing Spider-Man films or the property will revert back to Marvel, according to Variety.

Maguire said in an interview last week that there was "great stuff in terms of story and script" for Spider-Man 4.

[Beate]

I guess the industry can afford a few free screenings!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010 ... ffice-year