Shamone! Spike Lee’s Bad 25 will air on ABC Nationwide Thanksgiving Day Via IndieWire Following its Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival screenings, Spike Lee’s Michael Jackson documentary, made in collaboration with the estate of Michael Jackson and Sony Music, titled Bad 25, is already scheduled to air on ABC on Thanksgiving Day, in November. However, before that, as reported this morning, the feature documentary will be released theatrically for 1 week, beginning October 19, but, unfortunately, only in New York, and Los Angeles. If you live in the area here is where you can check it out in theaters early. New York: Oct. 19 to 26 at AMC Loews Theater; 66 Third Ave. Los Angeles: Oct. 26 to Nov. 2 at Chinese 6 Theaters; 6801 Hollywood Blvd. The rest of the USA will have to wait about another month, to see it on ABC on Thanksgiving night (November 22). Bad 25 shares fresh insights into the King of Pop’s creative vision that resulted in his landmark Bad album, marking its 25th anniversary this year. “This will be a very special Thanksgiving for all families to enjoy the genius of Michael Jackson… Big thanks to ABC for allowing people to witness the making of Michael Jackson’s ‘BAD’ album. Shamon,” said Spike Lee in a statement. The film promises rare and never-before-seen footage, and the first ever in-depth, behind-the-scenes film project to chronicle a Michael Jackson album and tour. Included will be numerous interviews conducted by Spike Lee, including Jackson’s confidants, choreographers, musicians and collaborators. This better be good Spike, you can’t fawk around with “The King Of Pop”. That said, we will be glued to the TV with “the itis” Thanksgiving night! Peep the trailer below.
Shamone! Spike Lee’s Bad 25 will air on ABC Nationwide Thanksgiving Day Via IndieWire Following its Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival screenings, Spike Lee’s Michael Jackson documentary, made in collaboration with the estate of Michael Jackson and Sony Music, titled Bad 25, is already scheduled to air on ABC on Thanksgiving Day, in November. However, before that, as reported this morning, the feature documentary will be released theatrically for 1 week, beginning October 19, but, unfortunately, only in New York, and Los Angeles. If you live in the area here is where you can check it out in theaters early. New York: Oct. 19 to 26 at AMC Loews Theater; 66 Third Ave. Los Angeles: Oct. 26 to Nov. 2 at Chinese 6 Theaters; 6801 Hollywood Blvd. The rest of the USA will have to wait about another month, to see it on ABC on Thanksgiving night (November 22). Bad 25 shares fresh insights into the King of Pop’s creative vision that resulted in his landmark Bad album, marking its 25th anniversary this year. “This will be a very special Thanksgiving for all families to enjoy the genius of Michael Jackson… Big thanks to ABC for allowing people to witness the making of Michael Jackson’s ‘BAD’ album. Shamon,” said Spike Lee in a statement. The film promises rare and never-before-seen footage, and the first ever in-depth, behind-the-scenes film project to chronicle a Michael Jackson album and tour. Included will be numerous interviews conducted by Spike Lee, including Jackson’s confidants, choreographers, musicians and collaborators. This better be good Spike, you can’t fawk around with “The King Of Pop”. That said, we will be glued to the TV with “the itis” Thanksgiving night! Peep the trailer below.
Also in Tuesday afternoon’s round-up of news briefs: Oscar-nominated filmmaker Frank Darabont will receive an upcoming festival tribute. South Korea’s Oscar entry Pietà heads to U.S. theaters. And a sci-fi thriller will also make its way to U.S. audiences. Marion Cotillard to Receive Tribute at 22nd Annual Gotham Awards The Best Actress winner will be honored at the IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards on November 26th in New York City. Cotillard stars in French director Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone alongside Matthias Schoenaerts, Bouli Lanners and Céline Sallette. The French actress joins previously announced Tributes Actor, Matt Damon; Director, David O. Russell and Philanthropist and Social Entrepreneur, Jeff Skoll. Ben Affleck Eyes Warner Bros’ Focus Glenn Ficarra and John Requa wrote and will direct the project. “The story centers on a veteran con man who gets involved with a newcomer to the grifter business. They become involved romantically but that becomes perilous in a business where they lie and cheat for a living. The complications of the encounter haunt them when they meet up again in the future,” Deadline reports . Austin Film Festival to Fete Frank Darabont The three-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile director will receive the festival’s “2012 Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award” October 20th. This year’s Conference at AFF includes over 80 panels, workshops and roundtable discussions led by more than 100 professionals in the television and film industries. The 19th Austin Film Festival takes place October 18 – 25. Doc NYC Returns for 3rd Year The opening night will feature Jared Leto presenting Artifact (dir. Bartholomew Cubbins) which follows his band Thirty Seconds to Mars as they battle a lawsuit against record label EMI. Also opening is Venus and Serena (dirs. Michelle Major and Maiken Baird), an intimate look at the lives of the tennis-conquering Williams sisters. The festival, taking place November 8 – 15, will feature 115 films and events. Expected guests include Rufus Wainwright, Pete Seeger, Andy Summers, Ice-T, Antony Hegarty, David Bromberg, Ken Burns, Alex Gibney, Rory Kennedy, Jonathan Demme, Barbara Kopple, Joe Berlinger, Radioman and more. For more details on the lineup, visit their website . South Korean Oscar Entry Pietà heads to U.S. Theaters Auteur Kim Ki-Duk’s ( 3-Iron ) latest was chosen by S. Korea as its entry for Best Foreign-Language Oscar consideration. Pietà tells the uncompromising story of a loan shark who is forced to reconsider his violent lifestyle after the arrival of a mysterious woman claiming to be his long-lost mother. Drafthouse Films picked up North American rights to the film and plans a limited theatrical and multi-platform VOD release for Pietà in 2013. Justin Dix’s Crawlspace Heads to U.S. Theaters The sci-fi thriller centers around a group of elite soldiers infiltrate Australia’s top secret military compound. They quickly discover all is not as it seems and the facility is a testing ground for something far more sinister. IFC Midnight, which picked up North American rights to the film, will take Crawlspace to ScreamFest on October 18th.
Also in Monday afternoon’s round-up of news briefs: Oscar-winner Alex Gibney is boarding the new CNN Films for doc projects. The Weinstein Company scores first Oscar DVD mailer for one of its titles. And Girls ‘ Lena Dunham scores cha-ching for a book project. Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 to Premiere at Rome Film Festival Though the upcoming festival has scored the world premiere of the final installment of the mega-franchise, stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson will not be in Rome for the premiere. The pic directed by Bill Condon will screen in the Alice in the City section of the festival, which focuses on films oriented for a youth audience, THR reports . Hungry Hungry Hippos to Get Big Screen Outing Hungry Hungry Hippos is part of a roster of planned films that also includes Monopoly (a project that at one point had Ridley Scott attached) and Britain’s Action Man, the latter despite his American cousin GI Joe having already featured twice in multiplexes. Hasbro has been inspired by the multibillion-dollar success of its Transformers franchise in the hands of Michael Bay, and apparently has not let Battleship’s disappointing $300m (on a $200m budget) haul earlier this year upset its plans for worldwide domination, The Guardian reports . Alex Gibney Strikes Deal to Make Docs for New CNN Films Unit Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney ( Taxi to the Dark Side ) and director Andrew Ross ( Page One: Inside the New York Times ) has signed on to develop docs for the new CNN Films. CNN Films will kick off with Richard Robbins’ Girl Rising , THR reports . Weinstein Company’s The Intouchables is First Official 2012 Oscar Screener Mailed to Members TWC is the first to send out a DVD screener to Academy members. Every member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences received a screener of the hit French film over the weekend. The Intouchables is France’s entry for Best Foreign Language Oscar consideration and has grossed $360 million worldwide, Deadline reports . Lena Dunham Book Goes for $3.5 Million to Random House Her SXSW title eventually grossed $392K, but it got her a gig with HBO and the subsequent Girls series. Now, the filmmaker/TV star has landed a book deal for upwards of $3.5 million for Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s Learned , Deadline reports .
The Hamptons International Film Festival handed out awards Sunday for its 20th edition of the event with Umat Dag’s Kuma and Cate Shortland’s Lore tying for the Golden Starfish narrative prize, while Tora Martens’ Colombianos took the Documentary prize. Toronto audience winner Silver Linings Playbook , meanwhile, also took the equivalent prize in the Hamptons, while No Place on Earth won the audience nod in the documentary category. The 20th Hamptons International Film Festival winners: Baume & Mercier Audience Award Narrative Silver Linings Playbook by David O. Russell Baume & Mercier Audience Award Documentary No Place On Earth by Janet Tobias Baume & Mercier Audience Award Best Short Growing Farmers by Michael Halsband Golden Starfish Award Narrative Feature Winner (TIE) Kuma , Directed by Umat Dag Lore , Directed by Cate Shortland Golden Starfish Award Documentary Feature Winner Colombianos , Directed by Tora Mårtens Special Jury Prize for Inspiration Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet , Directed by Jesse Vile Special Jury Prize for Performance Carlos Vallarino , La Demora GSA Short The Curse , Directed by Fyzal Boulifa The Kodak Award for Best Cinematography Lore , Cinematography by Adam Arkapaw The Victor Rabinowitz and Joanne Grant Award for Social Justice Call Me Kuchu by Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall The Jeremy Nussbaum Prize for Provocative Fiction Lore by Cate Shortand Zelda Penzel Giving Voice to the Voiceless Award One Nation Under Dog by Amanda Micheli, Jenny Carchman, Ellen Goosemberg-Kent GSA for Curatorial Excellence Ian Birnie
The scene outside East Hampton’s usually civilized Guild Hall was almost as frenzied as a mosh pit on Saturday night when an overflow crowd turned up to watch Alec Baldwin interview fellow leading man Richard Gere . The spirited conversation, which focused mostly on Gere’s pre- Pretty Woman career, was a precursor to the Arbitrage actor receiving the Hamptons International Film Festival’s 2012 Golden Starfish Award for Lifetime Achievement in Acting. Over the course of the discussion, Gere talked about some of his more unusual moments working with such storied directors at Terrence Malick, Richard Brooks, Francis Ford Coppola and Paul Schrader. For instance, he recalled his frustration working with Malick on Days of Heaven because of the lack of guidance that the filmmaker gave to his actors. Malick “is a really interesting guy,” Gere said, “but one of his quirks is that he doesn’t always know what he wants.” Indeed, during one frustrating scene, Gere said he found himself asking that very question of the director who then pointed to “linen curtains blowing” in the breeze of an open window. “I meant like that,” Gere said Malick told him, and in that case, the actor told Baldwin, “I knew exactly what he meant.” The silver-haired Gere also talked about Brooks’ secrecy regarding scripts. He recalled that when he asked the director if he could see the screenplay to Looking for Mr. Goodbar , Brooks invited him to his Los Angeles home, where the filmmaker’s wife, actress Jean Simmons greeted Gere and led the actor to a “romantically lit room.” There, Brooks gave him a half hour to read the script, which Gere implied, was not enough time, until he discovered that Brooks had “blacked out everything that was not my part.” The discussion took an amusing turn when Baldwin brought up the subject of American Gigolo and asked Gere if he was uncomfortable about his emergence as a sex symbol. The actor replied that it was an “interesting dilemma” and eventually invited his WME agent Andrew Finkelstein, who was sitting in the audience, to join the conversation. (Finkelstein was an assistant to the late ICM agent Ed Limato, who worked with Gere at the time of that 1980 movie.) Finkelstein replied that Limato “didn’t like” that the media was focusing on Gere’s “hunkishness,” adding: “You were a better actor than a hunk.” The line drew a big laugh from the audience, and Gere, wearing a wry smile on his face said: “I’m a better actor than a hunk. Thank you, Andrew.” Finkelstein recovered nicely by yelling out: “Richard is now looking for an agent.” Shortly before Gere was presented with his Golden Starfish award, Baldwin asked the actor if any of his leading ladies had ever fallen for him. “Someone told me that one of them had, and I said, ‘I wish they had told me!'” Gere replied. “But I’m not going to answer that question.” Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Taken 2 grabs everything that was surprisingly enjoyable about the original film and batters it into the ground like… Liam Neeson beating up an Albanian human trafficking ring. The brute charm that the 2008 Taken found in portraying the Irish Oscar-nominee as an ultra-competent badass has withered to kitsch, and what’s left is tinged with even more xenophobia and weird paternal wish-fulfillment. Worse, the directing reins have been handed from greater Luc Besson protégé Pierre Morel to the lesser (but, granted, more awesomely named) Olivier Megaton, of Transporter 3 and Columbiana , and he slashes the action sequences to such incoherent bits that half the fights could have been shot on a sound stage thousands of miles from any star and chopped in after the fact. Why are we watching this again? Ah, yes, novelty. It is still a kick, though with rapidly diminishing returns, to see Neeson as the tersely tough CIA operative turned security contractor Bryan Mills. Bryan’s relentless when it comes to destroying bad guys but pure pudding when it comes his apparently still teenage daughter Kim ( Maggie Grace , who at 29 isn’t entirely believable as a kid still working on getting her drivers license) and ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen). Bryan isn’t fazed by the prospect of facing down a gang of Balkan toughs, but learning that his little girl has a boyfriend and didn’t tell him about it leaves him stricken. Lenore and the man she remarried are separated, and Bryan gallantly offers to fly her and their daughter to Istanbul, where he’ll meet them after completing a short job, unknowingly making them all targets for the relatives of the men he killed in the last movie, led by Murad Krasniqi (Croatian Serb actor Rade Serbedzija, the go-to choice for playing sinister Eastern Europeans). Whatever the structure of this criminal ring, it’s a family business and they have great contacts, seeing as members of the local police force and staffers at the luxury hotel at which Bryan and his family are staying are in the mafiosos’ pockets. When the Albanians come to take our not-so-helpless Americans — twist! — it’s Bryan and Lenore who end up getting captured, with the former growling his “Listen to me carefully” instructions to Kim as she attempts to come to her parents’ rescue. Taken 2 is dumb and as discardable as a box of cheap tourist trinkets, and its fights go so disappointingly easy the film’s end arrives almost arbitrarily. Like its predecessor, it’s also colored with some ugly American panic — ironic, given the international cast and crew involved in making it. The world abroad is filled with foreigners who can’t wait to grab your virginal blonde daughters or take unwarranted revenge for what was an elaborately violent but, you know, totally justifiable act of familial defense. Even before Bryan cottons to the fact that people are out to get them, he sternly forbids his daughter from wandering out of the hotel while he and Lenore take a private car to the market for lunch. Later, Bryan has Kim set off grenades in the middle of the city in order to use the sound to figure out how far she is from where he’s being held. If you’re visiting a foreign city, it’s best to have as little contact with it as possible — but committing acts of sizable destruction is apparently fine in service of your fellow travelers. Taken 2, which packs in an improbable car chase through the narrow streets of an old neighborhood and a oddly anticlimactic fist fight sequence in a Turkish bath, is ultimately a simplistic bad dad fantasy about a guy getting to righteously defend his family against the masses who are eager to do them harm. Bryan may have let his old job take him away from his wife and daughter, but now he gets to make up for being an absentee father by defending them against all comers, guns a-blazing. Unruffled and an expert on everything, he guides the grateful, whimpering women in his life to safety and in exchange gets to lecture the tribal head of the gangsters about how he needs to just accept the fact that the son is dead and deserved his fate. The film doesn’t make too much of the detail that Murad and his men are Muslim, but does suggest, in moments like the one just described, that there’s no reasoning with them. Taken 2 has the unfortunate bad timing of choosing for its action movie explosion playground a country currently experiencing some serious real-world tensions with neighboring Syria. But its sense of Americans-in-a-foreign-land entitlement is nonspecific enough that this isn’t particularly uncomfortable — it’s so broad, in fact, that it approaches but never quite embraces self-parody. If this is what producer/writer Luc Besson thinks audiences are looking for these days, he has a low opinion of people indeed. God help us if he turns out to be right. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Also in Thursday afternoon’s round-up of news briefs: Taken 2 is looking to lead another strong box office this weekend. Devin Ratray is joining Alexander Payne ‘s latest. And banned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has made another film, defying authorities. Sacha Baron Cohen Eyes ‘Fact-Based’ Comedy The Lesbian Paramount Pictures and Sacha Baron Cohen are developing a feature inspired by Hong Kong billionaire Cecil Chao’s offer of $65 million to any man who will succeed in marrying his lesbian daughter. Chao made the offer after reports his daughter had a French church bless her relationship with her longtime girlfriend, Deadline reports . Hasbro Gets Movie Partner for Monopoly Emmet/Furla Film will finance and co-produce three films based on Hasbro’s properties over the next two years. First on the list is Monopoly , which they’re aiming for production next year,” Deadline reports . Taken 2 Set to Lead Another Strong Weekend Liam Neeson stars in the feature, which has been getting strong pre-sale business. The domestic box office is expected to have a second strong box office this coming weekend, THR reports . Devin Ratray Joins Alexander Payne’s Nebraska Ratray will play the villain in the black-and-white film which stars Bruce Dern and Will Forte. The film stars a boozing father who heads to Nebraska from Montana to claim a Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes prize, THR reports . Iran’s Banned Filmmaker Jafar Panahi Made Another Movie Last year he made doc This is Not a Film from house-arrest in Tehran and it later made its way to Cannes. Although he’s facing a 20 year ban from making movies after offending the regime there, he’s apparently made another pic. So says fellow Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami whose Like Someone in Love premiered at the New York Film Festival, Indiewire reports .
Also in Wednesday evening’s round-up of news briefs, Toronto winner Silver Linings Playbook makes its U.S. move. Christopher Lloyd, Robert Vaughn, and Jerry Stiller set for a fete. And Focus Features unveils its winners for an African film program. Friar’s Club to Fete Christopher Lloyd, Robert Vaughn, and Jerry Stiller Christopher Lloyd, Robert Vaughn, and Jerry Stiller will be honored with the “Best Ensemble Cast of Yesterday and Today” award for their new film, Excuse Me for Living October 9th. The comedy written and directed by Wayne Knight, centers on a “charming, suicidal druggie must obey his rehab-clinic’s demand to lead a seniors men’s group or face incarceration and lose the love of his psychiatrist’s daughter.” Silver Linings Playbook to Open Film Independent Forum The film by David O Russell, which won the People’s Choice Award at last month’s Toronto International Film Festival, will open Film Independent’s Forum, taking place October 19 – 21. The event helps indie filmmakers bring their projects to the screen. Focus Features Names Winners of its Africa First Program For a fifth consecutive year, five filmmakers have been selected for Focus Features’ Africa First Program. The worldwide film company’s initiative earmarked exclusively for emerging filmmakers of African nationality and residence, will award the filmmakers $10,000 apiece. The winning filmmakers for 2012 are Mr. Vincent Moloi (from South Africa); Mr. Jeremiah Mosese (from Lesotho); Ms. Ekwa Msangi-Omari (from Tanzania); Ms. Samantha Nell (from South Africa); and Mr. William Nicholson (from South Africa). Around the ‘net… Gael Garcia Bernal Joins Matthew McConaughey in the Dallas Buyer’s Club The drama from Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee ( The Young Victoria ) initially had Hilary Swank attached, but has since dropped out. In the film Garcia Bernal will play an effeminate member of the club, a fellow AIDS patient who meets Woodroof in the hospital, THR reports . Julianne Nicholson Joins August: Osage County Nicholson will play Ivy Weston, one of the sisters to Julia Robert’s Barbara in the adaptation of the Oklahoma family clan drama. She will be the middle daughter to Violet, played by Meryl Streep, Deadline reports .
With a little over a week before Martin McDonough’s slam-bang Seven Psychopaths opens in theaters, the fun is just starting. I caught the film at the Toronto International Film Festival and it’s as much fun as this Red Band behind-the-scenes trailer suggests. Check out the verbal hijinks between Sam Rockwell and Colin Farrell that concludes with the former telling the latter: “I want to jump inside your pants.” Also, check out Movieline’s gallery of exclusive shots of Rockwell from the movie. Trivia: McDonough told me that Farrell found that wacky knit cap that Rockwell wears at a convenience store where he also picked up some chocolate milk and a bag of cheese puffs — all props that Rockwell uses for laughs in the film. EXCLUSIVE GALLERY: SAM ROCKWELL IN SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS Written and Directed by McDonough, Seven Psychopaths is the story of a struggling and blocked screenwriter (Farrell) who unwittingly becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends, played by Walken and Rockwell, kidnap a gangster’s (Woody Harrelson) beloved Shih Tzu. Yep, it’s all that and a truly memorable exploding head scene. Here’s the clip. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
