New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is going to do for sugary drinks what he did for smoking early on in his tenure, though movie theaters in the city are ready to take on his honor’s plans to keep audiences from slurping too much sugary fizz while sitting in front of a screen. The new regulation, which won the support of NYC’s board of health, will ban calorie-soaked sugary drinks such as sodas from being sold in theaters, concession stands, cafeterias and restaurants larger than 16 ounces. The ban comes in the wake of the city’s past public health initiatives which outlawed smoking in bars, offices and some public areas. It has also banned trans fats and has forced fast-food restaurants to list calorie counts on their menus. The new regulation, if it stands, will take effect on March 12th next year. Supermarkets and convenience stores will still be able to sell super-sized drinks. Diet drinks, alcohol and fruit juices are not affected by the new policy. But theaters and other groups are going to challenge the new regulation. Cinemas reap about 25% of their revenues from sweets and drinks in the U.S. Robert Sunshine, a spokesperson for the National Association of Theater Owners said his organization is “opposed to anyone telling us what we can eat and what we can drink,” he said according to The Guardian via Deadline. “Somewhere along the line, the profit will have to be made up. It’s going to have a tremendous impact.” Bloomberg, however, counters that the measure is necessary to stem the obesity plague and said that the ban will even help beyond the city limits. “This is the biggest step a city has taken to curb obesity,” he said. “Simply by proposing limits on sugary drinks, New York City has pushed the issue of obesity – and the impact of sugary beverages – onto the national stage.” New York was one of the first states to ban smoking in public places indoors in 2003, after California. It has since extended the ban to some public places outdoors including beaches and parks. [ Source: The Guardian ]
Well, I don’t see any latex nipple protrusions, but our sister site Deadline makes an interesting point . After posting an exclusive ComingSoon.net shot of Joel Kinnaman in the new black RoboCop suit for Jose Padilha’s remake, Deadline noted that “The outfit does kinda have a Tim Burton’s Batman feel to it — a far cry from Peter Weller’s metallic get-up in the original. So, we’d like to put the question to you. Does the RoboCop 2.0 suit remind you too much of a certain Caped Crusader’s black get-up? Take the poll after the jump. RoboCop hits theaters on Aug. 9, 2013. So, the good news is, even if you don’t like it, you have time to get used to it. Oh yes, and one clarifying point about the nipples: as our commenter “Horrified” points out, those design details weren’t added until Joel Schumacher took the reins from Burton to direct Batman Forever and Batman & Robin .) Padilha’s update also stars Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earle Haley and Jennifer Ehle, Josh Zetumer and Nick Schenk wrote the re-boot script. Set in 2028, Kinnaman plays a Detroit cop seriously messed up in the line of duty. After the multinational, morally bankrupt Omnicorp saves his life and gives him super-human abilities — see suit, above — the newly christened RoboCop opens a can of whoop-ass on Detroit’s criminal element, and, if the new story follows the old, his very creators. Take Our Poll Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Video game fans are naturally suspicious of movie conversions because they’ve been burned more often than charcoal briquettes. Which is weird, because pattern recognition is meant to be a gaming skill. Columbia Pictures’ announcement that it’s taking on the Metal Gear Solid license with Iron Man and The Amazing Spider-Man franchise producer Avi Arad has many gamers wary. The last attempt crashed and burned only two years ago, with Michael De Luca , producer of Oscar winner The Social Network , c iting vague but fatal incompatibilities between video game companies and the big screen. But as the game’s signature character Solid Snake once said: “Don’t regret your past! Learn from it!” With that in mind, here are four reasons the film adaptation might actually work this time. 1. Licenses Are Big Money Now: For a long time, the wide-scale sucking of video game movies wasn’t a tragedy, it was a kind of karmic blowback. Movies licensed for games were stamped into soulless, cookie-cutter platformers with less character than a game of Hangman. Similarly little care was put into the games’ development. In return, movie companies would buy a video game license, shred it, then spit a few random catch phrases from the game into a standard action movie script. In both cases it was because the adaptation meant a few extra dollars for whoever could be bothered to grab them. g Solid Snake: good at grabbing. But big money changes everything. The Resident Evil movies are making exponential profits, while comic-book heroes are now grabbing more cash than every one of their bank-robbing villains put together. (Just ask Arad. ) Studios are scrambling to get onto bandwagon, because it’s really a bank truck with the back doors open. An epic storyline and a quarter-century of rabid fandom means Metal Gear Solid is perfect for conversion. 2. It’s Already A Movie Pilot: Metal Gear isn’t a Street Fighter , where scriptwriters had to pad the game’s haiku-simple idea of two outlandishly dressed characters “punching each other in the head for 90 minutes,” and then did such a bad job you’d swear they wrote the padding after receiving the punching. The franchise is an established full-bore action story armed with politics, double-crosses, environmental messages and more character motivation than War and Peace. In essence, an elite agent comes out of retirement to infiltrate a terrorist facility. That’s a viable, if not entirely original, action-movie plot, and Metal Gear makes it smarter, more, um, solid. A direct translation of the plot would actually work. Of course that won’t happen, but that isn’t a problem because…. 3. Movie-fication will Help: Video games aren’t converted into movies, they’re flattened. An entire dimension of viewer participation is removed. Metal Gear ’s most iconic moments affect the viewer in ways movies can only dream of &mdash like Psycho Mantis breaking the fourth wall with music and controller-vibration, or the Sorrow’s attempt to end the game by convincing the player that it’s already over. This involvement will no doubt be lost in the game’s translation to the cinema screen. That said, the language of action movies is about streamlining: ideally, everything should fit into a neat 90-minute package, unless you’re Christopher Nolan. And that process inevitably requires the sanding down of a lot of important detail, Metal Gear maestro Hideo Kojima needs more streamlining than a supersonic jet. Still, he’s the unquestioned master of the series — to the point where the game franchise owner Konami seems unwilling to let him escape, constantly forcing him into sequels no matter how many times he publicly says “this is the last one.” (I genuinely think they’re using a real world Foxdie virus on him, set to trigger if he leaves. The next game’s going to include include Codec messages reading “Help me. They have my family!”) Kojima crafts masterpieces of stealth action. He also crafts epics of monologue to rival the Iliad and puts them on the same disc. This gave Metal Gear Solid a depth unseen in any “man-with-a-gun” game before or since. By the fourth installment, it was day long movie with some set pieces you were allowed to stunt direct. Tightening the script could sharpen the story and share it with a whole new audience. 4. The Special Effects Will Be Worth the Price of Admission: Perhaps it’s apostasy to write this, but the special effects in a Metal Gear movie are bound to kick ass. They must. The Metal Gear itself is the most perfect villain in any series: a giant walking tank which can also nuke anything on the planet. Action stars spend entire careers searching for an enemy that perfect. One of the most stunning moments in Metal Gear Solid was when this office-block sized monstrosity rose out of the ground in a cut-scene and you, with your mouth hanging open in the real world, stood still while it shot at you until you realized that the cut scene had ended and this techno-leviathan was about to smoke your tiny ass. IMAX-ing the movie alone will justify ticket sales. Sure, that’s no guarantee that the boys in Hollywood won’t screw it up, but let’s hope Columbia, Konami and Arad heed the wisdom of Solid Snake: “This isn’t a training exercise. Our lives are riding on this. There are no heroes or heroines. If you lose, you’re worm food.” Luke McKinney loves the real world, but only because it has movies and video games in it. He responds to every tweet. Follow Luke McKinney on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
David O. Russell ‘s Silver Linings Playbook took top honors at the Toronto International Film Festival , winning the Blackberry People’s Choice Award Sunday. Unlike most of its top tier festival brethren, TIFF does not have a formal jury competition. Also taking an audience prize was Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths , which won the prize in the Midnight Madness category. The audience winner for Best Documentary went to Artifact by Bartholomew Cubbins. The Toronto International Film Festival prize winners: People’s Choice Award: Silver Linings Playbook , directed by David O. Russell Runners-up: Argo , directed by Ben Affleck and Zaytoun , directed by Eran Riklis Documentary People’s Choice Award: Artifact , directed by Bartholomew Cubbins Runners-up: Storm Surfers 3D , directed by Christopher Nelius and Justin McMillan, and Revolution , directed by Rob Stewart Midnight Madness People’s Choice Award: Seven Psychopaths , directed by Martin McDonagh Runners-up: The Bay , directed by Barry Levinson and John Dies at the End , directed by Don Coscarelli Best Canadian Feature Film: Laurence Anyways , directed by Xavier Dolan Best Canadian First Feature Film (A Tie): Antiviral , directed by Brandon Cronenberg Blackbird , directed by Jason Buxton Prizes of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) for Special Presentations Section: In The House , directed by Francois Ozon Prizes of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) for Discovery Section: Call Girl , directed by Mikael Marcimain NETPAC Award For Best Asian Film: The Land of Hope , directed by Sion Sono Award For Best Canadian Short Film: Keep a Modest Head , directed by Deco Dawson
Animation icon Ralph Bakshi ( Fritz the Cat , Coonskin , Wizards , Cool World ) has never been afraid to push the envelope, and boy does he in Trickle Dickle Down , a new political short introducing his recently announced Bakshi Blues project. An announcement for the series declares, in no uncertain terms, “THERE IS NOWHERE FOR ANYONE TO HIDE.” And how . Watch as Trickle Dickle Down takes aim at Mitt Romney with Bakshi’s explosive take on trickle-down economics. The series promises to “[look] at this new America with some great old characters and some great new characters in all new stories,” and if Trickle Dickle Down is any indication, these are going to light up a few fires in the political blogosphere. The two-minute toon features a Stepin Fetchit-like character waxing ecstatic about Romney’s America as he digs through garbage, packing plenty of controversy into a single scene. And then comes the kicker at the 1:23 mark. Enjoy! More at Bakshi’s official website .
Also in Wednesday evening’s round-up of news briefs, supernatural thriller Jinn is heading to theaters. The San Diego Film Festival sets slate. And Lydia Hearst joins a horror reboot. Ewan McGregor Joins August: Osage County McGregor will join Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in The Weinstein Company project. In the film directed by John Wells, McGregor will play Bill Fordham, the estranged husband of Barbara (Roberts) and son-in-law of pill popping matriarch Violet Weston (Streep). A college professor, he left his wife for one of his students, but wants to be there for his family. His marriage is disintegrating and his patience is slowly running thin. Supernatural Thriller Jinn Heads to Theaters Jinn involves ancient mythological creatures who have never been seen in U.S. cinemas before. The premise of the jinn concept, known to over 1 billion people around the world, involves supernatural entities and revolves around creation mythology: “In the beginning, three were created; man made of clay; angels made of light; and a third…made of fire. They are powerful due to their existence in a parallel world, and also because they have free will and can be both good and evil.” A release date will be slated in the coming weeks. San Diego Film Festival Sets Premiere Slate The Sapphires , The Oranges , Grassroots , Quartet and Seven Psychopaths are among the titles set to screen at the San Diego Film Festival, taking place September 26 – 30. The festival will screen 200 films with 11 world premieres on tap. Around the ‘net… 300 Gets Official Title from Warner Bros. The project was formerly known as 300: The Battle of Artemisia and will now be called 300: Rise of an Empire . The title is based on a Frank Miller graphic novel on Greek legend and is set to come out next August, Deadline reports . Lydia Hearst Joins Horror Prequel Cabin Fever: Patient Zero The model/actress and daughter of Patty Hearst has joined the horror reboot from movie outfit Indomina. “The story kicks off when a bachelor party cruise in the Caribbean unexpectedly runs ashore on a medical-research island and a deadly virus is unleashed,” THR reports .
It is by far and away no secret that Hollywood compensation for a certain cadre of stars have been rocketing beyond the stratosphere for some time now, but one A-lister, in the form of Brad Pitt , says that the era of paychecks reaching into the tens of millions for some may be coming to a close. Both he and his partner Angelina Jolie have topped (or nearly so) the scales for their movies in the past decade, with Pitt garnering a cool $25 million per pic. Not bad, but almost a paltry sum when compared to Tom Cruise, for instance, which Forbes listed as commanding a cool $75 million in 2012. But Pitt says he thinks that the conditions for unbelievable sums (at least for the bottom 99.7 per cent) may be heading back down to the mere stratosphere. “Yeah, that thing died,” Pitt said when asked if fellow A-listers can still easily command a $10 or so million per movie, according to BBC . “That arithmetic doesn’t really work right now…that deal’s not flying these days.” Going further on the economics of Hollywood right now, Pitt added, “”It’s a really interesting time. A lot of the studios have been challenged because of the economic downturn as well, so they’ve been betting on bigger, more tent pole kinds of things. At the same time that opens up a vacuum for really interesting new filmmakers to come in.” Pitt debuted Killing Them Softly in Cannes and is a producer on the title that will head to U.S. theaters next month. But not all films will automatically bring out the masses simply because their idols are in them. Nearly two hours of staring at Robert Pattinson sans vampirism failed to bring out the legions of people who otherwise crave to hear any tidbit possible about the latest travails of their obsession’s personal life. Cosmopolis , for instance, has only cashed in at $5.3 million worldwide so far (and only just over $700K in the U.S. – ouch). “You take the roles for the roles,” said Pitt. “And you’ve just got to balance economics like everyone does.”
Star Johnny Depp and a former death row inmate may be an unlikely pairing, but the two have shared ink and a film at the Toronto International Film Festival . Depp is just one of a number of celebrities that came to the aid of Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin who spent 18 years in prison for the yet to be solved murders of three 8 year-old boys in Arkansas. Depp and Echols, now free as a result of a little-known legal maneuver called an Alford plea, sported matching tattoos at TIFF before the premiere of the documentary West of Memphis about the case that spawned films, media attention and calls by celebs around the country for their release. “This one Damien designed. It’s one of my all-time favorites and it means quite a lot to me,” Depp said, according to the A.P. Echols added that whenever the two meet up, they frequently find themselves headed to a tattoo parlor. “[It’s about] celebrating the moment,” said Depp. The case exploded into the the national consciousness in the mid-’90s with the first of what would be three Paradise Lost documentaries, directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. The films questioned the guilt of the three individuals who were convicted of the grisly murders by a zealous prosecutor who appeared to play off of local prejudices. The three, especially Damien Echols, were considered social misfits and were accused of Satanism. Echols’ penchant for black clothes coupled with the local population’s religious fervor and loose application of the rule of law proved to be a toxic brew and the three were imprisoned for years, with Echols in particular facing death for the crimes. Depp was one in a parade of celebs who demanded the three’s release, including Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, musician Henry Rollins, and filmmaker Peter Jackson who produced director Amy Berg’s West of Memphis , which is the latest film to tell a narrative that claims a gross miscarriage of American justice. “You saw those initial documentaries, you make a choice: Am I going to watch the thing and go ‘Wow, that’s really horrible,’ and go out and get a milkshake,” Depp said. The Alford plea, which freed Echols, Misskelley and Baldwin, was a move by Arkansas to allow the three to go free. The maneuver allows them to maintain their innocence while pleading guilty. An effort is still underway to clear their names once and for all. “[Depp] been with us every single step of the way,” said Echols in Toronto. “Since we’ve gotten out, he’s become like a brother to me. And that’s one of the things we always do just as part of that bond is whenever you get tattoos like that, it’s something you carry with you through the rest of your life and it’s really meaningful.” [Source: Associated Press ]
In Monday’s round-up of news briefs, a quick look at weekend pick ups at the Toronto International Film Festival including The Place Beyond the Pines , Aftershock , Great Expectations and more that will head to a theater (hopefully) near you. Also Beasts Of The Southern Wild takes a top prize at the Deauville Film Festival in France. Focus Features Takes Toronto’s The Place Beyond the Pines The new drama starring Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes will be released in the U.S. via Focus Features. Directed by Derek Cianfrance ( Blue Valentine ). A World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film explores the consequences of motorcycle rider Luke (Mr. Gosling)’s fateful decision to commit a crime to support his child. The incident renders him targeted by policeman Avery (Mr. Cooper), and the two men become locked on a tense collision course which will have a devastating impact on both of their families in the years following. Toronto’s Great Expectations Heads to U.S. Theaters The Toronto Gala starring Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Jeremy Irvine, and Holliday Grainger, will head to theaters in North America via Outsource Media Group. Directed by Mike Newell, Great Expectations is a retelling of the classic and beloved Charles Dickens story of the young orphan Pip, who is given a chance to rise from his humble beginnings thanks to a mysterious benefactor. Moving through London’s class-ridden world as a gentleman, Pip uses his newfound position to pursue the beautiful Estella, a spoilt heiress he’s loved since childhood. Michel Gondry’s The We and the I Heads to N. American Theaters French director Michel Gondry’s Cannes Directors Fortnight opener The We and the I , which is having its N. American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, will open in theaters in the U.S. and Canada in early March. Distribution partners 108 Media and Paladin acquired the rights to the film that follows a group of Bronx high schoolers who board a city bus on their way home. With summer break ahead of them, and feeling more liberated than usual, this broad array of kids–the cool ones, the outsiders, and everyone in between–act out as only teenagers can and, in the course of one afternoon, their friendships, rivalries, ambitions, and anxieties are revealed. Strand Nabs In the Fog U.S. rights to Sergei Loznitsa’s In the Fog are headed to Strand Releasing. The film follows three men three men who find themselves deep in a forest during World War II and face a moral conflict. It received a FIPRESCI prize in Cannes. The film is currently playing Toronto. Leviathan Heads to Cinema Guild The doc by Lucien Castaing-Taylor will open theatrically in early 2013. The film takes a look at the commercial fishing business in the North Atlantic. It is having its North Americna premiere in Toronto and will have its U.S. debut at the upcoming New York Film Festival. Around the ‘net… Beasts of the Southern Wild, Una Noche Win Top Deauville Prizes Benh Zeitlin’s debut film won the Grand Prize at France’s Deauville Film Festival as well as the Cartier Revelation Award, while Lucy Mulloy’s “day in the life Cuban drama” took the Jury Prize. The International Critics Prize went to Michel Gondry’s The We and the I , THR reports . Dimension Scores Eli Roth’s Aftershock and Clown Dimension picked up rights to Aftershock , which is screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film is an earthquake thriller scripted by Roth, Nicolas Lopez & Guillermo Amoedo. The label headed by Bob Weinstein also picked up rights to Eli Roth’s Clown , which is based on a fan-made trailer that grabbed Roth’s attention after it went viral, Deadline reports .
Paul Thomas Anderson ‘s The Master was set to receive the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter ‘s inside source, until a decision to allow only two major awards per film forced jury members to re-assign the top honor to another contender. When the awards were doled out earlier today by Venice jury president Michael Mann, the best picture prize went to Kim Ki-Duk’s ultraviolent mother-son flick Pieta while Best Director went to Anderson. (Full list of winners follows.) Per THR : “Apparently during the jury’s first deliberations, members decided to give The Master — a drama loosely based on the origins of Scientology — the top prize, as well as the Silver Lion directing award to Anderson and the acting award jointly to co-stars Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.” UPDATED: Asked to redeliberate, the jury instead gave the Golden Lion to Pieta , leaving The Master with a joint Best Actor prize shared by stars Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman, along with the Silver Lion (Best Director) for Anderson. The Master had been hotly tipped for The Golden Lion, backed by a groundswell of critical praise ahead of its September 21 theatrical release. Full list of Venice Film Festival winners announced today, via Indiewire / Venice Film Festival : Golden Lion (Best Picture) Pieta , Kim-Ki Duk Silver Lion (Best Director) Paul Thomas Anderson – “The Master” Volpi Cup – Best Actor Joaquin Phoenix & Philip Seymour Hoffman – “The Master” Volpi Cup – Best Actress Hadas Yaron – “Fill The Void” Special Jury Award Ulrich Seidl – Paradise: Faith Mastroianni Award – Best Young Actor Fabrizio Falcone – “Dormant Beauty,” “It Was The Son” Best Screenplay Olivier Assayas – “Something In The Air” Technical Achievement Daniele Cipri – “Il Stato E Figlio,” Luigi De Laurentiis Award (Best First Feature) “Kuf: Mold,” Ali Aydin Orrizonti: Best Feature “Three Sisters,” Wang Bing Orrizonti: Jury Prize “Tango Libre,” Frederic Fonteyne FIPRESCI Award (Competition) “The Master,” Paul Thomas Anderson FIPRESCI Award (Orizzonti/Critics’ Week) “The Interval,” Leonardo Di Constanzo SIGNIS Award “To the Wonder,” Terrence Malick SIGNIS Award (Special Mention) “Fill the Void,” Rama Burshtein Audience Award (Critics’ Week) “Eat Sleep Die,” Gabriela Pilcher Label Europa Cinemas Award “Crawl,” Herve Lasgouttes Leoncino d’Oro Agiscuola Award “Pieta,” Kim Ki-duk Leoncino d’Oro Agiscuola Award (Cinema for UNICEF mention) “It Was the Son,” Daniele Cipri Pasinetti Award “The Interval,” Leonardo Di Constanzo Pasinetti Award (Documentary) “The Human Cargo,” Daniele Vicari Pasinetti Award (Best Actor) Valerio Mastandrea, “Gli Equilibristi” Pasinetti Award (Special) “Clarisse,” Liliana Cavani Brian Award “Dormant Beauty,” Marco Bellocchio Queer Lion Award “The Weight,” Jeon Kyu-Hwan Arca CinemaGiovani Award (Best Film of Venezia 69) “The Fifth Season,” Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth Arca CinemaGiovani Award (Best Italian Film) “The Ideal City,” Luigi Lo Casco Biografilm Lancia Award “The Human Cargo,” Daniele Vicari; “Bad 25,” Spike Lee CICT-UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Award “The Interval,” Leonardo Di Costanzo CICAE Award “Wadjda,” Haifaa Al Mansour CinemaAvvenire Award (Best Film of Venezia 69) “Paradise: Faith,” Ulrich Seidl CinemAvvenire Award (Diversity) “Wadjda,” Haifaa Al Mansour FEDIC Award “The Interval,” Leonardo Di Costanzo FEDIC Award (Special Mention) “Bellas Mariposas,” Salvatore Mereu Mimmo Rotella Foundation Award “Something in the Air,” Olivier Assayas Future Film Festival Digital Award “Bad 25,” Spike Lee Future Film Festival Digital Award (Special Mention) “Spring Breakers,” Harmony Korine P. Nazareno Taddei Award “Pieta,” Kim Ki-duk P. Nazareno Taddei Award (Special Mention) “Thy Womb,” Brillante Mendoza Magic Lantern Award “The Interval,” Leonardo Di Costanzo Open Award “The Company You Keep,” Robert Redford La Navicella-Venezia Cinema Award “Thy Womb,” Brillante Mendoza Lina Mangiacapre Award “Queen of Montreuil,” Solveig Anspach AIF-FORFILMFEST Award “The Interval,” Leonardo Di Costanzo Mouse d’Oro Award “Pieta,” Kim Ki-duk Mouse d’Argento Award “Anton’s Right Here,” Lyubov Arkus UK-Italy Creative Industries Award “The Interval,” Leonardo Di Costanzo Gillo Pontecorvo-Arcobaleno Latino Award Laura Delli Colli Christopher D. Smithers Foundation Award “Low Tide,” Roberto Minervini Interfilm Award “Wadjda,” Haifaa Al Mansour Giovani Giurati del Vittorio Veneto Film Festival Award “The Company You Keep,” Robert Redford Giovani Giurati del Vittorio Veneto Film Festival Award (Special Mention) Toni Servillo Primio Cinematografico Award “Terramatta,” Costanza Quatriglio Green Drop Award “The Fifth Season,” Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth
