Healthcare is grabbing the headlines and the Chattersphere today, but one thing appears to be certain: It’s curtains for film. OK, maybe a stretch of a segue, but here’s the thing. Sure, there are some high profile holdouts and even digital-converts will attest to the quality and feel of film. But when Martin Scorsese is ready to make the perma-switch, then the slow inevitable demise may have just been given an extra boost. Scorsese will go digital for his next film and appears resigned to the format going forward. Speaking with Empire at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the director’s longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker said, “It would appear that we’ve lost the battle,” confirming his next film, The Wolf of Wall Street would be shot digitally. “I think Marty just feels it’s unfortunately over, and there’s been no bigger champion of film than him.” Of course Scorsese’s last film Hugo won an Oscar for Best Cinematography. It is also a de facto call for film preservation, something near and dear to the filmmaker’s heart. “It’s a very bittersweet thing to be watching films with him now that are on film,” said Schoonmaker. “We’re cherishing every moment of it. The number of prints that are now being made for release has just gone down, and it would appear that the theaters have converted so quickly to digital.” Scorsese and Schoonmaker get to work on The Wolf of Wall Street starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill and Jean Dujardin the second week of August. And what do you think about the switch to digital? [Source: Empire ]
Last April came the out-of-nowhere casting calls , but now you’ll have to come to terms with the fact that Raging Bull II — a prequel and sequel to the Martin Scorsese film, with William Forsythe in the role made famous by Robert De Niro — has actually begun filming. Variety reports: “[Forsythe] stars as boxing champ Jake LaMotta in his older years with newcomer Mojean Aria playing the younger version of the character made famous by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s 1980 classic Raging Bull .” William Forsythe as Jake LaMotta. Yep. It’s happening. Directed by Martin Guigui (from a script co-written with Rustam Branaman), Raging Bull II takes its inspiration from real life pugilist LaMotta’s book, and no — Scorsese isn’t involved. As if . Filming is now in progress in Los Angeles, with an interesting supporting cast that includes Joe Mantegna, Tom Sizemore, Penelope Ann Miller, Natasha Henstridge, Alicia Witt, Ray Wise, Harry Hamlin, Bill Bellamy and James Russo, though cast member Juliet Landau, Tweeting a photo of herself in costume as a starlet who has an affair with LaMotta, described many of theirs as cameo appearances. The film purports to tell LaMotta’s story “‘before the rage’ and ‘after the rage,'” and while it’s tough to guess just how this revisiting of LaMotta’s life will turn out, Witt did Tweet a photo of herself on set last week: Meanwhile, Twilight ‘s Alex Meraz also has a role — as a character named Paco — and recently shared what could be his curly-haired look for the film. Draw your own conclusions: [via Variety ]
The previously untitled, Ben Affleck/Rachel McAdams-starring project due later this year has also received an R rating for “some sexuality and nudity.” Ugh. This calls for a petition ! Meanwhile the film still awaits an official release date; stay tuned here for details as events warrant. [ CARA via Film Stage ]
Happens to the best of us: “‘At the beginning people [say], “You’re going to be going to the Oscars ,” and you’re like, “Whatever, doesn’t matter, don’t think so.” But after a while it does penetrate. After a while you’re like, “Anyway, so I’m going to the Oscars…”‘ He laughs. ‘And you start to believe it. And I did. I thought I was going. And then I found out I wasn’t and I was upset. I was very upset by it. The first reaction was “What the fuck…?”‘ He sounds frustrated that he had let himself get sucked in. ‘It’s a vanity thing. It does become important to you. And it shouldn’t.’ On reflection, he decided that he had learned something about misplaced priorities. ‘A good little lesson.'” [ GQ ]
Also in Tuesday morning’s Biz Break: Horizon Movies picks up an ode to ’70s and ’80s thrillers, Martin Scorsese is driving a new Rolls Royce pic, movies are top for consumers, and more… Thunder Run Gets Go Ahead Ahead of Cannes, Freedom Films has partnered with Paradox Entertainment in a “substantial” domestic P&A financing arrangement for the CG 3-D action thriller Thunder Run . Matthew McConaughey, Sam Worthington and Gerard Butler are attached. The story centers on the bloody capture of Baghdad by American forces at the onset of the Iraq War, when three battalions and fewer than a thousand men launched a violent thrust of tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles into the heart of a city of five million, igniting a three-day blitzkrieg, which military professionals often refer to as a lightning strike. Hyde Park International is handling sales at the Cannes Market. Horizon Movies Takes North American Rights to Mr. Hush Kino Lorber’s Horizon Movies label picked up the film, described as an ode to the horror movies of the ’70s and ’80s. Set in an idyllic Pennsylvania town, the film tells the story of Holland Price, a devoted husband and loving father, who, unbeknownst to him, becomes the target of evil and dark forces. Around the ‘net… Consumers Are Pleased with Movies; Other Media Not So Much Respondents to an American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) gave motion pictures a score of 76 on a 100-point scale, up from 73 in 2011. Movies scored over broadcast and cable TV news programs, subscription TV and more, Deadline reports . Bully Director: Mitt Romney Apology ‘Fell Short’ Last week the Washington Post reported that while a student at Michigan’s elite Cranbrook Academy, the future presidential candidate and a group of friends confronted a classmate they suspected of being gay and pinned him down to cut off his long hair. “This could be a true presidential moment for Mitt Romney,” Hirsch told THR . “My hope is that he would recognize that we are past framing bullying as horse play or pranking around. We need our leaders to call it as it is.” Martin Scorsese Driving Rolls Royce Pic Martin Scorsese is teaming with Lord Richard Attenborough and Anthony Haas to produce Silver Ghost , a drama based on the true story of the founding of Rolls Royce that will be a co-production between Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions and Zuma Productions, Variety reports . Career Watch: The Commodification of Johnny Depp Johnny Depp’s career has been set on cruise control for years, and it’s worked splendidly. He’s Hollywood’s highest-paid actor along with Will Smith, received not one but two Golden Globe nominations in 2011 (for two of his worst films) and is happy getting paid stupid amounts of money even though he agrees it’s ridiculous and does not find it stimulating, Thompson on Hollywood reports .
Also in Tuesday morning’s Biz Break: Horizon Movies picks up an ode to ’70s and ’80s thrillers, Martin Scorsese is driving a new Rolls Royce pic, movies are top for consumers, and more… Thunder Run Gets Go Ahead Ahead of Cannes, Freedom Films has partnered with Paradox Entertainment in a “substantial” domestic P&A financing arrangement for the CG 3-D action thriller Thunder Run . Matthew McConaughey, Sam Worthington and Gerard Butler are attached. The story centers on the bloody capture of Baghdad by American forces at the onset of the Iraq War, when three battalions and fewer than a thousand men launched a violent thrust of tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles into the heart of a city of five million, igniting a three-day blitzkrieg, which military professionals often refer to as a lightning strike. Hyde Park International is handling sales at the Cannes Market. Horizon Movies Takes North American Rights to Mr. Hush Kino Lorber’s Horizon Movies label picked up the film, described as an ode to the horror movies of the ’70s and ’80s. Set in an idyllic Pennsylvania town, the film tells the story of Holland Price, a devoted husband and loving father, who, unbeknownst to him, becomes the target of evil and dark forces. Around the ‘net… Consumers Are Pleased with Movies; Other Media Not So Much Respondents to an American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) gave motion pictures a score of 76 on a 100-point scale, up from 73 in 2011. Movies scored over broadcast and cable TV news programs, subscription TV and more, Deadline reports . Bully Director: Mitt Romney Apology ‘Fell Short’ Last week the Washington Post reported that while a student at Michigan’s elite Cranbrook Academy, the future presidential candidate and a group of friends confronted a classmate they suspected of being gay and pinned him down to cut off his long hair. “This could be a true presidential moment for Mitt Romney,” Hirsch told THR . “My hope is that he would recognize that we are past framing bullying as horse play or pranking around. We need our leaders to call it as it is.” Martin Scorsese Driving Rolls Royce Pic Martin Scorsese is teaming with Lord Richard Attenborough and Anthony Haas to produce Silver Ghost , a drama based on the true story of the founding of Rolls Royce that will be a co-production between Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions and Zuma Productions, Variety reports . Career Watch: The Commodification of Johnny Depp Johnny Depp’s career has been set on cruise control for years, and it’s worked splendidly. He’s Hollywood’s highest-paid actor along with Will Smith, received not one but two Golden Globe nominations in 2011 (for two of his worst films) and is happy getting paid stupid amounts of money even though he agrees it’s ridiculous and does not find it stimulating, Thompson on Hollywood reports .
Walt Disney’s Taxi Driver, Bryan Boyce, 2011, 4 min, color, sound Clever appropriation and frame manipulation results in a droll amalgamation of disney motifs within the bounds of Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976), a short found-footage film that follows a “Mickey Mouse-obsessed Travis Bickle as he looks for love in a rapidly transforming New York City.” Related posts: Election Collectibles… Broadcasting platform : Vimeo Source : DINCA Discovery Date : 09/05/2012 14:06 Number of articles : 2
Movieline joins music and film fans in mourning the death of Adam Yauch – a.k.a. MCA, one-third of rap legends the Beastie Boys, influential filmmaker and music-video director, and founder of independent-film distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories. In other film news, Friday afternoon’s Biz Break includes rundowns on Jonah Hill’s collaboration with Martin Scorsese, Cannes’ new addition to its official selection, Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut, and UTA’s failed bid for a Beverly Hills street name. The Weinstein Company Nabs Rights To Dustin Hoffman’s Directorial Debut TWC will take U.S. and Latin American rights to Dustin Hoffman’s comedy Quartet from HanWay Films. Starring Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly, Michael Gambon and Pauline Collins, the film revolves around a home for retired opera singers. Each year Reggie, Wilf and Cissy stage a concert to raise funds for the home, but Reggie’s ex-wife shows up, creating tension and playing the diva. Cannes Adds Le Serment de Tobrouk to Roster The festival will add Bernard-Henri Levy’s Le Serment de Tobrouk ( The Oath of Tobruk ) to its Official Selection and will screen May 25. Made during the eight-month conflict that ended Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s dictatorship, the film traces the unfolding of that unusual war. Four key figures from the Libyan revolution will attend the screening. From around the ‘net… Jonah Hill to Star with Leo in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street The recent Moneyball Oscar-nominee will star along with Leonardo DiCaprio in the adaptation of Jordan Belfort’s memoir about hard-partying, dramatic rise and fall on Wall Street. Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter wrote the script, Deadline reports . After Adam Yauch’s Death, Oscilloscope Reverses Management Change After announcing he will leave his top management position at Oscilloscope which he co-founded with Adam Yauch four years ago, David Fenkel will remain involved in running the company, a spokesperson told The Wrap. Fox Renames Neighborhood Watch Movie in Florida Shooting Aftermath Now re-named The Watch , 20th Century Fox wanted to avoid any association with the tragic shooting of teen Trayvon Martin in Florida earlier this year, Deadline reports . UTA Ends Pursuit of Beverly Hills Street Name at New H.Q. The talent agency expected Beverly Hills would approve United Talent Agency Drive street signs near the company’s new headquarters at its new 120,000 square foot offices off Civic Center Drive, THR reports .
Famed drummer passed away ‘surrounded by family, friends and band mates’ on Thursday. By John Mitchell The Band’s Levon Helm Photo: Getty Images After fighting a long battle with cancer, Levon Helm, former drummer for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group The Band died Thursday (April 19). He was 71. “Levon Helm passed peacefully this afternoon,” a statement on his website reads. “He was surrounded by family, friends and band mates and will be remembered by all he touched as a brilliant musician and a beautiful soul.” Born in Elaine, Arkansas, on May 26, 1940, Helm’s signature Southern drawl is featured on some of the Band’s most iconic songs, from “The Weight” and “Up on Cripple Creek” to “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” Helm was first diagnosed with throat cancer in 1998 and has struggled with his voice since. He initially lost his ability to sing entirely, but continued to play drums, mandolin and harmonica. Radiation left him with little more than a raspy whisper, but Helm continued to try to sing, and by the time he recorded 2007’s Dirt Farmer he’d recovered 80 percent of his voice. With his daughter Amy, he started a series of weekly concerts at his Woodstock, New York, studios called the “Midnight Ramble,” which grew from an idea Helm explained to Martin Scorsese while making “The Last Waltz,” the legendary documentary directed by Scorsese about the Band’s epic, all-star Thanksgiving farewell concert in 1976 at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The Midnight Ramble shows became very popular and attracted many of music’s most renowned stars, from Elvis Costello and Norah Jones to My Morning Jacket and Emmylou Harris. The shows’ success reignited Helm’s recording career in the early 2000s, leading him toward Grammy wins for his albums Dirt Farmer (2007), Electric Dirt (2009) and Ramble at the Ryman (2011). Helm’s music career began when he joined the band of rocker Ronnie Hawkins in 1957. During his stint in Hawkins’ band, he met Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson and together they formed the core of the Band. After their split from Hawkins, the group became the backing band for Bob Dylan as the folk icon transitioned to an electric sound. Helm, Manuel, Danko, Robertson and Hudson eventually earned a recording contract of their own, and as the Band released 10 studio albums, beginning with 1968’s Music From Big Pink. Though the Band broke up in 1976, they regrouped without Robertson in 1983 and continued recording through 1998. Helm was also an actor, appearing in 12 films, most notably the 1980s Oscar-winning “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” in which he played Loretta Lynn’s (Sissy Spacek) father, and most recently the Mark Wahlberg-starring “Shooter.” Related Artists The Band
Making its North American premiere next week at Tribeca , director Chris Kenneally’s digital-cinema study Side By Side has quite a bit going for it: There’s co-producer Keanu Reeves, narrating and leading interviews with an extraordinary range of filmmakers including Christopher Nolan, George Lucas, James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Steven Soderbergh, Lars von Trier and numerous others. There’s great technical insight from Oscar-winning cinematographers like Vittorio Storaro, Wally Pfister, Anthony Dod Mantle and Dion Beebe. There’s scene-stealers like Joel Schumacher and shooter Geoff Boyle, who encapsulates the digital age with his trenchant summary, “We’re fucked.” But among all the experts, insights and disclosures herein, there’s one appearance in particular that makes Side by Side worth a look: The Wachowskis. While they’ve made seemingly random news posing for photos with Arianna Huffington and others, I can’t even find the last instance of a bona fide interview with Andy and Lana Wachowski. Roger Ebert talked to them a bit in 2008 , but for a real chat about their work or style, you’d probably have to go back to their Matrix days , when Lana was still Larry and they hadn’t yet settled completely behind their cloak of personal, professional and creative privacy. But there they are onscreen, filling Reeves and Kenneally in regarding the advancement of digital filmmaking and its influence on the Matrix and Speed Racer . And that’s not all. “The delivery system of cinema is going to change, and that’s almost kind of more exciting in a way for me, beside the actual cameras,” Lana says. “This very ancient system of putting a can of film on a truck, driving it to a city, unloading it — that’s being replaced.” And as for the social-media influence on filmgoing, Andy weighs in with his support: “In some way, the virtual experience is more rewarding, because there’s an actual dialogue going on.” There’s more, which you can see either at Tribeca (where Side by Side premieres Apr. 24 ) or when the film arrives in theaters and on VOD this August. All of which leads to the question: How did Kenneally and Reeves even get the two to agree to a sit-down with them? Kenneally sent the back story in a statement to Movieline: We are very fortunate and grateful for all the amazing people who shared their time, insights and knowledge with us for our documentary Side by Side . We were especially fortunate to have been able to interview the Wachowskis since they rarely do interviews. Andy and Lana have had a very successful and close relationship with Keanu, and I believe the reason they agreed to the interview was because of this friendship. The Wachowskis continue to create groundbreaking movies and they are truly pioneers in the use of digital technology. The images they were able to create in the Matrix Trilogy and on Speed Racer pushed the limits of filmmaking art and technology. There are beautiful shots in those films that had never been conceived of before. The Wachowskis were very busy working on their next film Cloud Atlas , which they are directing along with Tom Tykwer, in Berlin, Germany, but they found a few free hours for us one afternoon. Keanu, our producer Justin Szlasa and I flew to Berlin, set up our cameras quickly and got an amazing, insightful and at times hilarious interview. The Wachowskis had a unique, intelligent perspective on image creation, digital technology, editing, archival and couldn’t have been nicer or more welcoming to us. One of the highlights of the Side by Side journey for me was seeing Lana and Andy in the audience at our screening at the Berlin Film Festival. I had the chance to speak to them afterword. They were really happy for us and had a lot of kind words to say about Side by Side . Fantastic. Of course there are plenty of other interviewees and perspectives to catch in Side by Side ; learn more about the film and check out a few clips at its Tribeca Film Festival page . Read all of Movieline’s Tribeca 2012 coverage here . Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
