When I kicked off Smoked by Windows Phone at CES in January, I did it with one thing in mind – show the world that Windows Phone is simply faster at the everyday stuff that people do on their smartphones. Since then we’ve seen it in the Microsoft Stores, run by fans, and hosted by Microsoft teams all over the world. The big takeaway from Smoked is that it’s about showing what Windows Phone can do,… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Windows Phone Blog Discovery Date : 08/05/2012 18:12 Number of articles : 2
The Ben Affleck-directed and -starring Argo is due out October 12, 2012 from Warner Bros . The period drama sheds light on the real-life covert operation to rescue a group of Americans during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, when six of the 52 U.S. citizens taken during the revolution managed to flee and find refuge at the home of the Canadian ambassador. The mission to rescue them was carried out by… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Deadline | Hollywood Discovery Date : 08/05/2012 18:54 Number of articles : 2
This morning’s Biz Break includes news of Webby Award winners, more Hulk gigs for Mark Ruffalo, a Rascal -y pick up by Warner Bros. and a new venture by the founder of Summit Entertainment. 2012 Webby Awards Congratulations to our friends and colleagues at Indiewire which won the Webby Award in the Movie and Film category today. Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures’ The Muppets Mahna Mahna won the People’s Voice prize in the same category. Louis C.K. was recognized as Webby Person of the Year for his groundbreaking digital-only release Louis C.K. – Live at the Beach Theater , while also taking prizes at the 16th annual event were Pinterest, Spotify and Google+ — all of which took their first Webbys. Facebook was recognized with the inaugural People’s Special Achievement for Social Change prize, singer Bjork will be presented with the Webby Artist of the Year Award for her “Biophilia” album, and Instagram won the Webby Breakout of the Year award. The Webby Awards will be held May 21 in New York; Patton Oswalt will host. Visit the Webby site for more winners. From around the ‘net… Mark Ruffalo to Return as Hulk in Five More Films? Ruffalo talks about his six-picture deal with Marvel, which would have him returning as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in five more films after his incarnation of the green creature in Avengers explodes in the U.S. box office this weekend. Collider reports . Summit co-Founder David Garrett and Constantin Film Launch New Venture David Garrett, co-founder of Summit Entertainment, and former President of Summit International, announced today that he is launching a new company, Mister Smith Entertainment, at the upcoming 2012 Cannes Film Market, Deadline reports . Warner Bros. Picks Up Rascal Raccoon for Harold & Kumar Director The studio has picked up Rascal Raccoon’s Raging Revenge with Harold & Kumar Christmas director Todd Strauss-Schulson attached to direct and Matt Fogel set to adapt the screenplay. THR reports . Atlas Independent Gets Revenge Tribeca premiere Revenge for Jolly! , the first completed film of Atlas Entertainment’s year-old label Atlas Independent, is set to hit the Cannes Market for international sales via Highland Film Group, Variety reports . Once Dominates Tony Award Nominations The romantic comedy involving a flower seller, a street musician, and a vacuum cleaner repairman — received 11 nominations including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical, and Best Actress in a Musical, Deadline reports .
Well, not free free, but still: Hollywood superproducer Joel Silver is looking for a new studio home for his Silver Pictures operation, with which Warner Bros. will officially part ways at the end of 2012. The separation marks the close of a 25-year relationship that yielded blockbuster franchises from Lethal Weapon to The Matrix to Sherlock Holmes — and more than a few shouting matches, outstanding loans and other troubling legacies. Nikki Finke has the juicy details at Deadline, largely focusing on the ongoing battles between Silver and Warner Bros. boss Jeff Robinov: Robinov used his own surrogates to make Silver aware that the studio was about to “address the economics” of his Warner Bros. deal if — and that was a big “if” — it was renewed at the end of the year. Which Silver correctly interpreted as meaning a drastic reduction in his already greatly reduced contract terms even though the studio had not yet presented any details. Robinov counted on Silver imploding, which is exactly what happened. It’s well known in Hollywood that the lavish-living Silver has relied on a longstanding series of loans from Warner Bros. by taking advances against the money due him on his movies. Once he leaves Warner Bros., Silver must repay those loans. Will another studio be willing to let him borrow in an arrangement which Silver’s lawyer Bert Fields once described as “a running account between them”? Yikes. Finke suggests Universal as a possible fit, which is as good a guess as any with Silver pal Ron Meyer (whose daughter also works for Silver) running the ship. Or maybe not! Anyone out there need a 59-year-old terror to watch your lot and spend your money? Suggestions welcome… [ Deadline ]
Conspiracy theorists? Take notice. This is the day you’ve been waiting for. There is a very good chance Tupac Shakur is alive and well, and in hiding, according to the man who was with him during the (allegedly) fatal shooting. Former Death Row Records kingpin Suge Knight came on 93.5 KDay in L.A. and threw gasoline on the fire of the urban legend that simply will not die. Tupac Coachella Performance Maybe we weren’t so far off after all when we posited that the Tupac hologram was the real deal. According to Suge, the rapper FAKED his own death. Knight’s theory on why the killer was never caught? There was no murder: “Maybe the question is … Pac’s not really dead … Pac’s somewhere else.” Asked if he ever saw Tupac’s body following the 1996 drive-by shooting, he adds, “Nobody seen Tupac dead.” Well, that’s one way of putting it. Suge Knight explains , “The person who supposedly cremated Tupac … this guy got about 3 million dollars .. personally from me. Cash … and next thing I know I never heard from the guy or seen him again … he retired and left.” Oookay then. You tell us: Is he really dead ?
Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, star of the original Dark Shadows, has died at the age of 87. He passed away Friday in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. Frid was best known as the benign vampire Barnabas Collins on ABC’s gothic soap opera from 1967-71 and in the 1970 movie House Of Dark Shadows . Jonathan Frid also has a cameo in Warner Bros’ upcoming Dark Shadows reboot, directed by the great Tim Burton, as an older version of Barnabas. He meets up with the younger version of himself, played by Johnny Depp. While Frid wasn’t in Dark Shadows during its 1966 debut, his elegantly fiendish Barnabas quickly became the star when he joined several months later. After the series ended, Frid returned to theater, performing Edgar Allen Poe, William Shakespeare and a long run on Broadway in Arsenic And Old Lace.
Where does Martin Scorsese stand on the enduring cultural clash between vampires and zombies? Where else? “I happen to like vampires more than zombies. A vampire, quite honestly, you could have a conversation with. He has a sexuality. I mean the undead thing… Zombies, what are you going to do with them? Just keep chopping them up, shooting at them, shooting at them. It’s a whole other thing that apparently means a great deal to our culture and our society. There are many, many books written about it and many movies. I saw one in London when I was doing Hugo. I saw one late at night one weekend. It was called Colin, by a young filmmaker [Marc Price]. He shot it, I think, digitally by himself, edited it himself. It was savage. It had an energy that took the zombie idea to another level. Really interesting filmmaking. Disturbing.” Also: He gets Raging Bull II just about as much as you and I do. [ GQ via /film ]
I hesitate to even pass along word of the luxury fashion purveyor’s ongoing litigiousness lest this site land in its hungry crosshairs, but: Have you heard about the lengths to which Louis Vuitton is going to keep its brand safe from the grubby likes of The Hangover Part II ? Or how another, recently resolved court victory has possibly shored up its case against the film’s studio Warner Bros.? Memo to Hollywood: Either get your clearances up front or do not even think of messing with these guys. This has been going on for a while , but THR Esq. now offers up the bone-chilling latest: On March 22, a judge granted a summary judgment victory to Louis Vuitton over a Super Bowl TV commercial produced by Hyundai that featured for approximately one second a basketball that bore resemblance to a flower-like symbol on chestnut-brown background design that was trademarked by Louis Vuitton. The French brand says that the judge’s decision two weeks ago shows why it should be able to go forward with its claims against Warner Bros. for infringing and diluting its trademark by showing for one brief moment in [ The Hangover Part II ] Zach Galifianakis telling someone who pushes his bag, “Be careful, that is … that is a Lewis Vuitton.” In mid-March, Warner Bros. responded to the lawsuit by telling a New York judge that it had a First Amendment right to feature trademarks and incorporate real-life references to brands without getting the consent of owners. The studio added there wasn’t any confusion, and if there was, it was de minimis and/or the responsibility of the company that had actually produced the knock-off handbag. Meanwhile, the designer isn’t backing down, arguing in a court filing (with its victory versus Hyundai in mind) that “Louis Vuitton’s ‘aggressive’ enforcement of its trademark rights and prompt action against those who misuse its trademarks are necessary concomitants of its exclusive rights in the brand.” Fine, but to what end? Is “the brand” — and apparently its business — so fragile that millions of dollars in legal expenses are themselves necessary concomitants of relevancy in 2012? Or is this just the more socially permissible way of shoring up the market share that all those knock-off merchants in Lower Manhattan have eroded in recent years? Either way, to all you screenwriters and studio legal departments alike: Maybe stick to Samsonite? [ THR Esq .] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Alexander Skarsgard , the young offspring of the well-respected acting talent Stellan Skarsgard , hasn’t quite carved his niche out for himself just yet in the film world. Outside of women everywhere with HBO subscriptions who DVR every episode of horror soap “ True Blood ” to watch his ripped physique, his excellent spots in Lars Von Trier ’s “ Melancholia ,” the HBO mini-series “ Generation Kill,… Broadcasting platform : Vimeo Source : The Playlist Discovery Date : 05/04/2012 04:43 Number of articles : 2
Fans of Whitney Houston can relive one of the highest points of her career on March 28th when “The Bodyguard” hits movie theaters for one night only! Before you start thinking that the re-release of the film is to capitalize off of Whitney Houston’s death, its not…really. 2012 happens to be the year that will commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the movie. Although the event will not be branded as a “tribute” to Whitney Houston, it will surely be an opportunity for fans to reflect on Whitney’s amazing acting and singing talents. Warner Bros will screen “The Bodyguard” in more than 400 theaters across the country. If you’re in Atlanta, check out the AJC to see where the movie will be playing locally.
