Roughly two weeks after Gary Ross’s departure from and Francis Lawrence’s rumored attachment to Catching Fire , Lionsgate has officially announced Lawrence as its man to direct its mega-anticipated Hunger Games sequel . “From the very beginning of this brilliant trilogy’s journey from page to screen, our first priority has been to stay true to the heart and soul of Suzanne Collins’ powerful stories,” producer Nina Jacobson said in a statement just over the transom at Movieline HQ. “From my first conversation with Francis, I knew he would make a great partner for both me and Suzanne. His passion for Catching Fire and inspired ideas for a faithful adaptation make him the perfect director for this movie. I know this will be a wonderful collaboration and I cannot wait to get started.” Added Lawrence: “It is truly an honor and a privilege to bring Catching Fire , the second chapter of Suzanne’s beloved trilogy, to the big screen. I fell in love with the characters, the themes and the world she created and this chapter opens all of these elements up in such a thrilling, emotional and surprising way. I can’t wait to dive right into it and bring this chapter to life along with the truly superb cast and filmmakers involved.” Mazel tov! And get to work : Catching Fire opens November 22, 2013. [Photo: Getty Images]
About 20 minutes into a 3-D press screening of The Avengers Monday night in Los Angeles, one member of the audience interrupted the superhero theatrics to make it known that all was not right with his viewing experience. “Fix the projector!” the exasperated gentleman bellowed during a conspicuously quiet moment, as Mark Ruffalo ’s contemplative face filled the screen. Something was very off, giving the complainant and others in attendance a less-than-ideal, even disastrous presentation. The only problem? There was nothing wrong with the projector. The issue that led this particular fed up gentleman — who may or may not have been a film critic on assignment, I’m not sure – to shout out in irritated frustration wasn’t any fault of shoddy projection, or texting teens, or (forbid!) an accidental digital file deletion up in the booth, or any of the common complaints audiences have in the age of modern moviegoing. It was a case of faulty 3-D glasses mucking up the picture for the poor guy, giving Joss Whedon’s ZOMG epic 3-D adventure an unsolicited layer of blurriness, blackouts, green tint and/or other visual muck — only he didn’t realize that it was because of the cumbersome contraption on his face and not the projection itself. I know this because about 10 seconds into The Avengers , I realized my pair of theater-provided 3-D glasses were also inoperable — and then spent 15 minutes running back and forth from lobby to darkened theater aisle, sorting through literally dozens of pairs in a frantic attempt to find ones that worked so I could get back to watching Hulk and Co. smash, already. Now, a brief techie aside: The Arclight theaters, which hosted the screening in Hollywood, employ the XpandD active-shutter kind of 3-D glasses — they’re the heavier ones with the rubberized frames and the just-cleaned wet spots, weighty because the active-shutters in each pair are synced to an infrared signal broadcast in the theater which switch alternate right — and left-eye images at high speeds and require batteries. (The alternate kind of 3-D glasses, passive glasses, use polarized lenses and tend to be those lightweight, disposable, hipster-looking shades; these were used at the incident-free Avengers ’ L.A. premiere last month at Grauman’s Chinese, but the Arclight cinemas are XpanD partners.) So the Arclight’s active-shutter glasses were causing a major malfunction for us unlucky attendees who’d grabbed bunk pairs on our ways to our seats. And the exasperated gentleman and I were not alone. In my journeys up and down the hallway I saw many fellow would-be Avengers -watchers doing as I was, all of us locked in a comically desperate dance of grabbing glasses, testing them, returning defeated. Trays upon trays of fresh 3-D glasses were laid out in front of us by the bewildered theater staff, who quickly retired their “These should be working” auto-reply and let us seize handfuls of the damned things at a time. (The Arclight Cinemas declined to comment for this article, by the way.) Critic/journalist Fred Topel , who’d been in the same boat, tweeted about the snafu that night along with an explanation he’d received from the theater manager later, after it had been fixed: @ arclightcinemas 3D glasses broke tonight. Some stayed blurry, some blacked out one of the eyes. I tried 7 before I got one that worked.— Fred Topel (@FredTopel) May 01, 2012 @ Arclightcinemas manager Joshua said they fixed the broken 3D by adding a second emitter in the booth.— Fred Topel (@FredTopel) May 01, 2012 Topel managed to find a working pair before too long, but others weren’t as lucky; of the handfuls of folks I saw leaving their seats to hunt down working 3-D glasses, some, like Screen International critic Brent Simon, gave up the search when he’d decided too much movie had gone by to return to his seat. “My glasses had in-and-out image flickering, one of them went black, and then I had massive green tinting on one pair — sort of like Hulk vision?” he told Movieline. “I tried watching with no glasses for a while, but that was problematic.” After 15 minutes of attempting unsuccessfully to find a working pair, Simon decided he’d have to see the film from the start another time, and left. But unlike those who’d exited altogether or managed to eventually find a working pair, there were the untold folks who, like our exasperated gentleman, either never realized the glasses were the problem or that they’d have to leave their seat and miss parts of the film in order to find a fix. “I had a good vantage point from where I was sitting of how many people were coming back and forth, streaming down the aisles,” said Simon, “and some people were just watching without their glasses.” If you’ve ever watched 3-D without 3-D glasses, you know that watching a film for any amount of time with that kind of consistent blurriness would totally suck. So is every 3-D release worth the potential hassle? Or worth the potential risk ? I’ll put this out there: The Avengers does not need to be seen in 3-D. For starters, it contains a number of scenes that are dark and dimly lit to begin with, notwithstanding the added dimness that most 3-D post-conversions usually suffer. (For example: The entire opening sequence is composed of nighttime action shots that are frustratingly hard to make out.) At moments I glimpsed the screen sans 3-D glasses and the film was brighter, crisper, much more vivid, even gorgeous, and if not for the blurriness of the third dimension I’d have preferred to watch it that way. Whedon seems to have shot for immersive 3-D rather than gimmicky 3-D, which is fine and all, but overall the added dimension doesn’t add that much. If I were to recommend The Avengers to anyone, I’d wholeheartedly push them toward 2-D. Besides, to be in a 3-D film and not get the full 3-D effect — or worse, to sit through a blurry presentation without even realizing something was wrong — would defeat the point entirely. And if 3-D isn’t an essential or notable enhancement to a film, why bother? Just remember: In our brave new world of 3-D dominance, we are all, potentially, that exasperated gentleman. How many of us might continue to sit there, watching through broken glasses, unaware of why the picture was so darn fuzzy? But 3-D continues to be pushed upon us, and while Monday’s minor debacle was just one isolated incident of the technology revolting against its bearer, I simply offer it up as anecdotal evidence of a bump in the road to our moviegoing future; take from this what lessons you will if you see The Avengers in 3-D this weekend. Just don’t rush to blame the blurry curves of ScarJo’s Black Widow getup on the projector. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
“From the writer of Training Day … and The Fast and the Furious …” Yeah, OK. The first trailer for the thriller End of Watch is all that lead-plated machismo and more jammed through the chaotic handheld prism of Crank and distilled with the essence of Jake Gyllenhaal until the potency has you lapsing into a cop-buddy-shoot-’em-up swoon, faceplanting helplessly into writer-director David Ayer’s oversaturated L.A. grit. And it’s got Michael Pe
Screenwriter Releases Audio Of Mel Gibson Expletive Filled Tirade We all knew this guy was off his effin’ rocker, but this isht right chere is cray… Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas says he and his family were house guests of Mel Gibson in Costa Rica last December when the ‘Mad Max’ star went off on a blistering tirade, recorded on an iPhone by Eszterhas ‘ 15-year-old son Nick. Eszterhas provided the audio recording to industry website The Wrap because: “Gibson called me a liar. And I also have some reason to believe he’s creating a PR blitz questioning my truthfulness.” Eszterhas, who wrote the blockbuster “Basic Instinct,” was writing a screenplay for Gibson for a film called “The Maccabees.” The fact that the screenplay had not been completed seems to be one of the things that set Gibson off. “Why don’t I have a first draft of ‘The Maccabees’? What the f**k have you been doing?” he can be heard bellowing on the recording on The Wrap’s website. And it gets worse. Gibson, 56, also screams about Oksana Grigorieva, his ex-girlfriend and mother of his young daughter. “I am earning money for a filthy little c**ksucker who takes advantage of me!” Gibson rants. Eszterhas wrote a scathing, nine-page letter to Gibson in which he accused the actor of “hating Jews” and using “The Maccabees” film project – a story about Jewish heroism — “in an attempt to deflect continuing charges of anti-Semitism which have dogged you, charges which have crippled your career.” “I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason you won’t make ‘The Maccabees’ is the ugliest possible one. You hate Jews,” Eszterhas wrote. “The Maccabees” project was put on hold by Warner Bros. studio, in part due to Eszterhas’ script, The Wrap reported. Gibson has called several of Eszterhas’ assertions “fabrications,” and may sue the writer. The actor is looking into whether Costa Rican laws were violated when he was secretly taped in his home, and if his privacy was violated by the release of the audio, TMZ reports. “The bottom line is it shows to me he badly needs help,” Eszterhas told TheWrap. “My interest isn’t to damage him with this tape but to prevent damage being done to others…. I strongly believe that unless he seeks and receives some kind of psychiatric help, someone is going to get hurt.” Gibson has a long history making racist and anti-Semitic remarks. After a DUI arrest, Gibson exploded that “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” In a voice mail to Grigorieva he said she would be to blame if she were to be “raped by a pack of n**gers.” Grigorieva was granted a restraining order during their custody battle over daughter Lucia. If you think that’s crazy…listen to this isht!! According to Eszterhas’ letter, Gibson’s rant began unexpectedly, as the guests had gathered for before-dinner drinks, and Gibson happened to look at a photo of himself holding his baby daughter Luci in which he was gray and balding: The letter reads: “You were staring at the photograph of you and Luci, your beautiful little girl … and you suddenly exploded. You hurled your cellphone into a wall and started to scream, ‘I look so f**king old! I look horrible! That f**king whore is destroying me! She’s taking my looks! I hate her! She’s destroying my life!’ “You jumped up, screaming full-throated: ‘Look at me!! F**king look at me! Look how terrible I look! Answer me, God! Why did you turn your back on me!? F**k you! F**k you!’ You stepped a few feet away and screamed into the sky, ‘I’m not gonna take it up the a*s anymore and say, ‘Thank you, your honor!’” Sounds like someone needs a little trip to the mental institution…real talk. Source 1 , Source 2 More On Bossip! Dirty Dog Diaries: MORE Women Come Forward Telling Royce That Her New Boo-Thang Dezmon Briscoe Been Tryna Chop Them Down Too! Single And Ready To Mingle: The 10 Best Cities To Meet New People And Get Freaky! Cheaper To Chop Her: Men (And Women) That Got Caught Trying To Pay For That Poon Ain’t That A B–?! Dirty Dogs That Faced Bad Karma For Their Dirty Dog Ways
Producer, Director, Writer Steve Bannon told Sean Hannity tonight that the Breitbart group is going to release the Obama Harvard tapes in a week to ten days. Andrew Breitbart announced at CPAC that he was given tapes of Barack Obama … Continue reading → Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Gateway Pundit Discovery Date : 02/03/2012 03:13 Number of articles : 2
‘The Artist’ dominates, winning best feature, director, male lead (Jean Dujardin) and cinematography. By Mary J. DiMeglio Director for “The Artist,” Michel Hazanavicius Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images “The Artist” dominated the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday afternoon, snagging trophies for best feature, director, male lead (Jean Dujardin) and cinematography. Michelle Williams was awarded Best Female Lead for her role in “My Week With Marilyn,” while Best Supporting honors went to Christopher Plummer (“Beginners”) and Shailene Woodley (“The Descendants”). The ceremony, hosted by Seth Rogan, will air at 10 p.m. ET/PT Saturday (February 25) on IFC. Best Feature “50/50” “Beginners” “Drive” “Take Shelter” “The Artist” “The Descendants” Best Director Michel Hazanavicius – “The Artist” Mike Mills – “Beginners” Jeff Nichols – “Take Shelter” Alexander Payne – “The Descendants” Nicolas Winding Refn – “Drive” Best Screenplay Joseph Cedar – “Footnote” Michel Hazanavicius – “The Artist” Tom McCarthy – “Win Win” Mike Mills – “Beginners” Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash – “The Descendants” Best First Feature “Another Earth” – Director: Mike Cahill “In the Family” – Director: Patrick Wang “Margin Call” – Director: J.C. Chandor “Martha Marcy May Marlene” – Director: Sean Durkin “Natural Selection” – Director: Robbie Pickering Best First Screenplay Mike Cahill, Brit Marling – “Another Earth” J.C. Chandor – “Margin Call” Patrick deWitt – “Terri” Phil Johnston – “Cedar Rapids” Will Reiser – “50/50” John Cassavetes Award “Bellflower” – Writer/Director: Evan Glodell “Circumstance” – Writer/Director: Maryam Keshavarz “Hello Lonesome” – Writer/Director: Adam Reid “Pariah” – Writer/Director: Dee Rees “The Dynamiter” – Writer: Brad Inglesby, Director: Matthew Gordon Best Female Lead Lauren Ambrose – “Think of Me” Rachael Harris – “Natural Selection” Adepero Oduye – “Pariah” Elizabeth Olsen – “Martha Marcy May Marlene” Michelle Williams – “My Week with Marilyn” Best Male Lead Demi
The legendary producer relives the pop diva’s 1983 television debut on ‘Whitney Houston: In Her Own Words.’ By Kara Warner Whitney Houston Photo: MTV News There were several noteworthy aspects of MTV News’ special tribute “Whitney Houston: In Her Own Words” Wednesday, such as the rarely seen interview clips of Houston from her network debut in 1986 through her final interview, as well as her unforgettable impact on music as a whole straight from the man responsible for her discovery at age 19, Clive Davis. “The week after I signed her I had an open opportunity from Merv Griffin. He said, ‘Whenever you run across a talent that blows you away, I want you to bring her on my show,’ ” Davis told MTV News of arranging Houston’s memorable 1983 television debut. “Either you’ve got or you don’t have it,” Davis is shown telling Griffin in a clip from that specific show. “She’s got it, wait ’til you hear her,” Griffin said. “Here’s Whitney Houston.” “My introduction of Whitney was that if there’s going to be one performer for the next generation who combined the beauty and lyric phrasing of a Lena Horne with those Gospel fiery roots of an Aretha Franklin, it would be Whitney Houston,” Davis said. The legendary record producer attributed Houston’s genius to her ability to fully interpret and embody a song. “You see the genius that Whitney Houston has as an interpreter of material and you realize why genius can be applied to only a few interpretive performers,” Davis said. “She finds meaning and depth and soulfulness in a song that often the writer and composer never really knew was there. Whitney approached that with her phrasing; she studied hard. She would go into the studio, sometimes she would do it on one take. Once she agrees that the song is special for her, she really does in every matter make it her own.” Share your condolences with Whitney’s family and friends on our Facebook page. Related Videos Whitney Houston: In Her Own Words
You might have heard that it’s Valentine’s Day, which means romantic ruminations and reflections and perhaps an irresponsible outlay of cash in the humiliating pursuit of way more than a kiss goodnight. You know who you are. For others, it’s a chance to look on at the utter futility of love in all its heart-shattering horror. We know who we are, and it’s time to represent. To wit: Let’s talk about the most pulverizing break-ups in cinema. I’ll just get right to my pick: Cloris Leachman letting Timothy Bottoms have it at the end of The Last Picture Show . No Valentine’s Day is complete without a good, wracking cry, and I now can say I’ve had mine: Mrs. Popper’s classic “Never you mind” does technically open her relationship status with Sonny up to some ambiguity, but “You shouldn’t have come here; I’m around that corner now” pretty much cements the deal for me every single time . I’d also argue it cemented Leachman’s Oscar win for her performance; alas, that’s a conversation for another time. Your emotional mileage may and likely will vary, of course, so let’s hear about it below. Life is too short for love. Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
You might have heard that it’s Valentine’s Day, which means romantic ruminations and reflections and perhaps an irresponsible outlay of cash in the humiliating pursuit of way more than a kiss goodnight. You know who you are. For others, it’s a chance to look on at the utter futility of love in all its heart-shattering horror. We know who we are, and it’s time to represent. To wit: Let’s talk about the most pulverizing break-ups in cinema. I’ll just get right to my pick: Cloris Leachman letting Timothy Bottoms have it at the end of The Last Picture Show . No Valentine’s Day is complete without a good, wracking cry, and I now can say I’ve had mine: Mrs. Popper’s classic “Never you mind” does technically open her relationship status with Sonny up to some ambiguity, but “You shouldn’t have come here; I’m around that corner now” pretty much cements the deal for me every single time . I’d also argue it cemented Leachman’s Oscar win for her performance; alas, that’s a conversation for another time. Your emotional mileage may and likely will vary, of course, so let’s hear about it below. Life is too short for love. Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Three pretty young friends find themselves trapped by a shadowy stranger — in an ATM vestibule! — in David Brooks’ directorial debut, ATM . Get a glimpse of the single-location thriller, from the writer of Buried , in an exclusive clip and new images. Josh Peck, Alice Eve, and Brian Geraghty star in ATM as a trio of co-workers who find their late-night stop off for cash interrupted by a menacing figure who stands between them and sweet, sweet freedom. ATM debuts on March 2nd on VOD and select digital outlets (SundanceNOW, iTunes, Amazon, Xbox) before opening in theaters on April 6. Want more? Check out three new images from the film and ponder how bad things will get for our intrepid heroes in that freezing cold vestibule…
