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19 articles
Ebert’S Death Prompts Hundreds Of Eulogies
5 April 2013 12:04 PM, PDT
The death of Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert has elicited a flood of heartfelt tributes — from President Obama to teenage moviegoers. Virtually every film critic submitted a eulogy, many of them describing how Ebert had been their inspiration for becoming a critic to begin with. As the New York Times‘s A.O. Scott tweeted: “We are all in his shadow and in his debt.” But no remarks were more poignant than those of his wife Chaz, who said in a statement: “I’ve lost the love of my life and the world has lost a visionary and a creative »
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Dead Due To Liven Up Weekend Box Office
5 April 2013 12:03 PM, PDT
A remake of the 30-year-old cult hit Evil Dead is expected to kill its competitors at the box office this weekend. Industry forecasters say it should earn $20-25 million. Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg’s 20-year-old blockbuster Jurassic Park is also returning to theaters this weekend. It’s not exactly a remake, however, unless one considers a 3D conversion to be a remake. Nevertheless, such conversions of classic films have not been able to draw big crowds in the past (Disney’s The Lion King 3D was a prominent exception, as was the overseas release of Titanic 3D), and most box-office pundits »
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Movie Reviews: Evil Dead
5 April 2013 12:03 PM, PDT
The general concensus among film critics is that if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool horror-film fan, you’ll love the remake of Evil Dead. (Well, the original was called The Evil Dead.) If not, you’re likely to leave early. Of course, the warning is there in the title. Lou Lumenick admits in his review in the New York Post, “If it hadn’t been my paying job as a critic to watch Fede Alvarez’s remake of Evil Dead all the way to the end, I probably would have headed for the exit door long before the point where somebody »
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Critic Roger Ebert Dead At 70
4 April 2013 3:05 PM, PDT
Two days after disclosing that a “painful fracture” that he had suffered and that had forced him to cut back his activities as the nation’s most-followed film critic was in fact a recurrence of cancer, Roger Ebert has died. His death at age 70 came 46 years to the day that he was named the Chicago Sun-Times‘s film critic. President Obama, a transplanted Chicagoan who established his political career in that city, issued a statement saying, “For a generation of Americans – and especially Chicagoans – Roger was the movies. When he didn’t like a film, he was honest; when he did, »
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Tax Credits Lure America’S Got Talent To New York
4 April 2013 11:27 AM, PDT
The biggest of the summer shiny-floor shows is moving onto the biggest shiny floor of all — Radio City Music Hall. NBC announced on Wednesday that its America’s Got Talent will be heading to the New York venue when live episodes of the contest begin airing on July 23. The premiere is scheduled for June 4. In a statement, Paul Telegdy, NBC’s president of alternative and late-night programming, said, “Many of America’s greatest performers have graced this legendary stage, and now Agt will have the rare opportunity to discover greatness in this renowned venue. This move … takes the show to »
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Will 3D Lure Moviegoers To A 20-year-old Movie?
4 April 2013 11:25 AM, PDT
Ostensibly, Friday’s re-release of Jurassic Park, converted to 3D, is aimed at heightening interest in the April 26 Blu-ray release of the movie. But some forecasters indicate that despite the fact that it has been available on standard DVD for nearly 20 years, the 3D release could generate about $15-20 million this weekend at the domestic box office. (TheWrap.com headlined: “Jurassic Park 3D Re-Release Looks Like a ProfitSaurus for Universal.”) It’s being shown on 2,600 screens — 300 of them IMAX. In an interview with USA Today, director Steven Spielberg said that he had 3D images in his own mind when he »
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Spielberg’S Lincoln Debuts At No. 1 On Video Sales Chart
4 April 2013 11:24 AM, PDT
Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, which was the early favorite to win this year’s Oscar for best picture but ultimately lost out to Argo, made a strong debut at the video stores last week, easily taking over first place, according to Nielsen VideoScan First Alert, which tracks DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales. The film beat out the second week of Universal’s Les Misérables, which remained in second place, and Warner Bros.’ The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which slipped from first place last week to third this week. Home Media magazine’s rental chart was topped by Sony’s Zero Dark Thirty, »
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Disney Laying Off 150 Employees At Lucasarts
4 April 2013 11:23 AM, PDT
Despite churning out hundreds of video games, the Walt Disney Co. has never enjoyed much success in that medium, and indeed, some of its higher-profile games have failed spectacularly. In 2011 Disney Interactive reportedly laid off 250 employees in its video games unit. Last year it pink-slipped at least 50 more. And on Wednesday it extended its cutbacks to include its newly acquired LucasArts Entertainment Co. where 150 employees have reportedly been notified that they will lose their jobs. In a statement, the company said, “After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, »
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Ebert Discloses Cancer Has Returned
3 April 2013 11:35 AM, PDT
On this, the 43rd anniversary of his being named critic of the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert penned a column that began with the words “Thank you.” It then went on to say that after writing 306 movie reviews last year as well as a blog post or two every week and other articles, “I must slow down now, which is why I’m taking what I like to call ‘a leave of presence.’” He will continue to write occasional film reviews, limiting himself to writing about the ones he really wants to write about, he explained, and even launching a campaign »
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The Croods Rises Again
3 April 2013 11:34 AM, PDT
With spring break being observed in some parts of the country after Easter (instead of before), DreamWorks Animation/Fox’s The Croods returned to No. 1 at the box office on Monday with $5 million in ticket sales, dropping just 20 percent from Sunday, according to Box Office Mojo. By contrast, Paramount’s G.I. Joe Retaliation, which had held the top spot between last Thursday and Sunday, dropped 53 percent from Sunday, with $4.5 million in sales. Meanwhile, the BBC reported today that The Croods beat back G.I. Joe‘s assault on the box office in the U.K. The animated feature, it said, »
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U.K. Anti-piracy Group Knocking On Doors Of Alleged Offenders
3 April 2013 11:33 AM, PDT
Stepping up its anti-piracy efforts, the British group Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) sent its investigators to the home of the owner of TorrentZone and ordered him to shut down and turn over his domains, the website TorrentFreak.com, which tracks BitTorrent use, disclosed on Tuesday. While previously Fact had dispatched warning letters or emails to owners of what it identified as pirate sites, its “personal approach” appeared more effective at putting pressure on the torrent operator to halt his activity. The unnamed owner of TorrentZone told TorrentFreak that the Fact representatives handed him a cease-and-desist letter that indicated that »
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G.I. Joe Retaliation: Victorious At Box Office (Final)
2 April 2013 10:58 AM, PDT
G.I. Joe: Retaliation stormed the box office over the weekend and came away with $40.5 million in booty — $51.01 million if Thursday’s screenings are also considered. It marked the second-highest Easter debut ever, behind Clash of the Titans, which earned $61.2 million in 2010. And it was no match for last year’s The Hunger Games, which collected $58.6 million in its second go-round a year ago, a non-holiday weekend. The film might well have been titled G.I. Joe: Vindication, inasmuch as it appeared to demonstrate the wisdom of Paramount’s decision to yank the film from its scheduled June 2012 release, expand the role of costar Channing Tatum, »
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Final Box Office Results: March 29-31
2 April 2013 10:57 AM, PDT
The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):1. G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Paramount, $40,501,814, 1 Wks. ($51,008,689 — From Thursday); 2. The Croods, Fox/DreamWorks Animation, $26,705,868, 2 Wks. ($88,887,945); 3. Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, Lionsgate, $21,641,679, (New); 4. Olympus Has Fallen, FilmDistrict, $14,147,416, 2 Wks. ($54,890,085); 5. Oz The Great and Powerful, Disney, $11,702,316, 4 Wks. ($198,374,716); 6. The Host, Open Road Films, $10,600,112, (New); 7. The Call, Sony/Tristar, $4,925,675, 3 Wks. ($39,605,891); 8. Admission, Focus, $3,235,263, 2 Wks. ($11,744,141); 9. Spring Breakers, A24, $2,774,145, 3 Wks. ($10,074,434); 10. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Warner Bros., $1,343,025, 3 Wks. ($20,629,646). »
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Original Star Wars Screenplay To Become Comic Book
2 April 2013 10:45 AM, PDT
Posted by CinemaBlend.com
George Lucas’s original rough draft of his Star Wars screenplay (originally titled The Star Wars!) is being adapted into a comic-book format by Dark Horse Comics, the comics publisher announced on Monday. “Three years before his 1977 film, George Lucas put down on paper his first story set in a galaxy far, far away — a tale of fantastic adventures, daring escapes, “lazer [sic] swords,” romance, and monsters,” the company’s press release said. One of the variations: “Luke Skywalker is an older Jedi General; Han Solo a six-foot-tall lizard.” Commented J.W. Rinzler, executive editor at LucasBooks: »
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Documentaries: A Very Big Deal In China
2 April 2013 10:44 AM, PDT
Chinese documentaries earned the equivalent of $242 million last year, up from $64 million in 2009, according to a study by Beijing Normal University reported by the state-run Xinhua news agency on Monday. The report, which apparently referred to documentaries produced both for theatrical and television viewing, said that the rising popularity of the films has “boosted interest in social investment for the industry.” The Xinhua report did not describe the nature of such investment, but in capitalist economies social investment funds generally support the incubation of non-profit, culturally beneficial enterprises. A documentary TV series on the history of Chinese cuisine titled A »
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Jobs Flowing Back To Showbiz
1 April 2013 12:50 AM, PDT
While the unemployment rate in Los Angeles County has barely fluctuated in recent months, the motion picture and sound recording sector added 15,700 jobs in February, (although broadcasting jobs were down by about 100). The figures brought total employment by the industry to 122,700, up 6.5 percent over the same period a year ago, according to the county’s Employment Development Department (Edd). The related sectors of leisure and hospitality, Internet, and advertising also recorded significant employment gains. Freelance positions were not included in the Edd’s study, but they account for a noteworthy portion of entertainment industry employment, analysts observed. »
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Report: World War Z Altered To Curry Favor With China
1 April 2013 12:47 AM, PDT
Raising increasing concerns that China’s often heavy-handed censorship policies will be reflected in the content of Hollywood movies, TheWrap.com reported on Sunday that Paramount execs asked the producers of World War Z to remove a reference to China in a scene in which the characters discuss the possible origins of a zombie pandemic that is causing worldwide chaos. According to the website, the studio advised the movie producers to drop the reference to China and cite a different country as a possible source of the pandemic. The report comes following reports that Skyfall was heavily altered to satisfy »
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Movie Reviews: Tyler Perry’S Temptation…
1 April 2013 12:46 AM, PDT
Movies that aren’t screened for the nation’s major critics are often reviewed by them nonetheless — after they file into theaters with first-night audiences at their local multiplex. Such is the case with virtually all Tyler Perry films, but the fact that most of those films are dearly loved by the audiences that the critics are sitting with does not seem to have any bearing at all on their reviews, which, in virtually every case, are disparaging. Perry’s latest film — it has the lengthy title Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor — is no exception. Mark Olsen, »
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G.I. Joe: Retaliation Blasts Easter Box Office With $51.7 Million
31 March 2013 6:49 PM, PDT
Seeming to vindicate Paramount’s decision to yank G.I. Joe: Retaliation from its June 2012 scheduled release in order to convert it to 3D, the movie opened with an estimated $41.2 million over the Easter weekend. With another $10.5 million added for screenings on Thursday and previews on Wednesday, the studio could boast an impressive domestic start of $51.7 million, slightly less than the $54.7 million that 2009′s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra earned over its three-day opening. Only one other film has topped that figure over the Easter weekend — 2010′s Clash of the Titans, which opened with $61.2 million. The film’s gross was »
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19 articles
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