Written By: Jonathan Rayos | Category: News | Comments : 0 comments
The latest news that ‘Spiderman director Mark Webb is consulting with Cameron himself on how best to use 3-D.
Just a month ago, ‘Spider-Man 4′ was going to be a conventional sequel, with director Sam Raimi and Tobey Maquire still attached, and that Raimi, inspired by ‘Avatar,’ wanted to make a film with unusually elaborate — but not 3-D — special effects.
You may also recall that Sony abruptly scrapped this story idea as too expensive and time-consuming, parted ways with its expensive director and star and hired the bargain-priced Webb who agreed to make the new movie in 3-D.
Both Raimi and the studio wants the next Spidey to be more like ‘Avatar’ but they didn’t agree on what that meant. To Raimi, it meant extra spectacle for the audience. To Sony, it meant the audience should pay extra to wear spectacles.
Written By: Jonathan Rayos | Category: News | Comments : 0 comments
The last couple weeks, television commercials for ‘Clash’ have been airing that are downright stunning. There’s just one problem: The pristine 2D version we’re catching a glimpse of on TV looks far better than the dark, choppy 3D version we’re paying extra cash for in theaters.
Sure, 3D can be fun, if done well, but does every film need to be in 3D? Of course, considering the box-office take of ‘Clash of the Titans’ this past weekend, it’s pretty safe to say that the 3D debate is officially … well … it’s still officially up in the air.
‘Clash of the Titans’ grossed $61.4 million over the weekend, amid mixed reviews and a downright putrid assessment concerning the film’s 3D effects.
Unlike ‘Avatar’– the most successful film of all time at the box office and a movie that was filmed with 3D cameras — ‘Clash of the Titans’ was never meant to be seen in 3D. How did the up-conversion go over with critics and experts? Not well. Not well at all.
Moviefone co-founder Russ Leatherman (aka Mr. Moviefone) said he “was one of the very first on the 3D bandwagon, but I’m about to jump off. Because of pure greed, Hollywood studios [and theater chains] are about to kill the golden goose. There’s a huge difference between the immersive experience of seeing ‘Up’ or ‘Avatar’ in 3D or the lousy, suffocating experience of the retrofitted ‘Clash of the Titans.’”
The vitriol towards Clash’s 3D didn’t seem to help or hurt the final box office. ‘Clash’ was projected to haul in between $60 million and $70 million; it made $64.1 million over the weekend, right on target.
‘Clash’ was up-converted (there’s that word again) as a direct result of ‘Avatar’s’ box-office dominance. The question is, how long will the ‘Avatar’ 3D cash-grab last? What will it take for moviegoers to defer back to the superior (as in the case of ‘Clash’) 2D, while saving a few dollars at the box office?
And we’ve been here before. ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ a film that also did quite well at the box office, was, like ‘Clash,’ up-converted to less-than-stellar reviews. ‘Avatar’ director James Cameron, who now seems to be the go-to guy when discussing 3D technology, doesn’t believe these films should even be considered 3D. “It’s never going to be as good as if you shot it in 3D,” Cameron said recently, “but think of it as sort of 2.8D.” And even 2.8D, as Cameron notes, is only possible if the proper time — six months to a year — is spent on the up-conversion.
Until recently, 3D was relatively rare — in 2007 there were only two major 3D releases (‘Beowulf’ and ‘Meet the Robinsons’). Now, in 2010 alone, there are (give or take) 15 films slated to be released in 3D.
It would seem 3D is here to stay, unless it isn’t. Meaning: The first gigantic 3D failure — where audiences outright reject a sub-par product — will certainly make studios think twice about a costly 3D film shoot or up-convert. What industry insiders fear, though, is that a terrible up-convert, which doesn’t properly take advantage of the technology available, will unfairly saddle the industry with the perception of an inferior product.
It does appear that for the near-future, audiences will still flock to the theater to see 3D, but that won’t last long. Now that’s it’s becoming commonplace, it’s going to take some pretty mind-blowing effects to spark the interest that ‘Avatar’ did.
Speaking of ‘Avatar,’ director James Cameron, always a visionary it seems, appears to be temporarily jumping off the 3D bandwagon just as everyone else is jumping on — announcing that his re-release of ‘Avatar’ (called ‘Avatar: Home’) this summer, with 55 minutes of new footage, will not be released in 3D.
“The 3D distracts from that”! Wise words, it would seem. Though, 3D has yet to distract from the box office — at least not yet.
Written By: Jason Waterman | Category: News | Comments : 1 comment
Beverly Hills, CA – The 2nd Annual Film Detroit Panel Discussion took place Tue night, March 23rd at the WGA West Theatre in Beverly Hills. Twelve expert panelists from Detroit and their supporters traveled from Detroit to Los Angeles to present and answer questions about the state of the Michigan Film Industry. The two hour event was hosted by Chris Baum of Film Detroit and featured two panelist discussions – ‘People’ & ‘Places’. Over 200 attendees, mostly representing various Los Angeles based entertainment and production companies, came to learn more about the emerging Michigan Film Industry.
Panel #1: ‘People’ expert panelists included: Paul Fitzpatrick (Entertainment lawyer for Dickinson Wright), Ele Bardha (SAG Council Member), Joe Bessacini (Cast & Crew), and Carrie Ray (Owner of Carrie Ray Casting). Discussion topics centered on the growing experience level of Michigan cast and crews, moving of productions from Iowa to Michigan after the freezing of the tax credit in that state, availability of numerous cheap Detroit filming locations including hospitals and schools, and, of course, several questions concerning the details of the Michigan tax credit law.
Panel #2: ‘Places’ expert panelists included: Bart Rosenblatt (Producer of ‘The Irishman’), Jeff Spilman (Managing partner of S3 Entertainment Group), and Tony Wenson (Studio Operations Director for Raleigh Studios Michigan). Discussion topics for this session centered on the state incentive process, the status of the new Raleigh Studios in Michigan, and the new production permit processes for local cities.
A hosted reception followed the panel sessions and provided an opportunity for the Detroit and Los Angeles film communities to discuss together in a more informal and relaxed atmosphere. There was definitely a buzz in the air and the feeling that this is just the beginning of more good things to come for film in Michigan. After all, it is at events like this where partnerships are formed and deals are made in the City of Angels!
Thanks again to Film Detroit for the great Detroit hospitality shown and for putting on such a first class event!
Written By: Jonathan Rayos | Category: News | Comments : 0 comments
Costumed gorilla helped liven up the first night of the Ann Arbor Film Festival.
Two hours before anything hit the screen, AAFF’s opening reception attendees milled around the Michigan Theater lobby, where a DJ spun music on the stairway landing, and partygoers downed wine and coffee and various hors d’ouevres on offer.
The mood carried through to the short breaks between the films in AAFF’s opening night program. During one pause, attendees whistled like birds, and then cooed like pigeons. The animal noises grew louder, until a bleating lamb joined in, as did a clucking chicken.
After some opening remarks by Michigan Theater executive director Russ Collins; AAFF Board of Directors president Bruce Baker; and AAFF executive director Donald Harrison, the 48th fest kicked off with a backward glance to film poem, “Angel Blue Sweet Wings,” with Aretha Franklin’s “Dr. Feelgood” as its soundtrack.
4 of the evening’s 11 films fall into AAFF’s animation category. Joanna Priestley’s “Missed Aches” explores the disastrous potentials of spell-check programs; Naoyuki Tsuji’s “The Place Where We Were,” tells the story of a couple that wants a child; Laurie Hill’s inventively fun “Photograph of Jesus” and Caveh Zahedi’s hilarious “The Unmaking of ‘I Am a Sex Addict’”.
Documentary lovers got to see Vanessa Renwick’s “Portrait #3: House of Sound.” And Ann Arbor’s own Jack Cronin got to watch his black and white experimental doc, “Sleeping Bear” – filmed at the Sleeping Bear Dunes Natural Lakeshore – on the big screen.
Experimental films included, “De Mouvement,” by Richard Kerr, and Kent Lambert’s “Fantasy Suite.”
Written By: Jonathan Rayos | Category: News | Comments : 0 comments
AVATAR - Highest grossing film of all time
A few weeks ago I found myself in the projection booth of an Imax theater, (along with several other of my geek buddies) of one of the most advanced projection booth on the planet. And as I looked out through the window over the audience, I noted that it was a packed house. Here it was just days before Avatar was being pulled out of the theaters to be replaced by Alice in Wonderland and they were still selling out shows on weeknights to a nearly 3 month old movie.
After being yanked out of 3-D screens nationwide, Avatar’s weekly gross – which had held steady for quite some time – dropped dramatically. As it turns out, people were, as Cameron had long surmised, paying again and again to get the immersive 3-D experience; going on a cinematic theme park ride for the third or fourth time. But the ride’s existence at the park was cut short because there simply aren’t enough 3-D screens in the world yet to support multiple, big draw 3-D movies. Immediately FOX and Cameron began to speak about a possible Fall re-release of the film (when the window would be open without a big budget 3-D film to interfere) and even have tossed around the notion of cutting scenes back into the film.
Of course, despite 40 minutes of deleted footage, Cameron only wants to put 10 minutes back in – because 170 minutes is as long as IMAX can support . Besides, why wouldn’t Cameron want his film re-released in the best possible theater? Avatar is the highest grossing movie of all time – the 14th highest when adjusted for inflation against films that enjoyed sometimes decades of re-releases – but its run wasn’t done yet. It had not, as some bitter bloggers have noted this week, run its course. It was still making more money every week than most other new releases. But it looks like FOX and Cameron have a small, but profitable window waiting for them to shake out any interest left.
My question is this: now that every studio is turning their tent-pole releases into 3-D projects, whether before or after filming, how long can the current screen limitations allow for an Avatar? FOX wasn’t happy the their film was bumped out of theaters despite still making money – and many theaters weren’t happy to see that steady income go away in lieu of a gamble that might not pay off in the long run. Right now many people are excited about the coming stream of 3-D content, and while industry folk seem to be writing piece after piece denouncing the rising trend of 3-D, it isn’t in any way diminishing real interest in the films.
There are a limited amount of screens in this country capable of showing 3-D movies. It requires expensive pure silver screens, top of the line digital projectors and often eats up the largest seating areas in a Cineplex. What’s going to happen when the weekly summer tent-poles that pop in, dominate the chart for a week or two and then slowly fade away over the course of a few weeks all instead begin fighting over the same handful of screens in a given area? What will happen if movies can only secure a 2 week 3-D run – or worse, can’t book a screen at all because another company has booked them up by locking in their release date a year or two in advance?
This is the next, big, ugly trend you’ll see us writing about, folks. The 3-D Wars. You think the studios can get ugly now? Wait until the question isn’t “who made the better or more marketable movie” and becomes “Who can book all the 3-D screens first?”
It doesn’t have the lifestyle suites of Sundance or the $1,000-a-night hotel rooms of Cannes, but when it comes to eclectic programming, the South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival, running Friday to March 20, has few peers.
Part fanboy gathering and indie-film hot spot, the festival hasn’t yet generated the buyer frenzy of other festivals but it is now considered one of the best launching pads for crowd-pleasing studio romps. In addition to hosting the world premiere of April 16′s “Kick-Ass” from Lionsgate, this year’s Austin, Texas, festival will be showing July 9′s “Predators” from 20th Century Fox and May 21′s “MacGruber” from Universal.
The film festival, which will be covered for The Times by Indie Focus columnist Mark Olsen, also has set screenings for a number of Sundance titles, including its grand jury prize-winning “Winter’s Bone,” along with “The Runaways,” “Tucker and Dale vs. Evil,” “The Taqwacores,” “Skateland” and “Lovers of Hate.”
Read the full article by Marc Olsen and John Horn | L.A. Times
Excerpt from the great interview on the Jimmy Fallon Show, with Michael Moore in the guest chair…
Moore: “I’ve always had this feeling that great art, music, film, whatever- comes out of places that are really struggling. The Beatles were from Liverpool, not from the West End of London. So Michigan is kind of like our Liverpool.”
Fallon: “There’s definitely a lot of cool stuff coming out of there. I hope the best for them, I know you do, too. I had so much fun there, I’d definitely go back.” (on shooting Whip It in Michigan)
Written By: Jonathan Rayos | Category: News | Comments : 0 comments
Rapper 50 Cent is taking the movie industry by storm. Having opened up his own production company, Cheetah Vision Films, earlier this year, the rapper has reportedly signed a deal with Georgia-based entrepreneur Richard Jackson and his newly-minted Action Jackson Film that will joint finance and produce up to five films per year.
The first project between 50′s Cheetah Vision Films’ and Action Jackson is titled ‘The Gun.’
Written By: Jonathan Rayos | Category: News | Comments : 0 comments
Last year, amid the height of excitement over the popularity of The Dark Knight(arguably one of the very best films of the decade) the Oscars did something that would haunt them throughout the season – they failed to nominate it for Best Picture.
The snub was a PR disaster. Not only was The Dark Knight the highest grossing film of the year, but it was also at the top of a number of critic and organization ‘Best Of’ lists, and a young, hungry fanbase found itself embittered against awards they saw as elitist and dismissive of genre film. And it really wasn’t Oscar’s fault. . It didn’t get the votes.
Dark Knight - Last Years Oscar leading contender
Oscar needed a solution; they needed a way to breathe new life into an award show that was losing viewership.
So they reinvented the Best Picture category.
The idea was simple: allow 10 films instead of 5 to battle it out, making for an even tighter, more diverse and interesting category in which anything could happen.
The idea is both interesting and insane; a gamble that could prove to bring a lot of excitement to the aging show while bridging the divide between critical and public opinion.
But it could also blow up in Oscar’s face, especially in a year like this, in which the landscape is filled with perfect mainstream fare while devoid of the type of films critics usually go gaga over.
And that’s a real problem, with the film industry’s largest grossing film of all time as the leading contender.
Written By: Jonathan Rayos | Category: News | Comments : 0 comments
Transformers 3 Movie to be in 3D
Not really much of a suprise here.
Darkhorizons is reporting that Transformers 3 will indeed be a 3D film. However, due to time constraints and the complexity of the CGI work, the film will be converted to the 3D format rather that shoot and produce the film in that manner.
The yet to be named, officially, Transformers 3 hits theaters July 1, 2011.
This film is joining the throngs of other films hopping on this money train. I am not a huge fan of 3D films, I could take it or leave it.
The latest news that ‘Spiderman director Mark Webb is consulting with Cameron himself on how best to use 3-D.
The last couple weeks, television commercials for ‘Clash’ have been airing that are downright stunning. There’s just one problem: The pristine 2D version we’re catching a glimpse of on TV looks far better than the dark, choppy 3D version we’re paying extra cash for in theaters.
Moviefone co-founder Russ Leatherman (aka Mr. Moviefone) said he “was one of the very first on the 3D bandwagon, but I’m about to jump off. Because of pure greed, Hollywood studios [and theater chains] are about to kill the golden goose. There’s a huge difference between the immersive experience of seeing ‘Up’ or ‘Avatar’ in 3D or the lousy, suffocating experience of the retrofitted ‘Clash of the Titans.’”
And we’ve been here before. ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ a film that also did quite well at the box office, was, like ‘Clash,’ up-converted to less-than-stellar reviews. ‘Avatar’ director James Cameron, who now seems to be the go-to guy when discussing 3D technology, doesn’t believe these films should even be considered 3D. “It’s never going to be as good as if you shot it in 3D,” Cameron said recently, “but think of it as sort of 2.8D.” And even 2.8D, as Cameron notes, is only possible if the proper time — six months to a year — is spent on the up-conversion.
Speaking of ‘Avatar,’ director James Cameron, always a visionary it seems, appears to be temporarily jumping off the 3D bandwagon just as everyone else is jumping on — announcing that his re-release of ‘Avatar’ (called ‘Avatar: Home’) this summer, with 55 minutes of new footage, will not be released in 3D.
Beverly Hills, CA – The 2nd Annual Film Detroit Panel Discussion took place Tue night, March 23rd at the WGA West Theatre in Beverly Hills. Twelve expert panelists from Detroit and their supporters traveled from Detroit to Los Angeles to present and answer questions about the state of the Michigan Film Industry. The two hour event was hosted by Chris Baum of 
Panel #1: ‘People’ expert panelists included: Paul Fitzpatrick (Entertainment lawyer for Dickinson Wright), Ele Bardha (SAG Council Member), Joe Bessacini (Cast & Crew), and Carrie Ray (Owner of 
Panel #2: ‘Places’ expert panelists included: Bart Rosenblatt (Producer of ‘The Irishman’), Jeff Spilman (Managing partner of 
limitations allow for an Avatar? FOX wasn’t happy the their film was bumped out of theaters despite still making money – and many theaters weren’t happy to see that steady income go away in lieu of a gamble that might not pay off in the long run. Right now many people are excited about the coming stream of 3-D content, and while industry folk seem to be writing piece after piece denouncing the rising trend of 3-D, it isn’t in any way diminishing real interest in the films. 
