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2013 | 2012 | 2011
1-20 of 159 items from 2013 « Prev | Next »
Exclusive: Parker 'Origin' Featurette with Jason Statham
14 hours ago | MovieWeb | See recent MovieWeb news »
The hit crime thriller Parker is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on May 21. To celebrate, we have an exclusive featurette that takes a look at novelist Donald E. Westlake and his creation of professional thief Parker (Jason Statham), who follows a strict ethics code when attempting various heists. Watch and learn more about the origins of this fan-favorite character, with interviews from the cast and crew.
Parker - Exclusive: "The Origin of Parker: Westlake and McLaughlin"
Parker was released January 25th, 2013 and stars Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Chiklis, Wendell Pierce, Clifton Collins Jr., Bobby Cannavale, Patti LuPone, Carlos Carrasco. The film is directed by Taylor Hackford. »
- MovieWeb
Aretha Gives Update On Biopic
10 May 2013 9:06 AM, PDT | Huffington Post | See recent Huffington Post news »
New York — Long before she became the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin sang in her father's Baptist church in Detroit.
On Saturday, she'll headline the annual McDonald's Gospelfest at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Donnie McClurkin, Hezekiah Walker and Cissy Houston will be featured.
But that's not the only event on Franklin's weekend calendar. She also has a meeting about her upcoming biopic, which has been in the works for years. Franklin says she's heavily involved in the project, including who will play her in the film. Front-runners include Jennifer Hudson and Tony winner Audra McDonald.
"I just try to come up with the names I feel are going to best present this, who are the people that will best present my biopic and what I have in mind," the 71-year-old singer said in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press.
AP: Who's going to be a part »
- AP
'The Jeffersons' Director Dies At 84
30 April 2013 6:06 AM, PDT | Huffington Post | See recent Huffington Post news »
Director Jack Shea, the man behind popular sitcoms like "The Jeffersons" and "Silver Spoons," has passed away at the age of 84.
Shea died on Sunday at a Los Angeles care facility, according to the Los Angeles Times. A family spokesperson said his death was due to complications from Alzheimer's disease.
He is best known for his directorial work on "The Jeffersons" and "Silver Spoons," but his credits also include "The Waltons," "Punky Brewster," "The Royal Family," "The Golden Girls," "Growing Pains," "Full House" and "Sister, Sister."
Along with his television work, Shea was president of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) from 1997 to 2002. Shea addressed issues such as runaway production and diversity in hiring during his time in the position, Deadline.com notes.
"He occupied a truly unique position in the history of the modern DGA," DGA president Taylor Hackford said in a statement obtained by The Wrap. "As the »
- The Huffington Post
TV Director Jack Shea, 3-Time DGA President, Dies at 84
29 April 2013 3:38 PM, PDT | The Wrap | See recent The Wrap news »
Jack Shea, who directed episodes of TV's "The Jeffersons," "Silver Spoons" and "Sanford and Son," died Sunday at his Tarzana home. Shea, who had been suffering from Alzheimer's, was 84. In addition to the sitcoms, Shea directed 10 editions of Bob Hope Christmas specials and earned two Emmy nominations. But he'll be remembered just as much for his work with the Directors Guild of America, according to the guild president, Taylor Hackford. "He occupied a truly unique position in the history of the modern DGA," he said Monday. "As the West Coast president »
- Todd Cunningham
John Libretto Heading DGA Network Staff Negotiating Committee
25 April 2013 12:30 PM, PDT | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
The Directors Guild of America has tapped John Libretto as chair of its network staff negotiating committee.
Brett Holey and Scott Berger have been selected as vice chairs.
The DGA has not yet set a start date for negotiations for a successor contract to the current contract, which expires June 30, 2014, and covers about 700 DGA members.
Libretto is the senior director for news for NBC and director of “Dateline NBC.” He served on past negotiation committees in 2010, 2008 and 2005 and as an alternate to the DGA’s Eastern Directors Council.
Holey is the director and senior broadcast producer for “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” and Director of NBC News Specials.
Berger is an associate director on the “CBS Evening News” and the current Assistant Secretary-Treasurer of the DGA’s national board. He received the DGA’s Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award in 2009.
DGA president Taylor Hackford also acknowledged the service of »
- Dave McNary
DGA Appoints Network TV News Negotiators
25 April 2013 11:07 AM, PDT | Deadline TV | See recent Deadline TV news »
Directors Guild President Taylor Hackford announced that John Libretto has been appointed to chair the Guild’s Network Staff Negotiating Committee. Libretto will be joined by Director Brett Holey and Associate Director Scott Berger who will serve as Vice-Chairs of the Committee. ”Their combined years of experience working in television news along with their previous negotiating experience will be enormous assets to the Guild when it comes time to negotiate our network contract in New York.” Libretto is the Senior Director for News for NBC and director of Dateline NBC. Holey is the Director and Senior Broadcast Producer for NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams and Director of NBC News Specials. Berger is an Associate Director on the CBS Evening News and is the current Assistant Secretary-Treasurer of the DGA’s National Board of Directors and has served 12 terms on the Ad/Sm/Pa East Council. He has been on »
- THE DEADLINE TEAM
Film District Releases First Poster For Spike Lee’s Oldboy
15 April 2013 5:03 PM, PDT | WeAreMovieGeeks.com | See recent WeAreMovieGeeks.com news »
Film District has unveiled its first poster at CinemaCon for Spike Lee’s upcoming film Oldboy. CinemaCon is the largest gathering of cinema owners and operators from around the world. The 3rd annual Con begins today and finishes April 18th in Las Vegas.
Oldboy is a provocative, visceral thriller that follows the story of an advertising executive (Josh Brolin) who is abruptly kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his bizarre and torturous punishment only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment.
Co-starring Elizabeth Olsen and Sharlto Copley, Oldboy was directed by Spike Lee, from a script by Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend, The Cell, Thor). The film was produced by Roy Lee, Doug Davison and Nathan Kahane.
On Sunday, Lee added this photo on Instagram. “The »
- Michelle McCue
Burden of Dreams director Les Blank
12 April 2013 6:19 AM, PDT | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
Film-maker behind intimate, rounded portraits of musicians including Dizzy Gillespie and Lightnin' Hopkins
Les Blank and Werner Herzog: strange dreams and sole food
The film-maker Les Blank, who has died aged 77, explored the margins of America's music, capturing and framing idioms such as Louisiana Cajun and zydeco, the norteño music of the Texas-Mexico border, blues, polka, and Appalachian old-time music. He was also fascinated by traditions of eating and cookery, and when screening his film Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers (1980) he sometimes created what he called "smellovision" by cooking garlicky dishes in the auditorium.
Blank made more than 40 films, including Burden of Dreams (1982), about the shooting of Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo. While few of his documentaries were known to a wide public, many were admired by other directors. In 2007, he received the Edward MacDowell medal, an annual award for achievement in the arts, only twice before given to film directors, »
- Tony Russell
Audra McDonald Responds To Being Aretha Franklin's Favorite To Play Her In A Biopic
9 April 2013 4:46 PM, PDT | ShadowAndAct | See recent ShadowAndAct news »
“It would be an honor to play her... Other than that we leave it to fate. Who knows.” Audra McDonald responds (for the first time, as far as I know) to Aretha Franklin's desire to have her play the songstress in her long-in-development biopic. So, unlike Halle Berry, who was Franklin's first choice for the part, but who wasn't interested, Audra seems to think it's a job worth having... that is, unless she's just being polite in her above response to Broadway.com, who asked her about it. Recall in our last post on this, last fall, in an interview posted on Glamour magazine's website, Franklin revealed that the movie is being directed by Taylor Hackford, who produced and directed Ray. And »
- Tambay A. Obenson
Les Blank dead: Documentary filmmaker dies at 77
8 April 2013 7:51 PM, PDT | Pop2it | See recent Pop2it news »
Prolific documentary filmmaker Les Blank died on Sunday (April 7) at the age of 77, according to The New York Times. He passed away from bladder cancer in his home in Berkely, Ca.
Blank (full name: Leslie Harrod Blank Jr.) was born on November 27, 1935 in Tampa, Fla. While he never became a household name, his lengthy career earned him lifetime achievement awards from the American Film Institute and the International Documentary Association, though he didn't think of himself as a documentarian. Rather, he saw himself as a filmmaker whose work happened to be about real people, according to his former wife Chris Simon.
Best known for his films that turned the lens on fellow filmmaker Werner Herzog (1979's "Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe" and 1982's "Burden of Dreams"), Blank was also known for spotlighting the periphery of America, providing exposure on pockets of culture that Hollywood often steered away from.
Of Blank, »
- editorial@zap2it.com
Acclaimed Documentary Maker Dies
8 April 2013 2:32 AM, PDT | Huffington Post | See recent Huffington Post news »
Berkeley, Calif. — Les Blank, an acclaimed documentary maker who focused his camera on cultural corners ranging from blues music, to garlic lovers, to shoe-eating artists, died Sunday at age 77, his son said.
Blank died at his home in Berkeley, Calif. nearly a year after being diagnosed with bladder cancer, Harrod Blank said.
Blank's 42 films earned him a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute.
"I think he's a national treasure," filmmaker Taylor Hackford, president of the Directors Guild of America, told the New York Times. "Although his films are not well known at the moment, they'll take their place"
The Florida-born Blank's early documentaries focused on musicians, including 1965's "Dizzy Gillespie" and "The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins," a portrait of the Texas bluesman that won Blank his first wide renown.
He shifted to food with documentaries like 1980's "Garlic is as Good as 10 Mothers," and 2007's "All in This Tea. »
- AP
Sony Bringing Parker To Blu-Ray In May
7 April 2013 1:14 PM, PDT | We Got This Covered | See recent We Got This Covered news »
Sony has announced the latest Jason Statham action film Parker for Blu-Ray in May. The film also stars Jennifer Lopez and Nick Nolte.
Parker is exactly the type of Jason Statham action picture you’d probably skip in theaters and rent via Redbox or Netflix. And that’s mostly a fair assessment of the film, aside from the third act’s action, which is brief but really well filmed.
See, Statham has already made a name for himself and built a fan base around making these types of flicks, which are short on plot and high on action. Parker isn’t exactly much different than the rest, but it does work a little more thanks to the somewhat engaging chemistry between Statham and Jennifer Lopez.
The two make Parker something that I wouldn’t be against suggesting a theatrical visit for, even if ticket prices are so damn high. »
- Jeremy Lebens
Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Harvey Weinstein, Barack Obama reflect on the career and life of Roger Ebert
4 April 2013 4:11 PM, PDT | EW - Inside Movies | See recent EW.com - Inside Movies news »
Acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert has written many words of praise over the years for celebrated, prolific filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Harvey Weinstein. Now, following the news of Ebert’s death on Thursday, these three filmmakers have their own words of admiration for Ebert.
Spielberg — whom Ebert praised for his enduring “talent and flexibility” in an ever-changing industry — said in a statement that the Chicago Sun-Times critic “wrote with passion through a real knowledge of film and film history.” Read his full statement below, which also highlights the success of the multiple television programs Ebert hosted for 23 years (including At the Movies, »
- Emily Rome
Roger Ebert Dead: Hollywood Reacts on Twitter
4 April 2013 1:24 PM, PDT | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Legendary movie critic Roger Ebert died April 4. He was not only the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize, but one of the only critics known to the general public. Here, his fans remember him.
Roger Ebert. Clear-eyed dreamer, king of the written word… say.ly/bRt5wg3—
Cameron Crowe (@CameronCrowe) April 04, 2013
I Miss My Dear Friend Roger Ebert.Roger Was One Of The 1st Major Movie Critics To Support My Joints,Especially Malcolm X And Dtrt.-R.I.P.—
Spike Lee (@SpikeLee) April 04, 2013
Roger Ebert. Millions of thumbs up for you. Rip—
Michael Moore (@MMFlint) April 04, 2013
we lost a thoughtful writer, i remember my first review from him, pi (i got his and siskel's thumbs) it was a career highlight. #rogerebert—
darren aronofsky (@DarrenAronofsky) April 04, 2013
Thanks Mr. Ebert.—
Steve Carell (@SteveCarell) April 04, 2013
A sincere Rip, Mr. Ebert, from this Chicago boy.—
Steve Levitan (@SteveLevitan) April 04, 2013
All best thoughts »
- Variety Staff
San Franscisco Film Festival Honors Philip Kaufman
2 April 2013 3:29 PM, PDT | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
San Francisco Film Society has selected Philip Kaufman as the recipient of its Founder’s Directing Award.
The kudo will be presented on May 7 as the awards ceremonies for the 56th San Francisco International Film Festival at Bombo’s 365 Club. Ray Dolby has been previously announced as recipient of the George Gund III Award.
The director will also be recognized May 5 at the Castro Theatre with an onstage interview, a selection of clips and a screening of his “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” which was shot entirely in San Francisco.
Kaufman’s credits include “The Right Stuff,” “Henry & June,” “Quills,” “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” and “Rising Sun.”
The award was first given in 1986 to Akira Kurosawa. Other winners include Kenneth Branagh, Oliver Stone, Walter Salles, Francis Ford Coppola, Mike Leigh, Spike Lee, Werner Herzog, Taylor Hackford and Milos Forman.
“What Maisie Knew” has been announced previously as the opening »
- Dave McNary
The action-packed heist film Parker hits DVD and Blu-ray in May
27 March 2013 6:52 AM, PDT | Monsters and Critics | See recent Monsters and Critics news »
Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez star in the action-packed heist film Parker . on Blu-ray and DVD May 21st from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Set amidst the unparalleled wealth and glamour of Palm Beach, Parker (Statham) is a thief who lives his life by a code of integrity. He believes that there must be order in his profession, and if that order is broken or if he.s crossed he will go to the ends of the earth to make it right and get even. Based on the series of bestselling novels by Donald E. Westlake (under the penname of Richard Stark) and directed by Academy Award nominee Taylor Hackford (Best Director, Ray, 2004, An Officer and a »
- Patrick Luce
Blu-ray, DVD Release: Parker
26 March 2013 11:58 AM, PDT | Disc Dish | See recent Disc Dish news »
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: May 21, 2013
Price: DVD $30.99, Blu-ray $35.99
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Jason Statham (The Mechanic) and Jennifer (The Back-Up Plan) Lopez form a sexy partnership in action movie Parker.
Based on the Richard Stark (Payback) novel Flashfire, the heist film follows Statham as the titular Parker, a professional thief whose crew double-crosses him, steals his stash and leaves him for dead. Parker tracks them to Palm Beach, where the crew is planning their biggest heist yet.
Disguising himself as a rich Texan, Parker joins with savvy insider Leslie (Jennifer Lopez) to hijack the score, take everyone down and get away clean.
Parker was directed and produced by Oscar-winner Taylor Hackford (Ray) and also stars Michael Chiklis (High School), Patti LuPone (TV’s Oz) and Nick Nolte (Cape Fear).
The R-rated film grossed $17.6 million when it was in theaters, on not good reviews from critics. Boston Globe‘s Tom »
- Sam
Parker with Jason Statham Blu-ray Release Date, Details and Pre-Order
25 March 2013 7:17 AM, PDT | TheHDRoom | See recent TheHDRoom news »
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced that Taylor Hackford's Parker starring Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Chiklis, Nick Nolte and Bobby Cannavale, and based on the book by Richard Stark, is headed to Blu-ray and DVD on May 21.
Parker had a quiet box office run to the tune of $17.6 million from a budget of approximately $35 million. The film revolves around a thief named Parker (Statham) who lives by a strict code of ethics, and when that code is broken by others in his profession, he strikes back with the help of some friends.
The Blu-ray and DVD combo edition of Parker will be presented in 2.4:1 1080p video and 5.1 DTS-hd Master Audio. Bonus features include:
Commentary with Director Taylor Hackford Bringing the Hunter to Life: The Making of Parker The Origin of Parker Broken Necks and Bloody Knuckles Who Is Parker?
Click here to pre-order Parker on Blu-ray for $24.96 at Amazon. »
Olympus a Real Hit? R-Rated Thriller to Have Genre's Biggest Debut of the Year
23 March 2013 10:49 PM, PDT | Alt Film Guide | See recent Alt Film Guide news »
The year's first White House movie ahead of early estimates, but is it a bona fide box-office hit? Olympus Has Fallen, featuring Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart (neither of whom has been terribly lucky at the domestic box office of late), will be this March 22-24 weekend's no. 2 movie, behind only the 3D animated feature The Croods and easily surpassing early predictions. Antoine Fuqua, probably best known for Ethan Hawke / Denzel Washington's Training Day (which earned Washington a Best Actor Academy Award), directed the R-rated thriller should earn around $28 million on its debut weekend -- it opened with $10.4 million at 3,098 sites this past Friday as per studio estimates found on the web site Box Office Mojo -- thus boasting this year's second highest R-rated debut and providing relatively new distributing company FilmDistrict with its most impressive opening weekend to date. Early predictions by various pundits had the year's "first »
- Zac Gille
Oz the Great and Powerful aims over the rainbow, Side Effects also appealing
12 March 2013 6:05 AM, PDT | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
Disney's prequel to the Wizard of Oz aims to steal family audiences before Easter, knocking Wreck-It Ralph to third place
The winner
After four weeks where the market has been dominated by Wreck-It Ralph, Disney scored again with its latest family title, Oz the Great and Powerful. Oz's £3.71m is a decent opening figure, and Disney will be hoping to sustain the title throughout March and then coast through the two weeks of Easter school holiday.
In the Us, Oz opened with a muscular $79m, indicating a UK debut of about £8m could have been expected. The big UK shortfall on the rule-of-thumb projection may be explained by the huge popularity of L Frank Baum and all things Oz in North America, which is not matched in the UK. The respective opening figures for Alice in Wonderland, from Oz producer Joe Roth, were much better aligned, with $116m in the »
- Charles Gant
2013 | 2012 | 2011
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