by Ryan Rigley It?s been several years now since Tim Burton has graced the world with one of his stop-motion animated masterpieces: ?Corpse Bride,? released in 2005. “Frankenweenie” appears to be a return to form for the famed director. The film expands upon the live-acion short film of the same name that Burton made early [...]
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BERLIN (Reuters) ? “Tey,” a Senegalese modern fairy-tale which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday, depicts a young man who wakes up inexplicably knowing today is the last day of his life.
“Tey,” meaning “today” in the Wolof language, is one of three films in the competition set in Africa, which festival director Dieter Kosslick has described as “an almost forgotten continent in film.”
Director Alain Gomis, the son of a French mother and Senegalese father, said “Tey” was about coming to terms with death in order to better appreciate the present, the today.
“In Europe, death doesn’t exist, we don’t confront it, instead we try to forget it even exists,” he told Reuters.
“Through this film I confronted my own biggest fear, that of death, and now I have come to terms with it, it actually enriches every moment, every moment is magic,” said the softly spoken director with waist-length dreadlocks.
The main character Satche, played by U.S. actor and musician Saul Stacey Williams, wanders through the bustling streets of his hometown in Senegal, meeting old friends and family and re-assessing his life, in attempt to gain closure before dying.
But if the whole community is involved, dialogue is sparse, reflecting the fact that this journey is an internal one.
“For me it was very scary getting into the character for this film because it operates off the premise of living every day as if it is your last day,” said Williams, who learnt Wolof and French on the set. “I had a fear of dying.”
Gomis, 39, said the film was against this fear, showing the main character wage an internal war to overcome it.
There are joyous moments as Satche simply enjoys the moment, in town against the background of Senegalese drumming, or in the quiet intimacy of his home with his wife.
In one scene, his entire neighborhood celebrates his last day as he jauntily walks down the street, showering him with gifts of food and flowers, dancing and singing together.
FORGOTTEN CONTINENT
The Berlinale, which last year set Iranian drama “A Separation” on the path to global fame, has a reputation for championing non-mainstream films that might otherwise struggle to find an international audience.
“Tey” director Gomis said films like his would simply become “private projects made for friends” without the showcase of a major film festival like the Berlinale.
“The big festivals allow us to breathe a bit and to try to exist in this kind of huge conformist industry,” he said.
“For cinema and all artistic forms, by trying to be ever more efficient you just can’t breathe anymore. And you take people for idiots and think that they cannot … get into a film that doesn’t use motifs that are repeated a thousand times.”
“At the end of the day I love going to see a James Bond film but I don’t want there to be only James Bond films,” he said.
Gomis said the Berlin film festival would benefit from its focus this year on African films, which are too often ignored.
“War Witch,” a sub-Saharan African drama about a girl’s abduction by a rebel army, and “Tabu,” a tale of love and crime set in Portugal and Mozambique, will premiere later in the week.
“Europe could enrich itself so much if it did not simply regard Africa with a sense of guilt or charity, but actually opened up to all this continent has to offer,” he said.
“One of the greatest directors of cinema, in my opinion, is a Senegalese director called Djibril Diop Mambety, but his films are simply not known here.”
“Tey” turns the usual story of Africans seeking to escape their own continent on its head, by showing a Senegalese man — Satche — who studied abroad and has returned home.
The tensions afflicting Senegal ahead of elections on February26 are also depicted in the film by protestors chanting in French “Ca suffit” (“It’s enough”) in standoffs with the police.
(Additional Reporting by Tanya Wood, editing by Paul Casciato)
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LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? After trudging through a rough patch, production is finally set to begin on Disney’s Johnny Depp-starring reboot of “The Lone Ranger.”
Principal photography for the big-budget film will start in February in New Mexico, Governor Susana Martinez and the New Mexico Film Office announced Friday.
Production for director Gore Verbinski’s movie is planned in and around Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Shiprock and other locations in New Mexico. It is expected to continue in the state until the middle of August.
New Mexico officials said they’ve been working with Walt Disney Studios for more than a year to bring “The Lone Ranger” to New Mexico.
“‘The Lone Ranger’ is proof that New Mexico’s film industry is alive and well,” Martinez said. “As we continue to build upon our reputation as a premier film production center, we are pleased to welcome ‘The Lone Ranger’ to our state.”
“We couldn’t be happier to bring ‘The Lone Ranger’ production to New Mexico,” producer Jerry Bruckheimer said in a statement. “The state’s world-class crews, local talent and spectacular locations will be critical in helping us take this iconic story and legendary characters to new heights.”
Production was originally supposed to start in October, but in August, Disney stopped the project due to budget concerns.
The budget was initially estimated to be between $250 million and $275 million, but Disney, Verbinski and Bruckheimer trimmed it to approximately $215 million.
In mid-October, Disney announced that the project was back on.
“#THELONERANGER….and Tonto…will ride again,” Bruckheimer later tweeted. “Excited for another adventure with Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinski. Hi-Yo Silver, Away.”
“The Lone Ranger” is due to hit theaters May 31, 2013. It had originally been scheduled for release on December 21, 2012.
“The Lone Ranger” features Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as John Reid, a.k.a. the Lone Ranger.
(Reporting By Bob Tourtellotte)
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LONDON ? Buoyant silent film “The Artist” and moody spy saga “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” are among the leading contenders for the British Academy Film Awards, Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars.
“The Artist” has 12 nominations and “Tinker, Tailor” 11, both including best picture and director nods.
In a diverse field not dominated by any single film, there are also multiple nominations for “My Week With Marilyn,” “The Iron Lady,” “The Help” and “We Need to Talk About Kevin.”
Nominations were announced Tuesday and the prizes will be awarded at a ceremony at London’s Royal Opera House on Feb. 12. They are considered an important indicator of prospects at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles two weeks later.
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LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? New rules in the Oscar documentary process are not going to make things harder for documentary filmmakers, director and AMPAS governor Michael Moore told TheWrap.
Instead, he said, the rules that go into effect this year are going to make what Moore called “a crazy, Byzantine process” more open, more democratic and more transparent — and they’re going to fix a process that has led to decades of snubs, surprises and inexplicable decisions.
“I saw a headline that said documentary filmmakers were fearing the changes,” Moore said in a lengthy interview. “We’ve feared the process for the last 20 years — this is the elimination of that fear.”
And if anybody should be worried about the new rules, it’s not the makers of small docs, it’s a giant in the doc field, HBO (which he did not single out by name, but which is one clear target of the new rules).
The changes led to some controversy when the New York Times revealed a new requirement that films need to be reviewed in the New York Times or the Los Angeles Times in order to qualify for Oscar consideration.
But Moore, the architect of and prime lobbyist for the new system, described the review rule as a small part of a major overhaul. The main change is the elimination of the committees that have been responsible for nominations for decades.
In its place, the documentary branch will do what most Academy branches do: All members of the branch will vote for the nominations, and all members of the Academy will vote for the final awards.
“Why is it that year after year, so many great documentaries don’t even make the shortlist?” Moore asked. “The main problem is committees, and I made it my mission to eliminate those committees.”
Others, including TheWrap, have been lobbying for a change to the committee system for years. In fact, Moore said that a 2010 story in TheWrap was a particularly accurate summation of the problems with a process in which volunteers from the branch were assembled into small committees and given a number of films to score on a scale of six to 10.
“It was not a democratic process, and not a transparent process,” Moore said. “With some branches, you’d see the nominations and be surprised that this actor got in or that film didn’t make it. With our branch, every year it was five or six or seven surprises.
“It’s so jarring to think that the Maysles never got an Oscar, D.A. Pennebaker never got one, Michael Apted never got one for the ’7 Up’ series. And it happened again this year, when Werner Herzog couldn’t even make the shortlist.”
The changes will also do away with a rule that said members who had a film in the running were not eligible to participate, a regulation that had the potential to knock out a hefty chunk of the electorate when you have a 166-member branch and more than 100 eligible films.
“If 50 people volunteer and you have 100 films to watch, you form 10 committees of five people each,” said Moore, who in the past has served on those committees. “And if I saw ‘Inside Job’ in a theater and loved it but ‘Inside Job’ is not in the box of 10 movies that I get, there’s nothing I can do to help that movie get nominated.”
Even worse, he said, the small size of each committee meant that each member’s vote is of inordinate importance. “If there’s only a five-person committee deciding the fate of those 10 films, one or two low votes can kill the movie.”
In fact, former Academy executive director Bruce Davis all but admitted to me that low scores from a small group of members prevented “Hoop Dreams” from receiving a nomination in 1994, even though that film had more scores of 10 than any other documentary in the competition.
In the fall, Moore said he took his concerns before the executive committee of the doc branch. “I made an impassioned plea that we’re at a defining moment for our branch,” he said. “Let’s do it like everybody else does, and let everybody in the branch vote. Let’s not allow one or two people to kill the chances for a film.”
The new rules, Moore added, will call for filmmakers to submit screeners to all branch members at the end of the quarter during which the film is released.
“I’m guessing it will be about 15 films every three months,” he said, “and I think most people will watch most of those films.”
Once the entire branch has voted to create a 15-film shortlist and select the five nominees, the final vote will be open to all Academy members, without the current requirement that members must prove they’ve seen all five nominees in a theater. (The Foreign-Language category retains that rule.)
The rule restricting voting to those who’d seen all five films, he said, reduced the total number of voters in the category to between 200 and 400 out of the 6,000-member Academy. “When I presented this to the Board of Governors in December, I said that we stand up on the Kodak stage every year and say, ‘The Academy has selected this film as the best documentary of the year.’
“But that isn’t the truth, is it? It isn’t the Academy, it’s less than 5 percent of the Academy. And I don’t think we want to have somebody stand on that stage and say, ‘Less than 5 percent of the academy has chosen this film.’”
The executive committee, said Moore, voted unanimously to approve the new rules he’d drawn up. The Board of Governors then followed suit in December, approving rules that were not scheduled to have been publicly disclosed until after this year’s Oscar show.
That changed when the New York Times ran its story, which focused on an additional wrinkle that was added to the rules for qualifying: Not only will films need to run for a week in theaters in Manhattan and Los Angeles County, but they’ll also need a review in the New York Times or the Los Angeles Times.
The intent of that rule, he said, is simple: to prevent the common practice of television networks quietly playing their docs for a week in out-of-the-way theaters, qualifying them for Oscars before staging a splashy television “premiere.”
“Too often, we are having to vote for films that are essentially television documentaries trying to get an Oscar,” he said.
“Television has its own award. It’s called the Emmy. It’s a good award. I like it. I have one. But you don’t see movies like ‘The King’s Speech’ win Oscars and then go to TV and qualify for Emmys. In documentaries, some networks have been able to game the system.”
Moore declined to single out any specific networks or films, but the culprits are fairly obvious. At the last Emmy Awards, nominees in the nonfiction categories included HBO’s “Gasland” and PBS’s “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” both of which had previously received Oscar nominations.
Three of the 15 films on this year’s Documentary Feature shortlist, “The Loving Story,” “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” and “Sing Your Song,” are HBO films. All three received unpublicized one-week runs at Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7 theater in West Hills prior to splashy debuts on the cable channel.
Located on the outskirts of the San Fernando Valley, the Fallbrook 7 is one of the most distant Laemmle theaters that still satisfies the requirement of a run in Los Angeles County, and is popular with companies “four-walling” their films for Oscar consideration.
Most of the non-HBO shortlisted docs had their qualifying runs at more visible theaters in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica or West Hollywood.
“I feel bad that theatrical documentary film directors — Werner Herzog, Steve James, Errol Morris
"Tabloid"], the guys who made 'Senna' and 'Nostalgia for the Light' -- spend years making these films that are intended to be real theatrical experiences," Moore said. "And their potential slots on the shortlist are taken by films that were not truly theatrically released." Moore is quick to add that he has no problem with documentaries funded by and intended for television if those docs receive true theatrical releases rather than out-of-the-way stealth bookings. "Some networks, like the History Channel and A&E, are now giving their movies real theatrical runs," he said. "That's great. But don't try to sneak it into theaters when nobody's looking so you can have your big TV premiere. If you do that, it's a TV movie and you should be trying for the Emmys, not the Oscars." That type of run, he said, is what the New York Times/L.A. Times rule is designed to stop. Because TV networks want the reviews to run when their films are debuting on the air, they do not solicit reviews for the stealth bookings. The New York Times, he said, was chosen because it has a long-standing policy of reviewing every film that receives a one-week theatrical run in New York. The L.A. Times was added as a first-step fail-safe measure in case the New York Times missed a film. And the new rules also add an appeals process for filmmakers whose work somehow doesn't get reviewed. "We will side with the filmmaker," Moore promised. Moore admitted that the new requirement will reduce the number of eligible films, perhaps from 100 down to about 60. (This year's field of 124 is artificially inflated because it covers a 16-month eligibility period.) And it could deal a severe blow to programs like the International Documentary Association's DocuWeeks, in which more than a dozen films are programmed in rotating one-week blocks specifically to meet Oscar qualifying rules. Typically, DocuWeeks films do not receive separate reviews in the L.A. or New York Times. Among the films that qualified that way in 2011 is the shortlisted feature "Semper Fi: Always Faithful." Asked how he felt about potentially knocking that film out of contention, Moore hesitated. "I showed 'Semper Fi' at my festival," he said. "It's a great film." He paused. "The thing with 'Semper Fi,' I think they're going to be distributed in another month or two. So under the new rules, they could be eligible for next year's Oscars." Moore said his next priority is to find ways to give small documentaries theatrical distribution, but that he doesn't want the Oscars to be bogged down with "vanity projects that try to game the system by four-walling theaters." And he adamantly insisted that the new system will not harm smaller films to any significant degree. "At the documentary branch meeting, we were talking about whether this was going to hurt the smaller film, the independent film," he said. "And Dawn Hudson pointed out that if you look at Oscar stats over the last 20 years, since screeners have been available, that has allowed for the rise of indie films. "When you open up the process and make it accessible, what happens? 'The Hurt Locker' and 'Slumdog Millionaire' win Best Picture. The smaller films have been helped by a more open, more egalitarian process. "The decades of a few people deciding have come to a complete end," he said. "I think we have a better chance of 'Hoop Dreams' not happening again."
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NEW YORK ? Jason Reitman was under the same impression many are of Charlize Theron. He knew she was a fiercely talented actress, prone to burying her stunning beauty behind gritty, intense performances like her Academy Award-winning one as a murderous prostitute in 2003′s “Monster.”
Then she told him a dirty joke.
Theron approached Reitman at last year’s Oscars to tell him how much she liked his then recent film “Up in the Air” and that she’d love to work with him.
“I got a tap on the shoulder and I turn around and it’s all 6-foot-6 of Charlize Theron,” recalls Reitman, intentionally exaggerating Theron’s height by 8 inches. “I was really understandably intimidated.”
But when Theron, already a few drinks into the night, revealed a more depraved sense of humor than her image would suggest, Reitman realized they had more in common than he expected: “I was like, `Oh! I like you.’” (Theron, for her part, doesn’t recall the joke, but, with a glimmer in her eye, acknowledged, “That sounds about correct.”)
The meeting was both fortuitous, in that it directly led to Theron staring in Reitman’s new film “Young Adult,” and an early hint to the tone of their collaboration. In “Young Adult” (which was penned by Diablo Cody of “Juno”), Theron plays Mavis Gary, a teen fiction ghost writer who returns to her hometown in rural Minnesota to lure her now-married former boyfriend. As a woman whose nostalgia has swelled to demented proportions, Theron is bitingly caustic and hilariously candid.
The performance not only reveals Theron’s comedic side, but shows more of her true nature than her previous work. Not that Theron is anything like Mavis’ more deplorable aspects, but she shares Mavis’ sharp elbows and sharper wit.
“Most people who know me who have seen the film are not that shocked,” Theron said in a recent interview during which she was self-deprecating, unguardedly foul-mouthed and thoughtful. “The film is way more my personality and closer to anything that I’ve done.”
It’s also Theron’s first film in nearly three years. In between, she prepared to star in an ambitious “Mad Max” sequel, “Fury Road,” which was repeatedly delayed and still hasn’t been shot. She worked on developing projects with her production company, including a drama series for HBO with David Fincher. She also split with the Irish actor Stuart Townsend after nearly a decade together.
“I’ll be very honest: I wasn’t missing it,” Theron says of acting. “It’s hard to miss something when nothing was kind of sparking that instrument to get excited about.”
That period, though, appears to be over. Following “Young Adult” ? which is earning Theron her best reviews since “Monster” ? she’ll be seen in Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” and the fantasy “Snow White & the Huntsman,” which also stars Kristen Stewart.
Theron, 36, grew up on a farm outside Johannesburg, South Africa. While she was a teenager, her mother shot and killed Theron’s alcoholic and abusive father. When she was 16, she became a model in Milan. She later moved to New York to train as a ballet dancer, but a knee injury pushed her out of dance and toward acting.
After a number of small roles as girlfriend types in films such as “The Devil’s Advocate” and “The Cider House Rules,” her performance in “Monster” changed her trajectory considerably. When she won best actress at the Oscars, Nelson Mandela hailed her for putting South Africa “on the map.”
Since then, Theron, who lives in Los Angeles, received a second Oscar nomination for her performance as a miner in “North Country.” Though the science fiction “Aeon Flux” bombed, Theron drew acclaim again for a supporting role in the somber anti-war film “In the Valley of Elah” and for the atypical superhero film “Hancock.”
But all the while, there were hints in her filmography of comedic leanings. In 2005, she had a memorable arc on “Arrested Development” as the love interest of Jason Bateman’s character. Her character was mentally disabled, but the joke was on those around her, who didn’t notice because of her British accent.
The opportunity arose when “Monster” director Patty Jenkins directed an episode of the series, and Theron asked her to relay to creator Mitch Hurwitz her pleading to be on the show. She calls the experience a “great, great learning experience” in how comedy needn’t be played for comedy, but rather portrayed realistically.
Theron also appeared on an early episode of Zach Galifianakis’ faux-interview Web series “Between Two Ferns,” as revered of a comedy calling-card as there is. On it, Theron flirted with Galifianakis before pulling the rug out from him, cackling at the idea of her being attracted to a “fat garden gnome.”
“The bizarre thing is that I’ve always had kind of a sick, twisted sense of humor,” says Theron. “But my work, for some reason, has always veered to the dramatic stuff. I think that’s because I’ve never really been that driven by genre, but I find that I want to play people that feel real. I do think in comedy it’s harder to find non-caricatures. I always said that I would love to do something like that kind of comedy that the Coen brothers do, that more character study stuff. And that stuff is hard to come by, and I feel like my career was setting itself up to be another thing.”
The comedian-actor Patton Oswalt, who plays an old high school acquaintance of Mavis’ who turns into a drinking buddy in “Young Adult,” said at the Gotham Awards that Theron “has the kind of humor that someone who looks like me has.”
The two found an unlikely chemistry in “Young Adult” right from the start. Before ever meeting, they did a table read in Reitman’s dining room and immediately connected.
“I realized I was going to be working with a really great actor,” says Oswalt. “It made me work even harder so that I could be on her playing field. She is so instinctual and already ready to go every shot.”
Whether it’s “Monster” or “Hancock” or “Young Adult,” Theron typically commits fully to a character. Asked how she manages that, she doesn’t miss a beat: “Alcohol.”
But thinking a little more about it, she says that ballet instilled in her a relish for performance. Though she acknowledges she’s not a trained actor, she says she learned from other actors as her career unfolded.
“It was amazing to watch Al Pacino at 3 in the morning and suck … and then be brilliant,” says Theron, recalling “The Devil’s Advocate.” “It was one of the greatest teachings that I could have been given. He taught me that in order to be great, you have to be willing to fall on your face. You don’t get to that place unless you go balls out.”
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When powerful men amass their armies and go to battle in a tight political race, even the most idealistic and fervent political junkies may find their faith tested, if not obliterated. It is an ugly, cynical business, full of ambitious people who will do whatever they must to survive.
This is the not-so-shocking point of “The Ides of March,” the latest film George Clooney has directed, based on the 2008 play “Farragut North.” It’s meaty and weighty and relevant, exactly the kind of material that appeals to Clooney, and to fans of Clooney. But it doesn’t tell us much that we didn’t already know, or at least suspect, about the people we place our trust in to lead us in the right direction come election time. And it features a major and distracting twist that undermines all the serious-mindedness that came before it.
Clooney is such an excellent actor himself, though ? here he plays a supporting role as a Pennsylvania governor seeking the Democratic presidential nomination ? and he’s such a smart, efficient director, he really knows how to get the best out of his cast. And it would seem difficult to go wrong with a cast like this. Philip Seymour Hoffman tears it up as the governor’s gruff, no-nonsense campaign manager, a veteran who’s seen it all and still continues to come back for more. Paul Giamatti is reliably smarmy as Hoffman’s counterpart for the rival Democratic candidate, and watching these two acting heavyweights eyeball each other backstage at a debate provides an early, juicy thrill. (Jennifer Ehle is unfortunately wasted in just one scene as the governor’s dutiful wife.)
But the real star is Ryan Gosling as Stephen Myers, a young, up-and-coming strategist and press secretary who works for Clooney’s Gov. Mike Morris. As he did earlier this year in “Crazy Stupid Love,” Gosling radiates charisma, schmoozing and charming reporters and staffers with equal ease. But beneath that slick exterior, his character is a true believer. And Morris, with his great looks, smooth voice and progressive platitudes, seems to him like the real deal. Finally.
“The Ides of March,” which Clooney co-wrote with his frequent collaborator, Grant Heslov, and “Farragut North” playwright Beau Willimon, follows the final, frantic days before the Ohio Democratic primary. The nuts-and-bolts grunt work and the daily machinations and manipulations of a political campaign consistently ring true. Clooney is as interested in process as personalities, which was evident in the last film he directed, 2005′s “Good Night, and Good Luck,” and that balance gives his work an authenticity. With “The Ides of March,” he is once again opening a portal to a specific world that he clearly takes seriously and cares a great deal about.
That’s why it’s such a letdown when the whole endeavor turns tawdry toward the end. We won’t give away the details of the twist, but let’s just say it involves a sexy, 20-year-old intern played by a coolly seductive Evan Rachel Wood. The actions and motivations in this subplot are entirely unbelievable, and the very idea of it feels like an easy way to inject melodrama. And that’s a problem, since this character’s choices are crucial to a series of events that culminate in the film’s climax.
If “The Ides of March” had just been about intense, powerful people and the conflict between ideals and reality, it would have provided vital and vibrant entertainment. Still, Gosling’s journey feels believable, despite the narrative potholes along the way. The lost, disillusioned look on his face in the film’s final shot ? especially in contrast with the confidence he exuded in a similar close-up at the start ? says it all.
“The Ides of March,” a Columbia Pictures release, is rated R for pervasive language. Running time: 98 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
___
Motion Picture Association of America rating definitions:
G ? General audiences. All ages admitted.
PG ? Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
PG-13 ? Special parental guidance strongly suggested for children under 13. Some material may be inappropriate for young children.
R ? Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
NC-17 ? No one under 17 admitted.
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TORONTO (Reuters) ? In a year when hockey violence has come under increasing scrutiny, two films at the Toronto Film Festival examine the role of the sport’s enforcers, who make it to the big leagues using their fists rather than their skating skills.
Alex Gibney, who won a best documentary Oscar in 2007 for “Taxi to the Dark Side,” attacks the subject through the eyes of 1980s enforcer Chris Nilan, while Canadian director Michael Dowse takes a comedic approach with his feature, “Goon”.
Long a staple of professional hockey, enforcers are the guys a coach sends out when an opposing player takes a cheap shot at one of your top scorers.
A few broken teeth later, justice has been served.
But while a good brawl can bring fans to their feet, it comes at a cost for the tough guys like Nilan, who patrolled the ice for the NHL Montreal Canadiens in the 1980s.
Like many young players with more grit than talent, Boston-born Nilan ended up making what Gibney calls a “Faustian bargain”, or deal with the devil.
“They want to play hockey in the show, but they’re not good enough to be (a scorer), so they know their way in is to be the enforcer, to be the guys who fight,” Gibney told Reuters.
Nilan’s pugilism won him the love of fans and a hallowed place in what Gibney calls a “golden age” of hockey enforcers.
But after retiring in 1992, Nilan, 53, had trouble readjusting to normal life, battling addictions to painkillers, alcohol and heroin, and alienating friends and family.
Like many enforcers interviewed in the film, Nilan admits he didn’t enjoy fighting, but did so to protect his teammates.
After the film’s premiere, he noted the number of players sidelined by concussions was lower in his era than in recent years when several players, including superstar Pittsburgh Penguin Sidney Crosby, have missed time due to head injuries.
“I truly believe it was because they had guys riding shotgun for them like me,” he said.
BLEAK SUMMER
The subject matter is new cinematic territory for the prolific Gibney, who has recently taken on subjects such as Eliot Spitzer, Enron, and U.S. state-sanctioned torture.
But the timing of the film is fortuitous, coming in a year that hockey violence has been under the spotlight after the deaths of three current and former enforcers.
New York Rangers tough guy Derek Boogaard was found dead in May after overdosing on alcohol and pain killers, and Vancouver Canucks’ Rick Rypien committed suicide in August. Police have yet to release the cause of death of recently retired Wade Belak, who was found dead in a Toronto hotel room in August.
Media pundits have speculated about the possible link between the deaths and the life of the enforcer, but both Gibney and Nilan warned against rushing to judgment.
“We’ve all got to be careful about drawing too many conclusions, because each person’s life has its own mysteries,” Gibney said. “But it’s hard to ignore three enforcers going down in a short period of time.”
VIOLENCE AND LAUGHS
In Dowse’s “Goon”, “American Pie” actor Sean William Scott adds muscle and subtracts teeth to play Doug Glatt, a dim but kind-hearted bar bouncer who’s recruited into minor-league hockey after getting into a fight at a hockey game.
Glatt, who at first can barely skate, soon makes a mark with his fists, and finds himself on a collision course with legendary thug Ross “the boss” Rhea, played by Liev Schreiber.
With a light touch that will draw comparisons to the 1977 Paul Newman classic “Slap Shot”, Dowse takes on the issue of violence and life after the game through Schreiber’s character, who sees retirement coming after serving a suspension for injuring another player.
But the focus is on the laughs, mined from Glatt’s foul-mouthed buddy, played by Jay Baruchel, and the playful use of hockey stereotypes, such as the superstitious goalie who talks to his goalposts and has his mother’s face painted on his helmet.
The film would seem a shoo-in to find an audience in hockey-mad Canada, but will also hit U.S. screens early next year under a distribution deal with Magnolia pictures.
(Reporting by Cameron French; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? British boy wizard Harry Potter makes his final return to theaters this week and may bring enough box office magic to score the biggest opening weekend ever for the hugely successful series.
Box office estimates for opening weekend ticket sales of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″ in the United States and Canada range from $125 million to $150 million, industry watchers said, putting it in league with the highest-grossing film debuts ever.
The record for best weekend opening belongs to 2008 Batman movie, “The Dark Knight,” which collected $158.4 million in its initial three-days.
“Deathly Hallows — Part 2″ is the eighth and final film in the franchise. The Warner Bros. films have generated $6.4 billion in ticket sales since the first movie a decade ago, plus billions more from DVDs and merchandise.
Loyal fans eager to say farewell are expected to drive big numbers for the last installment, industry experts said.
“Harry Potter is remarkably consistent, hitting blockbuster levels each time out. This will be the culmination of everything, this long, nearly 10-year investment,” said Brandon Gray, president of industry tracker boxofficemojo.com.
Initial ticket sales will “likely be the highest grossing opening weekend of the series,” Gray said.
People with no prior interest in “Harry Potter” will go to the finale “simply because it is the end of an era,” said Paul Dergarabedian, who heads up Hollywood.com Box Office. The film’s marketing slogan — “It All Ends” — stresses that point.
The final film is the first “Harry Potter” offered in 3D, which should help boost sales totals with its premium price. The movie also will be shown on large format IMAX screens.
“Deathly Hallows — Part 2″ opens in some countries on Wednesday and in the key British and U.S. markets on Friday.
Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc, touted the movie’s pent-up demand even before the film opened. Advance ticket sales reached more than $32 million, a pre-opening record, with many midnight and first-day show times sold out, the company said.
“Deathly Hallows – Part 1″ racked up big sales of $125 million domestically on its opening weekend last November, showing the story still appeals widely after a decade. The new film should beat that total, Dergarabedian said.
The final film “has so much going for it. There’s a mystique. There’s a fervor,” he said.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
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Published: 2:00 AM ? 05/20/11
?Beauty and the Beast? ? Bishop Dunn Memorial School production of the Disney Broadway musical. Mount Saint Mary College, Aquinas Hall Theatre, 330 Powell Ave., Newburgh, 7 p.m. may 20, noon and 7 p.m. may 21. Tickets $10 at the door. Call 569-3494.
?Fundevogel? ? Puppets and dance help tell the tale of a child found in the woods who overcomes evil through the strong bond of love. Cocoon Theatre, 6384 mill St., Rhinebeck, 7 p.m. may 20-21 and 3 p.m. may 22. Tickets $15, $10 age 10 and younger. Call 876-6470
?Jesus Christ Superstar? ? Lighthouse Youth Theatre staging of the rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Westchester Broadway Theatre, 1 Broadway Plaza, Elmsford, may 21, noon lunch and 1:30 p.m. show Tickets $45 and $70, $35 age 16 and younger. Call 914-592-2222.
?The Jungle Book? ? Rudyard Kipling?s tale featuring Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera and King Louie is brought to life by the Stages in the Arts/Woodstock Youth Theatre. Backstage Studio Productions, 323 Wall St., Kingston, 8 p.m. may 20, 7 p.m. may 21, 27 and 28 and 2 p.m. may 22 and 29. Tickets $11 by phoning in advance at 338-8700 or $14 at the door.
Robbi K. ? Parents? choice Award-winning storyteller offers interactive movement, singing, chanting, and humor as she tells a traditional African folktale about a tiny turtle who uses kindness and thinking to succeed. Hudson Opera House, 327 Warren St., Hudson, 2 p.m. may 21. Call 518-822-1438.
?Room on the Broom: a Musical? ? Tall stories Theater Company of London production features puppets, songs and laughs in a story of courage, teamwork and friendship. ?School-Time Matinee? offering is open to the public. Paramount Center for the Arts, 1008 Brown St., Peekskill, noon may 20. Tickets $10. Call 914-739-2333.
?The Barbarian Invasions? ? Writer-director Denys Arcand?s 2003 film about a dying man who is reunited with old friends, former lovers, his ex-wife and his estranged son. Hyde Park Library, 2 Main St., Hyde Park, 7:15 p.m. may 20. Call 229-7791 or visit hydeparklibrary.org.
?The Birds? ? 1963 shocker from Alfred Hitchcock stars Tippi Hedren as one of many humans attacked for seemingly no reason by the title animals. Paramount Theatre 17 South St., Middletown, 7:30 p.m. may 21, $7. Organ music by John Barratta at 7 p.m. Call 346-4195.
?Broken Blossoms? ? ?Saturday silent Film Matinee? presentation of the 1919 D.W. Griffith drama starring Lillian Gish as an abused London waif who is befriended by a Chinese immigrant. Port Jervis Free Library, 138 Pike St., Port Jervis, 2:30 p.m. may 21. Free admission, free popcorn and soft drinks. Call 856-7313.
?Brothers? ? Director Susanne Bier resurrects the ancient biblical story of Cain and Abel and sets it in Denmark and Afghanistan in a 2004 drama. Howland Public Library, 313 Main St., Beacon, 7 p.m. may 20, free. Call 831-1134.
?The Burmese Harp? ? 1956 film from director Kon Ichikawa about a conscience-driven Japanese soldier who adopts the lifestyle of a Buddhist monk in the closing days of World War II. Cornwall Public Library, 395 Hudson St., Cornwall, 6 p.m. may 25. Call 534-8282.
?Clash of the Titans? ? Teen Movie Night presents the 2010 mythological adventure starring Sam Worthington. Highland Library, 30 Church St., Highland, 6:30 p.m. may 25. Call Jennifer Lombardo, 691-2275, ext. 16.
Celebrate our Planet Film Festival ? Cornwall Public Library, 395 Hudson St., Cornwall, may 21: ?Curious George Goes Green,? 10 a.m.; ?Bill Nye the Science Guy & Pollution Solutions,? noon; ?Life: Fish & Birds,? 12:30 p.m.; ?Gasland,? 1:15 p.m.; ?Til? the River Runs Clear,? 3 p.m. Call 534-8282.
?Dreamland? ? The story of lifelong friends Jack and Bryan during the beginning of the war in Iraq. Local residents Justin Van Voorhis and Keaton Weiss wrote the screenplay, and Van Voorhis directed. Van Voorhis takes part in a Q&a after the screening. Downing Film Center, 19 Front St., Newburgh, 7:15 p.m. may 23, $8, $6 members. Call 561-3686.
?The Economics of Happiness? ? 2011 documentary from Steven Gorelick, Helena Norberg-Hodge and John Page in which a chorus of voices from six continents calls for systemic economic change. Rosendale Theatre, 408 Main St., Rosendale, 7 p.m. may 24, $10. Call 658-8989.
?Eragon? ? 2006 film about a farm boy who realizes he?s the one person who can defend his home against an evil king. Port Jervis Free Library, 138 Pike St., Port Jervis, 10:30 a.m. may 21. Free admission, free popcorn and soft drinks. Call 856-7313.
?Gasland? ? Josh Fox documents experiences of property owners caught up in efforts to mine natural gas using the controversial hydro-fracking method. Beahive Beacon, 291 Main St., Suite 1, Beacon, 7 p.m. may 26. Call 418-3731.
?The Informer? ? 1929 part-talkie British film, remade by John Ford in 1935, about an Irish rebel who, after he informs on his friend, feels doom closing in. Screening features live, improvised musical accompaniment by Cary Brown. Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library, 7 p.m. may 21. Call 265-3040.
?Mythic Journeys? ? ?Movies With Spirit? offering blends documentary footage and storytelling, artwork and animation to argue that myths constitute one of the deepest and most profound reservoirs of human wisdom, bridging cultures, communities and generations. followed by refreshments and discussion. Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely, 101 Leggett Road, Stone Ridge, 7 p.m. may 21. Suggested donation $5 for anyone 12 and older. Contact Gerry Harrington, 389-9201 or .
?National Velvet? ? Remembering Elizabeth Film Fest presents the actress in the 1944 MGM horse-racing drama that made her a star. Hyde Park Library, 2 Main St., Hyde Park, 2 p.m. may 22. Call 229-7791 or visit hydeparklibrary.org.
?The Sublet? and ?Bread Today? ? The first film, written and directed by Georgiana Nestor, stars Roger Hendricks Simon as a widower still haunted by the memory of his late wife. Simon will appear for a Q&a after the screening. The second film promotes Emerging Pictures International ?Opera in Cinema? broadcasts. Paramount Center for the Arts, 1008 Brown St., Peekskill, 3 p.m. may 22. Call for ticket prices at 914-739-2333. Visit paramountcenter.org.
?Superfan? and ?Another side of Life? ? Previews of two films, the first a mockumentary about a new York Islanders fanatic, the second a flight of fancy for everyone who spends his or her days enclosed in a cubicle. Utopian Direction 7 West St., Warwick, 7 p.m. may 21. Call 248-8678
?Cavalleria Rusticana? and ?Gianni Schicchi? ? One-act operas, the first by Mascagni, the second by Puccini, are performed by Hudson Opera Theatre at the United Presbyterian Church of Middletown, 25 Orchard St. Middletown, 7 p.m. may 21 and 22. Tickets $30, $27 senior citizens $27, $20 students with valid ID. Call 661-0544.
?As you Like It? ? a ?Shakespeare in Cinema? presentation from the Globe Theatre in London of the romantic comedy set in the Forest of Arden. Paramount Center for the Arts, 1008 Brown St., Peekskill, 3 p.m. may 20. Call for ticket prices at 914-739-2333..
?Bite: The Culinary Comedies? ? The Actors & Writers troupe stages a production of Laura Shaine?s vignette-filled play about food. Rosendale Theatre, 408 Main St., Rosendale, 8 p.m. may 21, by donation. Visit rosendaletheatre.org or actorsandwriters.com.
?Cruisin for Murder? ? Interactive murder mystery dinner theater event in which prizes will be awarded to the quickest and cleverest sleuths. Proceeds benefit new Paltz United Teachers scholarship fund. Apple Greens Golf course, 161 South St., Highland, 6:30 p.m. may 21. Tickets $40, $35 senior citizens, $50 at the door. Tickets can be purchased in advance at Lenape Elementary School, 1 Eugene L Brown Drive, new Paltz. Call 256-4300.
?An Evening of Improv: Thank God It?s Spring? ? Featuring the Blue Light Players. For adults only. Newburgh Actors Studio, 784 Broadway, Newburgh, 8 p.m. may 21. Tickets $20, $18 senior citizens and students. Call 569-8593.
?An Evening of Psychodrama? ? Audience members are invited to experience a classical psychodrama with warm-up, action and sharing; they can participate as little or as much as they want. Presented by the Hudson Valley Chapter of the American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama. Boughton Place Theater, 150 Kisor Road, Highland. 7:30 p.m. may 20. Call 255-7502.
?The Full Monty? ? Revival of the 2000 Yazbek-McNally musical based on the 1997 film about unemployed men who decide to perform a strip act. Center for Performing Arts, 661 Route 308, Rhinebeck, 8 p.m. may 20-21, 3 p.m. may 22. Tickets $24, $22 senior citizens and children. Call 876-3080.
?Grease? ? Revival of the 1972 musical about high school seniors in 1959. new Rose Theatre, 35 E. Main St., Walden, 5 p.m. may 21, 2 p.m. may 22. Tickets $18, $15 senior citizens and students. Call 778-2478 or visit hvcfa.com.
?Greetings!? ? Beth Fowler and Richard Kline star in a comedy by Tom Dudzick about a young man who returns home for the holidays with his new fiancee. Penguin Rep, 6 Crickettown Road, Stony Point, 8 p.m. may 20-21 and 26-28 and June 2-4 and 9-11, 4 p.m. may 21 and 28 and June 4 and 11 and 2 p.m. may 22 and 29 and June 5 and 12. Tickets $34, $20 age 30 and younger. Call 786-2873.
?Hughie? ? Revival of Eugene O?Neill?s story of a small-time gambler?s attempts to keep alive his illusion that he?s a happy-go-lucky winner. Michael Frizalone and James Heisel star for director Chet Carlin. Liberty Free Theatre, 109 S. Main St., Liberty, 7:30 p.m. may 20-21 and 26-28 and 3 p.m. may 29. Admission is free, seating is limited and reservations are recommended. The audience is invited to gather after the performance for food, drink, and music. Call 292-3788.
?Lost in Yonkers? ? Neil Simon?s 1991 Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy-drama about two brothers who come to live with a stern grandmother and childlike aunt during World War II is revived by Creative Theatre-Muddy Water Players. Playhouse at Museum Village, 1310 Route 17M, Monroe, 8 p.m. may 20-21, 3 p.m. may 22. Tickets $20, including dessert at intermission. Call 294-9465.
?Los Tres Balceneros: I?d Rather be Grateful Than Dead? ? Live performance and broadcast by Air Pirates Radio Theater, with audience participation encouraged. Lycian Centre, 1351 Kings Highway, Sugar Loaf, 8 p.m. may 21. Tickets $20. Visit lyciancentre.com or airpirateradio.com, or call 469-7563.
?Love Letters? ? Margaret and Peter Stipple read the title missives that portray a lifelong relationship in a.R. Gurney?s play. St. George?s Episcopal Church parish hall, 105 Grand St., Newburgh, 2:30 p.m. may 22. Tickets $12, $10 senior citizens, $8 students. Proceeds benefit historic St. George?s Cemetery on Washington Street in Newburgh. Tickets available at the door or by calling 561-5335. Reception to follow.
?My fair Lady? ? Revival of the peerless Lerner-Loewe musical based on Shaw?s ?Pygmalion? about a linguistics expert who helps transform a Cockney seller into a lady. Songs include ?I could have Danced All Night? and ?On the Street Where you Live.? County Players Falls Theatre, 2681 W. Main St., Wappingers Falls, 8 p.m. may 20-21, 2 p.m. may 22. Tickets $20. Call 298-1491 or visit countyplayers.org.
?The Seagull ? Revival of Anton Chekhov?s 1895 play about the romantic and artistic conflicts involving four characters: the ingenue Nina, the fading actress Irina Arkadina, her son the symbolist playwright Konstantin Treplyov, and the famous middlebrow story writer Trigorin. Philipstown Depot Theatre, Garrison?s Landing, Garrison, 7 p.m. may 20-21 and 27-28 and June 3-4 and 10-11 and 5 p.m. may 22 and 29 and June 5 and 12. Tickets, $22, $18 senior citizens and students. Call 424-3900.
Arts Society of Kingston ? Poetry reading with Marilyn Stablein, ASK Playwrights? Lab, 97 Broadway, Kingston, 4 p.m. may 21, free. Also: Playwrights? Lab ? Play Reading, 6:30 p.m. may 24. Call 338-0331 or visit askforarts.org.
Beacon Institute ? Sunday Author Series with Jessica Dulong, author of ?My River Chronicles: a Personal and Historical Journey.? 199 Main St., Beacon, 4 p.m. may 22. Call 838-1600, ext. 16.
Beahive ? Chronogram Open Word spoken word series hosted by Phillip Levine, 314 Main St., Kingston, 7 p.m. may 21, $5. Contact 246-8565.
BeanRunner Cafe ? Featured poet Robert Milby and open mic hosted by Christopher ?Pinky? Gazeent, 201 S. Division St., Peekskill, 7 p.m. may 26, $3. 914-737-1701. beanrunnercafe.com.
Gardiner Library ? ?The Bard Loud and Proud: Shakespeare Read Aloud,? featuring ? a Midsummer Night?s Dream,? 133 Farmer?s Turnpike, Gardiner, 4-6 p.m. may 22. Call 255-1255.
Goshen United Methodist Church ? ?Poetry at the Church,? readings and open mic hosted by Ted Gill, 115 Main St., Goshen, 7 p.m. may 23, free, donations accepted. Call 294-5010.
The Lamp Post Inn ? Reading of Norm Foster?s golf comedy ?The Foursome,? 1601 County Route 565, Vernon, N.J., 7 p.m. may 22. Admission by donation. Call 973-875-2950.
Mudd Puddle Cafe ? Featured poets Eugenia Macer-Story and Adam Bradley, followed by an open mic. Robert Milby hosts. 10 Main St., new Paltz, 7 p.m. may 21, $2. Call 255-3436.
Oblong Books & Music, Rhinebeck ? Launch party and reading by Daphne Uviller, author of ?Hotel No Tell,? 6422 Montgomery St., Rhinebeck, 7 p.m. may 20. Also: Brooke Allen reads from her book ?The other side of the Mind,? 7:30 p.m. may 21. Call 876-0500.
Penguin Rep ? ?Play With your Food? series featuring a picnic dinner, a reading of a new play, and post-reading discussion, 6 Crickettown Road, Stony Point, 6 p.m. may 23, $21. Call 786-2873 or visit penguinrep.org.
Stissing House ? William D. Cohan reads from his book ?Money and Power: how Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World.? Co-sponsored with Hammertown Barn, with ticket and book proceeds benefiting the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. 7801 S. Main St., corner of routes 199 and 82, Pine Plains, 6 p.m. may 21, $25 admission, $25 book purchase. Call 518-398-7075.
Utopian Direction ? Book signing by ?The Path? author Souzie Miller, 7 West St., Warwick, 1-4 p.m. may 21. Also: Reading by poet Paul Kane, 4 p.m. may 21. Call 248-8678.
Warwick Reformed Church ? Writers from the Warwick area meet every Wed. to share and critique one another?s works. All genres are represented. No fee. 16 Maple Ave., Warwick, 7 p.m. may 25. Call L. Guy Burton at 986-3906.
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Source: http://arizonatechnologycouncil.net/go-arts-entertainment-calendars-may-20-26-entertainment/
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