Day: January 15, 2013

Categories
Lawsuits

I am sure that we all wish him well!!

‘Die Hard’ director heading to jail

Die Hard director John McTiernan looks set to be heading to jail after losing a last-ditch legal challenge to stay out of prison.

In 2006, the moviemaker pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements to Federal Bureau of Investigation officers who were investigating Anthony Pellicano, the shamed Hollywood private detective who, in 2008, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for illegal wiretapping.

McTiernan admitted hiring Pellicano to illegally record movie producer Charles Roven’s phone conversations, and lying to authorities about it, and a judge sentenced him to a year behind bars in October, 2010.

He immediately launched an appeal to fight the judgment, which was rejected last August, but he continued his challenge by taking his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

However, McTiernan’s request for a review of his plea and sentencing was denied on Monday, clearing the way for the director to finally begin serving his prison term.

Categories
Movies

Awesome!!!

Machete Kills Slicing Its Way To Theaters This September

It’s pretty amazing that Robert Rodriguez was given the chance to actually make a sequel to 2010’s Machete. Not only was the project born out of a flop – Grindhouse only making $25 million on a $67 million budget – but the first Machete didn’t exactly blow the doors off of the box office, making only $26 million during its run. But Rodriguez is skilled at keeping budgets very low and with very little other excuse that’s what allowed him to make Machete Kills. And now we know when we’re going to be able to see it.

THR reporter Borys Kit has revealed via his Twitter account that Open Road has now set Machete Kills on their release calendar and have dated it for September 13th, approximately the same date that the original came out two years ago. it puts the film in an interesting position because while Hollywood will still be recovering from the doldrums of late August, early September already has two big action movies planned with Universal sending out Riddick on the 6th and Lionsgate releasing I, Frankenstein on the 13th. It should make for an interesting early September box office battle.

Machete Kills finds the titular hero (Danny Trejo) teaming up with the U.S. government to stop a crazed arms deler (Mel Gibson) who wishes to send a weapon into space. Michelle Rodriguez and Jessica Alba will return to play their roles from the previous films while new additions include Amber Heard, Sofia Vergara, Charlie Sheen, Alexa Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, Demian Bichir and Lady Gaga.

Categories
South Park

Whatever they do I will watch!!

Trey Parker, Matt Stone form studio

“South Park” creators and exec producers Trey Parker and Matt Stone have teamed up with boutique merchant bank The Raine Group to create a new independent studio housing the duo’s creative work and future projects.

Raine will take a minority stake in the venture, called Important Studios, provide advice and help finance future projects. The studio “plans to continue the growth of the ‘South Park’ and ‘Book of Mormon’ franchises, create new content across different media, and expand distribution of Parker and Stone’s work worldwide,” the partners said in a statement Monday.

Raine, which is focused exclusively on entertainment, digital media and sports, has been quietly amassing one of the most eclectic portfolios in the business, including Vice Media, Jagex and OpenSky, and has been front-and-center in several key industry deals. Raine represented Dick Clark Prods. in the recent sale to Guggenheim Partners, and advised Current TV, just sold to Al Jazeera

“Trey and Matt are unique content creators, having built two iconic global media brands. They have established themselves as thought leaders in the entertainment and digital world, while at the same time using satire to make their audience aware of critical social issues,” said Raine co-founder Joe Ravitch.

“Raine’s thesis has always been to align ourselves directly with extraordinary content creators, and we are excited to partner with Trey and Matt to create new global entertainment properties,” said co-founder Jeff Sine.

“Having worked with several different studios over the years, we came to realize that our favorite people in the world are ourselves,” said Parker and Stone. “We hope to work with ourselves for a long time and are excited to now work with ourselves in a much greater capacity.”

“South Park” began airing in 1997 on Comedy Central and has won four Emmys and a Peabody. Hit musical “The Book of Mormon” is completing its second year on Broadway, launched its first national tour in August, and a third company in Chicago in December. The show opens in London in March.

Categories
Awards

Congrats to them all!!

War Witch leads Canadian Screen Award nominees

Kim Nguyen’s gutsy child soldier story War Witch has a leading 12 nominations for the Canadian Screen Awards, the revamped Canadian film and TV honours that combine the Genies and the Geminis, it was announced Tuesday.

Nguyen’s Oscar-nominated film, also called Rebelle, is vying for best picture with Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children and Still Mine, Michael McGowan’s retelling of the story of an elderly New Brunswick man who runs afoul of building inspectors when he tries to build a home for his disabled wife.

Three other francophone films also are contending for the best picture prize:

– Laurence Anyways, Xavier Dolan’s sex-change drama with a total of 10 nominations.
– Inch’Allah, Anais Barbeau-Lavelette’s Middle East story with five nominations.
– L’Affaire Dumont, Marc-André Grondin’s film about a woman trying to exonerate an imprisoned man, with seven nominations.

Rebelle, shot in the Congo with child actors plucked off the streets of Kinshasa, has earned a nomination for fledgling actress Rachel Mwanza, who also earned the best actress honours at the Berlin Film Festival.

Midnight’s Children, the adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s Booker Prize-winning novel, has eight nominations, including best screenplay for Rushdie and best director for Mehta.

Still Mine has seven nominations, including acting accolades for leads James Cromwell and Geneviève Bujold.

In the TV categories, CBC’s northern drama Arctic Air is vying for best drama with cancelled police stories Flashpoint and King, both being honoured for their final season. Also in the running are Global TV’s Second World War-set drama Bomb Girls and Continuum, a Showcase sci-fi series.

CBC has two contenders for best comedy, Gerry Dee’s popular series about a dysfunctional teacher, Mr. D, and the cancelled psychiatrist and patient drama, Michael Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Also up for best comedy:

– Good God.
– Kenny Hotz Triumph of the Will.
– Less Than Kind.

Flashpoint leads TV nominations with 10, followed by Less Than Kind with 10 and Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays with eight.

CBC has multiple nominations for its news and sports coverage, including six nominations for flagship news show The National and five for Hockey Night in Canada.

CBC.ca also got nominations for its cross-platform projects and original digital programs:

– Truth & Lies The Last Days of Osama bin Laden, nominated for best cross-platform project.
– Kidnapped: The Search for Graham McMynn, nominated for best cross-platform project.
– 8th Fire, nominated for best cross-platform project.
– Exile Without End: Palestinians in Lebanon, nominated for best original program for digital media.

The CSA has 120 categories, including 22 for film, more than 85 for television and additional categories for documentaries, shorts and digital platforms.

A newly designed trophy was unveiled at Tuesday’s news conference.

The awards will be handed out over three nights.

The final awards gala, hosted by Martin Short, will be televised on Sunday, March 3, on CBC.

Here is the complete list of nominees: http://www.academy.ca/awards/nominees.cfm