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2009 | 2008 | 2006

1-20 of 60 articles from 2009   « Prev | Next »

Lucasfilm Tests Out HD Capable Dslr Cameras for Red Tails, Possibly Star Wars TV Series

21 December 2009 12:54 AM, PST | Slash Film | See recent Slash Film news »

Somehow, I'm not surprised that Lucasfilms is the first major Hollywood production company (that we've heard of) to look into consumer-level Dslr digital cameras that can shoot HD video. For better or worse, George Lucas has always been a pioneer in digital filmmaking. Learning how to use these small DSLRs (at least, compared to large professional-grade HD cameras) could help them immensely with future projects. We know that Lucasfilm is interested in these cameras because they invited filmmaker and Dslr blogger Philip Bloom over to the Skywalker Ranch to demonstrate what, exactly, they're capable of. Bloom wrote up his experience on his blog, and also compiled a mesmerizing bit of HD footage filmed around the ranch. They also revealed to Bloom that they're interested in using the cameras for cockpit footage in their upcoming Tuskagee airmen feature, Red Tails --- and possibly even in the upcoming live-action Star Wars TV »

- Devindra Hardawar

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Orwellian slapstick in dystopian comedy Sertoli, Sertoli, Sertoli

17 December 2009 1:59 PM, PST | QuietEarth.us | See recent QuietEarth news »

British newcomer Owen Williams writes and directs Sertoli, Sertoli, Sertoli, a scifi short that puts a particularly comedic spin on the whole Orwellian dystopia thing.

Similar in tone to Brazil, but more in keeping with the micro-budget aesthetic of its Australian sister film, Eraser Children, the short is right up our alley.

Synopsis:

When an underground resistance movement seeks to uncover the truth behind the Second Branch and the Great Conduit, they send in their top man, Guy Lance, to infiltrate the corporate behemoth Sertoli, Sertoli, Sertoli.

In this strange tale, set in an Orwellian state, Guy Lance is the Y.S.R.M's only hope for truth. What is really at the end of the Great Conduit? Is the Second Branch a lie? Has everyone remembered their tie?

The film stars Michael Dixon who you may have missed in Alexander if you blinked, but who just walked off the »

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Antoine Fuqua, Spike Lee Together on 'Miss'

18 November 2009 11:10 PM, PST | CinemaSpy | See recent CinemaSpy news »

Who says there’s better living through crime? Antoine Fuqua and Spike Lee, that’s who.

Fuqua, who has directed films ranging from the crime thriller Training Day to the adventure saga King Arthur, will be directing an adaptation of "Miss: Better Living Through Crime", a French graphic novel. The book revolves around a poor white girl and a black pimp — named Nola and Slim, respectively — who partner up as killers-for-hire in early 1900’s New York.

Spike Lee, the groundbreaking director of such films as Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever and He Got Game, will serve as executive producer, Variety reports. Lee’s most recent film was the 2008 war movie Miracle at St. Anna.

Fuqua’s latest, Brooklyn’s Finest starring Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke, will be released next March.

Miss will be produced through Vigilante Entertainment, and John Ridley, who wrote the upcoming World War »

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Fuqua & Spike Lee Adapting 'Miss: Better Living Through Crime'

18 November 2009 12:02 PM, PST | firstshowing.net | See recent FirstShowing.net news »

Filmmakers Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Shooter) and Spike Lee (Inside Man) are teaming up for an adaptation of the French graphic novel Miss: Better Living Through Crime. Fuqua will direct the crime thriller with John Ridley, who also recently wrote George Lucas' Red Tails, writing the script and Spike Lee executive producing. The project is one of the first at the newly formed Vigilante Entertainment. The comic is published through Les Humanoides Associes in France and first hit Us shelves back in 2002. Vigilante is currently shopping the project around with studios before moving forward. Read on for more info on this. Miss: Better Living Through Crime is about Nola and Slim (seen above), two unlikely partners in crime in the early 1920s in New York. Nola is a poor white girl who has learned to survive by hook or by crook since being expelled from the orphanage. Slim is »

- Alex Billington

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Spike Lee Wants to Make a Criminally Good Film

18 November 2009 10:47 AM, PST | LatinoReview | See recent LatinoReview news »

This just in: Spike Lee and Antoine Fuqua are ready to begin a life of a crime -- or at least a movie about it. According to Variety, the pair are joining together to adapt the graphic novel Miss: Better Living Through Crime, with Fuqua (Training Day) directing and Lee serving as executive producer. For those of you unfamiliar with the comic, the premise may surprise you. Taking place in the early 1900s, an orphan girl and a pimp team up and become killers for hire. Originally written by Mark Riou, Philippe Thirault, and Mark Vigouroux, Miss: Better Living Through Crime will be adapted by John Ridley (Red Tails). For those of you who know the graphic novel, do you think Lee and Fuqua can pull off the adaptation? And for those of you who don't, would you want to see a film with these unlikely characters? Because I know I would. »

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Training Day Director Fuqua Finds Better Living Through Crime

18 November 2009 9:57 AM, PST | cinemablend.com | See recent Cinema Blend news »

Antoine Fuqua has found only moderate success with his films since Training Day, and Brooklyn's Finest has yet to see a release at all, so I guess he's figured he'll try something completely different. A story about a white orphan girl and a black pimp going on a crime spree in 1920s and 30s New York sounds unique enough, but when you add that it's based on a graphic novel, Fuqua really seems to be swinging for the fences on this one. Variety reports that Spike Lee, who's never been known to take on a boring idea, will be executive producing this adaptation of Miss: Better Living Through Crime, originally written by Frenchmen Philippe Thirault, Marc Riou and Mark Vigouroux. John Ridley, who also wrote the script for the George Lucas Tuskeegee airmen movie Red Tails, is writing the screenplay. A lone Amazon reviewer calls Miss "a story of great »

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Antoine Fuqua gets Better Living Through Crime

18 November 2009 12:42 AM, PST | TotalFilm | See recent TotalFilm news »

Antoine Fuqua will direct the adaptation of graphic novel Miss: Better Living Through Crime. Spike Lee has signed on to executive produce the movie, which focuses on Nola and Slim who forge an unlikely crime partnership. How unlikely? Nola is a white girl kicked out of an orphanage and living on the streets with her wits. Slim is a black pimp with a dodgy past and together they become hired killers. Red Tails writer John Ridley is hard at work adapting the source, which was created by Philippe Thirault, Marc Riou and Mark...

. »

- James White

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Better Living Through Crime For Fuqua

17 November 2009 10:56 PM, PST | EmpireOnline | See recent EmpireOnline news »

Antoine Fuqua, the director of Training Day and Shooter, has signed on for another crime thriller, called Miss: Better Living Through Crime.The film, based on a French graphic novel, will be produced by Spike Lee.Written by Philippe Thirault, Marc Riou and Mark Vigoroux, Miss: Better Living Through Crime tells the tale of Nola and Slim, a white hooker and black pimp who team up together and embark on a life of crime and murder in New York at the turn of the 20th Century.Sounds very intriguing, and the period setting means this could be right up Fuqua’s street. We'd love to see Lee's take on this material, of course, but it will also be mighty interesting to see how this collaboration between the two pans out. Is this the beginning of a beautiful friendship?John Ridley, who wrote the script for the upcoming George Lucas-produced WWII flick, »

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'Battle: Los Angeles' Actor Ne-Yo Is Ready To 'Step Outside Of Me'

19 October 2009 12:30 PM, PDT | MTV Movies Blog | See recent MTV Movies Blog news »

Everything I've heard and read about "Battle: Los Angeles" makes me think of the summer hit, "District 9." It's set in a different place of course and the story puts human and alien in more direct, open conflict, but the angle of a small, personal tale -- as I understand it -- carries through both movies.

One of the more surprising bits of casting for "Battle: La" is Ne-Yo, the popular R&B singer-songwriter who starred in "Stomp the Yard." He'll next appear in the George Lucas-conceived Tuskegee airmen biopic "Red Tails" and then in "Battle: La" in 2011. It's a very calculated move on the singer's part, as Ne-Yo harbors dreams of being an actor. "Stomp the Yard" wasn't much of a stretch, as he describes in the video below, but he's hoping the coming roles will be key in helping him branch out.

Head over to MTV.com for »

- Adam Rosenberg

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Ne-Yo Is Fighting 'Battle: Los Angeles' To Prove He Can Act

18 October 2009 10:27 PM, PDT | MTV Movie News | See recent MTV Movie News news »

'We gonna see if I got any chops,' the R&B star says.

By Eric Ditzian

Ne-Yo

Photo: MTV News

Ne-Yo has played it safe thus far in his burgeoning film career, opting to appear in films like "Stomp the Yard" that have kept him on the familiar ground of music and dance. Now the R&B singer is trying to bust out of that mold with two military roles, portraying a World War II fighter pilot in the George Lucas-backed "Red Tails" and a Marine corporal in 2011's sci-fi flick "Battle: Los Angeles."

As Ne-Yo himself attests, these two movies will show the world — and himself — whether he's actually a decent actor. "We gonna see if I got any chops," he told MTV News. "I don't know. I'll let y'all be the judge, how about that?"

The decision to expand beyond dance movies, the singer explained, stemmed »

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Lee and De Niro Team for Showtime Drama

17 September 2009 2:58 PM, PDT | TheMovingPicture.net | See recent TheMovingPicture news »

Robert De Niro and Spike Lee have teamed with Showtime to develop a drama series about Manhattan's Alphabet City, report the trades. The project, titled Alphaville, will be written by John Ridley (Red Tails, Three Kings), with Lee on board to direct the potential pilot. Alphaville is an ensemble drama chronicling Alphabet City's gritty and tumultuous past before it became the gentrified East Village. Set during the 1980s, it will re-create the neighborhood's eclectic mix of struggling artists and musicians living alongside Puerto Rican and black families. Along with its growing bohemian and celebrity population that also included graffiti artists, break-dancers, rappers and DJs, the neighborhood was plagued by illegal drug activity and violent crime. Local tensions culminated in the Tompkins Square Park riot of 1988, in which police clashed with anarchists and homeless activists. The 1980s Alphabet City was the setting for the musical Rent. The neighborhood also served as »

- James Cook

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Spike Lee and Robert De Niro Serialize Alphabet City for Showtime

17 September 2009 8:43 AM, PDT | Slash Film | See recent Slash Film news »

All the big names are going to cable. We just reported on Martin Scorsese's work on an HBO series called Boardwalk Empire (starring Steve Buscemi) and now two other giants of the New York filmmaking scene are heading to showtime: Spike Lee and Robert De Niro are producing a series called Alphaville, with Lee directing the potential pilot episode. THR reports that John Ridley (U-Turn, Red Tails) is the chief writer on the series set in Manhattan's Alphabet City. A part of the East Village, Alphabet City (named for Avenues A through D) was once a much tougher neighborhood than it is today. It was the epicenter of Puerto Rican culture in Manhattan and eventually an artist haven as well, thanks to low rents. It is the setting for Rent and, more recognizably, for Taxi Driver. The show will be set during the 1980s when the neighborhood was really bubbling and, »

- Russ Fischer

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Michael Bartlett signs "sexiest male" Robert Kazinsky for Timeless lead

11 September 2009 10:36 AM, PDT | QuietEarth.us | See recent QuietEarth news »

Winner of both "Best Actor" and "Sexiest Male" at the 2009 British Soap Opera Awards for his role as Sean in Eastenders, Robert Kazinsky has become a household name in Britain as well as something of a European heartthrob. He's also on the verge of blowing up his feature film career what with starring roles in the George Lucas produced WWII epic Red Tails and, we've just discovered, Michael Bartlett's upcoming time travel thriller, Timeless (script review).

Here's what Bartlett had to tell us about Robert Kazinsky:

"I think he is one of the most talented actors of his generation, and he has actually been attached since February 2009, long before he landed Red Tails.

I actually wrote the film with him in mind, so very pleased he is attached. He is going to be huge and his presence and ability will make Warren a memorable character. He even made suggestions which enhanced the script. »

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Brett Ratner teams with Fame director on Blade Runner-style sci-fi epic

26 August 2009 7:54 PM, PDT | The Geek Files | See recent The Geek Files news »

Director Kevin Tancharoen, who helmed last year's remake of 80s musical hit Fame as his first feature film project, is leaving behind lycra and legwarmers to venture into sci-fi territory.

Will we now see performing arts students dancing in the streets on top of spaceships? Probably not...

He is to make a sci-fi flick called Arcana, which is set up at Rat Entertainment and will be produced by Brett Ratner (director of Red Dragon, X-Men: The Last Stand and the Rush Hour series) and Jay Stern (a producer on Rush Hour 3). Universal will distribute.

Tancharoen (pictured right) told Moviehole: "Arcana is a unique blend of the graphic-novel backdrop - like Blade Runner - and shot like 300, and has a little bit of Warriors mixed in there, with a little bit of martial arts, so it's got a lot of crazy elements in there. It's going to be really cool. »

- David Bentley

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Tancharoen to go sci-fi with 'Arcana'

26 August 2009 1:37 PM, PDT | Monsters and Critics | See recent Monsters and Critics news »

Kevin Tancharoen, who directed the remake of the dance film "Fame" for MGM, will direct the sci-fi actioner "Arcana," which Brett Ratner will produce at Universal Pictures.According to Variety, the choreographer-turned-director will direct the project based on a script by John Ridley, who is writing the WWII film "Red Tails," about the Tuskegee Airmen, for George Lucas.Tancharoen developed the original idea with actor Harry Shum Jr., a regular in Fox's upcoming "Glee," before selling it to Universal.Details of "Arcana" are being kept under wraps, but it's described as a live-action graphic novel influenced by "Blade Runner" that includes martial arts and uses production methods similar to Zack Snyder's "300."Ratner and Jay Stern will produce through their Rat Entertainment production company, »

- Adnan Tezer

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'Fame' Director/Choreographer Wants To Make A Sci-Fi Film Called 'Arcana'

26 August 2009 12:00 PM, PDT | MTV Movies Blog | See recent MTV Movies Blog news »

"Star Wars" and "Dune" have already defined the modern space opera, but could the world be ready for a "space musical"? Other than "Jews in Space." "Fame" director/choreographer Kevin Tancharoen wants to pursue his directing aspirations now that he's completed work on this year's tale of high school stardom quests. And he's looking at George Lucas' "Red Tails" writer John Ridley to do it.

"'Arcana' is a unique blend of the graphic-novel backdrop -– like 'Blade Runner' -– and shot like '300,' and has a little bit of 'Warriors' mixed in there, with a little bit of martial arts, so it’s got a lot of crazy elements in there," Tancharoen told Moviehole. "We’re writing it right now actually -– a guy named John Ridley is writing it; I’m very happy we got him."

Though he didn't mention any big musical numbers in »

- Brian Warmoth

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Fame’s Rookie Director Kevin Tancharoen Plans a Sci-Fi Epic

26 August 2009 7:30 AM, PDT | FilmSchoolRejects.com | See recent FilmSchoolRejects news »

Before directing the upcoming remake of Alan Parker's 1980 hit Fame, Kevin Tancharoen was a dancer in You Got Served. He has also choreographed and directed videos for the likes of Britney Spears and the Pussycat Dolls. So it's easy to see the progression to Fame, a movie that is one big song and dance. I tell you that to tell you this. Tancharoen told the guys at Moviehole this week that he's already working on his sophomore directorial effort -- a science fiction film that calls back to Blade Runner, The Warriors and all the way back to 300. No really, check out this quote: “Arcana is a unique blend of the graphic-novel backdrop – like Blade Runner – and shot like 300, and has a little bit of Warriors mixed in there, with a little bit of martial arts, so it’s got a lot of crazy elements in there. It’s going to be really cool." He »

- Neil Miller

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Fame Director to Direct Stylized Sci-Fi

26 August 2009 6:30 AM, PDT | Atomic Popcorn | See recent Atomic Popcorn news »

Musical/dance director Kevin Tancharoen, whose remake of Fame will hit theaters on September 25th, has been talking about a sci-fi action project entitled Arcana that he wants to direct.

“Arcana is a unique blend of the graphic-novel backdrop – like Blade Runner – and shot like 300, and has a little bit of Warriors mixed in there, with a little bit of martial arts, so it’s got a lot of crazy elements in there,” said Tancharoen, pretty much appealing to every 13 year old boy in existence.

While the names dropped within Tancharoen’s quote —  Blade Runner, 300, The Warriors — are a dime a dozen, one name stands out in this equation: Brett Ratner, director of X-Men: The Last Stand. He’s producing the film, which is currently being crafted by Red Tails’ writer John Ridley.

I’m equal parts skeptical and intrigued by this project. While I’m a fan of any »

- John Cooper

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Kevin Tancharoen Going from Musicals to Sci-Fi With Arcana

26 August 2009 3:13 AM, PDT | firstshowing.net | See recent FirstShowing.net news »

A very interesting change of pace today for Kevin Tancharoen, the choreographer-turned-director who reboot and remade the dance movie Fame (out later this year), as he's now attached to direct a sci-fi action movie at Universal. Variety reports that Tancharoen will direct a project called Arcana that Brett Ratner will produce. The script was written by John Ridley, who wrote George Lucas' Red Tails and brought us Undercover Brother. Exact details are being kept a secret, but Arcana is described as a live-action graphic novel influenced by Blade Runner that includes martial arts and uses production methods similar to 300. I might normally say that's a cool pitch for a first-time director or a director with a background in horror, sci-fi, or action, but a choreographer? Apparently Tancharoen developed the original idea with "Glee" actor Harry Shum Jr. before selling it to the studio. The other good news is that »

- Alex Billington

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Arcana announced, controversy follows

26 August 2009 1:05 AM, PDT | Corona's Coming Attractions | See recent Corona's Coming Attractions news »

I was about to write up a story about a new sci-fi movie project and give credit to Variety for breaking the story when I came across a posting by Clint Morris, webmaster of Moviehole, alerting everyone that he feels the trade magazine swiped his story after reading it on his site. Before I get deeper into the controversial elements of this story, let's first lay the facts down about something new called Arcana.

Arcana is a science fiction concept that's being shaped into a script by John Ridley (Three Kings, the upcoming Red Tails) for director Kevin Tancharoean (director of the remake of Fame). Moviehole got the scoop direct from Tancharoean about the idea: "Arcana is a unique blend of the graphic-novel backdrop – like Blade Runner – and shot like 300, and has a little bit of Warriors mixed in there, with a little bit of martial arts, so it’s »

- Patrick Sauriol

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