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| Saturday, February 10, 2007 |
| Chinese movie industry news: China film industry record growth in 2006 |
China achieved a quantum jump in the field of cinema in 2006, making it the country's most successful year ever.
Cinema showed signs of great health, with 330 feature films made in the country in 2006 -- a rise of 70 from the previous year.
The cinema industry has never before made so much money -- in 2006, box office revenues rose by nearly a third to hit $336 million. And, five of the top 10 films shown in 2006 were Chinese, not Hollywood.
The Chinese are going to the movies in numbers never seen before, and there have been some landmark rulings against pirate DVD makers.
The Chinese government is making strong efforts to encourage the movie industry, such as easing state funding for production and making sure that Chinese movies get a clear run in the cinema free of competition from foreign movies.
With stock markets looking up and with overall wealth increasing, many are keen on investing in film.
The standard of cinemas -- which were once dull, vermin-infested places -- is improving quickly as Chinese flock to the new cineplexes.
Reform in China is a process of give-and-take, and advances often can appear to be rolled back a bit before further change is implemented.
China claims to have opened up its film market to foreign involvement, but there is confusion about whether China wants foreigners in the entertainment business or not.
Recently, Zhu Hong, a senior official in the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, China's film and TV watchdog, said Beijing was not planning to halt new foreign investment in film and TV production companies and remained committed to opening up the business.
But critics say Beijing wants foreign input, but only on its own terms, and they make comparisons with more traditional industries, such as engineering or technology, where foreign firms are invited to form joint ventures with Chinese firms to allow the local partner access to the knowhow of the foreign partner.
Censorship and the quota system remain major hurdles to greater investment in China. Just 20 foreign movies are allowed in China every year, though this restriction does not apply to co-productions, but it is still an obstacle to the growth of the market.
Foreign filmmakers have already begun the tortuous process of seeking approval from the censors for their movies this year. The procedure is too hard for the majors who are not used to political bans or editing.
The previous 20 foreign quota films -- including The Da Vinci Code, King Kong and Miami Vice -- brought in $102 million at the Chinese box office. The Da Vinci Code was removed from theatres early after apparently angering religious groups in China, despite its popularity with the audience.
Mission: Impossible III was slated for a day-and-date release in 2006, but entered Chinese theatres months after its US release. The movie was banned because it was determined that laundry on a Shanghai washing line painted a poor image of the city.
Filmmakers in China believe that if the strict censoring is replaced with a reliable ratings system, producers could take more risks with content and story, which would ultimately attract bigger audiences.Labels: movies |
posted by a correspondent @ 11:30 PM   |
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| Sunday, February 04, 2007 |
| Men too like mushy movies, new research reveals |
Those who thought pulpy romance flicks and tearjerkers are only for women, better be ready to change their notion - a new research has revealed that men too like romantic movies besides their usual potboilers and action stuff.
According to research by Richard Harris, professor of psychology at Kansas State University, the United States, males enjoy watching romantic movies, too.
Harris says the results of his survey are surprising and go against common stereotypes.
Using a 7-point scale, Harris asked men and women to rate how much they liked a romantic movie they had just watched. He also asked them to rate how much they believed their date enjoyed the movie and how much they think men and women in general like romantic movies.
Though, in the study, both men and women generalised that men as a group wouldn't like a romantic movie, when men rated the romantic flick they had just seen, they gave it a 4.8 on Harris' scale. When women were asked to rate how much their dates liked the movie, they gave the same 4.8 rating.
"We found that women really do enjoy romantic movies," Harris said. "They rated how much they liked the movie at about 6 on the 7-point scale. However, we also found that men liked the movies as well. They rated how much they liked the movie at about 4.8, which is higher than most people would have guessed."
One of the most interesting parts of the study, Harris said, was that men and women both still used stereotypes when referring to each gender in general. Though men and women thought the specific man watching the movie enjoyed it, both still fell back on stereotypes when they were asked about whether or not men as a group would like the movie.
The results of the study could be something moviemakers may take into consideration when making a romantic movie, Harris said.
The study also showed that men and women used stereotypes when it came to guessing which scene their date would choose to play in the film. The most commonly selected scene was the romantic scene, which, according to Harris, was not unexpected because romance was the one thing that all the movies had in common.
However, most women selected a romantic scene for themselves and their date, but they guessed that their date would pick a sex scene. While many men did select a sex scene, the number was not nearly as high as what the women had predicted it would be. According to Harris, these results are because both men and women were using stereotypes to guess what their date would choose.
Harris' study was a follow-up to earlier research he did involving the viewing of violent films on dates, examining a genre that was considered to be mostly guy films. He found that the stereotypes with violent and romantic films are both followed and disregarded when it comes to selecting which movie to see on a date.Labels: movies |
| posted by a correspondent @ 6:52 AM |
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| Wednesday, January 31, 2007 |
| Daniel Radcliffe goes nude in play Equus soon, semi nude photos enrage parents |
Well well. Our favourite little actor boy Daniel Radcliffe has all grown up, and to celebrate the fact, he has decided to do a nude scene in the remake of the play Equus. This is not a rumour.
In fact, what Harry Potter is going to do is to simulate a sex act while rising a horse! That is what we have come to hear. The original is a Tony award winning play, and it had full frontal nudity. So I guess this is great news for all the Daniel Radcliffe fans among the girls and gays around. There is no confirmation yet that the new version of the play Equus will be that faithful to the original.
Anyway, the immediate news is that the man / boy has gone ahead and done what some would say a tastefully done nude photo shoot. Starring opposite him in the said photoshoot is a white horse, and the pictures show a shirt-less Daniel Radcliffe, and the photos have been shot to look like he is wearing nothing below either.
At least one of the photographs show him with an apparently topless girl (who is shot from the back) and in that picture, he wears his trousers alright. In the next photo, the girl is holding him (she looks older than him by the way) from behind.
Radcliffe's spokesperson Vanessa Davies told Britain's the Daily Mail, "Daniel does not want to step away from 'Harry Potter' but he does want to show he is a rounded actor capable of very different roles. He has tremendous support from 'Harry Potter' fans." I think Daniel's spokesperson meant well-rounded, and not rounded. Anyway does not matter.
The play opens in London on February 27, at Gielgud Theatre. The play's producer, David Pugh, told the Daily Mail that Radcliffe had been rehearsing the nude scenes with co-star Joanne Christie for more than a week and had overcome his initial shyness. Well. I am not suer if the woman in the photographs is the said co-star, but again, it does not matter. I come from a place where people don't normally act or walk around nude, and I don't know how actors and actresses think either, so I have no idea what is the kind of shyness that is there today, and tomorrow vanishes and allows one to act nude on stage.
What I am waiting for the reaction of JK Rowling to this. It is not every day that the boy who started acting in your famous book when he was 11 grows up, and wants to do a nude role in a play. This is going to cause serious problems for parents who are worried about the impact of one of the kids' heroes deciding to go nude.
News sites are already reporting that parents of kids are emailing and posting messages in Harry Potter fan sites expressing their outrage at the semi-nude photographs that were printed, and the fact that a pop culture hero like a Harry Potter actor can suddenly go act nude.
More about Equus:
"Equus" opened in the West End in 1973 to controversy. It transferred to Broadway in 1974 with Peter Firth recreating his London role as stable boy Alan Strang and replacing Alec McCowen with Anthony Hopkins as the psychiatrist Martin Dysart. It won the 1975 Tony for Best Play and Firth was nominated as Best Actor in a play. (courtesy app.com) Click here to view the semi nude photos of Daniel Radcliffe
Labels: movies |
| posted by a correspondent @ 11:58 AM |
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| Cinema Today 2007 expo in Chennai from Feb 16 |
Cinema Today 2007, Asia's first exhibition on the cinema and television industry, will be held in the southern Indian city of Chennai from February 16 to 18, 2007.
The show, which will have international participation, commemorates an important milestone in the history of Indian cinema - 75 years since the release of the first Indian talkie Alam Ara, (produced by Ardeshir Irani in 1931) and the first Tamil talkie Kalidas (produced by H M Reddy in 1931).
Talkie 75, a discussion on topics related to cinema, and paper submissions by eminent research scholars and people connected with the industry is also on the agenda.
A Film Panorama, jointly organised by the National Film Development Corporation and Mayajaal, is to be held on February 13 to 15 at the Mayajaal complex on East Coast Road, Chennai.
A workshop on cinematography, organised by the South Indian Cinematographers Association, would be held on February 17.
On the concluding day of the show, tributes will be paid to the legends of the film industry,
Except the screening of the films, all other programmes are to be held at the Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam. For details, contact: 42177899/28353739.Labels: movies |
| posted by a correspondent @ 9:50 AM |
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| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 |
| 2007 Oscar nominations: Nominee list |
List of 2007 Oscar nominees / nominations in major categoriesOscar nominees / nominations 2007 for Best Picture
-- "Babel"
-- "Letters from Iwo Jima"
-- "Little Miss Sunshine"
-- "The Departed"
-- "The Queen"
Oscar nominees / nominations 2007 for Best Actor in a Leading Role
-- Leonardo DiCaprio for "Blood Diamond"
-- Ryan Gosling for "Half Nelson"
-- Peter O'Toole for "Venus"
-- Will Smith for "The Pursuit of Happyness"
-- Forest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland"
Oscar nominees / nominations 2007 for Best Actress in a Leading Role
-- Penelope Cruz for "Volver"
-- Judi Dench for "Notes on a Scandal"
-- Helen Mirren for "The Queen"
-- Meryl Streep for "The Devil Wears Prada"
-- Kate Winslet for "Little Children"
Oscar nominees / nominations 2007 for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
-- Alan Arkin for "Little Miss Sunshine"
-- Jackie Earle Haley for "Little Children"
-- Djimon Hounsou for "Blood Diamond"
-- Eddie Murphy for "Dreamgirls"
-- Mark Wahlberg for "The Departed"
Oscar nominees / nominations 2007 for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
-- Adriana Barraza for "Babel"
-- Cate Blanchett for "Notes On A Scandal"
-- Abigail Breslin for "Little Miss Sunshine"
-- Jennifer Hudson for "Dreamgirls"
-- Rinko Kikuchi for "Babel"
Oscar nominees / nominations 2007 for Best Director
-- Clint Eastwood for "Letters from Iwo Jima"
-- Stephen Frears for "The Queen"
-- Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for "Babel"
-- Paul Greengrass for "United 93"
-- Martin Scorsese for "The Departed"Labels: movies, Oscar-2007 |
| posted by a correspondent @ 8:07 AM |
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| Monday, January 08, 2007 |
| Dev Anand's autobiography to tell it all |
The autobiography of Dev Anand, the evergreen hero of Bollywood, is to hit the stands in March, 2007.
Dev Anand reportedly “tells it all” in his autobiography, which narrates six decades of his legendary journey in the film industry and his personal life. He has been writing the book for the past three years.
When asked about the book, to be published by Penguin, the 83-year-old actor,said in his usual disarming manner: “It will be about me, me and myself.”
He continued: “The book offers a ringside view of my life and my six decades in this industry. I started writing it in New York when the United States was attacking Baghdad three years ago.”
The book also includes lesser-known snippets about his romantic affair with Suraiya and other details from his colourful life. Dev Anand promises his book to be a “tantalising read” for his fans as well as lovers of cinema.Labels: celebrity, movies |
| posted by a correspondent @ 7:17 AM |
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