Archive for the ‘Movies’ Category

It’s rare that Peter Berg looks nervous. The actor-turned-director has a habit of putting other people on edge, like that

Today at Cannes, fest-goers were treated to the premiere of "Rust and Bone," starring Marion Cotillard and a fun photo shoot with the cast of "Madagascar 3," with stars Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Jessica Chastain and Martin Short on hand. http://www.hitfix.com

Satellite-TV operator DISH appears unfazed by angry comments from TV network executives about its plans to roll out a new DVR, dubbed the Hopper, from Echostar that allows users to skip commercials automatically. DISH CEO Joe Clayton has told the New York Post that the company plans to triple its marketing budget for TV, radio, newspapers, and social media. But DISH could find it problematic trying to implement its plans. The New York Times reported today (Thursday) that News Corp will not accept DISH’s ads for the Hopper on any of its broadcast or cable properties, including the Fox TV network and My Network TV and the Fox News, Fox Business, and FX cable networks. Some TV network execs, caught offguard by DISH’s maneuver, have threatened lawsuits and/or pulling their programing from the satellite operator. But James L. McQuivey of Forrester Research told the Times that the networks only need to wait for their current agreements to end. “If DISH doesn’t play nice, DISH will find it impossible to renew those deals when they’re up,” he said.

NBC officials are likely keeping their fingers crossed that no news of major importance occurs while the Olympics are underway this summer. Besides virtually non-stop coverage on the broadcast network — details to be announced — NBCUniversal said on Wednesday that its cable news channel MSNBC will be airing men’s basketball, women’s soccer and additional Olympics coverage from 9:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. CNBC will be focusing on boxing, including the newly introduced women’s boxing, as part of six hours of daily Olympics coverage on that channel. Even NBCUniversal-owned Bravo will be brought into the act, focusing on the tennis competition, which will be broadcast from Wimbledon. Finally, NBC-owned Telemundo will be covering key Olympics events in Spanish.

Al Alam

Raising additional questions about whether the regime of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak is being replaced by a new authoritarian establishment, police have shut down the Cairo studios of the Iranian satellite broadcaster al-Alam. The official explanation is that al-Alam was operating without a license — despite the fact that it has been broadcasting from Cairo since 2002. The action was condemned by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, which called on authorities to return the station’s equipment and allow staff members to return to work. Bureau chief Ahmen al-Shweify told CPJ that al-Alam has been trying to obtain a permit for years but has been rebuffed. He added that he has learned that a warrant has been issued for his arrest. The CPJ indicated that the action against al-Alam appears to be part of a policy of intimidation against foreign journalists who criticize Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

A lot of people were watching television Tuesday night. The season finale of NCIS was the most watched, with 19.05 million viewers, according to final figures from Nielsen Research. Its sibling spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles captured 15.19 million viewers, despite airing opposite Dancing with the Stars with 13.23 million. America’s Got Talent, though down in viewers compared with last season’s numbers, nevertheless counted 10.58 million viewers. So with all those people watching the major networks, where did that leave the cable networks? Well, in the case of CNN, virtually deserted. In the case of Piers Morgan Tonight, viewership plummeted to 284,000, with just 39,000 in the 25-54 age group. Fox News was also down, with 1.7 million tuned in for Sean Hannity, while over at MSNBC Rachel Maddow attracted 839,000.

Donna Summer, whose disco tunes largely helped to produce the soundtrack of the 70s, has died at age 63, it was confirmed by the singer’s family today (Thursday). Active to the end, Summer appeared as a judge on the singer-songwriter competition Platinum Hit on Bravo last year, and she was reportedly recording a new album at the time of her death. TMZ.com, which first reported her death, said that she had been battling cancer.

Ned Vaughn

A last-ditch attempt at blocking the merger of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has been — well, ditched. A group of dissident SAG members had continued to pursue the litigation even after last March’s union election in which members of both unions overwhelmingly approved the merger. On Wednesday, however, the plaintiffs dispatched a letter to SAG’s outside counsel, Bob Bush, saying, “After careful consideration, largely reflecting on the results of the recent merger election, my clients have reached the conclusion that continued prosecution of the pending litigation would not assist the cause they initially sought to champion.” Today’s (Thursday) Hollywood Reporter quoted SAG-AFTRA executive vice president Ned Vaughn as saying, “Dropping this frivolous lawsuit was the first good decision the plaintiffs have made.”

Shares of Netflix fell 3 percent today (Thursday) after recovering from a deeper decline earlier in the day as investors reacted to news that the company’s launch in Latin America is experiencing unforeseen difficulties. Netflix launched in 43 Latin American countries last year, where growth has proved to be slower than it had been in other countries where it had launched during the past three years, including Canada, the U.K. and Ireland. Speaking to an investors conference in New York on Wednesday, Netflix CFO David Wells suggested that a major problem may be that Latin Americans have had little experience downloading movies and TV shows online (partly because highspeed broadband is being rolled out relatively slowly there). “The key thing we have learned with Latin America is that when a market has a competitor set, that may actually help us,” he said. Now, however, Netflix has to explain to Latin American consumers “that click-and-watch, Internet-delivered entertainment will actually work” But investors must certainly have worried that Netflix’s difficulties in Latin America will escalate its debt, which some analysts have already described as intolerable.

Sony’s The Vow, an unexpected big hit with $125 million in its theatrical release last February, debuted with equal success on home video last week. The romantic comedy topped both the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart and Home Media Magazine’s rental chart. Actual sales and rental figures are not disclosed by the reporting agencies. Somewhat surprisingly, the horror flick Underworld: Awakening, which also exceeded expectations in its theatrical run last January with $62 million, was the first choice among Blu-ray Disc buyers. The top sellers on the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart lined up this way: 1. The Vow, Sony; 2. Underworld: Awakening, Sony; 3. Haywire, Lionsgate; 4. Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, Paramount; 5. We Bought a Zoo, Fox.

Cotillard and Schoenaerts at Cannes

The second day of the Cannes film festival opened with a press screening of yet another strong entry in the 65th annual competition for the top Palme d”Or award, director Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone, starring Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts. Closing credits were greeted with sustained applause by the audience. The film, about a series of tragic events that ultimately remake the lives of the two protagonists (for the better), received mostly positive early reviews. Peter Bradshaw of Britain’s Guardian newspaper concluded: “It is a passionate and moving love story which surges out of the screen like a flood tide.” Todd McCarthy of the Hollywood Reporter praised the “unvarnished, forthright performances” of the two stars. Sasha Stone of TheWrap.com called it “beautifully rendered, deeply felt.” But the Chicago Tribune‘s Michael Phillips, acknowledging that he was “probably in the minority” commented that “the entire picture feels like a poetic-grunge generality, with a penchant for jacked-up tension that feels applied to the situation, not pulled from within the people on screen.”

See what the Hollywood set donned for the second day of the glamorous film festival in France.

Julie Delpy’s diverting comedy wins Tim Robey back round to the comic talents of Chris Rock.

Tim Robey enjoys the pounding, proficient, and bloody action movie The Raid.

Are you brave enough to venture into the Dark Forest? Go behind the scenes of the new fairy tale adventure film "Snow White and the Huntsman" in this featurette, exclusively on HitFix.http://www.hitfix.com

The King’s Speech actor, will take on the role of a journalist in the story of one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice.

Elijah Wood seems like one of the gentlest, kindest, most ethereal actors in movies, so the notion of him playing

‘It’s rosé o’clock’ – Robbie Collin gets to grips with Cannes for the first time.

Sporting a selection of smouldering outfits, Charleze Theron and Kristen Stuart pay tribute to gothic glamour as they embark on the ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ promotional tour.

French actress plays a woman who loses her legs in a killer whale accident in Rust and Bone.