Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is a daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep here in SA.

It's a bumper edition today.

Terminator I and II, Aliens and Avatar director James Cameron is working on a film with the dance art group Cirque du Soleil, according to ABC News. They want to create "an art form beyond the imagination." I guess that is what Avatar was and what Cameron wants to achieve whenever he does some work.

Interestingly, this would not be the first time that the innovative circus-performing troupe had been presented on the big screen.

Apparently, a cousin to the famous Canadian performing act, Le Reve, a show that is produced on the Las Vegas stage at the Wynn Hotel and Casino, was in Killer's singer, Brandon Flowers' music video for “Only the Young" this past year.

Obviously, Cameron's film will be in 3D.


It has happened. You can now watch films at home on the same day that they are released at cinemas. In the US, you can now pay $500 to see films like Little Fockers, the sequel to Meet the Fockers.

Of course, there is always the additional one-time fee of $20 000 that Prima Cinema, the California-based company that has announced this new, obscenely expensive super-premium on-demand home video service is demanding to set up the viewing channel for you.

Website PopWatch said Hollywood has been waiting for a decade to create a platform where movies could be released simultaneously at cinemas and on DVD.

Time Warner Cable charges about $7 to see indie flicks like I’m Still Here while they’re still playing at local art house theatres.

Still, $20 000 is a tad insane.

Thor has a poster!

Total Film has reported that Marvel has just a released a poster for the film about the thunder god. The film is based on one of Marvel's oldest comic book series.
I like the fact that it looks a bit darker than the first Superman and reboot, for example.

Total Film writes:

Thor follows the titular God, an arrogant warlord who’s tried his father Odin’s (Anthony Hopkins) patience too many times. Banished to Earth, Thor must learn how to live among humans – which isn’t as bad as all that after he meets gorgeous scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman).

This poster is courtesy of Total Film.



Encore Magazine has reported that the New Zealand comedy Two Little Boys, starring Hamish Blake and Flight of the Conchords‘ Bret McKenzie, will begin in Southland in January.

I am a huge Conchords fan and hope that any film with Bret McKenzie in it will make it to SA.

The film called Two Little Boys will be directed by Robert Sarkies and Vicky Pope with Tim White as producers. It is based on a novel by Duncan Sarkies and is about Nige (McKenzie) and his best mate Deano (Blake) who struggle with their imploding long-term friendship. It has been placed under strain by an incident involving a hot meat pie, a ginger cat and the untimely death of a Scandinavian soccer star.

Alistair Anderson

Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is a daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep here in SA. Check the news headlines after the jump.

Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is a daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep here in SA. Check the news headlines after the jump.

Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is a daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep here in SA. Check the news headlines after the jump.



News is pumping throughout Hollywood again.

The Dark Horizons website said on Wednesday that filmmaker Christopher Nolan had decided not to give any creative input into a new Superman film, so that he could focus on The Dark Knight Rises, his third Batman film.


Nolan's wife and producing partner Emma Thomas said Nolan is so single minded when making a picture it's hard to get him to work on anything else. So now with Zac Snyder on board as director on the "Superman" reboot, Thomas says "we are handing it off to him".

Nolan and David Goyer had an idea they couldn't believe was not being explored by Warner Brothers so "they brought it to an appropriate screenplay and it's now Snyder's picture," Thomas said.

Hans Zimmer told NBC that he would score the Superman reboot. genius Zimmer's recent works include "Inception," "Sherlock Holmes," "Gladiator" and both of Nolan's "Batman" movies, Dark Horizons said.

In other news independent film darling, Noah Baumbach who directed the commercial flop but cult loved Greenberg with Ben Stiller and the clever Fantastic Mr. Fox has said he's nearly ready with his cast for his next project "While We’re Young", reports Vulture.

Ben Stiller will work with Baumbach again. He will be joined by the growing in popularity James Franco and offers are out to Greta Gerwig and Cate Blanchett for the female leads. Maybe Stiller and Franco are on their way to Oscar glory. Franco who starred in such cluster turds as Tristan and Isolde and Flyboys. Although he was stellar in James Dean. Ben Stiller needs no introduction.

"The story follows a free-spirited Brooklynite twenty-something couple who inspires an uptight documentarian and his wife to loosen up — with comedic consequences," Vulture says.

And here's today's humdinger - I know I've been punting Black Swan ad nauseam but it looks very fresh. And here's some "fresh" news which you canm take any which way you like:

Film-news.co.uk writes:

"The film – about two ballerinas battling it out for the lead role in ‘Swan Lake’ – contains a particularly graphic scene in which Natalie’s character Nina is caught by her mother pleasuring herself, and she admits it was one of the most uncomfortable things she has ever had to film.

She told MTV News about shooting the scene, describing it as “so disgusting.”

Of her discomfort, she added: “It was akin to the experience of watching the movie with my parents sitting next to me, let me tell you!”

The movie also contains a scene where Natalie’s character Nina and her rival Lily – played by Mila Kunis – have a lesbian romp, which Mila has revealed she asked her father not to watch when they attended a screening together.

She said: “He was like, 'I don't think I should see the movie. I was like, 'See the movie. There's going to be a point; get up and leave.'

I don't think any dad should see. It's just not necessary."

But Natalie is adamant the sex scenes are not most shocking aspect of the film – which was directed by Darren Aronofsky.

Instead, she claims the ‘finger scene’ - where Nina pulls at a loose piece of skin on her finger, causing it to bleed profusely – is the most difficult to watch.

She added: “The finger moment is pretty … well it makes my blood curdle.”

And that ends today's news bulletin. Be sure to look out for tomorrow's soon.

Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is a daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep here in SA. Check the news headlines after the jump.

Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all

The Hollywood microsm of fantasy does not stop.

Here are some news bits for you to enjoy.

It's refreshing to see that a film with few recognisable stars in it, at least to the masses, winning an award. The LA Times reported earlier yesterday that Debra Granik's "Winter's Bone," a drama about a teenager living in Missouri's Orzak mountains who puts her life in danger in a hunt for her meth-maker father, was named best film of 2010 at the 20th-anniversary Gotham Film Awards on Monday evening in New York.

It is worth noting that last year's Gotham winner, "The Hurt Locker," won the Oscar for best film, director and screeenplay this year.

The film also won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in January, which means it has sustained praise over a year. It stars Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Lauren Sweetser, Dale Dickey, Garret Dillahunt and Devin Breznahan, actors whom we aim to keep an eye on in future.

The Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You honors was awarded to Mike Ott's "Little Rock."

Davis Guggenheim's documentary "Waiting for Superman" garnered the Festival Genius Audience award, which was voted on by filmgoers online.

Career tributes were given to Oscar-winners Robert Duvall and Hilary Swank and director Darren Aronofsky and Focus Features Chief Executive James Shamus. Darren Aronofsky seems to get onto our blog often; we know.

The Gotham Independent Film Awards are presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project, the nation's oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers.

The Australian newspaper the Herald Sun reported today that Australian moviemakers were being encouraged to do business with China's filmmakers.

Western film-makers have usually struggled to get Chinese government approval to make co-productions with Chinese companies.

However a new alliance between Australian and Chinese screen producers would foster better filmmaking relations between the two countries.

The Screen Producers Association of Australia and China Screen alliance has been created to assit producers with getting through Chinese bureaucratic systems.

It will also provide services such as translators to help put producers directly in contact with one another.

A film producer from South Australia has already gained approval for a co-production with a Chinese film company.

Mario Andreacchio, who recently finished his children's feature The Last Dragon, said Chinese film makers were keen to work with Australian counterparts, the Herlad Sun said.

"In Xi'an alone they have over 300 film production companies," he told the newspaper.

The Screen Producers Association of Australia has said film production is booming in the fast growing economy of China, with 2010 box office takings expected to exceed US$1.5 billion," the paper said.

"That is expected to get to $4.5 billion in the next 5 years," SPAA executive director Geoff Brown told the Herald Sun.

Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is a daily roundup of film news that happens usually in the US where all the "film-people" live.

Here are two of the bigger news items floating along the film seas.

The production problems on the Transformers 3 set do not seem to be subsiding.
Megan Fox, the film's human and not robotic eye-candy was kicked of the film and now Total Film has reported that the film is struggling to integrate 3D technology into the film.

However, director Michael Bay has attacked the rumours with a rather aggressive blog post.

“I read these morons on the internet who think they are in the know. ‘We have have problems with our 3D????’ Really?” he wrote.

“Come into my edit room and I will show you beautiful 3D. There has never been a live action show that has pushed the boundaries of 3D like Transformers 3. We shot the entire movie with 3D cameras. I actually loved shooting in 3D.”

Mr Bay promised to make all the critics eat lots of humble pie when the trailer for Transformers: Dark Side Of The Moon debuted at showings of Tron: Legacy and Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader later this year.

In other Total Film news, comedy acting legend Leslie Nielsen passed away this morning.

The Canadian actor died at 84 after suffering from pneumonia.
He had spent the past 12 days at the Ft. Lauderdale Hospital.

"With his friends and his wife, Barbaree, by his side, he fell asleep and passed away," Doug Nielsen, his nephew said.

Nielsen is famous for his roles in spoofs. He starred in Airplane! and Dracula Dead annd Loving It as well as Wrongfully Accused. His most beloved role may have been as detective Frank Drebin in the Naked Gun movies. And to think in the 1950s he was a serious actor, garnering praise for his role in The Poseidon Adventure.

Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is a daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep here in SA. Today is one of those relatively slow days on the news front so all I've got for you is Jeremy Renner confirming that he will be Tom Cruise's replacement for future Mission: Impossible movies, Emma Stone (Zombieland) talking about her role in the Spiderman reboot and Mark Wahlberg announcing that he will star as Nathan Drake in a film adaptation of the best-selling video game Drake's Uncharted. See the details on these stories after the jump.

Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is a daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep here in SA. In today's news headlines Toy Story 3 starts officially campaigning for a Best Picture Oscar nomination, Adrien Brody blocks a film that he stars in from being released and Gore Verbinski is set to direct The Lone Ranger. Details on these stories after the jump.

Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is a daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep here in SA. In today's headlines, Jaden Smith will star in M. Night Shyamalan's next movie, Darren Aronofsky gives us more details on The Wolverine, Buffy The Vampire Slayer is set to get the reboot treatment and Liefling tops the local box office. As always, check out the full details on these stories after the jump.

Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is your daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep over here in SA with the Monday bulletin including any major news that occurred over the weekend. In today's news headline's Leonardo Di Caprio is set to star in a new JFK conspiracy movie, Howard Shore will compose the score for the two Hobbit films and The Dark Knight Rises will start production in May 2011. Details on these and more after the jump.

Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is a daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep here in SA. In today's news we report on the search for the new Superman, Darren Aronofsky's dealings with Fox and the official entries for the Best Documentary Oscar. More details after the jump.

Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is your daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep over here in SA. In today's headlines, Tribeca Film has acquired the US distribution rights to the Bang Bang Club, Tom Hardy is rumoured to play the villainous Dr. Strange in The Dark Knight Rises and news on yet another alien invasion movie. Details after the jump.

Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is your daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep over here in SA.

Today its all quiet on the western front and there isn't much in the way of major news headlines. I only have a couple of short snippets which you can have a look at after the jump.

Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is your daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep over here in SA.

Today's news include the official final list of films to be considered for nomination for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, our first look at Cars 2 and Cowboys and Aliens and a deleted scene that will be included in the upcoming Avatar Extended Edition DVD and Blu-Ray sets. See more details after the jump.

Morning News Bullettin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is your daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep over here in SA with the Monday bulletin including any major news that occurred over the weekend.

The last weekend has seen quite a few interesting things happening in the world of film both locally and in Hollywood including the Spud premiere at MonteCasino in Johannesburg, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart getting steamy at the filming of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn in Brazil and my favourite US President of all time, Bill Clinton, (sorry Barack) making a surprise cameo appearance in the sequel to one of the funniest movies of 2009. Details on these stories and more can be found after the jump.