The Screening Room

OK, so I'm not actually at Cannes. Still never been. May never go. Yes, life is hard. But Manohla Dargis' piece in today's New York Times makes me eager to see Waltz With Bashir, Ari Folman's animated film about a 1982 massacre at Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. Though the tone sounds much different from that of Persepolis, one of my favorites from 2007, I'm struck by the shared use of animation to depict an unsettling time and place in recent international history. Dargis refers to the strategic distancing effect that animation can have, and she mentions Art Spiegelman's Maus in this regard. Wonder when the first animated film about the Iraq War will come?

A writer from the New York Post claims to have a script of Oliver Stone's W in hand. And the details he's spilling do seem juicy. In fact, the story is so specific it credits these revelations to page 42 of the script: "Checking a map, being told it passed "Humint," whereupon the President of the United States asks, "What's 'Humint' again?" and being told "It's Human Intelligence." A scene in which, auditing an Iraqi intercept, W. asks, "Wolfowitz, got any Maalox on you? . . . and while you're at it, trim your ear hairs." And Cheney checking his heart pills."
And then:
"There's Rove saying, "The polls have shot up to 80 percent behind the president. The American people want blood. They demand it." And Colin Powell: "This about politics or policy? I'm really confused. What're you doing in this room?"

We know it's not W's year at the polls, but how about at the box office? Not only is there lots of buzz about Oliver Stone's upcoming biopic, W, but now Variety reports that Michael Moore is planning a sequel to Fahrenheit 911

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Time Warner Inc. says it is closing its Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures film studios and eliminating 70 jobs.

The move is the latest in a series of cost-cutting efforts by Time Warner President and CEO Jeff Bewkes since he took over as chief executive Jan. 1.

Despite the move, Chief Operating Officer Alan Horn says he is confident the spirit of independent filmmaking will continue to have a presence at Warner Bros.

The company says the job cuts in Los Angeles and New York are meant to eliminate duplicate marketing, distribution and production functions.

In February, Time Warner also announced it was laying off 450 people at New Line Cinema as the independent studio was absorbed into Warner Bros.

VENICE, Italy (AP) -- "Burn After Reading," a dark spy-comedy by Oscar-winning directors Joel and Ethan Coen, will open this year's Venice Film Festival.

The movie, which stars George Clooney, John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton, will have its world premiere Aug. 27, festival organizers announced Monday.

"Burn After Reading" is the story of an ousted CIA official whose memoir falls into the hands of two gym employees.

The festival will run through Sept. 6, when the prestigious Golden Lion will be awarded. The official lineup will be announced in late July.

I approve.

Hellboy is one of the great unappreciated action/comic book movies of all time, and I think del Toro has the chops to pull this project off (although I'm still a little nervous about the so-called "Hobbit 2").

Two thumbs way down, though, for the rumored release dates of 2011 and 2012.

On the other hand, my 4-year-old son may be old enough at that point to watch the movies in the theater, which would be a great way for me to ensure that my nerd-dom will live on in future generations.

Also, I may have missed this elsewhere, but there's no word in the linked article about which actors from the Rings movie trilogy will reprise their roles in The Hobbit.

No Ian McKellen would be a very bad thing.

In case you missed Alan Peppard's column this morning, he got into how the script is shaping up for the George W. Bush movie that Oliver Stone is working on. You can real all the details here.
When I talked to Josh Brolin at the AFI Dallas screening of Then She Found Me, I asked him how the movie was going so far, but he was pretty mum on all of it. Granted, he hadn't started filming his parts yet, but you can bet he already must be mulling how he will prortray one of the most visible men in the world. Here's betting he plays it pretty straight.

Disney announced today that all of its animated movies beginning next year will be released in 3D. To accomplish that feat, Disney will partner with Fox, Universal and Paramount to update more than 10,000 theaters across the country in a project that will take three years. The takeaway here: 3D is here to stay.
But why is everyone all of the sudden jumping on the 3-D bandwagon? I mean, the technology has been around in one form or another for more than 50 years. The answer seems pretty simple: money (I'm sure you could have guessed that). Theaters can charge about $3 more per ticket on a 3D movie, but more importantly, 3D-movies draw more moviegoers and offer an experience that can't be replicated, even in souped-up home theaters.
The big winner here seems to be the exhibitors -- the studios are footing the bill for the conversion, so why wouldn't they say yes?

Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert says he will get back to writing reviews shortly after his upcoming film festival, to be held later in April.

But because his cancer surgeries have left him unable to speak, Mr. Ebert won't be returning to Ebert & Roeper, the syndicated TV show that made him a household name. Richard Roeper (who replaced the late Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune) has kept the show going by teaming with substitute critics, most recently with the Trib's Michael Phillips.

If Mr. Ebert had to retire from his TV gig, we were pulling for the Dallas Observer's Robert Wilonsky as his successor. After all, Big Bob did a great job filling in on the show for eight weeks over the past year.

But Mr. Phillips, being a Chicago guy and all, seems to have the inside track to replace Mr. Ebert permanently as co-host. BTW, he has a Dallas connection, too: He used to be the drama critic at the Times Herald.

In case any cine-Potterheads missed the news, Warner Bros. and producer David Heyman have announced that the movie version of the seventh and final Harry Potter book, Deathly Hallows, will be split into a two-part film release.

DH1 is set for November 2010 and DH2 for May 2011. David Yates, director of both Order of the Phoenix and the now-in-production Half-Blood Prince, will helm Deathly Hallows as well.

Texas-born screenwriter Steve Kloves tells the Baltimore Sun that he's on board with the plan: "As for Deathly Hallows, I intuited -- almost from the first moments I began reading it and certainly once I'd finished -- that to realize the story in a single film was going to be a tall order."

It seems New Line is about to fall victim to the new economy of movies. Not even the Hobbits could save it.

This morning, the Today show aired a little clip from the Sex and the City movie, one that revealed a couple of new plot points. The biggest news seems to be that Charlotte is pregnant in the movie (or has somehow ingested a couple of basketballs). Also, the clip gives Mr. Big's full name (yippie). The footage made its way to YouTube and, of course, was promptly taken down, but if i see it anywhere on the Web in a more official capacity today, i'll get a link up.

One of the interesting things about the Harry Potter films has been the way the series has grown and evolved through its direction by several different directors: Alfonso Cuaron in Prisoner of Azkaban, Mike Newell in Goblet of Fire, and David Yates in last summer's Order of the Phoenix. (Chris Columbus did a workmanlike but less inspired job when he directed the first two Potter films, Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets.)

Producer David Heyman and the Potter cast and crew seemed to have really hit it off with Mr. Yates, because he was also asked to direct the sixth film, Half-Blood Prince, now in production. HBP also marks the return of screenwriter Steve Kloves, a native Texan, to the Potter series. (He skipped writing OoP in order to work on his own film project, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.)

There has been much speculation about who would direct the film of author J.K. Rowling's seventh and final Potter book, Deathly Hallows. Rumors flew: Would Mr. Cuaron come back? Would superstar director Steven Spielberg perhaps take the helm?

Mr. Heyman and Warner Bros. aren't talking. Yet. But a nugget of news arrived from a most unlikely source: the blog of Lois Lowry, another well-known children's author.

Ms. Lowry wrote The Giver, a Newbery Award-winning book that is expected to become a movie. But, as she posted on her blog a couple of days ago:

Bad news from The Giver Movie front. David Yates, the director currently working on the next Harry Potter film, was supposed to begin The Giver film next. But he has just decided he wants to do the final Harry Potter first, thereby postponing The Giver by several years.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Roy Scheider, a two-time Oscar nominee best known for his role as a police chief in the blockbuster movie Jaws, died Sunday. He was 75.

Roy Scheider died at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock, hospital spokesman David Robinson said. The hospital did not release a cause of death.

Read more.

Tell us: What's your favorite Roy Scheider movie?

From the Associated Press:

NEW YORK — Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication and other prescription drugs, the New York City medical examiner said Wednesday.

The cause of death was "acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine," spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said in a statement.

Read more.

Accoring to msnbc.com:

The radical Baptist church known for picketing the funerals of American soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq has announced that they intend to protest Heath Ledger’s stateside memorial service because he played a gay character in Brokeback Mountain.

Read the full story.

IVER HEATH, England — Quantum of Solace is the title of the
new James Bond film, the 22nd Bond adventure.

Read more.

Also, have you gotten used to Daniel Craig as Agent 007?

Chuck Palahniuk fans rejoice. Fox Searchlight has scooped up the film adaptation of Choke, a popular novel by the Fight Club author. Searchlight, which has a hit (and Oscar player) on its hands with Juno, paid a reported $5 million for the film at the Sundance Film Festival. For the New York Times' piece on the latest flurry of Sundance acquisitions, click here. For a plot summary of Choke, keep reading.

There's going to be shock anytime someone 28 dies unexpectedly, and when it's someone famous and talented that reaction is magnified in the media. But it will be interesting to see what the results of today's autospy on Heath Ledger and the findings of the toxicology report (whenever they are released) tell us, not just about the cause of Heath Ledger's death, but the caws around his death.

Brad Loper / DMN

Slideshow: Heath Ledger 1979-2008

From the New York Times: Actor Heath Ledger Is Found Dead

Read reviews of Heath Ledger's recent films:
Lords of Dogtown (2005)
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Casanova (2005)
Candy (2006)
I'm Not There (2007)

The good folks at Variety report that Charlize Theron will join Viggo Mortensen in The Road, which will be produced by the Cuban/Wagner enterprise 2929 Entertainment. (Read about it here). You may know The Road as The Minimalist and Powerfully Depressing Cormac McCarthy Novel That Oprah Flipped For. Encouraging sign: Aussie John Hillcoat is directing, and his last film, The Proposition, was downright McCarthy-esque.

21, the film adaptation of Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, will open this year's SWSX Film Festival on March 7. The book (and movie by extension) follows the story of a group of students who used card counting to win millions. The film stars Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne and comes out for reals on March 21.
To get you primed on the art of card counting (hey, it's not illegal, but it will get you booted from the casinos), check out this piece in this past Sunday's New York Times Style section.

Ben Stiller as J.R. Ewing? Say it ain't so. But the New York Post's Page Six is saying yup, it might be. Travolta is out, and Mr. Zoolander might be in. Stiller is funny and all, but J.R.? What would Sue Ellen say?

Peter Jackson has signed on to executuve produce the much-hoped-for movie version of The Hobbit, which will serve as a prequel to his Lord of the Rings trilogy. He hasn't, however, signed on to direct, so think of that what you will.
It's a wonder this came together at all as Jackson and New Line had a falling out after the Rings trilogy was complete. But money has a strange way of patching up old wounds.
The plan is for two Hobbit movies to be shot simultaneously (as the Rings films were shot) with planned release dates in 2010 and 2011. So you've got a couple years to get caught up on the book.

HBO Films is planning to turn a best selling book about Barry Bonds' alleged steroid use and the federal government's wide-ranging probe into performance enhancing drug use in sports into a movie, one of the book's authors said Thursday.

Read more here.

Great night at the Texas Theatre Monday night. Robert Stone's documentary Oswald's Ghost is a terrific piece of filmmaking, as much a commentary about the 1960s as it is a look at the Kennedy assassination. But an interesting footnote to the night's events: Gary Mack, curator of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, observed that the last three rows of the renovated theater -- where Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested on Nov. 22, 1963 -- have been removed. The third row from the back is where Oswald was sitting moments before Dallas police cornered him during a showing of the Audie Murphy movie War Is Hell. Soon after walking into the Texas Theatre without buying a ticket, Oswald sat in the third row from the back, five seats in from the aisle to his right. When police entered, he moved over t