Filed under: Action, Drama, Thrillers, New Releases, Universal, Johnny Depp, Summer Movies, Polls

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Indie Roundup reviews the past week of news from the independent film community and provides a peek at what's coming soon.

Opening. Two films opened yesterday which couldn't have less in common: Agnès Varda's essay film The Beaches of Agnès and Nia Vardalos' I Hate Valentine's Day. Tomorrow comes Anne Fontaine's comedy The Girl From Monaco.

Deals. Xavier Dolan's family drama I Killed My Mother, Kenneth Branagh's The Magic Flute, and Asghar Farhadi's drama About Elly have all been acquired by Here Films, the company formerly known as Regent Releasing. All three are headed for theaters next year. [indieWIRE]

Online Viewing. The 4th of July weekend inevitably brings thoughts of America as a land of immigrants, and that's the topic of Home, which debuts on Amazon VOD this week, featuring interviews with Mike Myers, Alfred Molina, and Liam Neeson. Also somewhat topical: if Michael Jackson had an impact on race in pop music, what about African-American musicians playing rock 'n' roll exclusively? Raymond Gayle's Electric Purgatory examines the issue (at iTunes). If you're looking for love, you have something in common with two women in the comedy/drama Arranged (also at iTunes.)

Box Office. Kathryn Bigelow's lacerating bomb squad thriller The Hurt Locker earned a per-screen average ($36,338) that bested even the giant robots, albeit on only four screens. Woody Allen's Whatever Works expanded to 35 screens and grossed $10,280 per outing. The combination of star Michelle Pfeiffer and director Stephen Frears could stir up only a tepid $5,338 per-screen at 76 locations for Cheri, which is less than the average for Duncan Jones' Moon in its third week on 21 screens. [Box Office Mojo.]

After the jump: David Hudson's The Daily takes a permanent (?) vacation, portending the end of the world as we know it.

Filed under: Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Deals, Box Office, Distribution, Cinematical Indie

Continue reading Indie Roundup: Bombs, Immigrants, 'Daily' Stops

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As Andrew Grant, David Fear and I discussed in our podcast last October, Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín's Tony Manero was my favorite feature at the 2008 New York Film Festival, a marvelously unhinged study of pop-culture obsession in a suffocating environment (if I may crib myself). From All Movie Guide:

As Augusto Pinochet holds Chile in the grip of dictatorship, a fifty year old man obsessed with John Travolta's character from Saturday Night Fever imitates his idol each weekend in a small bar on the outskirts of Santiago. Each weekend, Raúl Peralta (Alfredo Castro) and his friends—a devoted group of dancers—gather in a small bar and act out their favorite scenes from Saturday Night Fever. Raúl longs to become a showbiz superstar, and when the national television announces a Tony Manero impersonating contest it seems like he may finally have a shot at living his dreams. But as Raúl is driven to commit a series of crimes and thefts in order to reproduce his matinee idol's persona, his dancing partners (also underground resistance fighters who rail against the regime) are persecuted by the secret police.

Calling in from Chile, Larraín and I got down! ... I mean, we got down to business over fascism, disco, the Chilean filmmaking scene, and why he agrees with one of his naysayers—with an appropriate smattering of cultural references throughout: Michael Jackson, Harry Potter, John Zorn and Felix Mendelssohn (?!).

To listen to the podcast, click here.

Tony Manero opens in New York tomorrow and in Los Angeles on July 17, with more dates to come. For showtimes and more info, visit the Cinema Village website.

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REMEMBERING CINERAMA Part 34: Nanuet/Rockland County The following is Part Thirty-Four in a series of retrospectives on Cinerama, the legendary motion picture process that kicked off the widescreen revolution. The series focuses on providing a market-by-market historical record of when and where Cinerama and its multi-panel clones were exhibited. The easy-to-reference articles serve to provide nostalgia to those who experienced the Cinerama presentations when they were new and to highlight the movie palaces in which the memorable events took place. Part 1: New York City Part 2: Chicago Part 3: San Francisco Part 4: Houston Part 5: Washington, DC Part 6: Los Angeles Part 7: Atlanta Part 8: San Diego Part 9: Dallas Part 10: Oklahoma City Part 11: Syracuse Part 12: Toronto Part 13: Columbus Part 14: Montreal Part 15: Northern New Jersey Part 16: Charlotte Part 17: Vancouver Part 18: Salt Lake City Part 19: Boston Part 20: Philadelphia Part 21: Fresno Part 22: Detroit Part 23: Minneapolis Part 24: Albuquerque Part 25: El Paso Part 26: Des Moines Part 27: Miami Part 28: Orange County Part 29: Pittsburgh Part 30: Baltimore Part 31: Long Island Part 32: Kansas City Part 33: Milwaukee And now... Part 34: Cinerama Presentations in Nanuet/Rockland County, New York!

HOLLYWOOD, CA -- The movies have ended at the 1937 theater originally known as the Admiral, later the Vine. Yet there are several screens set up in the theater just off the world-famous corner of Hollywood & Vine. Laserium, which enjoyed a nearly 30-year run at the Griffith Observatory, has taken over the Hollywood movie house, which for years had played second-run double features to audiences that often numbered in the single digits. Will Pink Floyd, the Beatles, and Led Zep set to lasers be enough to lure a serious tourist crowd and not just nostalgic L.A. stoners? I wrote about the rebirth of Laserium, and the theater's unusual adaptive reuse, in this L.A. Times story.

Walk into the Vine Theatre's auditorium and you may be shocked at how much it still looks like the second-run movie house it was until late 2007. About 200 seats were removed to make way for a stage area and control panels in the rear -- but the 424 that remain are the same funky orange seats that moviegoers of a few years ago will recall. They don't recline like the Observatory's chairs, but they don't need to: Producers insist the days of chiropractor-friendly neck-craning have come to an end, because all the action is at panoramic eye level. Each show starts with animations projected on the former movie screen, then expands the action to three semi-transparent scrims closer to the audience, two additional screens on the side walls, mirrors, and -- new to the Laserium experience, surprisingly enough -- real mid-air effects. "We weren't allowed to put haze in the planetarium to light up laser beams," explains Dryer, "so we really couldn't do beam effects very well there, which always frustrated us"

Read the full post at the Los Angeles Times.

CHAPEL HILL,NC -- After initially reporting the possibility, as of Friday, June 26,2009....the only movie theatre located in Downtown Chapel Hill, the Varsity Theatre, closed its doors forever.

The Varsity, whose theater marquee is the icon of Franklin Street, is closing according to its owner Bruce Stone. Despite rumors and blogs that said the theater was going to close, it wasn't official until Stone made the announcement on Thursday, June 25, 2009. The theater has been in business for 80 years and it is considered to be a Chapel Hill landmark serving not only the residents and patrons, but also serving the entire communities of Orange County, including nearby University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The last two picture shows that played at the Varsity were "The Hangover", and "The Brothers Bloom".

More on this at the Herald Sun(reg rqr'd).

Kambakkht Ishq - Trailer Kambakkth Ishq explores the relationship between two individuals as different from each other as chalk & cheese. No matter how many times they are pushed together, there are only fireworks…no fire. Viraj Shergill (Akshay Kumar) is a swashbuckling stuntman in Hollywood who lives by the mantra “women are only good for two things … making love & making love” Simrita Rai (Kareena Kapoor) is a firebrand who is more than able to stare down the most arrogant male with her caustic wit and sardonic tongue … her firm belief “there’s no such thing as love”So what happens when the two people who hate each other the most meet at Simrita’s best friend Kamini’s and Viraj’s brother Lucky’s wedding?…..a wedding that both Viraj and Simrita are violently opposed to and desperate to stop. Sparks fly, accidents occur, and both are thrown together in a manner that they could have never ever even dreamed of in their wildest fantasies. The battle of the sexes is on. Who is going to throw the punches and who us going to blow the kisses? Directed by: Sabbir Khan Starring: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Aftab Shivdasani, Amrita Arora, Sylvester Stallone, Denise Richards

The "dawn" of the extended holiday weekend box office commenced with Twentieth Century Fox's animated feature Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs freezing out the mega-grossing sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen , grossing an estimated $13.8 million on Wednesday, in 3993 theaters. Fox domestic distribution president, Bruce Snyder said: "What a great start for the holiday. 'Ice Age' continues to be a comedy for all audiences." "Revenge of the Fallen" added $10.9 million for a domestic total of $240.9 million. It was followed on Wednesday by newcomer Public Enemies , which earned $8.2 million in 3,391 theaters. The Transformers sequel could still beat "Dawn of the Dinosaurs" over the weekend.

Universal has won a four-studio bidding war to pick up the film rights to the classic Atari video game "Asteroids," says The Hollywood Reporter . Matthew Lopez will write the script for the feature adaptation, which will be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura. In "Asteroids," initially released as an arcade game in 1979, a player controlled a triangular space ship in an asteroid field. You can play an unofficial version of the game below! Universal is also developing movies based on Hasbro board game properties such as "Battleship," "Candyland," "Ouija," "Monopoly" and "Clue."

It seems that showing "classic" films in theaters today can often be a hit-or-miss project. I've attended classic film programs at the great Loews Jersey, the Lafayette, Suffern, New York, Film Forum and the Cedar Lane Cinema in Teaneck, NJ....... are there any other venues in the New Jersey/New York area that show classic and independent films on a regular basis?

NEW YORK, NY -- The following is a request for a new member, Marya Pollack, looking for information regarding the Morningside Theatre, once run by her family: My great-grandmother ran it from about 1908-1915 and I believe other family members before her. I have a copy of the theatre license but can you help me track down any paperwork they might have filed? My great aunt used to play the piano for the movies there. I have some pictures of actors but I don't know if they were part of this theatre. For over a decade all I had was Amalia Steinberg's calling card with a fragment of the theatre name. The license gives the exact address 2135-8 8th Ave as well as another theatre at 1217 Prospect Ave. I'd love to find out who actually filled out the request for the license as there are no first names on it. Amalia's maiden name was Weissman (Wiseman, Weisman) and she married a Bernard Steinberg, who ran several restaurants but she is listed in the NYC Directory as "theatre owner" after he died in 1908. Much of the two families were reportedly in theatre and early film in Manhattan and "amusements" in Coney Island, but it has been a huge struggle to find anything out. Another relative, Samuel Weisman is listed as working at "Philum's Motion Picture Studio." Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

This article discusses issues that may arise from taking a special needs child to the movies.

Do your children with special needs enjoy going to the movies? It is often a somewhat traumatic experience, yet the joys of modern day entertainment on the big screen are enough to entice you kids into the theater. Here are common reasons a child will have trouble in a modern day movie theater. Sound levels - With the new digital sound offered in many theaters, the film's noise level is worthy of a good pair of ear plugs for even those of who hear normally. But, for someone with super sensitive hearing, that noise level is enough to hurt them or drive them insane in a really short amount of time.

Read the full story in the Examiner.

Bank robber John Dillinger might conclude thought he’d found the perfect hideout in Tucson, Ariz., domination January 1934. The dusty lay was a far cry from Chicago, where every recompense enforcer was looking for him. "The Dillinger gang was the most established gang esteem America at that time," said Marshall Trimble, Arizona’s honest-to-goodness historian. "Tucson [...] No related posts.

GLEN DALE, WV -- The Glen Dale Drive-in might close due to poor business.

The Glendale Drive-In Theater, located in Marshall County, is in jeopardy of closing unless more movie goers start showing up, 7 News learned. The owners say they're doing all they can to keep the drive-in open. Friday night they're bringing in a live band to begin at 7p.m. and play up until the movie starts and then the band will begin performing again during the intermission between the two movies.

Read the full story in the State Journal.

More and more theaters are equipping themselves for RealD as the company makes huge gains.

RealD announced today that it has doubled its installation base of RealD 3D equipped cinema screens worldwide and notched 400% growth in Europe in the first half of 2009. Far and away the world's largest 3D cinema platform, RealD's network of theatres is expanding at a breathtaking clip, nearly doubling the number of 3D cinema installations of all other 3D providers combined. The RealD 3D platform now accounts for over 8,700 screens under contract and over 3,200 screens installed in more than 45 countries with over 200 exhibition partners.

Read more at MarketWatch.

Trying to keep up with Sony, Texas Instruments announces a deal with Cinemark along with mentioning they will be rolling out 4K projectors next year.

Current leader Texas Instruments has revealed that during 2010 it aims to incorporate 4K resolution as part of its next-gen projection technology platform, which will be offered in projectors from its licensees Barco, Christie Digital and NEC. Meanwhile, Barco inked a significant deal with Cinemark to deploy the developing 4K technology exclusively on all Cinemark screens.

Read more at The Wrap.

If you've got the guts, you adventuresome types need to check out the final New York Asian Film Festival screening (July 2, 2:00pm, IFC Center) of South Korean actor Yang Ik-June's writing and directorial debut Breathless—that ain't no joke of a title. In its first stressful, claustrophobically close-up scene, a woman is beaten senseless in the streets while loan-shark enforcer Sang-hoon (Yang) observes indifferently, then brutalizes the victimizer before unexpectedly smacking around the woman as well (all the while berating her for being a victim). Sleepy-eyed, gutter-mouthed, mustachioed thug Sang-hoon instantly makes for an unsympathetic protagonist, and as his actions soon prove, he'll turn feral on anyone who so much as breathes the wrong way. His violent outbursts are so relentless that even working as a guy who beats up people for a living, his co-workers have to worry about getting beat up by him, too. Could there be a less likeable character in a more unpleasant viewing experience? Would it have been an easier swallow if the filmmaking were flashy or stylized, instead of unadorned and handheld?

Continued reading NYAFF '09: Film of the Week...

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It's a pretty good thing that Landmark and Kendall Square have been getting a steady stream of interesting-looking movies this summer, because the major studios have not been holding up their end of the bargain at the multiplex. The only June release that's gotten me in a theater is The Hangover, and I wasn't terribly impressed. It looks to get a little better this weekend, but I don't know if

Even under the best situations, I tend to eat terribly when attending a film festival, but this was especially annoying. I knew, going in, that I wasn't going to sample much of what NYC has to offer the palate. I knew the day wasn't going to start well - some crud from McDonald's in South Station because I feared how long I might have to wait at Cosi for something closer to cooked to order, and

KENEDY, TX -- The Rialto Theater is for sale. Selling for what we have invested, $10,000. We need to sell it to help family with medical issues. It needs a complete rehab. The beginnings of rehab were started. The marque glass was removed and replaced with plastic. Some of the original pink tinted marque glass and holders are inside the building. The interior has been gutted including walls. There is a balcony but the floor was stripped out and the boards are scattered in several areas. There was water damage due to a leak along the length of the building. A temporary patch was placed to prevent further damage. There are no seats in this theater. There is some kind of speaker box on the stage. In the projector room are 3 carbon rod projectors and a power unit. Don't know if it works. On the walls are a couple of murals made of cloth.

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS -- At the annual Cinema Expo, exhibitors were upbeat about the year in film and upcoming technologies.

The credit crunch has stalled many digital screen conversions. But exhibs came away pleased with sneak peeks of films screened throughout the week, and most believe d-cinema and 3-D projection will spread through the marketplace eventually, further bolstering business. "It's been a really great week, with many exciting movies and exciting lineups," said Peter Janovsky of Hollywood Megaplex, which operates 48 screens in five Austrian theaters. "In 2009, we have had a very good year -- the best in three years -- and the future looks positive."

Read more at the Hollywood Reporter.

I have 4 old power projector heads and a couple of bases. Any idea of their value?

by Jeffrey M. Anderson

In the great tradition of tough-guy filmmakers like Howard Hawks, Don Siegel and Samuel Fuller, Kathryn Bigelow is one of the finest living crafters of male-bonding genre films. It may seem an odd fit, as the beautiful, elegant, highly intelligent 57 year-old woman was educated at the San Francisco Art Institute with a background in painting; she's hardly the eye-patch-wearing, cigar-chomping type like her Hollywood predecessors. When I asked her about this duality in 2002, she responded with genuine puzzlement. Why would a woman want to make muscular action films? Frankly, why not?

Bigelow's latest, The Hurt Locker—easily one of the year's best films, based on journalist-turned-screenwriter Mark Boal's interviews and experiences—revolves around the lives of three Army bomb techs (Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, and Brian Geraghty) in the last days of their Iraq tour, circa 2004. Yes, it's yet another right-here, right-now Iraq film, but it doesn't hurl any messages in our faces about the horrors or futility of war. It's not dreary, somber or self-serving. It's not about politics or politicians, wives or families, insurgents or Iraqis. Rather, we're presented with a sturdy combat film with lots of thrills and explosions and summertime-friendly action. It dares to suggest that, sure, war is hell, but it's not without its pleasures.

Continued reading INTERVIEW: Kathryn Bigelow...

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FULLERTON, CA -- Hollywood in Fullerton: Celebrating the decade of the 70s. Join us at 7pm for our 6th annual Hollywood in Fullerton Gala at the historic downtown Fox Fullerton Theatre on June 27, 2009. This year's theme celebrates movies and the popular culture of the 1970s. Save the date and join us for a groovy time. Official Website

BALTIMORE, MD -- Baltimore's much-loved Senator Theater is going to be auctioned on Wednesday, July 22, at 11:00 a.m. The auction will take place at the Senator (5904-06 York Road, Baltimore, MD 21212. Built in 1939 in the Art Deco style, the single-screen Senator Theater is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a local landmark. A glass block and limestone facade, colorful backlighting, and “walk of fame” sidewalk distinguish the building’s exterior and grounds, while original terrazzo floors and Art Deco murals grace the lobby. The theater seats 900, including two skyboxes for private parties. Technical specifications include a 40’ curved screen, Bauer U2 Projector with top of the line German lenses, Dolby Digital sound with surround EX, and user-controlled digital sound in the skyboxes. Films can be screened in 35MM or 70MM.

Cinema Treasures passed the 25,000-theater mark this past week as our database of theaters keeps growing at a blistering pace. Thank you to all of the thousands of contributors who have made Cinema Treasures a destination site for movie theater exhibitors and patrons, journalists, and researchers. Finally, a special thank you to Bryan Krefft and our theater editor extraordinaire, Ken Roe, whose tireless dedication and expertise are the reason Cinema Treasures is what it is today. Thank you again and see you at 30,000. :) Ross Melnick and Patrick Crowley Co-founders, Cinema Treasures

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- The City of Minneapolis issued a Request for Proposals for redevelopment of the Hollywood Theater.

The City’s redevelopment goals for the site include renovation of the existing structure to accommodate a viable commercial use while preserving the character-defining features of the building and the option for future use as a theater. This RFP will consider a wide range of commercial uses of the theater building. Proposals that involve a theater or entertainment reuse will be considered, but so will proposals with other commercial uses such as office and/or retail. Any proposals with a non-theater use must address how they will preserve the option for reuse as a theater in the future, if such an option arises. Residential uses are not allowed at the site.

Read more at the Official City Site.

The Motion Picture Academy has decided to return to their old system of ten Best Picture nominees instead of five. There will still be only one winner. The mind boggles as to how they will find ten worthy nominees when even five was often pushing it.

Decades ago, the Oscars had up to 10 best picture nominees for several years. "Gone With the Wind" famously beat a number of great films for best picture in 1939, including "Stagecoach," "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," "Ninotchka," "The Wizard of Oz" and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." But in the mid-1940s, the system changed to its present five films, and five films it's been ever since. That's led to any number of crowd-pleasing but not "Oscar-worthy" (as the Academy believes) films not making the cut. Just last year, there were howls of protest for the failure of "The Dark Knight" to crack the Academy’s top five.

Read more at CNN Blogs.