Cinematical

• 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' Interviews -- Pénelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson, Rebeccca Hall and More
  

  Filed under: MGM, The Weinstein Co., Interviews

  
  
  Gathered to talk about Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Pénelope Cruz, Rebecca Hall, Chris Messina and Scarlett Johansson all had similar praise for their director and writer -- even if they took different paths to get to the film. Cruz's agent actually reached out to Allen when Vicky Cristina Barcelona was in development, on the off chance Allen might have a role for her: "My agent said ... 'We found out you're doing a movie in Spain, do you want to meet Pénelope?' We met in New York, a very short meeting, which took less than one minute,...
  



• Review: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
  

  Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Theatrical Reviews, The Weinstein Co.

  
  
  I felt, after seeing Woody Allen's latest, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the way I do after I've been to an excellent tapas restaurant; I'd been presented with a series of small moments of flavor and texture and presentation, some more pleasant than others, and while the overall experience didn't add up to a full meal, it was still a sincere pleasure. Allen's been globetrotting lately -- although you can suggest that's been motivated less by some muse of artistic inspiration than by the equally beguiling, if less dignified, seductress of international financing. After several films set in London, Allen's...
  



• Toronto Adds Premieres for 'Che', 'Porno', 'Bloom', 'Synecdoche', Others
  

  Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Romance, Thrillers, New Line, Sony Classics, Warner Brothers, The Weinstein Co., Toronto International Film Festival

  On the heels of some high-profile NYFF announcements, the Toronto International Film Festival has unveiled its fair share of titles scheduled to premiere there next month. According to Variety, the list includes:

  • The North American premieres of Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York (pictured), which has been picked up for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics since we last heard of (still) possible trims, and Steven Soderbergh's epic Che,...
    
  
  
  
  • Eli Roth In, Leonardo DiCaprio Out of 'Inglorious Bastards'
    

    Filed under: Action, Drama, Casting, Universal, The Weinstein Co., Newsstand, Brad Pitt, Quentin Tarantino, War

    Now this is the kind of offbeat casting you expect out of Quentin Tarantino -- except that, really, it's not that unusual for him to cast his pals, so it makes a guy like Leonardo DiCaprio an edgier pick. Oh, that crazy Tarantino!
    
    According to Variety, Eli Roth is set to play Sgt. Donnie Donowitz, "a baseball bat swinging Nazi hunter" in Tarantino's already much-discussed Inglorious Bastards. Brad Pitt is still "in talks" for Aldo Raine, but it would be...
    
  
  
  
  • 'Rogue' Killer Croc Finally on DVD!
    

    Filed under: Horror, Thrillers, New on DVD, The Weinstein Co., Home Entertainment

    I've always been a sucker for killer croc movies. But, as Scott Weinberg so eloquently wrote in the recent past: "There's maybe one true 'classic' of the sub-genre (that'd be Lewis Teague's and John Sayles' Alligator, of course), and the rest of 'em are pretty much floating crap." Scott was ranting about the limited theatrical release by The Weinstein Co. (actually, their "dumping ground" subsidiary Third Rail Releasing) for Greg McLean's Rogue, which was limited to ten US cities.

    So Scott (and most of you reading this) probably didn't get to see...
    

  
  
  
  • Update: Kevin Smith Wins His 'R' Rating for 'Zack and Miri'
    

    Filed under: Comedy, Celebrities and Controversy, The Weinstein Co., NSFW, Movie Marketing, Cinematical Indie

    The most we can hope for now is the unrated director's cut of Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, because the filmmaker has won his appeal with the MPAA and received an R rating, according to the Associated Press. It's been a long road for Smith's movie, which was unsurprisingly smacked with an NC-17 last month -- as if we didn't see it coming due to Smith's track record and the fact that it's a movie about a couple who, yes, that's right, make...
    
  
  
  
  • Kevin Smith Talks About 'Zack and Miri''s MPAA Struggles (and 'Red State')
    

    Filed under: Deals, Celebrities and Controversy, The Weinstein Co., Newsstand

    A couple of weeks ago, everyone got sort-of excited about the fact that Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno got slapped with the kiss-of-death NC-17 rating by the MPAA. I sure did: even the tiniest glimmer of hope that a mainstream film may make it into release with an NC-17 would be great news. Maybe -- as Roger Ebert among others has been pushing for years -- we can finally decriminalize the Movie for Adults.
    
    But we all knew it was wishful thinking; that Smith is almost certainly obligated by contract to do whatever it...
    
  
  
  
  • SDCC: Frank Darabont is the Coolest Filmmaker on the Planet
    

    Filed under: The Weinstein Co., Interviews, ComicCon

    I've mentioned this before, but it's worth reiterating here: I don't really enjoy doing interviews with filmmakers and celebrities. I fancy myself a somewhat "creative" writer (not necessarily a good writer, but hopefully a creative one), and the interview format doesn't really leave all that much room for creativity. If I gave you a list of all the famous people I PASSED on interviewing, you'd probably call me a clueless buffoon. And you may be right.
    
    But one thing I do enjoy is doing a casual interview with a filmmaker who doesn't really have a current project to "push." This way...
    
  
  
  
  • 'Zack and Miri' Gets the Dreaded NC-17
    

    Filed under: Comedy, Celebrities and Controversy, The Weinstein Co., ComicCon

    What can you expect from the MPAA when you make a movie with "some some graphic sexuality"? Yup, the kiss of death. Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno has been slapped with a rating of NC-17 by the MPAA, according to a list posted today by The Hollywood Reporter.

    The rating was posted on the MPAA film ratings site at least as early as last Saturday, but News Askew noted that it was marked as "pending appeal" and had received the rating for "some graphic sexuality." I just checked the MPAA's site, and...
    

  
  
  
  • Review: Boy A
    

    Filed under: Drama, Theatrical Reviews, The Weinstein Co., Cinematical Indie

    
    
    Movies about ex-convicts and their difficulty assimilating back into society generally begin with the prison release, during which the protagonist typically looks downright miserable. At first thought, I recall the opening of Vincent Gallo's Buffalo '66, which ironically exaggerates the hopelessness of post-incarceration by adding a lack of a public restroom to the list of things the former jailbird is without. But at the beginning of John Crowley's new film, Boy A, the titular young man being turned back into the world is high-browed and smiling from ear to ear. And this change from the expected...