Cinematical

• Wayne Wang Offers His New Film Online, for Free
  

  Filed under: Drama, Deals, Tech Stuff, Distribution, Exhibition, Newsstand, Home Entertainment

  Now, I know Wayne Wang isn't in most cinephiles' good graces these days.* He's spent most of the decade making bland and unremarkable middle-brow flicks like Maid in Manhattan, Because of Winn-Dixie and Last Holiday. But the director behind The Joy Luck Club and Chinese Box still has a fair bit of cachet, and when he does something like make his new film available in its entirety online and for free, people pay attention.
  
  So, pay attention: Wang's The Princess of Nebraska, an indie he premiered at last year's...
  



• The Exhibitionist : 3 Defenses for 3-D Films
  

  Filed under: Animation, Music & Musicals, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Exhibition, Columns

  
  
  As an opinionated cinephile, Roger Ebert has every right to dislike 3-D movies. And recently, on his blog, Roger Ebert's Journal, he wrote about such disfavor. Basically, in response to accidentally missing the press screening for the new animated 3-D flick Fly Me to the Moon, he admits that, because of a certain prejudice against the format, he likely wouldn't have enjoyed the movie anyway.
  
  My issue here is not to attack Ebert's opinion or his belief that after half a century of dissatisfaction with the format he's never going to...
  



• Restored 'Godfather' and 'Godfather Part II' Screen in NYC
  

  Filed under: Classics, Drama, Paramount, Tech Stuff, Exhibition, Home Entertainment

  New York City's Film Forum will be screening both The Godfatherand The Godfather Part IIduring a special three week engagement beginning September 12. And yes, it's a big deal. The first two installments of Francis Ford Coppola's trilogy are often featured in repertory houses, sure, but Film Forum's presentation is of newly restored 35mm prints, which were produced under the direction of Coppola and cinematographer Gordon Willis and the supervision of film historian and master preservationist Robert A. Harris. The Godfather will run solo from September 12 through September 18,...
  



• The Exhibitionist: Heroes and Villains
  

  Filed under: Foreign Language, Independent, Exhibition, Columns

  
  
  Week after week, I focus on the good and/or bad concerning moviegoing and the movie theatre industry. But as passionate as I am about the subjects of this column, I've never really felt strongly enough to label any one person either a hero or a villain to moviegoers. Perhaps the closest I've come to calling someone a hero was when I finally had my first experience with an Alamo Drafthouse cinema. On the other hand, I've certainly wanted to call a lot of people villains, including whoever was responsible for my worst moviegoing experience in years and...
  



• The Rocchi Review -- With Kim Voynar of Cinematical
  

  Filed under: New Releases, Telluride, Festival Reports, Podcasts, Exhibition, Interviews, Toronto International Film Festival, Cinematical Indie, The Rocchi Review: Online Film Community Podcast

  
  
  With Fall Festival season about to kick off, this week The Rocchi Review features James chatting with Cinematical's Film Festivals Editor Kim Voynar about the strange splendor of the Telluride Film Festival, what the most-anticipated movies will be at this year's Toronto Film Festival and much, much more. Will Zack and Miri Make a Porno make a splash? Will Rachel Getting Marriedget Anne Hathaway some respect? And does one of...
  



• Image(s) of the Day: Awesome Crazy 4 Cult 2 Artwork
  

  Filed under: Fandom, Exhibition, Images

  
  
  Over on his blog, writer-director Kevin Smith has unveiled a new photo from Zack and Miri Make a Porno (see updated gallery below), as well as a few pieces of ridiculously cool movie-inspired artwork from this year's Crazy 4 Cult 2 gallery showing in Los Angeles at Gallery1988 later this month. (He also briefly talks about seeing Watchmen, which he called "f**king astounding.") The above image is only half of Andrew Wilson's sprawling epic-like movie character poster (see miniature version of entire piece below), which will be on display and available for purchase at the gallery when the show opens with a reception...
  



• BREAKING: 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' Moved to Next July!
  

  Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, New Releases, Warner Brothers, Exhibition, Family Films, Newsstand, Harry Potter

  
  
  Thanksgiving just got a lot less magical. Warner Bros. has announced that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, originally scheduled for release on Nov. 21, has been pushed back to July 17. As in 2009. As in ELEVEN MONTHS AWAY! It's enough to make you utter an unforgivable curse, such as "Avada Kedavra!" or "What the f***?!"
  
  A film's release date being moved back is usually a sign that the production is in trouble, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. For one...
  



• Filmmaker Natalie and Singer Scarlett -- The Boleyn Girls' New Projects
  

  Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Exhibition

  Both Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson leapt from the world of Henry VIII into city love with New York, I Love You, but that's not all they're working on:
  
  • When Portman joined the Big Apple film, it was said to be her directorial debut, but it looks like another film is sliding in front of it. The CBC reports that a 17-minute film she directed, titled Eve, will debut at the Venice Film Festival this month. Organizers are describing her film as a "civilized comedy" and expect the budding filmmaker to be at the opening. Nothing else is being said about the plot, but...
    
  
  
  
  • The Exhibitionist: Return of Smell-O-Vision
    

    Filed under: Exhibition, Columns

    
    
    Moviegoing seems to be living in the past these days, as both 3-D and large format projection have become attractions at mainstream cinemas again, just as they were half a century ago. Of course, there are updated differences -- the new 3-D is digital and now employs glasses that don't give us headaches, and the large format presentation, IMAX (which is actually almost 40 years old and is technically not really similar at all to the Cinemascope, Cinerama, VistaVision, etc., which were used in the 1950s), is finally separating itself from its usual museum-set association to move into more multiplexes and offer more blockbusters, like the popcorns and...
    
  
  
  
  • Cirque du Soleil Heads to Theaters via The Hot Ticket
    

    Filed under: Fandom, Exhibition

    
    
    Have I ever told you that I'm obsessed with watching Cirque du Soleil shows? I've seen at least 10 live performances in the past few years and highly recommend them to anyone who's never taken the Cirque plunge. In fact, now you have more of a reason to check out a Cirque show because their latest, Delirium, is coming to a theater near you at the end of the month. Sony Pictures Releasing has set up this new programming division called The Hot Ticket, and they specialize in bringing stuff like rock concerts, Broadway shows and premier sporting events to theaters across the...