Larry Gordon, the producer behind the production of Watchmen and subject of public scorn, is tired of being treated like the anti-heroes from Alan Moore's graphic novel. Gordon has faced most, if not all, of the blame for the legal dispute threatening the release of Zack Snyder's Watchmen film, as it has been claimed he failed to secure the rights for the film from Fox when the studio put it in turnaround. On Wednesday, Gordon filed a lengthy letter to U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess "blaming Fox and his then-lawyers for the debacle and offering his version of events that led to the court's ruling that Fox owns distribution rights to the Zack Snyder-helmed comic-book adaptation."
The critics have spoken and they have come out in resounding favor for Slumdog Millionaire. Despite the buzz behind Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight - with nominations from the PGA, WGA, and DGA - the cinematic behemoth only walked away with two prizes - best action movie and best supporting actor for Heath Ledger - in comparison to the five won by Danny Boyle and his self-described "'love song' to Mumbai."
Despite The Dark Knight double fisting awards like John Barrymore used to double fist booze, many people still speculated whether it would get any serious respect at the Academy Awards. While only January 22 will finally settle that debate, Batman's hopes of a date with Oscar had to be boosted with the Producers Guild of America nominations announced on Monday. Add to that equation the American Society of Cinematographers nominations announced yesterday and the Directors Guild of America nominations announced today and it seems a safe bet that you'll see Nolan in a tux next February.
Today NME.com ran a story about Spotify, a new and legal online music service that, they say, "offers users unlimited music for free." Sounds too good to be true, right? Apparently not. Everyone I know who's tried it says it's every bit as wonderful as you can imagine.
Spotify is made to look like iTunes, but you can stream full length songs for free rather than pay to download them.
The Writers Guild of America announced their nominations today, encouraging me greatly in my picks for Best Adapted Screenplay in my Oscar poll (I picked all 5), but severely shaking my confidence in my picks for Best Original Screenplay (I picked only 2).
Me and a few friends have gathered together in a low-stakes (alright, no stakes) Oscar predictions poll. The task is simple: pick five films plus one wild card that you think will be a finalist for the five major categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay - Original and Adapted) when the Academy Award nominations are announced on January 22. There is no added benefit or consequence if the wild card pick does or doesn't make it. To clarify, these are not the nominees we want to see, but the nominees we think we will see. Below are my predictions. See if you agree or disagree and feel free to dispute them with me at jr@magnetmediafilms.com.
Comic book movies have become a part of life on the cinematic landscape these days. With the success of films like Iron Man and The Dark Knight, studios are pushing to bring many fan favorites to life on the big screen. Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern, The Flash, and many more superheroes will all be seen in your local megaplex within the next couple of years, but on DC stalwart will be missing out on the action: Captain Marvel. Described as "Big, but with superpowers," the project was being written by John August and developed at Warner Bros. The Latino Review now reports though that August is certain the project is dead and not even on the studio's radar anymore.
Martin Scorsese has agreed to lend that glamorous yet ultimately meaningless "Presented By" credit to Matteo Garrone's Italian crime drama Gomorra. The Grand Prix winner at last year's Cannes Film Festival, Gomorra will arrive in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on February 13 carrying the credit "Martin Scorsese Presents" because, you know, Scorsese had a lot to do with the making of the film.
Roman Polanski's lawyer is crying foul. Last month, the filmmaker and his legal representation filed a motion to have the charges against him dropped due to "a pattern of misconduct and improper communication' between the Los Angeles County district attorney's office and the judge." Now, Polanski's laywer, Chad Hummel, is seeking to have the Los Angeles County Superior Court removed from the case entirely, claiming the court is bias and prejudice against Polanski.
While you were busy milking Zoom In Online for all it's worth (scientific studies say it's a lot, by the way), you may have missed some other great film related content available on the web. Here's a roundup of just some of it: