Movie News Page 1019

Ending the dispute concerning the nonexistence of viewer restrictions on "Apocalypto" in the country, an Italian court has temporarily ruled that youths under age fourteen are barred from watching the gory film, overthrowing the decision made by local cinema board of review that considered it fit enough for children.

Marco Ramadori, a lawyer for Codacons, the consumer group which brought the case to the court in favor of setting an age-limit, remarked yesterday, January 8, that the ban is valid until January 17, after which a panel of judges is expected to make a final ruling on the case.

Taking similar vein with what Picturehouse has done to "A Prairie Home Companion" in turning a radio show into a film feature, DreamWorks SKG has reached a deal with Ira Glass and WBEZ/Chicago Public Radio to develop "This American Life", a big screen project adapted from the same-titled show, which is distributed to more than 500 stations nationwide through Public Radio International.

No word yet on when the project will start production, but it is said that Glass, Julie Snyder and Alissa Shipp are all set to seat as producers. The picture itself is intended to be made based on the stories aired on the program which have been noted to center on a theme with a collection of funny, emotional real-life stories drawn from everyday occurrences.

An international association of Internet-based cinema journalists, the Online Film Critics Society has officially announced yesterday, January 8, the list of recipients for its OFCS Awards, helping narrowing names and titles seen as leading contenders for the Academy Awards, the film industry's highest honors.

Matched those named in December by the New York Critics Circle, the organization cast its choice on documentary-style movie "United 93" to be the Best Picture, Martin Scorsese to be the Best Director for his work in "The Departed", plus Helen Mirren of "The Queen" and Forest Whitaker of "The Last King of Scotland" to receive the top performance honors.

Which animated flicks to come out as the finalists in Oscar's Best Animated Feature category still have to be determined yet, but one thing is for sure: "Arthur and the Invisibles" won't be one the nominees.

Previously included in the list of sixteen contenders vying for the slot, the MGM/Weinstein release has sadly been dropped from consideration by AMPAS, the Academy spokesperson Leslie Unger announced on Sunday, January 7, following the earlier report concerning the matter in the AMPAS Press Release.

Attempting to strengthen their already-solid positions in mainstream film industry, a number of award-winning producers have prepared to spawn more acclaimed works from their hands for critics and moviegoers to laud of.

BAFTA TV Award winner Andy Harries who recently produced hugely-praised royal drama "The Queen" is reported to develop a biopic titled "Cloughie: Walking on Water." Based on the bestselling autobiography of the same name telling about the life of Brian Clough, one of England's legendary soccer managers, the project brings back the team behind "The Queen" such as screenwriter Peter Morgan, director Stephen Frears, and actor Michael Sheen.

Lining up a number of promising big screen projects under its wings for future releases, Platinum Dunes, through its execs Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, has given updates on several of its upcoming features.

For the "Untitled Friday the 13th Sequel", the pair revealed that the script for the movie is being worked on while stating that no director is confirmed yet though South African-born filmmaker Jonathan Liebesman has reportedly been attached to the flick.

The spotlight has been cast down upon "Babel" in Palm Springs, California. The multi-layered drama, along with "Little Children", gloriously received multiple honors from organizers of the 18th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival during the event's Awards Gala held on Saturday, January 6, 2007 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

The Paramount Vantage release took the Ensemble Performance Award and the director's award for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu while one of its cast members Cate Blanchett was bestowed the Career Achievement Award.

Putting more concentration in screenwriting after his shocking announcement of ending his directing career, Luc Besson has spilled the bean that he is penning a sequel to last year's "District B13" which he co-wrote and produced.

"There's some film where you like the cast, you like the characters and you want to see them again," he told ComingSoon.net. "'B13' I want to do the sequel to, I love the two characters, and there's the room to do another one. I have the idea then I think we're going to make it."

One of the most well respected professional film critics groups in North America that is also the U.S representative in the FIPRESCI, the National Society of Film Critics has finally come out with the list of winners for its NSFC Awards this year as the members celebrate the event for the 41st time.

Making a totally different choice from other fellow critics in taking Best Picture pick, the organization surprisingly bestowed the title to Spanish-language fantasy film "Pan's Labyrinth" while generating the same favor in naming "An Inconvenient Truth" the Best Non-Fiction Film.

Well, it appears that history and ancient things still strive as interesting subject for most people as the Fox release "Night at the Museum" remains unmoved from the top slot of weekend box office ended Sunday, January 7, 2007.

Seating on the spot for a third-straight weekend, the family-friendly PG flick gloriously took in $23.7 million, again putting its rival "The Pursuit of Happyness" on number two for the inspiring rags-to-riches tale turned out to only pull $12.8 million in ticket sales. Nevertheless, the modest income delightfully is more than enough to bring the Sony production surpassing a $120 million mark in its fourth spin on the chart.

The only institution that recognizes both the authors and screenwriters of a book-based film feature, the University of Southern California Libraries has revealed names running for its USC Libraries Scripter Award this year. Given annually, the prize honors writers for the best achievement in adaptation among English-language pictures released during the previous year and based on a book, novella, or short story.

Selected out of forty-five eligible films, there are five author-screenwriter teams that made their way to the competition. Listed in alphabetical order by film title, they are those behind "Children of Men", "The Devil Wears Prada", "The Illusionist", "The Last King of Scotland", and "Notes on a Scandal."

Recognized to be one of the world's most prestigious film festivals, the Berlin International Film Festival, also known as Berlinale, has officially lined up six notable pictures to face off against each other in the Competition program as the organizers prepares to hold the event for the fifty-seventh time on February 8-18, 2007.

Among those in the running, "The Good German" and "The Good Shepherd" are representing Hollywood production to compete with local feature "Yella" directed by German arthouse favorite Christian Petzold. Both thriller dramas, the former deals with a murder-mystery set in 1940s Berlin while the latter depicts the tumultuous early history of CIA viewed through the prism of one man's life.

Determines to tackle the same subject matter as his 1989 effort "Casualties of War", director Brian De Palma is about to re-visit the theme with a new project entitled "Redacted", Production Weekly has learned.

Slated to enter production by early April, the feature will be based on the recent events surrounding the rape and murder of a 14-year old Iraqi girl also the killing of three of her family members by four U.S soldiers. So far, there are no cast members and writer attached yet.

Still sticking to each other, duo Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan are set to work on together in penning "The Tingler", a collaborative film project between Columbia Pictures and Original Films.

A remake of the 1959 flick of the same title starring by Vincent Price, the film is likely to stay true to the original version which concerns on a scientist who accidentally unleashes an entity named the Tingler that kills its victims with fear during his research. No cast and director attached yet, but it is confirmed that Neal Moritz will serve as the movie's producer.

Striving forward amidst the strong competition among film companies, Sony Pictures Classics has satisfyingly acquired rights to distribute high-profile drama "Sleuth", Variety has reported.

A remake of the 1972 film of the same title made based on a play written by Anthony Shaffer, the flick follows an older writer and a younger actor as they spend a weekend trying to outwit each other after the writer learns the actor has been having an affair with his wife. Shooting is slated to begin in the U.K this month with Michael Caine and Jude Law starring.