Category — miramax

The Los Angeles Times’ Claudia Eller takes a look at Disney’s Miramax post-Weinstein brothers.

In the 18 months since [Daniel] Battsek took charge, the 48-year-old Brit has firmly established himself as the new face of Miramax Film Corp. while shoring up the company’s stature in the cutthroat specialty film world. He’s also kept Miramax in the awards game to the point of outscoring predecessor Weinstein, who for years was the one to beat at Oscar time.

It’s finally time for another shameless plug.  (I called in a "Shamless" plug at first, but I guess that works, too.)

The first part of the latest edition of my Kenversations(TM) column was posted today on LaughingPlace.com.

In this three-part column, I examine the big changes both inside Disney and around Disney over the last few years - in media, entertainment, communications, and theme parks.  If you read this column, you’ll understand why I will cover the topics I do here - what happens at other film studios has an impact on Disney.  What happens at a lot of other places has an impact on Disney.

Walt Disney Studios, Pixar, and their sister studio Miramax have netted 20 nominations for this years Academy Awards. Miramax’s ‘The Queen’ was nominated for Best Motion Picture and ‘Cars’ was nominated for best animated feature. Disney is also competing against itself in the Animated Short film category.  LaughingPlace.com has the complete list.

Nice to see that Miramax can produce even after the Weinstein Brothers departed.

Cinematical has two great stories up this week about Miramax’s release of Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos (imdb). First up is the review that first got me excited about this film from when it was screened at the Tribeca film festival.

It’s a wide-eyed, delirious celebration
of American soccer, the likes of which we’ve never seen. And it’s
indescribably wonderful, the kind of film that brings a smile to your
face the moment it begins and doesn’t let go.

The film sounds very moving and exciting at the same time.

Next is an insightful interview with Producer John Battsek and co-director/editor Paul Crowder from just before the Tribeca film festival. Lots of good stuff here, not just about the film, but about documentary style filmmaking in general.

Once In A Lifetime opened in NYC this weekend and widens its release starting July 14th.

[ Tags: disney, film, movie, documentary, once+in+a+lifetime, miramax, soccer, football, american+soccer, nasl, mls, cosmos, ny+cosmos, pele ]

I just got the initial list of cities where you’ll be able to find the Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story Of The New York Cosmos soccer (AKA football if you live outside the US and Canada) documentary playing. I hope you’ll get a chance to see this great film and relive some of what it was like to be a soccer fan in the USA during the years of Pele and the NY Cosmos.

(As an aside, I think it’s interesting that David Beckham might decide to make his final tour as a football professional in the USA following in Pele’s footsteps. That should give the sport a much needed boost if it happens.)

After debuting on July 7th in NYC, Once In A Lifetime will open:

July 14
Los Angeles
Chicago
Washington D.C.

July 21
San Francisco
Philadelphia
Boston

(Previously on Movieland.)

When the Weinstein brother’s departed from the Disney fold, they were given the option of co-releasing a few films with Miramax while they got their new company up and running. One of the films they wanted to keep was Johnny Depp’s The Libertine.

In it Johnny Depp plays The Earl of Rochester, known as much for his scandalous lifestyle as his royalty, whose debauchery ends up with him being exiled from the royal court. "You will not like me." Depp’s character says in the narration, but many did enjoy the film in its limited release. With its release on DVD more audiences can now enjoy Depp’s performance.

There’s another Disney film opening on July 7th - only just in NYC, so I don’t think it will impact that Pirate film, who’s in that again? It’s Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story Of The New York Cosmos. This Miramax backed documentary is narrated by Matt Dillon and takes us back to the high flung days of Disco, Studio 54, and the height of soccer’s popularity in America led by Brazillian superstar Pele.

Most of my youth corresponded with the peak and deminishing of the NASL. My team was the Portland Timbers. I saw Pele and the Cosmos in June of ‘76 at a sold out Portland Stadium (now PGE Park). It was thrilling to watch my team lose 3-0 to Pele’s team. I remember thinking I’ll never forget that day. But I did until I heard about this documentary.

Once In A Lifetime goes into wider distribution July 14th and I hope I get a chance to see it here in Orlando. It will be nice to experience some of that thrill again.

The Weinstein brother’s first foray into animation after leaving the Mouse House fold is Hoodwinked. Latino Review has seen the film and thinks it qualifies as good family entertainment.

So, four suspects, recipes gone, who done it? You’ll just have to see
the film to find out. But I will say, I was extremely impressed at the
animation for this film; there are scenes in the water that looks like
real water, and not done on a computer. And the characters were
amazingly drawn; lots of details in the face and body movement.

The studio might be a little worried their film will get lost in the Holiday rush, however, because they’ve moved back the opening date from December 25th to January 13th.
(Thanks animated-news)

[ disney, miramax, weinstein, animation, hoodwinked, film, movie, review ]

Blackfriars links to an interview with Disney CEO Bob Iger in the Wall Street Journal. Iger has already made a couple of smart moves as CEO, let’s hope that trend continues.

If you ask me one of the worst things Michael Eisner did on his way out of the company was to let the Weinstein Brothers leave Miramax (of course there may have been no stopping Harvey). Now they’re back with their own film releases; some looking to move in on what has traditionally been Disney’s territory.

Hoodwinked (imdb) is a new animated film that follows in the footsteps of cg animated features like Chicken Little and Shrek. Hoodwinked is a new take on the classic fable of Little Red Riding Hood that picks up where the story left off. Spoofing cop shows like CSI and Law and Order, the movie looks at how modern law enforcement would view the story.

The preview trailer is now online (AOL, APPLE). Look for this to be hitting theatres just in time for Christmas.

[ animation, disney, miramax, weinstein, weinstein+company, hoodwinked, cg+animation ]