TeleChimp | TV Journalism

What do you except when you throw a burning matchstick in warehouse full of gasoline… a huge boom….

That is exactly what Warner Bros planned when the official teaser trailer was released during the screening of harry potter. And to say well it has done the job for you.

The short 90sec teaser trailer showing virtually nothing has generated a significant stir in the internet community. The latest Batman Series which is named “The Dark Knight Rises” will be the concluding part of Christopher Nolan’s successful “Batman” trilogy.

The trailer shows the images of collapsing skyscrapers of Gotham City making a batman logo in the sky.

Christian Bale who plays Batman will be facing his latest nemesis Bane which is played by Brit Tom Hardy. The movie trailer also shows Robbie William in a particular role; well to know what exactly is he is playing we will have to wait for the movie.

Another trailer doing rounds on internet also shows Commissioner Gordon played by Gary Oldman fighting for his life in a hospital bed begging Bruce Wayne to revive his black-clad superhero.

Taking into consideration the success of “Dark Knight” thanks to the brilliant performance by late Heath Ledger the expectation from “The Dark Knight Rises” will be huge.

Well for now it’s the trailers which make us feel frustrated thinking we have to wait almost a year to see the movie when it will hit the theaters on July 20 2012.

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Thanks to its bumper opening & fantastic box-office earnings for “Transformers” and its sequel we expect more sequels of Transformers. Even though “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” didn’t live upto the expectations of the critics and audience, it was no surprise to the three-quel,”Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” making box-office history and a ton of money in the initial days of its release.

It is learned that ,”Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” had collections around $97.5 million over the holiday weekend, which makes it the biggest opening-weekend record holder for this year so far, which was previously set by “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

Well that’s the reason we’ll be getting more “Transformers” movies, no matter what Bay and star Shia LaBeouf have said or decided about their “retirement” plans. Even Paramount is currently thinking of ways to keep the franchise going,” Boxoffice.com editor Phil Contrino told MTV News. “Unfortunately, making a deal for a property this big won’t be easy,” he added, speaking to moving forward with the franchise without Bay and LaBeouf. “I’m sure a bunch of directors and stars will be kicked around publicly before new hires are made.”

According to senior writer Anthony Breznican from Entertainment Weekly, who said that the robots will live on to rule future box offices. “We will definitely see another movie; how soon is a good question,” he said. “I took Bay seriously when he said he was finished directing [the 'Transformers' films], and they can reboot them again with someone else. That’s not something you say if it’s a negotiating tactic. I believed him. I think Shia is serious,” he added. “Three movies in this universe are a lot for an actor. Unless you want to be known only as the ‘Transformers’ guy, you have to move on and do something different.

” Harry Potter’ will be gargantuan,” Breznican said of “Deathly Hallows, Part 2″ being the next big competition for “Dark of the Moon.” “People are going to want to see it again and again, and that’s a real tribute to the filmmakers and J.K. Rowling’s storytelling. It’s a story where you invest a lot in those characters and they invest a lot back. There is a lot of sacrifice and affection; that movie packs an emotional punch,” he said. “It’s going to blow ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ out of the water.”

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David Cronenberg is a cult author hometown and one of the greatest players in Toronto has never been on the stage of world cinema.

So you would think that a dangerous method, his first new film in four years, would be an obvious choice of the gala opening of the slot 2011 Toronto International Film Festival – especially when there is no Horror.

But guess again. This movie, laden with prestige, will almost certainly be in the TIFF lineup, but not in the prime opening night gala slot.

That is because for the second consecutive year, TIFF has been trumped by a rival film festival in Venice, which starts two weeks earlier than the younger but livelier Toronto event.

Here we go again.

Last year it was Barney’s Version, produced by Robert Lantos, that had its world premiere in Venice and turned up at TIFF just a few days later. Now we can rerun the tape and we’re seeing almost the same story playing out in 2011.

Score: The Hockey Musical opened the 2010 Toronto film festival instead of Barney, the year’s most keenly anticipated Canadian movie.

A Dangerous Method is clearly British in most respects rather than Canadian, but because Cronenberg was in the director’s chair, we’re entitled to claim it as our own. The History of Violence in 2005 and Eastern Promises in 2007, the last two Cronenberg movies at TIFF, were both big hits.

A Dangerous Method is based on British writer Christopher Hampton’s play The Talking Cure, about how Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung more or less invented psychoanalysis more than a century ago.

Set in Zurich and Vienna, it tells the story of Jung’s relationship with a woman named Sabina Spielrein, who went on to become a noted female psychoanalyst after being Jung’s patient in a sexually charged relationship.

Hampton, who won a screenwriting Oscar for Dangerous Liaisons and was a nominee for Atonement, adapted his own play. Viggo Mortensen plays Freud, Michael Fassbender is cast as Jung, and Keira Knightley has the fascinating role of Sabina.

Last week Sony Pictures Classics announced it has acquired U.S. distribution rights to A Dangerous Method. SPC was also the U.S. distributor for Barney.

But why should Toronto is eclipsed by Venice in both cases?

In case you were wondering, neither Lantos nor Cronenberg resides in the Lido or on the Grand Canal. Nor are they among the regulars at Harry’s Bar.

Indeed, they live around the corner from one another in Forest Hill. Both are Toronto boosters, but it serves the interest of their movies to be showcased at both these important festivals on opposite sides of the ocean.

Every year the Venice festival unspools before TIFF. And out of pride, Piers Handling and Cameron Bailey are not going to hand their opening night gala slot to a movie that has just had its world premiere at a rival festival.

So they’ll be looking for another movie to draw a standing ovation while waving the maple leaf flag at Roy Thomson Hall on Thursday, Sept. 8.

It won’t be Midnight’s Children, about India’s leap from colony to independence. It’s based on Salman Rushdie’s Booker Prize novel and directed by the gifted and fearless Deepa Mehta, who gave TIFF a night to remember with the premiere of her magnificent Water in 2005.

Why not? Because her new movie filmed earlier this year in Sri Lanka, won’t be ready in time. Mehta will be in the editing room, with a post-production schedule that goes until the end of the year. And Midnight’s Children won’t be at TIFF in the fall of 2012, either, because it is almost sure to be released in the first half of the year.

While we’re on the subject of Barney, we note that will be released on DVD next week eOne. And for those of us who have seen and enjoyed the movie on the big screen, but left even thirstier, the DVD offers some delicious dishes with half an hour of deleted scenes. Among them: a torrid exchange in which Saul Rubinek as the father of the hippie Barney’s girlfriend, Clara, visits horrible Barney (Paul Giamatti), after the suicide of Clara.

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This weekend will mark the first choice of 3D theater in Juneau. Alaska crude is to promote films in 3D here as part of a total conversion to digital film rolls – literally – a thing of the past.

Cinema glacier in the form of his debut. Digital projectors have replaced the old reel to roll. Brackets have been falsified to go on projectors, creating a depth where the filmmakers intended, that the depth of special glasses included films.

“It does what the red and blue glasses did,” said Shane Solomon-Gross, Glacier Cinemas’ lead manager.

His father and company general manager Kenny Solomon-Gross said that while Glacier’s replaced projectors are from 1983 and 1997, the digital ones going into downtown’s 20th Century Theatre will replace projectors that have been around since the 1940s.

Besides the projectors, the screens and sound systems have been replaced for the digital conversion. Shane said there are two silver screens that allow the right contrast and depth for 3-D. The others are white screens.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” opening Friday, will be the first movie shown here in 3D. There will also be the option to view it in 2D.

Kenny said he expects to have 2D options available for other 3D films as well. He said this, as well as which movies arrive in 3D, depends on the distributors.

Kenny and Shaun discussed several advantages the company will see in the digital conversion.

The company’s new digital projectors get the movies from hard drives instead of reels. The drives are plugged in and downloaded as opposed to having the reels spliced together before show times. The distributor then emails the digital unlock codes similarly to how they sent the codes to unlock the reels.

They said it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get a movie and digital trailer package together while it could take up to two hours with reels. The new hard drives are also considerably lighter and less cumbersome.

Running the pictures will be easier, too. Kenny said when all the digital setups are working; they can be set up from a single office. Kenny and Shane agreed this will give the managers, who often serve as projectionists, more time to devote to customer service.

“Not one job was lost,” Shane added of the digital conversion.

They said show quality was another advantage, explaining that the film on reels would always go down in quality with each showing, regardless of care. Programs from hard drives don’t face that obstacle.

“We expect the quality of the feature will always be the same,” Kenny said.

“I want our shows to be in line with the directors’ intent,” said his son. He added, “If you show perfect quality, the customer won’t feel cheated.”

He said the other reason for bringing the digital format here was make movies more of an event in the community. He said Gross Alaska has always been committed to Southeast Alaska, thus justifying the “substantial investment” in the conversion.

Kenny said another reason for the conversion is the industry’s move toward digital.

“It was a factor because I feel film won’t be around past 2013, he said. “Essentially, the days of projectors are over.”

“Customers ask for 3D and they want it,” said Kenny.

3D movies will cost an additional $3, including glasses. Kenny said 3D prices are universally higher than 2D, as set by the distribution companies. He said Gross Alaska’s ticket prices are still below the national average.

“We’re very competitive in our prices,” Kenny said. “This is a nice, inexpensive form of entertainment.”

Gross Alaska is holding an open house for digital and 3D demonstrations Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at Glacier Cinemas. The demonstrations start at 11 a.m. The first 150 people there will get free 3D glasses. Food and door prizes wait, too.

Glacier Cinemas will be closed on Thursday for a private event. 20th Century Theater in downtown will still be open that day.

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Brazilian director Carlos Saldanha only has reintroduced the world to Rio de Janeiro. And without knowing it, his animated film “Rio” could decline as the equivalent of landing on the Moon Hollywood.

This time, a Brazilian made a move around Brazilians (e.g., animals of Brazil, at least) that in Brazilian issues in Brazil, animal trafficking and street children in Rio is even an apparition. As Neil Armstrong is a small step for man, what is really Saldanha Hollywood release of a unique history of Brazil may well be other studios and investors to do the same to make movies about Brazil?

The relationship between the Brazilian and US filmed entertainment industry has been a one way street. Brazilian directors and actors are coming to Hollywood to make Hollywood movies. José Padilha, 44, garnered success in Brazil’s first-ever crime drama franchise “Elite Squad” (Tropa de Elite). Now he’s going to be shooting a new version of “Robocop.” Fernando Meirelles was allegedly hired to do a movie about the Onassis family, based on the book “Nemesis” by Peter Evans. His favorite screenwriter, Brazilian Braulio Mantovani, is supposed to be writing it, according to the Vulture blog of New York Magazine. Wagner Moura, the lead actor in “Elite Squad”, will have his Hollywood debut in “Elysium” produced by Matt Damon and Jodie Foster.

The number of Brazilians heading to La La land to make US films is small, but rising as the industry takes notice of the talent based there. It will raise more when the market really looks at what Saldanha did with “Rio”. If Saldanha’s claim to fame in the US was the wildly popular “Ice Age” franchise, then “Rio” could make him another important link between US studios and talent agencies, and Brazil’s burgeoning filmed entertainment industry.

Here’s what that market looks like. In 2009, 112.7 million Brazilians went to the movies compared to 89.1 million in 2008 and 89.3 million in 2007, according to Rio de Janeiro based industry Research Company, Filme B. Revenue potential is greater than ever. Brazilians spent R$970 million ($570 million) at the box office in 2009, up from R$727 million in 2008 and R$712.7 million in 2007. It’s more than double the R$357 million the Brazilian box office brought in 10 years ago, according to Filme B.

Some investment firms in São Paulo like Grupo Lacan are setting up new investment products called Funcines, devised in response to a six year old federal, audiovisual law, that open up the possibilities of corporate and private investors acquiring stakes in Brazilian movies. BNY Mellon underwrote a $29 million cinema fund late last year. By the end of 2010, R$130 million ($76.5 million) was raised to invest in Brazil’s filmed entertainment business, 30% more than was raised 2009. In fact, 2010 was a record breaking year for private capital being made available to the industry.

Last year, Argentinian film company Costa Films, owned by real-estate magnate turned film maker Eduardo Constantini, acquired independent Brazilian film studio Bananeira Films to form Costa Films Brazil. Its first movie was “Lula, the Son of Brazil,” a feature about the life and times of former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Constantini is arguably one of the region’s most ambitious young producers. He joined forces with Mexican financier Alex Garcia and The Weinstein Company in New York to set up a Latin American Film fund. Its first co-production was “Elite Squad” and later “Elite Squad II”. Talk about a home run. More investments like this should be taking place.

Elite Squad is not Rio, of course. Elite Squad is a Brazilian movie, made for Brazilians, but one that can easily travel overseas in markets were subtitles are not the turn-off that they are in the US. The success of Elite Squad and other franchise hits like “Se Eu Fosse Você” (“If I Were You”) show the depth of Brazil storytelling, and potential for big returns. Not “Pirates of the Caribbean Returns”, but profitable nonetheless.

Some US investors are taking notice of the growth. Nicholas Bernstein, CEO of start-up Brazilian media venture Corisco Films, based in New York and Rio, says it has already has a slate of films ready to make in Brazil. And like “Rio”, Bernstein’s goal is to eventually make Brazilian-based movies for a global audience.

“Studios are realizing that local products are important investments for them if they want to increase the bottom line,” says Bernstein. “And Brazil and the stories that can come out of Brazil create a lot of opportunities that maybe do not exist in other markets.”

Corisco’s business plan caught the attention of a number of long-time LA-NY media makers. Old timers like Robert Greenhut (“Annie Hall”), Cinematographer Michael Ballhaus (“The Departed”, “Sinatra”), and script writer/consultant Ronan Bennett (“Public Enemies”) make up part of the company’s board.

Rio Saldanha was a Hollywood movie by 20th Century Fox Animation’s Blue Sky Survey in Connecticut. But the fact is, it could have been written and designed in Brazil. Meanwhile, the international call. Although Brazil’s film industry seems more European than American, with government funding programs, there is a market approach is possible, “said Bernstein. And government money may be part of this approach.

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As he collects some pressure if necessary on a selection of controversy within the United Nations, Julian Schnabel Palestinian drama “Miral” also seeks to pause for another reason: The film is different from that criticism and experienced journalists in the fall.

Initially conceived as a contender press in December 2010 and prices, personal history-as-politics has been quickly in trouble when he played at festivals in Venice and Toronto film was a mechanical test that has not received very good critical.

Writing in Variety in September, Justin Chang noted that “Schnabel’s signature blend of splintered storytelling and sobering humanism feels misapplied to this sweeping multi-generational saga of four Arab women living under Israeli occupation, the youngest of which, Miral, emerges a bland totem of hope rather than a compelling movie subject … at a certain point, the characters begin speaking almost exclusively in soundbites.” The Guardian later said that the film had gotten itself into a “terrible muddle” with its focus on disparate characters.

“Miral’s” U.S. release date was pushed back as distributor the Weinstein Co. focused on its other award contenders. The Freida Pinto-starring film is now coming out in the relative quiet of March, opening in limited release next weekend.

Schnabel says the movie that will play theaters is not the same movie that pundits judged in the fall. The director tells 24 Frames that his political tale — which is based on the coming-of-age memoir of girlfriend Rula Jebreal –  is now a full 13 minutes shorter, which takes it from nearly two hours to 1 hour and 39 minutes.

Gone is the archival footage of post-Oslo Accord celebrations from the end of a film, as well a funeral at the movie’s opening that sets the tone for one of the film’s key subjects. “It stays more with the characters instead of the topic,” Schnabel said.

A film can sometimes contract as it moves from festival to commercial theater, although a cut of 13 minutes is decidedly on the larger end of the spectrum. (The director said he collaborated with Harvey Weinstein, who is known for a proactive approach in the editing room, in making the trims. “He has excellent ideas, and I tried some different things,” Schnabel said.)

Without singling anyone out, Schnabel said that he was irked by the early coverage, some of which pondered the idea of an Indian actress playing a Palestinian character. “I read some pretty stupid reviews, where people said silly things about Freida,” Schnabel said. “If you saw her and Rula, they could be sisters.”

Schnabel said that the critical ambivalence paved for him, “Nice comments from people I respect”, as the Board of Directors of Jonathan Demme, Milos Forman and Bernardo Bertolucci.

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You may have observed the MPAA also started smoking in their reasons for the rating. Turmoil surrounding the decision slightly faded, especially because smoking is now twenty percent of the offensive to the American public as drunk driving, but a lot of other countries where smoking is more common, this is still a hot button issue.

No country in the world, buys more cigarettes than China, and after a new study, Chinese children are more likely to smoke after seeing the movie stars do, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has decided to fix the law.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, movies will no longer be allowed to depict minors smoking or buying tobacco products, as well as anyone lighting anywhere smoking is banned. This includes all public buildings and will probably be the sorriest point of contention for filmmakers.

That being said, movies are supposed to, for the most part, glorify realism, and if you can’t smoke in certain places, films should depict that, or at least implement consequences if characters do. As to whether or not it’s realistic for minors not to light up, it probably isn’t, but as long as surveys showing it influences children are released, decisions like this will continue.

Now it just remains to be seen whether this will be implemented or even how long it lasts. Tobacco is big business in China, and more than seventy-five billion was paid in taxes by the state run smoking industry.

This is a serious lobbying and is unlikely to be pleased with this development. No word on if this will affect foreign films, but with the Chinese market continues to grow, Hollywood will be forced to take notice.

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In short, Sanctum is a film about survival. Indeed, survival is the outer shell, the shell and core film. Sure, there are a couple of character strings to float throughout the film, but most of them end abruptly with the death of every character, and the only one who does all his conflict is resolved with the other characters are just dying or dead. This is not a spoiler, because the plot is very easy to predict.

Yet even if the public can easily see all the major sites in ten miles away from them, this works. Estranged father and son are being discussed most of the film? Check. Inevitably, father and son reconciliation? Check. Other members of the expedition, which could also be wearing an “I killed 3 … 2 … 1 …” t-shirt? Check. I’m sorry to ruin this, but none of these are really spoilers, Sanctum is followed by one of the oldest history books and stereotyped.

But since this is the first James Cameron-produced movie since Avatar, no one is probably going to see Sanctum for its plot. Most viewers will probably be more interested to hear how well the suspense and the 3D effects work. The moment-to-moment suspense works well to distract the viewer from the predictable plot and archetypical characters. The movie is also bright enough to know when to inject a brief moment of calm into the action so that the audience has something to compare the suspenseful action to. The action itself starts early on in the film and does not let up until much later, as the characters struggle to survive in a large and complex cave system that is flooding rapidly thanks to a cyclone.

So far so standard, but since this is a James Cameron film, the 3D effects turn into the elephant in the room; nagging the reviewer to mention them. As much innovation as you put into 3D filming, Mr. Cameron, it seems like you have lost a bit of the thread of what the technology is perfectly suited for: fantasy and science fiction. To be fair, the 3D is used in the exact same way and just as well as it was in Avatar, but it doesn’t quite mesh as well with the comparatively mundane setting that Sanctum has: a big cave. Granted, it was a very pretty cave, but at the end of the day, it was still just a big hole in the ground. And a big hole in the ground simply cannot hope to compete with Avatar’s fantastical moon-world, Pandora.

Which leaves this review with the writing, acting, and the soundtrack?  Overall, the writing, while never original or impressive, is at least competent; the characters are consistent, the dialogue suits the action and characters well enough. In fact, the only significant strike against the writing is that it seems like whoever wrote the screenplay was phoning it in somewhat; as evidenced by the blurb at the beginning reading “this film was inspired by true events;” by ‘inspired’ they mean ‘copied’ and by ‘true events’ they mean ‘a crazy story some guy told us.’ The actors do their parts well; even Ioan Gruffard, who comic book fans will remember for helping to butcher the Fantastic Four in their film adaptations as Mr. Fantastic. Lastly, the soundtrack mirrored the film’s overall quality: competent but bland.

If you happen to be a fan of films of survival or work of James Cameron, so you can check. 3D effects are used in a responsible and mature, but they can’t really add much to the film. Writing, acting, music, and overall the plot is passable. Do not go to the Sanctum expect a great story. Do not go to the Sanctum expects a fantastic soundtrack. Certainly not going to wait for the next Sanctum Avatar. What you can expect from Sanctum are some great special effects, written authority, and a good action thriller. As mentioned earlier in this review, Sanctum is competent but bland. Or, in other words, it’s a popcorn movie, quite edible, but it’s not going to imprison someone.

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Great commercial benefit from Hollywood studios and television producers are betting that Japanese images in three dimensions are the future of entertainment, although a major drawback: the millions of people feel bad to see them.

One in four viewers find it difficult to watch TV or movies in 3D, ophthalmologists say this is because the technology is to produce visual fatigue or because the visually impaired person to perceive the depth of the objects. In the worst case, the images cause dizziness, nausea or headaches.

Researchers have begun to develop devices that aim to solve these problems, but there are years or decades before they reach the market.  This has not stopped the entertainment industry that knows the problem but goes ahead with plans to create more television shows and movies in 3D. Jeff Katzenberg, DreamWorks Animation director, says it is “the biggest innovation for the cinema and the audience that has occurred since the color was.”

The theater chains AMC Entertainment and TV manufacturers as Panasonic and others plan to spend over a billion dollars to its facilities or equipment to offer the new technology. Some pay TV channels and broadcast programs in 3D: ESPN Sports announced that its three-dimensional signal transmitted 24 hours a day since February.

Last year there were many people who have paid an additional three dollars or more to watch 3D versions of hit films like “Avatar” and “Toy Story 3″ but it did not lead to a increase in the total turnover was 10 000 600 000, slightly less than in 2009. It was less a movie, but spent more.

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Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said”, HORROR television programs about ghosts or the supernatural aired during the Hari Raya period were favorites with the audience,

He said Government-owned television stations RTM only aired two mystery-themed movies – Gong and Waris Jari Hantu – during the Hari Raya holidays.

“Such programs are screened after taking into reflection the demand and good reaction from the audience.

“At the same time, RTM will ensure that the movies also promote positive values such as racial unity and strong moral values,” he said in reply to Mohd Firdaus Jaafar (PAS-Jerai).

Mohd Firdaus had asked the minister to state the number of television programmes containing superstitious elements screened by RTM, TV3, NTV7, 8TV, TV9 and Astro during Hari Raya.

Dr Rais added that RTM censored the films according to the ministry’s television screening guidelines to ensure that they did not contain excessive supernatural elements.

“For free-to-air private television stations like those under Kumpulan Media Prima Bhd and paid stations like Astro, only nine films categorized under non-excessive horror or violence elements were allowed to be aired,” he said.

The other programs for general viewing were vetted by the Film Censorship Board.

Dr Rais said, “The Government always advises television stations to air programs on positive values and those which give an impact to viewers on curbing social ills.”

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