Image Entertainment Acquires I AIN’T SCARED OF YOU: A TRIBUTE TO BERNIE MAC
A Full Galaxy of Stars Share Thoughts on the Beloved Comic
CHATSWORTH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Image Entertainment, Inc. (OTCQB: DISK) has acquired the North American home entertainment and digital rights to I AIN’T SCARED OF YOU: A TRIBUTE TO BERNIE MAC. The film, set to be released on Image’s One Village label, chronicles the life and career of a true “king of comedy” and includes exclusive footage of early, never-before-seen performances. The announcement was made by Image Entertainment’s Chief Acquisition Officer, Bill Bromiley.
“Bernie Mac was taken from us much too soon,” said Bromiley. “This film reminds us of his comic brilliance and viewers will be able to share in the enormous affection his friends, family and coworkers have for him by way of their candid, intimate interviews.”
I AIN'T SCARED OF YOU: A TRIBUTE TO BERNIE MAC traces Bernie Mac’s unique performance style and tireless pursuit of comedy that broke through racial and class barriers, enabling his ascension to club, television and film stardom. The film’s title comes from Mac’s first appearance on Def Comedy Jam where he took the mic and immediately exclaimed to the audience 'I Ain't Scared of You!' turning their boos into cheers. Instantly, this sharp-tongued Chicago native with a heart of gold won over millions of fans.
Directed by Robert Small and executive produced by Small and Rhonda McCullough, I AIN'T SCARED OF YOU features exclusive footage of early, never-before-seen performances, courtesy of Mac's friends and family. Additional footage includes his better-known work, such as the Kings of Comedy Tour, “The Bernie Mac Show” and several of his feature films.
Bernie’s daughter conducted many of the revealing interviews with his co-stars, colleagues and friends including Anthony Anderson, Tom Arnold, Angela Bassett, Bill Bellamy, Cedric the Entertainer, Don Cheadle, Cameron Diaz, Mike Epps, Andy Garcia, D.L. Hughley, Warren Hutcherson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ali LeRoi, Je’niece McCullough, Rhonda McCullough, Carl Reiner, Chris Rock, Zoe Saldana, Kellita Smith, Steven Soderbergh, Joe Torry and Camille Winbush. All filmed after his untimely passing, the interviews have a distinctively retrospective point-of-view and paint a vivid picture of who Bernie Mac was as an actor, comedian, husband, father and friend.
ABOUT ONE VILLAGE ENTERTAINMENT
Launched in 2007, One Village Entertainment, a division of Image Entertainment, is devoted to the development, production and acquisition of feature films, comedy specials, stage plays, documentaries and music content targeting the African-American consumer and urban market. The programming is distributed across multiple platforms including theatrical, broadcast, Blu-ray™/DVD and digital streaming and downloading. Among the more than 50 titles that carry the One Village imprimatur are live stand-up performances featuring Kevin Hart and Charlie Murphy, documentaries 2 Turntables and a Microphone: The Life and Death of Jam Master Jay and Soulmate, and the feature films American Violet starring Oscar-nominee Alfre Woodard and the acclaimed theatrical romantic comedy Russ Parr’s 35 & Ticking. Bestsellers in the One Village line also include the stage play productions What My Husband Doesn’t Know and Love in the Nick of Tyme by David E. Talbert, who is described by Variety as "the acknowledged kingpin of urban musicals."
ABOUT IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT
Image Entertainment, Inc. is a leading independent licensee and distributor of entertainment programming in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 exclusive CD titles in domestic release and more than 450 programs internationally via sublicense agreements. For many of its titles, the Company has exclusive audio and broadcast rights, as well as digital download rights to over 2,100 video programs and approximately 400 audio titles containing more than 6,000 individual tracks. The Company is headquartered in Chatsworth, California. For more information about Image Entertainment, Inc., please go to http://www.image-entertainment.com/.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Review: Young Casts Makes "THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE" Work (Happy B'day, Guillermo del Toro)
El Espinazo del Diablo (2001)
The Devil’s Backbone – U.S.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Mexico and Spain
Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence, language and some sexuality
DIRECTOR: Guillermo del Toro
WRITERS: Antonio Trashorras, David Muñoz, and Guillermo del Toro
PRODUCERS: Agustín Almodóvar and Bertha Navarro
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Pedro Almodóvar and Guillermo del Toro
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Guillermo Navarro
EDITOR: Luis de la Madrid
COMPOSER: Javier Navarrete
DRAMA/THRILLER with elements of mystery and fantasy
Starring: Fernando Tielve, Iñigo Garcés, Eduardo Noriega, Marisa Paredes, Federico Luppi, Irene Visedo, and Junio Valverde
Set during the waning days of the Spanish Civil War, The Devil’s Backbone is the story of Carlos (Fernando Tielve), a 12-year-old orphan who is the latest arrival at Santa Lucia School. The School is an imposing stone building that shelters orphans of the Republican militia and Red politicians and also children left behind by their parents because of the civil war. There are, of course, dark doings at the school, involving the usual suspects of sexual intrigue, secret murder, and hidden gold. It is Santi (Junio Valverde), the ghost of that secret murder victim, who holds the key to the story’s resolution and to justice.
Directed by Guillermo del Toro, who has had movie hits in the United States with such fantasy comic book adaptations as Blade II and Hellboy, The Devil’s Backbone is in the fine tradition of Spanish and Latin American storytelling that allows for ghosts and the spirits to play an active part in real world drama. The film is an expertly crafted thriller and poignant drama that is as scary and as intense as traditional horror films and manages this while being a quiet character drama.
In a way, The Devil’s Backbone is very difficult to categorize, it could be classified as a drama, thriller, mystery, or horror film. The characters are important to the film, but the school’s haunted atmosphere (even more so than the ghost) and its aura of misery are as important. The film would clearly fit into the fantasy genre, but it is firmly grounded in characters with real world needs, feelings, desires, and thoughts. In the end, the most important thing about the film is that it is simply a good story.
Early in the movie, the adult characters seem as if they’re going to control the show, but in the end, it is the young actors who shine. And it’s not so much that one juvenile actor dominates (although individual young characters have the larger parts than others), it’s the youthful cast as a whole that makes this story work on so many levels, as everything from a crime drama to haunted campfire tale.
8 of 10
A
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Saturday, October 8, 2011
Review: "The Good Shepherd" is Overstuffed and Stiff (Happy B'day, Matt Damon)
The Good Shepherd (2006)
Running time: 167 minutes (2 hours, 47 minutes)
MPAA – R for some violence, sexuality, and language
DIRECTOR: Robert De Niro
WRITER: Eric Roth
PRODUCERS: Robert De Niro, James G. Robinson, and Jane Rosenthal
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Richardson, ASC (DoP)
EDITOR: Tariq Anwar
Academy Award nominee
DRAMA/HISTORICAL/THRILLER
Starring: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, William Hurt, John Turturro, Billy Crudup Tammy Blanchard, Kier Dullea, Michael Gambon, Martina Gedeck, Timothy Hutton, Lee Pace, Joe Pesci, Eddie Redmayne, John Sessions, Oleg Stefan, and Robert De Niro
The Good Shepherd is the first film Robert De Niro has directed since 1993’s A Bronx Tale, which was his directorial debut. The film, which is partially fact-based, examines the early history of the CIA.
It’s 1939, and Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) is a sharp-minded Yale student and patriotic American. His keen sense of discretion, the value he places on secrecy, and his commitment to honor earns him the attention of Yale’s infamous secret society, Skull and Bones. His acute mind gets him recruited to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the CIA, and he serves his country during World War II. After the war, he becomes one of the founders of the CIA, and his decision to play a part alters his life even as he helps to shape the most powerful covert agency in the world.
Wilson is loyal to his country, but he begins to feel the job eroding his ideals and filling him with distrust because, as he’s so often told, he can’t really trust anyone. Meanwhile, his stoic personality and reticence about saying much shuts his wife, Margaret (Angelina Jolie) out of his life and starves their marriage. Wilson’s steely dedication also doesn’t do much for his relationship with his son, Edward Jr. (Eddie Redmayne), who wants to follow his father into the murky world of the CIA.
De Niro certainly demands your full attention with The Good Shepherd, and he gives the viewer so much to mull over. The problem with this film is that it is an epic PBS, Masterpiece Theatre-like, mini-series squeezed into a quarter hour short of three hours. De Niro’s narrative, like the script by Eric Roth, lumbers through domestic and international intrigue with an occasional stop at Edward Wilson’s way-unhappy home, yet neither Wilson’s covert work nor his home life get the fair treatment they need.
In Roth’s script, characters come and go like ghosts, and a quarter century of history darts by as we go back and forth in time. Nothing really sticks, and if it weren’t for some memorable moments (the brutal murder of a gay British spy and the senses-shattering end of another spy via a plane), The Good Shepherd would be an entirely cool exercise. The acting is fair to good, but Edward Wilson is too stiff and unemotional, and Matt Damon, who is best when he’s animated, a man of action with a plan, plays Wilson as a robot.
Is The Good Shepherd about loyalty, or is it about how a select group of men create and perpetuate the myth of foreign boogeymen as a justification for the careers and the existence of their organizations? It could be both, but likely we’ll remember The Good Shepherd as a film about a man who walks through his life and history as if he were a ghost. Everyone sees him and acts as if he were alive, while he acts as if he were dead. Both sides are only half right.
5 of 10
B-
NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Art direction” (Jeannine Claudia Oppewall – art director and Gretchen Rau and Leslie E. Rollins – set decorators)
Monday, April 16, 2007
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Friday, October 7, 2011
Disney Announces More Animation Classics to Get 3D Treatment
DISNEY AND DISNEY•PIXAR FAVORITES POISED TO RETURN TO THEATERS IN 3D
‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ‘Finding Nemo,’ ‘Monsters, Inc.’ and ‘The Little Mermaid’ Will Make 3D Theatrical Debut in 2012 and 2013
On the heels of the phenomenal success of The Lion King 3D – which will cross the $80 million mark at the domestic box office today – The Walt Disney Studios has announced limited theatrical engagements for four of its classic films for the first time in 3D. The following titles from Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios will be released in 2012 and 2013:
• Beauty and the Beast – January 13, 2012
• Disney•Pixar’s Finding Nemo – September 14, 2012
• Disney•Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. – January 18, 2013 (Monsters University, a prequel to the original film, arrives in theaters in Disney Digital 3D on June 21, 2013)
• The Little Mermaid – September 13, 2013
“Great stories and great characters are timeless, and at Disney we’re fortunate to have a treasure trove of both,” said Alan Bergman, President, The Walt Disney Studios. “We’re thrilled to give audiences of all ages the chance to experience these beloved tales in an exciting new way with 3D – and in the case of younger generations, for the first time on the big screen.”
Originally released in 1991, Beauty and the Beast is a classic “tale as old as time” that follows the adventures of Belle, a bright young woman imprisoned in the castle of a mysterious beast and his enchanted staff, who must learn the most important lesson of all – that true beauty comes from within. Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film ever nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Picture, earning an additional five Oscar® nominations and winning two. It has grossed $380.4 million worldwide.
First released in 2003, Disney•Pixar’s Finding Nemo takes audiences into a whole new world in this undersea adventure about family, courage and challenges. When Marlin, an overly cautious clownfish living in the Great Barrier Reef, helplessly watches his son get scooped up by a diver, he must put aside his fears of the ocean and leave the safety of his coral enclave to find Nemo. Buoyed by the companionship of Dory, a forgetful but relentlessly optimistic fish, Marlin finds himself the unlikely hero in a seemingly impossible land-and-sea rescue.Finding Nemo won an Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature and was nominated for three others. With a total of $867.6 million worldwide, it was the second highest-grossing film of 2003.
In 2001, Disney•Pixar released Monsters, Inc. Lovable Sulley and his wisecracking sidekick Mike Wazowski are the top scare team at Monsters, Inc., the scream-processing factory in Monstropolis. But when a little girl named Boo wanders into their world, it’s up to Sulley and Mike to keep her out of sight and get her back home.Monsters, Inc. shattered every DVD-era home entertainment sales record when 11 million DVD/VHS copies were sold during its first week of release. It won an Academy Award® for Best Song and has grossed $526.9 million worldwide.
Released in 1989, The Little Mermaid, stars Ariel, a fun-loving and mischievous mermaid, off on the adventure of a lifetime with her best friend, the adorable Flounder, and the reggae-singing Caribbean crab Sebastian. But it will take all of her courage and determination to make her dreams come true and save her father’s beloved kingdom from the sneaky sea witch Ursula. One of the most celebrated animated films of all time, The Little Mermaid was nominated for three Academy Awards®, winning two. It has grossed $228.9 million worldwide.
ABOUT THE WALT DISNEY STUDIOS
For more than 85 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under four banners: Walt Disney Pictures, which includes Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios; Disneynature; Marvel; and Touchstone Pictures, which includes the distribution of live-action films from DreamWorks Studios. Original music and motion picture soundtracks are produced under Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records, while Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Broadway theatrical productions, Disney on Ice and Disney LIVE!. For more information, visit http://www.waltdisneystudios.com/.
‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ‘Finding Nemo,’ ‘Monsters, Inc.’ and ‘The Little Mermaid’ Will Make 3D Theatrical Debut in 2012 and 2013
On the heels of the phenomenal success of The Lion King 3D – which will cross the $80 million mark at the domestic box office today – The Walt Disney Studios has announced limited theatrical engagements for four of its classic films for the first time in 3D. The following titles from Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios will be released in 2012 and 2013:
• Beauty and the Beast – January 13, 2012
• Disney•Pixar’s Finding Nemo – September 14, 2012
• Disney•Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. – January 18, 2013 (Monsters University, a prequel to the original film, arrives in theaters in Disney Digital 3D on June 21, 2013)
• The Little Mermaid – September 13, 2013
“Great stories and great characters are timeless, and at Disney we’re fortunate to have a treasure trove of both,” said Alan Bergman, President, The Walt Disney Studios. “We’re thrilled to give audiences of all ages the chance to experience these beloved tales in an exciting new way with 3D – and in the case of younger generations, for the first time on the big screen.”
Originally released in 1991, Beauty and the Beast is a classic “tale as old as time” that follows the adventures of Belle, a bright young woman imprisoned in the castle of a mysterious beast and his enchanted staff, who must learn the most important lesson of all – that true beauty comes from within. Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film ever nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Picture, earning an additional five Oscar® nominations and winning two. It has grossed $380.4 million worldwide.
First released in 2003, Disney•Pixar’s Finding Nemo takes audiences into a whole new world in this undersea adventure about family, courage and challenges. When Marlin, an overly cautious clownfish living in the Great Barrier Reef, helplessly watches his son get scooped up by a diver, he must put aside his fears of the ocean and leave the safety of his coral enclave to find Nemo. Buoyed by the companionship of Dory, a forgetful but relentlessly optimistic fish, Marlin finds himself the unlikely hero in a seemingly impossible land-and-sea rescue.Finding Nemo won an Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature and was nominated for three others. With a total of $867.6 million worldwide, it was the second highest-grossing film of 2003.
In 2001, Disney•Pixar released Monsters, Inc. Lovable Sulley and his wisecracking sidekick Mike Wazowski are the top scare team at Monsters, Inc., the scream-processing factory in Monstropolis. But when a little girl named Boo wanders into their world, it’s up to Sulley and Mike to keep her out of sight and get her back home.Monsters, Inc. shattered every DVD-era home entertainment sales record when 11 million DVD/VHS copies were sold during its first week of release. It won an Academy Award® for Best Song and has grossed $526.9 million worldwide.
Released in 1989, The Little Mermaid, stars Ariel, a fun-loving and mischievous mermaid, off on the adventure of a lifetime with her best friend, the adorable Flounder, and the reggae-singing Caribbean crab Sebastian. But it will take all of her courage and determination to make her dreams come true and save her father’s beloved kingdom from the sneaky sea witch Ursula. One of the most celebrated animated films of all time, The Little Mermaid was nominated for three Academy Awards®, winning two. It has grossed $228.9 million worldwide.
ABOUT THE WALT DISNEY STUDIOS
For more than 85 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under four banners: Walt Disney Pictures, which includes Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios; Disneynature; Marvel; and Touchstone Pictures, which includes the distribution of live-action films from DreamWorks Studios. Original music and motion picture soundtracks are produced under Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records, while Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Broadway theatrical productions, Disney on Ice and Disney LIVE!. For more information, visit http://www.waltdisneystudios.com/.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
"30 Days of Night" Almost Gets it Right
30 Days of Night (2007)
Running time: 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong horror violence and language
DIRECTOR: David Slade
WRITERS: Steve Niles, Stuart Beattie, and Brian Nelson (based on the comic by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith)
PRODUCERS: Sam Raimi and Robert G. Tapert
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jo Willems (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Art Jones
HORROR/THRILLER with elements of mystery
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster, Mark Boone Junior, Mark Rendall, Manu Bennett, Megan Franich, and Joel Tobeck
Barrow, Alaska is the northernmost town in the United States and is isolated, about 80 miles from the next nearest town. At one point during winter, the sun does not appear for 30 days and nights. This year, when the darkness falls, a stranger (Ben Foster) arrives in Barrow. Unknown to the residents of this isolated village, the stranger is the harbinger of a legendary evil hungry to feed on them. Barrow’s youthful sheriff, Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett), and his estranged wife, Stella Oleson (Melissa George), lead a small band of survivors against the marauding killers and their terrifying leader, Marlow (Danny Huston). Their only hope is to hide and survive the 30 days of night.
Part of the selling of 30 Days of Night was to tell potential audiences that the film would be some kind of new vision of vampires, but the truth is that this movie is like an imaginative retelling of the 80’s vampire flick, Near Dark. Director David Slade (Hard Candy) creates a proficient, atmospheric horror film, recalling the claustrophobic dread of John Carpenter’s The Thing, and composer Brian Reitzell’s unnerving score also adds a deeply ominous mood over the movie. However, the storytelling ultimately takes a backseat to the clever premise, and the movie suffers for it.
Midway through, the film comes frayed at the ends. The cool idea – to set a vampire tale in a place where night last for 30 days – can’t save a movie where the narrative is a collection of scenes and plot points rather than an actual story. There’s not so much as a beginning, middle, and end as there is a series of vampire attacks. Also, the characters are merely fodder – meat for the beasts, and they’re played by a dreary, chilly cast, although Josh Hartnett and Melissa George stand out for reasons that will be obvious. Who are the people of Barrow? What do they like, and what are their goals? What makes them want to live in an extremely remote place like Barrow, where it’s actually dangerous to live? Those questions are never posed because the filmmakers are obsessed with the blood and guts of horror to the neglect of anything about good storytelling.
30 Days of Night will ultimately be remembered as a good idea that became a misfire in the hands of filmmakers so blinded by the surface shine that they wouldn’t dig deep. Yes, it does have its inspired moments and can entertain, but what could have been a special horror flick ends up being yet another flashy display of horror movie blood and excessive violence.
5 of 10
B-
Monday, November 05, 2007
Pixar's Lasseter and Catmull on Steve Jobs' Passing
John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer & Ed Catmull, President, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios on Steve Jobs’ Passing
EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The following is a statement from John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer & Ed Catmull, President, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios on Steve Jobs’ passing:
"Steve Jobs was an extraordinary visionary, our very dear friend and the guiding light of the Pixar family. He saw the potential of what Pixar could be before the rest of us, and beyond what anyone ever imagined. Steve took a chance on us and believed in our crazy dream of making computer animated films; the one thing he always said was to simply 'make it great.' He is why Pixar turned out the way we did and his strength, integrity and love of life has made us all better people. He will forever be a part of Pixar’s DNA. Our hearts go out to his wife Laurene and their children during this incredibly difficult time."
EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The following is a statement from John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer & Ed Catmull, President, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios on Steve Jobs’ passing:
"Steve Jobs was an extraordinary visionary, our very dear friend and the guiding light of the Pixar family. He saw the potential of what Pixar could be before the rest of us, and beyond what anyone ever imagined. Steve took a chance on us and believed in our crazy dream of making computer animated films; the one thing he always said was to simply 'make it great.' He is why Pixar turned out the way we did and his strength, integrity and love of life has made us all better people. He will forever be a part of Pixar’s DNA. Our hearts go out to his wife Laurene and their children during this incredibly difficult time."
Disney President and CEO on Passing of Steve Jobs
Robert A. Iger, President and CEO, The Walt Disney Company on Steve Jobs’ Passing
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The following is a statement from Robert A. Iger, President and CEO, The Walt Disney Company on Steve Jobs’ passing:
Steve Jobs was a great friend as well as a trusted advisor. His legacy will extend far beyond the products he created or the businesses he built. It will be the millions of people he inspired, the lives he changed, and the culture he defined. Steve was such an “original,” with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started. With his passing the world has lost a rare original, Disney has lost a member of our family, and I have lost a great friend. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Laurene and his children during this difficult time.
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The following is a statement from Robert A. Iger, President and CEO, The Walt Disney Company on Steve Jobs’ passing:
Steve Jobs was a great friend as well as a trusted advisor. His legacy will extend far beyond the products he created or the businesses he built. It will be the millions of people he inspired, the lives he changed, and the culture he defined. Steve was such an “original,” with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started. With his passing the world has lost a rare original, Disney has lost a member of our family, and I have lost a great friend. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Laurene and his children during this difficult time.
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