Roger Ebert’s been on a tweeting/blogging bent saying video games are not art. I mean, geez, you don’t have to play them, but why so harsh?
Well, some bona fide artists are jumping to defend video games now. Oscar-winner Sir Ben Kingsley, who stars in the movie version of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, says video games are a new form of art worthy of his own mad acting skills…
The decision to dump Megan Fox from Transformers 3 underscores the perils of slamming your franchise and filmmakers if you’re a thesp. Promoting Wall Street 2 in Cannes, LaBeouf hasn’t been as recklessly critical as his now former co-star. But Hollywood executives I talked to feel that Shia was disrespectful when he proclaimed publicly (and truthfully) that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull basically sucked even though he starred in it. The 23-year-old did take some responsibility (“The actor’s job is to make it come alive and make it work, and I couldn’t do it. So that’s my fault”). But he told reporters that “when you drop the ball, you drop the ball… You can blame it on the writer and you can blame it on Steven. I’ll probably get a call. But he needs to hear this…” …
https://www.deadline.com/2010/05/megan-as-cautionary-tale-is-shia-heeding/#more-42953
Best Buy’s new movie download service will launch by June 1 with a familiar name: CinemaNow…
https://www.thewrap.com/article/best-buys-video-download-site-ready-june-17499
…Paramount won’t be picking up Megan Fox’s option on Transformers 3 — and that it was “ultimately” director Michael Bay’s decision. (So he gets his revenge for her remark comparing him to “Hitler”.)…
https://www.deadline.com/2010/05/michael-bays-revenge-no-more-megan/#more-42852
B.O. trading gets another round with regulators
The idea of film futures trading could be a moot point if financial reform legislation passes, but federal regulators considering two proposals held a public hearing on Wednesday in which they listened to a contradictory mix of stern warnings and bright promise on just what the proposed box office trading would mean…
https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118019619.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
The last time Shia LaBeouf came to Cannes, in 2008, it was to promote “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” the revival of the swashbuckling adventure franchise that went on to earn a whopping $787 million around the world. LaBeouf is back on the Croisette this weekend to flog “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” another revival of a classic from several decades ago. But he’s not willing to forget about what he says were rampant problems with Indy 4 — and he doesn’t expect fans to, either.
“I feel like I dropped the ball on the legacy that people loved and cherished,” LaBeouf said, explaining that this upped the ante for him before he began shooting the “Wall Street” sequel. “If I was going to do it twice, my career was over. So this was fight-or-flight for me.”…
CANNES — Given the crash diet forced on the international market last year, American sellers streaming into Cannes this week are encouraged that the market suddenly appears very hungry again.
“The pendulum has swung back the other direction,” said WME’s Graham Taylor, asserting that foreign buyers’ appetite for projects is back up. IM Global’s Stuart Ford agrees, noting that “it’s becoming more of a sellers market again than it has been for the past couple of years.”…
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i056525c4efa8dd6fc08c9de248ec01d4
‘Smaller is better’ at Film Finance event
The indie market may still be in flux, but experts say “smaller is better” as the film finance world is looking tighter but brighter.
Speaking at Variety’s Film Finance Forum on Thursday, panelists said investors have a renewed but cautious sense of the market. They said people who are buying and investing in film product now realize they will be in better positions in the long run by sticking with film investment and riding through the effects of the recent economic downturn…
https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118019258.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
For indie filmmakers, moving forward when financing falls through is tougher than anything else that goes into making a movie…
Japan is betting it will have holographic TV technology ready in time to host the 2022 World Cup soccer event. The Japan Times said the country unveiled its bid for the 2022 World Cup on Monday. Japan and South Korea would co-organize the event and employ 3D, holographic display technology into the coverage…