Category — miramax

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 ]

Another by-product of the Eisner/Iger switch was the departure of the Weinstein brothers, Bob and Harvey. They’ve left Disney and the company they created and have now officially started work at their new eponynous establishment. Best of luck to the boys. Keep releasing good films, fun films, and interesting storylines and I’ll keep coming to see them. Even a Highlander IV every now and then is okay.

As you may have heard, Disney is slowly releasing some previously shelved films. Not necessarily bad films, just films that didn’t find a good release date for whatever reason during the stew between Eisner and Miramax. The goal is to get as much from them as they can before the Weinstein brothers move on to better things in a studio that they control. The LA Times has a detailed article that looks at each film and its potential in the box office. Their recommendation, save your money for the December release of ‘The Libertine‘. It features Johnny Depp in a period film that already has some oscar buzz.

[ttags: disney, miramax, film, movie, weinstein, depp, johnnydepp, libertine, eisner, iger, disneystudios ]

With the Weinstein brothers departing their Disney owned Miramax Studios this October, Disney has named a new President as replacement. Daniel Battsek will move from his position at Buena Vista International UK to take over the studio known for its Oscar winning hits and controversial productions.

Don’t have much time to post recently, if you haven’t noticed. But I’m working on it. If you happened to visit the new OrlandoSentinel website this morning you would have seen these three stories in the news.

The Weinstein Brothers are emptying the storage closet ahead of their departure from the Disney fold. A few films that have been caught in the often messy separation are now scheduled for their big screen debut. This includes a new Johnny Depp period film, Libertine.

There is also news on the Pixar and Disney relationship. Incumbent CEO Iger reports they are back at the table again. This relationship has proven to be profitable for both sides and I don’t think one should under estimate the branding power of having all your characters associated with one themepark giant. In any event both companies are facing a serious challenge from Sparky and his crew at Dreamworks. Madagascar managed a first place finish despite its name.

Hong Kong Disneyland is preparing to open in the late summer and it has already faced its share of challenges. You may have heard about the Shark Fin Soup controversy. SFS is often prepared in a manner that is cruel to the animals (cutting the fins off live sharks then releasing them to die). Disney has stated that they will serve the soup out of respect for the local culture which upset activitsts. Now Disney has stated they will only serve soup made from fins harvested in a non-cruel fashion (which I imagine means they’ll use the whole shark in some way).