Browsing: Film and Television

The horror film “The Possession” is set to claim the No. 1 spot over the Labor Day weekend, though the most frightening thing at the box office may be poor overall ticket sales.

I have a terrible habit of falling asleep during movies, in particular, action movies. It’s a terrible affliction, considering the fact that I’m a film major with a mean case of attention deficit disorder.

Warning: This is a story about online cat videos. If you’re among the seemingly tiny minority of the general population not interested in watching a one-minute clip of a cat in a T-shirt pounding on a keyboard, then move along.

For everyone else, a new measure of respectability is looming for an Internet pleasure that is both massively popular and, for some people, a bit embarrassing. The Walker Art Center, a well-regarded museum of modern art in Minneapolis, is presenting its first “Internet Cat Video Film Festival” to showcase the best in filmed feline hijinks.

ABC has acquired the television rights to Spike Lee’s upcoming Michael Jackson documentary, the network announced Tuesday.

The acclaimed filmmaker, who had previously collaborated with Jackson, has been prepping “Bad 25,” a documentary tracing the late king of pop’s creative vision during the making of “Bad,” the follow-up to his groundbreaking “Thriller.” It is one of two major projects pegged to the 25th anniversary of the 1987 hit-filled album.

China is rolling up the red carpet for Hollywood.

Just six months after Chinese and American leaders reached a new agreement allowing more foreign movies into the world’s most populous nation, officials there are trying to torpedo the box office returns of some of Hollywood’s biggest summer films.

What has Michael Moore and digital technology wrought?

Now anyone with a political agenda and low-cost digital camera can make a movie and call it a documentary. Even enterprises that at best are vanity projects and at worst badly disguised and overly long attack ads are taken seriously by audiences— and box-office observers.

here was bloodshed on the battlefields of the Civil War and there was bloodshed on the homefront of two families: the Hatfields and the McCoys.
The epic feud, which began in 1865 and was filled with murder, theft, and deceit, not only made for an Emmy nominated miniseries, but it’s also historically true.
Baylor alumnus Kevin Reynolds directed the Hatfields & the McCoys miniseries, which aired May 28-30. He graduated from Baylor with a law degree in 1976.
In 1978, Reynolds decided to attend the University of Southern California after practicing law in Austin for two years.

When I was a little girl, I was always astounded when someone made the prediction that a movie would have a sequel, having no understanding whatsoever of the way the minds of studio executives worked. Could I have foreseen the “Little Mermaid 2?” Or 3? No, but someone more savvy could smell a string of bad Disney sequels a mile off. These add-ons, which I invariably found disappointing, served only to cash in on the good name of a better movie. Money could be made from unnaturally extending a story which had reached a satisfying conclusion–and it was.

By Sarah George Photographer “The Campaign” is first and foremost a political satire on the extremes of political races and…

As far back as I can remember I’ve been enamored with the George Washington Bridge. There’s a certain je ne sais quoi about it that boggles my mind and sends my heart aflutter. Truth be told, I’ve wanted to write a piece about this man-made wonder for a while, but I was worried I couldn’t do it justice.

Making the case that a large majority of today’s television is awful only requires examining two specific networks and how much they have each devolved.

For the past week, the only movie title I’ve heard anyone talking about is “Cabin in the Woods.”

The Baylor University Libraries plan to conclude their Celebration of Texas event with a grand — or rather, giant — event at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Bill Daniel Student Center Den.

His Awesomeness, Jason Statham, has let it be known that he chooses his films based on the fight choreographer the producers hire. Often as not, that blows up in his face. Why else would the Human Bullet from Blighty end up in dogs like “War,” “Transporter 3” and “Death Race”?

John Cusack has heard the sniping. He’s Internet savvy, a big-time Twitter user. So he knew Edgar Allan Poe fanatics were complaining about the movie he was making about the writer.

Baylor’s film and digital media department has undergone changes over the years. No longer does the industry revolve solely around 35mm film cameras. The digital age is abundantly present.

A few films into their Disneynature movie-making experience, producer-directors Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, veterans of the BBC’s acclaimed “Planet Earth” series, figure they’re finally getting the hang of Disney.

“The Three Stooges,” directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly, was not the box-office comeback the filmmakers hoped for.

Massachusetts, you’re out. Ohio? Sorry, another loser. In the race for cultural mecca, the winner is: Oregon.

Cinematographer Stephen Poster set up a simple studio rig of three stage lights and a small collection of crude three-dimensional objects on a black felt top to display how easily one could produce shadows and harsh lines. With a camera attached to an external monitor, Poster shined and reflected light beams all across the room while students and faculty watched.

Troubled film financier David Bergstein has sued the owners of Miramax, alleging that they denied him money and an equity stake owed for his role in the acquisition of the film label from Walt Disney Co. in 2010.

Three-dimensional cinema may well be the future of movies. But it’s also the past — and not just because a lot of old-timers would pick “House of Wax” (1953) as their favorite 3-D film. Consider the situation at Disney:

If you thought the world of “Game of Thrones” was incredibly vast and complex and festooned with a crazy multitude of characters, brace yourself for Season 2 of HBO’s awesome fantasy epic.

“The Hunger Games,” the teen action-adventure film that opened to big numbers last weekend, is, without question, a parable of the Occupy Wall Street movement. It’s also a cautionary tale about Big Government. And undeniably a Christian allegory about the importance of finding Jesus. Or maybe a call for campaign-finance reform?

The film version of “The Hunger Games” is a sanitized version of the book — which is already arguably a rip-off of the terrific novel-turned-film “Battle Royale” — but it’s still pretty good.

With the zombie craze sweeping the nation, thankfully not literally, film majors and movie lovers in the Austin area will be excited to hear about filmmaker Edgar Wright’s upcoming appearances at the new Slaughterhouse Lane Alamo Drafthouse. Friday and Saturday night, the Drafthouse is welcoming Edgar Wright for screenings of his films “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz.”

What can be more controversial than killing children? How about children killing children for a game that’s hyped up like it’s the Olympics or Super Bowl when the entire world is watching?

Here’s the pitch: The state forces kids into a death match where only one is left standing.

Director Gary Ross knew he needed someone who was super-cool and a trendsetter to play the avant garde stylist Cinna in “The Hunger Games.” The first person he thought of was Lenny Kravitz.

“Big Easy Express,” documentary director Emmett Malloy’s rail-riding music documentary, made its first stop in Austin on the final day of SXSW.