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Open Forum Friday: Should There Be an Oscar Category for Motion Capture?

27 November 2009 2:52 PM, PST | FilmJunk | See recent FilmJunk news »

Recently we've been lamenting the fact that director Robert Zemeckis seems to be only interested in doing movies that use his patented "performance capture" technology -- that is, movies like Beowulf, The Polar Express, and A Christmas Carol, where the actors' movements and voices are recorded but then everything on screen is rendered with CG. It's not so much that the technology doesn't have potential, but the main issue is that he's so focused on the tech that the actual stories aren't necessarily compelling. Well, this week the folks over at Film Drunk [1] found an interesting article [2] where Zemeckis pushes for motion capture to be taken more seriously, particularly by the Academy Awards. The quote (translated from Spanish) is as follows: "I'd say that the appropriate thing would be to create a new category, like when Walt Disney made the first animated movie. He got a special award since no one had ever done that. »

- Sean

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Assorted Horror DVD & Blu-Ray News

26 November 2009 4:58 PM, PST | Fangoria | See recent Fangoria news »

During our brief downtime this past week a slew of new release dates and DVDetails have emerged for some upcoming genre fare set to invade the home market. Fangoria has details and updates on the upcoming releases of Paranormal Activity, Surrogates, Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, Rob Zombie's Halloween II, District 9, Blood Creek, She-wolf Of London, and more.

Paramount has announced that Oren Peli's runaway hit Paranormal Activity is slated for a DVD & Blu-ray release on December 29th, 2009.

The Paranormal Activity DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround (theatrical version only) and English, French and Spanish subtitles.  The two-disc  Blu-ray is presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-hd Master Audio and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital (theatrical version only) and English, English Sdh, French and Spanish subtitles.  Special features include:

Unrated version with alternate ending not seen in theaters »

- no-reply@fangoria.com (James Zahn)

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Zemeckis demands new Oscar category

26 November 2009 2:24 AM, PST | digitalspy | See recent digitalspy news »

Robert Zemeckis has said that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) should introduce a new Oscar category for performance capture films. The director, who has pioneered the filmmaking technique with The Polar Express, Beowulf and A Christmas Carol, told latercera that the Academy Awards should recognise the new form of animation. "I'd say that the appropriate thing would be to create a new category, like (more) »

- By Simon Reynolds

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Robert Zemeckis Thinks Performance Capture Should Get Its Own Oscar

25 November 2009 6:46 PM, PST | Slash Film | See recent Slash Film news »

Should a performance capture computer animated film production be considered for Best Animated Picture? Best Picture? Or should the Academy create a new category for this new emerging hybrid? Robert Zemeckis thinks the Academy should do just that, of course! The director of performance capture films such as Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol told latercera that "the appropriate thing would be to create a new category, like when Walt Disney made the first animated movie. He got a special award since no one had ever done that." Zemeckis is referring to the honorary Academy Award that Walt Disney was presented with in 1939 for "a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field." But does Zemeckis just want an Oscar for his contributions to this filmmaking innovation, or is he looking for a new category to be created specificly for these types of »

- Peter Sciretta

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'Avatar,' Woody Allen And A Tweet From Prison In Today's Twitter-Wood

24 November 2009 3:00 PM, PST | MTV Movies Blog | See recent MTV Movies Blog news »

If you read Twitter-Wood for the pictures, you picked a good day to stop by, because I've got a veritable Twitter slideshow set up for you today, starting with a Woody Allen jazz performance and including but not limited to Emmy Rossum in a turkey hat and Shakira hobnobbing with Larry King.

You may or may not have known that "Pulp Fiction" writer Roger Avary was currently serving time at Ventura County Jail in California. His tweets from inside recently came to my attention, such today's where he introduces a new neighbor. Check those posts out after the jump along with Richard Kelly's question about "Avatar," Dane Cook's problem with Adam Lambert and Michael Showalter's feelings about "Bad Lieutenant." It's all in the Twitter Report for November 24, 2009.

Twitter Pic of the Day:

@gregmottola just a monday night in nyc (or bourbon street) http://yfrog.com/1dg2pj

-Greg Mottola, »

- Brian Warmoth

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Pulp Fiction writer tweets on life in prison

24 November 2009 9:56 AM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

In 140-character takes, Roger Avary has built up a vivid portrait of life in Ventura county jail where he is being held

When Roger Avary, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Pulp Fiction, was last month sentenced to a year behind bars for his role in a fatal car crash, it seemed that a promising writing career had come to an abrupt end.

But a string of posts on social networking site Twitter has revealed that he is apparently still chronicling the underbelly of American culture.

In a series of 140-character takes, Avary has built up a vivid portrait of life in Ventura county jail where he is currently being held. "Sickness spreads throughout the facility like brush fires," he writes in his latest tweet from November 22, "and #34 [his identification number in prison] is helpless to avoid the outbreak and inevitable infection."

Though there has been no official confirmation that the Twitter feed is Avary's, there are various clues to its authenticity, »

- Ed Pilkington

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The Donner Party Opens at the Porta Vallarta Film Festival

21 November 2009 10:38 AM, PST | 28 Days Later Analysis | See recent 28 Days Later Analysis news »

The Donner Party will show at the Porta Vallarta Film Festival beginning December 2nd and run until December 4th. A film that tackles the real life story of the Donner Party and cannibalism in the Sierra Nevada, The Donner Party stars Crispin Glover (Beowulf), William Foster, and Clayne Crawford. The full synopsis for this harrowing tale is below until a trailer can be found for The Donner Party at a future date.

A synopsis for The Donner Party here:

"The Donner Party is based on the true story of a group of westward bound settlers stranded in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1846. They must reach California for salvation, but without food and a guide, the group becomes disillusioned and decisions must be made so that others can stay alive. Inspired by the infamous Donner Party tragedy, the film is a harrowing look at survival and how far some will go »

- Michael Ross Allen

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She-Wolf of London Hitting DVD

19 November 2009 12:38 PM, PST | DreadCentral.com | See recent Dread Central news »

Remember the show "She-Wolf of London" from 1990? Anyone? Hello? Well, don't worry, you're gonna get your chance to rediscover it when the complete series hits DVD courtesy of Universal Home Entertainment.

Synopsis

Beautiful American grad student Randi Wallace (Kate Hodge, "Fringe") never suspected that traveling to England to study with handsome mythology professor Ian Matheson (Neil Dickson, Beowulf) would change her life forever. While conducting research on the misty and mysterious English moors, Randi is attacked and bitten by a werewolf. Now cursed to transform into a bloodthirsty werewolf during every full moon, the two must find a way to save her. Follow their adventures from London to L.A. as they search for a cure, battle supernatural forces and the romantic feelings they have for one another.

Check out the artwork below, and look for more including the release date soon.

- Uncle Creepy

Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!

Got news? »

- Uncle Creepy

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Universal DVD Courts She-Wolf of London

19 November 2009 | shocktillyoudrop.com | See recent shocktillyoudrop news »

Just in time for Universal's February release of The Wolfman , the studio's DVD division is prepping the release of the complete season of She-Wolf of London which ran in 1990. Beautiful American grad student Randi Wallace (Kate Hodge, "Fringe") never suspected that traveling to England to study with handsome mythology professor Ian Matheson (Neil Dickson, Beowulf ) would change her life forever. While conducting research on the misty and mysterious English moors, Randi is attacked and bitten by a werewolf. Now cursed to transform into a bloodthirsty werewolf during every full moon, the two must find a way to save her. Follow their adventures from London to L.A. as they search for a cure, battle supernatural forces and the romantic feelings they have for one another.... »

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Zemeckis Directing Motion Capture Nutcracker?

12 November 2009 8:21 PM, PST | newsinfilm.com | See recent newsinfilm news »

Not content with taking three beloved books and turning them into expensive, glass-eyed renderings, Robert Zemeckis is planning yet another Christmas-themed motion capture movie.

The director of The Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol is considering a 3-D animated adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s original novel, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.”  According to Pajiba’s source, it will not be a re-creation of the Tchaikovsky ballet, so at least the creepy cartoons won’t be in tights.

Instead it will be a period piece set in 19th century Russia about the origins of the Nutcracker and the battle between the dolls and the mice.

I know I have been hammering Zemeckis the last few weeks for his obsession with performance capture technology, but I can’t be the only one tiring of this gimmick.  Does the Nutcracker really need the performance of a high-profile actor when his jaw just goes up and down? »

- Jeff Leins

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Robert Zemeckis Planning on Directing an Adaptation of The Nutcracker

12 November 2009 7:09 AM, PST | Reelzchannel.com | See recent ReelzChannel news »

According to Pajiba, Robert Zemeckis plans to follow up his take on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol with an adaptation of another classic Christmas story: E.T.A. Hoffman's 1816 novel The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.

Apparently, Zemeckis has plans to stick to the novel, rather than draw from the Tchiakovsky ballet performed to millions every year around Holiday time. The movie will be a period piece that tells the story of the Nutcracker's origins, including his relationship with the young girl Marie and his his battle with the seven-headed Mouse King.

Zemeckis has gone a little overboard with 3-D animation as of late, and The Nutcracker will be no exception. After hit-or-miss efforts with The Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol (which opened last week), we can only take a guess as to the quality of this next effort.

Still, we have to admit that the idea of a darker, »

- Rich Z Zwelling

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With 20 Movies Submitted, This Year’s Best Animated Feature Race Will Have Five Nominees Instead of Three

11 November 2009 2:18 PM, PST | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »

For only the second time since the category’s creation in 2001, Best Animated Feature will have five nominees competing for the award instead of three.  This is because this is the first time more than 16 films have been submitted.  Maybe another year this would mean the category would have greater competition rather than a clear winner in years past (although there have been a couple upsets, i.e. years where Pixar released a film and didn’t win).  Unfortunately for the four other also-rans, Pixar released Up.  Hit the jump for more details.

It’s great that there will be five nominees this year but it could have had ten and it wouldn’t change the outcome.  Oscar watchers are always saying that Up is a near-lock for a Best Picture nomination now that the category for Oscar’s highest honor has opened up from five slots to ten.  I »

- Matt Goldberg

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Zemeckis To Take On The Nutcracker

11 November 2009 1:21 PM, PST | cinemablend.com | See recent Cinema Blend news »

I miss the old Robert Zemeckis. You know, the one that directed Back to the Future, Forrest Gump and Castaway; those broad, fantastic stories with actual people. That is not to say that Beowulf and A Christmas Carol don't have their merits and place, but the whole "dead behind the eyes" thing is still rather unnerving. The director recently said that he will use motion capture for for the Roger Rabbit sequel, which, in a way, makes it seem that he is more in love with the technology than the story (unless they somehow work it into the plot.) Despite the uncanny valley factor, though, the computer-generated films have been bringing in the dough, and now Zemeckis has said that he will be tackling his third Christmas-themed film with The Nutcracker. Reported first by Pajiba, the film will not be an adaptation of the Tchaikovsky ballet, but rather the original »

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Frugal Christmas arrives early for Disney at UK box office

10 November 2009 9:04 AM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

It's only November and A Christmas Carol is already No 1, albeit with a lacklustre £1.92m. The box-office feast will only truly start next week with 2012 and the Twilight sequel

The chart-topper

Knocking Michael Jackson's This Is It off the top spot, Robert Zemeckis's motion-capture animation A Christmas Carol can at least be satisfied with its chart position. As for its opening gross – £1.92m – that's another matter entirely.

In the first place, it's behind the openings of the previous two motion-capture films from the Zemeckis stable: Polar Express earned £2.14m from its first weekend of wide play in 2004, and Beowulf debuted with £2.2m in November 2007. (And bear in mind, there were fewer than 60 3D screens in the UK when Beowulf opened, compared with 260 now.) Second, A Christmas Carol's debut is well behind that of 2009 big-hitters Bolt, Monsters Vs Aliens, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Up. It's even »

- Charles Gant

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“Carol” Has A Dickens Of A Time

9 November 2009 12:16 PM, PST | Studio Briefing - Film News | See recent Studio Briefing - Film News news »

Moviegoers were about as tight-fisted at the box office over the weekend as Ebenezer Scrooge was at the grindstone in his day. The top film, Disney's A Christmas Carol, which stars Jim Carrey as Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, opened with an estimated $31 million, far below analysts' expectations of about $40-45 million -- and less than half what Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa earned when it opened with $63.1 million during the comparable weekend a year ago. But while most critics called the performance of the movie disappointing, particularly for a movie that was said to have cost close to $200 million, others pointed out that it took in more than Robert Zemeckis's previous motion-capture animation films, including The Polar Express, which opened with $23 million, and Beowulf, with $28 million. Besides, Disney apparently intends to milk it for another seven weekends before Christmas. "You know you're in for a marathon rather than a dash," Chuck Viane, Disney's president of domestic theatrical distribution, told Reuters. Slipping to second place was the Michael Jackson concert documentary This Is It, which dropped a moderate 39.7 percent to $14 million. (It continued to perform strongly overseas, however.) The comedy The Men Who Stare at Goats opened in third place with a better-than-expected $13.3 million. Another new film, The Fourth Kind, followed with $12.5 million. Rounding out the top five was Paranormal Activity, which fell 48 percent to $8.6 million. Nevertheless, the $15,000 film's total gross has now risen to $97 million, putting it on track to pass the $100-million mark before next weekend. Meanwhile the critically praised Precious opened in just 18 theaters with $1.8 million -- or a staggering $100,000 per theater. »

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A Christmas Carol Review

9 November 2009 12:59 AM, PST | Filmofilia | See recent Filmofilia news »

Charles Dickens’ beloved holiday story “A Christmas Carol” gets the 3D treatment, and the result is a visually stunning big-screen experience I’m sure many cinema goers out there will enjoy to the fullest extent. As far as I’m concerned, my feelings about this one are mixed.

The story doesn’t really require a lengthy introduction. The holiday season is in full swing, and Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) despises Christmas and everyone celebrating it. Then he’s visited by three ghosts who take him on an emotional journey, and before you know it, his meanness is gone for good…read more [ScreeningLog]

It’s hard to believe that Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol 166 years ago, but here we are in 2009 and Robert Zemeckis has spent $180 million to produce a motion-capture animated film that retells the famous story. The movie opens this weekend on more than 2,000 digital 3D screens and »

- Allan Ford

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‘Christmas Carol’ Wraps Up Top Spot

8 November 2009 5:21 PM, PST | newsinfilm.com | See recent newsinfilm news »

Disney’s A Christmas Carol topped the domestic box office this weekend with $31 million, besting competition from one of George Clooney’s three movies this season, alien abductions, and the latest from Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly.

The figure for the 3-D winner is on the low end of expectations, but still managed to open larger than Zemeckis’ previous films, including motion capture movies Beowulf and the similarly-themed Polar Express.  The latter opened on this same weekend in 2004 before earning $162M in the States.  With the Yuletide holiday over seven weeks away, the studio still has a chance at recouping its $200 million production budget.

Nothing personal against Disney, but I hope it doesn’t make it.  A less than profitable total means perhaps Robert Zemeckis will put aside this wasteful technique and focus on something better than the twentieth adaptation of a Dickens novel.  Most of the money went towards »

- Jeff Leins

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Weekend Box Office - Christmas Comes Early... Again

8 November 2009 4:57 PM, PST | cinemablend.com | See recent Cinema Blend news »

It was one thing when Wal-mart pushed up its Christmas-time product pimping from Thanksgiving to the end of Halloween. It was even more annoying when Hollywood joined the bandwagon. And yet, while Disney's release of A Christmas Carol a solid seven weeks ahead of Christmas seems like ridiculous timing, it may be the movie's only prayer of recovering a painfully high budget. The $200 million Buena Vista sunk into transforming Jim Carrey into creepy CGI Scrooge is the most Robert Zemeckis has spent yet on his motion-capture animation obsession. It's also more than his last movie, Beowulf, grossed world-wide. Following this weekend's limp $31 million first place opening it looks like the film will need a Christmas miracle to break even. So, what were the execs over at Bv thinking? They likely saw what happened with Zemeckis' The Polar Express and figured lightning would probably strike twice. Five years ago Express opened »

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Weekend Box Office - Disney’S A Christmas Carol Takes $31 Million; Precious Boasts Biggest Limited Release Opening of All Time

8 November 2009 11:21 AM, PST | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »

You know it’s the end of the year when there are more new releases per week than any one person could reasonably care about. Or maybe I should just speak for myself.  The first full weekend of November featured four new wide releases all boasting some major star power: “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” with Jim Carrey (times four), “The Box” with Cameron Diaz, “The Fourth Kind” with Milla Jovovich and “The Men Who Stare at Goats” with George Clooney.  And though no one film can be said to be a total washout this weekend, the A-listers fell short compared to the stunningly successful debut of Lee Daniels’ “Precious”. The indie sensation opened in just 18 theatres, taking in an estimated $100,000 per screen to make it the most-lucrative limited release of all-time.

Title Weekend Total 1 Disney’s A Christmas Carol $31,000,000 $31 2 This Is It $14,000,000 $57.8 3 The Men Who Stare at Goats $13,309,000 $13.3 4 The Fourth Kind »

- Nicole Pedersen

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'A Christmas Carol' leads the box office with $9 mil on Friday

7 November 2009 12:31 PM, PST | EW - Hollywood Insider.com | See recent EW.com - Hollywood Insider news »

Jim Carrey, or rather a performance-capture CGI version of the actor, delivered enough holiday spirit to snatch the top spot at the box office on Friday, according to early estimates. Disney's A Christmas Carol, director Robert Zemeckis' animated adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novella, grossed $9 million on its first day. By comparison, the last major family film, Where the Wild Things Are, ate up $12.1 million its opening day, but Carol should have much sturdier legs in the upcoming weeks. Carol's total is also slightly less than the opening gross of Zemeckis' prior performance-capture flick, Beowulf, which slew $10 million »

- John Young

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2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006

1-20 of 200 articles from 2009   « Prev | Next »

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