BIZ: iW BOT | "Avenue Montaigne" Stay at Top; "Amazing Grace" Solid in Second; Oscar Films Prepare for a Bump

PEOPLE: indieWIRE INTERVIEW: Cam Archer, Director of "Wild Tigers I Have Known"

BIZ: iW BOT | "Avenue Montaigne" Stay at Top; "Amazing Grace" Solid in Second; Oscar Films Prepare for a Bump

Box Office coverage presented by Rentrak Theatrical

A surprise success in moderately wide release - "Amazing Grace," the Samuel Goldwyn-distributed (in association with Roadside Attractions) biopic about British abolitionist William Wilberforce - graced an otherwise-quiet weekend for independent/specialty films on the indieWIRE Box Office Tracking Report (iWBOT) by grossing $4.05 million at 791 theaters for a $5,126 average. That debut not only was good for fourth on the iWBOT but was strong enough to rank the film in last weekend's Top Ten grossers overall, ahead of such far bigger releases as "Because I Said So," "Hannibal Rising" and "Dreamgirls." ThinkFilm's light-spirited French romance, Daniele Thompson's "Avenue Montaigne," again finished first on the iWBOT by averaging $10,376 at its two Manhattan theaters, the Angelika and Lincoln Plaza, down more than 40% from the previous four-day-holiday weekend's $18,839 figure.

PEOPLE: indieWIRE INTERVIEW: Cam Archer, Director of "Wild Tigers I Have Known"

Director Cam Archer's "Wild Tigers I Have Known" is a coming-of-age story of a 13 year-old boy who learns to cope with his newfound sexuality his unrequited love for the cool kid in school. His past work include shorts "American Fame Pt. 2: Forgetting Jonathan Brandis" "Godly Boyish" and "Bobbycrush." In his chat with indieWIRE, Archer talks about the surprises during filming that pleases him most, his coffee habit, and his likeness to Patti Smith and Josh Hartnett. IFC First Take opens the teen drama in limited release Wednesday, February 28.

+ IPOP: Dawn Hudson at the After Party
Photo by Brian Brooks (February 27, 2007) More from the Film Independent Spirit Awards: Film Independent executive director Dawn Hudson must have felt some relief after the awards ceremony was over. She, like many others, headed over to the IFC after-party for some fun. Next up for Film Independent, the Los Angeles Film Festival in June (though the group has all sorts of activities throughout the year).

+ IPOP: Gertler and Perell and their Award
Photo by Brian Brooks (February 27, 2007) More from the Film Independent Spirit Awards: Producers Howard Gertler and Tim Perell were honored with the Spirits' Axium Producers Award for their work on "Shortbus" and "Pizza." The pair are seen here at the end of the event in the main tent.

+ IPOP: Oka and Copland at IFC Party
Photo by Brian Brooks (February 27, 2007) More from the Film Independent Film Awards: Actor Masi Oka and Red Envelope's Liesl Copland make their way into IFC's post-Spirits party at the Shudders Hotel right smack on the beach. The party is quite a popular one (it also helps that it's a five minute walk from the awards). This year, organizers lured the crowds to the downstairs area by putting all the bars below, making the beach-level area ...

+ IPOP: Huffman on ET
Photo by Brian Brooks (February 27, 2007) More from the Film Independent Spirit Awards: Last year's best actress in a lead role winner Felicity Huffman ("Transamerica") made her way into the main tent at the Spirits last weekend. The "blue carpet" was ringed with tons of photographers and camera crews as well as "spirited" fans hailing for attention from their favorite celebs--or any celebs for that matter. Huffman stopped of for a chat with Ente...

+ MOVIES: REVIEW | Louder Than Bombs: Phillip Groning's "Into Great Silence"
by Jeff Reichert (February 27, 2007) [An indieWIRE Review from Reverse Shot.] Much of the discussion surrounding "Into Great Silence," detailing the daily rituals of the monks inhabiting the Grand Chartreuse monastery in the French Alps, is sure to focus on how Phillip Groning's nearly three-hour documentary provides a window into a rarely seen spiritual world. It does pe...

- IHT: 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' wins 5 of France's top film awards
"Lady Chatterley's Lover," a French film version of D.H. Lawrence's novel, won five of France's top movie awards over the weekend. "Lady Chatterley's Lover," which had a modest performance at the box office, won the Cesar for best film Saturday. Marina Hands, in the lead role, was named best actress. The film, directed by Pascale Ferran, also won for photography, costumes and adapted screenplay. The thriller "Ne le dis a personne" (Tell no one) was the other main winner, with a best director award for Guillaume Canet and a best actor award for Francois Cluzet as a doctor searching for the truth about his missing wife. The ceremony, held at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. The International Herald Tribune reports.

- AFP: Director who inspired "Departed" hails Scorsese
The Hong Kong director of the gritty gangster flick that Martin Scorsese adapted as his Oscar-winning hit "The Departed" heaped praise on the man he said inspired him to make films. "It is an honour to have been able to help Martin win his first and long overdue Oscar," said Andrew Lau, whose 2002 film "Infernal Affairs" provided the story for Scorsese's movie set among the gangs of Boston. "He has always been my hero, his films were why I got into making films." AFP reports.

- AFP: Mirren tipped for Palace tea invite after Oscar crown
Dame Helen Mirren could be invited to tea at Buckingham Palace after she was crowned as best actress at the Oscars for her stoic portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II. A meeting with Her Majesty would follow a glittering clean sweep for the British actress this awards season, after the role garnered her a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. At the Oscars, the film's director Stephen Frears suggested that he, Mirren and screenwriter Peter Morgan would visit the real Queen at Buckingham Palace in March. Robin Millard reports.

- LA Times: Stars also rise in the East
Here, the stars arrived with snowflakes on their shoulders. Some of them walked in a little slower or spoke a little softer, but from the moment they checked their coats, everyone seemed equally ready to eat, to drink and to talk. Although the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood drew the world's attention Sunday night, the St. Regis Hotel in Midtown Manhattan drew the interest and appetites of some storied names from Hollywood's past. Open to all East Coast-based members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the party drew six Oscar winners and plenty of past nominees, providing an excuse to dust off the tuxes and reminisce. Josh Gajewski reports.

In indieWIRE

C'mon, jump on a plane to Prague - you know you want to!
Check out this fabulous documentary festival taking place next week in Prague: One World Human Rights Documentary Festival – February 28 – March 8 From their web siite: "Currently One World is one of the leading festivals dealing with the...[ posted to "King blog" ]

SXSW on iW. iW on SXSW.
For the third year in a row, the wonderful gang at indieWIRE (who also kindly host this blog for me) will dedicate a space on their site to SXSW festival coverage. Click here to see the section now, and bookmark it, for future festival updates. Meanwhile, you can spend some time scanning through the plethora of photos from SXSW 2006....[ posted to Matt Dentler's Blog ]

Kreep
Not sure how I feel about this... maybe my brain is just fried this week. Is this blasphemy, or not? Here's Korn during a taping of MTV Unplugged, performing Radiohead's breakthrough single, "Creep."...[ posted to Matt Dentler's Blog ]

'Reign.' James Blunt. LeBeouf. Oh my.
THIS JUST IN: On Wednesday, March 14, SXSW will host a special screening of Mike Binder's Reign Over Me, starring Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler. Some cast and crew are expected to attend. Pop superstar James Blunt will attend the March 10 world premiere of Steven Cantor's documentary, James Blunt: Return to Kosovo, which chronicles Blunt's trip to the battlefields...[ posted to Matt Dentler's Blog ]

100th Blog: Fair Use, free trade, free use, fair trade: DAMN good coffee...and HOT!
It's been a busy month in Atlanta. We've locked the programming for The Atlanta Film Festival and we're in the final stages of proofing the program guide. We'll be making major announcements very soon. A sneak peak was announced this...[ posted to Gabe's Declaration of Principles ]

heidi and rachel in hollywood
"Jesus Camp" directors Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing are getting over the surreal experience of Oscar weekend in Los Angeles - they were nominated for best documentary for their film. The duo sent a thank you email to their family, friends and supporters today, including a link to an AP story that captured their Oscar festivities: "It's like somebody else's...[ posted to eugonline ]

F's Gone Wild
Falafel, farm life, and the Florida Film Festival. Heartfelt congratulations go out to FFF veterans Ari Sandel and Ali Selim for their award-winning ways this past weekend. Ari's hilarious WEST BANK STORY, a musical comedy about dueling falafel stands and...[ posted to Enzian Theater ]

Image Makers
A good month for Iranian cinema in New York. Not only is Jafar Panahi’s superlative Offside opening here in the beginning of March, but also thanks to the Museum of Modern Art, Abbas Kiarostami will be honored with a...[ posted to Reverse Shot ]

eFilmCritic Interviews Alan Cumming, Mike Mills, etc.
The gang at eFilmCritic has not let anyone down, filling their site to the gills with SXSW 2007 filmmaker interviews. And, among the additions, are film personalities such as Alan Cumming (Suffering Man's Charity), Mike Mills (Does Your Soul Have a Cold?), Ry Russo-Young (Orphans), Eric Chaikin (A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar), Bob Ray (Hell on Wheels), and many...[ posted to Matt Dentler's Blog ]

Union Cinematheque Keeps Rolling
Austin's fabled Texas Union Theater has a long and sometimes controversial history (as depicted in Kyle Henry's 1998 doc University, Inc.), but the folks behind The Union Cinematheque have been working to continue its legacy for delivering world-class world cinema to Austin's film audiences. The titles they have lined up over the next month, are an exciting batch of classics...[ posted to Matt Dentler's Blog ]

panahi update
A follow-up to yesterday's item about Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi... Today, a PR rep for "Offside" clarified the situation surrounding the director's trip to New York City: "The visa was not rescinded. He has come here on visas before. He has applied for one for this trip and has yet to receive it. He was told it will take a...[ posted to eugonline ]

Rage Reunion Adds Summer Shows
Influential political rock band Rage Against the Machine has unveiled a handful of additional tour dates to follow their reunion show at Coachella this spring. The added shows will be in conjunction with Wu-Tang Clan, similar to their co-headlining tour in 1997 (which was cut short when Wu-Tang dropped out to be replaced by a fledgling new hip-hop act called...[ posted to Matt Dentler's Blog ]

Tonight's Your Last Chance to See CA on the Big Screen, So Do It!!!
Don't worry, this is the last post regarding COCAINE ANGEL's theatrical run. But I wouldn't be taking advantage of this outlet--or doing my job--if I didn't bombard y'all mofos with one final boom-bap of CA pluggage. Tonight is the night....[ posted to "Boredom at Its Boredest" by Michael Tully ]

iCal it, at SXSW.com
To make scheduling a little bit easier for the fest attendee on the go, SXSW has enabled each screening and panel with an iCal button, so that you can add them to your calendars. So, for example, if you want to see Jennifer Venditti's amazing/awesome documentary Billy the Kid, you would find its festival page and then you can add...[ posted to Matt Dentler's Blog ]

oscars go hollywood
MovieCityNews doesn't much care for David Carr's Oscar wrap-up in The New York Times today, calling it, "His Most Unfounded, Presumptuous, 20/20 Hindsight Piece Of The Season"... In the persuasive piece, Carr underscores something I'd been thinking all day today... that is, that the Academy went Hollywood this year. Even so, it was great to see the acting prizes go...[ posted to eugonline ]

oh yes, it really has begun
In a post reminiscent of the recent "For Your Consideration," seemingly perennial Oscar prognosticator David Poland admits tonight that while he doesn't want to get into the next awards season, he is easily lured into one early pick, namely Johnny Depp in a film that is still in production. Noting that, "Word from the set about his performance - from...[ posted to eugonline ]

is he or isn't he?
A media email message from the Museum of the Moving Image on Monday afternoon said that Iranian director Jafar Panahi would not be coming to America next week to promote his upcoming Sony Pictures Classics release, "Offside." It read: Please note that the March 6 appearance by Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been cancelled due to the U.S. government's decision...[ posted to eugonline ]

'Monkey' + 'Green' = A Slacker Uprising
We have two Canadian-made films at SXSW 2007 that are wonderful companion pieces: Paul Fox's Everything's Gone Green and Reg Harkema's Monkey Warfare. Both films are comedic looks at disenchanted youth on the search for something more. Both involve a fondness for marijuana. Both offer a killer soundtrack of songs (check out the Green album for starters). Best of all,...[ posted to Matt Dentler's Blog ]

'Maxed Out' Trailer
The trailer for James Scurlock's SXSW 2006 premiere documentary, Maxed Out, has popped up on YouTube. Check it out, and then rush out and see the film when it opens in theaters March 9:...[ posted to Matt Dentler's Blog ]

the next oscar season already underway?
Oh, you've got to be kidding me... while, I haven't seen David Fincher's "Zodiac" (and I really want to), I can't quite handle the idea that its time to start thinking about Oscar contenders for next year... But, Screen International decides to go there, saying that the film is, "the first legitimate contender for next year's honours," adding that, "an...[ posted to eugonline ]