Daily indieWIRE Clicks: Japan, Reviews, Tribeca & More
Today on indieWIRE, a Panda makes his way to Cannes, Japan’s film industry suffers a setback, three Tribeca filmmakers speak out and more.
Report on Japan
indieWIRE reported on the effect Japan’s disaster has had on the film industry. Action film actor Sai Akihiko said of the whole situation, “Shooting a movie is very difficult now. For all movie crews in Japan, there is little work now.”
Meet 3 Tribeca Filmmakers
In keeping with indieWIRE’s pre-Tribeca Film Festival coverage, three filmmaker interview hit the web today. Click here to read up the directors taking part in this year’s edition.
More Tribeca Coverage
Today saw the Tribeca Film Institute and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation announce the 2011 TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund recipients. Want to know what the lucky projects are? Go here to find out.
Reviews: “The Conspirator” and “A Screaming Man”
Eric Kohn wasn’t so fond of Robert Redford’s star packed courtroom drama “The Conspirator.” “Redford’s last great movie was “Quiz Show,” which also dealt with a landmark tale of injustice that took place in the public eye,” he wrote. “There, however, he grappled with events on a deeply personal level. “The Conspirator,” by comparison, has a rigid, textbook-like feel. As with his last directing credit, 2007’s “Lions for Lambs,” the extensive debates about civil responsibility veer into didactic territory.”
Kohn was much kinder to the Cannes Jury Prize-Winner “A Screaming Man.” ““A Screaming Man” is divine,” he praised.
Small Screens Gets a Makeover
The home viewing market has changed and therefore so has indieWIRE’s Small Screens column. To reflect the current VOD craze, four of the top five picks for this week are VOD releases. Happy watching!
A Kung Fu in Cannes
Anne Thompson reported that Paramount will continue the long Jeff Katzenberg tradition of bringing a DreamWorks animated film to Cannes for a worldwide marketing blitz. This year’s entry? “Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom.”
More Cannes Fodder
The Playlist posted an interesting bit of news today. Turns out the latest installment in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise might be setting sail for Cannes. “Le Figaro reports that Disney‘s swashbuckling sequel, “Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” will play on Saturday, May 14th at the festival, days before it hits theaters in France on May 18th and in the United States on May 20th (it premieres at Disneyland on May 7th). While it is yet to be confirmed—the festival will announce their lineup of films on Thursday—Cannes generally tends to have one or two mainstream films play outside of competition (last year it was “Robin Hood” and “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”) and while word has been quiet this year on what the big ticket movie might be, ‘On Stranger Tides’ makes a lot of sense given the around-the-corner release date and red carpet ready cast list.”
The Birth of Reality TV
To coincide with the premiere of the HBO film “Cinema Verite,” Caryn James has provided links to excerpts from “An American Family,” the reality show that inspired the film.
