Jennifer Yuh is the most successful female director

8 sep 2011, 07:40



       The most successful from a financial point of view of a female director was recognized Jennifer Yuh. The announcement appeared on DreamWorks Animation's web page on Facebook.
       Filmography of Jennifer Yuh includes only one full-length director's work - animated cartoon "Kung Fu Panda 2", released in rent in May 2011. However, this movie has earned in theaters more than 650 million U.S. dollars - a record amount of fees for the animation, that was filmed by woman.
       According to the site JoBlo, after Jennifer Yuh goes Phyllida Lloyd with the musical "Mamma MIA!". This movie is based on the songs of ABBA and was released in 2008. It earned in the office almost 610 million U.S. dollars.

Eddie Murphy was the leading candidate to become the host of "Oscar"

5 sep 2011, 13:21



       Produced by the next ceremony "Oscars" Brett Ratner is considering the actor Eddie Murphy as a possible host the event, according to Deadline.
       The actor has already expressed interest in the event. Ratner has nominated  Murphy  to representatives of the American Academy at a meeting held on Tuesday, September 6. Keep in mind that the second ceremony producer Don Miescher (who is also director of the event) also has its own candidate for the role of host.
       Currently, Ratner is working as the director of the comedy "Tower Heist", a major role in which plays Murphy. Also in the movie will play Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck and Alan Alda. The film is due out in rent in November 2011.
       84th awards ceremony will be held in the Academy Award in Los Angeles February 26, 2012. In 2011, the event took place on February 27, and as its hosts were actor Anne Hathaway and James Franco.

"Batmobile" was put up for sale

5 sep 2011, 13:14



       A copy of the Batman car from the movie by Tim Burton in 1989 put up for sale on internet auction site eBay.
       The initial cost of the machine is 620 thousand U.S. dollars. Bidding will continue until September 5, 2011. Vendors stress that the "Batmobile" and ordinary copies (as well as dummy machines used during filming) are in completely different weight categories.
       Put up for sale "Batmobile" is equipped with a gas turbine engine producing 365 horsepower generated by Boeing. The vehicle can travel on a jet kerosene and diesel fuel.

68th Venice Film Festival has opened

1 sep 2011, 08:46



       On the island of Lido in Italy on August 31, opened the Venice International Film Festival (Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica), reported Agence France-Presse. The first time in the history of the festival on the opening day viewers were shown two films at once.
       The event was opened the work of George Clooney, "The Ides of March", part of the main festival program. In the movie, whose plot is based on the events of the presidential campaign in the U.S., Clooney is not only a director, but also played a role and became a screenwriter and producer.
       Following the movie of Clooney's audience was shown a documentary film by Russian director Victor Kosakovskii "IVIVAN LAS ANTIPODAS!", which got into the competition program of the festival.
       In total, in Venice will be shown 22 films. Among them are a Russian movie, "Faust" by Alexander Sokurov, as well as "Carnage" by Roman Polanski, "A DANGEROUS METHOD" by David Cronenberg and "Un ete brulant" by Philippe Garrel.
       Another Russian movie, "From Tokyo" by Alexis Herman, Jr., will be presented in parallelel program "Horizons", which includes experimental films of various genres and lengths.
       In the non-competitive festival, among other films will be presented second directorial work of Madonna, as well as filming of Oscar Wilde play, filmed by Al Pacino.
       Chairman of the jury was Darren Aranofski, won the 2008 "Golden Lion" for the film "The Wrestler". The festival will end September 10, 2011.

Toshiba, Hitachi and Sony have decided to jointly produce LCD screens.

31 aug 2011, 14:29



       Companies Toshiba, Hitachi and Sony will organize a joint venture to produce LCD screens. They will produce screens for smartphones, tablets and other small devices, according to Japanese news agency Nikkei.
       The company will be established before the end of 2011. Reuters said that the final merger of enterprises expected to be completed by spring 2012.
       It is expected that 70 percent stake in the venture will receive public-private partnership Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ). It plans to invest in a joint venture company of about 200 billion yen (about $ 2.6 billion). Ten percent of the shares will keep for a Toshiba, Hitachi and Sony.
       According to preliminary estimates, a joint venture of three companies will become the world leader in the manufacture of LCD screens. They will have for about 20 percent of the market.
       According to newspaper The Mainichi Daily News, Japanese companies continue to lead the market of LCD screens small and medium sizes, but recently they have faced increasing competition from South Korean and Taiwanese manufacturers.
       The largest producer of LCD screens is the Japanese - Sharp, which has for about 15 percent of the market. Apple plans to start production of screens for smart phones iPhone at the company's factories and invest in Sharp to a billion dollars.

Perry won the main prize MTV Video Music Awards.

30 aug 2011, 10:10



       Video clip of the American singer Katy Perry's song "Firework" was named best musical video of the year awards ceremony at MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, according to the official website of the award.
       In the category "Best video of the year" were also presented video Adel, Beastie Boys, Bruno Mars and Tyler, The Creator. The prize for best female video Lady Gaga went - at VMA was awarded her video for the song "Born This Way".
       Reward in the form of statuettes astronaut on the moon for best male video went to Justin Bieber for his video "U Smile". Best new artist was named Tyler, The Creator.
      In addition to awards for best video Katy Perry also received the award for collaborative video with Kanye West "E.T.". Best rock video clip named Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters "Walk", and "Best Pop Video" winner Britney Spears.

Festival winners announced in Montreal (Festival Des Films Du Monde).

30 aug 2011, 09:36



       The site of the Montreal World Film Festival (Festival Des Films Du Monde) published a list of award-winning films of the next event.
       The best feature film of the festival has been recognized the movie "Come As You Are" Belgian filmmaker Geoffrey Enthoven. This film is about three young people with disabilities (one blind, another moves in a wheelchair), traveled to Spain.
       Special Jury Prize was awarded to the film "The Chronicles of My Mother" by Masato Harada.
       The award for best documentary divided two movies. One of them was the work of Marina Goldovsky "A Bitter Taste of Freedom", dedicated journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Prize also was awarded the film Mateja Minachev "Nicky's Family".
Montreal World Film Festival (Festival Des Films Du Monde) carried out since 1977. In 2011 the event took place from 18 to 28 August.

Google TV will work in Europe.

30 aug 2011, 09:17



       Google TV television service in early 2012 will work in Europe. This was stated by chairman of the board of Google, Eric Schmidt, speaking at the August 26 opening of the International Festival of Television in Edinburgh, Scotland. Speech Schmidt can be found at the newspaper The Guardian.
      Schmidt did not disclose the list of countries whose territories will be available to Google TV, stating only that their number will include the United Kingdom.
      Google TV platform allows you to view videos on a TV screen with a video hosting and Internet TV channels, as well as open sites. A few TVs support Google TV "out of the box." In other cases, you must connect to a TV set-top box. Set-top boxes for Google released by Logitech and Sony. As the remote control you can use your smartphone.
       In the U.S., the service was launched in October 2010 and has not found much popularity. In April 2011, Logitech reported a four-fold drop of set-top box sales in January-March. Many American broadcasters banned to broadcast their content in the Google TV.
      In mid-August 2011, it was announced that Google has $ 12.5 billion for the company buys Motorola Mobility, which in addition to mobile devices, also produces a set-top boxes. It is not excluded that the company will become a new partner in Google TV.

Tom Waits released his first studio album in the last seven years.

23 aug 2011, 16:35



       Tom Waits prepared to release a new full studio album. The release of the recording disc, called "Bad As Me", scheduled for 25 October 2011. Release was announced on iTunes. "Bad As Me" is the first studio album artist in the last seven years. "Bad As Me" will be released on ANTI-Records.
       According to iTunes, a new album of Tom Waits will have 13 songs. In addition to the standard version of "Bad As Me" will also be released deluxe edition of the album, which will include three additional songs.
       In addition, iTunes is already possible to arrange pre-order the album of Waits. The album will cost 10.99 dollars (deluxe edition - 12.99 dollars).

'Survivor: South Pacific'. New casting!

23 aug 2011, 16:24



      Russell Hantz may not be part of the new season of Survivor: South Pacific, but his nephew is. 19-year-old Brandon Hantz is one of 16 new contestants that will be competing for the million dollars when Survivor: South Pacific kicks off Wednesday, September 14 on CBS. Among the players joining him is a former Miss America contestant, a country music singer, a Football League player, and a medical owner. However, these players will not just have to battle each other. They will also have to take on two returning players, whose names will be revealed later in the week.