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| Ryan's romance reportedly on rocks Actor Ryan Phillippe– who has two, children Ava, 10, and six-year-old Deacon with ex-wife Reese Witherspoon – and girlfriend Abbie Cornish are allegedly “fighting all the time” over Ryan’s apparent reluctance to commit. breakingnews.ie |
Eric Rohmer: un hommage | Agnès Poirier Rimbaud's mantra, 'one must be absolutely modern', guided the father of the New Wave, a director fascinated by France's bourgeoisieThe New Wave has just lost its father, and France a rigorous observer of his time whose films represented better than most what it may mean to be French. Ten to 15 years older than the Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol, Louis Malle and François Truffaut, whom he would hire to write alongside him in the soon mythical Les Cahiers du CinĂ©ma, Eric Rohmer, who died yesterday in his 90th year in Paris, had invented a completely distinct art form.A graduate in classics and German and until the mid-1950s a professor of literature in provincial France, he always followed Rimbaud's mantra: "One must be absolutely modern."In cinema, as a critic turned director (whose first film was made at the age of 39 in 1959), to him the poet's motto meant that one should be independent; not only intellectually and creatively but most importantly, free from financial imperatives and political pressure.With the 18-year-old cinephile Barbet Schroeder, he founded Films du Losange, a production company which went on financing most of the 25 films he directed in his 50-year film career. His films would cost very little to make, apart from his most recent period piece fantasies such as The Lady and The Duke.He relied on young or non-professional actors, and a small crew of faithful colleagues and friends. Resolutely modern, he would, before most film-makers, explore the technical possibilities of the medium, experimenting in the late 1970s with video, and later, with homemade 3D effects.A moralist in the 18th-century meaning of the word, Rohmer was a master observer of what one could call France's unbearable lightness of being. His first successful films in France and abroad, My Night with Maud, Claire's Knee and Love in the Afternoon, are the last triptych of his moral tales series which shows the travails and intricacies of love among the bourgeoisie.Later films, such as Les Nuits de la Pleine Lune, which struck me when I saw it at 11 years old for its depiction of intimacy in this new suburban France of the villes nouvelles, always spoke about the present rather than the past.Eric Rohmer was not only an intimist, moralist and aesthete – he was, crucially, free. Free from conventions and conformism; morally ambiguous at times, he was never where you expected him to be. Singular and impudent, his style was unique. For 50 years, his art was synonymous with France and its inhabitants, a country and a people which had become his own laboratory; somewhere he would mix austerity with sensuality, sentimental uncertainties with charm, romanticism and eroticism, sophistication of desire with moral dilemma.Eric RohmerFranceAgnès Poirierguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Lack of pace in decent '44 Inch Chest' While this British thriller is good for the most part, certainly during its opening period, you end up wishing the characters would get on with doing what they intended to do from the outset. breakingnews.ie |
UK cinemas see best performance in seven years Admissions hit 173.5m and combined box office takings in the UK and Ireland exceed ÂŁ1bn for first time Harry Potter, Danny Boyle's slumdogs and James Cameron's futuristic blue aliens helped make 2009 the best year for cinemas since 2002, a raft of figures from the UK Film Council (UKFC) showed today.Doom-mongers who predicted the slow death of cinema, as viewers sat at home watching box sets and downloaded movies would appear to be off the mark. In the UK last year, cinema admissions hit 173.5m and the combined box office takings in the UK and Ireland exceeded ÂŁ1bn for the first time.The messages were more mixed for film production. While there was the highest ever level of inward investment – that is, largely Hollywood films made in the UK – the amount spent on co-productions fell to a low of ÂŁ35m, compared to ÂŁ169m in 2003. In terms of film numbers, there were 22 co-productions in the UK in 2009 compared to 106 in 2003.The UKFC says that is a result of "the one flaw" in the film tax credit scheme introduced by Labour: that films have to be made in the UK, and that a co-production filmed in another country does not get tax relief. The figures also show a drop in market share for British films, down to 16.5% from 31% in 2008 – although that was a particularly strong year because of films including Mamma Mia! and Quantum of Solace.British independent films, however, took their biggest market share of the decade – 8.5% – helped by Slumdog Millionaire, St Trinian's 2 and In the Loop.Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth film in the franchise (there are only two left to go), was the top grossing film at UK cinemas in 2009, taking ÂŁ50.7m, closely followed by Avatar, a film that will soon overtake the wizard altogether. The biggest surprise in the top 10 is arguably the Todd Phillips comedy The Hangover, at number seven, which also did extremely good DVD business at Christmas.The ebbs and flows of moviegoing in 2009 also make interesting reading and will be pored over by studio bosses attempting to understand audiences. January was a strong month, up 8% on 2008, mainly thanks to Slumdog Millionaire and animated 3D film Bolt.The real standout month was April, with 13.8m cinema admissions representing a rise of 40.8% from 9.8m. That was the biggest increase all year although the films fuelling it may surprise some: Monsters vs Aliens and Fast & Furious, with Vin Diesel and endless fast cars. The good figures carried on in May – a 24% year-on-year rise – with big Hollywood releases including Wolverine, Star Trek, Angels and Demons, and Night at the Museum 2.Things went downhill in the summer with releases such as GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra. There was a 6% fall in July, a 24% fall in August and a 9% fall in September. But the arrival of Avatar in December saw a 32% increase in admissions.Creative industries minister SiĂ´n Simon paid tribute to the "superb production statistics and incredibly buoyant box office receipts". He said: "It's hard to imagine that there was a time not so long ago that UK production was in the doldrums and cinema was under threat from new forms of home entertainment."In a statement released by the film council, chief executive John Woodward said the figures showed "the UK film industry is weathering the recession well".He said: "British cinema-goers are voting with their feet – they want to see big event movies, many of which depend on outstanding British talent and are made in the UK."He added that what is "particularly encouraging is that the public appetite for low-budget, independently produced British films is rising once again despite the blockbuster phenomenon".UK/Ireland box office1 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ÂŁ50.7mThey're all at it, hormones and stuff. Don't worry - only two more left2 Avatar ÂŁ41mSaying it's rubbish hasn't stopped everyone going to see it3 Ice Age III ÂŁ35mPesky dinosaurs.4 Up ÂŁ34.2mBalloon adventures5 Slumdog Millionaire ÂŁ31.6mEight Oscars, seven Baftas says it allFilm industryHarry PotterDanny BoyleJames CameronMark Brownguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Avatar continues unstoppable advance on Titanic With the non-US box-office record already in its pocket, James Cameron's space fantasy surges towards Titanic's North American and global box-office marksThe winnerAvatar overtook The Dark Knight to become the second highest grossing film ever released in North America as it stayed top and added $36m (ÂŁ22m) to boost the running total to $552.8m. Now less than $50m away from Titanic's 12-year $600.8m US box-office record, it is only a matter of days before James Cameron and Fox's latest collaboration does the unthinkable and overtakes the movie many distribution executives in Hollywood thought could never be beaten. Perhaps only Cameron could have done this to himself. He is without doubt the biggest event-movie maker in history and has created a fun ride, but Fox has played a huge part in this. The studio knows how to make a big deal out of its banner releases. Cynics have said that if you release a movie like this on around 3,400 screens, most of which are 3D and therefore likely to bring in extra revenue because of higher ticket prices, it almost takes care of itself at the box office. That's partly true, but Fox orchestrated a huge marketing and publicity campaign that ensured everybody knew about the movie months in advance. Geeks have been tracking it for years, of course, but even mainstream crowds were aware of it thanks to advance trailers and carefully strategised appearances by Cameron over the past 12 months or so. The omnipresent marketing tie-ins with Coke Zero, LG, Panasonic and McDonald's meant that by the time the movie came out, resistance was rendered well and truly futile. For the record, Avatar overtook Titanic's $1.242bn mark on Saturday to become the biggest movie ever at the international box office and now stands at $1.288bn. It has amassed $1.841bn in global ticket sales (including North America) and is expected to overtake Titanic's $1.843bn worldwide gross today. Now the question is how long it will take to become the first movie ever to cross $2bn worldwide. Possibly by the end of next weekend? Screen Gem's supernatural horror release Legion, with Paul Bettany, opened well enough in second place on $18.2m and will do well to stick around in the coming weeks because word on it is not exactly favourable. Fox's Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel crossed $200m in its fifth weekend and it looks like Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, released through Warner Bros, will do the same by next weekend. It currently stands at $191m. Crazy Heart jumped up three spots to 16th place and $3.9m as Fox Searchlight capitalised on Jeff Bridges's best actor win at the Screen Actors Guild awards on Saturday night and last weekend's Golden Globes triumph. The loserFox's family release Tooth Fairy, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, opened in fourth place on $14.5m, which will not please the studio's distribution team. CBS has moved into movie production and its CBS Films division released its first title, the drama Extraordinary Measures with Harrison Ford as an eccentric doctor who might just be able to help Brendan Fraser save the lives of his ailing children. It launched in seventh place on $7m and will need to rely on extraordinary word of mouth if it is to stay in the top 10 and sustain some kind of profile among audiences in the coming weeks. The top 10 chart, originally conceived by the US trade magazine Variety many years ago, is a brutal reckoner – regardless of a movie's quality, if it lacks exposure in the top 10 its commercial prospects are doomed. The real storyJust as fans of Titanic went back to see Kate and Leo time and time again, so the "Avatards" are rewarding Avatar with repeat viewings. Fox top brass have told me of anecdotal evidence of fans going back four or five times to watch Cameron's space opera, and that's exactly the kind of audience behaviour you need to generate the ridiculously high numbers that Avatar has done. In terms of audience profile, it's women who are driving this beast. While young men turned out in droves in the first weekend – and they're still seeing it in huge numbers – women caught on and became the dominant demographic by the time Avatar was in its third weekend. The futureMel Gibson returns to a lead role for the first time since Signs in 2002 with the thriller Edge of Darkness. Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) stars opposite Josh Duhamel in Disney's romcom When in Rome. North American top 10, 22-24 January1. Avatar, $36m. Total: $552.8m2. Legion, $18.2m3. The Book of Eli, $17m. Total: $62m4. Tooth Fairy, $14.5m5. The Lovely Bones, $8.8m. Total: $31.6m6. Sherlock Holmes, $7.1m. Total: $191.6m7. Extraordinary Measures, $7m8. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, $6.5m. Total: $204.2m9. It's Complicated, $6.2m. Total: $98.7m10. The Spy Next Door, $4.8m. Total: $18.7mJames CameronJeremy Kayguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |