F

Flavorwire

The Weinstein Company

Film

Sundance 2013: Awards, Deals, and When You Can See Them

By Jason Bailey on

Indie producers at Sundance would be wise to steer your film editor away from their screenings, since (for the second year in a row, to say nothing of Tribeca and SXSW) practically none of the films I saw over my six days in Park City managed to grab any prizes at Saturday night’s big award ceremony. I’m all out of theories for why I’m so bad at picking these things — but it’s something we’re all going to have to come to terms with, apparently. Not to worry, though; many of the very good films I did manage to see will be coming your way over the next few months, so let’s take a look at films that won both awards and big-money deals. … Read More

Film

On Sandy Hook, Movie Violence, and 'Jack Reacher'

By Jason Bailey on

Any time there’s a senseless, random mass shooting, the responses come in waves — and senseless, random mass shootings have become so common that you can all but set your watch by those responses anymore. First, there’s shock. Then, there’s the insistence that “now is not the time” to talk about guns, or to “politicize a tragedy.” And then the anti-gun people either wait a while or don’t, and start talking about gun control, and then the pro-gun people start talking about arming everyone, and comparing outlawing guns to outlawing cars and spoons and fertilizer. And then the blaming starts: of parents, of a deficient mental health system, even (this time) the lack of men around. Alex Jones will lead the charge of tinfoil hat-sporting nutjobs claiming that the whole thing was a government operation enabling them to “come git our guns.” And, at some point in the midst of all that, it will be time to blame pop culture. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. The editor-in-chief of Jackie, the Dutch fashion magazine that referred to Rihanna as “the ultimate ni**abitch,” has resigned in the wake of complaints over the piece. The pop star tweeted her response to the controversy: “You put two words together, with the intent of abasement, that made no sense … ‘N***a Bitch’?!….Well with all… Read More

Film

Warning: “The King’s Speech” You’re Seeing Didn’t Win the Oscar

By Jason Bailey on

Consider this a consumer’s warning: If, in the coming weeks, you and yours decide to finally see what all the fuss is about and go check out that British movie with the stuttering dude, you may not be seeing the movie that won the Oscar for Best Picture two nights ago. Wait, what?

When rumors first started to leak in late January that the Weinstein Company was considering re-releasing The King’s Speech in a PG-13 version that would scrub the film’s instances of the dreaded “F-word,” our response was pretty much the common one: WTF? It seemed an odd move, and a rather greedy attempt to squeeze a few more dollars out of an already insanely profitable movie ($130 million in worldwide box office, and that was before Oscar night), but whatevs — it would probably just amount to one of those curio footnote releases, like Mel Gibson’s sanitized flop The Passion Recut or that post-DVD expanded re-release of Avatar. What we didn’t realize at the time was that the Weinstein Company was so anxious to take advantage of the millions of tweens clamoring to see The King’s Speech (seriously, why else would they be spending so much money on that Justin Bieber movie?) that they would straight-up replace the movie that’s still in theaters with this bowdlerized cut. … Read More

Film

Miramax Sequels We’d Pay to See

By Caroline Stanley on

Word came today that as part of the deal between the Weinstein Company and their old home of Miramax, we’ll soon be seeing sequels to some of the best-known films in the Miramax library — to the tune of about five in the next two years. A followup to Bad Santa and Amityville Horror are already in the planning stages, with a television series based on Swingers and a sequel to Shakespeare in Love eventually to follow. Also part of the deal: Bridget Jones’s Diary, Copland, From Dusk Till Dawn, Clerks, Rounders, and Shall We Dance.

While we understand that knocking off existing films is a lot easier and cheaper than coming up with new material, we’re not sure it’s a safe bet — unless the Weinsteins are willing to give audiences the action-filled popcorn flicks they really want. Click through for our list of Miramax sequels we’d pay to see*, and add to our suggestions in the comments. … Read More

Web

What’s on at Flavorpill: Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

By Caroline Stanley on

Today at Flavorpill, we chortled over the fact that James Cameron is working on a prequel novel to Avatar that should be finished later this year. We were creeped out by Robert Smith’s cover of “Very Good Advice” for the Alice in Wonderland soundtrack. We wanted to buy some of The Lost… Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds topped the weekend box office, but because of a deal with Universal, the Weinstein Company will only take in half of the profits. [via The Daily Beast]
2. Thanks to The Streep Effect, Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking is topping the best-seller list 48… Read More