Category: Projects

Inglourious Basterds to Cannes

News / Projects
April 24, 2009

The official selection for the 2009 Cannes Film Festival was announced Thursday morning in Paris, and while it will be hard to beat last year’s excitement of a whip-cracking Indiana Jones on the Croisette, Quentin Tarantino’s take-no-prisoners personality may just be big enough to give old Indy a run for his money.

As was widely anticipated — especially given that the director last year declared he would have his film ready in time for this year’s Cannes — Tarantino’s World War II action movie, “Inglourious Basterds,” starring Brad Pitt, is one of 20 films that will vie for the coveted Palme d’Or at the 62nd running of the event.

Cannes’ general manager and artistic director, Thierry Frémaux, said that despite media reports claiming the film was a lock, it wasn’t until the last few days that it secured its spot. Tarantino, the only U.S. director with a film in competition this year, has maintained a strong connection to the festival since his “Pulp Fiction” won the Palme d’Or in 1994. Read more.

Moneyball

News / Projects
April 21, 2009

Columbia Pictures and director Steven Soderbergh have set Demetri Martin to star alongside Brad Pitt in “Moneyball,” the adaptation of the Michael Lewis book about ballplayer-turned-Oakland Athletics g.m. Billy Beane and his attempt to field a competitive team on a slim payroll.

Also joining the roster is a group of actual baseball players: former Oakland A’s team members David Justice and Scott Hatteberg have signed on to play themselves in the picture, while Daryl Strawberry and Lenny Dykstra are among those who will be seen on camera being interviewed about their experiences with Beane when he was a phenom drafted by the New York Mets before flaming out and becoming a baseball scout. Shooting begins in June.

Martin will play Paul De Podesta, a Harvard grad who turned down Wall Street jobs to use his statistical skills to change baseball scouting tactics. His system, known as “Earned Run Value,” allowed Beane to evaluate valuable players he could hire at low cost. Read more. Thanks Intothegrinder.

Inglourious Basterds

Projects / Site Updates
April 16, 2009

A new clip from Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds aired last night during American Idol, but there was an extended clip that didn’t play because it was too hot for TV. This clip has showed up online and I added it to BP Media. Click the links below as I also made some screencaps. Brad looks great, which surprises me (cause of the stache). What do you all think after seeing this clip? Thanks Sandra and Gabriella!

• Extended clip (Video) (04-15-09).
• Extended clip (Caps) (04-15-09).

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

News / Projects
April 6, 2009

Warner Bros on Monday put its Bollywood counterparts on notice that they would sue for breach of copyright if the hit film ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ was remade here. Advertisements were placed in the Times of India and trade magazines stating that Warner Bros is the joint author and co-owner of the copyright of the period drama, which earned 13 nominations at this year’s Oscars. ‘Recent press reports have indicated that certain parties are in the process of producing a film in Hindi based upon the aforementioned film,’ New Delhi-based law firm Lall and Sethi Advocates said in the public notice. A lawsuit will be slapped on anyone producing a film ‘either in English or Hindi or other language, having a similar script, screenplay or story line or character sketches or interplay of characters or sequence of events,’ it said. Read more. Thanks Sandra.