Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways.
Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways Wins Sarasota Film Festival
The latest film from Quebecois filmmaker Xavier Dolan won the Narrative Feature Jury prize at the Sarasota Film Festival, while Martha Shane and Lana Wilson's After Tiller won the Documentary Jury prize. It Felt Like Love by Eliza Hittman and Benjamin Greene's Survival Prayer took home Special Jury prizes in the narrative and documentary categories, respectively. The Independent Visions Award went to The Dirties by Matthew Johnson and the “On Golden Pond Award for Artistic Achievement” went to This is Martin Bonner by Chad Hartigan. The Audience Award for Best Narrative film went to The Forgotten Kingdom by Andrew Mudge, while the Audience Documentary prize went to Running Wild: The Life of Dayton O. Hyde by Suzanne Mitchell. Ken Loach's The Angels' Share won the Best In World Cinema Audience Award and Derek Watson's This Is Normal won the Audience Award for Best Short Film.
The Avengers and Silver Linings Playbook Win 3 MTV Movie Awards
The comic book action film won “Movie of the Year” and “Best Villain” for actor Tom Hiddleston, while Oscar-winner Silver Linings Playbook won best male and female lead for actors Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. Other prizes went to Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane for best on-screen duo in Ted and to Twilight's Taylor Lautner for best shirtless performance. Australian actress/comedienne Rebel Wilson hosted the event, BBC reports.
Django Unchained's China Release May Be Back On
China pulled the film after one day. Censors are thought to have been offended by a scene that included full-frontal shots (of male slaves), which would usually earn any film an automatic ban under Chinese screening rules. However, Chinese publicists for the film said at the weekend they were working to secure a new release date. “Thanks to all our friends and enthusiastic fans,” the publicists said on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, before adding: “We will try our best to do our job, so as to allow Django Unchained to meet all of you as soon as possible.” Distributor Sony has also said it is working with the Chinese authorities to reschedule the release. The Guardian reports.
Specialty Box Office: Place Beyond the Pines Shines, To The Wonder, Disconnect Open Soft
Topping the specialty box office among newcomers was LD Entertainment’s Disconnect. Starring Jason Bateman and Hope Davis, the Santa Barbara Int’l Film Festival opener averaged $8,240 from 15 runs, pulling ahead of Terrence Malick and Ben Affleck’s debut, To The Wonder, which averaged $7,647 in 17 theaters. Sundance Selects opened Ken Loach’s Cannes 2012 title The Angels’ Share in 3 theaters, averaging $7K, while Oscilloscope’s It’s A Disaster also opened in a trio of locations, averaging $5,667. But the real good news came from Focus Features’ The Place Beyond The Pines. The Derek Cianfrance-directed feature showed off its box office prowess, averaging a solid $8K in over 500 theaters. Deadline reports.
The 20 Essential Documentaries of the Century
Vulture published a lit of its top 20 documentaries of the 21st century, chosen for their “abiding influence and/or 'Wow' factor.” The top five includes Spellbound (2002), Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010), Bus 174 (2002) and Grizzly Man (2005). Check out the full list here.
