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Lionsgate, Oprah and Tyler Perry ‘Push’ to get Sundance Winner
Despite winning both of the festival's jury and public prizes, Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire will need all the support it can muster -- it is the type of drama that increasingly becomes unbearable (not the quality of the film, but the plight of the protagonist). Today's good news is that this year's Sundance success story equivalent to Little Miss Sunshine wasn't a feel good film and didn't break the 8 figure deal bank, but when you have the stamp of approval from Oprah – I guess you've just facilitated your word of mouth campaign and secured a bright future ahead.
‘Whatever Works’ for SPC is Fine by Woody Allen
Sony Pictures Classics hasn't had a Woody Allen property since 1999, which in Woody Allen-years means an eternity. Since Sweet and Lowdown, the prolific filmmaker has been busy on both sides of the Atlantic, and SPC's acquisition of Whatever Works accounts for the second major pick up in two weeks time (they nabbed An Education in a heavy bidding war at Sundance).
Film Movement is Mayor of Meadow’s Somers Town
I've yet to see the Ken Loach-like portrait that was supposed to have a “short” lifespan, so I'm thankful that Film Movement have once again grabbed an audience pleaser that the IFC folks haven't yet gobbled up. The anecdote that follows the film is: that Shane Meadows never intended to blow up this b&w, shot in 10 days Somers Town into a feature film, but what panned out was something that had a decent festival life and collected accolades making it two-for-two after This is England
Schnabel enters Palestinian-Israeli Conflict with Hiam Abbas
I'm not sure if I'd describe this portion of her acting career as being "in the zone", European audiences have been watching her for the past decade, while U.S viewers have seen her in art-house fair but only probably spotted her in a key supporting role in Thomas McCarthy's The Visitor. The actress followed up that role with a pair at this year's Sundance film fest and she'll most likely be present at this year's Cannes fest with Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control. Now she gets to work on Julian Schnabel's fourth feature film. Not to shabby.
Montiel and Tatum form a Strong ‘Brotherhood’
Following their teaming up in the upcoming Fighting and their first pairing in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Variety reports that Warner Bros have hired Montiel to direct and rewrite the project and have the actor on board to star in The Brotherhood of the Rose.
