Today's Posters: 2 for Love Ranch, The Lottery, and The Expendables

Thoughts?

Today's Posters: Gulliver's Travels, Resident Evil: Afterlife, and Joan Rivers

Thoughts?

'Restrepo' gets a Poster and a Trailer!

And here's the Trailer:

-Could this be one of the possible nominees for Best Documentary?

Today's Trailers: Going the Distance, Megamind, and Winnebago Man

We start off today with a look at the romantic comedy 'Going the Distance':

After that we have the animated superhero vs supervillain flick 'Megamind':

We wrap up today with the foulmouthed trailer for the documentary 'Winnebago Man':

-Thoughts?

Magnolia Pictures picks up Alex Gibney's documentary on Eliot Spitzer...

...meaning the Gibney festival season might turn into the Gibney against Gibney Oscar race this year. Here's the story from The Hollywood Reporter:

Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to Alex Gibney's untitled Eliot Spitzer documentary. Produced by A&E IndieFilms and Wider Film Projects, the doc revolves around the rise and fall of the former New York governor and prosecutor. A work-in-progress version recently screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. Magnolia's deal seals its fifth collaboration with Gibney. It also distributed his "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson," the recent "Casino Jack and the United States of Money" and the upcoming "Freakonomics.""Alex is the most vital documentarian working today, and this film could be his finest hour," Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles said. "It transcends what could have been a salacious expose in lesser hands to be a truly thrilling, masterful work of cinema."

-Spitzer is a very interesting figure to me, so I'm definitely interested...thoughts?

Today's Trailers: Nowhere Boy and Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

We begin today with a look at the John Lennon childhood biopic 'Nowhere Boy':

We end today with the documentary 'Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work':

-Thoughts?

'Waiting for Superman' gets a Trailer...

...will it be one of the Oscar hopefuls for Best Documentary? You be the judge:

-Thoughts?

Today's Posters: The Last Airbender, Despicable Me, and Countdown to Zero

Thoughts?

Today's Trailers: Holy Rollers, Machete, Countdown to Zero, and I Spit On Your Grave

First up today we have the crime-dramedy based on a true story called 'Holy Rollers':

Next we have the insane looking trailer for the film based on a fake trailer...'Machete':

We also have the documentary on nuclear weapons that goes by the name 'Countdown to Zero':

Finally, we have a look at the horror remake 'I Spit On Your Grave':

-Thoughts?

Is the narrative remake of 'The King of Kong' still happening?

Apparently it still is, according to Collider (go here for the full story and interview):

Critics who think a narrative adaption of The King Of Kong: A Fistful Of Quarters hit a kill screen should check with Seth Gordon first. The 2007 documentary tells the David vs. Goliath quest for the world record score on the arcade obsession Donkey Kong. Talk of a feature adaptation began almost immediately. Getting it out of development became another matter. Gordon says Kong is definitely on.

We caught up with the director after a screening of his new documentary Freakonomics (made with some of the highest-profile documentary directors in the business). Gordon responded, “You want to see my calendar, the roundtable set up for next week?” He continued, “there’s been a lot of interest from the agencies” and “it’s a “passion project for a handful of people at New Line.” He cautioned, however, “The odds are stacked against it … Just because it’s a movie and hardly any get made.”

-I loved the documentary and can see some potential in this version, but that's just me...thoughts?

Will Billy Joel's Shea Stadium concert film get a theatrical release?

Well, The Hollywood Reporter seems to think so, and as a huge fan of Billy and the Mets, this is fantastic news to me. Here's the story:

Given today’s rough marketplace for indie films, obtaining a theatrical release for even a big-name rockumentary is far from a sure bet. But Billy Joel’s new feature “Last Play at Shea,” which bowed at the Tribeca Film Festival this past weekend, looks like it is poised to beat the odds and could become one of the fest’s first big acquistion titles.

Of course, it helps that Joel and several other musicians featured in the film are long-time Sony recording artists. Jon Small, who directed the concert footage in “Shea,” which was helmed by Paul Crowder, said after an appearance at the fest’s “Docs Doing It Right” panel that it’s looking like Sony Pictures Classics may give “Shea” a limited theatrical rollout later this year, followed by a home video release.

Steve Cohen of Joel’s Maritime Motion Pictures (who produced the film with Nigel Sinclar) added that the filmmakers are in negotiations with Sony for a theatrical release, but there have been conversations with more than one Sony division about its distribution. “It all boils down to finances,” said Cohen, who emphasized that the right marketing budget would be the key to any deal. “As one of the producers, my main concern is the proper promotion of the film.”

“We have a great relationship with Sony Music [Entertainment],” said SPC co-president Michael Barker. “We’ve talked to them about a lot of films involving their artists and this was one of them, [but] there’s no deal.”

Not yet, anyway. The film was completed only four days prior to its Sunday world premiere at Tribeca, and Small says Joel (who financed the low-seven-figure budget himself) was willing to shelve the 95-minute feature if it didn’t turn out to his satisfaction. But the movie, which captures the final two concerts held in New York’s legendary Shea Stadium before its demolition in 2009, met with a warm response to at the fest, thanks to its performances by Paul McCartney, Roger Daltrey, Steven Tyler, Garth Brooks and Tony Bennett, along with tales of the stadium’s baseball players and longtime workers. And that should make its prospects for a theatrical run more likely.

Small is now working on a version for television solely composed of concert footage. No plans for a soundtrack have been finalized.

Exclusive Media is repping sales for producers Spitfire Pictures and Maritime Motion Pictures.

-I know I'd see it...thoughts?

Today's Posters: Get Him To The Greek, Uninhabited, and Rush: The Documentary

Thoughts?

Sony Pictures Classics will release one of the documentaries screening at Cannes...

...and it's the latest from the director of the documentary 'No End in Sight'. Here's the story from The Hollywood Reporter:

Sony Pictures Classics will release Charles Ferguson's latest documentary "Inside Job," a look at the global financial crisis, which will be unveiled at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival in an out-of-competition special screening slot.

Matt Damon narrates the film, which was produced through their Representational Pictures Co. by Ferguson and Audry Mars, who also both produced Ferguson's 2007 Iraq War study "No End in Sight," which was nominated for an Academy Award. Christina Weiss Lurie served as exec producer.

SPC became involved in the film more than a year and a half ago, the company revealed Sunday. SPC will also be represented at Cannes by Stephen Frears' "Tamara Drewe" and Woody Allen's "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger."

-It looks to be a good festival for the studio...thoughts?

Behold the trailer for 'Casino Jack and the United States of Money'...

...one of the early potential contenders for a Best Documentary nomination. Take a look:

-Thoughts?

Oscilloscope picks up one of the documentaries from Sundance for distribution...

...continuing the small studio's run of putting out very interesting films (Wendy And Lucy, The Messenger, Tell Them Anything You Want, and The Exploding Girl, to name a few that I enjoyed). Here's the story from The Hollywood Reporter:

Oscilloscope has acquired North American distribution rights to Yael Hersonski's Holocaust documentary "A Film Unfinished."

The doc, which premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival, is the story of a Nazi propaganda film made about Jewish life in the Warsaw ghetto. Oscilloscope will open the pic Aug. 18 on a single New York screen, add a second Manhattan venue two days later and expand distribution during subsequent frames.

"This movie really affected me," Oscilloscope head Adam Yauch said. "It's an incredibly powerful film, not just because of the rare Nazi propaganda footage it shows but also the captivating way the filmmakers tell the story."

-The word out of Sundance was good for this documentary, and Oscilloscope has a good track record with small documentaries (go here to see all of the films that they've put out)...thoughts?

Today's Posters: Best Worst Movie, Multiple Sarcasms, and Killers

Thoughts?

'Restrepo' gets picked up for distribution!

One of the big winners at Sundance has been purchased, according to this in The Hollywood Reporter:

National Geographic Entertainment has picked up the U.S. theatrical rights to "Restrepo," the documentary that follows a platoon of American soldiers in Afghanistan from journalists Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger.

Winner of the Sundance Film Festival's grand jury documentary prize, the film is set for release July 2. National Geographic Channel, which took worldwide TV rights earlier this year, will broadcast it in the fall.

"Restrepo" is an Outpost Films Production in association with National Geographic Channel. Executive producers are John Battsek and Nick Quested.

-I look forward to seeing this...

Check out our interview with Louie Psihoyos, the director of The Cove!

Listen to the interview here, and let us know what you think!

The Oscar Circuit goes to the Documentary race today, along with new Historical Circuit reviews!

Indeed, The Awards Circuit has plenty of new stuff for everyone. First up we have a new Oscar Circuit article, this one on the Best Documentary Feature race. It can be found here, so check it out and brace yourself for more!
We also have some new Historical Circuit reviews for you to read. They're here, so take a gander and keep recommending more titles for us to tackle in the future.
Finally, ACCA 2009 voting closes this week, so this is your last chance to get those votes in. Be sure to go here and vote in order to make your voice heard!
-Thoughts on the Oscar Circuit article, Historical Circuit reviews, and ACCA?

Today's Posters (Sundance edition): Jack Goes Boating, Waiting for Superman, and 2 for High School

Thoughts?