The chances of New Zealand-made movie blockbusters getting Oscar nominations for anything other than technical awards fell yesterday when they were absent from a major Oscar predictor’s nominations. Neither King Kong director Peter Jackson nor Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe director Andrew Adamson were nominated by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) for its annual award. The DGA nominees were George Clooney (Good Night and Good Luck), Paul Haggis (Crash), Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain), Bennett Miller (Capote) and Steven Spielberg (Munich). Adamson was considered an outsider but Jackson was thought to have some chance after receiving a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director and excellent reviews for King Kong. At least four DGA award nominees usually go on to earn Oscar nominations, and their movies usually get Best Picture nominations as well. Oscar predictors say it is highly unusual for directors absent from the DGA nominations to win an Oscar. [More]
Category: Production
Bastian Holze from DEAG CLASSICS writes: On May 28th, the Deutsche Entertainment AG organizes a big live concert named: “The Lord of The Rings Symphony” in the Kölnarena of Cologne, Germany.
A classical orchestra is going to play the original film music from Peter Jacksons trilogy “The Lord of the Rings”, written by the Academy Award Winning Composer and Conducter Howard Shore.
This concert takes place in line with a impressive Multi-Media-presentation of the original Illustration from the Tolkien books. It’s a Must See for every LOTR-Fan or community member! For further information and ticket selling, please click our webpage. ]More]
JAN. 6 LAS VEGAS—Early adopters will have plenty of high-definition discs on offer, such as Warner Home Video’s Batman Begins and Million Dollar Baby set for March 28 release and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on April 11, all in HD DVD. Most major studios once again announced plans to collectively release hundreds of titles in high-def this year, including simultaneous releases with DVD of their newest and biggest theatrical releases, such as Paramount Home Entertainment’s Mission: Impossible 3 on both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Though not officially announced, scenes from Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s new King Kong were being shown in HD DVD here at the CES show, and that title, also listed on Amazon.com as coming in HD DVD, is expected to be one of the earliest releases for that format. [More]
AICN writer Quint writes: Quint here with a chat I had recently with a man by the name of Michael Pellerin. Michael is the dude most directly responsible for those amazing LORD OF THE RINGS Extended Edition DVDs and has also recently contributed to that fantastic documentary on the 1933 KING KONG DVD as well as providing all those weekly (or bi-weekly as it was during the filming) Production Diaries for Peter Jackson’s KING KONG. I met Michael on one of my last days on the set of KONG. He’s a big fan of the site and even though the pressure of recording DVD material as well as cutting material for the online Production Diaries was obviously stressing him out I could still tell that he was in his element, doing what he loves. [More]
AUCKLAND Two of the biggest fantasy films of the year were made in a small land of the Pacific Ocean. Yes, Hollywood has invaded New Zealand again – but it turns out not all the locals are happy about that. As mean-spirited as it may seem with the recent release of “King Kong” and “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” two blockbuster movies mostly made in New Zealand, there are some film industry insiders in this country who don’t like giant apes, witches or magical lions at all. In fact, at their least generous, these insiders wish the mythical creatures had never come to this small Pacific Rim nation. It has the rest of New Zealand’s inhabitants, who generally take great pride in the achievements of movies like the award-winning “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, wondering why. [More]
The Utah Film Critics Awards were announced today and Andy Serkis was named Best Supporting Actor for his work on King Kong, just beating out Paul Giamatti for Cinderella Man, impressive! [More]