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It started with the Cannes Screenplay prize winning "Henry Fool" in 1997, continued with "Fay Grim" in 2006, and now the story wraps up with "Ned Rifle." Hal Hartley's trilogy that started with a garbageman turned novelist, inspired to greatness by his friend Henry whose ego was bigger than his talent, features all of his trademark wit, dry humor and distinct tone. And just as the film heads into limited release, the director's works — which include "Trust," "Surviving Desire," and "The Book Of Life" — are getting a retrospective courtesy of Cinefamily in Los Angeles. "Hal Hartley's name is synonymous with 'independent filmmaking' since the golden age of Sundance. He's been writing, directing, producing his own films his own way — even playing the music or marketing them himself. It's been too long since he's been to Los Angeles, and with his newest 'Ned Rifle' — the completion of the trilogy that started with 'Henry.

After Oprah Winfrey saw Fox's upcoming animated feature The Book of Life, she became so enthralled by the end-credits song that she had the act booked for the U.S. tour of her "The Life You Want Weekend." Us the Duo, the first musical act to become established via Vine, will be the featured musical act during the Oprah tour, which starts Friday in Atlanta and wraps Nov. 14-15 in San Jose, Calif. "Oprah fell in love with the movie and she heard about us, the song 'No Matter Where You Are' and our story," says

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Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures are moving up “Dracula Untold” by one week to Oct. 10 from its original Oct. 17 date. The genre film, which is hardly a horror movie, was slated to go to war with Brad Pitt‘s “Fury” and the Nicholas Sparks adaptation “The Best of Me.” “Fury” will use its macho tank gun to target male audiences, while “The Best of Me” aims to corner the female market. “Dracula” also would've had to contend with critical juggernaut “Birdman,” the nationwide expansion of Jason Reitman‘s “Men, Women & Children” and Fox's animated movie “The Book of Life.” Also.

In recent years, studios have celebrated the Halloween holiday with low-risk, low-budget found-footage films that have the potential for huge success. This year could well be different, with Legendary’s Dracula Untold marking a now-infrequent fantasy/horror blockbuster fare heading into the latter genre’s favourite weekend of the year.

Marking one of the first partnerships between Legendary and Universal, the film will have tough competition opening on both sides of the Atlantic next month. In the UK, it squares off against David Fincher’s Gone Girl and the rom-zom-com Life After Beth, starring Dane DeHaan and Aubrey Plaza. And in the Us, Sony opens David Ayer’s Oscar-buzzed Fury, led by Brad Pitt; Relativity has the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation, The Best of Me; and Fox is releasing potential animated hit, The Book of Life.

Those are two very tough weekends to crack, but Dracula Untold has on its...

  The Theatrical Release Schedule for Fury, American Sniper, Pixels, Selma, and other films have been revealed. The announced release dates and the adjusted release schedules are between 2014-2015. All the release dates are subject to change by their producers and/or their distributors. Fury, Birdman, The Book of Life, Nightcrawler, The Best of Me Rather [...]

Continue reading: Release Dates 2014-2015: Fury, American Sniper, Pixels, Selma...

Director David Ayer’s Fury movie has been moved up from the previous November release date to a mid-October opening. While still in the awards season gamut, Columbia Pictures’ action film wont go head-to-head with such behemoths as Interstellar and Foxcatcher.

The new date gives it a little more elbow room alongside The Book Of Life, Dracula Untold, Birdman and Gone Girl – all opening in October. The New York Festival (September 26 – October 12) announced Gone Girl as the Opening Night selection, while Birdman will close the festival.

April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines.

Outnumbered and outgunned, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.

Starring Brad Pitt, Shia Labeouf, Logan Lerman,...

The studio’s dual moves today position one star vehicle for a midsummer run in 2015 and another for a higher awards-season and holiday profile this year. Sony has pushed the Adam Sandler starrer Pixels from May 25 to July 24, putting the space-invaders pic in the heart of next summer. Meanwhile, the World War II drama Fury, starring Brad Pitt, sees its released date pushed up about a month to October 17.

In Chris Columbus‘ Pixels, which Sony initially had dated in April, 8-bit aliens invade Earth after misinterpreting video feeds of classic arcade games as a threat. The president (Kevin James) calls on his childhood friend (Sandler), an arcade champ-turned-home theater installer, to help save the planet. Pixels now will battle Fox’s horror redo of Poltergeist and the Universal comedy Trainwreck on its new date.

Writer-director David Ayer‘s Fury, in which Pitt leads a five-man tank crew on an outnumbered...

Sony Pictures has moved up its World War II tank movie "Fury" by a full month - from November 14th to October 17th.

David Ayer's tale stars Brad Pitt and Shia Labeuof as part of a tank unit rolling through Germany in the waning months of the Second World War. It will now open against "The Book of Life," "Nightcrawler," "The Best of Me" and "Birdman".

The move allows the film to have a longer awards campaign run, opening in a month that has seen film releases like "Gravity," "12 Years a Slave" and "Argo" dominate award season in recent years.

Source: Sony Pictures...

Sony Pictures has decided to move David Ayer's World War II tank drama Fury from its previously set November 14 release to October 17. Personally I'm excited because that means I get to see it earlier, but I'm having a hard time making sense of the move unless a New York Film Festival premiere is in the offing considering the AFI Festival takes place in early November. The previous November release would have seen Fury up against Dumb and Dumber To and the limited release of Foxcatcher, but now with the move to October it will face off against a massive list of films including Dear White People, The Book of Life (animated, no problem), Dracula Untold (this one could hurt it a little), Nightcrawler (small, but interesting), The Best of Me (Nicholas Sparks, no problem) and the limited release of Birdman (hmmmm, not a major issue considering it's limited). Hmmm,...

Welcome back to Best Movie Trailers of the Week, a column where we handpick the best new movie trailers that have arrived online over the past week. The Book of Life Many of my colleagues are gushing over The Book of Life, but to be honest I’m having a tough time adjusting to the style of the animation, accepting some of those very familiar romance-movie plot points and the fact that Maria looks like a Bratz doll. However, once you hit the point at which Manolo winds up in that other realm, whether you’re into his quest to win Maria’s heart or not, the mesmerizing quality of the world will pull you right in. Every single detail is so wildly fascinating that when the piece puts you back into the real world, you’ll be on board and eager for more...

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20th Century Fox has released a second trailer for their animated fantasy tale "The Book of Life" opening this Fall. Jorge R. Gutierrez helms and Guillermo del Toro produces the story which boasts an incredibly colourful aesthetic in its portrayal of the 'Land of the Remembered' (the afterlife).

Meanwhile, Dreamworks has released the newest trailer for "The Penguins of Madagascar" which follows the spy penguins who are out to stop a mad Octopus' nefarious plans.

20th Century Fox has released a new trailer for their upcoming Guillermo del Toro produced film "The Book of Life" starring the voice talents of Diego Luna, Channing Tatum, Zoë Saldana, Ice Cube, Ron Perlman, Christina Applegate, Kate del Castillo, Cheech Marin, Placido Domingo, Hector Elizondo, Ana de la Reguera, Eugenio Derbez, Gabriel Iglesias, Ricardo “El Mandril” Sanchez, and Danny Trejo.

The film is written and directed by Jorge Gutierrez.

From producer Guillermo del Toro and director Jorge Gutierrez comes an animated comedy with a unique visual style. "The Book of Life" is the journey of Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans three fantastical worlds where he must face his greatest fears. Rich with a fresh take on pop music favorites, "The Book of Life...

Earlier this year we got our first glimpse of The Book Of Life in motion. Now a new trailer has hit that gives us a better idea of the two worlds showcased in the film. For those of you seeking a little more originality with their animated flicks, look no further than this latest trailer. At the very least, this film has some major eye-candy going for it. When it comes to animated films, I feel the bulk of them try way to hard pander to their audience and don't give children...

I discovered the All Souls trilogy by historian and fiction writer Deborah Harkness – I’m currently reading the final book, The Book Of Life (the first being A Discovery Of Witches and the second titled Shadow Of Night) and loving it, unable to stop, eager to discover how it all ends and yet not at all eager for it to end – quite by accident, which is usually the way I discover books.

I was browsing at Word, a terrific independent book store at 123 Newark Avenue in downtown Jersey City, New Jersey, and which deserves all the support in the world, as being an independent book store in these days of Amazon taking over the world is not only risky, but incredibly brave. Btw, I’ve never been in Word when it wasn’t crowded with bibliophiles. All of you, who love b-o-o-k-s know what I mean. There’s nothing like browsing in a bookstore,...

The Maze Runner is gearing itself up to be one of the most talked-about films of Comic-Con with a special fan screening and Q&A Thursday night and an exclusive Maze Runner comic.

The Maze Runner will hit Comic-Con as part of the Twentieth Century Fox panel in Hall H on Friday, July 25, and is scheduled for 2 hours (beginning at 4:20 p.m.). On the official schedule for the 20th Century Fox panel are buddy comedy Let’s Be Cops, animated film The Book of Life, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Hitman: Agent 47 and, of course, The Maze Runner. While all the movies listed boast a-list casts, Maze Runner is perhaps the one with the most Comic-Con cred, having appeared last year for an off-site interview at Nerd HQ.

The Maze Runner Exclusive Hall H Comic

Comic-Con regular Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf), who stars in the film, will be sitting...

The Best Animated Feature Film Oscar race is slowly coming together. Big dogs like "How to Train Your Dragon 2" and "The Lego Movie" have already bowed, while Fox ("The Book of Life") and Focus ("The Boxtrolls") have rolled out footage presentations in recent weeks to stay top of mind. One film we've been assuming would have a place in the 2014 line-up is Gkids' "Tale of Princess Kaguya" from Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli. We were just waiting for a release date announcement — and now we have it. The indie animation distributor announced today that the film would receive a theatrical release starting on Oct. 17 with a national expansion to follow. Also part of the announcement was the revelation of the English-language voice cast for the film, which includes Chloë Grace Moretz, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Darren Criss and Lucy Liu. Isao Takahata's film was released in Japan last...

Thanks to a strong debut from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Fox has became the first studio to pass $1 billion at the domestic box office this year. The studio crossed the $1 billion mark on Sunday, which was the 194th day of the year. The last time it took this long for a studio to get there was in 2006, when Disney hit that level in 215 days.Fox's biggest title of the year is also currently the highest-grossing movie of the Summer: through Sunday, X-Men: Days of Future Past has brought in $229.2 million at the domestic box office. While it will likely wind up below X-Men: The Last Stand ($234.4 million), it's still a hefty haul for the 14-year-old franchise.Fox has also had a big year in animation, though none of the titles performed extraordinarily. DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon 2 has brought in $152.3 million,...

Ready for Tuesday morning yumminess – then watch the brand new trailer for Big Hero 6

The voicecast includes Maya Rudolph, James Cromwell, Damon Wayans Jr., T.J. Miller, Alan Tudyk, Jamie Chung, Genesis Rodriguez and Daniel Henney, with Ryan Potter as Hiro Hamada and Scott Adsit as Baymax.

Big Hero 6 joins the field of other cute, family-friendly animated feature films in 2014 such as The Lego Movie, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Planes: Fire And Rescue and the upcoming The Boxtrolls, The Penguins Of Madagascar, and The Book Of Life films.

Here’s a rundown of Big Hero 6′s characters.

Voiced by Ryan Potter (“Supah Ninjas,” “Senior Project”), robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada has the mind of a genius—and the heart of a 14-year-old: his state-of-the-art battle-bots dominate the underground bot fights held in the dark corners of San Fransokyo. Fortunately, big brother Tadashi redirects Hiro’s brilliance, inspiring...

Century City, Calif. — For Guillermo Del Toro to get involved with a new filmmaker, to hop onto a project to produce when it will take him away from his family, away from his life, it goes without saying, it has to be worth it. And when animator Jorge R. Gutierrez came to him with "The Book of Life," an animated feature set for release by 20th Century Fox in October, it checked off a lot of boxes for the "Pacific Rim" director. "I try, as a producer, to specialize in introducing first-time directors because I think it's important to introduce new voices into genre," Del Toro explained to a small audience on the Fox lot Monday morning prior to a footage presentation. "But I need to see something that I have a kinship with, first of all. Second, I need see something that is worth protecting, that is very fragile,...

(Cbr) These days, it’s more surprising when the cast of a geek-centric film or TV project doesn’t appear at Comic-Con International. So, it may have raised some eyebrows when Fox announced five films for its two-hour presentation Friday in Hall H, and not one of them is "Fantastic Four." The proposed line-up includes "Let’s Be Cops," "The Maze Runner," "The Book of Life," "Kingsman: The Secret Service" and "Hitman: Agent 47." However, Screen Rant reports the studio does indeed have plans to bring stars Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Miles Teller and Toby Kebbell on stage during the presentation. To be specific, Screen Rant posted its report before Fox officially announced the lineup, but the website is sticking with the story, guessing the "Ff" crew will appear toward the end of the panel. The Josh Trank-directed franchise reboot arrives in theaters on June 19, 2015.

Welcome to the latest installment of Trailer Park, our regular look at the latest trailers to hit the interwebs. This “volume” is features a bevy of the latest trailers, movie and video game alike, including The Art of the Steal, The Book of Life, A Walk Among the Tombstones, Mortal Kombat X, Hercules, Love Rosie, and Homefront: The Revolution.

The Art of the Steal

Crunch Calhoun (Kurt Russell), a third rate motorcycle daredevil and semi-reformed art thief, agrees to get back into the con game and pull off one final lucrative art theft with his untrustworthy brother, Nicky (Matt Dillon). Reassembling the old team, Crunch comes up with a plan to steal a priceless historical book, but the successful heist leads to another far riskier plan devised by Nicky. They fail to realize each other’s separate agendas when their plan goes awry in this con movie about honor, revenge and the bonds of brotherhood.

20th Century Fox unveiled the trailer for "The Book of Life," an animated comedy is voiced by Diego Luna, Channing Tatum, Zoe Saldana, Ice Cube, Ron Perlman, Christina Applegate, Cheech Marin, Placido Domingo, Hector Elizondo, and Danny Trejo. Check it out below. "The Book of Life" is the journey of Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans three fantastical worlds where he must face his greatest fears. The new movie is directed by Jorge Gutierrez and produced by Guillermo del Toro. It's set to hit theaters on October 17th. Trailer:...

In theaters this Halloween will be a different sort of ghost story. The Book of Life is a film based on the images and stories about the Day of the Dead, and features a man, recently deceased, who hopes to journey back to the land of the living to be with the woman he loves. […]

The post ‘The Book of Life’ Trailer: Love in the Land of the Dead appeared first on /Film.

Channing Tatum, Zoe Saldana, Diego Luna and Christina Applegate have joined the voice cast of the animated comedy "The Book of Life" at 20th Century Fox Animation and Reel FX Animation.

The story follows Manolo, a young man torn between his heart and his family's expectations. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans three fantastical worlds where he must face his fears.

Ron Perlman, Ice Cube, Cheech Marin, Hector Elizondo, Placido Domingo, Ana de la Reguera, Kate del Castillo, Gabriel Iglesias, Eugenio Derbez, Ricardo Sanchez, and Danny Trejo also voice characters in the film.

Jorge Gutierrez directs the project from a script he co-wrote with Doug Langdale. Gustavo Santaolalla ("Brokeback Mountain," "Babel") will compose the original score.

Guillermo del Toro is producing and the film is currently targeting a release this time next year.

Source: Heat Vision...

Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff ("Kung Fu Panda") have been hired to pen the script for the animated feature "W.I.S.H. Police" at Reel FX Animation Studios ("Free Birds").

Based on an original short story by Daniel Nayeri, the story revolves around the Imaginary Crimes Unit of the global force of creatures named the W.I.S.H. (Wicked Ideas Suddenly Human) police.

Their job is to monitor and apprehend malevolent wishes that people utter in moments of anger. Their new case is a young boy who wished his sister out of his life - doing so while wishing on a star, blowing out his birthday cake and holding a four-leaf clover.

Victor Maldonado, Adrian Garcia and Alfredo Torres will helm the project. Reel FX also have "The Book Of Life" opening next Fall, and an adaptation of the "Beasts Of Burden" comic in development.

Source: Deadline...

Exclusive: Reel FX Animation Studios has set Kung Fu Panda scribes Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff to script W.I.S.H. Police, an animated film that is based on an original short story by Daniel Nayeri. The film will be directed by Headless Productions’ Victor Maldonado, Adrian Garcia and Alfredo Torres. It’s a police procedural revolving around the Imaginary Crimes Unit, a worldwide creature force tasked with monitoring and apprehending Wicked Ideas Suddenly Human (W.I.S.H.). Those are the malevolent wishes that people utter in moments of anger, and evil criminals work to make reality. When a young boy gets jealous of his sister and wishes her out of his life, the W.I.S.H. Police are called in for a tough one. After all, the brat made his wish on a star, while he blew out his birthday cake and held a four-leaf clover in his hand.

Toronto -- Universal has sunk its teeth into a new title for its 2014 Dracula pic -- Dracula Untold. The film is being directed by Gary Shore and stars Luke Evans. The movie's Oct. 3, 2014, release date was previously announced. Story: 'Les Miserables,' 'Game of Thrones' Actors Join 'Dracula' (Exclusive)  Dracula Untold, produced by Michael De Luca, tells the origin story of the man who became the most famous vampire in the world. The Book of Life, an animated comedy, is the only other film currently slated to open opposite Dracula Untold. Dracula has been rumored to be one of the

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Universal is shifting the release date of upcoming vampire film Dracula by two months, to Oct. 3, 2014. The film, directed by Gary Shore and starring Luke Evans, was originally slated for Aug. 8, 2014. Produced by Michael De Luca, the film tells the origin story of the man who became the most famous vampire in the world. The Book of Life, an animated comedy, is the only other film currently slated for release on Oct. 3, 2014. Photos: 'Fright Night,' 'Twilight' and 'Nosferatu': The Evolution of Film Vampires Dracula has been rumored to be one of the Universal

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Cinema is a kind of uber-art form that’s made up of a multitude of other forms of art including writing, directing, acting, drawing, design, photography and fashion. As such, film is, as all cinema aficionados know, a highly collaborative venture.

One of the most consistently fascinating collaborations in cinema is that of the director and actor.

This article will examine some of the great director & actor teams. It’s important to note that this piece is not intended as a film history survey detailing all the generally revered collaborations.

There is a wealth of information and study available on such duos as John Ford & John Wayne, Howard Hawks & John Wayne, Elia Kazan & Marlon Brando, Akira Kurosawa & Toshiro Mifune, Alfred Hitchcock & James Stewart, Ingmar Bergman & Max Von Sydow, Federico Fellini & Giulietta Masina/Marcello Mastroianni, Billy Wilder & Jack Lemmon, Francis Ford Coppola & Al Pacino, Woody Allen & Diane Keaton, Martin Scorsese & Robert DeNiro...

ComingSoon.net is attending Licensing Expo 2013 in Las Vegas today and we've got your first look at promos for some anticipated titles, including Godzilla , Ninja Turtles (no "Teenage Mutant" in the title), Jurassic Park 4 , Fast & Furious 7 , Transformers 4 , The Amazing Spider-Man 2 , Hercules , Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie , The Hunger Games: Catching Fire , Need for Speed , The Book of Life , Rio 2 , Night at the Museum 3 , "24: Live Another Day" and more! You can check them all out here . Click Here Or On The Banners To View The Full Gallery!

Relativity and Reel FX announced today that the formerly-titled animated project known as Turkeys has officially been titled Free Birds. Free Birds will release nationwide on November 1, 2013 in 2D and 3D.

In this irreverent, hilarious, adventurous buddy comedy for audiences of all ages, directed by Jimmy Hayward (Horton Hears a Who!), two turkeys from opposite sides of the tracks must put aside their differences and team up to travel back in time to change the course of history – and get turkey off the holiday menu for good.

The cast includes Woody Harrelson, Owen Wilson, Amy Poehler, Dan Fogler, Lesley Nicol, George Takei, Colm Meaney and Keith David.

In addition to Free Birds, the company’s slate includes a wide variety of projects like The Book of Life and an untitled film based on the comic book series Beasts of Burden.

In what sounds like a great match of filmmaker and material, Shane Acker (9) will adapt comic book series Beasts of Burden into an animated feature. Reel FX, a design, visual-effects and animation studio based in Dallas, Texas, is backing the project. Founded in 1993, they've done a lot of very good work, and have recently moved into feature film production with The Book of Life (Guillermo del Toro producing) and Turkeys (voice cast led by Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson). Both of those titles are due in theaters late in 2014; the former will be distributed by Fox Animation and the latter by Relativity Media. Acker came to our attention with his short film 9; Twitch's Todd Brown called it "a hugely distinctive post...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

‘90s indie filmmaker Hal Hartley has made 12 feature-length films, but even ask certain-aged cinephiles and they'll only have a limited grasp of who he is and what his peculiar, chatty and philosophically arch lo-fi serio-comedies are actually about. Normally, one could attribute this to ignorance, but being an expert on Hal Hartley is perhaps akin to being a connoisseur of similar promising Gen X '90s indie director Tom DeCillo or Alexandre Rockwell films -- not many of us exist anymore.

But perhaps even more so than Rockwell’s "In The Soup" or Dicillo’s "Living In Oblivion," Hartley's films are of a time and place and his audience, those who went to college in the ‘90s living off a steady diet of college-rock (which transformed into its mainstream alt rock form) have dwindled over the years now that many of them have grown into Gen X boomers and don't...

One of the preeminent voices in American independent film’s nascent boom years during the H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations, Hal Hartley’s visibility has waned as his stylistic preoccupations have diverged from American arthouse audiences’ tastes, but his trademark sensibility is in fine form in his most recent film "Meanwhile," which, after bowing at last year’s Era New Horizons Film Festival in Poland, had its American premiere last night at the IFC Center in New York (more screenings of his films are playing with Hartley in attendance up until until April 4).

Focusing on a middle-aged, down on his luck jack-of-all-trades man who seems to be pathologically incapable of not helping people -- even when displaying his myriad talents on someone else’s behalf hinders his own struggles to get his novel published, find a new band to drum for, create a green tech start-up involving German windows and...

Imagine if Woody Allen, Whit Stillman, Kevin Smith and the Sundance Institute had a love child. This ungainly creature, speaking in witty, heightened, unnaturalistic sentences, and ambling, sometimes shambling between comedy, tragedy and pretension, might very well go on to make films that greatly resemble those of Hal Hartley.

Hartley is the man behind such beloved (at least by some) ‘90s indie films as “The Unbelievable Truth” and “Trust.” But to put him into proper context, we find ourselves casting around for parallels: he simply never made enough of a dent in mainstream sensibilities to be able to describe his work to a neophyte without reference to other, more overtly successful filmmakers. Or musicians, perhaps – if we play the equivalents game with the alt-rock explosion of the ‘90s, we get Quentin Tarantino as Nirvana, Jim Jarmusch as Sonic Youth and Kevin Smith as, maybe, Smashing Pumpkins (revered early on, but...

It goes without saying that there is a certain magic within every film. But as much as we love the mystery of the movies, we still can't help wanting to know the secrets behind the magician's sleight of hand. And thanks to IFC, movie buffs in New York will soon have the rare chance to hear about the tricks of the trade from award-winning independent filmmaker, Hal Hartley. Starting on Wednesday, February 29, the IFC Center will launch Evenings with Hal Hartley, where the director - and a few special guests - will premiere his new short feature film, Meanwhile, and discuss the film with the IFC audience immediately after. Hal will then return to the IFC Center on Wednesdays, March 21 and April 4, to screen his earlier films, The Book of Life and Flirt, and will stick around for a Q and A following these presentations as well. With awards from the Sundance,...

Okay, first the exciting news: Hal Hartley has made a new film!

What’s the “but”? Well, it’s not ready quite yet. It’s in post, though, so it’s close. To help it get to the finish line, Hartley has launched a Kickstarter campaign for its final post-production. He’s also appealingly pitched his campaign as a “DVD Collector’s Edition Pre-Buy.” For $25 you’ll receive this limited edition when the film is finished. And there are other rewards too. For example, for $1,000 you can be a co-producer. That’s right, a grand gets you a very nice IMDb credit.

Here’s what Hartley writes about the project on the Kickstarter page:

It’s like this: though I set out to make a one-hour featurette, like my earlier films Surviving Desire (1992) or The Book of Life (1998), by the time I was done I thought I ought to present...

I’ll never forget a conversation I had 15 years ago with paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. He told me and several colleagues that he was basically tired of environmentalists talking about "saving the planet." He flung his arms wide and told us that "... if the history of the Earth is my wingspan, all of human history would represent a sliver of my fingernail."His point? "The planet will be fine…it will just turn into something not so good for people.” So, we should stop talking about saving the planet and start talking about saving ourselves. We’ve enjoyed great progress in recent years toward understanding and accounting for the value nature provides to people--not just the social and emotional values we’re accustomed to hearing about, but also the hard economic values of nature’s services.In Nepal, tiger tourism accounts for 50% of the revenue some local communities bring in each year.

Interesting…! I’ll certainly be paying close attention to this as it progresses. Read on below:

Sundance Institute announced today the projects chosen to participate in the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab in East Africa. The Lab will take place July 9-29, 2010 on the island of Manda off the coast of Kenya. Under the supervision of Philip Himberg, Producing Artistic Director of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program, the lab will provide these projects with guidance in their creative development toward final production. Modeled on the annual Sundance Institute Theatre Labs, Sundance Institute East Africa is an exchange and development program, and participants will receive training and mentorship from American and African Creative Advisors.

The 2010 Sundance Institute East Africa projects are:

Cut Off My Tongue (Kenya)

Sitawa Namwalie, playwright/performer

Lillian Amimo Olembo, performer/choreographer

Cut Off My Tongue is a collection of dramatized texts that incorporate poetry, spoken word, narrative, music,...