August 15, 2007, 8:57 PM CT

What makes a great movie?

A film that wins critical acclaim is likely to be an R-rated drama, adapted from a prize-winning play or book and based on a true story, with the original author or director involved in writing the screenplay. It is unlikely to be a sequel or remake, a comedy or musical, a summer release, a big-budget project, have a PG-13 rating, open on numerous screens or do a big box office on the first weekend. It probably has an excellent score, but it may not have an award-winning song.

But box-office hits may have entirely different profiles.

Dean Simonton, a professor of psychology at UC Davis, has subjected thousands of feature-length, English-language, narrative films to a battery of statistical tests - including Pearson product-moment coefficients and hierarchical regression analyses - to get at the formula for cinematic creative triumph and box-office success.

He will summarize his research at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association on Friday, Aug. 17.

Simonton, an expert on human creativity, is the author of "Origins of Genius: Darwinian Perspectives on Creativity." He is at work on a new book, "Great Flicks: Scientific Studies of Cinematic Creativity and Aesthetics".

"Exceptional creativity is frequently viewed as a highly individualistic phenomenon," Simonton said. "But there is at least one type of artistic expression that is extremely prominent, often highly profitable and inherently collective in nature: the feature film. Motion pictures provide a valuable research site for investigating group artistic creativity under real-world conditions"......... Posted by: Gina      Read more         Source

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:55:10 GMT

Christensen Claims Marriage Was A Sham

Supermodel Helena Christensen has hinted her marriage to actor Norman Reedus wasn't legitimate - after claiming she has never been married.

The Danish catwalk queen was wed to former model Reedus from 1988 to 2002 and the pair had a son together, seven-year-old Mingus.

But during an attack on the press for printing mistruths about her, Christensen claimed she has never been married or divorced.

She said, "A common misperception of me is that I was married and divorced. I never was.

"I find it utterly bizarre that total strangers write about your life in a completely fictional manner." Posted by: Melissa      Read more     Source

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 05:12:05 GMT

Dans Paris.

Christophe Honore's Dans Paris is "a highly polished, assured film that manages to sustain a series of jaunty aesthetic risks that never obscure the narrative's core of sadness and melancholy," writes Jeff Reichert at indieWIRE. "The director's playful daring is often remarkable, as is the ease with which he moves his film along. Also, the performances of his small ensemble are generally without reproach. But still, somehow, the end of Dans Paris left me with nagging doubts about just how genuine Honore's project actually is."

"Honore at times succeeds in fleshing out the complicated relationships among parents and children (including a mother played by Marie-France Pisier), but his tributes to New Wavish whimsy (Jonathan and a young lover's Jules et Jim-style romantic frolic, a needless Godardian direct-address narration) grow increasingly tired," writes Michael Joshua Rowin in the L Magazine. "One can discern, however, an intelligence and passion for life from the director who brought us the terrible Bataille-adaptation Ma Mère, so let's applaud Dans Paris as an improvement while keeping an eye on its uncategorizable creator."

Earlier: Robert Horton in Film Comment. Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 21:05:39 GMT

Gwen Stefani's Malaysia Concert

Gwen Stefani will not wear revealing costumes during her Aug. 21 concert after Muslim students protested her sexy outfits and steamy performances.

Show organizer Maxis Communications Bhd. said the 37-year-old singer will follow the local code of ethics for foreign artists, which bans the unnecessary baring of skin.

Maxi Communications said in a statement: "Gwen Stefani has confirmed that her concert will not feature any revealing costumes. She will abide by the Malaysian authorities’ guidelines to ensure that her show will not be offensive to local sensitivities."

According to the Malaysian government’s Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, enforcement officers will meet Stefani ahead of the concert and will monitor her act. She must be covered from her shoulders to her knees and is banned from jumping, shouting or throwing of objects on stage or at the audience.

source
Posted by: Joy A      Read more     Source

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 16:01:29 GMT

Michelangelo Antonioni, 1912 - 2007.

Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, whose depiction of alienation made him a symbol of art-house cinema with movies such as Blow-Up and L'Avventura, has died, officials and news reports said Tuesday. He was 94.....

Antonioni depicted alienation in the modern world through sparse dialogue and long takes. Along with Federico Fellini, he helped turn post-war Italian film away from the Neorealism movement and toward a personal cinema of imagination.....

"In the empty, silent spaces of the world, he has found metaphors that illuminate the silent places our hearts, and found in them, too, a strange and terrible beauty: austere, elegant, enigmatic, haunting," Jack Nicholson said in presenting Antonioni with the career Oscar. Nicholson starred in the director's 1975 film The Passenger.

The AP.

See also: Acquarello, James Brown's profile for Senses of Cinema, Dennis Yuen's Antonioni archive and the Wikipedia entry.

Updated through 8/2. Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 22:54:10 GMT

Alli and K-Fed Teams Up to Show Brit Down

After Britney Spears disastrous Ok! Magazine interview here is the new saga about the troubled pop star. And this new saga says that her cousin Alli is teaming up with Kevin Federline to help him gain full custody of their two children, Sean Preaston and Jayden James.

A source said,

Alli gave specific instances where Brit couldnt handle having the kids. Kevin was angry at Britney for putting his kids in jeopardy and immediately phoned his lawyer to investigate the claims further. He couldnt believe she had gotten so out of control.

Kevin is so worried about kids that after hearing about Brits breakdown he immediately went to his lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan and spent three hours with him discussing how to take kids out of Brits care.

Now Brits cousin Alli, who stopped working for her coz of Brits ongoing erratic behavior has turned to K-Fed.

Ali is planning to provide specific instances to help Kevin to finalize his divorce from Britney and full time custody of kids to Kevin. Well, this is a wakeup call for Brit; either it will change her life or shell loose everything. I hope she gets some help. But I wonder why Alli went to Federline? Is she trying to take her cousins man and planning to have kids with him? Naa! I guess she is not that stupid!

Read Posted by: Nidhi      Read more     Source

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 04:00:01 GMT

SEX AND THE CITY MOVIE COMING

Source:www.businessweek.com

Can you believe that the hit "HBO" TV series, "Sex and the City", first aired way back in 1998?

"Sex and the City" came to an end in 2004, which seems like yesterday, and despite a basically satisfying ending, the show's demise left many of us wishing for more.

For example, what was Sarah Jessica Parker's character, Carrie's fate? Did she continue with Mr. Big, and if so in what capacity, girlfriend, wife, occasional squeeze?

People want to know.

Well, it appears that all the niggling details have been worked out and there will be a " before long.

The original girls will be back, but so far the lid is on about the guys, so we'll have to see what has happened since the end of the TV series.

I'm betting they're all fee and on the make again. Posted by: jim      Read more     Source

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 18:22:26 GMT

Some Good News for Lindsay Lohan

At last, amidst the spree of bad news of rehabilitation fiasco, drunken driving, having lesbian tendency, making out, smooching at public places and possessing a pervert psyche, good news has come for Lindsay Lohan. The actress has been exonerated in a trial. The said accident had occurred in 2005 when this Hollywood sensation crashed her Mercedes into a nearby van. The court had found that Lindsay has to pay $3,624.84 as compensation money. Well, the claimee just forgot to turn up to collect the amount. So judge had no choice but to dismiss the case.

Lindsay can certainly draw some inspiration from it and try to improve her otherwise boorish behaviour. Well, I really doubt that and soon she would be hugging another controversy. Till then I better wait and watch.

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Source: TMZ Posted by: Fineblog      Read more     Source

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 18:18:48 GMT

Paris Received Royal Treatment During Sentence

Oh Boy! Making a mockery of all the claims of similar treatment like other inmates, Paris managed to get what little luxuries were available in the jail. The Sheriffs Department has been accused of offering undue favors and royal treatment to Paris during her 23 days of imprisonment. The charges include providing a cordless phone to Hilton, whereas all inmates are suppose to wait for their turn in queue for hours to use the only one assigned pay phone. Now I know that how did Paris manage to call that reporter who first told about Paris plight in jail!

Other allegation include that Hilton was provided a new jail uniform instead of the recycled one which all inmates are suppose to wear. Also a Captain delivered all her mails whereas inmate trusties are expected to this job.

Sheriffs spokesman Steve Whitmore saidthat they are going to investigate it and get to the bottom of it and find out exactly what happened.

Paris has proved that its not only in night clubs where her oomph works, as a matter of fact she can seduce even police department to get her job done.

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Source: Msnbc Posted by: Fineblog      Read more     Source

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 17:11:56 GMT

Goya's Ghosts.

"The official portraitist of Amadeus and The People vs Larry Flynt will return to theaters Friday with Goya's Ghosts, a costume drama and controlled historical epic that marks his first film since the Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon in 1999," writes Paul Cullum. Profiling Milos Forman for the Los Angeles Times, he finds in the new film "a startling allegory for modern geopolitical adventurism - a subject the 75-year-old director has had much time to reflect on as of late."

But for Nick Schager, writing at Slant, Foreman "goes astray with Goya's Ghosts, a beautiful disaster of a period picture that weaves its preposterous story around Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgård) during the Spanish Inquisition and Napoleon's invasion of Spain."

Updated through 7/17: Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source