EdwardBurns Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Later this month, Edward Burns' Purple Violets will be available exclusively on iTunes. You won't see it in theaters, or on DVD or anywhere else -- at least for awhile. Did you know this? I've written about it, and maybe you read that previous post, but if you're not a regular reader of movie news and/or blogs, would you know about the landmark event? I haven't seen any ads anywhere, nor have I even seen mention on the main iTunes page. When I search Purple Violets on the iTunes store, it only gives me the soundtrack -- not even a mention that the film will soon be offered.

So, how is Purple Violets being marketed? I have no idea, which is sad because there's a new bit of information that could be used to advertise to its target demographic. The film was awarded the top prize at the Savannah Film Festival, winning best narrative feature this past Saturday. Certainly this honor will appeal to indie film enthusiasts, no? Sure, the festival isn't the biggest or most prestigious, but the award would still look good on an ad for the film. If only it had one.

Other winners in Savannah included The First Saturday in May and The Singing Revolution, which tied for the documentary award, and Bill Plympton's Shuteye Hotel, which won best animation. First Saturday also picked up a producer award for co-directors/producers John Hennegan and Brad Hennegan and Singing Revolution also won the jury prize. Screenwriter David Benioff, whose adaptation The Kite Runner was screened at the fest, was honored with a non-competition award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema.

On November 20, for the first time ever, a movie will be exclusively distributed via iTunes. Yes, we already heard about this briefly when our own Kevin Kelly talked with Edward Burns at ComicCon. But at the time, Burns had said he would be given a trial run, in which his latest film, Purple Violets, would be available on iTunes for four weeks beginning on October 9. That date has come and gone, and now the New York Times has revealed that the film will actually get a full, exclusive release on November 20. That means you won't be able to see it in theaters, or on DVD, or on Cable. Yet, anyway. Personally, I'm a bit shocked the idea didn't happen sooner. There's tons and tons of indie films out there that can't get good distro. Going with iTunes sounds like a great opportunity to get notice. Plus, with iTunes still only offering less than 1000 movies, and still unable to get titles from all the studios, the service would do well to increase its library with exclusives like this. The idea certainly worked for companies like Netflix, which started exclusive distribution via its Red Envelope Entertainment moniker. Maybe one day, like Red Envelope, iTunes could even produce its own movies.

The Times goes into detail about iTunes distribution, mentioning the strategy of putting Wes Anderson's Hotel Chevalier up for free download, which sparked extra interest in The Darjeeling Limited. It also points out the benefit of having short films on iTunes in general, not just for well-knowns like Anderson. The move can affect DVD rentals, though, according to Burns, who has had difficulty securing video distribution for Purple Violets now that it will be available on iTunes. The movie, which stars Burns, Debra Messing, Patrick Wilson and Selma Blair, premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival, where Eric called it Burns' "best film since The Brothers McMullen ... a more mature film than anything Burns has done in the past."

I really dig Shannyn Sossamon. At least, I did with her first three features -- she was my kind of alterna-mainstream girl. She hit it out of the park with A Knight's Tale, and then she started moaning from an orchid in 40 Days and 40 Nights before bringing to life Ellis dysfunction with The Rules of Attraction. After that, not so much. I'm still itching to see her in Wristcutters: A Love Story, but I'm not to keen on her turn to horror. The latest is called One Missed Call, and it co-stars Edward Burns (The Holiday). The horror flick is supposed to get released next year, and now we can finally check out the trailer on Yahoo.

At first I was a little intrigued -- Azura Skye kicked arse on her too-short stint on Buffy, as a girl who knew her death was coming, but the scenario just doesn't seem so cool this time around -- probably because it looks like Final Destination with cell phones, not to mention the fact that we're drowning in Asian horror remakes. The trailer covers the basic plot -- with or without batteries, these cell phones keep ringing and letting the person hear the last few moments of their life. They get paranoid and scared, and then succumb to the death the mobile predicted. However, Kevin Kelly saw some clips at ComicCon and said they were "extremely spooky," so maybe it ain't all bad. Heck, I might see it just for Ray Wise, Laura Palmer's troubled pop from Twin Peaks. The movie will hit theaters on January 4, 2008.

I had no idea until this week that Virgin has a comic book line, but Virgin Comics indeed exists and it's putting out series created by filmmakers such as John Woo, Shekhar Kapur and Guy Ritchie, whose title is being made into a movie by Warner Bros. Virgin has announced another new comic to be co-written by indie filmmaker (and Saving Private Ryan actor) Edward Burns. The book, which has the weird name Dock Walloper, is being co-written by Jimmy Palmiotti and is being drawn by Siju Thomas. It's about an Irish-American gangster and takes place in 1920s New York. The comic book will serve as a foundation for a feature film that Burns will write, direct and co-star in, playing a crime boss named Mad Dog Madden. About the movie, Burns says he always wanted to make a New York period piece but always thought it would be too expensive to do. Now, though, he can shoot the whole thing with green screen, a la Sin City and 300.

Sounds like the furthest thing from The Brothers McMullen I can possibly imagine. I find it interesting that in the currently comic-obsessed film industry, that even someone like Burns has to jump aboard the wagon. And I find it quite sad that filmmakers are now having to put out pre-production comic books just to have that appeal of making a comic adaptation. I don't even know if Dock Walloper will be allowed to be considered an adaptation if the comic is basically based on an idea for a movie, which will then be adapted from the book. It does confuse me, just as the other trend of preceding a movie with an internet series does confuse me. What next, a comic that's a precursor to a Jenna Jameson porn movie? Oh, wait, Virgin seems already on top of that idea, too. Hmm, if there's a more ironic name for a company for Jameson to be associated with, I don't know it.

I've never been a fan of Ed Burns as a filmmaker, but I do kinda like him as an actor. I say "kinda," though, because I haven't had the urge to see him in much since Saving Private Ryan. In fact, as much as I dislike his work as a writer-director, I'm more willing to see his own films in order to see his acting work, than to see other people's films he stars in. I think I'd even see She's the One again before I see A Sound of Thunder or Life or Something Like It. Sure, I only really kinda like him for one role, which had the benefit of Spielberg's direction, but I do believe he is fully capable of being in another great film.

That great film may be awhile yet, as he's just signed on to another film I probably won't bother seeing: 27 Dresses. The romantic comedy, which Monika Bartyzel did an amazing job of telling us about in March, will feature Burns as a man about to marry one sister (Malik Akerman) while being the object of affection of another sister (Katherine Heigl). With this casting news, we are now left wondering how costar James Marsden will fit in to the story. My guess: he plays the guy who Heigl falls in love with once she realizes she can't have her future brother-in-law. 27 Dresses has been written by Aline Brosh McKenna, who last adapted The Devil Wears Prada, rewritten by Dana Fox, who already gave us one wedding rom-com (The Wedding Date) and is being directed by dancer-turned-choreographer-turned-director Anne Fletcher. If you like the sound of that mix of talent, you may want to check out 27 Dresses. As for me, I might just try my luck with Burns' new film, Purple Violets, which premiered Monday at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Hey, I have a great idea! Let's find a (somewhat) cool Japanese horror movie and then remake it in English! It'll be great, we'll ... What? You say it's been done to freakin' death by now? Well then why are Edward Burns and Shannyn Sossamon starring in a remake of Takashi Miike's One Missed Call? (Yes, folks, comedy this lame can only be inspired by trends this endless. My apologies.)

Anyway, Miike's film has to do with a young girl whose friends receive some decidedly deadly cell-phone calls, only to wind up (you guessed it) dead. But when Main Girl gets a call of her own, she turns to Detective Guy to help save the day. (I'll leave it to you to decide who plays Main Girl and who plays Detective Guy.) The new version comes from novelist Andrew Klavan (Don't Say a Word) and Eric Valette, a Frenchman making his English-language debut. Production's already underway, Warner Bros. will be distributing, and Miike's version is presently available on DVD.

Notice how you see very few Japanese remakes of American horror films ...

 

Poor Ray Bradbury. Has his work ever been treated right on the screen? In 1966, François Truffaut clumsily adapted Bradbury's most well-known novel, Fahrenheit 451, about a future society in which information is repressed through the burning of books. The Martian Chronicles became a mixed-bag miniseries starring Rock Hudson in 1980, though it is remembered largely by sci-fi purists and self-styled xenosociologists. It was during Disney's "dark years" in 1983 (which also produced the bleak 1985 animated feature The Black Cauldron) that someone came the closest to capturing Bradbury's spirit when Jack Clayton, with whom Bradbury had worked on the 1956 adaptation of Moby Dick, made Something Wicked This Way Comes (from Bradbury's own screenplay). That trend of misses continues, as the time travel misadventure A Sound Of Thunder is an inept wheel-spin which, at best, will earn a "wait until DVD" (followed by "...and skip it then, too.")