Archive for June, 2010

Michael Sheen has accepted Vice Presidency of Port Talbot’s football team, Port Talbot Town.

In a recent news article, Manager Mark Jones says he wants his men, known as the Steelmen, to put Port Talbot on football’s map like Hollywood stars Michael Sheen and Sir Anthony Hopkins have done in the film world.

Michael was raised in Port Talbot from the age of eight and the Steelmen wrote to the 41-year-old movie star to offer him an honorary vice-presidency of the 109-year-old club.

“We got in touch with Michael Sheen and he accepted a vice-presidency of our club,” said Jones.

“Of course the club are very proud of Michael’s achievements and we were honoured he accepted our invitation.

“Now it is time for the club to make him proud of us.”

Welsh acting great Hopkins – star of Silence of the Lambs, Hamlet and Dracula – was born in Port Talbot, whose football team qualified for Europe for the first time in their 109-year history last season.

“There are no film stars in this squad,” joked Jones. “But I hope there are some football heroes.

“Michael Sheen was brilliant as Brian Clough in the Damned United but, if he asks, I wouldn’t let him do a Cloughie team-talk as I am a Leeds United fan!”

Jones will lead his Steelmen into European battle against Finnish side TPS Turku on Thursday hoping to claim a European scalp.

(source)

IMDB have updated Michael Sheen’s page to list The Codfather as a project he may be connected with. It is strictly in the rumour stages at the moment, but I will be keeping a close eye on this and of course, let you know if that status changes.

It does sound like a great project, and the sort of unusual thing that would appeal to Michael.  This is what IMDB has so far as the synopsis.

When five ordinary guys from a Welsh fishing village are offered the deal of a lifetime all hell breaks loose. The plot follows Barry and his friends as they smuggle drugs worth ten million pounds in cod

Other stars rumoured to appear in this are Val Kilmer, Vinnie Jones and Steve Coogan.

Tinkerbell and The Great Fairy Rescue director, Bradley Raymond, spoke to Movieweb. One of the questions asked was why he chose Michael Sheen to voice the part of Dr. Griffiths.

When I was listening for the voice of Dr. Griffiths, Michael Sheen was suggested to me by our head of casting, Jason Henkel. When I heard Michael’s voice, I heard a sense of warmth in his voice. He gives Lizzy’s father a likeability that is so crucial to the story. You want to root for Lizzy and her father to come together. Then when I had the pleasure to work with him, I got to witness his true greatness. Michael has the uncanny ability to act with his voice. That is so important in animation, because the actor’s voice is what inspires the animator’s performance on the screen.

Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue will be out on DVD and BluRay in the US on September 21st.

If you want to read the full interview click HERE

Dead Long Enough is to get a re-release on DVD by Bluebell Films.  The film stars Michael Sheen as Harry Jones, a successful womanising archaeologist turned TV celebrity.

A limited number is currently available on Amazon UK through re-sellers as this 2005 DVD is only available in Ireland, distributed through Eclipse Pictures.

Presumably Bluebell Films are re-releasing this due to Michael Sheen’s increasing popularity. Amazon UK have a release date of 13th September, and it has a lovely new cover too.  I have added a link to it in Amazon on the project page, or you can click on the thumbnail below to pre-order your copy now.

If you have not already seen this film, then I can not recommend it strongly enough. It is a lovely, funny story and a brilliant cast. Michael Sheen is absolutely gorgeous, wearing plenty of black leather through most of the film (so that will please the Lucian fans), and it is also quite unique in that it is one of the very few films that Michael uses his own natural Welsh accent.

There is a full synopsis available on the project page, but be warned – it contains spoilers!

Disney have confirmed today that “Tron Legacy” will have a significant presence at this year’s Comic-Con International 2010.

Michael, along with Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, as well as Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, and Bruce Boxleitner, will join the filmmakers in a Hall H panel that will kick off the con on Thursday, July 21 at 11:15 AM. The studio promises that footage from the December release will be previewed in 3-D as well as some “special surprise guests.”

Comic-con is being held at the San Diego Convention Centre from 22- 25th July. An annual event that showcases some of the hottest stars, projects and creators in the world of comics, and sci-fi and fantasy film/television.

It is believed that all tickets are sold out for this event.

(source)

This is a question posed by the LA Times in a recent article.

‘Unthinkable‘ is ranking in the top 5 hottest films on IMDB and on its message boards, has a lively and intellectual discussion on the subject matter of the film. You would think that the producer, Cotty Chubb, would be delighted at the attention, however, this film did not get a general release and the DVD only became available in the US today.

All the people discussing this film on the forums have watched it for free, by downloading from illegal torrent websites. So how did a film that has so much public interest end up as a ‘straight to dvd’ film?

Back in 2006, an agent gave Chubb the original script. Fascinated by the script’s compelling storyline, Chubb got the movie set up at Sidney Kimmel’s production company, where it attracted a director, Tarsem Singh, and a star, Forest Whitaker. But Kimmel ended up getting out of the business, and by the time Chubb had a new draft of the script, Singh and Whitaker had moved on.

Chubb finally secured financing from Senator Films, which believed the film could attract strong interest overseas, especially when Jackson agreed to play the leading role, supported by Michael Sheen and Carrie Anne Moss. The film ended up being directed by Gregor Jordan. Jordan shot the picture in fall 2008 with a budget of roughly $11 million. But Senator collapsed before the film could be released. With the foreign rights already sold and Sony already on board to release the film on home video, Chubb was unable to attract a domestic distributor who’d put up the kind of marketing money needed to support a theatrical release.

But either because of the subject matter or the money needed to mount a campaign, Chubb couldn’t find a distributor, so he resigned himself to a direct-to-video release. But even that release is now under a cloud after the film found its way onto the ‘Net. Chubb says he has no idea how the film leaked out. “There are no fingerprints on it. It certainly didn’t come from the editing room, since we’d already been shut down. So your guess is as good as mine.”

Meanwhile, Chubb has engaged the people who’ve been buzzing about the movie by steering the discussion to a vital economic issue, or at least a vital one for anyone who thinks there has to be a new economic model for film releases. Here’s a condensed version of what he wrote on the IMDB message board:

“I’ve heard a lot of reasons why streaming or downloading movies is a good idea, why everyone concerned should be happy with the attention (and in fact I am grateful for it), and how it’s the new real world, but I haven’t heard how the folks that paid for the picture are supposed to make their money back. So here’s one question, expressed a couple of different ways: Is there a fair price, fair in YOUR eyes, that you would pay for a download? ‘Hey, take a chance, it’s only a buck?’ ‘People tell me it’s great, I’ll drop two bucks?’ ‘Here’s three bucks, I can afford it and it’s only fair?’ What number seems right to you? ‘Or is it zero, screw it I don’t care?’ “

While all this excited discussion proves one thing – that the film is one people would have gone to the cinema to see – it has highlighted the fact that movie companies need to change the old fashioned model of a theatrical release, and then a home release months later.

If, like me, you have not seen the movie and would like to – as mentioned earlier – it is out on DVD in the US today and on 27th September in the UK.  Please visit the Project’s page for all product links.