This little clip is from the documentary “Heart of Darkness”, a behind the scenes look at Francis Ford Coppola during the production of Apocalypse Now. Coppola notes his excitement over “new 8mm cameras” and how they’re going to revolutionize filmmaking and enable everyone to make movies.

Yet this hasn’t happened. Not with 8mm cameras. Not with video recorders. Not with DV camcorders. Not with DLSRs. It will never happen no matter how affordable and accessible the technology gets. Because Coppola forgot one important detail: it doesn’t matter what camera you’re shooting on, if you don’t have a story to tell, it’s useless. You are no more an “artist” if you shoot a shitty story on the Red Epic than on your iPhone. You’re still a shitty storyteller.

Principal photography for the sequel Star Trek from J.J. Abrams has commenced in Los Angeles today — a release date set for May 17, 2013 in 3D. It’s hard to believe three years ago, the re-launch of the Star Trek franchise by Abrams was met with a huge box office success that streamed worldwide — grossing over $385 million at the box office.

Of course, all the major stars are returning, including John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, and Anton Yelchin. They are joined by new cast members Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve and Peter Weller.

The late Gene Roddenberry created the Star Trek theme and characters as a television show in the 1960s. The sequel script was written by Alex Kurtzman & Robert Orci & Damon Lindelof.

Steven Spielberg was set to direct Jurassic Park 4 in 2013, but according to the man himself, in an interview with Collider, he won’t be directing the fourth movie. He was very specific when he said:

“I don’t want to talk about Jurassic Park 4 yet – it’s too early – but I can tell you that I’m not directing it. I’m producing it though.”

Spielberg didn’t want to go into details about Jurassic Park 4, once again saying that it was “too early” to talk about story and all that. Jurassic Park 4 producer Kathleen Kennedy said last year that they intend to shoot the film in 3D, which is a no-brainer, considering Hollywood’s preference to 3D these days.

Stephen Sondheim’s music will be on the big screen because Rob Marshall is set to direct a film adaptation of one of Sondheim’s most entertaining and lyrical Broadway musicals — “Into the Woods”.

The Walt Disney Studios and Lucamar productions are producing the movie. James Lapine, who wrote the stage musical with Stephen Sondheim, will adapt the story for the screen.

“Into the Woods” weaves together the story of several of the most beloved fairytales (Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel) into the original story of a Baker and his wife who try to reverse a curse on their family in order to have a child, exploring the consequences of the characters’ wishes and quests and their desire for “happily ever after.” With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book and direction by James Lapine, “Into the Woods” earned 10 nominations at the 1988 Tony Awards, winning three including best score and best book of a musical. The 2002 Broadway revival won a Tony for best revival of a musical.

Since the musical has so many characters as an ensemble piece, it will be interesting to see which mega stars will be casted in the movie.

Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh is sharing the first five minutes of Haywire exclusively on Hulu.  The clip clearly shows how much power MMA superstar Gina Carano can kick.  Watch the first five minutes of the adrenaline inducing clip of Carano kicking Channing Tatum’s butt.

The film also stars Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton, Michael Douglas and Michael Angarano.

The final poster for Haywire has just been released by Relativity Media for the upcoming action-thriller, directed by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh.
The cast of Haywire is very impressive. Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton, Michael Douglas, Michael Angarano and mixed martial arts superstar Gina Carano star in the film.

From looking at the new trailer, the movie is a dynamic action-thriller with Carano performing her own high-adrenaline stunts. The trailer doesn’t really tell us much about the movie. But what is clear is that Carano kicks some serious butts. Those butts belong to men. Go Girl!

Carano plays Mallory Kane, a highly trained operative who works for a government security contractor in the dirtiest, most dangerous corners of the world. After successfully freeing a Chinese journalist held hostage, she is double crossed and left for dead by someone close to her in her own agency. Now she is the target of skilled assassins who know her every move, Mallory must find the truth in order to stay alive.

Using her black-ops military training, she devises an ingenious—and dangerous—trap. But when things go haywire, Mallory realizes she’ll be killed in the blink of an eye unless she finds a way to turn the tables on her ruthless adversary.

The movie opens January 20, 2011.

The powers that be are calling The Elephant in the Living Room too big of a movie to ignore. I guess they are right because in the documentary we see a five hundred pound African lion attacking cars on a freeway, a sixteen foot Burmese Python in a restaurant parking lot and a panther running loose in a residential neighborhood.

The Elephant in the Living Room takes viewers on a journey deep inside the controversial subculture where the most dangerous animals on earth are kept as common household pets. Director Michael Webber follows Tim Harrison, a leading authority and the man responsible for the rescue and capture of “domesticated” exotic animals, as he works through the flood of calls he receives of dangerous predators roaming the inner-city and nearby suburbs. Tim deals with a ten-foot alligator walking through the streets of a mid-western town, a gaboon viper lurking in a garage and countless other sightings of cougars, tigers, lions, bears and reptiles.

The lives of two men intersect in the midst of this extraordinary film that brings light to the world of exotic pets. One, Tim Harrison, a police officer whose friend was killed by an exotic pet, and the other, Terry Brumfield, a man who is overcoming depression through a close connection with his pet African lion. Winner of five BEST DOCUMENTARY awards, The Elephant in the Living Room delivers the emotional story with exclusive interviews and never before seen footage of this highly controversial topic.

Screenhead has one copy to giveaway. To enter the giveaway post your name and we will pick the winner November 21, 2011.

U.S. Residents Only

Acclaimed writer and director Terrence Malick brought us Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line and The New World. His thought provoking film experience hits a new level with The Tree of Life.

The award-winning movie is about a family and their relationships with each other, particularly the father and sons. The camera work is stunning. The cinematography and raw emotional power Malick’s hymn to life excavates answers to the most haunting and personal human questions through a kaleidoscope of the intimate and the cosmic, from the raw emotions of a family in a small Texas town to the wildest, infinite edges of space and time, from a boy’s loss of innocence to a man’s transforming encounters with awe, wonder and transcendence.
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The Blu-ray/DVD release of Water for Elephants from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will hit the streets today. Screenhead has two copies of Water for Elephants to giveaway.

Take a journey back in time with the romantic tale based on Sara Gruen’s New York Times #1 Best-Seller novel of the same name, “Water for Elephants”, on Blu-ray and DVD.

Starring Academy Award-winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line), Robert Pattinson (Twilight series) and Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds), the film presents an epic tale of forbidden love in a magical place filled with adventure, wonder and great danger.

Showcasing the decadence of a bohemian circus and the majesty of its animals against the backdrop and beauty of a bygone era, Water for Elephants makes the ideal holiday gift idea for your favorite film buff, fashionista or book-lover!

To enter the giveaway, post your name and we will pick the winners* November 15, 2011.

U.S. Residents only

Hollywood had a problem. Stephen King’s epic novel The Stand has been hot property for a long time. It’s a massive, sprawling story involving dozens of characters, so how can it be squeezed into a feature film, and who is the man for the job? Apparently, Warner Bros thinks it’s Ben Affleck.

According to Deadline, Affleck has pretty much agreed to make the book adaptation, and just has to sign on the dotted line. But is he the right choice? Gone Baby Gone and The Town both received positive critical reception, and the latter was an immense box-office success. But, the former couldn’t handle its small set of characters and its gritty portrayal of Boston came across as cluttered and pretentious. And The Town couldn’t even develop its two main characters well. Perhaps his next film, Argo (about the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis), will instill enough faith, but surely there must be better directors. Frank Darabont has already adapted King’s novels quite well (AND was involved in post-apocalypse series The Walking Dead). Or what about John Hillcoat or Duncan Jones?

For those interested, The Stand deals with the world after a devastating virus kills most human and animal life on the planet. Survivors wander in groups in an attempt to find a new home, but mysterious forces appear. Groups must decide whether to join the seemingly benign Mother Abagail or the tyrant Randall Flagg. The novel has already been adapted into a 1994 mini-series. Making it a single feature film is an almost impossible task, though many suspect it could become a trilogy of films.