Posted 25 June, 2007 in NV News
Brad Pitt doesn’t really act in Ocean’s Thirteen, he just glides through the third chapter in Steven Soderbergh’s heist-flick annuity on the magic carpet of his own unimpeachable cool. Don’t knock it. Genuine star power is rare — just watch Colin Farrell, Jude Law and Orlando Bloom struggle to attain it. Pitt has it in spades — all aces.
Like Dean Martin did with Rat Pack capo Frank Sinatra in Ocean’s Eleven back in the Pleistocene era (1960), Pitt, 43, damn near holds his own with George Clooney, 46, the current go-to icon for effortless charm. That they both rolled craps in 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve, the self-satisfied ringer in the series, seems to have taught a hard lesson: Do not overplay the arrogance card. While co-stars Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and Al Pacino, as the scrappy villain of the piece, knock themselves out to add juice to the movie, Pitt, following Clooney’s lead, never breaks a sweat. And yet we’re grabbed, drawn in by something beyond looks.
Despite the tabloid scrutiny that follows Pitt and Angelina Jolie on their merry rounds of film and baby making, Pitt has become increasingly comfortable in his own skin. His newfound ease becomes him. As Rusty Ryan, chief wingman for Clooney’s Danny Ocean, Pitt takes the same light-fingered approach to robbing a casino as he does to stealing a scene. “Are you crying?” Rusty asks, catching Danny sniffling at an Oprah giveaway show on the tube. The setup evokes the kind of banter that Frank and Dean thrived on. But Pitt turns Rusty’s amusement into a deeper curiosity. Is he being played, or did he detect a twinge of sincerity in Ocean? Feelings are dangerous in a gambler and a thief. No wonder Rusty’s on the lookout.
Still, it’s feelings that kick-start Ocean’s Thirteen, written with beyond-the-call-of-duty panache by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, renowned in my house for the poker cult classic that is Rounders. The only person who can get Ocean tearier than Oprah is his pal Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould in top form), who has just been royally screwed out of his stake in the Strip’s newest hotel-casino, the Bank. In a burst of Trump-like hubris, Pacino’s Willy Bank has named the place after himself. To revenge Reuben, the boys — including the priceless Carl Reiner as Saul Bloom — decide to take down Willy and his Bank.
Posted 7 June, 2007 in TX News
by Lauren D’Avolio
Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday signed a bill earmarking at least $22 million worth of incentives for in-state film productions, thrilling the Texas film industry after its push for a nationwide place of prominence.
The law allows projects completed after Sept. 1 to be eligible for a rebate of up to 5 percent of their costs, or a maximum of $2.5 million for television shows and $2 million for feature films. The appropriation is at least $10 million for each fiscal year, though it is limitless – provided the state isn’t losing money.
Film industry analysts say this will attract productions from nearby states with similar incentive laws, like New Mexico and Louisiana, which have siphoned business from Texas.
A film must spend $1 million in Texas to qualify, including wages and equipment. For example, if a production company were to rent vehicles in Texas or to hire a local catering company, it would receive credit for that.
After the project is completed, the company would need to verify the cash it spent. A greater incentive — an extra 1.5 percent — exists for “underserved areas,” which include everywhere but Dallas and Austin.
“The motion picture industry does much more than fill movie theaters with millions of people who love to hear a good story,” Perry said in a prepared statement Thursday. “It creates jobs, builds the economy and serves as an incubator for the development of the creative arts industry, as does the production of television programs, television commercials and video games.”
Janis Burklund, head of the Dallas Film Commission, said the incentive program will make Texas more competitive and help it retain shows shot here, like “Barney” and “Prison Break.”
“We think it’s a really great start,” Burklund said, noting those closely involved will probably make another run at the legislature next session to bump up the figures. “It’s going to maintain what we already have, and it’s going to help us grow.”
Garry Potts, a Dallas-based producer, said this is the culmination of an enormous, statewide effort on the part of hundreds of Texas film professionals.
“This time, we finally got the lawmakers to realize how many working Texans — all over the state — depend on film production to feed their families,” Potts said. “All other things being equal, most out-of-state producers prefer shooting here, (a) because of the quality of our overall film infrastructure — equipment, crews — and (b) because of the variety of wonderful filming locations we offer.”
Another version of the bill was passed in 2005, but the legislature never funded it.
Since implementing a similar film incentive program in 2003, Louisiana’s in-state film production spending has increased 30-fold. New Mexico has seen a 50-fold increase in economic activity generated from film production products in the state following its implementation film incentives, according to a news release issued by Perry’s office Thursday.
The Texas Film Commission says at least 32 film projects in the last four years that researched Texas for their production locations chose other states that offered film incentives. The commission said those projects would have brought in an estimated $327 million in project spending and 4,600 jobs.
courtesy Dallas Business Journal
