avatarPromotional campaigns for films are designed to do one thing: Sell tickets. Unfortunately, they sometimes mislead viewers into expecting something a film doesn’t deliver which can taint the viewing experience.

This might be the case with James Cameron’s “Avatar” which was released Friday with an incredible amount of hype – both grass-roots and manufactured through an advertising campaign that might lead viewers to expect the greatest movie known to the history of humankind. Continue reading “Movie review: Avatar’s visuals dazzle”

Peter Jackson is planning to set up a film museum in Wellington, sources say. It is understood the development, with a working name of New Zealand Movie World, is planned for opposite his Park Road Post Production facility in Miramar. Props from Jackson’s movies – including his Lord of the Rings trilogy and as far back as Bad Taste in 1987 – would be on public display. A film school could also be included in the development.

A spokesman for Jackson said yesterday that there had been “nothing new and nothing active” in planning for a Wellington-based movie museum and film school since a similar proposal for Shelly Bay fell over about a year ago. More..

Weta Digital’s Richard Taylor and other New Zealand businessmen are seeking to raise up to US$400 million (NZ$550m) to buy intellectual property with box office potential. If the explosive popularity of Twilight or Harry Potter is anything to go by, good intellectual property can clinch the success of a film, and spin-offs like computer games, action figures and branded beach towels.

Mr Taylor (often associated with Peter Jackson and the Lord of The Rings films) is teaming up with Christchurch-based Infiniti Capital chairman Kenji Steven, Nick Gerritsen, of Picton, and China-based Gavin Crombie to create film fund Panda Screen Productions. More..

News is on the Associated Press wire today that the founder of the pop-culture showcase, the San Diego Comic-Con, Sheldon Dorf, has died at age 76. A spokesperson for Dorf’s family, friend Greg Koudoulian, says he died at a San Diego hospital as a result of kidney failure and problems caused by diabetes. At the official Comic-Con Website there is a message from the Board of Directors, Staff and volunteers of the Comic-Con organization as they “mourn the passing of our dear friend Shel”. Continue reading “Comic-Con founder dies”