Fan Fare
Entertainment behind the scenes
Mai tais? This isn’t an Eastwood film shoot
Some films are made on a $6 million budget, others with $60 million. It’s the difference between long hours on set and sipping mai tais on the patio. Just ask “The Bang Bang Club” director, Steven Silver.
“The Bang Bang Club,” was 10 years in the making, shot last year over the course of 30 days and produced on a budget of 5 million euros. It’s still waiting to be picked up by a U.S. distributor.
When casting, Director Steven Silver told Reuters during the Toronto film festival that he had turned down other more high profile actors for the roles. He was looking for people who were able to immerse themselves into the culture, adding: “I needed actors who were prepared to deal with the difficulties and hardships of a low budget independent film.”
The film was shot in South Africa around the same time as Clint Eastwood’s ” Invictus”, which reportedly had a budget of about $60 million.
Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus” named top movie for “grown-ups”
Clint Eastwood’s movie “Invictus”, featuring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, might not have bagged any of the top 
honors so far this awards season but it has come top of one annual list — “Best Movie for Grownups,” according to AARP The Magazine catering for the 50+ audience.
The ninth annual list ranking films for the 50+ audience — and ranking actors and actresses aged over 50 — also awarded Robert de Niro a Lifetime Achievement Award that will be presented at a Los Angeles Awards Gala on Feb. 16.
Fans, Oscar at odds over movie picks
(Writing and reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)
After winning key awards from the Producers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild this past weekend, “Slumdog Millionaire” is a favorite to win best picture at the Oscars. But don’t tell that to everyday movie fans. The think Oscar voters are a bunch of elitists, and they have their own favorites from among the movies and performers shut out of Oscar nominations.
Movie fans picked Batman movie “The Dark Knight” as the year’s biggest Oscar snub, in a poll released on Monday by online ticket seller MovieTickets.com. Fans also said Clint Eastwood should have been nominated for best actor for his movie “Gran Torino,”
Leonardo DiCaprio should have earned a nod for “Revolutionary Road,” Christopher Nolan should have been nominated best director for “The Dark Knight” and singer Bruce Springsteen should have been on the list of best original song nominees for “The Wrestler.”
Eastwood has long been a favorite with Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters, with two best director and best film awards, but he got zero nominations for “Gran Torino,” a snub that has irked fans. Still, fans have rewarded Eastwood at the box office, with “Gran Torino” earning nearly $100 million since it opened on Dec. 12.
This weekend, the critically panned comedy “Mall Cop” ruled the box office for a second week in a row, taking in a strong U.S. and Canada total of $64.8 million in two weeks. There’s no chance that “Mall Cop” will be nominated for best picture next year, but in only a couple weekends it has outperformed the $72.8 million worldwide total for “Slumdog Millionaire,” the tale of an Indian orphan who beats the odds to win love and a game show. Still, with best picture wins at the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild awards, ”Slumdog” from director Danny Boyle is currently the frontrunner in the race to Oscars.
Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino”: Oscar roadkill
It was perhaps the biggest snub of the Oscar nominations, actor/director Clint Eastwood’s “Gran 
Torino” was overlooked by voters at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with no — zero — nominations. Or, was it?
(For a slideshow of nominees, click here, and for a list of nominees, click here.)
What’s your film called, Clint?
In one of the more bizarre mixups at this year’s Cannes film festival, the makers of Clint Eastwood’s competition entry did not actually know what it should be called.
Years of planning, casting and shooting, and Clint and his team could not even agree on the title by the time the world’s press descended on Cannes to see it.
Cannes Fare 6 – Movie buzz and Clint Eastwood
We’re out by the harbor to offer some Cannes glitz, movie buzz and Clint Eastwood.
