Very few films have been greeted with the critical scorn that Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate was greeted with in 1980. Perhaps spurned on by reports of production and cost overruns and Cimino’s own outrageous directorial demands, critics laid into the film with sharpened knives in a manner virtually unseen before or since. The film’s reputation was so eviscerated that it only managed to make approximately $3 million at the box office, barely mading a dent in its $44 million budget.

But in more recent years, Cimino’s epic western has undergone some reappraisal from some quarters of film scholarship and it is possible that a new 216-minute edit of the film may help with that reconsideration.

Cimino unveiled this new, digitally-restored version last night at the Venice Film Festival saying “Being infamous is not fun. It becomes a weird occupation in and of itself.” Cimino, who had won an Oscar for directing The Deer Hunter before embarking on Heaven’s Gate, also received a lifetime achievement award from the festival.

Following a fraught, six-month location shoot in Montana during which the film’s budget almost quadrupled and he wound up earning the unflattering nickname “The Ayatollah.”, Cimino was able to cobble together for studio executives a rough cut of the film that ran approximately five hours and twenty-five minutes with Cimino stating that his final cut would probably run about fifteen minutes shorter. Eventually Cimino delivered a 219 minute cut which ran for one week in one theater in New York City in November 1980. A drastically recut, 149-minute version was released the following April, but it fared little better with critics and audiences.

It was Heaven’s Gate box office failure that forced studio United Artists, already reeling from the poor reception received by Cruising and Foxes earlier in the year, into bankruptcy.

Two years later, Los Angeles regional cable outlet Channel Z began airing Cimino’s 219-minute cut, advertising it as a “director’s cut,” the first time a movie had been presented as such. Subsequent home video releases of the film have all been the 219-minute version.

It is not known what changes Cimino has made to the film for this new version, but we will have a chance to find out shortly when Criterion releases the film on Blu-ray on November 20.

If you were scratching your head last February over why there were only two nominees in the Best Original Song category of the Academy Awards you weren’t the only one. There was a lot of questioning as to what quirk of the rules allowed such a low number of competing songs in the first place. And the Academy has heard these complaints and has moved to update the rules of the category so that now there will be a total of five nominees. Here is the pertinent section of the Academy’s press release issued last night with the announcement and the method for which those five nominees will be chosen.

The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has approved additional rules for the 85th Academy Awards. The most significant changes affect the Original Song category, in which there will now be five nominees.

During the nominations process, all voting members of the Music Branch will receive a Reminder List of works submitted in the category and a DVD copy of the song clips. Members will be asked to watch the clips and then vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements in the category. The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award.

I have to say that this is a pretty good move on the Academy’s parts as this is one of the categories that tend to bring in viewers. Now if they could just perhaps reinsert the performances of the nominated songs back into the ceremony. (Yes, I’m still bummed we didn’t get a performance of “Man or Muppet” at this year’s show.)

The 85th Academy Awards will be presented on February 24, 2013.

1.The Possession (Lionsgate, 2,816 Theaters, 92 Minutes, Rated PG-13): I have two rules for horror films. One, be wary of any horror film that says it is based on a true story. Because, more often than not, the film is so far away from the original true story that it doesn’t even qualify as “true” anymore. Second, try to avoid any horror film that is rated PG-13 and runs around 90 minutes. Not that a film with that rating or that short can’t be scary, but, more often than not, it means that the film was edited to get as many people to see it as possible on the opening weekend,  most likely before word of mouth kills the film.

This film centers on a young girl who finds a cool, antique box at a yard sale. Unfortunately for the kid, the box is a dybbuk box. Dybbuks are evil creatures from Hebrew mythology, believed to be souls of dead people,  who take over unwitting victims. Hence the title.

The film has a good cast (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick) and is produced by Sam Raimi. But I don’t know if that is enough to overcome the strikes against it.

With less than four months to the release of the first installment of Peter Jackson’s three-part The Hobbit adaptation, we have gotten good looks at a majority of the characters we will be meeting in the film. However, there have been a few exceptions, most notably Thranduil, the elf king of Mirkwood being played by Pushing Daisies’ Lee Pace.

Today we have that look courtesy of NZNoldor (via Middle Earth Network), who managed to get ahold of some pictures of the elvish monarch from the upcoming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Almanac 2013. As you can see, Pace certainly brings a family resemblance for Thranduil as compared to his son Legolas, as played by Orlando Bloom. I also really like how Jackson and company have realized Thranduil’s “crown of woodland flowers” as it is described in The Hobbit. Click on each picture for a larger version.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Almanac 2013 hits book stores on November 6 and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey arrives in theaters on December 22.

Korean director Chan-wook Park is in his talks for his second English-language project, the western The Brigands of Rattleborge. Park, perhaps best known for his Vengeance thematic trilogy which includes Oldboy, has just wrapped his first English-language feature Stoker with Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska.

Written by Craig Zahler, Brigands placed fairly high on the 2006 edition of the Black list, the script had languished in development all this time due to the extremely violent nature of the story.

As the script centers on a sheriff and a doctor who team together to exact revenge on a group of outlaws who had laid waste to a small town during a large thunderstorm, I can certainly see why Park would be interested in the material.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the Robocop remake. First, HitFlix’s Drew McWeeny got his hands on a copy of the script for the film and trashed it. Then it was revealed through an interview with friend and fellow director  Fernando Mereilles, that the remake’s director Jose Padiha was becoming “bitter” with the process of making the film.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, Hugh Laurie drops out of the role of Ray Sellars, the villainous head of the corporation that makes Robocop.

After that string of bad news, any good news would seem to be a miracle. Well, here’s your miracle. Deadline is announcing that Michael Keaton has signed on to replace Laurie in the role of Sellars.

I consider Keaton to be one of the most underrated and underused actors of his generation. He excels at comedy, as witnessed in Night Shift, Mr. Mom, and Johnny Dangerously, but could also do drama, such as Clean and Sober and Pacific Heights.

Keaton’s profile has been lower over the last decade, with a majority of his acting coming in leads in low budget pictures, supporting roles in mid-level films, voiceover work in several Pixar movies and the occasional television work. This will be his highest profile work in years, and long overdue.

Robocop is scheduled to start shooting next month for an August 2013 release.

When Avengers director Joss Whedon was signed by Marvel Studios to write and direct the sequel to his blockbuster superhero mashup, he was also tasked with helping to oversee all projects that Marvel was developing as part of “Phase Two” of their interconnected cinematic universe, which includes a hitherto unannounced television series for corporate sibling ABC. Well, that television series has now been announced and it is one that will focus on the spy organization SHIELD.

According to reports, Whedon will develop the series, co-writing the pilot with his brother Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen. Schedule permitting, Whedon will also direct the show’s pilot. Jed Whedon and Tancharoen co-wrote the internet distributed Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog with Joss Whedon and have also worked as writer-producers on Spartacus and Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse.

Since the announcement of Whedon’s involvement with a television series for Marvel, speculation as to what comic property it could be adapting has ranged from a SHIELD series to one that would involve more “street-level” superheroes. Marvel also has a number of projects still in development for ABC Family.

There is no word yet as to which, if any, characters will cross over from the films to the television series. I would find it hard to believe that someone like Samuel L Jackson, who has played the organizations chief Nick Fury in a number of Marvel’s films, would be a regular if the show goes to series, though he could show up occasionally in a guest star capacity. The same goes for Scarlett Johnasson and Jeremy Renner, who have also played SHIELD agents Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton in Marvel movies including The Avengers.

The availability of Cobie Smulders, who played SHIELD Agent Maria Hill in The Avengers, may depend if the hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother, where she is a member of the ensemble, goes for a ninth season. My guess is that we may see more of Maximiliano Hernández and Titus Welliver, who appear as SHIELD agents in the upcoming Marvel One Shot short film Item 47 which will appear on the Avengers DVD and blu-ray next month.

Now normally we confine our coverage here to just films but given that Whedon’s participation is part of his deal with Marvel for The Avengers 2 and the show will tie into the movie continuity, I felt we could make the exception. A pilot order is no guarantee that ABC will pick the series up, but it is an exciting step in the growth of Marvel’s cinematic universe.

1. Lawless (The Weinstein Company, 2,565 Theaters, 115 Minutes, Rated R): Usually, when Hollywood does a crime story set in Prohibition-era America, it’s usually focused on the Al Capone-type figures who were the face of the opposition in big cities. This film takes a look at the rural bootleggers that did the grunt work on the back roads of the country during this period.

The film has an intriguing cast, including The Dark Knight Rises‘ Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman, Oscar Nominee Jessica Chastain, and, sticking out like a sore thumb, Shia LeBeouf.  Okay, that was a bit cruel. LeBeouf has done good work in films other than the big-budget blockbusters, so he’s not that awkward of a fit.

This film was adapted by rock star Nick Cave, whose last screenplay was for The Proposition, which was also directed by John Hillcoat and starred Guy Pearce.

2. The Oogieloves In The BIG Balloon Adventure (Kenn Viselman Presents, 2,160 Theaters, Rated G): Good lord, where to begin with this utterly bizarre movie.

As the father of a three-year old, I have seen a lot of entertainment aimed at kids. A lot. And the prevalent theme in a lot of this entertainment is its sheer stupidity. Not “simplified so kids can understand it” stupid but “kids aren’t worth it so why even bother trying” stupid.  For every Sesame Street there’s a Teletubbies, the creator of which, coincidentally, is the creative force behind this film. That should tell you something.

I saw the trailer for this film before Brave, and I was saddened about what so many of my favorite actors have to stoop to. Christopher Lloyd was Doc Brown! Cary Elwes was Westley! Chazz Palminteri has an Oscar nomination for goodness sakes! And yet, on the other hand, these are the biggest names the producers could afford to make a fool of themselves on the films paltry budget.

Thanks to a judgment from a California Federal judge, the unauthorized Evil Dead sequel being prepared by Award Pictures has been stopped, well, dead.

At the heart of Awards’s assertion that they could make an Evil Dead film was 2000 Raimi’s statement that his Renaissance Pictures production company would not be making any more Evil Dead films was an abandonment of their claim of trademark on the material in the three horror film series that Raimi directed. In a filing with the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, Award Pictures argued that even if the trademark for the first film is valid, the two sequels were made for different studios and constitute “work for hire” and thus could not be considered “continued use.” They also pointed to over 20 other films that used “Evil Dead” in their titles that Renaissance did nothing about.

Renaissance countered in their lawsuit this past May that although there have been no new films planned until the recently announced remake, they have continued to use the mark through the licensing of video games, comic books and collector memorabilia. They also stated that if Award Pictures planned film were to continue it would invariably infringe on many of their Evil Dead copyrights.

Judge Dale Fisher agreed with Renaissance and Raimi’s argument and stated that Awards Pictures are permanently forbidden from –

[U]sing the EVIL DEAD name or mark or any derivation or colorable imitations thereof, or any name or mark that is confusingly similar thereto, including but not limited to the names Evil Dead; Evil Dead: Genesis of the Necronomicon; Evil Dead: Genesis of the Necronomicon, Part 2; Evil Dead: Consequences, (collectively, the “Prohibited Names”), as or as part of the title of a motion picture, television program, video game, play, book or any other form of entertainment provided or to be provided through any media, or in connection with the promotion, development, distribution, or production of any form of entertainment.

Judge Fisher also ordered Awards to refrain from -

[D]oing any other acts or things calculated or likely to cause confusion or mistake in the mind of the public or to lead purchasers or consumers or investors into the belief that the products or services promoted, offered or sponsored by Defendant emanate from or originate with Plaintiff or its licensees.

Deadline is reporting that the judgment may partly be the result from Awards never responding to Renaissance’s initial filing back in May and their claim that they didn’t even have the money to hire a lawyer to represent them.

Earlier in the month, Marvel Studios and its parent company Disney were served with a copyright infringement lawsuit from German luggage manufacturer Rimowa for replicating without permission their Topas attaché case for the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase One Collector’s Set. Marvel had received permission to use the product in The Avengers, but not to serve as the basis for the home video set packaging.

And while Marvel has not had made any official comment on the situation, the studio has quietly removed the product picture from their websiteand changed the description so that instead of reading “this exclusive replica of the iconic S.H.I.E.L.D. briefcase” to just “this collectible gift set.”

Meanwhile, Amazon has suspended preorders on the set, stating that it is “currently under review” and a number of online retailers have apparently cancelled advanced orders.

I’m not sure what we can infer from this maneuvering as Marvel seems to be positioning themselves for a couple of different possibilities. The first, and more preferable to me at least, is that the studio is hoping to make a settlement with Rimowa and will be able to make the set available in time to take advantage of the upcoming holiday shopping season. The other outcome would see Marvel trying to come up with some alternative packaging that will excite fans as much as the attaché case packaging seems to have.

Either way, I don’t foresee the legal fracas being resolved before the Avengers home video release date of September 25.

Via Bleeding Cool.