Blog Posts by Will Perkins

Not too long ago on a dusty VHS shelf somewhere far, far away, excerpts from a lost documentary about the making of "The Empire Strikes Back" were unearthed by the superfans at StarWarsArchives.com.

Directed by French filmmaker Michel Parbot, the behind-the-scenes documentary titled "The Making of The Empire Strikes Back" was shot during the 1979 "ESB" shoot and was broadcast in the United Kingdom and United States the following year.

"21 and Over"

You can’t really fault first time directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore for sticking to what they know.

The two filmmakers behind the upcoming college comedy “21 and Over” also wrote a little movie called “The Hangover” a few years ago – a comedy smash hit starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis that made nearly $500 million at the box office. Clearly recognizing a very good thing, Lucas and Moore have applied the winning formula that made “The Hangover” such a success to their directorial debut. “21 and Over” is essentially “The Hangover” with college kids (not a bad thing at all), and here’s why.

Niels Arden Oplev (David Livingston/Getty Images)

Hollywood’s remake train may be not be showing any signs of slowing down, but at least the studios are giving interesting international directors the chance take on these previously trod properties.

Danish filmmaker Niels Arden Oplev (director of 2009’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) is an in-demand guy these days. The Dane is set to make his Hollywood debut in March with the action thriller “Dead Man Down” (starring Colin Farrell and original Lisbeth Salander portrayer Noomi Rapace), and just recently wrapped up shooting on a TV pilot for CBS based on Stephen King’s novel “Under the Dome.” A busy year for anyone, but Oplev hasn’t wasted any time moving on to his next North American project: a remake of the 1990 Joel Schumacher thriller “Flatliners.”

The Canada Screen Awards combine the Genies and the Geminis. (George Pimentel/WireImage)

Don’t roll up those red carpets quite yet! The Oscars may be in the can, but awards season isn’t officially over in Canada until the CSAs this weekend.

After rolling the Genies and Geminis into one awards show last month, the newly-minted Canadian Screen Awards announced its list of nominees ahead of its March 3 air date. Here's a look at what you can expect to see if you tune in on Sunday night:

Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nominee “War Witch” (“Rebelle”) is almost guaranteed to win the CSA’s Motion Picture category on March 3. It may have been beat by Austria’s “Amour” stateside, but as Canada’s official Oscar selection, “War Witch” is far and away the CSA frontrunner.

Getty Images

Given the dark and storied history of "The Crow" franchise, Hollywood’s enthusiasm for rebooting the undead superhero series seems, well, a little creepy.

Although director Alex Proyas's 1994 film adaptation of James O'Barr's best-selling comic book "The Crow" was both a critical and financial success, the film was marred by the tragic on-set death of star Brandon Lee, son of action movie legend Bruce Lee. A clear forerunner of the dark and gritty comic book movies that are so en vogue these days, "The Crow" followed the story of murdered musician Eric Draven (Lee) who returns from the grave to avenge the death of himself and his fiancée. The hit movie spawned a Canadian television series and several low-budget sequels, but no follow-up could recapture the magic that the late Lee brought to the title role. That all might change with news that after a lengthy and very public search, "X-Men: First Class" star James McAvoy is in talks to play Eric Draven in the long-gestating "Crow" remake.

Joel and Ethan Coen, Angelina Jolie. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images, JC Olivera/WireImage)

Finding the right script and screenwriter can be a challenge for any up-and-coming filmmaker. But if you’re a promising new director who also happens to be one of the biggest movie stars in the world, finding that top-notch screenplay and scribe is no problem!

According to the Hollywood Reporter, actress-turned-filmmaker Angelina Jolie (“In the Land of Blood and Honey”) has landed two of the world’s most renowned film writers – the Coen brothers – to rewrite the script for her sophomore effort “Unbroken.” The Academy Award winning writer/director duo behind such films as "Fargo," "No Country for Old Men," and "True Grit" rarely write scripts that they themselves don’t end up directing (with the rare exceptions being last year’s “Gambit” and George Clooney’s still-in-development “Suburbicon”), so Jolie scoring the brothers is a huge coup -- even for someone as famous as her.

The gold statues have all been handed out, the red carpets rolled up, and some of Hollywood’s best and brightest are likely still sleeping off very bad hangovers. Yes, the 2013 Oscar telecast is in the bag (see a full rundown of the Oscar winners and losers here), and while much of 2012’s great film work was recognized Sunday night, there is still one arena of filmmaking that was again overlooked: the title sequence.

"Argo" wins for Best Picture. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Although Canada only came away with one Oscar at Sunday night's Academy Awards (or two, if you count the win Canadian set decorator Jim Erickson shared for "Lincoln"), Canadians were on the receiving end of some very high-profile shout outs later in the evening.

The night's big winner was the Ben Affleck-directed spy thriller "Argo," which took home the Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, and coveted Best Picture trophies at the star-studded awards ceremony.