Screening Gotham: Weinsteins Fire Back At NYT

Some of today's movie news of note from around New York:

--For all those cynics who thought last week's State of the Weinsteins piece in The Times was a bit soft, Weinstein Co. CFO Larry Madden dashed off a letter of self-defense in today's paper, dropping names of supporters like Barry Diller and James Dolan and bristling, "Using a single film’s opening performance to cast light on our company is misleading." Perhaps a rereading is in order; I think Scary Movie 4 and Hoodwinked (combined revenue: $280 million) are in there somewhere as well.

--And lest you wonder if the Grindhouse kerfuffle may soon abate: Not at Like Anna Karina's Sweater. But while Andrew Grant is certainly on to something about the critical establishment's aversion to the, well, point ("Grindhouse afforded critics the opportunity to wax nostalgic about their own experiences with sticky floors and bad popcorn, while at the same time legitimizing their admiration for cinematic schlock."), he nails a more salient, troubling factor as well: "Quentin Tarantino needs a girlfriend."

--Elsewhere in The Times, meanwhile, Lily Wheelwright, a NYC native and the star of Orphans who died of an apparent drug overdose March 22, gets an obituary/profile. A memorial screening of Orphans is set for April 30.

--"Movie projects about gay icons seem to come in pairs." Whatever.

Posted at April 16, 2007 8:34 AM