‘The Sopranos’ creator David Chase has made a deal with Paramount to shoot his first feature film. And as long as the movie isn’t going to drag on like the last seasons of ‘The Sopranos,’ I’m happy about it. Chase will be writing, directing and producing the movie, so don’t expect this to come out next year.

It probably won’t be a Sopranos movie either. “There’s no reason for us to foreclose the idea of ever doing a feature. But so far, that definitely hasn’t happened. I don’t think it will,” David Chase said. But his Paramount friend Brad Grey does have high hopes for the movie — naturally. “David is one of the great storytellers of our time, and his debut as a filmmaker is both highly anticipated and long overdue. In truth, David has been creating cinematic-quality filmed drama for more than a decade — spanning nine seasons and 86 episodes of The Sopranos,” he said.

I’m not sure about it spanning all the 86 episodes, but ‘The Sopranos’ did have some of the greatest TV moments of the last decade. For more on this movie, you might want to check back in a year or two.

Blu-ray might not be as hot as Sony wants it to be at the moment, but Criterion is jumping on the bandwagon anyway. The company is famous for releasing high quality classics and indie films onto different formats. They not only regularly add unique extras on the discs, but also restore and touch-up old pictures. These are some passionate film lovers.

Starting October, Criterion will start releasing 13 Blu-ray editions of their distributed films like ‘Bottle Rocket,’ by director Wes Anderson. Hit the jump for the full list.

Continue reading Criterion going Blu-ray this fall

In a (desperate?) attempt to create some buzz for their Vista Ultimate operating system, Microsoft is holding a ‘Ultimate Video Relay’ contest on ultimatevideorelay.com. It challenges amateur filmmakers to create the second act of their movie about a black box, which director Kyle Newman started.

All fine by me, if you can win some ‘ultimate’ prices. But for just a laptop, camera or software package, you won’t get me all hot to start making movies. Yes, it might be an expensive laptop, but just a laptop nonetheless.

Continue reading Microsoft supporting filmmakers and Vista