Woody Allen was the g0-to source for all quotable things Ingmar Bergman this week and for good reason: Allen was both a Bergman fanatic who gave the Swedish director many tributes and homages (both comically and deadly serious; Film Babble has done an excellent job at pointing out the Bergman/Allen connections) and a friend. Allen said: “His films have eternal relevance, because they deal with the difficulty of personal relationships and lack of communication between people and religious aspirations and mortality, existential themes that will be relevant a thousand years from now.” Allen also noted that Bergman was apparently a huge ladies man and bedded half his female cast.
About Michelangelo Antonioni, who he briefly met, Allen said, “He was a wonderful ping-pong player. I played with him; he always won because he had a great reach. That was his game.”
In a tender tribute to Bergman, Swedish film pirates have created BergmanBits, a place where you can download all his films for free. [Vulture/Torrent Freak]
Are “My Bluberry Nights'” (the upcoming Wong Kar Wai film starring Nora Jones and Jude Law) chances at Academy Awards gold over? Yes, says one Oscar insider who claims Harvey “Scissorhands” Weinstein is re-editing the film in hopes of repositioning its chances after its mediocre showing at Cannes. [The Envelope]
According to a story on IMDB that we can’t find, that’s been saved at the Reel Fanatic, when Mario Puzzo was sick and dying, Francis Ford Coppola, desperate to help his ailing friend, approached Paramount studios with the idea of a Godfather VI. “Mario was very concerned to leave his kids some money and they just never made the deal… Mario died and it was heartbreaking,” Coppola allegedly said. [Reel Fanatic]
John Singleton may try filming the comic “Black Panther,” before he attempts “Luke Cage” (from the Powerman & Iron Fist comic series), but he claims making a black superhero movie is always a struggle. Hollywood has a very limiting view on what makes a pop culture picture. If you put a black face on it, they think it’s black thing…That’s the thing that’s holding ‘Luke Cage’ up. They think it’s a small superhero movie.” [Black Film]
