Film News: More prize money for EIFF; ¡Viva! Festival line-up announced

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES MORE MONEY FOR 2014 PRIZES
Film site Screen Daily reports today that the Edinburgh International Film Festival has drastically increased the prize funds on offer for next year's festival. The Michael Powell Award, previously worth £5,000, is to be worth £20,000 to the winner from 2014 onwards. Documentaries, previously eligible for that award, will now be given their own prize, the EIFF Documentary Award, worth £10,000. The Best International Film Award prize fund will also double, from £5,000 to £10,000. 

Screen Daily quotes Bob Last, chairman of the Centre for the Moving Image, the EIFF's parent organisation: "EIFF is on a journey back to greatness," said Last. "There was a year zero [2011] at Edinburgh, prior to the involvement of the current team, when organisers threw all their sticks in the air and tried to reinvent the festival. They got it wrong. But the festival turned a corner a couple of years back with the appointment of Chris Fujiwara as artistic director and we are rebuilding. One of the key things I want to do is put the Michael Powell Award back at the heart of British filmmaking and increase engagement with those filmmakers." There will also be two additional gala events at this year's festival.

¡VIVA! SPANISH & LATIN-AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCED 2014 PROGRAMME
The 2014 edition of ¡Viva! Spanish & Latin-American Film Festival will take place 7-23 March at Cornerhouse, Manchester's centre for international contemporary visual art and independent film. Next year ¡Viva! celebrates its 20th anniversary with a packed programme of premieres, screenings and discussions.

The opening film for the 2014 festival will be Argentinian film Días De Vinilo (Vinyl Days), a romantic comedy about vinyl-obsessed record collectors. Its director, Gabriel Nesci, will be in attendance to answer questions about his career in film. For the full programme of events and screenings, visit Cornerhouse online.

GLASGOW YOUTH FILM FESTIVAL 2014 PROGRAMME UNVEILED
The Glasgow Youth Film Festival is the only festival of its kind curated entirely by 15-17 year-olds, and as such, it represents an absolutely vital clue to the views, opinions and tastes of the younger generation, not to mention a glimpse of future trends in cinema and filmmaking. Now in its sixth year, and running from 2-12 February with events and screenings at the Glasgow Film Theatre and other venues around the city. 

The opening film of the festival will be We Are the Best! directed by Lukas Moodysson (Lilya 4-Ever), while other highlights include a masterclass with the cast of My Mad Fat Diary, a Game Jam featuring new video games from students at Caldeonian University, a comedy writing workshop with Burnistoun's Robert Florence, and a Zombie Make-Up workshop for 8-14 year-olds. In addition, there are a host of film screenings, including new work from directors including Mark Cousins (A Story of Children and Film) and Anime maestro Hayao Miyazaki (The Wind Rises), as well as a few classics from the likes of Tim Burton (Beetlejuice) and Jafar Panahi (The White Balloon). See the full programme and book tickets on the Glasgow Film website.

SPIDER-MAN'S ON-SCREEN UNIVERSE EXPANDS
Sony Pictures have confirmed the rumours that have been flying around the internet this week – the rebooted, Andrew Garfield-fronted Spider-Man franchise will be the genesis for two spin-off movies, based on Spider-Man nemeses Venom and the Sinister Six, the latter being a super-villain team-up between Doctor Octopus and other super-powered bad guys. 

Empire Online reports that Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (who worked on the Star Trek reboot), Jeff Pinkner (who used to write for Alias), Drew Goddard (director of Cabin In The Woods) and Ed Solomon (writer of Now You See Me) will work on both films in some capacity, with Kurtzman tipped to direct Venom movie and Goddard in line to write and possibly direct the Sinister Six vehicle. Goddard, a Joss Whedon protege, has also had his name linked with the mooted Netflix series' based on other Marvel properties, such as Luke Cage and Daredevil.

TRAILERS: EARTH TO ECHO, EDGE OF TOMORROW, GRUDGE MATCH
Remember how in the 80s and 90s, Hollywood was so keen to revisit the success of Spielberg's ET that they made a dozen inferior clones of that movie, a trend reaching its apotheosis in the McDonald's-financed Mac and Me (rated a stellar 0% on Rotten Tomatoes), about a cute alien who befriends earth children and gets addicted to hamburgers...? Well, yeah, they're at it again. Earth To Echo involves some cute kids who find a space creature and, surprise surprise, have to help it contact its home planet. Probably. We just read the IMDB summary and it mentions "text messages" but honestly, they're fooling nobody. 

Next up, we go from cheeky alien chums to big tentacled space monsters versus marines. You know who only makes science fiction movies these days? Tom Cruise. Perhaps the rumours that he has "had work done" are true, and the zero-gravity filming is easier on his (alleged!) pectoral implants. Or perhaps he just wants to feel closer to Xenu. Regardless, here's Cruise in an Elysium-style fight suit, directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity). Let's punch some aliens! Yass!

Finally, here's Sylvester Stallone in Rocky 7, no wait... It's actually called Grudge Match, and it stars Stallone as Razor, a retired boxer called back to the ring to settle an old score. His opponent is Robert DeNiro, decisively not reprising his role as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull. At all. Like, not even a little bit. With hilarious consequences.