A couple of loosely related items today:
* Via Jeff Giles, and Nikki Finke, comes this true life tale of heroic derring do by “Bourne” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” director Doug Liman and producer Avram Ludwig.
The event won’t hurt Liman’s personal rep, which a polite person could call “eccentric,” but this seems like a good time to mention he’s not the only Hollywood fashioner of action myths to be involved in real life heroism. Jimmy Stewart is regarded as a real-life war hero for service in World War II, where he flew over twenty combat missions and, much more recently, Werner Herzog helped River Phoenix escape from a car wreck. Okay, that’s not really on the same scale as Stewart, and it doesn’t really sound like Herzog was in any danger, but given his background, Herzog is definitely the working director I’d most want around in a dangerous situation. I’m sure there are better examples, but I can’t think of them right now.
* I wouldn’t be surprised if nobody reading this has ever heard of “Rocket Robin Hood” (actually, knowing Will Harris, he probably watched the entire run of this obscure late sixties cartoon series last Wednesday night). Steven Zeitchik reports that a new, futuristic but far more earthbound Robin Hood may be coming up, alongside the more traditional Robin Hood variation already in production directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.
He’s made some great movies in past decades, but Scott has never been known for his light touch. As far as I’m concerned, he’ll have a helluva time topping this.
