Courtesy of Lance and Oliver Mannion….
And, here’s an oldie but a goody — a classic, re-imagined for a new medium…
Category: Movies (Page 343 of 498)
Other than the very sad and disturbing passing of David Carradine, very well noted by Will Harris a bit earlier (I’ve got more at my own bloggy digs, Forward to Yesterday), it’s kind of a slow news day in the movie world…
* In a bit of very inside baseball, with his upcoming “Avatar” 3-D extravaganza already getting a lot of ink many months before its X-Mas release, James Cameron has broken with his past practice and has signed with an agency. And not just any agency, but the mighty CAA. I know, your life will never be the same. Variety has the scoop, such as it is.
* 79-year-old lifelong cinema enfant terrible Jean-Luc Godard (“Breathless,” “Contempt” — a great film you really ought to see) is looking to do a film inspired by a Holocaust memoir, says THR. I know, your life will really never be the same, but this is interesting. Godard, a truly radical leftist, criticized Israel implicitly in his 1967 comic masterpiece, “Weekend,” when the middle-east nation’s battles were still very much a liberal cause. I’m not at all one to equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, but the film itself, and the worldwide response from Jewish groups, should be worth watching for those of us interested in this kind of thing.
* And finally, Nikki Finke devoted all of 24 words this morning to the passing of David Carradine (and turned off comments for some reason), but after adding that she doesn’t “do geek,” she did find time to devote some space to covering Total Sci-Fi‘s “25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi” list, with a definite emphasis on bad-ass mofo type females. It was topped by Sigourney Weaver‘s Ripley from the “Alien” franchise (including “Aliens” from the aforementioned J. Cameron). The list also covered fantasy for whatever reason and #2 on the list was Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Geller) of “Buffy” fame. (My personal Buffsession, Willow Rosenberg, aka Alyson Hannigan, came in at #21.) With the possible exception of the first choice, which I really can’t argue with as long as you’re talking about actresses and not, say, writers, my list would be entirely different — if I didn’t tend to avoid lists. Since we really do “do geek” here at Premium Hollywood, allow me to link to fan site Whedonesque‘s comment thread on the topic, where the discussion eventually includes the terrific SF (not “sci-fi”!) writer, Roger Zelazny. Now that’s geek.
Boss got you down? Think your career’s going nowhere? Keep your chin up, bub, and comfort yourself with the inspirational tale of actor Dileep Rao, who has gone from struggling actor/former “Jeopardy!” contestant to the Cannes red carpet. He may not be a household name, but with appearances in two of 2009’s most anticipated movies (“Drag Me to Hell” and James Cameron’s “Avatar,” to be specific), his face will be far more familiar to filmgoers by the time the year is out. And who should have a personal acquaintance with Rao but Bullz-Eye’s own Will Harris?
In his latest Bullz-Eye interview, Will sat down with Dileep Rao for a chat about his past, including that stint on “Jeopardy!” (“Damn you, Will!”) to more topical stuff, like the odds of him revealing anything — anything at all — about “Avatar”:
“(James Cameron) would send solid gold robots to kill me. I don’t think I can divulge much more than that, yes, that’s the name of the movie, he directed it, and I’m in it. That’s about all I can say. there’s an embargo like it’s the nuclear draft for what we do at Def-Con 4.”
On the subject of his work in Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me to Hell,” which landed in theaters last Friday, Rao was understandably more forthcoming, opening up about the ways he prepared for his role as Rham Jas (“He has some core belief that the world is larger than the world we know, and that character started for me there…”) and his feelings about horror films in general:
“You shouldn’t come out of a horror movie feeling bad about yourself. You should come out feeling physiologically exhilarating by the hijinks and thrilled by it. If the story is strong and it kind of catches you, you go for the ride and you come out feeling that sense of, ‘They really goosed me, and I feel the adrenaline, and I’m excited to go talk about this movie over a burger,’ then it’s done its job.”
To read the rest of Will’s interview with Dileep Rao, click here!
Things have been a bit crazy at Casa Westal, what with this new regular blog gig and attendant mishegas and other projects, plus this afternoon the kind folks at AT&T let my household Internet go bye-bye. (I’m writing this at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf nearest me, because the other guys’ “free” Internet deal sucks beyond all words, even if they’re egg sandwiches are good and I actually like very darkly roasted coffee.)
Nevertheless, there is stuff to tell you.
* I’ve been remiss in failing to mention that Sunday’s Bruno/Slim Shady rectal contretemps has been confirmed as a staged event, via the wondrous and personally very cool Anne Thompson. However, Sacha Baron Cohen has at least on potential serious problem — a lawsuit that is a lot more serious than the “Borat made me look stupid and racist, possibly because I really am stupid and racist” actions that were brought against him before. This time a woman alleges that Baron Cohen’s crew attacked her to get a reaction for the film and that she is disabled as a result. If true, I have to wonder why criminal charges weren’t filed, and as Matthew Belloni comments, the timing (just prior to the release of the “Bruno” movie) is worth noting.
* THR and Variety both have reviews of “Land of the Lost.” Neither cares for it. As for the original series, Variety‘s Brian Lowry refers to it as “campy” and Kirk Honeycutt refers to the show as being “fondly remembered (in some quarters).” Those quarters would belong to our own Ross Ruediger. Read on….
* And one more item from Anne Thompson. Something calling itself the Ultimate Movie Site is in beta. At first blush, I’m not feeling it. It’s definitely ambitious, but also strikes me as a little confusing and unfocused in its lay-out and in precisely what it’s trying to do. And, if something calling itself that doesn’t work for this mega-movie geek, will it work for others? Besides, I thought this was the ultimate movie site….
Despite a premise that reads like a sci-fi film – Michael Douglas steps outside his marriage to Anne Archer with Glenn Close? In the peak of her “George Washington with a perm” phase, no less? – “Fatal Attraction” is actually a tremendously effective sexual thriller, one that remains not only a high point of the genre, but the apex of director Adrian Lyne’s career. Lyne, who has a tendency to get lost in his own fog machines, puts his visual brilliance to good use here, mixing in the usual stuff (billowing curtains, colored lights, smoke) with a delicately crafted, steadily building tension and a trio of excellent performances from Douglas, Close, and Archer. Misogynistic? Perhaps. Deserving of a Best Picture nomination? Doubtful. Two hours of sleek, (mostly) believable thrills? Absolutely.
The new Blu-ray transfer gives the movie a gorgeous 1080p facelift and a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD audio mix, but not much else; though “Fatal Attraction” comes with a healthy selection of bonus materials, including a commentary track from Lyne, an alternate ending, screen test footage, and some featurettes discussing the making of the film and its social impact, they’re all holdovers from the last DVD reissue, which is going for under $10 new at Amazon. What it boils down to – as seems to be the case all too often with these catalog Blu-ray titles – is whether you think it’s worth an extra $10-$15 to watch the movie in high-def. Unless you’ve always wanted to count the hairs on a boiled rabbit, your money is probably better spent elsewhere.
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