In the ever-growing conversations surrounding separating the art from the artist, Joss Whedon's name understandably gets thrown around quite a bit. The filmmaker once most well known for his seemingly unshakable feminist credentials now only makes headlines when more details of his abusive on-set behavior emerge.
Despite this, Whedon is responsible for creating some of TV's greatest shows, including my all-time favorite "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." That series may be his magnum opus, but it's "Firefly" that has endured to a rather shocking extent. The Fox show left an indelible mark on pop culture, particularly when considering it only aired 11 of 14 episodes before being unceremoniously canceled. "Firefly" may have come and gone in 2002, but it still managed to receive a feature-length film to wrap up its story, comic continuations, and a fanbase that never seems to give up hope of its return — though the revelations about Whedon make this less likely than ever.
Despite this, Whedon is responsible for creating some of TV's greatest shows, including my all-time favorite "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." That series may be his magnum opus, but it's "Firefly" that has endured to a rather shocking extent. The Fox show left an indelible mark on pop culture, particularly when considering it only aired 11 of 14 episodes before being unceremoniously canceled. "Firefly" may have come and gone in 2002, but it still managed to receive a feature-length film to wrap up its story, comic continuations, and a fanbase that never seems to give up hope of its return — though the revelations about Whedon make this less likely than ever.
- 1/31/2023
- by Jamie Gerber
- Slash Film
Author: Competitions
To mark the release of Gettysburg: Director’s Cut on 12th June, we’ve been given 2 copies to give away on Blu-ray.
Marking the 150th-anniversary commemoration of the Civil War, Ronald F. Maxwell’s acclaimed fi lm now arrives in a Director’s Cut featuring 17 minutes of compelling additional footage. Filmed at actual battle locations and full of authentic details, this rousing and soulful movie plunges you into the heat of the bloodiest battle fought on American soil. History comes alive with intense and spirited battles as well as the dilemmas, motivations and fears of the leaders.
Tom Berenger, Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen, Stephen Lang, Sam Elliott, Richard Jordan and more star in this magnificent epic based on Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize winning The Killer Angels.
Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The Small Print
Open to UK residents...
To mark the release of Gettysburg: Director’s Cut on 12th June, we’ve been given 2 copies to give away on Blu-ray.
Marking the 150th-anniversary commemoration of the Civil War, Ronald F. Maxwell’s acclaimed fi lm now arrives in a Director’s Cut featuring 17 minutes of compelling additional footage. Filmed at actual battle locations and full of authentic details, this rousing and soulful movie plunges you into the heat of the bloodiest battle fought on American soil. History comes alive with intense and spirited battles as well as the dilemmas, motivations and fears of the leaders.
Tom Berenger, Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen, Stephen Lang, Sam Elliott, Richard Jordan and more star in this magnificent epic based on Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize winning The Killer Angels.
Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The Small Print
Open to UK residents...
- 5/26/2017
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Look past the skimpy budget, kitschy death scenes and cheap visuals. Its fictional account of the Civil War's bloodiest battle still brings a catch to the throat
• More from My guilty pleasure
In 1998, five years after the release of my guiltiest cinematic pleasure, Christopher Hitchens attended a 135th anniversary re-enactment at Gettysburg. He subsequently considered our endless fascination with such great battles: "Either you can feel a thrill and a catch in the throat at the mention of Thermopylae and Agincourt, Culloden and Gallipoli, Jarama and El Alamein, or you cannot."
It really is that simple. At the mention of Gettysburg, battle or movie, I feel a thrill and a catch in my throat. I suppose, that I am compelled to suggest why this should be so, as well as why it shouldn't.
The battle of Gettysburg was fought in rural Pennsylvania between 1 and 3 July 1863. Fifty-thousand men died, the Union...
• More from My guilty pleasure
In 1998, five years after the release of my guiltiest cinematic pleasure, Christopher Hitchens attended a 135th anniversary re-enactment at Gettysburg. He subsequently considered our endless fascination with such great battles: "Either you can feel a thrill and a catch in the throat at the mention of Thermopylae and Agincourt, Culloden and Gallipoli, Jarama and El Alamein, or you cannot."
It really is that simple. At the mention of Gettysburg, battle or movie, I feel a thrill and a catch in my throat. I suppose, that I am compelled to suggest why this should be so, as well as why it shouldn't.
The battle of Gettysburg was fought in rural Pennsylvania between 1 and 3 July 1863. Fifty-thousand men died, the Union...
- 3/21/2014
- by Martin Pengelly
- The Guardian - Film News
There is a hint of tragic irony that Thomas Jefferson, the Founding Father so celebrated for the revolutionary democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence, is also responsible for the quote, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Perhaps Jefferson, a slave-owning Virginian, suspected those words would one day haunt his wobbly young republic, but it would’ve been difficult for him to envision their brutal manifestation on July 4, 1863, on the battlefields near the tiny Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg.
For three days in July, Robert E. Lee’s Confederate...
For three days in July, Robert E. Lee’s Confederate...
- 7/4/2013
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
It's tempting to set up Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain as a liberal idol – sadly, the Hollywood version of his battle isn't true
The story goes like this: 150 years ago today, Little Round Top was the key to the Union position at the battle of Gettysburg. If the Confederates had taken the hill, they would have won the battle. If the Confederates had won the battle, they would have won the war.
But the Confederates didn't take the hill, because a professor of languages and rhetoric from Bowdoin College commanded a bunch of Mainers in a heroic defence and, when their ammunition ran out, an even more heroic bayonet charge. Hollywood's version, in Gettysburg – a Ted Turner-funded epic based on The Killer Angels, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Shaara – goes like this:
Would that it were true. Would that the American Civil War was won by a "fighting professor" who looked like Jeff Daniels.
The story goes like this: 150 years ago today, Little Round Top was the key to the Union position at the battle of Gettysburg. If the Confederates had taken the hill, they would have won the battle. If the Confederates had won the battle, they would have won the war.
But the Confederates didn't take the hill, because a professor of languages and rhetoric from Bowdoin College commanded a bunch of Mainers in a heroic defence and, when their ammunition ran out, an even more heroic bayonet charge. Hollywood's version, in Gettysburg – a Ted Turner-funded epic based on The Killer Angels, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Shaara – goes like this:
Would that it were true. Would that the American Civil War was won by a "fighting professor" who looked like Jeff Daniels.
- 7/2/2013
- by Martin Pengelly
- The Guardian - Film News
Gettysburg, Pa. -- The commander of the Confederate army marched to the front of the makeshift classroom in jeans and a dress blue shirt to deliver battle plans to his top lieutenants, complete with a PowerPoint presentation and laser pointer.
Gen. Robert E. Lee would have been proud, if not perplexed, in seeing how Brian Gesuero took charge of the preparations for recreating the Battle of Gettysburg.
This year's commemoration has even more significance, given that it's the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, and Gettysburg will represent the pinnacle of the re-enactment careers of thousands of Civil War buffs.
"This will be special, different than the other ones. It's the turning point of the war," said Gesuero, 44, a firefighter from Federalsburg, Md. "This is our one chance to do it right."
Actually, the 150th anniversary of Gettysburg is so big that it's getting two separate re-enactments.
A group called...
Gen. Robert E. Lee would have been proud, if not perplexed, in seeing how Brian Gesuero took charge of the preparations for recreating the Battle of Gettysburg.
This year's commemoration has even more significance, given that it's the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, and Gettysburg will represent the pinnacle of the re-enactment careers of thousands of Civil War buffs.
"This will be special, different than the other ones. It's the turning point of the war," said Gesuero, 44, a firefighter from Federalsburg, Md. "This is our one chance to do it right."
Actually, the 150th anniversary of Gettysburg is so big that it's getting two separate re-enactments.
A group called...
- 6/22/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Chicago – “Gettysburg” and “Gods and Generals” have legions of hardcore fans who adored them when they first played in theaters and will love the new Blu-ray editions that feel like hardcover books more than your standard disc release. One has to admire the marketing machine at Warner Bros. who can tie these titles in to the 150th Commemoration of the Civil War and make them perfect Father’s Day gifts at the same time.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0
“Gettysburg” and its prequel “Gods and Generals” barely made a dent at the box office (as epic period pieces rarely do) but I’ve always gotten the impression that they have very loyal audiences, the kind of old-fashioned men who would sit down and watch these two Blu-rays back-to-back and lose a whole day in their Civil War recreation.
As for the rest of you, the films are good but not great. They both...
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0
“Gettysburg” and its prequel “Gods and Generals” barely made a dent at the box office (as epic period pieces rarely do) but I’ve always gotten the impression that they have very loyal audiences, the kind of old-fashioned men who would sit down and watch these two Blu-rays back-to-back and lose a whole day in their Civil War recreation.
As for the rest of you, the films are good but not great. They both...
- 5/25/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Gods and Generals
Warner Home Video is still releasing director Ronald Maxwell’s historical war movies Gettysburg and Gods and Generals on Blu-ray on May 24, in time for Memorial Day on May 30. But if you want both films, you might want to wait until July 5 to purchase them, because that’s when Warner will release the pair in a double-feature Limited Collector’s Edition set.
1993’s Gettysburg stars Tom Berenger (Inception) and Martin Sheen (Love Happens) and follows the battle between the Confederacy and the Union in summer 1863. The film is based on Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Killer Angels and filmed at the actual battle locations. Released in theaters in 2003, Gods and Generals, about the rise and fall of legendary war hero Stonewall Jackson, stars Robert Duvall (Get Low) as General Robert E. Lee.
Warner will release its Gettysburg/Gods and Generals Limited Collector’s Edition on DVD and Blu-ray.
Warner Home Video is still releasing director Ronald Maxwell’s historical war movies Gettysburg and Gods and Generals on Blu-ray on May 24, in time for Memorial Day on May 30. But if you want both films, you might want to wait until July 5 to purchase them, because that’s when Warner will release the pair in a double-feature Limited Collector’s Edition set.
1993’s Gettysburg stars Tom Berenger (Inception) and Martin Sheen (Love Happens) and follows the battle between the Confederacy and the Union in summer 1863. The film is based on Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Killer Angels and filmed at the actual battle locations. Released in theaters in 2003, Gods and Generals, about the rise and fall of legendary war hero Stonewall Jackson, stars Robert Duvall (Get Low) as General Robert E. Lee.
Warner will release its Gettysburg/Gods and Generals Limited Collector’s Edition on DVD and Blu-ray.
- 3/28/2011
- by Sam
- Disc Dish
A rousing sports fantasy and an oldfangled star vehicle for Kevin Costner, "For Love of the Game" is big and long, loud and monumentally dramatic. The Universal release -- not quite going into extra innings, but a two-hour-plus struggle that cinematic umps could have speeded up in stretches -- has the stuff to post a clear but not overwhelming win at the boxoffice.
Director Sam Raimi's affection for the material is evident, and Costner delivers a perfect game by Hollywood standards, though it's too risky a bet to say the movie will be a hit in the same league as "Bull Durham" and "Field of Dreams". It just might, but as the characters say in the film, Major League Baseball has changed. It has been wrecked by greed. Where does that leave fans of baseball movies?
Based on a posthumous novel by Michael Shaara (Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Killer Angels"), "For Love of the Game" is straightforward storytelling with literary-style rearranging of the chronology of events, spurred by the memories of lead character Billy Chapel (Costner), aging ace of the Detroit Tigers, on the most important day of his life.
From many huge close-ups of the crotch of Chapel's loyal catcher Gus (John C. Reilly) to the reassuring and classy presence of Dodger announcer Vin Scully (who broadcast Yankee Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series), "For Love of the Game" is one of the most attentive and respectful movies ever about the sport.
Although liberal use is made of convincing TV footage of the career-milestone game of fictional Chapel -- shot at Yankee Stadium -- the movie also gives one a new appreciation of the rigors of the game and competitive spirit of the players through adroitly, imaginatively filmed on-field sequences. Alas, when the action shifts to Chapel's mental replay of his career and failed relationship with single-mother/fun-loving-journalist Jane (Kelly Preston), the overall pitching becomes more erratic.
Pop songs like Bob Seger's melancholy "Against the Wind" and composer Basil Poledouris' anthems-away score come to bat during the many epiphanous moments in store for Chapel as he mows down the Yanks inning after inning on his way, everyone hopes, to a perfect game. As if possibly joining the legends of the sport isn't enough of a strain, Hall of Fame-bound Chapel has learned that Tigers owner (Brian Cox) has sold the team.
That's not all. The new owners want to trade Chapel. He has the chance to retire honorably like those of the "old school" and suddenly realizes he may be pitching his final game. But what really gets to him is five-year-fling Jane giving him the heave-ho and heading for the airport, where she's subsequently delayed and catches his game on the tube in a bar full of Yankee fans.
Even nonfans of baseball will have a hard time resisting this set-up that includes Jane's USC-attending daughter (Jena Malone) watching Chapel in his moment of glory. Surprisingly, that moment is fleeting and the story seems willing to risk ending on a note of stinging defeat, but that's before the fat lady has sung.
From cinematographer John Bailey to production designer Neil Spisak to costume designer Judianna Makovsky, Raimi and Costner field an all-star lineup that comes through in the clutch reel after reel.
FOR LOVE OF THE GAME
Universal Pictures
A Beacon Pictures/TIG Prods./ Mirage Enterprises production
Director Sam Raimi
Screenwriter Dana Stevens
Based on the novel by Michael Shaara
Producers Armyan Bernstein, Amy Robinson
Executive producers Ron Bozman,
Marc Abraham
Director of photography John Bailey
Production designer Neil Spisak
Editors Eric L. Beason, Arthur Coburn
Costume designer Judianna Makovsky
Music Basil Poledouris
Casting Lynn Kressel
Color/stereo
Cast:
Billy Chapel Kevin Costner
Jane Aubrey Kelly Preston
Gus Sinski John C. Reilly
Heather Jena Malone
Gary Wheeler Brian Cox
Frank Perry J.K. Simmons
Running time -- 137 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Director Sam Raimi's affection for the material is evident, and Costner delivers a perfect game by Hollywood standards, though it's too risky a bet to say the movie will be a hit in the same league as "Bull Durham" and "Field of Dreams". It just might, but as the characters say in the film, Major League Baseball has changed. It has been wrecked by greed. Where does that leave fans of baseball movies?
Based on a posthumous novel by Michael Shaara (Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Killer Angels"), "For Love of the Game" is straightforward storytelling with literary-style rearranging of the chronology of events, spurred by the memories of lead character Billy Chapel (Costner), aging ace of the Detroit Tigers, on the most important day of his life.
From many huge close-ups of the crotch of Chapel's loyal catcher Gus (John C. Reilly) to the reassuring and classy presence of Dodger announcer Vin Scully (who broadcast Yankee Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series), "For Love of the Game" is one of the most attentive and respectful movies ever about the sport.
Although liberal use is made of convincing TV footage of the career-milestone game of fictional Chapel -- shot at Yankee Stadium -- the movie also gives one a new appreciation of the rigors of the game and competitive spirit of the players through adroitly, imaginatively filmed on-field sequences. Alas, when the action shifts to Chapel's mental replay of his career and failed relationship with single-mother/fun-loving-journalist Jane (Kelly Preston), the overall pitching becomes more erratic.
Pop songs like Bob Seger's melancholy "Against the Wind" and composer Basil Poledouris' anthems-away score come to bat during the many epiphanous moments in store for Chapel as he mows down the Yanks inning after inning on his way, everyone hopes, to a perfect game. As if possibly joining the legends of the sport isn't enough of a strain, Hall of Fame-bound Chapel has learned that Tigers owner (Brian Cox) has sold the team.
That's not all. The new owners want to trade Chapel. He has the chance to retire honorably like those of the "old school" and suddenly realizes he may be pitching his final game. But what really gets to him is five-year-fling Jane giving him the heave-ho and heading for the airport, where she's subsequently delayed and catches his game on the tube in a bar full of Yankee fans.
Even nonfans of baseball will have a hard time resisting this set-up that includes Jane's USC-attending daughter (Jena Malone) watching Chapel in his moment of glory. Surprisingly, that moment is fleeting and the story seems willing to risk ending on a note of stinging defeat, but that's before the fat lady has sung.
From cinematographer John Bailey to production designer Neil Spisak to costume designer Judianna Makovsky, Raimi and Costner field an all-star lineup that comes through in the clutch reel after reel.
FOR LOVE OF THE GAME
Universal Pictures
A Beacon Pictures/TIG Prods./ Mirage Enterprises production
Director Sam Raimi
Screenwriter Dana Stevens
Based on the novel by Michael Shaara
Producers Armyan Bernstein, Amy Robinson
Executive producers Ron Bozman,
Marc Abraham
Director of photography John Bailey
Production designer Neil Spisak
Editors Eric L. Beason, Arthur Coburn
Costume designer Judianna Makovsky
Music Basil Poledouris
Casting Lynn Kressel
Color/stereo
Cast:
Billy Chapel Kevin Costner
Jane Aubrey Kelly Preston
Gus Sinski John C. Reilly
Heather Jena Malone
Gary Wheeler Brian Cox
Frank Perry J.K. Simmons
Running time -- 137 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 9/10/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.