Over the course of five seasons, HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" interwove the fictional plot lines of a Prohibition-set crime drama with figures and events from real American history. Though it was based on a non-fiction book, "Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City," series creator Terence Winter took a page from the show's premium channel cousin "Deadwood" about what not to do in that he wanted to keep it from being easily spoiled by reading up on the history behind it. Steve Buscemi's antihero, Nucky Thompson, is only loosely based on politician and gangster Enoch L. Johnson, while other characters such as Nucky's protégé, Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt), were invented out of whole cloth or, at best, nominally inspired by real people.
Winter enlisted the aid of researchers like Edward McGinty to keep "Boardwalk Empire" historically accurate, even as it went about dramatizing situations that never happened.
Winter enlisted the aid of researchers like Edward McGinty to keep "Boardwalk Empire" historically accurate, even as it went about dramatizing situations that never happened.
- 8/19/2022
- by Joshua Meyer
- Slash Film
Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. And sometimes, we get to talk to movie stars about some of their own B-Sides!
Conor and I were honored to speak with screen legend Harvey Keitel, star of Lansky, written and directed by Eytan Rockaway. In the crime drama, which is now available digitally, Keitel plays the real-life gangster Meyer Lansky, recounting his complicated life to a down-on-his-luck writer (Sam Worthington).
We chat with Keitel about some B-Sides from the early ‘90s: The Two Jakes, Point of No Return, and Dangerous Game. There’s also a bit about The Border from 1982, a Tony Richardson crime thriller well worth your time.
For more from The B-Side, you can find every actor/director and the films discussed in one place here.
Conor and I were honored to speak with screen legend Harvey Keitel, star of Lansky, written and directed by Eytan Rockaway. In the crime drama, which is now available digitally, Keitel plays the real-life gangster Meyer Lansky, recounting his complicated life to a down-on-his-luck writer (Sam Worthington).
We chat with Keitel about some B-Sides from the early ‘90s: The Two Jakes, Point of No Return, and Dangerous Game. There’s also a bit about The Border from 1982, a Tony Richardson crime thriller well worth your time.
For more from The B-Side, you can find every actor/director and the films discussed in one place here.
- 11/4/2021
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
Composers wear so many hats when composing and depending on what they’re writing for, whether it’s for episodic TV, film, or video games, it can be a juggling act to get the scores and themes just right. These artists painstakingly put care, effort and hours into what music will accompany the visuals on the little or big screen.
Composer Max Aruj is one such musician. Born and raised in Los Angeles, his previous release is Crawl, produced by Sam Raimi, and directed by Alexandre Aja and the video game Assassin’s Creed – Wrath of the Druids. Aruj recently composed the scores for Eytan Rockaway’s Lansky, in theaters, starring Harvey Keitel, and Jonathan Hensleigh’s The Ice Road, on Netflix, starring Liam Neeson, Laurence Fishburne, Amber Midthunder, Benjamin Walker, and Marcus Thomas.
Coincidentally both films were released on the same day, Friday June 25th.
I recently spoke with...
Composer Max Aruj is one such musician. Born and raised in Los Angeles, his previous release is Crawl, produced by Sam Raimi, and directed by Alexandre Aja and the video game Assassin’s Creed – Wrath of the Druids. Aruj recently composed the scores for Eytan Rockaway’s Lansky, in theaters, starring Harvey Keitel, and Jonathan Hensleigh’s The Ice Road, on Netflix, starring Liam Neeson, Laurence Fishburne, Amber Midthunder, Benjamin Walker, and Marcus Thomas.
Coincidentally both films were released on the same day, Friday June 25th.
I recently spoke with...
- 6/29/2021
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The biographical crime feature Lansky attempts to pull off a major heist: the historical legacy of the mob mastermind Meyer Lansky. One of the most notorious and infamous of the Jewish gangsters who rose during prohibition, Lansky was a businessman with a head for numbers. He was called “the Mob’s accountant,” and the film wants to set the record straight. Played by Harvey Keitel, we can count on an emotionally accurate portrayal of the man who helped set up the national crime syndicate.
John Magaro, who will be playing young Silvio Dante in the upcoming The Sopranos prequel, The Many Saints of Newark, plays young Meyer Lansky. Writer-director Eytan Rockaway’s crime drama is loosely based on the real-life story his father, Robert A. Rockaway, and the interviews he conducted before Lanksy died. His book was called But He Was Good to His Mother: The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters,...
John Magaro, who will be playing young Silvio Dante in the upcoming The Sopranos prequel, The Many Saints of Newark, plays young Meyer Lansky. Writer-director Eytan Rockaway’s crime drama is loosely based on the real-life story his father, Robert A. Rockaway, and the interviews he conducted before Lanksy died. His book was called But He Was Good to His Mother: The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters,...
- 6/25/2021
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
To celebrate the release of Lansky, which opens in select cinemas and on-demand in the US today, we sat down with AnnaSophia Robb to discuss her role in the film and reminisce about some of her previous films.
In the film, Robb plays Anna Lansky, wife to renowned gangster Meyer Lansky (played by John Magaro in flashbacks and Harvey Keitel in the “present day), who after meeting him at a bar, over the years begins to piece together his “other life” outside of his family. Robb, who has been acting for nearly two decades, talks to us about the role, the challenges of playing a real-life person and mother, and the challenges Anna had to face in her real-life, both mental and physical.
During the chat, we could not ask her about her role in The Way, Way Back and the impact the film continues to have on audiences – not...
In the film, Robb plays Anna Lansky, wife to renowned gangster Meyer Lansky (played by John Magaro in flashbacks and Harvey Keitel in the “present day), who after meeting him at a bar, over the years begins to piece together his “other life” outside of his family. Robb, who has been acting for nearly two decades, talks to us about the role, the challenges of playing a real-life person and mother, and the challenges Anna had to face in her real-life, both mental and physical.
During the chat, we could not ask her about her role in The Way, Way Back and the impact the film continues to have on audiences – not...
- 6/25/2021
- by Scott Davis
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
“People see the same thing from different perspectives. And that fascinates me,” Harvey Keitel notes in an early scene while playing the title role in “Lansky,” writer-director Eytan Rockaway’s ambitious but uneven biopic about the notorious mobster Meyer Lansky.
It’s tempting to read this snippet of dialogue as Rockaway’s way of acknowledging, right from the start, that his indie drama is yet another interpretation of real-life events previously recounted, with varying degrees of accuracy, in features and TV movies as diverse as “Virginia Hill,” a half-forgotten 1974 TV-movie that marked Joel Schumacher’s debut as writer-director; the 1999 HBO production “Lansky,” starring Richard Dreyfuss and directed by John McNaughton from a script by David Mamet; and Barry Levinson’s “Bugsy” (1991), featuring Ben Kingsley well cast as Meyer Lansky opposite Warren Beatty’s Bugsy Siegel. Truth to tell, however, comparisons to those predecessors don’t always work in Rockaway’s favor.
It’s tempting to read this snippet of dialogue as Rockaway’s way of acknowledging, right from the start, that his indie drama is yet another interpretation of real-life events previously recounted, with varying degrees of accuracy, in features and TV movies as diverse as “Virginia Hill,” a half-forgotten 1974 TV-movie that marked Joel Schumacher’s debut as writer-director; the 1999 HBO production “Lansky,” starring Richard Dreyfuss and directed by John McNaughton from a script by David Mamet; and Barry Levinson’s “Bugsy” (1991), featuring Ben Kingsley well cast as Meyer Lansky opposite Warren Beatty’s Bugsy Siegel. Truth to tell, however, comparisons to those predecessors don’t always work in Rockaway’s favor.
- 6/25/2021
- by Joe Leydon
- Variety Film + TV
This is the weekend Hollywood has been waiting for. F9: The Fast Saga finally opens in the U.S. after over a year of delays, and it is the first major blockbuster release of the summer. It’s been a rocky summer movie season, with one bonafide hit (A Quiet Place Part II), a string of disappointments, and films that came somewhere in between. It is hard to know exactly where the industry stands and how to diagnose the lackluster grosses of many films. On one hand, there is still some segment of the audience that is reluctant to go back to the movies, and VOD availability for many films could be diminishing the turnout. On the other hand, maybe many of the films released so far have just not been the right films to draw the audience back. F9 might just be the movie to change that for many,...
- 6/24/2021
- by Sam Mendelsohn <mail@boxofficemojo.com>
- Box Office Mojo
In his 80 years, Meyer Lansky worked alongside the most notorious gangsters in American history. He spearheaded a worldwide gambling racket and allegedly had quite a few people murdered for getting in the way of his business. Lansky even worked with the U.S. Navy during World War II, protecting the ships in New York Harbor from spies and and sabotage.
No one can deny that Lansky led a fascinating life, even after watching Eytan Rockaway’s tedious biopic “Lansky,” which has more in common with a book report than an actual book. Writer-director Rockaway (“The Abandoned”) hits all the major bullet points in the gangster’s life but ignores almost all the connective tissue that would make this outline of intriguing anecdotes really come alive.
“Lansky” stars Harvey Keitel as the aging mobster, living out his last remaining years in Florida, dying of lung cancer well after the rest of his criminal contemporaries have been buried.
No one can deny that Lansky led a fascinating life, even after watching Eytan Rockaway’s tedious biopic “Lansky,” which has more in common with a book report than an actual book. Writer-director Rockaway (“The Abandoned”) hits all the major bullet points in the gangster’s life but ignores almost all the connective tissue that would make this outline of intriguing anecdotes really come alive.
“Lansky” stars Harvey Keitel as the aging mobster, living out his last remaining years in Florida, dying of lung cancer well after the rest of his criminal contemporaries have been buried.
- 6/24/2021
- by William Bibbiani
- The Wrap
“My reputation has a habit of preceding me,” Harvey Keitel’s Meyer Lansky explains toward the beginning of Lansky. “When they don’t know you, they put labels on you.” Writer-director Eytan Rockaway’s biographical crime feature is a no-frills, selective retelling of a notorious figure, which works because it puts a recognizable face to that label.
Nicknamed the “Mob’s Accountant,” Meyer Lansky knew his numbers, and Rockaway’s film only suffers when it hedges its bets. It begins with a grand promise to portray Lansky as he would have liked to have been portrayed in history. The recollections and the stories work very well when they stick to the gangster of the title. The low-budget, independent feel brings an immediacy, and more rebel street cred than the risk-taking former crime beat journalist at the center.
Sam Worthington is a little too nervous too much of the time as David Stone,...
Nicknamed the “Mob’s Accountant,” Meyer Lansky knew his numbers, and Rockaway’s film only suffers when it hedges its bets. It begins with a grand promise to portray Lansky as he would have liked to have been portrayed in history. The recollections and the stories work very well when they stick to the gangster of the title. The low-budget, independent feel brings an immediacy, and more rebel street cred than the risk-taking former crime beat journalist at the center.
Sam Worthington is a little too nervous too much of the time as David Stone,...
- 6/24/2021
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
This weekend sees the release of another addition in the movies’ complex relationship with criminals, in particular gangsters. Or the “made men”. But not “made-up men” as in those early-talkie Warners classics, or the celebrated Corleone trilogy. This guy was the “real deal”, although he would’ve grimaced at seeing his name on a theatre marquee. He preferred working and plotting (a wiz at making the numbers click) in the shadows. Ah, but films have found him fascinating because of his unique heritage, as he was one of the few underworld figures who was Jewish, rather than the prevalent Catholic-raised Italian-Americans. Now, there was a fictionalized version of himself in that second of the earlier mentioned series, being Lee Strasberg as Hyman Roth in the superior sequel, The Godfather Part II. But several acclaimed actors have portrayed him on the big and small screen including Patrick Dempsey and Oscar-winners Richard Dreyfus and Sir Ben Kingsley.
- 6/24/2021
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Eytan Rockaway's Lansky is one of those monumental stories that try to cover the whole life of their hero, looking at him from a neutral distance, being somewhere in the middle, so that the viewer can refer to the story himself. It is nostalgia for gangster cinema and ambiguous emotions awakened by the film. This is a story not only about the eponymous character, Meyer Lansky (Harvey Keitel), a mafia boss, one of the legendary American gangsters, founder of the largest organised crime group in the world, the National Crime Syndicate. It is also the story of the crisis of the writer, David Stone (Sam Worthington), who receives from Lansky an offer to write his biography.
David’s creative and family crisis will connect him and Lansky with a bond resembling the relationship between a father and a son. David adopts Lansky as the father figure whom he missed in his life,...
David’s creative and family crisis will connect him and Lansky with a bond resembling the relationship between a father and a son. David adopts Lansky as the father figure whom he missed in his life,...
- 6/19/2021
- by Mateusz Tarwacki
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Harvey Keitel is Meyer Lansky Lansky – In Select Theaters and On-Demand June 25th. Here’s the trailer:
In Lansky, Sam Worthington plays David Stone, a renowned but down-on-his-luck writer, who has the opportunity of a lifetime when he receives a surprise call from Meyer Lansky (Academy Award nominee Harvey Keitel). For decades, authorities have been trying to locate Lansky’s alleged nine-figure fortune and this is their last chance to capture the aging gangster before he dies. With the FBI close behind, the Godfather of organized crime reveals the untold truth about his life as the notorious boss of Murder Inc. and the National Crime Syndicate.
Lansky stars Harvey Keitel, Sam Worthington, John Magaro, AnnaSophia Robb, Minka Kelly, Danny Abeckaser, and David James Elliot and is written and directed by Eytan Rockaway.
The post Here’s the Trailer for Harvey Keitel as Lansky – In Select Theaters and On-Demand June 25th...
In Lansky, Sam Worthington plays David Stone, a renowned but down-on-his-luck writer, who has the opportunity of a lifetime when he receives a surprise call from Meyer Lansky (Academy Award nominee Harvey Keitel). For decades, authorities have been trying to locate Lansky’s alleged nine-figure fortune and this is their last chance to capture the aging gangster before he dies. With the FBI close behind, the Godfather of organized crime reveals the untold truth about his life as the notorious boss of Murder Inc. and the National Crime Syndicate.
Lansky stars Harvey Keitel, Sam Worthington, John Magaro, AnnaSophia Robb, Minka Kelly, Danny Abeckaser, and David James Elliot and is written and directed by Eytan Rockaway.
The post Here’s the Trailer for Harvey Keitel as Lansky – In Select Theaters and On-Demand June 25th...
- 6/8/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The mafia still exists, but unlike the days of Meyer Lansky, it doesn’t operate as openly as it once did. In fact, the mafia is what a lot of people would call a shadow of its former self, but poking the bear to see if it can still growl would probably be a mistake. That’s the kind of feeling that Lansky gives as Harvey Keitel gets into character and reminds Sam Worthington’s character that anything they talk about concerning his past has to be approved before it can be put into a book and published. The serious tone that’s taken
Check out The Trailer for New Gangster Movie “Lanksy”...
Check out The Trailer for New Gangster Movie “Lanksy”...
- 6/4/2021
- by Tom
- TVovermind.com
Lanksy Trailer — Eytan Rockaway‘s Lanksy / A Righteous Man (2021) movie trailer has been released by Vertical Entertainment. The Lanksy trailer stars Harvey Keitel, Sam Worthington, John Magaro, Minka Kelly, David James Elliot, David Cade, Danny A. Abeckaser, Emily Marie Palmer, Alon Aboutboul, Eden Grace Redfield, Eytan Rockaway, Ekaterina Baker, Wass Stevens, [...]
Continue reading: Lanksy (2021) Movie Trailer: Harvey Keitel is Gangster Meyer Lansky in Eytan Rockaway’s Film...
Continue reading: Lanksy (2021) Movie Trailer: Harvey Keitel is Gangster Meyer Lansky in Eytan Rockaway’s Film...
- 6/1/2021
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
A couple of years ago, we saw Martin Scorsese use cutting-edge CGI techniques to allow for his aging actors to play much younger versions of themselves in the crime drama, “The Irishman.” It’s a neat trick, without a doubt, but in the new crime drama “Lansky,” the film decided to go the old-school way and just cast two great actors for the title role.
Read More: ‘False Positive’ Trailer: Ilana Glazer Stars In New A24 Childbirth Horror Film Coming To Hulu In June
As seen in the trailer for “Lansky,” the film tells the true story of Meyer Lansky (Harvey Keitel), an aging gangster that is working with a writer to tell his life story for a book.
Continue reading ‘Lansky’ Trailer: John Magaro & Harvey Keitel Star As A Legendary Gangster In A New Crime Drama at The Playlist.
Read More: ‘False Positive’ Trailer: Ilana Glazer Stars In New A24 Childbirth Horror Film Coming To Hulu In June
As seen in the trailer for “Lansky,” the film tells the true story of Meyer Lansky (Harvey Keitel), an aging gangster that is working with a writer to tell his life story for a book.
Continue reading ‘Lansky’ Trailer: John Magaro & Harvey Keitel Star As A Legendary Gangster In A New Crime Drama at The Playlist.
- 5/27/2021
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
"I don't have the power to change my past, I do have the power to change the perception of it." Vertical Entertainment has released an official trailer for an engaging true story crime thriller titled Lanksy, also going under the title A Righteous Man for its UK release. The film stars Harvey Keitel as a notorious mobster named Meyer Lansky. When the aging Meyer Lansky is investigated one last time by the Feds who suspect he has stashed away millions of dollars over half a century, the retired gangster spins a dizzying tale, revealing the untold truth about his life as the notorious boss of Murder Inc. and of the National Crime Syndicate. Sam Worthington co-stars as a writer who gets the chance of a lifetime to interview and writer about Lanksy's story - perhaps full of lies, perhaps not. Also starring John Magaro as a young Lansky, AnnaSophia Robb,...
- 5/27/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Exclusive: Vertical Entertainment has acquired North American rights to writer-director Eytan Rockaway’s crime drama Lansky, starring Harvey Keitel and Sam Worthington. The film also stars AnnaSophia Robb, Minka Kelly, David James Elliott, David Cade, Danny A. Abeckaser and John Magaro. Vertical is planning a theatrical day-and-date release on June 25, 2021.
“In this day and age it’s important to have companies like Vertical that embrace cinema and give independent filmmakers a stage to express their creative voices,“ said Rockaway.
The film follows David Stone (Worthington), a renowned but down-on-his-luck writer who has the opportunity of a lifetime when he receives a surprise call from Meyer Lansky (Keitel). For decades, authorities have been trying to locate Lansky’s alleged nine-figure fortune and this is their last chance to capture the aging gangster before he dies. With the FBI close behind, the godfather of organized crime reveals the untold truth about his...
“In this day and age it’s important to have companies like Vertical that embrace cinema and give independent filmmakers a stage to express their creative voices,“ said Rockaway.
The film follows David Stone (Worthington), a renowned but down-on-his-luck writer who has the opportunity of a lifetime when he receives a surprise call from Meyer Lansky (Keitel). For decades, authorities have been trying to locate Lansky’s alleged nine-figure fortune and this is their last chance to capture the aging gangster before he dies. With the FBI close behind, the godfather of organized crime reveals the untold truth about his...
- 5/19/2021
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: AnnaSophia Robb and Emory Cohen are the latest to join the cast of Rebel Ridge, Netflix’s high-velocity thriller from writer and director Jeremy Saulnier. They join previously announced stars John Boyega, Don Johnson, James Badge Dale, Zsane Jhe and James Cromwell.
The pic explores systemic American injustice in the context of action, suspense and black humor. Anish Savjani, Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino and Saulnier are producing the project, with Macon Blair and Louise Lovegrove serving as executive producers.
Robb recently appeared in miniseries The Act and Little Fires Everywhere, both on Hulu. She’ll next co-star in the Peacock limited series Dr. Death, as well as in Eytan Rockaway’s Meyer Lansky biopic Lansky. Robb is repped by CAA, Untitled and Schreck Rose.
Cohen, whose credits include The Place Beyond the Pines and Netflix’s The Oa, will soon be seen in the dark comedy Big Gold Brick...
The pic explores systemic American injustice in the context of action, suspense and black humor. Anish Savjani, Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino and Saulnier are producing the project, with Macon Blair and Louise Lovegrove serving as executive producers.
Robb recently appeared in miniseries The Act and Little Fires Everywhere, both on Hulu. She’ll next co-star in the Peacock limited series Dr. Death, as well as in Eytan Rockaway’s Meyer Lansky biopic Lansky. Robb is repped by CAA, Untitled and Schreck Rose.
Cohen, whose credits include The Place Beyond the Pines and Netflix’s The Oa, will soon be seen in the dark comedy Big Gold Brick...
- 4/19/2021
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
“Since studios keep making remakes, why don’t they at least remake them better?” Billy Wilder had a right to ask me that question 20 years ago, since the many remakes of his movies never matched the originals.
The Wilder conundrum seems relevant today when the studios and streamers are announcing more and more remakes. Paramount says it’s developing Love Story, Flashdance and The Parallax View, among others. It is not remaking The Godfather, which went into production 50 years ago. But there are two projects in the works about the making of the movie, and there also is Francis Coppola’s refreshed Godfather III, made in 1990 and re-edited by Coppola now out under his preferred title Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone.
While I share Wilder’s skepticism about the remake business, a case could be made that the entire gangster genre deserves a revisit.
The Wilder conundrum seems relevant today when the studios and streamers are announcing more and more remakes. Paramount says it’s developing Love Story, Flashdance and The Parallax View, among others. It is not remaking The Godfather, which went into production 50 years ago. But there are two projects in the works about the making of the movie, and there also is Francis Coppola’s refreshed Godfather III, made in 1990 and re-edited by Coppola now out under his preferred title Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone.
While I share Wilder’s skepticism about the remake business, a case could be made that the entire gangster genre deserves a revisit.
- 3/4/2021
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
After a very long wait (only some of it due to the pandemic), Fargo is finally back. I reviewed the fourth season earlier this month, and I have specific thoughts on this week’s two episodes, “Welcome to the Alternate Economy” and “The Land of Taking and Killing,” coming up just as soon as I send a warning to the other rat…
“Here’s the thing about America: The minute you’re relaxed and fat enough, somebody hungrier is gonna come along, looking for a piece of your pie.” —Ethelrida...
“Here’s the thing about America: The minute you’re relaxed and fat enough, somebody hungrier is gonna come along, looking for a piece of your pie.” —Ethelrida...
- 9/28/2020
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Rollingstone.com
This Penny Dreadful: City of Angels review contains spoilers.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels Episode 4
Magda takes a back seat in Penny Dreadful: City of Angels episode 4, “Josefina and The Holy Spirit,” while her vehicle careens across the track she laid. The episode opens with Santa Muerte (Lorenza Izzo), wearing her sadness as prominently as her white flowing lace, as she walks into town, unseen but by an innocent child. The little girl actually turns to look at the Saint of Death just as the audience is wondering whether or not the other townspeople can see her. Santa Muerte knows what we are thinking before we think it. That’s why she’s at the scene of every crime long before the criminals.
Tiago is also in close quarters with suspected criminals, at least close enough to get between them and the cops who are interrogating them. Captain Ned Vanderhoff...
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels Episode 4
Magda takes a back seat in Penny Dreadful: City of Angels episode 4, “Josefina and The Holy Spirit,” while her vehicle careens across the track she laid. The episode opens with Santa Muerte (Lorenza Izzo), wearing her sadness as prominently as her white flowing lace, as she walks into town, unseen but by an innocent child. The little girl actually turns to look at the Saint of Death just as the audience is wondering whether or not the other townspeople can see her. Santa Muerte knows what we are thinking before we think it. That’s why she’s at the scene of every crime long before the criminals.
Tiago is also in close quarters with suspected criminals, at least close enough to get between them and the cops who are interrogating them. Captain Ned Vanderhoff...
- 5/18/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
New movie Capone is set in the twilight years of America’s most infamous mobster. The slashes across his cheek which gave him his nickname “Scarface” are still there, but the movie is more concerned with deeper wounds. In spite of the Tommy gun and the Cotton Club from Hell scenes, Josh Trank’s Al Capone biopic is a tearjerker, not a gangster movie. Capone is 47 and his mind is rotting from the dementia caused by years of untreated syphilis. But then there were people in the industry who never thought the man who was the face of the mob had much going on under his thick skull. The statute of limitations on his tax evasion conviction had actually expired. If he hired a tax lawyer instead of a criminal lawyer, he might have gotten off.
Still, the mythology around him only grew. So much so that when Mario Puzo...
Still, the mythology around him only grew. So much so that when Mario Puzo...
- 5/14/2020
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Notorious mobster Al Capone was a larger than life bootlegger, racketeer, killer and organized crime boss in the first half of the 20th century, who has been portrayed on big-screen and small for seven decades. Here is a look at the actors who took on the challenge. And, if you’re curious, here is archival footage of Scarface himself.
Rod Steiger – “Al Capone” (1959) • Rod Steiger played Capone with deliberate showiness, from the roar of his voice to the tilt of hid fedora. Although he won a Laurel Award for his performance, Capone’s sister wasn’t crazy about the film – she sued the filmmakers for $10 million for invasion of privacy because they failed to get permission from the Capone estate to make it. The suit was eventually dismissed. Check out Steiger as Capone in a clip here.
Neville Brand – “The George Raft Story” (1961) • Although Neville Brand had an extensive resume...
Rod Steiger – “Al Capone” (1959) • Rod Steiger played Capone with deliberate showiness, from the roar of his voice to the tilt of hid fedora. Although he won a Laurel Award for his performance, Capone’s sister wasn’t crazy about the film – she sued the filmmakers for $10 million for invasion of privacy because they failed to get permission from the Capone estate to make it. The suit was eventually dismissed. Check out Steiger as Capone in a clip here.
Neville Brand – “The George Raft Story” (1961) • Although Neville Brand had an extensive resume...
- 5/11/2020
- by Rosemary Rossi
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Minka Kelly has joined Harvey Keitel, Sam Worthington and AnnaSophia Robb in the cast of Eytan Rockaway’s (The Abandoned) upcoming biopic Lansky, about the infamous gangster Meyer Lansky, a contemporary of Bugsy Siegel. As previously announced, Keitel plays the notorious Lansky.
Also rounding out the cast are Orange Is the New Black‘s Jackie Cruz, John Magaro (The Big Short) who plays the younger Lansky, David Cade (upcoming Michael Shannon movie Swing) as Siegel, David James Elliot and Alon Aboutboul.
Shooting is currently underway in Alabama, with Voltage Pictures handling international sales at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin.
Rockaway wrote the script depicting Lansky in various stages of his life. It’s partially based on his father Robert Rockaway’s interviews with the real-life Lansky, which were part of his extensive research into America’s key crime figures.
Also rounding out the cast are Orange Is the New Black‘s Jackie Cruz, John Magaro (The Big Short) who plays the younger Lansky, David Cade (upcoming Michael Shannon movie Swing) as Siegel, David James Elliot and Alon Aboutboul.
Shooting is currently underway in Alabama, with Voltage Pictures handling international sales at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin.
Rockaway wrote the script depicting Lansky in various stages of his life. It’s partially based on his father Robert Rockaway’s interviews with the real-life Lansky, which were part of his extensive research into America’s key crime figures.
- 2/13/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
“I got guns,” legendary gangster Bumpy Johnson (Forest Whitaker) announces. “I got soldiers,” Malcolm X (Nigel Thatch) replies. For Epix’s new Godfather of Harlem — a Sixties period piece that mixes Mob action with civil-rights rhetoric — it’s a match made in gritty-drama heaven.
Co-created by the Narcos team of Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein, Harlem is the sort of thing you may be inclined to watch if you’re inclined to watch this sort of thing — for good and for ill. Think Boardwalk Empire, a few decades later and without the loftier artistic ambitions,...
Co-created by the Narcos team of Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein, Harlem is the sort of thing you may be inclined to watch if you’re inclined to watch this sort of thing — for good and for ill. Think Boardwalk Empire, a few decades later and without the loftier artistic ambitions,...
- 9/26/2019
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Rollingstone.com
With the Marvel shaped hole that has appeared since Avengers: Endgame was released a certain set of film fans are now looking to the next instalment of the Star Wars saga to rebuild the excitement in the cinematic universe. So it’s only fitting that Lucasfilm has released a whole bunch of behind the scenes images from the upcoming ‘Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker’ movie.
The images, which come via an exclusive preview to Vanity Fair, consist of two front covers featuring Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren and Daisy Ridley’s Rey.
Photograph By Annie Leibovitz. Photograph By Annie Leibovitz.
The article takes the reader behind the scenes with director J.J. Abrams and the cast to discuss the last episode in the Skywalker saga. The story will follow the exploits of Rey, Finn, Poe, Kylo Ren and the rest of the gang fighting out there in that galaxy far,...
The images, which come via an exclusive preview to Vanity Fair, consist of two front covers featuring Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren and Daisy Ridley’s Rey.
Photograph By Annie Leibovitz. Photograph By Annie Leibovitz.
The article takes the reader behind the scenes with director J.J. Abrams and the cast to discuss the last episode in the Skywalker saga. The story will follow the exploits of Rey, Finn, Poe, Kylo Ren and the rest of the gang fighting out there in that galaxy far,...
- 5/22/2019
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Harvey Keitel has accepted an offer he can’t refuse to take on the role of notorious gangster Meyer Lansky in the Eytan Rockaway directed untitled biopic.
Keitel will be joined by Sam Worthington, Emory Cohen and Austin Stowell on the cast while Alexandra Daddario and Tony Danza are still currently in talks.
The story follows an ageing Lansky living quietly in Miami Beach after being investigated and pursued for decades by the FBI. He enlists a young journalist named David Stone (Sam Worthington) to tell his story, but the Feds use the young man as a pawn to track the hundreds of millions the mobster is suspected of stashing.
Also in news – Michael Fassbender and Peter Dinklage in talks to star in Mel Gibson’s ‘The Wild Bunch’ remake
Stone finds himself caught in the middle of a game of cat and mouse, uncovering the hidden truth about the...
Keitel will be joined by Sam Worthington, Emory Cohen and Austin Stowell on the cast while Alexandra Daddario and Tony Danza are still currently in talks.
The story follows an ageing Lansky living quietly in Miami Beach after being investigated and pursued for decades by the FBI. He enlists a young journalist named David Stone (Sam Worthington) to tell his story, but the Feds use the young man as a pawn to track the hundreds of millions the mobster is suspected of stashing.
Also in news – Michael Fassbender and Peter Dinklage in talks to star in Mel Gibson’s ‘The Wild Bunch’ remake
Stone finds himself caught in the middle of a game of cat and mouse, uncovering the hidden truth about the...
- 5/21/2019
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Harvey Keitel has been cast to play the notorious gangster Meyer Lansky in the upcoming Eytan Rockaway-directed biopic. The film will also star Sam Worthington, Emory Cohen, and Austin Stowell. Alexandra Daddario and Tony Danza are currently in talks to join the cast as well.
The script was written by Rockaway from real-life interviews his father conducted with Lansky himself. Variety reports the following about the film’s story:
“The film centers on an aging Lansky living in anonymity in Miami Beach after being investigated and pursued for decades by the FBI. When he enlists a young journalist named David Stone (Worthington) to tell his story, the Feds use him as a pawn to track down the hundreds of millions of dollars that the mobster has been suspected of stashing. Stone finds himself caught in the middle of a game of cat and mouse, uncovering the hidden truth about...
The script was written by Rockaway from real-life interviews his father conducted with Lansky himself. Variety reports the following about the film’s story:
“The film centers on an aging Lansky living in anonymity in Miami Beach after being investigated and pursued for decades by the FBI. When he enlists a young journalist named David Stone (Worthington) to tell his story, the Feds use him as a pawn to track down the hundreds of millions of dollars that the mobster has been suspected of stashing. Stone finds himself caught in the middle of a game of cat and mouse, uncovering the hidden truth about...
- 5/20/2019
- by Jessica Fisher
- GeekTyrant
Harvey Keitel is certainly no stranger to films revolving around mobsters and has played more than a few members of the criminal underground himself, and Variety has reported that his next project will find him playing notorious gangster Meyer Lansky. [Seemore] Directed by Eytan Rockaway, the Meyer Lansky biopic is also set to star Sam Worthington, Emory Cohen, and Austin Stowell, with Alexandra…...
- 5/17/2019
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
Harvey Keitel will star as notorious gangster Meyer Lansky, a contemporary of Bugsy Siegel, in a biopic directed by Eytan Rockaway. Sam Worthington, Emory Cohen and Austin Stowell are also set to star in the picture, with Alexandra Daddario and Tony Danza in talks to join.
Voltage Pictures has boarded the project and hopes to spark international sales at Cannes. Rockaway wrote the script from a story by Ido Fluk and Sharon Mashihi, partially based on interviews with the real-life Lansky conducted by Rockaway’s father, history professor Robert Rockaway.
The film centers on an aging Lansky living in anonymity in Miami Beach after being investigated and pursued for decades by the FBI. When he enlists a young journalist named David Stone (Worthington) to tell his story, the Feds use him as a pawn to track down the hundreds of millions of dollars that the mobster has been suspected of stashing.
Voltage Pictures has boarded the project and hopes to spark international sales at Cannes. Rockaway wrote the script from a story by Ido Fluk and Sharon Mashihi, partially based on interviews with the real-life Lansky conducted by Rockaway’s father, history professor Robert Rockaway.
The film centers on an aging Lansky living in anonymity in Miami Beach after being investigated and pursued for decades by the FBI. When he enlists a young journalist named David Stone (Worthington) to tell his story, the Feds use him as a pawn to track down the hundreds of millions of dollars that the mobster has been suspected of stashing.
- 5/17/2019
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
Producer Mark Damon, whose credits include “2 Guns” and “Lone Survivor,” has bought the film and television rights for Israeli war story “Angels in The Sky” in a pre-Cannes Film Festival deal.
Damon, the co-head of Dcr Finance Fund and Foresight Unlimited, will executive produce with Dcr Finance Fund as primary financial backer. Damon will partner with former Paramount Pictures executives Mike Flint and Jerry Meadors along with Mark Lansky, an investment specialist who is the nephew of Meyer Lansky. Flint is the producer.
Foresight and Dcr will launch sales at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, which opens May 14. Peter Dekom is the project’s legal consultant.
The 2017 book, written by Bob Gandt, dramatizes the 1948 conflict in the Middle East immediately after the state of Israel was formed, which triggered a nine-month war waged by five Arab nations. About 150 overseas pilots and their crews, dubbed the Machal, made up most...
Damon, the co-head of Dcr Finance Fund and Foresight Unlimited, will executive produce with Dcr Finance Fund as primary financial backer. Damon will partner with former Paramount Pictures executives Mike Flint and Jerry Meadors along with Mark Lansky, an investment specialist who is the nephew of Meyer Lansky. Flint is the producer.
Foresight and Dcr will launch sales at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, which opens May 14. Peter Dekom is the project’s legal consultant.
The 2017 book, written by Bob Gandt, dramatizes the 1948 conflict in the Middle East immediately after the state of Israel was formed, which triggered a nine-month war waged by five Arab nations. About 150 overseas pilots and their crews, dubbed the Machal, made up most...
- 5/7/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Hero Nation is the new hub for the best of Deadline’s sci-fi, horror, fantasy, superhero, and animation coverage. And the Hero Nation Index is a weekly round-up of news, rumors, tidbits, and happenings in the genres sector that is dominating Hollywood’s attention in an unprecedented fashion.
Marvel-ous: The Marvel Studios epic Avengers: Endgame is a runaway train. The biggest pre-sale ever, the biggest domestic opening ever, the biggest global splash ever. Imaginary overheard conversation: Mobster Meyer Lansky says, “We’re bigger than General Motors.” Kevin Feige responds, “We’re bigger than Star Wars.”
Gotham Farewell: When the 100th and final episode of Gotham aired last Thursday, did it mark the end of an era? One producer told Deadline it was “one of the last aircraft carriers leaving the harbor” as the traditional networks look less and less at big dramas.
Dreamer: Mark Hamill stirred up social media...
Marvel-ous: The Marvel Studios epic Avengers: Endgame is a runaway train. The biggest pre-sale ever, the biggest domestic opening ever, the biggest global splash ever. Imaginary overheard conversation: Mobster Meyer Lansky says, “We’re bigger than General Motors.” Kevin Feige responds, “We’re bigger than Star Wars.”
Gotham Farewell: When the 100th and final episode of Gotham aired last Thursday, did it mark the end of an era? One producer told Deadline it was “one of the last aircraft carriers leaving the harbor” as the traditional networks look less and less at big dramas.
Dreamer: Mark Hamill stirred up social media...
- 4/30/2019
- by Geoff Boucher
- Deadline Film + TV
There have been many ups and downs in John Travolta’s career, which currently rests in a valley equivalent to the one he’d hit just before “Pulp Fiction” a quarter-century ago. You might think anything would be an improvement after “Gotti.” Yet the new “Speed Kills” not only isn’t appreciably better, it’s also bad in much the same way: another cliché-riddled portrait of an underworld-tied figure the movie seems to celebrate as one ballsy Sob, though viewers may find his personality warrants more fumigation than admiration.
Portraying the high-flying times and violent death of the erstwhile “King of Powerboats,” this slick yet hapless concoction offers Travolta an opportunity to swagger humorlessly, clutching babes and trophies for nearly 100 minutes. What’s not to like? Well, everything — unless you’re the star, who seems convinced that this embarrassingly cloddish biopic-slash-thriller actually flatters both him and its subject.
Travolta’s...
Portraying the high-flying times and violent death of the erstwhile “King of Powerboats,” this slick yet hapless concoction offers Travolta an opportunity to swagger humorlessly, clutching babes and trophies for nearly 100 minutes. What’s not to like? Well, everything — unless you’re the star, who seems convinced that this embarrassingly cloddish biopic-slash-thriller actually flatters both him and its subject.
Travolta’s...
- 11/17/2018
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
The nightclub Studio 54 sought to be a disco paradise in the 1970s, a utopia made up of sex, drugs, dancing, and celebrity display. Many gay men of a certain age in Manhattan still claim to have been one of the shirtless waiters in tight shorts at Studio 54, and like so much else about that club, these claims are hard to verify.
Documentarian Matt Tyrnauer (“Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood”) sits down with the two surviving co-owners of the club, Ian Schrager and Jack Dushey (the latter functioned as a silent partner), and tries to get them to reveal the tale behind its rise and fall, but this often proves difficult for him. Steve Rubell, the exuberant public face of Studio 54, died of AIDS-related complications in 1989, and so he isn’t around to tell his part of the story. The feeling persists in “Studio 54” that we are...
Documentarian Matt Tyrnauer (“Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood”) sits down with the two surviving co-owners of the club, Ian Schrager and Jack Dushey (the latter functioned as a silent partner), and tries to get them to reveal the tale behind its rise and fall, but this often proves difficult for him. Steve Rubell, the exuberant public face of Studio 54, died of AIDS-related complications in 1989, and so he isn’t around to tell his part of the story. The feeling persists in “Studio 54” that we are...
- 10/4/2018
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
Nostalgia pervades Andy Garcia's long-gestating passion project, a valentine to his native Havana in the pre-Castro 1950s. Based on a 300-page script by G. Cabrera Infante, who died in February, "The Lost City" is a handsome production but one that struggles to integrate its various elements -- cabaret-society glamour, intellectual fervor, family drama, impossible romance and droll humor. In his feature directorial debut, Garcia -- who also stars, co-scripted and wrote the film's score -- often gets caught up in the good-looking surfaces. When it succeeds, the film conveys a bittersweet longing for a lost moment and the unfulfilled promise of a democratic Cuba. It will resonate with Cuban-Americans who identify with the characters; a more fine-tuned version of the two-hour-plus feature could widen its prospects.
Through the prism of the well-to-do Fellove family, "Lost City" shows that the anti-Batista revolution was in large part a product of Cuba's middle and upper-middle class. Patriarch Federico (Tomas Milian), a professor given to philosophical musings, believes in democratic change, while sons Ricardo (Enrique Murciano) and Luis (Nestor Carbonell) are ardent proponents of violent overthrow, the latter leading a daring assassination attempt -- a well-staged, powerful sequence. Eldest son and central character Fico (Garcia), proprietor of resplendent nightclub El Tropico, is the quintessential observer, home-movie camera and all. He's determined to ride out the storm even as the political divide shatters his family and tests him at every turn.
Much of the film's first half feels like setup, with dogma often subbing for dialogue. A nameless writer spouting one-liners (Bill Murray) evokes novelist Infante's wordplay but feels dropped into the proceedings rather than part of the story. It's only in later scenes that Garcia seems freed to plunge into character-driven confrontations with emotional heft, as when Castro's victory pits Ricardo against his land-owner uncle (Richard Bradford) and Fico against his lover (Ines Sastre).
The ultimate focus is the resilience of the individual against the absurdities of abusive power, whether wielded by egomaniac dictators like Batista (Juan Fernandez), capitalist thugs like Meyer Lansky (Dustin Hoffman) or charismatic and ruthless revolutionaries like Che Guevara (Jsu Garcia) -- impressive cameos all. Waldemar Kalinowski's production design, Deborah Lynn Scott's costumes and Emmanuel Kadosh's lensing lend a voluptuous look to the low-budget, Dominican Republic shoot.
Through the prism of the well-to-do Fellove family, "Lost City" shows that the anti-Batista revolution was in large part a product of Cuba's middle and upper-middle class. Patriarch Federico (Tomas Milian), a professor given to philosophical musings, believes in democratic change, while sons Ricardo (Enrique Murciano) and Luis (Nestor Carbonell) are ardent proponents of violent overthrow, the latter leading a daring assassination attempt -- a well-staged, powerful sequence. Eldest son and central character Fico (Garcia), proprietor of resplendent nightclub El Tropico, is the quintessential observer, home-movie camera and all. He's determined to ride out the storm even as the political divide shatters his family and tests him at every turn.
Much of the film's first half feels like setup, with dogma often subbing for dialogue. A nameless writer spouting one-liners (Bill Murray) evokes novelist Infante's wordplay but feels dropped into the proceedings rather than part of the story. It's only in later scenes that Garcia seems freed to plunge into character-driven confrontations with emotional heft, as when Castro's victory pits Ricardo against his land-owner uncle (Richard Bradford) and Fico against his lover (Ines Sastre).
The ultimate focus is the resilience of the individual against the absurdities of abusive power, whether wielded by egomaniac dictators like Batista (Juan Fernandez), capitalist thugs like Meyer Lansky (Dustin Hoffman) or charismatic and ruthless revolutionaries like Che Guevara (Jsu Garcia) -- impressive cameos all. Waldemar Kalinowski's production design, Deborah Lynn Scott's costumes and Emmanuel Kadosh's lensing lend a voluptuous look to the low-budget, Dominican Republic shoot.
- 11/8/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Explicit love letters written by Michael Jackson to his alleged 12-year-old victim are likely to form the basis of the molestation case against him. Police reportedly found at least a dozen of the letters when they searched the singer's Neverland ranch in Santa Barbara, California - after his accuser told officials where to look. A police tells British newspaper the Mail On Sunday, "The district attorney is convinced these letters will be crucial to the case against Jackson. The boy told investigators about letter and poems and their precise location inside Michael's home. These letters were among the evidence seized, along with videotapes. They are very explicit and intimate and show a degree of familiarity. Basically, they appear to be love letters from Michael to the boy." The boy has told police that the Thriller singer's nickname for him was Rubba. The insider says, "The boy first told this to his therapist and then repeated it to police. He said Jackson called him 'Rubba' because one of the games they used to play was called 'rubba rubba'. The boy said, 'Michael told me he was my rubba rubba friend.'" Jackson's legal team are reportedly considering entering an insanity plea that would allow him to serve time in a mental hospital instead of prison. There is also speculation that broke Jackson raised the $3 million bail cash with help from lawyer Al Malnik, who used to represent late Mafia boss Meyer Lansky. A source near district attorney Tom Sneddon says, "It just gets weirder and weirder. Michael supposedly has financial problems, but hiring someone with mob connections is bizarre. The District Attorney is very confident with the evidence he has. This includes letters, videos and computer files. They believe they have enough to nail Jackson."...
- 11/24/2003
- WENN
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.