Sherwood Schwartz's 1963 sitcom "Gilligan's Island" was a high-concept series that, thanks to the gods of syndication, remained in the public consciousness for decades after it went off the air. The show's impeccable theme song, written by Schwartz and George Wyle, may be the best theme in television history, as it handily explains the premise using a hummable sea shanty: five tourists boarded the S.S. Minnow -- manned by Captain Jonas Grumby (Alan Hale) and his first mate Gilligan (Bob Denver) -- for a three-hour tour off the coast of Honolulu. When the tiny ship hit some bad weather, the seven characters landed on a desert island, stranded. The series followed their merry attempts to survive.
"Gilligan's Island" ran for 98 episodes, ending its initial run in 1967, but reruns continued to air well into the 1990s. Yes, there was a time when "Gilligan's Island" was a reliable TV staple, occupying...
"Gilligan's Island" ran for 98 episodes, ending its initial run in 1967, but reruns continued to air well into the 1990s. Yes, there was a time when "Gilligan's Island" was a reliable TV staple, occupying...
- 2/8/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Brad Pitt celebrated his second Oscar win thanks to his stuntman role in the Quentin Tarantino film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Although he’d previously won a Best Picture victory for producing “12 Years a Slave” (2013), the Best Supporting Actor trophy was his first for acting, despite three previous nominations (plus an additional two in Picture).
He could easily have become just another pretty Hollywood face – a flash in the pan romantic lead or action star. However Pitt studied acting and worked his way up the ladder to become one of the industry’s most versatile and most well-recognized actors, as well as one of the most influential as the owner of a successful award-winning production company.
Born in Oklahoma, he was raised in Springfield, Mo, where he participated in a variety of sports and activities in high school, and went on to college with a major in journalism.
He could easily have become just another pretty Hollywood face – a flash in the pan romantic lead or action star. However Pitt studied acting and worked his way up the ladder to become one of the industry’s most versatile and most well-recognized actors, as well as one of the most influential as the owner of a successful award-winning production company.
Born in Oklahoma, he was raised in Springfield, Mo, where he participated in a variety of sports and activities in high school, and went on to college with a major in journalism.
- 12/15/2023
- by Susan Pennington, Misty Holland and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Brad Pitt is an Oscar winner but has never taken one home for his acting career. That could change this year as he’s already won a Golden Globe for his stuntman role in the Quentin Tarantino film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” He’s now nominated for the seventh time at the Academy Awards, this time as Best Supporting Actor. It’s his fourth as an actor along with three for producing and “Cool World” (1992). These two flopped so badly they could have derailed his career; however, he proved he could handle meatier roles with “A River Runs Through It” (1992) and could hold his own with blockbuster powerhouses like Tom Cruise in “An Interview with a Vampire” (1994), and Pitt gradually became of the most critically and commercially successful actors of his generation.
During the past 30 years, Pitt as established himself as a versatile actor, equally adept at playing...
During the past 30 years, Pitt as established himself as a versatile actor, equally adept at playing...
- 1/16/2020
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
He could easily have become just another pretty Hollywood face – a flash in the pan romantic lead or action star. However, Brad Pitt studied acting and worked his way up the ladder to become one of the industry’s most versatile and most well-recognized actors, as well as one of the most influential as the owner of a successful award-winning production company.
Pitt celebrates his 56th birthday on December 18, 2019. Born in Oklahoma, he was raised in Springfield, Mo, where he participated in a variety of sports and activities in high school, and went on to college with a major in journalism. However, restlessness and a love of movies spurred him to move to Los Angeles.
SEEBrad Pitt is aiming to tie this Golden Globe record with a win for ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’
Despite his all-American good looks, Pitt was not a breakout star immediately upon his arrival in Tinseltown.
Pitt celebrates his 56th birthday on December 18, 2019. Born in Oklahoma, he was raised in Springfield, Mo, where he participated in a variety of sports and activities in high school, and went on to college with a major in journalism. However, restlessness and a love of movies spurred him to move to Los Angeles.
SEEBrad Pitt is aiming to tie this Golden Globe record with a win for ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’
Despite his all-American good looks, Pitt was not a breakout star immediately upon his arrival in Tinseltown.
- 12/18/2019
- by Susan Pennington and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Samuel L. Jackson is the latest celeb to weigh-in on Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s divorce. “It’s life!”, the actor exclaimed during an appearance on “Good Morning Britain” on Thursday. “People carry on and people do what they do,” he said. The actor, who starred in both “Johnny Suede” and “True Romance” with Pitt, added that […]...
- 9/22/2016
- by Rachel West
- ET Canada
40. Empire Records
Directed by: Allan Moyle
Ah, the coming-of-age story. There was no sub-genre more hijacked for a quick buck in the 1990′s. In between the good ones (“Dazed and Confused,” “Boyz in the Hood”), the cheesy ones (“She’s All That,” “She Drives Me Crazy”), and the under-appreciated ones (“The Man in the Moon,” “Angus”), there were the middling ones that, if anything, boasted a cast that would go on to bigger, better things. Enter “Empire Records,” which is not only a coming-of-age story, but one that takes place at a record store, no less. Talk about the double dip. The entire film takes place over the course of one day, focusing on the employees, played by Anthony Lapaglia, Ethan Embry, Renee Zellweger, Rory Cochrane, and Liv Tyler. The independent record store is in Delaware – the hot spot of American music – and sees Joe (Lapaglia) allowing night manager Lucas...
Directed by: Allan Moyle
Ah, the coming-of-age story. There was no sub-genre more hijacked for a quick buck in the 1990′s. In between the good ones (“Dazed and Confused,” “Boyz in the Hood”), the cheesy ones (“She’s All That,” “She Drives Me Crazy”), and the under-appreciated ones (“The Man in the Moon,” “Angus”), there were the middling ones that, if anything, boasted a cast that would go on to bigger, better things. Enter “Empire Records,” which is not only a coming-of-age story, but one that takes place at a record store, no less. Talk about the double dip. The entire film takes place over the course of one day, focusing on the employees, played by Anthony Lapaglia, Ethan Embry, Renee Zellweger, Rory Cochrane, and Liv Tyler. The independent record store is in Delaware – the hot spot of American music – and sees Joe (Lapaglia) allowing night manager Lucas...
- 1/31/2015
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
It’s a film starring Sundance Film Fest creator Robert Redford and another film starring Sundance mainstay James Franco that are the latest and last items to officially pad the 2015 edition. Ken Kwapis’ A Walk in the Woods (surely to be discussed as a companion piece to Gus Van Sant’s heavy Cannes contender The Sea of Trees) and Rupert Goold’s directorial debut, True Story – a story that is stranger than fiction close out the Premieres selections. Also announced we find items for New Frontier, Sundance Kids and the From the Collection items. And while the line-up is complete, the actual final piece to the puzzle might actually be a secret screening or two. This year I wager on Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups playing as a non official showing. Here’s the press release.
A Walk in the Woods / U.S.A. (Director: Ken Kwapis, Screenwriters: Rick Kerb,...
A Walk in the Woods / U.S.A. (Director: Ken Kwapis, Screenwriters: Rick Kerb,...
- 12/15/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Sundance: Robert Redford stars opposite Nick Nolte in Salt Lake City gala
Festival top brass announced on December 15 a volley of 10 additional films and New Frontier installations.
The late arrivals mean the festival will screen 123 features overall from 29 countries culled from 12,166 submissions. A total of 106 of the features will be world premieres and 45 of the total line-up hail from first-time film-makers,
Sundance is set to run from January 22-February 1.
All synopses provided by the festival.
Premieres
A Walk In The Woods (USA)
Ken Kwapis
An aging travel writer sets out to hike the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail with a long-estranged high school buddy. Along the way, the duo face off with each other, nature, and an eccentric assortment of characters. Together, they learn that some roads are better left untraveled.
Cast: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Mary Steenburgen, Nick Offerman, Kristen Schaal.
World premiere
Salt Lake City Gala Film
True Story (USA)
Rupert Goold
When disgraced New York...
Festival top brass announced on December 15 a volley of 10 additional films and New Frontier installations.
The late arrivals mean the festival will screen 123 features overall from 29 countries culled from 12,166 submissions. A total of 106 of the features will be world premieres and 45 of the total line-up hail from first-time film-makers,
Sundance is set to run from January 22-February 1.
All synopses provided by the festival.
Premieres
A Walk In The Woods (USA)
Ken Kwapis
An aging travel writer sets out to hike the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail with a long-estranged high school buddy. Along the way, the duo face off with each other, nature, and an eccentric assortment of characters. Together, they learn that some roads are better left untraveled.
Cast: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Mary Steenburgen, Nick Offerman, Kristen Schaal.
World premiere
Salt Lake City Gala Film
True Story (USA)
Rupert Goold
When disgraced New York...
- 12/15/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
For this week’s spotlight piece, I wanted to take a look at one of Hollywood’s absolute bigger stars. He’s about as A-list as the A-list gets…the name? Well, Brad Pitt of course. Not only is he a movie star with all capital letters (Movie Star!) and a top tier celebrity, he’s also developed into one of the industry’s best and most interesting actors as well. Pitt is the type of star that doesn’t rest on his laurels and often seems to attach himself to challenging material, something that will win the man an acting Oscar one day (he already won his first one last year for helping to produce Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave). As high as he’s soared already, the best could still be to come. Pitt got his noticeable start in the business (after some uncredited acting jobs on...
- 10/15/2014
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Back in 1991 when Tom Dicillo's "Johnny Suede" hit theatres, Brad Pitt was only known as the good looking dude from "Thelma & Louise." He was only starting his ascension to become the megawatt star we know today, and the movie barely registered a blip on the radar, opening in one theatre before heading to home video where it would become a cult favorite. But Dicillo was never satisfied with the film's theatrical cut, and now he's been given a chance to showcase his preferred rendition. In March, "Johnny Suede" quietly made its way to Netflix, but there was a problem — Miramax hadn't cleared streaming rights. Understandably, Dicillo was upset. He engaged with Miramax and was allowed to re-edit the movie, dropping a voiceover added by Harvey Weinstein and snipping seven minutes from the movie, bringing it down to 90 minutes total. "It's distilled and improves the film so much," Dicillo told THR.
- 8/11/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Odd List Ryan Lambie Simon Brew 24 Oct 2013 - 06:46
Another 25 unsung greats come under the spotlight, as we provide our pick of the underappreciated films of 1995...
The year covered in this week's underrated movie rundown was significant for a number of reasons. It was the year that saw the release of Toy Story - the groundbreaking movie that would cement Pixar's reputation as an animation studio, and set the tempo for CG family movies for the next 18 years and counting. It was the year that saw James Bond (played by Pierce Brosnan for the first time) emerge for GoldenEye after a six-year break. It was also the year of Michael Mann's Heat, Dogme 95, and the moment where Terry Gilliam scored a much-deserved hit with 12 Monkeys.
As ever, we're focusing on a few of the lesser-known films from this particular year, and we've had to think carefully about what's made the cut and what hasn't.
Another 25 unsung greats come under the spotlight, as we provide our pick of the underappreciated films of 1995...
The year covered in this week's underrated movie rundown was significant for a number of reasons. It was the year that saw the release of Toy Story - the groundbreaking movie that would cement Pixar's reputation as an animation studio, and set the tempo for CG family movies for the next 18 years and counting. It was the year that saw James Bond (played by Pierce Brosnan for the first time) emerge for GoldenEye after a six-year break. It was also the year of Michael Mann's Heat, Dogme 95, and the moment where Terry Gilliam scored a much-deserved hit with 12 Monkeys.
As ever, we're focusing on a few of the lesser-known films from this particular year, and we've had to think carefully about what's made the cut and what hasn't.
- 10/22/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Movie characters may seem more glamorous than you and me, but they've gotta eat. And you know who eats a lot in movies? Brad Pitt. And unlike the rest of us, even in comic moments, he looks good doing it (shocker).
Pitt did a fair amount of eating in his Oscar-nominated turn as Billy Beane in "Moneyball," but he chows down so much in so many movies, we're starting to wonder if the actor just gets hungry on set and brings his lunch into the scene with him. We're just waiting to see how much he ingests in "Killing Them Softly," out this week.
Movies Included (Click to Buy):
Troy | Mr. and Mrs. Smith | Moneyball | Ocean's Eleven | Johnny Suede | The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford | The Devil's Own | Inglorious Basterds | Across the Tracks | Cutting Class | Kalifornia | Spy Game | Meet Joe Black | Sleepers | Seven Years in Tibet...
Pitt did a fair amount of eating in his Oscar-nominated turn as Billy Beane in "Moneyball," but he chows down so much in so many movies, we're starting to wonder if the actor just gets hungry on set and brings his lunch into the scene with him. We're just waiting to see how much he ingests in "Killing Them Softly," out this week.
Movies Included (Click to Buy):
Troy | Mr. and Mrs. Smith | Moneyball | Ocean's Eleven | Johnny Suede | The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford | The Devil's Own | Inglorious Basterds | Across the Tracks | Cutting Class | Kalifornia | Spy Game | Meet Joe Black | Sleepers | Seven Years in Tibet...
- 11/26/2012
- by Avaryl Halley
- NextMovie
For many a young rising star, there comes the time to prove their worth at the ever-enigmatic box office all on their own. Any young gun can co-star in a successful feature with a proven star by his or her side (see potential stars Chris Pine and Ryan Reynolds ride Denzel’s coattails in Unstoppable and Safe House, respectively). To prove your name is valuable above a film’s title, you must lead it, meaning you are both the film’s star and the film’s marketing campaign. At some point (usually early on), these ambitious pseudo-celebs must go for it, headlining a somewhat small, but significant, studio picture in the hopes of finding an audience they’ve been told by their agents and managers they have already built.
Sometimes its works. Other times, it does not. In honor of the currently-in-theaters Premium Rush, led by the potentially-bankable star Joseph Gordon-Levitt,...
Sometimes its works. Other times, it does not. In honor of the currently-in-theaters Premium Rush, led by the potentially-bankable star Joseph Gordon-Levitt,...
- 8/28/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Catherine Keener has been a supporting actor for years, with a reputation for being interesting in valuable, offbeat pictures
Catherine Keener is a beloved figure among the several million who are always hoping for the best from American independent pictures. She promises feeling, humour and a sense of life as it is really lived, plus a nice acidity. Keener has been attractive without threatening outright beauty or glamour. Her persona springs from ironic intelligence and that's what any wise man or woman should be searching for in life. The trouble is that in America, women actors are often supposed to be knockouts who dominate their pictures just by virtue of standing there and letting themselves be photographed.
So Keener has been a supporting actor for more than 25 years, with a reputation for being different and interesting in valuable, offbeat pictures. Indeed, she has often been taken as a talisman and even a guarantee.
Catherine Keener is a beloved figure among the several million who are always hoping for the best from American independent pictures. She promises feeling, humour and a sense of life as it is really lived, plus a nice acidity. Keener has been attractive without threatening outright beauty or glamour. Her persona springs from ironic intelligence and that's what any wise man or woman should be searching for in life. The trouble is that in America, women actors are often supposed to be knockouts who dominate their pictures just by virtue of standing there and letting themselves be photographed.
So Keener has been a supporting actor for more than 25 years, with a reputation for being different and interesting in valuable, offbeat pictures. Indeed, she has often been taken as a talisman and even a guarantee.
- 6/30/2011
- by David Thomson
- The Guardian - Film News
An eyepatch indicates the wearer has been in the wars or had his eye pecked out by a hawk like axe-hurling Kirk Douglas in The Vikings
Now that everyone has woken up to the genius that is Jeff Bridges, perhaps it's time to give John Heard his due. By the mid-1980s, after starring in a brace of films by Joan Micklin Silver, Paul Schrader's Cat People remake and pulp horror C.H.U.D, he looked all set for leading man status. But it never happened; instead he turned into one of those character actors whose presence never fails to cheer you up. It didn't help that the release of Cutter's Way, which gave him the role of his career, was bungled by United Artists, which saw it as a failed thriller instead of the noirish character study it was. It faded into obscurity, trailing a few rave...
Now that everyone has woken up to the genius that is Jeff Bridges, perhaps it's time to give John Heard his due. By the mid-1980s, after starring in a brace of films by Joan Micklin Silver, Paul Schrader's Cat People remake and pulp horror C.H.U.D, he looked all set for leading man status. But it never happened; instead he turned into one of those character actors whose presence never fails to cheer you up. It didn't help that the release of Cutter's Way, which gave him the role of his career, was bungled by United Artists, which saw it as a failed thriller instead of the noirish character study it was. It faded into obscurity, trailing a few rave...
- 6/23/2011
- by Anne Billson
- The Guardian - Film News
The matching megastars have gone from matinee idols to serious actors; now they face each other as father and son in a film that has set pulses racing in Hollywood
As films go, the ambition of The Tree of Life is hardly small. The eagerly awaited epic from enigmatic auteur director Terrence Malick aims to explore the very meaning of existence in its two hours and 18 minutes run time. News that it is showing at the Cannes film festival has set pulses racing among Hollywood's great and good. But it's not just Malick's lushly artistic directorial style that has people excited. It is the identity of the male leads: Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.
Tree of Life will showcase the acting skills of two of modern Hollywood's biggest stars, appearing in a movie together for the first time. It is a classic piece of casting. "I'm eager to see these two work together,...
As films go, the ambition of The Tree of Life is hardly small. The eagerly awaited epic from enigmatic auteur director Terrence Malick aims to explore the very meaning of existence in its two hours and 18 minutes run time. News that it is showing at the Cannes film festival has set pulses racing among Hollywood's great and good. But it's not just Malick's lushly artistic directorial style that has people excited. It is the identity of the male leads: Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.
Tree of Life will showcase the acting skills of two of modern Hollywood's biggest stars, appearing in a movie together for the first time. It is a classic piece of casting. "I'm eager to see these two work together,...
- 4/18/2011
- by Paul Harris
- The Guardian - Film News
Film-makers usually come off badly when films get made about them. François Truffaut is the honourable exception
It speaks well of film-makers that movies about movies are usually black comedies. Our industry is so detestable – so filled with lies, thefts, backstabbing, blacklisting, drug dealing, and the occasional murder – that one would expect a tendency to cover things up. Instead, almost all the films I can think of which deal with the film-making process portray it in the grimmest possible light.
Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950) is a classic instance: a dark comedy in which a failed screenwriter (William Holden) attempts to gain fame on the back of a faded silent-movie star (Gloria Swanson): she ends up mad, he, shot and drowned. Even the good-hearted comedy Singin' in the Rain (1952) conversely, depicts a hierarchical system dominated by the talentless, in which people who are actually good at something (in this case dancing) are ritually humiliated,...
It speaks well of film-makers that movies about movies are usually black comedies. Our industry is so detestable – so filled with lies, thefts, backstabbing, blacklisting, drug dealing, and the occasional murder – that one would expect a tendency to cover things up. Instead, almost all the films I can think of which deal with the film-making process portray it in the grimmest possible light.
Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950) is a classic instance: a dark comedy in which a failed screenwriter (William Holden) attempts to gain fame on the back of a faded silent-movie star (Gloria Swanson): she ends up mad, he, shot and drowned. Even the good-hearted comedy Singin' in the Rain (1952) conversely, depicts a hierarchical system dominated by the talentless, in which people who are actually good at something (in this case dancing) are ritually humiliated,...
- 2/18/2011
- by Alex Cox
- The Guardian - Film News
Date Night; The Back-Up Plan; Prince of Persia; When You're Strange: A Film About the Doors
What's happened to Steve Carell? After a brief moment in which he appeared to be the saviour of mainstream American comedy, his recent movie outings have brought little but disappointment. In cinemas at the moment you can find him fouling up the French film Le dîner de cons in the smug and unfunny Hollywood remake Dinner for Schmucks, which is shaping up as one my least favourite films of the year. Meanwhile on DVD, Date Night (2010, Fox, 15) finds Carell struggling to generate laughs in a substandard rehash of Scorsese's tragi-comedy After Hours which piles on the overblown set-pieces (car chases, shoot-outs etc) with ever diminishing comedy returns. Teaming up with the sainted Tina Fey, Carell plays a stuck-in-a-rut dullard whose regular night-out with the wife turns into an outlandish crime drama after the...
What's happened to Steve Carell? After a brief moment in which he appeared to be the saviour of mainstream American comedy, his recent movie outings have brought little but disappointment. In cinemas at the moment you can find him fouling up the French film Le dîner de cons in the smug and unfunny Hollywood remake Dinner for Schmucks, which is shaping up as one my least favourite films of the year. Meanwhile on DVD, Date Night (2010, Fox, 15) finds Carell struggling to generate laughs in a substandard rehash of Scorsese's tragi-comedy After Hours which piles on the overblown set-pieces (car chases, shoot-outs etc) with ever diminishing comedy returns. Teaming up with the sainted Tina Fey, Carell plays a stuck-in-a-rut dullard whose regular night-out with the wife turns into an outlandish crime drama after the...
- 9/11/2010
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Leading up to our 18th birthday, I’ll be revisiting on the blog one issue of Filmmaker a day. Below is Winter, 1993. In our second issue of Filmmaker, attorney Robert Siegel interviewed Steven Starr, former head of the motion picture department at William Morris who left the agency to produce Tom DeCillo’s Johnny Suede (the first motion picture to star Brad Pitt) and direct his first feature, Joey Breaker. (Subsequently, Starr launched the web video site Revver and produced the documentary Flow.) Peter Broderick interviewed Alex Cox, and I wrote the cover story on Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant, interviewing Ferrara, distributor Paul Cohen, and the late, great Zoe Lund, who wrote the screenplay and acted in the film....
- 8/3/2010
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Tom Dicillo's second movie, Living in Oblivion, is a weird and funny look at indie filmmaking from the point of view of first-time director Nick Reve. Reve, who is played by Steve Buscemi, is a former cinematographer making his feature-length debut on a shoestring budget with a team full of colorful weirdos and/or pains in the asses. Nick's leading man Chad Palomino (James LeGros) is handsome, blond, and obsessed with his position in every frame. Chad has drama with the leading lady Nicole (Catherine Keener), who's actually in love with Nick. Then there's the crappy Dp Wolf (Dermot Mulroney), literally vomitrocious craft services, forgotten lines, bad shots, an angry small person (Peter Dinklage as Tito), and dream sequences. Also, everyone is sleeping with everyone else. It's messy.
Living in Oblivion and its characters have just enough in common with Dicillo's first movie, Johnny Suede, that people assume that's what Oblivion is about.
Living in Oblivion and its characters have just enough in common with Dicillo's first movie, Johnny Suede, that people assume that's what Oblivion is about.
- 7/7/2010
- by Jenni Miller
- Cinematical
(Jim Morrison in his experimental film, Hwy, from When you're Strange.)
By Terry Keefe
(Currently appearing in this month's Venice Magazine.)
Many a visitor to Venice Beach has spent some time wondering the exact location where Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek reportedly ran into each other in 1965, after having attended UCLA Film School together previously, and decided to form the Doors. The legend of the band needs no recounting here, not after a number of books, the 1991 Oliver Stone film, and endless television clip show assemblies, along with various live albums and re-releases of recordings. Which does raise the question of whether a 2010 documentary on the Doors fills any real need, at least that was the initial reaction from this Doors fan when hearing about director Tom Dicillo’s When You’re Strange - A Film About the Doors. Then, Morrison appeared on screen in the Dicillo documentary, in pristine,...
By Terry Keefe
(Currently appearing in this month's Venice Magazine.)
Many a visitor to Venice Beach has spent some time wondering the exact location where Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek reportedly ran into each other in 1965, after having attended UCLA Film School together previously, and decided to form the Doors. The legend of the band needs no recounting here, not after a number of books, the 1991 Oliver Stone film, and endless television clip show assemblies, along with various live albums and re-releases of recordings. Which does raise the question of whether a 2010 documentary on the Doors fills any real need, at least that was the initial reaction from this Doors fan when hearing about director Tom Dicillo’s When You’re Strange - A Film About the Doors. Then, Morrison appeared on screen in the Dicillo documentary, in pristine,...
- 4/19/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
I started listening to the The Doors when I was about fourteen, and bought every one of their albums. I have great affection for their music, especially Strange Days, at the same time that I often question how seriously to take it. At the behest of Rhino Records and producer Dick Wolf, after directing some Law and Order episodes, filmmaker Tom Dicillo--whose idiosyncratic films I like, from Johnny Suede and Living in Oblivion to Box of Moonlight--took three years to fashion the mysterious documentary When You're Strange: A Film About the Doors. He leans on found footage from concerts, interviews of the period and even a remarkably pristine 1969 35 mm short film (Google video on jump) of Jim Morrison driving in the desert to ...
- 4/8/2010
- Thompson on Hollywood
Let's travel back in time before Brad Pitt was part of the Brangelina borg or even before Tyler Durden. Brad's breakout role was young paramour and parolee J.D. in 1991's Thelma and Louise, and Johnny Suede came just a few a couple of months after Thelma and Louise premiered at Cannes. (This was also a few years after Pitt starred in Cutting Class, an awesomely ridiculous '80s slasher flick that I caught on cable late one night.)
According to writer/director Tom Dicillo's blog, when the NYC casting director passed him Brad Pitt's head shot, "he'd done a small Canadian TV series and he'd just finished shooting what he'd listed as his only real film credit-something called Thelma and Louise that no one had heard about because it hadn't even been edited yet." And when Pitt came in to audition, Dicillo writes, "Call me an idiot...
According to writer/director Tom Dicillo's blog, when the NYC casting director passed him Brad Pitt's head shot, "he'd done a small Canadian TV series and he'd just finished shooting what he'd listed as his only real film credit-something called Thelma and Louise that no one had heard about because it hadn't even been edited yet." And when Pitt came in to audition, Dicillo writes, "Call me an idiot...
- 3/31/2010
- by Jenni Miller
- Cinematical
We spoke to A.J. McLean earlier this week, and he gave us all the details about his engagement last weekend as well as some information about his forthcoming solo album. While we were talking to him about his wedding, we just had to know if A.J.'s rockstar alter-ego, Johnny No Name, will finally get a gig and play the Backstreet Boy's wedding after years of living in obscurity.
While we thought this was a good-natured question meant to cause A.J. to chuckle at his past career decisions, A.J. actually took a moment to consider his response. "Um, I don't think he will, but you never know," before going into this whole thing about how he, A.J., is really looking forward to crooning away on his big day.
In our research for this blog post today (yes, actual research goes into these posts!), we have figured...
While we thought this was a good-natured question meant to cause A.J. to chuckle at his past career decisions, A.J. actually took a moment to consider his response. "Um, I don't think he will, but you never know," before going into this whole thing about how he, A.J., is really looking forward to crooning away on his big day.
In our research for this blog post today (yes, actual research goes into these posts!), we have figured...
- 1/14/2010
- by Jocelyn Vena
- MTV Newsroom
A month or so ago it came to light that The Road's John Hillcoat was hoping to get an adaptation of Matt Bondurant's prohibition-set novel The Wettest Country in the World up and running. No paperwork had been signed, but he was reported as having the support of Ryan Gosling, Shia Labeouf, Scarlet Johansson and Paul Dano, who all wanted to be in it.Along with confirmation of that from the horse's mouth (well, Hillcoat's) Atomic Popcorn have just learned that a script has already been written, by a certain Mr Nick Cave.Cave dabbled with film as an actor in the 90s, with roles in Johnny Suede and Ghosts of the Civil Dead, but after a long hiatus during which he seemed to leave the cinema well alone, he's made a slight return in recent years, writing the music, along with constant collaborator and Bad Seed Warren Ellis,...
- 11/4/2009
- EmpireOnline
Brad Pitt had a whole lot of gigs before he nabbed his career-propulsioning role in Thelma & Louise -- from an uncredited preppie kid in Less Than Zero, to the soap opera wonder of Another World and Dallas, to sitcoms like Growing Pains. He's an actor whose notoriety rose with his talents -- he paid his dues and worked his way up from goofy commercial gigs shilling Pringles to big-screen success. But what if he never got to play with Thelma and Louise?
See, Pitt was the third choice for the role. According to IMDb, William Baldwin was the first choice, but he gave it up to star in Backdraft. (George Clooney also lobbied hard for the gig.) The choice makes sense. Why play some bit part when you can star in a Ron Howard flick with Kurt Russell, Robert De Niro, and Donald Sutherland? If only the sensible always made sense.
See, Pitt was the third choice for the role. According to IMDb, William Baldwin was the first choice, but he gave it up to star in Backdraft. (George Clooney also lobbied hard for the gig.) The choice makes sense. Why play some bit part when you can star in a Ron Howard flick with Kurt Russell, Robert De Niro, and Donald Sutherland? If only the sensible always made sense.
- 9/28/2009
- by Monika Bartyzel
- Cinematical
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" reviewby Steve Ramos, Writer The Once and Future Brad Pitt Shines in 'Benjamin Button' The future Brad Pitt, a feeble and wrinkled old man, features in the first half of the epic romance "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Without his rebel good looks, thick blonde hair and fit body we’ve come to love and admire, Pitt relies upon his charisma and the one thing his handsome features often makes us forget; his deep talents as an actor. "Benjamin Button" is plush, colorful moviemaking, rich in detail and thoroughly clever. While it’s a masterwork for director David Fincher (He worked with Pitt before on the cop thriller “Seven” and “Fight Club”), revealing a sentimental side never seen in his previous films, it’s more a testament to Pitt’s talents. “Benjamin Button” is an exciting history of 20th Century America but more importantly,...
- 12/17/2008
- Upcoming-Movies.com
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