Happy Birthday to
Lee Grant
81 today
A superb actress with a fascinating back catalogue, it's a pleasure to celebrate your 81st here.
The Oscar Shortlists for the 97th Academy Awards
5 hours ago
Friday, 31 October 2008
Lee Grant
Thursday, 30 October 2008
Catching up - Film news
I'm going to now squeeze into one post all the news I've picked up over the last 5 weeks that I feel is fit to print. Enjoy wading through for anything that you might like.
By the way I'm deliberately avoiding release schedule changes (Bye Bye The Soloist, Cheerio The Road, see you in 2009) and I'm trying not to dwell on castings in films I've already mentioned before (Helen Mirren in The Tempest - Yeah!!! - Helena Bonham Carter in Alice in Wonderland - really?).
Biutiful - Javier Bardem is set to join Alexandro Gonzales Inarritu's latest crime drama. Seems to be a modern update of Angels with Dirty Faces/Dead End only without the Bowery boys.
Book of Shadows - apparently a book chock fulls of spells and wicca and in need of closing to restore balance to the world. I'm not sure why Rob Reiner is the choice to direct this.
Coming after the jump - Brad Pitt's Bum and lots of drugs...
Only not straight away...
Buried - Todd Field's next project will concern a couple so desperate for money they bury a rich man alive and nick his dosh. Given that in Field's last 2 films (Little Children and In the Bedroom) he directed some great performances of desperation this could be worth seeing.
Steven Soderbergh - I manage to spell his name incorrectly in a different way every time I do it - has 2 new films on the go. The Girlfriend Experience about prostitution and [potentially] a Cleopatra musical starring Catherine Zeta-Jones. If that's not diversification then I don't know what is.
Dear John - I'd love this to be a cinematic rehash of the classic BBC comedy series about a depressive who's wife leaves him and then reenter's the singles circuit, but apparently it's about a soldier and a college student. Now starring Henry Thomas.
Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test - Following their successful (looking at the internet buzz) collaboration on Milk Gus Van Sant and writer Dustin Lance Black are to team up again with this true life tale of Ken Kesey, a small van and lots of drugs. Competition to the Hunter Thompson biopic?
High and Low - English Language remake is usually a phase that turns me off, but with Mamet writing, Mike Nichols directing and the source coming from Kurosawa (who's films often translate well) I'm unusually expectent. And the tale of a executive choosing between buying out a company or paying the ransom for his driver's son (it's complicated) sounds like a great dilemma movie.
Matarese Circle - No, I don't understand the title. However it's written by the guy behind the Bourne trilogy, will star Denzel Washington and has Cronenburg at the helm. Could be brilliant, could be barmy, can't wait to find out.
Brad Pitt Double bill - Brad's always choosing interesting films, and hasn't appeared to seek box office championship status since Troy but he's about to return to swords and sandals with the Homer's follow up - The Odessey (since Achilles is dead he's taking the Odysseus role). Hopeful it will be another chance to see his naked torso mmm. He's also lining up Moneyball about computer modelling in baseball. Yes you heard that right. Brad playing a computer nerd - gotta love it.
Scorcese's next move - After tiring of Leo, Scorcese has lined up Robert De Niro to star in his next film about the killer of Jimmy Hoffa (influential corrupt union boss in the 50's). Given their shared history includes Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas this is a must see.
Sunny and 68 - Vince Vaughn is a better actor than he is given credit for. I'm not sure this family drama is the way for him to prove that though.
Thor - has been greenlit with a tentative 2010 release date. I like the idea of a comic book movie based on Norse mythology (even if I am unusually ignorant about the source material) so I'll keep my eye out for news on this.
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Catching up - Birthdays
Here are the birthdays I have missed:
Name Age Birthday Coming Soon (if I have an interest in seeing it)
Bill Murray 58 21 September
Mickey Rooney 88 23 September
Will Smith 40 25 September Seven Pounds
Gwynneth Paltrow 36 27 September
Mira Sorino 41 28 September
Marion Cotillard 33 30 September Public Enemies, Nine
Julie Andrews 73 01 October
Clive Owen 44 03 October Duplicity, Boys are Back in Town
Susan Sarandon 62 04 October Lovely Bones
Kate Winslet 33 05 October Revolutionary Road, Reader
Mary Badham 56 07 October
Sigourney Weaver 59 08 October Avatar
Melinda Dillon 69 13 October
Angela Lansbury 83 16 October
John Lithgow 63 19 October
Viggo Mortensen 50 20 October Appaloosa, The Road
Joan Fontaine 91 22 October
Kevin Kline 61 24 October
Bob Hoskins 66 26 October Christmas Carol
Peter Firth 55 27 October
Jane Alexander 69 28 October
Richard Dreyfuss 61 29 October W.
And a picture for Richard as it's his birthday today:
Cathcing Up Part 1
It's hard to believe it's been 40 days since I last posted but I honestly have a reasonable excuse - work.
Yes I have been doing some acting stuff - a TIE tour of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men to be precise. I'll let you guess who I'm playing...
It's been exhausting; we've been performing in 2 schools a day for the last 4 weeks. It's currently half term but next week we return for another 6 weeks until the end of the year.
Over the last weeks I have allowed a couple of things to slip either from choice or because of circumstances. I didn't get into the London Marathon on the ballot, although I'm waiting on a response from my first choice charity. As a consequence the running suffered a little - I've been going out but only once or twice a week, and I missed the Birmingham Half (Although only because my car wouldn't start).
I've been to the cinema only once, Burn after reading, review's on the way.
Oh, and my sister's had a beautiful baby girl.
Over the next couple of days I'll blitz through the film news and write down anything else that comes to mind.
Cheers
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