Category: Celebs

John Avildsen – R.I.P.

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I am sad to report that John Avildsen died today at the age of 81.

I first became aware of John Avildsen’s work with W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings in 1975. Lightning struck when Avildsen directed Rocky to 10 Oscar nominations (winning three including Best Picture, Best Editing and Best Director for Avildsen).  The success of Rocky led to Rocky II but an agreement to return couldn’t be reached. Avildsen later said the decision was “one of my greatest mistakes.”  Avildsen’s star ascended again when he steered all three Karate Kid movies to box office success.

John Avildsen was known as the King of the Underdogs, but I will always be grateful for his part in making my all-time favorite movie, Rocky.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, his friends and his fans.

Dracula (1931)

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Dracula (1931)

Director: Tod Browning

Screenplay: Hamilton Deane & John L. Balderston  from the play by Garrett Fort based on characters created by Bram Stoker

Stars: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye and Edward Van Sloan.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s bring Dracula to the silver screen!”

Tagline: Carl Laemmle Presents The VAMPIRE THRILLER!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

THE classic!  Bela Lugosi is the evil vampire Count Dracula who has journeyed to England with plans to make the lovely Nina is bride!

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Glen Campbell – “Funny How Time Slips Away”

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Not quite three years ago I posted about Glen Campbell’s sad song made even more sorrowful by the knowledge of his battle with dementia.

Today he is no longer able to talk or understand speech. But before slipping into this last stage, he did decide to record one more album…

…Choosing the songs was easy. “It was about helping Glen check off his bucket list,” says Kim, 58. “Any time that Glen picked up a guitar at home, these were the songs he would play for fun: Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right, A Thing Called Love. They were always his go-to songs.

My heart goes out to Glen Campbell, his family and his fans.

Source: USAToday.

Adam West – R.I.P.

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Adam West passed away last night after short battle with leukemia surrounded by his family.

West, known as tv’s Batman, is (along with Leonard Nimoy as Spock) perhaps the best example of the danger of typecasting.  Chosen to play the Caped Crusader for television, West shot to such fame that he had trouble finding new leading roles when Batman ended.  Yet he persevered and in later years did very well on the convention circuit meeting fans who couldn’t wait to get an autograph and photo with Batman.

I was seven years old when Batman premiered.  Adam West instantly became one of my childhood heroes.  My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.

30 Things We Learned from the “John Wick: Chapter 2” Commentary

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Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 30 Things We Learned from the John Wick: Chapter 2 Commentary.  Here are three of my favorites…

15. Common lobbied hard for a role in the sequel after loving the first film and even flew himself to Los Angeles for fight training.

16. There was apparently much debate over whether or not Wick actually needs to shoot Gianno D’Antonio (Claudia Gerini) even after she’s sliced her own wrists. They fought for it though because “in order to fulfill what you need to do you have to pull the trigger.”

20. They agree that one of the secrets to John Wick violence is to start with something funny, end with something funny, and fill the in-between with as much brutality as they can muster.

 

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

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A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Director: Elia Kazan

Screenplay: Tennessee Williams (adapted from his play) and Oscar Saul

Stars: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter and Karl Malden

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s turn ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ into a movie!”

Tagline: …When she got there she met the brute Stan, and the side of New Orleans she hardly knew existed.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When creditors take over the family estate Blanche Dubois (Leigh) is forced to move into her sister, Stella (Hunter) and Stanley (Brando) brother-in-law’s cramped New Orleans working class apartment.  Blanche considers herself a lady which doesn’t sit well with Stanley who believes that he and Stella are due money from the estate.  Stella and Stanley already have a antagonistic relationship which becomes even more strained with Stella there.  Things reach a brutal climax when…

I originally saw Streetcar Named Desire years ago and loved it.  Recently re-watching it, I still really liked it (especially Brando’s performance) but dropped the rating from an “A” to a “B”.

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Extraction (2015)

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Extraction (2015)

Director: Steven C. Miller

Screenplay: Max Adams and Umair Aleem

Stars: Bruce Willis, Kellan Lutz, Gina Carano and D.B. Sweeney

The Pitch: “Hey, I can get Bruce Willis for a day, let’s make a movie!”

Tagline: Vengeance runs in the family..

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Bruce Willis plays a veteran CIA field agent. Lutz is his son who desperately wants to follow in dad’s footsteps, but is instead kept in an office.  When Willis goes missing while on a mission, Lutz leaves the office to rescue him.

I was hoping for a lot more from Extraction.  Miller is a good director.  Lutz has star potential.  Carano has proven she can carry a film (Haywire).  Yet Extraction falls short of the potential that they bring.

I didn’t include Willis in the equation, because Extraction is just another film that he appears in.  Although getting top billing, Willis reportedly filmed all of his scenes in one day and other than name recognition, doesn’t bring anything special to the role.  I’m a Bruce Willis fan and look forward to the next project that really excites him.  Extraction wasn’t it.

 

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Frank Miller’s Sin City TV Series One Step Closer to Reality

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Deadline is reporting that a Frank Miller’s Sin City tv series is closer to becoming a reality.

…Glen Mazzara, the showrunner whose resume includes The Shield, The Walking Dead and The Omen…

…would take over the writing chores with  Len (Luficer) Wiseman set to direct.

If this comes to pass on a network like AMC, or FX or one of the other networks that’s not afraid to make Sin City without wholesale changes, then I’m all over it.  Bet you are too.

Close Range (2015)

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Close Range (2015)

Director: Isaac Florentine

Screenplay: Chad Law and Shane Dax Taylor

Stars:Scott Adkins, Nick Chinlund, Caitlin Keats and Jake La Botz

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a Scott Adkins action movie!”

Tagline: Colton MacReady…is coming home.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

 

When Colton MacReady (Adkins) learns that his shady brother-in-law has endangered MacReady’s sister and niece, it’s up to him to save them.

If you’re after an action-packed movie starring Scott Adkins, you’re going to be happy with Close Range.

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35 Things We Learned from James Mangold’s “Logan” Commentary

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Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 35 Things We Learned from James Mangold’s Logan Commentary.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. He and Hugh Jackman began thinking about a follow-up immediately after completing 2013’s The Wolverine, and they knew it would most likely “bring the curtain down on his character.” They both agreed that superhero films in general had grown repetitious and wanted to do “something different, something deeper.”

2. The first thought on the road to crafting the story here was “what is Wolverine frightened of? What is Logan afraid of?” They wanted his final story to be the thing that scares him the most, and after scouring the comics he realized there was no villain or end-of-the-world scenario that would unsettle Wolverine. “The answer that came to me was love. Love scares him, intimacy scares him, being dependent on others scares him, being vulnerable scares him.”

10. Some people assumed Mangold’s interest in the R-rating was that he’d be able to increase the level and detail of violence, foul language, and sexual references, “and in many ways all those things were attractive.” His biggest reason for going this route though “was a little more complicated than that.” An adult-rated film means the studio won’t make an effort to market the film to children with Happy Meals and toy tie-ins, and “what does that mean to the filmmaker?” He says what it changes for the writers/director is that no one at the studio is reading the script on a marketing level and then dictating editing choices to ensure it plays well to kids. “The ideas of the film are allowed to be more sophisticated because you’re no longer having to pace up the movie, edit it faster, make it more charming or colorful for a nine year old’s attention span. The film becomes what I had hoped for which is a comic book film for adults.”