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Al Pacino to Play Dr. Death, Jack Kevorkian
Filed under: Drama, Casting, Celebrities and Controversy, Newsstand, HBO Films
Let's just point out the elephant in the room, shall we? Al Pacino is one of the all time greats, but his recent work has been anything but. If he was anyone but Pacino, a story like this would be phrased as a hopeful, can he come back sort of piece ... but it's Al Pacino. You don't say those kinds of things, do you? Well, you can think it if you like, as The Hollywood Reporter says that Pacino is currently circling Barry Levinson's biopic on Dr. Jack Kevorkian. I doubt there's anyone reading who doesn't remember who Dr. Kevorkian is. Known as Dr. Death, he assisted in more than 150 cases of suicide / euthanasia with his "Mercy Machine." After beating the Michigan court system for years, he was convicted of second degree murder after sending a tape of one euthanasia patient to 60 Minutes. He served eight years, and was released in 2007 on account of good behavior, and has been doing public appearances since. The media frenzy and emotional fury that surrounded him seems to have dissipated for the moment, but perhaps Levinson and HBO Films can stir it up again.
Levinson's film will trace Kevorkian's career as he builds his famous "Mercy Machine," conducts his first assisted suicide, and creates a firestorm with his advocacy for providing assisted suicide as "a medical service." It's the kind of role Pacino could really excel at ... but it's also something he could probably do in his sleep. So, is it promising? Predictable? The first step on the road back to exciting brilliance? You be the judge.
'They Killed Sister Dorothy' Gets Play on HBO
Filed under: Documentary, Independent, Distribution, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Home Entertainment, Politics, HBO Films
One of SXSW's prize winning documentaries is finally coming to the masses. This Wednesday (March 25), HBO2 will be premiering Daniel Junge's documentary They Killed Sister Dorothy at 8:00/9:30 p.m ET/PT. It will get a handful of replays, so check HBO's schedule and your local listings if you miss it on the first try.Junge's documentary examines the life and brutal murder of Sister Dorothy Stang, a 73-year-old nun from Ohio who was shot to death in an Amazon jungle. Three men were eventually convicted of killing her, and the Brazilian government stepped up to continue her work in preserving the Amazon rainforest.
Kim Voynar reviewed the documentary at SXSW last year, and was full of praise for its tight style and clear narrative: "They Killed Sister Dorothy isn't just a film about a nun thwarting the attempts of honest ranchers to simply make a living; at its heart, this is really a story about the wealthy versus the poor, and about an activist trying to protect a natural resource from those who would destroy it for profit."
The other five reviewers collected by Rotten Tomatoes all found it equally riveting, which suggests we should all check it out. Sister Dorothy Stang was willing to die for her cause and no matter what your feelings on environmental issues might be, her story is worth knowing and remembering.
'Why We Fight' Director to Helm HBO Vietnam Film
Filed under: Documentary, Distribution, HBO Films, Cinematical Indie, War
I was just re-watching Eugene Jarecki's terrific documentary Why We Fight the other day and wondering, "man, how did this not win an Oscar?" Both its ineligibility and the strength of the 2006 feature documentary category aside, it's a really great visual essay on the problems of the U.S. military -- particularly the allowance for the military industrial complex to grow so large -- since the mid-20th century. If you've never seen it, you should. It'll bring you up to speed right up to the Iraq War (and feel free to make it an informative double feature by following it up with Charles Ferguson's No End in Sight).For his next feature, Jarecki is sticking to the subject of war, though he's going back and focusing on Vietnam, specifically the evacuation of U.S. troops from Saigon in 1975 (maybe it can parallel an exit from Iraq? huh? maybe?). He and screenwriter Jesse Wigutow (It Runs in the Family) are basing the doc, titled Irreparable Harm, on former CIA agent Frank Snepp's book "Irreparable Harm: A Firsthand Account of How One Agent Took on the CIA in an Epic Battle Over Free Speech," which details the author's struggle with the federal government after he published his Saigon evacuation document, "Decent Interval."
Jarecki's film, which is being produced for HBO Films, will be more about Snepp than on the history, and hopefully that won't get him in trouble with the feds too. Also, here's hoping that Irreparable Harm at least makes Jarecki eligible to be nominated for the Oscar he deserves.
'Crazy Love' Story to be Fictionalized for HBO Films
Filed under: Documentary, Drama, Deals, HBO Films
One of my favorite documentaries last year was Crazy Love, about a New York couple named Burt and Linda who have been together off and on for 50 years despite some serious setbacks, e.g., the time Burt hired a man to throw lye in Linda's face and blind her. These are people who should hate each other -- she for the way he physically harmed her, he for the way she nags and pesters him now -- and yet they are in love. And yet I, a normal person, remain single. Life is bizarre and unfair, that's the message I got from the film. Crazy Love did well enough for a doc, but of course a non-doc would reach wider audiences. So now Variety reports that the doc's director, Dan Klores, will make his narrative debut writing and directing a fictionalized version of the story for HBO Films. There's no announcement yet on whether it will premiere on HBO or open theatrically, but either one is a possibility. Crazy Love premiered at Sundance, as have many other HBO Films productions, and sometimes the level of success on the festival circuit determines whether it goes to theaters or straight to cable from there.
Sundance @ BAM: Short Film Mayhem
Filed under: Independent, Deals, New Releases, Sundance, Festival Reports, Shorts, Fandom, DIY/Filmmaking, HBO Films
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For an emerging filmmaker, the Sundance Film Festival provides a starting point for the life span of a feature-length work. There's a far greater sense of immediacy, however, for the filmmakers involved in the shorts program, where a wide variety of material tends to begin circulating the festival world before fading into complete obscurity. That's why the short films that screened yesterday as part of the third annual Sundance Institute at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) signified the most important aspect of the two-week event: With few exceptions, the films on display received the kind of exposure that helped validate this frequently neglected format. While some of the titles are available on iTunes, many that were shown to a packed house finally got the long-delayed reception they deserved.
Animated efforts almost always offer the best ingredients in any shorts program, since it's here that you'll find a combination of inspired side projects from gainfully employed studio animators and the works of struggling independent artists. The latest program couldn't beat the sheer brilliance of cult animator Don Hertzfeldt's short Everything Will Be Ok in last year's showcase, but two particularly memorable films left distinct impressions this time around.
Tribeca Review: Baghdad High
Filed under: Documentary, Foreign Language, Tribeca, Theatrical Reviews, HBO Films
The HBO-produced documentary film Baghdad High offers a fairly basic yet intriguing enough premise: The filmmakers gave video cameras to four Iraqi high school students and asked them to simply record as much of their "normal life" as possible. (I'm of the opinion that any time you give a teenager a camera, you're getting everything BUT "normal life," but obviously I'm not the first to claim that the act of recording something instantly obliterates "normalcy.") The point here seems to be that ... hey, you know what? Aside from the fact that they live very far away in a country that's going through some terrible problems these days, these teenagers are a whole lot like ... our teenagers! Wow, how shocking is that?!?!?
What's most interesting about these kids is that, despite the fact that they all live in Iraq, they also come from very different religious backgrounds -- and yet they're still friends! (Hope for the future sometimes comes in small packages, I suppose.) All four of the boys are perfectly charming and entirely typical: They whine about homework, they stress over studies, they gripe about being bored, they argue with their parents, and they do all the stuff that your favorite teens do: Video games, pop music, sports, rough-housing, etc. So far all its admirable intentions, the simple truth is that Baghdad High makes a very good point about the similarities of human nature (especially where teens are concerned), but then it just sort of ... keeps making the same point over and over.
'Sex and the City' Gets a New Theme Song
Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Warner Brothers, Fandom, Movie Marketing, HBO Films
There is nothing new about the debate over rampant commercialism and Sex and the City. So, I'm not even going to go into whether empowerment can be achieved through shopping. But, Fergie's new theme song for the big-screen SATC has hit the web, and she has no qualms about making an ode to designer labels. Titled Labels or Love, the track sounds like a My Humps redux, and frankly, it's pretty awful. For starters, throughout most of the song I had a hard time understanding what she was even saying. But when you can make out the lyrics, they include such philosophical statements as: "Love is a like a runway," "Stop chasing those boys and shop some more," and "No emotional baggage, just replace it with Dior."Fans of the show have been awaiting the feature film version with bated breath since the news first hit, and the fever pitch has only risen now that Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker have been letting the spoilers fly. Unfortunately, SATC was never really my thing, so I only have a passing curiosity to see how they translate Carrie and the gang on the screen. One thing is for sure, if this theme song is an indication of the music for the movie, I definitely won't be buying the soundtrack.
Take a listen and tell me what you think: Did Fergie improve upon the original? Or is this track best reserved for the closing credits?
Sundance Interview: 'Kids + Money' Director Lauren Greenfield
Filed under: Festival Reports, Podcasts, Interviews, HBO Films, Cinematical Indie
An award-winning photographer, Lauren Greenfield's work has appeared in magazines, newspapers and her own books; her debut documentary, Thin, was an impressive and sensitive examination of eating disorders in America through the lives of women at an outpatient center recieving treatment for their problems. She's back at Sundance with her short Kids + Money, an examination of shopping and spending among L.A. teens. Greenfield spoke with Cinematical about finding her subjects, whether school uniforms help keep kid consumerism at bay, and her own high school years in Los Angeles. Greenfield thinks her mix of L.A. kids -- from striving lower-class ones to pampered and privileged ones -- all have something to say about the mindset of teen America: "Sometimes the stories that they tell seem shocking or seem extreme, but I really think they speak to the mainstream that young people are experiencing all over the country."
This interview, like all of Cinematical's podcast offerings, is now available through iTunes; if you'd like, you can subscribe at this link. Also, you can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below:
Barry Bonds Gets an Indictment and His Own HBO Film
Filed under: Drama, Sports, Casting, Celebrities and Controversy, Scripts, Home Entertainment, HBO Films
Variety reports that HBO Films will bring the Barry Bonds story to their network. San Francisco Giant Bonds recently broke baseball's all-time home run record, "allegedly" lied to a jury under oath concerning his use of performance-enhancing drugs, and was indicted on federal charges. Say it ain't so, Barry! HBO has purchased the rights to Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sports, which is said to paint Bonds as "a gifted player who made a Faustian bargain to increase his power." Ron Shelton will adapt the book with John Norville (co-writer of Shelton's Tin Cup) after the WGA Strike. Shelton is also set to direct.Ron Shelton is a terrific writer/director of sports movies when he's on, but he doesn't have the greatest batting average. Bull Durham, White Men Can't Jump, and Tin Cup are classics of baseball, basketball, and golf film, respectively. But Cobb? Play it to the Bone? The dreadful Hollywood Homicide (not a sports film I realize, but so bad I had to mention it)? Hopefully the Bonds film will be one of his "hits." I always find it interesting when movies are made about figures who are not only still alive, but still going strong. It just seems like it'd be...awkward for all involved. Who do you think should play Barry Bonds? Shelton regular Kevin Costner? I kid, I kid. Do you think they should get a newcomer or go for a star? And which star?
Jeanne Tripplehorn will Play Jackie O in 'Grey Gardens'
Filed under: Documentary, Drama, Music & Musicals, Casting, HBO Films
So while I might not be the biggest Jackie O or Jeanne Tripplehorn aficionado, I will say this: they do look an awful lot alike. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Tripplehorn has signed to play the iconic Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the HBO Films 'remake' of Grey Gardens. Tripplehorn will be joining Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange in the 'true' story of two of the most eccentric women you could ever meet. Back in 1975, Albert and David Maysles, Susan Froemke, Ellen Hovde, and Muffie Meyer made a documentary about the lives of Edith "Big Edie" Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale. They were the aunt and cousin to Onassis and lived a bizarre life in almost total isolation in a ramshackle mansion by the name of Grey Gardens. After trying for years to have the home brought up to code, the two were finally separated when "Big Edie" died in 1977 (Little Edie finally sold the house in 1979 to a former editor for the Washington Post). The documentary inspired an award winning stage musical in 2006 starring Christine Ebersol as Little Edie. The new film from HBO will not be a musical (thankfully, I might add) and instead was based on the original documentary.
The cast also includes Daniel Baldwin as Julius Krug, the former secretary of the interior and true love of Little Edie (Barrymore). Tripplehorn is doing some post-production work for Winged Creatures, an ensemble drama about a group of people who survive a shooting in an L.A. diner (I guess it will be kind of like Crash, but with more gunfire). Grey Gardens is being directed by Michael Sucsy (who also co-wrote the script with Patricia Rozema) and is currently shooting on location in Toronto, Canada. Grey Gardens will hit theaters in 2008.
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